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IN the year 1875 a few
citizens who saw the need for watchfulness to prevent disfigurements to the
city by new works, and loss to the city by the demolition of interesting
relics of former days, formed the Cockburn Association, named after one who
in his day did his utmost to urge upon the Corporation and the public the
need for conserving the beautiful features of the town, and putting an end
to proceedings which tended to disfigure or vulgarise it. The general body
of the community were to a sad degree apathetic, and but few of the
citizen's joined themselves to the Association. It has, however, continued
to this day, and has always had a council which vigilantly looked after the
city's interests. Of course it would have been much more influential had it
been able to appeal to the fact that it was backed up by a large number of
members of the community. It almost invairably happens that when anything is
threatened or done tending to detriment, "Critic," or "Grumbler," or
"/Esthete" sends a letter to the newspapers, in which he asks: "What is the
Cockburn Association about?" suggesting that it is not "about," and that it
is to be blamed if some outrage is committed on the city's fair face. In
almost every case where this has occurred, the anonymous letter-writer, if
he had been a member of the Association, or instead of writing to the Press
he had written to the Association secretary, would have known that it had
taken every action in its power, and that its weakness to accomplish what
was desirable was that the dozens declined to make it representative by
enrolling themselves in it. Is it vain to appeal to them to do so now I
would fain hope that some spirit may be aroused, and that a substantial body
of the citizens will be formed as a guard for the city's amenity. It is
impossible not to feel that this is one of those cases in which there has
been a failure to take hold on the public mind at the genesis of a movement,
and it becomes an accepted feeling among the citizens that the efforts of a
few are to be treated with contempt, while at the same time the idle and
contemptuous ones hold that those who work are to be blamed if something
which ought to be accomplished fails to find accomplishment, those who sneer
not realising that their apathy is in measure the cause of the weakness. I
appeal to my fellow-townsmen and say: If you will inquire you will find that
much has been done by the handful of citizens who have been working as the
Cockburn Association, much that gives them a claim for support by an
increased membership, so that they may have greater influence. If the
following are good works—and they are only a few of those that have been
done—how much more could be accomplished if substantiality and
representative character could be given to chose who have worked, and are
Hill willing to work.
Some of the objects which
have been pressed upon the public bodies who manage our city affairs by the
Cockburn Association since its formation are:
1. The improvements of
Princes Street.
2. The establishment of the Arboretum at the Royal Botanic Gardens.
3. The improvement of the Meadows.
4. The preservation of trees.
5. The prevention of the Forrest statuary being exhibited in Princes Street
Gardens.
6. The prevention of the erection of blocks of working men's houses on the
grounds of Clock-mill House, at the north side of Queen s Park, close to the
Parade Ground.
7. The prevention of the erection of a rock-garden in West Princes Street
Gardens.
8. The restoration of the ancient Parliament Hall in Edinburgh Castle.
9. Removal of objectionable advertisement hoardings.
10. The purchase of the ground to the south of the Arboretum to save the
view of the city.
11. The purchase of Croft-an-Righ.
12. Prohibition of flashing advertisements.
13. The saving of Mowbray House as a historic building.
In all these cases, and many
minor ones, the Cockburn Association has done its part to preserve and
enhance the amenity of Edinburgh.
I would say to every
fellow-citizen: If you hold that the Cockburn Association's a useless body,
will you consider whether some organisation is needful for the work which
you think the present Association fails to fulfil, and will you exert
yourselves to form a body that shall be useful in protecting and improving
Edinburgh? The Cockburn Association will go on with its work until you have
done this. Please, if you will not help in a good cause, do not belittle the
doings of those who are doing some work, while you do none.
