This organ was made circa 1905 at the Bramley Organ Works, Leeds, by the firm of James Jepson Binns. The instrument was initially installed in the West Church, Dalkeith, in 1906 and was moved to its present location in the north transept of St Nicholas Buccleuch Church in 1991, replacing the inadequate electronic instrument.
Almost certainly the finest organ in Midlothian, the
instrument is of unusually high quality both in the materials used in its
construction and in the range of its stops. The organ is also unusual in
that it has survived a hundred years without any tonal or
mechanical alterations.
A silver plaque on the console gives interesting details of the origins of the instrument.
TO THE GLORY OF GOD AND IN MEMORY OF HER FATHER EX-PROVOST WATSON OF DALKEITH THIS ORGAN IS DEDICATED BY THE LIBERALITY OF MRS SMITH, LATE OF STONEFIELD, ESKBANK ALONG WITH £500 FOR ENDOWMENT.
2ND DECEMBER 1906
Originally designed for a slightly larger building,
the organ fits with less than an inch to spare in its new location.
A large pit was excavated under the
organ to house the blowing apparatus, the lungs of the instrument. This
causes the slight hissing noise which can be heard when the instrument is
powered up. The organ, in its previous location had a large wooden handle,
about five feet in length, inside the case. This handle was pumped up and
down by the organ-blower to supply air for the pipes - an easy job when
the instrument is playing quietly but a very demanding task during loud
passages! The organ blower had some indication of how hard he had to work
as a brass weight on the end of a string moved up and down to show the
amount of air left in the bellows. Many of these organ blowers have carved
their names into the woodwork of the case around the pump handle.
The Binns organ has a wide range of stops giving a wider than normal range of tonal colours for a country church organ. There are two very fine Open Diapasons on the Great manual, wonderful soft, stopped flutes and several powerful reed stops. The Swell organ has a wide variety of tone-colours including a fine 'string' stop and an orchestral oboe. A cutting mixture stop of three ranks adds brilliance to the full Swell Chorus. A particularly well endowed Pedal department boasts powerful bass support down to a resultant 32ft. stop which adds wonderful depth to the full organ sound.
James Bruce lived from 1786 to 1856. He started life working in Edinburgh for instrument maker
Andrew Wood and was in business on his own from the death of Wood in 1829. Bruce is considered to be one,
if not the most accomplished of organ builders in 19th century Scotland.
