Chapter XLVIII

Progress of Mining, Manufactures, and Commerce, in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries.

Section I.

Coal, Iron, and Lead Mining.

IN the Introduction, it was stated that the country was rich in the raw materials of industry;¹ and in the preceding volumes an account was given of the various attempts at mining, and the introduction of manufactures, to the end of the seventeenth century. In this chapter an effort has been made to present a clear and concise account of the development of mining operations, the manufacture of iron, the development of the means of communication and commerce, and, finally, of all the chief branches of manufactures.

¹ Mackintosh’s History of Civilisation in Scotland, Volume I, page 29.

The carboniferous system of Scotland has been fully treated by geologists, and its peculiarities and extent have been often described. Although broken strata of coal have been found in the Western Islands and Sutherlandshire, the great coal-bearing strata of Scotland extends from Fife Ness across the country in the line of the valleys of the Forth and Clyde. The superficial area of the coal-fields of this region is calculated to be about 1600 square miles.

The carboniferous or coal-bearing system occurs immediately above the old red sandstone, and it consists of a series of formations, which are usually classed in four groups thus:​—(1) The upper strata, commonly called “the true coal-measures”​—a thick series of sandstones, shales, fireclays, some impure limestones, ironstones, and numerous coal seams; (2) Millstone grit​—generally a local formation of moderate thickness, consisting of gritty sandstones, with inter-stratified shales and thin seams of coal; (3) Mountain or carboniferous limestone​—a series of thick-bedded marine limestones, with some shales, sandstones, and thin seams of coal; (4) Lower coal measures​—a great thickness of fine sandstone and grits, with shales, fireclays, ironstone, shell and fresh-water limestones, and thinnish seams of coal. Thus coal and ironstone occur in the same group of strata.

The coal seams and beds occur in all degrees of breadth and thickness. At Johnstone, in Renfrewshire, there was a seam of 100 feet in thickness, but it is exceptional; while the thickest seam in the Lothians is only 13 feet.¹ The centre of the coal-fields is Clydesdale, where about one-half of the Scotch collieries are placed; they extend through or touch upon thirteen counties, and of these Lanarkshire has the greatest number, and Ayrshire, Fifeshire, Stirlingshire, Edinburghshire, and Linlithgowshire follow in order. In most of these counties, more or less valuable beds of ironstone, shale, and ♦limestone are intermixed with the coal.

¹ Coal is found in layers or seams varying from one inch up to thirty or forty feet in thickness, but seven or eight feet is the maximum thickness of single seams; miners consider one which measures five feet as a thick bed, and seams of one foot or under are not deemed worth working.

In the early part of the eighteenth century the coal-mining operations in Scotland were on a very small scale; but considerable progress was made before the end of the century. When the shallower parts of the coal-fields were exhausted, it became necessary to form the sinking shafts. The early mode of mining was simply to drive into the coal-seams tunnels; but only a small extent of the seams could be worked in that way, when the tunnels became dangerous by the accumulation of foul air. Where the seams dipped downwards, water accumulated, and much labour was required to keep the workings clear.

After the method of working the coal by shafts descending to the seams was adopted, contrivances for raising the coal and keeping the pits clear of water were introduced. In some pits the coal and water both were drawn up by a winch worked by men; in others, chain and bucket engines were employed for hoisting the water out of the pit. In 1762 a steam-engine was used for the first time at a coal pit in Scotland. Few of the pits of those days exceeded a depth of twenty or thirty fathoms, and with such appliances as were then available the difficulty of working them was great.¹

¹ Industries of Scotland, by D. Bremner, page 4; 1869.

From this date to the end of the century the coal trade increased slowly but steadily; and, as steam-power began to be more and more applied to manufactures, the consumption of coal increased. When steam-ships and railways were introduced a much greater demand for coal arose. But there were some unpleasant and unsatisfactory conditions connected with the working of the coal mines which cannot be passed over unnoticed.

In a preceding volume the state of the workmen in mines and at salt-works was explained;¹ in short, they were in a state of semi-slavery until 1775, when they were emancipated by an act of parliament. So it could not be expected that men kept in this condition for centuries would at once assume the spirit and characteristics of those who had been long accustomed to the exercise of liberty and freedom. In the year 1842, it was found that children and women were employed in the coal mines of Scotland, as well as in those of England. An act of parliament was then passed prohibiting the employment of children and women in coal pits; but neither this act nor subsequent ones were altogether effective for a long time. There were, however, a number of Scotch pits in which women and children had never been employed; and at present the mines are placed under a regular system of inspection.

All the collieries in Scotland are now worked by steam-power; and various attempts have been made to apply this power to machinery for excavating the coal. Seams of coal are now worked at a much greater depth than they could have been before steam-power was introduced. The Nitshill Pit in Renfrewshire is 175 fathoms in depth​—one of the deepest in Scotland.

¹ Mackintosh’s History of Civilisation in Scotland, Volume III., page 291.

In 1866, the quantity of coal raised in Scotland was 12,034,638 tons; and the same year, the declared value of the coal exported from Scotland was £515,805: the quantity of coal, cinders, and culm represented by this would amount to about 1,500,000 tons. Since this date the annual produce has greatly increased. In 1875 the minerals raised in the Scotch coal-fields amounted to a total of 21,778,480 tons, consisting of coal, ironstone, limestone, and oil-shale.

In 1871, there were 47,620 persons employed in coal mining in Scotland; and of this number, 14,497 were under twenty years of age; and out of the total there were 355 females engaged in this work, of whom 184 were under twenty years of age. The hands were distributed in the centres of the mining industry thus:​—In Lanarkshire, 23,658; in Ayrshire, 8208; in Fifeshire, 4646; in Stirlingshire, 3822; in Edinburghshire, 3399; in Linlithgowshire, 1721; and the remaining number were distributed among the counties of Haddington, Clackmannan, Dumbarton, Renfrew, and Dumfries. In 1891 the coal miners were distributed thus:​—In Lanarkshire, 38,000; in Ayrshire, 10,910; in Fifeshire, 8,352; Stirlingshire, 5,230; Edinburghshire, 4,113; Linlithgowshire, 3,213; and the remainder in the other counties above indicated.

In 1875, in these districts there were upwards of 76,000 persons employed in raising coal, ironstone, and lime. In 1891 the number of coal, ironstone, and shale miners was 82,701. The pits through which the minerals are raised vary from 30 to 180 fathoms in depth, and as a rule are not heavily watered.

Touching the wages and the social condition of the coal miners much might be said, but space is limited, and brevity must be observed. In no occupation has there been a greater fluctuation of wages in the present century than in that of the coal miner. In Lanarkshire, in 1836, the daily wage was 5 shillings; the next year a reduction was made to 4 shillings; and a strike ensued which lasted four months, and then the men returned to work at the terms offered. Wages gradually declined, and in 1842 they were as low as 2 shillings 6 pence and 1 shilling 8 pence a day. Their union was then renewed, and they went out on strike; and this time the masters yielded and granted an advance of 1 shilling; but it was soon after reduced again. In 1847, there was a great strike, when the men stood out for 5 shillings a day; they, however, recommenced work at 3 shillings a day, which in a few weeks after was reduced to 2 shillings a day. In 1851, the average wage of miners was 2 shillings 6 pence a day; but in 1852, the Scottish Miners’ Association was formed, “for the protection of miners’ rights and privileges.” In 1854, the daily wage was 5 shillings; but a gradual fall followed, and in 1858 the average wage was 3 shillings¹ From this date onwards for about fifteen years the coal miners’ wages in Scotland continued to rise till they reached the figures of 8 shillings, 10 shillings, and even 12 shillings a day; then they fell greatly. In 1887 their wages was only 2 shillings 6 pence a day: a rate which was too low for their class of labour, or for any body of regularly working men. Since then their wages have fluctuated. There has been several strikes, and an extremely disastrous one in 1894.

¹ Notices of some of the Principal Manufactures of the West of Scotland, page 14; 1878.

The sons of miners generally follow the occupation of their fathers, and begin to work at twelve years of age, when he enters the pit and “is attached to his father or some other man, and becomes known as a ‘quarter-man.’ The miner with whom he works is entitled to put out one-fourth more coal than if he worked without assistance, and from the price received for the extra quantity he pays the boy, whose duty it is to fill the coal into the ‘tubs’ and convey it to the pit bottom. At fourteen, the boy becomes a ‘half-man;’ at sixteen, a ‘three-quarter-man;’ and at eighteen, he assumes the title of ‘miner,’ performs a man’s work, and draws a man’s pay.”¹

¹ Industries of Scotland, by D. Bremner, page 22.

As a class, the coal-miners of Scotland have had upon the whole a hard lot, and their present condition is not a comfortable or happy one. Although in recent years their houses have been rebuilt, which in early days were wretched huts, still many of their dwellings are far from comfortable. They are small: their dimension is usually twelve feet by fifteen; but of course there are exceptions at some of the collieries. At the Dalkeith Colliery, which belongs to the Duke of Buccleuch, the miners’ houses are well constructed and commodious, with spaces of ground attached to them for drying clothes or as playground for the children.

It has to be understood that those engaged as iron-miners all work within the district of the coal fields; in fact, the ironstone miners’ work differs but little from that of the coal-miner. Although it was known that ironstone existed in the Scotch coal measures before the eighteenth century, little was done in the way of mining or manufacturing iron in Scotland before that century, and it was only towards the end of it that the manufacture assumed much importance.

At first there were only a few persons employed in mining for iron, and in the last century the number of iron-miners were not numerous. But the great development of the iron trade in the present century increased the number of miners of every description. In 1871, the number of persons employed in mining for metals was 14,201, and of this number 3830 were under twenty years of age, and among them there were 20 female miners. The number directly engaged in mining for iron was 9087.

