Edinburgh New Town
FIELD OF DREAMS:
THE BüILDNG OF THE EDINBURGH NEW TOWN
1750 - 1830
SUSAN ELMETHFRY
A thesis submitted to the Deparment of Art History
in confomity with the requirements for
the degree of Master of Arts
Queen's University
Kingston, Ontario, Canada
September, ZOO0
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This thesis will discuss the building of the Edinburgh New Town, c. 1750-1830.
An undertaking engineered by the city's ruling classes, the development of the New
Town had econornic, political and psychological consequences on the physical and social structure of the Sconish capital.
The building of the New Town will be addressed primarily through theories of
improvement prevaient in the mid-to-Iate eighteenth-century and early nineteenth- century. The interpretation of topographical landscapes, particdarly hvo landscapes done by the Scomsh painter, Alexander Nasmyth ( 1758- 1840), Princes metwith the
Building of the Royui Institution and Eclinburgh fiom the Cdton Hill, will provide a means for interpreting improvement ideology and its co~ectionto the Sconish
Enlightenrnent. The topic will be approached from a socio-histoncal perspective,
specifically through methodologies used by Andrew Hemingway in the 1992 work,
Lr»Jscupe Imogery and Urban C'uifutern Ear(v Nineteenth-C'entq Brituin.
Theones of Scottish nationalism and heritage will also be discwed in relation to
the building of the Edinburgh New Town. in light of recent political events in Scotland
and the country's new found devolutionist status, a discussion of the permanency of
improvement, independence and identity is particularly interesting. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I dedicate my thesis to my Aunt Came, to whom 1 always promised rny first publication
Fint of ail, I must mention that, at the very last minute, J.C.B. Cooksey's book on
Alexander Nasmyth was brought to my attention and 1 regret that I was not able to use it in my thesis. I have included it in my bibliography for any interested readers and it will, undoubtedly ,prove fundamental to my subsequent work on thjs subject.
For their part in my cornpletion of this thesis, I would like to thank my fhends and farnily in St. John's, who widerstood that following rny dreams meant leaving home, but, nevertheless, supported me in my endeavoun, parhcularly my mother, whose unwavering support showed me that the most heartfelt words of encouragement need not be delivered in person. To rny brother, David, and sister-in-law, Karen, rny own piece of 'The Rock' in Kingston, whose presence consistently reitentes the importance of farnily.
To my new-found hends in Kingston and everyone in the Queen's Art History deparûnent: to Nina, Roseanne and Mary in the Art Library, to an amazing faculty whom
I have had the pleasure to study under and especially to my fel low graduate students. 1 have never experienced such a feeling of camaraderie and 1 am privileged to be a rnember of such a special group. f especially thank Ken and Scott Cronin, without whose friendship I would have never made it through this Surnrner. 1 would like to thank rny
Thesis Exarnining Cornmittee - R.D.Griffi th (Classics), Bnan Osborne (Geography ),
Pierre du Prey, Cathleeen Hoeniger and Janice Helland. Professor du Prey has enlivened the love of architecture that first brought me to Queen's and Professon Hoeniger and Helland have helped me realize the importance of expressing feminine strength.
Finally, 1 would like to thank Professor Janice Helland, whose kindness, intelligence and integity inspires me to be a better person. I am eternally gratefûl for her constant @dance and support. Her knowledge, opemess and rnodesty has enriched the lives of al1 her students and 1 am honoured to count myself among them. She has taught me that visions cm only become reality when, like the Sconish themselves, we assert our independence and begin listening to our own voice.
Scots, Whu Hue' TABLE OF CONTENTS
Abstract 1
.- ... Acknowledgements 11-111
List of figures v-vi ii
Introduction 1- 14
Chapter 1 15-33
Chapter 2 34-76
Chapter 3 77-1 10
Chapter 4 11 1-135
Condusion 136-138
Bibliography 139-144
Figures 145-173
Vita 174 LIST OF FIGURES
1. James Craig's 'Plan for the New Town of Edinburgh', 1767. In Edinburgh New Town
Bicentenary Celebrut ion 1 767-1967. (Edinburgh: The City and Royal Burgh of
Edinburgh, 1967).
2. David Alla. Junzes Cruig. A portrait in the National Portrait Gallery, Scotland. In A.
J. Youngson, The Muking of Claîsicd Edinbwgh (Edinburgh : Edinburgh LJP, 1966),
frontispiece.
3. Al exander Nasmyth. Princes Street w ith the Royd imtitzition Building uncier
C.'on,~trwction,1825. In Duncan MacMillan, Painting in Scotkud: The Golden Age
(Oxford: Phaidon, l986), pl. 34.
4. Alexander Nasmyth. Edin3urghfiom lhe Culton Hill, 1 825. In MacMillan, pl. 35.
5. George Dnmtmond. A p&t. in Ian Nimmo, The Edinburgh New Town
(Edinburgh: John Donald, 199 1 ), p. 33.
6. Patrick Nasmyth. Edinburghfrom the North West, 18 19. S & D. National Gallery of
Scotland.
7. John Knox. A View ofEdinbwghfrom Cononmills, c. 1825. National Gallery of
Scotiand.
8. James Dnimmond The Porteou Mob, 1855. National Gallery of Scotland.
9. The Canongute. Edinburgh, hoking West. hwnby Thomas H. Shepherd.
Engraved by W. Tombleson. In Thomas H. Shepherd and John Brinon, MohAthens
Displayed in o Series of Vious; or Edinbiagh in the Nineteenrh Cew(New York
and London: Benjamin Blom, 1969), facing p. 3 1. 10. James Dmmond Ridd'e 's Chse, Lmvnmarket, 1854. Ln E. F. Catfurd, Edinburgh: neS~ury of a Crty (London: Hutchinson, 1975), facing p. 56.
1 1. Waterwlow of Edinburgh looking northeast fiom Castlehill, across the Nor' Loch to
Bearford's Parks, site of the New Town, c. 1750. Symboloe Sco~~coe,Edinburgh
University Library. In Youngson, pp. 18-19.
17. Alexander Nasmyth. Neil, 3" Earl ofRosebcry with Family, c.1780s. National
Gallenes of Scotland, In Peter Johnson and Ede Money, The NmnmvthFumjlv 01'
Parnters (Leigh on Sea, England: F. Lewis, 1977), pl. 2.
13. Alexander Nasmyth hveratayfrum the Seo, c. 180 1. Private Collection. In
MacMillan, pl. 3 1.
14. Alexander Nasmyth. Vicw ofEdinburghfiom ~heEUSI, 1 789. S& D. ln JO hnson and Money, pl. 23
15. Alexander Nasmyth. Ed;rzburghfiorn the Wesr, 1821. S & D.Oscar & Peter Johnson
Ltd. In Johnson and Money, pl. 10.
16. Thistle Court, reputediy the first house built in the New Town. Photographed by
Edwin Smith. In Youngson,facing p. 80.
17. Hugh William Williams. Myhlogical Ehburghfiom Arthur S SM Edinburgh
City Art Centre. In Charles McKean, Edznburgh: An lhstrated ArchitectwaI Guide.
(Edinburgh: Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland, 1992), p. 13
18. J. Dick Peddie. The Athens of the North RIAS Collection. In McKean, p. 125.
19. William Pldazr. A drawing in the National Gallery of Scotland In Youngson,
facing p. 196. 20. Royal htztution or Schoolof Arts. Drawn by Thomas H. Shepherd. Engraved by A.
Cme. In Shepherd and Britton, facing p. 72.
2 1. William Playfair. Rear facade, The Royal Scottish Academy. Photographed by
Edwin Smith. In Youngson, between pp. 16849.
22. William Playfair. Side elevation, Royal Scotîish Academy. Photographed by Edwin
Smith. In Youngson, facing, p. 168.
23.- Alexander Nasmyth. Edinburgh Chtie andthe Nor'hch, c. 1820s. National
Gallery of Scotland.
24. David Kay. Early Nineteemh-Cénfwy View of the Mod In Youngson, p. 123.
2 5. Vegerubk und Fish Marker fiom the Ruinbow Gufiery. Drawn by Thomas H.
Shepherd. Engraved by E. Stal ker. In Shepherd and Britton, p. 73.
26. Calton Hill in use as a public walk, mid-nineteenth-cenhiry. S'olae Scoticue,
Edinburgh University Library . In Youngson, p. 153.
27. 5. Clark. The New Town and the city fiom the northwest drawn 'on the spot', 1824.
In Edinbwgh Nov Town Bicentemry Ceiebration 1767- 196 7.
28. D.O. Hill. Edinburgh Old and New, c. 1830. National Gallery of Scotland.
29. William Playfair. Design for a New Town between Edinburgh and Leith, 1 8 19. In
Peter Reed, 'Fom and Context: A Study of Georgian Edinburgh', in Thomas A.
Markus, ed. Order in S'ce unci Society Architectural Fonn and ifsC'onfext in the
Scottish Enlzghtenmenf. (Edinburgh: Mainstream, 1 982), p. 14 1.
30. Waterloo Place cutting thtough Caiton burial ground Photographed by Edwin
Smith. in Youngson, facing p. 144.
vii 3 1. Regent Tenace on the side of Calton Hill. In Nimmo, facing, p. 63.
32. EUHEnd ofthe Brzdewell. umihil Govemor S Home. Drawn by Thomas H.
Shepherd. Engraved by W. Tombleson. ln Shepherd and Britton, facing p. 57.
33. The Néw Joilfiorn C.'uftonHill. Drawn by Thomas H. Shepherd. Engraved by W.
Tombleson. In Shepherd and Britton, facing p. 44.
34. Wenceslaus Hollar. London Before und AAftcr the Great Fwe. Etching, 1666, In
Lucy Peltz, 'Aestheticiring the Ancestral City: Antiquarianism, Topography and the
Representation of London in the Long Eighteenth Century;, in Art Hisrory November
1999, pp. 472-94 (pp. 472-73). INTRODUCTION
August, around, what Public Works 1 see! Lo' stately Streets, Io' Square that Court the breeze, See! Long Canals and deepened Riven join Each part with each and with the circling Main the wtiole enliven'd Isle. '
These words, taken from James Thomson's poem, The Seusons ( 1746) and affixed to James Craig's 'Plan for the New Town of Edinburgh' (figure 1 )' prophesied an improvement scheme that would forever change the appearance of the Scottish capital.
As intensely as the wonders of nature inspired James Thomson to write The Scusonr, so too did the wonders of Edinburgh inspire Thomson's nephew, James Craig, to plan an elegant New Town that would allow Edinburgh to take its proper place arnong the greatest European cities (figure 2).
Raymond Williams, in his ground-breaking sîudy of niral and urban ii fe, The
C'ountry and rhc CIry ( 1973), defined improvement as 'a hansformed and regulated land'.' As described by Williams, the improved city was a living, breathing entity, a being whose power lay in its 'puIse7'l:
The pulse of the recognition is still unrnistakable, and 1 know that 1 have felt it again and again: the great buildings of civilisation; the meeting-places; the libraries and theatres; the towers and domes; and often more moving than ihese, the houses, the streets, the press and excitement of so many people, with so many purposes... in these centres of settled and often rnagnificent achievements.'
The 'permanent element' of the city, Williams believed, was its 'sense of po~sibility'~
and it was this 'possibility' that the men who set the stage for Eduiburgh's improvernent
sought to invoke. The building of the Edinburgh New Town was initiated by the call to extend the city northward in the mid-eighteenth century. The call to improve was primarily a response by Edinburgh's civic leaders to a lack of suitable public buildings and overcrowded living conditions in the Old Town The growth of the city within the remnants of its medieval walls hcd continued until, by 1750, Edinburgh had become a crowded jumble of towering tenements and claustrophobic streets.' Exacerbating the problem, the Industrial Revolution, initiating the shift fiom an agnculniral to an industrial-based economy, brought about the large-scale migration fiom the countryside to the city and contributed to the need for Edinburgh's expansion.
This thesis will discuss the building of the New Town through an analysis of topographical paintings cornpleted during its development, concentrating on two images painted by the Scottish artist, Alexander Nasmyth (1758-1 MO).'Princes Street with the
Royul Insiif ution Building under Ch~tmction(c. 1 825) {figure 3 ) and Ehburghfrom the Colton Hi// (c. 1825) (figure 4)comprise half of Nasmyth's 'Edinburgh series'; the remaining pair king Shipping at Leith, 1824 and a View of the Mgh Street, 1824.9
Today, Princes Street hangs in the National Cal Iery, CXtmHill is owned by the
Clydesdale Bank in Glasgow and Shipprng at Leith is housed in the Edinburgh Art
Centre." According to Duncan MacMillan, the senes 'together consti~ea smking record of the city at the height of its fame as the home of the Scottish Enlightenrnent' .' '
Their documentary role makes Princes Street and Calton Hill particularly relevant to the relationship between irnprovement and nationalistic ideoiogy in eighteenth- and nineteentkentury Europe. They epitomize the Enlightenment ideals expounded by Edinburgh's civic leaden, ideals most emphatically stated in the PropsaIsfor Canying on Certain Public Worh in ihe City of Edinburgh ( 1î52),'2 (hereafter referred to as
Proposais). For example, in Princes Street, Nasmyth portrays the importance of the work ethic by documenting the early stages of the building of the Royal Institution (182-26), known today as the Royal Scottish Acaderny. Furthemore, he displays the hony generated by Scottish industriousness by filling Princes Street, the New Town's main thoroughfare, with a diversifieci, yet regulated, group of citizens. Likewise, EJinburgh
/rom the Caltun Hill celebrates the pride in and leisurely reflection upon the New Town's construction. 00th images document Edinburgh's expansion by illustrating the city scape of the New Town, yet they aiso indicate the receptiveness of the capital's citizens to the benefits of improvement, particularly to the notion that the construction of a beautiful capital capable of rivalling London would engender the emergence fiom England's shadow. Therefore, these landscapes reinforce the notion that the creation of the New
Town was a direct consequence of a political atrnosphere that was pre-occopied with progress and independence.
One of the fundamental symbols of progress was participation in the arts and the
Edinburgh senes was exhibiteci separately at the Royal Academy in London in 1824 and
1 826, a space that in the 1 820s was characterimi by the exclusivity of the upper classes
and an excessive amount of portraiture. Alexander Nasmyth's topographical iandscapes
signified a deviation fiom the fashon of the day, or at least the fashion as defined by
superior society. l3 Response to his work in London may have been unenthusiastic; 1 826
marked his last contribution to Academy exhibitions. l4 Alexander Nasmyth's urban scapes represent the liberal mind set of the Scottish
Enlightenment, a movement characterized by a humanistic treatrnent of a11 classes.
Nasrnyth did not merely portray Enlightenment Edinburgh, however, he lived it His position amongst the city's artistic, intellectual and political circles heightened his awareness of his audience, a group drawn primarily from these circles. Provided with close insight into Sconish Enlightenment society, Nasmyth infused his paintings with a realistic vision and provided his cornpanions with a humanistic brand of portraiture - the topographical urban landscape. It was a genre that, like portraiture, studied the human figure, but did so through human activity rather than vain subjectivity.
The utopian tone of the Edinburgh series was related to the artist's persona1 and professional circurnstances and the audience for whom the paintings were done. Raised in the Grasmarket section of OId Town Edinburgh, Nasmyth had first-hand lmowledge of the busy city. It was the notice of the portrait painter, Allan Ramsay ( L 7 13-84), and the Edinburgh banker, Patrick Miller, that gave Nasmyth the opportunity to associate with the most prominent individuals of the Scottish Enlightenment. From Ramsay, with whom he worked in London from 1774 to 1778, Nasmyth leamed the value of ernpirical observation, developing an acute perception of human nature.'' It was perhaps also because of this association that Nasmyth exhibited at the Academy years later, a chance he may have othenvise not received
Patrick Miller of Dalswinton, 'a typical practical man of the Enlightenment, with a wide diversity of interests'16, encouraged Nasmyth's talent and his accomplishrnents in a variety of fields, financed his tour of Italy (1 782 to 1785) and introduced him to a political circle in Edinburgh." Miller first commissioned a conversation piece and their continued friendship fostered the artist's affiliation with the devout Whiggish Company
kept by the banker. Indeed, the cessation of Nasrnyth's portraiture work seems rooted in
Whig ideology and a deepseeded contempt for aristocratie pornpousness. l8 The
ownership of Colton Hill by the Clydesdale Bank certainly refl ects the continued
affiliation of financial, artistic and political concems typical of Edinburgh at the iime
that the series was completed
Alexander Nasmyth was painting for an Eniightenment class, for the new an
co~oisseur.His hendships with Robert Burns and Sir Walter Scott Merinfluenced
his li bed ideals. For Scott, he painted theatncd sets, including the urban bac kdrops for
an adaptation of The Heart of Midiorhian, an undertaking that typified the concordance of
the natural landscape and human activity that was so evident in Princes Street wrfh the
Budding of the Royd Institution and Edinburgh fiom the Cuiron Hill.
The socio-historical approach us4 by Andrew Hemingway in hndscupe Imugery
and Wrban Culture in Euri'y Nineteenth-CCntuv Bri tuin, 1 997, provid es a fitting
methodology by which to explore the association between concepts of irnprovement and
space.lv Hemingway suggests shifhng discussions away fiom the artist and the work
itseif and., instead, focussing upon the reception of the work by the audience. The
'experience' of art, says Hemingway, is determinecl by its fom and function in a
phcular society and is 'shaped through historically specific relations, insthtions and
ideologies' that are 'organized hindamentally around relations of power'? At the tirne
that the Edinburgh series was completed, power in Edinburgh lay in the hands of its improven. Aristocratie control was decreasing, however, with the growth of the rniddle to upper classes. Nasrnyth belonged to a circle that agreed with improvement as long as social order was maintained. The creation of his painting was shaped by his social and political loyalties and their reception by the social class and political affiliation of the viewen. The fiction of Nasrnyth's painting as a validation of the ideals of the Sconish
Enlightenment depended upon their acceptance. Consequently, a close examination of the painting yields an understanding of the conscious arrangement of physical space and its impact on social classification at the time of Edinburgh's development.
This correlation of space and society is most readily seen in James Craig's plan for the New Town and the Proposais. Craig's simple, gnd-iron plan, composed of two squares joined by a straight Street with paralle1 streets to the north and to the south, was ideally suited to the refined living quarten desired by the Edinburgh elite. The
Proposuls, through nationalistic rhetoric, displayed the strategy of the Edinburgh Town
Council to provide themselves and their associates with magnificent private and public domains. Both the plan and the Proposuh visualized a grand future for Edinburgh and
Alexander Nasmyth's topographical landscapes, in tum,esteemed the undertaking by portraying the New Town in a manner that celebrated its ordered beauty.
In his essay, 'Urbanisation and Scotland', R. J. Morris States that any study of
Scotland mut be done hmboth a British and Scottish viewpoint." The existence of the
British-Scomsh dichotomy substantiates the notion that the nse of the New Town of
Edinburgh was intrinsically related to the search for a true Scottish identity, a search that has, historically, had a powerful infiuence on the development of the country. Literature Search
Most literature on the evolution of Edinburgh's New Town has been descriptive.
A.J. Youngson's 1966 work, The Mukzng of C,'laîsicui Edinburgh 1750-1850, " for example, remains the most comprehensive study of the New Town's growth, yet restricts itself to a factual documentation. Youngson cornments on the social implications of the expansion, such as the social statu attached to residential address, but describes the various phases of pnvate and public building without asking why the city grew the way it did. Similarly, works like The Buildings of Scotlami, The Scottish Home and The Cure adC.*ome~ation of Georgran Homs in the New Town are valuable guidebooks, but do not delve beyond the superfkial appearance of the ~ity.~
The most important pimary materials for this analysis are James Cmig's plan for the New Town and the 1752 Proposais. Other goverment and le@ documents, such as architechiral plans, building contracts and advertisements for the building of the various phases of the New Town will illustrate the strategic approach to Edinburgh's improvement Autobiographical documentaries such as Henry Cockbum's Memoriuis of his Time ( 1 820s, published 1856)' Robert Chambers' Traditiom of Edinburgh ( 1 869),
Thomas Some~lle'sMy ûwn Lfi and Times 1741-1814 (published 186 1 ) and
Elizabeth's Gmnt's Mernoirs of a HighlandLady 1797-1827 (published 1898) provide the best accounts of Edinburgh social life during the building of the New Towd4 Historical writings on Scotland, a few of which include Tom Devine's The Scottish Narion 1700-
2000 (1 999), The P copte andSociety in Scutiand senes edited by W. Hamish Fraser and
R J. Morris (1990), T. C. Smout's A Histqof the Scottish People (1969) and James Grant's OId and New Edinb logh: Ifs Hisiory, its Peop(e ami ifs Places ( 1 8 82IU support the accountç provided by primary sources and the influence of the New Town on al1 subsequent development in Edinburgh.
Benedict Anderson's Imgnied Commundies, 199 1, Eric Hobsbawm and Terence
Ranger's The Inve~lonof Thdition, 1983 and David McCrone's Scorlund - rhe Brand,
1995, will heip to elaborate the relationship between Scottish nationalism, the rise of the
Edinburgh New Town and the concept of heritage?
A study of the Edinburgh New Town clarifies the rnuitidisciplinary character of the project and as a work that unifies the disciplines of sociology, history, geography, urban planning, architecture and interior design, it holds tremendous opportunities for further researc h. NOTES
1 James Thomson, 77ie Seasom. Ed. James Sambrook (Oxford: Clarendon, 198 1 )
2 James Craig's 'Winning Pian for the New Town of Edinburgh'. 1767,
Edin6urgh New Town Bicerttenaty Celebrufion 1767- 1967 (Edinburgh: The City and
Royal Burgh of Edinburgh, 1967.
3 Raymond Williams, The Chunhy und the City (London: Chatto & Windus,
1973), p. 6 1.
4 Ibid, p. 5.
5 Ibid. p. 5.
6 %id, p. 6.
7 See The WuIIs ofScotland, Youngson, p. 297, n. 1; Charles McKean,
Edinb urgh: An Iliustmted Architectural Guide (Edinburgh: Royal Incorporation of
Architects in Scotland, 1992)-p. 29,434; David Daiches, 'Edinburgh', David Daiches, ed. A C.'ornpunion to Scottish Cuhe.((London: Edward Arnold, 1981), pp. 106-8. (p.
107). The Fiodden Wall was built From about 15 14 to 1560 derthe diwter at Flodden in 15 13 in order to protect the city of Edinburgh fiom attack. The wall, which defined the Ancient Royalty or the limits to the burgh, ran to the south of the Cowgate and was fitted with fortified gates at the points where it crossed exidng streets, such as at the
West Port and Bristo Port. These gates continued to be used into the eighteenth century and a few remnants of the wall still remain, the most notable king the corner tower at
Pleasance and I)nimmond Streets and the tower at the Vennel, West Port, above the Grassrnarket. However, the confusing nature of the Old Town's wynds and closes, alleyways leading off of the main streets, rendered the defensive wall unncecessary.
From the time the wall was built and over the following two centuries, Edinburgh's population rose from about ten thousand to over îhirty thousand, yet still remained within the boudaries of the Fiodden Wall, an amof less than one hundred and fort. acres.
Such circumstances clarify the reasons for Edinburgh's vertical expansion.
8 See Peter Johnson and Earle Money, The NqthFamily of Pointers (Leigh on
Sea, England: F. Lewis, 1977), pp. 19-29; Duncan Macmillan, Painting in Scotlund: The
GoIJen Age (Oxford: Phaidon, 1986). pp. 140-47. Alexander Nasmyth ( 1758- 1840) was bom in the Grassrnarket area of the Old Town, Edinburgh, the son of Michael Naesmyth
(Alexander was the first to remove the 'e' from the family name), an architect, and Mary
Anderson. Alexander studied at the Trustees' Academy under the Scottish artist,
Alexander Runcirnan (1736-85). He was afterward apprenticed to the coachbuilder,
James Crichton, through whorn he met Allan Ramsay (1713-84). the Scottish painter.
Ramsay was so impressed by Nasrnyth that he penuaded Crichton to let Nasmyth work with him and he was apprenticed by Ramsay fiom 1774 to 1778 in London. He benefitted from Ramsay's tutelage, as well as from the patronage of the bankedinventor,
Patrick Miller, who financed his tour of Italy in 1782 to 1784.
Nasmyth's professionai career was both diverse and successfui. His interests ranged hmportrait and landscape painting to botany, to engineering, landscape gardening and theaîrical set design. He worked and had close fiiendships with SuWalter
Scott and Robbie Burns and is perhaps best known for doing two portraits of Burns in 1787 and 1828.
Nasmyth designed the Dean Bridge and St. Bernard's Well in the Dean Valley; did plans for the layout of New Town streets, for the building of the Mound on Princes
Street, for the layout of Calton and for the Nelson Monument on Calton Hill. He transferred his studio fiom the Old Town to the New town, taking up residence fint in St.
James' Square and Iater in York Place. His students included David Roberts ( 1796-
1864), Hugh William Williams (1 773-1 829) and many other artists who went on to artistic prominence.
Alexander Nasrnyth was a founding member of the Society of Associated Anists of Edinburgh and exhibited with them form 1808 to 18 14. He exhibited at the Royal
Institution 182 1-30, where he became an associate in 1825 and was granted an annuity by its Directon in 1828, and in 183040 when it was the Royal Scottish Academy, of which he became an honorary member in 1834. He was also a member of the Society of
British Artists in London and of the British Institution 180 1-39 and displayed and sold painting throughout Bntain during this time.
Upon his death in 1840, Sir David Wilkie edogized Nasmyth as 'the founder of the Landscape Painting School of Scotland' who 'by his taste and talent has for many years taken a lead in the patriotic aim of enriching his native land with the representations of her romantic scenery' (Johnson and Money, p. 19).
9 Duncan MacMillan, Painting in Scotlud: The Golden Age (Edinburgh and
London: Phaidon, 1986), p. 146.
1O hid, pp. 196-97. 1 i %id, p. 146.
12 Proposais for C.*anyingon Certain Public Wurh in the City of Edinburgh.
(Edinburgh: Paul Harris, 1982).
13 See Andrew Hemingway, Londscnpe Imogery and Wrbm Culture in Eurly
Nineteenth-C.'entury Britain (Cambridge:Cambridge UP, l992), p. 6.
14 Nasmyth exhibited at the Royal Academy nine times between the years 18 13 to 1826. His other exhibited paintings were rnainly niral landscapes, a genre accepted by the aristocratie classes because of the depiction of rural country folk in their proper class position. Perhaps the fashion of the &y also explains the fact that Princes Sneet and C.'ulton HiII were not exhibited at the Royal Scotîish Academy (formerly the Royal
Institution) until 1 863.
15 MacMillan, pp. 1 4041.
16 Ibi4 p. 142.
17 &id, see pp. 14047. Nasmyth worked in a number of different disciplines throughout his life. He was at various times a draftsman, painter, sculptor, urban planner, landscape consultant, engineer, set designer and teacher. He helped Patrick
Miller design paddle-driven ships and was on board 14 October 1788 for the sailing of the first operable steamship on Ddswinton Loch. Incidentiy, Robert Burns, a patron of
IWler's, was also on board and Nasmyth probably met Burns through Miller.
18 James Nasmyth, Auiobiography, p. 40, as quoted in MacMillan, p. 143. James
Nasmyth, Alexander's son, supports this assumption:
My father's frank opinions on politicai subjects began to be known. He attended Fox dinners. He was intimate with men of known reforming views. Al1 this was made the subject of general taik. Accordingly my father received many hints From aristocratie and wealthy penonages, that 'if this went on any longer they would withdraw from him their employment'. My father did not alter his course; it was right and honest but he suffered nevertheless. His income from portrait painting fell off rapidly.
