a town of Renfrewshire, in Scotland, situated about six miles and a half west of Glasgow, on the river White Cart, over which there are two stone bridges of two arches each, and one which consists of three arches. The town is very ancient; but was of much less consequence formerly than it is at present. "No satisfactory etymology has hitherto occurred of the name Paisley." The following has been suggested by a good Gaelic scholar: 'A ridge of rocks that runs across the river, and forms a beautiful cascade, would, prior to the building building of the town, be undoubtedly the most striking object that this place would prelect. The brow or face of a rock is in Gaelic Pais-licht. A church in front of the rock would be the church in Pais-licht. A church did stand here previous to 1160: it is named in the foundation charter Ecclesia de Paselet, Latinized, in the records of the monastery, Paflatum, an easy derivative from Pais-licht in all probability the original of the modern Paisley. It was erected into a burgh of barony by James IV. in the year 1488, at that time probably deriving all its importance from the rich monastery which had been established there for several ages; for George Schaw, who was then abbot of the monastery, obtained this privilege from the king. Even in Mr Crawford's time, who wrote the history of the shire of Renfrew near the beginning of the 18th century, it seems to have been but an inconsiderable place; for he describes it as consisting only of one principal street, about half a mile in length, with several lanes belonging to it; whereas now the town, with its suburbs, occupies such an extent of ground, that strangers are apt to consider it as, next to Edinburgh and Glasgow, the largest and most populous town in Scotland. Its buildings of late years have been greatly improved; its streets are well paved; and the different parts of the town and suburbs, where the river intervenes, are connected with one another by three bridges at convenient distances.

The affairs of the community are managed by three bailies, of which the eldest is commonly in the commission of the peace, a treasurer, a town clerk, and 17 counsellors, who are annually elected upon the first Monday after Michaelmas. It enjoys all the powers necessary for government and police, without any of the burdens to which royal boroughs are subject. The freedom of the place is conferred on very moderate terms. The revenues of the town are not great, but they have been managed to the best advantage. The rapid increase of the place has not been attended with a proportional increase of revenue; therefore several necessary improvements, and intended public buildings, are not yet carried into execution. It gives the title of baron to the earls of Abercorn; the first of whom was a younger son of the Duc de Chatelherault. The black book of Paisley, frequently mentioned in Scottish history, was a chronicle of the public affairs and remarkable events, kept by the monks who resided in the monastery. It agreed in every material fact with the Scoti-Chronicon of Fordun; and is by many thought to be the same performance.

The old part of the town runs from east to west upon the south slope of a ridge of hills, from which there is a fine prospect of the city of Glasgow and the adjacent country; but to the southward, the view terminates in a ridge of green hills, about two miles distant. Including the late buildings and suburbs, it is fully a mile long, and nearly as much in breadth. On the east side of the river Cart, stand the abbey and new town. This new town was some years ago feued off by the earl of Abercorn, and now consists of a number of handsome buildings. The streets are laid off in a regular manner, but (rather unfortunately for the convenience and elegance of some of the houses) not in right angles. Here the earl of Abercorn has built at his own expense one of the largest, most commodious, and most elegant inns in Scotland. In the vicinity of it was proposed also to build several convenient and necessary market places. A little way south of the inn stands the abbey church, the only one which Paisley formerly required. This church, when entire, has been a most noble building, and consisted of several distinct and separate places of worship: what now remains of this magnificent Gothic structure is not yet unworthy the notice of the curious in antiquities. Mr Pennant says, the great north window is a noble ruin, the arch very lofty, the middle pillar wonderfully light, and still entire: only the chancel now remains, which is divided into a middle and two side aisles, by very lofty pillars, with Gothic arches; above these is another range of pillars much larger, being the segment of a circle, and above a row of arched niches from end to end, over which the roof ends in a sharp point. The outside of the building is decorated with a profusion of ornaments, especially the great west and north doors, than which scarce any thing lighter or richer can be imagined.

