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Brig o' Balgownie over the River Don
168 An engraving showing the Brig o' Balgownie over the River Don from a drawing by James Giles. The inscription in the bottom right indicates that the engraving was printed at the Deaf and Dumb Institution.
The title of this engraving describes the Brig o' Balgownie as the Bridge of Don. This is due to it serving as the main bridge over the river until the construction of the bridge known today as the Bridge of Don in 1827-30 by engineers John Smith and Thomas Telford.
This image likely looks south east along the river, towards the bridge, from between Tam's Hole and Black Nook. This was an important salmon fishing area in the past. Some information on the catching of fish on the river is given in the book The Annals of Aberdeen (Volume II, 1818) by William Kennedy, on pages 206-211. The Corbie Well
637 The Corbie Well, deriving its title from the fact that a large rookery colony existed among the trees that covered the bank of the Denburn Valley, near where the well stood. The Corbie Well was rebuilt in a different form when the Union Terrace Gardens were laid out in 1877. Lemon Tree Hotel, Huxter Row
679 Lemon Tree Hotel, Huxter Row, off Castle Street, which was demolished to make way for the Town House in the 1870s. The title was transferred to a house in St. Nicholas Street and more recently to the Lemon Tree arts venue in West North Street.
Huxter Row was a narrow street running from Broad Street, parallel with Union Street, to the old Town House and then joining Union Street at right angles. The street derived its name because of the booths of hucksters - small traders. Little Belmont Street
895 Little Belmont Street from Belmont Street, showing the spire of St. Nicholas Church and part of the former Central School, converted into the Old Town School pub by 2002. Further along is the ancient building of Ma Cameron's pub. The building on the right was the South Church, later known as West St. Nicholas Kirk House, now converted to Slains Castle pub. New Aberdene from the Block house
1807 John Slezer's illustration showing the town and harbour of Aberdeen from Balnagask in the south.
The view featured in Slezer's Theatrum Scotiae, originally published in 1693.
A blockhouse is a small isolated fort consisting of a single building. The one from the title is shown across the water in the centre of the image. Corbie Well
1855 The Corbie Well, deriving its title from the fact that a large rookery colony existed among the trees that covered the bank of the Denburn Valley, near where the well stood. The wall and fence seen above the well are the gardens of Denburn Terrace. The Corbie Well was rebuilt in a different form when the Union Terrace Gardens were laid out in 1877.
Correspondent Ed Fowler provides more information on the later history of the well:
"The older well was replaced in 1898 by an outlet in a plain granite ashlar wall. An inscription - 'Renewed 1856' - from the old well was removed during later modernisation, and until the 1960s the wall supported one of the stone pillar lamp-posts from the 1747 Bow Brig surmounted by the weather-vane from the steeple of old St Nicholas Kirk." Denburn South Junction Signal Box
2149 This photograph, looking south, shows an array of gantries overhead and the Denburn South Junction Signal Box on the right, in the middle distance.
Denburn South Junction opened on 31st May 1914. It replaced the initial Denburn Junction Signal Box, located where the Denburn Valley Railway met the Aberdeen Railway. This photo was likely taken at some point during the 1930s.
Denburn South was a large box, containing a 240 lever frame of which 217 were used. 181 controlled movement to and from the Joint Station and 36 the adjoining goods lines. Three quarters of the operational costs were met by the Joint Station and one quarter by the Caledonian Railway. Aberdeen South replaced this box on 20th April 1947.
(Information taken from 'The Joint Station: Aberdeen Station 1867 - 1992' by Keith G. Jones. This excellent title is available to consult at Aberdeen Local Studies and is recommended for further details on Aberdeen railways.) Denburn South Junction Signal Box
2150 This photograph looks south and shows the Denburn South Junction Signal Box, which was opened on 31st May 1914, in the middle distance, on the right. An array of gantries can also be seen in the centre of the image.
Denburn South replaced the initial Denburn Junction Signal Box, located where the Denburn Valley Railway met the Aberdeen Railway. This photo was likely taken at some point during the 1930s.
