CLACKMANNANSH1RE. 



665 



Clackmafl 

 nanshirr. 



Embank- 

 ing. 



Hirers* 



Hirer 

 Forth. 



River De- 

 Ton. 



lirerBUck 

 Dtron. 



have been carried on here with great spirit. This coun- 

 ty was amongst the first in Scotland where a farmer's 

 club was instituted, patronized by the county gentlemen, 

 with the present Lord Cathcart at their head. The first 

 thrashing mill in Scotland was erected by the celebrated 

 Mr Meikle in 1787, at Kilbagie, in the parish of Clack- 

 mannan ; and this kind of machine is now to be found at 

 almost every farm within the county. Attention has 

 been paid in embanking considerable extents of land from 

 the Sowings of the sea, which have amply repaid the ad- 

 venture. Lime is much used for land all over the coun- 

 ty, though it costs very high, as the chief supply of it 

 is either brought from Lord Elgin's works in Fife, or 

 from the lime quarries in the vicinity of Dunbar. 



With respect to rivers, the Forth, which flows upon 

 the south side of the county, is navigable for ships of 500 

 tons as far up as Alloa ; sloops of 60 tons can navigate 

 to Stirling. The tides rise from 16 to 22 feet, and have 

 the phenomena of double tides. (See the article ALLOA.) 

 The banks and bed of this river are in general composed 

 of soft mud or sleetch, which is daily brought down with 

 the current, and gradually forms new ground. Opposite 

 the Throsk is a ford, which is dry at low water, compo- 

 ed of large blocks of stone, chiefly of the kind termed 

 greenstone. The mass of this species of rock nearest to 

 this place is Stirling castle rock, and Abbey Craig, dis- 

 tant about four miles, from whence these stones must 

 have originally come. Sand-stone rock appears at low 

 water a little above the harbour of Alloa. There are 

 salmon fishings on this river, but they are of very little 

 value. 



The river Devon takes its rise in the pariah of Black- 

 ford, in the county of Perth, on the north side of the 

 Ochill mountain*. It runs eastward about 12 miles 

 through the mountain glens, and then takes a sudden 

 turn to the westward, at a place named the Crook of 

 Devon, and keeps a western course till it falls into the 

 Forth at the village of Carr.bus, immediately opposite to 

 its source, which is only six miles distant in a north line. 

 Thii river, after leaving the mountain district, flows 

 through broken ground and rocks, which are chit fly of 

 greenstone. These are worn into deep dark chasms, 

 fearful to behold, and where the water is scarcely visible. 

 One of these chasms is named the Deil's (Devil') Mill, 

 from an uncommon sound produced by the water very 

 imilar to that of machinery. Below this is the Rumb- 

 ling Bridge, very narrow and without parapets, built 

 across a narrow dark chasm, 90 feet deep ; and further 

 down the river is the Cauldron Lynn, where the water 

 has scooped out the rock into the form of immense caul- 

 drons, where it boils and foams without ceasing, and shews 

 what strong effects even the attrition of water will pro- 

 duce. These objects are well worthy the attention of 

 the naturalist, or the traveller of taste. This river, after 

 dashing with impetuosity through rocky cliffs, at last 

 flows placidly, in beautiful meanderings, through the pic- 

 turesque and fertile valley of the Devon, till it joins the 

 Forth. It is rendered classic by our poet Burns, who 

 has styled it, TJie clear minding Devon. Through the 

 valley the river flows upon a bottom of gravel, the banks 

 being of a deep sandy loam, and towards the Forth they 

 are of a strong clay. The tide flows only about half a 

 mile up, where ships of small burden can enter. 



The Black Devon is the only other river in the coun- 

 ty. It rises among' t the Saline hills in the county of 

 Fife, passes north of the town of Clackmannan, and dis- 

 charges itself immediately south from Clackmannan tower 

 into the Forth. This river, from its source to iti mouth, 



voi* vj. PART n. 



passes over strata of the independent coal formation, Clackmam- 

 which is in many places exposed to view, and worthy the ^ ^ 

 attention of the mineralogist. The tide only flows about """Y~ 

 a mile up this river, to a place named Parkmill. 



The chief harbour and port in the county is Alloa, Harbonrf. 

 where there is excellent and safe accommodation for ves* 

 sels. It has a customhouse, with a full appointment of 

 officers ; and as a port, comprehends Kincardine in the 

 county of Perth, and Stirling, besides several intervening 

 creeks on both sides of the river. At present, (1813) 

 there are 10,000 tons of registered shipping belonging to 

 the port, which are daily increasing. See ALLOA. 



As to the minerals of the county, the rocks which Mineralc- 

 compose them belong to two classes only, viz. the Iran- gy. 

 sition, and the independent coal formation. The Ochill 

 mountains, which are on the north side of the county, 

 are bold on the southern aspect, deeply indented (not 

 rugged) in their horizontal line, with winding glens. 

 Bencleugh is the highest of the range, being 2450 feet 

 above the level of the sea, having a long flat summit or 

 ridge. Dun Myat, or the Hill of fair Prospect, is 1345 

 feet above the level of the sea, and commands a most ex- 

 tensive and delightful view. The rocks which compose 

 these mountains are of greenstone, flinty rock very splin- 

 try, basalt, amygdaloid, varieties of the trap class, petro- 

 silex, and very coarse breccia, which latter composes the 

 mass of rocks upon the western part of the mountains. 

 Veins of lime-stone are found intersecting the hill strata. - 

 Beautiful agates (Scotch pebbk-s) are frequently found 

 in the loose soil of the mountains ; and also varieties of 

 crystallized quartz, but of no value. Silver and copper 

 have been wrought to a considerable extent in the Ochilla. 

 Lead and iron ore (l)Eematites) have also been wrought 

 on a small scale. Cobalt was found abundantly along, 

 with the silver, and ores of arsenic have also been occa- 

 sionally found. These mining concerns have uniformly 

 proved unsuccessful, and are now wholly abandoned, with 

 considerable loss. In the veins, calcareous spar abound- 

 ed, and barytes was found in large masses. The lead 

 was wrought at Dollar, the silver and cobalt at Alva, 

 the iron ore at Tillycoultry, and the copper at Blair- Lo- 

 gic and Airthry. There was a salt spring in the Airth- 

 ry mines, but the kind of salt which impregnated the 

 water was never tried. There is every reason to con- 

 clude, that these mountains abound with metallic veins. 

 No mines or shafts have yet been driven under the level 

 of the plain adjoining them. 



The strata of the- coal field extends from the foot of Coalilrata. 

 the Ochills along the whole of the county, and are con- 

 nected with the great coal field of Scotland. The coals- 

 found in this county are abundant, excellent, and va- 

 luable. The prevailing dip of the strata is to the north- 

 east. The coal field is intersected with immense slips or 

 dislocations of the strata, which' have depressed the latter 

 in some instances above 200 yards, forming distinct new 

 fields of coal. Two main slips have been ascertained, 

 and these run somewhat in a parallel line with the Ochills. 

 Many diagonal slips have been discovered in working the 

 coal of considerable extent, and a great number of small 

 ones in every direction ; still, however, the Clackmannan- 

 shire coal field is reckoned a clear field in comparison 

 with other fields. Though the general dip of the coal 

 strata here is to the north east, each seam of coal has a 

 dip inwards from the wings or verges upon the line of 

 bearing, so that each field taken simply in the abstract 

 as a stratum of coal, is in its form the portion of a cup 

 or flat bason, a form very generally found in coal fields. 

 The CUckmannanshire coal strata keep the dip formerly 

 4 p 



