Dundee

For other places with the same name, see Dundee (disambiguation).

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Dundee (Gaelic: Dùn Dèagh) is a royal burgh and the fourth largest city in Scotland. The mottos of the city are (Latin: Gift of God) and 'Prudentia et Candore' (with thought and purity). Typically only the latter is used for civic purposes.

Dundee celebrated its 800th anniversary in 1991, and is known as the 'City of Discovery' in honour of the RRS Discovery, Robert Falcon Scott's Antarctic exploration vessel, which was built in the city. On 5 March 2004, Dundee was granted Fairtrade City status.

Contents

Geography

Dundee from Newport-on-Tay. The hill in the background is Dundee law. The bridge on the left is the Tay Road Bridge

Dundee is located at [56°27′51″N, 02°58′13″W], on the north bank of the Firth of Tay estuary, opposite Fife, where the firth empties into the North Sea. The city surrounds the basalt plug of an extinct volcano, now called Dundee Law or simply "The Law" (174 metres (571 ft)).Ordnance Survey, Explorer 380 map Dundee and Sidlaw Hills Dundee is Scotland's only South-facing city, giving it a contested claim to being the nations's sunniest city.

The city is bounded by the Sidlaw Hills to the north. Dundee is in close proximity to some of Scotland's notable scenery including Perth (20 miles) and the southern Highlands to the west, St Andrews (14 miles) and north-east Fife heading south and Angus lying north and east of the city, including the Angus Glens. Two links golf courses, St Andrews and Carnoustie, are located close to the city. Glamis Castle is located 12 miles north of Dundee.

The towns of Invergowrie in Perth and Kinross, Newport on Tay in Fife and Monifieth in Angus are outwith local government control of Dundee but are nevertheless de facto suburbs of the city.

People

Natives of Dundee are called Dundonians, and are recognisable for their distinctive accent, which most noticeably substitutes the monophthong /e/ in place of the dipthong /ai/.

Along with most other British cities, Dundee's population increased substantially with the urbanisation of the industrial revolution. The most significant influx occurred in the mid-1800s when many Irish workers were driven from their native country by potato blight and settled in Dundee contributing to its industrialisation. The city also attracted immigrants from Italy and Poland in the 19th and 20th centuries. Dundee did not experience post-war immigration on the same scale as other cities. Its status as a declining industrial centre meant that it was not a major destination for the waves of immigrants who had an important impact on the colour and culture of the British Isles in the 1950s and 1960s. The city's population has been in decline since the start of the 1970s with a 7.3% drop between the years 1991 to 2001 with a predicted decline of another 14.3% (20,674) in the years 2005 to 2011. Since 1993 the number of deaths has exceeded the number of births with a drop of 19% in births between 1993 and 2005. Outward migration has also been responsible for the decline with an annual net average outward migration of 1000 between 1998 and 2002. Nevertheless, the city now has a sizable ethnic minority population and continues to attract a large number of Irish students with the total student population consisting of 14.2% of the total population, more than any other Scottish city.

More than half of the city's council wards are amongst Scotland's 10% most deprived. In particular, the Whitfield area has the highest rate of child poverty in the UK at 96%. Dundee had the highest rate of abortions in Scotland in 2004 (24.2 per 1000), and the highest rate of teenage pregnancy in Western Europe in 2003-2004 (1 in 16; the national average is 1 in 23).

History

Origin and name

Archaeological evidence of burials suggest that the Dundee Law may have been used by human settlers 3500 years ago. During the Iron Age it was the site of a Pictish settlement. Roman pottery has been found on the law, suggesting that the Romans may have used it as a lookout post in the first century.

The Pictish name for the earliest known settlement was Alec-tum, meaning 'a handsome place' (this name was still in use, alongside the modern name, as late as 1607).William Camden William the Lion granted the town the status of burgh by royal charter in 1191. His brother, David, 8th Earl of Huntingdon is said to have named the town Donum Dei ('God's gift') upon narrowly escaping death during his return from the Crusades. However, this is most likely folk etymology. The name appears to come from the Gaelic Dun Dèagh, meaning Fort on the Tay; "Dun" is a common prefix in Scottish placenames (cf. Dunfermline and Dunkeld).

Medieval defence and destruction

Dundee experienced periods of occupation and destruction in the late 13th and early 14th centuries. Following John Balliol's renunciation (1295) of Edward I's claimed authority over Scotland, the English King twice visited Scotland with hostile intent. Edward (the 'Hammer of the Scots') revoked Dundee's royal charter — removing the town's people the right to control local government and the judiciary. He occupied the Castle at Dundee in 1296, but was removed by William Wallace in 1297.