A practice prevailed for many
years in Edinburgh, in common with many other caues, whenever a building of
any just or unjust pretension to architectural distinction was erected, to
shut; up in a cage of iron bars, more or less hideous in design, and often
not the less so, from the design being intended to be elegant. Such railings
often had the effect of depriving the building of the first important
feature it should have. A building in a public place should be seen rising
up from the ground with nothing close to it to interfere with its lines, so
that the eye may see the structure from foundation to its highest point. In
the case of St. Giles Cathedral, caging was carried to an extravagant
degree, with the result that round the building was a space shut off from
the attentions of the scavenger, and tempting the passerby who had something
he wished to get rid of, to use it as a rubbish deposit, dishonouring to the
building and often disgusting to the rest of the public, and even
insanitary. When the mistake was made of spending £30,000 on depriving St.
Giles' of its rugged, rough exterior—characteristic of the race whose place
of worship it was—and casing it up in a polished ashlar shell, the Cathedral
was then for the first tune enclosed in an eight-foot fence, consisting of
thick iron posts set very close to each other, which were supposed to be
decorated by paltry halbert tops. This disfiguring cage was carried in a
curve round the ends of the building, absolutely unrelieved in its monotony.
So heavy was it, and so solid looking, that to the spectator coming round
from Bank Street into view of the church, the effect was a bride-cake
effect, the base offering a rounded aspect, instead of presenting the
features of the buttresses with the recesses. But the most deplorable effect
was the chronic filthy state of the ground behind the railings.
Passing the building, as I
did almost daily for many months of many years, the determination hardened
in me to make a sustained effort to have this eyesore removed, for it was a
grievous eyesore. People get accustomed to anything that is before them
every day, and even men of taste willtolerate a thing that exists, when if
it did not exist, and it were proposed to give it existence, they would be
up in arms to prevent it. I brooded over this question of railings round
buildings, and It came home to me that there were many public buildings
where the caging-in craze had caused harm, and, as friends can testify, I
made myself more or less a nuisance, and endured more than one rebuff from
pubic bodies, to whom I inveighed, against the caging system, as being more
disfiguring than any injury that might take place if the building were left
free. My first direct effort was at the time when Mr. Findlay's great gift
of the National Portrait Gallery was nearing completion. I had been for some
time, on the nomination of Lord President Inglis, a member of the Board of
Manufactures, and at a meeting plans were brought up for an iron railiig to
be put along the front of that building two or three feet from the wall, at
an estimated expenditure of £180. This was something not yet done, and I
pleaded hard against the doing of it. Protection against burglars was a plea
put forward as unanswerable in its favour. I replied that it was new to me
that if a burglar wanted to get in at a window eight feet from the ground,
it would not be a help to him to have a horizontal bar to stand on six feet
up and within two feet of the window. I urged that the space enclosed would
be nothing but a lodging place for straw, loose paper, and perhaps worse,
and maintained that a railing must be a disfigurement to such a building,
and should be a proved necessity before being sanctioned. I stood alone. The
whole Board voted in favour of spending the £180. The Lord President, with a
twinkle n his eye, partly sarcastic but friendly—having noticed how keen I
was on the matter—said, "Do you wish to enter a protest on the Minutes?" I
said, "No, I have said my say, and I will leave it to time to vindicate me."
He who protests, protests only because he has no hope. I still hoped that I
might be vindicated. I was vinaicated. My friend Sir Rowand Anderson, who
was the architect, and who was present to show the plans, is a man who never
rejects a suggestion without thinking it over, and only does so when thought
does not bring him to agree. He did think it over, with the result that the
,£180 was never spent, and the front of the Gallery is never strewed with
straw and orange-peel and banana skins. Who would propose now to cage the
Gallery in even if an offer were made to do it for nothing? Not only this5,
but on his advice similar places n front of the University were freed from
railings, and the rails caging in the Tron Church and St. Paul's Episcopal
Church were taken down. his was very encouraging, and I braced myself for a
struggle over St. Giles', having ascertained that Dr.. Cameron Lees would be
quite favourable to clearing away the enclosing cage of the Cathedral. I
sent to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners a Iist of what lay round the
church—filthy newspapers, a dead cat, a cast-off bonnet, an old shoe, a fish
kettle with no bottom, and any number of pieces of rag, orange-peel, stick,
&c. &c. There were seventy articles on the occasion of my visit to make a
catalogue. Having thus prepared the way, I brought the matter up at the
Board of Manufactures. Only one telling objection was tabled—that the
expense of removal and filling in the filthy spaces with pavement would be
very great. I played a last trump card, informing them that they could get
the whole work done for nothing. This led to considerable staring. I was
able to assure them that this great fence of three-inch thick uprights was
made of the best malleable iron, and a contract could easily be got to do
the work without charge if the contractor was allowed to take away the
metal. The result was that an offer was put in, by which the contractor
undertook to pay £25, to remove the fence and fill in the pavement. This was
done, and I ask who would be a party now to disfiguring the church and
disgracing it by once more using the ground round it; for a "midden"?
