LANARK 251
portions of this district, on the borders of the Clyde, are however, very fruitful. The feeding of cattle and dairy and sheep farming are largely followed. Generally twenty-five to thirty cows are kept, but on some farms most attention is directed to the rearing of cattle or sheep. Several large sheep farms are occasionally held by one tenant. In the middle ward the land is generally strong clay, with the exception of the alluvial deposits on the banks of the Clyde. A large portion of it is occupied by peat, and the presence of coal-pits has in many instances deteriorated the soil. In this district oats and barley are the principal crop. The banks of the Clyde have been occupied with orchards since the days of the Venerable Bede. Apples, pears, and plums are largely grown, but of late years more attention has been paid to gooseberries, currants, and strawberries. The district of the lower ward is much exposed to westerly breezes, but though humid is warm, severe frosts being seldom of long duration. It is very highly cultivated, its proximity to Glasgow having greatly stimulated improvements.
The following table gives a classification of holdings in 1875 and 1880: –
Years. 50 Acres and under. From 50 to 100 Acres. From 100 to 300 Acres. From 300 to 500 Acres. From 500 to 1000 Acres. Above 1000 Acres. Total. No. Acres. No. Acres. No. Acres. No. Acres. No. Acres. No. Acres. No. Acres. 1875 1880 1,463 1,406 22,624 23,351 713 684 54,245 52,384 854 830 134,006 132,262 64 76 23,825 28,783 12 13 8,340 8,987 1 1 1,532 1,374 3,107 3,010 244,572 247,141
The largest farms are in the upper ward, where they generally vary from 100 to 500 acres, although the largest number are between 100 and 200 acres.
According to the agricultural returns for 1881 the total area under crops was 247,777 acres, a percentage of 43 "5, the percentage in 1870 being 41 - 8. The area under corn crops was 50,975 acres; under green crops, 19,578; rotation grasses, 63,361; permanent pasture, 113,407. The area under woods was 18,780 acres; orchards, 531; market gardens, 310; and nursery grounds, 39. Of corn more than four-fifths of the area was under oats, which in 1881 occupied 44,982 acres, while only 3790 were under wheat, 1408 beans, and 682 barley. Potatoes were grown on 9427 acres, turnips and swedes on 8552, and vetches on 1321.
The total number of horses in 1881 was 7755, of which 5611 are stated to be used solely for purposes of agriculture, and 2144 to be unbroken horses and mares kept for breeding purposes. The cele brated Clydesdale draught horses are supposed to have been bred from Flanders horses, imported in the 17th century by one of the dukes of Hamilton. The number of cows in 1881 was 33,730, of other cattle two years of age and above 10,989, and under two years of age 19,557. The average number of cattle to every 100 acres under cultivation was 25 9, the average for Scotland being 23. The cows are principally the Ayrshire breed, but there is also a cross between the Ayrshire and the improved Lanark. The best cheese is made in the Carnwath and Lesmahagow districts. Sheep in 1881 numbered 208,632, an average of 84 2 to every 100 acres under .cultivation, the average for Scotland being 141 3. Pigs, which are largely kept by the coal-miners, numbered 5796.
According to the owners and heritages return, 1872-73, the land was divided among 9717 proprietors, and amounted to 553,097 acres, with a gross annual value, including minerals, of 1,736,268. Of the owners 7927, or 81 per cent., possessed less than 1 acre, and the average value per acre was 3, 2s. 9d. There were seven proprietors who owned upwards of 10,000 acres, viz., the countess of Home, 61,943 acres; the duke of Hamilton, 45,731 acres; Sir Simon Macdonald Lockhart, 31,556; Sir Thomas E. Colebrooke, 29,604; the earl of Hopetoun, 19,180; SirWindham Anstruther, 13,624; and A. D. R. W. Baillie Cochrane (now Lord Lamington), 10,833. The duke of Buccleuch possessed 9091 acres, and Colonel Buchanan 8549.
Manufactures. – In 1879 there were 314 iron-works, 5149 puddling furnaces, and 846 rolling mills. These are chiefly situated in the neighbourhood of Airdrie, Coatbridge, Wishaw, Lesmahagow, and Glasgow. The principal other manufactures – cotton, flax, and silk – are connected chiefly with GLASGOW, to which article the reader is also referred for details regarding shipping and ship building.
Railways. – Both the North British and the Caledonian systems have numerous lines and branches, both for general traffic and for minerals, supplying the county generally with ample railway communication.
