a town of Scotland, capital of the county of that name, and once a place of some commercial importance, its merchants formerly dealing extensively in Baltic produce, is pleasantly situate in the vicinity of a beautiful lake, 16 miles from Edinburgh, and 31 E. from Glasgow. It consists chiefly of a single street, running E. and W. along the S. bank of the lake, containing many substantial though old houses, and is gradually improving in appearance, in consequence of the increasing number of modern buildings. The place from which Hamilton of Bothwell-haugh shot the Regent Murray is still pointed out. The name is supposed to signify "the valley of the flowing lake," from the circumstance, it is believed, that the supply of water is chiefly derived from springs flowing from its bed. It is a very ancient town, having been erected into a royal burgh by David I. The oldest charter extant, however, is in 1389 by King Robert II. It possesses the ruins of a fine old palace, the birth-place of Queen Mary, and a favourite residence of the Scottish monarchs, built at different periods, on the site of a castle erected by Edward I. of England (who with his army wintered at Linlithgow in 1301), and which was destroyed by fire in 1746. It has also a very ancient church, in the decorated Gothic style, said to have been founded by David I., but little of the original structure now remains. In its south transept appeared the vision of St John, a probable device of his nobles to dissuade James IV. from his intended war with England, as described by Pitcavie. There are four Protestant places of worship unconnected with the Established church, besides a Roman Catholic place of worship. The old fountains are objects of much curiosity. The town has a dull appearance, but the inhabitants are by no means inactive, having a considerable trade in tanning, glue-making, and shoemaking; besides which, paper-manufacturing, calico-printing, and distillation are carried on on a large scale. It is also surrounded by extensive fields of coal and iron, and is in consequence increasing in importance. The Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway and Union Canal intersect the burgh. There is a weekly grain stock market held on Friday. The population in 1851 amounted to 4213, and the parliamentary constituency in 1856 to 124. Linlithgow, Linlithgowshire, or West Lothian, a county in Scotland, having the Firth of Forth on the N., Edinburghshire, or Mid-Lothian, on the E. and S.E., Lanarkshire on the S.W., and Stirlingshire on the W., is situated between N. Lat. 55° 49' and 56° 1', and W. Long. 3° 18' and 3° 51'. It is of a triangular form, about 19 miles long on its eastern boundary, and 13 on its western; but at a medium it is only about 7 miles broad, and 16 long. It contains 79,995 imperial acres, or about 125 square miles.
The surface of this county generally is either level or serrated into gently undulating ridges, running from E. to W., and separated from each other by a succession of irregular miniature valleys. Towards the W. and S.W. the ground rises into a succession of hills, the most elevated peak of which, Cairnpapple, in the parish of Torphichen, is about 1000 feet above the level of the sea. The county is in general beautifully wooded, and the trees have reached a large size.
The climate, though variable, is not severe, and the neighbourhood of Linlithgow is considered to be remarkably salubrious. The prevailing winds, which blow for about two-thirds of the year, are from the S.W. According to a register of the weather kept at Duddingston, on the coast of the Firth of Forth, about the middle of the northern boundary, the greatest number of rainy and snowy days in one year, for a period of thirty years, from 1778 to 1808, was 111 (in 1780), and the smallest number 22 (in 1803), but the days on which slight showers fell are not included. The quantity of rain, however, that falls in this county exceeds somewhat that in Mid-Lothian, and amounts to a fourth part more than the fall in East-Lothian, which, in an agricultural point of view, is not considered as disadvantageous.
Though there is a great variety of soil in this district, and considerable tracts of gravel and sand, yet clay is the most general. Upwards of four-fifths of the soil is arable, and capable of producing every description of crop cultivated in Scotland. The best land is situate to the N. and E., along the shores of the Firth of Forth; and the worst is found on the high table-lands in the parishes of Whitburn and Torphichen, being in an opposite direction. The high grounds, from the prevalence of mountain limestone, afford excellent pastures, and are generally adorned with thriving plantations. A considerable quantity of moor still exists in the upland parishes, but much has of late been reclaimed.
The only streams of note are,—the Almond, which rises on the border of Lanarkshire, and flows N.E. for about 24 miles between this county and Edinburghshire; and the Avon, which forms the western boundary for about 12 miles. Both these fall into the Firth of Forth. On the N. side of the town of Linlithgow there is a lake about a mile long, and half-a-mile broad, occupying about 150 acres, and abounding with pike and eels. In the parishes of Linlithgow, Ecclesmachan, and Abercorn, there are several sulphurous springs, and a strong chalybeate is found in the parish of Torphichen; but none of them are resorted to.