I looked out long for a
chance of attacking the disfiguring railings round the Royal Institution,
and found it when Lord Provost Mitchell Thomson urged the Board to set back
the railing at Princes Street, as the passage between the tramways and the
side of the street was so narrow at that point. that once pleaded for the
removal of the railings alto< ether, his time I obtained vigorous aid. Mr. .
R. Findlay, on being asked what he thought, said empnatically, I would say
take them all down. 'he consent was given. The building has now stood free
from disturbing iron lines for many years, and no one has ever suggested
that any fences are required, while everyone must admit that the removal of
the caging and the disfiguring lamps in front of the pillars has been
esthetically a great change for the better.
Since these two great
improvements have been effected, the tendency to caging in buildings has
been much abated. Many new erections, which would certainly have been barred
in stand open to the street, and so completely has the idea of the need for
such enclosures been dissipated, that many buildings formerly shut in are
now allowed to stand out, without being caged behind prison bars. Notably
the fine flight of steps of St. George's Church is no longer shut off from
the street, and the exceptionally hideous railings projecting beyond the
street in front of the Greek pillars of St. Andrew's Church have disappeared
—an improvement to the appearance both of church and street which everyone
recognises.
Lastly, the front of the
National Gallery has been cleared, and no fence left there except what is
necessary to protect the public from the steep bank of the Mound.
All this satisfactory
improvement having taken place, is there no hope that those who pass along
Princes Street may be able to enjoy the outlook towards the old town on the
east, and the Castle on the west, without the view being cut by railings
intervening? If it were possible for the spectator to look on the scene
without any interruption obtruding itself on the eye, the delight of the
prospect would be much enhanced. Indeed, there would be nothing like it in
the world—the busy street, with no obstacle intervening to affect the view
direct up to the picturesque old town and the Castle Rock. Let us get rid of
the heavy railings next the street at the Waverley Market, then proceed to
bring Mr. M'Hattie's splendid flower-beds into direct relation to the noble
way of Princes Street, and lastly, substitute a fence set below the bank for
the railings of West Princes Street. I have prayed our municipal chiefs
long. I pray still, and I hope. It would only be necessary to keep the
present low stone kerb, and to have the sockets of the present posts
plugged. These could be opened and posts for a wooden fence erected when any
great procession causing a large crowd to assemble made a temporary barrier
necessary.
A word—and an earnest and
imploring word— as to the Calton Hill. There are two sets of railings there,
the removal of which would add greatly to the amenity of the scene. The
first is the enclosure which goes round Nelson's Monument on the north side,
the way on to the top of the hill is at this point cramped to the eye by
this low, shabby railing, and it has detrimental effects on the appearance
and verdure of the Hill. It may seem to be a small matter that the presence
of the fence has an unnecessarily narrowing effect to the eye of the visitor
when ascending. But this is not so.