The town of Paisley continued a part of the original or Abbey parish of Paisley till the year 1738; when the magistrates and council having purchased the right of patronage from the then earl of Dundonald, a new church was built, and the town was erected into a separate parish. This is called the Laigh Church, is built in the form of a Greek cross, very well laid out, and capable of containing a great number of people. In 1756 another church was built, upon a very extended plan, to accommodate its multiplied inhabitants; in which, though it is one of the largest in Scotland, yet the most distant of the congregation can hear a tolerably good speaker with ease and distinctness; and as it stands upon the highest part of the town, it was afterwards ornamented with a lofty and well-proportioned spire, visible at a great distance. This is called the High Church, and is a very fine building: it is an oblong square of 82 feet by 62 within the walls, built of free stone well smoothed, having rustic corners and an elegant stone cornice at the top. In the construction of the roof (which is a pavilion covered with slate, having a platform covered with lead on the top), there is something very curious, and it is admired by every person of taste. In 1781, the number of the inhabitants still rapidly increasing, another church, called the Middle Church, was built, not quite so large as the former, but very handsomely and elegantly finished: and in the following year, the town was divided and erected into three separate parishes, exclusive of the Abbey parish, and named according to their respective churches.

There are two large dissenting congregations in the town; those of the Antiburgher persuasion and the Relief. The first of these has existed there for upwards of 30 years; the other is of a late date. There is besides a small congregation of Cameronians.

The townhouse is a very handsome building of cut stone, with a tall spire and a clock. The flesh market has a genteel front of cut stone, and is one of the neatest and most commodious of the kind in Britain. Butchers meat, butter, cheese, fish, wool, and several other articles, are sold here by what they call the ton pound, of 22 English ounces and a half.

The poor house is a large building, very well laid out; and stands opposite to the quay, in a fine free air. It is supported by a small tax laid upon the inhabitants quarterly.

Close by the Abbey church is the earl of Abercorn's burial Paisley, burial place, the greatest curiosity in Paisley. It is a vaulted Gothic chapel, without pulpit, pew, or any other ornament, but has the finest echo perhaps in the world. When the end door (the only one it has) is shut, the noise is equal to a loud and not very distant clap of thunder. If you strike a single note of music, you have the sound gradually ascending, with a great number of repetitions, till it dies away as if at an immense distance, and all the while diffusing itself through the circumambient air. If a good voice sings, or a musical instrument is well played upon, the effect is inexpressibly agreeable. The deep, as well as the most acute tones, are distinctly reverberated, and these in regular intervals of time. When a musical instrument is sounded, it has the effect of a number of instruments of a like size and kind playing in concert. When a number of different instruments in unison sound the same note, a good ear is able to distinguish the variety of sound produced by each. A single instrument sounding a particular note, and then instantly its fifth, or any other concordant note, the two sounds can be heard, as it were, running into and uniting with each other in a manner peculiarly agreeable. But the effect of a variety of instruments playing in concert is particularly charming, and must excite such emotions in the soul as it is impossible to describe. In this chapel is the monument of Marjory Bruce (A); she was daughter of Robert Bruce, and wife of Walter, great steward of Scotland, and mother of Robert II. In this same chapel were interred Elizabeth Muir and Euphemia Rois, both comforts to Robert II.

A particular account of the abbey of Paisley would fill many pages. It was founded as a priory for monks of the order of Clugni about the year 1160 by Walter great steward of Scotland. It was afterwards raised to the rank of an abbacy; and the lands belonging to it were by Robert II. erected into a regality, under the jurisdiction of the abbot. After the Reformation, the abbacy was secularized by the pope in favour of Lord Claud Hamilton, third son of the duke of Chatelherault, in reward of his steady adherence to the cause of Queen Mary; and, in 1588, it was by the king and parliament erected into a temporal lordship, and Lord Claud was created Lord Paisley. The revenues of the abbacy were very considerable: They consisted of the tithes of 28 different parishes, with the property of the lordships of Paisley, of Kilpatrick in Dumbartonshire, and of Monkton in Ayrshire, extending each to a hundred merk land; and the forty pound land of Glen in Lochwinnoch; with the lands of Achengown, Grange, &c. and a considerable detached property in different parts of the kingdom. All this property, with the patronage of the several churches, fell to Lord Claud Hamilton, last abbot of Paisley. It continued in that family till 1563.

