Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 14.djvu/262

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250 L A N L A

had to be reduced by force. In the Roman wars against Antiochus of Syria, its inhabitants were received as allies of Rome. Lampsacus was the chief seat of the worship of Priapus; and it is related that Alexander the Great was with difficulty restrained from destroying the city on account of the immorality fostered by the obscene rites of that god. The modern Lamsaki is probably not on the site of Lampsacus, but must be near it.

Plate III.

LANARK, an inland county of Scotland, lies between 55 15 and 55 57 N. lat., and between 3 20 and 4 23 W. long., and is bounded N. by Dumbarton and Stirling, E. by Stirling, Linlithgow, Midlothian, and Peebles, S. by Dumfries, and W. by Ayr, Renfrew, and Dumbarton. Its greatest length north-west to south-east is over 50 miles, and its greatest breadth from east to west over 30 miles. The total area comprises 568,868 acres, or 888 square miles. Though only the twelfth as regards extent, it stands far above all the other Scottish counties in point of population, having 904,405 inhabitants in 1881, or only 18,909 less than the aggregate of the three counties that rank next to it.

The greater part of the county to the east and south, included in what is known as the upper ward, consists of high moorlands frequently rising into lofty rounded hills, in many cases more .than 2000 feet above sea-level, the highest summits being Coulter Fell (2456) and Tinto (2350) in Carmichael parish, and Green Louther (2403), Five Cairn Louther (2377), Queensberry Hill (2285), Sergeant Law (2257), and several others in Crawford parish, which consists chiefly of a cluster of mountains. The highest inhabited land in Scotland is at Leadhills, a village in the southern extremity of the county, which is about 1300 feet above sea-level. The remainder of the county to the north-west of Tinto softens down to gentle undulations, never rising to an elevation of more than 700 feet, and gradually opening out into the fertile vale of Clyde.

The principal river is the Clyde, which is formed of several streams rising among the mountains that separate Lanark from Peebles and Dumfries near to the sources of the Tweed and Annan, the chief of these streams being the Crook Burn, Powtrail Water, and Elvan Water. Running almost north, the river is joined by the Glengonner Burn, the Duneaton Water, and other streams; after receiving the Medwyn near Carstairs it flows south-west, and then, on being joined by the Douglas Water, it turns abruptly to the north-west – its general direction for the rest of its course. At Bonnington, the first of the famous falls of Clyde, the banks slope gently downwards, and are adorned with lofty trees and leafy shrubbery. The river widens as it reaches the fall, and its course remains uninterrupted until it suddenly descends a precipice 27 feet in height in a broad and unbroken stream. From this point it rolls turbulently along between lofty and precipitous banks of sandstone rocks beautified with wood until it reaches the magnificent fall of Corra, where it rushes over a precipice 85 feet in height into the deep abyss of the linn. Through a deep ravine it reaches a small fall called Dundaff Linn, and after passing a singular piece of rock called "Wallace's Chair," skirts New Lanark and the county town of Lanark. Shortly afterwards it receives the Mouse, which, dashing and foaming from the split rocks of Cartland Crags, adds to the volume of the stream and contributes at the precipice of Stonebyres to form the fourth fall of Clyde. Near the ruins of Craignethan Castle it receives the Nethan, and a little further on the Avon, and then sweeps through the richly wooded haughs of Hamilton past Bothwell to Glasgow, where it becomes navigable. The lochs are few and small, the principal being Bishop Loch between the parishes of Gadder and Old Monkland, Black Loch in New Monkland, and Johnston Loch in Cadder. The Hillend reservoir for supplying the Forth and Clyde and the Monkland Canals has an area of 307 acres. The Forth and Clyde Canal traverses the north-west corner of the county; the Monkland Canal connects Glasgow with the southern extremity of Old Monkland parish; and the Ardrossan Canal passes by Govan to Renfrew and Ayr.

Geology and Minerals. – Lanarkshire is nearly wholly occupied by the Carboniferous strata forming the coal-field of the Clyde basin. This is almost entirely confined to the county, but portions of it extend into Dumbartonshire, Renfrewshire, and Stirlingshire. The formation rests on traps and ashes associated with the Lower Calciferous Sandstones, which towards the east separate the coal-field from that of the Lothians, and in the west from that of Ayr. The middle portion of the formation, which contains the best coal-seams with blackband and other ironstones, is without limestone, and apparently of freshwater origin, although a bed of marine fossils has been detected in the series near Glasgow. Towards the border on all sides a lower marine series with encrinal and coralline limestones crops out. It also contains many valuable coal-seams and veins of iron stone, and, while affording a great variety of marine fossils, possesses a few interpolated beds of estuarine or freshwater origin. The line of junction between this lower series and the Old Red Sandstone occurs in the vicinity of the Falls of Clyde, Lanark, and Carstairs. Besides the older trap rocks, which bound the field to the east and west, others, probably of the same age as the Upper Carboniferous series, rise through and disturb the strata of the interior in many places; and numerous basaltic dykes, which, however, are generally unconnected with faults in the strata, extend through the area of the coal-field in an easterly direction. These, like the other erupted masses, usually alter the strata with which they come into contact, converting coal into coke and clay into jasper, and highly indurating the shales and sandstones. The isolated coal-field of Lesmahagow, about 7 miles square, is nearly surrounded by Old Red Sandstones, upon which also the coal rests.


The amount of coal available in the Lanark coal-field is estimated at 2,044,090,216 tons, slightly less than that in the Midlothian coal-field, and less than a fourth of that available in Scotland. The mines lie scattered over a considerable area, but the principal coal pits are in the districts between Glasgow, Hamilton, and Airdrie. The coal-field is perhaps best developed in the neighbourhood of Hamilton, the seam being rich and easily readied; and the famous Wishaw "ell coal" is there found in its best state. There is a valuable seam of gas coal at Lesmahagow; this is also frequently associated with blackband ironstone. The number of shafts or pits from which minerals were raised in 1880 was 452, and connected with these 25,882 persons were employed underground and 5355 on the surface. The gross amount of minerals raised was 11,071,054 tons, nearly one-half of the whole amount raised in Scotland. The total amount of coals raised was 10,026,999 tons, of ironstone 757,291, of fireclay 195,419, of oil shale 28,830, of limestone 59,419, of lead ore 1801, and of gannister 1295. The lead-mines are at Leadhills in the parish of Crawford. From the ore silver to the extent of 6 to 12 oz. to the ton is obtained. Copper-ore is found in the mines, and also antimony, but the quantity does not repay the cost of mining. The gold-mines are said to have been discovered in the reign of James IV., and it is stated that in 1542 as many as 300 persons were employed in connexion with the industry, and that upwards of £100,000 sterling value was collected. The gold-field extends over an area of 25 miles by 12, but it is only in the neighbourhood of the lead-mines that gold is found in considerable quantity. It does not, however, repay the labour of search and washing. Freestone and sandstone are abundant.


Agriculture. – The upper ward of Lanarkshire consists principally of moorland, even where the land is not too elevated to admit of successful tillage. The climate of this district is variable, and the rainfall considerable. Wheat is grown in the lower valleys, but the cereals best adapted for those portions of the district where grain is cultivated are oats and barley. In the higher grounds potatoes and Scotch kail are almost the only vegetables grown. Some