In 1633, plans were made for a new one-off tax on house-rent, or -mail-, intended to pay the stipends of Edinburgh's clergy. At the request of Charles I, full power and commission was given -for passing through the whole city and trying of what mail every tenement, dwelling house, low tavern, cellar or chamber-, and an inventory was taken, which survives in manuscript form in the Edinburgh City Archives. While it would seem that the tax was never actually collected and so was a failure in terms of municipal fund-raising, it left an incredibly detailed record of the socio-economic and...