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Adam Brown · Last edited by Adam Brown on Sat Jan 24, 2009 1:01 am; edited 2 times in total

Gladstone Monument
Location: Coates Crescent Gardens
OS Ref: NT 243 735
Sculptor: James Pittendrigh MacGillivray
Unveiled: 18th January 1917 by Earl of Roseberry (in St Andrew Square, near junction with George Street)

A magnificent tribute to former Prime Minister Gladstone. There are plenty of bronze statues and details on an extravagant pink granite plinth.

Gladstone himself is in the detailed robes of a Privy Councillor, all the other figures are on a classical theme.

The four ladies round his pedestal are Faith (holding a bible), Vitality (holding a lamp), Fortitude ( holding a shield) and Measure (holding a steelyard balance)

The two sitting ladies at each end are Historia (my favourite) and Eloquentia

The two lads in front are mounting a laurel wreath on a tripod whilst holding a banner with a Greek inscription. The tripod has a bird on each leg. They look like birds of prey - A classical allegory?

The only inscription on the base is at the rear of the pedestal 'WILLIAM EWART GLADSTONE 1809 - 1898'

I was unable to spot McGillvray's signature anywhere.

_________________
Scottish War Memorials Project
Scottish War Graves Project

ADP · Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2009 7:31 pm Post subject:

Gladstone was moved to Coates Crescent gardens from St Andrew Square, George Street junction.

http://www.edinphoto.org.uk/0_street_r/0_street_views_-_saint_andrew_square_and_gladstone_monument_1953_ed_then_076.htm

Moved February 1956 according to the RCAHMS website.

http://www.rcahms.gov.uk/pls/portal/canmore.newcandig_details_gis?inumlink=91667

The City of Edinburgh Council's website puts the move as 1955.

http://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/internet/leisure/local_history_and_heritage/monuments/memorials/cec_the_gladstone_memorial

The Gladstone Memorial

This truly monumental memorial depicts William Ewart Gladstone in the uniform of a Privy Councillor. The ‘Great Old Man’ of the Liberal party was Member of Parliament for Midlothian, and served as Prime Minister in 1868, 1880, 1886, and 1892.

Sculpted by James Pittendrigh McGillvray,the statue was unveiled at St. Andrew Square by the Earl of Roseberry K.T. on 18 January 1917, and moved to its present site in Coates Crescent Gardens in 1955.

ADP

Adam Brown · Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2009 8:13 pm Post subject:

Thanks ADP, I didn't have time to add more information when I posted the images. 'Truly Monumental' indeed.

I have been unable to find a transcription of the Greek words on the ribbons held by the two lads.

William Ewart Gladstone was Prime Minister four times: 1868–74, 1880–85, 1886 and 1892–94. He was first elected to Parliament in 1832 and only resigned his seat in 1895.

He was the MP for Midlothian from 1880-1895

Regards

Adam
_________________
Scottish War Memorials Project
Scottish War Graves Project

ADP · Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2009 9:27 pm Post subject:

It seems that the sculptor designed the statue for Coates Crescent gardens, and he was not pleased that it was placed in St Andrew Square. Below is a section of a long letter in the Scotsman.

The Scotsman - Thursday, 19th May 1921, page 8

Letters to the Editor

...

I would suggest the removal of the Gladstone memorial from St Andrew Square to the site at Coates Crescent garden for which it was designed - that being the site chosen by Lord Rosebery. After four years' observation, everybody who has any sense of the matter is now satisfied that the monument - placed where it is, against the best professional advice - is seen at considerable disadvantage to its merits, and is obviously a notable obstruction to the traffic.

...

I am &c.

Pittendrigh Macgillivray

I can't imagine he would have approved of the Buckfast bottle Shocked

that can be seen on the statue in your last photograph.

ADP

ADP · Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2009 11:13 pm Post subject:

The unveiling of the Gladstone Monument was a significant event according to the following article, despite the war that was ongoing at the time.

The Scotsman - Friday, 19th January 1917, page 3

THE GLADSTONE MEMORIAL
-----
LORD ROSEBERY ON PAST AND PRESENT.

