In 1834 eleven of his students met in Robertson's Tavern, Milne's Close, on Thursday 4th December and resolved to start a geological society 'for discussion and mutual instruction'. Their first scientific meeting was held on the following Monday, when they argued successfully that Arthur's Seat was of volcanic origin. Thereafter they met every Monday evening at Alexander Rose's house, no. 2 Drummond Street. One of them, John Castle, was elected first president, with James Brodie as secretary whose neat hand records all this in the Society's first minute book. A few months later, Alexander Rose became president and led the Society for the next eleven years. During this time he was presented with a silver trophy cup as a mark of the members' esteem. This in itself is an indication of Rose's remarkable character.

Rose's father John, who came from Cromarty before settling to his craft in Edinburgh, undoubtedly passed on his skills to Alexander who became an outstanding craftsman in his own right, as may be seen in the specimen cabinet he made and used himself.

A no doubt apocryphal story, told by Alexander's grandson Robert, demonstrates his confident skills. 'During the final years of the 18th century there was excitment in the neighbourhood of Blackfriars and Niddrie streets, caused by the report of a 'brownie' busy in one of the old houses there. Morning after morning a local turner on entering his workshop, was astonished to find that the work he had left unfinished the night before, was all beautifully completed. Curiosity got the better of fear and a watch was set. In the grey of an early morning, the 'brownie' was discovered entering the window of the workshop! He was a small boy: Alexander Rose.'

In the 1830s Alexander Rose became a lecturer in geology and mineralogy in Queen's College. This was a teaching association, not a building nor part of the university. Little is known about Queen's College, and it would be interesting to learn more about this institution. Rose was an excellent and inspiring lecturer, of unassuming disposition and warm affections, who was held in the highest regard by his students, who at different times presented him with a silver tea service and a silver snuff box. This last, together with the silver cup mentioned earlier, was gifted to the Society in October 1945 by Rose's grandson's widow Mary Tweedie-Stodart Rose, who also gave us his specimen cabinet and arm chair. The silver is now on display in Murchison House, while the furniture is presently in the care of the writer of this article.

In 1816 Rose married Isabella Boyne and they had three sons and six daughters. William, the eldest son, died in infancy. The second son Alexander helped his father as a turner. He never married. He was killed by a runaway horse the year after his father died. John (1828-1894) was the third son, who worked in a stationery business. He first met Ann Trail, whom he was to marry, at the home of Hugh Miller. Ann and John had five children, the middle one being christened Robert Traill after his maternal grandfather. Robert (1861-1942), who was an artist, married Mary Tweedie-Stodart, but they had no children. After she was widowed, Mary presented the Society in 1945 with the priceless mementoes of her husband's grandfather, which are described below.

In 1838 the Society presented the silver cup to its president, as the inscription states:
 

It is a thistle shaped trophy cup, 202mm tall with a top diameter of 105mm. Its capacity is 800m1 and it weighs 505g. It has a ribbed lip and is gilded on the inside. Outside it is plain polished with two opposite repoussed fat-scroll edged reserved cartouches. One of these carries the inscription, and the other encloses an engraved crest, the Baird crest of an eagle's head, 'erased proper'* surmounted by a scroll bearing the motto of Clan Rose: 'Constant and True'. The eagle's head is erect with open beak. The cup has a short stem with a central moulding and a triple-stepped pedestal foot.

Hall marking was done in Edinburgh in 1837, the marks being the sovereign's head, the thistle, the maker's mark 'AGW', the castle and the date letter 'f'. In 1993 the cup was valued for insurance at £800. AGW, the maker, was A G Wighton, an Edinburgh silversmith and jeweller who was active between 1823 and 1863.

