Page 32 - Fenning_Scoland

Internal Scottish letters during the Commonwealth Army's occupation of Scotland

1656 Letter from Dundee to Edinburgh for delivery 'on the south, 1 yd of the tron 1

By 1656 Scotland was united with England 'into one Commonwealth and under one
Governmenr. Cromwell's army, commanded by General George Menck, was garrisoned
throughout the country. The carriage of all letters between Dundee and Edinburgh was by
ad hoe arrangements, either using carriers or the Burgh Post, a situation which was to
continue until 1667 when a public post was opened between Edinburgh and Aberdeen,
routed via Dundee.

17tn March 1656. Letter from Patrick Kinloch in Dundee to George Gordon in Edinburgh
most probably sent by carrier or possibly by Burgh Post. The letter is addressed:

for his loving and much respykit friend Gorg Gorriain in edinbroch, these

Added in the lower left comer are further delivery directions for the person entrusted with
the letter:

on the south, 1 yd of the tron

1656 is early for such a delivery instruction to appear on a Scottish address panel. The tron
was the public weighbeam sited in Edinburgh's High Street and so the exact place of
delivery can be established. The tron can be seen in the centre of this map of the period.