RETROSPECT OF MR. STEVENSON’S LIFE.
The unconnected sketches which form this Memoir extend over a period
of about forty years. They have, as already stated, been selected from
among a large mass of documents, in order to convey to the reader,
not only some idea of the great variety of subjects Mr. Stevenson was
called on to consider, but also to show his happy power of dealing with
engineering questions in the several aspects under which they were
presented to him. In perusing them, the reader can hardly have failed
to remark in how many instances the views Mr. Stevenson expressed
were forecasts either of great fundamental social changes, such as
the substitution of the railway for the road, or of smaller though
important matters of detail, as, for example, the signal lights of our
railways and steamers, without which the “night traffic”--so popular a
feature of modern travelling--could not possibly be conducted. These
and many other instances must have satisfied the professional reader
that _foresight_ and _originality_ were remarkable features of Mr.
Stevenson’s character.
* * * * *
In the department of Lighthouses, he had experiences which, it may
be safely said, none of his compeers possessed, and I think it will
be admitted that in his general practice he displayed powers of
observation of a high order. Acting as he did with Rennie, Telford,
Nimmo, and afterwards with Walker, George Rennie, and Cubitt, with all
of whom he ever remained in friendly intercourse, his experience was
both large and varied, and the whole of his practice as an Engineer was
distinguished by full preliminary investigation of his subject--great
caution in forming his conclusions--elaborate preparation of his
reports and designs, and, as specially called forth at the Bell
Rock Lighthouse, masterly skill, indomitable energy, and unwavering
fortitude in carrying his designs into execution.
* * * * *
My father was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in
1815, and soon after joined the Antiquarian and Wernerian Natural
History Societies, taking an active part at their meetings and
communicating papers to their proceedings. He was a Fellow of the
Geological and Astronomical Societies of London, a Member of the
Smeatonian Society, and of the Institution of Civil Engineers.
He was also one of the original promoters of the Astronomical
Institution, out of which has grown the present establishment of
the Royal Observatory of Edinburgh, and the following account of
the early origin of the Institution was drawn up some years before
Mr. Stevenson’s death at the request of Professor Piazzi Smyth, the
Astronomer-Royal of Scotland:--
“There was a young man named Kerr--an optician--in Edinburgh, who, on
commencing business, brought about the formation of a Club, somewhat
like a Book Club, for procuring philosophical instruments for the use
of its members. These were more particularly optical instruments and
theodolites, etc., for surveyors, which were also to have been lent out
for hire. I think the subscription was a guinea. The meetings were,
perhaps, monthly; they were held in the office of Mr. James Ogilvy,
Accountant, Parliament Square.
“I attended two, or perhaps three, meetings in the year. The Club was
formed before I was invited to become a member. At the first meeting
I found present Mr. James Bonar, treasurer of the Royal Society; Mr.
Christison, mathematician; Mr. Brown, bookseller, opposite the college;
Mr. Ogilvy, and Mr. Kerr.
“After attending one or two meetings of this very modest Society for
the advancement of science, Mr. Bonar and I had some conversation
upon its prospects, and the difficulties attending such a scheme of
procuring philosophical instruments, and systematising the lending
out, and keeping in efficient order theodolites, levels, telescopes,
etc.; and we concurred in opinion that the scheme could not succeed.
We deemed it advisable rather to endeavour to get Short’s observatory
on the Calton Hill occupied as a ‘Popular Observatory.’ We spoke to
some of the magistrates on this subject, who, on the part of the town,
were quite favourable to the idea. We also applied to Mr. Thomas Allan,
then an active member of the Royal Society, and he joined us in a
communication to Sir George Mackenzie of Coul, who warmly entered into
our views; and ultimately we had an interview with Professor Playfair,
who, in his mild and placid manner, agreed to consider the subject,
but felt some difficulty on account of his colleague, the Professor
of Practical Astronomy. After a time Professor Playfair undertook to
draw up a statement for the public, which he did in his usual elegant
and concise style. Thus, step by step, we succeeded in obtaining
subscribers, and under the countenance and support of Playfair, many
were found who patronised the proposal of establishing an observatory
on the Calton Hill.
“Our idea was that we might look forward to a Popular Observatory which
would not interfere with the existing Professorship of Astronomy, but
have an establishment to which, with our families, we might resort in
an evening with the advantage of oral and ocular demonstrations in the
science of Astronomy, treated after a popular form.
“The present characteristic and beautiful building was then erected,
and with the aid of Government, it was furnished with some of the
chief instruments; but much to my regret the establishment has been
exclusively limited to the purposes of a scientific observatory,
without any provision of a popular description for which it was
originally intended.