Nasmyth also alludes to the shared political views of Nasmyth and Burns, who, in al1 likelihood, also prompteci Nasmyth's decision. See 9 September 1788 in Letters ofBurns
I. Ferguson, ed., 1, p. 252, as quoted in MacMillan, p. 143. In a letter to John Beugo, the engraver, Burns wrote that he wished Nasmyth would pay less aîtention to 'the carcass of
19 Andrew Hemingway, hndscope Imugery and Urban cuifure in Early
Nineteenth-C.'enf.yBritazn (Cambridge: Cam bridge üP, 1997).
20 ibid, p. 8.
2 1 R. J. Morris, 'Urbanisation and Scotland', People and Society 1n Scolland.
Volme 11: 1830-1914, eds. W. Hamish Fraser and R. J. Morris. 3 vols. (Edmburgh: John
Donald, 1990), p. 73.
22 A.J. Youngson, The Muking o/CIa.wicd Edinburgh 17.50-1840 (Edinburgh:
Edinburgh UP, 1966).
23 John Gifford, Colin McWilliam and David Walker, The Buildings cfScotlond:
Edinbwgh (London: Penguin, 199 1 ); Annette Carnithen, ed. The Scottish Home
(Edinburgh: Trustees of the National Museum of Scotland, 1996); Andy Davey, et al. The
Care ond Conservation of Georgiun Houres: A Maintenance Mmdfor Edinburgh New
Town 4" ed (Oxford: Butterworth Architecture, 1995).
24 Henry Cockbum, Memoriols qfhis The (New York: D. Appleton, 1856); Robert Chambers, Trodilionr of Edhburgh (London and Edinburgh: W &R. Chambers,
1869); Thomas Somerville, My Own Lfi and Times 17-/l-l8/4 (Edinburgh: Edmonston
& Douglas, 186 1); Elizabeth Grant, Mernoirs ofa Highland LnJy (London: John Murray,
1898).
25 Tom Devine, The Scottish Nation 1700-2000 (Hannondsworth, Middlesex,
England: Allen Lane, 1999); W. Harnish Fraser and R. J. Moms, eds., People und sociey
in Scotland, 3 VOIS. (Edinburgh: John Donald, 1990); T.C. Srnout, A History ofthe
Sconish People 1560-1830 (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1 969); James Grant,
Old und Niw Edinburgh: Its History, ifsPeople und its Places, 3 vol S. (London; Paris
and New York: Cassell, Petter, Galpin, 1882).
26 Benedict Anderson, Imgined Communities: Rcflections on the Orrgin and
Spreud of Narionolism. Rev. ed. (London and New York: Verso, 199 1 ); Eric Hobsbawm
and Terence Ranger, eds., The invention of Trudifion(Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1983);
David McCrone, Angela Moms and Richard Kiely, Scodand - the Brand: The Making of
Scottish Heritage (Edinburgh:Edinburgh UP, 1995). CHAPTERI The building of New Towns or the revitalization of existing ones was common in Europe in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The practice arose as a consequence of political instability, \irbanization and the desire of chic leaders to assert their superiority through aesthetic means. The acquisition of land became integral to the display of private and public wealth. With peace and traditional ways of life threatened by revolutions in France and Amenca and the onset of industnalitation, a deep-seeded concem for the possession and defence of tem'tory was created The annexation of land by wan-ing factions and the enclosure of land by industrialists underiined its importance and space became injected with commercial and national significance.' In response to political unrest and rising urbanisation, civic-minded individuals called for the creation of modem cities through orderly planning, the construction of new buildings and the development of systems of travel, events that demonstmted a growing preoccupation with the possession of a beautifil and efficient city that reflected the civic and national pnde of its citizens.
Scotland's urbanisation was characterized by the emergence of four principal cities. In 185 1, one in five persons, approximately twenty-two percent of the Scottish population, lived in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dundee and Aberdeen, or 'The Big Four' as they have been called by R.J. Moms. By 19 1 1. this number had grown to one in three persons, approximately thirty percent of the Sdshpopulation.' Conceming himself chiefly with the population of towns (containing five thousand people or more), Tom
Devine deterrnined that by the 1820s. half of the Scottish population lived in the Scottish central Lowlands and by 184 1, Edinburgh and Glasgow alone contained sixty percent of the total town population, a number estimated at 2.6 million and a substantial increase fiom the 1.6 million that lived in the towns in 1801 and 1.25 million in 1755.3 The rise of Edinburgh's population parallelled the developrnent of the New Town. In 1767, the population stood at fi@ thousand By 180 1, it had risen to sixty-seven thousand and by 1830, it had doubled to one hundred and thirty-six thousand4 It is the growth of the Scottish capital of Edinburgh, however, that is most relevant for this study of improvernent in Scotland In The Making of Classical Edinburgh 1750-1840, A.J. Youngson remarked on the uniqueness of Edinburgh's development in cornparison to its sister cities, explaining that Edmburgh's wealth did not originate in the rnanufacturing sector, but in the seMce sector. Youngson's characterization of Edinburgh as 'a consumption-oriented town' highlights its professional and tertiary function.' Indeed, Edinburgh was and still is the centre of plitical, financial, legal and ecclesiastical maners in Scotland. The growth of Edinburgh, no doubt, relied on Scotland's prosperity in the middle of the eighteenth century, but the city's unique political circumstances played a pivotal role in its evolution. The city's economy was acnially relatively stable, its major source of employment king a number of small consumer industries that relied on the purchasing power of the rniddle and upper classe^.^ The importance of govemment bodies, the Town Council and Convention of Royal Burghs in particular, ca~otbe over emphasized, as the
New Town was basically built by and for them. It was the ideas and ideals of these oficials that engendered the expansion of the city and their laws that determined its appearance.' Even today, the govemment continues to play a fundamental role in the maintenance of the New Town through the enforcement of strict building reg~lations.~ In his examination of Scottish urbanisation, RJ. Moms defines urban as 'a distinctive physical environment noted for its relative size, denstty and curnplexity' as well as, 'a specific fom of local authority ,located in space and associated with distinctive po~ers'.~This definition helps clarify the dualistic nature of the Shsh system, for, as Morris explains, it necessitates an examination at 'two levels' because Scotland simultaneously operates under the BritishMorth Amencan form of govemment and the Scottish f~rm.'~Although Scotland acquired devolution in 1999 and has gained an independent parliament for the first time since 1707 and the Union of the Parliaments, it remains a part of Great Britain" The Scomsh Parliament, housed in Edinburgh and separate from Westminster, is presided over by the Fmt Minister and supported by a majority party. Scotland is able to make its own decisions about domestic issues without
them dttratd by the Mitii:stm or Semtaqof Stiae at Westmimtcr. tfowever, in accordance with the Scottisk Act of 1978, Scotlwid remah under Bntish jurisdiction and does rmt have entire command over masticmtters. The effecs of almst three hundred yean of a united parliament and almost four hundred years of a united crown cannot be erased overnight and the nascency of parliamentary autonomy will, no doubt, factor into the direction of Scottish independence, whether it is Ioyalty to or separation from Great Britain. "
Hm,the \my qnatmw of Scottish sociq ty mmaintiined its ~sti-rsmcss wre those qualities that hetped the cwntry achiew devolution. Desptte the ail- encompassing nature of the Unions with England in 1603 and 1707, Scotland refused to give up the Scottish Protestantism and Scottish law; this action would prove fundamentai to the nationalistic quality of Edinburgh's growth Beginning in the twelfth century,
Scotland was divided into burghs, or self-goveming towns and villages whose merchants and tradesmen were allowed to trade amongst themselves and with other burghs. Burghs could be set up by the king, by the church or by barons." This unique division of land had a great impact on the cstabtihm and ordering ofsocirty and Edhmgti's stattrs as a Royal Bur& one desig~tedby the crown, gave it certain prideges. The Convention of Royal Burghs was comprised of sixty-six Royal kghsthat made laws concerning ecommic and trading matters. Edinburgh k the rea twk part in government and commercial activities, but had a greater say in decision making because of its position as the capital and the close affiliation of the Convention of Royal Burghs and the Edinburgh Town Council.'" The Dean of Guilds further differentiated politics in the capital. Known in Edinburgh from the eariy fourteenth-century, the Dean of Guilûs was originaliy the head of the merchant guild He and his court oversaw mercantile and maritime matters, but in the seventeenth century the court's responsibility was resnicted to authorization of plans and building regutatiom. Thtir oorrtrol decmxd in the eighteenfh centmy, but undenvent a resurgence in the nineteenth century when it regaineci its influence, an occurrence no doubt associated with the country's urbanisation Although the Dean of
Guilds was abolished in 1975, its approval of the plans of James Craig and, as will be seen, William Stark and William Playfair, defined Edinburgh's appearance. This office, along with others such as the Board of Trustees of Manufactures, established in 1727. furthered the ambitions of a select patnarchal elite.I5
Therefore, it is evident that Scotland's political structure in the eighteenth century was a nrrious amalgam of ScoM'sh and Engtish hcttirishcs. As in -1, Ecttnbirrgti would in al1 likelihood rnirror this paradoxical quality most definitively. At that crucial point in the rnid4ghteent.bcentwy wtren national idedogies were brewing in the capta1 and Scotland's ecomrny was showing the benefits of its jointure with Enghd, Edinburgh's leaders were determining a means by which to give the city a new identity in keeping with the times and their own interests. The results of this calculation, the New
Town, can be seen in topgraphical paintings executed during its construction . In the 1820s, for instance, the Scomsh landscape painter, Aiexander Nasmyth., painted rwo semes of-, Rtrtccis Street with the Ru@ Institution BuiUmg mcirr C~m~imtimand Edinbqh frm the Cdtun Hill. These rtrban scapes, which pomay the city as a pleasantly burgbng nietropdis, serve as a cuirnination dan improvement scheme thathad begunalmost eq#y yeats before
Landscape painting in nineteenth-century Britain was a popular medium and topographical landscapes were vaiued for providing a 'looking glas' glimpse of society. Thus, they elicited not only visions of the lana or of nature itself, but of the 'natures' of social behaviour. Social change, as weII as the artistic pleasure that such change brought about, was seen as 'naturat' and artistic and cu1turat efforts fett under the mbnc of cm* .t6 Topoproptncal senes wm vatid pgraphca\, hksdand saidogicai documents,fort~captweda~torrte~tmtiffieaftdpe4eftleditForthekcontem~ au&- and for future abdcers. Per- intriguai by tke deveiopments witkin his native ciiy, Nasmyth pamed Princes are& and C'&n Hill aacl, at the same tune, supported the Eniightenment ideals professed by the city's improven. By producing images of a harmonious Edinburgh society that took pleasure in their new city, Nasmyth visualized the notion of Andrew Hemingway that an audience's reception of an is primanly effec~edby the society in which it is received, particularly in ternis of the social hicrarctrks in ptace." W.J.T. MMeH pqmed a similor hyputhsk, vahrfatirrg the importance of Lrtndscape not only for whet it ' "Kn oc ''rnear~i"but what it heq, how it wks as a "cultural practice" '. Mitchell, too, thewized that landscape not only 'sipi@ or symbalize powec reia.ti~us'butact* 'an hstmment afcuhd-pweS ptbaps even. an agent of power that is (or frequently represents itself as) independent of human intentions.''' Thus, both Hemingway and Mitchell emphasized landscape as a means by which a site and a viewer could wmmunicate. This communicative aspect, in tum, conmbutes to the shaping of an identity that is a product of a part~culartime, age and set ofc-.
The influence ofpowerîùl institutions and the sarch for a new identity coalesced in Edinbugh in the middle of the eighteenth century. Akhough ideas for the city's impt~vementhi ken-put-fnmrdpr to this ck~$~the ~fid.rampaign.rn hiJd the New Town can be located in the 1752 publication of Proposrls for Carrying on Certain Public Works in the City of Edinburgh: As the city of Edinburgh is the metropdis of this part of the united kingdom, the seat of the supreme courts, the repository of our archives, land-rights, and other valuable securities; and, besides, has now the fairest appearance of becoming a place considerable for trade and manufactures; it is natural for ail who wish well to the public, to desire such a city were more compleatly appointed than it is in several respects?'
The document was published shortly after an advertisement appeared by the Convention of Royal Burghs that cited the need for the constmction of public buildings in
room where the Convention could meet. The supposed author, Sir George Ellion, deernedthe crty's diiapidated state a sigrrto prweed-widi.ttie*groject,for 'chance has furnished us with the faixst opportunity of carrying it in toexecution ." Recalling Edinbwgh's past success in trade and manufacturing, he used patriotic fervour and future pro.sperity to incite histeaders to action. The tract was rnostheavily infl-uencedhy the man who spearheaded the campaign, George Drummond, the Lord Provost of Edinburgh in 1750-5 1 [figure 5 ) The Proposu1.s promiseci to save the Old Town omdinburgh by revamping the city's core through the construction of much-needed court buildings and designated areas
For die stllitig-ulgo&. Views of Editiburgli like Patrick N*sinyttiTsEdirr lr urgh fiuni f hr
North West, L 8 19 [figure 6 J and JohnKnox's A Kew of Edinburgh from Cunonmills, c.
1825 [figure 71, cast the Old Town in a romantic light, yet they did not realistically prty the area's overcrowded and dingy appearance. James. Dnimmond's ï%e Porteotlr Mob, 1825 (figure 8 1 represents the constriction of people and buildings in the Old Town much more adequately. ln Dnimmond's painting, the people walk elbow to elbow through the narrow rubble streets, compressed inward by the towering tenements that look as if they are about to collapse in10 one another. In fact, it was just such
ProposuZ~~.William Creech's description of the confined and filthy living conditions in the Old Town cl&& the impetus behind the publication of the Propsals. Creech writes: In the Bats of the lofty houses in wynds or facing the High Street the populace dwelt who reached their vanous lodgings by the steep and narrow 'scale' staircases, which were really upright streets. On the same building lived families of al1 grades and classes, each in their flats in the same stair-the sweep and caddie in the cellars, poor mechanics in the gamets, while in the intemediate stories rnight live a noble, a lord of session, a doctor, or city minister, a dowager muntess, or writer, higher up, over their heads, lived shopkeepers,dancing rnasters, or ~lerks.'~(see figures 9 and 10)
Although this social mixture seemed acceptable to many Old Town residents, it was not to the city's councillors and magistrates. Atternpts to put an end to the squalor and filth of Old Town life were not adhered to, as evidenced by the ignorance of decisions such as that from Augun 1745 that pronounceci,
cotisidzriiig tlut itiasiiiucli as tlic several Acts oii the tluowiiig of foui water, filth, dirt, and other nastiness in the htgh streets, vennels, and closes had not ken put into due execution, direct each family would now provide vessels in the houses for holding their excrements and foul water at least for 48 houn, under penalty of 4s. Scots'."
With the building of the New Town, classes would be seprated and rules cnnceming class and residential location would be put into eff't. Requests for the extension of The
Royalty had ken made phor to and since the publication of the Propusols in 1 752 and a new request by the Town Council in August 1765 was iinally granted in 1767, just in tirne for the execution of Craig's pian'6 It was a great relief for the city's most
Expansion and the judicious planning of spacious, refined areas to the north, as well as the redesiping of areas to the south, would provide respectable domestic habitation and abolish the disgusting living conditions of the Old Town. With the reali7ation of their ideas, civic leaden foresaw the 'sole object' of the undertaking realized, that is, 'to enlarge and improve this city, to adorn it with public buildings, which may be a national beneiit, and thereby to remove, at least in some degree, the inconvenience to which it has publication came at a time when the buildings suggested by the document were desperately needed and those in existence were in such a state of disrepair that the city's magistrates were eager to get rid of thern? Moreover, Chitnis argued that their publication at the begiming of the 'High Enlightenment' i1750-80 j explained the success of tlie eiideavour to a large degr=. The Prupsuls tlieiiiselvcs etidorseci tliis tiiiieliiwss, claiming that there could be no more appropriate time to initialize changes in Edinburph. Edinburgh, at the centre of the Scottish Enlightenment, was at peace and accom pl ishmentr in the arts and sciences were gaining worldwide recognition. Scottish philosophers and literati were highly regarded and the entire Scottish culture was undergoing a popularization. The arts prospered with the work of such artists as Allan
Ramsay (17 13-84) and Sir Henry Raeburn ( 1756-1 823) and literature with Robert Burns
( 1759-96j and Sir Waiter Scott (1 77 1 - 1832) and the establishem of The Edinburgh
Re virw ( 1802- 1929) aiid Bluck wuud's Erlinburgh rMug:oiinr (1 8 17-prewtit). Tlir: intellectual cornmunity was centred around the university and great thinken such as
.4dam Smith ( 1Z3-90), Lord Kames (1696- 1782) and David Hume ( 17 1 1-76) prospered in the ci*. Intellects and philosophen alike concemed thernselves with the study of hurnan behaviour and set up countless societies and clubs for the study and improvement of the city and its citizens. David Hume's philosophy of the Science of Man recognized the influence of ideology on Leaming and progress, two of the fundamentai goals of the Scottish Enlightenrnent. As show by the unquestioned acceptance of the Ossian poems, wliich werc later proveti false, imtiotialisiii was alivc aiid weil. Thought adactioii were characterized by a humanistic and nostalgie spirit during this, Scotland's Golden Age. As was realized by the proponents of the Prvposc~is.there was no better time to display patriotisrn than when the world's eye was cact upon Edinburgh?
Ail that needed to be done was to hamess this national spirit into a desire for improvement The Proposa~sreflected one of the main tenets of the Scottish Enlightenment, the seeking of knowledge in order to fashion a more useful society. The main objectives of the Proposais betrayed the tnie goals of the Town Councillon, however. The very buildings they planned showed their true intentions. A new
Parliament Square with couthouses, iaw chambe~~and a law library would keep the
iriariy Irierids of the couiicillors eiiiyloycd itt th<:kgal profcssioci liiippy. A tiew Excliaoge
would provide the man): merchants and craftsmen on the Council with a place to engage in their various commercial enterprises. The extension of the Royalty and northwd and
southward expansion would provide space upon which to huild residences for the
councillors and the aristocracy that supported them. Ilte draining of the Nor' Loch to make a canal with terraces on each side would provide a picturesque walhway for
anticipated tourists. Finally, the tenet stating that the cost of the undertaking would be
-defrayed by a nanonai contribution' sought out those very penons whom the Town
Coui~ilIio@ to siitisfy witli the PrvpsuL, aie laiidai aiid aristwratic families who Iiad
the means and Inowtiow to finance the s~herne.~'Thus, carefui examination of the
document proves that the segregation of classes was plamed early on, with the lower
working clases remaining in the Old Town and the upper classes rnoving to the New Town. Amidst al1 of the talk of classes united together in the centre of town, the consequences of the construction would yield anything but. The Proporals also resisted the fate of other cities, whereby the expansion of the
city had left the Oid Town deserted It expiained that, although the nobility would \ive
iii the New Town, tlie city's cetitre would reiitaiii well-ppulated because busiiizssiiieti
and professionais would naturally want to live near their workplaces and at the focal
point of al1 the tom's acti~ity.~~.4!though in cornparison to the New Town, the layout of
the Old Town may nnt have seemed nrdered, the concurrence of .street names with trades showed a definite residentiai and commercial arrangement. The occurrence of names such as Parliament Close, Fishmarket Close, Bishop's Close and Candlemaker Row illustrated the function and location of trades and tradespeople in the Old Town. Of greatest importance to the Propo.~ais,the increase in the number of tradespeople and professionals in the Old Town would facilitate a cycle of production, consumption and circulation of money and wares - 'the great spring which gives motion ro general itidustry arid iiiipsovetmtit'." Otie cauiot kipbut wotider wlvrr these people wese supposeci to fit. as the tenernents of the OId Tom were already far beyond capacit).. The concern is of no matter, however, because feuing contracts for the New Town reveal that upper and rniddle claîses vacated the centre and took up residence in the New Town as smn as they could, with lawyen and country gentlemen buying the greatest number of houses?
As mentioned above, the success of the Proposais was largely due to the nationaiistic atmosphere in Edinburgh. Perhaps the most effective rallying cry was the coiripariwci of the çity to Loticion, whiçti dieci tto iiiiiid the age-old déliate betwee~i
Scotland and England and wrnpelled its readers to support improvement in order to legitirnize Scotland's superiority over its southeni arch rival. London was heralded as the mode1 city and ceiehrated for it~idyllic prospect, court system, damestic and foreign markets and rich cultural and entertainment activities." In short, London was everything that Edinburgh was not. and yet hoped to be. Moreover, London attracted many Sconish noble families who served in the Westminster Parliament or refbed to live in the despicable conditions of the Old 'Sown. A sad testirnony to the urgent need for bener housing was the anractiveness of London for narive Scors and the amaaiveness of the
Scottish country- seat for townsfolk whose presence in the city would enrich Edinburgh society. When Alexander Nasmyth painted Princes Street and Collm Hill. the Scottish
Enlightenment was coming to an end From Nasmyth's paintings, however, it is obvious that its effects lived on, for Edinburgh is prtrayed as a delightfbi city, nch in indu- and leisure and populated by a range of people pursuing the improvernent of an already sprawling landscape. Even the Town Council did not foresee what Edinburgh would become. The Proposais were, fi rst and forernost, a sel f-perpetuating document that fomrded ideas for improving Edinburgh by fdfiiling the wishes of a small number of iiieti privikgd by kirupper class statu. The çiassifcatioii of Eciiiiburgh as the
'Modern Athens' was certaidy not imagined in 175ZX As remembered by James Grant, the area to the north of Princes Street, once a straight country road called the Lang Dykes, was primard y occupied by Rearford's Parks and Wd's farms {figure 1 1 ) . lt. transformation into the New Town, Grant admitteci, was quite bewildering." Perhaps the
New Town that was created even eclipsed George Drummond's vision of 'a splendid and magnificent city'." Nevertheless, it was a vision that would far outlive that which was first imagined NOTES
1 See John Barreil, neDurk Side of the Landwape: The Ruml Poor in Enghh Painting 1 73O-Z8-#O (Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1 !%O), pp. 3-5, 1 1 - 12. According to
John Barrell, the acquisition of land by the gentry and anstocracy was also a way of evading the threat posed by the nirai poor and rising ciass consciousness. In the rnidst of laid eiiçlosurr, risirig ppulatioti. iiiecliaiihtioii of textile trades aiid parwliial settlement, the mral society was pomayed as stable and unifed. Curiously enough, uith the transfer of people fiom ml to hanareas, the depiction of non-problematic nird society was also transferred. City sapes mirmred rnythical rural imagery and art took on the pretense of 'a stable unified aimost egalitarian city' (5). Barrell believed that the contradictoty portrayai of the aristocracy was marked by the need for landowners to assert their wealth in order to display a limitless income, yet, at the same time, to exhibit a cautiousiy managed eçtate so as to ensure the maintenance of the wealth for succeeding piieraiioie, a 'double iiiiage of the aristocracy, as the leisured coisuiiers of Britaiii's wealth, and as the interested patrons of her agrtcultural and mercantile expansion' (12).
2 R.J. Morris, "Urbanisation and Scotland', Peuple und Society in ScotlnnJ. Volume Il: IR30-1914, e&. W.Hamish Fmser and R. J. Morris 3 vols. (Fdinburgh: John
Donald, 1990). p. 73. 3 Tom Devine, The Scottish Nation 1700-2000 (Harmondsworth, Middlesex,
England: Allen Lane, 1999), pp. 108- 1 1.
4 The Cornervarion of Georgion Edinburgh (Edinburgh: Edinburgh UP, 19 72 j, p. x..vii.
5 AJ. Youngson, The biaking ofClassical Edinburgh 2750-1540 (Edinburgh: Edinburgh UP, 1966), p. 4 1.
6 Devine, p. 160. 7 See Anand C. Chitnis, The Scottish Enlrghtenment: A Social History (London: Croom Helm, 1976) 22; Hugo Arnot, The History of Edinbwgh (Edinburgh: Thomas
Turnbull, 1816) 355-59; T. C-Srnout, A Histoy ofthe Scortish People lj60-l830 (New
York: Chies ScnbnerosSons, 1969) 3 1; Youngson, 41-5 1.
Ttie Wiiiburgh Town Couticil. establislied in Ediiibutgli iri tlie lShceiitury, iiide decisions regardhg activities in the ciq. The Council comprised of about 30 met al1 of whom were either tradesmen or merchants. (An Act passed in 1583 numben the memben at 25 17 merchant! and 8 tradesmen). An Act passed in 1469 and maintained into the 1 9m centusy ensured that outgoing members selected incoming memben, thus guamnteeing the continuation of govemment by a srnaIl group of people with similar interests. Of the Council, Youngson remarked that 'the pnnciples of closed shop and the self-perpetuation of power wuid hardly go further' (p. 47) and ln the 1820s,
Henry Cockburn compared its dark and dl-powemil nile to Venice, labelling ir
'oiiini potelit, compt, im petrable' (p. 96).
The Convention of Royal Burghs exercised a similar degree of control over Edinburgh's political life. The Convention made laws reparding economic issues and, together with the Town Council, institutinnaiized their own commercial and political ideals and those held by the city's highest ranking individuals. Demands for buqh
reform between 1790 and 1832 were unsuccessful and aide frorn Pnvate Acts of Parliament passeci in the late eighteenth century that appointed Commissioners for the policing, lighting and cleansing of the ciry, rnembers were not freeiy elected Threatened by outside opiiiioii. tvcri those Coiiunissiotws wlio carriad out public: works wrte dioseii
in Acts rather than by public vote. For example, Commissioners for the 1755 Improvernent Act included the Lord Provost, Lord Advocates, tom councillon,
merchants, and a Wntet to the Signet. The Councii's main adversary were the Whig
lawyen, who led a group that included the Royal College of Physicians (about 80 members), banken and university professors They kept the dominance of the Town Council in check somewhat, but no real change occurred until 183 1 when the Whigs came to power and by then the New Town was virtually complete. 8 The Edinburgh New Town Conservarion Comminee, which just recentiy inetpd with aiiotlier orgmizatio ti ti, for in the Echiiburgli World Hèritag Tcut (ieariied through correspondence with Linda Cairns, librarian at the Edinburgh New Tow
Conservation Cornmittee, 19 May 2000). is the primar). grooup behind the strict building regulations in the New Town. See, for example, Andy Davey et al., The (irre und
(knîervation of Georgian Hows: A Maintenonce Manwffor EJinburgh New Town
(Oxford: Buttenvorth-Architecture, 1 995). The District Council of Edinburgh, H istonc Scotland (and the Histonc Buildings Council for Scotland), the National Trust for Scotiand Scottish Tourin Board and concemed iandownen also play an intrinsic rolc in the preservatioii of liistoric siias in Scotlatld. 9 Morris, p. 73. i O [bid, p. 73.
1 1 For an examination of Scotland's devnlutionist status, see Vemor Rogdannr, Devolution in the United Kingdom (Oxford: Oxford UP, 1999); H. M. Dnicker and Gordon Brown, The Politicv of Nutionali..und Devolution (London:Longman, 1980).
