Leith.] SHIPBUILDING. 281
put on board the privateer and landed at Calais,
from whence we were ten days marching to Valenciennes
; were lodged in the most horrid jails by
the way, and were allowed nothing but bread and
water.?
In the May of the following year, the brig
CaZedonia, of Leith, and the Mary, of Kirkwall,
were both captured, not far from Aberdeen, by a
French privateer ; but when within three miles of
the coast of France, they escaped to Yarmouth, on
the appearance of the Ludy Anne, an armed lugger,
commanded by Lieutenant Wright, R.N.
On the 6th March, 1800, the Pox, Letter of
Marque, of Leith, fought a sharp battle, which
her captain, James Ogilvy, thus details in the
report to his owners there :-
?Last night, at 11 p.m., Dungeness, NNW,
three leagues, I observed a lugger lying on my
lee-bow ; the moment he saw me he made sail and
ran ahead to windward, and hove-to until I came
up. I observed his motions, hoisted a light on my
maintop, and hailed the Juno, of KirkcaIdy, Mr.
James Condy, who came from Leith Roads along
with me, and kept company all the way, to keep
close by me, as he was under my convoy; which
he immediately did-also two colliers. All my
hands lay on deck, and were prepared to receive
him (the enemy), being well loaded with round and
grape shot from my small battery. He, with his
great, or lug maimail, bore down on my quarter
within pistol-shot. I immediately gave him our
broadside, which, from the confusion and mourning
cries, gave me every reason to suppose he must
have had a number killed and wounded, and he
lay-to, with all his sails shaking in the wind, as long
as I could see him. I am truly happy that the
Fox?s small force has been the means of saving herself,
as well as thelunu and the two colliers, from a
desperate set of thieves that so much infest this
channeL We have fortunately arrived here (Ports
mouth) safe today, with thejunu, in time to join
the convoy for Gibraltar. Have got instructions
fiom the Champion frigate, and sail to-morrow
morning ? (Heralic and Chroa, 1800).
Captain Ogilvy was presented by the underwriters
with a handsome present for his valour and
good conduct in saving and defending four ships.
In the autumn of 1801, the whole of the ship
carpenters, rope-makers, joiners, and block.makers,
to the number of 250 men, employed in the little
Government naval yard at Leith, ?? voluntarily
offered to be trained to the use of the great guns
and of pikes, in defence of the town and port 01
Leith,? refusing all pay. The enthusiasm spread at
the same time to the fishermen of the Firth of
132
Forth, who, to the number of 1,243, made through
Captain Clements an offer of their services in any
way his Majesty might require, to defend the
country from foreign invasion.
To return briefly to the arts of peace, we may
state that both at Leith and Newhaven an extensive
trade in shipbuilding has been camed on
at various periods; but for some generations past
no ships have been launched at the latter place,
yet within the recollection of many still alive shipbuilding
was one of the most important branches of
industry carried on at Leith.
In 1840, two steamers, larger than any then
afloat, were contracted for, and successfully launched
from the building-yard of the Messrs. Menzies ;
and much about the same time other ships of such
a size were built, that many persons began fondly
to suppose that the Port of Leith would keep the
lead in this great branch of industry; but, contrary
to expectation, the trade gradually declined, while
the fame and well-known character of the celebrated
Clyde-built ships and Aberdeen clippers
drew it to the west and north of Scotland. Some
amount of fresh impetus was given to it, however,
by the establishment of several yards for the construction
of iron ships, from which have been
launched a number of first-class vessels, and also
magnificent steam yachts for the Duke of Norfolk,
the Earl of Eglinton, and others.
But though the construction of new ships is not
carried on to the extent it was formerly, a considerable
number of shipcarpenters are employed in the
port repairing vessels, some afloat and others in dry
docks. In the winter and spring artisans of this
class are most in demand, re-classing and overhauling
vessels laid up during these seasons, after
arriving from long voyages.
It has more than once been observed that by
fiu the worst circumstance which in modern times
has damaged the port, and at one time seriously
menaced its trade with ruin, was its predicament
with regard to steam vessels. Some of the latter,
built to ply from it, have been so constructed as,
with a sacrifice of their speed and sailing powers,
not to suffer much injury when seeking harbourage ;
but others, such as are most serviceable and
valuable to a great port, can barely enter it.
This consideration will lead us naturally to the
description of the several docks that have been
built from time to time with a view to meet the
growing requirements both as to traffic and increased
size of vessels. One of these docks, the
Prince of Wales?s Graving Dock, is capable of
receiving the largest ship in the merchant service,
except the Great Eastern.
