The Ports, Harbours, Watering-places and Picturesque Scenery of Great Britain Volume I Part 8

DUNDEE.

ENTRANCE TO THE PORT.

"Here busy commerce spreads her sail; The Tay flows broad and free; And sea and river, hill and dale.

Pay tribute to DUNDEE."

Highly favoured by nature in point of situation, Dundee has enjoyed, from the remotest period of our national history, many facilities for the encouragement of trade. But it is only in more recent times that she has risen to that eminence which now places her among the first-rate commercial towns of the empire. That laudable spirit of enterprise which has encircled the whole island with new or improved ports and harbours, has operated most beneficially for those of Dundee; where, within the last twenty or thirty years, almost every improvement which either science could suggest or wealth accomplish has been carried into effect.

On the return of peace in 1815, the first great impulse was given to the manufactures and commerce of Dundee, by the renovation and extension of the harbour. Prior to that epoch, the accommodation provided for shipping was adapted to the most limited commerce only. One small pier and two or three clumsy erections in a state of dilapidation, and which it required a boat to reach, const.i.tuted the sole protection afforded to the shipping, and the only convenience for discharging or loading.

Although the spirit of enlightened enterprise had been at work for several years, it was only at this late period that application was made to Parliament, and a bill obtained for separating the harbour from the other branches of the common good, and for investing the management of it for a term of years in district commissioners, who were selected partly from the magistrates, and partly from the public bodies of the town. Great pains were taken to procure the best plans; and after all preliminaries had been settled, the work was begun and carried on with such extraordinary activity, that, although everything was finished in the most substantial manner, all was accomplished within the time specified. The plan comprised the new harbour, consisting of a wet-dock of about six acres; a tide-harbour of much greater extent; a graving-dock, capable of containing three of the largest merchant-vessels frequenting the Tay; extensive carpenters' and other yards for ship-building; wide and capacious quays, affording berthage for about thirty vessels to load or discharge at the same time. From the first moment that measures were taken to ensure this superior accommodation, the number and tonnage of the ships were increased by their owners, and the trade and commerce of the port most materially improved. The expenditure incurred by these great public works, though amounting, from 1815 to 1833, to 242,000, or upwards, was judiciously (says our Statistical authority) applied, and with great advantage both to the private trust and to the public at large.

When the plan for the new harbour was adopted in 1815, it was considered to be so extensive, especially when compared with what preceded it, that it was generally believed that the accommodation it promised would exceed the necessities of the trade of Dundee for many years; but this was so far from the fact, that some years ago the want of sufficient berthage became so much a subject of complaint, that measures were taken as soon as possible to remedy the evil. A new harbour-bill was applied for, and obtained, vesting the sh.o.r.e-dues permanently in a board of trustees. A plan was adopted for extending the tide-harbour, and for converting the greater part of it into a wet-dock, and for other improvements, rendered necessary by the rapidly increasing trade and commerce of the town, all of which have been completed.

In population, trade, and manufactures, as above stated, Dundee has advanced faster perhaps than any town so situated in the United Kingdom.

There are men now living who remember when its population was less than one-fifth of what it now is; and when its harbour was a crooked wall, affording shelter to only a few fishing or smuggling-craft; when its spinning-mills were things unknown and unthought of; and when its trade was hardly deserving of the name.[11]

[11] For many of the preceding facts we are indebted to the New Statistics of the Town and Port of Dundee, a work indispensable to all who desire correct information on the subject.

[Ill.u.s.tration: DUNDEE, FROM THE OPPOSITE SIDE OF THE TAY.]

DUNDEE.

FROM THE OPPOSITE SIDE OF THE TAY.

Our present engraving depicts a scene of great natural beauty, and a faithful picture of one of the most thriving of the Scottish seaports.

Few towns in the United Kingdom have advanced so rapidly in commercial importance. The manufactures of Dundee have become of great interest not only to the town, but to the nation at large. The proportion which they bear to the general produce of the industry of the state is very high; and their rapid and continued progress holds out the most encouraging prospect of still greater accessions in every department of trade. Of these manufactures, the linen trade holds the first place; it employs the greatest number of hands and the greatest capital, and gives a stimulus to all other branches of trade and commerce. The materials for this branch of manufacture are imported from Russia, Prussia, Holland, and Brabant, and thus employ a great number of ships and seamen. Up to the beginning of the present century, all the linen yarns manufactured here were hand-spun; and in 1811 there were only four spinning-mills driven by steam: at the present time there are upwards of 100 flax spinning-mills, employing more than 8,000 hands, of whom nearly one half are females. The following figures exhibit the progressive increase of this trade:--The importation of flax in 1790 was 2,700 tons; in 1850, 55,000 tons. The export of linen in 1790 was 8 millions of yards; in 1850, 85 millions of yards. The yarns thus manufactured are generally sent from the mills direct to the bleach-fields, or to the wash-mill, where they are scoured or whitened, and prepared for the loom. In weaving sail-cloth, and other heavy goods, men only are employed; but, in the lighter fabrics, women perform the work as well as the men.

