or LANARKSHIRE, a county of Scotland, called also Clydesdale, from the river Clyde by which it is watered. It is bounded on the north by the county of Dumbarton; on the east by Stirling, Linlithgow, Edinburgh, and Peebles, shires; on the south by Dumfries; and on the west by Ayr and Renfrew shires. Its extent from north to south is about 40 miles, from east to west 36.—The river Clyde, descending from the southern part of this county, divides it into two almost equal parts; and after a course of about 50 miles, meets the tide a little below Glasgow; (see GLASGOW.) Proceeding up the river from Glasgow, the country is rich and well cultivated. Bothwell castle, now in ruins, stands on an eminence which overlooks the Clyde. Some of its walls are still remaining, which measure 15 feet in thickness and 60 feet in height. Between this castle and the priory of Blantyre on the opposite side of the Clyde, there is said to have been in ancient times a subterraneous passage under the river. A little above stands Bothwell bridge, noted for the defeat of the Covenanters by the duke of Monmouth in 1679.—East from Bothwell castle, in an elevated situation, stands the Kirk of Shotts, amid a wild and barren country. This dreary waste is covered with heath; and though a high situation, is flat, and very marshy in many places. It is chiefly employed as sheep walks; and notwithstanding the vicinity of coal and lime, seems scarce capable of cultivation. This want is, however, compensated by the abundance of iron stone and coal, which are here brought together by the hand of nature. Nor is this advantage confined to the barren tract in the north-east corner of the shire. The whole county abounds with these valuable minerals; and two iron works are erected on the banks of the Clyde, one a little above Glasgow, and another at Cleland near Hamilton. But the most considerable work of this kind in the county is that of Cleugh, a few miles south-east from the Kirk of Shotts. A village is here built for the accommodation of the workmen. It is called Wilsontown from the name of the proprietors. There are beside these, two other iron works in this county, one on the banks of the Cadder near Airdrie, and the other at Shotts.—The small borough of Lanark is situated on the brow of a hill, on the north-east side of the Clyde, commanding a fine prospect over the river. In this neighbourhood are some of the greatest cotton manufactories in Scotland. The Clyde near this place runs for several miles between high rocks covered with woods; and in its course exhibits many astonishing cataracts: (see the article CLYDE.)—From Lanark, passing the village of Carstairs, a few miles to the east we meet the small town of Carnwath. In this neighbourhood, and along the Clyde to the south-east, there is much cultivation and rich pasture.—To the south of Carnwath is the town of Biggar; where is seen the ruin of a collegiate church founded in 1545.—The lands about the villages of Culter and Lamington are fertile; but further up the Clyde we meet with nothing but sheep walks and pasture grounds in tracing it to its source.
In the southern part of the shire, generally called Clydesdale, the country is not less wild. Among the mountains here, or rather in a hollow near their summit, we meet with the village of Leadhills, by some said to be the highest human habitation in the island of Great Britain. Here, however, reside many hundreds of miners with their families. These miners, though in a great measure excluded from society by their situation, yet not only find means to procure a comfortable subsistence, but also pay more attention to the cultivation of the mind than many of their countrymen situated seemingly in more favourable circumstances for the attainment of knowledge. As an evidence of this, they are very intelligent, and have provided a circulating library for the instruction and amusement of the little community belonging to the village.—Amid these mountains particles of gold have sometimes been found washed down by the rains and streams of water; but this desert tract is chiefly valuable for producing metals of inferior worth. "Nothing (says Mr Pennant) can equal the gloomy appearance of the country round. Neither tree, nor shrub, nor verdure, nor picturesque rock, appear to amuse the eye. The spectator must plunge into the bowels of these mountains for entertainment." The veins of lead lie mostly north and south; and their thickness varies from a few inches to 20 inches and two feet. At one place the Sufannah vein (the richest ever discovered at Leadhills) swelled out to the extraordinary thickness of 14 feet. Some have been found filled with ore within two fathoms of the surface; others sink to the depth of 90 fathoms. The earl of Hopeton, the proprietor, has in his possession a solid mass of lead ore from these mines weighing five tons. His lordship has also, it is said, a piece of native gold that weighs two ounces, which was found here. The lead smelted at this place is all sent to Leith, where it has the privilege of being exported free of duty. The scanty pasture afforded by this barren region feeds some sheep and cattle; but those in the neighbourhood of the mines sometimes perish by drinking of the water in which the lead ore has been washed: for the lead ore communicates a deleterious quality to the water, though that liquid acquires no hurtful taint from remaining in leaden pipes or cisterns. North from this mountainous region lies Crawford muir.
