John Smith

Who was John Smith?

John Smith was a clockmaker born in Pittenweem, Fife, Scotland.

His most famous clock is in the possession of the Duke of Buccleuch. It is reported to have four dials and shows days of the week and days of the month. The clock can play eight old Scots tunes and every three hours initiates a procession where the Macer of the Lords of Council and Session appears, doffs his cap and then leads fifteen Lords in ceremonial robes across an opening, before re-appearing and replacing his cap. At midnight on Saturday, a plaque appears bearing the legend "Remember Sunday". On Sunday the clock neither strikes nor processes, resuming at midnight. John Smith of Pitenweem was a superb ingenious craftsman and his clocks generally were of the highest quality. For such a talented clockmaker to come from a small secluded fishing village in Scotland this is no mean achievement. An advertisament is issued by himself in the year 1775, which he informs us, " he was bred in the trade and had never been out of the country."