Formerly, the women were employed in spinning only; but here, as everywhere else, where steam is employed, the introduction of machinery has wholly superseded the use of the domestic wheel and distaff, and compelled the females to earn a scanty subsistence in a much less appropriate labour.

Within the last thirty years the population of Dundee has been more than doubled; its charitable contributions have risen from under 2,000 to nearly 12,000 per annum; its shipping has increased fourfold; while its linen trade has been called almost entirely into existence. But the reverse of the picture must not be concealed--the a.s.sessment of the poor has advanced tenfold; in 1791, it was 400, it is now upwards of 10,000. This is an evil, it has been said, inseparable from prosperous communities, for the poor generally flock to, or are increased in them; and where mult.i.tudes are gathered together at various employments, example does not always favour economy, industry, and virtue. Nor is it easy, amidst the spirit of enterprise which is now abroad, to suggest any improvement for the town which the resident authorities have not already in contemplation.

Full tide in the estuary of the Tay is generally said to occur, on the days of the new and full moon, at a quarter past two o'clock, but in the harbour of Dundee it flows till about half-past two. The average height of the spring-tides, as measured by an index at the entrance to King William's Dock, is about seventeen feet, while that of the neap-tides is about eleven feet. The water opposite the town, though saline, is not wholly marine, but considerably diluted by the fresh water flowing down the river; and this is the reason, probably, why sea-water insects never attack the piles, buoys, or beacons about the harbour. Opposite the town, the river Tay is very nearly two miles broad. The channel across is much interrupted by a sand-bank, which, though formed within the last forty years, has now at full spring-tides only about ten feet water over its surface, and at neap-tides scarcely more than four. Its position is not far from midway across; its form is spindle-shaped; its length, as seen at low water, upwards of a mile; and its course parallel with that of the river. At present, its lower or eastern extremity is stretching down in the form of a curve, concave towards the harbour of Dundee; but it is so constantly altering its features, that no further remark need be made upon it than this, that it is always acc.u.mulating, and slowly moving down the river. This sand-bank, in reference to the navigation of the Tay, is naturally an object of no small interest and solicitude.

[Ill.u.s.tration: ABBEY OF ARBROATH.]

THE ABBEY OF ARBROATH.

The Harbour, which was originally at the end of the East Causeway, was formed about the remote period of 1194; but being ill-constructed for the craft and increasing traffic of more modern times, a brief or bill was obtained for building a new pier in 1725, and which is situated a little to the westward of the old one. It is strongly built of stone, and, though not capacious, is sufficiently commodious to admit of vessels lying close to any part of it, either to receive or discharge their cargoes. During spring-tides there is a depth of from fifteen to sixteen feet of water at the entrance, and at neap-tides of from nine to ten feet; but it is dry at low water. Here, as in most of the other ports of this coast, there is a considerable foreign trade carried on with Russia, Norway, and Sweden, as well as a home-trade in lime, coals, and agricultural produce. The trade at this port is now so rapidly increasing, that great improvements in the harbour are contemplated. It counts seventy-seven vessels of its own, registering 6700 tons.

Near the south side of the harbour of Arbroath is a handsome signal-tower fifty feet high, which is used for communicating with the keepers of the Bell Rock Lighthouse. On a clear day this gigantic column may be seen rising from the sea at the distance of about twelve miles.

The Bell Rock, so long known and celebrated in history, tradition, and poetry as the "Inchcape," is thus described by an ancient chronicler: "By east the Castle of May twelve miles from all land, in the German Sea, lies a great hidden rock called Inchcape, very dangerous for navigators, because it is overflowed every tide. It is reported that in old times, upon the said rock, there was a bell fixed upon a tree or timber, which rang continually, being moved by the sea, and thus gave notice to sailors of their danger. This bell, or _cloche_, was put thus, and maintained by the pious Abbot of Arbroath, and being taken down by a sea-pirate a year thereafter, he perished upon the same rock, with ship and cargo, in the righteous judgment of G.o.d."[12]

But the glory of Arbroath, as every reader knows, is its ABBEY, which, as seen in the accompanying view, presents one of the most imposing monastic ruins in existence. It was founded in 1178, by King William the Lion, who was buried here, and dedicated to St. Thomas a Becket, of Canterbury. The monks, to whose ministry this sumptuous temple was consigned, were of the Benedictine or Tyronensian order, and brought from the Abbey of Kelso, the abbot of which declared them, on their first instalment, free from his jurisdiction. The monastery, thus tenanted, soon obtained those great and peculiar privileges which it long continued to enjoy. Its abbots were frequently the first churchmen of the kingdom; and a charter from King John of England, under the great seal, is still extant, by which the monastery and the citizens of Aberbrothock are exempted _a teloniis et consuetudine_, in every part of England, except London and Oxford.

It was inferior, perhaps, in architectural elegance to Melrose, Elgin, and some others; but, with the exception of Holyrood, it was probably the most wealthy monastic establishment in Scotland. The monks did not exceed twenty-five in number; and some idea may be formed of the abbot's charity and hospitality from this fact, that one of the orders issued for the yearly provision of the abbey is thus particularized:--eight hundred wedder sheep, one hundred and eighty oxen, eleven barrels of salmon, twelve hundred and five dried cod-fish, eighty-two chalders of malt, thirty chalders of wheat, and forty chalders of meal; these supplies, it is to be observed, were in addition to the rents paid in kind by the abbot's tenants.

