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HIGH STREET, at one time called High Church Street - Who has not read or heard of its cross, steeple, and tolbooth or college? The old tolbooth stood at the corner of the High Street and Trongate, towering to the height of five storeys, its upper corner adorned with quadrangular turrets. To the turret on the north end were affixed iron spikes on which the beads of those who were executed were exposed. The steeple is 126 feet high, exactly the same height as the Tron steeple. The entry to the prison wards was by a narrow turnpike stair in the steeple. During the day the outer door of this entry was only a half wicket, but guarded by a janitor; besides this outside wicket door was a strong inside door, which the janitor kept constantly locked. This place of imprisonment Sir Walter Scott has immortalised in his fascinating "Rob Roy."
In a byegone time criminals were pilloried on a temporary platform outside of this prison. On the day appointed for the punishment to be given great crowds gathered, and to show their detestation of the crimes which had placed the malefactors in this awkward position, pelted the culprits with various missiles, but chiefly with rotten eggs. After undergoing this unsavoury fusilade for a longer or shorter time, the felons were led away. But this custom, good or bad as it may appear, has fallen into desuetude, and the people who gather at the Cross do so to listen to the merry chimes of the bells with which the steeple is supplied.
About fifty years ago the archway under the cross steeple was occupied by a fish shop, the first in Glasgow: before that time fish was sold on the streets. Near to the Cross steeple, in the High Street, were shops with various kinds of merchandise, but coopers' shops mostly abounded. On certain days of the week the stock was almost all laid out of doors, to attract the notice of probable purchasers. The closes on both sides of the street were notorious for their narrowness and length, and the tenements being high, the inside of the houses rarely experienced a blink of sunshine. The houses, too, were usually overcrowded, and the sanitation not so well regulated by Act of Parliament as it is now. In addition, there were few wells, and the water for the use of the inhabitants was insufficient. Each close had an appellation, such as "Highland Close," "Pipehouse Close," etc. In the "Views of Old Glasgow," by the late famous artist, Mr. Fairbairn, a good and full representation of these places can be got.
BLACKFRIARS STREET (no longer in existence) branched off High Street to the east. The greater part of the north side formed the south boundary of the College green. The street was principally residential, but was privileged in having on its south side three churches adjoining each other, and also Murdoch's well-known academy. The first church was Regent Place United Presbyterian, under the ministry of Rev. Dr. Hugh Heugh, and after-wards of Rev. Dr. James Taylor, who was followed by Rev. Dr. John Edmond, translated in 1860 to Highbury Church, London. Next was the Baptist, ministered to by Rev. Dr. Glover. The third church was the Evangelical Union, under the ministry of Rev. Dr. Fergus Ferguson, who still continues pastor in the church in North Montrose Street.
The grand central building of the High Street was the college or University. In 1459 this ancient seat of learning stood on the north side of the Rottenrow. In 1539 and 1658 were erected the buildings of the College in High Street, so long renowned. It must have had a splendid appearance when first built. Its frontage was 305 feet, and with its four quadrangular courts had space equal to 10,000 square yards. Its old plain steeple was in height 135 feet. Within the north court were houses for the professors. At the west end of the College Park stood the far-famed Hunterian Museum, admired as a splendid specimen of classical building. The contents of the museum were bequeathed by Dr. W. Hunter, a native of East Kilbride, born in 1710. The building cost £8,000. The books, coins, paintings, etc., collected during a long and very industrious life, were valued at £65,000, but additional contributions have since raised their value to £130,000. But all material glory gradually fades away, and so did the glory of the College buildings and their surroundings. The locality became densely populated and unhealthy, and the character of the inhabitants wore unsavoury; the class room accommodation also became too limited, and for the majority of the students the position was inconvenient. Accordingly new buildings became necessary. An opportunity being afforded through the North British Railway requiring the ground in High Street for a station, the senatus were enabled to secure a site further west. Through the proceeds of the sale and the gifts of many generous-donors the present noble pile of the University on Gilmorehill was reared and opened in 1870. The cost of its erection amounted to nearly half-a-million sterling. By the thoughtful foresight of one of Glasgow's wealthy citizens, the handsome, gateway of the old College was preserved, and rebuilt at one of the entrances to the present University.
Immediately behind the old College and Hunterian Museum, was the College Green or Gardens for the relaxation of the students. In 1850 the Senatus leased to a company this green for out-door amusements. The entrance was made from Blackfriars Street. Athletic games, balloon ascents, fireworks, with bands of music, were provided. It was largely taken advantage of for a time, but the scheme did not succeed.
