98 



MR ROBERT COCKBURN MOSSMAN ON 



1809 



REMARKS. 



1809 



1809 

 1809 

 1809 



1810 



1810 

 1810 



Great cold — contd.\ became pretty severe, and it continued so for several succeeding days, ac- 

 companied with much drifting snow, and some hail. On the 7th, the wind 

 veering for some time towards the south, a gentle thaw commenced. This 

 continued till the 12th, when frost again set in. The quantity of snow near 

 Edinburgh, was, at this time, nothing to what occurred to the north of the 

 Forth. Between Queensferry and Kinross, it lay from 6 to 10 feet deep 

 for many days. On Wednesday the 18th, in the evening, the frost became 

 exceedingly intense, the mercury in Fahrenheit's thermometer falling as low 

 as 11° or 21° below the freezing point in the neighbourhood of this city. 

 At Foxhall, about eight miles west from Edinburgh, in a window exposed 

 to the current of air from the N.E., it was observed as low as 6°, or 26° be- 

 low the freezing point. During the three following days, the thermometer 

 indicated from 22° to 28°. Sunday the 22nd was one of the coldest days 

 in the remembrance of the present generation. At 8 o'clock in the morning, 

 in this city, the mercury stood at 11°. A little way from town it was 

 observed at 8°. In Queen Street, exposed to the north, it was as low 

 as 6°. In the evening it was perhaps still colder ; for, at Foxhall, it was 

 noticed as low as 5°, or 27° below the freezing point. The large basin of 

 the new harbour at Leith, though filled with salt water, was so completely 

 frozen over, that the sailors could pass from ship to ship upon the ice. 

 From the 22nd to the 25th, the thermometer varied from 15° to 

 25°. 



January 26. The intensity of the cold began this day to abate. Snow 

 fell copiously, drifting in some places to the depth of many feet. The ice 

 on the lakes in this neighbourhood has been observed to be from 18 to 22 

 inches thick. 



January 27. In the morning the mercury rose 15° above the freezing 

 point ; and a breeze springing up from the S. W., the snow began to dis- 

 appear rapidly. 



January 29. " Squalls from S.W., accompanied with heavy showers of 

 rain, have produced so rapid a solution of the immense quantity of snow 

 which covered the high grounds, that all the meadows are flooded, and the 

 level parts of the country around Edinburgh appear as if spotted with small 

 lakes." — Neill. 



Snow May 29. A heavy fall of snow and hail has rendered the whole country 



around Edinburgh quite white. The snow and hail continuing at intervals 

 on the 30th and 31st, in some places, to the south of this, lay on the 

 ground a foot and a half deep. 



Thunderstorm August 3. At half past 7 p.m. a thunderstorm passed over Leith and 



Edinburgh. The lightning killed a boy at the former place. 



Meteor August 11. At half past 9 p.m. a meteor was seen in the north-west. It 



appeared about the same time at Glasgow. 



Thunderstorm August 13. Violent thunderstorm with torrents of rain at 1 p.m. 



Streets inundated, and part of a garden wall at the west end of Queen 

 Street washed away. 



Snowstorm January 15. On this day a heavy fall of snow came on. On the follow- 



ing morning the depth around Edinburgh was 18 inches. So much has not 

 fallen in such a short space of time for fourteen years past, since the re- 

 markable winter of 1795. The fall was but local, extending j little beyond 

 Dunbar to the S. and Glasgow to the W. Thick fog on the 20th, which 

 covered trees and shrubs with beautiful frost crystals. 



Snow May 4-7. A good deal of snow and hail has fallen, with the wind from 



E. and N.E. 



Meteor August 28. A few minutes past 12 p.m. a very brilliant meteor ap- 



peared here, in the S.W., and rapidly proceeded in a north-easterly direc- 

 tion. Its apparent size and shape were those of a large tun or hogshead. 

 It had stripes or bands of bright light along its sides, which continued a 

 short way beyond the ball, and formed a sort of fringed tail. No noise 

 was heard. 



