_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.

♦ “limeston eare” replaced with “limestone are”

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.

♦ “annnm” replaced with “annum”

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.

♦ “Bremmer” replaced with “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_.

♦ “Tylor” replaced with “Taylor”

“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.

♦ “Greennock” replaced with “Greenock”

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.

♦ “enterpising” replaced with “enterprising”

♠ “aud” replaced with “and”

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 31⁄2 pence to 43⁄4 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 13,264,4103⁄4 592,023 5 41⁄2 1788 20,506,3101⁄2 854,900 16 03⁄4 1798 21,207,059 850,403 9 9 1808 19,390,496 1,014,629 18 4 1818 31,238,1001⁄4 1,253,528 8 01⁄2 1819 29,334,4281⁄4 1,157,923 4 11 1820 26,259,0111⁄4 1,038,708 18 5 1821 30,473,4611⁄4 1,232,038 15 43⁄4 1822 36,268,5301⁄4 1,396,295 19 111⁄2

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.

Before the end of the century the Scotch cotton manufacturers were producing a variety of goods. The production of muslin began in 1780, and in Paisley, shortly after, the manufacture of fancy cotton fabrics began. After the plain muslins came the mulls, nainsooks, ginghams, pullicates, and other varieties were rapidly turned out.

The first steam-engine for spinning cotton in Scotland was erected at Springfield, Glasgow, in January, 1792, by Messrs. Scott, Stevenson & Company Mr. Robert Miller, of Glasgow, obtained a patent for a power-loom in 1796; and Mr. John Monteith, of Glasgow, adopted it, and erected a factory at Pollokshaws with 200 looms; and as the apparatus was improved in efficiency, its working power soon became great.

In 1820, there were 2000 power-looms in Scotland; in 1829, there were 10,000; and in 1833, there were upwards of 14,000. At the latter date there were 134 cotton mills in Scotland, and at this time the cotton manufacture was centred in Glasgow and the district around it. Out of the total number of mills in Scotland nearly 100 belonged to Glasgow. In 1838, there were upwards of 37, 000 hand-loom weavers in the west of Scotland directly connected with cotton weaving.

According to a parliamentary return, there were 168 cotton factories in Scotland in 1850, and of these 94 were in Lanarkshire; in Renfrewshire, 51; in Ayrshire, 4; Dumbartonshire, 4; in Stirlingshire, 4; in Buteshire, 4; in Perthshire, 3; in Aberdeenshire, 2; and a few in other places. Thus Lanark and Renfrew had 145 cotton factories, leaving only 23 in all the other cotton manufacturing districts of the kingdom. These two counties had 1,385,238 spindles and 20,788 power-looms. The total number of persons in Scotland then employed in this branch of manufacture was 36,322.

In 1861, the number of cotton factories had decreased to 163, but the number of hands had increased and also the quantity of steam-power. In that year there were 1,915,398 spindles and 30,110 power-looms in operation, and 41,237 persons were employed. The American War, however, between 1861 and 1866 seriously disturbed the cotton trade, and many of those employed in it suffered severely both in England and Scotland, as this country was largely dependent for the supply of raw material upon the Southern States. Some of the cotton factories are very large, and in Glasgow several of them employ from 1500 to nearly 2000 hands.

In 1871, the number of persons employed in the cotton manufacture was about 50,000, and of this number over 30,000 were females. In 1891 the number of hands was about 47,000. The several branches of this manufacture are the following:――1. Plain cotton goods, of which great quantities are produced. 2. Lace manufacture, in which 1,621 persons were employed, of whom 795 were females. 3. In embroidering muslin, 487 hands were engaged. 4. In the branches of calico printing, dyeing, and bleaching, 10,599 persons were employed, of whom 4,858 were females. 5. The manufacture of thread, which has been greatly developed.

In 1722 the manufacture of thread was introduced into Paisley; but it was on a small scale till the early part of this century, when cotton thread began to be largely manufactured, especially since about the middle of the century. Paisley is the chief centre of the thread manufacture. The thread works of Messrs. J. & P. Coats, Limited, occupy 40 acres of ground, and have been developed with remarkable skill, energy, and enterprise. All the appliances and machinery used in manufacturing the thread are of the most efficient description. There are six large boilers in a row at a short distance from each other, and the furnaces of these are fed with coal by a self-acting contrivance. The engine room is grand, with its powerful and beautiful engines, and the great motive wheel revolving at a surprising velocity. In a large one storey building the wood for making the spools or pirns is stored. The spools are manufactured thus:――The wood is sawn into suitable pieces of about four feet in length, each of these is put through a number of machines, the first of which rounds the piece of wood, the second advances it another stage, and so on through the other machines till the spools are finished and ready for the thread. The raw cotton requires various preparatory processes, such as cleaning, combing, etc., then the prepared material is taken to a large mill of five or six storeys in height. When the steam is turned on, the material is worked through an elaborate combination of mechanism, the process of manufacture being advanced successively in each storey till the finished thread is turned out――wound on the pirns and ready for use. A vast quantity of thread is produced in the works. The Company gives employment to over 5,000 hands,――the greater number of whom are girls. There is a very complete set of fire brigade appliances which can be instantly put into operation in the event of a fire occurring in the works.

Messrs. Clark & Company’s thread works in Paisley are also most extensive, and occupy 50 acres of ground on the banks of the Cart. There are several large mills, and ten engines which represent a total of 6,000 horse power. They employ 500 men and 3,500 girls. In Glasgow 1,100 are employed in the thread manufacture. The total number of hands engaged in this branch of industry in Scotland exceeds 12,000.

