B 872,995

WORKS AND NEW EDITION
C4
VTRIBUTORS
EDINBURGH
ROGERS
CON
EDITIO
ROGERS
DDITION
AOMEMOTR
HOLLAND
THILOSOPH
$15.87
DADY SMITH
BY
ons to the EN
LU
EDI
EDIRIC
RY SKETCHES A MOR-
LLANEOUS WORKS In Judi
Three E
ારો વી
th Portrait
AITS MACKINTOS
ISCELL
OUS WORKS
button
the Editor
ein thiev
Portrait an
FULLI
ISTOR
OF ENGLAND.
Baltion revised by
MI SEMACKINTOSH
final Establishment
MACKINTOSH Esa.
ord ILTERLY CONTRIB
LIBRARY EDITION the Second
the DINBURGH REVIEW.
JAMES STEPHEN'S LECTURES
LECTURES on the HISTORY OF TRANCE
ST JAMES SILPHE
Mitra Dnition.
ESSAYSM BOCLESIASTICAL BIOGRAPHY
M. MACAULAY'S CRITICAL, am HISTORICAL ESSAYS.com
buch Review Four Editions, as follow
ete in ONE VOLUME with Potrat
ARY EDITION (the
LIBRRY
hop NEW EDITION.
PEOPLE'S EDITION
And
Lignicate.
Square cr
uate crown's
vols, fep-
SPEECHES of the Right lion
Himself. 8vo 12
MACAULAYME Come
MACAULA
The HISTORY of ENGLAND. from il
THOMAS BABINGTON MACAULAY Tenth Edh
માન.
and II. 8vo
Mr MACAULAYA LAYS of ANCIENT ROME
ARMADA, New Edition, 16mo, with Vignette 45,61.. morocco, I
and
M MACAULAY LAYS of ANCIENT ROME With Woodent Illus
I.
trations, Original and from the Antique by G. SCHARF
MOTOCCO.
Sir WILLIAM HAMILTON'S DISCUSSIONS in PHILOSOPHY
LITERATURE, EDUCATION and UNIVERSITY REFORM, thiefly from the Lumby
ES
Second Edition.
WITT
Son POLIITOAT and SOCIAL
to the Fairburs
London
By WILLIAM R GREG
ENC
LONGMAN BROWN GREEN
contributed chick
LONGMANS

R
OF
University of
Michigan
Libraries

1817
ARTES
SCIENTIA. VERITAS
DESCRIPTIVE AND STATISTICAL
ACCOUNT
OP
THE BRITISH EMPIRE.
LONDON:
PRINTED BY W. CLOWES AND SONS, STAMFORD STREET AND CHARING CROSS,
A DESCRIPTIVE AND STATISTICAL
ACCOUNT
OF
THE BRITISH EMPIRE:
EXHIBITING
ITS EXTENT, PHYSICAL CAPACITIES, POPULATION, INDUSTRY,
AND CIVIL AND RELIGIOUS INSTITUTIONS.
John
BY
R. McCULLOCH, Esq.
MEMBER OF THE INSTITUTE OF FRANCE.
Fourth Edition, Rebised.
WITH AN APPENDIX OF TABLES.
VOL. I.
Est enim cognitio reipublicæ et privato homini et publico utilissima et maxime necessaria; atque
scientiam illam, qua duce cognitionem reipublicæ nobis comparamus, imprimis dignam esse, quam
studiosius colamus et prosequamur, non est quod jure negare vel adeo dubitare possimus.
Mone, Hist. Statisticæ.
LONDON:
LONGMAN, BROWN, GREEN, AND LONGMANS.
1854.
DA
625
M13
1854
013-236120
TO THE
RIGHT HON. SIR ROBERT PEEL, BART., M.P.
&c. &c.
SIR,
A WORK descriptive of the industry and institutions of the
United Kingdom, could be dedicated to no one with so much propriety
as to yourself. You have occupied for a lengthened period a promi-
nent position in the councils of the country; and your talents and
disinterestedness have rendered your administration one of the most
successful and memorable in our annals. Influenced solely by public
considerations, you brought forward measures which, though opposed
by a great and powerful party, you justly believed were well fitted to
promote the real and lasting interests of all classes of Her Majesty's
subjects; and in their support, you made, without hesitation, incompa-
rably greater sacrifices than ever were made by any other minister;
and overcame difficulties insurmountable by any one else. This devo-
tion to NATIONAL Interests, has ensured you the highest place in
the public estimation; and that you may long live to enjoy this proud
pre-eminence is the earnest wish of,
Sir,
Your faithful and obliged Servant,
J. R. McCULLOCH.
London, December, 1846.
NOTICE TO THE FOURTH EDITION.
The greater number of the Statements in this Edition
have been revised and made applicable to the present
time. It is also enriched with a series of Statistical
Tables carefully compiled by Mr. T. G. DARTON, which
comprise a great many interesting details.
London, March 1854.
PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION.
In the preface to the first edition of this work we made the following
statements:
"It has long been matter of surprise and regret to many, that there
should be no modern work exhibiting, within a moderate compass,
the physical capacities, population, industry, and institutions of the
British empire. The latest work of the kind that has attracted any
notice is the State of Great Britain and Ireland, by Chamberlayne, the
last edition of which was published so far back as the reign of George II.
But, though this once popular publication contains a good deal of
useful information, it is not written on any scientific plan, nor with any
considerable discrimination; while the change of circumstances, since
the peace of Paris, in 1763, would have rendered it, how good soever
it might originally have been, quite obsolete for many years past.
The want of any separate publication on the state of the empire has
been but indifferently supplied by the notices of it in other works.
Speaking generally, geographical science in this country has been,
until very recently, at the lowest ebb, while during the long interval
between Sir William Petty and Dr. Beeke, statistical science could
hardly be said to exist. Hence the accounts of Great Britain and
Ireland, in our encyclopædias and geographical works, are, for the
most part, very meagre and defective. The article on England in the
Edinburgh Encyclopædia, written by the late William Stevenson, Esq.,
Librarian to the Treasury, is undoubtedly the best of this class of
publications. The space allotted to it was, however, too confined; so
that some important subjects, such as those relating to population,
education, the poor, revenue and expenditure, army and navy, &c.,
are disposed of in the briefest and most unsatisfactory manner. The
accounts of agriculture and manufactures are the best parts of the
article, and are superior to any that had appeared when it was printed
in 1815.
viii
PREFACE.
"Since this æra a number of detached treatises of various merit have
been published on different branches of industry; and our political,
commercial, and financial systems have been subjected not only to a
more thorough examination than they had previously undergone, but
to many important changes. Much valuable information has also been
acquired under the Acts for taking the census in 1821 and 1831, and
there are few departments that have not been made the subject of in-
vestigation by parliamentary committees, or by commissions appointed
by the Crown. A vast mass of materials has consequently been col-
lected that may be employed to illustrate the statistics of the empire ;
and the time seemed to be at length arrived when it might be attempted
to compile a work that should give a pretty fair representation of the
present condition of the United Kingdom.
"Influenced by this feeling, the author of this work submitted, some
years ago, a proposal to the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Know-
ledge for the publication of a statistical account of the British empire.
The Society readily and liberally agreed to it; and the work now
before the reader is the fruit of that arrangement.
"The author has endeavoured, with what success the public will
judge, to make the work generally interesting and instructive. To
have confined it, as some suggested, to mere statements of results, or
to the detail of such information as might have been mostly thrown
into a tabular form, would have made it unreadable, and destroyed its
utility. The plan that has been followed is nearly the same as that
adopted by Peuchet in his Statistique Elémentaire de la France; but
with a greater latitude of criticism than that writer thought it right
or perhaps safe to indulge in. We have not been satisfied, for example,
in giving an accouut of any branch of industry, with stating the value
of its products, the number and wages of the people engaged in it, and
so forth; but have, in addition, given some notices of its history, and
of the more prominent of the circumstances that have accelerated or
retarded its progress. This seemed to be necessary to impart interest
to the work, to make it useful, and to give it a chance for getting into
circulation. We have, also, seldom scrupled, when a fair opportunity
presented itself, briefly to expound the general principles applicable to
the subject under review; but as these discussions are always separated
from the descriptive and arithmetical details, they may be passed over
by those anxious only to acquire information in regard to the latter."
The edition to which these paragraphs were prefixed appeared ten
PREFACE.
ix
years ago, or in 1837. A second edition, considerably amended, ap-
peared in 1839, and we would fain hope that the one which is now
offered to the public will be found to have still stronger claims on its
attention.
It was customary, we believe, to submit the proof sheets of works
published under the auspices of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful
Knowledge, to the revision of certain of its members. This, at all
events, was the course followed with the former editions of this work.
But how leniently soever this sort of censorship might be exercised, it
was, like all similar devices, disadvantageous rather than otherwise.
It occasionally, no doubt, may have prevented blunders and misstate-
ments in matters of fact; but, on the other hand, it tended to prevent
the expression of such views and opinions as were not deemed accept-
able to the managing committee. The Society in question having,
however, ceased to exist, this edition has not been subjected to any
species of surveillance; and we have not refrained from freely stating
our opinions in regard to the various subjects we have had to discuss,
from any apprehension that they might be objected to by any party
previously to their being published. Whatever, consequently, may be
the merits or defects of this work, we are alone entitled to all the credit
of the former, and must bear all the blame of the latter. We can,
however, assure the reader that we have not advanced any statements
for which we did not suppose we had good grounds; and that the
opinions we have expressed, whether right or wrong, have been
honestly formed.
Much valuable information has been given to the public, and many
important changes have taken place, since the last edition of this
work was published in 1839. In that interval the census of 1841 has
been taken; a new property and income tax has been imposed; our
banking system has been placed on a novel and much improved foot-
ing; the corn-laws have been greatly modified, and their speedy aboli-
tion provided for; a large share of the public attention has been drawn
towards the physical and moral condition and treatment of the poor
of Great Britain; and the successive failures that have taken place in
the crops of potatoes, have done more than anything else could have
done to exhibit the real condition and social relations of the people of
Ireland.
In preparing this edition we have endeavoured to profit by this addi-
tional information; and have not intentionally neglected any source
X
PREFACE.
by resorting to which we could expect to find means of improving our
work. We are, nevertheless, sufficiently aware that it is in many
respects defective; but had we deferred its publication till these defects
were removed, it would never have appeared. Some of them are in-
herent in the nature of the subject; and though additional experience
and observation might afford the means of obviating others, new defi-
ciencies would be sure to disclose themselves in the interval. Per-
fection is as unattainable in works of this description as in other
things. We have, however, done our best, with the assistance of such
means and instruments as we could command, faithfully to represent
the state of the country; and by exhibiting the principal circumstances
which have contributed to accelerate and to retard its progress in
wealth and refinement, to show how its advancement, and the well-being
of the population, may be best provided for in time to come.
they are made subservient to this end, descriptive and statistical details
are of comparatively little value.
Unless
In those departments of the work in which the author was but little
familiar, he sought the co-operation of others. Thus the articles on
the geology of England, Scotland, and Ireland, were contributed to
the first edition of the work by the late Mr. Bakewell; and they have
been revised and mostly rewritten for this edition by Sir Henry
de la Beche and Mr. Maclaren. The article on the climate of
England is by Dr. Copeland, the learned author of the Medical Dic-
tionary; and that on botany is by Sir William Jackson Hooker. The
article on zoology was written for the first edition by William Swain-
son, Esq.; but it required and has received much alteration in this
edition.
The chapters in the former editions on the English constitution and
courts of law, were contributed by F. Forster, Esq., A.M., Barrister-at-
Law. Except, however, in mere matters of detail, the chapters on these
important subjects in this edition have very little in common with those
of Mr. Forster, who is no longer in any degree responsible for them.
William Farr, Esq., of the office of the Registrar-General, is the
author of the elaborate and very valuable article on Vital Statistics.
Dr. Irving, Librarian to the Faculty of Advocates, Edinburgh, has
contributed the chapter on the Origin and Progress of the English
Language.
We have also been greatly indebted to other parties. Our esteemed
friend Mr. G. C. Lewis, procured for us many important statements;
PREFACE.
xi
and we are truly sorry we have no better return to make for his
uniform kindness than to denounce, in no very measured terms, the
entire system of which he is the ablest administrator, and which, were
it practicable, he would conduct satisfactorily. With but few excep-
tions, we have not applied to any party possessing information with
respect to any of the subjects of which we had to treat, which was not
willingly supplied. And had we been better acquainted with the
proper parties to whom to apply, our work would have had fewer
defects.
Some of those who dip into this book may think we have discussed
various topics that had been better omitted, to the exclusion of others
of greater importance; and others, without objecting to the subjects,
may probably object to the way in which they are treated. But, in a
work of this kind, the outline of which does not admit of being accu-
rately defined, and where much must necessarily be left to the discretion
of the writer, it is impossible to please all parties; and we shall be
satisfied if we shall be thought to have produced a work which, though
not free from defects, furnishes, on the whole, a tolerably correct view
of the present state and resources of the empire, and of the causes of its
advancement.
PUBLICATIONS
BY THE AUTHOR OF THIS WORK.
In addition to this Account of the British Empire, Mr. McCULLOCH has published
the following Works, viz. :—
1. A DICTIONARY, PRACTICAL, THEORETICAL, AND HISTORICAL,
OF COMMERCE AND COMMERCIAL NAVIGATION. A new and
improved Edition, in one thick volume 8vo. Illustrated with Maps and
Plans. London, 1854.
2. A DICTIONARY, GEOGRAPHICAL, STATISTICAL, AND HISTO-
RICAL, of the various Countries, Places, and principal Natural Objects, in
the World. A new and much improved Edition. 2 thick vols. 8vo. Illus-
trated with Maps. London, 1851.
3. SMITH'S WEALTH OF NATIONS; with a Life of the Author, Notes, and
Supplemental Dissertations. New Edition. 1 vol. 8vo., double columns.
London, 1850.
4. THE PRINCIPLES OF POLITICAL ECONOMY; with some Inquiries
respecting their Application, and a Sketch of the Rise and Progress of the
Science. Fourth and amended Edition. 1 vol. 8vo. Edinburgh, 1849.
5. A TREATISE ON THE PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICAL INFLUENCE
OF TAXATION AND THE FUNDING SYSTEM. The Second Edition,
enlarged and improved. 1 vol. 8vo. London, 1852.
6. THE LITERATURE OF POLITICAL ECONOMY: a Classified Catalogue
of Select Publications in the different Departments of that Science, with His-
torical, Critical, and Biographical Notices. 1 vol. 8vo. London, 1845.
7. A TREATISE ON THE SUCCESSION TO PROPERTY VACANT BY
DEATH; including Inquiries into the Influence of Primogeniture, Entail,
Compulsory Partition, Foundations, &c., over the Public Interest. I vol. 8vo.
London, 1848.
8. TREATISES AND ESSAYS ON SUBJECTS CONNECTED WITH
ECONOMICAL POLICY AND THE HISTORY OF COMMERCE, with
Biographical Sketches of Quesnay, Adam Smith, and Ricardo. 1 vol. 8vo.
Edinburgh, 1853.
9. A TREATISE ON THE CIRCUMSTANCES WHICH DETERMINE THE
RATE OF WAGES AND THE CONDITION OF THE LABOURING
CLASSES; including an Inquiry into the Influence of Combinations. The
Second Edition, corrected and improved. 1 vol. post 8vo. London, 1854.
DEDICATION
PREFACE
CONTENTS
OF
THE FIRST VOLUME.
DESCRIPTIVE AND STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE
PART I.
EXTENT, PHYSICAL CIRCUMSTANCES, AND CIVIL DIVISIONS OF
THE UNITED KINGDOM.
Page
V
vii
1
ENGLAND AND WALES
•
Sect. 1.-Name and Extent
2.-Face of the Country
CHAPTER I.
3.-Mountains and Moorlands
4.-Vales, Fens, Marshes, &c.
3
ib.
7
8
18
5.-Rivers, River Ports, and Lakes
32
6.—Sea-coasts and Sea-ports
46
7.-Geology
64
8.-Climate
84
9.-Botany
99
10.-Zoology ⚫
•
109
11.-Civil Divisions
135
12.—Statistical Notices of the different English Counties
142
Northern Division
ib.
Counties bordering on Wales
154
Midland Counties
•
159
South-eastern District
Eastern District.
Southern District
South-western District
Wales
Islands
176
195
202
210
216
220
xiv
CONTENTS.
SCOTLAND
•
CHAPTER II.
Sect. 1.-Name.-Extent.-Face of the Country
2.-Mountains, Vales, &c.
3.-Rivers and River Ports.-Lakes, &c.
Page
225
ib.
228
235
4.-Sea-coast and Sea-ports
5.-Geology
6.-Climate
•
242
•
249
258
7.-Civil Divisions
263
8.-Statistical Notices of the different Scotch Counties
265
Islands
306
IRELAND
CHAPTER III.
Sect. 1.-Name and Extent.-Face of the Country
2.-Mountains, Level Lands, &c.
3.-Rivers and River Ports.- Lakes
4.-Sea-coast and Sea-ports
5.-Soil, Bogs, &c.
6.-Geology
7.-Climate
8.-Civil Divisions
9.-Statistical Notices of the different Irish Counties
Leinster
Munster
Ulster
Connaught
Islands
318
ib.
324
326
•
336
346
349
360
364
365
ib.
•
372
380
388
393
PART II.
POPULATION
394
Sect. 1.-Population of England and Wales
ეს.
2.-Population of Scotland
425
3.-Population of Ireland
433
4.-Population of the United Kingdom
448
PART III.
INDUSTRY OF THE UNITED KINGDOM.
AGRICULTURE
CHAPTER I.
450
ib.
Sect. 1.-State of Property in England and Wales.-Size of Estates, &c.
2.-Division of the Kingdom into Agricultural Departments.-Size
of Farms.-Conditions in Leases.-Buildings and Feuces, &c. 451
3.-Tillage Husbandry
473
!
CONTENTS.
Sect. 4.-Agriculture of Scotland
5.-Grazing Husbandry of Great Britain
6.-Live Stock of Great Britain
Cattle
Sheep
7.-Agriculture of Ireland
8.-Produce of Timber
9.-Distribution of Lands, Rents, Profits of Farmers, &c.
I.-England
II.-Scotland
III.-Ireland
XV
Page
486
•
489
491
494
•
502
510
543
547
548
562
568
573
Agricultural Produce of the United Kingdom
10.-Slow Progress of Agricultural Improvements.-Notices of the
Progress, Present State, and Prospects of English and Scotch
Agriculture
•
Number of Persons employed in Agriculture
CHAPTER II.
ib.
594
MINES. AND MINERALS
596
CHAPTER III.
FISHERIES
625
CHAPTER IV.
MANUFACTURES
643
stanc
Sect. 1.-Circumstances favourable to the Progress of Manufactures and
Industry
ib.
I.-Moral Circumstances contributing to the Progress of
Manufactures
ib.
II.-Physical Circumstances contributing to the Progress of
Manufactures
647
2.-Woollen Manufacture
650
3.-Cotton Manufacture
673
Condition of Labourers employed in Cotton Factories
•
694
4.-Linen Manufacture
•
703
5.-Silk Manufacture
713
6. -Manufacture of Hardware, Watches, Jewellery, &c.
722
7.-Leather Manufacture
737
8.-Manufactures of Earthenware and Glass
741
9.--Paper Manufacture, Books, Newspapers, &c.
•
747
10.—Malt, Breweries, and Distilleries
11.-Manufactures of Hats, Soap, &c.
755
761
*
b
VOL. I.
A DESCRIPTIVE AND STATISTICAL
ACCOUNT
OF
THE BRITISH EMPIRE.
THE British Empire, exclusive of its foreign dependencies, consists of
the islands of Great Britain and Ireland, and of the smaller islands
contiguous and subordinate to them. Great Britain, the largest and by
far the most important of the British islands, is divided into the kingdoms
of England and Scotland, the former occupying its southern, most
fruitful and extensive, and the latter its northern, more barren, and
smaller portion. After the Romans withdrew from Great Britain,
these two divisions became separate and independent states, between
which the most violent animosities frequently subsisted. In conse-
quence of the marriage of Margaret, daughter of Henry VII. of
England, to James IV. King of Scotland, in 1502, James VI. king of
Scotland, ascended the English throne, upon the demise of Queen
Elizabeth, in 1604. But, notwithstanding this union of the crowns,
the two kingdoms had distinct and independent legislatures till 1707,
when, during the reign of Queen Anne, a legislative union of England
and Scotland was completed. In many respects, however, their insti-
tutions continue to be peculiar. The common law and the judicial
establishments of England differ much from those of Scotland; the pre-
vailing religion and the church establishment of the former are also
materially different from those of the latter; and the manners and
customs of the two countries, though gradually assimilating, pre-
serve many distinguishing features. Hence, in the following work,
we have separated the details respecting the geography, industry, insti-
tutions, &c., of England and Wales, from the corresponding details
having reference to Scotland, without, however, treating those be-
longing to the one country as if it were wholly independent of the
other.
Similar reasons have induced us to class the details respecting Ire-
land under distinct heads. Though now legally incorporated with
Great Britain, the distinction between the latter and Ireland is far
more decided than that between England and Scotland. The insular
VOL. I.
B
2
GREAT BRITAIN.
situation of Ireland, removed to a considerable distance from Britain,
gives her an indelible character of individuality. And though the
English and their descendants have long had the ascendancy in Ireland,
and English laws have been established there from a remote æra, the
Irish continue to be, in many respects, a peculiar people; so much so,
that there is certainly less similarity between them and the English
than between the latter and the Scotch. The circumstance of the great
majority of the Irish being attached to the religion of Rome, while the
English in Ireland profess the reformed faith, explains some of the
apparently anomalous features in the condition of the Irish people;
but, exclusive of this, a vast variety of circumstances, some of the
more prominent of which will be mentioned in the course of this work,
have contributed to form the distinctive and peculiar habits and cha-
racter of the Irish.
The British Isles, exclusive of those of Orkney and Shetland, lie
between the 50th and 59th degrees of north latitude; and between the
11th degree of west and the 2nd degree of east longitude. They are,
consequently, opposite to the northern coasts of France, the Nether-
lands, Denmark, and the southern part of Norway. The south-east
extremity of Great Britain is separated from France by the Straits of
Dover, a narrow channel, only 21 miles in width; but, as the British
coasts recede from this point in a north-westerly direction, while the
opposite Continental shores recede to the north-east, the intervening
sea is of pretty ample dimensions. Ireland lies to the west of Great
Britain, from which it is separated by St. George's Channel and the
Irish Sea; its southern and northern extremities being nearly in the
same latitudes as Bristol and Alnwick.
The insular situation of Great Britain and Ireland is an immense
advantage. It gives us a well-defined frontier, on which there can be
no encroachment, and about which there can be no dispute. It renders
us comparatively secure from hostile attacks, at the same time that it
affords every facility for commerce; and though it subjects the climate
to sudden changes, it makes it really temperate, exempting us from
those comparatively lengthened and violent extremes of heat and cold
experienced in the Continental countries under the same parallel of
latitude.
The distance, in a direct line, from the Lizard point near Falmouth,
in lat. 49° 57′ 30″ N., long. 5° 13′ W., the southernmost land in Eng-
land, to Dunnet Head in Caithness, in lat. 58° 42′ N., long. 3° 29′ W.,
is 608 miles. But a considerable portion of this line is water, inas-
much as it passes through the Bristol Channel, the Irish Sea, and the
Moray Frith. The longest line, not intersected by any considerable
arm of the sea, that can be drawn in Great Britain, stretches from
Rye in Sussex, in lat. 50° 57′ 1″ N., long. 0° 44′ E., to Cape Wrath
in Sutherland, in lat. 58° 37′ N., long. 4° 59′ W., a distance of 580
miles. The longest line that can be drawn crosswise in Great Britain,
is from the Land's End, in lat. 50° 4' 8" N., long. 5° 41′ 31″ W., to
a point near Lowestoffe, on the coast of Norfolk, in lat. 52° 29′ 10″ N.,
long. 1° 45′ 14″ E., a distance of 367 miles; but, in other places, the
breadth from sea to sea is much less considerable, being sometimes
under 40 miles.
ENGLAND AND WALES.
3
The east coast of Great Britain, though marked by several promi-
nences, of which the great triangular district terminating in Kinnaird's
Head is by far the most conspicuous, is, on the whole, pretty regular;
and were a straight line drawn from Dover to Duncansby Head, the
land cut off from the main body of the island would not be far from
equal to the water included. The western coast, on the contrary, is
exceedingly irregular. The principal encroachment of the sea is
between the coast of Galloway and the island of Anglesea and the
coast of North Wales; but, exclusive of this great basin, the whole
west of Scotland is deeply indented with large bays; while Cardigan
Bay and the Bristol Channel deeply mark the coast of Wales and the
south-west part of England. There are several admirable ports, and
some considerable bays, though none of them is on a very large scale,
on the south coast of England, between the Land's End and the South
Foreland.
PART I.
EXTENT, PHYSICAL CIRCUMSTANCES, AND CIVIL DIVISIONS OF
THE UNITED KINGDOM.
CHAPTER I.-ENGLAND AND WALES.
SECT. 1.-Name and Extent.
Name.-THE term England is derived from the Angles, or Anglo-
Saxons, a German tribe or nation, supposed to have occupied in the
sixth century the country between the Elbe and the Eyder. This
tribe, following the example that had been set by other tribes of the
same race, invaded South Britain in 547, about 140 years after the
subversion of the Roman power, and about a century after the invasion
of Britain by the Jutes, or Saxons of Jutland. The Angles first
landed in Northumberland; but not long after they took possession of
Norfolk; and being the most powerful or predominant of the Teutonic
tribes established in this part of Britain, it received from them the
name of England, that is, the land or country of the English, or
Angles.
;
There is more difficulty in regard to the term Wales. It was the
name given by the Saxons to the principality to which it is still
applied; and also to Devonshire and Cornwall, which were called
West Wales. Etymologists differ as to the origin of the name.
Sumner supposes that it is derived from the Saxon weallen, to wander
and that the Saxons meant by it to specify the countries to which they
and the other German tribes compelled part of the Britons to resort,
as fugitives and wanderers, from the richer and more level country to
the eastward of the Severn and the Exe.-(Campbell's Political
Survey, vol. ii. p. 310.)
Figure and Extent. The figure of this grand division of Great
Britain is triangular: the base of the triangle being formed by a line
drawn from the South Foreland in Kent, to the Land's End in Corn-
wall; the eastern side by a line drawn from the South Foreland to
B 2
4
ENGLAND AND WALES.
Berwick; and the western, or longest side, by a line drawn from
Berwick to the Land's End. It is bounded on all sides by the sea,
except on the north, where it unites with Scotland; from which it is
separated partly by the river Tweed, and partly by a waving and not
very well defined line, drawn from near Coldstream to the bottom of
the Solway Frith, in a south-westerly direction.
66
Geographers and writers on political arithmetic, have differed very
widely in their estimates of the area of England and Wales. According
to the most ancient and traditional opinion, they contained 29,000,000
statute acres. Dr. Beeke remarks, that this nearly coincides with the
extent of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom, and he believes that it may be
traced back to that period. Probably," says he, "it was not the
result of any geographical inquiry, though the times in which I suppose
it to have originated were by no means so incompetent to such an
inquiry as may be imagined; but was a computation made from the
returns to the royal treasury. The mode of levying the revenue of the
Anglo-Saxon kings led to a more minute investigation of the extent
and cultivation of their territory than has recently been attempted.
The celebrated Domesday Book of the Norman conquerors was evi-
dently formed on a more ancient register of the same kind, to which
it continually refers."-(Observations on the Income Tax, 2nd ed.
p. 10.)
The admeasurement of the maps of the seventeenth century, inac-
curate as they were, would have sufficed to prove that England and
Wales contained more than 29,000,000 acres. It is singular, there-
fore, that Sir William Petty should have estimated their area at only
28,000,000 acres. Dr. Beeke thinks it probable that he may have
calculated by 60 miles to a degree of latitude; and if so, his estimate
would nearly correspond with the area deducible from Morden's map,
the best that was then published.
Gregory King estimated the area of England and Wales at 39,000,000
acres; but the first estimate to which much attention is due, is that
framed by Dr. Halley. Taking the best maps then extant for the
basis of his calculation, he found, measuring the counties separately,
the entire area of England and Wales to amount to 39,938,500 acres.
Unfortunately, however, the maps to which Dr. Halley was obliged to
resort were very inaccurate, particularly as respected the southern
counties. The operations connected with the Ordnance survey have
shown that the distance between the South Foreland and the Land's
End had been exaggerated by about half a degree! But for this
extraordinary error, Dr. Halley's estimate would not have been very
wide of the mark.
It is needless to specify in detail the various estimates given by
Grew, Templeman, Arthur Young, and others; they vary from
31,648,000 to 46,916,000 acres ! The last, which is the number
given by Mr. Young, in his "Travels in France,"* was adopted by
Mr. Pitt, in his estimate of the probable product of the income tax;
by Mr. Middleton, in his Survey of Middlesex, and by other autho-
rities.
* Vol. i. p. 286. Mr. Young had previously given a more accurate estimate in
the second part of his " Political Arithmetic," p. 26.
NAME AND EXTENT.
5
The first approach to a more correct computation was made by
Dr. Beeke, in his elaborate tract on the income tax. Availing him-
self of later and more correct observations, by which the true distance
between several of the principal points had been determined, he com-
puted the area of England and Wales at 38,498,572 acres; but more
recent investigations have shown that even this computation is about
1,400,000 acres too great. According to the results deduced from
Arrowsmith's map, which, as it was principally founded on the Ord-
nance survey, could not involve any very material error, the area of
England was set down, in the remarks prefixed to the census of 1821,
at 50,535 square miles, and that of Wales at 7,425, making together
57,960: but in the census of 1831, Mr. Rickman reduced the area of
England to 50,387 square miles.* It is, however, worthy of remark,
that the area of the different counties, obtained by adding together the
areas of the parishes and hundreds contained in each, as given in the
Population Returns, does not correspond in any instance with their
aggregate measurement. The area of England and Wales, as deduced
from them, amounts to only 49,641 square miles, being 746 square
miles less than the other. No attempt is made, in the official papers
referred to, to explain this discrepancy. We subjoin-
A Table exhibiting the Area of the Counties of England and Wales in Square Miles
and Statute Acres, as deduced from the aggregate Measurement of each; the Acres
in each, as deduced from the Particulars in the Population Returns for 1831; and
the Fractional Part of the entire Area of England and Wales, supposing it to be
represented by 1000, contained in each County, according to its aggregate Mea-
surement.
ENGLAND.
Counties.
Square
Miles,
aggregate
Measure-
Statute Acres,
ment.
aggregate
Measurement.
Statute Acres,
according to
Details
in Population
Returns.
Part of the Area of
England and Wales,
supposing it to be 1000,
contained in each county,
according to
aggregate Measurement.
Bedford
463
296,320
297,632
Berks
752
481,280
472,270
8.008,718
13.007,680
Buckingham.
738
472,320
463,820
12.765,516
Cambridge
Cheshire.
857
548,480
536,853
14.823,912
1,052
673,280
649,050
18.196,914
Cornwall,
excl. of
Scilly Islands.
1,330
851,200
849,200
23.005,604
Cumberland.
1,523
974,720
969,490
26.344,012
Derby
1,028
657,920
663, 180
17.781,775
Devon
2,585
1,654,400
1,636,450
44.713,900
Dorset
1,006
643,840
627,220
17.401,232
Durham
•
1,097
702,080
679,530
18.975,299
Essex
1,533
981, 120
979,000
26.516,986
Gloucester
1,258
805, 120
790,470
21.760,188
Hants.
1,625
1,040,000
1,018,550
28.108,351
Hereford.
863
552,320
543,809
14.927,697
Hertford
630
403, 200
400,370
10.897,392
Huntingdon
372
238,080
241,690
6.434,650
Kent.
1,557
996,480
972,240
26.932,125
* We believe it should be 50,380.
6
ENGLAND AND WALES.
ENGLAND-continued.
Statute Acres,
aggregate
Measurement.
Statute Acres,
according to
Details
in Population
Returns.
Part of the Area of
England and Wales,
supposing it to be 1000,
contained in each county,
according to
aggregate Measurement.
Square
Miles,
Counties.
aggregate
Measure-
ment.
Lancaster
Leicester.
1,766
806
1,130,240
1,117,260
30.547,291
Lincoln
•
2.611
,
515,840
1,671,040
511,340
13.941,742
1,663,850
45.163,634
Middlesex
282
180,480
179,590
4.877,880
Monmouth
496
317,440
324,310
8.579,534
Norfolk
2,024
1,295,360
1,292,300
35.010,033
Northampton
1,016
650,240
646,810
17.574,206
Northumberland
1,871
1,197,440
1,165,430
32.363,523
Nottingham
837
535,680
525,800
14.477,963
Oxford
756
483,840
467,380
13.076,870
Rutland
149
•
95,360
97,500
2.577,320
Salop.
1,343
859,520
864,360
23.230,471
Somerset
•
1,645
1,052,800
1,028,090
28.454,300
Stafford
1,184
757,760
736,290
20.480,177
Suffolk
1,515
969,600
918,760
26.205,632
Surrey
759
485,760
474,480
13.128,762
Sussex
1,466
938,240
907,920
25.358,057
Warwick.
897
574,080
567,930
15.515,810
Westmoreland
762
487,680
485,990
13.180,655
Wilts
1,367
874,880
869,620
23.645,610
Worcester
723
462,720
459,710
12.506,054
Yorkshire
5,836
3,735,040
3,669,510
100.947,900
explained.
Fractional part not
•
Add for Scilly Islands
Total of England 50,387 32,247,680 31,770,615
7
4,480
121,082
5,570
871.566,457
WALES.
Anglesey
271
173,440
Brecknock
754
482,560
Cardigan
675
432,000
Caermarthen
974
623, 360
Caernarvon
544
348,160
Denbigh
633
•
405,120
Flint.
244
156,160
Glamorgan
792
Merioneth
Montgomery
663
506,880
424,320
839
536,960
No details given.
4.687,608
13.012,275
11.675,777
Pembroke
610
390,400
16.847,713
9.409,811
10.949,284
4.220,577
13.699,578
11.468,207
14.512,558
10.551,443
Radnor
426
272,640
7.368,712
Total of Wales
7,425
4,752,000
128.433,543
land as before
Add Total of Eng- 50,387
32,247,680 31,770,615
871.566,157
Total of England}
and Wales. .) 57,812 36,999,680
1,000.000,000
FACE OF THE COUNTRY.
~J
SECT. 2.-Face of the Country.
Few countries exhibit a greater variety of surface than England, or
have been more highly favoured by nature.
"Although," says
Dr. Aikin, “its features are moulded on a comparatively minute
scale, they are marked with all the agreeable interchange which con-
stitutes picturesque beauty. In some parts, plains clothed in the
richest verdure, watered by copious streams, and pasturing innumerable
cattle, extend as far as the eye can reach: in others, gently rising hills,
and bending vales, fertile in corn, waving with woods, and interspersed
with flowery meadows, offer the most delightful landscapes of rural
opulence and beauty. Some tracts furnish prospects of the more ro-
mantic and impressive kind; lofty mountains, craggy rocks, deep dells,
narrow ravines, and tumbling torrents: nor is there wanting as a con-
trast to those, scenes in which every variety of nature is a different
charm, the vicissitude of black barren moors, and wide inanimated
heaths.”—(England Described, p. 1.) Such is a vivid description of
the general appearance of England. But its varied beauty and rich-
ness are not the only things to excite admiration: the mildness of the
climate, removed alike from the extremes of heat and cold; the multi-
tude of rivers, their depth, and the facilities they afford to internal
navigation; the vast beds of coal and other valuable minerals hid under
the surface; the abundance and excellence of the fish in the rivers and
surrounding seas; the extent of sea-coast; the number, capaciousness,
and safety of the ports and bays; and the favourable situation of the
country for commerce; give us advantages that are not enjoyed in
an equal degree by any other nation. The splendid panegyric of
Pliny on Italy, is, in most respects, still more applicable to England :—
Ergo in toto orbe et quacunque cœli convexitas vergit, pulcherrima
est omnium, rebusque meritò principatum naturæ obtinens, Britannia
rectrix parensque mundi altera; viris, fœminis, ducibus, militibus,
servitiis, artium præstantia, ingeniorum claritatibus, jam situ ac salu-
britate cœli atque temperie, accessu cunctarum gentium facili, littoribus
portuosis, benigno ventorum afflatu, aquarum copiâ, nemorum salu-
britate, montium articulis, ferorum animalium innocentiâ, soli fertili-
tate, pabuli ubertate. Quicquid est quo carere vita non debeat,
nusquam est, præstantius: fruges, vellera, lina, vestes, juvenci. Ne
equos quidem præferre ullos vernaculis animadverto.”—(Hist. Nat.
lib. xxxvii. cap. 13.)
66
It is farther the good fortune of England, and of the United King-
dom generally, to be placed under the most favourable circumstances
for the development of industry and ingenuity. Her inhabitants
have many wants that are unknown to those that occupy warmer
climates; and having also the capacity and the wish to gratify them,
they are fitted to rise higher in the scale of wealth and civilization.
They are neither benumbed by extreme cold nor enervated by over-
powering heats; the soil is not fertile enough to produce crops with
little exertion, nor barren to such a degree as to deny abundant
returns to the laborious and skilful cultivator; and while the various
vegetable, animal, and mineral products we possess in such unparalleled
profusion, furnish ample means, our necessities and acquired desires
8
ENGLAND AND WALES.
prompt to the continued exercise of manufacturing and commercial
ingenuity. Hence the United Kingdom may be said to be the chosen
seat of industry; nowhere are her gifts more necessary, and nowhere
are they more ardently desired, or reaped in greater abundance.
No one will expect to find, in a work of this sort, either a full de-
scription of the country, or minute topographical details. It is impos-
sible, however, to form any just notion of its actual state and resources,
without having a general acquaintance with its physical as well as with
its moral and political condition.
The face or appearance of a country may be variously described.
Some geographers commence their descriptions by giving an account
of the rivers, and of the basins, or tracts of country, drained by each.
But though this method has some advantages, we incline to think that
the best and most natural order is to begin with the description of the
mountains, proceeding successively to describe the vales, the rivers and
lakes, and the sea-coasts and harbours; and then laying before the reader
accounts of the geology, climate, botany, and zoology. We propose
following this plan in regard to the various divisions of the United
Kingdom; and it is hoped that the reader may, in this way, acquire
sufficiently distinct ideas with respect to its natural powers and capa-
cities.
SECT. 3.-Mountains and Moorlands.
The mountains of England, though of very inferior dimensions com-
pared with those of some continental states, form a prominent and
distinguishing feature in its physiognomy. We shall include under
this head a brief notice of the principal hills and moorlands; meaning
by the latter, the principal elevated tracts of heathy or moorish
ground.
A chain of mountains or hills extends, with but few interruptions,
along the whole western side of the kingdom, from Cumberland to
the Land's End. It is of very various breadth and elevation. In
some places it approaches quite to the west coast, occasionally sending
off large spurs or arms to the cast. Assuming the summit of this great
chain to form the natural division between the eastern and western
sides of the kingdom, the former is by far the largest, richest, and
most important. The western side is not, however, without many
considerable tracts of fertile, level land; but they are very inferior, in
extent and value, as compared with the others.
Most of the rivers of England have their sources in this grand chain.
With the exception, indeed, of the Severn, which principally follows
a southerly course, and of the Eden, which flows north-west, all of them
that are of any considerable magnitude flow eastward; the limited
territory traversed by those that run westward not allowing them
space to attain a lengthened course, or to carry off a large body of
water.
The great longitudinal chain has been divided into three portions,
respectively denominated the Northern, Cambrian, and Devonian
ranges. The first, taken in its utmost extent, stretches from the
Scottish border to the middle of Derbyshire: it enters England at
Carter Fell, near the north-eastern extremity of Cumberland, and
MOUNTAINS.
9
**
stretches southwards, in a pretty direct line, till it is interrupted by the
valley of the Ribble, Craven, and the valley of the Aire. This part
of the chain lies partly in Cumberland, partly in Westmoreland, partly
in Northumberland, and partly in Durham and Yorkshire: its summit
ridge separates the waters of the North Tyne, South Tyne, Tees,
Swale, Ure, and Wharfe, flowing eastward, from those of the Irthing,
Eden, Lowther, Lune, and Ribble, flowing westward. Its elevation
varies from 1,200 to near 3,000 feet: the highest summits are Cross
Fell, near the sources of the South Tyne and the Tees, in the western
part of Cumberland, 2,901 feet high; Shunnor Fell, in which the Eden
and the Swale have their sources, on the confines of Yorkshire and
Westmoreland, 2,329 feet high; and Whernside, Ingleborough, and
Pennigant, respectively 2,384, 2,368, and 2,270 feet high, in the western-
most parts of Yorkshire, contiguous to the sources of the Ribble and
the Wharfe.
An important portion of the northern range lies to the westward of
that connected central ridge here noticed, being separated from it by
the valley of the Eden and the Vale of Kendal. This portion stretches
lengthwise from near Ireby, in Cumberland, to Ulverston in Lancashire
and from Lowther Water, across to Dent Hill, near St. Bees Head.
Some of the summits in this group are the highest of any in England.
The most elevated are those of Scaw Fell, Helvellyn, Skiddaw, and
Bow Fell, in Cumberland, respectively 3,166, 3,055, 3,022, and 2,901
feet above the level of the sea. Scaw Fell has two principal summits,
separated from each other by a deep chasm, the one being 66 feet
higher than the other. Helvellyn is in most parts extremely rugged
and precipitous: in point of mass it far exceeds almost any other of the
Cumbrian mountains: it is, however, closely hemmed round by others;
while Skiddaw, though of inferior dimensions, being comparatively
detached, appears to much greater advantage, and may be seen nearly
on every side in its entire elevation. Exclusive of the above, the Nine
Pins, in Westmoreland, rise 2,136 feet above the level of the sea; and
Coniston Fell, in Lancashire, 2,577 feet.
The mountains in the central range extend in some places to a
great width; insensibly shelving down and uniting, on the eastern
side, with the Cheviot hills, and the moors of Northumberland,
Durham, and West Yorkshire. They are in general rounded and
tame, and are mostly covered with peat earth and heath, having a
dreary, bleak, desolate aspect. But those in the western group are
generally steep, bold, and rugged; in their disposition there is little of
regularity, no lengthened ridge or continuous chain; their appearance
is that of a congeries of immense broken and mostly angular masses,
having their bases united, or nearly so, except where they are sepa-
rated by lakes. The western mountains, unlike those of the eastern
ridge, are mostly covered with a fine green sward, affording excellent
pasture for sheep: Skiddaw, however, is partially clothed with heath.
The varied forms of these mountains, ornamented in parts with
wood, and the picturesque beauties of the numerous lakes scattered
amongst them, form a tout ensemble of very attractive scenery. They
are seen to the greatest advantage on the road from Kirby Lonsdale,
by Kendal, to Shap.
10
ENGLAND AND WALES.
Besides slate and limestone, of which, indeed, the mountains in
this part of the northern range are mostly composed, they furnish
considerable supplies of coal, lead, and of the rare mineral plumbago,
or black lead; this is obtained from a mine in Borrowdale, in Cum-
berland, of a finer quality than any hitherto discovered in any other
part of the world.
The Cheviot hills unite with the north-eastern confines of the great
central range now described. They are situated partly in Scotland,
and partly in Northumberland: that part of them which is in the
latter, occupies the space between the Scottish border on the north-
west, and the upper part of the river Coquet on the south, round by
Prendwick, Ilderton, Wooler, and Kirknewton, to Mindrim; including
an area of from 90,000 to 100,000 acres. Several of these hills have
a conical figure, some being nearly perfect cones; while the shape of
others is very irregular: in general, however, they are pointed, their
sides smooth, and rapidly sloping, and their bases separated by deep
narrow glens. Except at their very summits, where points of rock
and loose stones appear, they are mostly covered with a pretty fertile
soil, producing a rich, close, green sward; but on the upper parts of
the hill, called by way of distinction the Cheviot, and which is 2,658
feet above the level of the sea, there are extensive tracts of heath.
The Cheviot hills are depastured by numerous flocks of the valuable
and peculiar breed of sheep called the Cheviots, now widely diffused,
not only over the north of England, but also over almost all Scotland.
As already stated, the northern part of the great central chain is
divided into two portions by the valley of the Ribble, the district of
Craven, and the valley of the Aire. The Leeds and Liverpool canal,
which passes through Craven, and may be considered as the line of
demarcation, has at its summit level, opposite to Pinnow hill, an ele-
vation of 500 feet. From this hill, the southern division of the
British Apennines, as the northern central range has sometimes been
termed, extends nearly south along the eastern border of Lancashire,
Cheshire, and Staffordshire, the western parts of the West Riding of
Yorkshire, and the northern and western parts of Derbyshire, to near
Ashborne in the latter. The length of the chain is above 60 miles ;
but its breadth is extremely various, being about 20 miles across from
near Sheffield to Cheshire, whereas between Rochdale and Hudders-
field, it is merely a narrow ridge. It separates the waters of the
Calder and the Don, flowing east, from those of the Irwell and the
Mersey, flowing west. Its most elevated points are Bolesworth Hill,
in the north-east part of Lancashire, 1,689 feet above the level of the
sea; Blackstone Edge, on the confines of Lancashire and Yorkshire;
Holme Moss, on the confines of Yorkshire and the eastern angle of
Cheshire, 1,859 feet; Kinderscout and Lord's Seat, in the hundred of
High Peak, Derbyshire, respectively 2,150 and 1,751 feet high; and
Axedge, on the confines of Derbyshire, Cheshire, and Staffordshire,
1,715 feet.
The High Peak, the name given to the north-western and most
mountainous district of Derbyshire, has been repeatedly described.
But it derives its celebrity more from its caverns, perforations,
and dells, than from its mountains, which are inferior in romantic
MOUNTAINS.
11
beauty and elevation, to those of Wales, Cumberland, and West-
moreland. Poole's Hole, near Buxton, and Castleton Cavern, near the
village of Castleton, are the most remarkable of the natural curiosities
of the High Peak.
Before noticing the Cambrian mountains, there a few
groups of
hills that may be alluded to. The Malvern hills, between Hereford-
shire and Worcestershire, extend north and south about 10 miles.
They rise on the eastern side from the Vale of Severn, of which they
are one of the finest boundaries, connecting on the western side with
a range of lower hills extending for several miles into Herefordshire.
Their greatest elevation is 1,444 feet.
The Cotswold hills, in Gloucestershire, run S.W. and N.E. from
the confines of Warwickshire to Wotton, a distance of about 44 miles.
Their breadth is various, being in some places a narrow ridge, while
in others the distance across is from 8 to 9 miles. They form the
boundary between the waters that flow into the Severn on the one
hand, and those that flow into the Thames on the other. Indeed, the
sources of the latter, and those of the Churn, Coln, and Windrush,
its principal feeders, are either in, or immediately contiguous to, the
Cotswold hills. The general elevation of the ridge may be from 500
to 600 feet. Its highest summits are Broadway Hill, near Chipping
Camden, 1,086 feet above the level of the sea; Cleve Hill near Chel-
tenham, 1,134 feet; and Symond's Hill, near Wotton, 795 feet. It is
crossed in one of its hollows by the Thames and Severn Canal, the
summit level of which, near the head of the Thames or Isis, is 351
feet above the sea. These hills are covered with a shallow calcareous
loam, provincially called stonebrash, and are enclosed and mostly cul-
tivated.
From Symond's Hill, a part of the Cotswold ridge extends to Bath.
But the main portion, occupying the space between the Lower Avon,
near its source, and the Isis, unites with Salisbury Plain. The Cots-
wold hills may, indeed, be considered as a continuation of that great
central chain of mountains already noticed, stretching from the Scotch
border to the middle of Derbyshire.
The Wrekin Hill in Shropshire, is so much higher than any other
hill in its vicinity, that it seems to rise alone from the middle of the
plain. It is craggy at the top; its plan is that of a long oval, point-
ing nearly north and south; and its figure has been supposed pretty
exactly to resemble that of a whale asleep on the surface of the ocean.
—(Aikin's Tour in Wales, p. 192.) Its height was not formerly sup-
posed to exceed 1,200 feet; but it is now ascertained to be 1,320 feet
above the level of the sea. The Wrekin may be considered as the
northern extremity of a ridge, lying in the same line with it, consist-
ing of the hills of Frodsley, Caradoc, &c. They are craggy at the
top, and ascend from the plain of Salop at an angle of about 60°.
The Cambrian mountains, forming the Alpine portion of the great
longitudinal chain, are a good deal more elevated in North than in
South Wales. The principal chain runs in a north-east, and south-
west direction, the whole length of Caernarvonshire, from the point.
of Lleyn, opposite to Bardsey Island, to Penmaenbach Promontory,
on Conway Bay. The mountains of which it is composed are the
12
ENGLAND AND WALES.
highest in the principality. They gradually ascend from each ex-
tremity of the chain towards the centre, which is occupied by Snow-
don, the loftiest of all. The general escarpment fronts the sea; while
the particular escarpment of individuals, or detached groups, depends
upon the course of the streams. The altitude of the highest peak of
Snowdon is 3,571 feet above the mean level of the sea, being the most
elevated land in South Britain. The mountain terminates in various
cliffs; and the particular cliff, the Wyddva, to which the name of
Snowdon is particularly applied, scarcely out-tops several of the sum-
mits by which it is surrounded. The western side of the mountain is
very precipitous, and is composed partly of pentagonal basaltic columns.
Carnedd Llywellyn, and Carnedd David, lying N. E. of Snowdon,
are the next highest mountains in this chain.-(Davies's North Wales,
p. 20; Aikin's Tour in North Wales, p. 94, &c.)
A chain of mountains, occupying the conterminous parts of Me-
rioneth, Montgomery, and Denbigh shires, runs nearly parallel to the
Caernarvon chain, from Powyn and the base of " huge Plynlimmon,"
to Llangollen. The summit of this chain forms the line of demarcation
between the waters that flow into the Severn on the one hand, and the
Dee on the other. Its highest points are Cader Ferwyn, Arran
Fowdy, and Cader Idris. Of these, the last is by far the most cele-
brated. It rises on the sea shore, close to the northern side of the
æstuary of the small river Disynwy, about a mile above Towyn. It
gradually ascends in a northerly direction for about 3 miles; then for
about 10 miles further it runs E. N. E., giving out from its summit a
branch nearly 3 miles long, in a south-westerly direction parallel to the
main ridge. The highest point has an elevation of 2,914 feet above
the level of the sea. It is on all sides steep and craggy; especially on
the south, bordering Talyllyn Lake, where it is nearly perpendicular.
Its breadth, where greatest, bears but a small proportion to its length.
In some places it is a mere ridge, with a base not exceeding a mile in
width.-Aikin, p. 64, &c.)
Plynlimmon is, in point of mass, the largest mountain in Wales;
but in respect of altitude it is inferior to several others, being only
2,463 feet above the level of the sea. The Severn, Wye, and Rhydiol,
flowing east, south, and west, have their sources near each other in this
mountain.
From Plynlimmon a ridge extends south to Tregarron Down; and
then south-westerly, along the southern side of the Teify, to the Pres-
celly hills in Pembrokeshire. The highest points in this range do not
reach an altitude of more than 1,800 feet.
Radnorshire and Brecknock are both much encumbered with
mountains. The Talgarth and Black Mountains stretch from the latter
into Caermarthenshire. The Black Mountains derive their name from
their dreary blackness, or from the dark appearance of the heath by
which they are covered, when out of blossom. The Van or Beacon,
the highest of the Brecknock hills, and, indeed, of those of South
Wales, has an elevation of 2,862 feet. The northern parts of Glamor-
gan are also mountainous; but none of the summits is of any very
considerable height.
The mountains to which the name of the Devonian range has been
MOUNTAINS.
13
given, occupy part of Devonshire, Cornwall, and Somersetshire.
The principal chain stretches in a south-westerly direction, from the
borders of the Vale of Exeter to the Land's End. The highest
points in this range are Yestor and Cawston Beacon, near Okehamp-
ton; the former having an elevation of 2,077, and the latter of
1,792 feet; and Rippon Tor, about five miles from Newton Bushel,
1,549 feet high. The space between these mountains, round by Erme
Head on the south, and Brentor on the west, is occupied by Dart-
moor. This, which is one of the most remarkable tracts in the king-
dom, includes a space of from 200,000 to 300,000 acres.
It is said,
but we suspect the statement is exaggerated, to have a mean eleva-
tion of more than 1,700 feet above the level of the sea. Its surface is,
in most places, extremely rugged: the soil, where it is not encum-
bered with broken fragments of rock, is mostly thin and poor; and in
the most elevated part of the moor there is an immense morass, cover-
ing about 80,000 acres, which in some places is incapable of support-
ing the lightest animals. The part of Dartmoor called the Forest,
embracing an extent of about 54,000 acres, belongs to the Crown, as
parcel of the Duchy of Cornwall; and on this and some other of the
best parts of the moor, considerable improvements have been made,
particularly in the way of planting. Very large buildings for the
accommodation of prisoners were erected here during the latter part
of last war. - (Vancouver's Survey of Devon, p. 279, &c.)
Caraton Hill, 1,208 feet high, and Hensbarrow Beacon, 1,034
feet, are the two most elevated points in that part of the chain now
under consideration, which runs through Cornwall. Pertinney, con-
tiguous to the Land's End, has an elevation of 689 feet.
The Mendip, Quantock, and Brendon hills, in Somersetshire, may
be considered in connection with the Devonian range. Dunkerry
Beacon, in the Brendon hills, is one of the highest hills in the west
of England, being 1,668 feet above the level of the sea. From the
summit there is an extensive view of the Bristol Channel. The
Mendip hills stretch in a north-westerly direction about 25 miles,
from near Chesterblade to the south of Shepton Mallet, to near Uphill,
on the north side of the river Ax, contiguous to the Bristol Channel :
their mean breadth is from 4 to 5 miles. The height of this ridge varies
from 800 to about 1,100 feet. It was anciently a royal forest; but it
is now partially inclosed and cultivated; the uninclosed portion, which
is covered with heath and fern, affording pasture for a peculiar de-
scription of sheep. In the parish of Chedder, on the south-west side
of the ridge, not far from Axbridge, is an extraordinary chasm, ex-
tending fully 2 miles into the hills. In some parts the limestone cliffs
rise quite perpendicular, to the height of 300 feet. In general, the
salient angles on the one side correspond with the recipient angles on
the other; so that it would seem as if the mountain had been torn
asunder by some great convulsion.-(Maton's Western Counties, vol.
ii. p. 124.) The Mendip hills have mines of lead and calamine; but
the former are now, either from the exhaustion of the ore or the diffi-
culty of working them, all but abandoned: the calamine mines are
still wrought, but not to any considerable extent.
The southern and eastern parts of the island are traversed by
14
ENGLAND AND WALES.
different ranges of chalk hills. Some geologists trace one of these
chains from Dorsetshire to Kent, and another from the Isle of Port-
land to the wolds in the East Riding of Yorkshire: but others con-
tend that the highest, barest, and best defined ridges in the southern
parts of the island diverge from the high table land of Salisbury
Plain. One of them, after intersecting Hants and Sussex, terminates
in the bold chalky cliffs of Beachy Head. The part of this ridge
which lies in Sussex, being above 50 miles in length, and from 3 to
6 in breadth, is celebrated, under the name of the South Downs, for
the excellence of its sheep and sheep-pasture. Another ridge stretches
from Salisbury Plain to the eastern coast of Kent. Part of this ridge,
called the Surrey Downs, is not much less celebrated for its sheep-pas-
ture than the South Downs. A little to the east of Farnham, in Surrey,
where it is narrow, it is called the Hogsback; but as it penetrates
deeper into the county, its breadth becomes more considerable. Its
southern side is generally pretty abrupt, its northern gently sloping.
The third and most important range, supposed to diverge from
Salisbury Plain, pursues a north-easterly direction, crossing the
northern parts of Berks and the southern extremity of Oxfordshire ;
then running along the southern side of the Vale of Aylesbury, in
Bucks, and along the southern confines of Bedfordshire and Čam-
bridgeshire to Suffolk. It separates the waters of the Ivell, the
southern Ouse, the Nene, and other rivers that have their embouchure
in the Wash, from those of the western Colne, the Lea, Chelmer,
Blackwater, Stour, &c., that fall into the Thames or the sea on the
Suffolk coast. That part of this chain which is in Oxfordshire and
Berks, is called the Chiltern hills. The most elevated points in the
ridge are the Whitehorse, and Scatchamfly Beacon, in Berks, respec-
tively 893 and 853 feet above the level of the sea; Wendover Hill,
in Bucks, 905 feet; Kinsworth Hill, on the confines of Bedfordshire
and Herts, 904 feet; and the Gogmagog hills, in the south of Cam-
bridgeshire. The Grand Junction Canal crosses this ridge near Tring,
in the north-western extremity of Herts, being there 389 feet above
the level of the sea. (See Priestley's Map of Canals, &c.) We
subjoin-
A Statement of the Elevation of some of the Principal Mountains of England and
Wales, as determined from Observations made in the course of the Ordnance
Survey.
Agnes Beacon (St.), Cornwall
Allport Heights, Derbyshire
•
621
980
Billing Beacon, Lancashire.
Bindown, Cornwall
633
•
658
Alnwick Moor, Northumberland
808
Black Comb, Cumberland
1,919
Arbury Hill, Northamptonshire.
804
Black Down, Dorsetshire
817
Arran Fowddy, Merionethshire. 2,955
Black Hambleton Down, York-
Arrenig, Merionethshire.
•
2 809
shire
•
1,246
Axedge, Derbyshire
•
1,753
Blackheddon, Northumberland
•
646
Bagborough, Somerset
1,270
Bleasdale Forest, Lancashire
•
1,709
Banstead, Surrey .
576
Bodmin Down, Cornwall
645
Bar Beacon, Staffordshire
•
653
Bolt Head, Devonshire
Bardon Hill, Leicestershire.
·
853
Bolesworth Hill, Lancashire
Barnaby Moor, Yorkshire
784
Botley Hill, Surrey
Beacon Hill, Wiltshire
690
Botton Head, Yorkshire
630
1,689
880
1,485
Beacons of Brecknock, Brecknock 2,862
Bow Brickhill, Bucks
•
Beachy Head, Sussex
564
Bow Fell, Cumberland
•
Beeston Castle, Cheshire
556
Bow Hill, Sussex.
683
2,911
702
MOUNTAINS.
15
Bradfield Point, Yorkshire
Bradley Knoll, Somersetshire
Brandon Mount, Durham
Brenin Fawr, Pembrokeshire
Brightling Down, Sussex
Broadway Beacon, Gloucester-
shire
1,246
973
875
•
1,285
646
·
1,086
Hind Head, Surrey
Holm Moss, Derbyshire
Hollingborn Hill, Kent
Holyhead Mountain, Anglesea
Ingleborough Hill, Yorkshire
Inkpin Beacon, Hampshire
Kensworth, Hertfordshire
923
1,859
616
709
•
2,361
•
1,011
904
Brown Clee Hill, Shropshire
Brown Willy, Cornwall.
Bull Barrow, Dorsetshire
1,805
Kilhope Law, Durham
2,196
1,368
Kit Hill, Cornwall
1,067
627
Lansdown, Somersetshire
813
Butterton Hill, Devonshire
Bwlch Mawr, Caernarvonshire.
Cader Ferwyn, Merionethshire
Cader Idris, Merionethshire.
Cadon Barrow, Cornwall
Caermarthen Vau, Caermarthen-
shire
Calf Hill, Westmoreland
Capellante, Brecknockshire
Capel Kynon, Caernarvonshire
Carn Bonellis, Cornwall
1,203
Leith Hill, Surrey
993
1,673
Llandinam Mountain, Montgo-
•
2,563
meryshire
•
1,898
•
2,914
Llanelian Mountain, Denbigh-
1,011
shire
1,110
Llangeinor Mountain, Glamor-
2,596
ganshire
1,859
2,188
Llannon, Caermarthenshire .
912
•
2,394
Longmount Forest, Shropshire
·
1,674
•
1,046
Long Mountain, Montgomery-
822
shire
•
1,330
805
Loose Hoe, Yorkshire
1,404
Carnedd David, Caernarvonshire 3,427
Lord's-Seat, Derbyshire
Malvern Hills, Worcestershire
Margam Down, Glamorganshire 1,099
•
•
1,715
•
1,444
Carn Minnis, Cornwall
•
Carnedd Llewellyn, Caernarvon-
shire
3,469
Carraton Hill, Cornwall
•
1,208
May Hill, Gloucestershire
965
Cawsand Beacon, Devonshire
Cefn Bryn, Glamorganshire
Chanctonbury Hill, Sussex
Cheviot, Northumberland
1,792
Moel Fammau, Denbighshire
1,845
583
Moel Morwith, Denbighshire
1,767
814
Moel Issa, Denbighshire
1,037
2,658
Motteston Down, Isle of Wight .
698
Cleave Down, Gloucestershire
•
1,134
Mole Cop, Cheshire
1,091
Collier Law, Durham
•
1,678
Muzzle Hill, Bucks
744
Coniston Fell, Lancashire
2,577
Nettlebed (Windmill), Oxford-
Cradle Mountain, Brecknock-
shire
820
shire
•
2,545
Cross Fell, Cumberland
2,901
bighshire
Crowborough Beacon, Sussex
Cerny Brain Mountain, Den-
•
804
New Inn Hill, Caermarthenshire 1,168.
Nine Standards, Westmoreland.
North Berule, Isle of Man
2,136
•
1,804
Pen Hill, Yorkshire.
2,245
1,857
Pendle Hill, Lancashire
•
1,803
Danby Beacon, Yorkshire
Dent Hill, Cumberland
•
966
1,115
Pengarn, Merionethshire
1,510
Penmaen Mawr, Caernarvonshire
1,540
Ditchling Beacon, Sussex
858
Pennigant Hill, Yorkshire
•
•
2,270
Dumpton Hill, Dorsetshire
•
879
Pertiney, Cornwall
689
Dunkery Beacon, Somersetshire. 1,668
Dundry Beacon, Somersetshire .
Pillar, Cumberland
2,893
790
Pilsdon Hill, Dorsetshire
•
Dunnose, Isle of Wight
Dwggan, near Builth, Breck-
nockshire
Garth (The), Glamorganshire
Gerwyn Goch, Caernarvonshire.
Grasmere Fell, Cumberland
Greenwich Observatory, Kent
Haldon (Little), Devonshire.
Hathersedge, Derbyshire.
Hawkeston Obelisk (Top), Shrop-
shire
Hedgehope, Northumberland
Helveyllin, Cumberland.
792
Pontop Pike, Durham
2,071
Plynlimmon, Cardiganshire.
Prescelly Top, Pembrokeshire 1,754
934
2,463
•
1,018
•
•
981
Radnor Forest, Radnorshire.
2,163
1,723
Rippin Tor, Devon
1,549
2,756
Rhiw Mountain, Caernarvonshire 1,013
214
Rivel Mountain, Caernarvonshire 1,866
818
Rivington Hill, Lancashire
•
1,545
1,377
Rodney's Pillar, (Base of) Mont-
gomeryshire
1,199
812
Rook's Hill, Sussex
702
·
2,347
Rosebury Topping, Yorkshire
•
1,022
3,055
Rumbles Moor, Yorkshire
•
1,308
Hensbarrow Beacon, Cornwall
Heswell Hill, Cheshire
•
1,034
Saddleback, Cumberland
2,787
475
Scaw Fell (Low Point), Cumber-
Highbeech, Essex
Highclere Beacon, Hampshire
High Pike, Cumberland.
750
land.
3,092
900
Scaw Fell (High Point), Cumber-
2,101
land.
3,166
16
ENGLAND AND WALES.
Westbury Down, Wiltshire
Whernside (in Ingleton Fells),
Scatchamfly Beacon, Berks
853
Wendover Down, Bucks.
Shunnor Fell, Yorkshire
2,329
Simonside Hill, Northumberland
1,407
Skiddaw, Cumberland
•
•
3,022
Snea Fell, Cumberland
2,004
SNOWDON, Caernarvonshire
3,571
1,417
Stow Hill, Herefordshire
•
1,143
1,747
Stow-on-the-Wold, Gloucestershire 883
Talsarn, Cardiganshire
Tregarron Down, Cardiganshire
Trelleg Beacon, Monmouthshire 1,011
Water Cragg, Yorkshire.
2,186
Weaver Hill, Staffordshire
1,154
•
Yorkshire
•
Whernside (in Kettlesdale), York-
shire
White Horse Hill, Berkshire
Wilton Beacon, Yorkshire
Wingreen Hill, Dorsetshire
Wittle Hill, Lancashire
Wordeslow Hill, Durham
Wrekin, Shropshire
•
•
905
775
2,384
2,263
893
•
809
941
1,614
632
1,320
Moorlands, &c.-The principal moorlands of England lie in the
counties of Northumberland, Cumberland, Durham, York, Lancaster,
and Stafford. In many parts they are identified with the great cen-
tral chain of mountains already described. The Northumberland
moorlands are very extensive, occupying nearly a third part of the
surface of the county. They lie principally in its western parts,
between the river Coquet and the north-western part of Durham,
uniting with the great central ridge. Their average elevation may
be from 500 to 1,000 feet above the level of the sea. They are not
marked by any very striking inequalities of surface, being in generai
extensive, open, solitary wastes, producing little except heath, and
affording a scanty subsistence to the flocks of sheep by which they
are depastured.-(Survey of Northumberland, p. 5.) In this respect
they present a striking contrast to the Cheviot hills in the northern
part of Northumberland, and the hills in the pastoral district in the
south of Scotland.
The moors of Durham lie in what is called the Lead-mine district
of the county, to the west of a line drawn from Allansford to Barnard
Castle. They are similar to the Northumberland moors. They were
supposed by Mr. Bailey, in 1810, to be worth about 1s. an acre, and
this is most probably, about their value at present.-(Survey of Dur-
ham, p. 199.)
The moors of Cumberland and Westmoreland are so intermixed
with the mountains of these counties, that they cannot be separately
considered. The total extent of moor and mountain land in Cumber-
land is estimated at from 450,000 to 500,000 acres. In Westmore-
land the mountains and moors occupy above two-thirds of the entire
surface of the county.
The Yorkshire moors are by far the most extensive and important
of any in the kingdom. They consist of two grand portions,-the
eastern and the western moorlands. The former lie in the North
Riding, extending lengthwise from Osmotherly to Harwood Dale,
between Scarborough and Whitby, a distance of above 30 miles; and
from Guisborough, on the north, to Kirby Moorside, on the south,
about 20 miles. But in this extensive tract there are a number of
fertile, well cultivated dales, some of them containing from 5,000 to
10,000 acres and upwards. The middle part of these moorlands,
separating the waters that flow into the Esk on the north, from those
that flow into the Derwent on the south, is generally elevated about
1,000 feet above the level of the sea; but Botton Head and Loosehoe
MOORLANDS.
17
hills have, the former an elevation of 1,485 feet, and the latter of
1,404 feet. The surface of some of the hills is entirely covered with
large freestones; and in other places, mosses, sometimes very large,
and never to be passed without danger, extend to a great distance.
The prevailing soil is peat earth, which is generally covered with
heath. But in the western parts of the moorlands, called Hambledon
hills, the soil is much better, being good loam on a limestone rock.
The climate of these moorlands is dry, but cold and backward. Oats
and bear, or big, are the only crops cultivated in the higher parts of
the dales. Wheat is seldom sown at a greater elevation than 600 feet ;
and even there it is very precarious, the harvest being about a month
later than at the foot of the moors.-(Tuke's Survey of the North
Riding, p. 4.)
The western moorlands of Yorkshire lie mostly to the west of a
line drawn from Barnard Castle, on the confines of Durham, to Ripley,
and thence through Otley, Bradford, and Halifax, to the borders of
Lancashire and Cheshire, being about equally divided between the
North and West Ridings. They are of very great extent; but, ex-
clusive of the moorlands, there are, to the west of the line now men-
tioned, some extensive valleys, lying along the Swale, Ure, Wharfe,
Aire, Ribble, &c., with the high mountains of Ingleborough, Penni-
gant, Whernside Fells, &c., previously noticed. The western are not
generally so sterile as the eastern moorlands. Many of the hills are
covered with fine sweet grass; in other places, there are extensive
tracts of coarse grass (bent); and where heath prevails, it is mostly
mixed with grass, bent, or rushes. The soil in the lower parts of the
moors is a fine loam, on a hard blue limestone.
The moorlands of Staffordshire are situated in the part of the county
lying to the north of a line drawn from Newcastle-under-Lyne to
Uttoxeter. Their elevation varies from about 500 to 1,154 feet; the
last being the altitude of the Weaver hills a little to the west of Ash-
borne. These moorlands are very various in quality and aspect. The
best part, being that which lies on a limestone bottom, extends from
the Weaver hills to Longnor, and from the river Dove to Morridge.
This extensive tract produces fine herbage, and the breed of cattle is
superior. Between Cheadle and Oakmoor (so called from the dwarf
oaks with which it is covered), the moorlands are rough, barren, and
bare; consisting of an immense number of rude heaps of gravel,
confusedly thrown together into sudden swells, and deep narrow glens.
The country to the north-east of Mole Cop, on the confines of Cheshire,
is, however, the worst in the moorlands; consisting principally of high
moors and mosses. The summits of some of the hills in the vicinity
of Leek terminate in huge cliffs, formed of masses of rock, piled on
each other “in a most tremendous manner."—"Here single blocks,
the size of church steeples, are heaped together; some overhanging
the precipice, and threatening destruction to all who approach; and
some of prodigious bulk have evidently rolled from the summit, and
broken in pieces."-(Pitt's Survey of Staffordshire, 2d edit. p. 274.)
Mill Dale, near Alstonfield, is a long uniform valley, or glen, of great
depth. The sides consist of overhanging precipices of limestone,
estimated to have from 100 to 150 yards of perpendicular elevation,
VOL. I.
C
18
ENGLAND AND WALES.
and very steep. The width of this glen at the top scarcely exceeds
the depth of its sides. It seems evidently to have been formed by the
bursting or breaking of the rock in which it lies. The waters of the
river Manyfold are absorbed by the fissures under the limestone rocks,
near Butterton, and are again discharged at IIam, four miles below.-
(Pitt's Survey, p. 273.)
Besides the above moorlands, and Dartmoor in Devonshire, already
mentioned, the forest of Exmoor merits a brief notice. It is situated
mostly in the south-west part of Somersetshire, but is partly also in
Devonshire. It is an extensive tract, containing about 20,000 acres
of moorland. The river Exe rises in the north-western extremity of
Exmoor, within about 5 miles of the Bristol Channel; and the eleva-
tion of the whole forest is very considerable. It contains a few patches
of cultivated land, but it is mostly waste, though it is believed to be
susceptible of considerable improvement. On the summits of the hills,
especially in the west and north, are swamps of many acres in extent.
It produces a small hardy breed of horses; and affords pasture to
above 20,000 sheep of a peculiar breed, kept for their wool, and some-
times left to die of mere old age. The rent may be estimated at
from 1s. to 2s. an acre. Portions of it are reserved for game, and the
wild stag is still found within its limits.
Heaths. The most extensive of the level heaths of England are
those of Surrey, Dorset, and Hants. Bagshot Heath, in the north-
western angle of Surrey, is an extensive tract, containing several
thousand acres of exceedingly poor moorland, being for the most part
quite level and uninteresting. It is elevated about 460 feet above the
level of the sea. The principal heaths in Dorset and Hants extend in
a direct line from the river Avon in the latter, to near Dorchester in
the former, and from Wimborne Minster to the Purbeck hills. This
extensive tract is dreary, and miserably poor. The most elevated parts
seem to be wholly incapable of any improvement, unless it be that of
planting; and the cost of bringing the barren tracts into tillage would
very much exceed any probable return they could make.
"A few
cattle are kept on various parts of these heaths, and some poor half-
starved sheep are occasionally seen wandering about, which are some-
times almost entirely swept off by the rot, and even the rabbits share
the same fate.”—(Stevenson's Survey of Dorset, p. 333.)
SECT. 4.- Vales, Fens, Marshes, &c.
In the English language the words vale, valley, and dale, have very
appropriate and distinct meanings:- Vale, corresponding to the Scotch
word strath, signifies a considerable extent of low country, lying
between ranges of higher grounds: valley is the diminutive of vale;
it is commonly used in the South of England, but in the north of
England and the south of Scotland the word dale is used in its stead,
and in the Highlands of Scotland the word glen. In a valley, the
lower grounds are narrow, as from half a mile to a mile or two in
width, generally with high steep banks on each side. The dell of the
south of England corresponds to the groin or gill of the north of
England; and the cleugh of southern Scotland is the diminutive of
VALES.
19
dale or valley, or a short or otherwise inferior valley: dingle is the
diminutive of dell.
Of these we shall merely notice the vales; the valleys, dells, and
dingles being too numerous, and most of them, however beautiful
their scenery, too unimportant to deserve any particular description.
The
The north of England partakes too much of the mountainous cha-
racter of Scotland to contain many extensive vales. Entering Nor-
thumberland from the north, the first we meet with is the Vale of
Coquet, traversed by the river of that name. It is particularly noted
for its fertility, and the excellence of its agriculture. In the southern
part of the same county is the Vale of Tyne; it exhibits a great variety
of landscape, and above Newcastle is very rich and beautiful.
Vale of Stockton is formed of the lower vale lands of the county of
Durham, and the district of Cleveland in Yorkshire; these together
form one homogeneous vale, intersected by the Tees, which forms the
boundary between the two counties. This vale accompanies the Tees
from the moorlands of Durham, in the neighbourhood of Barnard
Castle, to its mouth, a distance of nearly 40 miles. It is bounded on
the south by the eastern moorlands of Yorkshire, and on the north by
the high lands of Durham; in its widest part it is 15 miles across,
but its upper part, above Darlington, is narrow. It includes the towns
of Barnard Castle, Darlington, Yarm, Stockton, and Stockesly; while
Hartlepool and Guisborough stand on its margin: the surface is re-
markably flat; the soil for the most part fertile; and it is distinguished
by the excellence of its breeds of cattle, horses, and sheep, and the
skill and enterprise of its farmers.
The Vale of York may justly be regarded as the first river vale in
the island; it is situated mostly within the North Riding; but its
southern extremity extends into the West and East Ridings. Its
northern boundary is formed by a number of shallow small lakes, or
meres, lying between the Tees, the Swale, and the Wisk; its southern
boundary consists of the marshes of Yorkshire and Lincolnshire; the
limestone of West Yorkshire and the skirts of the western moorlands
constitute its western, while the moorlands, limestone heights, and
wolds of the East Riding constitute its eastern boundary. From north
to south its length is about 60 miles, with an average breadth of about
16; including an area of nearly 1,000 square miles. There are several
towns in this vale, of which the principal are York, Northallerton,
Thirsk, and Boroughbridge: on its western margin are Richmond,
Rippon, Knaresborough, Tadcaster, and Doncaster; its eastern margin
is also marked by some small towns, but none of them is of conse-
quence enough to claim our notice. The surface of the vale is suffi-
ciently diversified to give richness and beauty to its appearance;
it is in most places fertile, and its agriculture is pretty good. Its
northern extremity imperceptibly unites with the south-west margin of
the Vale of Stockton; the rise in the ground by which they are sepa-
rated being so inconsiderable as to escape notice in a general view of
the country. Thus there is an uninterrupted continuance of vale
lands, from the mouth of the Tees to the Humber, a distance of nearly
100 miles.
The limestone lands of East Yorkshire, which stretch westward
C 2
20
ENGLAND AND WALES.
from near Scarborough, along the feet of the moorlands to the Ham-
bledon hills, and then bend southward to the extremity of those hills,
where the line returns eastward along the Howardian hills to Malton,
form three-fourths of the outline of the Vale of Pickering; the re-
maining quarter being filled up by the chalk cliffs of the wold: its
form is an imperfect oval, the larger diameter being about 35, and its
shorter rather more than 10 miles; containing an area of nearly 300
This vale has all the appear-
square miles, or about 190,000 acres.
ance of a dried lake; being, in fact, a basin bounded by eminences on
every side, except where there is a narrow outlet for its waters. It is
intersected by the rivers Derwent and Rye. The district of Holder-
ness, though not strictly a vale, has so many vale characteristics, as
regards elevation, surface, and soil, that it would be improper to pass
it over without notice. It comprises that part of the East Riding of
Yorkshire, which is bounded by the German Ocean and the Humber
on the east and south, and by the wolds on the west and north; and
contains from 265,000 to 275,000 acres. The surface is not quite flat,
but undulating; on the south it is low, Sunk Island, and some other
It has a
considerable tracts, having been recovered from the sea.
strong, rich soil, consisting mostly of clayey loam, producing heavy
crops of wheat and beans, and the most luxuriant pasture. In some
places it is marshy, and large sums have been expended on its drainage,
which, however, is still in progress. Altogether it is one of the most
productive agricultural districts in the empire; has very little waste
land; and is deservedly celebrated for its breeds of sheep and cattle,
both of which have been materially improved. The towns of Hull,
Beverley, Driffield, Bridlington, Hornsea, and Patrington, stand on
and nearly define its boundaries.
In the north-west of England there is an extensive level tract, in-
cluding a space of about 300,000 acres, having the city of Carlisle in
its centre. This large plain is bounded on the north by the Frith and
Moss of Solway; on the east, by the heights of Gillsland, and the
eastern moorlands of Cumberland; on the south, it unites with the
valley of Appleby; and on the west, it is bounded by the slate-rock
mountains and the inlet of Abbey Holm. It is only on its southern
margin that in its elevation it rises above the true vale character.
In Lancashire there are several extensive tracts which, though not
vales, have a good deal of the vale character. The first we meet with,
coming from the north, is "the Fylde." This tract stretches between
the road from Garstang to Preston and the sea, being from 8 to 10
miles in width. The western and southern part of the large tract of
country lying between the Ribble and Mersey is almost quite flat.
There is, in fact, hardly a swell of any importance, in a direct line,
between Liverpool and Oldham, at the foot of the central mountain
ridge on the confines of Yorkshire. The vale of Warrington, which
enjoys a high degree of fertility, is watered by the Mersey, and com-
prises a considerable extent of ground, both on the Lancashire and
Cheshire side of that river.
Cheshire is generally flat: a ridge of high ground crosses it from
north to south on its western side; and on its eastern border there are
some considerable eminences which form part of the highlands of
VALES.
21
Derbyshire and Staffordshire; but the rest of the country is nearly
level; forming a very rich and extensive plain.
The Vale of Severn, taken in its most comprehensive sense, may be
considered as beginning above Chepstow it includes within its outline
great part of Worcestershire: it then contracts and closes on the north
with the hills of Shropshire and Staffordshire. Its banks on the west
are formed by the forest of Dean, Mayhill, the Malvern hills, and the
hills of Herefordshire and Shropshire. Its eastern banks are formed
by the Stroudwater and Cotswold hills, and the rising grounds on the
borders of Warwickshire, closing with the Lickey and Clee hills. It
is divided by the Bredon hills, and some smaller ones, into the three
subordinate vales of Worcester, Gloucester, and Evesham: but if we
suppose these hills and some hillocks near Gloucester to be removed,
the whole will form one unbroken vale, traversed by the Severn from
where its principal branches unite, till it falls into the Bristol Channel.
The upper part of this extensive vale is rich; but it is too flat and its
banks too tame to be picturesque. Its most striking scenery com-
mences with the Malvern hills; and from these, till it reaches Chep-
stow, its banks present continuous beauties. Indeed it may almost be
said to be a garden of 40 miles' extent, the Severn winding through
it with unusual freedom, while the Welsh mountains in the distance.
present a striking contrast, and constitute a well-marked and noble
outline.
"The Vale of Severn, Nature's garden wide,
By the blue steeps of distant Malvern wall'd,
Solemnly vast.'
""
DYER'S Fleece.
The Vale of Gloucester, or that part of the Vale of Severn now
noticed which lies in Gloucestershire, deserves to be more particularly
described. It may be divided into the Vale of Gloucester, strictly so
called, and the Vale of Berkeley. The former is semicircular, the
Severn being the chord, and the environing hills the arc: in it lies the
city of Gloucester, with the towns of Tewkesbury and Cheltenham.
Its extent from Matson Hill to Bredon Hill, on the north, is 15
miles; its breadth from the Severn to Dowdeshill is 7 or 8 miles,
containing between 50,000 and 60,000 acres.
The Vale of Berkeley approaches, in its outline, nearer to the seg-
ment of a circle than to any other regular figure: the Severn forms
an irregular chord; the hills to the south and east a curve, which is
continued to the northern angle by the Matson hills; from the foot of
the latter to Auscliff its extent is about 25 miles, and its medium
width about 4. Its area may be about 80 square miles, or above
50,000 acres. The waters of the Severn, which are here more like a
lengthened æstuary than a river, give infinite grandeur to the view.
The surface, which is somewhat irregular, is clad in perpetual verdure :
the bottoms of the hills, stretching in many places towards the river,
are hung with beech of the most luxuriant growth: the soil is uni-
formly rich, and the scenery in general extremely fine. By far the
larger portion of the land is appropriated to grass.
In the south-west of England the vales of Exeter and Taunton are
those most worthy of notice. The former accompanies the Exe from
22
ENGLAND AND WALES
the sea to the Tiverton hills, which form its northern boundary. This
boundary is continued toward the east by Blackdown Hill, till it reaches
the Honiton hills: on the west it is bounded by the Halldown hills,
and a continuation of some heights that lie to the north of Exeter.
It contains about 200 square miles, and is watered by the Exe and the
Otter.
The Vale of Taunton, or Taunton Dean, lies in the south-west
quarter of Somersetshire. It is bounded on the north by the Quantock
hills; on the south by the Blackdown hills, which separate it from
the Vale of Exeter; and on the west by the skirts of Exmoor: its
boundaries on the east are not very well defined, but, in general, they
are formed by the rising grounds of Curry and the marsh of Sedgmoor.
It comprises about 100 square miles, or 64,000 acres, having within it
the towns of Taunton, Wellington, and Milverton. The river Thone
or Tone runs through it. The soil consists principally of a reddish
loam, of great fertility, producing the finest crops, fruit, and herbage.
The climate is peculiarly mild and serene. Drayton, in his Polyolbion,
alludes to this vale as follows:--
"What ear so empty is that hath not heard the sound
Of Taunton's fruitful Deane? not match'd by any ground."
The fruitful Vale of Aylesbury lies in the middle part of the county
of Buckingham. It is watered by the Thame and a small stream fall-
ing into it at the bottom of the vale; and is depastured by large
herds of cattle, being principally appropriated to the dairy and grazing
systems.
The Trent, in many parts of its course, winds through vales which,
though not of great extent, are neither deficient in beauty nor fertility.
The Vale of Belvoir, in Nottinghamshire, merits notice: it stretches
from the south-east bank of the Trent to the borders of Leicestershire
and Lincolnshire. The soil, which is rich and loamy, is partly under
the plough and partly in pasture.
Rutlandshire has one vale, that of Catmose, celebrated by Drayton.
It extends from the western side to the centre of the county, being
watered by the little river Guash, or Wash.
Wales, though mountainous, is not destitute of vales. The Vale of
Mold, in Flintshire, is uncommonly rich and beautiful. But the most
celebrated of the Welsh vales is situated partly in Denbighshire and
partly in Flintshire, extending on both sides the river Clwyd, whence
it takes its name, from its mouth above 20 miles inland. Its breadth
varies from 8 to 9 miles. It is inferior, in point of picturesque
beauty, to some of the deep glens and romantic valleys in other parts
of the principality: but is superior to them all in richness of soil
and luxuriance of vegetation. Hence it has been called the Eden of
North Wales. It is well cultivated, and is thickly studded with gen-
tlemen's seats, villages, and towns. Among the latter are St. Asaph,
Denbigh, and Ruthin.
The Vale of Conway, in Caernarvonshire, watered by the river of
the same name, a wide, shallow, placid stream, of a dusky hue, is a
long, narrow tract, extending from the sea to above Llanrost, admired
for its picturesque beauty. It has rich meadows, corn-fields, and
VALES.
23
magnificent groves. Its verdure and fertility contrast advantageously
with the bleak, barren region of Snowdon, rising abruptly above it on
the west.
The Vale, or rather Valley, of Festiniog, is situated in the north-
western angle of Merionethshire. It is rich and beautiful, but small,
scarcely exceeding 3 miles in length by 1 in breadth; the village of
Maentrog occupies its middle; but it derives its name from the village
of Festiniog, situated on a hill at the head of the valley. It is
watered by numerous streams that fall from the hills on both sides,
and discharge themselves into a beautiful small river. The hills are
well wooded.
The Vale of Llangollen occupies part of the eastern district of
Denbighshire. It is watered by the Dee, and derives its name from
the small town of Llangollen, situated within it. This vale has been
the theme of much panegyric; but in richness it is inferior to the vale
of Clwyd, and in picturesque beauty to that of Festiniog. The prospect
from its east end, where it unites with the great plain of Salop, is,
however, uncommonly fine.
The only other Welsh vales requiring any notice are those of Towy
and Glamorgan. The former lies in Caermarthenshire, and extends
about 30 miles up the county: it is about 2 miles broad, on both
sides the river Towy. It abounds in picturesque beauties, seen to the
greatest advantage from Grongar Hill and the castle of Dynevor.
The Vale, or, more properly speaking, great level, of Glamorgan
extends along the sea-coast of the county, stretching inland 8 or 10
miles. It is by far the most fertile part of South Wales. The soil
is excellent, and it is rich in corn, pasture, and inexhaustible mineral
treasures.
Besides the vale districts, there are several other extensive level
tracts in England which must not be passed over in any descriptive
notice, however brief, of the country. The largest plain in the king-
dom extends from the banks of the Thames through Essex, Suffolk,
and Norfolk, comprising also a considerable part of the counties
which border on these to the west. The road from London to Nor-
wich, by Newmarket, passing along the west of Essex and Suffolk to
the middle of Norfolk, a distance of about 108 miles, runs through a
more uniformly level country than any other road of the same length
in England. Indeed this great plain may almost be said to stretch
through Lincolnshire, and, crossing the Humber, to join the vale
district of Holderness in Yorkshire.
The Weald of Kent, Surrey, and Sussex, forms a very extensive
tract of generally level land, though in some places its surface is
varied with gentle eminences. Opinions vary as to its exact limits;
but it is generally understood to extend lengthwise from the border of
Romney Marsh in Kent, to Petworth in Sussex, a distance of from
60 to 65 miles, varying from 8 to 15 miles in breadth, and containing
nearly 1,000 square miles, or 640,000 acres. It is bounded, for the
most part, by the South Downs on the south, and the chalk hills of
Kent and Surrey on the north. The soil is principally clay, partly
very stiff and heavy, and partly of a softer and wetter description; but
it is interspersed with considerable tracts of clay mixed with sand, and
24
ENGLAND AND WALES.
sand and gravel. The sandy soil, in common, indeed, with the whole
weald, has been very much improved, particularly by marling. It is
mostly in a pretty good state of cultivation; and its pastures are rich
and luxuriant. The Britons called it Coit andred, the mighty wood;
and the Saxons, the Wyeld, or Weald, that is, the wild forest or
chase. It continued for a lengthened period to be an immense forest,
occupied only by herds of deer and hogs belonging to the king. It
was gradually, however, distributed by royal grants among the sur-
rounding religious houses and manors; the portion assigned to each
being called a den, denberie, or wealdberie. At first, these grants
were used only for the feeding of hogs (pannage for hogs), the
soil being supposed to be unfit either for tillage or pasture; but in
course of time they were by degrees cleared and brought into cultiva-
tion; the districts deriving, for the most part, their peculiar and dis-
tinctive denominations from the names of those by whom they were
occupied and improved, as Tenterden, Halden, Malden, &c. In the
Kentish part of the weald the custom of gavelkind, by occasioning the
repeated division and subdivision of estates, has rendered these dens
very small at present compared with their original magnitude. The
soil of this extensive district is peculiarly well adapted to the growth
of oak timber; and as every inclosure is surrounded with oak trees,
and every wood and coppice is full of them, it still retains its ancient
woody appearance. "When viewed from the adjoining hills, which
command a prospect over the whole of it, the weald exhibits the most
delightful scene that can be imagined. It appears to the eye an
extensive level country (the few hills in it being so small and inferior
to those whence it is viewed), covered with all the richness of both
art and nature; the variety of small enclosures of corn and meadow,
and the houses, seats, and villages, promiscuously interspersed among
the large and towering oaks, which grow over the whole face of it,
have the most pleasing effect, and represent to us, even at this time,
something, though a great improvement of its original state, in the
idea of an inhabited and well-cultivated forest.”—(Hasted's Kent,
8vo. ed. vol. i. pp. 293-298; Campbell's Political Survey, vol. ii.
p. 272.)
The other level tracts that seem to deserve any particular notice are
the Fens, the Marshes of Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, the level of the
Ancholme, Romney Marsh, the Marshes of Somersetshire, and Salis-
bury Plain. The Fens, as they are emphatically termed, lying round
the great arm of the sea, called the Wash, are situated principally in
the counties of Cambridge and Lincoln, but partly also in those of
Northampton, Norfolk, Suffolk, and Huntingdon. They form an
immense tract of above 500,000 acres. It seems to be sufficiently
established by the circumstances mentioned by Dugdale, in his History
of Embanking, and by the remains of ancient roads, trees, &c., found
under the surface, that most part of what is now called the Great Level
of the Fens was, originally, comparatively firm dry land.*
This ap-
pears the more singular, as there can be no question that the present
* See Dugdale's "History of Embanking and Draining," cap. 32; see also ex-
tracts from Dugdale and other writers, in Elstobb's "History of the Bedford Level,”
pp. 3-8, &c.
FENS.
25
surface of a large portion of the Level is a good deal above what it
anciently was.-(Elstobb's Bedford Level, pp. 32-37, &c.) But this
apparent anomaly admits of a pretty satisfactory explanation. It seems
to be sufficiently ascertained that, previously to the invasion of the
Romans, the sea at spring tides overflowed very extensive tracts of the
low grounds contiguous to the Wash. The greater part of the water
that thus overspread the country would be reconveyed to the sea at
ebb tide, by the channels of the Ouse, Nene, Welland, and other rivers
that run through the fens; and this great addition to the land water
would suffice to scour and deepen their channels, and to give them a
good outfall.—(Ibid. p. 44.) In consequence, the more inland parts
of the fens at Thorney, Deeping, Donnington, Downham, &c., were
comparatively well drained; and though their surface was lower than
at present, it was dry and sound.
The Romans were the first who began to exclude the sea, and to
confine the rivers by means of embankments. After this had been
effected, the quantity of refluent water being materially diminished,
the channels of the rivers not being sufficiently scoured, gradually
filled up; and the course of the land water being obstructed, it began
to stagnate in the upper part of the fens. The evil was increased by
the occasional bursting of the sea through its banks, there being
hardly any outlet for the water that had entered by the breach.
An evil of this sort would not speedily manifest itself, but would
become more and more perceptible as the rivers got encumbered with
sand and mud. Henry of Huntingdon, who lived in the reign of
King Stephen, describes the country round Thorney in the most
glowing terms; and, allowing for a good deal of colouring, it is still
sufficiently certain, that its state must at that time have been widely
different from what it afterwards became. So early as the reign of
Edward I. the evil had attained to such a magnitude, that attempts at
drainage upon a considerable scale were commenced. These attempts
have been continued ever since. Previously to the Reformation, a
large proportion of the fens belonged to rich religious houses; and the
drainage seems to have been conducted under their superintendence,
with considerable success. But after the suppression of the monas-
teries, the estates belonging to them came into private hands; and, in
the confusion of the times, the dikes and drains were allowed to fall
into decay, and the fens got into an extremely bad state.* Camden,
speaking of them, says, that the inhabitants "called Fenmen, are a sort
of people much like the place, of rugged uncivilized tempers, envying
others whom they term Upland-men, and usually walking aloft upon
a sort of stilts. They all keep to the business of grazing, fishing, and
fowling. All this country, in the winter time, and sometimes for the
greater part of the year, is laid under water by the rivers that flow
through it overflowing their banks; but when these keep to their
proper channels, it so strangely abounds with grass, and a sort of rank
hay, (by them called Lid,) that when they have mowed enough for their
use in November, they burn the rest to make it come again the
thicker. About which time one sees all this moorish country in a
flame, to his great wonder and surprise." (Gibson's ed. i. 490).
* Campbell's "Political Survey," vol. ii. p. 274.
26
ENGLAND AND WALES.
Camden seems to have thought that any attempts that might be made
to effect the drainage of the fens would be unsuccessful. But happily
the parliament and the country were of a different opinion. From the
reign of Elizabeth, their recovery began to be viewed in its true light,
as an object of great national importance; and measures were taken in
furtherance thereof, which, however, were defeated by the death of the
Queen. Many plans, having the same end in view, were proposed and
abandoned between the accession of James I. and 1634, when a charter
of incorporation was granted by Charles I. to Francis Earl of Bedford
(the proprietor of about 20,000 acres of land in the vicinity of Thorney
and other places in the fens), and thirteen other adventurers, who jointly
undertook to drain the Level, on condition of their being allowed 95,000
acres as a compensation. After the corporation had expended about
100,0007. on the undertaking, the contract with the Earl and his asso-
ciates was set aside, at the instigation of government, on pretence that
the works of the adventurers were insufficient to effect the drainage.
The real object of this nefarious proceeding was to pave the way for
the Crown interfering in what promised to be a profitable business; and
no sooner had the corporation been defeated, than an offer by the King
to drain the fens, on being allowed 152,000 acres, or 57,000 more than
were to have been allowed to the adventurers, was accepted. But this
fraudulent scheme was defeated by the disturbances that soon after
broke out; and in 1649, William Earl of Bedford was restored, by
the Convention Parliament, to all the rights of his father. The works,
which had fallen to decay, were forthwith repaired; and, in pursuance
of the plan of the famous Sir Cornelius Vermuyden, the New Bedford
river was excavated, and the works prosecuted with so much sagacity
and vigour, that in 1653 the Level was adjudged to be fully drained,
and the 95,000 acres were awarded to the Earl and his associates.
Most of the latter were nearly ruined by the enterprise; the expenses
of the drainage having amounted to 400,000l.—(Elstobb, p. 296.)
In 1668, a corporation was established by the 15 Chas. II. cap. 17,
for providing for the maintenance and repair of the works, for assess-
ing the proprietors in the sums required to defray the necessary ex-
penses, and other similar purposes. The corporation, under this act,
consists of a governor, six bailiffs, twenty conservators, and com-
monalty. The officers are elected annually; the commonalty consist
of all persons possessed of 100 acres within the Level; a conservator
must have 200 acres; and the bailiffs and governors 400 acres each.
This body was authorized to levy a tax on the whole 95,000 acres;
but only 83,000 acres are vested in the corporation in trust for the
Earl (now Duke) of Bedford and others, 12,000 acres having been
assigned to the Crown, and 2,000 to the Earl of Portland. Several
subsequent acts have been passed to explain, alter, and amend the 15
Charles II. cap. 17, but its main outlines have, notwithstanding, been
preserved, and it continues to form the basis of the existing govern-
ment of the fens. In 1697, the Level was divided into three parts,
the north, middle, and south Levels; the first comprises the lands
between the Welland and the Nene, the second those between the Nene
and the old Bedford river, and the third extends from the latter to the
southern limits of the fens.
FENS.
27
Except within the district subject to the corporation of the Bedford
Level, the drainages are mostly everywhere effected by commissioners
appointed nearly in the same way as the road commissioners. All
proprietors or occupiers of land within the Level are charged with a
tax or scot of so much per acre on the land they hold. This tax is
collected by a surveyor; and is expended either in clearing or repair-
ing the existing drains, or in making new ones, as the commissioners
may order.
In 1795, an act was passed for improving the outfall of the river
Ouse, and for making a cut across the marshes from Eau Brink to
Lynn. This important work was not, however, undertaken till 1818.
It was completed in about two years; and has proved highly ser-
viceable.
But the excavation of the new channel for the outlet of the river
Nene, and the works connected therewith, have been productive not
only of the latest, but perhaps also of the most efficient and extensive
improvements hitherto effected in the drainage and navigation of the
fens. Those works were undertaken under acts passed in 1827 and 1829.
The new channel of the Nene begins about 6 miles below Wisbeach,
and is about 6 miles in length. Its surface breadth varies from 200
to 300 feet, its depth being about 24 feet throughout. Spring tides
rise in it 22 feet at the end adjoining the Wash, and 18 feet at its
other extremity. The principal advantage of this new channel con-
sists in the circumstance of the tide ebbing in it nearly 10 feet lower
than it did in the old channel. This has given a corresponding outfall
to the waters of the adjoining lands; and by the judicious adaptation
of new drains and sluices the drainage of the whole of the north Level,
or of the tract between the Nene and the Welland, has been nearly
perfected.
Exclusive of this vast improvement in their drainage, the formation
of this new cut has been of considerable importance to the fens by
opening a comparatively easy communication between the sea and
Wisbeach, one of their principal emporiums. Previously to its being
effected, Wisbeach could only be reached by very small vessels at
spring-tides, but now it is accessible to small vessels at all seasons;
and large vessels reach it at springs. Under the same acts a con-
siderable tract of land has been gained from the sea; and the commu-
nication between the counties of Norfolk and Lincoln has been mate-
rially shortened and improved by an embankment and road carried
across the sands in the angle between them near Sutton Wash.
Previously to the excavation of the new channel for the Nene the
water in the rivers and great artificial cuts in the north Level, as well
as in the others, was generally above the level of the surrounding
marsh, being confined to its channels by embankınents; so that the
water in the land drains and ditches had to be elevated into these
channels by means of pumps, worked principally by wind-mills, but,
more recently, in some instances by steam. But since the opening of
the new outfall for the Nene, this system of drainage has ceased in the
north Level, the water at ebb-tide in it being several feet below the
surface of the marsh.
But where, as in some of the fens of South Lincolnshire, a proper
28
ENGLAND AND WALES.
outfall for the water in the great drains or canals has either not been
or cannot be provided, the employment of steam-engines for pumping
up the water of the land drains and springs into them, is of the greatest
advantage. Heavy falls of rain often take place during calm weather;
and when such is the case districts depending on wind-mills for their
drainage are frequently quite submerged. There can, however, be
little doubt that by making the main drains of a sufficient depth, car-
rying them out to the low-water mark of spring-tides, and furnishing
them with proper sluices, the employment of steam-engines might be
almost wholly dispensed with.
The new channel was completed in 1835, at an expense of about
200,000l., a further sum of 150,000l. having been at the same time
expended upon the drainage of the north Level. The late Duke of
Bedford, following the example of his ancestors, was a liberal con-
tributor to these great works.
But though much has been accomplished, the drainage of the ex-
tensive tracts comprised within the middle and south Levels, as well as
of some of the South Lincolnshire fens, is still, in several respects,
defective. It is reasonable, however, to expect that their proprietors
will profit by the example of the more perfect drainage of the north
Level, so that in the end, the national object of the drainage of the
fens may be fully accomplished.*
The Yorkshire and Lincolnshire marshes occupy the extensive and
well-defined tract to the west of the Trent, bounded by the latter, the
Idle, the Don, and the Ouse. It is mostly below high-water mark;
and, but for its embankments, would be overflowed at spring-tides.
The portion of this tract in Lincolnshire, principally between the
Trent and the New Idle river, is called the Isle of Axholme, from a
solitary hill or eminence, formerly an island, on which is the hamlet of
Axey or Haxey. This hill was once the site of a castle, which, having
been occupied in 1173, in the reign of Henry II., by one of the rebel
lords, Roger de Mowbray, was, according to Camden, attacked by the
country people in boats! (Camden, Gibson's edit. i. 573). The waters
were first drawn off in the reign of Charles I. by a Dutch colony under
Vermuyden; but the works have since been much improved and per-
fected, and the drainage is now pretty complete. That portion of the
Level in Yorkshire, called Thorne Waste, is a mere morass, but the
Isle of Axholme is extremely fertile, and well cultivated.
The district called the Level of Ancholme, in the north parts of
Lincolnshire, is very similar to the Fens. It lies along both sides of
the river Ancholme, and contains about 20,000 acres. The sand and
other alluvial matter brought down by the river having formed a bar
at its mouth in the Humber, the discharge of its waters was ob-
structed, and the adjacent land converted into a marsh. Repeated
efforts were made during a long series of years to obviate this
evil, and to render the marsh land available for cultivation. But
* An immense number of Reports, &c., have been published on the Drainage of
the Great Level. One by Mr. Smeaton was published in 1768. For further par-
ticulars the reader is referred to Elstobb's "History of the Bedford Level;" Van-
couver's "Survey of Cambridge; " Gough's edition of Camden's "Britannia;" the
Penny Cyclopædia," art. Bedford Level, &c.
ROMNEY MARSH.
29
though these efforts partially succeeded, the effectual drainage of the
level has only been accomplished of late years by means of works
planned by the late Mr. Rennie, (who had previously drained the
Wildmore Fen, in South Lincolnshire,) and executed by his son the
present Sir John Rennie. A new and more capacious sluice, with its
sill under the low-water mark of spring tides, has been constructed at
Ferriby, where the Ancholme unites with the Humber; and catch-
water drains have been excavated to intercept the water from the con-
tiguous high grounds. And in consequence of the better outfall that
has thus been obtained for the water in the river, and the prevention
of its being overloaded during heavy rains by the water from the sur-
rounding hills, the drainage of the Level has been completed; and it
is now a very valuable arable district.
Romney Marsh, in Kent, an extensive tract of level and mostly rich
land, occupies its south-east angle. What is strictly included under
this appellation comprises about 24,000 acres: but when it is described,
as it generally is, in connexion with the Welland Marsh, containing
about 16,500 acres, which adjoins it on the south-west; Denge Marsh,
containing about 3,000 acres, which unites with the latter on the
south-east; and Guildford Marsh, in Sussex, containing about 3,200
acres; its extent may be taken at about 46,700 acres.
The soil of this spacious level is not all of the same quality. In
some parts, particularly near the sea, it is poor sandy gravel; but by
far the largest portion consists of a soft, unctuous clay, mixed with
a greater or less proportion of sea sand, and is uncommonly rich and
fertile.
In summer, when the marsh is clothed with luxuriant verdure, and
covered with numerous flocks of sheep and herds of cattle, its appear-
ance from the adjacent heights is at once rich and beautiful. It
differs from the fens in this, that it was not recovered, like the latter,
but wrested from the sea. At what period the process began is not
accurately known. It is probable, however, that considerable parts of
the marsh were gained during the early part of the Saxon period of
our history. Somner, in his discourse concerning Roman ports and
forts in Kent, produces a charter of marsh land by Plegmund, arch-
bishop of Canterbury, from the year 889 to 915; and this charter
does not seem to have been one of the first. The clergy, indeed, were
deeply interested in gaining these lands, being owners of most part of
the property in their vicinity; and the practice of inning, as it is
called, that is, of wresting land from the sea, is commonly supposed to
have originated with them. The archbishops of Canterbury, in parti-
cular, appear to have sedulously applied themselves to this object,
giving their names to such parts of the marsh as they respectively
gained. Hence we have Becket's, Baldwin's, Boniface's, Peckham's,
&c., innings.-(Campbell's Survey, vol. i. p. 404.) The marsh is pre-
vented from being overflowed at high water, by an immense embank-
ment between Hythe and Romney, called Dymechurch Wall, from its
contiguity to the village of that name. This wall forms a highway
for carriages along its whole extent. Its perpendicular height from
the marsh is, in most parts, from 12 to 18 or 20 feet. The slopes are
steep, and pretty regular. Next the sea, it forms a shelving irregular
30
ENGLAND AND WALES.
beach, carried out to the distance of more than 100 yards. The width
of the top of the wall is from 15 to nearly 30 feet. Its length is rather
more than 3 miles. Arched sluices, that pass under the banks, each
having two pair of flood-gates, effect the drainage. At ebb tide the
waters make their escape through the gates, which are so contrived
that they prevent the sea from entering at high water.
There are few trees or hedges in the marsh: the fences consist
mostly of ditches and rails; great quantities of wood for the repair of
the latter being every year brought from the Weald and other parts
of Kent and Sussex. A good deal more land is now ploughed than
formerly; but it seems doubtful whether this extension of tillage
has been in any respect an advantage. It is very thinly inhabited.
It has been said of the air, that "it is bad in winter, worse in summer,
and at no time good; being fit only for those vast flocks of sheep
which feed all over it." The inhabitants are few in number, and
mostly poor; being generally labourers employed to look after the
grounds, sheep, and cattle of the owners and occupiers of the land,
who live without the marsh.
According to ancient custom, confirmed by charter of the 1st of
Edward IV., the inhabitants of the marsh are formed into a corpora-
tion, consisting of a bailiff, twenty-four jurats, and the commonalty,
who are empowered to purchase lands and tenements, to have a com-
mon seal, and to hold a court once every three weeks, for the decision
of all suits, real and personal, civil and criminal, arising within the
marsh; and they are further empowered annually to choose from
among themselves four justices of the peace and a bailiff, to whom all
writs are returnable, who have the benefit of all fines, &c., and to
whom the regulation of the police of the marsh is exclusively com-
mitted. But this body has nothing to do with the drainage of the
marsh, or the repair of the walls by which it is defended from the sea.
This is intrusted, by ancient custom, to the lords of the 23 manors in
and adjoining the marsh, who, with the bailiff and jurats of the cor-
poration now mentioned, who have one vote, are usually called lords
of the marsh. The bailiff appointed by these lords as chief supervisor
of the works is, for the most part, also the bailiff appointed by the cor-
poration of the marsh; the jurats of which are also appointed by the
lords to inspect the drains and sewers, the walls, &c., and to attend to
the levy of the duties, and all other matters relating to the drainage.
The lords of the marsh and the corporation hold their courts, for
the above purposes, in New Hall, Dymechurch. The sums required
for the repair of the wall, and the maintenance of the drainage, are
raised by a tax or scot per acre, distributed over the whole level; but
the Welland and Denge marshes are each taxed separately, to defray
their own expenses. The whole of the ancient legislation of England,
as to marshes and sewers, is, in all its essential parts, modelled on that
established in Romney Marsh.-(Hasted's History of Kent, 8vo. ed.
vol. iii. pp. 465–467.)
The marshes or fen lands of Somersetshire are of very considerable
extent and importance. They lie in the middle of the county, having
the Mendip hills on the east, the high lands about Somerton, Pether-
ton, and Ilminster on the south, the Quantock hills on the west, and
SALISBURY PLAIN.
31
the Bristol Channel on the north. They are traversed by the rivers
Ax, Brue, and Parret, and are divided into various districts differing
in elevation and soil; the latter consisting in some parts of mud and
alluvial deposits, in others of strong deep clay, and in others of turf
bog, &c. The religious houses that were early established in this
county, among which the monastery of Glastonbury was the most
eminent, having acquired large possessions in the fens, made the most
meritorious efforts for their improvement, by cutting drains to carry
off the waters, constructing dikes and sluices to prevent the overflow
of the adjacent country, and carrying causeways of stone and gravel
through what had previously been almost impassable morasses.—
(Campbell's Survey, vol. i. p. 333.) After the dissolution of the reli-
gious houses, the works they had constructed seem to have gone to
decay. Latterly, however, great efforts have been made to improve
the drainage of the fens. The great difficulty has been to get a pro-
per outfall; and to prevent the inundation of the low land by the
rivers, during floods and high tides. For this purpose, many exten-
sive, though not very deep, cuts have been made, sluices contrived,
and embankments erected along the banks of the rivers and the sea
shore. In consequence, a great deal of most excellent land, that was
comparatively useless at no distant period, has been partly rendered fit
for tillage, and partly and principally converted into very valuable
meadows. Still, however, it is to be regretted that the drainage of the
low grounds is in many places far from complete; and that extensive
tracts are not unfrequently laid under water.
In point of fertility, the low grounds of Somersetshire are equal to
any in the kingdom. They yield the most luxuriant pasture; and
some of them, when ploughed, have been known to produce in succes-
sion, and without the intervention of either a fallow or a green crop,
from 12 to 20 heavy wheat crops! The only manure given to land
so treated is that which is got by cleaning the surrounding ditches.—
(Billingsley's Survey of Somerset, p. 177.)
The drainages are managed by commissioners, nearly in the same
way as those of Romney Marsh.
Salisbury Plain, in South Wiltshire, is one of the most remarkable
tracts in the kingdom. It is oval shaped, extending lengthwise, from
Warminster on the west, to North Tidworth on the east, about 22
miles;
and from East Lavington on the north, to Old Sarum on the
south, about 15 miles. This extensive tract consists of a sort of ele-
vated table land of a chalk formation. At a distance it has the ap-
pearance of a large plain; but, on a closer inspection, it is found to
be traversed by numerous and sometimes pretty extensive valleys, and
has almost everywhere a billowy surface. Around the stupendous
relics of Stonehenge it is, however, comparatively level; no habit-
ations are near; and nothing is to be seen, except vast flocks of sheep
attended by their shepherds. The soil is generally thin, light, and,
like all chalky lands, has its usual accompaniment of flints. It is
mostly covered with a fine green sward, that affords excellent pasture
for sheep, for the feeding of which it is peculiarly well adapted. Mr.
Young appears to have formed an exaggerated idea of the fertility of
this plain, and the advantages that would result from dividing it into
32
ENGLAND AND WALES.
""
arable farms, and subjecting the down land to cultivation.—(Southern
Tour, 2d ed. p. 200.) Since the period when he visited this part of
the country, the "greedy plough," influenced by the high prices ob-
tained for corn during the war, has "preyed largely on its carpet.'
This, however has not generally proved a profitable course. Good
crops were at first obtained; but the land, being thin and loose in its
staple, unless it be supplied with abundant doses of manure, speedily
wears out; and, when laid down to grass in an exhausted state, is
worth little or nothing. Hence, tillage on the down lands requires to
be skilfully managed; and there should always be a stock of sheep
sufficient, by means of folding or otherwise, to keep up their fertility.
Marlborough Downs, an extensive tract adjoining Salisbury Plain
on the north-east, is in all respects similar to the latter, except that
its surface is more uneven. The Hampshire Avon, flowing to the
south; the Kennet, flowing to the east; and some of the feeders of the
Lower Avon, flowing to the west; have their sources in Salisbury
Plain and Marlborough Downs. This is a sufficient proof of the
general elevation of the ground. The Kennet and Avon Canal, at
Crofton Tunnel, between Salisbury Plain and Marlborough Downs,
is elevated 474 feet above the level of the sea at low water mark.
Westbury Down, on the west side of Salisbury Plain, is 775 feet above
the sea level. The general elevation of the plain may be from 400 to
500 feet.
SECT. 5.—Rivers, River Ports, and Lakes.
The most celebrated and important of the rivers of England are the
Thames, Severn, Trent, Mersey, Ouse, Dee, Tyne, Tees, and Med-
way. We, therefore, purpose giving a brief account of the sources,
course, and termination of the above rivers, and of their most im-
portant tributaries; subjoining a few short notices of some of the
smaller and less celebrated streams. According to Camden, there are,
in England and Wales, upwards of 550 rivers and rivulets distinguished
by particular names.
Thames.-This noble river, the largest in this part of the kingdom,
and, in a commercial point of view, the most important in the world,
rises in Gloucestershire, being formed by the junction of the Thames
or Isis, Lech, Colne, and Churnet, rivulets which have their sources in
the Cotswold hills. The first, which is the most important, rises on
the borders of Wiltshire, a little to the south-west of Cirencester; it
flows east by Cricklade; and, being augmented by the other streams, the
combined river, to which it gives the name of Thames, becomes navi-
gable for barges at Lechlade, on the confines of Gloucestershire and
Berkshire. Its course is thence north-east, till, being farther aug-
mented by the Windrush and the Evenlode, from the borders of
Gloucestershire, it turns, a little to the north of Wytham-house, to
the south. After passing Oxford, it bends suddenly to the west by
Nuneham Park to Abingdon. Having again resumed its southerly
direction, it is joined, a little below Dorchester, in Oxfordshire, by
the Thame.
This latter river has several sources, of which the most remote are
in the central parts of Buckinghamshire, near Kreslow and Wendon
THAMES.
33
Lodge. They unite at Thame, in Oxfordshire, from which point, to
where it joins the Thames, it is navigable.
It may here be proper to state, that, according to the common
opinion, the Thames obtained its name (said to be Thame-isis, shortened
to Thames,) from the junction of the Thame with the Isis, or with the
river coming from Gloucestershire. But this opinion, notwithstanding
its apparent accuracy, has probably no good foundation. At all
events, it appears to be abundantly certain that the river which passes
Lechlade, formed by the junction of the rivulets already referred to,
has, from a very remote period, been called the Thames; and that the
name Isis, given to it by the literati of Oxford, is not mentioned in
ancient charters, or by ancient historians, and is wholly unknown to
the common people in the country through which it flows.*
From Wallingford, a little below the influx of the Thame, the
river flows almost due south, till, passing Basildon Park, it turns east
to Reading, where it is joined by the Kennet. It then flows north-
east to Great Marlow; thence south to Maidenhead, and south-east by
Windsor and Staines, till it receives the Wey. Its course is thence
easterly, with many bold sweeps to London; and flowing through the
metropolis, and being augmented by the Lea from Hertfordshire, and
the Darent, it continues its easterly course till it unites with the sea at
the Nore light, 45 miles below London Bridge.
The distance from London Bridge to Lechlade, where the Thames
becomes navigable, following the windings of the river, is 146 miles
the total rise from low water mark at the former to the latter being
about 258 feet. This ascent is overcome by means of several locks, con-
structed at different periods, of which the first is at Teddington,
18 miles above London Bridge; this, consequently, is the limit to
which the tide flows. The low water surface of the river from Ted-
dington Lock to London Bridge falls about 16 feet 9 inches, or about
10 inches a mile at an average. The high water mark at Teddington
is about 1 foot 6 inches above the high water mark at the bridge, and
the time of high water is about 2 hours later. The average fall in the
bed of the river, from Teddington_to London Bridge, is about a foot a
mile; the breadth of the river at London Bridge is 692 feet.
Though not a rapid, the Thames is by no means a sluggish river;
it rolls forward with an equable and steady current, and is remarkable
for the purity of its waters. It has been admirably described by
Denham in his Cooper's Hill:-
"Though deep, yet clear; though gentle, yet not dull;
Strong without rage; without o'erflowing, full."
But it is as a navigable and commercial river, having London on
its banks, and bearing on its bosom numberless ships fraught with the
produce of every country and every climate, that the Thames is prin-
cipally distinguished. Its depth of water is so great, that, as a shipping
port, London enjoys peculiar advantages; even at ebb tide there is
from 12 to 13 feet water in the fair way of the river above Greenwich ;
and the mean range of the tides at London Bridge is about 17 feet,
* Camden's « Britannia,” Gibson's edition, i. 100; Campbell's "Political Survey,”
i. 139.
VOL. I.
D
34
ENGLAND AND WALES.
while the range at the extreme springs is about 22 feet. The river is,
in fact, navigable as far as Deptford for ships of any burthen; to
Blackwall for those of 1,400 tons; and to the St. Katherine's Docks,
adjoining the Tower, for vessels of 800 tons. As already stated, it is
navigable by barges to the confines of Gloucestershire; and the navi-
gation is thence continued by canals through Cirencester and Stroud
to the Severn: but the usual water communication between London,
Bath, and Bristol, is by the Kennet and Avon canal, and the Kennet,
which unites with the Thames at Reading. The conveyance of goods
by this channel usually occupies about seven days; and the navigation
is besides exposed, particularly between Reading and London, to much
interruption from droughts, floods, &c. The whole course of the river,
from its source to the Nore, is reckoned at from 205 to 210 miles.
The removal of the old London Bridge has caused a considerable
change in the river above, and also, though in a less degree, below the
bridge. Owing to the contracted arches through which the water had
to make its way at the old bridge, there was a fall of from 4 feet
9 inches to 5 feet at low water; this fall is now reduced to about
2 inches; so that the low water line above the bridge is nearly 5 feet
lower at spring tides than formerly. In consequence, a greatly increased
body of tidal water now flows up and down the river; and as it meets
with no obstruction, it flows with a decidedly greater velocity. The
effect of this is to scour and deepen the channel of the river; its in-
fluence in this respect being already sensibly felt as far up as Putney
Bridge, 7½ miles above London Bridge. The shores above the latter,
that were formerly foul and muddy, are now becoming clean shingle
and gravel, and near low water the beach is quite hard and firm.
shoals are also decreasing below the bridge; and there can be little
doubt that the change will, at no distant period, be felt from the Nore
up to Teddington.
The
Before the removal of the old bridge, a barge, starting from the
pool with the first of the flood, could not get farther than Putney
Bridge without the assistance of oars. But, under similar circum-
stances, a barge now reaches Mortlake, 4 miles farther up, before
using oars, and with a little help she may reach Richmond;
and taking
horses there, may get to Teddington in a tide. The descent down the
river has been equally facilitated; the mean velocities of the flood and
ebb between London Bridge and Westminster Bridge, are flood, 3 miles
an hour, extreme, 31; ebb, 31, extreme, 33.*
Of the tributaries of the Thames, the Kennet, Wey, Lea, and Da-
rent, only are navigable, and are, therefore, the only ones that we need
notice.
"The Kennet swift, for silver eels renowned,"
rises on Marlborough Downs, in Wiltshire, and, pursuing an easterly
course, falls into the Thames at Reading. It has been made navigable
as far as Newbury, whence the canal previously mentioned is carried
by Devizes and Bradford to Bath and Bristol. The Wey falls into
the Thames near Oatlands; it has its source in the eastern part of
Hampshire, and has been rendered navigable from Godalming to the
* We obtained these details from the late John Smeaton, Esq., engineer.
MEDWAY.
35
Thames, a distance of about 20 miles. The first navigation locks used
in England are said to have been constructed on this river. The Lea
rises in the chalk hills near Luton, in Bedfordshire; and, pursuing a
southerly course, falls into the Thames near the East India Docks.
It has been made navigable, by collateral cuts and otherwise, as far as
Hertford. This navigation, which is of considerable importance, began
to command the attention of the legislature so early as 1425, in the
reign of Henry VI. It has not even yet, however, received all the
improvement and extension of which it is capable.—(Priestley on
Inland Navigation, &c., p. 411.) The Darent has its source near
Westerham, in Kent; it falls into the Thames about four miles below
Dartford, to which it is navigable.
The Medway can hardly be called a tributary of the Thames; but
as it falls into the æstuary of the latter, it may be most properly noticed
in this place.
The Medway was called by the ancient Britons Vaga, to which the
Saxons prefixed the syllable Mad, signifying mid or middle, because
it ran through the middle of the kingdom of Kent: hence it came to
be called Medweg, and latterly Medway.-(Husted's Kent, 8vo. ed.
vol. i. p. 273.)
It rises in the south-east corner of Surrey, between the north and
south chalk ranges; being joined at Penshurst Place by streams from
the north of Sussex. Its course is thence north-east to Maidstone, and
then north to Rochester and Chatham; about two miles below which
it turns nearly east, expanding at the same time into a wide æstuary
interspersed with islands. After prosecuting an easterly course for 8
or 10 miles, it turns once more to the north, falling into the mouth of
the Thames at Sheerness. The tide is interrupted by locks, otherwise
it would flow up the river to Maidstone. In consequence of works
begun in the reign of Charles II., and resumed at different periods, it
has been rendered navigable as far as Tonbridge; affording a channel
of communication of much importance to the surrounding country.
From Sheerness to Chatham there is water to float the largest ships;
and the ground being soft, and the reaches short, it forms an admirable
harbour for men-of-war, many of which are usually laid up here when
out of commission. The arsenal at Chatham is one of the most im-
portant in Great Britain. Considering the shortness of its course, the
Medway is one of the deepest of European rivers.
In 1667, the Dutch, under De Ruyter, took Sheerness; and, sailing
up the river as far as Chatham, destroyed several sail of the line and a
great quantity of stores. They accomplished this daring and brilliant
achievement without incurring any material loss; but the fortifications
were soon after so much improved and strengthened as to render a
coup de main of this sort no longer possible.
The Stour, Colne, and Chelmer, fall into the mouth of the Thames
at different points on the Essex coast. The Stour rises near Haverhill,
on the confines of Essex, Suffolk, and Cambridgeshire. Having passed
Sudbury, to which it is navigable, and Manningtree, it falls into the
mouth of the Thames at Harwich. The harbour of the latter is of
great extent, and has sufficient water to float ships of the largest class ;
but the access to it is a good deal obstructed, so that a pilot should be
D 2
36
ENGLAND AND WALES.
always employed. The entrance to the harbour is marked by two
lighthouses. The Colne is navigable from Colchester to the mouth of
the Thames; and the Chelmer from Chelmsford to the æstuary of the
Blackwater, and thence to that of the Thames.
The basin of the Thames, that is, the country drained by it and its
tributary streams, including the Medway, is of large extent, and is
exceedingly populous: it comprises the greater part of Kent, with the
whole of Surrey, Berks, Oxford, Bucks, Herts, Middlesex, Essex, and
Suffolk, with part of Gloucester and Wilts,-being an area of about
8,500 square miles, containing, in 1841, about 4,000,000 inhabitants;
so that on this space, including between one-sixth and one-seventh part
of the surface of England and Wales, is accumulated between a third
and a fourth part of their inhabitants, and decidedly more than the third
part of their wealth.
This statement seems sufficient to show that the fears of those who
anticipate any great falling off in the trade of London must be, in a
great degree, imaginary. The foreign trade of Liverpool, Glasgow,
and Hull, particularly the first, from their situation in the coal and
manufacturing districts, may, it is to be fairly presumed, continue, as
it has done for the last half century, to increase more rapidly than that
of the metropolis. But we do not think that there is much reason to
apprehend any material falling off in the trade of the latter. The great
population and vast wealth of the basin of the Thames seem quite
sufficient, exclusive of its advantageous situation, to insure the ascen-
dency of London as an immense commercial entrepôt.
Severn, &c.-The Severn, the second river in the kingdom in point
of magnitude, and perhaps, also, in importance, has its principal source
in a small lake on the eastern side of Plynlimmon mountain, in Mont-
gomeryshire. At its outset it is called the Hafren; the name by which,
through its whole course, it was known to the Britons. It flows first
towards the south-east, and afterwards turns to the north-east as it
approaches Newton, where it takes the name of Severn. Hence,
through the vale of Montgomery, its course is almost due north; till,
entering the great plain of Salop, beyond Welshpool, it turns abruptly
to the south-east; and pursuing the same direction, it almost encircles
Shrewsbury. Flowing through Colebrook Dale, and passing Bridge-
north, it follows a southerly course as it leaves Salop, and enters
Worcestershire at Bewdley. Being now become a broad and deep river,
crowded with barges, it rolls through a pleasant country in a tranquil
stream, passing the city of Worcester, and traversing the vales of Eve-
sham and Gloucester. In the latter it divides into two channels, one
of which washes the walls of Gloucester; but, being again united, it
forms a great tidal river. Its course from Gloucester to Nass Point is
tortuous; from the latter it flows south-west, till it assumes the name
of the Bristol Channel, expanding and insensibly losing itself in the
Atlantic Ocean.
The Severn, particularly below Gloucester, has frequently overflowed
its banks, and occasioned much damage to the surrounding country.
It is remarkable for its tide, which rushes in with a head 4 or 5 feet
high, and a loud noise. This, no doubt, arises from the wide expanse
of the waters of the Atlantic in the Bristol Channel being gradually
SEVERN.
37
narrowed, till at length they are forced violently up the river. Out-
side the Bristol Channel, spring tides rise from 22 to 24 and 26 feet ;
but in King's Road, at the mouth of the Lower Avon, they rise to the
height of 48 feet, and sometimes more; and at Chepstow the rise is
60 feet. * The opposition which the current from the sea meets with
from the adverse current of the river occasions that dashing and grinding
of the waves known by the name of hygre or eagre.
The Severn is navigable from the Flatholm Lighthouse, where it
loses itself in the Bristol Channel, to Welshpool—a distance of about
178 miles; and its navigation is continued by the Montgomery canal
to Newton. It is, consequently, of the highest importance as a channel.
of internal communication; its capacity in this respect being materially
increased by its numerous large tributary streams, and by the canals
and railroads that join it. By means of the latter, it commands a large
share of the commerce of Birmingham, and of the various trading
towns of Staffordshire, Warwickshire, &c.; and is united with the
Thames, the Trent, and the Mersey. From Welshpool to the sea it
has a gradual fall of 225 feet.-(Priestley on Inland Navigation, &c.,
p. 596.)
The navigation of the Severn from Nass Point to Gloucester is both
tedious and difficult. To obviate this inconvenience, a canal on a large
scale has been dug from Berkeley-pill to Gloucester. It is 18 miles
long, from 70 to 90 feet wide, and from 15 to 18 feet deep; and may
consequently be navigated by vessels of 350 tons. There is a basin at
each end for the accommodation of shipping. This canal, which was
opened in 1827, has become the channel of an extensive commerce;
and Gloucester is now rising fast in importance as a trading and ship-
ping town.
The barges which navigate the Severn are about 120 feet in length,
from 19 to 20 in breadth, and 5 in depth. They carry above 100
tons. The trows are from 60 to 70 feet long, 20 broad, and 5 deep,
carrying 75 tons. They carry a square-sail, and have a mainmast and
topmast.
Of the tributaries of the Severn, the most important are the Teme,
the Upper and Lower Avon, the Wye, and the Usk. The Teme
rises in the mountains which divide Radnor and Montgomery shires,
and, pursuing a south-easterly course, joins the Severn near Worcester.
The Upper Avon rises on the confines of Leicestershire and North-
amptonshire, about 300 feet above the level of the sea. It flows in a
south-westerly direction, but with a very winding course, through
Warwick, Stratford-on-Avon, and Evesham, falling into the Severn at
Tewkesbury. It has a large body of water, and is navigable by barges
for about 40 miles, or from the Severn to Stratford, where it is joined
by the Stratford canal.
The Lower Avon has its source near Malmesbury, in North Wilt-
shire. Its course is circular, passing Chippenham, Bradford, Bath,
and Bristol. As a shipping and commercial town, Bristol used to be
second only to London; but though now far surpassed by Liverpool,
and also by Newcastle and Hull, it is still a place of great trading
importance. It is situate about 8 miles above where the Avon falls
Norie's "Sailing Directions for the Bristol Channel,” p. 20.
38
ENGLAND AND WALES.
A
into the Bristol Channel; but, owing to the great rise of the tide, the
largest class of merchantmen reach the quays without difficulty.
lateral canal accompanies the river from Bristol to Chippenham.
stow.
The Wye, the largest of the tributaries of the Severn, is justly cele-
brated for its romantic and beautiful scenery. It rises on the south
side of Plynlimmon, near the source of the Severn, and pursuing a
south-easterly winding course, falls into the latter a little below Chep-
It is navigable for barges from its mouth as far as Hay, in
Brecknock-a distance by water of about 100 miles; but the naviga-
tion in the upper parts of the river is liable to much interruption,
sometimes from a scarcity of water and sometimes from floods. The
latter are occasionally so violent as to make considerable alterations in
the bed of the river. Its principal tributaries are the Lugg and the
Munnow. Owing to its being the entrepôt of the country traversed by
the Wye, Chepstow has a good deal of trade. The tide, as already
mentioned, rises here to the extraordinary height of 50 or 60 feet, and
sometimes more. Vessels of the largest burthen may. consequently,
come up to the town. Owing, however, to the violence of the ebb and
flow, the navigation is rather dangerous.
The Usk rises in Brecknockshire, and, taking an east and south
course, falls into the Severn about 4 miles below Newport. It is navi-
gable to the latter for the largest ships. The Brecon and Abergavenny
canal terminates at Newport, and it also communicates with various
railroads. In consequence, partly of this command of internal inter-
course and partly of the rapid increase of iron-works in Monmouth-
shire, Newport has become a place of considerable commercial
importance.
Besides the affluents now mentioned, the Bristol Channel or embou-
chure of the Severn, receives the rivers that drain Glamorganshire,
Caermarthenshire, and the greater part of Pembrokeshire. Of these the
Taaf, the Neath, and the Towey, are the most important; but with the
exception of the latter, which is navigable as far as Caermarthen, none
of them seems to require any particular notice.
On its southern side, the Bristol Channel receives the rivers of
Somersetshire. Of these, the Parret is by far the most important. It
rises a little to the south-east of Crewkerne, on the borders of Dorset-
shire, and, flowing northwards, is joined by the Yeo or Ivel, which
passes through Ilchester; and by the Thone, which passes through
Taunton. The Parret is navigable for vessels of 200 tons burthen to
Bridgewater; the Yeo, or Ivel, is navigable as far as Ilchester; and a
canal has been cut from Bridgewater to Taunton.
It is clear, from these statements, that the basin of the Severn is of
great extent and importance. It includes the counties of Somerset,
Worcester, Warwick, Salop, Montgomery, Radnor, Hereford, Mon-
mouth, Glamorgan, Brecknock, Caermarthen, with the greater part of
Gloucester, Pembroke, and part of Wilts. Its total area may be taken
at about 11,600 square miles, having, in 1831, a population of about
2,150,000.
Trent, &c.-With the exception of the Thames and Severn, the
Trent is by far the most important of the rivers of England, on account
not only of the length of its course but of the fertile districts through
TRENT.-OUSE.
39
which it passes, the immense number of canals with which it communi-
cates, and the considerable rivers it receives in its progress.
This fine river has its source near the Cheshire border, in the moor-
lands of Staffordshire, about four miles north from Burslem. At first
its course is nearly south-east, when it makes a sudden turn by the
east to the north, near Burton-on-Trent. It afterwards divides Leices-
tershire from Derbyshire, and pursuing a north-easterly course by
Nottingham to Newark, it turns more and more to the north. After
dividing Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire, and passing Gainsborough,
it enters Lincolnshire at West Stockwith; and flowing north, with a
little inclination to the east, unites with the great æstuary of the
Humber, at a place called Trent-falls. It may be navigated by vessels
of 200 tons as far as Gainsborough, and by barges as far as Burton-on-
Trent a distance of about 117 miles; having in this lengthened
course a fall to low-water mark of only 118 feet, or very nearly a foot
per mile. From Burton-on-Trent to its source, the rise of the river is
about 376 feet; at least the summit level of the Caldon canal, which
passes near the head of the Trent, is 494 feet above the sea.—(Priestley's
Map of Canals, &c.)
Of the subsidiary streams that fall into the Trent, the most consi-
derable are the Blythe, Tame, Dove, Derwent, and Soar; but of
these it is only necessary to notice the last two. The Derwent rises
in that part of Derbyshire called the High Peak; after passing Mat-
lock, Cromford, and Derby, it has a circuitous course from the latter
to Wilden Ferry, where it unites with the Trent. It is navigable as
far as Derby, about 13 miles; but it has been superseded, as a channel
of communication, by the Derby canal. The Soar rises east from
Hinckley, in Leicestershire: it flows through a rich grazing country,
and more than half encompasses the ancient town of Leicester. After
receiving the Wrake, its course is north, with a little inclination to
the west, till, passing Loughborough, it falls into the Trent, near
Cavendish Bridge. It is navigable to near Loughborough, a distance
of about 7 miles.
The canals that communicate with the Trent are of the greatest
importance; assisted by them, it affords an easy means of export for
the manufactures of a large district of Lancashire; the salt of Cheshire;
the produce of the Potteries of Staffordshire; the coal of Derbyshire;
and the agricultural products of Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, and
Lincolnshire. It also opens a communication with the sea by way of
Lincoln and Boston; through which channels, as well as the Humber,
the articles above enumerated are conveyed; and, in return, the
interior of the country is supplied, either by Hull and Gainsborough,
or Boston and Lincoln, with such commodities as are required by an
immense population.-(Priestley's Treatise on Rivers, Ĉanals, &c.,
p. 681.)
Ouse, &c.-The Ouse is of very inferior magnitude compared with
the Thames, the Severn, or the Trent. But if we consider it as re-
presenting that combination of rivers which join it before it falls into
the estuary of the Humber, all of which communicate with highly
important canals, it will be found to rank in the very first class as a
commercial channel. The Swale, the remotest branch of the Ouse,
40
ENGLAND AND WALES.
has its source in the mountain of Shunnor Fell, on the borders of
Yorkshire and Westmoreland, one of the most elevated in the great
central range. Pursuing a south-easterly course, it is joined at
Boroughbridge by the Ure, from Askrig, Middleham, and Ripon. A
little lower down, at Linton, the Swale loses its original name and
takes that of the Ouse. At Benningborough Hall it is joined by the
Nidd; and near Cawoode by the Wharfe, which, flowing through Tad-
caster, has its source near Arncliffe. At Barnby on the Marsh, the
Ouse receives the Derwent, flowing from the eastern Yorkshire moors,
12 miles north-west of Scarborough. A little lower down, near How-
den, it is joined by the Aire. This river, so important from its navi-
gation and canals, rises in the central ridge, a little to the east of
Settle. It pursues a south-easterly course, till, passing Leeds, it is
joined by the Calder at Castleford; its course is thence easterly, with
a good many windings. From Leeds to Ferrybridge, the Aire flows
through one of the richest plains in the kingdom. At the port of
Goole the Ouse is further augmented by the Don. The latter rises
in the high moors near the confines of Derbyshire; passing Sheffield,
Rotherham, Doncaster, and Thorne.
The Ouse itself is navigable for considerable vessels as far as York,
and for barges to Linton. The Derwent, the navigation of which is
the private property of Earl Fitzwilliam, has been rendered navigable
by locks and otherwise for a distance of about 49 miles. When the
improvements in the Aire and Calder navigation are completed, the
depth of water will be sufficient to admit vessels of 100 tons burthen
to Leeds and Wakefield: and vessels from thence will reach Goole in
8 hours, and from Manchester within 45 hours. The Don is navigable
as far as Tinsley, and a canal, 4 miles in length, has, within these few
years, been made from the latter point to Sheffield, to which it is of
the greatest utility.
The basin of the Humber, or the country drained by the Trent,
Ouse, and other rivers that fall into the great æstuary between York-
shire and Lincolnshire, embraces an extent of about 10,000 square
miles, comprising some of the most fertile and populous districts in
the kingdom. It includes almost the whole of Yorkshire, with the
counties of Leicester, Nottingham, Derby, Stafford, and about a third
part of Lincoln. Its principal port is Hull, on the north side of the
Humber, at the mouth of the river of the same name.
As a com-
mercial emporium, Hull occupies the third place in the kingdom,
taking rank immediately after Liverpool. At Spurn Point, at the
mouth of the Humber, spring tides rise about 23, and neaps about 14
feet, while at Hull the rise of the former is about 22, and of the latter
about 13 feet; and as there is, even at low ebb, a considerable depth
of water in the fair-way of the channel, the port may be entered by
the largest class of merchantmen. The rapidity of the tides, and the
numerous sandbanks, render the navigation of the Humber a little
difficult.
Goole, situated on the Ouse at its junction with the Don (there
called the Dutch River), about 22 miles more inland than Hull,
promises to be a formidable rival to the latter. It has grown up
within the last ten or twelve years, and is provided with docks, bonded
MERSEY.
41
warehouses, &c. The difficulty of the navigation is the principal
drawback on Goole; but vessels drawing 15 and 17 feet water have, by
taking advantage of the tide, reached it in safety.
Great Grimsby is the principal port on the Lincoln side of the
Humber. The harbour, which was formerly near choked up, has
latterly been materially improved: and there is good anchorage in the
roads.
The shores on both sides the Humber have been very much changed
within the period embraced by authentic history. "All the northern
parts of Lincolnshire have been gained from the sea. Barton and
Barrow have not, at present, the least appearance of ports; yet by
Hollinshed they were styled good ones.
Similar accidents have be-
fallen the upper part of the low tract of Holderness, which faces the
congruent shores. Hedon, a few miles below Hull, several hundred
years ago a port of great commerce, is now a mile and half from the
water, and has given way to the rising fortune of the latter (a creation
of Edward I., in 1296), on account of the excellency of its port. But,
in return, the sea has made ample reprisals on the lands of this hundred :
the site and even the very names of several places, once towns of note
upon the Humber, are now only recorded in history. Ravenspur, at
one time a rival to Hull, and a port so very considerable in 1332 that
Edward Baliol and the confederated English barons sailed from it with
a great fleet to invade Scotland, has long since been devoured by the
merciless ocean. Extensive sands, dry at low water, occupy the place
of these towns. Till about 1666, the district called Sunk Island ap-
peared among these sands like an elevated shoal; when it was regained,
by embankments, from the sea, and now forms a considerable estate,
probably restored to its pristine condition.”—(Introd. to Pennant's
Arctic Zoology, p. 12.)
Mersey, &c.-Though not a large river, the Mersey has, from its
flowing through the principal manufacturing district in the empire,
and giving its name to the gulph or arm of the sea between Lancashire
and Cheshire, become, in point of commercial importance, second only
to the Thames. It has its sources in the great central ridge on the
confines of Cheshire and Derbyshire: and, after passing Stockport, is
joined by the Irwell. The latter, which has its source in the Lanca-
shire moors, near Haslingden, flows south, through Bury, to Manchester,
where, being joined by two smaller streams, it takes a westerly course,
till its confluence with the Mersey. After being still further increased
by the Bollen, from Macclesfield, the Mersey passes Warrington; a
little below which, it expands into a spacious æstuary, having the
great commercial ports of Liverpool and Birkenhead, the emporia of
the cotton manufacturing district, near its junction with the Irish
Sea. The Mersey and Irwell have been rendered navigable from
Sankey Bridge to Manchester. Owing to the numerous windings in
the rivers, the length of this navigation may be reckoned at about
50 miles; but it has been a good deal shortened by cutting across the
bends.
The Weaver falls into the estuary of the Mersey, about 2 miles
below Frodsham. It rises on the borders of Salop and Cheshire, flow-
ing in a northerly direction through the central parts of the latter, by
42
ENGLAND AND WALES.
Nantwich, Winsford, Northwich, and Frodsham, to the sea. It has
been rendered navigable, by means of collateral cuts, locks, &c., from
the estuary of the Mersey, at Weston Point, to Winsford Bridge, a
distance of above 22 miles. It falls in this space 50 feet. Vast
quantities of rock salt, coal, timber, &c., are conveyed by this naviga-
tion, which is both important and lucrative Besides receiving the
above and some other considerable rivers, the æstuary of the Mersey is
connected, by means of an almost infinite number of canals and rail-
ways, with all the great manufacturing towns of Lancashire, Yorkshire,
Staffordshire, and Warwickshire, as well as with the ports of Hull,
London, and Bristol.
Dee.—This river has its source in Merionethshire, in Bala Lake,
the largest in Wales. At first it pursues an easterly course, through
the beautiful Vale of Llangollen, till it passes Wynne-Stay. It there
takes a northerly direction, separating the counties of Flint and Chester.
It enters the latter a little to the south of Eaton Hall; and, having
nearly encompassed the ancient city of Chester, is conveyed by an
artificial channel to its æstuary.
At the æra of the Conquest, and for many years after, Chester was
a place of very considerable importance, as a shipping and commercial
port. In this respect, indeed, it was decidedly superior to any port on
the west coast of England, with the exception of Bristol. For several
centuries it engrossed the principal part of the Irish trade; and it had
also an extensive intercourse with the south of France, Spain, and the
Mediterranean. But the gradual filling up of the channel of the river
proved in the end destructive of its trade. Towards the close of the
seventeenth century, the navigation was so much obstructed, that
vessels of 20 tons burthen could with difficulty arrive at the quays; so
that the shipping and trade of the port were almost entirely transferred
to Liverpool, which had then begun to emerge from obscurity. The
celebrated Andrew Yarranton, in a work published in 1677, suggested
a plan, intended to accomplish the double object of restoring Chester
to her ancient commercial importance, and recovering a large tract of
land in the æstuary of the Dee, by cutting a new channel for the
river.*
But, though an Act for this purpose was obtained in the reign
of William III., the project was not carried into effect till 1737, when a
new channel was formed from the city to near Wepre Hall, on the south-
west side of the æstuary of the Dee, being a distance of about 8 miles.
The distance thence, by the low-water channel, passing Park Gate,
to the opening into the Irish Sea, off Great Hilbree Island, is 15
miles.
Ships of about 200 tons ascend to the city by means of this cut;
and, by confining the waters of the river, 8,000 acres of valuable
land have been recovered from the sea, embanked and cultivated. This,
indeed, has been the most valuable result of the undertaking; for,
owing to the superior facilities enjoyed by Liverpool as a shipping port,
the trade and navigation of Chester continue to be of very secondary
importance. (Pennant's Tour in Wales, 8vo. ed. vol. i. p. 258;
Priestley's Map of Canals, &c.)
Tyne.--This important river is formed of two very considerable
* England's Improvement by Sea and Land, part i. p. 191.
TYNE.-TEES.-WEAR.
43
streams, the North and the South Tyne. The latter rises on the
borders of Durham and Cumberland, near Cross Fell, one of the
highest mountains in the great central range; and the former in the
moorlands of Northumberland, close to the Scottish border. They
unite a short way from Hexham. After their junction, the river takes
an easterly direction; and, passing Newcastle, falls into the sea at
Tynemouth, having the towns of North and South Shields close to its
embouchure.
The Tyne is navigable for large ships as far as Newcastle; and is
navigated a few miles further by keels, a peculiar description of vessels,
employed to convey coal to the coal ships. Newcastle has extensive
intercourse with foreign countries, and is the principal seat of the coal
trade. As a shipping port, it is inferior only to London. The towns
of North and South Shields are, however, the proper ports of the
Tyne.
Tees.-The sources of this river are contiguous to those of the
South Tyne. At first it flows in a south-easterly direction; but,
below Darlington, it turns abruptly to the north-east, falling into the
sea below Stockton, which may be considered its port. Stockton has a
good deal of trade; and has recently risen to considerable eminence as
a port for the shipping of coal. There are about 8 feet water on the
bar at the mouth of the river at low ebb.
Wear.—The Wear rises to the north of the Tees, on the confines
of Durham and Cumberland. After passing Wolsingham and Bishop's
Auckland, it changes the southerly course it had hitherto pursued,
turns to the north-east, and having nearly surrounded the city of Dur-
ham, flows northward to Lambton Hall; and then inclining a little to
the east, falls into the sea at Sunderland.
The Wear is navigable as far as Durham, a distance of about 18
miles. It is of considerable value as a commercial channel, from its
flowing, in the latter part of its course, through a country supplied
with vast beds of excellent coal. The exports of this most useful
mineral from the Wear are, in fact, but little inferior to those from
the Tyne. Sunderland has two grand piers, with a lighthouse 90 feet
high. At high spring tides there are from 16 to 17 feet water over the
bar, and at neaps, from 10 to 12 feet. This has recently become one
of the principal ship-building ports. Sunderland is celebrated for the
cast-iron bridge over the Wear, erected in 1796. It consists of a
single arch, 236 feet in span, elevated, in the centre, 100 feet above
high-water mark
Rivers falling into the Wash.-Of the rivers that have their em-
bouchure in the great æstuary of the Wash, or arm of the sea between
Norfolk and Lincolnshire, the most important are the Great Ouse, the
Nene, the Welland, and the Witham. The Ouse rises in Northamp-
tonshire, near Brackley, on the borders of Oxfordshire. Its course at
first is east, a little inclining to the north, through Bucks; it then
passes Olney and Harrold, and, after many windings, reaches Bedford,
where it becomes navigable. It subsequently traverses Huntingdon-
shire, Cambridgeshire, and the north-west corner of Norfolk, falling
into the estuary of the Wash at King's Lynn. From Huntingdon
Sluice to Denver Sluice, a distance of about 20 miles, in a direct line,
44
ENGLAND AND WALES.
the Ouse is now called the New Bedford River, from the greater part
of its water flowing in the great canal or drain of that name, dug in
the reign of Charles II,, to facilitate the drainage of the fens. In its
course, the Ouse receives the Old River Nene, from Ramsey, in Hunt-
ingdonshire; the Cam, from Cambridge; the Little Ouse, from Thet-
ford; the Lake, from Bury St. Edmonds; the Wissey or Stoke, from
Stoke Ferry; and the Nar, from Castle Acre; all of them being na-
vigable to the places now mentioned.
The Nene, which rises in the south-west parts of Northamptonshire,
flows in a north-east direction from Northampton, where it becomes
navigable, past Oundle, till, at the extreme north-west point of Hunt-
ingdonshire, it turns to the east, passing Peterborough; and then
inclining more and more to the north, and passing Wisbeach, it falls
into the Wash by an artificial channel called the Nene Outfall. (See
p. 27.)
The Welland rises on the confines of Northamptonshire and Leices-
tershire, near Market Harborough. After flowing in a north-east
and northerly direction, by Stamford, Market Deeping, and Spalding,
dividing Northamptonshire from Leicestershire, Rutlandshire, and
Lincolnshire, aud through the southern part of the latter, it falls into
the Wash at Fosdyke Bridge. It is navigable as far as Market
Deeping; and a canal has been constructed from the latter to
Stamford.
The Witham has a very circuitous course. It rises on the confines
of Lincolnshire and Rutlandshire, and pursues a northerly course, by
Grantham, to Lincoln: it next flows east for a few miles, and then
turning south, it terminates its course about 5 miles below Boston.
It is navigable to Lincoln, a distance of about 38 miles; and by means
of the Fossdyke Canal, originally constructed by the Romans, is joined
with the Trent. Boston has more trade than any place on the Wash;
but the access to its port continues, notwithstanding the late improve-
ments, to be rather intricate and difficult.
Almost all the rivers that fall into the Wash run, for a considerable
part of their course, through the Great Level of the fens. And in
consequence partly of the operation of natural causes, and partly of the
cutting of new channels, and the making of embankments, in the view
of facilitating drainage and navigation, their courses have been very
much altered. This is particularly the case with the Ouse, the Nene,
and the Welland.
The basin of the Wash is of considerable extent, consisting mostly
of very rich and highly productive marsh land. It has, however, very
few manufactures; and its ports have little trade other than that which
results from the exportation of the surplus agricultural produce of the
surrounding country, and the importation of the various articles required
for the use of the population. Exclusive of Boston, already referred
to, Wisbeach in Cambridgeshire, and King's Lynn in Norfolk, are the
principal ports on the Wash.
Yare, &c.--Leaving the Wash, aud proceeding southward round
the Norfolk coast, the first river of any importance that is met with is
the Yare, which falls into the sea a little below Yarmouth. The Yare
originates in several streams rising in the country round Wymondham.
LAKES.
45
A little below Norwich it is joined by the Wensum, which rises near
Rainham Park, in the northern part of Norfolk. Near Yarmouth the
Yare is further augmented by the Bure and Waveney, the former
being navigable to Aylsham, and the latter to Bungay. The Yare
and Wensum are navigable as far as Norwich; but, at present,
the principal and best access to that city is by the Lowestoffe naviga-
This, which commences at Lowestoffe, consists partly of artifi-
cial cuts, partly of the lake Lothing, and partly of the rivers Waveney,
Yare, and Wensum. It is about 30 miles in length; and is calculated
to admit vessels drawing 8 feet water.
tion.
Of the remaining English rivers a few only are of sufficient im-
portance to require any notice in a work of this sort. The Rother
falls into the English Channel at Rye. The Sussex Ouse, which falls
into the sea at Newhaven Harbour, has been made navigable as far
as Paxhill. The Arun, which falls into the sea at Arundel, is an in-
considerable river, but it is joined by means of canals with the Wye
near Godalming. The Hampshire Avon falls into the sea at Christ-
church. It rises near Devizes, on the north side of Salisbury Plain.
At Salisbury it is joined by the Wiley and the Bourne; and is navi-
gable from Trafalgar House to its mouth. The Stour, also, has its
embouchure at Christchurch. It flows from the northern extremity
of Dorsetshire; and is navigable as far as Sturminster New-town.
The Ex has its source in Exmoor, in the western extremity of Somer-
setshire; and flowing southward by Tiverton, to which it is navigable,
and Exeter, it expands into an æstuary at Topsham, about 8 miles
from the sea. As the mouth of the river had been much impeded by
various obstructions, a canal, which has latterly been enlarged and
improved, has been cut from Exeter to a point about 2 miles below
Topsham, capable of admitting ships drawing 14 feet water. The bar
at the entrance of the estuary of the Ex, opposite to Exmouth, is
dangerous; and should not be crossed without a pilot. The Tamar
rises on the confines of Devonshire and Cornwall, near the northern
extremity of the latter. It flows in a southerly direction, inclining to
the east, by Launceston, to which it is navigable, Saltash, and Devon-
port, till it falls into Plymouth Sound.
None of the Welsh rivers, with the exception of those already men-
tioned, seem to require any notice.
The Eden, the most important river in the north-west of England,
rises on the borders of Westmoreland and Yorkshire, near Pendragon
Castle, close to the sources of the Swale, in one of the highest parts
of the great central ridge of mountains. It pursues a north-westerly
course, and falls into the Solway Frith below Carlisle, to which it is
navigable. But, the navigation being tedious and difficult, a canal
has been cut from Carlisle to Bowness Point, a distance of 11 miles,
admitting vessels of from 60 to 80 tons burthen.
The Ribble and the Lune, or Loyne, have also their sources in the
central range of mountains, and, flowing in a south-westerly direction,
fall into the Irish Sea, the former a little below Preston, and the
latter a little below Lancaster, to which they are navigable by small
vessels.
Lakes.—The lakes of England are mostly in the mountainous parts
46
ENGLAND AND WALES.
of Cumberland, Westmoreland, and Lancaster. They are rather
numerous; but of no great magnitude or importance, being indebted
for their great celebrity entirely to the picturesque beauty, variety,
and richness of their scenery. They are usually found in the glens,
or hollows between the mountains; and are generally long, narrow,
deep, and limpid. The principal are Windermere, partly in West-
moreland and partly in Lancashire; Ulleswater, partly in Westmore-
land and partly in Cumberland; Bassenthwaite-water, Derwent-water,
Ennerdale-water, &c., in the latter, and Coniston-water in Lancashire.
Windermere, the most extensive of the whole, is about 10 miles
long, and where broadest is more than a mile across. Its area, in-
cluding thirteen or fourteen small islands, or holms, is estimated at
about 2,574 acres. In some places it is 35 fathoms deep. The largest
island contains about 30 acres. Ulleswater, the next largest lake, is
about 9 miles long, its utmost breadth being about a mile. It has a
zigzag shape, and contains three small islands.
Besides those in the northern counties, the only considerable lakes
in England are the shallow lakes, or meres, as they are provincially
termed, in the fenny parts of Huntingdonshire, Norfolk, &c. Of these,
Whittlesea Mere, in Huntingdonshire, containing about 1,570 acres, is
the most considerable. A project, however, is now (1846) on foot for
its drainage. Ramsey Mere, also in Huntingdonshire, about half the
size of Whittlesea Mere, has already disappeared from the (correct)
maps; and fine crops of wheat are raised on its bottom.
There are several small lakes in Wales. Bala Lake, the largest,
has been already noticed. It is about 4 miles in length, and, in
some places, nearly 1 in breadth.
SECT. 6.-Sea-Coasts and Sea-Ports.

The sea-coast of England and Wales is of great extent. It extends,
measured in direct lines, from one headland to another, about 1,200
miles; but including its principal windings, its length may be taken
at about 2,000 miles. It has some of the finest harbours and bays
in the world; but these are more numerous on the southern and
western than on the eastern coast. With the exception, indeed, of
London and Harwich, there is no really good harbour between the
South Foreland and Berwick-on-Tweed, nor, in fact, till we reach
Cromarty Frith in Scotland.
In describing the sea coast of England and Wales, we shall set out
from the Thames, and proceed northward. The mouth of the river
is bounded on the north by the Naze, a hooked promontory in Essex,
to the south of Harwich, and on the south by the North Foreland, in
Kent; or perhaps it may be fixed at the Nore, between Shoeburyness
in Essex, and Sheerness in Kent. The coast of the former stretches
from the point now mentioned north-east to Harwich; the intervening
space being deeply indented by the bays or æstuaries formed by the
Crouch, Blackwater, Colne, and Stour. It is throughout low, flat,
and marshy; and is skirted by numerous sand-banks. Harwich, at the
mouth of the æstuary of the Stour, is one of the best ports on the east
coast of England. As already stated, the access to it is a good deal
SEA-COASTS AND SEA-PORTS.
47
encumbered with rocks; but ships properly navigated need apprehend
no danger: there is water sufficient to float the largest men-of-war,
and the harbour is at once capacious, safe, and commodious.
The sea has in the course of ages effected very great changes on
the Essex coast. It is now rapidly encroaching on the peninsula on
which Harwich is built. The battery to protect the town had, when
it was constructed 30 years ago, a considerable space of ground be-
tween it and the sea; but this and part of the fortifications have been
already swept away. Since 1807 a field, belonging to the living of
Harwich, has shared the same fate.-(Lyell's Geology, 3rd edit., vol. i.,
p. 40.)
The coast of Suffolk runs northerly, with a small inclination to the
east, in a slightly waving line, from Landguard Fort opposite Har-
wich to Great Yarmouth. The first promontory we come to is Or-
fordness, a low beach running out into the sea. The town of Orford,
formerly a sea-port, is now at some distance inland; but from Orford-
ness to Lowestoffe the sea has committed great ravages on the Suffolk
coast. Dunwich, now an inconsiderable place, with not more than
200 inhabitants, was anciently an important sea-port, having an exten-
sive trade, and a large population; but its port and its ancient site
have been totally destroyed. The encroachment of the sea began
previously to the Conquest. In the reign of Edward III. an inunda-
tion swallowed up more than 400 substantial houses. The last great
irruption of the sea was in 1740; but it has continued progressively to
make encroachments, and at present there remain only the ruins of
one of its many churches. The ravages of the sea at Aldborough
have not been much less destructive. Latterly, however, they have
been checked by the formation of a sand-bank a litttle off shore.
(Campbell's Survey, vol. i., p. 277; Lyell's Geology, 3rd edit., vol.
i., p. 403.)
The sea opposite to Southwold, between Covehithe on the north,
and Thorpeness on the south, is called Sole Bay. It was a frequent
station of the English fleet during the Dutch wars in the reign of
Charles II.; and here, in 1672, was fought the well contested action
between the English and French fleets, under the Duke of York and
Count D'Estrées, and the Dutch fleet under De Ruyter.
66
At Lowestoffe and Yarmouth the land has gained on the sea. The
change that has taken place in the vicinity of the latter has been most
extraordinary. In the time of the Saxons a spacious æstuary extended
as far as Norwich; which city is represented, even in the 13th and
14th centuries, as situated on an arm of the sea. The sands whereon
Yarmouth is built became firm and habitable ground in the early part
of the 11th century; from which time a line of dunes has gradually
increased in height and breadth, stretching across the whole entrance
of the ancient æstuary, and obstructing the ingress of the tides so
completely, that they are only admitted by the narrow passage which
the river keeps open, and which has gradually shifted several miles to
the south. Ordinary tides at the river's mouth only rise at present
3 or 4 feet, and springs 8 or 9 feet.
"By the exclusion of the sea thousands of acres in the interior have
become cultivated land; and exclusive of smaller pools, upwards of
48
ENGLAND AND WALES.
sixty freshwater lakes have been formed, varying in depth from 15
to 30 feet, and in extent from 100 to 1,200 acres. The Yare and
other rivers frequently communicate with these lakes; and thus
they are liable to be filled up gradually with lacustrine and fluviatile
deposits, and to be converted into land covered with forests." —(Lyell's
Geology, 3rd edit., vol. i., p. 398.)
From Yarmouth the Norfolk coast stretches north to Wintertoness,
then north-west to Cromer, from the latter nearly west to Gore Point
and Hunstanton, and thence nearly south to King's Lynn. It is for
the most part fenced by sand-banks, that usually lie parallel to the
shore; of these the most celebrated lie off Yarmouth, forming the
outward barrier of the Roads.
The coast of Norfolk consists principally of cliffs, partly consisting
of chalk, and partly of alternate strata of clay, gravel loam, and sand.
These are gradually undermined by the sea, which is everywhere
making inroads on the land. The site of the ancient Cromer is now a
part of the German Ocean; and the sea still threatens to dislodge the
inhabitants from the more inland situation to which they have re-
treated. In the winter of 1825, some cliffs, nearly 250 feet high, con-
tiguous to Cromer lighthouse, were precipitated into the sea, their
fragments covering 12 acres ! The ancient villages of Shepden,
Wimpwill, and Eccles have been engulphed; and in the harbour of
Sheringham there is now water sufficient to float a frigate, where, half
a century ago, there stood a cliff 50 feet high, with houses upon it!
-(Lyell's Geology, vol. i., p. 396.)
At Holkham, Wells, and other places of the Norfolk coast, the
shores are low, terminating in little hillocks of sand. The latter, being
held together by the arundo arenaria or brent, oppose an effectual
barrier to the encroachments of the sea. Hunstanton Cliff, at the
entrance to the Wash, is naturally a prominent object, and is rendered
still more conspicuous from its being crowned with a lighthouse: it
is 80 feet high, and consists of chalk and hard red sandstone, resting on
a base of iron-coloured puddingstone.—(Introd. to Pennant's Arctic
Zoology, p. 8.)
Lincolnshire is separated from Norfolk by the Wash, a great arm of
the sea, extending south-west from Hunstanton Cliff round by King's
Lynn, the Nene Outfall, and Fossdyke, to Gibraltar Point, near Wayn-
fleet. It is encircled on all sides, except where it opens to the ocean,
by low marshy land, forming part of the Great Level of the fens. It
is mostly filled up with immense sand banks, the summits of which are
dry at low water. The channels by which it is navigated are intri-
cate, and require the aid of experienced pilots. An immense extent
of land has been gained from the sea round its banks; and the process
of "silting up" is continually going forward.
From Gibraltar Point the coast of Lincolnshire sweeps round in a
continuous unindented line, without ports, to the Humber. It is so
low as to be visible from the sea only at a small distance; so that
churches, and not hills, are its distinguishing landmarks. This coast
has been the theatre of great changes. Waynfleet, once a noted town,
is at present an inconsiderable creek. Skegness, once a large walled
town, with a good harbour, is now an inconsiderable place, a mile from
SEA-COASTS AND SEA-PORTS.
49
the sea.
The port of Grimsby, which in the reign of Edward III.
furnished 11 ships for the siege of Calais, was recently almost choked
up, and is now entirely artificial. In other parts, however, the sea
has gained on the land; and the remains of a forest are said to be still
visible under the waves.
Crossing the æstuary of the Humber (see section on rivers), we
meet with the Spurn Head, forming the south-eastern limit of the
Yorkshire coast. This is a long, low, narrow, hooked promontory:
its extremity, on which two lighthouses are erected, being a beach
mixed with sand-hills thrown up by the sea.
From this point the coast, which bends north-west to Hornsea, is
composed principally of lofty cliffs of brown clay, perpetually preyed
on by the sea; which Mr. Pennant states, "devours whole acres at a
time."
A street in the village of Hornsea has been swallowed up;
and of Hyde, a neighbouring village, the tradition only is left.
(Arctic Zoology, Introd. p. 13.)
From Hornsea the coast inclines first gently to the west, and then
round by the east, till it terminates in Flamborough Head. It is
mostly low. Within the elbow, on the south side of the Head, is
Bridlington Bay. On the north and west, it is protected by the Head
and the adjacent coast, while the anchorage in-shore is defended from
the easterly and southerly gales by the sand-bank called the Smithie.
The holding-ground between the sand and the shore is good, and
there are from 5 to 7 fathoms water. The Smithie is the only sand-
bank on the coast, from Spurn Head to Flamborough Head.
This last mentioned promontory is the most striking on the east
coast of England. Its high, white, perpendicular limestone cliffs
advance a considerable way into the ocean, and render it a most con-
spicuous object. Many of the rocks of which it is composed are
insulated, of a pyramidal form, and soar to a great height. Most of
them have solid bases; but others are pierced through and arched.
On the north side are vast caverns, leading into the body of the Head,
the retreat of immense numbers of sea-fowl and wild pigeons. A
lighthouse with the lantern elevated 214 feet above the level of the sea,
and distinguishable in fair weather at a great distance, was erected on
this promontory in 1806.
This head is further remarkable from its being the commencement
of the hard or rocky coasts of the east side of Great Britain, which
continue, as Mr. Pennant has remarked, with the intervention of a
few sandy bays and low tracts, to its northern extremity.
North-west from Flamborough Head, distant about 16 miles, a
round rocky promontory projects into the sea, by which it is sur-
rounded on all sides except on the west. On the summit of this
promontory is built the castle, and on its side stands the town of
Scarborough. The latter has a pier harbour, vessels lying aground
at low water. The shore is here remarkably bold; the height and
appearance of the cliffs resemble those near Ďover. Between Scar-
borough and Whitby, lies Robin Hood's Bay; having deep water, but
exposed to the easterly gales. The coast thence to Whitby is rocky
and dangerous. Whitby is situated at the mouth of the Esk. It has
a fine pier; but its harbour, though justly considered the best in this
VOL. I.
E
50
ENGLAND AND WALES.
part of the country, ebbs almost dry. There is a lighthouse on the
pier.
From Whitby to the estuary of the Tees, the boundary between
Yorkshire and Durham, the coast trends west-north-west. It is bold
and rude, and destitute of any tolerable harbour; but it is indented
with many bays, and varied with little fishing villages, built on the
projecting ledges of the cliffs.
Hartlepool, in Durham, marks the northern extremity of the mouth
of the Tees. It is seated on a promontory, almost surrounded by the
sea; and has risen rapidly in importance as a port for the shipment of
coal from the extensive coal-fields in its vicinity, with which it is con-
nected by railways; upwards of 600,000 tons having been recently
dispatched from it in the course of a single year. Its means for the
accommodation of shipping have been, and are now (1846) in the
course of being, very greatly improved by the formation of docks,
piers, &c. It has from 5 to 6 feet water in its outer harbour at ebb-
tide in ordinary springs; and as the latter rise from 15 to 20 feet, it
may be visited by large ships. The depth of water in the docks varies
from 18 to 20 and 23 feet.
From Hartlepool for some distance, the coast is flat; but, as it ap-
proaches Sunderland, it becomes rocky, and is broken into deep
caverns. Sunderland stands on the south side of the river Wear, and
so near the ocean as at high water to appear a sort of peninsula. This
port began first to rise into eminence, by the exportation of coal, about
1620. Latterly, it has been very much improved; two piers, and a
lighthouse 90 feet high, having been constructed. At springs, there is
from 15 to 17 feet water over the bar, and at neaps from 10 to 12 feet.
The channel is close by the north pier head. Beyond Sunderland, the
coast is bleak and dreary, to the point where the opposite towns of
North and South Shields mark the embouchure of the Tyne. Within
the river, and near the town of North Shields, are two lighthouses,
which lead over the bar. The bold ruin of Tynemouth Castle is the
first object that presents itself on the Northumberland coast. About
12 miles north from this is Newbiggin Point; between which and
Tynemouth are the small harbours of Hartley, Blythe, and Seaton-
Delaval, all of them dry at low-water. From this point the coast pre-
sents nothing remarkable, except a small island at the mouth of the
Coquet, till we reach Bamborough Castle, situated on a promontory, a
very striking object, and once a place of great strength. Nearly oppo-
site to it lies the group of rocky islets, called the Farn Isles, on the
largest of which are two lighthouses. Holy Island lies about 4 or 5
miles north of Bamborough Castle. The coast of Northumberland,
from the mouth of the Tyne to Bamborough Castle, is mostly low
cliffs. From Bamborough to the mouth of the Tweed a sandy shore
extends.
We have now briefly to notice the western coast of England, be-
ginning with that of Cumberland. The coast of this county, and of
the detached part of Lancashire called Furness, forms almost a
semicircle, beginning at the mouth of the Eden, and terminating at
the Isle of Walney. Toward the Solway Frith, it is marshy, in-
denting the country afterwards with the Bay of Kilbride. Work-
SEA-COASTS AND SEA-PORTS.
51
ington, near the mouth of the Derwent, is the first place of conse-
quence that presents itself. It has about 14 feet water at springs,
and 8 at neaps. A little to the south of this is Whitehaven, situated
on a small bay, surrounded by naked hills. It is supposed to have
received its name from the white cliffs which lie on one side of its
port; but its entire consequence is derived from its coal mines, ex-
cavated to a great extent under the sea. The harbour is divided
into several basins, having from 16 to 18 feet water at springs, and
from 9 to 10 at neaps. About 3 miles west-south-west from it is the
lofty promontory of St. Bees' Head, surmounted by a lighthouse, and
noted for the resort of sea-fowl.
The coast of Lancaster is very much indented by the Irish Sea.
Dr. Campbell, in describing it, divides it into three peninsulas. Of
these the first is comprised between the river Duddon, which sepa-
rates Lancashire from Cumberland, and the Kent, which separates it
from Westmoreland. The second lies between the Kent and the
Ribble, and the third between the Ribble and the Mersey, the
boundary between Lancashire and Cheshire. The first of these,
called Furness Fells, already adverted to, presents a line of coast of
nearly 30 miles. The long and narrow Isle of Walney forms a vast
natural breakwater, that protects this part of the Lancashire coast
from the waves of the Irish Sea. Within the south end of Walney
Island, on which there is a lighthouse, is the harbour or roadstead of
Pile-a-foudre, protected on the east by the islands of Foula and Ro, to
the westward of which vessels may ride in from 5 to 7 fathoms. This
is a place of considerable importance, as respects the commerce of
Liverpool, being the only safe resort for vessels in this quarter
during strong westerly gales.-(Norie's Sailing Directions for St.
George's Channel, &c., p. 47.) Ulverston, the port of the Furness
district, is situated on the west side of a shallow arm of the sea, into
which flow the Crake, Leven, and other streams. This arm, as well
as the broad æstuary between Humphry Head and Carnforth, is ford-
able, though not without danger, at low water. Morecambe Bay
forms a spacious gulf, between Furness and Walney Island on the one
hand, and the Lancaster coast on the other.
The second part of the sea-coast between Westmoreland and the
Ribble is more extensive, as well as flatter, than the former division.
To the south of the Lune is the marshy tract along the Wyre, having
Rossal Point at its north-west angle. From this point, the coast runs
almost due south, till it is indented by the æstuary of the Ribble.
In the last division, between the Ribble and the Mersey, the
Lancashire coast takes a sort of circular form, being most advanced
at Formby Point, about 11 miles N.N.W. Liverpool. This great
emporium lies on the north-east side of the æstuary of the Mersey,
between 2 and 3 miles from its mouth. The entrance to it is ob-
structed by numerous sand-banks, the passages through which are
intricate and difficult; and should not be attempted by those not
familiar with the port without the aid of a pilot.
The coast of Cheshire is formed entirely of the broad rhomboidal
peninsula lying between the Mersey and the Dee, and presents no
feature worthy of notice.
E 2
ENGLAND AND WALES.
52
The coast of North Wales begins at the bottom of the æstuary of
the Dee; but the first object worth notice is the Point of Air. This
promontory bounds the embouchure of the Dee, on its western side,
and is the most northerly land in Flintshire. It is surmounted by a
lighthouse. From this point, the coast takes a concave circular
sweep, till it terminates in the Great Ormes Head. This is a vast
limestone rock, connected with the mainland by a low marshy neck;
and has, no doubt, been at one time an island. Towards the sea the
cliffs, which are very abrupt, are hollowed, by the action of the waves,
into various inaccessible caverns, affording a secure retreat for multi-
tudes of gulls, cormorants, ravens, rock-pigeons, &c. A telegraph is
erected on the summit of the head.-(Aikin's Tour in North Wales,
p. 165.)
South of the Great Ormes Head is the embouchure of the river
Conway. The harbour at the town is fit for small vessels; but
ships may lie, in the æstuary, in from 3 to 4 fathoms. From Conway,
the coast stretches south-west to Bangor. The road between them
skirts the mountain of Penmaenmaur, the last of the Snowdon
range,
being cut out of the rock, about 200 feet above the level of the sea,
which, at high water, dashes against the foot of the mountain, almost
directly below. Bangor is situated at the entrance of the Menai Strait,
separating the Island of Anglesea from Caernarvonshire. This strait
runs north-east and south-west, about 14 miles, varying in width from
about 2 miles to about 200 yards. Parliament having liberally con-
tributed a sum of money to assist in improving its navigation, the
dangerous rocks by which it was formerly encumbered, have been
removed, so that vessels of moderate burthen are able to pass without
difficulty through the strait, when it would not be possible for them
to double Holyhead. But the Menai Strait is now principally cele-
brated for the magnificent hanging bridge by which it has been re-
cently crossed. Holyhead being the nearest port to Ireland, and the
most convenient place at which to ship and receive the Dublin mails,
it became of great public importance that the access to it should be
rendered as safe and expeditious as possible. The usual ferry across
the strait was in the vicinity of Bangor; and this being frequently
attended with both danger and delay, it was resolved to erect, nearly
at the same place, a chain bridge, elevated sufficiently above the water
to allow ships to pass freely underneath. This great undertaking was
begun in 1819, and completed in 1825. There are seven stone arches,
each of 52 feet span; and the length of the catenary or chain part is
579 feet. The bridge cost in all 211,7917. Its elegance and solidity
reflect credit on the engineer, Mr. Telford; but it is to the parlia-
mentary Commissioners, or, rather, to their chairman, Sir Henry Par-
nell, that the public is mainly indebted for this improvement.
Holyhead stands on a peninsula on the west coast of Anglesea.
Being the station of the post-office packets for the mails between Lon-
don and Dublin, great efforts have been made to improve its harbour.
It used to be always dry at low water, so as to be unsuitable for ves-
sels that could not lie on the mud. To obviate this defect, a pier has
been projected about 200 fathoms into the sea, having 12 feet water at
its head at low springs. The pier has a lighthouse at its extremity.
SEA-COASTS AND SEA-PORTS.
53
The peninsula of Holyhead is terminated by a high rocky promontory,
called the South Stack, surmounted by a lighthouse elevated 201 feet
above the level of the sea. The Skerries, a small island to the north
of Holyhead, is also marked by a lighthouse.-(Norie's Sailing Direc-
tions for St. George's Channel, &c. p. 32.)
The coast of Caernarvonshire, southward from Menai Straits, is
formed by the peninsulated hundred of Lleyn. At its south-western
extremity is the small island of Bardsey, furnished with a lighthouse.
The south point of Caernarvonshire forms the north-west horn
of the great bay of Cardigan, one of the most considerable indent-
ations made by the sea on the western shore of the island: it is pretty
equally distributed between North and South Wales. The coast of
Merionethshire, fronting this bay, is wild and mountainous; the only
port in it is Barmouth, on the north side of a little arm of the sea, into
which several rivulets discharge themselves. It is fit only for small
vessels, drawing 9 or 10 feet water. Below Aberystwith, which, also,
is only fit for small vessels, the coast of Cardiganshire stretches in a
south-westerly direction, till it joins that of Pembrokeshire, a pro-
montory to the north of St. David's, in the latter, forming the southern
horn of the Bay of Cardigan. Cardiganshire has a coast of nearly 40
miles; and has suffered a good deal from the encroachment of the
waves.
The coast of Pembrokeshire is in general hilly, with steep or per-
pendicular cliffs. It commences at the mouth of the Teify, on the
north side of which is the town of Cardigan, accessible only to vessels
not drawing more than 10 feet water. But in Cardigan Roads ships
may lie, in moderate weather, almost anywhere without the bar, about
2 cables' length from shore. Its most westerly point is the noted pro-
montory called St. David's Head, off which lies Ramsey island, with a
group of rocks, called the Bishop and his Clerks, frequented, in the
breeding season, by vast numbers of sea-fowl. To the south of this
headland is St. Bride's Bay; and beyond some islands, which lie on its
southern side, is the entrance to Milford Haven.
This is one of the most capacious and safest asylums for shipping in
the British dominions. It deeply indents the southern part of the
county of Pembroke, and branches out into many bays, creeks, and
roads. The water
The water is deep; and, being completely landlocked, and the
anchorage ground of the very best description, ships ride within the
haven as safely as if they were in dock. At springs the rise of the
tides is from 28 to 30 feet, affording unusual facilities for the repair of
ships, enabling them to get to sea with comparatively little difficulty,
and to sail in, even though the wind should be contrary. It may be
entered without a pilot as well by night as by day. A dockyard has
been constructed on the north side of the haven, at Milford; but, the
advantage of having the rendezvous for the fleets in situations better
adapted for watching the coasts of France has prevented Milford from
attaining that importance, as a naval depôt, which her admirable haven
might seem to ensure; while the barrenness of the surrounding country,
and the want of all internal communication with any considerable
manufacturing districts, will, most probably, prevent any of the places
on the haven from becoming of much consequence in a commercial
54
ENGLAND AND WALES.
point of view. St. Anne's Point, forming the north-western ex-
tremity of the entrance to the haven, is about 145 feet high; and is
surmounted by two lighthouses, one 15, and one 45 feet in height.
The entrance is about 1 mile wide.
The coast of Wales, to the south of Milford Haven, continues
rocky; it is also full of caves and remarkable apertures, as far as the
entrance to the Bay of Caermarthen. The western horn of this bay is
formed by the rock on which Tenby is situated; the opposite horn, by
the Worms Head, the western extremity of the peninsula of Gower, in
Glamorganshire. On the south side of this peninsula lies the Bay of
Oxwich; and, to the east, the Bay of Swansea. The coast then
stretches south-easterly to Aberthaw, where it turns to the north-east,
bounding the west side of the Bristol Channel.
The shore of Monmouthshire inclines chiefly to the south, verging
at last towards the east: at first it is marshy and low, but as we ap-
proach the Wye it becomes rocky and lofty. The coast of Somerset,
opposite the Bristol Channel, forms an extensive semicircular bay;
stretching, if the indented shore line be taken into account, nearly 60
miles at the outset, it is low, and bordered by marshes, and it con-
tinues pretty level till it reaches the Bay of Minehead. Thereafter,
the coast of Somerset, together with that of Devon, which soon joins
it, may be called mountainous, having many dark cliffs and rocky hol-
lows. The shore of the latter county stretches at first due west, and
then turning south, the land is very irregularly indented, so as to form
Barnstaple Bay: it turns again westward, and afterwards, advancing
north, forms the bay called Porlidge Mouth; at the extremity of which
lies Hartland Point.
Soon after passing Hartland Point, the Cornish shore commences.
The first place we meet with on it is Beedshaven. A long range of
broken coast succeeds, stretching in a south-westerly direction to St.
Ives, situate on the west side of a considerable bay. It has a pier,
where small vessels lie aground at low water. Large ships may anchor
in the bay, in from 6 to 7 fathoms; but, being quite exposed to the
northerly gales, which throw in a heavy sea, it is not much frequented.
From St. Ives, the coast bends in a circular south-westerly direction
to Cape Cornwall, and thence southerly to the Land's End. This
celebrated headland, the most westerly land in England, is in lat. 50°
4' 8" N., long. 5° 41' 31" W. The cliffs forming its extremity are
granite, and rise about 60 feet above the level of the sea. They assume,
in some places, the appearance of shafts, and are as regular as if they
had been cut by the chisel. Cape Cornwall is elevated about 229 feet
above the level of the sea. The bay, between the latter and the Land's
End, is called Whitsand Bay, from the peculiar whiteness of its sand.
About a mile from the Land's End are the rocks called the Longships,
on the largest of which is a lighthouse. The Scilly Islands lie in a
cluster, about 9 leagues west by south from the Land's End, and are
distinctly visible from it. Sir Cloudesley Shovel, with a part of the
fleet under his command, was wrecked on these islands on the 22nd
October, 1707. A lighthouse has since been erected on St. Agnes,
one of the largest of the group. After doubling the Land's End,
the Cornish shore advances southward, and then turning to the north,
SEA-COASTS AND SEA-PORTS.
65
bounds the west side of Mount's Bay, its east side being formed by
the coast, stretching south-easterly to the Lizard Point.
*
Penzance, the most westerly market town in England, lies on the
north-west shore of this bay. It has a pier above 600 feet in length,
with a lighthouse at its extremity; within the pier there are 22 feet
water at springs, and 17 at neaps. Penzance is one of the principal
seats of the pilchard fishery; the other great seats being St. Ives and Me-
vagissey. But the most remarkable object in Mount's Bay, and that
from which indeed it takes its name, is St. Michael's Mount. This is
a rock of a conical form, lying opposite to Marazion, on the north-east
side of the bay. Its base is circular, being nearly a mile in extent; it
gradually diminishes from the base to the summit, which is crowned
with a chapel, its tower being about 250 feet above low-water mark.
On its eastern side is a small fishing village, with a pier, having about
as much water as at Penzance. The appearance of the Mount is most
striking. It was long regarded as a place of peculiar sanctity, and its
chapel was annually resorted to by crowds of pilgrims.
Dr. Paris affirms that the sea is encroaching on most parts of the
southern coast of Cornwall. He mentions, that the grandfather of the
present vicar of Madron received tithes from land under the cliff of
Penzance. It appears certain that at some distant period a very
considerable extent of land has been submerged in Mount's Bay.—
(Paris's Guide, &c., p. 15.)
The eastern shore of Mount's Bay terminates, as already stated, in
the high bold headland called the Lizard Point. This, which is the
most southerly promontory in Great Britain, is famous in navigation;
for it is from it that ships take their departure from the English
Channel, and it is, also, the best place for a land-fall when homeward-
bound. It is surmounted by two lighthouses, at a short distance from
each other: the one 223, and the other 224 feet above the level
of the sea.
The highest lighthouse is in lat. 49° 57′ 41″ N., long.
5° 11′ 5″ W. Some steep rocks, called the Staggs, lie to the southward
of the Lizard.
From the Lizard the coast bends in a north-north-east direction to
Pendennis Point, on the western side of the entrance to Falmouth
harbour; on its eastern side is St. Anthony's Head, the distance be-
tween them being exactly a mile. This is an excellent harbour. It
runs north about 5 miles. Falmouth is situated on a creek on its
western side; and St. Mawes on its eastern side, immediately within
St. Anthony's Head. It has good anchorage ground for the largest
ships; and they may also anchor without the harbour, having it in
their power to retreat into it in the event of the wind coming to
blow from the southward. This gives a great facility to ships getting
to sea.
From Falmouth harbour the coast runs N.N.E. in a broken line to
Fowey, at the mouth of the river of that name. The entrance to the
harbour is only about a cable's length in breadth; but it is free from
danger; and within there is at all times 3 fathoms water.
* This is Dr. Paris's statement.-(Guide to Mount's Bay, &c. 2nd ed. p. 24.)
He notices the different statement given in the Sailing Directions for the Channel,
where the depth of water within the pier is said to be only 13 feet at springs.
56
ENGLAND AND WALES.
From Fowey to the Rame-head the coast presents nothing remark-
able. This headland forms the western boundary of Plymouth Sound,
which opens the moment it is passed.
The harbour of Plymouth is double. The estuary of the Plym, on
which Plymouth is built, forms the Catwater, a convenient harbour for
merchantmen. Devonport, where the dockyards are situated, is built
on the west side of the tongue of land formed by the confluence of the
Plym and Tamar, at the mouth of the latter. The æstuary of the
Tamar expands into the road or harbour of Hamoaze, which is almost
completely land-locked, with secure anchoring-ground, and depth of
water sufficient to float the largest ships close to the Quays. The
dockyard is large, commodious, and furnished with every convenience
for building and refitting ships. The two harbours open into Plymouth
Sound and Cawsand Bay; and it is in the Sound that ships refitted in
the dockyards, or in the Hamoaze, as well as those employed during
war in the blockade of Brest, usually assemble before going to sea.
Owing, however, to the heavy swell that is thrown in from the south,
Plymouth Sound was often a very unsafe place for anchoring; and to
obviate this inconvenience, a stupendous breakwater, or mole, about
1,700 yards in length, has been formed in the middle of the Sound,
stretching in a slightly hooked line between the head of Cawsand Bay
on the one side, and Bovisand Bay on the other. The top of the mole
is above the level of the highest tides; the under part being formed
of vast stones sunk in the sea. This great national undertaking cost a
very large sum; but the important object in view in its construction
has been completely attained. The part of the Sound within the
breakwater has been rendered one of the very best roadsteads in the
world; it is accessible on either side, and is sufficiently capacious to
admit the largest fleets, which ride, under cover of this immense bul-
wark, in the stormiest weather, in perfect safety. The entrance to the
Sound is defended by the forts on Drake's Island, the citadel opposite,
and several adjacent batteries.
Nearly opposite to Plymouth Sound, about 8 miles from the Rame
Head, is the Eddystone lighthouse. It stands on one of a cluster
of irregular rocks, part of which is uncovered at low water. Being
much exposed to heavy swells from the Bay of Biscay and the
Atlantic, the waves frequently break over them with tremendous fury.
In consequence of the many fatal accidents occasioned by ships running
against these rocks, a lighthouse was erected on one of them in 1696:
after standing many violent storms, it was overthrown in the dreadful
tempest on the 27th of November, 1703. A second lighthouse, erected
in 1708, was burnt down in 1755. The present edifice, built by the
celebrated engineer, Smeaton, and finished in 1759, is universally ad-
mired for its solidity and the skill displayed in its construction. It bids
fair to last for ages.
Leaving Plymouth, the shore stretches in an east-north-east direc-
tion till the Bolt Head, elevated 430 feet above the level of the sea,
and the Prawle Head are passed. Between these promontories is
Salcomb Bay; on the bar at the entrance of which there is not more
than 4 to 6 feet water at ebb tide. At a little distance E.N.E. from
Prawle Head is the Start Point, a noted promontory. From it the
SEA-COASTS AND SEA-PORTS.
57
:
coast stretches N.N.E. to Exmouth. The first place of consequence
met with in this range is Dartmouth, which has an excellent harbour
sufficient to accommodate 300 sail in from 7 to 15 fathoms. A little
to the north of Dartmouth is Torbay, bounded on the south by Berry
Point, and on the north by Torquay. Its form is semicircular, being
about 3½ miles wide at the entrance. On both sides its winding shores
are skreened with ramparts of rock; between which, in the centre, the
ground forms a vale declining gently to the water's edge. The bay
fronts the south-east. Ships anchor in it in 6, 7, 8, and 9 fathoms.
The ground is strong clay, and holds remarkably well. This spacious
basin has frequently afforded shelter to the fleets of England; and our
great deliverer, William III., landed here on the ever-memorable 5th
of November, 1688.
Ex-
About four miles north of Torbay is the embouchure of the small
river Teign, having a bar harbour frequented only by coasters.
mouth, still farther to the north, at the embouchure of the Exe, is a
place of more consequence. The harbour is, however, rather difficult
of access; and at low water, neap tides, has not more than 8 feet water
on the bar at its entrance.
From Exmouth, the Devonshire and Dorsetshire coast sweeps in a
long circular line inclining to the south, and terminating at the south-
ern extremity of the Isle of Portland. The Chesil bank extends along
the Dorsetshire coast from near Abbotsbury to below Chesil in the
isle now mentioned, a distance of from 9 to 10 miles. This extraor-
dinary ridge runs nearly parallel to and at a little distance from the
mainland, the intermediate space being occupied by a long narrow
saltwater creek, communicating with the sea at Portland Road. The
ridge is, in some places, about a quarter of a mile broad; its upper
part consists of rounded loose pebbles, and its lower of hard blue clay.
Mr. Smeaton thinks it has been formed at a comparatively recent
epoch but it is very difficult to account satisfactorily either for its
first formation or its continued existence. There is a similar and still
more extensive ridge, bounding the Frische Haf, on the coast of
Prussia.*
The noted and almost insulated headland, called, for that reason,
the Isle of Portland, consists of a vast mass of freestone. On its
southern extremity, denominated Portland Bill, two lighthouses are
erected. The Race of Portland lies to the south of the Bill. It is a
rippling of the water, occasioned by the ruggedness of the ground,
which impedes and breaks the course of the tide. At springs it is
rather dangerous, at least for small loaded vessels. About four miles
north from Portland Bill, on the east side of the island, is Portland
Roads, where there is good anchorage ground. Immediately north of
Portland Roads is Weymouth harbour, having 8 feet water on the bar
at ebb tide.
After leaving Weymouth, the coast stretches east, inclining a little
to the south, to St. Alban's Head, in that part of Dorsetshire called
the Isle of Purbeck. Farther on is Durliston Head, Peverel Point,
and the Foreland Point. Swanage Bay lies between the last two. To
* Maton's “ Western Counties,” vol. i. p. 63; Stevenson's "Survey of Dorset,”
p. 49. Dr. Maton says the length of the bank is 17 miles; but this is an error.
58
ENGLAND AND WALES.
the north of the Foreland Point is Studland Bay and Poole Harbour.
The last is a large expanse of very irregular shaped water, and includes
several islands. It is almost entirely land-locked, the entrance to it
from Studland Bay not exceeding a quarter of a mile in width, and
hence its name of Pool, or basin. There is a bar at its mouth, which
frequently shifts; but it has seldom more than 15 feet over it, even at
high water. Poole is situated on an isthmus on the north side of the
bay; and vessels drawing 14 feet water come up to the quays. Ware-
ham, situated between the rivers Pidder and Frome, at the western ex-
tremity of Poole Harbour, formerly engrossed the greater part of its
trade; but it is now much decayed; the passage to it is intricate and
difficult, and it is no longer accessible except by very small vessels.
"It is a considerable and singular advantage to Poole Harbour that
the tide ebbs and flows twice in 12 hours. It first flows regularly 6
hours, and ebbs for 1 hour: it then flows again for 1 hour, and ebbs
during the remaining 3 hours. The second flood appears to be owing
to the peculiar situation of the entrance; for, being in a bay towards
the east, the tide of ebb from between the Isle of Wight and the main
falls into that bay, and forces its way into that river, so as to raise the
water for an hour and a half; at which period the water without the
bar, by its falling below the level of that within, produces a second ebb
for the space of three hours, or until low water.
""*
The western coast of the Isle of Wight forms one side of that spa-
cious bay of which the eastern coast of Dorset makes the other. The
former terminates in a narrow point, fenced with projecting rocks; the
most remarkable and prominent of which are, from their being de-
tached, tapering, and sharp, called the Needles. This promontory is
marked by a lighthouse 469 feet above the level of the sea.
The appearance of the rocks from the Needles to West Cowes, and
of the opposite coast of Hampshire, affords pretty strong grounds for
believing that the island and the mainland were once united. The
channel between is, in most places, about 2 miles wide. But a little
to the north of the Needles it is narrowed to less than a mile, by a
long, low, narrow tongue of land, or causeway, projecting in a south-
easterly direction from the Hampshire coast towards Clevesend Point
in the Isle of Wight. Hurst Castle stands on the extremity of this
tongue, and to facilitate navigation a lighthouse has been erected on
each side of it. Owing to the narrowness of the passage, the tide
runs through the strait with so much force that it has deepened the
channel to 28 fathoms. At high water, the causeway scarcely ex-
ceeds 200 yards in breadth: it is a sterile beach, covered with loose
gravel and pebbles.
Southampton Water, or Trissanton Bay, is a large inlet of the sea,
commencing at Calshot Castle, and stretching north-west into the in-
terior of Hampshire, upwards of 10 miles: it is navigable to the head
for vessels of considerable burthen. Its shores are beautiful and pic-
turesque, being lined on one side by the New Forest, and on the other
ornamented by the ruins of Netley Abbey.
Southampton, situated at the junction of the Itchen with South-
* Purdy's “ Sailing Directions for the English Channel,” p. 29; see also Maton's
"Western Counties," vol. i. p. 28.
SEA-COASTS AND SEA-PORTS.
59
ampton Water, has latterly been rising rapidly in importance from its
having become, as it were, one of the outports of the metropolis. The
journey between them is performed by means of the South Western
Railway, in from two to three hours; and it is now usual for ships
leaving the Thames for the Mediterranean, the East Indies, and Ame-
rica, to touch at Cowes, opposite Southampton, to take in water and
passengers. The latter avoid, by this means, the difficult and often
tedious passage round by the Forelands and Beachy Head, while,
owing to the greater facility of getting to sea, they are generally able
to proceed on their voyage without further delays. Hence, also,
Southampton has of late years become the station for the packets for
the Peninsula, the Mediterranean, and the West Indies. To accom-
modate the increased number of ships frequenting the port, a tidal
harbour, 16 acres in extent, has recently been excavated, which may
be reached at all times of the tide by vessels drawing 22 feet water.
The construction of an extensive wet-dock has also been commenced,
and is now (1846) in the course of being carried on.
From the mouth of Southampton Water, the coast of Hampshire
stretches, in a south-easterly direction, to Monkton Fort, at the south-
ern extremity of the western boundary of Portsmouth harbour. This
noble harbour, unequalled in Great Britain, and surpassed by very few
in any part of the world, has a narrow entrance, but within its width
increases, and it is sufficiently capacious to contain a great part of the
navy of Great Britain. There is a bar outside the entrance ; but as it
has about 13 feet water over it even at the lowest spring ebbs, it can
hardly be said to be any obstruction to the navigation; and within the
harbour there is water sufficient to float the largest man-of-war at any
time of the tide. The anchoring-ground is excellent; and it is free
from sunken rocks, or any similar impediments. The east side of the
harbour is formed by the Island of Portsea; on the south-western ex-
tremity of which stands the town of Portsmouth, and its large and
important suburb Portsea. Here are commodious docks and other
establishments, constructed upon a very large scale, for the building,
accommodation, and outfit of ships. The town of Gosport stands on
the opposite or western side of the harbour. In its vicinity is Haslar
Hospital, a very large and convenient building for the reception of sick
and wounded seamen. The fortifications that protect this great naval
depôt are superior, both as respects strength and extent, to any other
in the kingdom. "Thus," to use the words of Dr. Campbell,
66 it
appears that Portsmouth derives from nature all the prerogatives the
most fertile wits and most intelligent judges could devise or desire;
and that these have been well seconded by art, without consideration
of expense, which, in national improvements, is little to be regarded.
Add to all these the striking excellence of its situation, which is such
as if Providence had expressly determined it for that use to which we
see it applied, the bridling the power of France, and, if I may so
speak, the peculiar residence of Neptune.”—(Survey of Great Britain,
vol. i. p. 370.)
Portsmouth harbour has the additional and important advantage of
opening into the celebrated road of Spithead, lying between the
Hampshire coast and the Isle of Wight. It derives its name from a
60
ENGLAND AND WALES.
sand-bank called the Spit, extending about three miles in a south-east
direction from the narrow neck or tongue of land on which Gosport is
built. A ship of war is always moored at the head of this bank;
and the roadstead is marked by buoys, placed at regular intervals.
From its safety and capaciousness, it has been called by sailors
"the king's bedchamber." It is protected from all gales, blowing from
the west round to the south-east, by the Isle of Wight; and from
those blowing from the opposite quarters, by the highlands of Hamp-
shire.
There is good anchorage ground in Cowes Roads, on the north
coast of the Isle of Wight, opposite Southampton Water. There is
also good anchorage in St. Helen's Road, on the east coast of the
island; but ships lying there are exposed to the easterly and south-
easterly gales.
Between Portsea Island and the coast of Sussex is a large basin,
having within it the islands of Hayling and Thorney, with others of
inferior dimensions. There are two entrances to this basin; the first
of which is called Langstone, and the second Chichester Harbour.
They are both encumbered by sand-banks, and can only be approached
by small vessels.
The coast here is extremely low, and continues so as it runs south-
easterly, till it terminates in the promontory called Selsea Bill. Op-
posite to this headland are some dangerous sand-banks, called the
Owers. As a guide to ships, a light-vessel is moored at their eastern
extremity, about six miles south-east from Selsea Bill.
From the latter point, the coast sweeps in a lengthened curve to
Beachy Head. After passing the Bill and the little river Avon, we
meet with Worthing, a fashionable watering-place, and a little farther
east is Shoreham. Its harbour has recently been a good deal im-
proved; but at ebb tide it has not more than 3 feet water. About four
miles from Shoreham is Brighton; and about five miles more to the
eastward is Newhaven. This is a pier harbour; and is reckoned the
best small harbour in the Channel, between the Downs and the Isle of
Wight. At low ebb spring tides, the depth of water between the piers
is only 2 feet; but at high-water springs there are from 20 to 22 feet,
and at high-water neaps from 13 to 14 feet.
Along all this coast, the South Downs form a near background; till,
at length, advancing close to the shore, they terminate in the con-
spicuous bold promontory of Beachy Head, 564 feet in height. It is
formed of chalky white cliffs, that project perpendicularly over the
beach, whence it derives its name. A lighthouse of the first class was
erected, in 1828, on the summit of the second cliff, to the west of the
Head, 285 feet above the level of the sea; and caverns have been cut
in the cliffs, between the Head and Cuckmore Haven, in the view of
affording a place of refuge to such mariners as may be wrecked on this
dangerous coast.
Beyond Beachy Head the coast turns to the north-east, and, near
Pevensey, is low, sandy, and marshy: it continues of this description
till it reaches Hastings, the port of which occupies a hollow space be-
tween two cliffs. William the Conqueror is believed to have landed
here, in the latter part of September, 1066. At the eastern extremity
SEA-COASTS AND SEA-PORTS.
61
of the county of Sussex, there is a capacious bay, or rather æstuary,
on which were anciently two good ports, Rye and Winchelsea. The
latter is now entirely choked up; and, notwithstanding the improve-
ments effected at the former, it is suitable only for small vessels.
The coast of Kent adjoining Sussex, runs out into the low beachy
point of Dengeness, on which a lighthouse is erected. From this point
the coast, which is low and marshy, turns north and north-east by
Dymechurch and Hythe, till we reach Sandgate, where the chalky
cliffs again make their appearance, and continue to the Downs. In one
of the hollows of the ridge is the town of Folkestone, having a harbour
for fishing vessels. Leaving this, we pass the cliffs of Dover; but,
owing to the loftiest having been undermined by the sea, and thrown
down, Shakspeare's magnificent description is not very applicable to
those that still remain. Dover harbour is not worthy of its ancient
celebrity, being deficient in water, and not very accessible. A little to
the north-east of Dover is the noted headland, called the South Fore-
land. The shore stretches thence first north, and then north-westerly,
leaving a large sandy area, which appears to have been deserted by the
water. This flat tract is terminated to the north by the high grounds
of the Isle of Thanet; the most easterly point of which is called the
North Foreland. Between these headlands, and opposite to Deal, is
the much-frequented roadstead called the Downs. It extends about
6 miles north and south; being protected from the easterly gales by
the Goodwin sands, distant 4 miles from Deal, and stretching north-
east and south-west about 10 miles. These sands are supposed by some
to have once made part of the Kentish land, and to have been sub-
merged about the end of the reign of William Rufus, or the beginning
of that of Henry I. They are very dangerous; vessels riding in the
Downs being sometimes driven upon them, and, generally wrecked;
occasionally through the ignorance and carelessness of pilots, but more
frequently from the violence of the south-east and north-east winds.
They are divided into two principal parts by a narrow channel: in
many places they are dry at low water, and some spots appear even
sooner. The northern division is of a triangular form, lying north and
south, being about 3 miles long, and 24 miles broad: the north end,
called the North Sand Head, is about 7 miles from the coast, its
position being marked by a light-vessel. The Bunt Head, on the west
side, is very dangerous. The largest spot that dries on this sand has
got from the seamen the name of Jamaica Island. The south part of
the Goodwin Sands is about 7 miles in length; at its north end it is
about 2 miles in breadth, gradually diminishing towards the south-
west, till it terminates in the narrow point called South Sand Head,
marked by a light vessel, moored about 3 miles from shore. But it is
right to observe, that the position of these sands varies more or less
every year, through the joint influence of storms and tides.
The South Foreland forms the eastern point of the Kentish shore :
two light-houses are erected on it, to warn mariners arriving from the
west and south of their approach to the Goodwin Sands. The North
Foreland is, by Act of Parliament, declared to be the most southerly
part of the port of London. It projects into the sea nearly in the
form of a bastion, and is somewhat higher than the adjoining coast; a
62
ENGLAND AND WALES.
light-house was erected on it so early as 1683, for the general conve-
nience of mariners, but more particularly to excite their attention
to the Goodwin Sands, and to point out the Gull stream or channel,
leading inside the Sands to the Downs. Ramsgate lies a little to the
south of the North Foreland: it is a pier harbour, and has been
formed at an immense expense. Still, however, owing to the want of
water, it can only be entered at certain times of the tide. All vessels
passing on the south side of the North Foreland, are said to enter
the channel; and all the towns and harbours between London and it,
whether on the Kent or Essex shore, are members of the port of
London.
Few topics connected with the progressive geography of England,
are more interesting than that which relates to the past and present
state of the Isle of Thanet. It is now scarcely a river peninsula; but,
during the Roman ascendancy, it was a complete island, of a circular
form. At that period, the sea on its south-west side, between it and
the mainland of Kent, was at least 4 miles broad, gradually decreasing
as it flowed through the strait, till, at Sar, where it was narrowest, its
breadth did not, probably, exceed a mile and a half. Thus far flowed
the south, which there met the north, sea: the latter entered at what
was, from this circumstance, called Normutha, i. e. Northmouth. We
have the explicit testimony of Ammianus Marcellinus to prove that the
direct route and accustomed passage to London by sea, so late as the
middle of the fourth century, lay through this channel.* In the time
of Bede, however, its breadth was considerably diminished; for he tells
us, that it was then but three furlongs wide, so shallow, that it was
fordable in two places, and that it was thence called Wantsome, or the
deficient water. It continued, however, a passable strait for ships of
some burthen, till about the time of the Norman Conquest, when the
inhabitants, perceiving that the tide no longer flowed with any con-
siderable vigour, began to erect dykes to keep it out; in which object
they were at length completely successful. Thus, the Isle of Thanet,
which was formerly separated from the rest of Kent by the channel
called the Portus Ritupensis, and was, in its natural state, all high
land, is now a peninsula, or, at most, a river-isle only, having the
Stour-wantsome on the south, the Mile-stream on the south-west, and
the Nethergong-wantsome on the west. The rest of the Island fronts
the east and north seas, as before; but its figure is altered from that of
a circle to an irregular ellipse. After the junction of the isle to Kent,
the sea, no longer finding a passage through the strait, began to throw
up
immense quantities of beach on the eastern shore, which produced
Stonar, or rather Estanore, that is, the east-stone-shore: this was
originally a separate island, but it was speedily united, by a causeway,
to the Isle of Thanet.†
Proceeding westward from the Isle of Thanet, the coast of Kent,
which still fronts the north, becomes marshy as it descends by Whit-
* Ammiani Marcellini Hist. lib. 20, c. 1.
†Those desirous of further information on this curious subject may consult Dr.
Campbell's "Survey," vol. i. pp. 394-397, who has displayed great industry and
learning in tracing the successive changes of which the Isle of Thanet and the coast
of Kent have been the theatre.
SEA-COASTS AND SEA-PORTS.
63
stable to the narrow channel, called the Swale, separating the Isle of
Sheppey from the mainland. This channel unites with the æstuary of
the Medway, a little below Sheerness, where the latter falls into the
Thames.
We subjoin a table of the latitudes and longitudes of the principal
places on the coasts of England and Wales. They are mostly derived
from the Ordnance Survey.
Principal Headlands and Places on the Coast of England and Wales, with the
Latitude and Longitude, as given by the best Authorities.
PLACES.
London (St Paul's)
Greenwich (Observatory)
The Naze
Harwich
Lowestoffe (Lighthouse)
Cromer (Lighthouse).
Spurn Head (Lighthouse)
Flamborough Head
Hartlepool
North Shields
Berwick
St. Bees Head (Lighthouse)
Formby Point (Lighthouse)
Liverpool (St. Paul's Church)
Holy Head.
Great Ormes Head
Bardsey Island (Lighthouse)
Cardigan
St. David's Head (Cathedral)
St. Anne's Head (Lighthouse), Milford
Swansea
52 4
59
51 52 56
Latitude.
Longitude.
о
1
"1
51
30
49 N.
0
5
47 W.
51 28 39
0
0
0
51 51 51
1
17
7 E.
51 56 43
1
17
8
52 29 10
1
45
14
52
55
55 20
1
19
30
53 34 44
0
7
0
54 7 0
0
0
5 W.
54 41 49
1
10
31
55 0 48
1
26 27
55 40 20
1
59 46
54 30 55
3 37 24
53 32 21
3
3 54
53 24 40
2
58 55
53 20 2
53 18 51
52 45
1088
3 50 21
4 39 27
4 47
0
4 38 18
5 14 53
51 40 59
LO
5
10 25
Flat Holm (Lighthouse)
Hartland Point
Trevose Head
51 37
51 22 33
51 1 23
50 32 58
13
3
55 32
3
7 3
4 30 26
5
0 54
Land's End
54 8 0
5 41 31
Scilly Islands (Lighthouse)
49 53 38
6
19 23
Lizard Point (Upper Lighthouse)
49 57 41
5
10 39
Rame Head
50 18 53
4
12 29
Plymouth New Church)
50 22 22
4 7 16
Eddystone (Lighthouse)
Start Point Lighthouse)
Portland Bill (Lighthouse)
50 10 56
4 15 3
50 13 22.
3
37 43
50 31 23
2
26 49
St. Alban's Head
50 38 10
2 6 15
The Needles (Lighthouse)
50 39 54
1 33
55
St. Catherine's Point (Isle of Wight)
50 35 34
1
17 51
Portsmouth (Academy)
50 48 4
1 5 59
Selsey Bill (Church)
50 45 19
Beachy Head (Lighthouse)
50 44 24
0 45 41
0 13 0 E.
Dengeness (Lighthouse)
50 55 1
0 57 48
Dover Castle
51 7 47
1 19 7
South Foreland (Lighthouse)
51
8 26
1
22 6
North Foreland (Lighthouse)
51 22 25
1 27 0
64
ENGLAND AND WALES
SECT. 7. Geology.
;
The unrivalled prosperity and extent of the manufactures of Great
Britain are owing, in no small degree, to the abundant supply of coal,
limestone, lead, copper, tin, iron, and zinc, which the country affords
an account of its geology, comprising the repositories of its mineral and
metallic treasures, cannot, therefore, be deemed uninteresting to the
general reader. In the present brief survey of the geology of England,
we shall commence with a description of the lowest, or most ancient
rocks: they compose many of the loftiest mountains and mountain
ranges in the island, and form most important features in its physical
geography.
The principal rocks in Great Britain and Ireland are divided by
geologists into the following classes :-
1. Igneous rocks, comprising all varieties of granite, felspar, por-
phyries, and trappean rocks of different geological dates, including
sienites, greenstones, basalts, and others of the like kind, as also the
ashes erupted from volcanic vents of different periods.
2. Aqueous rocks, formed of mineral matter deposited from water in
which it was held in chemical solution, in mechanical suspension, or
was merely moved forward on the bottom by the propelling action of
water.
It is now well known that granite rocks, instead of being confined to
the most ancient accumulations, are intermingled with beds of coin-
paratively modern date. In Devonshire and Cornwall the granite is
more modern than the coal measures. In the same counties, so rich in
mineral veins, trappean rocks are mixed with the older detrital beds, as
also in Wales, showing that they flowed in streams, were showered out
as ashes, and burst in among previously-formed beds, in the manner of
modern volcanoes. The aqueous rocks are known by different names,
of which the following, arranged in the descending order of the strata,
will suffice for our present purpose.
a. Alluvial. Of which specimens are daily seen forming on the
banks of many of our rivers, at the mouths of our æstuaries, and on our
coasts.
b. Post-tertiary, comprising a variety of gravels, sands, and clays,
once termed diluvial. Further research is necessary in regard to these
deposits, since part of them may be merely modifications of accumula-
tions known as part of the next, or tertiary group. Many remains of
elephants, rhinoceroses, deer, &c., are found in these beds, which so
graduate into common alluvium, that the boundary upwards is difficult
to establish.
c. Tertiary series, so called from the old division of rocks into pri-
mary, secondary, and tertiary. If certain beds of the last-mentioned
class are to be included in this, the area occupied by the tertiary rocks
in England and Wales is more extensive than that usually ascribed to
these rocks. Otherwise their range is chiefly confined to the so-called
London basin, the Isle of Wight, and part of the opposite portions of
Hampshire and Dorsetshire. The tertiary rocks have been termed
supra cretaceous series; they have also been divided into three parts,
by the names of
GEOLOGY.
65
d. Cretaceous series, thus named, from containing the chalk, which
constitutes so marked a feature in the geology of England, and forms
the upper part of the so-called secondary rocks. The lower part of ·
this group is composed of sands and clay, known as upper green sand,
gault, and lower green sand.
e. Wealden series, a name given to a series of clays, sands, and
limestones, from being well developed in the weald of Sussex, and
which is remarkable for containing the remains of terrestrial, fresh-
water, and æstuary animals.
f. Oolitic series, from many beds in it being composed of limestone,
formed of rounded grains, resembling the roe of a fish. The series
consists of many beds of limestone, clays, sands, and sandstones, to
which various names have been given, viz., Portland oolite, Portland
sands, Kimmeridge clay, coral rag, or Oxford oolite, Oxford clay,
cornbrash, forest marble, great or Bath oolite, fullers' earth, clay and
rock, inferior oolite, inferior oolite sands, upper lias, marlstone, and
lower lias. This series, which is very fossiliferous, contains many beds
extensively employed as building stones, and its course from the south
coast of England to Yorkshire, is marked by many well-built towns.
g. New red sandstone series. Chiefly composed of red marls, sands,
sandstones, and conglomerates. Towards the lower part a limestone
occurs, known as magnesian or dolomitic, from containing a variable
amount of carbonate of magnesia. In the south-western part of Eng-
land and Wales, a conglomerate occurs with the limestone, and both
range up higher in the series. Rock salt and brine springs are in some
places found in the upper marls, as, for example, in Cheshire, and
hence the name saliferous has sometimes been given to this group.
h. Coal measures. A most important assemblage of sandstones, con-
glomerates, and slates, irregularly interstratified with beds and seams
of coal. Clay ironstone is also intermingled with this series, more
however in some localities, and in parts of it, than in others, and from
it the great mass of iron manufactured in Great Britain is chiefly ob-
tained. This group graduates into the next, the intermediate beds
being known as the millstone grit, from millstones being often made
from its coarser beds in the midland and northern counties of
England.
i. Carboniferous or mountain limestone, principally composed of a
compact marble limestone, of which that of Derbyshire forms a good
example. In the northern part of England, and in Scotland, it con-
tains sandstones and shells, with associated coal beds; the latter worked
for profitable purposes. This series has also, in central and northern
England, been termed the lead measures, from many valuable veins of
lead ore being found in it.
k. Old red sandstone, formed of numerous beds of marls, sands,
sandstones, and conglomerates, the colour of which is chiefly red.
Many fertile parts of the country are composed of these rocks, as, for
example, Herefordshire.
1. Devonian series, so named from being well exposed in Devon-
shire. It appears partly composed of the lower beds of the carbonife-
rous limestone, largely developed, and partly formed of an equivalent
of the old red sandstone. It is composed of beds of slate and sand-
VOL. I.
F
66
ENGLAND AND WALES.
stones, with some limestones, affording good marbles, as, for example,
at Plymouth, Babbacombe, and Ipplepen. The slate known as Killas,
in Cornwall, and which contains so many valuable tin, copper, lead,
and iron veins, constitutes part of this series.
m. Silurian series, so named from being well seen in the ancient
country of the Silures. It is composed of various beds of marl, lime-
stone, slate, sandstones, and conglomerates. It has been divided into
upper and lower Silurian rocks,* the former composed of upper Ludlow
rocks, Aymestry limestone, lower Ludlow rocks, Wenlock limestone,
Wenlock Shales, and Woolhope limestone; the latter of Caradoc sand-
stone and Llandilo flags. This is the lowest series in which the
remains of animal and vegetable life have been yet discovered. The
carboniferous limestone, old red sandstone, Devonian and Silurian
series, are now frequently grouped together, with the addition also of
the magnesian or dolomitic limestone of the new red sandstone, as the
palæozoic series, from containing organic remains, of a kind charac-
terising the most ancient fossiliferous rocks.
Beneath these various rocks, enumerated in the descending order,
many are found bearing the names of chlorite slate, mica slate, gneiss
and others, all characterised by the absence of organic remains, and
presenting a semi-crystalline aspect. At one time all rocks of these
mineral characters were supposed to be more ancient than those which
are fossiliferous, but more recent researches have shown that many of
the latter have been so metamorphosed or altered by the intrusion of
igneous rocks, or other causes, as to resemble the former, really formed
before the Silurian deposits.
If we take a coast survey of Great Britain, passing westward from
Torbay, in Devonshire, to the Land's End, in Cornwall, and thence
northward along the western side of Wales to the borders of Scotland,
we shall find a large proportion of the rocks that border the sea are
either palæozoic rocks or igneous rocks of about the same geological
date. If we extend our survey to the northern extremity of Scotland,
and thence south to Kincardineshire, the whole of the coast, with some
exceptions, is chiefly composed of granite, gneiss, mica slate, Silurian
rocks, slate, and other primary rocks, intermixed with trap rocks, and,
in some parts, covered with beds of old red sandstone.
Proceeding southward, from Stonehaven to the river Tyne, in North-
umberland, a considerable change in the character of the rocks may
be observed: coarse conglomerate and sandstone, with trap rocks and
strata of the coal formation, border the coast and extend inland.
From the Tyne to the eastern extremity of Kent, and thence along
the southern coast to Devonshire, we may observe a most remarkable
geological change; for, with two or three exceptions, in the whole of
that extent of coast, not a single rock can be found, in situ, similar to
the rocks on the western coast of England. It is further deserving
notice, that only a few traces of the calcareous rocks which cover the
eastern and south-eastern side of England, occur any where in Scot-
* From the Silures, a British tribe referred to by Tacitus (Agricola, §§ 11, 17),
supposed to have occupied the counties of Hereford, Monmouth, Glamorgan, Breck-
nock, and Radnor.
GEOLOGY.
67
land. The rocks on the coast, as we proceed from Tynemouth to
Kent, and thence along the British Channel to Devonshire, whence
we started, consist chiefly of new red sandstone, magnesian limestone,
lias, the various oolites, intermixed with beds of clay, sand, and sand-
stone, the wealden beds, the green sands and gault, and, lastly, of chalk.
Over the chalk, in a few situations, are beds of sand, clay, and lime-
stone, which are classed as tertiary. It will suffice for our present
purpose to remark, that chalk, which is well characterised by its
colour and structure, forms bold cliffs at Flamborough Head, in
Yorkshire, and on the coast of Kent, particularly near Dover; also at
Beachy Head, a promontory on the Sussex coast, and in the Isle of
Wight. It has been supposed, that from these white chalk cliffs,
England originally received the name of Albion. Except, however,
in the counties here mentioned, chalk seldom attains any considerable
elevation on the coast.
On taking even a cursory view of the rocks and strata that border
the sea in the form of cliffs, especially on the southern and eastern
shores of England, one cannot help being impressed with the belief
that they are more or less rapidly wearing away, through the action of
the waves, by which they must, in the course of time, be undermined and
thrown down. And we have already seen (antè p. 48) that this belief
is consistent with, and corroborated by, the evidence of historical facts,
which show the deep inroads made by the sea on our rocky barriers.
But, on the other hand, where the shores are low, the land generally
gains upon the sea; and in some places, large tracts that were formerly
submerged, have been converted into firm, dry soil.
An examination of the rocks and strata on the coast of France, proves
that they correspond with the English rocks and strata opposite to them
in a remarkable manner, so as to leave little doubt that the chalk and
other secondary strata on the northern side of France, once formed
continuous beds with the similar secondary strata on the south side of
England. And hence geologists once too hastily concluded, that Great
Britain had been united to the continent of Europe at the present
general relative level of the sea and land: but the former continuity of
the beds does not prove this; for the chalk strata, for instance, were
originally deposited deep under the ocean, as is demonstrated by the
abundance of shells and other remains of marine animals, that occur in
almost all the beds, which are in some parts a thousand feet thick.
These chalk strata, with the strata on which they rest, have, therefore,
been raised from the ocean to their present elevation; and the division
between England and France may have been formed as the chalk and
other rocks emerged from the level of the sea. The cliffs near Bou-
logne have been carried away to a considerable extent since the
country was under the dominion of the Romans. This is proved, by
the ruins of a celebrated Pharos or lighthouse, situated on the eastern
side of the harbour, at some distance from the cliffs, the ruins of which
are nearly obliterated by the gradual wearing away of the coast: even
within the last three centuries great changes have been made on that
coast, as is proved by ancient maps of the harbour and town. The
eastern side of England presents indications of the former extension of
F 2
68
ENGLAND AND WALES.
the land towards Belgium. The remains of ancient forests may be ob-
served at low water, on the shores of Yorkshire and Lincolnshire,
stretching far into the sea; the roots and broken trunks of the trees
are believed to be in the situations in which they grew, though they
are at present many feet below high-water mark. Similar remains
of trees may be traced inland on the eastern side of Yorkshire and
Lincolnshire, covered with alluvial soil to the depth of 17 feet or more.
These subterranean and submarine forests indicate a subsidence of the
land at an epoch of no very remote date, as the trees are of species
indigenous to Great Britain. It is not improbable that the bed of the
German Ocean was formed by a subsidence of the land. But whether
Great Britain emerged from the sea at one epoch, or by successive
elevations, its limits have not always been the same as at present;
for, as already seen, it is in parts decreasing, while, in others, it is
increasing by the addition of tidal and alluvial deposits, and by the
gaining of land from the sea.
The limits of this article will not permit us to dwell longer on the
ancient extent of our island. After the general survey we have taken
of the coast of Great Britain, we shall find it most convenient to treat
of the geology of England and Scotland separately. The geology of
Wales is more immediately connected with England, for that princi-
pality, in respect to its physical geography, is as much a part of
England as Devonshire.
England, including Wales, may be conveniently divided into three
geological districts:-1st. The alpine, consisting chiefly of the palæo-
zoic rocks. 2nd. The middle district, containing coal and carboniferous
limestone. 3rd. The eastern and south-eastern districts, composed of
the oolitic, wealden, and cretaceous groups, above the red marl and
sandstone. These strata are in some parts covered by tertiary deposits.
The alpine district, extending from Devonshire to Cumberland, is
divided into three distinct groups or ranges, by the intervention of the
Bristol Channel, which separates Devonshire from South Wales, and by
a deep indentation of the Irish Sea, which separates the mountains of
North Wales from those of Westmoreland and Cumberland. These
three groups or ranges, we shall denominate, as we have elewhere done
(see antè p. 8,) 1st, the Devonian range, comprising the counties of
Cornwall and Devonshire, except a small part of the south-western
side of the latter, and including also a small part of Somersetshire
adjoining the Bristol Channel; 2nd, the Cambrian range, which com-
prises almost the whole of North and South Wales; and 3rd, the
northern or Cumbrian range, including the greater part of Cumberland
and Westmoreland, the extremity of Lancashire north of Morecambe
Bay, and the western parts of Yorkshire, Durham, and Northumberland,
adjoining Westmoreland and Cumberland.
Besides these primary districts, isolated patches of the olden palæo-
zoic rocks may be seen at Uske, Monmouthshire, May Hill, Glou-
cestershire, Woolhope, and the Malvern Hills, Worcestershire, and
Charnwood Forest in Leicestershire.
The Devonian range, though presenting a bold and rocky coast,
both to the British Channel on the south, and the Bristol Channel on
GEOLOGY.
69
the north, can scarcely be said to assume a mountainous character,
except at Dartmoor Forest and some parts of North Devon.
The granite in this range commences near the Land's End, and
extends to Dartmoor; but is covered in several parts by slate rocks,
which may be said to divide it into insulated masses: at Dartmoor,
where it terminates, the granite is more extensively developed, and
rises to the height of about 2,000 feet. The slate, which rests upon
granite, provincially called killas, is now known as the Devonian
series, and considered as, at least, in part equivalent to the old red
sandstone of Herefordshire and other counties in Great Britain.
Rocks of serpentine and talcose mica slate occur at the Lizard; some
serpentine is also found near Liskeard, in Cornwall. Felspar-por-
phyry occurs in dykes, in granite, and in slate rocks. With these
exceptions, the mass of rocks that covers the northern and the southern
sides of Cornwall and Devonshire, on each side of the granite, consists
chiefly of different varieties of slate: but in this extensive slate district,
roof slate of a good quality is not abundant. The slate rocks are often
much contorted, and this is the case also with beds of limestone, that
occur in some parts of the district. The granite is commonly white,
or rather whitish grey, composed chiefly of white felspar, with a small
quantity of quartz and mica. In this granite, large crystals of felspar
are often imbedded, giving it a porphyritic structure, as may be seen
in many of the flag-stones in the streets of London, which are often of
Cornish granite. The granite is sometimes intermixed with schorl or
tourmaline. The granite of this district is quarried for building and
paving stones. Some of it appears to decompose rapidly. The soft
white granite is a valuable substance for the manufacture of porcelain
and fine earthenware. Steatite, or soap-stone, was also obtained in
Cornwall, and used in the same manufactures but has now become
scarce.
The principal mineral treasures of this district are its ores of tin and
copper. Tin is a rare metal in Europe; it is never found native like
gold, silver, and copper, which not unfrequently occur in a pure me-
tallic form. The most common ore of tin, called tin-stone, is of a dark
brown, or reddish brown colour, and is destitute of metallic lustre ; the
crystals of this ore are sometimes semi-transparent. This ore is ex-
tremely hard, striking fire with steel. It is nearly as heavy as metallic
tin; it is composed of about 77 parts of metallic tin, and 21 of oxygen.
In all probability, metallic tin was first discovered accidentally; for
this ore is reduced to the metallic state when heated with charcoal.
The tin ore of Cornwall and Devonshire occurs in veins in granite in
the Devonian rocks, and in the coal measures which in Devonshire
come into contact with the granite of Dartmoor; it is also found in the
form of grains and pebbles in the sands of rivers and valleys. These
fragments and pebbles of tin ore have evidently been derived from
veins in rocks that have been decomposed and washed away; as the
tin ore is harder and heavier than the granite, it remained in the form
of water-worn pebbles; but portions of the rock are also found with
them, which, in many instances, enable the miners to ascertain from
what part of the country they have been transported. A considerable
quantity of tin is obtained from these layers of tin pebbles, which are
70
ENGLAND AND WALES.
""
often covered to a great depth by beds of clay, sand, and gravel. The
ore so obtained is called stream tin. The veins of tin ore vary in
width from a few inches to several feet; they generally intersect
granite and slate rocks in an easterly and westerly direction, and
decline more or less from the perpendicular direction as they descend.
The same vein which contains tin ore, often contains ores of copper at
a certain depth; the tin ore commonly occupying the upper part of
the vein. When Pryce wrote his Mineralogy of Cornwall, about the
middle of the last century, "it was believed, that the richest state of a
mine for copper, in that county, was from 80 to 100 yards deep; and
for tin, from 40 to 120 yards. Mines have now been sunk to the
depth of 600 yards from the surface; and tin ore has been found at
the depth of 420 yards. No vein, we believe, has yet been worked
out in depth; and since the introduction of powerful steam engines,
for clearing the water from mines, it is difficult to assign the limits
to which they may be worked. Some of the mines are worked
under the sea. For more than 2,000 years, tin has been obtained in
large quantities from Cornwall; but during the greater part of that
period, the copper ore, which is far more abundant and valuable than
that of tin, was neglected and thrown away, its true nature being
unknown. (See Section on Mines.) The copper ore is chiefly the
double sulphuret of copper and iron, or copper pyrites, intermixed
with iron pyrites, and other mineral matter. All copper ore is smelted
at, or near, Swansea in Wales.
It is said, that before the nature of the copper ore was known, the
miners considered its appearance as so unfavourable, that they aban-
doned the mines, saying the "poder (as they called the copper ore)
came in and spoiled the tin." "About the year 1735, Mr. Coster, a
Bristol mineralogist, observed this poder among the heaps of rubbish,
and, seeing the miners unacquainted with its value, he formed the
design of converting it to his own advantage: the scheme succeeded,
and he continued for a long time to profit by Cornish ignorance."
(Guide to Mount's Bay.) Tin ore is disseminated through granite
itself in some instances, but this is in the vicinity of veins. The most
common vein stone which accompanies the ores of this district, is
quartz. Native gold has been found among the stream tin, and small
quantities of native silver, with red silver ore, have been found in some
of the Cornish mines. Lead and zinc also are found in several veins.
Antimony is more scarce. In some of the slate rocks in Cornwall and
Devonshire, there are veins of lead ore, which are rich in silver, con-
taining from 20 to 80 ounces of silver in the ton of lead, the Beer
Alston Mines once produced argentiferous galena, yielding 120 ounces
of silver to the ton of lead. The oxide of manganese is found in
considerable quantities at Doddiscomleigh and Upton Pyne, not far
from Exeter: it occurs in veins of about 4 feet thick; but in one
of the mines, in 1815, it was collected in a mass 20 or 30 feet
thick. It is also met with in great abundance near Tavistock
and Launceston. The above are the principal metallic and mineral
treasures contained in this district. The limestones, in the south of
Devonshire, are beautifully spotted and variegated, and are extensively
used as marbles.
GEOLOGY,
71
The Cambrian range.-On crossing the Bristol Channel to the
opposite coast of Glamorganshire, we meet with an extensive series of
coal strata, covering the older rocks of this part of South Wales, and
terminating in Pembrokeshire. This coalfield is nearly 100 miles in
length from east to west, and from 5 to 20 miles in breadth. Except
in Swansea Bay, and Caermarthen Bay, it is almost every where sur-
rounded by mountain limestone and old red sandstone. This is the
most extensive coalfield in Great Britain, and will be afterwards more
particularly noticed.
The loftiest mountains of the Cambrian range spread through
Caernarvonshire and Merionethshire; mountains of lesser height range
from thence, through the western aud southern counties of Wales, and
into Monmouthshire and part of Herefordshire, and Shropshire.
Several of the mountains in Caernarvonshire exceed 3,000 feet in
height; Snowdon, the highest mountain in South Britain, is 3,571
feet above Caernarvon Bay. The general outline of this part of the
Cambrian range, from Penmanmaur to the Rivals, on the southern
extremity of Caernarvon Bay, is highly picturesque, and presents to
the tourist the most magnificent alpine scenery of South Britain; but
the lakes of this district by no means correspond with the magnificence
of the surrounding mountains. The mineral character of the rocks
affords little variety, they are chiefly composed of different kinds of
slate, clay slate, and trappean rocks, nearly the whole referrible to the
Silurian series. Quarries of excellent roof slate are extensively worked
in this part of Wales; and some veins of copper ore are found in
Caernarvonshire; but hitherto they have been of little practical im-
portance. The Isle of Anglesea, separated from Caernarvonshire by
the straits of the Menai, is far from mountainous; the rocks have a low
elevation, and rise through the soil in small ridges, or detached peaks.
On the western side of the island are rocks of granite, mica slate, and
serpentine. The prevailing rock of many parts of the island is
slate. The Paris copper mine, formerly so prolific of copper, is
situated on the north side of the island; the body, or internal part
of the Paris mountain, consisted of an accumulated mass of ore,
which is now supposed to be nearly worked out. On the south-east
side of the island, there is a small coalfield, which appears partly
to cover mountain limestone. A remarkable trap-dyke, which inter-
sects the rocks in Anglesea, has been described by Professor Henslow
in the Transactions of the Philosophical Society of Cambridge. The
mountains which range from Snowdon into Merionethshire are many
of them composed of porphyritic and other trappean rocks. Cader
Idris, one of the most remarkable of these mountains, has a deep
depression near its summit; and, on the northern side of the mountain,
there are groups of regular columns or prisms of porphyritic trap. The
height of Cader Idris is 2,914 feet. There are other adjacent moun-
tains of equal elevation, and composed of similar porphyritic trap.
It is a fact well deserving attention, that beds of gravel and sand,
with marine shells, have recently been found on some of the moun-
tains of Caernarvonshire, at the height of 1,400 feet above the sea;
the shells are said to resemble the broken shells on the beach.
great part of Denbighshire, with Montgomeryshire, Radnorshire, Car-

