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LIFE OF ROBERT STEVENSON.

Edinburgh University Press:
THOMAS AND ARCHIBALD CONSTABLE, PRINTERS TO HER MAJESTY.

J. SYME DELINEAVIT.

J. HORSBURGH SCULPSIT.

ROBERT STEVENSON F.R.S.E.
CIVIL ENGINEER.
From a bust by Joseph, placed in the Library of the Bell Rock Lighthouse by the Commissioners of the Northern Lighthouses

LIFE
OF
ROBERT STEVENSON

CIVIL ENGINEER

FELLOW OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF EDINBURGH; FELLOW OF THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON;
FELLOW OF THE ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON; MEMBER OF THE SOCIETY
OF SCOTTISH ANTIQUARIES, OF THE WERNERIAN NATURAL HISTORY
SOCIETY, AND OF THE INSTITUTION OF CIVIL ENGINEERS.
ENGINEER TO THE COMMISSIONERS OF NORTHERN LIGHTHOUSES AND TO
THE CONVENTION OF ROYAL BURGHS OF SCOTLAND, ETC.

BY
DAVID STEVENSON

CIVIL ENGINEER

VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF EDINBURGH;
MEMBER OF COUNCIL OF THE INSTITUTION OF CIVIL ENGINEERS, ETC.

ADAM AND CHARLES BLACK, EDINBURGH
E. AND F. N. SPON, LONDON AND NEW YORK
1878.

PREFACE

The addresses made to the Royal Society of Edinburgh, and the Institution of Civil Engineers, at the opening meetings of the session—1851, contained obituary notices of Robert Stevenson. The late Alan Stevenson, his eldest son, also wrote a short Memoir of his father, which was printed for private circulation.

But Robert Stevenson’s long practice as a Civil Engineer—the important works he executed—and the valuable contributions he made to Engineering and Scientific literature, seem to me to require a fuller notice of his life than has hitherto been given.

This has been attempted in the following Memoir, which will be found to consist of extracts from Mr. Stevenson’s Professional Reports—of notes from his Diary—and of communications to Scientific Journals and Societies, between the years 1798 and 1843, when he retired from active practice.

These papers embrace a wide field of Engineering, including Lighthouses, Harbours, Rivers, Roads, Railways, Ferries, Bridges, and other cognate subjects.

Some of them describe Engineering practice which is now obsolete, but not on that account, I think, uninteresting to such modern Engineers as have regard for the antiquities of their Profession.

Some of them, I am aware, can only be appreciated by those who are specially interested in the city of Edinburgh.

All of them will, I venture to think, be found worthy of preservation as interesting Engineering records of an era that has passed away. It formed no part of my duty to criticise them, in the light of modern Engineering, and, unaltered in form of expression or statement of opinion, they are now reproduced as they came from my father’s pen.

I offer no apology for presenting these Extracts as the outlines of the life of one who occupied a prominent place among the Civil Engineers who practised during the beginning of the present, and end of the last century, shortly after British Engineering, with Smeaton as its founder, may be said to have had its origin.

D. S.

Edinburgh, July 1878.

CONTENTS.

LIST OF PLATES.

CHAPTER I.
EARLY LIFE.
1772–1798.

Birth—Mr. Smith’s improvements in Lighthouse illumination—Origin of the Scottish Lighthouse Board—Acts as Assistant to their Engineer—Student at Andersonian Institution, Glasgow, and University of Edinburgh—Succeeds Mr. Smith as Engineer to the Northern Lighthouse Board—Tour of inspection of English lights in 1801—Is taken for a French spy.

Robert Stevenson, maltster in Glasgow, was born in 1720, and, as stated on his tombstone, in the burial-ground of the Cathedral, died in 1764.

His fourth son, Alan, was partner in a West India house in Glasgow, and died of fever in the island of St. Christopher, in 1774, while on a visit to his brother, who managed the foreign business of the house at that place.

The only son of Alan Stevenson was Robert, the subject of this Memoir, who was born at Glasgow on the 8th of June 1772.

When his father died, Robert Stevenson, then an infant, was left in circumstances of difficulty, for the same epidemic fever which deprived him of his father carried off his uncle also, at a time when their loss operated most disadvantageously on the business which they conducted; and, strange to say, on account of legal difficulties, nearly half a century elapsed before any patrimonial funds in which my father had an interest were realised.

Under these circumstances his mother (Jean Lillie, daughter of David Lillie, builder in Glasgow, who died, as stated on his tombstone, in the Cathedral burying-ground, in 1774) resolved to go to Edinburgh to reside with a married sister, and when her son reached the age of being able for school she wisely took advantage of one of the hospitals in that city for his education; and the spirit of the man is well brought out by the fact that he devoted his first earnings in life, at the Cumbrae Lighthouse, to making a contribution to the funds of the Orphan Hospital in payment of what he regarded as a debt.

It appears from “Memoranda” left by my father for the information of his family, that his mother was a woman of great prudence and remarkable fortitude, based on deep convictions of religion; and, even in their time of trial, which lasted over his school days, he says,—“My mother’s ingenuous and gentle spirit amidst all her difficulties never failed her. She still relied on the providence of God, though sometimes, in the recollection of her father’s house and her younger days, she remarked that the ways of Providence were often dark to us. The Bible, and attendance on the ministrations, chiefly of Mr. Randall of Lady Yester’s Church, afterwards Dr. Davidson of the Tolbooth,[1] and at other churches, where I was almost always her constant attendant, were the great sources of her comfort.

“Her intention was that I should be trained for the ministry, with a view to which I had been sent, after leaving my first school, to Mr. Macintyre, a famous linguist of his day, where I made the acquaintance of Patrick Neill, afterwards the well-known printer, and still better known naturalist, who remained my most intimate friend through life, and of William Blackwood, the no less celebrated publisher.”

* * * * *

Circumstances, however, occurred which entirely changed my father’s prospects and pursuits. Soon after he had attained his fifteenth year his mother was married to Mr. Thomas Smith—son of a shipowner, and member of the Trinity House of Dundee,—who himself was, my father says, a “furnishing iron-merchant, shipowner, and underwriter” in Edinburgh, and who being also a lamp-maker and an ingenious mechanician, appears at a very early date to have directed his attention to the subject of lighthouses, and endeavoured to improve the mode of illumination then in use, by substituting lamps with mirrors, for the open coal-fires which were at that early time the only beacons to guide the mariner.

Mr. Smith’s improvements attracted the notice of Professor Robison, Sir David Hunter Blair, and Mr. Creech, the publisher and honorary secretary to the Chamber of Commerce. I find from the minutes of that body, that in 1786, a complaint was made to them by shipmasters as to the defective state of the coal light on the Isle of May, which was a “private light” belonging to the family of the Duke of Portland.

The Chamber sent a deputation of their number to inquire into the truth of the objections that had been made, who fully confirmed the justice of the complaints.

When the result of the examination was reported to the Chamber of Commerce, Mr. Smith submitted to them “a plan for improving the light by dispensing with the coal-fire,” and after fully considering his suggestions, the Chamber, at their meeting of 24th May 1786, resolved “that while they allowed much ingenuity to Mr. Smith’s plan of reflectors, they were of opinion that a coal light should be continued.”

* * * * *

The Board of Northern Lighthouses was constituted by Act of Parliament in 1786; its members were the Lord Advocate and Solicitor-General, the chief magistrates of Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Inverness, and Campbeltown, and the Sheriffs of the maritime counties of Scotland. These Commissioners, happily for the interests of navigation, took a more enlightened view of their duties than the Chamber of Commerce of Edinburgh, and after hearing and considering Mr. Smith’s proposals, formally appointed him their Engineer.

The preamble of the Act constituting the Northern Lighthouse Board, states that it would greatly conduce to the security of navigation and the fisheries if four lighthouses were erected in the north part of Great Britain. Such, it would seem, was the limited state of trade in Scotland, that the erection of these four lighthouses was all that was contemplated, on a coast, extending to about 2000 miles, of perhaps the most dangerous navigation in Europe. It is now marked by sixty lighthouse stations for the guidance of the sailor, but new claims continue to be made, and new lighthouses are still admitted to be required.

The newly established Lighthouse Board at once entered on its important duties, and the first light they exhibited was Kinnaird Head, which was designed by Mr. Smith and lighted in 1787.

* * * * *

These pursuits being very congenial to my father’s mechanical turn of mind, he had rendered himself useful to Mr. Smith in carrying them out, and was intrusted, at the early age of nineteen, to superintend the erection of a lighthouse on the island of Little Cumbrae, in the river Clyde, according to a design which Mr. Smith had furnished to the Cumbrae Light Trustees. This connection soon led to his adoption as Mr. Smith’s partner in business, and, in 1799, to his union with his eldest daughter by a former marriage.

During the cessation of the works at Cumbrae in winter, my father, who had determined to follow the profession of a Civil Engineer, applied himself, as appears from class note-books in my possession, with great zeal to the practice of surveying and architectural drawing, and to the study of mathematics at the Andersonian Institution at Glasgow. Of the kindness of Dr. Anderson, who presided over that Institution, he ever entertained a most grateful remembrance, and often spoke of him as one of his best advisers and kindest friends, and in the Memoranda already noticed he records his obligations to him in the following words:—“It was the practice of Professor Anderson kindly to befriend and forward the views of his pupils; and his attention to me during the few years I had the pleasure of being known to him was of a very marked kind, for he directed my attention to various pursuits, with the view to my coming forward as an engineer.”

After completing the Cumbrae Lighthouse he was further engaged, under Mr. Smith, in erecting two lighthouses on the Pentland Skerries in Orkney, where, in view of what lay before him at the Bell Rock, he had the useful experience of living four months in a tent on an uninhabited island, and arranging the landing of the whole of the materials of the lighthouses in the difficult navigation of the Pentland Firth. But here also he had a personal experience of God’s overruling Providence, which clung to him through life, and, as we shall find, proved his stay in times of danger, when personal resources had ceased to prove availing. In returning from the Pentland Skerries, in 1794, he embarked in the sloop ‘Elizabeth’ of Stromness, and proceeded as far as Kinnaird Head, when the vessel was becalmed about three miles from the shore. The captain kindly landed my father, who continued his journey to Edinburgh by land. A very different fate, however, awaited his unfortunate shipmates. A violent gale came on, which drove the ‘Elizabeth’ back to Orkney, where she was totally wrecked, and all on board unhappily perished.

Notwithstanding my father’s active duties in summer, he was so zealous in the pursuit of knowledge that he contrived, during several successive winters, on his return from his practical work, to avail himself of the Philosophical classes at the University of Edinburgh. In this manner he attended Professor Playfair’s second and third Mathematical courses, two sessions of Robison’s Natural Philosophy, two courses of Chemistry under Dr. Hope, and two of Natural History under Professor Jameson. To these he added a course of Moral Philosophy under Dugald Stewart, a course of Logic under Dr. Ritchie, and one of Agriculture under Professor Low. “I was prevented, however,” he remarks, in the Memoranda, “from following my friend Dr. Neill for my degree of M.A. by my slender knowledge of Latin, in which my highest book was the Orations of Cicero, and by my total want of Greek.” Such zeal in the pursuit of knowledge, and views so enlarged of the benefits and value of a liberal education, were characteristics of a mind of no ordinary vigour; so that, early trained to practical work, and inspired with a true love of his profession, it was not unnatural that on the resignation of Mr. Smith the Board should have appointed Mr. Stevenson to succeed him as their Engineer.

The first annual report made by him to the Board is dated June 1798, and he continued annually to prepare one up to the time of his resignation in 1843.

The first occasion on which he was sent by the Board on a special mission was in 1801, when he was deputed by the Commissioners to visit and report on the Lighthouses on the coasts of England, Wales, and the Isle of Man. The report he submitted to the Board is a most elaborate and valuable document. After describing upwards of twenty Public, Private, and Harbour lights which he had examined, he proceeds fully to discuss the different systems of management in use, and particularly to compare the system adopted by the Scotch Board with that practised in England by the Trinity House, most readily advising the adoption of what seemed improvements in the administration of the Southern Board. In reporting as to the Isle of Man he takes occasion to suggest that the lighting of that island should be taken up by the Northern Commissioners—a proposal which was acted on in 1815. He says:—

“I had several communications with William Scott, Esq., Receiver-General of the Customs, upon the subject of Lighthouses. At his request I went to the Point of Langness, and to the Calf of Man; the former a very dangerous point of land, the latter a situation that seems every way answerable to the general purposes of a site for a lighthouse.

“As this island occupies a middle situation between Great Britain and Ireland, and is not included in any of these Acts of Parliament which relate to the erecting or maintaining of Lights, on either side of the Channel, perhaps it might answer to include the Isle of Man under the same Act which refers to the Northern Lighthouses; and by extending your powers this island might no longer stand a monument of darkness, and a great obstruction to the navigation of St. George’s Channel, particularly from the want of a light upon the Calf of Man.

“Such a light, together with the late improvement of the Copeland light, and the erection of the Kilwarlin light upon the Irish coast, would in an eminent degree improve the navigation of the Irish Channel. From the central situation of the Isle of Man, a light would soon pay itself, by serving the trade of Maryport, Workington, Whitehaven, Lancaster and Liverpool, on the one side of the Channel, with Dublin and Newry on the other.”

With reference to this suggestion the Commissioners, in January 1802, adopted the following resolution:—

“In the above report Mr. Stevenson has stated very strongly the great utility of a lighthouse upon the Calf of Man; but not being within the jurisdiction either of the Trinity House of London, or of the Commissioners for the Northern Lighthouses, both of them are thereby prevented from accomplishing an object so much wished for by mariners, as it would prove a great additional security to the navigation between a great number of the ports on the west of England, and Dublin, and other ports in Ireland. In order therefore that this circumstance may not be overlooked, the Commissioners directed this notice to be taken of it in their Minutes, in order that if any application to Parliament shall at a future period be deemed necessary, the Commissioners may judge how far it may not be proper to apply for power and liberty to erect a lighthouse upon a situation so very eligible as the Calf of Man, being the southmost point of that island.”

The report was illustrated with plans of Douglas, Milford, Longships, and Portland Lighthouses. The somewhat formidable journey he had undertaken, involving 2500 miles of travelling, occupied eight weeks in its performance, and the following amusing incident shows what peaceful travellers, in those troubled times, had sometimes to encounter:—

“I left the Scilly Islands considerably instructed by the examination of the machinery and apparatus of this lighthouse, and very much gratified. I took my passage in a vessel bound for Penzance, where, however, I had not been long landed, when I met with a circumstance which, while it lasted, was highly disagreeable, and as it is somewhat connected with the object of the journey, I beg your indulgence while I lay it before you.

“Finding that I could not get any convenient mode of conveyance from Penzance to the Lizard Lights, I set off on foot for Marazion, a town at the head of Mounts Bay, where I was in hopes of getting a boat to freight. I had just got that length, and was making the necessary inquiry, when a young man, accompanied by several idle-looking fellows, came up to me, and in a hasty tone said, ‘Sir, in the King’s name I seize your person and papers.’ To which I replied that I should be glad to see his authority, and know the reason of an address so abrupt. He told me the want of time prevented his taking regular steps, but that it would be necessary for me to return to Penzance, and there undergo an examination, as I was suspected of being a French spy. Had I not been extremely anxious to get on my journey, I would not have objected to this. I therefore proposed to submit my papers to the examination of the nearest Justice of Peace, who was immediately applied to and came to the inn where I was. He seemed to be greatly agitated, and quite at a loss how to proceed. The complaint preferred against me was, ‘That I had examined the Longships Lighthouse with the most minute attention, and was no less particular in my inquiries at the keepers of the lighthouse regarding the sunk rocks lying off the Land’s End, with the sets of the currents and tides along the coast: that I seemed particularly to regret the situation of the rocks called the Seven Stones, and the loss of a beacon which the Trinity Board had caused to be fixed upon the Wolf Rock: that I had taken notes of the bearings of several sunk rocks, and a drawing of the lighthouse and of Cape Cornwall: further, that I had refused the honour of Lord Edgecombe’s invitation to dinner, who happened to be at the Land’s End with a party of pleasure, offering as an apology that I had some particular business on hand, upon which I immediately set off for the Scilly Islands. These circumstances concurring with a report that a schooner had been seen off the Land taking soundings, it was presumed that I was connected with her, and had some evil intention in making these remarks.’

“In order to clear myself of this suspicion, I laid before the Justice your letter directing me to make the journey, which was signed by Mr. Gray (Secretary to the Board), as also several letters he had procured for me to some of the members of the Trinity House, London, together with a letter from the Trinity House, Leith, to the Marquis of Titchfield. I produced also my letter of credit from Sir William Forbes and Company, and, after perusing these letters, the Justice of Peace very gravely observed that they were ‘merely bits of paper,’ and was of opinion that I should be kept in custody till the matter should be laid before Lord Edgecombe, the Lord-Lieutenant of the county, and added, that he would most likely order me to be sent to Plymouth.

“I no sooner heard the opinion of this gentleman than I ordered a chaise and immediately returned to Penzance, where I laid my papers before the Justices of Peace, and waited their decision with much anxiety. They no sooner looked them over than in the most polite manner they cleared me of the suspicions I laboured under, and left me at liberty to pursue my journey, which I did with so much eagerness that I gave the two coal lights upon the Lizard Point only a very transient look, and passed on to Plymouth.”

CHAPTER II.
BELL ROCK LIGHTHOUSE.
1798–1811.

Resolves to practise as a Civil Engineer—Journals—Reports—Design for the Bell Rock Lighthouse—Improvements on Smeaton’s design—Application to Parliament for Act in 1802—Act of Parliament passed in 1806—Works begun in 1807—Tender breaks adrift—Life in the floating light—Boating between the lightship and the rock—Anxiety for workmen—Sunday work—Life in the Barrack or Beacon—Visits the Eddystone in 1813 and 1818—Sir Walter Scott’s visit to the Bell Rock.

From what has been said in the preceding chapter, it will be seen that Mr. Stevenson, from an early period, evinced a decided liking for general Engineering, and I find that almost simultaneously with his appointment under the Lighthouse Board, for whose peculiar duties he had qualified himself by a pretty large and hard-earned experience, he resolved to prosecute the practice of Civil Engineering, in all its branches.

I find also that coincident with this start in life, he commenced a systematic “Journal,” beginning in 1801, of the various travels made in the prosecution of his profession, which occupies nineteen octavo and quarto manuscript books.

His Reports, many of them on subjects of great interest, occupy fourteen folio manuscript volumes, and his printed reports occupy four thick quarto volumes.

These books, together with relative plans, the number of which I fear to mention, are the documents I had to consult in obtaining the records of my father’s professional life. The Journals, Reports, and Plans extend over a period of nearly fifty years, and the selection of topics from such a mass of matter has been no easy task. But as the duty I have undertaken is to convey to the reader a sketch of my father as a Civil Engineer, I have been content, passing over many interesting subjects, to select from the documents before me only so much as should be useful in carrying out that object; and even in this I encountered the difficulty of determining the best order in which the selections I have made should be given. To do so according to any chronological arrangement I find to be impossible, and having resolved to give them not as a consecutive narrative, but in the form of detached notices, I think it will be most appropriate that I should commence the story of Mr. Stevenson’s professional life with his great work—the Bell Rock Lighthouse,—which extended over a period of twelve years, commencing with his early conception of its structure in 1799, and terminating with its completion in 1811.

* * * * *

The Inchcape or Bell Rock lies off the east coast of Scotland, nearly abreast of the entrance to the Firth of Tay, at a distance of eleven miles from Arbroath, the nearest point of the mainland. The name of “Bell” has its origin in the legend respecting the good intention of a pious Abbot of Aberbrothock being frustrated by the notorious pirate, Sir Ralph the Rover, as related in Southey’s well-known lines, which I have given in an [Appendix].

Of the origin, progress, and completion of the lighthouse Mr. Stevenson has left a lasting memorial and most interesting narrative in his quarto volume of upwards of 500 pages, a great part of which was written to his dictation by his only daughter, and was published in 1824.[2]

But there are some circumstances connected with the early history of the Bell Rock, which, while they could not properly have found a place in his narrative, have been noticed in his Memoranda, from which I shall transcribe a few paragraphs detailing his early efforts and disappointments while engaged in designing and arranging for the prosecution of that great work:—

“All knew the difficulties of the erection of the Eddystone Lighthouse, and the casualties to which that edifice had been liable; and in comparing the two situations, it was generally remarked that the Eddystone was barely covered by the tide at high water, while the Bell Rock was barely uncovered at low water.

