high cost to the stone masons involved, especially to the 'hewing masons' who were responsible for preparing the blocks, with their carvings and statues. This work was done in closed sheds, so that large quantities of fine dust were a continual part of their working environment. Things were not so bad for the 'building masons' who worked in the open, placing the already prepared blocks of stone. Because of the hardness of the stone from the Binnie quarry, near Uphall to the west of Edinburgh, used for the monument and other local buildings, Edinburgh masons were especially vulnerable to phthisis, the term used at the time for silico-tuberculosis. One contemporary observer says that the monument "killed twenty three of the finest hewers in Edinburgh." Another mentions "one half of the whole number of masons employed... dead of phhisis." Foundation Stone The foundation stone was laid on 15 August 1840 by Sir James Forrest of Comiston in his capacity as Lord Provost and as Grand Master Mason of Scotland. Construction began in 1841 following permission by Parliament's Monument to Sir Walter Scott Act and ran for nearly four years. It 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. The monument was inaugurated on 15 August 1846, but George Meikle Kemp was absent. He had fallen into the Union Canal while walking home from the site and drowned on the foggy evening of 6 March 1844. Statues and locations There are 68 statues on the monument, not counting Scott and his dog, and 64 are visible from the ground. Four figures are placed above the final viewing gallery and are only visible by telephoto or from the viewing gallery (at a distorted angle). 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 represent, counter-clockwise from the northwest: 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. (S) represents a small figure Modern administration In the early 1990s it was