The National Monument of Scotland, on Calton Hill in Edinburgh, is Scotland's national memorial to the Scottish soldiers and sailors who died fighting in the Napoleonic Wars.[1][2] It was intended, according to the inscription, to be "A Memorial of the Past and Incentive to the Future Heroism of the Men of Scotland".[3]
The monument dominates the top of Calton Hill, just to the east of Princes Street. It was designed during 1823–6 by Charles Robert Cockerell and William Henry Playfair and is modeled upon the Parthenon in Athens. Construction started in 1826 and, due to the lack of funds, was left unfinished in 1829. This circumstance gave rise to various nicknames such as "Scotland's Folly", "Edinburgh's Disgrace",[4] "the Pride and Poverty of Scotland" and "Edinburgh's Folly".[5]
- ^ Historic Environment Scotland. "Calton Hill, off Regent Road, National Monument (Category A Listed Building) (LB27820)". Retrieved 18 March 2019.
- ^ Grant, James (1887). "15". Old and new Edinburgh: its history, its people, and its places. Vol. 3. Cassell. Retrieved 7 November 2011.
- ^ Society of Antiquaries of Scotland (23 January 1888). "Donations to the Museum and Library". Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. Vol. XXII. Edinburgh: Neill and Company. p. 64. Retrieved 15 August 2012.
- ^ Thomas Guthrie; William Garden Blaikie; Benjamin Waugh (1901). The Sunday Magazine. Strahan & Company.
The National Monument on Calton Hill, Edinburgh, which looks like the fragment of a stupendous ruin, and which is an outstanding feature in the views of Auld Reekie, is popularly known as Scotland's folly or Edinburgh's disgrace.
- ^ "Lost Edinburgh: Edinburgh's Disgrace". www.scotsman.com. 17 February 2014. Retrieved 22 July 2021.