{"id":5221,"date":"2021-11-19T08:16:41","date_gmt":"2021-11-19T08:16:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fantasy.glasgow.ac.uk\/?p=5221"},"modified":"2021-11-19T08:16:41","modified_gmt":"2021-11-19T08:16:41","slug":"a-tale-of-two-lindsays-in-search-of-starkness-observatory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fantasy.glasgow.ac.uk\/index.php\/2021\/11\/19\/a-tale-of-two-lindsays-in-search-of-starkness-observatory\/","title":{"rendered":"A Tale of Two Lindsays: In Search of Starkness Observatory"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Kristine Larsen<\/a>, Central Connecticut State University<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The term \u201castronomical observatory\u201d usually brings to mind an image of a gleaming white or silver hemispherical dome, or a vision of the Hubble Space Telescope, hurtling around the earth at 30,000 km per hour at an altitude of more than 500 km above the surface of our planet. But in centuries past, the basic architecture of the astronomical observatory was far more utilitarian, merely constructed to raise the observer above the local landscape. For example, Cheomseongdae in South Korea is a 7th<\/sup> century ten-meter-high bottle-shaped tower made of granite blocks (Castro Tirado 3).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Figure 1: Cheomseongdae Observatory [Public domain]<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Figure 2. Exterior of the Rundet\u00e5rn [Public domain].<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The Rundet\u00e5rn (Round Tower) Observatory in Copenhagen was built by Danish king Christian IV in 1642, a helical internal ramp not only leading to an observation platform 40 meters above the ground, but reportedly offering amusement to Peter the Great as he frequently rode his horse up to the top (Castro Tirado 6; Cajori 372). Hans Christian Andersen included numerous references to the Round Tower in his writings, for example as a setting in the 1857 novel To Be or Not To Be (At v\u00e6re eller ikke v\u00e6re)<\/em> (\u201cHans Christian Andersen\u201d).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Figure 3. Interior tamp of the Rundet\u00e5rn [Jorge L\u00e1scar, CC-BY-2.0]<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

In H.G. Wells\u2019 1898 novel The War of the Worlds<\/em>, the narrator recounts viewing Mars through a telescope in a \u201cblack and silent\u201d fictional domed observatory in the English village of Ottershaw, describing the \u201cshadowed lantern throwing a feeble glow upon the floor in the corner, the steady ticking of the clockwork of the telescope, the little slit in the roof\u201d (Wells 11). George MacDonald\u2019s 1864 short story \u201cThe Castle\u201d includes an \u201cobservatory on a lofty tower,\u201d part of the eponymous castle built on \u201cthe top of a high cliff\u201d (n.p.). This latter architecture is echoed in David Lindsay\u2019s 1920 novel A Voyage to Arcturus<\/em>. The fictional \u201cfamous Starkness Observatory\u201d where \u201cCurious discoveries are made \u2026 from time to time\u201d is said to be located on \u201cthe north-east coast of Scotland\u201d (Lindsay 14). The characters Maskull and Nightspore arrived at the observatory after walking seven miles from the fictional Haillar Station, along a road \u201cvery wild and lonely, [that] ran for the greater part of the way near the edge of rather lofty cliffs, within sight of the North Sea\u201d (Lindsay 17). The observatory complex, which looked as if it had been deserted for six months or more, is described as a \u201cself-contained little community\u201d and composed of \u201cthree buildings: a small, stone-built dwelling house [including a library], a low workshop, and, about two hundred yards farther north, a square tower of granite masonry, seventy feet in height\u201d (Lindsay 17).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The eponymous departure for Arcturus is made from a platform on the top of the observatory tower. Lindsay\u2019s choice of design is understandable, as it is certainly easier to launch a \u201ctorpedo of crystal\u201d (Lindsay 27) from the flat roof of a tower than the narrow slit of a round dome. But the description of this abandoned Scottish observatory brings to mind the troubled history of real Scottish facilities, those in Edinburgh.  In 1768 optician Thomas Short (1711-1788) inherited a telescope made for the Danish King upon his telescope-maker brother James\u2019 death. Thomas brought the instrument back to Edinburgh and after first setting it up on the roof of Heriot\u2019s Hospital, petitioned the Town Council to lease him land on Calton Hill for the purpose of building an observatory that could be used by University of Edinburgh students (Br\u00fcck, \u201cThe Story\u201d 5). The stone structure was begun in 1776 but not completed until 1792, four years after Short\u2019s death. While it is not built on the coast, and is composed of a single structure (unlike Starkness Observatory), it is made of stone, has a flat roof, and hugs a cliff-side.<\/p>\n\n\n\n