102 TRANSACTIONS OF THE [Sess. lxxvii 



nethan ; and on the S.W. and W. by the parishes of Dalziel 

 and Bothwell, the natural boundaries being the South 

 Calder Water, Tillan Burn, and Shotts Burn. 



It has an area of about thirty-nine square miles (24,835 

 acres). Its greatest length — from the point on South 

 Calder Water, where the parishes of Shotts, Cambusnethan, 

 and Dalziel meet to the boundary line beyond Southrigg — 

 is about eleven miles; its greatest breadth — from Shotts 

 Iron Works, on the South Calder Water, to North Calder 

 Water — being about seven miles. 



The surface consists to a large extent of undulating 

 ridges 1 varying in height from 700 to 900 feet. The 

 altitude ranges from 340 feet on the Shotts Burn to nearly 

 1000 feet on the Cant Hills, which form part of the ridge 

 that is the water-parting of the basins of the Clyde and 

 the Forth. 



The chief streams, besides those mentioned under bound- 

 aries, are the River Almond and Forrestburn Water. The 

 former rises within the parish and flows towards the east ; 

 the latter flows east into Forrestburn Reservoir, the over- 

 flow continuing to join Barbauchlaw Burn. 



The main water areas are : Hillend Reservoir, on the 

 northern border, which supplies the Forth and Clyde Canal 

 — of its area (300 acres) only 172 acres are in the parish ; 

 Lilly Loch, lying a little to the south of this and being a 

 compensation reservoir for the same canal — the loch previous 

 to its being altered for this purpose had water-lilies grow- 

 ing in it; Forrestburn Reservoir, being the water supply 

 for Linlithgowshire; Roughrigg Reservoir, farther to the 

 west, supplying the Airdrie and Coatbridge district. 



Geology and Soil. 

 The district consists entirely of Carboniferous rocks over- 

 laid by glacial drift or boulder clay which varies both in 

 composition and thickness in different parts. In some 

 places there are present in the clay sandstone and gravel, 

 but generally boulders of volcanic origin. The most notable 



1 Cf. the following place and farm names : Northrigg, Southrigg, 

 Hillhouseridge, Westcraigs, Craighead, Knowehead, Roundknowe, 

 Blairmuckhill, Bridgehill, Dewshills, Brownhill, Drumfin( = "the fair 

 ridge"), Drumbowie ( = "the yellow ridge"), etc. 



