Tour Scotland video of the Scottish, American Soldiers statue on Calton hill in
Edinburgh,
Scotland. Old Calton Cemetery, also called Old Calton Burial Ground, is a graveyard in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is located on Calton Hill, to the north-east of the city centre. The burial ground was opened in 1718, and is the resting place of several notable Edinburgh people, including philosopher David Hume, publisher William Blackwood and clergyman Dr Robert Candlish. A focal point of the graveyard, iust in front of Hume’s tomb, is the Scottish, American Soldiers Monument, which was was erected in 1893. It depicts a standing figure of Abraham Lincoln, with a freed slave giving thanks at his feet. A bronze shield bears the old US flag, and is wreathed in thistles to the left, and cotton to the right. Two regimental flags lay furled, the battle being over. The black man holds a book, indicating that he is not only free, he is also now educated. This was the first statue to an American President in any country outwith the USA. It is the only statue of Lincoln in Scotland, and the only monument to the American Civil War outwith the USA. The monument was erected at American expense to a small group of Scots, only one of whom, William Duff, is buried under the monument, the rest being nearby, to whom it felt indebted, and wished their graves to be marked, despite their later poverty. They had all fought for the Union, the North, in the American Civil War. The inscription, " To preserve the jewel of liberty in the framework of Freedom " is a quotation from the writings of Abraham Lincoln.
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