From 1303 to 1312 the city was occupied again. Edward's removal resulted in the complete destruction of the Castle by Robert the Bruce, who had been proclaimed King of Scots at nearby Scone in 1309. In 1327, the Bruce granted the royal burgh a new charter. Later in the 14th century, during the conflict between England and France known as the Hundred Years' War, the French invoked the Auld Alliance, drawing Scotland into the hostilities. Richard II subsequently marched north and razed Edinburgh, Perth and Dundee.

Wishart Arch, The only surviving part of the city walls

Dundee became a walled city in 1545 during a period of English hostilities known as the rough wooing (Henry VIII's attempt to extend his Protestant ambitions north by marrying his youngest son Edward, Duke of Cornwall to Mary, Queen of Scots). Only a small section of the city wall — the Wishart Arch — still stands. Mary maintained the alliance with the French, who captured Protestant opponents, including John Knox, at St Andrews Castle, in nearby east Fife, in July 1547. That year, following victory at the Battle of Pinkie Cleugh, the English occupied Edinburgh and went on to destroy much of Dundee by naval bombardment. The Howff Burial Ground, granted to the people of Dundee in 1546, was a gift from Mary.

Civil Wars

During a period of relative peace between Scotland and England, the status of Dundee as a royal burgh was reconfirmed (in The Great Charter of Charles I, dated 14 September 1641). However, with the outbreak of the Scottish Civil War in 1644, Dundee began to suffer at the hands of nobles loyal to the King. The Royalist James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose besieged Dundee in April 1645.

On 1 September 1651, during the Third English Civil War), the English Parliamentarians invaded Scotland. General Monck, commander of Cromwell's forces in Scotland, captured Dundee. His troops pillaged the royal burgh, destroying much of it and killing up to 2,000 of the 12,000 inhabitants.

John Graham, 1st Viscount Dundee raised the Stuart standard on Dundee Law in 1689. For this early contribution to the Jacobite uprising, Graham quickly earned the name Bonnie Dundee.

Industrial revolution

After the Union with England ended military hostilities, Dundee was able to redevelop its harbour and established itself as an industrial and trading centre. Dundee's industrial heritage is traditionally summarised as "the three Js": jute, jam and journalism.

Cox's Stack, A chimney from the former Camperdown works jute mill. The chimney takes its name from jute baron James Cox who later became Lord Provost of the city

Jute

**Dundee population increases**
Year	Population
1801	2,472
1831	4,135
1841	55,338
1851	64,704
1921	168,784

During the 18th and 19th Centuries, flax was imported from the countries surrounding the Baltic Sea for the production of linen. The trade supported 36 spinning mills by 1835, but various conflicts, including the Crimean war put a stop to the trade. At around this time, jute, a common fibre from the Indian sub-continent, was looked at as a possible alternative but was difficult to handle. It was discovered that treatment with whale oil, a byproduct of Dundee's whaling industry, made the spinning of the jute fibre possible, which led to the development of a substantial jute industry in the city. This growth precipitated a large increase in population.

By the end of the 19th century the majority of Dundee's working population were employed in jute manufacture, but the industry began to decline in 1914, when it became cheaper to rely on imports of the finished product from India. (Dundee's 'jute barons' had invested heavily in Indian factories). Commercial jute production in Dundee ceased in the 1960s. Some manufacturers successfully diversified to produce synthetic fibres and linoleum for a short time. Many mills were destroyed, but others have been redeveloped for residential use. An award-winning museum, based in the old Verdant Works, commemorates the city's manufacturing heritage and operates a small jute-processing facility.

Jam

Dundee's link with jam stems from Janet Keiller's 1797 'invention' of marmalade. Mrs. Keiller supposedly devised the recipe in order to make use of a cargo-load of bitter Seville oranges acquired from a Spanish ship by her husband, James. This account is fiction, but nevertheless marmalade became a famed Dundee export after James Keiller (in reality Janet's son) industrialised the production process during the 19th century. Traditional marmalade production has become the preserve of corporate business, but distinctive white jars of Keiller's marmalade can still be bought.

Journalism

Journalism is the only "J" which continues to thrive in Dundee — the publisher DC Thomson & Co. celebrated its centenary in 2005. The firm publishes a variety of newspapers, children's comics and magazines, including The Sunday Post, The Courier and children's publications, The Beano and The Dandy.

