Nineteenth Century Scottish History Quiz

Answer: Comet

The Comet was a paddle steamer which sailed on the Clyde for several years. After Bell increased its power he offered a service all the way from Glasgow to Fort William using the recently constructed Crinan Canal. Unfortunately, the ship was wrecked in an accident near Oban in 1820.

Answer: Strathnaver

The Strathnaver Clearance on the land of the Duke of Sutherland has gone down in history as particularly cruel, as the factor (estate manager), Patrick Sellar, ordered that the roof timbers of the houses of those who refused to leave should be removed and burnt. The whole population of the glen was driven out, some being offered huts on the coast to work as fishermen, an occupation for which they had no experience or knowledge.

Sellar was later put on trial for the culpable homicide of a woman who died during the clearance, but was acquitted.

Answer: Sir Walter Scott

Scott's narrative poems included the 'Lady of the Lake', the 'Lay of the Last Minstrel' and 'Marmion'. Famous though these made him, his novels ("Waverley" itself was published anonymously at first) made him even more famous. "Rob Roy", "Waverley" and "Redgauntlet" all dealt with the Jacobite rebellions, while "Ivanhoe", set in England, included an appearance by the English folk hero Robin Hood.

One of the most visible buildings in Edinburgh's Princes Street is the Scott Monument, built between 1840 and 1844. It is believed to be the largest monument to a writer in the world.

Answer: The hot blast furnace

Blackband ironstone could not be smelted effectively using the old system of blasting cold air into the furnace. Neilson's method of pre-heating the air meant that the ironstone was smelted at a higher temperature, thus using the coal seams as fuel and making iron smelting much less expensive.

Puddling is the name of a process used on molten iron to remove impurities, so creating iron of high enough quality to be worked ("wrought") rather than cast.

Answer: Steel

Carnegie's family emigrated to the USA when he was thirteen. After working in various occupations, he became a successful investor and used his money to found the Carnegie Steel Company in Pittsburgh. After selling the company to J.P Morgan in 1901 he devoted his energies to philanthropy, most notably in the foundation of free public libraries.

His most visible public memorial is the concert venue Carnegie Hall in Manhattan, New York, which he built in 1891.

Answer: The Disruption

The Disruption saw 450 evangelical ministers leave the Church of Scotland because they believed that the spiritual independence of the Church was under threat from the state. The main issue was that of the right of some landowners, as "patrons", rather than the congregation, to select the parish minister.

When some parishes rejected the nominations it led to court cases which found in favour of the patron, appearing to show that the ultimate authority lay with the state, not with God. This led to a walk out from the General Assembly in 1843 and the creation of the new Free Church of Scotland.

Answer: Queen's Park

The match, which finished in a 0-0 draw, was played at Hamilton Crescent in Partick, the ground of the West of Scotland Cricket Club. In the same year Queen's Park accepted an invitation from the English Football Association to play in the inaugural FA Cup competition.

They continued to compete in the competition for over a decade, reaching the final in 1884 and 1885. Queen's Park remains unique as the only amateur club playing in senior football.

Answer: William Gladstone

In this campaign Gladstone became the first politician to use the railway to travel quickly between towns and cities, not only in Midlothian, to make speeches to huge audiences. These, often focused on foreign policy, were reported widely in the newspapers and gave him a high national profile.

This campaign enabled him to win both the Midlothian seat for himself and the election for the Liberal Party.

Answer: Tay

When the bridge collapsed a train probably carrying about 75 people (no-one knows for certain how many were aboard, estimates ranging as high as 200) was making the crossing from Wormit in Fife to Dundee. The disaster was caused in part by the design of the bridge, which had taken no account of the effects of wind pressure on the structure. William Topaz McGonagall, Scotland's most famous doggerel poet, commemorated the event in a poem written the following year. The poem opens with these lines, which give a flavour of McGonagall's style:

"Beautiful railway bridge of the silv'ry Tay
Alas! I am very sorry to say
That ninety lives have been taken away
On the last sabbath day of 1879
Which will be remember'd for a very long time".

Answer: The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

Deacon Brodie lived in the eighteenth century. He was a well known and highly respected cabinet maker who became deacon of the trade guild, the Incorporation of Wrights. He carried on his other life as a burglar for over twenty years until a raid carried out by men he employed went wrong. He fled abroad but was arrested, brought back to Edinburgh, convicted and hanged in 1788.