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One of the grandest of the Canongate's mansions, built in 1681 in the reign of Charles II by the 3rd earl of Lauderdale. It then passed to the 1st Duke of Queensberry, whose family owned it until 1803. The 2nd Duke incurred the odium of the Edinburgh mob for the leading part he played as a Commissioner entrusted with the passage of the Act of Union through the Scottish Parliament. A story attaches to the house, that while the Duke was fully occupied with the affairs of state, his unattended, congenitally insane heir murdered a servant boy by roasting him on a fireplace spit. John Gay of 'The Beggar's Opera' fame stayed here as a guest of Lady Catherine Hyde, 3rd Duchess (1700-177) and patron of the arts. In 1745, the officers of General Cope's army, captured by the Jacobites at the Battle of Prestonpans, were held here for several days before being released on parole. In more recent times the building became a House of Refuge for the Destitute; Henry Cockburn lamenting the decline of what "was once the brilliant abode of rank and fashion and political intrigue". It remained a refuge, in a very run-down state, until the Scottish Parliament annexed and renovated it as offices. Now it stands behind a high fence overlooked by CCTV cameras. It is worth taking a look at an aerial view to see how its once extensive south-facing garden has been obliterated by the new Parliament building.