Mr Bald on the Fire^ that take place in Collieries. 107 



the property of Ludovick Houston, Esquire ; Dysart, in the 

 county of Fife, the property of the Earl of Hosslyn ; Alloa, the 

 property of the Earl of Mar, in the county of Clackmannan ; 

 Hallheath, in the county of Fife, the property of John Scott, 

 Esquire ; Bridge of Orr, the property of Lord Rothes ; Wemyss 

 colliery, the property of James Wemyss, Esquire, M. P. in the 

 county of Fife. Many others, less remarkable, were compara- 

 tively easily overcome and extinguished. 



Kilkerran Colliery is situated on a hill ; and the drainage is 

 effected by a day level, which lays dry several beds of coal. It 

 is said this colliery was set on fire by some herd boys, who were 

 amusing themselves with a fire they had kindled at the mouth 

 of the pit. This fire is reported to have existed for more than a 

 century ; for it appears, in some of the oldest maps of Ayrshire, 

 published in the beginning of the last century, that this spot is 

 named the Burning Hill^ which name it retains to the present 

 day. 



Every attempt to extinguish this fire has proved ineffectual, 

 as both water and choking by bad air has failed. 



The fire was for some time confined to one bed of coal, the 

 working of which had to be abandoned ; but, in order to have 

 the produce of coal from this colliery, the workings were pur- 

 sued in a coal under the one which was burning, and I was in* 

 formed by my friend, the late William Dixon, Esquire, of the 

 Calder Iron-works, one of the most experienced and successful 

 miners of his day, that he surveyed the coal which was working 

 under the burning mass, where he found the miners in a heated 

 atmosphere like an oven ; that the drops of water which fell from 

 the roof were scalding hot, and the candles were melted by the 

 heat in the mine. In some places, at the surface, the argillace- 

 ous schistus had been melted into a glass or slag. This shews 

 with what resolute and fearless determination mankind at times 

 pursue their labours, and with what danger they often earn 

 their bread. This burning district of the colliery has been long 

 abandoned, and the mining operations are now carrying on in 

 the valley of the River Girvan to the south, clear of the burn- 

 ing. From the heat which existed in this hill, and its diffusing 

 itself equally at the surface, it was obsened during the winter, 

 that the snow which fell melted immediately over a considerable 



