JK GILLON  Vincenzo Lunardi, the "Daredevil Aeronaut", was a flamboyant young Italian whose balloon ascents in Scotland were very successful and totally eclipsed those of James Tytler, Scotland's first aeronaut. Lunardi was a popular hero of the period, and the Lunardi bonnet, a balloon shaped hat about 2 feet high, and Lunardi skirts, which were decorated with balloon motifs, were the vogue fashion accessories of the time.
Lunardi made a number of flights in Scotland and adverts in the Glasgow Mercury in early November 1785 announced that he intended to "gratify the curiosity of the public of Glasgow, by ascending in his Grand Air Balloon from a conspicuous place in the city".
The Grand Air Balloon, which was made of 1500 feet of green, pink and yellow silk, was exhibited, "supended in its floating state" in the choir of Glasgow's cathedral for the admission charge of one shilling.
On the 23rd November 1785, an immense crowd gathered in St Andrew's Square to witness the flight. The weather was fine and at around 2pm, Lunardi "ascended into the atmosphere with majestic grandeur, to the astonishment and admiration of the spectators" the flight path was not entirely visible because of cloud, but the balloon was seen passing over Hamilton and Lanark before finally making a good landing near Hawick in the Borders, where he landed at the feet of "trembling shepherds", the journey of 110 miles had taken 2 hours.
Lunardi's second ascent a few weeks later started off with a near calamity, when a character, known as Lothian Tam, in his eagerness to get a close view of the flight became entangled in the balloon's ropes and was lifted 20 feet into the air until he was released and fell to the ground with no serious injury. The weather on this trip was much more blustery and Lunardi made a hard landing, after 20 minutes, in Campsie Glen around 12 miles from Glasgow.
On 20 December, he made an ascent from the grounds of Heriot's Hospital in Edinburgh. A strong wind was blowing and Lunardi was forced down in the sea after a flight of 70 minutes. Fortunately he was picked up by a fishing boat after some time in the water and landed at North Berwick.
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