“I had much to contend with in the then limited state of my experience; and I had in various ways to bear up against public opinion as well as against interested parties. I was in this state of things, however, greatly supported, and I would even say often comforted, by Mr. Clerk of Eldin, author of the System of Breaking the Line in Naval Tactics. Mr. Clerk took great interest in my models, and spoke much of them in scientific circles. He carried men of science and eminent strangers to the model-room which I had provided in Merchants Hall, of which he sometimes carried the key, both when I was at home and while I was abroad. He introduced me to Lord Webb Seymour, to Admiral Lord Duncan, and to Professors Robison and Playfair, and others. Mr. Clerk had been personally known to Smeaton, and used occasionally to speak of him to me.”

It is impossible to read this little narrative without feeling a respect for Mr. Clerk’s hearty enthusiasm, and perceiving the beneficial influence which a kindly disposition may produce on the pursuits of a young man, by stimulating an honourable emulation and discouraging a desponding spirit.

“But at length,” the memorandum continues, “all difficulties with the public, as well as with the better informed few, were dispelled by the fatal effects of a dreadful storm from the N.E., which occurred in December 1799, when it was ascertained that no fewer than seventy sail of vessels were stranded or lost, with many of their crews, upon the coast of Scotland alone! Many of them, it was not doubted, might have found a safe asylum in the Firth of Forth, had there been a lighthouse upon the Bell Rock, on which, indeed, it was generally believed the ‘York,’ of 74 guns, with all hands, perished, none being left to tell the tale! The coast for many miles exhibited portions of that fine ship. There was now, therefore, but one voice,—‘There must be a lighthouse erected on the Bell Rock.’

“Previous to this dreadful storm I had prepared my pillar-formed model, a section of which is shown in Plate VII. of the ‘Account of the Bell Rock Lighthouse.’ Early in the year 1800, I, for the first time, landed on the rock to see the application of my pillar-formed model to the situation for which it was designed and made.

“On this occasion I was accompanied by my friend Mr. James Haldane, architect, whose pupil I had been for architectural drawing. Our landing was at low water of a spring-tide, when a good space of rock was above water, and then the realities of its danger were amply exemplified by the numerous relics which were found in its crevices, such as a ship’s marking-iron, a piece of a kedge-anchor, and a cabin stove, a bayonet, cannon-ball, silver shoe-buckle, crowbars, pieces of money, and other evidences of recent shipwreck.

“I had no sooner set foot upon the rock than I laid aside all idea of a pillar-formed structure, fully convinced that a building on similar principles with the Eddystone would be found practicable.

“On my return from this visit to the rock, I immediately set to work in good earnest, with a design of a stone lighthouse, and modelled it. I accompanied this design with a report or memorial to the Lighthouse Board. The abandoned pillar-formed plan I estimated at £15,000, and the stone building at £42,685, 8s. But still I found that I had not made much impression on the Board on the score of expense, for they feared it would cost much more than forty or fifty thousand pounds.”

It was as to some of the details of this stone design that my father asked Professor Playfair to give his opinion, and received the following reply, which was not a little encouraging to the young engineer attempting to improve on the design of the great Smeaton:—

“Mr. Playfair is very sorry that he has scarce had any time to look more particularly over the plans which Mr. Stevenson has been so good as to send him. Mr. Playfair is too little acquainted with practical mechanics to make his opinion of much weight on such a subject as the construction of a lighthouse. But so far as he can presume to judge, the method of connecting the stones proposed by Mr. Stevenson is likely to prove perfectly secure, and has the advantage of being more easily constructed than Mr. Smeaton’s.”

“9th August 1802.”

* * * * *

The Lord Advocate Hope, one of the Commissioners of Northern Lighthouses, and Member of Parliament for the city of Edinburgh, who had interested himself much in the Bell Rock question, and often conferred with Mr. Stevenson on his design for the work, determined that the matter should not be allowed to rest, and introduced a Bill into Parliament in 1802–1803 to empower the Board to carry it out.

This Bill passed the House of Commons. The Committee to which it was referred report—“That it appears that a sufficient foundation might be prepared on the north end of the rock, where the surface is highest and of greatest dimensions: That artificers could work five hours at the times of each low-water in the day-time of the summer months, and that if the building should be made of masonry the stones to form it might be prepared on shore, marked and numbered, and carried off to the rock and properly placed: That as the present duties may not for a long time enable the Commissioners to defray the expense of erecting and maintaining a lighthouse on the Bell or Cape Rock, it will be expedient to authorise the Commissioners to levy and take further duties for that purpose, with power to borrow a further sum on the credit of said duties.”

At that early date there was no “standing order” of the House requiring the promoters of a Bill to lodge plans of their proposed works, and my father in his Memoranda says:—“The only plans in Mr. Hope’s hands were those which, in 1800, I submitted to the Lighthouse Board.”

In the House of Lords the Bill met with opposition from the Corporation of the City of London, as including too great a range of coast in the collection of duties, and such alterations and amendments were introduced in the Upper House as rendered it necessary for the Lord Advocate to withdraw the Bill.

* * * * *

In order to fortify Mr. Stevenson’s views as to the practicability of building a stone tower in such a situation, which was apparently the chief difficulty in all the early negotiations, the Board resolved to take the advice of Mr. Telford, then employed by Government in reporting on the Highland Roads and Bridges and the Caledonian Canal, who, however, was unable to overtake the duty, and thereafter, on Mr. Stevenson’s suggestion, they applied to Mr. John Rennie, Mr. Stevenson’s senior by eleven years, who had, like himself, at the early age of twenty-one, commenced the practice of his profession, and was then settled in London as a civil engineer. Rennie having concurred with Stevenson as to the practicability and expediency of adopting a stone tower, the Lighthouse Board resolved to make another application to Parliament.

The second application was made in 1806, in a Bill introduced by Lord Advocate Erskine, and proceeded on the same design and estimate of £42,685, 8s., prepared by Mr. Stevenson, in 1800; and the following is an extract from the Report of the Committee of the House of Commons to whom was referred the petition of the Commissioners of the Northern Lighthouses:—

“Proceeded to examine Mr. Robert Stevenson, Civil Engineer, who, in his capacity of Engineer for the Northern Lighthouses, has erected six lighthouses in the northern parts of the kingdom, and has made the erection of a lighthouse on the Cape or Bell Rock more particularly his study,—especially since the loss of about seventy sail of vessels in a storm which happened upon the coast in the month of December 1799, by which numerous ships were driven from their course along the shore, and from their moorings in Yarmouth Roads, and other places of anchorage, southward of the Firth of Forth, and wrecked upon the eastern coast of Scotland, as referred to in the report made to this House in the month of July 1803; the particulars of which he also confirms: That the Bell Rock is most dangerously situated, lying in a track which is annually navigated by no less than about 700,000 tons of shipping, besides his Majesty’s ships of war and revenue cutters: That its place is not easily ascertained, even by persons well acquainted with the coast, being covered by the sea about half-flood, and the landmarks, by which its position is ascertained, being from twelve to twenty miles distant from the site of danger.

“That from the inquiries he made at the time the ‘York’ man-of-war was lost, and pieces of her wreck having drifted ashore upon the opposite and neighbouring coast, and from an attentive consideration of the circumstances which attend the wreck of ships of such dimensions, he thinks it probable that the ‘York’ must have struck upon the Bell Rock, drifted off, and afterwards sunk in deep water: That he is well acquainted with the situation of the Bell Rock, the yacht belonging to the Lighthouse service having, on one occasion, been anchored near it for five days, when he had an opportunity of landing upon it every tide: That he has visited most of the lighthouses on the coast of England, Wales, and Ireland, particularly those of the Eddystone, the Smalls, and the Kilwarlin, or South Rock, which are built in situations somewhat similar to the Bell Rock: That at high water there is a greater depth on the Bell Rock than on any of these, by several feet; and he is therefore fully of opinion, that a building of stone, upon the principles of the Eddystone Lighthouse, is alone suitable to the peculiar circumstances which attend this rock, and has reported his opinion accordingly to the Commissioners of the Northern Lighthouses as far back as the year 1800; and having given the subject all the attention in his power, he has estimated the expense of erecting a building of stone upon it at the sum of £42,685, 8s.

“Your Committee likewise examined Mr. John Rennie, Civil Engineer, who, since the report made to this House in 1803, has visited the Bell Rock, who confirms the particulars in said report, and entertains no doubt of the practicability of erecting a lighthouse on that rock, is decidedly of opinion that a stone lighthouse will be the most durable and effectual, and indeed the only kind of building that is suited to this situation: That he has computed the expense of such a building, and after making every allowance for contingencies, from his own experience of works in the sea, it appears to him that the estimate or expense will amount to £41,843, 15s.”

This application was fortunately successful, the Act having obtained the royal assent in July 1806, when the Commissioners at once determined to commence the work.

Mr. Stevenson now began to feel the full stress of his responsibility. He accordingly says in his notes:—

“The erection of a lighthouse on a rock about twelve miles from land, and so low in the water that the foundation-course must be at least on a level with the lowest tide, was an enterprise so full of uncertainty and hazard that it could not fail to press on my mind. I felt regret that I had not had the opportunity of a greater range of practice to fit me for such an undertaking. But I was fortified by an expression of my friend Mr. Clerk, in one of our conversations upon its difficulties. ‘This work,’ said he, ‘is unique, and can be little forwarded by experience of ordinary masonic operations. In this case Smeaton’s Narrative must be the text-book, and energy and perseverance the pratique.’”

Mr. Rennie also, who had supported the Bill of 1806 in Parliament, and afterwards was appointed by the Commissioners as an advising Engineer to whom Mr. Stevenson could refer in case of emergency, and who had suggested some alterations on Mr. Stevenson’s design of the lighthouse in which he did not see his way to acquiesce, nevertheless continued to take a kind interest in the work, and they continued to correspond frequently during its progress. “Poor old fellow,” Rennie says in one letter, alluding to the name of Smeaton, “I hope he will now and then take a peep of us, and inspire you with fortitude and courage to brave all difficulties and all dangers, to accomplish a work which will, if successful, immortalise you in the annals of fame.”[3]

How well Mr. Stevenson met the demands which, in the course of his great enterprise, were made on his perseverance, fortitude, and self-denial, the history of the operations, and their successful completion, abundantly show. The work was indeed, in all respects, peculiarly suited to his tastes and habits; and Mr. Clerk truly—although perhaps unconsciously—characterised the man, in his terse statement of what would be required of him: “The work is unique—ordinary experience can do little for it—all must depend on energy and perseverance.” No one can read Mr. Stevenson’s “Account of the Bell Rock Lighthouse” without perceiving the justness of this estimate of the difficulties that lay before him, and his ability to overcome them.

Though ever maintaining the highest respect for Smeaton and his noble work, Mr. Stevenson was led, in his original design of 1800, as we have already seen, and further in his actual execution of the Bell Rock tower, to deviate to a considerable extent from the design of the Eddystone. Mr. Stevenson adopted a height of one hundred feet instead of sixty-eight for the height of the masonry, and he carried the level of the solid part of the tower to the height of twenty-one feet above high water, instead of eleven feet as at the Eddystone. In addition to these deviations in the general dimensions of the tower, he increased the thickness of the walls, and he also introduced some changes of importance in its interior structure, whereby he secured a greater continuity, and therefore greater strength of the masonry of the walls and floors, which he describes in his book as follows:—

“Each floor stone forms part of the outward walls, extending inwards to a centre stone, independently of which they are connected by means of copper bats, with a view to preserve their square form at the extremity, instead of dovetailing. These stones are also modelled with joggles, sidewise, upon the principles of the common floor, termed feathering in carpentry, and also with dovetailed joggles across the joints, where they form part of the outward wall.... The floors of the Eddystone Lighthouse, on the contrary, were constructed of an arch form, and the haunches of the arches bound with chains to prevent their pressing outward, to the injury of the walls. In this, Mr. Smeaton followed the construction of the Dome of St Paul’s; and this mode might also be found necessary at the Eddystone, from the want of stones in one length, to form the outward wall and floor, in the then state of the granite quarries of Cornwall. At Mylnefield Quarry, however, there was no difficulty in procuring stones of the requisite dimensions; and the writer foresaw many advantages that would arise from having the stones of the floors to form part of the outward walls, without introducing the system of arching.”

Smeaton in fact adopted an arched form for the floors of his building, which rendered it necessary, in order to counteract the outward thrust, to insert chains, embedded in grooves, cut in the masonry; but Mr. Stevenson, in designing the Bell Rock Lighthouse, improved on Smeaton’s plan, not only by a better general arrangement of the masonry, but by converting the floors into effective bonds, so that, instead of exerting an outward thrust, they actually tie or bind the walls together. This is at once apparent from [Figs. 1] and [2], which show the floor-courses of the Eddystone and Bell Rock in section.

Fig. 1.—Eddystone.

Fig. 2.—Bell Rock.

The engineer of the Bell Rock had all the advantage of Smeaton’s earlier experience, which he ever thankfully acknowledged; but there can be no doubt whatever that the Bell Rock presented peculiar engineering difficulties. The Eddystone Rock is barely covered by the tide at high water, while the Bell Rock is barely uncovered at LOW WATER, rendering the time of working on it, as we shall afterwards find, extremely limited; and the proposal to erect a stone tower on this low-lying isolated reef, at a distance of twelve miles from land, was no less remarkable for its novelty than for its boldness.

PLATE I.

BELL ROCK LIGHT HOUSE.

W. & A. K. Johnston, Edinburgh.

PLATE II.

SECTION OF THE BELL ROCK LIGHT HOUSE.

W. & A. K. Johnston, Edinburgh.

[Plate I.] is an elevation of the Bell Rock Lighthouse, and [Plate II.] is a section showing the manner in which the interior is laid out, and, so far as the size of scale admits, the peculiar arrangements of the masonry, to which reference has been made.

The following is a brief statement of the progress of the work:—

The spring of 1807 was occupied in preparing a floating lightship to be moored off the rock, erecting the timber framework which was to support the barrack to be occupied as a temporary dwelling by the workmen, and in carrying out other preliminary arrangements. During this first season the aggregate time of low-water work, caught by snatches of an hour or two at a tide, amounted to no more than thirteen and a half days’ work of ten hours each.

In 1808 the foundation-pit was excavated in the solid rock, and the building was brought up to the level of the surrounding surface, the aggregate time of low-water work amounting to twenty-two days of ten hours, so that little more than a month’s work was obtained during the first two years.

In 1809 the barrack for the workmen was completed, and the building of the tower brought to the height of seventeen feet above high water of spring-tides.

In 1810 the masonry of the tower was finished and the lantern erected in its place, and the light was exhibited on 1st February 1811. The light is of the description known as revolving red and white, and hence Sir Walter Scott’s “gem of changeful light” (see page [47]).

These weary years of toil and peril were also years of great professional responsibility for the Engineer, and of constant anxiety for the safety of his devoted band of associates, including shipmasters, landing-masters, foremen, and workmen, in all of whom Mr. Stevenson took a cordial and ever friendly interest, and in whom he invariably placed implicit confidence when he found that their several duties were faithfully discharged. To form strong attachments to trustworthy fellow-workmen was ever a marked feature in my father’s character, and after a lapse of nearly half a century many who joined in his labours at the Bell Rock were still associated with him in the business of his office, or as Inspectors of works.

His daily cheerful participation in all the toils and hazards which were, for two seasons, endured in the floating lightship, and afterwards in the timber house or barrack, over which the waves broke with very great force, and caused a most alarming twisting movement of its main supports, were proofs not merely of calm and enduring courage, but of great self-denial and enthusiastic devotion to his calling. On some occasions his fortitude and presence of mind were most severely tried, and well they stood the test.

The record of this great work is, as I have already said, fully given in the “Account of the Bell Rock Lighthouse,” to which I must refer professional readers; but as this volume is out of print, and is not easily accessible, I shall give a few extracts from it, which I feel sure will be read with deep interest, and convey to the reader at least some idea of the difficulties with which this undertaking was beset:—

“Soon after the artificers landed on the rock they commenced work; but the wind coming to blow hard, the Smeaton’s[4] boat and crew, who had brought their complement of eight men to the rock, went off to examine her riding-ropes, and see that they were in proper order. The boat had no sooner reached the vessel than she went adrift, carrying the boat along with her; and both had even got to a considerable distance before this situation of things was observed, every one being so intent upon his own particular duty that the boat had not been seen leaving the rock. As it blew hard, the crew, with much difficulty, set the mainsail upon the Smeaton, with a view to work her up to the buoy, and again lay hold of the moorings. By the time that she was got round to make a tack towards the rock, she had drifted at least three miles to leeward, with the praam boat astern; and having both the wind and tide against her, the writer perceived, with no little anxiety, that she could not possibly return to the rock till long after its being overflowed; for, owing to the anomaly of the tides, formerly noticed, the Bell Rock is completely under water before the ebb abates to the offing.

“In this perilous predicament, indeed, he found himself placed between hope and despair; but certainly the latter was by much the most predominant feeling of his mind,—situate upon a sunken rock, in the middle of the ocean, which, in the progress of the flood-tide, was to be laid under water to the depth of at least twelve feet in a stormy sea. There were this morning in all thirty-two persons on the rock, with only two boats, whose complement, even in good weather, did not exceed twenty-four sitters; but to row to the floating light with so much wind, and in so heavy a sea, a complement of eight men for each boat was as much as could with propriety be attempted, so that in this way about one-half of our number was unprovided for. Under these circumstances, had the writer ventured to despatch one of the boats, in expectation of either working the Smeaton sooner up towards the rock, or in hopes of getting her boat brought to our assistance, this must have given an immediate alarm to the artificers, each of whom would have insisted upon taking to his own boat, and leaving the eight artificers belonging to the Smeaton to their chance. Of course, a scuffle might have ensued, and it is hard to say, in the ardour of men contending for life, where it might have ended. It has even been hinted to the writer that a party of the pickmen were determined to keep exclusively to their own boat against all hazards.

“The unfortunate circumstance of the Smeaton and her boat having drifted was, for a considerable time, only known to the writer, and to the landing-master, who removed to the further point of the rock, where he kept his eye steadily upon the progress of the vessel. While the artificers were at work, chiefly in sitting or kneeling postures, excavating the rock, or boring with the jumpers, and while their numerous hammers, and the sound of the smith’s anvil, continued, the situation of things did not appear so awful. In this state of suspense, with almost certain destruction at hand, the water began to rise upon those who were at work on the lower parts of the sites of the beacon and lighthouse. From the run of sea upon the rock, the forge-fire was also sooner extinguished this morning than usual, and the volumes of smoke having ceased, objects in every direction became visible from all parts of the rock. After having had about three hours’ work, the men began, pretty generally, to make towards their respective boats for their jackets and stockings, when to their astonishment, instead of three they found only two boats, the third being adrift with the Smeaton. Not a word was uttered by any one, but all appeared to be silently calculating their numbers, and looking to each other with evident marks of perplexity depicted in their countenances. The landing-master, conceiving that blame might be attached to him for allowing the boat to leave the rock, still kept at a distance. At this critical moment the author was standing upon an elevated part of Smith’s Ledge, where he endeavoured to mark the progress of the Smeaton, not a little surprised that the crew did not cut the praam adrift, which greatly retarded her way, and amazed that some effort was not making to bring at least the boat, and attempt our relief. The workmen looked steadfastly upon the writer, and turned occasionally towards the vessel, still far to leeward. All this passed in the most perfect silence, and the melancholy solemnity of the group made an impression never to be effaced from his mind.

