GLASGOW. (HISTORY.) 



459 



lions for this purpose were accordingly set on foot in 

 the city, and a sum was raised in a few days to the 

 amount of nine thousand six hundred pounds, which, 

 aided by the general zeal then manifested in support 

 of government, completed this corps in the course ot 

 the ensuing summer. The regiment was afterwards 

 called the 83d or Glasgow regiment. At the same 

 time, the merchants ot the city fitted out in the Clyde 

 fourteen privateers, mounting from twelve to twenty- 

 two guns, and carrying in whole about one thousand 

 men. These were in the course of the war of very 

 considerable service, by driving the privateers of the 

 enemy from the coast, and protecting the trade of the 

 country. 



Shortly thereafter, a numerous body of the citizens 

 of Glasgow were cast into a ferment, by a bill hav- 

 ing been moved for, to be brought into parliament 

 for the repeal of the penal statutes against the Ro- 

 man catholics. In this city alone, eighty-five differ- 

 ent societies, consisting of upwards of twelve thou- 

 sand pereons, were formed with a view of opposing 

 the bill by petition : these again corresponded with 

 others in the country, whose business was to form 

 new associations, and thus in a short time the greater 

 part of Scotland inveighed against the measure, 

 which was at the time prudently dropt. The minds 

 of the uneducated on this occasion, were so inflamed 

 against the Catholics, who were represented as con- 

 spiring against their liberties, that outrages against 

 the property and effects of persons of that persua- 

 sion, were the unavoidable consequence. In 1779, 

 a mob having collected on Sunday, during the time 

 of divine service, they proceeded to a popish chapel 

 in the High street, and after forcing their way into 

 the house, they dismissed the congregation, by pelt- 

 ing them with stones, while they destroyed a number 

 of pictures representing the different saints, hung 

 round the altar. The magistrates having arrived 

 after service with a party, the mob dispersed, and no 

 further outrage took place at the time. On the 

 evening of the 10th of February thereafter, the popu- 

 lace again assembled around the shop of a potter in 

 King street, of the Roman Catholic persuasion, which 

 they effectually gutted, but on the arrival of the 

 magistrates with a party of the military, the mob 

 there seemingly dispersed. They, however, went 

 immediately to the potter's dwelling-house, at the 

 east end of the town, and set it on fire, so that it 

 was, with the furniture, entirely consumed, before 

 any means could be used to extinguish it. So true 

 were the actors in this riot to each other, that not- 

 withstanding the magistrates next day, by proclama- 

 tion, offered a reward of one hundred guineas for the 

 apprehension of any one of the ringleaders, they all 

 resisted the temptation, and none were ever secured. 

 Bagnal, the proprietor of the shop and dwelling- 

 house, thereafter commenced an action for damages 

 against the city, and recovered to the amount of his 

 loss. 



Another riot occurred about the same time, on 

 account of a bill being introduced into parliament 

 for repealing the duty on French cambrics, such a 

 bill threatening to reduce the wages of the weavers 

 here. Peace was restored, however, by the ministry 

 withdrawing the bill, before it had gone through the 

 customary stages. 



During the spring of 1782, there happened a re- 

 markable inundation of the Clyde. This took place 

 on Tuesday the 12th of March, and, for its magnitude, 

 was unequalled in the annals of the city. For some 

 few days before, there had been an almost uninterrupt- 

 ed fall of snow and rain, but more particularly heavy 

 in that part of the country where the Clyde takes its 

 rise, than about the city of Glasgow. The river, 

 however, till the Monday preceding the inundation, 



did not seem to carry any very threatening appear- 

 ance, otherwise than what it shows in bad or stormy 

 weather. But, on the afternoon of that day, it began 

 suddenly to swell, and before ten in the evening, the 

 waters had extended over the Green, stopped the 

 communication with the country by the bridges, and 

 laid the Bridgegate in flood to the depth of some 

 feet. As the inhabitants of that street had been fre- 

 quently used to inundations of the river, they quietly 

 allowed themselves to be surrounded by the water, 

 thinking that during the night it would subside as 

 usual, and in this opinion, many of them went to bed. 

 Instead of decreasing, the flood increased, and the 

 fears of the suffering inhabitants were at last seriously 

 roused, when they perceived the waters getting 

 higher than they had ever witnessedfchem, by flood- 

 ing their ground apartments several feet deep, ex- 

 tinguishing their fires, and at last entering those very 

 beds, where, a few hours before, many had lain down 

 to rest. To fly at this time from the presence of 

 the calamity was impossible, as the water in the 

 street, from its depth and current, would have frus- 

 trated the attempt, by at once sacrificing those lives 

 which in another situation it so dreadfully threatened. 

 Nothing was now to be heard, but the cries of 

 despair, and the most pitiful exclamations for help, 

 uttered by the old as well as the young. Day at 

 length approached, and hoped-for relief was at hand, 

 from the exertions of their fellow-citizens. By seven 

 o'clock in the morning of Tuesday, the flood began 

 to abate, to the infinite satisfaction of the sufferers, 

 as well as the other inhabitants, who had it now in 

 their power to administer that relief which before 

 was impracticable. Boats were accordingly sent up 

 and down the streets, loaded with provisions, to fur- 

 nish such as stood in need, and for the purpose of 

 bringing off others, whose fears cautioned them 

 against staying longer in their houses. 



Independently of this scene of misery, which press- 

 ed so hard upon the inhabitants of this particular 

 quarter, the river, when viewed from another point, 

 exhibited a most terrific and threatening appear- 

 ance, for not only was the whole of the Bridgegate 

 overflowed, but also the lower part of the Saltmarket 

 Stockwell, and Jamaica streets, as well as the village 

 of Gorbals, which appeared as an island in the midst 

 of an estuary The Clyde, after having attained 

 fully the height of twenty feet above its ordinary 

 level, began to fall, and by Wednesday immediately 

 following it was again confined to its ordinary chan- 

 nel. The damage sustained by this unprecedented 

 inundation was very great, from the quantities of to- 

 bacco, sugar, and other merchandise, that were either 

 carried away, or destroyed by the stream. 



In 1783, the unlucky contest with America having 

 terminated, new exertions were made by the citizens 

 to extend their commerce and manufactures : and 

 with a view to the general interest, a society of 

 merchants united themselves under the name of the 

 Chamber of Commerce and Manufactures, whose 

 sole aim, as a body, was to employ their influence 

 and funds for the benefit and protection of the trade 

 of the city. 



In 1787, the peace of the city was disturbed by a 

 tumultuous mob, raised with the view of increasing 

 the wages of the journeymen weavers. Webs were 

 cut from the looms of such as agreed to work at the 

 former rate ; warehouses were rifled, and bonfires 

 kindled with their contents. To suppress these 

 outrages, the magistrates, after having received in- 

 formation that a mob was assembled in the Calton, 

 proceeded, attended by the peace officers, to that 

 quarter, in order to disperse them, and secure the 

 ringleaders. They were no sooner arrived, than they 

 were attacked by the pouulace, and forced to retreat 



