The Melville Monument is a large column in
St Andrew Square,
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...
,
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...
, constructed between 1821 and 1827 as a memorial to
Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville
Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville, PC, FRSE (28 April 1742 – 28 May 1811), styled as Lord Melville from 1802, was the trusted lieutenant of British Prime Minister William Pitt and the most powerful politician in Scotland in the late 18t ...
.
Dundas was a dominant figure in Scottish and British politics during much of the late 18th century. Plans to construct a memorial to him began soon after his death in 1811 and were largely driven by
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...
officers, especially Sir
William Johnstone Hope
Vice Admiral Sir William Johnstone Hope, GCB (16 August 1766 – 2 May 1831) was a prominent and controversial British Royal Navy officer and politician in late eighteenth and early nineteenth century Britain, whose career experienced fleet ...
. After a successful campaign for subscriptions, construction of the monument began in 1821 but time and costs soon spiralled out of control. The project was not completed until 1827 and not paid off until 1837. From the 2010s, the monument became the subject of increasing controversy due to Dundas' legacy, especially debates over the extent of his role in legislating delays to the
abolition of the
slave trade
Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...
in the
British Empire
The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts e ...
.
[ In the wake of ]protests
A protest (also called a demonstration, remonstration or remonstrance) is a public expression of objection, disapproval or dissent towards an idea or action, typically a political one.
Protests can be thought of as acts of coopera ...
following the murder of George Floyd
On , George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, was murdered in the U.S. city of Minneapolis by Derek Chauvin, a 44-year-old white police officer. Floyd had been arrested on suspicion of using a counterfeit $20 bill. Chauvin knelt on Floyd's ...
in 2020, the City of Edinburgh Council moved to erect a plaque on the monument to explain Dundas' legacy.[ Installation of the plaque was completed in October 2021.
Designed by ]William Burn
William Burn (20 December 1789 – 15 February 1870) was a Scottish architect. He received major commissions from the age of 20 until his death at 81. He built in many styles and was a pioneer of the Scottish Baronial Revival,often referred ...
, the column is modelled after Trajan's Column
Trajan's Column ( it, Colonna Traiana, la, Columna Traiani) is a Roman triumphal column in Rome, Italy, that commemorates Roman emperor Trajan's victory in the Dacian Wars. It was probably constructed under the supervision of the architect Ap ...
in Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
. Robert Stevenson provided additional engineering advice during construction. The column is topped by a 4.2 m (14 ft) tall statue of Dundas designed by Francis Leggatt Chantrey
Sir Francis Leggatt Chantrey (7 April 1781 – 25 November 1841) was an English sculptor. He became the leading portrait sculptor in Regency era Britain, producing busts and statues of many notable figures of the time. Chantrey's most notable w ...
and carved by Robert Forrest. The total height of the monument is about 45 m (150 ft). It is one of Edinburgh's most prominent landmarks.[
]
History
Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville
Dundas was born on 28 April 1742 at Arniston House, Midlothian to one of Scotland's most distinguished legal families. After studying at the University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...
and practising as an advocate, he first entered parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...
in 1774.[Fry in Matthew and Harrison 2004, xvii p. 274.] The following year, Dundas became Lord Advocate
His Majesty's Advocate, known as the Lord Advocate ( gd, Morair Tagraidh, sco, Laird Advocat), is the chief legal officer of the Scottish Government and the Crown in Scotland for both civil and criminal matters that fall within the devolved p ...
and arrogated immense power over Scottish affairs to the office. He also took an interest in the welfare of the Highlands
Highland is a broad term for areas of higher elevation, such as a mountain range or mountainous plateau.
Highland, Highlands, or The Highlands, may also refer to:
Places Albania
* Dukagjin Highlands
Armenia
* Armenian Highlands
Australia
*Sou ...
, repealing the Disarming Act
The Disarming Act (1 George 1 session 2 C.26) was an 18th-century Act of Parliament of Great Britain that was enacted to curtail Jacobitism among the Scottish clans in the Scottish Highlands after the Jacobite rising of 1715. The new law, which ca ...
in 1781 and founding the Highland Society in 1784. Having tried to prevent widespread electoral manipulation, he abandoned these efforts and instead used such practices to his own ends. By 1796, he had effective control of all but two of Scotland's members of parliament.[Fry in Matthew and Harrison 2004, xvii p. 275.]
Aligned with the Tories
A Tory () is a person who holds a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalism and conservatism, which upholds the supremacy of social order as it has evolved in the English culture throughout history. The ...
, Dundas gained influence under prime minister, William Pitt and soon became Home Secretary
The secretary of state for the Home Department, otherwise known as the home secretary, is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom. The home secretary leads the Home Office, and is responsible for all national s ...
