BARGARRON. 
719 
two stories liigb, painted white, with green doors and window-shut- 
ters, and double row's of trees planted before them. The principal 
church stands in the great square, along with the Franciscan monas- 
tery, and covered market place. The inhabitants are comfortable, 
and e'ven opulent, deriving handsome incomes from the expenses of the 
court, and from letting part of their houses. The high road from 
Araujuez to Madrid is constructed on the model of the.ancient Roman 
roads, and each mile is said to have cost three millions of reals, 
33,2601. sterling. It was begun under Ferdinand VI. The popula- 
tion of the town, during the residence of the couxt, is about ten 
thousand. 
Bargarrof. 
This Is the name of a village famous for being the first place in Scot- 
land where fine thread was manufactured. Miss Christiana Shaw, 
daughter of John Shaw, esq. of Bargarron, who, when a girl of ele- 
ven years of age, was supposed to have been bewitched, and on w'hose 
account four men and three women were executed for the supposed 
crime, at Parsley, in 1696-7, had the merit of introducing this 
manufacture. Mr. Walter Young, minister of the parish, gives the 
following account of its commencement. 
‘^Having acquired a remarkable dexterity in spinning fine yarn, 
she conceived the idea of manufacturing it into thread. Her first 
attempts in this way were necessarily on a small sale. She executed 
almost every part of the process with her own hands, and bleached 
her materials on a large slate placed on one of the windows of the 
house. She succeeded, however, so well in these essays, as to have 
sufficient encouragement to go on, and to take the assistance of her 
younger sisters and neighbours. The then lady Blantyre carried a 
parcel of her thread to Bath, and disposed of it advantageously to 
some manufacturers of lace, and this was probably the first thread 
made in Scotland, that had crossed the Tweed. About this time a 
person who w’as acquainted with the family, happening to be in Hol- 
land, found means to learn the secrets of the thread manufacture, 
which was then carried on to a ‘.great extent in that country, particu- 
larly the art of sorting and numbering the thread.s of different sizes, 
and packing them up for sale, and the management of the twisting 
and twining machines. This knowledge he communicated on his 
return to his friends in Bargarron, and by means of it they were 
enabled to conduct theif manufacture with more regularity, and to a 
greatei^ extent. The young women in the neighbourhood were taught 
to spin fine yarn, several twining milfs were erected, correspondences 
for promoting the consumption of it were established, and a profitable 
business was carried on. Bargarron thread became extensively 
known, and, being ascertained by a stamp, bore a good price. From 
the instructions of the family of Bargarron, a few families in the 
neighbourhood engaged in the same business, and continued in it for 
a number of years. It was not to be expected, however, that a ma- 
nufactory of this kind could be confined to so small a district, or 
could be allowed to remain in so few hands for a gre^t length of time. 
