460 



GLASGOW. (HISTORY.) 



into the city, whither they were pursued by the mob. 

 An additional force to quell the rioters became 

 therefore necessary; and this having been obtained 

 by the arrival of a detachment of the 3 l Jth regiment, 

 the magistrates again proceeded to the scene of 

 disorder. They fell in with the mob near the Park- 

 li'itise, on the cast side of the city, betwixt which 

 place and the Drygate, a very serious conflict en- 

 Mii-d. No sooner liad the magistrates and military 

 ui-rived, than the populace attacked them furiously 

 with stones, brick-bats, and other missile weapons, 

 whereby their lives were endangered, and many 

 amongst them much hurt. To defend themselves, 

 they were at last under the necessity, after reading 

 the riot act, of ordering the military to fire, by which 

 three persons %ere kflled outright, three mortally, 

 and the same number slightly wounded. 



On the following day, a mob assembled in the 

 Calton, to the amount of several thousands. There, 

 as formerly, they wreaked their vengeance upon their 

 peaceable brethren, by cutting their webs from the 

 looms and burning them. Intelligence having reached 

 the sheriff, he immediately, with a party of soldiers, 

 proceeded to the spot, in order to quell the disturb- 

 ance. The mob, aware of the fatal effects of oppo- 

 sition on the preceding day, no sooner got a glimpse 

 of the military, than they quickly retired and sepa- 

 rated. 



From this riot forward to the year 1790, nothing 

 remarkable occurs that has a connexion with the 

 city. In that year the Forth and Clyde canal was 

 finished, and on the 29th day of July the communica- 

 tion was opened between the friths of Forth and 

 Clyde. 



In 1791 and 1792, the Infirmary, Trades' Hall, 

 and Surgeons' Hall were erected. At the same time 

 also Stirling's Library was instituted. 



In 1793, the peace of the city was again threat- 

 ened by another riot, proceeding, however, from a 

 different cause from that which occasioned the former 

 ones. In the beginning of December, a deserter 

 having escaped from the guard-house, through the 

 negligence of the sentinel, a court martial adjudged 

 the latter to be punished for breach of duty. His 

 fellow-soldiers were, however, determined to hinder 

 the sentence from being put into execution, and for 

 several days from this resolution the punishment did 

 not take place. As this combination was contrary 

 to all order, and as it might liave been productive of 

 the worst effects, the troops of the neighbourhood 

 were called into the city to assist in quelling the in- 

 surgents. Before their arrival, however, the ring- 

 leaders surrendered themselves to the earl of Bread- 

 albane, colonel of the regiment. No sooner had this 

 taken place, than they were ordered to march for 

 Edinburgh, under a strong guard, there to take their 

 trial. The honourable major Leslie and an officer 

 of the Breadalbane regiment, having accompanied 

 the party a short way on their march, were, upon 

 their return to town, attacked by a mob, who, after 

 upbraiding them for sending off the mutineers to be 

 j unished, assaulted them with stones and other missile 

 weapons, whereby major Leslie was wounded, and 

 lie and the other officer obliged to take shelter by 

 retreating into a neighbouring house. Parties of 

 dragoons having come to town in the evening, no 

 further disturbance upon this occasion took place, and 

 tranquillity was again restored. 



On the 18th of November, 1795, the Clyde again 

 rose to a great height, and inundated the lower parts 

 of the city nearly as much as it had done in that 

 memorable flood on the 12th of March, 1782. The 

 swelling of the river was occasioned by a severe 

 storm of wind, rain, and snow, which commenced 

 upun Tuesday the 17th, and continued till the follow- 



ing Wednesday in the afternoon. About the middle 

 of that day, the current was so strong as to shake the 

 piers of the newly erected bridge, opposite the foot 

 of the Saltmarket street, and in consequence, two of 

 the arches immediately gave way, and with a tre- 

 mendous crash fell into the river. The COHCUSMOJI 

 of the water, occasioned by this, was great ; the 

 doors of the washing-house, though situated at a 

 considerable distance, were burst open, and a great 

 quantity of clothes and utensils carried off by the 

 stream. In the afternoon, the three remaining arches 

 of the bridge shared the same fate with the others ; 

 and thus, within a few hours, that edifice, which had 

 been nearly a year and a half in erecting, was com- 

 pletely destroyed. At this time, the Bridgegate, the 

 lower parts of the Saltmarket, StockweTl, Jamaica 

 street, and the Gorbals were all under water to the 

 depth of several feet, while boats were plying up and 

 down these streets, administering relief to such as 

 were in danger. On Friday morning, the river was 

 again confined to its ordinary channel, and till Satur- 

 , day, hopes were entertained that the violence of the 

 storm was over ; however, on that day it began to 

 snow and rain afresh, and with such violence, that 

 the Clyde quickly rose, and twice, in the compass of 

 one week, overflowed the lower part of the city. 

 On Sunday the waters appeared to be retiring, and 

 by Monday afternoon the inundation was completely 

 over. 



In 1797, the corps of Royal Glasgow Volunteers, 

 which had been raised in 1794, was augmented to 

 ten companies ; a second battalion was also unani- 

 mously voted by the citizens, and accepted of by his 

 majesty, to the amount of five hundred men, com- 

 manded by officers recommended by the lord-lieuten- 

 ant of the county ; a third regiment, or armed asso- 

 ciation, composed principally of gentlemen of the 

 city more advanced in years than those who composed 

 the first regiment, was also embodied ; and to add 

 still more to the security of the city, a troop of volun- 

 teer cavalry, composed of the citizens, was raised. 

 All these local forces were raised for the public 

 security, which was supposed to be endangered by 

 the spread of revolutionary principles and the pro- 

 ceedings of the French republic. With the same 

 view, the citizens collected by voluntary subscription 

 .13,938, which they transmitted to government for 

 carrying on the war. The volunteer system gave 

 place in 1808 to the local militia. 



In 1799-1800, from a general failure of the crop 

 throughout the kingdom, every article of provision 

 sold at an exorbitant price, some nearly three times 

 their accustomed rate. To alleviate the evil as much 

 as possible, the magistrates and town council of 

 Glasgow set on foot a subscription in each of these 

 years, for the purpose of bringing in grain to supply 

 the inhabitants, to be sold at a rate somewhat reduced 

 from the ordinary price of the country around. By 

 these subscriptions a sum was raised, on the credit of 

 which the managing committee speedily purchased 

 a supply to the value of no less than l 17,000 ster- 

 ling, from Galloway, Ayrshire, and America, and 

 this contributed, in a considerable degree, towards 

 the relief of the poorer class of inhabitants. 



In September 1800, a system of police was estab- 

 lished in the city which has since been productive 

 of the best effects, in securing the peace of the 

 city, and the comfort and convenience of its inhabi- 

 tants. 



In 1803, Hutchesons' Hospital was rebuilt; in 

 1804, the Queen Street Theatre and the Hunterian 

 Museum; and, in 1806, Nelson's monument. The 

 top of the. monument was completely shattered on 

 the 5th of August, 1810, during a violent thunder- 

 storm. 