The hill is sufficiently
crowded at this point by buildings, and any narrowing is detrimental to
landscape effect. Let the question be considered: What good purpose does the
fence serve on that side, where there are no rocks causing danger. A fence
of iron is always an offence if it is erected where ;it is not necessary. In
this case the railing only encloses a space, with the effect of giving
opportunity to rank grass and offensive weeds to flourish. I counted on one
occasion seventy dandelion blooms, and the usual corresponding number of
dockins, in that small space, the grass was rank, and the stalks of the
dandelions were about eighteen inches long. It is generally the end of time
before this thick mass of foot-high coarse grass, dock weeds, and dandelions
is attended to, and of course when it is cut, the ground, instead of being
like the rest of the hill, carries the coarse stubble of neglect. I have
besought Conveners of Park Committees and other members of the Council on
this matter for years. I hope against hope.
But there is another raiding
on Caltori Hill which it is absolutely inexcusable to leave standing. It
shuts off a large portion of the highest part of the hill from the public
for no reason whatever, except that it encloses the space on which the
National Monument will never be built. After nearly a century of
non-fulfillment of work undertaken by promoters of a monument, surely the
risk may be taken of allowing the public to enjoy their own hill. It is
inconceivable that these promoters, if there are any left, would try to play
a dog-in-the-manger game, neither occupying the space themselves, nor
allowing the citizens to occupy it. If it is necessary let the Corporal on
obtain a clause in an Omrnbus Bill, empowering them to take possession again
of what the promoters have failed to occupy for nearly a century. Any
attempt to resist such a clause would savour of an
"Impudence, no brass was ever
tougher."
These matters regarding
Calton Hill have sunk into a condition described by an old English word that
has fallen into disuse, but is most expressive —they have become "slugged."
One must be almost rude if the. inertia is to be overcome. Perhaps if a
special reason can be assigned, and find acceptance, it may act as a
stimulus, and galvanise what has become torpid into motion. May lit be
suggested that as—most properly—the Town Council encourages band music on
the Cal ton Hill, they might consider how very unsatisfactory the space
between the National Monument pillars and the Observatory wall is for a
large crowd, such as one sees assembled in fine weather—a crowd which will
always be likely to increase in size in future. May this suggestion be
considered. Let the fence be removed, leaving, if necessary, stones to mark
the statutory site of the Monument. At the back of the pillars the present
unkempt and ugly slope might be stepped, so as to make a bandstand above the
level of the ground. The top of the hill, f thrown open to the public, would
give ample space for any number of people, and enable the band to be heard
to much better advantage and in greater comfort than is the case at present.
That the removal of the fence would be a great landscape improvement is
obvious. Lord Provost, Magistrates, and Council, may you shake off the
slugged condition, and consider this. "And Your Petitioner w ill ever
pray.''
Recent events bring to
memory, that about the middle of the last century an ambitious attempt was
made to build a great stone terrace in front of Ramsay Garden, with the
intention of placing the. statue of Allan Ramsay—now in Princes Street
Gardens—in the centre of it. Many citizens looked on with doubting glances
while the work was in progress, and certainly the placing of a white statue
there would have been most incongruous. But all misgivings proved
superfluous. One fine morning the whole great structure fissured and fell
away, threatening to slide down to the railway below. It was all removed,
and no one can doubt that the scene is now far better than it would have
been had the heavy bastion-like erection remained standing with a marble
statue thrust on the eye in front of the old town. Quite recently a similar
proposal was made to place a long flight of steps in front of the United
Free College, and to set up an inferior statue of John Knox in the middle of
it. One is glad to know that the city has escaped from such an incongruous
disfigurement.
Speaking of Ramsay Garden
leads one to say a word for a great enthusiast, and those who have aided his
efforts. I refer to Professor Geddes, who has done much to conserve the old
style on the south side of the valley, and to prevent the modernising of the
Old' Town. Ramsay Garden, which formerly presented a very bald front to
Princes Street, has been broken up in a picturesque old-style manner, which
is much more suitable to the situation. And in other places by his energy
good work has been done, tending to the preservation of a quaint style,
instead of an unsuitable modernising, producing incongruity. |