: in this role, he suppressed popular unrest in the wake of the French Revolution
The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in coup of 18 Brumaire, November 1799. Many of its ...
.[Fry in Matthew and Harrison 2004, xvii p. 276.] In the face of the French Revolutionary Wars
The French Revolutionary Wars (french: Guerres de la Révolution française) were a series of sweeping military conflicts lasting from 1792 until 1802 and resulting from the French Revolution. They pitted France against Britain, Austria, Prussia ...
, he supported consolidation of the empire
An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...
and the union of Great Britain with Ireland alongside Catholic emancipation
Catholic emancipation or Catholic relief was a process in the kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland, and later the combined United Kingdom in the late 18th century and early 19th century, that involved reducing and removing many of the restricti ...
.
In the Commons
The commons is the cultural and natural resources accessible to all members of a society, including natural materials such as air, water, and a habitable Earth. These resources are held in common even when owned privately or publicly. Commons c ...
, Dundas opposed William Wilberforce
William Wilberforce (24 August 175929 July 1833) was a British politician, philanthropist and leader of the movement to abolish the slave trade. A native of Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, he began his political career in 1780, eventually becom ...
's legislative efforts to abolish the slave trade immediately. Cyril Matheson, writing in 1933, concludes: "the future was against him, and his reputation has suffered in consequence".[Matheson 1933, pp. 160, 264.] Later historians of the slave trade, including David Brion Davis
David Brion Davis (February 16, 1927 – April 14, 2019) was an American intellectual and cultural historian, and a leading authority on slavery and abolition in the Western world. He was a Sterling Professor of History at Yale University, ...
and Roger Anstey, have shared the assessment of Dundas as a major – but not unique – force in undermining parliamentary efforts in 1792 and 1796 to abolish the slave trade. As Pitt's Secretary of State for War, Dundas instructed Sir Adam Williamson, the lieutenant-governor of Jamaica, to sign an agreement with representatives of the French colonists in Saint Domingue
Saint-Domingue () was a French colony in the western portion of the Caribbean island of Hispaniola, in the area of modern-day Haiti, from 1659 to 1804. The name derives from the Spanish main city in the island, Santo Domingo, which came to re ...
, later Haiti, that promised to restore the ''ancien regime
''Ancien'' may refer to
* the French word for "ancient, old"
** Société des anciens textes français
* the French for "former, senior"
** Virelai ancien
** Ancien Régime
** Ancien Régime in France
''Ancien'' may refer to
* the French word fo ...
'', slavery, and discrimination against mixed-race colonists. This move that drew criticism from abolitionists such as Wilberforce and Thomas Clarkson
Thomas Clarkson (28 March 1760 – 26 September 1846) was an English abolitionist, and a leading campaigner against the slave trade in the British Empire. He helped found The Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade (also known ...
.
As First Lord of the Admiralty
The First Lord of the Admiralty, or formally the Office of the First Lord of the Admiralty, was the political head of the English and later British Royal Navy. He was the government's senior adviser on all naval affairs, responsible for the di ...
, he led the strengthening of the Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...
in the period before the Battle of Trafalgar
The Battle of Trafalgar (21 October 1805) was a naval engagement between the British Royal Navy and the combined fleets of the French and Spanish Navies during the War of the Third Coalition (August–December 1805) of the Napoleonic Wars (180 ...
. Having been ennobled as Viscount Melville
Viscount Melville, of Melville in the County of Edinburgh, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom.
Origins
The title was created on 24 December 1802 for the notable lawyer and politician Henry Dundas. He was created Baron Dunira, ...
in 1802, Dundas was impeached for misappropriation of naval funds and tried by the House of Lords
The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminste ...
. Dundas was found not guilty on all charges and re-entered the Privy Council. He died in Edinburgh on 27 May 1811.
Moves to commemorate Dundas
In 1812, Dundas' supporters raised a large obelisk
An obelisk (; from grc, ὀβελίσκος ; diminutive of ''obelos'', " spit, nail, pointed pillar") is a tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape or pyramidion at the top. Originally constructed by An ...
to his memory on his Dunira estate near Comrie, Perthshire.[Matheson 1933, p. 407.] At the same time, Dundas' family, with support from subscribers among the public, supported the creation of a monument to Dundas in Edinburgh. The result was the marble statue by Francis Leggatt Chantrey
Sir Francis Leggatt Chantrey (7 April 1781 – 25 November 1841) was an English sculptor. He became the leading portrait sculptor in Regency era Britain, producing busts and statues of many notable figures of the time. Chantrey's most notable w ...
in Parliament Hall
Parliament House ( gd, Taigh na Pàrlamaid) in the Old Town in Edinburgh, Scotland, is a complex of several buildings housing the Supreme Courts of Scotland. The oldest part of the complex was home to the Parliament of Scotland from 1639 to 170 ...
