Book II. 



COTTAGES, VILLAGES, &c. 



559 



police-office, the principal inn and the principal shops. Near the harbour ought to be 

 placed the warehouses and other depositaries for goods : In a retired part of the town the 

 school ; and out of town on an eminence (if convenient) the church and churchyard. 

 There ought to be a field or open space as a public recreation ground for children, volun- 

 teers or troops exercising, races, washing and drying clothes on certain days, &c. Pub- 

 lic shambles ought to be formed in a retired and concealed spot, and public necessaries, 

 and proper pipes, wells or other sources of good water, with the requisite sewers and 

 drainage. Buckets, in case of fire, ought to be kept at the market-house. 



3575. The village of Bridekirk on the Annan, in Dumfrieshire {Jig. 451.), was begun 



451 



in 1 800, by Gen. Dirom, and is thus described by him in the survey of the county. " It is 

 situated at a part of the river, which affords falls and power, capable of turning any weight 

 of machinery ; and I have had it in view to give encouragement to manufacturers, to 

 whom such a situation is an important object. A woollen manufactory (a) upon a large 

 scale, and the most approved plan, has been established there for ten years, and is gradu- 

 ally increasing its machinery. In this village there are already, in the course of that time, 

 about two hundred arid fifty industrious inhabitants, and it has every appearance of a fur- 

 ther rapid increase. On the opposite side of the river a situation is fixed on for corn-mills 

 {b), where a complete set has been built upon the best construction, including wheat and 

 barley mills. Half of the water there is reserved for any other works, and is likely to be 

 let for a mill for dressing and for spinning flax, and for machinery required in bleaching, 

 there being at the foot of the mill-race a holme of six acres (c), well calculated for a 

 bleach field ; and I propose to let part of it for such a manufactory. 



3576. T/ie lots for building and gardens in the village , each consisting of from nine to 

 ten falls of ground, are granted in perpetuity at the rate of six pounds the English acre, 

 either upon leases for 999 years, or feu-rights, as the settlers choose: the former being 

 generally preferred, as being the holding or title, attended with least expense. This rent 

 would of itself be no object when the waste of ground in streets and enclosures is consi- 

 dered ; but the great advantage to be derived from such an establishment is the increased 

 value that lands acquire from having a number of industrious people settled in the heart 

 of an estate. Each person who feus a house-stead is obliged to build with stone and 

 lime, according to a regular plan; and a common entry is left between every two lots for 

 access to their offices, which are built immediately behind their houses ; and the whole of 

 the buildings are covered with slate. The feuers are also bound to make a common sewer 

 through their property when required ; to pave ten feet in front of their houses, between 

 them and the street; and to pay at the rate of a penny per fall yearly, according to the 

 extent of their lots, to form a fund for keeping the streets and roads in repair, and for 

 making small improvements. No person is allowed to sell liquor of any kind without 

 my permission; nor can ^ny shop or chandlery, tannery, or other work, that might be 

 considered as a nuisance, be set up or built, unless in places allotted for these purposes ; and 

 to prevent all interference on the part of the feuers, I reserve to myself full liberty to 