See Devine, p. xxii, 4, pp.3-30, 8-1 6: Srnout, pp. 2 15-21. Scotland's relationship with England dates back to the Middle Ages, but the major catalysts of their connection stem froin the Union of Crowns in 1603 and the UrUoti of Parliainents in 1707. The
Union of Crowns abolished die Hoiy~oodcourt and placed Scotland under the rule of the
Endish king. The Union of Parliaments signifiai the end of the Scottish Parliament and
rnembership in the 'new Cieat Rritain', an expansive empire owning one of the largest cornmon markets in the world that couid be reached via Scotland, strategically located on international Mcand trading routes. For the advantages and disadvantages of the Union see Devine, pp.28-9; Fitzroy MacLean, A Conci~eHistoy of Scotland (London: Thames and Hudson, 1970), pp. 189- 92; Smouf pp. 2 15-21. The advantages ofthis comprehensive union for England and the disadvantages for Scotland were obvious. Scotland would gain a valuable position in the
British iiiarket, but its wlak status would iiiake ecwioiiiic gain difficult. As it was comprised of only one-fiflh of Engtand's population and one-fourth of their wealth,
Scotland would hold only sixteen of the tiuo hundred and seats in the House of Lords and fnrty-t've of the five hundred and sixty-eight in the House of Cornmons. This lack of representation would relegate the ministers to relative obscurity and force confomity with English rule. 12 See Bogdanor, pp. 287-398.
13 See Elizabeth Ewan, Towniife rn Fourteenth-i>nruy Scotlund (Edinburgh:
Ediaburyli UP, 1990); Siiiouf pp. 30-32. Witli the coiitiiiuous creatiori of burglis iii the twelflh and thirteenth centuries, trade and population increascd, constitutions were amalgarnated and independent goveniments were granted.
14 As with other Royal Rurghs, Fdinburgh took part in expnded trading activities, such as the import and expon business, sent Commissioners to the Convention's annual meeting in Edinburgh anci, before 1707, had their own representative in the Scottish Parliament. However, the capital's dominance was proven by the presence of two Commissioners at the Convention, whereas al\ other Royal burghs ody Iwione aiid the lioldiiig of the asseiribly iri Wiiburgii, wkre tlieir owii city clrrks sat as cletks at the meetings.
15 Gordon Donaldson, and Robert S. Morpeth- .4 Dictionary of Scottish Hisloqt
(Fdinhurgh: John Donald, 1977), p. 54; Christctpher A. Whatley, The Induvtrznl Revolutton in Scohnd (Edinburgh: Edinb urgh UP, 1997), p. 5. 16 Ann Bermingham, Landscape adIdeology: The English Rmic Tradition 1740-1860 (Berkeley: U of California P, l986), p. 1. 17 See Andrew Herni~~gway,Landwape Image? and Ilrban allure in Earlv Nineleenth-Century Britain (Cambridge:Cambridge UP, 1997), pp. 1- 15. Hemingway's theory will be exarnined in greater depth in Chapter 2.
18 SeW. J. T. Mitdieil, ad Lundscupe und Power (Chicago: ü of Cliicago P,
1994).
19 See Youngson, pp. 13-14. .4s Youngon shows, ideas for the city's expansion were put fonvard aq early as 1688 by the 1nrd Provost ofthe time and in 1728, the Farl of
Mar produced a doctrine that foreshadowed many of the improvements that would appear in the Prupusals and in James Craig's 1767 plan for the New Town. 20 Proposolsfiw Carrying on Certain Public Workr in the ('if-vof Edinburgh
(Edinburgh: Paul Hams, 1982), p. 12. 21 Ibiii, p. 37.
22 See Youngson, p. 3, 13, pp. 15- 17; ?%O 's [?%O in Scollisk H~SZO-(Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 19731,~~.208-9; Donalcison and MOW~p. 60.
George Drummand ( 168%1 766) wa. instrumentai in the building ofthe
Edinburgh New Town. Born in Penh, he came to Edinburgh as a teenager. He was made Accountant General of Excise ( 1707), Commissioner of the Board of Customs
( 17 19, a Tutee of the Board of Manutàctures after its establishment in 1737 and ln
1755, Tnistee for the Fonified Esrates. A suict Protestant and Whig, Dmmond fought at Slieri ffinuir aiid Prestoiiyaiis for tlie goveriunetit si&. He etitcrai iiiutiicipal piitics i ti
17 16 when he was elected to the Town Council and went on to hold the offices of City Treasurer (1717). Dean of Guild (1722) and Lord Provost, a position he held a total of six tirnes hetween 1725 and 1764. (1 74648, 1750-52, 1 754-56, 1 758-60, 1 76244). It waq during his time as Lord Provost that Dmmond 'did perhaps more than any other individual to transfomi the city' (Who's Who,p. 208). 24 Henry Gray Graham, The Social Lije of Scotland in fhe EEigheenth C(ètwy 3 vols. (London: Adam and Charles Black, 1899) vol 1., p. 85.
The Royalty consisted onginally of those lands received in @A hmthe Crorvn md hdd undei a S&S of Royal Chartas conferring exciusive ~ghtsand privileges in co~ectionwith markets, custorns and other dues -powen which became, in effecf those of local goverment. Such powers could be extended geopraphically only be extension of the Royalty, and this required an Act of Parliament.
37 See Graham, p. 83. 'Gardy loo (G~rde=I'eau) was the cornmon warning call by servants that occurred about ten o'clock each night, signahg the tmminent outpouring of contenu of pots fiom the windows above. Passers-by on the srreets below wouid oflen shout 'Haud yer hand' as a furihtr warniiig call io otiiar passars-by, but die cal1 often came to late, 'and a drenc hed penwig and besmirc hed threeamcrcd hat werc borne dnpping and ill-scented home'. The contents stayed on the streets until they were picked up at seven o'clock the foliowing moming, ensuring the pmeation of the 'flowen of Edinburgh' in the air despite the burning of brown papa, which inhabitants hoped would conceal the lingenng dour.
29 Anand, C. Chimis, The Scorrish Enirghrenmenr: A Social Hlsrory (London:
30 See R H. Campbell and Andrew S. Skinnen, eds. The Origim and r%zt~~of the Scomh Enlzghtenmenl (Edinburgh: John Donald, 1982); Chitnis, pp. 4 1 0; David
Daiches, 'The Scoîtish Fnlightenment', David Daiches, ed. A C.'ompanion to Scmri~h
Culture (London: Edward Amold, 1 98 1 ); C. R.Fay, Adam Smith and the Scotimd ofhis
Dw (Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1956); Duncan MacMillan, Painting in Scotland: The Golden Age (Oxford: Phaidon, 1986); Douglas Young et al., Edinburgh in the Age of Remon: A Cornmernorufion(Edinburgh: Edinburgh UP, 1967). 3 1 Propasals, p. 26.
32 mici, pp. 3 14. 33 hi,p. 32. 31 See Yomgson, p. xiv, pp. 91-2,220-30; Gordon and Morpeth, p. 75. Until
1974, Scotland operated under a feudal system of land ownership whereby property was owned hy the suprior, who "mnted land to the va^-sa1 or feuar. The suprior retained certain rights, such as directing any building on the lm4 as well as the reception of an annual feu duty. Contracts between the supenor and feuar could continue in perpetuity if not abolished by the supenor or broken by the feuar. The feuar held dl normal nghts to the property as if he owned it oumght and received di the money upon seiiing the propzrty or the buildings upoti it. nie raw f'uar chen took up the sanie rdationsliip witli the supenor. 35 Proposais, pp. 6-9.
36 James Grant, Old cmd New Edinhzqh: Ifs Hxstory, its People, und its Pluces, vo1.2 (London: Cassell, Petter, Galpin, 1 882), p. 1 14 . Henry Cockburn, Mernorrals of his Time (New York: D. Appleton, 1856). The characterization of Edinburgh as the 'Modem
Athens' or 'Athens of the North' was first made in the 1760s in a cornpanson of the artistic and intellechial life of metropditan Edinburgh to that of the Greek capital. See aiso Thomas S. Sliepherd and John Britton, iWoclerri Ahm Dkpluyed in u Series of i7ims: or Ed»lburgh in the ,Vineteenth Cenlq(New York and London: Benjamin Blom,
1969). Henry Cockbum, however, says it was not until the 1820s that the Ncknarne was u-sed, when Hugh William Williams gave the name tn Fdinhurgh and 'it stuck'.
37 See Grant, pp. 1 14- 19 for his account of the New Town. 38 Thomas SomeMlle, My Own Lifce ond Times, l7#l-l8l-#.(Edinburgh: Edmonston & Douglas, 1 86 1 ), pp. 47-8. The art statu we accord to painting is not the result of some quality inherent in the ohjectq concerned, but was, and continues ta he, confened on them by their functions within a particular set of social relations ...art is understood aî a category of experience, which takes different forms in different social ordea. And that expenence is understd to have ken shaped through historicaily specific patterns of relations, institutions and ideologies. '
The wio-historical approach to art poszd by Andrew Hemingway and summarized in the preceding quotation proposes that the way in which art is viewed is determined by its social context. As Hemingway explains. those groups holding power in a particular society determine what types of art are valued and for what reasons. The viewer then, consciously or su~nsciously,accepts those judgements as 'correct'. Such value judgements depend upon a nurnber of variables ranging frorn economical to ideological circurnstances. However, they are al 1 bound by class relations and influenced prirnarily by an individual's place in the social system of 'production, reproduction and exchange' and, secondly, by an individual's 'personal style, family history, education and
Edinburgh society at the time of the ProposuL~for the New Town and throughout the New Town's execution, until about 1830, was ruied by an oligarchy. This srnaIl body of individuais, composed of govemment officiais and high-ranking members of the nobility and professional classes, controlled the disbursal of ail monies and power within the capital. Edinburgh's prominence was not new to the eighteenth cenhiry, however, for its leading role in Sconish politics had an ancient origin dating fiom its inception as one of the fint Royal Burghs. Edinburgh's dominance as the Scomsh capital in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries mirrored its prominence as a Royal Burgh in the seventeenth century.' It is not surprising, therefore, that of ail Scomsh cities, Edinburgh would emerge as fhe mode1 of taste and rnanners.
During the second half of the eighteenth century, art fell prey to the commercialization of culture occumng throughout Britain and the eli te classes turned to artwork as a means by which to express their Hemingway's description of the fashionable London art world in the early nineteenth century affirmed the degree of control that art comoisseurs, wealthy aristocratie men for the most part, wielded over standards of taste? The audience, pre-occupied with being secn rather than seemg art, became, in reality, the objects on display. The opportmity for social gathenng afforded by urban exhibitions produced a subsequent àisregard for the artwork itself
Furthemore, the exhibitions and their reviews in periodicals and descriptions in novels of the day substantiate Hemingway's claim for the pnmacy of the social milieu in which art was disseminated as the determinant of relevant social meaning.' Although landscape paintings in the penod oflen depicted rural scenes, many were done for urban display and consurnption. Members of the aristocracy and gentq fiequently employed landscape painten to document the growth of their country estates, yet oflen displayed these works in a public arena, such as an urban residence. The landscapes rnay have taken on the pretext of a conversation piece or a family or self-portrait, but even if figures were
present the sprawling estate still serveci as the essential backdrop for the privileged
Iifestyle (see figure 12). Displaying the works in urban residences, for instance, wouid make the paintings accessible to a wider audience, serving as penonal reminden of the landowner's accornplishments and, more importantly, as evidence of accornplishments that the landowner could show off to fnends and family. Take for instance, Alexander
Nasmyth's Inveruroy from the Sea, c. 1 80 1 (figure 13 ) . After collaborat hgwith his patron, the Duke of Argyll, on the design and layout of Argyll's estate, Nasmyth was then commissioned by the Duke to paint the property, ironically incorporating the propositions by patron and artist into a heretofore uncornpleted view. As one of Nasmyth's first topographical surveys, the close study of Inveraray, 'a jewel of eighteenth century town planning" went beyond his other Scottish landscapes8 and set a precedent for its union of artistic and cartographie disciplines, a union which came to full hition in Prrnces Street with the Building of the Royd hstitution and Edinburghfrom the Calton HiII.
The connection between art and cartography and the advancernent of nationalistic sensibilities in Britain has been cornmented on by Elisabeth Helsinger9 Noting the mine importance of maps in the late sixteenth century and of Iandscapes in the seventeenth century, Helsinger defined their forma1 and functional uses as symbols of individual and national pride. In addition to their foimal uses in cartography and art, wrote Helsinger, maps and landscapes functioned to promote ideals of wealth, status and ownenhip. Thus, by representing circumscnbed views, they served the artist's ancilor patron's concepts of independent power and property. 'O The importance of land ownership to nationalism in the late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-centuries has been noted above and, as circurnscribed views, Princes Street and CaItun Hill w uld hction as inventory-l ike accounts of the possessions of Edinburgh's govemment and aristocracy. In a formal sense, these images are pieces of art done in the genre of landscape painting. But, ventable rnaps in their own nght, they simultaneously serve as historical documents that record the topography of the city and show the extent of building and transportation in the mid-1820s; in actuality, the extent of what was owned by the most powerful people and institutions in the city: the law, the church and the university. They are also sîylistic surveys that provide valuable insight into the manner of dress, travel, work, recreation and social interaction at the tirne.
In a functional sense, Princes Street and Cuiron Hill indicate the importance of this type of portrayai of Edinburgh to a mid-1820s society, that is, as a thnving metropolis. As Andrew Hemingway stated, the environment in which art is received gives art its bue rneaning. lf this is so, then the mere fact that Nasmyth felt the need to devote a series of paintings'l to Edinburgh at this time, near the end of its successful improvement scheme (though its 'success' was debated)12 shows the significance of the
New Town's execution. Moreover, it shows the significance of how a reminder of the
New Town's development would funchon in 1825 to prompt its audience to a nationdistic fervour similar to that hoped for by the Proposais in 1752.
Nasmyth painted a nurnber of scenes of his native Edinburgh, just a couple of which include View of Edinburghfiom the East, c. 1822 (figure 14) and Edinburghfrom the Wesf,182 l (figure 15). These images show the city fiom the outskiris, however, and contain few or no people, casting Edinburgh in a rural, idyllic light reminiscent of the pastoral scenes by J. M. W. Turner and John Constable so popular in the period.13 They do not capture the bustling excitement exemplified by Princes Street and Calton Hill.
For exarnple, View of Edinbwgh fiom the Emt is a countnfied landscape. Barely ha1 f a dozen people are discernible in the excessively lush foreground, enjoying such rural pastimes as walking a dog or casting a fishing rdinto a glassy-surfaced lake. The only hint of habitation is given by some houses propped against the winding uphill road that
Ieads to Edinburgh, the lilting smoke rising fiom the chimney stack of one of the houses emphasizing the area's sornbreness. A viewer could not be faulted for assuming that the landscape depicted a ml scene, or at least the parkland beionging to Edinburgh Castle far off in the distance. This assumption is proven wrong, however, upon a closer look at the background, where the wall built in the sixteenth century to guard Edinburgh's citizens against outside attack can be seen surrounding the mass of structures that indicate a sprawling city scape. However, because the viewer is confronted first of al1 by a picturesque, bountiful country scape, the rural perception of the land is upheld.
Edirtburghfrom ~heWrsr contains more figures and in its foreground Nasmyth portrays a group of people setting up what appeaa to be a temporary timber village in a field shadowed by large trees. in this image fiom 182 1, the primitive construction occurring in the foreground previews the sophisticated expansion of the New Town, which is eMdenced by the three arches of the North Bridge at the centre of the horizon and the nurnber of buildings to its left that stretch out below Calton Hill. The steeple of St.
George's and St Andrew's Parish Church in George Street marks the physical and ideological elevation of the New Town over the valley of the Old Town that spreads out to the right of Edinburgh Cade, dominant at the centre of the painting. Despite the fact that the New Town is represented in these images, however, the excitement surrounding its development is not expressed. These pintings could be classified as geographical studies rather than sociological studies simply because they do not depict the people involved in the building of the New Town The paintings done by Nasmyth from within the expanding city, at the hart of its developmenf most effectively represent the
'relations, institutions and ideologies' that held sway in Edinburgh because of their detailed depiction of the city and the people within it.
An examination of the social and historical context of Princes Street wrrh hri
Royal Institution Builhg under (knîrr-uciion and View/rom the Cdton HdI clarifies the contribution of the paintings to the formulation of a nationai identity for their audience and also provides a methodology with which to interpret the paintings. Th<:prevailing philosophies of the &y and their interpretive strategies concentrated on the capabiiity of the human spirit. Nasmyth's Princes Street and (kiron Hiil ernbody the achiewments of a detemineci, unified, Enlightenrnent society. Through the warm gray and hushed pink tones of Prkces Street and (Mon Hill, Alexander Nasmyth invites the viewer to experience the city of Edinburgh in 1825. Given an omniscient point of view from which to survey the wide expanse of the Old and New Towns, the viewer is made God-like, a characteristic typical of topographical panoramas. '" This all-seeing eye verifies the divine validation of the irnprovements that are illustrated in Princes Street and (Mon
Hiii, as well as the sacred ongin that inspired them. Enlightenment philosophy was founded upon a devout belief in Gdand fate, yet just as profound was its belief that an individual could use physical and intellectual virtues to fashion a destiny. Hence,
Nasrnyth, a follower of Enlightenment philosophy, depicted human spi rituality as exemplified by physical strength. mental caution and engineering prowess in the building of the Royal Institution in Princes Sfrert. Such a powerful image against a backdrop filled with monuments celebrating Edinburgh's progress moulded beneath the hands of such honomble people as we see in the foreground, is a testament to the power of the hurnan spirit under God's direction The dinying heights of the spires atop the many churches in the city also ernphasize the importance of religion in the life of Edinburgh's citizens. The skyline of the Old Town is rnarked by the crown tower of the High Kirk of
St. Giles and the truncated steeple of the Tron Kirk in the High Street, which was destroyed by fire in 1824. Religion was not forgotten in the New Town's execution, however, evidenced on the far right of Culton Hill by the steeples of St. Andrew's and St.
George's Parish Church in George Street.
Edinburgh's drarnatic setting is further emphasized by the pervasiveness of lively action in the foreground of both painting and a continued presence of people as the images recede. As the eye travels further, the city scape becornes blurred in a picturesque, romantic haze. On a busy mid-aftemoon in Princes Street and on a relaxing
Surnmer's evening in Culton HiIf, the billowy yellow and gray clouds soften the blue skies, their yellow hue foretelhg the sun's imminent rays. The creation of such a pleasurable city, celebrating the improvement ideals of work and leisure in Princes Street and (:alton Hill, respectively, underline the far-reaching effécts of the Scottish
Enlightenment.
Princes Sireet and C.ÙIton Hill are panoramic views of Edjnburgh and, as mirror images, represent Princes Street, the New Town's main thoroughfâre, fiom its western and eastern ends, respectively. Princes Street is painted from the Mound, the man-made waikway built over the Nor' Loch between 1 78 1 and 1 820 connecting the Lawnmarket in the Old Town to Pnnces Street in the New Town. The view looks eastward towards
Calton Hill, marked on the left of the horizon by the Stone telescope of the Nelson
Monument and on the right by Salisbury Crags. Arthur's Seat, the city's highest point,
looms in the mist. C.àlton Hill looks toward Edinburgh Castle sitting drarnaticdly on the
Castle Rock, standing two hundred and fi@ feet above the valley of the Old Town at the
eastem end of the Royal Mile.
Vimially photographie images of Edinburgh, it is di fficult to irnagne that
Nasmyth could have forgotten any aspect of the city's appearance. No portion of the
canvas is lef? unattended, no bmsh stroke 1s without a singular fiction. Nasmyth's
comprehensive technique reflects the ProposuIs celebration of fiction and fortitude, of
the Enlightenment achievement of a 'great and populous city'" filled with 'useful
people'. '' The positive and decisive language of the Proposuls is communicated visually
in Prhces Street and C'uiton Hiil. which also reflect the influence of Enlightenment
thought.
In categorizing the types of British Iiterature on art in the late eighteenth and
early nineteenth centuries, Andrew Hemingway named philosophicd criticisrn, an early
fom of aesthetics, and art cnticism, iiterature popularized in the contemporary press, as
the most important types of literary criticism for Scomsh social theory." For an
understanding of the environment in which Nasmyth's images were viewed, an
understanding of philosophical criticism and art criticism is essentid. Thou& not
denying the importance of the third literary mode, art theory, which was typified by academic cnticisrn, Hemingway emphasized the other two for their characterization of the tastes of the Swttish exhibition audience and their combination of 'a patrician nom of taste, ...set against an emerging bourgeois ideal which took fom in art criti~isrn'.'~ criticism was marked by the rising importance of the contemporary press in urbanized
Scotland, which was in part due to the growth of the middle classes and their desire for
literature relevant to everyday life. Princes Street and Culton Hill certainly verify
Edinburgh's growth and by delivering images of its citizens at work and at play in two of
its most recognizable locations, Alexander Nasrnyth valiàated the tenets of Sconish
social theory as applied to civic improvement. Furthemore, the Enlightenment's relation
to Scoaish social theory is directly relevant to philosophical criticism because many of
the latter's major theorists attended the Univenities of Edinburgh and Glasgow and were
pan of the city's rich intellectual cir~les.'~
Phiiosophical cnticism focussed on man's cognitive perception of taste."
Borrowing fiom the experimental methods utilked so successfully in the natural
sciences, Philosophical criticism denied the indoctrinated niles that directed viewer
response and, instead, observed behaviour in a natural social setting, studying how the
independent response brought about new 'rules' for artistic interpretation. Philosophical
dtics attempted to formulate 'genuine principles' of taste in order to 'saveoart fiom the
fate of commercialization. A major reason for the late eighteenth-century popularization
of art in Britain was the attention it received fiom the upper classes and the growth of the
art market. But philosophical critics beiieved that such attention degraded taste and
perverted artistic value by tuming art into a commodity to be possessed by the upper classes. Hemingway's ernphasis on sociaVenvironmental factors recapitulated ideas published by Scottish theorists in the 1760s and 1770s, which stated that the way in which land, power and labour were divided detenined the formation of self-image.
Although these works recognized the detrimental effects commercialization could have on morality, they favoured the hansociety over earlier societies, that were characterized, for instance, by feudalisrn and low standards of living.
This juxtaposition of ideals, a simultaneous affirmation of the advantages and disadvantages of progress, typifies the dichotomy deeply embedded in Scoaish history.
The pervasiveness of this dichotorny in Edinburgh society is visually represented in
Princes Sfreet and (ulfonHill. Perhaps the most striking element in both of Nasmyth's paintings is the venerable presence of 'the world's most beauti ful street '," Princes Street.
As the point at which the Old Town and New Town of Edinburgh both converge and separate. Princes Street syrnbolizes the unification and segregation of Edinburgh's citizens. As James Craig's plan for the New Town (See figure 1 ) and Nasmyth's paintings prove, Princes Street was to form the southem boundary of the New Town. By allowing building only on its northern side, inhabitants would be afforded a view of the
Old Town and Edinburgh Castle. The same design was intended and achieved for Queen
Street, the northern boundary of Craig's plqwhere houses on the southem side would enjoy an unobstructed view of Leith unto the Firth of Forth and the Fife Hills beyond."
The plan for Princes Street became embroiled in controveny in 1770, however, when residents grew outraged at the construction of shops and warehouses on the south side, apparently under the authority of the Town Council." The battle between the Town Council and the Street's residents continued for over six yean. with the Town Council arguing that they had never been under legal obligation to strictly adhere to Craig-s plan.
Furthemore, an Act of 29 July 1767, seemingly passed without the feuars' consent, stated that the only stipulation for houses built on the south side was that they not be closer than ninety-six feet to those already standing. The feuars had bought the land, they argue4 on the assurance that the street would be laid out according to Craig's plan, thus affording 'advantages which they considered as of the greatest value, viz. free air, and an agreeable prospect'." The residents of Pnnces Street were partially vanquished by the decision of an arbitrator on 19 March 1776 a~ouncingthat any building already begun could be finished but that al1 land westward of Hanover Street would be 'kept and preserved in perpetuity as a pleasure gro~nd',~as Craig had pla~edand as was achieved with the Princes Street Gardens. Although the Town Council appealed this decision and
land again becarne available for private ownership, it was never feud. This may have been a sign of the appeal of a picturesque view to the New Town residents, but,
regardless, an Act of Parliament passed in 18 16 ensured that the land would never be built upon. The success of the Princes Street homeownen is evident in Princes Slreet,
where the nonhem side of the street is occupied by shops and residences and the southem
side as far as Hanover Street is free of buildings excepi for some at the western end near the North Bridge. a result of the construction in the 1760s and 1770s.
James Craig envisioned a New Town for Edinburgh that, though it may have
incorpotated concepts from other European new tom, more or less recreated the
Edinburgh Old Town and was valued more for its use of the site than its ingen~ity.~~ Built upon a grid system, the New Town's three principal streets, Princes, George and
Queen, teminated in squares at either end with St. George's Square (which was built as
Charlotte Square) in the west and St. Andrew's Square in the east. Craig cnsured the achievement of wide, open prospects by inscribing the width of the streets on the plan itse1E He çtated that George Street was to be 100 feet wide, with an 80 foot allowance for 'a Causeway' and 10 feet on each side for 'a Foot path'. Queen and Princes Streets. as well as the three streets that crossed Queen and Princes (Frederick, Hanover and Castle
Streets) were to be 80 feet wide with 60 feet for 'a Causeway' and 10 feet each for -a
Foot path? The plan was executed more or less as Craig had hoped, but his dimensions may have been a little ovenealous. A description of Princes Street after improvements had begun in the Spnng of 1877, for instance, shows that the width of 'the new camage way' was increased to 68 feet from its previous 57 feet, that the northem side's footpath was widened by four feet to measure 18 feet across and the southem side's footpath, previously measuing seven feet in some places and nine feet in others, was gwen a common width of twelve feet. The changes occurred primarily because of the removal of the tramway rails and the subsequent laying out of gardens measuring about ten feet wide along Princes Street fiom Hanover to Hope Street. The parapet wall with its iron railing was also moved ten feet back and an ornamental rail was built along the entire length of the gardens." Such improvements denote the continuation of îhe quest for a picturesque city.
The geometncal exactness of Craig's vision is duplicated in Princes Street, where a close view of the buildings effectively illustrates the precise line of their facades. The repetition of columned entrantes, long high windows, triangular porticos and picture windows decorating attractive storefronts acknowledged the architecture's Classical ongin, as would many other buildings in the ara, such as the Royal Institution being
built in the right foreground of the painting. Although certain inhabitants expressed a
distaste for the New Town's Georgian regulanty, its appeal was evident by the number of
people lining the impeccable stone sidewalks and hardened clay avenue."
- Despite the determination of New Town residents to escape the Old Town.
however, Old Town building methods penisted (see figure 16). The first houses bui l t on
Princes Street were extremely plain, with regular window and door openings. Some were only two çtoreys high and, like those in Mews Lane, were entered by a common staircase
located in a pathway ruming behind the houses." Upon a visit to Edinburgh in 1788,
Joseph Farington praised the improvement of the city, but regretted that building had not
been more closely regulated by the Town Council. For instance, George Street's
buildings were entirely out of proportion with the size of the street, he said, noting 'that
in the declining line of perspective, they appear like Barracks'."
At the tum of the centuiy, Princes Street was still mainly residential with just a
few hotels, shopkeepers and taverns occupyng its east end (20 out of a total 91).32 As a
consequence of its prirnary location and a surge in the New Town population, however,
by 1 830 its growth was bewming evident. In 18 15, there were 2000 hows and about 15
000-16 CO0 people living in the New Town. By 1830, these numbers had more than
doubled to 5000 houses and about 40 000 people.') This increase and Nasmyth's
paintings pmve that Princes Street had replaced the Old Town's High Street as the centre of city life, bringing a change not only in architecture, but in social Me? The High
Street had served as the centre of Edinburgh social life since the Middle Ages and, despite its crowded and somewhat unsavoury character, its activity was wondered at by natives and visitors alike. Upon a visit to the High Street in 1774-75, Edward Topham remarked: 'As each house is occupied by a family, a land (a tenement), being so large, contains many families;... I make no manner of doubt, but that the High Street in
Edinburgh is inhabited by a greater number of persons than any Street in Europt." Even after the New Town was built, the High Street maintained its prominence, shown by the daily excursions of the professional classes to Parliament Square and the marketplace.