, completed in 1818. The existence of this memorial later led some to question the relevance of the St Andrew Square project. In March 1821, shortly before construction began, a correspondent in ''The Scotsman
''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until August 2004. Its pare ...
'', a Whig newspaper, argued the existence of this statue made another memorial to the same figure in the same city irrelevant.[Desmarest 2018, p. 111.]
The idea of another monument to Dundas in Edinburgh was first raised at a meeting of the Pitt Club of Scotland in May 1814. This may have motivated Vice Admiral Sir William Johnstone Hope
Vice Admiral Sir William Johnstone Hope, GCB (16 August 1766 – 2 May 1831) was a prominent and controversial British Royal Navy officer and politician in late eighteenth and early nineteenth century Britain, whose career experienced fleet ...
to initiate a movement for such a monument within the Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...
. Hope started the Melville Monument Committee, of which he was convener.[Gray 1927, p. 208.] In government, Dundas had become known as the "Seaman's Friend" for his advancement of measures to support sailors of the Royal Navy and their dependents.[Gray 1927, p. 207.][Desmarest 2018, p. 112.] In its initial stages, the project was both led by naval officers and supported exclusively by subscriptions from sailors; although civic and legal figures were represented on the committee. Alongside this primarily naval impetus for the monument, ''The Scotsman'' noted strong support from Dundas' own family.[McKenzie et al. 2018 ii p. 414.]
Development
The form and location of the monument were not initially settled and Hope first successfully applied to the town council
A town council, city council or municipal council is a form of local government for small municipalities.
Usage of the term varies under different jurisdictions.
Republic of Ireland
Town Councils in the Republic of Ireland were the second t ...
for a site at the north east edge of Calton Hill
Calton Hill () is a hill in central Edinburgh, Scotland, situated beyond the east end of Princes Street and included in the city's UNESCO World Heritage Site. Views of, and from, the hill are often used in photographs and paintings of the cit ...
. A correspondent in the ''Caledonian Mercury
The ''Caledonian Mercury'' was a Scottish newspaper, published three times a week between 1720 and 1867. In 2010 an online publication launched using the name.
17th century
A short-lived predecessor, the '' Mercurius Caledonius'', published for ...
'' opposed the Calton Hill site, instead proposing the monument could be built on Arthur's Seat
Arthur's Seat ( gd, Suidhe Artair, ) is an ancient volcano which is the main peak of the group of hills in Edinburgh, Scotland, which form most of Holyrood Park, described by Robert Louis Stevenson as "a hill for magnitude, a mountain in virtu ...
.[ Further suggestions included Picardy Place or, nearby, the top of ]Leith Walk
Leith Walk is one of the longest streets in Edinburgh, Scotland, and is the main road connecting the centre of the city to Leith. Forming most of the A900 road, it slopes downwards from Picardy Place at the south-western end of the street to th ...
.[Desmarest 2018, p. 114.] By the end of 1818, the committee appeared to have settled on St Andrew Square at the eastern end of Edinburgh's New Town.[ Around this time, ]William Burn
William Burn (20 December 1789 – 15 February 1870) was a Scottish architect. He received major commissions from the age of 20 until his death at 81. He built in many styles and was a pioneer of the Scottish Baronial Revival,often referred ...
– an architect sympathetic to Dundas' Tory
A Tory () is a person who holds a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalism and conservatism, which upholds the supremacy of social order as it has evolved in the English culture throughout history. The ...
politics – appears to have been engaged. The form of a column modelled after Trajan's Column
Trajan's Column ( it, Colonna Traiana, la, Columna Traiani) is a Roman triumphal column in Rome, Italy, that commemorates Roman emperor Trajan's victory in the Dacian Wars. It was probably constructed under the supervision of the architect Ap ...
was agreed; though Burn's initial plan did not include a statue. The proprietors of the square agreed to the scheme by April 1819.[
In February 1820, the committee announced it was abandoning St Andrew Square in favour a site at the intersection of Melville Street and what is now Walker Street in the West End. At the time, this was an under-developed site on the private property of Sir Patrick Walker outside the boundaries of the city. The committee had been negotiating with Walker since December 1818 but soon after the announcement, many on the committee balked at Walker's insistence that he and his descendants would maintain the monument. This entanglement with a private landowner, they feared, would undermine the monument's public character.][Desmarest 2018, p. 115.]
