History of Dundee

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[edit] Origin and name

Archaeological evidence of burials suggest that the Dundee Law may have been used by human settlers 3500 years ago. During the Iron Age it was the site of a Pictish settlement. Roman pottery has been found on the law, suggesting that the Romans may have used it as a lookout post in the first century.

The Pictish name for the earliest known settlement was Alec-tum, meaning 'a handsome place'^[1] (this name was still in use, alongside the modern name, as late as 1607).^[2] William the Lion granted the town the status of burgh by royal charter in 1191.^[3] His brother, David, 8th Earl of Huntingdon is said to have named the town Donum Dei ('God's gift') upon narrowly escaping death during his return from the Crusades. However, this is most likely folk etymology. The name appears to come from the Gaelic Dùn Dèagh, meaning Fort of Fire; "Dun" is a common prefix in Scottish placenames (cf. Dunfermline and Dunkeld).

[edit] Medieval defence and destruction

Dundee experienced periods of occupation and destruction in the late 13th and early 14th centuries. Following John Balliol's renunciation (1295) of Edward I's claimed authority over Scotland, the English King twice visited Scotland with hostile intent. Edward (the 'Hammer of the Scots') revoked Dundee's royal charter — removing the town's people the right to control local government and the judiciary. He occupied the Castle at Dundee in 1296, but was removed by William Wallace in 1297.

From 1303 to 1312 the city was occupied again. Edward's removal resulted in the complete destruction of the Castle by Robert the Bruce, who had been proclaimed King of Scots at nearby Scone in 1309. In 1327, the Bruce granted the royal burgh a new charter. Later in the 14th century, during the conflict between England and France known as the Hundred Years' War, the French invoked the Auld Alliance, drawing Scotland into the hostilities. Richard II subsequently marched north and razed Edinburgh, Perth and Dundee.

Wishart Arch, The only surviving part of the city walls

Dundee became a walled city in 1545 during a period of English hostilities known as the rough wooing (Henry VIII's attempt to extend his Protestant ambitions north by marrying his youngest son Edward, Duke of Cornwall to Mary, Queen of Scots). Only a small section of the city wall — the Wishart Arch — still stands. Mary maintained the alliance with the French, who captured Protestant opponents, including John Knox, at St Andrews Castle, in nearby east Fife, in July 1547. That year, following victory at the Battle of Pinkie Cleugh, the English occupied Edinburgh and went on to destroy much of Dundee by naval bombardment. The Howff Burial Ground, granted to the people of Dundee in 1546, was a gift from Mary.

[edit] Civil Wars

During a period of relative peace between Scotland and England, the status of Dundee as a royal burgh was reconfirmed (in The Great Charter of Charles I, dated 14 September 1641). However, with the outbreak of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms in 1644, Dundee began to suffer at the hands of nobles loyal to the King. The Royalist James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose besieged Dundee in April 1645.^[3]

On 1 September 1651, during the Third English Civil War), the English Parliamentarians invaded Scotland. General Monck, commander of Cromwell's forces in Scotland, captured Dundee. His troops pillaged the royal burgh, destroying much of it and killing up to 2,000 of the 12,000 inhabitants.

John Graham, 1st Viscount Dundee raised the Stuart standard on Dundee Law in 1689. For this early contribution to the Jacobite uprising, Graham quickly earned the name Bonnie Dundee.^[4]

[edit] Industrial revolution

After the Union with England ended military hostilities, Dundee was able to redevelop its harbour and established itself as an industrial and trading centre. Dundee's industrial heritage is traditionally summarised as "the three Js": jute, jam and journalism.

Cox's Stack, A chimney from the former Camperdown works jute mill. The chimney was designed by local architect James MacLaren and takes its name from jute baron James Cox who later became Lord Provost of the city

[edit] Jute

During the 18th and 19th Centuries, flax was imported from the countries surrounding the Baltic Sea for the production of linen. The trade supported 36 spinning mills by 1835, but various conflicts, including the Crimean war put a stop to the trade. At around this time, jute, a common fibre from the Indian sub-continent, was looked at as a possible alternative but was difficult to handle. It was discovered that treatment with whale oil, a byproduct of Dundee's whaling industry, made the spinning of the jute fibre possible, which led to the development of a substantial jute industry in the city. This growth precipitated a large increase in population.

