January 24, 1913.
Scottish University Maces.
The four oldest maces in Scotland, which belong to the Universities of
St Andrews and Glasgow, were made in the fifteenth century, and have,
with one exception, heads of tabernacle form; while all the others,
which belong respectively to the City of Edinburgh, the Universities of
Aberdeen and Edinburgh, and the College of Justice, were made in the
seventeenth and eighteenth centuries and later, and have bell-shaped
heads.
The mace of King’s College, Aberdeen, was made in 1650 by Walter Melvil,
an Aberdeen goldsmith, but from the records of the College it appears
that two older maces had existed before this date. A not improbable
theory is that the older of these maces was the gift of Bishop
Elphinstone, and that its design was similar to those at Glasgow and St
Andrews, with heads of tabernacle form. The mace of Marischal College.
Aberdeen, dates 1671, and was made in London. |