The proprietors of St Andrew Square responded by renegotiating the contract for the monument. They offered the site free of charge while the city council agreed to maintain the structure. The contract was agreed in January 1821 and St Andrew Square was finally settled as the site of the monument.[Gray 1927, p. 209.] The town council also agreed to accept responsibility for the monument on its completion. William Armstrong was engaged as builder at an agreed cost of £3,192: well within the £3,430 6s 4d the committee had raised. On 28 April 1821, the anniversary of Dundas' birth, Admirals Otway and Milne laid the foundation stone and a time capsule
A time capsule is a historic cache of goods or information, usually intended as a deliberate method of communication with future people, and to help future archaeologists, anthropologists, or historians. The preservation of holy relics dates ...
was sealed into the structure; George Baird, Principal of the University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...
said prayers as part of the ceremony. The day concluded with a celebratory dinner at the Warterloo Tavern.[Grant 1880, ii p. 171.][Mckenzie et al. 2018, ii p. 415.]
Construction
Soon after the contract was signed, Patrick Walker attempted to sue the committee for "breach of engagement" and claim damages of £10,000. In the end, the committee settled for £408, effectively tipping the project into debt.[ Debt and delay grew, especially after an assessment by Robert Stevenson recommend strengthening the foundations and constructing the shaft from solid blocks rather than ]rubble
Rubble is broken stone, of irregular size, shape and texture; undressed especially as a filling-in. Rubble naturally found in the soil is known also as 'brash' (compare cornbrash)."Rubble" def. 2., "Brash n. 2. def. 1. ''Oxford English Dictionar ...
infill as Burn had proposed.[ These changes added £1,000 to the overall cost.][Gray 1927, p. 210.] Stevenson's assessment was offered free of charge and had been spurred by the square's residents, many of whom were fearful of the stability of such a large monument.[Lindsay 1948, p. 41.][Byrom 2005, p. 37] Despite these problems, the committee persevered and, in 1822, agreed to include a statue, designed by Francis Leggatt Chantrey
Sir Francis Leggatt Chantrey (7 April 1781 – 25 November 1841) was an English sculptor. He became the leading portrait sculptor in Regency era Britain, producing busts and statues of many notable figures of the time. Chantrey's most notable w ...
and carved Robert Forrest.[Mckenzie et al. 2018, ii p. 416.]
At Stevenson's suggestion, J. & J. Rutherford constructed the column using an iron balance crane such as Stevenson had employed during the construction of the Bell Rock Lighthouse
The Bell Rock Lighthouse, off the coast of Angus, Scotland, is the world's oldest surviving sea-washed lighthouse. It was built between 1807 and 1810 by Robert Stevenson on the Bell Rock (also known as Inchcape) in the North Sea, east of the ...
.[Paxton and Shipway 2007, p. 152.] The column, without its statue, was almost complete by the visit of George IV to Edinburgh in August 1822.[ By August 1824, the statue was under construction at Forrest's workshop near Lesmahagow. In summer 1827, the sculpture was erected at the top of the monument, having been brought from Forrest's workshop in twelve carts and pulled up, block-by-block, via pulleys on an external scaffold. The face was the last block to be installed; beforehand, it had been stored for display in a wooden case in the gardens.][McKenzie et al. 2018, ii p. 417.][
Before and after the monument's completion, the committee's strong connections with the ]Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...
had made it reluctant to canvass public support to pay off the project's massive debts. In summer 1826, requests for support were therefore sent round every ship in the Navy. ''The Scotsman
''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until August 2004. Its pare ...
'' and ''The Times
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...
'' condemned the appeal, arguing it exploited impecunious junior seamen. In February 1827, the committee finally made an appeal for public support. By April 1834, this and appeals to the Pitt Club had failed to reduce the debt below £1,100. The committee decided to require each of its own members to pay £41 13s 4d under threat of legal action. In the end, this too proved ineffective and only by 1837 were the final costs were paid by six remaining naval officers on a sub-committee. The ultimate cost of the monument was £8,000.
Initial reception and interpretation
Reappraisal of Dundas' legacy had begun soon after his death in 1811. Dundas' younger contemporary, the Whig lawyer Henry Cockburn, called Dundas "the absolute dictator of Scotland" for his domination of the country's patronage networks. The monument's lengthy construction coincided with a period in which Dundas' legacy became more divisive. By the early 1830s, debates over the extension of the franchise dominated Edinburgh's politics while Dundas came to represent a repressive Tory administration.[Desmarest 2018, p. 125.] In that decade, the town council recorded the complaints of citizens who objected to the city's maintenance of a memorial to an "unpopular" figure whose policies were "unwise and offensive".[ Another contemporary, ]Thomas Babington Macaulay
Thomas Babington Macaulay, 1st Baron Macaulay, (; 25 October 1800 – 28 December 1859) was a British historian and Whig politician, who served as the Secretary at War between 1839 and 1841, and as the Paymaster-General between 1846 and 1 ...
, praised the monument while damning its subject. In a letter of 1828, he wrote: "There is a new pillar to the memory of Lord Melville; very elegant, and very much better than the man deserved. ..It is impossible to look at it without being reminded of the fate which the original most richly merited."