By the end of the 19th century the majority of Dundee's working population were employed in jute manufacture, but the industry began to decline in 1914, when it became cheaper to rely on imports of the finished product from India. (Dundee's 'jute barons' had invested heavily in Indian factories). In 1942, the Ashton Works were requisitioned by the Government and taken over by "Briggs Motor Bodies Ltd" for the production of jerrycans. Ten million were produced by the time of derequisition in 1946. The Cragie works closed for economic reasons at the end of 1954 when a study found that it was not viable to modernised equipment; production was subsequently moved to Ashton works. Commercial jute production in Dundee ceased in the 1970s, particularly after the cessation of jute control on April 30, 1969.^[6] Some manufacturers successfully diversified to produce synthetic fibres and linoleum for a short time. The last of the jute spinners closed in 1999. From a peak of over 130 mills, many have since been demolished, although around sixty have been redeveloped for residential or other commercial use. An award-winning museum, based in the old Verdant Works, commemorates the city's manufacturing heritage and operates a small jute-processing facility.

[edit] Jam

Dundee's association with jam stems from Janet Keiller's 1797 'invention' of marmalade. Mrs. Keiller allegedly devised the recipe in order to make use of a cargo-load of bitter Seville oranges acquired from a Spanish ship by her husband James, in reality her son. This account though is most likely apocryphal, as recipes for marmalade have been found dating back to the 1500s, with the Kiellers likely to have developed their marmalade by modifying an existing recipe using quince. Nevertheless marmalade became a famed Dundee export after Alex Keiller, James' son, industrialised the production process during the 19th century.^[7]

The Kiellers originally started selling their produce from a small sweet shop in the Seagate area of the city which specialised in selling locally preserved fruit and jams. In 1845, Alex Kieller moved the business from the Seagate and into a new larger premises on Castle Street. Later, he also later bought premises in Guernsey to take advantage of the lack of sugar duties. The Guernsey premises accounted for a third of the firms output but still carried the Dundee logo. The Guernsey plant was closed in 1879 due to lack of profitability and was moved to North Woolwich where it was brought back under the control of the Dundee branch. Though iconic to the city, jam was never a major sector of the city's industry, employing approximately 300 people at its peak compared to the thousands who worked in the Jute industry at the same time.^[7] Today traditional marmalade production has become the preserve of larger businesses, but distinctive white jars of Keiller's marmalade can still be bought. For many years, these were made by the Maling pottery of Newcastle upon Tyne.

[edit] Journalism

Journalism in Dundee relates to publisher D. C. Thomson & Co. Ltd. Founded in 1905 by David Coupar Thomson and which is still owned and run by his descendants. The firm publishes a variety of newspapers, children's comics and magazines, including The Sunday Post, The Courier, Shout and children's publications, The Beano and The Dandy. Journalism is the only "J" that is still present in the city with D.C. Thomson still based in their headquarters on Albert Square. The company remains one the largest of the cities employers after local government and the health service, employing nearly 2000 people.^[8][9]

[edit] Maritime industry

As Dundee resides on on a major estuary it has developed a maritime industry both as a whaling port (since 1753) and in shipbuilding. In 1857 the whaling ship Tay was the first in the world to be fitted with steam engines.^[10] By 1872 Dundee had become the premier whaling port of the British Isles partly due to the local jute industries demand for whale oil for use in the processing of its cloth. Over 2,000 ships were built in the city between 1871 and 1881. The last whaling ship to be built at Dundee was the Terra Nova, in 1884, and the whaling industry ceasing later in around 1912.^[10]

In December 1883 a whale was caught in the Tay and was later publicly dissected by Professor John Struthers of the University of Aberdeen. The incident was popular with the public and extra rail journeys were organised to assist those from surrounding areas who wished to see the whale. The creature became known as the Tay Whale, and the event was also celebrated in a poem by William McGonagall.