A
72
ENGLAND AND WALES.
diganshire, Caermarthenshire, Pembrokeshire, and the north part of
Brecknockshire, are composed of slate, sandstones, and occasional con-
glomerates, of the Silurian series, presenting little variety of mineral
character. Indications of the proximity to granite may be seen in
some of the valleys. North of St. Bride's Bay, near the western ex-
tremity of Pembrokeshire, there is granite, and many trappean rocks
are associated with the Silurian and other palæozoic rocks of the same
county. Trappean rocks also occur in Radnorshire. The counties we
have enumerated, as chiefly composed of Silurian rocks, are bounded
on the south and south-east, from Pembrokeshire to Shropshire, by
various beds of old red sandstone,* passing beneath in some parts into
them; and, in the upper part, graduating into mountain limestone.
These beds of old red sandstone cover the southern parts of Brecknock-
shire, and nearly the whole of Monmouthshire and Herefordshire.
The eastern side of North Wales, in the counties of Denbigh and
Flint, is bounded by a considerable extent of mountain limestone, in
which are many valuable lead mines. In these counties, the lowest
beds of this limestone often rest upon a thick bed of coarse conglome-
rate, which intervenes between the limestone and Silurian rocks.
Cumbrian or Northern Range.—The mountains in this range may be
regarded as a continuation of the mountain ranges of North Wales,
which they closely resemble in their mineral characters.
The highest
mountains of this district surround the lakes of Cumberland.-(See
ante, p. 9.) The mountains surrounding the lakes are chiefly com-
posed of slates, sandstones, and other rocks referrible to the Silurian
series. Granite occurs at Caldbeck Fell, under Skiddaw, and near the
lake of Westwater, and also near Shap, in Westmoreland, forming in
the latter situation a low insulated mountain, composed of a peculiar
kind of small-grained granite, containing large brilliant crystals of red
felspar. It may easily be distinguished from any other granitic rock
in Great Britain; but it is truly remarkable, that large blocks of the
same granite are scattered over distant parts of Westmoreland,
cashire, and Yorkshire, though the existing mass of granite, near Shap,
is every where surrounded by mountains of much higher altitude.
Near the lake of Buttermere, the mountain called High Style has a
depression on its summit, nearly surrounded by phonolite, a rock closely
allied to basalt; it is rudely columnar, and easily fusible.
mountain bears a striking resemblance, in structure, to Cader Idris,
in Merionethshire, before mentioned. The depression is filled with
water and forms a small lake.
Lan-
This
The summit of Scaw Fell is a trap porphyry. Porphyritic dykes are
also seen as in Cornwall. In the mountains of Borrowdale, and near
Loweswater, a bed of red unctuous ferruginous clay, with ironstone,
occurs in contact with beds of grey felspar-porphyry. It is near the
contact of these beds, that the irregular vein occurs, which forms the
celebrated blacklead mine of Sotaller, in Borrowdale. The mine is
situated on the side of a steep mountain, the beds of which are inclined
at an angle of about 40 degrees. The black lead, or graphite, is found
in irregular nodules of various sizes, intermixed with quartz, green-
* Called old red sandstone, to distinguish it from the red sandstone above the
coal strata.
GEOLOGY.
73
earth, calcareous spar, and ironstone. The vein is in some places nar-
row, and in others opens out to a considerable width. We were in-
formed in the mine, that the lower side of the vein is the most produc-
tive. It is said, that it generally becomes rich in ore where cross veins
enter the principal vein. The graphite or blacklead from this mine is
of superior quality. The smaller pieces used to sell for 70l. per ton,
and the larger pieces for 40s. per lb., and as much ore as would sell
for 1,000l. has been obtained in one day; but the produce of the
mine is now comparatively inconsiderable. In a similar bed of red
unctuous clay, the iron mines near Ulverstone occur, from which the
rich hematites are obtained, that yield the ductile iron, used for card
wire, in the cotton and woollen manufactures.
The beds in the central mountains of this range present indications
of violent disturbing causes, by which they have been broken or dis-
placed. The present depth of the lakes by no means corresponds
with the height of the mountains; and they are evidently filling
up, and diminishing in extent, by the deposit of the débris from
the neighbouring mountains, brought into them by descending
torrents. We believe few of the lakes are at present much more
than 300 feet in depth, in their deepest parts. It is evident that many
of the flat valleys, that form rich meadow, were once lakes, which have
been gradually filled up, and are now only intersected by small
rivulets. The schistose and porphyritic mountains of this district con-
tain a small quantity of copper ore.
Mines are said to have been ex-
tensively worked at a former period; but the works have been long
discontinued. Antimony, lead, and manganese, occur in small quanti-
ties in some of the mountains. The mountains which surround the
central group are principally composed of detrital beds, which often
seem to pass into a greyish trap rock, but beds of good roof slate occa-
sionally occur. The intermixture of rocks, believed to be of igneous
origin, with other rocks of aqueous origin, Mr. Sedgwick refers,
with much probability, to submarine volcanic action, and the simul-
taneous action of igneous and aqueous causes, which have been often
repeated. The beds that surround the central group of the lake moun-
tains, are bordered nearly all round by beds of mountain limestone:
this limestone, called by some geologists carboniferous limestone, occu-
pies but a narrow strip of country, on the north-west, north, and north-
east sides of the lake mountains; but on the eastern and south-eastern
sides, it unites with the great expansion of this formation that extends
into the north-west of Yorkshire and the district called Craven; and
on the east and north-east it branches into the western parts of Dur-
ham and Northumberland, in which counties it is particularly rich in
lead veins. In Craven, the lofty mountains of Ingleborough, Whern-
side, and Pennigant, are chiefly composed of beds of mountain lime-
stone; but the two former are capped with beds of sandstone. The
limestone of this district rests on older slates, but is sometimes sepa-
rated from it by beds of conglomerate. On the north-west of the lake
mountains, from Whitehaven to the north of Maryport, the mountain
limestone is covered by coal strata, which extend under the Irish Sea.
On the north-east side of the lake mountains, the vale of Eden, filled
with red sandstone and conglomerate, separates Cross Fell and a
74
ENGLAND AND WALES.
lofty range of hills of mountain limestone, in the county of Durham,
from the mountains of Cumberland and Westmoreland. The separa-
tion of these mountain ranges, and the formation of the valley of
Eden, appear, according to Mr. Sedgwick, to have been effected by the
violent action of disturbing forces, of which indications may be traced
in faults, that range at the foot of Cross Fell, and thence into Craven,
in Yorkshire. Cross Fell is the highest limestone mountain in Great
Britain, being 2,900 feet above the level of the sea, but the upper part
is capped by coal strata. From the summit of Cross Fell, when the
weather is extremely favourable, both the Irish Sea and the German
Ocean are said to be visible. From its inland situation, snow remains
very long upon Cross Fell; some years it has remained over the
summer.
Beyond the limits of the great expansion of mountain limestone, in
the counties of Northumberland, Durham, and the north-west of York-
shire, a branch of the same limestone formation extends into Derby-
shire and the north part of Staffordshire; but the continuation is
apparently interrupted by beds of sandstone, which cover the limestone
from Skipton in Craven, to Castleton in the Peak of Derbyshire. The
mountain limestone in Durham and Derbyshire is broken by irregular
beds of basaltic rocks, which run between the beds of limestone, and
sometimes cover them on the surface. Near the banks of the river
Tees, beds of basaltic rocks form ranges of columns of considerable
extent.
Coal Districts.-Having described the districts of England com-
posed of the more ancient rocks, we proceed to notice the coal forma-
tions, which are generally found covering them. If we draw a line
from Lyme Regis to Bath, thence to Gloucester, Warwick, Leicester,
Nottingham, and Tadcaster, and from Tadcaster to Stockton-on-Tees,
all the parts of England on the east side of that line contain no portion
of the regular coal formation, though a small quantity of imperfect
coal be found in the eastern moorlands of Yorkshire. 'The line
might, in some situations, be drawn several miles beyond the limits
assigned; the whole eastern and southern side of England, within
these limits, is composed of beds of more recent geological date than
the coal measures, and in which good mineral coal is never found in
England. The elder rocks on the western side of England are
below the coal formations, though in some parts they are covered by
coal strata.
The Northumberland and Durham coal is found on the eastern sides
of these counties, between the sea coast and the mountain limestone on
the west, and extends north and south, from Berwick-on-Tweed to the
river Tees, occurring either in the coal measures, properly so called,
or in the mountain limestone beneath them. The most valuable beds
of coal are supposed to cover an area of 24 miles in length, from
north to south, and 8 miles of average breadth; there are nearly forty
beds or seams of coal, but only about half of these are of sufficient
thickness, or sufficiently good in quality, to be worked. As the strata
generally rise towards the north-west, and crop out as they advance in
that direction, none of the workable beds extend under the whole dis-
trict. The two thickest and best beds of coal are the High Main and
GEOLOGY.
75
the Low Main coal; they are about 6 feet thick, and are separated by
strata of sandstone, shale, and smaller seams of coal, of the average
thickness of 360 feet.
The Yorkshire and Derbyshire coalfield commences north of Leeds
and extends about 70 miles in length, from north to south. Between
Aberford and Halifax it is 25 miles in breadth, but it decreases greatly
in breadth as it passes through Derbyshire, and terminates at Wool-
lerton, near Nottingham. The thickest bed of the Yorkshire coal is
worked near Barnsley. The greater part of the coal of this county is
required to supply its numerous population, and its important manu-
factures of wool and iron. A part of the coal of Derbyshire is
carried by canals to the midland counties. Ironstone, of a good qua-
lity, is abundant in this coal district. South-west of Derbyshire there
are a few small coalfields, in Leicestershire and Warwickshire, near
Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Tamworth, Atherstone, and Coventry. The main
coal of the Ashby-de-la-Zouch coalfield, at Ashby Wolds, is 13 feet
thick. It is worked, in the lowest part, at the depth of 224 yards.
The Coventry coalfield is the most southerly in which coal has been
discovered in the midland counties.
On the north-west side of England we find a valuable coal-
field, extending from Maryport to Whitehaven, containing seven beds
of good coal in one mine it is worked at the depth of above 300 yards,
and in some mines the workings are carried on under the Irish
Sea. A considerable quantity of coal is exported from this district to
Ireland.
The Lancashire coalfield is separated from that of Yorkshire by a
range of lofty hills, extending from near Colne to Blackstone Edge,
and thence to Ax Edge, in Derbyshire. The coalfields of Lancashire
commence near the western side of this range; the strata dip westward,
but are more broken and deranged by faults than the Yorkshire coal
strata.
The principal beds of coal are one of 6 feet thick, and a lower
one called the three-quarter bed.
The Lancashire coalfield runs nearly due north from Macclesfield to
Oldham, at the feet of the range of hills abovementioned, but in this
part it is scarcely more than 6 miles broad: from Oldham, it extends
westward to Prescot, near Liverpool, and northward to Rochdale and
Colne. The ample supply of fuel which this coalfield yields for the
use of the cotton manufactures of Manchester and its vicinity, may be
regarded as contributing, in an eminent degree, to their unrivalled
prosperity. In the northern part of Lancashire there is a small coalfield,
on the southern side of Ingleborough, but it is of little importance.
South of the great Lancashire coalfield there is a small but valuable
coalfield, near Newcastle-under-Lyne, in Staffordshire: it is about 10
miles in length from north to south, and from 5 to 7 miles in breadth,
and supplies the potteries of this district with potter's clay and fuel.
There are numerous beds of coal in the different parts of this coalfield,
varying in thickness from 3 to 10 feet. A little to the south-east of
the pottery coal district, there is a small coalfield, near Cheadle, but it
is of little importance.
The coalfield of Wolverhampton and Dudley, in Staffordshire, is
the most valuable in the central parts of England; it contains the
76
ENGLAND AND WALES.
thickest bed of coal in South Britain, the main coal varying from 30
to 45 feet in thickness, beneath which are several beds from 3 to 4 feet
in thickness; and several beds occur over the main coal. The value
of the 30 feet bed of coal is not, however, so great as might at first
appear, though it be of a good quality, and within the reach of the
miner. So much labour and expense are required to support the roof,
when the coal is worked away, and so much waste coal is unavoidably
left in the mine, that it is calculated that a bed of good coal of 10
feet thick, with a firm roof, would yield more profit to the miner,
per acre, than the 30 feet bed of main coal. The coal of this district
rests upon Wenlock limestone, and shells of the Silurian series. This
limestone is singularly raised and bent at Dudley Castle Hill and
Wren's-nest Hill.
The Dudley coalfield is about 60 square miles in surface; the 30
feet coal occurs on the southern part of the field; it may be seen crop-
ping out between Wren's-nest Hill and Dudley, preserving a compact
form. Minor beds of coal, when they rise to the surface, are generally
There are some valu-
decomposed, forming what is called coal smut.
able beds of ironstone, very extensively worked in this district. Besides
the immense consumption of coal in the various iron founderies, forges,
and other manufactories in Birmingham and the adjacent country, large
quantities are sent into the neighbouring counties.
In Shropshire and Herefordshire there are a few small coalfields;
the principal one, at Coalbrook Dale, 10 miles east of Shrewsbury, is
6 miles in length, and about 2 miles broad. Coalbrook Dale, includ-
ing the adjacent tracts of Ketley, &c., is celebrated for its iron furnaces
and founderies. The Clee Hills, near Ludlow, contain some small
detached coal measures. The summits of these hills are capped with
basalt, a dyke or eruptive channel of which cuts through the most
southerly of them. The Shrewsbury coalfield is remarkable for con-
taining a bed of freshwater limestone, interstratified with the coal.
There is a coalfield on the north-eastern border of Wales, extending
from Mostyn, in Flintshire, by the entrance of the valley of Llangollen,
in Denbighshire, to Oswestry, in Shropshire: the coal strata are sepa-
rated from mountain limestone by coarse millstone grit.
The coalfield of the Forest of Dean, on the western side of Glou-
cestershire, about 10 miles in length, and 6 in breadth, is a
very valuable repository of this useful mineral. The several beds of
coal, and the strata of sandstone that accompany them, are arranged in
a basin-shaped concavity, resting on millstone grit and mountain lime-
stone. It is the most perfect type of what geologists call a coal
basin of any in Great Britain. This form has been produced by the
contortion and subsequent denudation of the palæozoic rocks of the
district. It once constituted a portion of the coal measures of the
Bristol district on the south, and of the Monmouthshire coalfield on the
west.
The most southerly coalfield in England extends from Cromhall,
Gloucestershire, to the Mendip hills, embracing the neighbourhood of
Bristol; but it is covered in many parts by beds of red marl and sand-
stone, and lias limestone. One of the deepest coal mines in England
is at Radstock, near Bath, being considerably above 400 yards from the
GEOLOGY.
77
surface. There are several small seams of coal in this coalfield, none
exceeding about 3 feet: they would scarcely be deemed worth working,
were it not for the scarcity of coal in this part of England.
We have now noticed all the repositories of coal in England and
Wales deserving attention, except the great coalfield of South Wales
and Monmouthshire, which may be considered the most important
in Great Britain. The coal strata extend about 100 miles, from
St. Bride's Bay, in Pembrokeshire, to Pontypool, in Monmouthshire;
but they are broken into by Caermarthen Bay; and the Pembroke-
shire coalfield is separated from the South Wales Basin, properly so
called, by old red sandstone. In Pembrokeshire, their breadth is only a
few miles, but they cover a great part of Glamorganshire. The extent
of surface may be about 1,200 square miles. The beds are contained
within a kind of trough of carboniferous limestone, except in Pem-
brokeshire, where they overlap that rock, and even the old red sand-
stone beneath it, resting on the Silurian rocks near Haverfordwest, and
towards the north part of St. Bride's Bay. The strata are much con-
torted, and even reversed in Pembrokeshire. They have also been
much disturbed in parts of Caermarthenshire, particularly near Llan-
dibie, and are deepest in the same county. Near Llanelly they are es-
timated to be not less than 11,000 feet thick, containing numerous beds
of workable coal. Though basin-shaped, as a whole, a central and
longitudinal ridge or anticlinal line runs through the coal district, from
the neighbourhood of Neath eastward, towards its eastern boundary
near Risca. Before, however, it reaches that boundary, it flattens out
and is lost. The lower beds, chiefly composed of shells, contain large
quantities of coal and ironstone. From this circumstance, and the
proximity of limestone, extensive iron works have been established
along the line of outcrop of these lower strata, those of Maesteg being
upon the upthrust of the beds which there brings in the lower shells in
the range of the anticlinal line above noticed. Among the numerous
iron works established upon these beds, those of Merthyr Tydvil are the
best known. In one set of works alone (Dowlais) 18 furnaces are now
(1846) in blast, each, at an average, producing from 80 to 100 tons
of iron per week. The coal is of different qualities, in different parts
of the district; that on the western side being chiefly stone coal or
culm, and on the eastern side, bituminous coking coal. Many of the
beds of coal and ironstone occur at a great depth from the surface; but
the country being intersected by valleys that run northward and south-
ward, and cut through and lay open the various beds, the miner can
work them at a small expense, by driving levels into the sides of the
hills.
It has been already stated, that a waving line might be drawn from
Lyme Regis to Stockton-on-Tees, east of which no good mineral coal
is found; very near the same line, a lofty range of calcareous hills
may be traced through England, but with some interruption. On
the south side of the Vale of Severn, in Gloucestershire, they are well
known as the Cotswold Hills, and the range terminates in the Cleve-
land Hills, on the east side of the North Riding of Yorkshire.
Between this line of hill, and the Silurian, old red sandstone, carbon-
iferous limestone, and coal districts before described, the surface of
78
ENGLAND AND WALES.
England is covered by more modern deposits, chiefly consisting of red
marl and sandstone, called by geologists the new red sandstone, to dis-
tinguish it from the red sandstone which occurs below the coal forma-
tion; whereas this new red sandstone, where it occurs with coal strata,
is always found above them.
The new red sandstone is regarded as the lowest of the secondary
formations that succeed the coal stratá in an ascending series. The
coal strata are often much bent or inclined, but the strata of red sand-
stone are nearly horizontal; hence it appears, that the latter were de-
posited after the coal strata and older rocks had been subjected to the
action of the disturbing causes, by which the beds were inclined or
bent. The relative position may be conceived, by imagining a series
of books to be inclined from the perpendicular, and another series to be
laid flat over the inclined edges of the former.
The new red sandstone and red marl are most frequently of the colour
which their name implies; their prevailing mineral character is siliceous,
but they comprise a great variety of beds, from a coarse conglomerate,
composed of large fragments, to a fine-grained sandstone. A series
of strata, of magnesian limestone, of considerable thickness, occurs in
the lower part of the new red sandstone, forming a narrow range of low
hills, extending from Sunderland to Nottingham.
In the upper part of the red sandstone formation, there are thick
beds of red and variegated marl, in which are rocks of gypsum and
irregular masses of rock salt. The red marl forms some of the most
productive soils in England. The new red sandstone and red marl
occupy a considerable part of the midland counties, and extend on the
western side of England, into Lancashire, and on the eastern side, into
Yorkshire. Rock salt has hitherto only been found in Cheshire and
Worcestershire, but numerous saline springs, in different parts of the
new red sandstone formation, indicate the presence of this mineral.
The upper bed of rock salt, in Cheshire, was discovered, about 150
years since, in searching for coal: it is about 40 yards below the sur-
face, and 26 yards thick, and is separated from a lower bed of salt by a
stratum of argillaceous stone, 10 yards thick. The lower bed has been
sunk into 40 yards. At Northwich, the rock salt extends in a direction
from north-east to south-west, 1½ mile; its farther extent in that direc-
tion is not ascertained. The breadth is about 1,400 yards. In another
part of Cheshire, there are 3 beds of rock salt, the lowest of which has
been sunk into 25 yards, without being cut through.
The rock salt of Cheshire is sometimes coloured red, by the admix-
ture of a small portion of oxide of iron; the colourless, transparent
specimens are nearly pure salt, with scarcely any water of crystalliza-
tion. There are also numerous salt springs in Cheshire, containing 25
per cent. of salt.
At Droitwich, in Worcestershire, the existence of rock salt has been
proved by boring; but the salt is procured by evaporating the water,
which is nearly saturated with it.
Lias limestone and clay may be traced at the feet of the Cotswold
Hills, and along the whole range, from Lyme, in Dorsetshire, to
Whitby, in Yorkshire. It consists chiefly of dark argillaceous lime-
stone, which contains iron, and forms, when bound, a good water-set-
GEOLOGY.
79
ting lime.
The well-known Aberthaw lime is from the Glamorgan-
shire lias. The most conspicuous section of the lias beds may be seen
at Lyme, forming cliffs on the coast, remarkable for the abundance of
fossil organic remains, particularly of large saurian animals partaking
of the structure of the fish and the crocodile, having paddles in the
place of fins or feet; hence called the ichthyosaurus. Some of these
animals were of enormous length. Other saurians, named plesiosauri,
are remarkable for the extraordinary length of the neck, composed of
numerous vertebræ.
In the lias cliffs, near Whitby, the remains of saurian animals are
less frequently found; but the lias clay there assumes a slaty form, and
is much impregnated with bitumen and sulphuret of iron, forming alum
slate, or shale. This slate, or shale, is piled in heaps, with small
layers of brushwood: when ignited, a slow combustion is continued for
several weeks, by the bitumen and sulphur in the shale, during which
process the sulphur forms sulphuric acid, and combines with the
alumine in the shale. The saline residue is dissolved in water, and a
small portion of potash is added to the solution, to enable the alum to
crystallise on evaporation. The alum works at Whitby supply the
greater part of the alumn of commerce in England.
If we refer to the waving line before mentioned, from Lyme Regis
to Stockton-on-Tees, we find the escarpments of the beds of oolite
ranging near that line, which forms their termination in that direction,
no beds of a similar rock being found on the north of that line, in any
part of England.* South and south-east of that line, the whole
country is composed of the upper calcareous formations of oolite and
chalk, intermixed with beds of sand, sandstone, and clay. This part of
England is destitute of any valuable metallic or mineral repositories.
Some of the oolite beds furnish useful building-stone; fuller's earth
and pipe-clay may also be enumerated among its mineral products. In
the eastern moorlands of Yorkshire, a few beds of imperfect coal are
worked in the oolitic series, for the purpose of burning lime.
Beds of oolite limestone, with associated beds of clay, cover the
southern part of Gloucestershire, and a great part of Oxfordshire,
Northamptonshire, Rutlandshire, and the eastern side of Lincolnshire;
whence they range along the west side of the Yorkshire Wolds, and
terminate in the Cleveland Hills. A bed of clay, called clunch clay
and Oxford clay, separates the lower oolites from the middle oolites;
it is in some parts 500 feet thick. This clay covers a considerable
part of the lowland in Huntingdonshire, Bedfordshire, and Oxfordshire,
and may be traced southward into Wiltshire. Between the middle
and the upper oolite there is a bed of bituminous clay, which is called
Kimmeridge clay, being so bituminous as to have been used for fuel
near Kimmeridge, in the Isle of Purbeck. Bitumen is obtained from
it in Portland. The upper oolite rests on the Kimmeridge clay, in the
Isle of Portland, where it is extensively quarried for building-stone.
St. Paul's Cathedral, in London, and most of the churches and public
* The lias on which the oolite beds rest is considered by some geologists as the
lowest part of the oolite group; an isolated extent of lias beds has recently been dis-
covered in Shropshire, north-west of this line.
80
ENGLAND AND WALES.
buildings, in London, of nearly the same date, are built of Portland
stone: it is easily worked, and is, if properly selected, of fair durability.
The total thickness of the different beds of the oolite formation, com-
prising the beds of clay, has been estimated at from 1,500 to 2,000 feet,
to which if we add 500 feet for the lias, we shall have between 2,000
and 3,000 feet of strata, that have evidently been deposited in an an-
cient sea, as the numerous shells, distributed in every part of this series
of strata, are those of marine animals. The shells include various
genera and species of bivalves and univalves; there are numerous fossil
remains of coralline animals in one of the beds, hence denominated the
coral rag.
Bones and teeth of enormous animals, allied to the croco-
dile, are found both in lias and the oolites; and the remains of one
species of these animals which had wings, have been discovered near
Lyme, and also at Stonesfield, in Oxfordshire.
The animal remains in the oolite and lias, prove that the beds were
deposited in an ancient sea; but fragments of wood, and bones of fresh-
water animals are occasionally found in the same beds, which indicate
that there was dry land in the vicinity, and rivers, by which the frag-
ments and bones had been transported into the sea.
At Stonesfield, in Oxfordshire, the bones and teeth of a small species
of didelphis (opossum) have been found in calcareous sandstone of
the oolite formation, which is the only instance at present known, of
the remains of any of the terrestrial mammalia being found so low down
in the general series of deposits.
In the eastern moorlands of Yorkshire, there is an imperfect coal
formation among the oolite beds, containing remains of terrestrial
plants; and in one situation, the fossil stems of a gigantic equisetum
are found in an erect position, indicating that they are in the place in
which they originally grew. This imperfect coal formation was pro-
bably deposited in a freshwater lake, that was occasionally dry.
Over the oolites, occur beds of green and ferruginous sand, covered
by thick beds of chalk: all these beds contain exclusively remains of
marine animals, but in the wealds of Sussex and Kent, the chalk and
green sand do not rest upon the oolites, but on beds of clay and
sandstone, about 1,200 feet thick, which contain the remains of ter-
restrial plants and freshwater animals. The chalk beds have been re-
moved from the valley of the weald by denudation. The whole of
the weald is composed of the freshwater beds, which pass under the
surrounding chalk hills of the North and South Downs. The fresh-
water beds have received the name of the wealden beds; they extend
from Hastings into Dorsetshire, but are not found north of the Thames.
The wealden is a local formation, and appears to have been deposited
in the bed, or delta, of a river of vast breadth, for the supply of which
a large extent of country would be required. This country must after-
wards have been submerged to a great depth under the ocean, and
covered with the chalk strata and green sand about 1,500 feet in thick-
ness: at a subsequent period, the chalk and subjacent strata were ele-
vated, to form the present land of the south-eastern counties. How-
ever difficult it may be to explain the causes of the repeated oscillations
of the earth's surface, by which the land was alternately submerged
GEOLOGY.
81
under the ocean, and upheaved above its waves, the proofs of such
alternations are too manifest to be denied, at least by those who have
carefully examined the geology of this district.*
The green and ferruginous sand under the chalk, and a bed of
dark clay called gault, which separates them, contain analogous marine
fossils, and are regarded as members of the chalk formation; they do
not cover a great extent of surface in England, but are to be traced
along the feet of the range of chalk hills, cropping out beneath the
chalk. The northern termination of the chalk range runs from near
Dorsetshire in a north-east direction, through Wiltshire, Berkshire,
Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire, and Cambridgeshire. Chalk is con-
tinued into Suffolk and Norfolk, and thence along the wolds of Lin-
colnshire and Yorkshire, where it terminates near Flamborough Head.
The whole of the eastern side of England, south of this range, has a
substratum of chalk, except in the wealds of Sussex and Kent, where
the chalk appears to have been removed, as before stated. In some
parts, the chalk is covered by tertiary beds of clay and sand, which
will be afterwards noticed. The average thickness of the chalk
beds, where fully developed, may be stated at about 800 feet; the
lower beds contain few flints, the upper beds contain numerous nodules
and irregular layers of flint. Many of the animal remains are ex-
tremely delicate, but are in high preservation, which proves that chalk
was deposited in a tranquil sea. Vegetable remains are extremely rare
in chalk, and fragments or pebbles of any other rock rarely occur,
except in the lowest beds, which are sometimes intermixed with the
green sand on which the chalk rests.
Before terminating the account of these strata, it may be proper to
observe, that the marine organic remains are not identical with species
existing in the present seas, but many of them are allied to genera that
inhabit the seas of tropical climates. The new red sandstone and lias
rarely attain any considerable elevation. The oolite range, in some
parts of the Cotswold Hills, and the Hambleton Hills, in Yorkshire,
rises to a height of about 1,100 and 1,000 feet. Crowborough Beacon,
the highest part of the wealden beds, is 804 feet. Leith Hill, Surrey,
composed of green sand, is 993 feet; and Ink Pen Beacon, Hampshire,
the highest part of the chalk range, is 1,011 feet.
The strata we have been describing, generally dip gently towards
the south-east, and rise towards the north-west, so that a traveller
leaving the northern escarpment of chalk in Berkshire, and proceeding
to the Malvern Hills, in Worcestershire, would pass in succession over
the edges of all these strata, from the chalk to the red sand-stone,
in the vale of Severn. The true character of the different strata
is in many parts concealed by vegetable soil and cultivated fields, but
may be discovered where the surface is broken, or where recent inter-
sections have been made in forming roads or cutting canals.
* A valuable work on the geology of the south-east of England has been
published by Gideon Mantell, Esq., F.R.S., of Lewes, to whom we are indebted
for the discovery of the fossil remains of two of the largest and most extraordinary
animals, of the saurian genus, hitherto known. The one called the iguanodon, an
herbivorous reptile, 70 feet in length; the other, called the hylæosaurus. The re-
mains were found in the gritstone of the wealden beds in Tilgate Forest.
VOL. I.
G
82
ENGLAND AND WALES.
Tertiary Strata.-The name tertiary has been given to all the
beds that have been deposited subsequently to the chalk strata; in
many situations they cover chalk. The organic remains, both animal
and vegetable, in the tertiary strata, differ much from those found in
the secondary strata, and resemble or approach nearer to existing spe-
cies, particularly in the upper or most recent beds. The bones of large
mammiferous animals are found also in some of the tertiary strata, but
have not hitherto been discovered in those beneath them. In England,
the tertiary beds occur only in the south-eastern counties, and present
but little variety.
The London clay, and plastic clay, cover the vale of Thames, from
Newbury in Berkshire, to the mouth of the Thames, and extend
through Essex to Harwich. The London clay, and plastic clay, may
be regarded as one formation of sand and clay, varying in different
parts; the lower, or what is improperly called the plastic clay, con-
sists chiefly of different beds of sand, in which are a few beds of clay.
The London clay consists chiefly of one thick bed of dark clay; the
upper part is generally of a reddish brown colour, and is more arena-
ceous than the lower beds. The total thickness of the beds that cover
the chalk near London, varies from 200 to 300 feet. It has been fre-
quently sunk through, in the search for good water, which can rarely
be obtained above the chalk, as the clay beds contain sulphuret of iron
and sulphate of magnesia.
Several beds of this clay are used as brick-earth. In the lower
sands, near Reading, are numerous oyster-shells, and the general cha-
racter of the bivalve and univalve shells, in this formation, is marine;
but the remains of some freshwater animals also occur in it, and the
heads of small crocodiles have been found in the London clay. Fossil
wood, pierced by an animal resembling the teredo, is very common,
but the most remarkable vegetable remains are those of fruit or ligne-
ous seed-vessels, which are abundant in this formation, in the Isle of
Sheppey. The vegetable remains, and those of freshwater animals,
indicate that part of the London clay and sand were deposited in a
bay or æstuary, into which rivers of fresh water transported the pro-
ductions of a neighbouring country. Beds of plastic and London clay
extend along the southern side of Hampshire, and into the Isle of
Wight, and on the coast, from Southampton river to Brighton. The
London and plastic clay of the Thames has been called the London
Basin, and that of Hampshire has been called the basin of the Isle of
Wight. It was at first supposed that the strata were deposited in
distant bays or seas; but there are patches of similar strata upon
several intervening chalk hills. It is therefore probable that the two
basins were once united, but have been separated by the upheaving
of the chalk hills, of which evident indications are afforded; for in-
stance, in the Isle of Wight, the beds of chalk that range through the
middle of the island, are thrown into a vertical position, of which sec-
tions are distinctly displayed, at Alum Bay on the west, and White
Cliff Bay on the east. The London and plastic clays, which in other
situations are nearly horizontal, have here been upheaved with the
chalk, and present numerous beds of sand and clay, standing nearly
erect, which could never have been their original position. The total
GEOLOGY.
83
thickness of the upheaved beds is about 3,000 feet. This disruption
and elevation of the strata may be traced westward into Dorsetshire,
and was evidently posterior to the deposition of the London and
plastic clay, for these beds are upheaved with the chalk. In the Isle
of Wight, there is a calcareous tertiary formation, not hitherto dis-
covered in any other part of England, consisting of beds of sand
and limestone, with freshwater shells: in some parts it is sufficiently
hard to make good building-stone. The upper freshwater limestone
is principally a calcareous marl, containing numerous well-preserved
shells of planorbis and lymneus. The freshwater beds, above the
London clay, are on the northern side of the island; they appear to
have been deposited in an extensive freshwater lake, when the surface
of the land was very different from what it is at present.
In some of the southern counties, occasional beds of siliceous sand
occur, over the London clay and chalk, which are supposed to be
analogous to the upper marine sand of the Paris Basin. This is some-
times called the Bagshot sand, from its occurrence in a considerable
mass at Bagshot, in Surrey.
There only remains one other tertiary formation to be described,
which occupies the eastern side of Norfolk and Suffolk, and is pro-
vincially called Crag. It consists of ferruginous sand and clay, in-
termixed with masses of chalk and London clay. The beds are
irregular and contain numerous marine shells, with fossil sponges and
alcyonites; the organic remains, for the most part, resemble species
existing in the present seas. The sand of the Crag is sometimes in-
durated into sandstone.
In the cliffs of Sussex, near Brighton, there is a stratum composed
of sand, intermixed with nodules of flint and masses of chalk, which
bears close resemblance to the Norfolk Crag: in this stratum the
bones and teeth of the horse and ox, and the tusks and teeth of the
elephant, have been found; it has hence been denominated, by Mr.
Mantell, the Elephant Bed.
The alluvial and diluvial depositions scattered over various parts of
England, consist of beds of clay, sand, and gravel, and loose blocks
and fragments of rock, often of considerable size: they are too nume-
rous to admit of a detailed description in the present outline. Alluvial
depositions are now forming in the banks and at the mouths of the
rivers, and in valleys, but the beds of gravel and scattered blocks of
stone have been carried from distant districts, by causes which we no
longer see in operation. Fragments of the rocks of Cumberland and
Wales are scattered over many of the midland counties, and beds of
flint gravel occur at a considerable distance from the chalk districts,
not only in the valleys but on the summits of hills, proving the
transporting power of water, and indicating also, that in some in-
stances, a considerable change has taken place in the elevation of dif-
ferent parts of the country, since these blocks of sand and beds of
gravel were deposited in their present situations. In many beds of
clay and gravel, as well as in the floors of caverns, the bones and teeth
of the elephant and other large animals are found, of which the species
are at present extinct in Europe. The hyena and the great cavern
bear have chiefly left their remains in caverns; the bones and teeth of
G 2
84
ENGLAND AND WALES.
elephants are generally found in valleys. There can be little doubt
that all these animals were once natives of this country.
The mineral and thermal waters of England and Wales present
nothing peculiarly deserving of notice. The thermal waters of Bath
were known to the Romans, and we have no evidence that they have
decreased in temperature for 2,000 years. The hot wells at Bristol,
like those of Toplitz, in Bohemia, and Moutiers, in the Tarentaise,
were affected by the earthquake of Lisbon, in 1755; they were coloured
red, and rendered unfit for use for several months afterwards. The
temperature of the Bath waters is 117° and 112° Fahrenheit; those of
Bristol are 74°, Buxton 82°, and Matlock 65°. Warm springs rise in
many parts of the Peak of Derbyshire, but the temperature is reduced
by admixture with cold springs near the surface. No thermal springs
are known in England, except in Derbyshire and Somersetshire.
SECT. 8. Climate.
The climate of a country means all the modifications of the air, by
which the organs of man and of the lower animals are affected. These
modifications are referrible chiefly to grades and vicissitudes of tem-
perature; to clearness and serenity; to degrees of humidity; to varia-
tions of pressure, and of electrical states; to the admixture of various
foreign gases; to the more subtile emanations dissolved in the atmo-
spheric moisture; and to tranquillity and motion as respects horizontal
and vertical currents. These diversified conditions depend upon the
distance from the equator; upon the soil; upon adjoining seas, lakes,
and rivers; and upon the physical circumstances of adjoining regions;
and they exert a powerful influence over the developement and health
of vegetable and animal structures-over the sensations, the intellec-
tual powers, and the moral constitution of man.
England enjoys a climate resulting from several associated circum-
stances: 1st, from its distance from the equator; 2nd, from its geogra-
phical position and relations; 3rd, from the prevailing winds or currents
of air passing over it; 4th, from its geology, soil, cultivation, and
vegetation; and, 5th, from elevation above, and proximity to, the sea,
Each of these exerts a powerful influence over the climate of the
country; but there are numerous phenomena connected with them,
which are as yet either altogether unknown as respects some situations,
or imperfectly ascertained as regards others. England is placed nearly
in the centre of the temperate zone, and consequently where the range
of temperature is considerable, though very much less than in the
same latitude in either of the great continents. It is influenced by
the warmth of the Atlantic Ocean on the south and west; by the cold
proceeding from immense fields of ice, on the north; by the vapour
exhaled from the Atlantic, on the one side, and by the comparatively
dry air of the continent of Europe, on the other. These affect the
temperature, humidity, and currents of its atmosphere. The tempera-
ture varies with the declination of the sun, and the direction of the
winds, the latter depending much upon the former. As the sun passes
to the northward of the equator, and warms the surface of countries
near the northern tropic and the Atlantic, the prevailing current of air
CLIMATE.
85
is from the north; the air cooled in the icy regions moving south-
wards, and replacing that elevated into the higher regions from the
surfaces heated by the shifted position of the sun.
Hence northerly
winds prevail in spring and summer, and depress the temperature very
considerably in these seasons; these winds exceeding the southerly,
upon an average of 10 years, in the proportion of 192 to 173, accord-
ing to Mr. Daniell. Owing to the great cold of the European con-
tinent, during spring, and the comparative warmth of the Atlantic,
heightened both by the northern declination of the sun, and by the
flow of the intertropical Atlantic waters into the northern and polar
seas, an atmospheric current is established from east to west, the air
cooled by the continent replacing that which rises warm from the sur-
face of the Atlantic. Thus cold easterly winds prevail in March, April,
and May; and a combination of the two foregoing circumstances
generally occasions the winds to blow most frequently from points
intermediate between north and east, during the months of spring and
summer.
The temperature of the inland countries of Europe being raised in
summer and autumn, the air, loaded with exhalations from the ocean,
rushes to replace the strata which are constantly rising from the heated
surfaces of these countries; and westerly winds consequently prevail
during these seasons. Towards the end of autumn, the continent of
Europe, especially its northern parts, having quickly cooled much
below the temperature of the adjoining ocean, northerly and easterly
winds again appear, and predominate in the months of November and
December.
Thus the altered position of the sun, the frigorific effect of the
northern regions, the high and equable temperature of the Atlantic
ocean, and the temperature of the European continent varying with
the seasons, combine to give certain directions to the atmospheric
currents passing over the British Islands. These currents, however,
are not always manifested by the state of the winds; for, as more even
than two currents may be established in the air at the same time, and
as there are numerous causes of divarication, some local, and others
contingent or occasional, so it follows that the lowest of these cur-
rents, constituting the winds, may often vary remarkably from, or
even be quite opposed to, the more important current established
in the next super-imposed stratum of the great atmospheric ocean.
Hence the wind in valleys, or near the bases of mountains, is often
in a different, or even opposite, quarter from that at elevated positions,
or on their summits.
The same circumstances which combine to influence the course
of the winds also occasion the vicissitudes of atmospheric heat and
humidity. The winds from the north convey to it, at all seasons,
the frigorific influence of the polar regions, somewhat tempered,
however, by the warmer ocean placed between them and our
shores. As these winds veer towards the west, and as a more ex-
tensive surface of the warmer Atlantic and northern oceans is swept
by them, their temperature is proportionally elevated, and their humi-
dity increased; but, as they change towards the east, especially in
winter and spring, their temperature is equally lowered, and their
86
ENGLAND AND WALES.
humidity diminished, owing to the immense extent of frozen and dry
country over which they pass, and the very limited extent of ocean
between the east coast of England and the west coast of continental
Europe; and they consequently reach the former but little tempered
from the state in which they left the north-eastern regions of the
latter; the winds blowing from this quarter being the coldest that pass
over the British Isles.
The warmth and softness of the south, south-west, and west winds
are caused by the temperature of the extensive ocean from which they
proceed; and which, even in the latitude of Great Britain, retains
a mean heat much above that of the incumbent atmosphere, and
still more above that of the land. During winter and spring the
difference between the temperature of the ocean and of the earth's
surface, in this latitude, is very great, and is heightened, at these
seasons, as well as in others, by the flow of the inter-tropical waters
from the south-west to the north-east; the edge of this great current
sweeping along the shores of Ireland, and slightly influencing the
Irish Channel, so as to constitute what is known to navigators by the
name of the inset of this channel; and thereby tempering the climate
of that island, as well as that of the southern and western sides of
Great Britain.
It is evident that the physical circumstances already alluded to, ex-
plain not only the prevalence of certain winds, and the variations
of temperature observed to follow every change in the atmospheric
current, but also, in a great measure, the comparative dryness and
humidity of the air, and the deposition of the exhaled moisture in the
states of snow, rain, fog, and dew. The quantity of moisture which
the air will retain, without affecting its transparency, varies very re-
markably with its temperature. Sir John Leslie ascertained, that air,
at the freezing point, is capable of holding a portion of moisture equal
to 160th part of its own weight; at the temperature of 59°, the 80th
part; at that of 86°, the 40th part; at 113, the 20th part; and at
that of 140°, the 10th part; so that the air has its dryness doubled at
each rise of temperature answering to 27° of Fahrenheit. While the
temperature, therefore, advances uniformly in arithmetical progression,
the dissolving power which this communicates to the air mounts with
the accelerating rapidity of a geometrical series. It follows, that when
the air, at any given temperature, is saturated with moisture, a de-
pression of temperature will make it yield a portion of such moisture
proportioned to the depression; the moisture thus parted with assum-
ing various forms, according to the elevation at which the separation
takes place, and the rapidity with which the change of temperature
occurs.
Hence it follows, that the amount of evaporation, or, more correctly,
the quantity of moisture which the air will retain without affecting its
transparency, depends chiefly upon its temperature. Mr. Howard and
Mr. Daniell have endeavoured to ascertain this in respect of the
vicinity of London, and the results of their inquiries very closely
accord. The average annual amount of evaporation, according to Mr.
Daniell, is 23.974 inches, and the rate at which it proceeds during the
several months of the year is estimated by him as follows :-
CLIMATE.
87
Inches.
•
0.413
0.733
July
August
Inches.
3.293
•
3.327
•
1.488
September
2.620
•
•
2.290
October
•
1.488
•
•
3.286
November
0.770
•
3.760
December
0.516
•
January
February
March
April
May
June
Thus the average monthly amount of evaporation increases and
diminishes with the temperature. The average annual amount of rain
that falls in the neighbourhood of London is, according to Mr.
Daniell, very nearly the same as the annual amount of evaporation, or
23 inches; the several months contributing the following propor-
tions :-
January
February
March
April
•
May
June
Inches.
Inches.
1.483
0.746
July
August
•
2.516
•
1.453
•
1.440
September
2.193
•
1.786
October
2.073
I.853
•
1.830
November
December
•
2.400
2.426
Hence the
When we observe the immense oceanic surface to the west and south-
west of the British Islands, the humidity of the winds blowing from
these quarters will be anticipated; and when we turn to the extensive
continent to the east, and reflect on its comparative dryness in spring
and summer, and more especially in winter, when the earth's surface,
with its rivers and lakes, is congealed into an icy crust, and the
moisture of the air is precipitated in hail, snow, and hoar-frost, the dry-
ness of the east winds will be as confidently expected. The moist and
warm winds from the former, deposit their moisture in the form of
rain, when changes of temperature and electrical conditions dimi-
nish the solvent property of the atmosphere, particularly when the
temperature of the land sinks below that of the adjoining ocean,
and the air is thereby cooled as it passes to the east.
principal part of the rain of England is from the west, about two-
thirds of the whole quantity falling on the west side of the kingdom.
During spring, when north-east winds prevail, in consequence of the
change in the sun's declination, and the much greater warmth of the
Atlantic Ocean, the dryness of the air, owing to the circumstances
stated above, is often remarkable; and when these winds begin to blow,
they generally precipitate, by their great coldness, the moisture as it
rises from the warmer surface of the earth, or surrounding waters and
lakes, in the form of fogs or mists; producing the catarrhal, bronchial,
pulmonary, rheumatic, and aguish affections prevalent at this season,
more especially when they pass over low, humid, and marshy grounds,
such as are found in various parts of Essex, Cambridgeshire, &c.
During summer and autumn, westerly winds are most prevalent.
The air from the Atlantic Ocean rushes to replace the strata constantly
rising from the heated surface of the inland countries of Europe, and
deposits the moisture with which it is loaded, in the form of rain, as it
passes over the nearest land; the mountains, hills, and places in their
vicinity, which first attract the clouds formed by the exhaled moisture,
experiencing the greatest fall. Still the air does not thus lose all its
2
88
ENGLAND AND WALES.
moisture, but only that part which the change produced by the terres-
trial radiation in its temperature and electricities, renders it incapable
of holding in solution; and the atmospheric current, in its course east-
ward, often parts with other portions, until it has its solvent properties
again increased, by the greater heat of the European continent in these
seasons; and the rains are replaced by nightly falls of dew, as the noc-
turnal cooling of the earth's surface lowers the temperature, and also
the solvent powers, of the adjoining stratum of air. When, however,
the southern declination of the sun at the end of autumn reduces more
permanently the temperature of the earth's surface, the air, being con-
sequently cooled, precipitates a large portion of its moisture; and, at
the same time, its lower stratum rushes westward, to replace the
stratum elevated into its higher regions from the now warmer surface
of the Atlantic; whilst this latter stratum, in the higher regions,
rushes eastwards, and, as it cools, replaces that which is attracted west-
ward by the cause now assigned; a circulation of the atmosphere from
east to west in the lower, and from west to east in the upper stratum,
being thus established. It is chiefly owing to this circumstance that
falls of rain often take place from the east during the latter part of
autumn and commencement of winter; the moisture which, in spring
and summer, had passed over this country, either dissolved in the air,
or suspended in the form of clouds, and been conveyed to the dry and
comparatively warm atmosphere of continental Europe, returning again
over Great Britain, and giving rise to prolonged rains or fogs, as the
currents and solvent powers of the air change with the varying position
of the sun, and with the different degrees of temperature of the earth's
surface and of the ocean, at the same latitude. A large portion, also,
of the rain which falls when the winds blow from easterly quarters, is
owing to the circulation of the warm and moist air from the surface of
the ocean into the higher regions, and thence eastwards, where it passes
into the lower regions as it cools, and replaces that which flows west-
wards and afterwards rises from the warmer surface of the ocean; the
moisture thus exhaled from the Atlantic not being altogether deposited
in the form of rain or snow until it has nearly gone the circuit now
pointed out.
It is seldom that a considerable fall of rain takes place with the
winds at north-east or east, particularly during winter and spring,
unless they veer towards the north or south, or unless the clouds
formed by the moisture exhaled from the ocean move in the higher
regions of the air in a westerly direction, and, as they become further
cooled by the land, either change their course, in the manner now
stated, or impart their moisture to the lowest stratum of air circulating
in an opposite or different direction. Thus, we generally perceive that
rain from the east, or, rather, with the wind at east, is preceded by
large clouds or haziness of the air, rising from some quarter connected
with the west; and that, although the wind may still continue to blow
from the east, these clouds extend, rise out of the western horizon, and
move rapidly to the east, until the atmosphere becomes thick in all
directions; the clouds supplying the falls of rain from the east actually
coming from the west, and depositing their moisture in the course of
that circulation explained in the preceding paragraph. Those who
CLIMATE.
89
have been led by their occupations to note the changes of the atmo-
sphere never expect the cessation of rain from the east until the western
hemisphere becomes clear, or the clouds cease to rise from that quarter ;
nor trust to any continuance of dry weather, if heavy clouds rise and
move in a different direction from that in which the wind is blowing at
the time.
The other physical circumstances enumerated above, as influencing
the climate of England, are such as exert, upon the whole, a favourable
effect. The elevation of particular districts is nowhere so great as very
remarkably to affect the temperature, or dryness of the air. The range
of hills extending southwards from Cumberland and Westmoreland
tends, however, to increase the quantity of rain which falls in their
vicinity, or in places situated near their bases; and a similar effect is
produced by the Welsh mountains. But the geographical and other
physical circumstances of the west side of the island would make a
greater fall of rain take place on it than on the east side, though no
such ranges of hills existed. The extent, however, to which they may
operate in producing this result, will appear more fully in the sequel;
but more influence seems to have been imputed to them than they
really exert.
Proximity to the sea has a marked effect upon our climate, but
chiefly in the way already shown. This is felt throughout the
kingdom, but principally near the coast, and more especially on
the south-west coast; the daily, monthly, and yearly ranges of the
thermometer being, through the vast extent of the circumjacent ocean,
very much limited; while the humidity of the air is at the same time
increased. The tempering effects of the sea on the east side of Great
Britain are very much less than on the west. The sea off the former
is cooled in winter and spring by the waters of the Germanic rivers,
which are poured into it at a temperature little short of the freezing
point; whilst that off the latter is, as previously stated, influenced by
the constant flow of the Atlantic towards the polar seas.
The tempera-
ture of the waters of the Irish channel, even in January, seldom falls
below 50° Faht.; and that of the Atlantic, in the same latitude, is very
considerably above this; whilst the German Ocean, in the same season,
is several degrees below 50°: it seldom, indeed, rises above 45°, ex-
cepting in July, August, and September.
The geology of England has, on the whole, but little influence
over the climate, except in as far as it contributes to form the soil and
to determine its cultivation; and it is nowhere such as can injuriously
affect the atmosphere. The soil and subsoil are, with few exceptions,
sufficiently porous, and the surface of the former sufficiently undulating,
to facilitate the percolation of superabundant moisture, and to favour its
flow into the adjoining rivers: and it is only in certain limited tracts, ou
the east side of the kingdom, where the soil is deep, absorbent, or
marshy, as in parts of Cambridge, Lincoln, Suffolk, Huntingdon, Nor-
folk, and Essex, and in a few places in Kent and Sussex, that the
moisture is retained until it is evaporated, carrying with it a portion of
decayed vegetable or animal matters, or the gases formed by their de-
composition.
Cultivation has either wholly removed or very materially diminished
90
ENGLAND AND WALES.
most causes of insalubrity, and increased the favourable influence of the
circumstances already specified upon our climate. The temperature of
some countries is much reduced, the humidity of the air increased, and
the sources of disease multiplied, by extensive forests and the neglect
of tillage; but such is not the case in England. Our woods are neither
large nor thick enough to have any pernicious influence; and our im-
proved system of agriculture has helped to counteract the physical
causes that render the atmosphere more moist than in continental
countries. In some parts, particularly in the fens, large marshy dis-
tricts that were formerly overspread with stagnant water, have been
drained and cultivated, and rendered incomparably more salubrious, as
well as more productive, than formerly. In consequence, the agues
and intermittent fevers once so prevalent in them, are compara-
The im-
tively unknown, and are confined to a few limited localities.
provements now referred to, are not, however, peculiar to the fenny or
marshy districts, but have been experienced in a greater or less degree
all over the kingdom. The speedy drainage of the land water in all
the vast districts having a retentive subsoil, by laying out the land in
ridges, and more recently by the adoption of furrow-drainage, has had
so powerful an influence, that the dryness of the air has been increased;
and the period of harvest, in the districts where it has been carried to
the greatest extent, very considerably accelerated.
The general results of the circumstances reviewed above, upon the
climate of England, are (a) the moderation of extremes of tempera-
ture ;—(6), a humid state of the atmosphere, more remarkable, however,
near the sea coast than in the more inland parts, and on the south-west
and west sides than on the east; (c), an uncertain and changeable
state of the seasons; (d), very frequent vicissitudes of atmospheric
temperature and humidity, owing chiefly to changes of the winds;
(e), a limited range of these vicissitudes, even when they are most fre-
quent ; and (ƒ), a more equable and milder climate, although more
humid and more changeable, within certain limits, than that of any
Certain
other country placed at the same distance from the equator.
of these results require illustration.
a. The temperature is so moderated in its extreme ranges, that we
are truly, as Tacitus said, without the asperitas frigorûm. (Agric.
§ 12.) The thermometer seldom falls much below the freezing point,
even in January, the coldest month; very rarely so low as 18° or 20°,
and hardly ever to either of these limits, excepting in the inland coun-
ties, and on the east side of the kingdom: and it rarely rises above 78°
or 80°, or even so high, unless in south-east and inland places, in
the warmest days of July and August. In the northern parts of
the kingdom, owing to their nearer proximity to the ocean, the ex-
tremes of temperature are still more contracted, the thermometer
seldom falling to, and very rarely lower than, the limits now spe-
cified; and hardly ever rising above 75. So that, upon the whole
(excepting where difference of elevation above the level of the sea
makes a slight variation), the mean annual temperature of the
northern parts of the country is only between 2° and 3° lower than
that of the south-eastern counties; the more moderate heat of sum-
mer and autumn, in the former, being compensated in part by a less
CLIMATE.
91
extreme or permanent degree of cold in winter than is occasioned in
the latter by proximity to the Continent; and the greater distance of
the northern counties from the equator being, in some measure, coun-
tervailed by the tempering influence of the ocean. The difference, how-
ever, between the annual temperature of the northern and the south-
western and inland counties is much greater than that between the
northern and south-eastern; owing to the greater distance of the south-
western counties from the continent of Europe, and their greater
proximity to the equator. In the midland counties (and espe-
cially in the more southerly of these), the heating effects of ex-
tensive tracts of cultivated land, in summer and autumn, are more
manifestly experienced, and the cooling influence of the ocean much
less, than in the northern; whilst the warmth of the Atlantic, in winter
and spring, is more felt than the cooling influence of the Continent,
which, at these seasons, affects chiefly the eastern parts of the king-
dom. In spring the difference of temperature, between the northern
and southern counties of England, is greatest; the former experiencing
the frigorific influence of the icy and northern regions much longer;
and the latter feeling the genial influence of the gales from the adjoin-
ing and more temperate ocean, and from southern and warmer re-
gions, not only earlier, but also to a greater degree, because of their
nearer approach to them.
In estimating the mean temperature of England, it will be con-
venient to consider the subject with reference to the different parts of
the kingdom, which several physical circumstances more or less dis-
tinguish. 1st. The south-east part consists of the country east of the
longitude of London, terminating with Norfolk on the north, and with
Kent on the south. 2nd. The south district consists of Surrey, Wilt-
shire, Sussex, Hampshire, including the Isle of Wight. 3rd. The
south-west comprises Dorsetshire, Somersetshire, Devonshire, and
Cornwall. 4th. The west embraces Wales, and parts to the north-
ward on that side. 5th. The north takes in all to the northward of
the fifty-third degree of latitude: and, 6th. The inland district con-
sists of the remainder. Although London should be placed in the
south-eastern district, there are several circumstances which combine
to give it a somewhat peculiar climate, and a higher mean tempera-
ture, than is observed in its immediate vicinity. These are, its
position near the level of the sea; the high cultivation of the ad-
joining country: the influence of innumerable fires and gas-lights ;
and the partial shelter, furnished by the high grounds to the north-
ward, from the winds in that quarter. The ground, also, is so com-
pletely covered by buildings and pavements, and is so drained by
sewers, &c., that little cold is generated during the nights by the
evaporation of moisture, which can be given out but to a limited and
much less extent than from a soil covered by vegetable productions:
the only countervailing circumstances are the low, open, and marshy
district to the eastward, and near the mouth and banks of the Thames,
which admits of unbroken currents of air from the east, and the
practice of watering the macadamized and muddy streets. These
affect, in some degree, the climate of London, and increase aguish and
similar disorders.
92
ENGLAND AND WALES.
1. In London, the mean temperature of the whole year is 50·39;
of winter, 39.12; of spring, 48.76; of summer, 62.32; and of
autumn, 51.35; that of January being 37.36; and of July and
August, 63.50 each.
2. In the south-eastern counties, the mean temperature of the whole
year may be estimated at 48.81; of winter, 37.20; of spring, 48∙10;
of summer, 60.80; and of autumn, 49.30; that of January being
34·16; and of July, 62·40.
3. In the southern district, the mean temperature of the year is
51·10; of winter, 40·35; of spring, 49.00; of summer. 63·10; and
of autumn, 51.65; that of January being 38.35; and of July, 65.00.
4. In the northern counties, the mean temperature of the year is
about 47.65; of winter, 37.50; of spring, 44.50; of summer, 59.50;
and of autumn, 48-65; that of January being 36·10; and of July,
60.50.
5. In the south-west extremity of the kingdom, or peninsula formed
by the English and Bristol channels, the mean temperature of the year
is about 52-50; of winter, 44.50; of spring, 49.60; of summer, 60-50;
and of autumn, 53.80; that of January being 42.50; and of July,
63.50.
6. In the midland counties, the mean temperature of the year is
51.30;
of winter, 40·60; of spring, 50·20; of summer, 64·30; and
of autumn, 51·00: that of January being 38.20; and July, 66·30.
The influence of the geographical position of England upon its tem-
perature is well shown by comparing the thermometric ranges observed
in it and in continental places in the same latitude. At Moscow,
which is in the same latitude as the north of England, the mean tem-
perature of the year is only 40°, whilst that of the hottest month is
70.50.
b. Humidity of atmosphere is a necessary result of the circum-
stances already mentioned; but the air is not equally moist in all parts
of the kingdom, or at all seasons.
The seasons, as already seen, vary in this respect very remarkably ;
but the months of February, March, January, and April, may be con-
sidered the driest; and summer, autumn, and the early part of winter,
the most humid. In respect of situation, the south-west and western
parts of England are much more moist than the east, south, and inland
counties; and the quantity of rain which falls in them much greater.
On the south-east coast, and in the vicinity of London, the annual
quantity of rain varies from 20 to 25 inches; whilst in the western
parts it ranges from 30 to 51 inches, according to the locality; the
more westerly places, and those situated near the bases of the most
westerly hills, experiencing the greatest falls. In many situations, also,
on the west side of the island, foggy and drizzling days are very com-
mon, the quantity of rain or moisture then deposited being insufficient
to affect the rain-gauge. In Cornwall, the annual quantity of rain is about
45 inches, and the average number of rainy days, according to Mr. Davis
Giddy's register, about 180, a number not materially above that ob-
served in the vicinity of London; the difference being in the quantity
and continuance of the fall, rather than the frequency of the occasions.
But, even when there is no fall of rain, the air is more constantly humid
CLIMATE.
93
in the western parts, especially near the coast, than in others. This,
which is a necessary consequence of the circumstances already explained,
is shown by the hygrometer, and the readiness with which articles of
iron and steel rust when exposed even in the driest weather, and by the
fact that most sorts of fruits are later in ripening than those raised in
the midland and eastern counties, and also inferior in flavour.
The inland, south, and south-east counties possess, upon the whole,
the driest air. Of the inland district, those parts which are most
elevated, and situated to the eastward of the Welch mountains, and of
the range of high hills running southwards from Cumberland and
Westmoreland, are amongst the driest. Yet many inland places expe-
rience much rain, owing chiefly to there being no high hills or moun-
tains interposed between them and the ocean, and to hills in their
immediate vicinity, which attract or otherwise affect the clouds, and
assist in condensing the atmospheric moisture. In some of these places
there is more rain than in parts situated nearer to the western coast;
thus there is a greater fall of rain at Manchester than at Liverpool;
and, as moisture is generally precipitated to the lower regions of the
atmosphere before it is condensed or aggregated into rain-drops, it
follows that a larger quantity falls at the bases of high hills or moun-
tains than on their summits.
c. The variableness and uncertainty of the climate of England have
been considered as its greatest disadvantages. They necessarily result
from the circumstances already explained, and have been unwarrantably
assumed to be injurious to the human frame. They have, also, been in-
considerately magnified; effects have been imputed to them, which they
are in no wise concerned in causing; and equal, nay even greater,
disadvantages, in foreign climates, have been weighed against them,
and been unjustly considered as light in comparison. The frequent
vicissitudes of atmospheric temperature are owing chiefly to the varia-
bleness of the winds, depending less on the influence of the sun's rays
during the day, and of radiation through the night, than in most other
countries, even in the same latitude. But, although the vicissitudes of
temperature are frequent, the range is generally limited. The mean
daily (or 24 hours') range of the register thermometer, for London,
taking the average of the year, is, according to Howard and Daniell,
only 11°; in the midland counties it may be taken as high as 14°;
and in the peninsula of Cornwall at only 8°, which may be considered
as the general average range of most places situated on the sea coast,
and possessing an ocean temperature. The observations made at Naples,
Rome, Montpelier, and Geneva, give 13.3, 110, 12.0, and 12.5 re-
spectively, although not made from a register thermometer, which
would have shown the daily thermometric range to be greater. From
what was previously stated, it might be inferred that the extreme daily
range of the thermometer would be greatest in the more inland parts
of the country, somewhat less in London, less again near the sea coast,
and least of all in the south-west districts; and the observations
referred to confirm, as far as they go, these inferences. The mean
daily range varies with the seasons. In the midland counties, it may
be taken at 9' in January, 11° in February, 14° in March, 18° in
94
ENGLAND AND WALES.
April, 19° in May, 20 in June, 19° in July, 18 in August, 17° in
September, 15 in October, 11° in November, and 10° in December;
the variation thus increasing and diminishing with the calorific influence
of the sun, and the cooling effects of radiation and evaporation from the
soil and vegetation during the nights, being greatest when the sun's
rays are warmest, and terrestrial radiation and evaporation most active.
The mean daily range, for the different months, is much less near the
sea coast, and somewhat less in London, where it is very little more
than at Naples.
The annual range of the register thermometer is about 64° in Lon-
don, 67° in the south-east districts, 65° in the southern, 58° in the
western, and about 50° in the south-west. The monthly range of the
thermometer is lowest in January and February, when it is 28° in
London, 25° in Cheltenham, 31° in the northern counties, 34° in the
south-east districts, and 24° at Penzance; and greatest in April and
May, when it is 38°, 36, 39, 44, and 2540, in these places
respectively.
Hence vicissitudes of temperature in England, although frequent,
are not really very great. We are unable to compare them with those
observed on the Continent in the same latitudes, the observations made
in the latter which we have examined being imperfect, and rarely made
in the night, or by a register thermometer; but, taking into considera-
tion the calorific power of the sun upon a greater extent of continent;
the cooling action of the soil and its vegetable productions by evapo-
ration, radiation, &c.; the influence of high mountains, &c., inde-
pendently of various other circumstances already noticed; the mean
daily and monthly ranges, and, still more, the annual range, must
be much greater than in this country.
The difference between the mean temperature of the coldest and
warmest months is 26° in London, 30° in Paris, 241 in England gene-
rally, 18° in Cornwall, 31° in the south-west of France, 354° in the
south-east of France, and 32½° in Italy.
The quantity of rain which falls in Paris is only 2 inches less than
that which falls in London, whilst that which falls in Rome and Flo-
rence is, according to Sir James Clark, nearly 32 inches, or as much
as falls at Bristol and Clifton; the principal difference being, that at
Rome there are 117 rainy days, and at Bristol about 140.
The influence of the climate of England over the human constitution
is similar to that exercised over the rest of the animal creation, and
even over the vegetable kingdom. The warmth of summer is not so
great, nor its accession so sudden, as to occasion a too rapid develope-
ment, or a too high excitement, of organized bodies; nor the cold of
winter so extreme as to depress their vitality to an injurious degree.
The localities, soil, and cultivation are such, with few exceptions, as
prevent the generation of marsh effluvia, whilst the fresh and strong
westerly winds occasioned by the position of the country between
the continent and ocean, cause a continued renewal of the atmo-
sphere, even in the closest and most crowded streets of our manufac-
turing towns, and of the metropolis. As respects these towns, also
the quantity of rain is of great benefit, inasmuch as it washes away the
CLIMATE.
95
various animal exuviæ and impurities into the sewers and subways,
and prevents them from tainting the air.
The limits of this chapter will not admit of an investigation of the
influence of our climate over the human frame; the results, how-
ever, rather than the modes of its operation may be briefly shown. Its
humidity, the multus humor terrarum cœlique, which gives our
fields and woods so rich and verdant an appearance, and our im-
proved agriculture are the sources of that abundant supply, not merely
of vegetable, but also of animal food, for which England is so remark-
able, and which is so necessary in these northern regions. Unless,
therefore, some powerful countervailing influences be in operation, it
may be fairly presumed that persons possessing the advantages of this
appropriate nourishment from their childhood or youth will be the
most perfectly developed. But, except in a few situations, no coun-
tervailing influences of the kind alluded to exist. The same physical
circumstances, which act so beneficially upon those individuals of the
animal and vegetable kingdoms best suited to the food and accom-
modation of man, have also a most favourable influence upon man
himself. And
And it is only in some limited districts that marsh exha-
lations partially countervail the effects of wholesome nourishment, and
that in large and crowded towns and factories certain circumstances
connected with arts and manufactories, and with the use of machinery,
produce similar effects, though in a different way.
Our climate, therefore, as well by its direct influence over the human
constitution, as by favouring an abundant production of the plants and
animals most serviceable for food, is certainly not excelled by that of
any other country. Its variableness both in the commencement and
course of the different seasons, is confined, as shown above, within
moderate limits, and seldom affects vegetation and animal health to an
injurious extent; and, though hurtful in a few states of disease, and the
usually assigned cause of more disorder than it actually occasions, it is
really most favourable to the developement of the physical powers, and
of the intellectual and moral endowments. Unless when extreme, fre-
quent vicissitudes of weather preclude, as respects the community gene-
rally, the regular adoption of means to guard against their operation:
the system consequently becomes habituated to them, and is fortified
against their influence. That this
That this is the case is shown by the vigorous
constitution, mental activity, and longevity of the inhabitants, which are
great in proportion to their exposure to the open air; and the more the
climate is allowed to exercise its full influence, without the restrictions
imposed by injudicious refinement, luxury, and vicious systems of phy-
sical and mental education, the more robust, muscular, and symmetri-
cally developed does the human frame become. If we compare the
physical and moral history of England with that of France, Italy, and
other countries, supposed to possess the finest climate, the pre-eminence
of the former in most particulars will be evident.
Among those who have formed a correct estimate of our climate is
Sir William Temple. "I must needs," says he, "add one thing more
in favour of our climate, which I heard the king say, and I thought
new and right, and truly like a king of England, that loved and
esteemed his own country; it was in reply to some of the company
96
ENGLAND AND WALES.
that were reviling our climate, and extolling those of Italy and Spain,
or at least of France. He said he thought that was the best climate
where he could be abroad in the air with pleasure, or at least without
trouble and inconvenience, the most days of the year, and the most
hours of the day; and this he thought he could be in England more
than any other country in Europe."—( Works, vol. iii. p. 220.)
With respect to the influence of our climate on the health of invalids,
a few observations only need be made. Those who wish to possess
further information on the subject will find it in the articles referred
to below.* It has been too generally the practice to recommend tra-
vel, or residence abroad to persons suffering from various slow diseases,
in preference to a change to places in this country equally suited to
their ailments. Ignorance of the climate of this kingdom, and of that
of foreign parts, to which invalids are usually sent, the influence of
fashion, and other circumstances, have led to this practice, which many
have had cause to deplore. So varied is the climate of England, that
it furnishes a suitable residence to persons suffering from any chronic
disease; and with extremely few exceptions, as judicious and beneficial
a choice may be made in it as in any foreign country. Even in those
diseases where it is beneficial to conjoin change of air with the use of
mineral waters, the great variety of the latter, in its different localities,
enables the physician to make as advantageous a selection for his
patient in this country as he can make for him in any other. And
when it is recollected that many, who go abroad for a change of air,
mineral waters, and a change of living, are subjected to malaria, and
other causes of disease, which scarcely exist in this country, and either
fall victims to them, or experience their ill effects for many years
afterwards, the advantages resulting from the practice will appear
very questionable. There are, also, certain well-ascertained facts, con-
nected with the climate of foreign parts, which should be known to
those who wish to visit them for the sake of their health, viz., 1st,
That the mean duration of human life, in those parts of the continent
which are conceived to be the best for renovating the decayed consti-
tutions of British visiters, is actually below its duration in the most
unhealthy localities in this country. 2nd, That consumptions, for the
cure of which such parts are principally recommended, are as prevalent,
among the natives, as in any part of England, and perhaps more so.
3rd, That no place or town of continental Europe is exempted, at some
period of the year, from cold winds, sudden variations of temperature,
and other atmospheric vicissitudes; and that, whilst the climate of our
own country has been unjustly depreciated, that of foreign parts, espe-
cially of Italy and the south of France, has been unjustly overrated, par-
ticularly as respects the amelioration and removal of pectoral complaints.
Having made those remarks, in order that a too prevalent delusion
may be removed, a few observations, on the advantages and disadvan-
tages of the climate of certain parts of this country, in a medical point.
of view, may not, perhaps, be unacceptable.
The general use of coal fuel in England, and its employment in
* See the articles Climate, Arts and Employments, the Causation of Disease, and
Endemic Influences, in the Dictionary of Practical Medicine, by James Copland,
M.D., F.R.S., &c.
CLIMATE.
97
numerous steam-engines, forges, &c., in manufacturing towns, owing
to the quantity of sulphur it contains, and to the sulphurous acid fumes
and fuliginous matter thereby generated, renders the air in these places
irritating to the lungs, and increases the risk of a winter residence in
them; especially in the case of those who suffer from, or are liable to,
diseases of this organ. In such cases, removal to a more salubrious
locality, or to one more suited to the existing ailments or morbid ten-
dencies, becomes necessary. In most cases of residence in large towns
or cities, an occasional change of air, and temporary residence in open
and healthy localities, are more or less required: but the change
should be made with reference to the ailments either threatened or
existing; for the locality suited to disorders of the lungs is not appro-
priate to those of the digestive organs-the two great groups of diseases
for which change is most serviceable: and a situation which may
benefit one affection of the lungs may be injurious to another.
The south coast of England is much milder and more moist than the
east, the south-east, and inland parts, particularly from October to March,
inclusive; but, from April to October, the temperature of the inland
parts is higher. On the south-coast, Brighton, Hastings, Undercliff
in the Isle of Wight, and various other intervening and adjoining
places, are suitable winter residences for the weak and delicate, and
persons liable to pulmonary complaints. Brighton, owing to the air
being drier in it than in parts more to the westward, is the best suited
of these for persons affected with nervous and dyspeptic diseases,
for the simply debilitated and relaxed, and for those labouring
under humoral asthma, and chronic affections of the air passages;
Hastings and Undercliff, especially the latter, in consequence of their
being more sheltered, and of the air being more humid, are good
residences, in winter and spring, for persons affected by diseases of
the lungs; but, in fully formed tubercular consumption, they are
inferior to several places on the south-west coast, the temperature of
which is about 6 higher than that of London, and 3° above that of
the south coast.
The south-west coast is especially adapted to persons labouring un-
der pulmonary complaints. The parts chiefly recommended are Pen-
zance, Torquay, Dawlish, Sidmouth, Exmouth, and Salcombe. The air,
both of the Land's End and of the coast of Devonshire and Cornwall,
is remarkably soft, humid, mild, and equal. Of the parts just named,
Torquay and Penzance are apparently the best in consumptive cases.
The equality of their temperature, not only during the day and night,
but also throughout the year, in conjunction with the other properties
stated above, renders them the most appropriate places in this country
for the winter and spring residence of this class of invalids, and ranks
them, in this respect, next to Madeira, and above all places in the
south of Europe. The temperature of the air at night is at least 7°
higher in them during the winter months than in London; and 10° or
11° above the night temperature at the same periods in the midland
and eastern districts. This climate, although most beneficial to pul-
monary diseases, characterized by inflammatory action or much irrita-
tion, or by scanty expectoration, is injurious, especially from May to
October, in disorders consisting of simple debility, deficient nervous
VOL. I.
H
98
ENGLAND AND WALES.
energy, and relaxation of the mucous surfaces and soft solids; and
even in those diseases for which it is most beneficial, removal will be
necessary to a somewhat drier air during the summer, the patient de-
riving additional benefit from returning the succeeding winter.
The West of England has a temperature a little lower than the
southern coast; but in March and April, the thermometer in the
former rises above its elevation in the latter; and during the whole
winter and spring it is higher on the west than on the east and south-
east sides of the kingdom. Bath and Bristol are about 3° warmer
than London during the months of November and December; but the
difference is reduced nearly a half during January, February, and
March. The vale of Bristol is the mildest and most sheltered in this
district. Its winter climate is rendered mild by its vicinity to the
ocean; whilst the surrounding mountains attract the clouds, and di-
minish the fall of rain below its amount in places in the vicinity.
Bristol Hot-wells, and the lower parts of Clifton, are best suited to
consumptive patients, and the more elevated situations of the latter, to
other invalids. Bath and Clifton are preferable places of residence to
the south-west district, for patients affected by protracted indigestion,
or other affections of the digestive organs, by gout, and scrofula. In
these affections, the waters of Bristol Hot-well, with regular exercise
on horseback or on foot, prove extremely serviceable.
The inland parts of the kingdom are very favourable, during the
summer, for the cure of various slow or constitutional diseases, par-
ticularly those places towards the west side which possess considerable
elevation above the level of the sea. Malvern and the adjoining
country, with the Malvern waters, are very serviceable in scrofulous
and dyspeptic complaints. A summer's residence in Wales is often
beneficial to consumptive patients, and those affected by diseases of
debility, more especially when a course of goat's whey is considered
necessary. Buxton, Matlock, Leamington, Cheltenham, and the
country in their vicinity, are excellent places of residence, especially
during summer and autumn, for invalids; these different localities
being well suited to different ailments. Independently of the use of
their respective mineral waters, and still more especially in conjunc-
tion with a judicious and appropriate recourse to these, they are very
serviceable for those who are debilitated and relaxed, by whatever
cause; whose digestive, secreting, assimilating, and excreting functions
are imperfectly performed, or whose abdominal viscera are congested
or obstructed. In these latter circumstances, especially, the appro-
priate use of the waters of those places, assisted by regular exercise on
foot or horseback, by suitable medical treatment, and by mental
relaxation and amusement, often prove of great service.
The south-east districts enjoy a tolerably dry air, which, however,
is often raw, keen, or chilling in spring and early summer; but is,
from July to November, particularly during the intervening months,
restorative and bracing, especially to those who may be relaxed
by residence in the thickly inhabited parts of the metropolis and
manufacturing towns. The places chiefly resorted to are the Isle of
Thanet, Dover, Southend, and Tunbridge Wells. To those who do
not require the Tunbridge waters, the Isle of Thanet is upon the
CLIMATE.
99
whole the most beneficial. Its air is dry and bracing, and its soil
allows the rain quickly to descend through it, preventing the cold and
exhalations resulting from evaporation.
From the rapid survey now taken of the climate of this country, it
will be seen that it possesses advantages above any observed in foreign
parts. There is scarcely a place, and certainly no considerable town,
situated under unfavourable climatorial circumstances: whilst the
inhabitants of our vast metropolis, and of our manufacturing towns,
have, within a moderate distance, and at an easy access, such changes
of air, climate, and water, as are best suited to their wants and ailments,
whether occasioned by the dissipations of fashion, the exhaustion of
mental or bodily exertion, or the satiety of enjoyment. So variable,
so diversified, and yet so salutary, is the climate of England, that
threatened disease may be prevented, and protracted complaints re-
moved, by judicious changes made at proper seasons, and to suitable
places; and whether estimated according to its own merits, or compared
with those of any other climate, we have real cause to exclaim, respect-
ing it, with the Roman poet,
"O fortunatos nimium, sua si bona nôrint!"
SECT. 9. Botany.
Since a small part only of this work can be devoted to a scientific
notice of the vegetable productions of the British Islands, we shall
confine our remarks to such subjects as are of general interest, referring
for further information to the "Outlines of the Geographical Distri-
bution of British Plants,"* by H. C. Watson, Esq., and to Mr.
Murray's "Encyclopædia of Geography.' We have not thought
it necessary to divide this article into separate heads for England,
Scotland, and Ireland, but have made it applicable to all three.
Situated as the British Islands are, between lat. 50° and 61° N.,
the 1,500 species of phænogamous plants which they are estimated
to contain may naturally be expected to bear a considerable affinity
with those of Germany, separated only by the German Ocean on the
east, and those of the North of France, divided by the English
Channel on the south; while, on the west, the vast Atlantic inter-
vening between us and the similar latitudes on the continent of Ame-
rica, the species of plants will bear no sort of comparison: but what is
very remarkable, if a line be drawn from near the limits of perpetual
snow, from the Alps of Switzerland and Savoy, in a north-westerly
direction, across the summits of our highest mountains along those of
moderate elevation in Labrador and Arctic America, to the lowlands
of the extreme northern portions of that vast continent and adjacent
islands, a very considerable affinity will be found in the vegetation;
and twenty or more species, all eminently alpine or boreal, may be
found in such situations throughout the whole length. If we trace
the more remarkable features of our vegetation from the south to
the north, we shall find it influenced no less by climate than by soil,
* Printed for private distribution only; but, through the liberality of the author,
now in the hands of most persons to whom it can be useful.
II 2
100
ENGLAND AND WALES.
thus testifying the truth of what was long ago sung by the Mantuan
bard :-
"Not every plant on every soil will grow,
The sallow loves the watery ground and low,
The marshes alders:-Nature seems to ordain
The rocky cliff for the wild ash's reign;
The baleful yew to northern blasts assigns,
To shores the myrtles, and to mounts the vines.”
In the extreme south of England and of Ireland we find many plants
incapable of bearing the cold of more northern latitudes. Hence the
strawberry tree adorns the woods of Killarney and of Bantry, with its
rich evergreen foliage and its copious red berries, and comes to such
perfection, that a trunk has been measured of 9 feet in girth. It is
only in our most southern latitudes that we find the large flowered
butterwort (Pinguicula grandiflora); the beautiful ciliated heath
(Erica ciliaris); the Cornish heath (E. vagans); the acrid lobelia
(Lobelia urens); two species of rampion, the round-headed (Phy-
teuma orbicularis) and the spiked (P. spicata); the graceful little
sibthorpia (S. Europea); the marsh isnardia (I. palustris); the
Cornish bladderseed (Physospermum Cornubiense); the least gen-
tianella (Exacum filiforme); the whorled knotgrass (Illecebrum ver-
ticillatum); and the purple spurge (Euphorbia peplis).
The following are among the most striking and ornamental of our
native plants, which scarcely reach the middle of the kingdom, and
fail below the south of Scotland: The water soldier, with its curious
spear-shaped leaves (Stratiotes aloides); the water violet (Hottonia
palustris); the small maidenhair grass (Briza minor); the sweet violet,
"that loveliest herald of the spring," (Viola odorata); several kinds of
mullein (Verbascum); the primrose peerless (Narcissus poeticus and
biflorus); the common snake's-head (Fritillaria Meleagris); the
Agrostis setacca; the star of Bethlehem (Ornithogalum Pyreniacum);
the two species of Squill (Scilla autumnalis and bifolia); the mountain
spiderwort (Anthericum serotinum); the Solomon's seal (Convallaria
polygonatum) and sweet sedge (Acorus calamus); the yellow wort
(Chlora perfoliata); the mezereon (Daphne mezereum); the flowering
rush (Butomus umbellatus); the yellow marsh saxifrage (Saxifraga
hirculus), though this is on the Continent a very arctic plant; the
clove pink (Dianthus caryophyllus and D. prolifer); several catchflys
(Silene), Euphorbias, Cistuses, Anemones; the traveller's joy (Cle-
matis vitalba); the ground pine (Ajuga chamæpitys); the wood
sage (Teucrium scorodonia); the crested and field cow-wheat (Melam-
pyrum cristatum and arvense); some Orobanches; the vella annua,
Draba aizoides, and Iberis amara; some fumitories (Fumaria solida,
aurea, and parviflora); the yellow and crimson Vetchlings (Lathyrus,
Aphaca, and Nissolia); the Vicia hybrida, lævigata, and Bithynica;
Hippocrepis comosa; Orchis morio, pyramidalis, ustulata, fusca,
militaris, tephrosanthos, and hircina; Aceras anthropophora; Her-
minium monorchis; all the species of Ophrys; Epipactis rubra; Ma-
laxis Loeselii; the beautiful and rare Lady's slipper (Cypripedium
calceolus); the birth wort (Aristolochia clematitis); the Roman
BOTANY.
101
nettle (Urtica pilulifera); the Xanthium strumarium and Amaranthus
blitum; the mistletoe (Viscum album); the sea buckthorn (Hip-
pophæ rhamnoides); and the white poplar (Populus canescans).
The country of which these plants are the produce, including,
however, the lowlands of Scotland, is distinguished, by Mr. Watson,
as the woody region; which, to borrow his expressions, is, from one end
to the other, 66
an undulating plain of meadows, pastures, and culti-
vated fields, separated from each other by hawthorn hedges or stone
walls, and thickly interspersed with parks, woods, gardens, towns, and
high roads, altogether betokening a climate where man may attain a
high state of civilization, and live for ease and pleasure, as well as for
laborious occupations. It is the region where flourish the trees and
bloom the flowers rendered classic by our poets, and not the less loved
by many of us, that their very commonness has made them familiar by
vernacular names, without the aid of botanical systems or a dead
language. It is, par excellence, the land of the daisy and cowslip,
the oak and hawthorn, the hazel copse and the woodbine bower: the
region of fruits and flowers, where the trees of the forest unite a
graceful beauty with strength and majesty, and where the fresh green-
sward of the pasture, commingling with the yellow waves of the corn-
field, tell us that here at least-
• The cheek of spring
Smiles in the kiss of autumn.'
"Black swampy moors, such as deface so large a portion of the
next, or barren, region, are in this of comparatively rare occurrence
and small extent. The downs and chases, in early spring are covered
with the countless blossoms of the golden gorse, or the more gaudy
broom, and empurpled with the different kinds of heath during sum-
mer and autumn. Little, indeed, as we may regard these shrubs, in
Sweden and North Russia the gorse is prized as we prize the myrtles
of the south; and our common heaths (Erica cinera and E. tetralix)
are unknown over a wide extent of Europe: nor does the whole of
America produce a single specimen either of these or any other species
of heath. The cak, ash, yew, hornbeam, alders, elms, poplars, and
willows are the principal native trees of this region; the four first
gradually yielding to the pine, white birch, and rowan, as we approach
the hi her portions, forming the upland zone. The beech, sycamore,
and Spanish chestnut have been introduced, and the two first now
spring up self-sown and readily. A climate in which the heat of
summer is rarely excessive, and where rain and clouds are so frequent,
is unadapted to the spontaneous growth of fruits; and we accordingly
find our native productions poor in the extreme. The wild cherry,
crab, bullace, and native pear are the arborescent fruit trees.
raspberry, strawberry, blackberry, sloe, hazel nut, hip and haw, form a
very indifferent catalogue for our shrubby and herbaceous fruit plants.
The cranberry, bilberry, and crowberry, with the fruit of the rowan
and juniper, common to this and the barren region, are greatly sur-
passed by one fruit, almost peculiar to the latter, viz., the cloud berry,
The changes produced by cultivation, on some of the first-mentioned
fruits, it is unnecessary to detail. Lastly, the different kinds of
goose-
berries and currants cultivated in our gardens are probably derived
The
102
ENGLAND AND WALES.
from species indigenous to Britain, and are very apt to spring up in
our woods and hedges from translated seeds.”
Ireland is remarkable among the British Isles for producing ex-
clusively certain plants, which are otherwise peculiar to the most
southerly parts of Europe, such as the strawberry-tree and large-
flowered butterwort, above mentioned; the Irish Menziesia (Menziesia
polifolia); London pride (St. Patrick's cabbage of the Irish, Saxi-
fraga umbrosa); the kidney-shaped saxifrage (S. Geum), and its
varieties; as well as the fringed sandwort (Arenaria caliata), an
inhabitant of mountains upon the Continent; and what is more
extraordinary, unless there be some mistake about the plants in
question, Professor Giesekè is stated to have found the naked-stalked
yellow poppy (Papaver nudicaule) and the marsh ledum (Ledum
palustre) upon the rocks of Achil head; whereas, in other parts of
the world, these plants are very alpine or very arctic.
•
The Irish yew and the Irish furze, both well known in our gardens,
may be considered rather as varieties of the common yew and common
furze, than as distinct species.
The vegetation of the lowlands of Scotland scarcely differs, as may
be supposed, from that of the north of England. The valleys in the
north are filled with the remains of the ancient fir forests, and many
of these are still of great extent. The Pinus sylvestris, of which they
are composed (our only native fir), attains to an elevation on the
nountains of 1,050 feet, the oak 700, beech 750, alder about 900 feet,
birch 1,100, ash and sycamore 900, and hawthorn 800 feet. The
extensive moors are empurpled with the autumnal blossoms of three
species of heaths (Erica tetralix, cinerea, and vulgaris, the latter
Calluna vulgaris of Salisbury). Quitting, then, the belt or zone of
our more hardy trees, and ascending the summit of our highest moun-
tains, at an elevation of 4,300 feet (consequently below the limits of
perpetual snow), we find the vegetation gradually assuming a more
alpine character. Gnaphalium dioicum, Empetrum nigrum, Rubus
chamamorus, with Vaccinium vitis idæa, Leontodon palustre, Aira
alpina (often viviparous) and Festuca vivipara, Epilobium alpinum,
Cerastium alpinum and latifolium, Rhodiola rosea, Cochlearia offi-
cinalis and Statice armeria (the three latter species being equally
found on rocky places and upon our sea-coasts), Cherlerea sedoides,
Saussurea alpina, Saxifraga stellaris, nivalis, rivularis, and oppositi-
folia; the beautiful alpine forget-me-not (Myosotis alpestris), Vero-
nica alpina, the brilliant V. saxatilis; Erigeron alpinum, Sibbaldia
procubens, the silver-leaved lady's mantle (Alchemilla alpina), which
is often washed down by the rains to a much lower elevation; Silene
acaulis, of the beauty of which, forming purple cushions some feet in
diameter, no one can form a conception without visiting its native
place of growth; Salix herbacea, the humblest of our arborescent
plants, and scarcely attaining a height, or, rather, length of a few
inches, often scarcely visible but from its bright-coloured catkins;
Luzula spicata, and, what may perhaps be reckoned the most alpine
of all our flowering plants, Luzula arcuata, inhabiting the regions
that are the summer residence of the ptarmigan and the white or
alpine hare.
BOTANY.
103
Plants peculiar to Scotland, and not inhabiting either England or
Ireland, are Veronica fruticulosa, saxatilis, and alpina; several alpine
grasses and other glumaceous plants, such as Phleum alpinum and
Alopecurus alpinus; Eriophorum alpinum; Juncus arcticus, castaneus
and biglumis, and Luzula arcuata; Primula Scotica, Myosotis alpes-
tris, Azalea procumbens, Gentiana nivalis, Sibbaldia procumbens,
Convallaria verticellata, Epilobium alpinum, Arbutus alpina, Pyrola
uniflora, Saxifraga nivalis and rivularis, Stellaria scapigera (the latter
is exclusively British), Arenaria rubella and fastigiata, the Cherleria
sedoides, Lychnis Viscaria and alpina, Spergula saginoides, Potentilla
opaca, Nuphar Kalmiana, Ranunculus alpestris, Ajuga pyramidalis,
Cardamine bellidiflora, Orobus niger, Astragalus Uralensis and cam-
pestris, Erigeron alpinum, Corallorhiza innata, Achillea tomentosa,
Goodyera repens, the most alpine Carices and Salices, and dwarf
birch (Betula nana). Two plants of Scotland deserve particular
notice, being found nowhere else in Europe; these are Potentilla tri-
dentata, abundant in arctic America, and upon the rocky and white
mountains, and Eriocaulon septangulare. This latter genus is mostly
tropical, or a native of the warm temperate zones in America, the
East Indies, and Australia. The only exceptions to this rule are the
Eriocaulon pellucidum of Michaux, and the plant in question; the
former being found in North America, as high as Canada: and, upon
examination, the two species prove identical. In these instances, the
Eriocaulon and the Potentilla seem to have overcome many obstacles
in their migration, and to have reached their eastern boundary. The
Eriocaulon is confined to a few lakes in the Hebrides, where we have
been surprised, in the month of September, to observe the high tem-
perature of the water, which never freezes; and to some spots in the
south and west of Ireland. The Potentilla is only found on one hill
in Angus-shire.
Perhaps no country of equal extent in any latitude will be found so
rich in cryptogamous plants as the British Islands; and nowhere,
probably, have these, the humblest, yet not the least beautiful, of
Nature's works, been more successfully investigated, from the briny
deep to the highest summits of our mountains, where the almost per-
petual moisture favours the growth of numerous tribes of lichens and
mosses.
Among the ferns, the elegant Adiantum capillus veneris, so com-
mon in the south of Europe, attains its northern limit upon the coast
of Galway, in Ireland; and Trichomanes brevisetum is almost un-
known, save near Bigley, in Yorkshire, and in one or two stations in
Ireland, and in Madeira, whence specimens have been imported. Of
mosses, no less than 310 species are found in Great Britain. Of
Algæ, 519 kinds, and among these are many that are useful to man-
kind; Fucus nodosus, Vesiculosus serratus and loreus, yield us kelp in
great abundance: the value of this native produce, especially during
the late war, when we were prevented from obtaining barilla from
abroad, having been very great in the northern parts of Scotland
and Ireland. Laminaria esculenta and saccharinar, are eaten in the
countries alluded to; as are Halymenia edulis, under the name of pepper
dulse, and H. palmata, under that of common dulse.
104
ENGLAND AND WALES.
Even the lichens have yielded an article of utility and of com-
merce; and that they might do so more extensively, there can be no
question. The archil (Roccella tinctoria), indeed, finds its northern
limit on the precipitous rocks of the Scilly Isles, and there it grows so
scantily as to be scarcely worth the gathering. Cudbear (Lecanora
tartarea), and Perelle (Lecanora perella), are very abundant upon sub-
alpine and exposed rocks. The Tripe de Roche of the Canadian hunters
(different species of Gyrophora), which saved the lives of the arctic
travellers, Sir John Franklin and his party, when deprived of other
food, is frequent on the primitive alpine rocks; and Palmelia om-
phalodes and P. saxatilis, so abundant on stone walls and rocks
throughout Scotland, yield a purplish dye in general use among the
Highlanders. All our heaths and moors produce such a quantity of
the rein-deer lichen, that, were the climate suited to the animal, the
rein-deer might be naturalized among us; and the Iceland moss or
lichen (Cetraria Islandica), grows in such quantities among some of
the mountains in Braemar that we are rather surprised it is not sub-
stituted in our shops for the produce of Norway, Lapland, and Ice-
land. There is a common but little known lichen on the trunks of
trees, especially ash, presenting the appearance of roundish spots of a
white or powdery substance. This is the Variolaria faginea. Its
taste is intensely bitter, so that many hours elapse ere it leaves the
mouth; and from it oxalic acid has been prepared, to a very consider-
able extent, by the French chemists.
66
The fungi are reckoned amongst the lowest in the scale of the vege-
table creation, and the number of species is greater than that
of any other order of plants: these have all their use, though in
many instances it be unknown. Many hasten the decay of timber,
as the Merulius lachrymans, which constitutes one of the kinds of
dry rot," and the different species of Rhizomorpha. Several are
esculent in our country, as the mushroom, Agaricus campestris; and
a hundred others of the same genus are employed on the Continent.
Others are poisonous, especially the Agaricus (Amanita) muscarius;
and its juice is used, when mixed with milk, to catch flies in Sweden;
while, in the eastern parts of the Russian dominions, an intoxicating
beverage is prepared from the same fungus, which has the most extra-
ordinary effect upon the mind. Tubers, or truffles, belong to this
family, as do those diseases on our corn known by the names of blight,
brand, bladder, or pepper-brand, &c.
Among the indigenous phænogamous, or flowering plants, which
claim, from the services they render or injury they do to man or beast,
to be counted among the most interesting, and many of which are im-
proved by cultivation, may be reckoned the following:
Various grasses, particularly such as the sweet-scented vernal grass
(Anthoxanthum odoratum), the foxtail grass (Alopecurus), the cats-
tail grass (Phleum), bent grass (Agrostis), meadow grass (Poa), cocks-
foot grass (Dactylis), dogstail grass (Cynosurus), fescue grass (Fes-
tuca), rye grass (Lolium), &c., are food for cattle; while the reed
(Arundo phragmites) serves for an excellent covering to our houses ;
and the lime-grass (Elymus arenarius), along with some kinds of
wheat-grass (Triticum), and Carex arenaria (one of the sedges), assist
BOTANY.
105
to bind our sand hills on the shore, and to prevent the encroachment of
the sea; thus bidding defiance to that element which no human force
can withstand. Bread-corn is not the produce of any British grass.
Among the liliaceous plants, one, the Allium Schænoprasum, con-
stitutes the chive. Asparagus (A. officinalis) is a native plant, and
the butcher's broom (Ruscus aculeatus), whose seeds are considered
by some to be an excellent substitute for coffee. Several of our
orchisses yield salep in their roots.
Of the coniferous family we have the Scotch fir, already noticed
(Pinus sylvestris), the juniper, and the yew. Of the amentaceous,
7 species of elm, the birch, and the alder; 68 kinds of willow, and
among them some useful for timber, many for basket work, and a few
medicinally, as astringents; 4 of poplar; the beech; 2 species of oaks,
hornbean, and hazel nut. Of the nettle tribe, the common nettle,
once eaten in Scotland,* if not in England, and the hop; and, of the
dangerous euphorbiaceous family, several spurges, and the box. Two
species of Daphne, mezereon and spurge laurel, the toughness of whose
inner bark indicates the presence of a fibre, equally capable of being
manufactured into cordage and paper as the East Indian Daphne
Gardneri and D. Cannabina. Buckwheat; 2 or 3 kinds of sorrel and
kidney-shaped Oxyria (O. reniformis), of which the agreeable acid is,
perhaps, superior to that of any true sorrel. Some of our Chenopodia
are boiled and used as a substitute for spinach. Of the beet, we
have only the maritime kind in a wild state. Our Salsolias and
Salicornias are hardly abundant enough to yield barilla. It is pro-
cured from plants of the same kind, in the south of Europe and north
of Africa.
Among the aromatic family of Libiatæ, or lipped-flowers, we have
several mints ;-
"The thyme, strong scented 'neath our feet,
And marjoram beds, so doubly sweet;"
the germander, black horehound, betony, white horehound, basil-
thyme, wild basil, &c. In the Scrophularia family, the figworts
(Scrophularia), foxglove, eyebright, and vervain. Among the nar-
cotic tribe, to which the potato belongs, the nightshade, deadly night-
shade, thorn apple, and henbane, are British. All our plants of the
gentian family yield a bitter principle, less powerful, however, than
the celebrated bitter gentian. The 2 species of periwinkle (Vinca)
are the only individuals of the apocyneous order we possess; the com-
mon ash and the privet of the olive tribe. Our Vaccinium oxycoccos
affords the cranberry, so excellent in tarts. The ramps of the garden
are the roots of Campanula rapunculus.
The extensive natural order of the compound flowers (Composite),
includes many useful plants. Salsafy, the root of the purple goat's-
beard (Tragopogon porrifolius), Tansy (Tanacetum vulgare), worm-
* The young tops are boiled and eaten by the common people. "Nae doot, I
suld understand my ain trade of horticulture," says Andrew Fairservice, the Scots
gardener, “seeing I was bred in the parish of Dreepdaily, near Glasco', where they
raise lang kail under glass, and force the early nettles for their spring kail.”—Rob
Roy.
106
ENGLAND AND WALES.
wood (Artemisia absinthium), chamomile (Anthemis nobilis),
yarrow, &c.
The fuller's teasel (Dipsacus fullonum) is extensively cultivated
in the districts where woollen cloths are made, for the fulling
of which its heads, all beset with hooked spines, are admirably cal-
culated.
Our rubiaceous plants are wholly confined to such as afford a dye
in their roots, as bedstraw (Galium), wild madder, woodruff, and field
madder.
Among the umbelliferous tribe we reckon celery (Apium gra-
veolens), parsley, carraway, fennel, samphire, angelica, parsnep, carrot,
chervil, cicely, hemlock, coriander, &c. Gooseberries and currants
appear to be indigenous.
Rosaceous plants yield us, besides
"The garden's queen, the rose,"
the medlar, hawthorn, plum, and cherry, pear, apple, and service,
raspberry, strawberry, and tormentil. The Leguminose (or pea tribe),
furze, or gorse, dyer's weed (Genista tinctoria), broom, vetch, sainfoin,
melilot, trefoils, medick, and lucerne. Of the Acerinæ, the maple
and the sycamore. Of malvaceous plants, the mallow, tree mallow,
and marsh-mallow. The common flax is a native.
Among cruciferous plants, we have sea-kale (Crambe maritima),
dyer's woad (Isatis tinctoria), scurvy grass, horse radish, water cress,
cole seed, turnip, cabbage, mustard, the white and the common
(Sinapis arvensis and alba), &c.: and, lastly, among Papaveraceæ,
the white poppy, which yields opium.
Such is a brief notice of some of the plants indigenous to the British
Isles. If now we direct our attention, for a few moments, to useful
exotics, we shall find that such is the peculiar temperature of Great
Britain, and such the mildness of our winters, particularly in the
southern districts, that nowhere, perhaps, has the industry of man
brought under cultivation, and in the open air too, so great a number
of interesting and useful plants of foreign origin. Some of these are
of the highest utility, while others constitute the greatest charms of
our parks and pleasure-grounds: we shall notice some of the most
important.
Among these is the cedar, which, being a native of Syria, and of
mountainous regions, it may not perhaps excite surprise that it
should flourish in the warmer parts of England. It has attained, at
High Clere, the seat of the Earl of Carnarvon, a circumference of
more than 10 feet, at three feet from the ground.
Some natives even of the tropics have come to perfection in the
genial climate of Devonshire. We have seen two or three species of
Cactus growing among the rocks of Torquay. Others require more
shelter, and are only
"to be found
Within the garden's cultured ground."
Of these the most striking is the American aloe (Agave Americana),
an inhabitant of the tropical parts of South America, from the level of
the sea to an elevation of 9,000 feet among the mountains. Thence
it has been introduced to the warmer parts of the Old World, where
BOTANY.
107
fences are made of it, and a fermented liquor called pulque; fibres
for thread, and a substance analogous to soap, have also been extracted.
It was planted by the late Mr. Yates in his garden at Salcombe Bay, in
Devonshire. In 1804, when only three years old, and but 6 inches
high, it was placed in the open air, without any protection, save what
was afforded by the neighbouring hills. In the year 1820 it had at-
tained a height of 11 feet, and covered a space of ground 16 feet in
diameter, when it threw up a flowering stem, which grew for six weeks
at the rate of three inches a day, and, in September, measured 27 feet
in height, its branches loaded with 16,000 blossoms, thus contradicting
the generally received opinion, that the American aloe flowers only
once in 100 years. Such a soil, and such a climate, it was thought by
the proprietor might be suited, if any in Britain were, to the culture of
the New Zealand flax (Phormium tenax), of which most kinds of
cordage, sails, matting, clothing, &c., are made in Australia; and a
considerable field was planted with the flax, and promised a favourable
result; but, owing to the sudden decease of Mr. Yates, we are unac-
quainted with the ultimate success of the experiment. No doubt,
however, it might be reared in the rich and sheltered valleys in
the south of England; but it is doubtful whether it be so valuable
a variety as was at first supposed, or whether it can be raised so cheaply
as it may be imported. The valleys now referred to, bear, unharmed
by winter's snows, myrtles, the tea plant, and camellias, Amaryllis
sarniensis, and Hydrangea, from China and Japan; Amaryllis vittata,
belladonna, undulata, and formosissima, the horse-shoe geranium,
Pelargonium zonale, P. inquinans, P. radula, and P. glutinosa; nu-
merous ixias, and heaths, and proteas, from the Cape; various mag-
nolias, from the southern states of North America; Indian shot
(Canna Indica), the lemon-scented vervain (Verbena triphylla), whose
annual shoots often exceed 14 feet in length; the Celtis micrantha,
several cistusses, yuccas, the Azorian jessamine, oleander, Daphne
odora, Corræa alba, Melaleuca hypericifolia, and many New Holland
plants: these, with several others, adorn the shrubberies of Guernsey,
Jersey, and the southern shores of Britain. Even oranges, both the
Seville and sweet kinds, and lemons, produce fruit. If the vine and
olive, rice and maize, cannot be successfully cultivated, it is rather
owing to the prevalence of moisture than of cold. Tobacco has been
cultivated in the south of Ireland.
We are indebted to warmer climates than our own for the most
valuable and important of our bread-corns. Wheat, of which the na-
tive country is unknown, was introduced by the Romans, and is now
the principal food of our people, and the grand object of culture. It
is every where raised in England, unless the elevation exceed 1,000
feet; but, except in a few rare cases, it is not raised in Scotland, ex-
cept in the lower grounds.
Barley, also, is of foreign origin. It is raised along with wheat,
and is the peculiar crop of the lighter lands. That raised in England
is the two-rowed species, Hordeum distichon. In Scotland, 2 other
species, or varieties, the bigg, bere, or bear, or four-sided barley
(Hordeum tetrastichon), and the six-sided bere, or bigg (Hordeum
108
ENGLAND AND WALES.
hexastichon), are universally grown. In Aberdeenshire, they succeed
at an elevation of 950, and in some instances of 1,050 feet.
Rye (Sccale vulgare), a native of Candia, is cultivated in poor soils,
in various situations, but is only occasionally mixed with wheaten
bread. In Orkney, rye is grown, for the sake of its straw, which is
manufactured into ladies' bonnets. By means of a small steel cylinder
with 4 blades, each tube of straw is readily split into four pieces,
which are braided, or plaited, into the form required; the mass is then
covered with a paste of sulphur, exposed to heat, and bleached to a
uniform colour.
The cultivation of maize has been attempted, that variety especi-
ally which is raised in Canada, under an idea that a variety from so
cold a climate could not fail to succeed here: but those who tried it
seem, as in the case of the locust tree, or false acacia (Robinia pseu-
doacacia), to have forgotten the extreme heats of summer, and the
depth of the soil, in the countries whence these plants were respec-
tively introduced; and their hopes of success have been universally
disappointed.
Among our fruit trees we can reckon but few exotics, which, as
standards, will bear the open air of our country, and this not because
of the severe cold of our winters (for in no country, probably, under
the same latitude, except on the west coast of North America, are they
so mild), but for want of a constant summer heat to ripen the fruit, and
bring it to perfection before the frosts set in. The fig, the quince,
and mulberry, are, indeed, exceptions; but they hardly produce good
fruit beyond the south or middle of England: such, however, is not the
case with the plum tribe, if indeed these may not be considered as im-
proved varieties of plants indigenous to our own country. The largest
of our strawberries is said to be a native of Chili, but the finest come
from the United States. Cucumbers and gourds, from Asia, may
often be seen loaded with fruit in the open air; but apricots, peaches,
nectarines, and grapes, all probably from Asia, require, in most parts.
of Britain, the shelter of a wall, or, like those tropical productions,
pines and guavas, need the protection of glass and artificial heat: aud
when these are employed, the choicest fruits are nowhere brought to
such a degree of flavour and size, as by the British horticulturist.
The produce of our kitchen gardens, contains much that is fitted
for the use and for the luxury of our tables; but is too familiar to
every one to need particular notice. The individual products, how-
ever, are of very old introduction; and it has often been a subject of
remark, that, notwithstanding the encouragement given in all parts of
the kingdom to the cultivation of vegetables and fruit, scarcely a new
vegetable or a new fruit, of any real value, has, for a lengthened period,
been introduced. South America has given us, and every other people,
the potato: but though the Arracacha of Columbia, and the Oxalis cre-
nata of Peru, have been said to afford a root equal to that of the Sola-
num tuberosum, they have either proved, on trial, of little real value ;
or, unsuited to our climate. The skirret (Sium sisarum), once very
prevalent in our gardens, and highly prized for its root, is now almost
unknown; it abounds so much in saccharine matter, that an ounce
ZOOLOGY.
109
;
;
and a half of pure sugar has been obtained from half a pound of this
root. The Jerusalem (a corruption of girasole, the Italian name for
the sun-flower,) artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus), is a native of Brazil
Scorzonera of Spain, as well as the common artichoke and cardoon
spinach of Asia; while the New Zealand spinach, an excellent substi-
tute for the latter, comes, as its name implies, from New Zealand.
Onions are natives chiefly of the South of France and Northern Africa.
Endive (Cichorium endivia) is from China and Japan; lettuce from
the Levant; the common cress (Lepidium sativum) from Persia and
the Levant; radish (Raphanus sativus) from China; and, lastly, we
may mention, that the rhubarb so extensively used in tarts (Rheum
palmatum and hybridum), is derived from Asia, while the rhubarb.
root of commerce, only coming to perfection in its native climate, is
now generally supposed to be that of the Rheum einodi.
Our fields are indebted to the south of Europe for liquorice (Gly-
cyrrhiza vulgaris), largely cultivated about Pontefract in York-
shire, and for the beet (Beta vulgaris), equal in quality to the turnip
for the feeding of cattle; and to Asia for hemp. Madder has been
attempted to be raised, but without success; probably the heat of our
summers is not sufficient to elaborate the colouring principle. Beans
(Vicia faba) are considered to have come originally from Egypt; the
field-pea (Pisum arvense) from the Levant. Commerce has not, there-
fore, merely supplied us with many important articles unsuited to our
climate, and of which we should otherwise be destitute; but it has,
also, supplied us with many of our most important vegetable products.
We owe to our intercourse with foreigners, those articles which
afford the most extensive employment to our agriculturists, and the
largest share of food to our people.
SECT. 10. Zoology.*
Of the three kingdoms of nature, the animal, the vegetable, and
the mineral, which divide amongst them all the products of the earth,
our attention will now be directed to the first. The botanist investi-
gates the vegetables spread over the surface of the earth: The miner-
alogist searches beneath, and makes known the earths, the metals, and
other substances; which being extracted, are used at home, or sent
abroad, either in a raw or manufactured shape: The animal kingdom
is the province of the zoologist, who is to investigate the nature of the
indigenous animals, and of such foreign species as are capable, by do-
mestication, of improving our existing breeds; he is to point out such
as are useful, and such as are detrimental, to the labours of the agri-
culturist; with the best means for encouraging the one and for counter-
acting the injuries of the other. This is strictly the economic depart-
ment of zoology, by which we mean the application of the science to
the purposes of life. It would appear, at first sight, that these points
could be very easily ascertained, and that nothing is wanting but ordi-
nary experiment and observation to know what animals are hurtful and
what beneficial, what would bear domestication, and propagate in these
*This article applies not merely to the zoology of England, but to that of Great
Britain and Ireland.
110
ENGLAND AND WALES.
islands, and what would defy all attempts to naturalize. The con-
trary, however, is the fact; otherwise, we should not have witnessed,
in our own days, the failure of the expensive efforts made to introduce
the wapati of North America into the parks of England, and the rein-
deer of Iceland into the Highlands of Scotland. The truth is, that
the practicability of such projects mainly depends upon certain con-
siderations of a general nature, regarding the habits and economy of
animals, which belong more to the province of the philosopher than to
that of the projector. Hence the statistics of zoology, to be well un-
derstood, must be contemplated under two points of view; first as re-
gards that original distribution, or assignment, of animals to particular
countries, which is the work of nature; and, secondly, the introduction
and naturalization of such others as our convenience or pleasure renders
it desirable to procure from foreign regions, and which is consequently
the work of man. We shall, in the following pages, survey the
zoology of Great Britain under both these aspects: both will afford
interesting information; and, although the first may appear not to
be immediately connected with the practical part of our subject, it
will eventually be perceived that they are intimately conjoined.
1. On the natural distribution of animals in the British Isles.-
There is no fact which more irresistibly proclaims design in the great
scheme of creation than the adaptation of the nature of animals to
the country in which they were originally destined to live. It is
not merely in some one or two isolated circumstances that this principle
is conspicuous; but the more minutely we examine into details, the more
we become convinced of its universality. Every one knows, for instance,
that animals of cold countries are protected from the extreme rigour of
winter, either by an unusual thickness of clothing or by the instinct of
hybernation. Those, on the contrary, which occupy warmer latitudes,
are thinly clad, and only sleep during night. The camel, again, endures
thirst longer than any other quadruped, and is consequently found in
the most arid and parched regions of the globe. The swiftest quad-
rupeds, for the same reason, occupy those parts in which we find the
most extensive plains, as the deserts of Africa, the pampas of tropical
America, and the prairies of the northern states. In these and other
thinly inhabited regions the grand features of this harmonious adapta-
tion may still be traced. In them the face of nature, and her races of
primæval inhabitants, still, in a great measure, exist with little change;
and the philosopher may observe how well the temperature of the
climate, the surface of the country, the products of the soil, and the
animals, harmonize with each other. By degrees, however, these
features become obscured, if not obliterated. Each generation sees a
slow but wide-spreading increase of civilization, bringing with it all
those attendant changes which transform the face of a country and
affect its brute inhabitants. Majestic forests, the ancient fortresses, as
it were, of innumerable families of animals, are felled by the axe of the
woodman, or destroyed by the more devastating effects of his fires
their ferine inhabitants are hunted or slain, the nests and eggs of hun-
dreds of different birds destroyed, and tens of thousands of the insect
races irretrievably perish. For a while those who escape seek refuge
in other tracts, still in a state of nature; but in the course of time
;
ZOOLOGY.
111
these retreats are also invaded, until at length the few remaining
stragglers of a once numerous tribe are lost and exterminated even in
regions once peculiarly their own.
The changes we have spoken of as taking place in the original
zoology of most countries, are nowhere more apparent than in Europe;
and, if any part of that great geographic division is more particularly
fitted to show the truth of these observations, it is certainly the
British Islands, which, within the records of history, were covered
with wide-spreading forests, filled with large quadrupeds, though now
few traces remain of the former and none of the latter. It thus becomes
necessary, in treating of the zoology of Great Britain, to arrange our
observations under two heads. Under the first, we shall offer a few
remarks upon the animals known to have been formerly natives, but
which, from various causes, have been exterminated, or are now slowly
disappearing. These changes, and the causes that have produced them,
will lead us, secondly, to a review of the present state of our brute
population, and of the reasons which account for the peculiarities in
our existing zoology.
We may be accused, perhaps, of advancing a startling proposition,
when we affirm that Great Britain, as a whole, is much more fertile
than any part of southern Europe; premising, that by fertility we mean
the quantity, and not the luxuriance, of vegetable life. Moisture is
one of the greatest promoters of vegetation; and hence, with all the
disadvantages of our northern situation, our fields, our trees, and our
woods possess, from the humidity of our climate, a richness of verdure,
during the greater part of the year, which will be sought for in
vain on the sunny shores of Spain, Sicily, and Southern Italy. For
six months of the year, the traveller who crosses the country surrounding
Etna, or traverses Southern Italy, sees the ground parched and cracked,
the herbage scorched, and a brown burnt-like tinge spread over the
face of nature; and, though he may admire the luxuriance of the vine,
and see the sickly-green of the olive never cast its leaf, or change its
hue for our rich autumnal tints, he will at once be convinced that the
verdure of Britain is one of its chief characteristics. England, also,
notwithstanding the havoc cultivation has made in our ancient forests,
is extremely well wooded. The hedges which divide the innumer-
able fields and enclosures, into which the land is portioned, and the
vast number of oak, elm, plane, ash, and other trees found in them,
give it in many parts, even where it is highly cultivated, the appearance
of a continuous forest. It is probable, however, that it was formerly
better wooded, at least in certain districts, than at present.
mains of ancient forests buried under the soil are occasionally disco-
vered, while historians attest the existence of others, in the vicinity
of the metropolis and elsewhere, of which, in many instances, little
more than the name is now left. Now, if we compare this abundance
of vegetation with what is seen in Southern Europe, the marked infe-
riority of the latter is obvious. In former ages the shores of the
Mediterranean were, doubtless, better wooded than now; but it is of
their present, not of their former, state, that we are speaking. In
Sicily, for instance, the enclosures are so few that one of its fields
would almost suffice for a small English farm; while the fences, or
The re-
112
ENGLAND AND WALES.
rather partitions, by which they are separated, are formed almost
entirely of loose stones, gathered from the surrounding soil, or which
have fallen from the rocky declivities. In the vicinity of the towns,
walls, instead of hedges, protect the gardens and enclosures of the
villas; and the orchards of the peasants are surrounded by fences of the
cactus or prickly pear, which, although an admirable defence against
depredators, gives neither food nor shelter to birds or insects. The
only trees that are seen beyond the gardens are tall Lombardy poplars
and groves of olives, interspersed with mulberries; the former are
planted only on the sides of mountain streams, while the latter, from
the dryness and hardness of the olive leaf, seem incapable, like most
evergreens, of giving nourishment to insects. The traveller may ride
for leagues, during six months of the year, without seeing a verdant
meadow, and, as he leaves the vicinity of the chief towns, the plains
and mountains are frequently destitute, for many miles, of a single
timber tree. The same remarks, with little variation, are applicable
to the whole of Naples and Greece, with the exception of the Lower
Calabria. If, however, we consider the luxuriance and fecundity of
the vegetable world in Britain and Italy, the superiority of the latter
is unquestionable. Heat, and a moderate degree of moisture, are the
great promoters of vegetable life; and when once the soil of Italy is
moistened, the heat of the climate makes vegetation spring up with
astonishing luxuriance.
The
The preceding observations may be supposed, perhaps, to be rather
irrelevant to our present object; but such is not really the case.
abundance of vegetation in the British Islands is one of the circum-
stances that have mainly influenced the peculiarities of their zoological
history. Animal life, throughout the world, is always proportioned,
in its variety and numerical amount, to that of the vegetable; the latter
supplying food to the former in the proportion, probably, of 10 herbivo-
rous animals to one that is carnivorous. Nay, the deficiency of vege-
tation operates quite as much, although indirectly, to the injury of
rapacious animals, as to those of an opposite description; for, as they
feed upon others, which are herbivorous, it follows that, where the
vegetable food of such animals is deficient, they will be scarce, from a
want of food, and this scarcity of plant-eating animals will create a
corresponding scarcity of those which are carnivorous, and depend upon
the former for support. We are now to consider in what manner these
circumstances influence the subject before us.
It is highly probable that large portions of these islands were, in
remote ages, nearly covered with forests, and that these gave shelter to
numerous indigenous quadrupeds of a large size cannot be doubted,
whether we draw the inference from analogies presented by the former
condition of other countries, or from that reciprocity, already alluded to,
in the distribution of animals and vegetables. On this point, however,
we have other evidence. Besides the few wild animals, mostly of small
dimensions, which still find shelter in the patches of woodland scattered
over the country, our old historians make incidental or direct men-
tion of several others which have long ceased to exist. We leave to geo-
logists to determine whether we should include among these ancient races
the elephant, tiger, alligator, rhinoceros, and hippopotamus, the fossil
ZOOLOGY.
113
remains of which have been found at great depths below the surface,
in formations that belong to a different order of things. There can be
no doubt, however, that the hyænas of the Kirkdale and Plymouth
caves really inhabited the dens in which their bones are now found;
and though none of these quadrupeds are mentioned in history, our
chronicles record the existence of the bear, wolf, wild boar, and beaver,
as inhabitants of our ancient forests, whence, with the others, they have
long disappeared.
A few notices of some of the animals which, though now extermi-
nated, form an important part of the aboriginal zoology of these islands,
may not be uninteresting to the reader.
That a species of bear was once a common inhabitant of this island,
is apparent from different authorities. Martial states that the Cale-
donian bears were used to heighten the torments of the unhappy sufferers
on the cross (Martial, Lib. Spect. ep. 7), and Plutarch relates that
bears were transported from Britain to Rome, where they were much
admired. Ray also mentions, that in some old Welsh MSS. relating
to hunting, this animal is reckoned among our beasts of chase, and that
its flesh was held in the same esteem as that of the hare or boar. Many
places in Wales still retain the name of Pennarth, or the Bear's Head,
another evidence of their existence in that principality. It does not
appear how long they continued in Wales, but they infested Scot-
land in 1057, when a Gordon, for his valour in killing a bear, was
authorized to carry three bears' heads upon his banner. Long
after their extirpation from our island, bears were imported for
baiting," which was classed by our ancestors among the " merry
disports" of the Elizabethan age, and considered meet entertainment
for her Majesty !
66
The wolf, it is well known, was the most destructive beast of prey
in these islands during the heptarchy. In the reign of Athelstan,
wolves abounded so much in Yorkshire, that a retreat was built at
Flixton, in that county, to which passengers might resort for protection
from their attacks; and such ravages did they commit during winter,
particularly in January, when the cold was severest, that our Saxon
ancestors distinguished that month by the title of wolf-moneth. They
also called an outlaw wolf-shed, as being out of the protection of the
law, and as liable to be killed as that destructive beast. King Edgar
attempted to extirpate these pests in England, by commuting the
punishments of certain crimes for a specified number of wolves' tongues;
and in Wales he pursued the same object, by converting the tax of gold
and silver into an annual tribute of 300 wolves' heads. But notwith-
standing these enactments, and the destruction they must have occa-
sioned, the scheme proved abortive; for we find that some centuries
after his reign wolves again became the object of royal attention,
Edward I. having issued his mandate to Peter Corbet to superintend
and assist in their destruction in the counties of Gloucester, Worcester,
Hereford, Salop, and Stafford. Camden states that certain persons at
Wormhill, in Derbyshire, held their lands by the duty of hunting and
taking the wolves which infested the country, whence they were styled
wolve-hunt.—(Pennant's British Zoology, i. 78, 4th ed.)
Wolves maintained their ground in Ireland to a much later period
VOL. I.
I
114
ENGLAND AND WALES.
than in England." They were not exterminated (in Kerry) till about
the year 1710, as I find by presentments for raising money for destroying
them in some old grand-jury books.”—(Smith's History of Kerry,
p. 173.) Scotland was cleared of these pests some years sooner, the
last being killed in 1680 by Sir Ewen Cameron, of Lochiel.
The wild boar was a favourite animal of chase with our ancestors,
and was carefully preserved. Fitz-Stephen incidentally mentions that
in his time a vast forest, on the north side of London, abounded with
all the large animals of the chase, among which were wild boars. In
the reign of Charles I., however, wild boars had become so scarce,
even in the New Forest, that many were turned into it to breed; but
the civil wars, which soon after ensued, occasioned their speedy de-
struction.
The wild ox, or, more properly, Urus, which formerly inhabited the
forests of Britain, was of a gigantic size, and of a totally different
species from the domestic ox; although Pennant supposed they were
the same.
The horns of the wild urus have been found in the same
strata with the bones of the lost elephant, proving that it belonged to
the zoology of a former period; and it has, also, beeen found in more
recent formations, as peat mosses, marshes, and beds of sand. This
huge animal, no doubt, existed in Britain in the time of Cæsar: and
the horns of the "Dun Cow," exhibited in Warwick Castle, are un-
questionably those of a wild urus. This, and other skulls of the same
sort, existing in different museums, are nearly one-third part larger than
those of domestic oxen, square from the orbits to the occipital crest,
and somewhat hollow at the forehead: the horns show a peculiar rise
from their root, at the side of the above crest, upwards; they then
bend outwards, and finally forwards and inwards. "No domestic
race," as Mr. Hamilton Smith remarks," possess this peculiarity of
turn, but numerous specimens of inferior size, found fossil in some of
the Cornish mines, have this shape, and the wild bull of Scotland
in part retains it."
It does not exactly appear at what precise time
this formidable race of oxen was exterminated. Fitz-Stephen, referred
to above (a learned monk, who lived in the reign of Henry II., and
wrote a History of London), mentions these animals, under the name
of Uri Silvestres, among those which, in his time, were found wild in
the great forests close to the city. Leland also enumerates, among the
provisions at the feast of Nevil, Archbishop of York, six wild bulls.
(Pennant's British Zoology, 4th edit., p. 23.) The Scotch urus seems
to have been a smaller and inferior breed of this species, peculiar to
the woods of Southern Scotland and Northern England. It is probable
that this breed was exterminated from the open forests long after that
larger species which had more especially inhabited Southern England;
for Sibbald assures us, that in his days a wild and white species was
still found in the mountains of Scotland: and Bishop Lesley, who wrote
in 1598, affirms that wild cattle were then found in Stirling, Cum-
bernauld, and Kingcairn. But, some time before the Reformation,
the few that remained were confined in parks belonging to ecclesi-
astical establishments, whence they were transferred at their dis-
solution to Drumlanrig. It was at the latter, and in the park
belonging to Chillingham Castle, Northumberland, that Pennant
ZOOLOGY.
115
(Tour in Scotland, ii. 124) saw these modern descendants of the
ancient urus. He describes them as having lost their manes, but re-
taining their original white colour and great fierceness; they were of
a middle size and long-legged, with black muzzles and ears, their horns
fine, with a bold and elegant bend. The keeper of those at Chilling-
ham said that the weight of the ox was 38 stone, and of the cow 28
stone; that their hides were more esteemed by the tanners than those
of the tame race, and that they would give sixpence per stone more
for them. "These cattle are wild as any deer, for, on being ap-
proached, they instantly take to flight, and gallop away at full speed;
never mixing with the tame species, or coming near the house, unless
constrained by hunger or very severe weather. When it is necessary
to kill any, they are always shot; if the keeper only wounds the beast,
he must take care to keep behind some tree, or his life would be in
danger from the furious attacks of the animal, which will never desist
till a period is put to its life."—(Brit. Zool. i. 26.). On a subject so
interesting, we may add the following particulars, furnished by Mr.
Hamilton Smith, who states that the individuals of the Scotch urus, in
the park of Burton Constable, were all destroyed in the middle of last
century by a distemper. The race, he says, is entirely of a white
colour; the muzzle, invariably black; the inside of the ear, and about
one-third part of the outside, from the tips downwards, red; the horns
are white, with black tips, of a fine texture, and, as in fossil skulls,
bent downwards. Bulls weigh from 35 to 45 stone, and cows from 25
to 35 stone, 14 pounds to the stone. Before they were kept in parks,
they were probably larger and more rugged; old bulls still acquire a
kind of mane, about two inches long, and their throat and breast are
covered with coarser hair. Those at Burton Constable differed from
the others, in having the ears and tips of the tail black. In their
manners, also, they were unlike domestic oxen, and assimilated more
to the ancient urus. Upon perceiving a stranger, these animals gallop
wildly in a circle round him, and stop to gaze, tossing their heads, and
showing signs of defiance: they then set off, and gallop round a second
time, but in a contracted circle, repeating this circular mode of
approaching till they are so near that it becomes prudent to retire from
their intended charge. The cows conceal their young calves for eight
or ten days, going to suckle them two or three times a day; if a person
comes near the calf, it conceals itself by crouching. When one of this
breed happens to be wounded, or is enfeebled by age or sickness, the
others set upon it and gore it to death. These animals were killed, till
within a few years, by an assemblage of horsemen and country people
armed with muskets; the former singled one from the herd, and the
latter took their stations on walls or in trees. There was grandeur in
such a chase, but from the number of accidents which occurred, it was
laid aside. We believe, concludes Mr. Hamilton Smith, that at
present none remain, excepting at Chillingham Castle, the property of
the Earl of Tankerville, near Berwick-upon-Tweed; at Gisborne, in
Craven; at Lime Hall, in Cheshire; and at Chartley, in Staffordshire.
There is also a large breed, not perfectly white, in the Duke of
Hamilton's park, Lanarkshire, Scotland. It is not necessary to do
more than notice the opinion that the remains of oxen, which occur in
I 2
116
ENGLAND AND WALES.
marl pits in this country, belong to the "Bos taurus," or common
ox; Cuvier and Hamilton Smith having shown that they are those of
the Bos urus.
The beaver, which exists in small societies on the unfrequented
banks of one or two of the great European rivers, was formerly found
in Great Britain, but has for many ages ceased to exist here and in the
greater part of the Continent. Giraldus Cambrensis, who travelled
through Wales in 1188, gives a brief history of its manners; and adds,
that in his time it was found only in the river Fervi. Two or three
waters in that principality still bear the name of Llyn yr afange, or the
beaver lake; attesting the existence of these animals in more than one
locality. Pennant mentions having seen two of their supposed haunts;
one in the stream that runs through Nant Francon; the other in the
river Conway, a few miles above Llanrwst; both places having, in all
probability, been formerly crossed by beaver dams. Beavers, however,
must have been very scarce even in the earliest times; for the laws of
Howel Dha, or the Good, fixed the price of their skins at 120 pence
each, a great sum in those days. The Welsh call them Croen Llostly-
dan, that is, the broad-tailed animal. Beavers, however, were not
confined to Wales: in remote times they must have inhabited Berk-
shire (Phil. Tr. 1759) and different parts of Scotland, their bones
having been found in them, in beds of marl and in peat moss.
Such were some of the quadrupeds that once ranged the forests of
Britain. Their extirpation, though gradual, has been complete. A
great numerical diminution has also taken place in the case of several
birds, mostly of the aquatic order, which, though not absolutely
banished from our islands, have gradually disappeared even in our own
times, and are become either exceedingly rare as natives, or are merely
seen as stragglers. Two of the largest birds of game, not only of
Britain, but of Europe, are now all but extinct in these kingdoms, al-
though they were pretty abundant in the last century, viz., the Uro-
gallus Europæus (Cappercailzie), or great cock of the wood; and the
Otis tarda, or great bustard. The first is a noble bird, still found in
the north of Europe, measuring commonly about 23 feet in length, and
weighing from 13 to 14 pounds. It seems to have been confined, in
these islands, to the fir woods of Ireland and Scotland. In the latter,
a specimen was seen so late as 1760, in the woods of Strathglass; and
it was found in Strathspey in 1745. Recently, however, it has been
again introduced into the forests of Argyll, Perth, and Aberdeen, by
the Marquis of Breadalbane and the Earl of Fife: and where it is
protected, it succeeds admirably well; but it is too tempting a mark
for the poacher to be able to maintain its ground if left to defend itself.
The great bustard is a still larger bird, measuring at least 4 feet in
length, and weighing about 26 pounds. Pennant says, that in his days
(1777) these birds inhabited "most of the open countries of the south
and east parts of this island, from Dorsetshire as far as the Wolds in
Yorkshire," and were generally found in flocks of fifty or more: but, in
1812, his editor observes, "the breed is now nearly extirpated, except
on the downs of Wiltshire, where it is also very scarce.
At present
we believe it is only to be met with on a particular estate in Norfolk,
the proprietor of which, being desirous of preserving a remnant of this
ZOOLOGY.
117
noble indigenous race, prohibits their being shot, upon any pretence,
within his domain. In Scotland, owing to the mountainous nature of
the country, and the want of open downs, it was always rare, though it
has been met with.
To pursue this inquiry into the remaining orders of the animal king-
dom would be superfluous, were it possible. Notwithstanding the
great number of fish indigenous to our seas and fresh waters, some may
possibly have been exterminated, and the larger fish-quadrupeds (such
as whales and porpoises) are no longer met with in those latitudes
where formerly they were common. Very many species of insects,
also, even within the records of entomological science, have been ex-
terminated. A striking instance of this regards the Mellitæa tessellata,
Steph., figured by old Pettevir, and described by him as
66 pretty
common in Caen Wood." The Cynthia Hampstediensis, Steph., is
likewise similarly mentioned by the same accurate author, who calls it
"Albins Hampstead eye," where it was caught by this curious person,
and is the only one I have yet seen. These instances, among con-
spicuous and showy insects, make it probable, that when the "great
forests round London," and in other parts of the empire, were pro-
gressively destroyed, a considerable number of insects of rare and
local species shared the same fate. Few persons, not even pro-
fessed entomologists, are aware of the very narrow limits to which some
insects are confined. A species may be in the greatest profusion
within, perhaps, two or three acres of ground, beyond which it may
never have been seen. In a small brush-wood, in the forest of Urupee,
in the province of Bahia, Mr. Swainson met with a new and striking
Hesperia, in such profusion that thousands might have been captured.
Beyond this spot, however, it was not to be found; nor did he ever
meet with a single specimen, before or after, during nearly three years
of entomological research in Brazil. There can indeed be no doubt,
that the influence of cultivation has lessened the numerical amount and
the number of species of native animals, in every department, inde-
pendent of such as have been exterminated by the chase.
}
Animals now found in the British Islands, &c.-Let us now con-
sider the actual zoology of Britain, turning to such animals as still
inhabit our islands, and either roam at large, as indigenous natives, or
thrive and multiply in a state of domestication. The latter, which
claim our first attention, are comprised in the following list:
Quadrupeds.
Birds.
Horse.
Ass.
Domestic Ox.
Sheep.
Goat.
Pig.
Dog.
Cat.
Peacock.
Turkey.
Fowl.
Guineahen.
Muscovy Duck.
Goose.
Tame Swan, and perhaps the
Pheasant.
Commencing with the quadrupeds, we perceive that those best fitted
for the service of man, whether to lighten his labour, clothe his body,
or supply him with food, are abundantly supplied. The plains of
118
ENGLAND AND WALES.
Central Asia are generally supposed to have been the cradle of the
human race, whence, as from a centre, the different branches of the
primitive family diverged in all directions, slowly, but surely, fulfilling
the command, that they should be "fruitful, and multiply, and re-
plenish the earth." With them went " their flocks and herds," and such
other creatures as had been provided for their more immediate service.
It is natural, however, to suppose that the animals thus following the
primitive nomadic tribes would soon acquire a much wider geogra-
phical range than man himself. Individuals would be frequently
straying from the camp, or lost during a march: thus every tract or
region, through which the wandering patriarchs successively passed,
received, in all probability, the original stocks of their domestic
animals; which for a season might continue wild, yet, by their natural
instinct, would return to the haunts of men as soon as colonies were
settled near their vicinity. There is, perhaps, no other cause more
natural, or probable, to account for the almost universal distribution
of these animals over the Old World. We have, also, seen, within the
compass of modern history, a similar dispersion take place in the
New World, from a similar cause, in regard to the horse, ox,
and other animals. Individuals of the first two classes escaped
from the settlements of the Spaniards, by whom they were first
imported, or were dispersed during their wars; and it was thus, no
doubt, that the pampas of Paraguay were filled with the horses and
oxen, that are now killed merely for the sake of their hides. These
remarks may serve to show the futility of dissertations upon the native
country of such species as are now, in fact, naturalized in almost every
climate, yet cannot, with certainty, be traced to any one. It is
probable, however, that Western Asia was the original seat of the
greater part of the quadrupeds and birds in the foregoing list. But
the wild ass, mentioned by Persian and Indian travellers as found in
this region, is the Dziggetai of the Tartars (Equus Hemionos), the
ovos aypios, or Hemionos of the Greeks, a distinct species; and wild
horses have never been seen by any trustworthy traveller. The
sheep, however, still inhabits the solitary recesses of the Caucasus ;
wild dogs exist both in India and Western Asia; and the original
stock of our domestic cat has been supposed to have been discovered in
Northern Africa by Rüppell. Why the horse should be regarded as
"indigenous," merely because "it lives and propagates, nearly in a
state of nature, in the Highlands of Scotland," it is not easy to imagine.
The pheasant lives and propagates in the Regent's Park, or at least in
almost every park throughout England, and should, according to such
reasoning, be also regarded as indigenous.
The wild cat of Great Britain is now become of very rare occur-
rence. Mr. Swainson, indeed, by whom the outline of this article was
originally compiled, supposed that he had ascertained that it existed in
considerable numbers in the country round Moffat, in Dumfriesshire.
But from information subsequently obtained, we incline to think that
he was mistaken in this respect, and that the animals he referred to do
not belong to the species of the real wild cat, but are merely the
domestic race run wild, which is a common enough occurrence in
ZOOLOGY.
119
woody countries. Pennant mentions that, in his time, the wild cat
inhabited some of the mountainous and woody parts of England, living
mostly in trees, and feeding only by night, when it attacked poultry,
kids, and lambs.
Regarding the few remaining quadrupeds of Britain, as the hedge-
hog, martin, polecat, otter, &c., little can be said applicable to the nature
of this work. It is much to be wished, however, that the vulgar
prejudices regarding the fancied injuries done by the hedgehog were
overcome, for a more useful animal to the farmer can scarcely be
named.
The chief of our domestic birds have been originally brought from
Asia; the principal exceptions being the turkey, guinea fowl, and musk
duck. The peacock, still found wild in different parts of India, and
sometimes in great abundance, is, without exception, the most im-
posing and magnificent of birds. Alexander the Great, who first saw
it in vast numbers on the banks of the Hydraotis, was so struck with
its surpassing beauty, that he severely punished those by whom it was
destroyed. Ælian states that, on its introduction into Greece, it was
so highly esteemed, that a male and female were valued by the Athe-
nians at 1,000 drachmæ, or 32l. 5s. 10d. sterling. Peacocks were then
domesticated at Samos, where they were preserved about the temple of
Juno in that island, as a fit emblem of the queen of the gods. They were
great favourites with our ancestors, both as serving for food and or-
nament. Ernald de Aclent paid a fine to King John of 140 palfreys,
with sackbuts, lovains, gilt spurs, and peacocks' crests, "such as would
be for his credit." The Romans, also, highly esteemed them for their
tables; but at present only the young are eaten, the flesh of the old
bird being thought hard and dry. In fact, they are now kept wholly
for ornament.
The wild turkey, from which our domestic races have unquestion-
ably sprung, is still found in the more unfrequented tracts of Louis-
iana, where they live in societies, as do most gallinaceous birds.
Audubon has given a long and interesting account of its native man-
ners, to which we must refer the reader. Pennant supposes that
turkeys were first seen in France in the reign of Francis I., who died
in 1547, and in England in the reign of Henry VIII. The first part
of this statement is corroborated by Le Grand d'Aussy, a better au-
thority than Pennant in respect to such matters, who states, that the
earliest authentic notice of turkeys in France is in a work of Champier,
published in 1560, where it is said they were introduced ab hinc
paucos annos.—(Vie Privée des Français, i. p. 290.) Other writers
specify the year 1524 as the date of their introduction into Britain;
and about 1585 they began to form one of the dainties at Christmas
feasts. Vast quantities are reared in Norfolk and Suffolk, which used
to be driven to the London markets in flocks of several hundreds, the
drivers managing them with great facility, by means of a bit of red
rag tied to the end of a long stick; this, from the antipathy the birds
bear to any scarlet colour, effectually answering the purpose of a
Scourge. They are now, however, mostly killed in the country; and
about Christmas, the Norfolk and Suffolk railway coaches for London
120
ENGLAND AND WALES.
are heavily laden with these birds. In a wild state they grow to a
much larger size than when domesticated; but the plumage, although
somewhat darker, is not materially different.
The domestic fowl is dispersed over almost every nation in tem-
perate and tropical climates. The whole genus, in fact, seems to
possess the same character; so that, in the different breeds and crosses
which have sprung from them, it is difficult, if not impossible, to say
whether they have originated from one or from several stocks. It
would appear, however, that the original seat of this family is in
Central and Southern Asia; where, even to this day, not one only,
but several species are found in a wild state. Colonel Sykes, in an
interesting notice of the birds of that part of India called the Deckhan,
enumerates three species; but one of these, the gigantic cock (Gallus
giganteus, Tem.), he regards as having been introduced from Sumatra
or Java. Temminck is disposed to trace our domestic fowl to the
Bankiva cock (Gallus Bankiva), which inhabits the woods of Java.
Others suppose that the jungle cock (Gallus Sonneratii) is the parent
of our common breed of poultry. The most general opinion, however,
is, that the domestic cock (the Phasianus gallus cristatus of Linnæus)
is a distinct species; and Colonel Sykes, who investigated the question
upon the spot, states, that "the domestic fowl is so abundant in the
Deckhan, that in parts of the country not much frequented by Eu-
ropeans he has bought from 8 to 12 full-grown fowls for 2s. Many of
the hens, particularly of the villages in the Ghauts, are not to be dis-
tinguished from the wild birds, excepting only in the want of the car-
tilaginous spot on the wing-covers.
The Guinea hen (Numida meleagris) is the only one of our do-
mestic birds introduced from Africa; being almost confined to the
western or tropical regions of that continent. Guinea fowl are the
Meleagrides, or Gallinæ numidicæ, of Athenæus and other ancient
writers. According to Barbot, who calls them Pintadas, they are
found in flocks of 200 or 300: when at rest, they perch upon trees,
their food consisting chiefly of worms and grasshoppers, which they
search for in marshes and morasses: they feed, however, also upon
seeds. They were in great request among the Romans, who served
them at their banquets; and though, from their quarrelsome dis-
position, they are not very generally brought into our farmyards, they
are but little inferior in flavour to the pheasant. But the difficulty of
rearing them operates against their becoming so common as the domestic
fowl.
The pheasant (Phasianus colchicus, Lin.) derives its name from
Phasis, one of the chief rivers of Colchis, whence the species is sup-
posed to have been introduced into Europe, about the æra of the
Argonauts. But, be this as it may, those birds were much sought for,
and are now generally distributed over central and southern Europe.
It seems, however, even in Italy, to be confined to parks and preserves ;
for its size and value, as a bird of game, would soon operate to its
extermination, were it not protected. The ringed pheasant is sup-
posed by some to be a variety, and by others a distinct species. The
common partridge (Perdix cinerea) is a well-known native; but that
ZOOLOGY.
121
usually termed the red-legged, or Guernsey species (Perdix rufa), has
been introduced from that island and from the coast of France. It
has become common in several preserves, especially in those near
Orford, in Suffolk, belonging to the Marquis of Hertford. Bewick,
indeed, affirms that in some of the eastern counties of England the
individuals of this species are more numerous than those of the native
breed; but this is doubtful. It is bad game, inasmuch as it runs along
the ground, and does not rise before the dogs. Like the silver phea-
sant, too, it beats away the common species from its haunts: so that
most gentlemen by whom it had been patronized are now taking mea-
sures for its extirpation.
Of our aquatic birds, the two principal species, the duck and the
goose, are indigenous; of the former family, the musk duck, we be-
lieve, is the only one which breeds with any facility in a state of
domestication, although many efforts have been made to render the
teal, the Carolina summer duck, and others, equally familiar and
prolific. The musk duck is valuable from its superior size; and,
although frequently called the Muscovy, was, in fact, originally
brought from South America. Muscovy is doubtless a corruption of
musk, originating in an erroneous opinion of its native country. These
birds are not so common among us as formerly, though their flesh is
good, and they are very prolific of eggs.
The swan of our preserves and rivers is a different species from that
which is occasionally seen wild in the north of Britain. It is said
that it originally came from eastern Europe, but this is very uncertain.
Nearly all the varieties of the swan genus are white, and resemble each
other so closely, that not even the eye of a naturalist can immediately
detect their specific differences; and hence the impossibility of ascer-
taining which were known to the ancients, or assigning a correct name
to such as are incidentally mentioned by old writers. The tame
swan is chiefly known from the wild by the difference in its bill, and
by having thereon a hard black knob at the upper base. In former
times the swan was a conspicuous dish at great regal feasts: and
according to Pennant, when he wrote (in 1777), cygnets, or young
swans, were fattened at Norwich about Christmas, and sold for a guinea
a-piece. These birds were formerly held in so much estimation that,
by an act of Edw. IV., no one, unless he possessed a freehold of the
clear annual value of 5 marks, was permitted to keep them; and by
the 11th of Henry VII., cap. 17, the punishment for taking their
eggs was imprisonment for a year and a day, and a fine, at the king's
will. Though at present they are not so much valued as an article
of food, they are still preserved, for their great beauty, on several of
our rivers, particularly on the Thames and Trent; but nowhere, as
Pennant observes, in greater quantity than on the saltwater inlet of the
sea near Abbotsbury, in Dorsetshire.
There appear to be good grounds for doubting whether there be a
single foreign quadruped whose introduction would, in an economical
point of view, be advantageous. But with respect to foreign birds,
there are a few, the introduction of which might be ornamental; and
the naturalization of some of the larger breeds would probably be a
desirable addition to our present stock of poultry. The gigantic cock
122
ENGLAND AND WALES.
(Gallus giganteus), for instance, is nearly twice the size of our ordi-
nary species, and is, we believe, equally easy of domestication. Tem-
minck states, that it is not uncommon in the farmyards of southern
Europe, particularly near Padua, where it grows to an immense size,
often exceeding ten pounds in weight. In a wild state, this gigantic
race, like most of its family, is found in the forests of India, and it has
the singular peculiarity of resting on the first joint of the leg: how far
its fecundity may place it on a level with the common fowl, is not
exactly known. The family of Curassow birds (Craxidæ V.) com-
prises, with the exception of the turkey, nearly all the indigenous
domestic poultry of South America. They are not only large-sized
(that is, between the fowl and the turkey), but very prolific and
sociable. Nothing, however, has yet been accomplished in the way
of introducing those strangers into our poultry-yards or preserves;
though they are by no means uncommon, in such situations, upon
the Continent. Temminck assures us that, in many menageries in
Holland, the curassow birds are as familiar as the common poultry.
Ameshoff, by bestowing proper care upon them, bred several of the
species with great success: the Crax rubra and the Crax pauxi, among
others, produced as numerously, under this gentleman's management,
as our common domestic fowls. The flesh of the young is white, and
of exquisite flavour, being superior to that of the pintado or the phea-
sant. Happily, however, we are in no absolute need of these birds.
A very large species of fowls, of the size of small turkeys, is found
in the neighbourhood of Dublin; and Dublin crammed fowls are cele-
brated all over Ireland.
On the actual State of Great Britain, as regards its indigenous
Animals.
It has been the practice of some writers to give a much more
limited definition of the term indigenous than we think it fairly en-
titled to. An indigenous animal, with them, is one which lives and
dies in the same country, never quitting it, either for food or a warmer
temperature; hence, in their divisions of summer residents, occasional
visiters, and stragglers, we occasionally find birds as truly British as
the common sparrow. To prevent therefore, any misconception of our
statements, it may be premised, that, by indigenous, we mean not only
such birds as live and breed in these islands, but such also as are found
with us during only a portion of the year. Such residence is obviously
a part of their natural economy; for they cannot dispense with that law
of nature which compels them, as it were, to leave their former resi-
dence, and come to us. They are, therefore, to all intents and pur-
poses, as strictly native as the swallow, which passes his winter, like so
many members of our aristocracy, in a warmer climate, but who are
not on that account considered foreigners. This being premised, we
shall lay before the reader a list sufficiently accurate for our present
purpose, of the quadrupeds and birds of Britain, stating the nature of
their food, and the means of supply they possess. To do the same
with the insects, and the lower animals would, from their vast numbers,
be impossible; but some general remarks upon them will conclude the
survey of British animals.
ZOOLOGY.
123
Our indigenous quadrupeds amount to about 37, which we shall
enumerate in the following list, in the natural orders wherein they
have been scientifically arranged :-
Bats.
Order I.—QUADRUMANA. Cuv.
Ronolphus ferrum equinum. Horse-shoe
Bat.
Four-handed Quadrupeds. Food.
Plecotus auritus. Long-eared Bat.
barbastellus. Barbastel Bat.
Vespertilio serotinus. Serotine Bat.
Nattererii. Natterer's Bat.
minutus. Lesser Horse-shoe
Bat.
Order II. FERÆ.
Rapacious Quadrupeds.
Erinaceus Europæus. Common Hedge- | Mustela erminea. Stoat or Ermine.
hog.
Sorex araneus.
Common Shrew.
fodiens, Water Shrew.
Talpa Europæa. European Mole.
Meles vulgaris. Common Badger.
Mustela vulgaris. Common Weasel.
putorius. Polecat.
Martes fagorum, Ray. Beech Marten.
abietum. Pine Marten.
Lutra vulgaris. Common Otter.
Canis vulpes. Fox.
Felis sylvestris. Wild Cat.
Phoca vitulina. Common Seal.
barbata. Bearded or great Seal.
Order III. CETACEA. Whales.
Balanoptera musculus. Round-lipped | Delphinus tursio.
Whale. Fish.
Fish.
boops. Sharp-lipped Whale.
rostrata. Snout Whale.
Fish.
Physalis vulgaris. Razor-back Whale.
Balæna mysticetus. Common Whale.
Delphinus phocæna. Porpoise. Fish.
Orea. Grampus. Fish.
Fish.
melas. Ground Grampus.
Delphis. Common Dolphin.
phin. Fish.
Blunt-toothed Dol-
Delphinoptera albicans. Whitish Gram-
pus.
Hyperoodon bidens. Double-toothed
Grampus.
Monodon monoceros. Narwal. Fish.
Physeter tursio. Flat-toothed Finner.
Fish.
Fish.
microps. Spermaceti Whale.
Catodon macrocephalus. Cachalot Whale.
Fish.
Order IV.
GLIRES. Gnawers.
Mus musculus. Common Mouse.
sylvaticus. Field Mouse.
messorius. Harvest Mouse.
rattus. Black Rat.
decumanus. Norway Rat.
Myoxus avellanarius. Dormouse.
Order V. UNGULATA.
The Horse, Ox, Boar, Sheep, and Goat,
strictly belong to this order; but,
as these animals are only found in
a state of domestication, they are
omitted in the present list, being
Arvicola aquatica.. Water Rat.
agrestis. Field Mouse.
Sciurus vulgaris. Common Squirrel.
Lepus timidus. Hare.
variabilis. Alpine Hare.
cuniculus. Rabbit.
Hoofed Quadrupeds.
fully treated of in another part of
this work.
Cervus elaphus. Stag.
Dama Europæus. Fallow Deer.
Capreolus Europæus. European Roe.
By this list, it appears that our indigenous land quadrupeds amount
to 37, while those fish-like species, inhabiting the sea, are 16: of the
latter we shall take no account in the subsequent remarks, because we
cannot extend the same investigation to the fishes, upon which nearly
all the aquatic quadrupeds almost entirely subsist. On looking over
this table, we perceive a remarkable disproportion in the number of
carnivorous or bird-catching species, compared to such as are herbivo-
rous; so that, however extraordinary it may appear, we may safely
1.24
ENGLAND AND WALES.
affirm that nearly half our native quadrupeds are ferocious; for it is
the habit, and not the size, of an animal which confers this character;
and it is well known that the weasel is more blood-thirsty and cruel
than even the tiger. In what manner, then, are we to account
for this unusually large proportion of such quadrupeds? Simply by
the fact of the great abundance of their prey, that is, of the birds
and insects inhabiting these islands. The same relation may be traced
between the larger carnivorous and herbivorous species: the former
originally comprised, as we have seen, vast numbers of wolves, which
preyed upon the deer, roebuck, and goat; but while the latter have
almost disappeared from the open country, their enemies have been
totally extirpated. Cultivation, in fact, has nearly annihilated both ;
for man has not only destroyed the wolves, but has broken up the pas-
tures which supplied food to the animals which they persecuted; the
latter being now found only in preserves or in mountain districts.
During summer, when insects abound, bats are abroad, constantly
thinning their numbers in their twilight excursions; but when their
services, in this respect, are no longer wanted, these insect-eaters retire
to their winter-nooks, and pass the rest of the year in sleep. Foxes not
only suck eggs and destroy birds, like stoats, weasels, and martens, but
they are the natural enemies of the hare and rabbit; so that here again
we see balanced the demand and the supply of food. Of the granivo-
rous quadrupeds, or such as more especially live upon nuts, fruits, and
grain, we have eight or nine species, whose food is supplied by the
various products of our fields and woods. Allied in analogy to these
animals, but essentially distinct from them, is the mole, a carnivorous
quadruped, more numerously and widely spread than perhaps any other;
and the reason is that the earth-worms, on which the mole principally
feeds, are more universally distributed, and in far greater numbers
than any other animal. There can be no doubt that squirrels, at
one time, abounded in all our woods, for we have no more common
tree than the hazel nut, and the only two vertebrated- animals which
are known to make this fruit their chief repast are the squirrel and the
nuthatch. No reasonable cause can be discovered for the diminution
of the latter; but the squirrel is persecuted and destroyed by game-
keepers, who erroneously imagine that squirrels, like stoats, suck the
eggs and feed upon the young of partridges and pheasants. The vast
number of oak trees found in Britain supplied abundance of food to the
wild boars, with which our island was formerly stocked. But here
man has been at work, and, having destroyed the wild boar, has created
an anomaly which did not originally exist. Every autumn, thousands
upon thousands of oaks scatter a plentiful supply of acorns; but the
denizens of the forest, for whose support this repast was intended,
having long since been exterminated, the acorns are now only gathered
by the cottager for his tame pig, or are eaten by the hogs permitted,
in autumn, to leave their sties, and grub among the fallen leaves of the
neighbouring oaks.
Our native birds are arranged in the following list, according to
their natural affinities:-
ZOOLOGY.
125
Order I. RAPTORES. Birds of Prey.
1. Aquila chrysaetos. Golden Eagle.
albicilla. Cinereous Eagle.
halietus, Osprey or Fish-
mi ai cj
2.
3.
ing Eagle.
4. Falco Islandicus. Gyr Falcon.
13. Circus cinerarius.
Harrier.
Ash-coloured
14. Strix Bubo. Great Horned Owl,
otus. Long-eared Owl.
brachiotus. Short-eared Owl.
15.
16.
5.
6.
7.
8.
peregrinus. Peregrine Falcon.
Subbuteo. Hobby.
17.
Scops. Little Owl.
18.
nyctea. Snowy Owl.
Æsalon. Merlin.
19.
flammea. Barn Owl.
Tinnunculus. Kestril.
20.
9. Accipiter pulumbarius. Goshawk.
10.
11. Circus æruginosus. Moor Buzzard.
21.
Nisus. Sparrow Hawk.
22.
Owl.
stridula. Wood Owl.
passerina. Little Owl.
Tengmalmi. Tengmalm's
12.
cyaneus. Hen Harrier.
Order II. INSESSORES.
Perching Birds.
Tribe DENTIROSTRES.
Tooth-billed
Tribe.
23. Musicapa atricapilla. Pied Fly-
catcher.
55.
56.
24.
catcher.
25. Lanius excubitor.
grisola. Spotted Fly-
58.
Great
Ash
59.
60.
ater. Coal Tit.
Shrike.
26.
Collurio.
Rufous-backed
61.
62.
Shrike.
63.
27.
rutilus. Woodchat.
28. Oriolus Galbula. Golden Oriole.
29. Merula atrata. Blackbird.
30.
31.
32.
33.
34.
torquata. Ring Ouzel.
iliaca. Redwing.
pilaris. Fieldfare.
musica. Song Thrush.
viscivora. Missel Thrush.
35. Cinclus aquaticus. Water Ouzel.
36. Bombycilla garrula. Chatterer.
37. Saxicola Enanthe. Wheatear.
rubetra. Whinchat.
rubicola. Stonechat.
40. Erythica rubecula, Sw. Robin.
41. Phoenicura. Redstart.
38.
39.
(Gould's species.)
Suecica. Blue-breasted
54. Sylvia Regulus. Gold-crested War-
bler.
Trochilus. Willow Wren.
sylvicola. Wood Wren.
57. Parus Major. Great Tit.
cæruleus. Blue Tit.
palustris. Marsh Tit.
cristatus. Crested Tit.
caudatus. Long-tailed Tit.
biarmicus. Bearded Tit.
64. Accentor alpinus. Alpine Accentor.
65.
centor.
modularis. Hedge Ac-
66. Motacilla alba. Pied Wagtail.
67.
68.
boarula. Grey Wagtail.
flava. Yellow Wagtail.
69. Anthus pratensis. Titlark.
70.
71.
72.
petrosus. Shore Lark.
minor. Field Lark.
Richardii. Kichard's Lark.
Tribe CONIROSTRES. Conic-billed Birds.
73. Alauda arborea. Woodlark.
74.
arvensis. Skylark.
75. Plectrophanes Lapponica. Lapland
Longspur.
76. Emberiza nivalis. Snow Bunting.
miliaria. Common Bunt-
42.
43.
Warbler.
44. Philomela Luscinia, Sw. Nightin-
77.
gale.
ing.
45.
46.
atricapilla. Blackcap.
hortensis. Greater Pet-
78.
citrinella. Yellow Ham-
mer.
tichaps.
79.
Schoniclus. Reed Bunt-
47.
Hippolais. Lesser Pet-
ing.
tichaps.
80.
Cirlus. Cirl Bunting.
48.
49.
throat
cinerea. Whitethroat.
sylviella. Lesser White-
50. Curruca salicaria. Sedge Warbler.
Locustella. Grasshopper
Warbler.
51.
52.
bler.
arundinacea. Reed War-
53. Sylvia provincialis. Dartford War-
bler.
82. Pyrgita domestica. Common Spar-
row.
83.
montana. Tree Sparrow.
84. Fringilla cœlebs. Chaffinch.
85.
montifringilla. Brambling.
Haw-
86. Coccothraustes Europæus.
finch.
87. Linaria chloris, Sw. Green Linnet.
81.
hortulana. Ortolan Bunt-
ing.
*
126
ENGLAND AND WALES.
89.
90.
91.
109. Dendrocopus major, Sw. Greater
Spotted Woodpecker.
88. Linaria Linota. Linnet.
cannabina. Great Redpole.
minor. Lesser Redpole.
montium. Twite Linnet.
92. Carduelis Europæus. Goldfinch.
spinus. Siskin.
93.
94. Pyrrhula enucleator. Pine Gros-
beak.
95.
finch.
Europæa. European Bul-
96. Loxia curvirostra. Crossbill.
97. Sturnus vulgaris. Common Star-
ling.
98. Pastor roseus.
99. Corvus Corax.
100.
101.
102.
103.
104.
Rose Pastor.
Raven.
Corone. Crow.
frugilegus. Rook.
Cornix. Hooded Crow.
Monedula. Jackdaw.
Pica. Magpie.
105. Nucifraga Europæa. Nutcracker.
106. Garrulus glandarius. Magpie.
Tribe SCANSORES. Climbers.
107. Cuculus canorus. Cuckoo.
108. Dryotomus martius, Sw. Black
Woodpecker.
Order III. RASORES.
RASORES.
124. Columba Enas.
125.
126.
127.
Stockdove.
Livia. Rock Pigeon.
Palumbus. Wood Pigeon.
Turtur. Turtle Dove.
128. Lagopus Scoticus. Red Grouse.
129.
Ptarmigan.
130. Lyrurus Tetrix, Sw. Black Grouse.
131. Perdix cinerea. Common Part-
ridge.
110.
minor, Sw. Lesser
Spotted Woodpecker.
111. Chrysoptilus viridis, Sw. Green
Woodpecker.
112. Yunx Torquilla. Wryneck.
113. Sitta Europea. Nuthatch.
114. Certhia familiaris. Common
Creeper.
115. Troglodytes Europeus. Wren.
Tribe TENUIROSTRES. Suctorial Birds.
116. Upupa Epops. Hoopoe.
Tribe FISSIROSTRES. Wide-mouthed
Birds.
117. Merops apiaster. European Bee-
eater.
118. Alcedo ispida. Kingfisher.
119. Hirundo rustica.
120.
121.
Swallow.
urbica. Martin.
riparia. Sand Martin.
122. Cypselus murarius. Swift.
123. Caprimulgus Europæus. Nightjar.
Fern Owl.
Gallinaceous Birds.
132. Perdix rufa. Red-legged Part-
ridge.
133. Coturnix Europæus. Quail.
134. Otis tarda. Great Bustard.
Tetrax. Little Bustard.
135.
136. Edicnemus crepitans.
kneed Bustard.
Thick-
137. Cursorius Isabellinus. Cream-
coloured Plover.
Order IV. GRALLATORES. Wading Birds.
138. Platalea leucorodia. White Spoon- | 157. Scolopax Gallinago. Common
bill.
139. Ciconia Europea. Common Crane. 158.
Snipe.
40.
alba. White Stork.
159.
.41.
nigra.
142. Ardea major.
143.
144.
145.
Black Stork.
Common Heron.
alba. Great White Heron.
Gazetta. Egret.
æquinoctialis. Little White
Gallinula. Jack Snipe.
grisea. Brown Snipe.
160. Limosa ægocephala. Bartailed
Godwit.
161.
melanura.
Blacktailed
Godwit.
162. Tringa canutus Knot.
Heron.
163.
maritima. Purple Sand-
146. Nycticorax. Night Heron.
piper.
147.
Caspica. African or Purple 164.
pygmæa.
Pygmy Sand-
Heron.
piper.
148. Butor Stellaris.
Common Bittern.
165.
rufescens. Buff-breasted
149.
comata.
Squacco Heron.
Sandpiper.
150.
minuta.
Little Bittern.
166.
151. Tantalus igneus. Glossy Ibis.
167.
152. Numenius arquata. Curlew.
168.
153.
Phæopus. Whimbrel.
154. Rusticola Europea. Woodcock.
155 Scolopax major. Great Snipe.
169.
alpina. Purre.
pusilla. Little Sandpiper.
Temminckii. Temminck's
Sandpiper.
pugnax. Ruffe.
170. Totanis glottus. Greenshank.
156.
Sabini. Sabine's Snipe.
171.
fuscus.
Spotted Redshank.
ZOOLOGY.
127
172. Totanis calidris. Redshank.
173.
ochropus.
Green Sand-
piper.
174.
glareola.
Wood Sand-
piper.
175.
macularius. Spotted Sand-
piper.
185. Himantopus melanopterous. Long-
legged Plover.
186. Recurvirostra Avocetta. Avoset.
187. Hæmatopus Ostralegus.
catcher.
Oyster-
188. Rallus aquaticus. Water Rail.
189. Gallinula crex. Landrail.
176.
hypoleucas. Common Sand-
190.
piper.
177. Strepsilas collaris. Turnstone.
178. Vanellas cristatus. Lapwing.
191.
chloropus. Waterhen.
Porzana. Spotted Water-
hen.
192.
Baillonii. Little Galli-
179.
malanogaster. Grey Lap-
nule.
wing.
193.
pusilla. Olivaceous Gal-
180.
ling.
181. Charadrius pluvialis.
Calidris arenaria. Sander-
Golden
linule.
194. Phalaropus hyperboreus.
Phalarope.
Red
Plover.
195.
lobatus. Grey Pha-
182.
183.
184.
morinellus. Dottrel.
hiaticula. Ring Plover.
Cantiana.
larope.
196. Fulica atra.. Common Coot.
Kentish
Plover.
Order V. NATATORES. Swimming Birds.
197. Boschas domestica, Sw. Wild
Duck.
225.
224. Anser palustris. Greylag Goose.
ferus. Bean Goose
198.
199.
crecca, Su. Teal.
querquedula, Sw.
226.
erythropus. White-fronted
Gar-
Goose.
ganey.
200.
marila. Scoup Pochard.
cristata. Tufted Pochard.
dispar. Western Pochard.
217. Harelda glacialis. Long-tailed
Duck.
218. Clangula vulgaris. Golden-eye.
histrionica. Harlequin
219.
241. Grylle. Black Guillemot.
242. Mergulus melanoleucos. Common
Rotche, Selby.
243. Alca impennis. Great Auk.
244.
Torda. Razorbill Auk.
245. Mormon arctica, Illiger. Common
Puffin.
246. Carbo cormoranus. Common Cor-
247.
morant.
cristatus. Crested Shag.
248. Sula Bassana. Solan Gannet.
249. Sterna Caspica.
Red-breasted | 250.
251.
Golden-eye.
220. Mergus merganser.
Gooseander.
221.
serrator.
Merganser.
222.
cucullatus.
Hooded Mer- 252.
ganser.
253.
223.
albellus. Smew.
254.
Caspian Tern.
Boysii. Sandwich Tern.
Hirundo.
Common Tern.
Dougallii. Roseate Tern.
arctica.
Arctic Tern.
minuta. Lesser Tern.
Grebe.
234.
cornutus,
Sclavonian
Grebe.
208.
spectabilis. King Eider.
209. Oidemia fusca. Velvet Scoter.
210.
perspicillata. Surf Scoter.
211. Fuligula ferina. Red-headed Po-
chard.
238.
235. Podiceps auritus. Eared Grebe.
236.
minor. Little Grebe.
237. Colymbus glacialis. Great Diver.
arcticus. Black-throated
Diver.
239.
septentrionalis.
Red
Diver.
212.
rufina.
Red-crested Po-
240. Uria Troile.
Foolish Guillemot.
chard.
213.
nyroca.
White-eyed Po-
chard.
214.
215.
216.
bimaculata, Sw. Bimacu-
lated Teal.
201. Anai clypeata, L. Shoveller.
202. Chauliodes Strepera, Sw. Gadwall.
203. Dafila caudacuta, Leach. Pintail.
204. Tadorna Europea. Sheldrake.
rutila, Steph. Ruddy Shel-
205.
drake.
206. Macera Penelope, Selby. Common
Widgeon.
207. Somateria mollissima, Leach. Ei-
der.
231.
leucopsis. Barnacle Goose.
bernicla. Brent Goose.
ruficollis.
230. Cygnus ferus. Whistling Swan.
Bewickii. Bewick's Swan.
232. Podiceps cristatus. Crested Grebe.
233.
rubicollis. Red-necked
227.
228.
229.
Red-breasted
Goose.
128
ENGLAND AND WALES.
258.
259.
255. Sterna nigra. Black Tern.
256.
anglica. Gull-billed Tern.
257. Larus minutus. Little Gull.
ridibundus. Laughing Gull.
canus. Grey or common
267. Lestris Cataractes. Common Black-
bearded Jager.
268.
pomarinus.
Pomarine
Jager.
Gull.
260.
rissa. Kittiwake Gull.
269.
parasiticus.
270. Procellaria glacialis.
Petrel.
Arctic Jager.
Fulmar
261.
eburneus. Ivory Gull.
271.
Puffinus.
Cinereous
262.
glaucus. Glaucous Gull.
Puffin.
263.
Islandicus. Iceland Gull.
272.
Anglorum.
Manx
264.
265.
argentatus. Herring Gull.
marinus. Great Black-
backed Gull.
Puffin.
273. Thalassidroma pelagica, Vig. Com-
mon Storm Petrel.
266.
fuscus. Lesser Black-backed
Gull.
274.
Leachii.
Storm Petrel.
Leach's
No less than 274 species of birds are thus seen to be natives, or
visiters, of Britain, putting aside several others that have been occa-
sionally seen as stragglers, but which properly belong to the fauna
of America. If we separate these into groups, according to the nature
of their food, we shall have some curious results. First, there are 22
large and 3 small-sized rapacious species, or such as feed not only upon
small quadrupeds, but also upon other birds. We should add to these,
also, the cuckoo; because, though it does not actually kill and eat,
as do hawks, owls, and shrikes, yet it destroys, and materially checks,
the increase of the smaller birds, by its extraordinary habit of dispos-
sessing them of their legitimate offspring and substituting its own.
We shall thus have one rapacious species for ten that are not, and
whose food consists of insects, seeds, or fishes. The land and water
birds (considering the waders as coming under the latter denomination)
are nearly equal in point of species, there being 137 of the former and
136 of the latter. This equality is never found but in the ornithology
of moderate-sized islands, where there is a great extent of coast, and
the land not so near to the adjacent continent as to permit the free
passage of the ordinary perching birds. In all this there is a beautiful
harmony, the shores of every region being peopled with their propor-
tionate number of feathered inhabitants, and producing for their use,
by the rise and ebb of the tides, a constant and varied supply of food
in the shape of marine animals. On looking, again, to those which
inhabit the land, we find that out of 137, only 14 feed exclusively upon
berries and seeds. This certainly appears, at first sight, an unequal
and an unnatural proportion; seeing that our woods, hedges, and fields,
supply such quantities of berries, seeds, and grain. But this plentiful
supply of vegetable food is not produced in vain, nor is it left to useless
decay. Those birds, stationary in our island, which, during summer,
thin the ranks of the insect world, would perish in winter from sheer
hunger, had they not, at that season, an appetite for vegetable rather
than for animal food. We accordingly find that, as soon as autumn
approaches and insects become scarce, blackbirds, thrushes, and various
other perchers, sustain themselves during winter on the hips and haws
of our hedges, and the innumerable seeds left on the fallow lands and
on hedge-banks; the crow genus alone, by their powerful bills, being
able to break the half-frozen ground, and search for insects concealed
beneath its surface. It must be remembered, also, that although the
ZOOLOGY.
129
finch tribe are insectivorous, yet that, during winter, their chief, if not
only, food consists of seeds; and that other stationary birds, especially
adapted, by their structure, for insect destroyers, subsist, during winter,
upon the produce of the vegetable world. The robin and the hedge-
sparrow are striking examples of this; both are insectivorous, but
not being migratory, they subsist, during the colder months, on
seeds and berries. We have said that England is both naturally and
artificially a peculiarly woody country; but such being the case,
how comes it that we have so few of that family of birds, especially
adapted, both from their structure and economy, to live among trees,
namely, the woodpeckers? Eight only are found in the whole of
Europe, and of these four, or rather, perhaps, only three, belong to us.
We must, however, look not to the habitation, but to the peculiar
food, of these birds. The majority of woodpeckers feed on the larvæ
or adults of such insects as live on the wood of trees and perforate its
substance. These chiefly belong to the tribe of the Capricornes, or
long-horned beetles, which, though abundant in tropical regions, are
very scantily distributed in temperate latitudes, and are very rare in
Europe. Hence it is not enough for woodpeckers that they should
have plenty of forest range, but that the trees composing such forests
should produce a sufficient supply of their peculiar food. The scarcity
of the latter in Europe, and more especially in Britain, fully accounts
for the paucity of our woodpeckers, one species of which (the great
black woodpecker) is almost extinct, while another feeds both upon
fruits and ants; thus reducing our actual efficient number to two, and
these very small. But in no department of our fauna is the dependence
of one set of animals on another more conspicuous than in the economy
of the purely insectivorous birds, composing the genera Saxicola,
Phoenicura, Philomele, Lanius, Curruca, Sylvia, Musicapa, Hirundo,
and Caprimulgus. The major part of these are summer visiters,
coming to these islands for the purpose of breeding, and quitting them
in the autumn. They comprise between 27 and 30 species, and, as
more than half are common, they must amount, collectively, to many
hundreds of thousands. The number of insects which such a countless
host daily require for their subsistence is almost beyond belief: some
idea, however, may be formed by supposing that each bird, upon an
average, captures 150 insects a day, or about 14 an hour; a number,
we are persuaded, much below the reality. 100,000 birds would thus
require a daily supply of 15,000,000 insects! But these hosts of birds
do not come at once, or in immense divisions; for that would be in-
consistent with the progressive appearance of the different insects.
Each species, therefore, chooses its own time and its own route: as the
advancing summer warms into life new tribes of insects, produced in
our hedges, woods, and meadows, so do other parties of summer birds
arrive; and these detachments continue to come, until the whole
country has poured forth its insect inhabitants, and there is an abundant
supply both for our residents and our visiters. We were particularly
struck with the opposite circumstances while travelling from Calais
to Paris. During the whole journey, we did not see, at the very
most, more than 20 birds, including 2 or 3 crows, and about as many
hawks; while, had there been more, there was scarcely a tree, thicket,
VOL. I.
K
130
ENGLAND AND WALES.
or hedge to shelter them, or to furnish them with the means of subsist-
ence. But let any one traverse the same extent of country in Britain,
along our hedged and often shady roads, and he will most likely
count 20 species of birds in a single hour! It is immaterial how this
remarkable inequality in the distribution of birds, in the two countries,
has originated. Man, indeed, may change the face of nature, but he
has no control over the effects which attend such changes. He cannot
clear a country of wood, and yet retain all its brute inhabitants: and,
if he destroy trees, he at the same time annihilates the insects which fed
upon their leaves, and scares away the birds which found shelter in
their branches. There are some instances worth adverting to of these
changes in the distribution of our native birds. More water-fowl were
formerly found in the fens than anywhere else in Europe; and the
capture of the birds, especially of wild ducks, gave a large annual
revenue to the proprietors. The fens, however, have of late years been
mostly drained and cultivated: the birds have consequently deserted
them, and probably they do not now furnish a fiftieth part of the num-
ber formerly captured. At no remote period, the Manx puffin (Pro-
cellaria Puffinus, Lath.) resorted in great numbers to the Calf of Man,
a small islet to the south of the main island, and only divided from it
by a narrow channel. It has since, however, deserted the islet, from
which it was supposed to have been driven by the too great destruction
of its young. These were held in considerable estimation; and Pen-
nant mentions that, in his day, great numbers of them were taken
during the breeding season by the person who farmed the islet. But,
it appears, that rats, which had escaped from a vessel wrecked on the
coast, were the real exterminators of the birds.-( Quayle's Survey of
the Isle of Man, p. 8.)
We are unable, from want of space, to enter into any details re-
garding the fishes and fisheries of Britain; and we regret this the less,
as the practical details in relation to the fisheries will be given in a
subsequent part of this work. Whales were once much more abundant
upon our northern coasts than now, when the appearance of a solitary
straggler is considered a remarkable occurrence. Perhaps, also, our
pilchard fishery is less productive than formerly. We may, however,
still say of it, as was said by Dr. Borlase, in 1768, that “it employs a
great number of men on the sea, training them thereby to naval affairs;
and that it employs many men, women, and children, on land, in salt-
ing, pressing, washing, and cleansing, the fish, and in making boats,
nets, ropes, casks, and all trades depending on their construction and
sale. The poor are fed with the offals of the captures, the land with
the refuse of the fish and salt; the merchant finds the gains of commis-
sion and honest commerce, the fisherman the gains of the fish. Ships
are often freighted hither with salt, and into foreign countries with the
fish, carrying off, at the same time, part of our tin." (For an account
of the present state of the pilchard fishery, see article on Fisheries.)
The herring is one of the most valuable and abundant of our native
fishes. Its fishery is of great antiquity: the Dutch appear to have
been the first who engaged in it, about the year 1164; and it continued
in their possession for several centuries. At length, however, its value
became so apparent, and, we may add, exaggerated, that it gave rise to
ZOOLOGY.
131
much contention between them and the English. The salmon fisheries
are chiefly confined to the rivers of Scotland and Ireland. It is only
necessary farther to state, that few islands in this hemisphere have so
varied and plentiful a supply of fish as Great Britain. The total num-
ber of species, both sea and freshwater, amounts to upwards of 170.
In the order of Reptiles, our islands are fortunately very deficient.
The hawksbill turtle has occasionally been found wandering near our
northern coasts; and Borlase mentions two instances of the coriaceous
turtle having been caught on the western shores. Of the family of li-
zards, one species only, the Lacerta agilis, is admitted by some authors;
others, like Ray, consider that under this name are included four or
five distinct species (see Linn. Tr. vol. v. p. 49), a supposition much
more probable than the first. These little creatures are, however,
extremely rare. The efts, on the contrary, are common: two species
inhabit our clear ponds, where they may be seen swimming about in
summer, while the other is strictly terrestrial, and is met with at the
roots of thick rank weeds, growing on the side of walls, or among
rubbish.
The only Serpents are,-1. the common snake; 2. the viper; 3.
the blindworm; and, 4. the Dumfries snake of Sowerby. The first is
harmless, and never exceeds 4 feet in length. Although habitually in-
habiting the land, it sometimes enters the water, and swims with
facility. We remember to have read of two or three instances where
snakes have been found crossing an arm of the sea on the coast of
Wales. Considering its fecundity (for it lays from 10 to 20 eggs), it
is surprising that the snake is not more frequent; but it has a deadly
enemy in the hedgehog, which, as Dr. Buckland has proved, feeds upon
this reptile: thus establishing by fact, what we should have inferred
from theory, that as the hedgehog, in its own tribe, represents the real
hog in the order of Ungulata, so there should be some striking point
of agreement between them. The Dumfries snake is small, and is
probably the same species as the Coluber Austriacus of the Continent.
The viper is the only animal whose bite is poisonous: there are three
or four prominent varieties, which some have considered different spe-
cies; though Dr. Leach (Nat. Mis.) seems to regard them as one only.
Lastly, the Anguis fragilis, or blindworm, is also of rare occurrence,
and probably derives its name from the smallness of its eyes: the body
is greyish, with two dark brown stripes upon the back; the belly also
is brown; and the usual length of the animal is a foot. Of the batra-
cian reptiles, or true Amphibia, our list is equally scanty, comprising
only the frog, toad, and natterjack all perfectly harmless, useful in
the economy of nature, and serviceable even to man: they feed upon
slugs, worms, and insects, and, instead of being despised and persecuted,
should be protected and encouraged both by the agriculturist and the
gardener.
Considering the northerly situation of these islands, the number of
marine shell-fish found on our coasts is considerable, though much
inferior, in size and variety, to those of the warm shores of the Medi-
terranean. There are few of any size or beauty, except indeed the
Pectens, whose vivid and varied colours equal those of any country in
the world. The orange-mouthed Whelk is the largest univalve or
K 2
132
ENGLAND AND WALES.
spiral species, and the great Pecten is the largest bivalve, being much
superior to the common oyster. The latter, however, is by far the
most important of our shell-fish. In antiquity Britain was so celebrated
for oysters, that they were sent to Rome, a fact attested by more than
one of the Roman poets: the epicures of the imperial city had their
layers or stews for oysters, as we have at present, in the open sea.
According to Pliny (Hist. Nat. lib. ix. c. 54), the oyster reservoirs
were first made by Sergius Orata, not for the gratification of his
palate, but as a speculation, by which he realized large profits. The
ancients ate oysters, as we do, either raw or roasted; but they had
also a way of stewing them with mallows and docks, and sometimes
with fish. There is a curious account of the treatment of oysters in
Sprat's History of the Royal Society, an abstract of which may be
found in Pennant's Zoology. We shall give some notices of the present
state of the oyster trade in the article on fisheries.
It may be worth while, perhaps, to mention that pearls have occa-
sionally been found in a large mussel (Unio margaritifera), that
inhabits some of our northern and more rapid rivers. Suetonius states
that among the motives that induced Julius Cæsar to undertake the
invasion of Great Britain, was his wish to become master of the
pearls with which it was supposed to abound (Sueton. Vit. Jul. Cæsar,
c. 47); and as the Romans set an exceedingly high value on pearls, it is
But the British
probable the statement may have had some foundation.
pearls were soon found to be of little or no value, being usually small
and ill-coloured, subfusca ac liventia.-(Tacit. Agricola, c. 12.)-
They have been repeatedly found in modern times, and sometimes of a
considerable size, more especially in the river Conway.-(See Gough's
Camden, iii. 189, ed. 1806, and Pennant's Zoology, iv. 80.)-Pearls have
also been found in several of the rivers of Ireland, but small and of the
same pale and dusky colour as those of Britain.—(See Smith's Kerry,
p. 128, and his Cork, ii. 264.)--The total number of marine, fresh-
water, and land Testacea may be estimated at from 430 to 450 species,
omitting such families of true mollusca as are destitute of shells.
In the radiated class of animals, (so named from having their mouth
in the centre of their body,) are the star-fish, the sea-egg, and the
medusa. There is nothing in their history to interest the general reader;
they are all marine, or rather pelagic, animals, wandering about in the
ocean, or lying buried in its recesses. It is only when the sea has been
violently agitated, so as to cast upon the beach some of its slimy inha-
bitants, that ordinary observers behold, perhaps for the first time, some
of those singular, and, indeed, incomprehensible animals. Allied to
these Radiata are the naked Cephalopoda, or Cuttlefish, of which seven
species are enumerated as indigenous to our seas. The most common
of these is the Sepia officinalis, whose internal plate, or bone, we once
found, in the greatest profusion, on the shores of Hampshire, near
Christchurch and Hurst Castle. It is this substance which supplies the
scribe with pounce, and is known in the chemists' shops under the name
of cuttle-bone. There are a great variety of small corallines, but
those of a more imposing size and beauty must be sought for in warmer
seas.
The Entomology of Great Britain is highly interesting in itself and
ZOOLOGY.
133
important to our present purpose, as illustrating those general remarks
already made on our climate and vegetation. No branch of our natural
history has been more successfully investigated as to the species, and
the valuable Systematic Catalogue of Mr. Stephens affords the
means of drawing some general results of an interesting nature.
Looking to the entomology of these islands as a whole, it exhibits all
those prominent characteristics which mark the entomological features
of Europe as opposed to those of temperate America and of Northern
Asia. The Apterous insects (under which term we include, with Lin-
næus, the spiders, crabs, and acari) bear nearly the same proportion
to the Ptilota, or winged orders, as in other parts of the world.
Yet
there is, perhaps, a greater preponderance in the number of spiders
than even in the South of Europe, and certainly much greater than in
the fauna of tropical America. Now this is accounted for by a singular
fact, not hitherto mentioned. The whole of Europe may be considered
the chief metropolis of the Diptera, or flies. Britain participates in
this abundance, for no less than 1,670 species have been detected ;
while, during three years' researches in tropical America, we may safely
affirm that not a sixteenth part of this number was discovered. Flies
are the natural food of spiders, more than any other order; and while
nature has given us an abundance of the one, she has likewise propor-
tioned her supply of food in the other. A further reason for this
abundance of Diptera will be found in the great number of our summer
insectivorous birds, but more especially of swallows, whose food is
almost exclusively supplied by dipterous insects. It seems singular
that the Mellivorous Hymenoptera, or the bees, are more abundantly
distributed, in point of numbers, in temperate than in tropical countries,
seeing that in the latter there is greater scope for them in the sweets of
the vegetable kingdom. Yet this is undoubtedly the fact. On the
other hand, it should be remembered, that no flowers in tropical
America are spread over so wide a surface as that occupied by the
many thousands of acres of clover, cultivated in our island; setting
aside the great variety of other plants found in a wild state. But,
although bees are so numerous in Europe, South America has a much
greater preponderance of rapacious Hymenoptera, particularly those of
the Vespidæ and Sphegidæ families, which abound in warm latitudes,
although comparatively scarce in Britain. The total number of Hymen-
opterous insects may be reckoned, in even numbers, at 2,100 species.
The most splendid family of these is Crysis, called rubytails by the
collectors, of which no less than 35 supposed species are enumerated in
the above-mentioned list, while only three have yet been discovered
throughout the whole of Brazil. The group, in fact, is chiefly Eu-
ropean. In the Hemipterous order (divided, in the modern systems,
into two artificial orders), the majority of species are small, and neither
remarkable for elegance nor singularity. Several genera are peculiar
to Europe: they chiefly consist of insects which live among those tall
meadow grasses, found only in Britain and other pasture countries.
The plant-sucking Aphides are in great variety and abundance: they
constitute one of the most prominent features of our entomology, for
not a single species is to be met with in tropical America. The
musical Cicades, on the other hand, which love the warmth and bask
134
ENGLAND AND WALES.
in the rays of an Italian sky, are almost unknown in Britain, one
solitary species only having been found, though very rarely, in the
New Forest. The lesser tribes, however, are very numerous, and fly
in profusion, during summer, from every hedge. Next come the Lepi-
doptera, comprising the butterflies, hawk-moths, and moths. In the
first of these tribes we have many most beautiful species, but not more
than one or two which are peculiar to Britain. Authors have swelled
the list of our native butterflies to nearly 100, but several of these rest
on very dubious authority. The most typical of this tribe have their
metropolis in hot latitudes, and are merely represented in Britain by a
single species, the European swallowtail (Podalirius Machon, Sw.);
but among the brush-footed division there are few exotic species which
surpass the splendid Vanessa Io (the peacock butterfly), the Vanessa
Antiopa (Camberwell beauty), or the V. Atalanta (the Admiral), the
first and last being among the most common of our insects. The meadow
brown butterflies (Satyridæ, Sw.) are seen in profusion in the fields and
along the hedges, while our pastures are enlivened by numerous little
azure butterflies, forming the genus Polyommatus, and of which few or
none are found in other parts beyond Europe. In the Hesperian tribe
(Hesperida), on the contrary, we can count only six or seven native spe-
cies, while in Brazil alone we discovered nearly 250. The hawkmoths of
Britain are few, and the larger species are scarce. The type of this
remarkable tribe is the death's-head (Sphinx Atropos, L. Sw.), the
largest, in point of bulk, of the British Lepidoptera; but it is rare, and
seldom met with, except in particular localities: the Smerinthus
ocellatus, or eyed hawkmoth, is perhaps the most beautiful, and is by
no means uncommon. To this tribe also belong those elegant dark
green and crimson spotted insects, so frequently met with in our pastures
during summer, forming the genus Anthrocera, or burnet moths: the
geographic distribution of this group, with some slight alterations of
structure, extends to America, but that of the clear-winged Ægeria, of
which we possess eleven species, is entirely excluded from the warmer
latitudes of the New World. One of the most remarkable features in
British, no less than in European entomology, is the vast disproportion
between the diurnal and the nocturnal Lepidoptera. Of the former, as
already premised, we have scarcely 100 species, while of the latter the
catalogue before us enumerates the names of no less than 1,778. True
it is that the smaller families of this tribe are generally overlooked by
collectors who visit tropical countries; but it is a very mistaken idea,
we believe, that, if such regions were properly investigated, the pro-
portion between their butterflies and moths would be nearly the same
as what we find in those of Europe. We cannot, in this slight sketch,
enter into very exact numerical calculations; but, after much attention
bestowed upon the Lepidoptera of Brazil, we do not believe that our
collection of moths exceeds much more than twice the number of the
diurnal Papiliones. In the Coleopterous order, the most numerous,
perhaps, of the whole of the Ptilota, or winged insects, the number of
species detected in Great Britain is truly great. Mr. Stephens's cata-
logue comprises upwards of 3,300 species. It would be highly inte-
resting to trace the means by which nature has provided a sufficient
supply of all the various sorts of vegetable food suited to this immense
CIVIL DIVISIONS.
135
insect (or rather beetle) population: our prescribed limits, however,
will oblige us to be very brief. It appears that out of this large number
of species, about 550 are of the Cicindelidæ, Harpalidæ, Carabidæ,
Dytiscidæ, and other families of rapacious beetles, while nearly all the
others live upon vegetables that are either in a living or decayed state.
Of the Capricorn, or tree-boring family (Cerambycidae), there are not
more than about 30 species, and very many of these, on better exami-
nation, will probably be removed to the floral Capricorns, forming the
natural family of Lepturidæ. The weevils (Curculionida), on the
other hand, are exceedingly numerous, but their size is small, and their
colours, with two or three splendid exceptions, dull and sombre. Finally,
we should notice the small-sized but beautiful Chrysomelida, as being
the most resplendent of the British Coleoptera, while the Aphoidæ, the
Staphilinidæ, and the Cocinellidæ, are among those geographic groups
which more especially belong to Britain. The Linnæan Neuroptera
is the only remaining order of the Ptilota we have to notice; and,
although not extensive in point of numbers, our country still possesses
types of most of the leading families. Great Britain, destitute of any
considerable tracts of sand, is without any example of the Myrme-
lionidæ; yet numbers of the Libellulidæ, or dragon flies, are seen on
the sides of our streams, ponds, and rivulets, flitting among the aquatic
plants, or soaring in rapid course over the water in quest of their prey.
Of the locust tribe, we only possess four or five species, and these are of
a small size when compared with those whose ravages astonish and
distress mankind. Such are the leading peculiarities of the Zoology of
Great Britain. Our notices indeed have been, from necessity, brief;
yet we hope they are not devoid either of popular or scientific interest,
while to enter into greater detail would not be suited to a work of this
nature. It might, perhaps, be interesting and useful to point out the
direct influence which various animals, and more especially insects,
exercise over the labours of the agriculturist; but this would be an
inquiry of too great extent to find a place here. In the mean time,
the curious reader may peruse with advantage the chapters devoted
to injurious insects, in Kirby and Spence's Elements of Entomology;
while the gardener and the agriculturist will find information on
the same subject in Loudon's Encyclopædias of Gardening and Agri-
culture.
SECT. 11. Civil Divisions.
When the Romans invaded England, it was parcelled in unequal
portions among a number of petty tribes. A great deal of erudition
has been expended in attempting to define the exact situation and
extent of country occupied by each: but a good many of the con-
clusions that have been come to on this point continue involved in
much obscurity; and, though it were otherwise, their statement would
be quite foreign to the object of this work.
Roman Provinces. The divisions of England, by the Romans,
varied at different periods of their ascendancy; but under the reign of
Constantine, when their empire had been matured and consolidated,
they distributed it into four provinces, viz.:-1. Britannia Prima,
the most important and valuable, comprised the whole country south
136
ENGLAND AND WALES.
of the Thames and of the Bristol Channel; 2. Flavia Cæsariensis,
the limits of which are not exactly known, but which included the
middle parts of the kingdom, or those lying between the Humber on
the north, the Thames on the south, the Severn on the south-west, and
the eastern coast: 3. Britannia Secunda, bounded, on the south,
west, and north by the Bristol Channel, St. George's Channel, and the
Irish Sea, and on the east by the Severn and Flavia Cæsariensis;
including modern Wales, the counties of Hereford and Monmouth,
with the greater part of Warwick, Worcester, Stafford, Salop, and
Cheshire. The fourth province, entitled Maxima Cæsariensis, com-
prised the country between the Humber and the Tyne, or rather
between the former and the wall of Severus. The province of Va-
lentia, formed at a subsequent period, included the county of North-
umberland, and the whole of Scotland, as far as the Friths of Forth
and Clyde; that is, it included the whole country between the walls
of Severus and Antoninus Pius. Besides other considerable towns,
several are enumerated where colonies of Roman citizens were esta-
blished. Of these, Camulodunum, now Maldon, in Essex, was one
of the principal; and among the others were, Eboracum, or York;
Lindûm, or Lincoln; Wintonia, now Winchester; Cestria, or
Chester; Sorbiodunum, afterwards Sarum, in Wilts, now totally
decayed, &c. Londinium, or London, the modern metropolis of the
British empire, and Verulamium, near St. Albans, in Hertfordshire,
were municipia, or free cities, their inhabitants enjoying most of the
privileges of Roman citizens.-(Ancient Universal History, 8vo. ed.,
vol. xix., pp. 79—116.)
Heptarchy.-During the greater part of the Saxon period, England
was divided into a heptarchy, or seven petty kingdoms, among which
the country was successively distributed nearly as follows:
1. Kent comprised Kent.
2. Sussex, or the South Saxons.-Sussex and Surrey.
3. Wessex, or the West Saxons,-Devonshire, Dorset, Somerset,
Wilts, Hants, Berks, and part of Cornwall.
4. East Angles, Norfolk, Suffolk, and Cambridge, including the
Isle of Ely.
5. Essex, or the East Saxons,--Essex, Middlesex, and Hertford-
shire in part.
6. Northumberland, Lancashire, Yorkshire, Durham, Cumber-
land, Westmoreland, Northumberland, and Scotland to the Frith of
Forth.*
7. Mercia, -Gloucester, Hereford, Warwick, Worcester, Leicester,
Rutland, Northampton, Lincoln, Huntingdon, Bedford, Buckingham,
Oxford, Stafford, Chester, Derby, Salop, Nottingham, and part of
Hertford.
The heptarchy may be said to have ceased in 827 or 828, when the
whole of England, from the Tyne southwards, was formed into one
kingdom, under Egbert, originally king of Wessex. Wales preserved
its independence till a considerably later period.
* Northumberland is divided by some into two kingdoms, Deira and Bernicia.
Mr. Turner, who adopts this division, consistently substitutes the term "octarchy"
for heptarchy.—(History of the Anglo-Saxons, 5th ed., vol. i. pp. 317, 323, &c.)
CIVIL DIVISIONS.
137
Formation of modern Counties or Shires, &c.—The present division
of England into counties, or shires, is supposed to owe its origin to
Alfred. Shire is a Saxon word, signifying a division. Under the
Saxons, the shires were governed by an ealderman, or alderman, an
appellation that seems to indicate the mature age of those selected
to fill this office. After the Danish conquest, the term earl, from the
Danish jarl, was substituted for alderman. County (comitatus) is
plainly derived from the count (comes) of the Franks, who was
charged with the same functions as the alderman of the Saxons, and
the jarl of the Danes. At first, the government of shires or counties
was directly exercised by the earl or count; but this duty he after-
wards devolved upon his deputy, a subordinate officer, called in Latin
the vice comes, and in English the sheriff, shrieve, or shire-reeve.
The civil administration has been long wholly in the hands of this
officer.
Reeve seems to be synonymous with the Scotch word grieve, which
is still applied to the manager of a farm or colliery, or to the person
who superintends the reapers during harvest.
According to the division of England by Alfred, it contained but
32 counties, Durham and Lancashire being included in York; Corn-
wall in Devon; Rutland in Northampton; Monmouth was deemed
part of Wales; and Northumberland, Westmoreland, and Cumberland
were subject to the Scotch.
During the Norman period of our history, there were few alter-
ations of consequence in the geography of England: Cumberland
and Westmoreland, indeed, were wrested from the Scotch, but their
possession was precarious and uncertain. The provinces north of
the Humber, which, after the extinction of the Danish kingdom of
Northumbria, preserved for a while a sort of dubious independence,
were gradually incorporated with the monarchy; but Northumber-
land, liable to the inroads and devastations of the Scotch, especially in
its northern parts, was still, frequently, a merely nominal part of the
kingdom.
The counties of Lancaster, Durham, and Chester, are called counties
palatine, a palatio; because formerly the owners of these counties,
that is, the Duke of Lancaster, the Bishop of Durham, and the Earl of
Chester, exercised sovereign power in them, as fully as the king in
his palace. They granted pardons for all sorts of offences; appointed
judges and justices; all writs ran in their names; and offences were
said to be committed against their peace, and not, as elsewhere, against
that of the king. Lancaster and Chester have, however, been long
held by the crown: but the courts and law officers of the former are
still quite distinct; and this also was the case with those of Chester
till the passing of the Welsh Jurisdiction Act of George IV. The
county palatine of Durham continued in the possession of the bishop till
1836, when it was vested in the Sovereign by the 6 and 7 Will. IV.,
c. 19.
The jurisdiction of the courts was, however, excepted from the
operation of this Act.
The division of Wales into its present counties took place at a
comparatively late period. Long, indeed, before the conquest of
that country by Edward I., its princes did homage to the crown of
138
ENGLAND AND WALES.
England; but that monarch, who may justly be styled the conqueror
of Wales, subverted the line of its ancient sovereigns, and conferred
the title of Prince of Wales on the eldest son of the king of England.
In the 10th of Edward I., it was declared by the statute of Rhudhlan,*
that the territory of Wales, with its inhabitants, which had formerly
been subject to the king by feudal right, was entirely reannexed to the
crown of England, as part of that monarchy. But, notwithstand-
ing this statute, the Welsh retained many of their peculiar laws and
customs, particularly their rule of inheritance; viz., that their lands
were divided equally among all the issue male, and did not descend
to the eldest son. Subsequent statutes still further abridged these
provincial immunities. At length the famous statute, 27 Henry
VIII., cap. 26, completed the incorporation of Wales with England,
by abolishing all the peculiarities of Welsh jurisprudence, at the same
time that it admitted the inhabitants to a full participation in all the
rights and privileges of Englishmen. It enacts, 1st, That the do-
minion of Wales shall be for ever united to the kingdom of England;
2ndly, That all Welshmen born shall have the same privileges and
liberties as other the king's subjects; 3rdly, That lands in Wales
shall be inheritable according to the English tenures and rules of
descent; 4thly, that the laws of England, and no other, shall be used
in Wales; besides several other regulations and enactments of inferior
importance.
The statute 34 and 35 Henry VIII., cap. 26, confirms the above
statute, adds further regulations, and confers some privileges on the
Welsh, particularly that there should be courts within the principality
itself, independent of the process of Westminster Hall.† But this
statute claims our attention, at present, more especially from its
having given to the counties of Wales, and the adjoining counties of
England, the names and boundaries they still retain. This Act
divided the marches, or intermediate lands between England and
Wales, partly into new counties, and partly annexed them to old
counties. The new counties thus formed were, Monmouth, which
was declared an English county; with Brecknock, Denbigh, Mont-
gomery, and Radnor, assigned to Wales. Of the English counties,
Gloucester, Hereford, and Shropshire were augmented by annexations ;
of the Welsh, Cardigan, Caermarthen, Glamorgan, Merioneth, and
Pembroke.
Trethings, Trithings, or Tridings, &c.-The next inferior division
of the territory of England is into trethings, trithings, or tridings;
lathes and rapes. The former appellation is evidently derived from
the circumstance of the county to which it is applied being divided
into three parts. These trithings still subsist in the great county of
York; where, by an easy corruption, they are denominated ridings.
The terms lathes and rapes are of less certain etymology or meaning;
* So called from Khudhlan, or Rhydland, in Flintshire, where it was issued.
This, though reckoned among the statutes, was really an act of the king in council.
-(See Barrington on the Statutes, p. 106.)
In 1831 the Welsh system of judicature was abolished; the Welsh counties
being attached to the Oxford and Western Circuits, according to the convenience of
their situations.
CIVIL DIVISIONS.
139
rapes.
but, though not synonymous with trithings, they signify a large di-
vision of a county, comprising from 3 to 4 hundreds. Kent is the
only county divided into lathes; and Sussex the only one divided into
These had formerly their lathe-reeves and rape-reeves, acting
under the sheriff or shire-reeve. The rapes of Sussex were military
divisions at the time when Domesday Book was compiled; and the
lathes of Kent may have had a similar origin, connected, perhaps, with
the Cinque Ports, and for the defence of the coast against invasion.
The county of Lincoln is divided into three districts, each of which,
like the large divisions of Yorkshire, Kent, and Sussex, contains
several hundreds. Perhaps, also, the shires, which are found in
some of the northern counties, though now merely nominal, were
originally larger divisions of a similar nature; as Hallamshire, com-
prising the district round Sheffield; Richmondshire in the North
Riding, and Howdenshire in the East Riding of Yorkshire; Hexham-
shire and Bamboroughshire in Northumberland; and Norhamshire
and Islandshire, comprising those parts of the county of Durham that
lie to the north of Northumberland. Parts of several other counties,
as well as Durham, lie detached: this is very remarkably the case
with Worcester.
66
Hundreds.-The next inferior division is that of hundreds. This
division seems rather to have been introduced into England than
invented in it; and there is reason to believe that the Saxons, in the
southern part of the island, were the first to establish it. This insti-
tution, like all those of the Saxon period which relate to the due ad-
ministration of justice, has generally been ascribed to Alfred. But a
similar division had been established in France 200 years before his
æra ; and, indeed," says Mr. Justice Blackstone, "something like
this institution of hundreds may be traced back as far as the ancient
Germans, from whom were derived both the Franks, who became
masters of Gaul, and the Saxons, who settled in England; for both
the thing and the name, as a territorial assemblage of persons, from
which afterwards the territory itself might probably receive its deno-
mination, were well known to that warlike people. Centeni ex singulis
pagis sunt, idque ipsum inter suos vocantur; et quod primus numerus
fuit, jam nomen et honor est.—Tacit. De Moribus German. 6.”
(Commentaries, Introd. § 4.)
It is uncertain whether the appellation of hundreds was given to
these divisions because they contained 100 (which in Saxon numeration
means 120) persons, 100 heads of families, or, as some suppose, 100
farms. It is, however, most probable that each hundred contained
100 (120) heads of families of freemen. That the hundreds were re-
gulated by population, is evident from the great number of hundreds in
the counties that were first peopled by the Saxons; or which, from
their local situation, were least exposed to the devastation of war; or,
from their natural fertility, were most likely to attract, and most
capable of supporting, a great number of inhabitants; while, on the
contrary, the counties gained by the Saxons at a later period, which
were held by them on a precarious tenure, and continually liable to
invasion, or which were naturally uninviting, contain comparatively
very few hundreds. Thus, according to Domesday Book, there were in
140
ENGLAND AND WALES.
Kent and Sussex, at the period when that survey took place, respec-
tively, 62 and 64 hundreds, the numbers they contain at present. Nor-
folk, though only about the fifth county in the kingdom in point of
extent, contains 660 parishes (a greater number than any other county),
and 33 hundreds. Suffolk contains 575 parishes, and 21 hundreds;
Essex, 415 parishes, and 20 hundreds: whereas, in Lancashire, there
are only 6 hundreds; in Cheshire, 7; in Cornwall, 9; in Northum-
berland, 7 divisions, which correspond to hundreds; and in Cumber-
land, 5. In some counties there are hundreds that do not exceed a
square mile in area, nor contain more than 1000 persons. The hun-
dreds of Lancashire, on the contrary, average 300 square miles, and the
population of one of them, Salford hundred (including Manchester),
amounted, in 1841, to 764,654! The population of the hundred of
West Derby (including Liverpool) was, at the same time, 474,212.
This striking irregularity seems to have been felt as an incon-
venience as early as the reign of Henry VIII., when the smaller
hundreds were, in some instances, united, and the larger hundreds par-
titioned into districts, called divisions, limits, or circuits. These
divisions still exist, more or less manifestly, in most of the English
counties, and have been recognised in subsequent acts relating to the
poor. Formerly a court was regularly held in each hundred, for the
trial of causes; but this has now fallen into disuse.
Wards and Wapentakes.-In the northern parts of England, the
counties were not divided into hundreds, but into wards and wapen-
takes: Cumberland, Westmoreland, Northumberland, and Durham,
continue to be divided into the former, and Yorkshire into the latter.
Wards are so called from the inhabitants being obliged to keep watch
or ward against the irruptions of the Scotch or Picts. The term wa-
pentake is evidently synonymous with weapontake, and was given to
the divisions of Yorkshire from the same circumstance.
Tithings. The subdivision of hundreds into tithings is undoubtedly
owing to Alfred.
"In ancient times it was ordained, for the sure
keeping of the peace, that all freeborn men should cast themselves into
several companies, by 10 in each company; and that every one of these
10 men should be surety and pledge for the forthcoming of his fellows :
for which cause these companies, in some places, were called tithings;
and as 10 times 10 make 100, so, because it was also appointed that 10
of these tithings should meet together for matters of greater weight,
therefore that general assembly was called a hundred." One of the
principal inhabitants of the tithing, who was called the tithingman, or
headborough, and in some counties the borsholder, or boroughs-ealder,
was annually appointed to preside over the rest, and to take care of
their interests. Tithings are seldom mentioned now, except in legal
proceedings, or in topographical descriptions.
Sokes.--In Lincolnshire, another species of division exists, called
sokes. Soke, sok, soc, or soka, according to Bracton, signifies
"the
power of administering justice; and the territory or precinct in which
the chief lord did exercise his soke, that is, his liberty of keeping court,
or holding trials within his own soke or jurisdiction.'
""
Parishes.-Although parishes were originally ecclesiastical divi-
sions, they may now be more properly considered as coming under the
CIVIL DIVISIONS.
141
class of civil divisions; and, consequently, claim our attention under
this head. It is not easy to determine the æra of the division of
England into parishes: they are mentioned in the laws of King Edgar
so early as 970, when the whole kingdom seems to have been divided
into parishes; but it is probable that the division was not made at once,
but by degrees. It is, according to Blackstone, pretty clear and cer-
tain that the boundaries of parishes were originally ascertained by those
of manors; for it very seldom happens that a manor extends itself over
more parishes than one, though there are often many manors in one
parish. The parochial division of England was nearly the same in the
reign of Edward I. (1272-1307) as at present.
Parishes are frequently intermixed with one another. This seems to
have arisen from the lord of the manor having had a parcel of land
detached from the main part of his estate, but not sufficient to form a
parish of itself. It was natural for him to endow the church which he
had erected upon his principal estate with the tithes of these disjointed
lands: especially if it happened that there was no church in any lord-
ship adjoining to them.
The boundaries of parishes depend on immemorial custom; but it is
probable that they were not settled with very minute precision till the
introduction of the poor laws, when, in consequence of the claim for
relief upon their particular parishes given to the poor, it became a
matter of consequence to define exactly the limits of each parish. They
cannot now be altered but by legislative enactment.
In the northern counties, where the parishes sometimes embrace 30
or 40 square miles, the poor laws, the due administration of which
must always depend on an intimate knowledge of the situation and cha-
racter of every one applying for relief, could not be properly carried
into effect. To remedy this inconvenience, an act was passed in the
13th of Charles II., permitting townships and villages, though not
entire parishes, severally and distinctly to maintain their own poor.
Hence townships in the north of England may be regarded as divisions
subordinate to parishes; and are, in practice, as distinctly limited as if
they were separate parishes.
Towns originally contained but one parish; but, from the increase of
inhabitants, many of them are now divided into several parishes.
Besides parishes, or townships, there are places which are deemed
extra-parochial, or not within the limits of any parish. These were
formerly the site of religious houses, or of castles, the owners of which
would not permit any interference with their rights. At present they
enjoy some most valuable privileges; among others, a virtual exemp-
tion from the poor's rate, because there is no overseer on whom the
order of a magistrate may be served—from the militia laws, because
there is no constable to make the return-and from repairing the high-
ways, because there is no surveyor. Their tithes are, by immemorial
custom, payable to the king instead of the bishop. The number of
such places is not inconsiderable, amounting to more than 200. It
seems highly inexpedient that any part of the country should enjoy
such an exemption from burdens imposed for the benefit of the com-
munity. Extra-parochial wastes and marsh lands, when improved and
drained, are assessed to all parochial rates in the parish next adjoining.
142
ENGLAND AND WALES.
In some counties, liberties interrupt the general course of law as
affecting hundreds, in the same manner as extra-parochial places do
with regard to parishes. This inconvenience is particularly felt in
Dorsetshire. The number of parishes and parochial chapelries in
England and Wales is not exactly ascertained; but there are not many
doubtful cases, and, for any general purpose, they may safely be taken
at 10,700. About 550 parishes extend into two counties, or into more
than one hundred or other divisions.-(Blackstone's Commentaries,
Introd. § 4.; and Preliminary Remarks to Census of 1831, p. 14
-18.)
Towns.-Under the general term town is now comprehended cities,
boroughs, and common towns. A city is a town incorporated, which
is, or has been, the see of a bishop; and though the bishopric be dis-
solved, as at Westminster, it still remains a city. A borough is now
understood to be a town, whether corporate or not, that sends burgesses
to parliament. There are an immense number of other towns, which
are neither cities nor boroughs; some of them having the privilege of
markets, and others not. Several of these have small appendages,
called hamlets, which are supposed by Spelman to have originally con-
sisted of less than five freemen; but many of them have now grown to
be considerable places. They are sometimes under the same adminis-
tration as the town itself, and are sometimes governed by separate
officers; in which case they are, in several respects, looked upon as
separate townships.
SECT. 12. Statistical Notices of the different English Counties.
England is, at present, divided into 40, and Wales into 12 counties.
Of the former, 6 form the northern division; 4 border on Wales; the
midland district consists of 12; the eastern of 8; the south-eastern
of 3; the southern of 4; and the south-western district of 3. Wales
is divided into North and South Wales, each containing 6 counties.
But these divisions are arbitrary, and of little or no practical impor-
tance.
It is foreign to the objects, and inconsistent with the limits, of this
work to enter into minute topographical details; but the subjoined
statements seem, notwithstanding, to be necessary to the proper under-
standing of our subject.
Northern Division.-The northern division of England consists of
the following counties :—
1. Northumberland, a maritime county, and the most northerly in
England, is bounded by Durham and Cumberland on the south and
south-west; by the German Ocean on the east; and by Scotland, and
a detached portion of Durham, on the north and north-west. It con-
tains 1,197,440 acres, of which it is estimated that about 800,000 are
arable, meadow, and pasture. It exhibits every variety of soil and
surface; but, except in the vales and along the coast, its most preva-
lent features are nakedness and sterility. The extensive district
bounded by Scotland and Cumberland, on the north-west and west, and
by a line drawn from Mindrim to Wooler, Rothbury, and thence,
through Hexham, to the confines of Durham, on the north and east,
consists mostly of hills, mountains, bleak dreary moors, and swampy
NORTHUMBERLAND.
143
morasses.
The Cheviot hills are, however, distinguished by their fine
green verdure (see antè, p. 10); but the other hills and moors are
mostly covered with peat earth, and produce little except heath.
Along the coast, and in the vales, the soil, for the most part, consists
of clayey loam. Between the coast district and the moors there is a
good deal of moist loam, on a cold clay subsoil. The climate varies
with the nature and elevation of the soil, being cold and backward in
the mountainous districts, and comparatively mild and early in the
vales and low grounds. There are few counties in which improve-
ments of all sorts have made so rapid a progress as in this. Arable
and stock husbandry are both prosecuted with great spirit and suc-
cess. The farming along the banks of the Till, in the vale of the
Coquet, and some other districts, is equal, perhaps, to any in the em-
pire. The culture of turnips in drills, which commenced between
1760 and 1770, is extensively practised upon all the soils suitable
for their growth; and has added greatly to the produce and value
of the land. The usual rotation on such soils, is, 1st year, after
grass, oats; 2nd, turnips and a small quantity of potatoes; 3rd, spring
wheat and barley; 4th, clover and other grasses; 5th, pasture; the
land being in some cases kept in pasture for 3 years, before it is again
ploughed up. On the heavy clay, or strong wheat lands, a four or six
course system is pretty extensively followed; the rotation in the first
being, 1st, fallow, well dunged; 2nd, wheat; 3rd, clover on half the land,
and beans, or beans and peas; and 4th, oats: in the other the rotation
is, 1st, oats; 2nd, beans drilled or hoed; 3rd, wheat; 4th, fallow; 5th,
wheat; 6th, clover. But both these systems require good land and
abundant manure, to ensure good crops; and a less exhaustive course,
with more of grazing and stock, is, in most cases, found to be more
advantageous. (Journal of Royal Agricultural Society, II., 182.)
Principal corn crops, wheat and oats, the latter being of excellent
quality. Rye was, at one time, grown extensively on dry sandy soils;
but these have been so much improved by the use of lime, and the
introduction of the turnip husbandry, that they now produce excellent
crops of wheat, so that, at present, very little rye is raised. A good
deal of barley is grown; but neither it nor oats is so largely used by
the inhabitants as when Messrs. Bailey and Culley drew up their
Report. Cattle, principally of the short-horned breed. Some wild
cattle, believed to be a remnant of the ancient native breed of
the country, are found in Chillingham Park. Sheep, in the
hill pastures, consist almost wholly of the peculiar hornless breed,
known by the name of Cheviots, from the district in which they were
originally found; the heath or moor breed, with large spiral horns,
and black faces and legs, having nearly disappeared. The im-
proved Leicesters are the universal stock of the low grounds. The
total stock of all kinds of sheep may be estimated at about 500,000,
and the annual produce of wool at about 14,000 packs.* The best
draught horses are brought from Clydesdale. Estates of all sizes, but
mostly large farms also large, bringing, in many instances, from
1,000l. to 3,000l. a-year rent; they are generally let on lease for 21
or 15 years; but on some extensive estates, the occupiers hold at will,
* A pack is equal to 240 lbs.
144
ENGLAND AND WALES.
and in these the farming is uniformly inferior. "The capitals neces-
sary for large farms entitle their occupiers to a good education, and
give them a spirit of independence and enterprise that is rarely found
among the occupiers of small farms under short leases. Their minds
being open to conviction, they are ready to try new experiments, and
adopt every beneficial improvement that can be learned in other dis-
tricts: for this purpose many of them have traversed the most distant
parts of the kingdom to obtain agricultural knowledge, and have trans-
planted every practice they thought superior to those they were ac-
quainted with, or that could be advantageously pursued in their own
situation and scarcely a year passes without some of them making
extensive agricultural tours, for the sole purpose of examining the
modes of culture, of purchasing or hiring the most improved breeds of
stock, and seeing the operation of newly-invented and most useful im-
plements.”—(Messrs. Bailey and Culley's Report, p. 29.) Farm-
houses and offices generally good, and mostly kept in repair by the
landlord. Thrashing-machines are to be found on all large farms;
and where the supply of water is scanty, they are now generally worked
by steam. This is the only county in England, the rental of which
has materially declined since 1814-15; it having amounted in that
year to 16s. 83d. an acre, whereas, in 1842-43, it only amounted to
13s. 11d. This decline has been occasioned by the large proportion
which the clay or heavy lands, having retentive subsoils, bear to those
suitable to the turnip culture; the fall, which in some instances has
been very heavy, having been wholly confined to the former. Gene-
rally, indeed, the rent of the lighter lands is higher now than at any
former period; and this, also, is the case with the rent of such clay
lands as have been adapted, by means of furrow-draining and sub-
soil ploughing, to the turnip culture. There are a good many planta-
tations and some natural woods; but, speaking generally, the county
is rather bare of trees. Pit-coal forms the staple product of Northum-
berland. It possesses an almost inexhaustable supply of this invalu-
able mineral. There are also rich mines of lead in the south-western
parts of the county, producing, probably, about 4,500 tons a year,
with iron, limestone, &c. Newcastle, the principal town in the north
of England, ranks, as a shipping port, immediately after London; but
its vessels are principally engaged in the coasting trade, or in the con-
veyance of coals to London and other places in the south. The
principal branches of manufacturing industry carried on in the county
are ship-building, and the arts subordinate to and dependent on it. But
there are also extensive glass-works at Byker, Newcastle, &c., with
white-lead works, copper-works, &c. Principal rivers, Tyne, Coquet,
Alne, Blythe, Wansbeak, and Till. A railway has been constructed
from Newcastle to Carlisle, and thence to Maryport, forming a com-
munication across the island; and another railway runs along the coast
from Newcastle to Berwick, forming part of one of the great
lines of communication between the north and south parts of the
island. The salmon fishing on the Tyne was at one time important,
but is now much fallen off. Cod and other fish, lobsters, cockles, &c.,
are very abundant upon the coast. Northumberland is divided into 6
wards, and 88 parishes. It returns 10 members to parliament; viz.,
CUMBERLAND.
145
4 for the county; 2 each for the boroughs of Berwick and Newcastle ;
and 1 each for Morpeth and Tynemouth. Principal towns :-New-
castle, Tynemouth, North Shields, Berwick, Morpeth, and Alnwick.
Population of county in 1841, 250,278. Sum expended for the relief
of the poor in 1844-5,76,3771. Annual value of real property, in 1815,
1,291,4137.; ditto in 1842-3, 1,542,434/.
2. Cumberland, a maritime county, is bounded on the north by
Scotland and the Solway Frith; on the east, by Northumberland and
Durham; on the south, by Westmoreland and Lancashire: and, on
the west, by the Irish Sea. It contains 974,720 acres, of which about
660,000 are supposed to be arable, meadow, and pasture; the rest
principally consisting of mountains, irreclaimable heaths, and lakes.
The mountainous and moorish tracts, which are separated into the
Eastern and Western Divisions by the valley of the Eden, have been
already described (see antè, p. 9). The prevailing soil in the lower
districts, and in some parts of the western mountains, is a dry loam,
admirably suited to the turnip husbandry; but there is also a good
deal of wet loam, on a clay bottom. The soil of the eastern moors
and mountains is mostly peat earth; and they are bleak, heathy, wet,
and barren in the extreme. The climate is more humid than that of
Northumberland, and not so favourable for the ripening of corn;
neither is the husbandry so good as in the last-mentioned county, but,
in general, the land is kept clean and in fair condition, and, considering
its quality and the rather unfavourable climate, there are not many
counties superior to this in agriculture. Wheat and oats are the prin-
cipal crops. The rotation on the dry loams, after the land has remained
three years in grass, which is generally cut for hay one year and fed
two, is, 1st, oats; 2nd, turnips; 3rd, barley or wheat; 4th, seeds: in
the clay soil the wheat is generally fallowed, and the rotation is, 1st,
oats; 2nd, fallow; 3rd, wheat; 4th, seeds.(Kennedy and Grainger
on the Tenancy of Land, i. 167.)-Turnips were first grown in this
county for the use of cattle, by Mr. Howard, of Corby, in 1755; they
are extensively cultivated, according to the most approved principles of
the drill husbandry. The old Cumberland cattle consisted principally
of a comparatively small variety of the long horns; but they have been
extensively intermixed with Galloways and Kyloes, and, more recently,
the short horns have begun to make their way into the county. Sheep
mostly Cheviots, but the black-faced moor breed is still found in con-
siderable numbers. The total stock is estimated at about 400,000, and
the total produce of wool at about 10,000 packs. Exclusive of the
sheep bred in the county, the Cumberland farmers buy great numbers
at the Highland markets, which, being fattened upon turnips, are sent
to Liverpool and other places. They also graze large flocks of geese,
brought from Northumberland. Property in Cumberland is very much
divided. There are a few large estates; but by far the largest portion
of the county is divided into small properties, varying in value from
10l. to 1507. a-year, generally occupied by their owners, provincially
called "statesmen," or "lairds." Messrs. Bailey and Culley inform
us that agriculture is not under any very peculiar obligations to these
little proprietors. "The statesmen," say they, "seem to inherit with
the estates of their ancestors their notions of cultivating them, and are
VOL. I.
L
146
ENGLAND AND WALES.
almost as much attached to the one as to the other. They are rarely
aspiring, and seem content with their situation; nor is luxury, in any
shape, an object of their desires. Their little estates, which they cultivate
with their own hands, produce almost every necessary article of food;
and clothing they, in part, manufacture themselves. They have a high
character for sincerity and honesty, and, probably, few people enjoy
more ease and humble happiness."-(Report on Northumberland,
Cumberland, &c., p. 181.)—A. good many particulars, in this descrip-
tion, have, however, been materially changed during the last 30
years. No domestic manufactures are now carried on, and, in other
respects, the "statesmen" have approached much more nearly to the
common level. Farms mostly small: they are usually let on 7 years'
leases. Tenants strictly prohibited from having 2 white crops in suc-
cession, and they are bound to manage their farms so that a certain
part of them may remain in grass for 3 years; they are also bound to
manure for turnips or wheat, when sown upon a fallow. Farm-houses,
offices, and cottages, moderately good and commodious. The Cum-
berland "lairds" are liable to many vexatious payments that have grown
out of the military services to which their ancestors were subject in the
days of border warfare; a fine is exigible on the transmission of all
real property, whether it passes by descent or by inheritance. Average
rent of land in 1842-3, 12s. 41d. an acre. The spinning of cotton
yarn and the manufacture of various descriptions of cotton goods, is
carried on extensively at Carlisle and its vicinity. Ships are built and
sail-cloth manufactured at Whitehaven and other places. Coarse
woollens are made at Keswick, and there are iron founderies and paper-
mills in different places. There are some very valuable coal-mines ;
Dublin and a large portion of Ireland, with part of Scotland, being prin-
cipally supplied with coal from Whitehaven. The lead mines are also
valuable, having produced, in 1839, about 4,300 tons.
The rare
and useful substance known by the name of plumbago, or black lead,
is believed to be found of a better quality than in any other part of the
world, at Borrowdale, in this county; but the produce of the mine has
been declining for some years, and is now very limited. Limestone is
very abundant. The Eden is the largest river in the county (see antè,
p. 45). The lakes, some of which are of considerable size, are cele-
brated for the picturesque views they afford (see antè, p. 46). The
county is traversed from north to south by the great line of railway
leading from Lancaster, by Carlisle, to Edinburgh and Glasgow.
Maryport and Carlisle are also connected by a railway. Cumberland
contains 5 wards and 104 parishes. It returns 9 members to parlia-
ment, viz., 4 for the county, 2 each for the city of Carlisle and the
borough of Cockermouth, and 1 for Whitehaven. Principal towns :
Carlisle, Whitehaven, Workington, and Cockermouth. Population of
county, in 1841, 178,038. Sum expended for the relief of the poor
in 1844-5, 36,9217. Annual value of real property in 1815, 737,4381. ;
ditto in 1842-3, 910,3347.
3. Durham, a maritime county, is bounded on the east by the Ger-
man Ocean, on the north by Northumberland, on the west by Cumber-
land and Westmoreland, and on the south by Yorkshire. It contains
702,080 acres, of which nearly 500,000 are supposed to be fit for the
DURHAM.
147
A
purposes of aration or meadow. Aspect very various, but for the most
part hilly and bare. The country lying to the west of a line drawn
from Allansford through Wolsingham to Barnard Castle, consists
principally of mountains and extensive heathy moors. Soil very different
in different districts; in some it consists of a fertile, clayey loam; but
there is a great extent of stubborn infertile clay, with a less extent of
calcareous soil of various degrees of fertility. The soil of the moors is
mostly peat. Climate various, and depending, in a great degree, on
the elevation. When the weather is fine and mild in the lower districts,
snow is frequently seen upon the mountains in November, and may be
found upon them till the middle or latter end of June. The most
general season for harvest is from the beginning of September to the
middle of October; but in the western parts of the county it is often
prolonged to the middle of November. Agriculture, on the whole,
good. Principal crops, wheat, oats, barley, beans, and peas.
mixture of rye and wheat, provincially termed maslin, is cultivated
in this county, and furnishes part of the bread used by the inha-
bitants. Turnips extensively cultivated on all the dry lands, but par-
ticularly in the vales and newly taken-in lands in the western parts of
the county, where improvements are carried on with most spirit.
Potato culture best understood in the parish of Whetton-le-Wear.
Mustard, of excellent quality, was formerly much grown; but it is now
rarely met with. Principal manure, lime, which is obtained in the
greatest perfection; it is laid on at the rate of from 70 to 80 bushels
an acre, producing, when the land is dry, luxuriant crops of wheat and
clover. The Teeswater variety of short-horned cattle has been long
admitted to be one of the very best in the empire, both for feeding and
milking, and is now very extensively diffused. The native sheep of the
same district are large, and produce fine long combing fleeces; but they
have been a good deal crossed and intermixed, in the view of improving
their carcass, with the new Leicesters and other varieties. In the
other districts, Cheviots and heath sheep are the prevailing breeds.
The total stock of sheep in Durham may be estimated at about 230,000,
and the annual produce of wool at about 7,000 packs. Waggons are
very rarely seen in Durham, Northumberland, or Cumberland; all the
work being done by single-horse carts, as in Scotland. The Scotch,
or swing-plough, drawn by 2 horses driven by the ploughman, is also
in universal use. Some large estates; but there are a considerable
number of a medium and many of small size. A great deal of property
belongs to the church, the tenures under which are unfavourable to
cultivation. Farms of various sizes, from 50 to 1,000 acres; greater
number between 50 and 200: except in the western districts, they are
mostly held at will. "A few are let for 12 or 14 years: where this
happens to be the case, considerable improvements are going forward;
but the farms let for short periods remain stationary, as no prudent
man will lay out his money on improvements for which, when com-
pleted, he will be rewarded by an advance of rent proportioned to the
improvement he has made. (Survey of Durham, p. 71.)—Mr.
Bailey speaks very unfavourably of the condition of the small farmers;
he says they work harder and live worse than their servants. Farm-
houses, offices, and cottages, of a medium description. Average rent
L 2
148
ENGLAND AND WALES.
of land in 1842-3, 15s. 4d. an acre, being nearly identical with its
average rent in 1814-15. Durham is very rich in mineral treasures.
Her extensive and valuable coal mines furnish, along with those in
Northumberland, immense supplies for the consumption of London and
the southern parts of the island, as well as for exportation. Lead
mines numerous in the western part of the county, and extensively
wrought, having produced, in 1839, 7,628 tons. Iron ore is abundant
in the western parts of the coal district, and at a former period it was
extensively smelted; but the iron works recently established are of
trifling importance. Gateshead-fell is celebrated for its freestone
quarries, which yield the "Newcastle grindstones;" so called from the
port of shipment. Manufactures various, but not very important.
Huckaback, diapers, and sheeting, made at Darlington. Principal
rivers, Tees, Wear, and Derwent. Darlington and Stockton are
united by a railroad. Durham is divided into 4 wards and 75 parishes.
It returns 10 members to parliament, viz., 4 for the county, 2 each for
the city of Durham and the borough of Sunderland, and 1 each for the
boroughs of South Shields and Gateshead. Principal towns: Dur-
ham, Sunderland with Bishop Wearmouth, Gateshead, South Shields,
and Darlington. Population of county in 1841, 324,284. Sum ex-
pended for the relief of the poor in 1844-5, 72,2107. Annual value of
real property in 1815, 885,580/.; ditto in 1842-3, 1,668,9867.
4. Yorkshire, a maritime county, being by far the largest and most
important in England, is bounded on the north by the counties of
Durham and Westmoreland; on the west by the latter and Lancashire ;
on the south by the counties of Chester, Derby, Nottingham, and
Lincoln, and the Humber; and on the east, by the German Ocean.
It contains 3,735,040 acres, of which 2,500,000 are supposed to be
arable, meadow, and pasture. It is divided into the districts called
the North, West, and East Ridings, being respectively as large as
most counties, and each of them having its own lord-lieutenant; and
there is besides a separate smaller district, called the city of York and
Ainstey. Owing to its immense extent, and various capacities, York-
shire presents an epitome of the whole kingdom, with respect to sur-
face, soil, products, and industry. Some of the mountains on its
western border are among the highest in the great central ridge
extending from Scotland south to the middle of Derbyshire; and both
there and in its northern division there are very extensive tracts of
high, sterile, moor ground (see antè, p. 17). In the East Riding
there is a large tract of wolds, extending from Flamborough Head
and Filey Head, on the coast, to Pocklington and Market Weighton.
But, notwithstanding these deductions, Yorkshire contains a great
extent of the most excellent land. The vale of York, the district of
Cleveland in the north, and that of Holderness in the south-east (see
antè, p. 19), besides various other extensive tracts in different parts of
the county, are exceedingly fertile, possessing soils suitable to every
purpose, either of arable or stock husbandry. The climate is as
various as the soil and elevation; but, except on the high grounds,
it is mild and early, and is everywhere salubrious, except on the low,
marshy grounds along the Humber. Agriculture in a medium state
of improvement: not so far advanced as in Northumberland or Lin-
YORKSHIRE.
1+Y
There is
con.
colnshire, but not so backward as in several other counties.
in this respect, however, a great difference in the different Ridings.
Messrs. Kennedy and Grainger say that agriculture is in a much more.
forward state in the West Riding than in either of the others. The
general rotation there is, 1st, turnips or fallow; 2nd, barley; 3rd,
seeds; 4th, wheat. Bone manure is largely used, but not to so great
an extent as rape dust: the latter, however, is principally used for
wheat, the bone manure being decidedly superior for turnips. Drain-
age is too much neglected in the North and East Ridings. In the
latter no system is acted upon except in the wolds, where the rotation
is, 1st, turnips; 2nd, barley; 3rd, seeds; 4th, wheat. In other parts
of this Riding, and in the North Riding, two corn crops not unfre-
quently follow in succession; and but few operations are performed as
they ought to be.-(Kennedy and Grainger on the Tenancy of Land,
i., 367.) Yorkshire is more of a grazing than of an agricultural
county. Vast numbers of horses are bred in most parts. Those in
the highest estimation are called Cleveland bays, partly from the
district in which they were originally found in the greatest perfection,
and partly from their colour; but they are now very widely diffused.
They are in extensive demand as carriage horses. Cattle very various :
they consist mostly of the long-horned breed; but there are
siderable numbers of short horns, with endless varieties produced by
crosses between these and other breeds. At present the Teeswater and
Holderness breeds are the greatest favourites with the graziers; but
the long horns, or a cross between them and the short horns, are pre-
ferred by the dairy farmers. Yorkshire supplies most of the cows
used in the London dairies. Their average yield of milk may be esti-
mated at from 22 to 24 quarts a-day; but it does not yield a propor-
tional quantity of butter.-(Youatt on Cattle, p. 245.) Sheep as
various as cattle. The stock, which has been much improved, is very
large, being supposed to amount to about 1,200,000, producing
annually 28,000 packs of wool. Many hogs are kept; and the hams
of Yorkshire are famous in every part of the country. Property in
the West and North Ridings very much subdivided; but in the East
Riding it is less so than in most parts of England. Many families in
this Riding have held their estates for centuries. Farms of all sizes ;
but the great majority seem to be unusually small. Most part of
these farms are held from year to year, or by tenants at will; and,
notwithstanding the contrary opinion of Mr. Tuke (Survey of the
North Riding, pp. 55, 76,) we have the best reasons for thinking that
this has operated in no ordinary degree to retard the progress of agri-
culture. It has made such of the tenants as have attempted improve-
ments turn their principal attention to stock rather than to tillage
husbandry. A tenant without a lease, and, consequently, depending
on the goodwill and caprice of his landlord, may not deteriorate his
farm; but it would be unreasonable to suppose that he should lay out
any considerable amount of capital on its improvement. Farm-houses
and buildings for the most part rather indifferent. Average rent of
land, in 1842-3, 21s. 41d. an acre, having increased 4s. 81d. an
acre since 1814-15. The West Riding of Yorkshire, if it be not the
very first, certainly stands in the first rank as a manufacturing district.
150
ENGLAND AND WALES,
Leeds, Bradford, Huddersfield, Halifax, and Wakefield, are the great
seats of the woollen manufacture; and flax-spinning is carried on to a
greater extent in Leeds than any where else in England. The manu-
facture of hardware at Sheffield, and the immediately contiguous
districts, rivals, and in some departments, such as cutlery, surpasses,
that of Birmingham. There are extensive iron works at Rotherham,
which have long enjoyed a considerable celebrity. But the iron works
of Yorkshire, though latterly they have made considerable progress,
are of inferior importance compared to those in other parts of the
country. Their total produce in 1840 was estimated at about 56,000
tons. Cotton factories have been established at Easingwold, and in
some other parts of the West Riding. The manufactures in the other
Ridings are but of trivial importance. The valuable beds of coal found
in the vicinity of Leeds, Sheffield, Bradford, Wakefield, &c., have, no
doubt, been the principal source of their prosperity. Besides coal and
iron, Yorkshire has mines of lead, and veins of copper; alum works
were established at Whitby in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, and are
still carried on; and there are in various places excellent limestone
and freestone quarries. Principal rivers, Ouse, Swale, Ure, Wharfe,
Aire, Calder, Don, Derwent, Hull, and Esk; the waters of all of
them, except the last, being poured into the great æstuary of the
Humber (see ante, p. 40.) Railways and canals, particularly in the
West Riding, are numerous, some of them being also of the greatest
importance. Hull, the principal port of Yorkshire, has, notwithstand-
ing the competition of Goole (ante, p. 40,) perhaps the largest inland
trade of any port in the empire; and it has also a very extensive foreign
trade. Its imports of bones, linseed, rapeseed, oil-cake, and other
articles to be employed in agriculture are quite immense, their
value being, if not above, little short of 1,000,000l. a-year! A good
deal of trade is also carried on by Whitby and Scarborough. The
county is divided into wapentakes and liberties; and contains 613
parishes. It returns 39 members to Parliament; viz., 6 for the
county, being 2 for each riding; 2 each for the city of York, and the
boroughs of Leeds, Sheffield, Hull, Bradford, Halifax, Doncaster,
Pontefract, Ripon, Knaresborough, Beverly, Malton, Richmond, and
Scarborough; and 1 each for the boroughs of Huddersfield, Whitby,
Wakefield, Northallerton, and Thirsk. Principal towns, York, Leeds,
Sheffield, Hull, Halifax, Huddersfield, Wakefield, Bradford, and Saddle-
worth. Population of East Riding, 194,936; North ditto, 204,122;
West ditto (manufacturing district), 1,154,101; City and Ainsty,
38,321; making a total of 1,591,480. Sum expended for the relief of
the poor in 1844-5, 318,4271. Annual value of real property in 1815,
4,760,4257., ditto in 1842-3, 7,495,0291.
5. Westmoreland, an inland county, is bounded on the north and
north-west by Cumberland, on the east by Yorkshire, and on the south
and south-west by Lancashire. It also touches Durham for a small
space on the north-east. It contains 487,680 acres, of which only
180,000 are set down as arable, meadow, and pasture. It is what its
name (Westmoorland) imports, a region of lofty mountains, naked
hills, and black barren moors; but the valleys, particularly those of
the Eden in the north, and of Kendal in the south, are fertile and well
LANCASHIRE.
151
cultivated. The agriculture, state of property, and the character and
condition of the occupiers of Westmoreland, are so very similar to those
of Cumberland, that the statements as to the latter may be applied,
with very little variation, to the former. Average rent of land in
1842-3, 11s. d. an acre, being the lowest of any in England. West-
moreland abounds in slate of the finest quality; in lead; and in some
few places, on its southern and western borders, there are coal mines.
Principal rivers, Eden, Lune, and Kent. The lakes are even more
celebrated than those of Cumberland. Windermere, on its western
border, is the most extensive lake in England.—(See antè, p. 46.)
It is divided into 4 wards and 32 parishes; and returns 4 members to
parliament; viz., 2 for the county, and 2 for the borough of Kendal
and some adjoining districts. The county town is Appleby; but the prin-
cipal town is Kendal, celebrated for the manufacture of a peculiar
description of coarse woollen goods called cottons, being, most pro-
bably, a corruption of coatings. Population of county in 1841,
56,454. Sum expended for the relief of the poor in 1844-5, 18,1767.
Annual value of real property in 1815, 299,5827., ditto in 1842-3,
334,5017.
6. Lancashire, a maritime county, being the last in the northern
division, is bounded on the north and north-west by Westmoreland
and Cumberland; on the north-east and east, by Yorkshire; on the
south by Cheshire and the æstuary of the Mersey; and on the west,
by the Irish Sea. Its most northern part, consisting of the peninsu-
lated hundred of Furness, is detached from the main body of the
county by the intervention of part of Westmoreland and the river
Kent. The coast is of great extent, and is deeply indented by bays
and arms of the sea. It contains, in all, 1,130,240 acres, of which
about 850,000 are supposed to be arable, meadow, and pasture. Sur-
face very various.
various. The hundred of Furness is ragged and similar to
Westmoreland: along the Yorkshire border there is a considerable
extent of hilly and moorish ground; and this is, also, the character
of the whole tract of country from the ridge called Blackstone Edge
west to Chorley. The southern part of the county from Formby
Point and Liverpool east to Oldham, is an immense plain, inter-
spersed with several extensive morasses. The hundred of Fylde,
between Lancaster bay and the æstuary of the Ribble, is also flat, and
is comparatively rich and fertile. Sandy loam and sand are the most
prevalent soils in the lower districts, and peat in the moors. The
climate though probably the most humid of any in England, is mild
and salubrious. Lancashire owes its celebrity, wealth, and population
to its manufactures and commerce, and not to agriculture, in which
it has little to boast. Principal corn crops, oats and wheat, particu-
larly the former. Few turnips are raised; but potatoes are more
extensively cultivated than in any other English county; and this is
probably also true of carrots. A good deal of hemp is raised. It is
said, in the Agricultural Survey of Lancashire, published in 1795,
that "nothing can be so barbarous as the rotation of crops in this
district; if that can be denominated a system of rotation which de-
pends merely on the caprice of the cultivator, or upon what he thinks
the land is capable of producing for the moment." (p. 52.) And it
152
ENGLAND AND WALES.
would seem, from the statements of Messrs. Kennedy and Grainger,
that the progress made towards a better system in the lengthened
period that has elapsed since the Survey was published, is not nearly
so great as might have been supposed. They tell us that tenants are
either prohibited from having more than a certain portion of their
lands under the plough at any time, being allowed to manage it as
they please, or they are prohibited from having more than two white
crops in succession, before the land is laid down in seeds in regular
rotation for one or more years. The latter is the preferable practice,
but they are both bad; and a great deal of the land under tillage
is foul, out of condition, and worn out. Draining is much neg-
lected. It is singular that, in a county so distinguished for machinery,
corn should be almost entirely threshed by the flail, and that every de-
scription of agricultural implements should be of the most defective
construction.-(Tenancy of Land, vol. i. p. 259.) Most parts of
Lancashire are well supplied with marl, the liberal use of which has
been of much service. It is, however, more of a grazing and dairying,
than of a tillage, county; the portion of the surface in grass being by
much the largest. Immense quantities of hay are required for the
supply of the numerous large towns; and the bleaching grounds cover
a considerable extent of land. Lancashire is believed to be the native
country of the long-horned breed of cattle; but they are now so
much crossed and intermixed with others as to be seldom found pure.
The short horns have been pretty extensively introduced. The York-
shire, or Holderness cows, being superior to all others as milkers, are
generally kept in the vicinity of large towns; but in the cheese and
butter dairies, in the northern and middle parts of the county, long-
horned cows are mostly kept. In the cheese dairies the average pro-
duce is from 2 to 3 cwt. of cheese from each cow, the family being
also provided with milk and a little butter. Few sheep are kept in
the southern parts of the county; but they abound in the north and
north-western districts. They are mostly of the heath breed; though
South Downs, Cheviots, and other varieties have been extensively
introduced. The total stock in all parts of the county has been esti-
mated at 310,000; and the annual produce of wool at about 5,800
packs. Horses of various kinds are bred in most parts; and the stock
of this useful animal has been much improved. There are some large
estates; but property is generally very much divided. Tillage farms,
for the most part, small; but the majority of those occupied by dairy
farmers are rather large. They are most commonly let on lease for
7 years. Farm buildings generally good. The fences in many parts
consist of dry stone walls. There are some pretty extensive coppice
woods in the northern parts of the county; but, generally speaking,
it is deficient in timber. Average rent of land in 1842-3, 28s. 11½d.
an acre. Lancashire is the grand seat of the cotton manufacture;
which has increased, since 1770, with a rapidity altogether unparalleled
in the history of industry, and has been productive of an extraordinary
increase of population and wealth. Manchester, now the second town
in the empire, is the principal centre of the manufacture; but it
also carried on to a great extent, and with astonishing success, at
Preston, Bolton, Oldham, Ashton, Blackburn, Bury, Chorley, Wigan,
LANCASHIRE.
153
&c. Woollen goods are also largely produced at Rochdale, Manches-
ter, &c., as are silks, hats, paper, and an immense variety of other
articles. Lancashire is indebted, in no inconsiderable degree, for its
wonderful progress in arts and commerce, to its inexhaustible coal-
mines, which supply at the cheapest rate that power which sets its
machinery in motion. Copper lead, iron, and slates are all found in
the hundred of Furness. Large quantities of the latter are shipped
at Ulverstone. Principal rivers, Mersey, Irwell, Ribble, Lune,
Wyre, &c. The first of the modern English canals was constructed
by the Duke of Bridgewater, in this county, which was the grand
theatre of Brindley's operations; and it now commands a vast extent
of artificial navigation. The railway from Manchester to Liverpool
is a work not only of great local, but of great national import-
ance. By showing the all but miraculous influence of railways in
facilitating intercourse, and their advantages as a means for the pro-
fitable investment of capital, its completion gave the first great stimulus
to the immense works of that description, with which this county, and
indeed the whole country, is now being overspread. The foreign trade
of Lancashire is mostly centred at Liverpool, which from an obscure,
inconsiderable place, at the commencement of last century, has become
a very large and populous city; being, London only excepted, the prin-
cipal emporium of Europe. The nett customs' duties collected at this
port in 1844, amounted to the immense sum of 4,365,5261. It is to
be regretted that, notwithstanding the great extent of the Lancashire
coast, it does not possess, with, perhaps, the exception of Liverpool, a
single good harbour; and the entrance to the latter is a good deal
encumbered with sand-banks. Lancashire, which is a county palatine,
is divided into 7 hundreds and 4 boroughs, and contains 70 parishes.
It returns 26 members to Parliament; viz., 4 for the county; 2 each
for the boroughs of Manchester, Liverpool, Oldham, Bolton, Preston,
Lancaster, Wigan, and Blackburn; and 1 each for Rochdale, Bury,
Clitheroe, Ashton-under-Line, Salford, and Warrington.
The following tabular view of the population of the county and its
principal towns since 1801, exhibits an increase hardly exceeded by
anything in the United States:-

