384 BRINDLEY CONSTRUCTS Till'- PARTY. 



work brought forward, hard rammed, and puddled, to 

 form the navigable canal ; after which the casing was 

 moved onward to the part of the work further in advance, 

 and the bottom having previously been set with rubble 

 and gravel, the embankment was thus carried forward 

 by degrees, the canal was raised to the proper level, and 

 the whole was substantially and satisfactorily finished. 



A steam-engine of Brindley's contrivance was erected 

 at Dunham Town Bridge to pump the water from tlie 

 foundations there. The engine was called a Sawney, for 

 what reason is not stated, and, for long after, the bridge 

 was called Sawney's Bridge. The foundations of the 

 under-bridge, near the same place, were popularly sup- 

 posed to be set on quicksand ; and old Lord Warrington, 

 when he had occasion to pass under it, would pretend 

 cautiously to look about him, as if to examine whether 

 the piers were all right, and then run through as fast as 

 he could. A tall poplar-tree stood at Dunham Banks, 011 

 which a board was nailed showing the height of the canal 

 level, and the people long after called the place by the 

 name of " The Duke's Folly," believing his scheme to be 

 altogether impracticable. But the skill of the engineer 

 baffled these and other prophets of evil ; and the success 

 of his expedients, in nearly every case of difficulty thai 

 occurred, must certainly be regarded as remarkable, con- 

 sidering the novel and unprecedented character of the 

 undertaking. 



Brindley invariably contrived to economise labour as 

 much as possible, and many of his expedients with this 

 object were very ingenious. So far as he could, he endea- 

 voured to make use of the canal itself for the purpose of 

 forwarding the work. He had a floating blacksmith's forge 

 and shop, provided with all requisite appliances, fitted up 

 in one barge ; a complete carpenter's shop in another ; and 

 a mason's shop in a third ; all of which were floated on 

 as the canal advanced, and were thus always at hand to 

 supply the requisite facilities for prosecuting the opera- 



