There’s a fairly curious tale concerning a certain metal plaque erected on a wall in Victoria Road in Broughty Ferry; a tale filled with sadness which alludes to the altering of the course of history itself. How could such a wee place like Broughty Ferry lay claim to a tale of such magnitude, we hearRead more ⟶
Tag: 19th century
Cholera sweeps Dundee, 1832.
Cholera caused more deaths, more quickly, than any other epidemic disease in the 19th century and in Dundee, with no clean water and no real means of sanitation, many people fell gravely ill and died.
The burning of the city churches
The site of the city churches, St Mary’s and The Steeple, which sit surrounded by the Overgate shopping centre, has been the home to a church since the very beginnings of Dundee as a town. When the Earl of Huntingdon landed here in 1190 he founded the ‘kirk in the field’ dedicated to St Mary,Read more ⟶
The Reform Riots
When the Scottish Reform Act was finally passed into law in 1832, none were more jubilant than the folk of Dundee. Known as a ‘radical toon’, Dundee is said to have been of significant help to the cause of Reform. Once the news had hit the town, it quickly spread to the Radicals, who preparedRead more ⟶
The Overgate
If you’ve seen any really old maps of Dundee, you might notice that there’s no mention of the Overgate as we know it, or indeed, the Nethergate. Known back then as Argyllsgait (Argyllgait) and Flukergait respectively, it wasn’t until the latter part of the 1500’s that the new names came into play, not long afterRead more ⟶
The hunt of the Tay Whale
Many of us remember going to see the Tay Whale skeleton on display in the McManus, but do you all know the story behind the incredible chase? It was November 1883 when the 40ft humpback whale first appeared in the Firth of Tay, just off the shore of Dundee. Whaling was big business in DundeeRead more ⟶
Springheels
In the latter part of 1882 and into the first few months of 1883, Dundee had a somewhat alarming visitor “…described as being rather tall, and is generally seen dressed in a long dark cloak, although occasionally he sometimes assumes a luminous appearance, supposed to be due to the inside of the cloak being linedRead more ⟶
William Bury
William Bury presented an alarming story concerning the death of his wife to local police in Dundee on 10th February 1889, but was he the infamous Jack the Ripper?
A Dundee Ghost?
Dundee certainly loves a ghost story, and, on November 14th, 1898, The Dundee Courier wrote an article concerning “Sensational Adventures in the West End”, featuring…you guessed it…another ghostly apparition. This time, however, it seems the ghost was a bit of a scaredy cat: “During the past few days a “ghost” has been monopolising attention atRead more ⟶
Hurkle Jean
Grissell Jaffray is undoubtedly the most famous witch of Dundee, having been the last witch to be executed in Dundee, but Dundee’s superstitious side was still alive and well in the 19th century, when Janet Kindy, or ‘Hurkle Jean’, was believed to be responsible for a number of afflictions that allegedly beset the town. SicknessRead more ⟶