_Architecture, and Monumental Art._
SECTION I.
_Architecture._
THE aim of this chapter is similar to several of the preceding ones:
it is not a detailed history of architecture, but an effort to indicate
briefly the changes which have taken place in the structure, and the
external aspect of the chief cities of Scotland within a comparatively
recent period. It will, in the first place, touch on the various
kinds of stones used in building; in the second, a few brief notices
of Scottish architects will be presented; and third, touch on the
reconstruction of the chief cities and their present aspect.
At the outset it may be observed that, in the strata of rocks which
exist in Britain, a pretty wide range of different kinds of stone are
found. The quarries, both of England and Scotland, afford in abundance
the well-known generic varieties of――(1) sandstone or freestone;
(2) limestone; (3) granite. Marble of various colours is also found
in Britain, although less common than the other classes of stones.
In Scotland, marble is found in Tiree, Iona, Skye, Blairgowrie, and
several other places. The early buildings and houses in this country
were built of freestone, limestone, and other kinds of stones; granite
was little used for building purposes till a recent period.¹
¹ The granite districts of England are in Cornwall and
Devonshire, the Channel Islands, Mount Sorel, and in some
other places. The Devon and Cornwall granite is of several
varieties; at Dartmoor it has a greyish hue.
“But harder granite must be sought for than Devonshire or
Cornwall produces, where the construction is of importance;
for the masses in these counties are mostly in a condition
of rapid disintegration and decay, which seems chiefly
attributable to their containing a large portion of ♦potash.
The Naval Hospital of Plymouth is built of granite whose
parts appear to have been well selected. It was erected
seventy years ago, and, except in the columns of the
colonnades, does not exhibit symptoms of decay. In these, on
their more exposed sides, the disintegration of the felspar
has commenced, and lichens have already attached their roots
to some parts of the surfaces.”――Gwilt’s _Encyclopædia of
Architecture_, page 479.
The chief varieties of Scotch granite are those of Craignair
and Creetown, in Kirkcudbrightshire, those of Aberdeenshire,
the Isle of Mull, and other kinds.
♦ “potass” replaced with “potash”
There is little information of the architects or builders of any branch
of Scotch architecture before the eighteenth century; although in the
national records the names of certain persons occasionally occur with
the title of master of works, and master mason. Colin Campbell attained
distinction as an architect. He designed Mereworth House, in Kent;
Wanstead House, in Essex, built in 1715, which was much admired; and
many other mansions. In 1725 he was appointed architect to the Prince
of Wales; and in the following year he was appointed Surveyor of Works
at Greenwich Hospital. He edited the first three volumes of _Vitruvius
Britannica_, which appeared in 1713‒25, and contained a considerable
number of his own designs. He died in 1734.
William Adam, of Marybury, was born at Kinross in 1689. He succeeded
Sir William Bruce as Surveyor of the King’s works in Scotland. He
carried out many important works, consisting of public buildings,
bridges, and mansions. He collected and published his designs, with
those of other contemporaries, under the title of _Vitruvius Scoticus_.
He died in 1748. His son, Robert Adam, was born in 1728, and educated
at the University of Edinburgh. He became a distinguished architect.
His younger brother, James, was also an architect, and the two became
associated in business. They designed and carried out a considerable
number of great works――including the “Adelphi” in London, and many
other buildings and mansions in England and Scotland. They published
_The Works in Architecture of R. & J. Adams_, which contained among
the plates, views of Sion House, Caen Wood, Luton Park House, and the
Register House in Edinburgh. Robert died in 1792; and James died on the
17th of October 1794.
James Craig was born in Edinburgh, and attained some distinction as
an architect. In 1767 he sent in a plan of the new streets and squares
intended for the city of Edinburgh, which the Town Council with
acclamation selected from other competitive plans. He died in 1795.
James Gibbs, born in Aberdeen, in 1674, attained distinction in this
branch of art. He was educated at the Grammar School, and Marischal
College, where he took the degree of M.A. He had a fair knowledge of
mathematics, and resolved to carry it into the study of architecture.
In 1694, he went to Holland. His progress in the art seems to have
been rapid, as his talents attracted the attention of the Earl of Mar
when he visited that country in 1700. This was the Earl who raised
the standard of rebellion in 1715; and I am glad to state that he
favoured Gibbs with his countenance, assisted him with money, gave
him recommendatory letters, and advised him to travel into Italy――to
improve his taste and expand his views, by a study of the grand
edifices of this ancient country. When, through the effects of the
rebellion, the fortunes of the Erskines fell very low, Gibbs remembered
the man who had aided him in his early struggles, and bequeathed a
thousand pounds, all his plate, and an estate of £280 a-year to the
only son of his first benefactor.
In 1700 Gibbs proceeded to Rome, and studied several years under
Garralia, a sculptor and architect of some note. He carefully examined
the chief buildings in Italy, ancient and modern, took notes of
them for his future guidance, and made sketches of such edifices
as he thought excelled in form, or such parts of them as struck
his imagination, and laid them down to scale. Thus, after studying
and working for ten years in Rome, he deemed himself prepared for
commencing business as an architect, and appeared in London in 1710.
Mar was then in the ministry, and favoured by the Queen, and as much
disposed as ever to befriend Gibbs. Shortly after this an act was
passed in parliament which directed that fifty new churches should
be erected in London. Mar introduced Gibbs to the Commissioners under
the act, and he soon obtained employment. The first building which he
completed was at King’s College, Cambridge; but it has been severely
criticised for its small portico, and for the many little parts in its
construction.
The first building which he erected in London was of such a character
as could not fail to produce a strong impression in his favour. “The
portico of St. Martin’s Church, for utility, compact beauty, and
perfect unity of construction, is yet unsurpassed in the metropolis;
and though in other respects the exterior is not so excellent, being
deficient in light and shade, and the steeple inclines to be heavy――yet
on the whole it forms a noble work.... The interior of the church is a
perfect picture of architectural beauty and neatness of accommodation.
All the parts are nicely distributed, and nothing can be added, and
nothing can be taken away. It is complete in itself, and refuses the
admission of any other ornament.... The chief charm of the structure,
nevertheless, lies in the portico.... The columns are of the Corinthian
order. It was finished in 1726.”¹
¹ _Lives of British Architects_, by Allan Cunningham, page 290.
His next work, the Church of St. Mary’s, in the Strand, was not so
successful an effort; it fails to produce an impression of simplicity
or real beauty. He also built the ♦Radcliffe Library of Oxford. “The
interior of the library is admired by men of science for the skill
with which the arrangements are made, and for the art displayed in the
construction of the cupola.”
♦ “Ratcliffe” replaced with “Radcliffe”
He erected the great quadrangle of King’s College, the Royal Library,
and the Senate House at Cambridge, and presented the plan of the Church
of St. Nicholas to his native city. After a long painful illness from
stone, he died in London in 1754.
In 1728 he published his designs in one volume, from which he realised
nearly two thousand pounds from the sale of the book, and of the plates
after the impression was disposed of. He bequeathed to the ♦Radcliffe
Library five hundred valuable volumes, chiefly on subjects connected
with the arts; over one hundred of them were upon architecture, and
included the best works on the subject then extant. His finished works
and his unemployed designs show that he had an accurate and complete
knowledge of all the principles of his art; and that he was a man
who felt what was good, perceived what was majestic, and skillfully
used his ♠mathematical knowledge in giving strength and beauty to
architecture.
♦ “Ratcliffe” replaced with “Radcliffe”
♠ “mathemetical” replaced with “mathematical”
Robert Mylne was born in Edinburgh on the 4th of January, 1734. He was
descended from an old Scottish family represented by a long succession
of master masons and architects. He began his career under his father,
who carried on a building business. Subsequently he travelled abroad,
and resided four years in Rome, studying classic architecture; and
he gained two medals in the Academy of St. Luke. After returning home
he was engaged on many large mansions and public works in England,
including the Blackfriars Bridge in London, and ♦Inveraray Castle, the
chief seat of the Argyle family in Scotland. He died in 1811.
♦ “Inverary” replaced with “Inveraray”
The preceding brief notices are simply to be understood as a
preliminary indication of the important functions of the architect
in the evolution of civilisation. For in reality the health and the
comfort of the community in a large measure depends upon the knowledge
and skill of the architects; they also have it in their power to do
much to improve the taste of the community; and they have contributed,
in conjunction with other agencies, to improve the sanitary condition
of the centres of population in a considerable degree during the past
hundred years. Let us place ourselves in imagination in Edinburgh,
Glasgow, or the other seats of population in the middle of the last
century, and we shall then more easily realise the vast changes and
improvements which have been effected in the dwellings and surroundings
of all classes of the community.
Edinburgh was from an early period a walled town. One result of this
was that so long as the necessity for maintaining the walls intact
continued, when the population increased, instead of the town being
extended outwards it was extended upwards. This was carried to an
extreme in Edinburgh, as some of the houses were raised to the height
of twelve storeys. In the middle of the eighteenth century the crowded
state of the city was excessive; the streets were narrow, many of
them mere footpaths and closes. The space from the Castle Hill to the
Netherbow Port was occupied with one dense mass of houses, and most
of them six and eight stories. The area within the original wall was
extended immediately after the battle of Flodden, when a new wall was
erected which enclosed the houses that had been built outside of the
old wall. In 1624 it was again partly extended to include Heriot’s
Hospital and the Charity Workhouse. But the valley and marshy ground
which ran along the northern side of the city was long an obstacle
to extension in that direction. Necessity, however, prevailed, and at
last the famous “North Loch,” the scene of so many touching historic
incidents, was conquered.
The idea of erecting a bridge across the North Loch had occurred to
several persons long before it was actually executed.¹ But in 1769 the
bridge across the Loch was completed, the marshy hollow filled, and
Princes Street and the rest of the New Town were subsequently erected.
The New Town is formed on a simple and uniform plan, which consists of
two distinct and parallel sections: the first one lies between Princes
Street and Queen Street, in which the chief central line is George
Street; and these parallel lines of streets are intersected at regular
intervals by good broad streets. The second section lies between
Heriot Row and Fettes Row, in which the chief central line is Great
King Street. Between the two sections there lies a large space of
ornamental garden ground, and the varied surroundings of the New Town
are admirable.
¹ It is said that Sir William Bruce of Kinross drew a plan of
a bridge across the North Loch. The Earl of Mar, the patron
of Gibbs, after his exile, prepared a plan for the extension
of Edinburgh, both to the south and the north, and it also
embraced a bridge of three arches over the North Loch; and
claims to having suggested this bridge have been advanced by
others.
The city has extended in other directions; but the Old Town has only
been gradually opened up, and the last great scheme of improvement for
opening up the narrow streets and removing the wretched dwellings in
the alleys and closes was inaugurated by the late Dr. Chambers during
his provostship of the city, which began in 1865. Under this scheme
a considerable number of old and dilapidated houses were demolished,
and a vast improvement effected. At the present time little of the
real Old Town remains; of course the Canongate still exists, but it was
originally a separate burgh and corporation by itself, and continued so
till a recent period.¹ Since the middle of this century, the sanitary
condition of Edinburgh has been greatly improved. A better system of
sewerage, and a more adequate supply of water has been introduced into
the city.
¹ Mackintosh’s _History of Civilisation_, Volume III., page
289.
In truth, it may be said that Edinburgh as it now stands has been
almost entirely reconstructed and built since 1770. Taken as a whole,
the capital of Scotland is a beautiful city. The far greater part of it
is built of freestone, but of several kinds. The Old Town was built of
reddish sandstone, obtained in the neighbourhood; but the newer parts
of the city have been mainly built of stones taken from the quarries of
Craigleith, Redhall, Ravelston, Binnie, Humbie, and Hailes, which lies
on the west side of the city, and yields several varieties of pretty
hard freestone.
Touching the architecture of the city in general, there are many fine
streets, both in what is called the New Town and in other parts of
the city. George Street, looking at its width and length, is one of
the best streets in Edinburgh; Princes Street and Queen Street, though
very fine, are only terraces. There are a number of fine squares
and crescents. But the street architecture in general has not much
embellishment: there is a lack of window dressings, of cornices, and
other mouldings. There are, however, many architectural objects in
Edinburgh of great beauty and interest; the highly elaborated and
beautiful spire of Scott’s Monument; the classic and national monuments
on the Calton Hill; the public buildings; and the memorable remains of
the Old Castle upon the rock.
The chief city of the west, Glasgow, owing to its rapid progress and
development in commerce, manufactures, and shipbuilding, was long
seriously troubled with the evils associated with a crowded population.
Efforts were from time to time made to remedy this, but it proved a
difficult matter to overcome. Certain parts of the city always became
more and more crowded. In 1793, the corporation of Glasgow obtained an
Act of Parliament to rebuild the Tron Church, and to remove the Tron
steeple and the adjoining building, which projected into the Trongate.
By this act they were also empowered to purchase the bowling green in
Candleriggs, to erect the Tron Church there; to open a street through
the Ravenshaw grounds to Buchanan Street; to purchase the grounds of
Meadowflat; to make and extend several other streets; and to erect a
bridge across the Clyde at the foot of Saltmarket. In 1806, an Act of
Parliament was obtained for carrying Clyde Street eastward across the
Stockwell to the Green; to form a new street running southward from
the bottom of Queen Street to the river; and a street running northward
from George Street to Duke Street, and terminating at Weaver Street. In
1813, an Act of Parliament was passed for the “regulation of chimneys,
steam engines, and other works within the city and suburbs of Glasgow.”
In 1818, the city first began to be lighted by gas.
In 1820, the corporation were empowered by an Act of Parliament to
make a street of thirty-five feet in breadth, running eastward from
Stockwell to King Street, thence eastward across the Saltmarket to the
Molendinar Burn, and to causeway and pave it; a street seventy feet
wide from Great Hamilton Street running eastward on the north side of
St. Andrew Square onwards to the Cross; and another sixty feet wide,
beginning at the west end of the Barrack wall, and running westward
on the north side of the Gallowgate onward to the Cross. After 1825,
several streets were extended and widened; still the old parts of
the city remained in a crowded state, and vast numbers of people were
huddled together in courts. In 1846, the Glasgow Municipal and Police
Extension Act was passed in Parliament, which superseded the former
Police Board, and the extension clause included the towns of Gorbals,
Calton, Bridgeton, and Anderston.
Yet at the middle of this century the old localities of Glasgow were in
a deplorable state of crowding; and in the beginning of the year 1852,
the following statement was made by a high authority. “The overcrowding
of the inhabitants of this city within excessively limited bounds, the
overpeopling of numerous localities, the defective sewerage, and the
still more defective supply of water, are too well known. We need no
evidence as to the existence of these things――they are before us, and
may be seen by everyone. Who can think of these miserable places, the
abodes and nurseries of filth and diseases and of crime, the plague
spots to which strangers point to our shame.... But these alone will
never suffice to meet this tremendous evil. We have now work before
us, to cure and prevent; for it must not be forgotten that the evils
so justly complained of are not confined to the older portions of the
town. The overcrowding of houses, and comprising large numbers of human
beings together, almost without light or air, are going on all around
us; and the remedies required are therefore for prevention as well as
for cure.