Vol. XV. Part II.

(a) Her story is singular: In the year 1317, when she was big with child, she broke her neck in hunting near this place; the Caesarean operation was instantly performed, and the child taken out alive; but the operator changing to hurt one eye with his instrument, occasioned the blemish that gave him afterwards the epithet of Blear-eye; and the monument is also styled that of Queen Bleary. Elizabeth Muir died before the accession of her husband Robert.

(b) This was introduced into this town about 60 or 70 years ago. The method of making what is called glazed white thread, has been discovered and brought to as great perfection as that made by Mr Leland and Son, London. The value of this branch is computed at about 60,000l. annually.

Paisley, when his grandson James earl of Abercorn sold the lordship of Paisley to the earl of Angus, who next year sold it to William Lord Cochran, Kilpatrick to Sir John Hamilton of Orbistoun, Monktoun to Lord Bargenny, and Glen to Lord Semple and others. Great part of the lordship of Paisley was at different times sold off by the family of Dundonald; and what remained of it was in 1764 repurchased by the late earl of Abercorn. The fabric of the abbey owed much of its magnificence to Abbot George Schaw, who about 1484 enlarged and beautified the building, surrounding the church, the precincts of the convent, the gardens, and a small deer park, with a noble wall of hewn freestone. The abbey was, after the Reformation, successively the seat of the earls of Abercorn and Dundonald. The late earl of Dundonald demolished the ancient gateway; and, by feuing off the immediately adjoining grounds for building, entirely changed the appearance of the place. As it was thus rendered totally unfit for a family residence, it has since that time been let out into separate dwellings, and is now in a very mean and almost ruinous state. The wall stood almost entire till 1781, when the garden being feued off for building upon by the late earl of Abercorn, the wall was sold to the feuers, and the stones of it employed in their houses.

The vestiges of the Roman camp and praetorium, at the west end of the town, are at present almost annihilated. It was supposed to be vaulted underneath.

The number of inhabitants in the town of Paisley amounted in 1695 to 2200; in 1755 they were 4290; in 1782, 11,100; and in 1792 they were 13,800. But in 1801 the whole population of the town, suburbs, and parish, exceeded 31,000.

Paisley is now the first manufacturing town in Scotland, and is greatly celebrated on account of some of its branches. The manufactory of silk gauze, in this respect, first claims our notice. This branch is brought here to the utmost perfection, and is wrought to an amazing variety of patterns. It has been computed, that there have been no less than 5000 weavers employed in Paisley and in the country adjacent; and the number of winders, warpers, clippers, and others necessary in other parts of the silk manufacture, has been likewise computed to be no less than 5000. Each loom will produce in an average value 70l. yearly; the whole will then be 350,000l.

It appears, from the best calculation that could be made, that in the year 1784 the manufacturies of Paisley in silk gauze, lawn and linen gauze, and white sewing thread (n), amounted to the value of 579,183l. 16s. 6d. and that no fewer than 26,484 persons were employed in carrying them on. It is difficult to give an exact account of the state of its manufactures at present. The silk branch has evidently declined, but the muslin has so far far come in its room, and the thread manufacture has considerably increased. There is, however, reason to conclude, that, though it is daily advancing, it has not yet recovered its former greatness. Besides these principal manufactures, there are some others carried on there of too much importance to be overlooked: for instance, considerable tan works, four in number, two soap and candle works, a manufacture of ribbons, and another of inkle or tape. In 1789 the annual value of all the manufactures in Paisley of every sort amounted to 660,385l. 16s.

