the council the proprietors raised two actions in the Court of Session to halt the building and to condemn the Corporation for having contravened their feuing terms by which they had pre-supposed open ground and a vista south of the street. After the Court found in favour of the council on the first point the decision was quickly appealed to the House of Lords and overturned, but when the Court again supported the council on the second point, the matter was submitted to judicial arbitration. This resulted in a judgement that the houses could be completed which later allowed the North British Hotel (Balmoral Hotel) to be built on the site, that the adjacent furniture-maker's premises must not rise above the level of Princes Street (which is the reason the roof of Waverley Market is at street level) and that the ground westwards for half the length of Princes Street "shall be kept and preserved in perpetuity as pleasure-grounds to be dressed up at the expense of the town council as soon as may be." Monuments Along the south side of Princes Street are many statues and monuments. In the East Gardens most prominent is the Scott Monument, a Neo-Gothic spire built in 1844 to honour Sir Walter Scott. Within East Princes Street Gardens there are statues of the explorer David Livingstone, the publisher and Lord Provost Adam Black and the essayist Professor John Wilson, who wrote under the pseudonym Christopher North. There is also a small commemorative stone honouring the volunteers from the Lothians and Fife who fought in the Spanish Civil War. Winter Wonderland Every year, in the weeks leading up to Christmas, the East Gardens are transformed into 'Winter Wonderland'. This includes a variety of amusement park rides and the Christmas Market, which has food and gifts from all around the world. The most notable attractions are the ice rink and the 33 metre (108 feet) high Ferris wheel, often dubbed 'The Edinburgh Eye'. Gallery West Princes Street Gardens Early history West Princes Street Gardens were originally the private property of "the Princes Street Proprietors" who overlooked them from their houses on the western half of the street. This was passed to them from the council in 1816 and the gardens were opened to subscribers generally in the New Town in 1821. Dogs, cricket, perambulators and smoking were prohibited under their rules, and people using bath-chairs had