SCOTLAND

SCOTLAND. THE history of Scotland as a separate kingdom having been treated at considerable length in the Encyclopædia, all that we propose here is, to supply what is wanting in the imperfect account there given of its STATISTICS; referring, however, to our county articles for local description and details, and confining ourselves, for the most part, to such general statements as concern the industry, population, and resources of the nation at large. I.—GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE COUNTRY. Scotland, the northern division of Great Britain, is situated between 54° 37' and 58° 42' north latitude, and between 1° 47' and 6° 7' west longitude, Scotland. from Greenwich; having the sea on all sides, except the south, where it is separated from England partly by the Tweed, and other streams, and partly by a line supposed to be drawn along the high grounds in that quarter. Its greatest extent in the same longitude is from the Mull of Galloway, on the south, to Farouthead in Strathnaver, on the north, a distance of 275 miles; while its breadth from east to west varies from 36 to 147 miles; its area, calculated from Arrowsmith's map, being about 25,520 square miles of land, and 494 square miles of fresh water lakes. This is the extent of the Mainland only, exclusive of the islands on the west, called the HEBRIDES; and those of ORKNEY and ZETLAND on the north, which altogether are computed to extend over 4224 square miles. Including these islands, the northern limit of Scotland stretches beyond the 61st degree of latitude, and its longitude is between the meridian of London and 8° 18' west; and its area comprehends 30,238 square miles, of which the fresh water lakes occupy 638 square miles, or about one forty-eighth part of the whole. The outline on the sea-coast is exceedingly irregular, and of great extent, the sea penetrating to a great depth, both on its eastern and western sides. Of these arms of the sea the most considerable are the Friths of Forth and Tay, and the Moray Frith, on the east; and the Frith of Clyde and the bays of Glenluce and Wigton on the west and south-west: along the northern and north-western coasts there are a number of smaller inlets, called lochs, which indent the country in all directions. With the exception of narrow tracts along its principal rivers, there is very little of the country flat or level, and not a large proportion of the whole that would be deemed productive land in more favoured regions. Every where, even in the south, and along the east and west coasts of what is called the Lowlands, the surface presents great variety; in some places, gently rising from the sea, and the banks of the principal rivers, and spreading out into considerable tracts of fertile land; and in others projecting into the ocean, the termination of those ridges which traverse the interior, and which, a few miles from the coast, sometimes ascend to the height of 2000 feet. In this quarter of Scotland, a tract of mountainous country, known by various names, stretches in a south-west direction from the Cheviot hills of Roxburghshire, on the borders of England, to the Irish Channel, sending off branches on both sides; while detached hills frequently occur over all the low country. These high grounds, however, are for the most part clothed in green, almost to their summits, and have little of that wild and desolate character which distinguishes many of the mountains of the Highlands. Northward from the isthmus formed by the Friths of Forth and Clyde, the low grounds form but a small proportion of the whole. Here, in latitude 57°, the Grampians extend from sea to sea, with a breadth of from 40 to 60 miles; and parallel to them, to the south, is another and lower chain, called the Sidlaw, Ochills, and Campsie hills. Between these two ranges lies the fertile valley of Strathmore. Farther north, cultivation is mostly confined to the sea-coast, the banks of the larger rivers, and the narrow glens between the mountains. On the northwest, beyond the line of the Caledonian Canal, the country is, with few exceptions, singularly rugged and sterile, consisting of lofty mountains, either covered with heath, or presenting a mass of naked rocks, interrupted only by deep and dark ravines, lakes, and precipitous streamlets. Caithness, the north-eastern county of the Mainland of Scotland, is, nevertheless, generally low, but marshy and unproductive. The elevation of the most considerable mountains. The elevation of the most considerable mountains of Scotland above the sea, with the counties in which they are situated, are stated as follows: (Playfair's Scotland, Vol. II. p. 341, and General Report of Scotland, App. Vol. I. p. 128). Names. Height in Feet. Situation. Benevis..... 4380 Inverness-shire Benwyvis..... 4380 Ross-shire Benmaclodowie..... 4300 Aberdeenshire Cairngorum..... 4060 Banffshire Rona..... 3944 Zetland Benlawers..... 3978 Perthshire Schehallion..... 3673 Ibid. Hartfell..... 3302 Dumfries-shire Benlomon..... 3262 Stirlingshire Lowthers..... 3150 Lanarkshire Goatfield..... 2950 Arran Isle Hartfield..... 2800 Peebles-shire Muirfoot Hills..... 1850 Edinburghshire Ruberslaw..... 1419 Roxburghshire Eildon Hill..... 1330 Ibid. Soutra Hill..... 1000 Berwickshire North Berwick Law..... 940 Haddingtonshire Cockburn Law..... 900 Berwickshire Arthur's Seat..... 822 Edinburghshire To these heights we may add the site of the village of Leadhills, in Lanarkshire, 1564 feet above the sea. The land near this village is the highest cultivated land in Scotland. In Aberdeenshire the plough sometimes reaches the height of nearly 1300 feet. But with few exceptions, an elevation of 600 feet seems to be the limit to the tillage lands of Scotland. None of the Scottish mountains ascend to the line of perpetual congelation, yet snow may be found in some of their dark recesses, on which the sun never shines, all the year round. The climate of Scotland, as might be expected, from its insular situation and high latitude, is cold, cloudy, and wet. This is its general character, as compared with the greater part of England; yet, even in the south of England, frost is sometimes more intense, and snow falls more copiously, than in Scotland; and on the west coast of that country the quantity of rain is also greater. Corn, however, and most of the fruits and vegetables common to both divisions of Great Britain, attain maturity nearly a month sooner in England than in Scotland; and some plants, such as hops, and a few others, cannot be profitably cultivated at all in the latter country. The range of the barometer is 2.82 inches, or from 30.92 to 28.10 inches; in the Orkneys it is somewhat more, or about 3 inches. The lowest yearly temperature is 41° 11', the highest 50° 32', and the annual average Scotland. for all Scotland may be between 45° and 47°. Of rain the average is about 31 inches; and the difference between the east and west coasts, in this respect, has been estimated generally at one-fifth more on the latter than on the former. The number of fair days on the west coast is only 160, while on the east it is 230. The prevailing winds in both situations are from the westerly points; but on the east coast it blows from the easterly points for about a third of the year. Easterly winds generally prevail in March and April, and often in May and part of June; and not only check vegetation, but occasion various slight disorders among the inhabitants. For the purpose of exhibiting the distribution of heat and of rain throughout the year, we give the following abstract from a register of the weather kept near Perth, for the year 1820. The temperature is probably not very different from the average temperature of Scotland, but the number of rainy days, and the quantity of rain, are both considerably less than on the western coast. Fair Days. Rainy Days. Quantity of Rain. Mean Temperature. January..... 21 10 1.321 30.4 February... 24 5 1.198 39.1 March..... 25 6 0.332 40.6 April..... 24 6 0.690 46.7 May..... 10 21 5.447 49.4 June..... 18 12 1.745 54.6 July..... 22 9 1.635 57.6 August..... 12 19 2.228 56.0 September... 16 14 0.973 52.6 October..... 20 11 2.295 44.5 November... 20 10 1.658 41.6 December... 20 11 2.165 38.7 (Edin. Annual Reg. 1820.) 232 134 21.687 45.98 For an account of the mineralogy, zoology, and botany, and also of the rivers, lakes, and forests, of Scotland, see SCOTLAND in the Encyclopædia, and the Scottish counties in this Supplement. II.—DIVISIONS. The most natural and obvious, as well as the most ancient, division of Scotland, is into the Lowlands and the Highlands; a distinction marked by the difference in the language and dress of the people as well as by the surface of the country; though the line of separation between the two is by no means well defined. The friths or arms of the sea, which entering the land on both sides, leave but a comparatively small extent of country between their extreme points, present limits more distinct; especially since the execution of the two canals, which, being carried along these isthmuses, connect the eastern and western seas. These are the Forth and Clyde Canal between the friths so called; and the Caledonian Canal, now (1823) nearly completed, which runs from the Moray Frith on the north-east to Linnhe Loch on the south-west. The country to the south of the Forth and Clyde Canal has been called the southern division; that between the two canals the middle; and all to the north and north-west of the Caledonian Canal the northern division. The divisions generally recognized are counties and parishes. Of the counties, the number is 33, most of which are again subdivided by local acts of Parliament into two or more districts in each, for the purposes of police and internal economy; and several of them comprise a variety of territorial divisions, founded on the natural circumstances of the country. Thus the county of Berwick is popularly divided into the three districts of the Merse, Lauderdale, and Lammermuir; Lanarkshire into the Upper, Middle, and Lower Wards; and, in the extensive Highland counties, the subdivisions are still more numerous. The number of parishes is at present 899, but liable to vary from annexations and disjunctions. Every country parish contains a church and burying-ground, with a manse or dwelling-house, and a few acres of land as a glebe, for the clergyman, who is always resident; and a school, with a schoolmaster's house and garden. In several of the towns one church has two ministers, so that the number of the clergy is greater than that of the parishes. In 1818, the parochial clergy amounted to 938, besides assistants and ministers of chapels of ease. An indefinite number of parishes form the ecclesiastical division, called a presbytery, and several presbyteries unite to compose a synod. We shall give the names and extent of these divisions under their proper head. III.—INTERNAL COMMUNICATION. Until after the middle of last century there was scarcely any thing that deserved the name of a good road in Scotland. About the year 1732, indeed, Government began to open up the country by roads made by the military, hence called Military Roads, which extended in all about 800 miles; but these being confined for the most part to the Highlands, and intended only for military purposes, and formed with little or no regard to such ascents and descents as do not impede the passage of an army, were of little advantage to the more populous parts of the country. It is within the recollection of persons still alive, when corn, coals, and other heavy articles, were usually carried on the backs of horses, even in the southern counties of Scotland; the roads or rather the tracks being for the greater part of the year unfit for wheel-carrages. But so great a change has been made in this respect, particularly within the last forty years, that mail-coaches, and other carriages, now run day and night at the rate of from six to eight miles an hour through every part of the country, from the borders of England to Thurso in Caithness, the northern extremity of Great Britain. The only funds formerly applicable to the making and the repairing of the roads in Scotland were what is called the Statute-Labour, or the labour of the occupiers of the land, for six days annually, on the roads passing through their respective parishes; and a small assessment imposed upon the proprietors. Scotland. This labour, which has been converted into a payment in money, and also the sums raised by assessment on the proprietors, under the name of road and bridge money, are now applied to bye-roads, or such as communicate with the great turnpikes, or others calculated for the accommodation of the particular district in which the money is levied. Almost every county has procured an act of Parliament which fixes the rate of these assessments; but this varies in different counties, according to the circumstances of each. The turnpike roads and bridges in the Lowlands have been made and are kept in repair by means of tolls exacted from those who use them, under the authority of private acts. The trustees named in these acts are commonly empowered to borrow money on the security of the funds to be received, by which means the work is executed more speedily, to the great advantage of the public. The expence of these roads depends so much upon local circumstances, that it has varied from L.1200 to L.100 per mile; but may be averaged at about L.400, the rate which the Highland roads, confessedly not so substantially made as the great roads in the Lowlands, have cost under the direction of the Parliamentary Commissioners. Of the road between Glasgow and Carlisle, conducted under the same superintendence, 39 miles, which was nearly finished in 1821, would cost, with its bridges, L.50,000, or L.1282 per mile. (Ninth Report of the Commissioners for