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DUNDAS DUNFERMLTNK. 



DUNDAS, HENRY, viscount Melville, a distin- 

 guished statesman, was born in 1741, studied at the 

 university of Edinburgh, and, in 1763, was admitted 

 a member of the faculty of advocates. He obtained 

 the post of solicitor-general in 1773, that of lord- 

 advocate in 1775, and was made joint keeper of the 

 signet for Scotland in 1777. In 1782, he was ap- 

 pointed treasurer of the navy, and member of the 

 privy council ; but'he continued only a short time in 

 office, the coalition between lord North and Mr Fox 

 having displaced his party. The triumph of his op- 

 ponents was but temporary ; and, on their retreat 

 from power, he resumed his office under Mr 1'itt, 

 whose firm partisan he approved himself during their 

 joint lives. On the passing of the act of parliament 

 for regulating the affairs of the East India company, 

 Mr Dundas was appointed president of the board of 

 control ; in 1791, he was made secretary of state for 

 the home department ; and, in 1794, he became 

 secretary at war. On the resignation of Mr Pitt, he 

 also retired from public life ; and, when the former 

 resumed the helm of state, he was appointed first 

 lord of the admiralty. In 1805, he was impeached, 

 before the house of lords, of high crimes and misde- 

 meanours in his former office of treasurer of the 

 navy. As the evidence adduced against him did not 

 directly implicate him in the malversation proved 

 against his deputy, he was acquitted. He did not, 

 however, hold any situation afterwards, except that 

 of privy councillor. His death took place in May, 

 1811. He was created viscount Melville in 1801, 

 and was succeeded in that title by his son. The city 

 of Edinburgh contains two public monuments to lord 

 Melville's memory one, a marble statue, by Chan- 

 trey, which stands in the parliament house, the other 

 a column, surmounted by a statue, which stands in 

 St Andrew's square. 



DUNDEE, a large and thriving town in Forfar- 

 shire, Scotland, situated on the north bank of the 

 river Tay, about twelve miles from its mouth ; dis- 

 tant from Edinburgh, forty-two miles ; from Perth, 

 twenty-two miles ; from Glasgow, eighty-four miles ; 

 lat. 56 2' 23" north ; long. 3 2' 55'' west. The 

 town was anciently called Alectum, or Ail-lee, which 

 in Gaelic signifies pleasant or beautiful, a name said 

 to have been changed for that of Don-dei, a cor- 

 ruption of Donum Dei, in commemoration of the 

 earl of Huntingdon's miraculous escape from ship- 

 wreck here on his return from the Crusades in 

 1189. It was at one period strongly fortified, evi- 

 dences of which are still discernible, and was twice 

 taken and sacked by Edward I., but as often recov- 

 ered by the patriotic party. Richard II. reduced the 

 town to ashes, and it underwent a similar fate in the 

 reign of Edward VI., when the English held Brough 

 Tay castle. It was sacked and burned by the mar- 

 quis of Montrose, in 1645 ; but the last and greatest 

 disaster that befell the place was in 1651, when 

 general Monk took it by storm, and gave it up to 

 pillage. Such was the wealth of Dundee at this time, 

 that every soldier in Monk's army had nearly sixty 

 pounds sterling as his share of the plunder. From 

 the latter period it has been rising by degrees to its 

 present eminence, that of ranking as one of the larg- 

 est and best built towns in Scotland. 



Dundee consists chiefly of four spacious streets, 

 meeting in the centre or market-place, which forms 

 a large and handsome square, having on its south side 

 the town-house, a fine building erected in 1734, the 

 ground story comprising the guild-hall, court room, 

 offices, and bank, and the upper part, a strong and 

 commodious jail, surmounted by a spire 140 feet 

 high on the east side of the square, the trades-hall, 

 an elegant structure, occupied below by shops ; 

 above,T>y the halls of meeting for the several incor- 



porated bodies, and crowned with a handsome cupola. 

 Not for distant stands the ancient church, a stately 

 and magnificent pile, with a square tower 156 feet 

 high, and near the Cowgate, an elegant new church, 

 called St Andrew's, witli a spire 13s) feet high ; be- 

 side these there are two or three chapels ot ease. 

 From the south-east angle of the square runs a 

 beautiful street, quite down to the quay, in which ail 

 episcopal chapel and an elegant theatre have lately 

 been built. Among the rest of the public buililiii-.s 

 and charities, are the infirmary for indigent sick, 

 the dispensary, the orplian asylum, the public grain- 

 mar-school, the English school, and the academy 

 or college, where are established efficient profes- 

 sors for teaching the mathematics, the French and Ital- 

 ian languages, belles-lettres, and natural and experi- 

 mental philosophy, with proper apparatus for the 

 purpose. The charitable funds are large and well 

 bestowed, and here are also several union benefit so- 

 cieties. 



Dundee was not erected into a royal burgh till the 

 reign of William III., in 1165, though it enjoyed 

 many privileges before as well as since that of Ed- 

 ward I., who destroyed its ancient records. Its trade 

 has long been extensive, and of late years it lias 

 greatly increased. Its chief manufactures are, brown 

 and bleached linens, osnaburgs, sail-cloth, sacking, 

 &c. , much of which is exported to all quarters of the 

 world. These stuffs are now wrought by means of 

 steam, there being in the town and neighbourhood, 

 about fifty spinning mills, driven by steam. It has 

 a considerable commerce with the Baltic, and also 

 employs a number of vessels in the whale fishery. 

 It lias a regular communication with London, by 

 means of sailing-smacks, and two or three splendid 

 steam-vessels. Some years ago, a railway was 

 opened between Dundee and Newtyle, a village about 

 ten miles distant, which lays open a traffic, chiefly 

 agricultural, with that district. This railway is about 

 to be extended to Cupar Angus, Glammis, Forfar, 

 &c. About .200,000 has been expended on the 

 harbour of Dundee. In front of the quay, are various 

 docks and ship-yards, terminated on the west by 

 Craig Pier, which is exclusively used for large ferry 

 steam-boats. On the east, there project into the 

 deep water the piers, on which are placed various 

 coloured lights, to guide the seamen at night. Oppo- 

 site to the town is a beacon built on a dangerous 

 rock. The quays of Dundee are unequalled in Scot- 

 land, and, considering the difficulties attending their 

 erection, convey a striking impression of the public 

 spirit of the inhabitants. The tonnage of the port 

 amounted in 1832, to 32,868 tons. Its imports in 

 flax and hemp, in the same year, amounted to 21,967 

 tons. The increase in trade in Dundee, within the 

 last fifteen years, has been in a greater ratio than that 

 of any other town in Scotland, not even excepting 

 Glasgow. In 1815, 66 vessels entered inwards 

 with cargoes from foreign ports, registering 10,620 

 tons ; in 1832, there were 307 vessels, registering 

 46,539 tons. In 1815, three vessels cleared outwards 

 with cargoes for foreign ports, registering 679 tons : 

 in 1832, 56 vessels cleared outwards for foreign 

 ports, registering 11,159 tons. The same marked in- 

 crease has been made on. the population of Dundee. In 

 1821, it was 30,575, but by the census of 1831, it was 

 45,355, exclusive of seamen belonging to the port 



DUNFERMLINE, a large burgh-town in the 

 county of Fife, situated fifteen miles north-west of 

 Edinburgh. From a very early period this was a 

 royal residence, traces of which are still existing in 

 the ruins of a castle, anciently occupied by Malcolm 

 Canmore ; and in the remains of a palace, which was 

 rebuilt by Anne of Denmark, said to have been tin; 

 birth-place of Charles I. These relics are within tin- 



