Handbook and guide to Aberdeen / compiled for the Local Executive Committee by J. Scott Riddell.

  • British Medical Association.
Date:
1914
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Handbook and guide to Aberdeen / compiled for the Local Executive Committee by J. Scott Riddell. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by Royal College of Physicians, London. The original may be consulted at Royal College of Physicians, London.

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    quiet strength, fine business perception, and almost stubborn pertinacity of purpose, qualities which have doubtless come from their surroundings and which have imbued them with a large share of characteristics, which are perhaps national. All around are fine buildings, and in the growth of the city do we see the prosperity which comes out of industry and good business foresight and habit. A more poetical name for Aberdeen is the “ Silver City by the Sea.” To appreciate the appropriateness of this designation, Aberdeen should be seen after a heavy rain, when the light grey granite of the houses and stately public buildings gleams in the sun with a silvery sheen which gives it a fascinating though somewhat cold beauty. The cold- ness of aspect, however, does not express the character of its people, who are eminently sociable. As William Watson has well said : But on thy heart hath fall’n no touch of frost, O city of the pallid brow austere. Grey, wintry-featured, sea-throned Aberdeen ! A stranger can scarcely fail to be struck by the large number of substantial-looking, well-built houses, many of them ornamented with the light, graceful turret adopted from the old French chateau architecture, and curious crow’s step indentations of the gables. These houses are the outward symbol of the life within, which is marked by comfort, sociability, and good fellowship. Contrary to the proverbial notion of Scottish canniness in money matters, there are no more liberal people to be found than in Aber- deen. This characteristic in no way conflicts with the shrewdness that has given rise to the legend of the Jew who went to Aberdeen thinking he would find the simple Hyper- boreans an easy prey. He was soon driven to seek more likely hunting grounds, remarking as he left that he had found the lost tribes of Israel. Gladstone once said there were no longer-headed people in the kingdom than the Aberdonians. The late Sir Francis Galton described the inhabitants as the ugliest folk in Great Britain, but we are sure that this verdict will not be endorsed by any one who has good opportunities for observation. From a eugenic point of view, the appearance of vigorous health in the young women, even in the poorer quarters of the city, should have appealed to him. The electric tramway service is so conveniently arranged that a good general idea of the city can be got in a couple of hours by going on the outside of a car round the system known as “ the circular route.” One who wishes to see it in a less American way can visit nearly every part worth a visit on two or three afternoon excursions on foot. There are, of course, many spots where one should linger. The view down Union Street to the Market Cross, with the