In the preceding volumes it was noticed that lead ore exists in Scotland, and has been worked in many parts of the country, but only in a few cases has it proved remunerative. At present, four or five mines are worked, and the total produce is about 1500 tons of pure lead per annum. The chief mines are at Leadhills in Lanarkshire, about fifty miles from Glasgow, and Wanlockhead in Dumfriesshire. The veins of ore in these mines have been worked to a depth of from 70 to 140 fathoms. In 1861, there were 538 lead-miners in Scotland; and in 1871, there were 600 employed, and of this number six were females. In 1891 the number had fallen to 432.

Traces of copper ore have been found in many places in Scotland, and from early times attempts have been made to work the veins, but only in a very few cases with success. In 1861, there were forty-one copper miners in Scotland; in 1871, there were thirty-six, one of whom was a female. In 1891, there were only thirteen. In 1871, the number of persons employed in connection with mining for minerals and metals​—as mineral borers, sinkers, and mine service, was 4000.

Section .II

Iron Works and Iron Manufactures.

Iron is one of the staple manufactures of Scotland, and the development which it has attained since the middle of the last century is surprising and wonderful. The Scottish ores are known by the names of the clayband ironstone and the blackband ironstone; the former only was known and used in the eighteenth century, the latter was not even discovered till about the beginning of the present century. But for many years the Scotch ironmasters have imported considerable quantities of hæmatite iron ores from England, ochrey iron ores from Spain, magnetic iron ores, and spathic ores, from various countries, which were used in the Scotch blast-furnaces. Thus the quality of Scottish iron has not been dependant on the native ores. From an early period small quantities of iron were smelted by a rude process.

A furnace was built at Goatfield in Argyleshire, about 1750; and about the same time another was erected at Bonawe, also in Argyleshire, for making charcoal iron from hæmatite ores. The Bonawe furnace continued and was subsequently known as the Lorne furnace, and carried on by Messrs. Harrison, Ainslie and Co. The hæmatite ore used in this furnace was taken from Cumberland, and the charcoal was produced at the works in the woods in the neighbourhood. In 1788, the produce of these two furnaces was 1400 tons of iron per ♦annum. The Bonawe furnace, in 1875, was only producing 800 tons a year, which is accounted for from its being so far removed from the centre of iron ore and coal.

In 1760, the Carron Ironworks were erected by a company, consisting of Dr. John Roebuck, a native of Sheffield, William Cadell of Cockenzie, Samuel Garbet of Prestonpans, and others. They were assisted in some important contrivances connected with the work by Smeaton, the eminent engineer. The first furnace was blown on the 1st of January, and from that memorable day onward the works have had a remarkably successful career.

These works in a few years became amongst the most famous in Europe; and the products of the firm long held a high reputation in the leading markets of the world. Sir John Sinclair in his Statistical Account of Scotland, published in 1792, describes the Carron Works thus:—

“There are five blast furnaces, sixteen air-furnaces, a clay mill for grinding clay and making fire-bricks for the use of the said furnaces, an engine that raises four tons and a half of water at one stroke, and on an average draws seven strokes per minute. This engine goes in time of drought, and consumes sixteen tons of coal in twenty-four hours. Besides the coals consumed by the engine, there are a hundred and twenty tons burned every day in the works and by the inhabitants belonging to them. Besides the air-furnaces there are three cupola furnaces that go by virtue of the blast-furnaces, by pipes conveyed from the machinery of the blasts; their business is much the same with the air-furnaces. There are also four boring-mills for boring guns, pipes, cylinders, etc. One of the boring-mills is adapted for turning the guns on the outside. They have likewise Smith’s forges for making the largest anchors and anvils, as well as small work of various kinds, besides a forge for making malleable iron, and a plating forge; also a forge for stamping iron, the hammer of which, with the helve, are both of cast metal, and weigh a ton and a half.”

Thus it appears that, though Carron obtained its reputation chiefly for its pig-iron manufacture and castings, it was also the first place in Scotland where malleable iron was made. There are about two thousand men and boys employed at the works. A farm of four hundred acres is attached to the works, and there are five villages in the neighbourhood, dependencies of the company, in which many of the houses have been built by them.¹

¹ Notices of some of the Principal Manufactures of the West of Scotland, pages 31‒32, 1876. From Burns to the present day there is a concurrence of testimony to the effect that it was next to impossible for any stranger to get a look through the Carron Works. Mr. Smiles wished to see a long-disused apparatus which Smeaton, the engineer, had contrived, but in the autumn of 1858, when he called at the works for that purpose, and requested admittance, the reply of the manager was, “Na, na, it canna be allood. We canna be fashed wi’ strangers here.”​—Lives of the Engineers, Volume II., page 61.

From the establishment of these works till 1788, the quantity of iron produced in Scotland was about 1500 tons per annum, but before the end of the century a number of other iron works were erected. Shortly after 1770, the Cramond Works were started with two furnaces, which were each 40 feet high and 14 in diameter. Between 1779 and 1796 there were furnaces erected at Glenbuck, Muirkirk, Wilsontown, Calder, Clyde, and Omoa, in Lanarkshire. The Clyde Works were begun in 1786; there were two furnaces in blast in 1792, and in 1799 there were three. At that time nearly the whole produce of the works was cast into cannon and artillery equipments. In 1796 there were seventeen blast-furnaces in Scotland, and the quantity of pig-iron produced in that year was 18,640 tons.

The first of the important group of blast-furnaces in the neighbourhood of Coatbridge and Airdrie was commenced in 1800. Shortly after, David Mushet discovered the blackband ironstone in this locality. While he was crossing the river Calder, at a spot a little above Cairnhill Old Mill, he first observed the blackband in an outcrop. When he ascertained that it belonged to the upper coal measures he continued his investigation, and soon found other beds of the blackband ironstone in the lands of Clifton Hill, Airdrie, Burnfoot, Kipsbyre, Rochsoles, Woodhall, and Lauchope. Since his discovery, this iron ore has been found in other parts of the carboniferous system, and its existence has contributed greatly to the progress of the Scotch iron trade.

“The blackband ironstone contains from 50 to 70 per cent. of iron in combination with sufficient carbonaceous matter to calcine it when put into heaps.”¹ Good blackband iron ore contains from 2 to 8 per cent. of coal; if it contains more than 20 per cent. of coal, it is of little value save when mixed with clayband, which uses up the excess of coal.

¹ Notices of some of the Principal Manufactures of the West of Scotland, page 37.

After the discovery of the blackband ore, the iron trade advanced more rapidly in Scotland. The most of this ore is embedded in Lanarkshire and Ayrshire, and they became the chief centres of the iron manufacture. The quantity of iron produced in 1806 was 20,240 tons; in 1825 it was 24,000 tons; and in 1829 it had reached 29,000. But the introduction of railways now began to cause a greater demand for iron, and this, with the rapidly increasing consumption of iron in supplying the machinery and apparatuses of the many manufactories which were springing up throughout the country, gave an enormous stimulation to the iron trade. Accordingly new ironworks and many furnaces were erected in Scotland between the years 1825 and 1850. In 1827, J. B. Neilson, engineer of the Glasgow Gasworks, formed the idea of heating the air before injecting it into the furnace; and in 1829 his invention was tried at the Clyde Ironworks with marked success.¹ This invention gave a great impetus to the iron trade; and the patentee and his partners were reported to have realised £300,000 from it. Powerful engines are used for generating the blast.

¹ Industries of Scotland, by D. ♦Bremner.

An idea may be formed of the activity of the iron trade and its rapid progress in Scotland from a comparison of the annual production of iron at different periods. As stated above, the production in 1829 was 29,000 tons; but for the year 1835 it had risen to 75,000; in 1840 it was 197,000 tons; in 1845 it reached to 475,000 tons; in 1850 it was 690,000 tons; in 1855 it was 820,000 tons; in 1861 it rose to 1,050,000; in 1865 it was 1,164,000 tons; the following year the production fell to 994,000; but it rose again, and in 1870 it was 1,206,000. Thus the production of iron in Scotland had increased in forty years more than a million of tons. But this rapid development of the iron trade was not peculiar to Scotland; there was also a remarkable increase in the production of iron in England and in other countries springing from similar causes.

The Gartsherrie Ironworks, in the vicinity of Coatbridge, which were started by Alexander Baird in 1830, with one blast furnace are now the largest in Scotland. These works were developed with remarkable enterprise and skill. In 1875, the works consisted of sixteen furnaces, placed in two parallel rows, one on each side of the Monkland Canal; these furnaces are all open-topped, and, having been built at different dates, they are of various patterns and sizes. The works produce 100,000 tons of pig iron per annum, and upwards of 3000 men and boys are employed in connection with the works. In the neighbourhood of the works there are some 500 houses belonging to the Messrs. Baird & Company, which are occupied by their workmen.

In 1875 this firm had other four ironworks in Ayrshire; in all they had forty furnaces, which produced 300,000 tons of pig-iron per annum, and gave employment to about 9000 men and boys.

The Summerlee Ironworks, which were started in 1836, are near by Gartsherrie Works. In 1875 these works had eight furnaces, from which a portion of the gas is taken off and used for generating steam for driving the blowing engines and heating the blast, and three of the furnaces had been raised to a height of 70 feet; the others varied from 42 feet upward. The annual produce of Summerlee Works when the furnaces were all in blast was from 50,000 to 70,000 tons of pig-iron. The Langloan Ironworks, belonging to Messrs. Addie & Sons, are situated in the same locality, and consist of eight furnaces, which are chiefly employed in making foundry iron. In 1875, the Calder Ironworks, which commenced in 1800, where blackband ironstone was first used, consisted of eight furnaces. The Coltness Ironworks were begun in 1837, and in 1875 they consisted of twelve furnaces placed in two parallel rows. Each of these furnaces produce from 12 to 15 tons at a cast, and are tapped every twelve hours.¹

¹ Notices of some of the Principal Manufactures of the West of Scotland, pages 39‒43.