The Dundee Perth and London Shipping Company (DPLC) ran steamships down the Tay from Perth and on to Hull and London. The firm still exists, but is now a travel agency. However, shipbuilding shrank with the closure of the five berths at the former Caledon Shipbuilding & Engineering Company in 1981, and came to a halt altogether in 1987 when the final 750 workers from the Kestrel Marine was shut down.

RRS Discovery, the ship taken to the Antarctic by Robert Falcon Scott and the last wooden three-masted ship to be built in the British Isles, was built in Dundee in 1901.^[11] It returned to Dundee in April 1986 and is moored next to a purpose-built visitors' centre. The oldest wooden British warship still afloat the HMS Unicorn is also moored nearby although it was not built in Dundee. Dundee was also the home port of the Antarctic Dundee whaling expedition of 1892 which discovered Dundee Island named after the expeditions home port.

[edit] Wharfs

Being a coastal city with a major maritime industry Dundee has several wharfs. The most prominent wharfs are King George V, Caledon West, Princess Alexandra, Eastern and Caledon East. Victoria docklands was built in the 19th century to serve the loading of major imports of jute. Activity ceased in the 1960s and the wharf was out of service for forty years. It has since been redeveloped in to a shopping wharf known as City Quay. The Quay has a 500 yard Millennium Bridge spanning its eastern quay which swings round to allow ships in. Camperdown docklands as of 2006 is also being redeveloped in a manner similar to Canary Wharf in London and is scheduled for completion in 2007. The last wharf to be built in Dundee was at Stannergate for shipbuilding firm, Kestrel Marine. This was formally opened by Charles, Prince of Wales on July 17, 1979 and named after him.^[12]

[edit] The Tay Bridge Disaster

Original Tay Bridge (from the South) the day after the disaster. The collapsed section can be seen near the northern end

In 1879 a railway bridge over the Tay was opened, connecting the rail network at Dundee to Fife and Edinburgh. Its completion was commemorated in verse by William McGonagall. Less than a year after its construction, the bridge collapsed under the weight of a full train of passengers during a fierce storm.^[13] McGonagall's The Tay Bridge Disaster recounts the tragedy. In 1887 the bridge was replaced with what was at that time the longest railway bridge in Europe, at just over 2 miles long (Europe's longest bridge today is the Oresund Bridge).

[edit] Public transport

The first municipal public transport in Dundee was operated by "Dundee & District Tramways Co Ltd". From 1877, these were generally horse-drawn, but by June 1885 steam cars with green and white livery were introduced. Unusually, the tram lines were publicly built and owned, although initially leased by police commissionaires to private companies.^[14] All routes came under direct municipal control in 1893, which allowed the city to adopt overhead electric lines to power the trams. Between 1899 and 1902 the tramways were fully electrified. The first electric tram in Dundee started on July 12, 1900. The route ran from High Street to Ninewells in the West via Nethergate and Perth Road with a later route running to Dryburgh in the North. The peak of the tram network was in 1932, when 79 lines operated in the city. In October 1956, the last trams were quietly taken out of service.^[15] The first trolleybuses in Scotland were introduced along Clepington Road in Dundee during 1912-1914.^[16] However, motor buses were gradually introduced from 1921 to supplement the tram system, and double-decker buses appeared ten years later. Electric-powered operated by "Dundee Corporation Electricity Works" were still used in parts of the city until 1961. In 1975, Dundee Corporation Transport was merged into the Tayside region with their livery changed from green to blue and white.

[edit] Coat of arms

The city’s coat of arms is a pot of 3 silver lilies on a blue shield supported by two green dragons. Above the shield is a single lily and above that a scroll with the motto ‘Dei Donum’ – gift of God.

