24 November 1879

William Gladstone begins his Midlothian Campaign

Gladstone took the train to travel up to Dalmeny, the home of Lord Rosebery, to deliver a series of speeches. At numerous stations between Liverpool and Edinburgh large crowds gathered to cheer Gladstone as he passed. He delivered speeches at Carlisle, Hawick and Galashiels. Night had fallen when the train pulled into Edinburgh station where Rosebery was waiting to drive Gladstone to Dalmeny. Bonfires blazed in the hills and fireworks lit up the sky. “I have never” Gladstone wrote in his diary “gone through a more extraordinary day.”