In 1867 the number of furnaces in Scotland was 164, but they were not all in blast. On an average each furnace produced about 9546 tons per annum, and each gives employment, directly and indirectly, to 200 men and boys. Thus, if the furnaces were all in blast, the annual production of iron would exceed 1,500,000 tons, and give employment to upwards of 33,000 men and boys.

During the early stages of iron manufacture in Scotland there was not much malleable iron produced. But between the years 1828 and 1836 this branch was successfully established, and it has since been carried on with surprising energy and skill. In 1875, there were upwards of 400 puddling furnaces, many scrap and heating furnaces, and 50 rolling-mills. The average annual produce of malleable iron was about 145,000 tons, representing a value of over a million sterling.

These works produce plates, bars, and all kinds of manufactured iron; and some of them are very large establishments. The Glasgow Iron Company have the largest ironworks of this class in Scotland, at St. Rollox and Motherwell, which were established in 1845. In 1875, these works had 102 puddling furnaces, and fourteen rolling-mills; and were fully equipped for turning out from 300 to 400 tons of finished iron per week, consisting of ship and boiler plates, angle iron, tee iron, and other kinds. The works of the firm were also equipped for producing from 600 to 800 tons per week of sheets, rails, nail-rods, hoops, and all kinds of small merchant iron.

There are many other great ironworks in and around Glasgow, but space is limited, and I can only notice a few. The Parkhead Ironworks, belonging to the Messrs. Beardmore, is a very large and remarkable establishment. In 1875, the works had forty puddling furnaces, a corresponding number of rolling-mills, fourteen steam hammers with heads varying in weight from seven tons downwards, and many other well-designed appliances of a heavy type. There were 600 hands employed in the works, and they can turn out 1000 tons of plates, and 150 tons of forgings of all descriptions, per month. It was in this work that the double crank-shaft of the Monarch (a huge warship) was forged, which weighed, when it left the hammers, 32 tons.

The Lancefield Malleable Ironworks stand on the south side of Glasgow, in Scotland Street, and its productions are of a similar nature to those of the Parkhead works. The Lancefield establishment is famed for its great forgings of the class of crank shafts, propeller shafts, stern posts, and so on. “When it was required to produce the forgings for the Great Eastern, there was only one forge in the whole world ready and prepared to execute the task. That forge was Lancefield. The propeller-shaft of the Great Eastern was 47 feet long, and weighed 35 tons, the crank-shaft 31 tons, and the stern-frame 25 tons.” In short, it was once said:​—“When a shipbuilder requires a stern-frame for an iron vessel of 5000 or 6000 tons burden ... there are in all Europe only the government establishment of Russia, the forge of Messrs. Marrell in France, one or two forges on the Thames and Mersey, and some three or four on the Clyde equal to the task.”¹

¹ Notices of some of the Principal Manufactures in the West of Scotland, pages 51‒53.

Steel has not been extensively manufactured in Scotland; and, in 1875, it was mostly limited to one company, which commenced in 1871, under the name of the “Steel Company of Scotland.” This firm then employed 700 men, and produced from 2000 to 2600 tons per month, consisting chiefly of rails, forgings, and plates. This, with the exception of a small quantity of crucible steel, embraced all the production of steel in Scotland. Since there has been a large increase in the production of steel, mainly caused by the substitution of steel for iron in shipbuilding. Lanarkshire is the centre of the steel manufacture in Scotland. In 1891 there were 4,393 men employed in this manufacture.

There are a number of branches connected with iron:​—(1) Iron-founding, often carried on in connection with special branches of trade pursued by some engineering firms; and sometimes engineering establishments are called foundries, though they have discontinued iron-founding. But the general tendency for long has been to draw the lines of the division of labour within more specialised limits; and iron-founding now embraces several pretty well defined branches. In the Glasgow district there are a number of foundries which limit their attention to the production of iron castings alone; and in other places​—Dundee, Aberdeen, and other towns​—such works have long been in operation. The work produced in such foundries comprises sugar-pans and batteries, round pans and coolers, vacuum pans and connections, kokers, round and square tanks, bleaching boilers, soap pans and boilers, chemical pans and retorts, castings for marine and land engines, for sugar mills, gearing, hydraulic presses, etc. (2) Domestic, sanitary, and architectural castings, gas and water castings; (3) the pipe-founding trade; (4) apparatus for gasworks; (5) the iron tube manufacture; (6) rivet, bolt, and nut trade; (7) screening apparatus; (8) the machine tool trade; (9) boiler making, rivetting machines, etc.; (10) iron piers, bridges, and roofing, etc.; (11) railway plant; (12) locomotive engine trade; (13) colliery machinery; (14) blowing engines, and pumping machinery; (15) agricultural implements and machinery; (16) wood-working machinery; (17) sugar-making machinery; (18) textile machinery; (19) the sewing machine trade; (20) distilling apparatus; (21) cranes and other hoisting apparatus; (22) traction engines, and many other mechanical appliances. All these branches of manufactures are carried on in and around Glasgow to a greater or less extent, and many of them also in the other centres of industry throughout the kingdom.

Having indicated the progress of the coal and mining industries, which may be considered as the foundation stones of the whole circle of manufactures; and the progress of the iron manufacture, which may be conceived as the dressed materials, the indispensable links in the development of all the other great manufactures. But, before proceeding to give a brief account of the evolution of the other manufactures, the order of events, and the relation of causes and effects renders it requisite to treat of the means of communication, for in a preceding volume it was stated that​—“Means of intercourse, as roads, bridges, communication by sea, and postal arrangements, are closely connected with trade and national progress. Roads, in the order of development, naturally precede the other modes of transit, and are followed by ferry-boats, canals, improved harbours, and a regular postal system. As civilisation advances, these are rapidly improved, and by-and-by partly superseded by better expedients and arrangements, as steamships, railways, telegraphic and telephonic communication, all which evince the resources of the human mind.”¹ Therefore, let us proceed to indicate the progress which has taken place in the means of communication during the past century and a half.

¹ Mackintosh’s History of Civilisation in Scotland, Volume III., page 294.

Section III.

Improvement of the Means of Communication.

In the early part of the eighteenth century, the roads in Scotland were very bad, but there was then little traffic, and few wheeled vehicles of any kind were used. The roads constructed by the Government in the Highlands were of little commercial importance, as they were planned for military ends. This part of the country was not opened by good traffic roads till the beginning of the present century. The spirit of improvement, however, had begun in the Lowlands a century earlier, although it made little progress in road-making for a considerable time.

In 1776, an authoritative Survey of the roads of Scotland was published.¹ In this Survey, the great roads throughout the country are measured from Edinburgh, and it gives a list of the different stages, and shows the distance between one stage and another, as well as the distance of each stage from Edinburgh; all the cities, towns, and villages on the lines of these leading roads are marked, and the bridges and cross-roads indicated. It is pretty evident that at this time considerable progress has been made, and the statement in the Survey concludes thus:​—“It may be expected that we should give a particular description of the roads, but this would be too great a departure from our original plan for us to undertake; we shall, therefore, only observe, that the military roads are kept in the best repair; and so much has been done of late years to the other roads, by the attention of the nobility and gentry, that travelling is thereby made incredibly easy, expeditious, and commodious; and such a spirit of improvement prevails throughout Scotland, that we may venture to say, a few years will complete all the public roads in that part of the United Kingdom.

¹ ♦Taylor and Skinner’s Survey and Maps of the Roads of North Britain or Scotland.

“There are good inns on all the roads, with post-chaises and horses at every stage, as far north as Inverness by Aberdeen.” About this time the general construction of turnpike roads began, and before the end of the eighteenth century the means of communication were greatly improved throughout the Lowlands. During this period the talents of Mr. Telford, the engineer, were much employed in planning and constructing roads and building bridges. His advice concerning the repairs of the road between Glasgow and Carlisle was sought. The roads to Glasgow, north of Carlisle, were in a very unsatisfactory state, and, in 1784, when the first mail-coach from London was driving into Glasgow by this route, the citizens formed a procession on horseback, and went out several miles to meet and welcome it.¹ A line of road was made from Carlisle, across the counties of Dumfries and Wigton, to Portpatrick, for the purpose of obtaining more rapid communication with Belfast and the northern parts of Ireland. Many roads and bridges were formed in the latter years of the eighteenth century and the early years of the present century.

¹ Smiles’ Lives of the Engineers, Volume II., page 428.

In 1802, the Government employed Mr. Telford to make a survey of Scotland and report on the state of the roads and bridges, and on the means of promoting the fisheries on the east and west coasts, with the object of preventing further emigration of the inhabitants of those regions. He collected a vast mass of facts, and presented his report in April, 1803; and in the following summer, he received instruction to prepare for beginning practical operations. He proceeded to the Highlands to draw out the lines of roads and plan the bridges which were most necessary. His first aim was to secure the connection of the new lines of road by bridges at the most important points, such as at Dunkeld over the Tay, and other points. The bridge at Dunkeld formed the opening, as it were, to the central Highlands, and it was finished and opened for traffic in 1809. The communication to the north of Inverness was continued by a bridge over the Beauly, and another over the Conan. He also erected three or four important bridges to connect the existing lines of road at Ballater over the Dee, at Alford over the Don, and at Craigellachie over the Spey. The bridge of Craigellachie was a light cast-iron arch of 150 feet, a beautiful structure. Telford, having thus connected the main lines of road, concentrated his attention upon the interior of the Highlands; and by the year 1820, one thousand two hundred new bridges were erected, and nine hundred and twenty miles of good roads were added to the road communications of this region. The first stage-coaches that ran northward from Perth to Inverness were tried in 1806; before 1811 they were regularly established, and in 1820 forty stage-coaches arrived in Inverness every week, and as many departed.¹

¹ Smiles’ Lives of the Engineers, Volume II., pages 377‒388.

