Autobiography of Sir John Rennie, F.R.S., Past President of the Institute of Civil Engineers. Sir John Rennie
the voyage, which I accordingly agreed to do.
Then came the last important question, how was the block to be got on board? There was no crane in the port capable of lifting above 2 or 3 tons.
I immediately set to work to supply this deficiency by means of two sets of strong sheer-poles, capable of bearing 10 to 15 tons each. The vessel engaged was accordingly brought alongside the quay where the 4-ton crane was fixed, so that it should nearly plumb the centre of the hatchway of the vessel, which it was necessary to enlarge and strengthen considerably before it could receive the stone. I then secured the sheer-poles well at the top, and placed one set on each side of the crane, a short distance from the extremity of each end of the hatchway. The legs of the sheer-poles were firmly fixed in the bed of the harbour, striding over the vessel, so that they were perfectly independent of the vessel, and the top of each pole was directly over the centre of the hatchway. To the top of the sheer-poles I applied a pair of strong treble sheave-blocks, capable of receiving a thick rope; each block was worked by a double purchase crab or windlass manned by eight men each, besides four to work the crane, so that the block would be suspended at three points, the sheers taking the greatest weight. After a good deal of trouble I got the whole of this apparatus as complete as circumstances would permit, which were not the most favourable. From the quay a strong timber gangway was constructed over the hatchway, the outer end being supported, clear of the vessel, by piles driven into the bed of the harbour on each side, in order that the ship might be kept perfectly steady until the stone was placed within the hold, because otherwise the stone resting upon any part of the deck might have upset it. Everything being ready, the stone was brought alongside the vessel and the tackle of the crane and of the two pairs of sheer-poles was made fast to three sets of strong chains fastened round the stone, which was transferred upon rollers over the centre of the hatchway of the vessel, the purchases of the crane and sheer-poles being kept sufficiently tight so as to prevent any undue pressure upon the platform. The stone was then raised clear of the platform, when I heard a crack; in fact, one of the sheer-poles had bent and partially yielded; it was then blocked, and, the sheers having been first spliced with strong rope, the stone was again hoisted and swung clear of the platform, which was removed, and the stone was lowered into the hold of the vessel and properly secured without any further delay or accident. The whole of these operations were witnessed with intense interest by many of the inhabitants of Peterhead, and when so successfully completed the quays resounded with cheers. The gallant workmen who laboured so arduously and with such goodwill, and to whose exertions the success may be mainly attributed, were plenteously regaled, together with their friends, with all the good things which Peterhead afforded, in which the worthy inhabitants joined, and the remainder of the day was passed in mutual goodwill and festivity.
My readers will, I trust, excuse the detailed manner in which I have described these operations, which at the present day would be considered trifling to a degree, but, at the time above mentioned, more than half a century since, operations of this kind had not been attempted, and were entirely novel, and were considered extraordinary; they must, therefore, be viewed as the pioneer to the far greater operations of the kind which have followed. For now such stones are considered mere trifles, and blocks of almost any reasonable size can be quarried, polished, and transported to their destination, however distant, at comparatively much less cost and with greater facility. The cutting and polishing of granite at that time was accomplished at great expense, as it was done entirely by manual labour; now it is performed by means of machinery at greatly reduced cost, and polished granite of every kind is introduced into buildings, which was formerly considered impracticable; and thus the architect is provided with additional means of ornamenting his structures. It is true that many centuries before the Egyptians had shown the way; but then the whole power and resources of the nation had been devoted to this object, and incredible sums of money and great labour had been expended, regardless of the misery and oppression of the people. But in Great Britain it has been considered a true maxim of political economy, that every article should be produced at the least possible cost, and no work should be undertaken unless it would yield a fair profit for the capital expended; and whenever there is a reasonable prospect of obtaining this satisfactory result, any amount of capital which may be required is always forthcoming. Witness the vast sums which have been expended on railways alone, besides steam-vessels, manufactures, machinery, and other similar undertakings.
Whilst at Aberdeen and Peterhead, my father gave me an introduction to his old and intimate friend, the well-known James Ferguson, of Pitfour, the member for the county, and the intimate friend of Mr. Pitt. Mr. Ferguson possessed a large fortune; he was an old bachelor of the most amiable and charitable disposition, beloved by everybody and universally popular throughout the county. As illustrative of the manners of those days, I will simply mention that when I presented my father’s letter of introduction he received me most kindly, and invited me to spend a few days under his most hospitable roof, which I accepted, and on the first day there was assembled a large party of the most influential gentlemen of the county; as was usual wines of all kinds flowed in abundance, and universal hilarity prevailed. The consequence was that not long after dinner several of the guests fell off their chairs and took their nap under the table, from which after a short time they recovered and resumed their seats, and again set to work at their potations, which continued until long past midnight; by this time another considerable batch of guests were under the table, leaving their glasses full. I was so much amused at this unaccustomed scene, that, by way of frolic, I took the full glasses of some of the guests on the floor and poured them down their throats, which had no other effect than to make them sleep sounder. In this manner the evening passed merrily away, and it was late in the morning before the whole of the company found their way to their beds. The amiable host allowed everyone to do as he liked, and when he had had enough, which was not very soon, he retired to bed, leaving his guests to take care of themselves; in fact, Pitfour was “Liberty Hall,” and was open to all comers, the only limit being the amount of sleeping accommodation.
To give some idea of his hospitality, Mr. Ferguson seldom had less than thirty-six pipes of fine port wine in his cellars, besides claret, burgundy, sherry, champagne, brandy, and whisky, in proportion. He was so fond of Mr. Pitt, that it is believed that if Mr. Pitt had survived him, he intended to have made him heir to his estates, which were said to have been worth above 20,000l. a year.
When attending his duties in the House of Commons, he lodged in apartments in St. James’s Street, and after the parliamentary labours of the week were over, Mr. Pitt, the late Harry Dundas, First Lord Melville, and Mr. Ferguson used to retire to a country house at Wimbledon, and spend the Saturday, Sunday, and Monday in the greatest conviviality, until it was time to return to their parliamentary labours. Mr. Ferguson rarely, if ever, spoke in the House of Commons, but when he did, it was always to the purpose: his speeches, although exceedingly short, were replete with much common sense, accompanied by a terseness of wit, humour, and drollery, which convulsed his hearers with laughter, so that he was a general favourite. He used always to say that he had heard “mony a gude speech, but that he never changed his vote, he aye voted with Mr. Pitt.”
Having shown the good people of Peterhead how to get and ship the large blocks of red granite for the Southwark Bridge, and feeling that there would be no further difficulty about the matter, I returned to London, after an absence of two weeks, and resumed my duties at the Southwark Bridge. In the spring of 1814 my father, being desirous that I should be initiated into the practice of marine and trigonometrical surveying upon a large scale, sent me, under the direction of the late Mr. Francis Giles, who had then been appointed by Mr. Rennie to make an extensive survey of the different places where it was practicable to construct proper artificial harbours on the south-west coast of Scotland, such as Port Nessock, Ardwell, and Port Patrick bays, on the Scotch side of the channel, and Ballantrae, Donaghadee, Ballyhone, and Bangor bays, on the opposite coast of the Irish Channel, in order to decide which were the best places on either side of the channel to make permanent good artificial harbours for packets, for the purpose of establishing the best and most direct communication between the south-west coast of Scotland and the opposite coast of Ireland. In addition to making the surveys of the different ports above mentioned, it was absolutely necessary to make a correct chart of the channel within the above limits, comprehending a coast-line of about 30 miles on each side, including the Copeland Islands. It was also necessary to determine the