This film is part of Free

Schoolchildren at Dalbeattie Public School (c.1901)

Scottish primary schoolchildren parade for the camera in well-regimented groups.

Non-Fiction 1901 2 mins Silent

Overview

Although some of the boys at the rear of these groups of schoolchildren can't resist waving their caps as they pass the camera, for the most part the children are noticeably more disciplined than those in some other Mitchell and Kenyon films, parading in carefully-shaped blocks that seem almost as well-hewn as the granite that dominated the economy of the small Scottish rural town.

Originally opened in 1876 in Southwick Road, Dalbeattie Public School was replaced by nearby Dalbeattie High School in the 1960s. The new school unexpectedly made international headlines after film director James Cameron apologised for tarnishing the memory of local hero William Murdoch in his film Titanic (1997). Cameron also donated £5,000 to the school's William Murdoch Memorial Prize fund.