Shortly after the Union the idea arose of uniting the east with the west, by a canal uniting the Forth and the Clyde. The scheme at first was thought to be impracticable; but when commerce had advanced a few degrees farther, it was readily adopted, and this important work was commenced in 1768. The canal runs nearly in the line of the old Roman wall, and it was opened in 1790. The main canal joins the Clyde a few miles below Glasgow. It is 38 miles in length; its medium width at the surface is 56 feet, and at the bottom 27; at first it was about eight feet in depth, but its banks were raised, and the depth of water then reached ten feet. It has thirty-nine locks, with a rise of 156 feet from the sea to the highest level.

In the latter half of the eighteenth century, many plans of canals were projected in Scotland, and surveys made, which were never executed. In 1807, a canal, intended to form a communication between Glasgow, Paisley, and Ardrossan, was begun; but only the part extending past Paisley on to Johnstone was made. It is about twelve miles long, thirty feet broad at the top and eighteen at the bottom, and four feet and a half in depth. The Union Canal, which joined the Forth and Clyde Canal near Falkirk, and thence to Edinburgh, a distance of thirty-one miles, was opened in 1822. In 1803, the construction of the Caledonian Canal was commenced, but it had been thought of long before. For in 1773, Watt, the improver of the steam engine, was employed to make a survey, and he announced that the canal was practicable, and pointed out how it could be constructed. It was made, at the expense of Government, from plans, and under the superintendence of, Telford, the engineer, and opened in 1822. Some other canals in Scotland, after being made and used for years, have been superseded by railways.

Thus far it appears that with regard to the means of internal communication both by land and water Scotland was fairly well advanced before the first quarter of the present century expired. But her manufactures and commerce were rapidly extending, and she was thus so far prepared to take advantage of any improved means of communication which might be discovered. The great revolution in the means of communication which took place in the second quarter of this century, however, does not seem to have been anticipated even by those who were most actively engaged in originating it.

A waggon-road, tramway, or railroad, is a kind of road with ways formed of wood, stone, iron, or other material, on which the wheels of vehicles or waggons passing along it run. The immediate end of all such roads is to enable a less quantity of power to impel a loaded carriage and send it forward at a greater speed. It is reported that wooden-rails were first employed about 1630, on roads used for coal-waggons in the north of England. It is recorded that, in 1745, a tramroad existed between the Tranent coal-pits and the harbour of Cockenzie in East Lothian. The first iron rails were cast at Colebrook Dale Ironworks, in Shropshire, in 1767. Rails were laid down at several of the collieries in Mid-Lothian, Lanark, and Ayr, long before locomotives were introduced. The first public railway in Scotland was constructed between Kilmarnock and Troon, nine and a half miles long, which was opened for traffic in 1812. The rails of this tramway were of cast iron and fixed in stone blocks, and the carriages were drawn by horses.

The earliest lines were mostly all connected with mines or quarries, and were worked by horses or by fixed engines. Before the year 1830 the sanction of Parliament had been obtained for the construction of upwards of a hundred miles of railways; and between 1830 and 1840, Parliamentary powers were obtained for two hundred miles of new lines of railways. The more important of these were the Edinburgh and Glasgow; the Glasgow, Paisley, and Greenock; the Dundee and Arbroath; Arbroath and Forfar. In the next ten years there was a vast extension of railways, and many of the short lines were united into systems. But a number of the new railways then proposed were never made, though some of them were fifteen or twenty years afterwards, but not by the original projectors. For a time the country rang with projects of new and impracticable schemes of railways, and immense sums of money were lost and won; those were the days when millionaires began to arise in the iron trade, and in other less legitimate lines of business. Railway extension, however, continued till the whole country became penetrated with lines; and twenty-six years ago almost the whole of the railways in Scotland were either worked or leased by a few companies​—The Caledonian, Glasgow and South-Western, North British, Great North of Scotland, and Highland​—each of these companies have large systems of railway communication. In 1866, there were 2244 miles of railways in Scotland.

Along with the development of the railway system, a remarkable improvement and development of the postal system has taken place. The Post Office system is entirely under the control of the Government, and forms a distinct and important department of the administration. The introduction of the penny postage in 1840, and since then the introduction of post-cards, the telegraphic system, and the parcels post, were all important and convenient improvements.

Section IV.

Shipbuilding.

In the preceding volumes of this History the progress of shipbuilding from its origin in Scotland, in the form of a boat simply consisting of a single tree scooped out in the centre, has been traced to the end of the seventeenth century; in this section the vast changes and progress of the art since the beginning of the eighteenth century to the present time will be briefly indicated. In 1692, the number of vessels belonging to the chief Scotch ports was about 100, with a total tonnage of about 6000, which gives an average of 60 tons to each. But after the Union, a wider field was opened for the enterprise of the Scots, and the commerce of the nation extended amazingly. In 1760, the number of vessels had increased to 999, with a total tonnage of 53,913, giving an average of 54 tons to each. But in 1800, the number of ships had increased to 2415, with a total tonnage of 171,728, giving an average of 71 tons to each, and employing 14,820 seamen. The number and size of vessels continued to increase, and, in 1840, there were 3479 ships with a total tonnage of 429,204, giving an average of over 123 tons to each, while the number of seamen employed was upwards of 28,000. In 1850, the number of sailing ships was 3432, with a tonnage of 491,395, being an average of 143 tons each; and steamships 169, with a tonnage of 30,827; thus giving a total tonnage of 522,222. During the next ten years a marked change took place in the size of the ships, mainly owing to the improvement of harbours and docks, and the extension of foreign trade. The number of sailing ships in 1860, was 3172, being 260 fewer than 1850; but the tonnage had increased 60,817; so that in ten years the average tonnage of the sailing ships had risen from 143 to 175; the number of steamships had increased to 314, with a tonnage of 71,579, giving an average of 228 tons. In 1865, the number of sailing vessels of and under 50 tons was 1057, with a tonnage of 32,050; and above fifty tons 1925 vessels, with a tonnage of 600,195; the number of steam vessels of and under 50 tons was 119, and their tonnage 3080; above 50 tons 330, with a tonnage of 131,650.

Leith two centuries ago was the chief shipbuilding port in Scotland. After the Union, the Fury, a line-of-battle ship, was built at Leith. In 1840, two steamships were built, larger than any then afloat; about the same time other large ships were built at Leith; and it was even thought by many that this port would keep the lead in shipbuilding. It is needless to say that Leith has been left far behind in the race, and the centre of shipbuilding in Scotland has for many years been on the Clyde. The order of historic exposition seems to require that the other shipbuilding ports of Scotland should be noticed before this modern centre.

In Dundee shipbuilding was carried on from an early period. At the beginning of the present century a considerable number of vessels was built in Dundee for the coasting trade and the over-sea commerce. The size of the vessels continued to increase, and, in 1856, the Messrs. Alexander Stephen built a ship of 1848 tons burthen. There were then six firms engaged in building wooden ships, but, in 1870, there were only two exclusively employed in this branch. Steamship building was introduced at Dundee in 1823, when a paddle vessel was built for the traffic between Dundee and Perth, and it has since been carried on with great energy. Iron shipbuilding was begun at Dundee in 1838, but there were not many iron vessels built at this port till after 1854. The first screw steamer was launched from the yard of Mr. John Brown in 1851. In 1854, the firm of Messrs. Gourlay Brothers began to build iron ships, and for many years they turned out a large number of steamers. Prior to 1865 all the vessels built in Dundee had been formed either of wood or iron, but in that year the Messrs. Stephen began to build ships with a combination of both materials; such vessels were known under the name of “composite,” as consisting partly of iron and partly of wood.¹ In 1869 there were five shipbuilding firms in Dundee. In 1891 the number of hands employed in Dundee was 1,772.

¹ “A number of years ago there was a great run upon what was designated ‘composite’ ships, that is to say, vessels having a skeleton, as it were, of iron, with a shell or cover of timber planking. They have had their day, and have already gone almost entirely out of vogue. If we go back to the year 1863, and note the statistics of the composite type of vessels, we find that there were launched two steamers and four sailing ships​—only six in all. In the following year there was only one composite steamer launched, and there were six sailing ships of the same build, the total tonnage of the seven vessels being 5814 tons, none of them being over 1000 tons. In the year 1865, however, we find an extraordinary leap, one composite steamer and 19 composite sailing ships, of a total of 12,010 tons, being launched during that year. Of the same build there were three steamers and 12 sailing vessels launched in the year 1866, five steamers and 13 sailing vessels in 1867, followed in 1868 by six steamers (three of which were gunboats) and 18 sailing vessels, the total tonnage of the 26 sailing vessels being 17,713 tons. There was a sensible falling off in the composite tonnage launched in 1869, six steamers and 13 sailing ships, with a total of 14,395 tons. In the year 1870 no composite steamers were built and only six sailing ships of that build, of a total of 6100 tons; and no composite steamers have been launched during the last five years, and only two small composite sailing ships, and actually no composite shipping at all during 1873, 1874, or 1875. It was certainly rather a strange phase that the shipbuilding trade passed through during the ten or twelve years ending with the year 1872, in respect of the adoption of the composite type of build, more especially for sailing vessels.”​—Notices of some of the Principal Manufactures of the West of Scotland, page 174.

A considerable number of vessels were built at Newburgh, Tayport, Arbroath, and Montrose.

Throughout the eighteenth century there was a growing shipbuilding trade at Aberdeen, and before the end of that period there were three or four firms carrying on this department. Early in the present century a class of larger vessels began to be constructed, and, in 1816, the Castle Forbes, a vessel built for the Indian trade, was launched. In 1817, 20 ships were launched, with a total tonnage of 2770; and in the following year 22 vessels were built, with a total tonnage of 3300 tons; from this time onward for about half a century the trade continued to extend.