“Under the strongest conviction that if these evils be fearlessly met,
if wise and wholesome provisions be made, if ample powers be given
to enforce them, the sanitary condition of the city will be vastly
improved, and the moral standing of the classes elevated, we proceed
to treat of these remedial measures; and that we may present them in
a regular form, we have divided the subject into the three following
sections:――(1) The width of streets, height of buildings, and opening
up of thoroughfares; (2) Drainage; (3) Supply of water.” The report
goes on to show that in these primary and important points Glasgow
was then very defective; and it contains many wise, useful suggestions
and proposals. They insist on wide streets, and that the height of the
buildings should be regulated by the width of the street. After showing
that the drainage, especially of the narrow wynds, lanes, and closes,
were alarmingly defective, they proceed to state the leading principles
which ought to govern an efficient system of drainage for the city of
Glasgow. They next dealt with the water supply of the city, which was
then mainly taken from the Clyde, and had become defective both in
quality and quantity.¹
¹ Report by Architects of Glasgow, printed in the _Transactions
of the Architectural Institute of Scotland_, Volume II.,
pages 42‒63.
A scheme for new waterworks was projected, and, in 1855, it was
resolved to bring the water from Loch Katrine, to supply fifty million
gallons a-day. The works were completed in 1859, and on the 14th of
October the water was turned on by Her Majesty the Queen; Glasgow was
jubilant, and cannons rent the air from the Castles of Edinburgh and
Stirling in honour of the event.
The municipal authorities of Glasgow, and many of the leading citizens,
had long been considering as to the best means of remedying the
insanitary condition of the city, arising from over-crowded houses,
narrow streets, wynds, and closes; and an Improvement Act was applied
for, which was ultimately passed by Parliament in 1866. The municipal
authorities under the provisions of the Act were appointed trustees,
and they were empowered to construct thirty-nine new streets, and to
widen or alter other twelve, in all fifty-one streets. They were also
empowered to borrow any sum not exceeding £1,250,000, and to levy
a special tax during the continuance of the Act, which was limited
to fifteen years. The trustees, with the Lord Provost at their head,
at once proceeded to carry out the purposes of the Act: and before
many years elapsed, the older portions of the city began to assume a
brighter aspect; many of the narrow alleys and closes with their dens
were demolished, while comfortable houses and open spaces have taken
their place, and the death-rate has been reduced. Thus by the new
supply of water, and the operations under the Improvement Act, a great
change has been effected in the sanitary condition of Glasgow.
It appears that the greater part of Glasgow has been reconstructed and
built within a period of little more than a hundred years. Touching
the appearance and the architectural features of this great city, only
a few general remarks can be made. The greater part of Glasgow, and
the suburbs or burghs which have arisen in its vicinity, are built
of freestone. As a whole, the streets of Glasgow are regular and well
planned to meet the ends of business and traffic, which are the prime
objects of the leading streets in all commercial cities. Many of the
streets are broad and long, often running in parallel lines, and at
regular intervals intersected by other streets running right and left.
The architectural characteristics of the streets in the business parts
of the city are pretty varied, although in general not remarkably
striking; yet the long lines of buildings on the right and left of
every street distinctly fulfil the requirement of the principle of
utility.
In the suburbs, on every side, and especially in the Hillhead and
Kelvinside districts, the dwelling-houses exhibit distinct and
beautiful styles of architecture. Indeed, in the Kelvinside district
there are terraces and crescents of exquisite beauty. For instance, to
name one out of many, Grosvenor Terrace, for chasteness of design and
execution is unrivalled in Scotland; its beauty is perfect and complete
of its kind.
What has been said touching the reconstruction of Edinburgh and Glasgow,
is applicable in a large measure to the other chief towns of Scotland.
In short, there are a number of considerable towns with from ten to
twenty thousand of a population which were mere villages at the end of
the last century. There are, however, certain towns in Fife, such as
St. Andrews, and a few others, which still retain many of the features
that characterised them a century or two ago.
The greater part of Dundee has been formed and built in the present
century. Indeed, the population of Dundee has increased so rapidly that
this was not a matter of choice but of necessity. This enterprising
city was supplied with water on the system of gravitation about the
middle of the century.
The reconstruction of Aberdeen was begun about the end of the last
century; and since almost the whole city has been rebuilt. Union Street
and most of the principal streets have been formed in the present
century; and very little of the Aberdeen of even the eighteenth century
now remains. Like other towns, it has extended rapidly, and occupies
six times as much space as it did at the opening of this century. The
leading streets of the city are broad, and the colour of the stones
lends a certain degree of attraction to the lines of houses, which
conveys an impression of strength and utility. In general, the street
architecture is not loaded with embellishment or much variety of style;
but the principles of simplicity and symmetry are well exhibited.
In this section I have touched briefly on a variety of subjects
directly or indirectly connected with architecture: all of which have a
most important bearing upon great centres of population, with reference
to houses of every description, and the sanitary conditions of health.
Even up to the middle of this century the defective ventilation
and sewerage of nearly every town in the kingdom was notorious. The
overcrowding arose from various causes, but chiefly from the rapid
increase of the manufacturing population, and the migration of people
from the country ♦districts into the towns. It has been shown in the
preceding pages that the greater part of the chief cities of Scotland
have been reconstructed and built in the later part of the last and
the present centuries; and sanitary arrangements in the construction
of buildings and dwelling houses has been more carefully studied, and
a marked improvement in sanitation has been effected; yet, much remains
to be done in this department.
♦ “disticts” replaced with “districts”
Beauty in architecture is a leading aim of the art, but it is not the
prime end of it. The first consideration concerning every building
intended for human habitation is light, ventilation, and sanitary
arrangements; these constitute the primary end of the art. Although,
of course, in public buildings, churches, schools, and mansions, the
aim to attain beauty often is the chief object of the architect; and
rightly so, if the other ends are not neglected.
SECTION II.
_Monumental Art, Granite-Cutting and Polishing._
In the first volume an account of the early sculptured pillar stones
and monuments found in Scotland was given; and it was observed that
one class of monuments are of undressed granite and whinstone, with
♦peculiar symbols incised on one side. In the middle of the present
century there were upwards of seventy of these rough incised pillars
in the district to the north of the Forth; they are not found at all on
the south side of the Forth, and the greater part of them were in the
district between the Dee and the Spey. These monuments are believed to
belong to a period prior to the introduction of Christianity. They were
followed by a class of sandstone monuments more or less dressed, and on
which the peculiar symbols are figured, along with crosses of various
designs and degrees of elaboration. Some of this class are believed to
belong to the eighth century.
♦ “pecular” replaced with “peculiar”
The crosses on the west coast of Scotland, in the islands, and in
Argyllshire, are several centuries later than those of the east coast.
They are characterised by a graceful form of foliage, and a higher
development of the knot and scroll work in great richness and variety.
It is well known that the troubles and struggles which ensued after
the Reformation in Scotland were unfavourable to art of every kind; and
although grave-stones and monuments continued to be erected, the art
and workmanship associated with them rather declined than advanced for
a century or two. But about the middle of the last century this art
began to revive, and continued to advance.
Many gravestones and monuments throughout the country are made
of freestone. It is easily cut and dressed, and very suitable for
elaborate ornamentation.
Regular granite quarrying began about the middle of the eighteenth
century, and the modes of working it gradually became better understood.
Before the end of the century machinery was used in quarrying granite
in Aberdeenshire; and in the present century the modes of working the
quarries, and the appliances employed, have been greatly improved.
At present the quantity of granite quarried annually in Aberdeenshire
is upwards of 200,000 tons. The principal quarries are these:――(1)
Rubislaw quarry, worked by a Company; (2) Cairncry quarries, worked
by Mr. James Leith; (3) the Kemnay quarries, leased by Mr. John Fyfe,
which are very large, and out of which great quantities of granite are
annually sent to all parts of the country and to the foreign markets;
on an average, the Kemnay quarries produce over 55,000 tons of granite
per annum. The other quarries of note are those of Sclattie, Cairngall,
etc.; and the Stirlinghill quarries in the neighbourhood of Peterhead,
which yields the well-known variety of red granite. About eleven
years ago a new red quarry was opened at Hill of Correnie, near
Tillyfourie, on the estate of Cluny, which is worked by Mr. Fyfe, and
a considerable number of men are employed in it. There are several
other quarries on this hill. The stones taken from these quarries are
used for a variety of purposes, especially in works where strength and
durability are required; such as harbours, embankments, bridges, great
public buildings, houses, pillars, ♦monuments of every description
――sarcophagus, tombs, crosses, gravestones, urns, etc.; ornaments and
jewellery; kerb, causeway, and pavement stones.
♦ “momuments” replaced with “monuments”
There are extensive granite quarries in Kirkcudbrightshire. The
quarries of Craignair, in the parish of Kirkmabreck, were long worked
by the Messrs. Newall; and other quarries in the same locality have
been worked for many years. A large quantity of the granite taken
from some of these quarries has been used for building docks. About
thirty-two years ago the branch of cutting and polishing granite was
introduced in this locality by the Messrs. Newall. At Dalbeattie, in
Dumfriesshire, granite cutting and polishing, and monumental work is
carried on. In the island of Mull, red granite quarries are worked, and
some of the stones are dressed and polished in the island; but a large
quantity of the Mull granite is still exported from the quarries in
the rough state to other parts of the country, where it is worked into
monuments.
Aberdeen, however, is the chief seat of the granite trade, and of
the special branch of cutting and polishing all varieties of granite
monuments,――in which I include every work and stone intended by the
living to commemorate the departed, or to mark their last resting-place.
Until the present century, the only tools used in dressing granite
in this country were small picks; in fact, before this little granite
dressing, as now understood, had been executed in Britain. About 1824,
Mr. Alexander Macdonald commenced to dress granite in King Street,
Aberdeen; and being a man of remarkable energy, his trade soon extended.
In 1830, he removed his works to the foot of Constitution Street,
where he developed the granite dressing and monumental works, which
have become widely known. Mr. Macdonald died in March, 1860, and was
succeeded by his son, Alexander; and under the title of Messrs. A.
Macdonald & Field, the works were carried on for many years, and their
reputation still farther extended. But in 1884, Mr. Macdonald died;
and the works have since passed into the hands of a limited liability
company, under the title of A. Macdonald & Company. These works are the
largest in Aberdeen, and for a number of years they were the only works
of the kind in the city. This establishment has for many years executed
work and monuments which have been sent to all quarters of the globe.
The firm had for long a showyard in London; and several experienced
workmen were specially engaged in going from place to place in Britain,
Ireland, and the Continent, to superintend the erection of monuments
executed at the works in Aberdeen.
Besides monuments of every description, dressed and polished granite
stones for buildings, exterior columns, pilasters, pillars, plain
shafts for Gothic windows, string courses, trusses, and balustrades,
were produced in these works. A considerable number of statues in
granite have been produced in this establishment, of which may be
mentioned the statue of the Duke of Gordon, the statue of Sir Charles
Napier, at Portsmouth, and others. The firm employs about 500 hands.
The monumental granite trade has been rapidly developed in Aberdeen.
In 1855, there were only seven granite stone cutting and polishing
works in the city; in 1862, there were ten; in 1876, there were thirty;
in 1882, there were fifty-five; in 1887, there were upwards of sixty;
and in 1895, there were seventy-seven. The number of hands, however
employed, has not increased in the same proportion as the increase of
the yards. The number of men employed in this branch in 1886 was about
2000; and the number of hands employed in the quarries was about 1100.
Machinery and steam power has been gradually introduced, and is
largely employed in all the principal works. The large massive blocks
of granite are laid down in the yards in the rough state as they come
from the quarries. For various purposes the stones have to be sawed;
and granite is cut into slabs of any thickness or thinness that may be
required. The saws are made of iron plates, and the stones are placed
under the machines; the saws, according to the old process, operated
on the stones by means of quartz sand and water; but by this process
it required a long time to cut through a stone. Recently, an American
invented what is called “Chilled Iron,” which in appearance resembles
mustard seed; and this substance, along with oil, is now applied
instead of the sand and water, and the stones are sawed through in
a comparatively short time. There are a number of saws in one frame,
which may be employed at once on one block.
An apparatus is used for dressing round pillars, which works very well.
There are also machines for dressing other forms of granite stones,
but they have not proved very successful. The greater part of this
work is executed by the hand, thus:――(1) The blocks are rough-hewed
and shaped into the prescribed form, which is executed by hand-picks
with handles; (2) the surfaces are then reduced to a regular form by
steel punches and chisels; ♦(3) they are next fine-axed or dressed,
which is performed by various kinds of tools; (4) the last process
is the polishing, which is now nearly all done by machinery; indeed,
the polishing machinery has been brought to a stage of remarkable
efficiency.
♦ omitted item number “(3)” inserted
In granite, joints can be so closely made that when the various pieces
which form a column or an elaborate monument are fitted up they are
hardly perceptible. Granite monuments do not readily lend themselves
to elaborate devices or ornamentation; still, many efforts have been
made to extend the range of design and execution in this direction.
Knotted and scroll work has recently been executed on a number of
granite monuments produced in Aberdeen. Every effort should be made to
extend the range of designs――there being too much sameness in granite
monuments. A little more variety would produce a wonderful effect, and
with the appliances now in operation this might be easily attained.
The lettering of the granite monuments is almost an art in itself, and
this branch is executed with surprising taste and precision.
A few of the other granite works may be mentioned. Messrs. J. Wright &
Son, John Street, have a large establishment, excellent machinery, and
turn out a great quantity of work. Mr. J. Hutcheon, King Street Road,
commenced in 1869, and has developed an admirable establishment, in
which the best machinery and appliances are brought into operation, and
a considerable number of hands employed. Mr. William Boddie, St. Clair
Street and King Street, began about twenty-three years ago, and has
recently produced some fine and elaborate specimens of monumental work.
Messrs. Garden & Company, King Street, employ a number of hands, and
turn out excellent work.¹
¹ Amongst the other works may be noticed: Mr. William Keith’s
works, King Street; J. Petrie & Company, Wellington Road;
Mr. J. Hunter, King Street; Mr. Alexander Milne, St. Clair
Street; Messrs. M‘Intosh & Rae, Hutcheon Street West; Mr.
Robert Gibb, King Street Road; Mr. William Edwards, King
Street; Mr. James Taggart, Great Western Road; Mr. Arthur
Taylor, Jute Street; and Mr. Robert Simpson, Constitution
Street.
A large quantity of granite in the form of monuments, and other
finished stones, is exported annually; the average value of these
articles exported in recent years to America and the British colonies
was upwards of £50,000 per annum. This was written is 1887, since,
the value of the granite exported from Aberdeen has increased. For the
twelve months ending on the 30th of September, 1894, the declared value
of the polished granite exported from Aberdeen to the United States of
America was £63, 938.
CHAPTER L.
_Fine Art, Music, and Painting._
SECTION I.
