THE EDINBURGH SCOTT MONUMENT.

Otago Witness, Issue 3332, 23 January 1918, Page 61

THE EDINBURGH SCOTT MONUMENT.

GEORGE MEIKLE' KEMP, THE

ARCHITECT,

By John Blair, Abbotsford

The late Professor Masson wrote of the monument: "It is not for nothing that the very central object in the architecture of our'present Edinburgh is the monument to Sir Walter Scott—the finest I think which has yet been raised anywhere on the earth to the memory of a man of letters." While the monument as a noble piece of architecture has been the admiration of all who have gazed upon it, and well worthy of the " Wizard of the North," in whose honour it was erected, George Meikle Kemp, we suspect, the designer of it, is comparatively an unknown person. Cue reason we believe Is that an authentic account of Kemp's early struggles from boyhood to manhood did not appear until.the year 1892, while the monument was completed in 1844, a few months after his death. The life was written by Thomas Bonnar, F.S.A., Scot., a relation of Kemp's, and well worthy of perusal, although now, we suspect, out of print. We are indebted to the Misses Torrance, of Dunedin, daughters of the late Mr Torrance, who for many years did faithful service in connection with the charitable institutions of Otago, for a loan of this work. Mr Torrance, we understand, was a distant relation of Kemp's, and had reason to be proud of the connection.

Kemp was born in 1795 .at Moorfoot, in Midlothian, and was of a delicate constitution and received his early education from his parents at home, who were a, worthy couple, and whose domestic circle has been described as but a reflex of Burns's " Cottars Saturday Night." The father was a shepherd, and both parents were anxious that their son, whose talents/ were early developed, should study tor the ministry. This, however, was not to be, and at the age of 14 he was herding the sheep and cattle on the braes. But, like other boys of the. same stamp, he too often neglected his fourfooted charge, using his knife in cutting out miniature wnterwheels and setting them going on the rivulets that meandered down the braes, reminding us of Fergusson, the astronomer, who was also a herd laddie and used his knife in like manner. Kemp's parents, realising the truth of the adage that " as the twig is bent so is> the tree inclined," wisely determined to apprentice him to the trade of a carpenter, and he soon justified their choice by becoming an expert tradesman. All his spare hours within doors were employed in studying practical geometry, architecture, drawing, and. also works of history, poetry, and Having the full confidence of his master, he was often sent to places in the surrounding country to execute repairs on buildings, etc., and if in the vicinity of old abbeys, castles, churches/etc., revelled in their beauties, which inspired him with the' thought of executing something/that would hand his name down to posterity. After his apprenticeship, he extended his journeys (mostly on foot), visiting such places as Roslin Chapel. Dry burgh and Melrose Abbeys; and on one ■ of these occasions, travelling with his tools on his back, he met the person with whose name his own was to be happily .associated —no other than Sir Walter Scott. Sir Walter, seeinga foot traveller, stopped his carriage, and told Kemp to sit up beside the driver, and it was only when they arrived at one stage that someone said to him. " You've had a ride with the Shirra,' that he realised that the kindly owner of the carriage was the great "Unknown." Little did either party realise that the day 1 would come when the one's fame as a 'writer was world-wide, dying after a heroic struggle to fulfil his financial obligations, and that the other, an obscure but talented man, should embalm his memory in a monument worthy of his fame in the modern Athens—Scott's " Own Romantic Town." Kemp wrought in Edinburgh for some time, and we can imagine the delight he experienced _ in roaming through Burns's "Edina, Scotia's Darling Seat," the Castle, Grey Friar's, St. Giles, Holyrood Palace and Abbey: to him it would be, in the language of Scripture, "a feast of fat things, of wines on the lees." Afterwards he went to London, and the following is characteristic: " On one occasion he walked 50 miles to York, where he spent a week carefully examining the minster of the city, and subsequently returned on foot. ' It was night when he arrived at York, greatly fatigued ; but the thought of being within sight of the long-cherished object banished all sense of weariness from his mind, and he could not think of rest or refreshment until he had feasted his eyes on the noble building. . . . The view of it acted on him like a spell, and he was so entranced with the spectacle that daylight had long appeared before he could tear himself away from the spot." Such enthusiasm as this for art deserved and attained success. He went over to France, and gazed with rapture on the noble specimens of art in that country, and then returned to Scotland again, when he got married to a very amiable woman, who died in 1889, at the advanced age of 83 years. In the year 1836 Kemp's attention was drawn to* an advertisement inviting competitive designs for the Scott monument, for which a premium of £SO was offered for the best three designs. Kemp's design was given in under the signature of John Morvo, and obtained the third prize. Who he was none of the committee knew; but after diligent inquiry John Morvo and George M. Kemp were found to be one and the same individual.

The committee, having had a difference, called for other designs, and Kemp's was selected by a majority; but the minority acted in a manner which can only be termed discreditable. The first objection was that Kemp was an obscure man: the second that the design was a plagiarism. The second objection Kemp easily refuted; the .first he passed over with contempt. Not" so Dr William Chambers—the man who gave its name to Dunedin, —who, having the press at his command, nobly entered the lists on Kemp's behalf. "It is," wrote the doctor, "surely rather the ground of some claim on the generous affections of the public that one who has charmed it by the creations of genius is personally situated amidst circumstances calculated to make the exercise of that genius a matter of unusual difficulty." After a little more trouble, the plans were finally adopted, and Kemp was appointed to euperintend the erection. Hugh Miller, as editor of the Witness, gave a graphic description of the laying of the foundation stone—the . vast number assembled from all parte of the country, the marching of the Masonic and other bodies, the firing of camion, etc. It is very sad to think that Kemp met with a tragio death, being drowned in a canal on his way homeward. The night was very dark and foggy, and it is surmised that he miscalculated the distance, and thus perished George Meikle Kemp, at the age of 49 years, to the great regret of all lovers of art and all admirers of those by energy and perseverance have risen from obscurity to eminence in defiance of difficulties. The book referred to at the beginning of this article shows that Kemp could write very racy letters and some snatches of good poetry. We close this with a quotation from a eulogy pronounced by the Rev. Lindsay Alexander on Kemp: " By his death Nature has lost a solitary but ardent admirer, and art an ornament of no ordinary description. Such men as the late George Kemp being rarely met with in the history of the world,-; let Scotland testifv to all lands the estimation in holds her illustrious son."

We have something interesting to say about the statue erected by Steell, the well-known sculptor: "It is placed on a block of marble of- upwards of 30 tons weight. When the block was shipped at Leghorn, in Italy, it was precipitated through the vessel into the sea, in consequence of the sheers by which it was suspended having given way. At Leith difficulty was again experienced, as therewas no machinery of sufficient power to place it on the truck which was to convey it, and several davs elapsed before it reached the sculptor's studio." The credit of landing the block belongs to my father. He was an engineer in the employment of Maxton's Iron Works, now Hawthorne's, and by greatly strengthening the sheers with logs of wood, and applying a number of windlasses the block was safely landed, placed on an enormous waggon, and with a largo number of horses drawn to Edinburgh. Steell was so pleased that my father had managed to land it in safety that he took his mallet and chisel and honoured my father with the first chip. Mrs Mason, my sister, mother of Mr John Blair Mason, brought the chip to Otago, and some time ago purposed to give it to the Early Settlers' Museum; but unfortunately it perished by a fire which took place in Mr R. T. Wheeler's house. I may state that I war, present at the landing of the marble, being then seven yeai*s of age. The reading of Scott's works has been one of the green spots of my existence.