Quick Search
|
Search Results
You searched for: More Like: 'Don't curse the cassies'
21 items
items as
Granite workers at Persley Quarry
1070 Aberdeen, famously the "Silver City", had many granite quarries with Persley and Sclattie next to Woodside among the largest.
Skilled men were required to break and the huge granite blocks into manageable sized pieces from which to work and many came from across Scotland to work in the Woodside area.
Granite from the local quarries was made into cassies used to pave the streets of London as well as Aberdeen.
The quarry industry came to an end in the area in the early 1900s with many of the quarrymen of Woodside emigrating to Redgranite, USA.
Settmaker at Persley Quarry
1071 The Aberdeen area had many granite quarries, and there was a need for men who had the skill to reduce huge blocks of granite into manageable pieces by chipping it with a variety of hammers, and chisels to produce the required shape and size. In this 1920's photograph we see a settmaker at Persley Quarry on the north side of the River Don in Aberdeen, at his wooden shelter or 'skaithie'. These shelters provided some sort of wind break for these men who had to sit on blocks of granite patiently working on the hard stone. Settmakers made cassies for roads and Aberdeen setts were used to pave streets in London. On his left is a tripod structure which acted like a small crane to lift the bigger stones into position. Note the lack of protective safety equipment apart from some extra padding on his knees. Stop 2: Katherine Humphrey (died 1830), the Gibbetstane, on road outside the Tolbooth, Castlegate
2301 The rectangular set of cobblestones or cassies outside the Tolbooth on Castle Street marks the site of the gallows in the Castlegate. It was on this spot that Kate Humphrey was the last woman to be publicly hanged in 1830 for murdering her husband James. Kate ran a public house with him in the nearby Bool Road and warned the magistrates of the 'evils of drink' in her final moments of life before she 'looked doon Marischal Street' - the local term for being hanged. Her body was sent to Dr Alexander Munro's Dissecting Rooms in Edinburgh. Kate believed she had been cursed when she was struck on the breat by the knot of the hangman's rope while witnessing Jean Craig's execution in 1784. Aberdeen Women's Alliance: The Gibbetstane
2329 The rectangular set of cobblestones or cassies outside the Tolbooth on Castle Street marking the site of the gallows in the Castlegate. Treasure 98: Kissing postcards
317 To celebrate Valentine's Day, we have chosen to display four historic postcards from our collections conveying messages of love and friendship.
The postcards are slightly smaller than those in circulation nowadays and they all have a different title, written in capital letters and in colour on the top of the cards. Up until the end of the 19th century, most postcards presented an undivided back; England was the first country to divide the back of the postcards in 1902, before France in 1904, Germany in 1905 and the United States in 1907. It allowed people to write both the message and the address of their recipient on the same side. The front side was then mainly used for the picture or artwork. Postcards can be a useful tool for learning more about society and people's interests and sense of humour.
The text on the postcard entitled 'The Science of Kissing' is from a publication called The People. It first appeared in British newspapers in 1866 and has been republished many times since. Amusingly, the author of the text gives some tips to improve a kissing performance and describes in detail what a proper kiss on the lips should feel like: "People will kiss, yet not one in a hudred [sic] knows how to extract bliss from lovely lips, any more than he knows how to make diamonds from charcoal. And yet it is easy, at least for us. First know whom you are going to kiss. Don't make a mistake, although a mistake may be good."
Want to find out more about the art of kissing in time for St. Val's Day? Check out our interactive exhibition on the touchscreen! |