GLASGOW. (DESCRIPTION.) 



463 



scon recovered the shock of the change, and con- 

 tinued to extend itself from the cathedral towards 

 the banks of the river. The destructive fires of 

 1652 and 1677, by which whole ranges of streets were 

 laid waste, were ultimately advantageous to the ap- 

 pearance of the town, for the houses, which had 

 lutherto been chiefly built of wood, were now built 

 of stone, and opportunity was now furnished for 

 planning the streets after a regular form. 



So early as 1658, we find that Glasgow had be- 

 come nott d for the beauty of its buildings, the regu- 

 larity and cleanness of its streets, and the excellency 

 of its gardens and orchards. In the " Perfect Poli- 

 tician," published in the alx>ve year, it is thus de- 

 scribed : " Glasgow, a city of a pleasant site, upon a 

 river navigable for small boats, which usually bring 

 up provisions from Patrick's town (Kilpatrick), ten 

 miles thence, where ships of good burthen may ride. 

 In Glasgow, the streets and houses are more neat 

 and clean than those of Edinburgh ; it being also one 

 of the chiefest universities in Scotland." A still more 

 flattering description of the town is given by Franck, 

 an English tourist, who wrote his " Northern Me- 

 moirs " in the same year as the above (1658.) The 

 testimony of this Englishman may be the more readily 

 believed, as he is otherwise severe on Scotland. 

 "Now, let us descend to describe," he exclaims, 

 " the splendour and gaity of this city of Glasgow, 

 which surpassed! most, if not all the corporations in 

 Scotland. Here it is you may observe four large fair 

 streets, modelled, as it were, into a specious quad- 

 rant ; in the centre whereof their market place is 

 fixed ; near unto which stands a stately tolbooth, a 

 very sumptuous, regulated, uniform fabric, large and 

 lofty, most industriously and artificially carved from 

 the very foundation to the superstructure, to the 

 great admiration of strangers and travellers. But 

 this state-house or tolbooth is their western prodigy, 

 infinitely excelling the model and usual build of 

 town-halls ; and is, without exception, the paragon 

 of beauty in the west, whose compeer is nowhere to 

 be found in the north, should you rally the rarities of 

 all the corporations in Scotland." Again : " What 

 to think, or what to say, of this eminent Glasgow, I 

 know not, except to fancy a smell of my native coun- 

 try. The very prospect of this flourishing city re- 

 minds me of the beautiful fabrics and the florid fields 

 of England, so that now I begin to expect a pleasant 

 journey. Pray, tell me, how many such cities shall 

 we meet with in our travels, where the streets and 

 the channels are so cleanly swept, and the meat in 

 every house so artificially dressed ? The linen, I 

 also observed, was very neatly lapped up, and to 

 their praise be it spoke, was lavender proof ; besides, 

 the people were decently dressed, and such an exact 

 decorum in every society, represents it, to my appre- 

 hension, an emblem of England, though, in some 

 measure, under a deeper die. However, I'll super- 

 scribe it the Nonsuch of Scotland, where an English 

 florist may pick up a posie." " The panegyric which 

 che author pronounces upon Glasgow," says Sir 

 Walter Scott, " gives us a higher idea of the pros- 

 oerity of Scotland's western capital, during the 

 middle of the seventeenth century, than the reader 

 perhaps might have anticipated. Commerce had 

 already brought wealth to Glasgow, and with wealth 

 seems to have arisen an attention to the decencies 

 and conveniences of life, unknown as yet in other 

 parts of Scotland." 



In 1689, Glasgow is thus spoken of by Morer, in his 

 Short Account of Scotland: "Glasgow is a place of 

 great extent and good situation, and has the reputa- 

 tion of the finest town in Scotland, not excepting Edin- 

 burgh, though the royal city. The two main streets 

 are made cross-wise, well paved, and bounded with 



stately buildings, especially about the centre, where 

 they are mostly new, with piazzas under them." In 

 1725, Burt, an English traveller, in his Letters from the 

 North, thus writes : " Glasgow is, to outward appear- 

 ance, the prettiest and most uniform town that I ever 

 saw; and I believe there is nothing like it in Britain." 

 A more celebrated authority than any of the above, 

 Defoe, the author of ' Robinson Crusoe,' hi his Tour 

 in Scotland, first published in 1727, thus speaks of 

 Glasgow: "Glasgow is the emporium of the west 

 of Scotland, being, for its commerce and riches, the 

 second in the northern part of Great Britain. It is 

 a large, stately, and well-built city, standing on a 

 plain, in a manner four square ; and the four princi- 

 pal streets are the fairest for breadth and the finest 

 built that I have ever seen in any one city together. 

 The houses are all of stone, and generally uniform in 

 height, as well as in front. The lower stories, for 

 the most part, stand on vast square Doric columns, 

 with arches, which open into the shops, adding to the 

 strength, as well as beauty, of the building. In a 

 word, 'tis one of the cleanliest, most beautiful, and 

 best built cities in Great Britain." 



These descriptions of Glasgow are all by strangers 

 and Englishmen. We shall now quote the opinion 

 of a countryman, Dr Smollett,* who received most 

 of his education here. " The chief place of Lanark- 

 shire," he says, " and indeed, the great emporium of 

 the west of Scotland, is the large, elegant, and 

 flourishing city of Glasgow, containing near thirty 

 thousand inhabitants. It is pleasantly situated about 

 thirty (Scots) miles from Edinburgh, on the descent of 

 a gentle eminence, and the adjacent plain, extending 

 to the banks of the river Clyde, over which there is 

 a stately stone bridge of seven arches. The greater 

 part of this fine city is laid out in a regular plan, the 

 streets crossing each other at right angles. The 

 houses are in general lofty, built of hewn stone, and 

 near the cross or market-place, supported upon 

 arched pillars, which form a commodious piazza 

 before the shops, and give an air of nobleness to the 

 buildings. The streets are well paved, clean, 

 straight, and spacious ; in a word, Glasgow is the 

 most beautiful town of Great Britain, adorned with 

 a great number of public edifices, such as the cathe- 

 dral, and five or six other elegant churches, the tol- 

 booth, town hall, and several hospitals, whose lofty 

 turrets and spires yield a magnificent prospect at 

 a distance."f 



Those who may have been accustomed to consider 

 Glasgow as only a place of yesterday, which has 

 merely risen to distinction through the means of the 

 steam-engine and spinning jenny, will possibly be 

 surprised at the panegyrical manner in which it is 

 spoken of by the writers whom we have just quoted. 

 But a little reflection will convince us, that Glasgow, 

 a hundred years ago, must, in reality, have been a very 

 fine city indeed, more beautiful and attractive, per- 

 haps, to the eye of the traveller, than it is at present. 

 In 1736, its population amounted only to about 

 15,000; yet, how many public buildings of an impres- 

 sive or elegant character were then contained within 

 this small town I It could then boast of its cathe- 

 dral, the most ancient and stately edifice in Scotland; 

 of its antique and venerable college halls with their 



* The real name of Smollett's Peter Potion, in Roderick 

 Random, was Dr Peter Patoun, who lived in a house which 

 is at present No. 40 in the High Street. Dr Smollett 

 lodged there while at College. 



t See " The Present State of all Nations, by T. Smollett. 

 M.D." London, 1768, 8vo. Only two volumes of tliis work 

 were printed, and these embrace Great Britain and Ire- 

 land. See also the novel of " Humphrey Clinker," in which 

 Matthew Bramble is made to give a flattering account of 

 Glasgow. 