Mr. Alexander Hall, of A. Hall & Sons, introduced the “clipper” type of vessels, and, in 1830, he built the Scottish Maid, a vessel of 142 tons, which showed the advantages of sharp lines. This vessel was much admired, and, shortly after, the Aberdeen shipbuilders became famous for their clipper ships. A large number of the vessels employed in the Australian emigration trade were built at Aberdeen. In 1854, the Messrs. A. Hall & Sons launched the Schomberg, a vessel specially constructed for the Australian passenger trade, and she was one of the finest and largest vessels then afloat.¹ She was 262 feet in length, 45 in breadth, and 30 in depth, and of 2600 tons burthen. Other vessels of a similar description were built; but the general introduction of iron shipbuilding has had the effect of checking the prosperity of shipbuilding in Aberdeen. Although the Aberdeen firms have built iron steamers of a high class, still the substitution of iron for wood has produced extremely depressing effects upon the shipbuilding industry, not only in Aberdeen and all round the coasts of the Moray Firth, but also in the smaller seats of shipbuilding throughout the country.

¹ This vessel was described in the article “Shipbuilding,” in the ninth edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica.

In 1868, there were six shipbuilding firms in Aberdeen, the yards of the Halls and the Duthies being the oldest establishments; and there were then between 1000 and 2000 persons employed in the trade; but in recent years the hands employed have not exceeded 500 or 600. At the above date there were considerable shipbuilding establishments at Peterhead, Banff, Inverness, and other ports on the Moray Firth where wooden vessels were built. But the introduction of iron steamers in the London trade, in the coasting and coal-carrying trade, has almost totally extinguished shipbuilding at these ports, and a similar result has been produced in other parts of the country. Thus the ultimate effect of the change from timber shipbuilding to iron shipbuilding has been to concentrate the building of large vessels on the Clyde; and to it I will now proceed.

In a preceding chapter the earliest attempts at steam navigation were indicated;¹ and, without entering into long details, a brief account of the introduction and the actual working of the first steam vessels is full of interest. The first steamboat that actually worked successfully in this country began to ply, in January, 1812, between Glasgow and Helensburgh. She was called the Comet, and continued to run on the Clyde till October, 1820, when she was wrecked rounding the Point of Craignish. The projector and owner of this boat was Henry Bell, a house carpenter or builder, and from his design she was built by Messrs. John Wood & Company, Port-Glasgow; and John Robertson, of Glasgow, constructed and fitted up her engine, which was of three horse-power. Her length of keel was 40 feet, breadth of beam 10 feet 6 inches, drew 4 feet of water, and was about 25 tons burthen. Another steamboat was built the same year, and in 1818 there were eighteen of these boats on the Clyde. The early built steam vessels were all of small dimensions, but improvements were soon introduced, and the building of steamers and the construction of suitable and powerful engines were rapidly developed.

¹ By an oversight I neglected to refer to the efforts of Lord Stanhope, who, in 1790, took out his patent for the propulsion of ships by steam. “He adopted paddles, placed under the quarters of the vessel, which were made to open and shut like the feet of a duck.” He got a flat-bottomed boat specially constructed for the purpose, and a trial was made in Greenland Dock, but the boat only attained a speed of three miles an hour, and his plan was abandoned.

The tonnage of the steamers gradually increased, and lines of traffic were established between Glasgow, Greenock, and Liverpool, and between the Clyde and Belfast. The lines of traffic were soon extended to every quarter of the globe, the speed of the steamers was increased, and the regularity with which they performed their voyages was remarkable. The screw-propeller was invented about 1836, and many improvements were made in marine engines by the Clyde shipbuilding and engineering firms. In 1840, Mr. Robert Napier built four steamers for the newly-formed Cunard Company, and these vessels ranged from 1135 to 1175 tons burthen, and they had engines of 440 horse-power each. They were designed for the Transatlantic navigation, and were named the Britannia, the Acadia, the Caledonia, and the Columbia. On the 19th of June, 1840, the Britannia steamed off from Liverpool, and arrived in the harbour of Boston on the 4th of July, amidst the cheers of the citizens. Although she was not the first steam vessel that had crossed the Atlantic, nevertheless her passage and arrival at Boston opened a new era in the history of commerce. The Cunard Line of steamers soon became well known throughout the civilised world.

Among the enterprising shipbuilders of the Clyde at this period may be mentioned Mr. Robert Napier; Messrs. Steel & Company, ♦Greenock; Messrs. Wood, of Port Glasgow; and Mr. William Denny, of Dumbarton; but at the same time a number of engineering firms on the Clyde were directing special attention to marine engines.

In Scotland iron shipbuilding was begun in 1818, when the “Vulcan,” a passenger boat for the Forth and Clyde Canal Company, was built by Mr. Robert Wilson, at Faskine, near Airdrie. Before this, some one or two small iron boats had been built in England. The “Vulcan” was designed by the late Sir John Robinson, of Edinburgh, and she was so compactly constructed that she plied on the canal for upwards of half a century. Between the years 1853 and 1865 “inventors have come forward and patented what they fancied were improvements in the construction of iron ships, but when the way to prosperity seemed clear before them, an examination of the old ‘Vulcan’ has shown that they had been forestalled, and consequently the patents became null; two patents relating to the keels of iron vessels were cancelled when the keel of the canal boat was examined.”¹ In 1827, the “Cyclops,” an iron boat for canal service, was built. The same year Mr. David Napier built the “Aglaia,” an iron boat, which plied on Loch Eck; and in 1831, Mr. Neilson, of Oakbank, built the “Fairy Queen,” which plied as a passenger steamer on the Largs route. Messrs. Wingate & Company built their first iron vessel in 1832. Shortly after, the firm of Messrs. Tod & Macgregor was formed, and directed special attention to the building of iron steam vessels; before the year 1840, they had attained a reputation in this department. The more notable of their iron steamers built before this date were the Royal George, the Royal Sovereign, and the Princess Royal; the latter was a steamer of 800 tons burthen, and was specially remarkable for her swift sailing; but great strides were afterwards made in this branch of shipbuilding.

¹ Industries of Scotland, by Bremner, page 65.

The vessels built continued to increase in size, and the reputation of the Clyde shipbuilders rose higher. The result was that the great shipping and steam navigation companies sent many of their orders for new ships to the builders on the Clyde. The marine engineers of Glasgow and all along the Clyde exerted themselves to the utmost to improve the engines and boilers, and to utilise and economise the power of steam; while persistent and supreme efforts were made to improve the condition of the river, to deepen and widen it, so that the largest ships might have sufficient depth of water to float upon it. In no quarter of the world has there ever been a greater application and development of mechanical science than that which has taken place on the banks of the Clyde in the present century.

In 1852, Mr. John Elder joined Mr. Charles Randolph, who then carried on a large engineering establishment, and they signalised themselves by improvements in marine engines. They successfully applied the compound high and low pressure cylinder engines to marine purposes; and they afterwards commenced shipbuilding, and founded the Fairfield yard, one of the largest in Scotland. In the years 1861 to 1865 this firm built 43 vessels, with a total tonnage of 43,500; and in the years 1866 to 1875 they built 134 vessels, with a total tonnage of 222,523. In 1870, they launched the Italy, an iron screw steamer of 4200 tons burthen, 600 horse-power, and 400 feet in length; in 1870 and 1871 they built two steamers for the coast trade between Aberdeen and London​—the Ban Righ and the City of London​—which were notable for their speed and economy of fuel.

Since the middle of the century a considerable number of warships have been built on the Clyde; while the machinery of many others, built elsewhere, has also been supplied from the Clyde. In 1871, there were six war-vessels built on the Clyde; in 1874, there were four; and in 1875, three. At the middle of the century the total annual tonnage of the ships launched on the Clyde was about 23,000; in 1859, the total tonnage of the vessels built was 35,709; and in 1865, the tonnage of the vessels was 153,932. The following table shows the number of vessels built and their tonnage in five successive years:—

1871 Number of vessels 131 Tonnage 196,200

1872 Number of vessels 227 Tonnage 224,000

1873 Number of vessels 194 Tonnage 261,500

1874 Number of vessels 225 Tonnage 266,800

1875 Number of vessels 276 Tonnage 228,200

In 1880, the total tonnage of vessels built and launched on the Clyde was 248,656, which shows an increase of over 20,000 tons in five years.

In 1871, there were upwards of 16,000 persons engaged in shipbuilding in Scotland, and of this number about 4000 were employed in iron shipbuilding; the latter number has since largely increased, owing to the general introduction of iron shipbuilding. Of the total number upwards of 10,000 were employed on the Clyde, including Dumbarton. In 1891 there were 23,253 hands (exclusive of labourers), of these over 17,000 were employed on the Clyde.

But the shipbuilding trade often fluctuates. The following table shows the total tonnage of vessels built and launched on the Clyde in ten successive years:—

Year. Tonnage. Year. Tonnage.

1881 327,113 1886 172,765

1882 282,671 1887 184,794

1883 404,383 1888 273,631

1884 262,022 1889 336,065

1885 192,392 1890 352,124

Within the last fifteen years steel has almost superseded iron in shipbuilding. Important improvements also have been made in the structure of ships for increasing speed, and securing comfort and safety. Improved water-tight compartments have been adopted in all passenger ships; and water-ballast tanks when full cargoes outward and homeward cannot be obtained.

Section V.

Glass and Earthenware Manufactures.

The manufacture of glass was introduced into Scotland early in the seventeenth century, as noticed in the third volume.¹ But this useful and indispensable industry was for long hampered by the imposition of a duty on the manufactured glass, which was not finally repealed until 1845. There are various kinds of glass: (1) The common bottle glass; (2) the cheap, broad or spread window glass; (3) crown glass or window glass, formed in discs or large circular plates, and this variety is peculiar to Britain; (4) flint glass, crystal glass, or glass of lead; (5) plate or fine mirror glass. But only two of these kinds are made to any extent in Scotland​—flint glass and bottle glass.

¹ Mackintosh’s History of Civilisation in Scotland, Volume III., pages 315‒16.

