The Hume Society

Stimulating Scholarship on the Writings of David Hume

David Hume Sites

David Hume Bridge A modern span over the Whiteadder Water, replacing the bridge (background) that Hume rebuilt. (Richard Web photo.)

I also leave, for rebuilding the bridge of Chirnside, the sum of a hundred pounds; but on condition that the managers of the bridge shall take none of the stones for building the bridge from the quarry of Ninewells, except from that part of the quarry which has been already opened.

David Hume’s Will
David Hume Mausoleum (Robert Adam), Old Calton Burial Ground, Edinburgh. (Neal Tognazzini photo.)
North St David Street, Edinburgh. (Google Street View.)

One young person who found his company particularly “acceptable” was an attractive, vivacious, and highly intelligent woman in her twenties — Nancy Orde, the daughter of Chief Baron Orde of the Scottish Exchequer. One of Hume’s friends described her as “one of the most agreeable and accomplished women I ever knew.” Also noted for her impish sense of humor, she chalked “St. David’s Street” on the side of Hume’s house one night; the street still bears that name today.

David Hume’s Life and Works by Ted Morris (2009)
David Hume (Sandy Stoddart), The Royal Mile, Edinburgh. (Neil Owen photo.)
David Hume Tower (Sir Robert Matthew), Edinburgh University. (Graeme Yuill photo.)
David Hume and Adam Smith Northwest Tower, Scottish National Portrait Gallery, Edinburgh. (Kim Traynor photo.)