1801
In-
crease
per
Cent.
1811
In-
crease
per
Cent.
1821
In-
crease
per
Cent.
In-
crease
1831
1841
per
Cent.
Lancashire 672,731
Manchester
90,399
Liverpool 79,722
•
•
Preston
•
•
Ashton
•
Oldham .
23
828,309 27
22 110,244 40
26 100,240 32
11,887 44
44
17,065
15,632 22 19,052 37
12,024 39 16,690 30
Blackburn
•
11,980 26 15,083 45
1,052,859 27
154,807 47
131,801 44
35
24,575
25,967 29
21,662 49
21,940 23
1,336,854
227,808
24 7 1,667,054
30.0
296, 183
189,242
39.6
264,298
33, 112
51.4
50,131
33,597
37.8
46,304
32,381 31.5
42,595
27,091 35'2
36,629
Bolton
•
12,549 36 17,070 29
Wigan
•
10,989 27 14,060 26
22,037 28
17,716 1
28,299 18.8
33,610
20,774
22.8
25,517
Sum expended for the relief of the poor in 1844-5, 289,535l. An-
nual value of real property in 1815, 3,139,0437.; ditto in 1842-3,
7,756,2281.
154
ENGLAND AND WALES.
Counties bordering on Wales.
1. Cheshire, a maritime county, is bounded on the north by the
æstuary of the Mersey, Lancashire, and a small part of Yorkshire; on
the east by Derbyshire and Staffordshire; on the south by Shropshire
and a detached part of Flintshire; and, on the west, by Denbighshire,
Flintshire, and the æstuary of the Dee. It contains 673,280 acres,
which Dr. Holland states were distributed, in 1808, nearly as follows:
viz., arable, meadow, and pasture land, including parks and pleasure-
grounds, 620,000 acres ; waste lands, heaths, commons, and woods,
28,600 acres; peat bogs and morasses, 18,000; the residue consisting
of sea sands within the æstuaries of the Dee and the Mersey. But a
good deal of the waste land, and of the bogs and morasses, has since
been brought under tillage. A ridge of hills runs along the eastern
border of Cheshire, from Lawton, on the confines of Staffordshire, to its
north-eastern extremity; and a ridge extends from Malpas, on its
western side, to Frodsham. The latter is, however, much broken.
The most singular feature in it is the insulated rock of Buston, about
two miles south from Tarporley, rising on one side, almost perpen-
dicularly from the plain, about 366 feet. But, with these exceptions,
the rest of the county, comprising four-fifths of its entire extent, is re-
markable for the flatness of its surface, being, probably, not more, on a
medium, than from 100 to 200 feet above the level of the sea. Its ap-
pearance is that of an extended plain, thickly covered with wood.
The soil consists, for the most part, of a red, rich, clayey, or sandy
loam; and, with the exception of a few limited tracts of moss and
heath, it is eminently fertile. More rain is believed to fall in Cheshire
than in any other part of England; Westmoreland and Lancashire,
perhaps, excepted. It is impossible to imagine a finer grazing district.
The grass, owing to the mildness and moisture of the climate, the
favourable nature of the soil, and the shelter afforded by the luxuriant
hedges and hedge-row trees with which the fields are surrounded,
retains its verdure and its growth throughout almost the whole year.
The dairy husbandry is, in consequence, principally attended to.
Holland, following Mr. Fenna, estimated the number of cows kept in
the county, for dairy purposes, at 92,000. Cheese is the principal
product; and it is not only well known and highly esteemed every-
where in England, where the consumption is immense, but also in most
parts of Europe. Supposing each cow to yield, at an average, 24 cwt.
of cheese, the whole annual produce will be 11,500 tons. Arable hus-
bandry, though improved, being deemed of inferior importance, is but
indifferently understood, and is considerably behind. Potatoes very
extensively cultivated: in addition to the great home consumption of
the root, immense quantities are sent to Liverpool, Manchester, and
other markets in Lancashire. They are usually planted on a ley, being
commonly followed by oats, and these not unfrequently by wheat or
barley. Latterly, however, the culture of turnips has been gaining on
that of potatoes. Drainage, though much required in most parts of the
county, and successfully practised on a few farms, is, in general, lamen-
tably deficient. Previously to the inclosure of the waste tract called
Delamere forest, in 1813, it was depastured by a peculiar breed of
sheep, which have since mostly disappeared. The present stock of
Dr.
CHESHIRE.
155
sheep has been estimated at about 65,000, and the produce of wool at
about 1,250 packs. Estates, for the most part, large. Farms small,
a great many being under 10 acres, and only one or two of 350 or 400
acres. If those under 10 acres be excluded, the average size of the
rest may be about 70 acres. Leases becoming less common than
formerly: tenants strictly prohibited, under heavy penalties, from
having more than a given proportion of their farms (generally about
a third) under tillage, and from breaking up meadows. Though there
are no large woods in Cheshire, it contains a great deal of valuable
timber, chiefly in hedge-rows. From some points of view, indeed,
it resembles a continuous forest. Average rent of land in 1842-3,
28s. 7d. an acre. Cheshire possesses large supplies of excellent
marl, the plentiful use of which has materially contributed to its
fertility. It is also famous for its inexhaustible beds of fossil or rock
salt, near Northwich, Middlewich, &c.; and for its brine springs, con-
tiguous to the same places. Vast quantities of the former are annually
dug up both for home use and for exportation. It has also exten-
sive beds of coal. Manufactures of cotton, silk, &c., have been exten-
sively introduced into this county, and are carried on with much spirit
and success at Macclesfield, Stockport, Congleton, and other places.
Hats are made at Stockport, &c., and shoes for exportation at Sand-
bach. Small quantities of lead and shot are made at Chester. Prin-
cipal rivers, Dee and Weaver. It is also intersected by several canals.
Notwithstanding its apparently favourable situation, Cheshire, owing to
the badness of Chester as a port (see p. 42), has hitherto had but little
foreign or even coasting trade. This, however, will no longer be the
case, it being abundantly certain that the newly-formed port of Birk-
enhead, opposite to Liverpool, will participate largely in the commerce
of the Mersey. Cheshire is divided into 7 hundreds and 90 parishes,
exclusive of the city of Chester. It returns 10 members to parliament;
viz., 4 for the county, and 2 each for the city of Chester and the
boroughs of Macclesfield and Stockport. Population of the county in
1841, 395,660. Sum expended for the relief of the poor in 1844-5,
73,9481. Annual value of real property in 1815, 1,114,9277.; ditto in
1842-3, 1,889,9371.
2. Shropshire, or Salop, an inland county, is bounded on the north
by Cheshire, the detached part of Flintshire, and a corner of Denbigh-
shire; on the west, by the latter county, and the counties of Mont-
gomery and Radnor; on the south by Hereford and Worcester; and
on the east by Stafford. It contains 859,520 acres, of which nearly
790,000 are supposed to be arable, meadow, and pasture. Aspect
much diversified. No part of the surface is quite flat; but the great
plain of Salop, or Shrewsbury, is comparatively level. It extends
lengthwise from Whitchurch, on the confines of Cheshire, south to
Church Stretton, a distance of about 30 miles; and from Oswestry, on
the confines of Denbighshire, to Colebrook Dale on the east, about 28
miles. The Wrekin-hill (antè, p. 11.) rises out of this extensive plain
on its eastern side. The south, or rather the south-west, parts of the
county contain several ranges of flattish, square-shaped hills, divided by
beautiful valleys. The Bettus-ridge, on the confines of Radnorshire,
the Stipper-stones, the Long-mount, and the Wenlock-ridge, are the
156
ENGLAND AND WALES.
most important. Soil various, but generally fertile. On the east it
consists of a red sandy loam, like that of Cheshire; on the south, a
mixture of clay and loam is most prevalent; on the west, there is a
good deal of gravelly light soil. The harvest is said to be a fortnight
earlier on the east than on the west side of the county; a difference
depending partly, no doubt, on the greater elevation of the ground on
the western side, but partly, also, on differences of soil. Salop is prin-
cipally under tillage; but, in the south and west, breeding and dairying
are carried on to a considerable extent. A good deal of cheese, sold
under the name of Cheshire, but inferior to the genuine article, is made
in this county. The wool of the hilly tracts used to be of a peculiarly
fine quality, but it has deteriorated within the last 20 or 30 years, in
consequence of the efforts of the farmers to increase the size of the
sheep and the weight of the fleece. The total stock of sheep in the
county is supposed to exceed 420,000; producing annually above 7,000
packs of wool. Hops are produced on the borders of Hereford. Pro-
perty variously divided; some estates being very large, while there are
many of every inferior degree of size. On the borders of Wales, farms
very small; many not exceeding 20 acres ; but on the east side of the
county, in the vicinity of Shiffnal, Wellington, Newport, &c., they
vary from 100 to 500 acres or more. The district of Clun Forest, in
the south-west part of the county, is divided into small, freehold pro-
perties, varying in value from 51. to 150l. a year, the majority being of
the smaller class. Their occupiers, who in most cases are also the
owners, employ few labourers, the principal part of the work on their
farms being executed by themselves and their families. Farmers very
industrious, working along with their servants, while their wives bake,
brew, spin, &c. Leases less common now than formerly, and farms
generally held from year to year. Agricultural management im-
proving; but, owing to the want of leases of a reasonable length, and
with proper conditions as to management, it continues to be very defec-
tive. The number of corn crops taken in succession has been materially
diminished within the last 15 or 20 years; but two wheat crops still
not unfrequently follow each other. These remarks do not, however,
apply to the district on the east side of the county mentioned above,
where the farms are large; for there the tenants are active and enter-
prising, and agriculture highly improved. Turnips extensively culti-
vated, and, for the most part, in drills; few oats grown. Cattle of
mixed breed, and rather inferior. Pork and bacon much used by the
people. Large flocks of turkeys raised by some farmers. Drainage in
some places much wanted. Average rent of land, in 1842-3, 24s. 5d.
an acre. Principal mineral products, iron, coal, lead, limestone, and
freestone. With the exception of South Wales and Staffordshire, more
iron is made in Salop than in any other county of England; the quan-
tity produced in 1840, having amounted to 82,750 tons; and the pro-
bability is that it has increased considerably in the interval. The
furnaces are principally situated in Colebrook Dale, between Wel-
lington and Willey. Excellent China ware, and a very superior species
of pottery, are made at Coalport on the Severn, and its vicinity: pipes,
nails, &c., are made at Broseley; carpets at Bridgenorth; gloves at
Ludlow, &c. Some branches of the flannel manufacture are carried on
HEREFORDSHIRE.
157
in Shrewsbury and its neighbourhood; but by far the largest portion of
the flannel sold in its markets is brought from Merionethshire and
Denbighshire: latterly, however, there has been a material falling off
in this trade. The Severn, which becomes navigable at Pool, in Mont-
gomeryshire, traverses the county in a south-easterly direction, dividing
it into two not very unequal portions; and it is besides intersected by
several very important canals. The first iron bridge constructed in
Great Britain was erected in this county, in 1777, by Mr. Abraham
Darby, of Colebrook Dale. It crosses the Severn about 2 miles above
Coalport. It consists of a single arch 100 feet 6 inches wide, rising 45
feet; and is as perfect now as when first put up. Another iron bridge,
on a larger scale, was thrown over the Severn at Buildwas, by Mr.
Telford, in 1797. Roads formerly very bad, but now a good deal im-
proved, though still susceptible of much amelioration. Salop is divided
into 15 hundreds, or districts, answerable to that denomination, and
216 parishes. It returns 11 members to parliament; viz., 4 for the
county, and 2 each for the boroughs of Shrewsbury, Bridgenorth, and
Wenlock, and 1 for Ludlow. Population of county in 1841, 239,048.
Sum expended for the relief of the poor in 1844-5, 54,5941. Annual value
of real property in 1815, 1,083,7027.; ditto in 1842-3, 1,475,3391.
3. Herefordshire, an inland county, is bounded on the north by
Salop; on the west, by the counties of Radnor and Brecknock; on the
south, by those of Monmouth and Gloucester; and, on the east, by the
latter and Worcester. It contains 552,320 acres, of which nearly
500,000 are arable, meadow, and pasture. Surface beautifully diver-
sified, and set off to the greatest advantage by magnificent woods. On
the east it is separated from Gloucestershire by the Malvern hills; and,
on the south-west, it is separated from Brecknockshire by the Black
Mountains. The soil is usually represented as being everywhere rich
and fertile. But the luxuriant woods, and rich alluvial lands upon the
banks of the rivers, are said to have deceived the superficial observer ;
and that the fertility of the soil is not, speaking generally, so great as
is commonly stated. The pasture grounds are even said to be poor,
and the herbage not nutritious.-(Youatt on Cattle, p. 33.) But it,
notwithstanding, produces excellent crops of wheat and barley; and is
particularly celebrated for its cyder and wool. Hops extensively culti-
vated, principally in the parts bordering on Worcestershire; there
being, in 1845, 6,597 acres under this crop. Property variously
divided: some large estates; many of a medium, and some of a small,
size. The tenures of gavelkind and borough-English exist in some
districts, but are usually nullified by will. Farms generally large;
number of those that are small decreasing; let, for the most part, by
the year. Considering the sort of tenure under which it is held, the
land is in general tolerably well managed; but in many places its
drainage is neglected, and there is a great want of good husbandry.
Turnips extensively cultivated. In some parts very important improve-
ments have been accomplished by means of irrigation. Herefordshire
cattle deservedly held in great estimation; they feed easily, though less
active than those of North Devon; they are excellent workers, produce
the finest beef, and are remarkably quiet and tractable. Nearly half
the ploughing is performed by them; and they are extensively em-
158
ENGLAND AND WALES.
ployed in the labours of harvest. As milkers, however, they are good
for nothing. The wool of the Ryland sheep, so celebrated for its
fineness, has been injured by crossing with Leicesters, but the carcass
has been materially improved. At an average, the weight of the
Herefordshire fleeces, and the produce of wool, is supposed to have been
about doubled since 1800. The stock of sheep in the county is very
large, being estimated at about 500,000 head; and the quantity of wool
now annually brought to market is rated at about 10,000 packs.
Average rent of land in 1842-3, 22s. 94d. an acre. Oak timber is
very abundant in this county; and forms, with oak bark, an important
article of export. Iron ore has been discovered, but it is not wrought;
and the other minerals are of little importance. If we except that of
cyder, large quantities of which are sent to all parts of the country,
Herefordshire has no manufactures of any importance. Gloves are,
however, made at Hereford and Leominster; ropes and sacking at
Tedbury; and some coarse woollens in a few places. Principal rivers,
Wye, celebrated for its beautiful scenery, Lug, and Munnow. The
Wye is navigable, at particular periods, to Hereford, for barges carry-
ing from 18 to 30 tons; but the navigation is very uncertain, being
liable to frequent interruptions from a deficiency of water, floods, &c.
Hereford is divided into 11 hundreds and 219 parishes. It returns 7
members to parliament; viz., 3 for the county, and 2 each for the city
of Hereford and the borough of Leominster. Population of county in
1841, 113,8787. Sum expended for the relief of the poor in 1844-5,
45,1987. Annual value of real property in 1815, 629,1567.; ditto in
1842-3, 805,3197.
4. Monmouthshire, a maritime county, is bounded on the north by
the counties of Hereford and Brecknock, on the west by the latter and
Glamorgan, on the south and south-east by the Bristol Channel, and
on the east by Gloucestershire. It contains 317,440 acres, of which
270,000 are arable, meadow, and pasture. Aspect much diversified,
comprehending every variety of scenery, from the wildness and subli-
mity of Alpine regions, to the richness and variety of a cultivated
country. The western division, or that between the river Usk and
Glamorganshire, is, for the most part, rugged and mountainous; but
the eastern division, or that lying between the rivers Usk and Wye, is
comparatively level, and is well wooded. Soil various, but generally
There is a
of a good quality. Substratum, in many parts, limestone.
considerable extent of low level land along the coast, of a deep, rich,
loamy soil, in some places, and of a black peat earth in others. Parts
of this tract are liable to be overflowed by the sea, and it is defended
from inundation by immense dykes. Agriculture a good deal improved,
but still susceptible of much amendment. Tillage chiefly performed
by oxen. Upon clay the rotation is fallow, wheat, oats, seeds; and,
upon the sandy soil, turnips, barley, seeds, and oats: a fallow is then
made for wheat, if the land be not very clean; but most frequently a
second crop of wheat is sown after oats. Lime is the principal manure.
Cattle of the Hereford breed: they are finer beasts than those kept in
most of the adjoining counties, except in that whence they derive their
name and origin. Mules are a good deal used, principally about the
mines. Stock of sheep estimated at about 175,000, producing 2,000
NOTTINGHAMSHIRE.
159
packs of wool a-year. There are numerous orchards, but generally on
a small scale: hops are cultivated in a few places. Some large estates,
but the property a good deal subdivided. Size of farms from 60 to 300
acres; 140 acres supposed to be the medium. Farms usually let from
year to year, and the want of leases much complained of. Average
rent of land in 1842-3, 18s. 3½d. an acre. About 30 years ago, roads
were in the most wretched state imaginable; now, however, they are a
good deal improved. The county is intersected by two canals, and by
various railways, intended to facilitate the access to the mines. Prin-
cipal minerals: coal, iron, and limestone. The abundance of iron-ore
and coal has led to the establishment of a great many very extensive
iron works, that furnish employment to a numerous population, and are
of great public importance. These are principally situated in the
western division of the county. Those of Tredegar are upon a very
large scale. Manufactures of little importance. Pontypool was at one
time famous for its japanned ware; but this article is now principally
produced at Birmingham, Bilston, and Wolverhampton. Principal
rivers: Wye, Usk, Munnow, and Ebwy. It is divided into 6 hundreds
and 127 parishes. It returns 4 members to parliament, viz., 2 for the
county and 2 for the borough of Monmouth. Population of county
in 1841, 134,355. Sum expended for the relief of the poor in 1844-5,
27,4791. Value of real property in 1815, 298,9817.; ditto in 1842-3,
591,1627.
Midland Counties.
1. Nottinghamshire, an inland county, is bounded on the north by
the counties of York and Lincoln, on the east by the latter, on the
south by Leicester, and on the west by Derby and York. It contains
535,680 acres, of which about 500,000 are arable, meadow, and pasture.
Excepting the level through which the Trent runs, and the vale of
Belvoir, the surface is, for the most part, hilly and uneven; but the
hills do not rise to any considerable height. On the western side of
the county, from Nottingham to Bawtry, the soil is principally sandy
and gravelly; east of this, from Burton Joyce to Breckingham, is a
tract of clay land. The soil of the low level tract along the Trent,
called the Trent-bank land, consists principally of a sandy loam, and
that of the fruitful vale of Belvoir of a clayey loam. The climate is
reckoned peculiarly dry and good. Harvest generally begins about the
1st of August, and is concluded by the middle or end of September.
The ancient forest of Sherwood, the principal scene of the adventures
of Robin Hood and his companions, covered the greater part of the
sandy and gravelly soil on the west side of the county, which is still,
for that reason, called the forest district. The forest extended, length-
wise, from Nottingham to near Worksop, a distance of about 25 miles,
with a breadth varying from 6 to 9 miles; but it has been long since
disforested, and now contains some of the finest parks and residences
in England. Agriculture, though not equally advanced in all parts of
the county, is, on the whole, good; and has been much improved of
late years. The forest lands, which are divided into farms varying
from 300 to 500 acres, are well suited to the turnip husbandry, and
produce excellent crops of wheat and barley, especially the latter. The
160
ENGLAND AND WALES.
usual rotation in this district is the Norfolk or four shift course, viz.,
1st year, turnips; 2nd, barley; 3rd, grass-seeds or red clover; 4th,
wheat. In the clay lands in the north part of the county, and in the
vale of Belvoir, wheat is the principal crop; beans, peas, and cabbages,
being also raised. The husbandry of the clays is, however, inferior to
that of the lighter soils, partly from their being unsuitable to turnips,
for which fallows have to be substituted, and partly from the size of
the farins, varying from 70 to 150 acres, being too small to admit of
the adoption of the best methods of farming. The Trent-bank land is
famous for its crops of oats, as many as 10 quarters having been reaped
from a single acre! and their quality is not inferior to their quantity.
A species of oats, provincially called skegs, are raised in this county:
they are sown on the worst land, where they produce about 4 quarters
an acre; but on good land they produce 14 or 15 quarters an acre.
They are reckoned excellent food for horses, fetch about two-thirds the
price of oats, and grow where nothing else will.—(Lowe, p. 148.)
-Hops have been cultivated in the northern district, but to a small
extent only. There is a considerable breadth of excellent grass land
and meadows on the banks of the Trent and the Soar, employed partly
for feeding and partly for the dairy. About half a century ago the
cattle were mostly long-horned, but these are now nearly superseded
by the short horns. The sheep in the forest district used to be a small-
polled breed, with grey faces and legs; but it has now almost entirely
disappeared, being supplanted by the new Leicester and other improved
varieties. The total stock of sheep in the county is estimated at about
300,000, and the annual produce of wool at about 10,000 packs. Some
large black draught horses are bred. There is a good deal of timber
in the forest district, the Dukes of Newcastle and Portland having dis-
tinguished themselves by the magnitude of their plantations. The
latter is, also, distinguished by the extent to which he has carried irri-
gation, having converted, by its means, a large district of light, unpro-
ductive forest land, into very valuable meadow. Pigeons very abun-
dant. There are some large and many small estates. Farms mostly
held at will. Farm buildings said to be spacious and convenient.
Average rent of land in 1842-3, 26s. 5d. an acre. Nottinghamshire,
especially the town of Nottingham, is one of the principal seats of the
stocking manufacture. Of 48,482 stocking frames, the number supposed
to be employed in the United Kingdom in 1844, Nottinghamshire
had 16,382: these were mostly all engaged in the manufacture of
cotton and silk stockings, especially the former. This county is also
famous for the beautiful fabric known by the name of bobbinet, or Not-
tingham lace. This, which is a novel branch of manufacture, has
increased with extraordinary rapidity, and is now become of very great
value and importance. The malting business is, also, extensively
carried on. Coal is abundant in the western parts of the county, and
there are valuable limestone and freestone quarries. The Trent enters
the county on its south-western border at Attenborough, and, pursuing
a north-westerly course by Nottingham and Newark to Laneham, it
forms from this point, as far as West Stockwith, the boundary between
Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire. The Idle rises in Sherwood
Forest, and, flowing through Ollerton and East Retford, falls into the
DERBYSHIRE.
161
Trent at West Stockwith. The Soar, previously to its falling into the
Trent, separates the extreme south-western angle of the county from
Leicestershire. The county is also intersected by the Nottingham,
Chesterfield, and other canals, and by various railways. Nottingham-
shire is divided into 6 wapentakes or hundreds, and the liberty of
Southwell and Scrooby, and contains 285 parishes. It returns 10
members to parliament, viz., 4 for the county, and 2 each for the
boroughs of Nottingham, Newark, and East Retford. Population of
county in 1841, 249,910. Sum expended for the relief of the poor in
1844-5, 60,6551. Annual value of real property in 1815, 751,6267.;
ditto in 1842-3, 1,142,3677.
2. Derbyshire, an inland county, is bounded on the north by the
county of York and a small part of Cheshire; on the west by the latter
and Stafford; on the south by the latter, Leicester, and a single point
of Warwick; and on the east by Nottingham. It contains 657,920
acres, of which about 500,000 are arable, meadow, and pasture. All
that part of the county which lies to the south of Belper is compara-
tively level, but from it northwards the hills begin to ascend, forming
the commencement of that great central ridge that runs thence to the
Scottish border. The north-western angle of the county, called the
High Peak, is full of mountains and moors, and is famous for its caverns,
of which the most celebrated is near Castleton, and other natural
curiosities. But its most romantic scenery is found in its valleys and
dells, some of which are narrow, and bounded by high, precipitous,
fantastic cliffs. The soil in the southern part of the county consists
principally of a reddish loam. In the middle and eastern parts there
is almost every variety of soil. Considerable tracts of moss are met
with in the High Peak. The climate varies with the elevation and
exposure of the land, being cold and backward on the high grounds and
mild in the lower parts of the county and in the vales. Derby is both
a corn and a pasture county; but the latter predominates, particularly
in the northern parts. Agriculture rather behind. In the southern
parts, tenants are seldom under any restriction either as to the mode or
frequency of cropping, so that the land is too often in a foul, exhausted
state. There is in most parts, also, a great want of drainage, though
this greatest of all improvements is making considerable progress.
Principal crops: wheat, beans, and oats. In the northern parts of the
county the dairy is the great dependence of the farmer, and there the
occupiers are strictly prohibited from breaking up any pasture land,
their tillage being confined to a small spot hardly sufficient to supply
their consumption, and sometimes even that is not allowed. Oats is the
leading crop in this district, and oat bread has long been a principal
part of the food of the labouring classes in the High Peak. In plough-
ing, the horses are always driven in line, three or four being most com-
monly yoked to a plough, which has generally two wheels. A few
acres are under hops. There is no decided preference shown to any
particular breed of cattle; some prefer the long-horned or Stafford
breed, and others the short-horned or Durham breed; but the former
are much more general than the latter. A cross between these breeds
is much sought after, being considered to possess most of the good
qualities of each.-(Kennedy and Grainger on the Tenancy of Land,
VOL. I.
M
162
ENGLAND AND WALES.
p. 184.) Cheese is the principal product of the Derbyshire dairies,
and is in considerable estimation. It is here a common practice, when
cheese is made from new milk, to extract butter afterwards from the
whey. The principal dairy district is in the vicinity of Ashbourne;
and large quantities of cheese are annually sent to other parts of the
country. The moor breed of sheep was formerly most prevalent in all
the northern parts of the county, but it has been nearly superseded
by other and larger varieties. At present the total stock of sheep is
estimated at about 360,000, and the total annual produce of wool at
about 9,000 packs. The black horses of Derbyshire rank next to those
of Leicester. Great numbers of hogs, of no peculiar breed, are kept at
the dairies; and more asses are employed in this than in any other
English county. Estates of various sizes; some very large, but the
majority small. Farms generally small, and mostly held at will.
Farm buildings, particularly in the northern parts, on a very limited
scale. Average rent of land in 1842-3, 25s. 81d. an acre. Derby
ranks high as a mineral and manufacturing county. The coalfield is
of great extent, stretching from Dale Abbey north to the frontier of
the county. It is certain that the collieries near Derby were wrought
as early as 1306. Ironstone is found in most parts of the coal district,
and iron has been produced and smelted in this county from a remote
epoch. In 1840, the total produce of the Derbyshire furnaces amounted
to about 31,000 tons. The lead mines have long been famous; and it
appears to be satisfactorily ascertained that they were wrought by the
Romans. They are principally situated in the hundreds of Wirksworth
and High Peak; but they are also found in other parts of the county.
Latterly, however, their productiveness would appear to have declined
for, in 1789, they are said to have yielded from 5,000 to 6,000 tons of
lead, (Encyc. Metrop., Part xxxix. p. 195); whereas, in 1839, they did
not yield more than 4,500 tons. A good deal of zinc is obtained from
some of the lead mines. Copper has been found, but in inconsiderable
quantities. The mines and miners of this county are subjected to pecu-
liar laws and regulations, established so far back as 1287, which are
fully detailed in Farey's Survey (vol. i. pp. 356-365). Derbyshire
is famous also for its spar, and its quarries of marble, gypsum, &c.
The manufactures consist principally of cotton and silk, and are of great
value and importance. Cotton spinning is principally carried on in the
parish of Glossop, on the confines of Cheshire in the High Peak, and
at Belper, Derby, Cromford, and other places. In 1844, 6,006
stocking-frames were at work in different parts of the county, mostly
on cotton and silk. Sir Thomas Lombe's famous silk mill was erected
at Derby in 1719: at present there are about 10 silk mills in that
town in full operation. Porcelain of a superior quality, and beautiful
spar ornaments, are both produced at Derby. There are cast iron
and nail manufactories at Chesterfield, Belper, &c.; and hats,
with a great variety of other articles, are made in different parts.
Principal rivers: Trent, Derwent, Dove, and Rother. The Trent
crosses the southern angle of the county. The Derwent rises in the
High Peak, and, passing through Belper and Derby, falls into the
Trent at Wilne, on the confines of Leicestershire. The Dove forms
the western boundary of the county from Ax-Edge, where it rises to
;
STAFFORDSHIRE.
163
Newton Solney, where it falls into the Trent. The county has also a
great extent of railways and of canal navigation. Derbyshire is divided
into 6 hundreds, exclusive of the borough of Derby, and 139 parishes.
It returns 6 members to parliament, viz., 4 for the county, and 2 for
the borough of Derby. Population of county in 1841, 272,217. Sum
expended for the relief of the poor in 1844-5, 51,2817. Annual value
of real property in 1815, 883,3707; ditto in 1842-3, 1,379,0257.
3. Staffordshire, an inland county, is bounded on the north by
Cheshire; on the east by the counties of Derby and Warwick; on the
south by Worcester; and on the west and north-west by Cheshire,
Salop, and Derby. It contains 757,760 acres. Aspect very various.
The northern part, or the portion of the county lying to the north of
a line drawn from Uttoxeter, on the confines of Derbyshire, to New-
castle-under-Lyne, consists principally of moorlands. The hills in
some parts of this district rise to an elevation of about 1,000 feet above
the level of the sea; sometimes consisting of vast heaps of gravel, and
sometimes of huge cliffs having immense masses of rock scattered
round their bases. With the exception of some beautiful valleys, the
whole of this district is sterile, cold, and dreary. The soil in many
places is peat; but in some parts, particularly between the rivers Dove
and Churnet, it is of a superior quality, and produces good herbage.
The middle and southern parts of the county are agreeably diversified
with hills, level lands in pasture and corn, plantations, and gentlemen's
seats; but, in its extreme southern angle, the iron works are its most
prominent feature. The valley of the Trent is particularly fertile and
beautiful. Mr. Pitt estimated the cultivated land, including parks, at
600,000 acres, of which he supposed 100,000 may be meadow and
pasture, and 500,000 arable. The latter he distributed as follows,
viz.: 200,000 acres of clay loam, or more friable mixed loam; 200,000
acres of gravelly or sandy loam, or other mixed, including calcareous
soils; and the remainder, or 100,000 acres, of light sandy, gravelly,
or other soils.-(Survey, p. 13.) The air is sharp and cold; and, in
the northern parts, particularly, there is a great deal of rain. Stafford
is more of a mining and manufacturing than of an agricultural county;
but husbandry, though not so far advanced as it might be, is, of late,
very considerably improved. Wheat, oats, beans, and barley are the
principal crops. The usual rotation on the clay land is, 1st, fallow; 2nd,
wheat; 3rd, beans; 4th, oats; 5th, seeds. On the lighter soils, 1st, tur-
nips; 2nd, barley; 3rd, wheat; 4th, seeds; 5th, oats. According to re-
turns obtained from the Quarter Sessions, of the 600,000 acres of arable
land, 54,000 were in wheat; 36,000 in barley; 45,000 in oats; 15,000
in beans, peas, and vetches; 33,000 in wheat fallow; 17,000 in turnips;
and 400,000 in grass.-(Survey, p. 225.) The above returns were
published in 1813; but since that period the extent of land in fallow
has been considerably diminished, and that under beans and turnips
increased. Barley, and perhaps oats, has also decreased, while wheat
has been augmented. Various important improvements have been
effected within the last 20 years, particularly on the estates of the
Duke of Sutherland, who has expended large sums on drainage, on the
building of new, commodious, and excellent farm houses, and on other
substantial improvements. Cannock Heath, immediately to the west
M 2
164
ENGLAND AND WALES.
of Rudgeley, containing about 20,000 acres, is by far the largest tract
of waste land in the county. But though, at present, this extensive
heath merely furnishes a scanty subsistence to a few half-starved sheep,
its soil is said to be preferable to that of the moors of Lincolnshire,
which have been brought into the highest state of cultivation; and
there is every reason to think, that it might, with a moderate outlay
of capital and judicious management, be converted into valuable arable
land. The cattle of Staffordshire are principally of the long-horned
breed; but within no very distant period they have been extensively
crossed with the short horns; and the stock of some of the principal
breeders consists, at present, entirely of the latter. Dairy husbandry is
extensively practised; cheese is the principal product, and it is but
little inferior to that of Cheshire and Derbyshire. The sheep stock of
Staffordshire is estimated at about 187,000, and the produce of wool
at about 3,500 packs. Property in estates varying from 10,0007.
a-year down to 40s.; farms of all sizes, from 25 to 500 acres, but the
smaller class is decreasing; leases frequently granted, but the greater
number of farms held at will. Average rent of land in 1814-15,
22s. 94d. an acre; in 1842-3, 29s. 1d. Coal, iron, and lime, are
found in the greatest abundance in most parts of the county. It is
particularly famous for its potteries and iron foundries. The chief
seat of the former is in a district denominated The Potteries, between
Newcastle-under-Lyne and Norton-on-the-Moors, in which there are
several very considerable towns and villages mostly supported by the
business. The neighbourhood affords abundance of fire clay and coal :
but the finer clays are principally brought from Purbeck in Dorset-
shire, soapstone from Cornwall, and flints from the chalk-pits near
Gravesend, and from Wales and Ireland. The iron-works are situated
in the southern angle of the county, in the vicinity of Walsall, Wed-
nesbury, Bilston, &c. Their increase has been quite extraordinary. In
1840 there were in this county 151 furnaces; producing 427,650 tons
of iron, being about double its produce 10 years before, and very de-
cidedly exceeding all that was produced in all England besides: at
present, (1846,) the make of iron is understood to exceed 550,000
tons! The manufacture of locks, nails, edge-tools, bridles, spurs, and
an infinity of other hardware articles, is prosecuted upon a very large
scale at Wolverhampton, Bilston, and Walsall, and their vicinity.
Soho, the famous establishment of Messrs. Boulton and Watt, where
there is the greatest manufactory of steam engines in the world, is
situated within this county, on its extreme southern border. Glass is
also made on the confines of Worcestershire. Hats, shoes, and boots
are prepared at Stafford, for exportation as well as home consumption ;
and cotton mills have been erected at Rochester and other places.
Principal rivers, Trent, Dove, and Stour. The Grand Junction Railway
intersects the county, and it is also intersected by the Trent and Mersey
Canal; and by an immense number of other railways and canals.
Staffordshire is divided into 5 hundreds exclusive of the city of
Lichfield and the boroughs of Stafford and Newcastle-under-Lyne, and
145 parishes. It returns 17 members to parliament; viz., 4 for the
county; 2 each for the city of Lichfield and the boroughs of New-
castle-under-Lyne, Stafford, Tamworth, Wolverhampton, and Stoke-
ނ
LEICESTERSHIRE.
165
A
upon-Trent; and I for Walsall. Population of county in 1841, 510,504.
Sum expended for the relief of the poor in 1844–5, 108,7567. Annual
value of real property in 1815, 1,200,3257., ditto in 1842-3, 2,441,5537.
4. Leicestershire, an inland county, is bounded on the north by the
counties of Nottingham and Derby; on the west by the latter and
Warwick; on the south by Northampton; and on the east by Rutland
and Lincoln. It contains 515,840 acres, of which 480,000 are arable,
meadow, and pasture. Surface varied and uneven; but, except in the
district called Charnwood Forest to the south of Loughborough, the
hills do not attain to any considerable elevation, and are flat and tame.
Here, however, some of the summits consist of barren rocks. The
view from Bardon Hill, on the west side of the forest, is particularly
fine. The soil consists principally of strong clayey loam, sandy loam,
and very rich meadow. The pastures are excellent, and the proportion
of land in grass very much exceeds that under the plough. Leicester-
shire is famous for its horses, cattle, and sheep; all of which, but
especially the last two, were believed to be greatly improved by the
skill and persevering exertions of the celebrated Mr. Robert Bakewell,
of Dishly, near Loughborough. But it is a singular fact, that the
Dishly breed of long-horned cattle, so famous a few years ago, is now
everywhere losing ground; and that comparatively few of them are to
be found even in this their native county! The old breed has resumed
its place, or, where that is not the case, the improved short horns are
now generally the favourites.-( Youatt on Cattle, p. 208.) Tillage
husbandry not so much improved as breeding and grazing; but
the ground is in general clean, and kept in good condition.
greater breadth of land is sown with barley than with any other species
of grain; but wheat, oats, and beans, are all extensively cultivated,
and produce excellent crops. On the clay land the rotation is, 1st,
fallow; 2nd, wheat; 3rd, beans: on the loamy soil, 1st, turnips; 2nd,
barley or oats; 3rd, seeds; 4th, wheat. The peculiarly rich, mild
cheese, called Stilton, is principally made in this county, in the farms
round Melton Mowbray ; but, exclusive of this, a great deal of very
superior cheese is made in other parts of the county. Its total produce
is stated at about 1,800 tons. The Leicestershire sheep consist prin-
cipally of the old Leicesters, the new Leicesters or Dishly breed, and
the Charnwood or forest breed. They all produce long combing wool.
The stock is reckoned at about 400,000, and the produce of wool at
above 10,000 packs. Horses, well adapted for the saddle or draught,
but especially the latter, are reared in considerable numbers. Estates
generally large. Farms of all sizes: that of Mr. Bakewell contained
between 400 and 500 acres, but there are many from 80 to 100 acres ;
they are mostly held at will. Tenants strictly prohibited from breaking
up old pasture land; and mostly restricted in cultivation to the system
of 2 crops and a fallow. Average rent of land in 1842-3, 34s. 10łd.
an acre, being the highest rent paid by any county in England,
Middlesex excepted. Coal is wrought at Ashby-de-la-Zouch and other
places. Iron and lead are also found. Lime of excellent quality is
made at Barrow-on-Soar. Thick and heavy slates, quarried at Swith-
land, are used for building as well as for roofing. Leicestershire is one
of the great seats of the stocking manufacture. In 1844 it was esti-
166
ENGLAND AND WALES.
mated to possess in all 20,851 frames, of which 2,303 were idle; of
the others, 9,875 were employed in the worsted and 6,933 in the cotton
departments. The business is carried on in the towns of Leicester,
Loughborough, Hinckley, &c., but more especially in the first: it is
not, however, confined to them, but is diffused among most towns and
villages of the county. Hats are made at Loughborough, Hinckley, and
other places. Lace-making is also introduced; and malt is made in
considerable quantities. Principal river, Soar. Owing to the openness
of the country and other recommendations, Leicestershire has been long
famous as a hunting county. Melton Mowbray, in the centre of the
sporting district, has accommodation for a vast number of horses; and
during the season is crowded with visitors, foreign as well as native.
The county is divided into 6 hundreds, and 216 parishes. It returns
6 members to parliament; viz., 4 for the county, and 2 for the borough
of Leicester. Principal towns and population in 1841,-Leicester,
48,167; Loughborough, 10,025; Hinckley, 6,356. Population of
the county in 1841, 215,867. Sum expended for the relief of the
poor in 1844-5, 76,3087. Annual value of real property in 1815,
951,9087., ditto in 1842-3, 1,376,384.
5. Rutland, the smallest of the English counties, is surrounded by
Lincoln, Leicester, and Northampton. It contains 95,360 acres; of
which 90,000 are arable, meadow, and pasture. Surface gently varied;
air pure; and the soil almost everywhere loamy and rich. The
western part of the county, in which is the celebrated vale of Cat-
mose, is under grass, and the eastern chiefly in tillage. It is par-
ticularly celebrated for its wheat, cheese, and sheep. Estates and
farms of various sizes. Labourers said to be very well off. Average
rent of land in 1842-3, 27s. 5½d. an acre. The river Welland runs
along its south-eastern border, from Rockingham to near Stamford,
and there is a canal from the river Soar to Okeham. It is divided
into 5 hundreds and 25 parishes; and returns 2 members to parlia-
ment, both for the county. Population of county in 1841, 21,302.
Sum expended for relief of the poor in 1844-5, 7,8347. Annual value
of real property in 1815, 138,2167., ditto in 1842-3, 156,9887.
6. Northamptonshire, an inland county, is bounded on the north and
north-west by the counties of Lincoln, Rutland, and Leicester; on the
west by Warwick and Oxford; and on the south, south-east, and
east by Oxford, Bucks, Bedford, Huntingdon, and Cambridge. It
contains 650,240 acres, of which about 580,000 are supposed to be
arable, meadow, and pasture. The aspect of the county has great
variety and beauty. In most parts it is varied by waving hills and
gradual declivities, with intervening well-watered vales. There is
very little land but what either is or may be rendered useful. The
highest hills are in the south-western part of the county, near Daventry,
contiguous to which the Nene, the Ouse, and some other rivers have
their sources; but their most elevated summit is only about 800 feet
above the level of the sea. Soil various, but mostly rich and fertile,
consisting principally of various descriptions of loam. Much the
largest proportion is of a strong heavy staple, well adapted to the
culture of wheat and beans; but there is a good deal of a lighter
quality, though, except in a few instances, we do not meet the extremes
NORTHAMPTONSHIRE,
167
either of stiff clay or sand. The general excellence of the soil seems
to be owing mainly to its depth, and to the dry porous nature of the
subsoil, a good deal of which is lime. In the north-east corner of the
county there is a considerable tract of rich fen land; and along the
Welland and the Nene there are some very fine natural meadows.
The climate is reckoned particularly good and salubrious; and there
are more mansion houses in this than in any other county. Nor-
thampton is pretty equally divided between tillage and grazing. The
former is said to be conducted at present as it has been for many years
past. The rotation on loams is, 1st, turnips; 2nd, barley; 3rd, seeds;
4th, wheat. Ground in general clean and in good condition--( Ken-
nedy and Grainger, vol. i. p. 284.) Principal corn crops, wheat,
barley, and oats; but the first is much the largest proportion. When
sown upon a fallow, it is invariably ploughed in. Beans and turnips
extensively cultivated. Mr. Pitt, in his Survey of the county, pub-
lished in 1813, taking the extent of the arable and pasture land, ex-
clusive of forests, woods, &c., at 600,000 acres, supposes it to be
distributed as follows, viz.: wheat, 60,000 acres; rye, 3,000; barley,
33,000; beans, 30,000; oats, 24,000; peas and vetches, 15,000;
green crops, 30,000; fallow, 30,000; and grass land, including clover
and seeds, 375,000; making, in all, 600,000 acres. But, though this
distribution should have been pretty accurate at the time, which may,
perhaps, be questioned, it must now, no doubt, be in several respects wide
of the mark. Northampton is not distinguished as a breeding county;
but large numbers of cattle are purchased from other districts and
fattened for the London market, to which it is supposed to send,
annually, from 15,000 to 16,000 head. The long horns were formerly
the only breed to the raising of which any attention was paid; but the
short horns are now beginning to be introduced. There is a con-
siderable number of dairy farms in the south-western parts of the
county. The rearing of sheep is a principal object with the Nor-
thamptonshire farmers. Breed, long-woolled and much crossed.
Stock supposed to be about 640,000, and the annual produce of
wool about 16,000 packs. A good many horses, principally of the
large black breed, are raised. Mr. Pitt estimated the number kept for
business and pleasure at 20,000.—(Survey, p. 219.) But, this being
one of the counties in which it is not unusual to see 5 horses in a team,
their number might be very advantageously reduced. Estates gene-
rally large; but there are few large farms. The average size of
uninclosed farms used to be about 130 acres, and that of those that
were inclosed varied from 180 to 200 acres ; but we believe their di-
mensions have latterly increased. They are usually let from year to
year; a species of tenure which, no doubt, contributes materially to
perpetuate the routine practices observable in this and other counties.
Farm-houses and offices, with the exception of some constructed during
the present century, mostly inferior, and inconveniently situated, being
not unfrequently in villages; and sometimes, indeed, altogether de-
tached from the farm! They are usually thatched. Cottages bad, and
mostly huddled together. Average rent of land in 1842-3, 29s. ld.
an acre. The woodlands in this county are very extensive. They
consist principally of the remains of the ancient Royal forests of
168
ENGLAND AND WALES.
Rockingham, Salcey, and Whittlebury, with the chaces of Geddington
and Yardley. Their extent, including private woodlands, is estimated
by Mr. Pitt at 40,000 acres. The proprietors and others adjoining the
forests have right to cut the underwood, and to depasture them at
certain periods of the year; and it is the opinion of those conversant
with the subject, that a tenth part of the forest lands, supposing it
were well fenced and protected from trespass, would yield more timber
than will ever be obtained from the whole under its present manage-
ment. If we except limestone, which is very abundant, the mineral
productions are of little importance. Slates are dug from quarries at
Collyweston near Stamford; they are of a good size, but, being thick
and heavy, and disposed to imbibe water, are not much used. Coal is
principally imported from Staffordshire, by the Grand Junction Canal;
wood is also extensively used as fuel. Large quantities of boots and
shoes for the use of the army, and the supply of the London market,
are manufactured at Northampton, Wellingborough, and some other
places. Lace-making used to afford employment to great numbers of
persons in the south-western parts of the county; but this business is
now much reduced. Whips are manufactured at Daventry; silk
stockings at Towcester; and the latter and some descriptions of woollen
stuffs at Kettering. The want of coal is, however, a very serious
obstacle in the way of this county ever becoming of considerable im-
portance in manufacturing industry. The Nene, Ouse, and Welland
have their sources in Northamptonshire. The Nene rises a little to
the west of Daventry, on the confines of Warwickshire, flowing east by
Northampton, where it becomes navigable. It then takes a north-
easterly course by Thrapstone and Oundle to Peterborough, where it
quits the county. The Ouse rises near Brackly, in the southernmost
part of the county, which it soon after leaves, but touches it again at
Stony Stratford. The Welland rises near Hothorpe, on the confines
of Leicestershire; and forms the northern boundary of the county,
from Market Harborough to Crowland. Besides these, and other
rivers of less importance, the county is intersected by the Grand
Junction Canal a branch from which is carried to Northampton--
and by the Derby and Leicester Canal, &c. Northamptonshire has
20 hundreds and 306 parishes. It returns 8 members to parliament;
viz., 4 for the county, 2 for the city of Peterborough, and 2 for North-
ampton. Population of county in 1841, 199,228. Sum expended for
the relief of the poor in 1844-5, 91,0067. Annual value of real pro-
perty in 1815, 947,578l., ditto in 1842-3, 1,252,1007.
7. Warwickshire lies almost in the centre of England: it is bounded
on the south by the counties of Oxford and Gloucester, on the west by
Worcester, on the north-west by Stafford, on the north-east by Leices-
ter, and on the east by Northampton. It contains 574,080 acres, of
which above 500,000 are arable, meadow, and pasture. The northern
and largest part of Warwickshire was formerly an extensive forest, and
still retains something of its ancient character, being interspersed with
heaths and moors, and sprinkled with woods; but the former have
greatly diminished within the last 30 years. The southern portion is,
in general, very fertile. Mr. Murray estimated the total extent of land
in meadow and pasture grass at 235,000 acres, and the extent in arti-
WARWICKSHIRE.
169
ficial grasses at 60,000, making together 295,000 acres, being more
than half the county. Of this quantity he supposes that from 80,000
to 85,000 acres are meadows, mown annually for hay; that from
10,000 to 15,000 acres of the artificial grasses are cut green for horses
and other cattle, and made into hay; and that the residue, consisting
of from 195,000 to 205,000 acres, is depastured by sheep and cattle.-
(Survey, p. 128.) Both the dairy and grazing systems are successfully
practised; but the former has been gaining on the latter. The long-
horned breed of cattle is preferred for the dairies, the average produce
of a cow being about 24 cwt. of cheese. Short-woolled sheep have
been almost entirely banished from the county. The standing sheep
stock has been estimated at 342,000, and the produce of wool at about
8,600 packs. Arable husbandry not so well understood as grazing, and
in some districts it is far behind. Wheat, barley, oats, and beans, are
extensively cultivated. The first is generally drilled, and, when such
is the case, it is not a little singular that turnips should be very gene-
rally sown broadcast. Beans generally dibbled. The system of top-
dressing is more commonly followed in this than in any other county.
Estates of various sizes; some very large, and others small. Farms
vary from 80 to 500 acres; but the smaller class predominate so much
that the average is not supposed to exceed 150 acres. Old inclosures
average about 10 acres, new about 15. Leases getting more uncom-
mon, and farms mostly held from year to year. Tenants bound not to
exceed three crops to a fallow; but there is no restriction as to the
quantity of wheat sown. Average rent of land in 1842-3, 31s. 6źd.
an acre. Little can be said in favour of the farm buildings. The old
houses and offices were sometimes built of timber; sometimes the walls
were of stone and sometimes of mud or clay, and thatched; they are
in general injudiciously placed, ill planned, and inconvenient. The
new farm-houses and offices are of brick, covered with tile, and are
very substantial
but conveniency is said not to be much studied; and
it is also said that there is a deficiency of open sheds for wintering
cattle, and of feeding sheds for soiling with turnips and other green
food. Coal is wrought to a considerable extent at various places; but
Birmingham is supplied with coal brought by canal from Staffordshire.
Warwick ranks high as a manufacturing county. Birmingham is the
principal scat of the hardware manufacture; and nowhere, perhaps, has
the combined influence of ingenuity, skill, and capital, been more
astonishingly displayed than in the immense quantity, variety, beauty,
utility, and cheapness of the articles produced in this great workshop.
Coventry has been long distinguished for its proficiency in the silk
trade, particularly in the manufacture of ribands. Needles and fish-
hooks are made at Alcester, hats at Atherstone, and flax-mills have
been erected near Tamworth and in other places. Principal rivers:
Avon, Tame, Alne, and Leam. The Birmingham and Fazely Canal
runs along the north-west side of the county, and it is intersected by
the Warwick and Birmingham Canal, the Warwick and Napton Canal,
the Oxford Canal, &c. The grand line of railway from London to
Birmingham, and thence to Manchester, passes through the county,
which is also intersected by numerous subordinate lines. Warwick-
shire is divided into 4 hundreds and 4 subsidiary districts, and contains
170
ENGLAND AND WALES.
205 parishes. It returns 10 members to parliament, viz., 4 for the
county, and 2 each for the city of Coventry and the boroughs of Bir-
mingham and Warwick. Population of county in 1841, 401,715.
Sum expended for the relief of the poor in 1844-5, 67,9477. Annual
value of real property in 1815, 1,269,7577.; ditto in 1842-3, 2,364,4907.
8. Worcestershire, an inland county, having a very irregular outline,
and several detached portions, is bounded on the north by the counties
of Salop and Stafford, on the west by Hereford, on the south by
Gloucester, and on the east by Warwick. It contains 462,720 acres,
of which above 420,000 are arable, meadow, and pasture. Surface
beautifully diversified: the Malvern Hills divide the south-west part of
the county from Herefordshire; the Bredon Hills, to the south of Per-
shore, have an elevation of near 900 feet; and there are also some
considerable hills on its northern frontier, between Hales Owen and
Bromsgrove. The vales of Worcester and Evesham, or rather the
vales of the Severn and Avon, particularly the latter, are very fertile
and beautiful; but the soil in many parts, especially on the eastern side
of the county, is cold and poor. Besides cattle and daily produce,
Worcestershire produces large quantities of fine wool, apples, hops, and
excellent cyder. Agriculture in a backward state. “The system fol-
lowed is, in itself, a bad one, and is carelessly and negligently con-
ducted. There is no rotation as to cropping, nor are any pains taken
to relieve the ground from water, though it is in most places very wet.
Ploughing is badly performed, and the whole management of a slovenly
description."(Kennedy and Grainger, vol. i. p. 358.) In 1845,
there were 1,542 acres of hops. Estates variously divided; farms, for
the most part, small. Average rent of land in 1842-3, 31s. 6d. an
Coal is found in the northern part of the county, and the brine
springs at Droitwich supply vast quantities of salt. The city of Wor-
cester is the principal seat of the leather glove manufacture; the iron,
hardware, and glass manufactures are carried on with spirit and success
at Dudley; and Kidderminster is famous for its carpets. Principal
rivers: Severn, Tame, and Avon. Worcestershire is divided into 5
hundreds and 171 parishes. It returns 12 members to parliament, viz.,
4 for the county, 2 each for the city of Worcester and the borough of
Evesham, and 1 each for Kidderminster, Bewdley, Droitwich, and
Dudley. Population of county in 1841, 233,336. Sum expended for
the relief of the poor in 1844-5, 69,8671. Annual value of real property
in 1815, 820,021/.; ditto in 1842-3, 1,332,538/.
acre.
The
9. Gloucestershire, a maritime county, is bounded on the south by
the counties of Wilts and Somerset; on the east by Berks, Oxford, and
Warwick; on the north by Worcester; on the west by the latter,
Herefordshire, Monmouth, and the channel of the Severn. It contains
805,120 acres, of which 750,000 are arable, meadow, and pasture. It
is naturally divided into the Cotswold, Vale, and Forest districts.
first, or Cotswold district, comprises the hilly country, stretching from
Chipping Camden, on the confines of Warwickshire, to near Bath.
It is often divided into the Upper and Lower Cotswolds. The vale
takes in the lowlands from Stratford-on-Avon to Bristol: it is usually
divided into the vales of Evesham, Gloucester, and Berkeley; but,
perhaps, a better division would be into the vales of Severn and Avon.
GLOUCESTERSHIRE.
171
The former comprising all the low country between Tewkesbury and
Bristol, and the latter the lowlands between the Upper Cotswold and
the Avon, from Tewkesbury to Stratford, wherever that river is a
boundary of the county. The Forest district includes the parishes on
the west side of the Severn up to Gloucester, and, afterwards, on the
west side of the river Leden till it enters the county of Hereford. This
district derives its name from the Royal Forest of Dean, once of large
extent, but now much reduced by grants to individuals, and by the
progress of cultivation. It still, however, contains a good deal of
valuable timber. The soil in the vales is extremely fertile; but in the
other districts it is, for the most part, sandy and poor. Climate of the
vale remarkable for its mildness: according to William of Malmes-
bury, who flourished in the 12th century, it produced wine but little
inferior to that of France! The air on the Cotswolds is keen and
sharp. From 300,000 to 400,000 acres are under tillage. Agricul-
ture`not very advanced. Wheat, barley, oats, and beans, are the crops
principally cultivated. Beans mostly produced on the clay soils of the
vales, and much depended on by the farmer. Mr. Rudge says, that
"the slovenly way in which a great deal of the vale land is cultivated,
occasions the loss of 1 in 3 or 4 crops (from excess of fallowing); and
even with this management the lands are not clean.". -(Survey, p. 105.)
But it must be borne in mind that this statement was published in
1807, and though still rather behind, there has been a great improve-
inent in the interval. The number of horses kept for agricultural
purposes is much too great, as many as 6 and 7 being not unfrequently
seen in a team! A large extent of the best land is occupied as mea-
dows, pastures, and orchards. The most valuable meadows lie along
the banks of the Severn below Gloucester, being defended from inun-
dation by banks or sea walls constructed for that purpose. At certain
periods, however, the lands are allowed to be overflowed; and, when
the water speedily retires, its influence in increasing the supply of
herbage is said to be very great. It is not unusual to cut from these
meadows from 2 to 2 tons of hay an acre in a season. Gloucester-
shire has been long famous for its dairies, particularly those in the vale
of Berkeley, which produce the greatest and best part of the excellent
cheese known by the name of double and single Gloucester. All sorts
of cattle are met with in the dairies, the beauty of the animal being
reckoned of inferior importance to its quality as a milker. A good
cow will yield from 34 cwt. to 4 cwt. of cheese in a season. The
average yield of a dairy of 20 cows may be estimated at 4 cwt. a cow;
in all 4 tons. The native sheep of the Cotswold Hills are large, and pro-
duce coarse long-combing wool; but the pure breed is become scarce, in
consequence of its intermixture with new Leicesters, South Downs, &c.
The total stock of sheep in the county has been estimated at about
550,000, and the annual produce of wool at about 15,550 packs.
Cyder is the principal product of this county. Almost every farm has
an orchard; but those where cyder is made for sale are found only on
the sides of the hills, and in the vale and forest lands. The highly
esteemed species of cyder, called Styre, is almost peculiar to the western
banks of the Severn. It is strong, and, when new, is extremely harsh,
so that it requires to be kept for several years before it is sufficiently
172
ENGLAND AND WALES.
mellowed for use. Property much divided, estates being of all
sizes, from 15,000l. a-year down to 57. or less. Some large, but many
small farms; their average rental may be from 200l. to 500l. Average
rent of land in 1842-3, 27s. 10d. an acre. Iron ore is abundant in the
Forest of Dean, and, owing to the convenient supply of timber, it used
to be worked to a considerable extent. But notwithstanding there is
also abundance of coal in the Forest, the production of iron had
declined in 1840 to 15,500 tons; South Wales and Staffordshire
having decidedly greater facilities for carrying on the business. Veins
of lead ore are found in the limestone rocks in the lower part of the
vale. Gloucester is a very considerable manufacturing county, and is
particularly celebrated for its fine broad cloths; latterly, however,
Yorkshire has been gaining upon it in this department. Tin plates,
brass, glass, pins, soap, refined sugar, &c., are extensively manufac-
tured, especially at Bristol and its vicinity. Principal rivers: Severn,
Wye, Upper and Lower Avon, Thames or Isis, &c. The Severn
flows through the county from Tewkesbury, past Gloucester, Berkeley,
&c. The Wye and the Lower Avon divide it; the former from Mon-
mouthshire and the latter from Somerset. The Cotswold Hills divide
the waters that flow into the Severn from those that flow into the
Thames. The principal source of the latter, or Isis, is from 3 to
4 miles south-west of Cirencester; after receiving the Churn, the
Coln, &c., it becomes navigable at Lechlade, on the confines of Berk-
shire. (See antè, p. 32.) The county is intersected by the Thames
and Severn Canal, the Gloucester and Hereford Canal, &c. The ship
canal, already referred to (antè, p. 37), from Berkeley Pill to Glou-
cester, has rendered the latter a shipping port of considerable and
increasing consequence. A good deal of the import and export trade
of Warwickshire is now carried on by this channel. Gloucester and
Cheltenham, Gloucester and Birmingham, and Gloucester and the
Great Western Railway, near Swindon, have been united by railways.
Bristol used to rank next to London as a commercial city; but though
now far surpassed by Liverpool, and perhaps also by Hull, she still
continues to enjoy an extensive foreign trade. Gloucestershire is divided
into 28 hundreds and 339 parishes. It returns 15 members to parlia-
ment, viz., 4 for the county; 2 each for the cities of Bristol and Glou-
cester, and the boroughs of Cirencester, Stroud, with the adjoining
parishes, and Tewkesbury; and 1 for Cheltenham. Population of
county in 1841, 431,383. Sum expended for the relief of the poor
1844-5, 118,1457. Annual value of real property in 1815, 1,315,726.;
ditto in 1842-3, 2,074,5157.
in
10. Oxfordshire, an inland county, of a very irregular shape, is
bounded on the north by the counties of Northampton and Warwick;
on the west by Gloucester; on the south by Berks; and on the east
by Buckingham. It contains 483,840 acres; of which above 400,000
are said to be arable, meadow and pasture. Surface irregular and
elevated. The soil of the part of the county from North Ashton to
its extreme northern angle consists principally of a red, rich, deep,
friable loam. The soil in the middle part of the county, or the tract
lying between the one now mentioned and the Thames on the south, is
comparatively unproductive; being, for the most part, shallow, sandy,
OXFORDSHIRE.
173
or gravelly, and poor, particularly the portion called Whichwood
Forest; but along the Thames and other rivers there are extensive tracts
of rich meadow land. The southern portion of the county, or that
lying south-east from the city of Oxford, includes the Chiltern Hills.
The soil in this portion is very various; but that which is thin and
chalky predominates. Extensive tracts of this county, and of some of
those that are contiguous, are frequently laid under water from the
overflow of the rivers. But it is believed that these inundations, which
occasion great injury, might be obviated without incurring any very
heavy expense, compared with the importance of the object, by con-
structing embankments, and employing machinery to drain off the
water, for which there is no sufficient outfall. Most part of Oxford-
shire is in tillage; but this is not by any means in an advanced state.
Some material improvements have been introduced within the last 20
years; but the management is still, in various respects, essentially de-
fective. The principal dependence of the tillage farmer is on his
barley, the crops of which, particularly in the northern part of the
county, are very abundant; frequently yielding from 7 to 8 quarters
an acre: it is reckoned equal, if not superior, to any other barley for
malting; and large quantities of malt are made; mostly, of course, for
the London market. Turnips are raised in most parts of the county.
The usual rotation is, 1st, turnips; 2nd barley; 3rd seeds, which re-
main for 2 years; 4th wheat. Dairy husbandry extensively practised,
and better understood than tillage. Butter the principal product.
Sheep of various breeds; but at present they are almost all long-
woolled. Stock estimated at about 300,000, and the total produce of
wool at about 6,300 packs. There are but few large estates; and
farms are generally smaller than in most other counties.
granted for 7 or 14 years. Tenants not bound to adopt any particu-
lar mode of cultivation, nor are they restricted in the sowing of wheat.
Hence, in many instances, farms, towards the end of a lease, are in a
very worn out, exhausted state; and the land is in general far from
being in the condition required by good husbandry. Average rent of
land, in 1842-3, 24s. 1åd. an acre, being nearly identical with its
amount in 1814-15. The manufactures of Oxfordshire are but of little
importance. Witney is, however, celebrated for its superior blankets,
and Woodstock for its gloves. The city of Oxford is the seat of the
most ancient and most celebrated of the English universities. Camden,
who was one of its alumni, calls it, "Our most noble Athens; the
most famous source of learning and wisdom, whence religion, polite-
ness, and learning, are copiously diffused all over the kingdom."
-(Gough's Ed., ii. 5.) The city is finely situated; the buildings.
belonging to the different colleges are magnificent in the extreme;
and next to the British Museum, the Bodleian Library has the best
collection of books in the United Kingdom. Oxford is united by
a branch line with the Great Western Railway, and, consequently,
with the metropolis, &c. Principal rivers, Thames or Isis, Thame,
Evenlode, Cherwell, Windrush, &c. The Thames bounds the en-
tire south-western frontier of the county, from near Lechlade to
the immediate vicinity of Reading. The Oxford Canal joins the
Thames and the Grand Junction Canal. Oxfordshire is divided
Leases
174
ENGLAND AND WALES.
into 14 hundreds and 217 parishes. It returns 9 members to Par-
liament; viz., 3 for the county, 2 for the city, and two for the
University of Oxford, and 1 each for the boroughs of Banbury and
Woodstock. Population of county in 1841, 161,643. Sum expended
for the relief of the poor in 1844-5, 76,454l. Annual value of real
property in 1815, 790,8667., ditto in 1842-3, 1,025,421.
11. Buckinghamshire, an inland county, is bounded on the north
by the county of Northampton; on the east by the counties of Bed-
ford, Herts, and Middlesex; on the south by Berks; and on the west
by Oxfordshire. Its shape is very irregular. It contains 472,320
acres; of which 440,000 are supposed to be arable, meadow, and
pasture. Surface finely diversified. The rich vale of Aylesbury
occupies the middle of the county, having the Chiltern Hills running
north-east and south-west along its southern side, and a nearly parallel
range of sand hills along its northern side. The prevalent soils are
rich loam, strong clay, chalk, and gravel. It is about equally divided
between tillage and pasture. Agriculture in a backward state. Te-
nants seldom under any restrictions as to cropping, and allowed to
carry away hay and straw. In consequence, the land is very often
overcropped and exhausted; and an entering tenant is frequently
obliged to purchase the preceding year's crop, for the sake of the ma-
nure. Turnip husbandry chiefly confined to the hills. Wheat and
beans are the principal crops raised on the low grounds; and they fre-
quently follow each other, without the intervention of a fallow, for a
lengthened period. There are few counties in which there is so great
a waste of horse power. The grass lands and rich meadows in the
vale of Aylesbury and other parts, are used partly and principally for
the dairy, and partly for fattening; but a great deal of hay is also sent
to the metropolis. The stock of dairy cows has been estimated at
about 27,000, of which it is supposed that 21,000 are always produc-
tive. Butter the chief product; and it is supposed that from 4,000,000
to 4,500,000 lbs., are annually produced for sale in this county.
It is almost entirely sent to the London market.
The fattening
of cattle is principally confined to the vale of Aylesbury; the
excellence of the pasture being such as speedily to make a visible
alteration in the size and appearance of every animal sent to it. Both
the dairy and grazing cattle consist almost entirely of short horns.
Great changes have been made, during the last 30 years, in the breed
of sheep in this county; so much so, that the average weight of the
fleece is supposed to have been increased, in that period, from 3 to 5
lbs. The present sheep stock is estimated at above 220,000, and the
produce of wool at above 4,600 packs. Hogs are an important article
in the rural economy of Buckinghamshire, on account of the refuse
milk from the dairies. Ducks are raised in large quantities at Ayles-
bury. Cottages generally good, and most of them have gardens
attached. There are some large estates: size of farms various; aver-
age about 180 acres. Leases not general. Average rent of land,
in 1842-3, 25s. 34d. an acre. Cross roads said to be in a very bad
state. Minerals of none, and manufactures of but little importance.
The manufacture of pillow-lace, once very generally diffused, has
declined materially, in consequence of the wonderful increase of bob-
BEDFORDSHIRE.
175
binet, or machine lace, at Nottingham. A good deal of straw plat is
made in the parts of the county nearest to Bedfordshire; and there
are some paper mills in the neighbourhood of Wycombe. The Thames
runs along the southern border of the county, dividing it from Berk-
shire. The Ouse partly intersects and partly bounds the northern
division of the county; and the Thame has its sources among the high
grounds to the north of the vale of Aylesbury. The Grand Junction
Canal intersects the county on the east, having branches to Bucking-
ham, Aylesbury, and Wendover. Bucks is divided into 8 hundreds
and 202 parishes. It returns 11 members to Parliament; viz., 3 for
the county, and 2 each for the boroughs of Buckingham, Aylesbury,
Marlow, and Wycombe. Population of county in 1841, 155,983.
Sum expended for the relief of the poor in 1844-5, 79,9831. Annual
value of real property in 1815, 662,8727.; ditto in 1842-3, 827,8901.
12. Bedfordshire, an inland county, and the last of the midland
district, is bounded on the north-west by the county of Northampton;
on the west by Bucks; on the south by the latter county and Herts;
on the east by the latter and Cambridge; and on the north-east by
Huntingdon. It contains 296,320 acres; of which about 250,000
are arable, meadow, and pasture. The face of the county presents
an alternation of gently rising hills, and beautiful, well-watered,
extensive vales. The southern angle is occupied by the Chiltern
Hills. There is every variety of soil, from the stiffest clay to the
lightest sand. To the north of the chalk district, a belt of sand ex-
tends from Leighton Buzzard, on the borders of Bucks, north-west,
across the county to Potten. The breadth of this belt varies from 1
to 5 miles; it is of varying degrees of fertility, and is particularly
well suited for horticultural purposes, and for the turnip husbandry.
The soil in the vale of Bedford consists mostly of clay. In the
northern part of the county, the soil is mostly of a blackish colour,
gravelly, light, and poor. On the whole, however, the soil seems,
speaking generally, to be of about an average degree of fertility. So
late as 1770 it was estimated that nearly three-fourths of the surface
consisted of "open or common fields, common meadows, and common
or waste lands.” But the greater part of these lands have since been
enclosed, subdivided, cultivated, and improved, to the great profit and
advantage of those concerned, as well as of the public. This change
was effected principally through the exertions and example of Francis
Duke of Bedford. Land chiefly under tillage.
Land chiefly under tillage. Agriculture in a me-
dium state of advancement. On the sandy and chalky soils, turnips,
particularly the Swedish variety, succeed very well, and are extensively
cultivated. No regular rotation is observed. On the clays, beans
and wheat are the principal produce; on the light soils, turnips, barley,
seeds, and wheat usually follow each other; on the loams, beans or
oats are generally sown after wheat. The drill is in extensive use, and
a good deal of wheat is dibbled. Clay used as a manure for the sandy
soil with good effect. At an average each plough in the county is
believed to be wrought by rather more than 3 horses. In the parishes
of Sandy (so called from its soil), Gritford, and other places, there
are extensive market-gardens, in which large quantities of vegetables
are raised for the supply of London, Cambridge, &c. Cattle of a
176
ENGLAND AND WALES.
mixed breed, and "without any pretensions to very peculiar excellence."
Sheep in the same predicament as cattle. Stock of the former has
been estimated at about 200,000, and the produce of wool at about
4,250 packs. There are some large estates; but property is, notwith-
standing, considerably divided. Average size of farms about 150
acres. They are mostly held from year to year; but some are held
under leases, generally of 7, but in a few instances, of 10 and 14 years.
It is stated by Mr. Bachelor, in his able Report on the county (p. 41.),
that some of these leases may be cancelled on half a year's warning
being given by either landlord or tenant! Of course, it is not to be
expected that any improvements should be effected by tenants holding
under such a tenure. Farmers in the northern district said to be very
poor. Farm buildings indifferent, and, for the most part, inconve-
niently situated: they are generally kept in repair by the landlords.
Average rent of land in 1842-3, 25s. 5d. an acre. Fuller's earth
procured in the neighbourhood of Woburn. Formerly a good deal of
pillow-lace was made; but this business has here, as well as in Bucks,
been materially injured by improvements in the manufacture of Not-
tingham lace. Straw plat for hats, of a quality inferior only to that
brought from Tuscany, is made in large quantities of Dunstable, and
generally in all the southern parts of the county. Principal rivers,
Ŏuse and Ivell; the former enters the county at Turvey, on the bor-
ders of Bucks, and leaves it at St. Neot's, on the confines of Hunting-
shire. The distance between these two places, in a direct line, is from
18 to 19 miles, but the windings of the river are such, that the dis-
tance by water is above 45 miles. Bedfordshire is divided into 9
hundreds and 123 parishes. It returns 4 members to Parliament ;
viz., 2 for the county, and 2 for the borough of Bedford. Population
of county in 1841, 107,936. Sum expended for the relief of the poor
in 1844-5, 42,9347. Annual value of real property in 1815, 364,2777.,
ditto in 1842-3, 517,474/.
Eastern District.
1. Lincolnshire, a maritime county, being the second in England in
point of extent, and the first in point of husbandry: it is bounded on
the north by the æstuary of the Humber; on the east by the German
Ocean and the arm of the sea called the Wash; on the south by the
counties of Cambridge, Northampton, and Rutland; and on the west
by Leicester, Nottingham, and York. It contains 1,671,040 acres,
and is divided into the three districts of Lindsey, Kesteven and Hol-
land. The first comprises most part of the country from the Foss dyke
and the Witham north to the Humber, being fully half the county.
The soil of this district is very various. Along the coast, and in its
north-west angle, consisting of the district called the Isle of Axholme,
formed by the rivers Trent, Idle, and Ouse, there is a considerable
extent of rich marsh and fen land. The extensive tract called the
Wolds stretches from Spilsbury north to Barton on the Humber: its
soil is principally sandy loam on a chalk bottom, of very various
degrees of fertility, but now generally producing excellent crops.
From Lincoln north to Manton there is a tract of heathy ground, but
it also has been greatly improved, and is very productive. The district
LINCOLNSHIRE.
177
of Kesteven occupies the south-western part of the county. There are
some heathy and some marshy lands in this district; but, in general, it
is dry and fertile. The district of Holland occupies the remainder, or
south-eastern part, of the county round the Wash. Like the conti-
nental state of the same name, it consists almost entirely of low marsh
and fen land; the marsh being the portion nearest to the sea, and the
fen that which lies more inland. It is principally included within what
is called the Great Level of the Fens (see ante, p. 24); being defended
from the sea, and from the overflowing of the rivers, by immense em-
bankments. In a few places, the fens and marshes continue nearly in
their natural state; but in general, they have become, through the long
continued and well-directed efforts that have been made for their
drainage and improvement, sound and dry; and constitute one of the
most productive tracts in the kingdom. Round the Wash, a great deal
of very fine land has been gained, within the last 50 years, from the
sea; and the embankments are gradually extending. But, though re-
markably fertile, the marshes and fens are devoid of beauty; the water
is also, in general, brackish, and the climate far from salubrious. At
an average, Lincolnshire produces more beef and mutton than any
other county of the empire. In some parts of the marsh, the pasture
is so excellent that it will feed 6 sheep an acre, and 4 bullocks to 10
acres. Exclusive of the vast outlay on embankments and drains, im-
provements of all sorts have been prosecuted in Lincolnshire for many
years past, on a very large scale, and with a degree of enterprise and
success that has not been exceeded, if equalled, in any other county.
In the best parts of the fens and marsh under tillage, the crops chiefly
cultivated are oats and wheat: the usual rotation is, 1st, cole; 2nd,
oats; 3rd, wheat: the latter, if not sown in that course, produces too
much straw to be a profitable crop. Undoubtedly, however, the marsh
land is decidedly better fitted for grazing than for cropping; and it is
to be regretted, that the very high prices obtained for corn during the
latter years of the war should have tempted the owners and occupiers
of some pretty considerable tracts of marsh land to subject them to the
plough. This was soon found to have been a very unwise proceeding;
but it is no easy matter to get the inferior sorts of fen and marsh land,
after they have been cropped for a while, restored, in good order, to
grass. Beans are not much grown in any part of the county; but,
when resorted to, they are sown after wheat, for the same reason that
makes wheat be sown after oats; but a second oat crop is, more fre-
quently than any other, taken after wheat. The farms in the wolds and
moorish district are very extensive. Large tracts which, at no very
distant period, were entirely covered with heath and gorse, or were all
but worthless, are now in the highest state of cultivation, and yield the
finest crops. The change, indeed, has been alike striking and un-
precedented. In proof of this, we may mention that the extensive tract
of country stretching from Canwick, near Lincoln, to Swayfield, was
formerly a dreary moor, without house or habitation of any kind: to
such a degree, indeed, was this the case, that so late as the middle of
last century, a light was exhibited on a tower at Dunston, 70 feet in
height, on this moor, to serve as a guide to travellers passing at night
along the pathless waste! But, quantum mutatus! the deserted tract
VOL. I.
N
178
ENGLAND AND WALES.
on which this extraordinary, and, we believe, unique beacon, was
erected, is now one of the best cultivated in England, the farms into
which it is divided having so rich and so finished an appearance, that
they seem rather to be farmed by landlords as examples to others, than,
as is really the case, by tenants farming for a profit, and paying high
rents.*
In other parts, especially in the wolds, the improvement has
been equally great; and many thousands of acres which, at the date of
Arthur Young's last report, about 40 years since, were occupied as
rabbit-warrens, are now in the highest state of cultivation. Turnips,
wheat, barley, and oats, are all produced, particularly the first, in the
greatest abundance. This extraordinary improvement has been prin-
cipally brought about by the liberal use of bone manure, which has
been employed for a longer period, to a greater extent, and with better
effect, on the wolds and moors of Lincolnshire, than in any other part
of the kingdom. Latterly, also, it has been the practice to use great
quantities of oil-cake in the feeding of cattle, which improves the
quality at the same time that it increases the supply of manure. The
usual rotation is, 1st, turnips; 2nd, barley or oats; 3rd, seeds; 4th,
wheat. The turnip husbandry is here prosecuted on a greater scale
than in any other part of England. A single farmer (Mr. Dawson, of
Withcall, near Louth) has usually about 600 acres in turnip. He
dresses entirely with bone manure; and, since its introduction, the
crops of turnips on the wolds have become from 5 to 10 times heavier
than formerly; and the productiveness of other crops, and of the pas-
ture, has been increased in a corresponding ratio.† Large quantities of
chalk and rape dust are also laid upon the light lands; and it is the
practice in the fens to dress with clay. In consequence of the richness
of its pastures, Lincolnshire has been long celebrated for its breed of
horses, cattle, and sheep. Some of the finest dray horses seen in
London are bred in the fens. The cattle are a coarse, large sort of
short horns; but they have latterly been a good deal improved by
crossing with the Teeswater breed. The native sheep of the fens are
remarkable for their great size, and for the extraordinary length of
their wool. They have, however, been so much crossed with the new
Leicesters, that it is now difficult to meet with a Lincoln sheep of the
genuine county breed. The carcass of the present breed of sheep is
not so large, nor is their wool so long, or their fleece so heavy, as that
of the old native breed; but they are less coarse and bony, fatten
earlier, and suit the purposes of the butcher much better. The stock
of sheep in Lincolnshire is very large, being estimated at upwards of
1,800,000, of which above 1,300,000 are marsh sheep, producing
fleeces weighing 9 lbs. each at an average: the average weight of the
fleeces of the others is estimated at 6 lbs. The total produce of wool
exceeds 62,000 packs. Previously to the drainage of the fens, they
were frequented by immense numbers of aquatic wild fowl; and vast
quantities of geese were bred and reared in them. The business is now
much fallen off; but in some places it is still carried on to a consider-
* Mr. Pusey's account of the agriculture of Lincolnshire, in the 4th volume of the
Journal of the Agricultural Society.
↑ Kennedy and Grainger on the Tenancy of Land, vol. i., p. 269; British Hus-
bandry, p. 400.
LINCOLNSHIRE.
179
In
able extent. The quills and feathers are very valuable. The geese
are plucked 4 or 5 times a year; but, barbarous as this practice may
appear, the operation, when performed at the proper season, is said to
be less painful and injurious to the bird than might be supposed.
Decoys for the taking of wild ducks, teal, widgeons, &c. were also, at
one time, very common in the fens; but a few only exist at present.*
In 1844, there were 405 acres under hops. Property in Lincolnshire
very variously divided. Estates of all sizes, from 30,000l. a year down
to 57.; but the great majority small. In the island of Axholme, the
inhabitants live together in hamlets or villages, as in France, and
almost every house, except very poor cottages on the borders of com-
mons, is inhabited by the proprietor and occupier of a farm of from 1
to 50 acres; which is cultivated with the greatest care and attention.
Mr. Young says that these little proprietors are very happy; but he
adds, that he was informed that "they work like negroes, and do not
live so well as the inhabitants of a poor-house."—(Survey of Lincoln-
shire, 2nd ed. p. 20.) Size of farms as various as that of estates.
the wolds and moorish district they are, as already stated, very large;
but, taking the county at an average, the number of large ones bears
no sort of proportion to the number of those that are small. They are
generally held under leases of 7 and 14 years; but sometimes also at
will. The occupiers of large farms are distinguished by their intelli-
gence and enterprise. "I have not seen a set more liberal in any part
of the kingdom. Industrious, active, enlightened, free from all foolish
and expensive show, or pretence to imitate the gentry, they live com-
fortably and hospitably, as good farmers ought to live; and, in my
opinion, are remarkably void of those rooted prejudices which some-
times are reasonably objected to this race of men.
I met with many
who had mounted their nags, and quitted their homes, purposely to
examine other parts of the kingdom; had done it with enlarged views,
and to the benefit of their own system of cultivation."—(Young's
Survey, p. 48.) Farms in the fenny districts are but indifferently sup-
plied with offices; the walls of many of them are formed of a mixture
of stubble and clay. Cottagers, on many estates, have cows, with small
pieces of ground, and are said to be comparatively comfortable.
Average rent of land in 1842-3, 28s. an acre, having increased about
6s. an acre, since 1814-15. Manufactures and minerals of no impor-
tance. Stamford, in this county, is one of the few places which have
the custom of Borough English; that is, a custom according to which
the youngest son, if his father die intestate, succeeds to the paternal
property, to the exclusion of the elder branches. Principal rivers:
Trent, Witham, Welland, and Ancholme. The Witham has been
made navigable from Boston to Lincoln; and the Foss dyke canal ex-
tends from the latter city to the Trent, near Torksey, completing the
important internal navigation between the Wash and the Humber.
The Foss dyke canal was first excavated by the Romans; several of
whose works for embanking and draining in this county still exist, and
attest the power and sagacity of their undertakers. The Foss dyke na-
vigation was re-opened in the reign of Henry I.; and has recently been
* For an account of the breeding of geese in the fens, and of the construction of
decoys, &c., see Pennant's British Zoology, arts." Grey Lag Goose," and "Mallard.”
N 2
180
ENGLAND AND WALES.
deepened and otherwise improved. There are, also, canals from the
Witham to Horncastle and Sleaford; and from Titney Haven, on the
east coast, to Louth. Lincolnshire contains, exclusive of the three
great divisions already noticed, 33 hundreds, wapentakes, and sokes,
with the city of Lincoln, and the boroughs of Stamford, Boston, and
Grantham. It is divided into 629 parishes. It returns 13 members to
parliament; viz. 4 for the county; 2 for the city of Lincoln; 2 each
for the boroughs of Boston, Grantham, and Stamford; and 1 for Great
Grimsby. Population of county in 1841, 362,602. Sum expended for
the relief of the poor in 1844-5, 115,3757. Annual value of real pro-
perty in 1815, 2,096,6117.; ditto in 1842-3, 2,868,3397.
2. Huntingdonshire, a small inland county, surrounded by the
counties of Northampton, Cambridge, and Bedford. It contains
238,080 acres; of which 220,000 are arable, meadow, and pasture.
Surface in the western and southern parts gently varied; but the
north-eastern portion, adjoining Cambridgeshire, is mostly included
within the Great Level of the Fens. Soil various, but for the most
part very good. Such of the fens as have been properly drained are
peculiarly fertile; and, though the drainage be still in parts imperfect,
it has been most materially improved. The whole upper part of the
county was at one time a forest; but timber is now scarce. The fens
are principally devoted to grazing; the remainder of the county being
about equally divided between tillage and pasturage. Agriculture,
though improving, is not very advanced. The land in this county
and Cambridgeshire is usually ploughed in immense ridges, by which
a good deal of it is wasted; and it is, besides, very often foul and
out of order. Chief crops: wheat, oats, and beans. Rape and
mustard are both rather extensively raised. Turnips are confined
to a few elevated spots. The stock of cattle is estimated at from
9,000 to 10,000. They were formerly of mixed and generally in-
ferior breeds but recently they have been materially improved by
the introduction of short horns. In various places a good deal of very
fine cheese, and in others of butter, is made.* The stock of sheep is
estimated at about 200,000; which are supposed to produce above
4,500 packs of long-combing wool. Pigeon-houses are more abundant
in this than in any other county, except Cambridge. Fuel scarce:
the poorer inhabitants mostly burn turf and what wood they can get ;
but the latter is far from plentiful. Estates generally extensive.
Many large farms, but small ones predominate; they are mostly let
from year to year. Average rent of land, in 1842-3, 26s. 21d. an
acre. Minerals and manufactures of no importance. The Ouse
enters the county at St. Neots, flows north to Huntingdon, and then
east to St. Ives, and along the border of Cambridgeshire to Louth. It
is everywhere navigable. The Nene divides the county from North-
amptonshire. The shallow lake, called Whittlesea Mere, in the fens,
contains about 1,570 acres; but, as previously stated, a project is
*It is usually held, that Stilton cheese was first made in this county, in the parish
of Stilton, whence it took its name: but, in point of fact, it was originally made in
Leicestershire, where it continues to be produced in the greatest quantity; and de-
rived its name from its being first brought into notice at an inn on the great north
road, in the parish of Stilton.-(Youatt on Cattle, p. 208.)
CAMBRIDGESHIRE.
181
on foot for its drainage. Ramsey Mere, about half the size of the
latter, has been drained, and converted into dry arable land.—(Antè,
p. 46.) Springs are deficient; and water for household purposes is
mostly obtained from ponds. Huntingdonshire is divided into 4 hun-
dreds, exclusive of the town of Huntingdon, and 103 parishes. It
returns 4 members to Parliament, viz., 2 for the county and 2
for the borough of Huntingdon. Population of county, in 1841,
58,549. Sum expended for the relief of the poor in 1844-5, 1,0167.
Annual value of real property in 1815, 325,9647.; ditto in 1842-3,
401,6847.
3. Cambridgeshire, an inland county, is bounded north by Lincoln-
shire; east by the counties of Norfolk and Suffolk; south by those of
Essex and Hertford; and west by those of Bedford, Huntingdon, and
Northampton. It contains 548,480 acres, of which above 500,000 are
arable, meadow, and pasture. The southern and northern parts of
this county have a very different aspect. Almost the whole county
north of a line drawn from Newmarket, on the border of Suffolk, to
Connington, on the border of Huntingdonshire, is quite flat, and is,
indeed, included in the Great Level of the Fens. That part of the
fens which lies to the north of the river Ouse consists principally of
the district called the Isle of Ely, having a separate jurisdiction within
itself. The part of the county to the south of the line, already men-
tioned, has a finely diversified surface. Soil of the fens mostly rich,
black, and deep, but in some places it is clayey and sandy. In the
uplands the soil is very various; in some parts clayey and loamy, and
in others chalky, gravelly, &c. We have already noticed (antè
pp. 27, 28) the vast improvements that have been of late years effected
in the fens, of which those belonging to this county constitute a very
important portion, by the opening of new channels for the outfalls of
the Ouse and the Nene, and by the employment of steam-engines
instead of windmills to pump up the land-water into the main drains.
In consequence, most part of the Cambridgeshire fens has become
firm and dry land, and in extensive tracts, where, a few years ago,
there was little save stagnant pools, sedge, and rushes, there are now
superb pastures and heavy crops of oats and wheat. The healthiness
of the district has increased with its productiveness, the inhabitants
having become comparatively free from marsh-fever and ague. The
population has, also, been considerably augmented, partly, no doubt,
from the increased salubrity, but more perhaps from the greater de-
mand for labour, occasioned by the drainage and culture of the fens.
About a third part of the county is under tillage, which is very similar
to that of Huntingdonshire. Besides oats and wheat, potatoes and cole
are extensively grown in the fens; the latter not for the sake of its
seed, but to serve as green food for sheep. Considerable quantities of
hemp and flax are also raised in the fens. All sorts of corn crops,
but more especially barley, with turnips, are produced in the more
elevated districts. Great numbers of cattle, and of long-wooled sheep,
are grazed in the fens; and the southern part of the county, par-
ticularly the valley of the Cam, along the banks of which are some
very fine meadows, has been long famous for its dairies. The butter
of Cambridgeshire is reckoned equal to almost any made anywhere in
182
ENGLAND AND WALES.
England; it goes mostly to London, where it is sold as Epping butter.
The large thin cream cheese, made in Cottenham and the immediately
contiguous parishes, is highly esteemed. Its superiority is not said to
be owing to any particular management in the dairies, but to the
nature of the herbage. Heavy dray and cart-horses are extensively
bred. The stock of sheep was estimated some years ago at about
110,000, of which about 42,000 were long-wooled, producing fleeces
of the average weight of 8 lbs. each; but the number has been since,
most probably, greatly increased. The rest of the sheep are short-
wooled, and are kept principally in the south-eastern part of the
county, where there are some extensive sheep-walks. There is a
pigeon-house on almost every farm; the produce of a single "pigeonry"
frequently exceeds 100,000 dozens a-year! Some large estates; the
greatest part of the county in estates from 2007. to 500l. and 1,000l.
a-year: many worth from 20l. to 50l., and even 400l. a-year, occu-
pied by their owners. Size of farms very various; mostly from 20 to
100 acres; but there are many from 100 to 1,000 acres, but few above
the latter number. The tenants chiefly hold at will: when a lease is
granted, it is generally only for four or five years, which is even a
worse tenure than the other. Much of what is backward in the state
of agriculture in this county and Huntingdon may be traced to the
want of properly framed leases of a reasonable length. Farm-houses
and offices generally inferior; cottages said to be, for the most part,
"wretchedly bad." Average rent of land, in 1810, 16s. 64d., and,
in 1842–3, 28s. 2 d. an acre, being a rise of no less than 11s. 8d. an
acre in the interval; a consequence, principally, of the better drainage
of the fens, but partly, also, of improvements in agriculture. Minerals
and manufactures unimportant. Principal rivers: Ouse, Cam or
Granta, and Nene or Nen. The old and new Bedford rivers are im-
mense artificial cuts for the drainage of the fens, but the old one is now
nearly choked up; the waters of the Ouse run, for a part of its course,
principally in the latter. The town of Cambridge is the seat of one
of the great English universities, and is united to London by the North
Eastern Counties Railway. The county is divided into 14 hundreds,
exclusive of the Isle of Ely, the city of Ely, and the borough and
university of Cambridge, and contains 167 parishes. Cambridgeshire
returns 7 members to Parliament, viz., 3 for the county, 2 for the
university, and 2 for the borough of Cambridge. Population of
county in 1841, 164,459. Sum expended for the relief of the poor
in 1844-5, 74,5377. Annual value of real property assessed in 1815,
705,3721.; ditto in 1842-3, 1,102,4157.
4. Norfolk, a maritime county, is bounded on the north and north-
east by the German Ocean; on the south and south-east by Suffolk;
and on the west and north-west by the counties of Cambridge and
Lincoln, and the great arm of the sea called the Wash. It contains
1,295,360 acres, of which nearly 1,200,000 are supposed to be arable,
meadow, and pasture. Surface generally flat. There is not, in fact,
a single hill, of a medium size, to be seen in the whole county; but in
some places there are gentle swells and depressions. The soil varies
from the richest marsh land, clay and loam, to the lightest sand; but
sandy loam is the most prevalent. The marsh land lies principally
NORFOLK.
183
in the western part of the county, contiguous to Lincolnshire and
Cambridgeshire, forming part of the Great Level of the Fens (antè
p. 24.); but there is also a considerable extent of very rich marsh or
fen land, extending from Yarmouth as far west as Brundall, and north
to Mundsley, on the coast; within this district there are several
shallow lakes. In the north-western angle of the county, the soil
consists of a sandy loam; and it is here that the peculiar system of
agriculture, known by the name of the "Norfolk husbandry," is chiefly
practised. The country from Thetford north to Castle Acre, has a
poor, very light, sandy soil, bare of vegetation, and occupied mostly
by heaths, sheep-walks, and warrens. The soil of the rest, or middle
part, of the county consists of various descriptions of loam, some clayey
and wet, but the greater portion sandy, dry, and suitable to the turnip
husbandry. There is in most parts of the county inexhaustible supplies
of excellent marl. The climate is dry and early; but the easterly
winds are prevalent and severe in the spring. Norfolk, which is
naturally a poor county, has been more improved than any other
district in England, Lincolnshire excepted. Previously to the reign
of George II., the largest portion of the north-west part of the county,
which is at present the most improved, consisted of wastes, sheep-walks,
and warrens of very little value. These were converted into highly
productive arable land by inclosing, marling, and the aid of the turnip
husbandry. Lord Viscount Townshend did more to promote these
improvements, and in particular to introduce the turnip culture, the
corner stone of the Norfolk system, than any other individual. The
leading improvements, in more modern times, have principally con-
sisted in the adoption of the drill husbandry, the better rotation of
crops, the better selection and management of sheep and cattle, the
better drainage of the fens by the substitution of steam engines for
windmills, and the claying of fenny and mossy lands. It is admitted,
on all hands, that this county was formerly the best cultivated in
England; and, if we except Lincoln and some of the best parts of
Northumberland, "it undoubtedly excels every other county, both in
the neatness and the condition of the soil."—(Tenancy of Land, vol. i.,
p. 288.) Barley is the principal corn crop. The usual rotation is,
1st, turnips; 2nd, barley; 3rd, clover, or clover and rye-grass; and
4th, wheat: the seeds, in general, do not remain longer down than a
year. Some farmers, particularly in the marsh land on the east coast,
take a crop of pease or barley after the wheat; but it is a bad system,
and is not followed by any good farmer in other parts of the county.
Turnips form the basis of the Norfolk husbandry; and, in conjunction
with marl, may be said "to have made the county." Tenants are in
general so restricted that they cannot injure the land by over cropping.
In other counties the principle of not taking two white crops in suc-
cession is approved, but here it is rigorously and systematically fol-
lowed, except in the marshes. On some estates, no oats are allowed to
be sown, but only barley, the latter being supposed to be less inju-
rious to the land. Norfolk is, indeed, by far the greatest barley
county in the empire. Ploughing wholly executed by ploughs drawn
by 2 horses or 2 oxen. Threshing-machines in pretty general use.
The grazing husbandry of Norfolk is very inferior to the arable. Mr.
184
ENGLAND AND WALES.
Young says, that meadows and pastures are nowhere worse managed
(Survey of Norfolk, p. 370); but the management has been materially
improved since he wrote. The Galloway breed of cattle has been
naturalised in Norfolk, and is now the prevailing breed there and in
Suffolk. The Galloways have gained in size since they were natura-
lised; but they are not so well-proportioned, do not fatten so easily,
nor is their meat so good as in their native province. Besides those
raised at home, vast quantities of Scotch cattle are annually purchased
at the great fairs in Norfolk, to be stall-fed, and otherwise fattened, for
the markets of the metropolis, which derive a large part of their sup-
plies of butchers' meat from this county and Suffolk. The native sheep
of Norfolk are hardy, active, small horned, with a black nose and feet,
their fleeces weighing about 2 lbs., and their mutton much esteemed.
Mr. Kent and Mr. Marshall supposed them to be better suited than
any other breed to the county; but they have not stood their ground,
and are now nearly superseded, partly by the South Downs, and partly
by Lincolns and Leicesters. At present the stock of sheep sup-
posed to amount to 750,000, and the total annual produce of wool
to about 15,000 packs. Vast quantities of excellent turkeys are
reared in Norfolk and Suffolk: and, besides those sent by other
conveyances, at Christmas the railway coaches from these counties
to London, are laden with turkeys. Pheasants and partridges
are also very abundant; as are rabbits on the sandy grounds north of
Thetford. Geese are still raised on some of the fens. Estates of all
sizes from 30,000l. a-year downwards. Farms mostly large.
"Great
farms have been the soul of Norfolk culture: split them into tenures
of 100l. a-year, you will find nothing but beggars and weeds in the
whole county. No small farmers could effect such great things as
have been done in Norfolk. Inclosing, marling, and keeping a stock
of sheep large enough for folding, belong absolutely and exclusively to
great farmers."—(Young's Eastern Tour, vol. ii., p. 161.) Leases for
21 years were formerly general; and Mr. Young justly considers the
security inspired by such a tenure as having contributed powerfully to
the progress of improvement. At present, however, the usual leases
are 7 or 14 years; but the late Earl of Leicester, one of the principal
proprietors, and the greatest improver in the county, always granted.
leases of 21 years; and this conduct, which was alike judicious and
liberal, promoted, in no ordinary degree, the superior order of his
estate. Farm buildings generally good. Barns larger than anywhere
else in the kingdom. Average rent of land in 1810, 14s. 4 d., and in
1842-3, 25s. 4 d. an acre, being a rise of 11s. an acre in the interval!
The woollen manufacture, particularly the worsted branch, has been
long extensively carried on in this county, especially at Norwich.
Various descriptions of silk goods, such as silk and woollen shawls,
poplins, satins, crapes, &c., are also manufactured here. But these
branches are rather on the wane, in consequence of the competition of
Bradford, Paisley, &c., which enjoy the important advantage of com-
paratively cheap coal. Principal rivers: Great Ouse, Nen, Little
Ouse, Waveney, Yare, Wensum, and Bure. A water communica-
tion, intended to admit vessels drawing 10 feet, has been opened
between Norwich and Lowestoff, on the coast of Suffolk. It consists
SUFFOLK.
185
partly of artificial cuts, and partly of the channel of the river Yare,
which has been deepened and improved, but it has not answered so
well as was anticipated. Norfolk contains 33 hundreds, and no fewer
than 731 parishes. It returns 12 members to parliament, viz.: 4 for
the county, 2 for the city of Norwich, and 2 each for the boroughs of
King's Lynn, Thetford, and Yarmouth. Population of county in 1841,
412,664. Sum expended for the relief of the poor in 1844–5, 174,430l.
Annual value of real property in 1815, 1,516,651l., ditto in 1842-3,
2,327,3717.
5. Suffolk, a maritime county, is bounded on the north by Norfolk ;
on the east, by the German Ocean; on the south, by Essex; and, on
the west, by Cambridgeshire. It contains 969,600 acres, of which
820,000 are supposed to be arable, meadow, and pasture. Surface
generally flat. Soil various: that of the middle and most extensive
districts consists principally of a strong loam on a clay-marl bottom.
The district bounded by the rivers Stour, Orwell, and Brett, south
from Burstall, is a very rich loam of extraordinary fertility. The
maritime district, lying along the east coast, consists of sandy loam
and sand, which, in some places, is covered with heath. The soil in
the north-western parts is comparatively poor, consisting partly of
sand and partly of peat. On the whole, Suffolk is not inferior, in
respect of natural fertility, to any county in the kingdom. The climate
is dry; but frosts are severe, and in spring the north-east winds are
sharp and prevalent. Tillage husbandry is prosecuted in Suffolk with
great skill, spirit, and success. Ploughing, in every part of the county,
is performed as in Scotland, by a pair of horses driven by the plough-
man, and is extremely well executed. Fallowing is uniformly practised
on the heavy lands. These, also, are particularly adapted for the
growth of beans, which, as well as peas, are extensively cultivated.
Turnips not so extensively grown as in Norfolk, being principally
raised on the borders of Cambridgeshire. On clover leys, wheat is
very generally planted by the dibble; but, where the land will admit,
all sorts of grain, as well as turnips, are drilled. Arthur Young
ascribes a great part of the improvement of Suffolk to the avoiding of
spring ploughing. Most part of the land in beans, peas, tares, &c., is
now drilled without any ploughing, being merely scarified and scuffled so
as to be rendered fine enough for the drill to work. The usual rotation
in the turnip land is, 1st. turnips; 2nd, barley; 3rd, seeds; 4th,
wheat: on the heavy lands, 1st, fallow; 2nd, wheat; 3rd, seeds or
beans; 4th, wheat: when the 3rd is seeds, beans or oats come in 5th.
Hemp has been cultivated for a very long period, and is reckoned of
the finest quality. Carrots are a good deal grown; and hops are
raised in the vicinity of Stowmarket. Suffolk is famous for its breeds
of horses, cattle, and hogs. The horses are called punches; and are,
as the term implies, short and compact, being well fitted for regular
farm work. The cattle have sprung from the Galloways, many of
which are fattened in the county. Like their progenitors they are
polled, and rather small sized. At present the favourite colours are
red, red and white, brindled, and a yellowish cream colour. Dun
colour is now generally regarded as a mark of inferiority. They are
better suited than the Galloways for the dairy, being excellent milkers.
186
ENGLAND AND WALES.
The produce of butter, is not, however, supposed to be in proportion
to the milk, though it is also very considerable. Arthur Young
supposed that about 40,000 firkins of butter were annually sent from
Suffolk to London (Survey, 2nd ed., p. 204); and, as the management
of cows is now better understood, and more attended to, the quantity
may, at present, be increased to 50,000 or 55,000 firkins. Arthur
Young estimated the stock of sheep in the county at 240,000; but,
according to Messrs. Luccock and Hubbard, it amounts to about
500,000, producing annually from 9,000 to 10,000 packs of wool.
Ipswich sheep fair is one of the most extensive in the kingdom.
Warrens were formerly numerous in the sandy district, but they are now
much diminished. Property much divided; a good deal in the hands
of respectable yeomen, who cultivate their own estates. Farms
generally large, but many small. They are usually let on lease for 7
or 14 years.
Tenants mostly restrained from exceeding 3 corn crops
to a fallow; but, in other respects, they are left pretty much at
liberty. Farm buildings indifferent. Cottages generally bad. Average
rent of land in 1842-3, 23s. 8d. an acre, being 6s. 8d. an acre above
its rent in 1814-15. Minerals of no importance. This county was
formerly celebrated for its manufactures, particularly those of wool;
but they are now much decayed. Mixed silk and worsted stuffs are
still, however, manufactured at Sudbury, Gainsford, and other places.
Gun flints are made in large quantities at Brandon. There is a con-
siderable manufacture of stays at Ipswich. Suffolk is well watered,
being intersected by the rivers Orwell, Deben, Ald, Blythe, and Lark.
It is separated from Essex by the Stour. Suffolk is divided into 21
hundreds and 510 parishes. It returns 9 members to parliament,
viz.: 4 for the county; 2 each for the boroughs of Bury St.
Edmunds and Ipswich,; and 1 for the borough of Eye and the con-
tiguous parishes. Population of county in 1841, 315,073. Many
houses of industry have been erected for the support of the poor; but
they seem to have wholly failed in their object, there being few coun-
ties in England in which the poor are so numerous or the rates so heavy.
Sum expended for the relief of the poor in 1844–5, 145,8097. Annual
value of real property in 1815, 1,151,305.; ditto in 1842-3, 1,717,3257.
6. Essex, a maritime county, is bounded on the north by the counties
of Suffolk and Cambridge; on the east by the German Ocean; on the
south by the Thames, which separates it from Kent; and on the west
by Middlesex and Herts. It contains 981,120 acres, of which 900,000
are arable, meadow, and pasture. The face of the country is generally
flat, and, though not destitute of hills or eminences, they nowhere rise
to any considerable elevation. Soil in most parts loamy, and more
generally heavy than light. In the north-west corner of the county,
near Saffron Walden, there is a small tract of chalk land, and along the
Thames and the sea there is a considerable extent of very rich marsh
land. The remains of the ancient forests of Epping and Hainault are
situated in the south-western corner of the county. The remaining
unenclosed woods and wastes in them both may amount to from 10,000
to 12,000 acres. East winds in spring are severe. In the low grounds,
along the sea, and in the heavy clays, fogs, particularly in autumn, are
very prevalent; and formerly they used to be seldom free from ague.
ESSEX.
187
But such has been the effect of cultivation, of an improved system of
drainage, and of the sinking of Artesian wells, by which an abundant
supply of good water has been obtained for domestic purposes, that the
low grounds are now about as healthy as the more elevated parts of
the county. Tillage husbandry is in a much more forward state than
in many other counties. Wheat and barley the principal corn crops.
In many parts the soil is not suited to turnips; but they are very
generally raised on the soils adapted to their culture. On light loams
the usual rotation is, 1st, turnips; 2nd, barley or oats; 3rd, seeds; 4th,
wheat; and 5th, tares for feed: after which they make a clean fallow
for wheat or barley again, and, if a crop of peas or beans be taken,
instead of sowing tares for feed, a slight dressing of dung is generally
laid on the clover ley for wheat. On the stiff heavy loams, where
turnips cannot be grown, the usual rotation is, 1st, fallow; 2nd, oats or
wheat; 3rd, clover; 4th, wheat or oats; 5th, beans; 6th, wheat. But
there are thousands of acres in Essex that are fallowed alternately, year
after year, half the arable land being under a dead summer fallow! It
is believed, however, that this system would be materially improved by
the occasional substitution of beans for fallows, and by other modifica-
tions.*
Chalk, either by itself or mixed with other substances, is
applied to all the heavy clays, and has done more than any thing else to
make them porous and to increase their fertility. The quality of Essex
wheat is very superior. Mr. Vancouver estimated the produce per acre,
of the lands under wheat in the county, at 244 bushels. Mr. Young's
estimate was 25 bushels, and we believe it may now be safely esti-
mated at 35 bushels. According to Mr. Howlett, Essex sent annually
to the metropolis 250,000 quarters of wheat and 150,000 quarters of
malt; but this estimate was formed many years ago, and the exports of
wheat have been largely increased in the interval.-( Young's Survey,
vol. i., p. 389.) Potatoes, owing in some degree, perhaps, to the vicinity
of London, are more generally cultivated in this than in any other
southern county. Hops in a few places; coriander and carraway,
mustard, saffron (in the neighbourhood of Saffron Walden), and some
other articles of inferior importance, are raised in this county. Essex
has no particular breed of cattle. The suckling of calves, the dairy
and grazing businesses, are all carried on to a considerable extent. The
suckling farmers procure calves chiefly from the London and Suffolk
dairies, and some from the Essex dairies. They are bought in at from
10 to 14 days' old, and, being fattened for about three months, are
slaughtered for the supply of the London markets. The principal dairy
farms are at or in the neighbourhood of Epping, so famous for its
butter. The grazing business is chiefly confined to the marsh lands, the
principal stock fed on them being Welsh and Scotch runts. Lincolns,
Leicesters, Southdowns, and most other breeds of sheep, are met with;
but the Southdown is the most prevalent. The total stock has been
estimated at about 520,000, and the annual produce of wool at 8,650
packs. A good many hogs are kept. The Berkshire is the favourite
breed in the southern parts, but in the northern there is every variety
of mixture. Mr. Young says that the late Lord Western's breed of hogs
* Kennedy and Grainger on the Tenancy of Land, vol. i. p. 208; Young's Survey,
vol. i. pp. 201–213.
188
ENGLAND AND WALES.
owners.
was by far the finest he saw in Essex; they are not, however, peculiar
to his lordship's farm, but are pretty general in the county, though little
known elsewhere.-( Young's Survey, vol. ii., p. 341.) Suffolk horses
are favourites in Essex. Except upon the very heavy land, which re-
quires 3, more than 2 horses are rarely seen in a plough. Property is
very differently divided, there being estates of all sizes, from 11. and 51.
up to 25,000l. a-year; but there are few counties in which there are
so many small and moderate sized farms in the occupation of their
Some of the hired farms in this county are amongst the largest
in the empire. Even so early as 1767, Mr. Young found some of
above 1,000/., 1,500l., and even 2,000l. a-year of rent. Perhaps, how-
ever, the number of the very large farms has diminished, and they are
now met with only in the maritime districts. But, taking the county
at an average, the size of farms is by no means great, varying
perhaps from 150 to 200 acres. Here, as in every other part of
England, the best management, best stock, and the most improved and
efficient implements, are uniformly met with on the larger farms.
Leases less frequent now than formerly; those granted are for 7 and
14 years: some hold under running leases, renewable every 7 years.
Farm-buildings mostly good and commodious. Mr. Young (Survey,
i. 72,) estimated the average rent of the county, in 1807, at 20s. an
acre; but this was fully 3s. an acre beyond the mark, it being only
18s. 51d. an acre in 1810. In 1814-15 it amounted to 22s. 7‡ď.
an acre; and such has been the progress of improvement in the interval,
that the rent in 1842-3 had increased to 26s. 31d. an acre. Minerals
of little importance. At Purfleet, on the Thames, there are very
extensive lime and chalk quarries; but the greater part of the chalk
used by the Essex farmers is brought from Kent. Manufactures, par-
ticularly of baize, were formerly carried on upon a large scale at
Colchester, Coggeshall, and other places; but they are now much
decayed, and have not been replaced by new ones of any importance.
Besides the Thames, the Lea, and the Stour, which bound Essex on
the south, the west, and the north, it is intersected by the rivers Roding,
Crouch, Chelmer, Blackwater, Colne, &c. These rivers, as well as
the Stour, have all, with the exception of the Roding, spacious havens,
and are navigable to a considerable distance. Some of the rivers of
Essex, particularly the Crouch and the Blackwater, are famous both
for the breeding and feeding of oysters. A great number of boats
are employed in carrying lean or half-fed oysters from Jersey, Ports-
mouth, and other places, to the beds or feeding-grounds, and in
conveying the oysters, when fattened, to London and other places.
Essex is divided into 14 hundreds, 5 half hundreds, and a royal liberty,
and into 406 parishes. It returns 10 members to parliament, viz., 4
for the county, and 2 each for the boroughs of Colchester, Harwich,
and Maldon. Population of county in 1841, 344,979. Sum expended
for the relief of the poor in 1844-5,168,25171. Annual value of real
property in 1815, 1,584,108l.; ditto in 1842-3, 1,935,610/.*
* Mr. Howlett, vicar of Dunmow, in Essex, well known by his excellent pam-
phlets on Population, the Poor, Tithes, &c., was employed by the Board of Agricul-
ture to draw up a Survey of Essex. He made considerable progress in the under-
taking, but unfortunately died before he had brought it to a close. Mr. Young
HERTFORDSHIRE.
189
7. Hertfordshire, an inland county, is bounded on the north by
Cambridgeshire, on the east by Essex, on the south by Middlesex, and
on the west by Bucks and Bedford. Its northern and western frontier
is very irregular, and a detached portion at Coleshill is surrounded
entirely by Bucks. It contains 403,200 acres, of which about 350,000
are said to be arable, meadow, and pasture. This is a very pleasing
county. One of the great chalk-hill ranges runs along its northern
frontier; the rest of its surface is diversified with hills and valleys, and,
as it possesses a great number of gentlemen's seats and thriving planta-
tions, it has a rich and highly ornamented appearance. It contains,
according to Arthur Young, about 148,000 acres of sandy and flinty
loam, 90,000 acres of clay, 47,000 acres of chalk, and about 17,000
acres gravel.* The best of the loamy soils is the sandy vale from
Cheshunt to Hoddesdon. The clay soils lie principally on the eastern,
but partly, also, on the western side of the county. The gravelly tract
lies around Hatfield, North Mims, &c.; it is very poor and unpro-
ductive. Substratum generally chalk. By far the largest portion of
the county is in tillage. Principal crops wheat and barley, the quality
of both being reckoned particularly good. Indeed, many thousand
quarters of wheat are annually sold in the London markets as the
produce of Herts, though brought from other counties. Turnips have
been long pretty extensively cultivated in this county; but not so skil-
fully or successfully as in some others. In point of agricultural
management, Herts does not stand high. "The land is, in general,
ploughed very shallow, and is, in many parts, extremely foul; it is
now much more the practice to take three crops to a fallow than two.
The rotation generally is, 1st, fallow; 2nd, wheat; 3rd, seeds; 4th,
wheat; 5th, oats; or, 4th, beans; 5th, wheat. The sowing of the
corn, in many parts, reflects but little credit on the seedsman." (Ken-
nedy and Grainger, vol. i., p. 239.) Large quantities of hay are pro-
duced; and its quality is reckoned superior. In the south-western
parts there are a good many apple and cherry orchards; and, in a few
places, hops are raised. Few cattle are raised or fed in Herts; it being
found more profitable to employ the grass land in the production of
hay. A good many sheep are, however, prepared for the butcher;
the stock in the county having been estimated at 277,000, and the
produce of wool at 6,000 packs. Property much divided. Few large
estates. Farms of various sizes, but not generally large. Leases, when
granted, are usually for 7 or 14 years. Average rent of land in
1842-3, 21s. 83d. an acre. The manufactures of Herts are not of
much consequence. A good deal of straw-plat is made in the vicinity of
Berkhampstead, Stevenage, St. Albans, &c. Silk and cotton are spun
and ribands made at Tring, Watford, St. Albans, &c. Paper is ma-
nufactured on a large scale, and in the most approved manner, near
Rickmansworth and Watford. The malting business is extensively
prosecuted at Ware, Hitchen, and other towns. Except chalk, the
minerals are of no importance. The river Lea runs through the
middle of the county, and it is also watered by the Rib, Beane, Colne,
embodied the fragments left by Mr. Howlett in his work on Essex, which, in conse◄
quence, is one of the best of the class to which it belongs.
* This can only be considered as a very rude approximation; Mr. Young having
materially underrated the extent of the county.
190
ENGLAND AND WALES.
Gad, &c. The Stort bounds it for a considerable distance on the
east. The London and Birmingham Railway and the Grand Junction
Canal pass along its western borders. Herts contains 8 hundreds and
135 parishes. It returns 7 members to parliament, viz., 3 for the
county, and 2 each for the boroughs of Hertford and St. Albans.
Population of county in 1841, 157,207. Sum expended for the
relief of the poor in 1844-5, 63,3381. Annual value of real property
in 1815, 583,6577.; ditto in 1842-3, 849,7947.
•
8. Middlesex, the metropolitan county, is bounded on the east by
the Lea, which separates it from Essex; on the north by the county
of Hertford; on the west by Bucks; and on the south by the Thames,
which separates it from Surrey and Kent. It is one of the smallest
counties, containing only 180,480 acres; of which 150,000 are arable,
meadow, and pasture. Surface greatly diversified. The highest
eminences are those of Hampstead, Highgate, and Harrow-on-the
Hill. Soil various; and for the most part, at least in the vicinity of
London, gravelly, and of little natural fertility, but enriched by the
vast quantities of manure that have been laid on it. A tract of fine
rich sandy loam stretches along the Thames from London to Isleworth ;
and there is a good deal of strong loam in the hundred of Thorn,
between Pinner on the north and Northcote on the south. Some of
the meadows along the Lea are exceedingly productive. Enfield
Chase, in the north-east corner of the county, has been mostly en-
closed and cultivated; but the greater part of Hounslow Heath, in its
opposite or south-west angle, still continues in a state of nature.
There are, also, some considerable commons in various parts of the
county. Though variable, the climate is good. In London, in
November and December, there are frequently very dense fogs. The
temperature of the air in the city and its vicinity is a good deal
affected by the immense number of fires; and, when dry, the atmo-
sphere is always loaded with smoke and other impurities. But, not-
withstanding these defects, and the deleterious influence of cold,
biting, north-east winds in March, April, and May, there are few, if
any, large cities so healthy as London. It owes this distinction partly
to its being mostly built on a dry soil, shelving to the river; partly
to the excellence of its drainage, the liberal supply of water, and the
general attention to cleanliness; and partly to the ebb and flow of the
tide in the Thames, which scours its channel, and sweeps away every
sort of filth and impurity, bringing with it constant supplies of fresh
air as well as fresh water. Only a very small part of Middlesex is in
tillage and garden ground; and, contrary to what might have been
anticipated, there are few counties less advanced in agriculture. The
old rotation used to be, fallow, wheat, and barley, or fallow, wheat,
and beans sown broad-cast. But turnips and potatoes on the light,
and drilled beans on the heavy soils, are now frequently substituted
for fallows. The farming implements are generally bad; and it is
said to be impossible to get any made on new or improved principles
by the country artificers: the plough in common use is heavy, clumsy,
and, in fact, barbarous; nor is it uncommon to see ploughs at work
drawn by four, five, and six horses, with a ploughman and two drivers!
The rich ground along the Thames, from Kensington to Isleworth, is
principally occupied by market-gardeners and nurserymen, and con-
MIDDLESEX.
191
Leases
tributes largely to the supply of the London markets with fruit and
vegetables. By far the largest portion of the county is in grass; the
management of which, particularly as respects the making of hay, is
extremely well understood. Exclusive of the rich meadows along the
Lea, and in other parts, about 70,000 acres are said to consist of
upland meadows and pastures.--(Middleton's Middlesex, 2nd edit.
p. 284.) Breeding and fattening are, however, but little practised;
the farmers having it in their power to turn their grass and hay to
much better account, by selling them to the cow-feeders and stable-
keepers of the metropolis. The consumption of hay and corn by horses
is quite immense; and there are supposed to be at least 12,000 cows
in the dairies of the metropolis and its vicinity: they are all short-
horned. Few dairymen breed from their cows, which are fattened and
sold as soon as their milk dries. The number of sheep bred and kept
in the county is but inconsiderable. The feeding of house-lambs, as a
luxury, in the winter months, used to be extensively practised by the
Middlesex farmers. The lambs thus fed are the produce of Dorset-
shire ewes, which are made to drop their young about Michaelmas.
But the suckling system has been successfully tried in the counties at
a greater distance from town, and has, in consequence, fallen off in its
vicinity. Property, as is usual in the vicinity of all large towns, is
very much subdivided. A few farms extend to from 500 to 600
acres, and a good many are about 200; but, at an average of
the county, their size is not supposed to exceed 100 acres.
pretty general, mostly for 14 and 21 years. Old farm-houses and
buildings principally of wood, and thatched; but those more recently
erected are generally constructed of brick, and covered with tiles.
Owing to the preponderance of meadow land, but few buildings are
required on the farms. Average rent of land, in 1814-15, 57s. 4 d.
an acre: whereas, in 1842-3, it is reported to be only 42s. 11d. an
acre; but we apprehend there must be some mistake in the returns,
and that this extraordinary decline is more apparent than real, being
most likely occasioned by the Commissioners of Income Tax having
omitted to assess some of the smaller properties, which were invariably
assessed under the old Act. Minerals of no importance. In some
places near London vast quantities of earth and clay have been dug up
and converted into bricks; in most instances to the great advantage
of the owners. Middlesex is extremely well watered. Its southern
frontier, which is very irregular, is bounded throughout its whole
extent, from the East India Docks to Staines, by the Thames.
the east it has the Lea, which is also navigable. On the west it is
partly bounded and partly intersected by the Colne. The Brent rises
near Barnet, and, flowing through the county, falls into the Thames at
Brentford. The Grand Junction Canal enters Middlesex near Hare-
field, in its north-western angle, and, passing Uxbridge, unites with
the Thames at Brentford. A branch from this canal has been carried
to Paddington, on the western side of the metropolis; and has thence
been continued, by the Regent's Canal, round the northern and
eastern skirts of the city, to the Thames at Limehouse. Middlesex is
divided into 6 hundreds, exclusive of the metropolitan divisions, and
contains 197 parishes. It returns 14 members to Parliament, viz.,
On
192
ENGLAND AND WALES.
2 for the county, 4 for the city of London, 2 for the city of West-
minster, 2 for Marylebone district, 2 for Finsbury ditto, and 2 for the
Tower Hamlets. Principal towns and population, in 1841,-London
city, within and without the walls, 125,008; Westminster city,
222,053; Marylebone district, 138,164; Finsbury district, 185,174;
Tower Hamlets, 428,078; Chelsea, 40,179. Population of county
in 1841, 1,576,636. Sum expended for the relief of the poor in
1844-5, 291,6697. Annual value of real property in 1815, 5,765,3747.;
ditto in 1842-3, 11,345,851.
London, for many ages the metropolis of England, and now of the
British empire, stands principally on the north bank of the Thames in
this county. It is said by Tacitus to have been, in the days of Nero,
copiâ negotiatorum et commeatuum maximé celebre. (Annal. lib. xiv.
§ 33.) From this remote epoch it has continued to be a place of
great trade, magnitude, and importance. Its increase, in modern times,
has been quite astonishing. We believe it is now the most populous,
as it certainly is the richest and most commercial city that ever ex-
isted. No situation could be more happily chosen. Though 45 miles
from the sea, London enjoys, owing to its position on the Thames, all
the advantages of an excellent sea-port; vessels of 800 tons burden
coming up the river almost to London Bridge. (See antè, p. 33.)
Had it been built lower down, it would have been less healthy, and
more exposed to hostile attacks; and, had it been higher up, it would
have been deprived of the inestimable advantage of a deep-water har-
bour. An infinite number of trades and professions are carried on in
London; and, owing to the ample field afforded for the display of
superior skill and ingenuity, and the intense competition that exists in
every department, its tradesmen and artificers are amongst the best
and most expert of any in the world. With the exception, however, of
that of silk, which is prosecuted to a considerable extent in Spitalfields,
and hat-making, but few branches of industry, coming under the
usual denomination of manufactures, are carried on in the city.
the artizans, the coach-makers, harness-makers, watch-makers, cabinet-
makers, cutlers, printers, engravers, jewellers, mathematical and optical
instrument makers, &c., are believed peculiarly to excel in their
respective departments. We subjoin a classified account, taken from
the Population Returns of 1841, of the persons that were then engaged
in some of the principal trades and professions carried on in the
metropolis (See page 193.)
Of
The breweries and distilleries, in the metropolis and its vicinity, are
of great extent and importance. Notwithstanding its vast size, the
markets of London are copiously furnished, at reasonable prices, with
every article of necessity, convenience, and luxury; the supply of the
most perishable articles being adjusted to the demand with a regularity
and precision that must, à priori, have appeared incredible. With the
exception of butcher's meat, most part of the bulky articles made use
of in London is conveyed to her markets either by internal navigation,
or by the sea. Coal is brought almost wholly by the latter, from the
north, a small portion only being derived from Staffordshire by inland
carriage. It is impossible, indeed, that London should ever have
attained to anything like her present size but for her command of
MIDDLESEX.
193
Males.
20 Years
of Age
and
Under
20 Years
of
20 Years
of Age
and
Females.
Under
20 Years
Total.
of
upwards.
Age.
upwards.
Age.
Baker
7,866
925
308
11
9,110
Blacksmith
5,923
756
32
5
6,716
Bookseller, Bookbinder, and
Publisher.
3,534
515
1,109
341
5,499
Boot and Shoemaker
22,400
2,457
3,157
560
28,574
Bricklayer
6,270
449
24
6,743
Brush and Broom-maker
1,461
222
372
100
2,155
Butcher
•
5,502
814
134
6.450
Cabinet-maker and Upholsterer
6,497
764
655
57
7,973
Carpenter and Joiner
16,965
1,273
83
18,321
Clerk (Commercial)
17,299
3,056
55
Clock and Watchmaker
3,700
523
63
Coachmaker (all branches).
3,821
372
58
745
20,417
4,290
4,256
Cooper
•
3,058
369
22
3.489
Currier and Leather-seller.
2,095
195
37
1
2,328
Dressmaker and Milliner
107
10
17,183
3,480
20,780
Dyer, Silk
•
206
20
4
1
231
Engineer and Engine Worker
3,642
503
5
1
4,151
Fishmonger and Ďealer
1,604
139
119
4
1,866
Grocer and Tea Dealer.
3,944
475
560
7
4,986
Hatter and Hat Manufacturer)
(all branches).
2,600
219
556
131
3,506
Jeweller, Goldsmith, and Sil-
versmith
3,421
478
67
5
3,971
•
Laundry-keeper, Washer, and
Mangler
195
11
15,549
465
16,220
Mason, Paviour, and Stone-
cutter
3,182
282
7
3,471
Merchant (General).
3,831
39
20
3,890
Milkseller and Cowkeeper
·
2,003
73
670
18
2,764
Painter, Plumber, and Glazier.
10,513
914
75
5
11,507
Plasterer
•
2,321
265
12
1
boy.
Porter, Messenger, and Errand- 10,282
2,599
2,726
79
16
13,103
Printer
5,533
1,020
59
6
6,618
Saddler, and Harness and Col-1
lar-maker
1,923
189
50
9
2,171
Seaman
6,566
436
7,002
Servant, Domestic
29,595
9,705
Silk Manufacturer (all branches)}
See also Silk Dyer
3,595
440
95,916
2,566
33,485 168,701
550
7,151
Surgeon, Apothecary, and Medi-
cal Student
3,909
312
4,221
Tailor and Breeches-maker
18,513
1,752 2,795
457
23,517
Tavern-keeper, Publican, and
Victualler.
4,290
60
502
9
4,861
Tobacconist, and Tobacco and
Snuff Manufacturer
1,396
309
333
22
2,060
•
Warehouseman and Woman
Wheelwright
3,400
376
54
4
3,834
2,189
162
14
2,365
VOL. I.
194
ENGLAND AND WALES.
internal and external navigation; while, however, the first gives her
an easy communication with most parts of England, the latter opens
to her a ready access to all the great markets in every other part of
the world; so that, should our manufactures continue to prosper,
London may increase her colossal magnitude for centuries to come.
On the 31st of December, 1845, there belonged to London 2,843
registered sailing vessels, of the burden of 592,283 tons, manned by
above 32,000 seamen ; and she had then also 86 steamers of less than
50 tons burden, and 177 of more than 50 tons ditto. The nett customs-
duty collected at the port, in 1844, amounted to the amazing sum of
11,197,9817.! So vast an amount of shipping and commerce was
never previously centred in any single city. London may be truly
said to be universi orbis terrarum emporium! In one of Sir William
Petty's Essays on Political Arithmetic, published in 1687, the popu-
lation of London, including Westminster and Southwark, is estimated
at 696,000. But, according to Gregory King, their population, in
1696, did not exceed 530,000;* and we have little doubt that this
estimate is nearer the mark than the former. During the first half of
last century, the population of the metropolis was not sensibly in-
creased; and the mortality was such that it required large bodies of
immigrants from the country to keep its numbers at their old level.
But after the peace of Paris, in 1763, it began to increase; and since
1780 it has advanced with extraordinary rapidity. This has, no doubt,
been, in part, a consequence of the increasing wealth and prosperity
of the country, but more, perhaps, of improvements peculiar to
London, by which the condition of its inhabitants, and, in particular,
their health, have been astonishingly improved. In 1796, the births,
for the first time, exceeded the funerals: they have since continued
to preserve a decided superiority; so that the population of the city
might have been materially augmented, during the last half century,
though she had not drawn a single recruit from the provinces. When
the census was taken, in 1801, the metropolis was found to contain
864,845 souls, and its progress in population has since been as
follows:
Years.
1811
1821.
•
Population.
1,009,546
•
1,225,694
Years.
Population.
1831
•
•
1,471,941
1841
•
1,710,426
The population of the towns of Deptford, Greenwich, and Woolwich,
and of the parishes of Camberwell, Chelsea, Fulham, &c., is not, how-
ever, included in the above returns. But the places referred to are,
to all intents and purposes, part and parcel of the metropolis; and,
taking them into account, it contained, in 1841, on an area of 44,850
acres, a population of 1,873,676, of whom 876,956 were males, and
996,672 females. At present (1846) the population may be estimated
at about two millions; and we venture to say, that so great a number
of human beings has never, in any age or country, been accumulated
on so small a space of ground. The population of the department of
the Seine in France, which comprises an area of 117,491 acres (47,548
* See the Treatise by Gregory King, appended to the edition of Chalmer's Com-
parative Estimate, published in 1802, p. 411.
SURREY.
195
hectares), and has Paris in its centre, amounted, in 1842, to 1,194,603,
that is, to less than three-fifths the population of London.
South-eastern District.
1. Surrey, though inland, enjoys, in consequence of its being skirted
by the Thames, most of the advantages of a maritime county. It has
to the north Middlesex and a small part of Bucks, from both of which
it is separated by the Thames; on the east it is bounded by Kent;
on the south by Sussex; and on the west by Hampshire and Berks.
It contains 485,120 acres, of which 400,000 are arable, meadow, and
pasture. With the exception of the weald, the surface of Surrey con-
sists of alternate hill and dale. Some of the hills rise to a pretty
considerable height, affording highly diversified and beautiful pros-
pects. This is particularly the case with St. Ann's Hill, St. George's
Hill, Box Hill, Leith Hill, &c. The last commands a view of the
entire weald of Kent, Sussex, and Surrey. The soil of this county
comprises every variety, from the richest loam to the poorest moor.
There are three portions, the soils of which are particularly well
defined; viz., 1st, the weald, occupying all the southern part of the
county from Crowhurst to Haslemere; 2nd, the sandy loam district,
lying between the weald and the downs; and 3rd, the downs, or chalk
land, occupying the whole eastern side of the county from Croydon
to Tilsey, but gradually decreasing as we advance westward, till, at
Farnham, on the border of Hants, it is reduced to a narrow strip. To
the north-east of the downs, between them and the Thames, there is a
great variety of soil, partly consisting of strong, dark clay, partly of
sandy loam, &c. In the north-western and south-western parts of the
county, but especially the former, there are very extensive tracts of
heath and moorish ground; and smaller tracts of the same kind are
met with in various other places. In general, the Surrey heaths are
of the very worst description. Bagshot Heath, including those that
adjoin it, is by far the most extensive, and perhaps, also, the least
valuable of the whole: it lies along the border of Berks. On the
whole, the county may be said to be of an average degree of fertility.
The climate is good; and, owing to the variety of surface, the abun-
dance of wood, and its contiguity to the metropolis, it is one of the
most desirable counties in England for a residence. A large propor-
tion of Surrey is in tillage; but agriculture, speaking generally, is
in a decidedly backward state. The usual rotation in the weald (for
an account of the weald, see antè, p. 24) is, 1st, fallow; 2nd, wheat;
3rd, seeds; 4th, oats; 5th, tares, which are fed-off, and the land
brought in again for wheat; but frequently it is, 3rd, oats; 4th, seeds;
5th beans. In the northern part of the county, the rotation is, 1st,
turnips; 2nd, barley; 3rd, seeds; 4th, wheat; 5th tares, rye, or other
green crop. But two, or even more, white crops still not unfrequently
follow in succession. On the rich, friable, calcareous loams, between
Croydon and Epsom, 6 quarters of wheat an acre are not unfrequently
reaped; and on the rich sandy loams, near Godalming, 5 quarters is
no uncommon crop; but on the poorer soils, and in the weald, the pro-
duce seldom exceeds from 3 to 3 quarters. The turnip culture was
introduced into Surrey sooner than into any other English county;
o 2
196
ENGLAND AND WALES.
It
but even at present turnips are but seldom drilled: their management
is but imperfectly understood, and tares are generally preferred by the
Surrey farmers to any other species of green crop. Turnwrest ploughs
are used in many quarters, but the swing plough is most common.
is drawn by 3, 4, or 5 heavy horses, yoked in line! Lime is exten-
sively used as manure; and the application of salt for that purpose is
daily becoming more general. Hops are raised in considerable quan-
tities; and those grown in the neighbourhood of Farnham are preferred
to most others. Peppermint, lavender, wormwood, chamomile, &c.,
are raised in the physic gardens about Mitcham; and a considerable
extent of land at Battersea, and other places along the Thames, is ap-
propriated to the production of asparagus and other vegetables, for the
supply of the London market. There is no peculiar breed of cattle in
Surrey; but the short horns and the Sussex breed are the most preva-
lent. A considerable number of sheep are kept, principally on the
down land. The total stock has been estimated at 300,000, producing
annually 4,500 packs of wool. Large numbers of hogs are fed: they
consist principally of the Berkshire and Chinese varieties. The Dork-
ing breed of fowls is in high estimation; they are large, handsome,
perfectly white, and are distinguished by having 5 claws to each foot.
There are no very large estates in Surrey. Farms of all sizes. The
largest are on the down lands, and the smallest in the weald; but, at
an average of the county, the size of farms is not supposed to exceed
170 acres. They are commonly held under leases for 7, 14, or 21
years; but the vicious customs that prevail as to entry defeat the ad-
vantages that might otherwise have resulted from this tenure. Here,
as in Kent and Sussex, an entering tenant has so many claims upon
him for articles and work of comparatively little value, that, unless he
be unusually rich, the greater part of his capital is swallowed up before
he begins the business of his farm. This custom has contributed
more, perhaps, than anything else to retard improvement, to attach
the farmers to ancient practices, and to keep agriculture in a depressed
state, notwithstanding the advantages the Surrey farmers enjoy,
through their proximity to the London market.-( Kennedy and Grain-
ger on the Letting of Land, vol. i., p. 321.) In the weald the farm houses
are mean and ruinous, but they are better in other places. Cottages
good; and frequently ornamented with vines and flowers. Average
rent of land in 1842-3, 17s. 10d. an acre, having varied but little since
1814-15. There is a great deal of valuable timber and coppice wood
in Surrey, particularly in the weald. Large quantities of fullers' earth
are dug up in various places in this county; and there are also excel-
lent quarries of freestone and limestone. Except in so far as it is con-
nected with the metropolis, Surrey has very few manufactures. Calico
bleaching and printing are carried on at Wallington, Mitcham, and
Merton; there are copper-works in the parish of Wimbledon; and Go-
dalming retains some portion of the stocking manufacture for which it
was once so celebrated. Besides the Thames, it is watered by the
Wey, the Mole, and the Wandle; and it is traversed by the Surrey
and Croydon Canals. Turnpike roads good; but cross-roads, particu
arly in the weald, very indifferent. Surrey contains 13 hundreds,
exclusive of the boroughs of Southwark and Lambeth, and the town of
KENT.
197
Guildford; and is divided into 142 parishes. It returns 11 members
to Parliament; viz., 4 for the county, 2 for the Lambeth district, 2
for the borough of Southwark, 2 for the borough of Guildford, and 1
for the borough of Reigate. Population of county in 1841, 582,678.
Sum expended for the relief of the poor in 1844–5, 179,538/. Annual
value of real property in 1815, 1,589,702/.; ditto in 1842-3, 2,939,0687.
2. Kent, a maritime county, being the most south-easterly and
nearest to the continent of any in England, is bounded on the north
by the Thames and the German Ocean; on the east and south-east
by the latter and the Straits of Dover; on the south by Sussex; and
on the west by Surrey. It contains 996,680 acres, of which above
940,000 are arable, meadow, and pasture. Aspect varied and beauti-
ful. Along the banks of the Thames there is a considerable extent of
marshy land. Indeed, the greater part of the land to the north of a
line drawn from Gravesend, through Chatham, to the channel called
the East Swale, near Milton, including the Isles of Sheppey and Grain,
is of this description; and there is, also, a good deal of marsh land on
the banks of the Stour river, separating the Isle of Thanet from the
rest of the county. Contiguous to the marshes, on the East Swale
and the Stour, lies a tract of very fine, deep, rich, loamy land, stretch-
ing from Deal, by Canterbury and Faversham, to Hartlib. Imme-
diately to the south of the western marshes, and of the tract now men-
tioned, a ridge of chalk-hills extends the whole length of the county
from Dover, where the cliffs overhang the sea in a north direction to
Faversham, on the confines of Surrey. Nearly parallel to the ridge
now mentioned, and at the distance, in most places, of about 8 miles,
there is another ridge called the lower or ragstone ridge. To the south
of the latter is the district called the weald; and in the extreme south-
eastern angle of the county is Romney marsh. The soil in these dis-
tricts is exceedingly various. In the marshes it is mostly alluvial,
deep, rich and very fertile. On the chalky grounds, particularly on
the sides of the hills, it consists principally of a loose, chalky mould,
having, in some places, a small admixture of flints; and in others, of a
poor, black, light mould and sand. The low grounds between the two
ridges of hills, consists mostly of dry, loamy soil, which is both fertile
and easily wrought. The soil of the lower, or ragstone ridge, varies
much; in some parts it is a rich loam, while in others it is clayey,
sandy, and stony. The weald and Romney marsh have been elsewhere
fully described.-(See antè, p. 24 and p. 29.) Generally speaking, the
soil of the eastern division of the county is believed to be superior to
that of the western division.
The Isle of Sheppey, alluded to above, lies eastward from the
mouth of the Medway, being separated from the rest of the county by
the navigable channel called the Swale. It is about 11 miles in length,
and 8 across, at the broadest part, having the naval station of Sheer-
ness at its north-western extremity. The soil consists principally of
a deep, strong, stiff clay; but in the marshes the clay is covered with
a thin stratum of very rich vegetable mould. The southern, and larger
portion of the island, is low and marshy; but, on its northern side,
the cliffs are pretty high; and, being gradually undermined, portions
of them are every now and then falling into the sea. Most part of this
island, as well as the marsh land in general, is far from being healthy.
198
ENGLAND AND WALES.
The Isle of Grain consists of a low, marshy tract, lying to the west
of the embouchure of the Medway; but the shallow, narrow arm of
the sea, by which it was formerly separated from the main land, is now
partly filled up, so that it is no longer an island.
We have elsewhere noticed some of the more prominent circum-
stances connected with the progressive geography of the Isle of Thanet
(antè, p. 62), occupying the north-eastern angle of the county. It
contains about 3,500 acres of excellent marsh, and about 23,000 acres
of dry arable land. The last rests entirely on a hard, dry, chalk sub-
soil, and is, for the most part, particularly in the district between
Ramsgate and Monkton, loamy and very fertile. Thanet formerly
belonged principally to religious houses, which were by far the best
farmers of their age: it is mostly under the plough, and has always
been famous for its superior culture. There are few districts, of the
same extent, in which so much sea-weed is used for manure.
Kent, principally no doubt from its proximity to the Continent,
was the most early civilised portion of Great Britain. Cæsar, speaking
of the British tribes, says, Ex his omnibus longe sunt humanissimi qui
Cantium incolunt.-(De Bello Gallico, lib. 5. § 14.) The same cir-
cumstances to which it owed its early superiority rendered it, for a
lengthened period, the most important county in the kingdom; and,
though it be now far surpassed by others in wealth and population, its
situation, the variety of its soil and surface, the amenity of its climate,
and its peculiar customs, preserve to it no small portion of its ancient
celebrity. Nothing can exceed the variety and excellence of its raw
products. It yields capital crops of all sorts of grain, but in particular
of wheat, barley, peas, and beans. More hops are raised in it than in
any other county; and it supplies a very large part of the cherries,
filberts, plums, apples, &c. required for the supply of the London
markets. The weald has been long celebrated for its oak timber; and
Romney marsh for its cattle, sheep, and wool. There are, also, very
large gardens for the culture of asparagus, cauliflower, &c. From
Maidstone to Tonbridge, the orchards and gardens have a very beautiful
appearance; and the training of the filbert trees, the crops of which
are an object of much importance, is well worth attention. Poultry of
every sort is large and fine; and the fish caught on its own shores, and
the rivers and ponds within it, not only supply the tables of the rich in
great plenty, but afford a cheap and constant support to the poor.
The native Milton oysters are said to be superior to those taken in any
other part of England. The several warrens supply the markets with
rabbits. From the number of parks, there is great plenty of venison ;
which, in those of Eastwell, Knoll, and Cobham, is esteemed superior
in flavour and goodness to all others. Game, including hares, phea-
sants, and partridges, is in great abundance; the pheasants being es-
teemed larger, and finer flavoured, than in any other part of the king-
dom. Deservedly, therefore, did Drayton, in his Polyolbion, celebrate
its praises-
"Oh! famous Kent, quoth he,
What county has this isle that can compare with thee?
Which hast within thyself as much as thou canst wish,
Thy conies, ven'son, fruit, thy sorts of fowl and fish:
And, what comports with strength, thy hay, and corn, and wood:
Not any thing thou wants that any where is good."
2
KENT.
199
Enclo-
Agriculture, particularly in East Kent, is in a very advanced state.
Wheat and barley are raised in large quantities: the best samples of
the former, brought to the London market, being the produce of the
Isle of Sheppey. The culture of beans and peas is said to be better
understood here than anywhere else in England: they are mostly put
in by the drill plough; and corn on the light land is, also, mostly
drilled. Except in the Isle of Thanet, turnips are grown on all the
lighter soils, to a considerable extent. The usual rotation is, 1st,
turnips; 2nd, barley; 3rd, seeds; 4th, wheat; 5th, peas: in West
Kent it generally is, 1st, fallow; 2nd, wheat; 3rd, oats; 4th, seeds or
beans.* Various sorts of manure are made use of; among which may
be specified fish and woollen rags. The effect of the former lasts but
for a short time; but that of the rags is said to continue for several
years. Chalk is burnt and used as manure within the county; and
chalk is carried across the Thames in large quantities to Essex, where
it is applied with the best effect to cold, stiff, clay lands. The hop
plantations principally lie between Maidstone and Canterbury, In
1845, the entire plantations in the county occupied 24,8881 acres; and
the duty (2d. per lb.) produced 160,058.; showing that the crop
amounted to 19,206,966 lbs.; but hops are a very precarious article,
and this was a favourable year. The woollen rags are commonly
applied to the hop plantations. Exclusive of the leading articles of
produce, a number of inferior articles, as canary seed, radish seed,
spinach seed, &c., are very extensively cultivated, principally in the
Isle of Thanet, but partly, also, in other parts of East Kent.
sures generally small, except in the north-east part of the county
beyond Canterbury, which is comparatively open. Kent can hardly be
said to be either a grazing or a breeding county; but large numbers of
cattle are, notwithstanding, fattened and kept for the dairy. In the
weald the Sussex oxen are a good deal used for the plough and the
road; but the dairy cattle are generally drawn from other counties,
being principally Welsh mixed with Sussex, &c. The stock of sheep
in Kent is very large. The Romney marsh sheep is peculiar to the
county: it stands high on its legs, and is handsome; but is not so large
as it looks: it fattens early, and produces long combing wool.
stock of marsh sheep is estimated at about 300,000; the stock in the
rest of the county at about 520,000. The total produce of wool is
supposed to exceed 18,500 packs. Property much divided. The yeo-
manry are here a superior class; and, besides their own estates, some
of them occupy extensive hired farms. All lands in Kent, unless spe-
cially exempted by an act of the legislature, are held by the tenure of
gavelkind; descending, in the event of the father dying intestate, not
to the eldest son, but to all the sons alike in equal portions; and, if
there be no sons, then they divide equally among the daughters. This
is supposed to have been the common tenure in England before the
Conquest; but, besides Kent, it now obtains only in a few places.
Some estates have been disgavelled, or excepted by act of parliament
from this tenure; and partition is now, in most instances, prevented by
testament. But such lands as are not disgavelled, or are not disposed
of by testament, are invariably divided as stated above.-(See Hasted's
Kennedy and Grainger on the Tenancy of Land, vol. i., p. 252.
The
200
ENGLAND AND WALES.
*
Kent, vol. i., pp. 311-321.) Size of farms various; many from 10 to
14 acres; few exceed 200 acres; though there are some from 600 to
1500 acres. In many parts the farmers hold at will; but the greater
number have leases for 7 or 14 years. The practice as to the entry to
farms, that prevails in this county, is the same that prevails in Surrey
(which see); and, considering its vicious nature and powerful influ-
ence, it is surprising agriculture should be so advanced. Hundreds
of tenants have, however, been ruined, in consequence of the oppressive
charges made upon them at entering having deprived them of capital
sufficient to manage their farms, and to meet any unfavourable contin-
gency. Owing partly to the gambling spirit occasioned by the
uncertainty of the hop harvest, partly to the prevalence of smuggling
on the coast, caused by the exorbitant duties on foreign brandy and
geneva, and partly to the mal-administration of the poor-laws, the pea-
santry, in parts of Kent, were of late years a good deal demoralised.
Luckily, however, these causes of demoralization have either been, or
are in the course of being obviated; so that an important improve-
ment may, in this respect, be fairly anticipated. Farm-houses and
buildings generally indifferent: most part of the old ones have been
constructed of timber; but those that have been erected during the
present century are mostly of brick, and are more commodious.
Average rent of land in 1842-3, 26s. 7½d. an acre, being no less than
9s. an acre greater than in 1810! Besides the oak timber in the
weald, there is a great deal of valuable timber, and of coppice wood,
in other parts of the county. Underwood is in great demand for hop-
poles. Birch, of which there are large quantities, chiefly goes to the
broom-makers of the metropolis. Labour mostly done by the job.
Manufactures not very important; the principal being that of ship-
building, carried on at Deptford, Woolwich, Chatham, and other
places. Toys and turnery ware are made at Tonbridge; gunpowder
at Dartford and Feversham; and paper at Maidstone and Dover.
Iron ore is found all over the weald; and extensive iron works were
formerly carried on in the parts of that district contiguous to Sussex.
Principal rivers, Thames, Medway, Stour, Rothe, Darent, and Ravens-
bourn. A canal for barges unites Gravesend on the Thames with
Chatham on the Medway, obviating a considerable length of navigation.
The Grand Military Canal, constructed as a defensive work during the
last war, runs along the northern boundary of Romney marsh. Kent
is intersected by various railways. It is divided into the 2 nearly
equal divisions of East Kent and West Kent, each district having its
own court of sessions. It is also divided into 5 lathes, which are
subdivided into 63 hundreds and 15 liberties: it contains 411 parishes.
Kent returns 18 members to parliament; viz., 4 for the county, 2 each
for the cities of Canterbury and Rochester; 2 each for the boroughs
of Dover, Greenwich, Maidstone, and Sandwich; and 1 each for
Chatham and Hythe. Population of county in 1841, 548,337. Sum
expended for the relief of the poor in 1844-5, 190,7467. Annual
value of real property in 1815, 1,687,4437.; ditto in 1842-3, 2,907,6067.
3 Sussex, a maritime county, is bounded on the north and north-
east by Surrey and Kent, on the south and south-east by the English
* See remarks on the letting of land in this work.
SUSSEX.
201
Channel, and on the west by Hampshire. It contains 938,240 acres.
Surface and soil very various. A ridge of chalk-hills, to which (though
in strictness applicable only to a part) the term South Downs is usually
applied, runs through the county from South Harting and Miland
Chapel, on the confines of Hants, to Beachy Head, where it terminates
in high precipitous cliffs. Their northern declivity is rather steep, but
that on the southern side is gently sloping. The soil of the South
Downs is generally a light hazelly mould, on a substratum of loose
chalk. On the south side of this range, along the coast from Ems-
worth, gradually decreasing to near Brighton, there is a considerable
extent of fine, rich, loamy land. To the north of the South Downs lies
the extensive tract called the weald of Sussex, uniting on the east with
the weald of Kent, and stretching as far west as Petworth. Some
writers include the poor sandy districts between Horshamn and Mares-
field, and those in the north-east corner of the county, in the weald;
while others, and we think with more propriety, exclude them. The
soil of the weald is similar to that of the weald of Kent, being for the
most part a stiff tenacious clay, with occasional sandy and gravelly
patches intermixed. It is thickly covered with oak wood, and, when
viewed from the South Downs, appears like an immense forest.-(For
an account of the weald, see ante, p. 23.) In the eastern parts of the
county, in what is called Pevensey Level, and near Winchelsea, there
are considerable tracts of very fine, deep, marsh land. The Rev. Mr.
Young, in his Survey of Sussex, distributed the surface as follows:-
Down land, 68,000 acres; rich arable, 100,000; waste (chiefly sand),
110,000; arable and pasture in the weald, 425,000; woods in weald
and elsewhere, 170,000; making in all 903,000 acres: the rest con-
sisting of water, sands, buildings, &c. Climate mild, dry, and early.
A large extent of Sussex is under the plough, but husbandry is in a
backward condition; and Messrs. Kennedy and Grainger truly state,
that no very material improvement need be expected till those per-
nicious habits with respect to the letting and entry to farms, that
prevail in this county, as well as in Kent and Surrey, be totally changed.
(Tenancy of Land, vol. i., p. 337.) The crops principally cultivated
are wheat, oats, and barley; and on all the light lands turnips are ex-
tensively grown. The usual rotation on these is, 1st, turnips; 2nd,
barley; 3rd, seeds; 4th, wheat; 5th, rape or other green crop. In
the weald the usual rotation is, 1st, fallow; 2nd, wheat; 3rd, seeds;
4th, oats; or 3rd, oats; 4th, seeds. Beans not much cultivated. Great
quantities of hops are raised, particularly in the eastern parts of the
county, there being, in 1845, 11,016 acres under this crop. Sussex is
deservedly celebrated for its breeds of cattle and sheep, each being
about the very best of its kind. The oxen are of a deep red colour,
and have tapering turned-up horns; they fatten easily, produce excellent
beef, and are not inferior to any other breed in field labour.
greater part of the tillage in the weald is performed by ox-teams.
native cattle do not, however, answer for the dairy. The peculiar breed
of sheep belonging to the county is called the South Down, from its
being found in the greatest perfection on the South Down chalk-hills.
The breed is now widely diffused, but, owing to the extension of tillage
on the downs, and the increase in the size of the animal and the weight
The
The
202
ENGLAND AND WALES.
The
of the fleece, neither the mutton nor the wool is supposed to be so good
as formerly. The high prices obtained for corn during the latter years
of the war, and the low prices of wool from 1825 to 1830, occasioned
a considerable extension of tillage on the down lands. But the com-
paratively low price of corn, and great rise in the price of wool since
1830, have caused a reaction, and have made a good deal of the land be
again restored to its most suitable purpose, that of pasturage. Gene-
rally, also, the sheep stock has been increasing, as compared with that
of cattle, in every part of the county. The total stock of sheep was
estimated by Messrs. Luccock and Hubbard at about 863,000, of which
316,000 are supposed to be depastured on the downs. The entire
annual produce of wool is estimated at 10,800 packs. This estimate
differs materially from that given by Mr. Young in his survey (p. 373);
but we incline to think that it is the more accurate of the two.
fact is, that the extension of cultivation, though it has deteriorated the
quality of the wool, has, by increasing the turnip culture, materially
increased the number as well as the size of the sheep and the weight of
the fleeces. Sussex has been celebrated from the remotest period for
the abundance and excellence of its timber, and in these respects it
continues to be decidedly superior to every other county. Oak is the
principal timber of the weald; but in other parts beech is most preva-
lent. To the abundance of wood is principally to be ascribed the cir-
cumstance of Sussex being formerly distinguished for the number of its
iron-works; but since pit-coal began to be generally employed in the
smelting and refining of iron, these have been wholly abandoned, as
well as those that were established in Kent. Property much divided.
Average size of farms in the weald 100 acres; in the downs, from
1,200 to 2,000 acres. A great proportion of the farms held by tenants
at will, and, owing to injurious customs as to entry, a large part of the
capital of the tenant is swallowed up in the useless payments he is com-
pelled to make, so that much of the land is very insufficiently stocked.
Offices invariably thatched and weather-boarded. Average rent of land
in 1842-3, 18s. 23d. an acre. Manufactures of little importance.
Ironstone, fuller's earth, limestone, and sandstone, are all met with.
The rivers are of no great magnitude. The principal is the Arun. It
communicates by a canal with Langport harbour on the west, and with
the Wye and the Thames on the north. The London and Brighton
railway intersects the county. In the weald there are several ponds in
which freshwater fish are fed for the London markets. Sussex is
divided into 6 rapes, and these again into 65 hundreds, and contains
310 parishes. It returns 18 members to parliament, viz., 4 for the
county; 2 for the city of Chichester; 2 each for the boroughs of
Brighton, Lewes, Hastings, and Shoreham; and 1 each for Arundel,
Horsham, Midhurst, and Rye and Winchelsea. Population of county
in 1841, 299,753. Sum expended for the relief of the poor in 1844-5,
114,9951. Annual value of real property in 1815, 919,3507.; ditto in
1842-3, 1,676,9991.
Southern District.
1. Berkshire, an inland county, is bounded on the north by the
counties of Oxford and Buckingham, from which, through its whole
BERKSHIRE.
203
extent, it is separated by the Thames; on the east by Surrey; on the
south by Hants; and on the west by Wilts and a part of Gloucester-
shire. It contains 481,280 acres. This, which is one of the most
beautiful counties in the empire, is naturally divided into four districts,
viz.:-First, the Forest district, comprising almost all the eastern part
of the county, as far west as the river Loddon. It contains Windsor
Forest, part of Bagshot Heath, and some other considerable tracts of
waste land. Its surface and soil are various; but the latter is, for the
most part, sandy, gravelly, and poor. Second, the Vale of the Kennet,
stretching from near Wargrave on the east to Hungerford on the west.
Gravelly soils predominate in this vale, but they differ widely in
quality and fertility: a good deal of peat is found at different places
along the banks of the river. Third, the chalk-hills, or downs,
stretching across the county, from near Streatley on the east to Ashbury
on the west. And, Fourth, the Vale of the White Horse, lying to the
north of the chalk-hills, and so called from the gigantic figure of a horse
rudely sketched on one of these hills. The prevailing soil of the level
parts of the vale is a strong, grey, calcareous loam, producing luxuriant
crops of grass and corn; but in some places the soil is of inferior fer-
tility. Dr. Beeke, one of the best statistical writers that this country
has produced, supposes Berks to contain 464,500 acres, distributed as
follows:-
Arable land, about
Meadows, and dairy land in the vale
Sheep-walks, chiefly unenclosed, on the chalk-hills
Acres.
255,000
72,000
25,000
Other dry pastures, parks, &c.
25,000
Wastes, chiefly barren heaths
30,000
Wood, copses, &c..
30,000
Space occupied by buildings, courts, fences, roads, rivers, &c.
27,500
*464,500
Agriculture a good deal improved, but still at rather a low ebb.
Principal crops, oats and wheat. The land is usually held on leases
for 7 and 14 years; but, as there is rarely any restriction on the tenants
as to its cultivation, or the mode of cropping, the soil, unless where it
happens to be occupied by its owners, is, generally speaking, very much
out of condition. "A tenant, down to the last year or two of his
lease, drives the land as hard as he possibly can, and, in fact, leaves
it entirely run out."-Kennedy and Grainger, vol. i., p. 145.) The
ordinary rotation on the turnip land is, 1st, turnips; 2nd, barley or
oats; 3rd, seeds; 4th, wheat; and 5th, oats: upon the heavy land the
course is, 1st, fallow; 2nd, wheat; 3rd, beans; 4th, wheat or oats;
and, if the 4th be wheat, then 5th, oats. The land, as the authorities
now quoted observe, is, in most cases, "tried to the utmost.' Four or
five horses are generally used in ploughing; and it is believed that,
of the total number of 12,000 or 13,000 horses, supposed to be em-
ployed in the county for agricultural purposes, a third might be advan-
tageously dispensed with. On the heavy soils beans are chiefly dibbled.
Berks enjoys considerable celebrity as a dairying and grazing county.
The cattle are now principally of the Holderness and Teeswater
* Mavor's Survey of Berks, p. 3.
""
204
ENGLAND AND WALES.
breeds; but Scotch and Welch cattle are extensively grazed in the
Forest district. The western part of the Vale of the White Horse,
and particularly the parish of Buscot, contiguous to Gloucestershire,
is celebrated for its dairies. It is there that the "pine-apple" cheese
is principally made; but the greater part of the cheese made in the
Berkshire dairies is of the description called double Gloucester. Dr.
Mavor estimated the total number of cows kept in the dairying district
at 5,000; and he states, that from 2,000 to 3,000 tons of cheese were
annually sent to London from the wharf at Buscot; of which the
quantity furnished by the Berkshire dairies was not less than 1,000
tons.-(Survey, p. 375.) At present, however, very little of the
cheese of Berks, Gloucester, Wilts, and other western counties, is con-
veyed to London by water. The frequent interruptions in the naviga-
tion of the Thames, and the liability of the cheese to heat, having oc-
casioned so much loss that it is now mostly all forwarded by waggon or
railway. The South Down breed of sheep, but much crossed, is at
present the most generally diffused. The total stock of sheep has been
estimated at about 308,000, and the total annual produce of wool at
4,500 packs. The Berkshire breed of hogs is one of the best in the
empire. They are raised in great numbers, and are mostly made into
bacon. About 4,000 are killed at Faringdon only, between Michael-
mas and April. Large quantities of onions, asparagus, &c., raised at
Reading and its vicinity for the London and Bath markets. Few
large estates: property much divided; and a good deal in the occu-
pation of yeomen. Farms middle-sized, rather small. Farm build-
ings and cottages of a medium quality. Average rent of land in
1842-3, 24s. 84d. an acre. Windsor Castle, the ancient and only
magnificent residence of the kings of England, stands on the eastern
margin of this county. Manufactures and minerals of no importance.
Exclusive of the Thames, by which it is bounded along its whole
northern frontier for about 100 miles, Berks is watered by the Kennet,
the Loddon, the Ock, and other rivers; it is also traversed by the
Kennet and Avon, and the Berks and Wilts canals, and by the Great
Western Railway from London to Bath and Bristol. It contains 20
hundreds and 151 parishes. It returns 9 members to parliament, viz. :
3 for the county, 2 each for the boroughs of Reading and Windsor,
and 1 each for Abingdon and Wallingford. Population of county in
1841, 161,147. Sum expended for the relief of the poor in 1844-5,
78,1781. Annual value of real property in 1815, 719,8907. ; ditto in
1842-3, 967,4751.
2. Wiltshire, an inland county, is bounded on the north and north-
west by the county of Gloucester; on the west by Somerset; on the
south by Dorset and Hants; and on the south-east and north-east by
the latter and Berks. It contains 874,880 acres, of which about
800,000 are arable, meadow, and pasture. It is divided by the rivers
Kennet and Avon, and the canal by which they are united, into two
grand divisions, popularly termed, from their situation, North and
South Wiltshire. But it would be more naturally divided into a
north-west and south-east division, by a line drawn from Bishopston,
on the Berkshire border, to Devizes, and thence to Maiden Bradley, on
the confines of Somersetshire. This would throw almost all the down
WILTSHIRE.
205
lands into the south-east division. But, taking the divisions as we
find them, the southern one consists, in great part, of Salisbury Plain,
extending from Westbury and Warminster, on the west, across the
county to Hampshire, and from Lavington, on the north, to near the
city of Salisbury on the south. It consists principally of chalk downs,
intermixed, however, with some fertile, well-watered, and beautiful
valleys. Though called a plain, the surface, as in all chalk land, is
undulating: the most level part lies round Stonehenge. There is a
good deal of rich land in the southern division, between Trowbridge
and Pewsey, and between the Willy and the Dorsetshire border, east,
to Wilton and Salisbury. Marlborough Downs, which bear, in most
respects, a close resemblance to Salisbury Plain, lie in the northern
division of the county, between Marlborough and Swindon; but, with
this exception, this division consists principally of rich vale land, con-
siderably exceeding in extent and importance the cultivated grounds of
the southern division. There are some large estates; but property is,
notwithstanding, a good deal subdivided. Farms of all sizes, and
generally let on lease for 7, 14, and 21 years, with unobjectionable
conditions as to entry. Farm-houses, in the southern division, were
formerly built together, for the convenience of water; but the more
modern ones are generally detached. Agriculture in Wiltshire is in
an advanced state, and reflects credit on the skill and enterprise of the
farmers. The land under the plough is remarkably clean and in good
order. It is believed, however, that tillage on the down lands has
been too much extended. When once broken up, it is extremely
difficult to get them again into good condition as pasture; while,
unless corn fetches a pretty high price, they are most productive in the
latter. Principal corn crops, wheat and barley; the latter being,
however, confined in a great measure to the light chalky soils.
Turnips, rape or cole seed, and potatoes, largely cultivated. Much of
the rich land in the northern division is appropriated to the dairy hus-
bandry, and the fattening of cattle. The cheese, which, excepting
inferior butter made from the whey, is the only product of the dairies,
was formerly sold as Gloucestershire cheese; but it is now well known,
and much valued in London and elsewhere, by its proper name of
North Wiltshire cheese. Breed of cattle various: they are partly
slaughtered in Bath, Salisbury, &c., but the greater number are sold
to the London butchers. In despite, however, of the encroachments
made by the plough on the downs, sheep continue to be regarded, in
the greater part of the county, as the principal support of the farmer.
They afford the chief article of manure used on the land; while the sale
of the lambs and wool furnishes the principal means of paying the rent.
In consequence, as it would seem, of this dependance, and of the high
price of wool during the last 4 or 5 years, there have been fewer com-
plaints among the Wiltshire farmers than amongst those of most southern
counties. The sheep stock, consisting partly of the native horned
breed, but in a far greater degree of South Downs, and crosses between
the two, is estimated at about 700,000; of which about 584,000 are
depastured on the downs, and the rest on the cultivated land: the
fleeces of the former are supposed to weigh, at an average, 23 lbs., and
those of the latter 4 lbs. ; producing, together, about 8,650 packs of
206
ENGLAND AND WALES.
wool. The irrigation of water meadows is to be seen, in the greatest
perfection, in South Wiltshire, and is practised on a large scale.
Many hogs are kept; and Wiltshire bacon is highly esteemed. In the
vicinity of some of the towns of South Wiltshire a good deal of garden
husbandry is carried on. Average rent of land in 1842-3, 23s. 41d.
an acre. Stonehenge, of which the date and the object are alike un-
known, stands, in solitary magnificence, in the middle of Salisbury
Plain. It is a collection of vast stones, disposed endwise, in circles,
some of them being joined by immense blocks, stretching from the top
of one to that of another. (See Geog. Dict., Art. Stonehenge.) The
manufactures of Wiltshire are considerable: they consist principally of
various descriptions of superfine woollen goods, made at Bradford,
Trowbridge, Westbury, &c.: thicksets and other sorts of cotton goods
are also prepared, though in small quantities. Wilton was long cele-
brated for a carpet manufactory, established by one of the earls of
Pembroke; but this, though it has latterly increased, is not so con-
siderable as formerly; and, speaking generally, manufactures of all
sorts are here, as in the other southern counties, on the decline.
Principal rivers, Thames, Upper and Lower Avon, and Kennet. The
Great Western Railway runs through the north division of the county.
Exclusive of some local jurisdictions, Wilts contains 28 hundreds and
300 parishes. It returns 18 members to parliament, viz.: 4 for the
county; 2 for the city of Salisbury; 2 each for the boroughs of Chip-
penham, Cricklade, Devizes, and Marlborough; and 1 each for Calne,
Malmesbury, Westbury, and Wilton. Population of county in 1841,
258,733. Sum expended for the relief of the poor in 1844-5, 134,545l.,
Annual value of real property in 1815, 1,215,6197.; ditto in 1842-3,
1,424,558/.
3. Hampshire, Southampton, or Hants, a maritime county, includ-
ing the Isle of Wight, is bounded on the north by Berks; on the east
by Surrey and Sussex; on the West by Wilts and Dorset; and on the
south by the English Channel. It contains 1,040,000 acres, of which
the Isle of Wight contains about a twelfth part; and, including the
island, 900,000 acres are supposed to be arable, meadow, and pasture.
This county is reckoned one of the most agreeable in England. Its
surface is varied with gently rising hills and fruitful vales, while its
climate is peculiarly mild and genial. Soil various, but the greater
portion chalky. The northern districts, towards Berkshire, are, in
parts, hilly; but between Basingstoke and Silcester there is some of
the finest wheat and bean land in the county. A broad zone of chalky
hills, or downs, intersected by numerous valleys, extends across the
county from the borders of Salisbury Plain, on the west, to Dock-
ingfield, Petersfield, and Blendworth, on the borders of Surrey and
Sussex. The south-western district, or the country lying between
Southampton Water and Dorsetshire, is principally occupied by the
New Forest, and by extensive heaths. To the north of Portsmouth
harbour there is a considerable tract of forest and down land.
in the southern and middle parts of the county, and particularly in
the vales watered by the Anton, the Itchen, and other rivers, there
are large tracts of very good land, and some of the finest water mea-
dows in England. Marsh land is found at different places on the
But
HAMPSHIRE.
207
But
coast, particularly on the west side of Southampton Water, near
Fawley, but not to any great extent. Principal crops, wheat, barley,
oats, beans, and a few peas. Turnips extensively cultivated, particu-
larly on the light calcareous soils. Saintfoin, also, is grown to a greater
extent on the chalky soils of Hampshire than, perhaps, in any other
part of England. In 1845, 1,637 acres were under hops in the
mainland, and 1,128 ditto in the Isle of Wight. Arable husbandry,
though much improved during the last 20 or 30 years, has not attained
the perfection that might have been expected. It is usual to prohibit
a tenant from taking two wheat crops in succession; but two white
crops not being commonly objected to, oats frequently follow wheat;
so that the land in many places, is impoverished and worn out.
this pernicious practice is on the wane. (Kennedy and Grainger,
vol. i., p. 242.) The old Hampshire plough, usually drawn by four
large heavy horses, is a bulky, clumsy, inplement; but ploughs of an
improved construction, and made wholly of iron, are now in general
use. The patent Hampshire waggon is formed by uniting two carts,
and bolting them firmly together. The cattle consist of various
breeds; but along the coast, and in the Isle of Wight, the Alderney
or smaller breed of Norman cattle predominates: in other parts of
the county Devons, or a cross between them and the Alderney, are
most common. The dairy is not much attended to; and but little
more butter is made than is required for the consumption of the
county. Sheep of various breeds. In the forest lands, the heath
sheep, and the old Wilts breed, were formerly the most prevalent ;
but they have since been much crossed with other breeds, and, in
some degree, superseded by the South Downs. The stock of sheep
is very large; having been estimated at above 516,000 in the main-
land, and above 60,000 in the Isle of Wight. The annual produce
of wool is estimated at about 7,600 packs. The sheep fair, held at
Weyhill, near Andover, in this county, is the best attended, and most
important, of any in England. A great many small hardy horses
are bred in the forest lands and on the heaths. Hants is famous for
its bacon: its superiority does not, however, depend on the excel-
lence of the native breed of hogs, these being coarse, raw-boned, and
long-sided. The pure native breed is now, however, seldom met with ;
the prevailing breed being that of Berkshire, or a cross between it and
the native breed, or the Chinese, or other variety. Estates mostly
large only a small part of the county belongs to, or is cultivated by,
yeomen. Farms of all sizes: in the central parts of the county they
are large, many comprising 400 and 500 acres, but in the other parts
they are a good deal smaller. Until lately they were mostly let on
lease: the practice of tenancy at will is, however, gaining ground.
Farm-houses generally good. Many of the farm-buildings are of tim-
ber. Average rent of land in 1842-3, 14s. 111d. an acre. The New
Forest contains, at present, about 92,000 acres, but it was formerly
much larger. It occupies the whole country between Southampton
Water on the east, the British Channel on the south, and the Avon on
the west. William the Conqueror is generally believed to have
afforested this immense tract, destroying, for that purpose, several
towns, and many villages and churches. But it appears to be suffi-
208
ENGLAND AND WALES.
ciently established that there is but little foundation for these state-
ments; that the greater part of the tract referred to had been a forest
previously to the Conquest; and that the injury done to the inhabitants
by the proceedings of the Conqueror was comparatively trifling.*
Only about 64,000 acres of forest land are now the property of the
crown; the rest of the land, within the modern limits of the Forest,
having been assigned to individuals. Oak and beech are the prevailing
species of timber; but there are, in the forest, large tracts of heath.
Besides the New Forest, there are, in this county, the remains of
Bere Alice, Holt, Woburn, and other forests; and there are extensive
bush woods on all the chalk lands. A great deal of honey is collected
in different parts of Hampshire; but that made in the forest is most
esteemed. If we except the building of ships at Portsmouth, and the
various works connected with their construction and outfit, the manu-
factures of Hants are of no great consequence.
Shalloons and serges
were formerly made at Andover, Romsey, and other places, but the
business is now much declined. There are silk mills at Overton, and
straw bonnets are made in various parts of the county. The malting
business is carried on upon a large scale. Minerals of little importance.
Principal rivers, the Avon, which runs through the extreme south-
western part of the county, the Anton, and the Itchen. The Anton
rises in the northern parts of the county, near Overton, and passing
through Whitchurch, Stockbridge, and Romsey, falls into the north-
western extremity of Southampton Water. A lateral canal accom-
panies it from its embouchure to Stockbridge and Andover. The
Itchen rises in the middle parts of the county; and passing through
Winchester, falls into Southampton Water at Southampton. It has
been rendered navigable as far as Winchester. The South-Western
Railway intersects this county, and brings Winchester and Southamp-
ton within a 3 hours run of the metropolis. The noble harbour of
Portsmouth, and the road of Spithead, lie in the sound, which divides
the mainland from the Isle of Wight.-(See ante, p. 59.) Hants, in-
cluding the Isle of Wight, is divided into 39 hundreds, and contains
298 parishes. Population of county in 1841, 355,004. Amount of
sums expended on the relief of the poor in 1844-5, 134,5457. Annual
value of real property in 1815, 1,240,5477., ditto in 1842-3, 1,661,4477.
The Isle of Wight (the Vectis of the Romans) lies opposite to the
Hampshire coast, being separated from it by the road of Spithead
on the east, and by the Solent, or West Channel, on the west. From
the southern part of the mainland, below Gosport, across the channel
to Bursted, the distance is about 3 miles; but from Hurst Castle,
across to the Isle, it is little more than a mile. The figure of the island
is rhomboidal, having its sides parallel to the opposite shores of the
mainland. From its eastern to its western angle, the distance is about
22 miles, and from the northern to the southern, about 13. It con-
tains 86,810 acres. The face of the country is beautifully diversified
with hills, dales, towns, villages, and gentlemen's seats. A range of
chalk hills extends lengthwise across the island, affording excellent
pasture for sheep, and some very commanding views. The cliffs on
the south coast are bold and precipitous; and being undermined by the
* Beauties of England and Wales; Hampshire, p. 158.
DORSETSHIRE.
209
sea, portions of them occasionally fall into it. The cliffs called the
Needles, on the western angle, are lofty, detached, almost perpendicu-
lar, and strikingly picturesque. (See antè, p. 58.) One of the tallest
of these cliffs, being undermined by the action of the waves, was over-
thrown and totally disappeared in 1782. Climate extremely mild, and,
perhaps, the most salubrious in England. Soil loamy, and mostly
very fertile, being well adapted for all sorts of agricultural purposes.
The husbandry is similar to that on the good soils of the mainland;
and the island has a large quantity of agricultural produce to dispose
of after supplying its own inhabitants. It is divided into two nearly
equal parts by the river Medina. Large quantities of fine sand are
shipped from Freshwater Bay, for the glass and china manufactures in
different parts of the country; but it has no other minerals of any im-
portance. Population of the island in 1841, 42,550.
4. Dorsetshire, a maritime county, is bounded on the north by the
counties of Wilts and Somerset ; on the west by Devonshire; on the
east by Hants; and on the south by the British Channel. It contains
643,840 acres, of which nearly 600,000 are arable, meadow, and
pasture. Face of the country pleasantly diversified. Climate dry and
salubrious, but the harvest not so early as in other districts not so far
south. Mr. Stevenson, in his survey of this county, estimated its sur-
face at about 504,000 acres, of which he supposed 161,000 to consist
of chalk soil; 85,000 sand; 38,000 loam; 60,000 gravel; 30,000
stone-brash; 117,000 clay; and 13,000 miscellaneous. Dorsetshire
has been sometimes termed the garden of England; but, though the
vale of Blackmoor, traversed by the Stour, containing about 170,000
acres, and some other districts in the west part of the county and along
the coast, be eminently fertile, it does not seem to have any very pecu-
liar title to this epithet. It contains a large extent of chalky downs:
between Blandford and Hampshire there is a considerable extent of
forest land; and round Poole Harbour there are many thousand acres
of heathy, unimproved moors. Property in large estates. Farms of
various sizes, but the greater number large. Leases less common now
than formerly. Average rent of land in 1842-3, 19s. d. an acre.
Arable husbandry materially improved of late years by the adoption
of a better rotation of crops; the substitution of turnips for fallows on
the light soils, &c. Hemp and flax a good deal grown, but less than
formerly. Water meadows extensive, and their management well
understood. The greater part of the county in grass; being devoted
either to the feeding of sheep, or to the dairy system. Sheep short
woolled, and reckoned superior to most others, both for fattening their
lambs and bringing them early forward. Mr. Parkinson characterized
"the Dorset ewe as the best horned ewe in the kingdom, those of
Somerset excepted; and they are so nearly alike that few people know
the difference." (Stevenson's Survey, p. 393.) The stock of sheep
in the county has been estimated at about 632,000, the average weight
of the fleece at 3 lbs., and the total produce of wool at about 10,000
packs. Sheep-folding extensively practised. Cattle of no peculiar
breed. The dairies are many of them very large. Butter the prin-
cipal product; the cheese, being made only from skimmed milk,
generally consumed within the county. Dairies, for the most part, let
VOL. I.
P
210
ENGLAND AND WALES.
by the farmers at so much a cow; and several of the lessees are
known to have made considerable fortunes. Free-stone of a very
superior quality is furnished by the quarries in the Isle of Portland,
large quantities being shipped from it for the metropolis and other
places. Purbeck furnishes the potteries of Staffordshire with supplies
of the clay used in the manufacture of the finer sorts of earthenware.
There are considerable manufactures of flax and hemp at Bridport
and Beaminster. Shirt buttons are made in large quantities at
Shaftesbury and Blandford; white baize at Sturminster; silk is spun
at Sherborne; and there is a considerable manufacture of baskets and
other small articles. Principal rivers, Stour and Frome. Dorset
contains 34 hundreds, distributed into 5 divisions and 271 parishes.
It returns 13 members to parliament; viz., 3 for the county; 2 for
each of the boroughs of Bridport, Dorchester, Poole, and Weymouth;
and 1 each for Shaftesbury and Wareham. Population of county in
1841, 175,043. Sum expended for the relief of the poor in 1844-5,
82,7211. Annual value of real property in 1815, 726,264l.; ditto in
1842-3, 917,0777.
South-western District.
1. Somersetshire, a maritime county, is bounded on the north and
north-west by the Bristol Channel; on the north-east by the county
of Gloucester; on the east by Wilts; on the south by Dorset and
Devon; and by the latter on the west. It contains 1,052,800 acres,
of which about 900,000 are supposed to be arable, meadow, and pas-
ture. With, perhaps, the single exception of Yorkshire, there is no
county in England that has a greater variety of surface and soil than
Somerset. In some places, particularly in its western and north-
easterly divisions, it is hilly, and even mountainous: in the middle
part of the county, between the rivers Ax and Parry, there are very
extensive tracts of marsh land, which, in some places, is of extraor-
dinary fertility (see antè, p. 31): in other places, again, there are
extensive moors, of which Exmoor, at the western extremity of the
county, is the principal (antè, p. 18). But, exclusive of these, the
county contains a large extent of land equally adapted for tillage and
pasturage. The vale of Taunton, already described (p. 22), is one
of the richest and most beautiful tracts in the kingdom. Tillage
husbandry is neither extensively carried on, nor in the most approved
manner. The land is not injured by overcropping, but it is not
properly wrought, and is frequently foul and out of order. Principal
crops, wheat, oats, barley, and beans. In the southern and interior
parts the rotation is, 1st, fallow; 2nd, wheat; 3rd, beans or seeds;
4th, oats in the eastern part of the county it is generally, 1st, fallow;
2nd, wheat; 3rd, oats or barley; 4th, seeds. Potatoes are pretty ex-
tensively grown, but turnips are not cultivated to any very considerable
extent in any part of the county. Lime is frequently used on the
arable land; and, with the exception of dung, is the only manure that
is employed. Drilling but little practised; beans mostly planted by
the dibble. Labourers said to be indolent; and that they seem, when
employed, as if they would rather stand still than exert themselves.-
(Kennedy and Grainger, vol. i., p. 308.) A large proportion of the
SOMERSETSHIRE.
211
county is in grass; the dairy and fattening systems being both ex-
tensively carried on. The drainage of the marshes, though of the
highest importance, is, from the want of a proper outfall, and the
non-employment of steam-engines, so very defective that thousands of
acres of crop-land are sometimes laid under water. Cattle principally
of the Devonshire breed, but a great variety of other breeds are met
with. The celebrated Chedder cheese is so called from a village of
that name on the west side of the Mendip Hills; but it is now princi-
pally made in the marshes round Glastonbury. Bridgewater cheese is
made in the marshes between that town and Cross. The stock of
sheep in Somersetshire is supposed to amount to about 500,000 head,
partly long and partly short-wooled; and is estimated to produce, in
all, about 10,500 packs a-year. Large quantities of excellent cyder
are made in various parts, but particularly in the vale of Taunton.
The woods and woodlands in different parts of the county are sup-
posed, in all, to cover a space of from 20,000 to 25,000 acres; and
it is distinguished by the stately growth of its hedgerow timber.
Property very variously divided: some large estates, but a good deal
of land occupied by yeomen who farm their own estates. Farms of
various sizes, but the majority small. Leases, when granted, are
usually for 8 or 12 years: in many instances, however, farmers hold
at will. The situation of the peasantry in this and the contiguous
counties of Wilts, Hants, and Dorset, is not what might be antici-
pated from the fertility of the soil and the general progress of im-
provement. Their wages are low; they use but little butchers' meat,
potatoes constituting a large proportion of their food; they also suffer
much from the scarcity of fuel; their cottages are badly furnished;
and, on the whole, their condition is exceedingly depressed, which
may, perhaps, account for the indolence noticed above. Average
rent of land, in 1842–3, 32s. 7d. an acre, being, with the exception of
Leicester and Middlesex (the latter of which, having the metropolis
within it, should not be compared with any other district), the highest
rent of any county in England. This is, perhaps, ascribable to the
great extent and excellence of the pastures. Mineral products nu-
merous and valuable, consisting principally of coal, lead, calamine,
fuller's earth, limestone, freestone, &c. Owing, however, to the lead
mines having been nearly exhausted, or becoming more difficult to
work, the produce of lead is now quite inconsiderable. The woollen
manufacture used to be extensively carried on at Taunton; but it has
given place to the silk trade, introduced in 1778, and at present
prosecuted on a pretty large scale. The manufacture is still, however,
carried on at Frome, Shepton Mallet, Wellington, and some other
places in the county, but it has long been in a declining state. Gloves
largely manufactured at Yeovil. Principal rivers, Lower Avon (ante,
p. 37), Ax, Brue, Parret, and Exe. The Parret is navigable from
Langport to its mouth. Taunton and Bridgewater are united by a
canal; and there are canals in other parts of the county. Somerset-
shire is divided into 40 hundreds and 7 liberties, and contains 475
parishes. It returns 13 members to Parliament, viz., 4 for the county;
2 each for the cities of Bath and Wells; 2 each for the boroughs of
Bridgewater and Taunton; and 1 for Frome. Population of county
P 2
212
ENGLAND AND WALES.
in 1841, 435,982. Sum expended for the relief of the poor in 1844-5,
164,7321.
Annual value of real property in 1815, 2,308,7237.; ditto
in 1842-3, 2,991,7467.
2. Devonshire, an extensive maritime county, having on the north
and north-west the Bristol, and on the south and south-east the
English, Channel; on the west it is bounded by Cornwall; and on
the north-east and east by Somerset and Dorset. It contains 1,654,400
acres, of which about 1,200,000 are arable, meadow, and pasture.
Surface and soil very various. Dartmoor, and the immediately con-
tiguous country, extending from Okehampton on the north to Ug-
borough on the south, and from Ilsington on the east to near Tavistock
on the west, exhibits an assemblage of mountains, rugged moors, and
swampy morasses, being one of the least valuable tracts in the king-
dom. (See antè, p. 13.) But, with the exception of this, and some
other hilly and moorish districts of inferior extent, the county consists
generally of good land. It has several extensive and well-sheltered
vales, denominated "the gardens of the west," of which that of Exeter
is the most celebrated. The soil consists principally of a reddish loam,
which, in some places, particularly in the south, is largely intermixed
with sand. Climate mild; but, owing to the advanced position of the
county in the ocean, it is unusually moist. It is to this circumstance,
more than anything else, that the harvests in most parts of this county,
as well as in Cornwall, are generally later by a fortnight at least
than in the midland counties, 21° or 3° more to the north. Agricul-
ture not so advanced as in many other counties. It is mentioned by
Vancouver (Survey of Devonshire, p. 44) that it was common in
North Devon, in 1813, when his work was published, to authorise the
tenants to take three or four white crops in succession; and that no
native of the district would take a farm unless he were allowed this
baleful licence! But the custom as to tillage has since been so far im-
proved that tenants are now generally restrained from taking more than
two white crops in succession, under any circumstances, and two wheat
crops unless after fallow.-(Kennedy and Grainger, vol. i., p. 198.)
The most usual rotation is, 1st, wheat from a ley; 2nd, barley or oats;
3rd, seeds; or, 1st, wheat; 2nd, turnips; 3rd, wheat. The latter, were
it properly managed, would, no doubt, answer extremely well; but,
though, of late years its importance has been admitted, no proper system
of cultivation has hitherto been generally introduced, and the turnip
culture is still very imperfectly understood. The wheat harvest in De-
vonshire, towards the beginning of the present century, must have been a
species of saturnalia: in some parts the people engaged in it received
no wages other than their victuals and drink; but these seem to have been
a more than adequate compensation for their services. We understand,
however, that these practices have now fallen into comparative disuse.
(Vancouver's Survey of Devon, p. 146.) Barley formerly consti-
tuted a large proportion of the bread-corn used in farm-houses and by
the peasantry; but within the last 30 years the use of wheaten bread
and potatoes, particularly the latter, has been so much extended as to
have, in a great measure, superseded the use of barley. Exclusive
of those used in the county, large quantities of potatoes are shipped
at Dartmouth and other towns. Sea-weed and sea-sand are frequently
DEVONSHIRE.
213
;
used as manure, and often with very good effect. Orchards, especially
those on the western side of the county, very extensive, and much
depended on. Their produce is estimated to amount, at an average,
to about 3 hhds. of cyder per acre. Though of various sorts, Devon-
shire cyder may, speaking generally, be said to be harsh and acid; and
to these qualities, and the freedom with which it is drunk, is ascribed
a species of colic prevalent among the lower orders. Devonshire breed
of cattle reckoned one of the best in the empire. They fatten easily,
yield excellent beef, and are superior to all other breeds in field labour
being, though rather light, active, docile, and willing to exert them-
selves to the utmost. They are extensively employed in the labours
of the field and on the road. As respects the dairy, they are, perhaps,
inferior to some other breeds; but their milk, though deficient in
quantity, yields more than the ordinary proportion of cream and butter.
In the vale of Exeter, which is a dairy district, there are all sorts of
cattle. Dairies, indeed, in most parts of the county, are an important
source of profit. The farmers frequently let their cows to a dairyman
by the year at so much a head; but the most industrious uniformly
undertake the management of the dairy. This county is famous for its
"clouted cream." The Exmoor and Dartmoor breeds of sheep are the
most celebrated of the indigenous varieties belonging to the county;
but most other British varieties are met with in it. The total stock of
sheep has been estimated at about 630,000, of which nearly 200,000
produce heavy fleeces of long combing wool. The total annual produce
of wool is estimated at about 15,500 packs. Horses a small compact
breed, but they are said to be less attended to and worse treated in this
than in any other English county; a consequence, perhaps, of the
superiority of the Devonshire oxen, and their more general employment.
Property much subdivided. Farms of all sizes, from 5l. to 500l.
a-year; but the majority small. The small occupiers, like their
brethren elsewhere, are said to work hard, and to fare very indifferently.
Farm-houses and offices rather inferior, and in North Devon they are
said to be situated so as to defy the utmost efforts of ingenuity to
dispose and place them where the purposes of their establishment could
be worse, or more ineffectually answered."—(Survey, p. 86.) Average
rent of land in 1842-3, 18s. 9åd. an acre. Tin, copper, lead, iron ore,
and manganese are met with; and the first two are wrought to a con-
siderable extent. Granite, freestone, limestone, and slate, are particu-
larly abundant. From 25,000 to 30,000 tons of clay, raised near King-
steignton, Bovey, and other places in that part of the county, are
annually shipped for the potteries in Bristol, Swansea, and Staffordshire,
particularly the latter. The woollen manufacture, which was formerly
prosecuted on an extensive scale at Exeter, Crediton, and other parts of
the county, is now much decayed. The lace manufacture of Honiton
is, unfortunately, also in this predicament. The principal rivers are
the Exe, the Dart, and the Tamar, falling into the English Channel.
The Tamar divides Devon from Cornwall. The Taw and the Torridge
unite in a large æstuary communicating with Barnstaple Bay, on the
north-west coast of the county. Several canals have been completed
and others have been projected. Devon contains 33 hundreds and 465
parishes. It returns 22 members to parliament, viz., 4 for the county;
214
ENGLAND AND WALES.
2 for the city of Exeter; 2 each for the boroughs of Plymouth, Devon-
port, Barnstaple, Honiton, Tavistock, Tiverton, and Totnes; and 1
each for the boroughs of Ashburton and Dartmouth. Population of
county in 1841, 533,460. Sum expended for the relief of the poor in
1844-5, 159,9361. Annual value of real property in 1815, 1,924,9127.;
ditto in 1842-3, 2,589,3771.
3. Cornwall, a maritime county, and the most westerly in England,
is everywhere bounded by the sea, except on its eastern side, which
borders upon Devonshire, from which it is principally separated by the
Tamar. It contains 851,200 acres, of which about 700,000 are arable,
meadow, and pasture. The appearance of Cornwall is not inviting.
Surface rugged, and in many places incumbered with immense masses
of granite. Brown Willy, the highest hill, has an elevation of 1,368
feet above the level of the sea. There is a moorish sterile tract of
great extent, stretching from Davidstow, on the north, to near St.
Neot's, on the south; and from North-hill, on the east, to Blisland, on
the west. But there is, notwithstanding, a considerable extent of
fertile land, particularly on the banks of the Alan, the Fowey, and the
Fal. Generally speaking, the soil is light, and is largely intermixed.
with gravel. The country is bare of wood; but a good many planta-
tions have been formed of late years, especially in the eastern parts
adjoining Devonshire. The climate of Cornwall, particularly of the
western parts, has been highly commended on account of the superior
equality of its temperature; the land being so much embosomed in the
Atlantic, that it is neither sultry in summer, nor particularly cold in
winter. At Penzance and Mount's Bay, frost, if it occur, is but of a
few hours' duration; and snow seldom falls, and still seldomer lies for
any considerable period. The progress of vegetation is but little
checked during the winter months, and the meadows retain their ver-
dure throughout the year. On the other hand, however, owing to the
moisture of the air, and coolness of the summers, the fruit is inferior in
flavour to that raised in the more easterly and midland counties. The
grape rarely ripens in the open air; and even the walnut and common
hazel-nut seldom bear fruit. Cornwall is very subject to frequent
rains, but they are not very heavy; and the quantity that falls is said
to be rather under the mean of all England. According to Dr. Paris
(to whose Guide to Mount's Bay and the Land's End, pp. 6-13,
we are indebted for these particulars), the western parts of Cornwall
are a peculiarly eligible residence for invalids. Considering the nature
of the soil, its remote situation, and the great number of small farms,
agriculture is more advanced in Cornwall than might have been an-
ticipated. The extent of land under crop is probably about the same
now as at the epoch of Morgan's survey in 1810; but the produce is
vastly greater. It was then usual to take crop after crop of corn, till
the land was completely exhausted, or capable only of bearing the
nuda avena, or naked oat, (provincially pillar from the Cornish word
pilez, bald,) used in the feeding of poultry and pigs. But since that
period, and more especially since 1835, when bone-dust began to be
extensively introduced, a very great change has taken place for the
better. An incomparably greater breadth of land is now under green
crop, the importance of which is fully recognized, and a proportional
CORNWALL.
215
addition has been made to the supply of manure, and to the pro-
ductiveness of the corn crops. Agriculture, however, is still merely
in a state of transition, and at present (1846) it is not unusual to
prohibit tenants from taking more than two or three white crops in
succession! The diminutive size of many of the farms is also an all but
insuperable obstacle to their improvement. Farms of 150 or 300 acres
may be, and, indeed, frequently are, badly cultivated; but it is a very
rare case to witness anything approaching to good husbandry on very
small farms.* Potatoes extensively cultivated. In the vicinity
of Penzance the land produces 2 crops in a season; and an acre has
been known to yield 300 bushels (Winchester measure) of early
potatoes for the first crop, and 600 bushels, of a later species, for the
second! Latterly, however, the potato crop has become rather preca-
rious, and, in some instances, it has entirely failed. Lime is largely
employed as a manure, no fewer than 1,480,000 bushels having been
employed for that purpose in 1843, of which 1,280,000 were brought
from Devonshire. Sea-sand and sea-weed, refuse pilchards, &c., are
also used as manure. Cattle of various breeds. The indigenous variety
is small, black, hardy, and coarse; but the prevailing breed is a cross
between the native variety and the North Devons. But little cheese is
made in Cornwall, and that little is said to be very inferior. The ex-
cellence of the Cornish butter, of which considerable quantities are
made, is, however, universally admitted. The stock of sheep in Corn-
wall has been estimated at about 200,000, producing 5,900 packs of
wool a year. Property much divided, and "vexatiously intermixed."
Farms mostly small, and held under lease for 7, 14, or 21 years. The
custom of the county as to the entry to farms is bad, and has an inju-
rious influence over agriculture. Average rent of land in 1842-3,
18s. 21d. an acre, having increased about 8s. an acre since 1810!
Cornwall is famous for its tin and copper mines, which rank among the
The tin mines are
most productive of their kind in the world.
believed to have been wrought from the æra of the Phoenicians; but
the copper mines, though discovered at a comparatively recent epoch,
are now become of far greater value and importance. (See section on
Minerals.) There are also mines of lead, slate, soapstone; and small
quantities of gold and silver have been met with. About 5,000 tons
of soapstone, and 7,000 tons of China clay, are annually shipped from
Charlestown and Pentewan, principally for the potteries. The pilchard
fishery is carried on along the coast, particularly at St. Ives, Mount's
Bay, and Mevagissey; and is a source of considerable wealth to the
county. (See Fisheries.) Principal rivers, Tamar, Lynher, Fowey,
Camel, and Fal. Cornwall contains 9 hundreds and 203 parishes. It
used to return 42 members to parliament, but now it returns only 14;
viz., 4 for the county; 2 each for the boroughs of Bodmin, Falmouth,
and Truro; and 1 each for the boroughs of Helston, St. Ives, Laun-
ceston, and Liskeard. Population of the county in 1841, 341,279.
Sum expended for the relief of the poor in 1844-5, 77,9457. Annual
value of real property in 1815, 922,2597.; ditto in 1842-3,
1,353,2617.
* See the valuable accounts of Cornish farming in the Agricultural Journal, vi.,
402, &c.
216
ENGLAND AND WALES.
Wales.
This ancient principality has a large extent of sea-coast, being
bounded on the north by the Irish Sea; on the west, by St. George's
Channel; on the south by the Bristol Channel; and on the east by the
counties of Monmouth, Hereford, Salop, and Cheshire. It is usually
divided into North and South Wales; the former containing the
counties of Anglesea,* Caernarvon, Denbigh, Flint, Merioneth, and
Montgomery; and the latter those of Brecon, Caermarthen, Cardigan,
Glamorgan, Pembroke, and Radnor. In all, Wales is supposed to
contain 4,752,000 acres, of which 3,117,000 are said to be arable,
meadow, and pasture. Surface mountainous and hilly. Snowdon, in
Caernarvonshire, the highest mountain in Wales, is elevated 3,571 feet
above the level of the sea. Cader Idris and Cader Ferwyn, both in
Merionethshire, have an elevation, the former of 2,914, the latter of
2,563 feet; the Beacons, in Brecknockshire, rise to the height of
2,862; Plynlimmon, in Cardiganshire, to 2,463 feet; and there are
many other mountains dispersed through the principality of an altitude
varying from 1,500 to 2,300 feet. The climate is moister than that
of England, in the proportion of 34, the average number of inches of
rain which falls in Wales, to 22, the average fall in England. The
temperature is materially affected by the elevation of the land: in the
vales it is unusually mild; on the more elevated grounds and moun-
tainous ridges it is cold and piercing; but even in the northern counties
the frosts are seldom of long continuance. The vale of Glamorgan,
and the southern parts of Pembrokeshire, are particularly celebrated
for the mildness of their climate. Snow never lies long on the ground;
and myrtles, arbutus, and other tender shrubs, bear the open air as
well as on the opposite coasts of Devon and Cornwall. Owing, how-
ever, to its humidity, the climate of Wales is more suitable to pas-
turage than to the raising of corn. The soil is, for the most part, of
an inferior description; but there are some vales of extraordinary fer-
tility. Of these the principal are the vale of Clwyd, in the north; and
the vale, or rather level, of Glamorgan in the south. The latter is
very extensive: it consists principally of clay soil; and, when well
cultivated, produces the finest crops of wheat. The agriculture of
Wales is altogether bad. Improvements have made less progress in it
than in almost any other part of the empire. Speaking of Caermar-
thenshire, Messrs. Kennedy and Grainger observe,-" The soil is very
fertile: it in general consists of a sandy loam; nor is there finer land
anywhere in Great Britain than is to be found in some parts of this
county, either for the growth of turnips or for the feeding of sheep.
These advantages, however, are not here of much avail; as whatever
requires a little trouble, or is over and above the natural produc-
tions of the land, is thought quite unnecessary, and is totally neglected.
There never existed, indeed, a country more erroneously conducted, as
to its agriculture, than Caermarthenshire; nor does Wales in general
* This island is celebrated as the Mona of Tacitus. It was the principal seat of
the religion of the Druids, its groves being sævis superstitionibus sacri.-Annal.
lib. xiv. § 30.) Anglesea is now joined to the mainland by the Menai Bridge.—
(See antè, p. 52.) It contains 173,440 acres.
WALES.
217
""
produce half what it is capable of doing under proper management.
(P. 169.) The statements of the same gentlemen in reference to
Denbigh, Glamorgan, and other counties, are precisely similar. A
rotation of crops, on sound principles, is but seldom introduced. In
Caermarthenshire "the first crop is wheat, after which there are regu-
larly two crops of barley taken, and then oats are sown as long as they
will grow. When the land is entirely exhausted, some farmers will be
at the expense of a few grass-seeds to lay it down; but others let it
return again naturally to pasture, and it then has rest for 6 or 7 years
longer before it goes through the same round, only having a few beasts
running upon it."-Kennedy and Grainger, p. 172.) In Anglesea it
was customary, about 25 years ago, to take five white crops in succession,
most of which were so poor as hardly to pay their expenses; but an
improved system is in course of being gradually introduced. Oats are
far more extensively cultivated than any other species of grain: in the
mountainous districts black oats are most frequently raised. Turnips
and potatoes have been introduced; and the culture of both is extending,
but particularly that of the latter. The Welsh plough, which is still
in common use, is a wretched implement: it does not cut, but tears the
ground by main force. The land is frequently, indeed, not more than
half ploughed. In some places the team consists of a pony and a half-
starved riding horse, or a pony and a pair of small oxen, with a girl to
drive them. There is everywhere a great want of drainage. The
horses, cattle, and sheep differ according to the nature of the pastures.
In the vales they are of a larger size than on the hills and mountains,
and are more intermixed with other breeds. The small native Welsh
ponies (Merlins) are now seldom met with, except in Merioneth and
Montgomery, in the former of which they are still raised in con-
siderable numbers. They are sure footed, and exceedingly hardy.
The vales of Montgomery have been long noted for a superior breed of
horses. The rearing of black cattle is a principal part of Welsh hus-
bandry, the farmers depending mainly on them for the means of paying
their rent and other outgoings. Cattle differ in different parts of the
country, according to the abundance of food, the care with which they
are attended to, &c. They mostly belong to the middle-horned variety,
and are rather stunted in their size. Pembroke and Glamorganshire
have probably the best cattle. A cross between an Ayrshire bull and
a Glamorgan cow has recently begun to be held in high estimation;
being accounted better milkers, hardier, and more easily kept than the
native cattle. Numbers of small black cattle are raised in Anglesea;
5,861 having been annually sent across the Menai bridge, at an average
of the 3 years ending with 1833; but of these about 500 were Irish
cattle landed at Holyhead. The total stock of sheep is estimated at
about 1,250,000, and the annual produce of wool at above 10,000
packs. The mutton of the mountain sheep is highly esteemed. Estates
of all sizes, from 201. a-year up to 30,000l. The custom of gavelkind
formerly prevailed in Wales, the consequence of which was a too
*
* Mr. Youatt says (Cattle, their breeds, &c., p. 59), that at least 10,000 Anglesea
cattle are now annually sent across the Menai bridge; but the official statement,
given above, shows that this is about double the actual number. The imports of
sheep from Anglesea are increasing. They amounted, in 1833, to 8,358.
218
ENGLAND AND WALES.
minute division of property. "Equality and poverty went hand in
hand. But when the custom was abolished, and alienation permitted,
an accumulation of lands was the necessary consequence, which became
very prevalent in the last two centuries; and, having arrived at its
maximum early in the 18th century, it has, since that period, shown
some instances of retrogradation.”—(Davies's North Wales, p. 76.)—
Farms of various sizes: some large; but the great majority small.
The average size of those in South Wales is estimated at from 50 to
60 acres. Leases not uncommon, but ill-contrived: for the most part
they contain no regulations as to management, so that the farm is
completely exhausted previously to the close of the lease. The great
majority of the old farm-houses and offices wretched in the extreme,
and very ill-placed. But farm-buildings, of a new and improved con-
struction and appearance, are now to be met with in most parts of the
country, and are gradually becoming more numerous. Cottages in North
Wales used to be almost as bad as those of Ireland; but they also, are
improving. Those of South Wales are preferable. In Glamorgan-
shire the more newly built cottages are constructed of stone and mortar,
and whitewashed inside and outside. In Pembroke, the walls of the
cottages, and even farm-buildings, frequently consist of mud or clay.
Average rent of land in 1842-3, 9s. 11ąd. an acre. Wales is particu-
larly rich in minerals. The famous copper mine of Parys, in Anglesea,
discovered in 1768, was, for many years, singularly productive; but
it is now much fallen off. The lead mines of Cardigan, once so famous,
have been wholly abandoned; and those of Flintshire have declined.
The latter, however, are still very productive. In 1828, the lead
mines of Wales are estimated to have produced, in all, 12,000 tons of
pig lead; “of which Flint and Denbigh, but particularly the former,
furnished by far the largest portion." (Ency. Metrop. Part xxxix.,
p. 195.) In 1839, the produce of lead in Wales amounted to 13,396
tons. Both divisions of the principality have coal; but the coal-field
of South Wales is the largest in the empire, and may, for all practical
purposes, be looked upon as inexhaustible. Being, also, well supplied
with ironstone, as soon as experience had disclosed the superiority of
Lord Dudley's plan for preparing iron by means of pit-coal, the at-
tention of capitalists and speculators began to be particularly directed
to the capabilities of South Wales for the production of iron. Works
were, in consequence, commenced at Merthyr Tydvil, and other
places, not long after the middle of last century; and such has been
their extraordinary success, that the quantity of iron made in South
Wales in 1840 was estimated at 505,000 tons, while that made in
Staffordshire and the rest of England did not exceed 650,000 tons.*
There were, during the same year, 26,500 tons of iron produced in
North Wales. The Welsh slate quarries, particularly those in the
vicinity of Bangor, are very extensive, and furnish slates of all sizes,
and of the most excellent quality. Limestone is particularly abundant.
Almost all the copper raised in Cornwall is carried to Swansea, and
other places in South Wales, to be smelted; and, in all that respects
* The ironstone of Wales is poorer than the ores of Stafford, and other parts of
England; but the contiguity of the stone to coal, and the comparative facility with
which both are raised, more than compensates for the poverty of the metal.
WALES.
219
the smelting and refining of ores, the Welsh are equal, if not superior,
to the inhabitants of any other district. Woollens, particularly flannel,
for which Wales has long been celebrated, are made in various parts,
but more largely in Montgomeryshire than anywhere else. Gloves
are extensively manufactured at Denbigh; and stockings in different
parts of the country. The cotton manufacture has been successfully
introduced into Flint and Denbigh. The towns of Mold and Holywell
are particularly distinguished by their activity in manufacturing in-
dustry. The Welsh language is still in common use in most parts of
the principality; and a very considerable proportion of the popu-
lation have either no knowledge of English, or one that is but very
imperfect. Education in the principality is less advanced, perhaps,
than in any other portion of the United Kingdom, and civilization is
proportionally backward. The contrast between the appearance of
the country and of the inhabitants in the English counties adjoining
Wales, and in the latter, though less now than formerly, is still very
striking. Gough, in his edition of Camden, published in 1806, says,
"There is nowhere, perhaps, south of the Tweed, a greater air of
misery and savageness than among the inhabitants of the Glamorgan-
shire mountains, always employed in coal, iron, and copper-works,
almost naked, excessively nasty, their long straight hair hanging about
their tawny faces. The women outdo the men in hard labour, their
feet and legs bare, almost above their knees. Their huts, like their
hedges of stones, confusedly piled up and wedged together without
cement or earth. Mr. Wyndham observes, that though Caerphylly
is but two miles from Monmouthshire, and separated only from it by
a simple brook, the buildings, manners, and dress of the inhabitants,
are as strictly Welsh as those of Merionethshire, and the English
language is as little understood here as among the mountains of Caer-
narvonshire," (iii., 125.) A very considerable change for the better,
has, no doubt, been effected since this paragraph was written; but
there is yet much room for amendment. Chartist doctrines, a few
years ago, made such progress in South Wales, as to give rise to
dangerous commotions, which were not suppressed without bloodshed;
and at a later period there was a general demolition of the turnpike-
gates in many parts of the principality. The latter, however, had
been vexatiously multiplied; and they have since been placed on a
better footing. The great rivers Severn, Dee, and Wye, have their
sources in the principality; and besides these there are the Clwyd,
Conway, Wnion, Dyfi, Teify, Towy, Tawe, Neath, Taffe, &c. Some
of these rivers are navigable to a considerable distance; and internal
communication in South Wales is now much facilitated by means of
canals and railroads. The common roads of the principality, which at
no distant period were excessively bad, have, within these few years,
been very much improved. Many new and comparatively level lines
have been cut, and most of the old lines have been materially melio-
rated. The great road from Shrewsbury to Holyhead, by the Menai
Straits, is, perhaps, the best in the empire. Notwithstanding its
great extent of sea coast, and the advantage it enjoys in the possession
of Milford Haven, Wales has but little commerce and shipping. Wales
contains 869 parishes. The principality returns 29 members to par-
220
ENGLAND AND WALES.
liament: viz., 2 each for the counties of Caermarthen, Denbigh, and
Glamorgan; 1 each for the counties of Anglesea, Brecon, Cardigan,
Caernarvon, Flint, Merioneth, Montgomery, Pembroke, and Radnor;
1 each for the boroughs of Brecon and Merthyr Tydvil; and 1 each
for the several districts of boroughs, of which Beaumaris, Caermarthen,
Cardigan, Caernarvon, Denbigh, Flint, Cardiff, Swansea, Montgomery,
Pembroke, Haverfordwest, and Radnor, are the principal or returning
boroughs. Population of principality in 1841, 911,603. Sum ex-
pended for the relief of the poor in 1844-5, 277,9661. Annual value
of real property in 1815, 2,323,9707.; ditto in 1842-3, 3,465,7197.
Islands.
Exclusive of the Isle of Wight and Anglesea, already noticed (ante,
pp. 208, 216), there are a few islands dependent on England, of which
the following are the principal:-
Channel Islands.-These, which form the only remains of the
Norman provinces once subject to the British crown, lie in the English
Channel, a little to the west of the peninsulated department of La
Manche in France. They consist of Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney,
and Sark, with some dependant islets. Alderney, the most northerly,
and the nearest to England, is about 55 miles south from the Isle of
Portland. Jersey, the largest and most valuable, is supposed to con-
tain about 40,000 acres, and Guernsey about 32,000. The population
in 1841, was-Jersey, 47,544; Guernsey, 26,649; Alderney, 1,030;
Sark, 785; other islands, 57: in all, 76,065.
Jersey is fertile, well wooded, and has a rich and beautiful appear-
ance. Guernsey is less fruitful, and has much less wood; but it also
possesses a considerable extent of productive soil. Climate peculiarly
mild and agreeable. Agriculture, even in Jersey, the most improved
and flourishing of the islands, is still far behind. This seems to be
principally ascribable to the minute division of the land; property
having been so much frittered down by the law of equal division, that
the average size of estates does not exceed 15 acres, while one small
field has sometimes half-a-dozen owners. Wheat and barley, especially
the former, are the principal corn crops raised in the island. Accord-
ing to the official returns, the produce per acre of wheat is very large,
being nearly 5 quarters. We have little doubt, however, that this is
very decidedly beyond the mark; and we are confirmed in this belief
by observing that the returns make the produce per acre of wheat
and barley exactly the same.-(Parl. Paper, No. 74, Sess. 1835.)
Lucerne, potatoes, and parsnips are extensively cultivated, particularly
the latter. Cyder is one of the principal products of Jersey; and it is
said that, at an average, about 150,000 gallons a year are exported.
Sea-weed is the chief article of manure used in all these islands; the
cutting and gathering of it being subjected to peculiar regulations.
The agriculture of Guernsey is, in most respects, similar to that of
Jersey. Cyder is, however, less an object of attention. The produce
of wheat in Jersey is at present estimated at about 14,000 quarters a
year, and that of barley at about 3,600 quarters; being, together,
about adequate to supply half the demand of the population. In
CHANNEL ISLANDS.
221
Guernsey, the annual average growth of wheat is estimated at 4,000
quarters, and of barley at 4,000 quarters; making only about a fourth
part of the quantity required for its supply. The deficiency is made up
by importations from France, the north of Europe, &c.; and it has
been suspected that some portion of the foreign corn imported into the
islands finds its way into the English market free of duties.—(Parl.
Papers, Nos. 74 and 289, Sess. 1835.) Land in Jersey and Guernsey
brings a very high rent.
The Channel Islands are celebrated for a peculiar breed of cattle,
known in this country by the name of Alderney or Norman cattle.
They are small, and far from handsome; but seem to be well suited to
their native soil. They do not give much milk; but what they do give
is rich and excellent, producing an extra quantity of very superior
butter: hence their general introduction into gentlemen's parks and
pleasure grounds. Otherwise the breed is but little esteemed in this
country. In the islands, however, it is held in the highest estimation;
so much so that, in both Jersey and Guernsey, the importation of any
other description of cattle is prohibited under the severest penalties !—
(Inglis's Channel Islands, 2nd edit. p. 129.) Cattle and their pro-
ducts form a principal article of export from Jersey. But few sheep
are kept. The oyster fisheries of Jersey are of considerable importance
and value; 208,023 bushels a year having been shipped for England,
at an average of the 4 years ending with 1832. The peculiar red-legged
Guernsey partridge is now extensively introduced into England.-(See
antè, p. 121.) The islands possess some valuable quarries. Worsted
stockings, of a very fine quality, have been accounted the staple manu-
facture of Jersey; and she annually exports large quantities of boots
and shoes made of leather brought from France.
Owing to the various privileges which they enjoy, particularly their
almost total exemption from taxation, their being allowed to export all
articles of the growth, produce, or manufacture of the islands to Eng-
land and the English colonies, on the same footing as other British
subjects, and their favourable situation for carrying on a contraband
trade, the commerce of Jersey and Guernsey is extensive and impor-
tant. Their mercantile marine has rapidly increased. In 1845 Jersey
had 311 registered vessels, of the burden of 27,651 tons, exclusive of
a considerable number of large boats, mostly engaged in the oyster
fishery. Guernsey had, at the same time, 120 vessels, of the burden
of 12,898 tons. All sorts of timber and cordage being admitted duty
free into the islands, we need not wonder that great numbers of vessels
are now annually built in them; but we may well wonder that they
should be permitted to enjoy a valuable privilege of this sort, denied
to the ship-owners and ship-builders of the rest of the empire.
The government of the islands is in the hands of states, some mem-
bers of which are named by the king, while others are chosen by the
people, and others sit ex officio. Party spirit runs very high in Jersey.
The natives speak corrupt French; and are industrious and penurious.
Causes are determined by their own officers; but an appeal may be
made to the king in council. These islands are a very costly appanage
of the British crown. They have been fortified at an immense expense;
and their defence in time of war is supposed to cost fully 500,000l. a
222
ENGLAND AND WALES.
year, which has to be wholly defrayed by England; the total revenue
collected in the islands not amounting to 20,000l. a year. Even in
peace they occasion a heavy charge. The advantages derived from their
possession seem neither very obvious nor very material. Principal
towns, St. Helier's in Jersey, and St. Peter-le-Port in Guernsey. The
former had, including the parish, in 1841, a population of 21,040; and
the latter, of 15,220.-(See Quayle's Survey of Jersey and Guernsey;
and Inglis's excellent work on the Channel Islands.)
The Scilly Islands lie about 30 miles west by south from the Land's
End. The total number of islands and rocks is very great; but there
are only about half-a-dozen of any importance. St. Mary's, the
largest, is said to contain 1,640 acres: their entire area, as given in
the population returns, is only 5,570 acres. In 1841 they had a popu-
lation of 2,582. Small quantities of wheat, barley, and oats are raised;
but the inhabitants, who are often involved in great distress, principally
support themselves by fishing. They also act as pilots to such ships as
may require their services. These islands are supposed by some to be
the Cassiterides, or tin islands, of the ancients. But it is most pro-
bable that the ancients gave this name to the western parts of Corn-
wall, where tin mines have been wrought from the remotest antiquity.
A lighthouse was erected on St. Agnes island in 1680, the lantern of
which is elevated 138 feet above high water mark. It is, according
to the ordnance survey, in lat. 49° 53′ 38″ N., long. 6° 19′ 23″ W.
The Isle of Man is not, strictly speaking, an English island, but it
may be as well described here as anywhere else. It is situated in the
Irish Sea, about 20 miles from the Burrow Head in Scotland; its dis-
tance from the nearest points of England and Ireland not being much
more considerable. It is about 30 miles in length, and from 10 to
12 in breadth; containing about 180,000 acres. It had, in 1841, a
population of 47,975.
*
Man is divided into two nearly equal parts by a chain of mountains
that runs through it in a longitudinal direction. Sneafell, the highest
summit in the island, is elevated 2,004 feet above the level of the sea.
Soil various; for the most part sandy and loamy; but stiff clays are
met with. It is nowhere very productive. Climate milder than in
the adjacent parts of Great Britain and Ireland, particularly in winter.
Frost and snow rare; and, when they occur, of but short continuance.
In consequence, however, of the greater humidity of the climate, the
summers are deficient in heat, and harvest is, in general, rather late.
The mountains, commons, and other waste lands are supposed to in-
clude about 54,000 acres ; leaving above 100,000 acres for the pur-
poses of cultivation. Agriculture a good deal improved, but still
The extent of land under white crops, and the
average produce of each, is estimated to be
very backward.
Wheat, 8,000 acres at 24 quarters per acre, 20,000 quarters.
Barley, 5,000
Oats, 13,000
4
3/11/20
ditto,
ditto,
20,000 do.
45,500 do.
J
* This is the statement of Mr. Quayle, in his Survey of the island. In the Parl.
Paper, No. 74, Sess. 1835, the island is said to contain only 134,000 acres. Per-
haps, the former is an exaggerated statement; but we have little doubt that the
latter is below the mark.
CHANNEL ISLANDS.
223
This is supposed to leave a surplus of about 5,000 quarters of
wheat and 3,000 of barley over the consumption.-(Parl. Paper,
No. 74, Sess. 1835.)
Potatoes extensively cultivated: turnips, also, are raised, and flax
for home use. Marl, lime, and sea-weed are used as manures. Man
had a native breed of small hardy cattle, but they are now rarely
met with; the existing stock being a mixture of various breeds, Irish
and British. Ayrshire cows have recently been introduced, it is
said, with much advantage. The native sheep of the island are small
and hardy, but slow feeders, and long in coming to maturity. They
are mostly white, but many are grey, some black, and a few of a pecu-
liar dark buff colour. This breed is still found in the hills; but the
lowlands are now mostly stocked with improved breeds. Since the
introduction of two-horse ploughs, the native breed of small hardy
horses has been, to a considerable extent, supplanted by others of larger
size and strength. Property seems formerly to have been divided into
very minute and nearly equal portions; and such are its characteristics
at present. By far the largest portion of the island is possessed by
yeomen farming their own little estates, consisting of from 10 to
200 acres; and possessing mostly a portion of lowland with hill
pasture. There are but few properties in the island worth above
1,500l. a year.
Man used to be one of the principal seats of the herring fishery;
but latterly it was for several years comparatively deserted by the
herring shoals, and the fishery had, in consequence, become quite in-
considerable. This, however, was hardly to be regretted. The fishery
was carried on from July to October; being the period of the year
when the services of the yeomen and others, engaged in it, were most
necessary at home. Being, also, a species of lottery, in which large
sums were occasionally made by a few weeks' exertion, it attracted
crowds of adventurers without either capital or skill; while the irre-
gular life they led at the fishery tended to foster habits of intemperance,
and was believed to be the main cause of that idleness for which the
people have been long proverbial.-( Quayle's Survey, p. 147.) There
was, in fact, a material improvement in the habits of the people, and
in their industry, during the decline of the fishery; and its recent
revival is believed to have been injurious to the island rather than
otherwise.
The feudal sovereignty of Man was formerly vested in the Earls of
Derby, and more recently in the Dukes of Atholl. There has always
been a considerable difference between the duties on commodities in it
and in Britain. This discrepancy led, towards the middle of last cen-
tury, to a great deal of smuggling from the Isle of Man to the
contiguous coasts of England, Scotland, and Ireland. To put an end
to this, parliament purchased, in 1765, the feudal rights of the Duke
of Atholl; and, since then, the contraband trade has been confined
within comparatively narrow limits. But the duties on almost all
foreign articles consumed in the island, being still decidedly lower
than those on the same articles when entered for consumption in Bri-
tain, it becomes necessary, for the prevention of smuggling, to limit
224
ENGLAND AND WALES.
the quantity of such articles that may be imported into the island, and
to keep up a considerable extra number of custom-house officers and
revenue cruisers; and, after all, the evil still exists, though not to a
great extent. It were better for all parties that this discrepancy in the
duties, and the vexatious regulations that grow out of it, should be put
an end to. Man lies in the line of the steam packets plying between
Liverpool and Glasgow, and Liverpool and Dublin, most of which,
indeed, touch at Douglas; and it is not easy to imagine that anything
can exceed the anomalous absurdity of having a considerable territory,
situated in the very centre of the empire, and much resorted to, with
peculiar duties and revenue laws.
The government, political institutions, and laws of Man are in many
respects peculiar. The legislative and judicial authority is principally
vested in the House of Keys, formerly a delegated, but, for many
years past, a self-elected body, consisting of 24 individuals. Two
deemsters, officers of great antiquity, are judges in common and
criminal cases. The governor is named by the king; and has a
council, consisting of 4 or 6 individuals, who hold their seats ex officio.
The keys, deemsters, governor, and council, constitute the parliament,
or, as it is called, the Tynwald Court of the island. Its privileges,
though much impaired, are still considerable. A grand court is annu-
ally held at Midsummer at the Tynwald Mount, near Peel; and no
law is binding till it has been publicly read and proclaimed at this
assembly.
The Manx language is still in common use. It is derived from the
ancient Celtic, but has a greater affinity to the Erse and Irish than to
the Welsh or Armoric. All the inhabitants can, however, speak Eng-
lish; and it is probable that, in no very long time, the Manx language
will be entirely laid aside.
Lead mines are wrought to a considerable extent near Peel, on the
west side of the island, having produced, in 1839, 1,829 tons. Slates
are quarried in the same vicinity. Limestone is abundant, and lime is
prepared in considerable quantities. Manufactures inconsiderable.
In 1845 there belonged to the island 332 registered vessels, of the
burden of 8,452 tons, but of these by far the greater number were
boats of less than 50 tons, engaged in the herring fishery. At present
timber may be imported into Man for ship-building, or any other purpose,
on paying an ad valorem duty of 10 per cent. Should it be permitted
to enjoy this valuable privilege, and the timber duties be continued on
their present footing in Great Britain, the fair presumption seems to
be that it will engross a large share of the ship-building business.
Douglas, by far the largest town in the island, had in 1841 a popula-
tion of 8,647. It is pretty well built, and is much resorted to in
summer by visitors from Liverpool and other places. None of the
other towns had, in 1841, a population of 3,000.
Exclusive of the official paper and Quayle's Survey, already referred
to, we have consulted the excellent article on Man in Rees's Cyclopa-
dia, &c. Feltham's Tour in Man in 1797 and 1798 (8vo. Bath,
1799) contains, however, by far the best account of the island that we
have met with.
SCOTLAND.
225
Exclusive of the above, a few small islands lie off other parts of the
English coast, such as the Fearn Islands off Northumberland; the Flat
and Steep Holms in the Bristol Channel; Ramsey, Bardsey, &c., off
Wales; but they are too inconsiderable to merit notice.
CHAPTER II.-SCOTLand.
SECT. 1.-Name.-Extent.-Face of the Country.
*
and
The
Name.-The origin of the term Scotland is involved in much ob-
scurity. That part of Great Britain between the Friths of Forth and
Clyde was made known to the Romans by the victories of Agricola, and
was discriminated by them from the rest of the island by the special
appellation of Caledonia. The inhabitants of this district, the Caledo-
nians of Tacitus, were afterwards known by the name of Picts ;
from them the country was for some centuries called Pictland.
term Scotland began to come into use, for the first time, in the eleventh
century. This new name had been previously applied to Ireland, and
is said to have been given to the country of the Picts by the Irish
clergy, by whom the rude and ignorant natives were instructed in the
Christian religion. A colony of Scots (the Dalriads of the venerable
Bede, and the Attacotti of Ammianus Marcellinus,) had previously left
Ireland, and planted themselves in Argyleshire and the West High-
lands; and they are supposed by some to have conquered the Picts, and
thence to have given their name to the country. But this does not
appear to have been the case, as the Saxon and Irish authors continued
to use the terms Picts and Pictland long after the conquest by the
Scotch or Attacotti is supposed to have taken place.—(See Pinkerton's
Geography, vol. i., p. 145, and his Inquiry into the Early History of
Scotland, passim.)
Extent.—The longest line that can be drawn in Scotland is from its
most southerly point, the Mull of Galloway, in lat. 54° 38′ N., long.
4° 52′ W., to Dunnet Head, its most northerly point, in lat. 58° 40′ 30″
N., long. 3° 22′ W., being about 280 miles; but the longest line that
can be drawn in about the same parallel of longitude is from the Mull
of Galloway to Cape Wrath, in lat. 58° 37′ Ñ., long. 5° W., being
about 274 miles. The breadth is extremely various. The country is
so much penetrated by friths or arms of the sea as to be in no place
more than 40 miles from shore. Between Buchanness Point, on the
Aberdeenshire coast, and Rowanmoan Point, on the west coast of Ross-
shire, the distance is about 146 miles; from Montrose Point to the
point of Ardnamurchan in Argyleshire, in lat. 56° 45′ N., long.
6° 8′ 30″ W., being the most westerly land in Great Britain, the dis-
tance is about 139 miles; and it is nearly as much between St. Abb's
Head and the point of Knap in Argyleshire. But between Alloa, on
the Frith of Forth, and Dunbarton, on the Clyde, the breadth is only
* The identity of the Caledonians and Picts has been denied by some writers;
but appears to be sufficiently established by Pinkerton, in his Inquiry into the Early
History of Scotland, vol. i., pp. 103–120.
VOL. I.
Q
226
SCOTLAND.
32 miles; and between the bottom of Loch Broom and that of the
Frith of Dornoch it is not more than 24 miles.*
Owing to the extreme irregularity of its figure and the want of
complete surveys, great differences of opinion have been entertained as
to the area of Scotland. Mr. Templeman, of Bury, computed it, inclu-
sive of the islands, at 27,794 square miles, or 17,788,160 acres. But,
though this estimate has been adopted by Pinkerton and others, there
can be no doubt that it is considerably under the mark. The elements
of the following table, (see p. 227,) deduced from Arrowsmith's map,
are given in the General Report of Scotland. In so far as respects the
mainland it cannot differ materially from the truth; but the estimates
of the area of the islands are not generally entitled to much weight,
and can be regarded only as a rough approximation.
Face of the Country.-As compared with England, the surface of
Scotland is, speaking generally, sterile, rugged, and mountainous. To
such a degree is this the case, that, estimating the whole extent of the
country, exclusive of lakes, at 19,000,000 acres, it is doubtful whether
so many as 6,500,000 be arable; whereas, taking the extent of England
and Wales at 37,000,000 acres, the arable land certainly exceeds
29,000,000; so that while in Scotland the proportion of the cultivable
to the entire land is about a third, in England it exceeds three-fourths.
With the exception, indeed, of a few tracts of rich alluvial land (carses),
Scotland has no extensive vales; the surface of the rest of the country
being, even where most level, considerably varied with hill and dale.
It should, however, be observed, that the general inequality of the
surface makes the lower parts of the country appear to a stranger less
fruitful than they really are, the hollows between the small eminences
being often very fertile, and the eminences themselves, even where not
susceptible of being ploughed, frequently furnish excellent pasture.
This is particularly the case in the south-western counties, much of the
best land in which, if surveyed from a distance, would appear, to one
not acquainted with its capabilities, worth little or nothing.
Even the finest parts of the low country of Scotland usually want the
rich luxuriance of an English landscape. Within the last 60 or 70
years a great deal has, no doubt, been done in the way of raising plan-
tations; and the strictures of Dr. Johnson, as to the deficiency of
wood, would at present be quite inapplicable, however just they may
have been when dictated. But in Scotland plantations are not spread
generally over the country, but are mostly congregated in the neigh-
bourhood of gentlemen's seats, while in many large tracts they are
wholly wanting. In most parts, too, we look in vain for those hedge-
row trees that give so much of a woody appearance to the southern
part of the island. Generally, also, the inclosures are a good deal
larger than in England, and the fences being either stone walls (dykes)
or hedges, that occupy only a small space of ground, having but little
of the breadth and roughness of those of England, the country, how-
ever well farmed, seems to an Englishman deficient in vegetation and
verdure, and cold and comfortless. On the other hand, however, the
succession of new objects presented by the unevenness of the surface,
* In the General Report of Scotland, this distance is erroneously said to be 36
miles.
EXTENT OF THE COUNTIES.
227
Extent in Square Miles.
Land.
Lakes. Total.
Table showing the Total Extent of the several Counties of Scotland in Square Miles and
English Statute Acres; specifying the Extent of the Land and of the Fresh Water Lakes
in each County; and showing the Fractional Part of the entire Area of Scotland, supposing
it to be 1,000, contained in each County.

