LANARKSHIRE

LANARKSHIRE, or CLYDESDALE, a county in Scotland, situated between 55^{\circ} 20' and 55^{\circ} 56' north latitude, and 3^{\circ} 25' and 4^{\circ} 22' west longitude; is bounded on the north by the counties of Dunbar, Stirling, and Peebles, by Dumfries-shire on the south, and the shires of Ayr and Renfrew on the west. In length, from north to south, it is about 47 miles; its greatest breadth, from east to west, is 32, and it extends over 870 square miles, or 556,800 English acres, of which more than a third is fit for cultivation. It is divided into three Wards; the Upper, of which Lanark is the chief town, contains about two-thirds of its area, on the east, south, and south-west, the greater part mountainous; the Middle, having the town of Hamilton in its centre, stretches along the west and north; and the Lower, which contains the city of Glasgow, and a small tract around it. This extensive district presents great variety of surface. Some of the mountains in the Upper Ward, where it is bounded by Dumfries-shire, are about 3000 feet high; and Tinto, on the northern boundary of the hilly district, is nearly 2300. Leadhills, a village on its southern extremity, is 1564 feet above the level of the sea. But in proceeding along the banks of the Clyde, north from Tinto, the face of the country softens down to gentle elevations and depressions, and for 12 miles the river winds slowly Lanarkshire. through beautiful meadows. The Middle Ward is much less elevated, few of the heights being more than 700 feet above sea level; the town of Hamilton is only about 120; yet there are no plains of any extent except along the banks of the Clyde, and a considerable part of the surface is covered with moss, in many places of a great depth. Of the Lower, the greater part is a highly ornamented district, particularly the banks of the Clyde, which are thickly planted with villas, the summer residence of the wealthy inhabitants of the city of Glasgow. The principal river, and, in a commercial point of view, the greatest in Scotland, is the Clyde, from which the county is frequently called Clydesdale. It has its rise in the ridge of mountains which separate Lanarkshire from Dumfries-shire, and flowing first north and then north-west, through the middle of the county, falls into the frith of the same name above Greenock, carrying with it the waters collected from 1200 square miles. The principal streams which join it on the south are Duneaton, Douglas, Nethan, Avon, and West Calder, and on the north the Medwin, Mouse, South and North Calders, and Kelvin which separates Lanarkshire from Dunbartonshire. The Clyde is navigable to Glasgow for vessels drawing nine feet of water, and two miles higher for smaller vessels. Most kinds of the fish found in the other rivers of Scotland are also abundant in the Clyde, particularly salmon. The celebrated falls have been described in the Encyclopædia, under the article CLYDE. Sandstone and limestone are the prevailing rocks in the lower parts of Lanarkshire, and argillaceous schistus in the high grounds. In the Cathkin hills, near Glasgow, there is a number of basaltic columns, more than 40 feet high, inclined at an angle of about 70°. Ironstone abounds, and is wrought to a great extent at several large establishments. On the southern extremity are the well-known lead mines belonging to the Earl of Hopetoun, from which the village of Leadhills takes its name. In the same quarter gold was discovered in the time of James III., and afterwards collected in considerable quantities. But coal is by far the most important of its mineral treasures. It is supposed to stretch throughout an area of about 70,000 acres, and including the different seams to be about five feet thick. The field near Glasgow contains eight seams, one of them seven feet thick, the whole amounting to upwards of 30 feet. There are several good seams of cannel or candle coal in different parts of the county. This kind has been long used by the lower classes for lighting their houses, and it is known to yield more gas than common coal. The valued rent of Lanarkshire is L. 162,118, 16s. 10d. Scots; and the real rent of the lands, mines, and quarries, in 1811, was L. 298,019, 3s. 1d., and of the houses L. 286,071, 13s. 5d. Sterling. More than three-fourths of the county is the property of great landholders, and almost half the valued rent is divided among estates of upwards of L. 1000; but small properties are very numerous, the far greater number being below L. 100 of valued rent. These small estates, with many of the class immediately above them, are cultivated by their Lanarkshire. owners; the large ones are let out to tenants on leases, except the inclosed grass lands, a great part of which is let out from year to year for grazing only. The arable land is, for the most part, divided in Farms. to farms of a moderate extent, held on leases for 19 years; but it is not an uncommon practice to let the grazing lands for two or three crops only, for which a high rent is often obtained. In 1798, according to the Agricultural Survey, the sheep pastures in the mountain districts yielded a rent of from 6d. to 1s. 6d. the Scots acre, and the arable land in that quarter 8s. In the Middle Ward, the wastes were still less valuable than in the Upper, and its arable land was estimated at 14s. an acre. In the Lower Ward, the average rent was computed to be 25s. It is probable that all these sums may now be nearly doubled. Much of the arable land in the first division is dry and fertile; clay prevails in the second and third; and along the banks of the Clyde there are considerable tracts of an alluvial description. As this county slopes to the west almost through- Climate. out its whole extent, the Atlantic exerts a powerful influence on its climate. For about two-thirds of the year, the wind blows from the south-west and west; intense frosts are of short duration, and snow seldom lies long in the lower districts; but, from the general humidity of the atmosphere, and also of the soil, seed-time and harvest are often late. In regard to heat, there is a considerable difference between the Upper and Middle Wards, the thermometer on the