A Walk of Death (Day 2)

Well, this morning I feel like a renegade, thanks to Mr. Irish’s drinking songs while clapping and stomping on the floor at 4 am. For some hair-brained reason, I thought I wouldn’t need my earplugs in because I was so tired. Boo hoo, I was wrong. Shortly after renegades guy came home, I jammed those plugs in so far that I could only feel the floor shudder – no more singing! The plugs worked a little too well as Jean and I only came out of our slumber at 10 am…thus missing the free breakfast and a good chunk of the morning. This would prove a good thing though in the days to come as it rid us of all jetlag. Since neither of us had any clue about Glasgow, we relied on my trusty travel guide for walking tours which would consume most of our time here.

After jamming down some of our packed foods, we headed out down Sauchiehall to the starting point of our walking tour, Glasgow’s Necropolis.




Sauchiehall’s pedestrian-only zone.


Busy Buchanan Street – the pedestrian paradise in Glasgow.





We’ve arrived!

In 1831, John Strang, Chamberlain at the Merchants' House in Glasgow, wrote “Necropolis Glasguensis", or “Thoughts on Death and Moral Stimulus”

Come take the Necropolis stroll with me…



This is the Robert Black Mausoleum. This Greek Doric temple, the first mausoleum in the Necropolis, was erected for his daughter Catherine who died at age 12 in 1837.



The above image can be broken down into these two parts:


The guy with a spear flying through his head.


The lady assaulting her assailant while getting assaulted. Awkward!



1. This is the Dunn of Duntocher Monument, erected in 1848. William Dunn lived luxuriously and had an excessive liking for law pleas – he was constantly in the Court with his neighbours.

2. This gent is William McGavin. He began a religious fanaticism publication called “The Protestant” in 1818 and this monument was designed in 1834.

3. This is Major Archibald Douglas Monteath Mausoleum, erected in 1842. Monteath served in the East India Company (Ed. Note: I don’t think that is the same company in the Pirates movies…) Allegedly, Monteath made his fortune when an elephant carrying precious gems belonging to a Maharajah was captured and ‘relieved’ of the its load by him. (I dunno…he sounds like a Pirate to me.)



The monument on the far right is the Reverend John Dick Monument, erected in 1838. He died of a brain inflammation caused by an inner ear infection. The inscription on the frieze at the top is translated: “Oh! Tell me not the good man dies embalmed in scared sleep he lies.”



On the left: the John Knox Monument, erected 1825. John Knox rejected the Roman Catholic Church and had to flee Scotland because of religious persecution. He returned to preach and played a significant part in the Reformation and its aftermath. The haunting image of John Knox overlooking the cathedral has deep religious and political connotations and the monument has become an iconic image of Glasgow. The eulogy on the base says: “When laid in the ground, the regent said, ‘There lieth he, Who never feared the face of man, who was often threatened with dab and dagger, yet hath ended his days in peace and honor.”

On the right: the Very Reverend Duncan Macfarlan’s Monument, erected 1863. He was Principal of Glasgow University in 1823 and Minister of Glasgow Cathedral in 1824.



This is the John Henry Alexander Monument, erected in 1851. An, owner and manager of the Theatre Royal in Dunlop Street – uniquely split into two sections so that comedy and tragedy could be played at the same time. One night in 1849, 65 people were killed in a crush caused by someone falsely shouting ‘fire’. Mr. Alexander is said to have roared himself hoarse trying to prevent the disaster and never recovered, as he died shortly after.



This is the Charles Tennant of St. Rollox Monument, erected 1838. This guy created a controllable bleaching agent. Um, yeah.









So, what do you think? I know that’s a lot of info, but now you don’t need to visit it yourself. Coolest. Graveyard. Ever.

Next stop on the tour, Glasgow Cathedral.





The Cathedral is considered the best example of 13th century religious architecture in Scotland.
















St. Mungo’s tomb









After oohing and ahhing about the fabulous-ness of such a old building, we continued on our stroll, making an impromptu stop at a little grocery store called Aldi which had some of the cheapest food we’d ever seen. We stocked up for lunch and made our way down to the Glasgow Green to indulge.





After lunch we headed into the museum on the green, the People’s Palace. It was a really great social history museum, but soon enough, we were on our way once again.











The above picture is of the Royal Exchange Square and the guy on the horse is the Duke of Wellington. Strangely enough, the tour book narrating the tour said that he would most likely have a traffic cone on his head…and so he did. But no explanation – bums.





That night, after eating some more of our Aldi food and watching several hours of ‘Scrubs’, we decided it was time for our Scottish pub experience and found this real authentic joint called “Bon Accord.”



It was about 95 degrees in there and jammed with Scottish 40- and 50-somethings. Perfect. Perfect for our night of debauchery.





I don’t drink beer.





And soon (however, not soon enough), it was gone. We walked home singing the same songs that the Irish gent sang the night previous and giggled about this and that and gabbed about our thighs. Yay!

Tomorrow is our last day in Glasgow and filled with many more things! Venus Flytraps! Kylie Minogue! A human hand! No big deal.