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Regent Quay from the Harbour
426 This image was digitised from Artistic Aberdeen: A Sketch Book (1932) by W. S. Percy.
The book describes the scene as follows:
"Regent Quay from the Harbour, with Shore Brae, a glimpse of Shiprow and the houses climbing up to the towers of the Town House and Marischal College. Few more enchanting sights or approaches to the city of Aberdeen could be imagined than this, as coming by sea, one leans over the ship's rail in the early sunshine of a summer's morning. The city climbing up from the harbour and the gleam of glinting granite make an unforgettable picture. This drawing sees the scene in the most charming romantic light." Castle Terrace from Castlehill
427 This image was digitised from Artistic Aberdeen: A Sketch Book (1932) by W. S. Percy.
The book describes the scene as follows:
"Castle Terrace from Castlehill, looking towards the Maternity Hospital, with the Town House Tower in the distance. The Castlehill from earliest days has been associated with the military side of Aberdeen, and at the time of this publication is still occupied by the barracks which are the depot of the Gordon Highlanders. Castlehill overlooks river and sea, and it has been stated that earliest Aberdeen nestled in its shadow. Legend and history dealing in famous names such as William Wallace and Robert the Bruce and others not so dear to Scottish ears have surrounded Castlehill with the echoes of stirring events in Aberdeen's long history." Broad Street
430 This image was digitised from Artistic Aberdeen: A Sketch Book (1932) by W. S. Percy.
The book describes the scene as follows:
"Broad Street, a vista which in years not very far off, may again under go change. This was formerly named the Broadgate, but this part of it now, as compared with the plaza in front of Marischal College from which the drawing has been done, is rather ironical. The part seen in the drawing is also entirely given over to the municipal offices; at the end is the Town House, the tower of which can be seen. On the left are the offices of the Aberdeen Journals Limited." Gateway of Marischal College
432 This image was digitised from Artistic Aberdeen: A Sketch Book (1932) by W. S. Percy.
The book describes the scene as follows:
"Gateway of Marischal College, one of the noblest features in many ways of Aberdeen's most notable building, a building which in certain of its aspects and composition has no equal in the world. Built of grey almost white granite, the college is the apotheosis of the city's main constructional substance. It's bright light beauty, has inspired many poets, including the late Thomas Hardy. The great window above the gateway is a masterpiece of the stained glass art of the great Scottish worker in this medium, Douglas Strachan."
Mounthooly
435 This image was digitised from Artistic Aberdeen: A Sketch Book (1932) by W. S. Percy.
The book describes the scene as follows:
"Mounthooly. This curiously-named street on the left runs only a few hundred yards from its junction with Causewayend-a name that would be more appropriate fifty years ago-and Gallowgatehead when it becomes known as King's Crescent and, a little further on, the Spital. It is part of the hilly and winding but direct route between the new city of Aberdeen and the old town, or Aulton. The name Mounthooly, although not unique, is not very common in Scotland. It has been conjectured that it means the Holy Mount, a hill on which in ancient times a chapel stood." Spital Brae
439 This image was digitised from Artistic Aberdeen: A Sketch Book (1932) by W. S. Percy.
The book describes the scene as follows:
"Spital Brae, looking from its crossing at Froghall Terrace and Merkland Road towards the centre with Mitchell Tower, which crowns Marischal College, in the distance. Civically and academically this is a storied highway. Generations of students have trod this way between King's College in the Aulton and Marischal College in Broad Street, but colour has gone with the falling into desuetude of the students' scarlet gowns. The name Spital indicates that a hospital founded by Bishop Matthew of Kininmond was erected here in the later years of the twelfth century." Don Street and the Town House of Old Aberdeen
440 This image was digitised from Artistic Aberdeen: A Sketch Book (1932) by W. S. Percy.
The book describes the scene as follows:
"Don Street and the Town House of Old Aberdeen. At the Town House the High Street of Old Aberdeen, or the Aulton, as it is more commonly known, breaks into two thoroughfares: the Chanonry, which leads to Oldmachar Cathedral, and Don Street which goes on past the estate of Seaton to the Brig o' Balgownie. All this part of the town of Aberdeen is rich in academic and ecclesiastical history, which has been told in volumes numerous." Jack's Brae from the Hardweird