_Music._
IN the preceding volumes frequent references were made to the national
music, the music of schools, and teaching of music; and in this section
a concise account of the progress of music and Scottish musicians in
the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries will be presented.
The earliest collection of genuine Scottish melodies are those in the
Skene manuscript, which belong to the early part of the seventeenth
century. A translation of the manuscript was executed by George F.
Graham, edited by William Dauney,¹ who added a dissertation on Scottish
music, and published in 1838. The manuscript contains one hundred
and fifteen airs, of these eighty-five were published, eleven were
found to be duplicates, and the rest rejected as unintelligible or
uninteresting. In the collection there are forty-five Scottish tunes,
of which twenty-five were previously unknown.
¹ William Dauney was born in Aberdeen in 1800. He finished his
education at the University of Edinburgh, and was called to
the Scottish Bar in 1823. He found the Skene manuscript in
the Advocates’ Library, Edinburgh, and, as indicated above,
he devoted much attention and labour to it. In 1839 he left
Scotland for Demerara, where he became Solicitor General for
British Guiana. He died at Demerara in July, 1843.
The Celtic people had music from a very early period. In the last and
present centuries many collections of Highland tunes, laments, marches,
pibrochs, reels, and strathspeys have been published.
1. Until recently the dance music of Scotland mostly consisted of reels
and strathspeys. The reel is probably of Celtic origin, and possibly
indigenous. It was usually danced by two couples, and the figures
differed slightly according to the locality; the dancers stand face
to face, and when reeling describe a series of figures of eight. The
music consists of eight bar phrases, generally in common time, but
occasionally in 6‒4. The strathspey style of dance music derives its
name from the valley of the Spey, where it appears to have been first
practised. The word does not occur in connection with music till the
last century, but earlier than this there were tunes suited to the
strathspey style of dancing. The reel is a gliding dance, but the
strathspey abounds in quick motions which brings every muscle into play.
The sword dance, and Highland fling are well-known styles of dancing.
The first is performed thus:――Two swords are placed cross-wise,
which gives four equal spaces between the points and the handles;
the performer then begins to dance over the blade ends of the sword,
and dances over each of the four parts in succession; he next dances
heel and toe over the centre of the cross formed by the swords, and
closes by dancing in quick time over all the spaces between the swords.
In this dance the evolutions are very numerous, as they must all be
performed without touching the swords; when properly and gracefully
executed, it is a fine and beautiful ♦athletic exercise. The Highland
fling, of which there are many varieties, is danced to the music of the
strathspeys.¹
♦ “atheletic” replaced with “athletic”
¹ In a dissertation prefixed to “A collection of Highland
vocal airs, a few of the most lively reels, and some
specimens of bagpipe music,” published by the Rev. Patrick
Macdonald in 1781, Dr. Young says that――“at one time the
music of the reels and strathspeys over all Scotland was
played by the bagpipes, but at a later period Neil Gow
and his sons did much to promote the use of the violin in
playing Scottish dance music.... The Gow family, with the
famous Neil at their head, all showed great originality
in their tunes; ‘Caller Herrin’, by his son Nathaniel, has
deservedly taken its place among our local melodies since
Lady Nairne wrote her excellent words for it. But it is
to be regretted that by changing the characteristic names
of many of our old dance tunes, giving them the titles of
the leaders of fashion of the day, they have created much
uncertainty as to the age, and even the composition, of the
tunes themselves.”
Dancing has always been popular in Scotland, and I will
adduce an instance in the person of a Scottish clergyman,
a well-known and influential man in his time:――“I was very
fond of dancing, in which I was a great proficient, having
been taught at two different periods in the country, though
the manners were then so strict that I was not allowed to
exercise my talent at penny-weddings or any balls but those
of the dancing-school. Even this would have been denied me,
as it was to Robertson and Witherspoon and other clergymen’s
sons at that time, had it not been for the persuasion of
those aunts of mine, who had been bred in England, and for
some papers in the _Spectator_ which were pointed out to my
father, which seemed to convince him that dancing would make
me a more accomplished preacher if ever I had the honour to
mount the pulpit. My mother, too, who generally was right,
used her sway in this article of education. But I had not
the means of using this talent, of which I was not a little
vain, till luckily I was introduced to Madame Violante, an
Italian stage-dancer, who kept a much frequented school for
young ladies, but admitted no boys above eight years of age,
so that she wished very much for senior lads to dance with
her grown-up misses weekly at her practisings. I became a
favourite of this dancing-mistress, and attended her very
faithfully with two or three of my companions, and had my
choice of partners on all occasions, insomuch that I became
a great proficient in this branch at little or no expense.”
――_Autobiography of the Rev. Dr. Alexander Carlyle, Minister
of Inveresk_, pages 47‒8, 1860. He was a minister from 1750
to 1805.
The period from the Revolution of 1688 till past the middle of the
eighteenth century was a stirring one in music and song; yet much of
the music was not really new, for the writers of the songs, or those
who selected the tunes, usually adapted melodies which the people
knew and could sing; thus many of the old favourite airs got new names,
while others have been preserved by Jacobite verses, though their
earlier names are lost. The song on the Battle of Killiecrankie has the
honour of having a Latin translation. It is sung to a stirring Gaelic
bagpipe tune, which is doubtless older than the song. This tune seems
to have quickly spread, for it was found in a Northumbrian manuscript
of 1694, under the name of the Irish Gillicranky.
It has been alleged that Neil Gow transformed some of our vocal
melodies into dance tunes. “But the most that can be charged against
him is that he altered the old names of many tunes, calling them after
his patrons and patronesses, thus often rendering it doubtful whether
a tune was his own composition or belonging to an earlier time.”
Scotland has no great musicians and composers like those of Italy,
Germany, and France. Yet Scottish music is national, and within
a limited circle has its own characteristics. This has been long
recognised on the Continent. Its distinctive features mainly consist
in the charming tunes associated with the national songs, bagpipe
music, and violin playing. We have had notable vocalists, many eminent
pipers, excellent violin players, and numerous performers on other
instruments. It has been admitted that in the development of bagpipe
music the Scots are pre-eminent. In the development of the opera,
♦oratorio, and orchestra, the Scottish composers have not attained
a very high position.
♦ “oratario” replaced with “oratorio”
II. A brief account of noted Scottish musicians of the period is all
that I can attempt. Adam Craig was born in 1667. He was an excellent
violin player, a teacher, and composer. In 1730 he published a
Collection of Scots Tunes. He died at Edinburgh on the 3rd of September
1741.
William Macgibbon was born in 1695, and was a noted violinist and
composer. He published Six Sonatas for the German Flutes; and between
1740 and 1755 he compiled and edited three Collections of Scots Tunes,
of which three editions were issued. He died at Edinburgh on the 5th
of October 1756, and was interred in the Greyfriars Churchyard.
Robert Bremner was born about 1713. He acted for some time as a teacher
of singing, but in 1748 he became a music seller in Edinburgh. He was
the author of a number of works. His _Rudiments of Music_ was published
in 1756, and reached a third edition in 1763; his _Collection of Reels
and Country Dances_ appeared in 1761. He also published _Thoughts on
the Performance of Concert Music_, and other works. He died on the 12th
of May 1789.
John Riddell (of Glengarnock, Ayrshire,) was born on the 2nd of
September 1718, and was a composer and compiler of music. He composed
a number of strathspeys and reels, and several other pieces. Burns
adapted Riddell’s tune, “Finlayston House,” to his fine song, “Fate
gave the word, the arrow sped,” for insertion in Johnson’s _Musical
Museum_. In 1776 he published two books of reels, etc. Some of his
reels were popular, such as “The Merry Lads of Ayr.”
Francis Peacock was born in 1723, and was a dancing master in Aberdeen.
In 1776 he published _Fifty Favourite Scotch Airs for a Violin, German
Flute, and Violincello_; in 1805 he issued _Sketches relative to the
History and Theory, but more especially to the Practice of Dancing,
as a necessary accomplishment to the Youth of both Sexes_. He died in
Aberdeen on the 26th of June 1807, at the advanced age of eighty-four.
He bequeathed a sum of money to the charitable institutions of Aberdeen.
Daniel Dow was born in 1732, a native of Perthshire. He was a popular
teacher of music, and an excellent composer of strathspeys and reels.
He was the author of _Twenty Minuets and Sixteen Reels_, which appeared
in 1775; and also of _Ancient Scots Music for the Violin_. Many of
his tunes were highly esteemed, such as “Athole House,” “Monymusk,”
“The Brig o’ Perth,” “The Duchess of Gordon,” and others. From 1765
he resided in Edinburgh, where he died on the 20th of January 1783.
John Holden was born about 1733. He was the author of a remarkable
_Essay towards a Rational System of Music_, published at Glasgow
in 1770, which reached a third edition in 1807. He also issued a
_Collection of Church Music_ in 1766.
Neil Gow was born at Inver, Dunkeld, on the 22nd of March 1727. He
began to play the violin when a boy, and was mainly self-taught; he
received a few lessons from John Cameron, a violin player and teacher
of music. He soon became distinguished as a violin player, especially
of strathspeys and reels. He was exceedingly popular; for many years
his service was in great request at fashionable assemblies and balls,
and he was ably assisted on the violincello by his brother Donald. In
short, Neil became a national favourite. As a performer on the violin
of Scottish dance music he has perhaps never been excelled by any of
his countrymen. In a notice which appeared in the _Scots Magazine_ in
1809, by one who knew Neil, and had often heard his stirring strains,
describes his style thus:――“His bow-hand as a suitable instrument of
his genius was uncommonly powerful, and when the note produced by the
up-bow was often feeble and indistinct in other hands, it was struck
in his playing with a strength and certainty which never failed to
surprise and delight skilful hearers.... We may add, the effect of
the sudden shout with which he frequently accompanied his playing in
the quick tunes, and which seemed instantly to electrify the dancers,
inspiring them with new life and energy, and rousing the spirits of the
most inanimate.”
He composed seventy tunes, chiefly reels and strathspeys, many of which
are much admired. He died at Inver on the 1st of March, 1809, in the
eightieth year of his age. His fame still lives in the national mind,
and is commemorated in the popular song:――
“Ye a’ hae heard o’ famous Neil,
The man that played the fiddle weel.”
He had four sons, all of whom were violinists, and composed music.
William was a good violin player, and composed a few strathspeys and
reels. He died in 1791. Andrew wrote some good reels and strathspeys.
He died in 1803. John composed a considerable number of tunes, mostly
strathspeys and reels. He died in London on the 22nd of November 1826.
Nathaniel, the youngest son, was born at Inver on the 28th of May
1766, and was the most distinguished of the family. He studied under
his father and Robert Mackintosh, and subsequently under Alexander
M‘Glashan. He composed one hundred and thirty tunes, embracing
strathspeys, reels, jigs, and other pieces. He edited and published
nineteen _Collections_, including his own compositions and arrangements,
and those of his father and his brothers. He was a musician of great
abilities and remarkable industry. He died at Edinburgh on the 19th of
January 1831.
Alexander M‘Glashan was born in Edinburgh in 1740. He was a violin
player, composer, and teacher of music. In 1778 he published several
collections of strathspeys and airs. He gave many concerts; and was a
good teacher. He died at Edinburgh in 1797.
Robert Mackintosh was born in 1745. He was a noted violinist and
teacher, and a composer of dance music. In 1793 he issued a work
in four books, the first consisting of minuets, airs, gavottes, and
reels; the second containing sixty-eight new reels, strathspeys, and
quick steps, etc.; the third embracing sixty-eight new reels, and
forty old reels for the violin and piano; and the fourth comprised new
strathspeys and reels, and some old reels for the piano. Many of his
strathspeys and other tunes were greatly admired. As a performer on the
violin he was very highly esteemed. He died at London in 1807. His son
Abraham, born on the 18th of June 1769, also attained distinction as a
composer of reels and strathspeys.
William Marshall was born in Fochabers on the 27th of December 1748. He
was engaged as house steward and butler to the Duke of Gordon till 1790,
and subsequently he acted as factor to the Duke till 1817. He was a
famous violin player, and an able and assiduous composer. Two hundred
and eighty-seven of his tunes has been published, in three collections,
the first of which appeared in 1793, containing thirty-six tunes; the
second in 1822, embracing one hundred and seventy tunes; and the third
in 1847. Many of his strathspeys and reels were very spirited and
highly popular, such as his strathspeys――“Craigellachie Bridge,” “The
Marquis of Huntly,” “Forglen House,” and many others. He contributed
much to advance violin music in Scotland. He died on the 29th of May
1833, in his seventy-fifth year.
Robert Petrie was born in Kirkmichael, Perthshire, in 1767. He was
a violin player, a composer, and teacher of music. He published four
collections of dance music. He played at many concerts and balls; and
some of his strathspeys and airs were popular. He died in 1830.
Captain Simon Fraser (of Ardachie), was born in 1773. He was a violin
player and composer of music. He edited a large and interesting
collection of Gaelic airs published in 1816, many of which were
traditionally associated with Prince Charles, and also embraced a
number of Fraser’s own compositions. This work was republished in 1884.
He rescued from oblivion many fine native airs, and it is said that a
number of the tunes in the collection were composed by his grandfather.
He died in 1852.
John Gunn was born in Edinburgh in 1765. He was a player and teacher
of the violincello and flute, and the author of the following
works:――_Forty Scottish Airs arranged for the flute, violin, and
violincello_; _The Theory and Practice of Fingering the violincello,
with a Dissertation on Stringed Instruments_; _The Art of Playing
the German Flute, on New Principles_; in 1807 his work entitled,
_An Historical Inquiry respecting the Performance on the Harp in the
Highlands of Scotland from the earliest times until it was discontinued
about the year 1754_, was published. He died in 1824. His wife, Annie
Young, was an accomplished player on the piano and teacher of music.
She published _An Introduction to Music_, illustrated by musical games,
with accompanying apparatus familiarly and popularly explained, of
which a second edition appeared in 1820, and a third in 1827. She died
at Edinburgh on the 25th of February 1826.
James Davie was born in 1783, and attained distinction as a flute
player, composer, and teacher of music. He resided at Aberdeen and
played in the orchestra of the theatre. His works consist of――_A
Collection of Psalmody_; _An Introduction to the Art of Singing_; _The
Vocal Harmonist_; and the _Caledonian Repository_, a collection of
strathspeys, reels, etc., which extends to six books, and is a valuable
and interesting work. He died at Aberdeen on the 19th of November 1857.
George Hogarth was born at Carfral Mill, Lauderdale, 1783, and was
educated for the law. He studied music, and became a musicographer and
musical critic. He married a daughter of George Thomson, the friend
and correspondent of Burns. In 1830 he became a contributor to the
_Harmonicon_; and in 1834 he settled in London, and was appointed
musical critic of the _Morning Chronicle_. From 1846 to 1866 he was
musical critic of the _Daily News_. In 1835 he issued a volume under
the title of _Musical History, Biography, and Criticism_, which was
enlarged and republished in 1838, in two volumes. The same year, his
_Memoirs of the Musical Drama_, in two volumes, appeared. His style of
criticism was considerate and candid. His musical compositions consist
of a few glees and songs. He died in London on the 12th of February
1870, at the advanced age of eighty-seven.
