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St. Nicholas Bells
14 St. Nicholas Bells, 1887. The great fire of 1874 swept through the East Kirk of St. Nicholas, totally destroying the oak and lead steeple and sending the great bells crashing to the ground. A decade later, the citizens of Aberdeen combined to replace the bells with a great peal of bells cast in Belgium. The bells arrived at Aberdeen Station on May 11th 1887 and were paraded through the city with great pomp and ceremony. Demonstration in favour of the Franchise Bill
318 On the 16th August 1884, a great demonstration took place in Aberdeen in support of the Franchise Bill. Over 10,000 men including members of 33 different trades, assembled on the Esplanade and, to the music of 20 bands, paraded through the city street on way to the Links. This photograph shows the processions snaking down Guild Street.
The figures dressed in white towards the front of the procession are likely from the contingent of bakers and millers, of whom there were 300 in number. This may be the end of their group, with a band and the shore labourers behind them.
Describing the procession, the pamphlet The Franchise Bill Demonstration at Aberdeen, on Saturday, 16th August, 1884 states the following:
"The millers and bakers, who came next, presented, perhaps the best show in the whole procession. Dressed in white from head to foot, they made a strikingly conspicuous display amid the variegated draping of the other demonstrators." (Page 7).
The pamphlet goes on to describe the various banners and displays carried by the millers and bakers.
Aberdeen City Libraries have a copy of The Franchise Bill Demonstration at Aberdeen, on Saturday, 16th August, 1884 in our Local Studies Reserve Stock (Lo 329) and this can be consulted at Aberdeen Central Library. The pamphlet states that it is compiled chiefly from local newspaper reports. St. Nicholas Church and Churchyard
374 St. Nicholas Kirk and graveyard, showing the new spire after the 1874 fire, which destroyed the ancient tower and steeple of the East Kirk. William Smith, son of John Smith, rebuilt both chancel and crossing between 1875 and 1877. When the present granite steeple was built, a carillon of 37 new bells was installed, cast by Van Aerschodt of Louvain, in Belgium. A further 11 bells were added in 1954, making a total of 48 bells - the largest carillon in Great Britain. St. Nicholas Church West, shown here, was built between 1751 and 1755. Designed by James Gibb, it is a classic example of an 18th century preaching kirk. Building took 4 years and it opened for public worship on 9th November 1755. St. Nicholas Kirkyard is a popular place for family historians, with its many table tombs and monuments. Amongst the famous local names are Archibald Simpson, architect, John Anderson, Wizard of the North, and William Dyce, the painter. St. Nicholas Church bell
382 A photograph of one of the bells installed in St. Nicholas Church in 1887.
A carillon of 36 bells were ordered by Aberdeen Town Council from Severin van Aershodt of Louvain in Belgium to replaced those destroyed in the fire of 1874.
The bells were also commissioned and installed to commemorate Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee, marking 50 years of her reign. The largest of the new bells was named Victoria.
On 11th May 1887, the new bells arrived at Aberdeen Goods Station, after being shipped to Leith, where they were loaded on to lorries, and paraded through the main streets of the city on their way to Back Wynd.
The inscription on the shown bell reads as follows:
"The gift of Councillor George Washington Wilson. Cast by Severin Vanaerschodt, Louvain Belguim." Shiprow
1276 Shiprow, looking North to Provost Ross' House, one of only two surviving ancient lodgings in the city. Originally built in 1593, the arcade is early 18th century. Acquired by Aberdeen City Council in the 1950s from ABC Cinemas, by whom it was to have been made into staff accommodation for their adjacent Regal, a plan halted by the outbreak of war in 1939. Now incorporated into Aberdeen Maritime Museum. St. Fittick's Well
1853 A photograph from 1906 of St. Fittick's Well, located in the Bay of Nigg.
An account of the well is given by Thomas W. Ogilvie (1861-1908) in The Book of Saint Fittick, a history of Torry, written and presented as a Bazaar Book to Saint Fittick's Church, Torry, in December 1901.
Ogilvie worked as a doctor in Torry for seven years and was prominent in the public life of the district. An account of his life is given in the introduction to a posthumously published collection of his verse, Poems (1911).
Ogilvie suggests use the well dates to pagan times and gives an account of its storied healing powers and the tradition of offering gifts in the hope of good health and fortune. He suggests St Fittick, the patron saint of Torry, became the object of these benefactions after the arrival of Christianity.