“The writer had all along been considering various schemes—providing the men could be kept under command—which might be put in practice for the general safety, in hopes that the Smeaton might be able to pick up the boats to leeward, when they were obliged to leave the rock. He was, accordingly, about to address the artificers on the perilous nature of their circumstances, and to propose that all hands should unstrip their upper clothing when the higher parts of the rock were laid under water; that the seamen should remove every unnecessary weight and encumbrance from the boats; that a specified number of men should go into each boat, and that the remainder should hang by the gunwales, while the boats were to be rowed gently towards the Smeaton, as the course to the Pharos or floating light lay rather to windward of the rock. But when he attempted to speak, his mouth was so parched that his tongue refused utterance, and he now learned by experience that the saliva is as necessary as the tongue itself for speech. He then turned to one of the pools on the rock and lapped a little water, which produced an immediate relief. But what was his happiness when, on rising from this unpleasant beverage, some one called out ‘A boat! a boat!’ and on looking around, at no great distance, a large boat was seen through the haze making towards the rock. This at once enlivened and rejoiced every heart. The timeous visitor proved to be James Spink, the Bell Rock pilot, who had come express from Arbroath with letters. Spink had for some time seen the Smeaton, and had even supposed, from the state of the weather, that all hands were on board of her, till he approached more nearly and observed people upon the rock. Upon this fortunate change of circumstances sixteen of the artificers were sent at two trips in one of the boats, with instructions for Spink to proceed with them to the floating light.[5] This being accomplished, the remaining sixteen followed in the two boats belonging to the service of the rock. Every one felt the most perfect happiness at leaving the Bell Rock this morning, though a very hard and even dangerous passage to the floating light still awaited us, as the wind by this time had increased to a pretty hard gale, accompanied with a considerable swell of sea. The boats left the rock about nine, but did not reach the vessel till twelve o’clock noon, after a most disagreeable and fatiguing passage of three hours. Every one was as completely drenched in water as if he had been dragged astern of the boats.”

After this accident difficulty was experienced in getting the men to turn out next morning, as related in the following extract:—

“The bell rung this morning at five o’clock, but the writer must acknowledge, from the circumstances of yesterday, that its sound was extremely unwelcome. This appears also to have been the feeling of the artificers, for when they came to be mustered, out of twenty-six, only eight, besides the foreman and seamen, appeared upon deck, to accompany the writer to the rock. Such are the baneful effects of anything like misfortune or accident connected with a work of this description. The use of argument to persuade the men to embark, in cases of this kind, would have been out of place, as it is not only discomfort, or even the risk of the loss of a limb, but life itself, that becomes the question. The boats, notwithstanding the thinness of our ranks, left the vessel at half-past five. The rough weather of yesterday having proved but a summer’s gale, the wind came to-day in gentle breezes, yet the atmosphere being cloudy, it had not a very favourable appearance. The boats reached the rock at six A.M., and the eight artificers who landed were employed in clearing out the bat-holes for the beacon-house, and had a prosperous tide of four hours’ work, being the longest yet experienced by half an hour.

“The boats left the rock again at ten o’clock, and the weather having cleared up, as we drew near the vessel, the eighteen artificers who remained on board were observed upon deck, but as the boats approached they sought their way below, being quite ashamed of their conduct. This was the only instance of refusal to go to the rock which occurred during the whole progress of the work.”

The state of suffering and discomfort, as well as danger, on board the floating light, which lay moored off the rock during the first two seasons of the work, before the timber beacon was used as a habitation, is described, in the following passage, which presents a striking illustration of the continual anxiety that must have existed in the minds of those engaged in the work, and of the frequent calls for energetic and courageous exertion:—

“Although the weather would have admitted of a landing this evening, yet the swell of the sea, observable in the morning, still continued to increase. It was so far fortunate that a landing was not attempted, for at eight o’clock the wind shifted to E.S.E., and at ten it had become a hard gale, when fifty fathoms of the floating-light’s hempen cable were veered out. The gale still increasing, the ship rolled and laboured excessively, and at midnight eighty fathoms of cable were veered out; while the sea continued to strike the vessel with a degree of force which had not before been experienced.

“During the last night there was little rest on board of the Pharos, and daylight, though anxiously wished for, brought no relief, as the gale continued with unabated violence. The sea struck so hard upon the vessel’s bows that it rose in great quantities, or in ‘green seas’ as the sailors termed it, which were carried by the wind as far aft as the quarter-deck, and not unfrequently over the stern of the ship altogether. It fell occasionally so heavily on the skylight of the writer’s cabin, though so far aft as to be within five feet of the helm, that the glass was broken to pieces before the dead-light could be got into its place, so that the water poured down in great quantities. In shutting out the water, the admission of light was prevented, and in the morning all continued in the most comfortless state of darkness. About ten o’clock A.M. the wind shifted to N.E., and blew, if possible, harder than before, and it was accompanied by a much heavier swell of sea; when it was judged advisable to give the ship more cable. In the course of the gale the part of the cable in the hause-hole had been so often shifted that nearly the whole length of one of her hempen cables, of 120 fathoms, had been veered out besides the chain-moorings. The cable, for its preservation, was also carefully “served” or wattled with pieces of canvas round the windlass, and with leather well greased in the hause-hole. In this state things remained during the whole day,—every sea which struck the vessel—and the seas followed each other in close succession—causing her to shake, and all on board occasionally to tremble. At each of these strokes of the sea the rolling and pitching of the vessel ceased for a time, and her motion was felt as if she had either broke adrift before the wind, or were in the act of sinking; but when another sea came, she ranged up against it with great force, and this became the regular intimation of our being still riding at anchor.

“About eleven o’clock, the writer, with some difficulty, got out of bed, but, in attempting to dress, he was thrown twice upon the floor, at the opposite side of the cabin. In an undressed state he made shift to get about half-way up the companion-stairs, with an intention to observe the state of the sea and of the ship upon deck, but he no sooner looked over the companion than a heavy sea struck the vessel, which fell on the quarter-deck, and rushed down-stairs into the officer’s cabin, in so considerable a quantity that it was found necessary to lift one of the scuttles in the floor to let the water into the limbers of the ship, as it dashed from side to side in such a manner as to run into the lower tier of beds. Having been foiled in this attempt, and being completely wetted, he again got below and went to bed. In this state of the weather the seamen had to move about the necessary or indispensable duties of the ship, with the most cautious use both of hands and feet, while it required all the art of the landsman to keep within the precincts of his bed. The writer even found himself so much tossed about that it became necessary, in some measure, to shut himself in bed, in order to avoid being thrown to the floor. Indeed, such was the motion of the ship, that it seemed wholly impracticable to remain in any other than a lying posture. On deck the most stormy aspect presented itself, while below all was wet and comfortless.

“About two o’clock P.M. a great alarm was given throughout the ship, from the effects of a very heavy sea which struck her, and almost filled the waist, pouring down into the berths below, through every chink and crevice of the hatches and skylights. From the motion of the vessel being thus suddenly deadened or checked, and from the flowing in of the water above, it is believed there was not an individual on board who did not think, at the moment, that the vessel had foundered and was in the act of sinking. The writer could withstand this no longer, and as soon as she again began to range to the sea, he determined to make another effort to get upon deck.

“It being impossible to open any of the hatches in the fore part of the ship in communicating with the deck, the watch was changed by passing through the several berths to the companion-stair leading to the quarter-deck. The writer, therefore, made the best of his way aft, and on a second attempt to look out, he succeeded, and saw indeed an astonishing sight. The seas or waves appeared to be ten or fifteen feet in height of unbroken water, and every approaching billow seemed as if it would overwhelm our vessel, but she continued to rise upon the waves, and to fall between the seas in a very wonderful manner. It seemed to be only those seas which caught her in the act of rising which struck her with so much violence, and threw such quantities of water aft. On deck there was only one solitary individual looking out, to give the alarm in the event of the ship breaking from her moorings. The seaman on watch continued only two hours; he had no greatcoat nor overall of any kind, but was simply dressed in his ordinary jacket and trousers; his hat was tied under his chin with a napkin, and he stood aft the foremast, to which he had lashed himself with a gasket or small rope round his waist, to prevent his falling upon deck or being washed overboard. Upon deck everything that was moveable was out of sight, having either been stowed below previous to the gale, or been washed overboard. Some trifling parts of the quarter-boards were damaged by the breach of the sea, and one of the boats upon deck was about one-third full of water, the oyle-hole or drain having been accidentally stopped up, and part of the gunwale had received considerable injury. Although the previous night had been a very restless one, it had not the effect of inducing sleep in the writer’s berth on the succeeding one; for having been so much tossed about in bed during the last thirty hours, he found no easy spot to turn to, and his body was all sore to the touch, which ill accorded with the unyielding materials with which his bed-place was surrounded.

“This morning about eight o’clock the writer was agreeably surprised to see the scuttle of his cabin skylight removed, and the bright rays of the sun admitted. Although the ship continued to roll excessively, and the sea was still running very high, yet the ordinary business on board seemed to be going forward on deck. It was impossible to steady a telescope so as to look minutely at the progress of the waves, and trace their breach upon the Bell Rock, but the height to which the cross-running waves rose in sprays, when they met each other, was truly grand, and the continued roar and noise of the sea was very perceptible to the ear. To estimate the height of the sprays at forty or fifty feet would surely be within the mark. Those of the workmen who were not much afflicted with sea-sickness came upon deck, and the wetness below being dried up, the cabins were again brought into a habitable state. Every one seemed to meet as if after a long absence, congratulating his neighbour upon the return of good weather. Little could be said as to the comfort of the vessel; but after riding out such a gale, no one felt the least doubt or hesitation as to the safety and good condition of her moorings. The master and mate were extremely anxious, however, to heave in the hempen cable, and see the state of the clinch or iron ring of the chain cable. But the vessel rolled at such a rate that the seamen could not possibly keep their feet at the windlass, nor work the handspokes, though it had been several times attempted since the gale took off.

“About twelve noon, however, the vessel’s motion was observed to be considerably less, and the sailors were enabled to walk upon deck with some degree of freedom. But to the astonishment of every one it was soon discovered that the floating light was adrift! The windlass was instantly manned, and the men soon gave out that there was no strain upon the cable. The mizzen-sail, which was bent for the occasional purpose of making the vessel ride more easily to the tide, was immediately set, and the other sails were also hoisted in a short time, when, in no small consternation, we bore away about one mile to the south-westward of the former station, and there let go the best bower-anchor and cable, in twenty fathoms water, to ride until the swell of the sea should fall, when it might be practicable to grapple for the moorings, and find a better anchorage for the ship.

“As soon as the deck could be cleared the cable end was hove up, which had parted at the distance of about fifty fathoms from the chain moorings. On examining the cable, it was found to be considerably chafed, but where the separation took place, it appeared to be worn through, or cut shortly off. How to account for this would be difficult, as the ground, though rough and gravelly, did not, after much sounding, appear to contain any irregular parts. It was therefore conjectured that the cable must have hooked some piece of wreck, as it did not appear from the state of the wind and tide that the vessel could have fouled her anchor when she veered round with the wind, which had shifted in the course of the night from N.E. to N.N.W.

“Be this as it may, it was a circumstance quite out of the power of man to prevent, as, until the ship drifted, it was found impossible to heave up the cable. But what ought to have been the feeling of thankfulness to that Providence which regulates and appoints the lot of man, when it is considered that if this accident had happened during the storm, or in the night after the wind had shifted, the floating light must inevitably have gone ashore upon the Bell Rock. In short, it is hardly possible to conceive any case more awfully distressing than our situation would have been, or one more disastrous to the important undertaking in which we were engaged.”

The distance at which the floating light was moored from the rock was about three miles, and the passage of the men to and from their work, and boarding the vessel in rough weather, was a source of great anxiety and danger, and is described in the following paragraphs:—

“When the tide-bell rung on board the floating light, the boats were hoisted out, and two active seamen were employed to keep them from receiving damage alongside. The floating light being very buoyant, was so quick in her motions, that when those who were about to step from her gunwale into a boat, placed themselves upon a “cleat” or step on the ship’s side with the man or rail-ropes in their hands, they had often to wait for some time till a favourable opportunity occurred for stepping into the boat. While in this situation, with the vessel rolling from side to side, watching the proper time for letting go the man-ropes, it required the greatest dexterity and presence of mind to leap into the boat. One who was rather awkward would often wait a considerable period in this position: at one time his side of the ship would be so depressed that he would touch the boat to which he belonged, while the next sea would elevate him so much that he would see his comrades in the boat on the opposite side of the ship, his friends in the one boat calling to him to ‘jump,’ while those in the boat on the other side, as he came again and again into their view, would jocosely say—‘Are you there yet? You seem to enjoy a swing.’ In this situation it was common to see a person upon each side of the ship for a length of time, waiting to quit his hold. A stranger to this sort of motion was both alarmed for the safety, and delighted with the agility, of persons leaping into the boat under those perilous circumstances. No sooner had one quitted his station on the gunwale than another occupied his place, until the whole were safely shipped.”

On their return trips from the rock to the floating light, the men had a no less hazardous and trying ordeal to undergo, for Mr. Stevenson records the following as an example of the risks to which they were exposed:—

“Just as we were about to leave the rock, the wind shifted to the S.W., and from a fresh gale it became what seamen term a hard gale, or such as would have required the fisherman to take in two or three reefs in his sail. The boats being rather in a crowded state for this sort of weather, they were pulled with difficulty towards the floating light. Though the boats were handsomely built, and presented little obstruction to the wind, as those who were not pulling sat low, yet having the ebb-tide to contend with the passage was so very tedious that it required two hours of hard work before we reached the vessel.

“It is a curious fact, that the respective tides of ebb and flood are apparent upon the shore about an hour and a half sooner than at the distance of three or four miles in the offing. But what seems chiefly interesting here is, that the tides around this small sunken rock should follow exactly the same laws as on the extensive shores of the mainland. When the boats left the Bell Rock to-day, it was overflowed by the flood-tide, but the floating light did not swing round to the flood-tide for more than an hour afterwards. Under this disadvantage the boats had to struggle with the ebb-tide and a hard gale of wind, so that it was with the greatest difficulty they reached the floating light. Had this gale happened in spring-tides, when the current was strong, we must have been driven to sea in a very helpless condition.

“The boat which the writer steered was considerably behind the other, one of the masons having unluckily broken his oar. Our prospect of getting on board, of course, became doubtful, and our situation was rather perilous, as the boat shipped so much sea that it occupied two of the artificers to bale and clear her of water. When the oar gave way we were about half-a-mile from the ship, but, being fortunately to windward, we got into the wake of the floating light at about 250 fathoms astern, just as the landing-master’s boat reached the vessel. He immediately streamed or floated a life-buoy astern, with a line which was in readiness, and by means of this useful implement, the boat was towed alongside of the floating light, where, from the rolling motion, it required no small management to get safely on board, as the men were much worn out with their exertions in pulling from the rock. On the present occasion, the crews of both boats were completely drenched with spray, and those who sat upon the bottom of the boats to bale them were sometimes pretty deep in the water, before it could be cleared out. After getting on board, all hands were allowed an extra dram, and having shifted, and got a warm and comfortable dinner, the affair, it is believed, was little more thought of.”

An interesting incident, showing the constant anxiety of the chief for his men, is given in the following passage:—

“The boats left the ship at a quarter before six this morning, and landed upon the rock at seven. The water had gone off the rock sooner than was expected, for as yet the seamen were but imperfectly acquainted with its periodic appearance, and the landing-master being rather late with his signal this morning, the artificers were enabled to proceed to work without a moment’s delay. The boat which the writer steered happened to be the last which approached the rock at this tide; and, in standing up in the stern, while at some distance, to see how the leading boat entered the creek, he was astonished to observe something in the form of a human figure in a reclining posture upon one of the ledges of the rock. He immediately steered the boat through a narrow entrance to the eastern harbour, with a thousand unpleasant sensations in his mind. He thought a vessel or boat must have been wrecked upon the rock during the night; and it seemed probable that the rock might be strewed with dead bodies—a spectacle which could not fail to deter the artificers from returning so freely to their work. Even one individual found in this situation would naturally cast a damp upon their minds, and, at all events, make them much more timid in their future operations. In the midst of those reveries, the boat took the ground at an improper landing-place; but, without waiting to push her off, he leapt upon the rock, and making his way hastily to the spot which had privately given him alarm, he had the satisfaction to ascertain that he had only been deceived by the peculiar situation and aspect of the smith’s anvil and block, which very completely represented the appearance of a lifeless body upon the rock. The writer carefully suppressed his feelings, the simple mention of which might have had a bad effect upon the artificers, and his haste passed for an anxiety to examine the apparatus of the smith’s forge, left in an unfinished state at the evening tide.”

In the following words Mr. Stevenson explains his resolution to regard the operations at the Bell Rock as a work of mercy, and to continue them, when weather permitted, throughout all the seven days of the week:—

“To some it may require an apology, or at least call for an explanation, why the writer took upon himself to step aside from the established rules of society by carrying on the works of this undertaking during Sundays. Such practices are not uncommon in the dockyards and arsenals, when it is conceived that the public service requires extraordinary exertions. Surely if, under any circumstances, it is allowable to go about the ordinary labours of mankind on Sundays, that of the erection of a lighthouse upon the Bell Rock seems to be one of the most pressing calls which could in any case occur, and carries along with it the imperious language of necessity. When we take into consideration that, in its effects, this work was to operate in a direct manner for the safety of many valuable lives and much property, the beautiful and simple parables of the Holy Scriptures, inculcating works of necessity and mercy, must present themselves to every mind unbiassed by the trammels of form or the influence of a distorted imagination. In this perilous work, to give up every seventh day would just have been to protract the time a seventh part. Now, as it was generally supposed, after taking all advantages into view, that the work would probably require seven years for its execution, such an arrangement must have extended the operation to at least eight years, and have exposed it to additional risk and danger in all its stages. The writer, therefore, felt little scruple in continuing the Bell Rock works in all favourable states of the weather.”

He however conducted a regular Sunday service, as noticed in the following paragraph:—

“Having, on the previous evening, arranged matters with the landing-master as to the business of the day, the signal was rung for all hands at half-past seven this morning. In the early state of the spring-tides, the artificers went to the rock before breakfast, but as the tides fell later in the day, it became necessary to take this meal before leaving the ship. At eight o’clock all hands were assembled on the quarter-deck for prayers, a solemnity which was gone through in as orderly a manner as circumstances would admit. Round the quarter-deck, when the weather permitted, the flags of the ship were hung up as an awning or screen, forming the quarter-deck into a distinct compartment with colours; the pendant was also hoisted at the main-mast, and a large ensign flag was displayed over the stern; and, lastly, the ship’s companion, or top of the staircase, was covered with the flag proper of the Lighthouse Service, on which the Bible was laid. A particular toll of the bell called all hands to the quarter-deck, when the writer read a chapter of the Bible, and, the whole ship’s company being uncovered, he also read the impressive prayer composed by the Reverend Dr. Brunton, one of the ministers of Edinburgh.”

Fig. 3.—The Beacon or Barrack.

So soon as a barrack of timber-work could be erected on the rock as a substitute for the floating light, it was inhabited by Mr. Stevenson and twenty-eight men. This barrack was a singular habitation, perched on a strong framework of timber, carefully designed with a view to strength, and no less carefully put together in its place, and fixed to the rock with every appliance necessary to secure stability. The tide rose sixteen feet on it in calm weather, and in heavy seas it was exposed to the assault of every wave. Of the perils and discomforts of such a habitation the following passages give a lively picture:—

“This scene” (the sublime appearance of the waves) “he greatly enjoyed while sitting at his window. Each wave approached the Beacon like a vast scroll unfolding, and in passing discharged a quantity of air which he not only distinctly felt, but was even sufficient to lift the leaves of a book which lay before him....

“The gale continues with unabated violence to-day, and the sprays rise to a still greater height, having been carried over the masonry of the building, or about 90 feet above the level of the sea. At four o’clock this morning it was breaking into the cook’s berth (on the Beacon), when he rang the alarm-bell, and all hands turned out to attend to their personal safety. The floor of the smith’s or mortar gallery was now completely burst up by the force of the sea, when the whole of the deals and the remaining articles upon the floor were swept away, such as the cast-iron mortar-tubs, the iron hearth of the forge, the smith’s bellows, and even his anvil, were thrown down upon the rock. The boarding of the cook-house, or story above the smith’s gallery, was also partly carried away, and the brick and plaster work of the fireplace shaken and loosened. It was observed during this gale that the Beacon-house had a good deal of tremor, but none of that ‘twisting motion’ occasionally felt and complained of before the additional wooden struts were set up for the security of the principal beams; but this effect had more especially disappeared ever since the attachment of the great horizontal iron bars in connection with these supports. Before the tide rose to its full height to-day, some of the artificers passed along the bridge into the lighthouse, to observe the effects of the sea upon it, and they reported that they had felt a slight tremulous motion in the building when great seas struck it in a certain direction about high-water mark. On this occasion the sprays were again observed to wet the balcony, and even to come over the parapet wall into the interior of the light-room. In this state of the weather, Captain Wilson and the crew of the ‘Floating Light’ were much alarmed for the safety of the artificers upon the rock, especially when they observed with a telescope that the floor of the smith’s gallery had been carried away, and that the triangular cast-iron sheer-crane was broken down. It was quite impossible, however, to do anything for their relief until the gale should take off....

