194, 



erected from funds bequeathed In l)r Bell o 

 Madras. In Old Aberdeen there is also a school ot 

 Dr Bell's system, under the patronage of the coun- 

 cil there. Besides these, there are several school* 

 in connexion with the parish churches and a num- 

 ber of seminaries conductrd by private teachers. 

 The incorporated trades nave a school for tin 

 children of their freemen. The Roman Catholics 

 have a large and elegant school, the building ol 

 which was finished in 1833. As several of the 

 schools under the patronage of the magistrates are 

 not considered to be sufficiently commodious ant 

 elegant, an attempt was made, in the year 1836, by 

 the town council, to procure an act of parliament 

 for appropriating the existing surplus of a fund 

 which had been left by a Sir Alexander Hay in the 

 year 1605 for the maintenance of the ancient bridge 

 of Don, (a structure erected in the thirteenth or 

 fourteenth century) and applying it to the building 

 of new and enlarged schools in Aberdeen. This 

 scheme was strongly opposed by those who thought 

 that in no case can mortified funds be diverted from 

 the original purpose of the donor; and the bill, 

 notwithstanding the greatest exertions in its favour 

 on the part of provost James Blaikie, then chief 

 magistrate, and Mr Bannerman, the representative 

 for the city, was eventually lost, having been twice 

 thrown out in a committee of the House of Com- 

 mons. It may be stated here that the fund left by 

 Sir Alexander Hay, had, by profitable investment 

 and prudent management on the part of the magis- 

 trates, increased so much beyond what was required 

 for fulfilling the intention of the donor the up- 

 holding of the ancient bridge that from the sur- 

 plus, a new and elegant granite bridge, with five 

 arches, was erected over the Don to the east of the 

 old bridge in the year 1829. 



Literary Societies Though the inhabitants of 

 Aberdeen do not yield to those of any other town 

 in Britain in learning, there are not many literary 

 or scientific associations here. A mechanics' insti- 

 tution has been established since the year 1824. It 

 has a library consisting chiefly of scientific works, 

 and lectures on science and literature are delivered 

 to the members during the winter half of the year. 

 The artists' society, of which the Earl of Aberdeen 

 is patron, was established in 1827. We do not 

 know we are justified in reckoning as a scientific 

 institution, a phrenological society, which has ex- 

 isted since the year 1836, and is possessed of a 

 library and a collection of casts; but of its pro- 

 ceedings little is known to the uninitiated, owing 

 to the peculiarly unobtrusive manner in which it 

 pursues its labours. We may here add that there 

 are three weekly newspapers in Aberdeen, the 

 Journal, the Herald, and the Constitutional, all of 

 -.vhich are conducted with considerable ability. The 

 Journal, which was commenced in 1748, is the oldest 

 newspaper north of the Forth, and has a very large 

 circulation. Its principles are moderately conser- 

 vative. The Herald is a whig paper, and the Con- 

 stitutional is conservative, and especially devoted 

 to the defence of the church. 



Public Buildings Amongst the principal public 

 buildings in Aberdeen, besides those to which we 

 have alluded in speaking of the institutions and 

 churches, are the county rooms in Union Street, 

 founded in 1820; the surgeons' hall in King Street, 

 and the advocates' hall, which is just completed, 

 in Unjon Street. The barracks are erected on the 

 Castle Hill, a fine airy situation on the east side of 

 the town. There is a military hospital on the 



Hemling Hill, the ancient place of execution, which 

 is separated from the Castle Hill by a street running 

 in the hollow, and over which an elegant cast iron 

 bridge is about to be erected. The tolbooth in 

 Castle Street is an ancient building the front of which 

 w.i- rebuilt of granite in the year 1820. It has on 

 one side the town house, the appearance of which 

 is disfigured by the shops which occupy the ground 

 floor, and on the other the new inn, which it is 

 proposed to take down, for the purpose of erect- 

 ing a splendid building for the North of Scot- 

 land bank and the North of Scotland insurance 

 office. The cross in Castle Street is a curious 

 old building of a hexagonal form. It was erect <(! 

 in place of a more ancient cross in the year HiH<>, 

 but has since been altered for the worse, and it is 

 just now profaned by being used as a coach oflice. 

 Around the upper part are busts in alto relievo of 

 the royal family of Stuart. The court house, ;it 

 the back of the tolbooth, was finished in 1820, and 

 the new jail which adjoins it, in 1831. The bride- 

 well is a very large building, situated on the west 

 side of the town, near the entrance by Union Street. 

 In the line of Union Street, a splendid granite bridge 

 of a single arch of 130 feet span, is thrown over a 

 large hollow, through which the Denburn and not 

 the river Dee, as some English writers ignorantly 

 suppose runs into the harbour. The athenaeum 

 or public reading-room is situated at the east end 

 of Castle Street. The theatre in Marischal Street, 

 which was finished and opened in 1795, is a neat 

 building, though not so large as might be expected, 

 considering the size of the city. The Aberdeen 

 bank is a handsome building at the head of Marischal 

 Street. Aberdeen, besides branch banks, possesses 

 three native banks, the oldest of which is the 

 Aberdeen bank, established in 1767. There are 

 two native insurance companies, both of which are 

 understood to be in a flourishing condition. The 

 principal inns in Aberdeen, are the Royal hotel, the 

 Union hotel, and the Aberdeen hotel, all in Union 

 Street, and the new inn in Castle Street. There are 

 just now seventeen coaches which start daily from 

 Aberdeen to Edinburgh, Inverness and other stations. 

 Having briefly noticed the statistics of Aberdeen, 

 we may add, that its antiquity is not disputed by 

 thgse who are not satisfied that its identity with 

 the Devanha of the Romans has been made out. The 

 students from the Highlands who flock to King's 

 college, are unanimously agreed that the word 

 Aberdeen is Gaelic, which is the derivation that 

 might be expected from them ; but from some very 

 ancient forms in which the word has appeared, 

 there is reason to doubt the correctness of this 

 Celtic etymology. With regard to the charter said 

 to have been granted to Aberdeen by king Gregory, 

 antiquaries are much disposed to disbelieve that 

 either it, or the monarch who gets the credit of 

 bestowing it, ever existed. The first authentic 

 notices of Aberdeen begin about the year 1154, 

 when king David I. removed the see of the bishop 

 of Mortlach to this city. About the year 1178 or 

 1179, Aberdeen received a charter in all proba- 

 bility its first from king William the lion, who 

 bad a particular favour for this city. Subsequent 

 charters from the Scottish monarchs confirmed and 

 extended its privileges; in 1365, it was ranked as 

 the second city in Scotland in the parliamentary 

 roll ; it was frequently visited by the kings of 

 Scotland, and has at all times been distinguished 

 r or its loyalty. It is now one of the most tiourish- 

 ng cities in Great Britain. 



