RENFREWSHIRE, a county in Scotland, lying between 55° 41' and 55° 48' north latitude, and between 4° 15' and 4° 53' west longitude; is bounded on the west and north by the Frith of Clyde (excepting that a small tract opposite the town of Renfrew is situated on the north bank of the Clyde), and it has Lanarkshire on the east and Ayrshire on the south. From east to west it extends about 26 miles, and from north to south from nine to 13; and has an area of nearly 241 square miles, or 154,182 English acres. It comprehends 21 parishes, besides a small Divisions.
portion of some others, the churches of which are situated in the adjoining counties. Two of the parishes, Eaglesham and Catheart, belong to the presbytery of Glasgow, and the other nineteen compose the presbytery of Paisley. Notwithstanding its moderate extent, its manufactures and commerce render it one of the most important in Scotland.
About two-thirds of this district, comprising the western and south-eastern sides, are hilly, the medium elevation being from 500 to 600 feet; Misty-law, the highest hill, is about 1240 feet, and two others may be about 1000. This division is, in general, kept in pasture, for which it is better adapted, by the nature of its surface, than for tillage; though, as it has a free light soil, which readily absorbs water, it is seldom injured by moisture. The cultivated land lies on the north and north-east, and in the centre of the county, on both sides of the Black Cart. Of this, however, the greater part is not level, but consists of low detached hills, among which there is a good deal of natural wood in the state of coppice, and many winding rivulets, which give variety to the landscape. Much of this tract has a close subsoil of small stones and coarse clay, almost impenetrable to water, though there are here many flat holms of great fertility. It is only between Paisley and the Clyde that the country sinks down to a plain, the extent of which does not exceed 12,000 acres. Here the soil is generally a deep rich loam, of a dark brown colour, sometimes of the nature of what is called carse clay; and much of it seems to have been formed by the deposition of vegetable mould from the higher grounds. Moss prevails in the first and last divisions, but is not found in the second or middle one, where the soil is pretty uniform.
Like the other western counties of Scotland, Renfrewshire has a moist climate, with frequent rains; and the prevailing wind is from the south-west. At Largs, a village in Ayrshire, near the western extremity of this county, the yearly quantity of rain, in 1809 and 1810, was 38 inches; at Glasgow, near the eastern extremity, for 30 years, from 1761 to 1790, it was 29.65 inches.
The principal rivers are the Clyde, the White Cart, the Black Cart, and the Gryfe. The first, which only flows along the boundaries of this county, is by far the most considerable and important. The White Cart, which rises in Lanarkshire, enters Renfrewshire from the south; and, flowing west towards Paisley, and then north, receives the united streams of the Black Cart and the Gryfe at Inchinnan, and joins the Clyde about six miles below Glasgow. By means of a short cut, a little above Inchinnan, the White Cart has been rendered navigable from Paisley to the Clyde. The Black Cart from the south-west, and the Gryfe from the west, meet at Walkinshaw, about two miles above their confluence with the White Cart. These streams are chiefly deserving of notice for their being employed in giving motion to the cotton and other mills seated along their course. Several other and smaller ones have been applied in the same manner in various parts of the county; a steady
supply of water being secured by means of reservoirs, some of which are of the size and appearance of considerable lakes; or by enlarging the natural lakes themselves, of which there are many. Of these last, Castlesemple loch, in the middle of the southern boundary, from whence the Black Cart takes its rise, extending over about 200 acres, is the most considerable. These streams and lakes abound in the usual kinds of fish; but the salmon fishery on the Clyde, so far as it belongs to this county, is not of great value, seldom affording a rent of more than L. 200 a-year.
The minerals of this county are of great importance, constituting the main source of its manufactures and commerce; but we can only advert to them very generally. Coal, limestone, and sandstone, are wrought at Neilston, one of the parishes of the hilly district; and both coal and lime have been found in the flat district near Renfrew; but it is in the middle division that mines are wrought to the greatest extent. Of coal there are generally about 12 different works carried on; of which the most extensive and valuable are at Polmadie, on the north-east boundary, at Hurlet, three miles south-east from Paisley, and at Quarelton, south-east from the Bridge of Johnston, on the Black Cart, near the centre of the county. The coal at this latter place consists of five contiguous strata; the thickness of the whole, measured at right angles to their surface, is upwards of 50 feet; but as, in some places, the seam forms a considerable angle with the horizon, the thickness of the whole in these places, measured vertically, is about 15 fathoms. In consequence of this great depth, it is wrought in floors or storeys. Limestone abounds in various parts, and is commonly wrought at eight different quarries. Ironstone in beds and balls is very generally diffused throughout this middle division of the county. Considerable quantities of pyrites are found in the stratum of coal at Hurlet and Househill, and manufactured into sulphate of iron or green vitriol. Alum is obtained at Hurlet, from the decomposed schistus, which forms one of the strata of its coal mines. Excellent freestone, lying near the surface, is wrought near Paisley and at other places.
The valuation of the lands of Renfrewshire is L. 69,172, 1s. Scots; but in 1811 the real rent of the lands was L. 127,068, 15s. 9d. and of the houses, L. 106,238, 7s. 2d. Sterling. In 1795 the land rent was only about L. 67,000, so that it must have nearly doubled in fifteen or sixteen years. The landed property in 1811 was divided into 328 estates; of which 300 were under the valuation of L. 500 Scots, and only six above L. 2000 Scots. Nearly half the valuation belonged to estates held under entail, and by corporations, which were not, therefore, allowed to be brought to market. The number of freeholders entitled to vote in the election of a member for the county was 77; but it appears that more than half this number voted on rights of superiority only, and not as owners of estates. There are about 30 seats of noblemen and gentlemen, besides villas belonging to merchants and tradesmen. The county is well covered with woods and plantations. The
Renfrew-shire. copse-woods, which are cut every 30 years, used to bring from L. 25 to L. 30 an acre.