“The writer’s cabin measured not more than 4 feet 3 inches in breadth on the floor; and though, from the oblique direction of the beams of the Beacon, it widened towards the top, yet it did not admit of the full extension of his arms when he stood on the floor; while its length was little more than sufficient for suspending a cot-bed during the night, calculated for being triced up to the roof during the day, which left free room for the admission of occasional visitants. His folding-table was attached with hinges immediately under the small window of the apartment; and his books, barometer, thermometer, portmanteau, and two or three camp-stools, formed the bulk of his moveables. His diet being plain, the paraphernalia of the table were proportionally simple; though everything had the appearance of comfort, and even of neatness, the walls being covered with green cloth, formed into panels with red tape, and his bed festooned with curtains of yellow cotton stuff. If, on speculating on the abstract wants of man, in such a state of exclusion, one were reduced to a single book, the sacred volume, whether considered for the striking diversity of its story, the morality of its doctrine, or the important truths of its Gospel, would have proved by far the greatest treasure.”

The Barrack was not removed immediately on the completion of the tower, and on Mr. Stevenson’s first visit to the rock after the light had been established, it was with feelings of emotion that he viewed his old quarters. His Journal says—“I went up the trap and entered my own cabin with mingled thoughts of reflection upon the many anxious hours I had spent within the narrow precincts of its little walls, and here offered up thanks to God for the happy termination of this work.”

Mr. Stevenson’s merit as Engineer of the Bell Rock Lighthouse does not rest in his bold conception of, and confident unshaken belief in, the possibility of executing a tower of masonry on that submerged reef, or even in his personal courage and discretion in carrying out so difficult a work, in the face of so many dangers, when he had neither “steamboat” nor “steam-crane” to call to his aid. But his mechanical skill in all the arrangements of the work was pre-eminent in bringing his labours to a successful issue. Not only did he conceive the plan of the moveable jib and balance cranes, described in a subsequent chapter—which he applied with much advantage in the erection of the tower, and the former of which is now in universal use,—but his inventive skill, ever alive to the possibility of improving on the conceptions of his great master, Smeaton, led him to introduce all those advantageous changes in the arrangements of the masonry of the tower, which have been already described, as distinguishing it from the Eddystone.

The Commissioners entertained a high sense of Stevenson’s services at the Bell Rock Lighthouse; and, as many of them took a deep interest in the execution of that remarkable work, and paid occasional visits to it during its progress, they were well able to appreciate the ability and zeal with which he devoted himself to this arduous task, and they resolved, at a meeting held in the lighthouse itself—“That a bust of Mr. Robert Stevenson be obtained, and placed in the library of the Bell Rock Lighthouse, in testimony of the sense entertained by the Commissioners of his distinguished talent and indefatigable zeal in the erection of that lighthouse.” A beautiful bust in marble, by Samuel Joseph, from which the frontispiece has been engraved, was accordingly placed in what is called the library, being the upper apartment of the tower.

* * * * *

Mr. Stevenson’s interest in the Eddystone did not cease on the completion of his own work. We know that he paid at least two visits to the Eddystone after the completion of the Bell Rock. One of those visits was made in September 1813, when, by the courtesy of the Trinity House, he was accommodated with the use of the ‘Eddystone’ tender, and, though the weather was not very favourable, succeeded in landing on the rock and making a hasty inspection of the far-famed lighthouse.

Mr. Stevenson’s last visit was made in 1818, on a voyage in the Northern Lighthouse tender, on which occasion he was favoured with a smooth sea and a low tide, and enabled to make a thorough inspection of the rock. It is important and interesting to record that this examination strongly impressed him with the ultimate insecurity of the structure, as appears from the following almost prophetic extract from his Journal:—

“The house seems to be in a very good state of repair, and does not appear to have sustained any injury by the lapse of time. The joints are full of cement, and the stone exhibits little appearance of decay, being granite or syenite. The rock itself upon a narrow inspection seems to be gneiss. The rock is shaken all through, and dips at a very considerable angle, perhaps one in three, towards the south-west; and being undermined on the north-east side for several feet, it must be confessed that it has rather an alarming appearance. I am not, however, of opinion that it has altered its state perhaps since the date of the erection of the tower. Since my last visit in 1813 I am not sensible of any change upon it. On the north-east side, however, at what is called the ‘Gut’ landing-place, where the men sheltered themselves from the fire of Rudyerd’s Lighthouse, but especially at low-water mark of spring-tides, there is a hollowing of the rock which penetrates at least to the circumference of the base of the lighthouse. I therefore conclude that when the sea runs high there is danger of this house being upset, after a lapse of time, when the sea and shingle have wrought away the rock to a greater extent. Nothing preserves this highly important building but the hardness of the rock and the dip of the strata, but for how long a period this may remain no one can pretend to say.”

PLATE III.

BELL ROCK LIGHTHOUSE.

That period has at length arrived, and the Trinity House, under the advice of Mr. Douglass, their Engineer, have resolved that Smeaton’s Eddystone—the engineer’s long cherished object of veneration—must be renewed, and henceforth Stevenson’s Bell Rock must be held as the earliest existing type of a class of bold and skilful works—still few in number—which, by converting a dark sunken danger into a source of light and safety, have saved many a ship, and cheered the heart of many a tempest-tossed sailor, as happily expressed in Sir Walter Scott’s impromptu “Pharos loquitur,” written in the Album of the Lighthouse, when he landed with a deputation of the Commissioners in 1814.

“Far in the bosom of the deep
O’er these wild shelves my watch I keep,
A ruddy gem of changeful light,
Bound on the dusky brow of night;
The seaman bids my lustre hail,
And scorns to strike his timorous sail.”

CHAPTER III.
LIGHTHOUSE ILLUMINATION.
1801–1843.

Early modes of illumination—Facet reflectors and lamps—Silvered copper reflectors and Argand lamps—Isle of May coal light—Improvements in catoptric lights—Distinctions for lighthouses invented by Mr. Stevenson, viz., flashing, intermittent, and double lights—Floating light lantern—Lighting of stage of Covent Garden Theatre—Dioptric system of lighthouse illumination.

Seeing that, for reasons stated in the last chapter, I was led to give up the idea of attempting to follow any chronological sequence in this Memoir, it may perhaps be convenient, before speaking of my father’s general practice as a Civil Engineer, that I should supplement the sketch I have given of the Bell Rock Lighthouse by some account of the other important duties he performed as Engineer to the Commissioners of Northern Lighthouses—an office which, as we have seen, he held for so long a period.

The lighthouse towers of the last century, though useful as beacons by day, were after all most imperfect guides by night. Indeed, the rude expedients adopted at that early period to give light to the sailor in a dark and moonless sky, present a very curious contrast to the modern system of lighthouse illumination—the result of careful study by modern philosophers and engineers. If proof of this be wanted, we have only to refer to the twenty-four miserable candles, unaided by reflectors or any other optical contrivance, which shed their dim and uncertain light from Smeaton’s famous Eddystone for nearly half a century after it was built.

But indeed at that early time all lights had not even the advantage of the glazed lantern which protected the candles of the Eddystone from the winter’s blast and summer’s breeze; the grand Tour de Cordouan on the coast of France was then lighted by blazing fagots of wood burned in an open chauffer, and many of the early lighthouses were open coal fires.

When Mr. Smith, however, was appointed Engineer to the Scotch Lighthouse Board, he, as has been already said, came forward as the advocate of lamps aided by reflectors, a system which he introduced at Kinnaird Head in 1787; so that the Lighthouse Board of Scotland never employed any less perfect mode of illumination. These early reflectors, which had been in use in England, consisted of small pieces or facets of common mirror glass arranged in a hollow mould and fixed in their places by plaster of Paris; but soon afterwards the facets of mirror glass, though forming good instruments for their day, and of their kind, were discarded, and the reflectors were thereafter made of copper, plated with silver, and brightly polished.

I am not in a position to say when or by whom these metallic reflectors were first introduced, or what was their exact form, the question being invested in some degree of doubt; but it was to the perfecting of these optical instruments and adapting them to practical use in a lighthouse that Mr. Stevenson’s attention was early directed. Thus we find him in 1805 reporting as follows:—

“The operations at the Start Point were this season begun upon Monday the 27th of May, and the lighthouse was finished upon Saturday the 17th October and the light advertised to be lighted upon the night of Wednesday the 1st of January 1806. Some nights before I left Sanday I had the light set in motion, when the effect appeared to be most excellent; indeed, it must be equal to the Scilly or Cromer lights, and superior to the revolving light at Tinmouth: at the former there are twenty-one reflectors, and at the latter there are fifteen, whereas at the Start Point Lighthouse I only use seven reflectors, but by altering the motion of the machinery and construction of the revolving part, I produce the desired effect.”

And again in 1806:—

“I was late in the season for making all the observations I could have wished upon the Start Point and North Ronaldsay lights, and was not very well appointed in a vessel for keeping the sea in bad weather. I however made a cruise for this purpose, and stood towards the Fair Isle in a heavy gale of wind, with an intention to run for Shetland, but the wind shifted, and I stretched towards Copinshaw, at the distance of about ten or twelve miles to the westward of Orkney, with both lights in view. The second night I went through North Ronaldsay Firth to have a west view of the lights. I put about off Westra, and stood northward with both lights in view, when it came to blow with great violence from the s.w., and it was with much difficulty we could regain the coast. Although on this trip I had rather bad weather, with a heavy swell of sea, yet it was very answerable for my purpose, and I was upon the whole much pleased with the appearance of the new light; but I find, when at the distance of ten or twelve miles, with the sea running high, the light is seen for rather too short a period, so that it would be proper to place other seven reflectors upon the frame at an angle of about 40° to the present reflectors, in the event of removing North Ronaldsay light.”

I find from his correspondence that my father consulted Sir John Leslie, the distinguished Professor of Natural Philosophy, and Alexander Adie, the well-known optician, as to the best mode of procuring a true parabolic form for the construction of his reflectors, and having introduced a simple means of withdrawing the lamp from the reflector, his new catoptric apparatus may be said to have been completed.

Fig. 4.

Fig. 5.

The Bell Rock was the first lighthouse that was illuminated by Mr. Stevenson’s improved apparatus (shown in section in [Fig. 4]), where a is the fountain for the oil, b the burner, and the directions of the incident and reflected rays are represented by dotted lines. In [Fig. 5] the reflector is shown in elevation; the lamp is represented as lowered down from the reflector, which is effected by a sliding arrangement controlled by a guide,—the object being to allow the lamp to be removed while the reflector is being polished, and to insure its being returned to its exact position in the true focus of the reflector. Perhaps the most valuable opinion that can be quoted as to the utility of this arrangement is that of Mr. Airy, the Astronomer-Royal, who, after the apparatus had been in use fifty years, and after having inspected the lighthouses both of Britain and France, says—“This lighthouse” (Girdleness, in Aberdeenshire) “contains two systems of lights. The lower, at about two-fifths of the height of the building, consists of thirteen parabolic reflectors of the usual form. I remarked in these, that by a simple construction, which I have not seen elsewhere, great facility is given for the withdrawal and safe return of the lamps, for adjusting the lamps, and for cleaning the mirrors;” and in closing his report he adds, “It is the best lighthouse that I have seen.”[6]

Notwithstanding the introduction of this improved apparatus at the Bell Rock in 1811, a coal-fire, which had existed for the long period of 181 years on the Isle of May, at the entrance to the Firth of Forth, still continued, in 1816, to send forth its feeble and misleading light, and as it was one of the best specimens of the lighthouses of days now passed away, it may not be uninteresting to give a short account of it.

The May light was at that period what is called a “private light”—the right of levying dues on shipping being vested in the Duke of Portland, who was owner of the island. There were many private lights in England, but the Isle of May was the only one that still remained in Scotland, and the Commissioners of Northern Lighthouses, believing it to be advantageous that so important a light should be placed under public management, so as to secure for the shipping a better light, and exemption from the high passing tolls charged by the proprietor, entered into treaty with the Duke of Portland for the purchase of his rights. This negotiation resulted in the introduction of a Bill into Parliament in 1814, authorising the purchase of the Isle of May, with the right of levying toll, for the sum of £60,000.

So soon as the property came into the hands of the Commissioners they erected a new lighthouse, and on the 1st of February 1816 the old coal chauffer was discontinued, and a light from oil with reflectors was exhibited in its stead. I am enabled from an old plan in my possession to present the reader with two sketches of the original chauffer light of the Isle of May.

Fig. 6.

[Fig. 6] is an elevation of the building, with the tackle for raising the fuel to the top, and its inscription stone over the door bearing the date 1635. [Fig. 7] shows the building in section, with its stone winding staircase and vaulted chambers, the whole structure apparently being so designed as to be perfectly proof against fire—a precaution very necessary for a building dedicated to such a purpose, for it is recorded that no fewer than 400 tons of coal were annually consumed in the open chauffer on its top.

Fig. 7.

It was, as I have said, one of the best coal-fires in the kingdom, and three men were employed to keep the bonfire burning, so that its inefficiency as a light was not due to any want of outlay in its support. But its appearance was ever varying, now shooting up in high flames, again enveloped in dense smoke, and never well seen when most required. When Mr. Stevenson visited the island, with a view to its purchase by the Commissioners, he was told by the keeper, that in violent gales the fire only kindled on the leeward side, and that he was in the habit of putting his hand through the windward bars of the chauffer to steady himself while he supplied the fire with coals, so that in the direction in which it was most wanted hardly any light was visible. Nothing can be worse than any variableness or uncertainty in the appearance of a light. Better far not to exhibit it at all than to show it irregularly; and the coal lights were so changeable and destitute of characteristic appearance as to be positively dangerous. This indeed was too sadly proved by the loss of H. M. ships ‘Nymphen’ and ‘Pallas,’ which on the 19th December 1810 were wrecked near Dunbar, the light of a limekiln, on the coast of Haddington, having been mistaken for the coal light of the Isle of May. Fortunately only nine of their combined crews of 600 men perished; but the vessels, valued at not less than £100,000, became total wrecks.

During the long period he held the office as Engineer to the Board, Mr. Stevenson designed and executed eighteen lighthouses in the district of the Northern Lighthouse Commissioners, many of them in situations which called for much forethought and great energy. All his lighthouse works were characterised by sagacity and inventiveness, and exhibit successive stages of improvement, equally indicative of the growing prosperity of the Board and of the alacrity and zeal with which their Engineer laboured in his vocation. Whether we consider the accuracy and beauty of the catoptric apparatus, the arrangements of the buildings, or the discipline observed by the lightkeepers of the Northern Lighthouses, we cannot fail to recognise the impress of that energetic and comprehensive cast of mind which directed the whole. Acting under the direction of an enlightened Board of Commissioners, my father may, with the strictest propriety, be said to have created the lighthouse system of Scotland. His merits indeed in this respect were generally acknowledged in other quarters; and many of the Irish lighthouses, and several lighthouses in our colonies, were fitted up with apparatus prepared after his designs.

In the course of his labours my father’s attention was much given to the question of distinction among lights—a matter of the utmost importance, especially in narrow seas, where many lights are required; and at his suggestion, the Northern Lighthouse Commissioners fitted up a temporary light-tower on Inchkeith, in which numerous experiments having this object in view were made.

Fig. 8. Fig. 9.

He was the inventor of two useful distinctions—the Intermittent and Flashing lights. In the intermittent distinction the light is suddenly obscured by the closing of metallic shades which surround the reflector frame, and on their opening, it is as suddenly revealed to sight, in a manner which completely distinguishes it from the ordinary revolving light, which from darkness, gradually increases in power till it reaches its brightest phase, and then gradually declines until it is again obscured; the action of these shades in producing the intermittent effect is illustrated in [Figs. 8] and [9]. The Flashing light, by a peculiar arrangement of reflectors, and a rapid revolution of the frame which carries them, is made to give a sudden flash of great power, once in five seconds of time, and thus has a distinctive appearance very different from either the revolving or intermittent light. For these distinctions Mr. Stevenson received from the King of the Netherlands a gold medal as a mark of his Majesty’s approbation.

Fig. 10.

Mr. Stevenson also, in 1810, gave a design for a double light at the Isle of May, as shown in [Fig. 10], in which all lighthouse engineers will see the embryo of the double light of the present day.

I must not omit to notice his improvement on the lanterns of floating lightships, now universally adopted, which he introduced in 1807. Previously to this date the lightships exhibited their lights from small lanterns suspended from the yardarms or frames. Mr. Stevenson realised the inutility of such a mode of exhibition, and conceived the idea of forming a lantern to surround the mast of the vessel, and to be capable of being lowered down to the deck to be trimmed, and raised when required to be exhibited. His plan had the advantage of giving a lantern of much greater size, because it encased the mast of the ship, and with this increase of size it enabled larger and more perfect apparatus to be introduced, as well as gearing for working a revolving light. [Fig. 11] shows this lantern, and the following is his description of it:—

“The lanterns were so constructed as to clasp round the masts and traverse upon them. This was effected by constructing them with a tube of copper in the centre, capable of receiving the mast, through which it passed. The lanterns were first completely formed, and fitted with brass flanges; they were then cut longitudinally asunder, which conveniently admitted of their being screwed together on the masts after the vessel was fully equipped and moored at her station. Letters a a show part of one of the masts, b one of the tackle-hooks for raising and lowering the lanterns, c c the brass flanges with their screw-bolts, by which the body or case of the lantern was ultimately put together. There were holes in the bottom and also at the top connected with the ventilation: the collar-pieces e and g form guards against the effects of the weather. The letter h shows the front of the lantern, which was glazed with plate-glass; i is one of the glass shutters by which the lamps were trimmed, the lower half being raised slides into a groove made for its reception; k shows the range of ten agitable burners or lamps out of which the oil cannot be spilt by the rolling motion of the ship. Each lamp had a silvered copper reflector l placed behind the flame.”

Fig. 11.

The reputation of my father’s catoptric apparatus was not, it appears, confined to those interested in the welfare of the seaman. In 1819, Mr. Stevenson was waited on by a gentleman passing hurriedly through Edinburgh, who came on behalf of Mr. Harris, the manager of Covent Garden Theatre, who was desirous to try catoptric apparatus for certain stage effects which he intended to introduce in London. The proposal seems rather to have taken the Lighthouse Engineer by surprise, but on learning that the gentleman who had favoured him with a call was Mr. Benson, the famous singer of the day, he wrote the following letter to Mr. Harris:—

“I had some conversation with Mr. Benson of your theatre on the day he proposed to leave this for London. The purpose of his visit to me was to inquire about the reflectors we used in the lighthouses upon this coast, which are under my direction, as he had some plan in view for dispensing with the footlights on the stage by the introduction of reflected light.

“Being desirous to give every facility to Mr. Benson’s views, I offered him the loan of a reflector, which I showed him; but from his being on the eve of setting off, and wishing to keep the discovery, if practicable, for your theatre, I agreed to send it to you at Covent Garden, and this letter is to acquaint you that a case containing the reflector and its burner was shipped to your address.

“You are to understand that there is no charge whatever to be made; I only request that the reflector may be returned when you have made your trials. I no sooner learned that I conversed with the gentleman who sings so delightfully in ‘Rob Roy’ than I felt an irresistible inclination to oblige him.

“Wishing you every success in the projected improvement in lighting the stage, I remain,” etc.

The reflector was duly returned by Mr. Harris. The note intimating its shipment says—“It is an excellent reflector, but it collects the light too much in one spot for our use; I mean, it does not spread the light sufficiently about.”

I mention this small matter, not so much because the manager of Covent Garden Theatre came to Edinburgh to get his information, but to show that Mr. Harris’s experiment, made in 1819, foretold the result of all trials that have since been made to light railway stations, public gardens, and parks, by using lighthouse apparatus, which is designed to condense the rays of light, and not to diffuse them, and is therefore inapplicable for such purposes.

* * * * *

The remarks I have made on lighthouse illumination refer to what is known as the catoptric system, whereby the light is acted on by reflection alone. The invention of the dioptric, system by Fresnel was first communicated to Mr. Stevenson in a letter received from Colonel Colby of the Royal Engineers, who had an opportunity of knowing the benefit of Fresnel’s dioptric light in making certain trigonometrical observations for connecting the Government surveys of the shores of England and France across the English Channel. The letter is in the following terms:—

“Tower, 1st Nov. 1821.