Denburn South was a large box, containing a 240 lever frame of which 217 were used. 181 controlled movement to and from the Joint Station and 36 the adjoining goods lines. Three quarters of the operational costs were met by the Joint Station and one quarter by the Caledonian Railway. Aberdeen South replaced this box on 20th April 1947.
(Information taken from 'The Joint Station: Aberdeen Station 1867 - 1992' by Keith G. Jones. This excellent title is available to consult at Aberdeen Local Studies and is recommended for further details on Aberdeen railways.) Denburn South Junction Signal Box
2151 This photograph shows the interior of the Denburn South Junction Signal Box, which was opened on 31st May 1914. It replaced the initial Denburn Junction Signal Box, located where the Denburn Valley Railway met the Aberdeen Railway. The photo was likely taken at some point during the 1930s.
Denburn South was a large box, containing a 240 lever frame of which 217 were used. 181 controlled movement to and from the Joint Station and 36 the adjoining goods lines. Three quarters of the operational costs were met by the Joint Station and one quarter by the Caledonian Railway. Aberdeen South replaced this box on 20th April 1947.
(Information taken from 'The Joint Station: Aberdeen Station 1867 - 1992' by Keith G. Jones. This excellent title is available to consult at Aberdeen Local Studies and is recommended for further details on Aberdeen railways.) Treasure 33: The Pedigree of the Cruickshanks of Stracathro
2321 Among the Local Studies collection of family trees is a chart from 1847 entitled Pedigree of the Cruickshanks of Stracathro. The title initially referred to the Cruickshanks of Langley Park but this has been scored out and replaced with Stracathro. A pedigree is a form of genealogical table. Collections of pedigrees were first made in the 15th century and, according to The Oxford Companion, were "a matter of aristocratic pride and of practical necessity for legal purposes". The term pedigree comes from the French 'pied de grue', meaning crane's foot, due to the resemblance of the genealogical lines to the thin legs and feet of the bird.
The pedigree of the Cruickshanks was compiled by E. G. G. Cruickshank, who features in the 10th generation detailed on the table.
The pedigree begins with the earliest ancestor at the top of the document with lines dropping down to succeeding generations. Each generation is given a Roman numeral and individuals within each generation are assigned Arabic numbers. The pedigree begins with "John Cruickshank first in Strathspey m. Mary Cumming of Elgin" and extends down to an incomplete 12th generation. The individuals in the 11th generation were mostly born in the 1870s.
The information listed on a family tree is dependent on the sources available and the purpose for which it was created. The information given on the Cruickshank's pedigree varies but typically includes an individual's date of birth, marriage details and date of death. Additional information is also supplied as is the case with the 7th generation of Cruickshanks - Margaret Helen is described as the daughter of Rev. Gerard of Aberdeen, author of a book whose title is unreadable, and sister to a Colonel Gerald. Details of army service are supplied for some individuals and many of the Cruickshanks were involved in the administration of India or served in the army there.
The tiny handwriting, use of abbreviations and sparse punctuation makes the document challenging to read so familiarity with the subject matter and names of places is useful. A later interpreter of the document has made a number of annotations in pencil. For example, one of the later additions points to an individual and reads "Is this W. Robertson of Auchinroath? Yes!"
In addition to a listing of descendants the pedigree is annotated with a number of original notes and a description of a coat of arms. The latin motto of Cavendo tutus translates as 'Safe through caution'. One note, quoting "an old paper", describes from where the family came prior to being in Strathspey. A note on the other side of the chart states that "distinguished Officer and Author the late Colonel Stewart of Garth" links the family to the Royal Family of Stewart and suggests the name of Cruickshank derives from "some deformity in the first cadet of the house."
Attached to the document is a letter dated 23 October 1927 from a Jim Bulloch to City Librarian G. M. Fraser. Bulloch explains that he got the pedigree from a Mr. Mackintosh of Elgin, thinks it is quite rare and that the library might like it for its collection. It has stayed in the Local Studies collection to this day.
