John Smith (1770 - 1816) was a clockmaker born in
PittenweemPittenweem is a small and secluded fishing village tucked in the corner of Fife on the east coast of Scotland. According to the 2006 estimate, the village has a population of 1,600.The name derives from Pictish and Scottish Gaelic...
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FifeFife is a council area of Scotland, situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries to Perth and Kinross and Clackmannanshire. It was originally one of the Pictish kingdoms, known as Fib, and is still commonly known as the Kingdom of Fife within Scotland.It is a...
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ScotlandScotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
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His most famous clock is in the possession of the
Duke of BuccleuchThe title of Duke of Buccleuch was created in the Peerage of Scotland on 20 April 1663 for the Duke of Monmouth, who was the eldest illegitimate son of Charles II of Scotland, England, and Ireland and who had married Anne Scott, 4th Countess of Buccleuch.Anne was created Duchess in her own right...
. It is reported to have four dials and shows days of the week and days of the month. The clock can play eight old Scots tunes and every three hours initiates a procession where the Macer of the Lords of Council and Session appears, doffs his cap and then leads fifteen Lords in ceremonial robes across an opening, before re-appearing and replacing his cap.
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John Smith (1770 - 1816) was a clockmaker born in
PittenweemPittenweem is a small and secluded fishing village tucked in the corner of Fife on the east coast of Scotland. According to the 2006 estimate, the village has a population of 1,600.The name derives from Pictish and Scottish Gaelic...
,
FifeFife is a council area of Scotland, situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries to Perth and Kinross and Clackmannanshire. It was originally one of the Pictish kingdoms, known as Fib, and is still commonly known as the Kingdom of Fife within Scotland.It is a...
,
ScotlandScotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
.
His most famous clock is in the possession of the
Duke of BuccleuchThe title of Duke of Buccleuch was created in the Peerage of Scotland on 20 April 1663 for the Duke of Monmouth, who was the eldest illegitimate son of Charles II of Scotland, England, and Ireland and who had married Anne Scott, 4th Countess of Buccleuch.Anne was created Duchess in her own right...
. It is reported to have four dials and shows days of the week and days of the month. The clock can play eight old Scots tunes and every three hours initiates a procession where the Macer of the Lords of Council and Session appears, doffs his cap and then leads fifteen Lords in ceremonial robes across an opening, before re-appearing and replacing his cap. At midnight on Saturday, a plaque appears bearing the legend "Remember Sunday". On Sunday the clock neither strikes nor processes, resuming at midnight.
John Smith of Pitenweem was a superb ingenious craftsman and his clocks generally were of the highest quality. For such a talented clockmaker to come from a small secluded fishing village in Scotland this is no mean achievement. An advertisement is issued by himself in the year 1775, which he informs us, " he was bred in the trade and had never been out of the country."
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