1 Pound Sterling 1941, Kingdom of Great Britain
| in Banknotes Book | Number: SC503a |
| Years of issue: | 23.10.1941 |
| Edition: | |
| Signatures: | Cashier: Mr. George Drever |
| Serie: | Scotland |
| Specimen of: | 02.11.1927 |
| Material: | Cotton fiber |
| Size (mm): | 150 x 85 |
| Printer: | William & Alexander Keith Johnston, Edinburgh (The Edina Works, off Easter Road) |
* All pictures marked 
are increased partially by magnifying glass, the remaining open in full size by clicking on the image.
** The word "Specimen" is present only on some of electronic pictures, in accordance with banknote images publication rules of appropriate banks.
Description
Watermark:
Avers:
Coat of arms of The National Bank of Scotland is centered.
In the center of the emblem apostle Saint Andrew dressed in purple monastic cloak. In front of him a silver cross martyr. He stands on the ground, to the right are the sheaf of hay in red color, to the left the ship in full sail (from the coat of Ship Bank).
Bottom shield fit, proportionally, two branches of thistle, crossing below. Over embroidered royal coronet, Eskroll - feathers, a symbol of royal power (often used in heraldry). Above them, the motto - "In patriam fidelis" (Faithful family home). The supporters are 2 lions standing on its legs in red color.
Coat of arms included in the Register of León in 1826.
On right side is a Palace of Holyrood House.
It is the official residence of the British monarch in Scotland. Located at the bottom of the Royal Mile in Edinburgh, at the opposite end to Edinburgh Castle, Holyrood Palace has served as the principal residence of the Kings and Queens of Scots since the XVI century, and is a setting for state occasions and official entertaining.
Holyrood Abbey was founded by David I, King of Scots, in 1128, and the abbey's position close to Edinburgh Castle meant that it was often visited by Scotland's monarchs, who were lodged in the guest house situated to the west of the abbey cloister. James IV constructed a new palace adjacent to the abbey in the early XVI century, and James V made additions to the palace, including the present north-west tower. Holyrood Palace was re-constructed in its present form between 1671 and 1679 to the Baroque design of the architect Sir William Bruce, forming four wings around a central courtyard, with a west front linking the XVI-century north-west tower with a matching south-west tower. The Queen's Gallery was built adjacent to the palace and opened to the public in 2002 to exhibit works of art from the Royal Collection.
HM The Queen Elizabeth spends one week in residence at Holyrood Palace at the beginning of each summer, where she carries out a range of official engagements and ceremonies. The XVI century Historic Apartments of Mary, Queen of Scots and the State Apartments, used for official and state entertaining, are open to the public throughout the year, except when members of the Royal Family are in residence.
On right side is the Glasgow cathedral.
Glasgow Cathedral, also called the High Kirk of Glasgow or St Kentigern's or St. Mungo's Cathedral, is the oldest cathedral on mainland Scotland and is the oldest building in Glasgow. Since the Reformation the cathedral continues in public ownership, within the responsibility of Historic Environment Scotland. The congregation is part of the established Church of Scotland's Presbytery of Glasgow and its services and associations are open to all. The cathedral and its kirkyard are at the top of High Street, at Cathedral Street. Immediately neighbouring it are Glasgow Royal Infirmary, opened in 1794, and the elevated Glasgow Necropolis, opened in 1833. Nearby are the Provand's Lordship, Glasgow`s oldest house and its herbal medical gardens, the Barony Hall (Barony Church), University of Strathclyde, Cathedral Square, Glasgow Evangelical Church (North Barony Church), and St. Mungo Museum.
The history of the cathedral is linked with that of the city, and is allegedly located where the patron saint of Glasgow, Saint Mungo, built his church. The tomb of the saint is in the lower crypt. Walter Scott's novel Rob Roy gives an account of the kirk.
Built before the Reformation from the late XII century onwards and serving as the seat of the Bishop and later the Archbishop of Glasgow, the building is a superb example of Scottish Gothic architecture. It is also one of the few Scottish medieval churches (and the only medieval cathedral on the Scottish mainland) to have survived the Reformation not unroofed.
James IV ratified the treaty of Perpetual Peace with England at the high altar on 10 December 1502. The cathedral and the nearby castle played a part in the battles of Glasgow in 1544 and 1560. Twenty years after the Reformation, on 22 April 1581 James VI granted the income from a number of lands to Glasgow town for the kirk's upkeep. He traced the ownership of these lands to money left by Archbishop Gavin Dunbar as a legacy for repairing the cathedral. The town council agreed on 27 February 1583 to take responsibility for repairing the kirk, while recording they had no obligation to do so. The church survives because of this resolution. Inside, the rood screen is also a very rare survivor in Scottish churches.
The cathedral has been host to number of congregations and continues as a place of active Christian worship, hosting a Church of Scotland congregation. The building itself is in the ownership of the Crown, is maintained by Historic Scotland, and is a popular destination for tourists. 
Denominations in numerals are in all corners, in words centered and on bottom.
Revers:
The panel with a pattern. The Pattern made under precisely undershirts of classic vintage postcards.
Inside is the view of the of Edinburgh from Calton Hill (the hill in the center of Edinburgh, east of Princes Street).
On Princess street is Scotts monument visible.