The principal flint glass manufacture is in Edinburgh, in the Canongate, and has been long known as the Holyrood Glass Works, which were commenced by Mr. Ford about the opening of this century. There are two furnaces in the works, which contain 22 pots; and the furnaces consist of large cones of brickwork, which are pierced with a series of openings corresponding to the number of pots in each. In the centre of each cone a great fire is kindled, and the flames and heat from it are drawn through flues and brought into contact with the pots, which are arranged round the interior of the wall. The pots are made of a particular kind of clay, which can withstand intense heat without cracking or giving off any matter that would be injurious to the glass. The pots do not last long, and require to be frequently renewed. The removing of a broken pot and the insertion of a new one is an extremely difficult and trying operation; besides the waste of the pots, the furnace itself requires to be entirely reconstructed at the end of nine or ten years.

The pots for making bottle glass are open, and the flames and smoke come into contact with the “metal;” in the case of flint glass this arrangement would not suit, as the smoke would spoil the purity of the glass, and the flint glass pots are made so as to prevent direct contact between the “metal” and the fire. “The pots are charged every Saturday morning. Each contains about 18 hundredweight of glass, the ingredients for which are put in gradually as the fusion proceeds, from twelve to fifteen hours being required to complete the charging. Though the ingredients become melted in that time, the ‘metal’ is not in a fit state for working owing to the presence of air bubbles, which can be got rid of only by urging the furnaces to its utmost intensity, and maintaining it there at from thirty to forty hours, the mouths of the pots being sealed during that time. The glass is ready for working by an early hour on Monday morning. There are two sets of workmen, who relieve each other every six hours, and the work goes on constantly from Monday until Friday. The weekly consumption of coal is about twenty tons to each furnace.

“Under the intense heat to which it is subjected, in order to get rid of the gaseous bubbles, the glass becomes nearly as fluid as water, and in that state could not be worked. Before the blowers begin operations the temperature of the pots is lowered until the ‘metal’ assumes the consistency of treacle. The tools used by the workmen are exceedingly simple.... Owing to the peculiar nature of the material the formation of articles in glass depends more upon the skill, the expertness, and tact of the manipulator than upon the employment of complicated appliances. The surface of the glass would be spoiled by a free use of metal tools, and almost the only implements employed are composed of charred wood. The operations of the glass-blowers are probably the most wonderful in the whole range of the arts, no manipulation of the conjurer being more mysterious to one who witnesses them for the first time.”¹

¹ Industries of Scotland, by D. Bremner, pages 378‒379.

There are upwards of 200 persons employed at the Holyrood Glass Works. There are six or seven flint glass and eight bottle manufactories in Scotland. The value of the glass exported in 1861 was £62,140, and in 1867, £106,555. The chief centres of the glass manufacture are Glasgow, Edinburgh, and Leith; and, in 1871, there were 2020 persons employed in it, and of this number 88 were females. In 1891 there were 2084 hands employed in glass manufacture.

The art of glass engraving is also carried on in Scotland, though only since a recent date. The firm of Messrs. Millar & Company, of Edinburgh, has attained distinction since the Exhibition of 1862; and they have shown some fine and beautiful specimens of this branch of art.

Glass painting has been revived in Scotland in the present century. The firm of Messrs. Ballantine, of Edinburgh, has been long well known for the excellence of its work in this branch of art. About fifty years ago Mr. Ballantine was selected by the Fine Arts Commission to execute the windows in the new House of Lords; and he did much to promote the improvement of glass painting in Scotland. Painted glass is now pretty extensively used in public buildings, churches, and in some of the houses of the wealthy class. This art has reached a high degree of elaboration, and specimens of it may he seen throughout the country which exhibit fine taste and skill in execution.

It was shown in the third volume¹ that there were no earthenware works in Scotland in 1703; and one of the earliest potteries was established at the Broomielaw, Glasgow, in 1748. Glasgow is still the chief centre of this manufacture; Edinburgh and Kirkcaldy come next. The largest Glasgow pottery is that of Messrs. Bell & Company, which covers upwards of three acres of ground. This firm has devoted much care and attention to the higher departments of the art, and has produced some fine work. There is a wide field afforded for the exercise and display of artistic taste and elaboration in the decoration of porcelain; and both in form and colouring many of the productions of this firm are very beautiful. They employ upwards of 800 persons.

¹ Page 317.

In 1871, there were fourteen potteries in Scotland, and there were about 4000 persons employed in this manufacture. In 1891 there were 4,128 hands employed.

In 1871, there were 123 manufactories of brick, tiles, clay pipes, and articles of a similar description, which were spread throughout the country. The largest work of this kind is at Garnkirk, about six miles east from Glasgow, on the side of the Caledonian Railway. At this establishment there is an extensive manufactory of glazed fireclay sewage and water pipes. Works in terra cotta are also produced at Garnkirk. There are about 300 men and boys employed, and 200 tons of clay are used daily at the works. In 1891 there were 5000 persons employed in connection with this useful industry.

Section VI.

Textile Manufactures.

In the preceding volumes the progress of textile manufactures in Scotland to the end of the seventeenth century was narrated so far as they had then been introduced, for the manufacture of cotton was not introduced into this country till well through the eighteenth century. It will save repetition to present a short account of the inventions of the eighteenth century in connection with the spinning and weaving of textile fabrics.

Before the middle of the eighteenth century the improvement of spinning and weaving machinery began in England, and long before its close great progress had been made. In 1738, John Kay, a native of Bury, in Lancaster, invented the fly-shuttle, which enabled the weaver to make twice as much cloth as he made before; and his son, Robert Kay, invented the drop-box, by which the weaver can use any one of three shuttles, each with a different coloured weft, without the trouble of taking them from and replacing them in the lathe. The great impediment to the progress of textile manufactures was the impossibility of obtaining an ample supply of yarn by the appliances then in use. The one-thread wheel, although then worked from morning till night in many thousands of cottages, could not keep up with the weaver’s shuttle or the demand of the merchant. Genius, therefore, had to remove this difficulty, and at length a contrivance was invented by which fifty, a hundred, or a thousand threads could be spun at once by one pair of hands. As to who was the real originator of this achievement has been a subject of much controversy, to which I can only allude in the briefest terms. It seems to be clearly ascertained that John Wyatt, of Birmingham, was the inventor of the mode of spinning by rollers.¹ The patent for the invention was taken out in 1738, in the name of one Paul, with whom Wyatt was in partnership; the name of the latter only appears as a witness, although there is evidence to show that Wyatt was really the inventor of the machine. It was tried and produced yarn, but it does not seem to have been successful for some time, and it yielded no fruit to Wyatt. Regarding Wyatt’s machine, Mr. Baines says:​—“So far is the one from being a copy of the other, that of Arkwright indicates great inventive talent even if we suppose he had seen the former machine; but the mechanical details of the two have so little in common that I am inclined to think ... that Arkwright had not seen the machine of Wyatt. It must, however, be admitted that to contrive and adjust the details of such a machine, though of the greatest practical importance, is a merit very subordinate to that of him who conceived the great principle. The latter is the glory of Wyatt. How much Arkwright owed to his predecessors can only be matter of conjecture; that he thus learned the principle of spinning by rollers I am convinced.... The latter unquestionably knew of the attempts to spin cotton by machinery at Birmingham and Northampton, and of the patent of 1738, which describes the two pairs of rollers, as he himself declares as much in the case which he drew up to be presented to Parliament in 1782.”

¹ “Having thus proved that the principle of Wyatt’s invention was the same as that of the spinning frame brought into use by Arkwright, I must add that the details of the Birmingham machine were far from being perfect, and that the machine differed greatly from Arkwright’s in its form and construction.”​—Baines’ History of the Cotton Manufacture, pages 121‒138.

But whatever may have been the claims or the merits of Arkwright’s predecessors, it was he who rose from a very humble position and perfected and successfully introduced the invention of spinning by rollers. He was for many years engaged in perfecting his method of spinning cotton, and his sagacity and perseverance were at length rewarded, for he became exceedingly rich. “Wealth flowed in upon him with a full stream from his skilfully managed concerns. For several years he fixed the price of cotton twist, all other spinners conforming to his prices.... It has been shown that the splendid inventions, which even to the present day are ascribed to Arkwright by some of the ablest and best-informed persons in the kingdom, belong in a great part to other and much less fortunate men....

“The most marked traits in the character of Arkwright were his wonderful ardour, energy, and perseverance. He commonly laboured from five o’clock in the morning at his multifarious concerns till nine at night.... Arkwright was a severe economist of time; and that he might not waste a moment, he generally travelled with four horses and at a very rapid speed. His concerns in Derbyshire, in Lancaster, and in Scotland were so extensive and numerous as to show at once his astonishing power of transacting business and his all-grasping spirit. In many of these he had partners, but he generally managed in such a way that whoever lost he himself was a gainer. So unbounded was his confidence in the success of his machinery and in the national wealth to be produced by it that he would make light of discussions on taxation, and say that he would pay the national debt. His speculative schemes were vast and daring; he contemplated entering into the most extensive mercantile transactions and buying up all the cotton in the world in order to make an enormous profit by the monopoly.”¹

¹ Baines’ History of the Cotton Manufacture, pages 140, 193‒196. Arkwright made a considerable sum of money by his patents. He offered his patented machines for sale by public advertisement, and gave many permission to use them, on receiving a certain sum for each spindle; in several cases he took shares in the mills erected; while he had several large mills chiefly in his own hands, and from these various sources he drew a large annual income.

Thus the fly shuttle was invented by Mr. John Kay in 1738; the same year Mr. John Wyatt invented a machine for spinning by rollers, and showed its practicability; Mr. James Hargreaves¹ invented the spinning-jenny about 1767, which he patented in 1770; and Arkwright, about the year 1769, invented the spinning-frame, sometimes called the water-frame, which he patented; and in 1779, Mr. Samuel Crompton completed his invention of the mule-jenny, which combined the action of both the preceding machines. But Arkwright introduced other improvements in carding, drawing, and roving machines. In 1785, the Rev. Dr. Cartwright invented a power-loom which has been usually regarded as the forerunner of those subsequently introduced. The mechanical inventions just enumerated indicate the commencement of a revolution in the modes of producing textile manufactures; although most of them were originally intended for the cotton manufacture, the application of machinery was extended to the whole circle of textile fabrics. It is needless to say that in the present century, the machines, the apparatus, and the appliances brought into use in this department of manufactures have reached an astonishing degree of perfection.