“My dear Sir,—I am quite ashamed of having delayed answering your letter, and thanking you for the communications you sent me for so long a time. In regard to the lamps, an account will be given of them in the Annales de Chimie for the next month. The lens is composed of pieces of glass forming a circle three feet in diameter, ground to three feet focal length. The lamp is similar to an Argand lamp, having hardly any other difference, except four concentric circular wicks instead of one. The external wick is about three inches in diameter. The light given by the lens is remarkably brilliant. When we were at Folkestone Hill, the lamp at Blancnez appeared to give about four times the light of the Dungeness Lighthouse, though the distance of the lamp was nearly double that of the lighthouse. The only difficulty which occurs to me in their employment in lighthouses is the small angle to which a single lens gives light. I think one lens is brilliant for seven degrees, and could not answer for more than eight or nine degrees.

“The Cordouan Lighthouse is to be fitted up with ten lenses round one lamp.

“With best wishes to Mrs. S. and your family, ever yours,

“Thos. Colby.”

The merits of the dioptric system of illumination were brought before the Commissioners of Northern Lighthouses in Mr. Stevenson’s Report of December 1821, and, as is well known, it has, with various extensions and important improvements, been very generally adopted in all cases where it is applicable to lighthouse illumination.

CHAPTER IV.
ROADS.
1798–1835.

Early roads and road-making—Edgeworth and M’Adam’s systems of roads—Stevenson’s system of roads—Cast-iron and stone tracks.

Writing at an early date, Mr. Stevenson has given the following sketch of Roads and Road-making:—

“In early periods, when every family formed a kind of community within itself for providing the necessaries of life, it is obvious that there could be little communication with distant parts of the country, and there was, therefore, no use for roads, which, long after the establishment of towns, must have continued in the state of footpaths and horse-tracks. The bulky articles of fuel and building materials are likely to have given rise to the first idea of a sledge, the precursor of the wheel-carriage, which ultimately led to the construction of anything like a regular path. The first roads of Britain appear to have been the Military Ways of the Romans. Some remains of these are still to be seen in various parts of the kingdom, and even in the immediate vicinity of the city of Edinburgh. It is, however, quite astonishing how slow the progress of improvement in road-making seems to have been, and especially its adaptation to economical purposes; although all classes must have felt an equal interest in the formation of roads, as both the landed proprietor and the citizen were to be mutually benefited by thus laying open the country. But it requires the accumulated wealth of ages to produce improvements so expensive. It is long before the mind can be brought to approve of any radical change of habit, however advantageous; and the scale adopted in the first instance is often so circumscribed, that the whole measure requires to be extended and even to be changed a second, and perhaps a third time, in keeping pace with the public demands for improvement.

“It is well known, that even so late as about the middle of the last century, almost the whole land carriage of Scotland, and a great part of England, was conducted upon horseback, the animals employed being termed pack-horses. To the horse-tracks thus produced, and which in the first instance were formed without regard to steep acclivities, are to be ascribed the evils which we now labour under, as attendant on the laying out of our roads for the modern improvement of wheel-carriages. Nor was it till after much practice and the application of scientific principles, long after the introduction of carriages, that we were induced to improve the line of draught and adopt level tracks of road, although perhaps more circuitous.

“In Great Britain the road department, after much experience, is now brought into a system by which the highways are made and upheld by dues directly levied on those who travel or use them,—excepting, indeed, such roads as are situated in very remote parts of the country, where the Government, with the most enlightened policy, has either executed the works directly by the troops upon the peace establishment, as in the case of General Wade’s army, or given aid towards the original formation of extensive lines of road, for opening the more remote districts of the country. There is, perhaps, no better criterion for judging of the prosperity of a country than by its public improvements; and were this subject considered in all its bearings, we should hardly be able to quote any stronger evidence of internal riches and true greatness, than we find connected with the subject of its public roads. It appears from a very general or cursory calculation, which the reporter has made, that the highways of Great Britain and Ireland, independently of the almost innumerable parish and private roads, extend to about 25,000 miles. The expense of these, including bridges, etc., on a very moderate calculation, may be stated throughout the kingdom at the rate of £800 per mile, which is equal to no less than the aggregate sum of twenty millions sterling. Now, to what branch of political economy can we look with more certainty and propriety than to such splendid examples of the substantial wealth and resources of a country? for until a kingdom is traversed and laid open by roads, its government must be weak, and its people remain in a state of comparative poverty.

“But in so extensive a concern as the system of roads, involving so great an expense, we may naturally look for small beginnings and very gradual advancement. Accordingly, we find in the first formation of highways, before their utility could be fully understood or experience had shown the benefits of science in the practice of the engineer, the early road-maker only increased the breadth of the horse-track, and strewed it over with gravel from the neighbouring brook. Indeed, we know that so late as the year 1542, even the streets of London were formed in this way; and it is said to be established by the records of Parliament, that when the new system of road-making was first proposed to be extended beyond the region of a few miles from that metropolis, such was the mistaken policy and narrow-minded views of the immediate proprietors, that the measure was strenuously opposed by those who wished to make a monopoly of the supplies for the metropolis, as detrimental to the established order of things.”

The names of Richard Edgeworth, F.R.S., and John M’Adam, are well known in connection with roads—Mr. Edgeworth writing in 1813, Mr. M’Adam in 1816. Both men had, it appears, given attention to the subject before the end of the last century. Mr. Edgeworth says:—“I have visited England, and have found, on a journey of many hundred miles, scarcely twenty miles of well-made road. In many parts of the country, and especially near London, the roads are in a shameful condition, and the pavement of London is utterly unworthy of a great metropolis.”

Mr. M’Adam had been much struck by the entire want of system that existed in the management of roads at that early period, and strongly urged the necessity of a reform in road management as a pre-requisite to road improvement. He urged the laying out of the roads of the country into separate districts, with the appointment of road trustees to manage them—the appointment of chief and assistant road-surveyors to superintend them—and a new system of accounting and finance,—all under statutory regulations; and it cannot be doubted that in all this Mr. M’Adam did good service, which was recognised in 1823 by Parliament voting a sum of money to him for having introduced a system of “repairing, making, and managing turnpike roads and highways, from which the public have derived most important and valuable advantages.”

It appears to me, however, that all that is said in Mr. M’Adam’s first edition of his book on road-making, in 1816, is of so general and vague a nature that he cannot have known of Mr. Stevenson’s work at an early part of the century.

From Mr. Stevenson’s reports it appears that he was much employed in road-engineering in the counties of Edinburgh, Stirling, Linlithgow, Perth, and, indeed, generally throughout Scotland, extending as far north as Orkney and Shetland; and without raising any claim to priority of design, I give the following extracts from reports made by him in 1812 and 1813, after he must have had at least several years’ previous study and practice of road-making, which I think clearly show that Mr. Stevenson, if not the original, was at least an independent inventor of the system of road-making which is termed “macadamising.”

In a report to “The Honourable the Committee of the Trustees for the Highways and Roads within the county of Edinburgh,” dated 1812, he says:—

“It may not, however, be considered altogether out of place to notice that the pieces of stone composing the road-metal in common use are perhaps one-half, and in some instances two-thirds, larger than is suitable for the best condition of a road. Road-metal of a small size consolidates by the pressure of weighty carriages, when stones of the size commonly used are either pounded under the wheel or forced into the road. It would therefore be desirable, as an experiment upon the large scale, to lay one of the most public roads in the county to the extent of one fourth of a mile with stones broken much smaller than is customary.

“In some instances, especially within a few miles of Edinburgh, it might be worthy of consideration by the Honourable Trustees of this county how far cast-iron cart-tracks might not be advantageously laid upon the roads. Some years since the reporter got two or three yards’ length of these iron tracks brought from the Shotts ironworks, where they have been used for years with much advantage, and, it is believed, with economy. These cart-tracks would cost about £2000 per statute mile, including upholding by the iron-founder for one year. It would be interesting to have also a trial made of these in some very public road, although it were only to the extent of two or three hundred yards.”

Again, in a report to “The Honourable the Trustees for the Bridge of Marykirk,” also in 1812, he says:—

“In the annexed specification of road-makers’ work, the reporter makes some alterations upon the common and ordinary method of breaking and laying road materials, by reducing the road-metal to a more uniform size, and using a course of gravel, if it can be procured, or even of clean sharp sand, as a bottoming for the broken stones. A road composed of stones of various sizes can never be brought into that smooth and uniform surface, which is so much to be desired, for the moment the pressure is brought upon one of these out-sized stones, it must either be crushed under the wheel or be forced by repeated attacks into the road, and thereby it displaces the surrounding stones, and in either case admission is given to the surface-water; a pit is immediately formed, and every succeeding wheel widens the breach, until the road is rendered impassable. To counteract this very common effect, arising chiefly from the very vague manner of defining the dimensions of road-metal by bulk or even by weight, the reporter provides that the Trustees shall furnish a riddle or screen, the meshes or openings of which are to be of such dimensions that a stone measuring more than one inch and a half upon any of its sides cannot pass through it.”

Fig. 12.—Section of one half of Roadway.

Mr. Stevenson’s specification of the Regent Road in Edinburgh is fuller, and is in the following terms:—

“The cross section (shown in [Fig. 12]) of the metalled road to be the same in all respects as that already described for the causewayed roadway. But the cross section is to rise from the interior brows or slopes of the paved channels to the centre of the roadway, at the rate of 1 in 25. The bottoming of the road is to be of broken stones from the excavated matters of the Calton Hill works; the pieces of stone not to exceed five or six lbs. in weight; to be laid by hand in a compact manner to the depth necessary for preparing the road for the upper strata, viz., a layer or stratum of clean sharp sand four inches in thickness, laid all over the surface, and forming a bed for the upper or road-metal stratum, which is to be seven inches in thickness, and to consist of broken stones taken from the quarries of Salisbury Crags, or the lands of Heriot’s Hospital, as may be finally agreed upon. The road-metal is to be broken into pieces of such dimensions as to pass freely through a screen, to be provided by the Commissioners, the meshes of which shall not exceed one inch and a half square. The whole to be finished with a ‘top-dressing’ of sea-gravel, in such a manner that none of the road-metal shall appear on the surface of the roadway when it is completed.”

These extracts, so far as I have been able to discover, contain the earliest proposals and precise specification of the construction of road now known by the familiar name of “macadamising,” and I dismiss the subject with the following candid quotation from Mr. Stevenson’s Memoranda, in which he says:—

“It may be well to notice that in 1811 I specified road materials of the size as nearly as may be of road-metal, which afterwards became what is called ‘macadamised roads.’ I am not sure if I was before Mr. M’Adam in this respect; at all events he had the great merit of introducing the system of smooth roads. When I first proposed this method, I think, to the Trustees of Marykirk, they objected to it upon the score of expense.”

As regards the iron cart-tracks suggested for trial by Mr. Stevenson in his report to the Edinburgh Road Trustees, already quoted, he subsequently matured his views and described them in the article “Roads” in the Edinburgh Encyclopædia, where he proposed to use stone tracks as a “smooth and durable city road,” which he describes as follows:—

“The individual component stones of the wheel-tracks, hitherto, very partially in use, extend from three to four feet in length, are about ten or twelve inches in breadth, and eight or ten inches in depth. The stones of the tracks recommended by me, on the other hand, are of a cubical form, measuring only from six to eight inches in the lengthway of the track, and twelve to fourteen inches in depth, eighteen inches in breadth at the base, and twelve inches at the top or wheel-track. The stones are therefore proportionate in all their dimensions, for unless they contain a mass of matter corresponding to their length, they will be found to want strength and stability. It would hardly be possible to keep slender stone-rails in their places, and hence the chief benefit of a connected railway would be lost. On the other hand, very large materials are difficult to be got, and are also more expensive in carriage and in workmanship than stones of a smaller size. The Italian wheel-tracks are composed of stones two feet in breadth, and of various lengths. To lessen the risk of horses falling, these broad stones are kept in a rough state, by occasionally cutting grooves with a pick-axe upon their upper surface. A mode of paving with large blocks of granite, chequered or cut in this manner, has been tried in some of the streets in London. In order, however, to give pavement of this kind the necessary stability, the blocks would require to have their dimensions equally large on all sides, the expense of which would be too great. But cubical stones of the size now recommended may be procured at a moderate price, and throughout a great range of country; while the tracks, if properly laid, will actually be more stable than if blocks of larger dimensions were employed. For we may notice that a carriage-wheel rests or impinges even upon a less surface than one inch of its track at a time, in the course of each revolution round its axis; hence, it may be conceived to produce a kind of compensating effect, connected with the use of small stones, which prevents the tremor from being communicated beyond the limited sphere of each particular block, and, consequently, extending only a few inches. This system of paving I originally proposed for the main street of Linlithgow, forming part of the great western road from Edinburgh to Stirlingshire, and a correct idea of the proposal will at once be acquired by examining [Fig. 13]. By using tracks of this description—giving the stones a proportionally broad bed, and laying them upon a firm foundation (which is indispensable)—we should have our streets and the acclivities of our highways rendered smooth and durable, avoiding the expense and inconvenience of the common road, and also the irksome noise and jolting motion of the causeway.

“The tracks may be formed of granite, whinstone, or any of the hard varieties of rock capable of being hammer-dressed.”

Fig. 13.—Section for Road Metal. Section for Causeway.

Specimens of these stone tracks were laid in Edinburgh, in terms of Mr. Stevenson’s specification, on South Bridge Street opposite to the College, and in the Pleasance, and a third specimen was laid by the Road Trustees on Liberton Hill, which still remains after a lapse of half a century.

Subsequently to this Mr. Walker laid similar tramways in the Commercial Road, London, and as is well known, they have been pretty largely used in the principal towns in Italy.

For a “city road,” as Mr. Stevenson termed it, the system he proposed has certain advantages, inasmuch as carriages with any form of wheel may use it, and this freedom of use admits of any amount of traffic being accommodated, carriages having the freedom of passing from the stone track to any part of the road. The introduction of iron “street tramways” may, however, be said, for the present, to have taken the place of all other plans for improving city passenger traffic.

CHAPTER V.
IMPROVEMENT OF EDINBURGH.
1812–1834.

Design for approaches to Edinburgh from the East by Regent and London Roads, and opening up access to the Calton Hill—Sites for the new Jail and Court of Justiciary, and buildings in Waterloo Place—Regent Bridge—Feuing Plan for Eastern District of Edinburgh—Improvement of accesses to Edinburgh from the West and North, and from Granton—Removal of old “Tolbooth” Prison—Removal of University buildings.

Ancient Edinburgh was famed for its narrow streets and crooked wynds, and even at the period when this Memoir begins, much remained to be done for the improvement of the various accesses to the city. These roads, leading from north, south, east, and west, were under the management of different Trusts or public bodies, by all of whom Mr. Stevenson was on various occasions consulted; and the subject seems to have had for him more than a merely professional interest, for his advice was generally far “ahead” of the cautious views of his employers, on whom he seems often to have had no small difficulty in urging the adoption of sufficiently comprehensive designs. His love for the beautiful rose above all other feelings, and he succeeded, not without difficulty and perseverance, in securing for Edinburgh those spacious road improvements which have undoubtedly helped her to claim the title of “Modern Athens.”

The “Modern Athenians” who now enjoy the magnificent approach to Edinburgh by the Regent Road and Calton Hill, or that no less commodious access from Parson’s Green to Leith Walk, known as the “London Road,” can hardly realise the time when the only communication from Princes Street to Portobello was by Leith Street, Calton Street, and the North Back of the Canongate.

At that time Princes Street was abruptly terminated by a row of houses at the Register Office, and the Calton Hill was in a state of nature.

Mr. Stevenson’s scheme of forming a direct access to London and the south, by making a roadway over the Calton Hill, was based on a comprehensive scale, providing sites for public buildings, and an extensive feuing-plan for the eastern portion of Edinburgh, all of which were ultimately carried out under his directions.

But this scheme, boldly conceived and so beneficial to Edinburgh, was not well received by the inhabitants. It had the economical objection of interfering to some extent with house property, a liberty to which people were only reconciled in modern times when sites had to be acquired for railway stations. It had the engineering objection of involving what were represented in those days as dangerous rock cuttings and extensive high retaining walls along the sides of the Calton Hill; but above all, it had the serious social objection that its route ran through the “Old Calton Burying-ground,” and involved the removal of the remains of those interred in it to a new resting-place, to be provided by the Improvement Commissioners. This last objection subjected Mr. Stevenson to some ill feeling; and the fact that the place of interment of his own family was one of those to be removed to the new cemetery, did not succeed in allaying the discontent. It was undoubtedly in consequence of Mr. Stevenson’s perseverance and unfaltering conviction that his advice was sound, and calculated to benefit his fellow-citizens, that his plan was ultimately adopted and carried out.

It is proper to notice that the new jail and the buildings in Waterloo Place were designed by Mr. Archibald Elliot, and at a more recent period the houses in the Regent and Royal Terraces by Mr. Playfair, and the High School and Burns’s Monument by Mr. Thomas Hamilton, all architects of eminence, whose works added to the attractiveness of Mr. Stevenson’s splendid access.

In carrying the road round the part of the hill now occupied by the High School, Mr. Stevenson had some difficulty, owing to the height of the retaining wall, in avoiding what would have appeared as a dead wall, and would have proved unsightly as viewed from Arthur’s Seat. He accordingly built a strong retaining wall of masonry, which supports the road, and is covered by an exterior wall of rough masses of stone arranged as rustic work, which, when viewed at a distance, has all the appearance of a face of natural rock.

In Lord Cockburn’s Memorials of his Time he says:—“Scarcely any sacrifice could be too great that removed the houses from the end of Princes Street, and made a level road to the hill, or, in other words, produced Waterloo Bridge. The effect was like drawing up the curtain of a theatre.”

PLATE IV.

J. Bartholomew Bain.

APPROACHES TO EDINBURGH BY REGENT AND LONDON ROADS, 1814.

In [Plate IV.] are traced, in red colour, the various lines of connecting road which go to make up this grand improvement, of the value of which those who know the locality can judge for themselves.

In the following report, addressed to the “Sheriff-Depute of the county of Edinburgh, as convener of a committee for erecting a new jail for the county of Edinburgh,” Mr. Stevenson details the various benefits to be derived by adopting his proposal; and as his views on this matter encountered, as has been stated, much opposition, I give extracts from his report, begging of those readers who have no local interest in it kindly to pass it over:—

“In the report which you addressed to the Commissioners for erecting a new jail for the county of Edinburgh, the Calton Hill is amongst other places alluded to as a site. But the difficulty of access to that commanding and healthful situation presents itself as a strong objection to its being adopted. As, however, an approach to the city from the eastward, with access to the extensive lands connected with the Calton Hill, valuable both as building grounds and as a delightful city walk, has long been a desideratum, and as the present seemed a fit time for again attempting this measure, the reporter had the honour to receive your instructions to inquire into the practicability of making a proper communication to the Calton Hill, with the view of there building the intended new jail; and he is now to submit the accompanying survey of the grounds, together with the requisite plans and sections connected with the design of a road from Shakespeare Square, at the eastern extremity of Princes Street, to join the great road to London at the Abbeyhill.

“The Hon. Sheriff is aware that the attainment of this object has long been wishfully kept in view by the public. It is believed that at different times such proposals were by them brought under the notice of Mr. Adam and of Mr. Baxter, the most celebrated architects of their day. But still the work remains to be accomplished, not certainly from any physical difficulty necessarily attending its execution, but from the want of sufficient energy to meet the expense that must unavoidably attend an operation of this nature, involving the removal of some valuable buildings, and otherwise interfering with private property. Were the reporter to have in view merely the forming of an improved approach to the city of Edinburgh from the eastward, instead of the present inconvenient access by the Water Gate, he might here allude to the intended London Road through the lands of Hillside to Leith Walk, or to the once proposed line of road terminating by a bridge from the northern side of the Calton Hill to Greenside, opposite York Place, and the completion of this fine street by the removal of the old and ruinous houses which still continue to encumber its entrance; or he might take notice of the less commodious road at one time in view over the higher parts of the Calton Hill, and joining the lower part of Leith Street by means of an arch over Calton Street. But all of these lines of road are objectionable, in a greater or less degree, inasmuch as they include the acclivity of Leith Street before the passenger can arrive at the level of the North Bridge. To obtain this in the most eligible manner, we must look to the extension of the line of Princes Street to the Calton Hill, for although the other lines of road have been looked forward to as improvements to a certain extent, yet still they were defective, and must have left something undone, while the extension of Princes Street by a bridge over Calton Street, and a road to the Abbeyhill, seems to answer every purpose. It unfortunately happens, however, that if carried in a direct line it must pass through the Calton Burying-ground; and if this part of the road were made with a curve, the most desirable effect in point of beauty would not be produced. There was a time indeed when, without encroachment upon the burying-ground, the road could have been made with a curve to the southward of Hume the historian’s tomb; but of late years the walls of the burying-ground have been extended to the verge of precipitous rocks, so that the removal of numerous private cemeteries would now be indispensable in carrying the road at an elevation sufficient to command the proper view. If a lower level were adopted in this direction, the fine prospects of the higher road would be lost, and this line would then become quite uninteresting, while a heavy expense must be incurred in carrying the road through much private property, considerations which are sufficient to render this line highly objectionable.