To the south of the old College stood Blackfriars' Church, with its ancient graveyard. The whole has been swept away for utilitarian purposes, so that a new church for the parish had to be built in Dennistoun. From the City Improvement Act and railway necessities almost the whole of the buildings on the east side of the High Street have been taken down. In Hogg's Instructor of 5th April, 1845, it is stated that Thomas Campbell the poet, author of "Pleasures of Hope," "Wyoming," and "Ye Mariners of England," "was born in the High Street, about a stone-cast from the University of which he was afterwards thrice elected Lord Rector. The house in which he first saw the light stood on the opposite side of the College, close to what is now the east end of George Street and has long since been taken down to make way for improvements in that part of the city."
Among the many places made sacred by the deeds of Sir William Wallace is the Bell o' the Brae in High Street. Wallace had vowed unceasing enmity to the English invaders of his native land, and his mighty sword had cleared a considerable part of Scotland from under their sway. In 1297, accompanied by 300 horsemen, he rode from Ayr to Glasgow, and, reaching the town, divided his small force into two companies, one of which marched up the High Street, the other making a circuit so that the two bodies would meet near the head of the street. Here the English, 1,000 strong, under Earl Percy, were attacked front and rear, and fled discomfited after their leader had fallen by the sword of the Scottish patriot. Wallace pursued them, and encountering another party of English near Bothwell routed them. Two months afterwards he fought and won the battle of Stirling Bridge.
The Bell o' the Brae was the scene of another skirmish in 1606 between the Stewarts of Minto and Sir George Elphinstoun, the provost, and five archers, who were treacherously attacked when returning from archery practice at the City butts at Barrowfield. They gallantly defended themselves, but as the Stewarts numbered 300, Sir George was compelled to seek the protection of the Earl of Wigton, whose mansion or fortalice was in the High Street. For this "riot," as it was called, the Privy Council punished the ringleaders by imprisonment.
This venerable edifice is perhaps the most splendid specimen of old English ecclesiastical architecture in a comparatively entire state which is to be found in Scotland. Mr. William Rodger, in his sketch, "Ancient Buildings of Glasgow," says: On approaching this edifice we are struck with its elaborate masonry and its majestic proportions.
Historians do not agree as to the time when the See of Glasgow was founded. That it is next to St. Andrew's in point of antiquity is beyond all doubt. With regard to the founders, Kennet in his "Parochial Antiquities" says it was founded by Kentigern or St. Mungo in 560. Dr. Helyn, speaking of the See of Asaph, in Wales, observes that "the See was founded by Kentigern, a Scot, in 583, and that St. Kentigern was then Bishop of Glasgow." The See was refounded in 1115, by David, Prince of Cumberland.
Prior to this period the Cathedral was a mean building, constructed with timber, and had got into a state of great decay. It was about this time that John Achaius, chaplain to Prince David, began to build a cathedral church at Glasgow, which required the effort of many years. It was at length consecrated to St. Kentigern on the 7th July, 1136. Joceline, who was Bishop of Glasgow from 1174 to 1199, finding the Cathedral too small rebuilt it of a much larger size, and in a more magnificent manner. After many years of skilful labour this edifice was solemnly consecrated in 1197. The Cathedral, which was thus rebuilt by Joceline, received, during many years, various additions and numerous embellishments by succeeding prelates of this See, as low down as the epoch of the Reformation. And this is one feature particularly deserving of notice as a boundary line between different epochs in ecclesiastical architecture, viz., the points where the labours of successive bishops ended and commenced.
Externally, the whole fabric on both sides is divided into compartments, by buttresses of equal dimensions, between which are placed windows in the pointed style, all somewhat dissimilar in their ornamentation. This succession of windows is interrupted by the transepts directly under the great tower in the centre of the church. The north and south windows in the transepts are each forty by twenty-two feet, divided with mullions and tracery. Above the first range of windows the wall terminates in a battlement, within which springs the lowest roof, till it meets the second or inner wall, which rises from thence for a number of feet. This, in like manner, is divided into compartments, by small square projections, between each of which are placed three narrow windows, in the pointed style, directly above each of these in the first storey; it then terminates in the same manner as the lower wall, and is capped with a leaden roof
The Chapter House was in the north cross of the Cathedral, and had a communication with the nave by a vaulted entry. The south cross was never completed, and was used in my younger days as a burial place for the clergy of the city. It was founded by Bishop Blackadder, who was appointed to the See in 1484. The architecture of it appears to have been finer than the rest of the building, and is supposed to be of no older date than the year 1500. It is still called Bishop Blackadder's aisle. its arched roof is supported by columns adjoining the outer walls. There is also a row of pillars in the centre, and the capitals of the whole are highly ornamented with figures and flowers. The area of its top was at one time formed into an ornamental piece of garden ground.
