Merchant City
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The Merchant City is a district in the city centre of Glasgow, Scotland.
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[edit] History
The area was first formed during the 18th century to house the wealthy merchant "tobacco lords" who prospered shipping, amongst other things, tobacco, sugar and tea to the Clyde and fabricated goods to the Americas at this time many classical villas were built in the area. Lying to the west of the High Street that formed the historic backbone of the city, the development of what is now known as 'the Merchant city' with wide, straight streets, vistas, and squares, marked the beginning of a process of aspirational residential movement westwards that would continue throughout the 19th century and into the 20th with the development of Blythswood Hill, Hillhead and the West End of Glasgow.
HISTORY
1700 and before
Ancient beginnings Once upon a time beautiful forests, deep valleys and rolling hills existed where the city of Glasgow stands today. The first people to inhabit this verdant landscape were a handsome, druidic and warlike tribe known as the Damnonii who ruled the lands from Galloway in the South to Perthshire in the North. Then, in around the year 543, a young monk named Kentigern arrived from Ireland, after an angel had told him that his destiny lay in this pagan land. He built his first church of wattle and wood on the top of a hill from which he could gaze down the green valley to the sparkling river below. He loved his new home so much that he called it „Glaschu‟ which meant „dear green place.‟ The pagan population liked this young monk and gave him the nickname „Mungo‟ meaning „Dear Friend‟ and so the history of Glasgow began.
Kentigern is believed to have been a nephew of the legendary King Arthur. A few hundred years later Mungo had become the city‟s patron saint and his little wattle and wood church was replaced by a grand stone-built cathedral. Glasgow was now one of the most important ecclesiastical centres in Scotland, so important that in 1451 a university was founded within the precincts of the Cathedral.
Mungo‟s green valley gave way to a high street, houses, workshops, monasteries and fragrant gardens; it seemed that life was sweet, but a dark cloud loomed on the horizon. The very church which had been the city‟s foundation came under attack in 1560 when the Reformation swept across Britain, destroying every place of Catholic worship in its wake. The people took their lives in their hands defending the fabric of their beloved cathedral and it survives today as the oldest Cathedral on main-land Scotland.
The first battle
But this was not the first battle of the dear green place. In 1298 the Bishop‟s palace had been commandeered by a garrison of English soldiers who terrorised the people of Glasgow, until the great hero William Wallace chased them off in the brief but bloody „Battle of the Bell „o‟ the Brae‟. Legend has it that after the garrison had been defeated, they cut the heads off the English soldiers and Wallace ordered that they should be stuffed down a well. “Stock it well with English men” had been the order, giving rise to the name „Stockwell Street‟.
Mary Queen of Scots caused a great scandal during her first visit to Glasgow, for whilst staying in the Provand‟s Lordship, opposite the Cathedral precinct, she wrote a series of letters called the „casket letters‟ to her lover, the Earl of Bothwell, which would later implicate her in the murder of her husband, Lord Darnley. In 1568 Mary Queen of Scots fought for her crown in Glasgow, against her half brother, Moray, in the „Battle of Langside‟ which resulted in her defeat and eventual capture.
The darkest of times: Witchcraft, Plague & Fire
A few years later, Mary‟s son, King James VI of Scotland (later James 1st of England) was to lead the way in a hate campaign which was to find Glasgow gripped in mortal terror for decades; the witch persecutions. Witches were so feared in the city that a witch finder general was employed; the Reverend Cooper. The Reverend Cooper was so efficient at gaining confessions from accused witches he was locally known as „Burning Cooper.‟
The Bubonic Plague was also ravaging the population, with the merest sneeze resulting in people being bricked up in their houses. This was followed by two great fires which swept through the city and although the first destroyed one third of the town and the second left over a thousand families‟-homeless, the ancient streets were at least scourged of the plague.
The mid 1600s also saw the founding of Hutchesons‟ Hall, which was established by the brothers George and James Hutcheson to house the poor craftsmen of the city unable, for whatever reason, to earn an income. Hutchesons‟ Hall moved to its current location on Ingram Street in 1802. Incidentally, the statues of the brothers Hutcheson that flank either side of the first floor were modelled in 1655 by James Colquhoun, who also invented Glasgow‟s first fire engine.