441 This image was digitised from Artistic Aberdeen: A Sketch Book (1932) by W. S. Percy.
The book describes the scene as follows:
"Jack's Brae, leading up from Hardweird. This name and street go back to the middle of the eighteenth century when the Council of the Burgh permitted the land to feuded out by "John Jack, manufacturer at Gilcomstone, at the yearly value of 8s. sterling." It was never, in actuality, a very pretty or charming part of the town, and is now less so than ever. Doubtless, in years soon to come, clearance schemes will include Jack's Brae; this drawing will be one of its best memorials." Hardweird
442 This image was digitised from Artistic Aberdeen: A Sketch Book (1932) by W. S. Percy.
The book describes the scene as follows:
"Hardweird, a curiously-named part of older Aberdeen, lies north-westward and parallel with Skene Street. The name can be traced to any certain extent only from the Hardweird Croft. At the junction of Hardweird and Denburn once stood one of the famous wells of the town, St. John's Well, which, on the building of Rosemount Viaduct in 1883, was moved and reconstructed. At one time this part of the town was a series of crofts. A remaining example of the forestairs to the old houses is an interesting feature of the drawing."
The tower in the background on the left is likely that of the Bon-Accord United Free Church on Rosemount Viaduct. The pyramidal spire to the right of the skyline will be that atop the tenement at 46 Rosemount Viaduct. This suggests that the dwellings shown here are those that stood on the north side of Hardweird, between it and Upper Denburn. This sketch looks north-northeast. Skene Street
443 This image was digitised from Artistic Aberdeen: A Sketch Book (1932) by W. S. Percy.
The book describes the scene as follows:
"Skene Street. This drawing picks out some of the more picturesque houses in the thoroughfare that goes westward from Rosemount Viaduct towards Queen's Cross. Before that point is reached, however, the name has been changed to Carden Place. The name of Skene, it is supposed, was given to the street because it is one of the principal exits from the city leading to the district of Skene, some dozen miles beyond Aberdeen. The buildings beyond the railings on the right have long been known as "The Galleries," another Aberdeen puzzle in nomenclature, for which ingenious solutions have been offered."
This sketch appears to depict a part of Skene Street that is now much changed. Looking east, these dwellings are likely those that were on the south side of road between Chapel Street and Whitehouse Street. These houses were demolished and the land developed into a 20th century residential estate including green space and trees. Rosemount Viaduct
444 This image was digitised from Artistic Aberdeen: A Sketch Book (1932) by W. S. Percy.
The book describes the scene as follows:
"Rosemount Viaduct as seen from the Union Terrace Gardens. The three buildings, from left to right, are the Public Library, the South Church, and his Majesty's Theatre, one of Aberdeen's many corners of strong granite architectural beauty. The three buildings are now humorously and ironically known in Aberdeen as 'education, salvation and damnation.' Just out of sight on the left is the gigantic statue of William Wallace, who stands on his great granite pedestal with hand pointing towards these three fine buildings."
Woolmanhill
445 This image was digitised from Artistic Aberdeen: A Sketch Book (1932) by W. S. Percy.
The book describes the scene as follows:
"Woolmanhill, with Black's Buildings on the left, the entrance to Schoolhill railway tunnel, the top left of the Denburn Road, Blackfriars Street, with Robert Gordon's College showing beyond. The drawing is done from the roof of His Majesty's Theatre. As the names indicate, the sites of these streets were in the long ago the scenes of many sides of the burgh's life. The Woolmanhill was the wool market, and it has been asserted that here were enacted the famous and lost Miracle Plays for which Aberdeen is noted in earliest British theatrical history." Belmont Street
446 This image was digitised from Artistic Aberdeen: A Sketch Book (1932) by W. S. Percy.
The book describes the scene as follows:
"Belmont Street, which leads from Union Street to Schoolhill, is a mixture of the old and the new, and has undergone many changes in recent years. Almost a third of the left-hand side in now occupied by the Central Secondary School and its hall, which was formerly a church. There are still two churches in this short street, with the other two round the Schoolhill corner - which also houses a cinema, the British Broadcasting Corporation's studios, the Aberdeen Trades' Council and Boy Scout headquarters. But the history of the street is largely ecclesiastical, and dates back only about a century and a half." Old Houses at the foot of Back Wynd Stairs
447 This image was digitised from Artistic Aberdeen: A Sketch Book (1932) by W. S. Percy.
The book describes the scene as follows:
"Old houses that stand at the foot of the Back Wynd Stairs leading from Union Street to the Green. In the days long before Union Street was thought of or built, the Green which lies low beneath the southern side of Union Street was part of the principal highway leading from the Bridge of Dee to the centre of the burgh. It was once a piece of common pasture, and later was a centre of the weaving trade of the town. For many years now it has been associated with the weekly market of farm produce held there on Fridays." Wallace Tower