“Unfortunately there was nothing to keep our constitution alive in the
minds of the public--nothing to allure additional subscribers to our
funds, so as to extend the building, and fit it with a theatre and
apparatus for popular purposes--no Lecture was established, and, in
short, the original object fell dead in the hands of the Directors.
I thus personally lost my object in this establishment, and in all
my _uphill_ journeys and manifold meetings, I had chiefly in view
the pleasure of interviews with my excellent friend the late Thomas
Henderson, the Professor of Astronomy in the University.”
* * * * *
Passing from what may be regarded as Mr. Stevenson’s public character
as an engineer, it is only natural that I should conclude this Memoir
by adding a few paragraphs descriptive of his social bearing as a man.
In politics my father was a decided conservative, but he never took a
prominent part in political or municipal affairs. He was, however, from
his earliest days a loyal subject of the king; and, as we find from
his Journal, a zealous supporter of the Government. He says:--“After
my return from the Pentland Skerries in 1794, I enrolled myself as
a private in the 1st Regiment of Edinburgh Volunteers raised as the
local Defenders of our _Firesides_ against the threatened invasion by
the French, and served about five years in the ranks of that corps.
However, when the war became hot, and invasion was fully expected,
other corps of Volunteers were embodied, when I was promoted to be
a Lieutenant in the ‘Princess (Charlotte’s) Royals,’ and afterwards
Captain of the Grenadier Company.”
His connection with the volunteers seems to have been of a very
agreeable and satisfactory character, proving that such loyal and
patriotic services were not then and are not now incompatible with the
most ardent pursuit of those studies and duties which are to qualify
a man for the business of life. On his promotion to the Royals he
received the following friendly letter from his Colonel, Charles Hope,
Lord Advocate, and afterwards Lord President of the Court of Session:--
“_24th January 1804._
“SIR,--I always part with any of my friends in the Regiment with
great regret, especially such as belonged to the old Blues. But I
cannot object to your leaving me in order to be more extensively
useful in another corps. I therefore heartily wish you every
success in your new undertaking, and have no doubt that you will
prove a valuable acquisition to the discipline of the Spearmen.
Notify to Captain Spens your resignation, that he may send for your
arms.--I am, Sir, yours sincerely,
C. HOPE,
“_Lt.-Col. 1st. R.E.V._
“MR. ROBERT STEVENSON,
“Capt., Spens’ Company.”
Mr. Stevenson remained several years in his new corps, until he
was obliged, on commencing the Bell Rock Lighthouse, to tender his
resignation, when he received a letter from Colonel Inglis conveying
the request of the Regiment that he should continue as an honorary
member of the corps:--
“EDINBURGH, _9th April 1807_.
“SIR,--My anxious desire to have, if possible, devised means for
detaining you among us, must plead my excuse for being so long
of replying to your letter; and it is with most sincere regret,
that, after the most mature consideration, I am obliged to express
my fears that the rules of the Volunteer Corps must deprive us
of your services, in consequence of your active charge of a work
of national importance, rendering your absence from Edinburgh
unavoidable for years, during the months of drill.
“While I feel myself impelled, therefore, to accept of your
proffered resignation, I beg to assure you of my own sense, as well
as that of all the other officers, of the loss we sustain, and of
our great personal regard.
“And I am directed to entreat you will do us the favour of
continuing as an honorary member of a corps which has been so much
indebted for your zeal and exertions.
“I cannot conclude without returning you my thanks for the obliging
sentiment contained in your letter towards myself; and have the
honour to be, with much esteem, sir, your faithful obedient servant,
“WILLIAM INGLIS, L.C.C., L.E.S.
“CAPTAIN STEVENSON, Etc.”
Many of his personal friends have recorded the pleasant satisfaction
with which they continued through life to look back upon the days spent
in my father’s company on board the lighthouse tender, while making his
annual inspection of the lighthouses. On one of these voyages he was
accompanied by his friends Patrick Neill, LL.D., the Botanist; Charles
Oliphant, Writer to the Signet; and John Barclay, M.D., the Anatomist;
who presented him with a piece of plate in remembrance of “the many
happy hours they passed in his company on sea and shore.”
On another occasion in 1814, the Commissioners of Northern Lighthouses
invited Sir Walter Scott to accompany them on their annual tour. Mr.
Lockhart, in his life of Scott, says, “The company were all familiar
friends of his, William Erskine, then Sheriff of Orkney, Robert
Hamilton, Sheriff of Lanarkshire, Adam Duff, Sheriff of Forfarshire,
but the real chief of the expedition was the Surveyor Viceroy, the
celebrated Engineer Stevenson, and Scott anticipated special pleasure
in his society.” “I delight,” Scott writes to Morritt, “in these
professional men of talent; they always give you some new lights by the
peculiarity of their habits and studies, so different from the people
who are rounded, and smoothed, and ground down for conversation, and
who can say all that every other person says, and--nothing more.” I
quote a single paragraph from Scott’s diary of this memorable voyage,
in which he gives an amusing account of the first landing of the
Commissioners on the rock on which the celebrated Skerryvore lighthouse
has since been erected by Alan Stevenson, who succeeded my father as
Engineer, on his retirement from the Scottish Lighthouse Board in 1843.