Counties.
Corresponding
Proportions of
each County to
1000, assumed
the Total Area
of Scotland.
Extent in English Statute Acres,


Land.
Lakes.
Total.
Aberdeen
•
1,960
10
1,970
1,254,400
6,400 1,260,800
65.149
Argyle, besides)
2,200
60
2,260
1,408,000
Islands
38,400 1,446,400
74.740
Ayr
1,039
6
1,045
664,960 3,840
668,800
34.559
Banff
645
2
647
412,800 1,280
414,080
21,396
Berwick
Caithness
Clackmannan
Cromarty
Dunbarton
Dumfries
442
442
282,880
282,880
14,617
687
10
697
•
439,680
6,400
446,080
23.050
48
48
30,720
•
30,720
1.587
256
10
266
163,840
6,400
170,240
8.796
228
31
259
145,920
19,840
165,760
8.565
1,253
10
1,263
801,920
6,400
808,320
41.768
Edinburgh
354
354
226,560
226,560
11.707
Elgin
473
7
380
302,720
4,480
307,200
15.874
Fife
467
3
470
298,880
1,920
300,800
15.543
Forfar (Angus)
888
4
892
568,320 2,560
570,880
29.499
Haddington
272
272
174,080
174,080
8.995
Inverness, be-l
2,904
132
sides Islands
Kincardine
Kinross
Kirkcudbright
Lanark
3,036
1,858,560 84,480
1,943,050
100.403
380
•
72
821/1/2
12
942
272∞
382
243,200
1,280
244, 480
12.633
79
46,080
4,480
50,560
2.612
رات
834
525,760
8,000
533,760
27.581
3
945
604,880
1,920
604,800
31,252
Linlithgow
120
120
76,800
76,800
3.968
Nairn
195
3
198
•
124,800
1,920
126,720
6.548
Peebles
319
319
204,160
204, 160
10.549
Perth
2,588
50
2,638
1,656,320
32,000
1,688,320
87.241
Renfrew
225
2
227
144,000
1,280
145,280
7.507
Ross,
besides
2,069
Islands
60 2,129
1,324,160
38,400
1,362,560
70.408
Roxburgh
715
Selkirk
263
13
12-2
185 715
457,600
320
457,920
23.662
264// 168,320
960
169,280
8.747
Stirling
489
13
502
312,960
8,320
321,280
16.601
Sutherland
1,754
47
1,801
1,122,560
30,080
1,152,640
59.560
Wigtown
451
7호
​459
288,960 4,800
293,760
15.179
Sums of these 25,520
494 26,014 16,332,800 316,160 16,648,960
860.308
Islands.
Hebrides, viz. :
Bute, &c.
161
4
Isles of Ar-1
gyle Ar-
929
21
165
950
103,040 2,560
59,4560
13,440
105,600
5.456
608,000
31,417
Isles of In-)
1,150
59 1,209
736,000 37,760
773,760
39.982
verness
Isles of Ross
560
& Cromarty
20
580
Orkney Isles
Shetland Isles.
425
•
15
440
358,400 12,800
272,000 9.600
371, 200
19. 181
281,600
14.551
855
25
880
547,200 16,000
563,200
29.102
Totals
•
29,600
638 30,238 18,944,000 408,320 19,352,320
1000.000
+
Q 2
228
SCOTLAND.
the rude grandeur of the mountains that everywhere bound the pros-
pect, and the striking contrast frequently afforded between rich, well
cultivated, low grounds, and the contiguous high barren ridges, take
from the Scottish landscape the tameness and monotony that prevail in
many parts of England, and render it singularly picturesque and
impressive.
Popularly, Scotland is divided into the Highlands and the Lowlands ;
the former comprising the most extensive, rugged, mountainous tracts,
and the latter the greater part of what may be considered as a com-
paratively flat country. The Highlands commence with the Mull of
Cantire, and comprise the whole country to the north of the Frith of
Clyde, as far as Dunbarton. From the latter their boundary may be
traced by a waving line passing through Crieff, Dunkeld, and Brechin,
to Stonehaven or Aberdeen; so that they include the counties of
Argyle, Inverness, Aberdeen, Banff, Elgin, Nairn, Ross, Cromarty,
Sutherland, and Caithness, with parts of Dunbarton, Stirling, Perth,
Forfar, and Kincardine. The level ground skirting the Moray Frith
is sometimes excepted from the Highlands; but it is of comparatively
limited extent; and, in popular language, the whole country north of
the line already mentioned is usually understood by the term High-
lands.
The Highlands are divided into two unequal portions by the long,
low, narrow glen, called Glenmore, i. e. the Great Glen, stretching
north-east and south-west across the island, from Inverness to Fort
William. In its highest part, this remarkable glen is only 94 feet
above the level of the sea. It consists principally of a chain of deep
narrow lochs, or lakes, and these, being joined together and made
navigable from sea to sea, form the Caledonian Canal.
The northern division of the Highlands, though it does not contain
the highest mountains, is decidedly the more barren and unproductive
of the two. The good land is mostly restricted to the eastern parts
of Ross and Cromarty. The western and northern coasts, and the
interior, are, for the most part, in the last degree sterile, bleak, and
unproductive; but the latter contains some pretty considerable straths,
and innumerable glens, separated by high mountain ranges, and almost
invariably possessing lakes and mountain tarns. There is a good deal
of pretty level land in Caithness, but it is in great part moss and
moor.
The Lowland division of the kingdom comprises, also, a great deal
of mountainous country; but the mountains are not so high, nor,
generally, so rugged as those of the Highlands, while the low country
bears a far larger proportion to the hills.
SECT. 2.-Mountains, Vales, &c.
The mountains of the Highlands of Scotland consist either of de-
tached groups, closely wedged together, or of ridges or chains, running
for the most part in a north-east and south-west direction. They are,
in many instances, extremely rocky and precipitous; but the greater
number are covered with heath growing out of peat earth, rock, or
gravel, few comparatively being clothed with green herbage. They
MOUNTAINS.
229
are frequently separated from each other by deep narrow ravines, or
glens. The passes into the country lie in these: hence they admit of
being easily defended; and, until recently, that roads have been carried
through some of the principal ravines, they were impracticable almost
to all but natives. To this, more than to anything else, must be
ascribed the successful resistance opposed by their inhabitants to the
attacks of the Romans and the Saxons; and to it, also, is it owing
that the Highlanders are to this day a distinct people, differing essen-
tially in language, dress, and manners from the Lowlanders.
Of the Highland mountains, the Grampian chain, mentioned by
Tacitus (Agricolæ Vit., cap. 29), is at once the best known and the
most celebrated. Its limits are not very well defined; but it may be
regarded as commencing on the east side of Loch Etive, in Argyle-
shire, and as stretching across the island; till it terminates between
Stonehaven and the mouth of the Dee on the eastern coast.
It forms,
as it were, a natural rampart, bounding the entire frontier of the
Highlands. Its southern acclivity rises from the great valley of
Strathmore. The summit of the ridge marks the line that separates
the waters that flow into the Forth, the Tay, and its numerous tribu-
taries, and the South Esk, from those that flow into the Spean, the
Spey, and the Dee. The highest mountains of Scotland, excepting
Ben Nevis, are all comprised in the Grampian range. The principal
summits, beginning at the west and proceeding eastwards, are Cruachan
Ben, at the head of Loch Awe, 3,390 feet above the level of the sea;
Ben Lomond, on the east side of Loch Lomond, 3,195 ditto; Ben
More, at the head of Glendochart, 3,870 (B) ditto; Ben Lawers, on
the north side of Loch Tay, 3,945 ditto; Schiehallion, near the east
end of Loch Rannoch, 3,550 ditto. The most elevated part of the
Grampian chain lies at the head of the Dee, between Ben Gloe, in
Perthshire, and Cairngorm, on the confines of Aberdeenshire and
Inverness-shire. Here, the huge mass of Ben Macdhu, ascertained,
by the Ordnance survey, to be the highest mountain in the United
Kingdom, rises to an elevation of 4,390 feet above the level of
the sea, being 20 feet higher than Ben Nevis, hitherto reckoned the
loftiest of the British mountains, and no fewer than 719 feet higher
than Snowdon. The adjoining mountains of Cairngorm, Cairntoul, and
Ben Avon are respectively 4,095, 4,220, and 3,967 feet in height. From
this central point, the principal branch of the Grampians runs along
the southern side of the Dee, gradually declining in height till it
reaches Gaerloch Hill, near Stonehaven, 1,890 feet high. The coast
from Stonehaven to the Dee is high and precipitous, and may be con-
sidered as the extreme limit of the Grampians on the east. The branch
of the Grampians to the north of the Dee is of comparatively small
extent, terminating at the Buck, above Glenbuckett, on the north, and
near Tarland, on the south.
The Grampians are, in general, remarkable for their sterility, and
their desolate aspect. Their sides are in some places extremely pre-
cipitous, exhibiting, in the instance of Ben Macdhu, vast perpendicular
ledges of rock, 1,000 feet in height. Their summits are frequently
rounded, sometimes nearly flat, entirely covered by disintegrating
blocks and stone, together with grit and sand, except where the granite
230
SCOTLAND.
rocks present the singular appearance of large tabular protruding pin-
nacles, having their blocks seemingly arranged in regular strata.
Of the Grampian passes, the principal are those of Aberfoyle, Leni,
Glenshie, and Killiecrankie. The latter, which is the most celebrated,
is about 15 miles from Dunkeld. It is about half a mile in length.
The road is cut out of the side of one of the contiguous mountains;
and below it, at the foot of a high precipice, in the bottom of the
ravine, the river Garry dashes along over rugged rocks, but so shaded
with trees as hardly to be seen. At the northern extremity of this pass,
the revolutionary army, under Mackay, was defeated in 1689, by the
troops of James II., under the famous Graham of Claverhouse,
Viscount Dundee, who fell in the moment of victory.
Ben Nevis lies immediately to the east of Fort William, being sepa-
rated from the Grampians by the desolate tract called the Moor of
Rannoch. It rises to the height of 4,370 feet, being, as previously seen,
only 20 feet lower than Ben Macdhu, though, from its not being sur-
rounded by other mountains, it appears to be the higher and greater of
the two. Its circumference at the base is supposed to exceed 24 miles.
Its outline all round is well defined. Its northern front consists of
two distinct ascents or terraces; the level top of the lowest of which,
at an elevation of about 1,700 feet, contains a wild tarn, or mountain
lake. "The outer acclivities of this, the lower part of the mountain,
are very steep, though covered with a short grassy sward intermixed
with heath; but at the lake this general vegetable clothing ceases.
The surface of the upper and higher part of the mountain, where
not absolutely precipitous, is strewed with angular fragments of stone
of various sizes, wedged together, and forming a singularly rugged
covering, among which we look in vain for any symptom of vegetable
life. On the north-east side, a broad, terrific, and tremendous preci-
pice, commencing at the summit, reaches down to a depth of not less
than 1,500 feet. The furrows and chasms in the black beetling rocks
of this precipice are constantly filled with snow, and the brow of the
mountain is also encircled with an icy diadem. From the summit the
view is remarkably grand and sublime." It commands most of the
western islands, from the Paps of Jura to Cuchullin in Skye; and on
the east the view extends to Schiehallion, Cairngorm, and Ben Macdhu.
-(Anderson's Highlands, &c., p. 266, &c.)
The Monagh Lea mountains run nearly parallel to and along the
western side of the Spey, from its source to Dollas on the Lossie, a
distance of about 56 miles. The summit of this ridge divides the
waters that flow into the Spey, on the one hand, from those that flow
into the Findhorn on the other. The mountains comprised in this
chain, though wild, are tame, and do not attain to any very consider-
able elevation. "They rise in long ridges from an elevated base of
dark heathy moor, and they possess but little of the abrupt serrated
aspect of the west coast hills; their outlines being less decided, and
their acclivities less broken. Extensive straths or pastoral valleys,
abounding in streams and herbage, lie embosomed among the moun-
tains, and support great herds of black cattle, for which the district
has long been celebrated; while the adjoining solitudes, which are
wide, and rarely visited by the foot of man, continue still to be the
MOUNTAINS.
231
retreats of great numbers of roe and red deer, and of grouse and
ptarmigan. A scattered, but hardy, and very ancient race of people
occupy the strathis of this district, whose almost exclusive occupa-
tion is that of shepherds or drovers.”—(Anderson's Highlands, &c.;
p. 125.)
The western and central parts of the Highlands, from Ben Nevis
north to Cape Wrath and Strathy Head, are almost everywhere
sterile, dreary, and mountainous. This is particularly the case with
the country from Loch Lochy and Loch Askeg north to Loch Broom.
The mountains in this district are lofty; Ben Attow attaining to an
elevation of nearly 4,000 feet, and some of the others being but little
inferior.* The glens along the waters run generally east and west,
and are very narrow and contracted; and the country is so imprac-
ticable that it cannot be traversed except by following the course of
the streams. It is mostly appropriated to sheep-farming and the
rearing of cattle, and is very thinly inhabited, not a house being
sometimes visible in the course of many miles. The sides of the
mountains are generally abrupt and precipitous: their peaks are occa-
sionally sharp and rugged; but those along the coast have, on the
whole, more verdure, and a less heathy and barren aspect, than those
that are more inland. The mountains round Loch Maree are, however,
as barren, lonely, and terrific, as can well be imagined.
From Loch Broom north to Cape Wrath, along the coast, there are
no very high hills; but the country to a considerable distance inland
is elevated about 1,000 feet above the level of the sea, and is pecu-
liarly rocky, barren, and savage. Ben More, in Assynt, on the eastern
verge of this worthless tract, is 3,231 feet in height.
Of the central Highland mountains, to the north of the Caledonian
canal, the most conspicuous are Mealfourvony, contiguous to Loch
Ness, 2,730 feet above the level of the sea: Ben Wyvis, north-west
from Dingwall, is 3,426 feet high; and, though not the highest, is,
from its enormous lateral bulk, and extensive ramifications, the prin-
cipal mountain in this part of the island: Ben Derag, at the head of
Loch Broom, is 3,551 feet above the level of the sea; Ben Hee, in
Sutherland, east of Loch More, 2,835 ditto; and Ben Clibrick, to the
south of Loch Naver, in the same county, 3,165 ditto. Morven, in
Caithness, has an altitude of 2,334 feet. The glens and valleys among
the mountains are partly cultivated, and partly depastured by black
cattle; the higher levels, and the mountains themselves, when not
entirely barren, being mostly depastured by sheep.
The mountains of the southern Lowlands, or of that part of Scotland
lying to the south of the Friths of Forth and Clyde, cover all the
central part of the country; sending, in some places, ridges to the
coast. They may be regarded as commencing with the Cheviot Hills,
on the borders of Northumberland, stretching thence across the island
to Loch Ryan. They occupy the southern parts of Roxburghshire,
the northern parts of Dumfriesshire, the principal part of Selkirkshire
and Peeblesshire, the extreme southern part of Mid Lothian, the
southern part of Lanarkshire, the south and east parts of Ayrshire,
and the north and west parts of Kirkcudbrightshire. A branch,
* Brewster's Encyclopædia, article Scotland, p. 614.
232
SCOTLAND.
·
denominated the Soutra and Lammermoor Hills, diverges from the
central mass on the confines of Mid Lothian and Selkirkshire, ter-
minating at St. Abb's Head and Fast Castle on the eastern coast.
The highest of the southern mountains lie contiguous, in the central
part of the country, on the confines of the counties of Dumfries,
Peebles, Lanark, and Selkirk. Broadlaw, in the parish of Tweeds-
muir, 12 or 14 miles from Moffat, the most elevated mountain in the
south of Scotland, is 2,741 feet above the level of the sea: Hartfell,
contiguous to Broadlaw, formerly supposed to be the highest summit
in this quarter; has an altitude of 2,635 feet; and several of the sur-
rounding summits rise to the height of about 2,000 feet. The great
rivers Tweed, Clyde, and Annan, flowing east, north-west, and south,
rise near each other, on the skirts of Hartfell or of the immediately
adjoining hills. The next highest points in the southern mountains
are Whitecomb, in Dumfriesshire, 2,685 feet high; Cairnsmuir of
Carsphairn, and Cairnsmoor of Fleet, in Kirkcudbrightshire, respec-
tively, 2,597 and 2,329 ditto; Lowther Hill, Dumfriesshire, 2,396
ditto; Queensberry Hill, ditto, 2,259 ditto; Dunrich Hill, Roxburgh-
shire, 2,421 ditto; &c.
The mountains in the counties of Roxburgh, Peebles, Selkirk, and
Dumfries have, for the most part, smooth sides, with flat rounded sum-
mits. They are seldom heathy; but are mostly well covered with
grass and other herbage, affording excellent pasture for sheep. The
mountains of Kirkcudbright and Ayrshire are more rugged and heathy;
but they generally want the bold precipitous character of the Highland
mountains.
Exclusive of the great mass of southern mountains now alluded to,
there is in the Lowlands a remarkable chain of hills running parallel
to, and at no great distance from, the Grampians, across the island.
But this chain has not, like the Grampians, one general appellation ;
and it is divided by the valleys of the Tay and the Forth into three
distinct portions. Its direction and bearing cannot, however, be
mistaken. From Montrose to Perth, where it is intersected by the
Tay, this chain is called the Sidlaw Hills; thence to the valley of the
Forth it is called the Ochill Hills; and, reappearing again in Stirling-
shire, it is prolonged to Dunbarton, by the names of the Dundaff,
Fintry, and Campsie Hills. The low country, or valley, between this
range of hills and the Grampians is called, by way of distinction,
Strathmore, i. e. the Great Valley; and, except where it is crossed by
a low ridge joining the Grampians and Ochills, between Muthill and
Dunblane, and by another separating Loch Lomond from the valley of
the Forth, it is said not to be in any part much more than 200 feet
above the level of the sea. The summit of Ben Clach, the highest of
the Ochill hills, is 2,359 feet above this level.
Of the detached mountains of the Lowlands, those most worthy of
attention seem to be the Lomond hills in Fife, and the Pentland hills
in Mid Lothian. Criffel, a detached rugged mountain on the Solway
Frith, rises 1,831 feet above the level of the sea.
Some of the Western Islands are mountainous; but, except in a few
instances, their summits do not attain to any very great elevation.
Ben More, in Mull, rises 3,168 feet above the level of the sea.
The
MOUNTAINS.
233
altitude of the Cuchullin hills, in Skye, is but little inferior. Goatfell,
Arran, is 2,865, and the Paps of Jura are respectively 2,470 and 2,359
feet above the level of the sea.
Undoubtedly, however, the Rock of Ailsa is at once the most unique
and remarkable of the insular eminences. It is situated in the Frith
of Clyde, about 10 miles west from Girvan. It has an elliptical base
3,300 feet by 2,200 feet, and rises abruptly from the sea to the height
of 1,098 feet. It consists of columnar trap. The north-west side is
almost perpendicular, being formed of successive tiers of columns of
vast magnitude, both as to length and diameter. Ailsa affords shelter
to innumerable flocks of sea-fowl; and is a very striking object from
almost every part of the Ayrshire coast.
Altitudes of some of the principal Hills and Mountains of Scotland, mostly derived
from the Ordnance Survey.
Ailsa, Frith of Clyde
•
Arthur's Seat, Edinburghshire.
Bannoch, Forfarshire.
Ben Lawers, Perthshire
Ben Ledi
1,098
Cairngorm, Inverness-shire
•
822
Cairntoul, Aberdeenshire.
4,095
4,220
•
3,377
Battock Hill, Kincardineshire
2,611
Cairnsmoor of Fleet, Kirkcud-
brightshire.
2,329
Ben Achonzie, Perthshire
•
3,028
Ben Attow, Inverness-shire
4,000
Ben Avon, Aberdeenshire
•
3,967
Ben Clach, highest summit of the
Ochills
•
2,359
Ben Clibbrick, Sutherland
3,165
Ben Derag.
3,551
Ben Gloe, Perthshire
3,690
Ben Hee, Sutherland
•
2,853
Cairnsmoor of Carsphairn
Calton Hill, Edinburgh city
Carnethy, highest point of Pent-
land Ridge, Edinburghshire
Criffel, Kirkcudbright
Cruachan Ben, Argyleshire
Cuchullin, Isle of Skye
Dunrich Hill, Roxburghshire
Ettrick Pen, Dumfriesshire
•
2,597
356
·
1,880
•
1,830
3,670
2,995
2,421
2,258
•
3,945
Gaerloch, Kincardineshire
•
1,890
2,863
Goatfell, Isle of Arran
2,865
•
3,195
Hartfell, Dumfriesshire
2,635
•
4,390
Lochnagar, Aberdeenshire
2,815
•
3,819
Lomond Hill, Fifeshire
•
1,709
•
3,231
Lowther Hills, Dumfriesshire
2,396
3,168
•
3,589
•
4,370
•
•
2,307
3,180
3,720
Mealfourvony, Inverness-shire
Morven, Caithness
Paps of Jura, Island of Jura 2,470 & 2,359
Queensberry Hill, Dumfriesshire 2,259
Scarscoch, Aberdeenshire.
Schiehallion, Perthshire
•
2,730
2,334
•
3,390
•
3,513
•
1,950
Soutra Hill, Haddingtonshire
•
1,716
•
2,370
Tintoc, Lanarkshire
•
2,306
2,741
Whitecomb, Dumfriesshire
2,685
3,350
Wisp Hill, Roxburghshire
1,830
Ben Lomond, Stirlingshire
Ben Macdhu, Aberdeenshire .
Ben More, Perthshire.
Ben More, Assynt, Sutherland
Ben More, Island of Mull.
Ben Uarn, Aberdeenshire
Ben Nevis, Inverness-shire
Ben Ormen, Sutherland
Ben Voerlich, Perthshire.
Ben Wyvis, Ross-shire
Black Larg, Kirkcudbright
Black Hoe Hills, Selkirkshire
Broadlaw, Peebles-shire
Cairneelar, Inverness-shire
Vales.—As already observed, the level tracts of Scotland are but
few, and limited in extent, as compared with those of England. The
most important are the low alluvial lands (carses) on the banks of the
Forth and Tay, with the Merse of Berwickshire, and that part of
Strathmore that lies in Angus and East Perthshire. The first, usually
called the Carse of Stirling and Falkirk, occupies the country on
both sides the Forth, from Borrowstonness on the south, and Kin-
cardine on the north, westward to Gartmore, having attached to it
the level lands on the Teith and the Allan. The towns of Stirling,
Alloa, and Doune are in this level. The first is a very striking object :
the rock on which the castle and town are built rising on the west and
north sides almost perpendicularly from the plain, and declining
234
SCOTLAND.
rapidly to the east and south. The soil of the carse is eminently
fertile producing the most luxuriant crops of wheat, beans, &c.
The view from the ramparts of Stirling Castle is particularly grand.
The level lands on the Tay, and its tributary the Earn, are of very
considerable extent; and that portion denominated the Carse of
Gowrie, being the tract between Dundee and Perth, bounded by the
Sidlaw hills on the north and the Tay on the south, is decidedly the
richest and finest country in Scotland; and is not, in fact, inferior to
any in the empire. Strathearn, or the low ground on each side the
Earn, from Crieff to Rhind Point, where it unites with the Tay,
consists in most places of rich alluvial land of great fertility, though
in this respect it is surpassed by the Carse of Gowrie.
The view from the hill of Kinnoul, immediately to the east of Perth,
is most striking. The valleys of the Tay and Earn are also seen to
great advantage from several points of the Ochill hills. The view not
only embraces a large expanse of this rich and highly-cultivated valley,
with the course and confluence of its noble rivers, but commands, in
the distance, the Grampian range. Hence it may readily be conceived
to be, if not superior, certainly not inferior, in point of variety, extent,
and magnificence, to any other in the empire.
The Merse of Berwickshire extends from the Leader Water along
the Tweed to Berwick, occupying most of the low and generally level
part of the county, or nearly half its surface, having within it the
towns of Greenlaw, Dunse, and Coldstream. The soil of the Merse is
loamy, and generally excellent; and its farming is not surpassed by
any to be met with anywhere else.
By Strathmore, in its more confined sense, is meant the low country
in Angus and Perthshire, stretching from Laurencekirk in the former
to Methven in the latter. This, however, includes part of the valley
of the Tay, already noticed. That part of Strathmore that lies in
Angus is not generally flat, but has its surface diversified by gentle
eminences: it is of various degrees of fertility; portions of it remain-
ing waste and uncultivated. It wants, indeed, some of those cha-
racteristics that are, in England, understood to be inseparable from
vale land.
Besides the above, there are several smaller straths. Of these the
most important and valuable seem to be Teviotdale, or the low country
along the Teviot, in Roxburghshire; Tynedale, or the low rich
country along the Tyne, in East Lothian; and the How of Fife, or
the low rich land along the Eden, in Fifeshire. The surface of these
straths is gently varied: they consist, for the most part, of a loamy
soil, and are in a high state of cultivation.
Moors.-It would be useless to attempt particularising the Scottish
moors: they are too frequent and extensive, in most parts of the
country, to require, or, indeed, to admit of specification. The moor
of Rannoch, lying between Schiehallion, Cruachan Ben, and Ben
Nevis, seems, however, to be entitled to some notice. It includes a
vast extent of rocks, lakes, and morasses, elevated about 1,000 feet
above the level of the sea; and is one of the most dreary, wild, and
worthless districts imaginable. It is not inhabited, and is seldom even
visited. There is a somewhat similar tract on the west coast of
RIVERS.
235
Cromarty and Sutherland, stretching from the southernmost point of
the former to Loch Inchard in the latter, about 10 miles inland.
Though without any great hills, and not very elevated, it is extremely
rugged, bleak, and miserable. The soil of most of the Scottish moors,
as well as many of the mountains, is peat, which, being impregnated
with water, must exert an unfavourable influence over the climate.
SECT. 3. Rivers and River Ports.—Lakes, &c.
Rivers and River Ports.-The rivers of Scotland, having their
sources and channels in a more mountainous, rugged country, differ
materially in character from the English rivers; being in general
purer, more rapid, more interrupted by rocks and cataracts, and more
liable to sudden overflowings. Owing, also, to the greater altitude
whence they descend, and the comparatively limited extent of level
ground through which they flow, they are not nearly so available for
the purposes of navigation as the rivers of England. With the ex-
ception of the Clyde, they almost all run east, north, or south, but
principally east. There is not, indeed, on the whole western coast of
Scotland, from Cantire northwards to Cape Wrath, the embouchure of
a single considerable river.
Tweed, &c.--The Tweed, during the latter part of its course, forms
the boundary between Scotland and England; but, as its sources and
principal tributaries are all in the former, it is properly considered a
Scotch river. It rises on the east side of Errickstane Hill, about
6 miles from Moffat. Its course is first north-east, to Peebles ; then
east, with a little inclination to the south, to Melrose; it next passes
Coldstream and Kelso; and, pursuing a north-easterly direction, falls
into the sea at Berwick. The descent from the source of the Tweed
to Peebles is 1,000 feet, and thence to Berwick about 500 feet more.—
(New Statistical Account of Scotland, p. 2.) The waters of the
Tweed are particularly pure and limpid. The first part of its course
is through a fine pastoral country; and the latter through one that is
rich and well cultivated. Including windings, its length is reckoned
at rather more than 100 miles. Notwithstanding it conveys a large
body of water to the sea, it is not navigable for any considerable dis-
tance. The salmon fisheries on the Tweed are of great importance;
in this respect, indeed, it is second only to the Tay.
Among its principal tributaries is the Etterick, which, flowing from
the southern parts of Selkirkshire, joins it at the Eildon Hills. Ă little
lower down it receives the Gala, from Mid Lothian, and the Leader
from the borders of East Lothian. The Teviot rises in Roxburgh-
shire, on the confines of Dumfriesshire; and flowing north-east, and
receiving several tributaries, it falls into the Tweed at Kelso. The
Till rises in Northumberland, near Ingram, and, pursuing a north-
westerly course, falls into the Tweed at Tilmouth. Near Berwick the
Tweed receives the Adder, a considerable river, composed of the
united streams of the Blackadder and Whiteadder, having their sources
in the Lammermoor hills. The basin of the Tweed is estimated at
about 1,870 square miles.
Berwick, so celebrated in border history, lies on the north side of
236
SCOTLAND.
the Tweed, close to its mouth. It has a pier, with a lighthouse at its
head. At low spring ebbs there are not more than 5 or 6 feet water
on the bar: but at high water it has from 3 to 3 and 4 fathoms.
The channel does not exceed a cable's length across; and is difficult
to take in stormy weather, or when there is much fresh water in
the river.
Forth, &c.-Proceeding northwards along the coast, we meet with
the great arm of the sea, extending westwards from the Isle of May to
Kincardine. This, which is the Bodotria of Tacitus, is now called the
Frith or æstuary of the Forth, from its receiving, at its remotest
extremity, the river of that name. The Forth has sometimes been
reckoned the chief of the Scotch rivers; but, in point of magnitude, it
is decidedly inferior to the Tay. It originates in several mountain
streams that rise on the east side of Ben Lomond. Its course is east-
erly, with many sinuosities, by Aberfoyle, Stirling, and Alloa, till it
unites with the Frith of Forth at Kincardine. Its most important
tributary, the Teith, has its sources a little more to the north, and is
the channel by which Lochs Katherine, Venacher, Voil, Lubnich, &c.,
are drained of their surplus water. It pursues a south-easterly course
past Callendar and Doune, bringing to the Forth, a short way above
Stirling, a volume of water greater than its own. The Forth is joined,
somewhat lower down, by the Allan, flowing south from Perthshire,
and the Devon, flowing west from Kinross-shire. Except near its
source the Forth is by no means a rapid river. For the greater part
of its course, it flows, with many windings, through a low, rich
country. The distance, in a direct line, from the source of the Forth
to Kincardine, is only about 35 miles; but by water it is about three
times that distance. It is navigable for vessels of 70 tons as far as
Stirling; but its course below the latter is so very tortuous, that,
though the distance from Stirling to Alloa, by the road, be only about
7 miles, it is more than 23 by water. Hence it is little navigated in
this part of its course, except by steam-vessels. Ships of 300 tons
burden ascend the Forth to Alloa, which may be regarded as its prin-
cipal port. There is good and secure anchoring ground in the channel
of the river, or rather bay, between Grangemouth and Queensferry.
The Forth and its tributaries are supposed to drain about 800 square
miles. There are valuable salmon fisheries near Stirling, and in
several other parts of the river. The great canal, joining the Forth
and Clyde, commences at Grangemouth, on the Frith of Forth, near
the mouth of Carron Water.
Tay, &c.—The Tay is the greatest of the Scotch, and, in respect of
the quantity of water it conveys to the sea, it is the greatest even of the
British, rivers. It rises in the high mountainous country a little to the
north of Loch Lomond; and, flowing north-east by Killin, expands
into the beautiful long narrow lake called Loch Tay. Issuing thence,
its course is north and east to Logierait; south to Dunkeld; east to
Kinclaven; south, inclining a little to the west, to Perth; north-east
to the point of Rhind; then, north-easterly, past Dundee, till it falls
into the sea between Tentsmoor Point and Buttonness. From Rhind
Point to Dundee the channel of the river expands into an æstuary
called the Frith of Tay. From its source to Dunkeld the Tay flows
RIVERS.
237
with a rapid current, partly through a very wild, and partly through a
highly picturesque, romantic country. Its subsequent course, as far as
Perth, is through a comparatively fruitful country; and, from the
latter to the sea, it flows through the richest and finest valley in
Scotland.
From Buttonness to Dundee the river is navigable for ships of 500
tons burden; and, at high water, vessels of above 100 tons burden reach
Perth, 20 miles above Dundee. Two light-houses have been erected
on Buttonness to mark the entrance to the river. The bar at its mouth
has 2 fathoms water over it. Dundee, the port of the Tay, is a large,
rapidly improving, and highly important manufacturing and commer-
cial town. It has wet docks and a pier harbour. The latter dries at
low ebb; but at high water springs it has a depth of 14 or 15 feet, and
at neaps of 9 or 10 feet. Large ships anchor in the channel of the
river. The mouth and channel of the Tay are a good deal incumbered
with sand-banks; and its navigation is rather difficult, partly on that
account, and partly from the strength of the tides.—(Norie's Sailing
Directions for the North Sea, p. 106.)
Among the more remarkable of the tributaries of the Tay may be
mentioned the Lyon, which joins it near Fortingal. The Tummel has
its sources in the moor of Rannoch, and, flowing through the loch of
that name, is joined near the pass of Killiecrankie by the Gary, from
the confines of Loch Ericht. The united river falls into the Tay at
Logierait. Near Kinclaven, the Tay receives the united waters of the
Airdle, the Isla, and other rivers flowing south from the mountains on
the confines of Aberdeenshire. At Rhind point it receives its impor-
tant tributary the Earn, flowing eastward from Loch Earn. The basin
of the Tay comprises a space of about 2,400 square miles; and Mr.
Smeaton ascertained that it carries to the sea more water than even the
Thames. Its course from its source to Buttonness is estimated at about
110 miles. It is the finest salmon river in Great Britain: its fisheries
let for a large sum; the fish being mostly conveyed, packed in ice, to
London.
South and North Esks.-These rivers rise in the Grampian moun-
tains, on the confines of Aberdeenshire, and, flowing south-east, fall,
the first into the sea, a little below Montrose, and the latter about 4
miles more to the north.
Montrose is situated on the north side of the river, about 1 miles
from its mouth. Two light-houses have been erected on its extreme
north-east boundary. The channel is narrow; but there are 15 or 18
feet water on the bar at low ebbs, so that middling-sized ships may run
in at any time of the tide. The basin of Montrose, above the town,
has a fine appearance on a map; but it is too shallow to be of any use.
Notwithstanding the recent improvements, the narrowness of the chan-
nel, and the rapidity of the tides, make it advisable for ships entering
Montrose to employ a pilot.
Dee.—This river has its sources in the highest part of the Gram-
pian mountains, at the point where the south-western extremity of
Aberdeenshire unites with Inverness-shire. It flows east, by the
castle-town of Braemar, Glengairn, and Durris, till it falls into the
sea, on the south side of New Aberdeen. It receives many tributaries,
but none of very material importance. The total length of the Dee,
238
SCOTLAND.
from its source to its mouth, following its various windings, is between
80 and 81 miles; but a straight line, drawn between the two extremes,
would not exceed 65 miles. For the first 10 miles of its course there
is no human habitation near the banks of the Dee. It is distinguished
by its rapidity, its broad and capacious channel, and the limpid clear-
ness of its waters. It is not navigable, in ordinary tides, for more
than a mile from its mouth. It is well stocked with salmon, trout,
and eels, and the fisheries of the first are valuable. There is but little
alluvial land along its banks; but they are extremely well fitted, par-
ticularly in the upper districts, for the growth of timber. The Dee and
its tributaries drain about 900 square miles of country.
Great efforts have been made, by the construction of massive and
lengthened piers, and otherwise, to improve the harbour of Aberdeen :
it is still, however, but indifferent. At low ebb the bar at the mouth
of the river has about 12 feet water.
Don.-This, the second of the Aberdeenshire rivers, rises on the
skirts of Ben Avon, on the confines of Aberdeenshire and Banffshire,
flowing in a circular curve by Towie, Monymusk, and Kintore, till it
falls into the sea, on the north side of Old Aberdeen. Its total course,
following its windings, is about 61 miles; and a straight line, drawn
from its source to its mouth, would be about 42 miles. It is a much
less rapid river than the Dee, and flows, for a considerable part of its
course, through rich valleys. A canal, about 19 miles in length, and
3 feet 9 inches deep, runs along the southern side of the Don, from
Aberdeen to Inverury. It is used principally to bring down granite
for shipment at Aberdeen. There are salmon fisheries on the Don, but
not so valuable as those on the Dee.
Spey.-Proceeding northwards, we meet with no river of sufficient
magnitude to require any notice here, till, passing Kinnaird Head, and
turning to the west, we fall in with the Spey. This important river
has its source in Loch Spey, within about half-a-dozen miles of the
head of Loch Lochy. It pursues a north-easterly course through
Badenoch and Strathspey to Fochabers, below which it falls into the
great arm of the sea called the Moray Frith. It receives innumerable
mountain streams, but no very important tributary. Following its
windings, the course of the Spey is about 96 miles; but it is only about
75 miles, in a direct line, from its source to its mouth. It drains above
1,300 square miles of country; and, besides being one of the largest, is
admitted to be the most rapid of the Scotch rivers. Being fed wholly
by mountain torrents, it is very liable to sudden and destructive inun-
dations. It flows through what is the best wooded portion of the High-
lands. The Duke of Richmond is proprietor of several valuable salmon
fisheries on this river
Findhorn.-This river has its sources in the Monaghlea mountains,
8 or 10 miles west from Kingusie on the Spey. It pursues a north-
easterly course, falling into the Moray Frith at the village of Find-
horn. Including its windings, its course is altogether about 50 miles;
and it drains about 400 square miles of surface. The scenery along
its banks is celebrated for its beauty and variety. It is more liable
than the Spey or any other river in Scotland to sudden and dangerous
floods. One of the greatest of those, of which we have any authentic
account, occurred in August, 1829. In some parts of its course the
RIVERS.
239
water rose no less than 50 feet in perpendicular height above its
ordinary level; sweeping before it trees, mill-dams, bridges, and even
vast masses of rock! It is singular that notwithstanding the rise
was as sudden as it was extraordinary, and that a great extent of
country was laid under water, only eight lives are supposed to have
been lost.-(Anderson's Account of the Highlands, p. 143, &c.) The
Nairn has its embouchure about 10 miles more to the west than the
Findhorn: the Ness issues from Loch Ness, and, after a short course,
falls into the sea at Inverness: the Beauley falls into the Beauley
Frith; and the Conon into the Frith of Cromarty. These are the
most considerable rivers falling into the sea in the Moray Frith; but
none of them is navigable to any distance, or seems to require any
special notice. The rivers of Sutherland and Caithness are all in the
same predicament: and we have already stated that there is nothing
deserving the name of a river on the whole western coast, from Cape
Wrath to the Clyde.
Clyde, &c.—This fine river, the Glotta of Tacitus, decidedly the
most important, in a commercial point of view, of any in Scotland,
rises, as already remarked, in the highest part of the southern moun-
tain land, at no great distance from the sources of the Tweed and the
Annan. At first its course is northward, inclining a little to the
east, through Crawford Moor, till, near Carstairs House, it turns sud-
denly to the south-west; but, being joined by the Douglas, near
Harperfield, it takes a north-west course, by Lanark, Hamilton, and
Glasgow, falling into the Frith of Clyde below Dunbarton.
source to Dumbarton, the distance in a direct line, is about 52 miles ;
but, following its windings, the length of the river is about 73 miles.
Its basin comprises about 1,200 square miles, comprising the principal
manufacturing district of Scotland, with the city of Glasgow, and the
towns of Paisley, Greenock, Hamilton, Lanark, Pollockshaws, &c.
Its principal tributaries are the Douglas, Nethan, Avon, Mouse, Kelvin,
Cart, and Leven.
From its
Immediately after the junction of the Douglas with the Clyde, a
little above Lanark, the river begins to be precipitated over a succes-
sion of falls or cataracts. The first considerable fall is that of
Bonnington; its height, including that of a little one immediately
above it, being about 30 feet. The second fall is that of Core-
house, where the water dashes from one ledge of shelving rock to
another; its perpendicular height being about 70 feet. Dundaff Fall
is 10 feet high; and there are three distinct falls at Stonebyres, below
Lanark, making together about 76 feet. The distance from the
highest to the lowest fall is about 6 miles; and, throughout the whole
of this part of its course, the river dashes along with the impetuosity
of a mountain torrent, and is deeply ingulfed between rocky banks.*
At the lowermost fall it resumes its former quiet character: the val-
ley on both sides gradually widens; and it pursues its course through
a comparatively well cultivated, rich, and populous country, inter-
secting the great and flourishing city of Glasgow; about 7 or 8 miles
below which it begins to expand into an æstuary.
* Naismith's Survey of Clydesdale, pp. 19, 20, &c.
240
SCOTLAND.
The Clyde is navigable at high water as far as Glasgow. Formerly
the navigation was much obstructed; and a great deal of money and
labour have been expended in efforts to improve and deepen the
channel. These have been so very successful, that, at present (1846),
vessels of 500 tons or upwards get up to the city. Still, however,
the navigation is not in a very desirable state. It was once proposed
to cut a ship canal from Port Glasgow to the city; and it were better,
perhaps, had this been done twelve years ago; but the expediency of
the measure becomes very doubtful now that so great an outlay has
been made on the river, and that it has been so much improved. It is
seldom, however, that attempts to deepen the bed of rivers have the
wished-for success. In general, their navigation is liable to frequent
interruptions from tides, floods, droughts, &c. The success that has
attended the cutting of the Gloucester Canal, from Berkeley to Glou-
cester, is pretty decisive as to the superiority of such a channel, as com-
pared with that of even a moderately good river.
The great canal, joining the Forth and Clyde, falls into the latter
at Dunglass, a little above Dunbarton. A branch of the canal is car-
ried to Port Dundass, on the north side of the city of Glasgow.
Dee, Nith, and Annan.-Of the southern rivers these are the
only ones that seem to require notice. They flow south, with a little
inclination to the east, and fall into the Solway Frith. The Dee has
its sources in the most northerly part of Kirkcudbrightshire, amongst
the mountains, on the confines of Ayrshire. Below New Galloway
it expands into the long and beautiful sheet of water called Loch Ken.
Issuing thence, it flows south past Kirkcudbright, uniting with the
Solway Frith at the Ross, about 6 miles below that town. The Dee
is a fine river, and may be navigated by large vessels to Tongland
Bridge, about 2 miles above Kirkcudbright. The Nith is the largest
of the southern rivers. Its sources are in the northern parts of Dum-
friesshire, some of them being contiguous to those of the Clyde.
Pursuing a south-easterly course through Nithsdale, and passing
Dumfries, it falls into the Solway Frith, about 7 miles below the latter.
It is navigable to within a couple of miles of Dumfries for vessels of
considerable burden; but the navigation is a good deal impeded by
sand-banks. The course of the Annan is nearly parallel to that of the
Nith. It rises on the south side of Hartfell, near Moffat, and falls
into the Solway Frith, a little below Annan.
Lakes.-Exclusive of the many narrow inlets or arms of the sea,
that indent its west coast, Scotland has to boast a vast number of fresh-
water lakes, or lochs, particularly in the islands. Of the Lowland
lakes, Loch Leven, in Kinross-shire, seems to be the only one requiring
a distinct notice. Not long since it was about 4 miles in length by
about 2 in breadth; but it has recently been diminished by drainage.
It is a beautiful sheet of water, having the Lomond hills on its east,
and Benarty Hill on its south side, with the towns of Kinross and Mil-
nathort on its western margin. But it derives its principal celebrity
from having within it a little island, on which are the ruins of the
castle wherein Queen Mary was confined previously to the battle of
Langside. This lake has a peculiar species of red trout, which is
highly esteemed. The fishery lets for a considerable sum; and it is a
LAKES.
241

VOL. I.
Names.
Table exhibiting the Dimensions, Situation, and leading Characteristics of the principal Scottish Lakes.
Miles.
Length in
Greatest
Breadth in
Miles.
Square Miles
of Surface.
Counties in which they are
situated.
Characteristics.
(Dunbarton and Stir-f| Full of wood-clothed islands, partly surrounded with mountains, and
ling
Argyle
Inverness
1. Loch Lomond
24
•
2.
Awe
3.
Ness
222 223
7
45
25
230
230
Inverness
4.
Shin
20
1 25
Sutherland
5.
Maree
12
3
24
Ross, west coast
6.
Tay
15
2
20
Perth
7.
Arkeg.
12
2
18
Inverness
8.
Shiel
16
1
16
Inverness, west coast
•
9.
Lochy
16
1
15
Inverness
10.
Laggan
8
1/3/2 12
Inverness
11.
Morrer
9
12.
Eannich
7
13.
Ericht.
14
14.
Earn
8 11
15.
Naver
6
21212
12
1/3/
10
Ross, in the middle.
10
Perth and Inverness
9
Perth
9
Sutherland
16.
Stennis
8
2
8
Orkney, mainland
17.
Rannoch
9
1
8
Perth
18.
Leven.
4
2
7
Kinross
19.
Fuir
4
2
20.
Lydoch
6
1
Q =
6 Ross
6
Perth and Argyle
21.
Dee and Ken) 10 03/2
6
Kirkcudbright
22.
Loyal
6
1
6
23.
Glass
5
1
5
24.
Katherine.
25.
Doon
26.
Luichart
∞ a m
03/2
10 10
5
Perth, Menteith
1
4
3
1
3
Ross
Sutherland
Ross, east
Ayrshire
abounding in fish.
Ditto, ditto, amid beautiful mountain scenery.
Surrounded with mountains, full of fish, and in the tract of the Caledonian
Canal.
Surrounded with wild mountain scenery, and abounds in fish.
Abounds in fish, full of islands, many of them wooded.
Full of fish, and in the heart of a beautiful Highland country.
Abounds in fish, and in the heart of a fine rural Highland country.
Abounds in fish, and in the heart of a mountainous country.
In the tract of the Caledonian Canal, fine salmon, and clear hard water.
Abounds in fish, and in the heart of a wild Highland country.
Abounds in fish, in the heart of a rural Highland country.
In a remote part of the country, surrounded by lofty mountains.
In a wild mountainous country, fringed with wood, remote from habitation.
In a pleasant Highland country, with much natural wood.
In a remote and mountainous country.
Full of fish, much haunted by sea-fowl, and in the midst of a low and
barren country.
Full of fish, and in the heart of a woodland Highland country.
Full of fish, has an island with a castle, and in the heart of a cultivated
country.
In a wild mountainous country.
In a wild country, remote from habitation.
Abounds in fish, and in the heart of a cultivated country.
In a mountainous country, near the north coast.
Abounds in trout, in the midst of a hilly country.
Abounds in uncommonly picturesque scenery, wild and gloomy.
Encircled with a rocky shore, and abounds in trout.
In a mountainous country, the precipitous shores covered with wood.
R
242
SCOTLAND.
singular, and not very easily explained, circumstance, that it is almost
the only Scotch lake that yields any revenue to its proprietors.
Loch Lomond, lying between Dunbartonshire and Stirlingshire, is
at once the best known of all the Highland, and the largest of all the
British lakes. This noble sheet of water is about 24 miles long; and,
where broadest, is from 7 to 7 miles across; but in its upper part,
contiguous to the county of Perth, it is not more than a mile in
breadth. On the whole, it is supposed to cover a space of about
28,000 acres. Its most usual depth is about 20 fathoms; but in some
places it has a depth of 80 and even of 120 fathoms. It is studded with
many finely wooded islands, some of them of considerable size. The
scenery of this lake is most magnificent. On both its east and west
sides there are high rugged mountains, among which Ben Lomond
stands conspicuous, rising from the water's edge to the height of above.
3,000 feet. The recesses between the hills are mostly filled with gen-
tlemen's seats, surrounded with fine natural woods and plantations.
But towards its southern extremity the country is rich, fertile, and well
cultivated. The surface level of Loch Lomond is from 3 to 5 feet
higher in winter than in summer: generally it is about 22 feet above
the mean level of the sea at Dunbarton. Its surplus waters are con-
veyed to the Clyde by the river Leven.
Among the other Highland lakes are Loch Ness, forming part of
the Caledonian Canal; Loch Maree, in Ross-shire; Loch Awe, in
Argyleshire; Lochs Tay, Rannoch, and Ericht, in Perthshire; Lochs
Shin and Naver, in Sutherland, &c. They are mostly all long, nar-
row, and deep; occupying the bottoms of the hollows between the
mountains. Their water is generally pure and limpid; and they are
well supplied with trout, perch, pike, &c. We give on the previous
page, from the General Report of Scotland, a synoptical table of the
size, situation, and leading features of the principal Scotch lakes.
SECT. 4. Sea-coast and Sea-ports.
The coasts of Scotland partake of the character of the country,
being generally bold, precipitous and rocky. They are very much
indented, especially on the western side, with inlets or arms of the
sea, denominated friths and sea-lochs. These frequently penetrate
many miles inland; while, in other places, the shores extend into
lengthened headlands or mulls, as in the case of the Mull of Cantire
and the Mull of Galloway. Were the coasts of the mainland of
Scotland, excluding the arms of the sea, measured by straight lines,
they would not exceed from 600 to 650 miles; but, in consequence
of the numerous indentations referred to, the actual extent of sea line
is believed to be little, if at all, under 2,500 miles! These friths and
inlets give very considerable facilities to commerce; and are, in this
respect, the more important, as few of the rivers are navigable to any
considerable distance from the sea. They also afford convenient fishing
stations, and abundant supplies of sea-weed for manure; while they
farther tend, by familiarising a great number of the inhabitants to the
water, to increase the supply of sailors, and to give additional energy
to the spirit of adventure and enterprize.
SEA-COAST AND SEA-PORTS.
243
Setting out from Berwick, the first considerable promontory we meet
with is St. Abb's Head, constituting, with the promontories of Ernes-
cleugh and Fastcastle, the eastern extremity of the Lammermoor hills.
It is high and bold, and, being separated from the ridge by a narrow
dell, it has, at a distance, the appearance of an island. Passing St.
Abb's Head, the coast bends west-north-west past Dunbar, which has
an indifferent harbour, to North Berwick. A little to the east of the
latter, and about a mile from shore, is the Bass, a large, high, pre-
cipitous rock, with deep water all round.
The coast of East Lothian has undergone considerable changes, the
sea having in some places receded, while in others it has gained mate-
rially on the land. The shore consists, in some parts, of high earthy
banks, and these, being undermined by the action of the waves, are
every now and then falling down. On the other hand, those parts of
the shore that are low and flat are constantly extending themselves, by
the deposits of sand, shells, and earth, heaved upon them by the tide.
A process of this sort is, of course, going on wherever the coast con-
sists of earthy banks or low beaches, and is as obvious on many parts of
the English shore as in the district now mentioned.—(See, farther, on
this subject, Somerville's Survey of East Lothian, pp. 297-319.)
The Bass is within the mouth of the Frith of Forth, the southern
shore of which stretches south-west from North Berwick to Musselburgh,
and thence west, inclining to the north, to Airth. Its north is in most
places nearly parallel to its southern shore. The distance from the
Bass to Elie Ness, on the opposite coast of Fife, is between 9 and 10
miles; but the Frith gets wider immediately after. Its depth, from
the Isle of May to Kincardine, may be reckoned at about 48 miles.
At Queensferry, above Edinburgh, the channel contracts to about 2
miles in breadth, but it again expands to a breadth of 4 or 5 miles.
The shores of this spacious inlet are low, in part rocky, in part a plea-
sant beach, but everywhere of the greatest beauty. The view of Edin-
burgh from the Frith is particularly fine. There is good anchorage
ground in many parts of this magnificent æstuary; but there is not, in
its whole extent, a single good harbour. The principal ports on its
south side are Leith, Queensferry, Borrowstonness, and Grangemouth;
with Burntisland, Kinghorn, Kirkcaldy, and Largo, on the north side.
Leith, being the port of Edinburgh, has a considerable trade; and very
large sums have been expended on the construction of docks, and in
efforts to improve the harbour. Owing, however, to the want of water,
Leith is not, and we apprehend never can be, anything better than a
high-water harbour; and even at springs it has not more than 16 or
17 feet. Happily, however, the serious inconveniences which Edin-
burgh has experienced from the want of a good harbour have latterly
been in a great measure obviated through the public spirit and enter-
prise of the Duke of Buccleugh. At Granton, which belongs to his
Grace, about 1 miles west from Leith, there is comparatively deep
water, and here he has constructed a magnificent pier, with harbours on
each side, accessible to large vessels at all times of the tide. This new
port has already become the resort of the steamers trading between
London and Edinburgh, and will be of the greatest service, not merely
to the Scottish capital, but to all the surrounding country. Grange-
R 2
244
SCOTLAND.
mouth, situated at the eastern extremity of the Forth and Clyde Canal,
has a good deal of trade. It is rarely, however, visited by ships drawing
more than 10 or 12 feet water. Burntisland is a good high-water
harbour, as is also Kirkcaldy. There is pretty good anchorage ground
in Leith Roads, Burntisland Roads, and Largo Bay. Light-houses
have been erected on Inchkeith Island, opposite to Leith, and on the
Isle of May, at the mouth of the Frith.
The shores of Fife, or of the extensive peninsula lying between the
Friths of Forth and Tay, are mostly rocky, without, however, being
lofty. At St. Andrew's, and some other places, the sea has encroached
considerably on the land. Fifeness, the eastern extremity of the county,
lies nearly north from the Isle of May, distant about 6 miles. From
this point the shore turns north-west to the mouth of the Eden, and
then north to Tentsmoor Point, at the mouth of the Frith of Tay.
St. Andrew's Bay, in the elbow, affords good anchorage in from 9 to
12 fathoms; but the harbour of St. Andrews dries at low water.
Nearly due east from Buttonness, distant about 12 miles, is the Bell
Rock, a dangerous insulated ledge, about 850 yards in length by 110
in breadth. At low water some of its summits appear from 4 to 8 feet
above the level of the sea; but at high water they are always covered.
Many vessels have been lost upon this rock, and, to lessen the chance
of such disasters in future, a magnificent light-house, constructed on
the model of the Eddystone, has been erected, within these few years,
on one of its points. The lantern is 115 feet above low-water mark.
Leaving the Tay, which has been already described, the land stretches
north by east, in a pretty even line, as far as Buchanness Point, in
Aberdeenshire, the most easterly land in Scotland, in lat. 57° 29′ 15″
N., long. 1° 47' W. The coast, though in some places low and sandy,
is mostly bold and rocky. Between Arbroath and Montrose there are
cliffs penetrated by tremendous caverns, of which the Geylit Pot,
forming a communication between the sea and a circular chasm at
some distance in the country, is the most celebrated. The sandy part
of this coast lies principally contiguous to, and immediately north from,
Aberdeen. In some places the sand is so moveable that it has more
than once occasioned great mischief. Near Buchanness are the famous
arched rocks, called the Bullers of Buchan, enclosing a natural
harbour.
Unfortunately there is not, on the whole coast, from the Tay to
Buchanness, one really good harbour. Montrose and Aberdeen, which,
especially the first, are by far the best, have been already noticed.
Stonehaven harbour dries at low water; and at high water, when the
wind is easterly, there is a very heavy swell. Peterhead, a little to the
north of Buchanness, has a double harbour; but it also labours under
a deficiency of water, though recently it has been much improved. A
good deal of trade is carried on from the town, the inhabitants of which
have distinguished themselves by the spirit and success with which they
have embarked in the whale and herring fisheries. A light-house has
lately been erected on the Point of Buchanness.
From Peterhead a bold and rugged shore extends north, inclining a
little to the west to Kinnaird Head, the Taizalum Promontorium of
the ancients. It is crowned by a castle and a conspicuous light-house.
SEA-COAST AND SEA-PORTS.
245
At Kinnaird Head, the northerly direction of the coast suddenly
changes, and, stretching nearly due west by Troup Head and Knock
Head to Burgh Head, it declines south-west to the bottom of the Moray
Frith and Loch Beauley. This line of coast forms the base of the vast
triangular bay, extending from Kinnaird Head to the mouth of the
Moray Frith, and thence to Duncansby Head. The ports from Kin-
naird Head to Fort George are merely tide havens. In the first part
the shore is bold, precipitous, and picturesque; but from the Burgh
Head, along the Moray Frith to Loch Beauley, it is mostly low and
sandy. Large vessels may anchor opposite Inverness, or go farther up
to Loch Beauley.
The east end of the Caledonian Canal unites with the Moray Frith
at Clachnacarry Basin, a little to the west of Inverness. The canal
admits vessels drawing 15 feet water.
Crossing the ferry from Inverness to the opposite shore, the coast,
which is low and sandy, stretches north-east to the mouth of the Frith
of Cromarty, and thence to the promontory of Tarbet Ness, separating
the Moray Frith from the Frith of Tain or Dornoch. The Frith of
Cromarty is about a mile wide at its entrance, extending south-west to
Dingwall, about 17 miles. It is, beyond all doubt, the finest harbour
on the east coast of Great Britain, and is, indeed, surpassed by very few
in any part of the world. At its mouth it has from 30 to 22 fathoms
water, the depth within varying from 15 to 7 fathoms. The town of
Cromarty stands on the south side of the Frith, a little within its mouth.
Owing to the limited extent of the good land round the Frith, and the
want of manufacturing towns, population, and internal communication,
it has very little trade; so that this excellent harbour is comparatively
useless.
Between the point of Tarbet Ness, on which is a light-house, and
Dornoch, the coast of Sutherland takes a north-east direction. Except
at Brora and a few other places, it is mostly low and sandy. But on
the confines of Caithness the mountains come down to the water's edge,
terminating in the lofty stupendous precipices that form the Ord of
Caithness.
From this point the coast pursues its north-easterly direction to the
Noss Head. It is in general bold and rugged. In one of the openings
of the cliffs is the thriving town and harbour of Wick. Being conve-
niently situated for the herring fishery, of which it is now the principal
station, great efforts have been made to improve its port; and they have
been so far successful, that it affords safe accommodation for large
numbers of the smaller class of vessels.
Noss Head lies a little to the north of Wick. It is remarkable for
its high bold cliffs, which, in clear weather, are visible at a great dis-
tance at sea. Within the head is Sinclair's Bay, in which ships may
anchor with off-shore winds. From the bottom of the bay the coast
runs north-north-east, till it terminates in Duncansby Head. This
celebrated promontory, the Berubium of the ancients, and the extreme
north-east point of Great Britain, is in lat. 58 38′ N., long. 3° 2′ W.
It consists of lofty perpendicular cliffs, some of which stand detached
in the sea, and are sometimes mistaken by mariners for Noss Head, to
which it bears a considerable resemblance. To obviate such mistakes,
246
SCOTLAND.
which have been occasionally attended with fatal consequences, it has
been proposed to erect a light-house on Duncansby Head. John
o'Groat's House is about 1 mile west from the extreme point of Dun-
cansby Head. Of this structure nothing now remains but the founda-
tions.
About 3 miles east by north from the Head are the rocky islets
called the Pentland Skerries. For the security of mariners in the
Pentland Frith two light-houses have been erected on the Great Skerry.
In the Pentland Frith the tides are very violent. When strongest they
run about 9 miles an hour.
From Duncansby Head the coast runs north-north-west, in a waving
line, to Dunnet Head, the most northerly headland of Great Britain, in
lat. 58° 40′ 30″ N., long. 3° 22' W. It is high and rocky. A light-
house has recently been erected on the Head, the lantern being 346
feet above the mean level of the sea.
Between Dunnet Head and Holburn Head is Dunnet Bay, having the
town of Thurso, with a moderately good harbour, on its south-western
side. But it is too remote, the country around too barren, and the
navigation of the Pentland Frith too dangerous, to allow of its ever
becoming a place of any importance.
From Holburn Head the coast, which in some places is deeply
indented, and in others runs out into bold precipitous headlands, (of
which Strathy Head and Far Out Head are the most remarkable,)
pursues, on the whole, a nearly westerly direction, till it ends in Cape
Wrath, or Parph Head. The cliffs that compose the sides of this
famous headland consist of old red sandstone, and are singularly mag-
nificent; some of them overhang the sea to the height of from 300 to
500 feet, exhibiting vast fissures, caverns, and subterranean openings,
into which the water rushes with tremendous fury. The headland of
the Cape itself is, however, a mass of granite, washed smooth and
bright by the ceaseless action of the waves. It is fenced round with
dangerous rocks, some of them nearly a mile from shore. Cape Wrath
forms the north-western extremity of the mainland of Great Britain,
and is in lat. 58° 37′ N., long, 5' W. A light-house was erected on
it in 1828, having the lantern elevated 400 feet above high water mark.
It would be useless to enter at so much length into the description
of the western coast of Scotland from Cape Wrath to the Clyde: it
is sufficient to observe that, throughout its whole extent, it is rugged,
wild, and dreary, the mountains generally coming close to the water's
edge. It is indented in many places by narrow arms of the sea, pene-
trating far inland, carrying, in most instances, a great depth of water
even to their inmost recesses, and affording safe but unfrequented
asylums for the largest fleets. Linnhe Loch, taken in connection with
Loch Eil, is one of the most important of these inlets: it stretches
north-west from Dowart, in Mull, to the western extremity of the
Caledonian Canal, of which it may be said to form a part, a distance
of about 34 miles, and has deep water throughout.
The islands of Skye, Mull, and Jura, are separated from the main
land by narrow channels, through which the tide rushes with much
force. In some places it forms dangerous whirlpools, as at Corry-
vrechan, between Jura and the small island of Scarba.
SEA-COAST AND SEA-PORTS.
247
The great arm of the sea, lying between the Mull of Cantire and
the Ayrshire coast, has the Island of Arran in its centre. At its
northern extremity it branches off into the two great divisions of Loch
Fyne and the Frith of Clyde, separated by the Island of Bute and
the district of Cowall, in Argyleshire. The Frith of Clyde is again
subdivided into three arms; viz., Loch Long, separating Argyleshire
from Dunbartonshire; Loch Gare, of very inferior dimensions to
Loch Long, but parallel to, and separated from it by a narrow isthmus;
and the estuary of the Clyde, winding east, with a little inclination to
the south, having Dunbartonshire in the angle between it and Loch
Long.
Loch Fyne extends, with a slightly circular sweep, from Skipness
Point, round by Silvercrags and Inverary, to Achadounan, a space of
about 40 miles. Its breadth from Skipness Point to the opposite point
of Cowall is about 7 miles, contracting gradually as it penetrates into
the interior. It has very deep water throughout; so much so, that at
Inverary, within about 7 miles of the bottom of the Loch, there are
upwards of 60 fathoms. Loch Fyne used to be one of the principal
seats of the herring fishery. The Crinan Canal, between Loch Gilp-
head on Loch Fyne and the head of the sound of Jura, insulates the
long narrow peninsula of Knapdale and Cantire; and, consequently,
saves those vessels that would otherwise be obliged to go round the
Mull of Cantire a lengthened navigation.
The water in Loch Long and Loch Gare is also very deep; and in
the Frith of Clyde, within a short distance of Greenock, there are 23
fathoms at ebb. This and Port Glasgow are the principal harbours of
the Clyde, and, as such, possess a good deal of shipping, and enjoy an
extensive commerce. Lamlash Bay, on the east coast of the Isle of
Arran, is, however, the finest harbour near the mouth of the Clyde.
It is completely land-locked, being protected from the easterly gales.
by the little island of Lamlash.
The Ayrshire coast, as far as Girvan, is mostly low and sandy. A
great deal of labour has been expended on the formation of a harbour
at Ardrossan, to which it was intended to bring a canal from Glasgow ;
but the canal has only been excavated as far as the thriving village of
Johnston, a little to the west of Paisley; and Ardrossan is now con-
nected with Paisley by a railway. The harbour of Troon, about 10
miles from Kilmarnock, to which it is united by a railway, has been
very much improved by the exertions and at the expense of the Duke
of Portland, and is now decidedly the best on the coast. Ayr harbour
has also been materially improved; but it dries at low water, and the
westerly gales throw in a heavy sea. From Girvan to Wigtownshire
the mountains come close to the water's edge, so that the shore is bold
and precipitous. Opposite to Girvan, and about 10 miles distant, is
the rock of Ailsa, already noticed.
raer,
The north-west part of the county of Wigtown is indented by Loch
Ryan, a fine sheet of water, extending from Kirkcolm Point to Stran-
Within this loch, and opposite to a place called Cairn, there is
good anchorage, and water sufficient to float the largest ships. A
little to the westward of Kirkcolm Point is the point of Corsewall, on
which is a lighthouse. Hence the shore stretches south, inclining a
248
SCOTLAND.
little to the east by Port Patrick to the Mull of Galloway. This bold
prominent headland, the most southerly point in Scotland, is in lat.
54° 38′ N., long. 4° 54′ W. It has recently been surmounted by a
lighthouse, the lantern of which is elevated 325 feet above the level of
the sea at high water. Port Patrick is about 22 miles from the port
of Donaghadee, in Ireland.
The Mull of Galloway forms the north-western extremity of that
vast bay, bounded on the north by Galloway and Dumfriesshire, on
the east by Cumberland, Lancashire, and Cheshire, and on the south
by North Wales, having the island of Anglesea at its south-western
extremity. The Isle of Man lies between its horns, and marks its
western limits.
Passing the Mull of Galloway, the Bay of Luce opens; a broad ex-
panse of water, extending northwards to within 6 or 7 miles of Loch
Ryan, and nearly insulating the western district of Wigtownshire,
called the Rhynns. The eastern shore of this bay terminates in the
bluff rocky promontory of Burrow Head. Between this latter point
and the Mull of Galloway, and about equidistant from each, are two
remarkable rocks, called the Scaurs, much resorted to in the breeding
season by sea-fowl.
Leaving the Burrow Head, the coast is again indented by the Bay
of Wigtown. From the eastern boundary of this bay, at the Ross, the
shore of the counties of Kirkcudbright and Dumfries stretches in a
broken uneven line, east by north, till it unites with that of England,
at the bottom of the Solway Frith.
The coast of Galloway, except in the upper parts of Luce and
Wigtown bays, is mostly bold and precipitous. Its best ports are at
the Isle of Whithorn, near Burrow Head, and Kirkcudbright Bay.
The coast of Dumfriesshire is mostly low and sandy. The tide in the
Solway runs with great force, the flood sometimes advancing with a
head 3 or 4 feet high. We subjoin an account of the
Principal Headlands and Places on the Coast of Scotland, with the Latitude and
Longitude of each, as given by the best Authorities.
PLACES.
Latitude.
St. Abb's Head
55 56
555
56
o N.
4 0
55 57 19
56 17 0
56 28 0
56 42 10
57 9
57 29 15
57 41 40
57 31 0
2
0
2 9
1
47
2 1 0
12
•
57 54 0
58 30 0
58 38 0
58 40 30
3 47
Longitude.
2
ON 23 ~ ~ ~NIN 43
7
2 42
30 W.
0
10
56
2 35 0
2 44 15
27 15
0
0
10
0
3 9 0
3 2
0
3
22
0
58 36 0
4
44
0
58 37
0
•
57 54 30
55
0
0
32
0
North Berwick
Edinburgh Observatory
Fifeness
•
Buttonness Lighthouse
Montrose
Aberdeen
•
Buchanness Lighthouse
•
Kinnaird's Head Lighthouse
Inverness
•
Tarbet-Ness Lighthouse.
Noss Head
Duncansby Head
Dunnet Head.
Far Out Head.
Cape Wrath
Ru Rea Point.
·
•
GEOLOGY.
249