“But the road which would afford the easiest line of draught is that which the reporter has delineated upon the plan by a curved line towards the left from the eastern extremity of the new bridge, crossing the present road to the Calton Hill, winding round the northern side of the hill and joining the intended ‘London Road’ through the lands of Hillside near the eastern road to Leith. By this line of road the level of Princes Street may be conceived to become the summit level of the road, which would admit of being made with a uniform declivity from Shakespeare Square to the Abbeyhill, while the acclivity to Bridewell by the present road might be greatly reduced, and the road improved in connection with the new line of road. In the present instance, however, it is not to the easiest line of draught as an approach to the city of Edinburgh that the Sheriff directs the attention of the reporter, but to a better access to the higher lands of Calton Hill, with a view to obtain a proper site for the new jail, and therefore only an eye view of the northern line of road is given. Yet when a communication is opened with the Calton Hill by a bridge from Princes Street, we may expect at some future day to see one continuous street or drive round the hill. Before proceeding further, a preliminary remark may here be stated, and in making it the reporter thinks it proper to say that no one can hold the great professional abilities of Mr. Adam in higher estimation than he does; at any rate he is certain that it could not fall to the lot of any individual who would feel more compunction in proposing an alteration even upon an outward wall of a work executed under his directions. But such is the inconvenience and even danger to passengers attending the projection of the south-eastern angle of the parapet wall in front of the Register Office, that in the progress of these improvements the reporter would humbly propose, for the greater accommodation and comfort of the public, that this fine piece of masonry should undergo a small alteration, as represented in dotted lines upon the plan, in order to widen the street and improve the great thoroughfare to the port of Leith.

“Description of Line of Road recommended.

“In reference to the accompanying survey and plan, it will be proper to describe it more particularly. The first step towards forming the proposed new approach to the Calton Hill will be the removal of the houses which presently shut up the eastern extremity of Princes Street, and the other property in its direction eastward. The approach will then be made up to the proper level by a bridge extending in length about 362 feet from Shakespeare Square over Calton Street, towards the western extremity of the Calton Burying-ground, through which it will pass. Thence, passing in front of Bridewell, or between it and Nelson’s Monument, it is continued along the southern side of the Calton Hill to the line of wall of division between the property of the city of Edinburgh and the lands of Heriot’s Hospital. At this position the road begins to skirt along the southern side of the rising grounds in the parks of Heriot’s Hospital, and crossing the eastern road to Leith it passes behind the houses of Abbeyhill, and ultimately joins the great road to London.

“The line of road just described has been laid out with gradients varying from 1 in 39 to 1 in 22. The more to the eastward the new line of road is carried before it joins the present London road, the more gradual and gentle the acclivity becomes. To improve this line of road still further by cutting deeper into the rock at the summit would not only create a great additional expense, but would place the road in a hollow, and shut out these characteristic views of the city which are the chief inducements to the new line of road.

“In determining the line of direction for the street from Shakespeare Square to Bridewell, it seems desirable that it should run in a straight line. The only objection to this is its interference with the Calton Burying-ground. In making any encroachments upon a place of burial, there is no doubt something very repugnant to the feelings, but in many cases this has been found necessary for public improvements, of which we have an example in the improved access from the bottom of Leith Walk to Bernard Street, where the road was carried through part of the churchyard of South Leith, and so in other parts of the country. The reporter has been at much pains in endeavouring to avoid the burying-ground, by attempting to turn the road more or less towards the left in going eastward, and by this means taking only a part from the northern side of that ground. But were the burying-ground to be encroached upon at all, and this cannot well be prevented, it seems less objectionable to carry the road in a straight line through it, especially as it may be found practicable to give an equal quantity of ground immediately contiguous to the present burying-ground without materially trenching upon any plan that may be in view for the erection of the prison; and as there will be a considerable depth of cutting in carrying the road through the burying-ground, the surface terring of the different places of interment may be removed to the new grounds with due care and becoming solemnity.

“The reporter gives a preference to this line, because it seems best suited to the peculiar situation of the ground, being calculated to show to much advantage the rugged rocks on which Nelson’s Monument is erected, which beautifully terminates the view in looking eastward; and in entering the town from the opposite directions, it exhibits at one view, from a somewhat elevated situation, the striking and extensive line of Princes Street. Now the reporter is humbly of opinion that to attain these objects, this line of road should be carried straight from Shakespeare Square to the eastern side of the burying-ground, after which it may be made to suit the position and nature of the ground in all its windings, as delineated upon the survey.

“As this road is not only to be the great approach from the eastward, but likewise to become the chief thoroughfare to the extensive lands of Heriot’s and Trinity Hospitals, and to the lands of the other conterminous proprietors, henceforth likely to become the principal building grounds for this great city, which is always increasing towards its port of Leith, it becomes desirable for these purposes, and particularly to preserve the interesting view of the Calton Hill, that this road should not be less than seventy-five feet in breadth, or similar to Princes Street, exclusively of the sunk areas, which is certainly adequate to all the ordinary purposes of utility, intercourse, and elegance. There is, however, one way of viewing the width of this part of the road or street, by which it may appear to be too narrow even at seventy-five feet, and that is by comparing it with the width of Princes Street, which, including the sunken areas, measures ninety-five feet in breadth. Princes Street, however, comes more properly under the description of a row or terrace, and the principal footpath being on the north side of the street, it may consequently be apprehended that unless the new street were of an equal width, a spectator looking from the north side of the new street towards the line of Princes Street would command but an imperfect view of it. This to a considerable extent would be the state of the case even at seventy-five feet of breadth, and were the street reduced to sixty feet in breadth, as has been proposed, the view of the higher parts of the Calton Hill would be hid from the pavement on Princes Street. But the narrowing of the street even to sixty feet in width, with two elegant buildings in the form of pavilions or wings to the bridge, would have an effect similar to what is strikingly observable in looking from the western end of George Street towards the Excise Office. Examples of narrowing streets are not uncommon, as Great Pulteney Street in Bath, and Blackfriars and Westminster Bridge Streets in London. The reporter, however, confesses that he is not induced to consider sixty feet, or even seventy-five feet, as the most desirable breadth for the new bridge from any views of elegance; with him the reduction of the width of the street is proposed rather from motives of economy to insure the success of a great measure, than from choice in making the design. In this situation a bridge of ninety-five feet, or equal to the extreme breadth of Princes Street, would most unfortunately place the new buildings upon the north-western side so near to the houses of Leith Street, that the windows of the houses of Leith Street and those of the new street would be shaded by each other, so as to require the buildings at the western end of the bridge to be kept less in height, if not to be discontinued altogether, for a considerable way, which would render the building grounds of much less value. Two or three of the new buildings, indeed, might be joined or connected with the old houses, but still the property upon the whole would be greatly injured. Considering this, and also the additional expense of the bridge without greatly increasing the value of the cellarage, together with the greater trespass that would be made on the burying-ground by a street of ninety-five feet in breadth, the reporter has been induced to delineate upon the plan a bridge of seventy-five feet, and a road from it to the Abbeyhill of sixty feet in breadth. Yet if it shall appear that funds cannot be conveniently obtained to meet even this expense, it may then be found necessary to make the whole of the uniform breadth of sixty feet. From the annexed estimate for the purchase of property, building a bridge of seventy-five feet in width, and making a road from it to the Abbeyhill of sixty feet in breadth, it appears that the expense will amount to £71,976, 14s.

“In estimating the expense of these works, the reporter has had in view that the road should be executed in aisler causeway, and that the whole should be executed in a substantial manner. From the borings in the strata which have been made by the directions of the reporter, there is reason to hope that the foundations of the bridge will not be difficult, and he therefore trusts that the several sums in the estimate of the expense already alluded to, will be found adequate to this purpose.

“The expenditure will no doubt be large, but the advantages are great in proportion.

“In considering this proposed new approach, it may be proper to notice it particularly as the means of procuring a proper site for the new jail and court house; second, as calculated to raise the value of certain building grounds; thirdly, as a public road; and lastly, as contributing individually to the comfort of the inhabitants of Edinburgh.

“Site for the Jail.

“In any display of the advantages of this measure, the motive which led to it should not be overlooked. It was not the convenience of the wealthy citizen, nor the increased value of ground for building, nor even the improvement of the public roads that was sought after. It was to obtain a healthful situation for a common jail, and thereby to extend the comforts particularly of one unfortunate class of individuals, who, perhaps from the unavoidable circumstances of their lot, or from innocent misfortunes, are unable to pay their debts, and are cast into prison; and even of another class, certainly less to be pitied, who from a perversity of disposition or the depravity of their nature, forfeit their liberty for a time.

“In looking for a proper site for building a jail upon the Calton Hill, the eye is naturally directed to the position of Bridewell as a fit place for concentrating the whole establishment of prisons for the city of Edinburgh to one spot, and if thought advisable, to put the whole under the care of the same governor, as is the general practice in England. A suitable site for the felons-jail has been pointed out upon the western side of Bridewell; and with a proper discrimination, the Sheriff proposes to erect the debtors-jail upon the other side; and if these buildings be constructed in the same style of architecture as Bridewell, the whole will present one uniform front or suite of buildings. The reporter understands, however, that the Sheriff does not wish this to be understood as fixed, but that the opinion of the most eminent architects should be obtained regarding the jail to be erected.

“Site for the Justiciary Court House.

“Supposing, for the present, that the jails were arranged in this manner, and that it were necessary in connection with them to erect a Justiciary Court House and public offices, a place must be found for them that shall at once be suitable in point of elegance, and be at the same time convenient for communicating with the prisons. In the event of adopting a street with a turn at the eastern end of the bridge, a site for these buildings could be very appropriately got, either facing the line of Princes Street or upon the southern side of the arch over Calton Street. On this last spot it may be objected that the buildings would not be fully seen till the spectator had reached the open arch of the bridge. Both of these situations would, however, be contiguous to the Register Office and North Bridge, and could be made accessible to the prisons by a private way round the southern side of the burying-ground.

“But certainly the most commanding site, in regard to elegance and grandeur of effect, for a public building would be to place it opposite to the prisons in the opening of the street, as marked on the plan. In such a position, when viewed from Princes Street in connection with the monument, the effect of these Court houses in perspective would indeed be very fine, and in coming round the hill by the line of road from the eastwards, it would be no less striking.

“The site for the prisons naturally points out itself contiguously to Bridewell, as well for the reasons already stated as on account of its southern exposure, and it has been observed to be just at the point of elevation for receiving a supply of water from the city’s reservoir. But in setting down the public buildings for the county and for the Sheriff Court at so great a distance from the Court of Session and the other Courts of Law, the convenience of the practitioners is a consideration of importance which presents itself as requiring very mature deliberation, which does not strictly come under my notice.

“The value of Feuing Ground.

“The prolongation of the line of Princes Street by a bridge over Calton Street is calculated in a particular manner to benefit the extensive lands of Heriot’s and Trinity Hospitals, and the conterminous proprietors to the eastward of the Calton Hill, by affording a better access than can be obtained in any other direction, especially in so far as it regards the higher grounds of Heriot’s Hospital. But on this subject the reporter has already submitted his opinion in so far as regards Heriot’s Hospital, in a report to the Governors of that institution; and as the same argument held in a greater or less degree with the other proprietors, it seems unnecessary, in this place, to resume the subject.

“As a Public Road.

“As a new approach to the city of Edinburgh from the Abbeyhill to the central parts of the city, avoiding the inconvenient acclivity and awkward termination of Leith Street, or the still more intricate and incommodious access by the North Back of Canongate, this road will be regarded by the Trustees for the highways within the county as an improvement of the first importance. As a road, it is at once direct and obvious. By an extension of this line of road to Leith by the eastern road, or still more to the eastward through the lands of Restalrig, this access will be found of very general utility, while the traveller thus entering Edinburgh will be presented with the most characteristic views of the city, both old town and new town, calculated to inspire the highest opinions of its picturesque beauties.

“To the Inhabitants of Edinburgh.

“As a great addition to the individual comfort and convenience of the inhabitants of Edinburgh, the bridge over Calton Street will open an elegant access to the lands of the Calton Hill, from which the surrounding country forms one of the most delightful prospects of distant mountain ranges,—detached hills and extensive sea-coast, with numerous ships ever plying in all directions, together with the finest city scenery that is anywhere to be met with.

“Those who have admired the city of London from an eminence have indeed seen more extended lines of street bounded perhaps by a richer country, yet it is very deficient in that variety and boldness of feature which is so striking in this place. When it is wished to extend this walk to the eastward, the new road will lead the pedestrian commodiously to the bottom of Arthur’s Seat, round the eastern side of which a path to Duddingston, branching out in various directions in its course round to Salisbury Crags, might, in a very delightful manner, be imagined to complete an afternoon’s excursion. Let those who have not a lively picture in their mind of the prospect from the Calton Hill walk along the line of the projected road, and upon attending to it they will meet with such a richness and variety of scenery as will satisfy them how greatly the ornament of the city, and the pleasures of the inhabitants and of its occasional visitants, would be promoted by the continuation of the line of Princes Street towards the lands of Calton Hill. Whether therefore we consider a bridge over Calton Street as calculated to improve the approach to the city from the eastward, or as rendering accessible many acres for building, and villa grounds which must otherwise remain as grass fields for an indefinite period, or as opening an easy way to the rising grounds of the Calton Hill, in all these and in other important purposes the reporter is humbly of opinion that this measure ought to be regarded as the greatest object which has engaged the attention of public men since the erection of the North Bridge, which was a very bold and enterprising undertaking for any period of provincial or even of metropolitan history.

“Under these circumstances, it must be doubly gratifying to learn, that notwithstanding the facility which an improved access must afford in laying out the city grounds of the Calton Hill for buildings, it is understood to be the intention of the Lord Provost and Magistrates, in framing the Bill for an Act of Parliament for regulating these works, to provide, with a proper liberality and a due regard for the immediate and ultimate interests of the community, that these lands shall in all time coming be preserved open and free as at present from all common buildings. It is also hoped that the Hon. and Rev. Governors of Heriot’s Hospital, with enlightened sentiments, will preserve the view of Holyrood House and its connecting scenery, by restricting the buildings on the southern side of the new road through the Hospital’s land to such limits as may seem for that purpose to be necessary.”

The Bill for this new approach to Edinburgh was passed in 1814, and, on the 9th of September 1815, the foundation stone of the Waterloo Bridge was laid with great masonic ceremony, bearing the following inscription—

Regnante Georgio III. Patre Patriae
Urbis praefecto iterum
Joanne Marjoribanks de Lees equite baronetto
Architecto Roberto Stevenson
Cives Edinburgenses
Novum hunc et magnificum
Per montem vicinum
Ad summam urbem aditum moliti
In hoc ponte nomen jusserunt inscribi
Proregis Georgii Augusti Frederici.[7]

which I quote, because Mr. Stevenson, in his notes, mentions a curious circumstance in connection with it:—“The late James Gregory, then Professor of the Practice of Medicine in the University, the well-known author of the Conspectus Medicinae Theoreticae, was applied to by the Commission for the improvement to put the inscription in classical Latin. The Doctor came to me to say that he must style me Architect, there being no such word as Engineer to be found in the history of the Arts, and so it stands in the inscription. I wanted the Doctor to introduce the term Engineer, as it was very desirable to have the profession recognised in works now exclusively entrusted to the engineer.”

Mr. Stevenson’s original feuing plan, already referred to, for the Calton Hill had three ranges of terraces at different levels, as shown by a picture in my possession, from which [Plate V.] has been engraved. The middle line of terrace shown in the drawing corresponds to the Regent Terrace as ultimately constructed.

The approach on the northern side of the hill, known as the “London Road,” was executed according to Mr. Stevenson’s design immediately after the completion of the Regent Road and Waterloo Bridge; and the whole of the new lines of road, as shown in red in [Plate IV.], were, as I have stated, part of the same design.

Mr. Stevenson’s further contributions to the improvement of the approaches to Edinburgh were made between 1811 and 1817 to the “Trustees for the Post-road District of Roads,” the “Trustees of the Middle District of Roads,” the “Commissioners for forming and feuing Leith Walk,” and the “Trustees of the Cramond District of Roads.” These were the several authorities at that time in power, under whose directions he laid out the access to Edinburgh from Stockbridge by Royal Circus, and from Inverleith by Canonmills to Dundas Street, and from Canonmills to Bellevue Crescent. More recently the access from Granton Harbour to Inverleith Row on the east, and to Caroline Park on the west, were designed and executed under his direction in connection with his design for Granton Harbour, made to the Duke of Buccleuch in 1834.

To Mr. Stevenson’s engineering skill, therefore, it may truly be said that modern Edinburgh owes much of its fame as a city of palaces, commanding views of the Firth of Forth and surrounding country which cannot be surpassed.

PLATE V.

W. & A. K. Johnston Lithog. Edinburgh.

G. C. Scott, Del^t.

DESIGN FOR BUILDING ON THE CALTON HILL.
by
Robert Stevenson, F.R.S.E. Civil Engineer.

THE OLD TOLBOOTH PRISON.

While Mr. Stevenson was elaborating his designs for the new approaches to the city, his attention was naturally directed to the crowded state of the buildings in the old town; and as we shall see, he did not fail fully to appreciate this evil, or forget to suggest a remedy for it in his plans of improvement.

The old “Tolbooth” prison, in the High Street of Edinburgh—the scene of so many incidents in the Heart of Midlothian—was still the only stronghold in which debtors and criminals were indiscriminately confined. Its position in the centre of the High Street, at St. Giles’ Church, was very objectionable, and the erection of a new jail, in a more favourable situation, had been often proposed, but never carried out.

In pursuance of this desirable object, Sir William Rae—the Sheriff-Depute of Edinburgh—in 1813, accompanied by Mr. Stevenson as a professional adviser, visited many of the principal jails in England, including Newgate, Kingsbench, Cold Bath, Oxford, Gloucester, Chester, and Lancaster, to inquire into their general arrangements and accommodation.

Sir William Rae also remitted to Mr. Stevenson, in conjunction with Mr. Crichton, architect, to report on the condition of the ancient “Tolbooth;” and from the conclusion arrived at by the engineer and architect, most people of the present day will readily sympathise with the Sheriff in his ardent desire for the erection of a new building. Their report is curious, as conveying an idea of the state of prison discipline in the early part of this century, and is interesting in connection with the antiquities of Edinburgh. Messrs. Stevenson and Crichton say:—

“Agreeably to the directions of the Honourable the Commissioners for erecting a new jail, the reporters have examined both the exterior walls and the interior parts of the present jail, and they now report that this building, which was erected in 1562, originally formed the western extremity of a continuous range of buildings in the middle of the High Street, called the Luckenbooths. A few years ago these buildings were partly removed, leaving the old jail in an insulated and unsupported state. The street at the north-eastern angle of the buildings was at the same time lowered several feet; and these changes, together with the defective state of the masonry, appear to have produced the following effects upon the eastern and northern walls of this now shattered fabric.

“The eastern wall or gable is rent in three places. Two of these fissures extend from the ground to the top of the building, and the wall is found to bulge or bend outwards.

“On the northern side there has been a junction of the walls of two separate buildings, forming what is called the debtor and criminal sides of the prison, which seem to have been erected at different periods. At this place there is a very apparent opening from the bottom to the top of the prison, and the eastern or criminal end appears to be settling at the north-eastern angle, as further appears from the doors of the guard-house and black hole, situate in that quarter of the building, having at different times required some alterations to make them move upon their hinges.

“This wall, like the eastern one, is also bulged outwards to the extent of from six to ten inches in different places.

“The roof of the prison is likewise unsafe, particularly upon the criminal or eastern side, where the rafters have sunk in the middle and pressed the side wall outwards at the top.

“Interior of the Prison.

