Page:EB1911 - Volume 12.djvu/95

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82
GLASGOW

design. Representative examples of later work are found in the United Free churches in Vincent Street, in Caledonia Road and at Queen’s Park, designed by Alexander Thomson (1817–1875), an architect of distinct originality; St George’s church, in West George Street, a remarkable work by William Stark, erected in the beginning of the 19th century; St Andrew’s church in St Andrew’s Square off the Saltmarket, modelled after St Martin’s-in-the-Fields, London, with a fine Roman portico; some of the older parish churches, such as St Enoch’s, dating from 1780, with a good spire (the saint’s name is said to be a corruption of Tanew, mother of Kentigern); the episcopal church of St Mary (1870), in Great Western Road, by Sir G. G. Scott; the Roman Catholic cathedral of St Andrew, on the river-bank between Victoria and Broomielaw bridges; the Barony church, replacing the older kirk in which Norman Macleod ministered; and several admirable structures, well situated, on the eastern confines of Kelvingrove Park.

The principal burying-ground is the Necropolis, occupying Fir Park, a hill about 300 ft. high in the northern part of the city. It provides a not inappropriate background to the cathedral, from which it is approached by a bridge, known as the “Bridge of Sighs,” over the Molendinar ravine. The ground, which once formed portion of the estate of Wester Craigs, belongs to the Merchants’ House, which purchased it in 1650 from Sir Ludovic Stewart of Minto. A Doric column to the memory of Knox, surmounted by a colossal statue of the reformer, was erected by public subscription on the crown of the height in 1824, and a few years later the idea arose of utilizing the land as a cemetery. The Jews have reserved for their own people a detached area in the north-western corner of the cemetery.

Education.—The university, founded in 1450 by Bishop Turnbull under a bull of Pope Nicholas V., survived in its old quarters till far in the 19th century. The paedagogium, or college of arts, was at first housed in Rottenrow, but was moved in 1460 to a site in High Street, Glasgow University. where Sir James Hamilton of Cadzow, first Lord Hamilton (d. 1479), gave it four acres of land and some buildings. Queen Mary bestowed upon it thirteen acres of contiguous ground, and her son granted it a new charter and enlarged the endowments. Prior to the Revolution its fortunes fluctuated, but in the 18th century it became very famous. By the middle of the 19th century, however, its surroundings had deteriorated, and in 1860 it was decided to rebuild it elsewhere. The ground had enormously increased in value and a railway company purchased it for £100,000. In 1864 the university bought the Gilmore Hill estate for £65,000, the adjacent property of Dowan Hill for £16,000 and the property of Clayslaps for £17,400. Sir G. G. Scott was appointed architect and selected as the site of the university buildings the ridge of Gilmore Hill—the finest situation in Glasgow. The design is Early English with a suggestion in parts of the Scots-French style of a much later period. The main structure is 540 ft. long and 300 ft. broad. The principal front faces southwards and consists of a lofty central tower with spire and corner blocks with turrets, between which are buildings of lower height. Behind the tower lies the Bute hall, built on cloisters, binding together the various departments and smaller halls, and dividing the massive edifice into an eastern and western quadrangle, on two sides of which are ranged the class-rooms in two storeys. The northern façade comprises two corner blocks, besides the museum, the library and, in the centre, the students’ reading-room on one floor and the Hunterian museum on the floor above. On the south the ground falls in terraces towards Kelvingrove Park and the Kelvin. On the west, but apart from the main structure, stand the houses of the principal and professors. The foundation stone was laid in 1868 and the opening ceremony was held in 1870. The total cost of the university buildings amounted to £500,000, towards which government contributed £120,000 and public subscription £250,000. The third marquess of Bute (1847–1900) gave £40,000 to provide the Bute or common hall, a room of fine proportions fitted in Gothic style and divided by a beautiful Gothic screen from the Randolph hall, named after another benefactor, Charles Randolph (1809–1878), a native of Stirling, who had prospered as shipbuilder and marine engineer and left £60,000 to the university. The graceful spire surmounting the tower was provided from the bequest of £5000 by Mr A. Cunningham, deputy town-clerk, and Dr John M’Intyre erected the Students’ Union at a cost of £5000, while other donors completed the equipment so generously that the senate was enabled to carry on its work, for the first time in its history, in almost ideal circumstances. The library includes the collection of Sir William Hamilton, and the Hunterian museum, bequeathed by William Hunter, the anatomist, is particularly rich in coins, medals, black-letter books and anatomical preparations. The observatory on Dowan Hill is attached to the chair of astronomy. An interesting link with the past are the exhibitions founded by John Snell (1629–1679), a native of Colmonell in Ayrshire, for the purpose of enabling students of distinction to continue their career at Balliol College, Oxford. Amongst distinguished exhibitioners have been Adam Smith, John Gibson Lockhart, John Wilson (“Christopher North”), Archbishop Tait, Sir William Hamilton and Professor Shairp. The curriculum of the university embraces the faculties of arts, divinity, medicine, law and science. The governing body includes the chancellor, elected for life by the general council, the principal, also elected for life, and the lord rector elected triennially by the students voting in “nations” according to their birthplace (Glottiana, natives of Lanarkshire; Transforthana, of Scotland north of the Forth; Rothseiana, of the shires of Bute, Renfrew and Ayr; and Loudonia, all others). There are a large number of well-endowed chairs and lectureships and the normal number of students exceeds 2000. The universities of Glasgow and Aberdeen unite to return one member to parliament. Queen Margaret College for women, established in 1883, occupies a handsome building close to the botanic gardens, has an endowment of upwards of £25,000, and was incorporated with the university in 1893. Muirhead College is another institution for women.

