Aisle, which divide them and which formed the transept of the
12th-century church of St Nicholas. The West Church was built in
1775, in the Italian style, the East originally in 1834 in the
Gothic. In 1874 a fire destroyed the East Church and the
old central tower with its fine peal of nine bells, one of
which, Laurence or ``Lowrie,'' was 4 ft. in diameter at the
mouth, 3 1/2 ft. high and very thick. The church was rebuilt
and a massive granite tower erected over the intervening
aisles at the cost of the municipality, a new peal of 36
bells, cast in Holland, being installed to commemorate the
Victorian jubilee of 1887. The Roman Catholic Cathedral in
Huntly Street, a Gothic building, was erected in 1859. The
see of Aberdeen was first founded at Mortlach in Banffshire
by Malcolm II. in 1004 to celebrate his victory there over
the Danes, but in 1137 David I. transferred the bishopric
to Old Aberdeen, and twenty years later the cathedral of
St Machar, situated a few hundred yards from the Don, was
begun. Save during the episcopate of William Elphinstone
(1484-1511), the building progressed slowly. Gavin Dunbar,
who followed him in 1518, was enabled to complete the
structure by adding the two western spires and the southern
transept. The church suffered severely at the Reformation,
but is still used as the parish church. It now consists of the
nave and side aisles. It is chiefly built of outlayer granite,
and, though the plainest cathedral in Scotland, its stately
simplicity and severe symmetry lend it unique distinction.
On the flat panelled ceiling of the nave are the heraldic
shields of the princes, noblemen and bishops who shared in its
erection, and the great west window contains modern painted
glass of excellent colour and design. The cemeteries are St
Peter's in Old Aberdeen, Trinity near the links, Nellfield
at the junction of Great Western and Holburn Roads, and
Allenvale, very tastefully laid out, adjoining Duthie Park.
Education.---Aberdeen University consists of King's College
in Old Aberdeen, founded by Bishop Elphinstone in 1494,
and Marischal College, in Broad Street, founded in 1593 by
George Keith, 5th earl Marischal, which were incorporated in
1860. Arts and divinity are taught at King's, law, medicine
and science at Marischal. The number of students exceeds 800
yearly. The buildings of both colleges are the glories of
Aberdeen. King's forms a quadrangle with interior court, two
sides of which have been rebuilt, and a library wing has been
added. The Crown Tower and the Chapel, the oldest parts, date from
1500. The former is surmounted by a structure about 40 ft.
high, consisting of a six-sided lantern and royal crown, both
sculptured, and resting on the intersections of two arched
ornamental slips rising from the four corners of the top of the
tower. The choir of the chapel still contains the original
oak canopied stalls, miserere seats and lofty open screens in
the French flamboyant style, and of unique beauty of design and
execution. Their preservation was due to the enlightened
energy of the principal at the time of the Reformation, who
armed his folk to save the building from the barons of the
Mearns after they had robbed St Machar's of its bells and
lead. Marischal College is a stately modern building, having
been rebuilt in 1836-1841, and greatly extended several years
later at a cost of L. 100,000. The additions to the buildings
opened by King Edward VII. in 1906 have been already mentioned.
The beautiful Mitchell Tower is so named from the benefactor (Dr
Charles Mitchell) who provided the splendid graduation hall.
The opening of this tower in 1895 signalized the commemoration
of the four hundredth anniversary of the foundation of the
university. The University Library comprises nearly 100,000
books. A Botanic Garden was presented to the university in
1899. Aberdeen and Glasgow Universities combine to return
one member to Parliament. The United Free Church Divinity
Hall in Alford Place, in the Tudor Gothic style, dates from
1850. The Grammar School, founded in 1263, was removed in
1861-1863 from its old quarters in Schoolhill to a large new
building, in the Scots Baronial style, off Skene Street.
Robert Gordon's College in Schoolhill was founded in 1729
by Robert Gordon of Straloch and further endowed in 1816 by
Alexander Simpson of Collyhill. Originally devoted (as Gordon's
Hospital) to the instruction and maintenance of the sons of poor
burgesses of guild and trade in the city, it was reorganized
in 1881 as a day and night school for secondary and technical
education, and has since been unusually successful. Besides
a High School for Girls and numerous board schools, there are
many private higher-class schools. Under the Endowments Act
1882 an educational trust was constituted which possesses a
capital of L. 155,000. At Blairs, in Kincardineshire, five
miles S.W. of Aberdeen, is St Mary's Roman Catholic College
for the training of young men intended for the priesthood.
Charities.---The Royal Infimary, in Woolmanhill, established
in 1740, rebuilt in the Grecian style in 1833-1840, and
largely extended after 1887 as a memorial of Queen Victoria's
jubilee; the Royal Asylum, opened in 1800; the Female Orphan
Asylum, in Albyn Place, founded in 1840; the Blind Asylum,
in Huntly Street, established in 1843; the Royal Hospital
for Sick Children; the Maternity Hospital, founded in 1823;
the City Hospital for Infectious Diseases; the Deaf and Dumb
Institution; Mitchell's Hospital in Old Aberdeen; the East
and West Poorhouses, with lunatic wards; and hospitals devoted
to specialized diseases, are amongst the most notable of
the charitable institutions. There are, besides, industrial
schools for boys and girls and for Roman Catholic children, a
Female School of Industry, the Seabank Rescue Home, Nazareth
House and Orphanage, St Martha's Home for Girls, St Margaret's
Convalescent Home and Sisterhood, House of Bethany, the
Convent of the Sacred Heart and the Educational Trust School.