Highland Roads and Bridges.) In the Highlands, the nature of the country, and the state of the population, did not admit of the same system as in the Lowlands. The military roads had not only been made, but were kept in repair at the public expence, for which L.5000 a-year was usually granted by Parliament; but a great many new roads and bridges were required; and, in 1803, an act was passed, proceeding upon "A survey and report of the coasts, and central Highlands of Scotland," by which Parliament agreed to provide half the estimated expence of the necessary roads and bridges; the other half to be defrayed by the landed proprietors; and Commissioners were named to carry into effect the beneficent intentions of the Legislature. It appears from the Report just referred to, that, under this act, the Commissioners had, in 1821, expended, on 875 miles of road, and several large bridges, upwards of L.450,000, of which L.240,000 was granted by Parliament, and the rest defrayed by the counties through which the roads passed; and that L.100,000 more had been laid out by them on harbours, of which L.50,000 was paid out of the funds arising from the Forfeited Estates in Scotland, and the remainder was raised by the Burghs, and the contributions of individuals. If, to these sums, we add the amount of the losses sustained by the contractors, as stated in the Report, and the expence of the new roads made at the sole expence of the proprietors to communicate with the Parliamentary roads, together with the charges of repairs, the whole amount expended within these twenty years on the roads, bridges, and harbours of the Highlands of Scotland, may not be too high stated at a million Sterling. The Commissioners have under their charge both the maintaining of their own roads, and part of the military roads; the extent of the whole in 1821 being 1183 miles; and about L.10,000 a-year, of which L.5000 is granted by Parliament, was considered to be necessary for this purpose, including all charges of management. We have already mentioned the Forth and Clyde Canals, and Caledonian Canals, as affording the means of communication between the east and west seas. A full account of the former has been given in the Encyclopædia (see CANAL), and of the latter in this Supplement. On the Caledonian Canal, now nearly completed, there had been expended, in May 1822, L.884,159, 12s. 1½d. (See Nineteenth Report of the Commissioners on the Caledonian Canal.) The other canals are the Crinan, cut across the peninsula of Kintyre at an expence of L.140,000; the Glasgow, Paisley, and Ardrossan Canal, of which only about a third part of the line, or 11 miles, is finished; a cut from the Forth and Clyde to Port-Dundas at Glasgow; the Monkland Canal, extending about 12 miles from Glasgow to the collieries in the parish of Monkland; a canal from the harbour of Aberdeen to Inverury, about 18 miles; and the Union Canal from Edinburgh to the Forth and Clyde near Falkirk. For a more particular account of these works, see the Scottish counties through which they pass in the Encyclopædia, and in this Supplement. Railways have not yet been carried to any great extent in Scotland. They are employed for a short distance at some of the principal coal-works and others; but the most considerable is that which has been carried from Kilmarnock to the harbour of Troon in Ayrshire, a distance of 10 miles, at the expence of the Duke of Portland, the proprietor of extensive coal-fields in that quarter. IV.—VALUED AND REAL RENT—PROPORTIONS OF LAND CULTIVATED AND UNCULTIVATED. About the middle of the seventeenth century, the lands of Scotland were valued, with a view to ascertain what proportion of the land, and other taxes, should be paid by each county; and this valuation, called the Valued Rent, which had been undertaken under the authority of Cromwell, was afterwards established by an act of the Scottish Convention in 1667. It is still the rule by which the counties, and the estates of each county, are assessed for payment of the land-tax, and all local imposts on land. The Table subjoined to this section exhibits, among other things, the valued rent of each county, as it stood in 1674, and the amount of the whole, namely, L.3,804,221 Scots, or L.317,018, 8s. 4d. Sterling. In 1811 this valuation was divided as follows: Description of the Estates. Number of Proprietors. Estates. Large properties or estates above L. 2000 of valued rent..... 396 Middling properties or estates, from L. 2000 to L. 500 of valued rent..... 1077 Small properties or estates, under L. 500 of valued rent..... 6181 Estates belonging to corporate bodies 144 Total 7798 The land-rights of Scotland are still subjected to feudal tenures; and all the land is held either immediately or mediately of the Crown, as the paramount superior. The only distinction in regard to land-rights, which requires to be noticed here, is that between property which acknowledges no other superior than the Crown, and that which is held immediately of a subject; the right of voting in the election of the county representatives being vested in proprietors of the former class, while those of the latter, however large their estates, are wholly excluded. In general, to give a right to vote requires a freehold to the extent of L. 400 Scots of valued rent; but it is not necessary that the freeholder should have property in the soil to that amount; the mere feudal superiority of lands of that valuation, though seldom affording any income, is sufficient; for the lands themselves may, and in many cases do, belong to another. The number of voters in each county, at Michaelmas 1822, will be found in the table subjoined; but it varies, though not greatly, from year to year. The gross rental of the lands and houses of Scotland, according to the returns made under the late Property-tax act, for the year 1812, is exhibited in the same table. Of this, the rent of the land may amount to nearly five millions, which may not be far from the present revenue of the landed proprietors; for although many of the rents contracted for during the last years of the late war have been reduced since, yet others, upon the falling in of older leases, have been much advanced. As the common duration of the lease in Scotland is nineteen years, the average term of the current leases at any period must be between nine and ten years, so that half the leases current in the beginning of 1812 must have been entered into soon after the beginning of the century, and at such rents as would even now, considering the improvements that have been so generally made since, admit of some augmentation. This rent is paid by tenants; only a very small proportion being in the occupation of the proprietors themselves; and, with the exception of grazing lands near their seats, which are usually let for the season only, the tenants all hold on written leases for periods, varying from 12 or 15 to 21, and in some cases 38 years. These leases, with few exceptions, prohibit the tenant to sub-let his farm, either in whole or in part, without the consent of the proprietor; and upon the death of the tenant, the lease falls to his heir at law. Life leases were formerly very common, at least in those districts where the more improved system of agriculture had made little progress; but the extraordinary enhancement of prices during the late war had the effect of deterring landholders from letting out their estates for an indefinite, and, as it often proved, a very long term; and the practice, now almost obsolete, is not likely to be revived. The rents are paid in money, and not, as in former times, in grain or other produce, or in services. Of late, since the great fall in the prices of land produce, it has become not uncommon to regulate the rent by the price of grain; the quantity and kinds of grain being fixed by the lease, and the rent, or the price of that grain, by the rates of the market; or more commonly by what is called the Piars, or prices struck yearly, for certain purposes, by a jury in all the counties of Scotland. In some parts of the Highlands, where the land is still in some instances let out again by the principal tenant in small portions, the sub-tenants are required to perform certain sorts of work for the superior tenant; and on the shores of the western and northern islands the tenant may be said to pay his rent chiefly in kelp or in fish; but all these exceptions bear but a small proportion to the whole rent of Scotland. The main source from which rent is paid over the greater part of Scotland is live stock, principally cattle and sheep. Of the area, extending to 29,600 square miles, or 18,944,000 English acres, exclusive of lakes, little more than a fourth, or five millions of acres, are regularly or occasionally in cultivation; and about two-thirds even of this is employed in grazing and in raising crops for live stock, or is under fallow. According to the General Report of Scotland, drawn up for the Board of Agriculture, the extent yearly under corn, with beans and pease, is only 1,799,150 acres; of which 1,260,362 produce oats, 280,193 barley, and only 140,095 wheat; an estimate which is probably rather above the truth as to both oats and barley. The rest of the country, or nearly 14 millions of acres, is, after deducting about 900,000 acres, as the estimated extent of the natural and planted wood, still in a state of nature, and by far the greater part must always remain so. But much of this yields a valuable return under sheep, with a small proportion of cattle. For an account of these and the other kinds of live stock kept on the farms of Scotland, see AGRICULTURE in this Supplement. It is little more than half a century since the management of tillage lands was conducted even in the Lothians and Border counties, according to the system which has now become pretty general over all the country. Previous to that period the mode of cultivation did not differ materially from that which, though falling into disuse, may still be met with in some of the Highland counties, and which we have described under these counties in this Supplement. Almost every where the practice was to take crops of grain successively, and then to leave the soil in a state of waste, till gradually invigorated again by time and the folding of the cattle. Such of the farmers as wished to learn better methods sought for this information in England, where agriculture was then in a much more advanced state than in Scotland; but in many parts of which it has long remained stationary, while that of Scotland has been always making some progress since, and within the last twenty-five years a very rapid progress. The crops cultivated (see AGRICULTURE in this Supplement) are now the same in both countries, with the exception of a few species, not of great importance, which the climate of Scotland does not bring to profitable maturity. With regard to the capital invested in the agriculture of Scotland, and the amount of its yearly produce, of which little can be said with any great pretension to accuracy, we must refer to the Tables in the General Report of Scotland, Vol. III., which have been given in the last edition of the Encyclopædia. Scotland. Taking the rental, exclusive of mines, quarries, and river fisheries, at 4½ millions, and supposing that to be equal to one-third of the gross produce, a common estimate in most parts of Scotland, the amount of the latter would be 13½ millions; but as lands in their natural state, depastured with sheep, certainly do not yield three times the rent, perhaps it would be nearer the truth to estimate the total annual produce of the soil, exclusive of mines, &c. at twelve millions. The least proportion of cultivated land is in the counties of Selkirk, Sutherland, and Orkney, being only about six acres in the hundred; the greatest in the county of Haddington, or East Lothian, where not quite a fourth remains uncultivated; and the average of all Scotland is 26.6 in the 100. Including mines, quarries, and fisheries, the medium rent of the land may be a little more than 5s. an acre. It is worthy of remark, that both the law and practice of Scotland are favourable to agricultural enterprise. Leases are almost universal, and of considerable duration. There is no tithe drawn; poor rates are unknown, except in a few districts, and where they do prevail, of a very trifling amount; and commons and common fields, for the division of which no act of Parliament is necessary, have, with very few exceptions, disappeared. The titles of the columns in the following Table sufficiently indicate the contents of each. The rental for 1812 is the gross rental of the Lands and Houses as returned by the parties, or estimated by assessors acting under the Property-tax act. Counties. Extent. Description of Land. Valued Rent. Rental in 1812. Number of Freeholds, 1824. Cultivated Acres. Uncultivated Acres. Scots Money. Sterling Money. Acres. L. s. d. L. s. d. Aberdeen..... 1,254,400 451,584 802,816 235,665 8 11 301,098 14 8 188 Argyle..... 2,002,560 270,990 1,731,570 149,595 10 0 207,306 16 6 76 Ayr..... 664,960 325,830 339,130 191,605 0 7 369,742 10 0 181 Banff..... 412,800 123,840 288,960 79,200 0 0 85,212 4 1 36 Berwick..... 282,880 137,197 145,683 178,366 8 6¾ 236,224 19 3 131 Bute..... 103,040 29,440 73,600 15,042 13 10 20,955 2 9 15 Caithness..... 439,680 92,333 347,347 37,256 2 10 32,835 6 5½ 29 Clackmannan..... 30,720 23,040 7,680 26,482 10 10 39,173 2 0 19 Cromarty..... 168,960 21,080 147,880 12,897 2 7½ * * * 15 Dunbarton..... 145,920 53,990 91,930 33,327 19 0 63,262 10 0 47 Dumfries..... 801,920 232,557 569,363 158,502 10 0 264,614 6 7 79 Edinburgh..... 226,560 144,999 81,561 191,054 3 9 713,431 11 10 178 Elgin..... 302,720 121,088 181,632 65,603 0 5 66,839 10 3 30 Fife..... 298,880 209,216 89,664 363,129 3 7¾ 378,757 5 8 241 Forfar..... 