IV. The manufacture of silk gauze was commenced at Paisley in 1760, and from that date till about 1785 the silk gauze weaving trade was exceedingly prosperous in Scotland. At the latter date, in Paisley and the surrounding villages, 5000 looms were engaged on silk fabrics, and they produced goods of the annual value of £350,000. Although this branch has passed through many fluctuations, the manufacture of silk goods is still carried on in Paisley and Glasgow. In 1871, the number of persons employed in this industry was 2440, of whom 1256 were females. In 1875, there were four silk factories in Scotland. In 1891 there were nearly 4000 hands employed in it, mostly females.

V. There are many mixed textile fabrics produced, such as cotton and silk, wool and silk, cotton mixed with flax, and cotton with jute, and so on through all the varieties of fancy and coloured goods, down to the varied kinds and qualities of the cheap shoddy and mungo.

VI. Floorcloth is manufactured on a large scale at Kirkcaldy. The manufacture of this class of goods has recently attained a high degree of elaboration in Scotland. Thirty years ago, the firm of Messrs. Nairn had gained a high reputation for their floorcloth. In 1871 about 250 persons were engaged in this manufacture, while in 1891 the number of persons employed was 1266.

In 1871, the entire number of persons employed in textile manufactures was nearly 200,000; and if we add those dependent upon them, the total number of persons directly dependent for their support on this department of factory labour would be about 350,000. In 1891 the number of hands was 205,550, of whom 133,217 were females.

The introduction of machinery and the power-loom, it is well known, entailed great and widespread suffering on the hand-loom weavers and those dependent upon them; and without dwelling upon this sad side of the subject, I may notice a few facts and circumstances connected with it. About the end of the eighteenth century and the early years of this century, the weavers in the west and south of Scotland were the best paid class of workers in the country. They had in general the character of being men of intelligence, and exercised considerable influence upon the public opinion of the country; many of them were keen and able politicians, notwithstanding the sneers of some of the Scotch judges of the period touching their intellectual capacities. They probably did more to advance political reform than has yet been recognised. But owing to the introduction of the power-loom, and various circumstances, from about the year 1816, their wages began and continued to fall; and before the second quarter of the century had run far they had fallen very low. When engaged in weaving certain qualities of cloth they could earn from 30 shillings to 32 shillings a week in 1806; in 1810 they were making 26 shillings a week; but in 1820 they had fallen to 10 shillings a week; and in 1830 to 5 shillings 6 pence a week. To relieve their distress and suffering emigration on a large scale was applied, and many of them were forced to leave the home of their fathers.

“At the present day it can only be said that a remnant of the great wreck continues to ply the ancient calling in the scattered villages of the west, where in early days the sound of the shuttle was heard all day long in almost every cottage. According to a rough census, made in 1872, of the counties of Lanark, Renfrew, and Ayr, there were then about 10,000 hand-loom weavers either at work in their own houses or in shops belonging to manufacturers; but they were a steadily declining remnant. In 1875, working upon Paisley shawls, they could earn from 4 shillings to 5 shillings per day, but at shirting and the common descriptions of work, which, however, are mostly left to women and boys, not more than 8 shillings a week could be earned, and that with the labour of twelve, fourteen, and sometimes even more, hours. Working practically beyond the range of factory inspectors’ supervision, the hand-loom weavers not only labour long and irregular hours, but children of tender years, taken in as apprentices, have to ply the shuttle for equally hurtful and unconscionable periods.”1

1 _Notices of some of the Principal Manufactures of the West of Scotland_, page 190. The above statement was written in 1875.

Thus the industrial revolution was not accomplished without incidentally causing much suffering; but there are a few other points which must be noticed before passing from this class of manufactories. Prior to the year 1834 children of all ages were employed in factories. But in the beginning of that year an act of parliament came into operation, which enacted that no person under eighteen years of age should be permitted to work in the night between half-past eight P.M. and half-past five A.M. in any factory in which steam or water power was used, except in lace factories. That no person under eighteen years of age should be employed more than twelve hours a day, nor more that sixty-nine in one week. That no child under nine years of age should be employed in factories, except in silk mills; and after the 1st of March, 1835, none should be employed under twelve years of age; and after the 1st of March, 1836, none under thirteen years of age. There are other important provisions in the interest of children in this act, such as those requiring that the younger children should be educated. The act, however, seems to have been unsatisfactory. Mr. Baines in his _History of the Cotton Manufacture_ says: “All the inspectors declare that the clauses requiring the education of the younger children, and prohibiting those children from being worked more than 48 hours in the week――eight hours a-day――have only the effect of compelling the masters to discharge the children between nine and eleven years of age. If this act should continue in force, all children under twelve years of age would be discharged in March, 1835, and this would make it impossible in many cases to carry on the mills, as children above that age could not be had in sufficient numbers. The inspectors, therefore, state that the act must be amended in these respects, and there can be no doubt that this amendment will take place next session. It is found impossible to compel the education of the children, and the attempt to do it has only produced hardship to them and their parents, from the number who have lost their employment. The Commissioners had hoped that the manufacturers might obtain relays of children, each set working not more than eight hours a-day, whilst those above thirteen years of age worked twelve hours. But neither can the children be obtained, nor will the masters submit to the inconvenience caused by the change of hands.”1

1 _History of the Cotton Manufacture_, pages 479‒480.

By subsequent acts of Parliament the employment of children in factories has been entirely prohibited, and the hours of labour for adults has been shortened more than two hours per day in factories. Concerning the employment of children, the change which the factory acts have introduced was greatly needed, both on the grounds of humanity and considerations of physical vigour and health, as well as moral and mental education; for seventy-eight hours’ labour a-week for a child under ten years of age is nothing short of actual cruelty.

