THE houses represented on the right of the picture form part of a series of buildings originally known by the name of I'letoothy, and described in the Kirk-Session book of the north quarter of Glasgow, dated January 23rd, 1690, as part of a district which at that period was portioned out to one of the elders of the church. I'letoothy is bounded on the west by Castle Street, on the south by the Drygate, on the east by Limmerfield, and on the north by the vacant ground on which the Castle formerly stood, The tenement on the right of the picture was built by a Mr Reid, a tobacconist, and at the end of the last century it became the property of his son, who was then well known in the district as "Author Reid." He published various essays on love, courtship, and marriage, which afforded much amusement to the citizens. Author Reid himself was throughout life a bachelor and died about thirty years ago. His works were extensively subscribed for by the gentlemen frequenting the Coffee-room at that period, but, as they had little intrinsic merit, it is believed none of them now exist.

The Tower represented in the picture was attached to the Cathedral at a period after the west end of it had been finished, but there is no history of the date, or the real purpose of its erection. The lower part of it had been used as a chapel and burying-place, and its architecture was of a respectable character, The upper part of the Tower was a mere mass of stone and lime. When it was taken down, a large tombstone was found in the centre of the floor of the chapel, with an armorial bearing on one of the corners, supposed to be the arms of Cardinal Walter Wardlaw; but before any person could be got who could properly decipher it it was broken up and built into the north buttress on the west side of the Cathedral. The storey above the chapel had evidently been used as a prison, entrance to which was obtained by a small door from the triforium. The windows in the building were bevelled off on one side, while the other was square, evidently intended to give vantage ground and assistance in cases of attack on either the palace of the bishop or the Cathedral itself. From the great strength of the building, and the difficulty of obtaining access to the roof, it may have been intended partly as a place of defence and partly as a belfry.