“Having crept upon deck about four in the morning,” says Sir
Walter, “I find we are beating to windward off the Isle of Tyree,
with the determination, on the part of Mr. Stevenson, that his
constituents should visit a reef of rocks called Skerry Vhor,
where he thought it would be essential to have a lighthouse. Loud
remonstrances on the part of the Commissioners, who one and all
declare they will subscribe to his opinion, whatever it may be,
rather than continue this infernal buffeting. Quiet perseverance
on the part of Mr. S., and great kicking, bouncing, and squabbling
upon that of the yacht, who seems to like the idea of Skerry Vhor
as little as the Commissioners. At length, by dint of exertion,
come in sight of this long ridge of rocks (chiefly under water),
on which the tide breaks in a most tremendous style. There appear
a few low broad rocks at one end of the reef, which is about a mile
in length. These are never entirely under water, though the surf
dashes over them. To go through all the forms, Hamilton, Duff,
and I resolve to land upon these bare rocks in company with Mr.
Stevenson. Pull through a very heavy swell with great difficulty,
and approach a tremendous surf dashing over black, pointed rocks.
Our rowers, however, get the boat into a quiet creek between
two rocks, where we contrive to land well wetted. I saw nothing
remarkable in my way excepting several seals, which we might have
shot, but in the doubtful circumstances of the landing, we did not
care to bring guns. We took possession of the rock in name of the
Commissioners, and generously bestowed our own great names on its
crags and creeks. The rock was carefully measured by Mr. S. It will
be a most desolate position for a lighthouse, the Bell Rock and
Eddystone a joke to it, for the nearest land is the wild island of
Tyree, at fourteen miles’ distance. So much for the Skerry Vhor.”
In family life Mr. Stevenson was a man of sterling worth. As a husband,
a father, and a friend, he was remarkably distinguished by the absence
of selfishness. His exertions in forwarding the progress of young men
through life were generous and unwearied; and few men had more solid
grounds than he for indulging in the pleasing reflection that, both in
his public and private capacity, he had consecrated to beneficial ends
every talent committed to his trust.
He was a man of sincere and unobtrusive piety; and although warmly
attached to the Established Church of Scotland, of which for nearly
forty years he had been an elder, and for many years a member of the
General Assembly, he had no taint of bigotry or of party feeling, and
he died calmly in that blessed hope and peace which only an indwelling
personal belief in the merits of a Redeemer can impart to any son of
our race.
* * * * *
At a statutory general meeting of the Board of Northern Lighthouses,
which was held on the 13th July 1850, the day after my father’s death,
the Commissioners recorded their respect for his talents and virtues in
the following Minute:--
“The Secretary having intimated, that Mr. Robert Stevenson, the late
Engineer to the Board, died yesterday morning,
“The Board, before proceeding to business, desire to record, their
regret at the death of this zealous, faithful, and able officer, to
whom is due the honour of conceiving and executing the great work of
the Bell Rock Lighthouse, whose services were gratefully acknowledged
on his retirement from active duty, and will be long remembered by the
Board, and to express their sympathy with his family on the loss of one
who was most estimable and exemplary in all the relations of social
and domestic life. The Board direct that a copy of this resolution
be transmitted to Mr. Stevenson’s family, and communicated to each
Commissioner, to the different lightkeepers and the other officers of
the Board.”
APPENDIX.
THE INCHCAPE ROCK.
An old writer mentions a curious tradition, which may be worth
quoting. “By east the Isle of May,” says he, “twelve miles
from all land in the German Seas, lyes a great hidden rock,
called Inchcape, very dangerous for navigators, because it is
overflowed everie tide. It is reported in old times, upon the
saide rock there was a bell, fixed upon a tree or timber, which
rang continually, being moved by the sea, giving notice to the
saylers of the danger. This bell or clocke was put there and
maintained by the Abbot of Aberbrothok, and being taken down
by a sea pirate, a yeare therafter he perished upon the same
rocke, with ship and goodes, in the righteous judgement of
God.”--STODDART’S _Remarks on Scotland_.
No stir in the air, no stir in the sea,
The ship was still as she could be;
Her sails from heaven received no motion,
Her keel was steady in the ocean.
Without either sign or sound of their shock
The waves flowed over the Inchcape Rock;
So little they rose, so little they fell,
They did not move the Inchcape Bell.