PLACES.
Ardnamurchan Point
Mull of Cantire Lighthouse
Greenock
Glasgow
•
Corsewall Point Lighthouse.
Portpatrick
Mull of Galloway Lighthouse
Burrow Head.
Southerness Lighthouse
о
Latitude.
965
Longitude.
8 30 W.
49 0
56 45
ő
0 N.
55
19
0
55 58
0
4 44 0
55 51
32
4
16 0
55 1
0
5
10 0
54 50
0
5
8 0
54 38 0
4 52
54 42 0
54 52 15
4 22 15
3 37
SECT. 5.-Geology.
030
Scotland not being separated from England by any great natural
boundary or intervening sea, the geology of the adjacent districts in
each is nearly the same; but, if we take a general survey of the whole
country, we shall find the great features of the geology of Scotland
very different from those of the geology of England. If a line be
drawn in a north-east direction, from the mouth of the Clyde to Stone-
haven, on the eastern coast, nearly the whole of Scotland south of that
line is composed of transition rocks, covered in many parts by coal-
measures, traps, or red sandstone. On the north of this line nearly
the whole country is composed of primary rocks of granite, gneiss, and
mica slate, covered at the feet of the mountain chains with beds of
conglomerate and red sandstone. The upper secondary strata, which
are spread over nearly the half of England, scarcely appear in Scot-
land, and can only be traced in a few detached patches, which bear no
assignable proportion to the surface of the country. The general
bearing of the different mountain ranges in Scotland is from south-
west to north-east. The force by which the mountain ranges were
upheaved appears to have acted in distant and nearly parallel lines, not
only through the mainland of Scotland, but also in the western Islands.
Thus, the islands from Barra to Lewis are so nearly connected that
they may be regarded as one chain or range of mountains, composed
of gneiss, running from south-west to north-east for about 100 miles,
in a parallel direction with the mountain chains in the north of Scot-
land, but separated from them by a deep valley, which forms the bed
of the intervening sea. The mainland of Scotland itself is nearly
divided into two islands, by a deep valley, running in the same
direction, and forming the bed of several long and narrow lakes, or
lochs, between the sound of Mull and the Moray Frith. The general
direction of the numerous lochs which open to the sea, and run for
many miles inland, is also from south-west to north-east, owing to the
same cause,—the parallelism of the mountain ranges to the same
direction.
We shall commence our survey of the geology of Scotland with the
more alpine or primary districts north of the Clyde and the Forth;
but the Western Islands, or Hebrides, may be viewed as an interrupted
extension of the alpine ranges of Scotland, the direction and compo-
sition of the mountain beds being nearly the same: we shall therefore
notice them before proceeding to the mainland. The range of islands,
250
SCOTLAND.
of which Lewis is the northernmost, and by far the largest, extends,
as before mentioned, for about 100 iniles in a south-west and north-
east direction. These islands are so nearly united as to have received
the popular name of the "Long Island." According to Dr. Mac-
culloch, to whom we are indebted for almost everything that is known
of their geology, gneiss is the predominant and fundamental rock of
the whole range; which he appropriately denominates the Gneiss
Islands. The gneiss presents nothing very different from the general
character of this rock in other situations: the beds are often broken,
and much contorted, and are intersected by numerous veins of granite.
Beds of mica slate, talc slate, hornblende slate, clay slate, and grey-
wacke occur in some parts; and the gneiss itself passes by gradation
into these rocks. There are also some beds of conglomerate, composed
of rolled pebbles of various sizes, imbedded in sandstone and compact
gravel this conglomerate, Dr. Macculloch says, bears a perfect re-
semblance to most part of that great mass of conglomerate beds found
in the mainland of Scotland, separating the primary from the secondary
strata: but, in general, it is of a much harder texture. It reposes
immediately on the gneiss. The islands of Coll, Tiree, and Iona,
situated at a considerable distance from the Long Island, are also
classed by Dr. Macculloch with the Gneiss Islands. In Tiree the
gneiss often contains masses of limestone. The rose-coloured or pink
limestone, with hornblende and green augite, called Tiree marble, and
well known by mineral collectors, is an irregular mass, about 100 feet
in diameter, surrounded on all sides by gneiss: nearly half the mass
has been already worked out.
:
The next group of islands is called by Dr. Macculloch the Trap
Islands, from being chiefly composed of basaltic or trap rocks. The
two principal of these islands, Skye and Mull, are so close to the
mainland as scarcely to leave a doubt that they have been united to
it at no very remote geological epoch; and it is probable that many
of the existing peninsulated promontories will, in process of time,
become entirely insulated, by the impetuous action of the ocean on
the narrow tongues of land by which they are now connected with the
mainland. Skye, the largest and northernmost of the Trap Islands,
with the exception of a small tract on its western side, is chiefly
formed of trap rocks; comprising in that term the different varieties
of basaltic rocks, composed of felspar and hornblende, or felspar and
augite, in various proportions, and passing from a compact to a gra-
nular structure. In some parts the felspar forms nearly the whole
mass in other parts it is porphyritic, and sometimes intermixed with
granular hornblende, forming syenite. In Skye and the other Trap
Islands the trap rock frequently assumes the columnar structure.
The Cuchullin mountains, in this island, are principally composed
of a rock containing hypersthene, or hornblende, with a semi-
metallic lustre. The limits of the present article will not admit of
mineralogical details; but there is an important fact in the geology of
the Isle of Skye which must not pass unnoticed. The secondary
strata of the lias and oolite formation, which rarely appear anywhere
in the mainland of Scotland, occur near the eastern side of the island,
containing the characteristic fossils of these beds; but where the lias
approaches the syenite it is converted into a crystalline limestone,
GEOLOGY.
251
nearly white.
A few patches of similar limestone occur on the
western side of the island, and in the adjacent small islands of Raasay,
Scalpa, and Pabay. The lias is bounded by red sandstone. The
fundamental rock of the Isle of Skye appears to be gneiss, which is
seen along part of the eastern coast.
Mull is, after Skye, the largest of the Trap Islands. The geology,
in a general view, is nearly the same in both, except that in Mull, on
the westernmost headland, opposite Iona, there are rocks of granite
and gneiss. A few patches of the lias and oolite formation, and sand-
stone, occur near the coast; with these exceptions the whole island is
covered with various trap rocks, frequently assuming the columnar
form. Some small seams of coal have been found both in Skye and
Mull, but they are of too little value to be worked. Mull is the most
mountainous of all the Hebrides. Ben More is 3,168 feet above the
sea: the other mountains seldom attain a higher elevation than 2,000
feet.
The Trap Islands, between Mull and Skye, are Rum, Canna, Muck,
and Egg. Of these, Rum, the largest, is skirted on the eastern and
northern sides by red sandstone. Egg is remarkable for a lofty rock,
called the Scuir of Egg, placed on a high range of trap rocks. It
towers over the whole island, resembling an immense castle. The face
of the rock is nearly vertical, and is 470 feet in height: it is composed
of columnar pitchstone, which contains imbedded crystals of glassy
felspar. The Scuir of Egg is an object of considerable interest both
to the tourist and the geologist, and may be visited with greater facility
than Staffa. Part of the Isle of Egg appears to have lias for the
fundamental rock: it is seen on the northern shore.
Staffa, the smallest of five basaltic islands off the north-west side of
Mull, has long been celebrated for its basaltic columns and cavern,
called Fingal's Cave. The island, or rock, is about a mile and a half
in circuit, surrounded by basaltic cliffs of variable height: the highest
on the south-west, as measured by Dr. Macculloch, is 144 feet. The
cliffs generally present a columnar arrangement; but the columns are
inclined in various directions, oblique, horizontal, or erect. There are
three distinct beds of trap, of different characters, the lowest consisting
of that conglomerate called trap tuff; the next of the great columnar
basaltic range; and the uppermost of an irregular mixture of columnar
and amorphous basalt. These beds dip towards the east, at an angle
of elevation of about 9°. The lowest bed on the western side of the
island, is about 50 feet thick: the middle, or columnar bed, varies in
thickness from 36 to about 54 feet, which is the extreme height of the
columns: the upper or amorphous bed of basalt measures 58 feet in
thickness above the highest columns, but in other parts it is much
thinner. Mackinnon's Cave is an opening in the lowest bed: it is
about 58 feet high, measured from the sea at quarter-ebb tide. Its
breadth is 48 feet, and its length 224 feet. The sides of this cavern
are smooth, being formed of conglomerate, and are deficient in that
regularity which constitutes the beauty of Fingal's Cave.
The latter is one of the most remarkable natural excavations of which
we have any account. It is formed in the columnar bed of basalt, where
it declines to the level of the sea, which washes the feet of the columns
252
SCOTLAND.
that range on either side the cavern like the pillars of an immense
cathedral, placed close to each other, the sea forming the floor. The
top of the arch at the entrance is 66 feet above the level of the sea at
mean tide the bed of amorphous basalt that rests upon the columns is
36 feet thick: the breadth of the cave at its entrance is 42 feet, and its
length 227 feet. The pillars on the western side are 36 feet in height;
but on the eastern side they appear lower, being partly concealed by
broken columns in front of them. The height of the cave diminishes
within from 50 to 40 feet, which is also the altitude at the extremity.
-(See Dr. Macculloch's Western Islands of Scotland, vol. ii. pp. 16,
17.) There are other caverns of less note in the island.
The surface of Staffa is covered with a good soil, producing luxuriant
grass. Various blocks of granite, quartz rock, and schist, similar to
the rocks on the mainland of Scotland, are spread over some parts
of the island, though no rocks of this kind appear in situ. The
basalt, of which the columns in Staffa is composed, is very similar to
that of the Giant's Causeway in Ireland. Were the two basaltic
formations ever united? This
This is not very improbable: the basalt
of Ireland is evidently of submarine origin; and it appears to be
highly probable that the basalt of Staffa was erupted under the sea,
although no calcareous marine beds are found upon it. St. Kilda, the
most remote of the Western Islands, is composed of several varieties
of trap rocks. There are several small isles, composed principally
of trap rocks, in the vicinity of Mull; but they do not present
any peculiarity of structure or composition. South of Mull, there
is a group of islands, which Dr. Macculloch calls the Schistose
Isles: the principal of these are Jura and Islay. They are chiefly
composed of clay slate, chlorite slate, quartz rock, with some mica
slate, and of various admixtures of felspar and hornblende, and also
greywacke and limestone: the latter is but in small quantity, and
interposed between laminæ of slate rocks. The different rocks succeed
each other: the dip is to the south-east; but, as several of these rocks
are repeated in succession, the exact order of super-position cannot be
traced. Were it not for the absence of granite and gneiss, these
islands might be considered as a type of all the primary districts in
Scotland north of the Clyde. The most remarkable feature in their
geology is the great proportion of granular quartz, called quartz rock.
Mountains of quartz rock most frequently assume the conical form.
The three remarkable mountains in Jura, called the Paps, are composed
of this rock their average height about 2,500 feet.
The most southerly of the Scottish Isles deserving attention is
Arran. Its situation near the mouth of the Clyde rendering it easy
of access, it is more frequently visited by geologists than any of the
Hebrides. If a line be drawn in a north-east and south-west direction
from the south of Brodick Bay, on the east, to Machrie Water, ou
the west, it will divide the island into two nearly equal parts, distin-
guished by their external features and internal structure and compo-
sition. In the northern portion, the central parts are occupied by lofty
mountains of granite, surrounded by different varieties of slate rocks,
except on the eastern side, where masses of conglomerate skirt the granite
mountains. As seen from near the coast, the granite mountains rise
&
GEOLOGY.
253
with much grandeur, and their serrated peaks remind the traveller of
the granitic Aiguilles in the vicinity of Mont Blanc, in Savoy. The
highest granite mountain in Arran, Goatfell, is 2,865 feet above the
sea.
The southern portion of Arran is chiefly occupied with secondary
strata, covered for the greater part with masses of porphyry and trap,
which form the principal hills in this division of the island. The
secondary strata of Arran consist, according to Messrs. Sedgwick and
Murchison, in an ascending series, of old red sandstone and conglome-
rate, some few beds of mountain limestone, over which are various
sandstones, and shale of the coal formation, containing some coal, which
was formerly worked. The igneous rocks consist of a great variety of
porphyry, clinkstone, claystone, greenstone, and pitchstone: the latter
mineral forms veins of considerable width, intersecting the secondary
strata: it passes in some instances from a semivitreous state into a
rock which differs little from basalt. These pitchstone veins have
excited the attention of geologists, as they present striking indications
of their igneous origin.
The Western Islands of Scotland, like the primary districts in the
mainland, contain few mineral or metallic treasures that have hitherto
been made available for useful purposes: this may be owing to the
dangerous and tempestuous seas which surround them, and render their
access difficult, except in the summer months; and, probably, they
have never yet been examined with the minuteness of research that
may be necessary for the discovery of metallic repositories.
The mainland of Scotland, north of the line we have supposed to
be drawn from the mouth of the Clyde, in a north-east direction, to
the German Ocean, contains almost every variety of primary rocks,
with their diversified admixtures and gradations, and a great number of
minerals, regarded as rare by collectors. Gneiss occupies the largest
portion of the surface. Mica slate is next to it in extent, after which
come clay slate, quartz rock, and old red sandstone. Extensive masses
of granite are irregularly interspersed among these stratified rocks, but
nearly all amidst the gneiss. No coal has been discovered in this part
of Scotland, except a small deposit at Brora in Sutherland: it has few
metallic veins; and its mineral exports are chiefly roofing slate, and
stone for building or paving.
The
This extensive primary country is everywhere bounded on its
southern side by beds of red sandstone and conglomerate, which will
afterwards be noticed. The prevailing rock that extends from Argyle-
shire to Kincardineshire is mica slate, which is skirted by clay slate
and chlorite slate: these pass by gradation into the former.
chlorite slate at Inverary is sectile, and may be easily shaped into
building stone. The castle of the Duke of Argyle, in the vicinity of
this town, is built of it. Ben Lomond and many of the mountains in
the Grampian range are composed of mica slate, intermixed with horn-
blende slate and quartz rock, and, in some parts, with a small portion
of crystalline limestone. Such are also the prevailing rocks that sur-
round Loch Tay, and the mountains Ben Lawers and Schiehallion,
with various alpine ranges in this part of Scotland. On the west, near
Inverary, rocks of ancient porphyry appear, and extend southward
nearly to Loch Gilp. Ben Nevis, near Fort William, Inverness-shire,
254
SCOTLAND.
4,370 feet in height, is composed of granite and ancient porphyry,
which, like that of Inverary, seems to be a variety of granite, wherein
the felspar greatly predominates, and is nearly compact.
Near the
western coast gneiss is the prevailing rock; and on the eastern coast,
in Aberdeenshire and Banffshire, granite and gneiss are the prevailing
rocks. They are continued thence to the northern extremity of Scot-
land; but in Caithness, and part of the adjacent counties, the primary
formations are covered by red sandstone and conglomerate. The
granite of Aberdeen is generally small-grained: both the granite and
gneiss are intersected with numerous veins of larger grained granite,
in which the felspar and quartz are crystallised in distinct concretions
of considerable size, and the mica occurs in hexagonal plates of two or
more inches in diameter. The promontory of Cape Wrath, on the
north-west extremity of Scotland, is composed of gneiss and hornblende
slate; but is so much intersected, in every direction, by granite veins
that they appear to form the greater portion of the rock itself. At
Portsoy, in Banffshire, there are beds of beautiful dark green serpen-
tine, and good specimens of graphic granite.
Many of the mountains, which appear externally composed of mica
slate and other schistose rocks, have a central axis of granite. This
is the case with Cairngorm, in Inverness-shire: from this mountain the
crystals of smoke-coloured quartz, called Cairngorm stones, are ob-
tained. The most alpine parts of the Highlands of Scotland are In-
verness-shire and the western side of Perthshire. North-west of Loch
Linnhe and Loch Ness the mountains generally decrease in altitude;
but some of the mountains in Ross-shire and Sutherland are among the
highest. Benwivis, in the former county, is 3,720 feet, and Benmore
Assynt, in the latter, is 3,231 feet, above the level of the sea. But
Ben Macdhu in Aberdeenshire is the most elevated mountain in Scot-
land, or Britain, being 4,390 feet in height. (See p. 229.) Snow often
remains on the northern sides of the higher mountains during the
whole year. It has been seen on Ben Ledi, in Perthshire, in the
month of August, though it is 1,000 feet lower than Ben Lawers, in
the same county. The bottoms of the alpine plains and valleys in the
Highlands are often filled with vast accumulations of alluvium, com-
posed of sand and immense blocks of primary rocks. Other alpine
valleys and plains are covered with mosses, which sometimes are found,
particularly on the north-eastern sides of the mountains, at an elevation
of 1,500 or 2,000 feet. It would exceed our limits to enumerate and
describe the lochs or freshwater lakes of Scotland: they generally take
the same direction as the principal mountain ranges, viz., from south-
west to north-east. Loch Lomond, the most considerable of the fresh-
water lakes, varies from this direction, and extends north and south
about 24 miles. It is about 7 miles broad near its southern extre-
mity, but very narrow at its northern end. The general character of
the Scottish lakes is that of solemn and lonely grandeur :
"Where melancholy sits, and round her throws
A death-like silence and a dread repose."
In the vast extent of primary mountains, which constitute the High-
lands of Scotland, very few metallic ores have been found. Lead
GEOLOGY.
255
mines were formerly worked at Tyndrum, near the western end of Loch
Tay. Lead mines of considerable depth are worked at Strontian, in
Argyleshire, at which place the carbonate of Strontian was first dis-
covered. There is one mineral production, the occurrence of which in
mica slate, we believe, is peculiar to Scotland. At Glen Strathfairar,
in Inverness-shire, veins of plumbago run between the laminæ of the
mica slate, and have taken the contorted form so common to that
rock.
The peninsular headlands on the western coast of Scotland, north of
the Isle of Skye, are covered in many parts with beds of red sandstone
and conglomerate, often of great aggregate thickness, and resting upon
gneiss, which they sometimes cover to the depth of from 1,000 to 2,000
feet. The beds occur nearly horizontal, and also highly inclined.
Detached hills of this conglomerate attain the elevation of 3,000 feet,
but the base to a certain height is gneiss. The conglomerate hills
extend through Ross-shire, along the coast to near Cape Wrath.
These isolated hills of conglomerate are regarded as the remains of
extensive beds, which have been torn up, and cut away by the great
disturbing and denuding forces that have acted on the surface of our
planet at an early geological epoch. The beds are of extreme hard-
ness, and, in a certain degree, crystalline; but they contain every-
where, in a greater or lesser quantity, imbedded fragments, and rolled
masses of the lower rocks on which they rest. Some of the finer
grained beds resemble granular quartz rock; others consist of fragments
and rounded pieces, apparently cemented by a siliceous solution into one
crystalline mass. In Caithness, a conglomerate with sandstone and ir-
regular beds of limestone, like the cornstone of Herefordshire, would
seem to identify this formation with the old red sandstone of the latter
county. There is an extensive formation of bituminous schist in Caith-
ness, between the upper and lower sandstone and conglomerate: the
schist contains fossil remains of fish. A great proportion of Caithness
is covered with these beds. Beds of sandstone and conglomerate occur
on the shores of the Dornoch and Moray Friths. Near Brora Loch a
part of the oolite series and lias covers red sandstone: some seams of
imperfect coal occur in these strata. Beds of sandstone and conglome-
rate also extend along part of the great valley of Scotland, in the line
of the Caledonian canal. Along the southern flanks of the Grampian
mountains, beds of conglomerate and sandstone extend from the German
Ocean to the Western Sea, covering the whole country between the
Grampian mountains and the basaltic and coal districts on the Forth
and the Clyde. Isolated masses of trap rocks range from the south-
west of the Clyde to near Stonehaven. The trap, in some instances,
forms caps on the summits of hills of sandstone: in other parts, it
forms entire hills of considerable magnitude: it is sometimes irregularly
interstratified with sandstone. The rock on which Dunbarton Castle
stands is basalt. Basaltic rocks may be traced thence to Stirling, Perth,
and Montrose.
The Ochill hills, situated in this line, extend from the confluence of
the river Allan with the Forth to the north-east extremity of Fife.
They consist chiefly of porphyry and amygdaloid. The hill of Kinnoul,
near Perth, is an amygdaloid, and contains numerous nodules of agate
256
SCOTLAND.
and cornelian. The summits of Arthur's Seat and the Castle Hill at
Edinburgh are composed of basalt; the Calton Hill of porphyritic
claystone. Claystone, clinkstone, and felspar rocks, occur at Braid hills
and the Pentland hills. Almost every variety of trap rocks occurs in
the vicinity of Edinburgh. The interesting phenomena they present
gave rise to much geological discussion a few years since, when the
origin of these rocks was considered doubtful. Geologists are now
generally agreed that they have been formed by subterranean heat:
indeed, the basalt of Arthur's Seat is identical with a basalt seen in
situations near the ancient volcanos in Auvergne, which passes from a
compact form to that of scoriaceous lava.
We come now to that important mineral district, the great coalfield
of Scotland: it extends, with little interruption, from the eastern to the
western coast; but the most valuable portion of this field is situated on
the north and south sides of the Forth (not exceeding the average
breadth of 10 or 12 miles on each side), and on the north and south
sides of the Clyde, ranging through Renfrewshire, part of Lanarkshire,
and the north of Ayrshire. This great coal-field has been described as
situated between a line drawn from the mouth of the Tay, on the east
coast, by Stirling, to the north end of the Isle of Arran on the west;
and another line drawn from Dunbar, on the east, to Girvan in Ayr-
shire, on the west coast. The greater part of the coal of Scotland will
certainly be included between these lines, which are nearly parallel;
but, strictly speaking, these limits include several large detached coal-
fields, often separated by intervening tracts of land, in which no coal is
found. The Fife coal-field, north of the Forth, extends from Stirling
to St. Andrews. The strata are arranged in trough-shaped concavities.
The richest part of the coal-field, north of the Forth, is stated to be
between Dysart and Alloa. On the south side of the Forth an exten-
sive coal-field, which lies to the south and east of Edinburgh, covers an
area of about 80 square miles. The strata in the vicinity of Edinburgh,
in the north-west division of this coal-field, dip to the south-east, at an
angle of about forty-five degrees, and, in some places, are nearly per-
pendicular; but, in the south-east division of the field, the strata are
comparatively level. To the west of Edinburgh, for some miles, are
considerable beds of sandstone and limestone, and some small seams of
coal; but at Bathgate workable coal strata commence, and extend
westward, with some interruption, to the neighbourhood of Glasgow.
The Clyde and the Forth form the southern and northern boundaries
of this field beyond Blantyre, the coal extends, on the south side of
the Clyde, to the Cathkin hills. After passing Glasgow, this coal-field
stretches westward, on the south side of the Clyde, and occupies the
valley in the line of the Ardrossan Canal; extending through Renfrew-
shire to Dalry, in Ayrshire. Other detached coal-fields occur in
various parts of Ayrshire. The most southerly is near Girvan. The
above coal-fields constitute the principal mineral treasures of Scotland,
on which it depends for its manufacturing and commercial prosperity.
Ironstone, of an excellent quality, abounds in many of the coal-fields,
and has, to use the words of Dr. Millar, "given birth to numerous
manufactures, and, in particular, to the operations of the smelting fur-
nace, in the reduction of the ores of iron, as well as of converting that
:
一
​GEOLOGY.
257
invaluable metal into the multifarious utensils and articles of machinery,
for which the peculiar properties which it possesses, in its various states
of combination, render it eminently useful. To verify this remark, the
iron-works at Shotts, Cleland, Airdrie, and Clyde, and particularly the
grand establishment at Carron, need only be mentioned." The iron
trade of Scotland has increased with unprecedented rapidity since the
above account was written. The total amount of iron produced in
1840, by 490 furnaces in England, Scotland, and Wales, was estimated
at 1,396,400 tons, of which 241,000 tons were produced by 70 furnaces
in Scotland. But at present (1846) the production of iron in Scotland
probably exceeds 550,000 tons. The abundance and cheapness of coal
has enabled Glasgow to rival Manchester in the manufacture of cotton
goods of almost every quality.
The coal strata, in many of the coal districts, are much broken and
deranged by basaltic dykes that traverse them. In the Dysart coal
mines, at the depth of 270 feet, the main coal was 21 feet in thickness.
At the Quarrelton coal-field, in Renfrewshire, there is a mass of coal
from 50 to 60 feet thick in some parts: it is composed of five distinct
seams, separated by thin strata of stone and ironstone. This great
thickness appears to have been produced by a disturbance of the strata,
which has caused the series to break and overlap, or double over each
other, in one part of the field. The disturbing cause was, in all pro-
bability, an irruption or protrusion of the basalt, which covers and un-
derlies the coal.
In Hurlet coal mine, 3 miles south-east of Paisley, which has been
worked for two or three centuries, the bed of shale over the coal, in the
old workings, has become converted into alum slate by the combination
of sulphuric acid, from the decomposition of pyrites with the alumina
or clay. The quantity of alum is so great that a large alum-work has
been many years established there.
A small coalfield exists in the upper part of Dumfries-shire; and
rocks belonging to the lower part of the coal formation are found in
Berwick and Roxburghshire, but they contain no beds of coal worth
the trouble of working.
The southern part of Scotland, extending from the English border to
the Forth and Clyde, comprises the most fertile and best cultivated
lands in Scotland; but it partakes, in a considerable degree, of the
character of an alpine country; and the leading features of its geology
resemble those of Cumberland, and the portion of Northumberland ad-
joining Scotland. Several of the mountains rise from 2,000 to near
3,000 feet above the level of the sea: the rocks of which they are com-
posed are, for the most part, of the transition class. Greywacke and
coarse slate are the most prevailing beds. Three large masses of granite
occur in Kirkcudbrightshire; one at Loch Doon on the borders of Ayr-
shire, one near New Galloway, and the third and largest on the Solway
Frith, south from Dumfries. On the eastern side, the range of Cheviot
Hills, composed of porphyry, forms a conspicuous feature in the
country. The beds in the vicinity of these porphyritic rocks appear to
have suffered considerable derangement of position by the protrusion of
the porphyry. The most valuable mining district that has been worked
in Scotland is that of the Lead Hills, in Lanarkshire. The prevailing
VOL. I.
S
258
SCOTLAND.
rock is stated to be greywacke. The veins that intersect this rock are
rich in lead ores: they vary much in width: one vein, called the Su-
sannah vein, contained a mass of ore 14 feet thick. The mines at Lead
Hills formerly produced 1,400 tons of lead per annum, and those of
Wanlock Head 1,000 tons. In the soil which covers the Lead Hills
and Wanlock Head, a considerable quantity of gold was formerly
found. In the time of Queen Elizabeth, 300 men were employed in
searching for and washing the gold; and a quantity worth 100,000l.
sterling is said to have been found in the course of a few years.
During last century the works were resumed; but the quantity of
gold discovered was not sufficient to repay the expense of the opera-
tions. The gold was found immediately under the vegetable soil; and
was obtained by repeatedly washing the earthy matter with which it was
intermixed, the gold subsiding to the bottom. Whether the sand and
alluvial soil in the beds of rivers, in any other part of Scotland, have
been examined in this manner, we are not informed. Gold may be ob-
tained from the sands of rivers in most of the alpine parts of Europe,
but seldom in sufficient quantity to repay the expense.
The Shetland and Orkney Islands may be regarded as an inter-
rupted extension of the primary range, that passes through Caithness.
In the Shetland Islands the rocks are much broken by the violence of
the waves, and in some parts are cut into various fantastic shapes, pre-
senting the ruins of isles now nearly obliterated. In the Orkney Islands,
the primary rocks are covered in many parts by thick beds of sandstone
and conglomerate.
The Isle of Man.-It may be doubtful whether this island should be
classed geologically with England, Ireland, or Scotland, as it is nearly
equidistant from each country: its general character resembles that of
the alpine parts of the south of Scotland. From the sea, the Isle of
Man presents a mountainous appearance: a group of mountains, of
moderate elevation, range in a south-west and north-east direction: the
highest of these is Sneafel, 2,004 feet above the level of the sea. From
its summit, the Mourne mountains in Ireland, the Cumberland moun-
tains, and the mountains of the south-west of Scotland, are distinctly
visible. The hilly and mountainous district in the Isle of Man, which
forms the greatest part of the island, is chiefly composed of clay slate,
containing some beds of roofing slate. Low rocks of granite make
their appearance in some parts of the slate district. On the southern
end of the island, mountain limestone rests upon the slate, separated
from it by a bed of conglomerate. The limestone extends from Pool-
vash to Derby Haven, a distance of about 5 miles. The northern end
of the Isle of Man is nearly flat, and is chiefly composed of alluvial
soil. Veins, containing ores of lead, zinc, copper, and iron, intersect
the mountains in a north and south direction: the first, which are
worked, produced, in 1839, nearly 2,000 tons of lead. As might be
expected from the geology of the island, no coal has been discovered
in the Isle of Man: the inhabitants procure their fuel from White-
haven.
SECT. 6.-Climate.
The climate of Scotland depends upon the same physical circum-
CLIMATE.
259
stances that have been specified when treating of that of England, the
chief differences between them being occasioned by the different geo-
graphical relations of the two countries. Scotland is remarkably
indented by bays, creeks, friths, or arms of the sea: she has a much
more limited extent of inland superficies than England, a wider expanse
of ocean on the east, and is placed at a greater distance from the equator.
In consequence of this last circumstance, she is more subject to cold
winds from the north, to falls of snow, and to ungenial and late springs
and summers, than her more southerly neighbour. But the proximity of
even the more inland places to the sea, and its tempering influence,
prevent snow from continuing long undissolved, and the temperature
from remaining, for any very lengthened term, at the freezing point,
except in the more mountainous parts. There, however, snow often
lies for a very long time, and the labours of the Highland farmers are
not unfrequently interrupted for two, and even three, months. Before
reaching Scotland, the east and north-east winds have to traverse a
wider superficies of ocean than before reaching England, so that they
do not reduce the temperature so low in the former as in the latter
and heavy falls of rain more frequently come from these quarters in
Scotland than in England.
the sea.
;
Owing to these causes, the mean annual temperature of Scotland is
very high for the latitude, being about 464° in places near the level of
In the more southerly parts of the kingdom the climate differs
but little from that of the northern parts of England. Dr. Brewster
states the mean annual temperature to be 48·36 at Leith. At Edin-
burgh, which is elevated from 300 to 400 feet above the level of the
sea, and situated about two miles from it, the annual temperature is
47.8, and this may be taken as a near approximation to that of the more
inland parts of the south of Scotland: the mean temperature of winter
being 38.6; of spring, 46·4; of summer, 58·2; of autumn, 48-4: the
coldest month being 38-3, and the warmest 59∙4.
From a long series of observations made at Gordon Castle and at
Kinfauns Castle, between the latitudes 57 and 58° N., the mean annual
temperature was found to be 46. At Huntly Lodge, which is 440
feet above the level of the sea, it was 45. The observations pub-
lished in the Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh very
closely approximate to the above, and furnish the following additional
results :-
St. Andrew's, on the east coast, in latitude 56° 20', has a mean
annual temperature of 46%; that of the winter months being 39·12;
spring, 45.2; summer, 56.4; and autumn, 47·7.
At Wick, in Caithness, in latitude 58° 28', the mean annual temper-
ature is 46; that of the winter months being 40.35; spring, 44.41;
summer, 53·77; and autumn, 48.82.
At Samburgh Head, the most southerly promontory of the Shetland
Isles, in latitude 59° 52', the mean annual temperature is 45; that
of the winter quarter being 40; spring, 43-29; summer, 50-63; and
autumn, 47.48.
The barometric ranges are often very great and sudden, and, as
respects the British Isles especially, are evidently increased with the
distance from the equator.
On the southern coasts of Great Britain
$ 2
260
SCOTLAND.
the range of the barometer seldom exceeds two inches, and in the more
inland parts of the southern counties it is rarely so much. In the south
of Scotland it is about two inches and six or seven tenths; but in the
Orkney and Shetland Isles it is fully three inches.
The quantity of rain which falls on the east side of Scotland varies
from 22 to 26 inches, whilst, on the west side, and in the Hebrides, it
is nearly twice as much, ranging from 35 to 46 inches, according to
situation. Mr. Adie states the mean annual fall of rain at Edinburgh,
for the years 1824 and 1825, to have been 23 inches, which was dis-
tributed as follows:
January
February.
March
April
May
June
·
Inches.
1.090
July
1.360
August
0.880
September
0.990
October
•
1.940
November
2.030
December
Inches.
0.860
•
1.690
2.230
3.460
•
4.140
2.080
Mr. Dalton assigns 37 inches as the annual fall at Dumfries, the
last six months of the year being the most rainy, and each furnishing
nearly an equal proportion. There is a very remarkable difference in
the amount of rain that falls in one year from that which falls in another,
in all situations where observations have been made. At Dalkeith, a
few miles from Edinburgh, at an average of eight years, the annual fall
was 22 inches; at Glasgow, at an average of thirty years, it was 30
inches; at Dundee, at an average of nine years, 22 inches; at Peebles,
at an average of fourteen years, 28.7 inches; at Longforgan, on the
Tay, at an average of twelve years, 24.5 inches; at Belmont, in Strath-
more, at an average of ten years, 30½ inches; at Carbeth, in Stirling-
shire, at an average of eight years, 42 inches; at Mount Stewart, in
Bute, at an average of seven years, 46-6 inches. Sir John Sinclair
estimated the mean annual fall of rain in Scotland at 31 inches. Argyle,
with its islands, has, perhaps, the most rainy climate. Ireland is inter-
posed between Galloway and Ayrshire, and the Atlantic Ocean; but
Argyle is exposed, without any such protecting screen, to its entire
influence. "Its lofty mountains attract the vapours that arise from the
ocean, and the clouds burst in torrents upon the valleys. In the dis-
trict of Cowall, and probably over the whole county, the face of the
heavens is generally lowering and cloudy; a serene sky is seldom to be
seen. The winds, prevented from a free circulation, rush through the
glens with irresistible violence; and at the bottom of high hills, and in
narrow valleys, the transitions from heat to cold are sudden and exces-
sive. The winters are, for the most part, mild and temperate; but the
summers are frequently rainy and cold. Frosts are not intense, nor do
snows lie long."—(General Report of Scotland, Appendix, i. 123.)
We are not aware that observations with the rain-gauge have been made
in Orkney or Shetland; but we believe that the quantity of rain falling
in them is not much under that which falls on the western coast. The
truth is, however, that the quantity of rain that falls annually in any
country is a very inferior consideration compared with the distribution
of that quantity over the year. It is by this that the operations of the
agriculturist are principally influenced, and it is this that determines
CLIMATE.
261
the character of a climate. A great deal of rain may fall in a country;
but if, like tropical rains, it mostly falls within a short space of time,
as two or even three months, its climate is said to be dry; whereas a
country, with a much smaller total fall of rain, but distributed over a
half or two-thirds of the year, is said to have a wet climate.
From an analysis of the statistical accounts of Scotland, it would
appear that the average number of days in which either rain or snow
falls, in parts situated on the west coast, is about 200; on the east coast
about 145. And it is owing to this excess in the number of rainy days,
more than to the excess in the total quantity of rain, that the climate of
the western side of the kingdom is said to be wet as compared with that
of the eastern side, and that it is less fit for the maturing and ripening
of corn.
Winds in Scotland are influenced by the physical circumstances
already explained (see sect. on the Climate of England); but they are
even more variable than in England, and more boisterous, especially
about the equinoxes. Westerly winds are the most prevalent, particu-
larly during autumn and the early part of winter; but north-east winds
are prevalent and severe, especially on the east coast, during March,
April, and May, and sometimes part of June. High gales are generally
from the west. The weather is exceedingly variable in winter and
spring, particularly in the northern and western districts. The occur-
rence of snow, frost, sleet, and rain, with calms and high winds, in the
same day, is by no means unusual. In the most northerly parts, snow
generally begins to fall about the middle of November, and continues
or recurs until March or April. Thick fogs, with drizzling rains, are
frequent in spring and autumn, and generally throughout the year;
especially in the Western and Northern Isles, and when the wind blows
from the east. In the Shetland and Orkney Isles the heaviest and most
prolonged falls of rain are from the east and south-east.
The influence of the climate upon the vegetable productions of the
country is very considerable; but much is also owing to the nature of
the soil, its height above the level of the sea, exposure, &c. The
numerous and extensive peaty moors and morasses in hilly districts,
particularly in the northern and insular parts, seem to be the result
chiefly of low temperature, humidity of the air, and imperfect drainage.
Some of these morasses have been formed within a comparatively recent
period; and if they have not actually deteriorated the climate, they
must, at all events, have materially countervailed the influence of the
ameliorations growing out of improvements in cultivation, drain-
age, &c.
During summer and autumn vegetation is luxuriant, and, even in
the eastern and southern districts, is very seldom interrupted or stunted
from deficiency of moisture. The lateness of spring and summer, the
occasional prevalence of north-easterly winds and fogs during these
seasons, the frequent short duration and rarity of sunshine with heavy
rains in autumn, and the occurrence of high gales in September, are
the principal defects, in an agricultural point of view, of the climate of
Scotland, and require a degree of exertion, activity, and skill, on the
part of the husbandman, to secure his crop from damage, to which the
farmer in the south of England is unaccustomed. These circum-
262
SCOTLAND.
stances, too, either altogether prevent the cultivation of wheat to the
north of the Grampians, except in a few peculiarly favourable situations
along the Moray Frith, or render it uncommonly precarious. It is
very rare, indeed, that crops in Scotland suffer from drought or too
much heat. Almost all the bad harvests and scarcities that have oc-
curred have been occasioned by the opposite circumstances,-by cold
wet summers and autumns.
In the western and northern isles, and in many parts along the
western coast, the crops of corn not unfrequently suffer from the spray
of the sea blighting them before they reach maturity, while high winds
shake or beat the grain from the ear when ripe. Very heavy losses
have sometimes occurred from these causes; and hence oats, which
suffer most from high winds, are seldom allowed to stand till they be
perfectly ripe, and are frequently, indeed, particularly on the west coast,
cut down when they are a little greenish. To the circumstances now
mentioned is also to be ascribed the deficiency of trees and plantations
on both the west and east coasts, but especially on the former and in
the Hebrides, and the Orkney and Shetland Isles. There the frequent
high gales roll mountainous waves from the Atlantic, the Northern,
and German Oceans, that break with tremendous violence upon pre-
cipitous cliffs, dashing the spray and foam to a very great height, and
carrying them far over the land. The air is, in consequence, saturated
with saline particles, which blight the buds, young leaves, and shoots
of trees, and entirely prevent their growth.
The favourable influence of the climate of Scotland over the physical
and mental powers of the people is sufficiently manifest. No other
country, since the revival of learning, has produced, compared with the
amount of population, so many individuals distinguished in literature,
science, and the arts. And, if we except the inhabitants of a few large
manufacturing towns, the strength, activity, and longevity of the natives.
are, perhaps, nowhere exceeded. Though without any accurate data to
go upon, we believe it may be truly affirmed, that the mean duration
of life is as great in Scotland as in almost any other country. The
number also of those who, having reached a very advanced age, still
preserve their mental and bodily powers, is remarkably great. It is not,
however, by isolated instances that the longevity and general vigour of
the inhabitants of a country should be estimated; but, 1st, by the pro-
portion of those who arrive at an advanced age; and 2nd, by the bodily
and mental power possessed by those who attain that age. Now, if we
take these for criteria, the salubrity of the climate of Scotland is
obvious. We are pretty confident, from extensive observation in dif-
ferent countries, that the proportion of the population that reaches 70
or 80 years of age, and the vigour then remaining, are greater in
Scotland than almost anywhere else. The countries which rank next
to it in these respects are England, Ireland, Norway, Denmark, the
north of France, and the countries bordering on the Baltic.
We do not mean to say that other causes, and those, too, of a very
powerful description, have not conspired to produce these effects; but
it is admitted, on all hands, that they have not been counteracted, and
it would be very easy to show, were this a proper place for such dis-
cussions, that they have been materially promoted, by the climate.
CIVIL DIVISIONS.
263
The causes of the salubrity of Scotland, and of the longevity of its
inhabitants, will be shown more fully hereafter; but we may remark,
that the objections urged by ill-informed and careless observers to the
climate, viz., the prevalence of stormy and changeable weather, and
the low range of temperature, are the chief causes of salubrity. From
whatever quarter, except one, the wind may blow, a wide expanse of
sea is passed over; and the air, though moist, is purified from injurious
emanations, which are readily absorbed by the ocean.
The country
contains comparatively few physical sources of disease. Injurious
exhalations from the land are scarcely anywhere observed to prevail :
the low grounds in the southern counties are too highly cultivated to
produce them; and the moors and mosses, in the northern and more
elevated districts, consist chiefly of antiseptic substances; so that the
emanations from them, though they reduce the temperature, are in no
other way deleterious. Owing chiefly to the circumstance of the
winds blowing over a great extent of ocean, the principal foreign matters
which the air contains are watery vapour, saline particles dissolved in
that vapour, and minute portions of iodinous fumes. But the tem-
perature in the latitude of Scotland will not admit of the air holding
much water in solution; and a moderate quantity of moisture is evi-
dently conducive rather than injurious to health. The other sub-
stances specified are present in such minute proportions that no injury
can result from them.
Scotland being one of the most salubrious countries in the world,
it need not be matter of surprise, if many of its sons, who select other
countries for constant or occasional residence, are disappointed in their
anticipations of improved health; and that they frequently bring back
to their native land prolonged and dangerous diseases, the causes of
which either do not exist in it, or occur slightly, and at short in-
tervals.
For accounts of the Botany and Zoology of Scotland see the sections
under those heads, p. 99 and p. 109.
SECT. 7. Civil Divisions.
We find ourselves, in regard to the ancient history of the territorial
divisions of Scotland, both civil and ecclesiastical, in a situation similar
to that in which we stand regarding most subjects of Scotch antiqui-
ties. We have a large mass, probably a sufficiency, of materials; and
these have been successfully employed in the elucidation of some local
questions. But no satisfactory general or systematic view of the whole
subject has hitherto been given. Scotland has had some profound an-
tiquaries, many clever ones, and a few more noted for ingenuity than
honesty; but she has had neither a Camden nor a Selden.
Shires.-The Latin name of the sheriff (vicecomes), and the sup-
posed facts in the history of his office in England, have furnished some
Scotch lawyers with plausible grounds for saying, that the sheriff was
originally the deputy of the comes or earl. But, whatever may be
thought of the etymology, and whatever may have been the origin of
English sheriffdoms, no evidence is believed to exist in Scotch history
to show that Scotch sheriffs, even on the first institution of their office,
264
SCOTLAND.
were deputed by or connected with the earls. And it is, at all events,
certain that from the time when sheriffdoms began to be instituted,
the country was progressively divided into shires, and subjected to the
jurisdiction of sheriffs, without the smallest regard to the powers of the
earls, or to the territorial extent or boundaries of earldoms. The old
earldom of Lennox included several districts, which, at a very early
period, were divided into separate shires or sheriffdoms: the shire of
Perth, again, included several earldoms; and some districts, of which
Berwickshire is one, were erected into shires, without seeming to have
been ever under an earl.
No trace of sheriffdoms in Scotland has been found further back
than the twelfth century. The office and the territorial division are
mentioned in the reigns of Alexander I. and David I.; but a con-
siderable period elapsed before the office, or the division of territory,
became general. Some districts, indeed, as Galloway, Ross, and the
Western Isles, were not placed permanently under sheriffs for some
centuries after that time with these exceptions, however, Scotland
appears to have been universally divided into shires, each subject to its
local judge, the sheriff, as early as the accession of Robert Bruce.
The sheriff was the king's judge, and his powers, and the boundaries of
his shire, or sheriffdom, were determined by royal grants.
But so
early as the period last mentioned, the office of sheriff had, most un-
fortunately for the country, become hereditary in certain families.
And either at this early period, or not long after, numerous hereditary
functionaries, with powers like sheriffs, were established under the
names of Stewarts of Stewartries, Baillies of Bailliewicks, &c., whose
authority extended over portions of most shires in Scotland. The
legitimate influence of government, and the speedy and impartial
administration of justice were alike obstructed by the functions of
sheriffs and other local officers having thus become hereditary, and in
a great degree independent of the Crown, and by the subdivision of the
shires. But though the mischiefs and inconveniences of such a state
of things be obvious, and had been long complained of, they continued to
spread their baneful influence on all sides down to the middle of last
century. The occurrences of 1745, however, having set the incom-
patibility of hereditary jurisdictions with the maintenance of the public
tranquillity, and the introduction of an improved plan of government,
in the clearest light, they were abolished in 1747, compensation being
at the same time made to the proprietors. Responsible and properly
qualified parties were then nominated by the Crown, nearly in the
same way as at present, to discharge the duties of sheriffs in the dif-
ferent counties. The division of the kingdom into the latter, was
continued nearly on its old footing, except in a few cases in which two
small counties were united under one sheriff. It may be worth while
to notice, that there is in Scotland no trace of the subdivisions of the
English counties, called hundreds, wapentakes, &c.
Parishes.-Some writers have pretended to find the institution of
parishes in Scotland as far back as the ninth century: but the evidence
is weak, and the arguments rendered unsatisfactory, by the looseness of
the phraseology used in the documents founded on; for the word
parochia certainly meant, anciently, not parish, but diocese; and in
WIGTOWNSHIRE.
265
some of the oldest deeds, which have clear reference to parishes, the
name used is the Saxon word shire. Charters and other writs make
it certain, however, that the parochial division had been introduced
and was familiar in Scotland by the middle of the twelfth century;
and canons of the Scottish clergy, passed at two of their general
councils, held about the middle of the thirteenth century (1242
and 1269), distinctly recognise the universal existence of the pa-
rochial clergy, and the allotment of a fixed district or parish to each
individual.
Till the Reformation, the bishops retained the power of uniting and
disjoining parishes, and were, probably, the parties who originally
introduced the division. Between the Reformation and the Union,
several successive commissions of the Scotch parliament held, besides
powers regarding teinds or tithes, authority also to unite and disjoin
parishes. In 1707, Parliament transferred the powers of these com-
missions to the Court of Session, continuing to this new commission
the powers of the older ones over tithes, and full power to unite and
annex parishes; but, for the protection of the tithe-payers, limiting
their power of disjoining parishes, transplanting old churches, or
erecting new ones, to cases where consent is given by persons possess-
ing 3-4ths of the valued rent of the parish. Under that commission
the court continues to act.
SECT. 8. Statistical Notices of the different Scotch Counties.
Scotland is divided into 33 counties. We shall notice them in suc-
cession, beginning with the most southerly.
1. Wigtownshire, a maritime county, occupying the south-west ex-
tremity of Scotland, is bounded on the west and south by the Irish
Sea; on the north by Ayrshire; and on the east by the Stewartry of
Kirkcudbright. It contains 293,760 acres, of which about a third
may be arable. Surface hilly, but the hills do not rise to any con-
siderable height. It is divided into 3 districts, viz., the Muchars,
extending from Wigtown and Port William to the Burrow Head; the
Rhynns, comprising the peninsula formed by Loch Ryan and the bay
of Luce, terminating in the mull of Galloway on the south, and
Corsewall Point on the north; and the Moors, or upper district.
The soil of the first two districts is, for the most part, a hazelly loam,
dry and well adapted for the turnip husbandry; but near the town of
Wigtown there is a considerable extent of rich alluvial land. The
moors, which are bleak and barren, comprise more than a third part
of the county. Climate mild, but rather moist. Property in a few
hands, and mostly under entail; farms middle sized, and uniformly
almost let on leases for 19 years. Agriculture in this, as in most
other Scotch counties, was formerly in the most barbarous and
wretched state imaginable. There was no rotation of crops; the
processes and implements were alike execrable; the pasture land was
overstocked; and the occupiers steeped in poverty. Marl, of which
Galloway contained immense quantities, began to be discovered and
applied to the land about 1730; and for a while it caused an astonish-
ing improvement in the corn crops. But their unceasing repetition
266
SCOTLAND.
reduced the soil to its former sterility; and convinced the landlords
that marling, which promised so much, and from which so much had
been realised, could be of no permanent utility to their estates, unless
the tenants were restrained from overcropping. In consequence
principally of this feeling, but partly, also, of the diffusion of intelli-
gence as to such subjects, it was the usual practice, previously to the
American war, to prohibit tenants from taking more than three white
crops in succession; and it was also usual to prohibit them from break-
ing up pasture land until it had been at least 6 or 9 years in grass.
This practice, barbarous as it is, was a vast improvement on that by
which it had been preceded; and it prevailed generally throughout
Galloway and Dumfriesshire till the beginning of the present century,
and in some backward parts lingers even to this day. But in
all the best parts of the district two white crops are now rarely
seen in succession; and every department of husbandry has been
astonishingly improved. Generally, however, the county is better
fitted for pasture than for tillage; and it, as well as Kirkcudbright,
suffered a good deal from overcropping between 1809 and 1815.
Oats and barley principal crops; wheat, however, is now raised in
considerable quantities. Potatoes largely cultivated. Turnips have
been long introduced, but it is only within the last dozen years that
their culture has become an object of general attention; it is now
rapidly extending, and large quantities of bone-dust and guano are
imported as manure for the turnip lands. Farm-houses and offices
mostly new, substantial, and commodious. Roads new, and for the
most part excellent. Breed of cattle polled, and one of the best in the
empire. Breed of sheep in the low grounds various; in the moors
principally the black faced, or Linton, variety. Owing to its vicinity
to Ireland, and the easy communication by steamers between Port
Patrick and Donaghadee, this county (and in a lesser degree Kirkcud-
bright and Dumfries) is literally overrun with crowds of Irish labourers
in the most abject state of poverty. The latter, indeed, constitute at
present the majority of the labouring population, the Scotch labourers
having mostly emigrated, some to America and the Colonies, some to
England and elsewhere. Wages are consequently low, and though the
condition of the immigrants is better than it was in Ireland, it is far
from good, and their habits are not materially improved. (See
Account of Whithorn, New Statistical Account of Scotland.) Average
rent of land in 1842-3, 8s. 7½d. an acre, being the same as in 1810.
Minerals and manufactures quite unimportant. Principal rivers: Cree,
Bladenoch, and Luce. It is divided into 17 parishes. Wigtownshire
returns 1 member to parliament; and the burghs of Wigtown, Whit-
horn, and Stranraer, in this county, unite with the inconsiderable burgh
of New Galloway, in Kirkcudbright, in returning a member. Popu-
lation of county in 1841, 36,258. Valued rent, 67,6427. Scotch.
Annual value of real property in 1815, 143,4257.; ditto in 1842-3,
135,4077.
2. Kirkcudbright (Stewartry of), a maritime county, forming, with
Wigtownshire, the district known by the name of Galloway. It is
bounded on the west by Wigtownshire; on the south by the Solway
Frith; on the east and north-east by Dumfriesshire; and on the north
KIRKCUDBRIGHT.
267
and north-west by Ayrshire. It contains 533,760 acres, of which about
one-fourth part is supposed to be arable. Surface almost everywhere
hilly; and in extensive districts mountainous. The highest point of
the Kells range, in the northern part of the county, has an elevation of
2,659 feet; Cairnsmoor of Fleet, one of 2,329 ditto; and Criffel, a
detached mountain on the Solway Frith, 1,831 ditto. The arable lands
lie principally to the south of a line drawn from Dumfries to Gate-
house; the most fertile being situated on the sea coast, and along the
rivers Dee and Nith; but Criffel, and some other mountains of inferior
dimensions, are situated within this line. Climate in the lower districts
peculiarly mild, but in the upper or mountainous districts it is not un-
frequently rather severe. Some large estates; but property, in general,
more subdivided than in most Scotch counties. Farms of a medium
size; and let on 19 years' leases. Arable husbandry very greatly im-
proved, but the principal attention is paid to the rearing of cattle.
Furrow draining has been practised on some farms to a great extent, and
with the most perfect success. Galloway formerly possessed a breed of
horses peculiar to itself, and well adapted for the saddle, distinguished
by smallness of head and neck, cleanness of bone, and hardiness of con-
stitution. But this ancient breed is now almost lost; its place being
supplied by horses of a larger size, and more suitable for draught.
Breed of cattle excellent. Sheep on the moors and high grounds mostly
black-faced; but Cheviots, South Downs, and New Leicesters are in-
troduced into the lower districts, and the first have begun to make their
way into the moors. Breed of hogs much improved, and considerable
numbers raised. The greater number of the cattle raised in this, and
the contiguous county of Wigtown, have hitherto been sent up half fed
to the Norfolk fairs, where they are sold to graziers, by whom they are
fattened for the London market; but the practice of fattening cattle
and sheep at home, particularly the latter, and sending them by steam
to Liverpool, is now pretty extensively introduced. Farm buildings
vastly improved, and on some estates, indeed, a few were constructed
previously to 1815 on an absurdly extravagant scale. All considerable
farms have thrashing mills. Towards the middle of last century, the
roads in this county were little better than mere footpaths; and, with
the exception of the military road from Dumfries to Newtonstewart,
the others were in most places quite impracticable for carriages. But
now, notwithstanding the unevenness of the country, it is everywhere
intersected by uncommonly level, well-made roads; nor is it
easy for
any one, at present passing through the south of Scotland, to form any
notion of the difficulties the traveller had to contend with even half a
century ago. Potatoes extensively cultivated. Turnip culture rapidly
extending. Kirkcudbright and Wigtown were early enclosed with
those dry stone walls, now well known all over the kingdom by the
name of Galloway dykes. When properly constructed, they make an
excellent and a very durable fence. They are shortly described in
another part of this work. Lead mines were at one time wrought near
Newtonstewart, but are now abandoned. Lime, coal, and freestone are
all imported, principally from Whitehaven, on the opposite coast of
Cumberland. Average rent of land in 1842-3, 6s. 111d. an acre,
having declined about 4d. an acre since 1810. Manufactures unimpor-
268
SCOTLAND.
tant. Extensive cotton works were erected at Gatehouse a good many
years ago; but they have proved very unprofitable, and recently have
been for the most part abandoned. Principal rivers: Dee (see antè, p.
240), Fleet, and Urr: the salmon fisheries on the first important and
valuable. The Nith separates Kirkcudbright from Dumfriesshire.
Kirkcudbright contains 28 parishes. The county returns 1 member to
parliament; and the burgh of Kirkcudbright joins with Dumfries,
Annan, &c., in returning a representative. Population of county in
1841, 41,119. Valued rent, 114,5977. Scotch. Annual value of real
property in 1815, 213,3087.; ditto in 1842-3, 193,8017.
3. Dumfriesshire, a maritime county, is bounded on the south and
south-east by the Solway Frith, and part of Cumberland, on the
north-east and north by the counties of Roxburgh, Selkirk, Peebles,
and Lanark; and on the west and south-west by Ayr and Kirkcud-
bright. It contains 808,320 acres, of which between a fourth and a
fifth part are supposed to be arable. Surface much diversified, but for
the most part mountainous. The Hartfell group of mountains lie partly
in the parish of Moffat, in this county, and partly in the adjoining
county of Peebles. They are amongst the highest in the southern part
of Scotland. The summit of Hartfell, in this county, is elevated 2,635
feet above the level of the sea. Many of the other hills have an eleva-
tion of from 1,500 to 2,000 feet and a few, among which are the
Queensberry and Lowther hills, rise still higher. They are mostly of
an easy curved outline, and, like the Cheviot Hills, are generally
covered with a fine green sward. Soils in the lower districts generally
light, resting on sand, gravel, or rock. There are some considerable
morasses in the lower parts of the county. Climate similar to that of
Kirkcudbright. Estates in general very large, and mostly entailed.
Farms in the lower districts vary from 100 to 400 acres; in the higher
from 500 to 5,000. Leases universal. Arable husbandry much im-
proved during the last 40 years, by the introduction of improved imple-
ments, the adoption of a better rotation, keeping the ground cleaner,
and by the recent practice of feeding off sheep with turnips. This latter
practice has been productive of the greatest advantage both here and in
Galloway. So rapidly has it extended, that it is believed there are at
present (1846) about ten times as many turnips raised as there were in
1830. This extraordinary increase is owing partly and principally to
the facilities afforded by steam navigation for the advantageous disposal
of the sheep in the markets of Liverpool, and partly to the introduction
of bone manure. It has had a wonderful influence in keeping up the
rent. of land, and improving the condition of the farmers in Galloway,
as well as in this county. Fences and farm buildings generally good
and commodious. "Let any one look into the cottages, and he will
find them nearly or fully as comfortable as the farm houses were 40
years ago; and let him compare the dress of the cottagers, and their
mode of living, with that of the farmers at the above distance of time,
he will find that at present they are not greatly inferior."-(Art.
Parish of Moffat, in New Statistical Account of Scotland, No. 2, p.
121.) Cattle principally of the Galloway breed. Sheep one-third
black-faced, two-thirds Cheviots, but the proportion of the latter con-
tinues to increase. Total stock estimated at 240,000. Pigs extensively
AYRSHIRE.
269
raised, and the curing of pork, bacon, and ham, well understood.
Average rent of land in 1842-3, 6s. 7ąd. an acre. The remarks as to
the roads of Kirkcudbrightshire, may, with little modification, be
equally applied to those of this county. There are valuable coal and
lead mines in the parish of Sanquhar; and limestone and freestone
quarries are met with in various parts of the county, the latter being
particularly abundant in the vicinity of the town of Dumfries. Prin-
cipal rivers: Nith, Annan (see antè, p. 240), and Esk. Dumfriesshire
contains 43 parishes. It returns 1 member for the county; and the
burghs of Dumfries, Annan, Sanquhar, and Lochmaben, in this county,
unite with Kirkcudbright in returning a representative. Population
of county in 1841, 72,830. Valued rent, 158,5031. Scotch. Annual
value of real property in 1815, 295,6217.; ditto in 1842-3, 319,7517.
4. Ayrshire, a maritime county, lies in the form of a crescent along
the eastern side of the Frith of Clyde, having about 75 miles of sea
coast. It is bounded on the south and south-east by the counties of
Wigtown, Kirkcudbright, and Dumfries; and on the north and north-
west by Renfrew and Lanark. It contains 668,800 acres, of which
about a half is supposed to be arable. Surface irregular, and in part
mountainous. There is a large extent of hill pasture, moor, and bog,
particularly in the southern and eastern parts of the county. The
arable land lies principally along the shore from Girvan to West Kil-
bride. The soil in the lower districts, along the coast, is in most parts
light and sandy; but in the more inland parts it is principally adhesive
clay, and is in some places very fertile. The lower part of the county
presents, from the hills on its east and north sides, an uncommonly rich
and beautiful prospect. Climate mild, but moister than on the eastern
side of the island. Ayr is popularly divided into the three districts of
Carrick, Kyle, and Cunningham. The first, which is the largest, lies
between the river Doon and Wigtownshire. It contains a large expanse
of wild, dreary wastes; but it is not destitute of some very fertile land,
particularly the strath along Girvan Water. Kyle, the middle district
of the county, lies between the Doon on the south, and the Irvine on
the north more than half this district is in cultivation; and the low-
lands, particularly in the vicinity of the town of Ayr, have a rich,
luxuriant appearance. Cunningham lies north of the Irvine, between
it and Renfrewshire; and, though the smallest, is the most populous,
and richest of the three districts. There are several very large
estates; but there are also many of the middling and smaller class of
proprietors. Arable farms mostly small. Agriculture in Ayrshire,
about the middle of last century, was in the most depressed state. It
has since been wonderfully improved, and is at this moment in a state
of rapid advancement, the farming in parts of Kyle, adjacent to Ayr,
being but little, if at all, inferior to any to be met with elsewhere in
Scotland. Bone dust and guano are extensively used, and the crops of
turnip are excellent. Wheat and barley are both raised; but in Cun-
ningham in 1819 (and we believe the proportion has not very materially
varied in the interval) there were 18,582 acres under oats, and only
2,838 under wheat and barley-(Robertson's Rural Recollections, p.
163); and in the other districts the proportion under oats was still
larger. Beans, pease, and potatoes are also raised; the latter in con-
270
SCOTLAND.
The
siderable quantities. Dairy husbandry extensively practised, par-
ticularly in Cunningham. The Ayrshire cows are celebrated all over
the country as milkers. The well-known and much esteemed Dunlop
cheese, so called from a parish of that name in the district of Cunning-
ham, is produced in considerable quantities; but most part of the cheese
made in the adjoining parishes, and even in the adjoining counties, is
sold as Dunlop cheese. The total stock of cattle in Ayrshire has been
estimated at 61,000; and, perhaps, this is not far from the mark, Mr.
Robertson having ascertained that the stock of cattle in Cunningham,
in 1819, amounted to 21,154, of which 12,563 were dairy cows.
practice of furrow draining, by means of tiles, has been introduced into
most parts of Scotland; but it has nowhere, perhaps, been carried to
such an extent as in this county. Several millions of drain tiles are
now annually manufactured, and the supply is, notwithstanding, in
general, inadequate to meet the demand. The Duke of Portland is a
very large tile manufacturer, and drains for such of his tenants as
require it, on their paying an additional rent of 5s. an acre; which is
very decidedly under the value given by the drainage to the wet clay
soils on which it is practised. And while the produce of the land has
been vastly increased by the practice of draining, the climate has been
equally ameliorated, and the harvests rendered a fortnight or three
weeks earlier than formerly. Farmhouses and offices much improved;
but still inferior to what they are in some less advanced parts of Scot-
land. Fences in the low grounds generally hedge and ditch; and the
enclosures smaller than in many other counties. Average rent of land
in 1842-3, 11s. 3 d. an acre. Roads formerly execrable, now gene-
rally good. Minerals important and valuable. Coal is found in many
parts of Kyle and Cunningham, and is largely exported from Ayr,
Troon, &c. The manufacture of iron has long been carried on at
Muirkirk; but of late years it has extended to other districts, and is
now in a state of rapid advancement. The make of iron in the
county in 1845, was estimated at about 40,000 tons; and this year
(1846) it is believed it will exceed twice that quantity. Limestone
and freestone are met with in many places. Various branches of the
woollen manufacture, especially those of carpets, bonnets, and worsted
shawls, have been long introduced, and are now successfully prosecuted
on a very large scale at Kilmarnock, and to a less extent at Stewarton,
and other towns. Extensive cotton works have been erected at Catrine,
on the river Ayr, at Beith, &c.; and large quantities of yarn are woven
for the Glasgow and Paisley manufacturers, at Girvan, and other
towns. There are some considerable tanneries; and many thousand
pairs of boots and shoes are produced for exportation as well as home
consumption. Old Cumnock and Mauchline, in this county, are, with
the exception of Laurencekirk and Montrose, the only places in Scot-
land where wooden snuff-boxes are manufactured. They are beautifully
jointed and varnished; and are everywhere in the highest estimation.
Principal rivers: Ayr, Doon, Stinchar, Girvan, &c. The town of Ayr
is connected with Paisley and Glasgow by a railway; and a railway
has been constructed between Kilmarnock and the thriving and much-
improved port of Troon. Ayrshire contains 46 parishes. It returns I
member to parliament; and the burghs of Ayr, Irvine, and Kilmarnock,
LANARKSHIRE.
271
which are its principal towns, are associated with others in sending re-
presentatives to parliament. Population of county in 1841, 164,136.
Valued rent, 191,6057. Scotch. Annual value of real property in 1815,
409,9837.; ditto in 1842-3, 531,3197.
5. Renfrewshire, a small maritime county, bounded on the south
and south-west by the county of Ayr; on the east by Lanark; and on
the north and west, by the Frith of Clyde. It contains 145,280 acres,
of which about one-half is arable. Surface agreeably diversified. There
is a large extent of hilly, moorish ground, particularly in the western
part of the county, and along the confines of Ayrshire. From Port
Glasgow eastwards, along the river Clyde, the country is compara-
tively flat. The soil in this as well as in the other parts, is very va-
rious: in some places it is thin and sandy, but in others it consists of a
deep, loamy clay, abundantly fertile; and being well enclosed with
hedges, and ornamented with gentlemen's seats and plantations, it has
a rich appearance. There are several large estates, but property is
notwithstanding a good deal subdivided. Farms middle-sized. Farm-
houses and buildings of a medium quality. Though still rather back-
ward, arable husbandry has been exceedingly improved; but the county
is on the whole better calculated for grazing and dairying—the latter
being extensively practised-than for tillage. Tile draining and the
use of bone manure, guano, &c., are rapidly extending; and the roads,
which at the close of the American war were scarcely passable, except
during summer and the frosts of winter, are now everywhere excellent.
Average rent of land in 1842-3, 21s. 23d. an acre. Renfrewshire
derives its principal importance from its manufactures and shipping.
Paisley is, next to Glasgow, the principal seat of the Scotch cotton
trade; and it has, also, considerable manufactures of silk, wool, &c.
Manufacturing industry is extensively prosecuted at Pollockshaws,
Neilston, and other places. Greenock and Port Glasgow, particularly
the former, are important shipping towns; and besides that commerce
and navigation which may be regarded as native to themselves, are
the places whence a part of the foreign trade of Glasgow is carried on,
though, in consequence of the improvement in the navigation of the
Clyde, this branch of their business has diminished, and is diminishing.
There are valuable coal mines near Paisley, and in the eastern parts of
the county; and limestone and freestone are pretty generally diffused.
Principal rivers: White Cart, Black Cart, and Gryfe. Number of
parishes, 16. Renfrewshire returns 3 members to Parliament, viz.,
1 for the county, and 1 each for the burghs of Paisley and Greenock.
Renfrew and Port Glasgow are associated with other burghs in the
return of a member. Population of county in 1841, 155,072. Valued
rent, 69,1721. Scotch. Annual value of real property in 1815, 265,534/. ;
ditto in 1842-3, 474,5687.
6. Lanarkshire or Clydesdale, an inland county, is bounded on the
west and south by the counties of Renfrew, Ayr, and Dumfries; and
on the east and north by Peebles, Mid Lothian, West Lothian, Stirling,
and Dunbarton. It contains 604,800 acres, of which from a third to a
half is supposed to be cultivated. Surface very various; in some
places mountainous, in others hilly, and in others comparatively flat.
The low grounds on both sides the Clyde, from Tintoc to Glasgow,
272
SCOTLAND.
slope gradually to the north west, and increasing in breadth as the river
descends, occupy at its lower end nearly the whole width of the county.
They embrace a large extent of fertile and moderately level, but finely
diversified, country, interspersed with cultivated fields, thriving planta-
tions, country seats, towns, and villages. Climate, in the upper dis-
tricts, sometimes very severe; in the lower, mild but humid. ˜Lanark-
shire is divided into three wards, upper, middle, and lower; each
having a sheriff substitute to superintend its judicial concerns. The
Upper Ward, of which Lanark is the principal town, comprises nearly
two-thirds of the surface of the county; embracing all that extensive
portion that lies between Peeblesshire on the east, Dumfriesshire on
the south, and Ayrshire on the west. This tract consists, for the
most part, of mountains, hills, and wide dreary moors, unsusceptible of
improvement. The highest land is either in or contiguous to the
parish of Crawford, where the Clyde has its source, adjoining Dum-
friesshire and Peeblesshire. Coulter Fell, on the borders of the latter,
is 2,440 feet above the level of the sea. The village of Leadhills,
near Wanlock Head in Dumfriesshire, has an elevation of about 1,280
feet; and the range of the Lowthers, near Leadhills on the Dumfries-
shire border, has, where highest, an elevation of 2,396 feet. Tintoc,
on the confines of the hilly district between Biggar and Lanark, is
2,306 feet high. The arable land lies along the Clyde and the Dou-
glas, but principally the latter; the strath becoming more and more
extensive as the river advances in its course, and as its elevation be-
comes less. The Middle Ward, having Hamilton in its centre, is rather
more than half the size of the Upper Ward. Its surface is compara-
tively level. There is a considerable breadth of low ground along the
Clyde, whence it shelves irregularly to the highest ridge, on each side
near the confines of the county; but these ridges, a few summits ex-
cepted, do not generally rise more than 700 feet above the level of the
sea. The Lower Ward, occupying the north-west angle of the county,
is of very inferior dimensions as compared even with the Middle Ward
but it is the most fertile, best cultivated, and, having the city of Glas-
gow within its limits, by far the most populous, rich, and important of
the three. The soil of that part of the Upper Ward that is not abso-
lute mountain, moor, or bog, is principally dry, light, and friable. In
the Middle and Lower Wards, the soil is principally a retentive clay;
but in parts it is loamy, sandy, gravelly, &c. About three-fourths of
the county belong to very large proprietors: remainder parcelled
into comparatively small properties. Stock-farms large; tillage-
farms of various sizes, but the greater number rather small. Farm
houses and buildings greatly meliorated, and now equal to those in
most improved districts. Agriculture in a pretty advanced state.
Drainage, though essential, was long too much neglected; and though
it has been for some time prosecuted with great spirit, it is still in many
parts very deficient. A good deal of wheat is raised in the Lower and
Middle Wards; but oats is the principal corn crop, and next to it
barley, or rather bear. Turnips extensively cultivated. The use of
bone dust and guano as manures for raising turnips has been recently in-
troduced into some of the least improved parishes in the county, and has
been of the greatest advantage. The statements of the reverend author
;
LANARKSHIRE.
273
of the account of the parish of Avondale, or Strathavon, in the New
Statistical Account of Scotland, (Lanarkshire, p. 307,) in regard to the
progress of agricultural improvement, may be applied with little modi-
fication to the entire county. "Within the last 30 years the rental
of the parish has been doubled. Vast quantities of marsh and moss
have been reclaimed, and are now yielding most abundant crops. The
Strathavon moss, consisting of above 200 acres, and which, little more
than half a century ago, was perfectly worthless, is now drained and
improved, and is, perhaps, more productive than any land in the parish.
Some of it is let as high as 47. per acre. Throughout the parish the farmers
are actively engaged in furrow draining their lands; and the process may
still be carried on to a great extent, and to very great advantage.
Apples, pears, plums, &c., a species of crop but little known in other
parts of Scotland, except in gardens, are raised pretty extensively in
what is called the Trough of the Clyde, that is on the low flat lands
on the banks of the river, principally between the lowest waterfall and
the mouth of the South Calder. It is supposed that about 550 acres are
occupied with orchards. The produce varies extremely in different
seasons. In one year, the fruit produced from half an acre of land
may sell for 150l.; but in other years it may produce little or nothing.
(Naismith's Clydesdale, p. 132, ed. 1806.) There must of course be
a good deal of market gardening carried on in the neighbourhood of
Glasgow. The dairy system has been pursued for a lengthened period,
and with much success, in Lanarkshire. Ayrshire cows are the most
common stock; and some farmers have from 15 to 40. Cheese mostly
made to imitate Dunlop. The draught horses of this county are well
known, and are held in high estimation all over the south of Scotland
and the north of England. Mr. Naismith estimated the horses em-
ployed in agriculture in Lanarkshire, inclusive of the young ones not
fit for labour, at about 8,000.—(Survey, p. 101.) And if this estimate
was nearly accurate at the time (1806) when it was published, their
number may now be safely estimated at from 12,000 to 14,000.
Sheep, partly Cheviots, but mostly black-faced. Standing stock esti-
mated by Mr. Naismith at 120,000; but we are informed that this
estimate is at present far below the mark. Plantations have been
much extended in all parts of the county during the last 20 years.
Average rent of land in 1842-3, 11s. 3 d. an acre. This county is
principally indebted for its great manufacturing and commercial pros-
perity to its all but exhaustless coal mines; some pits have been opened
almost within the suburbs of Glasgow, and coal is, perhaps, cheaper in
that city than in any great town in the empire. Lanarkshire has also
large supplies of ironstone, and has latterly become one of the princi-
pal seats of the iron trade. The rapidity of its progress in this great
department of industry has been quite extraordinary, so much so, that
while the make of iron in it in 1806 did not exceed 9,000 tons, it
advanced in 1834 to 48,000 tons, and last year (1845) it exceeded
375,000 tons! The lead mines at Leadhills are the most productive
in Scotland. Limestone and freestone abundant, and largely con-
sumed. Glasgow is the first town of Scotland, and the third of Great
Britain, in point of population. It is famous for its cotton and
other manufactures, its extensive foreign trade, its university, and
VOL. I.
T
274
SCOTLAND.
the magnificence of its streets and buildings. The Clyde is the chief
of the rivers of this county, and of the west of Scotland; it has
several tributary streams, some of them of considerable importance.
—(See antè, p. 239.) The Forth and Clyde canal is partly, and the
Monkland canal entirely, in this county. Glasgow is already con-
nected by railways with Edinburgh, Paisley, and Ayr, and others are
in the course of being constructed, that will connect it with Man-
chester and London on the one hand, and with the north of Scotland
on the other. Lanarkshire contains 47 parishes. It returns 3 mem-
bers to parliament, viz., 1 for the county, and 2 for the city of Glas-
gow. The boroughs of Lanark, Airdrie, and Hamilton join with Lin-
lithgow and Falkirk in returning a member. Population of county in
1841, 426,972. Valued rent, 162,1327. Scotch. Annual value of real
property in 1815, 686,531ễ.; ditto in 1842-3, 1,834,9997.
7. Peeblesshire, an inland county, is bounded on the south by the
county of Dumfries; on the south-west by Selkirk; on the north and
north-west by Mid Lothian, and on the east by Lanark. It contains
204,160 acres, of which a comparatively small portion only is arable.*
The greater part of the surface consists of mountain, moor, and bog;
but there is some fertile soil on the banks of the Tweed. The highest
mountains are in the southern part of the county, in the parish of
Tweedsmuir, where the Tweed has its source. They belong to the
Hartfell group. The summit of Broadlaw rises 2,741 feet above the
level of the sea at low water; this, which is about 100 feet above the
altitude of Hartfell, is the highest elevation in the south of Scotland.
The hills are generally smooth, and afford good sound sheep pasture.
In the low parts of the county, agriculture has been very much im-
proved; but it is now pretty generally believed that tillage has been
too much extended. The buildings on farms of any importance have
been entirely renovated, principally within the last thirty years. The
black-faced breed of sheep used, at no very distant epoch, to be dif-
fused over the whole county, to the exclusion of every other ; but
about 1795 Cheviots began to be introduced, and their numbers have
so rapidly increased, that, even in the parish of Tweedsmuir, which is
the wildest and most exposed, there are now three Cheviots for one
black-faced sheep. The total stock of sheep at present in the county
is estimated at 102,000. Property in a few hands; farms very large.
Average rent of land in 1842-3, 6s. 74d. an acre. Neither minerals
nor manufactures of any importance. Principal river, the Tweed.
Peeblesshire contains 16 parishes, and returns a member to parliament.
Peebles, the only town of any importance, had, in 1841, 1,898 in-
habitants. At the same period, the population of the county was
10,499. Valued rent, 51,9381. Scotch. Annual value of real pro-
perty in 1815, 64,1827.; ditto in 1842-3, 74,810.
8. Selkirkshire, an inland county, is bounded on the south by the
county of Dumfries; on the east by Roxburgh; on the north by Mid
Lothian; and on the west by Peebles. It contains 169,280 acres,
* According to the General Report of Scotland, the land in cultivation in Peebles
amounts to 24,500 acres; but in the New Statistical Account of Scotland (No. III.
p. 181), the cultivated, or occasionally cultivated, land, is said to amount to
34,762 acres.
SELKIRKSHIRE.
275
of which hardly a tenth part is supposed to be arable. This county
is in most respects similar to Peebles. The greater part of the surface
is mountainous; but the hills are green and smooth to the very sum-
mits. St. Mary's Loch, and the adjoining Loch of the Lowes, in this
county, the former about 7, and the latter about 1 miles in circum-
ference, are among the largest lakes in the south of Scotland. There
is some fertile ground in the valleys of the Tweed, the Yarrow, Ettrick,
and other streams; but the extent is inconsiderable. Selkirkshire has
fully participated in the wonderful improvements that have been made
during the last half century in most parts of Scotland. Its agricul-
ture, breeds of cattle and sheep, roads, buildings, food, and clothes of the
inhabitants, &c., have been all signally improved. The change is set
in a very striking point of view, in the following remarks on the parish
of Yarrow (New Statistical Account of Scotland, Selkirkshire, p. 57),
which may be equally applied to the whole county : "Since the date
of the last statistical account, the Cheviot have superseded the black-
faced sheep; and, with the breed, the management has been materially
altered. There is no ewe-milking as formerly, and no hog hirsel kept;
but the different parts of the stock roam promiscuously, and at large.
In very severe snow storms the flocks on the higher grounds used to be
removed to the low country of Annandale in quest of food; but now a
store of hay is cut from the bogs, and forms ample winter provision for
the sheep during any storm; while stells, or inclosures for sheep, at the
same time are more numerous and accessible. Within the last forty
years, too, the country has been thoroughly drained. Equally great
have been the improvements in the agriculture of the parish. The
system of having out-field and in-field was long practised; the milk
ewes and cattle being folded at night, and the ground thus manured for
cultivation. Cropping, too, went on till the particular spot was ex-
hausted. But now a better system prevails; the arable and meadow
land being enclosed and subdivided, the two-horse plough used, turnip
husbandry introduced, a regular rotation of cropping followed, and
wheat, so long deemed unsuited to our soil and climate, frequently
raised with success. The new houses of the tenants have, for the most
part, been built in better style and situations than the old, which were
small thatched cottages, placed generally on some sloping bank, or up
some secluded burn, where security was sought in marauding times.
The roads, also, have been greatly improved, and are far more fre-
quented. Besides, all classes are better fed and clad. The dress is no
longer of home produce or manufacture. What used to be the luxuries
have become the necessaries of life; so that, instead of a single carrier
on foot, as formerly, a number of carts supply the Yarrow Vale with
wheaten bread. A solitary newspaper formerly made its passage up
the water by slow stages, and through many hands, contrasting forcibly
with the regular and rapid circulation of periodicals at present. Withal,
there has been a striking change in the habits of the peasantry. Local
attachments have given way to general knowledge. The legends of
superstition are in a great measure forgotten, and its rites forsaken.
There is no longer heard a lilting at the ewes' milking,' or ' tales at
the farmer's ingle.' The minstrel's strains, however, had lingered long
after the deeds which they commemorated were over.
In this pastoral
T2
276
SCOTLAND.
6
district it was that Sir Walter Scott found many of the old ballads which
had been handed down for ages as a patrimony from sire to son; but,
on the publication of his Minstrelsy,' the spell that bound them was
broken; and these relics of Border song, thus laid bare to the light of
day, have, like the friendly and familiar spirits of Border superstition,
on being noticed with peculiar kindness, entirely disappeared, and that,
too, in consequence of the very effort made to preserve them. In this
district, too, there existed almost a feudal relation between master and
servant; there being instances in which the domestic has grown up and
grown grey beneath the same roof: but now the half yearly term is too
often one of change, and the stipulated service performed with me-
chanical unconcern. Average rent of land in 1842-3, 4s. 7d. an
acre, being almost identical with its amount in 1810. The woollen
manufacture has been introduced at Galashiels, and is carried on with
spirit and success. Minerals of no importance. Principal rivers :
Tweed and its tributaries, Yarrow, and Ettrick. Selkirk contains 7
parishes and returns 1 member to parliament. The county, in 1841,
contained only 7,990 inhabitants, and has no town of any consequence.
Valued rent, 80,308/. Scotch. Annual value of real property assessed
in 1815, 43,584/.; ditto in 1842-3, 49,766/.
9. Roxburghshire, or Teviotdale, an inland county, is bounded on
the south-west by the county of Dumfries; on the south-east and east
by Cumberland and Northumberland; on the north by Berwick; and
on the west by Mid Lothian and Selkirk. It contains 457,920 acres,
of which about two-fifths are occasionally under the plough. There is
a great variety of surface. The low or arable lands in the valleys of
the Tweed and the Teviot consist principally of a light turnip soil.
The mountainous or pastoral district lies principally in the southern
and south-eastern parts of the county, along the Dumfries, Cumber-
land, and Northumberland border. The highest land is found on the
summits of Carterfell, and other points in the ridge of the Cheviots, on
the east; and the Maiden Paps, Winniburgh Hill, &c., between the
sources of the Teviot and the Liddle, on the south. The hills, like
those in the contiguous counties, are mostly smooth, dry, and well
covered with good sheep pasture. The Eildon hills, near Melrose, in
the low country, are 1,634 feet above the level of the sea. Property
mostly in large estates; but there are several of the smaller class of
proprietors. Farms generally large, and some farmers frequently hold
three or more farms. Arable husbandry is as well understood and
practised in the lower parts of Roxburghshire as in any part of Ber-
wickshire, Northumberland, or East Lothian. This county is also
celebrated for its having been the theatre where some of the principal
improvements in modern farming were first introduced, and where others
were first successfully practised in Scotland. Mr. Dawson, the great
improver of Scotch husbandry, occupied the farm of Frogden, near
Kelso, in this county; and in it, soon after 1760, he set to work
the first plough drawn by 2 horses, driven by the ploughman,
that was ever seen in Scotland! And if Mr. D. was not the first
to set the example of raising turnips, he was the first practical
farmer by whom they were profitably cultivated on a large scale.--
(Survey of Roxburgh, pp. 69, 90.) Fanners for dressing corn were
BERWICKSHIRE.
277
also made and used in this county before they were seen in any other
part of Scotland.—(Survey, p. 59.) Large quantities of wheat are now
produced. Cattle a mixed breed. Sheep principally Cheviots.
Within the last 20 years many important improvements have been
effected in this district. A large extent of land, that was entirely
pastoral, now bears luxuriant crops; bone manure has been introduced;
agricultural management has been materially amended; a good deal of
waste land has been planted; farm-houses and buildings have, in
numerous instances, been rebuilt on approved plans; thrashing ma-
chines have been erected on most considerable farms; and the habits
and accommodations of the people have been materially improved.—
(New Statistical Account of Scotland, article Roxburgh, pp. 23, 33,
40, 125, &c.) There are some very productive orchards in the neigh-
bourhood of Jedburgh, Melrose, and Kelso. During the American
war tobacco was extensively cultivated. Average rent of land in
1842-3, 11s. 31d. an acre. If we except marl, of which there are vast
quantities in several parts of the county, minerals are of no importance.
Various branches of the woollen manufacture have been introduced into
Roxburghshire, and are prosecuted with considerable vigour at Hawick
and Wilton, and in a lesser degree at Jedburgh, Melrose, and Kelso.
The parish of Kirk Yetholm, in this county, is celebrated as being the
residence of the largest colony of gipsies in Scotland. Principal rivers :
Tweed, Teviot, Gala, Leader, &c. Roxburgh contains 31 parishes, and
returns 1 member to parliament for the county. Jedburgh joins with
other burghs in choosing a representative. Principal towns: Jedburgh,
Hawick, and Kelso. Population of county in 1841, 46,025. Valued
rent, 314,6631. Scotch. Annual value of real property in 1815,
254,180/.; ditto in 1842-3, 284,204/.
10. Berwickshire, a maritime county, is bounded on the north and
north-east by East Lothian and the North Sea; on the south-east,
south, and west, by part of England, Roxburghshire, and Mid Lothian.
It contains 282,880 acres, of which from a third to a half is supposed
to be arable. That part of the county which lies between the Leader
on the west, the Tweed on the south, and the foot of the Lammermoor
range of hills on the north, is called the Merse. It is comparatively
level, sloping gently to the south-east; and, having in most parts a
deep, fertile, clayey soil, and a dry, warm, early climate, it is particu-
larly well calculated for tillage husbandry. The Lammermoor district
consists principally of high, cold, bleak, moorish ground; but valleys
are occasionally interspersed, the soil of which is comparatively fertile.
Mr. Kerr (Survey of Berwickshire, p. 17), having taken the extent
of the county, inclusive of Berwick township, at 290,120 acres, dis-
tributes it as follows:
Lowlands of the Merse
Ditto in Lauderdale
Ditto of Cockburnspath
Berwick township
Total arable, improved, or improvable
Hill lands of Lammermoor and Lauderdale.
Total
•
•
Acres.
100,226
7,280
2,200
4,680
114,386
•
175,734
290,120
278
SCOTLAND.
The Merse is one of the best farmed districts in the empire. No
very large estates, but property, notwithstanding, in a few hands. In
1808 (and there has been no material change in the interim), the total
number of proprietors was estimated at 292; but of these 160 possessed
property under 100l. a-year (Scotch) of valued rent, being provincially
called pendiclers, feuars, &c. Farms large; farm-buildings generally
very good. Steam power is employed in several thrashing mills in this
county. Farmers intelligent, active, and enterprising. All the prin-
ciples and processes of the most improved systems of arable and stock
husbandry are well understood, and systematically practised. Wheat
and turnips are the great objects of culture, but barley and oats are
raised in large quantities; beans also are cultivated to a considerable
extent. Many improvements have been effected during the last 20
years by the more complete drainage of the land, the adoption of rota-
tions better suited to its varying capacities, the introduction of bone
manure, the culture of waste land, &c. Horses principally of the
Clydesdale breed, and in general strong and active. It was supposed
that there were in 1809 about 4,500 draught horses kept in the county,
and that about 6,000l. went annually from it to the west of Scotland
for horses to keep up the stock.—(Kerr's Survey, p. 405.) At present
we are assured the stock of draught horses may be estimated at 5,500.
A pair is considered sufficient for from 40 to 50 acres of tillage land;
and, as about a half of all tillage farms is in grass, the draught horses
are usually in the proportion of a pair to each 100 acres of land in the
farm. Cattle a mixed breed, and a good deal of attention has latterly
been paid to its improvement by the introduction of short-horned bulls
and otherwise. In the Merse the sheep are principally long-woolled :
in the Lammermoor hills the Cheviots have been extensively intro-
duced; but in the bleakest and worst parts the black-faced breed, or a
cross between them and the Cheviots, keep their ground. The total
stock of sheep may be estimated at about 115,000. Average rent of
land in 1842-3, 16s. 93d. an acre, being almost identical with its amount
in 1810. Roads pretty good, but difficult to keep in repair, and, when
not in order, they are very heavy. Minerals and manufactures quite
unimportant. Principal rivers: Tweed, Whittader, Blackadder, and
Leader. The salmon fisheries on the Tweed are among the most
valuable in the empire; though here, as in most other places, there
has, within the last few years, been many complaints of a scarcity of
fish. Produce principally sent to London. Berwickshire contains 33
parishes. The county returns 1 member to parliament. The town of
Berwick returns 2 members; but it is an English more than a Scotch
town. The borough of Lauder unites with Haddington, Dunbar, North
Berwick, and Jedburgh, in sending a member to parliament. Towns
quite inconsiderable. Dunse, inclusive of the parish, only contains
1,939 inhabitants. Population of county in 1841, 34,438. Valued
rent, 178,3661. Scotch. Annual value of real property in 1815,
245,3791.; ditto in 1842-3, 254,1697.
11. East Lothian, or Haddingtonshire, a maritime county, is
bounded on the north, north-east, and north-west by the North Sea and
the Frith of Forth; and on the south, south-east, and south-west, by
Berwickshire and Mid Lothian. It is of small size, containing only
EAST LOTHIAN,
279
174,080 acres, of which about four-fifths are arable, or fit for cultiva-
tion. The part of Lammermoor which belongs to this county, though
not nearly so extensive as that which belongs to Berwickshire, has the
same character. But, with this exception, most of the county is com-
paratively level; and, when viewed from the summit of the Lammer-
moor hills, has the appearance of an extremely rich and beautiful plain,
gradually declining to the sea. The surface of the low ground is,
however, considerably diversified. North Berwick-law, so called from
the village of that name to which it is contiguous, is an insulated hill
of considerable height; and there are some other detached hills, though
of no great importance. Along the coast the soil is a rich light red-
dish loam; it gradually varies to clay towards the upper districts, and
its general character is that of a clay bottom. The lower grounds are
not surpassed, in point of productiveness, by many spots in the king-
dom. The moorish districts occupy between a third and a fourth part
of the surface of the county. Easterly winds are prevalent, and severe
in April and May; but the climate is, notwithstanding, reckoned
healthy, at the same time that it is dry and early. The whole property
of this county was divided, in 1811, in very unequal portions, among
183 proprietors; of whom about a half possessed estates under 1007.
a-year of valued rent. We understand that the number at present is
not materially different. Nearly half the county is entailed. Farms
rather above the middle size. At an average, they are supposed to
amount to from 300 to 500 acres over the whole of the arable land;
but they are smaller, perhaps, on the best soils, and larger on the
inferior. They are almost universally let on lease for 19 or 21 years;
and rents, though payable in money, are generally determined by the
price of corn. Tillage husbandry has been carried to a very high
pitch of perfection. Turnip husbandry, in this county, far surpasses
that which is to be found in any part of England, not only as to the
inanagement, but with reference also to the quality of the turnips.
The latter effect must chiefly arise from the richness of the soil; the
turnips are remarkably large, and are found to be much sounder than
in any other part of the United Kingdom, they being never at a loss
for proper nourishment, and being continually kept in a growing state."
-Kennedy and Grainger on the Tenancy of Land, vol. i. p. 220.)
Barley is but little grown. Wheat is the grand object of attention
but considerable quantities of oats and beans are also raised. The
rotation on the coast is, 1st, turnips; 2nd, wheat; 3rd, clover; 4th,
wheat; 5th, beans; 6th, oats: on the clay land the wheat is generally
fallowed for, and the rotation is, 1st, fallow; 2nd, wheat; 3rd, seeds;
4th, oats; and sometimes, 5th, beans; but, if a crop of beans be taken,
a little dung is always laid upon the land. Tenants are compelled to
keep during their lease, and to leave at its expiration, a certain extent
of land in fallow or green crop, and a certain extent in seeds and
in corn. They are strictly prohibited from taking two white crops in
succession. Sea-weed is extensively used as a manure along the coast.
Lime is liberally applied to the clay land; but the manure most gene-
rally used, and on which most dependence is placed, is that of the
farm-yard. Latterly, however, bone manure and guano have been
much employed in the raising of turnips. The greater number of the
280
SCOTLAND.
principal Scotch farmers and improvers have either belonged to, or
been in some way connected with, this county. The practice of
fallowing was introduced here about 1720; and was extensively prac-
tised many years before it obtained any footing in any other part of
Scotland.(Survey of East Lothian, p. 92.) But, excepting on the
heavy clay lands, the turnip husbandry has gone far to supersede fallows.
There can be no doubt, however, that the culture of corn was carried
to an excess in this county previously to 1815, and that the land was
unduly forced. Its fertility had, in fact, been a good deal impaired ;
there were several failures in the wheat crops; and its farmers suffered
more by the fall of prices after the peace than those of any other Scotch
county. These defects in the management are now, however, obviated by
keeping a greater extent of land in grass, and for a longer time. Farm
buildings generally extensive and commodious. The implements are
all of the most improved description, and there is not a farm without a
thrashing mill, most of which are now wrought by steam power. It
may, however, be worth remarking, as evincing the rapidity with which
improvements of all sorts have been diffused, that two-horse ploughs
were not introduced till about 1772, nor were they in general use till
about 1780. Stock husbandry, though still a secondary object, has
been a good deal extended within these few years, in consequence of
the increase of pasture land. Comparatively few cattle and sheep
raised; but large numbers are purchased to be fattened on turnips,
straw, and hay, for the Edinburgh market. The value of the low land
in this county has advanced since 1770 in a most extraordinary ratio.
At present it fetches as high a rent as is brought by the very finest
lands in most other districts of the kingdom. The following statement,
taken from the article on the parish of Dirleton, in the New Statistical
Account of Scotland, may be applied to the whole county.
not be doubted that, since the date of the former statistical account of
this parish, its condition has improved. The soil is more effectually
drained; green crops are more extensively raised; live stock is more
carefully attended to; many of the fields are better sheltered; the
general system of management is less slovenly, and, compared with the
amount of produce, less expensive. Steam power, in farm operations,
was then unknown: it is now employed every year more and more
extensively, and, as is universally allowed, with much advantage. The
spirit of enterprise is more active among the farmers: the labourers
are more alert and skilful in their several departments; and all the im-
plements of husbandry are in a state of greater efficiency. Within the
last few years, even the science and practice of agriculture have made
considerable advances; and there is at present (1837) an evident ten-
dency towards still further improvement." Average rent of land in
1810, 20s. 10d. an acre; in 1842-3, 25s. 5d. per ditto. The western
part of the county is well supplied with excellent coal; and limestone
is very generally diffused. With the exception of some considerable
distilleries, there are few manufactures of any importance. A good
deal of salt used to be made at Prestonpans, but since the abolition of
the duties, the works have been abandoned. The county sends a
member to parliament; and the burghs of Haddington, Dunbar, and
North Berwick join with Lauder and Jedburgh in returning a repre-
"It can-
MID LOTHIAN.
281
sentative. The Tyne is the only river of consequence. There are
24 parishes. Population of county in 1841, 35,886. Valued rent,
168,8741. Annual value of real property in 1815, 250,1267.; ditto in
1842-3, 258,7431.
12. Mid Lothian or Edinburghshire, a maritime county, is bounded
on the north by the Frith of Forth; on the east by the counties of
East Lothian, Berwick, and Roxburgh; on the south by Selkirk,
Peebles, and Lanark; and on the west by West Lothian. It contains
226,560 acres, of which nearly two-thirds are susceptible of cultivation.
In some parts the surface is hilly, and in others almost mountainous.
The highest point in the Pentland ridge is 1,880 feet above the level
of the sea. This ridge divides the lower grounds of the county into
two comparatively level tracts, that unite towards the sea. Clay soil
predominates; and there are few parts of the county remarkable for
natural fertility. There are a considerable number of rather large
estates; but property is, on the whole, well divided. Farms of various
sizes. Agriculture similar, but inferior, to that of East Lothian; and
it is a good deal modified by the demand of the capital for potatoes,
milk, &c. Wheat the principal object of the farmer's attention: and
there may be, at present, from 15,000 to 18,000 acres under this crop.
There has, in this respect, been a wonderful change within the last
century. In 1727, a small field of 8 acres, within a mile of Edinburgh,
sown with wheat, was so extraordinary a phenomenon as to attract the
attention of all the neighbourhood !—(Robertson's Rural Recollections,
p. 267.) The breadth of land now under wheat is believed to be more
than double what it was in 1790; and, during the interval, the crops
have been materially improved. A good many Ayrshire cows are
kept for the supply of the metropolis with milk, butter, &c. Average
rent of land in 1842–3, 21s. 7 d. an acre, having declined about 3s. an
acre since 1810.
Edinburgh, the ancient metropolis of Scotland, is situated in the
northern part of Mid Lothian, near the sea. Its situation is peculiar,
and at the same time interesting and romantic. The old town, with
its high houses, narrow wynds, its antique castle and palace, strikingly
contrasts with the broad rectangular streets and modern mansions of
the new town. Edinburgh is famous for its university, and for its
superior literary and philosophical society. With the exception of
printing, shawl-making, and coach-building, which are successfully
carried on, the manufactures of Edinburgh are of no great importance.
Leith, which may be called the port of Edinburgh, is now almost con-
nected with the latter. It labours under the disadvantage (which
attempts have been unsuccessfully made to obviate) of having a bad
harbour; and from its not being the port of any great manufacturing
district, its trade is comparatively trifling. Edinburgh is well supplied
with fuel. There are large beds of coal at Dalkeith, within 6 miles of
the city, to which a railway has been constructed; and it also derives
a supply from a greater distance by the Union Canal, stretching from
the city to Falkirk, and by the railway which unites it with Glasgow.
Principal rivers: North and South Esk, Almond, and Water of Leith.
Exclusive of Edinburgh, Mid Lothian contains 27 parishes. It returns
4 members to parliament, viz., 1 for the county; 2 for the city of
282
SCOTLAND.
Edinburgh; and 1 for the burghs of Leith and Musselburgh. Popu-
lation of Edinburgh in 1841, 138,182; Leith, 26,433; Musselburgh,
6,331; Dalkeith, 4,831. Population of county in 1841, 225,454.
Valued rent, 191,0547. Scotch. Annual value of real property in
1815, 770,8757.; ditto in 1842-3, 1,074,9921.
13. West Lothian, or Linlithgowshire, a small maritime county,
bounded on the north by the Frith of Forth; on the east and south-
east by Mid Lothian; and on the west and south-west by Stirling and
Lanark. It contains 76,800 acres, of which about three-fourths are
arable. Surface varied with knolls, but there are but few hills, and
no mountains; soil clayey, sandy, and gravelly. There is a consider-
able extent of thin moorish ground, and some morasses, in the south-
Climate
western parts of the county, contiguous to Lanarkshire.
rather cold. Agriculture similar to that of Mid Lothian; with this
difference, that more turnips are raised, and fewer potatoes. Some
horses are bred, and also a good many cattle. Property in a few
hands: farms of a medium size. Average rent of land in 1842-3,
22s. 1d. an acre. Coal is found in most parts of the county, particu-
larly in the vicinity of Borrowstonness, where large iron-works have
lately been established, limestone and freestone are also abundant.
Manufactures, if we except a little ship-building, unimportant. Prin-
cipal rivers, Almond and Avon. It contains 13 parishes. A member
is returned to parliament for the county; and the boroughs of Linlith-
gow and Queensferry join with others in returning representatives.
Population of county in 1841, 26,872. Valued rent, 75,0197. Scotch.
Annual value of real property in 1815, 97,5977.; ditto in 1842-3,
109,322.
14, 15. Stirlingshire, including the small county of Clackmannan,
a maritime district, is bounded on the east by Linlithgowshire, the
Frith of Forth, Fife, and Perthshire; on the north by the latter; on
the west, by Loch Lomond and Dunbartonshire; and on the south, by
the latter and Lanarkshire. Stirling contains 321,280 acres, or,
deducting water, 312,960 acres, and Clackmannan, 30,720, about two-
thirds of the whole being arable. Surface exceedingly diversified,
consisting partly of high mountains; partly of extensive moors, bogs,
woods, &c.; and partly of very rich alluvial carse lands. Ben Lomond,
the most celebrated and best known of the Highland mountains, is si-
tuated in the north-west part of Stirlingshire, immediately above Loch
Lomond. It has an altitude of 3,191 feet. The Fintry, Campsie, and
Lennox hills lie in the middle and southern parts of the county:
the surface, from Denny north-west, to Loch Lomond, is in most
places very bleak and sterile. The Ochill hills encroach on the
northern parts of Clackmannan. The low alluvial lands, which are
extremely productive, lie on both sides the Forth. On the south they
extend from Falkirk to above Stirling; and on the north they extend
all along the southern boundary of Clackmannan. They are supposed
The soil of the carse
to comprise in all from 45,000 to 50,000 acres.
principally consists of a bluish clay, intermixed with sand. In the
western parishes clay soil predominates, and, as it rests on a bottom of
hard ferruginous clay (till), it is cold and wet. In some places along
the rivers the soil is light and gravelly. In the high moors it is mossy;
STIRLINGSHIRE.
283
and in the lower grounds there are considerable peat bogs. Several
large estates; but property a good deal divided. Farms in the lower
districts vary from 20 to 300 acres; but, in the hilly and mountainous
districts, they are much larger. Agriculture very various; but gene-
rally well suited to the situation and climate. Drainage has recently
been practised on a very extensive scale. In the carse, wheat, beans,
barley, and clover, but particularly the first two, are the principal crops.
On the lighter lands, turnips are largely cultivated; oats being the
prevailing crop on all the poorer high lands. Potatoes generally cul-
tivated. Sheep mostly of the black-faced Linton breed ; but Cheviots
have been largely introduced. Besides the cattle bred in the county,
which are not remarkable for their goodness, great numbers of High-
land cattle are annually purchased for feeding at the Falkirk trysts.
These are the greatest fairs or markets for cattle of any in Scotland.
They are held on the 2nd Tuesday of August, September, and October;
the last being the largest. Cattle in all sorts of condition are brought
to them from all parts of Scotland, but principally from the north; as
are also sheep and horses. At an average, it is supposed that about
80,000 cattle, 50,000 sheep, and 5,000 horses, are annually disposed of
at these trysts. Estimating the cattle to be worth 7!. each, the sheep
11s., and the horses 107., their entire value will be nearly 650,0007.-
(Youatt on Cattle, &c., p. 121.) Stirlingshire is said to have about
13,000 acres of natural wood, and above 10,000 acres of plantations.
The eastern parts of Stirlingshire, and the whole of Clackmannan, have
a rich and a finely diversified appearance. Coal abundant; and there
are large supplies of ironstone, freestone, &c. Average rent of land
in 1842-3, Stirling 11s. 6d. and Clackmannan 22s. 111d. an acre.
Extensive works have long been established at Carron, and continue to
be carried on with spirit and success, for the smelting of iron, and the
manufacture of all sorts of cast-iron goods, whether for civil or warlike
purposes. The species of cannon, called carronades, derived their
name from having been first manufactured at Carron. Exclusive of
distilleries, some branches of manufacture, on a pretty considerable
scale, are carried on at St. Ninian's, Stirling, Falkirk, and other towns.
Principal river, Forth; to which are tributary the Carron, Bannock-
burn, and other small streams. Stirling and Clackmannan contain 30
parishes. Stirlingshire returns 1 member to parliament, Clackmannan-
shire unites with Kinross-shire and part of Perthshire, in returning a
member. The borough of Stirling unites with the boroughs of Inver-
keithing, Dunfermline, Queensferry, and Culross; and the borough
of Falkirk with those of Linlithgow, Lanark, Airdrie, and Hamilton,
in returning representatives. Population of Stirling county in 1841,
82,057; of Clackmannan, 19,155. Valued rent of Stirling, 108,509.;
of Clackmannan, 26,4837. Scotch. Annual value of real property
in Stirling in 1815, 218,761.; ditto in 1842-3, 279,7051. Clack-
mannan, in 1815, 37,978/.; ditto in 1842-3, 52,924/.
:
Stirling, the capital of this county, was formerly a royal residence,
and was one of the most important places in Scotland. It owes this
distinction partly to its castle, on the summit of a steep basaltic rock,
which, previously to the invention of gunpowder, was of great strength,
and partly to its situation at the point where the Forth becomes navi-
284
SCOTLAND.
gable, making it, in some measure, the key of the Highlands on the
one hand, and of the Lowlands on the other. The view from the
castle, if not unrivalled, is, at all events, unsurpassed by any other in
the empire. It contains all that can give variety, interest, and gran-
deur to a prospect. To the east it extends over the richest valley in
Scotland, as far as Edinburgh, commanding all the windings of the
Forth; to the west is the fertile strath of Menteith, the view in this
direction being bounded by Ben Lomond; on the north it is bounded
by the range of the Ochill hills; and immediately to the south is the
field of Bannockburn, the Marathon of Bruce and of Scotland.
16. Fife, a maritime county, comprising the peninsula surrounded
by the Frith of Forth on the south, the German Ocean on the east,
and the Frith of Tay on the north; on the west it has the counties
of Perth, Kinross, and Clackmannan. It contains 300,800 acres,
of which more than two-thirds are cultivated. Surface finely diver-
sified. The highest summit of the Lomond hills, on the eastern border
of Kinross-shire, is 1,721 feet above the level of the sea. The eastern
and south-eastern parts of the county are comparatively level and fertile.
The extensive strath watered by the Eden, having Cupar in its centre,
popularly called the Howe of Fife, is also, in most places, level and
rich. The moory and least valuable land lies mostly in the western
parts of the county along the eastern and southern confines of Kinross-
shire, particularly between the latter and Dunfermline and Burntisland.
There is some hilly ground in the north along the Frith of Tay, but it
is broken by many fruitful valleys. Soil very various. In the more
fertile districts it consists principally of a rich loam; in the poorer
districts it is mostly clay, resting on a cold till bottom; but, besides
these, there is every variety of soil. Climate dry and good, having
been materially improved by drainage and cultivation. On the whole,
Fife may be justly regarded as one of the best of the Scotch counties.
It is well cultivated, has a more than usual proportion of country seats
and plantations, and its coast is thickly studded with villages and towns.
Pennant is quite enthusiastic in his admiration of this county.
"Per-
mit me," says he, "to take a review of the peninsula of Fife, a county
so populous that, excepting the environs of London, scarcely one in
South Britain can vie with it: fertile in soil, abundant in cattle, happy
in collieries, in ironstone, lime, and freestone; blest in manufactures;
the property remarkably well divided; none insultingly powerful to
distress and often depopulate a county; most of the fortunes of a useful
mediocrity. The number of towns is, perhaps, unparalleled in an equal
tract of coast; for the whole shore from Crail to Culross, about 40
English miles, is one continued chain of towns and villages.”—( Tour
in Scotland, 1772, Part II. p. 212.) Farms of various sizes, from 50
to 500 acres. Farm-buildings vastly improved within the last 40 years.
Previously to 1790, the farmers generally lived in low, smoky houses,
badly lighted, and without any apartments, or divisions, except those
made by the furniture; the offices being at the same time mean and
deficient in the extreme. But since then the farm-buildings have been
almost entirely renovated, and the farm-houses and offices will now bear
to be compared with those of any other county. Drainage has been
conducted in Fife on a very large scale, and has done much to improve
KINROSS-SHIRE.
285
the appearance of the country, and to increase its productiveness.
Several pretty extensive lakes, or lochs, that occupy prominent places
in the maps of the county published 30 or 40 years ago, are now com-
pletely drained, and bear the finest crops. This also has been the case
with large tracts of low, swampy ground. More recently, furrow-
draining has been prosecuted with great vigour and success. Agricul-
ture has made corresponding advances; but it may still be a good deal
improved, at least in the western parts of the county. Wheat and
barley are largely cultivated, but oats is the principal crop. Turnip
culture much extended; barley, beans, and potatoes, extensively grown.
"By the new system of agriculture, and especially by the liberal em-
ployment of draining, the land has been brought into the highest state
of cultivation, and grounds, which 40 years ago would have been
thought good for nothing, are now seen waving with the richest har-
vests. The houses of the peasantry are now equal to what those of the
farmers were then, and the mansions of the latter surpass, both in
appearance and comfort, such as the smaller proprietors formerly pos-
sessed. The condition of the people is much improved. Tea has
become a new article of consumption. Their superior clothing forms
another striking proof of the improvement of the peasantry."-(New
Statistical Account of Scotland, Fifeshire, p. 294, and p. 314.) Fife
has long been celebrated for the excellence of its breed of cattle. In
1800 there were supposed to be about 10,000 milch cows in the county.
Sheep not very numerous; but recently a good many have been slaugh-
tered at Kirkcaldy, and sent by steam to London. The old breed of
horses was small, unsightly, and ill fitted for the saddle or draught;
but it has been much improved. Pigeon-houses numerous.
Coal very
abundant, as are limestone and freestone. Average rent of land in
1842-3, 25s. 61d. an acre. Several branches of the linen manufacture
are carried on with much spirit, particularly that of table linen at Dun-
fermline and Kirkcaldy. Fife contains 61 parishes, 13 royal burghs,
and a university, St. Andrew's, the oldest in Scotland. It may be said
to return 4 members to parliament, viz., 1 for the county; 1 for the
boroughs of Cupar, St. Andrew's, East and West Anstruther, Crail,
Kilrenny, and Pittenweem; 1 for those of Dysart, Kirkcaldy, King-
horn, and Burntisland; and 1 for those of Inverkeithing, Dunfermline,
Queensferry, Culross, and Stirling: the last 2 boroughs being the only
ones not belonging to the county. Principal rivers, Eden and Leven.
Principal towns: Dunfermline, Kirkcaldy, Cupar, and Dysart. Popu-
lation of county in 1841, 140,140. Valued rent, 363,1927. Scotch.
Annual value of real property in 1815, 405,770/.; ditto in 1842-3,
508,9231.
17 Kinross-shire, a small inland county, to the west of Fife, being
entirely surrounded by that county and Perthshire. It contains 50,560
acres, of which 4,480 are water, consisting principally of Loch Leven.
Surface varied. In the lower district, to the north and west of the
lake, the soil is clayey, sandy, and tolerably fertile; but in the more
elevated parts it is unproductive, being mostly moorish and mossy.
Agriculture greatly improved; but, owing to the backwardness of the
climate, it labours under great disadvantages. Property very much
subdivided, and mostly occupied by resident owners (feuars of the estate
286
SCOTLAND.
of Kinross). Oats principal crop. There is one large distillery, and
cotton is woven at Kinross and Milnathort, on account of the Glasgow
manufacturers. It has limestone and freestone quarries, but is destitute
of coal. Average rent of land in 1810, 9s. 10d. per acre; in 1842-3,
16s. 10 d., showing (unless there be some mistake in the returns), an
increase of no less than 7s. an acre in the interval. Principal rivers,
Leven, and North and South Queich. The level of Loch Leven has
been recently reduced by a cut made for that purpose; but the under-
taking promises, it is said, to be rather unprofitable. Kinross and Mil-
nathort are the only towns. Parishes, 7. Kinross-shire unites with
Clackmannanshire and certain parishes in the south-western part of
Perthshire in returning a member to parliament. Population of county
in 1841, 8,763. Valued rent, 20,1937. Scotch. Annual value of real
property in 1815, 25,8057.; ditto in 1842-3, 44,0107.
18. Dunbartonshire, a maritime county, having its main body
bounded on the north by Perth, on the east by Loch Lomond and
Stirling, on the south by Lanark and the river Clyde, and on the west
by Loch Long and Argyleshire. But, in addition to this, there belongs
to it a small tract of country lying on both sides the Forth and Clyde
canal from Kirkintilloch to Cumbernauld. It contains 165,760 acres,
of which 19,840 are water. The greater part of the county consists
of lofty mountains, incapable of cultivation. The arable lands, which
are of comparatively limited extent, lie principally along the Clyde,
east of Dunbarton, on both sides the Forth, and on the south side of
Loch Lomond. Soil of the arable land principally clay. Climate
moist and changeable. There are many highly picturesque situations
in this county, principally on the banks of Loch Lomond and the Clyde.
The contrast between its high sterile mountains, and the beauty and
fertility of the low ground, is very striking. There is a great deal of
natural wood and a good many plantations. Property in a few hands.
Farms of all sizes. Excellent wheat is raised in the low grounds along
the Clyde, and in the parishes of Old and New Kilpatrick; but oats is
by far the most common crop. Cattle generally of the small Highland
breed, and not remarkable for their quality; but Ayrshire cows are
now met with, to the nearly total exclusion of every other variety, in
all the dairy farms in the lower parts of the county. Sheep originally
of the small mountain breed; but the black-faced Tweedale breed, and,
still more recently, Cheviots, have been widely diffused. Average rent
of land in 1842-3, 9s. 10žd. an acre. Dunbartonshire produces coal,
iron, freestone, and limestone. There are extensive printfields on the
Leven; some cotton-mills have been erected; and glass-making, paper-
making, &c., are carried on to a considerable extent. The Leven is
the only river of importance. Parishes, 12. The county returns a
member to parliament, and the burgh unites with Renfrew, Ruther-
glen, Kilmarnock, and Port Glasgow in returning a representative.
Dunbarton burgh had in 1841 a population of 3,782, and the county
of 44,296. Valued rent, 33,3287. Scotch. Annual value of real pro-
perty in 1815, 71,587.; ditto in 1842-3, 140,7531.
19. Argyleshire, a very extensive maritime county, consisting partly
of mainland and partly of islands. It is bounded on the south and
west by the Frith of Clyde, the Irish Sea, and the Atlantic Ocean ; on
ARGYLESHIRE.
287
;
the east by Dunbarton and Perth; and on the north by Inverness. It
is supposed to contain 2,054,400 acres, of which 1,446,400 are main-
land and 608,000 islands. The fresh water lakes in the mainland and
islands are supposed to cover 51,840 acres. The shores of the main-
land, to which our attention is at present confined, are deeply indented
with bays and arms of the sea, and it consists, in great part, of long
narrow promontories, of which Cantire is the most remarkable. Sur-
face almost everywhere rugged; and in many places, but particularly
in the northern districts, contiguous to Inverness-shire and Perthshire,
it is mountainous, wild, and dreary in the extreme. Cruachan Ben,
at the head of Loch Awe, has an elevation of 3,670 feet. But some
fertile valleys are interspersed between the mountains, and lie along the
rivers and arms of the sea. The entire extent of the arable land of
the mainland part of the county is not, however, supposed to exceed
170,000 acres. Soil very various: in the low grounds along the sea
and rivers it is most usually a light loam, mixed with sand and gravel;
on the sides of the hills, the prevailing soil is gravel on a till bottom.
The mountains are generally rugged; their summits consist of bare
barren rocks, and their sides are in part covered with strong heath.
There are also large tracts of marshy and mossy ground. Natural
woods and plantations supposed to cover from 35,000 to 45,000 acres.
Some of the Dukes of Argyle have been very extensive planters; and
the size and magnificence of the trees at Inverary are well known.
Climate wet, boisterous, and very ill fitted for the ripening and har-
vesting of corn. Property in 1805 divided among 156 individuals
and, owing to the sale in the interval of large portions of the principal
estate in the county, the number at present is probably greater. There
is an extreme diversity in the size of farms; some comprising only a
few acres, while others extend over several square miles. In various
districts, the practice that formerly prevailed in most parts of the
Highlands of holding land in a sort of partnership, or in what is there
called run-rig, (the run-dale of Ireland,) is still kept up. Under this
system a number of persons take a farm in common, each being bound
for the rent. They then divide the arable land into small contiguous
portions, or ridges, as equally-quantity and quality taken together-
as is possible: the share of each tenant being determined by lot, some-
times for the whole lease, but sometimes only for a single season!
Ploughing and most other sorts of labour are performed in common;
and, if there be any hill pasture attached to the low ground, it also is
occupied in common. In some of the low Highland districts, held in
this way, the extent of land falling to the share of each tenant does not
exceed from 3 to 7 acres. It is needless to enlarge on the pernicious
influence of this mode of holding land. Where it prevails, it is obvious
there can be nothing like industry, nor anything deserving the name of
agriculture. We are glad, therefore, to have to state that it is every-
where declining, partly in consequence of the extension of the sheep-
farming system, and partly by several of the landlords hostile to that
system having, notwithstanding, divided the lands held in common, or
in run-rig, into separate possessions. Still, however, it is but too pre-
valent, not only in Argyle but in most other Highland counties.
Farm-houses and buildings differ as widely as the size of farms. The
288
SCOTLAND.
principal farmers and storemasters occupy substantial comfortable
houses; and the offices on their farms are good and suitable for the
purposes in view.
But, speaking generally, the houses of the smaller
class of occupiers and cottagers are miserable hovels. The walls, which
are low, sometimes consist of dry stone and sometimes of turf. They
are thatched either with straw or heath; but, in general, so insufficiently
that they afford a very inadequate protection from the rain: in some
instances they are without chimneys. On some estates, however, the
landlords have laudably exerted themselves to improve the cottages;
and it is to be hoped that the examples they have set may be generally
followed. Principal crops, oats and potatoes. The culture of the
latter has been rapidly extended. "Here,” says Dr. Smith, " potatoes
may be well said to be the staff of life; for most of the inhabitants live
mostly upon them for more than three-fourths of the year."—(Survey
of Argyle, p. 92.) Implements greatly improved, but still in many
places very imperfect. Ploughing indifferently executed; and a good
deal of work done with the spade. Formerly the county was almost
inaccessible, from the want of roads; but in this respect a vast im-
provement has taken place within the last 40 years. More recently,
steam navigation has powerfully contributed to promote an intercourse
with Argyle, and to open a ready market for its products. The
Crinan canal, by obviating the necessity of the lengthened navigation
round Cantire, has done much to facilitate the communication between
Glasgow and the North-west Highlands. This county is celebrated
for its excellent breed of black cattle. They are hardy, feed easily,
and afford, when fattened in the low grounds of Scotland or England,
excellent beef. The stock is estimated at about 65,000, furnishing a
large annual supply for the south. Formerly the breed of sheep was
much neglected; but for some years past its improvement has been
an object of primary importance, and Cheviots have been extensively
introduced. Average rent of land, including islands, in 1842-3;
2s. 3 d. an acre. The herring fishery used formerly to be prosecuted
with great success in Loch Fyne, and some other parts of the Argyle-
shire sea; but of late years it has greatly declined. Lead, copper,
and iron are met with. Coal is wrought near Campbeltown; and the
best slates in Scotland are obtained from the quarries in the small
islands of Easdale, and at Balachulish, near Loch Eil. There are no
large rivers; that of Awe is the most considerable Argyle is popu-
larly divided into various districts, of which Cantire, Knapdale,
Argyle, Lorn, Appin, and Cowall are the principal. It contains 50
parishes. It sends 1 member to parliament for the county; and
Campbeltown, Inverary, and Oban join with Ayr and Irvine in re-
turning a member. Population of county in 1841, 97,371. Valued
rent, 149,5961. Scotch. Annual value of real property in 1815,
227,4931.; ditto in 1842-3, 262,2731.
20. Perthshire, one of the largest and most important of the main-
land Scotch counties, is bounded on the south by Dunbarton, Stirling,
Clackmannan, the Frith of Forth, Kinross, and Fife; on the east, by
the Frith of Tay and Angus; on the north, by Aberdeen and Inver-
ness; and on the west, by Argyle. It contains 1,688,320 acres, of
which 32,000 are water. This great county comprises within itself
PERTHSHIRE.
289
almost all that is peculiar to, or characteristic of, Scotland. It has
every variety of surface and soil, from lofty, rugged, sterile mountains
to low, level, fertile vales. Its scenery is beautifully diversified. Its
lakes and rivers are on a grand scale; and while, in parts of their
course, the latter rush forward with the impetuosity of a mountain tor-
rent, in others they creep sluggishly along, expanding into large
æstuaries before they reach the sea. The climate is equally various,
being mild and early in the vales, and severe and backward in the
more elevated regions. Agriculture, in some parts, is highly improved
and flourishing; but in the remoter districts, the bad practices of a for-
mer age, are not yet wholly eradicated. The Celt is found on the
mountains, and the Saxon on the plains, presenting, in language, dress,
and manners, the most striking contrast. Perthshire was formerly
divided into the districts of Gowrie, Perth, Stormont, Strath-
earn, Menteith, Breadalbane, Balquhidder, and Rannoch, each of
which was subjected to a particular sheriff or stewart; but the act of
1748, abolishing hereditary jurisdictions, put an end to these divisions.
in a legal sense, though they are still frequently referred to. It is
naturally divided into highlands and lowlands: all the country, includ-
ing the Ochill and Sidlaw hills, from its southern frontier to the foot
of the Grampians, being included in the lowlands, and the remainder
in the highlands. The part of the Grampian chain in this county com-
prises some of the highest mountains in Scotland. Ben Lawers, 3,945 ;
Ben More, 3,944; Ben Gloe, 3,690; Schiehallion, 3,550; Ben
Achonzie, 3,028; and Ben Ledi, 2,863 feet above the level of the sea,
are the most elevated summits. Besides the mountain and hilly dis-
tricts, there are very extensive, though progressively diminishing, tracts
of moor, moss, and bog. There is, also, a large extent of natural
wood and plantations. The latter were much extended by the opera-
tions of the late Duke of Atholl, who planted above 15,000 statute
acres! But, notwithstanding these deductions, the cultivated land is
estimated at from 530,000 to 560,000 acres, or at about a third part
of the entire surface. The most valuable tract of low land is denomi-
nated the Carse of Gowrie, being the district bounded by the Tay on
the south and west, the Sidlaw Hills on the north, and Forfarshire on
the east. Its soil is mostly a deep rich clay; and in point of fertility,
it is not, perhaps, surpassed by any land in the kingdom.-(See antè,
p. 234.) The lower part of Strathearn, from Forteviot to the conflu-
ence of the Earn and Tay, consists of a similar soil, and is hardly less
fertile. Exclusive of these, and the lowlands along the Tay, above
Perth, there are in the valleys of the Teith, Forth and other rivers,
extensive tracts of carse land, and of sandy, gravelly loam. Light
gravelly soil is, indeed, predominant in Perthshire. There are some
very large estates; but there is, also, a fair proportion of the smaller
class of properties. Arable farms vary in size, from 50 to 500 acres.
The same plan that formerly prevailed in Argyle (see that article) of
holding lands in common prevailed throughout the highlands of Perth-
shire; but examples of it are, at present, rarer in the latter than in the
former. Farms in the lower districts universally let on lease; generally
for 19 years; large stock farms are also let on lease; but some of the
small highland occupiers hold from year to year. Buildings, and other
VOL. I.
U
290
SCOTLAND.
accommodations, of the farmers, in the lower districts, for the most part
substantial and excellent; but in some of the highland districts they
are still, in many instances, very bad and deficient. Wheat and beans,
of excellent quality, are the prime articles of cultivation in the carse
of Gowrie, Strathearn, parts of Strathmore, the valleys of the Forth
and Teith, &c. In the midland districts, barley, and in the higher,
oats, are the principal crops. Potatoes everywhere cultivated, largely
consumed, and recently exported in large quantities to the London
market. Turnip culture extensively prosecuted. Improvements of all
kinds have been carried on of late years with equal vigour and success.
"Draining, planting, enclosing, improved tillage, and judicious crop-
ping, have completely changed the face of the country."-(New Sta-
tistical Account of Scotland, art. Perthshire, p. 450.) Considerable
quantities of fruit, as apples, pears, &c., are produced in the vales,
particularly in Gowrie. Breeds of cattle various, but none peculiar to
the county; the stock differs with the varying quality of the land on
which it is pastured. Number of sheep vastly increased within the
last 40 years.
Formerly the white or yellow-faced small mountain
breed was the only one known. About 60 years ago the black-faced
Tweeddale breed was introduced; and more recently they have been
partially displaced by the Cheviots. Dr. Robertson estimated the
entire stock in all parts of the county, in 1813, at 220,000; but we
are assured that this is now much under the mark. Roads signally
improved; as much so, certainly, as in any other Scotch county. Coal
is found in the southern part of the county contiguous to the Frith of
Forth; and limestone and freestone are pretty generally diffused.
Average rent of land in 1842-3, 6s. 7½d. an acre. The linen and cot-
ton manufacture has been introduced, particularly in the city of Perth ;
but neither has had any very extraordinary success; so that, on the
whole, Perthshire may be regarded as an essentially agricultural dis-
trict. Principal rivers, Tay, Forth, Earn, Teith, Lyon, Garry, Tum-
mel, &c. Fisheries on the Tay about the most valuable in the king-
dom. Parishes, 80. Perth returns 2 members to Parliament; 1 for
the county, and 1 for the city of Perth. Some parishes in the south-
western part of the county are joined, for election purposes, with the
counties of Kinross and Clackmannan. The borough of Culross unites
with Inverkeithing, Dunfermline, &c., in returning a member. Prin-
cipal towns: Perth, Crieff, and Dunblane. Population of county in 1841,
187,390. Valued rent, 339,8921. Scotch. Annual value of real
property in 1815, 555,532l.; ditto in 1842-3, 613,1687.
21. Angus, or Forfarshire, a maritime county, is bounded on the
south by Perthshire and the Frith of Tay; on the east, by the
North Sea; on the north-east, by Kincardine; on the north, by
Aberdeen ; and on the west by Perth. It contains 570,880 acres,
of which 2,560 are water. This opulent and flourishing county is
naturally divided into 4 districts. The first, or Grampian district,
comprises somewhat less than half the surface, including the whole
country north of a line drawn from Lintrathan on the west, by Cor-
tachy, to Edzell. The mountains in this tract are sometimes called
the Braes of Angus, and ascend pretty gradually to the northern
boundary of the county, formed by the ridge separating it from Aber-
ANGUS.
291
are
deenshire. These mountains are mostly rounded and tame;
covered with a thin coat of moorish earth, and carry stunted heath.
In some places, however, particularly in Glen Clova, the mountains
exhibit bold, terrific precipices; and where there is any soil upon
them, it is clothed with green and succulent herbage. The next divi-
sion of the county forms part of the great valley of Strathmore, being
provincially designated the How of Angus. It
occupies the space be-
tween the foot of the Grampians and the Sidlaw Hills, extending
about 33 miles east-north-east, with a breadth varying from about 4 to
6 miles. It is beautifully diversified by gentle eminences, well cul-
tivated fields, plantations, and country seats; though in a few places
is still waste. Soil in the valleys mostly alluvial; but not so fertile
as might thence be supposed. The Sidlaw Hills form the third dis-
trict. They run parallel to the Grampians, rising to about 1,400 feet
in height: some of them are detached, with conical summits; of these
Dunsinnan Hill, "married to immortal verse," is by far the most
celebrated. Some of them are covered with stunted heath, while others
are cultivated to their very tops. The fourth and last district consists
of the low ground lying between the Sidlaw Hills, the Frith of Tay,
and the sea. With few exceptions, it is a fertile, highly-cultivated
tract, extending over about 142,000 acres. On the whole, For-
farshire contains a greater proportion of land fit for the plough
than most Scotch counties. The climate varies with differences of
altitude, exposure, soil, &c. Some large estates; but property, on the
whole, a good deal subdivided. Size of farms very various. It is sup-
posed that in 1808 there were in all 3,222 farms in the county. În
the lower districts land is usually let on 19 years' leases, but in
parts of the Grampian district there are no leases; and "where this is
the case, there is no improvement, and cultivation is in the same back-
ward state in which it was some hundred years ago."-(Survey, p.
248.)
In parts of this district, the ancient system of holding lands in
common and run-rig still prevails. Farm buildings and cottages for-
merly wretched; but in the lower districts they have been mostly
rebuilt within the last 40 years in a substantial and convenient manner.
In the Grampian district, however, the houses of many of the small
farmers and cottagers continue to be as bad as possible. They are
damp, smoky, and dirty in the extreme; and it is hard to say whether
their occupants, or their cattle, be worse accommodated. Such houses
are commonly arranged together in clusters, with intermediate houses
for the cattle, forming a sort of village without symmetry or plan. The
dung is commonly thrown into a sort of hollow in front of each dwell-
ing house, which it is difficult to enter without going to the knees in
filth." (Survey, p. 128.) Drainage, and all sorts of agricultural
improvements, are making rapid progress. Fallowing is general in the
low grounds, which produce heavy crops of wheat. Potato and turnip
culture much extended. Bone manure and guano, have been exten-
sively introduced, and large quantities of the former are now prepared
in Dundee and other towns. Breed of cattle various. Sheep originally
small white-faced mountain-breed; but now, as in the other Highland
districts, the black-faced and Cheviot breeds have been largely intro-
duced, particularly since the extension of the sheep-farming system.
((
U 2
292
SCOTLAND.
In 1813, the natural woods and plantations were supposed to cover
20,764 acres; but from the extension of plantations in the interim, they
may now be safely estimated at from 30,000 to 35,000 acres. The
following extract from the notice of the parish of Oathlaw, in the
How of Angus, in the New Statistical Account of Scotland (No. 5,
p. 310), may be applied to the whole county:— "At the time of the
last Statistical Account, much of the land in the parish was in a state
of waste, the appearance of the country was bare and bleak, the climate
cold and damp, owing to the quantity of water on the land. Most of
the houses were at that time of the rudest and meanest kind, built of
unhewn stone, and covered with thatch; scarcely one of mason work,
or covered with slates. Now the farms are all laid out and enclosed,
draining is carried to great perfection, and farm-houses and offices are
neatly and substantially built and covered. Thriving woods and belts
of plantations are rising up, and giving a rich and clothed appearance
to the country. Along with all this, it is gratifying to observe that the
habits of the people are improving. There is now a greater neatness
and cleanliness in their dwellings, and a greater share of the comforts
of life amongst them; and though last, not least, there is evidently an
increasing desire of information, and, generally speaking, a higher and
better tone of moral feeling. Average rent of land in 1842-3,
10s. 11 d. an acre. Minerals, with the exception of limestone, of little
value. Dundee is a place of great and rapidly-increasing importance,
both as respects trade and manufactures. It is the principal seat of the
linen manufacture, which has made an astonishing progress during the
last few years, especially since the abolition of the bounties and restric-
tive regulations connected therewith. In fact the exports of linen fron
Dundee only are now about equal to those from the whole of Ireland !
But, though the grand centre be at Dundee, the manufacture is gene-
rally diffused amongst the other towns of the county. There are some
valuable salmon fisheries along the coast and in the rivers. Principal
rivers: North and South Esks, and Isla. Angus contains 56 parishes,
and 5 royal burghs. It returns 3 members to parliament; viz., 1 for
the county; 1 for Dundee; and 1 for the burghs of Montrose, Ar-
broath, Brechin, Forfar, and Inverbervie. Population of county in
1841, 170,520. Valued rent, 171,2407. Scotch. Annual value of real
property in 1831, 361,2417. ;* ditto in 1842-3, 502,8417.
22. Kincardineshire, or the Mearns, a maritime county, is bounded
on the south and south-west by Angus; on the east by the North Sea;
and on the north and north-west by Aberdeenshire. It contains
244,480 acres, of which 1,280 are water; half the county is supposed
to consist of cultivated land, wood-land, improveable moor, &c.; and
half of mountains, hills, &c. The Grampian Mountains occupy the
western, central, and most of the northern parts of the county; extend-
ing eastwards from the Angus border, near Fettercairn, and the Aber-
deenshire border, a little to the south of the Dee, to Stonehaven and
Nigg. They are not very lofty. Mount Battock, on the confines of
Angus, the highest amongst them, rises 2,611 feet above the level of
the sea.
The arable land consists principally of the How of the
* The Survey of this county, by the Rev. Mr. Headrick, is one of the best of
that class of publications.
ABERDEENSHIRE.
293
acres.
Mearns, that is, of a continuation of Strathmore, or the How of Angus,
extending from Strathcathro and Marykirk to within 4 miles of Stone-
haven. It contains about 50,000 acres of comparatively low, fertile,
and generally well-cultivated land, having about 7,000 acres of thriving
plantations. On the east, the How is sheltered by a range of low hills
which separate it from the coast district. The latter contains about
68,000 acres, of which about 32,000 are in a high state of culture; the
remainder being hill pasture, moor, and woodland. The other arable
district consists of the narrow glen or valley lying along the Dee.
Climate in the lowlands mild, but rather late. Property in a few
hands. Arable farms of all sizes; many small, but some from 400 to
500 acres.
The remarks as to leases, buildings, management, &c.,
made under the head of Angus, apply with little variation to this
county. In 1807, there were estimated to be 1,247 acres under wheat;
9,806 ditto under barley; 22,784 ditto under oats; 1,742 ditto under
beans and peas; 6,142 ditto under turnips; 1,160* ditto under pota-
toes; 236 ditto under flax; 2,619 ditto in fallow; 472 in gardens; and
28,641 under artificial grasses: making a grand total of 74,849 acres
under cultivation, or about 30 per cent. of the entire surface. The
natural woods and plantations were then supposed to cover 17,609
The stock of cattle was then also estimated at 24,825 head; of
which 6,236 were milch cows, and 5,280 calves; and the sheep stock
at 24,957, exclusive of lambs. Of the sheep, 21,500 were depastured
on the Grampians; and the remainder on the lower parts of the county
by the coast side, and in the How.-(Robertson's Rural Recollections,
p. 464.) Improvements have been and are prosecuted with extraor-
dinary spirit in this county, and the produce of the land has been aug-
mented in a degree that could hardly have been conceived possible.
Rent of land in 1810, 13s. 2d. per acre; in 1842-3, 10s. 6ąd. per
ditto, showing a fall of 2s. 74d. an acre in the interim; but this fall
can be apparent only, and has, no doubt, been occasioned by some error
in the returns. Lime, the only mineral of any importance, is very
abundant. The manufacture of those beautifully jointed and varnished
wooden snuff-boxes, long in universal demand, originated in the village
of Laurencekirk, in this county, about the year 1790, where it is still
carried on; but they are now principally made at Cumnock and
Mauchline, in Ayrshire. Some linen is woven at different parts in
the county. Principal rivers: Dee, North Esk, Bervie, Dye, &c.
There are some valuable salmon fisheries. The Mearns contains 19
parishes, and 1 royal burgh, Inverbervie, an inconsiderable place; and
sends 1 member to parliament. Stonehaven is the principal town.
Population of county in 1841, 33,075. Valued rent, 74,9217. Scotch.
Annual value of real property assessed in 1815, 94,8617.; ditto in
1842-3, 134,3417.
23. Aberdeenshire, an extensive maritime county, having about
60 miles of sea-coast, is bounded on the south and south-west by the
counties of Kincardine, Angus, and Perth; on the west and north-west
by Inverness and Banff; and on the north and east by the North Sea.
It is estimated to contain 1,260,800 acres. About a fifth part of the
surface consists of high mountainous tracts; and these, with hills, ex-
*There is now a much greater breadth of land under potatoes.
294
SCOTLAND.
tensive moors, mosses, and other waste lands, occupy nearly two-thirds
of the entire county. It was anciently divided into the districts of
Mar, on the south and west; Fromarton, Garioch, and Strathbogie,
in the middle; and Buchan, on the north. The mountains in the
south-western parts, in the district of Mar, near the source of the Dee,
are the highest in Scotland. Ben Macdhu, on the confines of Inverness-
shire, is 4,390 feet above the level of the sea, being 20 feet higher
than Ben Nevis, formerly supposed to be the highest of the British
mountains. Cairntoul has an elevation of 4,220 feet; Cairngorm of
4,095; and several others vary in height from 3,000 to 3,700 feet.
These mountains, present, in some places, vast perpendicular ledges;
their summits are generally bare, consisting sometimes of smooth and
solid, and sometimes of rugged detached, masses of granite. The extent
of absolutely barren land on the upper parts of these mountains, reach-
ing from Lochnagar on the south, and Cairnneelar on the west, to
Benavon on the north, is at least 100 square miles; and the moory or
mossy soil on their ridges. and the narrow glens between them, amounts
to about 200 square miles more. The arable land lies principally
between the Don and the Yethan, in the districts of Fromartin and
Garioch; in Strathbogie, and between the Ugie and the sea on the
north, in the district of Buchan. In the lower parts round the coast,
clay is the prevalent soil: in the upper arable districts there is a
considerable extent of light, sharp, sandy loam. Sand, moor, and
moss prevail on the hills and higher grounds. Owing to its projecting
into the sea, and the great extent of coast, the winters are mild, but
the summers are short, and usually cold. In 1811, Aberdeenshire was
divided among 228 proprietors, as follows:-
3 had estates valued above 10,000l. (Scotch) each; 6, from 4,000l. to
10,000l.; 6, 3,000l. to 4,000l.; 16, 2,000l. to 3,000l.; 9, 1,6007.
to 2,000l.; 16, 1,2007. to 1,6007.; 11, 1,000l. to 1,2007.; 19, 8007.
to 1,000l.; 51, 400l. to 8007.; 19, 300l. to 4007.; 13, 2001. to 3007. ;
30, 100l. to 2001.; 29, below 1007.
Great diversity in the size of farms; but though the number of
small occupancies has been materially diminished, there are more of
them at present in the low grounds of Aberdeenshire than in most
other arable districts of Scotland. Usual for mechanics to occupy a
patch of an acre or two. Houses and offices similar to those in Angus
and Kincardineshire. Tillage husbandry of a mixed sort, and very
much improved. About 160,000 acres of land are supposed to be
annually sown with oats, being more than is ploughed for all other
purposes whatever. A good deal of bear or big is raised; and some,
but not much, wheat. In fact, neither the soil nor climate of this
county are suitable for wheat. It is often thrown out of the ground
by storms or hard frosts, succeeded by thaws, in the winter or early in
the spring; and in late seasons it is exposed to heavy rains in Sep-
tember. Turnip culture has rapidly extended. In 1811, there were
20,000 acres under turnip, being about five times the extent of land
under potato; but, though the turnip culture has increased in the
interval, we are informed that the proportion under the potato is now
greater. On the small holdings of tradesmen and others, a good deal
ABERDEENSHIRE.
295
is done by the spade. Above 3,500 acres have been trenched in the
vicinity of Aberdeen; and the practice of trenching is general through-
out the county. This is necessary to get quit of the blocks of granite
with which the soil is incumbered. The larger pieces are cut into
stone for building or pavement, being partly consumed in the country,
and partly exported: the smaller pieces are put into consumption dykes,
or are employed in the construction of roads, drains, &c. In no country,
perhaps, has, nature done less to promote improvement, and in none
has the patient industry of man done more. Large additions are
annually made to the arable land. Farmers from Berwickshire, and
other improved southern districts, have taken farms in this county;
and, by setting an example of improved cultivation, have done much
to introduce a knowledge of the best systems and modes of management.
The greatest obstruction to the progress of improvement consists, it is
said, in the landlords not being sufficiently careful to prevent the intru-
sion of sub-tenants upon their estates; but they are more alive to this
evil now than formerly. "Within the last 40 years," says the reverend
author of the account of the parish of Old Deer, in Buchan,
66 great
improvements have been made upon the value, comfort, and aspect of
the country. In the course of that period several great lines of com-
munication by turnpike-roads have been opened; much barren land
has been brought into cultivation; a greatly improved system of
husbandry introduced; thirlage to mills abolished; more attention
paid to the selection and breeding of live-stock; leases of moderate
duration substituted for life-rent tenures; a greater facility of market
provided for farm produce, principally by the establishment of a regular
and frequent steam communication with London; a more liberal allow-
ance granted by proprietors to their tenants for houses, fences, and
drainage, while they have, at the same time, had their rent-rolls greatly
increased. A marked improvement has, also, taken place in the dress,
diet, furniture, and manners of almost every class of the people.”—(New
Statistical Account of Scotland, art. Aberdeenshire, p. 165.) Woods
very extensive and valuable. Those of Mar alone occupy nearly 100
square miles. A greater number of cattle are bred in this than in any
other Scotch county. The native breed is preferred by the best judges.
They have increased much in size during the last 30 years; and are
said, indeed, to have doubled in weight since the introduction of the
turnip husbandry !-(Survey of Aberdeenshire, p. 468.) The stock
of cattle in 1811 was estimated at 110,000; of which 28,000 were
milch cows, 22,000 calves, 20,000 year olds, 19,000 two-year olds, and
21,000 three years old and upwards. The dairy husbandry has made
great progress during the last dozen years. The value of the butter
shipped from Aberdeen and Peterhead is now believed to exceed
100,000%. a-year. The stock of sheep in this county was formerly
greater than at present. In 1811, it was not supposed to exceed
100,000; but it has increased since, notwithstanding sheep-farming
has made less progress in this than in any other Highland country.
Breed various: small white-faced, black-faced, and Cheviots. Lime-
stone is abundant; and there are quarries of excellent slate. Aberdeen
granite is much esteemed; the value of the exports of it to London,
and other places, having in some years exceeded 40,000l. Average
296
SCOTLAND.
rent of land in 1810, 3s. 8d. per acre; in 1842-3, 6s. 9d. per ditto,
showing a rise in the interval of 81 per cent., being very decidedly
greater than in any other county of Great Britain! The city of Aber-
deen is the seat of a university, and has considerable manufactures.
Principal rivers: Dee, Don (both of which have considerable salmon
fisheries), Yethan, Ugie, Bogie, Doveran, &c. Parishes, 85. Aber-
deenshire returns 1 member to parliament for the county; 1 for the
city of Aberdeen; and the boroughs of Peterhead, Kintore, and
Inverury, unite with Elgin, Cullen, and Banff, in returning a repre-
sentative. Population of county in 1841, 192,387. Valued rent,
235,6651. Scotch. Annual value of real property in 1815, 325,2187.;
ditto in 1842-3, 605,8021.
24. Banffshire, a maritime county, is bounded on the north by the
Moray Frith, on the east and south by Aberdeenshire, and on the west
by Inverness-shire and Morayshire. It contains 414,080 acres, of
which 1,280 are water. Along the coast, which extends from near
Troup to Spey Mouth, a distance of about 21 miles, the surface is pretty
level; and the soil, consisting chiefly of sand and loam, is, in general,
well cultivated, and highly productive. But, with this exception, the
surface is mountainous and hilly, with only a few valleys interspersed.
Property in immense estates, above two-thirds of the county being
divided among 4 entailed proprietors. Some large, with many small,
farms. Buildings similar to those in other Highland counties. Agri-
culture has been much improved in Banff, principally through the
meritorious exertions of the late Lord Findlater and other landlords.
Wheat, barley, turnips, and all the crops now usually cultivated in
Scotland, are raised in this district; but oats occupy by far the largest
portion of the ground under the plough. Tillage is in most places,
however, a secondary object. The principal dependence of the hus-
bandman is on his cattle, there being comparatively few sheep in this
county. The old native cattle were a hardy and valuable breed; but
they are now seldom met with, except in the upper districts, where,
owing to the deficiency of food, they are stunted in their growth. In
several of the lower districts, the Galloway breed of cattle has been
extensively introduced, and has been found to answer exceedingly well.
The polled breed of Aberdeen, and some Ayrshire cows, have also been
introduced. Stock of cattle in the county estimated at about 25,000.
Marble, limestone, and marl abound; but, owing to the want of coal,
most of the lime is brought from Sunderland and the Frith of Forth.
Rock crystals and topazes are found on the mountains on the southern
and western boundaries of the county. The lichen used in the prepara-
tion of the dye-stuff known by the name of cudbear, is also gathered
on the mountains. Many thriving plantations; but the natural woods
inconsiderable. Average rent of land in 1842-3, 5s. 4½d. an acre. The
Spey, one of the largest of the Scotch rivers, forms part of the western,
and the Doveran part of the eastern, boundary of the county. Parishes,
24. Banffshire returns a member to parliament, and the boroughs of
Banff and Cullen unite with Elgin and others in returning a member.
Banff and Keith are the only towns of any importance. Population of
county in 1841, 49,679. Valued rent, 79,2001. Scotch. Annual
value of real property in 1815, 88,9421.; ditto in 1842-3, 124,347.
INVERNESS-SHIRE.
297
25, 26. Moray, or Elginshire, and Nairnshire, two contiguous
maritime counties, lying to the east of Banff, are united under the
same sheriff, and may be most advantageously treated together. They
are bounded on the north by the Moray Frith, on the east by Banff
and a portion of Inverness, and on the south and west by Inverness.
They contain 433,920 acres, of which 6,400 are water. Surface for
the most part hilly and mountainous; but on the sea-coast there is a
considerable extent of light, fertile, arable land; though in some places,
particularly in Nairn, it is much encumbered with dry moveable sand.
The climate along the Moray Frith is noted for its mildness, being, in
fact, one of the best in Scotland. Wheat has for a long period been
successfully cultivated along the shore, and about the best samples in
the London market not unfrequently come from Moray. Property in
a few hands. Farms of all sizes. Farm-houses and buildings formerly
wretched; but those on the larger farms have been mostly rebuilt, and
are now substantial and commodious. The turnip husbandry has been
extensively introduced; improvements of all sorts have been attempted,
and such of them as were found to answer have been carried to a con-
siderable extent. Latterly, however, the progress of improvement in
this county has been less rapid than in most other districts of Scotland.
Much might be done for the Braes of Moray, but they continue in a
comparatively neglected state. Cattle improved by crossing with the
Skye and Argyleshire breeds. Stock in both counties supposed to
amount to about 23,000. Sheep-farming not carried on to any very
great extent. Sheep principally the old white or yellow-faced breed;
but others have been largely introduced. There is a considerable
extent of natural wood and of plantations. Average rent of land in
1842-3, 4s. 7d. an acre. Lead, iron, lime, marl, freestone, and slate, are
met with; but the first two are not wrought, and of the others only the
freestone to any extent. The salmon fisheries on the Spey, which
divides Banff from Moray, are very valuable; there are fisheries, but
of inferior importance, on the Findhorn. Exclusive of the above, the
Nairn is the principal river. Parishes, 30. The two counties jointly
return a member to parliament, and the burghs of Elgin and Nairn
join with others in returning members. Principal towns: Elgin, Forres,
and Nairn. Population of counties in 1841: Moray, 35,012; Nairn,
9,217. Valued rent, 80,7667. Scotch. Annual value of real property
in 1815, 88,1407.; ditto in 1842-3, 3,114,9117.
27. Inverness-shire, a maritime county, and the most extensive of
those of Scotland. It stretches quite across the island, being bounded
on the south by the counties of Argyle and Perth; on the east by those
of Aberdeen, Banff, Moray, and Nairn; on the north, by the Moray
Frith and Ross-shire; and on the west by the Atlantic Ocean, in which
Skye, and many other islands attached to it, are situated. It contains
2,716,800 acres, of which the mainland occupies 1,943,920, and the
islands 773,760; the former having 84,480, and the latter 37,760,
acres of water. The mainland of Inverness-shire is exceedingly wild,
rugged, and mountainous, containing a great extent of moss and moor.
It is believed, indeed, that there is only about a fortieth part of the
surface not naturally covered with heath; but a good deal of the heathy
ground is arable, and a considerable extent of it has been improved
298
SCOTLAND.
and cultivated. Ben Nevis, 4,370 feet above the level of the sea,
being, next to Ben Mac-Dhu, the highest mountain in Great Britain, is
situated in the lordship of Lochaber, near Fort William, in this
county. The mountains in Badenoch, contiguous to Perthshire, and
on the confines of the south-western part of Aberdeenshire, are also
very high and rugged. The cultivated land is chiefly to be found in
the low district contiguous to Inverness, along the innermost part of the
Moray Frith; in Badenoch, along the Spey; and in some narrow glens
along the other rivers and lochs. Climate very various; but, speaking
generally, it may be said to be wet and stormy on the western coast,
severe in the interior, and comparatively mild and dry on the Moray
Frith. In 1808, the landed property of Inverness-shire was divided
among 83 proprietors, as follows, viz. :-
7 estates of above 3,000/ a-year (Scots) valued rent; 6, from 1,000l. to
3,000/.; 23, 400l. to 1,000/.; 33, 100l. to 400/.; 14 under 100/.
Farms of all sizes. Some grazing farms extend over several square
miles of country, while some of the small arable farms include only a
few acres; but a certain extent of hill pasture is for the most part
joined to the latter. The number of these small holdings has, how-
ever, rapidly decreased since the introduction of sheep-farming; and
there has, in consequence, been a great saving as well of the labour of
horses as of men, a great increase of disposable produce, and also a
great increase of comfort and industry. Large farms uniformly let on
lease; but many small ones held from year to year, a sort of tenure
which insures the sloth and poverty, as well as the dependence, of the
occupiers. The farm-houses built within the last 40 years, for gentle-
men or the wealthier class of store-farmers, are in general well con-
structed and substantial; but those of the poorer tenants and cottagers
are, in most places, mean beyond description. "The huts of the
Indians, bordering on the lakes of the St. Lawrence, cannot be worse
in point of structure and accommodation."-(Robertson's Survey of
Inverness, p. 56.) Rearing of cattle and sheep the principal employ-
ment. The former are mostly of the Skye or Kyloe breed, the entire
stock being supposed to amount to from 40,000 to 45,000. The flocks
of sheep have been very greatly increased during the last 30 years.
In 1798 the stock of sheep was estimated at about 25,000. Mr. Ro-
bertson supposes that in 1808 it had increased to 50,000; but both
these estimates are believed to have been below the mark; and, allow-
ing for this and the increase that has taken place since, we are assured
that the present standing sheep stock is considerably above 120,000.
Lintons and Cheviots have been widely diffused. It has been stated in
proof of the extraordinary increase in the value of land in this county,
that the rental of the pastoral estate of Glengarry, in 1788, did not
exceed 8001. a-year, whereas it produced in 1828 from 6,000l. to
7,000!. !—(Parliamentary Paper, No. 175, Sess. 1828, p. 63.) A
great sheep fair is held annually at Inverness, in the month of July,
where dealers and agents from the south meet the sheep farmers of this
and the adjoining counties, and sales to a very great extent are effected.
Probably 100,000 sheep and 100,000 stones of wool are, at an average,
disposed of at this fair.-(Anderson's Highlands, p. 12.) Natural
INVERNESS-SHIRE.
299
woods extensive and valuable, and there are, besides, a good many ex-
tensive plantations. The character and condition of the people of this,
as well as of the other Highland counties, are vastly superior to what
they were in the earlier part of last century. "The enormous crimes
of bloodshed, of rapine, and plunder, carried on during the feuds of
former ages, and not entirely abolished even a century ago, in open
defiance of law and government, are now never heard of. The domestic
and social virtues are now more revered and cultivated by all ranks.
The comforts of life, and the friendly intercourse of society, are enjoyed
by the higher orders as much as in any country; and the condition of
the lower ranks was never as happy in these respects as at present.
The law is everywhere predominant, and the administration of it upright
and impartial. Single individuals travel unarmed in all directions
through the Highlands, with thousands of pounds in their pockets, to
purchase cattle, without dread or annoyance." (Survey, p. 83.) The
greatest part of this wonderful improvement must be ascribed to the
excellent roads constructed by General Wade, and more recently by
the parliamentary commissioners. They have been carried through
every part of the county, and have rendered various districts, that were
formerly almost inaccessible, pervious to civilization and good order.
Their influence has been, in some respects, quite astonishing. Pre-
viously to the formation of these roads, neither carts nor any other sort
of carriage could be used, the whole intercourse of the country being
carried on by means of Highland ponies or garrons. Until 1755, the
mail between Inverness and Edinburgh was conveyed by men on foot!
And in 1740, the magistrates of Inverness advertised for a saddler to
settle in the burgh!-(Chambers's Gazetteer of Scotland, art. Inver-
ness-shire.) In 1760, the first post-chaise was brought to Inverness;
and it was, for a considerable period, the only four-wheeled vehicle in
the district. In 1803 there were 5 post chaises in the town of Inver-
ness; and so rapid has been the progress of improvement, that at
present there are several coach manufactories in the town, and hun-
dreds of coaches, gigs, &c., are annually assembled at the Inverness
races. Average rent of land, including islands, in 1842-3, 1s. 2d.
an acre. Limestone, slate, and marble, abound in many parts. Lead
has been discovered at two or three places, but it is not wrought: and
the want of coal renders the limestone of little value. Principal rivers :
Spey, Ness, and Beauly; on all which, but especially the first two,
there are valuable salmon fisheries.
The Gaelic language prevails throughout almost all Inverness-shire,
and a pretty large proportion of the inhabitants of its western parts do
not even understand English. Owing to the thinness of the population,
and the consequent difficulty of establishing schools, education in this
and the other Highland counties is not nearly so extended as in the
Lowlands. Recently, however, a good deal has been done to make it
more available.
This county is divided into two nearly equal portions, by the great
glen or valley, stretching in a south-west direction from the town of
Inverness, on the Moray Frith, to Loch Linnhe, opposite to the Island
of Mull, on the western coast. It is very narrow, and consists prin-
cipally of Loch Ness, Loch Oich, and Loch Lochy. The surface
300
SCOTLAND.
being nowhere in this glen more than 94 feet above the level of the
sea, advantage was taken of this circumstance, and of the facilities
afforded by the contiguous chain of lakes, to open a navigable com-
munication between the eastern and western coasts, and consequently
to avoid the tedious and dangerous navigation of the Pentland Frith.
The entire length of the Caledonian Canal, inclusive of the lakes, is
rather more than 60 miles; but little more than 23 miles is artificial.
In point of dimensions, it exceeds every other canal in the island. It
was constructed at the expense of government: though a splendid, it
is a most unproductive, undertaking; and but for the invention of steam-
boats, would have been nearly useless. Inverness-shire contains 35
parishes. The county sends a member to parliament; and the borough
of Inverness joins with Fortrose, Nairn, and Forres, in returning a
representative. Inverness, the only town of any importance, has a
population of 14,324. Population of county in 1831, 97,799. Valued
rent, 73,1887. Scotch. Annual value of real property in 1815,
185,5651.; ditto in 1842-3, 182,0647.
28, 29. Ross and Cromarty Shires form a maritime district of
great extent. Cromarty, however, is but a small county, and consists
of various straggling and widely separated patches, almost entirely
surrounded by parts of Ross-shire. Ross and Cromarty are bounded
on the south by Inverness-shire and the Beauly, and Moray Frith;
on the east, by the latter; on the north, by the Frith of Dornoch and
Sutherland; and on the west, by the Atlantic Ocean, in which are
situated the islands attached to Ross. They contain together 1,904,000
acres, of which 1,532,800 are mainland, and 375,200 islands; the
freshwater lakes cover a space of 44,800 acres on the mainland, and of
12,800 in the islands. The eastern parts of the district, consisting of
the Black Isle, or the peninsula between the Beauly and Moray
Friths and the Frith of Cromarty; and Easter Ross, or the penin-
sula between the Friths of Cromarty and Dornoch, from Alness
Kirk to Tain and Tarbet Ness, are comparatively flat and fertile.
There is in Easter Ross a considerable extent of clayey loam, and
of light sandy soil. The soil of the Black Isle is very various.
Much of it is poor. The cultivated portion consists principally of
clayey loam, good black mould, and sandy loam. In Strathpeffer,
and the country round Dingwall, the soil is clayey; but, with
these exceptions, the rest of the country is wild, dreary, rugged, and
mountainous, interspersed with lakes and narrow glens, that afford
pasture for sheep and black cattle. Estates for the most part very
large; but there are several that are not of much value. Farms of all
sizes; but the number of small occupancies, though still very con-
siderable, is much diminished. The native breed of cattle is hardy,
compact, and well suited to the country; but in the western parts of
the county the Skye and Argyleshire breeds, or one closely allied to
them, is most prevalent. Cattle formerly much more abundant than
at present. Sheep-farming has, for many years past, engrossed almost
the whole attention of the principal farmers and improvers; so that,
besides a decrease in the numbers, it is also said that the breed of cattle
has deteriorated. This, however, has been denied by others; and, at
all events, the baneful practice of overstocking is no longer carried to
ROSS AND CROMARTY SHIRES.
301
anything like the extent to which it was formerly practised in this as
well as in other Highland counties. At no very distant period oxen
were extensively employed in field labour in this district, and in Inver-
ness and others; but at present they are almost wholly disused. All
sorts of improvements, both in breeding and cropping, have been tried
by the principal proprietors, and by the many intelligent and enter-
prising sheep farmers that have immigrated into Ross-shire from the
south. Most part of Easter Ross, great part of the Black Isle, with
the country round Dingwall, and along the north-west shore of the
Inner Frith of Cromarty, now ranks with the finest districts in Scot-
land. It is traversed in every direction by excellent roads; has a
more than usual number of gentlemen's seats and plantations; the
fences consist principally of hedge and ditch; and it has a goodly
display of hedge-row trees. Agriculture has been wonderfully im-
proved; and the crops of wheat and turnips are at present nowise
inferior to those in the more southern counties. (For further par-
ticulars see note below.*) But exclusive of these districts, a great
* At the commencement of the present century, from the difficulty of conveyance
for exportation, cultivation was almost entirely confined to narrow strips of land
situated along the sea coast, and in the immediate neighbourhood of the few sea-port
towns; and even here was not brought to that state of perfection which, since the
introduction of implements of a less defective description than those formerly used,
it has of late years attained. As an instance of the improvement that has taken
place in Ross-shire, now the most beautiful and highly cultivated county in the
Highlands, I may mention, that there is at present in the service of Major Gilchrist
of Ospisdale, in Sutherland, as farm manager, the individual who first introduced
the ploughing of land into regular ridges, and the division of fields into anything
like systematic management in that county; the fields being formerly detached
pieces of land, ploughed irregularly, as the ground with the least labour suited.
The carts generally used were of the poorest description, with a kind of tumbler cr
solid wheel, and wicker conical baskets; little or no lime was used for agricultural
purposes. "I succeeded to a farm in this county about 30 years ago (says Major
Gilchrist), when the working strength consisted of sixteen oxen and twenty-four
small horses called garrons; that farm is now laboured by three pair of horses.
"The total amount of wheat then raised in the county (Ross and Cromarty) was
not equal to what is now produced on many single farms. It was not until 1813
that the first barley mill, north of the Cromarty Frith, was erected, and in 1821 the
first flour mill (at Drummond, on the estate of Fowles) by the same individual. To
such an extent, however, has cultivation of late years been carried, that the growth
of wheat alone is now (1828) estimated at 20.000 quarters annually, and the exporta-
tion of grain to London, Leith, Liverpool, &c., during the last year, amounted to
upwards of 10,000 quarters; besides the supply of the extensive and populous pas-
toral districts of the county, and the towns of Dingwall, Tain, Inverness, &c., to
which places, I am credibly informed, upwards of 10,000 bolls of flour are now
annually sent for the consumption of the inhabitants. Among other exports may
likewise be mentioned the produce of various extensive distilleries situated in dif-
ferent parts of the county, and a considerable quantity of salted pork, bacon, &c.,
from the ports of Cromarty and Inver Gordon. I understand that, in the year 1819,
the sum estimated to have been expended on the purchase of the latter commodity
amounted to about 30,000l. Indeed, a marked improvement in domestic animals of
every description has taken place in the northern counties, since the improved com-
munication with the south. I need hardly allude to the introduction of Cheviot
sheep,-to the pains taken in improving the breed of cattle, by the importation of
the most improved sorts from the West Highlands, and of cows from Ayrshire.
Considerable attention has been recently paid to the breed of horses, both for the
purposes of agriculture and draught; and in some instances, those of the finest de-
scription have been successfully reared. Nor has the breed of pigs been neglected,
several valuable species, both pure and crosses, having been introduced. In short, a
302
SCOTLAND.
extent of mountainous country is still occupied by the old Highland
tenantry. These are a brave and hardy race, but poor, and without
either enterprise or industry. They occupy the straths or valleys
between the mountains and along the banks of the rivers which, in
some places, are so thickly tenanted, that there is a family for every
Scotch acre of arable land! On this they raise oats, bear or bigg (a
species of barley), and potatoes; frequently cultivating the ground with
a crooked spade (caschrom) instead of a plough. The mode of plough-
ing which was formerly general over the whole country, and which is
still practised by the smaller tenants, deserves to be noticed.
"The
plough is extremely rude. It was drawn by four horses abreast.
Between the plough and the horses was a long apparatus of twisted
birch twigs, by which they were united. The halters were fixed in 4
holes, made in a piece of wood about 6 feet long, which was held by the
driver, who was thus enabled to pull all the horses at once, and en-
courage them to move forward, by occasionally applying his stick to
their noses.
He walked backwards, with his face towards the plough-
man, and directed the breadth of the furrow slice. A man attended,
whose office was to keep the plough in the ground, by pressing on the
end of the beam with his whole weight. A fourth followed with a
crooked spade; with which he turned over such parts of the ground as
the plough had missed, and he also turned over such slices as had fallen
back. The seed was scattered in great profusion, and slightly covered
by means of harrows with wooden teeth. There are many of the
country people who still disapprove of harrows with iron teeth,
because they tear up the roots of the grass.* Mr. Downie was the
first person who introduced an improved plough, worked by a pair of
horses without a driver. This was done only about 1790, and caused
great astonishment among the natives." (Mackenzie's Survey,
p. 249.) The smaller tenants uniformly possess a considerable extent
of grazing ground, which is commonly contiguous to, but sometimes at
a considerable distance from, their arable possession. Their huts are,
for the most part, wretched; few of them have either chimneys or
windows; they prefer living in the midst of smoke and filth; and, in
winter, the cattle are generally housed under the same roof with the
family. Except for a few months, when sowing or reaping their crops,
preparing and saving their fuel, &c., the greater part of their time is
spent in the pursuit of game, in fishing, or in idleness. Previously to
the reduction of the duties on whiskey, in 1823, illicit distillation was
very prevalent, and is still carried on, though to a comparatively small
"It cannot be said with truth, that the class of people, of
which the great majority of the population consists, enjoy the comforts
of life in even a moderate degree. Poorly fed, scantily clothed, and
miserably lodged, theirs is a life of penury and toil. Exposed to the
temptations of idleness, without its ease, and to the slavery of labour,
without its rewards, they drag out a wretched existence, suffering
under the continual fear of impending want, and uncheered by any
extent.
general spirit of approximating these counties, in as far as the soil and climate will
permit, to the more advanced counties in the south, seems every where to prevail.”—
(Parl. Paper, No. 175. Sess. 1828, p. 60.)
*This is no longer the case.
SUTHERLAND.
303
prospect of amendment in their condition."-(Art. Parish of Glenshiel,
New Statistical Account of Scotland, No. 12, p. 200.) Under these
circumstances, no reasonable man can doubt that the measures adopted
by many landlords during the last half century for consolidating the
small possessions held by the native tenants, and introducing farmers
possessed of capital and skill, have been, in a public point of view,
eminently beneficial. In some instances the change may have been
harshly effected; but we hesitate not to say that it has, on the whole,
been highly advantageous to the peasantry themselves. Having been
obliged to repair to villages, or to emigrate, they have also been
obliged to lay aside their slothful habits; so that, in point of fact, not
only the wealth and industry, but even the population of the country,
has gained materially by the introduction and extension of that sheep-
farming system that has been the theme of so much unfounded ani-
madversion. In proof of this, we may observe that the population of
the district amounted, according to the enumeration of Dr. Webster,
in 1755, to 47,456. In 1800 it had increased to 55,877; and not-
withstanding the increase of sheep farming, and the prevalence of emi-
gration in the interim, the population in 1831 amounted to 74,820.
Minerals and manufactures of no importance. Average rent of land,
including islands, in 1810, 1s. 1d. an acre; in 1842-3, 1s. 3 d. per
ditto. Principal rivers: Conon, Orin, and Beauly. Parishes, 33. A
member is returned to parliament for the united counties of Ross and
Cromarty. The burghs of Dingwall, Tain, and Cromarty, are asso-
ciated with Kirkwall, Wick, and Dornoch, in the choice of a repre-
sentative; and Fortrose is associated for the same purpose with
Inverness, &c. Principal towns: Tain, Fortrose, and Dingwall.
Population of district, inclusive of islands, in 1841, 78,685.
rent, 87,940/. Scotch. Annual value of real property in 1815,
121,5577.; ditto in 1842-3, 143,2157.*
30. Sutherland, a maritime county, occupying the north-western
extremity of the island, is bounded on the south by Cromarty and
Ross; on the east by the Frith of Dornoch and Caithness; and on the
north and west by the Atlantic. It contains 1,152,640 acres, of which
30,080 are water. The aspect of the country is wild, bleak, and, in
many parts, savage. The eastern shore has a small fringe of good
arable land; but the rest of the surface is rugged and mountainous,
being, however, interspersed with various narrow straths or glens, and
some considerable lakes and morasses. Sutherland, like the other
Highland counties, was, till recently, occupied by native tenants,
similar, in all respects to those of Ross. These, however, have, for
the most part, been recently removed either to villages on the coast,
or have emigrated; and the lands have been divided into extensive
sheep farms, furnished with excellent houses and offices. The native
breed of cattle is small, but when crossed with those of Argyle and
Skye, it is said to be equal to any that the Highlands can produce.
Galloways, and other varieties, have also been introduced. Owing to
the extraordinary extension of sheep-farming in this county, the stock
* Sir George Mackenzie's Survey of Ross and Cromarty is an able work. It
gives a good account of the whole method of occupying and farming land in the
Highlands, and of the advantages that have resulted from the introduction of
sheep-farming.
304
SCOTLAND.
of cattle has been diminished in a still greater degree than in Ross-
shire; but sheep being much better suited to the country, the change
has been, both locally and in a public point of view, highly advan-
tageous; vast tracts having been, through its means, coupled with a
very extensive drainage, rendered considerably productive, that were
formerly almost useless. Cheviots are found to thrive remarkably well
in almost all parts of Sutherland. About 40,000 sheep and 180,000
fleeces are said to be annually sent to the south from this county.-
(Anderson's Highlands, p. 12.) Four-fifths of the county belong to
the Duke of Sutherland, who has expended vast sums in the formation
of roads and inns, the building of bridges, piers, farm-houses, and
villages, and other expensive and substantial improvements. Since
1811, above 100 miles of road have been made in this county by the
Parliamentary Commissioners, and above 350 by individual exertion
and statute labour ! * The fringe of arable land along the east coast
of the county has been divided into moderate-sized farms, well inclosed
and drained, and presenting as good a specimen of the improved turnip
husbandry as is to be found in any part of the island. In 1821 there
was not a gig in the county; in 1840 there were above 50, which far
exceeds the number of carts in 1821. In 1796 there were only two
blacksmiths between Bonar Bridge and the Ord of Caithness, whereas
in 1830 there were 38, and their number has since increased!
Nowhere, indeed, in Scotland have improvements been attempted
on a greater scale, or prosecuted with more zeal, skill, and
success than in this remote county. Whether the change should
not have been more gradually introduced, we shall not undertake
to say; but there cannot be a doubt, that the character and habits
of the people, as well as the rural economy of the district, have been
signally improved. From being indolent, and attached to old practices,
the peasantry have become comparatively active, laborious, and enter-
prising; and are decidedly better lodged, clothed, and fed than at any
former period. They have also improved in cleanliness, beyond what
could have been expected. There are three great deer forests; and
ptarmigan, grouse, and black-cock, alpine hares, &c., are abundant.
Limestone and freestone are met with. Average rent of land in
1842-3, 7d. an acre. The herring fishery is carried on with spirit and
success, both on the east and west coasts, but principally from Helms-
dale. Principal rivers: Oickel, Fleet, Brora, and Helmsdale. Suther-
land contains 13 parishes. Dornoch, the principal town, has a popula-
tion of only 504. Population of county in 1841, 24,782. Sutherland
returns 1 member to Parliament; and the borough of Dornoch unites
with Kirkwall, Wick, &c., in choosing a representative. Valued rent,
26,0937. Scotch. Annual value of real property in 1815, 33,8787.;
ditto in 1842-3, 36,113/.
31. Caithness, a maritime county, occupying the north-east ex-
tremity of Scotland, is bounded on the west by Sutherlandshire; and
on the south, east, and north by the ocean. It contains 446,080 acres,
of which 6,400 are water. About three-eighths of the surface are
supposed to consist of mountains, high moors, and hilly pasture. The
mountains lie along the confines of Sutherland, Morven, the highest,
* Some very striking statements, as to the influence of these roads, are given in
Parl. Paper, No. 175. Sess. 1828, p. 61.
•
CAITHNESS.
305
having an elevation of 2,324 feet. This mountainous ridge terminates
to the south in the stupendous precipices, called the Ord of Caithness,
that overhang the sea on the Sutherland border. The rest of the
county is so flat that it may be described as a broad undulating plain :
it consists for the most part of vast tracts of moss and moorish ground,
covered with stunted heath, intermixed, however, with some spots of
superior fertility. Being destitute of wood, as well as of hills, this
level district has a bleak, dismal appearance. Owing to the position of
the county, which, on all sides but the west, is surrounded by the sea,
the winters, notwithstanding its high latitude, are mild; but more rain
falls here than in any other district on the east side of the island, so
that the summers are both cold and wet. Property in a few hands,
and mostly under entail. Farms frequently let in small patches, and
only from year to year; and in addition to this pernicious tenure, the
tenants are not unfrequently burdened with almost indefinite servi-
tudes.*
But despite these untoward circumstances, improvements
of all sorts have, within these few years, been carried on in Caithness
with a spirit and success that no one could previously have conceived
possible. Formerly it was almost inaccessible except by sea; but
now the mail-coach from Inverness regularly reaches Wick, and even
Thurso, on the extreme northern coast of the island. Within the last
féw years above 200 miles of road have been made at the expense of
the gentlemen of the county, exclusive of about 50 miles made by the
Parliamentary commissioners. In agriculture the advance has been
equally great. A great deal has been done in the way of draining,
inclosing, taking in waste land, consolidating small farms, and intro-
ducing an improved system of husbandry. Oats and bear or bigg are
the principal corn crops: wheat has been raised, but the climate is not
suitable for it. Potatoes are largely cultivated; and the extent of land
under turnip is now vastly greater than at any former period. The
greatest change has taken place in the vicinity of Wick and Thurso,
but especially the former. Wick has now become the principal seat
of the British herring fishery. Its important suburb, Pulteney town,
built on the south side of the bay, on land feued by the British Fishery
Society, has grown up with something like the rapidity of a manu-
facturing village. During the fishing season, from 1,500 to 2,000
boats, having each at an average a crew of about five men, rendezvous
here. Of these about 500 belong to the town, the others being
collected from all parts of the coast, from Northumberland on the east
round to the remotest of the Hebrides on the west. Much wealth
has in consequence been brought to the town; and a great demand has
been created for the produce of the surrounding country. Cultivation
has, however, more than kept pace with the increased demand; for,
besides supplying the wants of the immense population engaged in the
fisheries, large quantities of grain and wool are annually exported. The
refuse herrings make excellent manure. At no very distant period, the
breed of cattle in Caithness was the very worst in the Highlands. The
lands were so much overstocked, that the cattle were not half-fed, and
many died each spring. But now, through the patriotic exertions of the
* These were noticed, and justly reprobated, by Pennant.-(Tour in Scotland,
vol. i. p. 203.)
VOL. I.
X
306
SCOTLAND.
late Sir John Sinclair, and other gentlemen, a great change for the better
has been effected. The Argyle and Skye breeds of cattle have been
extensively introduced; the stocks of different individuals are no longer
allowed to herd together in the winter season; and the stock is more
nearly adjusted to the pasture. The breed of sheep has also been im-
proved by the introduction of Cheviots. In consequence of these and
other circumstances, the value of property in this remote county has
advanced astonishingly; and but for the embarrassed state of some pro-
prietors, and the want of capital, the advance would have been still
greater. Average rent of land in 1842-3, 2s.7½d. an acre. The in-
habitants of Caithness are clearly of Scandinavian or Gothic origin.
This is evinced as well by their tall figures and fair countenances as by
their language. It is only on the borders of Sutherland that we find
any trace of the Gaelic. In all the rest of the county English is spoken
in considerable purity. The houses of the peasantry have in some parts
been materially improved; but speaking generally, their huts are poor
and miserable. Many farm-houses and offices of a very superior de-
scription have been constructed within the last few years. Limestone
is abundant; and Pennant says it used to be carried to be burned with
turf on the backs of the fair Caithnesians! Principal rivers, Thurso,
Wick, and Dunbeath. It contains 10 parishes. Caithness sends a
member to Parliament; and Wick unites with Kirkwall, Dornoch,
Tain, Dingwall, and Cromarty, in choosing a representative. Princi-
pal towns, Wick and Thurso. Population of county in 1841, 36,343.
Valued rent, 37,2561. Scotch. Annual value of real property in 1815,
35,4691.; ditto in 1842-3, 65,8691.*
ISLANDS.
Exclusive of the mainland, Scotland has an immense number of
islands attached to it, some of which are of great extent, though few are
of much value.
Islands in the Frith of Clyde.-These which form the county of
Bute, consist of Bute itself, Arran, the Cumbraes, and Inchmarnock.
Their total area may be estimated at about 150,000 acres; viz., Arran
115,000, Bute 30,000, and the Cumbraes, &c., 5,000. The north part
of Arran consists principally of lofty, bare, and rugged, granite
mountains, connected by steep ridges, and intersected by deep valleys
and ravines. Goatfell, the highest summit in the island, rises to the
height of 2,865 feet above the sea. The southern and largest portion of
the island consists principally of undulating, hilly ground, the emi-
nences of which are of a flattened or rounded configuration, and covered,
for the most part, with a deep stratum of peat. The arable land may
amount to about 12,000 acres. The northern portion of Bute, though
less mountainous than Arran, is bleak and rugged; but its central
and southern portions consist in general of undulating ground with
moderately good soil, on a limestone bottom, fit either for tillage or
pasturage. Climate moist but exceedingly mild. The system of
agriculture in these islands was at no distant period as bad as can well
be imagined. It was reasonable to suppose that Bute, being naturally
* Some of the statements with respect to this, as well as most of the other Scotch
counties, have been derived from private, but authentic, cnannels.
BUTE AND ARRAN.
307
more fertile and more accessible than Arran, should make the first
Notwith-
advances in improvements, and such has been the case.
standing what had previously been done, the progress of Bute since 1816,
when the survey of the county was published, has been astonishingly
great. Drainage had not then been introduced; turnips were almost
unknown, and a rotation of crops, little, if at all attended to; the farm
stock and farming implements were alike bad; and instead of attending
to their farms, the occupiers were eager to engage in the lottery of
the herring fishery. In consequence, however, of the encouragement
afforded by the judicious liberality of the Marquis of Bute, (the pro-
prietor of by far the larger portion of the island,) of the facilities of com-
munication with the mainland by the employment of steamers, and of the
ready market that has thus been opened to its produce, the change for
the better in its agriculture and appearance, and in the condition of its
inhabitants, has been quite as great as in most other parts of Scotland.
"A complete system of drainage has been introduced; the most ap-
proved rotation of crops is observed; the use of the sub-soil plough is
beginning to prevail; and an enterprising tenantry are ready to import
the most recent discoveries in husbandry. The duration of leases is
and
19 years. The farm-houses have for the most part been rebuilt,
are remarkably neat and commodious. The grounds are well enclosed,
chiefly with thorn hedges."-(Buteshire, in New Statistical Account of
Scotland, p. 90.) And we may add, from the same authority, that the
existing farmers and their families are strongly attached to their em-
ployment, and have almost wholly renounced having anything to do
with the fishery.
In Arran the change has been, if possible, still greater. There
were there, down to a comparatively late period, neither roads nor
wheel-carriages; the cottages of the inhabitants were of the most
miserable description; and the cattle, though diminutive and hardy,
died by hundreds every severe spring. Lands were held jointly by
several tenants on the common or run-rig plan (See antè notice of
Argyleshire), and were scourged by a constant course of corn crops,
which succeeded each other in a series, unbroken, except by the occa-
sional introduction of potatoes, as long as the land would produce
anything. But since 1815, the Duke of Hamilton, who is proprietor
of nearly the whole island, has laboured strenuously and successfully
to introduce a better system; partly by letting farms to individuals for
a fixed term of years, excluding sub-tenants and assignees, partly by
introducing conditions into leases fitted to ensure a better system of
management, partly by introducing improved breeds of cattle, and
partly by expending large sums on the building of houses, enclosing,
making drains, roads, &c. The people were, at first, very much op-
posed to the change; but their prejudices have gradually given way,
and they are now, in general, sensible that it has been still more advan-
tageous to themselves than to the proprietor. Extensive districts are
now divided into moderate sized farms, enclosed, subdivided, and com-
paratively well cultivated, having valuable stocks of cattle, and com-
fortable farm-houses and offices, where in 1814 nothing was to be seen
but ridges running in all directions without a single enclosure or sub-
division, and with only a few huts, destitute of chimneys and windows.
x 2
308
SCOTLAND.
Wheat is raised on some of the best farms; but the climate is too
moist for this species of grain, and oats is the most profitable crop.
The manufacture of kelp has been wholly relinquished; but despite the
falling off in this respect, the value of the exports of corn, cattle, and
other produce from the island has been vastly increased, while the in-
crease of the rental yields an ample return to the proprietor. It may,
indeed, be safely affirmed, notwithstanding the drawbacks under which
the population continues to labour, that no part of the United Kingdom
has been more improved, since 1815, than Arran. But to ensure the
full development of its capabilities, it will be necessary vigorously to
follow up the new system by preventing subletting and subdivision,
increasing the size of farms and the length of leases, and rebuilding
cottages. It would also be very desirable were the Duke of Hamil-
ton to grant facilities for the building of villas, and for the increase of
the villages of Lamlash and Brodick.*
The county of Bute is divided into 5 parishes, and sends 1 member
to the House of Commons. Population in 1841, 15,740, of which
Bute had 8,078; and Arran 6,241. The town of Rothsay, on the east
coast of Bute, with a population of 5,789, has an old castle, once a
favourite residence of the Scottish sovereigns. Annual value of real
property in the county of Bute in 1815, 22,5417.; ditto in 1842-3,
31,1621.
Hebrides or Western Islands.-The islands that lie to the west of
Scotland, excluding those in the Frith of Clyde, are denominated the
Hebrides, or Western Islands. (The Hebudes or Ebudes of the
ancients.) They are usually divided into the Inner and Outer He-
brides; the former consist of the islands nearest to the mainland, in-
cluding Skye (the second in point of extent of the Hebrides), Mull,
Islay, Jura, Coll, Rum, Tiree, &c. The outer Hebrides, popularly
called the Long Island, consist of the lengthened range of islands,
stretching in a continuous N.N.E. and S.S.W. direction, from Barra
Head, in lat. 56° 49′ N., to the Butt of the Lewis, in lat. 58° 51′ N.
The principal islands in this range, commencing with its southern ex-
tremity, are Barra, South Uist, Benbecula, North Uist, with the dis-
tricts of Harris and Lewis: the last 2 form 1 large island, being in fact
a good deal more extensive than all the rest put together. Exclusive
of the above, there belong to the Outer Hebrides a vast number of
smaller islands, and islets or rocks. The greater islands are separated
from each other by sounds, or arms of the sea, of varying magnitudes,
but in no case above 10 or 12 miles wide, and generally interspersed
with smaller islands; so that the range has all the appearance of having
at one time formed one entire island. The Outer are separated from
the Inner Hebrides, and the mainland of Scotland, by the channel
called the Minsh. This, where narrowest, between Skye and North
Uist, is from 15 to 16 miles across. In all, the Hebrides are supposed
to contain about 200 islands, of which about 80 are inhabited. They
are distributed among the shires of Argyle, Inverness, and Ross.
-(See antè, p. 227.) They have never been surveyed with any
considerable degree of accuracy, so that but little dependence can
* See art. Arran, in Geographical Dictionary; and the accounts of the parishes
of Kilbride and Kilmore in New Statistical Account of Scotland.
HEBRIDES.
309
be placed on the accounts of their measurement. But, according
to the best attainable data, their total area is supposed to amount
to about 2,739 square miles, or 1,688,960 acres, of which about
64,000 acres are fresh-water lochs, or lakes. Some of the islands,
particularly Skye, Mull, and Jura, contain extensive tracts of high
rugged, and mountain land; and this, also, is the case in some parts of
the district of Harris. The surface in many places, particularly in the
Long Island, or Outer IIebrides, consists of extensive dreary tracts of
moss and moor; and in most islands there is a greater or less extent of
hill pasture. The soil varies considerably; but, except in Islay, de-
servedly styled the Queen of the Hebrides, and a few favoured districts
in Skye and the other islands, it is, in general, miserably poor. About
two-thirds of the whole are supposed to consist of peat earth, resting
mostly on granite or gneiss, the points of which frequently protrude
through the moss. Along the western shores of the Long Island, and
in some other places, there is a large extent of sandy soil. In parts
the sand is so loose as to drift with the winds; but where it is mixed
with peat and the clay found on some of the declivities, it is tolerably
productive. Climate mild, but variable, tempestuous, and humid. In
the Outer Hebrides spring commences towards the end of March,
summer about the end of May, autumn about the middle of August,
and winter towards the end of October. "The winters are generally
mild as to temperature, snow seldom lying long on the ground,
especially near the shores, and the lakes being hardly ever frozen. But
heavy and continued rains, accompanied with westerly winds and violent
gales from the Atlantic, with showers of sleet and hail, and sometimes
thunder, are frequent at this season. Upon the whole, however, the
winters are less severe than on the mainland, and especially than on the
east coast of Scotland. The commencement of spring is generally
colder than the winter, and is always wet and boisterous.
advances, dry easterly winds prevail, and cause much drifting of the
sand and newly-turned soil. Summer
Summer is frequently ushered in with
continued rains, and is extremely variable, as is the early part of autumn.
When the summer is dry and hot, the grassy pastures are burnt up, and
the crops, which are chiefly on sandy soil, are deficient. At all seasons
heavy gales are occasionally experienced. In winter the huts are
frequently unroofed by these gales, boats broken to pieces, and the sands
blown to an immense distance. It is needless to say that the ocean,
during these tempests, presents a magnificent spectacle, its huge billows
dashing over the low rocks and islets, and ascending the precipitous
shores, often to an astonishing height, the spray being carried far inland.
Judging by the shaggy covering which black cattle and horses assume
at this season, one might be apt to imagine the winters more severe
than they really are; but this circumstance may depend upon other
causes than the lowness of temperature. There is certainly a much
greater difference between the pile of an English horse and a Shetland
pony than between the winter temperatures of their places of resi-
dence. Westerly and southerly winds are predominant, and generally
bring rain. The rapidity with which iron becomes covered with rust
is remarkable, and veneered articles of furniture are apt to warp and
As it
310
SCOTLAND.
burst in the joining."* The arable land, which in the greater number
of the islands is of very small extent, is, for the most part, light and
sandy. It is supposed by Mr. M'Donald to amount in the entire
Hebrides, inclusive of the islands in the Frith of Clyde, to 170,000
Scotch, or 212,000 statute acres, which he distributes as follows, viz. :
Gigha, 1,500; Islay, 22,000; Jura, 3,000; Kerreray, 1,000; Collon-
say and Oronsay, 3,500; Luing, Saoil, Shuna, Lunga, Scarba, 5,000;
Mull, with Ulva, Gometra, Icolmkill, &c., 10,000; Lismore, 4,000 ;
Tiree, 5,000; Coll, 4,500; Skye, with its islets, 30,000; Eigg, Muck,
and Cannay, 2,500; Uists and Barra, with Valay, Heisker, Borreray,
and islets, 40,000; Raasay and Ronay, 3,000; Rum, 1,000; Harris
and Lewis, 26,000; Hirta, 500: in all, 170,000 Scotch acres, or
between an eighth and a ninth part of the total surface. Assuming the
whole extent of the Western Islands (including those in the Clyde) to
be equal to 1,592,000 Scotch, or about 2,000,000 statute acres, Mr.
M'Donald supposes it may be distributed as follows:
Mountains, morasses, and undrained lakes, scarcely yielding any specified
rent to the proprietors
Hill pasture, appropriated to particular farms, and sometimes enclosed, or
at least limited by acknowledged marches, as lakes, rivulets, &c., and
paying rent
•
Arable and meadow land, under grass, hay, corn, or potatoes.
Kelp shores, dry at ebb-tide, regularly divided among the tenantry, and
producing 5,000 tons of kelp, besides manure, annually.
Ground occupied by villages, farm-houses, gardens, gentlemen's parks, &c.
Ground occupied by peat mosses annually, and by roads, ferry-houses, and
boats
Barren sands, tossed about by the winds, and pernicious to their vicinity
Ground employed as glebes, or in lieu of glebes, by established clergymen,
manses, churches, and church-yards
•
Ground occupied by schoolmasters
Acres.
600,000
700,000
180,000
30,000
20,000
22,000
25,000
8,000
2,000
5,000
1,592,000
Ground (under), natural woods, coppices, and new plantations, chiefly in
Bute, Islay, Mull, and Skye
Total
In Islay, Collonsay, and some parts of Skye, Mull, &c., agriculture
in all its branches has been very much improved; but in the Long
Island, and in the greater part of the Inner Hebrides, it continues in
an exceedingly backward state. The caschrom, or crooked spade, is
frequently used, particularly in the Long Island. The plough, indeed,
cannot be employed except in districts that have been drained and
levelled; and these unfortunately bear, in most places, a very small
proportion to the others. About 12 men suffice to turn an acre a-day
with the caschrom. The old plough of the Hebrideans is a miserable
instrument; it has only one handle, and is usually drawn by 4 horses
driven by a boy: it is now, however, rarely used. Wheat of good
quality has been raised in Islay, but with doubtful advantage. Oats
and barley may, indeed, be said to be the only white crops raised in the
Hebrides, being cultivated to about an equal extent. The barley is of
the variety called bere or bigg (Hordeum hexastichon). Nine-tenths
* Macgillivray's Account of the Outer Hebrides, Quarterly Journal of Agricul-
ture, No. XI. p. 274.
HEBRIDES.
311
of the population of the Outer Hebrides, and of Tiree and Coll, when
they use bread, use that made of barley. The old Scotch gray oat is
the species most commonly cultivated; it is very unproductive, and has
no good quality, except that it does not easily shake: but other and
better kinds of oats are now frequently met with. Except in Islay, and
a few farms in the more improved islands, there is hardly anything like
a rotation of crops; and it is customary for lands to be sown with suc-
cessive crops of oats and barley till they be quite exhausted. The
crops are, in consequence, far below what they would be under a better
system. It is surprising that the landlords should not vigorously exert
themselves to check this abuse; its suppression would redound alike to
their own advantage and that of their tenants. Instead of selecting the
best, it is, perhaps, the more usual practice for the Hebridean farmers
to select the lightest and worst portion of their oats and bere as seed!
Good turnips are raised in Islay, and in parts of Skye, and some of the
other islands, but only on lands in the hands of a few public-spirited
individuals. Potatoes were introduced for the first time in 1743; and
so rapidly has their culture extended, that they now furnish four-fifths
of the food of the people. Except in some of the more improved dis-
tricts, they are mostly planted in the Irish fashion, or in lazy beds.
Sea-weed is the manure most commonly used in raising potatoes, and,
indeed, all other species of crops; and it has been surmised that it may
be owing to this that the Hebridean potatoes are generally viscid and
watery. Small quantities of flax are sometimes raised for family use.
Carts are but partially introduced. Except in Skye, Islay, and Jura,
where they have been made by the parliamentary commissioners, roads
can hardly be said to exist; and, in the less improved islands, all sorts
of articles are either conveyed by sea in boats, or in panniers slung
across horses' backs. Black cattle constitute the staple product of the
Hebrides. The breed called Kyloes, or West Highlanders, is small,
hardy, easily fed, and admirably adapted to the country. Stock sup-
posed to amount to 110,000 or 120,000,* of which about a fifth part
are annually ferried over to the mainland. The management of cattle
has been materially improved in most of the islands within the present
century: formerly overstocking was universal, and large numbers used
to perish every winter and spring for want of food; but losses from
this cause, though they still occur, are now much less frequent. The
native breed of sheep is very small, weighing only from 15 to 20 lbs. ;
face and legs white, wool of various colours, and these frequently
occurring in the same fleece. Weight of fleece varies from lb. to 1 lb.
Latterly, however, both the black-faced, or mountain breed of sheep,
and the Cheviots, have been successfully introduced; but the black-
faced appears to be increasing faster than the other. Mr. M'Donald
estimated the number of sheep in the islands at rather less than 100,000;
but it has increased since 1811, when his excellent work was published.
Owing to a better distribution of the land, the number of horses has
latterly been a good deal reduced. They are small, but not diminu-
tive, like those of the Shetland Islands, hardy, easily kept, and docile.
* Mr. McDonald says 110,000.-(Survey, p. 422.) Mr. Youatt supposes there
may be, at present, 150,000 head of cattle in the Hebrides (Cattle, their Breeds, &c.
p. 67); but we have been assured that this is beyond the mark.
312
SCOTLAND.
ས
The
They are not a fine breed, the head being generally large, and the hair
shaggy. The Hebrides are divided among about 50 proprietors, of
whom several have very large and pretty valuable estates. Land gene-
rally held by tacksmen, tenants, and subtenants, including cottiers, or
crofters. The tacksmen correspond to the middle-men of Ireland,
holding considerable tracts, which they relet in smaller portions to sub-
tenants. The tenants hold directly from the landlords. Their farms,
though sometimes of great extent, are mostly of small value, varying
from 51. to 50l. a-year of rent. They seldom have leases, but mostly
hold at will, being liable to be turned out at pleasure. This, also, is
generally the case with the subtenants. Sometimes a number of small
tenants take a farm conjointly, and hold it on the run-rig, or partner-
ship plan, which used to be the common method of occupying land in
the Hebrides; and, though discouraged by most landlords, and sup-
pressed in Islay, on Lord Macdonald's estate in Skye, &c., still prevails
to a great extent. The crofters, or cottiers, are a very numerous class,
many of them paying their rents in services instead of money.
want of leases, and occupancy by partnership, are all but insuperable
obstacles to improvement. The dependence, too, which the cottiers
place on their small patches of ground, is found to be exceedingly per-
nicious: it gives them a sort of security against absolute want, and, by
making them in some degree their own masters, fosters that sloth and
apathy for which they are so remarkable. In consequence of the
minute division of the arable land, and of the general cultivation of the
potato, there is, in some places, a great excess of population. Within
these few years, some proprietors have exerted themselves to abate this
evil by preventing the further division of the land and encouraging the
emigration of the surplus population. Their efforts have, in some
instances, been quite successful; and, while the proprietors have
increased their rentals, and been able to avail themselves of the capa-
bilities of their estates for improvement, the interests of those who
emigrated, and for whose labour there was no demand at home, have
been signally advanced. The total rental of the Hebrides may amount
to about 110,000l. a-year. It was probably, at one time, larger; or,
if it has not been reduced, it must, at all events, have been prevented
from rising so high as it would otherwise have done by the decline of
the kelp manufacture, and of prices since the peace.
The total popu-
lation of the Hebrides, in 1841, amounted to 92,615. The condition of
the people differs much in different islands; but, speaking generally, it
is exceedingly depressed. Pennant's account of the inhabitants of Islay,
though no longer applicable to them, Islay having been most materially
improved in the interim, is still strictly applicable to those of most of
the other islands :- "A set of people worn down by poverty, their
habitations scenes of misery, made of loose stones, without chimneys,
without doors, excepting the faggot opposed to the wind at one or other
of the apertures, permitting the smoke to escape through the other, in
order to prevent the pains of suffocation. The furniture perfectly
corresponds: a pot-hook hangs from the middle of the roof, with a pot
pendant over a grateless fire, filled with fare that may rather be called
a permission to exist than a support of vigorous life: the inmates, as
may be expected, lean, withered, dusky, and smoke-dried."-(Tour in
HEBRIDES.
313
Scotland, vol. ii. p. 263.) The huts frequently afford shelter, in
winter, to the cattle of the cottier as well as to his family; and the
dung and other filth gathered during the season, is allowed to accu-
mulate untouched till May, when it is removed, and when it is not
unusual, also, to unroof the hut. It is no doubt true that some of the
cottages on the estates of Mr. Campbell of Islay, Lord Macdonald,
and a few other proprietors, have been greatly improved since Pen-
nant's time; but the above is, we are sorry to say, a correct description
of those that still exist in the Long Island, in the greater number of
the other islands, and along the coast of the Western Highlands.
The principal tenants are, however, well and comfortably lodged.
From September to May, the inhabitants live chiefly on the potato,
with some coarse oat or barley bread, and occasional but scanty sup-
plies of fish and flesh. In summer they subsist principally on bread and
milk; but in some of the islands these are so deficient that, at this period,
the inhabitants have for the most part a very emaciated appearance,
and are obliged to resort to the shores in search of sand-eels and shell-
fish. When the crops fail, they are exposed to the greatest privations.
On such occasions, large quantities of oatmeal are imported. The spirit
of improvement has, however, been widely diffused, and will, it is to
be hoped, gradually extend itself to all the islands. The embarrassed
state of some of the great landholders has hitherto been one of the most
formidable obstacles to improvement. Recently, however, the Lewis,
the largest and most neglected property in the Hebrides, has been pur-
chased by Mr. Mathieson, M.P., a wealthy and intelligent capitalist,
who is determined to leave no means untried by which to improve its
condition and that of the inhabitants. And, notwithstanding the diffi-
culties interposed by the variableness of the climate, the nature of the
soil, and the ignorance and prejudices of the people, he will, no doubt,
succeed in effecting some very material improvements. The abolition
of the common or run-rig system would, in itself, be an immense
advantage; and many other changes may be brought about by the
interference and exertions of the landlords, and by none else. What
has been done in Skye is an earnest of what may be anticipated in the
Lewis and elsewhere from liberal and judicious management.
In
1800, there was hardly a mile of practicable road in that island; and
it did not contain more than two or three small slated houses, and,
perhaps, a dozen carts. But, in the interval, the island has been inter-
sected by good roads; and the late Lord Macdonald is said to have
expended 100,000l. on the erection of buildings and other improve-
ments on his estates! In consequence, the aspect of the country has
been materially changed, its agriculture has been wonderfully im-
proved, and the condition of its inhabitants, though still much de-
pressed, is decidedly preferable to what it has ever been at any former
period.—(Parl. Paper, No. 175, Sess. 1828.) Turf is the common
fuel of all the islands: in most places it is exceedingly abundant; but
in Muck, Tiree, Cannay, and Icolmkill, it is now procured with very
great difficulty; a third part of the industry of the inhabitants being
required to supply themselves with fuel. Their utmost efforts are, at
times, insufficient, and the distress thence resulting is extremely severe.
The Hebrides are estimated to have in all nearly 4,000 miles of sea-
314
SCOTLAND.
;
coast! They have, besides, many excellent harbours; the surrounding
seas are well stocked with fish; and the inhabitants being familiarised
to the sea, in passing from one island to another, it might be supposed
that the fisheries would be in a flourishing condition; but, however it
may be explained, such is not the case. Most part of the fishing
villages erected by public co-operation have totally failed; and the
herring fishery, in particular, has greatly declined. Even the abolition
of the salt duties has not contributed to improve the Hebridean
fisheries to anything like the extent that was anticipated. Stornaway
in Lewis, Tobermory in Mull, and Portnahaven in Islay, are the prin-
cipal fishing stations. The kelp manufacture was carried on to a very
large extent on the shores of some of the islands during the late war,
and formed a prolific source of wealth both to landlords and tacksmen
but the heavy fall in the price of kelp, caused by the abolition of the
duties on salt, and the reduction of those on barilla, have gone far to
destroy the manufacture, which has shrunk within comparatively narrow
limits. It may, however, be doubted whether the loss, though severely
felt at first, has been in the end so great as was imagined. The close
attention required by the kelp manufacture during the summer months
was extremely unfavourable to all sorts of agricultural operations,
which were uniformly neglected, and in a peculiarly backward state
in the islands where the greatest quantity of kelp was made. The
marine plants, so valuable as a manure, were mostly also employed in
the manufacture of kelp; so that it not only withdrew the necessary
labour from the land, but took away the principal means by which its
fertility could be either maintained or increased. Limestone is found
in several of the Hebrides; and large quantities are used in Islay, and
exported from it. In the latter island lead mines have been wrought
for ages, but not with much spirit. Slates of good quality are quar-
ried in Easdale and the adjacent islands, and are largely exported.
Marble is found in Tiree and other places. Fingal's Cave, in Staffa,
and its basaltic columns, are well known (antè, p. 251). Manufac-
tures, in the common acceptation of the term, are quite unknown:
every family prepares its own articles of clothing. The women spin
the wool and flax, and convert them into clothing. Every head of a
family makes most part of the implements and furniture that they
require. A few boat-builders, joiners, shoemakers, and tailors supply
all the other articles wanted. In some places there are pretty good
mills; but in others, corn is still principally ground by querns, or
hand-mills. Trees do not grow well in the Hebrides, or only in a few
sheltered spots, so that timber is scarce and dear, and considerable
quantities are imported. The other imports are salt, iron, groceries,
oatmeal, &c. The exports are principally black cattle, kelp, sheep,
wool, cod and ling, herrings and fish-oil. The introduction of steam
navigation has contributed more, perhaps, than anything else to the
improvement of the Hebrides, particularly the southern islands. They
are now annually visited by great numbers of strangers; and the
steam-packets create an extensive market for various articles for which
they had formerly no demand, and furnish them with a ready means of
conveying others to Glasgow, Greenock, &c. The Hebrides are
divided into 26 parishes, and are attached to the counties of Argyle,
ORKNEY AND SHETLAND.
315
Inverness, and Ross. There is a good deal of Scandinavian blood in
the Hebrideans; but the Gaelic is, notwithstanding, the prevailing
language; and many of the inhabitants are ignorant of English. There
used to be a great deficiency of churches, and there is still a great
deficiency of schools. There are no poor rates in the islands, and no
public beggars. The Catholic religion prevails in some parts. (For
further particulars, see the Agricultural Survey of the Hebrides, by
James M'Donald, A.M.; Anderson's Highlands, &c.; the valuable
tract of Messrs. Fullarton and Baird on The Highlands and Islands
of Scotland, Glasgow, 1838; the account of the Outer Hebrides, by
William Macgillivray, A.M., in the 11th number of the Quarterly
Journal of Agriculture, &c.)
Orkney and Shetland Islands.-These, most probably the Thule
of the ancients, lie in two groups to the north of Scotland, and form
between them a county, which returns a member to parliament. The
Orkneys (Orcades), the most southerly, are separated from the county
of Caithness by the Pentland Frith, about 6 miles broad. They are
comprised between the parallels of 58° 44′ and 59° 24′ north lat., and
2° 25′ and 3° 20′ west long. There are about a dozen principal
islands; Pomona, or the mainland, being decidedly the largest. But,
including the smaller islands (provincially, holms) and islets, the total
number is estimated at about 67, of which about 40 are uninhabited.
They are supposed to comprise an area of about 281,600 acres, and
had, in 1841, a population of 30,507.
The Shetland, or Zetland, Isles, the most northerly group (perhaps
the Ultima Thule of the ancients), are separated from the Orkneys by
a channel 48 miles across, and lie principally between the parallels of
59° 52′ and 60° 50′ north lat., and 30′ and 1°‍40′ west long. Including
islets, they are supposed to exceed 100 in number; but the Mainland,
or principal island, is a good deal more extensive than all the others
put together. Between 30 and 40 are inhabited. They are about
twice as extensive as the Orkneys, their total area being estimated at
563,200 acres. In 1841 they had a population of 30,558.
The aspect of these islands is pretty similar, but the Shetland group
is the more rugged, wet, and barren of the two. They are generally
fenced, particularly on the western side, with high, black, precipitous
cliffs, against which the sea, when vexed by storms, dashes with asto-
nishing fury. They are destitute of high mountains, the altitude of
Mount Rona, in Shetland, the highest, not exceeding 919 feet. Their
general appearance is that of dreary, heathy wastes, interspersed with
rocks, varied sometimes with swamps and lakes, and in a few places
with beds of moveable sand. In some parts, however, particularly in
Orkney, the land is abundantly fertile, producing good crops of corn and
luxuriant herbage. Some of the islets, or holms, appear like gigantic
pillars, rising perpendicularly from the sea: these are the resort of
vast numbers of sea-fowl; and, in the breeding season, hunting for
eggs and young birds forms one of the principal and most dangerous
employments of the natives. Climate similar to that of the Outer
Hebrides, except that the days are a little longer in summer and shorter
in winter. During the latter, the aurora borealis is uncommonly bril-
liant. The cultivated lands bear but a very small proportion to the
316
SCOTLAND.
The
Cattle
others, being supposed not to exceed 25,000 acres in Orkney, and
22,000 in Shetland. Farms generally very small: few having more
than 10 acres of arable land, and many not nearly so much. Agricul-
ture is considered, particularly in Shetland, of subordinate importance,
and, though a good deal improved, is still very backward. In Shetland
most part of the ground is turned over with the spade; but in Orkney
ploughs are in pretty general use. Oats and bere, or bigg (hordeum
hexastichon), are the only white crops cultivated; and, except on a
few improved farms, they follow each other alternately so long as the
land will bear anything, which it does for a very long time when well
manured with sea-weed. The barley of Orkney is a great deal more
abundant and of a much better quality than could have been antici-
pated; and, besides supplying the home demand, considerable quanti-
ties are exported. Potatoes are cultivated in all the islands, and form
an important part of the food of the people. Turnips have also been
planted, and have succeeded very well. At present no trees can be
made to grow, and hardly a shrub is to be met with, which is the
more singular as the trunks of large trees are not unfrequently found
imbedded in moss and sand, both in Orkney and Shetland.
hardy, spirited little horses, known by the name of Shelties, are bred
in Shetland, and are exported in considerable numbers. The stock kept
in the islands is estimated at from 10,000 to 12,000: they are never
housed, nor receive any food, except what they gather for themselves.
Some of them are exceedingly well-proportioned, active, and strong for
their size. The horses of Orkney are in inferior estimation.
very small, sometimes not weighing more than from 35 to 40 lbs. a
quarter; they are shaggy, and not well shaped; but they are hardy,
feed easily, and, when fattened, their beef is fine and tender. The
stock in both islands is supposed to amount to about 45,000 head.
The native sheep are of the small dun-faced breed; they yield short
wool, which, though generally soft and fine, is sometimes as hairy as
that of a goat. Recently the black-faced and Cheviot breeds, and even
pure merinos, have been introduced into Orkney with considerable
success. The stock in both groups of islands is believed to exceed
135,000. A small breed of swine is very abundant: they roam at
large, and are not a little destructive. Rabbits are abundant in both
islands, but particularly in the Orkneys; as many as 36,000 skins
having been exported in a single season from the port of Stromness.
Fowls are plentiful, and large quantities of eggs are exported from
Orkney. The fisheries, however, in Orkney, as well as Shetland, are
the grand object of pursuit. The islands are periodically visited by
vast shoals of herrings; while the surrounding bays and seas are uni-
formly well supplied with cod and other species of white fish. Divitiæ
eis sunt a mari, ab omni parte summa piscandi commoditate objecta.——
(Buch., lib. i., § 50.) Brassey Sound, in Shetland, has always been
one of the principal stations of the Dutch herring fishers; but the
The
fishery there is now principally carried on by the islanders.
produce is very various, the exports of herrings from the Orkneys
fluctuating from about 18,000 to 30,000 barrels. During the year
ending 5th of April, 1844, 2,913 barrels of herrings, and 39,154 cwt.
of cod, were cured in Shetland; but the herring "take" is occasionally
ORKNEY AND SHETLAND.
317
much more considerable. About 100,000 lobsters are supposed to
be annually shipped from the Orkneys for London. Vessels from
British ports, bound for the northern whale fishery, mostly touch
at Orkney or Shetland, and, besides taking on board supplies of pro-
visions, usually complete their crews with seamen belonging to the
islands, whom they put on shore on their way back. Rye straw grown
in Orkney has been found pretty well fitted to serve as a substitute
for the straw used in Italian plait; and the manufacture of this straw
into plait was carried on for several years to a considerable extent,
and with tolerable success; but latterly it has declined. Kelp, though
comparatively unprofitable, continues to be produced. Woollen stock-
ings and gloves, sometimes of extraordinary fineness, are exported from
Shetland. Messrs. Anderson, in their valuable work on the High-
lands, give the following account of the—
Sums received in Orkney, in 1833, from Farm Produce, Manufactures, Fisheries, &c.
Bere, or bigg, 5,178 bolls, at 15s. per boll of 6 bushels, or 20s. per
quarter
•
White oats, 1,515 bolls, at 12s. ditto of ditto, or 16s. per quarter
Malt, 10,696 bushels, sent to Leith, say 3s. per bushel
Peas, 234 ditto, at 3s.
Oatmeal, 40 bolls, at 14s. per boll of 140lb. imperial.
Horses, cows, and oxen, 954. 1 quarter horses, at 97.; 3 quarter
cows at 31.
•
Ditto, not entered at custom-house, about 246, at ditto
£. s. d.
3,883 10
909 0
0
0
1,604
8
0
35 2 0
28
0
0
4,290
O
0
0
1,104 0
0
0
0
0
80
0 0
2,700 0
0
600 0 0
250 0 0
2,250 0
0
Eggs sent to Leith, 50 tons, 100 dozen per cwt., 100,000 dozen at 6d. 2,500
Sheep and swine. 40 of each, at 17.
•
Butter, about 2,000l.; hides, about 7001.
Rabbit skins, more than 2,000 dozen, at 5s. 6d. per dozen
Feathers, about
Kelp, supposed scarcely to exceed 500 tons, at 47. 10s.
Straw manufacture, including rent, cutting, planting, &c.
Herrings, 34,000 barrels, at 10s. per barrel
•
•
•
Cod, fished by about 40 sloops of 30 tons, 14 tons each, at 137. per ton
Lobsters, caught by 432 men, in 216 boats
Whale fishing, about 25 ships, taking 20 men each, 500 men, at 157.
Hudson's Bay Company pay annually for the wages of men employed
in Hudson's Bay, about
4,800 0 0
17,000 0 0
7,280 0 0
1,800 0
0
7,500 0
0
1,500 0 0
Total
•
60,114 0 0
We regret we have no similar account for Shetland; but we believe
the sums received by its inhabitants do not differ materially from those
received by their neighbours in Orkney. The shipping of the islands
is considerable. In 1845 there belonged to the Orkneys 64 registered
vessels, carrying 4,820 tons; and there belonged at the same time to
Shetland 72 vessels, mostly under 50 tons, their aggregate burthen
being 2,025 tons.
The people of these remote islands being of Scandinavian, and not
Celtic origin, neither the Gaelic dress nor language has ever prevailed
amongst them.
All of them now speak English; but, of old, Norse
was the prevalent language. The cottages of the poorer ranks are, in
general, miserable hovels, affording accommodation in winter to cows
and fowls, as well as to the family. Owing to the scarcity or exhaustion
of the moss, the want of fuel is in some islands very severely felt. On
318
IRELAND.
the whole, however, the inhabitants are decidedly better off than those
of the Outer Hebrides, being comparatively industrious, civilized, well
clothed, and well fed. Kirkwall, in Orkney, and Lerwick, in Shetland,
the only towns of consequence in the islands, had, in 1841, the former
a population of 2,205, and the latter of 2,787. The society in both is
good, and the inhabitants hospitable.
Shetland, and parts of Orkney, suffer much from the exaction of
tithes they are not only charged upon the produce of the land, but
on that of the fisheries; and, being generally farmed, they are rigidly
collected, are productive of much irritation, and are a formidable
obstacle to improvement. Seeing the good effects that have resulted
everywhere else in Scotland from the abolition of tithes, it is singular
that they have not been commuted here. The feu duties payable to
the Crown, or rather to its donatory Lord Zetland, have also con-
tributed materially to check improvement. Marl, though neglected,
is common in Orkney. Lead ore, also, has been met with; and lime-
stone is of frequent occurrence. These islands are divided into 40
parishes. The gross rental of Orkney amounted, in 1842-3, to 21,4317.,
and that of Shetland to 17,4571. Annual value of real property in
both, in 1842-3, 42,7877.*
CHAPTER III.-IREland.
SECT. 1.-Name and Extent.-Face of the Country.
Name.-It is believed by many that the Phoenicians visited Ireland;
but, however this may be, it is mentioned by Aristotle and Strabo, by
the name of Ierne, derived, most probably, from the native name,
Erin. Cæsar, Tacitus, and Pliny call it Hibernia; and Pomponius
Mela, and some manuscripts of Ptolemy, Juverna.-( Cellarii, Notitia
Orbis Antiqui, tom. i., p. 440.) About the period when the Romans
withdrew from Britain, the Scoti, or Scotch, began to be distin-
guished as one of the principal Irish tribes; and the country seems to
have then received from them the name of Scotia, or Scotland. This
appellation was applied to it by the monkish writers, till the eleventh
century, when the term Scotia was transferred to the northern parts
of Great Britain, by means of a colony of Scotch, from Ireland,
which established itself in the West Highlands. The old name of
Hibernia began to be revived; and, at a later period, it gave way
to the Gothic term Ireland, supposed by some to be a modification
of the native name, Erin, or land of the west.-(Camden's Britannia,
*For further information as to the Orkney Islands, see (exclusive of Messrs.
Anderson's work, already referred to) Wallace's Description of the Orkney Islands,
8vo., Lond., 1700; Barry's History of Orkney, 4to., Edinburgh, 1805; and Sheriff's
Agricultural Survey of Orkney, 8vo., Edinburgh. As to the Shetland Islands, see
Edmonston's View of Zetland, 2 vols. 8vo., Edinburgh, 1809; Hibbert's Description
of the Shetland Islands, 4to., Edinburgh, 1822; and Sheriff's Agricultural Survey of
Shetland, 8vo., Edinburgh, 1814. Various tracts and works have been published
on the fisheries and antiquities of the islands.
SITUATION-EXTENT-AREA.
319
Gibson's ed., vol. ii., p. 1310; Pinkerton's Geography, ed. 1802, vol. i.,
p. 210.)
Situation.-Ireland lies to the west of Great Britain, between the
parallels of 51° 25′ and 55° 23′ north latitude, and of 6° and 11° west
longitude. Its figure approaches to that of a rhomboid; and, though
it is in various places, particularly on the west coast, deeply indented
by the sea, it is decidedly more compact than Great Britain. The
Atlantic surrounds it everywhere except on its eastern shores, which
are separated from Britain by the Irish sea; or, rather, by St. George's
Channel, the Irish sea, and the North Channel. The first, or St.
George's Channel, includes that portion of the sea lying between the
coast of Wales and the coast of Ireland from Carnsore Point to Dublin;
the second, or the Irish sea, properly so called, extends froin Dublin
to Donaghadee, having the Isle of Man in its centre, North Wales on
its south, Lancashire and Cumberland on its east, and Galloway on its
north side; while the third, or North Channel, extends from Donag-
hadee to Rathlin Island, having on the opposite Scotch coast the
Rhynns of Galloway, the Mull of Cantire, &c. From St. David's
Head in Wales, across to Carnsore Point, the distance is about 47
miles; from Port Patrick, in the Rhynns of Galloway, to Donaghadee,.
the distance is 22 miles; but from the Mull of Cantire to Tor Point,
in Ireland, is only 13 miles.
Extent. The longest line that can be drawn in Ireland on the
same meridian, (very nearly the 8th deg. W. long.,) extends from
Ballycotton Flagstaff in Cork, (lat. 51° 49′ 42.8" N.,) to near Horn-
head Tower in Donegal, (lat. 55° 12′ 59.3″ N.,) a distance of 234·2
miles. The greatest diagonal length of Ireland is between Mizen
Head in Cork, (lat. 51° 27′ 47.5″ N., long. 9° 48′ 35·9″ W.,) and
Fairhead in Antrim, (lat. 55° 13′ 32.7" N., long. 6° 9' 3.8" W.,)
being 301 miles. The greatest breadth of Ireland, or the longest line
that can be drawn cross-wise in the island, in the same parallel of lati-
tude, (54° 16′ 10″ N.,) extends between Doonamo Point, off Erris Head,
in Mayo, (long. 10° 5′ 12″ W.,) and a point on the coast of Down, a
little to the north of Ardglass Lighthouse, (long. 5° 34′ 49″ W.,) a
distance of 182 miles. But in other places the breadth is much less.
Thus between Ballyshannon and Dundalk it is only 85 miles; and
between Tyrone, at the bottom of Galway Bay, and Dublin, the
distance is not more than 108 miles. So conveniently, indeed, is
Ireland situated, in respect of water communication, that there is no
part more than 50 or 55 miles distant from the sea, or from one of its
arms.
The
Area. Having few well-ascertained data to go upon, the estimates
of geographers have differed materially as to the area of Ireland.
first entitled to attention is that of Sir William Petty, employed by the
government of Cromwell to complete a survey of the lands forfeited
during the great rebellion of 1641. This has been called the Down
Survey. Considering the time when, and the circumstances under
which it was executed, it is a work of wonderful accuracy; and con-
tinues, to this day, to be referred to as evidence in courts of law.* It
* Copies of part of the maps composing the Down Survey were taken by Sir Wil-
liam Petty, for his own use; but, being shipped for England, the vessel in whichi
320
IRELAND.
scarcely, however, embraced any part of the province of Connaught;
and, in consequence partly of this circumstance, and partly of errors
arising from other sources, Sir William Petty materially underrated
the area of Ireland, having represented it as containing only about
10,500,000 Irish, or about 17,000,000 English acres. (Political
Anatomy of Ireland, p. 1.) Mr. Templeman, of Bury, estimated the
area of Ireland at 27,457 square miles, or 18,372,480 acres. But this
was little better than a guess; and all previous estimates were thrown
into the shade by that of Dr. Beaufort. Having carefully collated the
best county and other maps, and rectified not a few of their errors, the
Doctor computed the area of the entire kingdom at "considerably
more than 18,750 square Irish miles, or several thousand acres above
12,000,000 Irish measure; which is equal to 30,370 English square
miles, or 19,436,000 English acres."-(Memoir of a Map of Ireland,
p. 14.) But even this estimate is more than a million of acres under
the mark. For it appears from the authentic data furnished by the
Ordnance Survey, that the total area of Ireland amounts to 32,513
square miles, or to 20,808,271 acres. (See Table opposite.)
Face of the Country.-Compared with Scotland, Ireland, though
in many parts mountainous, may be said to be decidedly flat; and,
notwithstanding the great extent of bog, the arable land bears a far
larger proportion to the whole country than in Scotland; while the
grass lands, when in tolerable order, have generally a deeper verdure
and a more luxuriant vegetation. When compared with England,
Ireland seems almost destitute of timber; there not being, in many
extensive districts, a natural wood, plantation, or even a hedge, to be
seen. The farm buildings and cottages are, for the most part, mean
and wretched, and strongly impress the traveller with the most un-
favourable conclusions as to the condition of their occupiers, which are
but too much confirmed by their dress, habits, and appearance. The
cultivated land seems to every one, however little acquainted with
agriculture, to be ill-managed and dirty. But, perhaps, there is
nothing that makes a deeper impression on an Englishman or a
Scotchman, visiting Ireland for the first time, than the contrast be-
tween what are called the desmesnes (parks) of the nobility and gentry
and the immediately contiguous parts of their estates. In Britain, it
is frequently very difficult, when one cannot see the wall or fence, to
discriminate between what is, and what is not, park. But in Ireland
this is a matter about which there can be no mistake. They differ as
widely as light and darkness. Within the park we have wood, neat
cottages, moderately good farming, good teams, fine pasture land, and
perhaps deer; but the instant we cross its boundaries, we seem to be
in a totally different region; and, in nine cases out of ten, not a tree
is to be seen, and we meet only with hovels, the vilest management,
miserable teams, and the most unequivocal symptoms of a want of
they were embarked was captured by a privateer and carried to France, when the
maps came into the possession of the French court. A number of the originals, that
remained in Ireland, were subsequently much injured by fire, and some of them
altogether destroyed; but their place has been supplied by copies taken by General
Vallancey, and others, from the captured maps, now in the Royal Library at Paris.
-(See Report on the Survey and Valuation of Ireland, Appendix, p. 133, &c.)
AREA.
321

Table showing the Baronies and Parishes in each of the several Counties and Provinces of Ireland; the extent of each in Square Miles and English
Statute Acres: specifying separately the extent of Cultivated Land (including Area of Towns) and of Uncultivated Land, Plantations, and
Water; and showing the Fractional Part of the entire Area of Ireland, supposing it to be 1000, contained in each County and Province.
Distribution of Area.
Territorial Divisions.
Provinces and Counties.
Number Number
of
of
Baronies. Parishes.
Area
in
Area
in English
Square Miles. Statute Acres.
Cultivated,
including
Towns.
Uncultivated.
Plantations.
Water.
Corresponding
Proportions of each
County to 1000,
assumed as
the Total Area of
Ireland.
VOL. I.
Leinster.
Carlow
7
47
346
221,342
184,661
31,249
4,927
505
10.637
Dublin
10
99
354
226,414
201,583
19,312
5,519
10.881
Kildare
14
116
654
418,436
357,277
51,854
8,288
1,017
20.109
Kilkenny
11
140
796
509,732
471,651
21.126
13,899
3,056
24.497
King's
12
51
772
493,985
338,158
145,836
8,258
1,733
23.740
Longford
6
26
421
269,409
192,187
58,937
4,610
13,675
12.947
Louth
6
64
315
201,906
180,172
15,603
5,318
813
9.703
Meath
18
146
906
579,899
547,855
16,033
12,767
3,244
27.869
Queen's
11
53
664
424,854
343,539
69,289
11,630
396
20.417
Westmeath
12
63
709
453,468
365,846
56,392
8,803
22,427
21.793
Wexford
9
144
901
576.588
513,094
45,501
14,325
3.668
27.709
Wicklow
8
59
781
500,178
280,734
200,754
17,600
1,090
24.038
Totals
124
1,008
7,619
4,876,211
3,976,757
731,886
115,944
51,624
234·340
Munster.
Clare
11
80
1,294
827,994
455,737
296,033
8,304
67,920
39.791
Cork
23
251
2.885
1,846,333
1,315,397
465,889
52,180
12,867
88 731
Kerry
Limerick
Tipperary
8
13
12
Waterford
∞ 10 ∞ ∞
87
1,853
1,186,126
415,421
726,775
11,169
32,761
57.003
131
1,064
680,842
529,635
121, 101
11,575
18,531
32.720
193
1,659
1,061,731
846,246
178,183
23,779
13,523
51.024
8
82
721
461,553
326,870 105,496
23,408
5,779
22.181
Totals
75
824
9,476
6,064,579
3,889,306 1,893,477
130,415
151,381
291.450
I
322
IRELAND.
Table showing the Baronies and Parishes in each of the several Counties and Provinces of Ireland, &c.-continued.
Territorial Divisions.
Area
in
Distribution of Area.
Provinces and Counties.
Number Number
of
of
Baronies. Parishes.
Square Miles.
Area
in English
Statute Acres.
Cultivated,
including
Towns.
Uncultivated.
Plantations.
Water.
Corresponding
Proportions of each
County to 1000,
assumed as
the Total Area of
Ireland.
Ulster.
Antrim
Armagh
·
15
8
28
Cavan
8
36
100000
75
1,190
761,877
517,808
180,423
10,358
53,288
36.614
513
328,076
266,021
35,117
8,996
17,942
15.767
746
477,360
375,975
71,918
7,325
22,142
22.941
Donegal
6
51
1,865
1.193,443
393,670
769,587
7,079
23,107
57.354
Down
10
70
957
612,495
516,391
78,317
14,355
3,432
29.435
Fermanagh
8
23
714
457,195
289,438
114,847
6,155
46,755
21.972
Londonderry
6
43
810
518,595
319,841
180,709
7,718
10,327
24.923
Monaghan
5
23
500
319,757
286,189
21,585
5,816
6,167
15.367
,
Tyrone
4
42
1,260
806,640
450,996
311,867
11,981
31,796
38.765
Totals
70
391
8,555
5,475,438
3,416,329 1,764,370
79,783
214,956
263.138
Connaught.
Galway
18
120
2,447
1,566,354
744,606 708,000
23,718
90,030
75.276
Leitrim
5
17
613
392,363
249,350
115,869
3,396
23,748
18.856
Mayo
9
73
2,131
1,363.882
498,435
800,111
8,360
56,976
€5.545
Roscommon
9
58
950
607,691
441,290
130,299
6,732
29,370
29.204
Sligo
6
41
722
Totals
47
309
6,863
461,753
4,392,043
291,156 151,723
6,134
12,740
22.191
2,224,837 1,906,002
48,340
212,864
211.072
General Totals
316
2,532
32,513
20,808,271 13,507,229 6,295,735
374,482 630,825
1,000.000



UNIMPROVED LAND.
323
Table showing the extent of Unimproved Pasture and Bog Land in the different
Counties of Ireland, distinguishing its Elevation and the quantities Improveable
and Unimproveable, &c. (compiled by Mr. Griffith for Land Occupation Com-
mission).

Coarse
Coarse
Pasture
Pasture
below
Improveable Improveable
Counties.
above
800 feet,
800 feet over
Sea Level.
including
for
Cultivation.
for
Pasture.
Unim-
proveable.
Total.
Flow Bogs,
&c.
Leinster.
Acres.
Acres.
Acres.
Acres.
Acres.
Acres.
Carlow
Dublin
•
16,500
15,500
17,000
6,000
9,000
32,000
19,000
1,500
6,000
11,500
19,000
Kildare
•
8,000
44,000
16,000
31,000
5,000
52,000
Kilkenny
18,000
3,000
7,500
6,000
7,500
21,000
King's
9,000
137,000
45,000
94,000
7,000
146,000
Longford
3,500
55,500
18,000
38,000
3,000
59,000
Louth
11,500
3,500
3,000
5,000
7,000
15,000
Meath
3,500
12,500
6,000
8,000
2,000
16,000
Queen's
39,000
•
30,000
18,000
26,000
25,000
69,000
Westmeath
3,000
53,000
18,000
37,000
1,000
56,000
Wexford
16,000
29,000
16,000
18,000
11,000
45,000
Wicklow
164,500
36,500
20,000
70,000
111,000
201,000
Totals
311,500
419,500
186,000
345,000
200,000
731,000
Ulster.
Antrim
Armagh
Cavan
Donegal
Down
108,500
68,500
40,000
70,000
67,000
177,000
•
22,000
13,000
12,000
13,000
10,000
35,000
·
45,000
27,000
20,000
28,000
24,000
72,000
•
253,000
516,000
150,000
250,000
369,000
769,000
•
45,000
33,000
20,000
30,000
28,000
78,000
Fermanagh
34,000
81,000
40,000
50,000
25,000
115,000
Londonderry
69,000
112,000
50,000
60,000
71,000
181,000
Monaghan
•
14,500
6,500
7,000
8,000
6,000
21,000
Tyrone
127,000
185,000
80,000
120,000
112,000
312,000
Totals
718,000
1,042,000
419,000
629,000
712,000
1,760,000
Connaught.
Galway
Leitrim
•
95,000
613,000
160,000
250,000
298,000
708,000
•
•
55,500
60,500
30,000
36,000
50,000
116,000
Mayo
·
163,000
637,000
170,000
300,000
330,000
100,000
Roscommon
2,000
128,000
40,000
80,000
10,000
130,000
Sligo.
55,000
97,000
30,000
60,000
62,000
152,000
Totals
370,500
1,535,500
430,000
726,000
750,000 1,906,000
Munster.
Clare
29,000
267,000
60,000
100,000
136,000
296,000
Cork.
170,000
296,000
100,000
150,000
216,000
466,000
Kerry
217,000
510,000
150,000
250 000
327,000
727,000
Limerick
41,000
80,000
30,000
40,000
51,000
121,000
Tipperary
111,000
67,000
30,000
60,000
88,000
178,000
Waterford
66,000
39,000
20,000
30,000
55,000
105,000
Totals
634,000
1,259,000
390,000
630,000
873,000
1,893,000
ABSTRACT.

