Old travel Blog photograph of the Deanshaugh Bridge over the River Lossie by Elgin, a former cathedral city and Royal Burgh in Moray, Scotland. This bridge carries a footpath across the River Lossie between Cooper Park and Bishopmill. The river here forms the boundary between the parishes of Elgin and Spynie. Elgin town originated to the south of the River Lossie on the higher ground above the floodplain. Elgin is first documented in the Cartulary of Moray in 1190 AD. It was created a Royal Burgh in the 12th century by King David I of Scotland. On 19 July 1224, the foundation stone of the new Elgin Cathedral was ceremoniously laid. The cathedral was completed sometime after 1242 but was completely destroyed by fire in 1270. In the 19th century the old medieval town of Elgin was swept away. The first major addition to the town centre was the Assembly Rooms, built in 1821 by the Trinity Lodge of Freemasons, at the corner of High Street and North Street. The Morayshire Railway was officially opened in ceremonies at Elgin and Lossiemouth on 10 August 1852. William Dunbar was born in 1749 in Thunderton House, Elgin. He was the youngest son of Sir Archibald Dunbar and Anne Bayne Dunbar. In 1763 he attended King's College, Aberdeen, and graduated from there in 1767. He emigrated to America arriving in Philadelphia in April 1771. In 1773 he and a Scottish merchant opened a cotton plantation in Florida and in 1792 opened another plantation in Mississippi. Dunbar became surveyor general in the Natchez area in 1798 and making his first meteorological observations in the Mississippi Valley in 1799. President Thomas Jefferson appointed him and fellow Scot Dr George Hunter to explore the Ouachita River region and travel all the way to the source of the Red River. They set out on 16 October 1804, traveling up the Ouachita River and on to the area of Hot Springs, Arkansas. Dunbar became the first man to give a scientific report of the hot springs, and his journal of the exploration was later published in Documents Relating to the Purchase and Exploration of Louisiana. He died in 1887. Of interest to folks with ancestry, genealogy or Scottish Family Roots in Scotland who may wish to visit one day.
All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.
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