448 This image was digitised from Artistic Aberdeen: A Sketch Book (1932) by W. S. Percy.
The book describes the scene as follows:
"Wallace Tower, an interesting and, by name, misleading corner in the Netherkirkgate. The building and the name are now given over to a public-house. The figure inset into the tower has nothing to do with William Wallace, who is commemorated in the city by a gigantic statue in front of His Majesty's Theatre. At one point this tower was known as Benholm's Tower, and the figure of a soldier with sword is thought to have been set up in the middle of the eighteenth century by John Niven, a tobacco and snuff manufacturer. On the left is Carnegie's Brae, leading to the East Green, the old main entrance to Aberdeen from the south." Barnett's Close
449 This image was digitised from Artistic Aberdeen: A Sketch Book (1932) by W. S. Percy.
The book describes the scene as follows:
"Barnett's Close. This little backwater, which may soon disappear under the new clearance scheme, lies beyond the north end of the Guestrow and at the lower end gives on to Flourmill Brae. The trees on the right-hand side have always given the close in spring and summer the appearance of a little oasis in the drab desert of noisome slum. They are set in the courtyard of the Aberdeen Dispensary and Vaccine Institution, which was inaugurated in 1823 for the purpose of supplying advice and medicine to the sick poor. The tower is that of St. Nicholas which surmounts the East and West-City-Churches." The Guestrow
450 This image was digitised from Artistic Aberdeen: A Sketch Book (1932) by W. S. Percy.
The book describes the scene as follows:
"The Guestrow, which will not exist much longer except as a name - a demolition scheme is in progress - is one of Aberdeen's most storied streets. At one time controversy raged around the derivation of its name. Some said it meant exactly what it conveyed - that it was the row where guests were housed, and there was foundation for that. But that is too recent a matter, compared to its mention in documents hundreds of years before, in which it is described as Vicus Lemurum, the Road of the Spirits, hence the Ghaist Raw. This name is ascribed to the fact that the row at one time overlooked the city churchyard. Up to within less than a hundred years ago the Guestrow was one of Aberdeen's busiest and most convivial thoroughfares. But within the past fifty or sixty years its narrow ways and congeries of courts had become slums that were a blot on the city. Its glory departed, its actuality is departing too, and soon it will be something only to be read of in local history books or seen in drawings such as this." Cumberland House
451 This image was digitised from Artistic Aberdeen: A Sketch Book (1932) by W. S. Percy.
The book describes the scene as follows:
"Cumberland House which, before the demolition of the condemned houses in the Guestrow - of which it formed No. 45 - was surrounded and hidden by unsightly and insanitary slums, now stands unobstructed. It is not only one of Aberdeen's best pieces of work - without and within - but it has at least one interesting piece of history attached to it. The older portion was built around 1580 and the newer in 1676. It is finely panelled and one room has painted decorations ascribed to an Italian artist. It was the lodgings of the Duke of Cumberland during his Culloden campaign in 1746. The "Bloody" Duke was a very bad tenant, although history also ascribed much of the wanton and malicious damage, surprisingly, to Wolfe, afterwards the hero of Quebec. For some years the building has been used as a lodging house."
Doorway of Cumberland House
452 This image was digitised from Artistic Aberdeen: A Sketch Book (1932) by W. S. Percy.
The book describes the scene as follows:
"For many years this lovely piece of work has lain hidden in a network of slums, but these have now been partially cleared, and the doorway stands plain to view. The coat of arms is that of the Lumsdens - a Buckle Or, with two Wolves' Heads couped in chief and escallop in base. The house did at one time belong to Matthew Lumsden, a famous magistrate of Aberdeen, before it was owned by Sir George Skene. Another source of the arms has been conjectured in that Dr. Andrew Skene married Margaret Lumsden, daughter of David Lumsden of Cushnie. But conjecture, though it adds interest to this doorway, cannot take away from its beauty." Aberdeen Awa'
453 This image was digitised from Artistic Aberdeen: A Sketch Book (1932) by W. S. Percy.
The book describes the scene as follows:
"Here are the old houses of the Guestrow in process of demolition. Many a scene of centuries of Aberdeen history now lies open to the air, and when the ultimate fate of the 'big houses' of the 'Gush' (the local name given to the Guestrow) is remembered the air's inroad were no bad thing. Over a hundred years ago, however, matters were very different. In 1807, for instance, Major General Macdonald, commanding the north-eastern district, gave 'an elegant ball at his house in the Guestrow to a large assemblage of the most fashionable people of the place.' By contrast it may be recalled that in the twenties of the last century the Guestrow had a "burking" house where bodies for dissection by the anatomists were received or kept. So slowly but surely the hands of time and progress set the houses and even the street itself among the ghaists of Aberdeen that was." |