The operatives in textile factories were not highly paid for their labour in Scotland; and, although this is true generally, in the early stages of the cotton manufacture, and in certain branches, there were some exceptions. Glasgow may be taken as representing an average of the highest wages paid to workers in cotton factories. In 1833 the weekly wages of this class were as follows:――1. Boys under eleven years of age, 1 shillings 113⁄4 pence; girls under this age, 1 shilling 101⁄2 pence. 2. Boys from eleven years of age to sixteen, 4 shillings 7 pence; girls of the same age, 3 shillings 83⁄4 pence. 3. The wages of men ranged from 18 shillings to 19 shillings; and those of women about 6 shillings 8 pence, but some of those who worked on piece-work made high wages. Men at wheels, containing from 252 to 300 spindles, earned 4 shillings 6 pence a-day; women engaged as reelers and winders, from 1 shilling 4 pence to 1 shilling 2 pence a-day. Youths and girls from fourteen to seventeen years of age, employed in the preparing room, or as piercers to the spinners, earned 1 shilling 4 pence a-day; boys and girls from ten to fourteen years of age, employed in the same kind of work, made from 10 pence to 8 pence a-day; children under ten years of age earned from 5 pence to 4 pence a-day. Youths and girls at wheels of from 120 to 180 spindles made from 3 shillings to 2 shillings a-day.

In 1867 the weekly wages of the cotton operatives in Glasgow were these:――Men, overlookers, 45 shillings; warpers, 22 shillings; drawers and twisters, 20 shillings; dressers, 33 shillings; sizers, 35 shillings Women, reelers and winders, 9 shillings to 10 shillings 6 pence; warpers, 14 shillings; weavers, taking charge of two or three looms, 11 shillings; of four looms, 15 shillings 6 pence. Girls, taking charge of one loom, 6 shillings. So much for textile manufactures.

SECTION VII.

_Paper Manufacture._

In a preceding volume an account was given of the attempts made in the seventeenth century to establish the manufacture of paper in Scotland;1 and I will narrate briefly the establishment and development of this manufacture through the eighteenth century onward to the present time. The appliances used by the early paper-makers were of the simplest kind in preparing the pulp and making the paper by the hand. The application of machinery to this manufacture is of comparatively recent date; and the process of preparing the rags and the pulp was a very slow one. The pulping engine was invented about the middle of the eighteenth century, and its introduction superseded the process of fermenting the rags and bruising them in a mortar.

1 Mackintosh’s _History of Civilisation in Scotland_, Volume III., pages 317‒19.

The paper-making machine was invented about the end of the last century, and is one of the most ingenious contrivances employed in the arts. It has been brought to surprising perfection in the present century. Very complete paper-making machines have been made, in Edinburgh, by Mr. George Bertram, Sciennes, and Messrs. James Bertram & Son, Leith Walk. A machine, exhibited by Mr. George Bertram at the Exhibition of 1862 was much admired, as the most perfect paper-making machine which had, up to that time, been produced.

The chief centres of the paper manufacture are in the counties of Edinburgh, Lanark, and Aberdeen. In 1709 Mr. Anderson built a paper mill at Valleyfield, Penicuik, which is still in operation; and by gradual extensions it has become one of the largest in the county of Edinburgh. But the manufacture for a long time made little progress. In 1763 there were three paper mills in the vicinity of Edinburgh, and the quantity of paper then produced was 6400 reams a-year. In 1773 there were twelve paper mills in this district, and the annual production had risen to 100,000 reams. At this time a considerable quantity of printing paper was exported to London; but in the early stages of paper-making in Scotland the business was not very remunerative.

The Messrs. Alexander Cowan & Sons are amongst the oldest paper manufacturers in Scotland. They have three mills at Penicuik, in the county of Edinburgh, which are near each other, and worked as one establishment. The Valleyfield Mill, which is the central and the largest one, was begun, as already observed, by Mr. Anderson in 1709, and in 1779 Mr. Charles Cowan bought this mill. But in the years 1810 to 1814 it was used by the Government as a place of confinement for French prisoners of war. In 1803 this firm purchased a corn mill, which was converted into a paper mill, and it is now known as the Bank Mill; in 1815 they also bought a paper mill belonging to Mr. Nimmo of Edinburgh, in the same neighbourhood, which was called the Low Mill. Before the year 1815, the number of hands employed by the firm was about thirty, who worked by the hand process, and produced from two to three tons of paper a-week. Shortly after the close of the French war, they repurchased the Valleyfield Mill from the Government, fitted it up anew with the most improved appliances, and restarted it in 1821. The operations of the firm have been carried on with marked energy and judgment; and besides their three mills, they have an establishment at Musselburgh, in which the esparto used is reduced to pulp, and another one at Leith, in which the rags are sorted and cut.

The water-wheels and steam-engines employed in these mills are equal to about 200 horse-power. In 1870 they had five machines in operation, and were producing from 2000 to 3000 tons of paper annually, all of which were of the finer kinds of writing and printing papers.

In 1870, about 600 persons were employed in the various departments of the works, and upwards of £1200 a-month was paid in wages, at the following rates:――Mechanics, 25 shillings a-week; millworkers, men and lads, 18 shillings to 19 shillings; women, from 8 shillings to 10 shillings. The mills were then under the Factory Acts. But in 1841, the following rules were enacted by the heads of the firm:――“1. No child under thirteen years of age shall be employed. 2. No young persons shall be employed before they are able to read, write, and figure, and, in the case of girls, to sew. 3. Wives shall not be employed, as it is considered that they should be keepers at home, for the sake of their husbands and children.”

The most extensive manufacturers of writing paper in Scotland, and indeed in the world, are the Messrs. Alexander Pirie & Sons, Aberdeen. This great establishment was begun on a small scale about the middle of the eighteenth century; and the works have been gradually extended, chiefly in the present century. The works at Stoneywood now cover upwards of sixteen acres of ground; and the locality where they stand――the south bank of the river Don――is well adapted for this department of manufacture, as there is a plentiful supply of water, a prime requisite in the process of paper-making.