Argentiferous galena was at one time got in the Cairnpapple ridge, in the parish of Linlithgow; and in the neighbourhood of that town a small vein of that ore was found several years ago in a limestone quarry. Limestone is wrought in the high grounds to the S.W. of the town of Linlithgow, and at Hopetoun, near Queensferry. Sandstone, in some places of an excellent quality, prevails along the coast of the Forth, and in the interior there are whinstone and basalt. At Binny, in the parish of Linlithgow, is found the celebrated freestone which has been used in the erection of the Royal Institution, National Gallery, and a considerable part of the chief public buildings in Edinburgh and Glasgow. On Dundas Hill there is a basaltic rock 250 yards in length, and about 60 feet in height, with an almost perpendicular front, consisting of a fine texture. Coal has been wrought in the county of Linlithgow for five centuries past, and it is supposed that supplies of that article were obtained at Bonnyton Hill, near Linlithgow, in the time of the Romans. In the vicinity of Borrowstounness coal has long been wrought to a great extent; and within the last fifteen years the discovery of large fields of common and blackband ironstone, together with the increased facilities of transit, has contributed greatly to the development of the mineral wealth of the county in that quarter. In the neighbourhood of Bathgate is found the celebrated Torphichen and Boghead gas coal or Bitumenite; and extensive mineral fields have, more recently, been discovered there also. The following is a statement, from the valuation-roll of the county for 1856-7, of the rents and lordships realized for minerals:
| Parish | Rent | |-------------------------|------| | Bathgate parish | £4480 10 0 | | Borrowstounness | 6542 7 4 | | Carriden | 6124 3 10 | | Ecclesmachan | 370 10 0 | | Torphichen | 469 17 3 | | Whitburn | 3667 13 4 | | Uphall | 160 9 9 |
Total: £21,632 19 9
Smelting furnaces on an extensive scale have been erected at Kinniel, in the lower, and at Crofthead, in the upper, part of the county; and at Bathgate paraffine oil is extracted in great quantities from the Bitumenite. The principal collieries now in operation are,—Colinsheil, Grange, Kinniel, Barbauchlaw, Polkemmet, Coustoun, and Benhar.
The valued rent of the county, taken in 1649, was £75,027, 12s. 2d. Scots. In 1806 the real rent was £64,518, 18s. 7d. sterling; in 1811 the real rent of land, mines, and houses, was £88,745, 10s.; in 1844 the real rent was £114,822, 17s. 6d.; and, in 1856, including railways and canals, it amounted to £156,792, 12s. 6d. The rental of the county has thus become more than doubled in the course of fifty years.
The principal mansion-houses are,—Hopetoun House, Earl of Hopetoun; Dalmeny Park, Earl of Rosebery; Kinloch House, Duke of Hamilton; Dundas Castle, Mr Dundas of Dundas; Craigie Hall, Mr Hope Vere; Polkemmet House, Sir William Baillie, Bart.; Wallhouse, Mr Gillon; Preston, Mr Seton; Avontoun, Mr Blair; and Newliston, Mr Hog.
The arable land is divided into farms of from 100 to 400 imperial acres, and the rent per acre of these varies from 30s. to 60s. The average rent of the county in 1811 was rather more than 23s. per imperial acre; and in 1856, after deducting the value of mines, canals and railways, and inhabited houses, it was found to be more than 27s. 6d. per acre. The leases of the arable land are almost invariably for nineteen years; and grass lands are usually let annually by public roup, although in some instances they are taken for a period of three or five years. The system of farming is not inferior to that pursued in the best cultivated districts, and is principally in the four or six year course rotation; but many of the minor farmers have large dairies, and find a ready market for their produce amongst the rapidly increasing mining population of the county.
The following are the agricultural statistics of Linlithgowshire for 1856:—Number of occupants, 458; total acreage under a rotation of crops, 52,511; wheat, 4643; barley, 3789; oats, 12,620; rye, 2; bere, 51; beans, 1776; peas, 2; vetches or tares, 509; turnips, 5142; potatoes, 2044; mangold, 45; carrots, 13; cabbage, 12; flax, 105; turnip seed, 59; any other grain or root crop, 53; bare or summer fallow, 340; grass and hay under rotation, 21,400. Horses for agricultural purposes above 3 years old, 1659; ditto under 3 years old, 467; other horses, 452; milk cows, 3446; other cattle, 6103; calves, 1797; sheep for There are two royal burghs in the county—Linlithgow and Queensferry; and, besides the towns of Bathgate and Borrowstounness, which are increasing rapidly in population, there are a number of thriving villages. The county is divided into thirteen parishes, and contains also a portion of the parish of Cramond, which is chiefly in the county of Edinburgh. These parishes, with two in Mid-Lothian, and four in Stirlingshire, form the Presbytery of Lialithgow. It sends one member to parliament, and the constituency, in 1836, amounted to 427. It is united with the counties of Berwick, Haddington, and Peebles, in furnishing a regiment of militia artillery.
The county is intersected by several lines of railways—the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway, one of the trunk lines, passing through it from E. to W., for a distance of about 10 miles. The Edinburgh and Bathgate connects the port of Leith and the extensive mineral fields in the south of the county and Lanarkshire; and the Wilsontown and Morningside, and several others, complete the connection with the mineral fields of the west. By the Monkland, Slamannan, and Borrowstounness railways, a large amount of coal and iron is brought for shipment at that town (which is rapidly rising in importance as a shipping port), and a considerable portion of the produce of the Kinniel iron-works are transported to Glasgow. The Edinburgh and Glasgow Union Canal traverses from 10 to 11 miles of the county, upon which there is a large traffic in manure, coal, and freestone.
The site of the Roman wall, which extended from the Forth to the Clyde, usually styled "Graham's Dyke," is still pointed out in the parishes of Borrowstounness and Carriden. In the latter parish there is a farm establishment which still bears the name of "Walltown;" and in the former the Duke of Hamilton's fine estate is denominated "Kinniel," or "the head of the wall." The remains of a stone barrow exists near Kipps, about 3 miles to the S. of Linlithgow. A preceptory, which originally belonged to the Knights-Templars, and afterwards to the Order of St John of Jerusalem, is to be seen at Torphichen, and a portion of it is used as the parish church. The parish churches of Dalmeny, Abercorn, Kirkliston, Uphall, and the burgh church of South Queensferry, are also of great antiquity. Pop. (1831) 23,291, (1841) 26,872, (1851) 30,044.