The Gazetteer for Scotland website states that in 1775 Patrick Cruickshank, listed at No. 11 of the 7th generation, bought the estate of Stracathro in Angus. The property was subsequently inherited by his brother Alexander Cruickshank (1764 - 1846). Alexander hired the Aberdeen architect Archibald Simpson to build Stracathro House between 1824 and 1827. The Palladian Scottish country house still exists today.
University College London's Legacies of British Slave-ownership website indicates that Patrick and Alexander, and two other Cruickshank brothers, owned plantations on the Caribbean island of St Vincent that used slave labour. See Alexander Cruickshank's entry in the database here: 'Alexander Cruikshank of Stracathro', Legacies of British Slave-ownership database, http://wwwdepts-live.ucl.ac.uk/lbs/person/view/8590 [accessed 9th June 2020]. In 1833 when Britain abolished the ownership of slaves the government granted £20 million in compensation to former slave-owners. Alexander Cruickshank made three claims for compensation, two of which were successful.
In 1874, Stracathro House and estate were sold to Sir James Bannerman, Lord Provost of Glasgow, and father of Prime Minister Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman. The country house was later used as a World War II hospital and owned by Tay Health Board before being sold to private owners in 2003. Aberdeen Theatres: Walford Bodie
3392 A profile photographic portrait of Aberdeen born magician and entertainer, Walford Bodie (1869-1939).
In the late-Victorian and Edwardian periods, at the height of music hall variety, Dr Walford Bodie M.D. was one of the most famous and highly paid entertainers in Britain.
He remains an enigmatic and charismatic figure in the history of the North East. Born Samuel Murphy Bodie at 33 George Street on 11th June 1869, he was the son of a journeyman baker called William Bodie and his wife Margaret and received his education at Robert Gordon's College.
He went on to become a leading showman, hypnotist, ventriloquist, controversial 'bloodless surgeon' and was billed variously as The Electric Wizard, The Modern Miracle Worker of the North, and The Most Remarkable Man on the Earth.
The medical profession questioned his qualifications and right to the title of doctor. He would respond that his qualifications were from the United States, a country at the forefront of medical science, though he once conceded that the M.D. following his name in fact stood for "Merry Devil".
This photograph comes from a family photograph album, originally owned by Annie "Nan" Henry, held by Aberdeen City Libraries. Aberdeen Cinemas: Picture House / Gaumont
3407 This photograph from across the road shows the Gaumont cinema and its surrounds in September 1973, shortly before it closed down for good.
The cinema appears to have shown more X-rated, European films prior to its closure. This image shows adverts for Hot and Blue (original title: Jeux pour couples infidèles) and Hungry for Sex (Liebesspiele junger Mädchen).
Newspaper listings indicate that the cinema was also showing at this time late night screenings of Scream and Scream Again, an Amicus horror starring Christopher Lee, Vincent Price, and Peter Cushing, and a biker movie called Hell's Angels '69. The Adamant Stone & Paving Company Ltd.
4189 This photograph shows a paving stone with a branding plaque for the Adamant Stone & Paving Company Ltd. The plaque is located in the pavement in front of 9 Forest Road.
An account of the history and operation of the Adamant Stone & Paving Company Ltd. is given in Aberdeen: The Official Handbook (1951), compiled by the Corporation of the City of Aberdeen, on page 175. Within the "Other Industries" section, under the title 'Precast Concrete', the account begins as follows:
"The Adamant Stone & Paving Company Ltd. was established in 1885 by a group of London engineers, to manufacture at Dancing Cairns, Bucksburn, paving flags made of crushed granite and Portland cement by a new hydraulic process."
The account, which provides much detail on the history and work of the company up to the time of writing, continues that the flags were an immediate success and were shipped across Britain and beyond. It states that the city of Aberdeen remained the company's most consistent customer.
This custom is reflected in the paving branding that can be seen in various places across Aberdeen. It can also be found in other places around Britain.
When pavement wear and damage is repaired these branding marks can become lost over time. Beyond this one on Forest Road, in Aberdeen, pavement branding can also be found on the following streets:
Queen Street - This branding, the more familiar brass lettering reading "Aberdeen Adamant", can be found in a pavement slab next to the south west corner of Greyfriars Church. Both words are written in straight lines.