The Consistorial House, in which the bishops held their ecclesiastical courts, projects from the south-west corner of the Cathedral. Between this and the tower, now removed, was the ancient entrance, by a large magnificent door, now shut up. This tower stood at the north-western extremity of the building, and was of a square form; it contained a clock, and was a plain structure, and not at all in keeping with the other parts of the building. It was removed at the renovation of the Cathedral a number of years ago. It was 126 feet high, and had a high leaden roof. The usual entry at present is on the south, which leads immediately into the choir. The appearance of the Choir is very grand and impressive; it is 138 feet long, supported by eight pillars, four of which support the steeple, and are very large, being eighty-eight feet high, and thirty feet in circumference; the other four are twenty-seven feet high, and thirteen feet four inches in circumference.
The steeple is of a square form till it rises above the roof, when it terminates in a battlement, from within which springs the spire, of an octagonal form, with two battlements round it, the one above the other, and which rises to the height of 230 feet above the base of the building, terminating in a large gilded weather-cock. The columns are decorated with monumental tablets of marble, and other memorials of the dead, giving to the whole interior a very solemn and imposing effect.
The Crypt, or vaulted cemetery, is situated immediately beneath the nave; it is 108 feet long by seventy-two feet wide, and is supported by sixty-five clustered pillars, some of which are eighteen feet in circumference. The height from the floor to the roof is about eighteen feet. It is lighted with forty-one windows, but from their smallness, and the position of the pillars, the interior is rendered dark and gloomy. Prior to the Reformation the Crypt was used as a burial place, in which it is said St. Mungo, the founder, is buried. Soon after the Reformation it was used as a place of worship for the heritors of the Barony Parish, and it continued to be so till 1798, when the congregation was removed to their new church in the immediate vicinity. The worshippers in this splendid abode of the dead might well say, in the words of the poet -
"The pillar'd arches are over our head,
And beneath our feet are the bones of the dead."
It was entered, prior to the Reformation, by broad stairs at the east end of the nave, as at present, but when used as a place of worship, the entry was by the churchyard. When the Crypt was vacated as a place of worship, the heritors of the Barony Parish, assuming it to be their property, covered the surface with earth about three feet deep, and sold it for burying places, permitting the purchasers to enclose their respective places with iron rails, which greatly injured the architectural effect. In 1835 the officers of the Crown not only claimed the property, but demanded a repetition of the price, and prevented the further use of it as a cemetery. This Crypt is an uncommonly rich specimen of early English: the piers and groins are of the most intricate character, the most beautiful designs, and excellent execution. The groins have rich bosses, and the doors are greatly enriched with foliage and other ornaments; the piers have very fine flowered capitals.
Sir Walter Scott has made this the scene of a striking 'incident in "Rob Roy."
In ascending from the Crypt to the nave the change brings a pleasing relief to the mind. On the windows all around, Old Testament scenes are depicted with exquisite skill and brilliant effect, appealing to the heart and spirit with all the tenderness of that human sympathy, and all the sacred awe of that Divine element, which makes the history of the chosen people so touching and sublime. The drawing and colouring in these pictures are beyond all praise, giving a bold relief to the objects which is uncommon in glass painting. In all the windows this is remarkable, and it imparts a strength and distinctness to the figures that seem to startle every beholder.
How graphically the poet depicts such a building when he says:-
"How reverend is the face of this tall pile,
Whose ancient pillars rear, their marble head
To bear aloft its arch'd and ponderous roof,
By its own weight made steadfast and immovable,
Looking tranquility!"
The view from the top of the steeple is picturesque and interesting in a high degree. Beneath, and close at hand, is the Necropolis, a burying-ground, beautified both by nature and art, where the most prominent of the monuments with which it is studded is that of John Knox, "the Reformer of a nation," to whom our country is so much indebted for the purity of her religious creed, and the excellence of her popular education: and at our feet lies the burial-ground of the Cathedral, which is of a striking and peculiar character; for though in reality extensive, it is small in proportion to the number of the inhabitants who are interred within it, and whose graves are almost all covered with tombstones. The broad, flat, monumental stones are placed so close to each other that the precincts appear to be flagged with them, and, though roofed only by the heavens, resembles more the floor of an old English church, where the pavement is covered with sepulchral inscriptions, than the surface of a Scottish graveyard.
