Field Visit
Date 13 February 2001
Event ID 612558
Category Recording
Type Field Visit
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/612558
Standing bronze figure of a kilted soldier, his rifle butt on the ground, his arms crossed across his chest supporting the rifle tip, standing guard and looking towards Edinburgh Castle, on top of a high stone pedestal. On the front (west face) of the pedestal is a bronze high relief scene of Black Watch soldiers in action. Above that is the regimental crest (in bronze).
On 12 July 1906 the Town Council of Edinburgh held a meeting to discuss a letter from William Birnie Rhind, asking for permission to erect a memorial to the Black Watch Regiment in the Bank of Scotland's grounds on the Mound. A Sub-Committee which had examined the sketches and visited the site, recommended that permission be granted (1). In September 1906 the Town Council received a letter from the Bank of Scotland agreeing to donate a piece of their ground, on condition that the ground be conveyed to the Town Council and that the Bank be freed from all responsibility for the Memorial (2). In March 1909 however, the Town Council received another letter from William Birnie Rhind, asking permission to erect the memorial in the centre of the south end of Castle Street. This permission was not granted (3). The memorial was ultimately erected on the Mound in 1910, being unveiled on 27 June.
The memorial commemorates General Wauchope and the men of the Black Watch who fell in the South African campaign.
Inscriptions : On west face at top of pedestal, below regimental crest (in applied bronze letters):
AM FREICEADAN DUBH
On west face of pedestal (in applied bronze letters):
TO THE MEMORY OF / OFFICERS / NON-COMMISSIONED OFFICERS AND MEN / OF / THE BLACK WATCH / WHO FELL IN THE SOUTH AFRICAN WAR / 1899 - 1902
On north face of pedestal (raised letters on bronze panels):
OFFICERS / NON COMMISSIONED OFFICERS AND MEN / WHO DIED FROM DISEASE / [list of names follows]
On south face of pedestal:
OFFICERS / NON-COMMISSIONED OFFICERS AND MEN / WHO WERE KILLED IN ACTION OR DIED FROM WOUNDS / [list of names follows]
Signatures : At bottom left of relief:
Birnie Rhind
1908
Design period : 1906 - 1910
Year of unveiling : 1910
Unveiling details : 27 June 1910
Information from Public Monuments and Sculpture Association (PMSA Work Ref : EDIN0186)