George F. Graham was born in Edinburgh on the 28th of December, 1789,
and educated at the High School and University of Edinburgh. He studied
music, and became a musicographer, critic, and composer. In 1815 he
acted as joint-secretary with George Hogarth of the Edinburgh Musical
Festival, and the following year he issued an account of the Festival,
to which he added some observations on music. He sojourned some time
in Italy to extend his knowledge of music. He edited _Wood’s Songs
of Scotland_, issued in 1848‒49, and republished in 1887. He wrote
the article “Music” for the seventh edition of the _Encyclopædia
Britannica_, which was republished separately in 1838, with the
addition of “An Essay on the Theory and Practice of Composition.”
He also wrote the article “Organ” for the eighth edition of the
_Encyclopædia Britannica_. He contributed a number of articles to
musical and literary journals which tended to improve the public taste.
He composed a few vocal tunes which were much admired. He died at
Edinburgh on the 12th of March, 1867.
Finlay Dun was born in Aberdeen on the 24th of February, 1795. He was
an able teacher of music, and a vocal composer. In 1829 he issued _A
Collection of Solfeggios for Daily Vocal Exercise_, which was well
received. In conjunction with John Thomson he edited _Paterson’s Vocal
Melodies of Scotland_, which were begun in 1837. He also issued in 1848
a Gaelic collection, entitled _Orain na’h Albain_. He died at Edinburgh
on the 28th of November, 1853.
John Sinclair was born in Edinburgh in 1790. He was a celebrated singer
and a vocal composer. His voice was very melodious and sweet. As a
composer he is remembered by his songs, “The Bonnie Breast Knots,” “The
Mountain Maid,” and others. He died at Margate on the 23rd of September,
1857.
John Templeton was born at Riccarton, Kilmarnock, on 30th of July, 1802.
He was a famous tenor singer. His voice was rich and melodious, and of
pretty wide compass. From 1833 to 1836 he sang with the renowned Madame
Malibran, who preferred him to any other tenor singer. In 1846 he
commenced his first tour as a public performer, and was very successful
in this country and in America. He retired from public life in 1852,
and died in the vicinity of London on the 2nd July, 1886. He had four
brothers, all remarkable for their vocal gifts.
Isabella M. Scott was born in Edinburgh in 1786. She was a vocal singer
and composer. In 1818 she married the well-known artist, Patrick Gibson.
She composed the music to Lord Byron’s fine song, “Lochnagar,” and a
number of Psalm tunes. She died at Edinburgh on the 28th of November,
1838.
Mary Anne Paton was born in Edinburgh in 1802. She was a celebrated
and highly gifted singer. Her voice was powerful, sweet, and very
expressive. In 1826 Weber first visited London, bringing with him his
opera, “Oberon,” which was specially written for the English stage,
and was produced at Covent Garden under his own eye. On this historic
occasion Mary A. Paton sang her part in a style which delighted the
heart of the composer, and enraptured the crowded audience. In 1824
she married Lord William Pitt Lennox, from whom she obtained a divorce
in 1831. Subsequently she married Joseph Wood, a vocalist. In 1834‒36
she visited the United States of America, and sang in London in 1837
and 1844. She retired in 1845, and resided abroad with her husband from
1854 till 1863. She died at Wakefield on the 28th of July, 1864.
David Kennedy was born in Perth on the 15th of April, 1825. He was
a famous singer, and a very popular concert-giver. With his highly
gifted family, he travelled over many parts of the globe in his
musical tours, and everywhere was well received. In America, Australia,
New Zealand, and elsewhere, they attracted large and enthusiastic
audiences. His eldest son David was born in 1849. He was an excellent
tenor singer, and wrote an account of their musical tours. He died at
Pietermaritzburg on the 5th of December, 1885. James was born in 1856,
and was a fine baritone singer. His daughter Helen was a good soprano
singer. Marjory was a sweet and expressive contralto singer. His two
younger daughters, Kate and Lizzie, were both charming singers. It is
very sad to relate that three of those gifted singers, James, Kate, and
Lizzie perished in the fire which consumed the Opera House of Nice on
the 23rd of March, 1881. David himself, the head of the family, died at
Ontario, Canada, on the 12th of October, 1886. But his son, Robert, an
able tenor singer, has been giving concerts alone since 1892.
Alexander Mackenzie was born in Montrose in 1819. He was an excellent
violinist. From 1846 he was leader at the Theatre Royal, Edinburgh. He
issued _The Dance Music of Scotland_; and composed a few airs for songs.
He died at Edinburgh on the 2nd of October, 1857.
Angus Mackay was born in 1813. He was piper to Her Majesty the Queen.
In 1838 he published a _Collection of Sixty Pibrochs_, which are very
highly esteemed. He was accidentally drowned in the river Nith on the
21st of March, 1859.
Alexander M‘Donald, a native of Badenoch, was a famous piper and
composer. For a number of years he was piper to the late Earl of Fife.
He gained a valuable gold medal at one of the competitions. He was one
of the best pipers in Scotland. He died at Aberlour House, Banffshire,
in 1884.
William Ross was born in 1815, a native of Ross-shire. In 1839 he
joined the 42nd Regiment, and continued in the service till 1854,
when upon the recommendation of the late Cluny Macpherson, he was
appointed piper to Her Majesty the Queen. In 1876 he published a large
_Collection of Pipe Music_, embracing forty-one piobaireachds and four
hundred and thirty-seven marches, strathspeys, and reels, which was
prefaced by an admirable essay on The Bagpipe and its Music, composed
by the late Dr. Norman Macleod. The work was dedicated to the Queen,
and a second edition was issued in 1885. Ross died in August 1891.
James S. Robertson (of Edradynate, Perthshire), was born on the 15th
of March, 1823. He was educated for the legal profession, and in 1846
he was admitted a member of the Society of Writers to the Signet. When
young he became a warm admirer of Highland music. He was instructed by
Duncan M‘Kercher, John M‘Alpine, and other musicians. He took an active
part in instituting the Edinburgh Highland Reel and Strathspey Society
in 1881, of which he was President. He edited _The Athole Collection of
Reels, Strathspeys, etc._, which appeared in 1884, in two volumes, one
of the largest collections ever published in Scotland.
William R. Broomfield was born in Inveraray on the 14th of October,
1826. He was a writer on music, and a composer. He edited and arranged
a _Collection of National Songs_ in four-part harmony, which was
published in 1848‒52. His very useful _Manual of Harmony_ appeared in
1857; and _The Principles of Ancient and Modern Music_ was published in
1863. He also composed a number of psalm tunes. He was a very quiet and
unassuming man. He died in Aberdeen on the 17th of October, 1888, where
in 1889 a monument was erected to his memory with one of his popular
tunes――“St. Kilda” carved upon it.
James Walker was born in Aberdeen on the 6th of July, 1827, a son of
the late William Walker, merchant. He received a liberal education,
and always took a keen interest in music and art. In many ways he
endeavoured to diffuse a higher taste for music. His work entitled
_Just Intonation in Song and Speech_ was printed at Aberdeen in
1876 for private circulation, a valuable and instructive volume. He
had formed a valuable collection of musical books and manuscripts,
comprising five hundred volumes, which he presented to the Public
Free Library of Aberdeen. Personally, he was a quiet, genial, and
kind-hearted man. He died in Aberdeen on the 29th of January, 1895.
III. In psalmody and church music there has been a remarkable progress
during the period under review. John M‘Lachlan was born in Glasgow in
1740. In 1776 he published _The Precentor, with a Collection of Psalm
Tunes_, which reached a sixth edition in 1799. In 1779 he issued an
_Easy Introduction to Church Music_, which was republished in 1782. He
died at Glasgow in 1791.
John Sievewright was born in 1771, he was a teacher of music, and
published a _Collection of Church Tunes and Anthems_. He died at Old
Meldrum, Aberdeenshire, in 1846. Neil Dougall was born in Greenock on
the 9th of December, 1776. He was a teacher of music, and a composer
of psalmody. He composed nearly one hundred psalm and hymn tunes,
and anthems. He died on the 1st of October, 1862. James Farquharson
was born in 1789. He was a composer and teacher of music; and in 1824
he published a _Collection of Sacred Music_, which contained a few
original tunes. Charles Hutcheson was born in 1792. In 1832 he issued
a volume entitled _Christian Vespers_, containing tunes in three and
four parts, and an _Introductory Essay on Church Music_. Some of his
tunes are fine. He died in Glasgow on the 20th of January, 1860.
Robert A. Smith was born on the 16th of November, 1780. He was
originally a weaver, but assiduously studied music, and attained
distinction as a singer, teacher, compiler, and composer. In 1807
he was appointed precentor at the Abbey Church of Paisley; and in
1823 choirmaster at St. George’s Parish Church, Edinburgh. He was
gifted with a sweet voice, a fine sense of melody, and a pretty clear
knowledge of harmony. He was very industrious, and his works are
numerous. In 1810 he issued _Devotional Music, Original and Selected_;
in 1819 his _Anthems in Four Vocal Parts_; in 1820 _Sacred Harmony_,
for the use of St. George’s Church, Edinburgh: and other three of
his _Collections of Psalmody_ appeared in 1825, 1828, and 1829. He
also composed a considerable number of single pieces: and edited
the _Scottish Minstrel_, in six volumes, published in 1821‒24, which
contained some of his own songs; and the _Irish Minstrel_ issued in
1825. He died in Edinburgh on the 3rd of January, 1829. In a notice of
his death, George Hogarth in the _Edinburgh Courant_ wrote:――“Smith was
a musician of sterling talent. His merits have been long recognised....
His compositions partake of the character of his mind: they are tender
and generally tinged with melancholy, simple and unpretending, and
always graceful and unaffectedly elegant.... He had the admirable good
sense to know how far he could safely penetrate into the depths of
counterpoint and modulation without losing his way, and accordingly his
music is entirely free from that scientific pedantry which forms the
prevailing vice of the modern English school.”
William Smith was born in 1803. He was a musician of ability and
refined taste. His _People’s Tune Book_ was published in 1844, a work
of much merit. He died at Newtyle on the 31st of August, 1878.
Thomas L. Hately was born at Greenlaw, Berwickshire, on the 26th of
September, 1815. In 1844 he was appointed precentor to the Free Church
Assembly. He edited a collection of tunes entitled _The Free Church
Psalmody_, which appeared in 1845; and _Scottish Psalmody_, issued
in 1852. He also published _Historical Lectures on Psalmody_, with
illustrations; and contributed a number of articles on music to various
journals. He died at Edinburgh on the 22nd of March, 1867.
John Campbell was born in Paisley on the 2nd of February, 1807. He
was a teacher of music and composer. In 1847 he published _The Sacred
Psaltery_, comprising about fifty tunes, mostly original, and his
anthem, “Rejoice in the Lord.” He also edited a _Collection of Anthems,
Choruses, and Sanctuses_. He died in Glasgow on the 7th of October,
1860.
In the present century Hymn Books have been introduced in the
Presbyterian Churches of Scotland. Much improvement has been effected
in the rendering of church music by the organisation and special
training of choirs; and the introduction of organs. The question
whether organs should be used in the service of Presbyterian
and Congregational Churches, has been practically settled in the
affirmative.
A Chair of Music was instituted in the University of Edinburgh in 1839,
and was endowed by General Reid. He was born at Straloch, Perthshire,
on the 13th February, 1720, and was himself an amateur musician. He
published a _Set of Minuets and Marches_, containing the famous air,
“In the Garb of Old Gaul,” and _Six Solos for a German Flute or Violin_.
He died in London on the 6th of February, 1807. An annual concert is
given on the 13th of February――the General’s birthday――when one of his
tunes must be performed. John Thomson was the first Professor of the
new Chair. He was born at Sprouston on the 28th of October, 1805. He
conducted the first Reid Concert, given in Edinburgh on the 13th of
February, 1841. He composed three operas and a number of other pieces.
He died in Edinburgh on the 6th of May, 1841.
William Ewing was born in Partick, Glasgow, on the 20th of May, 1788.
He was an enthusiastic collector of music, and in the course of his
long life had accumulated a valuable library of musical and other works.
He bequeathed the larger portion of his musical library to Anderson’s
College, Glasgow, with a sum of £1000 for maintaining it; the remainder
was left to the University of Glasgow. In 1866 he founded a Lectureship
on Music in connection with Anderson’s College. He died in Glasgow on
the 12th of May, 1874, at the advanced age of eighty-six.
During the last sixty years many musical associations, societies, and
choral unions have been instituted to promote the culture of music, and
diffuse a higher appreciation of it among the people. Music touches the
soul and heart of humanity more effectively than any other art. Let us
hope that in the future it will be taught even more universally than in
the past.
SECTION II.
_Painting._
Such fragments of art as have been preserved from early times onward
were noticed in preceding volumes, and it was observed that Jamesone
was the first Scottish painter who attained a reputation. During the
eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, however, the conditions favourable
to the culture of art had arisen, mental philosophy was ably taught,
a taste for literature diffused, science advanced, manufactures and
commerce rapidly developed, and the wealth of the nation immensely
increased. This march forward was followed by art at some distance
in the rearward. I shall, therefore, present a brief account of the
progress of painting and the diffusion of taste in Scotland.
William Aikman was born in 1682, near Arbroath. He studied law for some
time, but his bent for painting led him to change his aim. He went to
Italy, where he studied three years. When he returned to Scotland he
painted portraits, in which he excelled, and also tried his hand in
historic painting. He died in 1731 in London.
Allan Ramsay, the painter, was a son of the distinguished Allan Ramsay,
the poet, and was born in Edinburgh in 1713. It is said that he began
to sketch at the age of twelve, and when in his twenty-third year he
went to Rome, where he studied for three years. On returning home he
painted the portrait of his father, and those of President Forbes and
Archibald Campbell, Duke of Argyll.
Afterwards he removed to London, and soon found friends and patrons.
The Earl of Bridgewater patronised him, and Lord Bute introduced him
to the Prince of Wales, whose portrait he painted in full length.
But the portrait which brought Ramsay almost immediately into notice
was a whole-length one of Bute himself. It was a well-executed work.
His admiration of the style of the great Italian masters brought down
upon him the wrath of Hogarth and the satire of ♦Churchill; the former
attempted to pun him under the name of “Ram’s-eye,” and also satirised
him in “The Battle of the Pictures,” impressed with the image and cross
of St. Andrew, while the latter coupled him and his father in these
disparaging lines:――
“Thence came the Ramsays, men of worthy note,
Of whom one paints as well’s the other wrote!”¹
Ramsay cared little for the satire of either the painter or the poet,
and his father’s fame could well take care of itself.
♦ “Churchhill” replaced with “Churchill”
¹ “The feuds which in those days distracted the united
commonwealth of letters and art may be traced in many a
bitter verse, satiric print, and sarcastic memorandum.”
――Cunningham’s _Lives of British Painters_, Volume V.,
page 37.
