TRANSACTIONS. 157 
ments which have been called into existence, such as railway, 
telegraph, and post-office officials. Printers have also largely 
increased in number, and those employed in the manufacture of 
woollen goods very much more so. It could not be said now as it 
was said by Dr Burnside, “The spirit of industry is by no means 
so great among us as could be wished, and we have but few 
manufactures, owing in great measure, as it is generally thought, 
to the scarcity and dearness of fuel.” In 1791 there were 78 
persons licensed to sell spirits, or 1 to 89 people. This year we 
have 84, or 1 to every 150 people. In addition to the 78 persons 
who, on an average, were licensed annually, there were on an 
average about 20 persons fined for selling without a license. Dr 
Burnside makes the reflection on this point, which has so often 
since been made: “ The use of spirituous liquors, and especially of 
whisky since its price was reduced, certainly does produce very bad 
effects upon the good order, industry, and health of the lower 
classes of the people. Unhappily, individuals themselves are not 
the only sufferers, for their wives and children are often in great 
distress and misery. Hence, too, many of the petty crimes, debts, 
&c., which swell the list of those sent to prison and the correction 
house.” 
In 1791 there were, according to Dr Burnside, only 38 
Roman Catholics in the parish. This, it would appear, was an 
understatement, as in 1795 he discovered in the New Church parish 
alone 64. The great difference between the number of Roman 
Catholics a hundred years ago and the number at the present day 
reminds us of the fact that a large proportion of the new popula- 
tion has come from the sister island. In 1791 it was supposed 
that there were in the parish 200 belonging to the Relief com- 
munion, 150 Episcopalians, 270 Antiburghers and Seceders of all 
ages. The remainder were supposed to belong to the Church of 
Scotland. In those days there was one church for every thousand 
of the population. The proportion at this present day is about 
the same. 
The productions of the parish were said to be wheat, barley, 
oats, potatoes, lint, and, in the neighbourhood of the town, garden 
stuff. A farmer gave Dr Burnside the computation that there are 
in the parish about 720 acres of oats, 240 of barley, 180 of wheat, 
and at least 100 of potatoes, 20 to 30 acres of peas, and as many 
of turnips. Rev. John Gillespie, Mouswald, has supplied me with 
the following notes regarding the present produce, for the purposes 