George Street - Also "Aberdeen Adamant" brass lettering, both words in straight lines, located outside 101 George Street.
Hilton Terrace - Outside nos. 21-23. Silver coloured lettering "Aberdeen Adamant". "Aberdeen" is written in a curve above a straight "Adamant".
Hilton Road - Slightly down the road from nos. 54-56. Silver "Aberdeen Adamant". "Aberdeen" curved above straight "Adamant".
Company branding like that seen on Queen's Street and George Street can also be seen on Holburn Street. One could previously be found on a flag in the pavement just north of the junction with Strachan's Lane. This appears to have been removed sometime between 2010 and 2012 as part of street repairs. Though just to the south of the junction, outside 219 Holburn Street, an example of the brass branding remains in place.
The same branding, brass, straight lines, could also be found on Murray Terrace at the junction with Polmuir Road, north side of the pavement. Below the south elevation of 56 Polmuir Road. This disappeared between 2012 and 2014.
There was also a plaque, the same as the one on Forest Road, outside 29 Murray Terrace in recent times. This has was removed as part of repairs between 2009 and 2012.
A digital copy of this photograph was donated to Aberdeen City Libraries by Colin Johnston. The Adamant Stone & Paving Company Ltd.
4190 This photograph shows a paving stone with a branding plaque for the Adamant Stone & Paving Company Ltd. The plaque is located in the pavement in front of 9 Forest Road.
An account of the history and operation of the Adamant Stone & Paving Company Ltd. is given in Aberdeen: The Official Handbook (1951), compiled by the Corporation of the City of Aberdeen, on page 175. Within the "Other Industries" section, under the title 'Precast Concrete', the account begins as follows:
"The Adamant Stone & Paving Company Ltd. was established in 1885 by a group of London engineers, to manufacture at Dancing Cairns, Bucksburn, paving flags made of crushed granite and Portland cement by a new hydraulic process."
The account, which provides much detail on the history and work of the company up to the time of writing, continues that the flags were an immediate success and were shipped across Britain and beyond. It states that the city of Aberdeen remained the company's most consistent customer.
This custom is reflected in the paving branding that can be seen in various places across Aberdeen. It can also be found in other places around Britain.
When pavement wear and damage is repaired these branding marks can become lost over time. Beyond this one on Forest Road, in Aberdeen, pavement branding can also be found on the following streets:
Queen Street - This branding, the more familiar brass lettering reading "Aberdeen Adamant", can be found in a pavement slab next to the south west corner of Greyfriars Church. Both words are written in straight lines.
George Street - Also "Aberdeen Adamant" brass lettering, both words in straight lines, located outside 101 George Street.
Hilton Terrace - Outside nos. 21-23. Silver coloured lettering "Aberdeen Adamant". "Aberdeen" is written in a curve above a straight "Adamant".
Hilton Road - Slightly down the road from nos. 54-56. Silver "Aberdeen Adamant". "Aberdeen" curved above straight "Adamant".
Company branding like that seen on Queen's Street and George Street can also be seen on Holburn Street. One could previously be found on a flag in the pavement just north of the junction with Strachan's Lane. This appears to have been removed sometime between 2010 and 2012 as part of street repairs. Though just to the south of the junction, outside 219 Holburn Street, an example of the brass branding remains in place.
The same branding, brass, straight lines, could also be found on Murray Terrace at the junction with Polmuir Road, north side of the pavement. Below the south elevation of 56 Polmuir Road. This disappeared between 2012 and 2014.
There was also a plaque, the same as the one on Forest Road, outside 29 Murray Terrace in recent times. This has was removed as part of repairs between 2009 and 2012.
A digital copy of this photograph was donated to Aberdeen City Libraries by Colin Johnston. The Adamant Stone & Paving Company Ltd.
4191 This photograph shows a paving stone with a branding plaque for the Adamant Stone & Paving Company Ltd. This plaque was located in the pavement in front of 29 Murray Terrace. It was removed as part of street repairs sometime between 2009 and 2012.