But with the private and commercial growth of the New Town, the High Street fell into disrepute.
In Princes Street, the number of hotels rose from rwo to six and a fiurry of offices, shops and restaurants popped up. Some of the new services provided in Princes Street, such as haberdashery for instance, had not even existed in the High Street. The number of tailon, fumen and shoemakers reflected the growing importance of fashion and
Princes Street's finely dressed figures illustrated this development in style? The silk and satin dresses of the ladies, with their matching capes and hats wefully placed a top finely-coiffed hairdos and the dapper black suits, overcoats and bowler hats of the gentlemen illustrate a refinement of dress and rnannea that was virtually unknown in the
Old Town . Princes Street west of Hanover Street remained mainly residential, but the residents were not of the same rank with a marked decrease in the number of aristocrats and professionals. The number of Writers to the Signet alone living on Princes Street from 18 15 to 1830 fell fiom 22 to 12." One such Writer explained his move from the west end of Queen Street to Moray Place in 1825 for these reasons:
1 have changed my quarters, driven From my former by want of room, approach of building, shops etc. I am now 500 yards to the north-west of my former house; a new place formed in the fields to which we used to Imk with admiration, but now studded with houes. We are an the top of a bank above a ravine - which mut exclude building for five or six hundred ydr 3t leas? in rear3*
The need for space that had prompted the move from the Old Town again occurred in the
New Town when the effects of urbanization began to be felt. Although the change from a residential character to a 'shopkeeper's parade' was lamented by some, commercialization restored Pnnces Street to its fonner gi~ry.'~Without such attention, it may have never becorne the booming metropolis depicted by Alexander Nasrnyth or remained the city's main thoroughfare so piduresquely descnbed by Thomas Carlyle, where, 'al1 that was brightest in Edinburgh seemed to have stept out to enjoy, in the fresh pure air. the finest city prospect in the World and the sight of one another. and was gaily streaming this way and that ... a quite pretty kind of natural concert and rhythm of rnarch?' The hustle and bustle of Princes Street reproduced the frenzied activity of its predecessor, the High Street, into which 'the inhabitants of the city poured ... There were few coaches, fortunately, in the mowsteep streets; but there were sedan-chairs swaying in al1 directions, borne by Highland porten, spluttering Gaelic execrations on those who impeded their pro gr es^.'^' Although both 'main thoroughfares' were centres of fashion and commerce, a cornparison of the two highlights the changes in topography, motor transportation, dress and social conduct nom the 1780s to the 1820s. in Princes S~eet,Alexander Nasmyth characterized the dissemination of
Edinburgh 's capital by portraying two fundamental syrnbols of economic affluence: shopping and building. In the painting, no less than eight horse-drawn carriages line the concoune, either next to or pulling away fiom its curb. The hansom cab in the foreground hold a well-todo couple who enjoy a leisurely ride through the promenade, but the carnage directly behind is loaded down with passengen and goods purchased from the numerous merchants occupying the charming shops. The exorbitant arnount of purchases and the dress of the occupants acknowiedge their aristocratie or affluent bourgeois class. Mile many of the gentlemen in the painting Wear black bowler-style hats and overcoats, even the boys in this carriage Wear hats. The lady in the dnver's seat is dressed in a white silk gown, its cnspness protected by a blue shawl and her eyes protected by the wide brim of her hat. The type of carriage, dnven by four hones, the presence of so many well-wishen and a man who appears to be a honeman or lackey perched on the back of the carriage shaking the hand of a gratefûl merchant also indicate high statu. Another tugh-rankmg couple emerge from the shop located on the left corner of the foreground. The lady, wearing a gold dress detailed by white desaround the collar and hemline dong with an incandescent blue cape and white bonnet encircles her am îhrough her busband's, who is clad in black suit, hat and tailcoat The couple's anendants approach hem at the left in eamest, perhaps to protect them from the lower class beggars at the right who, dong with their dog, look up to the couple in both admiration and resentment.
This single scene afirms the mixture of classes in the public area of the city. Throughout the street, the aristocracy, bourgeoisie, rnilitary and low-bom roam. The
higher-ranking people are distinguished by their dress, mode of transportation and demeanor. The deportment of the different classes signify their statu. The superior classes conduct themselves with heads held high, shoulders back and in graceful motion.
This confident air is evident even in the couple who walk down the sidewalk in the Irft
foreground. Although their backs are to the viewer, their high-bom class is perceptible by their perfect posture. Memben of the inferior classes, in contrast, are pomayed as
hunched over, tuming awkwardly, or with their han& thrust deeply in their pockets.
Even the general location of the figures on the street delineates class, with the common
folk keeping mainly to the carriage-path in jocular conversation with their acquaintances and the aristocracy keeping to the footpaths. Conversation does not necessarily warrant exclusion, however, for in the left foreground a common woman, obvious by her white
peasant bonnet and brood of children, speaks with a noble woman who is dressed in a
sophisticated brown silk gown with matching cape and hat. Many of the aristocratie
fami lies are not accompanied by their children, perhaps because the children attend
school or arc at home with their nannies in the fashionable streets to the north. The common folk, unable to finance their children's education or a nanny, do not have a choice in bringing their children with them in the walk up fiom the Oid Town over the
North Bridge or the Mound Nevertheless, the presence of al1 ages in the painting supports the PropsuIs justification of improvement as a family affair that will engender
the bettement of al1 Edinburgh's citizens. Al1 along Princes Street groups gather,
whether cornposed of men talking outside the colourful shop fronts or ladies along the curb commenting on their latest purchases.
Nasmyth transferred the close contact between classes once cornmon in the private sphere of the Old Town to the public sphere of the New Town. Domestic life in the Old Town was typified by the overcrowded, multi-level Luckenbooths, some of which can be seen on the eastern side of the Nor Loch in Princes Street, their rambling edifices teaching into the air like the spires of the churches. Flats in these structures were occupied by a range of society. It was not out of the ordinary to find a fishmonger and a lawyer on the same floor, for instance. With the increasing ppularization of the New
Town, those able to pay the higher rents (100 pounds to 15/20 pounds in the Old To~n)~' lefi the Old Town, 'where there had ken little cleanliness or cornfort, where fetid air brought sickness and death to young lives, where infectious diseases passed like wildfire through the inmates of a crowded common stair, bringing havoc to many a ho~sehold'.~'
AAer 1830, building in the city was restricted to the New Town and with the lack of residential building in the Old Town and the doublîng of the population fiom 1 800 to
1870, housing conditions became even more depl~rable.~This is not pmayed in
Nasrnyth's images, however, where the Old Town is depicted as a rnyriad of structural heights and facades jurnbled together in a romantic and piduresque shadow. Its aesthetic effect con- with the order of the New Town, but both represent a valid part of higorical Edinburgh. The New Town represents the new identity preferred by
Edinburgh's citizens, however, and it is valued over the Old Town for its prosperity.
Prosperity, as the Proposais had promised, has brought peace and happiness and everywhere the eye falls society is in harmony. Through Enlightenment rhetoric, the Proposais championed the extension of the Royalty as a difficult, yet heroic, undertaking that would bnng wealth, opulence and unity to the nation and the entire United Kingdom.
The New Town's construction was touted as the next natural step in the city's evolution , an occurrence tht would fulfil the destiny for greatness glimpsed at in the Union of 1707 and the Rebellion of 1745.45 The path of history would not be denied. As well as providing freedom and good goverment, cornmercialization in the 'populous capital' would bring the increased consumption and circulation of wealth, 'the grat spring which gwes motion to industry and improvement'."
Despite the support of a prosperous urban society by Sconkh theorists, however.
Andrew Hemingway warned readers against equating their ideologes with those of
Edinburgh's Town Councillon and magistrates. Scottish social theorists did not ally themselves with the Town Council, nor the growing class of uhan intellectuals.
According to Hemingway, 'if sympathetic to nascent bourgeois interests, the Scottish
Schwl were not apologists of the bourgeoisie, and unlike that of nineteenth-century liberaiism, their idea of progress was scientific rather than propagandi~tic'.'~In general,
Sconish philosophen did not believe in the realization of a Utopian society with perfect people in perfect harmony, but did believe in the realization of an orderly and productive commercial society that both supported the success of the weaithy and raised the standard of living for the p~mr.~'Basing their findings on empirical data, theorists saw order as fundamental to a hamonious society, or as Adam Smith summarized, 'The progressive state is in realiîy, the cheerful and the hearty *te to a11 the different orden of the s~ciety'.'~Nasrnyth echoed this Enlightenment belief in Princes Street, by illustrating the different functions of the different classes. In his painting, the labouring classes built the structures under the direction of the higher class-architects and worked in the factories to manufacture the wares sold by the bourgeoisie and rniddie-upper class merchants and bought by the bourgeoisie and aristocratie classes. Hence, the realization of the social cycle and the progress of 'the great spring which gives motion to industry and improvement '?
The very physicaiity of the New Town aiso exemplified order with its adherence to a plan whereby craftsmen, labourers and professional resided in the dwellings near their places of employment and aristocrats resided in the New Town away from the hustle and bustle of urban life. As was seen, however, the accumulation of wealth prompted the
professionds to remove themselves from the mess of overcrowded housing conditions.
In turn, by king away from professional duties once the workday had ended they had pater freedom to take solace in the open and spacious prospects so conducive to
intellectual punuits. The middle and upper classes assumeci that labourers did not need
extra space in which to exercise their mental capacities and that only brute physical
strength was necessary for the fulfilment of their roles. The Proposah did not deny the
fùnction of the labourers and neither does Princes Street, but the physical structure of the
city reflected the social fùnction of its citizens. Men of nobility and status could not be
expected to live in the 'stench and na~tiness'~'of the OId Town because without the
proper exercise of their intellect, they wouid be unable to manage the city and its citizens
wodd suffer. Therefore, by 1800, the advocate living in Heriot Row needed a drawing
room in which to entertain his guests, but the htseller in the Canongate canying out his or her business dealings in the marketplace had no one to entertain or impress and, thus, needed no extra domestic space. A one or two-room dwelling oflen shared by other families was considered suficient to the labourer's needs. Nasmyth's approvat of social order was comparable to other Scottish social theonsts outlined above, in that it was not propagandistic, but supported improvement and the commercial society that developed as a consequence of improvement. In Princes Slreet and Caitun Hill, Nasmyth seemed to play upon the emotional association^'^ that his audience would make with improvement in order to help disprove critical disadvantages of urbanization such as individualism. segregation, corruption, the limitation of freedom and the specializat ion of ski ils that would result in infenor craftsmanship.''
As mentioned above, the second primary characteristic of an affiuent economy portrayed in Princes Street is constniction. In the right foreground of Princes Street, the al1 important constniction of the Royal Institution is taking place, symbotizing the appointment of Edinburgh as the 'Athens of the North'. Commenting on the decline of
Greek cities in the 6" century B.C., Lewis Mumford inferred that the building of New
Towns in these cities was undertaken by a successful middle class who 'sought small elegancies to cornpensate themselves for an ernpty political life'? The Greek New
Tomwere composed of streets and city blocks of regularized widths whose plans were unmodified for topography. The similarity of such tomwith Edinburgh reflects the extensive use of Classical architecture in the city, particularly afier the building of the
Royal Institution when Edinburgh's alliance with Greece was most evident in its architectural style. The New Town is essentialiy a Georgian city, typical of the architectural style popularized during the reign of the Georgian king (1 714- 1830). With its elegant squares, straight streets and symmetrical layout and house design, the New
Town stood in perfect balance with the refined tastes of the upper classes who resided there. 55
Hugh William William's view of ~b@hoiogicolEdinburghfiom Arthur's Seut
(figure 171attests to the similarities shared by Edinburgh and Athens and J. Dick
Peddie's The Alhem of rhe North (figure 1 8) represents Edinburgh as a vimial mirror image of Athens. One of the major advocates of the Greek style in the Sconish capital was the architect of the Royal Institution, William Playfair (figure 19). Playfair lefi an indelible mark on the city of Edinburgh, both for his penonal sawy and his artistry. His architectural resume included the Institution ( 1822-26, enlarged 1 83 1 -36), the National
Gallery of Scotland (1 854), located just behind the Institution on the Mound, and the OId
College, University (18 19-27). He was also responsible for much of the work on Calton
Hill (see Chapter 3). Playfair's National Monument ( 1829), commemorating the lost soldiers of the Napoleonic Wars, took the fom of the Parthenon at the recomrnendation of an Athenian Cornmittee formed in 1 8 19, who decIared that because the Parthenon was
'the sole font of architecture', there aiso had to be a Parthenori in the Athens of the
or th." In 1822, the Edinburgh Revicw marvelled how citizens of the city who had so recently had no idea of Classical architecture, 'can now taik of the Parthenon and of peristyles and cells and intercol-ations and pediments with al1 the farniliarity of household words'? Such leaniing reflected Scottish social theory and the recognition of refinement, mannen and the arts as the greatest advantages of a commercial society. The function of the Royal institution also reflected this ideology, for it was the first building in Edinburgh wholly dedicated to the arts [figures 20 and 2 1) . The Institution, hown today as the Royal Scottish Academy, was built by and for the accommodation of the
Royal Society, the Society of Antiquaries and the Society for the Encouragement of the
Fine Arts in Scotland (or 'Royal Institution'), Edinburgh Iiterary and scientific clubs originating from the late eighteenth-century. As well as housing these bodies, the Royal
Institution continues to serve as an exhibition space for Scottish and foreign anists. Its construction signified the rising importance of arts to Edinburgh society."
Even the stage of execution at which Nasmyth painted Princes Street emphasized
its Classical heritage, for he captured the Royal Institution at that pivotal moment when the eight-pillared Doric portico was king put into place, thus irrevocably anointing the building as a Greek temple to the arts. Within the temporary walls that sunound and protect the actual building, the framework of the second siorey is being initiated, the fint storey 's framework having been completed. Three hard-working Scotsmen lay the first storey's large stone blocks at the left side of the building. Cautiously, two men dressed in biue denim, white shirts and red vests with brown aprons tied around their waists lower the separate dnims of the columns, showing how the effect of various coloured stone was
achieved in the pillars of the building's facades {see figure 22). The crane lowering the
dnim is controlled by a man wearing a red coat and white hat who, with a baton held in
the air, seems to be cueing another unseen worker to initiaiize the mechanization of the
crane. The ingenious use of such a machine proves not only the physical strength of the
Sconish workers, but also their engineering skills. Outside the institution's temporary wdls stand curious citizens and, notably, the
'Greek Gd' of this undertaking, William Playfair, the Royal Institution's chief architect.
Playfair is dressed in the highly fashionable style of the day, wearing a tan vest and trousers over a white shirt and black European-cinched tie and a long black coat and black hat. Using a piece of wood, Playfair directs one of his underlings, a handsomely rugged young Scomsh male, how to most effectiveiy suppon one of the drums of the pilk in order to roll it inside. The close relationship shared by the architect and the craftsman disproves the assumption that modemization will bring individualization and callousness. On the contrary, Playfair has not abandoned the project after designing it, but is invested in its entire completion and travels to the site day der day to work alongside his labourers. Henry Cockburn, eulogizing Playfair upon his death, alluded to the architect's likeable character, dedaring, '1 do not see how Playfair could have ken
improved. Profound, yet cheerful: social, yet always respectable; strong in his feelings, but uniformly gentle; a universal favourite, yet never moved from his sirnplicity; in humble circurnstances, but contented and charitable - he realized our ideas of an amiable
philos~pher.~~Such a description highlights the high regard in which his countrymen
held Playfitir, as well as his educational capacity, a man willing to share his knowledge
and able to do so without condescension.
The entire Royal institution project afso disproves the belief that modemization
brings about a specialization of work that produces inferior craftnianship. The fear that
worken wouid not live up to the craftsmen of the pst, who were schwled in virtually al1
the craft disciplines, is unfounded Each man in Nasmyth's image may have his own specific task to perfom, but skill. intuition and wei ldirected energy yieids successful performance. As well as exemplifying supenor craftsrnanship, the workers have a higher regard for their work because they are able to improve the city in their own special way.
The industriousness of the workers, especially the young male worker king directed by Playfair, highlights one of the main goals of the Proposais - the motivation of
Scotland's youth According to the Proposais, the future of Scottish society rested on the shoulders of 'ou.young men of rank and fortune as are not sunk in low pleasures, who must find employment of sorne kind or other. If the great objects of war and faction no longer present thernselves, may they not tind a more humane. and not less interesting exercise of their active powen, in promoting and cultivatinç the gcneral arts of pea~e?'~
Young men could perform no more honourable duty than to commit themselves to the spirit of improvement, for the activation of this spint is as intrinsic to the bettement of the nation as war service.
The quotation above also recalls the promise by the Town Council to avoid another major criticism of modernization, cornphon. The Proposds stated that employing the youth of Edinburgh in improvement would keep them from indolence and crime. The P roposuis did not preswne to be capable of magically wiping out crime, for they realized that there would aiways be individuals 'sunk in low pleasures'. Engaged in the building of the New Town, however, young men would be too busy to partake of 'low pleasures' an4 what is more, the pnde and confidence they received fiom such honourable work wouid quel1 any temptations to induige in less valiant activities?
Nasmyth's portrayal of this vast area of the city shows no corruption. Aside from the children begging the aristocratie couple who emerge fiom the shop in Princes Street, there is no sign of immoral behaviour and even this incident merely seerns to be a couple of school age children innocently asking for spare change. Still, it may be a reminder of the needs of the poor in the Old Town that Nasmyth has cleverly infiltrated into this happy atmosphere. Everywhere else, there is hamiony and unification; divisions of class, age, sex and occupation thougb obvious secm inconsequential because Nasmyth portrays dl of the citizens as having a common goal - the creation of a civilized and ordered society. At the forefiont of this ordered society is the most notable landmark of its achievement, the syrnbol of Greek humanity, the Royal Institution.
Aside from the workers directly involved in the execution of the building, other citizens have stopped to watch the proceedings. A Scofhsh police officer regaled in his uni fonn of crisp white trousers, red waist coat and red hat supervises the activity fiom a top his horse, while an officer in a black unifom speaks to two female passers-by. The gallant air of the officen contrasts with the ineptness of the aged City Guara who were popularly known as the Toon Rottens' and aboiished in 18 17!' The abolition of the
Guard in 18 17 could be compared to the decline of the Old Town. By 18 17, the time of the displacement of the City Guard, the New Town had established itself as rhe place to live in Edinburgh. The Old Town, like the rugged guards, may have been rnissed for sentimental reasons and stories about them recalled with a chuckle, but they and the Old
Town had had their day.
The aristocratie ladies, though eager to watch the proceedings, are kept at a safe distance by the chivairic guards, who are ever mindful of their duties. The lady on the right shields henelf frorn the dirt and dust with her smart brown cloak and bonnet, but the willingness of the ladies to corne so close to the 'men's work' illustrates their suppon of their countrymen and the improvements undertaken by them. As the Proposais pronounced, such support was as crucial in peacetime as in wartime.
To Playfair's irnrnediate left. a dashing white hone feeds fiom a cart, the grasses fed to him by a young boy. The image is syrnbolic of Scotland's a@cultural revoiutiod3 and Edinburgh's ability to provide fiand sustenance to al1 its inhabitants. even the hard-working hone, having just pulled the cart fom which his meal cornes. This image is somewhat ironic considering the nurnber of poor and destitute inhabitants of the Old
Town and perhaps implies that those who do not take some pnmary role in the improvement of the city will not benefit kom it
The barbarism that the Proposuls implied as widespread in the Old Town is not present in Princes Street. The filth and smell from the disposal of waste is absent, as is the chaos and general dismption. Not in the prospects laid north of the Nor' Loch would one witness residents sharing a cup of tea with their neighboun across a close, as was done between so many of the tenements in the Old Town, where residents could practically reach out and touch one another." When citizens socialized in the New
Town, it was at a scheduled supper Party. the tirne of which grew increasingly later and the fashion ever more elabrate. Some of the purchases remarked upon by the women in
Princes Street could very well have ken new gowns for dances in the Assembly Rooms in George Street. Though dancing was immensely popular in the Old Town as well, the change in venue to the New Town in 1787 indicated the elevation of society6' Dancing and theatre becarne tastes of the affluent with the development of the arts. Although there was a marked evollrtion of secular wncems in the late eighteenth century, leaders of the Sconish Church continued to look down upon entertainments like the theatre and dancing, growing even more strict as time went on Still, although the sanctity of the
Sabbath may have not been upheld as strictly in the nineteenth centuy, the importance of religion and of church-going remained pararno~nt.~The most noteworthy difference between socialization in the Old Town and the New Town, whether it took place in a shop, a tavem, a dancing hall or a theatre, was the character of the entertainment and the relative decrease in the nonchalant style of mirth and memment with which it was r nj oyed.
Irnmediately east of the Royal Institution in Princes Srreet. a cavernous hole spans the area between Princes Street in the New Town and Market Street in the Old Town.
The empty Crater is, in actual facf the Nor' Loch. The Loch was drained beginning in
1759 and eventually berne the sight of the Princes Street Gardens and Waverly Station.
Its future use is foreshadowed in Nasmyth's painting, where people stroll leisurely and children gleefully take advantage of the temporary playgound to rom through its muddy bottom. The idea of the drained Nor' Loch replaced by a canal was envisioned by the
Proposds in 1752, James Cmig in 1767 and perhaps othen before them, one of which was known for certain to be the Earl of Mar in 1728. niis vision was never realized, however!' Still, in 1825, the Nor' Loch had not ken put to use. Nasmyth's Edinburgh
Cdeand the Nor ' Loch (figure 23) does show that the propositions for its overhaul were ongoing in the eighteenth century. Of the two weil-dressed men standing on the Loch's left bank in the painting, one looks to be a sweyor, holding a notepad in his hand and looking out over the expansive ditch, which is marked by two boys carousing with their dog, some soldien with horses and cart and a man making circles with a shovel, perhaps with his own agenda. The man accompanying the surveyor looks to be a well-to- do professional and may even be the Lord Provost. His attention is taken up with the view northward, however, for he has his back tumed to the Loch, perhaps suggesting the reason for the Loch's long period of dormancy.
In spite of the dormancy of the Loch in 1825, some of the suggestions for its development had been put in place. For instance, the two street lamps at the head of the
Mound mark the future entrance to the terraces. The lamps rnay even be gas lit, as many lamps in Scottish tomwere convened to gas fiom 18 15- 1830. Also, the completed
Stone wall along the Mound and the iron railway along Princes Street illustrate the future enclosure of the Gardens. The lean-to at the lefl of the Loch presumably holds materials to build the tenaces, as next to it men cut and hew wood and wood and red brick lay scattered over the ground. The lean-to signifies the recovery of the site fiom its past use - the 'manufacture' of dead animals. The Town Council expressed particular horror at the disgusting scene next to the Loch where, 'butchers have their slaughter-houses and the tannen and skimen their pits'.' The industriousness depicteci next to the Loch in
Princes Slreet, activity of a much more pleasant nature, is certaidy preferable to the vile sight, not to mention smell, of the activity that once degraded the ara@
Princes Street alludes to the previous commercial activities in the area with the presence of a table covered by a white cioth under one of the street larnps. The common man and woman who stand behind it seem to be selling some sort of product that would be appealing to children, perhaps candy or toys judging by the basket placed at the foot of one of the children, who is told by this father to corne along. To the right of the table, a queue of people stand along the stone wall chamng casually. Whether or not the queue is for the table is uncertaiq however.
Despite the transformation of the areas around the Nor' Loch, the locations of the markets remaintd largely unchanged after the building of the New Town. In the
Proposuls, Edinburgh's Town Council and Magistrates complained of the constriction in the Hiph Street caused by the existence of so many houses and a wide variety of markets.
Such congestion, the ProposuLs suggested, could be al leviated by the erection of a
Merchant's Exchange where merchants and venden would have their very own building in which to self their wares. These buildings, so successfid in other large European cites, would separate the home from the marketplace, thus removing much of the confusion from the High Street. The Council even had a site in minci, the ruins of a tenement that collapsed in 175 1.'O The Exchange was built From 1752 to 1759 by John Fergus to a design by John and Robert Adam on the north side of the High Street opposite Si. Giles'
Church. The construction of the Exchange was the fint evidence of the Proposuis success, but it was never used by the merchants, wbo preferred to sel1 their wares in the streets where they could be in the middle of public activity, not behind the store's wails as is seen in Princes SM. Even in Nasmyth 's image, the store owners emerge fiom their shops to catch up on the latest news. Today the Exchange is actually the main building of the City Chambers. Its completion was a primary rallying point for the Council in pressing for continued improvement, however, especially seen by the project for the North Bridge, the al1 important link between the Old and New Towns.
The North Bridge with its three arches prominent on the Edinburgh sbline symbolized the extension of the Royalty and the facilitation of communication between the Old and New Town and between Edinburgh and Leith, the city's main port.
Furthemore, spanning the Loch's eastern edge, the Bridge ûansformed the area. In July
1763, an advertisement by Edinburgh's Council and Magistrates asking for subscriptions to the bridge concluded with the statement, 'The Magistrates and Council of the City of
Edinburgh, hereby intimate to al1 gentlemen, farmen, and others, that they are at full liberty to take and carry off the dung and fulgie of the North-Loch immediately. and that without payment or other gratuity therefor'." A similar invitation would prove successful with the Mound, the other major connection between the Old and New Towns
( figure 24 ) .
The perseverance of the markets in the streets of the Old Town emphasized the schisrn in Edinburgh society - the continuation of poverty dongside wealth. The fish and flesh markets in the Old Town were fkquented by housewives of low and hi@ rank until at least 1820 despite the way in which selling was conducted (figure 25). In a fashion hardly conducive to cleanliness, fish were dumped into the opening of Fish Market Close and taken by obscenely dirty boys or women to be placed on wooden tables unprotected frorn environmental elements. If the fish were washed, it was done with water from the gutter and, despite their condition, haggling over prices still filled the stagnant air. Both the fish and fiesh markets moved under the North Bndge at the tum of the century and remained there until about 1 830 (figure 26) . The Vegetable market was managed by a group of women who gathered with stools and tables around the Tron Church. Tallow candles and paper lantems a top the women's tables ailowed business to continue into the night and is reminiscent of the set-up on the Mound in Princes Street, where the Street
Iarnps couid have aiso allowed for evening sales. As late as 1810, Sir Henry Cockburn counted just six shops in the New Town, which showed that housewives of higher stature were forced to travel southward fiom their northern homes in order to obtain food? After
1800, the middle class prospenty became even more markêd and the move of merchant and professional classes to the New Town engendered an increase in commercial availability north of the Nor' Loch. Even legal business, once conducted in the tavems of the Old Town were more often taking place in New tom tavems or private residences. It was this change in social interaction, the loss of cumcrruderie that was larnented most as the irrecoverable element of Old Town society." Princes Smamay present a diverse array of classes, but it does not necessarily portray these classes as interacting, or at least with the sarne level of Old Town farniliarity as characterized by Henry Gray Graham:
the delightfui old simplicity of manners, the unceremonious fhendliness, the geniai gathenngs around the tea-table, where the Company discussed their 'fi@ m'ends within five hundred yards'; the farniliar intercourse and sympathy between nch and Pr,formed by proxirnity in the same tumpike stair; the quaint old dowager ladies of rank and poverty, who, on "srnail eenteel incornes," and with one maid-servant, kept up a tiny establishment Y and gave slender entertainments in a fourth flac - these passed away for ever . .With the New Town of Fdinhurgh hegan a new social existence in Scotland. '' NOTES
1 Andrew Hemingway, Lundscape Imagev und Ilrbun Culture in Ear@
Nineteenth-Century Britain (Cambridge: Cambridge UP,199 1). p. 8.