The symbolism and the motto relate to a 12th century legend that David, 8th Earl of Huntingdon, when returning from the crusades a storm arose and the ship was in danger. David prayed to the Virgin Mary and his prayers were answered when the harbour at Dundee came into view. The ship landed safely and he is said to have dubbed the town Donum Dei upon narrowly escaping death. However, this is probably folk etymology, as the name would appear to come from the Gaelic Dun Dèagh meaning Fort on the Tay ("Dun" is a common prefix in Scottish placenames, cf Dunfermline and Dunkeld). The blue colour of the shield is said to represent the cloak of the Virgin Mary while the silver (white) lilies are also closely associated with her. There is an early carving in the city’s Old Steeple, showing a similar coat of arms with Mary, protecting her child with a shield from dragons. Following an Act of Parliament passed in 1672, Dundee’s ‘new’ coat of arms was matriculated in the office of the Lord Lyon King of Arms on 30 July 1673. However by this time Scotland had become a Presbyterian nation, and any such idolatry of the Virgin Mary would have been frowned upon, leading to the more subtle symbolism that appears today. There are different theories as to why Dragons came to be used as supporters. One is that on the earlier arms they represent the violent sea that the Virgin Mary protected David from. Another is that they relate to the local legend of the Strathmartine Dragon.

Over the years small changes crept in until in 1932 the City Council decided to ask the Lord Lyon King of Arms about the correct form. Amongst other differences he pointed out that the dragons on the coat of arms were actually wyverns. (Although closely related wyverns have only two legs while dragons have four.) The coat of arms above the Eastern Cemetery gateway shows wyverns instead of dragons and three lilies above the shield instead of one. It was decided to go back to the original form with dragon supporters and one lily and to add a second motto ‘Prudentia et Candore’ – Wisdom and Truth.

[edit] Important Dundonians

[edit] Winston Churchill

Between 1908 and 1922, one of the city's MP was Winston Churchill, at that time a member of the (Coalition) Liberal Party. He had won the seat at a by-election on May 8, 1908 and was initially popular, especially as he was the president of the board of trade and, later, senior Cabinet minister. However, his frequent absence from Dundee on cabinet business, combined with the local bitterness and disillusionment that was caused by the Great War and the ensuing unemployment, strained this relationship. In the build up to the 1922 general election, even the local newspapers contained vitriolic rhetoric with regards to his political status in the city. At a one meeting he was only able to speak for 40 minutes when he was barracked by a section of the audience.^[17] Prevented from campaigning in the final days of his reelection campaign by appendicitis, his wife Clementine was even spat on for wearing pearls.^[18] Churchill was ousted by the Scottish Prohibitionist Edwin Scrymgeour - Scrymgeour's sixth election attempt - and indeed came only fourth in the poll. Churchill would later write that he left Dundee "short of an appendix, seat and party".^[19] In 1943 he was offered Freedom of the City — by 16 votes to 15 — but refused to accept. On being asked by the Council to expand on his reasons, he simply wrote: "I have nothing to add to the reply which has already been sent".^[20]

[edit] Notable Dundonians

• Hector Boece - Scottish philosopher
• James Key Caird - Jute baron and philanthropist
• Thomas Dick - Scottish writer.
• William Alexander Craigie – philologist and lexicographer
• James Alfred Ewing - physicist and engineer
• Margaret Fairlie - gynaecologist; Scotland's first female Professor
• Thomas James Henderson - astronomer
• Florence Horsbrugh - Britain's first female Conservative M.P.
• James Ivory - mathematician
• Robert Stirling Newall - engineer and astronomer
• Edwin Scrymgeour - Britain's first (and only) Prohibitionist M.P.
• Bob Stewart - Comintern agent
• Alexander Wilkie - Scotland's first Labour M.P.
• Fanny Wright - leading US feminist

[edit] Innovation

• James Bowman Lindsay demonstrated his invention of a prototype electric light bulb at a public meeting in 1835.
• The adhesive postage stamp was invented in Dundee by James Chalmers. His tombstone in the city's Howff burial ground reads: "Originator of the adhesive postage stamp which saved the Uniform Penny Post scheme of 1840 from collapse rendering it an unqualified success and which has since been adopted throughout the postal systems of the world."

[edit] Notes

[edit] References

• W J Smith (1973). A history of Dundee. David Winter & Son. OCLC 62092907.