In these works there are in all six paper machines of great width; and these, along with the necessary washing and beating engines, as well as all the machinery required for the finishing processes, are driven by water and steam power combined, about 2000 horse-power being constantly required. Here, and in all the works of the firm, the best machinery, the most efficient appliances, and the most refined chemical processes, are brought into full operation. In many instances the proprietors have been the inventors of the most efficient appliances themselves. In short, this large manufactory has been developed with great judgment, energy, and surpassing skill; hence its success and world-wide reputation.

Some idea may be formed of the rapid development of these works from a comparison of the quantity of raw material used annually at different periods. In 1848, the quantity of rags used was from 600 to 700 tons yearly, but at that date the mills were improved, and the premises extended. So in 1859, the raw material annually used had reached 2500 tons; while in 1879, it had risen to 6000 tons annually. At the present time, upwards of 8000 tons of raw material is used annually; and the quantity of paper produced exceeds 6000 tons, or over 750,000 reams per annum.

Besides the extensive works at Stoneywood, the firm since 1857 have had mills at Woodside, in which the rags are sorted, classified, and then stored, and sent to Stoneywood works when required for the boiling process. Upwards of 200 persons are employed in the rag establishment at Woodside.

At the Union Works in Aberdeen, which the firm have long devoted to the manufacture of envelopes, there are over 700 hands employed. The rate of production reaches to about 13,000,000 envelopes per week, or over 2,000,000 a-day.

In consequence of the introduction, especially in recent years, of labour-saving machinery, although the output of the works has been nearly doubled, the amount of hand labour has somewhat decreased. The combined works of the firm still constantly employ upwards of 2500 hands.

The firm produces a great variety of fine writing papers, and also the best classes of printing papers. Besides these leading lines of high-class papers, they make many specialities. Their mills produce the widest range of qualities, from the hardest and best qualities of account book paper to the softest and most absorbent blotting papers. They also make various kinds of card-board, enamelled cards and papers. In a word, the papers of the firm are known and valued throughout the world.

There are other four paper mills in Aberdeenshire. The Muggiemoss Paper Mills, belonging to Messrs. Davidson & Company, which were established in 1796. These works have also been developed from a small beginning; and the firm, aided by its managers, have originated and adopted many improvements in the appliances. At these works various kinds of wrapping papers and paper bags are produced; and they also manufacture a special kind of roofing felt. The firm employs from 500 to 600 hands.

The Culter Paper Works stand on the banks of Culter Burn, in the valley of the Dee. In 1750 Bartholomew Smith erected a mill and commenced the manufacture of paper. He was succeeded by Richard Smith and Lewis Smith. For a long time the works were on a small scale, only six men were employed toward the end of the last century. In 1820 the works were acquired by Alexander Irvine, and carried on under the title of Irvine & Company till 1837, when the mills were purchased by Messrs. Arbuthnot & M‘Combie. In 1840, the machinery was driven by two large water wheels; and sixty hands were employed at the works. The papers then produced in the works were browns, cartridges, and all kinds of wrapping papers. In 1856 the Messrs. Pirie of Stoneywood purchased the mills; but, in 1865 they sold them to the Culter Mills Paper Company. The production was then about 15 tons of paper per week. Since then the works have been greatly extended, new machinery and improved appliances requisite for the various processes of the manufactures have been introduced; the weekly produce of paper is now over 60 tons, or 3, 220 tons per annum. The motive power for the machinery is mainly supplied by steam engines, but also partly by water, which make a total of over 1000 horse power, There are two paper-making machines, each 72 inches wide, a number of cutting, burnishing, super-calendering, and folding machines, etc. The electric light is fitted into the principal rooms. The works are built of granite, and occupy a large space of ground. The railway siding runs into and through the mill, round the building, through the grass sheds and dust house, passing close to the steam boilers, and thus coal can be tipped from the trucks. The manufactures produced in the works consist of various styles of the finest writing papers, excellent printing papers, and a variety of other classes of papers. The products of the company have attained a high reputation in the markets of the world. About four hundred hands are employed in the works.

The Inverurie Paper mills were begun about sixty years ago by Mr. Tait, and are now carried on by his sons. They produce various kinds of printing papers, and a considerable quantity of paper-hangings.

Gordon’s Mills, Aberdeen, were commenced in 1888, and were recently acquired by the Donside Paper Company. In these works various qualities of printing papers are produced.

In 1870, there were fifty-seven paper mills in Scotland, of which twenty-two were in the county of Edinburgh, nine in Lanarkshire, and the rest distributed over eleven counties. There were then eighty paper-making machines employed in Scotland, and about 10, 000 persons directly engaged in the manufacture. In 1888 there were sixty paper mills in Scotland, worked by fifty-six firms; and the number of paper-making machines employed had increased to 101. In 1891 there were 11, 879 hands employed in the manufacture; while the number of paper-making machines had also increased.

In the development of paper manufacture, much difficulty has been experienced in finding the requisite raw material in sufficient quantity, and great ingenuity has been exerted in efforts to find suitable materials and substances to meet the requirements of manufacturers. Although many fibres, such as esparto grass, bamboo, jute, wood, sugar-cane, etc., have been successfully treated so as to suit for papers of an inferior description, nothing has as yet been discovered to supersede the use of linen and cotton rags for making the finer qualities of writing paper.

The manufacture of paper-hangings only commenced in Scotland at a comparatively recent period, and was conducted on a small scale. In 1870, there were six firms engaged in it, but only one of them had a large business; at that date there were about 500 persons employed in this branch of paper manufacture, but since then it has been further developed.

About 1857, Messrs. Wylie & Lochhead, a firm in Glasgow, began paper-staining on a small scale, and limited themselves to block printing; but after the abolition of the paper duty in 1861, they built a large factory at Whiteinch, and introduced cylinder printing machines. About 300 persons were employed, and 80,000 pieces of paper-hangings were produced every week. The more costly papers are produced by the block printing, and the cheaper varieties by the machines.