"Standing under the shadow of that monument and looking down George Street," said Lord Rosebery, unveiling yesterday the Gladstone Memorial in Edinburgh, "my mind is full of memories." The occasion was inevitably one for reminiscence. His Lordship recalled, in the course of his tribute to the great statesman, with whom he had been closely associated, an episode, the climax of the famous Midlothian campaign, enacted in the street which stretched out before him as he spoke. "On each side of him," said Lord Rosebery, describing Mr Gladstone's appearance thirty-seven years ago, "were his wife and daughter, holding flickering candles, and in front the vast multitude." The unveiling of the Memorial in St Andrew Square was also an occasion which will be memorable. In the wintry chill of a January day, under a cloudy sky, a great crowd assembled to witness the ceremony. Fortunately the weather was free from rain or snow. The sun, almost breaking through the clouds to the south, imparted a rich radiance to the sky just as the ceremony commenced, against which the Scott monument - which the Gladstone statue faces - stood out conspicuously. A wide circular space was barricaded off round the memorial, within which a numerous company of representative persons were accommodated. The upper boards of the barricade, which had been erected for the work of placing the Memorial in position, had been removed, so that the greater throng beyond might be enabled to witness the proceedings. Spectators occupied positions on the balconies and at the windows of the adjoining houses. The Memorial itself, pale green fabrics enshrouding the principal figures, formed an impressive centre for the assemblage. At the hour fixed for the commencement of the proceedings, Lord Provost Lorne MacLeod , accompanied by Lord Rosebery, and preceded by a detachment of the High Constables and the municipal halberdiers, entered the enclosure. Behind them, wearing their official scarlet robes, came the members of the Town Council. His Lordship was greeted with cheering on all sides when he appeared. The Lord Provost and Lord Rosebery occupied seats in a pavilion within the enclosure, in which there were also Sir James Guthrie, P.R.S.A., Lieut.-Col. Sir George McCrae, D.S.O.; Sir Robert K. Inches, Sir Andrew M'Donald, Sir M. Mitchell-Thomson, Sir J. Patten MacDougall, K.C.B.; Sir Edward Parrott, Sir James Russell, Dr Pittendrigh Macgillivray, R.S.A., the sculptor of the memorial; Professor Baldwin Brown, the Rev. Principal Whyte, New College; Lieut.-Col. J. T. R. Wilson, D.S.O.; Mr Ralph Richardson, W.S.; Mr A. D. Wood, and others. The Scottish Liberal Association and other political and public bodies were represented.

MESSAGE FROM MR GLADSTONE'S DAUGHTER.

No members of the Gladstone family were able to be present at the ceremony, several apologies for absence having been received by the Town-Clerk. Among those was a telegram from Lord Gladstone, who regretted his inability to be present , and a letter was received from Mrs Drew, Mr Gladstone's daughter, who, it is interesting to recall, accompanied the distinguished statesman on his Midlothian campaign. Miss Mary Gladstone, as she was then, was one of the central figures in the memorable scene at the house in George Street, referred to by Lord Rosebery in his speech, when the Midlothian victory was announced. Along with her mother she accompanied Mr Gladstone to the balcony, and they held the flickering candles while the statesman addressed the excited populace-thronging the- street below. Mrs Drew's letter to the Town-Clerk was in the following terms: —

I need hardly tell you how much I wish I could come to the unveiling- by Lord Rosebery of my father's statue on Thursday. It would recall many of the deeply interesting events during the Midlothian campaigns. I was at Dalmeny for most of these. But it is obvious that we must not now travel for pleasure, or indeed for anything but any necessary duty.

Apologies were also received from Mrs Wickham, a daughter, and Mr Henry Gladstone, a son of Mr Gladstone.

The Rev. J. G. Dickson opened the proceedings by engaging in prayer, after which the Lord Provost invited Lord Rosebery to unveil the memorial.

MIDLOTHIAN AND ARMAGEDDON.