“Upon examining the interior of the prison, it was found that the several cracks and fissures, already described as observable on the outside of the building, were also most distinctly visible from within, and that the northern wall in several of the apartments appears to have separated from the floors. In confirmation of these facts, which appear particularly to claim the notice of the Honourable the Commissioners, it was distinctly stated to the reporters by Mr. Sibbald, the head jailer, that he had been conversant with this prison about twenty-two years; that about seven years ago he became principal jailer, and had ever since been in the habit of making requisitions for the necessary repairs, which were always executed at his sight; that these openings and fissures, which now appeared obvious to the reporters, had been frequently plastered over with lime, sometimes previously to whitewashing the apartments, and at other times at the earnest request of the prisoners, to stop the current of air, which annoyed them, and still these fissures appeared to be getting wider; that in every instance where the walls had been attempted to be forced by the prisoners, the mortar was found to be loose and soft, without having taken bond; in particular it was stated that two of the prisoners had lately excavated about two cartloads of rubbish from the walls with a small piece of iron, in the course of a few hours.

“It is therefore humbly concluded, from the information obtained by the reporters upon the spot, but especially from their own knowledge and observation, that there are data for assuming that the eastern and northern walls of the prison have deviated considerably from the perpendicular of their original elevation; that there is reason to consider them still continuing to deviate from the perpendicular; and that finally, in the decayed state of this building, it is impossible to warrant its stability for any given period of time. The reporters should even consider the continuing the use of this building for one year longer than is indispensably necessary for the erection of a sufficient jail, an evil if possible to be avoided, as involving imminent danger to the wretched inmates, and much hazard to the public at large, from its position in the heart of the city.

“It would accordingly be very desirable that some support could be given to this old building immediately, but unfortunately its position renders this quite impossible without seriously obstructing the High or principal street of the city. Had it formed any part of the Honourable the Commissioners’ instructions to the reporters to take notice of this jail as a place of security for the safe custody of prisoners, it would only be necessary for them to refer to what is herein stated regarding the insufficiency of the walls, and to remark that the floors, being wholly composed of timber, are neither proof against the simplest accident by fire nor against the slightest attempt at escape by the prisoners. It is truly surprising that any criminal of a desperate character can be retained within its precincts to abide the pains of law, which nothing but the active vigilance of its keepers could insure.”

This ancient prison-house was removed in 1817, and in his Notes to the Heart of Midlothian, Scott says:—“That with the liberal acquiescence of the persons who had contracted for the work, he procured the stones which composed the gateway, together with the door and its ponderous fastenings, to decorate the entrance to the kitchen court at Abbotsford.”

THE REMOVAL OF THE COLLEGE.

There is yet another report which, though its interest may only be local, I think is worthy of a place in this Memoir, as it not only shows Mr. Stevenson’s firm conviction in the ultimate success of his Calton Hill improvements, but is a pleasing record of his interest in the scene of his early studies.

It is not, I believe, generally known that Mr. Stevenson made an unsuccessful attempt to have the University buildings, then in progress, removed from the old town to the site proposed to be opened up on the Calton Hill; and the remarks he then made, addressed to the Right Honourable Sir John Marjoribanks, Lord Provost of Edinburgh, may have interest even at the present day, as shadowing forth views which, in the now altered relations of the new and old town, have been to some extent realised.

“In making the following observations at the desire of the Lord Provost regarding the completion of the College of Edinburgh, the memorialist would be understood as referring to the site of the building rather than to the merits of any particular design, of which he does not presume to give any opinion, as it is a matter which more properly falls under the observations of the architect than the engineer.

“In treating of the fitness of the present site of the College of Edinburgh, it may be proper to take some cursory notice of the situation of the Old College, as connected with the houses and streets in the neighbourhood, and then show the alterations which the University grounds have undergone since the design was first formed of rebuilding the College.

“Old College.

“In so far as the memorialist can recollect the exterior of the area of the Old College, it was occupied by a range of low buildings of only two stories, particularly upon the southern and western sides, and was again divided by a range of buildings into a small lower court towards the north, and the present main courtyard on the south, and these two courts communicated with each other by a spacious flight of steps, so that the principal or higher court was comparatively open and free to the influence both of the sun and of the air. Nor was there any obstruction to this state of things beyond the precincts of the College for a considerable period after the New College was commenced, and until the elegance of the building stamped a new value upon all the surrounding property. But, unfortunately, by this time the funds for the works fell short, and the operations were stopped. The Magistracy, also, who originally entered upon this great work, in rotation retired from office, and the same zeal was perhaps not felt by those who immediately succeeded; and we are now left to regret the shortness of the period of human life, which has removed the man who conceived the magnificent design of this building, which is now so completely invested with streets as to be rendered nearly unfit for the purposes of its foundation.

“New College.

“The site of the New College of Edinburgh, as already stated, does not possess any of those properties which are considered essential to the convenience and eligibility of a public school. Instead of being in a retired situation with sequestered walks, like the other colleges of the United Kingdom, it is closely surrounded by paved streets, which are the most public thoroughfares for carriages in the city, insomuch that the memorialist has witnessed the annoyance of Playfair’s mathematical class by a ballad-singer, and he has oftener than once seen the Professor of Moral Philosophy put to silence by the disloading of a cart with bars of iron in College Wynd; and at all times the driving of a single carriage briskly in the streets which surround the College is sufficient to disturb, and even to interrupt, the classes. To this it may be replied that double windows will prevent such interruptions; but these would obscure the light which already, from the late erection (on all sides) of very high buildings, is much injured.

“So strongly is the memorialist impressed with these views, from what he has himself as a student experienced, and from what he has heard from others, that he cannot resist bringing them forcibly under the notice of your Lordship in connection with the erection of a building for one of the first seminaries of education in Europe.

“When your Lordship’s predecessors in the office of the magistracy adopted the plan of Robert Adam, the most eminent and justly celebrated architect of his day, the site was comparatively free from the objections stated. It is not therefore the plan which is objectionable, but it is the neighbourhood which has been so altered and changed as to be very unsuitable to the elegant design of the architect.

“From causes to which it is unnecessary to allude, the building of the New College has only advanced about one third towards the perfecting of the design, and a sum of money is now expected to be procured for its completion. The present moment is therefore one of the greatest importance for considering the deficiencies of the present site, and if found materially defective, as humbly appears to your memorialist to be the case, it were much better to change the site of the building while it may be done without much loss, and execute the design in a more eligible situation.

“It must always be kept in view that when this design was made the grounds were open to the free circulation of the air and the full influence of light. But now the case is materially altered, and if the design is executed under such a change of circumstances the direct rays of the sun will hardly ever reach the area of the courtyard, especially in the winter months, neither will there be that free circulation of air which is essential to health and comfort, and moss (byssus) will make its appearance upon the lower parts in the interior of the courtyard, which is very unsuitable in a magnificent building such as Mr. Adam’s design for the College of Edinburgh.

“At the period when the rebuilding of the College was determined upon there was perhaps little choice as to the spot for its erection; the number of students, now greatly on the increase, was at that time much smaller, and the College grounds were then much more relieved and uncumbered with other buildings, a state of things which most unquestionably would have been preserved had the building proceeded as was expected; but in the lapse of about one third of a century many changes take place, and the slow progress of the building necessarily produced a want of energy in the official people to prevent the use that has since been made by the respective proprietors of the surrounding grounds.

“At the present crisis, however, your Lordship will now feel yourself called upon in a review of these circumstances to consider what is proper to be done upon a great scale for the ultimate best advantage of future generations in a matter of great public interest. Under these impressions a field of operation is just opening for your Lordship’s consideration, in a prolongation of Princes Street in a direct line to the lands of Calton Hill and Heriot’s Hospital, now in progress under the auspices of your Lordship. To take a minute view of this improvement would be tedious, and would require the notice of more particulars than these observations are intended to refer to. But in a general way it may be noticed that there is ample space and freedom for the execution of Mr. Adam’s design on the lands to which the new approach will lead by a very easy access.

“It may be objected to the removal of the College that it would be inconvenient for the students; but for those who are perhaps the most numerous, living in the New Town, a site for the College on the north side of the town would be the most convenient, and for a different class lodgings at a cheap rate would be procured quite at hand in the Canongate.

“A more powerful objection would perhaps arise from the contiguity of the present site of the College to the Infirmary and other institutions connected with the education of the medical classes, but these may also be got over by a little arrangement in the present hours of the classes, and one would not despair of seeing a more direct road projected from the Calton Hill to the southern side of the town were the College removed to that neighbourhood. With regard to any real loss to the students, it is not believed that such could be instructed were this proposition fully considered. But those who would perhaps be the most clamorous are the persons who have made the most of their property by building immense piles of lodging-houses in the immediate vicinity of the College, and have thus ruined the neighbourhood.

“With regard to the funds for this change of site, your memorialist is of opinion that the removal of the College from the present valuable grounds in the central parts of the city, for buildings applicable to commercial and economical purposes, would be attended with an increase of funds towards the new erection;—for the lower part all round would be opened for valuable shops, while the higher parts would answer for dwelling-houses and other purposes. The part of the front would be easily convertible into a house for the Royal Bank, which seems much wanted, and in short it may be confidently stated that upon the whole there would be no loss, but gain, by the change of position, while very many advantages could be pointed out as attending such a measure, were this the proper place for entering more fully into the subject.

“The proposal stated is not new; it has been often under the memorialist’s consideration, and he has heard it favourably spoken of and received by several of the Professors of the University, in particular Professors Leslie and Playfair, and others eminently qualified to judge correctly upon the subject.”

With this report I conclude what may be fairly held to be of purely local interest, but which nevertheless I have thought worthy of a place in the memoir of one whose great anxiety ever was to secure the amenity of Edinburgh, and make it attractive not only as a place of residence but as a seat of learning.

CHAPTER VI.
FERRIES.

Ferry Engineering—Extracts from Report on the Tay Ferries—Reports on various Ferries—Orkney and Shetland Ferry, etc.

Before we had steamers to navigate our firths and railways to bridge our estuaries, the “crossing of the ferry” was an event of no small solicitude to the traveller. In the sailing pinnace-boat of those days he not only might encounter serious danger, but his exposure to sea-sickness and drenching spray depended wholly on the weather, and sometimes the length of the passage, and the duration of his suffering could not be foretold by the most experienced “Skipper,” as the captain of the boat was invariably styled. Anything that could reduce the hazard and uncertainty of so miserable a state of things was naturally hailed as a priceless boon; and the improvement of “ferry communication” at the beginning of this century was an important branch of civil engineering. Its successful practice demanded nautical knowledge as well as constructive experience, for the engineer had first of all to study the strength and direction of the tidal currents of flood and ebb, and then to consider from what points on the shore a ferry-boat, under the varying states of wind and tide, could most readily make her passage across. He had further to select the most suitable sites for landing-places, and to construct high and low water slips at different points to meet the varying states of tide and wind, and to construct roads of more or less extent to connect the landing-places with existing turnpikes. All this arrangement was required, because at the time of which I write, before steamboats were invented, two costly deep-water piers placed ex adverso of each other, one on each side of a ferry, would not have met the requirements of the case; for the management of a sailing pinnace, at the mercy of the currents and winds, demanded not a single pier for which to steer, but a choice of several points, on as wide a range of coast as possible, for which the “skipper” could shape his course and make a landing. Mr. Stevenson’s nautical experience peculiarly fitted him for giving valuable advice in this important branch of marine engineering. It is no doubt a branch of the profession which may be said to be obsolete, but I do not know that on that account it is undeserving of notice; and the best mode I can think of for conveying to any one who may be interested in it an idea of the “ferry engineering” of former times, is to give an extract, with an illustrative sketch, of one of Mr. Stevenson’s early Ferry Reports. I select for this purpose a report made to the “Freeholders, Justices of the Peace, and Commissioners of Supply of the counties of Fife and Forfar” relative to the ferries across the Tay at Dundee:—

“Having examined the shores and firth of Tay the reporter has now the honour of submitting the following as his report regarding the proposed improvements:—

“The improvement of the ferries on the Tay has long been the desire of the public; and though this measure has hitherto been delayed, on account of the expense which necessarily attends such operations, yet so desirable an object has been invariably kept in view; and now, when the advantages attending the recently improved state of Queensferry and Kinghorn ferries have been in a good measure realised, the passage across the Tay has very opportunely been brought under the consideration of the freeholders of the adjoining counties.

“The present landing-slips or quays upon the Tay are situate at Dundee upon the north, and at Woodhaven and Newport on the south. The bed of the firth or river at Dundee is so much silted up and encumbered with sandbanks and mud, that the piers, which were no doubt originally built of sufficient extent, and perhaps commanding the necessary depth of water for floating the passage-boats at low tides, have at length become inadequate to so great a thoroughfare, and the boats are now left by the water at every spring-tide, to the great annoyance and inconvenience of the public.

“It will be observed from the plans accompanying this report that the Craig pier at Dundee is proposed to be extended from the southern extremity of the present landing-slip or pier 400 feet in length, or to the southern extremity of the Craig rock, so as to command a depth of about five feet at low water of spring-tides, which will be sufficient to float decked boats of twenty to twenty-five tons register, built upon a suitable construction for sailing. It is proposed to construct this pier, where the greatest business is to be done, upon the plan of a double pier, sixty feet in breadth; and as it will now be of a much greater extent than formerly, a screen wall is proposed to be erected in the middle of it, in a longitudinal direction, so as to check the waves or run of the water over the pier, and also for the defence and shelter of passengers from the inclemency of the weather. This pier will form an inclined plane sloping to seaward at the rate of one perpendicular to twenty-six horizontal.

Fig. 14.

“In sailing from the southern side of the Tay for Dundee, it will on some occasions be found convenient, with certain directions of the wind and currents of the tide, to have landing-slips or piers both above and below the town of Dundee, so as to prevent the necessity of tacking with adverse winds, as is the case at present from the want of such accommodation. Upon examining the shores above or to the westward of Dundee, the most convenient position for a landing-slip is at the Magdalene Point, about 1400 yards to the westward of the Craig pier at Dundee.

“In the same manner a convenient position presents itself on the rocky shores of the Rood Yards, about 2000 yards below or to the eastward of the Craig pier. These proposed new piers are delineated and laid down in the drawings accompanying this report.[8]

“Upon the southern side of the Tay, and opposite to Dundee, the harbour or landing-slip most frequented at present is that of Newport. In former times, when the accumulation of sand, called the Middle Bank, between the opposite shores of the ferry at Dundee, was less extensive, the principal landing-place upon the Fife side of the firth was that of Woodhaven. Newport is a small harbour, built of masonry, with a landing-slip or sloping pier attached to the outward wall of the harbour for the convenience of the ferry-boats. At this station it will therefore only be necessary to extend the landing-slip about eighty-eight feet northward, in order to obtain five feet of depth at low water of spring tides; and as the present sloping pier or slip is inconveniently narrow, it is proposed to add fourteen feet to its breadth; and the reporter would recommend that this work, in connection with the pier at Dundee, should be executed in the first instance, on account of its being of primary importance in the improvement of the Ferry.

“At Woodhaven it is proposed to add seventy-one feet to the length of the landing-slip, to enable the ferry-boats to approach it at low water of spring tides, in the same manner as at Newport.

“At or near Craighead, about 830 yards below or to the eastward of Newport, there is a convenient point of land, where it is proposed to erect a slip or pier 250 feet in length and 30 in breadth. This pier will command five feet, or a sufficient depth of water for the ferry-boats at the lowest tides, and is in a position calculated to be highly useful.

“A pier has likewise been suggested as necessary at Wormit Bay, about a mile to the westward of Woodhaven, which, in certain directions of the wind, may no doubt be found useful; but when the piers opposite to Dundee come to be put in good order, and the ferry placed under proper regulations, it is presumed that a pier at Wormit Bay would very seldom be found necessary. The cost of these works is estimated at £20,952, 13s. 6d.

“In forming the several landing-places already described, it is obvious that there must be a ready communication between each of these piers and the public roads in their respective neighbourhoods. It will also be of essential importance to this measure, that a connection by good roads be formed and kept up between the several landing-places, in so far as this can be effected. At present there is a pretty good line of road between Woodhaven and Newport, which would require to be extended eastward to the landing-place at Craighead.

“In the event of Craig pier being adopted as the landing-place at Dundee, it might be advisable to take a power in the proposed Act, as a measure of the burgh of Dundee, for making a new and more direct approach from that pier to the main street. The extension and formation of these roads, however, will necessarily fall under the joint consideration of the trustees for the ferries and roads in apportioning the expense between the respective trusts.

“Boats.

“At present there are said to be no less than about thirty boats plying upon the passage at Dundee, which are navigated by about fifty men and boys. But were the piers and landing-places, with the accesses to them, completed in the manner proposed, and the whole placed under proper regulations, there can be little doubt that the ferry of Dundee would be much better attended, and the public better served, by one half of the present number of boats, as has been experienced on the ferries of the Firth of Forth.

“Steamboats.

“Some are of opinion that both the number of boats and of piers or landing-places might be still further reduced by the introduction of the Steamboat upon this passage. The reporter, however, does not think it would be advisable to have fewer than three landing-places at each station, as even the steamboat itself is more or less liable to fall short or to be driven past its port by adverse winds and strong currents; and, in a great public measure of this kind, it is proper to be prepared for the worst that is likely to happen. Regarding the adoption of the steamboat in preference to sailing-boats, the reporter is not however prepared to give any very decided opinion upon the subject. He has, indeed, seen the steamboat used with great facility on the passage across the river Mersey at Liverpool, and has himself brought the plan of a steamboat under the notice of several of the trustees for Kinghorn and Queensferry passages, proposed to be constructed upon similar principles with that originally tried, it is believed, by the late Mr. Millar of Dalswinton. But it would seem to be premature to recommend the framing of the Bill or the construction of piers for Dundee ferry upon the idea of the exclusive use of the steamboat. The consideration of the late unpleasant accidents which have befallen some of those boats renders this a matter of great delicacy, and one in which much precaution should be used on so public a ferry. Under such circumstances it is not only necessary to consult the actual safety of passengers while afloat, but even to meet their prejudices, with proper attention to their comfort. From considerations of this kind, the reporter recommends that such of the piers or landing-slips on the ferry of Dundee as may ultimately be erected, should be completed agreeably to the plan herein proposed; and it is fortunate that, with some trifling alterations or additions, the piers suitable for the common boat can be made answerable for the steamboat. When this measure is in full operation it may then be highly proper to make an experiment with the steamboat upon the passage at Dundee, and if this mode is approven of by the public it can be extended, and the number of sailing-boats diminished accordingly.”

Mr. Stevenson was employed to give similar advice by other Trusts, and particularly by the “Trustees of the Queensferry Passage” and the “Trustees of the Edinburgh and Fife Ferry,” both across the Forth,—the “Freeholders and Justices of Peace of the counties of Ross and Sutherland,” for the Ferry of the Dornoch,—the “Freeholders of the county of Glamorganshire,” for the new passage-ferry of the Severn, to all of whom he made reports at various times, as to the improvement of the mode of communication under their charge. He also was engaged by the Lords of the Treasury “to inquire into and report on the best mode of improving the post-packet communication to Orkney and Shetland,” which he did after careful survey and consideration, in an elaborate report, from which I give the following extracts, as illustrating some of the disadvantages under which the public laboured before steam was generally adopted:—

“The islands of Orkney are separated from the coast of Caithness or mainland of Scotland by the rapid channel of the Pentland Firth, which varies in breadth from six to nine miles, while Zetland lies fifty miles to the northward of Orkney.”

“These two groups of islands, forming one county, are of late years greatly advanced in importance, and possess an aggregate population of 60,000 inhabitants, who are chiefly engaged in maritime affairs and fishing adventures. From their local position also in the North Sea, they lie much in the track of vessels sailing in the higher latitudes, and correspondence with them regarding the destination and insurance of ships is often of the greatest importance to commercial men. It is likewise known to the Right Honourable the Lord Advocate of Scotland, and the Honourable the Sheriff of the county, that the want of a proper communication by post not unfrequently interferes with the regular administration of justice in these islands; and now that Orkney and Shetland jointly send a member to Parliament, the evils resulting from the want of a regular communication press more forcibly, not only on the inhabitants of these islands, but on the public generally.

“So uncertain is the post of Zetland on its present footing, that the reporter himself carried to Lerwick the first intelligence of the appointment of Sir William Rae as Lord Advocate of Scotland, after it had been currently known through the newspapers in all other parts of the kingdom for several weeks, and it is well known that the succession of the King was not known in Lerwick for several months after the event took place. During the winter months the intercourse is indeed precarious as well as uncertain, and much painful delay is often experienced by parties interested in any question connected with the insurance of vessels wrecked on this dangerous coast.