This firm have devoted special attention to the production of paper-hangings of the highest class, and they have carried the art of making gold, stamped, bronzed, and flocked papers to a high degree of perfection. The designing of paper-hangings affords ample scope for the exercise of artistic skill, and a large staff of designers and engravers are employed by Messrs. Wylie & Lochhead.1

1 _Industries of Scotland_, by D. Bremner.

SECTION VIII.

_Printing, and Bookbinding._

In the preceding volumes, the introduction and progress of printing in Scotland was noticed;1 and some notice of its modern development seems requisite. The quantity of printing executed in Scotland prior to the eighteenth century was not large, and consisted for the most part of ballads, poetry, pamphlets, sermons, and a few other works. The first work printed in Glasgow was the protestation of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, and of the nobility, burghs, ministers, and commons, “subscribers of the Covenant, lately renewed, made in the High Kirk, and at the Market Cross of Glasgow, the 28th of November, 1638. Printed at Glasgow, by George Anderson, in the year of grace 1638.”2 But Glasgow was among the first places which attained a reputation for printing in Scotland. The two brothers, Robert and Andrew Foulis, were cultured and accomplished men. Both were educated in the University of Glasgow; and in 1742, Robert commenced business as a printer and bookseller in Glasgow. In 1743, he was appointed printer to the University, and was accommodated with premises within the College buildings. Andrew joined the business; and they printed a series of classical books in a style far superior to any before executed in Scotland. They were not only the foremost printers of their day, but they also did much to promote the culture of painting and art.

1 Mackintosh’s _History of Civilisation in Scotland_, Volume II., pages 299‒303; Volume III., page 363.

2 Macgregor’s _History of Glasgow_, page 211.

In 1780, there were twenty-seven printing offices in Edinburgh. Although stereotyping was invented early in the eighteenth century, by William Ged, a goldsmith in Edinburgh, and practised by him in 1730, it was long before this art was brought into use in printing establishments. In the present century the process has been brought to great perfection, and has for many years been universally practised. In short, it may be truly said that the great development of the modern newspaper press, and the incessantly increasing necessity for expeditious work, has tended greatly to the invention of new machinery, and the improvement of the whole apparatus and appliances now in operation in large printing establishments.

It was in connection with newspapers that the printing machines were first actually worked, and steam power applied to printing. After a long series of trials and experiments, and the exercise of much ingenuity, the printing machines were brought to a high degree of efficiency. They began to be used in Britain in the first quarter of this century, and were perfected by degrees. The _London Times_ was first printed by a machine on the 28th of November, 1814. There are now various kinds of machines used for printing newspapers from stereotyped plates placed on revolving cylinders, which can print many thousands of copies per hour. The “Victory” printing machine, used in many large newspaper establishments, is an admirably perfect piece of mechanism. This machine, on being set in motion, feeds itself from a large roll of paper, and throws off the printed copies at a surprisingly rapid rate, neatly folded and ready to be despatched.

The stereotyping process itself has been much improved and perfected during the past forty years. Indeed, it has become so indispensable that the daily newspapers circulated throughout the country could not be produced without its aid. In short, there has been a complete revolution in the modes of printing within the past hundred years.

In all the large printing establishments in Scotland machinery and steam-power are employed. Many kinds of printing machines are now used, each specially adapted for different kinds and classes of work. In some establishments all kinds of printing is executed; others limit themselves chiefly to special lines, such as book-printing; while some carry on both printing and lithography, most of the book-printing firms execute stereotyping. Edinburgh is the chief centre of the book-printing trade in Scotland, though this branch is carried on more or less in all the chief towns of the country.

A large quantity of excellent printing is annually executed in Scotland. In illustrated works ample scope is afforded for the display of taste and artistic skill, and good specimens of this branch of work have been produced in this country.

According to the census of 1871, there were 5609 printers in Scotland. But including all the branches of business directly connected with the printing trade, there were upwards of 16,000 persons employed. In 1891, 12,329 persons were so employed.

In the bookbinding trade machines are used for performing a great number of operations. Many attempts have been made to supersede hand-labour in folding by machines, and in the common kinds of work such machines are used. In every large bookbinding establishment the division of labour is carried out to the minutest particular: for instance, the case-makers are divided into six or eight sections, each performing a special part of the work, and before a book is bound it passes through eighteen or twenty different hands.

This department of work also affords considerable scope for the exercise of taste and skill in selecting the various colours of cloth, forming devices for the boards, and details of ornamental work. The styles of binding are endless, and many beautiful specimens are produced in Scotland. In 1871, there were 3113 persons employed in this branch of industry, of whom 1820 were females. In 1891, there were 4,405 hands employed in it, of whom 2,888 were females.

SECTION IX.

_Leather, India-Rubber, and Shoe Manufactures._

In a preceding volume the tanning of leather was noticed, and the shoemaking trade was frequently mentioned;1 but the manufactures in india-rubber are a more modern development, nevertheless, it seems requisite to give some account of them.

1 Mackintosh’s _History of Civilisation in Scotland_, Volume I., pages 241, 400, Volume II., page 293; Volume III., pages 287, 305.

The manufacture of leather was long subjected to a duty, which was finally repealed in 1830. In the latter half of the last century there was a considerable leather trade in Scotland; and until about twenty-five years ago the manufacture of leather was increasing, but since the trade has not been so prosperous. The best and most durable kinds of boot and shoe leather were not at any time produced in Scotland; the quality of this class of Scotch leather is inferior to both the English and the French. In 1871, there were about 120 tanneries; and at this time there were 2739 persons employed in connection with the leather manufacture in Scotland. In 1891, about 3000 hands were employed in it.