2 Ibid, p. 9, p. 302, n. 4. Hemingway is indebted to French sociologist, Pierre
Bourdieu for this approach. See Pierre Bourdieu, nistinctim: A Swid Judgement of Tuste. Tr. R. Nice (London and New York, 1984). 3 See T.M Devine, The Scottish sh~oriun1700-2000 (Harmondsworth, Middlesex. England: Allen Lane), p. 1 58; TC.Srnout, A Hisqof the Scottish People 1560- 1830 (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1969), pp. 30-2. 4 See Michael Rosenthal, ed. Prospects for the Notion: Recent Essu4v.srn British Lund~cape,1 720-1830: W. J. T. Mitchell, ed. Lond~cupeand Power (Chicago: U of Chicago P, 1994). 5 See Hemingway, pp. 1-7. 6 ibid, pp. 4-7. 7 Duncan MacMillan, Puinring in Scotlind: The Golden Age (Oxford: Phaidon, 1%6), p. 145. 8 For an appendix to Alexander Nasmyth's exhibited works, see Peter Johnson and EdeMoney, The Narmyth Fumily of Painters (Leigh on Sea, England: F. Lewis, 1977), pp. 50-52. 9 Elizabeth K Helsinger, 'Land and National Representation in Britain', in Michael Rosenthal, ed Prospects for the Nation: Recent Essays on Britkh Landsape, 17j0-1830 (London and New Haven: Yale UP, 1997 ), pp. 13-35. 10 %id, pp. 15- 16. 1 1 See Macmillan, p. 146. Alexander Nasrnyth's 'Edinburgh series' consisted of four paintings completed in 1824 and 1825. They included Vkw of leithfiom the Seu, 1824, View ofthe High Street, 1 824, Princes Street with the Royal lmtitution Building uniier Comtruction. 1825and Edinburgh fiom the Calton HiiI,1825. 1 2 See A. J. Youngson, The Muking of C.*lmsrcalEdinbtirgh / 750- 18-10 (Edinburgh: Edinburgh UP, 1966), p. 71,233. CraigYsplan has ken commended and opposed for various reasons, most of which have to do with the particular aesthetic and/or pol itical loyal ties of the speaker. For instance, Hugh Arnot praised the plan for its regularity and confonnity (p.71) Craig's symmetncal layout and clever use of the area were the most cornmon reasons for praise, but many were also saddened by the restrictions put upon the land and the people. For example, the Dictionury of hiutrond Biogruphy dended the plan as 'utterly destitute of any inventive ingenuity or any regard for the nahval features of the ground'. (p. 7 1 ). A.J. Blanqui's cornpanson of the New Town with the Old Town also illustrated the social transformation that occurred with the move to the sedate New Town. Visiting Edinburgh in 1823, he was ovenvhelmed by the staunch propriety of New Town life and describing the area's eerie cairn, he wrote, Malheureusement, la popdafion semble fuir ces rues somptueuses, dont le pave, tout en dalles imrnen-ses, parait aussi intact qu'une statue sortant de l'atelier du sculpteur. On ne voit personne aux fenetres de ces superbes plais, et les portes, qui en sont cnntamment fermees, purraient faire croire que la ville vient d'etre ravage par un epieûemie. However, Blanqui ptefully embraced the OId Town's opemess, writing 'Fideles au respect du a I'age, nous avons traverse le pont du Lac,...Tout a coup la scene a change. Au silence de la ville neuve ont succede le bruit et le mouvement d'une cite populeuse.' (A. Blanqui, Voyage d'un Jeme Francab en Angieieere et en Ecosse (Paris, 1 824), p. 237, as quoted in Youngson, p. 233). 13 See John Barrell, The Durk Sfde of the Londscnpe: The Rural Poor in English Puinting 1730- 1840 (Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1980), pp. 1-33. 14 MacMillan, p. 146. 1 5 Proposuls for Carrying on Cértoin Public Works in the City of Edin b urgh (Edinburgh: Paul Harris, l982), pp. 32-33. 16 ibid, p. 33. 17 Hemingway, p. 10; pp. 48-9. Also see Hemingway, 'Philosophicai Criticism's Man of Taste', pp.48-61 and 'Philosophicai Criticism and the Science of Landscape', pp. 62-78. I 8 Ibid, p. 49. 19 %id, p. 49. 20 Ibid, pp. 48-50. 2 1 E.F.Catford, Edinburgh: The Story of u City (London:Hutchinson, 1979, p.206. 22 Youngson, p. 79. 23 %id, see pp. 86-91 for an explanation of the controversy. 24 As quoted in Youngson, p. 86. 25 As quoted in Youngson, p. 90. 26 See Youngson,'The New Town - Craig's Plan', pp. 70-1 10 for a comprehensive description of James Craig's plan for the Edinburgh New Town. 27 James Craig's Winning Plan for the New Town of Edinburgh, 1 76 7, Edinburgh New Town Bice~enuvCelebration 1767-1967 (Edinburgh:The City and Royal Burgh of Edinburgh, 1967). 28 James Grant, Oid ami New Edinbwgh: Ifs Hjstory, ifs People und ifi Pluces, 3 vols. (London; Paris and New York: Cassell, Petter, Gaipin, 1 882), vol. 2, p. 130. 39 See Thomas H. Shepherd and John Bitton, Mociern Afhens Dispiqed in ri Series of Views; or Edinburgh in the Nineteenth C'enfwy(New York and London: Benjamin Blom, 1969); lan G. Lindsay, Gcorgicrn Edin6urph (Edinburgh and London: Scottish Academic Press, 1973). 30 Youngson, p. 93. 3 1 Joseph Faringtion, Notebook No. 3, unprinted MS.in the Edinburgh Room, Edinburgh Public Libraq, as quoted in Youngson, p. 93. 32 ibid, p. 230. 33 Ibid, p. 226. 34 ibi4 see pp. 52-53; Henry Gray Graham, The Socid Lfle ofScotland in the Eighieenfh CCnr~y,2 vols. (London:Adam and Charles Black, 1899), vol. 1, pp. 89-91; Charles McKean, Edinb wgh: An lhtrafredArchrtect mal Guide (Edinburgh: Royal fncorporab'on of Architects in Scotland, 1992), pp. 17-28: Edward Topham, Leitersfrorn Edinburgh; Writtcn ~n the Yeurs 1 774 anà 1775 (London,1 776), p. 27 and Grant, vol. 1, pp. 19 1-282. The renown of the High Street as the centre of Edinburgh life dated fiom the Middle Ages when the Royal Mile, extending fiom Edinburgh Cade in the east to Holyrooâ House in the west, was split into three sections: the Lamarkef the Hi& Street and the Canongate. Numerous wynds and closes issued off of these streets. High Street was home to a growing number of residents, outdoor markets and a myriad of shops and taverns. Most of the buildings had bmber facades until a massive project in the seventeenth century replaced them with ashlar stonework. The Street was marked by the Luckenbooths, houses of multiple levels with shops on the bonom floor. The Luckenbooths contained at least four levels, but some were rnuch higher, such as at the 1 I -storey northem part of Mary King's Close. The Great Tenement located at the back of Parliament Square and leadmg to the Canongate was the highest of the Luckenbooths at an unbelievable 14 storeys hi@. Unfortunately, like many other buildings, it was burnt in the great fire of 1824, which destroyed al1 the buildings in the High Street benveen the Tron Kirk and Parliament Square. The High Street's demise was inevitable. however, witb the building of the New Town, particularly aAer the execution of the North Bridge and the Mound. Contrary to the promise by the Proposcils that the heart of the Old Town would not be deserted, by the tum of the century residents were not only leaving for the more esteerned homes northward, but even taking their work and businesses with hem, causing a devastating blow to the High Street's dominance in Edinburgh society. 35 Topham, p. 27. 36 See Robert Chambers, Traditions ofEdinburgh (London; Edinburgh: W &R. Chambers, 1869), pp. 2 18-223 for a description of ladies fashion in the late eighteenth- and earl y nineteenthcentmies. 37 Youngson, p. 232. 38 As quoted in Youngson, p. 232. 39 A.J.Youngson was saddened by the commerciaiization of Princes Street, changing 'what had been intendeci, only half a century before, as one of the finest residential sheets in Europe' (p. 232) to a 'shopkeepers' parade' (p. 230). 40 See David Daiches, Edinburgh: A Trader '.Y Iàmpanion (New York: Atheneurn, 1986) pp. 146- 147 where Thomas Carlyle's wonderful account of a walk in Princes Street in 18 14 is printed, paralleling Nasmyth's portrayal of the busy concourse. A portion of the account is provided below: In my student days the chosen Promenade of Edinburgh was Princes Street; from the Fast end of it, to and rio, westward aq far as Frederick Street, or farther if you wished to be less jostled, and have the pavement more to yourself there, on a bright afternoon, in its highest hloom prohably about 4-5 pm., all that wa~ brightest in Edinburgh seemed tu have sept out to enjoy, in the fresh pure air, the finest city prospect in the World and the sight of one anather, and waî gaily streaming this way and that ...The crowd was lively enough, brilliant, many- colnured, many-voiced, clever-lnoking (beautifhl and graceful young womankind a conspicuous element); crowd altogether elegant, petite, and at its ease tho' on parade; .wmethine as if of unconsciausly rhythmic in the mavements of it, as if of harmonious in the sound of its cheerful voices, bass and treble, m'nged with the light laughters- a quite pretty kind of natural concert and rhythms of march; into which, if at leisure, and carefully enough dressed (as some of us seldom were) you mieht introduce yourselc and flow for a tum or two with the general flood. 4 1 See Graham, vol. 1, pp. 89-9 1, where he reproduces a description of the High Street in the late eighteenth century from Thomas SomeMlle and Robert Chambers. A longer portion of the passage is provided below: By the early aftemoon the streets were crowded, for into the main thoroughfare the inhabitantq of the city poured..There were few coaches, fortunately; in the narrow steep streets; but there were sedanchairs swaying in al l directions, honie by Highland poners ;spluttering Gaelic execrations on those who impeded their progress. There were ladies in gigantic hmps sweeping the sides of the causeway, ...There were stately old ladies, with their pattens on feet and canes in han& walking with precision and dignity; judges with their wigs an head and hats under their arm; advocates in their gowns on way to the courts in Parliament Hauîe; rninisters in their hlue or _gay mats; bands, wigs; and three- comered hats. At the Cross (near St. Giles'j the merchants assembled to transact hu~iness,and to exchanse news and snuff-boxes; while physicians, lawyen; and men about town met them as at an open-air club, and joined citizens in the gossip of the city. In the town there wa.5 a fine cumruderie - the fnendliness and farniliarity of a place where every one knew everybody. 44 See Youngson, pp. 26667; for Patrick Ceddes ((1 854- 1932) work for housing re fom in the Old Town, see Helen Meller, Putrick Geddes: Soc~dEvolutionrst und C'ig Plmer (London and New York: Routledge, 1990), pp. 1-17,68-78. Geddes moved himself and his fmily into the Old Town in order to study and bring about the revitalization of the area. His belief in the concurrence of space and society and his openness to al1 classes allowed him to devise urt>an- planning projects that took a range of sociological factors into account, legitimizing the importance of the environment and the people within it. 45 See ProposuLv, pp. 1 5-23. 47 Hemingway, p. 5 1. 49 Adam Smith, An inquiry inîo the Nature and Cames of the Wcaiih of Nations, eds. R-K Campbell, AS. Skinner, and W.B. Todd (Oxford: Clarendon, 1976) 2 vols, vol. 50 Proposais, p. 32. 5 1 Daniel Defoe, 'Account & Description of Scotland', in A Tour Tho' the Whole islund of Greut Briruin iii. (London: Davies, 1727), p. 32, as quoted in Helen Clark, 'Living in One or Two Rooms in the City', The Scortish Home, ed. Annette Camnhers (Edinburgh: National Museums of Scotland, 1996), p. 60. 52 See Hemingway, p. 54. Associational psychology was a pnmary belief of philosophical criticism and was based on the idea that the observation of the mind, much like that of nature, could identifi the basic laws (or 'general principles') of human thought as given by Chnstiaity and influenced by the prevailing theories of the day. Said Hemingway, 'Association theory offered an explmation of aesthetic pleasure as a phcular Function of the imagination, a disinterested pleasure produced by certain trains of associated ideas, stimulated either by objects in the worid or by their representations in works of art thai act as sigis for these ideas'. Therefore, it was the emotion that an image produced in the viewer through the viewer's association with the images in relation to prom inent ideology that generated aesthetic pleasure. An image l i ke Prrnces Smer could be associated with symbols of industriousness, leisure, Classicd architecture, economic affluence, etc., as well as personal recollections of shopping on a busy aftemoon, of awestnick fascination of the parade of people in fashionable attire, of the smell and sound of wood king hammered together and orders king shouted. The experience of being on Princes Street could, thus, be seen in its entirety as a pleasurable experience that recalled feelings of national pride and, by eliciting this emotional response in the audience, they were prompted to continue irnprovement endeavors. 53 Hemingway, p. 5 1. 54 Lewis Mumford as quoted in McKean, p. 82. Lewis Mumford, an Amencan sociologist and urban planner, was one of Patrick Geddes most prolific students and his ideas are in large part inherited From Geddes. See Meller, Pu~ickGeddes, pp. 300-2. 55 See Lindsay. 56 McKean, p. 102. 57 EJinb2c~ghReview, 1822, as quoted in McKean, p. 102. 58 See Shepherd and Britton, pp. 3941; Henry Cockburn, Mcrnorrak of hrs Tirne (New York: D. Appleton, 1856). p. 337. Cockbum does not eulogize the building of the Royal Institution as readily as Shepherd and Brinon, but instead referred to the Wnyof the associations who controlled it and its use as a 'vice' for power-hungry artists, who 'tned indirectly to crush al1 living art, and its professon, that ventured to flourish except under their sunshine'. After initial promise, says Cockbum, the Institution fell into 'obscurity and uselessness'. 59 Cockburn, pp. 338-339. 60 Proposuls, pp. 35-36. 61 Ibid, p. 35. 62 Cockburn, pp. 32 1-22. 63 See Devine, pp. 105- 1 5 1 for a documentation of the agicultud and industrial improvernents in Scotland fiom the mid-eighteenth to mid-nineteenth centuries. 64 Robert Chambers, Truditiom of Ediinburgh, vol. 1 (Edinburgh, 1 825), pp.52-3, as quoted in Youngson, p. 226. In his description of the changes in society that occurred as a result of the move to the New Town, Chamben condemned the vanity and pompousness of New Town propriety, as well as the economic and intellectual strains of a high-society life: A practice had long prevailed in Edinburgh, of keeping a great deal of societv, and entertaining a vast circle of fiends, for little expnse, at tea and supper @es ... But when a family, that had long indulged in good society in one of the ches ofthe High Street; end ~rhaps(if the? zre not k!ied) fhi!inr!y interchanged the civilities of tea drinking with their neighbours on the oppsite side of the alley, without leaving their aMe or putting themselves to any Mertrouble than merely opening their respective window, removed to the genteel districts beyond the North Loch, their manner of life was matenall y aitered. With their enlarged mansion, they were obliged to adopt more expensive habits - to give dinnen instead of tea-parties, and routs instead of suppen, - and indeed to make such an extension of the whole domestic establishment as waq felt serinusly inconvenient . . 65 Youngson, p. 252; see also Graham, pp. 97- 10 1 for an account of the importance of dancing to eighteenth-century Edinburgh society. 66 See Youngson, pp. 253-54; Graham, p. 92-3. 67 Proposai&v,p. 26; Youngson, pp. 13- 14. 68 Quoted in OEC, Vol XXII, p. 190, as quoted in Youngson, pp. 59-60. 69 See Chambers, pp. 129-13 1 for an account of the Loch's uses before it was drained, most notably as a public attraction in the sixteenth centuq where citizens engaged in the feeding of swans and boating. Another less pleasant sixteenthtentury fiinction of the Loch was as the area where civil forces would 'dip and drown offenders against morality, especially of the fernale sex'; see dso Cockbum, pp. 350-51 for the Loch's previous uses, which included the practice of fire-bailing by the city's Volunteen, perhaps explaining the presence of soldiers in the Loch in Nasmyth's Edinburgh Custle und the Nor ' Loch 70 Proposuis, pp. 25-3 7. 7 1 The C.'uiedoniun Mernny, 2 Suly 1763, as quoted in Youngson, p. 60. 72 Youngson, pp. 243-44. 73 See Graham, vol. 1, p. 90, pp. 124-25; Chambers, pp. 18-2 1. 74 Graham, vol. 1, pp. 125-26. CWTER 3 The interest of landscape painten in urban topography in the late-eighteenth and early-nineteenth centuries was evidenced by a rise in the painting of tomcapes after 18 15. As Andrew Hemingway explains, however, urban scapes were not typically characterized by a sentimental regard for the city, nor did the city replace the countryside as the primary subject of the landscape painter.' The urban views done by Alexander Nasmyth, however, did sentimentalize the city and he infused the images with an idyllic pleasantness usually identified with contemplative rural views. Nasmyth's approach renewed principles of associational theory. Many associational theonsts reiated spiritual fulfilment to the city and, in fact, proposed that an dansetting was more conducive to the enjoyment of a well-rounded li festy le than an agrarian setting.' One such associational theorist was William Taylor, a Norwich intellectual and proponent of bourgeois capitalism who elrpounded the urban scape as art's 'highea de~tination'.~In an 18 14 anicle, Taylor divided landscap: into a four-part hierarchy, placing the 'artificial' or man-made sctting over the nistic, the sublime and the beautiful. The rendering of cities like Tivoli or Richmond Hill, said Taylor, necessitated a keen understanding of precision and perspective and, thus, should be more highly regarded than 'low' ml images. As well as possessing supenor form, Taylor believed that the images functioned on a superior plane. for they, 'may probably excite, more completely than any other sort of scenery, the luxury and agreeable ideas - of opulence, retinement, elegance, and enjoyment, king, harboured in every dwelling, or scattered in every grove' ." The pervasion of such 'Iwurious and agreeable ideas' is inherent in Alexander Nasmyth's Princes Street with the Royd Inîritution Building mder C'om~ructionand Edinburghfiorn the Ckl~Hill. Both images are n'ch portrayais of scenic and active Edinburgh that esteem 'opulence, refinement, elegance and enjoyment'. Likewise, the 1752 Proposuis emphasized the importance of opulence tu a progressive urban are* justimng the need for Edinburgh to change ~Ïththe times: 'the institution of our governrnent is now different: our manners must be different also. A nation cannot at this day be considerable, unless it be opulent'.' In order to Fulfill its destiny, Edinburgh had to follow the exarnple of other progressive and 'populous cities', where 'wealth is only to be obtained by trade and commerce'.' The Proposuls assured the readers that once Edinburgh heeded the example set by their hanited precurson, the rest of Scotland would follow suit and, 'the certain consequence is, general wealth and prosperity: the number of useful people will increase; the rents of land rise; the public revenue improve; and in the room of sloth and poverty, will succeed industry and opulence' .' The perfect example of 'general wealth and prosperity was London and William Taylor's description of his favourite place from which to survey the city, Blackmar's Bridge, reciprocated the Proposcis and showed a sincere appreciation of the beauty and opportunjty that lay before him. From the bridge, said Taylor, I can behold an immeasurably wider extent of builded space than elsewhere; houses rising ahove houses, meetc stretching beyond strrets, palaces, theanes, temples climbing nom the endless mass beyond the majestic Thames, with the idea of world-encompasing commerce and empire, which that winding forest of mast is adapted to excite; and dl this my countrymen, our own.* As a panoramic view of the Scottish capital taken from the eastem crest of Calton Hill, Ehburghfrom the (kifonHill surnrnons an appreciation of the city similar to Taylor's of London. Casting the eye over the lefi side of the painting, the viewer is confronted by a structural series of peaks and valleys, breadth and narrowness. To the right stands a uniform system of regularized lines and common heights broken ai strategic points by elevated buildings and monuments. Mediating between these two extremes is a cluster of buildings at the centre of the painting, well-placed before the mossy banks of the Calton Hill. Bathed in a crimson hue, the scene depicts Edinburgh in a state of contented relaxation. Here, Nasmyth captures his city at its most ethereal, when the &y is fading into evening and the city is awash in a dus@ scarlet. The scene compels the viewer to reflect upon its natural wonder and, thus, it parallels the positive rhetoric of the Proposais. If the Proposds delivered one Fundamental message to its readers, it was to realize the fornine of living at such a high point in Edinburgh's history. This resounding ernphasis on naûonaiistic pride was an attempt to prompt Edinburgh citizens to becorne actively involved in the improvement scheme. Supporten of improvement insisted that the most valiant way of celebrating national identity was by building the nation. Alexander Nasmyth's Princes SM and Cuiton Hill depict this nationdistic celebration anci, if taken as a pair, they resemble a before-and-after photograph of Edinburgh with Calton Hill illustrating the enjoyment of the fniits of labour after that labour ha been cornpleted in Princes Sfree. The people of Cdion Hill are not portrayeci feeding the economy, but feedng their rninds, bodies and spirits in a rnanner in keeping with the Enlightenment spirit.' Arnidst row after row of stately buildings, a multitude of Edinburgh inhabitants, many of refined dress and character, take pleasure in their surroundings. Indeed, 'enjoyment' seerns to pour fonn 'every dwelling' and 'every grove'. 'O in Chiton HzU, horse-drawn carnages cm be seen on Princes Street and driving into Waterloo Place from Regent Road, al1 no doubt ernbarking on shopping sprees in Princes Street. Most of the citizens, however, travel on fwt, enjoying the opportunity to simultaneousiy take in the sites and take a leisurely stroll. The nurnber of walkways in the area recall the proposed terraces arowd Pnnces Street Gardens in the first phase of the New Town, deemed by the Town Council as such a necessary element of a tourjst- fhendly city (figure 26). Their execution was also proudly remarked upon by Robert Louis Stevenson, who betieved that Calton Hill was, the place to stroll on one of those days of sunshine and east whd which are so cornmon in our more than temperate summer. The hreeze cornes off the sea, with a little of the fkeshness, and that touch of chill, peculiar to the quarter, which is delightfid tn certain very niddy organi7ations and geatly the reverse to the majority of mankind. It bnngs with it a faint, floating haze, a cunning decolourker, although nat thick enough to obscure outlines near at hand. 'l Most especially, the Calton Hill walkways reflect the vision of William Stark, the Glasgow architect whose dl-important Repor~.... on the Plans for Laying out the Groundr for Buildings bctween Edinburgh und Leith had a lasting influence on the development of Calton Hill.I2 In Calton Hill, Stark foresaw the provision of the most spectacular views of Edinburgh, particularly of the 'exceedingly grand' Old Town.I3 Many penons would agree with him, including Robert Louis Stevenson, who considered Caiton Hill's vantage point 'the bat; since you can sethe Castle, which you Iose from the Castle, and Arthur's Seat, which you cannot see fiom Arthur's Seat'.14 Characterizing the site, Stark exemplified his appreciation of Edinburgh's naturd beauty and its potential, proclaiming that, the Calton Hill is an object of political interesf considered either as a leading feattire in the pwal scenery of Edinburgk; or s a stn-kingmc! attractiüe spot, afTording a succession of the most splendid and divenified views that are to he found assemhled in the immediate vicinity of any large city, and within the compas of a few minutes walk." Edinbwghfrom the Culton Hill represents the eastem phase of the Edinburgh New Town. The first phase was shown in Craig's plan and compriseci an area bounded in the north by Queen Street, in the south by Princes Street and in the east and West by Hope Street and the North Bridge, respectively. It was constnicted for the most part during the last quarter of the eighteenth cenniry. The second phase, or 'Second New Town', was executed mainly in the first quarter of the nineteenth century and extended northward from Queen Street to Canonrnills. It was bounded in the west by Moray Place and in the east by Broughton. The wide prospects that had been laid out so successfûlly south of Queen Street were reproduced in areas like Heriot Row, Northumberland Street and Great King Street, but its parûcular ingenuity was displayed in the Royal Crescent, Ainslie Place and Moray Place, where architects and town plannen created a montage of circuses and crescents. The new shapes reflected the change in architectural and civic planning at the tirne, a change from strict uniformity to georneûical variation that reflected the variation of the topography. l6 The eastem development of Calton Hill, carrkd out primady in the early nineteenth-century, went beyond the inventiveness exhibited in the second phase and its creativity was due in large part to William Stark. Stark insisted upon the primacy of the site over the plan. He believed that the land should detemine the plan and the plan shouid follow the lay of the land without manipulating its form and scenery. Stark's ideas were canied out by his like-minded student, William Playfair. Neither Stark, nor Playfair concealed their abhorrence of James Craig's plan for the first New Town, criticizing its symmetry and restrictive regdation as an unnatural infingement upon the land's rhythmic topography. Stark believed that conscientious observation of the site, a value so esteemeci by Scomsh philosophen, would yield an appreciation of its pamcular beauty and those particdarities could, in tum, be emphasized by the architect to the site's inherent advantage. Straightness need not be enforced upon cwed ground for aesthetic sake said Stark, for there was 'in a bending aiignment of street much beauty, and perhaps the most striking effects', achieving 'variety and unexpected change of f~rm'.'~This 'bencimg alignrnent' is visible in Nasmyth's Calton Hill, where Regent Road curves fkom Waterloo Place at the eastem end of Pnnces Street, effectively huggmg the buildings to the lefk and the dopes of Calton Hill to the right. At the junction of Princes Street and Waterloo Place, Leith Street also foms a 'bending alignrnent', mingeastward into Leith Walk and onward to Leith. At the intersection of Leith Walk and London Road, which foms the northem boundary of Calton Hill, Royal Tenace extends. Royal Terrace is the starting point of the trio of walkways that form a tnangular srnound of Calton Hill and is completed by Caiton Terrace and Regent Tenace. The terraces envisioned by Stark were to be laid at a moderate level above Princes Street and would be unafFectedly picturesque for their abundance of natural greenery. Along with the deliverance of views, the preservation of trees was one of Stark's 'general principles'. For instance, he was the only architect to include the two hundred-yard stretch of Elm trees in Leith Walk in his submission for Calton Hill's development, arguing for the ability of trees to 'enrich and give interest to the whole surrounding scene' as a fact implicit in al1 great works of art and architecture. '' Stark's ideas also underlined the juxtaposition of the country and city in Edinburgh (see figure 27). This blurring of urban and rural boundanes is evident in Nasmyth's painting, in Stark's and Playfair's plans and in William Taylor's article. Direct associations between urban improvement and rural contemplation were even made by Henry Cockburn. Cockburn supported the improvement cause for the most part, but criticized the annexation of Edinburgh's most distinctive spaces. Delighting in the nadsunoundings of his New Town residence in Charlotte Square, he descnbed the pastoral semng, where to the north and west there Iay, an open field of as green turf as Scotland could hast of, with a few respectable trees on the flac and thickl y wdedon the ban ks along the Water of Leith... That well-kept and almost evergreen field was the most beautifid piece of mound in immediate connection with the town, and led the eye agreeably over Y to our distant northem scenery ... 1 have stdin Queen Street, or the opening at the north-west corner ofCharlotte Square,and listened to the ceaseless rural c~rncr~ks,nestling happily in the dewy grass. Ig in Charlotte Square, Cockburn could enjoy the best of both worlds, the peacefùlness of the country and the privileged cornfort of his palatial Adam town house. Aias, in the same breath as this eulogy, he would lament the eclipse of this rebat and its 'glorious prospect' by the building of Moray Place and Ainslie Pla~e.~"Thougb realizing the need for progress, Cockburn could not help but be saddened at the deprivation of 'our lost verdure, our banished peacefulness, our gorgeous sunsets' when building moved beyond Charlotte square.