The Abbey of Arbroath appears to have been demolished some time previously to the general destruction of the religious houses at the Reformation. Tradition ascribes its early fate to a quarrel between the monks and Ochterlony, Laird of Kelly, at whose instigation a lawless mob attacked and set fire to the abbey, till the neighbouring streets, it is said, "were deluged with the melted lead that streamed from its roof."

After the destruction and spoliation of the abbey, Arbroath lost all its importance as a royal burgh, and continued in a very depressed state till the building of the new pier, when commerce began to repair the loss and recover some portion of its ancient prosperity. The population is about 7000, or upwards.

[12] Monipennie's _Scots Chronicles_. London, 1612.

[Ill.u.s.tration: MONTROSE.]

MONTROSE.

"Mare ditat: Rosa decorat."

"Montrose--a beauty that lies concealed, as it were, in the bosom of Scotland; most delicately dressed up, and adorned with excellent buildings, whose foundations are laid with polished stone, and her ports all washed with silver streams that trickle down from the famous Ask."--RICHARD FRANK, A.D. 1658.

Montrose, a royal burgh and sea-port town of Forfarshire, is agreeably situated on a level plain, or peninsula, bounded on the north-east by the German Ocean, on the south by the river South Esk, and on the west by a large expanse of this river, called the Basin of Montrose. The erection of this town into a royal burgh has generally been referred to the year 1352, being the twenty-third of the reign of David II.; but it appears to have been a place of some note long before it acquired this dignity, and is connected with many important events in the history of Scotland. It is mentioned by Froissart, as the port from which the gallant Sir James Douglas embarked in 1330, for the Holy Land, attended by a numerous and splendid retinue, and carrying with him the heart of King Robert Bruce. This, as the reader knows, was in execution of the last charge committed to him by his royal master, namely, to carry the heart of the deceased monarch to Jerusalem, and there deposit it in the holy sepulchre. The disastrous failure of this pious enterprise is too well known to require further notice in this place.

The princ.i.p.al manufactures carried on in Montrose are the spinning and weaving of flax. For this purpose there are several steam-mills for spinning, and one on the North Esk driven by water. These steam-mills produce annually upwards of 800,000 spindles. There are also in the town soap, starch, rope, and sail manufactories; and others for making steam-machinery. Ship-building is carried on to a considerable extent, and there is a patent slip, introduced for repairing ships. There are also in addition various breweries, tan-works, candle-works, a foundry, and a steam-mill for grinding meal and flour.

Montrose is the port of the Custom-house, and, as such, comprehends within its bounds all that district between the lights of Tay on the south, and the Todhead on the north, thereby including Arbroath, and other places of less importance.

The princ.i.p.al foreign imports into Montrose consist of flax, hemp, tallow, whale-fins and oil, fir-timber, oak and oak-planks, deal and deal-ends. But as the goods manufactured here are sent coastwise to London, Glasgow, Dundee, and other towns, there are few or no _exports_ to foreign places from Montrose. Owing, however, to the bonded system having been extended to this port, nearly all the foreign wines and spirits consumed in the district, are brought coastwise to the bonded warehouses, and pay duty at the Custom-house when taken out for consumption.

The _exports_ from this district by the coasting-trade consist of wheat, oats, barley, rye, peas, beans, and potatoes; salmon, codfish, and pork, the latter chiefly for the London market: great coal, culm, parret, lime, blue slate, iron, tallow, rosin, barilla, kelp, salt, and herrings from the Moray Frith, chiefly smoked and sent to the Hull and London markets. The princ.i.p.al import from the English coast is coal; but various other articles are imported and exported by regular traders to London, Glasgow, and Leith.

Montrose contains several public edifices, all designed with considerable taste and substantially executed. Among these are the church, with a fine gothic tower, St. John's church, St. Peter's episcopal chapel, the Town-hall, the Academy, the Lunatic Asylum, and the Jail. The finest object, however, and which combines ornament with utility, is the new Chain-bridge, erected, like many others in the United Kingdom, after a plan by Captain James Brown, of the Royal Navy.

The foundation-stone of this admirable structure was laid on the 18th of September, 1828, and the whole was completed before the close of the following year. The distance between the towers at the two extremities of the bridge, measured from the centre, is four hundred and thirty-two feet. The height of each tower is seventy-one feet, namely, twenty-three and a half from the foundation to the roadway; forty-four from the roadway to the top of the cornice; and three feet and a half forming the cornice. It spans the river, South Esk, and is justly considered the finest specimen of the kind in Scotland. The whole cost is stated at twenty thousand pounds.

The population of Montrose continues rapidly to increase. The society is very superior to that of most country towns, and includes amongst its members men who have distinguished themselves in every department of the state. It was formerly represented in Parliament by Joseph Hume, Esq., a native of the place, and so well known as a leading member in the House of Commons.