He details the tradition of visiting the area and leaving gifts on the first Sunday of May. Ogilvie writes:
"Town Council and Kirk Session struggled by laws and punishments to stop those Sunday wanderings and to efface those vestiges of old superstitions, but the customs of centuries die hard, and to-day young and old, to whom the name St. Fittick is a meaningless term and the repute of his well quite unknown, ramble on Sundays and week-days to the bay once called by his name, and they find the old power still lingers, for the beauty of the Bay, the fresh sea-breeze, and the pure draught from the old spring still bless and heal."
The well is understood to have been washed away by coastal erosion in the early 20th century. Its location, latterly its site, is recorded in old large scale Ordnance Survey maps. Arrival of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert
1996 The arrival at Aberdeen Harbour in September 1848 of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. The original of this painting by the artist Peter Cleland is now in the possession of Aberdeen City Council. The Royal Family had traveled from London on the Royal Yacht - a wooden paddle steamer called 'Victoria and Albert', with the intention of berthing at Aberdeen and then proceeding by coach to Balmoral. The City's careful arrangements were thrown into disarray when the vessel made such good time under Captain John Cargill that she arrived on Thursday 7th September 1848 - a full day ahead of her expected arrival on the 8th. By good fortune the Harbour Engineer happened to be supervising another vessel when he recognised the Royal Yacht arriving. So that he could arrange its safe mooring and send messages to the Lord Provost George Thompson, bells in the city were set ringing and crowds rushed to the harbour to see the Queen and prince Albert. Fidler's Well
2737 A photograph showing a horse drinking from Fidler's Well in Guild Street. The image is taken from the Evening Express of 13th September 1929. It was accompanied by an article detailing the visit to Aberdeen of the grandson of the well's benefactor, Alexander Fidler. The grandson, who lived in Chicago, had visited the public library and learnt much about his ancestor and the well from G. M. Fraser and then visited the Evening Express office.
The article contains information on Dr William Guild, to whom the well is dedicated, Alexander Fidler and his brother John, who ran a well known pie-shop on Shiprow.
The wording on the well's granite basin reads "Dedicated to Dr William Guild. Died 1657. Lammas, A. F."
The inscription on the cast iron fountain is as follows:
"Fountainhall, 1st August 1857.
Water springs for man and beast,
At your service I am here;
Although six thousand years of age,
I am caller, clean, and clear.
Erected for the inhabitants of The World
by
Alexander Fidler."
In this image the well is shown at its 2nd location, outside the Goods Station and opposite what was the Balmoral Temperance Hotel & Restaurant. Procession of St. Nicholas bells
4376 The great fire of 1874 swept through the East Kirk of St. Nicholas totally destroying the old oak and lead steeple and sending the great bells crashing to the ground. A decade later, the citizens of Aberdeen combined to replace the bells destroyed in the fire with a great peel of bells specially cast in Belgium.
The bells arrived in Aberdeen Railway Station on 11th May 1887 and the following day were paraded through the city with great pomp and ceremony. They were mounted on horse drawn lorries and led through the streets by a pipe band in a parade that lasted two and a half hours.
This image was taken by photographer George Washington Wilson as the procession passed his house at Queen's Cross. Wilson had a vested interested in the proceedings having provided one of the bells at a personal cost of £44 and 3 shillings. Shiprow
111 Shiprow, looking North to Provost Ross' House, one of only two surviving ancient lodgings in the city. Originally built in 1593, the arcade is early 18th century. Acquired by Aberdeen City Council in the 1950s from ABC Cinemas, by whom it was to have been made into staff accommodation for their adjacent Regal, a plan halted by the outbreak of war in 1939. Now incorporated into Aberdeen Maritime Museum. Treasure 17: A souvenir of Aberdeens Cinema
188 This excellent brochure was a souvenir from the opening of the Capitol cinema on Union Street. It was opened on Saturday 4th of February 1933. Despite inclement weather a large crowd gathered for the launch of perhaps the grandest cinema in the history of the city. The ambition of the new establishment is reflected in the design and extent of this brochure.
The Press and Journal reports: "The Capitol was opened to the public in the early evening, and for over two hours before the opening there was a queue in Union Street, while in the heavy rain in the evening hundreds of people were content to wait in the street queues."
The newspaper article stresses the local ownership of the cinema and the local craftsmanship that went into its construction. The Capitol was the undertaking of Aberdeen Picture Palaces Ltd., and was designed by A. G. R. Mackenzie and George Clement.
In the introduction to the souvenir brochure the chairman of Aberdeen Picture Palaces, A. D. Hay, writes "Here then stands the 'Capitol,' a proud, vital and stately landmark in the World of Entertainment. The 'Capitol' was built for you, it is your Theatre, an Aberdeen enterprise incorporating every known value of comfort, and every modern device for the presentation of 'Super Entertainment,' in the interests of Aberdeen patrons whom we feel confident will ever remain, loyal patrons of the 'Capitol.'
