E EN 



332 



KEN 



Renfrew, 

 .Renfrew- 

 shire. 



have approached nearer than any other to the delica- 

 cy of his finished works. 



The pictures of Rembrandt are in great request, and 

 "" always bring high prices. He died in the year 1 766, 

 in the 68th year of his age. See our article PAINTING, 

 Vol. XVI, p. 257. 



RENFREW, a royal burgh of Scotland, and prin- 

 cipal place of the county of the same name, is agree- 

 ably situated near the mouth of the river Cart, and 

 near the north bank of the Frith of Clyde. The town 

 consists of one principal street, about half a mile long, 

 with several smaller ones diverging from it. The 

 houses, which are built of stone, are extremely irregu- 

 lar in size, form, and position. The chief public build- 

 ings are the church, the town-hall, and the grammar 

 school. A small thread manufactory, and some soap 

 and candle works on a limited scale, are the chief ob- 

 jects of industry. About 200 looms are employed for 

 the manufacturers of muslin in Paisley. Above 200 

 years ago the Clyde flowed close to the town, but it 

 quitted its bed ; and a canal, by which vessels of 200 

 tons can reach the town in spring tides, has been form- 

 ed in the old course of the river. The town is govern- 

 ed by a provost, two bailies, and sixteen counsellors. 

 The revenue of the town is about 800 per annum, 

 arising from the rent of lands, customs, a salmon fish- 

 ery, and the profits of a public ferry over the river. 

 Renfrew unites with Glasgow, Dumbarton, and Ru- 

 therglen, in sending a member to parliament. Ren- 

 frew was incorporated by a royal charter granted by 

 Robert II. who had a palace in the vicinity. Popula- 

 tion about 1600. 



Boundaries RENFREWSHIRE, the name of a county in the 

 and extent, south west of Scotland, is bounded on the east by the 

 county of Lanark, on the south by the county of Ayr, 

 and on all other sides by the Frith of Clyde, excepting 

 a small portion of about 1200 acres, which lies on the 

 north side of the Frith, opposite to the town of Ren- 

 frew. It is about 31^ miles long from south-east to 

 north-west, about 25 miles long from east to west, and 

 its breadth varies from 9 to nearly 14? miles. Its su- 

 perficial extent is about 232| square miles English, 

 117,967 Scotch acres, or 148,79* English acres. It 

 comprehends 21 parishes, 19 of which compose the 

 presbytery of Paisley, and the other two belong to 

 Glasgow presbytery. 



General Considerably more than one-half of this county, 



aspect. comprehending the west and south-east portion, is 

 hilly and devoted to pasture. The cultivated part oc- 

 cupies the north, the north-east, and the centre of the 

 county, and consists partly of low detached hills, and 

 partly of a level tract of rich loam between Paisley and 

 the river Clyde. The hilly part of the county varies 

 in elevation from 500 to 600 feet. Misty Law, the 

 highest hill in the county, is about 12*0 feet high. 

 The hills of Balagich and Dunware, in Eaglesham par 

 rish, are about 1000 feet above the sea, and the in- 

 sulated hill called the Craig of Neilston, which is cover- 

 ed with fine grass to its very top, is about 820 feet 

 high. 



Soil and The soil of Renfrewshire is very various. In those 

 agriculture, parts of the high grounds which are not covered with 

 heath or moss, a free light soil on a gravelly bottom is 

 most common. In the part formed of detached hills, 

 the soil is a thin earth on a gravelly or till bottorn, 

 and in the level district it is a deep rich dark brown 

 learn. 



Owing to the great demand in this county for the Renfrew- 

 products of the dairy, the garden, and the fold, arising shiie - 

 from the vicinity of large and populous towns, nearly S --"'V~^ 

 two thirds of the arable land in the county is kept in 

 grass, and hence Renfewshire enjoys no celebrity as an 

 agricultural district. In Eastwood parish, and the Ab- 

 bey parish of Paisley, where small rising hills prevail, 

 the farmers keep half of the ground in grass. In 

 the parish of Mearn they make large quantities of 

 butter from cows of the Ayrshire breed, twelve of 

 which give daily in the summer months about sixty 

 English gallons of milk. In Kilmalcolm parish, where 

 the rotation of crop is three years of oats and six years 

 of pasturage, the enclosures are generally of stone, and 

 four feet high. 



The size of farms of arable land varies generally from Size of 

 70 to 110 acres. The average rent in 1S11 has been farms, 

 stated at 17s., varying from #s. to 5. The leases are 

 commonly of 19 years endurance. 



The principal streams in Renfrewshire are the White Rivers. 

 Cart, the Black Cart, the Gryfe, and the Levern, all 

 of which unite their waters, and fall into the Clyde be- 

 low Inchinan bridge. The White Cart rises in the- 

 moors of east Kilbride in Lanarkshire, and after enter- 

 ing Renfrewshire from the south, flows in a direction 

 from south-east to north-west, passing the town of 

 Paisley, and flowing to the north till it receives the 

 united streams of the Black Cart and the Gryfe. By 

 the help of a short cut a little above Inchinan, it has 

 been rendered navigable for small vessels from Paisley 

 to the Clyde. The Black Cart takes its rise in the 

 Loch of Castle Semple in Loch Winnoch parish, and 

 descending northward from this beautiful lake, it meets 

 the Gryfe at Walkinshaw, about two miles above the 

 confluence of their united streams with the White Cart. 

 The Gryfe rises in the high ground above Largs, and 

 flows eastward till it meets the Black Cart. 



The principal lakes in Renfrewshire are that of Cas- Lakes, 

 tie Semple, already mentioned, which is upon the 

 southern boundary of the county, and has an area of 

 about 200 acres, and Queenside Loch, in the parish of 

 Lochwinnoch, beside two lochs in Neilston parish, and 

 several smaller ones of no interest. 



The minerals of Renfrewshire are of very consider- Minerals, 

 able value. Coal, limestone, and freestone abound in 

 various part of the county. There are no fewer than 

 twelve coal works in actual operation. The most ex- 

 tensive of these are at Quarreltown, near the centre of 

 the county, Polmadie on its north-east boundary, and 

 at Hurlet and Househill to the south-east of Paisley. 

 The coal field at Quarreltown is of a very extraordi- 

 nary structure. It is upwards of 50 feet thick, and 

 consists of five different strata. From its great depth, 

 it is wrought in different floors, in the manner prac- 

 tised in great open quarries. At one part of the field 

 the coal has a hitch of fifty feet, and, at another, 

 one of thirty. Some years ago the coal took fire, the 

 pillars gave way, and the ground sunk, leaving the 

 surface in a very rugged condition, but these evils have 

 since been completely remedied. The Hurlet coal, 

 which belongs to Lord Glasgow, is five feet three inches 

 thick, and is said to have been wrought for nearly two 

 centuries. 



The coal mines of Hurlet afford materials for a small Coalmines, 

 manufactory of sulphate of iron, and the most exten- 

 sive alum manufactory in Great Britain is carried on 

 at the same place. * Limestone is wrought at about 



See our Article ALUM, Vol. I. p. 591. 



