Field Visit
Date 13 August 2002
Event ID 613280
Category Recording
Type Field Visit
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/613280
Keystone of a young man's bust with rocks and splintered wood (?) behind. Above is a ribbon with an inscription, then two vertical sprigs of laurel (?) flanked by two tendrils of ivy on oriel support stones.
The previous building fell down in November 1861; thirty-five people lost their lives. At the request of the proprietor of the flat immediately above Paisley Close, a bust of the boy McIver was carved on the keystone of the arch, with a scroll bearing his exclamation.
The portrait and inscription commemorate the rescue of a boy called McIver, buried in the collapse of the previous building on the site. Hearing the firemen approaching, he called out 'Heave awa', lads, I'm no' deid yet'.
Inspected By : KM Withey/D. King
Inscriptions : On ribbon above boy's head (raised letters): "HEAVE AWA' CHAPS. I'M NO' DEAD YET."
Signatures : None Visible
Design period : 1862
Information from Public Monuments and Sculpture Association (PMSA Work Ref : EDIN0764)
