Ordnance gazetteer of Scotland > Volume 2

EDINBURGH
the TV ; commands along its front, towards the S, one
of the richest town and country views of Edinburgh and
its environs ; and forms itself a noble feature in the views
from most parts of the Queen's Park. It was erected in
1825-29, after designs by Thomas Hamilton, at a cost of
£30,000 ; has a curtain-wall in front of its main build-
ing, but at considerably lower level, extending in a
gentle curve along the edge of the public pavement,
with two lodges at the ends, and measuring upwards of
400 feet in length ; consists, in its main building, of a
centre, two lofty open corridors, and two wings, with
an aggregate frontage of 270 feet ; has a play -ground of
nearly 2 acres, formed into a level by deep cutting in
the face of the hill ; and is enclosed with neat iron-railing.
The two lodges are in the Doric style ; present their
flank to the road and their fronts toward each other ;
have each a tetrastyle portico ; and are disposed, the
one for occupancy by the janitor, the other in two class-
rooms. Two doorways, in Egyptian architecture, boldly
break the centre of the curtain- wall ; and a double flight
of steps, flanked half-way up by Egyptian projections,
ascends to a spacious platform at the level of the main
building ; yet these features are merely ornamental, the
access being by a gateway on a higher level considerably
to the W and through the play-ground. A massive
Doric portico, with a front range of six columns, and a
rear range of two columns, rises from the platform at
the top of the double flight of steps ; covers all the
centre of the main building ; and is in pure Grecian
style, copied from the temple of Theseus at Athens,
with columns upwards of 20 feet high. The open cor-
ridors, connecting the centre with the wings, commence
at points slightly behind the portico ; and are each
supported by six Doric columns. Each of the wings is
a large oblong, nearly flat-roofed ; presents one of its
shorter elevations to the front ; and is adorned only
with pilaster and entablature. The central part of the
main building contains a splendid examination hall,
75 feet long, 43 wide, and upwards of 30 high, a
library hall, the rector's apartments, and some smaller
rooms ; and the wings contain four class-rooms, and
apartments for four masters. The entire edifice, simply
as regards its class-rooms, has accommodation for 575
scholars. It was at first a purely classical seminary ;
but it now furnishes systematic instruction in all the de-
partments of a commercial as well as a liberal education ;
has classes for English, Latin, Greek, French, German,
history, geography, physiology, chemistry, natural philo-
sophy, zoology, botany, mathematics, drawing, fencing,
gymnastics, and military drill ; spreads its entire curri-
culum over the period of six years ; and is conducted by
a rector, 15 masters, and 2 lecturers. It formerly was
under the magistrates and town council ; but, in terms
of the Education Act of 1S72, it came under the eity
school-board. The number of pupils enrolled in 1879-80
was 418 ; 1880-81, 423 ; 1881-82, 398. Previous to
1872, when the board's control of the school began, the
number of pupils had been gradually decreasing. The
annual income of the school, varying according to fees,
is about £5900 — of this £S20 arises from the General
Endowment Fund, held by the town council for behoof
of the school ; the fees are fully £5000, and belong
to the masters. (See The History of tlte High School of
Edinburgh, Edinb. 1849.)
The Edinburgh Academy stands off the N side of
Henderson Row, with rear on tabular ground over-
looking the Water of Leith, 570 yards WSW of Canon-
mills ; originated in a scheme by a number of distin-
guished citizens, including Leonard Horner, Henry
Cockburn, Henry Mackenzie, Sir Walter Scott, and Sir
Harry Moncrieff ; and was erected in 1824, after designs
by W. Burn, at a cost of £12,264. It is a low, neat, Doric
structure, containing class-rooms with accommodation
for 1700 pupils, and a common hall with commensurate
accommodation ; presents an appearance less elegant
than massive, but is admirably adapted to its purpose ;
and occupies the centre of a play -ground of 3 acres, with
covered sheds for exercise in wet weather. It has at some
distance a cricket-ground for the exclusive use of present
EDINBURGH
and former pupils ; belongs to a body of subscribers, under
royal charter from George IV. ; and is superintended by
a board of fifteen directors, three of whom are elected an-
nually from the body of subscribers. It gives instruction
in all departments of an English, classical, commercial,
and liberal education, extending to a course of seven
years, on terms which render it less accessible than the
High School to the children of the middle classes ;
divides its pupils, in the latter part of its course, into
a classical school for the learned professions, and a
modern school for civil, military, or mercantile pur-
suits ; includes certain classes not belonging to its pro-
per course, treated as voluntary ; and is conducted by
a rector, 4 classical masters, French and German
masters, 2 mathematical masters, masters for English
and elocution, writing, drawing, fencing, fortification,
and military and civil engineering. The pupils have
varied in number from 300 to 500 ; and the income is
entirely derived from fees.
Fettes College stands on a gentle eminence on the
ground of Comely Bank, in the north-western outskirts
of Stockbridge, and was erected in 1865-70, after designs
by David Bryce, at a cost of about £150,000. It is an ex-
tensive and stately edifice in the semi-Gothic style pre-
valent in France and Scotland in the 16th century,
with central tower ; figures conspicuously and impos-
ingly throughout a great extent of landscape ; and is
decorated with architectural features and carvings which
render it as beautiful at hand as it is picturesque
in the distance. Fettes College originated in a bequest
of Sir William Fettes of Comely Bank (b. 1750 ; d.
1836), and gives maintenance, free education, and outfit
to selected orphan boys, not at any one time exceeding
fifty in number. It admits as day scholars or as boarders
large numbers of boys, at an entrance fee of £10, 10s.,
an annual fee of £25, and an annual boarding-house
charge of £60 ; is conducted on a plan similar to that
of the great public schools of England ; gives a highly
liberal education, including classics, modern languages,
English, mathematics, science, singing, drawing, gym-
nastics, and fencing ; is conducted by a head master
and eleven assistant masters ; and has provision for
two exhibitions worth £60 a year, each dating from
1875, two fellowships in Edinburgh University worth
£100 a year, and an exhibition to Oxford or Cambridge
University worth £100 a year, dating from 1876. A
gymnasium stands apart from the College near its E
wing ; is a plain yet elegant structure ; contains a hall
80 feet long, 40 feet wide, and 22 feet high ; and is
adjoined at the E end by a fives-court. The infirmary,
or retreat for the sick, stands detached about 40 yards
E of the gymnasium, and is a handsome, unique, one-
story building, with a verandah along the greater part
of its S side. Two boarding-houses stand respectively
on the E and the W sides of the main approach, opened
the one in 1870, the other near the end of 1872 ; and
contain each private apartments for a master, dor-
mitories, and study-rooms for thirty pupils, and public
dining-room and sitting-room. A third boarding-house
of later erection stands in similar position, and contains
accommodation for fifty-two pupils. A gate-keeper's
lodge, built in 1871, is at the end of the W approach ;
and another of later date is at the E approach, formed
in continuation of Inverleith Place.
The Edinburgh Institution, though private property,
ranks pretty much as a competitor with the High
School and the Edinburgh Academy ; it was organised
in 1832 to serve for scholars who wished to devote
less time to classical studies than was required at the
two great public schools and more time to other
branches of a liberal education. It was originally in
George Street, afterwards in Hill Street, and removed
in 1853 to Queen Street, being accommodated there
in two private houses slightly altered, containing two
large rooms, a hall 60 feet by 30, and having a total
capacity for more than 900 scholars. It gives in-
struction in classics, French, mathematics, English,
drawing, practical chemistry, dancing, fencing, drill,
and gymnastics ; and is conducted by twelve masters.
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