568,320 369,408 198,912 171,239 16 8 326,157 16 8 122 Haddington..... 174,080 139,264 34,816 168,873 10 8 213,329 15 0 102 Inverness..... 2,594,560 244,365 2,350,195 73,188 9 0 172,437 11 10 69 Kincardine..... 243,200 92,416 150,784 74,921 1 4 88,284 19 6 72 Kinross..... 46,080 27,648 18,432 20,250 4 3¾ 24,959 10 0 25 Kirkcudbright..... 525,760 168,243 357,517 114,597 2 3 192,046 10 10 148 Lanark..... 602,880 271,296 331,584 162,131 14 6¾ 616,434 11 1 164 Linlithgow..... 76,800 57,600 19,200 75,018 10 6 91,928 10 2 65 Nairn..... 124,800 37,440 87,360 15,162 10 11½ 12,917 19 9 21 Orkney..... 819,200 46,368 772,832 57,786 0 4¾ 20,213 10 0 50 Peebles..... 204,160 24,500 179,660 51,937 13 10 60,099 0 0 46 Perth..... 1,656,320 530,022 1,126,298 339,892 6 9 512,336 13 8 222 Renfrew..... 144,000 72,000 72,000 69,172 1 0 234,777 0 0 153 Ross..... 1,677,440 149,895 1,527,545 75,043 10 3 111,857 3 8 87 Roxburgh..... 457,600 205,920 251,680 314,663 6 4 242,179 10 1 138 Selkirk..... 168,320 10,100 158,220 80,307 15 6 41,162 10 0 38 Stirling..... 312,960 195,600 117,360 108,509 3 3¾ 207,236 8 8 118 Sutherland..... 1,122,560 63,045 1,059,515 26,093 9 9 28,458 8 4 23 Wigton..... 288,960 101,136 187,824 67,641 17 0 131,778 12 10 59 Totals..... 18,944,000 5,043,450 13,900,550 3,804,157 19 2¾ 6,108,050 2 1½ 2987 V.—MINES AND FISHERIES. Scotland is not deficient in the most useful minerals. It has coal, iron, lead, with excellent stones for building and paving, slate, limestone, and marble. Its great coal-field, stretching across the country Coal. in a diagonal line from west to east, or from the Frith of Clyde at Dunbarton to St Andrews, in Fife, and Haddington, in East Lothian, is about 98 miles * The rental of this small county is included in that of Ross-shire, in which its lands are interspersed. long, with an average breadth of 33 miles, and estimated to extend over 600,000 acres. Coal has also been found to the north, in the county of Sutherland, and in Dumfries-shire and Roxburghshire on the south; but owing to situation, or to its inferior quality, it is not worked in either quarter to any considerable extent. Hence, though at the present rate of working, it has been calculated that the great coal field would last 3000 years, yet a large portion of the country is but indifferently supplied with this necessary of life in so cold a climate. In the Highlands and Isles, peat or turf is the most common fuel, and the only sort to which the lower classes have access; and in the south and south-west coals are imported largely from Newcastle and Whitehaven, by sea, and from the borders of Northumberland by land carriage. On the other hand, Scotland exports to Ireland and other parts to a still greater amount, and some of her best kinds begin to find a ready market even in England. The Scotch coal differs from the English in its rising in large masses, which do not adhere or cake together in burning; and though it makes a more cheerful fire it is not so durable, and the common kinds leave more ashes than the English. Some of the fusing or caking coal is occasionally met with in the same pits with the other kind, but it bears a small proportion to the whole. The quantity consumed in the country is stated to be about two and a-half millions of tons, of which two millions are supposed to be required for domestic purposes, and the remainder for the iron and lime works and other manufactures; and the price which, in 1813, was averaged at the pit-mouth at 6s. 8d. the ton, may be less at present by 10 or 15 per cent. After paying all charges at the works, the coal owner's share of the price does not exceed 1s. a ton. Iron is very generally found, particularly in the coal districts, and is wrought to a considerable extent; though a great deal is still imported, chiefly from Wales. The greatest manufactory is near Falkirk, well known by the name of the Carron-works. A few years ago there were in all 21 blast furnaces in Scotland, producing about 33,000 tons annually, and giving employment to 7650 people. Lead, which occurs in many parts of Scotland, is wrought to the greatest extent at Leadhills and Wanlockhead, on the confines of the counties of Lanark and Dumfries, where between 3000 and 4000 tons are raised yearly. The number of people in these two villages, the most elevated in Scotland, employed in and supported by the labour of the mines, is about 2000. Other mines, upon a small scale, have been long worked in the isle of Isla, one of the Hebrides, and on the west coast. The produce of the whole has been estimated at £136,000, of which the proprietor has a sixth part, and the contractor, or lessee, who bears all the charges, the remainder. The silver obtained from the lead varying from six to seventeen ounces for every ton, is said to be worth about £10,000 a year, and is now extracted at home instead of being sent to Holland for that purpose, as was the practice till within the last thirty years. Granite, sandstone, basalt, and other stones, are so abundant, that in every district one or more kinds is at hand for building, paving, inclosing, and other purposes; but it is only near large towns that the quarries afford any considerable rent to the owners. Those in the neighbourhood of Edinburgh, from which the freestone of the elegant buildings in the New Town is procured, rented at about £10,000 per annum more than twenty years ago. The most beautiful and durable species of freestone in the kingdom is that furnished by the quarries at Culello, in Fife-shire. Slate is wrought extensively at Easdale, Slate, one of the Hebrides, at Balachelish, in Argyle-shire, and other places. Limestone, producing in all about 12,000,000 of bushels of slacked lime, worth upwards of £350,000, is wrought in various parts, but chiefly in the neighbourhood of the coal-works. About 100,000 acres are supposed to be dressed every year with this important manure. Marble is found in the Hebrides, on the west coast of Argyle-shire, and in Sutherland, but often blended with other minerals, which injure its appearance, and render it difficult to work. A pearl fishery on the Tay is said to have yielded £10,000 annually for a few years, but has produced little or nothing for more than half a century. Marl has a local value as a manure, but the quantity that must be applied to land is too great to admit of its being used at a distance from the spot where it is found. Mineral waters, of various qualities, occur in many parts of Scotland. Those which have been long in most repute, and still maintain their character, are found at Moffat, in Dumfries-shire, and Pitcaithly, in Strathearn, in the county of Perth. The fisheries form a very important article in the productive labour of Scotland; the annual value of the whole having been estimated, ten years ago, at near a million and a half Sterling. Since that time the herring fishery, which was then stated at half a million, has been progressively increasing; and the repeal of the duties on Scotch salt in the last session of Parliament (1822), must afford encouragement, especially to the small fishermen on the coast, who felt themselves so much annoyed by the excise regulations, to prosecute both that and the other fisheries to the utmost extent of the market; for as to the supply it is held to be inexhaustible. But, for a particular account of this great branch of national industry, we must refer to the Article FISHERIES in this Supplement, and also to the Article OAKNEY, where notice has been taken of a productive cod bank lately discovered in that quarter. VI.—MANUFACTURES, COMMERCE, AND SHIPPING. Since the Union with England, and more especially since the close of the American war of independence, Scotland has enjoyed a full share, in proportion to her wealth and population, of the manufactures and commerce of Great Britain. There is scarcely a single branch of either in which she does not participate, while in some articles, such as linen and spirits, she has long been in advance of England, and has one or two others almost peculiar to herself. As several of the Tables given under this head in the Article ENGLAND, in this Supplement, embrace Scotland as well as England, for which, in some instances, it would be impracticable to exhibit separate articulate statements, we must refer the reader to that article. Scotland. and confine ourselves at present to a general view of such branches belonging to Scotland as are common to both countries; giving some further notices of others which are more properly of a Scottish character. Woollens. Of the manufactures, that of woollen, carried to so great an extent in England, has never made much progress in Scotland. A variety of articles, of a coarser description, are made for domestic consumption in country families; and a number of small establishments have been formed in different parts, where machinery is employed, and the several processes of the English manufacture, from the raw material to the finished fabric, are adopted with considerable success. But most of the wool grown in the country is still exported to England, and almost all classes of the people, at least in towns, use English broad cloth, flannels, and blankets, in preference to their native fabrics. Carpeting is made to some extent at Kilmarnock and a few other places; tartans in the county of Stirling; and Shetland has been long noted for its hosiery. Cottons. The cotton manufacture, though not half a century old, has been much more successful. Its principal seat is in Lanarkshire and the western counties adjacent, where it is conducted in its various branches to such an extent, as to give employment to about 150,000 hands, of whom 90,000 are women and children. The value of the goods produced was estimated, in 1812, at near seven millions Sterling. In 1818, Glasgow and its neighbourhood furnished to the amount of more than five millions, about half of which was exported. For a particular account of this great branch of industry, see the Article COTTON MANUFACTURE in this Supplement. Linens. Of the linen manufacture of Great Britain, Scotland has by far the greatest share. In 1727, a Board was established at Edinburgh under the authority of an act of Parliament (13th Geo. I.), for the regulation and encouragement of the linen and hempen manufactures. Since 1812, according to a Return made to Parliament (ordered to be printed 3d July 1823), this Board has had an income of about L. 8000 a year, of which it expended annually between L. 3000 and L. 4000 for this purpose, and in premiums to the growers of the raw materials. Among other regulations it was till lately required, that all the linen cloth made for sale should be stamped by officers appointed by the Board; but this regulation was abolished by the act of the 4th Geo. IV. cap. 40, passed in June 1823. The quantity and estimated value, every tenth year, from 1730 to 1810, are as follows: Years. Total Yards. Total Value. L. s. d. 1730 Under 9d. 3,755,622 131,262 15 11 1740 Do. 4,609,672 188,777 16 5 1750 Above 9d. 7,572,540 361,736 12 5 1760 Do. 11,747,728 529,153 10 5 1770 Above 1s. 13,049,535 634,411 7 1 1780 Do. 13,410,934 622,187 16 4 1790 Under 1s. 18,328,257 729,748 16 5 1800 Do. 24,235,633 1,047,598 10 10 1810 Do. 26,457,079 1,265,669 17 2 After 1810, this branch seems to have declined. In 1811, the quantity stamped was less by about five millions of yards, and in 1812 it was further reduced by about two and a half millions. Since the peace it has participated in the fluctuation, to which almost all the other branches of our industry have been exposed, but has of late increased very much, and is now in a prosperous state. Very little of the linen is of a fine quality; it consists chiefly of sheetings, osnaburghs, bagging, &c. the average price not exceeding 1s. a yard. The finer kinds are either made in private families or imported from Ireland. The counties of Aberdeen, Fife, and Forfar, carry this manufacture to the greatest extent, having about four-fifths of the whole. Machinery has been extensively employed since 1790, but it has not yet been found applicable to the finer qualities of yarn, which are still spun by hand. The royal navy, during the late wars, was chiefly supplied with sail cloth from Scotland. In 1812, the whole quantity made for this purpose, for private shipping, and for exportation, was estimated at 6,750,000 yards, worth about L. 300,000. This article is not included in the returns made to the Board. The total value of the linen and hempen manufactures of Scotland, about the end of the war, including the yarn exported to England, has been stated at L. 1,775,000; but with what was made for private use and not stamped, of which no accurate account can be given, the whole perhaps amounted to about two millions Sterling, and is now estimated at near three millions. As very little flax, and scarcely any hemp, are grown in Scotland, the raw materials must be imported; the flax chiefly from Holland, and the hemp from Russia; the prices of which, during the latter years of the late war, bore a large proportion to the value of the manufacture. In 1812, the imports of these articles into Scotland, and their value, were as follows: Quantity. Value. Tons. cwt. qrs. lb. L. s. d. Flax 6094 4 2 18 @ L. 100 per ton 609,423 6 1 Hemp 2496 17 1 18 @ L. 90 per ton 224,718 7 0 8591 2 0 8 Amounting to 834,141 13 2 Since the peace, these prices have been greatly reduced, and the import of flax is almost doubled; but the export trade has increased in the same proportion, as appears from the following statement. (Customhouse Returns, 13th May, 1823.) Years. Official Value. L. s. d. 1812 1,831,854 11 1 1814 1,115,304 19 4 1815 1,071,951 15 2 1816 1,089,518 5 8 1817 1,451,661 5 0 1818 1,675,838 5 2 1819 1,236,142 16 8 1820 1,438,501 19 4 1821 1,701,709 18 4 1822 1,933,152 2 5 These are the exports of British linens, no separate account being kept of what are made in England and in Scotland; but by far the greater part is of Scotch manufacture. The countries to which these exports were made in the years 1821 and 1822 are as follows: (Parliamentary Paper, ordered to be printed 22d May 1823.) Countries. 