Within a period of forty years the boot and shoe making trade has undergone a complete revolution; before 1859, boots and shoes were made by the hand, and with few exceptions they were all sewed. But since then machinery has been largely applied to the manufacture of boots and shoes, and sewing by the hand has been almost superseded by riveting machines and sewing machines. One result of the application of machinery has been the establishment of large manufactories of boots and shoes. One of these in Glasgow, in 1870, employed 2000 hands; and in other large towns many shoe factories have been started within the last twenty-five years. The articles produced in these factories are much inferior, both in quality of material and in workmanship, to those which were formerly made by the hand; but the factory article has the recommendation of cheapness, and this is what the majority of dealers and customers are always in quest of.

Gutta-percha in its raw state is a substance extracted from certain trees which grow in Asia, and the manufacture of it in this country is of recent date. From about 1858 onward, it was largely used in making boots and shoes in Scotland: the soles were of gutta-percha and the uppers of leather. It has been applied to many other purposes; and as a non-conductor of electricity it has become an invaluable aid in constructing the submarine telegraph.

In 1871, the number of persons employed in making boots and shoes was 37,587, and of this number 13,426 were females, but 12,207 of the latter were shoemakers’ wives who worked at the trade.

The manufactures in india-rubber are of comparatively recent origin, and up till about 1820, it was only used for rubbing out pencil marks. The raw material of caoutchouc, or india-rubber, is a resinous substance, which exudes by incisions from trees that grow in Brazil, in Cayenne, and Quito; and it was first brought to Europe (France) about the year 1734. The first notice of it in Britain occurs in a publication of Dr. Priestley’s in 1770. In 1819, Mr. Hancock began his experiments on india-rubber, and the following year he obtained a patent for india-rubber braces, garters, bands, etc. He continued his operations, and before 1847, he had obtained fourteen patents for his special india-rubber goods.

In 1820, Mr. Macintosh, of Glasgow, began to make experiments with india-rubber; and in 1823, he established a work in Glasgow for waterproof articles. In 1824, he took out a patent for waterproofing cloth, which was afterwards distinguished by his name. This cloth was made by cementing two folds together by the solution, and coats made of it soon became well known. He formed a partnership in Manchester, and commenced to manufacture waterproof goods on a large scale, and the firm became widely known. Mr. Hancock had worked some of his inventions in connection with Mr. Macintosh, and finally entered the firm, which then assumed the title of Messrs. Hancock & Macintosh.

After the manufacture of useful india-rubber goods was demonstrated by the efforts, talents, and enterprise of the two gentlemen mentioned above, there was a wild rush of attempts at india-rubber manufactures. “Mechanicians hailed the rubber as a sort of missing link in their code of materials for machine making; and such was the rage for introducing it, that it was frequently found in most unsuitable positions.” It is now used in connection with many machines; indeed, the purposes to which it is applied, as well as the different kinds of goods and articles manufactured from it, are exceedingly numerous and varied, and a complete detail of them would be out of the question――only a few can be mentioned.

Boots and shoes of all sizes have long been manufactured from india-rubber. One of the earliest specimens of this class of goods was known under the name of “goloshes,” which were worn as overshoes, and were in great vogue thirty years ago. About that time there was an india-rubber manufactory in Edinburgh which could turn out 7000 pairs of boots and shoes a-day, or over 2,000, 000 pairs a-year.1 Coats, leggings, cushions, bags, and so on were at the same period produced in endless variety. A little later, combs, jewellery, and a long series of miscellaneous articles were produced from india-rubber.

1 In recent years this class of boots and shoes have fallen out of fashion.

The vulcanite and black jet jewellery was popular twenty years ago, and immense quantities of it were produced. At present a large business is done in india-rubber and vulcanised goods in Scotland.

SECTION X.

_Sugar Refining, Brewing, and Distilling._

I. Sugar works were established in Scotland in 1667.1 In 1715, the sugar-refining trade was carried on in Glasgow and Leith; and at this date it was put under the English excise laws. Before the end of the eighteenth century Greenock had become the chief seat of the sugar-refining trade in Scotland. The first sugar refinery in Greenock was commenced in 1765, by a company of West Indian merchants; this refinery was in operation in 1870. The second refinery in the town was begun in 1787; it started with two pans, but the number was subsequently increased. The third sugar refinery was built in 1800; the fourth was erected in 1809; the fifth in 1812; and the sixth in 1826. The sugar refining trade continued to increase in Greenock, and more refineries were erected. In 1869, there were fourteen sugar refineries in this enterprising town; and two of the largest of these turned out about 14,000 tons of sugar a week.

1 Mackintosh’s _History of Civilisation_, Volume III., page 330.

In 1869, there were twenty sugar refineries in Scotland, eighteen of which were on the Clyde and two at Leith. It thus appears that nearly all the sugar refining in Scotland was centred on the Clyde. A large amount of shipping was employed in the sugar trade. In 1868, 416 vessels arrived in the Clyde, of about 140,000 tons, and 400 of these discharged their cargoes at Greenock. The raw sugar imported into the Clyde in 1858 was 56,769 tons, and 15,000 tons of molasses; in 1861, the raw sugar imported was 88,694 tons, and molasses 18,229 tons; and in 1867, the sugar was 178,000 tons, and 2900 tons of molasses. But, since the duty on sugar was abolished, the annual consumption has increased; a larger quantity of it is used in making preserved fruits of every kind.

In the sugar-refining process very heavy machinery and costly appliances are required, such as blowing-up machinery, filtering apparatus, vacuum pans and vacuum pumps, heaters and stirring apparatus, charcoal kilns, centrifugals, and the like. But the machinery and apparatus which are used in sugar-making in the countries where the sugar-cane itself grows are of a much heavier description; indeed the weight, size, and power of the machinery, pans and batteries, engines and varied appliances, in operation in the sugar mills are very great. In Glasgow there are a number of iron-founding and engineering firms who devote special attention to the production of sugar-making machinery, and very large consignments are annually exported to the sugar plantations. It has been calculated that in the years 1872 to 1876 the machinery of this kind exported direct from the Clyde to the British Colonies and other sugar-growing countries was valued at upwards of £400,000 per annum.