At its erection, the ''Caledonian Mercury
The ''Caledonian Mercury'' was a Scottish newspaper, published three times a week between 1720 and 1867. In 2010 an online publication launched using the name.
17th century
A short-lived predecessor, the '' Mercurius Caledonius'', published for ...
'' negatively compared the monument with similar recent structures, Lord Hill's Column at Shrewsbury and the Britannia Monument
The Nelson's Monument is a commemorative column or tower built in memorial to Admiral Horatio Nelson, situated on the Denes, Great Yarmouth in the county of Norfolk, England. It was designated as a Grade I listed structure in 1953.
History
...
at Great Yarmouth. The newspaper claimed these monuments, lacking the relief
Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term '' relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that th ...
s that decorate the shaft of Trajan's Column
Trajan's Column ( it, Colonna Traiana, la, Columna Traiani) is a Roman triumphal column in Rome, Italy, that commemorates Roman emperor Trajan's victory in the Dacian Wars. It was probably constructed under the supervision of the architect Ap ...
, appeared "tottering and insecure" while the Melville Monument appeared "rather the remains of an edifice, than an entire object".[ Despite these criticisms and controversies over Dundas' legacy, Connie Byrom assesses most contemporary reactions to the column's appearance to be positive.][Byrom 2005, p. 39.]
C.G. Desmarest argues the monument is "imperial in character and context": part of a general movement around the turn of the nineteenth century to honour heroes of Britain's empire. Desmarest cites the Nelson Monument, the National Monument and Chantrey's own statue of Pitt the Younger
William Pitt the Younger (28 May 175923 January 1806) was a British statesman, the youngest and last prime minister of Great Britain (before the Acts of Union 1800) and then first prime minister of the United Kingdom (of Great Britain and Ire ...
on George Street among other examples of this trend in Edinburgh.[Desmarest 2018, p. 105.] Memorials of this time in Scotland often depict figures from the arts or from distant history. Such figures express "antiquarian nationalism" and "Unionist nationalism", which assert Scotland's unique national identity without challenging its place within the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
. In this context, Dundas represented, in Desmarest's words: "... a defender of the notion that Scotland was not a colony, but an equal partner in the Union".[Desmarest 2018, p. 107.]
Subsequent history
On 14 July 1837, lightning stuck the monument. The committee remained unable to pay both the cost of repairs and the cost of a protective railing, which had been installed round the base of the monument in 1833.[McKenzie et al. 2018, ii p. 419.] These railings, within whose bounds the square's gardeners kept their equipment, had been removed by 1947.[Byrom 2005, p. 46.]
The monument has been protected as a Category A listed building
Category, plural categories, may refer to:
Philosophy and general uses
*Categorization, categories in cognitive science, information science and generally
*Category of being
* ''Categories'' (Aristotle)
*Category (Kant)
* Categories (Peirce)
* ...
since 1966. In 2003, the Institution of Civil Engineers
The Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) is an independent professional association for civil engineers and a charitable body in the United Kingdom. Based in London, ICE has over 92,000 members, of whom three-quarters are located in the UK, whi ...
placed an explanatory plaque to the monument at the western entrance to the garden and, in 2008, Edinburgh World Heritage
Edinburgh World Heritage (EWH) is an independent charity in Edinburgh, Scotland established in 1999. It is tasked with conserving, enhancing and promoting Edinburgh's World Heritage Site " Old and New Towns of Edinburgh", which was designated in ...
supported the conservation of the monument as part of its Twelve Monuments scheme. The restoration coincided with a £2.4m refurbishment of St Andrew Square. The refurbishment concluded with the opening of the square for full public access for the first time in its history.[ Restoration of the statue proved especially difficult; a special scaffold was constructed around the top of the monument.]
21st-century controversy
In 2017, the city council
A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...
, responding to a petition from environmental campaigner, Adam Ramsay, convened a committee to draft the wording of a new plaque to reflect controversial aspects of Dundas' legacy, including his role in the delay in the abolition of the slave trade. The committee included academic and anti-racism campaigner Sir Geoff Palmer. The committee also included historian Michael Fry, who argued that, by arguing for "gradual" abolition, Dundas was taking a pragmatic approach to support abolition in a pro-slavery parliament. Although the council aimed to install a new plaque by September 2018, the committee's work remained incomplete by 2020.[
In early June 2020, Palmer, responding to the international outcry over the ]murder of George Floyd
On , George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, was murdered in the U.S. city of Minneapolis by Derek Chauvin, a 44-year-old white police officer. Floyd had been arrested on suspicion of using a counterfeit $20 bill. Chauvin knelt on Floyd's ...
