Melville monument

In St Andrews Square. Canmore Wikipedia has a much longer piece including the recent controversy. 

A fine sunny cold day; we were busy indoors for most of it, getting out mid afternoon after the courier collection. Along to Charlotte Square in the cold West wind, then back along Rose Street. The H&B (nuts, raisins, vitamins ..) branch that's been there for many years is now shut .. we could have gone on to the new one in St James Quarter but that will wait. 

"This fine monument adorning the garden at St Andrew Square, Edinburgh, was erected to the memory of Henry Dundas, Lord Melville (1742–1811), First Lord of the Admiralty under Pitt. It was designed by William Burn and modelled on Trajan’s Column, Rome. Robert Stevenson, as consulting engineer, finalised the foundations, column dimensions and superintended the erection. The column, built of Cullalo stone, is 152 ft high and about 1500 tons in weight. It was erected in 1821 using an iron balance crane of the type used by Stevenson at the Bell Rock Lighthouse. The 15 ft high statue of Melville on top by Robert Forrest was added in 1827. It comprises 15 pieces weighing 18 tons riveted together by gunmetal bolts."  
from 'Civil Engineering heritage: Scotland - Lowlands and Borders' with kind permission of Thomas Telford Publishers.