In 1840 Rose was presented with a silver snuff box by his students. The box is rectangular with rounded corners, 88 by 54 mm, and 22mm high. Around the top and base are double beadings of highly stylised leaves and flowers. The sides are reeded and the base is engine-turned in alternating bands of beaded and wavy lines. The top has a reserved, inscribed panel (as above) surrounded by ornament similar to that on the base. Inside the box is gilded. Its weight is 147g. It was hallmarked in Birmingham in 1839, the marks being the anchor, the makerís mark FC, and year letter Q on the inside of the base; and the sovereign's head, maker's mark FC, and lion passant on the inside of the lid. FC is the mark of Francis Clark. In 1993 the insurance value was £700. The inscription on the lid reads:
 

Rose's specimen cabinet, made and used by himself, is an individually designed piece, probably made sometime between 1810 and 1830, in a style typical of the Regency period, characterised by functional elegance and restrained ornamentation. It comprises 18 specimen drawers in two tiers, with double doors, above which is a frieze.

The carcase is made of veneered Cuban mahogany on pine. The top is flat, 956 by 540 mm, with a moulded edge forming a 20mm cornice to the frieze, which incorporates the fronts of two shallow lockable drawers which are recessed with quarter barrel moulding. A narrow reed moulding finishes off the base of the frieze.

Each door has a central recessed oval panel edged with barrel beading to match the frieze drawers. Inside, the oval is also recessed but edged with plain quarter moulding. The door frame is quartered and mitred with concealed joints, the grain of the wood running horizontally and vertically as shown in the drawing. The left hand door has brass bolts top and bottom, recessed into the front edge, and has a blind keyhole to match that for the lock in the other door. A strip of moulding attached to the right hand door conceals the gap between the closed doors and adds a touch of ornament to the cabinet. A simple quarter-moulded 23 mm-deep front finishes off the base of the cabinet which rests on turned and reeded bun feet.

Inside there are 18 specimen drawers, each 70 mm inside vertical depth, with the two lowest 88 mm deep. Drawer fronts are lacewood (quarter-sawn London plane) with concealed dovetail joints to the sides which are made of chestnut. Drawer bases are pine and extend 15 mm beyond the sides to engage in horizontal slots in the sides of the cabinet, so enabling the drawers to be pulled out part way while remaining firm. Turned handles of ebonised beech screw into the front of each drawer.

An inscription plate 122 by 75 mm, on top of the cabinet reads: 
 

In 1994 the insurance value of the cabinet was £2800. As the Society has no premises of its own, the cabinet is looked after by one of the officers. At present this is the writer of this article, who has the pleasure of admiring it as a piece of furniture and of using it for its original purpose. It is most gratifying that this cabinet, made and used by Alexander Rose himself, is now the Society's property.

Rose made a Windsor armchair for himself. A plate fixed to the top of the upper splat reads:
 

The chair is of traditional design with a stylised-vase splat, the upper part of which is of either beech or cherry, and the lower part cherry or walnut. The seat, arms and bow are made of ash and the turned pieces are either ash or sweet chestnut. Slight irregularities in the turning and joining betray the fact that this is not a factory product, but a hand-made article imbued with the spirit of its maker. In 1994 the chair was valued at £350.

It will be noticed that the inscription plates on the chair and cabinet refer to Rose as founder of the Society. While this is not strictly correct, as noted earlier, the Society was founded by a group of Roseís students meeting without him. However, the fact that they decided to meet weekly in Rose's house, implies that their initial meeting was with his blessing. Without him there would have been no Society, and he was its guiding spirit and mentor through many of its earliest years. The Society is fortunate to have these mementoes of Alexander Rose, particularly perhaps the furniture which he himself made and used; and we are deeply indebted to Mary Rose for these gifts to our Society.

Bibliography

Monro, S K. 1981. Reflections on Alexander Rose. Edinburgh Geologist No. 10, p. 2-4.

Rose, Mrs M.T-S. 1953. Alexander Rose, Geologist and his grandson Robert Traill Rose, artist. 
Edinburgh, C J Cousland & Sons Ltd.

Watson, J.A. 1934. General History [of the Edinburgh Geological Society]. Transactions of the Edinburgh 
Geological Society, Vol. 13, p. 231-241. 
 

* Heraldic terms meaning 'torn off so as to leave a jagged edge' and 'in its natural colours'. 

We have tried in vain to trace the copyright holder of Mrs Rose's book. She died a few years after it was published; and the publishers are no longer in business. The Society trusts that it will be excused any inadvertent breach of copyright in quoting from this book.