Elementary instruction is supplied at numerous board schools. Higher, secondary and technical education is provided at several well-known institutions. There are two educational endowments boards which apply a revenue of about £10,000 a year mainly to the foundation of bursaries. Schools
and
colleges.
Anderson College in George Street perpetuates the memory of its founder, John Anderson (1726–1796), professor of natural philosophy in the university, who opened a class in physics for working men, which he conducted to the end of his life. By his will he provided for an institution for the instruction of artisans and others unable to attend the university. The college which bears his name began in 1796 with lectures on natural philosophy and chemistry by Thomas Garnett (1766–1802). Two years later mathematics and geography were added. In 1799 Dr George Birkbeck (1776–1841) succeeded Garnett and began those lectures on mechanics and applied science which, continued elsewhere, ultimately led to the foundation of mechanics’ institutes in many towns. In later years the college was further endowed and its curriculum enlarged by the inclusion of literature and languages, but ultimately it was determined to limit the scope of its work to medicine (comprising, however, physics, chemistry and botany also). The lectures of its medical school, incorporated in 1887 and situated near the Western Infirmary, are accepted by Glasgow and other universities. The Glasgow and West of Scotland Technical College, formed in 1886 out of a combination of the arts side of Anderson College, the College of Science and Arts, Allan Glen’s Institution and the Atkinson Institution, is subsidized by the corporation and the endowments board, and is especially concerned with students desirous of following an industrial career. St Mungo’s College, which has developed from an extra-mural school in connexion with the Royal Infirmary, was incorporated in 1889, with faculties of medicine and law. The United Free Church College, finely situated near Kelvingrove Park, the School of Art and Design, and the normal schools for the training of teachers, are institutions with distinctly specialized objects.

The High school in Elmbank is the successor of the grammar school (long housed in John Street) which was founded in the 14th century as an appanage of the cathedral. It was placed under the jurisdiction of the school board in 1873. Other secondary schools include Glasgow Academy, Kelvinside Academy and the girls’ and boys’ schools endowed by the Hutcheson trust. Several of the schools under the board are furnished with secondary departments or equipped as science schools, and the Roman Catholics maintain elementary schools and advanced academies.

Art Galleries, Libraries and Museums.—Glasgow merchants and