Provinces.
Leinster.
311,500
419,500
186,000
345,000
200,000
Ulster
718,000 1,042,000
419,000
629,000
Connaught
370,500 1,535,500
430,000
726,000
Munster.
634,000 1,259,000
390,000
630,000
731,000
712,000 1,760,000
750,000 1,906,000
873,000
1,893,000
Totals
2,034,000 4,256,000 1,425,000 2,330,000
2,535,000
6,290,000
Y 2
324
IRELAND.
capital and enterprise. The fields in Ireland are generally smaller
than even the smallest of those in England; and, if they be divided
at all, it is usually with what are called turf dykes, which neither
make good fences nor afford shelter, at the same time that they have a
poor, miserable look. Such seem to be the leading characteristics
in the appearance of Ireland. It must not, however, be supposed
that they are everywhere to be met with; unfortunately, they are far
too prevalent; but, in various parts, the aspect of the country is such
as would do no discredit even to the best districts of England.
May these exceptions to the general rule daily become more con-
siderable!
SECT. 2.—Mountains, Level Lands, &c.
Though some of the Irish counties are hilly, and others mountainous,
it would be incorrect to say that such is the general character of the
country. Several counties, to use the words of Dr. Beaufort, are tole-
rably level, and others quite flat.-(Memoir of a Map of Ireland, p. 10.)
With the exception of the Wicklow mountains, and those of Mourne, in
Down, the most mountainous parts of Ireland are on the west coast, par-
ticularly in Kerry, Clare, Galway, Mayo, Sligo, and Donegal. Macgil-
licuddy's reeks, near Killarney, in Kerry, are the highest of the Irish
mountains. Carn Tual, the most elevated summit, has been deter-
mined by the Ordnance Survey to be 3,404 feet above the level of the sea.
Mangerton, in the immediate vicinity of Killarney, formerly supposed
to be the highest mountain in Ireland, is only 2,754 feet high. The
general direction of the Kerry mountains is from west to east: a ridge
runs from them along the south side of the Black-water, by which it
is crossed, as far east as Cappoquin. North of this, in the south-
western part of Tipperary, are the Knock-mei-le-down and the Galtee
mountains. The Devil's-bit and the Sliebhbloom mountains run in a
south-east and north-west directions for more than 30 miles, dividing
the King's and Queen's counties: they form the line of demarcation
between the rivers falling into the Shannon on the north-west, and the
Suir, Nore, Barrow, &c., flowing to the east. The Keeper, the highest
point in this ridge, has an elevation of 2,265 feet.
The famous pass,
called the Gap of Glandine, leads across these mountains. The
Wicklow mountains occupy an area of about 30 miles in length, and 12
in breadth. The highest amongst them, Lugnaquilla, has an elevation
of 3,039 feet. Some of the glens in this mountainous tract are justly
celebrated for their picturesque beauty. The Mourne mountains in
Down lie to the north of Carlingford bay, and approach close to the
sea. Sliebhdonard, the highest of the group, has an elevation of 2,796
feet. Donegal is much encumbered with mountains, but they do not,
speaking generally, attain to any very great height: the highest,
Errigal, has an elevation of 2,462 feet. The western parts of Con-
naught present a formidable barrier of mountains to break the fury of
the Atlantic storms. Nephin in Mayo, one of the most remarkable
mountains in this province, has been measured by Mr. Bald: the mean
of whose observations gives its height 2,639 feet above the level of the
The height of Croagh-Patrick, overhanging the south side of
sea.
MOUNTAINS, ETC.
325
Clew Bay, is 2,499 feet. It may, perhaps, be worth mentioning, that,
according to the legendary history of Ireland, St. Patrick, having
collected all the snakes and other venomous reptiles of Ireland on this
mountain, precipitated them headlong into the sea!
An altar or
cairn is erected on its summit in memory of the event; and to it pil-
grimages are still sometimes made. Muilrea in Mayo, on the north
side of Killery harbour, has an altitude of 2,680 feet. The moun-
tains called the Twelve Pins, in Connamara, a little to the west of
Ardbear harbour, are very conspicuous landmarks, the highest of them
rising 2,396 feet above the level of the sea. Generally, the Irish
mountains are of easy ascent, admitting of cultivation a considerable
way up their sides; but some of them are precipitous, terminating in
cones or spires.
Altitudes of the principal Mountains in Ireland, as determined by the Ordnance
Survey.
Feet.
Feet.
Knocklayd, Co. Antrim
•
1,685
Sliebhdonard, Co. Down
2,796
Throstan,
1,810
Sliebhbingian,
,,
2,449
Slemish,
1,437
Eagle Mountain,
2,084
Divis,
1,568
Sliebhcroob,
1,755
Sawel, Co. Londonderry
2,236
Sliebhgullion, Co. Armagh
•
1,893
Benbradagh,
1.531
Belmore, Co. Fermanagh
•
1,312
Carntogher,
1,521
Carnmore,
1,034
Sliebhgallion.
1,730
Cuilcagh, Co. Cavan
2,188
Errigal, Co. Donegal
2,462
Benbo, Co. Leitrim.
1,365
Muckish
2,190
Sliebhsnaght, east,
2,019
Bluestack,
2,113
Truskmore, Co. Sligo
2,113
Benbulbin
•
1,697
Sliebhbon, north, Co. Roscommon
south,
839
Lackagh,
Sliebhanierin,
Brandon, Co. Kilkenny
Keeper, Co. Tipperary
Devil's Bit,
Sliebhnaman
1,448
1,922
1,696
•
2,265
•
1,572
•
2,362
85
Galtymore
3,008
Carnclonhugh, Co. Longford
912
Craig, Co. Clare
1,715
Nephin, Co. Mayo
2,369
Knockaness,
1,305
Croagh-Patrick,
2,499
Callan,
1,288
Muilrea,
2,680
Knockfeerna, Co. Limerick
937
Twelvepins, Co. Galway
Seefin,
1,706
2,396
(highest of)
Brandon, Co. Kerry
3,120
Beinnacoire,
2,337
Carn Tual,
3,404
Carlingford, Co. Louth
1,935
Mangerton,
,,
2,754
Ravensdale,
1,674
The Paps,
2,280
Kippure, Co. Dublin.
2,473
Mount Gabriel, Co. Cork
1,335
Great Sugarloaf, Co. Wicklow
1,651
Caherbarna,
2,234
Lugnaquilla,
3,039
Shehy,
1,796
Mount Leinster, Co. Carlow
2,604
Hungra Hill,
2,248
Sliebhbloom Arden Erin,
Queen's County
1,689
Monavullagh, Co. Waterford
•
2,598
Level Lands.--There is not in Ireland any fen land, and there are
few or none of what are in England called valleys. But there are,
notwithstanding, very large tracts of level land. From Dublin to the
Bay of Galway, a vast plain stretches across the kingdom. It con-
sists partly of rich cultivated land; but it contains within it a number
of very extensive bogs, lying partly in Kildare, King's County, and
Roscommon, and partly in Meath, Westmeath, and Queen's County.
These bogs are included under the general designation of the Bog of
326
IRELAND.
Allen. Though flat, this bog has a mean elevation of about 250 feet
above the level of the sea; and several rivers that flow in opposite
directions have their sources in it; the summit level of the grand
canal which passes through its centre, is about 270 feet above the
mean tide level in Dublin bay. The flat or red bogs, in different parts
of the kingdom, are supposed to occupy nearly 1,600,000 acres.—
(See post.) Exclusive also of the plain now mentioned, and of the
flat bogs, there are very extensive tracts of flat rich land in Tipperary,
Limerick, Meath, Clare, and other counties.
SECT. 3.- Rivers and River Ports.-Lakes.
Owing to the greater similarity of the surface of the two countries,
the rivers of Ireland partake much more of the character of those of
England than those of Scotland. Flowing, in general, for the greater
part of their course, through a flat country, they are rarely rapid, and
are but seldom interrupted by cataracts or ledges of rock. They are
mostly navigable for a considerable way; and sometimes, indeed, as
in the case of the Shannon and the Barrow, to within a short distance
of their sources. They consequently give greater facilities to the com-
merce of the country; affording convenient means for the exportation
of its native produce, and for the importation of foreign materials
of manufacture and consumption.
Shannon.-This is by far the largest and most important of the
Irish rivers; and is hardly, indeed, inferior, if it be not superior, to
any in the British Isles. It has in many respects, particularly in its
nearly insulating an extensive province, in the direction of its course,
the length of its navigation, and the magnitude of its æstuary, a
striking resemblance to the Severn. Its source is generally traced to
the base of Cuilcagh Mountain, in the north-west part of Cavan.
After running a few miles, it falls into Lough Allen, about 10 miles
loug, and from 4 to 5 broad; its course thence to Limerick being
south, with a small inclination to the west. Issuing from Lough
Allen, it passes Leitrim, Carrick, Tarmonbarry, &c., expanding at
Lanesborough into Lough Ree. This, which is a very irregularly
shaped extensive sheet of water, is about 17 miles in length.
ing it, the river, now greatly augmented, passes Athlone, and then
winds by Shannon Bridge, and Banagher to Portumna, near which
it expands into Lough Derg, a narrow lake 23 miles in length, with
deep bays and inlets, covering an area of 29,570 acres, from which it
lows on to Limerick. Here, having met the tide, it takes a west-
south-west direction; and, gradually spreading out into a noble æstuary,
unites with the Atlantic between Kerry Head and Loop Head, about
70 miles lower down.
Leav-
From the Head of Lough Allen to its mouth, the Shannon has a
course of about 214 miles; viz. Lough Allen, 10 miles; Lough Allen
to Lough Ree, 43 miles; Lough Ree, 17 miles; Lough Reeto Lough
Derg, 36 miles; Lough Derg, 23 miles; Lough Derg to Limerick,
15; and thence to the river's mouth, 70 miles. Loop Head and Kerry
Head are about 8 miles apart.
But the distance to which it has been rendered navigable is the
RIVERS AND RIVER PORTS.
327
most extraordinary circumstance connected with the Shannon. In
this respect, indeed, it is superior to the Thames, Severn, Trent, or
any English river. If Lough Allen, be (as it is considered by some),
reckoned its source, it is navigable to its very head; but, tracing its
origin to the base of Cuilcagh Mountain, there are only 6 or 7, out of
its entire course of about 220 miles, that may not be navigated! It
is unnecessary to insist on the value of a river of this sort flowing
through the very centre of Ireland, insulating the great province of
Connaught, and "washing the shores" of ten out of the thirty-two
counties which the island comprises.
Unluckily, however, the navigation of the Shannon, like that of
most other rivers not of very great depth, is, in certain places, and at
certain seasons, a good deal obstructed. It may be navigated, with
no very serious difficulty, from the sea to Limerick by ships of 400
tons burden. But immediately above the city, and in some other places,
its course is impeded by rocks and rapids, and large sums have been
expended in improving those parts of the navigation, partly by making
lateral cuts, and partly by deepening the bed of the river. The level
of Lough Allen is about 144 feet above high-water mark at Limerick ;
the ascent being overcome by locks, mostly placed in situations where
lateral cuts have been made to avoid the rapids. But till recently the
navigation of the Shannon, considering its paramount importance, was
by no means in a satisfactory state. In dry seasons it was impeded by
shallows, on which there were sometimes only from 2 to 3 feet water;
and during floods the channel of the river, owing to its frequently ex-
panding into extensive lakes, and the lowness of its banks, was not
easily discovered. Had it been an English river, these difficulties
would have been overcome long ago; and the money expended upon it
might, had it been properly and effectually applied, have sufficed to
obviate them. Formerly, however, the works were very inefficiently
managed; but such has not been the case since they were placed under
the superintendence of the Board of Works; and the navigation of this
fine river is now, especially in the upper part, in a greatly improved
state. The introduction of steam tugs and steam vessels on the loughs
of the Shannon has been of infinite service. They have, in fact, done
as much for it as for the Caledonian Canal.
The importance of the Shannon, as a commercial river, has been
materially increased by its junction with the Grand and Royal Canals
from Dublin. Though defective both in their plan and execution,
and made at an immense expense, still it is not to be denied that they
are, particularly the Grand Canal, of great public utility. In con-
nection with the Shannon, they have opened a communication by water
across the island, so that persons living in its centre may send their
produce, at a moderate expense, to Dublin or Limerick, as they find
most advantageous. This laying open of new and almost boundless
markets has given a stimulus to the improvement of the central parts
of Ireland, of which it is not easy to overrate the influence, and which
will, no doubt, be as permanent as it is powerful.
From its situation at the head of the estuary of the Shannon, in a
country naturally of the most exuberant fertility, 70 miles from the
sea, Limerick is the principal emporium of the west of Ireland; and
328
IRELAND.
its commerce is extensive and rapidly increasing. The value of
the produce, such as corn, flour, bacon and pork, butter, beef, &c.,
shipped from the port in 1820, amounted to 525,625l., whereas, in
1832 it amounted to 1,005,7267., in 1835, when prices were very low,
to 726,000l., and now (1846) probably exceeds 1,200,000l.
The badness of the accommodation for shipping is, however, a heavy
drawback upon its trade. At low water ships are obliged to lie
aground; and as the bottom consists of hard, rugged, limestone rock,
which has not even been smoothed, vessels of considerable burden, and
those that are sharp built, are liable to be seriously injured; and, in
point of fact, a great deal of damage is annually sustained by the
shipping in the port.
To obviate these inconveniences, the 4 Geo. IV., c. 94 provides for
the construction of floating docks in the bed of the river opposite the
city. This, however, is a project which should not be rashly gone
into. It may be doubted whether it be possible, at least with any
reasonable outlay, to make Limerick a good port. The truth seems to
be, that it is built 15 miles too high up. The navigation immediately
below the city is, in many places, narrow and encumbered with rocks;
so that, even supposing a floating dock were constructed at the city,
it would be necessary, to provide the requisite facilities for shipping,
to expend a large additional sum on the removal of the obstructions in
the river: and the tolls required to defray the cost of the dock and of
these excavations would form a very heavy burden on the shipping
using the port, and might go far to neutralise the influence of the
improvement. Perhaps, therefore, the better plan would be to con-
struct piers and warehouses about 15 miles lower down, alongside
which large ships might lie safely afloat at low water; and, while this
could be done for half the expense that a floating dock could be con-
structed, it would save all the expense of removing obstructions in the
channel. The barges that navigate the Shannon above Limerick could
carry down their cargoes to the new port, conveying back the imported
goods destined for the city and for the interior. There may, no doubt,
be difficulties in the way of this project of which we are not aware;
but at present we are disposed to think it would be preferable to any
attempt to improve the existing port. Something, however, should be
done in the matter one way or another. In its present situation, the
harbour of Limerick is a disgrace to its inhabitants, to Ireland, and to
the empire.
The Shannon is easy of access. Both Loop Head and Kerry Head
are bold and prominent; and, to prevent ships mistaking the one for
the other, a lighthouse has been erected on the former. The first
good anchorage within the river, without the reach of the tide, is in
Carrigaholt Bay, to the east of Kilkadrane point, 3 leagues from Loop
Head. A lighthouse has been erected on this point, and it is proposed
to carry from it a pier, to protect the south side of the bay. There is
also excellent anchorage in 6 fathoms water, farther up the river, on
the east side of Inniscattery Island; but the best anchorage is said to
be still higher up, to the south of Tarbert Island, and in the bay
between Mountshannon and Rinallen Point, and between the latter
and Ilanagranoch Island, in from 6 to 12 and 13 fathoms, with the
RIVERS AND RIVER PORTS.
329
t
ground clean and good. There is, indeed, within this noble river,
ample and excellent accommodation for the largest fleets.
The Suck, the principal tributary of the Shannon, rises in Ros-
common. Its course is south, inclining to the east, dividing the
counties of Roscommon and Galway, by Castlerea, Athleague, and
Ballinasloe, till it unites with the Shannon at Shannon Bridge. On
its east side the Shannon receives the Inny, the Upper and Lower
Brusna, Mulkerna, Maig, Fergus, &c. The last two are navigable to
a considerable distance.
Bandon.—Leaving the Shannon, and turning eastward by Cape
Clear, the Bandon is the first river we meet with of any importance.
It is described by Spencer as "the pleasant Bandon, crowned with
many a wood." But most part of the timber that ornamented the
country through which it flows in the reign of Elizabeth, has been cut
down, and its place is but very indifferently supplied by modern
plantations. It was anciently called Glasheen: its course from the
mountains of Carbery, where it rises, is nearly west to Bandon Bridge;
it then winds north-east to Innisshannon, whence it pursues a south-
east course, till it falls into the sea, a little below Kinsale, built on its
æstuary. Kinsale is a good harbour for all sorts of ships, having, at
ebb tide, 12 feet water over the bar at its mouth.
Lee. This river has its source in the small lake of Guogaun Barra,
in the western part of the county of Cork, on the confines of Kerry,
7 or 8 miles north from the bottom of Bantry Bay. Soon after it
issues from its parent lake, it expands into Lough Lua. On its exit
from the latter, it flows eastward for about a dozen miles, when it
receives a large accession of water from the Muskerry mountains. It
pursues its easterly course through Cork to Little Island, 5 miles
below the city, where it unites with the arm or inlet of the sea form-
ing Cork Harbour.
The Lee is navigable as far as Cork for vessels of from 150 to 200
tons burden. But its port is properly at Cove, in Great Island, in
Cork Harbour, where the largest men-of-war may lie in perfect
safety. The trade of Cork, including that of Cove, is very exten-
sive.
(For an account of the harbour see description of Sea Coast.)
Blackwater.—This, which is sometimes called the Broadwater,
though inferior in commercial importance, is a larger river than either
the Bandon or Lee. It rises in the mountains, on the confines of
Limerick and Kerry, which it divides for a short way. Leaving
Limerick, its course is almost due south, forming for about 16 miles
the line of separation between Cork and Kerry. At the round tower
of Nohovaldaly it takes an easterly direction, passing near Kanturk,
Mallow, and Fermoy, till it reaches Cappoquin. It then turns sud-
denly south, and, after a further course of about a dozen miles, it ex-
pands into Youghal Bay, meeting the sea immediately below the town.
Its entire course may be estimated at about 100 miles.
Along its southern side, from Drishane to Cappoquin, the Black-
water has a ridge of lofty mountains, while on the other side it has a
large extent of flat and fertile country. It is rather rapid, and is more
than usually liable to overflow its banks. At present it
At present it is hardly
navigable beyond the reach of the tide, or, under favourable circum-
330
IRELAND.
stances, as far as Cappoquin; but formerly it is said to have been
navigable, up to Mallow, for vessels of considerable burden.-(Lord
Orrery's Letters, p. 134.) There is a bar at the mouth of the river,
which has only from 4 to 5 feet water at low, and but 13 feet at high
water neaps, so that it is not accessible by vessels drawing more than
12 feet water, which lie afloat in the river off the middle of the town.
This deficiency of water, combined with the proximity of the harbours
of Cork and Waterford, has done much to circumscribe the trade of
Youghal within the narrowest limits. Still, however, it is a pretty
considerable port for the exportation of corn and other raw produce.
The Blackwater receives several considerable tributaries, of which
the Allua, Awbeg, Funcheon, and Bride are among the most con-
siderable. Spencer lived on the banks of the Awbeg, and has immor-
lised it under the more poetical name of "the gentle Mulla."
The Bandon, Lee, and Blackwater belong, the first two entirely,
and the latter almost entirely, to the county of Cork. They run
nearly parallel to each other, the Bandon about 7 miles south, and the
Blackwater about 14 north from the Lee. They are all pretty well
supplied with salmon.
Suir or Sure. This important river rises in the Sliebhbloom
mountains, in the north-east angle of Tipperary, near the source of
the Nore: its course is south, inclining to the west through Tipperary,
till, below the village of Ardfinnan, it takes a south-easterly direction.
But, on receiving the Nyre from the west, it fetches a sudden compass
by the north to Clonmel : during the remainder of its course, past
Carrick, till it falls into its æstuary below Waterford, its course is
generally south. From its junction with the Nyre, it forms the line
of demarcation between the counties of Tipperary and Kilkenny, and
Waterford.
In a commercial point of view, the Suir is one of the most valuable
rivers in Ireland. Vessels of 500 tons burden come up to Waterford,
15 miles from the sea, and lie safely in deep water alongside the quays;
and the river is farther navigable by large barges as far as Clonmel.
Owing to its favourable situation, and the excellence of its harbour,
Waterford has a great and rapidly increasing trade. Besides being
the natural emporium of the rich and extensive county of Tipperary,
with the southern part of Kilkenny, and the west part of Waterford,
a good deal of the produce brought down by the Nore and the Barrow
is shipped from it. Hence its commerce, which is already very ex-
tensive, will no doubt continue to increase with the improvement of
the territory of which it is the grand outlet. The exports principally
consist of corn and flour, butter, beef, bacon and pork, hides, tallow,
&c. Their total value amounted, in 1835, to the immense sum of
1,821,2457.
Nore. This river has its source, as already mentioned, in the
Sliebhbloom mountains, a little to the north-east of the source of the
Suir. It flows southerly, but inclines to the east, through Kilkenny,
Thomastown, and Inistioge, falling into the Barrow, about 2 miles
above New Ross. For a considerable part of its course it is rather
rapid, but it is navigable for considerable vessels as far as Inistioge,
and for barges to Thomastown. It has been attempted, but found
RIVERS AND RIVER PORTS.
331
impracticable, to render it navigable as far as Kilkenny; and, in con-
sequence, it is now in contemplation to cut a canal from that city to
the Barrow.
Barrow.-Next to the Shannon, the Barrow is decidedly the most
important of the Irish rivers. Like the Suir and the Nore, it rises in
the Sliebhbloom mountains, in the barony of Tinnehinch, in Queen's
County. Its course is first north-east to Portarlington, then east to
Monasterevan, and thence nearly due south, past Athy, Carlow, Graig,
and New Ross, about 8 miles below which it falls into the grand
æstuary of Waterford Harbour, of which it forms the right arm.
The Barrow divides Queen's County from Kildare, and, after par-
tially intersecting Carlow, it forms the boundary between it and
Kilkenny, and between the latter and Wexford. It used to form the
line of demarcation between the English pale and the native Irish.
Considering its moderate magnitude, the Barrow is navigable to a
great distance, large ships ascending it as far as New Ross, which is
its port, and barges as far as Athy (above 60 miles in a direct line
from the sea), where it is joined by a branch from the Grand Canal.
This length of navigation has not, however, been effected except at a
very considerable expense, incurred in removing obstructions and
deepening the bed of the river; and, like most other works of the
kind in Ireland, it is not in a very satisfactory state.
But, notwithstanding its defects, the navigation of the Barrow has
been of singular utility to Kildare, Queen's County, Carlow, and Kil-
kenny, seeing that it has not only opened to them a ready access to
the important markets of Waterford and New Ross, but also to those
of Dublin. It is not, therefore, very easy to exaggerate the stimulus
it has given to improvement.
The basin of the three sister rivers, Suir, Nore, and Barrow, which
have their embouchure in Waterford harbour, is very extensive. It
includes Tipperary, Queen's County, Kilkenny, part of Kildare, Car-
low, with parts of Wexford and Waterford.
Slaney. This, which is the last of the southern Irish rivers of any
importance, rises in the barony of Talbotstown, in the Wicklow moun-
tains.
It flows south, with a good many windings through the county
of Carlow. Having entered the county of Wexford, at Newtown
Barry, it takes a south-easterly course to Enniscorthy; and then,
turning south, it falls into the arm of the sea denominated Wexford
Haven, a little above the town of Wexford. It is navigable for barges
as far as Enniscorthy, about 14 miles from Wexford.
Liffey.-With the exception of the Boyne, the Liffey is the only
river on the east coast of Ireland that seems to require any notice in a
work of this description; and it is distinguished more by having the
city of Dublin on its banks than by its own magnitude or importance.
It rises in the Wicklow mountains, about 2 miles north from Bles-
sington. Its course is circuitous, being successively south-west, west,
north-east, and east. After intersecting the capital, it falls into Dublin
Bay. The Liffey is navigable as far as Carlisle-bridge in the city:
there are about 10 feet water over the bar at its mouth at ebb-tide.-
−(See description of Sea Coast.)
Boyne.-This, which is the largest and most celebrated of the rivers
332
IRELAND.
on the east coast of Ireland, rises in the Bog of Allen, near Castle-
carbery in Kildare, at an altitude of about 225 feet above the level of
the sea.
It flows north-east by Trim, Navan, and Slane, to Oldbridge,
where it takes an easterly course to Drogheda, uniting with the sca
about 2 miles lower down. It receives in its course several consider-
able rivers, of which the Blackwater, from Lough Ramor, in Cavan,
is the greatest.
The bar at the mouth of the Boyne has only about 2 feet water at
low spring ebbs, and from 9 to 10 feet at high water. None, there-
fore, but the smaller class of vessels can come up to Drogheda. The
river has been rendered navigable for barges as far as Navan.
The Boyne is celebrated for the important and ever memorable
battle fought on its banks at Oldbridge, about 3 miles west of Drog-
heda, on the 1st of July, 1690; when the forces under our great
deliverer, William III., defeated those under James II., and decided
the fate of the British empire.
Bann.-Of the northern rivers of Ireland, the Upper and Lower
Bann and the Foyle are the most considerable. The Upper Bann rises
in the plain called the Deer's or King's Meadow, in the northern part
of the Mourne mountains in Down. Its course at first is winding; but
its general direction is north-west. After passing Gilford and Porta-
down it falls into Lough Neagh, at Bannfoot Ferry. Near Portadown
it is joined by the Newry canal, and is thence navigable by barges to
the lake.
The Lower Bann issues from the north-west arm of Lough Neagh,
and flowing north, with a little inclination to the west, falls into the sea
5 miles below Coleraine. The current of the Lower Bann is rapid, and
in some places it is precipitated over ledges of rock. The salmon and
eel fisheries on this river are both highly important and valuable.
There are only 3 feet water over the bar at the mouth of the river at
spring ebbs, and 10 feet at high water springs, and 8 at high water
neaps. About half a mile up the river dries at low water. It is,
however, navigable as far as Coleraine, but only by boats, and that with
difficulty.
Foyle. This important river is formed by the concourse of various
streams, which unite near Strabane in Tyrone. Hence it flows north
by St. Johnstown and Londonderry, below which it falls into the inlet
or arm of the sea called Lough Foyle. It is navigable to Londonderry
by the largest class of merchantmen. From the city to St. Johnstown
it is navigable by barges, and the navigation has been continued from
the latter to Strabane by a canal constructed at the expense of the
Marquis of Abercorn.
In the lengthened coast from Lough Foyle, round to the Shannon,
there are several rivers; but none of them of magnitude or importance
enough to call for our notice.
Lakes.-Ireland has an immense number of lakes, provincially called
loughs, some of which are very extensive. They are commonly divided
into salt-water lakes and fresh-water lakes; but, as the former are really
arms or inlets of the sea, they will be described with the sea-coast So
that, at present, we shall confine ourselves to the fresh-water loughs or
lakes properly so called.
;
LAKES.
333
Lough Neagh is not only the largest lake in Ireland, but one of the
largest in Europe. It lies in the centre of the province of Ulster,
having the county of Armagh on the south, Tyrone on the west, Lon-
donderry on the north-west, Antrim on the north and east, and Down,
which barely touches it, on the south-eastern angle. It is about 17
miles in length, by about 10 in breadth, occupying, inclusive of Lough
Beg (3,144 acres), which is joined to it, an area of 101,379 statute
acres, at ordinary high water mark.- (See Report on the Drainage of
Lough Neagh, by John Macmahon, Esq., Dublin, 1846.) It is fed
by several rivers of considerable magnitude, while the Lower Bann
is the only channel through which its refluent waters find a passage
to the sea. Its mean level is about 46 feet above the level of the
latter. And it appears from the Report of Mr. Macmahon, that
about 25,000 acres of land, contiguous to its banks, and now annually
flooded, might be made available for agricultural purposes by ex-
pending about 200,000/. in deepening and improving the channel of
the Lower Bann. Though by far the largest, it is by no means the
most beautiful of the Irish lakes. Its shores consist mostly either of a
level strand, or marshy border, liable to frequent floods, and are, of
course, deficient in those varied banks and bold promontories, without
which such extensive sheets of water want picturesque effect, except
when their uniformity is broken by islands; and of these there are only
two small and uninteresting ones in this lake. Frequent squalls and
want of shelter render its navigation rather dangerous for sailing vessels;
but these inconveniences have been in great measure obviated by the
introduction of steam-vessels, which carry on a considerable commerce,
collecting goods and passengers at the various ports on its northern and
western shores, and conveying them to the termini of the Belfast and
Newry canals, the Ulster railway, &c. The waters of Lough Neagh
are celebrated for their petrifying quality.
Lough Erne appears sometimes as a river, and sometimes only as a
lake. It is situated in the province of Ulster, and county of Fermanagh,
stretches, in a straight line, north-west and south-east about 30 miles,
and divides the county into two pretty equal portions. It, however,
consists properly of two lakes, the upper and the lower, connected by
a broad, winding channel; the latter, which is the most extensive, com-
prises an area of 27,645 acres, and the former of 9,278 acres, making
together 36,923 acres.* Both lakes, but especially the upper, are full of
islands, some of them large and thickly inhabited, many of them well
wooded, and the whole so disposed, and accompanied by such a diversity
of coast, as to form a vast number of rich and interesting prospects.
The ancient and well-built town of Enniskillen stands on an island
between the upper and lower lakes, being connected with the mainland
* Dr. Beaufort assigned to these lakes an area of 76,311 English acres (Memoir
of a Map of Ireland, p. 32). Its area, as measured by Mr. Wakefield. on Arrow-
smith's map, is 85 square miles, or 54,400 acres (Account of Ireland, vol. i. p. 9).
Mr. Griffith, the engineer, estimated the area of all the lakes in Fermanagh at
48,797 acres, making the area of Lough Erne about 40,000 acres; and the mea-
surements given above from the Ordnance Survey show that this, though in excess,
was not far from the mark. Mr. Gorton (Topographical Dictionary, article Lough
Erne) tells us that Lough Erne is 43 miles in length; but this is bestowing upon
it an imaginary elongation of at least 13 miles.
334
IRELAND
*
by bridges on each side. On another island is a magnificent seat of
the Marquis of Ely. This lough is elevated about 150 feet above the
level of the sea. It receives the Erne and several other rivers, and
discharges itself at its north-west extremity by a rapid current of about
9 miles, which, after falling over many ledges of obstructing rocks,
precipitates its waters down a grand cataract into the sea at Bally-
shannon.
Lough Corrib, in the province of Connaught, and partly in the county
of Mayo, but chiefly in that of Galway, has a good deal of resemblance
to Lough Erne. It is 24 miles in length, being 14 wide in the
broadest part; but in the middle it is contracted to a narrow channel
crossed by a ferry. According to the Ordnance survey, it covers an
area of 43,484 acres. It is of considerable importance as a channel
of navigation for facilitating the transport of turf, lime, grain, sea-
weed, &c., to a great extent of country. Its southern extremity is
within less than 5 miles of the town of Galway, into the sea at which it
discharges its superfluous waters; and as the level of the lough, even
when highest, is said to be only 16 feet 9 inches above that of the sea,
it appears not a little surprising that a canal has not been cut
across the isthmus between them. Were this done, and Lough Corrib
united to Lough Mask by another canal, Galway would become the
centre of an extensive inland navigation, which would not only be of
the greatest advantage to that town but to a large extent of highly
improveable country; for, though the country on the south and west
sides of Lough Corrib be rugged, wild, and mountainous, that on its
east and north sides is comparatively level and fertile.
Lough Mask, referred to above, lies about 3 miles north from Lough
Corrib, being partly situated in Galway, but chiefly in Mayo. It is of
an irregular shape: its area, according to the Ordnance survey,
comprises 22,219 acres.
Lough Conn (including Lough Cullin), in Mayo, stretches about
11 miles in a north-north-west and south-south-east direction, but its
greatest breadth does not exceed 4 miles; while, in one place, the
distance across is less than 1 mile. It comprises about 14,000 acres, and
its surface is said to be elevated about 30 feet above the level of the
sea.
Exclusive of the above, and of the loughs of the Shannon already
mentioned, there are an immense number of loughs in different parts of
Ireland. Of these, Lough Melvin, in Leitrim and Fermanagh, covering
5,541 acres, is one of the most important. Exclusive of part of Lough
Ree, there are, in Westmeath, seven considerable lakes, and in Clare,
Cavan, and some other counties, they are still more numerous. Lough
Derg, in the most southerly part of Donegal, is celebrated in the his-
tory of Irish superstition. A small island in it, called St. Patrick's
Furgatory, is reckoned peculiarly holy, and was much resorted to in
the dark ages. Boate, in his Natural History (p. 75, ed. 1652), says
that the frauds practised on the ignorant devotees having been detected
and exposed in the reign of James I., " the pilgrimage to it had come to
nothing, and had not since been undertaken. But, if so, the practice
has been again revived, for St. Patrick's Purgatory is at present
annually visited by crowds of pilgrims, who perform certain religious
LAKES.
335
rites, which they believe to be of the greatest efficacy.-(Inglis's
Ireland in 1834, vol. ii., pp. 169-181.)
The Lakes of Killarney, more celebrated for their beauty than their
extent, lie in the midst of the Kerry mountains. They are three in
number, but contiguous, and vessels pass from the one into the other.
The largest, or lower lake, occupies an area of about 3,000 Irish
acres: its western shore is bounded by the mountains of Toomies and
Glena, the former 2,150, and the latter 2,090, feet above the level of
the sea, having their precipitous sides well clothed with forest trees:
on the opposite shore there is the fine and striking contrast of flat
land, in a high state of cultivation. There are no fewer than 33
islands, many of them extremely picturesque, in the lower lake. This
lake is, in some parts, very deep. Between Glena Mountain and
Ross Island, the soundings give 42 fathoms; and as the surface of the
lake is about 50 feet above the level of the sea, it follows that its bottom
is 202 feet below that level. The middle lake occupies about 640 Irish
acres ; it lies immediately under the Torc or Turk Mountain, elevated
about 1,900 feet above the level of the sea. The strait which joins
the middle and upper lake is about 3 miles in length, having in many
places the appearance of a beautiful river. The upper lake contains
about 720 Irish acres. It lies in a hollow, formed by some of the
most stupendous mountains in Ireland, among which are Mangerton
and Carn Tual, already alluded to, so that its scenery is in the
highest degree magnificent and sublime. "Here," says Mr. Wake-
field, "Nature assumes her roughest and most terrific attire to astonish
the gazing spectator, who, lost amid wonder and surprise, thinks he
treads enchanted ground; and, while he scarcely knows to which side
he shall direct his attention, can hardly believe that the scenes he sees
around him are not the effects of delusion, or the airy phantoms of the
brain, called into momentary existence by the creative powers of a
fervid imagination. Here rocks piled upon rocks rise to a towering
height; there one mountain rears its head in succession above another,
and sometimes a gigantic range seems to overhang you, forming a
scene that may be more easily conceived than described. Such sub-
lime scenes cannot be beheld but with a mixed sensation of pleasure
and awe, and on a contemplative mind they must make a deep and
lasting impression."-(i. 66.) In other places, however, especially on
the eastern shores of the lower and middle lakes, the scenery is of the
softest and most agreeable kind, consisting of finely wooded pro-
montories, ornamented with rivers and seats, verdant islands, &c.
And it is in the contrast between these and whatever is most wild and
rugged that we find the great charm of Killarney. These lakes have
been often described, but never so well as by Mr. Young.
The total area of the Irish lakes amounts, according to the Ord-
nance Survey, to 630,825 statute acres of which 51,624 acres are in
Leinster; 151,381 in Munster; 214,956 in Ulster; and 212,864 in
Connaught.
The Waterfall at Hungra Hill, in Cork, may be mentioned in this
place. It is described by Dr. Smith in his Ancient and Present State
of the County of Cork. "Not far," says he, "from Ross Mac Owen
is one of the highest and largest waterfalls in this kingdom. This
336
IRELAND.
cataract is very
visible from the town of Bantry, at least 14 miles
distant from it. The water is collected from various small rivulets
and springs, forming a large lake on the top of a vast, high, rocky,
and almost perpendicular mountain called Hungra Hill, at least 700
yards above the level of the bay of Bantry. The water cascades from
the top of this mountain in a beautiful sheet at least 10 yards broad,
which expands as it falls: about half the height of the mountain it
dashes perpendicularly on a prominent rock, from whence a mist
arises, almost the third part of the hill, which, in some particular
stations, the sun's rays playing upon it and meeting the eye of the
spectator, must make a charming appearance; these kind of mists, in
such positions, generally reflecting the colours of the iris: hence it
falls from rock to rock, till it has passed the rugged declivity of
Hungra Hill; and, before it joins the ocean, it has another fall, cas-
cading in an arch over a lower hill, all which make a fine sight as one
sails
up
and down the bay."-(Vol. i. p. 28, ed. 1774.) It may, how-
ever, be worth while to observe, that doubts are entertained as to the
accuracy of some of the measurements given by Dr. Smith.
SECT. 4.-Sea Coast and Sea Ports.
Ireland has a circuit of about 250 leagues of coast, great part of
which is deeply indented, particularly on the west and south-west, by
arms of the ocean, forming some of the noblest havens in the world.
It is said to possess, in all, 14 harbours for the largest ships, 17 for
frigates, and from 30 to 40 for coasting vessels, exclusive of upwards
of 24 good summer roads.
The estuary of the Shannon is one of the largest and safest asylums
for shipping on the Irish coast; but, having noticed it in our account
of the rivers of Ireland, we shall begin our survey with the coast to
the south of the Shannon, and, proceeding round by Cape Clear, &c.,
complete the circuit of the island by returning to its æstuary.
Immediately to the south of Kerry Head, a bold, bluff, promontory
at the southern extremity of the Shannon, there is a large expanse of
water, the northern part of which is called Ballyheigh, and the other,
within Machri Point, Tralee Bay. The former is very dangerous, and
the latter by no means safe anchorage ground; but ships, mistaking
Kerry Head for Loop Head, sometimes enter here, to their great risk,
supposing it to be the Shannon. Seven small islands, called the Hogs,
lie off Machri Point. Near this part of the coast are many sand-hills,
formed by the wind, and on some parts the sea gains considerably.
Other parts of the Kerry coast are extremely rugged; and offer to the
view some of the highest mountains in Ireland. The peninsula of
Dingle terminates in Dunmore Head in lat. 52° 13' N., long. 10° 54'
W., being the most westerly point of Ireland, and, consequently, of
what may be called the mainland of Europe. It is full of mountains.
Mount Brandon, on the north coast of the peninsula, a noted land-
mark, rises 3,120 feet above the sea. Brandon Bay derives its name
from this hill. Off Dunmore Head lie the Blasquet islands, 13 in
number: tradition reports that the largest was formerly joined to the
mainland. The intervening sound is of great depth, a consequence,
1
SEA-COAST AND SEA-PORTS.
337
probably, of the violence with which the currents of ebb and flood
run through it. One of the ships belonging to the Spanish Armada
was wrecked here in 1588. Dingle Bay, a large arm of the sea,
having Dunmore Head at its northern, and Valentia island at its
southern, extremity, stretches inwards to the bottom of Castlemaine
harbour. Dingle harbour, on the north side of this bay, is fit for
small vessels only, and these lie aground on soft mud at low water.
Ventry harbour, a little to the west of Dingle harbour, is of easy
access, and capable of receiving the largest ships; but in westerly
winds it is subject to heavy squalls. Castlemaine harbour, at the
bottom of the bay, is of difficult access; it has a bar at its mouth, on
which there are only 9 feet water. Valentia island, at the southern
extremity of Dingle Bay, has a very excellent roadstead called Valentia
harbour, between its north-eastern extremity and Inchbeg island.
A pier has been constructed here at Ringlass; and it has been pro-
posed to establish steam-packets from this place to New Brunswick.
Valentia harbour is decidedly the best on the coast of Kerry, and is,
besides, an excellent fishing station. The rocks called the Skelligs
lie south-south-west from Valentia island, and about 7 miles west
from Bolus Head. Two light-houses have been erected on the greater
or outermost Skellig. This is a high, precipitous, and not very acces-
sible rock. Formerly, however, it was the residence of some monks;
and was, from its supposed sanctity, visited by numbers of pilgrims.
- (Smith's Kerry, p. 113, ed. 1756.)
Turning Bolus Head, Ballynaskelligs Bay opens to the north; and
at about half a dozen miles from its eastern extremity, we meet the
great arm of the sea, called Kenmare Bay, and sometimes, with little
propriety, Kenmare River. It has deep water and clean ground in
almost every part. Kilmichalog harbour, on its south side, is well
sheltered, and is capable of receiving large ships.
After doubling the peninsula of Bear, having Dursey island at its
extremity, we arrive at Bantry Bay in the county of Cork. This is
one of the finest and most capacious harbours in Europe. It stretches
inwards, in a north-easterly direction, nearly 30 miles, with a breadth
varying from 4 to 6. Near the entrance of the bay, on its north-west
side, is Bear island, separated from the mainland by a crooked strait
about a mile broad, having from 10 to 30 or 40 fathoms water, and
affording a safe retreat for the largest vessels. Farther up the bay is
Whiddy island, on the south side of which, nearly opposite to Bantry
town, there is an admirable_roadstead, where ships lie landlocked in
from 24 to 40 feet water. Bear island forms, as it were, a natural
breakwater, protecting the bay from the south-west winds. There is
close to both shores a considerable depth of water; it is not encum-
bered by any shoals or rocks that may not be easily avoided even at
night; and the anchoring-ground being everywhere good, it furnishes
throughout its whole expanse convenient shelter and accommodation.
Having no considerable town on its shores, which are wild and
rugged, nor any communication with the interior, this noble bay is but
little frequented by shipping. Occasionally, however, it has been
resorted to by large fleets, and has been the theatre of naval warfare,
an indecisive action having been fought in it on the 30th of April,
VOL. I.
2
338
IRELAND.
1689, between a portion of the French fleet that conveyed King James
to Kinsale and the English fleet under Admiral Herbert, afterwards
Earl of Torrington. It was in it, also, that the French under Hoche
disembarked in 1796.
Dunmanus Bay is separated from that of Bantry by a narrow
peninsula, terminating in the promontory of Sheep's Head; opposite
to which, on the southern side of the bay, is Three-Castle Head.
This bay runs about 15 miles up the country: it is easy of entrance,
has deep water, and good anchorage-ground almost all over; but,
being open to the western gales, and so near Bantry Bay, it is seldom
visited. Two and a half miles south from Three-Castle Head, is
Mizen Head, formerly supposed to be the most southerly promontory
of the mainland of Ireland, and hence the name of Notium Promon-
torium given to it by Ptolemy; but it is now ascertained that this
distinction is due to Browhead, about 2 miles east from Mizen-Head.
North-east from Browhead, distant 4 miles, is Crookhaven, which, as
Dr. Campbell has observed, would, in any other country except
Ireland, and even anywhere else in it except Cork, be deemed an ad-
mirable port. (Survey of Britain, vol. i., p. 435.) It is of a medium
size, easy of access; has secure anchoring-ground, and about 3 fathoms
water at ebb tide. The only swell in it is occasioned by the easterly
winds, but it rarely occasions any inconvenience.
From Mizen Head to Cape Clear, the course is east by south,
4 leagues. This cape, in lat. 51° 24′ 55″ N., long. 9° 29′ W., rising
high above the sea, is the southern promontory of Clare island, about
6 miles from the mainland of Ireland. It has been surmounted by an
excellent light-house; and is the point from which ships leaving St.
George's Channel for the westward usually take their departure, and
those arriving prefer making it their land-fall. The Fastnet rock lies
about 6 miles south-west from Cape Clear.
North by east from Cape Clear, is Baltimore peninsula, forming the
east side of a spacious bay, in which there are many islands and ports.
From Baltimore Point to the Old Head of Kinsale, the general direc-
tion of the coast is north-east, presenting, in succession, Castlehaven
harbour, Glandore harbour, Ross Bay, Clonakilty Bay, and Courtmac-
sherry Bay; none of which, however, are very suitable for the pur-
poses of navigation. The Old Head of Kinsale, a narrow peninsulated
promontory, at the extremity of which is a light-house, has on its east
side the entrance to Kinsale harbour. This safe and excellent port is
formed by the æstuary of the Bandon, at the mouth of which is a bar
with 12 feet water at ebb tide. At the anchorage within the bar, off
Cove or a little higher up, there are from 4 to 5 fathoms water within
half a cable's length of the shore.
From Kinsale, the coast sweeps round by the north-east to Ro-
bert's Head, opposite to which is Poore Head, the two extremities of
the bay, at the bottom of which is Cork harbour. Roche's Point, a
bold headland, on which a light-house was erected in 1817, marks the
eastern side of the fair way into the port. The entrance, which is
deep and narrow, is guarded by Fort Camden on the west, and Fort
Carlisle on the east, side. With a leading wind, men-of-war may
enter at any time of the day, without regard to the tide. Within, the
SEA-COAST AND SEA-PORTS.
339
harbour stretches out into a magnificent basin, interspersed with several
islands, land-locked and sufficiently extensive to accommodate the
entire navy of England. Cork itself is situated at the north-west
extremity of the harbour, on the river Lee, and is accessible only by
vessels of from 150 to 200 tons burden; so that Cove, a thriving
town on the south side of Great Island, fronting the grand basin, is
the proper emporium of the harbour. Besides the forts at the entrance,
it is farther protected by fortifications constructed on Spike and Haul-
bowlin, two small islands opposite Cove. Ships of the largest class
come close to the quays; the anchorage is excellent; nor is it possible,
indeed, to imagine a finer port. During war, Cork harbour is the
principal rendezvous for the West India fleets. The city has always
enjoyed a large share of the victualling trade; and, notwithstanding
the rivalry of Waterford, it is still decidedly at the head of the
southern ports as a commercial emporium. The value of the exports
from Cork, in 1835, amounted to 2,909,746/.: they consisted almost
entirely of provisions, corn and meal, and live stock.
Leaving Cork, the coast trends north-easterly to Youghal, at the
mouth of the Blackwater. The sea has evidently encroached on the
shore in its vicinity, the beach at low-water mark being a bog covered
with sea sand, under which are found the remains of trees. Youghal
lies on the west side of the river immediately within its mouth. At
ebb tide there are only 4 feet water on the bar, and 13 feet at high
water neap tides. Generally, therefore, it is not accessible to ships
drawing more than 12 feet water.—(See antè, p. 330.)
From Youghal the coast of Waterford runs east to Ram Head, and
thence north-east to Mine Head and Helwick Head. North and west of
the latter are Dungarvan Bay and harbour. At the town of Dun-
garvan there are only 9 feet water at springs; and the anchoring
ground in the bay is narrow and indifferent.
About 20 miles east from Dungarvan is Tramore Bay, one of the
most dangerous places on the Irish coast. In hazy weather it is some-
times mistaken by ships for Waterford harbour; most of those that
have fallen into this error having been wrecked on its inhospitable
shores. The flood sets with great force into the bay: the winds from
the south-south-east round to the west-south-west also throw in a
heavy sea; and, as the ground is foul and rocky, the only chance of
escape, for a vessel embayed under such circumstances, consists in her
being able to run ashore on the north-west coast. Conspicuous beacons
have been erected on Newtown and Brownstown heads, on the west and
east extremities of the bay; and ships in passing ought to keep a good
offing, lest, by getting entangled in the tide, they be drawn on to
almost certain destruction.
On
About 5 miles east from Brownstown Head is Red Point, the south-
western extremity of Waterford harbour. Hook Head, at the ex-
tremity of the opposite shore of the harbour, is surmounted by a
conspicuous light-house. The distance across is about 2 miles.
the western side of the harbour, about a mile within Red Point, is
the artificial port of Dunmore. It has a lengthened pier, and is the
station of the steam-packets that ply between Milford Haven, Bristol,
and Waterford harbour. The city of Waterford and the town of
z 2
340
IRELAND.
New Ross lie, the former on the river Suir, 15 miles from sea, and
the latter on the Barrow, nearly 20 miles inland. Such is the depth
of water in this excellent harbour that, as already mentioned, vessels
of 500 tons burden ascend to Waterford, and at low water, lie afloat in
the river opposite the city. (See ante, p. 330.)
Carnsore Point, the southern headland of the east coast of Ireland,
bears from Hook Head east by north, distant about 27 miles. The
intervening coast has no good harbours, and is fenced by several
dangerous rocks and islands. A light-vessel is moored off Coningbeg,
the most southerly of these rocks or islets, nearly 8 miles from shore.
About 7 miles east by north from Carnsore Point is the Tuscar, a
remarkable rock, elevated 20 feet above the level of the sea at high
water. A light-house, modelled on that of the Eddystone, has been
erected on this rock, which not only warns the mariner of his approach
to it, but of the still more dangerous sunken rocks by which it is sur-
rounded.
North-west from the Tuscar rock, distant about 14 miles, is the
entrance to Wexford harbour. It is spacious, but shallow, encum-
bered with shifting sands, and has a bar at its mouth. From Wexford
to Dublin Bay there is not a single tolerable port; and the coast is
fenced throughout by dangerous banks, particularly off Arklow. The
limits of Dublin Bay are Dalkey Island on the south, and Howth
Head on the north, about 6 miles apart. The south shore rises like
an amphitheatre towards the lofty mountains of Wicklow; the north
shore being lower and more level, except at its extremity formed by
the head. The bay is exposed to the easterly gales, and the bar at the
entrance of the harbour had only 6 feet water at ebb tide; but of late
years its depth has been increased several feet by dredging. In the
view also of lessening the bar, and obtaining a greater depth of water
by preventing the current of the Liffey from diffusing itself over the
banks, called the Bulls, two immense walls have been constructed,
that called the south wall, from its bounding the south side of the river,
projects about 3 miles direct from the city into the bay, having a
light-house at its termination. The other, or north wall, about 1 miles
in length, projects from Clontarf on the north side of the bay to
within a short distance of the extremity of the former, the angle
between them comprising the harbour. But these works, though they
have partially succeeded, not having had all the effect that was antici-
pated, an extensive deep-water harbour, capable of accommodating the
largest ships, has since been constructed at an immense expense at
Dunleary or Kingston, on the south side of the bay. A railway, 6
miles in length, connects this new harbour with Dublin, to which it
bears nearly the same relation that the East and West India Docks do
to London. Immense sums have also been expended on the construc-
tion of a harbour to the north of Howth Head opposite to the little
island called Ireland's Eye, but the water is not sufficiently deep to allow
of large ships riding in the harbour at ebb tide. Spring tides rise in
Dublin Bay 12 feet, and neap tides 6 feet; so that ships of 18 or 20
feet draught may sail into the harbour at high water springs, and those
of 12 or 14 feet draught at high water neaps.
Dunany Point, in Louth, bears from Howth Head north by west,
SEA-COAST AND SEA-PORTS.
341
distant about 10 leagues.
In the intermediate coast is Drogheda,
already referred to (antè, p. 332), and some other tide havens, but no
good harbour. Between Dunany Point on the south, and Cooley Point
on the north side, lies the extensive bay of Dundalk. It is generally
shallow; and mostly, indeed, dries at low water.
A little to the north-east of Cooley Point is Greenore Point, the
south-western extremity of Carlingford Lough, an arm of the sea
stretching north-west to Narrow-water, below Newry. It is about 2
miles wide at its mouth, across which is a bar with only 9 feet water
over it at low spring ebbs, so that it is available only at certain times
of the tide. A light-house has been erected on each side the entrance
to the bay.
The shores on the north side of Carlingford Lough, and round to
Dundrum, are bold and precipitous, the Mourne mountains coming
down close to the water's edge.
From Dundrum Bay, on which are some fishing havens, the coast
runs north by east to Lough Strangford, having Killard Point at the
western, and Ballyquintin Point at the eastern extremity of its em-
bouchure. The channel leading to the Lough is about 6 miles in
length, when it expands into a very large basin, extending north to
Newtownardes, about 15 miles, and having a mean breadth of 5 or 6
miles. It is well sheltered, has deep water, and the anchoring-ground
is good.
According to Mr. Mackenzie, who surveyed the coasts of Ireland by
order of the Admiralty, there is a bar at the entrance to Lough Strang-
ford with only 12 feet water at ebb tide; and a recent authority,
Captain Mudge, says that with a weather tide the sea breaks with great
violence over the bar except at slack water.-(Norie's Sailing Direc-
tions for St. George's Channel, &c., p. 87.) But Mr. Nimmo, the
engineer, in his evidence before the committee of the House of Com-
mons, on the survey and valuation of Ireland, in 1824, stated that he
had sounded the entrance, and found 5 fathoms water over the place
where the bar is laid down in the Admiralty charts! It is, indeed, clear,
from the rapidity with which the ebb tide runs out of the lough, that
no bar, unless it consisted of rocks or other very solid matter, could
exist in its mouth. The rapidity of the tides, and some sunken rocks
on the east side of the entrance, are the only dangers to be encountered,
and they are considerable enough to make the bay be shunned by all
strangers.—(Min. of Evidence, p. 92.)
North by east, about 2 leagues from Ballyquintin Point, is the South
Rock, one of a dangerous cluster of rocks lying off Kerry Point. A
light-house has been erected on it.
From Kerry Point the coast runs north, inclining a little to the west,
to Donaghadee. Its harbour is naturally very indifferent; but, owing
to the importance of its situation, which is the best for the despatch
and reception of the mails to and from Port Patrick, large sums have
been expended on its improvement, and it is now rendered a pretty good
pier harbour.
The Copeland Islands lie about 2 miles north-north-east from
Donaghadee. A light-house is erected on one of the most northerly.
This light-house serves to mark the entrance to Belfast Lough. This
considerable arm of the sea lies between Ballymacormick point in Down,
342
IRELAND.
and Blackhead in Antrim, about 8 miles apart, whence it extends as far
inwards as Belfast, situated at its southern extremity. It is of easy
access, and has, in many places, good anchorage. But the water shoals
before it reaches Belfast, so that large vessels can only come up with
the flood tide. Carrickfergus lies on the north shore of Belfast Lough,
near Kilroot Point.
To the geologist, the coast of Antrim is the most interesting in
Ireland. It is generally bold and precipitous, consisting in several
places, particularly at Fair Head, Bengore Head, the Giants' Causeway,
&c., of vast masses of basaltic columns. With the exception of Larne
Lough, fenced from the sea by the narrow and lofty peninsula called
Magee Island, it has no good harbour. Fair Head, the Robogdium
Promontorium of Ptolemy, and the north-eastern extremity of Antrim
and of Ireland, is elevated, according to the Ordnance Survey, 636 feet
above the level of the sea. It presents a vast mass of rude, coarse, co-
lumnary stones, some of them being above 280 feet in length; and at
the base of these gigantic columns lies a wild waste of natural ruins, of
an enormous size, which, in the course of ages, have been tumbled
down from their foundation by storms, or some more powerful opera-
tions of nature. A savage wildness characterises this great promontory,
at the foot of which the ocean rages with uncommon fury. Scarcely a
single mark of vegetation has yet crept over the hard rock, to diversify
its colouring; but one uniform greyness clothes the scene all around.
(Hamilton's Letters on the Coast of Antrim, 12mo. ed. p. 96.)
North by east from Fair Head, distant about 3 miles, is the crescent-
shaped island of Rathlin or Ragherry, the Ricina of Ptolemy. It is 5
or 6 miles long, but only about three-fourths of a mile in breadth. Its
shores are steep and rocky, with deep water all round.
The phe-
nomenon of the mirage, similar to the fata morgana, is often observed
in the strait that separates this island from the mainland.
From Fair Head the coast bends inwards to Ballycastle, a harbour
fit only for small vessels; and thence north-west to Ballintoy Head,
about 5 miles west by north from which is Bengore Head. This
remarkable promontory is made up of a number of capes. Of these the
most perfect and striking is Pleaskin. "Its summit," to use the words
of the Rev. Mr. Hamilton, "is covered with a thin grassy sod, under
which lies the natural rock, having generally a uniform hard surface,
somewhat cracked and shivered. At the depth of 10 or 12 feet from
the summit, this rock begins to assume a columnar tendency, and forms
a range of massy pillars of basalt, which stand perpendicular to the
horizon, presenting, in the sharp face of the promontory, the appearance
of a magnificent gallery or colonnade of upwards of 60 feet in height.
"This colonnade is supported on a solid base of coarse, black,
irregular rock, near 60 feet thick, abounding in blebs and air-holes;
but though comparatively irregular, it may be evidently observed to
affect a peculiar figure, tending, in many places, to run into regular
forms, resembling the shooting of salts and many other substances during
a hasty crystallisation.
"Under this great bed of stone stands a second range of pillars,
between 40 and 50 feet in height, less gross and more sharply defined
than those of the upper story, many of them, on a close view, emulating
SEA-COAST AND SEA-PORTS.
343
even the neatness of the columns in the Giants' Causeway. This lower
range is borne on a layer of red ochre stone, which serves as a relief to
show it to great advantage.
"These two admirable natural galleries, together with the inter-
jacent mass of irregular rock, form a perpendicular height of 170 feet;
from the base of which, the promontory, covered with rock and grass,
slopes down to the sea, for the space of 200 feet more, making in all a
mass of near 400 feet in height, which, in beauty and variety of its
colouring, in elegance and novelty of arrangement, and in the extraor-
dinary magnitude of its objects, cannot readily be rivalled by anything
of the kind at present known."—(Letters on the Coast of Antrim,
12mo ed. p. 91.)
Proceeding westward from Bengore Head, we very soon fall in with
the Giants' Causeway. This extraordinary basaltic promontory con-
sists of three distinct piers or quays, rising from the bottom of a pre-
cipitous cliff full 400 feet above the level of the sea. The chief pier is
seen at low water extending above 1,000 feet in length, and the others
not quite so much. They consist of polygonal stone pillars, from 40
to 55 feet long, having from 3 to 8 sides; but those having 6 sides are
by far the most common. The surface formed by the summits of the
pillars is smooth, and the joints so close that the blade of a knife can
hardly be introduced into them. The pillars are divided into segments,
admirably fitted to each other, varying from 6 inches to a foot in
thickness. At Fair Head and Bengore Head, the columns are higher,
but their angles are not so sharp, and they are altogether of a coarser
texture than those of the Giants' Causeway. The same sort of basaltic
columns, though of a less perfect form, extend along the coast for
several miles, and, being sometimes detached from the shore, have at a
distance the most grotesque appearance. Rathlin Island contains
similar columns: they extend a good way inland.
From the Giants' Causeway the coast continues bold and rocky, till
we reach the mouth of the Lower Bann, when it becomes low and flat,
and continues so nearly to the magnificent headland of Magilligan,
situated at the mouth of Lough Foyle. This is an extensive triangular
basin, 18 miles long, by about 10 in its greatest breadth. At its
mouth, between Magilligan Point and Green Castle, it is contracted to
less than a mile in width, having, on the west side, from 8 to 10
fathoms water. On the east side of the entrance, there is a large sand
bank called the Great Tuns, over which the sea sometimes beats with
much violence. The navigation of the Lough is confined to a narrow
channel along the Donegal or Innishowen shore, the rest being occu-
pied by extensive shoals and sand-banks; part of which have been
effectually reclaimed from the sea, and a design is now on foot for
reclaiming more. Vessels of 400 tons may ascend the Lough and the
Foyle as far as Derry, about 23 miles from the entrance to the Lough.
On the whole, however, its navigation is rather contracted and difficult,
and requires considerable attention. Two light-houses have been
erected on Innishowen Head, intended to serve as guiding lights past
the Great Tuns bank, and into the navigable channel leading to the
city. (Ordnance Survey of Londonderry, p. 242.)
The coast of Donegal is mountainous, wild, and dreary. Its
northern extremity, Malin Head, in lat. 55° 22' N., long. 7° 23' 30" W.,
344
IRELAND,
is the most northerly land in Ireland. Leaving this point, the coast
turns southerly into the capacious inlet known by the name of Lough
Swilly, supposed to be the Argita of Ptolemy. Dunaff Head is its
eastern, and Fanad Point, crowned with a light-house, its western
extremity. From its mouth it extends nearly 25 miles into the interior.
It is a fine basin: the water is deep; and opposite to Buncrana, on
its eastern side, is a roadstead where the largest men-of-war may anchor
in perfect safety. But this capacious haven, which might shelter half
the fleets of Europe, has hardly even a considerable village on its
shores, and is seldom visited by ships. From Lough Swilly round to
the bay of Donegal, the coast is deeply indented with bays, and is in
several places fenced with islands. Killybegs Bay, on the south-west
shore of Donegal, has a narrow entrance; but it is free from danger,
even for ships of any burden, which, when in, lie in safety in from 6 to
8 fathoms water. Donegal Bay is a broad arm of the sea, lying between
St. John's point on the north-west, and Mullaghmore Point, in Sligo,
on the south-west. It contains within its expanse several harbours and
creeks, of which Donegal and Ballyshannon are the principal, but
neither is accessible to large vessels.
Sligo Bay is capacious. The harbour of Sligo lies to the east of
Coney Island. A pier has lately been erected outside the bar; and,
though rather troublesome of access, the port is now a very tolerable
one, and its trade and shipping are both rapidly increasing. The value
of the exports in 1835 amounted to 369,4907.
From Sligo Bay the coast runs nearly due west as far as Erris Head,
the north-western extremity of Mayo; but it has no harbour of conse-
quence with the exception of Killala Bay and Broadhaven; the former
shallow, and fit only for small craft, and the latter, though deep, con-
fined and open to the north.
At Erris Head the coast takes a southerly direction. Within the
narrow peninsula, called the Mullet, is Blacksod Bay, opening to the
south, and stretching northwards about ten miles. It has water suffi-
cient to float the largest ships; but the shelter is indifferent.
To the south of Blacksod Bay is Achill Island, separated from the
main land by a narrow, shallow strait. Clew Bay lies to the south-west
of this island. It is a large rhomboidal-shaped sheet of water, the
violence of the heavy seas thrown in from the west being broken by
Clare Island, lying in its mouth. Its mean depth is about 15 fathoms;
and its east end is studded with a vast number of islands. Newport-
pratt and Westport, the latter a tolerably large and increasing town,
are situated, the former on the south-east, and the latter on the north-
east corner of the bay.
The coast of Galway is rugged in the extreme, being everywhere
indented with arms of the sea. Roundstone Bay, Birterbuy Bay, Kil-
kerrin Bay, &c., on the Connemara and Moycullen coast have all, par-
ticularly the first, deep water, and excellent accommodation for the
largest ships; but they are rarely visited except by fishing-boats.
The great arm of the sea called Galway Bay, is bounded on the
north and east by Galway, on the south by Clare, and on the west,
where it opens to the Atlantic, it is protected by a natural break-water
formed by the south isles of Arran, which extend north-west and south-
past, about a dozen miles across its mouth. There are two entrances to
SEA-COAST AND SEA-PORTS.
345
the bay, one to the north, and the other to the south, of the islands ;
the first is somewhat dangerous, from shoals and rocks, but the latter is
deep, safe, and open. There are many harbours and inlets within this
spacious bay. The town of Galway is situated at its north-western
extremity. A light-house has been erected on one of the isles of
Arran; and another on Mutton Island, off Galway harbour. The latter
has been most materially improved within these few years, by the con-
struction of a floating dock, 9 acres in extent, and fitted to accommodate
ships of 500 tons burden. The importance of Galway as a commercial
entrepôt, would be still further increased by the opening of the proposed
canal, connecting it with the inland navigation of Loughs Corrib and
Mask.
In various places along the coasts of Donegal, Sligo, Mayo, and
Galway, large tracts of valuable land have been destroyed by being
covered with drifting sand from the shore, impelled forward by strong
north-westerly gales. This evil may, however, be arrested by planting
the sand with bent, which binds it together, and effectually prevents
its further progress.
شه
From Black Head in Galway Bay, the coast of Clare trends south-
west to Loop Head, at the mouth of the Shannon. It is destitute of
any good harbour; and vessels embayed between Hag's Head on the
north, and Ballard's Point on the south, or in what is called Malbay,
have but little chance of escaping shipwreck.
Principal Headlands and Places on the Coast of Ireland, with the Latitude and
Longitude, as given by the best Authorities.

PLACES.
Latitude.
Longitude.
Kerry Head
Dunmore Head
52 29
52 13 0
0 N.
9 52
O W.
10 19 30
Bray Head (Valentia Island).
52 2 0
10 16 30
Crow Head
51 33 0
10 9 0
Brow Head.
51 26 0
9 44 0
Cape Clear.
51 26 3
9 29 20
Old Head of Kinsale (Lighthouse)
51 36 45
8 32 16
Cork
51 53 54
8 30 0
Youghal
51 57 0
7 51 0
Hook Tower (Lighthouse)
52 7 25
6 55 58
Waterford
52 16 0
7 7 0
Carnsore Point
52 1 0
6 18 30
Tuscar Rock
52 12 9
6 12 37
Wicklow Head
52 58 22
5 58 0
Dublin
•
53 21 30
6 17 0
Kerny or Cairney Point (Down)
54 22 0
5 27 30
Belfast
54 35 0
5 56 0
Fair Head
55 14 0
6 3 30
Bengore Head
55 16 10
6 23 20
Malin Head
55 22 0
7 23 30
Bloody Foreland Point
55 8 0
8 17 0
Tillen Head
54 38 0
8 43 0
Sligo
54 22 0
8 22
0
Erris Head.
54 19 0
9 57
0
Achill Head
54 0 0
10 11 0
Slyne Head
53 25 0
10 12 0
Galway.
53 16 0
9 0 0
Loop Head.
52 34 0
9 56 11
346
IRELAND.
SECT. 5.-Soil, Bogs, &c.
Soil. There is in Ireland a considerable diversity of soil, but not
nearly so great as in England. It has little clay soil, meaning by that
term such clays as are found in Oxfordshire, and in some parts of
Essex, Suffolk, and Surrey; that is, soils of uncommon strength, stub-
bornness, tenacity, and retentiveness. Sandy soils are also rare in
Ireland; and there are no chalky soils, or such as abound in Surrey,
Sussex, Hants, Wilts, &c.
The prevalent soil of Ireland is a species of loam, of which there are
many varieties.
In the county of Tyrone, it is so strong as to make
good bricks; but, speaking generally, it is comparatively light, and is
in most places rather shallow. The rockiness of the soil is remarked
by Mr. Young as the thing which struck him most in the appearance
of Ireland. Indeed, by far the largest part of the kingdom rests on a
stratum of rock. In some large districts it is everywhere appearing
upon the surface; and where the soil is richest, as in the most fertile
parts of Limerick, Tipperary, Meath, Roscommon, &c., rock is uni-
formly met with at no great depth. Much of this rock is limestone, a
circumstance which contributes most materially to increase the produc-
tiveness of the soil. In most countries so shallow a soil would be ac-
companied by great sterility; but in Ireland the moisture of the climate
renders it conducive to abundance. "If," says Mr. Young, " as much
rain fell upon the clays of England as falls upon the rocks of her sister
island, they could not be cultivated. But the rocks here are clothed
with verdure; those of limestone, with only a thin covering of mould,
have the softest and most beautiful turf imaginable."-(Tour in Ireland,
part ii. p. 3, 4to. ed.)
The friable and sandy loam, which forms a large proportion of the
soil of Limerick, Tipperary, Roscommon, Meath, Longford, &c., is,
perhaps, all things considered, equal to any land in Europe. Its fertility
is such that it is not materially injured by the miserable system of cul-
tivation practised upon it. If preserved clean, it will yield an almost
endless series of corn crops. "It is equally well adapted to grazing
and tillage, and, I will venture to say, seldom experiences too wet or
too dry a season. The richness of the land, in some of the vales, may
be accounted for by the deposits of soil carried thither from the upper
grounds by the rains. The subsoil is calcareous, so that the very
richest manure is thus spread over the land below, without subjecting
the farmer to any labour."-( Wakefield's Ireland, vol. i. p. 80.)
The famous pastures, called the corcasses or caucasses, on the
banks of the Shannon and Fergus, are not surpassed by the best in Lin-
colnshire.
One of the most remarkable divisions of soil is that formed by the
Barrow. To the west of that river limestone is met with in abundance,
whereas it is nowhere to be found throughout the counties of Wexford
and Wicklow. It is the general opinion, that the limestone in the
neighbourhood of Carlow is the best in Ireland. In the county of
Waterford there is no limestone north of the Blackwater.
In point of natural fertility, Mr. Young is decidedly of opinion that
Ireland is, acre for acre, superior to England; and in this view of the
matter he is supported by Mr. Newenham and Mr. Curwen. Mr.
SOIL, BOGS, ETC.
347
Wakefield is, however, of a different opinion. At all events it is cer-
tain that, including bogs, the proportion of waste land is much larger
in Ireland than in England. And though it were conceded, as we
believe it must be, that the cultivated land of Ireland is superior to that
of England, it can hardly, we think, be contended that this superiority
is such as to make up for the greater extent of waste and barren land
in the former.
All that portion of the soil of Ireland which rests on a calcareous
and rocky subsoil never deteriorates, but, when let alone, rapidly im-
proves, and clothes itself with the finest herbage.-(Newenham on the
Natural and Political Circumstances of Ireland, p. 82.) This
quality of the soil may, in some measure, account for the mischievous
practice, so common in Ireland, of cropping land till it be completely
exhausted, and then leaving it to itself to recruit. In most countries,
an abuse of this sort would be so very fatal that it could not long exist
on any very large scale. But the natural fertility of the Irish soil is
such that, however exhausted, the land is sure, if let alone for a few
years, to recover its pristine richness, when it is again subjected to the
same abusive treatment.
"The exuberant fertility of the soil of Ireland," says Mr. Curwen,
"enables the husbandman to proceed in a manner which, if pursued in
England, would long ago have made that garden a desert. A century
ago Swift complained of the ruinous custom of over-cropping: in later
times it has been carried to an extent far exceeding the practice of his
days; and, though still persisted in, there is no deficiency of produce."
-(Letters, vol. ii. p. 72.)
Bogs.-The greatest drawback on the fertility of Ireland is the vast
extent of the bogs with which the surface is, in many places, covered.
These bogs consist" of moist vegetable matter, covered more or less
with unproductive vegetables, and containing a great deal of stagnant
water." Some are, of course, more or less wet than others. They vary
also in depth, consistency, &c. The colour of the matter of which they
are composed is, for the most part, reddish, whence they are usually
called red boys. Exclusive of the red or flat bogs, a very large pro-
portion of the mountains of Ireland are covered with peaty or bog soil;
and hence the term mountain bogs.
Commissioners were appointed by parliament in 1809 to inquire into
the nature and extent of the several bogs in Ireland, and the prac-
ticability of draining and cultivating them. These gentlemen drew up
some Reports, illustrated by plans and sections, and containing a great
deal of information in regard to the subjects they were appointed to in-
vestigate. In their First Report, the Commissioners observe, that if two
lines were drawn, one from Wicklow Head to Galway, and another
from Howth Head to Sligo, the intervening space would comprise
about six-sevenths of the flat red bogs in the island, excluding those less
than 500 acres. This great belt is divided into two portions by the
Shannon; the division to the west of that river containing more than
double the extent of bog that is contained in the division to the east.
The Commissioners further state, that if the bogs of Ireland, exclusive
of mountain bogs and flat bogs of less than 500 acres, be supposed to be
divided into 20 parts, about 17 of them will be included within the
348
IRELAND.
great belt or zone already mentioned; viz., 12 to the westward, and 5
to the eastward of the Shannon; and of the 3 remaining parts, 2 will
lie to the south, and 1 to the north of this belt. Most of the bogs
lying to the eastward of the Shannon, and which occupy a considerable
portion of King's and Queen's Counties, and of the county of Kildare,
are generally known by the name of the Bog of Allen. This, however,
is not one great morass: on the contrary, the bogs so called are
perfectly distinct from each other, being often separated by ridges of
dry ground, with their waters flowing to different rivers. In general it
may be said, that there is no part of the bogs to the eastward of the
Shannon, so much as 2 Irish miles distant from the upland and culti-
vated districts.-(First Report, p. 4.)
In their Fourth Report (printed 28th April, 1814, p. 16), the Com-
missioners state as the result of their inquiries and surveys, that "the
extent of peat soil in Ireland exceeds 2,830,000 English acres, of which
at least 1,576,000 consist of flat red bog; and that the remaining
1,255,000 acres form the covering of mountains."
Cultivation of the Bogs.-Considering the vast extent of the bogs
of Ireland, their drainage and cultivation become a matter of great
national importance. Almost all the engineers employed by the parlia-
mentary Commissioners are of opinion that it may be accomplished at
no very heavy expense. The bogs are generally, indeed, at such an
elevation above the level of the sea, as to allow of drains being cut to
a depth sufficient to permit the escape even of the bottom water. But
the Commissioners observe, that "the bogs partake of the nature of a
sponge, and are completely saturated with water." Although, therefore,
a vent were made for the bottom water, it does not follow that the
water held in suspension by the bog would also be carried off. On the
contrary, experience shows that, when drains are cut through a bog,
though at no considerable distance from each other, the intermediate
portion continues nearly as wet as ever. But supposing that this appa-
rently insuperable difficulty were overcome, and that the bogs were
completely drained, still we have to inquire whether any advantageous
result would follow. According to Mr. Wakefield, the drainage of the
bogs would render them "masses of dry inert vegetable matter; and,
unless some means were discovered of bringing them into a state of
putrefaction, one might as well attempt to cultivate an immense wool-
pack. The fact is, that in the present state of bogs, nothing but a
covering of earth, clay, marl, or limestone and gravel, will do any good;
and this can be applied better without large surface drains (recom-
mended by the Commissioners) than with them.-(Account of Ireland,
vol. i., p. 105.)
The elaborate estimates given in the reports of the engineers em-
ployed by the Commissioners, of the expense of draining and improving
bogs, are altogether hypothetical, and are entitled to very little weight.
Had a single extensive bog been drained by speculators, and brought
into a state of profitable cultivation, there would have been some foun-
dation to go upon. This, however, has not been done; and, till it be
done, there are plainly no data to refer to in relation to this subject on
which any reliance can be safely placed. We do not mean to insinuate
that we look upon the cultivation of the bogs of Ireland as imprac-
GEOLOGY.
349
ticable. Should the wealth of the country increase, they will, no doubt,
be gradually, though, we believe, very slowly, reclaimed. At present,
however, we confess it appears to us that there are no good grounds for
thinking that their cultivation, if undertaken upon a great scale, would
be otherwise than ruinous. Even in Great Britain, most of those who
have distinguished themselves by attempts at bog improvement have
been heavy losers. Blair Drummond moss, in Perthshire, has not been
improved, but exterminated.—(See Appendix to General Report of
Scotland, vol. ii., p. 42.) And it is abundantly obvious, that in Ireland
the chances of loss from any public improvement would be incomparably
greater.
The bogs of Ireland are of considerable importance, considering the
want of timber, and that coal can only be used by the wealthy classes,
in furnishing the mass of the people with an inexhaustible supply of
cheap fuel.
Mr. Bicheno remarks, in reference to this subject, that
"the rainy climate of Ireland, and the wet occupations of the people,
with the nature of their food, make a fire more important to them than
to most others; and, in fact, is frequently the substitute for clothing,
bedding, and, in part, shelter. Had it not been for the bog, the mea-
sures taken in former times to extirpate the nation might probably have
succeeded; but the bog gave them a degree of comfort upon easy
terms, and enabled them to live under severe privations of another
kind.”—( Ireland and its Economy, p. 28.)
In corroboration of this statement we may observe that, in many
parts of the north of Ireland, where the bogs were of a comparatively
limited extent, they have long been considered as the most valuable
part of the soil. Many of the smaller ones have, indeed, been wholly
cut out; and the neighbouring inhabitants have, in consequence, been
subjected to considerable privations. Some gentlemen think that,
owing to its saving a great deal of labour, English coal would really
be cheaper in most parts of Ireland than turf. But in Ireland there
is a glut of labour; and we incline to agree with those who contend
that little stress can be laid on the time spent in cutting and saving
turf, seeing that the chances are that, were the peasantry not employed
in this way, they would either not be employed at all, or quite as
unprofitably. The above remark is applicable to England, but not to
Ireland.
SECT. 6.-Geology.
The
The geology of Ireland has hitherto been but imperfectly explored;
and part of its surface, containing nearly 3,000,000 statute acres, is
covered with turf bogs to the depth of from 5 to 30 feet, concealing
many of its mineral features. Sufficient, however, is known to exhibit
an outline of its physical structure and mineral geography.
geology of Ireland has this striking peculiarity, that almost all its
great mountain groups and ranges, consisting of primary and transition
rocks, are situated near its coasts; and that the centre of the island,
except where it is broken by spurs from the external mountains, is
spread out into an immense undulating plain of secondary formations.
On the north-east side of Ireland there is a very small extent of the
350
IRELAND.
upper secondary strata, similar to what occurs on the eastern side of
England, and nearly the whole county of Antrim is covered by basaltic
rocks.
For the convenience of description, we shall divide the mountainous
parts of Ireland into five districts; the southern, the south-eastern,
the north-eastern, the northern, and the western.
The southern district comprises the counties of Kerry, Cork, and
Waterford, extending along the coast from the mouth of the Shannon
to Waterford Harbour: it includes also parts of the neighbouring
counties of Clare, Limerick, and Tipperary. The mountains in this
district are the highest in the island; they generally run in a direction
from east to west, in distinct chains or ridges, to which the beds in the
axes of each ridge are vertical. On each side of the axes, the beds
dip north and south, diminishing in inclination as they recede from the
centre, and form a succession of troughs between the different ridges.
Towards the north the beds decline gradually, and finally pass under
the old red sandstone and the limestone of the midland counties. In
the county of Kerry, Carn Tual, one of the mountains called Mac-
gillicuddy's Reeks, near the Lake of Killarney, rises 3,404 feet above
the level of the sea. The rocks are principally of the transition class,
consisting chiefly of greywacke, slate, limestone, and quartz rock
there are also beds of sandstone and conglomerate. Slate slabs for
pavement of good quality are quarried in the island of Valentia. The
transition rocks of Kerry and Limerick are prolonged into Cork and
Waterford, preserving nearly the same character and composition.
;
The limestone in this district contains organic remains similar to
those found in the transition limestone in other countries, such as
orthoceratites, and several species of terebratula, spirifer, and pro-
ductus.
In Clare, the clay-slate mountains are bordered by old red sand-
stone, over which occur mountain limestone, and a portion of the coal
measures; but the coal is of rare occurrence, and of an indifferent
quality. Contrary to what was at one time supposed, it is now ascer-
tained that the coal formation of this province resembles, both in its
geological position and the nature of its vegetable fossil remains, the
regular coalfields in England. The beds of stone coal, or anthracite,
near Killarney, are found to the north of Tralee, in highly inclined
beds of indurated slate and sandstone. This coal is more extensively
developed in the county of Cork, and is used for burning lime. Beds
of similar coal occur in the county of Limerick, on the left bank of
the Shannon.
In the counties of Kerry and Cork there are several mines of copper
and lead. The mine of Allihies, or Berehaven, in Cork, discovered
in 1812, yielded in 1836 from 6,000 to 7,000 tons of ore, and em-
ployed about 1,000 hands. Besides the beds and veins of ore which
occur in the rocks in Cork, there is a very general diffusion of cupreous
particles in this district. In 1812, a peat bog on the east side of
Glandore Harbour was so much impregnated with copper that 40 or
50 tons of dried peat, when burned, yielded 1 ton of ashes containing
from 10 to 15 per cent. of copper. The south-eastern primary and
GEOLOGY.
351
transition district extends along the coast from Waterford Haven to the
Bay of Dublin, comprising the counties of Wexford and Wicklow, and
part of the county of Dublin. The mountain groups in this district
range in a south-west and north-east direction; the loftiest summits
rising from 2,000 to near 3,000 feet above the level of the sea. They
rarely, indeed, attain the latter elevation; but their varied and pic-
turesque outlines give greater interest to their appearance than many
mountainous regions of far higher altitudes afford. The traveller who
has seen the beautiful group of mountains that partly surrounds the
Bay of Dublin will admit the correctness of this remark. A range of
primary rocks, consisting chiefly of granite and mica slate, with some
quartz rock, runs through the district from Dublin Bay to the junction
of the rivers Barrow and Suir on the south. This primary range is
about 11 miles in breadth, but is narrower near Dublin Bay. Lugna-
quilla, the highest mountain in this range, is 3,039 feet above the level
of the sea. The height of the conical mountain called the Great Sugar
Loaf, composed of quartz rock, is 1,651 feet. The eastern side of the
primary range is clay-slate, and there is also a strip of clay-slate on
the north-west. The eastern side of the granite range contains nu-
merous metallic veins, but they rarely occur on the western side. The
clay-slate contains metallic beds and veins of lead-ore and blende, with
some copper pyrites; very small quantities of gold, silver, and tin ores
are also found in the slate. The most remarkable produce of this dis-
trict is alluvial native gold; it was found in the bed of a small stream,
on the eastern declivity of the mountain called Croghan Kinshela, at
the southern extremity of the granite range. The mountain is stated
to be composed of hornblende-slate and clay-slate, and is near the
junction with granite.
The discovery of native gold in the Ballenvalley stream, at Croghan
Kinshela, was accidental, and was at first kept secret; but being
divulged in the autumn of 1790, almost the whole population of the
immediate neighbourhood hastened to participate in what was sup-
posed would prove to be a golden harvest. Soon after, government
established regular stream works, which were destroyed during the
rebellion, in 1798; government had, however, been fully reimbursed
for its advances, the produce of gold having defrayed the expenses
and left a small surplus in hand. In 1801, the operations were
resumed, and researches were at the same time set on foot for the
discovery of auriferous veins: these, however, were totally unsuccess-
ful. In no instance was a particle of gold obtained, and government
abandoned the enterprise. The mining operations equally failed in
discovering tinstone, wolfram, or manganese, though all these minerals
had been found in the stream bed which contained the gold.
stream gold at Croghan Kinshela occurred in lumps, and in smaller
pieces and grains. One piece weighed 22 oz., another 18 oz., a third
9 oz., and a fourth 7 oz. The gold was found dispersed through a
kind of stratum, composed of clay, sand, gravel, and fragments of
rock, and covered by soil sometimes of considerable depth.
total quantity of gold collected by government amounted to 944 ounces,
of which about 58 ounces were sold as specimens at 47. per ounce. The
aggregate value of the whole was 3,6757. 11s. Several trials were
The
The
352
IRELAND.
made in the adjacent mountain streams, and some particles of gold
were found, but not sufficient to repay the cost of seeking them.
At present (1846) there are wrought in Wicklow the Luganure and
Glenmalur lead mines; and the Ballymurtagh, Cronebane, Con-
norree, and Ballygahan copper mines. The latter may employ in all
about 1,000 hands, and may produce about 20,000 tons sulphur and
copper ore, worth from 17.5s. to 4l. per ton.
The north-eastern primary and transition district is separated from
the south-eastern by intervening beds of limestone and lower secondary
strata, which cover the surface of the country, north of Dublin Bay,
to near Dundalk Bay, and are connected with the great limestone and
secondary formations that occupy the inland counties of Ireland. The
north-eastern district comprises the counties of Down and Armagh,
and part of Louth, extending along the coast from the south of Dun-
dalk Bay to Belfast Lough, and westward to Lough Erne, including
parts of the counties of Monaghan and Cavan. The prevailing rocks
of this district are greywacke and greywacke slate; but from Dundrum
Bay to Carlingford Bay there is a lofty group of primary rocks, com-
posing the Mourne mountains, of which granite is the prevailing
constituent part. On the skirts of this granitic range are beds of
hornblende, and hornblende intermixed with felspar, called by some
geologists primitive greenstone. This district is bounded on the north
by red marl and sandstone, and by the basaltic beds in the county of
Antrim. The highest of the Mourne mountains is nearly 2,800 feet
above the level of the sea.
The northern district extends from Lough Foyle, on the north coast,
to Donegal Bay, on the west; it comprises the counties of Londonderry
and Donegal, and part of Tyrone. The prevailing rocks of this district
are mica slate. It has been supposed that the mountains of this part
of Ireland, composed of mica slate, with beds of porphyry and lime-
stone, are a continuation of the Grampian range of mountains in Scot-
land, which extend in a nearly similar north-east direction, from the
Mull of Cantire to the German ocean.
The granite and transition rocks of the north-east district have also
been regarded as a continuation of the granite and transition rocks
stretching from Port Patrick and the Mull of Galloway, on the south-
west of Scotland, to its eastern coast. In Scotland, as in Ireland, the
northern primary and transition are separated from the southern and
eastern ranges by a tract of country containing strata associated with
the coal formation. The highest mountains in the northern primary
and transition district of Ireland have an elevation varying from 2,000
to nearly 2,500 feet.
The fifth or western primary and transition district is bounded on the
coast by the Atlantic Ocean, from near Doonfeeney Bay, in the north-
west part of the county of Mayo, to Galway Bay. It comprises great
part of Mayo, with parts of Sligo and Galway, and is, perhaps, the
wildest tract in Ireland. A chain of lofty mountains extends eastward
from Achill Island to the Nephin mountains, on the west side of Lough
Conn, and thence to the north-west of Mayo. Nearly the whole of
the country, east and west of this chain, is covered with bog. There
is also a northern range, extending westward from Doonfeeney Bay to
GEOLOGY.
353
Broad Haven. A chain, called the Gauff, or Ox mountains, extends
along the eastern portion of this district, in a north-east and south-west
direction. Minor ranges of hills are situated between the mountain
ranges. The latter are composed of gneiss and mica slate, with horn-
blende slate, quartz rock, and granite. In the lower parts occur grey-
wacke, old red sandstone, and limestone. Mr. Griffith regards part of
this limestone as a different formation from that of the great central
limestone district; it contains large orthoceratites, called by the inha-
bitants cows' horns. This may be described as the lower transition
limestone. On the eastern part of the district the mountain limestone
forms entire mountains of considerable elevation, and contains oolitic
beds, which, however, are distinct from the regular oolitic formation,
and of a more ancient epoch.
The cliffs on the northern coast of Mayo are exceedingly precipitous,
in parts overhanging the sea. The highest mountains vary in height
from about 2,000 to 2,680 feet, the altitude of Muilrea, the highest in
the district. The western coast of Mayo is, in parts, low, and covered
by heaps of sand. The mineral treasures of this district have been
almost entirely neglected; but it is known to contain ores of lead and
zinc. According to a paper of Archdeacon Verschoyle, read to the
Geological Society of London, there are 11 parallel basaltic or trap
dykes intersecting the northern part of this district, in a north-east and
south-west direction; they cut through all the rocks from gneiss to
mountain limestone. One of these dykes he traced between 60 and 70
miles.
Besides the five mountain districts which surround the midland
counties, there are some small isolated districts, or patches of primary
and transition rocks, situated within these counties, where the rocks of
this class rise through the surrounding secondary formations, at a con-
siderable distance from the coast. Indeed, there can be little doubt
that the rocks which compose the primary and transition districts dip
down and extend under the secondary formations that cover the inland
counties of Ireland.
We now proceed to describe the secondary and basaltic formations
of Ireland. No vestiges of the more recent, or what geologists call the
tertiary strata, have hitherto been discovered in any part of the country.
The secondary formations occupy two districts, which may be called the
central, and the northern secondary districts.
The central district comprises nearly all the inland and mid-
land counties: it is surrounded by the five alpine districts before
enumerated, except between Dublin harbour and Drogheda, where it
is bounded by the Irish Sea; and on the north of the county of Sligo,
and the west of Clare, it is bounded by the Atlantic. This central
district comprises more than a third part of the surface of the island,
extending north and south from the northern borders of Cork and
Waterford to Sligo. It has sometimes been called the "Great Lime-
stone Valley of Ireland," because limestone is the prevailing substratum,
though in several parts it is covered with various detached coalfields
and secondary strata connected with the coal formation. Mr. Griffith,
in his Reports on the Bogs of Ireland, describes the Great Lime-
stone Valley as including only a fourth part of the island; but he
VOL. I.
2 A
354
IRELAND.
abstracts from it those parts where the limestone is covered by
secondary beds.
66
We should, however, form an erroneous idea of this extensive district
if we supposed that it is really a valley. Surrounded for the greater
part by alpine districts, containing lofty mountain ranges, it may be
called a low country; but it is diversified with hills and valleys, and in
some parts contains patches of primary and transition rocks, surrounded
by lower secondary strata. Like the weald of Kent, it appears a plain
when viewed from the lofty hills which nearly surround it; but, on
passing through it, we find it rising in parts into considerable hills, and
it is also intersected by valleys varying in breadth and depth. The
plains and bottoms of the valleys in the central secondary district appear
to have been particularly favourable to the formation of peat bogs. Of
the 2,830,000 acres of bog, estimated to exist in Ireland, six-sevenths
are situated within the limits of the district we are describing.
Nearly the whole surface of the Great Limestone Valley is covered
by a bed of limestone gravel, and all the bogs in this valley are sur-
rounded by steep ridges of hills, formed of this gravel, which prevent
the immediate discharge of the water into the nearest river. Thus
shallow lakes have been formed, in which the mosses and other aquatic
plants vegetated, that have formed the peat bogs."-(Fourth Report of
Commissioners, p. 181.) The limestone in the central district is
chiefly, if not entirely, what is called by English geologists mountain
limestone. In England this limestone forms lofty mountains, particu-
larly in the north-west and western parts of Yorkshire, Northumber-
land, and Durham, and is in many parts rich in ores of lead. In Ireland,
on the contrary, this limestone occurs in the valleys and plains; and
the metallic treasures, which it may be reasonably believed to contain,
are in a great measure concealed by the numerous peat bogs formed
over it.
The limestone districts contain numerous beds, which the closeness
of texture and the purity or variety of colour, render available for orna-
mental purposes, as marble. The black marbles of Kilkenny and
Galway take a beautiful polish, and are largely exported. Connemara
and Donegal supply pure white and grey marbles; and quarries of all
sorts of finely variegated marbles have been opened in different parts
of the country.
The coalfields of Ireland may be described in connection with the
great limestone central valley of which they form a part; though coal
occurs in some counties beyond its limits. Our knowledge of the dif-
ferent coalfields is, however, very imperfect. The coal measures or
strata of what is called the Kilkenny coal district, occupy the south-
eastern side of the central district, covering parts of Carlow, Kilkenny,
Tipperary, and Queen's County, being bounded on the east, west, and
south, by the rivers Barrow and Nore. The Leinster coal formation,
like the great coal formations in England and Wales, rests upon moun-
tain limestone; it is also surrounded with the same limestone, which
rises from under the coal strata, and divides it into three distinct coal-
fields. The largest and most important of these is 15 miles in length
from north to south, and 11 miles in breadth. The well known pro-
perty of the Kilkenny coal, viz., that of burning slowly without either
GEOLOGY.
355
flame or smoke, has obtained for it among mineralogists the name of
stone or non-flaming coal. It is also called mineral charcoal, from its
containing from 94 to 96 per cent. of pure carbon. The district con-
tains 7 workable beds of coal, arranged in regular succession one above
another. The collieries, particularly those in the neighbourhood of
Castlecomer, in Kilkenny, and of Doonane, in Queen's County, have
been worked for upwards of a century, and annually furnish considerable
quantities of coal and culm. The coal is used for domestic purposes
and malting, and the culm for burning lime.-(Report of Railway
Commissioners.)
The Munster coal district is very extensive. The principal collieries
are situated on the north bank of the Blackwater, and at present (1846)
extensive works are being carried on at Dromagh collieries.
In Roscommon and Leitrim, in Connaught, there are coal formations
situated within the Great Limestone Valley, which extend into the adja-
cent county of Fermanagh: the coal is bituminous, but little is known
respecting its extent beyond a small distance from the outer edges of
the beds.
The coal in the province of Ulster, beyond the limits of the central
district, is of trifling importance. A small quantity is found in Donegal
and Antrim. Near Ballycastle, on the coast of the latter, the works
are very ancient; stone hammers and other implements of stone, that
had most probably been used in the mines before iron tools were
invented, having been found in some old workings. In Tyrone, a coal
formation ranges from Dungannon northwards to Coal Island, but
hitherto it has been but little worked. The coal of this province is
bituminous.
Fourteen of the seventeen counties in Ireland, in which coal has been
found in greater or smaller quantities, have been already mentioned :
the remaining counties are Westmeath, where coal occurs near Athlone,
at a considerable distance from the Kilkenny coal district, Monaghan
and Cavan.
Of the ironstone, which accompanies coal in the regular coal forma-
tions in Ireland, we have little correct information; but there can be
no doubt that abundance of that valuable mineral will be found should
the coalfields in the central district be ever well and extensively worked.
This great district, which, as before stated, comprises about a third
part of the surface of the island, may be expected to afford coal in
almost all situations where the limestone is covered by strata of sand-
stone and shale, and promises to furnish an almost exhaustless supply of
fuel to future generations.
The mineral treasures of Ireland are, however, for the present con-
cealed in many parts by the bogs that occupy so large a part of her
surface. These not only cover tracts which may contain coal, but also
hide from observation the metallic veins that, in all probability, traverse
the mountain limestone; as similar limestone, in various parts of Eng-
land and Wales, contains numerous rich metallic repositories, particu-
larly veins of lead ore.
Clay slate rocks cover a considerable surface in various parts of
Ireland. The most extensive and valuable slate district, occupying
about 20 square miles, lies round Killaloe, in Clare and Tipperary.
2 A 2
356
IRELAND.
At present (1846) two quarries are in operation in this district, pro-
ducing about 10,000 tons a-year of valuable roofing slates. The slate
quarries in the Island of Valentia supply slates of almost any size; but
they do not split sufficiently fine to be used for roofs.-(Kane on the
Resources of Ireland, p. 230.)
The northern secondary district of Ireland, consisting of the upper
secondary strata, occupies parts of the counties of Tyrone and Armagh,
and branches off, on the southern end of Lough Neagh, into two narrow
tracts, inclosing the county of Antrim on its eastern and western sides.
This district is chiefly composed of the new red marl and sandstone ;
it overlays the coal in some parts, and contains, like the same formation
in England, salt springs and gypsum. As this district separates the
north-eastern alpine district from the northern, it presents, like all
other countries at the feet of alpine ranges, beds of conglomerate,
formed of the ruins of the adjacent mountains. Part of the other
secondary formations which abound on the eastern side of England, as
the lias, the greensand, and chalk, occur in the county of Antrim, but
are almost everywhere covered by thick beds of basalt. They are well
exposed to observation in the cliffs on the coast, and at the bottom of
the valleys that intersect the country. The basalt is said to cover 800
square miles of surface, to the average depth of 545 feet.
Below the basalt, in a descending series, are—
1. Chalk, thickness about 200 feet.
2. Mulatto or Green Sand.
3. Lias, Limestone, and Clay.
4. Red and Variegated Marl.
The total thickness of these three formations,
800 to 1000 feet.
The thickness, however, varies in different situations; sometimes the
greensand and lias are wanting, and the chalk rests immediately on red
marl. The chalk and sand are remarkably constant in most parts: at
Ballycastle, however, the basalt rests upon coal measures. Chalk
extends also beyond the limits of the basalt, and, in some situations,
may be seen resting in horizontal beds, on highly inclined beds of mica
slate; but it is generally covered with basalt.
Dykes, or nearly vertical fissures, filled with basalt, intersect the
beds of basalt and the rocks on which they repose; similar basaltic
dykes also intersect the rocks of granite and mica slate on this side of
Ireland.
It has been necessary to notice the basaltic beds on the north of
Ireland, in connection with the upper secondary strata with which they
are associated; but the remarkable geological phenomena which this
district presents, demand attention. The origin of basaltic rocks was,
a few years since, a subject of much controversy among geologists;
some maintaining that they were aqueous deposit, and others that they
were the products of igneous fusion, like compact lavas. An extensive
examination of ancient and recent volcanic districts has since decided
the question; and we believe no experienced geologists at present hesi-
tate în ascribing an igneous origin to basalt. It would be foreign to
our purpose to enter into an exposition of the facts by which this
opinion is supported. It may suffice to mention, that the mineral com-
position of many basaltic and volcanic rocks is identical with that in
GEOLOGY.
357
the volcanic district of Auvergne; in that district scoriaceous lava
may be seen passing by gradations into compact basalt, and, in some
situations, into columnar basalt: lastly, basaltic rocks, when in con-
tact with limestone, often convert it into hard crystalline marble, the
apparent result of intense or long-continued heat.
The north of Ireland as before stated, is covered, over an extent of
800 square miles, with various beds of basalt, the average thickness of
which is estimated to exceed 500 feet. Some of these beds are elevated
to the height of from 1,400 to 1,800 feet. It may be asked where
are the volcanoes whence these beds have been poured forth? The
answer will not be difficult. The largest beds of lava formed by
modern volcanoes have not issued from the crater at the summits, but
from vast fissures in the sides, or at the feet of the mountains; and we
believe that the first volcanic eruptions have generally been from exten-
sive fissures, which pour out the lava on each side, until the fissure
becomes partially closed, and the eruptions are confined to distant aper-
tures, which in time form volcanic cones. Now, in Ireland we have
numerous instances of extensive perpendicular rents, more than 25 feet
in width, which are filled with basalt: these may be seen cutting
through the rocks on the coast. It is through these rents, in all pro-
bability, that the successive beds of basalt have been poured out, like
liquid lava. It must also be remembered that the chalk, and secondary
strata under the basalt, are filled with marine organic remains, and
were originally deposited in a deep ocean: and various reasons might
be stated in favour of the opinion, that the basalt of Ireland and many
other countries was deposited by submarine eruptions, and under a
great pressure of incumbent water, at a period antecedent to the eleva-
tion of the present land above the level of the sea.
The beds of basalt in Ireland, as they are displayed in the cliffs on
the coast, present several ranges of magnificent columns, at different
heights above the sea: the same range, dipping down gradually to-
wards the sea in some parts of the course, and rising from it in other
parts. A section near the Giants' Causeway, presents, according to
Dr. Richardson, the following succession from the surface :
1. Rudely Columnar Basalt
2. Red Ochre
•
3. Irregularly Prismatic Basalt
4. Columnar Basalt
5. Between Bole and Basalt
6. Coarsely Columnar
•
7. Columnar Basalt: this forms the upper range of pillars at Bengore
Head
8. Irregular Columnar, with Wacke and Wood-coal
9. Columnar Basalt: this strata forms the Giants' Causeway, by its
intersection with the plane of the sea
10. Bole or Red Ochre
•
11. 12. 13. Tabular Basalt, with seams of Ochre
14. 15. 16. Tabular Basalt, with Zeolite
•
Feet.
60
2
50
7
8
10
•
54
54
44
22
80
80
The promontories of Fair Head, Bengore Head, and the Giants'
Causeway, are parts of a vast basaltic range along the north coast of
Antrim. Various ranges of columnar basalt, forming natural pillars,
rise from the sea to the height of 500 feet, as described in the preced-
358
IRELAND.
ing section; and form a pile of natural architecture, in which the
regularity and symmetry of art is united with the wild magnificence of
nature. Many of the columns in the ranges at Fair Head are 150 feet
in height and 5 in breadth. At the base, along the shore, is a wild
waste of rocky fragments, which have fallen from the cliffs: some of the
masses resemble the ruins of enormous castles. At the Giants' Cause-
way the columns rarely exceed 1 foot in breadth, and 30 feet in height :
the columns are generally sharply defined pentagons, or hexagons;
but some of them have 8, and others not more than 3 sides. The
columns are divided into smaller blocks or prisms, of 1 foot or more
in length, which fit into each other by a convex and concave surface.
At Fair Head the blocks are of great length, and lie flat on each other.
The columnar basalt, as may be seen by the section, rests on and is
covered by beds that are not columnar. At the Giant's Causeway the
tops of ranges of pillars may be seen extending northward under the
sea. It is not improbable that this great basaltic formation may have
been united with similar formations in Scotland and the Hebrides.
The basalt of this district is sometimes granular, and sometimes com-
pact. Near the centre of the basaltic district, 7 miles east of Antrim,
the basalt passes into porphyry and porphyritic pitchstone. The es-
sential component parts of all these basaltic rocks is felspar and augite
or hornblende, in different states of admixture and crystallization. The
prismatic or columnar form is not uncommon in many other rocks: in
some instances it may have been produced by slow refrigeration; it is
also sometimes the result of crystallisation in aqueous deposits. One
of the gypsum beds in the quarries at Montmartre, near Paris, is
columnar. The chalk beds of Antrim are in some situations broken,
and portions of chalk are enveloped in the basalt: this must have been
effected when the latter was in a state of fusion: the chalk, in proxi-
mity with the basalt, rendered it hard and crystalline.
The bogs of Ireland present to the geologist few objects deserving
particular attention, except their vast extent, and the organic remains
which they contain. Though peat be now constantly accumulating,
there can be no doubt that many peat bogs are of considerable anti-
quity, as the remains of an enormous distinct species of elk occur
abundantly in them, and in the beds of shell marl under peat. Heads
and horns of this animal, called the Irish fossil elk (Cervus magaceros),
are most frequently found; but other bones, and even an entire
skeleton, was discovered in 1825, and is preserved in the museum of
the Royal Dublin Society. The length of each horn is 5 feet 9 inches;
the distance of the extreme tips of each horn, 11 feet 10 inches;
length of the spine, 10 feet 10 inches; height of the upper extremity
of the dorsal spines, 6 feet 6 inches; height of the tip of the horn
above the foot, 10 feet 4 inches, Though the species has been long
extinct, there is much probability that these animals lived in the
country after it was inhabited by man. The bones are harder and
heavier than recent bone, but are in other respects similar: the car-
tilage and gelatine had not been perceptibly altered; and even fat,
or adipocire, has been found in the shaft of one of the bones. Pro-
fessor Jameson states that in one of the ribs of this animal, in the
Dublin museum, he discovered an oval perforation, with a callus around
GEOLOGY.
359
it, evidently caused by an arrow or some sharp-pointed instrument,
which had remained fixed in the wound for some time without causing
the animal's death. Numerous trunks of trees, with the wood consi-
derably hardened, are found prostrate in the Irish bogs; as is fre-
quently also the case in bogs in England.
Lough Neagh.-Referring to what has been previously stated in
regard to this lake, it may now suffice to observe, that in almost all
alpine countries, where the beds of rock are thrown up at high angles
of elevation, indicating an upheaving force, acting along certain lines
of the earth's surface, portions of the beds undergo a corresponding
subsistence or depression, sinking into deep hollows, in which the waters
from the mountains are collected and form lakes. In this manner the
lakes, and many of the deeply indented bays on the coast, have been
formed; the latter differing from the former in being directly open
to the sea at one extremity. Lough Neagh, however, deserves some
notice, from the property which its waters have long been stated to
possess, of converting wood into a siliceous petrifaction, or, in other
words, of impregnating wood with siliceous earth. Most of the rivers
of Antrim, Armagh, and Down, run into Lough Neagh, and some of
the rivers are said to possess the petrifying property in a greater degree
than the lough itself. Siliceous earth
Siliceous earth is extremely rare in any water,
except in some thermal springs in volcanic districts; but, as Lough
Neagh adjoins a basaltic country, the presence of silex in its waters
Mr. Tennant
would be analogous to what is observed elsewhere.
could not detect silex in the waters of Lough Neagh; but the fact of
silicified trunks of trees being found in this lake is undoubted. In
some instances the fissures only of the wood are lined with quartz crys-
tals; in other instances the wood is entirely penetrated with siliceous
matter; sometimes one end of the tree will be petrified, and the other
end ligneous. This fact alone would appear to prove that the petrify-
ing process is now going on, or has been so recently; for if we refer
it to a remote geological epoch, it will be difficult, if not impossible,
to explain how any part of the wood, that is not silicified, could have
been exposed so long to the action of air or water without decom-
position. The trees are also such as are now common in the country,
viz., the oak, the holly, and the hazel. On inquiry, we found that, in
the opinion of intelligent persons, inhabiting the borders of the lake,
its petrifying properties are still in manifest action on recently sub-
merged wood; and we are inclined to believe that this opinion has
We are
been rejected by naturalists without sufficient examination.
not informed respecting the temperature of the waters of Lough Neagh,
or of any of the Irish lakes; but we believe that no thermal springs
have yet been discovered either in Ireland or Scotland, a circumstance
the more remarkable, as both countries contain extensive basaltic dis-
tricts, and it is in the vicinity of basaltic or volcanic rocks that thermal
waters are most frequently met with.
Before concluding this brief survey of the geology of Ireland, it may
not be irrelevant to state, that Dublin, Belfast, and the factories in the
north are mostly supplied with coal from England, at about 10s. or
12s. per ton, on delivery, and that such, also, is the case in most parts
of the country, where coal is used. The great mass of the Irish people
.་
360
IRELAND.
will probably be, for many ages, dependent on the neighbouring peat
bogs for fuel. It has been imagined by persons unacquainted with the
subject, that the drainage and cultivation of the bogs would deprive
them of an article so essential to their subsistence; but the truth is,
that the drainage of the bogs would vastly increase the supply of fuel.
This may not appear obvious at first: but when it is considered that a
bog is generally a spungy or pulpy mass of decomposed vegetable mat-
ter, and can only be worked round the edges, where it is nearly dry,
it is easily seen that drainage, by rendering the whole extent of the peat
bogs available for fuel, would add immensely to the supply of that
article.
SECT. 7.-Climate.
The peculiarities in the climate of Ireland depend principally on
its geographical situation; its exposure on all sides, except the east, to
the Atlantic Ocean; and the nature of its soil and substrata. To these
are to be ascribed its prevailing winds, its comparatively high mean
temperature, and its humidity.
a. The winds in Ireland blow still more frequently from the west
than in England. Round Dublin, the climate of which approaches
most nearly to that of England, it was observed, during a period of
forty years, that in spring, the east, north-east, and south-east winds
were to the west, south-west, and north-west winds as 3 is to 4; in
summer, the former were to the latter as 27 is to 5; in autumn, as
1% to 4; in winter, as 2% to 4.
8
σ
At Londonderry, the winds, from 1795 to 1801 inclusive, were as
follows:-From the north, 225 days; north-east, 225; east, 209;
south-east, 376; south, 297; south-west, 476; west, 766; and from
the north-west, 539.
At Cork, Dr. Smith states, that " it appears from a regular diary of
the weather, kept for several years in that city, that the winds blow
from the south to the north-west three-fourths of the year at least."
The range of the barometer at Dublin has been calculated by Dr.
Rutty and others at from 2 to 2 inches. At Londonderry, it has
been observed about 2; at Belfast, 2; at Limerick, 2 inches; and
at Cork, 11. Storms are most prevalent in Ireland during autumn
and summer. South-west winds prevail in the winter months; west
winds, in summer and autumn; and the east, north-east, south east,
and north, in spring.
b. The mean annual temperature of Ireland is necessarily influ-
enced by the circumstances already referred to as modifying the
currents of air passing over it. The position of the island, in the
Atlantic and near to Continental Europe, subjects it to westerly winds
nearly three-fourths of the year, and to a much higher mean tempera-
ture than its distance from the equator would otherwise confer upon
it; but this is owing more to the mildness of winter and spring, than
to the heat of summer and autumn. Frost and snow are not frequent,
and seldom continue long in the south and south-west districts of the
country. In these, however, the falls of rain are frequent and heavy
during autumn and winter. The winter, also, continues much longer
than in England; and spring, summer, and autumn are later in their
CLIMATE.
361
approach. Owing to the humidity and mildness of the air, and abun-
dant falls of rain in autumn, the country remains verdant, and the trees
in leaf, until very late in the year. The temperature, however, is
somewhat influenced by elevation above the level of the sea, by distance
from the Western Ocean, by the number of inland lakes, and by the
nature of the soil and substrata. The coast
The coast is much more mild and
humid than the interior; and the southern and western, than the
northern and eastern parts.
In his observations on the climate of Cork, Mr. Townsend observes,
"This county is remarkable for the mildness of its temperature,
never experiencing those extremes of heat and cold to which the same
degree of latitude is subject, not only on the Continent, but even in
England. The difference is occasioned by our nearer approximation
to the Atlantic Ocean, which loads this part of the island with vapours ;
seldom, indeed, to be complained of in winter, but too often interrupt-
ing the maturer rays of the summer sun. Cork, however, suffers much
less in this respect than Kerry and other counties on the western coast,
whose loftier mountains involve them still more in cloud and vapour.
In such countries as abound more in pasture than tillage, this humidity
of atmosphere affords, perhaps, no cause of complaint."-(Survey of
Cork, vol. i. p. 2.)
The mean temperature of the north of Ireland is about 48°; of the
middle, 50°; and of the south, nearly 52° Fah. According to Mr.
Hamilton, the mean temperature of the north coast, about the latitude
of 55°, is 48°; that of the west coast, in lat. 54° 48′, is 48° 6′; that of
the eastern coast, near Dublin, in lat. 53° 20', is 49° 4′; and that of
the south coast, near Cork, lat. 51° 54′, is 51° 2′. Dr. Rutty states
that the medium atmospheric heat in Dublin of the five years terminating
with 1800, was 50° 15′; but elevation above the level of the sea, and
distance from the coast, the former especially, cause a relative diminu-
tion of the mean atmospheric temperature. Dr. Bryan Robinson gives
the following estimate of the comparative heat of the seasons in London
and Dublin
London.
Dublin.
Winter
1.00
1.45
Spring
3.00
2.14
Summer
5.00
4.68
Autumn
3.00
3.80
12.00
12.07
The following results have been assigned to thermometric observa-
tions, made in the following towns :-
Londonderry
Belfast
Kilkenny
Limerick
Dublin
Highest.
Lowest.
81°
21°
78.80
25
79
29
75
28
81.50
14.50
c. The quantity of rain that falls in Ireland is very various in
different places, and even in the same place in different years. The
geographical circumstances, however, of the country, and the prevail-
ing winds from the Atlantic, occasion great falls of rain, especially in
362
IRELAND.
the western and southern districts. At Londonderry, the rain-gauge
has varied, in different years, from 26 inches to 35. At Cork, the
annual fall has ranged from 30 to 54 inches. At Dublin, it has
varied from about 20 to 31 inches; and at Belfast, from 20 to 35
inches. At Dublin the months may be arranged as follows, according
to their dryness:-June, February, April, March, May, October,
January, September, August, November, July, December. At Belfast,
the order of the months, according to their dryness, is as follows:-
June, March, April, February, May, November, October, August,
December, January, September, July. But the falls of rain on the
west and south coasts are certainly seldom below the highest amount
just stated. The number, also, of cloudy, foggy, showery, and rainy
days throughout Ireland is much greater relatively to the actual fall of
rain than in England: the hygrometer, too, generally ranges very
high, and often continues to indicate great humidity for long periods.
The observations, however, that are requisite to an exact knowledge of
the climate of Ireland are remarkably defective, more especially in
respect to the western, northern, and southern districts, where the first
impression of the Atlantic atmosphere, and, indeed, of the Atlantic
Ocean, is especially made.
"The worst circumstance of the climate of Ireland," says Arthur
Young, "is the constant moisture without rain. Wet a piece of
leather, and lay it in a room where there is neither sun nor fire, and it
will not, in summer even, be dry in a month. I have known gentlemen
in Ireland deny their climate being moister than England; but if they
have eyes, let them open them, and see the verdure that clothes their
rocks, and compare it with ours in England, where rocky soils are of
russet brown, however sweet the food for sheep. Does not their island
lie more exposed to the great Atlantic? and does not the west wind
blow three-fourths of the year? If there were another island still
more to the westward, would not the climate of Ireland be improved ?"
(Tour in Ireland, 4to ed., part ii. p. 4.)
This humidity of the climate renders Ireland decidedly better fitted
for grazing than for agriculture; and would, no doubt, prevent,
even though the cultivation were equal, the wheat, barley, and,
perhaps, also the oats raised in it, from being so heavy or good as
those raised in England. It may be worth remarking, that this
peculiarity in the climate was noticed by Pomponius Mela:-" Cœli,"
says he, "ad maturanda semina iniqui; verum adeo luxuriosa herbis,
non lætis modo sed etiam dulcibus, ut, &c.—(De Situ Orbis, lib. 3,
cap. 6.)
Hence, in Ireland, still more than in Scotland, droughts rarely
prove injurious. "It is a common saying in Ireland, that the very
driest summers never hurt the land; for, although the corn and grass
upon the high and dry grounds may get harm, nevertheless the country
in general gets more good than hurt by it; and when any dearths fall
out to be in Ireland, they are not caused through immoderate heat and
drought, as in most other countries, but through too much wet and ex-
cessive rain."-(Boate's Nat. Hist. of Ireland, p. 168, ed. 1652.)
The soil and substrata have considerable influence upon the climate.
The cultivated soil consists of a light and fertile loam, resting chiefly
CLIMATE.
363
upon a limestone basis; the uncultivated soil principally of bogs and
peat moors, which cover nearly 3,000,000 English acres.
The bogs
principally occupy a zone extending across the centre of the island,
from coast to coast, but which beconies wider as it advances westward.
They are situated at various elevations, ranging between 30 and
340 feet above the level of the sea. The prevailing shallow, loamy,
and dry soils, resting upon a rocky and chiefly limestone substratum,
are well adapted to the nature of the climate. They hinder the
humidity of the atmosphere, and the heavy falls of rain, from being
half so injurious as they would be were the soil deep, clayey, and re-
tentive of moisture. The bogs, however, notwithstanding the moderate
temperature of the climate, and the antiseptic nature of many of the
plants of which they consist, have a more or less injurious tendency,
both by lowering the temperature and diminishing the purity of the air.
The prevalence of westerly and south-west winds, the consequent
humidity of the air, the remarkably broken and indented state of the
western and northern coasts, the number of loughs, or lakes, and con-
siderable rivers, and the tempering influence of the Atlantic Ocean,
combine to render the winters mild in respect of temperature, but
stormy and rainy; to prevent the continuance of frost; to promote
vegetation; to give the face of the country a verdant appearance; to
increase fertility; and to produce a greater irregularity and uncertainty
of the seasons and weather than in England.
With respect to the influence of the climate upon the vegetable
and animal kingdoms little need be said, inasmuch as the existing
state of both is manifestly owing more to circumstances foreign to the
climate, than to the climate itself. All the productions of the soil
usually cultivated in England may be raised in Ireland, although the
greater irregularity of the seasons in the latter renders the produce
more uncertain; while the greater humidity of the air is, as already
stated, unfavourable to the ripening of corn, particularly of wheat.
Much, indeed, of the corn of Ireland could not be preserved, unless it
were kiln-dried. The remarkable deficiency of forest trees is, however,
owing infinitely more to circumstances connected with the political
state of the country, than to differences of climate: several forests,
which existed when Boate wrote his account of Ireland, have since dis-
appeared; not in consequence of any deterioration of the climate, but
of the wasteful, abusive treatment to which they have been subjected.—
(See post.) The mildness and moisture of the climate is such, that
the pasture lands, particularly those resting on a limestone bottom, are
always more or less verdant. Even the mountains of Kerry, Cork,
and Tipperary are usually grazed throughout the year. In the southern
counties the cattle are seldom, and in some places never, housed during
winter. The eulogy of Giraldus Cambrensis, on the climate of Ireland,
is more applicable at the present time than when he wrote:-" Terra
terrarum temperatissima, nec Cancri calor exæstuans compellit ad
umbras, nec ad focos Capricorni rigor invitat, aëris amanitate tempe-
rieque tempora ferè cuncta tepescunt."-(Topog. Hib., cap. 25.)
The climate, as respects the human constitution, is, upon the whole,
highly salubrious. With the slight exception already made, it can
hardly be said to be materially less so than the climates of Scotland
364
IRELAND.
and England. The greater prevalence of fevers and dysentery in
Ireland, although partly attributable to the humidity of the atmosphere,
in connexion with marsh exhalations, is mainly owing to other causes;
more especially to very poor, and often unwholesome, diet, to famine,
to imperfect clothing, to sleeping on the earthen floors of the cabins,
to neglect of personal and domestic cleanliness, and to various circum-
stances which associate themselves with the poverty, ignorance, and
bigotry of the lower classes, and with the imperfect civilisation to
which they have as yet, in many places, attained.
The very remarkable differences in moral constitution, in tempera-
ment, and even in physical conformation, among the natives of the
three kingdoms, and more especially between those of Ireland and
Great Britain, cannot be explained by any appreciable differences of
the climate or soil; they must, therefore, be referred, and are clearly,
indeed, attributable, to other sources.
SECT. 8.-Civil Divisions.
Previously to the invasion of Ireland by the English in the reign
of Henry II., it was divided, for ecclesiastical purposes, into the
provinces of Leinster, Ulster, North and South Munster, and Con-
naught. But for a lengthened period after the invasion its principal
divisions were the country within and the country without the pale;
that is, within and without the district on the east and south coasts,
principally occupied and settled by the English. The limits of the pale
varied at different periods. In 1211 it was divided into 12 counties ;
viz., Dublin, Meath, Uriell (now called Louth), Kildare, Catherlough,
or Carlow, Kilkenny, and Wexford, comprising most part of the pro-
vince of Leinster, with Waterford, Cork, Kerry, and Tipperary, in
Munster. In the reign of Queen Mary, King's County and Queen's
County were formed; and, by statute of the 11th of Queen Elizabeth,
Connaught and Ulster were divided into counties, as we now find them.
Wicklow, which had previously been considered as belonging to the
counties of Dublin and Carlow, was formed into a separate county
early in the reign of James I. Since that epoch, Ulster has contained
9, Leinster 12, Connaught 5, and Munster 6 counties; making for the
whole country a total of 32.
Baronies.-These correspond pretty closely with hundreds in
England. They appear to have been formed successively in con-
sequence of the submission of the chiefs who ruled over them; the
territory of each constituting a barony. This accounts for their ex-
treme inequality in respect of size, and for the territory belonging to
one being frequently intermixed with that of another, as is particularly
observable in the county of Cork. There are in all 316 baronies in
Ireland, of which 70 are in Ulster, 124 in Leinster, 47 in Connaught,
and 75 in Munster.
Parishes.-The division into parishes is of much greater antiquity
than that into baronies. Originally it was purely ecclesiastical, and
was introduced among the civil divisions merely from motives of con-
venience. Unluckily, however, the civil and ecclesiastical divisions
do not always correspond, parishes frequently extending not only into
CIVIL DIVISIONS.
365
different baronies, but into different counties; and townlands are some-
times attached to one parish for the assessment of the county taxes,
while, with respect to tithes and other ecclesiastical contributions, they
are considered as forming part of another. This sort of confusion pro-
duced considerable inconvenience in the taking of the census.
Townlands. This is the smallest subdivision of the country. The
name, however, is not universal throughout Ireland, some counties
having adopted in its stead the term Ploughland, which is supposed to
contain 120 acres; but as the quantity has been taken by estimate, and
not by measurement, their extent varies considerably even in the same
county. Townlands, in many instances, have been subdivided.-(For
further remarks on the subdivisions of Ireland, see the Preliminary
Remarks prefixed to the Census of 1821.)
SECT. 9.—Statistical Notices of the different Irish Counties.
LEINSTER.
1. Wexford, a maritime county, being the most southerly of Leinster,
is bounded on the south and east by St. George's Channel, on the
north by Wicklow, and on the west by Carlow, Kilkenny, and Water-
ford Harbour. It contains 576,588 acres, of which 45,501* are unim-
proved mountain and bog. Surface pleasantly diversified; climate
mild. Soils either light or stiff clays. Property in pretty consider-
able estates; farms of various sizes, but there is less extreme sub-
division of land in this than in most other Irish counties. Dairies
numerous, but indifferently managed. Some districts have been long
noted for their great crops of barley. Land fetches a high rent, and the
competition for small patches is carried beyond all reasonable limits.†
The baronies of Forth and Bargy, occupying the south-western angle of
Wexford, differ widely from the rest of the county, and, indeed, from
every other district of Ireland. They were settled, at a distant period, by
a colony from South Wales, and, till very recently, the Welsh language
was spoken by every one, and is still understood by the older inhabitants.
The people contrast strikingly with those in most other parts of
Ireland, being industrious, provident, peaceable, and cleanly. "Their
farms run from 10 up to 50 and 60 acres. The land is well manured
for every crop, and cultivation has advanced far beyond anything I
have seen in the south or west of Ireland. You see comfortable farm-
houses, well thatched and whitewashed, with good farm-yards behind
them, square fields, hedge rows, and sufficient wood to be ornamental.
Cottages, also, are clean and comfortable. Rents are high-higher
than in any other part of the south of Ireland, but they are well paid."
-(C. Foster's Letters on Ireland, p. 474; see, also, to the same
effect, Inglis's Ireland in 1834, vol. i., p. 49.) It would appear, from
the evidence taken before the Land Occupation Commissioners, that agri-
culture in the other parts of the county is gradually improving. Sea-
weed and sea-sand are extensively used in this and in other maritime
* Unless where the contrary is expressed, all our references are made to the
statute or Imperial acre.
† For details with respect to the rent of land in this and other counties of Ireland,
see post, chapter on Agriculture.
366
IRELAND.
counties as manure; and bones and guano, though in small quantities,
are imported for the same purpose. Except lime, Wexford has no
minerals of any importance. The woollen manufacture has been esta-
blished in the town. Principal rivers, Slaney and Barrow. Wexford
contains 9 baronies and 144 parishes, and returns 4 members to par-
liament, being 2 for the county and 1 each for the boroughs of Wex-
ford and New Ross. Principal towns, Wexford and New Ross.
Population of county in 1841, 202,033.
2. Kilkenny, an inland county, is bounded on the east by Wexford
and Carlow, on the north by Queen's County, on the west by Tipperary
and Waterford, and on the south by the latter. It contains 509,732
acres, of which 21,126 are uncultivated, and nearly 14,000 plantations.
Surface diversified. Soil of various qualities; in a few places it is
moorish, but for the most part it is light and dry, resting on a lime-
stone bottom, some valleys being extremely fertile. Climate mild.
Tillage in a backward state, but it has been materially improved
during the last 20 years, both as respects the rotation of crops, the
implements employed, the stock kept by the farmer, &c. According
to the Survey of Kilkenny, by Mr. Tighe, published in 1802 (p. 253),
of 66,361 Irish acres in cultivation, 26,000 were in wheat, 20,600 in
potatoes, 10,000 in oats, and 8,000 in barley. In the interval, how-
ever, tillage has been much extended, and the proportion of wheat
materially increased. Dairy husbandry extensively practised, but the
details ill understood. Property in large estates.
Property in large estates. Farms of various
sizes, but generally small, there being, of 16,490 farms of more than 1
acre, only 2,006 that exceed 30 acres. Partnership tenures not un-
common (see Galway). Farm-houses and other accommodations, for
the most part very inferior. This is one of the highest-rented
counties in Ireland. Mr. Inglis says, that all classes were unanimously
of opinion that the condition of the labourers and small farmers had
visibly deteriorated during the 12 or 15 years previously to his visit
in 1834; and, whether this be really so or not, the details which he
gives show that it was then exceedingly bad, and it has been but little
improved in the interim. Manufactures of carpets and some other
woollen articles have been attempted at Kilkenny on a pretty large
scale, but the experiment has not proved successful.—(Ireland in 1834,
vol. i., p. 91.) Coal mines have been long wrought at Castle-comer,
in the northern part of the county, but, owing to the bad quality of
the coal and expense of working, it is not much used. Sandstone,
manganese, with iron and lead ores, have been found in various places.
Principal rivers, Suir, Nore, and Barrow, which last divides it from
Carlow and Wexford. Kilkenny contains 11 baronies and 140
parishes, and returns 3 members to parliament, being 2 for the county
and 1 for the borough of Kilkenny. The principal town, Kilkenny,
had, in 1841, a population of 23,625. Population of county in ditto,
202,420.
3. Carlow, or Catherlough, a small inland county, bounded on the
south and east by Wexford and Wicklow, on the north by the latter
and Kildare, and on the west by Queen's County and Kilkenny. It
contains 221,342 acres, of which 31,249 are unimproved mountain and
bog. The southern boundary is mountainous, but the rest of the sur-
WICKLOW.
367
face is, for the most part, gently undulating. The soil in the uplands
is a light gravel, and in the lowlands a fertile loam. Estates middle-
sized. Mr. Wakefield observes of this county, that, "it has very little
of that minute division of land so injurious to other parts of Ireland.
It has neither a temporal nor a spiritual peer resident within it; and,
though destitute of manufactures, it is tenanted by more wealthy
people than almost any other county in the island. There are exten-
sive dairies in this county, and its butter, of which large quantities are
exported to England, &c., is the best of any in Ireland." (i., 248.)
But if this were an accurate statement at the time, it must have changed
for the worse in the interval, it having had, in 1841, nearly 2,000
occupiers of pieces of land varying from 1 to 5 acres, and only 950
occupiers of farms of more than 30 acres. At present (1846) its agri-
culture is in a very depressed state, and it is doubtful whether it has
improved of late years. Principal rivers, Barrow and Slaney; the
former partly intersects the county, and partly divides it from Queen's
County and Kilkenny. Carlow is divided into 7 baronies and 47
parishes, and returns 3 members to parliament, being 2 for the county
and 1 for the borough of Carlow. The principal town, Carlow, had,
in 1841, a population of 10,409. Population of county in ditto,
86,228.
4. Wicklow, a maritime county, is bounded on the east by St. George's
Channel, on the north by the county of Dublin, on the west by Kildare
and Carlow, and on the south by Wexford. It contains 500,178 acres,
of which 200,000 are mountain and bog. This is a very mountainous
county. In some places it is well wooded and extremely picturesque
and beautiful. Estates mostly large; the most extensive, valuable,
and best cultivated belongs to Earl Fitzwilliam. Farms of various
sizes; many small; but, at an average, they are larger than in any
other county of Ireland. Speaking generally, rents are too high, the
labouring population not half employed, and their condition, and that
of the small farmers, very unprosperous. Little wheat is raised, and
that principally in the eastern parts of the county. Agriculture has
slowly improved within the last few years, particularly in respect of
green crops and tillage. Wicklow has to boast considerable mineral
treasures. We have already noticed the fact of gold having been
found in stream-works in this county (antè, p. 351). These, however,
have been wholly abandoned, the produce of metal being insufficient
to repay the expenses. About 1,000 persons are at present employed
in copper mines at Cronebane, Ballymurtagh, Connorree, &c., and, in
1844, from 18,000 to 20,000 tons of ore were exported. Bismuth,
manganese, zinc, &c., have also been found, but in inconsiderable
quantities. Marl is very abundant in parts of the county, and is said
to have wonderfully increased the fertility of some districts. Prin-
cipal rivers: Slaney, Vartrey, and Ovoca. Wicklow contains 8 baronies
and 59 parishes, and returns 2 members to parliament, both for the
county. Wicklow, the county town, had, in 1841, a population of
2,794. Population of county in ditto, 126,143.
5. Dublin, the metropolitan county of Ireland, is bounded on the
east by St. George's Channel; on the south by Wicklow; and on the
368
IRELAND.
north and west by Meath and Kildare. It contains 226,414 acres, of
which the unoccupied hill and bog only amount to 19,312. Soil, for
the most part, shallow and naturally poor; substratum generally a
cold retentive clay. Property much divided. Farms near the city
very small; but, at a distance, larger. Agriculture backward, and
but slowly improving. Though not of the best quality, land, from the
advantage it enjoys of contiguity to the city of Dublin, fetches a com-
paratively high rent. Principal river, the Liffey, on which there is
a considerable salmon fishery. Neither minerals nor manufactures
important.
Dublin, the Eblana of Ptolemy, and the metropolis of Ireland, is
situated near the bay of the same name, contiguous to the mouth of
the Liffey. It labours under the disadvantage of having a naturally
shallow and bad harbour; but we have previously seen that this serious
drawback on its prosperity has been all but wholly obviated, and that
there is no longer any physical obstacle to prevent Dublin becoming a
great shipping port. (See ante, p. 340.) Dublin is a large, and,
speaking generally, a well-built city. Some of its streets and squares
are magnificent; and it has to boast of some of the finest public
buildings in Europe; not a few of which have, indeed, been con-
structed on a ridiculously extravagant scale. There are, however,
some very inferior quarters; and a considerable part of the popu-
lation is in extremely depressed circumstances. Dublin is the seat
of the only Irish university. It was supposed by many that it would
be seriously injured by the Union, and the consequent removal of the
Irish parliament; but this anticipation has been falsified by the event.
The municipal boundaries of the city comprise 3,807 acres; and its
population within these limits, according to the best attainable infor-
mation, has been in-
1798
1804
1821
182,370
167,899
185,881
1831
1841
203,650
232,726
The population of the county, exclusive of the city, amounted in 1841
to 140,047, making the population of both 372,773.
66
6. Kildare, an inland county, is bounded on the south by Carlow;
on the east by Wicklow and Dublin; on the north by Meath; and on
the west by King's County and Queen's County. It contains 418,436
acres, of which 51,854 are unimproved bog and waste. Surface varied
by some small hills and gentle declivities; but for the most part it is
flat, and nearly level.. Soil generally clayey, and very fertile. The
curragh of Kildare, comprising about 5,000 English acres, has been
long celebrated. Nothing," says Arthur Young, "can exceed the
extreme softness of the turf, which is of a verdure that charms the eye,
and is highly set off by the gentle inequality of surface. The soil is
a fine dry loam, on a sandy bottom."-(Tour in Ireland, vol. ii.,
p. 214.) There are some very large estates; but property is, not-
withstanding, a good deal divided. Farms vary in size from 3 up to
15, 30, and even 300 acres: they are, in fact, less subdivided in this
than in any Irish county, Wicklow excepted; a result which has been

QUEEN'S COUNTY.
369
ascribed to there having been no contested election in it for the 60 years
previously to 1830; and to the landlords having, in consequence, no
temptation to split their estates for the sake of multiplying freeholders.
—(Evid. Agricultural Committee of 1833, p. 495.) Mr. Wakefield
describes the husbandry of Kildare as being as wretched as can possibly
be conceived.-(Vol. i., p. 419.) But it has been amended, as is
generally indeed the case throughout Leinster, within the last 12 or
20 years; and many of the practices and implements which he justly
reprobated, have since been partially superseded. The old plough of
the country is now seldom met with. Potatoes are frequently drilled;
corn crops do not follow each other in so interminable a succession;
and a good deal more wheat is raised; and that, too, of better quality.
The bog of this county consists principally of part of the bog of Allen.
Principal rivers, Barrow, Liffey, and Boyne. It contains 14 baronies,
and 116 parishes; and returns 2 members to parliament, both for the
county. Principal towns, Naas and Athy. Population of county in
1841, 114,488.
7. Queen's County, an inland county, is bounded on the south by
Kilkenny; on the east by Carlow, Kildare, and a detached portion of
King's County; on the north by King's County; and on the west by
the latter, and Tipperary. It contains 424,854 acres, of which 69,289
consist of unimproved bog and waste lands. Surface generally flat;
and soil, except where bog occurs, for the most part very fertile.
Estates mostly large; but many of them let on perpetual leases. The
head lessees on these estates form the middle class of gentry. They
have mostly let their farms, generally in smaller divisions, to inferior
tenants; and these again have subdivided them to others; so that
many of the occupancies are extremely small, and are held by persons
so very poor as to be incapable of executing any improvement. In
cases, however, where the farms have been let by the landlords on ter-
minable leases, they are larger; and a comparatively improved system
of agriculture is being introduced. A good deal of inferior cheese is
made for the Dublin market. Coal and limestone are found in this
county; but the former is no longer wrought. Principal rivers,
Barrow and Nore. It contains 11 baronies, and 53 parishes; and
returns 3 members to parliament; viz., 2 for the county, and 1 for the
borough of Portarlington. Principal towns, Maryborough (the
county town) and Portarlington. Population of county in 1841,
153,930.
8. King's County, an inland county, is bounded on the south by
Tipperary and Queen's County; on the east by Kildare; on the
north by Westmeath; and on the west by Roscommon, Galway, and
Tipperary. It contains 493,985 acres. The bog of Allen occupies
a considerable tract in the north-east division of the county, and the
Sliebh-bloom mountains in the south: on the whole, it is calculated
that the bog and mountain extend over 145,836 acres. The soil is, in
some places, very rich, but in others it is light and gravelly: at an
average, it may be reckoned of a medium degree of fertility. Estates
mostly very large. Tillage farms small, but some grazing ones exten-
sive. Partnership leases, and subtenancy less common than in some
other parts of Ireland; but still the condition of the tillage farmers is
VOL. I.
2 B
370
IRELAND.
not much superior, and their accommodations are, for the most part,
wretched. Agriculture is, however, improving, and more attention is
paid to the rotation of crops, to drainage, and to manuring. Silver has
been found at Edenderry, in this county. Limestone is met with
everywhere. Principal rivers, Shannon and Great and Little Brusna. It
contains 12 baronies, and 51 parishes; and returns 2 members to
parliament, both for the county. The principal town, Birr, or Par-
sonstown, had, in 1841, 6,336 inhabitants. Population of county in
1841, 146,857.
9. Westmeath, an inland county, is bounded on the south by King's
County; on the east by Meath; on the north by the latter and Cavan;
and on the west by Longford and Roscommon. It contains 453,468
acres, of which 56,392 are unimproved bog and waste, and 22,427 lakes.
Surface agreeably diversified with woods, lakes, streams, hills, and bogs.
The substratum being limestone, the verdure of the fields is remarkably
fine. Property in moderate-sized estates. Leases commonly granted
for 21 years, and a life. Grazing-grounds extensive. Tillage farms
much subdivided. Principal rivers, Shannon, Inny, and Brusna. It
contains 12 baronies, and 63 parishes: and returns 3 members to par-
liament; viz., 2 for the county, and 1 for the borough of Athlone.
Mullingar, the county town, had, in 1841, a population of 4,569, and
Athlone of 6,393. Population of county in ditto, 141,300.
10. Longford, an inland county, is bounded on the south by West-
meath; on the east and north by Westmeath, Cavan, and Leitrim;
and on the west by Roscommon. It contains 269,409 acres, of which
58,937 are unimproved bog and mountain, and 13,675 lakes. Arable
soil, for the most part, level and fertile. Property in rather large
estates. Farms extremely small, there being, in all, 10,732 of more
than 1 acre, of which no fewer than 9,276 are under 15 acres. The
Shannon forms the western boundary of the county, and it is inter-
sected by the Inny, Curlew, and Tallen. The principal lake is Lough
Gowna. It contains 6 baronies, and 26 parishes; and returns 2 mem-
bers to parliament, both for the county. Principal towns, Longford
and Granard. Population of the county in 1841, 115,491.
11. Meath, a maritime county, is bounded on the south by Kildare;
on the east by Dublin, the Irish Sea, and Louth; on the north by
Monaghan and Cavan; and on the west by Westmeath. It contains
579,899 acres, of which only 16,033 are said to be unimproved or
waste. Surface for the most part flat; soil, clay or loam on limestone
or gravel, and, in some places, of extraordinary fertility. Some large
estates; but property on the whole a good deal subdivided. Grazing
used formerly to be the principal occupation; but, since the close of
the American war, tillage has been gradually extended, until, at
present, about three-fifths of the county are under the plough. Not-
withstanding the rich soil and favourable situation of Meath, the
agriculture and the condition of the occupiers of land are, speaking
generally, alike bad. The usual rotation is, wheat, oats, potatoes, and
oats when the land is laid down for grass.
laid down for grass. Within these dozen years,
however, some material improvements have been introduced into Meath
and the adjoining counties, in regard to the implements employed in
agriculture, the application of manure, &c.; but their influence has
LOUTH.
371
not been, as yet, sufficient to change the general character of its rural
economy; and the ground continues to be exceedingly dirty and over-
run with weeds. Large portions of the land are let out in con-acre,
and, notwithstanding the efforts to prevent it, subletting is still exten-
sively carried on. The condition, too, of the greater number of those
who are reckoned large farmers, that is, who occupy from 30 to 100
acres, is far from enviable: they are generally destitute of most sorts
of comfortable accommodation. The cabins of the cottiers and inferior
tenants are wretched beyond description. "They are often not suffi-
ciently covered to keep out the rain: they are built of mud; and, as
in the case of the farmers' houses, the clay is taken to build the walls
from the spot on which they are raised, leaving the surface of the floor,
and the ground immediately about the walls, the lowest part, and, of
course, subject to receive all the surrounding damp; so much so, that
I have often gone into a cabin and seen a hole dug in the floor to re-
ceive the water coming in at the door, or under the foundation, from
whence it might be baled out with greater ease when collected. On
this damp floor the family most commonly sleep, generally without a
bedstead, none of them having a loft, except in town cabins, where the
ground for building on is more valuable. The inside of their huts is
as filthy as their outward appearance bespeaks them to be. The
labouring cottagers immediately under gentlemen fare better: their
houses are, for the most part, water-fast; but as to their having lofts
to sleep on, proper windows either for light or ventilation, or the floors
raised above the level of the immediately surrounding ground, it seldom
is the case. Few of them have chimneys, and fewer still have any
other means of admitting the light than by opening the door or a
small hole in the wall, stopped up occasionally by a bundle of straw.
The hog is generally the inmate; the hens constantly; and, if they
are possessed of a cow, she also is introduced, and becomes one of the
family."(Thompson's Survey of Meath, p. 71.) In some instances,
farm-houses and cabins have been improved since this passage was
written; but it faithfully depicts their general condition at this moment
in Meath, and throughout by far the larger portion of the island.
The fare of the occupiers and cottiers is as mean as their habitations
are wretched. Potatoes constitute three-fourths of the food of the mass
of the people; oatmeal and churned milk are sometimes added; but
they seldom taste butchers' meat, the pig being usually sold to assist in
paying the rent. The rents paid for land in this county are about the
highest of any in Ireland. The linen manufacture is carried on in
some parts of the county. The Irish language is very generally spoken.
Meath contains 18 baronies and 146 parishes, and returns 2 members
to parliament, both for the county. Principal river, the Boyne; but
there are some small streams. Principal towns, Navan and Kells.
Population of county in 1841, 183,828.
12. Louth, a maritime county, being the most northerly in the
province of Leinster, is bounded on the south by Meath; on the east
by the Irish Sea; on the north by Armagh; and on the west by
Monaghan and Meath. It contains 201,916 acres, of which 15,603
are mountainous and waste. Surface mountainous towards the north;
but in other parts undulating. Soil generally fertile. Estates of a
2 B 2
372
IRELAND.
moderate size. Farms of all sizes; but many very small; so much so,
that in some parishes there is hardly one above 20 acres. Wheat, oats,
and potatoes, principal crops. Clover and turnips raised by proprietors
only. Improvements, though their sphere be very circumscribed, have
been introduced; and some of the superior tenants are in comfortable
circumstances. Condition of sub-tenants and cottiers same as in Meath.
Principal rivers, Boyne and Dee. Louth contains 6 baronies and 64
parishes, and returns 4 members to parliament, viz., 2 for the county,
and 1 each for the boroughs of Drogheda and Dundalk. Principal
towns, Drogheda (which is a county and city) and Dundalk. Popu-
lation of county in 1841, 128,240.
MUNSTER
1. Cork, a maritime county, and the largest in Ireland, is bounded
on the south by St. George's Channel; on the east by Waterford and
Tipperary; on the north by Limerick; and on the west by Kerry and
the Atlantic Ocean. It contains 1,846,333 acres, of which 465,889
are unimproved mountain and bog, and 12,867 water. This extensive
district exhibits every variety of surface and soil: on the west it is
rugged, rocky, and mountainous; the northern and eastern parts are
distinguished by their richness and fertility; and but for the want of
timber, the country would be eminently beautiful. The largest tract
of low ground lies to the north of the Blackwater, the most fertile soils
being those which rest on limestone. Estates, in general, very exten-
sive. Tillage farms, for the most part, very small. Of a total number
of 45,526 farms in the county in 1841, 29,473 were under 15, and
5,691 above 30 acres. Where tillage farms exceed 12 or 15 acres,
they are frequently held in partnership, and used to be divided among
the family of the occupant. "A farmer," says Mr. Townsend, "often
estimates his riches by the number of his sons, whose labour precludes
any necessity of mercenary aid; but this lasts only for a short time.
They marry at an early age, new families arise, a separation of interest
takes place, and with it a partition of the farm.' (Survey of Cork,
i. 208.) And, notwithstanding the influence of the subletting Act,
this baneful practice is still carried on. Under the management of
such persons, agriculture cannot but be in the most backward state.
Potatoes, on which the small farmers depend for subsistence, engross
almost all their manure and all their labour. A great deal of work
is done by the spade. Occasionally ploughing is performed by a
species of combination-some supplying the plough, others the horses,
and others the attendants. "The predilection for the plough," says
Mr. Curwen, speaking of the country near Macroom, "is universal,
and white crops succeed each other as long as the land will produce
them; when these fail, they have recourse to grass, which rises luxu-
riantly without cultivation; and what is unaccountable, exhausted as
the soil must be considered by this treatment, the grass is not less
nutritious than abundant. As far as I was able to judge, in spite of
this barbarous treatment, deterioration from repeated cropping does not
follow as a consequence here, except on strong clays.”—(Letters on
Ireland, vol. ii. p. 2.) But, though the general character of farming
KERRY.
373
in Cork be highly objectionable, it has, happily, some exceptions. In
Ireland infinitely more depends on the conduct of the landlord and
his agents than in England; and when they act on sound and liberal
principles, and oppose themselves to the endless subdivision of the land,
agriculture is in a greatly improved state; and the condition of the
occupiers, though not to be compared with the condition of the same
class in England, is much preferable to what it is on the estates of less
intelligent and less considerate landlords. Several of the landlords of
Cork have acted in the way now stated. Generally, however, agri-
culture is in the most backward state, the condition of the occupiers
exceedingly depressed; and, though improvements have been made
within these few years in certain districts, others remain nearly sta-
tionary. Vast quantities of sea-weed and sand are employed as
manure, the value of which, as well as of drainage and a better rotation
of crops, is beginning to be better understood. Wheat, as well as
oats, is largely produced. There are some considerable dairies in the
vicinity of Cork and other places; and very large quantities of butter,
bacon, and other articles of provision, are exported from Cork. A con-
siderable extent of new and level road has recently been constructed,
partly at the expense of government, throughout districts hitherto in a
great degree inaccesssible. This is an improvement that cannot fail
to have the most beneficial influence. Minerals, with the exception
of limestone, of little importance. Some branches of the linen manu-
facture have been established at Cork and other towns; and there are
some considerable distilleries. Principal rivers, Lee, Bandon, Black-
water, Ilen, Funcheon, Bride, and Awbeg. The shore is, in many
places, deeply indented by the sea. Cork Harbour and Bantry Bay
are among the finest asylums for shipping in the world.-(Ante,
pp. 337, 338.) Cork contains 23 baronies and 251 parishes, and
returns 8 members to parliament, viz., 2 for the county, 2 for the city
of Cork, and 1 each for the boroughs of Bandon, Mallow, Youghal,
and Kinsale. Principal towns, Cork, Youghal, Bandon, Kinsale,
Mallow, and Fermoy. Population of county in 1841, 854,118.
2. Kerry, a maritime county, is bounded on the south and east by
Cork and Limerick; on the north by the æstuary of the Shannon; and
on the west by the Atlantic. It contains 1,186,126 acres, of which
726,775 are unimproved mountain and bog, and 32,761 water, includ-
ing the lake of Killarney. This is one of the wildest, most rugged,
and mountainous of all the Irish counties. Mac-Gillicuddy's Reeks, the
highest mountains in Ireland, lie to the west of Killarney; and there
are other mountainous ridges rising to between 2,000 and 3,000 feet in
height. The scenery round the lake of Killarney has been often
described, and is frequently visited, and deservedly admired.-(See
antè, p. 335.) The coast of Kerry is deeply indented by the sea; and
is not only the most westerly land in Ireland, but in Europe. The
climate is uncommonly mild, but it is also particularly moist. The soil
in the low grounds generally rests on a limestone bottom, and is often
exceedingly fertile. Property in very large estates; but some of them
leased for ever. A considerable portion of the county is held under
partnership leases. Agriculture generally wretched, and hardly, if at
all, improved of late years. In the mountainous districts, cultivation
374
IRELAND.
"I have
is almost wholly performed by the loy, or spade; and when Mr. Young
travelled in Ireland, there were some parishes in which there was not a
single plough. Large flocks of goats are kept on the mountains, and
are of infinite use to the poor people. There are some pretty consider-
able grazing and dairy-farms; and the native breed of Irish middle-
horned cattle is said to be found in greater purity and perfection, per-
haps, in Kerry than in any other county. "The cow of Kerry is truly
a poor man's cow, living everywhere, hardy, yielding, for her size,
abundance of milk of a good quality, and fattening rapidly when
required."(Youatt on Cattle, p. 179.) But, with the exception of
the farms appropriated to grazing and the dairy, the rest of the arable
land is divided into very small portions, there being in 1841, 19,519
holdings of less than 15 acres. The occupiers of these are, for the most
part, destitute of capital, and of every sort of comfortable accommoda-
tion. The potato is almost the only produce they reserve for them-
selves, everything else being required to make up rent.
written to you, in former letters, much about miserable hovels in other
parts of Ireland; they are more than equalled in Kerry. I have de-
scribed the half naked and potato-fed people I have met with elsewhere.
Here their nakedness is not less, and they know no other food. They
starve in filthiness and squalid poverty on a rood of land. The poor
Kerry farmer exists in contented wretchedness."-(Campbell Foster, p.
388.) Scarcities also are more frequent and severe in the southern and
western districts than elsewhere. It would, however, be unjust not to
mention that improvements have, in some instances, been undertaken in
this county, and carried on with a degree of success, which it may be
expected will lead to others. Those executed by Lords Headley and
Lansdowne, especially the first, on two of the wildest properties in the
county, show what may be effected by judicious management in in-
creasing the productive capacities of the soil, and in ameliorating the
condition of the occupiers. The estate of Mr. Daniel O'Connell is
situated near Cahirciveen, in this county; it is partly freehold and partly
leasehold: the "Liberator" being a middleman, and exacting three
times the rent from his sub-tenants that he pays to the head-landlord ;”
(C. Foster, p. 394.) Under these circumstances the reader will not,
perhaps, be surprised to learn that the property under his control, is,
even here, distinguished by the badness of its management, and the
wretchedness of the occupiers and cottiers. Subdivision is permitted
upon it to any extent.-(C. Foster, p. 396.) Sea-weed, which abounds
along the coast and in the bays, furnishes an exhaustless supply of
manure; and here and elsewhere in Ireland, it is not unfrequently
carried to its destination in hampers on the backs of the women. The
exports of wheat and other species of grain from Tralee are on the in-
crease; but there has been a decrease in the exports of butter. Many
parts of Kerry have been little explored by strangers; and, owing to
the want of roads, they were formerly, in numerous instances, nearly
inaccessible; but this deficiency has been recently, in some degree, ob-
viated. The Irish language is almost universally spoken; and ancient
customs and superstitions preserve their ascendancy in a remarkable
degree. Mr. Inglis mentions, that in the district round Dingle, in this
county, marriages are contracted at from 13 to 15 years of age; and
66
LIMERICK.
375
that there are instances of their being contracted at the premature age
of 12! The common people of this county have been long remarkable
for their proficiency in classical learning. "I accidentally," says Dr.
Smith, "arrived at a little hut in an obscure part of this county, where
I saw some poor lads reading Homer, their master having been a men-
dicant scholar at an English grammar school at Tralee."—(Kerry,
p. 108). And we have heard of recent and well-authenticated instances
of the same kind. With the exception of Donegal, the rent paid for
land in Kerry is believed to be the lowest of any county in Ireland.
Manufactures can hardly be said to exist. The mineral riches of this
county, though but little explored, are very considerable. Sir William
Petty established iron-works at Blackstones, on the river Carra, which
were wrought till about 1740 or 1750, when they were abandoned, in
consequence of the exhaustion of the woods in their vicinity.-(Smith's
Kerry, p. 95.) Copper mines have also been wrought at Mucross, on
the lower lake of Killarney, and at Ross Island in the same lake; and
they are said to have been abandoned more through ignorance on the
part of the miners, than from their being unproductive.-(Smith, p.
125; Kane's Industrial Resources, p. 187.) Variegated marbles are
found near Tralee, and in other parts of the county; and slate slabs
may be procured of any size from Valentia Island. Principal rivers,
Feale, Laune, Raughty, and Mang. Kerry contains 8 baronies, and 87
parishes; and returns 3 members to parliament, being 2 for the county,
and 1 for the borough of Tralee. Principal towns, Tralee and Killar-
ney. Population of county in 1841, 293,380.
3. Limerick, an inland county, is bounded on the south by Cork;
on the east by Tipperary; on the north by the Shannon, which divides
it from Clare; and on the west by Kerry. It contains 680,842 acres,
of which 121,101 are unimproved bog and mountain, and 18,531
water. Except on the southern, western, and north-eastern extremities,
the surface is generally flat. Soil for the most part excellent. Mr.
Young characterises a large tract, the "Golden Vale," as "the best
he had ever seen." Tillage not so much extended as in some other
counties. Property in large estates. Some grazing farms very exten-
sive; but Mr. Wakefield affirms, that when he was in Ireland, "the
grazing farms were rapidly colonising; and that the large farmers were
taking in all the cottier tenants they could collect."-(Vol. i. p. 267.)
This baneful practice has not been since materially checked, and the
occupiers are as beggarly" at this moment, as in the days of Arthur
Young. The land in the vale has been almost all ploughed within the
last few years; and though subjected to the worst possible management,
such is its natural fertility, that it produces a good sward almost imme-
diately after it is allowed to run to grass. From 101. to 147. an acre,
are paid for con-acre land in the "Vale," and from 61. to 87. in other
parts of the county.
(6
Limerick is the leading port on the west coast of Ireland, for the
shipment of raw produce. The following table shows the quantities of
the principal articles shipped here in each year, from 1826 down to
1843, both inclusive; and it further shows, which we were hardly pre-
pared to anticipate, that with the exception of oats, the exportation of
most other articles has declined since 1838. (See next page.)
376
IRELAND.

Return of the Quantities of the principal Articles Shipped from Limerick in each of the following Years, ending the 1st September.
Cwts. of
Beef.
Pork.
Cwts. of
Barrels of
Year.
Firkins
of
Butter.
Tierces. Barrels. Tierces. Barrels.
Bacon.
Lard.
Hams. Wheat.
Oats.
Barley. Beans.
Rape
Seed.
Flour. Oatmeal.
1826
2,819 388
1827
1,643
1828
1,376
146
1829
1,321
221
1830
1,952
1831
702
6,109 5,403 51,581 15,550 1,780 No acct.
6,474 5,924 68,517 33,370 3,328
5,965 4,198 83,038 39,030 4,260
9,176 6,962 76,382 46,160 5,240
9,961 6,700 80,738 49,990 3,050
6,458 6,348 67,669 55,618 5,221
51,555
73,913
290,957
283,346
150,585 446,290
13.533
823
4,426
2,796
500
7,798
1,593
2,887
1,720
3,612
8,607
4,070
335
6,823
my my
115,788 234,514
11,310 3,603
No acct.
19,762
9,024
102,069
266,823
32,898 7,103
24,098
17,748
119,938
298,994
36,489 3,281
9,815
11,160
1832
845
8,972 5,690 69,781 53,454 6,260
194,144
408,849
18,017 4,316
33,226
25,438
1833
1,338
116
1834
1,186
1835
364
7
1836
404
1837
1,182
68,780
m
1838
102
77.992 13,967
•
1839
25
40
1840
1,097
48
>
1841
1,381
530
1842
1843
1,053 543
1,454
11 Months of
1844, to 1st Aug.
}
11
940
52
6,879 5,718 75,159 76,526 6,760
7,943 7,222 72,680 82,497
7,250 7,013 72,630 81,839 9,697
7,330 7.309 81,072 83,246 9,621
7,625 6,936 75,463
5,657 8,400 59,965
112,751
7,846 13,840 64,018 69,449 9,660
76,683 461,565
9,573 15,726 71,513 56,542 11,328 8,269 54,528 325,901
10,099 12,130 85,385 46,056 11,135 8,111 65,704 496,282
11,577 7,251 67,344 44,934 6,840 8,934 59,848 344,052
8,259 7,868 62,179 46,180 7,895 8,612 52,072 526,590
4,959 8,459 47,400 41,453
8,411 10,469 125,410 495,959
218,915
345,016
11,774 2,963
329
37,664
31,978
>
6,316
180,590
241,405
16,275 4,031
550
35,247
13,730
>
117,874
285,623
32,847 8,786
70
22,725
16.320
123,917
438,964 35,697 6,791
65
137,425
27,992
8,768
81,858
487,286
31,333 8,757
386
73,259
40,021
537,286
14,067 4,149
198
113,489
49,550
>
11,131 4,628
366
102,684
48.858
10,454
1,883
55,840
29,660
4,668
1.303
37,042
53,226
1,027
45,780
21,898
12,161
1,338
633
37,177 27,270
8,562
1,411 1,014
27,325
18,380
(a) 957 Hides and Skins, 495 bags Feathers, and 20 puncheons Whiskey.
(b) 264 doz. Skins, 409 bags Feathers, and 110 puncheons Whiskey.
(c) 165 doz. Skins, 657 bags Feathers, and 110 puncheons Whiskey.
(d) 133 Hides, 345 doz. Skins, and 378 bags Feathers.
(e) 433 Hides, 180 doz. Skins, and 296 bags Feathers.
(ƒ) 330 doz. Skins, 500 bags Feathers, and 242 puncheons Whiskey.
(g) 72 Hides, 183 bags Feathers, and 445 puncheons Whiskey.
(h) 180 doz. Skins, 238 bags Feathers, and 236 puncheons Whiskey.
(i) 150 doz. Skins, 254 bags Feathers, and 144 puncheons Whiskey.
(j) 87 bags Feathers, and 248 puncheons Whiskey.
(k) 198 bags Feathers, and 6 puncheons Whiskey.
(1) 229 bags Feathers, and 52 puncheons Whiskey.
(m) 3,467 Hides, 7,539 doz. Skins, 619 bags Feathers, and 50 puncheons Whiskey.
(n) 50 tons Feathers, and 84 tons Hides.
(0) 560 bales Hides, and 40 tons Feathers.
(p) 786 packs and 148 bags Feathers, and 150 bundles Leather.
(q) 34 tons Hides, 1,110 packs Feathers, and 40 puncheons Whiskey.
(r) 1,000 packs and 100 bags Feathers, 50 tons Hides, and 30 bales Leather.
(s) 900 packs Feathers, 120 bales Leather, and 100 tons Hides.
TIPPERARY.
377
These numbers must not, however, be supposed to represent the ex-
ports from the county of Limerick only; a large proportion of the
produce being brought down the Shannon from other counties for ship-
ment at the city of Limerick. Along the Shannon, sea-sand is now
very generally used as manure. Notwithstanding the increased pro-
duction in Limerick and the contiguous counties, it is doubtful whether
the condition of the small farmers and cottiers be at all improved. It
was said, indeed, by some of the witnesses examined before the Agri-
cultural Committee of 1833, to have become perceptibly worse. (Min.
of Evidence, p. 373.) And this statement has been repeated by well-
informed witnesses before the Land Occupation Commission in 1845.
(Part ii., p. 792.) The condition of the larger farmers is, however,
comparatively good; and considerable improvements have been effected
of late years on some estates in which the subdivision of the land has
not been carried to such an extent as in others. There are also a few
exceptions which deserve to be specified, to the generally depressed
condition of the small occupiers. Early in the beginning of last cen-
tury, some families of German protestants from the Palatinate were
settled in the vicinity of Adare, and other places in this county; and
though they have lost the use of the German language, they still con-
Both men
tinue to be, in many respects, a distinct and peculiar race.
and women are industrious; their cottages are neat, clean, and well
furnished; their farms are comparatively well managed; and their con-
dition is, in all respects, decidedly superior to that of their aboriginal
Irish neighbours.-(Mr. and Mrs. Hall's Ireland; Kohl's Ireland,
p. 41, &c.) The condition of the poor in the city of Limerick is as
wretched as can well be imagined; and is, in fact, disgraceful to a
country calling itself civilized.-(Inglis's Ireland in 1834, vol. i.,
p. 304.) Some of the best long-horned cattle in the empire are pro-
duced and fattened in this county. Three lace factories have been
established in the city. Principal rivers, exclusive of the Shannon,
Maig, Deale, and Mulkerna. Limerick contains 13 baronies, and 131
parishes; and returns 4 members to parliament, being 2 for the
county, and 2 for the city of Limerick. The latter had, in 1841, a
population of 48,391. Population of county in ditto, 330,029.
4. Tipperary, an inland county, is bounded on the south by Cork
and Waterford; on the east by Kilkenny and Queen's County; on the
north by King's County and Galway; and on the west by Clare and
Limerick. It contains 1,061,731 acres, of which 178,183 are unim-
proved mountain and bog, and 13,523 water. The mountainous dis-
tricts are in the south-west, adjoining Waterford and Cork; in the
south-eastern angle is Sliebhnaman mountain; and a chain of moun-
tains runs across the county from Limerick to King's County. The
bog is mostly a portion of the great bog of Allen. With these excep-
tions, Tipperary consists principally of extensive and fertile plains, with
a calcareous subsoil, forming as rich land as is to be met with in any
part of the empire. Some very large estates; but many of a moderate
size. Tillage farms generally small, 13,032 holdings being under 5
acres, and 12,587 ranging from 5 to 15 acres. Many of them are held
under middle-men. The con-acre system is very prevalent in some
parts of this county, as it is indeed in most counties of Ireland, though
378
IRELAND.
it be carried to the greatest extent in Connaught. By con-acre is
meant a custom prevalent among the landlords and occupiers of the
larger class of farms, of letting to the peasantry or cottiers small slips
of land, varying from a perch to half an acre, for a single season, to be
planted with potatoes or cropped. Old grass land is frequently let out
on this system; and then it is usual to allow the surface to be pared
and burned! The rent got for this land is enormous, running from 71.
to 127. or 157. an acre! Potatoes are invariably planted on con-acre
land when it is broken up from grass; and afterwards it is usual to take
from it successive crops of corn. Wherever this practice exists, there
cannot, of course, be the least improvement; and nothing but the ex-
traordinary fertility of the soil could enable it to produce anything
under so destructive a system. In many parts the entire dependence of
the peasantry being on these con-acre lands, when the crop fails they
are reduced to the extreme of distress, and have rarely any choice be-
tween starvation and begging, unless it be to enlist under the banners
of Captain Rock. Con-acre tenants dare not remove the crop from the
ground without permission, which is seldom granted till the rent be
paid. In most cases they are allowed to abandon the crop for the rent,
but this is an alternative they make every sacrifice to avoid, as it
involves the loss not merely of their labour, but of their only means of
supporting themselves during the ensuing season. (See Appendix F.
to Poor Inquiry, Ireland, passim.) In some parts agriculture is slowly
improving, but, in general, it is stationary or retrograde. In many
districts the subdivision of the land is carried to a ruinous extent; and
it is all but impossible to introduce a better system, or to get the occu-
piers to leave it. Perhaps no part of Ireland is more demoralized than
this. Tipperary has long been disgraced by systematic assassination,
and by every sort of outrage. A landlord who should attempt to in-
troduce an improved system on his estate, would run a very great risk
of being shot; and it is really astonishing that any individuals able to
live elsewhere, should continue to reside in such a country. It is
wholly unfit for any save a military government; and the sooner it
is subjected to it, the better will it be for the peaceably-disposed
part of the inhabitants. Grazing was formerly, and still is, a prin-
cipal employment in Tipperary. The native Irish breed of long-
horned cattle attain to a large size, and are found in the greatest per-
fection in this county. Several thousands are annually exported.
There are, also, many fine flocks of long-woolled sheep. The manu-
facture of broad-cloth is carried on to some extent at Carrick. Tippe-
rary has mines of copper, lead, coal, and slate; the latter, near Kil-
laloe, being the most extensive in Ireland. Exclusive of the Shannon,
the principal river is the Suir. Tipperary contains 12 baronies, and
193 parishes; and returns 4 members to parliament, 2 being for the
county, and 1 each for the boroughs of Clonmel and Cashel. Prin-
cipal towns, Clonmel, Carrick-on-Suir, Nenagh, Thurles, Cashel,
Tipperary, and Roscrea. Population of county in 1841, 435,553.
5. Waterford, a maritime county, is bounded on the south by St.
George's Channel; on the east by Waterford harbour, which sepa-
rates it from Wexford, and by Kilkenny; on the north by Tipperary;
and on the west by Cork. It contains 461,553 acres, of which 105,496
WATERFORD.
379
"In
are unimproved mountain, with but little bog. Though in general
coarse, there is a considerable extent of fine land in this county, parti-
cularly in the south-east quarter; and the mountains afford good pas-
turage for cattle. Estates for the most part very large: the manage-
ment of the largest, which belongs to the Duke of Devonshire, was
severely censured by Mr. Wakefield. But this censure is no longer
applicable, it having been, during the last twenty years, managed
on the most liberal principles, and greatly improved.-(Bicheno's
Ireland and its Economy, p. 103.) Here, indeed, and generally
throughout Ireland (and we believe that the same may be truly affirmed
of England), tenants and occupiers on large estates are decidedly better
off than those on the smaller class of properties. This is the principal
dairy county of Ireland. When it was visited by Mr. Young, not one
thirtieth part was under the plough.-(Tour in Ireland, 4th ed. p.
329.) The proportion in tillage is now, however, much larger. This
has principally arisen from the vicious custom of dividing farms.
this county," says Mr. Wakefield, "when the eldest daughter of a
farmer marries, the father, instead of giving her a portion, divides his
farm between himself and his son-in-law; the next daughter gets a
half of the remainder; and this division and subdivision is continued
as long as there are daughters to be disposed of. The sons are left to
shift for themselves the best way they can."—(Vol. i., p. 280.) But
the Subletting Act, and the experience of its consequences, have con-
tributed to check, though they have not suppressed this vicious custom.
Some of the dairy farmers are in easy circumstances; but the condi-
tion of the tillage farmers and cottiers is much the same as in other
parts of Munster. Some material improvements have been introduced
within the last twenty years into this and the contiguous counties.
Improved swing-ploughs, made of iron, drawn by two horses driven by
the ploughman, are now become very general. Land is kept cleaner;
there has been a great increase in the quantity of lime used as manure;
and green crops have been more attended to; still, however, it is doubted
whether, on the whole, there has been any considerable improvement
of late years. Waterford ranks as one of the first ports of Ireland, and,
indeed of Europe, for the exportation of raw produce; the average
annual value of the shipments from it of native Irish articles being
supposed to amount at present to about two millions sterling. Minerals,
copper, iron, &c. Manufactures not very important; a considerable
cotton manufacture has, however, been established at Portlaw, and
some glass is made at Waterford. Principal rivers, Blackwater, Suir,
and Bride. Waterford contains 8 baronies, and 82 parishes; and
returns 5 members to Parliament, being 2 for the county, 2 for the
borough of Waterford, and 1 for Dungarvan. Principal towns, Wa-
terford, Dungarvan, and Lismore. Population of county in 1841,
196,187.
6. Clare, a maritime county, is bounded on the south by the river
Shannon, which separates it from Kerry and Limerick; on the east by
Tipperary; on the north by Galway; and on the west by the Atlantic.
It contains 827,994 acres, of which 296,033 are unimproved mountain
and bog, and 67,920 water. The arable land is, for the most part, light,
but very fertile. The low grounds, known by the name of the Cor-
380
IRELAND.
casses, on the Shannon and Fergus, are celebrated for the richness of
their pastures, which are equal to the fattening of the largest bullocks.
Property in large estates. A considerable extent of land employed
in grazing. Tillage farms, more subdivided than in any other county
in Munster, varying from 1 or 2 acres to 15 or 20; those above 30
being comparatively few. Partnership tenures not so common as for-
merly, many proprietors, impressed with a conviction of their perni-
cious tendency, having exerted themselves to effect their abolition.“ Oats
and potatoes are the principal objects of attention; but wheat and
barley are now extensively raised. Husbandry improving, but still in
a very wretched state. The practice, in many places, used to be either
to burn or manure, for, 1st, potatoes; 2nd, potatoes; sometimes, 3rd,
potatoes; 4th, wheat; and then followed repeated crops of oats, till the
soil was completely exhausted: it remained then for several years almost
wholly unproductive, not even producing weeds but of the humblest
growth.-(Dutton's Survey of Clare, p. 69.) And though in some
parts there has been a material improvement in the interval, in others
the old system continues to be acted on. Along the coast sea-weed
and sea-sand are a good deal used as manure. In the mountainous
parts the loy is extensively employed. Habitations similar to those in
the contiguous counties; with this difference, that the cottages, instead
of being of turf or clay, are mostly built of stone, without cement.
Limestone abounds; and coal and ironstone have been found, but not
wrought. Lead mines have, however, been wrought in different parts
of the county, but seldom with much success. Manufactures can
hardly be said to exist. Principal river, Shannon: it has also the
Fergus, and some smaller streams. Clare contains 11 baronies and 80
parishes, and returns 3 members to parliament, being 2 for the county,
and 1 for the borough of Ennis: the latter, the principal town, had, in
1841, a population of 9,318. Population of county in ditto,286,394.
ULSTER.
1. Cavan, an inland county, is bounded on the south by Longford,
Westmeath, and Meath; on the east by Monaghan; on the north by
Fermanagh; and on the west by Leitrim and Longford. It contains
477,360 acres, of which 71,918 are unimproved mountain and bog,
and 22,142 water. Surface hilly, and soil generally poor.
There are
two large estates, but the rest are of moderate size. About four-fifths
of the land is under tillage. Occupancies so very small, that of a total
number of 25,641 of 1 acre and upwards, no fewer than 23,015 were
under 15 acres! The competition for land is excessive; and the re-
mission of rents all but unknown. (6
Agriculture in the most wretched
state imaginable. The rotation is-1st, potatoes from ley; 2nd,
potatoes repeated with some manure; 3rd, wheat, flax, barley, or oats;
4th, 5th, and 6th, oats; 7th, potatoes manured; and so on, as long as
they can. Not much wheat is grown. If they have a field in ley,
likely to yield a better crop on which to exercise this scourge system,
they leave the land that they have deprived of its productive powers,
to come round by time for a repetition of their former operations.".
(Appendix F. to Report of Poor Inquiry Commissioners, p. 418.)
There has, however, been some little improvement, especially as regards
FERMANAGH.
381
draining, in the interval. At no very distant period, oats were sup-
posed to be to other grain in the proportion of 70 to 1; but their pre-
ponderance, though still great, has been diminished in the interim.
Numbers of farms are held in common; but the practice is declining.
Clauses are rarely inserted in leases enforcing any particular system of
management. Spade cultivation general; in some parishes there is
hardly, in fact, a plough; and the miserable implements called ploughs,
that do exist, are not unfrequently "made by the occupiers themselves,
at an expense of 7s. or 8s. each." Condition of the farmers and
labourers quite as bad as any in Ireland: it is said to have changed for
the worse of late years. Notwithstanding the extreme lowness of
wages when the people are employed, they are said to spend more than
1d. a day in smoking: on the other hand, however, the pernicious
habit of dram-drinking has considerably diminished; so much so, that
we are told there is not at present one-tenth part of the drinking that
there was some years since; but this is, most probably, a good deal
exaggerated. Linen manufacture much declined.-(Binn's Miseries
and Beauties of Ireland, pp. 309–325.) Minerals various, but little
known. The Shannon has its principal source in this county; and
there are, besides, the Erne, Woodford, Annalee, &c. Cavan contains
8 baronies, and 36 parishes; and returns 2 members to parliament,
both for the county. Cavan, the principal town, had, in 1841, a
population of 3,749. Population of county in ditto, 243,153.
2. Fermanagh, an inland county, is bounded on the south by Cavan ;
on the east and north by Monaghan, Tyrone, and Donegal; and on
the west by Leitrim. It contains 457,195 acres, of which 114,847
are unimproved bog and mountain, and 46,755 water. Surface varied
and picturesque. Lough Erne is a fine sheet of water.- (See antè,
p. 333.) This county is better wooded than most others in Ireland.
Soil tolerably fertile. Estates generally large. Farms of all sizes;
some large, but by far the greater number under 10 acres.
A good
many cattle bred on the high grounds. Agriculture is more advanced
in the northern part of Fermanagh than in any other district of Ulster ;
but in the other parts of the county it is, though slowly improving,
still very backward. Not many years ago the peasantry were accustomed
to yoke their plough to the horses' tails! and the burning of land con-
tinues to be extensively practised. Oats, barley, wheat, flax, and
potatoes, principal crops. Protestants are numerous in this county, and
they are said by Mr. Wakefield to be a fine race of people, much
superior to those in the other northern counties, or to their Catholic
neighbours. The latter are, for the most part, miserably poor, the
cottiers living in wretched huts. Mr. Inglis says, that the condition
of the land occupiers in Fermanagh is superior to the condition of the
same classes in most other parts which he visited. Notwithstanding the
high rents paid for the land, he found all admit, Catholic as well as
Protestant occupiers, that they could afford to eat butchers' meat three
times a week, having in addition, as much milk and butter as were
required for their family; or that if they choose to live more abste-
miously, they could lay aside a little money.—(Ireland in 1834, vol. ii.
p. 168.) Iron ore is found in different places. Linen manufacture
extensively introduced. Fermanagh contains 8 baronies, and 23
382
IRELAND.
parishes; and returns 3 members to parliament, 2 for the county,
and 1 for the borough of Enniskillen. The latter, which is the prin-
cipal town, had in 1841, a population of 5,686. Population of county
in ditto, 156,481.
3. Monaghan, an inland county, is bounded on the south by Meath
and Louth; on the east by the latter and Armagh; on the north by
Tyrone; and on the west by Fermanagh and Cavan. It contains
319,757 acres, of which 21,585 are unimproved mountain and bog, and
6,167 water. The face of the country resembles that of Cavan: it is
hilly, but the hills are not of large dimensions, and are mostly arable.
It is moderately fertile. There are a few very large estates, and a great
many small ones. Competition for land extreme, and farms very small.
Some years since it was estimated that the larger class would not aver-
age 25 acres, nor the smaller, and far more numerous class, 6 acres.
(Wakefield, vol. i. p. 270.) And such is still the case; there being at
present above 12,000 occupancies varying between 1 and 5 acres, and
only 317 of more than 30 acres. Con-acre general here, and in most
parts of Ulster. Agriculture in the most depressed state, and it is
doubtful whether it has made any progress of late years. Spade
more in use than the plough; the latter being an implement that
requires the exertions of several occupiers to bring into operation.
Principal crops, oats, potatoes, and flax; the latter being very exten-
sively cultivated. Wheat and barley more raised now than formerly.
Horses ill-fed, weak, and incapable of effectual labour. A good deal
of butter is made, but there are no large dairies. Breed of cattle a
good deal improved. Goats kept by the cottiers for the sake of their
milk. The linen manufacture is very widely diffused over this and the
adjoining northern counties. Those who carry it on are, at the same
time, mostly all engaged in agriculture. It may, however, be doubted
whether this combination of employments has had any good effect.
On the contrary, it seems injurious both to the interests of agriculture
and of the manufacture. The former has made no progress whatever;
and the latter, after being forced forward by the aid of bounties and
prohibitions, appears, now that these have been repealed, to be in a
very unsatisfactory state. Those who compare the progress made by
the linen manufacture at Dundee, during the last 20 years, and in the
north of Ireland, will see the wide difference between a business con-
ducted by people of capital and skill, addicted wholly to that particular
department, and by poor cottiers, unable to avail themselves of ma-
chinery, and having their attention constantly withdrawn to the culture
of their little plots of ground. Monaghan contains vast beds of lime-
stone; lead ore of a rich quality; and indications of coal have also
been discovered. There are no rivers of any importance. It contains 5
baronies, and 23 parishes; and returns 2 members to parliament, both
for the county. Monaghan, the principal town, had in 1841, a popu-
lation of 4,130. Population of county in 1841, 200,442.
4. Armagh, an inland county, is bounded on the south by Louth;
on the east by Down; on the north by Lough Neagh and Tyrone; and
on the west by Monaghan. It contains 328,076 acres, of which 35,117
are unimproved bog and mountain, and 17,942 water, being part of
Lough Neagh. Surface varied and interesting, being mountainous in
ARMAGH.
383
some places and undulating and flat in others. Soil generally fertile.
A large portion of this county belongs to church and college establish-
ments, and to corporations: some noblemen and gentlemen have good
estates; minor estates numerous, and the tenures by which they are held
such as to divide them into the minutest portions. Farms smaller in
this than in any other county in Ireland. They generally run from 2
to 5 and 15 acres; those that amount to 40 or 50 acres are reckoned
very large, and are generally found in the Fews mountains. Out of
1,500 tenants on the Gosford estate, in the barony of Fews, there are
not more than 60 or 70 who hold so much as 20 acres. This is the
estate on which Mr. Blacker originally introduced his system of
green crops and stall feeding into the economy of the smallest farms,
or at least of those from 3 to 6 acres. Though productive of conside-
rable improvement, it has been praised far beyond its deserts. There
can be nothing like really good and efficient agriculture on farms of 6,
or even of 12 or 20 acres. Potatoes, oats, and flax, principal crops; but
good wheat is raised in various parts, particularly in the vicinity of the
city of Armagh, and in the whole north-east district of the county.
Near Loughgall, Charlemont, &c., there are some very productive
orchards, whence a good deal of fruit is sent to Belfast, and some is
even said to find its way to Glasgow. Some dairy cows are kept, and
a considerable quantity of butter is made. Cattle of a small stunted
breed are reared in the mountainous districts; sheep few and inferior.
Linen manufacture diffused over the county, as in Monaghan. Mid-
dlemen but little known. Habitations of the bulk of the lower orders
decidedly preferable to those of the same class in most other parts of
Ireland, excluding the neighbouring counties of Down and Antrim.
They are generally whitewashed, well thatched, and have a clean and
comfortable appearance. Notwithstanding their alleged propensity to
jockeyship, the inhabitants may be advantageously compared, in respect
of character, with those of most other districts. There are some beau-
tiful marbles. Principal rivers, Bann and Blackwater, which run into
Lough Neagh, and Newry, into Carlingford Bay; the latter is joined
to the Bann by the Newry canal, completing the navigation between
the sea and the lake. Some very extensive flour mills have been
erected on the Blackwater. Armagh contains 8 baronies and 28
parishes, and returns 3 members to parliament, being 2 for the county
and 1 for the city of Armagh. Principal towns, city of Armagh and
Lurgan. Population of county in 1841, 232,393.
5. Down, a maritime county, is bounded south and east by the Irish
Sea and the North Channel; north, by Belfast Lough and Antrim;
and west, by Armagh and a small part of Louth. It contains 611,919
acres, of which 78,317 are unimproved mountain and bog, and 3,432
water. The mountains of Mourne, in the southern part of Down, are
amongst the highest in Ireland, and there are some considerable hills
in other parts; but, with these exceptions, the surface is abundantly
level. Soil of a medium degree of fertility. There are some very
large estates; but property is, notwithstanding, a good deal subdivided.
Large farms of from 200 to 500 acres were, about the middle of last
century, common in Down and other districts in the north of Ireland
but these have now entirely disappeared. Those occupied by farmers
;
384
IRELAND.
A
who have recourse to no other business may, at present, run from 20
to 50, and in a few instances to 100 acres; while those occupied by
persons partly engaged in the linen trade, which is here universally
diffused, and partly only in agriculture, are of all sizes from 1 to 20
acres, probably averaging about 4 acres. In consequence of the decline
of the linen manufacture, and of the population having nothing but the
land to depend upon, the size of occupancies has been materially dimi-
nished of late years. The competition for small patches of land is quite
intense. On estates where the tenants, though they hold at will, are
not disturbed, provided they pay their rents, they frequently get, on
assigning their holdings to others, sums that would elsewhere appear
almost incredible. As much as 1007. have been paid for the " "tenant-
right" to a holding of only seven acres, burdened with a rent of 17. an
acre! and the usual price obtained for the "tenant-right" to land let
at rack-rent, is 107. an acre!—(Binn's Miseries and Beauties of Ire-
land, vol. i. p. 85, 114, &c.) Notwithstanding this practice, a good many
improvements, especially as regards drainage and cropping, have been
made within the last dozen years; but the poverty of the occupiers and
the smallness of their possessions render the general introduction of
anything like a good system of farming next to impossible. Turnips
are but rarely seen, and potatoes are still frequently planted on the
"lazy bed" plan. Corn crops too frequently follow each other, only
partially interrupted by potatoes, peas, and flax; the culture of the
latter having increased very materially during the last seven years.
good number of cows are kept, and horses are reared in the mountainous
districts. Many hogs fattened. There are numerous bleaching
grounds. The houses of the farmers are, many of them, whitewashed,
and have a neat appearance; but there are a great number of houses
of a very inferior description. "The weavers," says Mr. Wakefield,
"may be divided into a number of classes, according to the property
they possess. Some are poor, but others live in comparative affluence.
It is common for a manufacturing farmer, who occupies not more than
10 acres of land, to let a part of his 'take' to a subtenant at will, who
erects thereon a wretched cabin, and employs one or two more looms
for the benefit of his landlord. The condition of this sub-tenant is not
calculated to inspire a high idea of his domestic comfort; but,
however mean his living, there is a class still lower, that of the person
who occupies what is called a 'dry cot,' or a habitation without any
land. The owner of such a dwelling purchases con-acres, and raises
some oats and potatoes. The mere manufacturers of yarn are a still
lower class.”—(ii. 740.) The population, however, though far from
being in a comfortable situation, is, generally speaking, decidedly better
off than in most other Irish counties. Had it not been for the prevalent
custom of splitting the land, a custom to which most part of the poverty
and distress existing in Ireland may be immediately ascribed, the
peasantry of Down would not have had much reason to envy those of
most British counties. Minerals few and of little importance. Prin-
cipal rivers, Bann, Lagan, and Newry. Down contains 10 baronies and
70 parishes, and returns 4 members to parliament, being 2 for the county,
and 1 each for the boroughs of Newry and Downpatrick. Newry
had in 1841, 11,972 inhabitants. Population of county in ditto, 361,446.
ANTRIM.
385
6. Antrim, a maritime county, is bounded on the south by Down
and Belfast Lough, on the east by the North Channel, on the north by
the Atlantic, and on the west by Londonderry and Lough Neagh. It
contains 745,177 acres, of which 176,335 are mountain and bog, and
53,288 water, being part of Lough Neagh, which lies principally in
this county. Surface very various. On the north and east it is moun-
tainous and destitute of wood; there is, also, a mountainous ridge
between Belfast and Lough Neagh, and a good deal of rugged ground
in other places. The flat ground bordering on Lough Neagh is, in
many places, boggy. Still, however, there is a large extent of fertile
land; and, in the vicinity of Belfast especially, the neat whitewashed
houses of the manufacturers give it a cheerful appearance. Estates
mostly very large. Those of Viscount O'Neil, the Marquises of Hert-
ford and Donegal, and the Antrim family, being among the largest and
most valuable in the empire; but large portions of the last two are let
in perpetuity. Except in the mountainous districts, farms are small.
Agriculture, in most respects, similar to that of Down. Improved
implements and practices have been extensively introduced, and would
have made a much greater progress but for the minute division of land.
Breed of cattle bad, but in the course of being meliorated; many goats
kept in the mountains. Belfast, and the country round, have more of
an improved appearance, and the people look more cheerful and happy
than in any other part of Ireland. This has been ascribed to the linen
manufacture; but we agree with Mr. Wakefield in opinion, that it is
rather to be ascribed to the commerce of which Belfast is the centre,
and to the introduction of the cotton manufacture. Where the linen
manufacture alone is established, the condition of the peasantry seems
little, if at all, better than in districts without manufactures. A coal
mine is wrought at Bally-castle, in this county; but the coals are
bituminous, and of bad quality; so that those used in Belfast are
brought from Britain. On the north coast of Antrim is the splendid
assemblage of basaltic columns denominated the Giants' Causeway.-
(See Sea Coast, p. 343.) Principal rivers, Bann and Lagan; the
former constituting, in great part, the western, and the latter the
southern boundary of the county. Antrim contains 15 baronies and
75 parishes, and returns 6 members to parliament, being 2 for the
county, 2 for the borough of Belfast, and 1 each for Carrickfergus and
Lisburn. Belfast, the principal commercial town in Ireland, had, in
1821, 37,277 inhabitants; in 1831, 58,287; and in 1841, 75,308,
of which 6,697 belonged to the suburb of Ballymacarret, in Down.
In 1835, the total value of the exports from Belfast was estimated at
4,341,7947., whereof the value of linen manufactures was reckoned at
2,694,000l., and that of provisions at 906,5977. The customs' duties
amount to about 340,0007. a-year; but the foreign trade of the port,
though extensive, is very inferior to the cross channel trade with Ĝlas-
gow, Liverpool, &c. Population of county in 1841, 360,875.
7. Londonderry, a maritime county, is bounded on the south by
Tyrone, on the east by Lough Neagh and Antrim, on the north by the
Atlantic and Lough Foyle, and on the west by Donegal and Tyrone.
It contains 518,595 acres, of which 180,709 are uncultivated mountain
and bog, and 10,327 water; being mostly part of Lough Neagh. Sur-
VOL. I
20
386
IRELAND.
face in many parts mountainous; but the vales are extensive and
fertile. With the exception of the lands belonging to the church, and
to corporations, the entire property of this county was granted by
James I. to the principal London Companies; so that the land is mostly
held from them, either under terminable or interminable leases. Mr.
Sampson, in his survey of this county, states, in reference to the size of
farms, that they vary from 2 to 200 acres. "Both these,” he observes,
66 are extremes; the average is from 5 to 20. Where there has been
a perpetuity, or a long lease, it is split; that is, the children are settled
upon divisions of the father's farm; by which means leases of 40 acres
come to be parcelled, in two or three generations, into patches of 4 or
5 acres. It seems as if the newly let lands were disposed of under
some similar system of parcelling. I could give instances where whole
districts are subdivided into 6 or 7 acres, and rarely can boast a farm
of 12 or 14.”—(p. 249.) In fact there were, in 1841, 16,621 occu-
pancies, varying from 1 to under 15 acres. Latterly, however, the
owners of a good many estates have become sensible of the injurious
influence of this system, and have, where an opportunity has been
afforded, exerted themselves to prevent its being carried further, and to
consolidate some of the small occupancies; but their efforts have not
hitherto been such as materially to affect the average size of farms in
the county, which is not believed to exceed 12, or, at most, 14 English
acres. It is almost needless, seeing the way in which the land is occu-
pied, to add that agriculture, though in some respects improved, is
still, generally speaking, in a very low state. Principal crops, potatoes,
oats, and flax.
Mr. Wakefield thought, that owing to the wetness of
the climate, it would be useless to attempt introducing wheat. But,
even at the time when his work was published, its cultivation was
carried on to a considerable extent, and it has since considerably in-
creased, not in this only, but in most other counties in the north of
Ireland, and, indeed, throughout the whole country. Condition of
the small farmers and cottiers very unprosperous. Some of the
houses of the latter are rough-cast and white-washed, like those
of the same class in Down; but the houses of the greater number,
particularly in the mountainous districts, are alike filthy without
and within. Linen manufacture widely introduced. Various mi-
nerals have been found, but of no great importance. Besides the
Bann, which, for the most part, divides Londonderry from Antrim,
the principal rivers are the Foyle, the Faughan, and the Roe.
donderry is divided into 6 baronies and liberties and 43 parishes, and
returns 4 members to parliament, being 2 for the county, I for the
city of Londonderry, and 1 for the borough of Coleraine. London-
derry, the capital, had in 1841 a population of 15,196. Population of
county in 1841, 222,174.
Lon-
8. Tyrone, an inland county, is bounded on the south by Fermanagh,
Monaghan, and Armagh; on the east by Lough Neagh; on the north
by Londonderry; and on the west by Donegal. It contains 806,640
acres, of which 311,867 are unimproved mountain and bog, and 31,796
water, being in part a fraction of Lough Neagh. Surface in many
places, especially on the north and west, rough and mountainous; but
there is, notwithstanding, a large extent of fertile land. Property
DONEGAL.
387
mostly in very large estates. Farms of various sizes; those in the
mountainous districts large, and seldom much subdivided. Tillage farms
extremely small, many being held under partnership leases.--(See
Galway.) Wherever this mode of letting land prevails, agriculture is
execrable, and it is doubtful whether it has in any degree improved of
late years. A great deal of work is done by the spade, and where
ploughs are used, they are sometimes drawn by horses, bullocks, and
milch cows, all yoked together! Potatoes and oats the principal crops.
Cattle and sheep very inferior. "Tenants may do what they will in
regard to the management of their farms, if they only pay the rent."
(Poor Inquiry, Appendix F., p. 323.) Habitations of the bulk of
the people extremely mean; they live principally on oatmeal and po-
tatoes, rarely tasting butcher's meat. A coal mine is wrought between
Dungannon and Stewartstown, but the coal is inferior. There is a
good pottery near Dungannon. This is one of the counties in which
illicit distillation was most prevalent. Principal rivers, Blackwater,
Foyle, Ballinderry, with several others of inferior importance. Ty-
rone contains 4 baronies and 42 parishes, and returns 3 members to
parliament, being 2 for the county, and 1 for the borough of Dungan-
non. Population of county in 1841, 312,956.
9. Donegal, a maritime county, occupying the north-west corner of
Ireland, is everywhere bounded by the sea, except on the south-east,
where it touches Fermanagh; and on the east, where it is bounded by
Tyrone and Londonderry. It contains 1,193,443 acres, of which
769,587 are unimproved mountain and bog, and 23,107 water. Do-
negal is deeply indented by arms of the sea; and its surface is, in
most places, mountainous, rugged, and dreary. There are, however,
extensive tracts of good land, particularly on its east side, which, under
proper management, would yield abundant crops. Climate wet and
backward. Property in very large estates; but some of them leased
for ever.
Farms of all sizes; in the low grounds they vary from 2 to
20 acres ; but in the mountainous districts, they run from 40 to 500.
Partnership tenures common, but diminishing. Agriculture, though
still very bad, has been somewhat improved of late years.
A great
deal more labour performed by the spade or loy, than by the plough;
but in some of the mountainous districts, where the spade is principally
used. the plough could hardly be introduced. Potatoes raised every-
where, and the great dependance of the people; oats and flax also
largely cultivated, but comparatively little of any other sort of grain.
Cattle, a small stunted breed. The average rent of land in this county is,
perhaps, the lowest of any in Ireland. People very badly off. "Cabins
tolerably snug, but intolerably unclean, as, in general, the cattle
and hogs herd with the family; and in summer, when all the moun-
tains are dry, a marsh of filth surrounds the cabin door.".
M' Parlan's Survey of Donegal, p. 65.) The burning of land is
practised, but principally in the reclaiming of bog or mountain. The
bays and creeks round the shores of this county afford inexhaustible
supplies of sea-weed, and every facility for fishing; but the latter is
greatly neglected. English language little spoken in many districts.
The barony of Innishowen, famous for its illicit whiskey, and the pre-
valence of smuggling among its inhabitants, is in this county. Prin-
2 c2
388
IRELAND.
:
cipal rivers, Fin, Erne, Deele, Gweebarra, and Swilly. Donegal con-
tains 6 baronies, and 51 parishes; and returns two members to parlia-
ment, both for the county. Population of county in 1841, 296,448.
CONNAUGHT.
1. Galway, a maritime county, the most westerly in this province,
is bounded on the south by Galway Bay, Clare, and Tipperary; on the
east by King's County and Roscommon; on the north, by the latter
and Mayo; and on the west by the ocean. It contains 1,566,354 acres,
of which 708,000 are unimproved mountain and bog, and 90,030
water, including part of Lough Corrib. The southern and western parts
of this county are mountainous and wild; but the extensive tract to the
eastward of Lough Corrib and Galway town is, for the most part, flat.
The soil of this portion is dry and fertile; it rests on a substratum of
limestone, and is, in some places, so thin as not to be fit for tillage,
though it yields the finest pasture. Climate mild, but there is an excess
of moisture. There are several very large estates. Connemara, of which
the greater part belongs to Mr. Martin, occupies the whole north-western
portion of the county; but it is almost in a state of nature, and is
worth comparatively little. Farms of all sizes: those in tillage, for the
most part very small, there being about 28,000 occupancies, varying
between 1 and 5 acres. It has been the common practice to grant part-
nership leases to an indefinite number of tenants, very often twenty or
more. "These people divide the land, and give portions to their
children, which consist of one-fourth or one-fifth of what they call a
man's share; that is, of the land which originally belonged to one man in
the lease. A certain portion of the whole farm, or take, is appropriated
for tillage, and this portion is then divided into lots, perhaps 20 or 30.
These lots are again subdivided into fields, which are partitioned into
smaller lots, each partner obtaining one or two ridges; but these
ridges do not continue in the hands of the same occupier longer than
the time they are in tillage. The pasture is held in common, and the
elders of the village are the legislators, who establish such regulations
as may be judged proper for their community, and settle all disputes
that arise among them. Their houses stand close to each other, and
form what is here called a village."—(Wakefield, i., 260.) As illus-
trative of the extent to which this destructive system is at present
practised, it may be mentioned, that Mr. Williamson, (a gentleman
employed on the valuation of the county,) informed the Land Occu-
pation Commissioners, (Part II., 537,) that the townland of Lisca-
nawn, comprising 587 Irish acres, of which 416 are liable to be flooded,
is parcelled out among 110 co-tenants. He adds, as every one might
anticipate, that they are in the last degree poor and miserable. The same
gentleman states, that he knows a district, comprising 700 Irish acres,
held by small occupiers, who have only 3 cows amongst them! But
even in cases where the subdivision has not been carried to this extreme,
the condition of the occupiers is but little better. The spade is all but
universally in use, and the burning of land, though opposed by some
landlords, is practised to a ruinous extent. Except on the larger
farms, drainage and the rotation of crops are all but unknown. Po-
tatoes and oats the most common crops; but the former are not so
MAYO.
389
extensively cultivated as in some other parts of Ireland. Very good
wheat is produced, particularly to the south-east of Galway; and there
has, within the last 20 years, been a great increase in the growth of
wheat and oats; but it is doubtful whether this has been, to any ma-
terial extent, the result of an improved system of tillage, and whether
it be not wholly ascribable to that improvident breaking up of pasture
land that has been carried to the most injurious excess here, and
throughout the whole province.-(Report of Agricultural Committee
of 1833, Min. of Evid., p. 348; and Evid. before Land Occupation
Commissioners, passim.) The improved Scotch plough, drawn by 2
horses, is met with in some places; but the old plough of the country,
drawn by 4 or more horses, having, exclusive of the ploughman, one or
two drivers, and a man to press on the beam to keep the instrument in
the ground, is in common use. Sea-weed and sea-sand much used as
manure. Excellent long-horned cattle are met with in this county.
Mr. Wakefield says that they are fully equal to any in England.
There are also some excellent flocks of sheep. The habitations of
the lower ranks are, with few exceptions, quite as wretched as any
to be found in Ireland. The farm-houses are also poor, miserable,
and ill situated. After the Shannon, the most considerable rivers
are the Suck and the Black River. Galway contains 18 baronies
and 120 parishes; and returns 4 members to parliament, being 2
for the county, and 2 for the borough of Galway. The latter had, in
1841, a population of 17,275. Population of county in ditto,
440,198.
2. Mayo, a maritime county, is bounded on the south and east by
Galway, Roscommon, and Sligo, and on the north and west by the
ocean. It contains 1,363,882 acres, of which no fewer than 800,111
are unimproved mountain and bog, being a greater extent of waste
land than in any other county of Ireland. It has also 56,970 acres of
water, consisting principally of Lough Mask, Lough Con, Lough
Carra, &c. Here are some of the highest mountains in Ireland, inter-
mixed, however, with many fertile valleys; but, owing to the lime-
stone protruding through the surface, considerable portions of the flat
country are unfit for tillage, though they afford excellent pasture.
Property in immense estates. The land is divided, and a good deal of
it let on the partnership or village system, as described in Galway.
It is said, however, that this system is on the wane; and it is to be
hoped that this is the case, as it opposes an effectual obstacle to the
introduction of anything like good agriculture, and to the growth of
industrious habits. It would seem, however, that the ruinous prac-
tice of con-acre, is rapidly extending itself, not only over this county,
but over Galway, and the entire extent of Connaught. It threatens,
indeed, unless its progress should be arrested, of which there seems
to be no near prospect, to spread itself over all the pasture land of
the province. “The competition for land in Connaught is almost
incredible: there is no rent you ask that will not be promised.".
(Agricultural Committee of 1833, Min. of Evid., p. 352.) It is
astonishing, too, how well these exorbitant rents are paid. In fact, the
peasantry have no means of existing without land; so that we need not
be surprised that pasturage is rapidly diminishing. In the small tillage
390
IRELAND.
farms, everything, except potatoes and a little oatmeal, is sold to make
up the rent.
"In travelling through the country," says Mr. Wakefield,
"I could see nothing but bad tillage and a thin population. The
people in general were dressed in woollen clothes of a dark colour, and
their cabins, which seemed to be more confined than in other parts of
Ireland, had a most miserable appearance, and gave a dull and gloomy
aspect to the whole country.”—(i., 35.) It would seem from the state-
ments of Mr. Inglis, and of the witnesses examined before the Land
Occupation Commission, that but little, if any material improvement has
taken place since the publication of Mr. Wakefield's work. The former
says, that the linen manufacture, which had been extensively carried
on in the vicinity of Castlebar, Westport, Newport, &c., and had there,
as everywhere else, led to a division of the land, had materially de-
clined, and that, in consequence, the condition of the occupiers "had
very much deteriorated." (Ireland in 1834, vol. ii., p. 98.) And
while some of the witnesses referred to, say, that agriculture is slowly
improving, others doubt whether such be the case. No effectual
check seems to have been given to the burning of land. In some
instances, sea-weed and sea-sand are carried more than 30 miles
inland. Cattle long-horned, and improved by crossing with the
English breed. Forty years ago, some graziers used to hold as much
as 3,000 acres; but at present few occupy more than the tenth part
of this extent of land. The best grazing lands are said to fetch
about 40s. the Irish acre. Iron was formerly made in this
county; but the business was abandoned from the want of fuel.
Though the houses are all thatched, there is abundance of ex-
cellent slate. Principal rivers, Moy, Guishden, Deel, Owenmore,
and Robe, besides inferior streams. The coast is deeply indented by
the sea; and on the west it is fenced with numerous islands. There
are some excellent harbours. Mayo contains 9 baronies, and 73
parishes; and returns 2 members to parliament, both for the county.
Principal towns, Castlebar, Ballina, and Westport. Population of
county in 1841, 388,887.
3. Roscommon, an inland county, has Galway on the south and
south-west; on the east it is separated from Longford, Leitrim, and
King's County by the Shannon; on the north and north-west it has
Sligo and Mayo. It contains 607,691 acres, of which 130,299 are
unimproved bog and mountain, and 29,370 water. There are some
mountain tracts in the northern parts of the county and elsewhere, but,
in general, its surface is nearly flat, exhibiting, for the most part, either
green fields or bogs. Substratum principally limestone. Pastures
most luxuriant. The employment of stone fences is nearly peculiar to
this county. Estates very large; but many of them let on perpetual
leases, the holders of some of which form an intermediate class between
the great proprietors and the occupiers. A large proportion of land
in pasture; but latterly tillage has been rapidly extending. Several
improvements have been introduced in drainage, in the plan of hus-
bandry, and in the instruments employed in carrying it on.
But now,
as formerly," the general system of agriculture, excepting on lands
held by wealthy individuals, remains still in a very imperfect state;
and the smaller farms are cultivated in a manner at once slovenly and
ROSCOMMON.
391
wasteful." -(Weld's Survey of Roscommon, p. 654. Dublin, 1832.)
Partnership tenures diminishing. Tillage farms very generally small,
by far the greater number being under 10 acres.
Oats and potatoes
principal crops; but wheat is now rather extensively cultivated. A
good deal of work done by the loy. Cattle long-horned; sheep long-
woolled; both breeds good; few dairies. The pernicious practice
of burning land is more extensively carried on in this than in, per-
haps, any other county. Some landlords endeavour to prevent it;
but others appear to be indifferent to, or careless about, the mis-
chief it occasions. "There is nothing," says Lord Crofton, "upon
which there seems to be a greater difference than that of burning;
one landlord permits it, and another does not. The one who does
permit it is, of course, liked; and the one who does not is held up
as a great Tartar. Unquestionably it is the ruin of the land. There
is one district that, from constant burning and the repetition of
crops, is not worth the public cess, which I remember, ten years
ago, able to feed a heifer to an acre."-(Evidence, Land Occu-
pation Com., I. 350.) His Lordship further states that, in his district,
within the last ten years, several hundred acres of grass land had been
broken up and divided into farms from the increase of population.
The burning principally takes place on con-acre land, which sometimes
fetches the enormous rent of 127. and 147. an acre! so that we need not
be surprised that con-acre should be, as Lord Crofton says it is, a prin-
cipal source of agrarian outrages. Some new cottages, on a few estates,
are neat and comfortable; but the great majority continue to be as bad
and as filthy as possible. The same may be said of the farm-buildings.
There are veins of coal and ironstone in the northern parts of this
county, to the west of Lough Allen. These had been occasionally
wrought to some extent for a considerable period; but, in general, to
the heavy loss of those by whom the works were carried on.
It was,
however, contended that this happened from the want of capital, or
want of skill on the part of those employed; and the most exaggerated
and delusive accounts were, at the same time, published of the value
of the mines. At length, during the memorable year 1825, three com-
panies were formed for working the coal and iron mines near Arigna
and other places in this county. But one of these, after examining
the ground, prudently declined proceeding any farther; the energies
of another were paralysed by the fraud, jobbing, and mismanagement
of some of its directors and agents; and the agent of the third, an
enterprising and well-conducted association, having been shot, the
works have since been abandoned. The linen manufacture was at one
time pretty extensively diffused over this county; but it is now nearly
extinct. Being washed throughout its whole extent by the Shannon,
there are not many Irish counties that have greater facilities than Ros-
common for the easy and convenient disposal of their products. It
contains 9 baronies and 58 parishes; and returns 2 members to parlia-
ment, both for the county. Principal towns, Roscommon, Boyle, and
Elphin. Population of county in 1841, 253,591.
4. Leitrim, a maritime county, is bounded on the south-east by
Longford; on the east by Cavan and Fermanagh; on the north by
Donegal Bay; and on the west and south-west by Sligo and Roscom-
392
IRELAND
mon.
It contains 392,363 acres, of which 115,869 are unimproved
mountain and bog, and 23,748 water. This is a very mountainous
county; the mountains are not, however, completely barren, but afford
sufficient herbage for the breeding of cattle. In the valleys and low
grounds there is a good deal of dark soil, incumbent on limestone, and
very fertile.
Estates very large. Tillage farms small, not exceeding
from 2 to 15 acres ; and these sometimes let in partnership to a number
of tenants. Agriculture is, consequently, in a very depressed, but,
perhaps, slightly improving state. Potatoes, oats, and flax are the
principal crops; clover and turnips unknown, at least to the tenantry.
Every man tills according to his fancy or convenience, and "nothing
is known of a rotation." The usual course is two successive crops of
potatoes, followed by as many of oats as will yield any return. In
most cases two and three oat crops are taken, and frequently many
more, sometimes to the extent of eleven and even nineteen!- (Poor
Inquiry, Appendix F., p. 210.) Cattle improved by the introduction
of English breeds; a good deal of butter made. Sheep small, and few
in number. Habitations of the people, mostly miserable huts; even
the recently erected farm-houses and offices, if so they may be called,
are said not to cost more than 127. or 20l.! There are several bleach-
fields, some coarse potteries, and some coarse linen is made for home
consumption. Leitrim is said to have been at one time covered with
wood; but at present it is very destitute of plantations. One of the
sources of the Shannon is in this county. It contains 5 baronies and
17 parishes; and returns 2 members to parliament, both for the
county. Principal towns, Mohill and Carrick-on-Shannon. Popu-
lation of county in 1841, 155,297.
5. Sligo, a maritime county, is bounded on the north by the Atlantic
Ocean; east, by Leitrim; south-east, by Roscommon; and south-west
and west, by Mayo. It contains 461,753 acres, of which 151,723 are
unimproved mountain and bog, and 12,740 water. This county, though
rough, mountainous, and boggy, contains no inconsiderable quantity of
very good land; though a good deal of the arable soil is but indif-
ferent. A few pretty large estates; but a considerable portion of the
county is divided into small properties. Lands are let and managed in
most respects similarly to those in Leitrim. The system of partnership
leases has been abolished, and some considerable improvements effected
on some of the larger estates; but elsewhere little if any improvement
has been made of late years; and the condition of the smaller class of
occupiers is as wretched as in the other parts of Connaught. Sligo is
one of the principal ports on the west coast of Ireland for the shipment
of raw produce. Its exports of late years have amounted to about
60,000 pigs, worth
6,000 cattle, worth
£200,000
*
50,000 firkins butter, worth
22,600 tons oats, worth
12,000 tons meal
•
60,000
125,000
132,000
132,000
Making in all a gross sum of 649,000/., exclusive of a farther and very
considerable sum for wheat, poultry, eggs, and salmon.-(C. Foster's
Letters on Ireland, p. 160.) Extensive tracts of this. and of other
counties on the west coast of Ireland, have been devastated by the
ISLANDS.
393
Lord
drifting of the sea-sand during strong north-westerly gales.
Palmerston, who is one of the best landlords in this part of the country,
has planted above 1,000 acres of sand with bent, which not only pre-
vents its drifting, but gradually converts it into good pasture. But
other landlords do not take this precaution, and the sand is slowly ex-
tending itself over their estates.—(C. Foster, p. 164.) Here, as in
Leitrim, the con-acre system has made much progress within the last
20 years. The competition for land is intense; and the occupier of
any over-rented patch, that chooses to leave it, never fails to get a con-
siderable sum for the "tenant's right. Principal rivers, Sligo,
Arrow, Awinmore, Easky, Moy, &c. It contains 6 baronies and 41
parishes; and returns 3 members to parliament, being 2 for the
county, and 1 for the borough of Sligo. Principal town, Sligo.
Population of county in 1841, 180,886.
ISLANDS.
""
A great number of islands and islets lie along the south-west, west,
and north-west coasts of Ireland; but there are very few off the east
coast. Their distance from the mainland is, in most instances, incon-
siderable. The largest of these islands, called Achill, or Eagle Island,
from the number of eagles by which it is frequented, is situated on the
west coast of Mayo, at the north-west extremity of Clew Bay. It
contains 35,283 acres, with a destitute population of about 4,500.
It is mountainous and barren; and is separated from the mainland by
a narrow channel, which is, in parts, fordable at low water. Clare
Island, the south isles of Arran, at the mouth of Galway Bay, and
Valentia Island, on the south side of Dingle Bay, are, after Achill,
among
the most considerable islands on the west coast. Their inha-
bitants, and those of the other islands, subsist partly by fishing and
partly by agriculture. They use chiefly the Irish language; are barely
acquainted with the rudiments of civilisation; and are mostly in a state
of extreme poverty. Rathlin Island, off the north coast of Ireland, is
principally celebrated for its basaltic columns.-(Antè, p. 342.) There
are reckoned to be, in all, nearly 200 islands in the seas and bays
(principally the latter) round Ireland, of which, from 130 to 140 are
inhabited. Their population, which in most instances is very dense,
amounts to about 45,000.
394
ENGLAND AND WALES.
PART II.
POPULATION.
SECT. 1.--Population of England and Wales.
Races of Inhabitants.-There can be no reasonable doubt that
Britain received its first inhabitants from the contiguous shores of the
Continent. The best critics are of opinion that the original immigrants
were Celts; being denominated Gael (Guydels of the Welsh), no
doubt, from their having passed over from Gaul. At some subsequent
period these original immigrants were followed by the Cimbri, or
Northern Celts.* It is believed that, after the invasion of the latter,
a considerable portion of the Gaelic Celts emigrated to Ireland, where
the Gaelic dialect of the Celtic language still predominates. But, how-
ever, this may be, the Cimbric Celts seem to have obtained a complete
ascendancy over their predecessors. Their descendants continue to
this day to occupy the principality of Wales, where the Cymraig
dialect of the Celtic language, "the genuine daughter of the ancient
British spoken in the time of the Romans," is still in common use.†
The epoch of the Gothic immigration is not known; but, at a period
which must have long preceded the Christian æra, the Goths, who are
believed to have emigrated from the countries between the Black Sea
and the Caspian, were in possession of the north-western parts of
Germany and Gaul as far south as the Seine. That portion of the
great Gothic family that settled in the Low Countries and the north
of France were called by the Romans Belga, and are represented as a
brave and warlike nation.-(Cæsar, De Bello Gallico, lib. i. § 1.)
From Gaul they passed over to Britain, where they occupied, when it
was invaded by Julius Cæsar, its south-eastern and most fertile pro-
vinces.-(De Bello Gallico, lib. v. § 12.) The Belgian colonists
were, undoubtedly, the principal ancestors of the modern English
nation. The Saxons, who invaded England after it had been aban-
doned by the Romans, were a congenerous race with its Belgic occu-
pants; but the latter, enfeebled by being long subject to the Roman
power, seem to have lost, that valour for which they were once so
conspicuous, and were easily subdued by the Saxons. There is, how-
ever, no reason to think that the latter came over in such numbers as
to have been able fully to occupy the country, or to have given it a
new language, had their own differed materially from that already in
se in it. The population of all the eastern, southern, and more
level part of the island may, therefore, be looked upon as having been
For proofs that the Cimbri were Celts, see Pinkerton's Dissertation on the
Scythians, aunexed to his Inquiry into the History of Scotland.
Percy's Introduction to the Translation of Mallet's Northern Antiquities, p. 5.
There cannot, as the same learned writer, Pinkerton, and others have shown, be a
doubt as to the identity of the ancient Britons and the Celtic Gauls. The French
call Wales, Pays de Gulles, that is, country of the Gauls.
Pinkerton's Geography, vol. i., p. 20, ed. 1802.
POPULATION.
395
at this period essentially Gothic, and as derived rather from the Belgian
than the Saxon Goths.
The temporary conquest of England by the Danes, and its sub-
sequent subjugation by the Normans, however important in other
respects, made no sensible change in the stock of the inhabitants.
The Normans, though long settled in France, where they had acquired
the use of the French language, originally emigrated from Norway,
and belonged, as well as the Danes, to the Gothic family. Except,
therefore, in so far as we may suppose the Celtic and Belgic inha-
bitants to have been blended together, the Gothic blood would seem to
have been preserved pretty pure in all the country to the north and
east of the Severn and the Exe.
Within the last few years, however, an immigration has taken place
into England, and also into Scotland, that has already had a great, and
promises to have a still greater, influence over the blood and character
of the people. We allude to the immigration of Irish, or Celtic,
labourers into Great Britain. Considering the want of employment,
and the low rate of wages in Ireland, the temptation to emigrate to
England is all but irresistible; and steam communication has reduced
the expenses of transit to almost nothing; having established, as it
were, floating bridges between Dublin and Liverpool, Belfast and
Glasgow, Waterford and Bristol. In consequence, very many thou-
sands of Irish labourers have established themselves in Lancashire,
Lanarkshire, and other places, principally on the west coast of England
and Scotland. So great, indeed, has been this immigration, that, at
present, it is believed about a fourth part of the population of Man-
chester and Glasgow consists of native Irish and of the descendants
of such; and in other places the proportion of Irish blood is even
greater. Instead of being diminished, this influx, great as it has
been, has latterly been augmented, and threatens to entail very per-
nicious consequences on the people of England and Scotland. The
wages of the latter have been reduced by the competition of the Irish
and, which is still worse, their opinions in regard to what is necessary
for their comfortable and decent subsistence have been lowered by the
contaminating influence of example, and by familiar intercourse with
those who are content to live in filth and misery. It is difficult to see
how, with the existing facilities of intercourse between the two coun-
tries, the condition of the labouring classes in them should not be
pretty much approximated; and there is too much reason to fear
that the equalisation will be brought about rather by the degradation
of the English than by the elevation of the Irish. Hitherto the latter
have been very little, if at all, improved by their residence in England;
but the English and Scotch with whom they associate have been cer-
tainly deteriorated. Though painful and difficult, the importance of
the subject gives it the strongest claims on the public attention.
were better that measures should be adopted to check, if that be pos-
sible, the spread of pauperism in Ireland, and to improve the condition
of its inhabitants; but, if this cannot be done, it seems indispensable
that we should endeavour to guard against being overrun by a pauper
horde.
;
It
Having premised these few observations with respect to the races
396
ENGLAND AND WALES.
of men by which the kingdom has been peopled, we proceed to an
inquiry more germane to statistics, or to investigate the amount of the
population.
Progress of Population.-The determination of the magnitude of
the population of a country is one of the most important problems that
can engage the attention of the politician. There are various indi-
rect methods by which it may be approximated with more or less
accuracy; but it cannot be precisely ascertained otherwise than by
making a census or enumeration of the inhabitants, under such precau-
tions as may insure its correctness.
This, however, is a measure that cannot be carried into effect except
by order of government, which has not always had the power, and has
oftener wanted the inclination, to interfere for such purpose. In this
country no census was taken previously to 1801; and our knowledge
of the amount of the population at antecedent periods becomes pro-
portionally vague the further we recede from this recent æra. It has
been concluded, from the enumeration in Domesday Book, that there
were, at the æra of the Conquest, 300,785 families, or (at 5 individuals
to a family) 1,504,925 persons, in England. Wales, however, and the
four northern counties of Northumberland, Cumberland, Durham, and
Lancaster, are excepted from this enumeration. And allowing for
these, and other omissions, perhaps the entire population of England
and Wales, at the æra in question, may have amounted to 2,150,000,
or thereabouts.*
In 1377, a poll tax of 4d. was imposed on every lay person, whether
male or female, of 14 years of age, mendicants only excepted; and
it appears that 1,367,239+ persons paid this assessment, exclusive of
those in Wales, Chester, and Durham, which do not appear in the
roll. But besides these, there must, no doubt, have been very many
omissions in the counties of which we have the assessments; so that
it is plain little or no authentic information respecting the state of the
population can be learned from this document. Mr. Chalmers has,
however, concluded that the population of England and Wales was,
at the epoch in question, about 2,350,000; and perhaps this is not very
wide of the mark; but the data are obviously too loose and unsatis-
factory to enable any one to pronounce with any certainty with respect
to it. (Chalmers' Comparative Estimate, p. 13, ed. 1802.)
The dreadful pestilence that raged in 1349 is said to have dispeopled
England of more than half its inhabitants. This, however, is most
probably a very exaggerated statement; but if the mortality amounted
to a third, it is hardly possible it could have been filled up by the year
1377. No doubt, however, the increase in the rate of wages conse-
quent to the pestilence, and which the Statute of Labourers (passed
after the mortality had subsided) vainly attempted to prevent, must
have given a considerable stimulus to the principle of increase, and
materially augmented the proportion of children to adults; so that it
is probable they amounted to considerably more than a third part of
* Mr. Turner thinks that the population of England only, at the epoch of the
Conquest, exceeded two millions. (Hist of Anglo-Saxons, 5th ed., vol. iii., p. 258.)
+ This is the sum obtained by adding together the items on the record; the quota
stated in it is 1,376,442.
POPULATION.
397
the entire population, at which they are estimated by Mr. Chalmers.
The small population of several of the great towns, as deduced from
this subsidy roll, would seem to show pretty conclusively that, in 1377,
the country had not recovered from the pestilence of 1349; and that
the population was then under its average amount. London, for
example, is said to have contained only 35,000 inhabitants in 1377,
Bristol under 10,000, Norwich under 6,000, and so on. These state-
ments seem to be quite inconsistent with the most authentic evidence
as to the extent, importance, and wealth of these cities in the 14th
century; and there would consequently appear to be little doubt,
unless we suppose some great error to have insinuated itself into the
subsidy roll, that the cities referred to had not recovered in 1377 from
the preceding mortality.-(See Paper by Mr. Amyot, Archæologia,
vol. xx.)
In 1528, commissioners were appointed for taking an account of the
stock and grain throughout the kingdom; and fragments of these re-
turns, for certain districts in Wilts, Essex, and Kent, have been pre-
served, along with a statement of the number of their inhabitants.
The districts in question contained, at the above-mentioned epoch, a
population of 16,425, while in 1831 the population of the same dis-
tricts was 52,392. If we suppose this rate of increase to have been
uniform throughout the kingdom, the population in 1528 will be found
to be 4,356,000. But it is needless to say that no safe inferences can
be deduced from facts and inferences of the kind now alluded to.
Harrison and Sir Walter Raleigh state the number of fighting men,
in 1575 and 1583, at 1,172,000. But there is no reason to think that
this estimate was made with anything like due care; and unless-of
which there is no evidence-it included all the able-bodied individuals
between certain specified ages, it affords very slender means from which
to deduce the actual amount of population at the time. Perhaps, how-
ever, we may infer from it that the population was not then much
above, nor much below, five millions. Notwithstanding the influence
of the civil wars in the reign of Charles I., there can be little doubt
that the population increased considerably during the seventeenth
century, particularly in the period between the Restoration and the
Revolution; but, unfortunately, we have no means of estimating this
increase, nor even of deciding on sure grounds in regard to the amount
of the population at the accession of William III. Previously, indeed,
to the Revolution, a hearth tax, proportioned to the number of fire-
places in each, was payable by all houses in the kingdom; and the
celebrated political arithmetician, Gregory King, availing himself of
the returns obtained under this tax, framed an estimate of the popu-
lation in 1696, entitled to much more attention than any of those by
which it was preceded. King found that the number of houses in the
books of the Hearth Office, in 1690, was 1,319,215. But the hearth
duty being charged on the tenant, the divided houses stand in this
account as so many separate dwellings; and deducting for these, and
for uninhabited houses, smiths' shops, &c., and allowing for the increase
in the preceding 6 years, he concluded that there were in England and
Wales, in 1696, 1,300,000 inhabited houses; viz., in London and the
Bills of Mortality, 105,000; in other cities and market towns,
398
ENGLAND AND WALES.
195,000; and in villages and hamlets, 1,000,000. He then estimates
the population per house, and the total population, as follows:
Inhabited
Houses.
Souls per
Number of
House.
Souls.
The 97 parishes within the walls
•
13,500
5.4
72,900
The 16 parishes without the walls.
The 15 out parishes in Middlesex and
Surrey
32,500
4.6
149,500
35,000
4.4
154,000
The 7 parishes in the city and liberty
of Westminster
24,000
4.3
103,200
So London and the Bills of Mortality
contain
105,000
4.57
479,600
The other cities and market towns
195,000
4.3
838,500
The villages and hamlets
1,000,000
4
4,000,000
In all
1,300,000
4.09
5,318, 100
•
"But considering that the omissions in the said assessments may well be,
In London and the Bills of Mortality
In the cities and towns
In the villages and hamlets
·
10 per cent., or 47,960 souls.
2
""
1
16,500
40,000
""
In all.
• 104,460,
it follows that the true number of people, dwelling in the 1,300,000 inhabited houses,
should be 5,422,560 souls, being at the rate of 4.17 heads per house." King adds
to this 77,440, for soldiers, sailors, vagrants, &c., having no regular domicile ;
making the entire population in 1696, 5,500,000.
Errors may have crept into this statement, either through inaccu-
racies in estimating the number of houses, or the number of persons to
a house. On the whole, however, we are inclined to think that it is
not very wide of the mark, and that it is entitled to as much credit as
most estimates not deduced from actual enumeration.
The hearth tax was abolished at the Revolution. A duty on
windows was imposed in 1696; but cottages exempted from the usual
taxes to church and poor, being also exempted from the window
duties, many of them were left out of the returns made by the col-
lectors of the latter, so that it speedily became next to impossible to
construct any probable estimate of the population on the basis assumed
by Gregory King. Had the registers of births and deaths been accu-
rately kept, they would have shown satisfactorily whether the popu-
lation was increasing or diminishing; and its actual amount might
have been learned, by observing the ratio which they bore to the
population in as many districts of the country as might have been sup-
posed to give a fair average of the whole. But both these registers
were very defective, and not being published, but being dispersed
piecemeal all over the country, they were accessible to a few only.
Under these circumstances, we need not wonder that the most
conflicting statements were put forth as to the amount of the popu-
lation. Dr. Price, first in his Treatise on Annuities, and subse-
quently in a tract published in 1780, contended that the population of
England and Wales had been progressively decreasing since the Revo-
POPULATION.
399
lution; and that, at the period when he wrote, it only amounted to
4,763,000! This essay excited a good deal of attention and contro-
versy. Of the numerous answers which it elicited, those by the
Rev. Mr. Howlett,* vicar of Dunmow, in Essex, and Mr. Wales,†
mathematical master of Christ's Hospital, were by far the best. They
showed that the statements on which Dr. Price built his conclusions
were most erroneous, and that his reasonings were, besides, illogical
and inconclusive. But though a bill for taking a census was intro-
duced into parliament in 1753, the measure was not carried into effect,
nor the disputes as to the amount of the population terminated, till
1801. Since then the census has been repeated at four different
decennial periods, or in 1811, 1821, 1831, and 1841, so that we pos-
sess a very satisfactory account of the progress of population in Great
Britain during the present century. See following page for a statement
of the Population of England and Wales in 1801, 1811, 1821, 1831,
1841 and 1851.
Mr. Finlaison, of the National Debt Office, availing himself of the
returns as to births, marriages, and deaths obtained under the Popu-
lation Acts, as well as of various other sources of information, has
framed the following statement of the population during last century,
which may be regarded as approaching as near to accuracy as the sub-
Ject will admit of :-
Population of England and Wales, from the Year 1700 to the Year 1801, including
the Army, Navy, and Merchant Seamen.

Years.
Population.
Years.
Population.
Years.
Population.
1700
5,131,516 1740
5,829,705 1780
7,814,827
1710
5,066,337 1750
6,039,634 1790
8,540,738
1720
5,345,351 1760
1730
5,687,993 1770
6,479,730
7,227,586
1801
9,172,980
It appears from this statement that the population declined during
the first 10 years of last century, and that it increased but slowly
during the 40 years ending with 1750. In fact, it was not till after
that period, or rather till after the peace of Paris in 1763, that
England began to take the lead among European powers as a com-
inercial and manufacturing nation. But since then, and especially
since the memorable period (1767-1770) when the inventions of Har-
graves and Arkwright laid the foundations of the cotton manufacture,
our progress in manufactures and commerce, and, consequently, also
in wealth and population, has been great beyond all former example.
Density of the Population. More stress has been laid on the deter-
mination of this point than it probably deserves, from its being sup-
posed that, where there is a considerable density of population, the
* An Examination of Dr. Price's Essay on the Population of England and
Wales. Maidstone, 1781.
† An Inquiry into the present Population of England and Wales. Lond. 1781.
This number is found by adding to the population of 8,872,980, given by the
Census, 300,000 for the share belonging to England, of the 470,598 soldiers and
sailors belonging at that epoch to the United Kingdom. See post, section iv. on
the Population of the United Kingdom.
400
ENGLAND AND WALES.
COUNTIES.
1801
Population of England and Wales, exclusive of Army and Navy, as determined by
the Censuses of 1801, 1811, 1821, 1831, 1841, and 1851; showing its Amount in
each of these Years in each County, with the Ratio of its Increase in the intervening
decennial Periods.


Incr. per
Cent.
1811
Incr. per
Cent.
1821
Incr. per
Cent.
1831
Incr. per
Cent.
1841
Incr. per
Cent.
1851
Bedford
•
Berks.
Buckingham
62,323 11
70,213 20
110,480 7 119,430 11
108,132 9 118,065 14
།
Cambridge
89,346 13
101,109 21
Chester
Cornwall
192,305 18
192,281 14
227,031 19
220,525 18
Cumberland
•
117,290 14
183,665 17
Derby
Devon.
Dorset.
Durham
Essex.
161,567 14
340,308 12
9
114,452
149,384 10
227,682 11
185,487 15
382,778 15
124,718 16
165,293 17
252,473 15
84,052 14
132,639
135,133
122,387 18
270,098 24
261,045 15
156,124 8
213,651 11
438,417 13
144,930 10
193,511 24
289,424
95,483
10
146,234
*2
13
IC7,936
18
10
161,739
9
146,977
6
156,439
143,955
334,391
301,306 14
169,262 5
15
237,170
493,908 7
10
159,385
239,256 29
14
18
164,459 13
6553
124,478
170,065
163,723
185,405
3:45,660
342,159
15
455,725
4
355,55H
178,033 10
195,492
272,202 9
532,959 6
296,084
567,098
>
175,054
307,963 27
5
184,207
390,997
10
317,507
344,979 7
369,318
Gloucester
250,723 14
285,955 18
336, 190
15
387,398 11
431,495
6
458,805
Hereford
Hertford
Huntingdon
Kent
Lancaster.
Leicester
•
Lincoln
Middlesex
88,436 6
97,393 14
37,568 12
308,667 20
673,486 1.2
130,082 15
208,625 14
818.129 16
93,526
10
111,225 17
42,208 16
371,701 15
828,499 27
150,559
237, ,634
102,669
8
110,617
2
113,272
2
115,489
129,731 10
142,844
10
156,660 7
167,298
16
22
Monmouth
Norfolk
•
•
Northampton
Northumberland
Nottingham
·
45,568 35
273,479 7
131,525 | 7
168,078 19
140,350 16
Oxford
Rutland
•
Salop.
Somerset
Southampton
Stafford
Suffolk
Surrey
Sussex.
•
Warwick
Westmoreland
111,977 7
16,300 Sta.
169,248 9
273,577 10
219,290 12
242,693 21
214,404 9
268,233 20
159,471 19
206,798 10
40,803 | 12
953,774
62,105 22
291,947 18
141,353 15
183,269 15
162,964 15
120,376 15
16,380 13
184,973 7
20
48,946
9
427,224 12
1,052,948 27
174,571 13
283,058 12
1,145,057 19
75,801 29
344,368 13
163,097 10
212.589 11
186,873
21
138,224 11
18,487 5
53,192
10
58,549 10
64, 183
198,311
8
Wilts
183,820 4
302,836
17
246,514 15
294,540
17
233,963 16
323,851 23
190,343 23
228,906 20
45,922 12
191,853 14
355,789 13
232.897 11
345,972 18
271,541
479,558
1,336,854 24
197,003 10
317,465 14
1,358,330 16
98,126 36
390,054 6
179,336 11
236,959 12
225,327 11
153,526 6
19,385 10
213,518 6
403,795 8
313,976 12
409,490 24
12
549,353 11
1,667,054
215,867 7
362,602 12
1,576,636 20
134,368 17
412,664 7
22
615,766
2,031,236
230,308
407,222
1,886,576
157,418
442,714
199,228
266,020 14
249,910 8
7
212,380
803,568
270,427
163,127 5
170,439
21,302 8
22,933
225,820 2
229,341
435,599 2
443,916
354,682 13
405,370
509,472 20
608,716
9
296,317 6
815,078 7
337,215
399,417
92
486,434 20
584,036 17
683,082
233,3
274,482
328
17
272,644 10
300,075 15
336,844
23
336,645 19
401,703 19
475,013
51,359 7
219,574
55,041
3
56,454
3
58,287
8
237,244
8
256,230 -1
254,221
Worcester.
146,441 15
168,982 15
194,074
15
222,655
12
248,460 12
276,926
York, Eust Riding.
111,192 20
133,975 15
154,643
9
168,891
15
194,936
12
220,983
City
16,846
13
19,099
14
21,711
21
26,260 10
23,842
26
36,303
North Riding
West Riding.
158 927
572,168
7
16
170, 127
662,875
11
22
Totals of England 8,350,859
984,609 18 1,163,580 14 1,325,495
14 9,553,021 18 11,281,883 16 |13,090,523 14
188,178
R09,363 22
2
192,206 в
204,701 5
215,214
14,997,427 13 |16,921,888
Brecon
Anglesey.
Cardigan
Carmarthen
Carnarvon
Denbigh.
Flint
•
.
39,469 16
Glamorgan.
Merioneth
Montgomery.
Pembroke
Radnor
70,879 19
29,506 4
Totals of Wales
•
33.806 9 87,045 22
32,325 16 87,735 16
42,956 17 50,260 15
€7,317 14
77,217 17
41,521 19 49,655 17
60,299 6 64,249 19
45,937 17
85,067 20
30,854 11
48,184 8 52,184 15
56,280 8 60,615 22
19,135 7 20,417 10
541,677 13 611,235 18 718,353 12
45,063 7
43,826
57,784 12
90,239 12
58,099 15
76,428
8
53,893 12
102,073
24
34,382 3
60,245 11
42,325 5
-7,763 16
64,780 6
100,740 6
66,818 21
82,665 7
60,244 11
126,612 35
35,315 11
50,891 12
55,603 11
57,327
61,474
68,766 3
70,796
106,326
110,632
81,098
8
87,870
£8,478
92,583
66,919
68,156
171,188 35
231,849
39,332
38,843
66,844 4
69,607
67,335
73,788 10
81,423 8
88,044
94,140
22,533 10
24,743
806,2 4
3
25,458 -3
24,716
13
911,705 10 1,005,721
Totals of England 8,892,536 14 10,164,256 18 12,000,236 16
and Wales
13,896,797
14 15,914,148 13 17,927,609
division of labour will be carried to a corresponding extent, and that
the competition and judiciously combined
combined efforts of the inhabitants
will be productive of a much greater amount of wealth and enjoyments
than would fall to the share even of a larger population, dispersed
over a wider surface. Generally, perhaps, this is true; at least, when
any considerable part of the population is collected into great towns.
It is hardly possible to suppose that these should exist without there
being at once a strong spirit of emulation and competition, and a con-
siderable division and combination of employments among the inha-
bitants, with a consequent development of industry and an accumulation
of wealth. But if large towns be wanting, the results may be mate-
rially different. A country divided into small farms, like Ireland,
POPULATION.
401
may have a deuse population, and be, notwithstanding, very far behind
in the arts, and have but a very limited command of comforts and
conveniences; while a country divided into large farms, like Scot-
land, and having a comparatively thin population, may be distin-
guished for its proficiency in manufactures, the extent
extent of its com-
merce, and the general
the general wellbeing of its inhabitants.
It is necessary
to keep this distinction in view, as great density of population in a
country that is purely or principally agricultural is oftener an evidence
of poverty and of backwardness in the arts than of anything else.
Table showing the Number of Acres in the several Counties of England and Wales, with
the Number of Parishes and the Population of each County in 1851; and showing
also the Number of Inhabited Houses, and the Number of Acres to each Person, with
the Number of Persons to a House in each County.