Maritime industry

As a whaling port, Dundee developed a maritime industry. In 1857 the whaling ship Tay was the first in the world to be fitted with steam engines. By 1872 Dundee had become the premier whaling port of the British Isles. Over 2,000 ships were built in the city between 1871 and 1881. The last whaling ship to be built at Dundee was the Terra Nova, in 1884. Shipbuilding came to a halt altogether in 1961. The Dundee Perth and London Shipping Company (DPLC) ran steamships down the Tay from Perth and on to Hull and London. The firm still exists, but is now a travel agency.

In December 1883 a whale was caught in the Tay and was later publicly dissected by Professor John Struthers of the University of Aberdeen. The incident was popular with the public and extra rail journeys were organised to assist those from surrounding areas who wished to see the whale. The creature became known as the Tay Whale, and the event was also celebrated in a poem by William McGonagall.

RRS Discovery, the ship taken to the Antarctic by Robert Falcon Scott, was built in Dundee in 1901. It returned to Dundee in the 1980s and is moored next to a purpose-built visitors' centre. The oldest wooden British warship still afloat the HMS Unicorn is also moored nearby although it was not built in Dundee.

Original Tay Bridge (from the South) the day after the disaster. The collapsed section can be seen near the northern end

The Tay Bridge Disaster

In 1879 a railway bridge over the Tay was opened, connecting the rail network at Dundee to Fife and Edinburgh. Its completion was commemorated in verse by William McGonagall. Less than a year after its construction, the bridge collapsed under the weight of a full train of passengers during a fierce storm. McGonagall's The Tay Bridge Disaster recounts the tragedy. In 1887 the bridge was replaced with what was at that time the longest railway bridge in Europe, at just over 2 miles long (Europe's longest bridge today is the Oresund Bridge).

Winston Churchill

Between 1908 and 1922, the city's MP was Winston Churchill, at that time a member of the (Coalition) Liberal Party. Churchill's conspicuous noble background and his frequent absence from Dundee on cabinet business alienated him from his constituents. The last years of his tenure in Dundee were marked by vitriol from local newspapers. He once described the constituency as "a life seat, and cheap and easy beyond all experience".^{[[Citing sources citation needed]]} Prevented from campaigning in the 1922 general election by appendicitis, his wife Clementine spoke for him instead, but was spat on for wearing pearls. Churchill was ousted by Labour candidate E. D. Morel and the Scottish Prohibitionist Edwin Scrymgeour - in Scrymgeour's case, at the sixth attempt. Churchill would later write that he left Dundee "short of an appendix, seat and party". In 1943 he was offered Freedom of the City — by 16 votes to 15 — but refused to accept. On being asked by the Council to expand on his reasons, he said simply: "I have nothing to add to the reply which has already been sent".

Government and politics

Tayside House, home of Dundee city council

From 1975, the city was a district within Tayside Region, as well as being administrative centre of that Region. Since the abolition of two-tier local government in Scotland in 1996, the City of Dundee (incorporating the burgh of Broughty Ferry) has been a self-contained unitary authority making it the smallest of Scotland's thirty-two council areas in terms of area. Dundee City Council is made up of councillors elected from 29 council wards in the city. The current council is controlled by a Labour- Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition, although the SNP remain the largest party on the council. The civic head and chair of the council is known as the Lord Provost which is simlar to a mayor in other areas.

In the past the council has been Labour-dominated. The outspoken and often controversial politician George Galloway was leader for a time, and was responsible for organising Dundee's twinning association with the Palestinian city of Nablus.

The council executive is based in Tayside house on the banks of the river Tay although the council intends to demolish it in favour of new premises on North Lindsay street. The council meetings take place in the separate city chambers located in the city square.

Dundee is represented at Westminster and Holyrood by a pair of constituencies, Dundee West and Dundee East although since 2005 these have not been geographical identical. The current MPs for Dundee are Labour's James McGovern (Dundee West)

and the SNP's Stewart Hosie (Dundee East). At Holyrood the city is represented by Labour's Kate Maclean (Dundee West) and the SNP's Shona Robison (Dundee East).

International Links

Dundee maintains cultural, economic and educational ties with six twin cities:

- Orleans, France (1946)
- Zadar, Croatia (1959)
- Würzburg, Germany (1962)
- Alexandria, Virginia, USA (1974)
- Nablus, West Bank (1980)
- Dubai, United Arab Emirates (2004)

In addition, the Scottish Episcopalian Diocese of Brechin (centred on St Paul’s Cathedral in Dundee) is twinned with the diocese of Iowa, USA and the diocese of Swaziland.

Innovation

Dundee was the first city in the world to have electric street lights, employing bulbs designed by James Bowman Lindsay who demonstrated his invention at a public meeting in 1835. The adhesive postage stamp was invented in Dundee by James Chalmers. His tombstone in the city's Howff burial ground reads: "Originator of the adhesive postage stamp which saved the penny postage scheme of 1840 from collapse rendering it an unqualified success and which has since been adopted throughout the postal systems of the world."

