Edinburgh, Scotland
1906 - Edinburgh

Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland and of Edinburgshire or Midlothian, 2 miles from the S. shore of the Firth of Forth, 43 miles E. by N. of Glasgow and 393 miles by rail NNW. of London... The city is situated on lofty parallel ridges and is remarkable for the general elegance of its buildings. It is divided into an Old Town and a New Town. The former is irregular and from its situation on a steep ridge, and the effect produced by its tall houses, very picturesque. The New Town hall built on a gentler eminence is a remarkably handsome residence district. On the S. of the Old Town, and separated from it by a hollow, stands the remaining portion of the city.

Through the Old Town runs Canogate Street, rising gradually for almost a mile, and rendered most imposing in appearance by the lofty and quaint houses with which it is lined. Between the Old Town and the New stretches Prince's Street, presenting a magnicficient view, and forming one of the finest promenades in the world. On the E., the city is overlooked by Calton Hill (349 feet), a rocky eminence commanding an extended view of the Firth of Forth; beyond the E. extremity of the town tower Salisbury Crags, a huge belt of precipitous rock. Immediately behind rises the rocky summit of Arthur's Seat (796 feet), encircled by a carriage-drive. The most remarkable public building in the Old Town is the castle, a mediaeval royal residence surmounting an eminence 430 feet high. The Queen Mary portion contains the Scottish regalia. About 1 mile NE. of the castle is the famous royal palace of Holyrood, occupying the site of Holyrood Abbey. Attached to Holyrood is the old royal hunting round now divided into Queen's Park and Arthur's Seat and open to the public.

Edinburg contains numerous buildings of note, among the most import of which are: St. Giles' Church, dating from the fifteenth century and recently restored; the Episcopal Cathedral of St. Mary's (1879), which is one of the largest churches built in Great Britain since the Reformation; the Parliament House, built in 1633, now used as the "Outer House" of the Supreme Courts, and containing many valuable portraits and statues; and the handsome building of Heriot's Hospital, erected in the seventeenth century, and now the seat of a technological school. Among the other edifices of interst are the house of John Knox and the finely situated buildings of the National Gallery Royal Instituation, Museum of Science and Art, National Portrait Gallry and Angiquarian Museum, and Blackford Observatory. The Gothic spire, erected in 1844 in memory of Walter Scott, and the memorial to Prince Consort (1876) are beautiful monuments.

Edinburgh is rich in its educaional institutions. The University, founded in 1582, is one of the most famous in Europe, and counts among its former students some of the most celebrated men of Britain. The present building, begun in 1787 from deigns by the elder Adam, were completed in 1887 by the erection of a dome. There have been added also in recent years new medical buildings, a students' union, and a college-hall. The University numbers about 3000 students, many of them women; and its library contains about 200,000 volumes and 8000 MSS. There are several other large libraries in Edinburgh, among which the most important are the library of the Faculty of Advocates, containing 500,000 volumes that of the Scociet of Writers to the Signet, possessing 90,000 volumes, and a fine public library, erected in 1887-89 by Andrew Carnegie, with about 150,000 volumes. The city contains a number of theological halls connected with its churches and schools. Edinburgh is remarkable for the exceptionally large funds it receives yearl by bequest from its citizens for educational purposes. That made by George Heriot in the time of Charles I now yields 30,000 pounds per annum. The Edinburgh Royal Infirmary is one of the best-equipped hospitals in Europe.

The principal industries of Edinburgh are brewing, printing, and publishing, with the subsidiary businesses of book-binding, and type-founding. It is a centre of the paper trade. The port of Edinbugh is Leith. The city is the seat of a bishop of the Scotch Episcopal Church and of an archbishop of the Roman Catholic Church. It sends 4 representatives to parliament.

The climate of Edinburgh is often raw. Mean average temperature of the warmest month, 58 degrees F; coldest month, 37 degrees F...

Pop. in 1801, 66,544 in 1831, 136,548; in 1891, 263,646; in 1901, 316,479 (with Leith, 395,373).

Lippincott's New Gazetteer: A Complete Pronouncing Gazetteer Or Geographical Dictionary of the World, Containing the Most Recent and Authentic Information Respecting the Countries, Cities, Towns ... in Every Portion of the Globe Publisher J.B. Lippincott Company, 1906

Visit Edinburgh, Scotland
Discover the people who lived there, the places they visited and the stories they shared.