Dundee and the Wighton Collection

It seems we managed to time our visit to Dundee in the middle of graduation ceremonies for the local university. Made for a bustling weekend on the streets, and lots of parents/gowns/kilt-tuxes, etc. Much of the city centre is pedestrian-friendly; streets wholly turned over to pedestrian traffic. While not crazy by Toronto standards, it added some life to the core.

Dundee likes their statues. In the city core, they have a dragon,

and this one is "Desperate Dan", a comic character that is supposedly well-known here.

They're also fascinated with penguins. There are penguin statues down at the RSS Discovery Centre waterfront, as well. In the McManus gallery's Dundee history exhibit, there is a taxidermied penguin that someone brought back from an antarctic expedition.
These penguins are in the city centre:

The Wighton collection is home to a great deal of 18^th century Scottish flute music. Andrew John Wighton was born in Cargill, Perthshire, in 1804 and died in Dundee in 1866. He owned and operated a grocer’s business in Hilltown, Dundee and, later, became a member of the Town Council. His chief hobby was collecting music books, mainly of Scotland but also of England, Ireland and Wales.

After his death the Town Council accepted custody of the Collection, which had been offered them on certain conditions. There are 620 bound volumes in the Collection, but as some of the volumes contain more than one printed book or manuscript, the number of titles must be in excess of 700. It is was a real treasure trove to explore.  

Eileen (the Head Librarian) took most of the day to warm up, but once she got to know us, she was very helpful and a lovely person. I think she is just a more reserved personality.

She is really great with those that come in to research family heritage – patient and kind.

The assistant librarian who also helped us on Friday (I forget her name) was fun, friendly and smiley.

A dedicated room that displays some of the collection is a bright space that is used not just for research, but also for classes (there were violin, whistle and harp tune classes happening Saturday), and concerts. Part of the collection is a 19^th century keyed flute (a Rudall!), a piccolo and a clarinet, and a harpsichord is available for concerts as well.   The space seats about 50 people.

We went for lunch during the beginner whistle class. :) 

Lunch both days were “jacket potatoes”. Seems to be a staple around Scotland. Baked potatoes are filled with whatever-you-like; the strangest of toppings…  Kevin tried the Chicken Tikka filling and a Chili filling. Other strange fillings I’ve seen eaten are tuna salad, macaroni and cheese, brown beans (okay, that’s not too much of stretch). The “lite” versions are sour cream, or cottage cheese. No vegetable filling options in sight, or even salsa. Who doesn’t like salsa on a potato? Of all the things the Scots would find weird…..

We finished with enough time to explore the McManus Art Gallery/Museum. We found another Alexander Nasmyth painting, dated 1800. Kevin said “nice work, grandpa!” (I hid)

Given that Wighton was our longest list, we did very well to get it all done. It helped that a lot of the work could be done on microfilm readers. Go Team Swinden!

 This is the outside of the McManus gallery. Looks like a church. But its not. Built in a 19th c. Gothic Revival style.

Here's the second Naysmith painting, entitled Castle Huntley. Castle Huntly was a 15th century Tower house. The painting shows a view of the River Tay and the Town of Fife. 

 This one's for Dorothy and Graham. From one of the displays in the McManus Museum.

This one's for the Bates'. A Rob Roy Iron....

View of the outside staircase of the building and the Robert Burns statue. 

This is the RSS Discovery, docked at the waterfront in Dundee. They offer weddings and other events on the ship. A piper was piping in a wedding party on Saturday afternoon.

Here's a very bright pink beetle I took a pic of for Lisa:

Off to the train station again, for Edinburgh this time. Last train trip for a few days!