, reiterated calls for a new plaque. At this time, activity around the monument included graffiti on the pedestal and a petition to remove the monument altogether. While a permanent plaque awaited planning, the council installed temporary plaques in July 2020. These bore the intended wording of the permanent plaque, which had been drafted by a sub-committee including representatives of the council and Edinburgh World Heritage
Edinburgh World Heritage (EWH) is an independent charity in Edinburgh, Scotland established in 1999. It is tasked with conserving, enhancing and promoting Edinburgh's World Heritage Site " Old and New Towns of Edinburgh", which was designated in ...
along with Palmer. In response, historian Sir Tom Devine
Sir Thomas Martin Devine (born 30 July 1945) is a Scottish academic and author, who specializes in the history of Scotland.
He is known for his overviews of modern Scottish history.
He is an advocate of the total history approach to the h ...
criticised the council's decision-making process as a "kangaroo court". He argued Dundas had been "scapegoated" for the delay in the abolition of the slave trade, which, he claimed, would have been impossible at the time in any case.
In March 2021, the council approved the installation of a permanent plaque "dedicated to the memory of the more than half a million Africans whose enslavement was a consequence of Henry Dundas's actions". The plaque also states Dundas "defended and expanded the British empire, imposing colonial rule on indigenous peoples" and "curbed democratic dissent in Scotland". The plaque was installed in October 2021, coinciding with the council's launch of a public survey into Edinburgh's colonial legacy and with the creation of the Edinburgh Slavery and Colonial Legacy Review Group, chaired by Palmer.
In response to the approval of the plaque, two of Dundas' descendants – Jennifer Dundas and Bobby Dundas, the current Viscount Melville
Viscount Melville, of Melville in the County of Edinburgh, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom.
Origins
The title was created on 24 December 1802 for the notable lawyer and politician Henry Dundas. He was created Baron Dunira, ...
– criticised the wording of the plaque. They argued their ancestor was one of the first MPs to support abolition and pointed to his role in the legal defence of Joseph Knight in the ''Knight v. Wedderburn'': the case which led to the effective abolition of slavery in almost all cases in Scotland. Palmer responded by recognising Dundas' role in Knight's case while refuting the claim that Dundas was an abolitionist.
Description
Setting
The monument stands in the centre of St Andrew Square at the eastern end of Edinburgh's New Town. The square was an integral part of
James Craig's original scheme and was one of the first parts of the New Town to be developed. The feuing of the square began in 1767 and the square was entirely built by 1781. Initially, the square's gardens were accessible only by inhabitants of the surrounding residences: some of the most desirable in the city. By the time of the monument's construction, however, the square had declined as a residential area and was, as it remains, largely occupied by commercial properties.[Grant 1880, ii p. 166.] In 2008, the square, as part of its full opening to the public, was redeveloped by the design firm Gillespies. Gillespies' plan created a south west to north east axis across the square, which includes a central oval-shaped open space surrounding the monument.
Craig's original plan of the New Town had proposed equestrian statues at the centres of Charlotte Square
300px, Robert Adam's palace-fronted north side
Charlotte Square is a garden square in Edinburgh, Scotland, part of the New Town, designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The square is located at the west end of George Street and was intend ...
and St Andrew Square. The latter would have occupied the site of the Melville Monument.[McKenzie et al. 2018, ii p. xii.] Craig also intended the western and eastern views along George Street would terminate at a church on Charlotte Square and one on St Andrew Square respectively. Although the former was achieved with Robert Reid's St George's Church on Charlotte Square, Sir Lawrence Dundas' purchase of the a plot on the eastern side of St Andrew Square for his own house meant the eastern end lacked such a vista. The construction of the Melville Monument provided that visual terminus to the east end of George Street.[Desmarest 2018, p. 121.]
Historic Environment Scotland
Historic Environment Scotland (HES) ( gd, Àrainneachd Eachdraidheil Alba) is an executive non-departmental public body responsible for investigating, caring for and promoting Scotland's historic environment. HES was formed in 2015 from the mer ...
describes the monument as "among the most prominent landmarks in Edinburgh".[ A.J. Youngson describes the monument as "inescapable" when approaching George Street. The monument occupies a prominent position at the eastern end of the ridge on which the New Town is constructed. Relevant to its origin as a tribute from sailors of the ]Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...
, its position made it visible from ships in the Firth of Forth and to sailors as they travelled from the port at Leith
Leith (; gd, Lìte) is a port area in the north of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, founded at the mouth of the Water of Leith. In 2021, it was ranked by ''Time Out'' as one of the top five neighbourhoods to live in the world.
The earliest ...
to Edinburgh via Leith Walk
Leith Walk is one of the longest streets in Edinburgh, Scotland, and is the main road connecting the centre of the city to Leith. Forming most of the A900 road, it slopes downwards from Picardy Place at the south-western end of the street to th ...
.[Desmarest 2018, p. 122.]
