a royal and parliamentary burgh and seaport town of Scotland, county of Forfar, 42 miles N.N.E. from Edinburgh; N. Lat. 56° 2′; W. Long. 3° 2′. It is situated on the north side of the river Tay, about 12 miles from its mouth. Pop. (1851) 78,931; and as a considerable increase has since taken place, it may now be estimated at from 90,000 to 100,000. Dundee is thus the third town in Scotland in respect of population. The name applied to it by the earliest writers is Alectum or Taodunum. It was subsequently designated Deidenum, of which the present name is supposed to be a corruption. The early history of the town is involved in obscurity, but it appears to have been a place of importance as early as the twelfth century. Frequent mention is made of it in connection with the disputes regarding the succession to the crown of Scotland; and it was the scene of severe conflicts between the English forces, who invaded the country in the reign of Edward I., and the Scots, under the patriot Wallace, and the other supporters of Scottish independence. Those national feuds were finally extinguished by the union of the crowns in the person of James VI.; but during the protectorate of Oliver Cromwell, Dundee having refused to submit to the republican General Monk, was in 1651 taken by assault, and given up to plunder and massacre. A large booty fell to the republican soldiers, and sixty vessels laden with plunder were sent off to England, but suffered shipwreck, and were totally lost.
The early records of the town were destroyed during the civil wars; but it appears that the first charter constituting it a royal burgh was granted by William the Lion in 1210. Subsequent charters were granted by king Robert in 1327, and James IV. in 1511; and the privileges of the burgh were finally confirmed in 1651, and by act of the Scottish parliament passed in the same year.
The municipal government of the town is vested in a provost, 4 bailies, and 15 councillors, chosen by the parliamentary electors within the royalty. The Dean of Guild, who is elected by the merchant guild, or Guildry incorporation, is likewise a member of the town-council. The subordinate corporations are the Nine Trades, the Three Trades, the Fraternity of Maltmen, and the Trinity House or Fraternity of Masters and Seamen. Since the abolition of exclusive privileges in trading within burgh, the minor corporations have lost much of their importance; but most of them have the privilege of choosing members to represent them in the harbour trust and charitable institutions of the place. Previous to the passing of the Reform act in 1832, Dundee, along with Perth, Forfar, Cupar, and St Andrews, sent only one member to the imperial parliament. By that act the right of sending a representative of its own was conferred upon the town.
Dundee was at one time surrounded by strong walls, and portions of them are yet to be seen. The Cowgate port still stands, and is regarded with veneration as a memorial of George Wishart, the Reformer, who is said to have preached from it in the year 1544, when the plague prevailed in the town, the sick being placed on one side of the wall, and the healthy on the other.
The ground on which the town is built slopes gently towards the river, and is bounded on the north by the Law of Dundee, and the Hill of Balgay. The former rises to the height of 535 feet, and must in warlike times have been a strong position. The walls of a fortification are still to be traced on its summit. The town in general is irregularly built; but within the last 20 or 30 years several new and spacious streets have been opened up. The principal public buildings are the Exchange reading room; the Royal Arch erected by public subscription to commemorate the landing of Queen Victoria in 1844, at a cost of nearly £8,000; the Public Seminaries; and the New Baltic Exchange coffee-room, a splendid specimen of the Flemish-Gothic style. Of the ecclesiastical buildings the finest are the Town churches, on the north side of Nethergate Street. These were originally reared by David earl of Huntington, during the twelfth century, in gratitude for his deliverance from shipwreck, and were dedicated to the Virgin Mary. A portion of the building was destroyed when Monk sacked the town, and a new church was erected upon the site of that portion in 1788. In 1841 the remaining portion of the ancient cathedral was accidentally destroyed by fire, and was replaced by two elegant churches in the pure Gothic style. The square tower or old steeple is the only part of the original edifice which still remains. It is a fine building of massive proportions, and 150 feet in height. Besides these, there are St Andrew's church, King Street, a neat building with a spire 139 feet high; St Paul's Free Church, on the south side of Nethergate Street, a fine structure, surmounted by a light and tasteful spire 160 feet high; and St Paul's Episcopal church, Castlehill, a very handsome edifice, adorned with a lofty spire about 210 feet in height. Some of the other places of worship are neat and tasteful buildings. The Established Church possesses 8 of these; the Free Church, 10; United Presbyterians, 6; Congregationalists, 4; Episcopalians, 2; Roman Catholics, 2; and the other religious bodies have about 10 places of worship.
Among the other public buildings deserving of notice are the Town-house surmounted by a spire of handsome proportions; the Custom-house; the New Infirmary, with accommodation for upwards of 300 patients; the county prison and bridewell; Dudhope Castle and barracks. The inhabitants enjoy the privilege of recreation on the top of the Law. Besides the Magdalen Yard, a fine pleasure-ground at the west end of the town, the bleaching green and barrack park have been lately opened as places of public recreation; and a new pleasure-ground has also been formed at the east end of the town, to which skating and curling ponds are attached.
The charitable and benevolent institutions are numerous. The principal of these are the royal infirmary and dispensary, the royal lunatic asylum, the orphan institution, and industrial or ragged schools. There are likewise several institutions for purposes of education, and the support of aged and infirm persons.
