At the outset, let us acknowledge the regrettable fact that war and war memorials are part of the weave of the fabric from which our society and civilisation is tailored. We have many war memorials, including the most impressive, beautiful and apt statuary and colonnade, reliefs and inscriptions at Cowdray Hall on Schoolhill.
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| Splendid, sober, restrained, appropriate. |
Now, let's be clear, some of these individuals made important contributions to our town, to our country, indeed (arguably) to the wider sweep of western civilisation - but the one thing which links them, the crimson thread which runs them all through, is violent slaughter.
- William Wallace (Rosemount Viaduct)
- Prince Albert (Rosemount Viaduct)
- Edward VII (Union Bridge - some of the supporting statuary around his edifice appears to promote racist ideas)
- Gordon of Kartoum (Schoolhill Pocket Park)
- George, 5th Duke of Gordon (Golden Square)
- Queen Victoria (Townshouse and Queen Cross)
- The Stuart Monarchs (Mercat Cross, Castlegate)
- Robert the Bruce (forthcoming, Broad St.)
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| What a big sword! |
Meanwhile, national bard Robbie Burns stands alone above doomed Union Terrace Gardens and, farther up the Denburn, Lord Byron stands in the grounds of the Grammar School. Our two statuary acknowledgements and commemorations of creative (rather than destructive) genius. Men of peace and justice. Men who literally lauded love and practiced what they preached. Though Burns wasn't from anywhere round here, the sentiments he expressed and the creative genius by which he transmitted his philosophy stands embodied in this statue. Burns clutches not the swords of Wallace or George; not the guns of the Gordons - rather, Burns delicately holds a single mountain daisy in his hand. Byron clutches a book and and a pen.
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| Mary Garden's little plaque in a verge off Cragie Loanings. It's not enough. |
- Mary Garden (Opera Diva; born, retired and buried in Aberdeen)
- James Clerk Maxwell (Physicist at Aberdeen Uni)
- Bertie Charles Forbes (Publisher born locally - founder of "Forbes")
- George Jamieson (Influential Aberdeen portrait painter of the 17th Century)
- John Mallard (instrumental in the development of MRI and PET medical scanning technology at Aberdeen Uni)
- Mary Slessor (Aberdeen-born promotor of women's rights)
- Andrew Carnegie (endowed the Central Library)
- Robert William Thomson (From Stonehaven - loads of stuff, but mostly invented pneumatic tyres and the hydraulic dry dock.)
Some of these people are commemorated in little plaques around town. This list isn't exhaustive - we're sure there are many more equally worthy of immortalisation in stone or bronze in the heart of our town. Of these, our personal favourite is James Clerk Maxwell. Without Maxwell's work on electromagnetic theory you wouldn't be reading these words or, indeed living anything like the life you live today. Maxwell truly is a "without whom", critical path, nexus figure. His work at Aberdeen University on the true nature of light, electricity and magnetism, and his special genius in noting that these three manifestations are but three aspects of the one phenomenon, is one of the greatest ever advances in physics. His work is comparable in importance to that of Einstein or Newton. We're not kidding and we don't say this lightly.
We suggest that our town would be much better served by erecting a statue to this colossus of modern science, using as he did his genius to enlighten the world and help generate the future which we live in today. A new statue of a man who can wield his intellect to improve the world would be a much more fitting addition to our town than a new statue of men waving guns and/or swords about.
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| The plaque on Union Street is the size of a sheet of letter paper. |
9 comments:
Also the philosopher Thomas Reid, a leading light of the Aberdeen Philosophical Society, a.k.a. the 'Wise Club' of 1758-73, which conributed significantly to the Scottish Enlightenment of the C.18th. Reid does have a plaque at Kings College.
Thanks for that, Alex - we'll check it out and add him to the list
I would note, as a student with much business within King's Quad, that most visitors to the university never find themselves within the quad and therefore do not see the sign about Reid. Up until ±6 months ago, there was nothing to tell anyone that the chapel is available to the curious during weekdays and the general attitude towards visitors tends to be chilly. (I tend to bear a perhaps inordinate amount of affection for the chapel and try to encourage/guide people where possible.)
It would be nice to see either Maxwell or Reid given more than a few square inches of plaques.
There is a small plaque on the wall above the door of a building in Stonehaven, which alerts passers-by that it is the birthplace of said R.W. Thomson. It's quite readable from street level. There is also a classic car rally (named the Thomson Rally) held annually in Stonehaven, also in memorial of him.
Why not a statue of Archibald Simpson? In addition to being the architect behind a great deal of Aberdeen's landmarks, he's also seemingly well known by the citizens. The plaque at Bon Accord Square doesn't really do the man justice.
Also, rather than Andrew Carnegie, who is already well recognized in many different places in and out of Scotland, why not someone like G. M. Fraser?
He was not only head librarian at the Central Library for many years, but he also wrote the only book that I know of on Aberdeen street names. Here is someone who was a significant part of his community during his life and whose contributions on city history and hodonyms continue to inform us today.
Alfred Adler the famous psychiatrist who came up with the term "inferiority complex" died in Aberdeen in 1937 (he had a heart attack in Union Street).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Adler#Death_and_cremation
May I also suggest James Leslie Mitchell, 'Lewis Grassic Gibbon', who began his literary career as a reporter for the Press and Journal.
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