*' Robert Louis Stevenson also recognized the simultaneous existence of the tom and country in the New Town, noting how the first expansion of the city signified the encroachment of a modem plan upon a counûy setting, a plan by a 'town bird' who had no idea of the environment in which the plan was placed? Such opposing identities were also obvious, said Stevenson, between the Old and New Towns, between Low Calton and Waterloo Place and between Dean Village and Dean Bridge. The author praised the continuation of rural sensitivity, hoping it would remain in spite of the threat posed by &an developmenp: Our windows at no expense to use, are mostly arifuliy stained to represent a landqcape. And when the Spnng cornes round, and the hawthom k$ns to flower, and the meadows to smell of young grass, even in the thckest of our streetc; the countq hilltops find out a young man's eyes, and set his hean beating for travel and pure air.24 Stevenson may have his wish, for despite the ovenvhelrning presence of the great city in Cuiton Hill, there is also a decisive appreciation of the natural quality of life. The mossy banks of the Calton Hill are filled with Edinburgh's citizens enjoying the site itself, as well as its prospect fiom just above Regent Terrace - what is today Regent Gardens. The contention that arose over the laying out of Regent Gardens gives a good indication of the cornpetitive nature of developments in the New Town. For instance, critics of Playfair's plan ridiculeci it as unimaginative and boring, in large part because of the area of unoccupied space that he had allotted for gardens at the top of Calton Hill. Although his adversaries claimed that advocacy of the plan would yield little economic profit, Playfair exonerated the gardens, proclaiming that, 'this ground wi ll produce a wnsiderable revenue by the surns that will be paid for permission to walk there'." Playfair was dl too aware of the simultaneous development of the western New Town west of Queensferry Street and north of the Water of Leith where, a circie of fahionable and wedthy people ha been collected and there, unless some strong inducement elsewhere he laid out, they will continue to assemble. This inducement 1 should hope will be obtained in the magnificent gardens in question - this is the main spring by which the whole may be set in motion'.'" The direct reference to the Proposuis and its high regard for the circulation of monetary gdsand services - 'the great spring which gives motion to general industry and improvement' is no mere coincidence." It shows irrevocably the importance of the economic factor attached to the scheme fiom the onset and the fact that sensitivity to improvement ideology continueci into the nineteenth centuy. Stark, and Playfair after him, may have professeci the uppermost concern in delivering wondemil views, but neither of them failed to recognize the 'vendible comrnodity ' that these views could elicit? Their magnanimous approach was typical of the mind-set of the eighteenth- century artist as well as the eighteenth-century anktocrat, both of whom were preoccupied with creating a dramatic and pleasurable landscape in which they had a Loyal to Stark's vision, Playfair saw to it that the land at the centre of the Caiton Hill was left as open space for the laying out of gardens. Stark had claimed that any residential housing built above the terraces wodd not provide an interesting prospect, as the houses would be too far removed From the tom- He did not want the residents to lord over the city, but to experience it. Playfair's plan for the gardens not only iilustrates his concem for the preservation of nature and the creation of a walking place for the Calton Hill residents, but also his concern for the cost of further excavation. In actual fact, the completion of the Calton Hill project would far exceed initial estimates. Noting the importance given to the gardens, it is quite satisfjmg to see that thry were executed and still remain an intrinsic element of Calton Hill's appeal. It is also noteworthy that tennis courts and an Outdoor Education Centre are to&y located on the very location captured by Nasmyth in Edinburghfim the (irlfonHill. Perhaps mereiy coincidence, it is curious, nevertheless, that Nasmyth did similar images of the eventual pleasure grounds of Edinburgh's inhabitants in Princes Strea and Cul~onHill. In Princes Street, he painted the children playing in the empty Nor' Loch, the eventual site of the East Princes Street Gardens, and in (kiton Hill he painted the children playmg on the eventual site of Regent GardensM In Nasrnyth's painting of Calton Hdl, a group of men, women and children have gathered In the left foregound, four gentlemen are in deep conversation upon the subject of the view, perhaps making their own plans for the city's layout. The hats, dark coats and lush suede-like materials of the men's clothes would today probably be labelled 'aristocratie chic', their fashion displayhg a sporty- stylish quality. Particularly stylish is the man standing with his back to the viewer and dressed in hi& carnel-skin boots, denim pants and a charcoai-brown waist-length jacket. Pointing to the buildings before him, he converses with a man dressed in soldierly attire. perhaps a sentry guard from the jail located in the group of structures which has aroused their attention. The guard7s unbuttoned waistcoat suggests that he is on a break from his duties and has decided to join in the leisurely atmosphere. The man sitting just to the right facing the viewer and ta1 king with another man points northward, perhaps remarking on the future Calton Hill developrnent. The figure farthest to the lefi iilustrates the presence of physical labour in the painting. The working man., clad in brown trousers, a white shirt rolled up at the sleeves and a brown vest recalls the labourers at the Royal Institution in Nasrnyth's Princes Strecr image. Here. the lone worker is raking grass and removing pieces of wood from the area and appears to be employed somehow in the clearing of the hill. Aside fiom the aristocratie gentleman sporting a cane and dressed in formal black trousers, black tailcoat and white hat standing next to the iron fence near the hill's dope, the rest of the bank is filled with women and children. The two women sitting in the alcove to the men's right may be mothen of the children or their nannies, as A.J. Youngson made allusion to the common practice of maidservants to bring smaller children up to Calton Hill, sitting or playing with them while 'the claes' enjoyed the sun's raysJ1 D.O. Hill's topographical landscape, Edinburgh OidundNew (figure 28). compares with Nasmyth's Edinburghfiom the Colton Hill in its construction of a panoramic view of the city from an elevated height, as well as its portraya! of leisure. Looking out from Edinburgh Castle at the eastem end of the city, Hill represents old and new Edinburgh most clearly through a topographical cornparison of the Old Town and the New Town. Like Caiton Hill, the expansive scene is clouded in a sofi haze, but the initial stages of New Town development are visible in the uniform squares that occupy the area to the lefi of the Nor' Loch, such a contrast to the varying eievations of the Old Town located imrnediately before the Castle. in the foreground, a goup of men, women and children have gathered on the Castle Esplanade. The group is compnsed of well- dressed noblemen and noblewomen, soldiers, children, musicians, etc. al1 decked out in the brightest of colours and the brightest of smiles. Considering the location of the Esplanade, it is assumed the figures are of aristocratie birth but the amiosphere of mirth and merriment is reminiscent of stories of Old Town joviality typified by the lower classes. The lighthearted banter and carefiee singing and dancing exhibited in the courtly scene is illustrative of the entertainments enjoyed by the privileged classes who, whether living in old or new Edinburgh, enjoy the pleasures historically associated with the capital. As has been mention4 above, the execution of the Edinburgh New Town was divided by adversarial geographicd regions. Indeed, a large part of Playfair's Calton Hill plan was never redized because of its 'formidable rivai' in the West (figure 29) .32 The tenaces he had planned north of London Road, or Hillside Road as he renamed it, were never built simply because available capital went to the improvement of the western area of Edinburgh. Playfair dici, however, realize his beloved Hillside Crescent with its three streets, Brunswick, Hillside and Wellington, radiating off it, ' the good effect of the diverging of several Streets fiom a Central point' modelled upon Rome's Piazza del ~opolo." Moreover, Playfair repeated a scheme utilized in the first New Town. By choosing not to build houses on the Iower side of the terraces, he gave houses on the upper side extensive views. Playfair did not have Stark to thank for this idea, but James Craig. Craig devised a similar pian for the hows in Princes Street and Queen Street, where by not building on the southem sides of those streets, he provided north-side homeownen with extensive views. Obviously. not al1 of Craig's ideas were without ment. Considering the cornpetitive nature of improvement in Edinburgh, it is not surprising that securing capital from wealthy patrons and especidly the Edinburgh banks would depend upon the presentation of a sound plan. However, this was hardly the case. The economic status of Edinburgh ofien wavered as a result of an over-ambitious Town Council. One notable example of the Council's obsession with the realization of unredistic goals was the annexation of the Calton OId Burd Ground in order to build an access road to Caiton Hill (figure 30).Y In actual fact, relationshps between govenunent officiais, legal parties and lending institutions and the well-timed collection of favoun proved most often essential to the garnen'ng of support for improvernent. The city's Town Council, Commissioners and mastrates seemed to possess an endless supply of money, but they actually benefited most from the generosity of banken who ailowed them to sign loans with huge overdrafts with the promise of hture profit as the main collaterai. Such ill-thought out schemes played a decisive role in the city's declaration of bankniptcy in 1833. Calton Hill, like its New Town counterparts, mived to attract Edinburgh's wealthiest and most dignified residents in order to create a grand and opulent neighbourhood The am's main attraction wouid be its views and terrace housing (figure 3 1 ) .35 Architects had to ensure prospective clients that although they wodd reside in an urban neighbourhood they wodd be removed from the noise and inconveniences of urban life. William Playfair resolved the cohabitation of classes with his clever designation of residential and commercial areas? Playfair borrowed elements fiom the four winning plans from 18 15, but it is not known whether Stark's sketches were made available to him. Regardless, dl four plans esteemed Stark's 'variety' by devising a pattern of confiicting geometric planes whereby three streets radiated northward from the crescent above London Road and a triangular space occupied the area between London Road and the roads to Leith and Low Calton. Interestingly enough, Playfair, Crichton and Nasmyth al1 proposed the segregation of streets according to ciass. In a ring-like formation, streets at the centre were designated to the lower classes and were enclosed successively by a senes of streets emanating fiom the centre, with each progressive Street indicating the rise in the stature of its residents. The streets and correspondhg houses adhered to a four-mnk system. According to this system, streets of the fint rank had the greatest Adth, graduaily decreasing down to the nanowest or fourth-ranked house. Playfair claimed that the design allowed the residences to be 'intersperseci with one another in such a manner to afTord accommodation to the various classes of society likely to inhabit so large a district'." Upon closer inspection, however, the hiemrchical order of the design is obvious and Playfair undermines his earlier assertion in a description of the plan: 'The main streets are intersected ody by the secondary kind which again are crossed by those of iderior note, and by the openings into meuse lanes, a proper and necessary subdivision'. 38 Thus, the third and fourth-ranked streets were crossed only by secondary streets, but never the main streets. The secondary streets were crossed only by third and fourth-ranked streets, which included the meuse lanes or stable areas, showing the similar relegation of the meuse lanes in the first New Town. In effect, despite his daim that the neighbourhood would be home to 'the various classes', Playfair ensured that the highest ranking inhabitants of Calton Hill need never interact with those of a lower rank on a personal or dornestic level. This sepration of private and public activity was qualified by the placement of markets at the very centre of the district of fourth-rate houses. Because of the radial design the markets were located at a convenient distance fiom the higher- ranked consuners, yet were virtually hidden by the order of houses initiating £Yom the centre, making certain that 'no nuisance can possibly A major market piaced near the apex of the triangle, between Easter Road and London Road meant that cattlr and wares couid be brought to the area without traversing the main residential areas. thus also avoiding 'nuisance' From arising. Located near the bottorn of the hill, Playfair also foresaw the advent of 'a reservoir' for this market, 'created in such a way that afker market hours the whole might be laid under water and completely cleaned'." The cleanliness of this market is astounding in cornparison to the insanitary practices that went on in the shambles aside the Nor 'Loch and the flesh and fish markets in the Cowgate and Old Fish Market Close in the Old Town, practices that were retained even afler their move to the North Bridge in the New Town. William Taylor's description of the city scape underlined the notion that urban living could be just as pleasurable as country living. His words also called forth feelings of national identity, progress and destiny, sentiments that were visualized in Ale.xander Nasmyth's urban vistas. In a quotation above, William Stark predicted the political relevance of Calton Hill. The active and ofien controversial position of Calton Hill in Edinburgh life, as well as its role as a home to the city's monuments testify to the correctness of Stark's predi~tion.~'The advertisement for Calton Hill's development went so far as to dictate that plans could neither alter nor ignore Calton Hill's monuments, which in 18 12 included James Craig's Old Observatory ( 1776-92)and the Nelson Monument ( 1807, Robert Bum, castellated base added 18 14- 16). By 1825, the date of Nasmyth's painting, William Playfair's City Observatory, a Classical temple, complete with dome, had ken built and Playfair's National Monument, the city's mode1 of the Parthenon, was under way. Alexander Nasrnyth, however, chose not to depict the monuments that in Edznburghjkm the CdonHill would have been located just around the rocky precipice dominating the right foreground. Despite having shed first pnze in the contest for the Calton Hill scheme, Nasmyth did not receive the actual commission and this may have bern a factor in his not depicting the layout or monuments in his painting. Yet perhaps Nasmyth's interest in depicting Edinburgh's improvement was more significant to his decision on the painting's content. His views, providing a realistic swey of the city's topography and social interaction, more effectively portray Edinburgh's progress than would a mere reproduction of their symbolic monuments. Calton Hill, as a primary vantage point from which to view the city, fmctioned for Nasmyth in a marner similar to that of Blackfriar's Bridge for William Taylor. Taylor's words evoke associations with the positive aspects of commercial progress and by justimng 'world-encompassing commerce and empire', he ignored the negative consequences of commercialization on the pr,miserable and voiceless of society. The efTect of urbanization on these marginal groups was most often the intensification of their destitution. A Topham's piteous comment on the poor in Edinburgh, for instance, exacerbates this destitution. Wnting from the city in 1776 he exclaimeci, 'No people in the world undergo greater hardships or live in a worse degree of wretchedness and poverty than the lower classes here'." Depression and famine intensified the strugglrs of the poor and during the 1795 famine over eleven thousand people, a staggenng one- seventh of the city's population, had to depend on charity for food The Napoleonic Wan also immobilized the city and the winter of 1816-17 was particularly devastating." During this time, many weaven corne fiom the western area of Scotland to look for work in Edinburgh and were employed 30 make roads and wal ks round the Calton Hill and Salisbury Crags. The walk immediately under the precipitous crags, which opens out such perfect panoramic views of Edinburgh, was made by these poor fellows'." Like the Propo.~c~I.~and Taylor's article, Nasmyth's painting5 were subjective works preoccupied with asserting national character and unity as an enab ling factor of prosperity. They did not explicitly allow for unfavourable representation. tndeed, despite the distressful circurnstances of the poverty-stricken in Edinburgh, poverty was 'an evil not looked on with hopelessness or indifference'.'' Edinburgh's citizen5 in the early nineteenth century had witnessed a seerningly unattainable goal with the incredible growth of the New Town and there was an optimism for the future that images such as Eainbwghfrom the Calton Hill deal1 the more redistic. In reality, however, with increasing class division the middle classes moved to suburban areas where they wuld remain close to the city's services, yet reside in a semi-rural environment. In actual fact, urban leisure was most ofien 'the ideal of the metroplitan intellectual - only he had the necessary distance, the disinterestedness which could render the urban an experience of taste'? Thus, Edinburgh from the ('ahon Hill, li ke Princes Streel, is directed at an audience of urban intellectuals who could admire the views without having to participate in the intensive labour that went into their creation Nasrnyth's pleasurable portraya1 of leisure, like his pleasurable portrayal of work, defied the critical consequences of commercialization, as mentioned above: individualism. segregation, corruption and limitation of freedorn. As symbols of the ideals of Scottish social theory, the buildings and the people of (Mon Hill reflect the unjustified application of negative connotations to Edinburgh i mprovement. In order for Caiton Hill to becorne a home for the high-ranking citizens of Edinbwgh, it first had to be connected to the rest of the city. In 1815, the only rneans of reaching the Caiton Hill was from Leith Street 'up a steep, narrow, stinking spiral street"" or from a conhising senes of streets from the Law Courts in the High Street. Waterloo Place, the ail-important access road skirting the southem slopes of Calton Hill in Nasrnyth's painting, was laid out over a period of seven years, fiom 18 15 to 1822, and extended from the eastern end of Rinces Street to Regent Road.' The project called for the construction of a new rad, a bridge, the purchase, rent and eventual dernolition of buildings at the eastern end of Princes that blocked the route and the relocation of the Cdton OId Bllrial Ground. Mer an initial estimate of over thrty-seven thousand pounds, the cost of the undertaking rose to almost seventy-seven thousand pounds, an exorbitant sum that superseded the cost of the entire first New Town.49Though unseen in the painting, the Waterloo Bndge (Archibald Elliot, 1816-19) was a gloriou feat of engineering and rose to a fi@-fwt height over the Calton ravine. It was also an exernplaxy piece of Classical architecture within a Classical setting. The Regent Arch crossing Waterloo Place at Calton Road., contained a Corinthian triumphal arch that looked down ont0 the fomal CIassical facades of the buildings below. For the preservation of views fiom the bridge, the city was indebted to the project's engineer, Robert Srevenson. Stevenson suggested that no buildings be built on the bridge so that its passengen could catch sight of Leith Walk to the north and the city of Edinburgh to the south. The Town Council agreed with him and echoed the sentiments of William Stark in their statement that it would be 'very desirable that the interest and attention of the passengen and strangers should be kept up in the same agreeable style of vanety al1 the way From Gayfield Square to the Register office'.' The irnperious structural complex dominating the central foreground of Etiinburghfrom the (:aiton Hill arrests the viewer with its lordly presence. The corn plex is cornpriseci of Robert Adam's Bridewell(179 1) (figure 321, or the workplace for inmates, on the left and Archibald Elliot's Jail(18 15- 17) [figure 33 ) to its nght. Rising up From behind the main felon jail is the Old Calton Jail and Govemor's House, the wtellated section of the jail and al1 that remains of the original structure [see figure 32)." The stone wall extending fiom the left of the Bridewell and into Regent Road surrounds the Cahon New Burying Ground Of particular notice near the cemetery 's wall is the David Hume Monument done by Robert Adam in 1777. The existence of the Roman cylinder, made of rough ashiar and decorated by a fneze and um above its entrance, signifies the importance of Hume's philosophy to Edinburgh ideology. Furthemore, its location to the lefi of Adam's Bridewell calls to mind the Scottish Enlightenrnent's belief in 'a new kind of liberty' that vaiorized equitable laws and saw philanthropie rehabi litation as a necessary and positive means by which the offender could reintepte himself or herself into so~iety.'~This humanistic ideology presided over the erection of the correctional facilities on Calton Hill. Thfirst of the buildings, the Bridewell, was built from 179 1 to 1795 and was only a partial realization of a plan originating fiom an Act of 178 1 that called for the erection of a new jail (or gaol). A fmher Act of 1790 stated that the new Bridewell and jail should be located on the Calton Hill. Some of the responsibility of the Howof Correction was transferred to the Bridewell. but felons continued to be imprisoned in the Tolbooth in the Canongate section of the High Street in the OId Town. According to Arnof who considered unnecessary incarceration a 'very inhumane' act, the Tolbooth and the treatment of the prisoners within it was, to say the Ieast, unfavourable." Though located 'in the heart of a great city', said Amot 'it is not accommodated with ventilators, with water-pipe, with privy; ...ail parts of the jail kept in a slovenly condition; but the eastern corner of il, (although we had fonified ourselves against the stench), int~lerable'.~ Despite the concurrent recomrnendation for the jail and Bridewell in 178 1, the building of the jail was riddled with wntroversy. The major reason for the delay stemrned from arguments over its location In 18 12, it was proposed that the jail should be built near the law courts east of Liberton's Wynd. When this site was cnticized for lack of space, the area on Princes Street between the Mound and Canal Street was suggested When this site, too, was refuse& it was decided that the new jail should be placed, appropnately enough, next to the Bridewell on Calton Hill. kJ.Youngson gratefully acknowledged the city's foresight in not heeding the suggestions of William Ray. the Sheriff Depute of Edinburgh, who insisted that the jail would not denigrate Princes Street as, 'this part of Pnnces Street is now in a great measure composed of shops and hows of public accommodati~n'.~~Although it did not corne to be built on 'what was supposed to be the handsomest street in Europe'%,the location of the jail on Calton Hill, one of Edinburgh's most stately sites, was hardly a satisfacto~alternative. Cockbum spoke for many in his criticism of the decision: 'It was a piece of undoubted bad taste to gwe so glorious an eminence to a prison. It was one of Our noblest sites, and would have been given by Pericles to one of his finest edifices. But in modern tom, although we may abuse and bemoan, we must take what we can get'." The financial support of the project was also a contentious issue. As a jail that would how offenders from al1 over Scotland, the amount of money that should be contibuted by Edinbwgh was arguable? Nevertheless, the jail was begun in 18 15 in the mida of controversy, as so many of the previous New Town buildings had ken, and was completed two years later. Perhaps the picturesque beauty of this 'feudal fomess of romance'", partxularly evident in the Gothic tunets and battlements of the Govemor's House, compensateci for its fiinaion, for in form it certainly did not resemble a prison. According to Thomas Markus, the prominence of these buildings on Edinburgh' s Calton Hill symbolized the prominence of 'concrete instruments of invisible mechanisms' in the city itself Markus believed that the structures represented the determination of Edinburgh's lawmaken, in their city, to control the deviant aspects of the secular world at large. Summarizing the philosophy of the age. Markus saiâ, 'Physical, moral and mental disorder - that is the disintegration of the penonaiity in its various aspects - represented, in rnicrocosm and symbolic form, disorder in society itself The execution of these buildings was dso symptomatic of Scotland's reaction to the 'dual revolutions' occuning in America and Fmnce, as well as to the Napoleonic Wars. Urbanization, class hequality, land enclosure, rioting and the spread of contagious diseases also contributed to a concem for the well-being of society. Scomsh Enlightenment theory, chamcterized by a benevolent treatment of hurnankind, believed that criminal negligence and physical and mental illness could be overcome by the ordering of criminals and patients in charitable institutions. Thus, in the late-eighteenth and early-nineteenth centuries, many laws and acts were passed for the building of prisons, Bridewells and sanitariurns as well as for the establishment of police forces." The idea of ordering society in an enclosed environment achially went back to a Classical concept of Utopia The utopian or ideal city was founded upon cosmic and ideologicai principles and emphasized order and knowledge. Even the fom and design of these utopian institutions was based on scientific and ecclesiastic forms, such as the Greek cross or the temple fiont? As has been noted above, Greek architecture was prominent in many structures completed during Edinburgh's era of irnprovement. The temple front alone wuld be seen in the University. the Parliament House and Repister House. The architectural form of the Bridewell and jaii was also directly related to their functi~n.~The Act of 179 1, for instance, specified the need for the strict division of inmates. Diseased prisoners were to be kept in a Lazaret, prisonen were divided according to sex and class and, aside fiom religious services, meals and exercise, they were to be separated at all times. The Act also noted the need for an infirmary, bah, a washhouse for cleaning ciothes and tools for work. The jail was comprised of a straight block of fifiyeight cells on either side of a corridor with a chape1 located at the centre. As at the Bridewell. religious services were held regularly in the chapel, indicating the centrality of spi ritual faith to the rehabil itative process. By irnitating the cade style of the Bridewell, the jail reiterated Robert Adam's ernployment of a distinctively Scottish architecturai style. Adam's emphaîic use of the Scomsh Baronial style in the Bridewell was an overtly patriobc gesture in an area of the city where onlookers had no choice but to be affected by it and, hopefully, be inspired to exercise a similar evmtion of their countq. While the placement of the Bridewell and the jail on the city's skyline angered many Edinburgh citizens, their presence could also serve as 'both a reminder of the order king achieved and a deter~nt.'~'The buildings could be admired for their aesthetic attractiveness, yet aiso symboiized the effectiveness of Eduiburgh's legal and govemment systerns by warning would-be crimuials against iransgression. Theorists of the Scottish Enlightenrnent esteemeci the utilization of scientific principles, yet valued empiricism over rationalization. Order was understood as a necessary element of punishment and citing the practice of 'moral persuasion', Thomas Markus illustrated how the erperience of an ordered society within a benevolent clinical setting could effectively rehabilitate or 'cure' the sick? Hence, the building of 'centres in which the emphasis was on order, silence, cleanliness, fresh air and goai ~anitation'.~' Indeed, the Calton Hill site was prized specifically for its 'air, dryness and healthine~s',~' thus epitomizing the need for a space in which the discovery of mental serenity could alleviate mental and physical anguish. Perhaps there was no value more highly regarded by the philosophen of the Scottish Enlightenment than light. Both literally and figuatively, light signified knowledge, understanding, morality and progress. The placement of these buildings of righteousness and humanity upon the lofty ground of Calton Hill signdled 'the erection of a superstmcture of order, light and reason', that could n'se above 'a secret dark and chaotic nether~orld'.~~ The Scottish Enlightenment philosopher David Hume regarded the 'ages of refinement' as the 'happiest and most virt~ous'.~~Hume believed that happiness was comprised of repose, pleasure and action and deemed action the most conclusive because it actualized irnagmd goals, allowing for repose and pleasure." It is the actuaiization of the Edinburgh New Town that Alexander Nasmyth presents to his audience in Edinburgh fiom the Cahn Hill. This panoramic view, portraying the pursuit of leisure afforded by Edinburgh's progress, endorses the cal1 to urbanizaîion and the action that has made it a reality. In a topographical panorama, it is ofkn the landscape that conveys the artist's message more than the achial figures in the painting and, in many instances, there are few if any figures present in topographical landscapes. That is not to say that the actions of these figures is not intrinsic to the artwork but it underlines the importance of the fom of the land and the functions of the buildings placed upon it for an undentanclmg of the painting. Edinburgh fitm the Calton Hill, li ke Princes Sfrerr with the Ru-val Insti/i~tion Building under Con~imclion,is a public scene. It cesonates with images of human interaction, pleasurable socialization and freedom. The setting. a grand, opulent and cornmercialized city is a testimony to the civilization of its citizens and a realization of the 'desire of a more splendid way of life than what their ancestors enjoyed'." Immediately From atop the natural wonder that is called the Calton Hill, the eye falls upon structures that symbolize the primary instruments behind the city's civilization. It is the men whose erninence gave nse to these buildings, the memben of Edinburgh-s legal, goveming and educational classes, who are able to look down upon the city and admire the scene in whose creation they have played a fundamental role. Edinburgh's social elite, typifjmg their owrt brand of humanistic benevolence to their city, like the eighteenth-century aristocrat, Iike the landscape painter and like William Taylor in his patriotic speech fiom a top Blackmar's Bridge are able to stand upon Calton Hill and state with nationalistic pnde, '1 can behold an imrneasurably wider extent of builded space than elsewhere; ...and al1 this my countrymen, our own'." NOTES 1 Andrew Hemingway, h&cupc Imge'y ond Wrban Culture in Eudy Nineteenfh-Cent-> Britoin (Cambridge UP, 199 1 ), p. 74. 