Population Returns, 1851.
COUNTIES.
Statute
Acres.
Pa-
rishes.
Males.
Females.
Totals of
both Sexes.
Inhabited
Houses,
1851.
Number
of Acres
corre-
Number
of Persons
corre-
sponding sponding
to each
Person.
to each
Ilouse.
Bedford
•
295,532
123
59,941
64,537
124,478
24,673
2.4
5.1
Berks
451,040
151
84,927
85,138
170,065
32,481
2.7
5.1
Buckingham.
466,932
207
81,074
82,649
163,723
33, 196
2.9
4.9
Cambridge.
523,861
165
92,699
92,706
185,405
37,226
2.8
5 0
Cheshire
707,078
91
222,385
233,339
455,725
85,260
1.6
5.3
Cornwall
873,600
205
171,636
183,922
355,558
67,987
2.5
5.2
Cumberland
1,001,273
103
96,244
99,248
195,492
36,763
5.1
5.3
Derby
659,803
140
147,737
148,347
296,084
59,371
2.2
5*0
Devon
1,657,180
465
269,583
297,515
567,008
98,387
2.9
5.7
Dorset
632,025
275
89,204
95,003
184,207
36,138
3.4
5.1
Durham
622,476
76
196,700
194,297
390,997
€4,977
1.6
6.0
Essex
1,060,549
414
185,399
183,919
369,318
73,530
2.9
5.0
Gloucester
•
805,102
838
218,187
240,618
458,805
80,359
1.8
5'3
Hants
1,070,216
223
202,014
203,356
405,370
75,238
2.7
5.3
Hereford
•
534,823
134
58,114
57,375
115,489
23,890
4.6
4.8
Hertford
•
391,141
102
82,831
84,467
167,298
32,573
2.3
5'1
Huntingdon
230,865
413
81,933
32,250
64,183
13,285
3.6
4.8
Kent
1,041,479
67
307,041
308,725
615,766
107,748
1.7
5.7
Lancaster
1,219,221
213
991,000
Leicester
514,164
630 112,937
Lincoln.
1,776,738
197
205,083
Middlesex
•
180,168
123
882,823
1,040,146
117,371
202,139
1,003,753
2,031,326
349,938
.6
5.8
230,308
48,953
2.2
4.7
407,222
81,325
4.4
5.0
1,886,576
239,362
7.9
Monmouth
·
363,399
748
82,349
75,06)
157,418
23,939
2.4
5.4%
Norfolk.
•
1,354,301
303
215,254
227,460
442,714
93,143
3.1
4.8
Northampton
·
630,358
94
105,984
106,996
212,380
43,942
3.0
4.8
Northumberland
1,249,299
212 149,515
154,053
803,568
47.737
4.1
6.3
Nottingham
Oxford
526,076
218
132,263
138,164
270;427
55,019
1.9
4.9
•
472,887
51
85,524
84,915
170,439
34,3 8
2.8
5.0
Rutland
95,805
217
11,801
11,182
22,983
4,588
4.2
5.0
Salop
826,055
474 114,340
115,001
229,341
45,618
3*6
5.0
Somerset
Stafford.
Suffolk
•
1,047,220
318 211,45
232,871
443,918
85,054
2.4
5*2
728,468
151 310,032
298,681
608,716
116,273
1.2
5.2
•
947,681
509 166,308
170,907
337,215
69,282
2.8
4.9
Surrey
•
478,792
144 825,041
358,041
683,082
108,822
*7
6.3
Sussex
934,851
314
165,772
171,072
336,84+
58,683
2.8
5.7
Warwick
563,946
201
232,411
242,602
475,013
96,731
1.2
4.9
Westmoreland
Wilts
Worcester
485,432
32
29,079
29,208
58,287
11,217
8.3
5.2
865,092
303
125,728
128,403
254,221
51,667
3.4
4.9
472, 165
173
136,956
139,970
276,926
55,€39
1.7
5.0
York, East Riding
768,419
187
109,443
111,540
220,983
44,363
3.5
4.9
City and Ainsty
North Riding.
2,720
1,350,121
48
West Riding
•
1,708,026
16,977
192 106,710
196 659,619
19,326
36,803
7,007
+7
5.1
108,504
665,876
215,214
1,825,495
44,448
6.3
4.8
264,302
1.3
5.0
Totals of England.
32,590,429
9,942 8,281,734
8,640,154
16,921,888 3,078,620
1.9
5.5
Anglesea
193,453
74
28,101
29,226
57,327
12,124
8.4
4.7
Brecknock.
460,1
,158
68
31,314
30,160
61,474
12,221
7.5
5.0
Cardigan.
443,387
68
82,961
37,835
70,796
14,978
6.3
4.7
Caermarthen
Caernarvon
Denbigh
Flint.
606,331
76
53,076
57,556
110,632
22,465
5.5
4.9
370,273
68
42,978
44,892
87,870
19,005
4.2
4.9
386,052
60
46,708
45,875
92,583
19,124
4.2
4'8
184,505
25
34,452
33.704
68,156
14,041
2.7
4.8
Glamorgan
547,494
125
120,748
111,101
231,849
43,202
2.4
5.3
Monmouth.
•
385,291
84
19,151
19,692
38,843
8,159
9.9
4.8
Montgomery
Pembroke
Radnor
483,323
52
33,634
33,701
87,335
13,350
7-2
5.0
•
•
401,691
272,128
141
43,675
50,465
94,140
19,136
4.3
4.9
52
12,693
12,623
24,716
4,614
11.0
5.4
Totals of Wales
4,734,485
838
499,491
506,230
1,005,721
201,419
4.7
5.0
Totals of England 87,324,915 10,780 8,781,255
and Wales
9,146,884
17,927,609 3,278,039
9.1
5.5
VOL. I.
*
2 D
402
ENGLAND AND WALES.
The preceding Table embodies all the information obtained under
the late census in regard to the population and the number of inha-
bited houses in England and Wales. We have added to it columns
showing the number of square miles and acres in each county and in
the kingdom, with the population per square mile, and the number of
acres corresponding to each person, and the number of persons corre-
sponding to each house.
Population of Great Towns.-It would have been desirable, had it
been possible, to have discriminated between the town and country popu-
lation, and to have exhibited the amount of each. But the details in
the late census, though minute and valuable, do not afford the means of
making such a separation. There are in Great Britain 815 towns of
various magnitudes from London downwards, including cities, county-
towns, and market-towns. But many of these towns embrace a consi-
derable extent of surrounding country, the population of which is included
in that of the towns. In proof of this statement it is enough to mention
that the Census Commissioners estimate the area of the towns of Great
Britain and the Channel Islands at no less than 2,024,648 acres. And
hence it is obvious, that a considerable portion of the population said to
belong to the towns really belongs to the country; and though it had
been possible accurately to distinguish between the urban and rural
population, that would not, as many seem to suppose, afford the means of
discriminating between those engaged in agriculture and in other busi-
nesses. In most cases, a large proportion of the smaller class of towns,
that is, of those having under 6,000 or 7,000 inhabitants, is either directly
engaged in some department of husbandry, or in departments intimately
connected with it; and this, indeed, is more or less the case with a portion
of the inhabitants of almost all towns. On the other hand, however, there
are not a few of the smaller class of towns and villages that are almost
entirely occupied by manufactures; so that no accurate inference could
be drawn as to the occupations of the inhabitants, even had we been
accurately informed as to the numbers resident in towns and villages.
There, however, can be no doubt that a much greater proportion of
the population of England and Wales is resident in towns than that of,
perhaps, any other country. This is partly a consequence, and partly
a cause, of our superiority in manufacturing industry: and it is partly
owing to our improved communications by canals, railroads, and other-
wise, which enables the inhabitants of towns to obtain most sorts of raw
products nearly as cheap as if they lived in the country.
An Account of the Population of the Principal Cities and Towns of England and Wales
in 1801, 1811, 1821, 1831, 1841, and 1851.
N.B.-The same limits have been preserved throughout, or as near as was practicable.

CITIES OR TOWNS.
1801
1811
1821
1831
1841
1851
London
•
958,863
1,138,815
1,378,947
Manchester and Salford
94,876
115,874
163,635
Liverpool.
82,295
104,104
138,354
1,654,994
237,832
201,751
1,948,417
311,009
2,362,235
401,321
286,487
375,955
Birmingham
70,670
82,753
101,722
143,986
182,922
232,841
Leeds
Bristol.
Sheffield
Bradford.
•
53,162
62,534
83,796
123,393
152,074
172,270
61,153
71,433
85,108
104,408
125,146
137,328
•
45,755
53,231
65,275
91,692
111,091
Wolverhampton.
135,310
30,584
43,190
53,011
67,514
93,245
119,748
13,264
16,012
26,307
43,527
66,715
103,778
POPULATION.
403
An Account of the Population of the Principal Cities and Towns of England
and Wales-continued.
CITIES OR TOWNS.
1831
1811
1821
1831
1811
1851
Plymouth and Devonport
Newcastle upon-Tyne
Hull
•
Stoke-upon-Trent
Oldham
Portsmouth
39,787
50,886
55,169
65,963
70,340
90,401
•
•
33,048
32,573
41,791
53,613
70,337
87,784
29,580
37,005
44,520
43,510
67,308
84,690
23,278
31,557
40,237
51,589
68,444
84,027
21,677
29,479
38,201
50,513
60,451
72,357
33,226
41,587
46,743
50,389
53,032
72,096
Brighton
·
7,440
12,205
24,741
41,994
49,170
69,673
Preston
12, 174
17,360
24,859
33,871
50,887
Norwich.
69,542
36,238
36,748
49,705
60,505
61,846
68,195
Sunderland.
21,998
25,821
31,891
40,735
53,335
67,394
Merthyr Tydvil
10,127
14,945
20,959
27,281
43,031
63,080
Bolton.
17,966
24,799
32,045
42,245
51,029
61,171
Leicester
17,005
23,453
31,036
40,639
50,806
60,584
Nottingham
28,861
34,253
40,415
50,680
53,091
57,407
Bath
33,196
38,408
46.700
50,800
53,196
54,240
Stockport
14,830
17,545
21,726
25,469
50,154
53,835
Blackburn
11,980
15,083
21,940
27,091
>
36,629
46,536
Exeter
17,412
18,896
23,479
28,242
37,231
40,688
Derby
10,832
13,043
17,423
23,627
32,741
40,609
Macclesfield
13,255
17,143
23,154
30,911
32,629
39,048
Dudley
10,107
13,925
18,211
23,430
31,232
37,962
Coventry
16,034
17,923
21,448
27,298
31,032
36,812
York
•
16,846
19,099
21,711
26,260
28,842
36,303
Southampton
Cheltenham
Halifax
•
7,913
9,617
13,353
19,324
27,744
35,305
3,076
8,325
13,396
22,942
31,411
35,051
•
12,010
12,766
17,056
21,552
27,520
33,582
Ipswich
11,277
13,670
17,186
20,201
25,384
32,914
Wigan.
10,989
14,060
17,716
20,774
25,517
31,941
Swansea.
10,117
11,963
14,898
19,672
24,604
31,461
Bury
9,152
11,302
13,480
19,140
24,846
31,262
Huddersfield
7,268
9,671
13,284
19,035
25,063
30,880
Yarmouth
16,573
20,448
21,007
24,535
27,865
Ashton-under-Lyne
30,879
5,727
7,037
9,222
12,441
22,678
29,791
Rochdale
8,040
10,392
12,998
18,351
24,272
29,195
Tynemouth
13,171
17,548
23,173
23.206
25,416
29,170
South Shields
11,011
15,165
16,503
18,756
23,072
28,974
Chatham
12,940
15,787
19,177
21,124
>
24,269
28,424
Oxford
•
11,694
12,931
16,364
20,649
24,258
27,943
Cambridge
10,087
11,108
14,142
20,917
24,453
27,815
Chester
15,052
16,140
19,949
21,344
23,866
27,666
Worcester
•
11,460
13,814
17,023
18,610
27,004
27,528
Northampton
7,020
8,427
10,793
15,351
21,242
26,657
Carlisle
9,415
11,476
14,416
18,865
21,550
26,310
Walsall
10,399
11,189
11,914
15,066
19,857
25,680
Gateshead
8,597
8,782
11,767
15,177
20,123
25,568
་
Birkenhead
•
110
Dover
•
Warrington
Wakefield
Reading
•
7,084
11,321
10,581
105
9,074
200
10,327
2,569
11,922
8,223
24,285
?
17,795
24,244
12,682
14,822
18,184
21,116
23,363
11,393
14,164
>
15,932
18,842
22,057
• •
9,742
10,788
12,867
15,595
18,937
21,456
Burnley
Maidstone
Stalybridge
•
•
Totals.
3,918
5,405
8,242
10,026
14,224
20,828
8,027
9,443
12,508
15,790
18,086
20,801
20,760
|
2,164,290 2,602,190 3,246,307 4,102,802 5,073,141 6,267,011
It appears from this statement that above a third part of the popu-
lation of England and Wales resided, in 1851, in towns, having a popu-
lation of about 20,000 and upwards. It appears, too, that while
during the 10 years ending with 1850, the entire population increased
at the rate of 13 per cent., that of the great towns increased at the rate
of 23 per cent. But, if we compare the population of 1831 with
that of 1851, deducting the population of the great towns, as given
above, at each of these periods, the ratio of the increase of the rural popu-
lation, including the smaller class of towns, will be found to be much
under the increase of the great towns.
2 D 2
404
ENGLAND AND WALES.
This extraordinary increase of the urban, as compared with the
increase of the rural population, is a natural consequence of the rapid
progress of manufactures and commerce. Speaking generally, the
former can only be successfully carried on in towns or in localities
where there is a large population, for there only can labour be suffi-
ciently divided, and the various departments of any great manufacture
so distributed and combined that the general results may be brought
about most expeditiously and economically.
Table showing the Population of Twenty-one of the Principal Cities and Towns of
England and Wales in 1851, the Number of Houses in each, and the Number of
Persons to a House.

CITIES AND TOWNS.
Population
in
1951.
Inhabited
Houses in
1851.
Number of
Persons
to a House.
The Metropolis
2,027,528
255,890
7.9
Manchester, Salford, and Suburbs.
401,321
68,546
5.8
Liverpool, with Toxteth Park
375,955
54,310
6.9
Birmingham and Suburbs
232,841
45,844
5.0
Leeds Borough
172,270
36,165
4.4
Bristol.
•
137,328
20,873
6.5
Plymouth, Devonport, &c.
90,401
8,960
10.0
Sheffield
•
135,310
27.099
4.9
Norwich
68,195
14,988
4.6
Nottingham
57,407
11.549
4.9
Portsmouth, including Portsea
72,096
12,825
5.6
Preston
69,542
11,348
6.1
Newcastle-on-Tyne
87,784
10,441
8.4
Leicester
60,584
12,805
4.7
Brighton
69,673
10,843
6.5
Rochdale Parish
•
98,013
19,048
5.1
Stoke-upon-Trent Parish
57,942
9,195
6.3
Ashton-under-Lyne Parish
56,959
10,294
5.5
*
Oldham
52,820
9,900
5.3
Hull
•
84,690
16,634
5.0
Merthyr Tydvil Parish
46,378
8,741
5.3
Totals
4,455,037
676,298
6.5
The subjoined table exhibits the town and country population of
Great Britain as given in the census of 1851, constructed from the Par-
liamentary returns.
Town and Country Population of Great Britain in 1851.

Population
Population of Villages and Area in Acres
Number
Of
Coun-
ties.
Of
Towns.*
of
Towns.
Detached
Dwellings of
the Country.
of
Towns.
Area in Acres
of the
Country sur-
rounding the
Towns.
Total Area.
In
In
Acres.
Square
Miles.
England and Wales.
52
Scotland
32
Islands in British Seas
8
580
225
10
8,990,809
1,497,079
68,400
8,936,300
1,391,663
74,726
1,724,406
+287,134
13,108
35,600,509
19,760,328
238,892
37,324,915
30,047,462
252,000
58,429
31,434
394
Great Britain and
Islands in British
87
815
10,556,388
10,403,189
2,024,648
55,599,729
57,624,337 90,038
Seas,
•
* London is here considered as one Town; so also are Manchester and Salford, Edinburgh and Leith.
+ The area of the Scotch towns is not known; but it has been assumed, in estimating the area of the towns in Great
Britain and the Channel Islands, that the number of persons to an acre is the same in the Scottish and Island towns as it
is in the English towns.
POPULATION.
405
5·5
It appears, from the foregoing tables, that in England and Wales
generally there are 5 5 individuals to a house; while in the great towns
there are 6.5. Plymouth, Newcastle, and London, have the greatest
number of individuals to a house. In the metropolis the number is
nearly 8 individuals to every house.
The following table embraces some interesting particulars in respect
to the ages of the population, and the country of their birth.
Account of the Population of each County of England and Wales in 1841; showing
also the Numbers of Males and Females in each, under and above 20 years of Age,
with the Numbers respectively born in England and Wales, Scotland, Ireland, &c.

Ages.
Counties.
Total
of Persons.
Under 20 Years.
20 Years and
upwards.
Born in Eng- Born in Bom in
Place
of Birth

land and
Scot-
Ire-
not
Wales.
land.
land.
speci-
fied.
Males.
Females.
Males. Females.
Bedford
•
107,936
25,970 25,976
26,220
29,770
106,889
172
235
640
Berks.
161,147
87,214
36,481
43,017
44,435
157,665
512
500
2,070
Bucks.
Cambridge
155,983
37,032
36,337
39,450
43, 164
154,001
269
367
1,346
164,450
39,3:7
39,219
42,214
43,629
Chester
395,660 93,692 95,149
162,234
232
883
1,110
99,95+
106,865
379,182
1,808
11,577
3,093
Cornwall.
341,279
84,625 82,703
80,132
93,819
337,58"
360
581
2,351
Cumberland
•
178,038
41,111
41,038
45, 181
50,708
165,050
6,355
4,881
1.752
Derby
272,217
64,450
64,825
71,170
72,172
268,354
487
1,849
1,527
Devon
533,460
120,785
121,773
131,975
158,927
524,269
1,040
4,084
4,067
Dorset
175,043
40,8€2
41,280
42,692
50,209
173,2 6
224
645
878
Durham
•
324,284
77,632
76,488
82,441
87,723
309,947
7,272
5,407
1,658
Essex
344,979
Gloucester
Hereford.
81,264 81,076
431,383 95,611 98,377
113,878 25,088 24,811
91,084
91,555
839,640
637
2,218
2,486
109,932
127,463
420,0
,065
1,235
5,778
4,305
31,890
32,089
112,703
126
322
727
Hertford.
157,207
37,441
36,515
40,173
43,075
154,538
891
526
1,752
Huntingdon
Kent
58,549
14,080
13,991
14,982
15,486
57,954
74
185
336
548,337
125,279 123,057
147,253
152,748
524,781
4,515
10,401
8,640
Lancaster
1,607,051
388,901
394,009
425,946
458, 198
1,526,932
21,747 105,916
12,453
Leicester
•
Lincoln
215,867
50,138
50,665
55,+78
59,586
213,576
376
970
945
362,602
84,982 84,025
96,776
96,819
357,623
588
1,244
3,147
Middlesex
Monmouth
1,576,636
304,723
Norfolk
•
Northampton
Northumberland
250,278
134,355
412,664 91,582 95,67
199,228 46,608 45,995
55,708 56,951
322,044
30,741 29,473
434,181
515,688
1,457,679
20,921
58,068
39,968
39,865
34,276
130,116
329
2,925
985
104,119
117,5 6
408,612
557
$24
2,571
52,369
54,256
106,755
376
966
1,131
64,560
72,056
231,179
11,910
5,218
1,971
Nottingham.
249,5,10
57,606
59,036
64, 125
69,143
246, 189
634
1,522
1,565
Oxford
•
161,643
37,945
37.725
42,491
43,482
159,863
226
430
1,124
Rutland
•
•
21,302
5,071
4,823
5,650
5,758
21,097
25
36
144
Salop
•
237,048
55,645
54,624
63,710
65,069
236,139
391
1,199
1,319
Somerset.
Southampton
Stafford
435,982
99,468
99,765
109,915
126,834
430,720
717
2,122 2,-23
355,004
81,115
20,247
93,908
99,734
346,876
510,504
125,113 122,786
133,751
128,854
500,75
2,024
1,064
3,402 2,702
4,803
3,662
Suffolk
•
315,073
74,537 74,245
79,559
86,733
312,631
358
Surrey
582,678
123,570 126,384
154,633
178,091
554,063
4,642
773
13,822
1,311
10,151
Sussex
Warwick.
299,753
70,527 71,220
76,677
80,$29
2: 3,862
1,055
1,3 9
3,437
401,715
90,880
92,931
104,799
113,105
390,3 5
1,358
6,333
3,629
Westmoreland
56,454
13,242
Wilts.
258,733
61,370
13,045
60,194 66,870
14,971
15,16
55,290
431
2+2
491
70,299
235,9€5
284
605
1,879
Worcester
233,335
53,681
51,578
60,983
64,094
230,139
383
1,411
1,403
York, East Riding .
194,936
43,079
43,278
City and Ainsty
39,321
7,7:2
North Riding.
204, 122
46,332
West Riding
•
1,154,101
282,957
52,939 55,640
8,277 10,381 11,871
45,572 54,160
58,068
282,179 291,163
297,802
18,466
1,129
1,945
2,396
37,234
201,202
275
868
534
905
278
1,147
Totals of England
14,995,138 3,42,639 3,448,737 3,8 3,748 4,223,014
1,129,217 3,688 15,177 6,019
14,461,950 |102,065 '284,128 |146,995
Anglesey.
Brecon
Cardigan.
50,891
11,552 11,738
12,422
14,779
5i,502
45
137
207
55,603
12,448
12,452
15,626
15,677
54,897
155
282
269
68,766
16,144
16,320
16,071
20,231
68,387
35
70
274
Caermarthen
106,326 25,720
25,782
24,956
29,868
105,743
63
163
357
Caernarvon
Denbigh .
Flint
81,0:3
89,806 21,226 20,462
18,870 18,904
20,755
22,564
80,337
86
292
378
23,202 23,976
88,132
116
316
302
€6,919
16,345
15,567
17,463
17,514
65,919
90
370
540
171,188
39,974
38,738
47,895
44,581
166,471
401
3,174
1,142
39,332
8,814
8,616
10,435
11,437
39,109
21
52
150
69,219
16,479
16,527
17,804
18,409
68,720
58
95
346
88,044 20,242
21,313
20,008
26,481
87,243
91
252
968
6,026
•
6,790 6,504
233,427 251,451
25,211
12
33
100
900,721 1,173 5,276 4,433
Glamorgan.
Merioneth
Montgomery
Pembroke
Radnor
Totals of Wales
Persons ascertained
to have been tra-
velling by rail-
ways and canals
during the night
of June 6, 1841
Totals of England
and Wales.
•
25,356 6,036
911,603 214,280 212,445
5,016
542
120
3,583
766
15,911,757 3,644,461 3,661,302 4,130,768 4,475,231 15,362,671|103,238 289,404 |151,428
1
406
ENGLAND AND WALES.
Proportion of Males and Females.-It appears from the experience
of all countries in which correct censuses of the population have been
taken, that there is uniformly a small excess in the number of male
over that of female births; the one being to the other generally as
16 to 15, or as 22 to 21, or some nearly similar proportion. The
following Table (p. 409) shows that, during the 10 years ending
with 1840, there were registered of male baptisms 1,991,818; and of
female baptisms 1,932,632; the former being to the latter nearly in the
ratio of 20 to 19. We believe, however, that the excess of male over
female births is not really quite so great as it appears to be from this
table; inasmuch as more care is usually supposed to be taken in the
But the error thence
registration of male than of female births.
arising cannot be material.
But, notwithstanding this excess of male births, it is found that,
owing to the greater risks and casualties to which men are exposed in
the military and naval service, and otherwise, their greater emigration,
&c., there is, in almost all old settled countries, a larger amount of
female than of male population. Thus, in 1841, there were in Great
Britain, including the army and navy, 9,342,127 males, and 9,582,308
females, showing an excess on the part of the latter of 240,181.
Proportion of Births, Marriages, and Deaths to the Population.-
It is of importance, not only with a view to statistical inquiries, but
in reference also to the civil rights of individuals, which may be
seriously affected by the want of such information, that all births,
marriages and deaths should be entered in public registers. But here,
as in most other countries, the register of these events was, until very
recently, far from being either complete or accurate. A good deal
was left to the discretion of the parties; and while this is the case, it
were idle to expect completeness in the registers. The clergy were
required, so far back as 1538, to keep a register of every marriage,
christening, and burial within their respective parishes; and in 1603
the injunction was renewed, and a form prescribed in which the register
should be kept. In 1822, an Act was passed for the better regulating
and preserving parish and other registers; and through its influence
the register of baptisms was a good deal improved. But the vice of
the old system of registration was, that being too much connected with
the church, it was looked upon rather as a sort of religious ceremony
than as a civil act; and was in this way rendered an object of jealousy
and aversion to most classes of dissenters. But though the registers
had been in other respects as complete as they were defective, their
diffusion would have deprived them of a large portion of their utility;
for being distributed in immense numbers all over the country, it often
became a matter of extreme difficulty to learn in which register cer-
tain facts were specified. Hence the obvious importance, not merely
that births, marriages, and deaths should be recorded, but also that the
records of the events should be brought together into a safe place of
deposit, where they may be easily accessible to any one wishing to con-
sult them.
The register of baptisms has been the most defective of any. Many
dissenters who bury in the cemeteries of the established church baptize
after their own manner; so that though their deaths appear in the
POPULATION.
407
register, their births do not. In large towns, the rite of baptism is
not unfrequently neglected altogether; so that the registers in very
many places are so inaccurate as not to afford any materials on which
reliance can be placed. The total number of deaths in England and
Wales, during the 10 years ending with 1830, is believed to have
amounted to 2,657,797; and to balance these deaths, and to provide
for the increase of population that took place in that period, the births
must have been 4,636,672. But, according to the register, the births
during these 10 years were only 3,753,493,-being 883,179, or about
24 per cent below what they ought to have been !—(Preliminary Re-
marks to Census of 1831, p. 45.)
The proportion of registered baptisms to the population, during the
5 years ending with 1830, appears according to the Returns prefixed to
the census of 1831, to have been as 1 to 34; and it further appears
that the total number of births registered in 1830, was 382,000, of
which 20,039, or 1 in 19, were illegitimate. But the more accurate
returns obtained under the new registration system (see p. 413) show
that the proportion of births to the population, amounted during the
six years, ended with 1844, to 1 in 31. The total number of births
registered during the year 1842 was 517,739, of which 34,796; or 1 in
14.8 was illegitimate.-(Sixth and Seventh Reports of Registrar-
General.)
Till 1754, the marriage register was worth very little; but the Act
of the 26 Geo. II., for the better prevention of clandestine marriages,
having come into operation that year the register has been since nearly
correct. The Act in question made the registration of marriages
indispensable to their validity. In the northern counties it was
evaded to some extent, by marrying in Scotland; and the Quakers
and Jews marry according to their own forms, and in their own con-
gregations. But the deficiency thence arising is inconsiderable, and
does not affect the comparative amount of marriages in different years.
During the 5 years ending with 1830, the proportion of marriages to
the population was as 1 to 128.
Table showing the Number of Marriages in each Year from 1754 to 1800, with the
Average Number of Marriages for every Five and every Ten Years since 1754.
Number of registered Marriages in each Year from 1755 to 1800.
Medium
Average of
Ten Years.
Periods.
Medium
Average of
Five Years.

Years.
Marriages.
Years.
Marriages.
Years.
Marriages.
1755
49,379
1771
60,612
1756
50,972
1772
60,337
1786
1787
68,992
76,448
1757
48,300
1773
59,769
1788
70,032
1755-1760 52,666
1761-1765 59,883
1766-1770 59,043
56,275
1758
50,672
1774
60,512
1789
,
1759
55,537
1775
62,473
1790
70,696
70,648
1760
57,848
1776
65,462
1791
1761
58,101
1777
65,020
1792
72,590
74,919
1771-1775 60,741
1776-1780 64,238
1781-1785 66,722
59,802
•
64,479
1786-1790 71,363
71,781
1762
56,543
1778
62,727
1793
72,880
1791-1795 72,205
1763 62,233
1779
63,671
1794
71,797
1764
63,310
1780
64,309
1795
68,839
1765
59,227
1781
63,768
1766
57,043
1782
63,071
1767
1768
1769
1770
55,324
58,331
61,825
62,693
1783
66,287
1784 68,935
1785 71,509
1796
1797
1798
1799
1800
1801-1805 83,465
73,107 1806-1810 82,953
74,997 1811-1815 89,012
79,477 1816-1820 93,073
77,557 1821-1826 103,363
69,851
1796-1800 74,998) 79,231
85,985
100,064
1826-1830 107,056
This proportion is, however, liable to be seriously affected by the
prosperous or unprosperous condition of the people at the time; and
408
ENGLAND AND WALES.
consequently, therefore, by variations in the price of the principal
article of subsistence. Thus, the average price of wheat in 1798 and
1799, was 31. Os. 5d. a quarter, and the average annual number of
marriages during the same 2 years was 78,527: but during 1800 and
1801, the average price of wheat rose to 57. 16s. 8d., while the annual
average number of marriages was reduced to 68,539, being a decline
of very near 10,000 a year! In 1802 and 1803, prices fell off to near
their old level, and the annual average number of marriages in these
years, increased of course, by deferred engagements, rose to 92,387,
being an excess of 23,848 a year above what they had been during the
scarcity, and of 13,860 a year above their amount during the preceding
biennial period! The comparative number of births and burials,
especially the latter, is also materially influenced by the same cause.
It, must, however, be observed that these effects depend entirely,
or almost entirely, on the suddenness of the rise or fall of prices. A
series of years of high prices may not be, and most frequently indeed
is not, accompanied by an increased number of deaths and a dimi-
nished number of marriages, nor a series of years of low prices by a
diminished number of deaths and an increased number of marriages.
In such cases the rate of wages is, in some measure, accommodated to
the state of prices: so that their absolute magnitude, provided it be
pretty constant, has, in general, comparatively little influence. But
such is seldom or never the case with sudden and considerable varia-
tions of prices; and, unless modified by some countervailing circum-
stances, they hardly ever fail of having a powerful and marked influence.
The average fruitfulness of marriages depends on a variety of cir-
cumstances, such as the age of the parties when they are contracted,*
the prosperous or unprosperous condition of the country, and so on.
During the 6 years ending with 1842, there were, in England and
Wales, according to the accurate accounts of the Registrar-General,
487,152 registered marriages, and 2,024.774 registered births; being
at the rate of 415 6 births to each 100 marriages. This, however, is too
much, seeing that it includes the illegitimate births; and, allowing for
them, there will be found to have been about 400 births to each 100
marriages, or 4 births to each marriage. And we incline to think,
that those who suppose this to represent the mean fruitfulness of a
marriage in England in ordinary periods will be pretty near the mark.
•
The register of burials is believed to have been more accurate than
that of births, but much less so than that of marriages. Many con-
gregations of Dissenters have their own burying ground, the interments
in which have not appeared in the registers; and this, also, is the case
with Roman Catholics and Jews resident in London and some other
places. There are also some persons, who, from motives of economy,
or otherwise, inter without any religious ceremony. And, exclusive
of these, and other causes of omission, many persons are lost at sea, or
* There seem to be good grounds for thinking that, at an average, births are
more frequent among females married at from 27 to 30 than among those married
at from 17 to 18 or 19 years of age.—(Report of 1825 on Friendly Societies, p. 90.)
But this certainly gives no countenance to the extraordinary opinion that" whatever
the period of marriage is, the number of children reared is not in the least affected
thereby !"-(Ibid. in loc. cit.) A notion of this sort is too obviously absurd to de-
serve notice.
POPULATION.
409
die abroad, of whose demise no account is kept. During the 3 years
1838-40, the burials at the church were 883,912; the deaths in the
country 1,041,160; consequently 15 per cent. of the deaths were not
recorded in the parish registers.-(Reg. Gen. Seventh Rep.) During
the 6 years ending with 1844, the average rate of mortality in England
and Wales was 1 in 46; the meaning of this being, that 1 out of every
46 persons existing in the kingdom died annually. The extremes vary
from 1 in 37 in Lancashire, to 1 in 55 in Sussex, Surrey, and North
Wales. We subjoin from the Census of 1851—
An Account of the Baptisms, Burials, and the Excess of Baptisms over Burials, in
England and Wales, 1801-1840: also Births, Deaths, and the Excess of Births over
Deaths in England and Wales, 1841-1850.

PERSONS.
MALES.
FEMALES.

Excess of
Excess of
Years. Baptisms. Burials.
Baptism3 Baptisms. Burials.
Baptisms Baptisms. Burials.
Excess of
Baptisms
over
Burials.
over
Burials.
over
Burials.
1801
1802
273,837
1803
294,108
237,029 201,434 32,595 120,521
199,889 73,949 139,889
203,728 90,580 150,220
101,352
99,50+
102,459
1804
294,5 2
181,177
113,415
15,583
91 ,538
1805
292,201
181,240
110,961
149,333
40,385
47.761
5,045
91,086 58,247
19,169 116,508 103,082
133,948
143,888 101,269
144,009
13,426
100,385
33,563
42,619
89,639
54,370
142,868 90,154
52,71+
271,929 183,452
1906
1807 300,2:4 195,851
1808 2:6,074 200,763
1800 299,689
191,471
1810 2.8,853 208,184
1811 304,57 188,543 116,314
1812 301,954 180,402 111,552
1813 314,432 185,477
1814 318,806 206,403
1815 344,931 197,403
108.477
147,375
92,239
55,087
144,553
91,163
53,3:0
104,443
153,787
97,996
53,791
146.507
97,855
48,652
95,311
151,5:5
102,614
48,951
144,509
98,149
46,3:0
108,518
152,8 2
$7,854
54,918
147, 177
93.577
53,600
£0,669
152,591
104,507
47,684
146,262
103,277
42,583
155,671
94,971
60.700
149,186
93,572
55,614
153,949
95,957
57.992 148,005
94,445
53,560
127,055 100,685
112,403 163,282
147,523 176,233
93,726
66,850 153,747
92,751
€0,996
103,525
59,757
155,521
102,878
52,646
99,442 76,791
168,698
97,566
70,732
1816 330,199 205,959 124,240 168,801
1817 331,583 199,269 132,314 169,337
1818 331,284 213,624 117,760
1819 333,261 213,564 119,697
1820 343,660 208,319 135,311
103,954
64,847
161,398
102,005
59,3.3
101,040
68,2.17
162,246
98,229
64,017
169,181
107,724
61,457
162,203
105,00
56,303
171,107 106,749
64,353
162, 154
106,815
35,339
176,311 104,329
71,982
167,349
104,020
63,329
1821
1822
1.23
355,307 212,252 142,055
372,571 220,415 152,156
361,760 237,386
1824 371,444 244,074
1625 375,053 255,018
181,811
190,508
107,482
111,249 79,209
74.329
173,496
104,870
68,626
182,063
10.), 116
72,947
132,374
18, 144
119,649
69,495
180,616
117,737
62,879
127,370
189,401
124,027
65.374
182,043
120,047
61,!:96
120,035
192,003
129,727
€2,276
183,050 125,291
57,759
1826 380,413 268,161 112,232
1×27
374,186 251,871
1823 392,454 255, ,333
182) 380,245 264,230
1830 352,000 254,067
194,527 136,100 58,427
122,315 191,428 128,591 62,437
137,121 200,333 130,015 70,318
116,015 194,089 134,525 59,561
127,993 194,200 129,2:0 64,910
185,886 132,061
53,825
182,758 122,880 51,878
192,121 125,318 66,803
186,156 129,705
56,451
187,86J 124,777 63,083
1836
405, 137
231,685
123,452
1837
462,893?
336,994
89,278
1858
377,114?
292,050
133,020
1840
183! 368,063? 28,855
364,440?
304,407
1831 389,122 278,619 110,503 198,232 142,185 56,047 190,890 136,434
1832 387,971 298,161 8,810 197,255 150,938 46,317 190,716 147,223
1833 400,013 290,508 109,535 203,348 147,393 55,955 196,695 143,115
1834 405,875 243,097 122.778 205,935 143,550 62,385 199,940 13,547
60,393
1835 405,067 251,545 123,522 206,137 144,287 61,850
198,920 137,253 61,672
204,085 143,982 61,003
234,301 171,597 44,558
11,021 149,364
189,415 186,621 146,115
121,863 184,917 154,299
54,456
43,4 3
59,580
200,152 137,703
228,592 165,397
62,449
44,718
66,690
186,033 143,286
66, 30
6,583
181,442
140,740
69,832
€0,822
179,523
150, 108
61,041
Births.
Deaths.
1841
512, 158
1842
517,739
527,325
Excess.
Deaths.
343,847 168,311 262,714 174, 198
349,519 168,220 265,204 176,594
346,445 180,880
Births.
Excess.
Births.
Deathis.
Excess.
88,516
249,444
161,649
79,795
88,610
252,535
172,925 79,610
270,577 175,721
183,830
194, 155
277,436 181,126
278,418 177,529
1843
1844 540,763 35,933
1845 543,521 349,366
1846 572,625 890,315
1847 539,965 423,304
1848 563,059 399,833
1849 578,159 440,85%
1650 533,422 368,986
182.310 23,'46 198,325
116,661 27,65% 214,375
163,226 238,346 202,949
137,306 2:5,158
221,801
224,436 302,834 186,4
.45)
219,052 63,949
182,527 108,061
NOTE. From 1841-50, the above numbers show the Births and Deaths registered under the Registration Act. The
returns of Baptisms and Burials from 1801-1840 were procured by Mr. Rickman, and the Census Commissioners (1841)
from the clergy of the Established Church. The introduction of the Act for the Registration of Births in 1837 produced a
considerable disturbance in the number of baptisms during that and the three following years. Approximate numbers
have for those years been substituted for the excess of baptisms over burials actually returned.
04,855
256,748 170,724 86,624
96,310
100,989
263,327 175,807 87,520
215,103 1,1,837 93,266
94,821
61,283
85,397
27%,979 191,990 67,489
264.807 208,929 55,378
2.713 196,851 77,862
73,357
115,375
283,001
2:0,588
410
ENGLAND AND WALES.
We subjoin the tables of births, deaths, marriages, &c., given in the
preliminary remarks to the census of 1831, extended in part to 1840,
from information, supplied by the Commissioners for taking the late
(See p. 409.) Though not quite accurate, they do not involve
any very material error, and are often referred to.
census.
Corrected Table of the Annual Proportions of Baptisms, Burials, and Marriages,
to the Population of England; calculated upon an Average of the Totals of such
Baptisms, Burials, and Marriages, in the Five Years preceding the several
Enumerations of 1801, 1811, 1821, and 1831; and distinguishing the several
Counties.
[N.B. In this Table by the late Mr. Rickman the proportion of baptisms, burials, and marriages are
understated. They should have been compared with the population in the middle and not at the
end of the five years.]



COUNTIES.
1796-1800
Baptisms.
Burials.
1806-1810
Marriages.
Baptisms.
Burials.
1816-1820
Marriages.
Baptisms.
Burials.
Marriages.
1826-1830
Baptisms.
Burials.
Bedford
35
·
51
114
32
48
131 33
57
123
35 54
129
Berks
Bucks
34 51
148
33
53
144
33
54
140
32 52
149
37 50
129
32 49
129 33 53 139
34
52
140
Cambridge
33 45
118 30 30
131
30 55
117
31
45
123
Chester
39 51
130
32 49
132
34 52
127
37 52
139
Cornwall
33 58
120
31 62
142
32
69
146
33
64
147
Cumberland
38 54
145
34 52
132
32 54
151
32 54
163
Derby.
35
52
138
32 58
138 34
59
146
35 54
135
Devon
36
49
109
32 50
Dorset
41
62
142
34 56
Durham
Essex.
Gloucester
38 43
116
32 49
35 44
126
32 45
37 55
127
35 61
113
139
131 32
130 34
120 35 60
32 59
132
35 58
132
34 63
53
58 146
144
35 58
140
134
32 52
138
35 52
154
111
35
61
117
Hereford
•
40 65
183 35 60
Hertford
•
38 54
161 33 57
Huntingdon
33
46
•
Kent
30
41
116
•
Lancaster
34
477
114
104 32 49
28 38
28 49
Leicester
35
49
Lincoln
O
32
50
Middlesex
39
37
Monmouth
56 72
Norfolk
32 47
•
Northampton
Northumberland
Nottingham
42 51
47 57
32 51
•
Oxford
35 53
•
Rutland
33 50
Salop
34 54
Somerset
·
39 55
Southampton
34 46
Stafford
Suffolk
Surrey
Sussex
Warwick.
Westmoreland
Wilts
41
Worcester
34
York-East Riding
39
City and Ainsty
North Riding
36
1800 58
46
55
130 36 58
117 30 49
95 39 36
169 45 64
126
31 50
130 35 53
139 35 54
116 32 52
139 33 56
131 33 54
142 34 59
139 34 53
104 30 46
34 49 124 31 52
34 56 129 31 54
37 42 134 35 44
31 55 126 28 52
35 52 116 34 43
35 50 142 31 53
60 142 34 57
137 31 51
129 29 48
118
144 36 60 170
168 33 53 171
134 33 61
115 30 50 130
115 31 51 116
134 34 56 126
31
125
94 36 45
146 46 66
135 31 59 129
132 34 55
160 37 57
119 32 54
141 33 57 148
161 34 62 143
142 34 54 148
128 35
140
61
102 31 61 128
31 51
37
57
152
36
56
175
127
34 46
131
33 49
143
34 46
115
36 53
127
59
134
32
51
134
101
31 41
103
148
45 69
131
32 52
139
129
35 50
135
139
36 52
134
124
31 51
122
32 53
141
33 52
137
35 53
140
35 58
147
34 56
131
123
32 51
126
132
33 65
134
35 59
137
West Riding
35
53 142 30 51
49 124 31 51
129 38 49
128 32 68 142
119 35 48 118
137 33 52 149
138 35 63
129 33 53
108 33 54 122-
124 34 61 147
123 33 57 124
139
38 49
129
33 58
142
34 58
120
32 56
152
134
35 57
148
140
31 51
127
35 51
118
36 52
113
33
55
144
35 51
131
36 48 123 32 49
121 33 55 127
34 51
128
Summary of England, not
including Wales
New System of Registration.--The previous statements have suffi-
ciently evinced the defects of the old system of registration, and the
necessity that existed of having it superseded by a better; which we
are glad to say, was accomplished by the Act 6 and 7 Will. IV,
Marriages.
POPULATION.
411
cap. 86. This Act, passed in pursuance of the recommendation of a
committee of the House of Commons on parochial registers (1833),
embodies a plan for the effectual registration of births, deaths, and
marriages in England and Wales. To give uniformity to the system,
it is conducted under the superintendence of a registrar-general resident
in London; and there also a central place of deposit is provided for
certified copies of all parochial registers, with ready means of finding
any entry in them. It is provided, that in every case of birth the
following circumstances shall be recorded, viz.: the time and place of
birth; the name (if any) and sex of child; name and surname of
father; name and maiden surname of mother; rank or profession of
father; the signature, description, and residence of the informant; and
also the baptismal name of child, if added after registration of birth.
In every case of death the register is to record the time and place of
death; the name and surname, sex, age, and rank or profession of the
deceased; the cause of death; and the signature, description, and resi-
dence of the informant. In all cases the entries must be signed by
the informant, and also by the registrar, who discharges this duty
without any immediate expense to the parties requiring registration,
his remuneration being derived from moderate fees paid out of the
poor's rates. The insertion of the cause of death, along with the
period of death, and the residence, sex, age, and occupation of the
deceased, will, in time, afford data of the utmost importance to me-
dical science, and to the improvement of vital statistics.
The central office at Somerset House, in London, for the deposit of
certified copies of registers, and the general supervision and conduct
of the business of registration, is called the General Register Office.
It is presided over by the registrar-general, who is appointed under
the great seal, and has under him a chief clerk and a numerous body
of subordinate clerks. From this office communications emanate to all
superintending registrars, registrars of births and deaths, and registrars
of marriages, who all act within their respective districts, under the
directions of the registrar-general, in whom is vested the power of
dismissal.
There are at present (1846) 620 superintendent registrars, who
may each appoint a deputy, with the approval of the registrar-general.
Each superintendent registrar serves within the district to which he
is appointed, which comprises one or more registrar's districts.
There are 2,185 registrars of births and deaths, who may each
appoint a deputy, with the approval of the guardians, or of the poor
law commissioners. Each registrar is appointed to some one of the
2,185 registrars' districts, into which the whole of England and Wales
has been divided and he must reside in that district, and register all
births and deaths that occur in it.
Marriages are registered, 1st, by clergymen of the established church,
of whom nearly 12,000 have been furnished with books for this
purpose. 2ndly, by registrars of marriages, of whom there were, in
1846, 945: these last are appointed by the superintendent registrars,
and register marriages solemnized in their presence in registered places
of worship; or in the superintendent registrar's office. 3rdly, by
the registering officers of quakers, 88 in number; and 4thly, by
37 secretaries of synagogues.
412
ENGLAND AND WALES.
The clergymen, and the various officers, amounting in all to about
15,000, to whom the business of registration is committed, are bound
to make quarterly deliveries of certified copies of all entries in their
respective registers during the previous quarter to the superintendent
registrars of the district to which they respectively belong; and these
certified copies are transmitted by the superintendent registrars to the
registrar-general. The certified copies are made on separate leaves
of paper of a uniform size and peculiar texture, having a distinguishing
water-mark. On being received at the General Register Office in
London (whither they are sent by post), they are carefully examined;
and any defects being noted, are made the subject of communication
with the person from whom the defective copy came, who is required
either to furnish another copy, or a satisfactory explanation. They
are then arranged, paged, and inserted in books for reference..
Alphabetical indexes of births, deaths, and marriages, are prepared
and kept in the General Register Office: and any person, on pay-
ment of 1s., may search these indexes for any entry, and, on finding
it, may, if he wish, obtain, for 2s. 6d., a stamped copy of such entry,
which will be "received as evidence of the birth, death, or marriage
to which the same relates, without any further or other proof of such
entry." There are separate alphabetical indexes for the births, the
deaths, and the marriages in each quarter; and the twelve indexes,
comprising references to the registrations of one year (1844), contain
not less than 1,162,211 names. In the 7 years 1838-44, the mar-
riages of 1,762,572, the births of 3,556,649, and the deaths of
2,437,922 persons were registered. The total number of names entered
on the register from July 1, 1837, to Dec. 31, 1844, were 8,146,918.
The registrar-general is bound to furnish, once a year, one of the
principal secretaries of state with a general abstract account of the
births, deaths, and marriages, registered during the foregoing year, to
be laid before parliament. The first of these abstracts was prepared
towards the close of 1838, and comprised the births, deaths, and mar-
riages, registered during the year ending 30th June of that year.
These abstracts have since been regularly continued, and they now
embody a great mass of the most valuable and accurate information in
respect to the numbers, ages, health, diseases, and condition of the
population. Mr. Graham, the present registrar-general, has introduced
numerous improvements into the arrangements of the office. The returns
from the 15,000 clergymen and officers in every part of the kingdom
are got in, examined, corrected, and indexed; so that the information
is available to the public in the shortest possible time. In ten months
from the date of registration the entry of any marriage, birth, or death
can generally, on the mere mention of the name, without intimation of
the exact date, or of the part of the kingdom in which it occurred, be
discovered in a few minutes, and a certified copy given. Books of
blank certificates, and a statistical nosology, have been distributed
among all the qualified medical practitioners of England-nearly 11,000
in number; and the causes of death are certified in nine cases out of
ten by the medical attendant. When persons die, unattended by
qualified medical men, the assigned cause of death is entered as
certified;" or it is stated that no medical man was in attendance.
This has already had a beneficial effect. Thousands of children are
"not
POPULATION.
413
still suffered to fall victims to disease, ignorance, neglect, and quackery ;
but the number is diminishing; and parents have been recalled to a
sense of duty by the dread of seeing their delinquencies registered.
Mr. Graham has also addressed a circular letter to the coroners of
England, and suggested a consistent method of returning the causes of
violent and sudden deaths. The information obtained from this source
is now as specific and accurate as it was formerly vague and unsatis-
factory. The births, deaths, and causes of death, in the metropolis, of
the previous week, are published every Wednesday in the New London
Bills of Mortality, with a valuable meteorological table, deduced by
the astronomer royal from the observations at Greenwich. A quarterly
table of the deaths in the principal districts of the kingdom appears in
less than a month after the close of every quarter. The abstracts of
all the marriages, births, and deaths, registered in the year 1844, are
laid before parliament in 1846; and so of other years.
Two inspectors visit and report periodically on the progress of re-
gistration in the hands of the superintendent registrars and registrars
all over the kingdom. This measure, so well calculated to check
abuses and errors, enables the registrar-general to exercise an efficient
and salutary control over the officers appointed by the local authorities.
Mr. Farr, whose great mathematical and medical talents have been
of infinite service to this department, has added to these abstracts
some elaborate and valuable papers on various points connected with
vital statistics.
The following returns of the registrar-general in regard to deaths
and marriages, during the years 1839, 1840, 1841, 1842, 1843, and
1844, may be regarded as approaching very near to perfect accuracy.
The births are not yet all registered.
Corrected Table of the Annual Proportions of Baptisms, Burials, and Marriages
to 100 Persons living, and to the Population of England; calculated upon an
Average of the Totals of such Baptisms, Burials, and Marriages, in the Six or
Seven Years ending with 1844.

ENGLAND.
Divisions.
One
To 100 Persons Living
(50 Males and 50 Females).
One
Mar-
riage
One
Birth Death
Mar-
riages.
Births. 'Deaths.
To Persons Living.
⚫773 3.215
2.189 129 31
46
No.
1
Metropolis
+
2
South Eastern
• 684
3
South Midland
• 697
4
Eastern
•696
5
South Western
6
Western
+968 3.084 2.547 103 32
2.933 1.918
3.260 2.091
3.083 2.021
•706 3.014 1.957 142 33
•771 3.228
39
146 34
52
143 31
48
144 32
45
51
2.188 130 31
46
7
North Midland
⚫734
3.259 2.072 136 31
48
8
North Western
1
· 859
3.612 2.616
116
28
38
9
York
• 802
3.438 2.186
125 29
46
•
10
Northern
•710
3.358 2.107 141 30
47
11
Welsh .
• 700
3.002 1.948
143
33
51
414
ENGLAND AND WALES.
Corrected Table of the Annual Proportion of Baptisms, &c.-continued.
To 100 Persons Living
(50 Males and 50 Females).
One
Mar-
riage
One
Birth Death
One
Mar-
riages.
Births. Deaths.
To Persons Living.
2. South Eastern Counties.
1 2 3 4
Surrey (part of)
·499
Kent (except Greenwich)
•710
2.697
3.019 1.974
1.809
200 37
55
141
33
51
3
Sussex.
.673
2.967 1.839
149
34
54
Hampshire
• 770
2.881 1.934 130
35
52
5
Berkshire.
• 664
2.967 1.985 151
34
50
3. South Midland Counties.
6
Middlesex (part of)
'465
2.534 1.945 215
39
51
Hertfordshire
• 596
3.224
1.974 168
31
51
8
Buckinghamshire
⚫671
3.302
2.132 149
30
47
9
Oxfordshire
• 721
3.163
2.094 139
32
48
10 Northamptonshire
⚫790
11
Huntingdonshire
•794
•
3.457
3.635 2.141
2.129
127 29
47
126
28
47
12
Bedfordshire
• 803
•
3.586
2.122
125
28
47
13 Cambridgeshire.
• 784
3.429
2.210 128
29
45
4. Eastern Counties.
14
Essex
• 648
3.070
2.020 154 33
50
15
Suffolk
• 727
3.170
16
Norfolk
•710
3.029
1.968 138 32
2.065 141 33
51
48
5. South Western Counties.
17
Wiltshire
⚫643
•
18
Dorsetshire
•680
2.959 2.029
3.018 1.917
156 34
49
147 33
52
19
Devonshire
•771
20
Cornwall
.688
21
Somersetshire
.688
2.854 1.878 130 35
3.305 1.940 145 30
3.014 2.040 145 33
53
52
49
6. Western Counties.
22
22
Gloucestershire
23
Herefordshire
•
⚫847
.
633
24 Shropshire
Worcestershire
25
26 Staffordshire
•655
3.003
2.685
2.697
2.192 118
2.071 158 37
2.040 153 37
33
46
48
49
.817
3.533
2.129 122 28
47
⚫795
27
•
Warwickshire
⚫734
3.526
3.331 2.288 136
2.250 126 28
44
30
44
7. North Midland Counties.
28
Leicestershire
29 Rutlandshire
30
Lincolnshire
•
31
Nottinghamshire
32
Derbyshire
•751
3.292 2.185
133
30
46
• 646 3.095 1.879
155
32
53
•
• 714
•740 3.266 1.937 135 31
• 738 3.290 2.126 136 30
3.204 2.125 140 31
52
47
47
8. North Western Counties.
33
31
Cheshire
Lancashire
• 649
3.167 2.322 154
⚫903 3.707 2.680 111 27
32
43
37
222
9. Yorkshire.
35
West Riding
⚫797
36
East Riding (with York)
⚫903
3.606 2.232 125
2.978 2.189 111
28
45
34
46
37
North Riding
•705
3.015 1.908 142
33
52
POPULATION.
415
Corrected Table of the Annual Proportion of Baptisms, &c.—continued.

10. Northern Counties.
To 100 Persons Living
(50 Males and 50 Females).
One
Mar-
One One
Birth Death
riage
Mar-
riages.
Births. Deaths.
To Persons Living.
888888
38 Durham
• 800
3.651
2.252
125
27
44
39
Northumberland
•
• 714 3.256
2.051
140
31
49
40 Cumberland
•567 3.095
1.976
176
32
51
41
Westmoreland
• 621 2.885
1.950
161
35
51
11. Monmouthshire and
Wales.
42
Monmouthshire
43
South Wales
•
44
North Wales
•
•762
⚫721
•648
3.245 2.224 131
3.173 1.958 139 32
2.676 1.830 154 37
31
45
51
55
Average Annual Marriages, Births, and Deaths_to_ 100 Persons Living, and to the
Population, in the Divisions and Counties of England, arranged in the order of the
Mortality, beginning with Counties in which the Mortality is highest.-(Seventh
Report of Registrar-General.)
Divisions.
To 100 Persons Living
(50 Males and 50
One
Females).
Mar-
riage
One One
Birth Death
Counties.

Mar-
riages.
Births. Deaths To Persons Living.
⚫859 3.612 2.616
*968 3.084 2.547
116 28
38
103 32
39
•
773 3.215 2.189 129 31
46
No.
8
North Western
1
Metropolis.{
6
9
ENGLAND.
Western
York.
10 Northern
3 South Midland
7
North
land
4 Eastern
Mid-
Cheshire; Lancashire
Middlesex (part of); Surrey
(part of); Kent (part of)
Gloucestershire; Hereford-
shire; Shropshire; Worces-
tershire; Staffordshire; War-
wickshire
North Riding; East Riding;
West Riding
Durham; Northumberland:
Cumberland; Westmoreland
Middlesex (part of); Hert-
fordshire; Buckinghamshire;
Oxfordshire; Northampton-
shire; Huntingdonshire; Bed-
fordshire; Cambridgeshire
Leicestershire; Rutlandshire
Lincolnshire; Nottingham-
shire; Derbyshire
Essex; Suffolk; Norfolk
•
• 771 3.228 2.188 130
31
46
• 802 3.438 2.186
125
29
46
710 3.353 2.107
141
30
47
⚫697 3.260
2 091
143
31
48
•
•
⚫734 3.259
.696 3.083 2.021
2.072
136
31
48
144
32
49
5
South Western
Wiltshire; Dorsetshire; De-
vonshire; Cornwall; Somer-
setshire
.706 3.014
1.957
142 33
51
11 Welsh
2
South Eastern
Monmouthshire and Wales
Surrey (part of); Kent (ex-
cept Greenwich); Sussex;
Hampshire; Berkshire
•
⚫700
•
.681
3.002 1 948
2.933 1.918
143 33
51
146 34
52
416
ENGLAND AND WALES.
Average Annual Marriages, Births, and Deaths, &c.—continued.

To 100 Persons Living
(50 Males and 50 Females).
One
Mar.
One
Birth Death
One
riage
Counties.
Mar-
riages.
Births. Deaths.
To Persons Living.
No.
34
Lancashire
⚫903
•
33
Cheshire
⚫649
3.707 2.680
3.167
111
27
37
2.322
154
32
43
27
Warwickshire
.734
•
3.331 2.288
136
30
44
38
Durham.
⚫800
3.651
2.252
125
27
44
26
Staffordshire
⚫795
3.526
2.250
126
28
44
35
West Riding
•797
3.606
2.232
125
28
45
42
Monmouthshire
.762
3.245
2.224
131
31
45
13
Cambridgeshire
⚫784
3.429
2.210
128
29
45
22
Gloucestershire
⚫847
3.003
2.192
118
33
46
36
East Riding (with York).
⚫903
2.978
2.189
111
34
46
28
Leicestershire
·
•751
3.292
2.185
133
30
46
•
11
Huntingdonshire
•
⚫794
3.636
2.141
126
28
47
8
25
Worcestershire
10
Buckinghamshire
Northamptonshire
•
•
671
3.302
2.132
149
30
47
•
⚫817
3.533
2.129
122
28
47
⚫790
3'457
2.129
127
29
47
31
Nottinghamshire
*738
3.290
2.126
136
30
47
32
Derbyshire.
•714
3.204 2.125
140
31
47
12
Bedfordshire
⚫803
3.586
2.122
125
28
47
23
9 Oxfordshire.
Herefordshire
⚫721
3.163
2.094
139
32
48
⚫633
2.685
2.071
158
37
48
16
Norfolk.
710
3.029
2.065
141
33
48
39
Northumberland
.714
3.256
2.051
140
31
49
21
Somersetshire
.688
3'014 2.040
145
33
49
24
Shropshire
•
⚫655
2.697
2.040
153
37
49
17
Wiltshire
⚫643
2.959
2.029
156
34
49
14
Essex
⚫648
3'070 2.020
154
33
50
5
Berkshire
⚫664
2.967 1.985
151
34
50
40
Cumberland
*567
3.095
1.976
176
32
51
7
Hertfordshire
⚫596
3.224 1.974
168
31
51
2
Kent (except Greenwich)
•710
3.019
1.974
141
33
51
15
Suffolk
.727
3.170
1.968
138
32
51
43
South Wales
⚫721
3.173 1.958
139
32
51
41
Westmoreland .
⚫621
2.885 1.950
161
35
51
6
Middlesex (part of)
⚫465
2.534
1.945
215
39
51
20
Cornwall
⚫688
3.305
1.940
145
30
52
30
Lincolnshire
*740
3.266
1.937
135
31
52
4 Hampshire
•
7770
2.881
•
1.934
130
35
52
18
37
29
Dorsetshire
Rutlandshire
⚫680
3.018
1.917
147
33
52
North Riding
• 705
3 015
1.908
142
33
52
*646
3.095
1.879
155
32
53
19
Devonshire
•771
2.854
1.878
130
35
53
3
Sussex
⚫673
2.967
1.839
149
34
54
44
North Wales
.648
2.676
1.830
154
37
55
1 Surrey (part of)
⚫499
2.697 1.809
200
37
55
Number of Marriages, Births, and Deaths, registered in 1838, and the six follow-
ing Years.-(Seventh Report, Registrar General.)

1838
1839
1840
1841
1842
1843
1844
Marriages
Births
Deaths
Excess of Births
•
over Deaths
}
121,240
118,067 123,166 122,665 122,496
463,787 492,574
342,547 338,979
502,303
359,634
118,825 123,818 132,249
512,158 517,739 527,325 540,763
343,847 349,519 346,446 356,950
153,595
142,669
168,311 168,220 180,879 183,813
Calculated increase of Population
214,100 216,900 219,800
POPULATION.
417
Annual Number of Marriages, Births, and
Deaths, to a Population of 100.
Table showing the Proportion of Marriages, Births, and Deaths, 1838-44.
Numbers living out of which a Marriage,
Birth, or Death took place.

Years.
Marriages.
Births.
Deaths.
One Marriage
in
One Birth in One Death in
1838
2.240
45
1839
⚫794
3.177
2.187
126
31
46
1840
• 781
3.197
2.290
128
31
44
1841
⚫769
3.217
2.160
130
31
46
1842
⚫736
3.209
2.167
136
31
46
1843
•758
3.226
2.120
133
31
47
1844
⚫799
3.265
2.155
125
31
46
Mean
⚫773
3.215
2.189
129
31
46
The probable Duration of Life-meaning, by such probable dura-
tion, the chances that any individual of a given age has of attaining to
any other specified age-differs at different periods and in different
countries, and has not been ascertained in any with sufficient precision.
To determine a question of this sort with the required accuracy, it
would be necessary to take a large number of individuals, as 400,000
or 500,000, indiscriminately selected from all ranks and orders of the
community, and to trace their lives from the moment of their birth,
marking the exact period of the demise of each individual. The results
being collected in a Table of Mortality, we should be able to deduce
from them the expectation of life at any given age. But governments,
which alone have the means of framing such tables on an adequate
scale, and with the necessary precautions, have been singularly inattentive
to their duty in this respect. And until a very few years since, when
Mr. Finlaison was employed to calculate tables of the value of annuities
from the ages of the nominees in public tontines, and of individuals on
whose lives government had granted annuities, all that had been done
in this country to construct tables of mortality, and, by consequence, to
lay a foundation on which to construct the vast fabric of life insurance,
was the work of a few private persons, who had, of course, but a limited
number of observations to work on. Subjoined is an account of the
ages of 3,938,496 persons buried in England and Wales (of whom
1,996,195 males, 1,942,301 females), during eighteen years, 1813-
1830. (See page 418.)
Mr. Farr has calculated a Table of Mortality, given in the Fifth
Report of the Registrar-General, founded on the population enumerated,
and the births and deaths registered in 1841 (see page 419). From
the two series of observations, the mortality at each age, and conse-
quently the probability of living from birth, and from year to year, was
calculated. We subjoin the table (p. 419), which, for the facility of
reference, takes 100,000 children as the basis of the calculations.
The Tables of Mortality that have been most commonly used in
England, in calculating insurances on lives, &c., are, that formed
by Dr. Price, from observations made at Northampton; and that
formed by Mr. Milne, from observations made by Dr. Heysham on
the rate of mortality at Carlisle. The latter gives a decidedly lower
VOL. 1.
**
2 2
418
ENGLAND AND WALES.

Age.
Males.
Females.
Both
Sexes.
Age. Males. Females.
Both
Sexes.
Age.
Males. Females.
Both
Sexes.
Under
40
One
436,946 341,137 778,083
41
16,209 17,304 33,513
10,083 10,906 20,989
80
81
20,666 24,951 45,617
13,146 14,279 27,425
Year.
42
13,423 14,073 27,566
82
15,523 17,582 33,105
1
139,426
127,137 266,443
43
10,828 11,489 22,317
83
12,072 13,721| 25,793
2
78,114
75,900
154,014
44
12,292 12,666 24,958
84
15,920 18,477 34,397
3
47,860
46,773
94,663
45
4
33,693
32,076
65,769
15,532 14,548 30,080
85
46
5
24,854
23,340
48, 194
12,601 12,334 24,935
86
12,245 14,187 26,432
8,854 10,437| 19,291
47
6
19,376 18,091
12,633 12,103 24,736
87
7,070
8,489 15,559
37,467
48
13,801 13,230 27,031
88
7
16,467 14,668
31, 135
6,762
8,325 15,087
49
12,203] 11,486] 23,689| 89
8
13,895
12,363
26,258
4,468
5,637 10,105
9
12,671
11,270
23,941
50
17,468 16,059 33,527
90
4,549
6,624 11,173
51
10
11,610
10,527 22,137
10,792| 10,119| 20,911
91
2,293 3,057 5,350
52
11
10,441
9,777 20,218
14,544 13,875 28,419
92
2,038 2,867
4,905
53
12
9,996
13
9,688
•
14
10,589
15
10,096
16
11,385
17
12,568
18
14,212
9,800 19,796
19,949
10,261
11,790 22,379
12,527 22,623
13,737 25,122
14,212 26,780
14,998 29,210
13,050 12,009 25,059
93
1,598
2,258
3,856
54
13,148 12,346 25,494
94
1,129 1,685
2,814
55
16,303 15,209 31,512
95
977
1,582
2,559
56
15,705 14,589 30,294
96
7715
1,182
1,897
57
14,067 12,995 27,062 97
494
846
1,340
58
14,287 13,414 27,701
98
426
708
1,134
59
13,479| 12,303 25,782
99
267
495
762
19
15,144
16,061 31,205
60
21,835 21,438 43,273 100
239
468
707
20
15,245
16,041 31,286
61
13,533 12,551| 26,084 101
133
225
358
21
15,834 16,237
32,071
62
16,693 16,253 32,946 102
70
174
244
22
23
27
16,188 17,597 33,785
14,850 16,803 31,653
24 14,515 16,722 31,237
25 14,569 16,586 31,155
26 13,785 16,318 30,103
13,623
63
18,631 18,282| 36,913|| 103
63
134
197
64
17,761 17,629 35,390 104
41
90
131
65
18,911 18,723 37,634 105
29
72
101
66
20,160 20,332 40,492 106
17
29
46
67
16,133 29,756
19,352 19,523| 38,875 107
13
21
34
28
13,778
68
16,272 30,050
69
29
12,199
14,431 26,630
18,315 18,298 36,613 108
16,816 16,222 33,038|| 109
10
18
28
6
12
18
70
30
14,513
16,514 31,027
26,187 27,766| 53,953| 110
11
18
71
31
10,338 11,963 22,301
16,008 16,154] 32,162|
111
2
3
5
72
32
12,597
14,427 27,024
21,085 21,868) 42,953
112
1
2
33
12,409
14,227 26,636 74
73
34
11,605
35
13,741
13,279 24,884
15,200 28,941
36
13,234 14,950
28,184
75
76
37
11,873 13,409 25,282
77
38
12,519 14,268 26,787
39 11,167 12,611 23,778 79
778
20,562 21,363 41,925
20,652 21,163] 41,815
21,936 22,884) 44,820 117
19,595 20,522 40,117 118
21,012 21,845 42,857 119
19,595 21,030 40,625 120
15,576 16,433 32,009|| 124
113
1
1
2
114
2
2
1
1
1
0
1
0
1
1
3
0
rate of mortality than the other; and it is seen, by the returns of the
ages of nearly 4 millions of persons, who died in England and Wales
between 1813 and 1830, that the mortality, as represented by it, does
not differ materially from the actual rate in most parts of England;
though it was not to be supposed that a table founded on so narrow
a basis should give a perfectly fair view of the average mortality of the
entire kingdom.
In computing tables of mortality, males and females ought always
to be distinguished. The probable life of the latter, at all periods
from infancy to old age, somewhat exceeds that of the former. This
superiority is set in the clearest point of view by the researches of
Mr. Finlaison and Mr. Farr, as exhibited in the tables given above.
Supposing the burial registers to have been all the while about
equally accurate, it appears (Table, p. 410) that, during the 5 years
ending with 1800, 1 in every 48 of the population died annually;
during the 5 years ending with 1810, the ratio of mortality was 1 in
every 49; during the 5 years ending with 1820, it was reduced to 1
in 55; and during the 5 years ending with 1830, it again increased,
as already observed, to 1 in 51. But, owing to the defects in the
POPULATION.
419
registration, there can be no doubt, that the mortality represented in
those returns is less than its real amount. It has been already seen, that
the proportion of deaths to the population amounted, according to the
accurate returns of the registrar-general, during the 7 years ending
with 1844, to 1 in 46.
Mr. Farr's Table of Mortality in England.

Age. Living. | Males.
Fe-
males. the next
Year.
Dying
in
Dying
Males.
Fe-
males.
Age. Living. Males.
Fe-
males.
in
Males.
the next
Year.
Fe-
males,
0123«*
100,000 51,274 48,726
85,369
43,104 42,265
80,102 40,388 39,714
77,392 39,018 38,374
4 75,539 38,064 37,475
14,631
8,170 6,461
5,267 2.716 2,551
2,710 1,370
1,340
1,853
954
899
1,333
679
659
5678a
74,201 37,385 36,816
1,047
542
505
73,154 36,843 36,311
834
432
402
72,320 36,411 35,909
676
346
330
71,644 36,065
9 71,081 35,787 35,294
35,579
563
278
235
469
223
246
42
43
46
47
48
49
50
51
CH234 40790 222** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** 85287
10 70,612 35,564 35,048
392
179
213
11
70,220 35,385 34,835
364
179
185
12
69,856 35,206 34,650
351
178
173
13 69,505 35,028 34,477
415
218
197
14 69,090 34,810 34,280
463
237
226
15
68,627
34,573 31,051
497
240
257
16
68,130
34,333 33,797
507
246
261
17
67
,623
34,087 33,536
514
250
264
18
67,109
33,837 33,272
521
254
267
19
66,588 33,583 33,005
529
259
270
20
66,059 33,324 32,735
537
264
273
65,522
33,060 32,462
545
268
277
64,977
32,792 32,185
552
273
279
23 64,425 32,519 31,906
561
278
283
24 63,864 32,241 31,623
569
283
286
25
63,295 31,958
31,337
576
287
289
26 62,719 31,671
31,048
585
292
293
27
62,134 31,379 30,755
592
297
295
28
29
60,941 30,780 30,161
61,542 31,082 30,460
601
302
299
609
307
302
30
60,332 30,473 29,859
617
312
305
59,715 30,161 29,554
624
316
308
32
59,091 29,845 29,246
632
321
311
33 58,459 29,524 23,935
639
326
313
34 57,820 29,198 28,622
648
331
317
35
57,172 28,867 28,305
654
335
319
36 56,518 28,532 27,986
663
340
323
37 55,855 28,192 27,663
669
344
325
38
55,186 27,848 27,338
676
349
327
39
54,510 27,499 27,011
685
354
331
40
53,825 27,145 26,690
691
358
333
41 53,134 26,787 26,347
698
362
336
52,436 26,425 26,011
705
367
338
51,731 26,058 25,673
711
371
340
44 51,020 25,687 25,333
719
376
343
45 50,301 25,311 24,990
724
879
345
100
49,577 24,932 24,645
730
383
347 101
48,847 24,549 24,298
737
388
349 102
48,110 24,161 23,949
741
390
351 103
47,369 23,771 23,598
748
395
353 104
46,621 23,376 23,245
753
398
855 105
* Po 8:4** *8828 8**** ***** ***UN ANNY* 88988 28828 *****
42,796 21,355
21,441
849
449
400
41,947 20,906 21,041
909
485
424
41,038
20,421
20,617
961
511
450
40,077
19,910 20,167
1,013
537
476
39,064
19,373 19,691
1,068
565
503
37,996 18,808 19,188 1,122
532
530
36,874 18,216 18,658 1,176
35,698 17,598
618
558
34,468
16,953
1,283
33,185 16,283 16,902 1,333
>
18,100
17,515
1,230
645
585
670
613
694
639
31,852 15,589 16,263 1,383
717
666
30,469
14,872 15,597 1,427
737
690
67
29,042 14,135 14,907 1,470
757
713
27,572 13,378 14,194 1,505
771
734
26,067 12,607 13,460 1,536
784
752
24,531
11,823 12,708 1,560
792
768
71
22,971
11,031 11,940 1,575
796
779
21,396
10,235
11,161 1,582
796
786
19,814
9,439
10,375 1,581
791
790
18,233
8,648
9,585 1,569
781
788
75 16,664
7,867 8.797 1,544
764
780
76
15,120
7,103
8,017 1,511
743
768
13,609
6,360 7,249 1,463
715
748
78
12, 146
5,645
6,501
1,407
683
724
79
10,739
4,962
5,777 1,341
646
695
80
9,398
4,316 5,082 1,262
604
658
8,136
3,712 4,424 1,173
557
616
82
6,963 3,155
3,808 1,082
510
572
5.881
2,645 3,236
981
458
523
81
4,900 2,187 2,713
879
407
472
85
4,021 1,780 2,241
774
355
419
3,247 1,425 1,822
670
304
366
87 2,577 1,121
1,456
571
257
314
83
2,006
864
1,142
477
212
285
89
1,529
652
877
389
171
218
90
1,140
481
659
311
135
829
346
483
242
104
92
587
242
345
93
405
165
240
270
109
161
95
174
69
110
44
97
68
28
42
18
25
11
125 287**
182
135
56
96
40
105
64
25
66
42
16
40
26
10
24
17
HONDA ROON
176
138
105
79
56
39
26
16
7
10
14
9
4
5
16
7
10
5
6
3
2
1 TWC (
9
5
3
2
6422 -
4
2
1
1
1
1
1
:
45,111 22,577
45,868 22,978 22,890
22,534
:
757
401
356
764
405
359
53 44,347 22,172 22, 175
766
407
359
21,816
785
410
875
54 43,581 21,765
It may be, and, indeed, frequently has been, supposed that this
diminution in the proportional number of deaths indicates a correspond-
ing improvement of human life. Such, however, is not the case.
No conclusions of this sort can be drawn, unless allowance be made
for the increase of population; for it is plain that, if the population
be progressively augmented by an increasing number of births, the
ratio of deaths to the population will not fairly represent the rate of
2 E 2
420
ENGLAND AND WALES.
mortality, or entitle us positively to infer whether it has been di-
minished or not.
The proportion of marriages, in an increasing population, is affected
by the same cause. Owing to the greater proportion of children in
such a population, the proportion of marriages seems less than it really is.
There can, however, after allowing for the circumstances now men-
tioned, be no doubt that the rate of mortality in England has been
materially diminished since the American war. The number of
burials, estimated by averages of 5 years, did not differ considerably
during the entire period from 1780 to 1815, though the population
increased about 3,300,000 in the interval.-(Preliminary Discourse
to Census of 1831, p. 35.) Neither was this increase occasioned by
any increase in the number of births as compared with the bearing
women, but by the increased number of children that were reared,
"About 100 years
and passed through the different stages of life.
back," says Mr. Griffith Davies, " if any dependence can be placed on
the registers, the number of annual births did not exceed the number
of annual burials, so that the population could not then have been on
the increase. The increase since that period must, therefore, be at-
tributed to an increased fruitfulness of the female sex, to immigration,
to a diminution in the rate of mortality, or to two or more of those
causes combined. But it does not appear that the first of these causes
has had any sensible operation; and the second can have had none,
otherwise the number of burials must have increased in comparison
with the number of births, which is contrary to the fact; the increase
of population must, therefore, be entirely attributable to a diminution
in the rate of mortality."-(Report of 1827 on Friendly Societies,
p. 38.)
The
There cannot, in fact, be a question that the value of life, in England
and Wales, regularly increased from 1740 or 1750 down to 1815;
and there are good grounds for thinking that it then exceeded its
value in any other country, with the exception of Scotland. Mr. Fin-
laison has calculated three Tables, which are subjoined in an abridged
form, that set this improvement in a very striking point of view.
first gives the expectation of life, as deduced from the ages of the
subscribers to the Million Tontine of 1695; the second, the expec-
tation of life among the government annuitants, in the interval between
1785 and 1825; and the third, the expectation of life for the whole
population, as deduced from the deaths and ages recorded in the parish
registers from 1813 to 1830: distinguishing, in all cases, between
male and female life. Those on whom the estimates in the first two
tables are founded, being annuitants, and generally, therefore, in
comfortable circumstances, must be regarded as picked lives; whereas
the latter embrace all sorts. Now, it appears from these tables,
that the probable life of a male annuitant, 20 years of age, in 1695,
was 29.34 years; while, in 1830, the probable life of a male of the
same age, taken indiscriminately from the mass of the population,
was 39-65 years; exceeding that of the former by more than ten
years! The improvement in female life has been equally great; but,
for obvious reasons, it is not so great when we compare females taken
from the mass of the people with female annuitants.
POPULATION.
421
Statement of the Expectation of Life in England and Wales at every Fifth Year of
Age, deduced from the Ages of the Subscribers to the Million Tontine of 1695; the
Annuitants from 1785 to 1825; and the Deaths in the Parish Registers from 1813
to 1830.
Million Tontine of 1695.
Annuitants, 1785-1825.
Parish Registers, 1813-1830.
Age.
Expecta-
tion.
Males.
Differ-
ence.
Expecta- Expecta-
tion. tion.
Females. Males.
Differ-
ence.
Expecta- Expecta-
tion. tion.
Females. Males.
Differ-
ence.
Expecta-
tion.
Females.
Under 1 Year
1
37.61
50.16
5 35
55.51 39.96
3 24
43.20
38.49
5.36
43.85
50.13
5.46
55.59
47.78
2.36
50.14
5
39 03
3.41
42.44
48.93
5.30
54.23
49.80
1.49
51.29
10
35.71
4.72
40 43
45.57
5.48
51.05
46.83 1.12
47.95
15
32.05
5.27
37.32
41.76 5.43
47'19
43.08
1.00
44.08
20
29.34
4.91
34.25
38.39 5.60
43.99
39.65
1.03
40'68
25
27.96
3.71
31.67
35.90 4.91
40.81
36.55
1.09
37.64
30
26.27 2.71
28.98
33.17
4.40
37.57
33.34
1.29
34.63
35
24.12 2.20
26.32
30.17
4.14
34.31
30.03
1.48
31.51
40
21.74
1.91
23.65
27.02
4 10
31.12
26.75
1.63
28.38
45
19.15
1.47
20.62
23.75
4.06
27.81
23.48
1.66
25 14
50
16.86
⚫92
17.78
20 30
4.05
24.35
20:31
1.52
21.83
55
14.52
⚫94
15.46
17.15
3.64
20.79
17 19
1.32
18.51
60
11.65
1.60
13.25
14.39
2 93
17.32
14.20
1.08
15.28
65
9.30
⚫93
10.23
11.63
2.37
14.00
11.43
⚫89
12.32
70
7.19
•
60
7.79
9.22
1.77
10.99
8.94
.73
9.67
75
5.61
•
05
5.56
7.12
1.34
8.46
6.78
*55
7.33
80
4.92
1 13
3.79
4.94
1.56
6.50
5.05
41
5.46
85
3.58
⚫22
3.80
3.12
1.72
4.84
3.85
⚫37
4.22
90
2.01
*53
2.54
1.95
.88
2.83
3.42
•28
3.70
95
1.18
⚫46
1.64
1.18
⚫37
1.55
3.06
⚫16
3.22
100
0 00
0.00
⚫0
• 50
⚫50
2.78
⚫06
2.72
411.37 465 79
535.80 474.30
495 70
Sums of Ages | 370 68
This wonderful improvement must, no doubt, be ascribed to a
variety of causes: partly to the drainage of bogs and marshes, by
which agues and marsh fevers have been entirely banished from many
districts; partly to improvements in the diet, dress, lodgings, and
other accommodations of the mass of the people; partly to the greater
prevalence of cleanliness; and partly, and, since 1800, chiefly, perhaps,
to the discoveries in medical science, and the extirpation of the small-
pox.
Mr. Farr has deduced the following table of the expectation of life in
England from his Life Table (p. 419). See page 422.
It appears probable, however, that the rate of mortality had been
reduced to a minimum in 1815, and that it increased somewhat in the
interval between that and 1830. Probably this was only, in part at
least, a temporary effect, caused by the distress resulting from the
sudden transition from a state of war to one of peace; and by the severe
shock that the fall of prices in 1815, and the destruction of country
banks, and of country bank paper, in that year, gave to almost every
species of industry. If the increased mortality should be maintained,
the causes that have produced it will afford matter for interesting in-
vestigation. Perhaps it will be found that the Irish immigration,
already alluded to, has had a good deal to do in bringing it about. We
incline, however, to think, that latterly there has been a diminution in
the rate of mortality; at least such has been the case during the three
years ending with 1845, as compared with the previous three years:
But it would be wrong, considering the depressed situation of the
422
ENGLAND AND WALES.
country during the three years ending with 1842, and its flourishing
situation during the next three years to lay much stress on this
decrease.
Mr. Farr's Table of Expectation of Life in England.


Age.
Persons.
Males. Females.
Age.
Persons.
Males. Females.
0123 EVO C7
41.16 40.19 42.18
48
21.88
21.34 22.43
47.13 46.71
47.55
49
21.22
20.68
21.75
49.19 48.82
49.57
50
20.55
20.02 21.07
49.89
49.52
50.29
51
19.88
19.36
20.39
4
50.11
49.74
50.48
52
19.20
18.70
19.71
5
50.01
49.64 50.38
53
18.52
18.03
19.02
6
49.71
49.36
50.07
54
17.84
17.36
18.32
49.28
48.94
49.62
55
17.16
16.68
17.63
8
48.74
48.41
49.08
56
16.50
16.03
16.96
9
48.12
47.78
48.47
57
15.85
15.40
16.30
10
47·44
47.08
47.81
58
15.22
14.78
15.65
11
46.70
46.31
47.10
59
14.60
14.18
15.02
12
45.94
45.54
46.35
60
14.00
13.59
14.40
13
45.17
47.77
45.58
61
13.41
13.01
13.79
14
44.44
44.05
44.84
62
12.83
12.45
13.20
15
43.74
43.35
44·13
63
12.27
11.91
12.63
16
43.05 42.65
43.46
64
11.73
11.38
12.07
17
42.37
41.95
42.80
65
11.20
10.86
11.52
18
41.69
41.26
42.13
66
10.68
10.36
10.99
19
41.01
40.57
41.47
67
10.18
9.87
10.48
20
40.34
39.88
40.81
68
9.70
9.40
9.98
21
39.67
39.19
40.15
69
9.23
8.95
9.50
22
38.99 38.51
39.49
70
8.78
8.51
9.03
23
38.32
37.83
38.83
71
8.34
8.08
8.58
24
37.66
37.15 38.17
72
7.92
7.67
8.14
25
36.99
36.47
37.52
73
7.51
7.28
7.72
26
36.33
35.80
36.86
74
7.12
6.90
7.31
27
35.66
35.13
36.21
75
6.74
6.53
6.92
28
35.00 34.46
35.55
76
6.38
6.18
6.55
29
34.34 33.79
34.90
77
6.03
5.85
6.19
30
33.68 33.13
34.25
78
5.69
5.52
5.84
31
33.02 32.47 33.60
79
5.37
5.21
5.51
32
32.37
31.80
32.94
80
5.07
4.92
5.20
33
31.71
31.14 32.29
81
4.78
4.64
4.90
34
31.06 30.49
31.64
82
4.50
4.37
4.61
35
30.40 29.83
30.99
83
4.24
4.11
4.34
36
29.75 29.17
30.34
84
3.98
3.87
4.07
37
29.10 28.52
29.68
85
3.75
3.64
3.83
38
28.44
27.87 29.03
86
3.52
3.42
3.59
39
27.79
27.21
28.38
87
3.30
3.22
3.37
40
27.14 26.56
27.72
88
3.10
3.03
3.16
41
26.49
25.91
27.07
89
2.91
2.85
2.96
42
25.83
25.26 26.41
90
2.74
2.68
2.77
43
25.18
24.61
25.75
91
2.57
2.53
2.60
44
24.52 23.96
25.09
92
2.43
2.40
2.44
45
23.86 23.30
24.43
93
2.30
2.30
2.29
46
23.20 22.65
23.76
94
2.19
2.23
2.16
47
22.54 22.00
23.10
95
2.13
2.22
2.06
This Table is read thus:-At Birth, a Child's expectation of life is 41·16; if a Boy, 40˚19 years;
if a Girl, 42*18 years. At the age of 40, the expectation of life is 27 14 years.
The mean age to which persons who attain the age of 40 live is therefore 40 + 27·14—67·14 years.
POPULATION.
423
The mortality in infancy being greater than at any subsequent
period of life, it follows that in a country, the population of which is
rapidly increasing, not by immigration, but by births, the probable
duration of life at birth, deduced from the deaths alone, and without
reference to the existing population, appears to be less than it would
be, other things being the same, were the population stationary, or
increasing less rapidly.
The determination of the average expectation of life at birth is,
however, of comparatively little practical importance. The great object
is to ascertain the probability of life and the expectation of life at any
given period. The "expectation of life" must not be confounded
with the probable life, or the time which it is an even chance a person
will live. The expectation of life in England, by the preceding table
of Mr. Farr, is 40 19 years for a male at birth; while the probable
life" is 44.13 years. Of 51,274 boys born alive, 25,686 live to the age of
44; and 25,588 die before attaining that age. It is, therefore, 25,686
to 25,588, or nearly "an even bet," that a boy just born will live
44 years. Extending the time to 44-13 years, the chances are even, and
this may, therefore, be called the probable lifetime. If the 51,274 boys
were followed to the end of life, the numbers of the years each lived
noted down, and added up, the sum divided by 51,274 would give
about 40.17 years as the average duration of their lives, or the average
number of annual payments which they would receive under a life
annuity. "Expectation of life" would be less ambiguously expressed
by mean lifetime." The French have the corresponding terms vie
probable and vie moyenne. The expectation of the life of a male
5 years of age is 49·64, and of a female 50·38; at 10 years of age the
From
expectation of life is 47·08 for a male, 47.81 for a female, &c.
the same table the "mean joint lifetime" has been calculated. It
appears that the mean duration of marriage in persons who marry at
30 is 24-63 years; if the husband be 30 and the wife 25 or 20, the
duration of marriage is 25.65 years and 26.46 years. Wives married
at the age of 25 to husbands of 30, if they survive their husbands, live
after them at an average 11.86 years. The husbands who survive
their wives live after them 7.48 years at an average. Leases held on
the longest of two lives, a male and a female, put in at the age of 20,
expire at an average every 51 years; and every 64 years, if boys and
girls of 4 years of age are nominated.-(See App. to Reg. Gen. Sixth
Rep., pp. 581, 582.)
Proportion of Ages to the Population.-This proportion may be
ascertained by taking an account of the ages of the population when a
census is made. No compulsory return of this sort has been obtained
in England; but in 1821 it was left to the option of the overseers to
inquire into the ages of individuals, when they thought it might be
done in a manner satisfactory to themselves, and not inconvenient to
the parties; and it is a remarkable proof of the zeal of the overseers
and the good will of the public, that, under this recommendation, the
ages of no fewer than 10,530,671 persons were ascertained in England
and Wales. The results of this enumeration are given in the subjoined
Table. From this it appears that, supposing the enumerated population
to be represented by 1,000, nearly half the whole, or 490, were under
424
ENGLAND AND WALES.
20 years of age;
age; 275-4 were between 20 and 40; 159-3 between 40
and 60; and so on.
Ages of Persons enumerated in England and Wales, May 28, 1821, with Proportions
annexed, supposing each Sex and the Total to have been 10,000,000.
Ages.
Males.
Females
Total.

Under 5 Years
5- 9
791,579 1,536,732
693,858
774,689 1,440,044
1,566,268 1,487,339
1,347,022
682,457
10-14
603,613
1,171,824
569,366
1,268,597
1,058,376
1,376,315
1,306,958
1,172,979
1,113,869
15-19
509,586
989,285
535,569
995,552
1,045,155
992,487
20-29
755,780
1,467,234
901,338
1,675,468
1,657,118
1,573,611
30-39
593,662
1,152,506
649,507
1,207,348
1,243,169
1,180,522
40-49
482,329
936,370
500,977
931,250
983,306
933, 755
50-59
342,204
664,338
352,160
654,619
694,364
659,373
60-69
231,509
449,440
249,184
463, 200
480,693
456,470
70-79
115,032
223,317
124,648
231,704
239,680
227,602
80-89
29,587
57,438
36,315
67,505
65,902
62,581
90-99
2,253
4,378
3,280
6,097
100 and up-
5,533
5,254
wards.
60
116
129
210
189
179
Totals
5,151,052 10,000,000
5,379,619
10,000,000
10,530,671
10,000,000
The ages of the population were omitted in the census of 1831, but
they were again taken in the census of 1841. And the subjoined
Table, from the Fifth Report of the Registrar-General, contains a
statement of the ages of the population, as given in the census, with
corrections for the increase of population down to the 1st of July,
1841, and for the ages that were omitted; it exhibits also the deaths at
different ages in 1841, with the per centage mortality, &c.
Ages, Population, Deaths, and Per-centage Mortality of England, 1841.

Annual Mortality
per Cent.
Population, Calculated for July 1st,
1841.*
Deaths Registered,
1841.
One
Death
Age.

Persons.
Males.
Females.
Persons. Males.
Fe-
males.
Mean. Males.
Fe-
males.
to
Persons
Living.

0-1
429,419
210,507
1-
2
429,803
215,493
2-3
437,276
218,208
3 4
410,077
203,653
4-5
401,555
201,238
218,912 74,210 41,444 32,766
214,310 27,268 13,987 13,281
219,068 15,027 7,516 7,511
206, ,424 9,914 5,028
4,886
200,317 7,164 3,620
17.355 19-726
6.353 6.503
14.984
6
6.204
16
3.441 3.451 3.432
29
2*422 2.474 2.370
41
3,544
1.786
1.802
1.771
60
0— 5
2,108,130
1,049,099
1,039,031 133,583 71,595
61,988
6.349
6.833
5.860
16
5-10
1,906,576
953,893
10-15
1,733,652
88',129
15-20
1,588,340
782,425
805,915
952,683 17,868 9,093 8,775
852,523 9,116 4,478 4,638
*938
*955
⚫922
107
⚫527
*509
⚫545
190
12,056 5,604 6,452
*759
*718
•801
132
20-25
1,551,703
724,013
827,690 13,922
6,633 7,289
⚫900
*918
*882
111
25-30
1,284,020
611,390
672,630 12,889
6,045 6,844
1.005
⚫991
1.019
100
30-35
1,167,954
565,226
602,728 11,414 5,422 5,992
•978
*961
*995
102
35-40
885,306
435,450
449,876 11,195
5,385 5,810
1.266
1.239
1.293
79
40-45
888,806
435,991
452,815 10,510
5,251 5,259
1.185
1-207
1.163
84
45-50
639,202
813,709
50-55
634,904
307,435
55-60
392,166
189,816
60-65
440,110
209,248
65-70
259,839
120,829
70-75
224,431
104,138
75-80
120,015
55,653
80-85
70,494
31,136
39,358 11,681
85-90
24,008
90-95
95-100
6,541
1,421
10,149
2,493
13,859
6,550
4,048
2,243
497
924
604
100 and up-}
249
82
107
110
220
29
325,493 10,244 5,822 4,922
327,469 10,811 5,673
5,138
202,350 10,552 5,418
5,134 2.700
230,862 13,813 7,090 6,723 3.155 8.395 2.915
139,010 14,071 6,881 7,190 5.442 5.706 5.178
120,293 15,569 7,630 7,939 6.974 7.341
64,362 14,525 6,992 7,533 12.152 12.586
5,358 6,323 16.662 17.242
2,841
3,709 27.418 28.047 26.790
898 1,345 34.677 36.091 33.264
884 42.972 44.352 41.592
81 41.829 85.221 48.438
1.607
1.700 1.514
62
1-710
1.849 1.571
58
2.860 2.540
37
32
18
6.607
14
11.717
8
16 0:3
6
2
2
All Ages
15,927,867
7,783,781
8,144,086 343,847 174,198 169,649
2.160 2.238 2.083
46
* The columns 2, 3, and 4 may be held to represent the average number of persons living who incurred the risk of
death in England in the year 1841. The annual rate of increase was assumed to be the same as in the ten years 1831-41,
namely, 1*334 per cent.; and the ages of those whose ages were not specified, to be the same as those whose ages were
specified. The columns include the army, persons travelling on railways, and 1,366 men on the river Thames.
The totals of the columns 5, 6, and 7 contain 521 persons (340 males and 181 females) whose ages were not specified.
The columns 8, 9, 10, and 11 may be read thus:-At the age of 35-40, of 100 men living, 1239 died; of 100 women,
1.293 died. The mean mortality of the two sexes (50 of each) was 1∙266, which is equal to 1 in 79.
The columns 8, 9, and 10, read without reference to the decimal point, show the deaths out of 100,000 living at each
age.
POPULATION.
425
The mean age of the male population at the last Census (1841) was
25 years: owing to the increase of population the young predominate;
if the population were stationary, and subject to the same law of mor-
tality as the Life Table, the mean age of the people would be 32 years.
In a stationary community of 41,159 persons, 1,000 annual deaths
would be compensated by 1,000 births; the mean age of death would
be 41 years (or, more exactly, 41·159 years); the mean age of the
41,159 living, taken any time at a census, would be found to be
32 years; and the 41,159 would live, upon an average, 32 years from
the date of the Census. (For the various results deducible from this
new form of Table, see App. to Reg. Gen. Sixth Rep., 8vo., pp. 647-
662.)
SECT. 2.-Population of Scotland.
Races of Inhabitants.—It is generally allowed that the first immi-
grants into Scotland, like those into England, belonged to the great
Celtic family; and Mr. Chalmers and others have endeavoured to
prove that the population continued to be purely Celtic till it was
alloyed first by Roman, and subsequently by Gothic, invaders.—
(Caledonia, vol. i., p. 496, &c.) But this opinion does not seem very
tenable. Tacitus expressly affirms that the Caledonians or inhabitants
of Scotland, were of Germanic or Gothic origin: "Rutila Cale-
doniam habitantium coma, magni artus, Germanicam originem asse-
verant."—(Vit. Agricolæ, cap. 11.) Agricola, however, from whom
Tacitus derived his information, was but very slenderly acquainted
with the country to the north of the Grampians. There is, indeed, every
reason to think that Berwickshire, the Lothians, Fife, and other parts
of the low country on the east coast of Scotland, were, like the same
tracts in England, early occupied by Belgic or other Gothic colonists
from the opposite continental coast; and it seems most probable that
Tacitus, in ascribing to the Caledonians a Germanic origin, had these
only in view. The fair presumption is, that, in the northern as in the
more southerly part of the island, the old Celtic inhabitants maintained
their ascendancy in all the mountainous and comparatively inaccessible
districts; and this reasonable presumption is corroborated by various
circumstances.
In the third century, the terms Picts and Pictland began to be
substituted for Caledonians and Caledonia. It is pretty generally
believed that these terms apply to the same people and the same
country. It seems, indeed, to be perfectly clear that the Picts were
descended from the Scythians or Goths;* and if we be right in our
statement as to the origin of the Caledonians, it follows that, if the
Picts were not identical with them, they belonged, at all events, to a
kindred race.
We have already stated (antè, p. 225), that at an early period a
colony of a people called Scoti or Attacotti (the Dalriads of the vene-
rable Bede) passed from Ireland into the Western Highlands. The
origin of the Scoti is involved in impenetrable mystery. If, as is
* See Pinkerton's chapter on the origin of the Picts in his Inquiry into the early
History of Scotland.
426
SCOTLAND.
believed by many, they were of Gothic or Scythian origin, they had
lost their ancient speech; and had, with the language, adopted the
manners and institutions of the Irish Celts or Gael. The Scoto-Irish
colonists in Argyle received, at subsequent periods, reinforcements
from Ireland; and they are said by some to have conquered the Cale-
donians or Picts, and, in the sequel, to have succeeded in establishing
their language and customs in all that part of Scotland known by the
name of the Highlands. But there is no evidence of any such conquest
actually taking place; and the whole story seems destitute of any solid
foundation. As already stated, the probability appears to be that all
the western and central parts of the Highlands were occupied, at the
period when the Scotch established themselves in Argyle, by a con-
generous race, or by Celts. The Scotch colonists, had, however, a
written language, which the old inhabitants of the country had not;
and they were, also, superior to the latter in most sorts of knowledge
and civilisation.* These circumstances sufficiently account for the as-
cendancy they acquired, and for their being able to give their name to
the country. But it is inconsistent alike with historical evidence, and
with probability, to suppose that the Scotch came over in sufficient
numbers to change the language of the country, had it differed very
materially from their own. It is generally admitted that they had lost
their original language during their residence in Ireland; and no doubt
they would have lost the newly-acquired language they brought into
the Highlands, had it not been, in all its most essential particulars, the
same with that in common use in the country.
After the Romans withdrew from Britain, some Gothic or Saxon
tribes, following the example set by those who had previously settled
in the more southerly parts of the island, established themselves, during
the sixth century of our æra, between the Tweed and the Frith of
Forth.-(Turner's Anglo-Saxons, 5th edit., i. p. 299.) These new
immigrants were afterwards followed by others, at the same time that
they drew recruits from their brethren established in England; and
Mr. Chalmers supposes that, their power being thus progressively aug-
mented, they gradually acquired a complete ascendancy in all the
southern parts of the country, and communicated to it their language
and manners.—(Caledonia, ii., 7.
—( Caledonia, ii., 7.) This, however, would have been
an extremely difficult task; but if, which seems abundantly certain, we
conclude with Pinkerton, that the Picts, who were in possession of all
the low country in the sixth century, were congenerous with the Saxons,
by whom it was then invaded, the two races would readily amalgamate;
and the early prevalence of the Scandinavian or Gothic tongue in the
Lowlands is rationally accounted for.
After the Saxons or Goths in the Lowlands, and the Celtic colonists
from Ireland, and other Celtic inhabitants of the Highlands, had been
united under one government, the name Scotland, which had previously
been given to the country to the north of the Friths of Forth and
Clyde, was used to distinguish the whole country to the north of
England.
Towards the end of the eighth century, a fresh colony from Ireland
* Pinkerton on the early History of Scotland, vol. ii. p. 160.
POPULATION.
427
established itself in the district now known by the name of Galloway,
in the south-west part of Scotland. But though these colonists suc-
ceeded in giving a name to the country, they were not sufficiently
numerous to introduce their language into common use. * And for
these several centuries, long indeed before the inhabitants had any con-
siderable intercourse with other parts of the kingdom, the Anglo-Saxon
tongue has been in as universal use in Galloway as in any part of the
Lowlands of Scotland.
Exclusive of the Celts, Goths or Picts, Romans, Scoto-Irish, and
Saxons, colonies of Danes and Norwegians established themselves in
Caithness and other parts of the mainland, as well as in Orkney and
Shetland, and parts of the Western Isles. Generally, however, it may
be said that at present the inhabitants of the Lowlands of Scotland are
principally of Saxon, while those of the Highlands, with the exception
of Caithness, are almost entirely of Celtic extraction.
Progress of Population in Scotland.—Number of Inhabitants.
The notices of the population of Scotland in remote periods are few
and of little authority. It is plain, however, from the sterile nature
of the greater part of the country; its generally unsettled and turbu-
lent condition, marked by the prevalence of insurrections and civil
wars; the want of large towns, manufactures, and commerce; and the
frequent recurrence of destructive scarcities,† that the population in
remote periods must have been extremely small. It began to in-
crease after the accession of the house of Stuart to the throne of
England, when a more powerful government was established; but at
the period of the Union, in 1707, it is not supposed to have exceeded
1,050,000.
Until after the rebellion of 1745, Scotland reaped but little advan-
tage from the Union. That event, however, though disastrous at the
time, was in the end highly beneficial. It stimulated government to
adopt measures for suppressing those feudal institutions that had long
been the bane of Scotland, and for introducing civilisation and good
order into the Highlands. The Act of 1748, for the abolition of all
sorts of hereditary jurisdictions, and the appointment by the crown of
*"Galloway, in the Latine writers of the middle tyme, Gaelvallia sive Gal-
lovidia, so called be the Irish who sometyme dwelt there, and terme themselves, in
their awne language, Gael."-Timothy Pont's Galloway, in the Appendix to
Symson's Galloway, p. 114.
Some of these scarcities were very severe, and extended their ravages over a
great extent of country. Those of 1635, 1688, the period from 1693 to 1700-em-
phatically termed the "seven ill years," 1740 and 1782, and 1783, were particularly
severe. During the "seven ill years" the distress was so great that several exten-
sive parishes in Aberdeenshire, and other parts of the country, were nearly depopu-
lated; and some farms remained unoccupied for several years afterwards. In 1783,
vast numbers of the small Highland farmers were ruined; and many persons died of
want.-(Sinclair's Statistical Account of Scotland, vol. vi., p. 121. Malthus, on
Population, 5th ed., vol. ii., p. 125.)
But, though the population be now nearly double what it was in 1783, such dis-
tressing calamities no longer occur. This is owing, partly to the improved state of
agriculture, partly to the greater comforts enjoyed by all classes, which enables
them to retrench in periods of scarcity, and partly to the extensive intercourse
carried on with other countries, whence supplies of corn, &c., may be brought in
scarce years.
428
SCOTLAND.
stipendiary sheriffs and other judicial officers, has been in the highest
degree advantageous, as well by preventing abuse as by insuring the
cheap and impartial administration of justice. The construction of
military roads, that laid open the more inaccessible parts of the High-
lands, was also a most important measure. After this had been done,
it ceased to be possible for any chieftain or clan to brave the law with
impunity; its empire was everywhere established, and, in consequence,
the energies of the people began to be turned from projects of rapine,
vengeance, or petty wars, towards other and more beneficial objects of
pursuit.
Improvements of all sorts-in agriculture, manufactures, and com-
merce- -began to make rapid advances in Scotland after the peace of
Paris in 1763. And we believe we are warranted in affirming that,
from the close of the American war down to the present day, the pro-
gress of Scotland, in civilization and the accumulation of wealth, has not
been surpassed, if it ever have been equalled, by that of any other
European country.
In 1755, the population of Scotland was determined for the first
time with tolerable precision. It was then ascertained, principally
from returns furnished by the clergy to Dr. Webster, the omissions
and deficiencies being supplied from the most approved data, that it
contained 1,265,380 inhabitants. The population of 1801, according
to the census of that year, amounted to 1,599,068, being an excess of
333,688 individuals over that of 1755. The population at the last-
mentioned epoch, with its progress during the present century, is seen
in the following Table :-
Account of the Population of Scotland in 1801, 1811, 1821, 1831, 1841, and 1851;
showing its Amount in each County, with the Ratio of its Increase in each decennial
period since 1801.

Counties.
1801.
Incr. per
Cent.
1811.
Incr per
Cent.
1821.
Incr. per
Cent.
1831.
Incr. per
Cent.
1841.
Incr. per
Cent.
1851.
Aberdeen.
Argyll
Ayr
Banff
23
37,216
Berwick
30,206
Bute
11,791
Caithness.
22,609 4
Clackmannan
Dumbarton
Dumfries
Edinburgh
10,858 10
20,710 16
54,597 15
122,597 21
Elgin or Moray.
Fife
27,760 1
93,743 8
121,065 10 133,871 16 155,049 15
81,277
86,541 12 97,316
84,207
103,839 23
127,299 14
28,433 14 43,663 11
30,893 8
12,033 15
23,419 25
12,010 10
24,189 13
62,960 13
148,607 29
27,967 12
101,272 13
177,657
100,973
145,055 13
48,337 3
8 192,387
10
-
97,371 -9
1€4,356 15
212,032
89,298
189,858
49,679 9
54,171
33,385 2
34,048
34,438 5
36,297
13,797
3
14,151
11
15,740
5
16,608
181
Forfar.
99,053
Haddington.
29,986
Inverness.
Kincardine
Kinross
Kirkcudbright
Lanark
Linlithgow
Nairn.
•
Orkney and Shetland
Peebles
72,672
26,349 4
6,725 8
29,211 15
147,692 29
17,844 9
8,322 2
107,187 6
31,050 13
77,671 16
27,439 6
7,245 7
33,684 15
191,291
19,451
28
17
8,496
9
46,824 -1
46,153
15
8,735
Perth
125,583
13
7
9,935
1
134,390
3
•
Renfrew
78,501 18
Ross and Cromarty
Roxburgh
Selkirk
Stirling.
•
Sutherland
7
Wigtown.
56,318 8
33,721
10 37,230 10
5,338 9 5,889 13
50,825 14 58,174 12
23,117 2 23,629 1
22,918 17 26,891 24
93,172 20
60,853 13
29,
13,263
27,317 22
70,878 4
191,514 15
31,398 10
114,556 12
113,355 23
35,127
89,961 5
29,118 8
7,762 17
88,903
244,387 80
22,685 3
9,268 1
53,124 10
10,046 5
138,247 3
112,175 19
68,762 9
40,892 7
6,637 3
65,376 11
23,840 7
33,240 6
18
34,529
5
36,343
38,709
11
14,729
30
19,155
20
22,951
3
33,211 33
73,770 -1
219,345 2
34,498 1
128,839 9
139,606 22
36,145
-1
94,797 3
31,431 5
9,072
40,590
316,819 34
23,291 15
9,354 -1
58,239 5
44,296
45,103
72,830 7
78, 123
225,454 15
35,012 11
140,140
170,453
35,886:
259,435
38,959
10
153,546
12
191,264
1
36,386
97,799 2
96,500
33,075
5
34,598
3
8,763
8,924
1
41,119
426,672 24
5
43,121
530,169
26,872 12
30, 135
9,217
8
9,956
$1,065
2
62,533
10,578
142,166 -3
133,443 16
10,499
10,738
137,457
138,660
155,072
161,091
74,820
43,663
5
78,685
82,707
5
6,893
72,621
25,518 -3
36,258
17
46,025
7,990
12
51,642
23
9,809
co do ão
13
8
82,057
24,782
39,195
86,237
25,793
11
43,309
Totals of Scotland 1,608,420 12 1,805,864 16 2,091,521 13 2,364,386
11 2,620,184
10 2,888,742
POPULATION.
429
The progress of population, as evinced in this table, though very
considerable, has been less than its progress during the same period in
England and Ireland; while there are good grounds for thinking that
the wealth of Scotland has increased more rapidly than that of either
of these countries. This desirable result seems to have been owing
principally to the consolidation of farms in the low country; the intro-
duction of sheep-farming into the Highlands; and the obstacles
opposed by the law of Scotland as to leases, and the operation of the
poor laws, to the subdivision of the land, and the building of super-
fluous cottages. These circumstances, combined with the moral and
religious habits of the people, and the general diffusion of education,
have made marriages be deferred to a later period than in other parts
of the empire, and have also led to a very extensive emigration. But
however it may be accounted for, the fact is certain that, as compared
with the increase of wealth, the population of Scotland has increased
less rapidly than that of England, and much less so than that of Ire-
land. In consequence, the Scotch have advanced more rapidly than
the English or Irish in wealth, and in the command of the necessaries
and conveniences of life. Their progress in this respect has, indeed,
been quite astonishing. The habits, diet, dress, and other accommoda-
tions of the people have been signally improved. It is not too much
to affirm, that the peasantry of the present day are better lodged,
better clothed, and better fed than the middle class of landowners a
century ago.
Density of Population.-The population of Scotland is much less
dense than that of either England or Ireland. This is occasioned
principally, no doubt, by the greater sterility of the soil; but it is also
owing, in no inconsiderable degree, to the circumstances that have
checked the subdivision of the land, and prevented the too rapid
increase of population in the country parishes. The following table
embodies all the existing information on this interesting subject.
Table showing the Number of Acres of Land in the several Counties of Scotland, exclu-
sive of the Lakes, and the Number of Males, Females, and Inhabited Houses in each
in 1851; showing also the Number of Acres corresponding to each Person, and the
Number of Persons corresponding to each Inhabited House in 1851.

Counties.
Area
in Statute
Acres.
Population in 1851.
Acres
In-
habited
Houses,
1851.
of Land
Indi-
viduals
to an
Indi-

to a
House.
Males. Females.
Totals.
vidual.
Acres.
Aberdeen
Argyll
Ayr .
Banff
Berwick
Bute
•
Caithness.
Clackmannan
Dumbarton
Dumfries.
Edinburgh
Elgin
Fife
•
1,260,625 100,050 111,772
211,822
31,743
5.9
6.7
·
2,058,126 43,816 45,363
650,156 92,183
439.219 25,469
309,375 17,423
89,179
15,039
23.0
5.9
96,913
189,096 23,554
3.4
8.0
28,596
54,065 10,662
8.1
5.1
18,864
36,287 6,363
8.5
5.7
109,375
7,492
9,087
16,579 2,335
6.6
7.1
455,708
18,209
•
29,744
11,283
20,380
11,604 22,887
38,589 6,952
11.8
5.6
2,950
1.3
7.8
174,532
22,206
22,698
44,904 4,792
3.8
9.4
722,813
37,154
40,937
78,091 13,300
9.3
5.9
254,300
118,807
140,019
258,826
20,946
1.0
12.4
340,000
18,118
20,768
38,886
7,642
8.7
5 1
322,031
72,917
30,365
153,282
24,610
2.1
6.2
430
SCOTLAND.
Table showing the Number of Acres of Land, &c.—continued.

Counties.
Area
in Statute
Acres.
Population in 1851.
In-
habited
Acres
of Land
Indi-
viduals
to an
Houses,
Indi-
to a

1851.
Males. Females.
House.
Totals.
vidual.
Acres.
Forfar
568,750
87,976 102,925
190,901 22,446
3.0
8.5
Haddington
185,937
17,601
18,776
36,377 6,444
5.1
5'6
Inverness
2,668,658
44,811
51,539
96,350
17,536
27.8
5.5
Kincardine
252,250
17,004
17,590
34,594
6,636
7.3
5.2
Kinross
45,531
4,305
4,619
8,924
1,662
5.1
5.4
Kirkcudbright
Lanark
•
610,734
20,187
22,898
43,085
7,009
14.2
6.1
631,719
255,972
273,072
529,044
37,504
1.2
14.1
Linlithgow
64,375
15,123
14,937
30,060
4,059 2.1
7.4
Nairn
137,500
4,647
5,261
9,908
2,022 13.8
4.9
Orkney and Shetland
•
598,726
27,335
35,028
62,363
11,334
9.6
5.5
Peebles
226,488
5,364
5,374
10,738
1,796
21.1
6.0
Perth
1,788,438
66,311
72,323
138,634
22,528
12.9
6.2
Renfrew
•
Ross and Cromarty
Roxburgh
Selkirk
150,000
75,295
85,384
160,679
10,760
⚫9
14.9
1,993,875
38,945
43,695
82,640
15,941
24.1
5.2
460,938
25,212
26,430
51,642
7,255
8.9
7.1
170,313
4,850
4,959
9,809
1,331
17.4
7.4
Stirling
Sutherland
Wigtown
Totals.
Average of Acres to an
Individual, and of In-
dividuals to a House,
286,188
42,073
44,003
86,076
11,312
3.3
7.6
1,207,188
11,917
13,876
326,736 20,209 23,054 43,263 6,902
25,793 4,943
46.8
5.2
7.5
6.3
19,500,348 1,370,264 1,513,109 2,883,373 370,308
6.7
7.8
in Scotland
Population of Principal Towns.-The following Table exhibits the
Account of the Population of the principal Towns in 1841 and 1851, showing the Ratio
of their increase or decrease, with the Number of Inhabited Houses in each in 1851,
and the Average Number of Persons to a House.

Population Inc. Population
Cities and Towns.
in
1841.
per
Cent.
in
1851.
Inhabited
Houses in
1851.
Persons
to a House in
1851.
Inc.
•
Edinburgh and Leith
Glasgow
158,961 20 191,221
9,870
19.3
255,650
28
829,097
11,965
27.5
Aberdeen
61.923 16
71,973
5,839
12.3
Paisley
47,695 120 47,920
3,565
13.4
Dundee
62,873 23 78,931
5,040
15.6
Greenock
35,645 2
36,689
1,714
21.4
Perth
20,167 18
23,835
1,991
11.9
Kilmarnock
•
19,398 10
21,443
1,652
12.9
Dunfermline
13,296 4 13,836
1,487
9.3
Montrose
14,252
6 15,238
1,473
10.3
Dumfries
13,088
13,166
1,582
8.3
Inverness
11,568 10 12,793
1,704
7.5
Ayr
15,749
11 17.624
1,855
9.5
Falkirk
8,203
6
8,752
949
9.2
Wick.
5,522
21
6,722
885
7.5
Stirling
10,701
19
12,837
1,270
10.1
Airdrie
Hamilton
12,408 16 14,435
1,239
11.6
Arbroath.
8,689 10
14,568 16 16,986
9,630
967
9.9
1,734
9.7
Forfar
7,981 16
9,311
1,023
9.1
Totals
798,137
19
952,439
57 804
16.4
POPULATION.
431
It appears, from this and the Table on p. 428, that, while the entire
population of Scotland increased, during the 10 years ending with
1850, 10 per cent., the population of the great towns increased, during
the same period, 19 per cent. At an average of the 16 principal
towns in Scotland in 1841, there were 16-4 persons to a house,
whereas, in 1851, there would appear to be only 5.428 to ditto. In
truth and reality, however, the number of persons to a house has
varied very little since 1831, the difference being apparent only, and
depending almost wholly on a change in the mode of enumerating
houses.
A good deal of difficulty and confusion has prevailed in regard to
the proper definition of a house. In Edinburgh (more especially in the
Old Town), and in Glasgow, Aberdeen, and the other large Scottish
towns, houses are very frequently divided into stories, or as they are there
called, flats, access to these being obtained by means of a common stair,
reaching from the ground-floor to the highest story. In some places
houses vary in height from 3 and 4 to 5, 6, 7, and 8 stories; and as
each story accommodates one, and sometimes two families, who are
nowise connected with each other, the population under the same roof is
often very great. Previously to the late census a house was sometimes
regarded as comprising the whole building included within the base-
ment, the roof, and the party-walls by which it is separated from others,
without respect to the number of distinct lodgings or dwellings into
which it might be divided. Sometimes, however, a different rule was
adopted, and each story or flat was taken for a house. To obviate the
confusion occasioned by this want of classification, it was ordered at
the last census, that each distinct building should be deemed a house,
without regard to the mode in which its interior might be distri-
buted.
In illustration of the results derived from these different modes of
estimating houses, we may observe that, under the late census, there are
said to have been 13,385 inhabited houses in Glasgow, which, as the
population amounted to 358,951, gives no fewer than 26·8 individuals
to a house.* But in truth and reality there were, at the above period,
68,289 distinct dwellings in Glasgow, giving a population of 5.2 to
each.-(Dr. Strang's Report on Census of Glasgow, in 1851.)
Previously to the late census it was usually supposed that there were
more persons to a house in Edinburgh than in Glasgow. But it is
now seen that this is a mistake; and that while there are about 27
persons to a house in the latter, there are only about 19 in the former.
We, however, incline to think that this is not occasioned by the greater
subdivision of houses in Glasgow, but rather by the greater crowding
of the inferior classes into lodging-houses.
Age and Place of Birth.-The following table shows the numbers
of people above and below 20 years of age in Scotland in 1841, with
the places of their birth, &c. :—
* In the Parliamentary Borough there were, in 1851, 11,965 inhabited houses,
and 329,097 inhabitants, giving 27.5 to each house.
432
SCOTLAND.
Account of the Population of each County of Scotland in 1841, showing the Numbers
of Males and Females in each under and above 20 Years of Age, with the Numbers
respectively born in Scotland, England and Wales, Ireland, &c.

Ages.
Total
Counties.
of
Persons.
Under 20 Years.
20 Years
and upwards.
Born
in
Scotland.
Born
in
England
and
Wales.
Place
Born
in
Ireland.
of Birth
not
specified.
Males. Females.
Malcs. Females.
Aberdeen
•
192,387
44,013 44,450
45,694
58,230
188,350
Argyll
97,371
24,497 23,183
23,298
26,393
94,354
Ayr.
164,356
40,660
40,174
38,323
45,199
Banff.
150,078
1,711
415
1,041
1,037
1,289
962
1,640
12,035
1,202
49,679
11,765
11,664
11,484
14,766
49,118
233
Berwick
88
240
34,438
8,098
7,905
8,460
9,975
82,494
1,566
154
224
Bute
15,740
3,582
3,609
3,573
4,976
15,178
101
288
Caithness
173
36,343
8,742
8,483
8,393
10,725 35,768
140
65
Clackmannan
370
19,155
4,813
4,595
4,573
5,174
18,640
215
150
150
Dumbarton
44,296
10,668
10,241
11,874
11,513
38,298
668
4,891
439
Dumfries
72,830
17,562
17,270
16,575
21,423
69,244
1,977
1,032
Edinburgh
577
225,454
48,754
49,970
53,912
72,818
207,984
9,012
7,100
Elgin or Moray
1,358
35,012
7,964
8,067
8,126
10,855
34,475
318
85
134
Fife
140,140
83,614
83,427
32, 101
40,998
137,521
1,223
804
592
#
Forfar
•
170,520
89,361
89,529
40,014
51,616
161,364
1,733
Haddington
Inverness
Kincardine
6,474
949
85,886
8,595
8,335
8,684
10,272
34,704
617
368
197
97.799
22,807
23,092
22,731
29,169
96,305
440
268
786
83,075
7,662
7,577
8,167
9,669
32,620
271
73
111
Kinross
8,763
2,031
1,923
2,164
2,645
Kirkcudbright
8,664
47
19
33
41,119
9,548
9,869
9,308
12,894
38,662
768
1,504
185
Lanark
426,972
98,645
100,693
109,667
117,967
360,270
8,299
55,915
Linlithgow
2,488
26,872
6,265
6,100
7,532
6,975
24,938
277
1,322
335
Nairn
•
9,217
2,041
2,019
2,190
2,967
9,107
46
10
Orkney and Shet-
54
land
61,065
14,318
13,937
12,689
20,121
60,501
143
30
391
Peebles
10,499
2,559
2,595
2,559
2,786
10,190
104
94
111
Perth
137,390
80,758
80,361
84,220
42,051
134,952
1,108
656
Renfrew
674
·
155,072
36,526 38,071
86,333
44,142
132, 186
Ross and Cromarty
1,829
20,417
640
78,685
18,191
17,684
18,588
24,222
77,942
223
Roxburgh
81
439
46,025
10,698
10,823
11,248
13,261
43,760
1,765
316
184
Selkirk
Stirling
Sutherland
Wigtown
7,990
2,022
1,899
1,950
2,119
7,777
182
31
50
82,057
19,520
18,992
21,484
22,061
76,579
803
4,256
419
24,782
5,765
89,195
9,490
5,702
9,575
5,619
8,800
7,696
11,930
24,496
32,750
96
24
166
475 5,772
198
Total •
•
. 2,620,184
611,534 611,814
630,328
766,508 2,439,269 37,796 126,321 16,798
Registers.-The Act 6 and 7 Will. IV., cap. 86 (antè, p. 410), did
not extend to Scotland; and the Scotch registers of births, marriages,
and deaths are so exceedingly defective, that, except in a very few
parishes, they are good for nothing. Previously to 1783, it was usual,
both with persons belonging to the established church and the prin-
cipal classes of dissenters, to register the baptisms of their children.
In 1783, however, a tax was imposed on registration, and it was so
very unpopular as to cause an instant and almost total cessation of the
practice. This injudicious impost was repealed in 1794; but the prac-
tice of registration has not been more than partially revived. In
proof of this we may mention that, in Edinburgh, in 1834, only 480
births were registered in the 13 city parishes, being little more than a
fifth part of what they must have really amounted to!
In Scotland, it is not necessary that marriages should be solemnised
by clergymen of the established church, or, indeed, by clergymen at
all; the simple declaration of the parties that they are married being,
under certain circumstances, quite enough to give validity to the con-
tract. Generally, however, marriages are performed faciæ ecclesiæ ;
and most persons that have been irregularly united subsequently
appear before the session of the parish, and acknowledge their fault.
But, notwithstanding, the marriage register is, in nine cases out of ten,
a register of the publication of banns merely, and not of marriages.
Sometimes the proposed marriage never takes place; and when, as is
frequently the case, the man resides in one parish, and the woman in
POPULATION.
433
another, there is a double proclamation of banns, so that the register
affords few conclusions, except such as are false and misleading.
In many parishes there is no register of burials; and in those, where
it is kept, it is, in general, very little to be depended on.
It is com-
mon, particularly in country parishes, in Scotland, for persons to be
buried, not in the parish where they resided at the time of their death,
but in some contiguous parish where their ancestors have been buried,
so that, although the registers of burials were accurately kept, they
would not afford any means of fairly estimating the mortality in par-
ticular parishes. Poor persons pay no burial fees, and are not usually
registered.
It is much to be wished that something effectual were done to put
an end to a state of things so adverse to the interests of individuals, as
well as to the progress of statistical science. Various bills in relation
to it have been introduced into parliament; but none of them has
hitherto passed into a law. It will be essential to the success of any
measures that may be taken with respect to it, that the registration
should be compulsory on all individuals, and that it should be com-
mitted to the care of respectable parties, - perhaps the parish school-
masters would be the best of any,-who should have an interest in
seeing that it was made as complete and perfect as possible.
SECT. 3.-Population of Ireland.
Races of Inhabitants.-The first inhabitants of Ireland of which his-
tory preserves any account, are generally admitted to have belonged,
as well as their neighbours in Britain, to the great Celtic family. The
question, whether the island was first colonised by emigrants from
Britain, Gaul, or Spain, has been much agitated. Its investigation
was hardly worth the learning and ingenious conjecture expended upon
it. The proximity of Britain to the Continent affords the strongest
grounds for supposing that she was peopled antecedently to Ireland;
and the contiguity of the latter to Britain affords, also, a strong pre-
sumption in favour of the conclusion that her first occupants proceeded
from the latter. It appears, indeed, to be exceedingly probable that
the Phoenicians visited Ireland; and, if so, colonists might have been
carried to her shores from Cadiz, and other parts of Spain, in Phœ-
nician ships. But there is no really authentic evidence to prove that
such was the case; and, considering the length, and (which it must
have been in those days) the dangerous nature of the voyage, though
it were admitted that Spanish colonists had early settled in Ireland,
there seems no reason to think that they did so in any considerable
numbers, or that their descendants ever occupied the country. On the
whole, therefore, the fair presumption seems to be that the original
population of Ireland was principally derived from Britain, but par-
tially also from Gaul.
We have already noticed the emigration of the Gaelic Celts from
Britain to Ireland, subsequent to the invasion of the former by the
Cimbric Celts.-(Antè, p. 394.) A great diversity of opinion exists,
and an almost impenetrable obscurity hangs over every circumstance
respecting the establishment of the Scoti in Ireland. Colonists from
VOL. I.
*
2 F
434
IRELAND.
Belgium are known to have settled in it, and Pinkerton supposes that
they were the progenitors of the Scotch; but this is disputed by Moore
and others, who contend that the settlement of the Scotch in Ireland
is of a comparatively recent date, and that they were of Scandinavian
origin.
But though these Belgian or northern invaders succeeded in obtain-
ing an ascendancy in parts of Ireland, they were not sufficiently nume-
rous to make any considerable change in the language, character, or
institutions of its ancient Celtic inhabitants. "The conquering tribes
themselves, one after another, became mingled with the general mass,
leaving only in those few Teutonic words, which are found mixed up
with the native Celtic, any vestige of their once separate existence."
(Moore's Ireland, vol. i., p. 98.)
The first permanent change in the population of Ireland was not
effected till its invasion by the English under Henry II., in 1172.
But the number of English settlers in Ireland was, for a long period,
inconsiderable. For some centuries the English dominions were con-
fined within the narrow limits of the pale, which seldom extended
beyond the modern province of Leinster, and was frequently much
less considerable. The rest of the country continued to be occupied
by the natives, their chiefs yielding little more than a mere nominal
obedience to the crown of England; and the few Englishmen that
settled among them, having adopted their manners, are said to have
become, in no very long period, Hibernis ipsis Hiberniores! During
the reign of Elizabeth, an Irish chief, the Earl of Tyrone, raised a
formidable rebellion; but this was suppressed by the exertions of the
deputy, Lord Mountjoy, who succeeded, for the first time, in esta-
blishing the English authority in most parts of the island. In the
following reign, an attempt was made to eradicate the seeds of future
disorders, by abolishing some of the distinguishing laws and customs
of the Irish, which served only to perpetuate their barbarism; and the
lands in the greater part of Ulster, having fallen to the crown by for-
feiture, were assigned partly to companies of the city of London, and
partly to others, by whom great numbers of English and Scotch colo-
nists were settled upon them.
These judicious measures contributed to introduce civilization, in-
dustry, and good order into the country. Unfortunately, however, the
most efficient of all methods for changing the habits of a people-the
general establishment of schools, where the natives might have been
instructed in the English language, and in the duties enjoined by reli-
gion and morality-was neglected. The English newly settled in
Ireland having also adopted the reformed faith, while the greater num-
ber of the old English of the pale, and the entire body of native Irish,
were bigoted adherents of the Catholic creed, a new and most potent
element of discord was brought into the field. The Catholic religion
was, indeed, tolerated; but the churches and ecclesiastical revenues
that had once been enjoyed by its priests having been assigned to
others, they naturally became the implacable enemies of the English
and the English connexion, and took every opportunity to excite
against them the prejudices and rancour of their countrymen. In 1641,
when England was deeply agitated by those dissensions that soon after
POPULATION.
435
ended in a civil war, the Irish, inflamed by these and other causes of
discontent, contrived and carried into effect a simultaneous massacre of
the English in all parts of the country. The unsuspecting victims—
men, women, and children-were involved in one common destruction.
Not satisfied with taking their lives under the most aggravated cir-
cumstances of atrocity and indignity, they pillaged and burned their
property, and seized and destroyed their houses! So complete was the
devastation, that had it not been that the authorities in Dublin got
notice of the insurrection before it actually broke out, and took mea-
sures to guard against it, almost every memorial of the English name
would have been annihilated in Ireland; for that part of the English
that were Catholics had lost most of the distinguishing characteristics
of their ancestors, and some of them, indeed, emulated the native Irish
in their cruelty to their Protestant countrymen.
The English ascendancy in Ireland was again partially restored
during the concluding part of the distracted reign of Charles I. But
it was not till the vigorous administration of Cromwell that vengeance
was taken for the massacre of 1641, and that the supremacy of Eng-
land was completely re-established. Still, however, no effectual mea-
sures were taken for extirpating the seeds of future rebellions, by pro-
viding for the incorporation of the English and Irish; or for remov-
ing those religious animosities that had been productive of so much
mischief.
In consequence of the prevalence of Catholicism in Ireland, the
people generally espoused the cause of the Stuart family. But the
arms of William III. being successful, the revolutionary government
was established there as well as in England. Unhappily, however, the
Catholics were deprived, contrary to the stipulations of the treaty of
Limerick, of some of the most important privileges enjoyed by their
Protestant countrymen, and were regarded by government with con-
tempt and aversion; and, notwithstanding the growing liberality of
the times, and the repeal of some obnoxious statutes, they were left,
despite their rapidly increasing numbers, to labour under degrading
disabilities, that have been but lately removed. Even now, the only
established or endowed religion is that of the church of England, the
adherents of which do not exceed a tenth part of the entire population;
so that the Irish Catholic priests and laity still continue subject to some
of those irritating influences that did so much to promote the rebellion
of 1641.
Progress of Population in Ireland.-The first authentic account of
the population of Ireland is given by Sir William Petty, in his tract
entitled The Political Anatomy of Ireland. Sir William was em-
ployed by government to superintend the survey and valuation of the
forfeited estates, instituted during the Protectorate; and so well did he
execute his task that this survey continues, after the lapse of near two
centuries, the standard of reference in the courts of law as to all points
of property. He had, therefore, the best means of obtaining accurate
information with respect to the numbers and condition of the people;
and as the results of his researches on these points are exceedingly
curious, we shall give them in his own words:—
2 F 2
436
IRELAND.
"The number of people now in Ireland (1672) is about 1,100,000, viz., 300,000
English, Scotch, and Welsh Protestants, and 800,000 Papists; whereof one-fourth
are children unfit for labour, and 75,000 of the remainder are, by reason of their
quality and estates, above the necessity of corporeal labour; so as there remains
750,000 labouring men and women, 500,000 whereof do perform the present work
of the nation.
"The said 1,100,000 people do live in about 200,000 families or houses, whereof
there are about 16,000 which have more than one chimney in each, and about
24,000 which have but one; all the other houses, being 160,000, are wretched, nasty
cabins, without chimney, window, or door-shut; even worse than those of the
savage Americans, and wholly unfit for the making merchantable butter, cheese, or
the manufactures of woollen, linen, or leather.
"By comparing the extent of the territory with the number of people, it appears
that Ireland is much underpeopled; forasmuch as there are above ten acres (Irish)
of good land to every head in Ireland; whereas in England and France there are
but four, and in Holland scarce one!"-(Pol. Anatomy of Ireland, ed. 1719, pp.
114, 118.)
In 1695, Captain South estimated the population at 1,034,102; but
it is impossible to say what credit should be given to his statement.
Mr. Dobbs, the second part of whose valuable Essay on the Trade
and Improvement of Ireland was published in 1731, gives (p. 6) an
account of the number of houses in the kingdom in 1712, 1718, 1725,
and 1726. From this account the population has been inferred-sup-
posing 6 inhabitants to belong, at an average, to each house-to have
been, in 1712, 2,099,094, and, in 1726, 2,309,106.*
Returns obtained through an inquiry instituted by the Irish House
of Lords in 1731 make the population of Ireland in that year only
2,010,221; but this result is not believed to be entitled to much con-
fidence. It should, however, be observed, that at this period, and for
long after, Ireland was essentially a grazing country. To such an ex-
tent, indeed, was the pasturage system carried, that, in 1727, during
the administration of Primate Boulter, a law was made to compel every
occupier of 100 acres of land to cultivate at least 5 acres, under a
penalty of 40s. !
The following estimates of the population have been made on the
basis of returns obtained from the hearth-money collectors, supposing,
as before, each house to have, at a medium, 6 inhabitants :-
Years.
1754
1767
Population.
2,372,634
2,544,276
Years.
1777
1785
Population.
2,690,556
2,845,932
Since 1785, the population has increased with astonishing rapidity.
In 1788, it was estimated, from the hearth-money returns, and other
data, by Mr. Parker Bushe, at 4,040,000. In 1805, Mr. Newenham
published his Inquiry into the Population of Ireland, in which he
showed that its increase, during the preceding 20 years, had been great
beyond all former precedent; and that there were good reasons for
thinking that it then amounted to 5,395,456. An incomplete census
* There is reason to think that this estimate of six inhabitants to a house is not
far from the mark; but Mr. Dobbs himself makes no such supposition, his data not
being, in his opinion, sufficient to determine it. The writer of the Preliminary Re-
marks to the Irish Census of 1821 should have stated this, when he quoted Mr.
Dobbs's authority for the population at the periods referred to.
POPULATION.
437
was taken in 1813, from which the population was concluded to be
5,937,858. At length, in 1821, a complete census was taken for the
first time, when the population was found to be 6,801,827; and, since
then, censuses have been taken in 1831, 1841, and 1851. The results
of these enumerations may be seen in the following Table.
Table exhibiting the Population of Ireland in 1821, 1831, 1841, and 1851, according
to the Censuses of these Years, and showing the Increase or Decrease per Cent. in
the intervening periods.

Increase
Increase
ог
ог
Counties, &c.
1821.
Decrease
per
Cent.
1831.
Decrease
per
Cent.
1841.
Increase
or
Decrease
1851.
per
Cent.
Leinster.
Inc.
Inc.
Dec.
Carlow
78,952
3
81,988
5
86,228
21
68,059
Dec,
Inc
Dublin County.
150,011
22
176,012
25
140,047
43
146,731
Inc.
Dublin City.
185,881
204, 155
14
232,726
11
258,361
Dec.
Kildare
99,065
108,424
6
114,488
16
95,688
Kilkenny County
158,716
169,945
7
183,349
23
138,773
•
Dec.
Inc.
Kilkenny City
23,230
20
23,741
20
19,071
44
19,973
King's County
131,088
9
144,225
Longford.
107,570
4
112,558
Louth.
101,011
7
107,481
224
146,857
115,491
'Dec.
23
112,080
28
82.350
111,979
18
90,812
Dec.
Dec.
Inc.
Drogheda Town
18,118
4
17,365
4.
16,261
34
16,845
Inc.
Inc.
Dec.
Meath.
159,183
11
176,826
183,828
24
140,750
Queen's County.
134,275
8
145,851
5
153,930
28
111,623
Westmeath
128,819
6
136,872
3
141,300
23
111,409
Wexford
170,806
7
182,713
11
202,033
10
180, 159
Wicklow
110,767
10
121,557
3
126,143
21
98,978
Inc.
Inc.
Dec.
Total
1,757,492
9
1,909,713
3
1,973,731
15
1,672,591
Munster.
Clare
Cork County.
208,089
629,786
2226
24
12
258,322
703,716
11
286,394
25
9
773,398
23
212,428
563,326
Dec.
Inc.
Cork City.
100,658
8
107,016
25
60,720
6
85,745
Inc.
Dec.
Kerry
216, 185
22
Limerick County
•
218,432
Limerick City
59,045
12
Tipperary
Waterford
346,896
127,842
16
15
26 2 64
263,126
248,801
12
293,880
19
13
281,638
Dec.
28
Inc.
238,239
208,688
66,554
27호
​48,391
10
53,448
Inc.
Dec.
402,563
148,233
8
11
Waterford City
28,679
28,821
435,553
172,971
23,216
25
21
331,487
138,754
Inc.
8
25,297
Inc.
Total
1,935,612
15
2,227,152
Inc.
8
2,396,161
Dec.
22}
1,857,412
•
+
Ulster.
Dec.
Antrim
217,683
23
268,085
Belfast
45,177
61
48,224
23
56
276,188
75,308
9
251,381
Inc.
33
100,300
Dec.
Carrickfergus
8,023
8
Armagh.
197,427
11
8,706
220,134
Cavan
195,076
17
227,933
Donegal.
248,270
16
289,149
Down.
325,410
8
352,012
Fermanaghi
130,997
14
149,763
887334
9,379
11
8,320
6
232,393
15
196,085
243, 158
28
174,071
296,448
14
255,160
361,446
11
320,817
156,481
25
116,007
Londonderry
193,869
15
222,012
1-20th
222,174
13
191,868
Monaghan
174,697
6
Tyrone
261,865
16
195,536
304,468
8
200,442
29
141,813
3
312,956
18
255,734
Total
1,908,494
Iuc.
14
2,286,622
Iuc.
4
2,386,373
Dec.
16
2,011,756
438
IRELAND.
Table exhibiting the Population of Ireland, &c.—continued.

Increase
Increase
Increase
or
ог
ог
Counties, &c.
1821.
Decrease
1831.
per
Cent.
Decrease
per
Cent.
1841.
Decrease
1851.
per
Cent.
Connaught.
Inc.
Inc.
Dec.
Galway
309,599
27
381,564
10
Dec.
422,923
29
Inc.
298,136
Galway Town
27,775
Leitrim
124,785
Mayo.
293,112
•
Sligo
Roscommon
•
208,729
២៩៨ ២
19
33,120
48
17,275
37
23,695
Inc.
Dec.
13
141,524
9
155,297
28
111,841
25
366,328
6
888,887
29
274,612
19
249,613
1
253,591
31
173,417
146,229
17
171,765
5
180,886
28
128,510
Inc.
Inc.
Total
1,110,229
21
1,343,914
5
1,418,859
28*6-10
1,010,211
•
SUMMARY.

Provinces.
Inc.
Inc.
Leinster
Munster
1,757,492
1,935,612
9
1,909,713
3
1,973,731
Dec.
15
1,672,591
15
2,227,152
8
2,396,161
22초
​1,857,412
Ulster.
1,998,494
14
2,286,622
4
2,386,373
16
2,011,756
Connaught
1,110,229
21
1,343,914
5
1,418,859
28
1,010,211
Total
6,801,827
Inc.
14
Inc.
Dec.
7,767,401
5
8,175,124
20
6,551,970
Causes of the Increase of Population.-It is obvious from these
statements, that the population of Ireland increased after 1785 with
extraordinary rapidity. The wealth of the country was also, no
doubt, materially augmented after that epoch; but we doubt whether
it increased in a corresponding proportion. The condition of the
bulk of the people seems to have been nearly as depressed from
1790 downwards as at any former period. Their increase, as com-
pared with that of the means of subsistence, was such as to keep them
constantly in poverty, and to prevent them profiting by the wonderful
discoveries and improvements of the last half century. We shall
briefly notice some of the more prominent circumstances that appear
to have conspired to stimulate the progress of population in Ireland
subsequently to 1785.
1. The Bounty Act of 1783 and 1784 seems to have given the first
considerable stimulus. When the efforts of Grattan and the volun-
teers achieved the nominal independence of Ireland, and procured
the abolition of those oppressive restrictions with which the narrow
jealousy of the British Parliament had fettered her foreign commerce,
the Irish Parliament made a powerful effort to stimulate the industry
and energies of the people; but, unfortunately, the means resorted to
for the accomplishment of this desirable purpose were not of a kind
that could be productive of any lasting or real advantage. Instead of
contenting themselves with breaking down the restraints under which
they laboured, and giving freedom to commerce, they had recourse to
all the artificial expedients of the restrictive system. In imitation of
the erroneous policy of England, they granted high bounties on the
exportation of corn, and other raw produce (3s. 4d. per barrel on
POPULATION.
439
wheat, and other grain in proportion), at the same that they laid pro-
hibitory duties on their importation from abroad. In vain did one or
two members urge that, though the bounty system might be apparently
beneficial for a few years, it could not be otherwise than injurious in
the end. Their feeble and, as it was considered, anti-national opposi-
tion was drowned amid general acclamations, and measures which
have done irreparable mischief to Ireland were hailed with the enthu-
siastic plaudits of her choicest patriots!
Previously to the passing of the Bounty Acts (23 and 24 Geo. III.
cap. 19), Ireland was, as already stated, essentially a grazing country;
but no sooner had they been passed, than the artificial enhancement of
prices, caused by the bounty and the restriction on importation, occa-
sioned an immediate and extraordinary increase of cultivation. Un-
luckily, however, there was in 1784, as at present, very little capital
in Ireland; and the impossibility, resulting from this circumstance, of
finding tenants capable of occupying and cultivating large tillage
farms, tempted the proprietors to divide their estates into small portions,
and even to let them on the ruinous system of partnership leases.
Hence the stimulus intended to act exclusively on agriculture had a
still more powerful effect in causing the subdivision of farms, and the
increase of population.
In 1806, the previously existing restraints on the trade in corn
between Great Britain and Ireland were wholly abolished. And,
while the markets of England were opened to the free competition of
the Irish growers, the high prices obtained during the war continued
the impulse originally given by the Bounty Acts, and occasioned a
further and very great extension of tillage. More recently, this
impulse was continued, by the greater facilities afforded by steam
navigation to the intercourse between the two countries; the introduc-
tion of improved processes, &c.; and, more than all, by the progressive
diminution of pasture land, owing to the enormous rents offered for
small tillage farms.
2. But the effect of the Bounty Acts, and of the opening of the
markets of England, would have been comparatively trifling, had it
not been for the peculiar customs and manners of the people, and the
nature of their civil and political institutions. The custom of gavel-
kind, or of equally dividing the paternal property, whether freehold
or leasehold, among all the children of a family, has always prevailed
among the Irish. Sir John Davies particularly specifics this as one of
the customs that had mainly tended to perpetuate the barbarism and
poverty of the people; and it still continues to exert a very powerful
and disastrous influence.
So long, however, as the rearing of cattle formed the principal em-
ployment of the Irish farmers, the custom of gavelkind, or the equal
partition of property among children, was comparatively harmless;
for, as the pasture-lands were generally let in immense tracts to opulent
graziers, only a few individuals were required to feed and take care of
the cattle, and these were not usually permitted to occupy any land.
But the passing of the Bounty Acts gave birth to a new order of things.
Even though capital had been as abundant in Ireland, as it was defi-
cient, it would have been impossible for a tillage farmer to have
440
IRELAND
managed such large tracts of land as were previously held by single
graziers. Not only, however, was the size of the farms greatly re-
duced, but the new occupiers, being for the most part exceedingly
poor, were glad to buy whatever labour they could obtain by granting
the peasantry allotments of small pieces of ground, whereon they
might erect cabins and raise potatoes. And the stimulus that was thus
given to population did not cease (as might, indeed, have easily been
foreseen) when a sufficient supply of labourers was obtained to cul-
tivate the country. The habits of idleness and of early marriage,
caused by the equal partition of the paternal farm, operate quite as
powerfully on the descendants of the occupier of a farm of 50 as of
500 acres. There are, in fact, everywhere throughout Ireland, innu-
merable instances of farms of from 300 to 500 acres let, from 40 to
50 years ago, to single tenants possessed of capital sufficient for their
cultivation, and now split, perhaps, among 20, 30, or 40 families, by
means of the repeated divisions that have taken place in consequence
of the death of fathers, the marriage of children, the introduction of
sub-tenants, &c.-(For examples of this, see ante, pp. 378, 379,
&c.)
It should, however, be observed that the practice of subdividing and
subletting farms and patches of land, was checked in 1825, by the Sub-
letting Act passed in the course of that year. And the reduced rate at
which the population of Ireland increased during the 10 years ending
with 1841, as compared with the previous 10 years, is in a considerable
degree to be ascribed to the salutary influence of the above Act, which,
though it did not wholly prevent subletting and subdivision, dimi-
nished their prevalence. (See post.)
3. The passion for political influence has always had a powerful
sway in Ireland; and subsequently to 1792, when Catholics were per-
mitted to exercise the elective franchise, most landlords split their
estates for the purpose of creating voters, and the population was, in
consequence, much augmented.
""
"The passion for acquiring political influence prevails,' says Mr.
Wakefield, "throughout the whole country; and it has an overwhelm-
ing influence upon the people; to divide and subdivide for the pur-
pose of making freeholders is the great object of every owner of land ;
and I consider it one of the most pernicious practices that has ever
been introduced into the operations of political machinery. It re-
duces the elective franchise nearly to universal suffrage, to a popula-
tion who, by the very instrument by which they are made free, are
reduced to the most abject state of personal bondage.
The
little freeholder is ordered to vote for the object of his landlord's
choice, with as little ceremony as the Jamaica planter would direct his
slave to the performance of the meanest offices."—(Account of Ireland,
vol. ii., p. 301.)
* * *
The experience of the last few years has shown that the influence of
the landlords over the voters on their estates was very far, indeed,
from being so well established as Mr. Wakefield seems to have sup-
posed. It has been, in fact, diverted, to a great extent, into other
channels; and this circumstance contributed more, perhaps, than
anything else to facilitate the passing of that part of the Catholic
POPULATION.
441
Emancipation Act which materially diminished the number of small
freeholders.
4. Had there been a compulsory provision for the support of the
poor in Ireland similar to what has been long established in England,
the foregoing causes of increased population might have existed without
producing the results we have witnessed. Few Irish gentlemen were
able to resist the double temptation to split their estates caused by
the desire to extend their political influence, and by the exorbitant
rents offered for small patches of land; but had their estates been
made liable for the support of these small occupiers and their families
and descendants in all time to come, in the event of their becoming
infirm, destitute, or unable to support themselves, they would have felt
that increased political influence and the promise of high rents were
not sufficient to countervail such indefinite responsibility; and would
undoubtedly have opposed themselves to the practice of subdivision,
and have soon found means to prevent it. Unfortunately, however,
there was no check of this sort in existence, nor anything, indeed,
to oppose the strong tendencies of a contrary kind; so that we need
not wonder at the extent to which the process of splitting farms was
carried, or at the swarms of cottiers hutted all over the land.
5. The almost universal dependence placed by the people on the
potato has also contributed, and that in no common degree, to increase
their numbers. It appears to be satisfactorily established, that a given
extent of land planted with potatoes will support at least double the
number of persons that it could do, were it sown with wheat, or any
species of corn, and five or six times the number that it could support
were it employed to produce butchers' meat. Hence it is, that a
country like Ireland, the great bulk of the people of which subsist
almost wholly on potatoes, may have an exceedingly dense population
without considerable manufactures, large towns, or any trade save the
exportation of raw produce.
Unhappily, however, a population which, like that of Ireland, is
principally dependent on the potato for subsistence, is necessarily poor,
and is always placed under the most critical circumstances. It is
admitted on all hands that the rate of wages is principally determined
by the species of food made use of in a country. Now, as the potato
forms that species which is produced at the very least expense,
it may
be fairly presumed, on general grounds, that wages will be reduced to
a minimum wherever the labouring classes are mainly dependent on
that root; and the example of Ireland shows that this conclusion is as
consistent with fact as with principle. It is clear, however, that when
the crop of potatoes happens to be deficient in a country thus situated,
the condition of its inhabitants must be in the last degree unfortunate.
When the standard of natural or necessary wages is high, when wheat
and beef, for example, form the principal part of the food of the
labourers, and porter and beer the principal part of their drink, they
can bear to retrench in periods of scarcity. Such men have room to
fall; they may give up their drink, and resort to cheaper sorts of food,
such as barley, oats, rice, and potatoes. But those who are habitually
fed on the cheapest species of food are without the power to economise,
and have nothing to fall back upon when it happens to be deficient,
442
IRELAND.
You may take from an Englishman, but you cannot take from an
Irishman. The latter is at all times placed on the very verge of
existence. His wages being regulated by the price of potatoes, will
not buy wheat, or barley, or oats; and whenever, therefore, the supply
of potatoes fails, it is next to impossible he should escape, by any
efforts of his own, from starving.
The history of the scarcities that so frequently occur in Ireland
affords many illustrations of the accuracy of the statements now made.
Owing, for example, to the failure of the potato crop in 1821, a large
proportion of the peasantry of Clare, Limerick, and other counties
bordering on the Shannon, were reduced to a state of almost absolute
destitution, and had nothing save a miserable mixture of oatmeal,
water-cresses, and nettles to subsist upon. In some instances the
potatoes, after being planted, were dug up and eaten; and in conse-
quence of the deficiency and bad quality of the food, disease became
exceedingly prevalent, and typhus fever, in its worst and most malig-
nant form, carried its destructive ravages into every corner of the
country. But it is unnecessary to go back to 1821 for an example of
this sort. The failure of the potato crops of 1845 and 1846 was
attended by consequences that were still more destructive. And it is
of importance to remark that, notwithstanding the urgency of the
distress, which, in several districts, amounted to a famine, the exporta-
tion of corn and other articles of provision to England, continued down
to the very moment when the contributions of government and of the
public were applied to purchase food for the peasantry. And it is,
indeed, obvious, that to whatever extremity a potato-feeding peasantry
may be reduced, they cannot relieve themselves by purchasing corn.
If wheat, or even oats, formed the principal part of the food of the
Irish, corn would be poured into Ireland in the same way that it is
poured into England, whenever the crop is known or supposed to be
materially deficient. But a people habitually dependent on the potato
cannot become purchasers of corn; nor can they even become pur-
chasers of foreign potatoes, inasmuch as the freight of so bulky a
commodity would raise its price far above their limited means.
a period of scarcity men cannot go from a low to a high level; they
must always go from a higher to a lower. But to the Irish this is
impossible; they have already reached the lowest point in the descend-
ing scale; and a scarcity of potatoes is in their case synonymous with
famine.
In
It may be said, perhaps, that, had potatoes not been introduced,
wheat, or barley, or oats would have been the lowest species of food;
and that, whenever it happened to fail, the population would have
been as destitute as if they had been subsisting on potatoes. It
must, however, be observed, that the proportion which the price of
wheat, or any species of grain, bears to the price of butcher's meat,
tea, beer, &c., is always decidedly greater than the proportion which
the price of potatoes bears to these articles; and it therefore follows
that a people who have adopted wheat, or any species of corn, for the
principal part of their food, are much better able to make occasional
purchases of butcher's meat, &c., and will, consequently, be more
likely to have their habits elevated, so as to consider the consumption
POPULATION.
443
of a certain quantity of animal food, &c., as indispensable to existence.
And hence it appears reasonable to conclude that a people who chiefly
subsist on corn would, in most cases, subsist partially on butcher's
meat, and would enjoy a greater or less quantity of other articles ; so
that it would be possible for them, in a period of scarcity, to make
such retrenchments as would enable them to elude the severity of its
pressure.
But, though the population in corn-feeding countries were dependent
on the cheapest species of grain, not for a part only, but for the whole,
of their food, their situation would, notwithstanding, be far less
hazardous than that of a population subsisting wholly on potatoes.
For, in the first place, owing to the impossibility, as to all practical
purposes, of preserving potatoes, the surplus produce of a luxuriant
crop cannot be stored up or reserved as a stock to meet any sub-
sequent scarcity. The whole crop must necessarily be exhausted in
a single year; so that, when the inhabitants have the misfortune to be
overtaken by a scarcity, its pressure cannot be alleviated, as is almost
uniformly the case in corn-feeding countries, by bringing the reserves
of former harvests to market. Every year is thus left to provide
subsistence for itself. When, on the one hand, the crop is luxuriant,
the surplus is of comparatively little use, and is wasted unprofitably;
and when, on the other hand, it is deficient, famine and disease neces-
sarily prevail in the second place, it is abundantly certain that the
variations in the quantities of produce obtained from land planted with
potatoes are greater than the variations in the quantities of produce
obtained from land on which wheat, or any other species of grain, is
raised. There has been no instance on record of any such failure of the
crops of corn as occurred in the case of potatoes in many parts of Ire-
land in 1821, 1845, and 1846. It is true that, in the latter years, the
failure was not confined to Ireland, but extended to many other parts
of Europe, and even to America. Owing, however, to the population
being so very dependent on the potato in Ireland, the deficiency of the
crop was productive of incomparably more suffering in that country
than anywhere else: and, lastly, owing to the great bulk and weight of
potatoes, and the difficulty of preserving them on shipboard, the expense
of conveying them from one country to another is so very great, that,
as already stated, a scarcity can never be materially relieved by im-
porting them from abroad. In consequence, those who chiefly depend
on potatoes are practically excluded from participating in the benevo-
lent provision made by nature for equalising the variations in the
harvests of particular countries by means of commerce, and are thrown
almost wholly on their own resources.
It is, therefore, of the utmost consequence to the well-being of every
people, and to their protection in years of scarcity, that they should
not subsist principally on the potato. In Britain the pressure of a
scarcity is evaded by resorting to an inferior species of food, such as
potatoes, and submitting to a lower standard of comfort; but if our
people were habitually fed on the potato, this would be impracticable.
The chances of famine would thus be vastly increased; while, owing
to the low value of the potato as compared with most other things, the
labourers would have less chance of preserving or acquiring a taste
444
. IRELAND.
for animal food, or other necessaries and luxuries; and, consequently,
of changing at any future period their actual condition for a better.
It may, therefore, be concluded, on solid grounds, not only that the
population of Ireland would have been less dense, but, also, that its
condition would have been more secure and prosperous had the potato
not been introduced into it. Perhaps its introduction into England
has not hitherto had any mischievous consequences. But the dependence
on it being very apt to increase, and being, at the same time, so very
dangerous, we shall not regret should the increasing uncertainty of its
produce make its culture be gradually abandoned.
Decrease of Population since 1845.-Emigration.-The decrease
of population in Ireland since 1845, is far more extraordinary than its
previous increase. Experience of the extremely injurious influence of
the minute division of the land, and of the poverty and misery of the
population which it called into existence, made many landlords set
themselves strongly against the practice of subdivision. Their efforts
were, as already seen, powerfully assisted by the Act against subletting
passed in 1825; and the introduction of a compulsory provision for the
support of the poor in 1838, made it evident to all proprietors that if
they could not reduce the cottiers on their estates to something like the
necessary numbers, they would have to maintain the surplus at a heavy
expense in workhouses. Owing to the combined influence of these and
other causes the population of Ireland increased but little during the
10 years ending with 1840, and, perhaps, nothing in the subsequent
5 years.
The fearful reaction which commenced in 1845, was the result of
the partial failure of the potato-crop of that year, and of the still more
extensive failure of the crop of 1846. These failures, notwithstanding
all that was done to mitigate their influence by the exertions both
of government and individuals, occasioned an extent of destitution,
disease, and death, which has probably never been paralleled in any
civilized country in a period of peace. But the excess of mortality,
though great, had but a comparatively limited influence in lessening
the numbers of the inhabitants. That has been principally a con-
sequence of the extensive emigration which the scarcity occasioned in
the first instance, and which has since been kept up by other causes.
The all but unlimited demand for labour in the United States and
Canada, the facility with which emigrants are carried to these countries,
and the extraordinary zeal evinced by those who have already emigrated
to induce their friends and others to follow them, have conspired to
make the practice of emigration be carried on to a vast extent.
Indeed, it has been supposed by some that it has been already too
much extended, and that the country will eventually suffer from
the want of hands to engage in industrious undertakings. There is,
however, no room or ground for any such apprehensions. The rise of
wages which emigration never fails to bring along with it, is sure to
hinder it from being carried to excess; and it may certainly be carried
much farther than hitherto without having any but advantageous
results. The truth is, that Ireland is not a tillage but a grazing
country; and as she has, owing to the want of coal, no peculiar
aptitude for manufactures, her population might, it is evident, be
advantageously reduced much below its present amount. According
POPULATION.
445
as labour and population become distributed among the nations of the
earth, more nearly in proportion to their respective capacities for
their profitable employment, so will Ireland be more and more devoted
to pastoral purposes, and her people be gradually transferred to other
countries. This, in as far as can at present be seen, is the course on
which she is now entering; and if she continue in it, it will conduce
in no ordinary degree to her prosperity. A well-fed, well-clothed, and
well-housed population, have not merely comfort and respectability,
but in a high degree, also, national power and consideration. Hol-
land, or Scotland, each with about three millions of people, was more
opulent, had a larger revenue, and was more powerful than Ireland
when she had a population of above eight millions. And to show how
little mere numbers have to do with national importance, it is not
necessary to travel out of Ireland-her public revenue being greater
now than when her population was at its maxiınum.
Density of Population.-The following Table embodies all the exist-
ing information with respect to the density of population in Ireland.
-(See page 446.)
Population of Great Towns.-A comparatively small part of the
population of Ireland is resident in great towns; and, with few excep-
tions, their increase since 1820 has been comparatively slow.-(See
p. 447.)
Considering the great extent of bogs in Ireland, the backward state
of its agriculture, the deficiency of manufactures and trade, and the
fewness of the great towns, its population is even yet dense.
There was, in fact, in 1851, at an average of the entire kingdom, an
individual for every 3 acres; whereas in England, notwithstanding
the number and magnitude of her great towns, and the vast amount of her
manufacturing and commercial population, there were about 2 acres
for every individual; and in Scotland there was only an individual to
every 6.7 acres! This wonderful density of population in Ireland,
notwithstanding its recent diminution, is entirely ascribable to the divi-
sion and subdivision of the land, and the general dependence on the
potato. But, however it may have originated, there can be no question
that it has been the immediate cause of the poverty and depressed con-
dition of the great bulk of the people. And it is not too much to say,
that at present there are a million of persons in Ireland more than it is,
with its existing means of production, able either fully to employ or to
maintain in a moderate state of comfort.
The Registers of Births and Deaths are in a still worse state in
Ireland than in Scotland; and, as the legislature knew this, no pro-
vision was made, under the Acts for taking the census in Ireland, for
obtaining returns of the same from the ministers of churches and
chapels. We have not, therefore, any information of any sort to lay
before the reader under this head. It is, however, to be hoped that
measures may be speedily taken for supplying so important a deside-
ratum, by providing for the registration of all births and deaths; and
this may be the more easily effected, as the machinery of the Act of
1844, the 7 and 8 Victoria, c. 81, which provides for the registration
of marriages, might, in part at least, be applied to the registration of
births and deaths.
446
IRELAND.
Table showing the Number of English Statute Acres, exclusive of Lakes, in each of the
Provinces and Counties of Ireland; the Number of Males, Females, and Inhabited
Houses in each in 1851; the Number of Acres corresponding to each Person, and the
Number of Persons corresponding to each House.
Provinces and
Counties.
Number of
Acres,
exclusive of
Lakes.
Population Returns of 1851.
Inhabited
Houses,
1851.
Acres of
Land
corre-
Persons
corre-
Males. Females.
Totals.
sponding
to each
Person.
sponding
to each
House.

Leinster.
Carlow
220,837
33,014
35,061
68,075 11,177
3.2
6.0
Dublin
226,414
187,254
217,738
399,992 45,894
*5
8.7
Kildare
417,419
48,519
47,205
95,724
15,834
4.3
6.0
Kilkenny
506,676
76,490
82,256
158,746
25,900
3.2
6.1
King's
492,252 55,285
56,795
112,080
18,793
4.3
5.9
Longford
255,734
41,042
41,308
82,350
13,858
3 1
5.9
Louth
201,093 52,253
55,404
107,657
19,460
1.8
5.5
Meath
576,655 70,815 69,935
140,750
24,044
4.0
5.8
Queen's
424,458 55,543
56,080
111,623
19,185
3 8
5.8
Westmeath
Wexford
•
Wicklow.
Total
431,041 56,089 55,320
572,920 86,770 93,020
499,088 50,232 48,746 98,978
4,824,587 813,306
111,409
18,737
3.8
5.9
179,790
29,479
3 1
6.0
15,544
5.0
6.3
858,868 1,672,174
257,965
:
Averages
2.9
6.4
Munster.
Clare
Cork
760,074
1,833,466
Kerry
1,153,365
Limerick
Tipperary
•
662,311
127,387
1,048,208
159,961
Waterford
455,774
78,436
103,931 108,497 212,428 31,422 3.5
317,742 331,161 648,903 93,607 2.8
116,492 121,747 238,239 33,572 4.8
134,749 262,131 36,380 2.5
171,526 331,487 48,566 3.1
85,075 164,051 23,427 2.7
6.7
6.9
7.0
7.2
6 8
7.0
Total
5,913,198
904,489
952,755 1,857,244
266,974
Averages
3.1
6.9
Ulster.
Antrim
708,589
218,383
Armagh
310,134
95,718
242,501 460,884
100,367
78,575 1.5
6.2
196,085
35,073
1.5
5.5
Cavan
455,218
86,610
87,461 174,071
30,050
2.6
5 7
Donegal
1,170,336
124,691
130,469
255,160
44,618
4.5
5.7
Down
609,063 156,538
172,216
328,754 59,519
1.8
5.6
Fermanagh
Londonderry
Monaghan
Tyrone
410,440 56,807
503,268 93,032
313,590 68,791
774,844 126,254 129,565 255,819 45,037 3.0
59,200 116,007
98,836 191,868
72,967 141,758
20,214
3.5
5.7
33,339
2.6
5.7
25,742 2.2
5.5
5.6
Total
5,260,482 1,026,824 1,093,582 2,120,406
367,167
:
Averages
2.4
5.8
Connaught.
Galway
1,476,324
157,613
164,646
322,259
51,748
4.5
6.2
Leitrim
Mayo
368,615
1,306,906
56,122
55,793
111,915
18,922
3.2
5.9
133,459
141,371
274, 30
46,940
4.7
5.५
Roscommon
578,321
86,896
87,596
174,492
29,526 3.3
5.9
Sligo
449,013 62,879
65,631 128,510
22,163 3.4
5.7
Total
4,179,179 496,969 515,037 1,012,006
169,299
Averages
4.1
5.9
General Total
20,177,446 3,241,588 3,420,242 |6,661,830 1,061,405
Average number of Acres corresponding to each Person, and of Persons to
each House.
3.0
6.2
POPULATION.
447
Population of the principal Cities and Towns of Ireland in 1841 and 1851; with the
Number of Inhabited Houses in each in 1851, and the average Number of Persons to
a House, &c.


Area, Area,
inclusive exclu-
In-
Popula-
tion
Popula-
tion
Cities and Towns.
of
Rural
sive of
in
in
habited Persons
Houses to a
Rural
in
House.
1841.
1851.
District. District.
1851.

Acres.
Acres.
Dublin (County of City)
Cork (County of City)
Limerick (County of City)
•
4,954
3,304
232,726 258,361
22,276
11.5
48,006
2,683
106,055
90,022
9,419
9.5
33,863
2,618
65,296
57,935
5,561
10.4
Belfast
1,872
1,872
75,308
102,103
13,806
7.3
Galway (County of Town)
24,132
628
32,511
23,695
2,538
9.3
Waterford (County of City)
10,059
669
29,288
25,297
3,238
7.2
Sligo
3,001
416
14,318
13,320
1,840
7.2
Londonderry and Liberties
13,678
497
20,379
20,479
2,446
8 3
Kilkenny (County of Town)
17,012
921
23,625
19,973
2,530
7.7
Drogheda (County of Town)
5,780
472
19,260
17,533
2,957
5.9
Wexford.
762
762
11,252
12,819
2,632
6.3
Kinsale
290
290
6,918
6,440
806
8.0
Carlow
•
572
572
10,409
11,582
1,375
8.4
Dundalk
Youghal
•
450
450
10,782
10,983
1,679
6.5
•
504
504
9,939
9,211
1,117
8.2
Bandon
•
496
496
9,303
8,561
1.028
8.3
Killarney
98
98
7,127
10,387
752
13.8
Clonmel .
364
364
13,505
15,336
1,374
11.1
Carrick-on-Suir
300
300
8,369
7,512
1,022
7.3
Armagh
•
269
269
10,245
9,781
1,378
7.1
Athlone
491
491
6,393
7,984
914
8.7
Tralee
546
546
11,363
15,156
1,293
11.7
Thurles
321
321
7,523
8,682
988
8.7
Nenagh
179
179
8,618
9,292
1,134
8.1
Newry
2,543
629
13,227
14,074
1,976
7.1
Dungarvan
8,499
392
12,382
7,340
949
7.7
Ennis.
484
484
9,318
12,165
1,174
10.3
Age and Place of Birth; Account of the Population of each County of Ireland in 1841;
showing also the Number of Males and Females in cach under and above 20 Years of
Age, with the Numbers respectively Born in Ireland, England, Scotland, &c.


Ages.
Place
Counties.
Total
of
Persons.
Under 20 Years.
20 Years and
upwards.
Born Born
Born
in
in
in
Ireland. England. Scotland.
of
Birth
not
Speci-
1
Antrim
Armagh
Carlow
Cavan
Clare
•
·
•
Cork
Donegal
Down
Males. Females.
260,75
88,485 80,002
232,393 58,319 57,195
20,065
86,22
243,158 63,764
286,394 73,569
854,118 205,305
296,448
361,4
,446
Males. Females.
fied.
19,961
Dublin
·
Fermanagh
Galway.
Kerry
Kildare.
156,481
440,198
293,880 75,803 73,669
114,488 27,858 26,466
372,773 75,982 79,630
40,410 39,221
83,906 99,482 357,182 1,648
55,573 61,306 231,623
22.363
23,839
63,224 57,050 59,120 242,756
71,484 70,540 70,801 286,057
202,804 215,246 230,763 850,962
76,882 74,921
68,939
75,706 295,844
87,847 87,402 85,691
100,506 359,581
94,948
1,707
338
467
227
76
85,967
161
58
42
180
64
158
228
67
42
2,391
318
447
346
182
76
877
809
179
122,213
363,030
6,853
1,895
995
36,572
40,278
156, 107
203
102
69
112,128 109,228
107,436
111,406
439,392
521
182
103
71,504
72,904
293,265
442
75
98
30, 172
29,992
113,887
406
141
54
Kilkenny
202,420 46,968 45,862
52,146
57,444 202,005
260
92
63
King's
146,857 86,318 36,045
36,333
Leitrim
155,297 41,088 41,029
36,413
38,161
36,767 155,046
146,2
,366
293
109
89
97
40
114
Limerick
330,029 80,429 79,996
81,568
88,036 329,106
560
224
139
Londonderry
Longford.
222,174 55,612 54,844 51,213
115,491 30,302 29,577 27,308
60,505 221,088
419
514
28,
,304 115,167
173
30
121
Louth
128,240
30,343 30,744
31,954
35, 199
127,480
424
278
Mayo
•
388,8 7
101,226 99,780
92,72
94,909
388,252
457
*97
Meath
•
183,828
Monaghan.
200,442
45,204 43,480
50,040 49,165 48,031
47,290
47,854 183,422
258
68
52,606
200,003
198
153
Queen's.
153,930 37,120 36,328 39,283
41, 199
153,461
326
66
Roscommon
253,591 66,939 65,082
60,077
61,493
253, 193
253
75
Sligo.
Tipperary.
180,936
435,553 106,592
46,435
46,104
103,757
43, 128
45,219
180,342
276
171
110,058
115, 106
434,805
499
149
100
Tyrone
•
312,956
80,477
78,461
72,986
81,032
312,311
295
244
106
Waterford
196,187
45,105
44,405 50,471
56,206 195,258
692
147
Westmeath
35,618 34,500 34,765
Wexford
Wicklow
141,500
202,033 45,452 44,845 52,466 59,270 201,123
126,143 31,858 30,794 31,631 31,960
125,533
36,417 140,902
224
77
638
103
109
427
121
8378583KR♪ggangu
70
90
Total
•
8,175,124 2,019,543 1,989,645 2,000,033 2,165,903 8,140,516 | 21,552
8,535 4.471
448
UNITED KINGDOM.
SECT. 4.-Population of the United Kingdom.
It may now be useful to bring into one point of view the following
details with respect to the population of the United Kingdom :—
I. Progress of Population in the different Portions of the United Kingdom.

Ireland.
United Kingdom.
Population. Years. Population. Years. Population.
England and Wales.
Scotland.
Years.
Population. Years.
1696
5,500,000 1707
1,050,000 1672
1710
5,066,337
1712
1,100,000 1700 7,650,000
2,099,094
1730
5,687,993
1750
6,039,684 1755
1,265,380 1754
2,372,634 1750
9,670,000
1760
6,479,730
1777
2,690,556
1780
7,814,827
1801 9,187,176 1801
1851 17,927,600 1851
1785
2,845,932
1,599,058 1805
5,395,456
2,888,742 1851 6,661,830 1851
1800
15,800,000
27,478,181
II. Summary Account of the Population of Great Britain and Ireland, including the
Army and Navy, at the periods at which Censuses have been taken, with the Ratio of
Increase in the intervening decennial periods.

Inc.
Inc.
Inc.
Inc.
Inc.
or
1801.
per
Cent.
1811.
per
Cent.
1821.
per
Cent.
1831.
per
Cent.
1841. Dec.
per
(ent.
1851.
England
Wales
8,331,434
9,538,827
•
Scotland
Army, Navy, &c.
Islands in the
British Seas
541,546 13
1,559,068 14
470,598
17
611,788 17
1,805,688 16
610,500
•
}
11,261,437
717,438
2,093,476 13
319,300
89,508 15.8
16
14
12
13,091,005 14′5 |14,995,138 12.8 |16,921,888
806,182 13:0 911,603 10.8
2,365,114| 10*7 | 2,620,184] 10.2
277,017
193,469
103,710 19.6 124,040 15.3
1,005,721
2,888,742
..
210,474
143,126
Total
•
10,942,646 15*1 12,596,803, 14*2 14,481,139 149
Ireland
..
16,643,028 13-2 |18,844,434| 12.3 21,169,951
Dec.
6,801,827 14 7,767,401 5.2 8,175,124 186,661,830
Inc.
Total Population
[21,202,066| 15°1 |24,419,429 10'6 27,019,558 3.9 27,831,781
of the United
Kingdom
:
III. Account of the Total Area (including and excluding Water) in Square Miles
and Acres, of the Inhabited Houses, and of the Total Population per Square Mile
(including and excluding Water) in the different Divisions of the United Kingdom,
in 1851.

