GADOLINITE GALT. 



487 



G 



GADOLINITE; a rare Swedish mineral, con- 

 taining the very scarce earth Yttria. 



GAINSBOROUGH; a market-town of Eng- 

 land, in the county of Lincoln, situated on the 

 east hank of the Trent, 149 miles N. by W. from 

 London. It consists chiefly of one long street 

 running parallel with the river, and is a place of 

 considerable foreign as well as inland trade, for 

 which its situation is well adapted. The Trent is 

 here navigable for ships of 200 tons burden, and by 

 different canals it extends its navigation through the 

 interior of the country. The tide rises .here very 

 rapidly. The place is of considerable antiquity : 

 It was here where Alfred the Great celebrated his 

 nuptials in 868. Population in 1841, of town and 

 parish 7860'. 



GALACZ; a port of the Danube, in Moldavia, 

 in lat. 45 25' N., long. 28 E. Its population 

 amounts to about 12,000. Of late, this place has 

 risen into considerable importance as a place of 

 commerce, and steam-boats have been established 

 between it and Constantinople and Trebezon and 

 the Black sea. There are also steam-boats from 

 Presburgh in Hungary to Galacz. The main 

 trade is carried on by Greek merchants. 



GALASHIELS; a thriving town in Selkirk- 

 shire, Scotland, situated on the right bank of the 

 Gala, a small river celebrated in Scottish song; 

 distant from Edinburgh about thirty-one miles, and 

 five from Melrose. The old village of Galashiels, 

 which was merely an appendage of the baronial 

 seat of Gala, in the vicinity, is now abandoned and 

 destroyed. The present town is of comparatively 

 modern erection, having been begun not more than 

 fifty years since, on the people manifesting a ten- 

 dency to remove nearer the river, in order to en- 

 gage in manufactures. It consists of one long 

 street, with some by-lanes, and scattered clusters of 

 houses, all built of blue whinstone, and slated. The 

 inhabitants are remarkable for their persevering in- 

 dustry arid enterprise in the woollen manufacture. 

 Galashiels ranks, indeed, as the first town in Scot- 

 land for the manufacture of woollen cloth, and the 

 spinning of woollen yarn. Situated in the midst 

 of an extensive pastoral country, which yields an 

 abundance of wool, it has adopted almost the only 

 species of manufacture and traffic it had a chance 

 of prosecuting with success, and although labour- 

 ing under the serious disadvantages of having ex- 

 pensive inland carriage, and being at a considerable 

 distance from coal, it has overcome such difficulties, 

 and is now a flourishing little place. The parish, 

 which comprises the ancient parishes of Bolside 

 and Lindean, is, besides the Tweed, intersected by 

 the Etterick and the Gala, both celebrated among 

 the beautiful pastorals of Burns. It contains about 

 8000 acres, the surface of which is hilly, and in some 

 parts mountainous ; Meg-Hill, rising to the height 

 of 1480 feet above the level of the sea, but afford- 

 ing the finest pasture for sheep, in rearing which, 

 principally for the sake of the wool, great attention 

 is paid by the proprietors. Schistus and whinstone 



abound here; and the presence of red ochre, chaly- 

 beate springs, &c., indicate also the existence of 

 iron. Population in 1841, 2140. 



GALT, JOHN, an eminent Scottish novelist and 

 miscellaneous writer, was born at Irvine, in Ayr- 

 shire, May 2, 1779, being the eldest son of a person 

 engaged in mercantile pursuits. He spent his first 

 ten or eleven years at Irvine, and there received 

 the rudiments of his education. Being a sickly 

 boy, he became addicted to study, and he used to 

 take great pleasure in hearing tales of foreign ad- 

 venture from any one who could relate such to 

 him. In his eleventh year, the family removed to 

 Greenock, where he pursued his studies at the 

 public school, under Mr Colin Lament, and prose- 

 cuted still farther his taste for reading, which was 

 much facilitated by an excellent public library to 

 which he had access. He also manifested a turn 

 for mechanics, which, joined to a taste for music, 

 prompted him to attempt the construction of a 

 small piano-forte or hurdy-gurdy, and likewise an 

 Eolian harp. In these early years he composed 

 some pieces of music, one or two of which became 

 popular. What gives a more striking proof of the 

 early developement of his reflective powers, is, 

 that he conceived the idea of several local improve- 

 ments of great magnitude and importance, some of 

 which have since taken place. He formed an in- 

 timacy with a young man of taste and talent, Mr 

 James Park, who appears to have been of great 

 service to him. The two youths cultivated the 

 belles lettres together, and mutually criticised each 

 other's productions. It does not appear that Mr 

 Gait distinguished himself at school : he was 

 thought, even by his mother, to be a dull and 

 sleepy boy, which was in a great measure owing 

 to the state of his health, which did not become 

 good till he reached manhood. In due time he 

 entered the counting-room of Messrs James Miller 

 and Company, in order to learn the mercantile pro- 

 fession, and here he seems to have continued for 

 several years. A circumstance much to his praise 

 falls to be noticed at this period of his life. His 

 father had intended to leave his mother indepen- 

 dent; but, owing to some informality, on the death 

 of the old gentleman it was found that his whole 

 property fell into the hands of his heir-at-law, the 

 subject of this memoir. Mr Gait instantly exe- 

 cuted a deed, fulfilling the intentions of his father. 



As he advanced into the full bloom of youth, 

 Mr Gait entirely lost his inenergetic character, and 

 became remarkable for that decision, which, whe- 

 ther for good or evil, ever afterwards characterized 

 him. About the year 1804, having received an in- 

 sult from a mercantile correspondent, he took upon 

 him to resent it in a very prompt and stern manner, 

 which seems to have rendered his situation at 

 Greenock too unpleasant to be any longer endured. 

 He accordingly went to London, and began a mer- 

 cantile career in company with one M'Lauchlan, 

 which ultimately proving unfortunate, he entered 

 at Lincoln's Inn, with a view to the English bar, 