The cinema was official declared open by Baillie Watt and he echoed the above sentiments, stating that the Capitol was "the last word in the cinema world, and reflected greatest credit on all concerned in its design and construction."
One interesting feature of the brochure is the inclusion of specially created adverts for all the companies involved in the construction and furnishing of the new cinema. Some of these adverts, such as that for S. B. Russell, bricklayer and contractor on Affleck Street, provide rich information on the history of the companies and give an insight into how the companies saw themselves. The brochure details the companies behind every aspect of the buildings from the cinema seating and terrazzo work to the innovative lighting.
"With a gold key, presented by Mr G. A. Wilson, advocate, one of the directors of Aberdeen Picture Palaces, Ltd., the proprietors of the new cinema, Mrs A. D. Hay, wife of Mr A. D. Hay, chairman of the directors, unlocked the main entrance door, and the Capitol, an Aberdeen-owned and Aberdeen-built hall of entertainment, was opened to the people of Aberdeen and the North of Scotland."
The opening day of the new cinema featured a varied evening of entertainment. The Press and Journal states "All the magnificent possibilities of the new theatre were embraced by the items of the opening programme. There was ballet, cinema and organ playing, each of notable worth." The ballet performance by the Henrietta Fuller Dancers was particularly praised. Mr Edward O' Henry played the theatre's new top of the line Compton organ.
At the opening ceremony, B. H. Gates, a director of Aberdeen Picture Palaces, said: "It was a long lane that had no turning. They had built the Capitol not for to-day, but for the generations of Aberdeen people to come. The company had dedicated the Capitol to the people of Aberdeen, their children, and their children's children in the hope that in generations to come they might appreciate what had been given them." 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! Treasure 103: Royal Wedding Posters
324 The 21st March marks the 146th wedding anniversary of Queen Victoria's sixth child, Princess Louise, and the 9th Duke of Argyll, the Marquis of Lorne. Aberdeenshire has always held the Royal family in high regard, largely due to their associations with the county and their Balmoral residence. As a result, the wedding of Princess Louise and the Scottish Marquis of Lorne in 1871 was cause for great celebrations in Aberdeen. In Aberdeen City Libraries' collection we hold three posters that testify to these celebrations, and serve as a perfect example of Victorian poster design. The Aberdeen Journal of 22 March 1871 described the union thus:
"The happy union hailed with so much satisfaction throughout the realm and especially in Scotland, was celebrated in Aberdeen with feelings of as great loyalty as in any part of Her Majesty's wide dominions. The attachment which Her Royal Highness the Princess Louise has shewn to her home in the Highlands has endeared her in an especial manner to those whom her Royal mother is pleased to call her neighbours; while her high artistic accomplishments and well-known kindliness of heart have, not less than her royal station, made her alliance with one of our most promising young Scottish nobles, an event of more than usual interest."
View our Treasures exhibition on the interactive screen to find out more about this royal couple and how their marriage unfolded in the following years. The Last Speech and Confession of Alex Martin
480 This broadside recalls the execution of Alex Martin at Aberdeen on 27th August 1824. It provides a brief biography of him, before providing his dying confession. Martin was executed for the crime of stouthrief, a crime he had committed in Kemnay, close to Aberdeen. This was the Scottish crime of 'overpowering or depriving by force a man of his property.' He was tried for his crime in Edinburgh at the High Court of Justiciary earlier in the year.
During Martin's confinement, he had been visited by various clergymen, with whom he had engaged in severe penitence. The broadside makes reference to Rev. Mr. Thom, Ordinary of the Prison, Rev. Dr. James Kidd (1761-1834), Rev. Mr. Pennan and Rev. Mr. Lyon. Later in the broadside, Martin also thanks Mr. George Turreff, Mr. Alex. Brown, jailor, John Gray, under-turnkey, and Mr. John Fyfe, messenger.
The broadside's account of Martin's life states that when at school, he had lost father. His mother then lost all control over him, and Martin was devoid of any sentiment of righteousness. 'Abandoned to profligacy and vice', Martin led a life of violent crime. He had previously been found to have assaulted a girl in Edinburgh.
On the day of his execution, various prayers were delivered. On the thirty-two-year-old Martin reaching the scaffold, he delivered a lengthy sermon to the crowds in attendance on the evils of 'sabbath-breaking' and bad company. The broadside reports that he did not faulter when speaking. After he finished praying, he gave the signal that he was ready. He did not die immediately, but appeared to suffer a great deal, convulsing as he hang.
