New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1879-07-28
BONNIE DUNDEE.
AN INTERESTING SCOTCH CITY.


FRoM AN oCC AsIoNAL CORRESPONDENT OF THE TRIBUNE
DUNDEE, June 21.-Tbe sppcatIon of - Bonnie
| Dundee" is said TO have been bestowed upon the
city by modern poet. The liberty he took with
fact cannot be expressed by mere reference Of the
matter to the Incense allowed poet. aiL tron2ly
inclined To find in il curious Illustration OF
the identifying effects of tradition. long ac-
eepted view of the place has been retained
and still passes current, although its basis
of notwithstanding that it once had such
foundaaon--is little more than a shadow in the
mist The killed Gaels coming down from their re-
treats near the Grampans- or among the mountains
OF Perthshlre. found the place beautiful as it
nestled between the Law-an eminenee behind the
town-and the Tay, and they called 1T Aitlaeh
pleasant place. This seems TO have passed into
AIectam, "beautiful," name by which the town
appears 10 have been known in very ancient times
How long it deserved such title Is not known but
it is fortunate for the appropriateness OF geographic
cal nomenclature that in of time the Beautiful
Place became the Gift of God. and Alectum was ex-
changed for Donum Del, corrupted into Dundee
That the latter is more appropriate than the
former is not likely to be clear 20 stranger until
the rcumstances-interestiug and romantic IN
themselves-of its bestowal explained. They
are related by Hector Boece. the old historian aud
as he was born in Dundee about 1865 he was IN a
position better by 400 years than are, TO Judge
! their truth.
When Richard the Lion-Hearted of England I'M
dertoOk the third crusade, he w2sjoiued by the Earl
of Huntingdon, brother of King William of Scot
land. The British Prince shared with Richard all
the pers Of bis futile expedition, and then SET sail
for home. StOrm-driven and tossed by tempest
between his native land and Norway. he vowed to
the Holy Virgin that if he landed safely in Scotland
he would build church TO the honor of her name,
L. - h aartr
Church owes much to the storms of heaven " It's
an Ill wind" says the proverb " that blaws naebody
guild" The having been made, the waves OF
the North Sea subsidized and the Earl steered for the
Law, and landed under the shadow of the Law, the
emInence he probably first deserted. He built st.
Mary's in the Nethergate, and thereto affixed the
tower known as the Old Steeple. and as Maeaulay
says "There it stands until this day,
To witness If lie"
1t must be admitted that appearances are against
the truth of the story. II clear for example, that
the style of the tower is decorated Gothic, which
WAS not introduced into Scotland until the four
tenth century, or about $50 years after the land
/ ing of the Earl. This corresponds with the date,
| 1886 cut along with the words " Del DOuum,"
upon an old column the west point. But the style
and figures may merely imply that the tower was
altered or repaired at early period, an asSnmp-
ton borne out by the fact that Edward |. of Eng
! land burned down the church in 1895. Ii is not
| likely that the steeple escaped unframed. In any
case there Is probably not IN the whole OF Scotland
/ a more interesting rehc Of the kind than the old
steepe in the Nethergate and from the date of its
erection Alectum appears to have become more and
more generally known under the nane which
ultimately took its present form Of Dundee.
While believing the modern name to be less mis-
leading than the old one il at the time easy
to imagine that once upon a time Dundee may have
deserved the title conferred upon it by the Gaels
Beautiful may have been a descriptive as well as
a distinctive name One can in fact hardly avoid
seeing that the place once layishly endowed
with Goi-given beauty, although it has been
sadly marred by the hand of man. The
! site is exceedingly fine Nearby on the
north are the Hill of Balgay and the Law
of Dundee. and on the south is the Tay. The river
makes a graceful inland sweep, forming bay; and
on the ground sOping gently upward from its
margin &c the green hills on the north the city
stands a fine back ground. a southern exposure,
magnificent river and splendid view of the wavy
shore of Fife, are ali in its favor, and-t must be
added with regret-only serve TO lend certain en-
chantment TO Dundee when viewed from distance
which disappears the moment we begin to tread It's
t0rtuous streets.
Dundee looks best when seen from the steep bank
of the Fife side of the estuary OF the Tay. Then
the foreground formed by the water and the ship
ping the towers and spires sprngng from the midst
of the denselvpacked houses that rise terrace above
terrace toward the hills and shade off, so 70 speak,
/ toward the more open suburbs down the water,
10 Broughtv and up above Magdalen Green, compose
q scene attractive in itself and suggestive OF NM
/ gled business activity and elegant repOse. he
villas lining the heights along the bank reminded
/ me somewhat of those that overlook the Hudson
above YOnkers, although the scene az whole Is
less IMPRESSIVE ana leaves similar feeling or ar
/ and majestic space. Yet these residences have a
! pleasing effect. They relieve the gloomy mass Of
the ciry further up the river the skltul artist
/ relieves the blackness of thundeT-eloud by dc
/ tached masses of darkness with stOrm-tOrn edges
/ lined with gray. They touch the 0ut-pOsts of
| Flora and Ceres whose realm seems 10 he on the
/ plains beyond the hei ghts they let the country
into the city. The baTShne5s Oh the CITY our line
is sotteDed and its gr1my gray Is tInged with tie
On a nearer approach the scene changes. And here
] IL NAV be mentioned that Dundee derives
pOrtance from being the point at which tOrfarshlre
is ioIned to tifeshiTe by the Tay Brdse-the finest
structure of It's kind IN the world Her Majesty has
inst passed on her journey from Balnoral to
/ Windsor, and was no doubt abuudantly gratlhed
both Dy the magnificent evidence OF the engineering
skill Of her Subjects and by the view from the MD
die Of the river she has at any rate since conferred
/ the honor Of knighthoOd upon Mr.. Thomas BOuch,
| G. e. the engineer aud protector Of the work, The
| American WHO visits Scotland without following
/ the royal route, throws away valuable
| lesson IN humility. Clearly we nave not
! vet the biggest thing IN the world " in
| bridges. And TO make matters worse the
! same corporation, the North British Railway Com
/ panv. has now undertaken TO bridge the Forth by
! means OF a structure which, judging from Sir
Thomas B0uchs plan, VIII cast everything else OF
tie KIND far into the shade To return, however, 20
| the Tay bridge, 1t is nearly two miles long,
| and consists of ei1hty-niDe spans, OF which
/ there are one OF 90 feet, and sixteen
/ of 100 feet IL adds 10 the luxury OF
crossing 70 know that one is trunding over 200
tous of iron, 81 900 cubic feet of timber. and TO-
] 600 600 of bricks. And vet from "a short dis
lance the bridge has the appearance of giant snake
lying creseent-shaped across the river, apparently
| attenuafed IN lurth by reason OF its tremendous
j l.-.tL L... --. RI ~ ~. On hi \. ----- ..A