RENFREWSHIRE. 



333 



Renfrew- 

 (hire. 



Mnnnfac 

 turei. 



Commerce. 



eight different quarries ; but one of the most singular 

 masses of it occurs at the entrance of the romantic 

 V^y^/ g' en * GlenniflTer, three miles south of Paisley. A 

 mass of it, about ten feet thick, dips to the centre, 

 and is wrought by driving mines under a thick mass 

 of super- incumbent whin-stone. 



Ironstone. Iron-stone accompanies all the coal strata, occurring 

 in beds and balls; it is very common in the middle 

 division of the county ; but is particularly abundant on 

 the shores of the Clyde. 



Renfrewshire is one of the principal manufacturing 

 and commercial counties in Scotland ; but we have al- 

 ready given such a full account of its manufactures, 

 its trade and its commerce, in our articles GHF.ENOCK, 

 PAISLEY, and PORT GLASGOW, that we have little else 

 to communicate under the present head. It has been 

 calculated that in 1810 about L.300,000 was the capi- 

 tal employed in the buildings and machinery ; that 

 7000 looms were occupied in weaving muslin, beside 

 500 driven by steam, which manufactured cotton goods, 

 to the annual value of L.I 25, 000, and that the cotton 

 yarn sold amounted to L.630,000. 



The trade of Renfrewshire is greatly promoted by 

 the frith of Clyde, and by the Forth and Clyde canal, 

 which connects the county with many parts of Scot- 

 land. The canal projected from Glasgow to Ardros- 

 san has been carried past the town of Paisley and as 

 far as Johnstone, about 1 1 miles from Glasgow. As 

 the grain raised in Renfrewshire is not sufficient for 

 its consumption, a considerable quantity is imported 

 from Ireland and Canada. The valuation of Renfrew- 

 shire is L,.69,172, Is.; the real rent of land in 

 1795, was only L.67,000; but in 1811, it had 

 risen to L.I 2 7,068, and that of the houses to L.I 06,238. 

 About half of the valued rent belongs to entailed estates, 

 or those belonging to incorporations. 



The county of Renfrew sends one member to Par- 

 liament, who is elected by about 80 freeholders. Al- 

 though the head courts, and meetings of freeholders, 

 are still held at Renfrew, yet the sheriff court is held 

 at Paisley. 



Renfrewshire contains many objects of antiquity, 

 some of the most important of which are in Paisley, 

 and have been fully described in our account of that 

 town. In the parish of Kilbarchan, near Castlesemple, 

 there is a large mass of basalt, which is supposed to 

 have been an altar of the Druids. It is 12 feet high 

 and 67 feet in circumference, and has received the ap- 

 pellation of Clcchodrigstone, in Gaelic, Cloch-a-Drugh, 

 or Druid's stone. It seems to have been a portion of 

 the basaltic rock of the adjacent hills ; and there is an 

 elevated rock to the eastward on which there is a 

 farm house called Clocho-drig. The stone rests upon 

 a narrow base, and may have probably rolled from its 

 primitive situation. It is surrounded at a considerable 

 distance with several large grey stones, supposed to 

 have formed part of a Druidical circle. In the parish 

 of Cathcart is the old castle of Cathcart, near which 

 Queen Mary stood when she saw her kingdom lost 

 by the unfortunate issue of the battle of Langside. 

 On the summit of the eminence upon which the battle 

 was fought there is an entrenchment of an oval form, 

 called Queen Mary's camp, though it is more likely 

 to have been a Roman one. On the other side of this 

 range of hills there is another castle in ruins which 

 belonged to the ancestors of John Knox ; and in a 

 high rock not far from this is a huge artificial green 

 moat of a square form. It is 60 feet in length at the 

 base, 1 9 at the top, and 2 1 feet high. It commands 



Political 

 state. 



Antiqui- 

 ties. 



K. : n--f. 



the view of five other similar moats, and of a Roman JUnfrcw- 

 encampment near Paisley, at the distance of five mile*. fhl | e 

 There is a rude encampment on the top of Harhill. Jt 

 occupies the summit of a precipice contuting of a 

 perpendicular rock of a basaltic aspect which defend* 

 it on the north. It is said, without any good autho- 

 rity, to have been an encampment of William Wallace, 

 who was born at Elderslie in this county. Crook- 

 stone castle, a magnificent ruin, is beautifully situated 

 near the banks of the Cart, about 3 miles S. E. of Pait- 

 ley. It was a favourite residence of the powerful fa- 

 mily of Lennox, to whom it originally belonged. 

 Mearns castle is another ruin in the south-east part of 

 the county, near the village of Mearns. New-wark 

 castle has already been mentioned in our account of 

 Port Glasgow. Jn the parish of Kilmalcom are pre- 

 served the communion cups, of the purest silver, and 

 of an antique form, which John Knox used in dis- 

 pensing the Lord's Supper. 



The climate of this county, like that of all the west- Climate, 

 ern region of England and Scotland, is very rainy. 

 The quantity of rain which falls annually may be cal- 

 culated as varying from 25 to 35 inches. Although the 

 number of rainy days is much greater at Glasgow than 

 in Edinburgh, yet it does not appear that the quantity 

 of rain which falls at the former place is greater than 

 of that which falls at the latter. The average quantity 

 of rain at Glasgow from 1761 to 1790 was 29.65 inches ; 

 while the quantity at Largs in Ayrshire, on the west 

 coast, was 38|d. inches, in the year 1809 and 1812. 



The following is the state of the population of the TopuU- 

 county at different periods : tion. 



1754 

 1811 



Males. 



51,178 



1-Vmali.-:-. 



Inhabitants. 



26,641 



92,596 



112,175 



For farther information respecting this county, see 

 GREENOCK, PAISLEY, PORT-GLASGOW ; the Beauties of 

 Scotland, vol. iii. and Wilson's General Vien of the 

 Agriculture of Renfrewshire. 



RENI-GuiDO. See RHENI. 



RENNES, a city of France, and chief place of the 

 department of the I lie and the Vilaine, is situated on an 

 extended plain, at the junction of the llle and the Vi- 

 laine, by the last of which it is divided into two parts, 

 connected by bridges ; the one called the Lower Town, 

 built on the left bank, and the other called the Upper 

 Town. The Upper Town, which is built on an emi- 

 nence, is the principal part of the city. The streets 

 are, with few exceptions, straight, broad, and regular, 

 and the houses, which are six or seven stories Jiigh, 

 are well built, upon a uniform plan. The chief squares 

 are, the Palais de Justice, the Place d'Armes, the Place 

 de la Grande Cohue, and the Place de la Pompe. 



The most remarkable buildings are, the cathedral, 

 with its lofty tower ; the parliament-house, which is a 

 handsome structure ; the Hotel de, Ville, in the Place 

 d'Armes ; the arsenal, and the ci-devant college of the 

 Jesuits. Among the literary and scientific establish- 

 ments of this town may be enumerated a small univer- 

 sity, a society of arts and sciences, an academy, a school 

 of medicine, and an academy of design. 



By means of the Vilaine, which is navigable to its 

 embouchure, the town carries on a considerable trade 

 in cattle, timber, corn, hemp, flax, lead, wax, butter, 

 &c. Its principal manufactures are those of sailcloth, 

 hats, blankets, stockings, gloves, thread, &c. The 

 town of llennes is divided into four divisions, the po^ 