The Abbot of Aberbrothok
Had placed that Bell on the Inchcape Rock;
On a buoy in the storm it floated and swung,
And over the waves its warning rung.
When the Rock was hid by the surge’s swell,
The mariners heard the warning Bell;
And then they knew the perilous Rock,
And blest the Abbot of Aberbrothok.
The Sun in heaven was shining gay,
All things were joyful on that day;
The sea-birds scream’d as they wheel’d round,
And there was joyaunce in their sound.
The buoy of the Inchcape Bell was seen
A darker speck on the ocean green;
Sir Ralph the Rover walk’d his deck,
And he fix’d his eye on the darker speck.
He felt the cheering power of spring,
It made him whistle, it made him sing;
His heart was mirthful to excess,
But the Rover’s mirth was wickedness.
His eye was on the Inchcape Float;
Quoth he, “My men, put out the boat,
And row me to the Inchcape Rock,
And I’ll plague the Abbot of Aberbrothok.”
The boat is lower’d, the boatmen row,
And to the Inchcape Rock they go;
Sir Ralph bent over from the boat,
And he cut the Bell from the Inchcape float.
Down sunk the Bell with a gurgling sound,
The bubbles rose and burst around;
Quoth Sir Ralph, “The next who comes to the Rock
Won’t bless the Abbot of Aberbrothok.”
Sir Ralph the Rover sail’d away,
He scour’d the seas for many a day;
And now grown rich with plunder’d store,
He steers his course for Scotland’s shore.
So thick a haze o’erspreads the sky
They cannot see the Sun on high;
The wind hath blown a gale all day,
At evening it hath died away.
On the deck the Rover takes his stand,
So dark it is they see no land.
Quoth Sir Ralph, “It will be lighter soon,
For there is the dawn of the rising Moon.”
“Canst hear,” said one, “the breakers roar?
For methinks we should be near the shore.”
“Now, where we are I cannot tell,
But I wish I could hear the Inchcape Bell.”
They hear no sound, the swell is strong;
Though the wind hath fallen they drift along,
Till the vessel strikes with a shivering shock,
“O Christ! it is the Inchcape Rock!”
Sir Ralph the Rover tore his hair;
He curst himself in his despair;
The waves rush in on every side,
The ship is sinking beneath the tide.
But even in his dying fear
One dreadful sound could the Rover hear,
A sound as if with the Inchcape Bell,
The Devil below was ringing his knell.
INDEX.
Aberbrothock Abbey, 238.
Aberdeen Harbour, 130.
Adam, Robert, architect, 78, 80, 97, 98.
Adie, Alexander, optician, 51, 192.
Admiralty Survey, appeal for, 199.
---- Memoir of, 201.
Airy, Sir G. B., 52.
American Suspension Bridges, 163.
Anderson, Dr., 5, 6.
Anemometer, 257.
Annan Bridge, 160.
Ardrossan Harbour, 130.
Argand lamps. _See_ Lighthouse Illumination.
Astronomical Institution of Edinburgh, origin of, 265.
Backwater, value of, 131.
Balance crane, 181, 182.
Barclay, Dr. John, 119, 270.
Barnbougle, foreshore, 241.
Base line, measurement of, 196.
Baxter, Mr., architect, 78.
Beaufort, Sir F., 202.
Bell Rock Lighthouse:--Dangers of the rock, 13, 15;
ballad of Sir Ralph the Rover, 13, 274;
“Account” of, 14;
Mr. Stevenson’s design of 1800 for a stone tower, 16;
improvements on Smeaton’s tower in design and arrangement of
materials, 16-24;
Bill of 1802-3 thrown out on financial grounds, 18;
Mr. Telford and Mr. Rennie called in to support Mr. Stevenson’s
design, 18;
Act passed in 1806, 19;
progress of the work, 25;
attending boat breaks adrift, 27;
life in the floating lightship, 31;
boating between lightship and the rock, 37;
Mr. Stevenson’s anxiety for the workmen, 39;
Sunday work, 40;
life in the barrack or beacon, 42;
cranes invented for the work, 45, 181;
bust of Engineer placed in the tower by the Lighthouse Board, 45;
Sir Walter Scott’s visit to the tower, and lines inscribed in the
album, 47;
experiments on preservation of timber, 155;
experiments on iron, 159;
measurement of base line for ascertaining its distance from the
shore, 196;
cement rubble cofferdams used at, 252;
observations on fog and fog signals, 254;
Southey’s “Inchcape Rock,” 274.
Benson, Mr. (Covent Garden Theatre), 61.
Birkenhead Docks, 132-150.
Blackwood, W., publisher, 3.
Blair, Sir D. Hunter, 3.
Blasting, 203.