Lord Rosebery said:- My Lord Provost and fellow-citizens, the Committee in London have rightly enjoined that at this time we should inaugurate this monument with as little ceremony as possible. But, standing under the shadow of that monument, and looking down George Street, my mind is so full of memories that I cannot refrain from a few words. It was on the night of April 5th, 1880, that Mr Gladstone was dining in a house, now demolished, in this Street, secured for his accommodation during the campaign. In the midst of dinner his agent, Mr Reid, pale with excitement - I can see him now - entered and announced the victory. (Cheers.) In an instant a vast crowd filled the street. It is difficult to know how they found the hero of the evening, but so it was. Of course, he had to appear and say a few words. It was a striking scene. On each side were his wife and daughter, holding flickering candles, and in front the vast multitude, which seemed to have sprung, as it were, out of the bowels of the earth. We who remember can see him as he spoke, his lyart haffits streaming in the wind, his words and spirit animating the multitude. It was indeed an immense personal triumph. Our stolid Lothians had gone wild with joy, and the enthusiasm spread like a fiery cross through Scotland and again through England. All this, it may truly be said, the work of one man, and he seventy years of age. (Cheers.) It was a political and personal victory as great as any recorded in our annals. Perhaps as we get older such party victories shrink in our estimation. (Cheers.) Looking back at it through the mists of some forty years it would in any case diminish.

EUROPE OF TO-DAY.

But now, with hell let loose in Europe, with millions of men slaughtering each other for the destruction or protection of liberty, with cold murder by land and sea, with deliberate slavery of innocent populations, with the treacherous destruction of treaties and of monuments consecrated by history - in face of all this the victory of Midlothian seems puny enough, almost a mimic warfare to give one party or another, without bloodshed or infamy, the possession of political power. It seems, indeed, to have shrunk to a tournament. The Armageddon has shrivelled it to nothingness, just as the war loans at 5 per cent; have shrunk our once proud Consols. But, however small the Midlothian struggle may seem to those who were not involved in it, there is one clear figure -which emerges for all time - the figure of Gladstone himself. (Cheers.) What a marvel he was, in energy and intellect—a great Parliamentarian, a great orator, a noble and high-minded statesman. More than all, what a man - (cheers) - in character, in conscience, and in labour. From our earliest sight of him to the end he was learning, studying, working. I used to think, as I looked at him, what a. pity it was that at-a stroke the inevitable hand of death should put an end to the vast accumulation of his life of eager toil, and silence this consummate energy and intellect. Well, the stroke came at last and left to us the inspiration only of his example. And as in Midlothian we saw him at the highest point of his career, we had the right to commemorate that zenith. And to-day all parties without distinction, can rejoice in his strenuous life.

A MEMORIAL AND INSPIRATION.

We can even rejoice that he is no more. For he was a strenuous promoter of peace, a strenuous guardian of the public purse. What would he have felt in the slaughter-house in. which we live to-day, with an expenditure of some six millions a day? It is anguish to all of us; it would have been agony to him. We do not, then, mourn for him to-day, we consecrate his life and his example. These great men form the pedigree of a nation, as their achievements are their country's title-deeds to honour. The dark mass of humanity passes to the grave silent and unknown. It is these men who stand forth and mark the march of the generations. (Cheers.) And here stands one who embodies honest faith, honest toil, and honest devotion to duty. Let all who pass look up and remember that. It was that which the teeming multitude acclaimed in George Street thirty-seven years ago, that which generations to come will remember with reverence. We rear, then, this statue, not merely .as a memorial to him, but as an inspiration to ourselves. (Cheers.) And so, my Lord Provost, I hand over to your custody and the guardianship of Edinburgh itself this noble monument. It will enhance the historic traditions and add to the glamour of our sacred and beautiful city. (Cheers.)

Lord Rosebery then proceeded to unveil the monument, which, freed from its wrappings, was hailed, with cheers by the assemblage.

The memorial, (which has already been described in The Scotsman) is not only an adequate tribute to the memory of Mr Gladstone, but in itself, quite apart from all political and social associations it will form a notable addition to the artistic attractions of Edinburgh. In the vitality of the conception of the portrait statue and the picturesque , yet .strictly sculpturesque, symbolism of the accessory figures, in the admirable accomplishment of the modelling and the decorative and finely balanced unity of silhouette, mass and colour, into which the whole has been brought by a clear and dominating artistic idea, the Gladstone Memorial will probably take rank not only as the most, important sculpturesque work hitherto executed in Scotland, but as one of the most notable achievements of the kind in this country.

THE CUSTODY, OF THE MEMORIAL.