Population. – Owing to the rapid development of the manufactur ing and mining industries of the county, and especially to the fact that a great portion of Glasgow is included within its limits, the increase of the population since the beginning of the century has been very great. From 147,692 in 1801 it had increased in 1831 to 316,819, in 1851 to 530,169, in 1871 to 765,339, and in 1881 to 904,405, of whom 449,192 were males and 455,213 females. The county includes the greater part of the parliamentary burgh of Glasgow (population in 1881, 487,948), and the parliamentary burghs of Airdrie (13,363), Hamilton (13,997), Lanark (4908), and Ruther- glen (11,265). Glasgow, Lanark, and Rutherglen are also royal burghs, and in addition to Airdrie and Hamilton the police burghs are Biggar (1556) in the upper ward; Wishaw (13,112) and Mother- well (12,911) in the middle ward; and Govan (49,448), Hillhead
(6683), Maryhill (12,916), Partick (27,396), and Govanhill (9634) in the lower ward immediately adjoining Glasgow. The other towns are Bailieston, Bellshill, part of Busby, Calderbank, Cambuslang, Carluke, Coatbridge (population 18,425), Holytown, Larkhall, Lesmahagow, Newmains, Shettleston, Stonehouse, Strathaven, and Whifllet. There are also over seventy villages, the majority numbering over 500 inhabitants, and very many over 1000.
Administration. – The county comprises forty-nine parishes and two parts of parishes. For purposes of county taxation it is divided into an upper, a middle, and a lower ward, and the middle ward has also been lately divided into two districts for police purposes. The county is represented in parliament by two members, one for the northern division and one for the southern division.[1] The city of Glasgow returns three members, while Lanark, Hamilton, and Airdrie are included in the Falkirk district of burghs, and Rutherglen in the Kilmarnock district. A sheriff ordinary court is held at Glasgow, and sheriff courts are held at Lanark, Airdrie, and Hamilton.
History and Antiquities. – Lanarkshire at an early period was inhabited by a Celtic tribe, the Damnii, whose territory was divided by the Roman wall of Antonine between the Forth and Clyde, but none of whom were ever fully subdued by the Romans. Traces of these early inhabitants are still to be seen in remains of fortifications, mounds, and circles; and numerous stone axes, bronze celts, hand-mills, and urns belonging to the same period have also been dug up. Two Roman roads entered the county from Dumfriesshire, and after their junction near Crawford proceeded by Biggar, Carstairs, and Carluke, being Joined at several points by others. Along the route of the roads there are many traces of camps and fortifications, and coins and other relics are frequently found. After the departure of the Romans, a district of country which included Lanarkshire was united into the kingdom of Strathclyde, which in the 7th century was subdued by the Saxons of Northumberland, large numbers, however, of the Celtic population migrating to Wales. Formerly Lanarkshire included a portion of Renfrew, but this was disjoined in the time of Robert III. Lanark at the same time was divided into two wards, the over and the nether, with Lanark and Rutherglen as the chief towns in each ward. The division into three wards – upper, middle, and lower – took place in the last century. Among the more important events of later history connected with the county are the battles of Drumclog in the parish of Avondale, 1st June 1679, in which the Covenanters defeated Graham of Claverhouse, and of Bothwell Bridge at Bothwell near Hamilton on the 22d June of the same year, in which the Covenanters were defeated by the duke of Monmouth with great slaughter. The principal buildings of interest besides those noticed in the separate articles on particular towns, are the ruins of Blantyre Priory, the remains of the ancient Douglas Castle, Craigncthan Castle (the Tullietudlem of Sir Walter Scott, where Mary Queen of Scots found refuge after her escape from Lochleven), and Bothwell Castle. See Irving's History of the Upper Ward of Lanarkshire, 3 vols., 1864.
- ↑ The parishes comprised in North Lanarkshire are the following: – Lower Ward: Barony, Cadder, Carmunnock, Cathcart (part), city parish of Glasgow, Govan (part), and Rutherglen; Middle Ward: Avondale, Blantyre, Bothwell, Cambuslang, Dalziel, East Kilbride, Glassford, Hamilton, New Monkland, and Old Monkland. The following parishes constitute South Lanarkshire: – Middle Ward: Cambusnethan, Dalserf, Shotts, and Stonehouse; Upper Ward: Biggar, Carluke, Carmichael, Carnwath, Carstairs, Covington and Thankerton, Crawford, Crawfordjohn, Culter (part), Dolphinton, Douglas, Dunsyre, Lanark, Lesmahagow, Liberton, Moffat (part), Pettinain, Symington, Walston, Wandell and Lamington, and Wiston and Roberton.