Bolts, unscrewing of, by the waves, 252.
Bremonteuil, M., 246.
Bridges:--Mr. Stevenson’s designs for Marykirk, Annan, Stirling,
and Hutcheson stone bridges, 160;
high level road bridge for Newcastle, 161;
bridge of built planks, 162;
new form of suspension bridge, 162-165;
paper on suspension bridges, 162;
provision for flood waters, 239.
Buoyage system, Mr. Stevenson’s, 253.
Burn, Mr., architect, 238, 239.
Canals:--Mr. Stevenson’s Reports on, upon one level without
lockage, 111;
Strathmore, 111;
Edinburgh and Glasgow, 111;
ship canals, 125;
canal between the Dee and Mersey, 132-150.
Carr Rock Beacon:--Design for, and tide machine for ringing bell or
sounding a whistle, 177.
Cast iron rails. _See_ Railways.
Cast iron tracks. _See_ Roads.
Cathcart, Viscount, 247.
Catoptric system. _See_ Lighthouse Illumination.
Cement. _See_ Mortar.
Clerk, John, of Eldin, 14, 15, 21, 22, 114.
Coal light. _See_ Isle of May.
Cockburn, Lord, 76.
Cofferdams, cement rubble, 252.
Colby, Colonel, 62, 202.
‘Comet’ steamer, accident to, 258.
Corran Ferry, 235.
Covent Garden Theatre, 60.
Cramond Suspension Bridge, 162, 165.
Cranes:--Moveable jib and balance cranes invented by Mr.
Stevenson, 45, 181.
Creech, Mr., 3.
Crichton, Mr., architect, 91, 92.
Cubitt, Sir W., 265.
Cumbrae Lighthouse, 2, 5.
Cycloidal talus wall, 242.
Davidson, Rev. Dr., 2.
Dee, River (Cheshire), 130, 132-150.
---- wasting effects of the sea at, 225.
Dee, River (Aberdeenshire), density of salt and fresh water at, 229.
Dioptric system. _See_ Lighthouse Illumination.
Double light, 58.
Douglass, J. N., C.E., 47, 176.
Dredging, 203.
Duff, Sheriff, 238, 271, 274.
Duncan, Sheriff, 190.
Dundee Harbour, 130, 249, 251.
Earl’s Palace, Kirkwall, 238.
East Lothian Railway, 124.
Eddystone Lighthouse, Mr. Stevenson’s inspection of, in 1813 and
1818, 46;
fears as to its security, 46;
to be rebuilt, 47.
Edgeworth, R., 66.
Edinburgh Astronomical Institution, origin of, 265.
Edinburgh, Mr. Stevenson’s design for approaches from the east by
Regent and London Roads, and opening up access to the Calton
Hill, 74;
sites for the new Jail, Court of Justiciary, and buildings in
Waterloo Place, 77;
Regent Bridge, 88;
Feuing Plan for eastern district of Edinburgh, 90;
improvement of accesses from the west and north and from
Granton, 90;
removal of Old Tolbooth Prison, 91;
proposal to remove the University buildings, 95.
Edinburgh Railway, 114.
Edinburgh and Glasgow, canal between, 111.
Elliot, A., architect, 76.
Erne, River, 130.
Erskine, Lord Advocate, 19, 271.
Facet reflector, 49.
Fenwick, Mr., 160.
Ferries, 101;
Ferry Engineering illustrated by Mr. Stevenson’s Report on the Tay
Ferries, 102;
Reports on various ferries, 108;
Orkney and Shetland Ferry, 108.
Fisheries:--Mr. Stevenson on the Scottish fisheries, 184;
origin of the Shetland herring fishery, 189;
sympiesometer suggested as a storm warning for fishing boats, 191;
habits of fishes, 193;
gases in air sacs of fishes, 194;
Dr. Handyside’s remarks on, 194;
Hon. B. F. Primrose on the slow progress of the Shetland
fisheries, 195.
Flashing light, invention of, by Mr. Stevenson, 57.
Floating light lantern, 58, 59.
Fog and fog signals, observations on, 254.
Foreshores, protection of, 241.
Forth, River, 130, 253.
Foulerton, Captain, Trinity House, 259.
Fowler, J., C.E., 131.
Fraserburgh Harbour, 130.
Fresnel, A., 62.
German Ocean, the alveus or bed of, 204, 205.
Graham, J. Gillespie, architect, 238.
Granton Harbour, 90, 130.
Gregory, Professor, 89.
Haldane, J., architect, 15.
Hamilton, T., architect, 76.
Hamilton, Sheriff, 271, 272.
Handyside, Dr. P. D., 194.
Harbours, Mr. Stevenson’s Reports on various, 130;
value of spending basins for, 130.
