The Brass and Iron Founders Pillar

I have no idea how many hundred times I have passed Nicholson Square Gardens in Edinburgh since 1976 and looked at the pillar standing there and wondered what it signified, well today I found out.

Having taken myself into town, dropped into the Mercat Bar where I tried the Orkney black pudding on toast - lovely, then crossed the road and had my hair cut by the lovely Alison at the Salon Cafe, and wandered via the Standing Order to Clerk Street, being nosy.

I spotted the pillar in the gardens and went for a closer look. It was commissioned for the 1886 International Exhibition of Science and Art and designed by James Cowans the Lord Dean of the Guild of Edinburgh.

It was originally erected in the meadows, Edinburgh, but later mover over the present site, however, in December 1968 it was blown down in a gale.

The pillar was restored and repaired by the students of the Telford College and eventually re-erected in 1976.

There are twenty four different shields/ crests on the pillar, too many for me to photograph today. Most are of various towns around Scotland but there are the crests of Scotland, England, and Ireland around the top section. The pillar is topped by a statue depicting Hiram Abif, a biblical character, who was reputed to be the "first artificer in metals" and spoken about in Freemasonary.

As the saying goes "you learn something new every day".

Next saying "early to bed, early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise", so for me off to bed and up early to fly down to Birmingham NEC to attend the IFSEC exhibition there - and perhaps learn a bit more.