2 ibid, p. 74. 3 ibid, p. 74. See pp. 73-5 for an explmation of Taylor's views. In n. 46, p. 3 15, Hemingway States that Taylor's idealization of urban scapes as the 'highest destination' of art is in keeping with ideas expressed by Taylor in his correspondence and he refen readers to: Taylor to Thomas Dyson, in Robberds, Mernoir, vol. II, p. 460; Taylor to Southey, 30 November 1 802, vol. 1, pp. 432-3; and Taylor to Southey, 1 March 1 8 1 5. vol. II, p. 455. Taylor's ar~cle,'Outlines of a Discourse on the Hisrory and Theory of Prospect-Painting' began as a paper read at the Nonvich Philosophical Society and was later published in a three-part senes in the Monrhiy Magcine vol. 37, pp. 405-9, vol. 38, pp. 2 1 1 - 1 5, pp. 499-503 in 1 8 14. 4 William Taylor, 'Outiines of a Discoune on the History and Theory of Prospect- Painting', MontMy Magazine, vol, 38, pp. 21 1-15 as quoted in Hemingway, p. 74. 5 Proposais for Cùrrying on Certuzn Public Works in the Clv of Edinburgh (Edinburgh: Paul Harris), p. 31. 6 %id, p. 31. 7 %id, p. 32. 8 Taylor, Monrhly Mugc~ne,vol. 38, pp. 500-3 as quoted in Hemingway, p. 74. 9 See Chnstopher J. Berry, 'The Enlightenment and Scotland', Social Theory of the Scottish Enlighenment (Edinburgh: Edinburgh UP, 1997), pp. 1-22. 10 Taylor, Monthly Mugcine, vol 38, pp. 2 1 1- 15 as quoted in Hemingway, p. 74. 1 1 Robert Louis Stevenson, Ed~nbwgh:Picturesque Notes (London: Seeley, 1gOO), p. 143. 12 See A.J.Youngson, The Muking of Classicul Edinbwgh (Edinburgh: Edinburgh UP, 1966), pp. 149- 156 and Peter Reed, 'Form and Context: A Study of Georgîan Edinburgh', Order in Spuce und Soczey: Architectwui From and its C'untext rn the Scottish Enligh~enrnent,Thomas A. Markus, ed. (Edinburgh: Mainstream, 1983 ), pp. 13 5- 40 for Stark's observations and the competition for Calton Hill's development. Report ro the Ri@ Honowubie the Lord Provosr, Mugistrates und Council ofthe C*@ of Edinbwgh und ~heGovernors of George Herzof 's Hospitd, &c on the Plonr for iuying out the groundî for buildings berneen EJNiburgh adLeith, Edinburgh 1 8 14 was a 14-page document containing Stark's ideas on town planning. The report, published in June 1814 was an expansion on observations made by Stark for the Calton Hill development. Advertisements for the competition appeared in Edinburgh, London and Glasgow newspapers; interested contestants couid submit a plan for the area dong the dopes of and northward fkom the Calton Hill. In March 18 13, the city Commissionen asked eight architects to submit reports on their pians, which wodd be investigated and possibly recornrnended to the Commissioners. The overseen, Baron Clerk and Gilbert hes, could not make a decision, but did prise Stark's submission (after his death 13 October 1813), stating that they 'deserve the utmost attention' and 'as far as practicable should be assumed as a nile for forming the plan' (Youngso~,p. 149). In Juiy 18 15, the commissioners awarded the contest's first prize of 300 guineas jointly to Alexander Nasmyth, William Reed and Richard Crichton and the second prize of 100 guineas to the joint-plan by 'MB', James Milne and Benjamin Bell. None of these architects were given the commission, however and in Febniary 18 18. almoa six yeaa after the first advertisement for the scheme, William Playfair was chosen as the 'Arc hitect of eminence and taste' who would create'the proposed New Town between Edinburgh and Leith' (Minutes of Cornmittees for Feuing Calton Hill Grounds, etc. 5 Febmry 18 18. as quoted in Youngson, p. 152). Suspicion surroundhg the choice of Playfair, nephew of well- known member of Whig society, Professor John Playfair, and a one-tirne pupil of Stark's, has been speculated upon for its political ambitions. See Reed, p. 137. 13 William Stark, Report, as quoted in Youngson, p. 152. 14 Stevenson, pp. 140-3. 15 Stark, Report, as quoted in Youngson, p. 150. 16 See Reed. 17 Stark, Report, as quoted in Youngson, p. 15 1. 18 lbid, as quoted in Youngson, p. 15 1. 19 Henry Cockbuni, Memoriuls ofhis Time (New York: D. Appleton, 1856), pp. 379-80. 20 %id, p. 379. 21 Ibid, p. 379. 22 Stevenson, p. 1 16. 23 Ibid, see pp. 1 16-3 1 for Stevenson's appreciation of the dand urban characteristics of Edinburgh 24 Ibid, p. 13 1. 25 Minutes of Cornmitteesfor Feuing Coiton Hill Grounrtî &c., 30 August 1 8 19, as quoted in Reed, p. 144. This repoR Playfair's second, was not published, but submitted in response to suggestions made by the joint cornmittee involved in the laying out of the New Town between Edinburgh and Leith (consisting of the Lord Provost, Magistrates, the Town Cowcil and the Governors of Henot's Hospital). Playfair's first report, of which 1000 copies had been printed, was submitted immediately following his plan 12 April 1 8 19. The plan was accepted with some modifications in December, 1 8 19. 26 fiid, as quoted in Reed, p. 144. 27 Proposds, p. 32. 28 Stark, Report, as quoted in Youngson, p. 152. 29 Youngson, p. 152. 30 Ibid, see pp. 256,275-76; Meeting. Hellanci, Janice, May 2000. When first built, both the Princes Street Gardens and Regent Gardens were private and residents needed a key to enter. The possession of a key, aiTordeci only to the rnost reputable residents, was considered a 'mark of fashion' and the profit fiom keys for Princes Street Gardens in i 830 was 300 guineas (p. 276). The Gardens have since ken opened to the public, but the Queen Street Gardens retain their exclusiveness and still require a key to enter. The gardens West of Moray Place and Ainslie Place are also private. Residents of the neighbourhood enjoy easy access to the ravine and waiking path nuining behind their estates by using the Stuart Gate, but the area is only accessible to the general public via the Dean Bridge. Considenng that such restricted admittance is still maintained today, it seems as if the impetus to make the Princes Street Gardens private is, likewise, maintained in sorne fom. A privileged key-holder in the 1850s rernarked that one of the benefits of the Princes Street Gardens was that they 'tend to keep from the too close view of the New Town gentry the poor population of the OId Town'. Ser James Heiton, Tht. (àrres ofEciinburgh (Edinburgh 1860), p. 253, as quoted in Youngson, p. 256. Although the existence of private gardens may stem from the desire to preserve open space, it could also certainly be rooted in the desire to avoid lower-class mernben of society. 3 1 Youngson, p. 254. 32 Minutes...C,'uIton Hill CiroundF, 30 August 1819, as quoted in Reed, p. 1.14. 33 %id, as quoted in Youngson, p. 154. 34 See Youngson, p. 139. in 1790, John Paterson, the Clerk of Works under Robert Adam at the University had origindly corne up with the idea to build a road to Calton by demolishing the row of houses blocking the eastern end of Princes Street, putting a bridge over the ravine of Low Calton and then laying a road dong the southem dope of Calton Hill. It was not pursued because it was deemed that the cost of buying and demolishing the houses would be too high and that permission to run a road througb Calton Burial Ground would never be received. However, when the idea was revived, the Town Council became detemined to see the road built as an extension of the Royalty and in 1813 and 1814 took the first steps to its achievement by passing Acts for the election of Commissioners. 35 See Reed, pp. 145-50 for a detailed study of Calton Hill's Geurgian terraced housing. Helen Meller notes the disintegration of Georgian temced housing in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and the social causes and implications of such changes in Townî. Plans and Society in MohBrztuin (Cambridge: Cambridge üP, 19971, pp.5640. 36 See Reed, pp. 137, 1404and Youngson, pp. 154-6 for an examination of Playfair's plan. 37 Minutes...Cuiton Hill Groÿndr 30 August 18 19, as quoted in Reed, p. 14 1. 38 Ibis as quoted in Reed, p. 14 1. 39 %id, as quoted in Reed, p. 142. 40 ibid, as quoted in Reed, pp. 14 1-2. 41 Calton Hill has actually had quite a coioured pst. Despite the stately character given to it by its monuments, it has consistentiy been a meeting place for Edinburgh's lower classes; in Henry Cockbum's day, for sailors and washenvomen and later for thebladiesof the tom' sought by Robert Louis Stevenson. See Charles McKean, Ehburgh: An Iihstrated A rchitecfural Gulde (Edin burgh Royal incorporation of Architects in Scotland, 1992), p. 10 1. Just recently a building at the bottum of Calton Hill was embroiled in controversy because the Scottish National Party wanted to move their offices there. The request was not realized, however, because of the incornpatibility of the site and the National Party's platform. 42 Edward Topharn, Lettersfiom Edinburgh; Wriften in the Years 1774 and 1775 (London, 1776), p. 36 1. 43 Youngson, p. 255. 44 Nasmyth, as quoted in Youngson, p. 256. 45 Youngson, p. 255. 46 Hemingway, p. 75. 47 Cockburn, p. 228. 48 See Youngson, pp. 13848 for a comprehensive examination of the construction of the Calton Hill access road. 49 See Youngson, p. 147 for a copy of the 'Receipts and Expenditures, Calton Bridge Scherne' dated 30 January 1815 to 3 1 Ianuary 1830. In today 's cunency the estimate would have been about two million pounds and the eventual cost between four and five million pounds. To put it in perspective, the 1994 housing development project for the Dublin Street Lane North site, located in a conservation area in the Broughton Market of the Edinburgh New Town was estirnated at a cost of one million pounds, only one-fifth the cost of the Calton Bndge Scheme for the completion of a large, three-site area, each site composed of about twenty two- and three-bedroom units. See Louise Rogers, 'New Town, New Talent', RlBA Jorn/ November 1994: pp. 24-7; See also Dana Arnold, 'London Bndge and its Symbolic Identity in the Regency Metroplis: The Dialectic of Civic and National Pride', Art History November 1999: pp. 545-66 (pp. 552- 554) for a discussion of the valuable contributions made by engineen to uhan bridging projects, speci ficail y Thomas Telford's to the London Bridge. 50 Minute Book, Calton Bridge Commissioners 6 December 18 15, as quoted in YollIlg~oIl,p. 142. 5 1 For a description of the building of the Edinburgh Bridewell and Jail, see Youngson, pp. 122, 135-39. See Thomas A. Markus, 'Buildings for the Sad, the Bad and the Mad in Urban Scotland 1 780-1 830'. Order in Spce und Society: Architecturai Fonn and ils C'ontcxt in the Scotrish Eniightenment, Thomas Markus, ed. (Edinburgh: Mainstream, l982), pp. 25-1 14 for a shidy of correctional facilities in Scotland with particuiar focus on the Edinburgh Bridewell and Jail. 52 See Berry, pp. 128-9. 53 Hugh Arnoî, The History ufEdinburgh, fiom the Eudiest Accounts, tu the Yeur 1780 (Edinburgh: Thomas Turnbull, 18 16), p.229. See Amof pp. 228-23 1 for an account of the TOIbooth. 54 %id, pp. 239-30. 5 5 Report by William Rrre Esq.. Sherrfl-Deputc of the C'omty of Edinburgh; to the C 'ummtssionersfor Erectrng (i New Juif, etc. m the City of Edinb wgh, Edin burgh 1 8 1 3, as quoted in Youngson, p. 135. 56 Youngson, p. 135. 57 Cockbum, p. 229. 58 See Youngson, p. 138. It was decideci that 8000 pounds of the total 27,495 pounds needed for the building of the prison would be contributed by Edinburgh, which the city borrowed fiom the bank of William Forbes and Co. 59 Ibid, p. 138. 60 Markus, 'The Sad, the Bad, the Mad', p. 26. 61 %id, p. 26. 62 Ibid, pp. 25-6. 63 Ibid, p. 27. 64 Ibid. See pp. 66-85,89 for a specific examination of the Edinburgh Bridewell and Jail. 65 ibid, p. 66. 66 ibid, p. 90. Also see Berry, p. 150. 67 Markus, 'The Sad, the Bad, the Mad', p. 85. 68 ibi4 p. 66. 69 hi4 p. 106. 70 David Hume, 'Of Refinement in the Arts' (1752: original title, 'Of Lwury'), Essqs: Moral Polificd udLitermy ( 1779), ed. E. Miller. (1 987), p.269. 71 Ibid, pp. 269-70. 72 David Hume, 'Of Commerce', Essuys: Md,Poliricul and Literury ( 1 779). ed. E. Miller (1987), p. 264. 73 Taylor, Monrhly Magazine, vol. 38, pp. 500-3,as quoted in Hemingway, p. 74. CHAPTER 4 While recognizing the difficulty that social historians have had in fomulating a working definition of nationalism, Benedict Anderson, nevertheless, refen to 'nation- ness,' as 'the most universally legitimate value in the political life of our time'.' The singular power of the 'nation', in spite of al1 its ambiguities, to awaken the pnde of its peoples cannot be denied Indeed., Tom Naim charactenzed nationalism as 'the pathology of modem developmental history'.' Citing its diabolical element, Naim explained that citizens were defenceless against nationalistic ideology, for it is a 'neurosis ...largely incurable'.' Although nationalism was not widely used as a term until the late nineteenth-century, its advent as what Anderson called a 'cultural artefact' came in the late eighteenth-century and coincided with a bevy of revolutionary attempts by nation-states to exert their independent statu^.^ Passionate commitment to the nation did not end in peacetime, however, and its definition as a 'universally legitimate value' recognizes its capacity to transpose tirne, space and situation. National values are subjective. As 'universal', they assume rhat freedorn is available tu al1 and that national sovereignty is a desire wished for by all. Indeed, nationalistic intentions form the foundation of political platforms that are not necessarily rooted in reality, for they ofien ignore actual economic and political circumstances, not to mention ethical values. One need only think of the propagandistic posters produced during World War I soliciting young men to eniist and defend the'motherland' against enemies who were, ironically, producing similar posters.* Images of the British colonization of Afica and India or of white Arnerica's exercise of 'manifest destiny' over the American Indians also corne to min& Although not quite so sadistic, the 1752 Proposuls represent yet another political ploy that successfully appealed to the patriotic sensibility of its audience. Typical of the ideological climate of the &y, the Proposais emphasized the growing importance of space and its accumulation as symbols of status. Like other nationalistic causes that justify action for the bettement of all, the improvement of Edinburgh was hught with inequitable intentions. The extension of the Royalty and the consmiction of public buildings in Edinburgh would not directly benefit ail inhabitants of the city, but only those belonging to the upper classes who would be living and working in these new homes, halls and libranes. The majority ofthose who physically built the New Town received little compensation for their toi1 and in many cases, witnessed the worsening of their living conditiond' The plight of the Iower classes and of the entire Old Town received little attention until Iater in the nineteenth century with the work of Patrick Geddes and the passing of new lrnprovernent ~cts.'Time would show, however, that, 'improvement' was a relative term for different social classes. As with the Propusals, the primary audience of Alexander NasmythosPrinces Street w Ïth the Royd Institu~iunBuilding uder (kmtnrciiun and Ehburghfrom the Calton Hill were the literati - the educated elite who fkequented art exhibitions such as those held at the Royal Institution or the London shows described by Hemingway at the beginning of this essay. Airnost a century afier the Propusals, Nasmyth would speak to the same community, those possessing the capital to fund the improvement scheme once again Appealing to their Scottish pnde, his pintings were a timely attempt to restore excitement for improvement in spite of the odds, that, as will be seen, the city was facing. One of the most effective ways that nationalists consolidate national pride is through emotional manipulation, specifically by making sentimental associations between national symbols and the character and ideals esteemed by a country and its people. As noted above, associational psychology emphasized the ability of arîwork to evoke historical and cultural associations in the viewer that reflected ideologies held by powerful social institutions. According to this theory, an object vested with ideological significance could serve as a talisman of sorts for a cultural group. Just as the church could serve as an iwnic symbol of religious piety, the public museum or exhibition hall could be an iconic symbol of the arts, the jail an iconic symbol of social refom and the marketplace an iconic symbol of commerce. Alexander Nasmyth's Edinburgh series associated urbanized Edinburgh society with its Enlightenment pst and, simultaneously, re flected the secularization occumng in the rnid-to-iate eighteenth and earl y nineteenth- centuries by replacing powerful religious symbols with powerful secular symbols. Benedict Anderson named the religious community and the dynastic realm as the most important cultural systems to the formation of national ideology.' In early nineteenth-century Edinburgh the importance of the religious cornmunity was being subverted by the worldly dynastic realm, symbolized by the goverment, the law and the univenity. As illustrateci in Nasmyth's paintings, the church, though still occupying a dominant portion of the landscape and a dominant part of the life of the citizens, was slowly king overtaken by government buildings and commercial space. As 'the shaping of urban space reflects the lifestyles that it fostea', the topography of Edinburgh reflected the changing lifestyle of its in habitant^.^. Lucy Peltz's work on the role played by antiquarian prints in the creation of an ideal London past presents rnany ideas that can be related to the role played by Nasmyth's paintings in the creation of an ideal Edinburgh pastI0 As if possessing some son of gravitational pull, these types of mythical images appeal to the viewen, pulling them in and inspiring nostalgic associations that prompt the formulation of a national identity. In her argument for nostalgia as the foundation upon which nationalistic sentiment is based, Peltz draws upon Wenceslaus Hollar's antiquarian prints of London, specifically the plate in which he portrayed London as it looked before and after the Great Fire of 1666 [figure 34). Hollar's use of a juxtaposed image is particulariy effective. In form, it documents an important historical event, yet it functions to engage the emotional attention of his London audience. Peltz noted that, like the suffenng poef the nationaiist's nostalgic sensitivity is compounded by ioss and that, 'a requirement of nostalgia is that objects, buildings and images from the pst should be available' as the 'matenal objects £Yom which nostalgia is ~onstructed'.~'Following this idea, Hollar played on the sentirnentaiity of the Lundoners in the midst of their grief, reminding them of the wondrous city that they had buiit and were capable of building again. Upon seeing their city both victorious and defeated, London's citizens could resolve to bring about their city's 'regeneration' ." This juxtaposition of pst and present in topographicai landscapes was also used by Nasmyth in his juxtaposition of the Old Town and the New Town. By portraying both areas, Nasmyth invited their cornparison and the accomplishments of the New Town twk on an even more glonfied quality. The buildings of the New Town were realùations of ab- ideas, stone and mortar structures that, like the philosophies from which they came, seemed impe~ousto destruction A modem-day view of Edinburgh would tell a different story, for not al1 the buildings have withstood the test of time. The buildings that do remain are evidence of the identity that modem-day society has created for Edinburgh, a 'portrayal' that has been shaped by the choices made by those whose responsibility it is to preserve the city." Nevertheless, the fact remains that Alexander Nasmyth in his portrayai of early nineteenthcentury Edinburgh immortalized the streets, buildings and people as they were at that very moment, presenting images from which a wealth of nostalgie associations couid be made. According to Lucy Peltz, one of the moa signifiant elements of the London antiquarian pin& was their ability to elicit a pleasurable response to London's past 'at a time when the appearance of that city was in flux'.'" This was also a crucial element of Nasmyth's painting for, in the 1820s, Edinburgh was a city with an uncertain future. At the time of Nasrnyth's Edinburgh series, the 'Golden Age' of the Sconish Enlightenment was coming to an end and Scotland had just recently emerged from the Napoleonic Wars.I5 Though relatively unscathed, Edinburgh was discomfitted by loss of life and depletion of fd16The revolutionary stniggles in France and America ha4 no doubt, renewed thoughts on Scotland's own autonomy and, indeed, the political face of Scotland was poised for major transformaticin Dernands for parliamentary and burgh reform had ken circulating since the late eighteenth century and though major attempts had been made in 1782 and a plan submitted to Parliament in 1787, the omnipotent ruling class and fear sparked by the French Revolution had staved offreform. However, this al1 changed when the Whig Party came to power in 1830 and initiated the signing of a bill that would bring increased enfranchisement and an end to the exclusivity of the Town Council and corporations of the burghs. The general election of 183 1 saw the establishment of a Whig majority and in June 1832, the third Reform Bill was passed in the House of Lords and done so For Scotland the following month. It was estimated that the number of parliamentary voten rose from three thousand to sixty thousand and reformen envisioned the begiming of a liberal era." The topography of Edinburgh was likewise 'in flux'. Two 'Great Fires ' devastated the Old Town in 1824, the second destroying everything between Parliament Square and the Tron Kirk'' As with Hollar, in al1 likelihood these events sensitized Nasmyth to the loss and made him even more detemined to complete his urban scapes and preserve the city. It certainly explains the absence of the Tron Kirk lrom the Edinburgh skyline. Compounding this loss was the city's declaration of bankruptcy in 1833, a consequence no doubt in large pan because of the excessive borrowing and overspending by the Town Council during the improvement scheme. The lack of funds initiated a drought in building that historians have assessed lasted twenty to forty years. l9 Still, in the midst of instability, Scotland's intellectual life flourished and patriotic fervour, encouraged by the Napoleonic Wan, created a faddish appreciation of the military. Henry Cockbum descnbed Edinburgh during the years 1803-1 8 14 as a 'military popu~ation'.~Regiments and corps were distinguished by many notable Edinburgh males and Cockbum himself captained his own regiment He writes, 'We were a11 soldien, one way or other. Professon wheeled in the college area; the side-amis and the uniform peeped from behind the gown at the Bar, and even on the Bench; and the parade and the review fomed the staple of men's talk and thoughts'." D. O. Hil17sEdinbzrrgh Old and New and Nasmyih's Princes Street and Calton Hill support Cockburn's description and the bnght scarlet uniforms of dashing soldiers is discemible throughout the paintings. Though at this time many of the figures may have ken memben of the militia or volunteer troops, the evocation of the military is proven by the continued donning of the costume. Hill's image is resplendent with colour, a mixture of the rich hues of aristocratic and military dress. A number of soldiers parade through Nasmyth's paintings with the express concem of showing off their uniforms and many young boys, one near a soldier in the lefi foreground of Princes Street and another playmg with the children in (XunHill. emulate the soldien with their own red jackets and black hats. Such an obvious stylistic decision must have been consciously made. Although Cockburn adrnitted that to a large degree Edinburgh society was ' indi fferent ' to the war and did not realistically fear invasion, the phantomlike abilities of Napoleon were un~ettling.~The war games and military dress acted as a protective shield for Edinburgh society. It was alrnost as if the costume took on a supemitious value, that it could save citizens, if not from direct attack, from the threat of evil. The uniform also commanded admiration and respect For instance, the soldier dressed in black at the lef? of the Royal Institution in Princes Street showers attention on the two aristocratic ladies who have stoppai to watch the construction Although the soldier in red remains on his hone, the other has graciously dismounted his handsome white stallion in order to adrninister the proper courtesy to the ladies. The gratitude of the ladies, even if their conversation with the soldier is rnerely flirtatioc illustrates the ease by which a national syrnboi - a soldier's uniform - can be accepted into the collective cultural mind set and elicit a conditioned response, whether by the person wearing the symbolic gamrnt or the persons interacting with it Military duty is a nationdistic trait bestowed with great sentimental power and its repetition in Nasmyth's pamtings typifies Eric Hobsbawrn's theory of the 'invented tradition'." Nasmyth's painting appeared at a time when Edinburgh's citizens most needed reassurance that the city's metropolitan success was not coming to an end. It is in the midst of changing times that stability is most desired and, if tradition cannot be relied upon. it is 'invented'. Eric Hobsbawm defined the 'invented tradition' as: a set of practices, nomally govemed by overtly or tacitly accepted desand of a ritual or .symhoiic nature, which seek to inculcate certain values and noms of behaviow by repetition, which automatically implies continuity with the past. In fact, where possible, they norrnally attempt to estahlish continuity with a suitable historic pa~t.~~ For Alexander Nasmyth , the 'suitable historic pst' was urbanized Edinburgh; a civîlized commercial society portrayed as an outcome of the Scottish Eniightenment. As Hobsbawm explained, 'invented traditions' oRen looked to past fonns such as established institutions, ideals and behavioun in an attempt to adapt to change." The Scottish Enlightenrnent, an established form of order, could fùnction in the present to alleviate fear of innovation, thus proving the notion that 'novelty is no less novel for king able to dress up easily as antiquity'? Nasmyth's 'response' is a reminder of the benefits of improvement through a 'quasi-obligatory repetition' of positive images like construction, leisure, harmony, relaxation and capitalism. In the midst of a changing 1825 society, Nasrnyth restored order 'in the atiempt to structure at lest some parts of social Iife within it as unchanging and invariant'? The Scottish Enlightenment heralded social progress while ernphasizing the necessity of order and Nasmyth represented these elements mOd effectively through his portraya1 of a civilized community. Before citizens could have faith in the state, the state's leaders had to assure them of the maintenance of the community and Sconish Enlightenment theorists believed that progress was futile without the presence of a strong communal base. As leaming was the key to progress, they believed that developments could only be maintained through a humanistic knowledge of the arts and leîten, established characteristics of taste and manners. Without manners, progress would falter and society would regress, quickly destroying itself in its return to an instinctive savage tat te.*^ Hence, Nasmyth's repetitive imagery of a leamed and unified cosmopolitan community, if only a physical and not a classless unity, typified progress and order. Whether as recognizable as the architect' s superiority over his labourers and the separation of genteel and aristocratie consumers From the merchants and lower classes in Princes Street or as casual as the separately grouped men, women and worken in Cuiton Hill, order is împosed by Nasrnyth. His scenes promote a cornmunity steeped in the traditions of the Sconish Enlightenrnent, yet they please rather than offend because they utilize 'an accuracy of representation combined with picturesque effed'? This blurring of the real and irnaginary, of what is - the sites of Edinburgh - and what was and could be - the cohesion of society - was a device also utilized in the Proposah. It is notable that these nationalistic works appeared after upheaval, the Edinburgh series afler the war amidst political reform and econornic uncertainty and the Proposah just seven yean after the 1745 Rising when the antics of 'Bonnie Prince Charlie' had left Scotland battered and confusedm Both works look to the past for evidence that continued improvement muid yield a new 'golden age'. Both works, through sentimental connections to their nation, compel their audience to have faith in the strength of their community . This ideological approach illustrates the closeness of intellectual and political interests in the capital and verifies the indoctrination of nationalistic ideology at al1 levels of society. Through his topopphical landscapes, Nasmyth, whether realizing the extent of his conditioning, actively participated in the promotion of the improvement ideology that had been so sûategically displayed in the Proposais. By 1825, Edinburgh had succeeded not only in building a New Town, but a new society, 'an imagined political community - and imagined as both inherently limited and sovereign'." Nationalism venerates fieedom, yet fieedom is a goal not as easily won as national leaders would have their subjects believe. The Edinburgh community was limited by the control of a self-seMng govemrnent and their high-standing compatriots. Edinburgh's growth certainly revived the issue of Scotland's sovereignty and the capital made a valiant daim for Scotland's separation from Great Britain. in fact, Scotland's growth in the lateeighteenth and early-nineteenth centuries superseded England in its speed and comprehensiveness. Still, Westminster pundits would insist that Scotland's success was a consequence, if delayed, of Scotland's alliance with England" It is a debate that will perhaps never be silenced At the foundation of any national ideology is the stniggle for independence. Scotland's struggle emerged victorious in 1999 when it gained devolution." Devolution, defined by Vernon Bogdanor in its constitutional sense as a 'delegation of power from a superior political body to an inferior' is a system of goverment influenced to a far greater degree by underiying psychological and social circumstances than political circ~mstances.