Harris, Mr., 60.
Henderson, Professor, 268.
Highland and Agricultural Society, 127, 246.
Hope, Lord President, 17, 18, 269.
Hope, Professor, 7.
Hutcheson Bridge, 160.
Hydraulic mortar, 240.
Hydrophore, Mr. Stevenson’s invention of, 231-235.
Inglis, Colonel, 269.
Intermittent light, invention of, by Mr. Stevenson, 57.
Irish Channel, cause of heavy seas in, 247;
sea routes across, 248.
Iron, experiments on the durability of, 159.
Isle of Man Lighthouses, 8.
---- observations on fog at, 256.
Isle of May Lighthouse, 3, 53, 58.
Jameson, Professor, 7.
Joseph, Samuel, R.A., 45.
Kincaid, Mr., 246.
Kinnairdhead Lighthouse, 5, 49, 196.
Laing, S., 185, 195.
Leach, Dr., 155.
Leslie, Sir J., 51, 100.
Lifeboats, 260.
Lighthouse Illumination:--early modes of, 48;
facet reflectors and lamps, 49;
silvered copper reflectors and Argand lamps, 49;
sliding lamp carriage, 51;
coal lights, 53;
distinctions among lights, 57;
dioptric system, 62.
Lightship lantern, Mr. Stevenson’s design for, 58, 59.
_Limnoria terebrans_, ravages of, on timber, 155.
Lipping of joints of masonry, 239.
Loch Eil, 235.
Locomotive engine, 124.
Lockhart, J. G., 270.
London and Edinburgh, railway between, 125.
Low, Professor, 7.
M’Adam, J. L., 66, 67, 70.
Mackenzie, Murdoch, 138 _et seq._
Manby’s apparatus, 261, 262.
Marine Surveying, 196;
measurement of base line for Bell Rock, 196;
fixing site of Kinnairdhead light, 196;
appeal for Admiralty Survey, 199;
history of Admiralty Survey, 201.
Marjoribanks, Sir J., 89, 95.
Marykirk Bridge, 69, 160, 239.
Melville, Lord, 126, 168.
---- Monument, Edinburgh, 238.
Mersey, River: Reports on harbour and dock at Wallasey and the Dee,
with connecting ship canal, 132-150;
wasting effects of the sea at, 225.
Montrose Bridge, 159, 240.
---- church spire, 238.
Mortar, hydraulic, 240.
Moveable jib crane, 181, 182.
Mowat, Mr., of Gardie, 190.
Mullaghmore Harbour, 245.
Neill, P., LL.D., 3, 7, 270.
Netherlands, King of, 58.
Newcastle, design for high level road bridge at, 161.
New York Suspension Bridge, 167.
Niagara Suspension Bridge, 167.
Night signal lamps, 247.
Nimmo, Alexander, C.E., 132, 135, 225, 265.
North Berwick Harbour, 250.
Northern Lighthouse Board, origin of, 4;
Mr. Smith appointed Engineer, 4;
first light exhibited by, 5;
Mr. Stevenson appointed Engineer, 7;
annual inspections and reports on the lighthouses, 7;
send Mr. Stevenson on a visit to the English lights, 7;
Bell Rock Lighthouse, 12;
improvements in lighthouse illumination adopted by, 49;
lighthouses designed by Mr. Stevenson, 56;
Minute on the death of Mr. Stevenson, 273.
Ordnance Survey, 202.
Orkney and Shetland Ferries, 108.
---- Fisheries, 185, 189, 195.
Palmerston, Lord, 245.
Pentland Skerries Lighthouse, 6.
Peterhead Harbour, 130.
_Pinus maritima major_, for checking sand drift, 245.
Playfair, Mr., architect, 76.
Playfair, Professor, 7, 15, 16, 96, 100, 252, 267.
Population, prospective increase of, 250.
Portpatrick Harbour, 130, 247, 248.
Price, H., C.E., 131.
Primrose, Hon. B. F., 195.
Queensferry passage, signal lamps for, 247.
Rae, Sir William, 77, 91, 114, 174, 238, 258, 259.
Rails, cast and malleable iron, 122, 123, 128.
Railways on one level, 112;
haulage on, 112;
lines of railway in Scotland laid out by Mr. Stevenson, 112;
Report on Edinburgh Railway, 114;
cast iron and malleable iron rails, 122, 123, 128;
locomotive, 124;
Reports on various railway lines, 124, 125;
uniform gauge, etc., proposed for, 126;
notes on railways for the Highland and Agricultural Society, 127;
description of permanent way of, 128;
letter from George Stephenson, 128;
article on, 203;
signal lamps, 247.
Reflectors. _See_ Lighthouse Illumination.
Rendel, J. M., 151.