About nine miles north of Leadhills, on the east side of the small river Douglas, which falls into the Clyde a few miles below, stands Douglas castle, for many ages the residence of the second family in Scotland. A modern building has been erected on the same site, in imitation of the ancient castle. Near it stands the town of Douglas. A few miles to the north-east is Tinto, a remarkable conic mountain, round the base of which the Clyde makes a noble sweep. Westward, beyond Douglas, the river Nethan descends into the Clyde through the populous parish of Lenmahago.—Hamilton house, the seat of the duke of Hamilton, stands in a plain between the rivers Clyde and Avon. It is a magnificent structure, surrounded by many venerable oaks. In the vicinity is the town of Hamilton, which contains many handsome houses: (see HAMILTON.) Here are seen the ruins of a collegiate church, founded in 1457. At a little distance from Hamilton house is an elegant appendage to it, called Chatelherault, the name of the ancient possessions held by the family in France. This building is seated on the river Avon, and is surrounded by woods and deep deep dells, and every rural beauty that can produce a pleasing effect on the imagination.—On the west of Hamilton is the little town of Kilbride; and to the south that of Strathaven, surrounded by the fertile tract from which it derives its name. In our way from Hamilton to Glasgow we meet with the ancient borough of Rutherglen, inhabited chiefly by weavers and other manufacturers: and the village of Govan stands on the same side of the river on the road from Glasgow to Renfrew.
The population of this county in 1801 amounted to 147,796; but as it is stated in the Statistical History, according to its parishes, it is the following:
| Parish | Population in 1755 | Population in 1790—1798 | |-----------------|--------------------|------------------------| | Avendale | 3551 | 3343 | | Biggar | 1098 | 937 | | Blantyre | 496 | 1040 | | Bothwell | 1561 | 2757 | | Cadder | 2396 | 1767 | | Cambuslang | 934 | 1288 | | Cambusnethan | 1419 | 1684 | | Carlisle | 1459 | 1730 | | Carmichael | 899 | 781 | | Carmunnock | 471 | 570 | | Carnwath | 2390 | 3000 | | Carstairs | 845 | 924 | | Covington | 521 | 484 | | Crawford | 2009 | 1490 | | Crawford John | 765 | 590 | | Culter | 422 | 326 | | Dalserf | 765 | 1100 | | Dalziel | 351 | 478 | | Dolphington | 302 | 200 | | Douglas | 2009 | 1715 | | Dunfyre | 339 | 360 | | Glasford | 559 | 788 | | Glaigow | 27,451 | 58,401 | | Do. Barony | | | | Gorbals | 4389 | 9066 | | Govan | 3815 | 5017 | | Hamilton | 2029 | 2359 | | Kilbride | 599 | 417 | | Lamington | 2294 | 475 | | Lesmahago | 3996 | 2810 | | Liberton | 738 | 750 | | Monkland, New | 2713 | 3560 | | Monkland, Old | 1813 | 4000 | | Pettinain | 330 | 386 | | Roberton | 1102 | 740 | | Rutherglen | 988 | 1860 | | Shotts | 2322 | 2041 | | Stonehouse | 823 | 1060 | | Symington | 264 | 307 | | Walston | 478 | 427 |
Increase 43,528