¹ James Hargreaves was a native of Standhill, near Blackburn; and, shortly after 1770, he entered into partnership with Mr. Thomas James, a joiner, and they erected a small mill at Hockley, in which they spun yarn for the hosiers with the jenny. This spinning business was carried on with fair success, until the death of Hargreaves in 1778. Although he did not amass wealth like Arkwright, he was enabled to live comfortably in the latter years of his life; but many afterwards made fortunes by means of his invention.

The stocking-frame was invented by William Lee in the reign of Queen Elizabeth; but a prejudice against it long prevailed, and it was not used in Scotland till 1771, when a stocking frame was set up in the town of Hawick.

I. I now proceed to indicate the development of the woollen manufactures in Scotland. The woollen manufacture for many centuries has been carried on to a greater or less extent in all the counties of the kingdom; though, of course, in early times, the greater part of the produce was for home consumption. In the second quarter of the eighteenth century the manufacture of woollen goods consisted of the cheaper and coarser kinds, such as cheap serges made at Kilmarnock, Stirling, Aberdeen, and other places; Galashiels produced kerseys, and in Hawick and other Border towns blankets were made. At this period only a small quantity of woollen goods was exported.

The woollen and hosiery manufactures continued to extend. In 1776, it was recorded that in Stirling 160 looms, 38 stocking-frames, and 17 carpet-frames were employed; Kilmarnock had 66 looms engaged on carpets, and 80 on other branches of manufacture; in Montrose there was a woollen factory in which 70 hands were employed; in Alloa there were twenty manufacturers, who employed 150 looms and upwards of 400 workers; in Ayr there were 100 looms and 15 stocking-frames. In Edinburgh and Leith blanket-making, carpet-weaving, and stocking-knitting on frames were carried on; and Edinburgh and Leith had wool markets. There were 140 looms in Melrose, chiefly engaged in making woollen cloth; in Hawick there were 65 looms; in Kelso 40 looms were employed in making blankets and flannels; and in Peebles 40 looms were engaged in making coarse woollen goods; in Galashiels, then only a village, there were 30 looms and three waulk mills. In Haddington a considerable manufacture of woollen goods was carried on; in Glasgow there was then only one woollen factory. In Perth, Linlithgow, and other places, woollen cloth, carpets, and stockings were manufactured. In Aberdeenshire a considerable trade was carried on in cloth and stocking manufactures; Peterhead had two woollen factories which turned out goods to the value of £110 a-week; and the people of Ellon knitted stockings by the hand to the value of £100 a-month. In Aberdeen there were about 200 looms engaged on woollen manufactures; and the value of the hosiery goods produced in the city amounted to £120,000 per annum: this was then the staple trade of the town. The woollen manufacture was carried on to some extent in Inverness and Elgin; the latter city produced yarn to the value of £15,000 annually, which was chiefly sent to the London and Glasgow markets.

During the last ten years of the eighteenth century and the first quarter of this one, a marked progress took place in the woollen manufacture of Scotland. New machinery and improved carding and spinning appliances were introduced; and a few years later the power-loom was successfully brought into operation in this department of textile manufacture. In Aberdeen machinery was introduced into the woollen manufactures in 1790, by Mr. Charles Baird, who brought from England two carding-engines and four spinning-jennies; and he erected a mill on the river Don, about two miles from Aberdeen. At Galashiels carding-machines and spinning-jennies were introduced in 1791; and twelve years after, six new woollen factories had been erected in this ♦enterprising town. In 1814, spinning “mules” were introduced there, by which one man was enabled to work 500 spindles; and the shearing also was simplified and perfected in 1819. This manufacturing town has been long famous for its coloured tweeds and tartans, and other woollen fabrics. In 1828, the number of looms employed was 175, and in 1838, 265. The population of the town at the latter date was about 2500, ♠and it has since continued to increase. But hand labour has been superseded by machines in every department. It has now a population of upwards of 17,000; and, in 1871, it had 76 sets of carding-engines, and about 70,000 spindles. Carding-engines were introduced into the woollen manufactures in Hawick about the end of the last century.

In 1825, the number of persons employed in the various branches of the woollen manufacture in Scotland was 24,000. In 1831, the power-loom was introduced into the woollen manufacture, and the rate of production was much increased. The superfine broadcloths manufactured in Aberdeenshire began to compete successfully in the London markets with the productions of the English looms; while the rapidly advancing prosperity of the nation created an increasing demand for narrow cloths, tartans, tweeds, flannels, and other kinds of woollen goods. The tweed and cloth branches continued to advance, new machinery and improved appliances were from time to time brought into operation; and, step by step, competition in the markets of the world became keener and keener, and every nerve was strained to the utmost to produce cheap and marketable goods. The tweed manufacturers have devoted great attention to colours and dyeing, and the resources of chemical science have been called into requisition in this art.

In 1812, the hosiery manufacture of Scotland had attained a considerable development, as there were then 1449 stocking-frames in operation, which were spread over thirty-eight different towns and villages; and this branch of industry still continued to expand. In 1844, a census of the trade was taken, and it was found that there were 2605 frames, distributed thus:​—In Hawick and its vicinity, 1200; Dumfries and vicinity, 500; Edinburgh and vicinity, 150; Glasgow and Kilmarnock, 280; Selkirk and vicinity, 128; Perth, 108; Langholm, 92; Denholm and vicinity, 87; and Jedburgh and vicinity, 60. In 1871, the number of stocking-frames in Scotland was about 1650, of which 900 were in Hawick and 400 in Dumfries, and in both places power-frames were at work. The goods in the Scotch hosiery branch of trade consist of stockings of every description, drawers, under-shirts, and other articles of common use, and what is called fancy goods, such as tweed hose, shooting-socks, and a variety of goods in bright and variegated colours. Hawick and Dumfries have been long well-known centres of this department of the woollen manufacture.

Carpet-making as a branch of manufacture was begun in Scotland in the second quarter of the eighteenth century, and in 1735, it had attained to some success in Kidderminster. The first kind of Scotch carpet was the two-ply fabric, into which two colours only can be woven, which renders the range of pattern very limited. It was known under the name of Kidderminster carpet, and it became popular.

The manufacture of carpets was established in Kilmarnock in 1777, when eighty looms were employed. In this enterprising town the manufacture of carpets continued to extend, and it has long enjoyed a wide reputation for its products in this branch of industry. In 1825, there were 800 carpet-weavers in Kilmarnock, each producing about six yards of carpet a-day, and were paid at the rate of 3½ pence to 4¾ pence per yard. At this time there were 1200 carpet-weavers in Scotland. New appliances were devised, and the quality and patterns were greatly improved. Carpet-manufacture is now carried on in Glasgow, Aberdeen, Ayr, and Paisley. Various kinds and qualities of carpets have been produced for many years in Scotland, such as Brussels carpets, Turkish, Wilton, patent tapestry, and other varieties. In 1891 there were 6000 hands employed in this branch.

An extensive manufacture of bonnets has been carried on in Kilmarnock for upwards of two centuries. The manufacture of this class of goods in Kilmarnock, Kilmaurs, and Stewarton, which are all near each other, in 1869, was estimated at the gross yearly value of £150,000, and £48,000 a year was paid in wages.

In 1875, the number of woollen factories in Scotland was upwards of 250, and of these 102 were engaged in spinning only, while 40 were employed in weaving only, and 105 were employed both in spinning and weaving.

In 1871, the number of people employed in the woollen and worsted manufactures in Scotland was 42,217. Of this number 18,403 were males, of whom 4230 were under twenty years of age; while the large number of 23,815 were females, of whom 9115 were under twenty. In 1891 there were upwards of 43,000 hands employed in this department of manufacture.

In Orkney and Shetland, in 1891, 5,370 persons were employed in the woollen and worsted manufactures, chiefly in making knitted goods, which have long been well known.

Touching the several branches of the woollen manufacture, there were 6226 employed in making knitted goods; in making worsted 1448 were engaged. In the wincey manufacture there were 916 hands employed. In the carpet and rug branch there were 6684 persons employed; in the woollen bonnet manufacture there were 3070 persons engaged; but only 100 persons were returned as engaged in the blanket and flannel manufacture.

II. The state of the linen trade in Scotland has been narrated in the preceding volumes, down to the end of the seventeenth century; and I quoted the Stamp Act of 1693, which, among other provisions touching the qualities and the breadth of linen made in Scotland, enacted that all linen cloth offered for sale should be regularly stamped. Linen was the staple manufacture of Scotland in the eighteenth century, and the Union was favourable to its progress. The Board of Manufactures, established in 1727, endeavoured to promote the manufacture of linen; and the British Linen Company, incorporated at Edinburgh in 1746, contributed to extend the linen trade by advancing money to the manufacturers. This company is now known under the name of the British Linen Company Bank.

In 1710, the quantity of linen produced was 1,500,000 yards, and, in 1720, Scotland exported to England alone £200,000 worth of Scotch linen. In 1727, the manufacture of linen was carried on more or less in twenty-five counties; and the quantity produced in each varied from 65 yards in Wigtonshire to 595,821 yards in Forfarshire; Perth, Fife, and Lanark came next in order. Afterwards linen was made in all the counties except Peebles, but Forfarshire has kept the lead throughout; in some of the counties and small towns in the country a considerable trade was done in linen-making in the eighteenth century, in which it has long ago been dropped.

