Edinburgh Castle’s famous one o’clock gun is a popular tourist attraction, with lunchtime crowds gathering below the ramparts for the daily firing. Established in 1861 as a signal by which ships in the Firth of Forth could set their maritime clocks, it is still fired at 1pm every day, except Sundays and Christmas Day. Further north, for many years, the city of Dundee shared in this tradition, until a hospital matron put an end to it.
Introduced in 1873, the Dundee Time Cannon, a 32 pound gun, was fired daily at 1pm from the grounds of Dudhope Castle, a medieval stronghold built on an escarpment overlooking the city centre.
From 1917, after complaints from the matron of neighbouring Dundee Royal Infirmary that the cannon was causing distress to the shell-shocked soldiers returning from the trenches of the First World War in her care, it was only fired on New Years Day and Armistice Day, and, in 1936, the tradition ended completely.
Fast forward to 2007 and, with the hospital closed and redeveloped as housing, there were hopes the one o’clock gun might return but as yet this has not happened. However, a 19th century cannon (not the original time cannon) now occupies the spot, close to the castle, where it was located.
One of Dundee’s oldest buildings, Dudhope Castle dates from the late 13th century when the Scrymageour family built a tower house on lands to the north of the century. Over the years the structure has been altered and extended and, in the 17th century, it was home to John Graham of Claverhouse, the Jacobite leader better known a Bonnie Dundee, who perished while leading his troops to victory at the Battle of Killiecrankie.
In later years the castle and its grounds served as a military garrison while plans to repurpose it as a woollen mill never came to fruition and it was subsequently acquired by the Corporation of Dundee. Proposals to demolish the castle in 1958 were shelved and it was later fully restored and now houses council offices, corporate facilities and a university business school. The surrounding land is a public park.
Secret Scotland 