M'Ure, in his history, 1736, thus describes the Cathedral: "The whole fabrick within the walls is three hundred and thirty-nine foot in length, and seventy-two foot wide. It hath three isles, the one upon the north-east end, where the Synod sits, and it is the session-house for the inner kirk. The other two isles is upon the south and north side, opposite to the choir, but was never finished. These two isles, when finished, were appointed to make this great fabrick a complete cross, and it is now the minister's burial-place, and such persons as the magistrates pleases to admit. This church, for the most part, is covered with lead, and hath on the west end thereof a big steeple, not so high, but much larger than the other steeple, wherein is a big clock, and within the steeple two large bells. The great bell is eleven foot, four inches and one-half in circumference, and it rings every night at ten of the clock: the lesser bell, which is eight foot, ten inches and a half in circumference, and it rings every day at eight of the clock in the morning. This steeple hath a salmond on the top of it, instead of a weathercock, and which salmond is part of the city arms. This magnificent fabrick is illuminated with one hundred and fifty-seven windows, including the Barony Kirk, and is supported with one hundred and forty-seven pillars high and low, and is in circumference round the walls (without following with the line of measure the isles), three hundred and twenty-five ells, and the kirkyard dyke is of circumference four hundred and twenty-five ells round about. It hath tombs joined to the kirk wall twenty-one. His Grace the Duke of Montrose hath a burial place in the east end of the Barony Kirk, and upon the kirkyard dyke there are sixty great and small tombs. The High Church steeple being two hundred and twenty foot high, and hath three battlements round it, one above another, with. a large cock on the spire thereof.
The west steeple is one hundred and twenty-six foot high, and the church roof ninety-two foot high, all covered with lead. There are of pillars, springs, keystones, and timber-knots in the vestiary, chapter-house, and the inner and outer kirk, three hundred and twenty-nine pillars, two hundred and eighteen springs, ninety-six keystones, being in all six hundred and forty-three, and in the Barony Kirk, one hundred and twenty-six pillars, five hundred and ten springs, one hundred and twenty-seven keystones and apprentice knots, being in all seven hundred and sixty-three; so that the whole, both in the High Church and Barony, amounts to one thousand, four hundred and six pillars, springs, keystones, and knots."
There is a well-known Glasgow myth regarding an ill-fated piper and his dog, lost in the maze of the subterranean way, popularly believed to exist between the vaults of the Cathedral and those of the old kirk of Rutherglen, long ago demolished, where the false Menteith plotted for the delivery of Wallace to the English. This may probably be accounted for by a rude footpath having been formed by the masons engaged in the erection of that magnificent edifice, and who then lodged in the more important neighbouring town of Rutherglen, Glasgow being unable to accommodate so many stranger workmen! These ancient brethren of the mystic tie, therefore, formed a rude path over the Gallowmuir, in their daily journeys between the two little towns, crossing the Clyde at one of the fords. To this circumstance, aided by the superstitious fancies of a rude age, impressed with awe at the mystic Masonic ceremonies and processions attendant on the great work going on in Glasgow, may be ascribed the above myth; just as another myth, probably from the same cause, associates the builders of the "Hie Kirk" with a race of pigmies.
We have to thank the craftsmen of Glasgow for the preservation of our venerable Cathedral, as in 1578, when the Reformed ministers of Glasgow with Andrew Melville at their head, persuaded the magistrates to pull it down and build two or three churches with the materials, and had all in readiness to commence operations, they rose in arms in a body, and threatened death to the first man that should touch a stone of the building, and to bury under the ruins all those who would raise their hands for such a purpose. The matter was reported to the King and Council, when James the sixth, to whose memory be all honour, decided in favour of the Trades of Glasgow, and sharply reproved. the magistrates.
Fully fifty years ago - on a beautiful day in the month of June, 1843 - I remember taking two friends to visit the Cathedral. They were impressed with what they saw, and, with the desire of better showing them St. Mungo and its surroundings, we asked permission to go to the top of the spire. The stairs were dark and dusty, so we felt thankful when the top was reached. We were doomed to disappointment, however. A change of wind had brought clouds of mist and smoke, which obscured everything. Our stay was brief, and when we reached terra firma we could hardly recognise each other. We were like a trio of chimney sweepers; with the hot day and perspiration we had adhibited a liberal share of the "stour" which bad accumulated on the stair for many decades. Truly we were fit subjects for a thorough cleansing.