An account of the history and operation of the Adamant Stone & Paving Company Ltd. is given in Aberdeen: The Official Handbook (1951), compiled by the Corporation of the City of Aberdeen, on page 175. Within the "Other Industries" section, under the title 'Precast Concrete', the account begins as follows:
"The Adamant Stone & Paving Company Ltd. was established in 1885 by a group of London engineers, to manufacture at Dancing Cairns, Bucksburn, paving flags made of crushed granite and Portland cement by a new hydraulic process."
The account, which provides much detail on the history and work of the company up to the time of writing, continues that the flags were an immediate success and were shipped across Britain and beyond. It states that the city of Aberdeen remained the company's most consistent customer.
This custom is reflected in the paving branding that can be seen in various places across Aberdeen. It can also be found in other places around Britain.
When pavement wear and damaged is repaired these branding marks can become lost over time, as is the case with this one. In Aberdeen, pavement branding can be found on the following streets:
Queen Street - This branding, the more familiar brass lettering reading "Aberdeen Adamant", can be found in a pavement slab next to the south west corner of Greyfriars Church. Both words are written in straight lines.
George Street - Also "Aberdeen Adamant" brass lettering, both words in straight lines, located outside 101 George Street.
Hilton Terrace - Outside nos. 21-23. Silver coloured lettering "Aberdeen Adamant". "Aberdeen" is written in a curve above a straight "Adamant".
Hilton Road - Slightly down the road from nos. 54-56. Silver "Aberdeen Adamant". "Aberdeen" curved above straight "Adamant".
Company branding like that seen on Queen's Street and George Street can also be seen on Holburn Street. One could previously be found on a flag in the pavement just north of the junction with Strachan's Lane. This appears to have been removed sometime between 2010 and 2012 as part of street repairs. Though just to the south of the junction, outside 219 Holburn Street, an example of the brass branding remains in place.
The same branding, brass, straight lines, could also be found on Murray Terrace at the junction with Polmuir Road, north side of the pavement. Below the south elevation of 56 Polmuir Road. This disappeared between 2012 and 2014.
A digital copy of this photograph was donated to Aberdeen City Libraries by Colin Johnston. Treasure 16: The Book of the Dead
187 When the discovery of the Rosetta Stone in 1799 unlocked the mystery of the hieroglyphics, scholars were finally able to begin deciphering the curious images found on the many monuments and artefacts of Ancient Egypt.
It soon became apparent that many of the writings associated with tombs and coffins had similarities; with further study revealing the texts to be "messages" designed to assist the deceased as they negotiated their way through the underworld towards eternal bliss.
As the texts evolved over time, many different versions of the writings exist in various forms such as stone carvings and papyrus manuscripts. In 1842 the German Egyptologist, Karl Richard Lepsius assembled a selection of the most common depictions and published them under the title of "The Book Of The Dead".
Treasure 19: Chapbooks
190 Chapbooks were a form of popular literature produced in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries.
Text was printed on both sides of a large sheet of paper which was then folded repeatedly to create a booklet of 8, 12, 24, or 32 pages, approximately 5 inches by 3 inches in size. The title page had a woodcut illustration which was not necessarily linked to the content of the chapbook but could be selected from illustrations already available in the printer's premises.
Their content was varied but included ballads, songs, folktales, jokes and riddles. They were produced in large numbers and favourite texts would be reprinted over and over again and even by different printers.
In rural areas and at markets and fairs, these little booklets were sold for a halfpenny or a penny by itinerant pedlars or chapmen who carried packs containing bootlaces, needles, thread, ribbons and other trinkets to appeal to their customers. The word "chap" probably derives from the Old English "ceapian" meaning to bargain or trade.
"Tullochgorum" is one of a series of 21 ballad chapbooks, each of 8 pages, printed by John Cumming, a merchant in Hatton of Fintray, about 10 miles north of Aberdeen. He had learnt the merchant business in Aberdeen but, when he returned to Fintray, he also set up a printing press. He sometimes included the music, as here, but for other ballads he only named a tune with which his readers would already have been familiar.