1821. 1822. L. s. d. L. s. d. Portugal, the Azores, and Madeira..... 53,597 1 8 40,627 9 5 Spain and the Canaries..... 24,624 15 7 78,812 7 0 Gibraltar..... 159,849 12 10 162,685 2 7 Asia..... 22,454 12 0 29,026 4 2 Africa..... 15,454 14 0 6,268 8 0 British North America..... 48,639 10 5 75,324 19 4 West Indies..... 552,391 18 3 542,947 4 9 Foreign West Indies..... 193,911 8 10 161,164 19 10 United States..... 442,204 18 7 516,781 3 1 Brazils..... 116,247 11 1 179,387 15 5 Foreign Colonies on Continent of North America... 53,982 11 5 115,206 0 6 All other Parts..... 18,351 3 8 24,920 8 4 1,701,709 18 4 1,933,152 2 5 A bounty is paid on the export of linen cloth according to its value; below 5d. the yard, a halfpenny; from 5d. to 6d., a penny; and from 6d. to 1s. 6d., one penny halfpenny. On linens above 1s. 6d. per yard there is no bounty. The bounty is allowed on English and Irish linens as well as Scotch. Malt liquors and spirits are made in great perfection in Scotland; and, notwithstanding the frequent alteration of the laws by which this manufacture is regulated, and a corresponding fluctuation in the trade itself, it has long formed a most important branch of the national industry. From 1786 to 1800, the quantity of malt made in Scotland varied from 1,500,000 to 2,000,000 of bushels yearly; the ordinary rate of duty being then 7½d. per bushel. In 1804, when the duty on malt made from barley was raised to 3s. 8½d., and from bear or bigg to 3s. 0½d., the number of bushels fell to 1,125,482, and never reached 1,500,000 while these duties remained in force. In 1817, 1818, and 1819, when the duty was 1s. 8½d., the quantity increased from 1,129,992½ to 1,556,586 bushels. But in 1820, when it was raised to 3s. 6d., the number of bushels fell to 1,284,918½. In 1822, under new modifications of the duty, it was 1,347,432 bushels; and for the year ending 5th April 1823, the number had increased to 2,150,795 bushels; of which 1,816,691½ were made from barley, and 334,103½ from bear or bigg. Nothing can afford a more striking proof of the unproductiveness, as well as the impolicy of a tax, when carried to an extreme. In 1792, the number of bushels was upwards of 2,000,000, and, at that rate, allowing for the increase of population, it should have been almost 3,000,000 in 1822, instead of being, as it actually was, less in 1822 than 1792 by one-third. The quantity of beer and ale made in Scotland in 1822 was near 350,000 barrels, less by almost 3000 barrels than in 1792. The exports to England for the four years ending with 1820 was about 13,000 barrels yearly. Before 1801 it was seldom more than 500 barrels. The duties and regulations affecting the Scotch distilleries have been so often altered, and even the principle itself according to which the duty is imposed, that it becomes difficult to exhibit an intelligible comparison between different periods without more explanation than our limits will permit. But some notion may be formed of their importance from the following account, which embraces three different rates of duty, and shows the influence of each on the quantity produced, and the revenue derived from it. The spirits are those made for home consumption only, not partly for the English market, and all made from grain or malt; no sugar or molasses being used in those years. (Report on the Malt Duties of Scotland, May 1821.) Dates. Gallons of Spirits made and charged with Duty. Rate of Duty per Gallon. Total Revenue produced. L. s. d. From 10th Dec. 1813 }to 1st Oct. 1814 } 1,653,735 { 7s. 1½d. in Lowlands, }{ 5s. 11½d. in Highlands } 587,781 8 1½ 1st Oct. 1814 }to 9th Nov. } 1815 1,784,943½ 8s. 4½d. 743,506 0 3 Year ending }10th Nov. } 1816 1,030,772½ 8s. 4½d. 427,658 16 8½ 1817 2,139,207½ 5s. 6½d. 599,168 3 5½ 1818 2,367,914½ 5s. 6½d. 663,464 16 4 1819 2,366,998 5s. 6½d. 658,773 18 4½ 1820 2,167,558 5s. 6½d. 602,676 18 6½ Scotland. For the quantity of spirits made in Scotland for the English market, and exported to that country, see the Article ENGLAND in this Supplement. Besides the spirits which pay duty, illicit distillation, carried on in most of the Highland counties, supplies not a small proportion of the home consumption; the produce, from its being generally of a finer quality, finding its way, in spite of the vigilance of the revenue officers, into every part of the country. But the act passed in July 1823 (4th Geo. IV. cap. 94), by which the duty on spirits is greatly reduced, will leave so small an advantage to the illicit distiller, that he will probably find it no longer for his interest to persist in a course which has been the cause of so many evils both in this country and in Ireland. Breweries and Distilleries. Breweries have been established in all the towns of Scotland, among which those of Edinburgh, Alloa, and a few others, are in high repute. The principal distilleries are in the Lothians and the counties of Stirling, Fife, and Clackmannan. The business of the maltster being rarely a separate one, is combined with that of the distiller and brewer, the malt being generally made at the works where it is to be used. Of the other manufactures of Scotland we must confine ourselves to a very brief notice. We have already mentioned her iron-mines, and the quantity produced yearly; to which we may add, that there are about 50 foundries, where it is converted into a great variety of agricultural and domestic implements and machinery, of which the export to America, the West Indies, and the other British colonies, is considerable; but the finer branches of the iron manufacture, such as locks and hinges, cutlery, &c., are not carried to any great extent. The silk manufacture, about fifty years ago, was prosecuted to a considerable amount in Paisley, but is now of little importance. Among the other articles, we may mention paper, glass, soap, culinary salt, and leather, which, with many others, though not singly of much interest, afford employment to a great many hands, and produce altogether a large sum. Kelp. The simple process of burning sea-weed into kelp, and the value of the article, form an important branch, especially in the Western and Northern Isles. About 80,000 people, of all ages, it is calculated, are employed in or dependent on this rude manufacture. The kelp is made during the summer months by the same people who afterwards engage in the herring fishery. The quantity has been stated variously, but, in favourable seasons, may probably amount to 16,000 tons; the best of which, during the late war, when the price of barilla was very high, brought upwards of L. 20 per ton. But since the peace, the price has been so much reduced, that it will do little more than pay the expence of the labour required, which may average between L. 3 and L. 4 per ton. Some of the Highland proprietors draw the greater part of their income from their kelp shores, and it is by their labour in making the kelp that many of the small tenants are enabled to pay their rents. Commerce. The commerce of Scotland with the British colonies, and with foreign countries, is included in that of Great Britain given in the Article ENGLAND in this Supplement. Scotland trades with the same countries as England, and the articles she exports are, for the most part, of the same description. From Leith, Dundee, Aberdeen, and a few other ports on the east coast, a considerable trade is carried on with Sweden, Russia, the shores of the Baltic, and Holland; but the principal part of her foreign and colonial trade centres in the Clyde, which is the great emporium of the trade with the West Indies and America, and also with Ireland. The trade between Scotland and England must be to a large amount, but as that part of it which is carried on by land does not appear in the Custom-house books, it does not admit of being estimated with much accuracy. Scotland sends to England exclusively cattle, sheep, and wool, and home-made spirits, and a large proportion of her other exportable produce and manufactures, such as corn, kelp, salmon, linen goods, &c. Intimately connected with the trade are the banking establishments of the country, which are numerous, substantial, and liberal in their dealings. Three of them, having their head offices in Edinburgh, and a great many branches throughout the country, were established by charter; namely, the Bank of Scotland, the Royal Bank of Scotland, and the British Linen Company. These, with several private banks in Edinburgh, Glasgow, and other large towns, issue notes, receive deposits, discount inland bills at three or four months date, and pay and receive sums so low as L. 10 on cash accounts. On money deposited with them, and also on what is paid in on the cash accounts, they invariably allow interest, though at a less rate than they charge themselves. As there is no limitation as to the number of partners, the credit of the Scotch banks is above all suspicion; and even with such of them as have stopped payment, a thing which very rarely happens, the loss has fallen upon the partners—very seldom, and to a very small amount, upon the public. The circulating medium of the country is almost entirely composed of the notes of these banks. The registered vessels belonging to Scotland, with the amount of their tonnage, and the number of men and boys usually employed in navigating them, on the 30th September 1820, 1821, and 1822, were as follows: Vessels. Tons. Men. 1820..... 3133 288,770 20,470 1821..... 3160 289,535 20,855 1822..... 3071 276,931 19,831 The number of vessels, with the amount of their tonnage, built and registered in Scotland in the years ending 5th January 1821, 1822, and 1823, will give an idea of the extent to which ship-building is carried on; and to show that it has more than its proportional share of this trade, we subjoin the same account for England. 1821. 1822. 1823. Vessels. Tonnage. Vessels. Tonnage. Vessels. Tonnage. England 461 54,014 399 46,296 442 43,212 Scotland 121 11,004 122 9,457 87 6,162 The intercourse between the different parts of the United Kingdom has been greatly facilitated by the recent invention of Steam-Boats. On the east coast of Scotland, there is a cheap, speedy, and regular communication by this means between all the principal towns, and between Leith and London, and the intermediate ports in England, for the greater part of the year; and on the west coast, besides those which ply on the Clyde between Glasgow and Greenock, vessels of this description sail between Glasgow and Liverpool, and cross the Channel to Ireland. Hitherto, passengers have been the principal object, and the hours of departure and arrival are almost as regular as those of the mail-coaches. The voyage between Leith and London is often made in about fifty hours, and the ordinary rate of sailing on the Forth and Clyde is from eight to ten miles an hour. VII.—EDUCATION—RELIGIOUS INSTRUCTION—THE POOR. By an act of the first Parliament of William and Mary, it was provided, that "there be a school and schoolmaster in every parish" of Scotland; the salary of the schoolmaster to be not under 100 merks, nor above 200. In 1803 the lowest salary was fixed by another act at 300 merks (L. 16, 13s. 4d.), and the highest at 400 (L. 22, 4s. 5d.), besides a dwelling-house of at least two apartments, and a quarter of an acre of ground for a garden. At all these schools, reading, writing, and arithmetic are taught, and at many of them the classics and the French language, with geography, and some branches of the mathematics. The fees paid by the scholars in the country parishes, in addition to the salary, vary from 1s. 6d. to 5s. the quarter; but the master is obliged to teach the children of the poor on the recommendation of the kirk-session, gratis. The school, and schoolmaster's house and garden, are provided by the parish by assessments on the land; and one half of the salary is payable by the proprietors, and the other half by their tenants. These schools are under the inspection of the presbytery in which they are situated, who visit and examine them yearly. So generally have the lower classes availed themselves of this primary source of instruction, that an adult male, a native of the Lowlands of Scotland, who is ignorant of the common rules of arithmetic, is very rarely to be met with; and there are but few females who have not been taught to write as well as to read. In the Highlands and Isles, however, where many of the parishes are of great extent, and the intercourse is obstructed by the nature of the country, the case is very different. In some of these, half the inhabitants cannot read, and from the same causes the means of religious instruction are scanty, and of difficult attainment. The Society of Scotland for Propagating Christian Knowledge, and the Committee of the Church for applying the Royal bounty, have done much, in both respects, by means of missionaries, catechists, and schoolmasters. Every year at the meeting of the General Assembly, the Sovereign, through his representative, the Commissioner, presents to this Court an order for L. 2000, to be employed in these useful labours. Besides the parish-schools, a great many private schools are supported by the fees of the pupils alone. Of these, there is one or more in all the towns and villages of Scotland; and in the principal towns are found academies, and other seminaries of a higher order, besides the universities of Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen, and St Andrews. (See these towns, and also SCOTLAND in the Encyclopædia, and EDINBURGH and GLASGOW in this Supplement.) Sunday schools, and those taught after the manner of Bell and Lancaster, are therefore less wanted here than in most other countries. Yet about 500 Sunday schools were reported to the General Assembly in 1818, and, including those of Edinburgh and Glasgow, the number of scholars was then upwards of 25,000. For a particular account of the Church establishment, we must refer to SCOTLAND in the Encyclopædia, and confine our notices here to its present state, in so far as it differs from its former. In 1818 the number of presbyteries and parishes which compose each of the synods were as follows: No. Synods. Presbyteries. Parishes. 