C L A 



667 



C L A 



tlackman 

 nan s hi re. 



Machinery. 



Anticjui- 



Roads. 



Projected 

 improve- 



gine. About 60 tons of pig-iron is produced here weekly; 

 a small part of it is used by a foundry at the works, 

 but the greater part is sold to other founders. The ma- 

 nufacture of coarse woollen cloth, named serges, has for 

 a long period of years been carried on at Tillycoultry, 

 and still continues ; and there is a woollen manufactory 

 at Alloa on a small scale ; there is, besides, manufac- 

 tures at AUoa for common glass bottles, bricks, tyles, 

 ropes, sails, common pottery, and leather. There is a 

 bleachfield of considerable extent at Dollar, chiefly em- 

 ployed by the Dunfermline table damask manufactories, 

 and the distillation of the pyroligneous acid is carried on 

 in the parish of Clackmannan : the acid is sold to the 

 chemical works at Glasgow, and the charcoal to the 

 founders. This is an object to which more attention 

 might be paid in Scotland, where woods are cutting, pro- 

 vided there is a full demand for the acid. Ship-build- 

 ing is carried on at Alloa, where there is an excellent 

 graving dock for vessels of large burden. There are 

 many muslin weavers all over the county, but these are 

 all employed by Glasgow houses. 



There is much machinery in the county, driven by wa- 

 ter, steam, and horses ; it is generally constructed on 

 the most approved principles, and some of it very power- 

 ful. There is a steam engine at Sauchy, which lifts, from 

 the depth of 280 feet, a million gallons of water every 

 24 hours. 



Regarding antiquities, the towers of Clackmannan 

 and Alloa are upwards of 500 years old, and there is an 

 old baronial tower at Sauchy in a retired situation. 

 The abbey tower of Cambuskenneth, in the parish of 

 Logic, is also of considerable antiquity : In this abbey it 

 h said that several of the kings of Scotland are buried, 

 and in particular James III. These towers are of a rect- 

 angular form, and built with large square stones, the 

 masonry plain and substantial, the walls of Alloa tower 

 being eleven feet thick. Castle Campbell, in the parish 

 of Dollar, named also Castle Gloom, is a ruin of ancient 

 date; the time of its being built is not exactly known, 

 but it was in possession of the Argyle family in 

 146o ; it is most romantic, wild, and gloomy, as to situ- 

 ation ; is built on an insulated conical hill, above which 

 the surrounding hills rise to a great height immediately 

 adjoining excepting on the south. There is a singular 

 narrow cut made in the solid rock, from the south front 

 of the castle to the bottom of the glen, named Kemp's 

 Score ; it is aid to have been a stair for procuring water 

 for the castle. John Knox, the celebrated reformer, 

 preached in front of this castle ; and htre the sacrament 

 of the supper waft dispensed amongst the first times it 

 was dispensed in Scotland. Roman and_other ancient 

 coins have been found in this county, and also a few 

 very ancient weapons. 



With respect to eminent persons, native* of this 

 county, the names of Bruce, Erskine, and Abercromby 

 are conspicuous : they are enrolled in the page of history, 

 and in other parts of our work they have received the 

 tribute which is due to their memory. 



The county roads are excellent, and in every direction, 

 which have tended much to improve the country. An 

 improved ca.t-iron rail-way is laid from the Alloa colliery 

 to the harbour, where a horse brings down eight tons of 

 coals, and returns with the empty waggons, so that one 

 man and one horse do as much work in one day, as 27 

 horses and 27 men did in the same time 60 years ago. 

 There is a good ferry at Alloa to the opposite side of 

 the river; and three packets sail regularly betwixt Alloa 

 and Leith. Amongst the projected improvements in this 

 district, a survey was made by Mr Keunie, the celebrated 



Clairaut. 



engineer, in order to ascertain the expence of throwing a ClacVraaB- 

 bridge across the Forth at the Alloa ferry. He pronoun- naushire 

 ced the work practicable, and gave a handsome design for 

 an iron bridge, the estimate for which was 150,000. This 

 bridge would be of great benefit, but the expence is such 

 as to prevent the plan from being executed at present. 

 Another evident improvement which has been projected, 

 is a canal from Alloa through the Carse of Stirling. This 

 would be of the greatest benefit, as by its means lime and 

 coal could be carried with ease into a country in great want 

 of these articles. Grain, slates, &c. would be returned ; 

 as the ground through which the canal would pass is 

 flat, and composed of clay, the expence would be very 

 moderate. A project was brought forward many years 

 ago, by the commissioners for the improvement of Scot- 

 land, to render the Devon navigable ; a plan and estimate 

 was made, but no steps were taken to carry the scheme 

 into effect. A branch from the before- mentioned pro- 

 jected canal would be more suitable for trade, on account 

 of the heavy floods which occasionally happen in the De- 

 von. 



There are several artificial collections of water in the 

 county for the purpose of driving machinery, the largest 

 of which is Gartmorn Dam, made about 100 years ag 

 by John, Earl of Mar: it covers 120 Scotch acres of 

 land ; the supply of water is brought from the Black 

 Devon by an aqueduct some miles in length ; an engineer 

 from Wales was brought by the Earl to give his advice 

 regarding this work, and for improving the hydraulic 

 engines, by which all collieries, not level free, were then 

 drained. 



All kinds of timber grow well in the county, and there 

 are many trees of very large size. The plantations are 

 increasing every year, and are very thriving. 



There are no poors rates in the county, the poor be- 

 ing supported by collections at the church doors and 

 voluntary contributions. A gentleman of the name of 

 M'Nab some years ago bequeathed, by his will, a large 

 sum for the education of the poor of the parish of Dollar, 

 which sum is now accumulated to above JL. 40,000 : it is 

 not easy to conceive how so large a sum is to be applied 

 in strict conformity to the destination of it. 



The exports are chiefly coals, spirits, pig-iron, bottles, 

 bricki*, tyles, and ales. The imports are chiefly grain, 

 sugars, timber, lime-stone, malleable iron, and groceries. 



The valued rent of the county, according to the ces* 

 books, is L.26,482: 10 : 10, Scotch money. The po- 

 pulation in 1811 was 1 1 ,7 1 9 s.uil -. (R. u. ) 



CLADIUM, a genus of plants of the class Trian- 

 dria and order Monogynia. See BOTANY, p. 113. 



CLAIRAUT, ALEXIS CLAUDE, a celebrated French 

 mathematician and natural philosopher, was born at Paris 

 on the 13th of May 1713. His father, Jean Baptiste 

 Clairaut, who was a teacher of mathematics at Paris, and 

 member of the Royal Academy of Sciences at Berlin, 

 had no fewer than 21 children. Our author was the se- 

 cond child, and the third was carried off by a premature 

 death at the age of 16, after he had published an able 

 work on the quadrature of the circle, and the hyperbola. 



Young Clairaut wai taught the alphabet upon the ft. 

 gures of Euclid's Elements, and such was the rapidity 

 of his progress, that, at the age of 4 years, he was able 

 both to write and read. He was instructed in the prin- 

 ciples of arithmetic by the most simple and ingenious 

 methods ; and a love of the military profession, which he 

 early displayed, was employed by his father as a power- 

 ful stimulus to the study of mathematics, and other 

 branches of knowledge, which were represented as neces- 

 sary accomplishments in a young soldier. 



