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1699 London Printed Newsletter 'Refused' at the Exchange Coffee-house, Edinburgh
Edinburgh's Exchange Coffee-house in the 1690's
The great attraction of the coffee-houses outside of London was the supply of
London and international news provided for the customers' reading.
In Edinburgh it was felt necessary to set up a censorship of such news. A Privy
1
Council order of 6 h January 1680 stated that gazettes and newsletters read in
coffee-houses had to be submitted to the Bishop of Edinburgh or a Privy
Councillor and approved before being made public so that 'false and seditious
news and slanders may be prevented'.
In 1692, the Exchange Coffee-house, located in the High Street, was closed by
order of the Council because of the seditious news vented in and dispersed
from it.
Its owners acknowledged that previous London newsletters had been
confiscated by the authorities and, in consequence, they had changed their
correspondent. Whereupon, they asserted, the discarded correspondent, out of
malice, had sent them a letter obviously intended to bring them under
suspicion.
This story was accepted by the Council and the Exchange Coffee-house was
allowed to reopen but only on condition that all the newsletters they received
should be approved by the King's Solicitor or an official appointed by the Privy
Council, 'the reviewer setting his name thereto, or at least ane other mark' .
Accordingly, from the date of the re-opening, the owners of the Exchange
Coffee-house were very particular about the source of any London newsletters
that they received as they needed to avoid being closed down again, this time
permanently.
It is likely that the London Newsletter shown here was from an unapproved
source and that was the reason why Archibald Browne, the coffee-house
proprietor, refused to accept it.
Reference:
'Old Edinburgh Taverns' by Marie \!\Ii/son Stuart
19t1i September 1699. London Newsletter sent to 'Mr Archibald Browne
ye master of the Exchange Coffeehouse Edinburgh'. Remarkable for
being:
a 17'h Century printed newsletter sent through the post
addressed to a 17t1i Century coffee-house outside of London
a very early example of a Scottish 'refused' letter
Charged 3d London to Berwick and 2d Berwick to Edinburgh, the 3d
rate being on the address panel and the Sd total charge on the back.
The London Bishop Mark SE/19 and the Edinburgh post office
endorsement 'Refused' also on the back flap of the letter.
The London Newsletter
The 3 page printed newsletter provides foreign and domestic news from late
August and early September 1699 including a report from Moscow on the
Great Fire there. At the end of the printed section on the third page, some
additional late news has been inserted by hand.
Domestic news includes a detailed report on the total eclipse of the sun seen
on 13th September (Julian calendar) or 23rd September (Gregorian calendar):
"All the North of England was in the greatest Consternation imaginable concerning
it; and fear'd the same more than they would the Landing of the French three
Years ago. In some Villages they lay in Bed till their Bellies cried Cupboard, to
save Candle; and the Drovers in several places would not drive their Cattel to
Market for fear of Losing some of them in the Dark, which has occasioned the
Price of Beef and Mutton to Rise in those parts. We hear that Six Horse Races in
Northumberland were put off because of it , and Weddings a vast number, and
among the rest one at Cockermouth, where the Bridegroom chang'd his Mind next
morning, for which its said Mrs. Bride which should have been, is advis'd to bring
her Action against the Prognosticating Knight, for hindring her Maniage: In short, it
put a Stop to all Trade and Business, so that its judged by an able Arithmetitian in
York, that the Damage sustained by the Eclipse on the North side of Trent alone,
amounted to at least Twenty Thousand Pounds Sterling. It was obseNed on
Doncaster Road, by a Gentleman who made Remarks, that for 4 Hours space no
body was seen on that Road, but a Farmer that was lately Manied, Riding for a
Midwife lest his Spouse should Miscarry, and a Parson upon the full Speed to get a
Benefice. And an Old Gentleman in Wales was so concem'd at the matter, that he
Read the SeNice for Churching of Women, and applied it to the Sun. At Eaton and
several other Schools, the Boys made Holes in their Hats to see the Eclipse
through; but when the Country people found they were all made Fools of, several
of them Bumt their Almanacks, resolving not to believe any of them for the future."