J342 Dr Traill on the Introduction into Scotland of 



In our own times, the fabrication of slabs, pedestals, and 

 vases, in hard porphyries, and in granite, has been carried to 

 great perfection in Sweden. The quarries of Blyberg at Elfda- 

 len, for many years, have furnished materials for Swedish inge- 

 nuity and skill. The elegantforms and high finishof their works 

 in those refractory materials have contributed greatly to the. 

 splendour of the Swedish Capital, and are known and admired 

 over Europe. Yet, though our own mountains yield no lessbeau- 

 tiful and durable materials, it is surprising how long we have re- 

 mained without any attempt to apply them to the purposes of or- 

 namental art. It is true, that, for more than half a century, 

 Aberdeen has exhibited a city chiefly built of blocks of hewn 

 granite ; that more lately, this same material has been employ- 

 ed in the construction of Waterloo Bridge in London, and in 

 a few other works ; and that Cornish granite appears in the 

 pedestals of a few statues in some of our towns. But the 

 idea of giving a polish, equal to that of ancient Egypt, to our 

 granite in works of considerable size, of introducing this splen- 

 did material as a domestic ornament in our halls and saloons, 

 and as lasting memorials of departed worth in our cemeteries, is 

 undoubtedly due to two citizens of Aberdeen, Messrs Macdo- 

 NALD and Leslie, who carry on extensive works in that town ; 

 where the grey granite of Aberdeen, and the rich red granite 

 of Peterhead, are cut into an endless variety of ornamental 

 articles, which receive the highest polish. 



A late visit to their establishment convinced me, that these 

 gentlemen have reduced to practice the difficult problem of 

 giving any required form to so stubborn a material as granite, 

 and of communicating to its surface an exquisite polish, which 

 shew it to be well suited for domestic ornament, and as a su- 

 perb decoration for the abodes of rank and opulence. The 

 rich wai-m tint of the Peterhead granite, in particular, will 

 harmonize better witii the gilded ornaments and gorgeous 

 hangings of a modern gallery or superb saloon, either as tables 

 or as pedestals for works of art, than furniture made of the 

 most costly woods, or even than the snowy marble of Car- 

 rara. 



For monumental work, this enduring material possesses ad- 

 vantages over the best marble. In our climate, the effects of 