In the various weaving branches there were employed at Whitfunday 1791, in the suburbs of Paisley, 1108 looms, which, added to 2494 employed in the town, gives 3602 in all. But it is to be observed, that the extent to which the weaving branches are carried on by the manufacturers in Paisley, is not to be judged of from the number of looms in the town and suburbs. Besides about 150 in the country part of the parish, there are great numbers employed by them in the villages of Neilston, Barhead, Beith, Dalry, Kilwinning, &c. &c. In 1744, when all the business was confined to the town and suburbs, there were 867 looms at work. — The thread-making in Abbey parish employs 9 mills, which, added to 128 employed in Paisley, makes 137 in all. The number in 1744 was 93. The spinning of cotton was introduced into Abbey parish in 1783. The principal seat of that manufactory is at Johnstone, a neat and regularly built village about three miles west from Paisley, upon the estate of Mr Houstoun of Johnstone. The feuing of that village was begun in 1782; and it contained, at Whitfunday 1792, 293 families, or 1434 souls. There are five companies established in it for cotton spinning. Two of these carry on their principal operations by water machinery. In the two mills employed in them, there are going at present 11,672 spindles; but, when the whole machinery in both shall be completed, there will be 22,572. The number of persons, young and old, at present employed in both mills is 660. There is also in the neighbourhood of Paisley a calico printing work. Copperas has been long manufactured at Lord Glasgow's coal works; and for several years past the manufacture of alum has been conducted on a very extensive scale at the same place.

The bleaching business in the Abbey parish is carried on to a very considerable extent. There are 10 fields for whitening muslins and lawns, and about as many for thread, almost wholly employed by the manufacturers in Paisley. About 300 persons are at work in this branch of business, of whom about 240 are women, who are hired for the season. A soap and candle manufacture pays about 2000l. of duty per annum to government, and has in some years paid upwards of 3000l. A black and hard soap manufacture, 4500l. per annum. The starch manufacture is but lately established. The distillery business is to be mentioned under this head: it has for some time past been carried on to a great extent, and the spirit manufactured in great perfection. A considerable quantity of it is exported, but too much of it is consumed at home (c).

The river on which Paisley stands runs from south to north; and falls into the Clyde, after it has joined the conflux of the rivers Grife and Black Cart at Inchinnan bridge, about three miles below the town. At spring tides, vessels of 40 tons burden come up to the quay. The communication by water is of great importance to the inhabitants: for in this way they are frequently supplied with fish of different kinds, and can send their goods and manufactures to Port Glasgow and Greenock, and to Glasgow likewise; and now, by means of the great canal, they have also a communication with the frith of Forth.

The air here is moist; a necessary consequence of the prevailing south-west winds, which, coming loaded with vapour from the Atlantic, produce frequent and heavy rains. The effects of this moist atmosphere appear in rheumatism, quinsies, pneumatic ailments, and all the tribe of inflammatory disorders. Upon the whole, however, neither the town nor country adjacent can be said to be unhealthy. Contagions, indeed, at times visit this as other places, which run their usual course as epidemics; but none are remembered of any uncommon violence except a plague in summer 1771, and which, contrary to the received opinion, was truly epidemic. There are no disorderer hat can be said to be endemic, unless scrofula is to be excepted, which is still but too common. This has been ascribed to the water used by the inhabitants of Paisley: It more probably proceeded from, and certainly was greatly aggravated by, poor living, and by the damp shops which were necessary for the linen manufacture; for since silk weaving became the general employment, and increase of trade has introduced better living, this disorder is less frequent. From the same causes probably it is that swelled and sore legs, once extremely common here, are now but rarely met with. Dysentery raged with great violence in 1765; since that time it has been scarcely complained of. Nervous fevers at times appear; but they are neither very general nor uncommonly fatal. It is to be apprehended, that the confinement and sedentary posture of the weaver, and the laborious life of the bleacher, are frequent causes of consumptive complaints. Intermittents, which, from the damp air, and adjoining mols, might be expected to be common, are not so much as known. W. Long. 4. 20. N. Lat. 55. 52.