“In order to lessen the labour and expense to themselves, the Orkney ferrymen on either side contrive to leave their shores so as to meet about the middle of the Firth, where they exchange the mail and passengers, and then return to their respective homes. In this way they seldom complete the full trip across the Firth, excepting when obliged by stress of weather. This interchange of the post from boats, it must be allowed, is rather a hazardous experiment anywhere, but more especially in the middle of the Pentland Firth; and whether the inhospitable state of the shores on either side, the rough and boisterous nature of the sea to be passed through, or the want of management be considered, there is evidently great room for improvement on the ferry of the Pentland Firth.”

This communication is now, as is well known, carried on by first-class steamers, which touch at Kirkwall and Lerwick, and by a daily mail steamer which crosses the Pentland Firth from the low-water pier at Scrabster in Caithness to Stromness in Orkney; and the travelling public may be congratulated that the ferry communication of the early part of the century, of which I have given a sketch in this chapter, no longer forms a part of the practice of the civil engineer.

CHAPTER VII.
RAILWAYS.
1812–1826.

Canals and Railways on one level—Haulage on Railways—Railways in Scotland—Edinburgh and Midlothian, Stockton and Darlington, and Edinburgh and London Railways—Uniform gauge proposed—Notes on Railways for the Highland and Agricultural Society—Letter from George Stephenson.

Great powers of observation, combined with fertile and practical mechanical resources, enabled Mr. Stevenson in many cases to form engineering opinions which may truly be said to have been “before their time,” and in no subject, perhaps, was this more strikingly realised than in his views as to railways.

Impressed with the great inconvenience of change of level in canals, involving “lockage,” with all its expensive works and serious obstruction of traffic, he early formed a firm belief that wherever lockage could be avoided, by making even a considerable detour in the line of canal, it was sound engineering to adopt the level line, although it might be at the cost of additional length. Founding on this general opinion, so early as 1812, he traced out and proposed lines of canal to be carried upon one level, without lockage, through the valleys of Strathmore and Strathearn, connecting Perth, Forfar, Arbroath, and Montrose, and also by a line of canal, by Broxburn, Linlithgow, Polmont, Castlecary, Campsie, and Broomielaw, to unite Edinburgh and Glasgow.

His early researches on the subject of canals prepared him, about 1816, to extend the same reasoning to railways, which, with wonderful sagacity, he foresaw must become what he termed the “British highway” of the future. He found that his first idea of tracks of iron and stone to improve the draught on common roads was not destined to meet the requirements of the future; and when as yet nothing was known of railways beyond the tramways connected with coal-fields, and no proposal had been made to adapt them to passenger traffic, Mr. Stevenson was engaged tracing in all directions through Scotland lines of railway as a new mode of conveyance to supersede roads. Some of these early proposals, extending to about five hundred miles, are shown in hard lines on [Fig. 15], and of all these railways he made surveys, estimates, and elaborate reports addressed to Committees of subscribers by whom the various schemes were supported.

It must be remembered that at that early period no other power than that of horses was contemplated for performing the haulage either on road, canal, or tramway, and Mr. Stevenson, true to his early views as to the disadvantage of lockage on canals, spent much time in experimenting on the prejudicial effect of steep inclines on horse railways, and in endeavouring, in his various surveys, to discover routes by which his lines of railway might be carried through, as much as possible, on one level, regarding a few miles additional length of line as quite unimportant compared to the disadvantage of a steep gradient,—a view which was more appreciated before the locomotive engine had taken upon itself the labour of the horse.

Fig. 15.

To show the state of railway matters at the period to which I refer, I think it may not be uninteresting to give, even at some length, extracts from Mr. Stevenson’s report on what was called the Edinburgh Railway. The report, which is dated 1818, was addressed to “His Grace the Duke of Buccleuch and Queensberry, and the other noblemen and gentlemen, subscribers for a survey of a railway from the coal field of Midlothian to the city of Edinburgh and port of Leith.”

“In the course of a report relative to a line of canal upon one level, or without lockage, between the cities of Edinburgh and Glasgow, the reporter took occasion to state the practicability of a line of railway from the coal field of the vale of the Esk to the city of Edinburgh and the port of Leith, founded upon a communication which he had the honour to make to Sir William Rae, Baronet, and the Honourable Baron Clerk, so far back as the year 1812. This subject having since attracted the notice of Sir John Hope, Baronet, and several of the other landed proprietors of Midlothian, the reporter had consequently a correspondence with Messrs. Gibson and Oliphant, Writers to the Signet, on the part of the promoters of this measure.

“A public meeting was accordingly called by advertisement to be held in the Royal Exchange Coffee-house on the 3d day of September 1817, when John Clerk, Esq. of Eldin, having taken the chair, the reporter received instructions to survey a line or lines of railway from the Midlothian coal field to the city of Edinburgh and port of Leith; and he now submits the following as his report, with reference to the accompanying map or plan, and sections of the several lines of road surveyed.

“It is uncertain at what periods the inhabitants of Edinburgh were generally obliged to lay aside the use of timber, from the distance of carriage, as their chief building material, or of wood and turf as fuel; neither have we any certain information at what time pit coal was discovered, or the coal field of the Lothians first opened. But it is in the recollection of some persons still living, that, owing to the miserable and circumscribed state of the roads, or rather the want of formed roads altogether, pit coal continued to be conveyed in sacks and on horseback for supplying the city of Edinburgh. These horse tracks, originally taken up by accident, were persevered in by obstinate habit; and being afterwards followed as the lines of our future roads, have become the ultimate source of much of the difficulty attending their improvement, from the soft and miry track of the pack-horse and the sledge, to the broad and spacious stoned carriage-way, in combination with the trim footpath of the present day. But, even here, experience shows that it would be improper to rest satisfied, and cease from further exertion. The acclivities of the road may still be levelled, and its asperities smoothed, by the introduction of the more compact and durable materials of the British Roadway or Iron Bail. Such, however, has been the progressive nature of discovery in all ages, that we are only beginning to appreciate the immense advantages which would attend the introduction of a new system of roads or railways, laid upon a level or horizontal base, as admirably calculated to increase the power of the horse in a tenfold proportion by destroying friction—that bane to animal labour as now applied on the common road.

“Wagon-ways constructed entirely of square wooden frames or rails, laid in two right lines on wooden sleepers, appear to have been in use at Newcastle so far back as the year 1671. The plan of cast-iron railways seems to have been originally introduced by the great Iron Company of Colebroke Dale in Shropshire, only about the year 1786, as an improvement upon the tram or wooden railway; and such are likely to be the benefits resulting from this discovery, that we doubt not, as this system develops itself, the name of the person who first conceived the idea will eagerly be sought after, and honour done to him, as to one of the greatest benefactors of his country. We might mention the name of the late Mr. Jessop, as the first engineer of eminence who seems to have introduced railways in the south. He was also the engineer for the magnificent works of his Grace the Duke of Portland in Scotland, connected with which there is a double railway from Kilmarnock to Troon, which is ten miles in length. The other railways in Scotland of any extent are those at the works of the Carron Company, Lord Elgin’s, Mr. Erskine of Mar’s, Sir John Hope’s, and other coal works. A public railway has also been projected from Berwick-upon-Tweed to Glasgow, an extent of country of about 125 miles; and an Act of Parliament has already been obtained for completing part of this track, viz., from Berwick to Kelso.

“A railway has the advantage of being formed at an average of one third perhaps of the expense of a navigable canal; and in many situations its first cost may even be compared with the expense of making a common road. The result is also favourable if we inquire into the comparative quantities of work done upon a canal and a level railway. Upon the canals in England, a boat of thirty tons burden is generally tracked by one horse, and navigated by two men and a boy. On a level railway, it may be concluded that a good horse managed by a man or lad will work with eight tons. At this rate the work performed on the railway by one man and a horse is more than in the proportion of one third of the work done upon the canal by three persons and a horse, if we take into account the more speedy rate of travelling and the facilities to general trade in loading and discharging, together with the difference of the first cost of a railway, which altogether give it in some cases a decided advantage over the navigable canal. If we compare the railway with the common road, it may be fairly stated that, in the instance of a level railway, the work will be increased in an eight or ten fold proportion. The best horse, indeed, with difficulty, works with three fourths of a ton on the common road, from the undulating line of its draught, but on a level railway it is calculated that he will work even with ten tons. But to increase the economy of the railway system still further, we have only to employ one man to work two horses.

“Line of Draught.

“With regard to the line of draught, or longitudinal section of a railway, it may be stated as one of its great advantages that it is more easily accommodated to the irregularities of the ground through which it has to pass than a navigable canal; and even where the ground is so irregular as not to admit of a uniformly level track, or an inclined plane, there are several simple methods which may be resorted to for lifting the wagons from one level to another, so as to produce similar effects with lockage on a canal. In so far, however, as the present design of the Edinburgh Railway has been carried by actual survey, neither of these plans will be found necessary upon the main lines. Even on the descending line, the fall is so extremely gentle that the horses in returning may be loaded with four or five tons. But the proposed mode of lockage may with propriety be introduced on the several offset branches, such as those from Leith to the main line, and from Monkton Hall and the Cowpits to Dalkeith, and to the southern parts of the county, on which a trade may be expected to be carried both to and from the main line.

“Where the load or trade is all in one direction, it is a maxim in practice, that the fall should be so apportioned to the rise, that the work may be equal down with the load, and up with the empty wagons. But where there is to be a trade both ways, it is obviously much to be desired that a level in all such cases should be obtained. This, in the Edinburgh Railway, has been found from the declining aspect of the country towards the sea; but as there will be less return trade on this railway in merchandise and manure, etc., to the eastward, than the coal and building materials, etc., carried to the city, it becomes a question of policy how far it may be proper, in this instance, to adopt the level line at a great additional expense.

“By the level line to Edinburgh the branch to Leith becomes also somewhat more lengthened than by the descending line, which, instead of preserving the level, is always falling, or approaching towards Leith. The reporter, as before noticed, has various modes in view, by which the branch to Leith may be made of a very easy line of draught, or be thrown into a succession of levels, by a species of lockage or stepping. Where sudden acclivities occur on the line of a railway they are generally overcome by an inclined plane, of greater or less extent, according to the particular rise, and on this the loaded wagons are brought up by a steam-engine. But to render railways applicable to all situations, it seems to be necessary that the overcoming of such obstacles should be within the reach or power of the driver and his horse; by working a kind of gin connected with an inclined plane, or by lifting the loaded wagons perpendicularly, which may in various ways be accomplished by the aid of pulleys, by the common lever, or the revolution of a wheel.

“This subject has been justly considered to be a matter of so much public importance, that the Highland Society of Scotland has offered a premium for an Essay, with models, for lockage on railways; and the reporter has no doubt that by this means much additional light will be thrown on the subject.

“There are few subjects on which those conversant in the working of draught animals are more divided than about the proper line of draught. Some do not hesitate to affirm, that a level road is injurious to the horse, and that an undulating road is preferable to one by which the ascent is long, though gradual. Such are of opinion, that by throwing the road into successive eminences, or up and down hill, various muscles are brought into action, while others are left at rest, and this alternation they conceive to be the best condition of things for the animal.

“Being rather, however, at a loss in regard to that part of the subject which relates to the operation of the muscles, the reporter applied for a solution of the case to a distinguished medical friend in this city [Dr. John Barclay], eminent for his knowledge and for his great exertions in the science of Comparative Anatomy. His answer to the queries which he allowed the reporter to put contain the following comprehensive passages: ‘My acquaintance with the muscles by no means enables me to explain how a horse should be more fatigued by travelling on a road uniformly level than by travelling over a like space upon a road that crosses heights and hollows; and it is demonstrably a false idea that one set of muscles can alternately rest and come into action in cases of that kind. The daily practice of ascending heights, it has been said, gives an animal wind, and enlarges the chest; it may also with equal truth be affirmed that many horses lose their wind under this sort of training, and irrecoverably suffer from imprudent attempts to induce such a habit.’ In short, he ascribes much to prejudice, ‘originating with the man, who is continually in quest of variety, rather than the horse, who, consulting only his own ease, seems quite unconscious of Hogarth’s line of beauty.’

“In the course of investigating the subject of the draught of horses, the reporter has made several experiments with the dynamometer, both upon canals and railways, with a view to ascertain the power of horses and the best line of draught; and he has further the satisfaction to find, that the result of these trials agrees nearly with experiments made, and obligingly communicated to him, from various parts of the kingdom. The reporter therefore concludes that the force with which a horse will continue to work is about one-sixth or one-seventh of his absolute weight. Now, as he found the average weight of three ordinary cart horses to be about ten cwt. it may be assumed, generally, that a horse can continue to work with a force equal to 160 lb.; and allowing 40 lb., or one fourth, for friction, there remains 120 lb. to be applied to the load. In these trials, when the wagons were put in motion, it appeared, under favourable circumstances, that a force of about 12 lbs. only was necessary to move one ton upon a level edge railway, which by calculation would give about ten tons as the load of a good horse weighing ten cwt.; but, for practice, this will perhaps more properly be taken at about eight tons. With regard to inclined planes, it may be noticed, that for every one fourth of an inch of rise to the lineal yard of road, the force must be increased, or the load diminished, in a ratio or proportion varying at the rate of about one half, one third, one fourth, one eighth, and one ninth, etc.

“Such are the happy effects of a wise and extended policy, that, notwithstanding the expensive war in which this country has been engaged, more has actually been done in Great Britain, within the last twenty or thirty years, for the improvement of the highways, and in laying open the country by new and better lines of road, than was effected for centuries before that period. With such public improvements we presume to class the measure of the proposed railway from the city of Edinburgh and its port of Leith, calculated as it is to ramify through the various tracts of East Lothian, Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk shires, and to become, in time, a system of the greatest importance in its consequences to the advancement of the commerce and agriculture of this part of the kingdom. Under impressions of this kind, the noblemen and gentlemen who now come forward as promoters of this measure are actuated; and with this in view, the reporter lays before them the accompanying survey, and will now endeavour to state the consideration which he has given the subject, by describing the several lines he has surveyed, and estimating the probable expense and advantages of the measure.”

Mr. Stevenson then describes the proposed line, which he estimated at £52,000, and terminates his report by giving some remarks on the construction of railways, which are interesting as noticing the use of cast and malleable iron rails, and George Stephenson’s experiments on locomotives.

“Construction of the Railway.

“In giving some general description or outline of the construction of the proposed railway, it may be observed, that the formation of railways, or roads of cast iron, is comparatively but a recent discovery, which, however, is likely to be attended with immense advantage to this commercial and agricultural country. From the great traffic to be expected upon the Edinburgh Railway, two sets of wheel-tracks will require to be laid,—one for the wagons or carriages coming to town, and another for those going to the country. This double railway, with the necessary allowance for driving-paths, etc., will occupy at least twenty feet of space in its cross-section, viz., four feet three inches for each set of tracks; a space of four feet between the respective wagon-ways; and three feet nine inches on each side for a driving-path, fences, and gutters. The horse-paths, or spaces between the waggon-tracks of the railway, as proposed above, will be four feet three inches in breadth, or the width of the square part of the common cart axle, it being also a great advantage for the convenience of loading, etc., and for the stability of the railway, to have broad and rather low wagons. But from the general use to which this public railway is applicable, it may be found advisable to acquire even a greater breadth than twenty feet. The space between the tracks will be made up with stones, broken very small, and blinded or covered with gravel, as in the best description of road-making. The footpath for the drivers may be made with gravel, coal dust, pan ashes, or brick-dust, as may be found most convenient in the district of the railway.

“Cast Iron Rails.

“The cast iron tracks of the earlier railways were made flat, or about four inches in breadth, with a projecting ridge or flange, upon the outer verge, and are technically called plate rails. But the reporter is led from his own observation, and the opinion of the following professional gentlemen obligingly communicated to him, viz., Mr. Wilson of Troon, Mr. Bald of Alloa, Mr. Landale of Charlestown, Mr. Grieve of Sheriff Hall, and Mr. Buddle of Newcastle, who are not only scientifically but practically conversant in this matter, to conclude that the plate rail not only induces greater friction, but is more exposed to have the wheels clogged and interrupted with gravel or small stones than that called the edge rail, which, in its best construction, of cast iron, consists of a bar of about 1½ inch in thickness or breadth, for the seat of the wheel, and of a depth corresponding to the weight to be carried. This bar is set upon edge instead of being laid flat. In this manner the edge rail presents less friction, and, weight for weight, is much stronger for the load than the plate rail; upon the same principle as, in modern carpentry, the beam is now set on edge, instead of being laid on its side as formerly. The Reporter is therefore to recommend an edge rail warranted to work with two tons, including the wagon, of the weight of 140 lb. per lineal yard of finished double railway. Lighter dimensions might indeed be found to answer; but for a public railway, the rails should be made of a greater strength than is barely sufficient for a given weight, as this cannot always be kept within bounds, or regulated to a nicety. The expense of a little additional weight of cast iron, in the first instance, will be greatly compensated in the end, by avoiding frequent repairs, and will thereby be amply repaid, while the expense of laying the road, and other contingencies, are much the same in the light as in the heavy rail. The mode of fixing is another point of great importance in the construction of a substantial railway. In the early practice of laying railways, the value of this new discovery was for a time lost to the public, owing to the intricacy and difficulty of this part of the design. Much trouble and expense have in this way been occasioned, in consequence of using, for the underground fixtures, soft and friable stones, liable to be acted upon by the alternate changes of the weather, from their being necessarily placed so near the surface. A method has been adopted of making the cross fixtures under ground, with bars wholly of cast iron, to which the rails are attached, with iron pins. Much, however, depends upon the nature and tenacity of the ground to be passed over. At the works of Lord Elgin and the Carron Company, the use of the sleeper or cross iron bar is laid aside, and other alterations are daily suggested as improvements, in the method of laying and fixing the rails, and also in the construction of the wheels and wagons. With regard to the construction of cast iron rails, they are, in general, made in the lengths of from three to four feet; but the reporter is inclined to think that the perfection of the cast-iron railway will be found to consist rather in shortening the rails very considerably than adopting even the shortest of those lengths; but this and similar matters will fall more properly to be matured in the practical details of the business.

“Malleable Iron Rails.

“One point, however, deserves particular notice here, as likely to be attended with the most important advantages to the railway system, which is the application of malleable iron instead of cast iron rails. Three miles and a half of this description of railway have been in use for about eight years on Lord Carlisle’s works at Tindal Fell in Cumberland, where there are also two miles of cast iron rail; but the malleable iron road is found to answer the purpose in every respect better. Experiments with malleable iron rails have also been made at Mr. Taylor’s works at Ayr and Sir John Hope’s at Pinkie; and, upon the whole, this method, in the case of the Tindal Fell Railway, is not only considerably cheaper in the first cost than the cast iron railway, but is also much less liable to accident. In the use of malleable iron bars the joints of the railway are conveniently obtained, about twelve feet apart, and three pedestals are generally placed between each pair of joints.

“Locomotive Engine.

“Some of the most striking improvements in the system of railways are the patent inventions of Mr. Stephenson of Newcastle, particularly his locomotive engine, by which fifty tons of coal and upwards are at one load conveyed several miles along a railway by the power of steam.”

Acting on the same general principles, Mr. Stevenson surveyed and reported on such lines as the “Montrose and Brechin Railway,” the “Strathmore Railway,” and the “East-Lothian Railway,” which, as has been shown, embraced a large portion of the principal business part of Scotland. But at that time Scotland was not ready either to take up his enlarged views, or to find money to carry them out, and the prospectuses issued by the different Committees who zealously promoted these railway schemes did not meet sufficient support to enable the promoters to form Companies to apply to Parliament for their construction. We all know that in England, at a later date, our British Railway system was first inaugurated, but it is a fact that redounds greatly to Mr. Stevenson’s credit as an engineer, that all of these Scottish lines, originally surveyed by him, have, with or without deviation, been now carried out.

Mr. Stevenson, in his researches for adapting railways to the general communication of the country, had made a great advance in bringing the subject before the public; and he was requested to visit the coal districts in the north of England to advise as to establishing a railway between Stockton and Darlington, with extensions to the coal fields of Bishop-Auckland; which he did in 1819, meeting with Mr. Pease, Mr. Backhouse, and other influential men there, to whom, after making a survey, he reported on the Stockton and Darlington Railway.