In spite of opposition, Ramsay prospered exceedingly in his profession.
His skill in art, learning, and good sense, obtained for him ample
employment. His pencil was called into requisition for ceilings and
walls, as well as portraits; and he employed several workmen, who
furnished bodies while he painted the heads. He passed a second time
to Rome and stayed several months, and also visited Edinburgh. When
his father died, in 1757, he settled a pension on his unmarried sister,
Janet Ramsay, who lived till 1804. In short, before Ramsay became a
favourite with the King, he had accumulated an independent fortune
amounting to about £40,000.
After George III. ascended the throne, court favour smiled freely
upon Ramsay. In 1767 he was appointed portrait-painter to the court,
which brought him a great increase of work, and he had to engage five
assistants. There was such a strong desire to have portraits by him,
that he was glad to employ any one to aid in advancing his pictures;
but he always painted the head with his own hands. As the king often
presented portraits of himself and the queen to his ambassadors and
governors of colonies, Ramsay had a busy time manufacturing these royal
effigies.¹
¹ “It often happened that the king desired the painter to
convey his easel and canvas to the royal dining-room, that
he might observe his progress and have the pleasure of his
conversation. The painter, a bold, spirited, well-informed
man, perfectly conversant with the state of the various
kingdoms of Europe, spoke freely, and without disguise; and
he was the only person about the court, save the domestics,
who could speak German; the queen, more especially, found it
an agreeable variety to chat with him in her native language.
Ramsay, in short, was a great favourite. When the king had
finished his usual allowance of boiled mutton and turnips,
he would rise and say, ‘Now, Ramsay, sit down in my place
and take your dinner.’ This partiality produced, of course,
abundance of enemies; but they could do him no harm――for
he was not dependent upon royal favour; and the extent of
his fortune was, at least, as well known, and as sincerely
envied, as either his accomplishments or his courtly success.
He had many high friends: Lord Bute, the Duke of Newcastle,
Lord Bath, Lord Chesterfield, and the Duke of Richmond, in
particular, were frequently at his house, and that more, it
was said, on matters connected with politics than painting.
Ramsay loved and enjoyed this, for politics were his delight;
he wrote with great vigour and facility, and dipped his
pen freely in the public controversies of those times.
He was known to be the author of many ingenious pieces on
history, politics, and criticism, signed ‘Investigator,’
and since collected in a volume.... He corresponded, too,
with Voltaire and Rousseau; both of whom he had visited
when abroad; and his letters are said to have been elegant
and witty. Ramsay, in short, led the life of an elegant,
accomplished man of the world, and public favourite; the
companion of the first of his day, and the admitted ornament
of the highest societies.”――Cunningham’s _Lives of British
Painters_, Volume V., pages 39‒40.
When he was intently engaged on the first portrait of Queen Charlotte,
all the crown jewels and regalia were sent to him; and he said that
such a mass of jewels and gold deserved a guard, and accordingly
sentinels were posted, day and night, around his house. He resided on
the west side of Harley Street, and his studio consisted of a set of
coachmen’s rooms and haylofts gutted, and formed into one long gallery.
Unfortunately, he sustained a serious accident, which dislocated his
right arm in so severe a way that he never fully recovered from its
effects. Feeling his constitution shaken, and finding himself disabled,
he left his work in Reniagle’s hands――one of his own pupils, and went
to Italy, where he resided for several years. But he never regained his
strength, and died in August, 1784.
In his own art, “his execution was neat, careful, and finished; but
the freedom of his pencilling never reached the character of boldness:
the placid and the contemplative were his element, energy he never even
attempted; and his colouring seldom deserted the regions of the pale
and the grey.”¹
¹ _Lives of British Painters_, by Cunningham, Volume V.,
pages 44.
Alexander Runciman was born in Edinburgh in 1736, a son of an architect;
and it was reported that he began to make drawings at an early age.
When fourteen years of age, he was placed in the studio of John and
Robert Norris, the former of whom was a landscape painter of some note
in his time. He applied himself earnestly to the art, and in 1755 he
commenced on his own account as a landscape painter. He did not succeed,
however, in this branch; although many praised his paintings and
sketches, yet few purchased any of them; nevertheless, he worked hard,
and hoped that his hour of fame would come. In 1766, he went to Rome
with the object of improving his powers by a study of the great works
in the ancient city. He remained in Rome for five years, and practised
his hand and eye in drawing from the antique, copying the works of
the great masters, and studying the historic paintings in the Italian
galleries.
At this time, as indicated in preceding chapters, the national spirit
was rapidly recovering from the effects of the Rising of 1746, and
resuming its energy in every direction; thus associations for the
promotion of the fine arts began to be formed, and, in 1760, an academy
was established in Edinburgh. While in 1753 Robert and Andrew Foulis,
of Glasgow, had established in that city an academy of fine arts,
in which engraving, modelling, and drawing were taught; and in which
specimens of antique art were collected, and aspiring youths invited
to come there and study free of all expense. Of course, an institution
of this kind could hardly continue long; but for a time its influence
was attractive and exceedingly beneficial.
When Runciman returned from Rome in 1771, he was solicited to become
the head of the new academy in Edinburgh, at a salary of £120 per
annum. He accepted the post, and commenced his task as a teacher.
He was very fond of historic painting, and submitted the design of a
grand national work to Sir John Clerk, namely, to embellish the hall
at Penicuik with a series of paintings from Ossian. Sir John at once
agreed to this. But, when it became publicly known that Penicuik was to
be adorned with a series of paintings from Ossian’s poems, and that the
hall was to be called Ossian’s hall, the mirth and scorn of those who
disbelieved in the authenticity of the poems was loud and unbounded.
But the artist worked on, although it involved much bodily pain, as he
had to lie upon his back while engaged on the ceiling of the hall, and
his health began to fail; yet, he bravely pushed on and finished this
great and romantic undertaking.
The work consists of twelve principal paintings, representing some of
the finest passages in the poems; and at the time of its execution it
was hailed as an original and national work. Although it was defective
in several essential points, still it was entitled to be ranked with
compositions of the epic order. He produced various other paintings,
but the above was his greatest effort. For years his health had been
failing; and on the 21st of October, 1785, he dropped down at the door
of his lodgings, and expired, in the forty-ninth year of his age.
Touching his merits as an artist, there are different opinions. He
sometimes violated the recognised rules of art in drawing and in other
particulars; nevertheless, most of his efforts bear traces of real
artistic genius. Brown, his pupil and friend, an able artist himself,
says:――“His fancy was fertile; his discernment of character keen;
his taste truly elegant; and his conceptions always great. Though his
genius seems to be best suited to the grand and serious, yet many of
his works amply prove that he could move with equal success in the
less elevated line of the gay and the pleasing. His chief excellence
was in composition, the noblest part of the art, in which it is
doubtful whether he had any living superior. With regard to the truth,
the harmony, the richness, and the gravity of colouring――that style,
in short, which is the peculiar characteristic of the ancient Venetian,
and the direct contrast of the modern English school, he was unrivalled.
His works, it must be granted, like all those of the present time, were
far from being perfect.”
David Allan was born in Alloa, on 13th of February, 1744. He received
the rudiments of education in the parish school, and early manifested
a bent for drawing; so it was resolved to send him to the new academy
of Glasgow, and in February, 1755, he was apprenticed to Robert Foulis,
to learn the art of drawing, painting, and engraving. He applied
himself diligently to his work, and made good progress. He always spoke
gratefully of the kindness of Robert and Andrew Foulis; and after his
own reputation had risen, and their fortunes from speculation in art
had sunk, he did all that he could to assist them.
In 1764, he left the academy of Glasgow and returned to his father’s
house. It was then agreed among his friends that he should be sent
to Rome to prosecute the study of art; accordingly, in the summer of
1764, he started, with hope glowing in his breast, and various letters
of credit and introduction. He resided in Rome eleven years. When
receiving instruction, he first gained a silver medal for skill in
drawing; and next the gold medal of the academy of St. Luke, for the
best historic composition; he was the second Scotsman found worthy of
such an honour, Gavin Hamilton being the first.
The picture which gained him this prize is one of much merit, and
excels everything else in the same style which Allan ever produced.
The subject of the picture is the old dream of the “Origin of painting,
or the Corinthian maid drawing the shadow of her lover.” Of this
small picture it has been said: “There is a happy elegance and serene
grace about the group which have seldom been surpassed, and I have
heard Wilkie praise it as one of the best told stories that colour
and canvas ever united to relate.”¹ While in Rome he produced several
other pictures, and made four humourous sketches of Rome during the
Saturnalia of the Carnival. But the paintings of the rustic manners of
his own native land are the best of his many efforts.
¹ _Lives of British Painters_, by Cunningham, Volume VI.,
page 27.
Having returned home, he settled in Edinburgh. In 1786 he was
appointed to the mastership of the Academy in Edinburgh, in succession
to Runciman. He held this position for ten years, and found leisure to
plan and execute a work which he had contemplated in early life. This
was an edition of Allan Ramsay’s _Gentle Shepherd_, illustrated with
landscapes and groups of characters copied from the scenes where the
drama was laid. With this object he visited the district and every hill,
dale, stream, and cottage, which could be admitted into the landscape
of the poem. He copied whatever appeared suitable, admitted freely
the faces of the old men and women into his sketches, and used them
afterwards in his finished drawings. His finished drawings numbered
twelve, but they are of unequal merit. Those in which age is depicted
have most merit. Although he was not in all his delineations quite
successful in catching the scenes of the poem, yet in his cottage
scenes he has seldom been surpassed.
Touching the designs, and the way in which the plates were prepared
for the work, he says:――“I have engraved them in the manner called
_ognatmenta_――a late invention which has been brought to great
perfection by Mr. Paul Smedly. A painter finds his advantage in this
method, in which the pencil may be associated with the graver. It
will be easily seen that I am not a master in the mechanical part of
this art, but my chief intention was not to offer smooth and expensive
engraving, but expressive characters and designs. How far I have
succeeded it does not become me to say.” He was right; the engraving
is rough, quite unlike the smooth work produced now, still it is full
of nature, which compensates for many defects. The poem associated with
its illustrations was beautifully printed, and appeared in 1788; it
was one of the first works of the kind produced in Scotland, and it
rendered Allan popular.
His mind teemed with varied subjects――historic and domestic――but his
homely subjects are the most interesting. The more important of these
were “The Highland Dance” and “The Scotch Wedding,” that is, the “Penny
Wedding.” The wedding is full of joy, quiet humour, and boisterous glee;
it was engraved and exhibited over Scotland, and few who saw it could
resist laughter. Such subjects, in whatever form presented, were for
long dear to the peasantry.
Burns had just commenced his career when Allan’s rustic pictures
began to attract public attention, and the poet was amongst the first
to perceive the characteristic merit of these pictures. When Burns
was writing his fine lyrics, the idea occurred to Mr. Thomson, the
proprietor of the work for which they were designed, that the hand
of Allan might be employed to illustrate some of the best scenes in
Scottish song. Accordingly, about twelve illustrative scenes were
produced, some of which embodied the images, serious and comic,
of Burns, and were exceedingly rich and expressive. Mr. Thomson
says――“Allan has just sketched a charming design for ‘Maggie Lauder.’
She is dancing with such spirit as to electrify the piper, who seems
to be almost dancing too, while he is playing with the most exquisite
glee.” The sketch “John Anderson my Jo” is also very good. These
and others of Allan’s designs were submitted to Burns. As the work
of illustration proceeded, Burns found opportunities of commending
the designs of the painter. He says in one of his letters――“‘Woo’d
and married an’ a’’ is admirable; the grouping is beyond praise. The
expression of the figures, conformable to the story of the ballad, is
absolutely faultless perfection.”¹
¹ Cunningham says:――“Allan’s merits as a painter are of a
limited nature; he neither excelled in fine drawing nor in
harmonious colouring, and grace and grandeur were beyond his
reach. He painted portraits which were chiefly remarkable
for a strong homely resemblance; he painted landscapes, but
these wanted light and air; and he attempted the historical,
but save in one instance, ‘The Corinthian Maid,’ all
his efforts in that way were failures. His genius lay in
expression, especially in grave humour and open drollery....
He is among the painters what Allan Ramsay is among poets
――a fellow of infinite humour, and excelling in all manner
of rustic drollery, but deficient in fine sensibility of
conception, and little acquainted with lofty emotion or
high imagination.”――_Lives of British Painters_, Volume VI.,
page 48.
The reputation which Allan attained from these works soothed his
declining years, for his physical strength was never great, and in
his later years he was afflicted with dropsy and asthma, and he died
in August, 1796, in the fifty-third year of his age.
A number of other painters of this period may be briefly mentioned.
Gavin Hamilton was a native of Lanarkshire, and attained some
distinction. He resided in Rome, and executed pictures which were
exact and graceful, but rather cold; he died in 1797. John Donaldson
was born in Edinburgh in 1737, and was a distinguished miniature
portrait-painter. In 1765 and again in 1768 he gained the prizes
given by the Society for the Encouragement of the Arts, etc., for the
best pictures in enamel. He painted a portrait of Hume, which greatly
pleased the renowned philosopher, who said: “It is the best likeness
that has been done for me.” Some of his etchings were also admired; he
died in 1801. John Brown was born in Edinburgh in 1752. He was notable
for pencil-drawings, and some of his small portraits were meritorious;
he died in 1787. Archibald Skirving was a native of Haddington, and
born in 1749. He studied for some time in Italy, and mainly devoted his
attention to the study of portraits in crayon; he died in 1819. John
Bogle was born in Glasgow. He excelled in painting miniature portraits,
and loved to paint the heads of ladies, which he executed finely and
gracefully; he died in 1804. Alexander Nasmyth was born in Edinburgh
on the 9th of September, 1758. He was among the first Scotsmen who
attracted some notice in landscape paintings. He studied two years
in Italy, devoting his attention to the old masters, and practising
landscape-sketching. On returning to Edinburgh he recommenced
portrait-painting, in which he was very successful. He painted the
well-known portrait of Burns, which has been often engraved. From 1793
he mainly directed his attention to landscape and scene-painting, in
which he attained considerable success; he died in 1840. Personally he
was highly esteemed by a wide circle of friends.
Sir Henry Raeburn was born on the 1st of March, 1756, at Stockbridge,
Edinburgh, the son of a manufacturer, but he lost both his parents when
only six years of age. He had the good fortune, however, to be placed
in Heriot’s School, where he was well educated. At the age of fifteen
he was apprenticed to a goldsmith in Edinburgh, and he soon began to
draw caricatures of his companions in the shop. At length he tried
his hand in painting miniature portraits. The goldsmith, his master,
was a mild and considerate man, and he praised these youthful efforts,
took him to see Martin’s pictures――an artist who produced portraits in
St. James Square――which greatly encouraged Raeburn. Indeed, his master
indulged him to the utmost limit, and the youth usually painted two
portraits a week, which brought him a considerable sum of money. At
last he made an arrangement with the goldsmith to have all his time
to himself by paying a certain sum of money for the remainder of his
apprenticeship.