1 Lothian and Tweeddale..... 7 104 2 Merse, or Berwick and Teviotdale..... 6 66 3 Dumfries..... 5 53 4 Galloway..... 3 37 5 Glasgow and Ayr..... 7 127 6 Perth and Stirling..... 5 78 7 Fife..... 4 66 8 Forfar and Mearns..... 6 75 9 Aberdeen..... 8 97 10 Moray..... 7 52 11 Ross..... 3 23 12 Sutherland and Caithness..... 3 23 13 Argyle..... 5 39 14 Glenelg..... 5 29 15 Orkney..... 4 30 78 899 The stipends of the clergy, the amount of which varies from year to year with the prices of grain, afford a moderate competence to all, but affluence to none. Throughout the country parishes, in seasons of average prices, the medium amount may be about L. 200 a-year, with a good dwelling-house, and a glebe, worth at least L. 50 more. In 1810 all the stipends below L. 150, which, from the want of free tithe, could not be augmented by the Commissioners of Teinds, were, by the 50th Geo. III. cap. 84, raised to that sum; the deficiency, which amounts to about Scotland. L. 10,000 a-year, being supplied by Parliament. This, therefore, is the minimum stipend in the church of Scotland, though, from very low prices of corn, some of those that do not partake in this bounty may occasionally fall below it. Out of 899 parishes, this augmentation was required for 172, or 1 in 5. Dissenters. The Dissenters from the Established Church do not amount to a fourth part of the population, and two-thirds of them differ from it rather in matters of discipline than in doctrine. The most numerous classes of Dissenters are the Burghers and Antiburghers (recently united), and the Relief denomination. The other dissenters are Roman Catholics, Episcopalians, Methodists, with a few hundred Quakers, and a very small number of Jews. All these sects have their own places of worship, to which they resort in preference, though few of them exclusively. They mix freely in society, and their children, at least all those whose parents are of the Presbyterian persuasion, are taught at the same schools; little or nothing now remaining of that religious animosity which was once so prevalent in this country. The Poor. The poor of Scotland are provided for partly by rates levied under the authority of the laws, but chiefly by voluntary contributions; and altogether, both their number, and the sums applied to their relief, are comparatively inconsiderable. In the country parishes, the sum to be raised by assessment is fixed by the land-owners, or heritors, and paid in equal proportions by themselves and their tenants; and in the towns the rate is levied from the inhabitants according to the rent of their dwelling-houses, or the estimated value of their property. The voluntary contributions consist of collections at the church-doors, fees paid at marriages and baptisms, and other small sums under the management of the Kirk-Session; to which in many parishes there is added, in seasons of peculiar pressure, such as a year of scarcity and high prices, a sum raised from the heritors and their tenants, upon the same principle as the legal assessments. In addition to these funds, some of the greater proprietors occasionally bestow donations in money, oatmeal, and coals, to be distributed under the inspection of the clergyman, or his elders; and not a few of the parishes have had bequests made to them for the maintenance and education of their poor, the interest of which forms the greater part of the yearly disbursements. The following results, taken from the "General Abstract of the Population, Poor, and means of maintaining the Poor in Scotland," subjoined to the Supplementary Report of the General Assembly laid before Parliament in 1820, present the best information we have access to on this interesting subject: Population for which the returns were made..... 1,764,987 Number of paupers..... 44,199 Proportion of paupers to population 1 to 39210 Scotland. Assessments..... L. 49,718 10 523 Collections, and other voluntary payments..... 64,477 7 323 Gross funds..... L. 114,195 17 9 Sum which each pauper costs..... L. 2 11 8 Expence to each individual of the population..... 0 1 3 As this Report was prepared little more than a year before the last census, the proportion of paupers to the population, and the expence that falls upon each individual, is stated too high. On the population of 1821, the proportion will be one pauper to 4725, and the expence 13d. for each individual of that population. If the whole sum applied to the relief of the poor were raised by a rate on the lands and houses, it would be equal to about L. 1, 18s. per cent. of the rent in 1812 (see preceding Table, containing the Extent and Rental of Scotland); or about 412d. per pound of that rental. The returns from which the Assembly's Report was prepared were complete, with the exception of twenty Highland parishes, having a population (in 1811) of 36,290. According to other returns made to the Assembly in 1818, the number of Friendly Societies, exclusive of those of Edinburgh and Glasgow, amounted to 327, composed of 72,153 members; and with the same exclusion, 130 Savings Banks were reported, having 7000 contributors, and deposits to the amount of L. 30,000. It is stated, on the same authority, that a capital of L. 10,082, with L. 2034 of interest, was mortgaged for the support of the poor; and L. 100,750 of capital (including L. 70,000 lately bequeathed to the country parish of Dollar, in Clackmannanshire), and L. 793 of interest for their education. These sums do not include the funds of the great hospitals, of which an account will be found under EDINBURGH and the other towns in the Encyclopædia and in this Supplement. VIII.—POPULATION. The population of Scotland was taken, though not by authority, in 1755; and the writers of the Statistical Account afford the means of estimating its amount about 1798, when it appears to have been less by 72,576 than in 1801. But in the following Table, we shall confine ourselves to the three enumerations made under the authority of Parliament; presenting only the totals for 1801 and 1811, but giving that of 1821 under separate heads. The Table also shows the extent of every county in square miles, the increase of its population from 1801 to 1821, and the rate per square mile in 1821: Counties. Extent in Square Miles, exclusive of Lakes. Population in 1801. Population in 1811. Population, 1821. Males. Females. Totals. Inc. per cent. 1801 to 1821. Rate per Square Mile. Occupations. Agriculture. Trade. All Others. Aberdeen1960123,082135,07572,38383,004155,38726.279.313,77516,0295,897 Argyle312971,85985,58547,77549,54197,31635.431.18,9893,4685,852 Ayr103984,306103,95461,07766,222127,29951.0122.56,20715,0085,430 Banff64535,80736,66820,19323,36843,56121.667.54,1502,9392,796 Berwick44230,62130,77915,97617,40933,3858.975.53,3341,9231,908 Bute16111,79112,0336,4747,32913,79717.085.71,314730811 Caithness68722,60923,41914,19616,04230,23833.744.03,0522,188704 Clackmannan4810,85812,0106,3566,90713,26322.1276.34341,4181,029 Dumbarton22820,71024,18913,04614,27127,31731.9119.81,1682,6021,571 Dumfries125354,59762,96033,57237,30670,87829.856.64,3404,7065,412 Edinburgh354122,954148,60787,759103,755191,51455.8541.04,83018,70016,939 Elgin47326,70528,10814,29216,87031,16216.765.82,6762,3302,321 Fife46793,743101,27253,54061,016114,55622.2245.35,26013,7486,741 Forfar88899,127107,26452,07161,359113,43014.4127.75,11415,3486,256 Haddington27229,98631,16416,82818,29935,12717.1129.13,0092,9471,978 Inverness405474,29278,33642,30447,85390,15721.322.210,2152,4475,662 Kincardine38026,34927,43913,54015,57829,11810.576.63,0252,3011,359 Kinross726,7257,2453,6604,1027,76215.4107.8446735646 Kirkcudbright821½29,21133,68418,50620,39738,90333.247.33,0472,2382,627 Lanark942146,699191,752115,385129,002244,38766.6259.44,88329,77616,838 Linlithgow12017,84419,45110,70311,98222,68527.1189.01,2241,8171,924 Nairn1958,2578,2514,0824,9249,0069.046.2799429903 Orkney and Zetland128046,82446,15324,07029,05453,12413.441.56,6041,5242,355 Peebles3198,7339,9354,9735,07310,04615.031.5837651474 Perth2588126,366135,09366,03373,017139,05010.053.77,77412,52310,673 Renfrew22578,05692,59651,17860,997112,17543.7498.52,72515,7805,472 Ross and Cromarty288555,34360,85332,32436,50468,82824.524.07,9473,3563,203 Roxburgh71533,68237,23019,40821,48440,89221.457.23,6132,8222,204 Selkirk2635,0705,8893,2033,4326,63730.925.2421409542 Stirling48950,82558,17431,71833,65865,37628.6133.72,6006,6414,492 Sutherland175423,11723,62911,08812,75223,8403.113.63,362642818 Wigton451½22,91826,89115,83717,40333,24045.073.63,5252,0891,160 Totals29,6001,599,0681,805,688983,5521,109,9042,093,45630.970.7130,699190,264126,997 From this Table it appears that, with the exception of Orkney and the small county of Nairn, there was an increase in all the counties of Scotland between 1801 and 1811; and that in every one of them the population of 1821 is greater than that of 1801; so far is it from being true that the Highlands of Scotland, as has often been alleged, are in the course of being depopulated. The greatest increase is in the manufacturing county of Lanark and in the county of Edinburgh; but several counties, which are wholly or chiefly agricultural, have also increased considerably in these twenty years. The rate of increase for the whole period is very nearly 31 per cent. on the population of 1801. From 1801 to 1811, the rate is nearly 13 per cent.; and from 1811 to 1821 it is 15½ per cent. If the population should go on increasing at the last rate, the period of doubling would be little more than 47 years. The average population, per square mile, is 70.7; the lowest being that of Sutherland, which is only at the rate of 3.1 per square mile, and the highest that of Edinburgh, which is 541. From the want of correct registers, the proportions of births, marriages, and deaths, cannot be accurately stated; but in the absence of these, we give the following general results for the city and suburbs of Glasgow, of which the population, in 1822, was 147,043: The number of Births, including still-born,.....5,624 Marriages,.....1,470 Burials,.....3,690 Births to one marriage,.....3,815 — to one burial,.....1,524 Burials to one marriage,.....2,510 One birth to persons,.....26,146 One marriage to persons,.....100,029 One burial to persons,.....39,849 (See Cleland's Statistical Tables.) The population of the principal towns, at the periods of the three enumerations, was as follows. Population. Those to which the letter B is added are royal burghs: Towns. 1801. 1811. 1821. Edinburgh, B..... 82,560 102,987 138,235 Glasgow, B..... 77,385 100,749 147,043 Paisley..... 31,179 36,722 47,003 Aberdeen (city and district), B..... 35,412 44,211 55,094 Dundee, B..... 26,084 29,616 30,575 Greenock..... 17,458 19,042 22,088 Perth, B..... 14,878 16,948 19,068 Dunfermline, B..... 9,980 11,649 13,681 Kilmarnock..... 8,079 10,148 12,769 Inverness, B..... 8,732 10,757 12,264 Falkirk..... 8,838 9,929 11,536 Dumfries, B..... 7,288 9,262 11,052 Montrose, B..... 7,974 8,955 10,338 Campbellton, B..... 7,093 7,807 9,016 Ayr, B..... 5,492 6,291 7,455 Stirling, B..... 5,256 5,820 7,113 Irvine, B..... 4,584 5,750 7,007 Port-Glasgow..... 3,865 5,116 5,262 St Andrew's, B..... 4,203 4,311 4,899 Rutherglen, B..... 2,437 3,529 4,640 It appears from the Report made to the General Assembly in 1818, that there were of Blind..... 1100 Deaf and Dumb..... 784 Insane..... 4650 6534, being in the proportion of 1 to 320 of the population of 1821; but for the insane, the returns were not complete, and the numbers of the blind and deaf and dumb are given partly on supposition. IX.—REVENUE. The revenue of Scotland, at the Union, was as follows: Crown rents..... L. 5,500 0 0 Feudal casualties..... 3,000 0 0 Carry forward,..... L. 8,500 0 0 Brought forward,..... L. 8,500 0 0 The customs..... 30,000 0 0 The excise..... 33,500 0 0 The post-office..... 1,194 0 0 Coinage impositions..... 1,500 0 0 The land-tax..... 36,000 0 0 Total..... L. 110,694 0 0 For the year ending 5th January 1804, the amount is thus stated (Sinclair's History of the Revenue): Customs..... L. 729,694 0 0 The excise, including the salt-tax, but exclusive of the annual duties on tobacco and malt..... 1,281,856 0 0 Tobacco and malt, annual..... 112,467 0 0 Stamps..... 194,275 0 0 The post-office..... 117,321 0 0 Land and assessed taxes..... 215,839 0 0 The 6d. per pound on pensions, salaries, &c...... 2,666 0 0 The 1s. on ditto..... 3,860 0 0 Of which there was paid for Collection..... L. 230,721 0 0 Bounties, &c...... 355,816 0 0 Expences of civil government of Scotland..... 137,165 0 0 Deduct..... 723,702 0 0 Remains..... L. 1,934,276 0 0 Of which there was remitted to the Exchequer of Great Britain L. 1,932,397. In 1813, the nett revenue was L. 4,155,599, including the property-tax, the gross receipt of which was L. 966,790. The property-tax having been repealed, and other taxes reduced, the gross and nett revenue, and charges of management for the year ending 5th January 1822, were as follows: Gross Revenue accrued within the Year. Nett Revenue accrued within the Year. Charges of Management. Rate per cent. of Expence Collecting. L. s. d. L. s. d. L. s. d. The Gross Revenue. The Nett Revenue. Customs..... 759,796 7 9½ 405,156 2 11 148,042 5 5 19 9 8 36 10 9 Excise..... 2,408,972 0 2½ 2,035,401 11 7 169,403 18 11½ 7 0 8 8 6 5 Stamps..... 