RENFREWSHIRE REPNIN. 



843 



who held them till the abolition of heritable juris- 

 dictions, in 1748, when Alexander, earl of Eglin- 

 ton, was allowed .5000 as a compensation for their 

 extinction. 



The county of Renfrew is considerably elevated 

 above the level of the sea, yet it is rather charac- 

 terized by slight irregulariiies of surface than as 

 being of a hilly nature. Its most elevated parts 

 are in the south-west and south-east extremities. 

 Misty- law, in the parish of Lochwinnoch, is the 

 highest hill on the south-west ; and Ballageich and 

 Dunvvan, in the parish of Eaglesham, are the high- 

 est hills on the south-east side of the county : the 

 first is about 1240 feet high; the others about 1000 

 feet. Stanley- braes, in the parish of Paisley, are 

 about (J80 feet, and Neilston-pad about 820 feet 

 high. The soil of the county is various. The most 

 prevalent is a free light earth on a dry bottom, of 

 gravel or whinstone. In the level districts, it is a 

 deep rich dark brown loam. Nearly two-thirds 

 of the arable land of the county is kept in grass, 

 owing to the great demand for the products of the 

 dairy, the garden, and the fold, arising from the 

 vicinity of Glasgow, Paisley, and other populous 

 towns. The climate, like that of all the western 

 region of England and Scotland, is moist but 

 healthy. The chief streams in the shire are the 

 White Cart, the Black Cart, the Gryfe, and the 

 Levern, all of which unite their waters, and fall 

 into the Clyde below Inchinnan bridge. The 

 White Cart rises in the moors of East Kilbride, in 

 Lanarkshire, and, after entering Renfrewshire from 

 the south, passes the town of Paisley, and flows to 

 the north, till it receives tne united streams of 

 the Black Cart and the Gryfe. The Black Cart 

 takes its rise in the loch of castle Semple in Loch- 

 winnoch parish, and descending northward, 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 Levern rises in the 

 parish of Neilston, and, after a north-easterly 

 course of six or seven miles, falls into the White 

 Cart, a short way above Crookston Castle. 



Coal, limestone, and freestone abound in various 

 parts of the county. The most extensive coal- 

 works 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 Pais- 

 ley. The coal-mines of Hurlet afford materials for 

 a small manufactory of sulphate of iron, and the 

 most extensive alum manufactory in Great Britain 

 is carried on at the same place. Ironstone accom- 

 panies all the coal strata, and limestone is wrought 

 in various parts of the county. 



Renfrewshire, in connection with the county of 

 Lanark, constitutes the great manufacturing dis- 

 trict of Scotland. Its manufactures are chiefly 

 cotton and silk goods, of which the head quarters 

 is Paisley, while the business of weaving is carried 

 on to a greater or less extent in every surrounding 

 town and village. See the several articles Paisley, 

 Greenock, Port- Glasgow, and JoAnstone, for details 

 regarding the manufactures and commerce of the 

 county. 



The shire is divided into twenty -one parishes. 

 It contains only one royal burgh, namely, Renfrew, 

 the county town ; several large towns, as Paisley, 

 Greenock, and Port Glasgow ; and a number of 

 villages, of which the largest are, Johnstone, Gou- 

 rock, Eaglesham, Kilbarchan, Lochwinnoch, and 

 Pollokshavvs. Population of the county in 1801, 

 79.801; in 1811, 92,769; in 1821, 112,175; in 

 18J, 133.443; in 1841, 155,072. See Crawford's 



History of Renfrewshire, and Mr Wilson of the 

 H urlet's able yiew of the Agriculture of Renfrew- 

 shire. 



RENI, GUIDO. See Guido Reni 



KENNEL, JOHN, a distinguished geographer, 

 was born in 1742, and, at thirteen, was sent on 

 board a ship-of-war as a midshipman, and served in 

 India. In 1766, he entered into the East India 

 company's military service, and was afterwards 

 appointed surveyor-general of Bengal. He soon 

 after gave to the world his Bengal Atlas, and an 

 Account of the Ganges and Burrampooter. He 

 returned to England in 1782, and published a Map 

 of India, accompanied by a Memoir. Besides the 

 works already mentioned, he was the author of 

 Memoir on the Geography of Africa, with a map 

 (1790); the Marches of the British Army in the 

 Peninsula of India (1792); Elucidation of African 

 Geography (1793); a second and third Memoir of 

 the Geography of Africa (1799); the Geographical 

 System of Herodotus explained (4to., 1800); Ob- 

 servations on the Topography of the Plain of Troy. 

 He died in 1830. 



REN NES ; a city of France, with 30,000 inhabi- 

 tants, ft rmerly capital of Brittany, at present of the 

 departrr >nt of the Illeet-Vilaine, situated at the 

 confluence of the two rivers; 218 miles west of 

 Paris; lat. 48 7' N.; Ion. 41 1' W. Rennes 

 contains several public buildings and literary and 

 scientific institutions, with a public library of 30,000 

 volumes. Its trade and manufactures are incon- 

 siderable. It was, before the revolution of 1789, 

 the seat of a parliament, which was distinguished 

 for its opposition to the arbitrary measures of the 

 court. 



RENNIE, JOHN ; a celebrated civil engineer, 

 was born in East Lothian, in 1761. His father 

 was a respectable farmer, who gave him a good 

 education, and placed him with a millwright. 

 After serving out his articles, he commenced busi- 

 ness on his own account, but, in 1783, was induced 

 to remove to London, where his reputation rapidly 

 increased, until he was regarded as standing at the 

 head of the civil engineers of Great Britain. 

 Among his public works may be mentioned Rams- 

 gate harbour ; Waterloo, and Southward bridges, 

 across the Thames; the breakwater at Plymouth, 

 and several similar structures, where submarine 

 masonry was carried to great perfection. Mr 

 Rennie was remarkable for rteady resolution &nd 

 inflexible perseverance, s,nd was, at the same time, 

 in the highest degree punctual and steady in all his 

 engagements; and, although in some respects a 

 self-taught man, he acquired the respect of the 

 most distinguished men of science and learning in 

 his day, and was elected a member of the royal 

 society. His death took place in 1821. 



RENTE, in French, signifies, in general, all the 

 net income which a man enjoys without labour; 

 therefore the profits of real estate as well as of 

 capital.' Rentier; one who lives on his rentes. 

 (For the French public stocks which go under the 

 name of rentes, see the article Public Funds, 

 division French Stocks.) 



REPNIN (NICHOLAS WASILIEWITSCH), prince, a 

 Russian field-marshal, the son of a prince of the 

 same name, who served in the army of Peter I., 

 was born in 1734, and distinguished himself in the 

 seven years' war in the French army. After the 

 elevation of Stanislaus Poniatowski to the throne 

 of Poland, in 1764, he became Russian minister at 

 Warsaw, and for some years governed the Poles in 

 effect. In 1774, he was sent ambassador to Con- 

 stantinoplr, and, in 1778, to Breslau, as general 

 and negotiator ^ where he contributed to the treaty 