In 1871, there were about 1000 persons employed as sugar refiners in Scotland. In 1891 there were 1187 sugar refiners.

II.――In the preceding volumes I have shown that brewing was from an early period a staple branch of the domestic economy of the nation, and noticed many of the regulations, both national and local, relating to the making and sale of malt, ale, and whisky; so any lengthy detail is superfluous. It is well known that the increased tax on malt imposed by the Government in the eighteenth century, was with difficulty enforced even among the licensed brewers and malt sellers, and that smuggling and illicit distilling prevailed to a large extent until the first quarter of this century.

At the beginning of the eighteenth century considerable quantities of ale and beer were exported to the Continent; and from then onward the export trade has continued to extend. In the last century brewers were comparatively more numerous than now, and the concentration of production in certain localities, and in large establishments, which is a characteristic of the period, also took place in the brewing and distilling trade. In 1835, there were 640 licensed brewers of beer in Scotland; but in 1863, there were only 225; and in 1866, 217. In 1836, the brewers consumed 1,137,176 bushels of malt; in 1863, 1,780,919 bushels; and in 1866, 2,499,019 bushels. The exports of ale and beer in 1863 amounted to 47,415 barrels, the declared value of which was £172,140; in 1866, the quantity exported was 61,723 barrels, valued at £230,109. Amongst the places to which this beer was sent were ――Queensland, New South Wales, East Indies, West Indies, North America, and other quarters of the globe.

Recently, various kinds of cheap beverages have been brought into use, such as aerated waters, of which very large quantities are consumed.

III.――Concerning whisky, the Government of Scotland began to legislate about its use and sale in the sixteenth century; and our Governments have continued to legislate upon it as they began――on inconsistent and often unjust lines, which may be partly accounted for on the ground that for centuries it has been made a source of an enormous revenue. This, however, is not the place to discuss the drink traffic laws, and I proceed to other sides of the subject.

In 1708, 50,844 gallons of spirits were produced in Scotland; and in 1756, there were 433,811 gallons; but at this time the duty was increased, which caused a fall off in the production. Shortly after a demand for Scotch spirits arose in England, and large quantities were sent across the border. An import duty of 2 shillings 6 pence a gallon was imposed in England, which was quickly followed by a system of smuggling; and it was recorded that in 1787 upwards of 300,000 gallons of whisky was conveyed across the border without the cognisance of the Excise. A new mode of charging the duty on spirits was tried in 1786――a license duty calculated upon the capacity of the stills; but the distillers soon altered the form of the stills, and increased the rate of production. When the Government discovered this, the amount of the license was raised year by year till, in 1798, it amounted to £64 16 shillings 4 pence per gallon of still capacity in the Lowlands, and to £3 per gallon in the Highlands. The mode of charging the duty was again changed, and from the beginning of the year 1799 a duty of 4 shillings 101⁄4 pence was put on each gallon of spirits produced for home consumption. At this time there were 87 licensed distillers in Scotland; but they did not approve of the change, and many of them gave up business, so the annual amount of the duty fell off for a year or two. In 1802, however, the Government reduced the duty to 3 shillings 101⁄2 pence per gallon; and in 1803, there were 88 distillers who paid a duty of £2,022,409. The next year the duty was raised, and the number of distillers decreased till, in 1813, there was only 24. At this time the duty per gallon was 9 shillings 41⁄4 pence. In 1823, the duty was lowered to 2 shillings 43⁄4 pence per gallon; and then the number of distillers greatly increased, and the revenue rose accordingly. In 1833, the rate of duty was 3 shillings 4 pence a gallon, and there were then 243 distillers, who paid duty to the amount of £5,988,556.

In 1840, the duty was 3 shillings 8 pence, the number of distillers 205, and the quantity of whisky produced this year was 9, 032,353 gallons. The same year, the quantity of spirits charged with duty as consumed in Scotland was 6,007,631 gallons. In 1855, the quantity of whisky produced was 11,283,636 gallons. In 1867, there were 111 distillers in Scotland, and the quantity of whisky produced was 10, 813,996 gallons. The same year the quantity of spirits charged with duty as consumed in Scotland was 4,983,009 gallons.

In 1871, the number of persons employed as brewers, maltmen, and distillers in Scotland was 2869――a very small number of hands compared with the enormous overturn of capital, plant and stock, employed in the business. In 1891 the number of persons employed was 4343.

Concerning distilling apparatus, it may be of interest to state that, in 1862, Mr. George Russell, of Glasgow, patented an apparatus for distilling fresh water on board ship at sea. This apparatus and others recently constructed have been very effective in producing fresh water at sea, which during long voyages is exceedingly useful.

SECTION XI.

_Miscellaneous Manufactures._

The manufacture of soap was commenced in Scotland about the middle of the seventeenth century, and it has been carried on in Glasgow and other towns for upwards of two centuries; but great improvements have been made in the processes of this manufacture since the later part of the last century. It was shown in a preceding chapter of this volume, that the science of chemistry was ably taught by Cullen and Black, in Glasgow and Edinburgh, from the middle of the last century onward; and the results of this soon began to appear in the improvement of those useful arts and manufactures in which the application of efficient apparatus and appliances to the varied processes so much depends on a thorough knowledge of chemical science. Not only have the processes of the then existing arts and industries been greatly improved, but new arts and manufactures have been created, and numerous varieties of articles and goods have been manufactured in millions, tens of millions, and thousands of millions, from substances, the very names of which were unknown in Britain a hundred years ago, such as india-rubber and gutta-percha. The whole class of what may be termed the chemical arts have been advanced amazingly in the present century.