480,274 5 1½ 438,172 5 7½ 32,542 11 3 6 15 6 7 8 6 Land and assessed taxes..... 470,311 2 5½ 432,223 13 6½ 38,087 8 11 8 2 0 8 16 3 Post-office..... 168,250 10 7 120,855 6 0½ 47,395 4 6½ 28 3 5 39 4 4 Duty on pensions..... 4,963 2 11 4,833 2 11 130 0 0 2 12 5 2 13 10 Totals..... 4,292,567 9 1½ 3,436,642 2 7½ 435,601 9 1 10 2 11 12 13 6 Of the two great branches of customs and excise, Scotland pays considerably more than appears in this abstract; for several important articles, tea for instance, pay the duties in England, and are, therefore, included in the English accounts, though partly consumed in Scotland, to which they are carried duty free. The following Abstract, made from an account Scotland presented to the House of Commons in May 1823, shows the exciseable articles paying duty in the years ending 5th July 1792 and 1822 respectively, and the amount of duty on each: Scotland. Articles. 1792. 1822. Auctions L. 4,700 8 8\frac{1}{2} L. 13,645 12 6\frac{1}{2} Beer and ale 55,078 8 2 87,217 9 9\frac{1}{2} Bricks and tiles 3,283 13 3\frac{1}{2} 6,348 16 4\frac{1}{2} Candles 16,804 7 10\frac{1}{2} 19,704 2 3\frac{1}{2} Coaches 99 0 0..... Cocoa nuts and coffee 443 17 11\frac{1}{2} 16,785 3 6 Cyder and perry..... 28 8 1\frac{1}{2} Glass 24,719 9 1\frac{1}{2} 132,770 13 7 Hides and skins 19,618 13 7\frac{1}{2} 51,045 6 7 Licences 10,813 3 2 90,581 8 5 Malt 74,960 12 0\frac{1}{2} 199,695 3 9 Paper 5,744 18 2 63,688 19 3 Pepper..... 305 7 6 Printed goods 78,002 0 4 246,278 7 5\frac{1}{2} Salt..... 106,992 16 8 Soap 43,969 8 4\frac{1}{2} 122,306 6 8\frac{1}{2} Starch 9,749 17 3\frac{1}{2} 5,325 12 3 Spirits (foreign) 56,520 8 1\frac{1}{2} 124,112 10 1 — (British) 52,470 5 2 740,709 14 5\frac{1}{2} Stone bottles..... 9 4 11\frac{1}{2} Sweets..... 111 1 4 Tea..... 49 4 2 Tobacco and snuff 31,774 8 5\frac{1}{2} 301,428 2 7\frac{1}{2} Vinegar..... 753 17 0 Wine 30,990 9 6\frac{1}{2} 68,716 2 0\frac{1}{2} Totals L. 519,743 9 4\frac{1}{2} L. 2,398,609 11 5\frac{1}{2} The expence of the Civil Establishment of Scotland, for the year ending 5th January 1823, was L. 137,635, 17s. 7\frac{1}{2}d. This sum, to the amount of L. 114,250, 11s. 10\frac{1}{2}d., is composed of the salaries of the Crown Officers, of the Judges and Officers of the several courts in Edinburgh, and of the Sheriffs' deputy and substitute of the counties. X.—REPRESENTATION IN PARLIAMENT. The Peerage of Scotland is represented in the House of Lords by 16 members of their body; and the Counties have 30 and the Royal Burghs 15 members in the House of Commons. At the Union, the number of Scotch Peers was 159; of whom, in 1812, 77 were extinct or dormant, or their titles merged in, or united to others, or forfeited; and of the remaining 82, 23 were British Peers and two Roman Catholics. The Peers who were qualified to vote at the election in that year were 74, but the number who actually voted was only 52. Each county sends one member to the House of Commons, with the exception of Bute and Caithness, Clackmannan and Kinross, Cromarty and Nairn, which have only three members; each of these pairs choosing a member alternately. The burghs, 66 in all (see SCOTLAND in the Encyclopædia), with the exception of Edinburgh, which sends a member by itself, are classed together, not fewer than four, nor more than five; every class or district choosing one member by means of delegates sent from each of its burghs. These delegates are chosen by the magistrates and town-councils, who, with one or two exceptions, are themselves nominated by their predecessors in office, and not by the burgesses. The number of electors in each burgh varies with its particular Constitution, but may be averaged at 20, making 1320 in all. The population of the royalties of these burghs cannot be less than 456,000. (See Cleland's Statistical Tables.) The population in 1821 being 2,093,456, and the number of representatives in Parliament 45, there is thus a representative for every 46,521 persons over all Scotland; and taking the burghs by themselves, one for every 30,400 persons residing within the royalties, exclusive of the inhabitants of the suburbs and dependencies; which, in the case of Edinburgh and Glasgow, are more numerous than those of the burghs themselves. Again, as to the proportion of the inhabitants who enjoy the elective franchise, the number of the freeholders (at Michaelmas 1822) being, as already stated, 2987 and the voters in the royal burghs 1320 the total number of voters is.....4307; or at the rate of one in every 486 of the population. Finally, the 30 members for the counties have each, at an average, 99\frac{1}{2} constituents, and the 15 members for the burghs 88; and taking all Scotland, the electors are to the members as about 95\frac{1}{2} to 1. Several large or considerable towns, such as Pais- Scotland. ley, Greenock, Kilmarnock, and Falkirk (see the preceding Population Tables), not being burghs, have no share in the elections; while Queensferry, Fortrous, New Galloway, and Anstruther, having each only from 500 to 1000 inhabitants, and other 16, less than 2000 each, have near one-third of the political influence of the Scottish burghs. The county of Fife, which in this respect may be called the Cornwall of Scotland, has 13 of the 66 burghs; of which nine are so inconsiderable as scarcely to deserve the name of villages. The inadequacy, inconsistency, and inequality of this system of representation is abundantly obvious; but the discussion of these points does not belong to this place. XI.—JUDICIAL ESTABLISHMENTS. SECT. 1.—Civil Jurisdictions. 1. Justices of the Peace. These are magistrates appointed by royal commission, within the several counties of Scotland, chiefly for the preservation of the public peace, but with a right also of exercising a limited jurisdiction in other respects, derived partly from statute, and partly resting on consuetude. No particular qualification in point of rank, money, or property, is necessary here, as in England, to entitle a person to act as a Justice. The office is gratuitous, and is held during the pleasure of his Majesty. The first introduction of Justices was above two centuries ago (1587, c. 82, 1609, c. 7), and their powers and duties have, from time to time, been regulated since, by various acts, both of the Scots and British Legislatures. They are competent in questions of servants' wages, of aliment to natural children, of straightening marches and erecting fences between adjacent properties, &c. They issue warrants of meditatio fugæ against debtors intending to leave Scotland with a view of defrauding their creditors; and imprison them until they find caution de judicio sisti. They have ample powers in regulating highways, bridges, and ferries, and in determining questions concerning them. They judge in a numerous and important class of questions with regard to the revenue; particularly the Excise and Customs. They formerly had power to fix prices of work for artificers, labourers, and craftsmen, and to compel the service of these classes at the stated rates; but the old statutes authorizing this abuse are now repealed (53d Geo. III. c. 40). The most important branch, however, of their civil jurisdiction, and certainly the most extensively useful to the public, is of modern date; viz. that which is vested under the Small Debt acts. Prior to these, there had existed in the city of Edinburgh, and it is believed in some other places, an ancient consuetudinary jurisdiction; under which the magistrates decided, in a summary way, questions of debt not exceeding L. 40 Scots. By 35th Geo. III. c. 123, the experiment was tried of extending such a jurisdiction over Scotland, by authorizing any two or more justices, within their respective counties, to hold courts, and try all causes for recovery of debts not exceeding the same limited amount; and this being eminently successful, the system was improved and rendered perpetual by 39th and 40th Geo. III. c. 46, which farther extended the amount of debt competent to be sued, to any sum not exceeding L. 5 Sterling. In the period from 1st October 1795 to 1st June 1800, there were decided in the small debt court of Edinburgh 13,968 cases, making an annual average of 2991; and from 1st June 1800 to 1st October 1820, 96,979 cases, or an annual average of 4767. The maximum debt competent to be sued, during the first period, was L. 3, 6s. 8d. and the total value of the cases decided L. 16,865, 6s. 1½d. During the second period L. 5 was the maximum, and the total value of cases L. 191,991, 16s. 8½d. In other districts the results were correspondent. In Glasgow, the number of decided cases averaged annually 5200; in Paisley, 1279. In some districts, courts are held weekly; in others once a fortnight, and in few, it is believed, seldom more than once a month. The fees of every step of procedure are regulated by the statute; and so moderate are they, that where the defender resides on the spot, and where no examination of witnesses, nor oath of party is required, an extracted decree may be obtained, if in absence of the defender, for 2s. 5d., and if he appear for 2s. 11d. Arrestment may be used on it for 6d. more; the defender's goods may be poinded and sold for 4s.; and his person may be lodged in jail for 3s. Expence is farther prevented by the absence of all written pleadings, and by the salutary provision that the parties shall conduct their cases in person. The proceedings of the Justices in these small debt courts, unless, indeed, they have exercised jurisdiction in matters to which they are incompetent, are subject neither to "advocation, nor to any suspension, appeal, or other stay of execution;" but they may be challenged within a year from their date, by action of reduction, "on the ground of alleged iniquity, or oppression;" the pursuer being bound to give surety "for payment of such expences as may be awarded against him." (39th and 40th Geo. III. c. 46, § 13.) In most other branches of their civil jurisdiction, the proceedings of Justices are subject to the usual processes of review in the Court of Session, or Circuit Courts of Justiciary. The Justices have no power of reviewing their own judgments; except in as far as an appeal generally lies to the Quarter Sessions from the judgments of the ordinary sessions. The Quarter Sessions are the stated quarterly meetings of the Justices of a whole county, which are appointed to be held on the first Tuesdays of March, May, and August, and the last Tuesday of October: or regular adjournments of these meetings. The ordinary sessions are the subordinate meetings held as occasion requires for the dispatch of business. 2. Burgh Courts. These may be considered as existing, 1st, In royal burghs; or 2d, In burghs of barony or regality. (1.) In most royal burghs, there are both a Bailie Court and Dean of Guild Court; in others only the former, which, in that case, exercises in addition to its own all the functions peculiar to the latter. The civil jurisdiction of the Bailie Court is as extensive within the limits of the burgh as that of the Sheriff in his county. It comprehends all questions arising out of personal contract, bond, or obligation, claims of debt to any amount, actions of damages, &c.; likewise all actions as to real property, which are merely of a possessory nature, and do not involve the question of radical title. The jurisdiction of the Dean of Guild Court was formerly more extensive than now, comprehending "all actions, and matters concerning merchants,—betwixt merchant and merchant,—and betwixt merchant and mariner." (1593, c. 184.) The maritime part of this jurisdiction was taken away by 1681, c. 16, and vested exclusively in the Court of Admiralty: Neither have the Guild courts of a long time exercised the powers conferred on them in causes between merchant and merchant. (Ersk. 1. 4. 24.) Their chief province now is "to take care that buildings within burgh be agreeable to law, neither encroaching on private property, nor on the public streets or passages; and that houses in danger of falling be thrown down." (Ibid.) Within the limits of the burgh, the jurisdiction of the Dean of Guild is exclusive; the Bailies again exercise a jurisdiction, for the most part cumulative with that of the Sheriff. The proceedings in both courts are conducted in writing, by practitioners admitted under authority of the judge; and proofs, when necessary, are taken by commission, the clerk of court, or some still more subordinate person, being usually the commissioner. The judgments pronounced may, in the first instance, be submitted to reconsideration of the inferior court by petition; ultimately they may be brought before the Court of Session, or Circuit Court of Justiciary, by the usual processes of review. From the constitution of these courts, the judicial functions can scarcely be said to be performed by the nominal judge; who, in few cases, has either experience, knowledge, or education, for the discharge of such an important duty. He is chosen for other purposes, deriving his authority from an annual election under the constitution peculiar to his burgh. The active and real discharge of the judicial office it has been found necessary to devolve upon the clerk of court, or other assessor appointed by the Magistrates and Council. (2.) The judicial business in the courts of Burghs of Barony and Regality has in like manner been devolved upon assessors; the election of Magistrates being conducted there in a way precisely similar to what prevails in the royal burghs. Their jurisdiction was originally commensurate and cumulative with that of the Baron or Lord of Regality, their superior; and embraced all questions of debt or personal contract, with most of the possessory actions, &c., but subject to review in the same way as the similar classes of actions in the royal burghs. In those burghs "which are independent of the Lord of Regality or Baron," this jurisdiction still remains entire, notwithstanding the judicial powers of the latter, along with every other heritable jurisdiction, were almost entirely annihilated by 20th Geo. II. c. 43.; commonly called the Jurisdiction Act. A similar reservation has been held to extend to such burghs of regality or barony as, though dependent, are dependent upon royal burghs. (Fac. Col. Dowie, May 30, 1817.) Since the Jurisdiction Act, his Majesty has been empowered to erect free and independent Burghs of Barony, on those parts of the sea coast where the fisheries are carried on (35th Geo. III. c. 122); but the Magistrates of such burghs are only to exercise the powers of Justices of the Peace, cumulatively with the Justices of the county. (Ibid.) 3. Baron and Regality Courts. Before the Jurisdiction Act, every lord of regality, and every proprietor of lands erected by the Crown in liberam baroniam, had an extensive jurisdiction, both civil and criminal; and "a baron, where he sold part of his barony lands to be holden of himself, was even understood to communicate to the purchaser a certain degree of jurisdiction over that part of the barony which he had sold." (Ersk. 1. 