The Scott Monument is a Victorian Gothic monument to Scottish author Sir Walter Scott. It is the largest monument to a writer in the world. It stands in Princes Street Gardens in Edinburgh, opposite the Jenners department store on Princes Street and near to Edinburgh Waverley Railway Station, which is named after Scott's Waverley novels.
The tower is 200 feet 6 inches (61.11 m.) high, and has a series of viewing platforms reached by a series of narrow spiral staircases giving panoramic views of central Edinburgh and its surroundings. The highest platform is reached by a total of 288 steps. It is built from Binny sandstone quarried near Ecclesmachan in West Lothian.
In terms of its location, it is placed on axis with South St David Street, the main street leading off St Andrew Square to Princes Street, and is a focal point within that vista, its scale being large enough to totally screen the Old Town behind. As seen from the south side, Princes Street Gardens, its location appears more random, but it totally dominates the Eastern section of the gardens, through a combination of its scale and elevated position relative to the sunken gardens.
Following Scott's death in 1832, a competition was held to design a monument to him. An unlikely entrant went under the pseudonym "John Morvo", the name of the medieval architect of Melrose Abbey. Morvo was in fact George Meikle Kemp, forty-five-year-old joiner, draftsman, and self-taught architect. Kemp had feared his lack of architectural qualifications and reputation would disqualify him, but his design (similar to an unsuccessful one he had earlier submitted for Glasgow Cathedral) was popular with the competition's judges, and in 1838 Kemp was awarded the contract to construct the monument.
John Steell was commissioned to design a monumental statue of Scott to rest in the space between the tower's four columns. Steell's statue, made from white Carrara marble, shows Scott seated, resting from writing one of his works with a quill pen and his dog Maida by his side. The monument carries 64 figures (carried out in three phases) of characters from Scott's novels by a variety of Scots sculptors including, Alexander Handyside Ritchie, John Rhind, William Birnie Rhind, William Brodie, William Grant Stevenson, David Watson Stevenson, John Hutchison, George Anderson Lawson, Thomas Stuart Burnett, William Shirreffs, Andrew Currie, George Clark Stanton, Peter Slater, and two female representatives, Amelia Robertson Hill (who also made the statue of David Livingstone immediately east of the monument), who contributed three figures to the monument, and the otherwise unknown Katherine Anne Fraser Tytler.
The foundation stone was laid on 15 August 1840. Following permission by an Act of Parliament (the Monument to Sir Walter Scott Act 1841 (4 & 5 Vict.) C A P. XV.), construction began in 1841 and ran for nearly four years. The tower was completed in the autumn of 1844, with Kemp's son placing the finial in August of the year. The total cost was just over £16,154. When the monument was inaugurated on 15 August 1846, George Meikle Kemp himself was absent, having fallen into the Union Canal while walking home from the site on the foggy evening of 6 March 1844 and drowned.
In total (excluding Scott and his dog), there are 68 figurative statues on the monument of which 64 are visible from the ground. Four figures are placed above the final viewing gallery and are only visible by telephoto or (at a very distorted angle) from the viewing gallery itself. In addition, eight kneeling Druid figures support the final viewing gallery. There are 32 unfilled niches at higher level.
Sixteen heads of Scottish poets and writers appear on the lower faces, at the top of the lower pilasters. The heads (anti-clockwise from the NW) represent: James Hogg; Robert Burns; Robert Fergusson; Allan Ramsay; George Buchanan; Sir David Lindsay; Robert Tannahill; Lord Byron; Tobias Smollett; James Beattie; James Thomson; John Home; Mary, Queen of Scots; King James I of Scotland; King James V of Scotland; and William Drummond of Hawthornden.
In total, 93 persons are depicted, plus two dogs and a pig.
The name Princes Street is synonymous with Edinburgh, but its architecture is often overlooked by city residents. In fact most of its buildings are now listed, and in amongst the modern stores are some real treasures.
Princes Street is part of the New Town plan designed by James Craig in 1767, and took its name from the sons of King George III. In stark contrast to today, it started out as a residential street with the first inhabitants moving in during the 1770s.
Many of the original houses still exist, although they are now often heavily disguised. Look out for number 95 Princes Street, now Hector Russell’s kilt shop, the last surviving completely intact Georgian town house. Here you can still see the basic design of a building with three storeys and sunken basement, as laid down in the regulations in 1781.
The first residents of Princes Street must have been a fairly adventurous bunch, as it was not a particularly desirable place to live. The Nor’ Loch had only just been drained and resembled a muddy swamp, the ‘earthern mound’ was just being formed from all the excavations, and the street had a growing reputation for being rather windy. Fairly quickly however the character of the street started to change, and by Victorian times it was known for its shops and hotels, which brought new styles of architecture.
The 1949 the ‘Abercrombie Plan’ proposed radical changes to Princes Street, with extensive redevelopment, and only three historic buildings considered worthy of retention. In 1967 a report recommended building first floor balconies to form a continuous walkway across the front of the entire street. The plan never took off, but you can see a small complete section at the former British Home Stores. Built in 1967 it shows just how far architecture had moved on since the Edwardian grandeur of Jenners, and today it is a listed building in its own right. (ewh.org.uk)
Comments:
Although, Scotland is not an independent state, and is part of the UK. Three Scottish banks have the right to issue their own banknotes. Officially, these notes are not called "Scottish pounds" and their denomination designated in pound sterling. In the strict sense of the term "Legal Tender" banknotes of Scottish banks are not even legal tender in Scotland, but can be taken throughout the United Kingdom.
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