His mind was developing, and he soon formed a higher conception of art,
and aspired to produce more important works than miniature portraits.
He erected a small studio, began to try his hand on oil-portraits,
and succeeded better than he expected. His chief difficulties were the
preparation of the colours, putting them on the palette, and applying
them in accordance with the rules of art as taught in the academies. He
had all this to find out himself, which doubtless contributed to the
development of his peculiar genius.
He became known in Edinburgh, and commissions for his portraits
increased. In his twenty-second year he married a lady who brought
him a considerable fortune, and it was recorded that his profession
was yielding him an income more than equal to his wants; thus he was
regarded as a man whom genius and fortune had united to raise.
But he was well aware that he had still much to learn in his art, and
resolved to improve himself by a study of the best models. Accordingly,
accompanied by his wife, he proceeded to Rome, where he studied and
worked for two years. He returned to Scotland in 1787, and soon had
his hands full of work. He was then in his thirty-first year, in good
health and high spirits, with a gallery worthy of being seen by people
of taste and rank, and to crown all, he was blessed with children and
domestic happiness. Thus he was in the very best circumstances for
producing quality and quantity of work.
For many years he usually had three or four sitters a-day, and to these
he gave an hour and a-half each. He rarely kept a sitter more than two
hours, unless the person happened to be gifted with uncommon talents,
which was frequently the case; then he was in his element, and never
failed to detain the party till the arrival of a new sitter indicated
that he must be gone. For a head size he commonly required four or five
sittings; but his power of mind and his faculty of discernment were
such that the first sitting rarely came to an end without his having
fairly grasped the character and disposition of the individual. He
never drew his heads or any part of the body with chalk, but at once
began with the brush. “The forehead, chin, nose, and mouth, were his
first touches. He always painted standing, and never used a stick for
resting his hand on; for such was his accuracy of eye and steadiness of
nerve that he could introduce the most delicate touches, or the utmost
mechanical regularity of line, without aid, or any other contrivance
than fair off-hand dexterity.”
The following detail of his mode of working is from one who knew him in
his early days, and sat to him after he had risen to fame:――“He spoke
a few words to me in his usual brief and kindly way, evidently to put
me into an agreeable mood; and then, having placed me in a chair on
a platform at the end of his painting room, in the posture required,
he set up his easel, beside me, with the canvas ready to receive the
colour. When he saw that all was right, he took his palette and his
brush, retreated back step by step, with his face towards me, till he
was nigh the other end of the room; he stood and studied a minute more,
then came up to the canvas, and, without looking at me, worked upon it
with colour for some time. Having done this, he retreated in the same
manner, studied my looks at that distance for about another minute,
then came hastily up to the canvas and painted a few minutes more. I
have sat to other artists; their way was different――they made a careful
outline in chalk, measured it with compasses, placed the canvas close
to me, and looked me almost without ceasing in the face, proceeded
to fill up the outline with colour. They succeeded best in the minute
detail――Raeburn best in the general result of the expression; they
obtained by means of a multitude of little touches, what he found by
broader masses; they gave more of the man, he gave most of the mind.”¹
¹ _Lives of British Painters_, by Cunningham, Volume VI.,
pages 217‒221.
Raeburn lived at a period which gave birth to many eminent Scotsmen,
and he painted portraits of a considerable number of them, a few of
which may be mentioned. He executed a full-length picture of Sir Walter
Scott, in which the resemblance to the great novelist is admirably
reproduced. His portrait of Dugald Stewart is much admired for its
striking likeness of the expression of the original; and also that
of Professor Playfair. It would be easy to form a long list, but
it is unnecessary; and I only add that most of the eminent names in
literature, science, law, and politics, in or connected with Edinburgh,
were amongst the sitters of this highly-gifted artist.
In the later years of his career honours flowed upon him. He was
elected a member of the Royal Academy of London in 1815; afterwards he
was chosen a member of the Imperial Academy of France; in 1817, he was
elected an honorary member of the Academy of the Fine Arts of New York;
and he was also admitted a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh,
which indicates a recognition of his well-known accomplishments outside
of his own profession.
When George IV. visited Edinburgh in 1822, Raeburn received the honour
of knighthood; and it is recorded that “in the opinion of all who
loved the arts, the honour of knighthood had never been more worthily
bestowed.” Soon after, his brother artists honoured him with a public
dinner in Edinburgh; and in replying to their expression of love and
esteem, he modestly said that “he was glad of their approbation, and
had tried to merit it; for he had never indulged in a mean or selfish
spirit towards any brother artist, nor had at any time withheld the
praise which was due to them when their works happened to be mentioned.”
In the summer of 1823, in the midst of his work, he was suddenly
attacked with a general decline of his strength; and after a week’s
illness, he died on the 8th of July, in the sixty-eighth year of his
age. In every respect he was a noble specimen of genius and humanity.
He was candid and modest, ever ready to lend a helping hand to merit
and genius in art. Throughout his life he quietly discharged all the
duties of a good citizen. In the words of one who knew him well――“His
varied knowledge, his agreeable manners, his numerous anecdotes, and
his general conversation, at once easy and unaffected, with now and
then a touch of humourous gaiety, made him a delightful companion;
he told a Scotch story with almost unrivalled effect; and did the
honours of a handsome house and elegant table with all the grace of a
high-bred gentleman.... First and last among all the children of art,
no one was ever more widely respected than Sir Henry Raeburn, and his
tall, handsome figure, and fine, open, manly countenance will not be
forgotten for many a day in the place which knew him.”
As a portrait painter, his merits are of the highest order. His
analytic grasp, imaginative and reproductive faculties have never been
surpassed by any Scottish artist. He aimed at elevation of style, and
brought out the mental qualities of his sitters; and by the unrivalled
powers of his own mind, he rose above the mere mechanical rules of
art and operated in the mental region. He thought that the distant
view which he took presented nature in its grandest expression, and he
seized the mental qualities and caught the ruling passion of the face
by reproducing the general result.
Andrew Robertson was born in Aberdeen in 1778, and has been sometimes
called the father of the improved style of miniature painting in this
country. He appeared in London in 1800, and his talents soon gained him
patronage. West, the President of the Royal Academy, assisted him, and
recommended him to George III., and in a short time he found himself
amply employed. He might have attained a higher position in art if he
had devoted himself exclusively to his profession; but he was a lover
of music, and occasionally played second violin to the famous Salaman.
His disposition was exceedingly benevolent, and he engaged in many
movements of a public character. He took an active part in establishing
the Scottish Asylum in London, and also in founding the Artists’
General Benevolent Institution. His own acts of public and private
benevolence were numberless, and he died universally respected and
beloved in 1846.
Sir David Wilkie, an eminent Scotch painter, was born at the manse of
Cults, Fifeshire, on the 18th of November, 1785, a son of the minister
of the parish.¹ He early resolved to become a painter, and in the end
of the year 1799 he entered the Trustees’ Academy of Edinburgh. He
applied his mind and attention intently to his work, and under the
inspiring influence of Mr. Graham, who was the head of the Academy,
he made rapid progress in his studies. Amongst his schoolfellows may
be mentioned William Allan, John Burnet, Alexander Fraser, and David
Thomson, all of whom subsequently attained distinction in various
branches of painting. In 1804 Wilkie left the Trustees’ Academy, with
the good wishes of all who knew him, and returned to his father’s manse
of Cults. At this time the influence of David Allan became apparent in
Wilkie’s early efforts――in his picture of “Pitlessie Fair.” He produced
a number of miniature portraits, and other pictures and sketches. But
he began to think Fife too limited a field, and resolved to go to
London.
¹ Allan Cunningham, in his work entitled, _The Life of Sir
David Wilkie, with his Journal, Tours, and Critical Remarks
on Works of Art, and a Selection from his Correspondence_,
has so fully treated Sir David and his works, that lengthy
details are unnecessary. Those who desire fuller information
of this eminent artist, will find an ample store of it in
Cunningham’s three interesting volumes.
In his nineteenth year, on the 20th of May, 1805, he sailed from Leith
for London. He entered the Royal Academy as a probationer, and studied
earnestly, and on a wider variety of specimens of art than had before
been accessible to him. His application was intense and concentrated,
hence his rapid and remarkable success, for genius mainly consists in
the power of concentrated and prolonged attention. He studied both the
theory and practice of his profession. In 1806 he produced his picture
“The Village Politicians,” and soon received commissions from noblemen
and gentlemen of taste. At this time Wilkie became acquainted with
his countryman, Andrew Wilson, a distinguished landscape painter, just
returned from Italy. They met at the request of Mr. Cunningham “for
the first time, one morning, at William Thomson’s. There were present,
besides Wilkie, young Hadyn, William Howel, David Maclagan, and a
Mr. Callender, all seemingly very intimate, and I was told that it
was their practice to meet in this way at one another’s lodgings
to converse about art. To be admitted into such a society was very
agreeable to me.”
Wilkie began to exhibit his pictures at the Royal Academy of London
in 1806; in that year his “Blind Fiddler” and “Village Politicians”
were exhibited, and he continued to exhibit his pictures regularly.
He was elected an Associate of the Royal Academy in 1809, and a Royal
Academician in 1811. He travelled on the Continent, and visited the
art galleries of France, Holland, and Rome; made memoranda, and wrote
journals of whatever he deemed most worthy of attention in relation to
art. He produced many pictures, and his reputation continued to rise.
In the Royal Academy Exhibition of 1829 eight pictures from his hand
appeared upon the walls. In June, 1836, he received the honour of
knighthood; he bore all his honours with meek serenity.
In August, 1840, he started for a tour in the East. He proceeded by
the Hague, Cologne, Munich, and Constantinople, and thence to Smyrna,
Beyrout, Joppa, and Jerusalem. The state of his health was precarious
before he went away, and on the homeward passage it became worse.
On the 1st of June, 1841, on board the _Oriental_ steamship, not far
from Malta, he expired. The authorities would not allow his body to
be landed, and in consequence it was committed to the deep. Thus died
Sir David Wilkie in the fifty-fifth year of his age. The tidings were
received with deep regret throughout the country, for he was a popular
favourite, as his works spoke to all classes of the people, and all
degrees of taste.
As an artist and painter he was fertile, vigorous, and varied.
Considering his comparatively short life, the number and the variety
of his works are truly marvellous. But it could scarcely be expected
that all, or even most of his pictures, would be stamped with the
characteristics of the highest art. Accordingly, his paintings are
of extremely various degrees of merit; even his warm friend and
biographer recognises this. Still, after all fair deductions, Wilkie’s
leading pictures form a collection which amply attest his powers of
original conception, imaginative range, realistic faculty, and skill in
execution. That he might have attained even greater perfection if his
life had been longer spared is very probable, for he had been moving in
a new style, which was not fully developed when he was suddenly cut off.
Mr. John Burnet, an eminent engraver and painter, was born near
Edinburgh in 1781. He was placed under Robert Scott, a landscape
engraver in Edinburgh, where he learned the practical part of
engraving and etching; and, at the same time, he attended the Trustees’
Academy, where he was a school-fellow of Wilkie. Touching this part
of his career, he says:――“I have often thought that my following the
profession of an engraver and painter at the same time cramped the
greater extension of either, as both are of sufficient difficulty
to require the undivided attention to arrive at a high degree of
excellence. With regard to myself, my arrangements precluded my having
the palette so often on my thumb as is absolutely necessary to acquire
a good style of colouring, independent of manual dexterity.”
Burnet was more inclined to engrave figure subjects than landscapes. He
formed his style upon some points from the book illustrations of James
Heath, an English engraver; but he chiefly followed Cornelius Visscher.
Burnet went to London, full of hope and confidence, and found himself
in his element. His first engravings were for Cook’s Novelties; but
he longed for some larger work to exercise his talents, and asked the
engraving of the “Jew’s Harp,” which he got. This was the first of
Wilkie’s pictures which was engraved――the first of a long series of
prints after his esteemed works; the engraving of it brought other work
to Burnet.
In 1813, Burnet visited Paris, and remained five months, intently
engaged in copying and studying from the magnificent collection in
the Louvre, at that time gathered from all quarters of Europe. It was
chiefly the materials which he then formed that led him to produce
his _Practical Hints on Painting_, and his other literary essays
relating to the fine arts. His chief work in painting is “The Greenwich
Pensioners,” which was intended as a companion picture to Wilkie’s
“Chelsea Pensioners.”
His younger brother, James, born in 1788, at Musselburgh, attained
distinction in a special branch of painting. His method was to go
into the fields, and note down in his sketch-book bits of beautiful
landscape, cattle, and rustic figures, engaged in their avocations; and
these he afterwards embodied in composition, and produced “Cattle going
out in the Morning,” “Cattle returning home in a Shower,” “Crossing the
Brook,” “Breaking the Ice,” and other fine pictures. But his life was
short; he died in the twenty-eighth year of his age, regretted by all
who knew him and could appreciate his excellence.
Andrew Wilson was born in Edinburgh in 1780. He studied in Italy, as
already indicated; he was distinguished in landscape painting, and
for his extensive knowledge of foreign paintings. He was professor of
drawing in the College of Sandhurst, which he resigned in 1818 on being
appointed master of the Trustees’ Academy in Edinburgh. His pictures
are characterised by elegant and correct drawing, classic forms,
beautiful arrangement, and graceful handling, and especially his fine
rendering of the pearly tints of daylight and the golden splendour of
sunset are much admired. He died in 1848.
In the early part of this century Andrew Donaldson held a distinguished
place amongst Scottish landscape and water-colour painters. Of his
early days little is known; it is reported that he was born at Comber,
near Belfast, and was taken to Glasgow in his childhood, where he
resided till his death, which happened in 1846. Although in his youth
he was not specially trained to art, yet from an early stage of his
life his natural bent seems to have led him to devote his time to
it. His early drawings mostly represent some of the more quaint and
picturesque scenes in Glasgow and its immediate vicinity. Afterwards
he extended the field of his operations to many parts of Britain and
Ireland, which afforded him new scenes. The result of these excursions
appeared in a series of drawings which he published, marked by a keen
appreciation of the beauties of nature, and executed in a style at
once original and charming. His style was characterised by fineness
and softness of execution, clearness of colour, and striking breadth
of effect. As a teacher he was also long and favourably known to the
community of Glasgow.
Sir William Allan was born in Edinburgh in 1782; and was originally
trained as a coach-painter. But he afterwards studied for several years
at the Trustees’ Academy, and subsequently he proceeded to London, took
the painter Opie for his model, and produced a picture called “A Gipsy
Boy and Ass,” which was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1805. Having,
however, failed in his hope of success in London, he started for St.