Parks and Open Spaces.---Duthie Park, of 50 acres, the gift
of Miss Elizabeth Crombie Duthie of Ruthrieston, occupies an
excellent site on the north bank of the Dee. Victoria Park
(13 acres) and its extension Westburn Park (13 acres) are
situated in the north-western area; farther north lies Stewart
Park (11 acres), called after Sir D. Stewart, lord provost in
1893. The capacious links bordering the sea between the
mouths of the two rivers are largely resorted to for open-air
recreation; there is here a rifle range where a ``wapinschaw,''
or shooting tournament, is held annually. Part is laid out
as an 18-hole golf course; a section is reserved for cricket
and football; a portion has been railed off for a race-course,
and a bathing-station has been erected. Union Terrace
Gardens are a popular rendezvous in the heart of the city.
Statues.---In Union Terrace Gardens stands a colossal statue
in bronze of Sir William Wallace, by W. G. Stevenson, R.S.A.
(1888). In the same gardens are a bronze statue of Burns
and Baron Marochetti's seated figure of Prince Albert. In
front of Gordon's College is the bronze statue, by T. S.
Burnett, A.R.S.A., of General Gordon (1888). At the east
end of Union Street is the bronze statue of Queen Victoria,
erected in 1893 by the royal tradesmen of the city. Near the
Cross stands the granite statue of the 5th duke of Gordon (d.
1836). Here may also be mentioned the obelisk of Peterhead
granite, 70 ft. high, erected in the square of Marischal
College to the memory of Sir James M`Grigor (1778-1851), the
military surgeon and director-general of the Army Medical
Department, who was thrice elected lord rector of the College.
Bridges.--The Dee is crossed by four bridges,--the old
bridge, the Wellington suspension bridge, the railway bridge,
and Victoria Bridge, opposite Market Street. The first, till
1832 the only access to the city from the south, consists of
seven semicircular ribbed arches, is about 30 ft. high, and
was built early in the 16th century by Bishops Elphinstone and
Dunbar. It was nearly all rebuilt in 1718--1723, and in
1842 was widened from 14 1/2 to 26 ft. The bridge of Don has
five granite arches, each 75 ft. in span, and was built in
1827--1832. A little to the west is the Auld Brig o'
Balgownie, a picturesque single arch spanning the deep
black stream, said to have been built by King Robert I.,
and celebrated by Byron in the tenth canto of Don Juan.
Harbour.--A defective harbour, with a shallow sand and gravel
bar at its entrance. long retarded the trade of Aberdeen, but
under various acts since 1773 it was greatly deepened. The
north pier, built partly by Smeaton in 1775-1781, and partly
by Telford in 1810-1815, extends nearly 3000 ft. into the North
Sea. It increases the depth of water on the bar from a few
feet to 22 or 24 ft. at spring tides and to 17 or 18 ft. at
neap. A wet dock, of 29 acres, and with 6000 ft. of quay,
was completed in 1848 and called Victoria Dock in honour
of the queen's visit to the city in that year. Adjoining
it is the Upper Dock. By the Harbour Act of 1868, the Dee
near the harbour was diverted from the south at a cost of
L. 80,000, and 90 acres of new ground (in addition to 25 acres
formerly made up) were provided on the north side of the
river for the Albert Basin (with a graving dock), quays and
warehouses. A breakwater of concrete, 1050 ft. long, was
constructed on the south side of the stream as a protection
against south-easterly gales. On Girdleness, the southern
point of the bay, a lighthouse was built in 1833. Near the
harbour mouth are three batteries mounting nineteen guns.
Industry.---Owing to the variety and importance of its chief
industries Aberdeen is one of the most prosperous cities in
Scotland. Very durable grey granite has been quarried near
Aberdeen for more than 300 years, and blocked and dressed
paving ``setts,'' kerb and building stones, and monumental
and other ornamental work of granite have long been exported
from the district to all parts of the world. This, though
once the predominant industry, has been surpassed by the
deep-sea fisheries, which derived a great impetus from
beam-trawling, introduced in 1882, and steam line fishing
in 1889, and threaten to rival if not to eclipse those of
Grimsby. Fish trains are despatched to London daily. Most
of the leading industries date from the 18th century, amongst
them woollens (1703), linen (1749) and cotton (1779). These
give employment to several thousands of operatives. The
paper-making industry is one of the most famous and oldest in
the city, paper having been first made in Aberdeen in 1694.
Flax-spinning and jute and combmaking factories are also very
flourishing, and there are successful foundries and engineering
works. There are large distilleries and breweries, and
chemical works employing many hands. In the days of wooden
ships ship-building was a flourishing industry, the town being
noted for its fast clippers, many of which established records
in the ``tea races.'' The introduction of trawllng revived
this to some extent, and despite the distance of the city
from the iron fields there is a fair yearly output of iron
vessels. Of later origin are the jam, pickle and potted
meat factories, hundreds of acres having been laid down in
strawberries and other fruits within a few miles of the city.
History.--Aberdeen was an important place as far back as the
12th century. William the Lion had a residence in the city, to
which he gave a charter in 1179 confirming the corporate rights
