Princes Street. THE sco-rr MONUMENT. 127
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Beattie, James Thomson, and John Home, adorn
the west front j those of Queen Mary, King James
features of this beautiful and imposing structure,
the design of a self-taught Scottish artisan, The
four principal arches supporting the central tower
resemble those beneath the rood-tower of a cruciform
church, while the lower arches in the dia-
! gonal abutments, with their exquisitely-cut details,
resemble the narrow north aisle of Melrose.
? The groined roof over the statue is of the same
design as the roof of the choir of that noble abbey
church so niuch frequented and so enthusiastically
admired by Sir Walter. The pillars, canopies
of niches, pinnacles, and other details, are chiefly
copied from the same ruin, and magnificent views
of the city in every direction are to be had from
its lofty galleries.
It cost A15,650, and from time to time statuettes
of historical and other personages who figure
in the pages of Scott have been placed in its
numerous niches. Among these are Prince Charles
Edward, who directly faces Princes Street, in the
Highland dress, with a hand on his sword; the
Lady of the Lake; the Last Minstrel and Meg
Merrilies-these are respectively ou the four
centres of the first gallery; Mause Headrigg,
Dominie Sampson, Meg Dods, and Dandie
Dinmont, are respectively on the south, the west,
the north, and the east, of the fourth gallery ; King
James VI., Magnus Troil, and Halbert Glendinning,
occupy the upper tier of the south-west
buttress ; Minnie Trofi, George Heriot, and Bailie
Nicol Jarvie, are on the lower tier of it; Amy
Robsart, the Earl of Leicester, and Baron
Bradwardine, are on the upper tier of the northwest
buttress ; Ha1 0? the Wynd, the Glee Maiden,
and Ellen of Lorn, are on the lower tier thereof;
Edie Ochiltree, King Robert I., and Old Mortality,
are on the upper tier of the north-east buttress;
Flora MacIvor, Jeanie Deans, and the Laird of
Dumhiedykes, are on the lower tier of it; the
Sultan Saladin, Friar Tuck, and Richard Cceur de
Lion, are on the upper tier of the south-east buttress
; and Rebecca the Jewess, Diana Vernon, and
Queen Mary, are on its lower tier.
On the capitals and pilasters supporting the roof
are some exquisitely cut heads of Scottish poets :
those of Robert Bums, Robert Fergusson, James
Hogg, and Allan Ramsay, are on the west front;
those of George Buchanan, Sir David Lindsay,
Robert Tannahill, and Lord Byron, are on the
south front; those of Tobias Smollett. Tames sonal form of memorial-namely, great genius,
distinguished patriotism, and the stature and
figure of a demi-god.? To his contemporaries
chisel of Sir John Steel, procured at the cost of
;62,000, was inaugurated under the central arches
in 1846.
Sir Walter is represented sitting with a Border
plaid over his left shoulder, and his favourite highland
staghound, Maida, at his right foot.
A staircase in the interior of the south-west
cluster of pillars leads to the series of galleries to
which visitors are admitted on the modest payment
of twopence. It also gives access to the Museum
room, which occupies the body of the tower, and
therein a number of interesting relics were
deposited at its inauguration in April, 1879.
These are too numerous to give in detail, but
among them may be mentioned a statuette of Sir
Walter, by Steel, a bust of George Kemp, the illfated
architect, with his first pencil sketch of the
monument, and a number of models and paintings
of historical interest ; and on the walls are placed
eight alto-relievo portraits in bronze (by J.
Hutchison, R.S.A.) of Scottish characters of
mark, including James V., James VI., Queen
Mary, John Knox, George Buchanan, the Regent
Moray, the Marquis of Montrose, and Charles I.
In the cdlection are some valuable letters in
the handwriting of Sir Walter Scott ; and the walls
are adorned with some of the old flint muskets,
swords, and drums of the ancient City Guard.
The statue of Professor John Witson, ?? Christopher
North,? at the western corner of the East
Gardens, is the result of a subscription raised
shortly after his death in 1854. A committee for
the purpose was appointed, consisting of the Lord
Justice General (afterwards Lord Colonsay), Lord
Neaves, Sir John Watson Gordon, and others,
and three years after Sir John Steel executed the
statue, which is of bronze, and is a fine representation
of one who is fresh in the recollection of
thousands of his countrymen. The careless ease
of the professois ordinary dress is adopted; a
plaid which he was in the habit of wearing
supplies the drapery, and the lion-like head and
face, fill of mental and muscular power, thrown
slightly upward and backward, express genius,
while the figure, tall, massive, and athletic, corres
ponds to the elevated expression of the countenance..
At its inauguration the Lord President Inglis said,
happily, that there was ?in John Wilson every
element which gives a man a claini to this per-
I., King James V., and Drummond of Hawthornden,
are on the north front.
The white marble statue of Scott, from the
this statue vividly recalls Wilson in his every-day
aspect, as he was wont to appear in his class
room or on the platform in the fervour of his
