5U 



LANARKSHIRE. 



Lanark- 

 shire. 



Mines of 

 Leadhills. 



ferent kind. In the elevated ridges of hills and high 

 grounds running parallel to the Clyde, are many rocks 

 of granite and basalt ; and of this last, at the Cathkin 

 hilN, near Glasgow, there is a very remarkable rock.con- 

 sisting of upwards of 100 columns, rising, at an angle 

 of about 70, to the height of more than 40 feet. 



This county is celebrated for its minerals. It con- 

 tains excellent freestone, limestone, ironstone, coal, 

 and granite. The most valuable freestone is found in 

 the lower part of the district, with which the buildings 

 in the city of Glasgow, and the adjacent country, are 

 constructed. Limestone is to be met with in many 

 places, but principally in those parts of the country 

 lying to the northward of the Tinto hills. In almost 

 all the limestone rocks, are to be met with shells and 

 other fossils, which are sometimes very numerous, and 

 of many different species.' 



Ironstone is very abundant in some situations. It 

 lies in regular strata above the limestone and coal ; in 

 others in contact with sandstone ; and in others again, 

 it is to be met with in the form of balls, which are of an 

 excellent quality, yielding upwards of 50 per cent, of 

 iron. The ironstone found here, is entirely used in the 

 different furnaces in the. county, particularly at those of 

 Clyde, Calder, Cleland, and Shotts. The richest mines 

 are those of Calderwood and Crossbasket, in the parish 

 of Kilbride, and which have been long wrought to 

 great advantage. 



The most valuable metallic ores are, however, situated 

 in the southern part of the county, where lead has been 

 wrought for more than two centuries. The principal 

 mines are at Leadhills, belonging to the Earl of Hope- 

 ton, and let by that nobleman to the Scotch Mining 

 Company. The most celebrated mine here is called the 

 Susannah mine, which yields an ore of a very rich qua- 

 lity. The veins of lead vary in width from a few inch- 

 es to fifteen feet. Silver is extracted from the lead, in 

 the proportion of 6 to 12 ounces in the ton. The num- 

 ber of bars of lead smelted annually, amounts at pre- 

 sent to 18,000, each weighing 9 stone weight. Of 

 these, the Earl of Hopeton receives one-sixth part as 

 lordship or rent. There are 350 men employed in these 

 mines, who work only 6 hours in the 24, which, con- 

 sidering the nature of the employment, is perhaps fully 

 sufficient. 



In the same district of the county, gold is often 

 found amongst the mountains in veins of quartz, or 

 washed down into the sand of rivulets ; and one of the 

 finest specimens which has yet been found, is in the 

 possession of the Earl of Hopeton. Gold was first dis- 

 covered here in the reign of James 111. by one Corne- 

 lius Devossec, a lapidary of London ; and a consider- 

 able quantity of these pieces, called unicorns, coined 

 from it. In the reign of James V. 300 men are said 

 to have been employed searching for this precious me- 

 tal for several summers, and to have collected gold to 

 the amount of 100,000 sterling. 



Lapis lazuli, and antimony, have also been found in 

 small quantities. A more valuable mineral than either 

 of these, is, however, found here in abundance, viz. 

 coal. It has been calculated, that the coal stretches 

 through this county in one solid mass, over nearly 110 

 square miles, or 55,000 acres ; and taking all the strata 

 of coal into account, the thickness cannot be less than 5 

 yards. Indeed, in particular situations, there are veins 

 from 7 to 8, 8 to 9, and 9 to 14- feet, or even more. At 

 Cleland, it is found to be upwards of 22 feet thick ; at 

 Fullerton 24i feet ; at Faskine 25 feet 8 inches ; and 

 at Garion Gill no less than 39 feet. 



The field of coal which has been most attended to, 



lies adjacent to Glasgow, and is hence called the Glas- Lanai 

 gow field, which dips upon either side of the Clyde to- >hin 

 wards the river. This fiehf like the others in the coun- ~~"Y" 

 ty, consists of 8 seams. The most remarkable of these Coa1 ' 

 are the first six, which have the following names, situa- 

 tions, &c. 



