IN his fine book, On Glasgow and Edinburgh, Robert Crawford, a professor at St Andrews, writes of the cities’ long-standing rivalry: “It is impossible to life live to the full in either place without occasionally thinking wistfully or smirkingly of the other.”
Within Scotland since at least the early eighteenth century, he adds a few pages later, “a sense of sparring and sometimes outright competition between the country’s two largest cities has been a defining aspect of the nation.”
Even Provand’s Lordship, that historic building in Castle Street, across the road from the Cathedral, the Necropolis and the Royal Infirmary, has, it seems, been pressed into service in the context of Glasgow one-upmanship.
The property, pictured here in 1956 (it’s interesting to note the tenement buildings that adjoined it at that time), dates from 1471.
Its masonry, Prof Crawford writes, is largely of the late Middle Ages, as are its oak floor beams. The house was extended in 1671, and its windows altered then or at a later date. Inside, its floor plan is medieval, with three equal-size rooms on each storey. “Furnished with sixteenth- and seventeenth-century items, Provand’s Lordship, like the Cathedral, speaks of Glasgow’s venerability.”
Glaswegians, he goes on to observe, “have the additional satisfaction of knowing that no small house of comparable antiquity survives in Edinburgh.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel