Monthly archives: January 2021

Jan Bondeson has written an article on David Haggerty for the “Evening News” and “The Scotsman” https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/news/people/confessional-book-penned-edinburgh-murderer-hanged-1821-bought-ebay-ps20-poses-literary-mystery-3116289

The “Toun’s Time” proved to be a great success as it linked the One o’ Clock Gun exhibition at the Castle and the Greyfriars Bobby display case in the city museum.

The Toun’s Time exhibition was held in the Museum of Edinburgh to mark the 150th anniversary of the time ball on the Nelson Monument. The exhibition was a great success.

An electric clock was installed by James Ritchie & Son in the right hand sentry box standing outside Register House. The clock was linked to the circuit which fired the time gun on the Half Moon Battery.

Alexander Bain the inventor of the electric clock was born in Caithness in 1810. He installed the railway telegraph lines between Edinburgh and Glasgow.

Jan Bondeson’s article on Register Rachel also appeared in “The Scotsman”. She sat on a wooden crate outside Register House at the east end of the city. https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/news/people/old-edinburgh-worthies-4-loveless-register-rachel-3092027

Jan Bondeson has written an article for “The Scotsman” featuring Thomas Simpson who lived with his daughter Elizabeth in the Potterrow before his death in 1894. Coconut Tam was buried in the Grange Cemetery https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/heritage-and-retro/heritage/old-edinburgh-worthies-3-hunchback-coconut-tam-3092017

The story of the setting up of the One o’ clock Gun can be seen at Edinburgh Castle. The One o’ Clock Gun Exhibition stands next to the time gun on the Mills Mount Battery.

During a trip to Paris, James Hewat who was a member of the Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce spotted a time gun firing in the Palais-Royal Gardens. He proposed that a time gun be set up in Edinburgh which would be connected to the time ball on the Calton Hill.

Although the time ball proved to be a success it was sometimes difficult to see due to the volume of smoke from the tenements and factories surrounding the Calton Hill.