His other printing work included Alexander Watt "The Early History of Kintore" published in 1865 and James Dalgardno "Notes on the Parish of Slains and Forvie in the Olden Days" in 1876.
He died in January 1900 and is buried in the local churchyard.
The popularity of chapbooks declined as other forms of literature, including newspapers and magazines, became more accessible. The physical nature of these unbound flimsy pamphlets has meant that chapbooks have not survived in large numbers but Local Studies has a complete set of those printed by John Cumming bound together as one volume.
Collections of other Scottish chapbooks survive in various libraries and are becoming more available through online cataloguing and indexing while academic researchers are studying the role played by these small publications in their social and literary world.
Treasure 21: Edward Raban work, 1624
192 As Book Week Scotland is celebrated in November it is appropriate to feature a volume from our historic and special collection, "Aberdeen Early Printers".
Of theological content Cum Bono Deo: Raine from the Clouds by Andrew Logie, printed in Aberdeen in 1624, is the earliest Edward Raban work held in Local Studies. Our image shows the title page the arrangement of which was described as "commendable with the judicious use of woodcuts and ornamental borders delighting the eye" (Edmond, J P: The Aberdeen Printers).
In addition to the item displayed we have at least 11 other items in our collection along with examples of other early Aberdeen printers such as Brown and Chalmers.
Raban's office was on the north side of Castle Street. He printed under the sign of "The Townes Armes" and this continued to be the sign board of the Aberdeen Printers for at least 100 years.
One of his earliest friends was the bookseller David Melville. Many books printed by Raban between 1622 and 1633 were printed for Melville and carry his name on the imprint.
Raban's press produced over 150 publications, ranging from graduation theses, sermons, theological works, editions of the psalms, almanacs to printed notices and schoolbooks for the Council.
Treasure 41: Mary Garden Record Collection
210 We hold a number of original vinyl records in our collections, including those of Mary Garden, a local girl who found global fame as an opera singer in the early 20th Century.
Born at 35 Charlotte Street on 20 February 1874, Mary Garden left her native Aberdeen around the age of nine when the family moved to America in search of better opportunities and a new life.
After a period of uncertainty and several moves, a young Mary accepted a role as a childminder in Chicago, with payment taking the form of singing lessons to further her obvious interest. By 1896, Mary had shown sufficient progress that she accompanied her tutor to Paris in a quest to pursue a career in opera.
Mary's first big break came in 1900, when she performed in the new opera, Louise after the main star became unwell. A series of leading roles followed in 1901, including Thaïs, Manon and Madame Chrysanthème. For the next decade, Mary courted both limelight and controversy as she portrayed leading characters on stage, while being romantically linked to various composers and directors off-stage. Adding fuel to these fires of speculation, Claude Debussy chose Garden to create the title role of his new play, Mélisande, overruling the preference of his own librettist.
At the outbreak of the First World War, Mary attempted to enlist in the French army - but with her identity discovered, she instead turned to nursing at a hospital in Versailles. When she returned to America, she continued to raise funds for the French Red Cross. Her efforts during both war and peacetime generated awards from Serbia and France.
Mary appeared in two silent films - the first released in 1918 - but she found difficulty adapting to the new medium and this separate career never took off. She returned to her first passion and continued to perform in opera until the mid-1930s.
In 1921, Mary was offered the role of director of the Chicago Opera Association, and as she was still performing - undertook both roles with fervour. Under her tenure, the Association took on many new and exciting artists and works.
At the outbreak of war in 1939, Mary chose to remain in Paris, until the German invasion forced her to escape, leaving all of her possessions behind. In June 1940, she returned to Aberdeen but the lure of teaching the next operatic generation proved too strong and she once again travelled to America to coach young stars and give lectures in 1949-1950.
By this time, it appears that Mary's memory had started to suffer - evidenced by the 1951 autobiographical publication Mary Garden's Story which was riddled with factual errors. The book received disastrous reviews and possibly led to her decision to reside permanently in Aberdeen from 1954.
Mary died in 1967 in the House of Daviot, a country hospital near Inverurie, aged 92. Fifty friends attended a small ceremony. A small commemorative plaque is located at 41 Dee Street where the Garden family lived, and a small garden is dedicated to her memory in Craigie Loanings.