The old Barony Church, which adjoined the Cathedral, was built in 1798. It had more the look of a prison than a temple or sanctuary. Previous to this the congregation worshipped for more than two hundred years in the Crypt of the Cathedral. At his death in 1839, Dr. Burns had been seventy-two years minister of the Barony, thirty-two of which he had preached in the Crypt. This church was the scene of Dr. Norman Macleod's ministry. He used to say of his kirk that it "was a specimen of ugliness." It was taken down in 1889, and a very handsome new church of red sandstone, built on the opposite side of Cathedral Square, was opened on Saturday, 27th April, 1889. Dr. J. Marshall Lang is now minister.
This cemetery, as seen from Cathedral Square, arrests attention from the commanding position it occupies. In my younger days it was known as the Merchants' Park or Fir Park. The entrance is by the Bridge of Sighs, which crosses the Molendinar Bum. This burn meandered in purity and quietness through the valley, but becoming a nuisance was entirely covered over. From the time John Knox's monument was erected till now thousands of our wealthier citizens and their families have found a last resting place here. To afford further accommodation, additional portions of ground have had to be laid off for sepulchre. Many beautiful mural stones and monuments crown the hill and all around. An enclosed space here is reserved for the Jews' burying ground.
On the site now occupied by the Royal Infirmary formerly stood the Bishop's Palace or Castle. The castle played a notable part in the most turbulent periods of our history, and it is a pity that there is no visible portion of the building remaining. For several centuries it was the residence of the Bishops and Archbishops of the See. It is not known by whom the original portion of the edifice was erected, but it probably dated from the latter half of the thirteenth century, as early in the fourteenth century it had come to be recognised as a place of some strength. About 1420 Bishop Cameron built the great tower, which constituted one of the principal portions of the building. Archbishop Beaton built a wall round about it, putting the armorial bearings of his family on several places. Beaton's successor, Archbishop Dunbar, completed the castle edifices by erecting a "noble gatehouse," flanked with round towers. At the revolution in 1688 it was abandoned, and soon fell into decay, and the ruins of the castle came to be looked on by the people who were erecting houses in its neighbourhood as a useful and convenient quarry from which to convey building materials. In 1720 a complaint as to this practice was addressed to the barons of the Exchequer, without result, and in 1755 the Town Council, with inexcusable vandalism, expressly authorised one Robert Tennant to remove from the castle stones for the erection of the Saracen's Head Inn, a building still standing in the Gallowgate. There are, however, considerable remains of the castle wall beneath part of the buildings of the Infirmary, and as lately as 1853, in the course of some excavations, there were found traces of the moat and portions of the drawbridge which spanned it.
One of the features at the International. Exhibition in Glasgow in 1888 was an exact fac simile of this old castle designed by the late Mr. James Sellars and erected on the grounds on the banks of the Kelvin, overlooked by the University. In it were exhibited the largest collection of Scottish national memorials (lent for the occasion) ever brought together.
The Royal Infirmary - designed by the Brothers Adam in 1791, and the foundation stone of which was laid on 18th May, 1792 - was opened in 1794. It is now one of the largest hospitals in the country, and has attained a position second to no other institution of its kind in the kingdom as regards the ability of the medical staff or the care bestowed on the patients. It has had within its walls some 346,119 patients up to the end of last year, and in its dispensary it has treated about 100,000. The management consists of a board of thirteen persons holding public positions, who are managers, ex officiis; eight elected by public bodies, and ten elected by the qualified contributors to the institution. It contains upwards of 520 beds, and is entirely dependent on voluntary subscriptions. When the Royal Infirmary was opened a hundred years ago there was a hymn composed by the chaplain of which the following was one of its verses:-
"For medicine here shall ply her art,
To soften pain and cheer the heart;
Shall hold with death a glorious strife,
And trim the glimmering lamp of life."
THE DRYGATE. - The historians of Glasgow generally agree that, near the close of the sixth century, St. Kentigern established a See, which, by his zeal and self-denial, became eminent as an ecclesiastical centre. Soon the officials of all grades connected with this See multiplied. Their residences were chiefly located in the Drygate or Rottenrow. In the tenth or eleventh centuries the Drygate was a street of great importance. In it there was a Mint, and in digging the ground on which this manufactory was erected, specimens of the coins of that early period have been found. Here, besides the houses of the clergy, stood the mansions of some of the nobility of that age, and the cottages of the humbler classes. In Mr. Fairbairn's views of old Glasgow drawings are shown of some of these antique-looking houses.