Industry and economy

In the 1960s the development in Dundee of a Michelin tyre-production facility helped to reduce the mass unemployement precipitated by the decline of the jute industry. Another major employer, NCR, produced ATMs at its Dundee plant following a series of innovations including the development of magnetic-strip readers for cash registers.

Unemployment in Dundee has been steadily falling from a peak of 8,030 in 1991. The total number of jobs in the city increased by 8.7% from 75,232 in 1997 to 81,775 in 2005, and the number of employers rose by 13% from 3418 to 3864 over the same period. Nevertheless, at 4.6% unemployment remains higher than the Scottish average of 2.9%; 14.3% of Dundee's jobless have been out of work for more than 12 months.

The biomedical and biotechnological sectors make up 10% of the city's workforce, employing 2,200 directly and 6,000 indirectly. Information technology has been an important industry in the city for more than twenty years. The first Sinclair home computers were produced in Dundee by Timex in the early 1980s. Timex closed their Dundee plant in 1993 following an acrimonious six month industrial dispute. The computer games firm Rockstar North — developer of Lemmings and the Grand Theft Auto series — was founded in Dundee as DMA Design by graduates of the University of Abertay. With a turnover of £100million, Dundee is responsible for 10% of Britain’s digital entertainment industry^{[[Citing sources citation needed]]}

Outwith the specialised fields of medicine, science and technology, the proportion of Dundonians employed in the manufacturing sector - 20% or 60,000 workers - is more than double that found in the larger Scottish cities. Manufacturing income per head in Dundee was £19,700 in 1999, compared to £16,700 in Glasgow. The insolvency rate for businesses in Dundee is lower than other Scottish cities accounting for 2.3% of all liquidations in Scotland compared to 22% and 61.4% for Edinburgh and Glasgow respectively.

Arts and culture

Mcmanus Galleries

Dundee is home to Scotland's only full-time repertory ensemble, established in the 1930s. Hollywood actor Brian Cox is also a native of the city. Dundee Repertory Theatre, built in 1982, is also the base for Scottish Dance Theatre. Dundee's principal concert auditorium, the Caird Hall (named for its benefactor, the jute baron James Caird), regularly plays host to the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. Various smaller venues host local and international musicians during Dundee's annual Jazz, Guitar and Blues Festivals. An art gallery and arthouse cinema are located in Dundee Contemporary Arts which opened in 1999 in the city's cultural quarter. McManus Galleries is a Gothic Revival-style building, located in the city's Albert square, which houses a museum and art gallery with a collection of fine and decorative art as well as a natural history collection.

Dundee has a literary heritage, with several authors either born in, having lived in or studied in the city, including: A. L. Kennedy, Rosamunde Pilcher, Kate Atkinson, and John Burnside. The Dundee International Book Prize is a biennial competition open to new authors, offering a prize of £10,000 and publication by Polygon Books. Winners have thus far included Andrew Murray Scott, Claire-Marie Watson and Malcolm Archibald.

William McGonagall - regularly cited as the "worlds worst poet"William McGonagall. World's Worst Poet: Selections from "Poetic Gems". Templegate Publishers, 1992. - worked and wrote in the city, often giving performances of his work in pubs and bars. Many of his poems are about the city and events therein such as his work The Tay Bridge Disaster.

Sport

Dundee has two professional football teams (Dundee F.C., and Dundee United F.C.). Their stadia (Dens Park and Tannadice Park) are closer together than any other senior pair in world football. Dundee is also one of only three British cities to have produced two European Cup semi-finalists, the others being Glasgow and London. Dundee F.C were relegated to the First Division in season 2004-05 leaving Dundee United F.C as the city's only SPL team. Dundee and surrounding small towns are also home to a number of junior football teams. In May 2005, two local teams - Tayport and Lochee United - made it to the final of the Scottish Junior Cup, held at Tannadice Park, where Tayport won.

Dundee is home to the Dundee Texol Stars ice hockey team which play at the city's Dundee Ice Arena. The team participates in the Scottish National League (SNL) along with the Dundee Tigers and the Northern League (NL) as well as in cup competitions. Dundee is also home to the first division BT Premier League rugby club Dundee High School Former Pupils.

Music

1970s soul-funk outfit the Average White Band and 1980s groups The Associates and Danny Wilson were Dundonian. The Dundee band Spare Snare was voted one of the fifty best Scottish bands of all time in a poll for The List magazine^{[[Citing sources citation needed]]}. Emerging indie rock band The View come from the Dryburgh area of Dundee.