Petersburg, and through the influence of Sir Alexander Crichton, then
physician to the Imperial Family, he obtained some patronage as a
portrait-painter. He visited the interior of Russia Tartary, and Turkey,
where he collected materials for several original and characteristic
works illustrative of the scenery and customs of Eastern Europe, which
he subsequently produced. In 1809, he sent a picture to the Royal
Academy called “Russian Peasants keeping their Holiday,” but it did
not attract much attention; and he sent no pictures to the Academy
exhibition for the next six years. He returned to London in 1814, and
the following year exhibited his picture of “The Circassian Captives,”
now or lately in the possession of the Earl of Wemyss. This was
followed by a painting of “A Circassian Chief selling to a Turkish
Pasha Captives of a neighbouring Tribe taken in war,” and by others
of a similar character representing scenes which he had seen in his
travels. These paintings, however, did not sell at the time; and he
was so much disappointed that he talked of retiring to the wilds of
Circassia, and bid adieu to the land of his birth. He soon after tried
a different class of subjects, such as his “Press Gang,” “The Parting
of Prince Charles Stuart and Flora Macdonald at Portree;” still he
failed to gain much public recognition, till the appearance of his
picture representing the murder of Archbishop Sharp on Magus Moor,
which was engraved and published, and had a run of success.
He then resolved to devote himself entirely to Scottish historic
subjects. He produced a picture of “John Knox admonishing Mary Queen of
Scots” on the day that her intention to marry Darnley was proclaimed.
This was followed by other pictures of Scottish historic characters,
including “The Regent Murray shot by Hamilton of Bothwellhaugh,”
which was purchased by the Earl of Bedford for 800 guineas. In 1835,
he attained the rank of a Royal Academician; and, in 1842, he was
president of the Royal Scottish Academy. In 1843, he exhibited at the
Royal Academy Exhibition a picture of the battle of Waterloo, which was
purchased by the Duke of Wellington.
Sir William died at Edinburgh, in his painting room, in February,
1850, while engaged on a large unfinished picture of the battle of
Bannockburn.¹ As a painter, his merits mainly consisted in his dramatic
powers of telling a story on canvas, and skill in composition; in
colouring he was deficient.
¹ The battle of Bannockburn is a grand subject for a historic
picture. But a subject which would demand from the artist
a rare grasp of analytic power, and the imaginative and
realistic faculties, combined with skill in arrangement and
composition. The details no less than the conception of such
a picture would require much thought and study to develop
and execute it in a thoroughly complete form.
David Roberts was born at Stockbridge, Edinburgh, in 1796. He was
originally a house-painter in Edinburgh; and in his twentieth year
showed his talent for pictorial art in the form of stage scene painting,
which he executed for a company of travelling players. He worked
several years as scene painter for the stage in Edinburgh, Glasgow,
and London. He repeatedly visited France; and, in 1832, he went to
Spain, and thence passed to Morocco. The fruit of the latter journey
was a series of drawings, published in lithography in 1837, under
the title of “Picturesque Sketches in Spain.” At the same time he was
engaged in making finished drawings for various publications. In 1838
and 1839, he travelled in Egypt and Syria; and the results of this
tour were lithographed and published in the well-known work entitled,
“Roberts’ Sketches in the Holy Land, Syria, and Egypt.” Between
1849 and 1855, he made several visits to Belgium, France, and Italy.
Mr. Roberts, in 1858, was presented with the freedom of the city of
Edinburgh, “in testimony of the appreciation of his high artistic
talents, and of the lustre which his works have shed on his native
city.” It has been said of him:――“His name will justly occupy a
foremost place in the British school of architectural and landscape
painting. His mastery of effect and breadth of treatment in interiors
was very great, though it must be admitted that they sometimes savoured
of the trick of stage decoration, to which, during so many years, his
hand had been applied. His paintings in oil numbered about two hundred
and sixty, those in water-colours, not including sketches innumerable,
amounted to five times that number. A collection of seventy-three
oil paintings and sketches, and eight hundred water-colour drawings
and sketches, which were found in his studio after his death, were
exhibited during some months (1865) at the Architectural Gallery
in Conduit Street, and afterwards sold at Christie’s and Manson’s,
producing, collectively, upwards of sixteen thousand pounds.... Mr.
Roberts, throughout his life, kept copious journals, in which he
included pen sketches of all his pictures as they left his studio,
the date of their exhibition, name of their purchasers, and the price
which he received for them.” He continued to work to the last; and died
suddenly in November, 1864.
William Bonnar, a distinguished portrait painter, was born in Edinburgh
in 1800. He produced a large number of fine pictures, some of which
have been engraved and widely circulated. He died in 1853.
Thomas Duncan was born in 1807, at Kinclaven, Perthshire, and educated
at Perth. He early manifested an inclination for drawing such objects
as struck his fancy; but his parents ignored this, and placed him
in the office of a writer, with whom he completed the period of his
engagement. At last his father consented to let him follow his own
taste; and he proceeded to Edinburgh and placed himself under Sir
William Allan, then the head of the Scottish Academy. Duncan’s talent
speedily developed, and soon outstripped all his competitors in the
most difficult department――the drawing of the human figure.
His first picture that attracted public attention was the “Milkmaid,”
and shortly after he exhibited “Old Mortality” and “The Braw Wooer.”
The exact drawing, fine feeling, and masterly execution of those
early works gave high promise of future excellence. From this time his
improvement was remarkable, insomuch as to secure to him the position
of professor of colour in the Edinburgh Academy, and subsequently the
chair of drawing in this school. In 1840 he sent to the Royal Academy
of England his fine work, “Prince Charles Edward and the Highlanders
entering Edinburgh after the battle of Prestonpans.” The following year
he exhibited a touching picture from the ballad of Auld Robin Gray,
called “The Waefu’ Heart,” the next year “Deer Stalking,” and in 1843
“Charles Edward asleep after the battle of Culloden, protected by Flora
Macdonald.” He was elected an associate of the Royal Academy in 1843.
He died in May, 1845, at the early age of thirty-eight. Had his life
been prolonged, he would have attained a high position in historic
painting. As a colourist he had few superiors.
William Simson was born at Dundee in 1800, and received his education
in art at the Trustees’ Academy in Edinburgh. In the early part of
his career, his works consisted mostly of small coast scenes, sketched
on the shores of Leith and Fife. But, in 1829, he executed a large
picture entitled, “The Twelfth of August;” the next year, “Highland
Deer Stalkers,” and “Sportsmen Regaling.” After this, for some years
he was engaged in portrait painting. In 1835, he visited Italy, where
he remained three years. He returned in 1838, settled in London, and
at the opening of the Royal Academy, in Trafalgar Square, exhibited two
pictures. Amongst the long list of his works may be mentioned, “Mary
Queen of Scots and her retinue returning from the chase to the Castle
of Stirling,” exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1841; “The murder of
the two Princes in the Tower,” exhibited at the British Institution in
1842; and “The arrest of William Tell,” which contains many figures.
His works are characterised by imaginative power and excellent
colouring; some of his portraits are very fine. He died in London in
1847.
Sir John W. Gordon was born in Edinburgh in 1788, and studied art
at the Trustees’ Academy, under Mr. Graham,¹ for four years. His
aspiration ran towards historic painting, and he worked in this line
for some time; but finding that it would not pay, turned his attention
to portrait painting. On the death of Sir William Allan, in 1850,
Gordon was elected to succeed him as president of the Royal Scottish
Academy. In short, at this time he was considered one of the foremost
living portrait painters in Scotland. He produced many portraits, some
of them of well-known public men. He died at Edinburgh in 1864.
¹ Graham is reported to have been a warm-hearted and kindly
man, and it is evident that he was a very successful teacher
of art; from the large number of his pupils who attained
distinction, he seems to have had the faculty of arousing
the enthusiasm of his scholars. He left some specimens of
his own paintings in his “Death of General Fraser,” and
the “Death of David Rizzio.” Graham was a North countryman,
and was originally a coach-painter; nevertheless, by his
teaching he gave a greater impulse to the culture of art in
Scotland than any man of his time.
Another name deserves to be mentioned: James S. Stewart
was born in Edinburgh in 1791, studied under Graham at
the Trustees’ Academy; and he became one of the most
distinguished engravers of his time. He died at the Cape
of Good Hope in May, 1863.
William Dyce was born at Aberdeen in 1806; his father was a physician,
and a fellow of the Royal Society. He was educated at Marischal College,
and graduated M.A. at the age of sixteen. He afterwards studied art in
the Edinburgh Academy; and before he was twenty, visited London, and
became a probationer in the Royal Academy; but being dissatisfied with
the method of instruction, he did not enter as a student. He proceeded
to Rome, and studied from works of the Roman and Tuscan schools. In
1826, he returned to Scotland; but the following year he again visited
Rome, and studied early Christian art. On returning home in 1830,
he settled in Edinburgh, where he resided eight years. But having
failed to obtain sufficient encouragement in historic painting, he
had recourse to portraiture. He sometimes exhibited pictures at the
Royal Scottish Academy, of which he was elected an associate in 1835.
In 1837, he published a pamphlet on the _Management of Schools of
Design_, recently established by the Government, and in which he
proposed a scheme for the improvement of the Trustees’ Academy in
Edinburgh. It presented a statement of perhaps the most complete scheme
of art education then known in this country, which made him known to
the Government. He was appointed superintendent and secretary to that
branch of the Board of Trade which had charge of the new schools.
Commissioned by the Government, he instituted a careful examination of
the Continental systems of art instruction, and his report, with some
modifications, was adopted as a text-book for several years. In 1842,
he was appointed inspector of the provincial schools, but he resigned
this office in 1845. He lectured on the theory of the fine arts in
King’s College, London; he is also the author of many essays on art
and allied subjects.
His paintings are pretty numerous, and some of them are highly finished
and greatly esteemed. He also executed decorative work in churches,
and in some of the royal palaces. As an artist, his designs were well
conceived, the attitude of his figures graceful, and the expression apt
and pathetic. He died in 1864, in the fifty-eighth year of his age.
Sir George Harvey was born at St. Ninian’s, near Stirling, in 1806. He
was first apprenticed to a bookseller in Stirling, but he devoted his
leisure hours to art. At the age of eighteen, he entered the Trustees’
Academy in Edinburgh, where he studied two years. He was imbued
with Puritan sentiments, and has done ample justice to that side of
the national character, by depicting the earnestness and energy of
the Covenanters. He produced his “Covenanting Preachers” in 1830;
“Covenanters’ Communion,” 1840; “Sabbath Evening,” 1841; and his
“Battle of Drumclog,” 1836, in which he represented, with remarkable
effect, the aspects of a hand-to-hand struggle. In a different style
his “Highland Funeral” appeared in 1844; and his “First Reading of the
Bible in the Crypt of St. Paul’s” in 1846, which among his many other
successful pictures has been engraved. He was elected President of the
Royal Scottish Academy in 1864. He died on the 22nd of January 1876.
Robert S. Lauder was born near Edinburgh in 1803, and early manifested
a taste for art. He entered the Trustees’ Academy in the year 1818,
and prosecuted his studies for four years. After this, he went to
London, and for three years practised drawing in the British Museum,
and embraced every opportunity of improving his taste and knowledge.
He returned to Edinburgh in 1826, and was elected an associate of the
Royal Institution. In 1833, he visited the Continent, and remained
abroad five years, the greater part of which he spent in Italy. He
studied intently at Rome, Florence, Venice, and Bologna, returning in
1838, and afterwards residing in London till 1849.
In 1849, he exhibited his “Bride of Lammermoor” in the Royal Academy;
and subsequently exhibited other pictures which were readily purchased.
The leading characteristics of his pictures which at once attract the
eye, are his rich and tasteful colour, and admirable management of
light and shade. He died on the 22nd of April 1869.
David Scott was born in Edinburgh in 1806. His father was a landscape
engraver, and he learned the rudiments of his art from the prints,
scraps, and sketches, lying in all corners of the house. While very
young, he engraved illustrations for various works; and soon after
turned his attention to painting. In 1832, he proceeded through France
to Italy, where he visited every city in any way remarkable for its
art collections. He stayed in Rome about a year, painted a number of
small pictures, and one large picture entitled, “Family Discord――the
Household God destroyed.” He returned home in the spring of 1834, and
the next year he was elected a member of the Royal Scottish Academy.
The following are a few of his works:――“Nimrod the Mighty Hunter;”
“Wallace defending Scotland;” “Mary Queen of Scots receiving her
death warrant;” “Jane Shore found dead in the street;” “Merry Wives of
Windsor, played before Queen Elizabeth;” “Christ in the Garden;” “Peter
the Hermit addressing the Crusaders.” Many of his other large pictures
and also his small ones are representations and illustrations of very
interesting subjects.
He also aspired to literary distinction. He is the author of a series
of papers on the characteristics of the great masters of painting,
which were published in _Blackwood’s Magazine_ in 1840. He also wrote
a few pieces of verse and several tales. He died in the month of March,
1849.
Horatio MacCulloch was born in Glasgow in 1806, where he received his
first instruction in painting from Mr. Knox, a landscape painter of
some reputation. He was a diligent student of nature, as seen in the
scenery on the banks of the Clyde, the Kelvin, the Cart, and the wilder
regions of the Western Highlands. He afterwards removed to Edinburgh,
and exhibited at the Royal Scottish Academy in 1829 “A View of the
Clyde.” His pictures readily obtained purchasers, and he was elected
an associate of the Royal Scottish Academy in 1834, and a full member
in 1838. He has long been recognised in Scotland as one of the leading
painters of local scenery of his time. He died in 1867.
Alexander Johnston was born in Edinburgh in 1815; and studied art in
the Trustees’ Academy. He afterwards went to London, and studied under
Hilton in the Royal Academy. He began pretty early to exhibit his
pictures, and gradually attained a good position. In 1842 he exhibited
at the British Museum his “Braw Wooers” and “The landing of Jeanie
Deans at Roseneath,” and “The Covenanters’ Marriage” at the Royal
Academy. These were followed by other pictures handling Scottish
subjects. In 1846 his “Prince Charles’ introduction to Flora Macdonald
after the battle of Culloden” appeared; the following year “The burial
of Charles I. in St. George’s Chapel,” and “The abdication of Mary
Queen of Scots” in 1855. His pictures are numerous, and mostly of a
historic description.
Alexander Backley was born in Glasgow in 1816; and began his career in
art when ten years of age by cutting out figures upon paper. In 1831
he commenced to study in the Trustees’ Academy, and ten years later
he studied a short time at the Royal Academy in London. He attained
distinction as a portrait-painter, especially in portraiture of
ladies and children. His principal oil-paintings are the “Opening of
Parliament” and “The Ragged School.”
Sir Daniel Macnee was born in 1806 in the parish of Fintry,
Stirlingshire, but when an infant his father died, and, with his mother,
he removed to Glasgow. At the age of twelve he was sent to learn
drawing under John Knox, with whom he studied four years. Subsequently
he was engaged by Dr. James Brown to execute large anatomical drawings
for illustrating popular lectures. In 1824 he began to study at the
Trustees’ Academy at Edinburgh in the evenings; and two years later
he exhibited chalk portraits in Edinburgh. He returned to Glasgow in
1830, and painted portraits and subjects of simple peasant life. He
ultimately resolved to limit his efforts to portrait-painting; and he
soon attained success. Many of his portraits were exhibited in Glasgow
and Edinburgh. In 1876 he was elected President of the Royal Scottish
Academy, and the following year he received the honour of knighthood.
