Optical Curiosities in Scotland
By Ronald MacGregor

Grave Matter: In the churchyard of the old parish church at Kirkliston near Edinburgh can be found a gravestone the top corners of which form two heads wearing spectacles. The important point is that the spectacles appear to have ring-end temples. The date on the stone is 1727 which would make this the earliest evidence of temple spectacles (spectacles with sides). The problem is of course that the stone may not have been carved and erected until a few years after the actual death. The stone is not badly worn and is in memory of Margaret Shield who died on 3 July 1727 at the age of 24 years. There is a plaster-cast of this gravestone in the Science Museum in London.

Wellington Spyglass: In the unlikely location of the tiny museum in the small town of Ullapool in the north-west of Scotland can be seen a beautiful real tortoiseshell and silver spyglass which belonged to the Duke of Wellington. The silver-mounted shagreen case is also on display. From the engraved inscription we learn that the items were presented to the 'Iron Duke' by King George IV in 1803 following a battle in India.

Mary Slessor's Spectacles: In the museum in the city of Dundee can be seen two pair of rolled-gold oval curl-sided spectacles which belonged to the famous missionary Mary Slessor who came from Dundee. When one pair was lost and then found broken she patched them up and continued to use them. A visitor noticed this and when he returned to England he sent out a variety of ‘strengths’ of spectacles to Africa so that she could select a suitable new pair.

Nuremberg Case: Another rare item in an unlikely location is a wooden case for a pair of Nuremberg spectacles. It measures about 70 x 45mm and has hinges of brass. There are no spectacles with it but the case can be seen in the museum in the market town of Kelso in the Scottish Borders.

Nuremberg Spectacles: To see a pair of steel-wire spectacles in the Nuremberg style you will have to travel north to the Angus Folk Museum in Glamis where a number of pairs of spectacles are on display in one showcase.

Edinburgh: The Royal Museum in Edinburgh has an excellent display of optical instruments in an ‘Instruments of Science’ gallery. Many of the telescopes, microscopes etc, were donated by our member Arthur Frank. No spectacles are on display and only one small spyglass which is churlishly captioned as being ‘more a toy than a scientific instrument’. In fact it is a top quality Ramsden spyglass with turned ivory mounts. It dates from the late 18th century. In the ‘Oriental’ gallery adjacent to the ‘Instruments of Science’ gallery can be seen an ivory netsuke depicting three monkeys, two with spectacles, playing a Japanese board game called ‘Go’.

Glasgow: The Glasgow Art Gallery and Museum has two pairs of Eskimo snow-goggles with unglazed viewing slits. They are in a showcase containing Eskimo dress and artefacts. Both pairs are carved out of horn. One pair is modern with a skip and the other pair is older with no skip. Elsewhere in the art gallery can be found an anamorph of Bonnie Prince Charlie.

Ayr: In the museum beside Burns’ Cottage at Alloway is a pair of 18th century spectacles with one lens missing. The frame is of iron with ring-end temples. The caption states that they belonged to Isabella Steven (Tibbie Stein) who is mentioned in one of Burns’ poems, ‘O Tibbie I have seen the day’. There is a papier-mache pull-off case with the spectacles.

Mauchline Ware: Burns lived for a short time in a house in Mauchline near Kilmarnock and this house is now a museum which, in addition to things associated with Burns, houses a display of the highly collectable little wooden boxes which were manufactured in the town from the early years of the 19th century until the 1930’s. Several styles of spectacle cases were produced and a representative selection can be seen.

Art: Spectacles depicted in wear in oil-paintings and prints can be viewed at various locations. In Edinburgh at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery in Queen Street there are silver oval spectacles (John Black, Journalist 1783-1855), fine steel spectacles. (Sam Bough, Painter 1822-1878), brass oval spectacles (Dr. John Brown 1810-1882) and various types of twentieth century spectacles illustrated. Two other locations which come to mind are the Old Parliament House in Edinburgh and the Castle at Glamis.

The artisit, John Kay of Edinburgh produced hundreds of engravings of characters who were well-known in Edinburgh during the late 18th century. About ten of the prints show vision-aids in use. The prints were re-published, using the original plates, during the 19th century. They can be found fairly easily and are not expensive.

Conclusion: Although the foregoing is not an exclusive survey of the ophthalmic antiques which are on public display in Scotland it has to be said that in general they are thin on the ground.

Footnote: Since the above article was written it has come to my attention that a variety of 'Optical Curiosities' can be seen at Blair Castle, Blair Atholl, Perthshire. There are at least thirteen items including antique spectacles and lorgnettes, scissors, spectacles, telescopes and magnifiers. One notable item is a walking-cane telescope in metal painted to look like wood.

Article reprinted with the permission of The Ophthalmic Antique International Collectors' Club.