Rennie, George, 265.
Rennie, John, 18, 20, 21, 22, 265.
Ribble, River, 130.
Ritchie, Professor, 7.
Rivers, Mr. Stevenson’s Reports on, 130;
value of backwater, 131;
Tees navigation, 131;
Reports by Telford, Stevenson, and Nimmo, on harbours and wet docks
at Birkenhead and at the Dee with connecting ship canal, 132;
improvement of the Tay navigation, 151;
experiments on the density of fresh and salt water, 229.
Roads:--Early roads and road making, 64;
Edgeworth and M’Adam’s systems of road making, 66;
Mr. Stevenson’s system of road making, 67-70;
cast iron tracks, 68;
stone tracks as a smooth and durable city road, 71;
article on, 203.
Robison, Professor, 3, 7, 15.
Rosebery, Lord, 241.
Salt water, density of, in estuaries and rivers, 229.
Sand drift, checking of, by “bent” grass and planting _Pinus maritima
major_, 245.
Scotch Lighthouse Board. _See_ Northern Lighthouse Board.
Scott, Sir Walter, 25, 47, 94, 238, 270.
Sectio planography, 205.
Severn, River, 130.
Shetland Ferries. _See_ Ferries.
Shetland Fisheries, 185;
origin of herring fishery, 189.
Ships, build of, 249.
Shipwrecks, notes on, 260.
Signal lamps, 247.
Sinclair, Sir John, 125.
Skerryvore Lighthouse, 271, 272.
Smeaton, John, 21, 23, 24, 206, 236.
Smith, Captain of the ‘Orestes,’ 168 _et seq._
Smith, Thomas: improvements in lighthouse illumination, 3, 4, 49;
Engineer to the Scotch Lighthouse Board, 4;
Cumbrae Lighthouse, 5;
Pentland Skerries Lighthouse, 6.
Smyth, Professor Piazzi, 265.
Southey’s “Inchcape Rock,” 274.
Spink, J., Bell Rock pilot, 30.
St. Andrews Cathedral, 238.
St. Magnus Cathedral, 238.
Steamboats, 107;
regulations for, 258;
lights for, 259.
Stephenson, George, 121, 124, 128.
---- Robert, 161.
Stevenson, Alan, 151, 271.
Stevenson, Robert:--birth, 1;
superintends erection of Cumbrae Light, 2, 5;
resolves to be a Civil Engineer, 5;
student at Andersonian Institution, Glasgow, and University of
Edinburgh, 5-7;
superintends Pentland Skerries Lighthouse works, 6;
appointed Engineer to the Northern Lighthouse Board, 7;
annual inspections and Reports on the Scotch Lighthouses, 7;
inspection of and report on English lights, 10;
is taken for a French spy, 10;
Journals, 12;
Reports, 12.
Design for the Bell Rock Lighthouse, personal superintendence of
the work during its execution, and incidents connected
therewith, 13-47;
“Account” of, 14.
Lighthouse illumination, improvements in, 49;
sliding lamp carriage, 51;
lighthouses in Scotland designed by, 56;
invents distinctions for lighthouses, viz., flashing,
intermittent, and double lights, 57;
design for floating light lantern, 59;
Report on dioptric system of illumination, 62.
System of road making, 67-70;
cast iron tracks for roads, 68;
stone tracks, 71.
Improvement of Edinburgh:--design for approaches from the east by
Regent and London Roads, and opening up access to Calton
Hill, 74;
Report on sites for new Jail and Court of Justiciary and buildings
in Waterloo Place, 77;
building plan for eastern district of Edinburgh, 90;
improvement of accesses from the north and west and from
Granton, 90;
visit to the jails of England, 91;
Old Tolbooth Prison, 91;
Report on removal of University buildings, 95.
Ferries:--Reports on, illustrated by those of the Tay, 102;
Reports on various ferries, 108.
Report on canals on one level without lockage, 111;
Reports on railways, 112;
uniform gauge, etc., proposed for railways, 126;
notes on railways for the Highland and Agricultural Society, 127;
description of permanent way, 128.
Harbours and Rivers:--Reports on, 130;
Tees navigation, 131;
Reports on harbour and wet docks at Birkenhead, and harbour at
Helbre on the Dee with connecting ship canal, 132-150;
Tay river improvements, 151.
Preservation of timber:--experiments on, 154;
preservation of iron, 159.
Bridges:--designs for Marykirk, Annan, Stirling, and Hutcheson
stone bridges, 160;
design for high level road bridge at Newcastle, 161;
bridge of built planks, 161;
new form of suspension bridge, 162, 165.
Design for Wolf Rock Lighthouse, 168.
Design for Carr Rock Beacon, 177;
proposal to use the tide for tolling a bell or sounding a
whistle, 178.