4. 27.) By that act, however, the civil jurisdiction of the baron, &c. was expressly taken away, except in actions where the debt or damages should not exceed 40s. Sterling, or in those brought for recovering from his own vassals and tenants the feu-duties and rents of his lands, and the multures or services prestable to his mills (20th Geo. II. c. 43)—an exception which has very seldom been taken advantage of. 4. Sheriff and Stewart Courts. The office of Sheriff is of such antiquity, that no distinct trace remains either of its first institution, or of the amount of jurisdiction originally conferred with it. The present form of the Court was introduced by the same statute which abolished heritable jurisdictions. The office of Principal or High Sheriff is no longer a judicial one (20th Geo. II. c. 43), but is granted solely for purposes of the executive government, and generally in connection with the office of Lord Lieutenant of the county. The judicial character is exclusively vested in the Sheriff-depute, who holds his commission directly from the Crown, and is in every respect independent of the Principal or High Sheriff, where such officer exists. The office of Stewart has undergone similar modifications: and the distinction between the offices of Sheriff and Stewart is now merely nominal. Both are now judges of precisely the same class, having the same sort of duties to perform in their respective territories, and invested with the same powers, and the same extent of jurisdiction. By the Jurisdiction Act, "One sheriff-depute, or stewart-depute, is to be appointed by the King in every shire or stewartry not dissolved; who is to be an advocate of three years standing, and who is declared incapable to act as an advocate in any cause that shall be brought from his county. These deputies are authorized to name each a substitute, or substitutes, either over the whole shire, or within such a particular district of it as shall be mentioned in the substitution; and they may not only hold stated courts at their head burghs, but itinerant ones, when and where they please, or shall be directed by the King, on previous notice to be published at the several churches, within the district where the court is to be held." (Ersk. 1. 4. 11.) They hold their offices ad vitam aut culpam. The sheriff or steward exercises civil jurisdiction "in all personal actions upon contract, bond, or obligation, to the greatest extent, whether the suit be brought against the debtor himself or his representatives; in actions of rent and of forthcoming; in poindings of the ground; and even in adjudication of lands, when it proceeds on the renunciation of the apparent heir; in all possessory actions, as removing, ejections, spulzies, &c.; in all briefs issuing from Chancery, as of inquest, terce, division, tutor, &c., and generally in all civil matters which are not by special law or custom appropriated to other courts." (Ersk. 1. 4. 3.) He judges also in questions of mutual inclosures, straighting of marches, running, &c. (1669, c. 17, &c.) By a recent statute (4th Geo. IV. c. 97), abolishing the inferior commissariats, he is invested with the office, powers, and jurisdiction of commissary. He has besides many important ministerial duties to perform. The forms of procedure in the Sheriff-Court are much the same as in those of the Royal Burghs; and their judgments are liable to review in the same manner. As, however, in the Sheriff-Courts, it is the substitute who, in the first instance, generally decides, and as an appeal lies from his judgment to the sheriff-depute, an opportunity is in many cases given for a still more protracted litigation. 5. Commissary Court. This was originally an ecclesiastical court; but on the abolition of Episcopal jurisdiction in 1560, a new nomination of commissaries, one in every diocese, to act under the royal authority, was made by Queen Mary. Soon afterwards a supreme Commissary Court, consisting of four judges, who are now appointed ad vitam aut culpam, was established at Edinburgh; as already noticed, the inferior commissariats were abolished by a recent statute (4th Geo. IV. c. 97), and their jurisdiction conferred on the sheriffs. The jurisdiction of the Edinburgh commissaries is exclusive in all strictly consistorial cases, viz. questions of marriage, divorce, separation, legitimacy, confirmation of persons dying abroad with estates in Scotland, &c. They have a cumulative jurisdiction with the sheriff and other civil courts, in actions of slander and defamation, aliment of wives against their husbands, applications for inspecting or sealing up the repositories of persons deceased, &c. Formerly the commissaries, both superior and inferior, had a jurisdiction in actions for the recovery of debts, not exceeding L. 40 Scots; and, indeed, where their jurisdiction was prorogated there was no limit in point of amount; but this is now taken away, and all prorogation of their jurisdiction in questions of debt prohibited. (4th Geo. IV. c. 97.) The Court of Session, as the King's great consistory (1609, c. 6), is vested with the power of reviewing all decrees pronounced by the commissaries, by advocacy or reduction. The commissaries of Edinburgh used to have a similar power of review as to the jurisdictions of the inferior commissaries: but this had long fallen into disuse, and by the late statute, transferring the jurisdiction of the inferior commissaries to the sheriffs, it is declared that "all such proceedings shall be reviewable only by the Court of Session." 6. Court of Admiralty. The judicial powers exercised in ancient times by the Admiral of Scotland are not distinctly known. The offices of High Admiral and Vice-Admiral of Scotland are no longer judicial ones. That character now belongs only to the Judge of the High Court of Admiralty, who derives his commission ad vitam aut culpam immediately from the Crown, and who must be chosen from the list of practising advocates of at least three years standing. (26th Geo. III. c. 47.) The jurisdiction of this court is chiefly regulated by the Scots statute 1681, c. 16. In civil causes, it is exclusive in strictly maritime questions, viz. in questions of charter-party, freight, salvage, wrecks, &c.; but merely cumulative with that of other civil courts in ordinary mercantile questions, viz. in actions on bills of exchange, mercantile contracts, policies of insurance, &c. In the latter class of cases, it is, with few exceptions, incompetent to raise any action in the Admiralty Court, where the subject in dispute, exclusive of expenses, is of less value than L. 25 Sterling. (1st and 2d Geo. IV. c. 39.) The Judge of the High Court of Admiralty may name inferior deputies, whose jurisdiction is confined within particular districts, and whose sentences are subject to the review of the High Court. The High Court may also review its own judgments, even after extracted decree, by suspension or reduction: a peculiar privilege, and usually appertaining to courts of supreme authority alone. This court is not, however, in a proper sense, Supreme; for the Court of Session is vested with a power of review as to all its proceedings, even in those questions where the jurisdiction of the Admiral is in the first instance exclusive. The procedure in the Admiralty Court is substantially the same as has already been described in the rest. One important distinction is, that the Admiral has power, where matters of fact are to be proved, to remit cases for trial upon issues in the Jury Court. (59th Geo. III. c. 35.) 7. Court of Session. This Court is the supreme civil judicature of Scotland. It superseded the ancient courts of The Session and Daily Council, and was instituted in 1532, during the reign of James V. after the model of the Parliament at Paris. In its present shape, it consists of fifteen Ordinary Lords, including the Lord President and Lord Justice Clerk; who, till lately, acted as one great Court; but the increasing business of the country requiring an additional tribunal, it was divided into two Chambers, called the First and Second Divisions, each exercising independent, but cumulative and co-ordinate jurisdictions. The Court of Session has an universal jurisdiction in civil matters. As a Court of Review, it has, with a few exceptions in special cases, the power of advocating, suspending, or reducing the decrees of all the inferior tribunals. As a court of the first instance, its jurisdiction is, in some causes, privative; e.g. in declarators of property in heritage, and other competitions of heritable rights; restitutions of minors; provings of the tenor; cessio bonorum; reductions of deeds, &c.; judicial sales; mercantile sequestrations; complaints against burgh elections; proceedings of courts of freeholders, &c. In all others, its jurisdiction is cumulative with that of the inferior courts; excepting, 1st, That in causes under the value of £25 it is incompetent to raise actions before the Court of Session, in the first instance; and 2d, That in maritime and consistorial cases, &c. the Court of Session has no primary jurisdiction, and can proceed only by way of review. The Court of Session is a court of Equity, as well as of Law, but in this respect its powers are loose and ill defined; its decisions in equity not being, as in England, regulated by any distinct or settled general principles. It exercises, also, what is called a nobile officium; an expression which, in ancient times, seems to have covered every exercise of power for which no more satisfactory source could be pointed out; and under which may be classed all those acts of interference which appear in the Books of Sederunt; sometimes fixing the price of victual in the city of Edinburgh; at others, regulating the sale of butcher-meat, or framing enactments against the "vending and retailing of bad twopenny ale" (A. S. 8th July 1725), &c. The judicial proceedings in the Court of Session may be considered as they take place, 1st, In the Bill-Chamber; 2d, In the Outer-House; or 3d, In one or other of the Inner Divisions. In Session time, the junior, or last appointed judge of the fifteen, has devolved on him the business of the Bill-Chamber. This chiefly consists in disposing of the preliminary stages of the process of review, where bills of suspension or advocacy are presented against the decrees or proceedings of inferior courts; it embraces, also, questions of summary interdict against all illegal proceedings; suspension of diligence unduly put, or threatened to be put, in execution; liberation from prison, where execution has already taken place, &c. In time of vacation, the whole judges, with the exception of the Lord President and Justice Clerk, officiate in the Bill-Chamber by rotation. The judgments pronounced in the Bill-Chamber are subject to review in the Inner-House. The business of the Outer-House is conducted by the five junior Lords of Session, including the Bill-Chamber judge, who has the particular department allotted to him of judging in actions of reduction, and in some other questions which are from time to time remitted from the Inner-House. The other four Lords Ordinary, as they are called (two belonging to either Division), officiate by rotation; they have separate rolls of causes, comprising, 1st, All actions brought in the first instance before the Court, except a few which are exclusively competent to the Inner-House; and, 2d, The class of cases which, passing through the Bill-Chamber, as above, have received the sanction of the judge there as deserving of further consideration. The proceedings in the Outer-House, like those in the Bill-Chamber, are subject to review in the respective Divisions of the Inner-House. Each Chamber of the Inner-House consists of four Lords, three of whom are a quorum. The Lord President presides in the First Division, the Lord Justice Clerk in the Second. They are chiefly occupied in reviewing the judgments which have been pronounced by the Lords Ordinary in the Bill-Chamber or Outer-House. But they have also a primary and exclusive jurisdiction in the sequestration of landed estates; the appointment of judicial factors, curators bonis &c.; proceedings for redemption of the land-tax; complaints in election matters; petitions and summary complaints under the bankrupt statute, &c. In cases of great importance or difficulty, either Division of the Inner-House is empowered to take the opinions of the other judges; but these opinions when taken are not always regarded; and one case is reported where judgment was ultimately pronounced by the votes of three judges in one of the Divisions, though an unanimous