C.G. Desmarest argues the Melville Monument is a picturesque
Picturesque is an aesthetic ideal introduced into English cultural debate in 1782 by William Gilpin in ''Observations on the River Wye, and Several Parts of South Wales, etc. Relative Chiefly to Picturesque Beauty; made in the Summer of the Year ...
reaction to the formality of Craig's plan, which it enhances without disrupting it.[Desmarest 2018, p. 126.] As the Melville Monument rose, some proposed a similar column, based on that of Antoninus Pius and dedicated to Pitt the Younger
William Pitt the Younger (28 May 175923 January 1806) was a British statesman, the youngest and last prime minister of Great Britain (before the Acts of Union 1800) and then first prime minister of the United Kingdom (of Great Britain and Ire ...
for Charlotte Square. If this had been constructed, Desmarest claims, it would have enhanced the formal symmetry of the New Town.
Column and pedestal
The overall design of the column is modelled on the early second-century Trajan's Column
Trajan's Column ( it, Colonna Traiana, la, Columna Traiani) is a Roman triumphal column in Rome, Italy, that commemorates Roman emperor Trajan's victory in the Dacian Wars. It was probably constructed under the supervision of the architect Ap ...
in Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
, albeit with a shaft decorated with regular vertical fluting rather than with the relief sculptures of its ancient model. The shaft is also punctuated by vertical slits to illuminate the interior.[Mckenzie et al. 2018 ii p. 413.][Gifford, McWilliam, Walker 1984, p. 322.]
The shaft is topped by a Doric Doric may refer to:
* Doric, of or relating to the Dorians of ancient Greece
** Doric Greek, the dialects of the Dorians
* Doric order, a style of ancient Greek architecture
* Doric mode, a synonym of Dorian mode
* Doric dialect (Scotland)
* Doric ...
capital decorated with egg-and-dart
Egg-and-dart, also known as egg-and-tongue, egg-and-anchor, or egg-and-star, is an ornamental device adorning the fundamental quarter-round, convex ovolo profile of moulding, consisting of alternating details on the face of the ovolo—typicall ...
moulding: this supports a square pedestal
A pedestal (from French ''piédestal'', Italian ''piedistallo'' 'foot of a stall') or plinth is a support at the bottom of a statue, vase, column, or certain altars. Smaller pedestals, especially if round in shape, may be called socles. In ...
, above which a two-stage drum supports the statue.[ Within the drum is a door, which provides access to the pedestal from a spiral staircase which ascends the interior of the shaft. The square pedestal at the base of the monument more closely imitates that of its Roman model, especially in the corner eagles with oak leaf swags stretching between them. Access to the internal staircase is via the door in the west face of the pedestal.][ At its base, the pedestal is approximately 5.5 m (18 ft) at each face and 6.3 m (21 ft) tall.
The column itself is about 35.5 m (117 ft) in height with a diameter at the base of around 3.7 m (12 ft) at the base, tapering to 3.2 m (10.5 ft) at the top. Combined with the pedestal and statue, this gives the monument an overall height of about 45 m (150 ft). The pedestal and column are constructed from Cullalo sandstone.][
]
Statue
The statue, designed by Francis Leggatt Chantrey
Sir Francis Leggatt Chantrey (7 April 1781 – 25 November 1841) was an English sculptor. He became the leading portrait sculptor in Regency era Britain, producing busts and statues of many notable figures of the time. Chantrey's most notable w ...
and carved by Robert Forrest, is constructed from Nethanfoot and Threepwood sandstone
Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks.
Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates ...
and stands at approximately 4.2 m (14 ft) tall.[Mckenzie et al. 2018 ii p. 411.] The statue weighs about 18 tons and consists of 15 blocks secured by gunmetal bolts.[
The statue depicts its subject clad in the robes of a peer and facing west along George Street with his left hand on his chest and his right foot slightly overstepping the pedestal.][ This pose is similar to that adopted by Chantrey's 1818 depiction of Dundas, housed in ]Parliament Hall
Parliament House ( gd, Taigh na Pàrlamaid) in the Old Town in Edinburgh, Scotland, is a complex of several buildings housing the Supreme Courts of Scotland. The oldest part of the complex was home to the Parliament of Scotland from 1639 to 170 ...
.[Desmarest 2018, p. 123.] Due to the monument's great height, the statue's features are exaggerated, especially the trim of the robes, the hair, and eyebrows. Overall, the statue conforms with contemporary descriptions of its subject as tall and muscular with striking features.
Cultural references
In the children's television series ''Hububb
Hububb is a Children's Television programme broadcast on BBC One in the United Kingdom, it was named after Les Bubb who also played the title character with the same name. The show ran from 1997 until 2001. Five series of the show were made. ...