ROTTENROW STREET became popular about the same time as the foregoing street, and in its chief features resembled those of the Drygate. At the junction of the Drygate, High Street, and Rottenrow was the Market Cross, at which St. Mungo's Fair was held in January of each year. Dr. Chalmers, for a short time after he came to Glasgow, lodged in the Rottenrow.
GEORGE STREET was opened in 1792. In its dwellings lived a higher class of citizens - several of Glasgow's leading clergymen residing there. The tenement in which the late Rev. Dr. Burns lived was known by the name of "The Holy Land." Here the late Sir George Burns was born on 10th December, 1795. The old Andersonian College was founded here in 1796 by Dr. John Anderson, professor of natural philosophy in Glasgow University, he having left his apparatus and effects to it. Long was this a popular school of teaching in literature and science classes. Here the late Master of the Mint conducted his famous classes in chemistry. For a few years his assistant was a humble carpenter, who in after years became that eminent chemist, merchant, and manufacturer of paraffin oil - Mr. Young of Kelly. Several academical seminaries were located in George Street. On its south side stands St. John's Free Church.
Going westward GEORGE SQUARE, with its trees and shrubbery, is reached. Iron railed all round, comparatively few pedestrians were privileged to walk in it. But its arboreal beauty had to make way for material usefulness. Notwithstanding this it possesses art-beauty of no mean kind, being studded with the statues of those who were renowned while they lived, and whose fame was not interred with their bones. Of those personages, the only one alive is Queen Victoria. Long may she reign "happy and glorious!" The citizens of Glasgow owe a debt of gratitude to the Rev. Thomas Somerville, of Blackfriars' Parish, for the instructive and fascinating book he has written on those whose statues adorn George Square - a book which should be read with interest by the rising generation. On the east of this square is the Municipal Buildings - a large and splendid pile of masonry - which cost upwards of £520,000, and were opened in 1890. These buildings greatly adorn this locality. On the south side of George Square stands the General Post Office, reference to which will be found on another page.
Still moving westward along George Street we see the new building belonging to the Merchants' House and the offices of the North British Railway, the latter for many years the church of the late able and polished divines, Rev. Dr. Wardlaw, Rev. Dr. Raleigh, etc. St. George's Church, erected in 1807, still stands midway in this fine street. When built it was surrounded by green fields. All the houses westward were, up till the last thirty or forty years, the habitations of Glasgow merchants. These are now chiefly offices for professional men and tradesmen.
INGRAM STREET was opened in 1781, having been named after Andrew Ingram, who was provost in 1763. It was known as the Back Cow Loan. At the east end of this street, in October 1718, ground was purchased for the erection of the Ramshorn Church, and for a burying-ground. The church becoming insufficient was taken down in 1824, and a handsome one built on the old site. The churchyard is now closed for burial. Many of Glasgow's famous merchants are interred here. Up till the period that Messrs. J. & W. Campbell erected their large wholesale premises at the corner of Ingram Street and Brunswick Street there were few buildings of any importance in the neighbourhood.
The present Hutchesons' Hospital buildings were erected in 1802, and, with its spire and clock, form a familiar landmark. The original hospital was in Trongate, and was taken down to allow of the formation and opening up of Hutcheson Street. The funds of the hospital have been of great benefit to the community in the annual pensions given to decayed burgesses and their widows and daughters. The schools connected with this foundation have also proved an invaluable boon for the education of children of burgesses in necessitous circumstances. The funds and property left by the brothers George and Thomas Hutcheson have from the first been carefully invested and faithfully administered.
Towards the west end of Ingram Street stood the Gaelic Church, very plain in appearance, and enclosed within a wall. Mr. M'Laurin was minister, and was succeeded by the Rev. Dr. Macleod, father of Rev. Dr. Norman Macleod of the Barony Church, who was officiating minister at the time it was taken down to make way for the commodious premises now occupied by the British Linen Company's Bank at the corner of Queen Street. The congregation erected for themselves the fine church in Hope Street still known as St. Columba Gaelic Church. Fronting Frederick Street is the Union Bank of Scotland, founded in 1830. With its enormous granite pillars and colossal figures it has a most imposing appearance.
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