| The Lost City: Old Aberdeen. - Jane Stevenson and Peter Davidson. |
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Any city's old part is interesting, and none more so than that of very old Old Aberdeen. In this beautifully illustrated book, the authors paint a fascinating historical picture of the area, which took shape as a town quite separate from the rest of Aberdeen.
Many Aberdeen residents, knowing how ancient the city's university is (founded in 1495), have the vague idea that this date also marked the beginning of Old Aberdeen itself, but Old Aberdeen initially grew up centuries before, around St Machar's Cathedral, founded in 1165. The Cathedral appears as a recurring theme throughout this book, with its fortunes reflecting the times: it would be improved in eras of prosperity and peace, and neglected during more troubled times.
Students of today will be amazed to read of the strict demands made upon their forbears. They were only permitted to speak Latin or French, even to each other, had 10-hour days of lectures and typically no holidays throughout the academic year. But they made time for fun too - for example, Tearing Day ensured that their red gowns didn't look so pristine!
Town and gown were quite separate. The ordinary townsfolk pursued a range of occupations. There were "shankers" (stocking knitters), "wobsters" (weavers) and, of course, spinsters - the default occupation of unmarried women. There were also butchers, who until the 1750s, used to slaughter their animals in the middle of the
High Street!
When the townsfolk grew old or infirm, Old Aberdeen cared for them, in an almshouse in Seaton Park, and also in a hospital, after which The Spital is named. Even amongst such good folk, there was some wrongdoing, which was punished severely and usually physically, apparently to avoid the expense of imprisonment.
However, we can be proud of our sensible North-East forbears' treatment of those accused of witchcraft; none were tortured, let alone burned.
This book also describes some of Old Aberdeen's most famous characters and visitors. Bishop William Elphinstone almost single-handedly created Old Aberdeen as we know it; Thomas Blake Glover became a leading industrialist in Japan, and
in 1773, the town had a most eminent visitor - Dr Johnson, famous dictionary writer.
The text is complemented throughout with fascinating images and maps, though I was disappointed that many of these were uncaptioned and undated. As well as being a book of beauty, it is also bound to become one of the area's most useful reference works, and would have benefited from an index.
Perhaps what I enjoyed most of all was having a few mysteries solved, including that of Benholm's Lodging. How, I have always wondered, could an apparently ancient castle somehow look so new?
The answer, I now know, is that originally built around 1600, it was moved stone by stone from the centre of New Aberdeen in the 1960s - to make way for a shopping precinct.
It's the perfect example of old triumphing over new and finding just the place to continue its journey through history - Old Aberdeen. |
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