He then removed to Edinburgh, and continued to work assiduously. He
painted rapidly, and frequently finished a head size in three sittings
of about two hours each. His portraits are very numerous, and widely
distributed in Scotland. He executed many portraits of ladies, some of
which are remarkably good. The University of Glasgow conferred on him
the honorary degree of LL.D. After a short illness, he died on the 17th
of January, 1882.
John Phillip was born in Aberdeen on the 22nd of May, 1817, the son of
humble parents. With very few external advantages he early manifested
a genius for art, and at the age of fifteen produced pictures. Two
years later he worked his way to London for the purpose of seeing the
exhibition of the Royal Academy, and after a brief stay there, which
intensified his enthusiasm for art, he returned home. He continued to
work in Aberdeen till 1837, when Lord Panmure lent him patronage, and
he proceeded to London, and became a student in the school of the Royal
Academy. In 1839 he again returned to Aberdeen, and painted portraits
under local patronage, of which a number are still in the city. He
removed to London in 1841, and regularly exhibited his pictures until
1851, when, owing to a severe illness, he visited Spain, where he
stayed till 1856.
The influence of the new surroundings upon his active and plastic
mind soon appeared in his works, and he painted a number of pictures
illustrative of life and manners, of rare excellence. The first of
these, entitled, “A visit to the Gipsy quarters,” and the “Perlade
Triana,” were exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1853, and at once
elicited admiration. These were followed by other paintings of great
merit and value. He was elected an Associate of the Royal Academy
in 1857, and a full Academician in 1859. Subsequently he exhibited
two or three pictures annually at the Royal Academy in London, which
readily found purchasers. In 1859 he executed for the Queen a picture
representing the marriage of the Princess Royal with Prince Frederick
William; which was engraved. He painted a successful picture of the
House of Commons, which was also engraved.
His style is distinguished by remarkable intelligence and vigour,
distinct conception, and fine perception of character. His flesh is
admirable in modelling and for the healthy hue which it presents, while
his colouring is rich, pure, and harmonious. He died in 1867, in his
fiftieth year.
Personally, he was a man of high character and generous sentiments. It
has been said that “he never put such high prices on his works as they
might fairly have commanded,” and it is evident that since his death
the rise of the price of some of his pictures has been very great. A
few instances may be given:――in 1860 his picture “Scotch Baptism” was
sold at £288 15 shillings, in 1874 it was sold again at £1,755; in 1860
“Prison Window” was sold for £315, and in 1875 it brought £3,255; and
in 1882 his picture, “A Church Porch,” was sold for over £4,000. These
prices are very significant.
Robert T. Ross was born in Edinburgh in 1816, and studied art at the
Trustees’ Academy under Sir William Allan. He painted portraits, and
subjects mostly from domestic life. He was elected a member of the
Royal Scottish Academy in 1869. He died in 1876.
Robert Thorburn was born at Dumfries in 1718, and educated at the High
School of that ancient town. At the age of fourteen he was sent to
study drawing at the Trustees’ Academy, under Sir William Allan, in
Edinburgh. In 1836 he proceeded to London, and entered as a student
at the Royal Academy. Miniature portrait-painting seemed to him the
quickest way of becoming known, and he adopted that branch of the art.
He first exhibited his portraits at the Royal Academy in 1837, and his
success was pretty rapid. His list of sitters soon numbered personages
of the highest rank, including the Queen and the Prince Consort. In the
latter part of his career he executed large portraits in oil and chalk.
He died in 1885.
Joseph N. Paton was born in Dunfermline in 1823. As a painter he is
original and imaginative, working chiefly in the historic region. Among
the more successful of his works may be mentioned his “Dante meditating
the episode of Francesca,” 1852; “The Dead Lady,” 1854; “The Pursuit of
Pleasure,” 1855; “Home――the return from the Crimea,” ♦purchased by the
Prince Consort.
♦ “puchased” replaced with “purchased”
Erskine Nicol was born in Leith in 1825. He was intended by his parents
for a commercial life, but his bent for painting was so keen that he
chose rather to be apprenticed to a house-painter in Edinburgh, and
occupied his leisure hours as a student of the antique at the Trustees’
Academy. After completing his apprenticeship, he applied for the post
of drawing-master in the Leith High School, which he obtained, and
he then earnestly prosecuted his art studies. Afterwards he went to
Dublin, where he remained three years, teaching and painting portraits.
And it was then that he gained his insight of the every day life and
characteristics of the Irish people, from which he drew a series of
pictures of a descriptive cast which were much admired and widely
patronised. Many of his pictures have been engraved.
Robert Herdman was born in 1829 in the parish of Rattray, Perthshire,
where his father was minister. He received a liberal education, and
studied art at the Trustees’ Academy in Edinburgh. Among his early
efforts he painted some Scriptural subjects, and a portrait of his
mother. In 1855 he visited Italy, and made drawings from the paintings
of the old masters in the Italian galleries. After he returned home,
he exhibited at the Royal Academy a number of pictures from Italian
subjects. He was elected a member of the Royal Scottish Academy in
1863; and he contributed to the exhibitions of the Academy nearly two
hundred pictures. Among the more notable of his pictures are “After
the Battle,” a Covenanting scene; the “Captive of Lochleven,” and the
“Conventicle Preacher before the Court,” which is an admirably realised
and well-executed work. Some of his other historic pictures are the
“Conference between Mary Stuart and John Knox at Holyrood,” and “Prince
Charles Edward seeking shelter in the house of an adherent.” He had
a strong feeling for historic subjects, and he sometimes drew upon
Scottish song for his characters. He was an eminent portrait-painter,
executing a large number of portraits of distinguished men and ladies.
Personally he was a man of fine sensibility and an amiable genius. He
died suddenly on the 10th of January, 1888, in his fifty-ninth year.
George P. Chalmers was born in Montrose in 1836, where he received
the rudiments of education. He studied art at the Trustees’ Academy
in Edinburgh, and worked carefully and assiduously, and by persistent
effort he attained a fine artistic style. He was gifted with keen
imaginative and realistic powers, which gave high promise of eminence.
He executed a number of admirable paintings, both in portraiture and
landscape, and was elected a member of the Royal Scottish Academy
in 1867. But his career was suddenly terminated by an accident which
resulted in his death in February, 1878, in his forty-second year.
William B. Scott, a brother of David Scott, was born in Edinburgh, and
studied under Sir William Allan in the Royal Academy. He afterwards
settled in London, where his pictures were exhibited at the Royal
Academy for a long series of years. He was for many years director of
the Newcastle Government School of Art; and gradually his reputation
became widely known. He produced a series of eight large pictures,
original in design and vigorously executed, illustrating the history
of Northumberland, for Sir W. C. Trevelyan, Baronet, to decorate
Wellington Hall. This series was exhibited at the French Gallery
in London in 1861. He also occasionally occupied his attention with
literature, wrote and published a biography of his brother David, some
pieces of poetry, and several other writings. He died on the 22nd of
November, 1890.
The names of Scottish painters noticed in this section forms a pretty
long list, but it should be understood that it is not presented as
an exhaustive one; enough, however, has been adduced to show that the
culture of painting and art had made considerable progress in Scotland
during this period, and especially in the present century. It may
be observed, too, that in this branch, as in many other departments,
Scotsmen have contributed something to the richness of English Art; and
if they have learned something from the south side of the Tweed, they
have done more than repaid it.
In the last century some indications of a revival of sculpture
appeared in Scotland, though little progress was made till the present
century. Thomas Campbell was born in Edinburgh on the 1st of May, 1790.
Originally he was a marble-cutter. Carving a chimney-piece in the house
of Gilbert Innes of Stow, this gentleman was much pleased with his
intelligence and promise, and gave him means to enable him to prosecute
the study of sculpture. He went to London, and attended the classes of
the Royal Academy. In 1818 he proceeded to Rome, where he studied for
several years. He ultimately attained distinction, and received many
commissions. He worked both in bronze and in marble, and executed many
statues, and also busts. Among his works may be mentioned:――a marble
statue of the Duke of Wellington, a statue of Queen Victoria at Windsor
Castle, and the granite statue of the fifth Duke of Gordon at Aberdeen.
Laurence Macdonald was born at Boneybrow, Findo-Gask, in Perthshire,
on the 15th of February, 1799. In the winter of 1822 he studied for
a short time at the Trustees’ Academy in Edinburgh. The same year he
went to Rome, where he studied earnestly, and executed several busts.
In 1826 he returned to Edinburgh, and executed busts of Professor John
Wilson and George Combe, the phrenologist. He produced many busts;
and in 1829 he exhibited his works in the Royal Academy, and the Royal
Institution, Edinburgh. He returned to Rome in 1832, where he held a
leading position as a sculptor, chiefly in executing portrait busts. He
executed a bust of Sir Walter Scott. He died on the 4th of March, 1878.
Sir John Steel was born in Aberdeen in 1804, a son of a woodcarver. He
early manifested a taste for sculpture, in which he eventually attained
distinction. He settled in Edinburgh, and executed many fine statues
and busts. He died on the 15th of September, 1891.
William Brodie was born in 1815. He was a distinguished sculptor,
highly gifted with fine ideal and realising powers. He was a remarkably
quiet and unassuming man. He died in Edinburgh in 1881. His brother,
Alexander Brodie, born in 1829, was also a sculptor of promise. His
chief work was a marble statue of Queen Victoria, which he executed for
the city of Aberdeen. He died in 1867, at the age of thirty-eight.
Henry B. Smith was born in Aberdeen in 1857. He executed a considerable
number of small busts in marble. His chief work was a bronze statue of
Burns, which was unveiled in Aberdeen on the 17th of September 1892. He
was a sculptor of great promise. He died on the 16th of April 1893, at
the early age of thirty-six.
In short, the progress of art in Scotland is one of the most striking
facts in the recent history of civilisation. The chief cities have
their academies, institutes, and schools of art, galleries and museums;
and even many of the smaller towns show their appreciation of art in
many ways. Let us hope that the culture of art, in all its branches,
shall be still more widely diffused in the future than it has been in
past; that the resources of elevated feeling and refined enjoyment may
continue to be opened and expanded.
CHAPTER LI.
_Political and Social Movements._
THE scope of this chapter naturally assumes a somewhat general
character, as the course of political events in Scotland was greatly
influenced by external power and circumstances; she had not a
government of her own, and even the spirit of the British Ministry
often seriously affected the executive in Scotland during the latter
part of the last century, and the early part of this one. I will, in
the first place, indicate briefly the political state of the nation
in the later part of the eighteenth century; and in the second, touch
on the rise of political discussion, of the principles of liberty and
freedom, political rights, and reform; the attempts to suppress them,
and their ultimate triumph.
In the last century there was no popular representation in Scotland.
The town councils elected the burgh members of parliament. Excepting
Edinburgh, which had a member to itself, there was only one member
for a district of four or five burghs: for instance, Perth, Dundee,
St. Andrews, Cupar, and Forfar, were classed together, and had but one
member; Aberdeen, Montrose, Arbroath, Brechin, and Inverbervie, formed
another group, with one member of parliament, and so on amongst the
other burghs. The mode of election was this:――Each town council elected
a delegate, and these five or four delegates met and elected the member
of parliament. And it is a well ascertained fact, that the Governments
of the day, instead of bribing the town councils, bribed the delegates,
or, for the sake of economy, only one or two of them, if this could
secure a majority. Such was the representation of the burghs of
Scotland prior to 1832.
I have examined the rolls of the freeholders or electors of the
different counties of Scotland, as made up at the meetings for
electing their representatives to the Parliament, summoned to meet
at Westminster on the 10th of August, 1790, and find that the total
number of electors was then 2652. So in those days it was an easy
matter for the Government to manage the elections as they thought fit.
The public press was only in its infancy, and a pretty hard struggle
had to be fought ere it obtained freedom of discussion. Corporations
and public bodies might speak for themselves, but the opinion of
the general community was not recognised as having any claim to be
heard or consulted. The Government of those days recognised no public
opinion save that which issued from themselves or their official
organs. So long as the mass of the people plodded on quietly at their
daily occupations, the corruption of the political fabric was concealed
behind its official trappings; but when the French Revolution burst out,
it sent a shock of alarm and panic into the heart of every Government
in Europe.
The effects of this soon appeared in the administration of Scotland.
The terror of revolution seized the British Government; reason itself
shook, and justice and humanity were for a time driven beyond the
gates of mercy. Everything rung with the French Revolution, which was
made the all in all for about twenty years. “Everything, not this or
that thing, but literally everything, was soaked in this one event.”¹
Although there is no evidence that any considerable number of persons
in Scotland ever embraced the French revolutionary principles,
there were, of course, many people who wished to reform the existing
political system of government. But the reigning Toryism of the time,
in order to retain its monopoly of power, fixed upon all reformers
and opponents the stigma of Jacobins, revolutionaries, and seditious
persons. The real Whigs were then very few in Scotland, and they were
viewed by the Government and its supporters with extreme suspicion;
even such a man as Dugald Stewart was an object of great secret
alarm for several years. When such was the feeling in Edinburgh, we
may easily imagine what must have been the position of men who held
liberal opinions in the country at large; still, such persons existed
throughout the nation, but were subjected to contumely, insult, and
personal loss and danger for many years.
¹ Lord Cockburn’s _Memorials of his Time_, page 80; 1856.
In the end of the year 1792, some attempts were made to form political
associations; and in December, a meeting of delegates was held in
Edinburgh, some of whom had come from Ross and Sutherlandshire. The
Lord Advocate, Dundas, immediately set the arm of the law in motion,
and the most notable and talented man connected with the movement,
Thomas Muir, was arrested on the 2nd of January, 1793, but was
liberated on bail.¹ After instructing his legal agent to inform him
whenever a criminal indictment was served upon him, he proceeded to
France. His trial was finally fixed on the 25th of February; but Muir
failed to reach Edinburgh on the day fixed for his trial, accordingly
he was declared an outlaw, and his name deleted from the roll of the
Faculty of Advocates. He returned to Scotland in July, and was at
once apprehended; and on the 30th he was brought before the Court
and charged with sedition. The indictment was of enormous length――a
curious mass of legal verbiage; but the chief point in it was that the
prisoner at the bar was connected with political associations, whose
sole end was to agitate for parliamentary reform. Braxfield, then Lord
Justice-clerk, was the leading spirit in this trial, and in the other
political trials of the period; and it has long since been admitted
that he was notoriously prepossessed and prejudiced against all persons
charged with political crimes.² The juries were usually packed in
these trials, and there was not only a bias against such prisoners,
but also an absolute straining for convictions was manifested by the
bench; nothing so grossly unjust had taken place in Scotland since the
seventeenth century.
¹ Mr. Muir was born in Glasgow in 1765, and educated at the
Universities of Glasgow and Edinburgh. Having chosen the
legal profession, and studied law, he was called to the
Scottish bar in 1787. He was a man of high intellectual
abilities, and an ardent advocate of political reform.