ies, the houses were almost all thatched. At that time beef was not sold by weight. A leg of an ox weighing five stone could have been purchased for as many shillings, and L.2 worth served the demands of the town for a fortnight.

To show the domestic condition of the inhabitants at that time, it may be stated that in this royal burgh, once the seat of royalty, there were only one or two time-pieces of any kind, and none of them patent to the public; modern luxuries, or rather necessaries, were so rare, that it could boast of only seven tea-kettles, and as many hand-bellows, while peats and wood constituted the only fuel. Since the introduction of the manufacture of "Osnaburges" (a kind of linen), about the year 1746, the trade of the town, in various branches, has progressed rapidly. Here, as in the other towns in the county, the staple trade is the linen manufacture, which employs 2900 weavers of all kinds. The number of pieces annually produced is 104,000, comprehending 13,520,000 yards, the value of which is L.260,000. The annual revenue of the burgh is L.1527, 12s. 3d., and it is gradually increasing. There are 285 electors in the burgh, which, in conjunction with Montrose, Arbroath, Brechin, and Invergowrie, sends one member to parliament. Pop. of town and parish in 1801 was 5167; in 1841 the town population was 8362, and the landward 1258; in 1851, it was in the former 9311, and in the latter 1698. (a.c.—e.)