Image: George Drummond memorial tablet, Canongate Kirkyard Edinburgh

Description: A plain tablet marks the grave of the visionary Lord Provost who first saw the possibilities of a northwards expansion of the city which resulted in the building of Edinburgh's 18thC New Town. He lived to see the completion of the first North Bridge, but died shortly before work on the New Town was begun in 1767. "I happened one day ... to be standing at a window [in the old town] looking out to the opposite side of the North Loch, then called Barefoot's Parks, in which there was not a single house to be seen. "Look at these fields," said Provost Drummond; "you, Mr. Somerville, are a young man, and may probably live, though I will not, to see all these fields covered with houses, forming a splendid and magnificent city. To the accomplishment of this, nothing more is necessary than draining the North Loch, and providing a proper access from the old town. I have never lost sight of this object since the year 1725, when I was first elected Provost."" -- Rev. Thomas Somerville referring to Drummond in 1763
Title: George Drummond memorial tablet, Canongate Kirkyard Edinburgh
Credit: Own work
Author: Kim Traynor
Usage Terms: Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0
License: CC BY-SA 3.0
License Link: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0
Attribution Required?: Yes