'', which aired on CBBC
CBBC (initialised as Children's BBC and also known as the CBBC Channel) is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the bran ...
from 1997 to 2001, the main character, played by mime artist Les Bubb
Les Bubb is a British mime artist.
Career
Les Bubb who was born in Sticklepath, Barnstaple (March 16, 1961) He started his miming career in 1982, performing in pubs and cabaret clubs.
In 1988, he appeared on ''Jim Davidson Introduces: New Ent ...
, lives in the Melville Monument.
The immediate response to the controversy around the monument in 2020, inspired a number of works. Jack Docherty
John Docherty (born 1962) is a Scottish writer, actor, presenter and producer.
Career
He first performed at the 1980 Edinburgh Festival Fringe with the comedy sketch group The Bodgers which he formed with George Watson's College schoolfriends ...
's short story "Statuesque", centring on the monument, was broadcast by BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...
on 28 June 2020 as part of the station's ''Short Works'' series of stories inspired by current events. The monument was the subject of ''Sunken Statues'', a speculative design project by Tom Fairley, which imagines the full length of the monument sunk in a hole in the square. The project won the grand prize at the 2021 John Byrne Awards.
The monument was also subject of a BBC Scotland television documentary ''Scotland, Slavery, and Statues'', broadcast on 20 October 2020. Sir Tom Devine
Sir Thomas Martin Devine (born 30 July 1945) is a Scottish academic and author, who specializes in the history of Scotland.
He is known for his overviews of modern Scottish history.
He is an advocate of the total history approach to the h ...
criticised the programme as "a kind of Punch and Judy
Punch and Judy is a traditional puppet show featuring Mr. Punch and his wife Judy. The performance consists of a sequence of short scenes, each depicting an interaction between two characters, most typically Mr. Punch and one other character ...
show" and "a miserable failure". The programme's producer, Parisa Urquhart, defended her work, pointing to positive comments from the Wilberforce Diaries Project and from Professor James Smith, Chair of Africa and Development Studies at the University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...
.
See also
* List of listed buildings in Edinburgh
This is a list of listed buildings in Edinburgh. The list is split out by parish.
Edinburgh is said to have the largest number of listed buildings of any city in the world.
* List of Category A listed buildings in Edinburgh
Comprehensive lis ...
Notes
Explanatory notes
References
Bibliography
* Anstey, Roger (1975). ''The Atlantic Slave Trade and British Abolition''. MacMillan
* Byrom, Connie (2005). ''The Edinburgh New Town Gardens''. Birlinn
* Cockburn, Henry (1856). ''Memorial of his Time''. (1979 ed.) The University of Chicago Press
* Davis, David Brion (1975). ''The Problem of Slavery in the Age of Revolution: 1770–1823''. (1999 ed.) Oxford University Press.
*
* Fry, Michael (1992). ''The Dundas Despotism''. John Donald
* Gifford, John; McWilliam, Colin; Walker, David (1984). ''The Buildings of Scotland: Edinburgh''. Penguin Books.
* Grant, James (1880). ''Old and New Edinburgh''. II. Cassell's
* Gray, William Forbes (1927). "The Melville Monument". ''Book of the Old Edinburgh Club''. XV: 207–213.
* Lindsay, Ian G. (1948). ''Georgian Edinburgh''. Oliver and Boyd.
*
* McKenzie, Ray; King, Dianne; Smith, Tracy (2018). ''Public Sculpture of Britain Volume 21: Public Sculpture of Edinburgh''. Liverpool University Press.
* McWilliam, Colin (1975). ''Scottish Townscape''. Collins.
* Matthew, H.C.G. & Harrison, Brian (eds.) (2004) ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography''. XVII. Oxford University Press
** Fry, Michael. "Dundas, Henry, first Viscount Melville (1742–1811)".
* Matheson, Cyril (1933). ''The Life of Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville''. Constable & Co
* Paxton, Richard & Shipway, Jim (2007). ''Civil Engineering Heritage: Scotland – Lowlands and Borders''. Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historic Monuments of Scotland.
* Trevelyan, George Otto (ed.) (1876). ''Life and Letters of Lord Macaulay''.
* Youngson, Alexander J.
** (1966). ''The Making of Classical Edinburgh''. Edinburgh University Press.
** (2001). ''The Companion Guide to Edinburgh and the Borders''. Polygon.
External links
Historic Environment Scotland: "ST ANDREW SQUARE, MELVILLE MONUMENT WITH BOUNDARY WALLS AND RAILINGS: LB27816"
Canmore: "Edinburgh, St Andrew Square, Melville's Monument"
Edinburgh World Heritage: "The Melville Monument"
{{coord, 55.95423, -3.19315, format=dms, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title
Monumental columns in Scotland
Category A listed buildings in Edinburgh
New Town, Edinburgh