Although she remains relatively little known in her native Aberdeen, Mary's legacy is considerable in the United States - particularly in Chicago where her stewardship of the Opera Association is still remembered fondly.
Treasure 46: The Aberdeen Herald
217 When the first weekly issue of The Aberdeen's Journal was published by James Chalmers in January 1748 who would have guessed it would still be in production today (admittedly with several changes of title and ownership) as The Press and Journal.
The monopoly of The Aberdeen Journal, as it soon became, remained almost unchallenged throughout the eighteenth century but the nineteenth century saw the publication of several competing newspapers. Most of these were short-lived but included The Aberdeen Herald, and General Advertiser for The Counties of Aberdeenshire, Banffshire, and Kincardineshire, which was published between 1832 and 1876.
We hold the first copy of this weekly newspaper in our collections. It was printed and published by George Cornwall, and was issued on Saturday 1 September 1832. It succeeded an earlier paper called The Aberdeen Chronicle which had been in production since 1806. The Aberdeen Journal was seen then as politically neutral but the Herald is described as Whig-Radical and its opening advertisement states "In fact, the chief object of The Aberdeen Herald will be to obtain a cheap, efficient, and patriotic system of Government".
Since the Herald was published on a Saturday while the Journal appeared on Wednesday, it was able to include articles which would have been old news by the following Wednesday and could also provide updates to news from earlier in the week.
The newspaper cost 7d which was far beyond what an ordinary person could pay and restricted readership to the wealthy. This high cost was a result of taxes imposed by the Stamp Act of 1712 which was not abolished until 1855. Papers could then be bought for 1d and there was freedom to produce mass-circulation newspapers with improved text layout.
The front pages of newspapers, even as recently as the early 1900s, did not contain news stories but were filled with adverts - business, theatrical events, shipping, property and public notices. The issue of The Aberdeen Herald for 21 April 1866 contained an advert explaining the change of name for the town of Inverurie. Local historian, Dr Douglas Lockhart, provides the following account of the town's name change.
The market town of Inverurie was one of the fastest growing places in Aberdeenshire during the mid-nineteenth century when its population increased from 735 in 1821 to 2524 in 1871. Many factors contributed to rapid growth at this time including good communications, initially by turnpike roads and the Aberdeenshire Canal to nearby Port Elphinstone, and from the mid-century it lay astride the railway line between Aberdeen, Elgin and Inverness.
Further advantages were the extensive agricultural surroundings, markets and successful local businesses. Surprisingly Alexander Smith in A New History of Aberdeenshire, which was published in 1875, has little to say about the transformation of the town. However, he wrote a lengthy paragraph to describe how 'INVERURIE was, in former times, written Inneraury, Ennerawrie, and Hennerawie, and latterly Inverury' and he notes that the name meant "the confluence of the river of the margin".
On 5 February 1866 the Council met to discuss what appears to have become a growing problem - mail was being sent to Inveraray in Argyllshire because Inverury was not listed by the Post Office as a Post Town. The solution was simple: "return to the ancient spelling of the Burgh as Inverurie and to memorialise the Postmaster General to have it set down on the Lists as a Post Town". The Postmaster agreed to the name change and the scene was set on 19 April for the Council to discuss advertising the new arrangements. The wording of an advertisement was approved and it was decided to place it in the Edinburgh Gazette, Aberdeen Journal, Aberdeen Free Press, Aberdeen Herald and Banffshire Journal and "to endeavour to get the Railway Company to alter the spelling of the Station in their Tables".
Inverury officially became Inverurie the following day and on 21 April The Aberdeen Herald announced the change of name in the advertising columns of its front page. The Banffshire Journal in addition to printing the advertisement also published a glowing report on building activity in the burgh and noted that "within the memory of living inhabitants [the town] has been thoroughly regenerated".