One of the buildings to survive the great fires of Glasgow was the 15th century Collegiate Church of St Mary and its adjoining steeple which once held the city‟s „Tron‟ or weighing beam. Fire did however finally destroy the church in 1793 when the drunken members of the Hellfire Club accidentally burnt it down. They had entered the church to get out of the cold February night, but as they warmed themselves on the open fire, they began to boast about how hot they could take the fires of hell. To prove their boast they built the fire up until it spilled over and set fire to the whole church. It was rebuilt by James Adam the following year and is now the Tron Theatre, bar and restaurant.
The rebuilding of the City
The city that rose from the ashes prompted Daniel Defoe to write “The four principal streets...are the fairest for breadth and the finest built that I have ever seen...‟tis the cleanest, most beautiful and best built city in Great Britain... The lower storeys, for the most part, stand on vast doric columns with arches which open into the shops - adding to the strength as well as to the beauty of the buildings.” The latter part of this description refers to the Trongate and lower part of the High Street; these were the first paved areas of Glasgow.
1700 - 1830
Foreign trade began in 1450 when William Elphinstone exported cured salmon and herrings (one of the first commodities of Glasgow) to France in return for French brandy and salt.
The Tobacco Lairds
When the trade routes between Europe and The Americas were opened up the river Clyde found itself well positioned for trade in tobacco. The journey from Glasgow to Virginia took 20 days less than the journey from London to Virginia and this 20 day advantage meant that almost half of the tobacco coming into Europe was distributed through Glasgow. The tobacco merchants (nicknamed „tobacco lairds ‟) provided the colonists with commodities such as pottery, cloth and other essentials (manufactured in Glasgow) in exchange for tobacco. In 1735 sixty seven ships sailed up the Clyde for destinations such as Virginia, Jamaica, Antigua, St. Kitts, Boston, Gibraltar, Holland and London. The Glasgow merchants were now amongst the wealthiest in Europe.
Two of the most successful tobacco lords were William Glassford (after whom Glassford Street is named) and William Cunninghame (whose town house is now the Gallery of Modern Art). Other survivors of merchant wealth include the Virginia Mansion (originally built in 1841) on Ingram Street known today as the Corinthian (a night club, restaurant and bar) and the Tobacco Merchants House (1775) on Miller Street which is now the home for Glasgow Building Preservation Trust and the Scottish Civic Trust.
Slavery
Slaves were an important part of merchant business. Records show that slaves were being used as far back as the early 1500s. By the end of the 18th century, however, Glasgow was also leading the way in the abolition of this barbaric trade in human life. In recognition of the 200th anniversary of passing of the Wilberforce Act which ended Britain‟s involvement in the slave trade, Glasgow Building Preservation Trust in partnership with Glasgow Anti Racist Alliance, have compiled an iPod walk on the city‟s involvement in the trade:http://www.gbpt.org/doorsopenday/index.html
One of the only disadvantages Glasgow had was the depth of the river which fed it. The Clyde was too shallow for ocean-going ships to come into the city, so cargo was generally loaded and unloaded further west at Port Glasgow and then conveyed into the city on smaller craft. In 1770 dynamite was used to make the river Clyde deeper, enabling ships drawing six feet of water to come into the city centre.
Charlie is my Darlin’
On Christmas day 1745 a dejected and woeful looking Prince Charles Edward Stewart entered the city with a ragged and worn-out army of the clans. The people must have waited his arrival with baited breath, as Glasgow had sent six hundred men to fight against the Prince at the beginning of the rebellion. In fact, it is commonly believed that the city would have been burned to the ground if it hadn‟t have been for the gentle pleading of Cameron of Lochiel. Instead, the exhausted army paraded along the Trongate to Glasgow Cross where the Prince was proclaimed the legitimate King of Scotland. It was whilst staying in the Merchant City that Charlie met and fell in love with the beautiful Clementina Walkinshaw. Clementina later joined Charlie in exile and together they had a daughter, Charlotte.