The Lord Provost, on behalf of the Town Council said he had the honour to accept the formal delivery of the memorial. They regarded it as a high privilege to undertake its safe custody and upkeep and maintenance for the future in accordance with arrangements. The completion and erection of that august memorial of the distinguished statesman, so closely associated and identified with the capital of Scotland and the premier county of Midlothian, had given deep satisfaction to the citizens of Edinburgh. They and generations to come would be constantly inspired by that striking figure and surrounding statuary in the very centre of Mr Gladstone's greatest triumphs, where in life he inspired and drew inspiration from the people of this country and of this city. (Cheers.)

Bailie Boyd moved a vote of thanks to the Edinburgh Committee for the erection of the memorial. Their work, he said, had been difficult and prolonged, but he was sure that the results they saw it that day, would give great satisfaction to the people of Edinburgh and of Scotland. He coupled that proposal with the name of Sir Mitchell Thomson, who was Lord Provost when the Committee was formed and had been a member throughout. (Cheers.)

Sir M. Mitchell Thomson said he well remembered the historic evening in 1880 to which Lord Rosebery had referred. He was then a red-hot Tory; and was convener of a Conservative Association in Cramond Parish, where Lord Rosebery lived. A great deal of water had passed under the bridge since then. But he little thought that thirty-seven years afterwards he should meet his Lordship on the same platform and be privileged to take a humble part in the ceremonies of that day. After mentioning that the Committee had had a battle royal over the finding of a site for the memorial, Sir Mitchell Thomson said that according to the programme he was expected to express on their behalf thanks to Lord Rosebery. But this was a cold day, and he did not think that they should stay there long, and it would certainly take him a long time to thank Lord Rosebery, because he had done so much for the city of Edinburgh. (Applause.) Therefore, he would not attempt it, but simply say that Lord Rosebery had that day added one to the many favours which he had bestowed upon the city. (Applause.)

THE ARTIST AND HIS WORK.

Sir James Guthrie said his had been asked to propose a vote of thanks to the secretary of the Scottish National Memorial Committee, Sir Thomas Hunter, and the sculptor who had made for them this noble work of art. These two gentlemen had indeed very diverse parts in the completion of this work, but they had been united by an aim common to them both - that of making the very best of the enterprise and making it worthy of its great subject and its destination. In carrying out the work they had had many difficulties and a considerable variety of opinion, but all was well that ended well, and they had come to the end of their difficulties. Speaking of the memorial itself, Sir James Guthrie remarked that it was a kindly usage that decreed a vote of thanks to an artist when a work of his was presented in public. They of the craft appreciated it very much indeed, because it seemed to show not only that the labourer was worthy of his hire, but that he was worthy of something more, and that the hire in the production of a work of art was not, and never could be the dominant factor for any artist worthy of the name. He did not think a vote of thanks in this view of it was ever better earned by any of them. This work marked a new standard for the art of sculpture in Scotland. It was a clear evidence that we could still have fine sculpture here if we held out a hand to the sculptor. He said "still," because a hundred years or more ago there was fine sculpture done in Scotland. They had had nothing that called for such a grasp of scale, comprehensive conception, and wealth of execution as this monument carried out by Dr Macgillivray had demanded. Appreciation of the work must be left to the judgment of time; but if as he believed, the true criterion of such a work of art was not the mere absence of points which might be open to matter-of-fact criticism, but rather the possession of vital energy which expressed the artist's outlook on life through the medium of his art, he thought they might with confidence leave it to that judgment. (Cheers.)

Dr Macgillivray, in a few words, acknowledged the vote of thanks, and the proceedings terminated.

ADP

Adam Brown · Posted: Sat Jan 24, 2009 12:59 am Post subject:

It's a shame none of the Gladstone family could make it to the unveiling.

It makes sense to have it facing South because of the direction of the other statues along George Street but surely it would have been better to have it facing along George Street like the James Clerk Maxwell Monument.

I had forgotten about the bottle of Buckie. I had decided to leave it in place to show that the rear of this memorial is a fine place for local al-fresco drinkers to leave bottles. There was a couple of cans on the ground too.

There are benches nearby with a South facing prospect so if the sun shines it will attract certain types who would be chased from other Council gardens.

It's a shame, this is the right spot for the memorial but I'll bet few of the thousands who pass it every day will take much notice of the wonderful sculptures (or even know who Gladstone was!)

Adam
_________________
Scottish War Memorials Project
Scottish War Graves Project