Aberdeen Local Studies holds files of many local newspapers on microfilm, including the Aberdeen Herald and the Free Press. A digitised partial file is also available on the British Newspaper Archive which can be freely consulted online in the Central Library using your library card. Treasure 50: Heroines of Shakspeare
221 Celebrating 400 years since the death of the literary great, one of our April treasures looks at an unusual publication concerning the works of William Shakespeare.
Published in the mid-19th Century, this wonderful volume was donated to Aberdeen Public Library by Miss Emily Jane Duthie, a retired teacher living on Skene Terrace.
Born in India in 1868 Miss Duthie was the daughter of Robert Duthie, Superintendent of the Scottish Orphanage in Bombay during the days of the British Empire. The school was founded in 1847 by Scottish Christian Missionaries to educate the daughters of Scottish Presbyterian Soldiers based in India. Since then, the school has continued to thrive and is now one of the most prestigious in Mumbai.
It is highly likely that Miss Duthie's early years based at the institution, followed by her own studies and subsequent career would have introduced her to the world of Shakespeare and perhaps piqued an interest in the many female characters depicted therein. The kind donation clearly demonstrates her continuing desire and passion to educate others in later life, once her career as a teacher had come to an end.
"The heroines of Shakspeare" is chiefly an art book; a means to showcase the forty-eight imagined portraits of the Bard's fictional characters. The attempt to capture a visual representation of the prominent female characters provides a neat bridge between Shakespeare's contemporary audiences (who would have seen female roles assigned to young boys), and our modern age of television and film which is frequently dominated by physical appearance.
Although educated Victorian audiences would have been familiar with the written words, the illustrations attempt to capture a definitive image of each character, including approximate age, costume, physical features and demeanour as revealed by the playwright.
The images are portraits of Hamlet's Ophelia, Othello's Desdemona, Romeo and Juliet's Juliet and of course - Lady Macbeth (from the Scottish play!)
The illustrations are printed on thick paper from original engravings by portrait artists including Augustus Egg, John Hayter and John William Wright. The book is bound with gilt edges and also contains sturdy decorated endboards.
The curious spelling of Shakespeare in the title reflects the fact that during the Bard's own lifetime there was no single accepted form - the man himself spelling his own name differently in various editions of his work. Although this may seem strange to modern readers the tradition harks back to an era when language was much more fluid, and established forms of spelling simply did not exist in the way that we know today.
Treasure 55: Punch
230 The first edition of the satirical magazine Punch was published on 17 July 1841. The title being derived from a conversation between the founders who claimed that - just as the alcoholic drink of the same name - the magazine would be nothing without Lemon (Punch's first editor was named Mark Lemon).
Despite a difficult start of low circulation figures, the success of the magazine was ensured with the decision to publish an annual edition, or Almanack. Copies of these soared and shortly after the magazine was taken over by the printing firm of Bradbury and Evans whereupon it entered its golden age.
Modern satirical magazines - such as Private Eye or the French publication Charlie Hebdo - often purposefully push the boundaries of good taste in order to land a searing political blow of maximum impact. In the Victorian age, Punch attempted to capture the mood of the public in tasteful, yet no-less provocative terms.
Punch frequently used illustrations to highlight contemporary problems in a stark visual manner. So much so in fact, that it can claim to have changed the English language in the process. The original definition of the word cartoon meant simply a preliminary drawing for a work of art - similar to "sketch" - with no additional meaning. However, the word took on the additional connotation of being applied to humour with the publication of Punch's 'Cartoon No.1 - Substance and Shadow'.
The enduring popularity of the magazine is in many ways, inextricably linked to its own downfall. With changing appetites for publications and satire, Punch desperately needed to keep re-inventing itself, but seen by many as a national institution, change was far from easy. Eventually the magazine succumbed to the pressure of low circulation and finally ceased publication in 2002, leaving behind 160 years of humour and wit.
Punch's lasting legacy is a snapshot of opinion on some key historic events from the preceding decades - notably including coronations, scandals, wars, budgets, coalitions and many other subjects high on the political agenda. Beechgrove United Free Church Bazaar
249 The illustrated title page from the souvenir book of a fundraising bazaar for Beechgrove United Free Church. It was held in the Music Hall on 21st and 22nd October 1904. 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! |