Within a comparatively recent period a number of important public undertakings have been completed. The Dundee and Newtyle railway was opened for traffic in 1826; the Dundee and Arbroath railway in 1838; and the Dundee and Perth railway in 1847. By means of these railways, and of the Edinburgh, Perth, and Dundee railway, which joins the Dundee and Arbroath railway by means of a ferry and branch line at Broughty Castle, 4 miles east from the town, Dundee has direct communication with all parts of the kingdom. There are two gas-light companies, each of them with a capital of about £50,000 invested in their works and apparatus. The Dundee water company was formed in 1846. Its capital is about £130,000. Its reservoirs are situated in the parish of Monikie about 10 miles distant from the town; and from these an abundant supply of water has been procured.
The most important of the public works are the harbour and docks. Previously to 1815 the harbour was of very limited extent. In that year an act of parliament was obtained for enlarging it, and erecting a wet dock of 6½ acres (King William's), a tide harbour of 4¾ acres, graving dock, and other accommodation suitable for the increasing trade of the port. The plan was afterwards greatly enlarged, embracing new docks (Earl Grey's of 5¼ acres, and Victoria dock of 1¾ acres), patent slip, careening-beach, and additional tide harbours. The Victoria dock, though for some years open to vessels, is not quite completed. The quays are wide, and afford convenient berthing for about 70 vessels. On the south quay of Earl Grey's dock is erected a large crane capable of raising 30 tons. It is used chiefly for lifting the boilers and heavy machinery of steam-vessels. Besides the ordinary branches of shipbuilding, the building of iron vessels is carried on at the port. Owing to the increased burden of the vessels now employed in the trade of the place, and the greater depth of water required by them, additional works at the harbour are projected. The cost of the docks and harbour may be stated at L600,000.
The number and tonnage of vessels entered at the harbour for the year ending 31st May 1854 was as follows:
| Vessels in foreign trade | 682 | Register tonnage | 110,637 | |--------------------------|-----|-----------------|---------| | coasting trade | 1755| | 158,334 | | river trade | 633 | | 28,292 |
Total, 3070 297,233
The following statement shows the progressive increase in the harbour and shipping dues. It was—
| Year | Dues | |------|------| | 1780 | L305 | | 1793 | 965 | | 1805 | 1272 | | 1815 | 4400 | | 1837 | 11,368| | 1854 | 23,402|
The staple trade of Dundee is the manufacture of linen and hempen fabrics, chiefly of the coarser descriptions. The manufacture of linens appears to have been introduced from Germany in the beginning of last century. Insignificant in extent at first, it gradually increased till the close of that century, when, machinery having been applied to the spinning of flax, a great impulse was given to it. Spinning mills were erected, and of these there are now about sixty in Dundee and its immediate neighbourhood. Handspinning has been entirely superseded by mill-spinning. The coarser fabrics are still woven in hand-looms; but there are now six or seven large power-loom factories, and some smaller ones. The chief articles of manufacture are sheetings, sail-cloth, drills, dowlas, sacking, and bagging. Nearly one-half of the quantity made is sent to London, Manchester, Glasgow, and Leeds, for home consumption. The remainder is exported either directly or indirectly to foreign countries. The manufacture of jute carpeting is also now carried on to a large extent. The number of persons employed in the linen trade of the place is estimated to be from 20,000 to 25,000.
The quantity of flax, hemp, codilla, and jute, imported for the year ending 31st May 1854, was as follows—
At the harbour ........................................... 54,841 tons. By railway .................................................. 11,406
Total, 65,747
The quantity of linen goods sent away for exportation and home consumption for the same period was as follows—
Linens of all descriptions shipped, ........................................ 421,432 pieces. at the harbour ................................................ 1,107,542 pieces.
Assuming the value of the material at L30 per ton, its total value used in manufactures will be L1,872,410.
Assuming the value of the goods manufactured to be 60s. per piece, their gross value will be L3,322,626; and, on this assumption, the balance of L1,450,216 represents the cost of the manufacture, including wages, the rents of premises and machinery employed in it, and the profits of the manufacturers.
From the foregoing statements, some idea may be formed of the rapid increase of the town in commerce, wealth, and population. Dundee is now the principal seat of the linen trade of the United Kingdom, and its fabrics are to be met with in all quarters of the world. In proof of the prudential habits of the people, it may be mentioned that a national security savings-bank, opened in 1838, now contains upwards of L70,000, lodged by 4632 depositors.
Dundee was remarkable at an early period for its ardent attachment to the principles of the Reformation, and it was long designated the "Geneva of Scotland." Many eminent ministers of the gospel laboured here, amongst whom may be mentioned John Williamson and Dr Robert Small. It is the native place of the Fletchers and Scrimgeours, of Admiral Viscount Duncan, and George Dempster of Dunmichen.
The country surrounding the town is fertile and well cultivated; and has shared largely in its prosperity, the rents having increased much, and the value of the land being augmented in proportion. With the natural advantages which it enjoys, and the energy and enterprise for which the inhabitants are distinguished, Dundee may be expected to maintain the position which it now holds among the commercial towns of the British empire.