In the confession itself, Martin repeatedly refers to his sin of excessive drinking. He describes a 'wicked inclination' that led him to drink, which was the cause of many of his crimes, 'which perhaps I would not have committed if I had kept sober.' Martin asks that his experience be a warning to those who excessively drink.
"To be, or not to be?"
494 This broadside dates to 23rd March 1857. Professing to be written by a 'townsman', it ridicules a 'Clique'. The broadside criticises the clique as a group of gentry attempting to engineer Aberdeen's politics. The broadside satirises the events leading up to British general election in late March 1857. The election was fought by William Henry Sykes and John Farley Leith. Both were members of the Whig party.
The broadside notes that Aberdeen's newspaper the Herald criticises a so-called 'clique'. Indeed, an article published in the Aberdeen Herald on 21st March titled 'The Adverse Cries' criticises a clique for spreading falsehoods in their attempts to prevent Leith from getting elected.
The broadside notes that an unidentified individual from Brucklay upset the clique's politicking. This likely refers to William Dingwall Fordyce (1836-1875). In response, the clique arranged for another unidentified individual, this time from Elmhill, to engage the help of Sykes. 'Elmhill' likely refers to an individual belonging to Elmhill House. Elmhill House became a psychiatric hospital in 1862.
The broadside criticises the Herald for supporting Leith, whom the broadside calls 'a Muff'. It also lambasts them for fake Protestant piety regarding the claim that Leith would repeal the Maynooth Grant (a cash grant from the British to a Catholic seminary in Ireland). The broadside instead calls for Sykes to win the election. Sykes won that election by 186 votes, and stood unopposed at the following three elections until his death on 16th June 1872. More Maritime Disasters at Westminster
496 This broadside purports to comes from a newspaper called Northern Ensign. It provides detail of an accident on water in 1856. It appears to be an elaboration satirical allegory comparing the Great North of Scotland Railway Company's attempts to pass a bill in parliament to a disaster at sea.
The "Great North", a large, three-decker steamer is commanded by Captain John Duncan. This is presumably John Duncan, an Aberdeen Advocate, who served as chairman of the Great North of Scotland Railway Co. between 1867 and 1871.
Of one incident, the broadside reports "The Great North" capsized when a storm broke out. The vessel had been preparing to take off, with all sails open. Captain Elphinstone's crew all attempted to scramble to safety. Many of the crew were seriously injured. Though the storm only lasted a few minutes, some £15,000 in damage was done. The broadside reports that their correspondent tried to investigate the issue, but the crew refused to give much information.
The broadside does list some injuries, such as: "Andrew Boyd, lost his snuff-box and his memory". John Webster was thrown overboard and was rescued by another vessel, whom The Great North crew had been ridiculing before the storm. A further amazing description follows: "Ferguson (not the poet or the astronomer, but a bigger man than before) got severely crushed between a floating spar and the funnel." "John Anderson (not 'my Joe,') preserved his equanimity during the whole trying scene, and coolly went down below for his portmanteau."
A report into the accident found that the crew were incompetent, "not one could box the compass." The lackadaisical attitude of the crew towards safety, they found, contributed to the scale of the accident. To The Independent Electors of the County of Aberdeen
502 This broadside, dated to 3rd August 1837, regards the campaign of Whig candidate Sir Thomas Burnett (1778-1849), 8th Baronet of Leys, to be elected as Member of Parliament for Aberdeenshire.
The broadside, published by the pro-reform Herald newspaper on behalf of Burnett, supports Burnett against the Tory candidate William Gordon (1748-1858). The broadside claims that voters in favour of Burnett have suffered challenges in casting their vote for him.
The broadside strongly encourages voters to go to the polls and vote for Burnett, whom is called "The Farmer's Friend", indicating that farmers were sympathetic to reform.
In the election, Burnett received 807 votes to Gordon's 1,220 (Perthshire Courier, 10th August 1837). Rubislaw House
521 A drawing of Rubislaw (or Rubieslaw) House taken from The Freedom Lands and Marches of Aberdeen 1319-1929 compiled by Donald B. Gunn (1929).
A caption accompanying the image states "A modern house, No. 50 Queen's Road, is erected on the site of this house. A small section of the walls of the old house is incorporated in the new house." (page 41).
On the estate of Rubislaw more generally, which was one of those feued from the Freedom Lands in 1551, Gunn writes the following:
"Rubislaw was feued to Alexander Rutherford at a feu duty of £20 Scots, and about 1687 passed into the hands of the noted Skene family, with whom it remained until 1886. Now largely merged into the West end of the City, it is divided amongst many owners, the main division being Kepplestone." (page 13). |