In 1772, there were 252 lint-mills in Scotland, distributed through the country thus:​—In Ross, 3; Caithness, 1; Elgin, 3; Banff, 8; Aberdeen, 7; Kincardine, 2; Forfar, 31; Lanark, 31; Perth, 73; Renfrew, 3; Linlithgow, 4; Dumbarton, 16; Stirling, 28; Fife, 11; Edinburgh, 1; Dumfries, 1; and Haddington, 1. About the same time, it was reported that new kinds of manufactures had been introduced in Paisley, and that the spinning of silk and the woollen and cotton manufactures had been extending.

In Orkney the making of linen yarn from home-grown flax was introduced in 1747, and the trade gradually spread over most of the islands. The yarn gained a reputation in southern markets, and from 1750 till 1785 a considerable quantity of yarn was annually exported; but after that time the trade declined, and it was dropped about the end of the century. Weaving was introduced at the same time as spinning, but the greatest quantity produced in any one year did not reach 30,000 yards. A large hemp factory was established at Inverness in 1765, and for a time nearly 1000 persons were employed. A company began the manufacture of linen thread at Inverness in 1780, which carried on a successful business for a number of years, and gave employment to 10,000 persons throughout the county, most of whom worked at their own homes. The flax was imported from the Baltic ports, and the thread was sent to London, and thence spread over the world. In 1822, the quantity of linen stamped for sale in Inverness was 318,465 yards; but from that date the trade declined till it became extinct in the county. In Aberdeenshire a large number of hands were engaged in the manufacture of linen yarn and cloth in the eighteenth century. In 1794 a considerable manufacture of thread was carried on in Peterhead; there were 52 twist mills in the town. Thread and linen cloth were also manufactured in Huntly, in Kincardineshire, and at Bervie, where a mill was erected for spinning linen yarn in 1787.¹

¹ Statistical Account of Scotland.

There was a marked improvement in the quality of linen goods produced in Scotland, as well as a large increase in the quantity annually manufactured before the end of the eighteenth century, as the following table indicates, which is taken from the record formed under the Stamp Laws:

Years. Number of Yards. Estimated Value.

1728 2,183,978 £103,312 9 3

1738 4,666,011 185,026 11 9

1748 7,353,098 293,864 12 11

1758 10,624,435 424,141 10 7

1768 11,795,437 599,699 4 2

1778 13,264,410¾ 592,023 5 4½

1788 20,506,310½ 854,900 16 0¾

1798 21,207,059 850,403 9 9

1808 19,390,496 1,014,629 18 4

1818 31,238,100¼ 1,253,528 8 0½

1819 29,334,428¼ 1,157,923 4 11

1820 26,259,011¼ 1,038,708 18 5

1821 30,473,461¼ 1,232,038 15 4¾

1822 36,268,530¼ 1,396,295 19 11½

These figures show that the linen manufacture had advanced pretty steadily for about a century. It has, of course, had to compete with its rival, cotton, which attacked it in many localities, and especially in the west of Scotland. The result has been to concentrate the linen manufacture in a few localities which, from various causes, were well suited and advantageously placed for the successful prosecution of this branch of industry, while the introduction of machinery, the power-loom, and highly improved appliances set into operation in the large factories, soon rendered it impossible for the small mills throughout the country to compete in the markets of the world with them. Hence the disappearance of the linen manufacture in many of the counties where it was once carried on, and a similar result has taken place in shipbuilding.

Dunfermline has long had a wide reputation for linen manufactures. It is the chief seat of table linen manufacture in Britain. For upwards of a century the linen manufacturers of Dunfermline have devoted great attention to this branch, and exerted their utmost skill to perfect it, and the result was that they attained, and have long held, a leading position in their special industry.

The largest work in Dunfermline is the St. Leonard’s Power-Loom Factory, which is placed on the south side of the town, and is reported to be a model establishment. In 1869, it had 900 power-looms and 180 hand-looms, and the firm to which it belonged​—Messrs. Beveridge & Company​—gave employment to 1500 persons, the greater portion of whom were females. The quantity of linen produced by the firm per week averaged 200,000 square yards, and its value per annum was £360,000.

At the above date it was calculated that there were in Dunfermline 2670 power-looms and upwards of 1000 hand-looms, all in operation. There were over 2100 hands employed, and the total quantity of linen cloth annually produced was over 30,000,000 square yards​—“which, formed into a web of the uniform width of one yard, would measure the distance between Great Britain and New Zealand, with a thousand miles or so to spare.” The value of the linen goods then produced in Dunfermline nearly reached £2,000,000 per annum.¹ In 1891 there were 2,375 persons employed in the linen manufacture, and 229 in the cotton manufacture in Dunfermline.

¹ Industries of Scotland, by D. Bremner, pages 242‒246.

During the present century the linen manufacture has been extensively carried on in Arbroath, Forfar, Kirkcaldy, Montrose, and Aberdeen; but Dundee became a centre of the linen trade, and for about twenty years it had a monopoly of the manufacture of jute.

The jute trade is quite a recent development. The jute manufacture only began in 1835, and for some years so little progress was made that, in 1838, only 1136 tons of it were imported into Dundee. From this time onward the quantity of jute annually imported into Dundee increased at an enormous rate, in 1853 it rose to 15,400 tons; in 1858, it was over 30,000 tons, and, by the year 1868, the annual consumption of jute in Dundee had reached the figure of 60,000 tons. There are many large flax and jute factories in Dundee, and the jute manufacture has proved a source of wealth to the city.

When the jute was first introduced, it was only used for making goods of a coarse description; but, by improvements in the machinery and experience in working it, sheetings and many other kinds of goods were manufactured solely from it. A variety of goods are manufactured from jute and cotton mixed. In 1867, at some of the large jute works in Dundee over 4000 hands were employed. At the same date it was recorded that “the capital invested in the factories in Dundee is stated to be £2,500,000; in the district of which that town is centre, £2,200,000; in other parts of Scotland, £1,000,000​—total, £5,700,000, to which has to be added the value of the bleaching-works, calendars, etc., in the trade, which cannot be put down at less than £1,300,000. It takes about six months from the purchase of the raw material before the goods can be manufactured or the proceeds drawn, so the stock-in-trade of manufacturers and merchants will amount to £5,000,000. It would thus appear that a capital of £12,000,000 is required for carrying on the linen trade of Scotland.”¹

¹ Industries of Scotland, by D. Bremner, page 269.

In 1871, there were upwards of 200 flax, linen, and jute factories in Scotland, and the total number of persons employed in all the branches of those manufactures was about 91,000. Of this number upwards of 61,000 were females. The chief centres of the linen and jute manufactures are the three counties of Forfar, Fife, and Perth; the manufactures are carried on in the chief towns of these counties, with Dundee as the metropolis. The manufacture of linen and jute is carried on in some of the other towns; in Glasgow there were 2000 hands employed on flax and jute, and in Aberdeen 1800.

Touching the different branches of the linen and jute manufactures, in 1862 there were 27 jute factories in Scotland, which had 30,538 spindles, 554 power-looms, and 5418 hands employed; the greater part of these were in Dundee. But, in 1875, there were 84 jute factories, classified thus:​—(1) Fifteen were engaged in spinning, and these had 115 carding machines, 18 combing machines, 33,527 spinning spindles, 1080 doubling spindles; (2) nineteen were employed in weaving, and these had 1384 power-looms; (3) fifty were employed in spinning and weaving, and these had 747 carding machines, 42 combing machines, 151,892 spinning spindles, 6578 doubling spindles, and 6941 power-looms. In these jute factories there were then 37,943 persons employed, and of this number 21,350 were females.

In making linen thread there were 240 persons engaged, of whom 143 were females. There were 184 hands employed in the linen lace manufacture; in making sheeting, ticking, and tape, there were 168 hands employed, of whom 71 were females. In the jute carpet manufacture 91 persons were employed.

III. The manufacture of cotton was not introduced into Scotland till past the middle of last century. Cotton is not grown in this country, a circumstance of great moment, as was shown during the late American War; while wool and flax have been produced at home in smaller or greater quantities from very early times, although large quantities of both are annually imported.¹ But the cotton manufacture has attained a remarkable development in Scotland. An account has already been given of the mechanical inventions which were made in England; and the introduction of machinery which followed thereupon was at first almost entirely applied to the cotton manufacture, and from it transferred and gradually made suitable to the other departments of textile manufactures. Although there are many appliances specially suited for each of the great branches of textile manufacture, the application of steam-power to the processes of preparing the raw materials, and the use of the power-loom in spinning and weaving, has greatly increased production.

¹ The cultivation of flax was one of the objects which Lord Kames endeavoured to promote and extend in Scotland. In the year 1765, he published a pamphlet on the progress of “Flax Husbandry in Scotland,” with the patriotic aim of stimulating his countrymen to continue and redouble their efforts in this valuable branch of national industry. He showed that the linen manufacture had made great progress between 1727 and 1765; and he insists on the expediency of encouraging and prosecuting the culture of flax at home. At the date of Kames’ pamphlet the annual value of the foreign flax imported into Scotland was £110,000 sterling; but the yearly saving of this large sum is not the only or the chief benefit to be reaped from raising the commodity on our own fields. “Experience has shown that the commodity itself, when of home growth, is of a superior quality to the foreign: and experience shows also that no crop is more valuable to the farmer or yields a quicker return for the labour and cost of cultivation.” Lord Kames’ pamphlet was reprinted in the Scots’ Magazine for January, 1766.​—Tytler’s Memoirs of the Life of Lord Kames, Volume II., pages 60‒62.

The first cotton mills in Scotland were one erected at Rothesay in 1778, and another at Penicuik about the same time, which were soon followed by others. In 1787, there were 19 cotton mills in Scotland, all driven by water; and they were distributed thus:​—4 in Lanarkshire, 4 in Renfrewshire, 3 in Perthshire, 2 in Midlothian, and 6 in other places. At that time labour was cheap and hands were easily obtained. The few simple operations which required to be performed in the factory were soon learned, while the wages in the factories were higher than those of agricultural labourers. In a short time, however, when a superabundance of hands had entered the trade, wages were reduced, and throughout the history of the factory system in Scotland the wages of the workers has never been high.