The cheeky Prince also stabled his horses in the foundations of St. Andrew‟s Church, (now St. Andrew‟s in the Square: Glasgow‟s Centre for Scottish Culture) at that time still under construction, and demanded that the people of Glasgow provide his men with 6,000 cloth coats, 12,000 linen shirts, 6,000 pairs of shoes, 6,000 pairs of hose, 6,000 waistcoats and 6,000 blue bonnets.
The Greatest Love Story Never Told
Of all the romantic figures to wander the streets of the Merchant City, few are better remembered than Robert Burns. Burns had met and fallen in love with Mrs Agnes McLehose whilst visiting Glasgow. Agnes, who lived in the Saltmarket, had married her brutish husband in St. Andrew‟s in the Square, but after having several children, he had left her in favour of a new life in the colonies. She was sure she would never again feel a lover‟s tender caress, until she met the handsome and talented Robert Burns with whom she corresponded in secret, signing herself as Clarinda whilst Burns signed his passionate epistles with the alias, Sylvander. Not many venues can boast of holding the wedding of Agnes McLehose (Clarinda), for whom Rabbie Burns wrote Ae Fond Kiss, or that Bonnie Prince Charlie's Highland Army, returning from England in 1745, camped within the semi-built walls of the Church. As a function space St. Andrew‟s in the Square is stunning, with natural light by day and glittering chandeliers after dark.
The First Population Explosion
By the 1780s the population of Glasgow had grown to 48,000 and new streets were developed, many of them commemorating international trade like Virginia Street and Jamaica Street. Over the course of the next fifty years the city's population quadrupled and by 1830, 200,000 people lived and worked in Glasgow.
Dirty Old Town
The population explosion meant a huge increase in the amount of effluent running freely in the street; suddenly Daniel Defoe‟s picturesque image of the city was becoming one of squalor, overcrowding and stench. The city‟s dunghill grew so large that it blocked the street of traffic and disease was increasing. Medical skills needed to be advanced to deal with the health of the population and anatomy schools began to open - not all of them very reputable. These did however provide new employment opportunities - for „body snatchers‟ - dubious gentlemen who would purloin bodies either straight from the grave, or worse, create fresh cadavers by lurking around dark alleyways armed with a sharp knife. The bodies they obtained were then sold to the schools of anatomy and thanks to this grim practice, modern medicine was born (as allegedly, was Mary Shelley’s monster in Frankenstein). Crime was rife and led to the employment of the first „Polis‟ (policeman) of the city in 1778 when an inspector was appointed at the cost of £100 a year. Punishments, however, were regarded as an entertainment. The practice of „Lug Pinning‟ (where a villain would have his ear nailed to the prison door) for example was so popular, the burgh records noted how „it corrupted community life, weavers would leave their looms and children would play truant‟ just to cheer on the lug pinnees as they tore themselves free.
1830-1945
The Second Population Explosion
Foundries, mills, mines and shipyards changed the skyline and filled the dear green place with the smog and smoke of industry. A new work-force was needed, and willing workers flooded in from the Lowlands, Highlands and Islands of Scotland and Ireland.
In 1848 it is estimated that over a thousand Irish a week arrived in the city, escaping a potato famine in Ireland.
In 1861 the population of Glasgow was 395,503, many of them living in the Merchant City in over-crowded accommodation called „single ends‟ which were bursting at the seams with humanity.
[edit] Merchant City
As Glasgow expanded in the 19th century to become the second city of the United Kingdom and its British Empire, the area became a working district of warehouses and home to the city's central fruit, vegetable and cheese markets.
