Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies: what’s in a name?
Abstract
The veterinary school that was established in Edinburgh in 1823, almost two
hundred years ago, has had an interesting and rich history. Recent studies
have revealed details of some of the personalities who created its academic
foundations, and these investigations have also shown that the early beginnings
can be traced back to the 1600s. Other studies have given substance to the
architectural structures that this school, and its neighbouring veterinary schools,
took from inception. The lives and contributions of several of the main
characters that played important roles in the development of this school have
been sketched out and these recent studies have added to the information
that was published earlier. Nevertheless, in this process of exploration, various
other gaps in our appreciation of the veterinary school have begun to make
themselves more obvious. For example, what the veterinary school was called
by people locally, nationally and internationally really mattered to the ones who
worked and studied there. This example naturally raised a further series of
specific questions; how was the veterinary school referred to in the past; what
events caused it to change its name; how did the school come to have the name
it now bears?
The assemblage of information that comprises this article seeks to explore the
answers to these questions. It shall also try to show that notions of 'presence',
'style' and 'quality' reflected, characterised and still contribute greatly to the
perception of Edinburgh's veterinary school, both locally and more widely. The
personal ambition and confident appreciation of self worth inherent within the
school's founder, William Dick, coupled together with consistently correct
guidance from a well-connected early mentor, Dr John Barclay, the presence of
an appropriately organised agricultural environment, The Highland
Society, and the educational legacy of the Scottish enlightenment, each
contributed to the creation of a veterinary school with character, in
Edinburgh.