same day commonly standing several degrees higher in the latter than in the former. Its range is from 11° to 85°. The quantity of rain that falls at Glasgow varies from 19 to 36 inches. Lanarkshire is, therefore, upon the whole, less favourable to the culture of corn than the eastern counties of Scotland. The dairy is accordingly an object of considerable Dairies. importance here, and is carried on in all its branches. Besides the dairies kept in and near the city of Glasgow, for supplying the inhabitants with milk, cream, and fresh butter, a great number of cows are kept in the Middle and Lower Wards, the milk of which is applied to the making of butter, new milk, and skim milk cheese, and the fatting of calves. The best cheese is similar in quality to the Dunlop cheese of Ayrshire. Clydesdale has been long famous for its draught horses. See AGRICULTURE and DAIRY, in this Supplement. Besides the grounds in the environs of Glasgow, Orchards. from which the city is supplied with small fruits and culinary vegetables, there are considerable orchards in the county. Most of them are on the banks of the Clyde, from the lowest fall to the influx of the South Calder. The trees are chiefly apple, with a mixture of pear, and some plums. About 20 years ago, 300 acres were occupied with orchards, and their extent now is said to be greater. The produce is extremely precarious, but the land, which is for the most part on the steep banks of the river, is of little value for any other purpose. A much larger extent of the banks is occupied by coppice; and throughout the county a considerable space has Lanarkshire been allotted to plantations, which consist chiefly of Scots fir and larch. Lanarkshire is traversed by good roads in all directions; and, besides the Clyde, the navigation of which has been much improved by deepening and confining the bed of the river, it has the advantage of possessing an inland navigation, by means of three canals. These are, the Forth and Clyde Canal, which enters it on the north, in the parish of Calder, and, after a course of eight miles, passes into Dunbarton-shire at the aqueduct over the Kelvin;—at Stockingfield, a collateral branch proceeds to Port Dundas, at Glasgow; the Monkland Canal, from the coal-works in the parishes of Monkland, to the Forth and Clyde at Port Dundas; and the Ardrossan Canal, which is completed, from Port Eglinton, near Glasgow, to the village of Johnston, a distance of eleven miles, and is intended to be continued to Ardrossan, on the coast of Ayrshire, 22 miles farther. The city of Glasgow, with its manufactures and commerce, has been described in the articles GLASGOW in the Encyclopædia and in this Supplement. The other towns are, Lanark, Hamilton, Rutherglen, Biggar, Strathaven, and Kilbride. Lanark, the county town, and a royal burgh, 32 miles south-west of Edinburgh, and 25 south-east of Glasgow, was a place of importance so early as the time of Alexander I. In 1811, the parish contained a population of 5667. Hamilton is situated on the Clyde, 38 miles west of Edinburgh, and 11 south-east of Glasgow, with a population of 5453. In the neighbourhood is the seat of the Duke of Hamilton, and three miles below is Bothwell Bridge, noted for the defeat of the Covenanters, June 22, 1679; see HAMILTON, in the Encyclopædia. Rutherglen is a royal burgh, on the Clyde, 2½ miles above Glasgow. See this also in the Encyclopædia. Biggar is a little market town, on the borders of Peebles-shire, 27 miles south southwest of Edinburgh. Strathaven and Kilbride are Lanarkshire small towns near Hamilton; the former has been long noted for its veal. There is a number of villages in the vicinity of Glasgow, which, by their situation, belong to that city, and several of considerable extent, in different parts of the county. Among the latter may be mentioned, Crawford, Carnwath, Airdrie, Douglas, Leadhills, Wilsonstown, and New Lanark. At New Lanark, there is the largest establishment for cotton spinning in Scotland. Mr Owen, whose arrangements for the comfort and instruction of his people have been eminently successful, is the principal proprietor. The cotton-manufacture, the iron-works, and the collieries, give employment to the greater part of the inhabitants of Lanarkshire. Every great establishment has a considerable village in the neighbourhood, where the workmen reside. The county of Lanark sends to Parliament one Representative, who is chosen by about 100 freeholders; and its three royal burghs have a share in the election of two members more; Glasgow and Rutherglen being joined with Renfrew and Dunbarton, and Lanark with Selkirk, Peebles, and Linlithgow. It has one Sheriff-depute, whose jurisdiction extends over all the county, and three substitutes, at Lanark, Glasgow, and Hamilton. Lanarkshire contains 47 parishes, of which 11 belong to the Presbytery of Lanark, 14 to that of Hamilton, and 13 to that of Glasgow, all in the Synod of Glasgow and Ayr; and 9 to the Presbytery of Biggar, in the Synod of Lothian and Tweeddale. The increase of the population has been uncommonly rapid, particularly that of the city of Glasgow. The following tables exhibit an abstract of the census of 1800 and 1811. See Naismyth's General View of the Agriculture of Clydesdale—Beauties of Scotland, Vol. III.—The General Report of Scotland—and Playfair's Account of Scotland, Vol. I. (A.) HOUSES. PERSONS. OCCUPATIONS. Inhabited. By how many Families occupied. Uninhabited. Males. Females. Persons chiefly employed in Agriculture. Persons chiefly employed in Trade, Manufactures, or Handicraft. All other Persons not comprised in the two preceding classes. Total of Persons. 32,259 36,481 1,544 68,100 78,599 15,704 38,086 81,264 146,699 HOUSES. PERSONS. OCCUPATIONS. Inhabited. By how many Families occupied. Uninhabited. Males. Females. Families chiefly employed in Agriculture. Families chiefly employed in Trade, Manufactures, or Handicraft. All other Families not comprised in the two preceding classes. Total of Persons. 32,040 42,510 1,184 88,688 103,064 5,387 27,672 9,451 191,752 * In the enumeration of 1800, the parish of Dalserf was not included; the population of which, in 1791, was 1100. Lancashire.