282 OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Leith.
C H A P T E R X X X I I I .
LEITH-TIIE DOCKS.
New Docks proposed-Apathy of the Government-First Graving Dock, 1710-Two more Docks constructed-Shellycoat?s Rock-The
Contract-The Dock of &-The King?s Bastion-The Queen?s Dock-New Piers-The Victoria Dock-The Albert Dock-The
Edinburgh Dock-Its &tent-Ceremony of Opening-A Glance at the Trade of Leith,
IN theyear when the first stone pier was built (1710)
steps were taken towards building a regular dock
in Leith, when the Lord Provost, Magistrates,
and Town Council of Edinburgh, petitioned Queen
Anne, praying her to establish at Leith, ? the port
of her ancient and loyal city of Edinburgh, a wet
and dry dock, for the commencing of building,
fitting, and repairing her Majesty?s ships of war
and trading vessels, which would greatly conduce
to the interests of trade in general.?
Every Scottish project in those days, and for
long after, was doomed to be blighted by the loss
of the national legislature ; so this petition had not
the slightest effect,
Time went on, and another was presented, and
ultimately, under instructions issued by the Earl of
Pembroke, then Lord High Admiral, some naval
officers surveyed the Firth of Forth, and were pleased
to report that Leith was the most suitable port, and
two docks were eventually formed on the west side
of the old harbour, the first, a pving dock, being
constructed in 1720, in front of the Sand Port,
where now the Custom House stands.
The west quay, which now takes its name
from that edifice, was built in 1777, but the
accommodation still being inadequate for the requirements
of the growing trade of the port, the
magistrates of Edinburgh obtained, in I 788, an
Act of Parliament empowering them to borrow the
sum of &30,000 for the purpose of constructing a
basin, or wet dock, of seven English acres, above
the dam of the saw-mills at Leith, a lock at the
Sheriff Brae, and a communication between the
latter and the basin.
This plan, however-one by Mr. Robert Whitworth,
engineer-was abandoned, and the magistrates
applied again to Parliament, and in 1799
obtained an Act authorising them to borrow
~160,000 to execute a portion of John Rennie?s
magnificent and more extensive design, which embraced
the idea?bf a vast range of docks, stretching
from the north pier of Leith to Newhaven, with an
entrance at each of these places.
The site chosen for these new docks was parallel
with what was known as the Short Sand, or from the
Sand Port, at the back of the north pier westward,
to nearly the east flank of the old battery; and here,
for the last time, we may refer to one of the many
superstitions for which Leith was famous of old
and perhaps the most quaint of these was connected
with a large rock, which lay on the site of these
new docks, and not far from the citadel, which was
supposed to be the seat, or abode, of a demon
called Shellycodt, a kind of spirit of the waters,
who, in the ?Traditions and Antiquities of Leith:?
has been described as ?ra sort of monster fiend,
gigantic, but undefinable, who possessed powers
almost infinite ; who never undertook anything, no
matter how great, which he failed to accomplish ;
his swiftness was that of a spirit, and he delighted
in deeds of blood and devastation.?
Stiellycoat, so named from his skin or gamient
of shells, was long the bugbear of the urchins of
Leith, and even of their seniors; but in the new
dock operations his half-submerged rock was blown
up or otherwise removed, and Shellycoat, like the
Twelve o?clock Coach, the Green Lady, and the
Fairy Drummer, is now a thing of the past.
In March, 1800, appeared in the Edinburgh
papers the advertisement for contractors for the
works at Leith thus :-
?All persons willing to contract for quarrying
stones, at the quarry now opened near Rosythe
Castle, westward of North Queensferry, and putting
them on board a vessel, and also for the carriage
and delivery at Leith, for the purpose of constructing
a WET DOCK there, are desired, on or before the
first Monday in April next, to send to John Gray,
Town Clerk, proposals sealed, containing-First,
the price per ton for which they are willing to
quarry such stones and put them on board a vessel ;
and secondly, for the carriage and delivery of them
at Leith.
?There will be wanted for the Sea Wall about
two hundred and fifty thousand cubic feet of
ashlar, and in the Quay Walls about one hundred
and seventy thousand cubic feet, besides a quantity
of rubble stones. A specification of the dimensions
and shape of the stones, and the conditions of the
contract, will be shown by Charles Cunningham, at
the Dean of Guild?s office, St Giles?s Church.
? Edinburgh, March I zth, 1800.?
These details are not without interest now; but
it is remarkable that the materials should have been
brought from the coast of Fife, when the quarries at
Granton had been known for ages.
