Page:The National Gazetteer - A Topographical Dictionary of the British Islands, Volume 1.djvu/841

Rh DUNDEE. 631 DUNDEE. ' straight lines in their construction. The bustle and life so exhibited on the crowded quays, and the general mlence everywhere visible, add greatly to the interest hieh the surrounding beautiful landscape confers upon The High-street is the most important part of the .-.-.n, and is a square 360 feet long by 100 broad. The re of freestone and lofty ; and the townhall, with - -pivc MO feet in height, ornaments the S. side of the . av, while the trades' -hall is situated at the E. end, Luckenbooths closes up the W. end. The vgate, in which a large portion of the business t.t tuwn is carried on, and which served formerly x change, has at its E. end the gate from which Wishart preached during the plague in 1544. 'ine of the streets, such as Reform-street, are not to some of the most admired in Edinburgh, the more remarkable of the public buildings mentioned the Exchange Coffee-room, at the i ner of Castle-street ; the public seminaries, at X. of Reform-street : the barracks, enclosing the of Dudhope Castle, on an elevation at the t i >f Dundee La w ; the old custom - house, in I urket-square, with the adjacent Victoria Arch, Dundee, in September, 1844 ; the royal exchange, at N end of Panmure-street ; the county prison and 'iiildings, at the S.W. angle of the public i; its magnificent frontage of 350 feet along the nithern side of the heights of Tudhope ; the lunatic ylutn, about half a mile N. of the town ; and the new 'louse, including also the excise-office, at the E. id of Dock-street. In 1863 it was resolved to erect change. The institution is intended to corn- rise a lecture-room, reading-rooms, library, museum, nl a live library and museum for the working-classes lould the Free Libraries Act be adopted. The cost was I at 20,000. The ecclesiastical edifices, how- i r, here as elsewhere, constitute the most prominent iiral features of the town. Foremost among
 * o commemorate the landing of Queen Victoria
 * the new infirmary, founded in 1852, and
 * Institute in Dundee, on ground opposite the
 * lie tower, 15S feet in height, which stands at the

<". end of the cruciform cathedral-like structure com- wing the East, South, and Steeple churches, which were heir present restored state after the fire which, in muary, 1841, consumed the whole more ancient group, he churches are situated W. of the Luckenbooths, lildings included four churches, and had been subject to any additions and alterations in the course of ages. A agnificent view of the town and harbour is obtained from top of the tower. All the other ancient ecclesiastical lildings have disappeared, and their successors, the odern edifices, as worthily supply their places as do ie churches of any other town in Scotland. Among lem may be mentioned St. Andrew's, on the N. sido of icCowgate ; St. David's, in North Tay-street; Free St. eter's, in Hawkhill ; Free St. Paul's in the Nethergate ; ie United Presbyterian churches in Bell-street ; Ward hapel, belonging to the Independents ; the Episcopal lurches of St. Paul's, at the head of the Seagate, and L. Mary Magdalene, in Blinshall-street; and the Roman atholic church in Nethergate. Much of the commercial osperity of Dundee is owing to its magnificent docks, Mch stretch from Craig Pier on the W. to the ship- Jilding yards on the E. They have all been formed, i an expense of more than 500,000, since 1815, (hen commissioners were first appointed by Act of arliament for the improvement of the harbour. These pprovements have been effected chiefly by deepening id widening the tide harbour, and by the construction sea-walls and quays. There are four wet docks, one them, made between 1815 and 1830, being named 'illiam IV.'s Dock, occupying a space of 8 acres, and iving a graving dock annexed to it ; the other, called arl Grey's Dock, formed 1830 by enclosing a large part the tide harbour. On the land immediately beside these jrks, space has also been gained for the erection of ware- 'Uses and for ship-building. The Firth of Tay is here about 2 miles broad, and the aforesaid docks, besides their commodiousness, have the additional advantage of being easily accessible from the deptli of water at very reduced states of the tide ; while the natural obstructions arising from sandbanks have been practically removed by being marked out by buoys. Dundee has numerous public literary and charitable institutions, and two local banks, named the Dundee Banking Company and the Eastern Banking Company, besides branches of other Scottish banks. The following newspapers are published: tho Dundee Advertiser and the Dundee Courier daily ; the Northern Warder on Tuesday and Friday ; also the Peoples Journal and Weekly^ News weekly. The chief manufac- tures are the working of iron and the construction of machinery; the refining of sugar, tho making of kid gloves, hand cards and cards for wool, silk, cotton, and tow ; ship-building, and lastly and principally the manu- facture of flax-yarns and linen fabrics. The fabrics consist of Osnaburgs, duck, sheeting, and coarse linens. Besides these linen-yarn, canvas, and cordage are largely made. This manufacture, which has sprung up since 1815, has increased in an unprecedented manner, there being about fifty steam spinning-mills and some ten power-loom factories, besides many establishments in which weaving is performed by hand labour. Linen goods to the value of nearly 2,000,000 are made yearly in Dundee. The foreign trade of the port of Dundee in 1853, inwards, comprised 658 vessels of about 130,000 tons, and outwards, of 407 vessels of 70,646 tons. The customs' duties in 1851 amounted to 63,342. The chief imports are flax hemp, timber, iron, tar, lime, coals, ashes, tallow, and whale blubber ; and the prin- cipal exports are linen fabrics, linen-yarn, machinery, iron and steel, cotton and woollen goods, spirits, coala, fish, &c. By means of the Dundee, Perth, and London Shipping Company, the Tay and Tyne Shipping Com- pany, the Dundee and Perth Steam Packet Company, besides regular traders to Liverpool, Stockton, and Glas- gow, abundant communication is had with the S. and W. Steamers ply at frequent intervals daily to New- port, once a day to Newburgh and Perth, and once a week to London. By rail Broughty Ferry, Arbroath, Newtyle, and Perth, and other places beyond, are easily accessible. Dundee is governed by a provost and 4 bailies, a dean of guild, and a town council of 20 members. The magistrates exercise jurisdiction over the whole of the royalty, and take cognizance of all criminal cases within the burgn, and of debts to any amount. The jurisdiction of the sheriff-substitute is cp-extensive with that of the magistrates within tho royalty, and also extends over the landward part of the parishes. The magistrates and town council are the police commissioners under the General Police Act for Scotland passed in 1850. There are nine incorporated trades and three united trades, which possess funds chiefly employed in assisting decayed members. The town has endowments amounting to about CO,000 for charitable and educational purposes. The property of the town was estimated in 1853 at about 50,000, and consists of lands, churches, houses, and salmon fishings. The revenue in 1851 was about 5,600. Dundee, together with its suburb, sends one member to parlia- ment. The population of the parliamentary burgh in 1851 was 78,931, and in 1861 90,424. Children at school in 1861, between the ages of 5 and 15, 11,698. Dundee was anciently surrounded by walls, the names of the gates being still retained in the names of some of the streets. It was twice burned by Edward I., and again by the Duke of Lancaster in 1385. In the 16th century D'undee was the first of all the Scottish towns to re- nounce Popery, chiefly through the influence of James Haliburton, tho Reformer. In the 17th century it was pillaged by General Monk. Dundee claims many ancient sons and citizens, among whom may be men- tioned Alexander Scrymgeour, the first of the hereditary constables of Dundee, and the friend of Wallace ; Hector Boelhius, the Scottish historian, Robert Pitti- lock, or Patullo, the first captain of the Scottish Guard under Charles VII. of France ; James Halliburton, tho
 * tween the Overgate and the Nethergate. The original