1st, The upper seam 4 feet thick, below which are 

 strata of different substances 15 fathoms thick. 



2d. Seam or rough coal 4-0 inches thick, below which 

 are 6 fathoms of strata of different kinds. 



3d, Rough Main, or main coal, 4 feet thick, the in- 

 tervening strata betwixt and No. 4. 10 fathoms thick. 



4th, Humph coal about 30 inches, below 10 fathoms 

 of different substances. 



5th, Splint Ell coal 40 inches in thickness ; below lie 

 strata of several substances from 1 to 10 feet. 



fith, Lower Main, or Splint Main, 7 feet thick ; this 

 seam contains sometimes balls of ironstone. 



Below these seams are the 7th and the 8th. The 7th 

 seam, called Sour milk coal, is about 12 fathoms below 

 No. 6, and measures about 3 feet thick, but is not at 

 present wrought ; and the 8th seam is lower stiil 10 

 fathoms, being about 30 inches in thickness, and is 

 likewise not as yet attended to. 



In some parts of the county, as at Calder iron- works, 

 the 2d and 3d seams unite, and form a seam of 10 feet 

 in thickness; and at Woodhall, 16 fathoms above the 

 upper coal, is a strata of candle coal about 8 inches 

 thick, which burns with a brilliant light, and yields a 

 much greater quantity of hydrogen gas for illuminating 

 than the common coal. At Pon eigh, in the upper part 

 of the county, where the coal field appears to be a con- 

 tinuation of that of Muirkirk, the seam is between 7 

 and 8 feet thick. And in the parish of Lesmahagow, at 

 Auchenheath, Nethanfoot, &c. there are very fine scams 

 of candle coal, of a compact and close texture, which is 

 much valued, and carried to a great distance, from the 

 superior light which it yields, to that produced from 

 the ordinary coal. 



At these different collieries, immense quantities are 

 raised. In 1816, at Calder colliery, about y miles east- 

 wards from Glasgow, 75,000 carts were put out ; and 

 at that of Govan, in the immediate vicinity of that city, 

 the number raised that year was 60,000, each of 12 

 cwt. There are in the county about 35 coal companies, 

 who employ about 2000 workmen, and raise annually 

 from the mine, for home sale and exportation, 700,000 

 carts of coal. 



In the deep vales, sequestered dells, and woods of Botany, 

 this county, are to be found several rare plants. The 

 few following may be mentioned. Circcea alpina, moun- 

 tain enchanter's nightshade, in Hamilton wood ; Vero 

 nic.a montaii'i, mountain speedwell, in Cartlane Craigs, 

 near Lanark ; Mercurialis perennis, dog's mercury, a 

 poisonous plant, banks of Clyde ; Circcea luleticrna, en- 

 chanter's nightshade, Gilburnsyke, parish of Kilbride ; 

 Impatiens noli me ttnigere, yellow balsam touch me not, 

 in moist groves. Atropa belladonna divale, or deadly- 

 nightshade, in waste ground ; lulipa sylvettris, wild tu- 

 lip, near Hamilton; Cunvallaria majdis, lily of the 

 valley, falls of the Clyde; Herberts vutgaris, barberry, 

 in the woods about Lanark ; Antirrhinum cymbalaria, 

 ivy leaved snap dragon, on the old walls of Bothwell 

 castle ; Cheiranthiusfruticulosiis, wild wallflower, Mains 

 Castle, Kilbride, Bothwell Castle, &c. : Geranium luci- 

 dum, shining cranesbill, Cartlane Ci'aigs, Blantyre Priory ; 

 Serapias lalifolia, broad leaved heleborne, in the woods 

 of Bothwell, Hamilton, &c. and Humulus lupulus, hop, 

 Craignethan Castle. 



The Bison Scoticus, or nrue, described by Caesar, lib. 