~A nation's social identity, a 'powerful weapon', has the power to supenede any constitutional agenda." Nationalism is a goal diversified by its advantages and disadvantages and many nations do not desire complete &dom because of the obvious benefits to an alliance with a powerful neighbour; economic support, military defence and status, if only nominal, just to name a few. The call for Scottish independence, howwer, has ken heard since the inceptions of its Unions of 1606 and 1707. Alexander Nasmyth responded to the call in the early nineteenth-century with the portraya1 of a powerful, self-goveming Scottish capital. However, the question that begs asking is whether or not his images are realistic or imaginary. Are they depictions of Scottish improvernent or English takeover? 1s Edinburgh merely a result of British intervention in the tradition of colonial civilizing missions in Afiica and India in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries? According to Henry Gray Graham, Edinburgh society was at its highest point before the Union of Parliament in 1707, when the Scomsh Parliament was the lifeblood of the capital and attracted: nobles and persons of quality fiom every county, when periodically the city was full of the nchw mnst notable, and hest-hred people in the land, and the din-y High Street and Canongate were brightened by gentlemen in their brave attire, hy ladies rustling in their hmps, hrocade dresses, and hrilliant coloured plaidq; by big coaches gorgeous in their gilding, and lackeys splendid in their livery." When the Scottish Parliament amalgamateci with Engiand and was moved to Westminster in 1707, the sixteen representative pers and sixty parliamentary members were also transferred, and with them the source of Edinburgh's wealth and dignity: A gloom fell over the Scots capital: society was dull, business was duller still. the Ioclgings once filled with persons of quality were lefi empty-many decayed for want of tenants, some fell almost into min. For half a centtuy there was little social life, scanty intellectual culture, and few traces of business enterpri~e'.~' What is more, Edinburgb society did not do well in London, but was castigated for its uniqueness, ill-comrnand of the English language and lack of English manners. The much-needed revival of Edinburgh began at the same hme as the publication of the Proposais and some credit should be given to the Union for Scotiand's economic suc ces^.^^ The Proposais certainly professai gratitude to England, most especially for providmg the wondrous city of London as an unprecedented mode1 for Edinburgh's improvement." London was a necessary stop for many Scomsh artists and architects embarking on the 'Grand Tour'. The English capitai dominated al1 areas of social and &stic life and persons of fashion travelled there to take part in the whirlwind antics of high society. Edinburgb improvers Ionged to reproduce such scenes in their native capital. Regardess of from where the examples for improvement were denved, however, it was Scottish individuais like George Dnimmond, Henry Dundas (1742- 1 8 1 1 and James Craig that actually built the Edmburgh New Town. Although the predominant English chcter of the New Town is dlremarked upon today, the label of English snobbery given to New Town residents is probably more typical of the types of classes that have lived in the area since its inception than national character.'" Many of the New Town's buildings have been made over into shops and professional offices and its residential areas consist rnainly of people fiom the professional classes. Yet, a social stigma remains attached to domestic habitation New Town residents often find themselves defending their authentic Scottishness against the belief that they have betrayed their nation for the stature of living in the anglicized New Town. This assumption illustrates the pervasiveness of a neighbourhood's character, for it shows that some two hundred years afier the New Town was completed it remains associated with upper class refinement, hile the Old Town continues to conjure images of the umestrained, fiee-wheeling merriment symbolic of the genuine Sconish character. A modem-day discussion of the Edinburgh New Town mut take into account the concept of heritage, for it is on accowt of the work of the heritage industry that much of the New Town remains as it was built. Heritage is a modem phenornenon that parallels the idea of nationalism as 'the pathology of the modem age'. In naming heritage 'a condition of the late twentieth century'", David McCrone described its cuit-Iike fascination with the pst as the factor that bas enabled heritage to eclipse its conventional definition as 'that which has been or may be inherited, anything given or received to be a proper possession, an inherited lot or portion'." It has been said that Scotland, aware of its cultural and plitical dichotorny, has created an excess of cultural symbols with which to distinguish itself from Britain, syrnbols that range fiom the tartan, to Scottish whisky, to Robbie Burns. But such symbols are pehaps more symptomatic of Scutland's ' identity crisis' .* Scotland's distinctive contribution to the formation of hen'tage came in the eighteenth century with the writings of Sir Walter SCO~and the establishment of a social theory of dture that differentiated the past fiom the present? David Lowenthal described its emergence as a 'new pst that came to be cherished as a heritage that validated and exalted the present. And the new roie heightened concem to Save relics and restore monuments as emblems of communal identity, conbnuity and aspiration'." The economic and social changes occuning in western Europe in the early-nineteenth century produceci an audience particulariy conducive to Scott's evocation of the natural Sconish landscape and a bygone'golden age'. Cannot Nasrnyth's topogmphical landscapes, then, be perceived as an early form of heritage in much the sarne manner that Scott's writing was? After dl, Nasmyth, like Scott, combined the ideals of landscape and ideology. The ernblematic 'new role' for the Scomsh landscape that Nasmytb created, howvever was that of urban iandscape as metroplis. In 1 8 13, Samuel Prout acknowledged the topographical landscape as a viable medium whereby viewers could 'sit and securely traverse extensive regions ... without quitting the elbow chair'.i7 Prout's comment characterized the concurrent popularization of topographical landscapes and travel literature at the time, art foms that, together, stimulated the widespread distribution of nationdistic ideology and created a fom of 'armchair tourism' that in the modem age is known as l~eritage.~'Just as readmg about fx-offplaces could transfer the reader temporally and spatially, so codd viewing them. Thus, Princes Street and Cahn Hill could function in a mersimilar to rnaps and travel journals, as a means by which to survey, explore and escape to other spaces and times. The value of the artwork was heightened by its capacity to synthesize time and space. In the tradition of travel literature and its tendency to idealize or denigrate a place according to the vision of the author, the topographical landscape presented the subjective vision of the arûst. However, as Hemingway noted, the reception of this vision was most influenced by its function in society and was usually indicative of ideoiogies posited by the most powerhil groups in society. The heritage industry perfoms a similar exercise with the 'invention' of a national identity through the forrnalization and ritualization of prevailing national symbols. Thus, through their innovative use of 'ancient materiais... for quite novel purposes', enterprising travel and leisure industries readily manipulate the concepts of nationaikm and heritage."' By the mid-1980s, tourism was the second most profitable industry in the United Kingdom for the consumption of foreign c~rrency.~It is not as if capitalists were exploiting ideas previously unthought of, however. The Proposuls cenai-nly did not conceal the fact that one of the major motives behind the building of the New Town was the amaction of towists. Even King George IV got caught up in the pompous and excessive display of patn'otism surroundmg his visit to Edinburgh in 1822, the first by a Hanoverian rnonar~h.~'The city regaled itself in its finest accoutrements and spared no expense for the king, who expresseci ovenvhelmed admiration for al1 that he saw. hdeed, it seemed as if the entire city turned out on Calton Hill to welcome the king. The celebration displayed more than mere pomp and circumstance, however. It showed that with a captive audience the 'invented tradition' could be tremendously successful. The city was 'tartanized'" for the visif its landscape and its citizens decorated in the Highland trappings largely at the behest of the Celtic Society of Edinburgh and its president, Sir Walter Scott. Scott, bom in Lowland Scotland, passed hmself off as a Highlander and his evocation of a culture historically detested by Lowland society, was perhaps the most ironic aspect of a manipulation of nationalistic ideology that prompted the characterization of the visit as 'a bizarre travesty of Scottish history'." The dawning of the 'Information Age' has created a massive interactive marketplace for the heritage indusûy and the oppminity for widespread promotion of nationalistic ideoiogy has leapt far beyond where it stood twenty yean ago, let aione two hundred years ago. The heritage industry has proliferated with the increased mernbenhip of organizations such as the National Trust and the Scottish Trust, the creation of new amenity societies, the rising number of visiton to museum arid heritage centres and the rapid onset of computer technologyY Technology and innovation have caught up to nationalism, or vice versa, engendenng the replacement of 'armchair tourism' with 'point-and-click tourism'. In a modem age marked by production and consumption, 'the pathology of the modem age' has truiy reached epidemic proportions. With the 'cornmodification of culture', the avenues ofcornmunication open to those in the business of 'inventing traditions' and 'imagining commimities' have becorne bo~ndless.~~ Messages of cultural diversity and independence may have been strengthened., yet they are oftentimes lost amidst a confusing network of mixed messages. Perhaps Nasmyth's simple topographical images are to be favoured over the 'virtual' and oftentimes hypocntical sentiments spewed by an endless hngof glossy national campaigns- It could be argued that nationalistic imagery, whether from the nineteenth century or the twenty-fint century are one in the weand that the only real difference is the time at which they appeared It may be due to the fact that these paintings have withstood the test of time and proven their permanence that their superiority seems unquestioned, but the philosophical and narrative depth inherent in Nasrnyth's images, not to mention their picturesque artistry, validates their artistic, historical and social fimctions, thus raising them above superficial electronic images. Thro ugh Princes Street wi/hthe RoyuI Institut ion Building under Construaron and Edinburgh from the Calron Hill, Alexander Nasrnyth immortalized the spirit of irnprovernent, praising the past and exonerating the present through ritualistic symbols of the Scottish Enlightenment. His topographical landscapes remain recognized for their formal documentation of the Edinburgh improvements and for their functional role. as a 'cultural artefact' by which the people of Edinburgh could celebrate their city and denve hope for the future. The spirit of his expression engendered a nomlgic regard for the entire city, New Town and Old Town, that preserved and continues to preserve both the persona1 and communal aspects of the Scottish identity. NOTES 1 Benedict Anderson, Imagined Communities: Reflectionr on the Origin and Spreod ofNa~ionufism.Rev. ed. London; New York: Verso, 199 1). p. 3. 2 Tom Naim, fie Break-up ofBrirain (London: New Left Books, 1977), p. 359. 3 Ibid, p. 359. 4 Anderson, p.4, p.4, n.7. Anderson's description of nationalism as a 'cultural artefact' notes its man-made fom, an object that is given symbolic value through its function in cultural groups. in order to understand 'cultural artefacts', he says, their place in history , meaning and continuing authenticity mut be investigated. Andenon 's dating for the onset of these artefacts and the popularization of the term nationalism is derived from Aira Kemilainen, who cites the work of nationalist scholars, Hans Kohn and Carleton Hayes to prove her argument. Aira Kemilainen, Nationalism: Problems concerning the wurd the Concept und C,*Iuwficu~ion( Jyvlsky la: Kustantajat, 1964), pp. 10,33,48-9. 5 For this idea, 1am indebted to Kirsty Robertson, a colleague who gave a paper on the propagandistic posters produced during World War I in the Art History 850 course, Fd1,1999, Queen's University. 6 See John Barrell, The Dmk Skie of the Lmmkcupe: Tlic Rwui Poor in English Puinîing 1730-2840 (Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1980), p. 27 for an interesting parailel to depictions of Engiish rural life. Barrell points out the nostalgie evocation for the eighteenth century, 'a period of imagined social and artistic stability' and the sym bol of country wealth, the Engiish country house. As with the workmg classes who built the New Town, those who built the country houses were unappreciated and unrewardea forced to retum to their rural shacks after the work was completed and, if allowed to enter the country house, only went so far as the kitchen. 7 See Helen Meller, Patrick Geddes: Social Evolufionist onù City Planner (London; New York: Routledge, 1990), pp. 68-78. Geddes, saddened by the destitue state of low-class housing in Edinburgh, moved to the Old Town in the 1880s and with his wife, Anna Morton, went about reforming the once giorious heart of the city. Geddes, always recognizing the human factor in social change, was determined to avoid the rnistakes of previous improvement schemes undertaken by Edinburgh's Lork Provost, William Chambers in the 1860s and 1870s (Improvement Act passed 1875). Chamber's heavy-handed slurn clearances, large-scaie dernolition and house building did not take into account the inability of the poor to fiord new housing an4 as in the eighteenth and eariy nineteenth-century, they were simply pushed on to the city periphery. Geddes, in the compassionate practical marner that typified his career, cautiously snidied the Old Town and the causes of its degradation before embarking on its revival. His move to the Old Town, above dl, shows the benevolent spirit with which he took on urban planning projects . The Outlook Tower (1 895-96) at the bottom of the Castiehill stands as a monument to his humanitarian and planning efforts. 8 Anderson, pp. 12-22. 9 Lucy Pel~'Aestheticizing the Ancestral City: Antiquarianism, Topography and the Representation of London in the Long Eighteenth Cenhiry', in Art History November 1999: pp. 472-94 (p. 488). 10 %id, pp. 472-94. 1 1 Malcolm Chase and Christopher Shaw, 'The Dimensions of Nostalgia', The imngined Put, HiSIOry andNostaigia, eds. Malcolm Chase and Cbristopher Shaw (Manchester; New York, 1989), pp. 1-1 7 (p. 4), as quoted in Peltz, p. 476. 12 Peltz, p. 488. John Thomas Smith's Ancien1 Topogruphy of London ( 1 8 10- 1 5) exercised the same sentimental manipulation some one hundred and fifty years after Hollar. 13 Eric Hobsbawrn and Terence Ranger, eds. The Invention of Truditron (Cambridge: Cambridge W, 1983), p. 13. This notion will be addressed in greater depth later in the chapter. 14 Peltz, p. 485. 15 See for the Scottish Enlightenment, Anand C. Chimis, The Scolrish Enl@tenment: A Sociul H~story(London: Crwm Helm, 1 976);R.H. Campbell and Andrew S. Skimer, eds. The Originr and Nature ofthe Scottish Enlzghlenment (Edinburgh:John Donald, 1982); Phillipson, N.E. 'SCO~S~Enlightenment' in David Daiches, ed. A C.'ompcmion !O Scottish Culture (London: Edward Arnold, 198 1 ), pp. 340- 44. 16 A.J. Youngson, The Making of Cimszcrrl Edinbwgh 1750-1840 (Edinburgh: Edinburgh UP, 1966), p. 238. 17 %id, p. 43-46. 18 See Henry Cockburn, Memorids ofhis Time (New York: D. Appleton, 1856), pp. 395-98 for Cockbum's description of the fires. He and his fellow onlooken were mesmerized by the nwn-tirne breakout of the second fire on the 16"' of November, 1824, during which they watched one of the most recognizable monuments on the Edinburgh skyline, the steeple of the Tron Churck corne to a sad end: 'There could not be a more beautiful firework; only it was wasted on the &y-light. It was one hour's brilliant blaze. The spire was too high and too combustible to admit of any atternpt to Save it, su that we had nothing to do but to admire. And it was certainly beautiful. The fire seizrd on every projecting point, and played with the fret-work, as if it had been al1 an exhibition' (p. 396). 19 Peter Robinson, 'The Scottish Tenement: A Lasting Contribution to a City Streetscape', RIBA JomiNovernber, 1982: pp. 15- 18 (p. 17);T.M. Devine, The Scontsh Nution 1700-2000 (Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England: Al lan Lane, 1999), p. 330. 20 Cockburn, p. 187. See pp. 18 1-87 for an expanded description of Edinburgh suciety during the wu. 21 Ibid, p. 181. 22 Ibid, p. 188. 23 See Hobsbawm and Ranger, pp. 1- 14. 24 %id, p. 1. 25 ibi4 pp. 4-6. 26 Ibid., p. 5. 2? %id, p. 2. 28 See Chnstopher L Berry, Social Theory ofthe ScottfshEdightenrnent (Edinburgh: Edinburgb UP, 1997), pp. 175- 177. 29 Letter fiom John Britton to J. Noms Brewer, 24 August 1817, as quoted in J. Noms Brewer, Introduction to the Originul Delincatiom, Topographicul, Historrcal, und Descriprive. IntitM the i3eriuiie.s of England and WAs (London, 1 8 1 8), p. x, as quoted in Peltz, p. 485. 30 See Fitzroy MacLean, A Concise History of Scothnd (London: Thames and Hudson, 1970), pp. 171-80 for a bief historicd account of the Rising. 3 1 Anderson, p. 6. See pp. 6-7 for Anderson's explanation of these paradoxical components of nationdism. 32 T. M. Devine, The Sconish Nation 1700-2000 (Hmondsworth, Middlesex, England: Allen Lane, 1999), pp. 152-55. 33 See Vernon Bogdanor, Devolution rn rhe United Kingdom (Oxford: Oxford üP, 1999); H.M. Dnicker, and Gordon Brown, The Politics of Nutionuli.sm und Devolution (London; New York: Longman, 1 980); T. M. Devine, pp.59 1-6 1 7 and Chnstopher Hawie, Scotland und Nbtionufism: Scoflish Society onri Politics 1 707 tu the Present, 3" ed (London; New York: Routledge, 1998). pp. 230-57 for a discussion of the events leading up to devolution, the granting of Scottish Home Rule and the political futurz of Scotland. 34 Bogdanor, p. 287. 35 Ibid, p. 287. 36 Henry Gray Graham, The Social Llfe of Scotlaind in the Eighieen~hCeniq 2 vols. (London: Adam and Charles Black, 1899), vol. 1, p. 8 1. 37 ibid, p. 82. 38 See Devine, pp. 28-30; MacLean, pp. 189-92. 39 Proposaisfor Carying on Certain Pubk works in the City of Edinburgh (Edinburgh: Paul Harris), pp. 6-7. 40 See Youngron, p. 43, p. 299, n.5 1; Gordon Donaldson and Robert S. Morpeth, A Dictionory of Scottish History (Eàinburgh: John Donald, 1977), p. 148; Who 's Who ln Scotti~hHisiory (Oxford: Bad Blackwell, 1973), p. 2 17- 18. Henry Dundas, 1" Viscount Melville, was bom and educated in Edinburgh and enjoyed a long political career in Edinburgh and London. He becarne Sol icitor-General for Scotland in 1 766, in 1 774 was elected MP for Midothian, an office he also held for Edinburgh until 1802 and was Lord Advocate 1775-83. Dundas was appointed Treasurer of the Navy ( 1783-3, 1784- 1800) by William Pitt the Younger, for whom he dso served as Home Secretary ( 179 1-94), President of the Board of Control for lndia ( 1793- 1 80 1), Secretary for War ( 1 794- 1 80 1 ) and First Lord of the Admimlty ( 1804-5). Referred to as "Harry the Ninth, uncrowned King of Scotland, Dundas' keen political sense was proven by his control of thirty-six of the forty-five Scottish constituencies at the height of his power. Though he resigned in 1805 upon rumon of malversation, thus allowing for the growing influence of the Whig Party, he was still held in high regard by many in Scotland for his personal magnanimity, if not his plitical alliances. 4 1 Janice Helland. Meeting. August 2000; www. ESPC.co.uk. Edinburgh Solicitors Property Centre 2 September 2000. A cornparisonof the average rents for the Old Town and the New Town underline the ongoing division of classes. For example, a rentai listing for a three-bedroom flat in the OId Town on Back Street was quoted at 800 pounds a month, while a the-bedrwm flat in the New Town could range fiorn 800 to 1450 pounds a month. A listing for Scotland Street quoted the rent at 1200 pounds a month and Carleton Terrace, 1300 pounds a month. A listing for Eyre Crescent quoted the rent at 800 pounds a month, substantially lower than the others ,but described as a 'perfect student residence', so perhaps some sacrifice of space and amenities had been made. 42 David McCrone, Angela Moms and Richard Kiely, Scorlud-the Bmrui: The Muking of Scottish Heritage (Edinburgh: Edinburgh UP, 1995), p. 1. 43 Ibid, p. 1. 44 Ibid pp. 4-8. 45 lbid, p. 4. 46 David Lowenthal, The Prtîlis o Foreign country (Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1985), p. xvi.,as quoted in McCrone, p. 4. 47 Samuel Prout, Rudiments of Lanukcapc' (London, 1 8 12), p. 1 7, as quoted in Peltz, p. 49 1. 48 See Percy G. Adams, ed. Truvel L~terafurethrough the ages: An Anrhology (New York: Garland, 1988) pp. xxvi-xxviii; Charles Batten, Pleasurable Instruction: Fum und Convention in Eigheenth-Ccntwy TrdLiteratum (Berkeley: U of California P, 1978); Shirley Foster, Across New Worldr: Nineteenth-Cenf-y Women Trwelers and their Writings (New York; London: Hanrester Wheatsheaf, 1990); Beth Lynne Leuck, Amerim Wrilers and the Pkicruresque Tour: The Search for Narioml Iderztity, 1790-1860 (New York: Cambridge UP, 1999). 49 Hobsbawm and Ranger, p. 6. 50 McCrone, p. 2. 5 1 See Hugh Trevor-Roper. 'The Invention of Tradition: The Highland Tradition of Scotland' in Hobsbawm and Ranger, pp. 29-3 1. 52 %id, p. 31. 53 Ibid, p. 30. 54 See McCrone; Richard Prentice and Deborah Cunnell, 'Response to Interpretative Media as a Basis of Multi-Variate Market Segmentation for Museums and Heritage Centres: The Case Example of the People's Story, Edinburgh', in M~~~eums. Munugemcnf unci C.*w~rorshipSeptember 1997: pp. 233-56; Herbert Coutts, "nie Living City: A Television Panorama of the City of Edinburgh', in Museum S JomfSeptember 1985: pp. 8 1 -3; Peter Davey, 'Interactive Edinburgh', in The Archrrecturui Review September 1997: p. 97. 55 See McCrone, pp. 17-20. CONCLUSION 'Art history', according to Ann Bermingham 'is an ideological process of interpretation'.' The interpretation of art is fraught with subjective meanings and it is because of this subjectivity that the context in which art is viewed should be recognized as the primary factor of interpretation. The interaction of social, economic, political and cultural 'apparatuses' determine the way in which art functions withn society' and, as Andrew Hemingway propsed, it is the function rather than the form that gwes artwork its value? Alexander Nasmyth's Princes Street with the Building of the Royd lmtiiution and EJmbqhfrom the Cuiton Hiil were received in an environment that yeamed for empowement. Edinburgh in the 1820s was on the cusp of a new en. With the Scoaish Enlightenment coming to an end and the age of heavy industrialization drawing near, Edinburgh society needed reassumnce of a promising Future. Like the Proposuis for COrryzng on C.'crtuin Public Works in ~heC.'ity of Edinb wgh, AI exander Nasm yth 's paintings could remind Edinburgh society of its progress and inspire its continuation." Images of civilization and urban prosperity, viewers could gain strength frorn the visual representations of Enlightenment Edinburgh and, with a nostalgic sense of pride in their community and nation, could wmrnit themselves to hiture development. The vision of a site day after day oflen desensitizes the viewer to its beauty, so that with time the site becornes familiar and is taken for granted. Alexander Nasrnyth's panoramic landscapes revitalized Edinburgh by recalling its magnificence. With the manifestation of ideological irnprovemenf Enlightenment takes on an active role, 'shedding light on hitherto taken for granted beliefs and practices or illuminating new paths toward understanding'.' The influence of thought on action was one of the major tenets of the Scomsh Enlightenrnent and it was believed that without knowledge and foresight, progress was irnp~ssible.~No vision can be realized in darkness, for it is the illumination of the path that opens up the road to the future. The ambition of Edinburgh's ruling elite brought about the improvement and urbanization of Edinburgh and the improvement ideology, though taking on different meanings in different times, continues to inspire the citizens of the capital,'just as the ProposuIL~had envisioned it would: Among the seveml causes to which the prosperity of a nation may be ascribed, the situation, conveniency, and heauty of its capital, are surely not the leaît considerable. A capital where these circumstances happen fortunately to concur, should naturally Mmethe centre oftrade and commerce, of learning and the arts, of politeness , and of refinement of every kind. No .mner will the advantages which these necessarily produce, be felt and expenencai in the chief city, than they wiil diffuse themselves through the nation; and univenally promote the same spirit of industry and improvernent.' NOTES 1 Ann Bemingham, Londscupe and Ideology: The Engiish Rutic Tradition 1740-1860 (Berkeley: U of California P, 1986), p. 2. 2 Ibid, pp. 1-4. Bermingham is indebted to the work of Louis Althusser for these ideas. See Louis Althusser, For Mm, kms. Ben Brewster (New York, 1 969), pp. 5 1-85; Louk Ai thuser, Lenin und ?hi~o~~ophyund Orher ~ssuys,uans. Ben Brewster (New York and London, 1971 ), pp. 134-48; Louis Althusser and Etienne Balibar, Reuding Cipirai, trans. Ben Brewster (London, 1977). 3 Andrew Hemingway, Lrrnukcupe, Imagery and Wrban C'ulture in Earfy Nineteenth-CCntury Britoin (Cambridge: Cambridge LiP, 1992), p. 8. 4 See Proposais for Currying on C.èrtain Public Worh in rhe CI', of'Edinburgh (Edinburgh: Paul Harris, 1982). 5 Anne Bummer, 'Geography and Enlightenment, Edinburgh, 36July 1996', Jouml of Historicuf Geography October 1996: pp. 474-9 (p. 475). 6 See Christopher J. Berry, Social Theory of the Scottish Enlightenment (Edinburgh: Edinburgh LJP, 1997). 7 For an example of presentday building see, Doug Clelland, 'Concrete Reality: Extension to Royal Museum of Scotiand, Edinburgh' RlBA JomI November 1997: pp. 30-3;.Mark Cousins, 'The City and Future Choices, MAJorn/ April 1 993: pp. 28-30; Louise Rogers, 'New Town, New Talent', RlBA Journaf April 1993: pp. 28-30; Michael Spens, 'New Town Goes West', RlBA Journal April 1993: pp. 1 8-25; 8 Proposds, p. 5. Adams, Percy G. ,ed. Tmel Literoture through the Ages: An Anihviogv. New York: Garland, 1988. Anderson, Benedict. Imagined Cornmunit ies: Reflect ions on the Origin and Spread of Nationaii.m. Rev. ed London and New York: Verso, 199 1. Arnold, Dana. ' London Bridge and its Symbolic Identity in the Regency Metroplis: The Dialectic of Civic and National Pnde'. Art History November 1999: 545-66. hot,Hugo. The H~oryof Ediinburgh, frum the Eariiest Accuunt.~fo the Yeur I 780. 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George Dmmond 6. Patrick Nasmyth. Edinburgh from the North West, 1 8 19. 7. John Knox. A View of Edinbwgh fiom Cunonmills, c. 1825. 9. The Cunongare, Edinbmgh, Looking West. Drawn by Thomas H. Shepherd. Engraved by W. Tombleson. 10. James Dmond Rzdde 's C(ose, 1 854. 1 1. Looking northeast fiom Castlehill across Nor' Loch to Bearford's Parks, site of the New Town, c. 1750. 12. Alexander Nasmytb Neil. 3& Earl of Rosebety with Fumily. c. 1780s. 13. Alexander Nasmyth. Imerurayfiom the Seo, c. 180 1. 14. Alexander Nasmyth. View of Edinbwghfiom ihe East. 1 789. 15. Alexander Nasrnyîh. Edinbmghfiom the West, 182 1. 16. Thistle Court, reputedly the fil Photographed b 17. Hugh William Williams. Myihoiogicd Edinburghfiom Arthur S Seul, c. 1820s. 18. L Dick Peddie. The Athenr of the North. 20. Royd Inrlitution. or School of Arts. Drawn by Thomas H. Shepherd. Engaved by A Cruse 2 1. William Playfair. Rear facade, Royal Scottish Academy. 22. William Playfàir. Side elevation, Royal Scottish Academy. 23. Alexander Nasmyth. Edinhurgh CiutLe und the Nor ' Loch, c. 1820s. 24. David Key. Eady Nineteenth-Cemîay View of the Mod 25. Vegetabie und Frsh Morket. fiom the Rainbo w Gd:ty. Drawn by Thomas H. Shepherd. Engraved by E. Stalker. 27. J. Clark. The New Town and the city fiom the northwest drawn 'on the spot', 1824. 167 28. D. O. Hill. EdinburghOldundNèw, c. 1830. 29. William Playfair's Design for a New Town between Edinburgh and Leith, 18 19. 168 30. Waterloo Place cutting through Caiton burial-ground. Photographed by Edwin Smith. 3 1. Regent Terrace on the side of Calton Hill. Photographed by Edwin Smith 32. Eust End of the Bridewell und Jaii Governor 's Houe Drawn by Thomas H. Shepherd Engraved by W. Tombleson. 33. The New Jdfiom C,'uIton Hill. Drawn by Thomas H. Shepherd. Engraved by W.Tombleson. 34. Wenceslaus Hollar. London Before und Ajier the Great Fire. Etching, 1666.