Invents the moveable jib and balance cranes, 181.
Fisheries:--notes on the Scotch, 184;
origin of the Shetland herring fishery, 189;
suggestion for using the sympiesometer as a storm warning, 91;
experiments on air sacs of fishes, 194.
Marine survey, 196;
measurement of _base line_, 196;
mode of ascertaining positions of lighthouses, 196;
appeal for Admiralty Survey and Sailing Directions, 199.
Contributions to _Encyclopædia Britannica_ and _Edinburgh
Encyclopædia_, 203;
alveus or bed of the German Ocean, 204, 205;
sectio planography, 205;
wasting effects of the sea on the estuaries of the Mersey
and Dee, 225;
discovery that the salt water flows up the beds of rivers in a
stream distinct from the outflowing fresh water, 229;
invents the hydrophore, 231.
Wide range of subjects on which Mr. Stevenson gave advice, 236;
architectural reports, 236;
extracts from early Reports, 239.
Retrospect of life, 264.
Stewart, Professor Dugald, 7, 97.
Stirling Bridge, 160.
Stockton and Darlington Railway, 125.
Stonehaven Harbour, 130.
Stone tracks. _See_ Roads.
Strathmore Canal, 111.
---- Railway, 124.
Suspension Bridges. _See_ Bridges.
Sympiesometer, 191.
Tay Ferries, 102.
---- River, 130, 151, 251.
Tees, River, 130, 131.
Telford, Thomas, 18, 127, 132, 149, 265.
Thames, River, 234.
Thomas, Captain, Admiralty Survey, 140, 201.
Tidal scour, 251.
Timber:--experiments on durability of, 155;
ravages of the _Limnoria terebrans_ on, 157;
charring, 158;
creosoted 159.
Tour de Cordouan, 49, 63.
Trinity, cycloidal sea wall at, 242.
Walker, James, C.E., 73, 176, 265.
Water:--experiments on the density of fresh and salt water at the
Dee, 229;
Thames, Loch Eil, etc., 235;
hydrophore for obtaining specimens of, 231.
Watt, James, 125, 126, 167.
Waves, action of, in unscrewing bolts, 252.
Wear, River, 130.
Wilson, Captain, 43.
Winch Chain Bridge, 163.
Wolf Rock Lighthouse:--design for, 168;
Journal of visit to, 168-175;
tower built in 1870, 175.
PRINTED BY T. AND A. CONSTABLE, PRINTERS TO HER MAJESTY,
AT THE EDINBURGH UNIVERSITY PRESS.
FOOTNOTES
[1] Mr. Randall assumed the name of Davidson after succeeding to the
estate of Muirhouse.
[2] Account of the Bell Rock Lighthouse. Drawn up by desire of the
Commissioners of the Northern Lighthouses, by Robert Stevenson.
Edinburgh, 1824.
[3] 7th September 1807.
[4] The tender was named after the great Engineer.
[5] Spink’s boat was too large to come close to the rock.
[6] Report of the Royal Commission on Lighthouses, 1861, p. 86.
[7] _Translation also by Dr. Gregory_:--“In the reign of George the
Third, the father of his country, in the second year of the Provostship
of Sir John Marjoribanks, Baronet, of Lees,--The citizens of Edinburgh
having made this new and magnificent access over the neighbouring hill
to the capital city, according to the plan of Robert Stevenson, Civil
Engineer, ordered the name of the _Regent_, George Augustus Frederick,
to be inscribed on this bridge.”
[8] From which Fig. 14 has been made.
[9] The essays most favourably noticed are those of Mr. Alexander
Scott, Mr. George Robertson, Mr. George Douglas, Mr. John Ruthven, Mr.
James Dickson, Mr. James Walker (Carron), Mr. James Walker (Lauriston),
Mr. John Fraser, Mr. John Wotherspoon, Mr. John Moore, and Mr. John
Baird.
[10] Notice of the Ravages of _Limnoria terebrans_ on Creosoted
Timber.--_Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh_, vol. iv. and
vol. viii.
[11] Vol. ii. p. 129.
[12] Vol. ii. p. 196.
[13] A Sketch of the Institution and the progress of the Hydrographical
Department of the Admiralty, from its first establishment in the year
1795.
[14] Vol. x. p. 57.
Transcriber’s Notes
Punctuation and spelling were made consistent when a predominant
preference was found in this book; otherwise they were not changed.
Simple typographical errors were corrected.
Ambiguous hyphens at the ends of lines were retained; occurrences of
inconsistent hyphenation have not been changed.
Index not checked for proper alphabetization or correct page references.
Illustration facing page 77: credit line not entirely readable.
End of Project Gutenberg's Life of Robert Stevenson, by David Stevenson