opinion to the contrary had been given by no fewer than ten of the other judges, including the two Heads of the Court. (Auld, Nov. 12, 1819, Fac. Col.) The extent of business before the Court may be judged of, from an interesting document lately drawn up by the Clerks of Session, under the directions of the Court. Two tables are there given;—one of "causes appearing in the printed rolls of the Outer-House;" from which the total number of such cases during the period from 1802 to 1822, inclusive, appears to be 50,970; giving an annual average of 2427;—another, of "original petitions, petitions and complaints, and other summary applications to the Inner-House;" from which the total number of such cases in the period from 1811 to 1821, inclusive, appears to be 5302, giving an annual average of 482. The forms of procedure in the Court of Session it would require much space to explain. There, as in the inferior courts, all the more important pleadings are conducted in writing; and proofs taken by commission. In this latter respect, the power of remitting cases for trial upon issues in the Jury Court is a vast improvement, and may eventually draw after it, what is of great and essential consequence,—viz. a distinct separation of the matter of fact from considerations of law, in pronouncing judgment, even in those cases which are not submitted to a jury. An appeal lies from the judgments of the Court of Session to the House of Lords. The disparity in the proportion of such appeals from Scotland, compared with those arising in the sister countries, is striking enough. Between 3d May 1813, and 14th March 1823, the appeals presented from Scotland alone were 426, while from England there were only 56, from Ireland 84, and from Wales 4. In 291 Scots appeals decided during the same period, only 145 were affirmed, while 62 were reversed, two altered, and 80 remitted for reconsideration. The increasing load of Scots appeals, combined with the circumstance of such a number of alterations and reversals, has lately given rise to much discussion; and a Parliamentary Commission is at this moment (October 1823) sitting, from whose investigation into the sources of the evil, the country is entitled to anticipate the most important and beneficial results. 8. Teind Court. After various temporary Commissions of Parliament, the first of which was ap- Scotland. pointed in 1617, c. 3, the Lords of Council and Session were at last created a perpetual "Commission for the Plantation of Kirks and Valuations of Teinds," by 1709, c. 9. This court, though consisting of the same individual judges, has always exercised a jurisdiction separate and distinct from that of the Court of Session; and when the latter was recently divided into two chambers, it was provided, that the former should in all respects continue untouched. The quorum of this court is nine: the same as that of the Court of Session before its division. By the act 1707, the Teind Court was appointed to meet every Wednesday during the sitting of the Court of Session, but now it meets "once a fortnight only," viz. every alternate Wednesday. (48th Geo. III. c. 138.) The extent of its jurisdiction is pretty fully set forth in the act 1707;—it has power "to determine in all valuations and sales of teinds; to grant augmentations of ministers' stipends; prorogations of tacks of teinds; to disjoin too large parishes; to erect and build new churches; to annex and dismember churches," &c. 9. Jury Court. This court is of very recent institution, having only been introduced so late as 1815. It is composed of one Chief Judge and two other judges, called "the Lords Commissioners of the Jury Court in Civil Causes;" but trials may proceed equally "in presence of one, or more than one, of the said three Commissioners." (55th Geo. III. c. 42.) The Commissioners must be either Lords of Session or Barons of Exchequer (Ibid.), with the exception of the Chief Commissioner, who may or may not hold such other judicial office, but must be qualified to be appointed a Lord of Session. (59th Geo. III. c. 35.) The court, as well as its forms of procedure, are framed very much on the English model; the jury also, as in that country, must be twelve in number, and their verdict unanimous. As at present constituted, no action can originate before this court. It derives its jurisdiction by virtue of Remits either from the Court of Session, the Court of Admiralty, or the House of Peers, as the court of last resort. "In all processes raised in the Outer-House of the Court of Session, by ordinary action or otherwise, on account of injuries to the person, whether real or verbal, as assault or battery, libel or defamation; or on account of any injury to moveables, or to lands where the Title is not in question; or on account of breach of promise of marriage, seduction, or adultery; or any action founded on delinquency of any kind, where the conclusion shall be for damages or expences only" (59th Geo. III. c. 35), the Order for Remit after the lodging of defences is (unless a question of law or relevancy arises) peremptory. In other cases, "where matters of fact are to be proved," the Lord Ordinary in the Outer-House, or either of the Inner Chambers of the Court, the Judge of the High Court of Admiralty, and the House of Lords, judging on appeal, may or may not remit, as it shall seem expedient. (Ibid.) In all cases where such remits are made, it is declared incompetent to bring under review in any shape any interlocutor or judgment ordering a trial by jury. The Jury Court has its terms and sittings like the English courts. The judges also travel circuits twice a year, about the same periods as the Lords of Justiciary. 10. Circuit Courts of Justiciary. The constitution of these courts will be explained below. The only thing to be noticed in regard to them here is, that they have a civil jurisdiction conferred on them by statute (20th Geo. II. c. 43; 54th Geo. III. c. 67); whereby they judge, by way of appeal, from the sentences of inferior courts, in all cases not exceeding L. 25 in value, exclusive of the expences of litigation. The decision of the Circuit Judges in these cases is final; but in questions of difficulty they may certify the cause to the Court of Session. 11. Court of Exchequer. This is the King's Revenue court. The old Scots Court of Exchequer was superseded at the Union by the establishment of the present, which consists of a Chief Baron, and four (or rather, as the court is at this moment constituted, of three) Puisne Barons, who must be either Serjeants at law, or English Barristers, or Scots Advocates of four years' standing. The judges of this Court have "a peculiar jurisdiction as to all duties of custom and excise, and other revenues pertaining either to the King or Prince of Scotland, and as to all honours and estates, real and personal, forfeitures and penalties of what nature soever, arising to the Crown within Scotland; and as to all questions relating to the said matters, which they are authorized to determine either in law or equity, by the same forms that have been used in the English Exchequer." (Ersk. 1. 3. 31.) By a late statute, this Court has also jurisdiction in questions as to the administration of what is called the common good of Royal burghs, at the instance of Burgesses against their Magistrates. (3d Geo. IV. c. 91.) SECT. 2.—Criminal Jurisdictions. Most of the Courts enumerated above as exercising civil, have also a certain jurisdiction in criminal matters. 1. Justices of the Peace, by the terms of their commission, &c. would seem here, as in England, to have power to judge even of the highest crimes; but in practice (perhaps from the circumstance of their never using juries), their jurisdiction is limited to the trial of petty delinquencies, e. g. all petty crimes tending to the disturbance of public tranquillity, petty acts of theft or pickery, &c. They are entitled to punish by fine or imprisonment, and perhaps also by banishment from the county, though this last seldom takes place, unless on the petition of, or consent of the party. Though the Justices, however, are not competent to the trial of the higher offences, they have full power, and it is a chief part of their duty, to take all necessary steps for securing the offenders, and making the proper investigations preparatory to trial: e. g. they lead pre-cognitions as to all circumstances connected with the offence, grant warrant for apprehending the delinquent, for imprisoning him for examination, or trial, &c.; they issue warrants of search also as to stolen goods, &c.; and having thus so far brought the case into shape, they report their proceedings to the Crown officers, with whom it lies to proceed or not before the competent court. 2. Burgh Courts, as to their powers in all those steps preparatory to trial of the graver offences, are on the same footing with the Justices;—but their own peculiar jurisdiction in the trial of criminal cases is somewhat more extensive. They are competent in all the lesser offences, where trial by jury is not required. Where the burgh grant carries an express right of Sheriffship, as is the case in Edinburgh, Stirling, Perth, &c. their jurisdiction within the bounds of the Royalty is co-extensive and cumulative with that of the Sheriff. 3. Barony and Regality Courts, since the Jurisdiction Act, have no criminal jurisdiction but in assaults, batteries, and smaller offences, which may be punished, either by a fine not exceeding 20s. Sterling, or by setting the delinquent in the stocks in the day time not exceeding three hours. 4. Sheriffs are competent to the trial of all crimes and offences, except treason, and the four pleas of the Crown, robbery, rape, murder, and wilful fire-raising:—in the lower classes of cases without, in the higher and more important with, the aid of a jury. Sheriffs cannot punish by transportation beyond seas, nor even by simple banishment from Scotland; but they may convict capitally; and sentence of death pronounced (28th January 1785) by the Sheriff of Forfar, in a case of house-breaking, seems actually to have been carried into execution. (2. Hume, 57 and 64.) In the preparatory steps towards trial of offences in the Supreme Court of Justiciary, Sheriffs exercise the same powers as Justices of the Peace, &c. 5. Court of Admiralty. This Court, in the first instance, has "the exclusive cognizance of the crimes of piracy, mutiny on shipboard, plundering of wrecks, destruction of insured ships, and others which may with propriety be called maritime causes." But in such crimes as murder, theft, &c. which "offend not against the rules of navigation, its jurisdiction is not exclusive, though they should be committed on shipboard." (Ersk. I. 3, 35.) It is the nature of the crime, not the local boundary of its perpetration, which regulates the Admiral's jurisdiction as exclusive; it is, on the other hand, the occurrence of the offence within the local boundary which alone gives existence to his jurisdiction as cumulative. The Admiral may punish capitally; an instance of which, in a case of piracy, occurred so late as 1822. 6. Court of Session. This Court also has a certain criminal jurisdiction. It is "competent to the trial of deforcement and breach of arrestment (1581, c. 118); of contravention of lawburrows (1581, c. 117); of perjury and subornation of perjury, when these offences emerge in the course of business before themselves (1555, c. 47); of fraudulent bankruptcy (1696, c. 6); of wrongous imprisonment, usury, and clandestine marriage, to the effect of inflicting the pecuniary penalties of these several transgressions (1701, c. 6; 1597, c. 251; 1661, c. 34). By ancient custom they are judges also in cases of improbation and forgery,"—also, "in the trial of the lower species of falsehood, when committed or discovered in the course of their judicial proceedings," &c. (2. Hume, 68; Ersk. I. 3, 21.) They are likewise, to a certain extent, competent to the review of the proceedings of inferior courts. The criminal jurisdiction of the Court of Session is, in all cases, exercised without a jury. 7. Justiciary Court. This is the supreme criminal tribunal of Scotland. As at present constituted, it consists (besides the Justice General, who, by his commission, is constant President of the Court, but seldom if ever takes part in the judicial business) of six Judges, including the Lord Justice Clerk, all of them being likewise Lords of Session, and three being a quorum. (23d Geo. III. c. 35.) Its judgments proceed on the verdict pronounced by the majority of a jury of fifteen. The jurisdiction of this Court, as it is supreme in degree, is also universal in extent. It embraces the four pleas of the Crown, and even High Treason, though this last is generally tried by a special commission of Oyer and Terminer, appointed by the Crown. As a Court of Review, also, the proceedings of all inferior judicatures, including the Court of Admiralty, may, with a few trifling exceptions, be brought before this Court. The principal seat of the Justiciary Court is at Edinburgh. But, for the better dispatch of business, the act 1672, c. 16, divided Scotland into three districts; and Circuit Courts, with the full powers of the whole Court, are now appointed to be holden each spring and autumn, by two of the Commissioners, at Ayr, Dumfries, and Jedburgh; by two at Stirling, Glasgow, and Inverary; and by two at Perth, Aberdeen, and Inverness. It is "lawful for one judge to proceed on business in absence of his colleague." (Ersk. I. 3, 26.) These Circuits have also a power to review, by way of appeal, all sentences of inferior courts, inferring "neither death nor demembration." (20th Geo. III. c. 43.) No appeal lies from the judgments and sentences of the Court of Justiciary, either to the House of Lords or any other tribunal. Situation,Boundaries,and Extent.