Gothic spire speaks volumes for Scott
Words and photos by Martin P McAdam
Sir John Robert Steell (18 September 1804 – 15 September 1891) is one of Edinburgh’s most prolific sculptors.
His works include the statue of Sir Walter Scott (1771- 1832) sitting with his faithful deerhound, Maida, under the Scott Monument on Princes Street. One cannot visit Edinburgh without seeing the impressive gothic monument to one of the country’s greatest poets and novelists, sitting in East Princes Street Gardens. The spire rises to a height of 61 metres and is constructed from sandstone from the Binny Quarry located near Broxburn in West Lothian. The base of the monument is formed from arched diagonal buttresses creating a square vault above the statue of Scott.
The architect was shepherd's son George Michael Kemp, a carpenter and self taught architect.
Following Scott’s death in 1832, the architect William Burn and The Duke of Buccleuch formed a committee and launched a competition to create a monument to Scott. Kemp was shortlisted in third place from 55 entrants. He had entered the competition under the name John Morvo, the medieval master mason of Melrose Abbey.
The committee could not agree a final design and asked the final three entrants to submit more designs and drawings. Kemp had worked in the office of William Burn where perhaps he had perfected some architectural skill and he somehow won the competition.
The foundation stone was laid on 15 August 1840 on solid rock at a depth of 16 metres below the level of the street. Construction began in 1841 with permission under Parliament's Monument to Sir Walter Scott Act and ran for nearly four years. The builder was David Lind, great nephew of Lord Provost George Lind. Works were completed in 1844, and Kemp's son placed the finial at the top as his father had drowned the previous March after falling into the Union Canal on his way home after a contractors' meeting.
The Scott Monument has been referred to as “the largest monument in the world dedicated to a writer”, but unfortunately this is not true. The José Martí Memorial in Havana, Cuba, takes that title, reaching 109 metres, 48 metres higher than the Scott Monument. The Cuban memorial has a lift taking visitors to an observation deck above Havana. Those wishing to see a panorama of Edinburgh will brave an increasingly narrow spiral staircase - but the view is spectacular.
The statue of Scott was sculpted by Steell from a single 30 tonne block of Italian Carrara marble. Apparently on first being loaded on an Italian ship, either the ship sank or the marble fell into the harbour. The statue shows Scott seated, holding presumably one of his works in his hands with his faithful his dog Maida by his side and named after the battle which took place near the town of Maida in Calabria, southern Italy, on the 4 July 1806. Maida was a gift from Alexander Macdonell, a friend of Scott, and whose brother apparently led the victorious 78th Highlanders into the battle for the British against the French during the Napoleonic Wars.
The Binny quarry was reopened for the restoration works carried out by The City of Edinburgh Council in 1998. Unfortunately the marble statue has been vandalised and on closer inspection a range of graffiti can be seen both on Scott’s head and on the book that he is holding.