Although Glasgow and the Merchant City were relatively unscarred by World War II, the heavy industry of the city (ship building, iron foundries, locomotive and car manufacturing etc.) were in decline and thousands of skilled men found themselves on the „dole‟. The notorious „single ends‟ of Glasgow had become unacceptable hovels in post war Britain and bulldozers began to clear the slums; by the late 1950s people were being moved to the new housing schemes such as Easterhouse and Castlemilk on the edge of the city. These high-rise villages could not, however, replace the close-knit tenement communities where everyone knew their neighbour and the pub, shop and school were on the doorstep. The new tower block communities were quickly nicknamed “Disney Land” - not because they were designed by Mickey Mouse, but because, as they used to say “it dis ne hae‟ a shop, it dis ne hae‟ a pub ...” *Dis ne = does not
In the Merchant City entire streets were demolished and some of the markets, (such as the Old Fruitmarket.) were moved to new locations. By the 1970s the Merchant City was a ghost of its former bustling self and many of the grand buildings appeared neglected and badly run down.
After plans to construct a ring road around the city centre were published in the 1960s the area fell into decline, with many of the buildings compulsorily purchased by the city council to allow for their demolition and the central markets moved to modern premises outside the city centre. However the road was never built and in the 1980s the decision was taken to revitalise the area and its historic buildings with the public ownership of properties allowing large scale redevelopment.
The name 'Merchant City' was coined during this regeneration and is of no historical use. Historically the area was called 'the tron' or 'cross' or simply by most Glaswegians 'the toun' or 'the town'.
In the early 1980s Glasgow saw the start of a Merchant City and Glasgow-wide regeneration symbolised by the “Glasgow‟s miles better” campaign. This was further enhanced with the 1988 Glasgow Garden Festival and two years later, the accolade of European City of Culture. Investment increased – led by a strong partnership between the City Council and the then Scottish Development Agency, and Glasgow began to celebrate its old buildings and the architects who built them. Old warehouses became modern fashion houses (the Italian Centre on Ingram Street, designed by Page & Park Architects is an award winning example); empty market buildings were given new life as restaurants or bars and loft living arrived with the Todd building (Ingram Street) which is so cool even the pigeons wear shades!
The Italian Centre is a bold and popular re-claiming of derelict early 19th century tenements by Classical House Ltd. and the award winning architects Page & Park which saw creation of a sunny, sheltered courtyard around a mixed-use scheme of housing, offices and 'haute couture' shops and cafés with a heavy dose of classical and more contemporary versions of public art. Particularly noteworthy are the trademark Sandy Stoddart's 'bronzes' of Mercury and Italia sitting atop the wallheads and the playful response of Shona Kinloch within the courtyard with her 'wee dug' and 'wee man' - the latter a budding Romeo throwing a kiss to his imaginary sweetheart (check out the tattoo) on one of the upper balconies...aaahh!
The Merchant City has been promoted and built up in recent years as a centrepiece residential, shopping and leisure area, mirroring Covent Garden in the West End of London. To this end many new bars and restaurants have been established. This has been complemented with the building of prestigious new housing developments, often by restoring Victorian buildings. An example being the GPO Building development. Currently there are 10 hotels, 38 venues, 62 bars and 93 restaurants, many of them award-winning. There is a huge range of cuisine available in Merchant City, from traditional Scottish, Indian, and Spanish to Mexican, Greek and Italian.
Another important element of the area's transformation is high-end shopping, anchored by the Italian Centre, home to, amongst others, Versace Collections (the UK's first Versace store) and Emporio Armani. The Italian Centre was designed by Page & Park Architects who are fond of including art in their architecture. Here the art is integral to the façades, but also features in the courtyard including a sculpture, 'Thinking of Bella' (1994) by Shona Kinloch. Recent shopping developments include Cruise, Bose, McCalls Ltd, Escada, Ralph Lauren, Mulberry and underwear and lingerie Agent Provocateur stores. There is also a wide range of independent stores not found anywhere else in Glasgow providing a really unique shoping experience. The annual Merchant City Festival takes place in September every year attracting tens of thousands to the area with its multi-arts programme. The 2009 Merchant City Festival will take place from 22 – 27 September. Other festivals that take place (or hold some of their programming in Merchant City) are Glasgay!, Doors Open Day, Celtic Connections, Glasgow International Jazz Festival and Glasgow Comedy Festival.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Glasgow Merchant City website
- Merchant City Community Council
- Merchant City Architecture
- Photographs of the Italian Centre in the Merchant City, Glasgow
- Merchant City Festival website