Ricky Ross of Deacon Blue and singer-songwriter KT Tunstall are former pupils of the High School of Dundee, though neither is a native of the city. The Irish indie rock band Snow Patrol was formed by students at the University of Dundee. Brian Molko, lead singer of Placebo, grew up in the city.

In May 2006 BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend music festival was held in the city's Camperdown park.

The city has two radio stations Wave 102 and Tay FM which broadcasts on 102.8 FM. Tay FM also has a sister AM station Tay AM. During 2001 and 2002 the city also had its own RSL television channel Channel Six Dundee which played music videos and cult children's cartoons.

Religion

The historic City Churches — home to two separate congregations (Dundee Parish Church (St Mary's) and The Steeple Church) — is the most prominent Church of Scotland building in Dundee. The Presbytery of Dundee currently consists of 45 congregations, though many now share a minister. Robert Murray McCheyne was the minister of St Peter's (Free Church of Scotland) from 1838 until his death in 1843. During his ministry, there was a religious revival in Dundee. There are two cathedrals in the city — St. Paul's (Scottish Episcopal) and St. Andrew's (Roman Catholic).

A Jewish community has existed in the city since the 19th century. The present synagogue was built in the 1970s. Muslims are served by a large mosque (opened in 2000). The city also has a Hindu mandir and Sikh gurdwara.

Education

Universities and colleges

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Dundee has a student population of approximately 17,000 with two universities. In 1967, the University of Dundee was established, following 70 years as a college of the University of Saint Andrews. It currently conducts a large amount of biomedical research and oncology, carried out in the School of Life Sciences. The University also incorporates the Duncan of Jordanstone School of Art and Design. The University's Rector is television presenter Lorraine Kelly. In October 2005 the University became the first UNESCO centre in the UK. The centre will be involved in managing the world's water resources on behalf of the United Nations.

The University of Abertay Dundee is a "new" university. It was created in 1994, under government legislation granting the title 'University' to Dundee Institute of Technology (which was itself founded in 1888 and gained independent degree-giving authority in the 1970s). The University of Abertay currently has a computer games technology and design department and is home to the Dundee Business School. The University of Abertay is currently ranked number one in the United Kingdom for its investment in IT Facilities.^{[[Citing sources citation needed]]} Dare to Be Digital, a computer game production competition, is run by the university each year.

Dundee College was established in 1985 as an institution of higher education and vocational training. The college is noted for its New Media centre and is the home of the Scottish School of Contemporary Dance.

Schools

Dundee is home to one independent (private school, the High School of Dundee, founded as a grammar school in the 13th century by the Abbot and Monks of Lindores. Early students included William Wallace, Scottish patriot, and Guardian of Scotland during the Wars of Independence; Hector Boece, historian and first Principal of the University of Aberdeen, and James, John and Robert Wedderburn, authors of The Gude and Godlie Ballatis, one of the most important literary works of the Scots Reformation. The School itself was the earliest Reformed school in Scotland, having adopted the new religion in 1554.

The most prominent of Dundee's state secondary schools are Harris Academy and Morgan Academy. Harris Academy, founded in 1885, is the largest state school in the city. Former pupils include include MP George Galloway, professional footballer Christian Dailly and former vice-chairman of Rangers Football Club Donald Findlay. Morgan Academy dates back to 1888 when the Dundee Burgh School Board bought the then Morgan hospital and reopened it as a school. The school and the previous hospital takes its name from John Morgan who bequeathed much of his fortune to establish a residential institution. Dundee has a further eight state secondary schools and forty state primary schools. Three of the former and eleven of the latter serve the city's Roman Catholic population; the remainder are non-denominational. Dundee is also home to a school for Muslim girls — one of only two such schools in Scotland.

Notes

References

Smith, W.J. ed. (1980): A History of Dundee [Dundee, David Winter & Son]

External links

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Education

Churches and cemertarys

Areas of Dundee
Ardler \| Balfield \| Balgay \| Balgillo \| Balgowan \| Barnhill \| Blackness \| Bowbridge \| Broughty Ferry \| Camperdown \| Charleston \| Claverhouse \| Craigiebank \| Douglas \| Fairmuir \| Fintry \| Hilltown \| Kirkton \| Law \| Lochee \| Logie \| Longhaugh \| Menzieshill \| Ninewells \| Pitkerro \| St Marys \| Stobswell \| Strathmartine \| West End \| West Ferry \| Whitfield

Coordinates: [56°27′51″N, 02°58′13″W]

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Places with City status in Scotland
Aberdeen \| Dundee \| Edinburgh \| Glasgow \| Inverness \| Stirling