I.――The alkali works at St. Rollox, in Glasgow, belonging to Messrs. Tennant & Company, were begun about the end of the last century; and at first they only occupied about three acres of ground, but they have been rapidly extended. In 1875, the works covered fifty acres, and eighty acres more were occupied with deposits, etc.; and 1200 men were employed in the establishment. The original leaden chambers were 6 to 8 feet square. The present chambers are 80 to 200 feet long, 20 feet wide, and 21 feet high, with a total capacity of about 1,500,000 cubic feet. The sulphuric acid for sale is rectified in glass retorts, but for the most part in two platinum stills, which are about 3 feet in diameter, and worth £2300 each, and rectify 13 tons per day. The plant, including the branch works of the Company at Hebburn, Newcastle, can produce 20,000 tons of bleaching powder, besides all the collateral and subsidiary products. The total raw material consumed annually at St. Rollox, amounts to about 80, 000 tons. In addition to the regular manufactures, there are numerous other operations carried on in the works. Among these there are gas and brick making, and iron casting, the foundry being able of casting 300 tons a-week. Employment is also given to coopers, joiners, cart and waggon wrights, blacksmiths, tinsmiths, plumbers, engineers, and other mechanics. For the different operations 110,000 tons of coal are consumed per annum, and the numerous furnaces are in connection with 22 chimneys, ranging from 60 to 4551⁄2 feet high. The chief chimney, both from its magnitude and from its elevated position, is seen for many miles round Glasgow.

The products of the works are soda-ash, soda-crystals, caustic soda, sulphuric and hydrochloric acids, bleaching powder, soap, recovered sulphur, and recovered carbonate and peroxide of manganese.1 In 1891, there were 2,674 persons engaged in alkali manufacture, of whom 429 were females.

1 _Notices of some of the Principal Manufactures of the West of Scotland_, pages 222‒224.

There are several soap-works in Glasgow which produce the common kinds of soap, and also a variety of fancy soaps and blue-mottled soap. At the works of Kinning Park, Glasgow, special soaps are made for calico-printers, Turkey-red dyers, tweed and woollen finishers, scourers, bleachers, dyers, and for many other purposes. There are soap-works in other towns throughout the country. Soap is largely manufactured in Aberdeen, in which there are two soap-works. The works of Messrs. Ogston & Sons are extensive, and produce a large quantity of soap.

In 1871, the number of persons employed in the manufacture of soap in Scotland was 434, of whom 32 were females. Down to 1833, a duty was charged on hard soap. In 1891 there were about 600 employed in this manufacture.

II.――There are extensive alum-works in Glasgow, and in the neighbourhood of Paisley. Near both of these places there is found in connection with the coal a black slaty rock or shale which contains bituminous matter and iron pyrites spread through it; and this shale is largely used in the manufacture of alum. Alum itself is largely used in calico-printing and dyeing, in the tanning of leather, in the finishing of paper, and for many other purposes.

III.――The manufacture of mineral oils was started in Scotland in 1851, by the late Dr. Young, of Durris, who, in company with Mr. Meldrum and Mr. Binney, erected paraffin oil works near Bathgate. Afterwards a number of mineral oil works were started. Dr. Young formed a new company under the title of Young’s Paraffin Light and Mineral Oil Company, which is still carried on. In 1871, there were about 3000 persons employed in the Scotch mineral oil works. In recent years the mineral oil trade has been in a depressed state, and in 1891, the number of hands employed in it were 2,474.

IV.――The preparation of artificial manures is carried on to a considerable extent in Scotland; and also the manufacture of several kinds of food for animals.

V.――The manufacture of combs is carried on to a considerable extent. Aberdeen is the chief seat of this industry, in which there are two comb works.

In 1830 Mr. John Stewart and Mr. Joseph Rowell commenced to manufacture combs in Mealmarket Lane, Aberdeen, under the name of Stewart, Rowell & Company. Both men had excellent business abilities, and their united efforts led to signal success. In 1835 the firm removed to larger premises in Hutcheon Street, where the works were admirably managed, and the business developed with rare commercial tact, energy, and enterprise. This firm by the introduction of machinery succeeded in producing an unprecedented quantity of goods at prices which soon commanded the markets of the world. From time to time the works have been extended, and now occupy a large space of ground. Many different appliances and machines are used in preparing the materials, and in the various operations of making and finishing the numerous varieties of goods produced. These operations all proceed on a systematic method, and evince a fine combination of mechanism.

The goods manufactured in the works consist of every variety of combs, of which great quantities are produced; and a number of other useful and fancy articles. The firm employs about 850 hands. John Stewart died on the 25th of January, 1887, and was succeeded by his eldest son, David, the present head of the firm, and ex-Lord Provost of Aberdeen.

In 1871, the number of persons employed in the manufacture of combs in Scotland was 1061, of whom 199 were females. In 1891 there were 1150 hands employed in this industry.

Concerning the important industry of the fisheries, in 1871 there were 26,267 fishermen and 1029 fisherwomen in Scotland. In 1891 there were over 30,000 persons employed in fishing.

In conclusion, the rise and progress of the coal and iron mining were narrated; the erection of ironworks and the development of iron manufactures were explained. An account was then given of the improvement of the means of communication. The progress of shipping and shipbuilding was indicated; the introduction of steam vessels, the change from wood to iron and steel shipbuilding, were explained. The manufacture of glass and the erection of earthenware works were noticed. The development of the several branches of textile manufactures were treated at length. The erection of paper works and the development of paper manufactures were described; and the progress of printing through the introduction of steam-power, machinery, and stereotyping was explained. The leather trade, and the introduction of machinery in boot and shoe making were noticed; the origin and development of several new manufactures were observed. Sugar-refining, brewing, and distilling were treated; and various chemical manufactures were briefly touched on.