Agriculture. Renfrewshire does not rank high as an agricultural district. Farms are generally small, seldom exceeding 100 acres on the arable land, and 400 or 500 acres on the hills; and the houses and other accommodations of the farmers are proportionally inferior to those of their brethren in most other parts of the lowlands of Scotland. The average rent per English acre, in 1811, would be about 15s., varying from 2s. or 3s. to L. 4 or L. 5; partly owing to situation, but still more to the different degrees of the natural fertility of the soil. Garden grounds let at from L. 8 to L. 10, and, in one instance near Greenock, as high as L. 40 the English acre. The University of Glasgow have right to the tithes of several parishes near that city, for which they receive, in some instances, no more than 4s. per Scots acre, and in no case more than 15s. The most common period of leases here, as in other parts of Scotland, is 19 years; but many are now shorter, though, in that case, it is the practice to enter into a new lease, two or three years before the old one expires. About two-thirds of the arable land is almost always in grass, on which the stock chiefly kept is cows, whose milk is made into butter. There are few cheese dairies. The rotation of crops is in many instances objectionable, two or more corn crops being taken successively; clover and rye-grass are sown only for hay; and turnips, even upon the most suitable soils, are in very limited cultivation. A flock of Merino sheep, consisting of about 1000 or 1200, of the pure Paular breed, was sent into this county in 1810, by Colonel Downie of Paisley, who was then in Spain, some of which are still to be found on the farms of the proprietors. In other respects, the rural economy of Renfrewshire presents nothing particularly worthy of notice.
Manufactures. It is by its manufactures and commerce that this district has been long distinguished. Among its manufactures are cordage and sail-cloth, ship-building, and sugar-boiling, at Greenock and Port-Glasgow, with a variety of others subordinate to these; but Paisley and its environs have long been the seat of its principal establishments. The linen manufacture, in various forms, was carried on here more than a century ago, and continued to extend till superseded by that of cotton, about the year 1780. This last is now by far the most extensive manufacture in the county; and is conducted in all its various branches, from the spinning of the yarn to the finishing of the finest fancy goods. In 1810, the cotton yarn sold was said to amount to L. 630,000; and the capital employed in the buildings and machinery of the mills was estimated at L. 300,000. About 7000 looms were then employed in the weaving of muslins, besides 500 which were wrought by steam, and produced coarse cottons to the value of L. 125,000 yearly. Paisley was long distinguished for its silk manufacture, which is now inconsiderable; and that of thread, though still extensive, is said to be on the decline. Soap-making, tanneries, distilleries, breweries, and foundries, with a great many bleachfields and print-fields, furnish employment to a large portion of the inhabitants.
Renfrew-shire. The principal towns are Paisley, Greenock, and Port-Glasgow. (See these Articles in the Encyclopædia.) It is at these towns, or rather at the two last, that the foreign and coasting trade of the county, and the principal foreign trade of Scotland, is carried on. Greenock and Port-Glasgow have an extensive trade with America and the West Indies, Ireland, and the west of England; and coastwise, and, by means of the Forth and Clyde Canal, with every part of Scotland. The canal proposed to be carried from Glasgow to Ardrossan, through Paisley and Johnstone, has been executed as far as Johnstone, eleven miles from Glasgow; and passing through several populous parts of Renfrewshire, affords great accommodation to the trade between Paisley and Glasgow. The herring and whale fisheries were once prosecuted to a greater extent than at present, though the former is still considerable; and the merchants of Greenock are extensively engaged in the Newfoundland and Nova Scotia fisheries. As Renfrewshire does not raise enough of grain for its consumption, a good deal of corn is usually imported from Ireland and Canada, as well as coastwise. The other imports are the raw materials of its manufactures, and the commodities required for the consumption of its inhabitants; and its exports, the produce of its manufactures, mines, and fisheries, and of its import trade from America and the West Indies.
Notwithstanding the extensive manufactures of Poor. this county, the great fluctuation in the wages of labour, and its dense population, which, in 1811, was at the rate of 384 per square mile, there are regular assessments for the poor only in two or three parishes. In the rest of the county, the poor are supplied by voluntary contributions, aided by assessments imposed when circumstances require them.
The county sends one member to Parliament; and Representation. its only royal burgh, Renfrew, a place containing about 1600 inhabitants, joins with Glasgow, Rutherglen, and Dumbarton, in the election of another for the Scottish burghs. Paisley and Greenock, notwithstanding their wealth and population, have no vote. The Sheriff Court is now held at Paisley; yet Renfrew is still considered the county town, where the quarter sessions are held, the head courts, and the meetings of the freeholders for the election of members of Parliament.
Population. The population in 1754 was only 26,645; in 1801 it amounted to 78,056; in 1811 it was 92,596; to which, if there be added the number of registered seamen, about 5000, and of men serving in the navy, army, and militia at the latter period, it would appear that it had quadrupled within 57 years, a rate of increase unexampled in any other county of Scotland. In 1821 it was 112,175; of which 51,178 were males, and 60,997 were females. The families employed in agriculture were 2725; in trade and manufactures, 15,780; in other occupations of various kinds, 5472. The increase of the population from 1811 to 1821 was 19,579.
See the general works quoted under the former Scottish counties, and Wilson's General View of the Agriculture, &c. of Renfrewshire. (A.)