Square Statute Square
Miles, Acres,
Miles,
including including exclusive of
Statute
Acres,
exclusive of
Inhabited
Houses.
Total
Population.
Water.
Water.
Water.
Water.
Popula-
tion per
Popufa-
tion per
Square Square
Mile,
Mile,
including exclusive
Water. of Water.
England.
Wales
Scotland
•
50,922
32,590,429
50,922
•
•
7,398
80,714
4,734,485
19,657,315
7,898
30,469
32,500,429
4,734,485
19,500,348
3,076,620
16,921,808 332.5
201,403 1,005,721 135.9
370,308 2,888,742
33? 5
135.9
94.0
94.0
Average of Great
Britain.
Total
89,(34 56,982,230
88,789
56,825,262
Ireland :-
Leinster
Munster
Ulster
Connaught
7,619 4.876,211
9.476 6,064,579
8,555 5,475,488
6,962 4,392,043
7,530
9,240
8,219
4,824,537
5,913, 198
5,260,482
6,530
4.179,179
8,648,337 20,816,351
257,965
286,74
36,167
169.299
233.8
224.4
1,672,174
219.4
222.0
1,857,244
195.9
201·0
2,120,406
1,012,008
247.0
257.9
147 4
154.9
Average of Ireland.
32,512 20,808,271
31,527 20,177,446 1,061,405 6,661,830
204.8 | 211.3
Average of United
Kingdom.
Total of United
Kingdom
Channel Islands
and Isle of Man
122,546
77,790,501
394
252,000
120,316 | 77,002,708
4,709.742 27,478,131
224.2
228 3
394
252,000
21,845
143,126
343.2
363.2
POPULATION,
449
It appears from the second of the above tables, that the population
of Great Britain, and the islands in the British Seas, increased during
the 10 years ending with 1850, at the rate of 12.3 per cent., or of
1.23 per cent. a-year.
The population of Ireland increased, during the 10 years preceding
1841, at the rate of 5.2 per cent., or of 52 per cent. a-year. But its
decrease during the 10 years ending with 1850 was no less than 18.5
per cent., or at the rate of 1·85 per cent a-year.
It is not easy to form any accurate estimate of the subsequent pro-
gress of population either in Great Britain or Ireland, seeing that it
has been strongly acted upon by extraordinary influences, such as the
unparalleled prosperity that has latterly prevailed in the former, and
the equally unparalleled emigration from both islands, but especially
from Ireland. On the whole, however, we have little doubt that the
population of Britain has increased since 1850 at the rate of about
11 per cent. a-year, while that of Ireland has continued to diminish.
VOL. I.
*
2 G
450
ENGLAND AND WALES.
PART III.
INDUSTRY OF THE UNITED KINGDOM.
HAVING described in the previous parts of this work the physical cir-
cumstances, civil divisions, &c., and given an account of the population
of Great Britain and Ireland, we now proceed to lay before the reader
some details with respect to the principal branches of industry carried
on in them. We begin with agriculture, the first and most important
of the useful arts.
CHAPTER I.-AGRICULTURE.
SECT. 1.-State of Property in England and Wales. Size of
Estates, &c.
Tenures.-The tenures under which land is held in this country
have grown out of the feudal system, and have differed materially at
different periods of our history. At present landed property is of
three sorts,-freehold, copyhold, and leasehold. An estate belonging
unconditionally to its owner, and held by him directly under the
Crown, or rather, under the law and constitution of the country, is
said to be freehold. But freehold property may be liable to regular
and fixed annual payments, provided it be not liable to fine, heriot, or
forfeiture. Copyhold estates are held of a subject as part of a royalty,
honour, or manor, and are liable to fines on account of deaths, trans-
fers, and other such circumstances, according to the customs of the
royalty, honour, or manor of which they form a part. Leasehold
property is of various descriptions, such as long leasehold, as for
1,000 years: life leasehold with a fine certain, or under certain limi-
tations on renewal: life leasehold with an uncertain fine, payable to
the proprietor or other superior; in this case, the latter reserves merely
a conventional rent, the tenant having paid down a sum of money to
obtain the lease and the right of alienation; this practice is common
in the west of England. There is another kind of leasehold with an
uncertain fine, payable to the proprietor, who receives the full rent of
the land at the time of granting the lease, the lessor having a power
of alienation; this is a common practice in Wales and some parts of
England. The last species of leasehold property, is leasehold for an
ordinary term with the power of alienation. A lease without the
power of alienation, or transfer, is not called a tenure.
But though
it merely gives a right of occupancy for some specified period, it is
practically one of the most important tenures; much of the prosperity
of every country of which any considerable portion belongs to
extensive proprietors, depending on the conditions in such leases.-
(See post.)
Magnitude of Estates.-Number of Proprietors, &c.—Estates vary
AGRICULTURE.
451
exceedingly in size and value in most parts of England. The largest
estate in the kingdom may be worth 100,000l. or upwards a year; and
there are estates of most inferior degrees of magnitude, down to the
annual value of 40s.! In some counties property is more, and in
others it is less subdivided. In Cheshire, the East Riding of York-
shire, and one or two other counties, there are comparatively few small
proprietors; but the latter predominate in most parts of the west of
England, in the north, and generally throughout the country. On the
whole, we believe it may be safely affirmed, that by far the largest
portion of the kingdom is parcelled into properties of less than 1,000/.
a-year. It is not difficult to account for the prevalent misconceptions
on this point. Though few in number, the owners of large estates
engross the attention of common observers, and hinder them from fixing
their eye on the mass of obscure, petty landowners that constitute the
great bulk of the class. Dr. Beeke, whose authority as to such matters
is deservedly high, estimated the total number of proprietors in England
and Wales at 200,000; and supposing the gross rental of the kingdom
to be 40,000,000l. a-year, the average annual income of each, in his
capacity of landlord, will be only 2001.! and seeing that a few have
much more, it follows that many must have a good deal less. Hence, it
is, that few lead a more laborious life, or are more under the necessity
of abstaining from luxurious indulgences, than the owners and occu-
piers of small landed properties. Nothing, in fact, can be a greater
mistake, than to suppose, as is generally done, that the landowners are
an extremely opulent, and an extremely indolent body. These may be
the characteristics of a few individuals amongst them; but it would be
quite as wide of the mark to affirm that they are generally applicable
to the entire class, as that they are generally applicable to the classes
of manufacturers and traders.
Estates of the larger class are, in general, managed by stewards.
Much, of course, must depend on the judgment with which they are
selected. They should not only be thoroughly conversant with all the
most approved principles and processes of arable and stock husbandry,
but with accounts, and with the laws in regard to leases, public burthens,
the poor, &c. On the whole, we believe that the stewards of England,
though inferior, perhaps, to the factors of Scotland, are a highly
respectable, well-informed, and useful body of men.
SECT. 2.-Division of the Kingdom into Agricultural Departments,
Size of Farms. Conditions in Leases. Buildings and
Fences, &c.
Agricultural Departments.— Exclusive of Wales, England may,
in an agricultural point of view, be divided into 6 departments or
districts: meaning by an agricultural district, a tract distinguished by
uniformity or similarity of management, whether it be applied to
grazing, sheep-farming, or arable or mixed husbandry; or by the
production of some particular article, as dairy produce, fruit-liquor,
&c. The 6 agricultural departments, distinguished from each other
in this point of view, are the northern, western, midland, eastern,
southern, and south-western.
2 G 2
452
ENGLAND AND WALES.
The northern district includes Northumberland, Durham, Cumber-
land, Westmoreland, Lancashire, and York, (excepting the fens and
marshes bordering on Lincoln,) with parts of Cheshire, Stafford, and
Derby. This department is distinguished by a coldness of climate
and backwardness of seasons, as compared with the more southerly
parts of the island: but its mountains form its most striking natural
feature. In respect of rural economy, it is also strongly distinguished
from the other districts. On its western side, indeed, manufactures
prevail over agriculture; but on its eastern side all the branches of
the latter flourish. It would not be easy to point out any portion
of the kingdom in which greater agricultural skill and industry are
displayed, than in the eastern parts of Northumberland, and on the
banks of the Tees.
The western department extends from the Mersey to the banks of
the Somersetshire Avon; being bounded on the west by the Welsh
mountains; on the east, by the lower hills of Staffordshire, and the
uplands of Warwickshire and Oxfordshire; and on the south, by the
chalk hills of Wiltshire, and Sedgmoor, in Somersetshire. It consists
of a nearly uninterrupted succession of vale districts, including the
basins of the Severn, the Avon, the Dee, and the Mersey. It is also
distinctly marked by its agricultural produce; as almost the whole of
it, with the exception of the high lands of Shropshire and Hereford-
shire, the Cotswold Hills in Gloucestershire, and the Mendip Hills in
Somersetshire, may be said to be devoted to the dairy. It is further
distinguished by its fruit-liquor, or cyder.
The extent lengthwise of the midland department is determined by
the mountains of the northern, and the chalk hills of the southern
departments; and its breadth, by the rising grounds which separate
it from the western department, and the marshes which form the com-
mencement of the eastern department. Compared with the great
variety of soil and surface exhibited by the other departments, this
may be regarded as a widely extended fertile plain, without a single
eminence, except the Charnwood Hills. In an agricultural point of
view, it is distinguished by its mixed cultivation, for which the nature
of its soil and surface render it almost uniformly suitable.
wide field of agriculture (to use the words of Mr. Marshall), in which
every branch of the profession is highly cultivated, it has been long
known. Here not only the spirit of improvement, but of enterprise,
may be said to inhabit. The art, science, and mystery of breeding
has here been carried to a height, which, in any other country, pro-
bably it has never attained; the same enterprising spirit which led to
this pre-eminence still continuing with little or no abatement.”
66 As a
The eastern department is strongly marked both in its natural and
its agricultural character: in the former, by its fens and marshes, and
its light sandy uplands; and in the latter, by its superior and extensive
turnip husbandry. The pursuits of the farmers of this department are
particularly directed to grazing, not only in the marshes and lower
grounds, but on the uplands. Arable husbandry is also very intimately
connected, throughout a considerable portion of this district, with the
fattening of sheep and cattle. Its boundaries are distinctly marked,
including the fen lands of Lincoln, Northampton, Cambridge, Hun-
AGRICULTURE.
453
tingdon, and Norfolk, with the rest of Norfolk, the counties of Suffolk
and Essex, and those parts of the adjoining counties which lie close
to them.
The natural character of the southern department is sufficiently
marked by its including the chalk hills in the vicinity of the metro-
polis, as well as those in the more remote counties. The objects of
the husbandry of that part of it which lies in the more immediate
neighbourhood of London, depend, of course, upon the demands of its
population, and are, therefore, very various. The more remote parts
of this district are distinguished by flocks of sheep, fed on the chalk
hills; the breeds of which, and their mode of management, differ much
from those in the midland and eastern departments.
The situation of the last, or south-western department, is peculiar ;
it stretches away from the main body of the island, in a peninsular
form, into the Atlantic. This peninsula is nearly 200 miles in length
and is bounded on all sides by the ocean, except where it touches the
southern and western departments. Its natural characters are also
singular. It abounds in slate-rock hills, which are comparatively
unknown in the rest of the kingdom, except in a small portion of the
northern department. Its surface, too, with the exception of the
north-eastern angle, has a peculiar character, consisting of bare steep-
sided hills, separated by narrow valleys; the hills being, in general,
productive to their very summits. Its agricultural character and
pursuits are not less remarkable; the husbandry carried on in it being
more nearly allied to that of ancient Rome, than any practised in any
other part of the island. Arable, as well as pasture and dairy hus-
bandry, are pursued; but the way in which they are united, the prac-
tices that prevail in each, and their more prominent features, are
peculiar, and strongly distinguished.
Besides this general division of the kingdom into agricultural
departments, it may be proper to specify the counties principally
devoted to the three great branches of agricultural industry, that is,
to tillage; the dairy; and the breeding and fattening of cattle and
sheep.
Tillage, or arable husbandry, is pursued to the greatest extent in
Kent, Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk, Hampshire, Berkshire, Bedfordshire,
Surrey, Sussex, Hertfordshire, part of Yorkshire, part of Lincoln,
Durham, and Northumberland. The principal dairy counties, whether
for butter or cheese, or both, are Cheshire, Salop, Gloucester, Wilts,
Buckingham, Essex, Suffolk, York, Derby, Cambridge, Dorset, and
Devon. Lincoln, Somerset, Leicester, Northampton, Teeswater in
Durham, and Cleveland and Holderness in York, are the counties
and districts most distinguished for breeding and fattening cattle and
sheep. It will be evident, however, that in most of the counties thus
specified, more than one of the three great divisions of agricultural
industry, and sometimes all, are carried on. In some counties, arable
husbandry is closely connected with the fattening of sheep, but seldom
with the dairy husbandry; while the latter is often connected with
breeding and fattening.
Wales.-Considered as an agricultural district, Wales is chiefly
distinguished, as compared with England, by its mountainous surface,
454
ENGLAND AND WALES.
and by the greater moisture of its climate. The mountains and wastes
are principally depastured by sheep and lean cattle. The valleys and
low grounds are generally devoted to a mixed system of husbandry, or
to tillage, breeding, and the dairy. Generally speaking, agriculture
is at a lower ebb in Wales than in any other large district of Great
Britain.
We shall now proceed briefly to notice, 1st, the size of farms; 2nd,
the conditions under which they are mostly held; 3rd, the buildings
and fences; and, 4th, the principal implements employed in husbandry.
The rotation of crops, and the species of crops commonly cultivated,
will form the subject of next section.
1. Size of Farms.-A great deal of discussion has taken place as
to the proper size of farms. This, however, is not a point as to which
it is possible to come to any very precise conclusions. Much must
obviously depend on the purposes to which farms are to be applied.
Such as are wholly employed in pasture may be very much larger than
those that are to be employed partly only in that way, and partly in
tillage; and the latter again than those that are to be wholly em-
ployed in tillage. And in regard to tillage farms, it is plain that their
size must depend on various circumstances, but principally, perhaps,
on the amount of the tenant's capital. But supposing that those offer-
ing for farms have sufficient capital, their size should be mainly de-
termined by considering what extent of land an individual may be able
to manage in the most approved manner. Most practical farmers in
this country seem to think that this size might run from 400 to 600
acres, or 500 at a medium. This conclusion has, however, been
strongly denied; and it has been contended that the public interests
are best consulted by letting land in small farms, or in farms of from
15 to 30, 40, or 50 acres. To enter fully into an examination of this
question would encroach too much on our limits. But the opinions of
the great majority of those who, from their acquaintance with agri-
culture, are best entitled to decide in regard to such matters, are ex-
ceedingly hostile to the small farming system; and their objections to
it seem to be founded on the soundest principles, and to be consistent
with the most extensive experience. It is plain that that system of
occupation must, under all ordinary circumstances, be the best which
gives the greatest scope to improvement, which allows of the division
of labour being carried to the farthest extent, and which puts it into
the power of the occupier to avail himself of every new improvement
and increased facility of production. But it is almost superfluous to
say that these objects can only be attained when land is occupied by
large and opulent farmers. Where," asks Arthur Young, " is the
little farmer to be found who will cover his whole farm with marl at
the rate of 100 or 150 tons per acre? who will drain all his land at
the expense of 21. or 31. an acre? who will pay a heavy price for the
manure of towns, and convey it 30 miles by land carriage? who will
float his meadows at the expense of 5l. per acre? who, to improve the
breed of his sheep, will give 1,000 guineas for the use of a single ram
for a single season? who will send across the kingdom to distant pro-
vinces for new implements, and for men to use them? who will employ
and pay men for residing in provinces, where practices are found which
66
AGRICULTURE.
455
they want to introduce into their farms? At the very mention of such
exertions, common in England, what mind can be so perversely framed
as to imagine for a single moment that such things are to be effected
by little farmers? Deduct from agriculture all the practices that
have made it flourishing in this island, and you have precisely the
management of small farms."-(Travels in France, 2nd ed., vol. i.,
p. 410.) Besides, though it were admitted that small farmers might
accumulate capital, which, however, is not the case in one instance out
of a hundred, they could not apply it in the most efficient manner.
"The division of labour, which in every pursuit of industry gives skill
and despatch, cannot take place on the greatest farms in the degree in
which it is found in manufactures; but upon small farms it does not
take place at all. The same man, by turns, applies to every work of
the farm; upon the larger occupation there are ploughmen, thrashers,
hedgers, shepherds, cow-herds, ox-herds, lime-burners, drainers, &c.
This circumstance is of considerable importance, and decides that
every work will be better performed on a large than on a small farm.
One of the greatest engines of good farming, a sheepfold, is either to
be found on a large farm only, or at an expense of labour which
destroys the profit.-(Travels in France, vol. i., p. 409.)
It is of importance, too, as connected with this question, to observe
that small farms do not afford sufficient employment for their occupiers,
except, perhaps, during seed-time and harvest.
But when a country
is so parcelled out, the occupiers of one farm, though they may have
nothing to do at home, cannot go elsewhere to seek for work. In con-
sequence, they contract indolent and most commonly, also, dissipated
habits, and become incapable of that continuous and vigorous exertion
that is natural to those that live in districts where there is a proper
distribution of employments.
66
The example of the crofters, or occupiers of small farms, in the
Highlands of Scotland, and of the cottiers of Ireland, may be quoted
in proof of what is now stated. They are incurably idle, and have all
the vices, with but few of the virtues, of civilization. "The families
of cottiers," says an undoubted authority, are universally in rags,
and their children are uneducated; industry is unknown to them, and
their habitations are filthy in the extreme. The labour which is re-
quired for small farms occupies but a small portion of the time of the
tenants; but they are so perversely indolent and careless that while
the people from other districts are employed in fishing, making kelp,
&c., and receiving high wages, none of them can be engaged for such
labour." *
And Mr. Wakefield states that in Ireland, though the
whole dependence of the cottier population be on the potato crop, their
indolence is such that they frequently allow the potatoes to remain in
the ground till they be injured, or, it may be, destroyed by frost !—
(Account of Ireland, i., 517 and 583.)
It is needless to waste the reader's time by entering into any
lengthened statements, to show the fallacy of the complaints made
against large farms, on the ground of their being unfavourable to
population. The truth is that they are distinctly and completely the
reverse. The improved and skilful management carried on upon
*Survey of Ross and Cromarty, by Sir George Mackenzie, p. 84, 257.
456
ENGLAND AND WALES.
large farms occasions the production of a much greater quantity of
produce; and it is needless to say that whatever has this effect is,
instead of being unfavourable, highly favourable to population. It is
true, perhaps, that a large farm, managed according to the best prin-
ciples, may not employ, or rather keep, so many people as if it were
split into smaller portions; but the large surplus obtained from such
a farm, and which goes partly to the landlord as rent and partly to the
farmer as profit, is not retained by them; they exchange it for the
various products of art and industry for which they have occasion; so
that, in this way, population is increased proportionally to the increased
produce of the land, at the same time that labour is properly distri-
buted, that indolence and apathy are banished, and that a provision is
made for the successful prosecution of all those arts that improve and
embellish society.
Nothing, therefore, can be a greater mistake than to suppose that
the well-being of a country is promoted by dividing its lands into
minute portions, and covering them with cottages. We believe, indeed,
that hardly anything can happen to it that is, in all respects, so des-
tructive of its best interests.*
In England, farms seem to be, generally speaking, of a medium
size. In Northumberland, Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, the downs of
Wiltshire, Dorsetshire, Hampshire, &c., and the wolds of Lincolnshire
and Yorkshire, there are some very large farms; but even in these
counties, and generally throughout the kingdom, the number of small
and middle-sized farms preponderates very decidedly. According to
the numerous minutes taken by Arthur Young, in his Tour through
the Northern Counties in 1769, the average size of farms in them
appears to have been 287 acres; † and, probably, this is not far from
their size at present; for though in several instances small farms have
been consolidated, some of the very large Northumbrian farms, in-
cluded in Mr. Young's average, have been subdivided in the interim.
According to the averages taken by Mr. Young in his Eastern Tour
(vol. iv., p. 381), excluding 9 very large sheep farms, principally in
Dorsetshire, the medium size of farms would appear to have been 342
acres. But the number of instances taken were not sufficiently nume-
rous to warrant our depending on the conclusion drawn from them.
There can be no doubt, indeed, that this is much above the present
average size of farms in the district in question; and we believe that
such, also, was the case when Mr. Young made his tour.
According to the returns collected under the late Population Act,
it appears that, in 1841, there were in England only 212,455 farmers
and graziers, which, as the entire area of England, excluding Wales,
151.78 acres for the average size
is 32,247,680 acres, gives
32,247,680
212,455
of farms throughout the kingdom.
But this result cannot be depended on.
villas with a few acres of land attached to
at a distance, perhaps in another parish.
Many individuals occupy
them, carrying on business
This is the case to a great
* See this subject treated at greater length in the art. Cottage System, in the new
edition of the Ency. Britannica.
+ Northern Tour, 2nd ed., vol. iv., p. 195.
AGRICULTURE.
457
extent round the metropolis, and in the vicinity of the great manu-
facturing and commercial towns in the north. There are also great
numbers of individuals occupying houses and small patches of land in
all parts of the country, who derive their principal means of subsistence
from the interest of money in the funds or elsewhere, half-pay, profits
of railways or other public works, and so forth. None of these per-
sons belong, properly speaking, to the agricultural class, but they are
all occupiers of land, and would, we suppose, generally be, and we
know sometimes were, classed as such. A very considerable number
of the small occupiers are in a somewhat similar predicament, carrying
on other businesses on which they mainly depend, and having a very
doubtful claim to be called farmers. It is difficult to say what de-
duction should be made from the numbers in the returns to get at the
number of those who are really farmers, that is, of those who make
farming their sole or principal pursuit. No doubt, however, it would
be very considerable, and would probably increase the average size of
farms to 160 or 170 acres.
Hence, as already stated, farms in England may be truly said to be
of a middle size; and it is to be hoped that no circumstance may ever
occur to occasion their diminution, or to realize, in any degree, the
pernicious theory of those who suppose, in the teeth of principle and
of fact, that countries are improved by being split into small portions.
2. Occupancy of Land by Tenants.-a. Advantage of Leases.-
There is no single circumstance, perhaps, on which the prosperity of
agriculture, and the well-being of the rural population, is so much
dependent, as on the nature of the contract entered into between land-
lords and those who occupy their estates. The interests of the parties,
though in many respects the same, are in others materially different.
The one has a permanent, the other only a temporary, interest in the
land. The landlord is anxious that his estate should not be deteriorated
during the period it is occupied by another, but that, on the contrary,
it should be improved and rendered more valuable; the occupier, how-
ever, has no such anxiety, and, speaking generally, his principal or sole
object is to make the most of the land during the period he occupies it,
without caring about its state when he leaves it. Hence the grand
desideratum in contracts of occupancy should be to provide as much as
possible for the interests of both parties, by taking care that the land
shall not be deteriorated, and that the tenant or occupier shall have
every inducement to introduce improvements, and to cultivate the
farm in the most approved manner. The difficulty is to find the
means of combining these advantages; that is, of affording sufficient
protection to the landlord, without fettering the enterprise of the
tenant, or lessening his ability or inclination to lay out capital, and to
avail himself of new discoveries. But this difficulty is not insuperable,
and the granting of leases of a reasonable length, and under proper con-
ditions as to rent and management, seems to be well calculated to promote
alike the interests of the landlords, the occupiers, and the public.
The plan of letting lands on lease for a number of years certain is
so obviously superior to every other, that little need be said in its
recommendation. Where a tenant is secured in the possession of his
farm for a fixed and reasonable period, he has every inducement to
458
ENGLAND AND WALES.
exert himself, and to apply whatever capital and skill he may possess to
its improvement. But a tenant at will, or a tenant who may be turned
out of his farm at any time, without having any grounds for affirming
that he has been ill-treated, dares not venture upon any outlay. Such
a tenant is really, in so far as the business of farming is concerned,
destitute of the security of property. Having no guarantee that he
will be allowed to occupy his farm for a period sufficient to enable him
to reap the advantage of improvements, he never once thinks of under-
taking any. He moves on in the accustomed routine of the district to
which he belongs; and should he be so fortunate as to accumulate a
little capital, which is but seldom the case, he either employs it in some
other business, or in taking a greater extent of land: but he scrupu-
lously abstains from laying out anything on improvements, unless they
happen to be such as promise an almost immediate return.
therefore, be no question, that the granting of leases for a fixed and
reasonable number of years is of the utmost consequence to agriculture;
and those best acquainted with the business affirm, that it has done
more for its improvement than all the other encouragements that have
been given to it.
There can,
The term "tenants at will" is sometimes, but improperly, applied to
tenants who have no leases, but who, notwithstanding, either from the
custom of the estate or district, or the promises of the landlord, have
a reasonably good security that they will not be capriciously ejected,
and that their rents will not be raised immediately upon their making
an improvement. Still, however, the security afforded by such a
tenure, though considerable, is short of what is afforded by a lease.
Where the rights of both parties are not clearly defined, disputes may
unintentionally arise: the tenant is in such cases kept in a state of
degrading dependency upon his landlord; and, however well he may
be treated by the individual now in possession of the estate, he cannot
foretell what may be the views and objects of his successors. And
hence, as Mr. Loudon has justly observed, "no prudent man will ever
invest his fortune in the improvement of another person's property,
unless, from the length of his lease, he has a reasonable prospect of
being reimbursed with profit: and the servility which a holding at will
necessarily exacts, is altogether incompatible with that spirit of enter
prise which belongs to an enlightened and independent mind.'
(Encycl. of Agriculture, p. 699.)
There are but few tenants at will, properly so called, in England;
the tenants to which this designation is applied, being, in fact, tenants
from year to year.
In this latter species of tenancy, the landlord and
occupier are respectively bound to give half a year's notice before
either party can put an end to the tenancy; whereas tenancy at will
may be terminated at any time by either party without notice.-
(British Husbandry, vol. i. p. 60.)
b. Conditions as to Management.-Much difference of opinion has
existed as to the expediency of inserting conditions in leases with
respect to management. Those who are adverse to such conditions
argue, that, being generally framed by the landlord, whose knowledge
of the practical business of farming is seldom very accurate or exten-
sive, they are exceedingly apt to proceed on mistaken views, and are,
AGRICULTURE.
459
for the most part, either vexatious or impossible; that the strict ob-
servance of conditions can rarely be enforced; that, if it were, it
would reduce the occupiers to the condition of mere machines; that it
would prevent them from taking advantage of such discoveries as might
be made during the currency of their leases; and that, having no
means of escaping from the prescribed mode of management, they
would cease to interest themselves in the progress of agriculture, and
would become indifferent to every sort of improvement.
But these objections, though enforced by some high authorities, are
really entitled to very little weight. Conditions as to management
may not always be framed in the most judicious manner; but they are
universally almost sufficient to hinder the tenant from overcropping or
exhausting the farm previously to the termination of the lease; and
this is quite enough to recommend them. In East Lothian, Ber-
wickshire, Northumberland, and all the best cultivated counties, leases
invariably contain regulations in regard to the rotation of crops, and
the proportion of the farm to be appropriated to culmiferous crops,
green crops, grass, &c.; and, instead of its being true that these regu-
lations have cramped the enterprise of the tenants, these are the very
counties in which agriculture is in the highest state of advancement,
and in which every new improvement is soonest introduced and tried.
In many parts of England leases are almost entirely unknown, and
it is believed that the practice of granting them is on the decline.
This is, no doubt, one of the main causes of the backward state of
agriculture in several very extensive districts. Tenants holding from
year to year, seldom think, upon so uncertain a tenure, of making
any expensive improvements, or of leaving their accustomed routine;
and vicious practices are thus frequently followed in some counties,
that have been abandoned in others for more than half a century. In
fact, a tenant is, in some cases, rather anxious not to improve.* In
parts of England, about the middle of last century, the inhabitants
had a proverb-
He that havocks may sit ;
He that improves must flit!
Or, in other words, he that exhausts the land may continue in the farm
for an indefinite period; whereas he that improves must pay an ad-
vanced rent, or be obliged to quit; and, even at the present day, this
detestable practice is followed in some of the finest English counties.
Speaking of Berks, Messrs. Kennedy and Grainger tell us, that "owing
to the system acted upon, the soil, generally speaking, is very much
out of condition. A tenant, up to the last one or two years of his
lease, drives it as hard as he possibly can, and, in fact, leaves it entirely
run out: thus, the labour of several years is required to put it into
any thing like good condition; whilst, by the time A has brought his
land tolerably round, his neighbour B, perhaps, intends to relinquish
his farm; and thus is kept up the neglected appearance of the country.
* In Italy, when the husbandman's time of holding is nearly expired, it is his
custom to ruin the vineyard he rents, by forcing the trees to bear till they become
barren. Such treatment is called by the neighbourhood, lascia podera, or adieu
farm.-Harte's Essays on Husbandry, 2ud edit, p. 160.
*
460
ENGLAND AND WALES.
When a farmer cultivates his own property, it is, in consequence of
this system, generally seen to the greatest advantage, like a fat sheep
among a lean flock." (i. 145.) And the practice is nearly similar
in Bucks, Oxford, and several other counties. It is unnecessary to add,
that all parties-landlords, farmers, and the public-are deeply in-
terested in the suppression of such miserable practices.
c. Payment of Rents.-Rents are sometimes paid in money, and
sometimes in produce. With respect to the former, it may be ob-
served, that, when the lease is only for a few years, during which no
great change in the value of money, or in the price of corn, can be
expected, it is, perhaps, the best of any; but when the lease embraces
a period of nineteen or twenty-one years, which is believed to be the
most proper for ordinary tillage farms, the safer plan is to fix the rent
at a certain quantity of produce, convertible into money at the current
prices of the day. By this means the disturbing effects of changes in
the value of money are averted, at the same time that the effect of
those which occur in the cost of producing corn is mitigated. The
plan is, however, defective, inasmuch as it obliges the tenant to pay
more than the fair value of his farm in scarce years; while, on the
other hand, it improperly reduces the landlord's rent in years of unusual
plenty. A device has, however, been fallen upon, which has gone far
to remove these defects. This consists in fixing a maximum and a
minimum price; it being declared in the lease that the produce to be
paid to the landlord shall be converted into money according to the
current prices of the year; but that to whatever extent prices may
rise above the maximum price fixed in the lease, the landlord shall have
no claim for such excess of price. By means of this check, the tenant
is prevented from paying any great excess of rent in scarce years:
and to prevent, on the other hand, the rent from being improperly re-
duced in very plentiful years, a minimum price is agreed upon by the
parties; and it is stipulated that, to whatever extent prices may sink
below this limit, the landlord shall be entitled to receive this minimum
price for the fixed quantity of produce payable to him. It is impos-
sible, indeed, under any system, however complicated, so to regulate
the rent of land that it shall always be the fair equivalent of the rent
contemplated by the parties when the lease was contracted. But it
seems that, all things considered, a fixed produce rent would, with the
proposed checks to counteract the disturbing effects of unusual scarcity
or abundance, afford the greatest attainable security both to landlord
and tenant. Nor is this a mere speculative opinion: this very plan has
been introduced into some of the best cultivated districts of the empire,
particularly East Lothian and Berwickshire. And the experience of
the estates in which it has been adopted shows that it is as effectual as
can well be desired for the protection of the just rights of both parties,
and for securing the progress of agriculture.
d. Reduction of Rents.-When it has been ascertained that a farm
is let at too high a rent, that is, when the utmost exertions of industry
and economy on the part of a skilful tenant cannot enable him to pay
his rent, and to gain a fair return for his outlay and trouble, the land-
lord, if he consult his own interest, ought to make an adequate reduc-
tion. If he attempt to hold the farmer to the letter of his agreement,
AGRICULTURE,
461
he will most likely occasion his ruin; but in the efforts of the latter to
save himself and his family, the farm is sure to suffer. It will not be
properly manured or tilled; scourging crops will be resorted to; so
that though the landlord should succeed in squeezing the stipulated rent
out of the occupier, during the currency of the lease, the bad state of
the farm at its close, and the bad character the landlord will have justly
acquired in the vicinity, will cause a far greater reduction of rent than
would have taken place had it been made at the proper period.
e. Objections to the Contract of Lease.—It is of importance, how-
ever, to observe that the circumstances now mentioned, that is, the
propriety, or rather the necessity, of granting a reduction of rent to a
tenant who has engaged to pay more for a farm than it is really worth,
forms the ground-work of the only plausible objection that has ever
been made to the custom of granting leases. There is said to be no
equality in the contract, that while it binds one of the parties, it
leaves the other free. If a farm be too low rented, the tenant will, it
is alleged, continue to enjoy that advantage until the expiration of the
lease; whereas, should it happen to be too high rented, it is next to
certain that the landlord will be compelled to reduce the rent to what
the farm is really worth. A transaction of this kind throws, it is con-
tended, all the risk on the landlord, and gives all the advantage to the
tenant; so that the only fair plan is, to let from year to year, or at
most, for very brief periods. But, though specious, this reasoning will,
on examination, be found to be without any good foundation. The
complaint that a farm is too low rented, is one that can hardly ever be
made with any degree of justice at the commencement of a lease; and
when made, it is entitled to very little attention; for, as the proprietor
might either let or not let, and as he has, in most instances, a choice of
tenants, it is pretty clear he would not have let it, unless the stipulated
rent had been, at the time, its fair value. It is true that the rent may
become too low, or, rather, it may happen that the farm would let for
more, after a few years of the lease have expired, than the rent actually
paid for it.
If the rent be a money rent, it will, of course, be affected
by changes in the value of money; but if it be a certain quantity of
produce, convertible into money, according to the prices at the time,
the fair presumption is, if the farm become worth more during the
currency of the lease, that it has done so in consequence of its being
granted. The security which it gives to the tenant encourages him to
lay out capital on the land, to follow the best system of cropping, and
to execute various improvements that add permanently to the produc-
tive powers of the soil. Although, therefore, the sum paid for a farm
let on a corn rent, and for a reasonable number of years, should appear
to be low towards the middle or during the latter part of the lease, the
landlord must not imagine that he has, by letting the farm, deprived
himself of an advantage he would otherwise have enjoyed; for in point
of fact, the apparent inadequacy of the rent arises from the improve-
ments effected by the tenant; and these would not have been so much
as thought of, but for the lease. Hence it is apparent, that in granting
it, the landlord made no sacrifice, but the reverse. He obtained all the
rent for his farm it was worth when it was let; while the improvements
462
ENGLAND AND WALES.
and meliorations effected under the lease will ensure a greater rent at
its termination.
There are, therefore, no substantial reasons for impeaching the con-
tract of lease, on the ground of its not placing both parties on a footing
of equality. The inadequacy of a corn rent is, in ninety-nine out of
every hundred cases, apparent only, or, in other words, is occasioned
by improvements effected by the tenant. All that can be fairly said in
support of the alleged want of reciprocity, is reducible to this, that if a
landlord, through accident or simplicity, let a farm for less than it is
worth at the period when the lease is entered into, he will not be able
to get the rent raised during its currency; while, if a tenant should,
from too anxious a desire to get a farm, or over-sanguine expectations
as to its value, promise more for it than it is really worth, it will, gene-
rally speaking, be impracticable to hold him to his bargain. This is
the whole amount of that want of equality of which so much has been
said; and it appears to us to be very little indeed. The loss that a
tenant sustains who takes a farm at too high a rent before he gets it
reduced, supposing him to be ultimately successful in that respect, is
always very severely felt by him; whereas, the fact, that a farm has
been let below its value, warrants the conclusion that the additional
rent that might have been obtained is of trifling importance to its pro-
prietor. A landlord may be assured, that if the rent at which he lets
a farm be such as a prudent and industrious tenant can pay, it will be
And no
paid either by the party in possession or by some one else.
liberal landlord would wish, even if he had the power, to exact more
from a tenant than the value of his lands; nor would a prudent land-
lord choose to add to his income, for a few years, by sums drawn from
the capital of those engaged in the cultivation of his estate.
Nor is this all: not only does the granting of a lease of reasonable
duration tend, by facilitating improvements on the part of the occupier,
to raise the value of the farm, and, consequently, its rent, at the expi-
ration of the lease, but it also puts a greater immediate rent into the
hands of the landlord. There are very few arable farms that will let
for so much for a short lease as for one of 19 or 21 years. So that, in
granting such a lease, a landlord is really providing most effectually,
not only for the future increase of his income, but is immediately
adding to its amount.
f. Duration of Leases.-These, when granted in England, are
seldom for longer periods than 7 or 14 years; the longest of which is
decidedly too short to make it prudent for a tenant to undertake various
On the
improvements that do not promise a very immediate return.
whole, the most intelligent farmers seem to be of opinion that 21 years
is the most proper term for the endurance of a lease. If it be longer,
it tempts the tenant to delay commencing improvements; and if it be
shorter, it prevents his reaping a full return for his outlay. A life lease
is, perhaps, the worst of any. The period at which the occupancy is to
terminate ought always to be fixed and ascertained, and not dependent
upon any contingent or accidental circumstance. Hence, letting by
lives is a very objectionable practice.
There are few things that seem more remarkable to a person
AGRICULTURE.
463
acquainted with the agriculture of Scotland, on his visiting England
for the first time, than the uniformity that prevails in the cultivation of
extensive districts. The farms seem to be all managed on the same
principle, and the farmers to be about equally skilful. In Scotland, on
the contrary, there is the greatest diversity in the management of farms
on the same estate, and even in the same parish: some being cultivated
in a style far superior to, and in a manner wholly different from,
others. This discrepancy has been variously accounted for.
In our
view of the matter, however, it is principally ascribable to the non-
existence of leases in most parts of England, and to their existence in
Scotland. The competition for farms in the former, and the uncertain
tenure on which they are held, obliges the occupiers to farm each about
as well as his neighbours; while it hinders any one from attempting
new modes of management, or from making any expensive improve-
ments. In Scotland, on the other hand, where leases for 19 or 21 years
are universal, the tenants know that they will reap all the advantage of
superior enterprise and industry, and are, therefore, led to put forth all
their energies, and, if possible, to make new improvements; so that
there is the greatest diversity in the modes of managing contiguous
farms. If agriculture had attained to perfection, and it were desirable
to keep it in the same uniform state, the English system would be most
admirably suited for that object; but if, as is the case, agriculture be
still very imperfect, and its improvement be a matter of vast national
importance, then is the Scotch system of occupancy, by well-contrived
leases of reasonable endurance, infinitely superior to the English.
g. Letting by Fine.-Letting lands for a number of years, generally
7, by fine, was formerly customary in England; but is now rarely
practised, except upon estates belonging to the church and to the
universities. It is one of the very worst modes of letting that can be
adopted. It deprives the tenant of his capital at the moment when he
enters on the farm; and, consequently, incapacitates him, were he
otherwise disposed, from attempting any improvements.
The practice of letting land by fine was latterly beginning to make
considerable progress in Scotland, at least on the estates of entailed
proprietors; and, had it been valid, it would, no doubt, from its giving
heirs in possession the means of procuring an immediate advantage at
the expense of their successors, have been pretty generally followed.
Luckily, however, the House of Lords found, on the question being
brought before them, that the practice was illegal, and by this means
crushed a system inimical to agriculture, and obviated the principal
objection to entails. It seems highly expedient that the legislature
should interfere to put an end to the practice of letting church and
college lands by fine.
h. Entry to Farms.-The ordinary term of entry to farms in
England is Lady-day; but Candlemas, Whitsuntide, and Michaelmas
are also common terms in some parts of the kingdom. Michaelmas
and Lady-day are the customary terms of payment; the first payment
commences 6 months after entry to the possession of the farm. There
is a very great difference in different places as to the conditions under
which one tenant succeeds to another. The practice in Kent, and most
of the southern counties, is to oblige the incoming tenant to pay the
464
ENGLAND AND WALES.
The
outgoing tenant, by a valuation, for the crop on the farm, for work
done in ploughing, fallowing, &c., and for manure and other items.
Messrs. Kennedy and Grainger have shown, in their valuable work on
the Practice of Tenancy, that this custom is highly objectionable, and
that it has a powerful influence in keeping agriculture in a backward
and depressed state. It obviously obliges the new tenant to pay for
articles which, probably, he does not want, and for work which he has
not superintended, and which, perhaps, is not well executed, or executed
to his mind. In consequence, too, of this vicious practice, a large
proportion of the tenant's capital is swallowed up at the moment
of his entering the farm, and when, of course, it is of most import-
ance that he should have his entire funds under his control.
gentlemen now referred to affirm that, "in many counties in England,
a farmer entering upon 200 acres of land, with a capital of 1,500l., has
to pay, according to the custom of the place, 1,2007. upon a valuation,
and for stock, leaving him only 300l. to carry on his business; whilst
in the north, and in Scotland, a farmer may enter upon the same
quantity of land, having no valuation to pay, with only 8007., and, after
stocking his farm to the best advantage, have the same sum left that the
other has, with much better opportunittes of employing it profitably."
·(Introduction, p. 16.) The same gentlemen observe, in reference to
Kent, where a very large sum has usually to be paid by the incoming
to the outgoing tenant, that "if his (the new tenant's) first year turns
out bad, he is irretrievably ruined; which is and has been the case with
hundreds, who, having entered upon a farm with all the money they
could raise, have nothing left to carry it on, in the event of declining
markets, or a wet season, affording them an unfavourable price for the
produce of their first harvest.”—(p. 250.)
The sooner this pernicious practice is changed, the better. In Scot-
land, the usual term of entry to a farm is Whitsuntide; the outgoing
tenant having liberty to cut the crop, and to use the barns for its
thrashing, but being obliged to leave the straw to his successor. The
outgoing tenant is always compelled by the terms of his lease to leave
a certain proportion of his lands in green crop or fallow; but for this
the new tenant pays nothing; and as, speaking generally, the outgoing
tenant enters into some other farm where the like practice prevails, no
injustice is done to any one; while each commences operations with an
unimpaired capital, which he disposes of according to the best of his
judgment. This, and the plan of granting leases for periods of 19
years certain, with judicious stipulations as to management, form the
peculiar excellence of the Scotch system. "It is these that render
estates in Scotland so much more valuable than in England, the rents
in the former being nearly double what they are in the latter. It is
true that in Scotland the tenants pay no taxes or rates; but, after
deducting for this, rents would still be higher, (allowing for the
measure,) by 5s. an acre than they are in England; and under the
Scotch system a farmer would derive a greater advantage from paying
an additional 5s. per acre, than he would by entering upon a farm sub-
ject to a valuation, even at a deduction of 5s. per acre; thus making a
difference of no less than 10s. an acre.”---(Practice of Tenancy, Intro-
duction, p. 16, and see Post on the "Tenants right" in Ireland.)
AGRICULTURE.
165
i. Burdens falling on the Tenant.-Farmers in England, besides the
rent payable to the landlord, have, in most cases, to pay tithes, poor-
rates, &c. The latter are widely different in different periods, and in
the same parish, at not very distant periods. Tithes are now, in most
parts, commuted, and are comparatively regular in their amount. Per-
haps, together, the public burdens may amount, at a rough average, to
from one-third to two-fifths of the rent.
k. Property in Leases.—In some countries, as in Scotland, leases
are considered in the light of an inalienable estate, and descend, unless
some special provision to the contrary be made in the lease, to the
heir at law of the tenant, to the exclusion of assignees and sub-tenants.
In other countries again, as in England, leases are regarded in the
same light as moveable property, and, unless prevented by a positive
stipulation, descend equally to the children of the occupier, or may be
assigned, or sublet. The question, which of these modes of letting
should be preferred, is not without difficulty; but on the whole we are
inclined to give a decided preference to the former. Under it, both
the landlord and farmer see clearly what they are about: the former
knows who is to occupy his lands, and that they can neither be sub-
divided nor sublet without his authority; and the latter, being aware
that he, or his heir at law, will have to occupy the farm during the
entire currency of the lease, sets immediately about making the neces-
sary improvements; and, instead of attempting to assign, sublet, or
subdivide, founds all his hopes of success on the superiority and greater
economy of his management. It must, indeed, be admitted, that in
England the circumstance of leases being moveable property has not
hitherto been productive of any very material inconvenience; but this
is to be ascribed to the adventitious and powerful checks that have
counteracted their naturally pernicious operation. Among the most
prominent of these seem to be the great extent of land in England
occupied by tenants at will, or by tenants whose tenure does not depend
on any precise agreement with their landlords, but on the custom of
the estate or district. The owners of such lands do not, speaking gene-
rally, permit them to be divided amongst the children of the occupiers,
in the event of the death of the latter; and when estates are let on
lease, it is usual to insert conditions prohibiting subdivision. In addi-
tion to these checks, the poor laws have contributed to inspire the
landowners with a salutary dread of the too rapid increase of the agri-
cultural population, and have stimulated them to take very strong
measures to prevent the splitting of farms, and the building of cottages.
But in Ireland, where the law as to leases is the same as in England,
and where the checks that have prevented its operation in this country
have either not existed at all, or have been comparatively inefficient,
it has been, as will be elsewhere shown, productive of the greatest
mischief.
The effects of the opposite system in Scotland have been equally
striking and beneficial. A Scotch tenant can neither sublet nor sub-
divide his farm, and at his death it must descend entire to his heir at
law. The younger children are not, as in Ireland, taught from infancy
to look to the land for support; on the contrary, they are early made
aware that farming is not a business on which they can enter, and that
VOL. I.
2 H
466
ENGLAND AND WALES.
it is indispensable they should apply to something else. In con-
sequence, they either establish themselves in towns, or emigrate to other
countries; and, perhaps, there is no one circumstance that has contri-
buted so much as this to inspire Scotchmen with that adventurous,
enterprising spirit for which they are celebrated, and few that have
done more to increase the size of farms, and to accelerate the progress
of agriculture.
3. Farm Buildings.-These, in England, are of every variety of
magnitude, shape, and materials. Generally, however, they have,
when contrasted with those in the south of Scotland, a more antique,
rural, and comfortable appearance. The farm-house is always either
entirely detached, or is separated by a party wall from the offices. It
is sometimes one and sometimes two stories high, being fitted up accord-
ing to the taste and condition of the occupiers, but generally with a
good deal of attention to comfort. The material of the walls and roofs
of the buildings depend as much on the facility with which it may be
obtained, as on anything else. Sometimes, and most frequently,
perhaps, the walls are of brick, sometimes of wood, sometimes of stone
and flint, and in the older class of houses they frequently consist of
lath and plaster. Tiles, thatch, and wood, but particularly the first
two, are the materials most generally used in roofing farm-houses and
offices in England; but whenever slates can be had at a reasonable
expense they should be preferred, as they make a better, and in the end
a cheaper, covering.
The older class of farm buildings are, in very many instances, incon-
veniently situated, and ill-suited for the purposes to which they are
now applied. During the present century, however, improved houses
and offices have been erected in most districts. But these have been
not unfrequently constructed on too expensive a scale; and instances
might be pointed out where the rent obtained for farms is little
more than sufficient to pay the interest of the money expended on
buildings!
In England, farm buildings are mostly constructed at the expense of
the landlord. It is customary to put them into repair at the entry of
a new tenant to the farm, who is bound to leave them in what is called
a tenantable state. Sometimes, when buildings have to be erected, the
outlay is defrayed, in the first instance, by the tenant, who is allowed a
corresponding deduction from his rent. But this is an objectionable
practice, inasmuch as it diverts the capital of the tenant from the culti-
vation of his farm, and cripples his means at the very moment they
are most wanted.
Cottages in England differ as much in form and materials as the
farm buildings. They appear to be quite as much celebrated for their
comfort, neatness, and cleanliness as they deserve; for there are great
numbers of cottages, in many parts of the country, of which these are
anything but prominent characteristics. Arthur Young says of the
Suffolk cottages, that "they are in general bad habitations, deficient in
all contrivance for warmth and for convenience; the state of reparation
bad, and the deficiency of gardens too general."-(Survey of Suffolk,
p. 11.) And this statement may, with little alteration, be applied to
the common sort of cottages in most other counties. Much, however,
AGRICULTURE.
467
depends on the prevalence of peculiar habits and practices, and on the
conduct of landlords. Some of the latter laudably exert themselves to
improve and beautify the cottages on their estates; and there are not
many ways in which a landlord can do more good at so little cost to
himself.
Gardens are attached to many English cottages. As these may be
wrought at extra hours, they are of great advantage to the occupiers,
by furnishing them with a supply of potatoes and pot-herbs. Some
benevolent individuals have proposed increasing the quantity of land
attached to cottages, and giving a cow to each. But the proposal has
met with little favour, and we do not think it deserved much. Were
cottagers generally placed in the situation alluded to, they would
speedily lose their industrious habits, and would, at no remote period,
become half employed, petty occupiers, depending for subsistence
wholly on the little patch of land in their possession. We certainly
have seen quite enough of the wretched effects of a system of this
sort in Ireland to hinder us from seeking to introduce it into England.
Enclosures and Fences.-There are few things that contribute more
to the improvement of agriculture than the division of lands into fields
of a suitable size, properly fenced. This, however, has not been so
much attended to in England as it ought. It is, indeed, impossible to
lay down any general rules in regard to the size of enclosures, seeing
that these should vary according to the size of the farms of which they
are parts, the nature and exposure of the ground, &c.
There can,
however, speaking generally, be no manner of doubt that, in most parts
of England, the enclosures are a great deal too small, and that much
valuable land is occupied by unnecessarily large and numerous fences.
A well-built stone wall is, though not the most beautiful, perhaps, for
agricultural purposes, the best of all fences. But the scarcity of stones
is, in many parts of England, sufficient to prevent the construction of
such walls; and being more costly at the outset than a hedge, and less
beautiful, they are only met with in a few districts. It is true, also,
that, in an economical point of view, hedges would be far less objection-
able were they properly trimmed, and not allowed to grow to too great
a height; but this is seldom the case. On the contrary, they are
most frequently, especially alongside lanes and country roads, left to
flourish in a state of nature, spreading to a great breadth, the thorns
being intermixed with forest trees, briars, brambles, &c., and the
underground covered with a luxuriant crop of nettles and other noxious
weeds. Hence they not only occupy a great extent of land, but, also,
afford a convenient and safe retreat for vast numbers of birds, and for
all sorts of vermin. It is estimated that, in very many parts of Eng-
land, not less than 10 per cent. of the arable land is occupied by fences!
Much stress has, no doubt, been laid on the shelter given to the crops
and cattle by the number and size of the latter; but the most intel-
ligent persons are of opinion that, even in this respect, they have been
multiplied to a vicious excess. For, besides the loss of land, the
destruction of crops growing under the shade of the trees, and the
depredations of birds and vermin, the healthiness and vigour of the
crops are impaired, and their ripening retarded by the want of a free
circulation of air occasioned by the height of the fences, and the too
2 H 2
468
ENGLAND AND WALES.
small size of the enclosures. Even in grazing lands the enclosures
should be pretty extensive, it being well ascertained that all animals
thrive best where they have a pretty wide range of pasture. And, in-
dependently of these considerations, the small size of the fields occasions
a great waste of labour in ploughing, and most other field operations
in which horses are employed. Indeed, there are few things connected
with agriculture in England in which a change of system is more
required than in all that regards fences. Besides their too great
breadth, they are frequently twisted in the extreme; and the opinion
of the best judges is that the produce of many parts of the country
would be increased from a fourth to a third part by laying them out in
fields of a proper size, surrounded with suitable fences. In some places
the latter are formed of wooden palings; and, when well executed,
they are not only very suitable for the purpose, but much more durable
than might be expected. Hedges, however, if properly trimmed, and
not allowed to exceed four or five feet in height, would in most parts
be the best as well as the most beautiful fence. They are sometimes
planted and trained at the expense of the landlord, under the super-
intendence of workmen employed by him; sometimes, on the other
hand, the expense of their planting and training is devolved wholly on
the tenant; and sometimes it falls partly on the one and partly on the
other. But it is uniformly almost for the interest of the landlord to
plant and superintend hedges. If neglected at first, they rarely become
good fences; and, as it requires much labour and time to train them,
and bring them to maturity, the interest most tenants have in their
farms is not sufficient to make them give that care and attention to
hedges that are essential to their growth, excellence, and preservation.
4. Implements. As respects the
"Duris agrestibus arma,
Queis sine, nec potuêre seri, nec surgere messes,"
our remarks must be very brief; for it would lead us far beyond our
limits were we to attempt to particularise, much more to describe, the
various agricultural implements used in England. We cannot, how-
ever, forbear remarking that their construction is of the greatest im-
portance, inasmuch as improved implements not only enable every
agricultural operation to be performed better, but also more expedi-
tiously, and at a less cost; so that they increase, at one and the same
time, the disposable produce of the soil, the profits of the farmer, and
the rent of the landlord.
Ploughs.-Considering the vast importance of the plough as an
agricultural instrument, and the many ages that have elapsed since
"Ceres ferro mortales vertere terram
Instituit,"
one should have thought that its structure would have been long since
thoroughly investigated, and that all would have been agreed as to the
best form of ploughs to be used for different purposes, and in different
soils. But, in point of fact, few instruments have attracted so little
attention. Perhaps it was supposed that an operation, apparently so
rude as that of turning over the ground, might be performed with any
AGRICULTURE.
469
sort of implement; and that it would be useless to bestow art or nicety
on one that was to be guided by the clumsy hands of illiterate peasants.
But, in whatever way it may be accounted for, it is certain that few or
no efforts were made till the latter part of last century to investigate
the construction of ploughs on scientific principles.* Fortunately,
however, this has been at length satisfactorily accomplished; the best
form of the instrument has been ascertained; it is now, also, manufac-
tured with the greatest precision, and at a very cheap rate, by common
artisans in many parts of the country; and, while the work executed
by the best of the improved ploughs is infinitely superior to that of the
barbarous and cumbrous implements formerly in use, it is executed at
less than half the expense !† But, despite all this, such is the tenacity
to established practices, that unimproved ploughs still maintain their
ground in not a few districts; and there is the greatest difference, in
different parts of the empire, even where the soils are similar, in the
description of improved ploughs in general use.
The ploughs at present in common use in England may be divided
into the three great classes of swing-ploughs, wheel-ploughs, and turn-
wrest ploughs. The first, or swing-plough, is supposed to be the oldest
variety in England: formerly it was exceedingly heavy, clumsy, and
ill made; but an unimproved swing-plough is now rarely met with.
That which is at present most commonly used in the northern, north-
western, and some of the midland counties, is known by the name of
the Scotch plough, and is by far the best implement of the sort. It
was much improved by Mr. James Small, to whom the agricultural
interest is, on this account, under the greatest obligations. It has a
feathered sock, or share, a curved mould-board, and is now usually
made wholly of iron. In Scotland it is uniformly drawn by two horses
abreast, driven by the ploughman. Owing to the diminution of fric-
tion, the draft is less in it than in wheel-ploughs; but it requires con-
siderable skill and attention on the part of the ploughman. A statute
acre is, under ordinary circumstances, about the average quantity
ploughed in a day by a man and two horses with this plough. Ploughs
with one or two wheels are common in the southern and south western,
as well as in some of the midland counties: a peculiar plough of this
construction is almost exclusively seen in Norfolk. The chief recom-
mendations of wheel-ploughs are, that they require little skill on the
part of the ploughman, and that the depth and width of the furrow may
be correctly adjusted; but, on the other hand, the friction caused by
the wheels adds to the heaviness of the draught; while they are more
expensive, and liable to be choked with earth, and put out of order,
than the Scotch plough. Turn-wrest ploughs are general over Kent,
and on the chalk-hills of Sussex and Hertfordshire; but they are not
common in other parts of the kingdom. They admit of having the
mould-board removed from one side to another at the end of each furrow,
so that the earth may be always thrown on one side. Besides these
three principal varieties, and innumerable subvarieties of each, double-
* The best essays on the construction of the plough are by Mr. Arbuthnot, in
Young's Eastern Tour, ii. pp. 523-560; and by Mr. Bailey, in his Survey of
Durham. pp. 390-404.
+ Brown on Rural Affairs, i. p. 224.
470
ENGLAND AND WALES.
" It
moulded ploughs, &c., are used; but their use is by no means general,
nor is it very likely to increase. The old Welsh plough, which is still
in pretty common use in Wales, is a most defective implement.
is not calculated to cut a furrow, but to tear it open by main force,
The share is like a large wedge; the coulter comes before the point of
the share sometimes, and sometimes stands above it; the earth-board is
a thing never thought of, but a stick (a hedge-stake or anything,) is
fastened from the right side of the heel of the share, and extends to the
hind part of the plough: this is intended to turn the furrow, which it
sometimes performs, and sometimes not; so that a field ploughed with
this machine looks as if a drove of swine had been moiling it.".
(Davies's Agriculture of South Wales, vol. i., p. 187.) Several pro-
prietors and farmers have introduced improved ploughs; but they are
not in nearly such general use as might have been supposed.
Waste of Labour in Ploughing.-Perhaps the imperfect construc-
tion of the ploughs, their great weight, and the extensive employment
of those with wheels, may be one cause why, in England, a much
greater number of horses than are necessary are employed in them. If
we except the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk, and Essex, in the south of
England, and those of Northumberland, Cumberland, Durham, and
Westmoreland, in the north, there is, perhaps, none in which more
than two horses will not sometimes be seen in a plough. In some coun-
ties, teams of three, four, and very frequently five horses are employed
in the tillage of the lightest soils; and on heavy soils a greater number
are sometimes made use of.* Notwithstanding this excess of horses, the
furrow is seldom above four inches deep on light, and six inches on heavy,
soils ; nor is there, generally, more than three-fourths of an acre
ploughed in a day. Of course, where there are more than three horses, a
driver, as well as a ploughman, is necessary. The horses are invariably,
almost, yoked in line; so that when the fields are small, and the turn-
ings, consequently, numerous, most part of the work is done by two, or
rather by one horse.
This waste of the labour of men and horses in ploughing is, perhaps,
the greatest defect in the agriculture of England; and it is one that
does not seem to be disappearing, at least in any considerable degree.
It is not meant to be affirmed that all lands may be ploughed with two
horses; but such is the case with by far the largest proportion. We
do not, in fact, think it would be going too far to affirm that a third
part of the horses at present employed in farming, in most of the south-
ern, western, and midland counties, might be advantageously dispensed
with, were the practice as to ploughing adopted in them that is uni-
versally followed in the north. Hence the great importance, in a
national point of view, of the discontinuance of the present vicious system.
"Wherever teams of two horses are used, the work is decidedly better
done than where they are more numerous."-( Young's Southern Tour,
2nd edit. p. 288.) On the one hand, therefore, the supply of food for
man would be most materially increased by the saving in the keep of
horses, and to some extent also by the improved tillage, that would
result from the abandonment of the present practice; while, on the
other hand, the rents payable to the landlords would be augmented in
* In the Vale of Gloucester seven horses are occasionally used.
។
AGRICULTURE.
471
consequence of the reduction of the farmer's expenses. It is not easy,
indeed, to see how the landlords could do anything that would tend so
much to advance their own interests and those of the public as their
insisting, in the letting of farms, on stipulations calculated to put an
end to this waste of labour. This would be the easiest, as well as the
most effectual, mode of getting rid of the abuse.
There is nothing in the harrows or other instruments used in the
cultivation of the soil in England, that seems to call for any particular
notice in a work of this sort. Almost constant changes are making in
them; but simplicity of principle and construction are generally believed
to be too little attended to. Some of the drill machines, or machines
for sowing grain and other small seeds in rows, have been contrived so
as to execute their work with the greatest regularity and precision.
In all the southern counties, four-wheeled waggons, drawn by two,
three, or more horses, are in common use; while in the northern
counties single-horse carts, similar to those now universally used in
Scotland, are generally met with. A great deal of discussion has taken
place respecting the comparative advantages and disadvantages of
waggons and carts; but it is only under peculiar circumstances that
they can be fairly compared. Where roads are good, and the ground
firm and dry, there would seem to be little doubt that the preference
should be given to carts; but where roads are bad, and the ground
clayey, soft, and tenacious, waggons may, perhaps, be the most suitable.
There is a great variety in the form and construction of waggons, most
counties having one or two varieties peculiar to itself.
The thrashing machine is now pretty common.
In the southern
counties, indeed, into which its introduction was comparatively recent,
it became, within these few years, the object of popular attack; and to
such an extent was the prejudice against it carried, that in many dis-
tricts the farmers were obliged to demolish such as had been erected!
Conduct like this is as destructive of the interests of the peasantry as it
is disgraceful to their intelligence. The employment of thrashing
machines relieves the labourers from the severest drudgery incident to
agriculture; they enable the work to be done at the time there is a
demand for corn, and, by doing it better, or separating the corn (par-
ticularly wheat) more completely from the straw, they add both to the
wealth of the farmer and the produce of the country; enabling the
former to employ, and the latter to feed, more labourers. This latter
is, indeed, a most important consideration. It is estimated by the best
informed agriculturists, that 5 per cent., or one-twentieth part more
produce is afforded by a crop thrashed by machinery than by the old
method; and, estimating the total produce of the corn crops of Great
Britain and Ireland at 50,000,000 quarters, we should, on this hypo-
thesis, have an additional annual supply of no less than 2,500,000
quarters, were thrashing machines universally substituted for flails!
So great an increase of produce in the hands of the farmers would
obviously enable them to employ far more labourers than would be
superseded by the use of the machine.-(Brown on Rural Affairs,
vol. i., p. 332.)
Thrashing machines were at first worked either by horse power or by
But when horses are made use of, it frequently happens that
water.
472
ENGLAND AND WALES.
they have to be taken from some other necessary employment; and
owing to the continuance of the draught, and their confined position, the
labour is severe. Water, when it can be commanded at all times in
sufficient abundance, affords the best and most economical means of
working the machine. But, except in a few peculiar situations, the
supply of water is very apt to be occasionally deficient; and hence, of
late years, steam has begun to be extensively applied as a moving power
to the thrashing machine. There are, indeed, but few improved tillage
farms of any considerable extent in the best cultivated districts of Scot-
land, and in the north of England, without their steam engines; and
the extent to which they have been already introduced, is a sufficient
proof of the advantage resulting from their employment. It is singular,
however, that very few thrashing mills worked by steam should be met
with in the midland and southern counties of England: in this respect,
indeed, as in some others, the latter are decidedly less advanced than
those more to the north.
Mr. Stevenson seems inclined to think that the ploughs, and most of
the other agricultural implements in common use in England, are not
generally constructed on scientific principles, or with that degree of
skill as to enable them to do their work in the best manner, and with
the least cost of time and labour. This, however, is not occasioned
by the want of the best models in every department, but, as already
stated, by the tenacity with which old practices are persevered in.
So much is this the case, that, even in the vicinity of the metropolis,
where the best workmen and best implements of all sorts are to be
found, the ploughs are peculiarly unwieldy and ill contrived; and such
is their general character in many other counties. It is plain, there-
fore, that the general introduction of the improved Scotch plough, at
least on all light lands, would be a most material improvement.
But, notwithstanding these defects, the implements used at present
by the mass of the English farmers are, speaking generally, very supe-
rior to those in ordinary use in most other countries; and, though a
good deal remains to be accomplished, the improvements that have been
already made in their construction have powerfully contributed to the
superiority of our agriculture.
Horse and Ox Labour.-Innumerable dissertations have been
written on the question as to the comparative advantage of employ-
ing horses or oxen in agricultural operations. It is plain, however,
that this question may be differently decided under different cir-
cumstances, and that in one case horses, while in another case oxen, may
be most profitable. But, on the whole, the superiority of horses seems,
in this country at least, to be great and obvious; and, notwithstanding
the efforts of various amateur farmers to the contrary, the employment
of oxen in field operations appears to be every day diminishing, and is
now principally restricted to Devonshire, Herefordshire, Sussex, and
Glamorgan. But, even in these counties, a great deal of work is done
by horses. The inferiority of oxen to horses, for general purposes, is
admitted by every one; and, even in tillage, ox teams are not to be
compared, in point of economy, with the two-horse plough.
$
AGRICULTURE.
473
SECT. 3.- Tillage Husbandry.
Fallows.-Before an improved system of tillage was introduced into
England, there appears to have been little or no fallow land. At
length, however, it was perceived that the loss of a crop every year
that a fallow occurred was more than balanced by the improvement it
occasioned in the crops of the other years. When the practice had
been introduced, it rapidly extended, and appears to have been carried,
about the middle of last century, to an excess. This occasioned a
reaction, and several writers of eminent talent exerted themselves to
show that fallowing might be nearly, if not entirely, laid aside. A
great deal of controversy has taken place as to this important point.
But as experience has proved that most descriptions of land may be
effectually cleaned and prepared for wheat by the substitution of crops
of drilled turnips, beans, potatoes, &c., in the place of naked fallows,
the latter have been fast losing ground in most districts, but especially
in the light or turnip soils. In strong clay lands, however, the practice
of fallowing seems to be pretty stationary. In the southern counties,
indeed, which are favoured with a comparatively long and dry summer,
attempts have been made to dispense with fallows by substituting beans
in their stead; and it is believed that, even on heavy clays, when
properly attended to, they have in most respects answered the object in
view.
Mr. Bailey has the following observations on the subject of fal-
lowing:-
"It has been disputed, whether fallowing was necessary to the fertility of land or
not. The difference of opinion, I am inclined to think, is, in a great measure, owing
to the idea annexed to the term, or to some small remains of prejudice for ancient
customs; as, before the introduction of turnips, it was thought absolutely necessary
to summer-fallow the dry soils as well as the wet, under the idea of renewing their
fertility by a naked summer-fallow, or year of rest; but experience bas proved that
the dry soils can bear a crop of turnips of considerable value, and after that a crop
of wheat equal, if not superior, to what it would have been from a naked summer-
fallow, and the land left in an equal state of fertility. It therefore appears that, in
this case, the land has received no injury by not being left naked or uncovered by
the turnips. The restorative fertility must, therefore, be owing to another cause,
which is common to both modes, and may probably be sufficient ploughings, clearing
of pernicious weeds, and proper manures.
"Upon strong loams it has been found, that if beans are drilled at 30 inches in-
tervals, and properly hand-hoed amongst the stems, and horse-hoed or ploughed
between the rows, the land may be left as clear of weeds, and the crop of wheat suc-
ceeding the beans be equally good, as one obtained after naked fallow.
"From these instances it appears, that it is not necessary to the fertility of land
to let it lie in a naked or uncultivated state through the summer; but that it is ne-
cessary to keep it clear of weeds, and in a duly pulverized state, supposing the
manures in both cases to be equally the same.
"But there are many parts of this country where the soils are moist, thin loams,
upon ochrey clay, that are so addicted to the production of agrostis nigra, alba, and
stolonifera, that it is scarcely possible to effect their destruction without a naked
summer-fallow, at least in their present state; but it is probable that superior culti-
vation may remove the necessity of having recourse to this measure so often as has
been the prevailing practice.”—(Survey of Durham, p. 106.)
Alternation of Crops.-The courses of crops commonly cultivated
vary much, not only with the variations of soil and climate, but even
where these are similar. In the best farmed counties, such as Nor-
474
ENGLAND AND WALES.
folk, Suffolk, Essex, Lincoln, Kent, and Northumberland, two white
crops are rarely sown in succession. A green or a pulse crop, or a
plain fallow, is interposed between every two white crops. These
green crops not only preserve the fertility of the soil, but, when sown
in rows, as most of them usually are, they afford, as has been just
mentioned, an opportunity of extirpating weeds by the use of the horse
and hand-hoe; and even when sown broad-cast, by their taking com-
plete possession of the ground, if it be properly prepared, the growth
of weeds is effectually checked. In other respects, these intermediate
crops are of the utmost importance in every good course of manage-
ment. Whether they be eaten on the ground, or carried to the farm-
houses and straw-yards, much valuable manure-the plentiful supply
of which is essential to all good husbandry-is obtained from their
consumption; and on sandy or gravelly soils, when a part only of a
turnip crop is eaten by the sheep on the ground, the greatest defect of
such land is removed by their treading; and, in many cases, it is ren-
dered as capable of producing a valuable crop of wheat as soils of a
closer texture. This alternate course of husbandry forms the grand
distinction between the old and the new or improved systems.
Wherever it is not introduced, husbandry must necessarily be in the
most backward state; and such, we regret to say, is its present con-
dition in very many districts. Oats or barley after wheat, wheat after
oats, and two, or even three, crops of oats in succession, are by no
means uncommon. On light soils, the rotation commonly pursued by
the best agriculturists is borrowed from the county of Norfolk, and is
thence called the Norfolk, or four-shift system: it consists of, 1st,
turnips or potatoes; 2nd, barley or wheat; 3rd, clover; and 4th, oats,
or where barley followed turnips, clover is sown along with it, and
succeeded by wheat. No one rotation is nearly so common on heavy
soils as this is on light soils and inferior clays. Those most pursued
on the former are, 1st, fallow; 2nd, wheat; 3rd, beans; 4th, oats;
and then, 5th, fallow: or, 1st, fallow; 2nd, wheat; 3rd, clover, for
one or two years; 4th, oats; 5th, beans; 6th, wheat; 7th, fallow.
Barley is sometimes, but not often, introduced into the rotations on
strong lands; and tares, rape, or cabbages are occasionally, though
seldom, substituted for fallow. In the Isle of Sheppey, in Kent, and
in a few other spots of uncommon fertility, wheat and beans are grown
alternately, without the intervention either of a fallow or of any other
crop.
Besides these rotations, which are applicable only to grounds kept
constantly under the plough, there are others which form what is
called the convertible husbandry. In this system, the ground, after
being laid down to grass for two, three, five, or more years, is broken
up and sown with different species of corn, intermixed with green crops,
or fallows, for some years, after which it is again laid down to grass.
This system is making its way into the best farmed districts of Eng-
land; so that more grass-land (not permanent, but for a few years) is
now seen in the strictly arable districts than was formerly met with;
while a greater breadth of ground is under the plough in many of
those counties which formerly were almost exclusively in grass.
Crops cultivated.—Wheat (Triticum) is by far the most important,
AGRICULTURE.
475
and most extensively cultivated species of bread-corn raised in Eng-
land. It appears, from the previous statements, that it is sown after
fallow, turnips, cabbages, potatoes, beans, &c. In light soils it fol-
lows clover and the cultivated grasses; but it never, at least in the
best farmed districts, follows any other white crop. Wheat may be
raised on all sorts of soils; but those of a clayey nature are the most
suitable. So peculiarly, indeed, is wheat adapted to heavy, stiff lands,
that they are usually termed "wheat soils." The lighter the soil, the
less is it suited to this species of grain; and it is an error in practice
to force the cultivation of wheat on soils, and, under circumstances,
better suited to the production of other grain. In this country, it does
not admit of being raised at a great elevation. As it is a crop on
which the farmer mainly depends, the preparation for it, in whatever
rotation it comes, should be an object of great care and attention. If
it be intended to sow wheat after fallow, the land is repeatedly
ploughed, harrowed, and well manured; if after clover, only one
ploughing is given, and seldom more after beans: where tares have
been previously sown, they are got off the land in sufficient time to
plough it more than once: when wheat follows turnips or cabbages, it
must, unless they be stored or eaten, be sown in the spring months.
The kinds of wheat grown in England seem mostly all to be varieties
of two species-the Triticum hybernum, or winter wheat, and the
Triticum turgidum, or turgid wheat. The culture of the latter is
mostly confined to clays; the cone, or bearded wheat, being the most
esteemed of its varieties: it enjoys this pre-eminence, not because it
yields the finest flour, but because it is comparatively productive, and
not subject to disease on wet soils.
The varieties of wheat are perpetually changing, in consequence of
variations of culture, climate, and soil. Those most in use are distin-
guished by different local terms. They may, however, be divided into
the two great classes of red and white, the latter being superior as
respects quality of produce, and the former of hardiness. In general,
the thin and smooth-chaffed varieties are preferred to those that are
woolly and thick-chaffed. Wheat sown in the spring is called spring
wheat; but the species is quite the same as that sown before winter;
though, by being sown in the spring, its period of ripening is changed.
It is always sown before winter when the ground can be got ready;
but when it follows turnips, cabbages, and such like crops, it has fre-
quently to be deferred to the spring. (Low on Agriculture, 4th ed.,
pp. 328-343.)
Winter wheat is seldom sown in any part of England before the
beginning or middle of September, or later than the end of November.
spring wheat is generally sown between the middle of March and the
middle of April. The seed is invariably pickled or steeped ; a process
intended to prevent smut. The quantity of seed allowed to an acre,
when sown broad-cast, usually varies from 2 to 3 and 34 bushels.
The drill husbandry, as applied to wheat, is practised to a consider-
able extent in many parts of England; and in some places it is not
unfrequently planted with the dibble: but by far the greater portion is
sown broad-cast. While growing, but little attention or labour is
bestowed upon it. When drilled, it is generally hoed ; and when
476
ENGLAND AND WALES.
sown broad-cast, it is sometimes hand-weeded, and occasionally, though
rarely, harrowed and rolled in the spring. But these operations are
generally, perhaps, prosecuted as much in the view of covering the
clover and grass seeds, that are then frequently sown in the wheat
fields, as of improving the wheat crop.
Wheat harvest generally commences, in the south of England, about
the 25th of July or the beginning of August: in the midland counties
it is about 10 days, and in the northern counties from a fortnight to
three weeks, later. There is a striking difference in the harvest-field
operations, with respect to this as well as other kinds of grain, between
the north and south of England: in the former, during harvest, the
corn-field exhibits a large number of reapers, perhaps 50, 60, or even
100, all working together, and presenting an interesting and animating
spectacle.
In the south of England, on the other hand, and over the
greater part of the midland counties, wheat is reaped by small sets of
individuals, who contract to cut a field or a certain number of acres;
so that, in general, the field merely exhibits one or two men, with,
perhaps, their wives, working in different parts of it. Wheat is seldom
cut down with the scythe, but is either reaped with the common sickle,
or, as is the practice in some of the counties near the metropolis, as
well as in some of the south-western counties, it is bagged, that is,
struck down near the ground with a large and heavy hook. It is uni-
versally bound in sheaves, which are set up in shocks or stooks, each
containing 12 or 14 sheaves. Perhaps no circumstance marks the
difference of climate in the south and north of England more strongly,
than the difference in point of time during which it is necessary to
keep wheat and other grain in the field before it is carried home. In
the southern counties, it is generally ready in a week or ten days:
whereas in the north it is necessary to let it stand out for two or three
weeks. In the southern, eastern, and midland counties, it is frequently
put into barns: in the north, it is almost universally stacked.
As this grain is so extensively cultivated, frequently on very inferior
soils, and after very imperfect preparation, the produce per acre varies
materially in different counties and districts; it is also very liable to
injury from a bad seed time, a wet winter, or a blight during the
period of its flowering (which last is the most common cause of the
failure or deficiency of our wheat crops); so that its produce varies
as much in different seasons on the same farms, and under the same
management, as it does during the same season on different farms.
The lowest quantity of produce, except where an absolute deficiency
from blight occurs, may, perhaps, be rated at from 14 to 15 bushels
an acre; and the highest at from 56 to 66 bushels. Occasionally, in-
deed, even more than this has been reaped on the deep loams near
Chichester, in Sussex, on the calcareous loams near Epsom, and in
some of the more favoured and highly cultivated parts of Kent, Essex,
Lincoln, Somerset, &c.
The wheat counties are Kent, Essex, Suffolk, Rutland, Hertford,
Berks, Hants, Hereford, and parts of Lincoln; that is, these are the
counties most distinguished for the quality as well as the quantity of
their wheat. In the north, this grain is sometimes raised of a very
fine quality; but generally it is inferior; being colder to the feel,
AGRICULTURE.
477
darker coloured, thicker skinned, and yielding less flour. In the best
wheat counties, and in good years, the weight of an imperial bushel
of wheat varies from 62 to 65 lbs. In the Isle of Sheppey, in Kent
(where, perhaps, the best samples are produced), it sometimes weighs,
in favourable seasons, 66 lbs. a bushel. Where the climate is na-
turally colder, wetter, and more backward, or in bad seasons, the
weight of the bushel does not exceed 57 or 58 lbs. It is calculated
that, at an average, a bushel of good English wheat weighs 60 lbs.
and that the average yield of flour is 12 lbs. of flour to 14 lbs. of
grain. The weight of the straw is supposed to be about double that of
the grain; so that an acre yielding 32 bushels of wheat, at 60 lbs. per
imperial bushel, would yield 3,840 lbs. of straw.
;
Rye (Secale cereale), the bread-corn of Germany and Russia, was
at one time very extensively cultivated in this country; so much so,
that Mr. Charles Smith estimated there were in England and Wales,
in 1765, 880,000 individuals, or about one seventh part of the then
population, who were consumers of rye (Tracts on the Corn Trade,
2nd ed., p. 182); but it is now very little cultivated in a separate state,
and has ceased to be consumed by man, unless when mixed with
wheat. This is ascribable to two causes: in the first place, the farmers
have discovered that the light lands, which were formerly deemed fit
only for rye, may, by proper management and attention, be made to
produce excellent crops of barley or wheat, and, in the second place,
the increased wages and improved circumstances of the labouring
classes have made them prefer wheaten bread to rye bread, or, indeed,
to bread made of any other sort of grain. Rye is still, however, raised
in Northumberland and Durham. In the latter it is very rarely grown
alone; but a mixture of rye and wheat, provincially termed maslin, is
rather extensively grown, and a few years ago a greater breadth of fallow
land was covered with it than with wheat. It is mixed in all proportions,
from 4th of wheat to ths of rye; and from 4th of rye to ths of wheat,
according as the grower thinks the ratio will best suit his soil.
Bailey says it has been long remarked, that individual grains of each
species are plumper and better perfected than when grown separately;
and that a bushel of good maslin weighs more than a bushel of either
good wheat or good rye. Bread of excellent quality, made of this
mixture, used to be in general use throughout Durham, and in many
parts of Wales.-(Survey of Durham, p. 124.) Rye is frequently
grown as green food for cattle. It comes early in the spring to matu-
rity, allowing time for a subsequent crop the same year.
Mr.
Barley (Hordeum).—The culture of this grain has been supposed,
but probably on no very good grounds, to be on the decline in Eng-
land. In 1765, Mr. Charles Smith estimated the number of barley
consumers in England and Wales at 739,000; and, as a large pro-
portion of the population of Wales, Westmoreland, and Cumberland
still subsist chiefly on barley bread, we are inclined to think that this
estimate may not, at present, be very wide of the mark. But the great
demand for barley in England is by the manufacturers of beer, porter,
and British spirits: and, though the consumption of these articles has
not increased proportionally to the increase of population and wealth,
there is no reason to conclude that it has diminished. Barley is also ex-
478
ENGLAND AND WALES.
tensively used in fattening black cattle, hogs, and poultry. It is a
most important crop in the rotation best adapted to light lands. The
principal barley counties are Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridge, Bedford,
Leicester, Nottingham, and the upper parts of Hereford, Warwick,
and Shropshire. Where its culture is best understood, and most ex-
tensively followed, as in Norfolk, it is generally preceded by turnips,
or other green crops; after these are drawn or eaten off, the land is
twice or thrice ploughed, the seed furrow being given when it is dry,
and immediately before the barley is sown. The season for sowing ex-
tends from the middle of March to the end of April. It is, perhaps,
more generally drilled than wheat; but this mode of culture is by no
means common: when it is drilled, about 2 bushels of seed are sown
per acre; in the broad-cast method, 3 or 3 bushels. There are two
leading species of this grain in cultivation, the hordeum distichon,
two-rowed, or common barley, of which there are several varieties;
and the hordeum hexastichon, or six-rowed barley. One of the best
known varieties of the latter is called in this country bere, or bigg.
Its culture is, however, almost entirely confined to the northern coun-
ties and Scotland. Barley harvest, in the south of England, com-
mences nearly about the same time as the wheat harvest, or perhaps a little
later; in the north it is often cut down before wheat. The practice
of mowing it, which has long been followed in the south, is becoming
very general; but the carrying it in a loose state, without being bound
in sheaves, is confined to the southern counties; and is, even there,
attended with a good deal of risk. It is seldom housed in any part of
England. The produce varies from 24 to 64 bushels an acre; the
most usual crop is from 30 to 45 bushels: the usual weight of an im-
perial bushel of barley is 54 or 55 lbs. ; but the best Norfolk barley
sometimes weighs 56 or 57 lbs. When barley is raised on strong
land (which had better, however, be sown with wheat), a summer-
fallow preparation is sometimes given. The practice of sowing barley
after wheat or oats is, luckily, on the decline.
Oats (Avena).-In 1765, Mr. Charles Smith estimated the number
of consumers of oats in England and Wales at 623,000; but there can
be no doubt that they are now considerably fewer. The feeding of
horses has at all times occasioned the greatest consumption of oats in
this part of the kingdom; and as the number of horses kept for busi-
ness and pleasure has been vastly increased within the last 30 or 40
years, the culture of oats has been much extended. As, however, they
do not suit so well with a warm and early, as with a more moist and
backward, climate, the crops in the former being neither so abundant
nor of such good quality as in the latter, the cultivation of oats is more
attended to in the north and in Wales than in the southern counties.
They are raised most extensively in Northumberland, Durham, Cum-
berland, Westmoreland, Lancashire, and in the fens of Lincoln, Hun-
tingdon, Northampton, Cambridge, and Norfolk. It has been supposed
that about a third part of the oats grown in England are the produce
of the fens; they are also grown on the high lands of Cheshire, Der-
byshire, and Staffordshire, and in most of the Welsh counties, particu-
larly in Caermarthen. In the midland counties their cultivation is less
extensive; though they are grown in Leicester, and on the Trent bank
AGRICULTURE.
479
land of Nottingham. There are very fine crops of oats in the Isle of
Thanet, and in other parts of Kent.
There are three leading varieties of the common oat (Avena sativa)
cultivated in England,―black; gray, dun brown, or red; and white.
The first two varieties, being comparatively hardy, may be raised on
very inferior soils, and in situations unsuitable for the other. The
black oat is now, however, hardly known in England; and the dun, or
red oat, is principally confined to the moors of Cheshire, Derbyshire,
and Staffordshire. White oats are, speaking generally, less hardy
than either of the other varieties, and require a better soil; but they
are, at the same time, earlier, heavier, aud yield a greater quantity of
meal. There are numberless, and some widely different, sub-varieties
of this kind. That which is called the potato-oat has long enjoyed
the highest reputation in this country, and is almost the only one that
is at present raised on land in a good state of cultivation in most parts
of England and the south of Scotland, and usually brings a higher
price in the London market than any other variety. It was discovered
growing in a field of potatoes in Cumberland in 1788; and from the
produce of this single stalk, which there sprang up by accident, most
probably from the manure, the entire stock now in general use has been
obtained! Besides the above, a species of naked oat (Avena nuda),
provincially called pillar (antè, p. 214), is grown in Cornwall.
Oats are almost always, in every part of the kingdom, the first crop
on old grass land, to which they are more suitable than any other species
of grain. They are also sown generally on strong land, after clover
ley; and in the north of England they succeed clover on most kinds of
soil. Besides coming in this rotation, they are sometimes sown after
turnips; and where the husbandry is indifferent, they are taken as the
last crop before fallow, even when the ground is dirty and exhausted.
In the southern counties the end of February, and in the midland and
northern counties the middle or end of March, is the usual seed time.
They are very seldom drilled. Five bushels is the ordinary quantity
of seed to the acre. Perhaps the produce of no species of grain varies
more than that of oats. Where the ground is foul and exhausted, not
more than 20 bushels an acre are obtained; but on rich soil, well
managed, and in favourable years, 60, 70, and sometimes even 80
bushels and upwards, have been reaped. Oats weigh from 35 to 48 lbs.
a bushel, yielding 9 lbs. meal for 14 lbs. corn; but the proportion of
meal increases as the oats become heavier. In most parts of England
they are mown, except when the crop is very strong. In the south,
they are generally carried loose into the barn-yard; but in the north,
where they are frequently cut with the sickle, they are tied in sheaves.
Being liable to lose much by shaking, it is usual to cut oats before
they are quite ripe.
The Bean (Faba vulgaris) is grown on almost all the strong lands
under the plough. The quantity sown has probably continued sta-
tionary. According to the rotation pursued by our ancestors, when
most of the land was in common fields, beans, preceded by wheat and
followed by fallow, formed the whole course of husbandry. They were
then, however, generally sown broad-cast; and, instead of benefiting
the ground, were often of incalculable detriment. But in the modern
480
ENGLAND AND WALES.
In
system they are drilled and horse-hoed. Hence, they have become a
very important crop, particularly on clay lands not suitable for turnips;
heavy crops being not only raised, but the ground being, when suitable
attention is paid to their culture, kept clean and in good order. Still,
however, there are but few counties in which their culture is well con-
ducted. Perhaps Gloucester, Kent, and Essex, may be specified as
those where it is carried on with most judgment, skill, and success.
these and some other counties, they are drilled, and carefully horse and
hand-hoed; affording a valuable crop, and the means of cleaning and
fertilizing the land without resorting to a fallow. They generally pre-
cede wheat, and are put into the ground as soon in the spring as the
weather will permit. The bean harvest in every part of the kingdom
is late, generally ten days or a fortnight after all the white corn is cut
down. The produce varies from about 20 to about 44 bushels an
acre.
The Pea is commonly divided into two species-the Pisum sativum,
or white pea of the gardens, and the Pisum arvense, or gray field-pea.
The first is largely cultivated as a garden crop; and is grown to a con-
sidérable extent in the fields in Middlesex, Kent, Suffolk, and some
other counties. Gray peas are pretty extensively grown in some parts
of England; and they are the only sorts raised in the fields in Scotland.
When grown as a field crop, the pea generally succeeds clover, rye,
wheat, barley, or oats; but its proper place in the rotation is as a pre-
paration for wheat. "The produce of the pea is very uncertain.
Perhaps none of our cultivated crops presents such frequent failures.
This arises partly from the diseases to which the plant is subject, and
partly from the effects of late ripening and unfavourable weather.
Thirty bushels an acre are held to be a good crop in most districts of
this country. Perhaps the average of the kingdom does not exceed
20 bushels an acre." (Low's Agriculture, p. 382.) Peas ought not to
be grown more than once in eight or ten years. If grown oftener, the
crop frequently fails, and the land is covered with weeds. In Middle-
sex, the average produce of the early crops of green peas in the husk
is estimated at from 25 to 30 sacks an acre, worth from 8s. to 18s. a
sack. The average produce of green peas about Dartford, in Kent, is
said to be 40 sacks an acre, and that as many as 50 sacks have been
gathered.-(Loudon, 2d ed. No. 5213.)
The Tare (Vicia sativa) is principally grown as spring food for
sheep, cattle, or horses. In the south of England it is sown either in
the autumn or spring. That which is sown in the former is ready for
cutting in April or May, but it does not come to perfection in the
northern counties; that which is sown in the spring (March) is cut in
autumn. Tares are a nourishing and excellent food for all sorts of
cattle. Cows give more butter when fed with tares than with any
other sort of food. Horses, also, are said to thrive better upon them
than upon clover or rye-grass. Ten or twelve tons per acre is reckoned
a large crop.
Buck Wheat (Polygonum fagopyrum) is seldom seen in England.
A little of it is cultivated in Norfolk and some other counties, on light
and poor soils, and allowed to ripen; in other parts it is ploughed
down as a manure while in flower.
AGRICULTURE.
481
Clover (Trifolium).-Red, Dutch, and yellow clover, or trefoil, are
very generally and largely grown; but to a greater extent, and witn
more success, in the eastern, southern, and northern counties, than in
the western or midland. The culture of red clover after barley, as a
preparation for wheat, is considered a mark of superior husbandry in
those districts where it is best understood. Clover is rarely sown along
with rye-grass, where hay is the object; but they are usually mixed
when the land is intended to remain two or three years in pasture. In
the south, and particularly in the vicinity of the metropolis, clover is
frequently sown alone. Dutch, or white clover, is used principally in
laying down land to grass. Owing to the comparatively small extent
of old pasture, or meadow land, in Scotland, the Scotch farmers pay
more attention than those of England to the culture of artificial grasses.
Sainfoin (Onobrychis sativa), not thriving well, except where the
soil or subsoil is calcareous, is not generally met with. But it is ex-
tensively cultivated on the Cotswold Hills, and on the chalk soils of
Dorset, Hants, Wilts, Hertford, Surrey, Sussex, and Kent. It gene-
rally remains for 8 or 10 years-a much longer period, according to
A. Young, than it is found to do in France. It is made into hay, the
after-crop being eaten by sheep or cattle.
Lucerne (Medicago sativa), nearly allied to sainfoin in its character,
habits, and properties, though requiring a different soil, is not grown
to any considerable extent, except in parts of Kent and Sussex.
Potatoes.-The culture of this exotic (Solanum tuberosum) was
first introduced, and it is still grown in the greatest perfection, in Lan-
cashire and Cheshire; in the former about Altringham, and in the
latter about Frodsham. Potatoes are also grown to a considerable
extent in Yorkshire, particularly on the warp-land, or the soil on which
the sediment of the rivers is deposited, and in Essex, Cumberland, and
Cornwall. They are, however, less extensively used and cultivated in
the western counties than in any other part of England. They are
frequently grown on the light soils in the low parts of Wales. March
and April are the usual seasons for planting, and October for taking up
the crop. Wherever the husbandry is good, they are planted in rows,
and are carefully horse-hoed and hand-weeded; being taken up either
by the plough or by a particular kind of fork. The produce varies
from 8 to 10 and 12 tons an acre. Potatoes are most commonly used
as a preparation for wheat or oats, the latter being, in general, the best
following crop. In Lancashire and Cheshire, however, they are not
unfrequently planted on lands broken up from grass for the purpose.
Capacity of the Potato to support Population. There is a con-
siderable discrepancy in the statements of the best authors as to the
number of individuals that might be supported on an acre of land
planted with potatoes, as compared with those that might be supported
on an acre sown with wheat; some stating the proportion as high as
6 to 1, and others at only 2 to 1. According to Arthur Young, 1 lb.
of wheat is about equal in nutritive power to 5 lbs. of potatoes. But
Mr. Newenham, who has carefully investigated this subject, states,
'that 3 lbs. of good mealy potatoes are, undoubtedly, more than equi-
valent to 1 lb. of bread.'-(Newenham on the Population of Ireland,
p. 340); and his estimate is rather above Wakefield's. Supposing,
VOL. I.
2 I
482
ENGLAND AND WALES.
however, that 1 lb. weight of wheat is fully equal to 4 lbs. of potatoes,
still the difference in favour of the superior quantity of food derived
from a given quantity of land planted with the latter is very great.
According to Arthur Young, the average produce of potatoes in
Ireland may be taken at 82 barrels the Irish acre; which, at 20 stone
the barrel, is equal to 22,960 lbs. ; and this being divided by 4, to
bring it to the same standard, in point of nutritive power, as wheat,
gives 5,740 lbs. Young further estimates the average produce of
wheat, by the Irish acre, at 4 quarters; which, supposing the quarter
to weigh 480 lbs., gives in all 1,920 lbs., or about one-third part of the
solid nourishment afforded by an acre of potatoes.-(Tour in Ireland,
Append. pp. 12, 24, &c. 4to. ed.) This estimate must, however, be
somewhat modified when applied to Great Britain, the soil of which,
while it is better adapted to the growth of wheat, is generally supposed
not to be quite so suitable for the potato as that of Ireland. But it,
notwithstanding, admits of demonstration, that, even here, "an acre of
potatoes will feed double the number of individuals that can be fed from
an acre of wheat." - (General Report of Scotland, vol. i., p. 571;
Commercial Dictionary, art. POTATOES; and see antè, p. 442, for some
remarks on the consequences to a population of depending principally
on potatoes.)
Turnips (Brassica rapa, common turnip; Ruta baga, Swedish
turnip). The county of Norfolk was for a long time famous for its
great breadth of turnips, and for the skill and success with which they
were cultivated. At present, however, this useful and valuable root
is grown, to a greater or less extent, in almost every county of England;
but in a superior manner, and to a larger extent in Norfolk, Suffolk,
Northumberland, and Lincoln, than anywhere else. The turnip cul-
ture seems to have made the least progress in Cheshire, Lancashire,
and some of the south-western counties. In the best cultivated parts
of Norfolk, Northumberland, and Lincoln, turnips are almost uniformly
drilled. They are also partially drilled in other places; but broad-
cast is still the most common mode of sowing them in the western
parts of England. They mostly follow wheat or oats; but they occa-
sionally, also, follow barley and peas. They are principally grown on
light soils, serving, especially when drilled, the same purpose as a naked
fallow. Turnips are, therefore, of peculiar value to a farm; for,
besides enabling it to keep and fatten a much larger quantity of stock,
and, consequently, to accumulate a much larger quantity of manure,
they give a crop where there was none before, without diminishing in
any degree the means of cleaning the land. Their produce, when cul-
tivated in the broad-cast manner, varies from 5 to 15 tons an acre;
the latter being reckoned a very good crop. In Northumberland and
Berwickshire a good crop of white globe turnips, drilled, weighs from
25 to 30 tons; the yellow and the Ruta baga, or Swedish, a few tons
less. It has been well observed by Mr. Brown, in his valuable Treatise
on Rural Affairs, that the introduction of the improved turnip culture
into the husbandry of Great Britain “occasioned one of those revolu-
tions in rural art which are constantly occurring among husbandmen
and though the revolution came on with slow and gradual steps, yet it
may now be viewed as completely and thoroughly established. Before
;
AGRICULTURE.
483
the introduction of this root, it was impossible to cultivate light soils
successfully, or to devise suitable rotations for cropping them with ad-
vantage. It was likewise a difficult task to support live stock through
the winter and spring months; and as for feeding and preparing cattle
and sheep for market, during those inclement seasons, the practice was
hardly thought of, and still more rarely attempted, unless where a full
stock of hay was provided, which only happened in very few instances.
The benefits derived from turnip husbandry are, therefore, of great
magnitude. Light soils are now cultivated with profit and facility;
abundance of food is provided for man and beast; the earth is turned
to the uses for which it is physically calculated; and, by being suitably
cleaned with this preparatory crop, a bed is provided for grass seeds,
wherein they flourish and prosper with greater vigour than after any
other preparation."-(Vol. ii. p. 90.) The application of bone manure
and guano to the raising of turnips ranks among the greatest of the
recent improvements in agriculture. It has not only occasioned a great
increase in the produce of this valuable root, but in the crops of corn
and grass by which it is followed.
Cole, or Rape (Brassica napus), is cultivated either on account of
its seed to be expressed for its oil, or as green food for sheep. That
raised for crushing is principally produced in Yorkshire and Lincoln-
shire; while that raised for sheep is cultivated to the greatest extent
in the southern and south-western counties, and in Northampton,
Leicester, &c. It is seldom grown for either purpose north of York-
shire, or in the western counties. The culture of rape for seed has
been objected to on account of its supposed great exhaustion of the
land;
but Mr. Loudon says that, where the soil and preparation are
suitable, the after-culture properly attended to, and the straw and offal,
instead of being burnt, as is the common practice, converted to the
purposes of feeding and littering cattle, it may, in many instances, be
the most proper and advantageous crop that can be raised by the
farmer. Where the plant succeeds well, and the season is favourable
for securing the seed, it produces sometimes from 40 to 50 bushels an
acre; but the produce is very various and uncertain. The leaves are
scarcely surpassed, as green food for sheep, by any other vegetable.
Cabbage (Brassica oleracea) has been partially cultivated as food
for cattle and sheep for several years; but the practice does not seem
to be extending. Cabbages are principally grown in Suffolk, Leicester,
and Lincoln. Mr. Brown affirms that their culture is much more
hazardous, far less profitable, and attended with infinitely more trouble,
than that of turnips. But when they are grown on soils too heavy for
turnips, they may be an advantageous crop.
Mangel Wurzel, or Beet (Beta vulgaris var.), has of late years
been extensively cultivated in the most improved districts. It is of
great value as food for cattle, standing next to Swedish turnips in its
feeding properties. It may be preserved in perfection in pits: the
produce varies from 18 to 40 tons an acre.
This plant abounds in saccharine matter; and a large proportion of
the sugar used in France and other parts of the continent is now pre-
pared from beet-root. The extraction of sugar from beet was also
beginning to be attempted in this country; but it having been enacted,
21 2
484
ENGLAND AND WALES.
that all sugar made from it should be subjected to the same duty as
colonial sugar, the manufacture has been discontinued.
Carrot (Daucus carota) has been long cultivated for the London
market, and as food for farm horses, on the sandy soil of Suffolk; but
its application as food for cattle is comparatively recent. It is also
cultivated as a farm crop to a considerable extent in Worcestershire ;
Wolverly sands having been long famous for the growth of this root,
and for the saving of carrot seed. For several years past, carrots have
been cultivated on a large scale, and with much success, by some in-
telligent Norfolk farmers. According to Arthur Young, the produce
of an acre of carrots in Suffolk is, at an average, 350 bushels; but
under the best management the crops have averaged as much as 800
bushels, which considerably exceeds the largest crop of potatoes.
Horses are remarkably fond of carrots; and Mr. Loudon affirms that,
if they be mixed with cut straw and a little hay, they will keep them
in excellent condition for performing all kinds of ordinary farm labour.
About 40 or 50 lbs. a day are allowed for each horse.
The Parsnip (Pastinaca sativa) resembles the carrot in its uses
and the method of its cultivation; but requires a stronger soil, and is
more nutritive. It is not raised any where in this country on a large
scale, except in Jersey and Guernsey, where it is extensively used in
the feeding of cattle.
The following crops are generally confined to a very few parts.
Canary seed, radish seed, spinach seed, &c., are scarcely seen any
where, except in the Isle of Thanet, where they are raised in large
quantities. Saffron, which was formerly cultivated in various parts of
the kingdom, is now grown almost solely between Saffron-Walden, in
Essex (which takes its name from this plant), and Newmarket, in a
circuit of 10 miles. Another singular product of Essex is a kind of
treble crop of coriander, carraway, and teazle; the two former on
account of their aromatic seeds, the latter for its prickly heads, used
by the manufacturers in raising the nap on woollen cloths. Teazles
are also grown in some parts of the West Riding of Yorkshire; but
neither there nor in Essex to nearly their former extent, in conse-
quence of their being in a great measure superseded by the use of
machinery. Madder and woad are grown, though not to any consider-
able extent, on the chalk hills of Surrey, near Banstead, and in West
Kent: mustard, near Wisbeach, in the Isle of Ely, and in some parts
of Essex liquorice, principally in the neighbourhood of Ponte-
fract, in the West Riding of Yorkshire. In Derbyshire, a good deal
of land is planted with camomile. Various medicinal plants are raised
near Mitcham, in Surrey; among which are peppermint, pennyroyal,
savin, angelica, horehound, camomile, wormwood, hyssop, poppy,
lavender, and roses.
Flax and Hemp.-After the American war, government endea-
voured, by means of bounties, to encourage and extend the cultivation
of flax and hemp; but the bounties were soon withdrawn, because, as
is said, they went to the landlords instead of the tenants; the former
expecting an increased rent for their lands in proportion to the bounties
given. But, supposing that the bounties had gone entirely into the
pockets of the tenants, their withdrawal is not to be regretted. It is
AGRICULTURE.
485
admitted, by the best informed agriculturists, that the culture of flax
is, on the whole, decidedly less profitable than the culture of corn;
and it would, therefore, be most impolitic to attempt to force the
growth of the former rather than of the latter. The flax grown in Eng-
land is raised chiefly between Bridport and Beaminster, in Dorsetshire;
in the neighbourhood of Frome, Crewkerne, &c., in Somersetshire; at
Upwell and Chatteris, in the Isle of Ely; in some parts of Lincoln-
shire; and on the strong lands of High Suffolk.
The Hop (Humulus lupulus) has long been cultivated in the
southern parts of England, particularly in the neighbourhood of Can-
terbury and Maidstone, in Kent, where there is a larger extent of
ground appropriated to its growth than in any other county. The
quality of the hops raised round Farnham in Surrey, and in the ad-
joining parts of Hants, is, from better management, or other causes,
so superior, that they always command the highest price: they are
also grown in Herefordshire, particularly on the confines of Worces-
tershire; in the latter, in the vales of the Severn and the Team ;
in the vicinity of Stowmarket in Suffolk, and near Retford in Not-
tinghamshire, but in these two places only to an inconsiderable ex-
tent; in Essex about Castle Hedingham; and in some parts of Sussex.
The hop is so much affected by changes of weather, blights, and
other distempers, that its produce varies more than that of any other
plant, being sometimes as low as 1 or 2, and sometimes as high as
15 or 20 cwt. an acre! In 1825, for example, the produce of the hop
crop amounted to only 5,080,000 lbs., whereas in the following year
it was 57,227,000 lbs. ! The average produce during the 4 years
ending with 1834, was about 30,000,000 lbs. In 1845, the land under
hops in the different parts of England and Wales comprised an area
of 48,058 acres, whereof there were in Kent 24,888 acres; in Sussex,
11,016 ditto; in Hereford, 6,597 ditto; in Worcestershire, 1,225
ditto; in Hants, 2,765. During the same year the duty of 2d. per
lb., produced 274,788., showing that the crop had amounted to
32,974,608 lbs. Grounds planted with hops fetch a higher rent per
acre than any other kind of land not possessed of some peculiar local
advantages, bringing from 5. tò 127. per acre; and about Farnham
considerably more. From their great uncertainty, they are believed
to be, speaking generally, an unprofitable species of culture. They
afford ample room for, and great temptations to, speculation, and are
apt to divert the attention of the farmer to pursuits not very compatible
with his peculiar business. The late Mr. Ellis, of Westbury Manor, in
the Rochester collection, was the greatest hop-grower in the empire,
having about 500 acres under this crop. He sometimes employed, in
the picking season, as many as 4,000 people! He gave but an unfavour-
able account of the business. The increase of the quantity of land
under hops in Kent, would seem, however, to show that their culture
is either more profitable than is commonly imagined, or that the sup-
posed advantages attending it more than countervail its drawbacks.
(See Report on Hops by the Commissioners of Excise Inquiry).
Apples, Cyder, &c.-There is scarcely a farm of any extent in the
southern and south-western counties without an orchard attached to
it, containing a stock of apple-trees sufficient to supply the farmer's
486
SCOTLAND.
family with cyder. It might, in fact, be produced in most parts of
the empire. The finer garden apples are not required for the pro-
duction of cyder. Those employed for this purpose are of the less
improved and harsher kind, approaching somewhat to the wild apple;
the goodness of the liquor depending more on the manner in which
it is made than on the kind of fruit. Cyder is not, however, made in
large quantities for sale, except in the counties of Devon, Hereford,
Worcester, Gloucester, Monmouth, and Somerset ; but in these the
management of the cyder orchards is an affair of considerable import-
ance. Perry is made chiefly in Worcestershire; and the cyder of
Hereford and Gloucester is deemed superior to that of Devon. The
quantity of cyder annually manufactured has not been ascertained.
Mr. Marshall supposed that the produce of Worcester, Gloucester,
Hereford, and Monmouth, might, at an average, be reckoned at 30,000
hogsheads, of which Worcester was supposed to supply nearly 10,000
hogsheads, besides 1,000 hogsheads of perry. But there can be little
doubt that the consumption has materially increased since the abolition
of the duties. Exclusive of cyder and perry, which are sent to all
parts of the kingdom, the cyder counties export large quantities of
fruit, chiefly to the north. The average weight of fruit sent from
Worcestershire alone, to the north, is supposed to amount to from
2,000 to 2,500 tons. Kent is famous for its orchards of cherries and
filberts. The former are common in most parts of the county; the
latter are principally confined to the vicinity of Maidstone, where they
extend over several hundred acres.
SECT. 4.—Agriculture of Scotland.
Having dwelt at so much length on the agriculture of England, a
comparatively short notice will suffice for that of Scotland.
In comparing England and Scotland together, it is evident, even to
the most superficial observer, that a more severe spirit of economy is
prevalent, in all that respects field operations, in the latter, than in the
former. In England, there is not, generally speaking, that strict sub-
serviency of the parts to the principal business of the farm that is
observable in Scotland. In the latter, all the best cultivated farms
appear as if the only thing that occupiers ever thought of was, how
the greatest quantity of produce might be raised and sent to market,
at the least expense. All that can forward this grand object is found
in the highest state of perfection; but there is no outlay on anything
else. In England the factory system, if we may so call it, has made
less way in agriculture. A greater extent of land is devoted to pur-
poses of pleasure; hedges are kept up, though unnecessary, or even
injurious, because of their beauty: more horses and labourers are
maintained in proportion to the work to be done; and there is a much
larger outlay on what is merely ornamental. Both systems have their
exceptionable as well as unexceptionable points. The economy of the
Scotch is carried in some respects to an excess; but the English have
run much further into the opposite extreme; their expenditure upon
useless horses, to notice only one item, being in the last degree preju-
dicial to the landlords, the farmers, and the public.
AGRICULTURE.
487
The grand characteristics of Scotch agriculture are, 1st, the nearly
universal prevalence of leases of a reasonable endurance, and contain-
ing regulations as to management which, while they do not improperly
shackle the tenant, prevent the land from being exhausted previously
to the termination of the lease; 2nd, the absence of tithes, and, in most
cases, also of poor-rates, and of all oppressive public burthens; 3rd, the
prevention of assignment and subletting by tenants, and the descent of
the lease to the heir-at-law; and 4th, the general introduction of
thrashing machines and other improved implements, and the universal
use of two-horse ploughs and one-horse carts. These circumstances,
combined with the extraordinary progress of manufactures, and the
general increase of opulence and civilisation, which have created a
proportional demand for the produce of the soil, and introduced im-
proved habits and modes of living, seem to afford a satisfactory expla-
nation of the wonderful progress of agriculture in Scotland since the
middle of last century.
Agricultural Departments.-In the General Report, Scotland is
divided into nine agricultural districts; but this seems to be an unne-
cessary multiplication. It may perhaps, be sufficient to divide it into
three; of these the first, or most southerly division, extends from the
English border to the rivers Forth and Clyde. It contains a large
extent of mountainous and pasture land. But extensive tracts in Ber-
wickshire and the Lothians, on the east coast, are naturally fertile,
and are farmed with a degree of skill, economy, and success, un-
equalled almost in any other part of the empire. There are also large
tracts of fertile and well-farmed land in Lanark, Renfrew, Ayrshire,
Galloway, and Dumfries; but the climate on the west coast is not so
favourable, and agriculture is not so far advanced on that side the
island as on the east. The second agricultural division stretches
from the Forth and Clyde to the great chain of lakes connected by
the Caledonian Canal, that runs from Inverness to the Island of Mull.
The mountains in this division are on a grander scale than in the
southern division, and the proportion of waste land much greater. It,
however, contains some of the finest land in the empire. The carse of
Gowrie, stretching from Perth to Dundee, consists of the richest allu-
vial soil; but its agriculture is not equal to that of some other districts.
Strathern, lying to the west of Perth, is also very fertile. Most part
of the extensive county of Fife is arable, and is, in general, highly im-
proved. There are also large tracts of fine land in Forfarshire and
Angus; and smaller portions in Aberdeenshire and Moray. The
third division of Scotland, or that which embraces the country lying
to the north of the Caledonian canal and the lakes, is, with the excep-
tion of the eastern parts of Ross-shire, and a few patches besides, wild
and mountainous. Black cattle, sheep, and wool, are the only agricul-
tural products it furnishes.
Buildings.-Down to the close of the American war, the farm
buildings in most parts of Scotland were mean and inadequate in the
extreme. In the Lothians they were commonly ranged in a row,
having the dwelling-house in the middle, with a barn at the one end
and cattle houses at the other. In other parts, they were frequently
huddled together without any sort of order. The walls were always
488
SCOTLAND.
low, in most instances of stone and clay, the roof being invariably
thatch. The dunghill was universally opposite to the door; and so
near it, that in wet weather it was no easy matter to get into the
house with dry feet. The change that has taken place in these respects
during the last half century, has been signal and complete. In none
but the least accessible and least improved districts are any of the
old houses now to be met with. Perhaps, indeed, the other extreme
has not been sufficiently avoided; buildings having, not unfrequently,
been erected that seem to be both larger and more expensive than
necessary. The offices are mostly constructed in the form of a
square. In some instances, the dwelling-house makes one of its
sides; but in the better class of farms it is removed to some distance
from the offices. It is generally two stories high, and is well, and
sometimes handsomely fitted up. Both houses and offices are almost
always slated. The expense of buildings is uniformly defrayed by the
landlord; but the tenant, for whose accommodation they are in the
first instance erected, sometimes pays a per centage upon the money laid
out upon them. Sometimes, also, the tenants undertake to carry the
materials used in building.
Fences.-These, in many parts of Scotland, consist of dry stone
walls; which, though destitute of beauty, make, when properly built,
a capital fence.
This species of enclosure seems to have originated in
the south. Kirkcudbright and Wigtown were early subdivided with
excellent stone dykes, that are now celebrated all over the kingdom
by the name of "Galloway dykes." They are of very various height,
built, and degrees of goodness; but the best are built double to a cer-
tain height, when they are capped with broad flat stones projecting a
little on each side, over which others are usually laid single; but some-
times those laid over the cap-stone are made to lock firmly together.
The best dykes vary from 5 to 6 feet in height; and where they have
been carefully founded, well built, and constructed of good stones, they
make a most excellent and a very durable fence. Examples are not
rare of their standing for 60 or 70 years without receiving almost any
repair. In a few instances they have been found at above 100 years
of age, in a state of perfect preservation! But, unless they be of
superior material and workmanship, they seldom last more than from 25
to 30 years. Most of the dry stone walls now to be met with all over
Scotland have been built, sometimes with more and sometimes with
less success, after the Galloway model.*
Implements. In respect of farming implements, Scotland has very
much the advantage over England. The improved Scotch plough is
everywhere met with in the agricultural districts, and is uniformly
drawn by two horses, driven by the ploughman. Iron harrows are
universal. Thrashing-machines are introduced far more extensively
than in England: there is hardly, indeed, a considerable farm in any
part of the country without one, and in most instances, they are now
worked by steam. The Scotch labourers have never been so absurd as
to attempt to advance their interests by destroying these valuable
engines.
* There is a good account of the Galloway dykes, with judicious remarks on their
construction, in Smith's Survey of Galloway, pp. 80-93.
AGRICULTURE.
489
Crops.-In the lowland districts, the practice of taking two corn
crops in succession is almost entirely abandoned.
almost entirely abandoned. Wheat is raised to
the greatest extent in Berwickshire, the Lothians, Perth and Fife;
but, speaking generally, the climate of Scotland is not so well suited
for the growth of wheat as that of the southern counties of England.
It is, however, worthy of remark, that some of the best samples of
British wheat brought to the London market, have come from the
shores of the Moray Frith. The climate is particularly well suited
to the growth of oats; and this no doubt is one of the principal causes
of their being far more extensively cultivated in Scotland than any
other species of grain, perhaps in the proportion of 7 or 10 to 1. The
potato oat is raised, to the exclusion of most other varieties, in almost
all the best cultivated districts. On inferior land, dun oats, and in
a few exposed Highland districts, improved black oats are raised. The
produce varies with the soil, preparation, &c.; but, in general, it is
greater than in England, and the grain is heavier. Sixty bushels an
acre are reckoned a very good crop, and twenty-five an indifferent or
bad one.
Oatmeal formed, at no very distant period, the principal
part of the food of all classes except the very highest: but wheaten
bread is now very generally used in towns and villages, and even in
country districts.
Oatmeal is still, however, in extensive demand.
Barley, or rather bear or bere, is also largely cultivated. The cul-
ture of beans is confined to a few districts.
Turnips and potatoes are cultivated with success in most of the
lowland districts of Scotland. They are uniformly, almost, planted
in drills, hand-hoed, and horse-hoed. The raising of potatoes for the
London market has recently been very extensively practised in some
of the eastern counties of Scotland, and has been found sufficiently
profitable, notwithstanding the crops are less abundant in this part
of the empire than in England or Ireland. The turnip husbandry
is nowhere, perhaps, so well understood, or practised on so large
a scale, as in East Lothian and Berwickshire; but it has latterly
been greatly extended and improved in all parts of the country.
Clover and rye-grass are more extensively raised in Scotland than in
England.
Grasses. In the management of meadows, the saving of hay, the
selection of cattle, and all that respects grazing husbandry, Scotland is
considerably behind England. During the late war, indeed, great
efforts were made by several individuals to improve the breeds of live
stock, which have been attended with a corresponding degree of success.
Dairy husbandry is principally carried on in Ayrshire, where Dunlop
cheese is made, and in Renfrewshire; and is beginning to be intro-
duced into Galloway, Dumfriesshire, and other counties.
SECT. 5.—Grazing Husbandry of Great Britain.
It will be afterwards seen, that a full half or more of the arable land
of England is applied to grazing husbandry, or to the rearing and feed-
ing of cattle, sheep, &c., for the dairy and the shambles. In Scotland,
a larger proportion of the arable land is under crop than in England ;
and in Ireland, where pasture land preponderated very much half a
century ago, the proportion in tillage is now decidedly the largest.
490
GREAT BRITAIN.
Various circumstances have conspired to account for the prevalence of
pasture in England. It is partly, no doubt, ascribable to the humidity
of the climate, and the natural adaptation of the soil to bear luxuriant
crops of grass; partly to the taste of the inhabitants for butchers'
meat; and partly, also, to the serious obstacle opposed by tithe to the
extension of tillage. We have neither time nor means to compare and
weigh the conflicting statements put forth by the advocates of grazing
and of tillage. That system of agriculture is generally admitted to be
the best in which they are judiciously combined. We believe, how-
ever, that few things in rural economy require more mature considera-
tion than the breaking up of old pasture land; and that many estates
were materially injured by the extent to which this was done during
the period of high prices from 1809 to 1815. It is needless, however,
on a point of this sort to seek to establish, by reasoning, which system
of management is best, or which is worst, that being a matter that can
only be ascertained experimentally. If greater profits, all things con-
sidered, be made by keeping land in pasture than would be made by
bringing it under the plough, it is not for the interest of the landlord,
the farmer, or the public that it should be so brought. The true way
to extend tillage is to lessen or remove the various burdens that affect
the cultivators of the land. This would tend to make that balance of
profits, which seems at present pretty equally poised, incline in favour
of tillage; and, if so, its progress would be insured.
The richest grazing lands in England are, the vale of Aylesbury in
Buckinghamshire, the marsh lands of Somersetshire, the Great Level
of the Fens, Romney Marsh in Kent, and the midland counties of
Leicester, Northampton, &c. In Cheshire and Gloucester there is a
great extent of rich pasture land, chiefly appropriated to the dairy.
The natural fertility of some of the grazing districts, and the fertility
bestowed on others by the skill, capital, and industry of the farmer
are quite astonishing. On the rich grazing lands of Lincoln an acre
will feed a bullock and 5 or 6 sheep during summer, and 34 sheep, or
7 sheep to 2 acres during winter.
Hay made in Britain consists sometimes of natural grasses, some-
times of clover and rye-grass, or of clover only, and sometimes of
saintfoin. The first description, or, as it is commonly called, meadow
hay, is principally produced in the western counties of England, where
comparatively little clover is sown, and in the pastoral districts of
Scotland. Middlesex, which has nothing else to boast of in respect of
agriculture, has carried the art of making meadow hay to the greatest
perfection, particularly in the districts immediately adjoining the
metropolis. Mr. Middleton states that 70,000 acres of the metro-
politan county consist of upland meadows and pastures, chiefly clay.
He then adds, "This large district would have been of little or no
value in a state of aration. The difficulty of tilling it; the expensive
teams that must have been employed on it; the few months in every
year when it could be ploughed with success; and the uncertain pro-
duce of such a soil, are circumstances which would have kept down its
value to little or nothing: but mark the difference,-laying it down
to a permanent grass has been the means of it annually producing, at
a medium of seasons, a ton and a half of hay per acre, of the highest
HORSES.
491
quality, for the feed of horses, and of enabling the farmer to pay a
much higher rent for it than they can do for the best land in a state of
aration."-(General View of Middlesex, 2nd ed. p. 287.) Clover
hay, either pure or mixed with rye-grass, is most common in the
southern, eastern, and northern counties of England, and in the culti-
vated districts of Scotland. Saintfoin hay is confined to those districts
which have a calcareous soil, for it is on these only that it can be pro-
fitably grown. The usual weight of a crop of meadow hay is from
1 to 1 tons per acre; of clover hay from 1 to 3 tons; and of saint-
foin from about 1 to 2 tons. In those counties in which the soil is
dry, and the climate peculiarly favourable, clover is sometimes per-
mitted, after it has been once cut, to stand for the purpose of saving
its seed; but there is great uncertainty as to its produce. Clover hay
generally sells 20 per cent. higher than meadow hay, or than clover
and rye-grass mixed.
SECT. 6.-Live Stock of Great Britain.
Horses. Of the various animals domesticated by man, and made
subservient to his purposes, the horse is by far the most important.
In England horses are used to a much greater extent than in any other
country. Oxen, as has been already seen, are but little employed
amongst us in farm labour; and, besides the horses kept by the agri-
culturists, vast numbers are employed in the conveyance of goods and
passengers in waggons, street carriages, &c., while a still greater
number are kept by private individuals as saddle and carriage horses,
hunters, racers, &c. Most manufacturers, warehousemen, wharfingers,
coal merchants, &c., in extensive business, employ a greater or smaller
number of horses. There are, indeed, but few industrious pursuits in
which they are not in some way serviceable; and many of the greatest
importance could not be carried on without them; while they, at the
same time, contribute, in no ordinary degree, directly to augment our
comforts and enjoyments.
Breeds of Horses.-There are in England many varieties of this
noble animal, differing in size and other qualities, but all admirably
adapted for the purposes for which they are intended. The largest
horses are bred in the midland counties, particularly Northampton and
Leicester: they are generally of a deep black colour, and are pecu-
liarly well fitted for draught. This breed is understood to have been
formed, or, at least, brought to its present perfection, by means of
stallions and mares imported from the Low Countries. They are ex-
tremely docile; and, from their great strength and weight, are able to
move an immense load. The principal demand for heavy horses is in
London, where they may be seen in full perfection in the dray-carts of
the brewers. They are altogether very fine and useful animals, though
said by some to be deficient in spirit. Yorkshire has been long cele-
brated for its breed of horses, both for the saddle and for draught, but
especially the former. The Cleveland bays are esteemed one of the
best breeds in the empire. Coach, chariot, and stage-coach horses are
derived, many of them, from the Cleveland bays, improved by an ad-
492
GREAT BRITAIN.
mixture of blood. Suffolk has a peculiar breed of very valuable farm
horses; they are short, well-compacted, and active. Much pains has
been taken in improving this breed, so as to render them fit for heavy
as well as light work. The best show of Suffolk horses is at Wood-
bridge Lady-day fair. Some of the finest stallions and mares bring
high prices. The old English road horse, a valuable breed, and par-
ticularly serviceable, before roads began to be improved, for their capa-
city for carrying loads, is now nearly extinct. The Clydesdale horse
has long been in high esteem in Scotland and the north of England;
and, for husbandry purposes, is probably not excelled by any other
British breed. The Welsh horse is small and active, and bears a
strong resemblance to the best native horses of the Highlands of Scot-
land. The genuine Galloway breed, so called from the province of
that name in Scotland, is now rarely met with. It is somewhat larger
than the Welsh horse, hardy, well adapted for the saddle, and distin-
guished by a peculiar smallness of the head and neck, and cleanness of
bone. Galloway is now, however, used as a term to designate any
horse between the pony size and the hack. The ponies and shelties of
the Highlands and islands of Scotland are the smallest animals of the
kind in the empire. They are the same with the Norway breed: the
best of them being handsomely shaped, active, sure-footed, and capable
of enduring much fatigue. Hunters and hackneys are now principally
derived from the crossing of horses of entire blood with select mares
of the native breed. Their speed has been, in consequence, a good
deal increased; but what they have gained in this respect they are
said to have lost in strength and bottom. The old English hunter is
nearly extinct. Cavalry horses are found among the larger sort of
hackneys: they are reckoned equal, if not superior, to those of almost
any other country.
The race-horses of England are descended, in a nearly right line,
from the Arabian, the Persian, and the Barb. Their breeding and
training have been attended to with the utmost care; and the best
English race-horses are now, perhaps, unrivalled for symmetry, swift-
ness, and capacity of exertion. The feats performed by some of them
have been truly astonishing. Bay Malton ran, at York, 4 miles in
7 minutes 43 seconds: Childers went sometimes at the rate of 823 feet
in a second; and the performances of many others have been hardly
less wonderful. No inconsiderable part of the improvement in some
of the other breeds has been owing to judicious crosses with race-
horses; and the influence which proper care in breeding, training, &c.,
was seen to have on the latter, made similar attentions be paid, in a
greater or less degree, to the breeding and training of carriage, draught,
and saddle-horses.
With the exception of the Arabs, there is, perhaps, no people more
attached to their horses than the English, or who take greater plea-
sure in having them well kept and in good order. London is, in fact,
the paradise of horses. Rapid driving in stage-coaches used to be the
severest work to which they were subject in this country; but owing
to the shortness of the stages, and the high keep of stage-coach horses,
it was less destructive than might have been supposed. And the
construction of late years of railways between all the principal
HORSES.
493
towns has gone far to put an end to the employment of horses in
stage-coaches.
66
It has been justly observed that, one will hardly be at a loss to
determine the character of a farmer from the condition of his horses.
Very fine high-bred horses, exhibiting an appearance of being prepared
for the market, may rather suggest the idea of idleness than of labour;
but, on the other hand, lean, spiritless creatures, worn out by toil and
hunger, are the certain indications of a bad farmer, of one who is not
thriving, and who does not deserve to thrive. The man who uses bad
instruments cannot have his work well done; and one important and
primary step towards good farming is to keep the labouring stock in
good condition. Horses regularly fed and regularly wrought will
perform a great deal of labour without falling off either in strength or
appearance it is of great importance, therefore, to distribute the
labour as equally as possible through the various seasons of the year;
and if, as must sometimes be the case, an extraordinary exertion ought
to be made, they are in a proper condition for it. When horses do fall
off it requires much more to restore them than 'might have kept them
in a good state."—(Somerville's Agriculture of East Lothian, p. 197.)
Number and Value of Horses in Great Britain. -The number of
horses used in Great Britain for different purposes is very great, though
less so, perhaps, than has been generally supposed. Mr. Middleton
(Survey of Middlesex, 2nd ed. p. 639) estimated the total number of
horses in England and Wales, employed in husbandry, at 1,200,000,
and those employed for other purposes at 600,000. Dr. Colquhoun,
contrary to his usual practice, reduces this estimate to 1,500,000 for
Great Britain; and, in this instance, we are inclined to think he is
not very wide of the mark. According to the Parl. Paper, No. 688,
sess. 1830, there were in England and Wales, in 1814, when those
used in husbandry were taxed, 1,204,307 horses; but this account
does not include stage-coach, mail-coach, and hackney-coach horses,
nor does it include those used in posting. Poor persons, keeping only
one horse, were also exempted from the duty, as were all horses em-
ployed in the regular regiments of cavalry and artillery, and in the
volunteer cavalry. These and other deficiencies might, probably,
raise the total stock to 1,400,000; and though there has since been a
great falling off in a few departments, others have proportionally in-
creased; so that, on the whole, the number of horses is believed to
have varied but little in the interval. The horses in Scotland, en-
gaged in agriculture, were estimated to amount, in 1814, to 243,489;
but they have since greatly increased.—(General Report, Appendix
ii. p. 185.) Hence, it may be fairly estimated that there are, in
Great Britain, 1,500,000 horses employed for various purposes of
pleasure and utility. They may be worth, at an average, from 127.
to 15., making their total value from 18,000,000l. to 22,500,000l.
sterling, exclusive of the young horses.
Expense of feeding Horses.-Land required for their Maintenance.
-The expense of horses depends partly on their size and partly on the
purposes for which they are kept; partly on the situation where they
are kept, and partly on the condition in which they are kept. Hence,
the yearly expense of the keep of a horse has been estimated at almost
494
GREAT BRITAIN.
any sum from 10l. to 50l.
Farm horses, properly kept, and in good
condition, may require, for their maintenance during a year, as
follows:-
Oats, 10 quarters.
Soiling, 1 acre of clover, and rye-grass, and tares.
Hay, part of October and November, March, April, and May,
1 ton.
Straw, for other 4 months, half the price of hay.
Potatoes, yams, or Swedish turnips acre.
The extent of land required for a horse's maintenance, supposing
the soil to be of a medium quality, may be about 5 acres; that is, for
oats 3 acres, soiling 1, and 1 more for hay and roots. On rich soils
4 acres will be sufficient; but on poor soils, and wherever horses are
kept at pasture, the produce of 6 or 7 acres will be consumed by one
of them, when properly worked. The straw of about 2 acres must be
allowed for fodder and litter, the last of which has not been stated
above; because, at a distance from towns, what is allowed for litter
must, at any rate, be converted into manure. If 60 acres, therefore,
should be assumed as the average extent of land that may be kept in
cultivation by two horses, according to the best courses of modern
husbandry, the produce of 10 acres of this will be required for their
maintenance; or, in other words, a horse consumes the produce of
1 acre out of every 6 which he cultivates, according to a 4 or 6 years'
course; and something more than 1 acre out of every 5 which he
ploughs annually.—(General Report of Scotland, vol. iii. p. 192.)
Cattle.
Britain has been distinguished from the earliest period for the ex-
cellence of her pastures, and the preference by the inhabitants of stock
husbandry to tillage. Cæsar represents the ancient Britons as pos-
sessing large herds of cattle (pecoris magni numerus), and living
principally on milk and flesh (Lacte et carne vivunt, De Bello Gallico,
lib. 5, §§ 13, 14); and no period has since elapsed in which the same
thing might not have been affirmed of their descendants. This seems
to be principally owing to natural causes. "The climate of Great
Britain is, above all others, productive of the greatest variety and
abundance of wholesome vegetables, which, to crown our happiness,
are almost equally diffused through all its parts: this general fertility
is owing to those clouded skies which foreigners mistakenly urge as a
reproach on our country; but let us cheerfully endure a temporary
gloom which clothes, not only our meadows, but our hills with the
richest verdure. To this we owe the number, variety, and excellence
of our cattle, the richness of our dairies, and innumerable other advan-
tages.”—(Pennant's British Zoology, art. Ox.)
Though the extensive variety of breeds of cattle that exists amongst
us has, no doubt, been principally caused by differences of situation
and pasture, it has, also, been partly caused by accidental and inten-
tional intermixture. To describe these varieties, or even to enumerate
them in detail, would far exceed our limits. They have been inter-
mingled in every possible way, and run into each other by almost im-
CATTLE.
495
perceptible gradations. They may, however, be divided with sufficient
precision for our purpose into the four classes of middle-horned, long-
horned, short-horned, and polled. We shall merely glance at a few of
the more celebrated varieties of these great classes.
North Devonshire Breed.—This is supposed to be an aboriginal
British breed: the peculiar district in which they are found not having
been much occupied by either the Romans or Saxons, the inhabitants
preserved the habits, practices, and stock of their ancestors compa-
ratively pure. Devonshire cattle are of a high red colour, with horns
of middle size; their hair is short and curly, and their hide thin and
flexible; they are active, admirably calculated for draught, fatten
easily, and afford excellent beef. Weight of the cows from 30 to 40
stone, of the oxen from 40 to 50 stone. As milkers they are inferior
to the long and short-horned breeds. The Herefordshire cattle appear
to be descended from the same stock as the North Devons: but, com-
pared with the latter, they are larger and of a darker red colour: their
faces, throats, and bellies are white, hair thicker, hides harder, and
fatten on coarser and more deficient pastures. Though stronger, they
are not so active as the Devons; and they are inferior to them as
milkers. The Herefords have been greatly ameliorated since about
1760, when Mr. Tomkins, of Kingspion, near Hereford, began to
direct his attention to the improvement of the breed.
The old Gloucester breed of red cattle, supposed to be a variety of
the Devonshire breed, is now rarely met with. But the cattle of
Sussex closely resemble those of North Devon, and are evidently of
the same stock. Mr. Youatt says, that "the Sussex ox holds an inter-
mediate place between the Devon and the Hereford, with all the
activity of the first, and the strength of the second, and the propensity
to fatten, and the beautiful fine-grained flesh of both. When the
Sussex has been crossed with the Devons, a lighter breed has resulted ;
but not gaining in activity, while it is materially deteriorated in its
grazing properties."-(Cattle, their Breeds, Management, &c., p. 41.)
This breed is principally met with in Sussex and Kent.
The Lancashire or Long-horned Breed.-So called from the enor-
mous length of their horns, which bend downwards. The earliest seat
of this valuable breed is said to have been the district of Craven, in the
West Riding of Yorkshire, and the immediately contiguous parts of
Lancashire; but they are believed to be originally of Irish extraction.
They are of various colours, of a large size, hardy, and have long been
extensively diffused. It was on this breed that Bakewell principally
tried his experiments in breeding; and the result was the celebrated
New Leicester or Dishley variety. But, since Mr. Bakewell's death,
the fame of this variety has not been supported; and it has been at
many places, and even at Dishley itself, nearly superseded by the
short-horned or Teeswater breed. But, notwithstanding this circum-
stance, it is certain that the efforts of Bakewell conferred great and
lasting advantages on Lancashire, Staffordshire, and the midland coun-
ties in general; the cattle of which, consisting principally of long-
horns, have been materially improved by his exertions, influence, and
example.
The Short-horned Breed includes the varieties known by the names
496
GREAT BRITAIN.
of the Holderness or Yorkshire, Teeswater or Durham, and Northum-
berland breeds. The improved Teeswater is, at present, deservedly
held in very high estimation. Bulls and cows from this stock, pur-
chased at exceedingly high prices, are spread over all the midland and
northern counties of England, and the border counties of Scotland.
This breed unites the supposed incompatible qualities of being superior
milkers and of fattening rapidly. The beef is excellent; and, from
its great thickness, which makes it retain the juices for a lengthened
period, it is peculiarly fitted for the victualling of ships engaged in
long voyages.
The breeds of Fife and Aberdeen, belonging to the class of middle-
horns, are amongst the most valuable of those of Scotland. Cows of
the genuine Ayrshire or Cunningham breed are particularly celebrated
as milkers. In their native country each cow is supposed to yield at
an average about 600 gallons a year of milk; and, as 3 gallons pro-
duce 1 lbs. of butter, the average annual yield of a cow may be esti-
mated at 257 lbs. butter. It is said, however, that, when Ayrshire
cows are sent to England, they lose their superiority as milkers, and
begin to accumulate flesh. But, in their capacity to fatten easily, they
are inferior to the Highlanders, the Galloways, and the improved
short-horns. The cattle of the Highlands, one of the aboriginal breeds,
also belong to the middle-horns. They are divided into several varie-
ties, of which the Argyle or western variety is decidedly the best; but,
in consequence of the coarse and scanty pasture, the rugged nature of
the country, and the severity of the climate, they are all small, active,
and hardy. Their beef, when fattened on the rich pastures of the low
country, is beautifully grained, and is, indeed, the very best that is
brought to table. The number of cattle in the Highlands has been
materially diminished within the last 30 or 40 years, in consequence of
its being found more profitable to raise sheep.
The Welsh cattle, one of the indigenous British breeds, mostly be-
long to the class of middle-horns. They are larger than the cattle of
the Highlands, but not so hardy; and their beef, though preferred by
some, is not generally allowed to be so good. The Glamorgans are
the largest of the Welsh varieties. Recently they have been crossed
with the Ayrshire breed; and the mixed breed thence resulting, are
found to yield a greater quantity of milk than the old Glamorgans, at
the same time that they are hardier, and can be kept at a good deal
less expense.
Polled Breeds.-The most celebrated of the polled breeds is found
in the district of Galloway, including the counties of Wigtown and
Kirkcudbright (see antè, p. 266), in the South of Scotland. The pre-
vailing colour is black or brindled. The weight of bullocks, at 3 or
3 years old, when they are driven to the south, may be estimated at
about 40 st. avoirdupois. When fattened in England they have some-
times weighed from 80 to 100 st. They have great hardiness of con-
stitution; and, when full fed, there is, perhaps, no breed that sooner
attains to maturity. Their beef is second only to that of the High-
landers. They do not give much milk; but what they do give is of a
superior description. The late Mr. Mure, of Grange, near Kirkcud-
bright, an intelligent and skilful agriculturist, reared some of the finest
CATTLE.
497
specimens of this valuable breed. From 18,000 to 25,000 Galloway
cattle used annually to pass through Dumfries, principally on their
way to Norfolk and Suffolk, where they were fattened with turnips;
but they are now, not unfrequently, fattened at home, and sent by
steam to Liverpool.
The cattle of Suffolk are said by Culley to be a variety of the Gal-
loway breed. They used to be called Suffolk duns, from their dun
colour; but this is now generally regarded as a mark of inferiority; the
prevailing and most esteemed colours being red and white, brindled,
and a yellowish cream colour. They differ from their progenitors, the
Galloways, in yielding large supplies of milk, 6 gallons a-day not
being an unusual quantity; but the yield of butter is not in proportion.
They do not fatten so easily as the Galloways; and are rarely bred for
the mere purpose of grazing.
Wild Cattle, once so common in Britain, are now found only at
Chillingham, in Northumberland, and Hamilton, in Scotland. They
are long-legged, cream-coloured, with black muzzles, and about the
middle size, very fierce and wild. Horns fine, white with black tips,
and bent upwards. Some of the bulls have thin upright manes, about
an inch and a-half or two inches long. On being approached, the herd
instantly take to flight, and gallop away at full speed; but, wheeling
round at a certain distance, they advance in a threatening manner
towards those by whom they have been disturbed. When within 40 or
50 yards they again set off at full speed; and, again wheeling round,
advance nearer to the object of their alarm, till, on the least motion
being made, they set off as before, to advance afresh. They continue
to repeat this sort of retreat and advance, but each time come nearer
and look fiercer, till most persons think fit to retreat, without provoking
them to extremities. When any one happens to be wounded, or is
grown weak or feeble, through age or sickness, the rest of the herd set
on it, and gore it to death. They never associate with the tame species,
nor come near a house, unless constrained by hunger in very severe
weather.
Improvement in the Breed of Cattle.-No efforts for this purpose
seem to have been made with judgment, or properly persevered in, till
after the middle of last century, when Mr. Bakewell, of Dishley,
Leicestershire, Mr. Culley, of Northumberland, and Mr. Tomkins, of
Herefordshire, commenced their operations. The success by which
their efforts were attended roused a spirit of emulation in others; and
the rapid growth of commerce and manufactures, since 1760, having
occasioned a corresponding increase in the demand for butchers' meat,
improved systems of breeding and improved breeds have been generally
introduced.
The introduction and universal extension of the turnip and clover
cultivation have had, in this respect, a most astonishing influence; and
have wonderfully increased the food of cattle, and, consequently, the
supply of butchers' meat.
It is stated, in the First Report of the Select Committee of the
House of Commons on Waste Lands (printed in 1795), that cattle and
sheep had, at an average, increased in size and weight about a fourth
part since 1732; but there seem to be good grounds for supposing that
VOL. I.
2 K
498
GREAT BRITAIN.
the increase had been much more considerable than is represented by
the committee. According to an estimate framed by Dr. Davenant
in 1710, the average weight of the nett carcass of black cattle was then
370lbs., of calves 50lbs., and of sheep only 28lbs. But, according to
Sir F. M. Eden (Hist. of the Poor, vol. iii., App., p. 88), and Mr.
Middleton (Agric. of Middlesex, 2nd ed., p. 541), the average nett.
weight of the carcass of bullocks killed in London might be taken,
towards the end of the last and the beginning of the present century,
at 800lbs., calves at 140lbs., sheep at 80lbs., and lambs at 50lbs. And
though we suspect, from what we have heard stated by well-informed
practical men, that these weights were decidedly beyond the mark at
the period when the last-mentioned estimates were framed, the im-
provements in the breeding and feeding of cattle during the present
century have been so very great, that they are now (1846) probably
nearly accurate. At all events, it may be regarded as all but certain
that the nett weight of the cattle and sheep killed in London has more
than doubled since 1710.
It may be worth while, however, to remark, that much injury has
arisen from injudicious attempts to improve native breeds of cattle.
This has generally been occasioned by endeavouring to increase their
size, which is always determined by natural causes, such as the climate,
the quantity and species of food the animals can readily obtain, &c.
In point of fact, too, the size is quite an inferior matter. The grand
object that ought to be kept steadily in view by the prudent agricul-
turist is the obtaining of the greatest possible return for his outlay;
and he will prefer that kind of stock, and that breed of any kind, which
will pay him best for the food consumed. The value to which an
animal may be ultimately brought is a subordinate consideration; the
profits of breeding, as of everything else, being determined, not by the
absolute price of the produce, but by its price as compared with the
expenses incurred in bringing it to market. It is only where food is
abundant in quantity, and may be procured without much fatigue, that
large animals, if of a good breed, may be safely preferred to those of a
more moderate size. A notion has been pretty prevalent that, in
breeding, the larger males ought to be preferred; but this is believed
by the best judges to have been productive of much mischief. The
principal improvement in the breed of race and saddle horses is said to
have been effected by the introduction of Barbary and Arabian stal-
lions, of a comparatively small size; and, in heavy draught horses, by
the introduction of mares from Flanders. Mr. Culley's opinion is,
that "of all animals, of whatever kind, those which have the smallest,
cleanest, and finest bones are, in general, the best proportioned, and
covered with the best and finest-grained meat. I believe they are also
the hardiest, and healthiest, and most inclinable to feed; able to bear
the most fatigue while living, and worth the most per pound when
dead.” —( Observations, p. 222.) It is certain that animals, whether
originally too large or too small, will gradually accommodate them-
selves to the size best adapted for their pastures; but while the larger
animal becomes unhealthy, and degenerates in its form and valuable
properties, the smaller animal increases in size, and improves in every
respect.
CATTLE.
499
It should be observed that the breeds of cattle and sheep differ
according to the purposes to which they are to be applied. A breed
of cattle equally well adapted to the butcher, the dairymaid, and the
plough or cart, is a desideratum nowhere to be found. It would seem,
too, that very fine wool cannot be obtained from sheep that are well
formed and fat. The farmer must select his stock according to the
objects he has in view, breeding only from the best animals, and care-
fully checking any tendency to defect, which, if it exist, though but in
a very slight degree, in both parents, will, in general, preponderate in
their produce. (Loudon's Encyclopædia of Agriculture, §§ 2020-
2065.)
Number of Head of Cattle in Great Britain.—It would, on many
accounts, be very desirable to have an accurate estimate of the number
and value of the stock of cattle in Great Britain, and of the proportion
annually killed and made use of; but, owing to the little attention that
has been paid to such subjects in this country, there are no means of
arriving at any conclusions that can be depended upon. The follow-
ing details may not, however, be unacceptable :-
Arthur Young has given, both in his Eastern and Northern Tours,
estimates of the number and value of the different descriptions of stock
in England. They differ widely in their results; but, without attempt-
ing to explain these, Mr. Young gives, in the second part of his
Political Arithmetic (p. 28), an estimate of the stock of England, in
1779, being the average of those in the Tours.
This is, most pro-
bably, nearer the truth than either of the separate estimates on which
it is bottomed, though even it can be regarded only as a very rude
approximation:-
Cows
Fatting beasts
Young cattle
Total
•
1,039,754
758,425
1,571,308
3,369,487
In the same estimate Mr. Young sets down the number of " draught
cattle," including, not only the horses, but also the oxen, employed in
husbandry, at 927,610. We have no means of accurately separating
between horses and oxen; but, probably, as more oxen were then
employed in husbandry than at present, we may estimate the latter at
150,000; so that, on this hypothesis, the total stock of cattle in Eng-
land and Wales in 1779 would be 3,519,487.
Notwithstanding the increase of tillage, there can be no doubt, from
the greatly increased demand for beef, and the extension of the turnip
culture, that the stock of cattle in the country has been materially
increased in number as well as weight since 1779. Different opinions
have been pronounced as to this increase; but, taking it at 1,000,000,
and adding to the numbers for England and Wales 1,100,000 for the
cattle of Scotland (General Report of Scotland, iii., Addenda, p. 6),
we shall have about 5,620,000 as the total head of cattle of all sorts in
Great Britain. The common estimate is, that about a fourth part of
the entire stock is annually slaughtered; which, adopting the foregoing
statement, gives 1,405,000 head for the supply of the kingdom; a
result which all we have heard inclines us to think is pretty near the
mark.
2 K 2
500
GREAT BRITAIN.
It appears from the returns under the late Census that there were in
Ireland in 1841, 1,863,116 head of horned cattle. Cattle and beef are
among the principal exports from Ireland to this country, the home
consumption being comparatively inconsiderable.
Dairy.-The business of the dairy is carried on to a great extent,
and with much success, in England; and it is also prosecuted to a con-
siderable extent in Scotland and Ireland. The principal products are
milk, butter, and cheese.
Milk is only raised for direct sale in the immediate vicinity of large
towns, where it forms a very important article. Mr. Middleton esti-
mates (Survey of Middesex, 2nd ed., p. 419), that in 1806 no fewer
than 8,500 milch cows were kept for the supply of London and its
environs with milk and cream; and he estimates the average quantity
of milk obtained from each cow at nine quarts a-day, or 3,285 quarts
a-year; leaving, every deduction being taken into account, 3,200 quarts
for marketable produce. But Mr. Youatt, in his valuable work on
cattle, their breeds, &c., estimates the number of dairy cows at pre-
sent kept in London and its environs at 12,000; affording, on Mr. Mid-
dleton's hypothesis, an annual supply of 38,400,000 quarts of milk.
Now, as milk is sold by the retailers at from 3d. to 4d. a-quart, after
the cream is separated from it, and as the cream is usually sold at from
2s. 6d. to 3s. a-quart, and there is reason to suspect that a good deal
of water is intermixed with the milk, we should hardly be warranted
in estimating that the milk, as obtained from the cow, is sold at less
than 5d. a-quart, which gives 800,000l. as the total price of the milk
consumed in the city and its immediate vicinity. In most other places
milk is a good deal cheaper; but, as it is, in consequence, more libe-
rally consumed, the great expenditure on this article, which, to a
cursory observer, might seem of little importance, will be obvious.
Butter is very extensively used in Great Britain. That produced
in Epping Forest and Cambridgeshire is in the highest repute in Lon-
don. The cows which produce the former feed, during summer, in
the shrubby pastures of the forest; and the leaves of the trees, and
numerous wild plants which abound in it, are supposed to improve the
flavour of the butter; probably, however, it owes more to superior
dairy management, as the butter preserves its character during the
time the cows are removed from the forest. It is brought to market
in rolls, from 1 to 2 feet long, weighing a pound each. The Cam-
bridgeshire butter is produced from cows that feed one part of the
year on chalky uplands, and the other on rich meadows or fens it is
made up into long rolls, like the Epping butter, and is generally salted
or cured before being brought to market. The London dealers, having
washed it, and wrought the salt out of it, frequently sell it for Epping
butter.
The butter of Suffolk and Yorkshire is often sold for that of Cam-
bridge, to which it is little inferior. Mr. Youatt says that 25,000 cwt.
(1,250 tons) are annually sent from the former to London. Somerset
butter is thought to equal that of Epping; it is brought to market in
dishes, containing half a pound each, out of which it is taken, washed,
and put into different forms by the dealers of Bath and Bristol. The
butter of Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire is very good; it is made up
CHEESE.
501
in half-pound packs or prints, packed up in square baskets, and sent
to the London market by waggon. The butter of the mountains of
Wales and Scotland, and the moors, commons, and heaths of England,
is of excellent quality, when it is properly managed; and, though not
equal in quantity, it is confessedly superior to that produced by the
richest meadows.—(Loudon's Ency. of Agriculture.)
Considerable quantities are made in Ireland, and it forms a promi-
nent article in the exports of that country; generally it is a good deal
inferior to that of Britain, but this is a consequence rather of the want
of skill and attention than of any inferiority in the milk. Some of the
best Irish butter brought to London, after being washed and repacked,
is sold as Dorset and Cambridge butter.
The production and consumption of butter in Great Britain is very
great. The consumption in the metropolis may, it is believed, be
averaged at about 10 lbs. per annum for each individual; and, sup-
posing the population to amount to 2,000,000, the total annual con-
sumption would, on this hypothesis, be 20,000,000 lbs., or 8,928 tons;
but to this may be added 3,000 tons for the butter required for vic-
tualling ships, and other purposes; making the total consumption,
in round numbers, nearly 12,000 tons, or 26,880,000 lbs., which, at
10d. per pound, would be worth 1,120,000l.
The produce per cow of the butter dairies was estimated by Mar-
shall at 168 lbs. a year; but, owing to the great improvements that
have been made, both in breeding and feeding, in the interim, the
yield per cow may now be safely estimated at 180 lbs., so that, sup-
posing we are nearly right in these estimates, about 150,000 cows will
be required to produce an adequate supply of butter for the London
market.
Cheese.-England is particularly celebrated for the abundance and
excellence of its cheese. Cheshire and Gloucester are, in this respect,
two of its most famous counties. It is estimated that, in the former,
above 100,000 cows are kept for dairy purposes, and that they yield,
at an average, 3 cwt. of cheese, making the total annual produce of
the county 15,000 tons. At 6d. per pound, this quantity would be
worth 840,000l. There are two kinds of Gloucester cheese, double
and single; the first is made of the milk and cream, and the latter of
the milk deprived of half the cream. The cheeses are of various sizes,
from 20 to 70, and even 80 lbs., running generally from 50 to 60 lbs.
A great deal of cheese is also made in that part of Salop which borders
upon Cheshire, and in North Wilts. The former goes under the name
of Cheshire cheese; the latter was, till lately, called Gloucester
cheese, now it receives its appellation from the county where it is
made. A strong cheese, somewhat resembling Parmesan, is made at
Chedder, in Somerset. The richest and best of all the English
cheeses, Stilton, is principally made in Leicestershire, in the country
round Melton Mowbray. It is not reckoned sufficiently mellow for
cutting till two years old, and it is not saleable unless decayed, blue,
and moist. It is said that, including all sorts, more than 1,500 tons of
cheese are annually made in Leicestershire, and that 5,000 tons are
annually sent down the Trent from this and the neighbouring counties.
A rich cheese is made at Leigh, in Lancashire. The other cheeses
C
502
GREAT BRITAIN.
made in England which have acquired a peculiar name, either from
the quantity made or from the quality, are the Derbyshire, Cotten-
ham, and Southam cheeses. The last two are new milk cheeses, of a
peculiarly fine flavour: the places where they are made are in Cam-
bridgeshire. The cream cheeses of Bath and York have been much
commended.
Warwickshire and Banbury, in Oxfordshire, are also
remarkable for cheese, the former for the quantity made, very large
supplies being sent from it to London and Birmingham. Banbury
cheese is distinguished for its richness.
Scotland is not particularly celebrated for its cheese; the best is
called Dunlop, from a parish of that name in the district of Cunning-
ham, in Ayrshire, where it was originally manufactured.—(See antè,
p. 270.) Dunlop cheeses generally weigh from 20 to 60 lbs. each,
and are, in most respects, similar to those of Derbyshire, except that
they are larger. Dunlop cheeses are now made in many other districts,
and the dairy system has extended considerably in the south-west of
Scotland.
According to Mr. Marshall, the average yearly produce of cheese
from the milk of a cow in England is from 3 to 4 cwt., or more than
double the weight of the butter.
Sheep.
Of the domestic animals belonging to Great Britain, sheep are,
with the exception, perhaps, of horses and cattle, by far the most
important. They can be raised in situations and upon soils where
other animals would not live. They afford a large supply of food,
and one of the principal materials of clothing. Wool has long been
a staple commodity of this country, and its manufacture employs an
immense number of people. "The skin, dressed, forms different parts
of our apparel, and is used for covers of books. The entrails, properly
prepared and twisted, serve for strings for various musical instruments.
The bones calcined (like other bones in general), form materials for
tests for the refiner. The milk is thicker than that of cows, and, con-
sequently, yields a greater quantity of butter and cheese; and, in some
places, is so rich that it will not produce the cheese without a mixture
of water to make it part from the whey. The dung is a remarkably
rich manure, insomuch that the folding of sheep is become too useful
a branch of husbandry for the farmer to neglect. To conclude :
whether we consider the advantages that result from this animal to
individuals in particular, or to these kingdoms in general, we may,
with Columella, consider this, in one sense, as the first of the domestic
quadrupeds. Post majores quadrupedes ovilli pecoris secunda ratio
est; quæ prima sit si ad utilitatis magnitudinem referas. Nam id
præcipue contra frigoris violentiam protegit, corporibusque nostris
liberaliora præbet velamina; et etiam elegantium mensas jucundis et
numerosis dapibus exornat. -(De Re Rustica, lib. vii., cap. 2.)
And, in addition to what Mr. Pennant has here so forcibly stated,
sheep are particularly deserving the attention of the agriculturist, both
from the influence of improvements on the breed and from their gene-
rally affording larger profits than can be obtained from the rearing and
feeding of cattle.
SHEEP.
503
Breeds.-In Great Britain sheep are commonly divided into two
great classes, those which produce long or combing wool, and those
which produce short wool. They may also be distinguished by the
presence and absence of horns, and by other criteria.
Long-woolled Breeds.-The principal varieties of this species are
the Teeswater, the Lincoln, the Dishley or New Leicesters, and the
Romney Marsh breeds. These have no horns. The mutton of the
first two and of the last is, comparatively, coarse-grained and large,
weighing from 25 to 30 lbs., or upwards, a quarter. The wool is from
8 to 18 inches long. They are fattened only on the very richest land,
such as the banks of the Tees, the fens of Lincolnshire, Romney
Marsh, &c. The Dishley breed owes its celebrity and its name to
the exertions for its improvement made by the famous breeder,
Mr. Robert Bakewell. The length of the wool varies from 6 to
14 inches; the weight of the quarter of two-year old wethers varies
from 20 to 30 lbs. This breed is peculiar, not only for its mutton
being fat, but for the fineness of its grain and superior flavour, qualities
in which it excels all other long-woolled sheep.
Short-woolled Breeds.-Of these there are an immense variety.
Those most extensively reared in Great Britain are the South Downs,
the Cheviots, the black-faced or heath breeds, and the dun-faced or
mountain breed. But there are a variety of other breeds, which are
objects of great attention in different parts of the country, such as the
Dorset, the Hereford, the Wiltshire, the Norfolk, &c. The fleece of
the South Downs is short and fine, weighing from 3 to 4 lbs.; mutton
fine in grain, and of an excellent flavour; weight of two-year old
wethers about 18 lbs. a quarter. The South Downs were first culti-
vated with success in that part of Sussex whence they derive their
name; but they are now widely diffused over all the dry chalky soils
in the south. The wool of the pure Hereford breed is in the highest
esteem. The Wiltshire variety is the heaviest of the short-woolled
English breeds. The fleece of the Cheviots is of a medium degree of
length and fineness, and weighs about 3 lbs. ; mutton good; weight
from 12 to 18 lbs. a quarter. Within the last 30 years the Cheviots
have been largely introduced into the Highlands of Scotland, where,
though not so hardy as the black or dun-faced breeds, they are found
to answer extremely well, and have been a most valuable improvement.
They have now nearly superseded the black-faced breed in some of the
principal pastoral districts in the south of Scotland. Black-faced sheep
are smaller than any of those previously mentioned; their weight
varies from 10 to 16 lbs. a quarter, and they carry from 3 to 4 lbs. of
long, coarse, shaggy wool. They are seldom fed till they be three, four,
or five years old, when they fatten well, and furnish the best and highest
flavoured mutton. They are hardy, and widely diffused throughout
the mountainous districts of England and Scotland, and, were their
fleece better, would be the best of our upland breeds. The dun-faced
breed, said to have been imported into Scotland from Denmark or
Norway, at a very early period, still exists in some of the counties
north of the Frith of Forth, though only in very small flocks. Of
this ancient race there are now several varieties, produced by pecu-
liarities of situation and different modes of management, and by occa-
504
GREAT BRITAIN.
sional intermixture with other breeds. The sheep of the Shetland
Isles and of the Hebrides belong to this variety; the last is the smallest
animal of its kind, weighing only from 4 to 5 lbs. a quarter.
The Merino or Spanish breed of sheep was introduced into this
country towards the close of last century. Its fleece, which consists
of remarkably fine white short wool, weighs from about 2 to about
3 lbs.: the quarter of a two-year old wether weighs from 14 to 16 lbs.
George III. was an especial patron of this breed, which was for several
years a very great favourite. But it has been ascertained that, though
the fleece does not much degenerate here, the carcass, which is natu-
rally ill formed, and affords, comparatively, little weight of mutton,
does not improve; and as the farmer, in the kind of sheep which
he keeps, must look to the butcher-market as well as to that for
wool, he has found it for his interest to return to the native breeds of
his own country, and to give up the Spanish. The latter have, how-
ever, been of considerable service to the flocks of England, having
been judiciously crossed with the South Down, Hereford, &c.
When sheep are kept on mountainous districts, as in Wales or the
Highlands of Scotland, the chief object in view is to breed them: when
they are kept on grazing ground, or on arable pastures, the principal
object is to prepare them for the butcher. In some parts of England
they are kept on tillage farms, not only that they may be fattened, but
that they may manure the fallows by being folded upon them during
their hours of rest. This practice has, however, been reprobated by
Arthur Young and Bakewell, and generally by the best farmers.
Mr. Loudon says, that the only sort of folding ever adopted by the
best breeders is on turnips, clover, tares, and other rich food, where
the sheep feed at their ease, and manure the land at the same time.
The practice of folding on fallows has been very little followed in
Scotland.
Number of Sheep in Great Britain and Ireland.—It is not pos-
sible to form any accurate estimate, either of the number of sheep or
of the quantity of wool annually produced. With the exception of
Mr. Luccock's, most of the statements put forth, with respect to both
these points, seem very much exaggerated. But Mr. L's estimate,
which is considerably under any that had previously appeared, was
drawn up with great care, and is supposed to approach nearer to
accuracy.
According to Mr. Luccock, the
Number of long-woolled sheep in England and 4,153,308
•
Wales, in 1800, was
Of short-woolled ditto
14,854,299
Total number shorn
•
19,007,607
Slaughter of short-woolled sheep per annum
4,221,748
Carrion of ditto.
Slaughter of long-woolled ditto
Carrion of ditto.
Slaughter of lambs
•
Carrion of ditto.
211,087
1,180,413
59,020
1,400,560
70,028
Total number of sheep and lambs
7,140,856
26,148,463
WOOL.
505
In some parts of England there has been an increase in the numbers
of sheep since 1800; but in others there has been a decrease. But we
have been assured by competent judges that, on the whole, the number
has not sensibly varied in the interval, though their weight and the
weight of the fleece has been materially augmented.
In the General Report of Scotland, (vol. iii., Appendix, p. 6,) the
number of sheep is estimated at 2,850,000; and allowing for the in-
crease that has taken place since 1814, they may now be estimated at
about 3,500,000. Hence the total number of sheep in Great Britain
will be 29,648,000. It appears from the returns made under the late
census, that there were in 1841, 2,106,189* sheep in Ireland. Of these
about 1,500,000 are believed to be long-woolled, mostly of the im-
proved breed, and producing fleeces weighing from 6 to 7 lbs.
Quantity of Wool produced annually in England.-According to
the estimate in Mr. Luccock's Treatise on English Wool, the produce
of all sorts of wool in England, in 1800, was 384,000 packs, of 240
lbs. a pack. But Mr. Hubbard, a very intelligent and extensive wool-
stapler at Leeds, has shown that, supposing Mr. Luccock's estimate of
the number of sheep to be correct, the quantity of wool produced in
1828, could not, owing to the greater weight of the fleece, be estimated
at less than 463,169 packs; being an increase of 20 per cent. It is,
therefore, clear, seeing the high price to which wool has recently at-
tained, that, taking into account the greater weight of the fleece, as
well as of the carcase, sheep must produce more at present to the
farmer than at any former period Taking Scotland and Ireland into
account, the total annual produce of wool in the British empire may be
estimated, at present, (1846,) at about 540,000 packs.†
Change in the Quality of British Wool.-It appears to be suffi-
ciently established, by the evidence taken before the House of Lords,
in 1828, and other authorities, that a considerable change has taken
place in the quality of British wool, particularly during the last 30
years. The great object of the agriculturist has been to increase the
weight of the carcase and the quantity of the wool; and it seems very
difficult, if not quite impossible, to accomplish this without injuring
the fineness of the fleece. Mr. Culley says, that the Herefordshire
sheep, that produce the finest wool, are kept lean, and yield 1½ lbs.
each he adds, "if they be better kept, they grow large, and produce
more wool, but of an inferior quality. This would seem to be uni-
versally true. The great extension of the turnip husbandry, and the
general introduction of a large breed of sheep, appear, in every in-
stance, to have lessened the value of the fleece per lb. Speaking of
the Norfolk fleeces, Mr. Fison, a wool-sorter, says, that 25 years ago,
the weight was 23 lbs. per fleece, and that now it is 3 or 3 lbs.
(Report, p. 356.) But, according to a table furnished by the same
gentleman, containing the results of his experience, it appears that, of
15 tods or 420 lbs. of clothing wool, grown in Norfolk in 1790, 200
* In the former edition of this work we estimated the number of sheep in Ireland
at 2,000,000.
See article WOOL in Commercial Dictionary. The numbers of sheep and of
packs of wool, in our notices of the different English counties, are mostly taken
from Mr. Hubbard's tables.
506
GREAT BRITAIN.
lbs. were prime; while, in 1828, the same quantity of Norfolk wool
only yielded 14 lbs. prime.-(Report, p. 207.) The statements of
other witnesses are to the same effect.-(Report, pp. 383, 640, and
644.)
Exportation of Wool.-From 1660 down to 1825 the exportation of
British wool was prohibited under very severe penalties. The motives
for this were of a mixed nature. It was supposed that it would ma-
terially promote what used to be the principal manufacture of the
country, by insuring an abundant and cheap supply of the raw ma-
terial: and it was farther supposed, that no long wool, or wool fit for
being made into worsted, was produced in any other country; so that,
if we prevented its exportation, foreigners would be obliged to resort
to us for the finished articles. None of these suppositions seems to
have been very well founded. The prohibition of the exportation of
short wool, by lessening the demand for it, must have lessened its
growth; and, if it really was advantageous to the manufacturers, by
furnishing them with a cheaper article, it must have been in an equal
degree injurious to the farmers. Neither is there any evidence to
show that the foreigner ever felt any material inconvenience from the
prohibition of British long wools, which, indeed, were smuggled abroad
in considerable quantities, in spite of all that could be done to prevent
it; and, though such inconvenience had formerly been felt, the im-
provements made within the present century in machinery, by enabling
wool of only 3 inches in the staple to be substituted, in the manufacture
of worsteds, for long wool of 6 or 8 inches staple, put an end to every
argument by which its prohibition could be excused. At length, in
1825, this unjust and oppressive restriction was abolished; and British
wool of all sorts may now be exported duty free. Foreign wool has
been at all times admissible into our ports, sometimes free, and some-
times on paying a low duty; at present, (1846,) it is duty free.
Mules and Asses, especially the former, are not very abundant in
England; and are scarcely, if at all, used in husbandry. Asses are
employed in drawing small carts, and in carrying burdens, by poor
people, particularly those who live near commons, the barrenest of
which will keep an ass.
Hogs, in an agricultural point of view, are of considerable import-
ance. They afford a valuable and desirable species of food, at the
same time that they subsist principally upon offal and other refuse,
that, but for them, would be utterly lost. There is an immense
variety of breeds; but the best are those which are short-legged,
broad in the back, small-boned, compact, and easily fattened: their
ears are sometimes pendulous, and sometimes erect. The Berkshire,
Hampshire, Gloucester, and Hereford breeds are all af a large size;
but the Rudgwick breed attains to, perhaps, the greatest weight of any.
The Berkshire variety is hardy and valuable, and is found in most parts
of the island, being the breed commonly fattened in distilleries. The
Suffolk is small, and erect-eared: it feeds well, and is in great
esteem.
Westmoreland and Yorkshire are distinguished for the quantity and
quality of their hams, the goodness of which depends partly on the
animal, but quite as much on the mode of cure. The best bacon is
HOGS.
507
made in Wilts, Hampshire, and Berks. It is stated by Dr. Mavor,
(Survey of Berks, p. 452,) that at Farringdon, in the last-named
county, fully 4,000 hogs are annually killed and cured. The exporta-
tion of bacon and hams is but inconsiderable.
There is much difference of opinion as to the profit to be derived
from raising pigs. In most instances, they are viewed by farmers
merely as a subordinate concern.
Mr. Wakefield says, "I never
knew them to be profitable, when kept in any number beyond that
which could subsist by picking up the waste grain and acorns; for,
the moment they were put upon a course of feeding, money was lost
by them."—(Account of Ireland, i., 354.) But with millers, brewers,
distillers, and dairymen, the case is certainly otherwise: they are to
them objects of great importance; and return, for the offal they
consume, a greater weight of meat, some say double, than could be
obtained from cattle.
We extract from Mr. Vancouver's Survey of Essex the following
judicious observations with respect to the management of hogs:
"There is no animal in the whole economy of good husbandry that
requires more attention as to breed, number, and supply of food, or
will better requite the care and trouble of the farmer, than a well-
managed and proper stock of hogs. These things, however, are too
much overlooked, or, rather, disregarded, by farmers in general;
though all are ready to agree that an over-stock in other respects
must ever prove fatal to the interests of the farmer. Hogs are too
frequently conceived to be a trifling and unimportant part of the stock
of a farm; whereas, if their first cost and the value of their food were
duly considered, with their improving value, it would certainly bear
them out against some of the more costly animals, and challenge more
attention and care than are usually bestowed upon them. A due
regard to the breed, which the peculiar circumstances of the farm may
call for, is particularly necessary; as some breeds are much better
suited to pasture, and to feed upon grass and herbs than others. The
most hardy, and best qualified to prog for themselves, are the Chinese;
a cross with which breed upon almost any other may, under most cir-
cumstances, be prudently recommended. Let the breed be what it
may, a well-proportioned stock to every farm will most abundantly
requite the care, and repay the expense, of the necessary food provided
for them. A few acres of clover would be well applied to the use of
the hogs in summer; but, in the stye, it would be well to restrain them
to a certain quantity of water, and to lodge them clean and dry, not-
withstanding the wilful neglect and too prevailing opinion to the con-
trary; for cleanliness is as essential to the preservation of their health
and well-doing as to that of any other animal."
Scotch Hogs.-The best varieties of the English breed have been
introduced into Scotland; but the native breeds, which are still, in
many places, the most numerous, are very unprofitable animals. They
are of a white colour, have light narrow carcases, with bristles stand-
ing up from nose to tail, long legs, and are very slow feeders, even at
an advanced age. In the Highlands and Hebrides, the breed supposed
by Dr. Walker to be the aboriginal is of "the smallest size, neither
white nor yellow, but of a uniform grey colour, and shaggy, with long
508
GREAT BRITAIN.
In
hair and bristles. They graze on the hills like sheep: their sole food
is herbage and roots; and on these they live the whole year round,
without shelter, and without receiving any other sustenance.
autumn, when they are in the best order, their meat is excellent, and
without any artificial feeding; but, when driven to the low country,
they fatten readily, and rise to a considerable bulk."—(Walker's He-
brides, vol. ii., p. 17.)
Of the Scotch counties, Dumfries and Kirkcudbright are pre-
eminent for the excellence of their hams and bacon, which rival those
of York and Wilts. Dumfries is one of the greatest pork markets in
the empire.
Goats are reared in the mountainous parts of England, Wales, and
Scotland. Those bred in the former are the largest, and their skins
the most valuable. The Cashmere-shawl goat has been bred in Essex;
but, owing to the moisture of our climate as compared with its native
country, its wool could not but degenerate.
Deer are kept only in the parks of opulent noblemen and gentlemen
as an article of luxury. In a national point of view they are of no im-
portance.
Rabbits are, for the most part, kept on sandy waste soils, unfit for
other purposes. Their haunts are called warrens, and are most nu-
merous in Norfolk and Cambridge, where, however, they are now
greatly reduced. They sometimes extend to 2,000 and 3,000 acres.
The annual produce is estimated at from 3 and 4 to 8 and 10 couple
an acre, yielding a profit of from 5s. to 10s., and sometimes even as
much as 15s. an acre. But on the whole, the growth of rabbits seems
to be wasteful and pernicious, unless when they can be confined to a
sandy soil, applicable to no other purpose.
;
Poultry are objects of very considerable importance, directly and
indirectly, on account of their eggs and feathers. Turkeys, geese, and
ducks, are reared in all parts of the country in considerable quantities
but common fowls are by far the most numerous and valuable. The
Dorking cock and hen, so called from the town in Surrey of that name,
are the largest and most valuable of the common fowls, and are readily
distinguished from other varieties by having five toes to each foot.
North Chappel and Kensford, in Sussex, are famous for their poultry.
Perhaps, however, Oakingham, in Berks, is, in this respect, the most
celebrated. The fowls are sold, fattened, to the London dealers, and
as much as 150/. has been paid for them in a single market day.-
(Mavor's Berks, p. 462.) The trade in eggs between the country and
the towns is of very considerable importance. Exclusive of immense
importations of foreign eggs, London draws large supplies from the
adjoining counties. The value of the eggs exported from Berwick
only to the London market, previously to the peace of 1815, has been
said to amount to 30,000l. a-year; though this is probably an exagge-
ration. (Penny Cyclopædia, art. Berwick.) But this export has
almost entirely ceased, French eggs being (notwithstanding the duty of
ld. per dozen) cheaper than those usually brought from the more
distant counties. In 1796 it was calculated that the peasantry of Mid-
Lothian drew about 8,000l. a-year for poultry and eggs; though,
speaking generally, Scotch poultry of all descriptions is very inferior
PIGEONS.—BEES.
509
to English. There are different breeds of ducks kept in Britain; but
the most common are the white or English breed, and the brown or
speckled. Perhaps as many of these birds are kept in Bucks as in any
other county they are of an early sort, and are bred by poor people
for the London market. Ducks, from their feeding chiefly on per-
nicious insects and refuse, and being very harmless, are, probably, the
most profitable species of poultry that can be kept by common farmers.
Geese are bred in all parts of the country; but, on a great scale, prin-
cipally in the fens of Lincolnshire, where, previously to the drainage of
the fens, there were frequently as many as 1,000 breeders in a single
flock; but their numbers are now much reduced. They are plucked
once a-year for their quills, and four or five times for their feathers.
(Ante, p. 179.) The best geese are found on the borders of Suffolk and
Norfolk, and in Berks. Somerset furnishes the best goose-feathers for
beds. Turkeys, though tender birds, are reared in all parts of the
country, but especially in Norfolk and Suffolk. They are, also, which
seems singular, common in Ireland. This, as Mr. Wakefield remarks,
appears to be owing to the warmth of the cabins, into which fowls, as
well as pigs, are always freely admitted.
Pigeons.-There are great numbers of these birds in England. A
dovecot is reckoned an indispensable adjunct to a country gentleman's
residence, and in many counties it is customary for farmers to keep a
few pairs. They are occasionally reared in the view of supplying the
market, but, for the most part, they are kept as articles of luxury.
They are very voracious, and destroy great quantities of grain. There
are some rather curious calculations on this subject in Vancouver's
Survey of Devon. He supposes that there are, in all, 20,000 pigeon-
houses and 1,125,000 pairs of dove house-pigeons in England and
Wales, and that they consume 157,500,000 pints, or 4,921,875 Win-
chester bushels, of grain a-year! Of course there must be a good deal
of looseness in this statement: it has been said by some to be much
under, and by others to be much over, the mark. But, without giving
any opinion on this point, there can, at all events, be no question that
the number of pigeons is very great, and that the destruction they carry
on, when considered in the aggregate, must be very considerable indeed.
-(Vancouver's Devon, p. 357.)
Bees are the only insects domesticated in Great Britain. They fur-
nish two valuable products-honey and wax. During the middle ages,
and down, indeed, to the reign of Charles I., the imports of sugar were
but inconsiderable, and honey was, in consequence, very extensively
used as a sweet. But, since the foundation of the colonies in the West
Indies, the importance of honey has very much declined. It is still,
however, in considerable demand, while the consumption of wax is
greater than at any former period. But both the produce and profit of
bees are extremely uncertain. Inasmuch, however, as they are sup-
ported at almost no expense, require very little care and attention, and
are most interesting animals, they make a desirable addition to the
gardens of cottagers and farmers.
510
IRELAND.
SECT. 7.-Agriculture of Ireland.
A large proportion of the surface of Ireland is covered with bogs and
mountains; but, notwithstanding this deduction, it contains a great deal
of most excellent land. The luxuriance of the pastures, and the heavy
crops of oats that are everywhere raised, even with the most wretched
cultivation, attest its extraordinary fertility. This is the more singular,
since, as has been already observed, the soil is generally thin. But this
deficiency is balanced, partly by its principally resting on a calcareous
subsoil, and partly by the moisture of the atmosphere. "I think,"
says Mr. Young, speaking of extensive tracts in Limerick and Tippe-
rary, "it is the richest soil I ever saw, and such as is applicable to
every purpose you can wish: it will fat the largest bullock, and, at the
same time, do equally well for sheep, for tillage, for turnips, for wheat,
for beans, and, in a word, for every crop and circumstance of profitable
husbandry."(Tour in Ireland, 4to. ed. p. 313.) The appearance of
the country is a most deceptive criterion of the quality of the soil.
The fences are, for the most part, mere mounds of earth, full of gaps;
there is little timber, and the land is often overgrown with thistles,
ragwort, and other noxious weeds. "You must examine," says the
intelligent observer just quoted, "into the soil before you can believe
that a country which has so beggarly an appearance can be so rich and
fertile.”—(P. 315.) With a good system of agriculture, Ireland would
certainly be about the most productive country in Europe, and would
more than realise all that the old Roman writers have said of the fer-
tility of Sicily. No one, indeed, who has ever been in Ireland, and
contrasted the extraordinary richness of the soil with the poverty of the
occupiers, their miserable implements, and modes of management, can
doubt that, were security of property and a proper system of holding
and managing land introduced, the produce of the country might be
augmented to an extent not easily imagined-perhaps in a quintuple
proportion!
66
Ireland is generally divided into larger estates than England; but
the farms or occupancies are, notwithstanding, at an average, much
smaller. This, however, has not been always the case. Previously to
the close of the American war, though there were some very small
occupancies in all parts of the country, but particularly in the north,
farms seem, generally speaking, to have been pretty extensive. Since
that period, however, they have rapidly diminished.
Farms," says
Mr. Newenham, "appear to have been diminishing in Ireland for many
years past. Large farms of from 500 to 1,500 and 2,000 acres, once
so common in Ireland, hold actually no sort of proportion to farms of
from 10 to 30 or 40 acres. In the county of Down, Mr. Dubordieu
says that farms run from 20 to 40, 50, and in some instances so far as
100 acres. Such is the case in most other parts of Ireland. For
several years past the landlords of that country have been much in the
habit of letting their lands in small divisions.
"Another custom has been extremely prevalent, that of taking con-
siderable tracts of mountain, bog, or other waste land, inclosing,
improving them, and letting them in small farms of from 20 to 30
Besides this, the cottier system, or giving a certain quantity of
land as an equivalent for wages, prevails throughout most parts of Ire-
acres.
AGRICULTURE.
511
land. In fact, upwards of four-fifths of the Irish people are subsisted
chiefly on the produce of the land which they occupy.
We subjoin
a table which we have compiled from the returns embodied in the
census of 1841 :-
Account showing the Number of Holdings of more than One Acre in the Rural Dis-
tricts of the different Counties of Ireland in 1841, according to the Report of the
Census Commissioners, with the average Size of the Holdings of more than One
Acre.

Provinces and
Counties.
Extent of
Land,
Lakes, in
Average
Size
of Farms
Farms
Farms
exclusive of
above
above
1 to 5
5 to 15
Acres.
Acres.
Farms
above
15 to 30
Acres.
Farms
Total
Number
above
30
Acres.
of Farms
above
1 Acre.
1 Acre.
Imperial
Acres.
above

Leinster.
Carlow
Dublin
Kildare
220,235
•
1,933
2,357
1,056
950
6,296
34.979
220,894
•
1,866
1,285
749
1,102
5,002
44.161
416,929
3,104
2,123
991
1,845
8,063
51.709
Kilkenny
·
505,127
5,131
5,752
3,601
2,006
16,490
30.632
King's
491,350
5,657
4,502
1,374
1,213
12,746
38.549
Longford
255,370
4,396
4,880
1,045
411
10,732
23.795
Louth
199,893
3,992
2,589
628
632
7,841
25.493
Meath
576, 191
5,339
3,971
1,637
2,554
13,501
42.677
Queen's
423,341
5,629
4,825
1,813
1,334
13,601
31.126
Westmeath
430,413
4,266
4,076
1,648
1,385
11.375
37.838
Wexford
570,528
5,219
6,313
4,151
2,457
18,140
31.451
Wicklow
498,747
2,620
2,922
1,891
2,000
9,433
52.816
Total
4,809,018
49,152 45,595
20,584
17,889 133,220
36 098
Munster.
Clare
Cork.
759,346
1,826,951 13,683 15,790
11,593
12,049
2,234
1,052 26,928
28.199
10,362
5,691
45,526
40.130
Kerry
1,152,558
8,689
10,830
4,068
2,172
25,759
44.744
Limerick
659,552
6,841
6,840
3,700
2,346
19,727
33 434
Tipperary
Waterford
1,045,849
•
13,032
12,787
4,938
2,960
33,717
31.019
454,249 3,190
3,024
2,179
2,336 10,729
42.338
Total
Ulster.
5,898,505
57,028
61,320
27,481
16,557
162,386
36'386
Antrim
689,981
6,855
•
10,563
Carrickfergus
16,571
136
203
4,220
94
1,888
23,526
29.328
34
467
35 484
Armagh.
309,356
11,632
9,428
2,072
666
23,798
12.999

Cavan
454,716
10,807
12,208
1,958
668
25,641
13.833
Donegal.
1,169,857
15,567
12,931
3,527
1,699
33,724
34.689
Down
606,852
13,753
11,991
3,865
1,508
31,117
19 470
Fermanagh
410,230
7,371
•
8,540
1,696
529
18,136
22 619
Londonderry
506,709
7,866
8,755
2,675
1,143 20,439
24 791
Monaghan
313,286 12,275
•
9,702
1,216
317
23,510
13.326
Tyrone
774, 134
14,555
14,671
3,776
1,139
34,141
22.675
Total
5,251,692
•
100,817
98,992
25,099
9,591
234,499
22.395
Connaught.
Galway
1,474,523
27,992
12,663
2,030
1,645
44,330
33.262
Leitrim
368,615
9,373
7,971
877
Mayo
1,306,058 33,790
10,331
1,265
202
1,135
18,423
20 008
46,521
28.074
Roscommon
577,553 17,472
8,066
Sligo.
448,553 11,291
Total
4,175,302 99,918
6,190
45,221
913
705
895
27,346
21.120
398
18,584
24.136
5,790 4,275 155,204
26.902
Grand Total
20,134,517
306,915
251,128
78,954
48,312 685,309 29.380
The returns in the last column are all a little above the mark, from no allowance being made
for the land occupied in holdings of one acre and under, which in many parts are very numerous.
It will further be borne in mind that the average size of farms given above includes mountains and
bogs, of which there are immense tracts, as well as the cultivable lands. If we exclude these, the
average size of the holdings in Ireland of above one acre will be materially reduced.
* Inquiry into the Progress of the Population of Ireland, p. 270.
512
IRELAND.
These returns set the smallness of the farms in Ireland in the most
striking light. They show that of a total of 685,309 holdings of more
than one acre, only 48,312 exceed 30 acres ! With the exception of
those in Kildare and a few other counties, by far the greater number of
the holdings of arable land, excluding mountain and bog, do not exceed
from 1 to 10 acres. With the exception of parts of France and Rhenish
Prussia, the land of no country is so thoroughly subdivided. All the most
intelligent persons who have either visited the country or described its
agriculture, have been struck with this extraordinary subdivision, and
have endeavoured to explain the circumstances by which it has been
brought about. It is noticed over and over again by Mr. Wakefield.
That intelligent agriculturist, the late Mr. Curwen, visited Ireland in
1813, and has, in his Letters, many striking passages in reference to
this subject. "In some places," he says, "there is an inhabitant for
every acre, while the cultivation of the soil, as now practised, does not
afford employment for a third part of that population."-(Letters,
vol. ii. p. 38.) And he adds that, owing to there being none or but
very little demand for the labour of any part of the country population
in towns or manufactures, the practice of subdividing was still on the
increase, and that few occupiers, however small their own possessions,
refused to sub-let portions to cottiers. "A farmer,” says Mr. Towns-
end, "often estimates his riches by the number of his sons, whose labour
precludes any necessity of mercenary aid; but this lasts only for a short
time. They marry at an early age; new families arise; a separation
of interest takes place, and with it a partition of the farm." The same
system still going on, future sub-divisions have to be made, more or
less productive of jealousy and quarrel.-(Survey of Cork, vol. i.
p. 208.) Such was the universal practice all over the country.
"One
great obstacle to improvement," says Mr. Ross, "and which is too
general in Ireland, is their notion of the equal and unalienable right
of all their children to the inheritance of their father's property, whether
land or goods. This opinion, so just and reasonable in theory, but so
ruinous and absurd in practice, is interwoven in such a manner in the
very constitution of their minds, that it is next to impossible to eradi-
cate it. In spite of every argument, the smaller Irish occupiers con-
tinue to divide their farms among their children, and these divide on,
till division is no longer practicable; and, in the course of two or three
generations, the most thriving family must necessarily go to ruin."-
(Survey of Londonderry.) The extent to which this ruinous practice
has been carried is such as sometimes almost to exceed belief. Dr.
Kelly, late Catholic Archbishop of Tuam, stated, in his evidence before
the Committee of 1830 on the "State of Ireland," that he knew a farm
in his neighbourhood which was originally leased, on the partnership
system, to about 20 families, and he afterwards recollected to have seen
60 families living on the same farm, an augmentation that grew natu-
rally out of the increase of population.
It appears from the evidence taken during the late inquiry into the
occupation of land in Ireland, that this pernicious system still prevails
in most parts of the country. Its ruinous consequences are now,
indeed, pretty well understood; but though checked by the Subletting
Act, and by the introduction of Poor Laws, and opposed by many land-
AGRICULTURE.
513
lords, it is hardly possible to prevent it. In general the children of the
occupiers have no other resource. There are no manufactures to employ
them, and if they do not obtain a patch of land they must emigrate.
In consequence, subletting is very extensively carried on, despite every
effort to hinder it; and when once it has taken place, it is both a diffi-
cult and a dangerous process to get the sub-tenants ejected.
This splitting of the land into minute portions, and the direct de-
pendence of so large a portion of the people on it for subsistence, form
the principal obstacles to the improvement of agriculture, and make the
condition and prospects of the population exceedingly unfavourable.
We shall afterwards briefly inquire into the circumstances which have
produced a state of things so widely different from what exists in
Britain; but, at present, it is sufficient to state, that the excess of
the purely agricultural population, and the minute division of the
land, give its peculiar and distinguishing features to the system of
husbandry pursued in Ireland, and occasion almost all that is objec-
tionable in it.
In general, it may be observed of Irish agriculture, that those who
carry it on have very little capital, and are remarkably destitute of
both skill and industry. The smallness of the farms, by rendering
it impossible for many of their occupiers to keep horses, and the want
of any efficient demand for labour, has led to the employment of the
spade to an extent unknown in any other European country. Land
being, in the vast majority of instances, held, not in the view of making
a profit by it, but to obtain the means of subsistence, the rent is enor-
mously high, and those crops are principally resorted to that furnish
most food on the least space. Hence the extraordinary extension of
the potato culture, which has diffused itself over every part of Ireland,
and been at once a powerful cause and a striking consequence of the
rapid increase of population. Improved systems of management are
beginning to be introduced into most parts of the country; but it is
still (1846) true that the great majority of Irish occupiers have no
correct idea of a rotation of crops: corn very frequently follows
corn, as long as the ground is capable of producing anything; and
when the series is interrupted it is generally to make way for potatoes
or flax, and but rarely for green crops; for though the cultivation of
turnips and clover has increased materially of late years, it is mostly
confined to farms occupied by landlords or agents, or to those of the
superior and more enlightened class of tenants. Fallowing is some-
times attempted; but it is, for the most part, so ill executed, that it is
difficult to believe it can be an improvement. Three ploughings are
usually given to the land; but, from the imperfect manner in which
they are executed, it is not unusual for the ground, at the end of the
season, to be thickly covered with weeds. Except on the east coast of
the island, the drill husbandry cannot be said to be introduced; for,
so long as it is entirely neglected by the mass of the occupiers, the
fact of its being carried on within the demesnes of a few noblemen and
gentlemen can hardly be considered as an exception to the remark.
To whatever cause it may be owing, a want of continuous industry is
everywhere apparent. "An antipathy to labour," or an insensibility
to its advantages, is now, as in the days of Fynes Moryson and Bishop
VOL. I.
2 L
514
IRELAND.
Berkeley,* a distinguishing trait in the character of the Irish people.
Their extreme poverty is principally a consequence of their extreme
sloth. Few occupiers seem to imagine that their crops would be
improved, or the exhaustion of the land prevented, by clearing it of
weeds. If any efforts be made to destroy them, which is seldom the
case, it is only when they are found among potatoes. Docks, thistles,
and other noxious plants flourish in corn-fields in unscathed luxu-
riance. Nay, such is the slovenliness of the mass of the occupiers,
that even the potato, though their whole dependence be placed on it,
is frequently injured, and sometimes wholly lost, by their allowing it
to remain too long in the ground! + That a country of the extent
of Ireland, and so encumbered with bogs and mountains, should be able,
with such a system of agriculture, to support a population of above
8,000,000, and also to export large supplies of raw produce, is a sufficient
proof of the fruitfulness of the soil, and of the economy forced on the
inhabitants by the unhappy circumstances under which they are placed.
It has been said over and over again, and was frequently repeated
in the evidence before the Land Occupation Commissioners, that the
want of leases is a principal cause of the idleness of the occupiers; but
we doubt whether this circumstance has any material influence. A
thousand things might be, and would be done, by an industrious popu-
lation, which are not done, nor attempted in Ireland, that would
materially increase the means and comforts of the occupiers, without
affording any means or temptation to raise rents. Whatever, also,
may be alleged to the contrary, it is not the practice in Ireland, any
more than in England, immediately to raise rents because improve-
ments have been effected on the land. This, no doubt, may be some-
times done, though very rarely; and the granting of leases, under proper
and strictly enforced conditions in regard to management, would cer-
tainly be an immense improvement. But it is very difficult, and indeed
all but impossible, to enforce conditions in regard to management;
and with ordinary leases there is an extreme want of industry and
gross mismanagement in most parts of Ireland. The occupiers who
hold under-leases are very apt to think that they have got a security
against want, and seldom endeavour to do more than is required to
enable them to subsist and pay their rent. "I have," says Mr.
Campbell Foster," been some scores of times shown farms held on lease,
the most disgracefully cultivated of any in the neighbourhood," (p. 35);
and the same thing has been repeatedly noticed by others. It should,
also, be borne in mind, that farms let on lease run an extreme risk of
being sub-let, or, at all events, subdivided among the families of the
occupiers; and the wish, on the part of the landlord, to be able
* "Their slothfulnesse is so singular, that they hold it basenesse to labour."-
(Fynes Moryson's Itinerary, Part III., p. 160, ed. 1617.)
At
"There still remains in the natives of this island a remarkable antipathy to labour.
Never was there a more monstrous conjunction than that of pride with beggary;
and yet this prodigy is seen almost every day in every part of this kingdom.
the same time these proud people are more destitute than savages, and more abject
than negroes."-(Bishop Berkeley's Word to the Wise, p. 93 of his Miscellaneous
Tracts, ed. 1752.)
† See Wakefield, i. 583. See also, to the same effect. the able work, entitled, A
Philosophical Survey of the South of Ireland, (by Dr. Thomas Campbell,) p. 152.
B
AGRICULTURE.
515
(C
easily to prevent this most baneful of practices, has been a principal
cause of their disinclination to grant leases. On this point the evidence
of an intelligent and liberal landlord, D. H. Kelly, Esq., of Galway,
before the Land Occupation Commission, is entitled to great weight.
"A man,” says he, "who has a fixed tenure (a lease), considers that
he cannot be put out. He immediately mismanages the farm; he
sublets, subdivides, and so the whole thing is destroyed. A man who
has it only at will, knows that if he conduct himself as he ought to do,
his tenancy at will is as good as a lease, and he will use his best
exertions to have his land in the most profitable and beneficial order.
Tenants at will are better off themselves, and they are more satis-
factory tenants.”—(Evid., part ii. 342.) It would be easy to corro-
borate this evidence by innumerable extracts from the evidence of
those who lay the greatest stress on fixity of tenure." But the truth
is, that in Ireland the letting of land has hitherto been nearly synony-
mous with its subdivision; and unless this be effectually prevented, no
improvement need be looked for. We may add, that some of the best
managed estates in all parts of the country are held by tenants at will.
The indolence, carelessness, and bad cultivation of the smaller
farmers is not the consequence of one, but of many conspiring circum-
stances: and we are disposed to think that the strongly marked indif-
ference of the natives to improved accommodations, and their disposi-
tion to be satisfied with the merest necessaries, is one of the most
prominent of these circumstances, and one which it will be the most
difficult to eradicate or overcome. How else are we to account for the
vastly superior condition of the descendants of the Welsh in Wexford,
of the Palatines in Limerick, and of the Scotch and English in many
parts of Ulster? They have been placed under the same circumstances
as the native Irish; and they are, notwithstanding, comparatively
industrious, orderly, and well off.
I. Agricultural Implements and Operations.-These, in Ireland,
used to be universally of the rudest construction, and performed in the
most awkward manner. The plough, the spade or loy, the flail, the car,
are all clumsy and defective. The old Irish plough is almost identical
with the old Scotch plough, still in common use in some parts of the
Highlands.—(Antè, p. 302.) Like the latter, it does its work ill, and at
an immense expense. It is commonly drawn by four or more horses, and
sometimes by cattle and horses intermixed. Exclusive of the plough-
man, it is invariably attended by one or two drivers; and by a man
whose business is to sit on the beam, and to assist in keeping the in-
strument in the ground! Luckily, improved Scotch ploughs, drawn
by two horses, managed by the ploughman, have been introduced,
either to a greater or less extent, into most districts; though the old
Irish plough is still in pretty general use in several counties.
The wheels of the car not unfrequently consist of large, rounded,
solid pieces of timber, resembling grindstones; and sometimes it is
what is called a slide car, and has no wheels at all. But wheels con-
structed with spokes, and carts, are gradually, and, in parts, rapidly
displacing the old wheels and cars.
on.
The loy is a long narrow spade, with room for only one foot to work
Most kinds of hand tools have bad handles, and they are gene-
2 L2
516
IRELAND.
rally defective in their construction, or kept in bad order. The har-
ness used to consist in a far greater degree of straw, than of either
hemp or leather; but it also is materially improved.
But few thrashing machines are to be found in the island. Nor
need this be wondered at; for even barns, taking the term in its
English and Continental sense, are quite unknown in many extensive
districts! and, as already stated, thrashing is not unfrequently per-
formed on the public roads, the hardness of which makes them serve
the same purpose as a barn floor! Most operations are, in fact, per-
formed in a way that excites the astonishment of those acquainted with
the mode in which similar operations are performed in Britain.
Trenching land is very general; it is formed into beds, a deep trench
being dug between them, the earth of which is thrown up.
Drainage, the greatest of all improvements in agriculture, and
which may, in truth, be said to lie at the bottom of every other, is but
little practised throughout the greater part of Ireland. It is too
expensive to be executed by the bulk of Irish tenants; and until
very recently but few landlords had done anything to benefit their
estates by undertaking this improvement. But within these few years
a considerable change for the better has taken place in this respect;
and some of the more intelligent and enterprising landlords have not only
effected considerable drainages on their own account, but have assisted
such of their tenants as were willing to carry them on.
Ireland may
still, however, be said to be a stranger to the extraordinary amelio-
rations effected within the last twenty years in many parts of England
and Scotland, by furrow draining; so that in this respect, as in most
others, it offers an all but boundless field for the successful prosecution
of improvements. Fortunately a large portion of Ireland rests on a
limestone bottom, which renders drainage of less importance; but
wherever this is not the case, the wetness of the land is universally
complained of. The only substitute for drains to be found in many
extensive districts, consists of the trenches between the beds of potatoes
planted on the "lazy bed" system; and it is said that in some parts
this system is continued from its being the only means, defective as it
is, of removing the water from the land, and preventing the potatoes
from being rotted.
Manures.-Bone-dust and guano have been introduced into Ireland,
but that is all. Exclusively, however, of ordinary farm manure, and
of ashes obtained by the destructive practice of burning the land, sea-
weed, or wrack, and sea-sand are used to a great extent as manures,
round all the northern, western, and southern coasts of the island.
Sea-weed is most commonly applied in the raising of potatoes; and,
when of good quality, it is believed to be equal, weight for weight, to
ordinary stable manure. The supplies of it on the west coast are all
but inexhaustible. Sea-sand, which is used to an extent of which
few people in this country have any idea, contains in most instances a
large proportion of shells and other calcareous matter.
In Lough
Foyle there are extensive banks consisting almost wholly of shells, of
which about 60,000 tons are at present (1846) annually dug up and
expended upon the land. On the shore opposite to the banks they
are worth about 1s. a ton; their value, of course, increasing according
AGRICULTURE.
517
to the distance to which they are carried inland. They are applied
with the greatest advantage to stiff wet clays. An intelligent corre-
spondent of Dr. Kane estimates the total quantity of sand taken from
the bays and creeks of the coast of Cork, and applied to agricultural
purposes, at the immense amount of 1,000,000 tons, of which Youghal
harbour supplies about 300,000! There may be some exaggeration
in this statement, but when we consider the extent to which sand
is used as a manure along the whole western and northern as well
as the southern shores of Ireland, it is easy to see that its total con-
sumption must be something quite gigantic. In some places sea-weed
and sea-sand are carried 30 miles inland! We regret to have to add,
that disputes have arisen in many parts with regard to the rights of
private parties over those valuable products; and it were much to be
desired that some general and easily applied regulations should be
enacted on the subject.-(Kane, on the Industrial Resources of Ire-
land, pp. 271-276; and the Evidence taken by the Commissioners
of Land Occupation, passim.)
It may be right to state, that the use of sea-weed and sea-sand as
manures has been long known in Ireland: the latter is mentioned by
Boate, in his Natural History of Ireland, published in 1652 (p. 99),
as being used extensively in Munster, and with the best effect. The
learned Dr. Smith, in his excellent account of Kerry, published in
1756, says that in the barony of Corckaguiny," they are encouraged
to pursue agriculture, because of the convenience of sea-sand, which is
an excellent manure; and this barony is thereby esteemed the granary
of the whole county."-(p. 173.) Smith also refers to it in his ac-
count of Cork, (ii. 384.)
II. Farm-houses, Offices, &c.-Everything in Ireland seems to
have been at all times sacrificed to the auri sacra fames-taking the
phrase in its most literal and degrading sense-to a desire to make the
greatest amount of money in the least space of time, without caring
much about the means. In travelling through the country, one can-
not help thinking, that not merely the tenants, but also the landlords,
have been uniformly impressed with the conviction that they had no
permanent interest in the soil. It is in vain to look in it for those ex-
pensive and lasting improvements, those outlays of capital, of which
posterity is to derive the principal benefit, that are everywhere to be
met with in England and Scotland, and which add so prodigiously to
the value and beauty of the land, and the comfort of its occupiers.
Excepting only that the roads are generally good, one might suppose
nine-tenths of the country not only to be occupied by, but to belong
to, a race of people too poor to make any outlay, however indispen-
sable. The reason is, the tenant has been ignorant, contented, and
left to do everything for himself. Down to a comparatively recent
period, if he did not construct or repair houses, offices, fences, drains,
&c., he must have wanted them, or they might have gone to ruin.
“Nothing is ever built or repaired by landlords; these expenses, as
well as those of every other improvement, are left to the tenant, who
generally comes into a dilapidated holding, without capital enough to
stock it, still less to build, to fence, or to drain.”—(Survey of Kil·
518
IRELAND.
kenny, p. 412.) Hitherto the landlords of Ireland, speaking of them in
the mass, for there are some exceptions, seem to have fixed their exclu-
sive attention on their rentals; supposing that their duty to their
tenants, to the public, and even to the lasting interests of their estates
and families, was fully discharged when they had raised their rents to the
utmost! There are circumstances, that will afterwards be glanced at,
connected with the history and peculiar situation of Ireland, which
satisfactorily explain this apparently anomalous conduct. But it is not
easy to exaggerate its mischievous influence. It has led to a total
separation of interests between landlords and tenants; making the
former be too generally looked upon rather as the unfeeling collectors
of an exorbitant land-tax, than as persons having a deep interest in
the improvement of the soil, and in the prosperity of its occupiers.
Proofs of what has now been stated are too numerous and striking not
to arrest the attention of even the most superficial observer. The recent
history of Ireland shows conclusively that the landlords have little in-
fluence over, and possess neither the respect nor esteem of their
tenants; while the long-continued and culpable indifference of the
former to everything that most materially affected the condition of
their estates, was evinced by their not attempting to oppose any
effectual obstacle to the endless subdivision of the land, till the
evil had attained to a ruinous magnitude; by the want of all sys-
tematic efforts to introduce and enforce a proper system of agri-
cultural management; and by their throwing on the tenants the
burden of supplying themselves with houses and all other accommo-
dations.
"With the exception," says Mr. Wakefield, "of those belonging
to the gentry, there is nothing in Ireland worthy of the name of a
farm house."—(Vol. i. p. 468.) In external appearance the houses of
the middle class would, with a few exceptions, principally in the
neighbourhood of Belfast and other large towns, hardly rank with the
worst English cottages; while in all that respects cleanliness and
internal comfort they are immeasurably inferior. The people have
been so long accustomed to the vilest habitations, that when they get
anything better they not unfrequently look upon it in the light of an
incumbrance. Mr. Tighe observes of Kilkenny, a county in which
there are more extensive tillage farms than in most others, that "A
decent house, let to a common farmer, becomes, in a year, little better
than a pigstye. The houses of rich farmers are generally far inferior
to their means, and are such as to exempt them from window-tax, and
often from hearth-money. But the greatest failing is in their offices:
the barn is generally a shed to thrash in, with no floor but the na-
tural soil; the stable a hovel; a cow-house is often not to be found;
no yard is appropriated to pigs; the corn stands alone to mark the
farm; a shed to protect the implements of tillage was never thought
the richest farmers always leave the plough and harrow in the
corner of the last field they tilled; such parts of harness as may not
consist of gads or sugans is secured in the house; and, with the smaller
farmers, if the car does not stop some gap, called a gateway, it may be
against the ditch, or on the dunghill. The offices are sometimes
of;
AGRICULTURE.
519
covered with potato stalks, which form a very bad thatch.”—Survey
of Kilkenny, p. 412.
Though written several years ago, this description is still gene-
rally applicable; but here, as in most other parts, improvements
have begun to be introduced; and the houses on the Ormond estates,
and on those belonging to Lord Kilkenny, have been considerably im-
proved. It is now the practice on many estates in all parts of the
kingdom, for the landlords to defray the cost of the timber and slates
used in building houses; and in other instances allowances are made
to the tenants proportioned to the value of the buildings; but it is still
true that in the great majority of cases the landlords contribute little
or nothing to the erection or repair of houses and offices. And unless
where farms are of a reasonable size, it could hardly be expected that
landlords, however liberal, should contribute to the erection of build-
ings, inasmuch as that would oppose an additional obstacle to that
consolidation of small farms which is so desirable when it can be brought
about without entailing any very peculiar hardships on the occupiers.
The habitations of the cottiers do not, speaking generally, deserve
the name of houses; but are miserable cabins, inferior even to the
wigwams of the American Indians. Part of the turf employed in
building the walls is sometimes taken out of the inside, and when such
is the case, the floor of the cabin is generally about a foot below the
level of the ground on the outside, and is consequently always damp.
They not unfrequently want chimneys; and are almost always pervious
to the rain. The instances are rare in which their occupiers possess
anything that an Englishman would call furniture.*
It may be worth while to observe, that Spenser saw, and clearly
pointed out, the great injury the landlords of Ireland did themselves
and the country by withholding leases from their tenants, and refusing
to assist them in building houses on their farms, and in making fences,
roads, &c. "By such buildings and enclosures," says he, "the
tenant shall receive many benefits. First, by the handsomeness of his
house, he shall take more comfort of his life, more safe dwelling, and
a delight to keep his said house neat and clean; which now being, as
they commonly are, rather swine-styes than houses, is the chiefest cause
of his so beastly manner of life and savage condition; lying and living
together with his beasts in one house, in one room, in one bed; that
is, clean straw, or, rather, a foul dunghill. And to all those other
commodities he shall, in short time, find a greater added; that is, his
own wealth and riches increased, and wonderfully enlarged, by keeping
his cattle in inclosures, where they shall always have fresh pastures,
that now is all trampled and overrun; warm covert that now lieth open
to all weather; safe being, that now are continually filched and stolen."
-(See View of the State of Ireland, p. 1588, of Spenser's Works,
London, 1715.)
Could the task of revising his book, written in the reign of Elizabeth,
be performed by Spenser in that of Victoria, this is not one of the
paragraphs that would require any material alteration. The habita-
tions of the mass of the Irish people are quite as bad, at this moment,
* For a striking description of the huts of the peasantry, see Philosophical Survey
of the South of Ireland, (by Campbell,) p. 145.
520
IRELAND.
as they were three centuries ago; and are now, as then, crowded
with cows and pigs as well as men ;
Iguemque, laremque,
"Et pecus, et dominos communi clauderet umbra."
Juvenal, lib. ii. sat. 6.
It is unnecessary, perhaps, to inculcate on the reader the propriety
of bearing in mind that the preceding remarks on the agriculture
of Ireland refer only to its general state, and that there are great local
discrepancies. Particular estates, even in the worst counties, are com-
paratively well farmed; while others, though situated in the best dis-
tricts, seem to be occupied by none but beggars. When estates are let
on leases, terminable at will, or in reasonable periods, their condition
depends materially on the conduct of the landlord. If, he set his face
strongly against subdivision; employ honest agents; abjure on his part
and theirs, the practice so general in Ireland, and so disgraceful to the
landlords, of accepting, or rather extorting presents from the tenants
on the renewal of leases, &c.; give proper encouragement to indus-
trious tenants; and look to character and capital, as well as rent, in
the letting of his land, he may do a vast deal of good.
Estates in which subdivision has been prevented, and that have been
otherwise subjected to a liberal and judicious system of management,
are, for the most part, occupied by a respectable tenantry, and are
under a reasonably good system of husbandry. But it is no easy matter
when an estate has been much subdivided and mismanaged, even
though it should be held at will, or under terminable leases, to bring
it under a better system. Great tact and discretion are required in
such cases. If too great a change be attempted at once, it is probable
that outrage will ensue, and that the bad system will be perpetuated.
The occupiers are so extremely suspicious, and set so high a value on
their small patches of land, which, in truth, are everything to them,
that it is necessary to proceed with extreme caution; and, if possible, to
show that the contemplated improvements will be as beneficial to them
as to the landlord. Some landlords have defrayed the expense of con-
veying a portion of the surplus population of their estates to the
colonies; and when this can be effected it is, perhaps, the best mode
in which such surplus can be disposed of.
III. Tenant's Right.-The existence of what is called "tenant
right” (see antè, p. 384), which prevails over Ulster, and to a consi-
derable extent in other parts, is a remarkable feature in the agricultural
economy of Ireland. It has been described by a very competent witness,
Mr.Hancock, agent to Lord Lurgan, as "the sum of money which the
new occupier must pay to the old one for the peaceable enjoyment of
his holding, or his good will."-(Occupation of Land Commission,
i. 483), It varies in value, according to circumstances, from 57. to
201. and upwards per statute acre; and sometimes, in fact, is about
equal in value to the fee simple of the land! Different opinions have
been entertained as to the origin of this singular right; by some it is
said to have had its source in old feudal relations; but the better
opinion seems to be that it originated in payments made by tenants
entering into possession for improvements made by those leaving the
AGRICULTURE.
521
land; and that it has grown into a custom, enforced in cases where
no improvement whatever has been effected, from land being all but
indispensable to the existence of the occupiers, and from the odium
which attaches to any one who takes land held by another.
But however it may have originated, it appears to be a custom sub-
versive, in a great degree, of the right of property, and highly in-
jurious. It may, indeed, seem reasonable that a tenant who has made
improvements should be paid for them at the end of his lease, or on
his leaving his farm. But even in these cases the influence of this
custom is anything but advantageous. When tenants hold under
leases of a reasonable length, without any claim for compensation for
improvements at their termination, they are prompted to make the
necessary outlays as soon as practicable after entering to their farms,
that they may be indemnified during the currency of their leases.
When, however, a claim for improvements is allowed at the termination
of leases, tenants have fewer and less powerful motives to exert them-
selves at their commencement; and many undertake improvements
towards their close, because they are to be paid for them, the utility of
which may be very questionable. In Scotland, where no tenant right
exists, or ever was heard of, there is no disinclination on the part of
the occupiers to lay out capital on improvements; and it is the con-
current opinion of those best qualified to decide upon such subjects,
that it would be most inexpedient to introduce the practice of autho-
rizing tenants to claim compensation for improvements at the end of
their leases. Their own and the public interests require that they
should make the necessary improvements as soon as possible after get-
ting into their farm, and that they should reimburse themselves during
their occupancy.
The same principle holds in the case of tenants at will. Though
they have no lease they will not hesitate to lay out capital on im-
provements, provided they have a moral conviction that they will be
permitted to profit by them; and as landlords are fully aware, in the
event of their prematurely dispossessing tenants that have improved
farms, that such improvements will not be made in future, it is for
their interest that the occupiers should not be capriciously dealt with,
and this, consequently, is the usual rule of their conduct. In fact, as
already stated, the best managed and most highly improved estates in
Ireland are occupied by tenants at will.
If, however, the sums to be paid to tenants for unexhausted im-
provements at the end of their leases, or of their periods of occupation,
were in all cases paid by the landlord, something might be found to
say in favour of the practice; but instead of this, they are uniformly
paid by the entering tenant, who is thus, in the majority of cases, de-
prived of a large part, and frequently of nearly the whole of his
capital, at the very moment when it is of most importance to him to
be able to employ it on his farm; by his having to pay for im-
provements undertaken by others, and which may perhaps be of little
or no real value. It is not easy to imagine any more ruinous system.
Everybody is ready to admit that the letting of lands by fine, (Scottice
grassum,) is mischievous, from its crippling the resources of the tenants,
and preventing their setting about improvements on their entering to
522
IRELAND.
farms, and for an indefinite period thereafter. And this is obviously the
case with the tenant-right, even in the instances in which it is least
objectionable, or in those in which improvements have been made by the
outgoing tenant, for which he has not been fully indemnified.-(See
antè, p. 463).
But this is not really the case in one instance out of ten, in which
the existing tenant-right is paid for in Ireland. It has there become
a custom, because it is regarded by the occupiers as a security against
their being deprived of their land; and is enforced in every case, how
bad soever the order in which the farm may be, and even when the
tenant is ejected for non-payment of rent! And the tenants are so far
right in considering it as a protection against their being ousted, that
no one can come into their place, without being prepared to pay them
the value of their right. But so far from being advantageous, the
obstacles it opposes to the eviction of the tenantry are certainly in-
jurious. It never can be for the interest of landlords to dismiss
really good tenants; and, therefore, the fair presumption is, that they
are seldom dismissed; but the tenant-right, by making it more
difficult to get rid of bad tenants, weakens, in so far, the motives to in-
dustry and good conduct on the part of the occupiers; and contributes
in this way to perpetuate the indolence and bad practices that disgrace
Irish agriculturists.
In fact, the tenant-right is, in all respects, as injurious to the tenants,
as it is to the landlords and to the public. The heavy sums, say 107. per
acre at an average, which tenants have to pay on entrance, by exhaust-
ing their means, incapacitates them from making those outlays
which would be still more beneficial to themselves than to the owners
of the land. It is further injurious to them, from its contributing to
render landlords indifferent in regard to their conduct to their tenants.
That it must have this effect is obvious from its going far prac-
tically to neutralize the difference, however great, between those that
are liberal and those that are illiberal. A tenant entering to a farm
belonging to a humane and generous landlord, invariably pays a pro-
portionally larger sum as tenant-right, and conversely when the
landlord is of an opposite character; so that the good qualities of the
proprietors, under this preposterous system, really redound more to the
advantage of the tenants leaving the estate, than of those who come
to live upon it!
The comparatively flourishing state of Ulster has been ascribed to
the prevalence in it of the tenant-right, whereas it is wholly a conse-
quence of the greater industry and intelligence of the inhabitants, very
many of whom are the descendants of English and Scotch settlers.
The tenant-right is quite as prevalent in some of the most backward
and depressed districts as in Down; and though in certain cases its
influence may be overcome, by countervailing circumstances, there
can be no reasonable doubt that it is every where a most formidable
obstacle to improvement, and good management.
But however desirable, it is not easy, seeing the universality of the
practice, to suggest any means by which it may be got rid of. But
we are inclined to think that this might be effected by the landlords,
on a change of tenants, paying the tenant-right to the out-going tenants,
AGRICULTURE.
523
and admitting the new tenants without any charge on that account, on
condition of their renouncing all claim to any tenant-right on their
leaving their farms, or being ejected from them. There would be
no injustice to any one in an arrangement of this sort; and if steadily
acted upon, it would get rid of a practice which is highly detrimental
to agriculture; and which if let alone, will, most likely, end in the
absorption of the entire rights of the present proprietors.
IV. Agricultural Departments.-Mr. Wakefield divided Ireland
into nine agricultural districts, each of them differing, in some respects,
in the mode of culture from the others; but we believe that it will be
sufficient to divide it into seven districts.
;
1st. The first district embraces the flat parts of Antrim, the eastern
side of Tyrone, with Down, Armagh, Monaghan, Cavan, and Fer-
managh. Throughout this district the farms are, for the most part,
extremely small, and the land is often dug with a spade. About
three-fifths are under tillage. Oats and potatoes are the principal
crops; but wheat and flax, particularly the former, are now exten-
sively raised. A proper rotation is too little attended to
and corn
crops frequently follow in succession, or with the intervention merely
of potatoes and flax, till the land is exhausted; when it is suffered to
"lie at rest," till it recovers its strength, which it does in an incredibly
short space. Sir Charles Coote says, that in Cavan oats used to be to
other grain in the proportion of seventy to one; but this proportion is,
at present, materially reduced. Agriculture in this part of the dis-
trict is still, however, in "the most degraded state possible."—(Ap-
pendix F, Poor Inquiry, p. 418.) It is also very backward in
Monaghan, where the ruinous practice of procuring manure for the
potato crops by burning the land is carried on to a great extent.—
* Mr. Campbell Foster has a Letter (No. IX.) on Tenant Right, which is one of
the most valuable in his work. We beg to recommend it to the attention of those
who take an interest in the subject. We regret that Lord Devon and the Com-
missioners of Land Occupation should have recommended the introduction of a law
giving outgoing tenants à claim to uncxhausted improvements; and we regret still
more that government should have in so far adopted this suggestion as to introduce
a Bill into parliament authorising compensation to be made, under certain condi-
tions, to tenants for buildings and drainages. These, indeed, are the cases in which
the principle may be most easily enforced, and in which, also, it promises to be least
prejudicial. But even in these cases we fear that in the event of its being carried
out, it will be productive of little except mischief. If a landlord think that his estate
will be improved by their means, he will not require to be compelled to assist in the
raising of buildings and the cutting of furrow drains; and if he do not, on what pre-
tence, if the right of property is to be supported, is his opinion on a matter of this
sort to be overruled? On the other hand, if a tenant hold under a lease of a reason-
able length, that is, of 21 years or thereby, he will be fully compensated during its cur-
rency for any judicious outlays he may make upon buildings or drains, provided he
make them in the earlier part of his lease; and even in the case of tenants-at-will
there is not, as shown in the text, the smallest necessity for legislative interference.
Should the proposed measure be passed into a law, and be acted upon to any con-
siderable extent, it is abundantly certain it will give rise to no ordinary amount of
litigation. It is not possible, do what you will, to make a fair or just valuation of
the improvements referred to; and the attempt to do so will merely give additional
complexity to the already sufficiently complicated relations existing between land-
lords and tenants in Ireland; encourage pettifogging, and promote a bad feeling
between the parties; and throw a new obstacle in the way of that consolidation of
farms which is so very essential.
524
IRELAND.
(Appendix F, Poor Inquiry, p. 421.) But in other parts, particu-
larly in Armagh, Down, and Fermanagh, various improvements have
been effected. In the first, the system introduced by Mr. Blacker on
the Gosford and other estates, of raising manure on small farms by
cultivating green crops and stall feeding, has had a most material in-
fluence. But, as previously stated (antè, p. 383), its beneficial effect
seems to be a good deal overrated. It is impossible that farms of
the size of from 3 to 10 imperial acres, which is about the average size
of those on the barony of Lower Fews, on which Mr. Blacker's system
is principally introduced, can, after paying rent, afford anything but
the most miserable subsistence to their occupiers. No doubt it is a
vast improvement on the old burning and scourging system; but
nothing short of the consolidation of these small patches into farms of
from 50 to 100 acres can ever allow of the accumulation of capital by
the tenants, or of the establishment of a really good system of agricul-
tural management. Improved Scotch ploughs, constructed wholly of
iron, are now very generally met with in the improved districts, as are
improved single horse carts. On most considerable farms in Down,
Armagh, and Antrim, potatoes are drilled and horse-hoed. But in
most parts of Cavan, Tyrone, and Monaghan, the implements are still
of the most wretched description. In some parts, three or four neigh-
bours unite to set a plough in motion; one bringing his horse, another
his bullock, another his cow, &c., and attending himself, lest his poor
animal should be made to perform more than its "just share" of the
labour. The other operations of agriculture are, in most instances,
performed in an equally objectionable manner. The land is seldom
fallowed; and when anything of the kind is attempted, it is very ill
performed. Wheat is sometimes "lashed;" that is, the grain is
knocked out by striking the sheaf across a beam placed above a cloth;
the sheaf being afterwards subjected to the flail. Thrashing is not
unfrequently performed in the highways; and cottiers dress their grain
by letting it fall from a kind of sieve, held, during a pretty strong
wind, breast high, by a woman. Corn is mostly brought to market in
the shape of meal. The cottiers in many parts of this district used to
be principally engaged in the linen manufacture; though, since the
erection of thread-mills at Belfast and elsewhere, this is much less the
case than formerly. Many of the linen weavers occupy cabins without
any land attached to them; hiring an acre or two, for grass or potato
land, from some farmer or manufacturer in their vicinity, for which
they pay an exorbitant rent. The custom of hiring labourers to assist
in field operations is nearly unknown: the neighbours all assist each
other in their more considerable occupations, such as sowing and reap-
ing. The cottages are but small, particularly as compared with the
numerous inmates that issue from them; but many of them are white-
washed, have a neat appearance, and are clean and comparatively
comfortable within. The competition for small patches of land in
this district is extreme; and besides heavy rents, which are rarely, if
ever, remitted, all new tenants have to pay a large sum to the outgoing
tenant for tenant's right," which sometimes fetches the enormous
price of from 71. to 10l. and 201. an acre! It is invariably paid even
when the outgoing tenant has been ejected for arrears of rent.-
AGRICULTURE.
525
(Wakefield, vol. i. p. 363; Dubordieu's Down, p. 39, &c., Ap-
pendix F, Poor Inquiry, passim.)
state.
2nd. Under the second district, Mr. Wakefield comprises the north-
ern part of Antrim, Londonderry, the north and west parts of Tyrone,
and the whole of Donegal. Agriculture differs materially in different
parts of this district. In most parts of Donegal it is in a very wretched
A considerable part of Londonderry is divided into very small
farms, not exceeding 5 or 6 acres. In other parts, however, the farms
are much larger, exceeding, perhaps, 100 acres. Labourers on these
farms are usually cottiers, who pay for their small slips of land by
working for the principal lessees, who also supply them with other
articles, but generally at an exorbitant price.-(Curwen's Letters on
Ireland, vol. i. p. 221.) This part of the country used formerly to
import grain; but such is no longer the case. On the contrary, the
exports of corn, butter, and provisions from Londonderry, Coleraine,
&c., are, at present, very considerable, and rapidly increasing. Large
districts in the north of Ireland now produce very good wheat, that
were formerly considered quite unsuitable for its growth.
3rd. The third district comprises Sligo, Mayo, Galway, Clare,
Leitrim, and parts of Roscommon and Longford. In parts of this
district, spade culture is extensively pursued; but the land is mostly
cultivated by the common plough of the country, the improved Scotch
plough being used only on the farms of a few improvers. The bar-
barous custom, long since prohibited by statute (Leland's Hist. of Ire-
land, vol. ii. p. 486) of yoking horses and cattle to the ploughs by the
tails, is said by Mr. Wakefield to have been practised to some extent
in Roscommon so late as 1811; but it would appear, from the state-
ments of Mr. Weld, to be now wholly abandoned.—(Survey of Ros-
common, p. 654.) Oats form the principal crop; but wheat and
barley are both pretty extensively cultivated. A large extent of land
is leased to several persons jointly, according to the village or run-dale
system; but this pernicious practice is gradually decreasing, and has
been eradicated on some considerable estates. It is quite the reverse,
however, with the con-acre system.-(See ante, p. 378.) This ruinous
practice has spread itself, in the course of the present century, over the
whole province of Connaught, and is every day extending its ravages.
When old grass land is let on the con-acre plan, it is usual, if it be
very rich, to begin by planting potatoes on the grass; but the far more
common practice is to prepare for potatoes by paring and burning the
surface, and spreading out the ashes as manure. In either case, the
potato crop is followed by four, five, or it may be ten or a dozen, corn
crops in succession, till the land be reduced to a caput mortuum, when
it is left to be recovered by the vis medicatrix naturæ ! An intelli-
gent witness, examined by the Agricultural Committee of 1833, stated
that, when he left Mayo," the country appeared as if it were all on
fire! I should say that a fifth part of the surface of the county is
either burning, or is now covered with ashes. I really do not think I
am out of the way in saying a fifth."-(Evidence of Thomas S. Linsay,
Esq.) No country was ever subjected to such abusive treatment; and
we have already seen (antè, p. 391) that it does not appear to have been
materially, if at all, varied in the interim. The burning of land has,
526
IRELAND.
it is true, been prohibited under severe penalties by the legislature,
and it is, also, opposed by many landlords; but, despite every ob-
stacle, the practice continues to maintain its ground. Mr. Glendin-
ning, agent for the Marquis of Sligo and other great proprietors,
stated in his evidence before the Commissioners on the Occupation of
Land, that "the burning even of the best lands, the sod first, and then
the clay," was a common practice. "We do," he added, " our best
to prevent it; but the tenants are so poor, the farms so small, and the
process at law so expensive, that it is only in a very few cases we are
able to enforce the penalty."-(Evidence, Part II., p. 414.) Mr. Dut-
ton condemns, in severe terms, the indifference of most landlords of
Galway as to the condition of the tenants and cottiers on their estates;
but we regret to say that this indifference is not confined to this
county, or even to the province of Connaught.—(Dutton's Survey of
Galway, p. 340.) Mr. Wakefield says that the following extract from
Dr. M'Parlan's account of the tillage of Leitrim exhibits a faithful
picture of the general cultivation of Connaught in 1810. "The mode
of culture is with a long narrow spade, commonly called a loy. This
machine they prefer to ploughs, and assign many reasons for doing so.
The hills, of which nearly the whole country is composed, are very
steep, beset with stones, and, notwithstanding the soil being generally
gravelly, so tough and retentive of wet as to render ploughing objec-
tionable. They also complain of a scarcity of horses; but, above all,
they assign, as a peculiar inducement, the abundance of crop produced
by the loy culture, compared with that of the plough. In some of the
more level parts, ploughing is in practice; and in some others they
unite both, first ploughing, then mincing and dressing with the loy.
The soil being in general of the stiff argillaceous kind, wherever it is
so, the potatoes are planted by dibbling with the steeven. In a few
places they plant by spreading the oats on the dung or green turf, and
then digging up the furrows; and in still fewer places, near the sea,
where the soil is light and friable, they plant the potatoes by drilling
with a one-horse plough, particularly in stubble and old potato ground.
From the middle of April to the middle of May is the common time
of planting potatoes, and very little earlier that of sowing oats; as the
coldness, the clamminess, and wetness of the soil require the vegetative
inspiration of heat to be productive. The manner of preparing the
soil for oats is censurable, particularly when it is seldom ploughed;
but even when prepared with the loy, it is seldom sufficiently worked
or minced; for, after sowing the seed and harrowing, which is often
done here by trailing green bushes along the ridges, the whole banks
of these ridges remain unbroken, and the vegetation appears as if the
ground had been drilled, or the seed dibbled in irregular ranges.
(Survey of Leitrim, p. 25.) This paragraph was written five and
thirty years ago; but it is seen from the evidence collected by the
Commissioners of Poor Inquiry and of Land Occupation, that but
little improvement has been effected in the interim. The land is
usually foul and overrun with weeds; and, except in a very few in-
stances, there is no rotation of crops. The custom still is to take one
or two crops of potatoes; and to "follow them up by as many suc-
cessive crops of oats as the land will produce," leaving it to recover,
""
AGRICULTURE.
527
as it best may, from the state of exhaustion to which it is reduced.—
(App. F, Poor Inquiry, pp. 357-369.) The burning of land is, also,
quite as common here as in Mayo. "It prevails to a very great ex-
tent; several of the small farmers have no other means of manure, and
almost all occupiers burn more or less every year.' -(Evidence of
Lindsey Burchell, Esq., before Land Occupation Commissioners,
Part II., p. 246.)
his sons.
""
4th. The fourth district comprises Limerick, Kerry, Cork, and
Waterford. Pasturage is more attended to in most parts of this dis-
trict, particularly in Limerick, than tillage: the latter, though im-
proving, is still in a very rude state. Land, especially in the southern
parts of Cork, much subdivided, tillage farms very small, and much
work done with the spade. Speaking of this county, Mr. Townsend
says:
"The size of farms admits all the variety that can be found in a
country where none are large. The generality of those held by a
single farmer are small; such as exceed 30 acres are often held in
partnership. This species of tenure is further promoted by their com-
mon law of inheritance, which divides the land of the father among
So much are they attached to this apparently equitable
law, that, in case of joint tenants, they never take advantage of sur-
vivorship, but suffer the father's part to go to the sons. In consequence,
subdivisions are every day multiplying, and little farms becoming still
less."—(Survey of Cork, vol. i. p. 255, and 206.) The Subletting
Act gave a check to this baneful practice; but it appears, from the
evidence taken before the Commissioners on the Occupation of Land,
that, despite the efforts to prevent it, the custom is still very prevalent.
The system of agriculture, if we may so term the torture to which the
soil was subjected, used to be as bad as possible. "Potatoes engross
the whole manure of the little farmers, as well as the whole of their
labour. Corn follows corn, as long as the ground is capable of pro-
ducing it, after which it is left in a state of entire exhaustion to be
recruited by the benignity of nature. Nothing is more common than
to see, on land of good natural quality, crops not worth even the little
labour that has been expended upon them. In the culture of oats,
and sometimes also of barley, the whole process often amounts to no
more than scattering the seed on the stubble, and ploughing it in.-
(Townsend's Cork, vol. i. p. 207.) But though still very bad, con-
siderable improvements have been effected within these few years in
Waterford and other parts of this district. Scotch ploughs, carts,
&c., have been pretty extensively introduced. Clover has, in some
parts, got into general use; but turnips are only raised in small
quantities by gentlemen; and the land is not half cleaned. The com-
mon Irish cow is the general dairy stock. It is said to yield a large
supply of butter, but does not fatten easily, or to a large size. Some of
the best English breeds have, however, been introduced; and most part
of the principal dairymen keep English or half-bred bulls. Pigs of an
improved species are very generally met with.-(App. F., Poor In-
quiry, p. 416, &c.) Some estates in Cork are much better managed
than others; and within the last twenty years the system of furrow
draining has been introduced, and some material improvements have
528
IRELAND.
been made in agriculture, and in the implements by which it is
carried on.
5. The fifth district includes part of Tipperary, with Queen's and
King's Counties. This is, perhaps, the best farmed district of Ireland.
Still, however, a systematic course of husbandry is only pursued on
the estates of a few proprietors, who employ Scotch and English
stewards, and by a few of the larger class of tenants. The system
followed by the great mass of occupiers may be still truly described as
"wretched." Turnips are seldom met with; and one or more crops
of potatoes, followed by successive corn crops, continues to be the
prevailing practice. The stock of cattle has, however, been a good
deal improved by the introduction of short horns and other English
breeds. Improved implements are also in general use.
The compe-
tition for small holdings is excessive.
6th. The sixth district comprises Wexford and part of Wicklow.
Beans are here sometimes introduced; but they are mostly sown broad-
cast, and are seldom hoed. Ploughing is still sometimes performed
according to the old method of the country; but improved Scotch
ploughs, drawn by two horses, have been introduced, and will, it is to
be hoped, at no distant period, supersede all others. In parts of
Wicklow, the dairy system is generally introduced. The dairies vary
in extent from 5 to 20 cows, and there is the greatest discrepancy as
to the mode of their management. Very frequently there is a great
want of cleanliness. The breed of cattle has been improved by the
introduction of the Teeswater and other English breeds. The sheep
kept on the Wicklow mountains have also been improved by crossing
them with Cheviots, &c. (Appendix F., Poor Inquiry, p. 388.)
7th. The seventh district includes the northern part of Kilkenny,
Kildare, the cultivated parts of Westmeath, Meath, and Louth.
Tillage farms generally small. In Kildare, where they are largest,
they vary in some places from 50 to 200 acres ; but in many parts
they do not exceed from 5 to 20 acres. There is a great deal of very
fine land in this district, and wheat is largely cultivated.
largely cultivated. Clover has
been introduced, but too frequently it is sown upon land that is foul
and exhausted. The turnip culture has also been introduced, but not
to any considerable extent, and only on farms occupied by proprietors
and the superior class of tenants. The system of agriculture is still,
in fact, backward to a degree not easily to be imagined.
"There is
almost a total neglect of anything like a regular rotation of crops.
It is lamentable to see in many parts of Meath, in the neighbourhood
of Trim, where there is an excellent wheat soil, the ruinous system of
rotation followed. The land is cropped successively with corn till
it is exhausted; then, when it becomes a hurdle of couch grass and
weeds it is summer fallowed. If the season is favourable, that is, very
dry, the land may be got into a good state for wheat; but if the season
be unfavourable and the fallow neglected, it gets into the worst pos-
sible state. In Westmeath, all round the neighbourhood of Mullingar,
where the soil is not naturally a wheat soil, there the system is still
worse. They corn-crop till the land is exhausted; and then leave it
to nature to recover as well as it can." (Evidence of Patrick Lacy,
AGRICULTURE.
529
Esq., before Commissioners of Land Occupation, Part III., p. 664.)
In the barony of Kells, in Meath, a small tenant, who was remon-
strated with by a Commissioner of Poor Inquiry, on the foul state of
his crops and grass land, answered that the rag-weed and thistles shel-
tered and improved the grass; and that were he to pull the weeds from
among his potatoes, the wind would break their stalks, and they would
be injured! (Appendix F, p. 382.) Now it is material to observe,
that there is nothing peculiar in this speech. It is difficult, indeed,
to say, whether it evinces more of ignorance or of laziness; but
such as it is, it embodies the opinion, and explains the practice, of
at least nine-tenths of the small occupiers of Ireland. Still, however,
there are clear evidences of amelioration even in this district. Im-
proved ploughs and carts are very generally met with; though in
some parts, the old plough of the country, drawn by 4 or 5 horses,
and doing less work than the improved Scotch plough, and at more
than double the cost, still keeps its ground. The system of planting
potatoes in lazy beds has, in many parts, been superseded by the drill;
turnips have been introduced; and the quality of the corn and cattle
brought to market is better than at any former period. Rents
here, as everywhere else in Ireland, are very high. This is owing to
the demand for land created by an excessive population, who, not being
half employed, could not exist without a patch of land on which to
grow potatoes.
Mr. Wakefield gives the following table of the average produce per
acre of the above nine districts :-

Districts.
:
In Pounds Avoirdupois.
In Gallons,
Wheat.
Bear.
Barley.
Oats,
Potatoes.
Flax.
Seed. Prod. Seed. Prod.
224 2,272 203 3,500
171 2,135
Seed,
209
203
..
Prod. Seed. Prod. Seed. Prod. Seed. Prod.
2,682 333 2,636 2,3:2 22,248 30 785
2,946 291 3,227 1,383 15,183
.་
.་
..
222
2,024 196
243 2,537 261
3,584
4,480
244
249
2,765 308
3,024 298
2,749 2,144 22,289
2,570 2,592
24,328
-
972
:
:
:
:
7th district
8th district
9th district
3,131 173
257
232 1,857 187
2,828 310 2,265 2,660 22,358
186 2,020
296 2,614 368 2,606 2,632 21,140
2,353 211 3,494 246 3,235 361
3,03 2,63) 27,113
86
824
Average produce in)
Winchester bushel,
3.38
33.6 4.01
69.2 4.4
54.6 8.4
72.4
per Irish acre
Average produce
in
Winchester bushel,
2.086
20.74 2.47
49.7 2.71
33.7 5.18
44.5
:
per Imperial acre.
1st district
2nd district
3rd district, no return
4th district*
5th district
6th district; the re-
turns, being accord-
ing to the English
acre, are not taken
into the average†
* We have joined this district with the 2nd.
+ We have joined this district with the 5th.
We have no doubt, that the produce of oats and barley is overrated
in this table; but whatever it may have been when it was framed,
the average produce of the country, particularly of wheat, has certainly
increased in the interval.
V. Crops.- Wheat.—In consequence of the moisture of the climate,
and the practice of the cultivators, oats are a more suitable crop for
most parts of Ireland than wheat or barley, and they are raised to a
much greater extent than either or both of the latter. Wheat, how-
ever, is grown in considerable quantities in most parts of the kingdom,
2 M
VOL. I.
530
IRELAND.
but especially in the eastern counties. But, if we take the importa-
tion of wheat from Ireland into England as a test of the extent of
its cultivation in the former, it would appear to have considerably di-
minished of late years; the average imports of Irish wheat and wheat-
flour into Great Britain, during the three years ending with 1834,
having amounted to 804,669 quarters a-year; whereas they only
amounted to 544,243 quarters a-year, during the three years ending
with 1845. Some portion of this falling off, may perhaps be ascribed
to the greater consumption of wheat in Ireland; but there can be no
doubt, that it is principally owing to the growing (and we believe,
well-founded) conviction, that the cultivation of oats, is more pro-
fitable than that of wheat. Though a good deal improved, Irish
wheat is still, for the most part, coarse and inferior in quality, not
yielding so much saccharine matter by from 10 to 15 per cent. as
average English wheat. Mr. Newenham says, that the badness of the
seed is the principal cause of its inferiority.—(Natural and Political
Circumstances of Ireland, p. 314.) Wheat is generally sown after
potatoes or fallow.
Barley, Oats, &c.-Barley is not very largely cultivated. It is
commonly sown after potatoes. Of all the species of grain, oats is by
far the most extensively raised: it is believed that, throughout the
kingdom, there are at least ten acres of oats for one of any other corn
crop, and their culture is rapidly extending. Irish oats are inferior to
the English, but their quality has recently improved. Potato oats
have been generally introduced; though, in the mountainous districts,
black oats continue to be the favourite species. The latter have, also,
been extensively grown of late years in the lower parts of Waterford,
and other counties; in consequence, it is said, of successive failures of
the crops of the potato oat.-(Appendix F, Poor Inquiry, p. 415.)
The exports of oats and oatmeal from Ireland to England have in-
creased with unprecedented rapidity. This is evident from the table of
the imports of Irish corn into Great Britain (see post), which shows
that, while during the three years ending with 1813, they only amounted
to 452,628 quarters a-year, they had increased, at an average of the
three years ending with 1845, to no fewer than 2,414,775 quarters.
The Potato is, however, the distinguishing and peculiar crop of
Ireland, and has contributed not a little to place her in the singular
position she now occupies. The soil and climate are extremely well
suited to its growth; and the country is celebrated as well for the ex-
cellent quality, as for the extraordinary quantity of the potatoes raised
in it. They are grown on every species of soil, mostly in lazy beds,
and rarely, except in some of the eastern counties, in drills. The
produce is from about 800 st. to 1,000 st. an acre, at 21 lbs. the stone;
that is, from 16,800 to 21,000 lbs.-(Wakefield, vol. i., p. 406.) The
greatest attention is paid to the culture of potatoes.
The potato is
the only produce the cottier reserves for himself. All the rest-cattle,
corn, butter, pigs, poultry, and eggs-go to the landlord. As long as
the potato lasts, he and his family have abundance. They thrive under
it, and with plenty of ventilation, enjoy good health, and have the
cleanest skins in the world. But if the crop fail, or the season should
prove unfavourable for preserving it, the months of April and May are
AGRICULTURE.
531
trying seasons; then it is they are driven to subsist upon weeds, fevers
spread, and the utmost distress prevails.”—(Ireland and its Economy,
by I. E. Bicheno, Esq., p. 21.)
Flax and Hemp. -The first of these is extensively cultivated, es-
pecially in Ulster. There were, according to Mr. Crosthwaite, (who
is quoted by Dr. Kane,) about 100,000 acres under this crop in all
parts of Ireland (in 1843), the total produce being about 30,000 tons,
worth, at an average, 50l. per ton.-(Kane, p. 314.) Its culture,
owing, perhaps, to the withdrawal of the bounties, declined subse-
quently to 1815; but, since 1830, it has largely increased, particularly
in Down, Antrim, and Derry. The culture of hemp, which was never
very considerable, is now totally abandoned.
Turnips.-The turnip culture has made but little progress, though
it has been introduced into all the best-farmed portions of the
country.
The indigenous grasses of Ireland are not of any peculiar excellence.
Notwithstanding all that has been said of fiorin grass, its superior
value and utility may be questioned. Hay is seldom obtained from
sown grasses, and consists generally of the spontaneous produce of the
soil. Mr. Newenham, in his View of Ireland, (p. 314,) published in
1809, doubted whether there were then so many as 10,000, or even
5,000, acres under clover in the whole island! Latterly, however, it
has been cultivated to a much greater extent.
There are few live hedges in Ireland; in the limestone districts,
stone walls, and in other places turf banks, are the usual fences.
VI. Grazing.-Most parts of Ireland are admirably fitted, as well
by the humidity of the climate as by the nature of the soil, for grazing.
In this respect, she is as incontestably superior to Great Britain, as she
is inferior to the latter in her corn-growing, or rather corn-ripening,
capacities. As previously stated, this peculiarity was remarked by
Pomponius Mela, "Cali," says he, " ad maturanda semina iniqui,
verum adeo luxuriosa herbis, non lætis modo, sed etiam dulcibus, ut se
exigua parte diei pecora impleant."-(Lib. 3, cap. 6.)* And Boate,
whose accuracy is unquestionable, says, that "although Ireland,
almost in every part, where the industry of the husbandry applieth
itself thereto, bringeth good corn plentifully, nevertheless hath it a
more natural aptness for grass, the which, in most places, it produceth
very good and plentiful of itself, or with little help."-(Natural
History of Ireland, Lond., 1652, p. 88.)
Even the mountains of Ireland yield, for the most part, a good deal
of herbage, and are, in this respect, very superior to most of those of
Scotland and Wales. Horses are bred on the mountains of Mourne ;
and immense droves of cattle in the mountainous districts of Galway,
Kerry, &c. Arthur Young affirms, that on Macgillicuddy's Reeks,
"which is the wildest and most desolate region in Kerry, sheep are
fattened better than on the low grounds."
But, notwithstanding this superior adaptation of the land for pasture,
the proportion in grass has been rapidly diminishing since 1784. This
* Mela adds a circumstance, which, though fabulous, shows the high opinion
entertained in antiquity of the richness of the Irish pastures. "Se exigua parte
diei pecora impleant, et nisi pabulo prohibeantur, diutiùs pasta dissiliant.
2 M 2
532
IRELAND.
has arisen partly from the stimulus given to cultivation by the Bounty
Acts that were then passed; partly from the very high prices that
corn bore during the greater part of the war; and partly, and princi-
pally, from the extraordinary demand and high rents given for small
patches of land. It was thought by many that the passing of the
Subletting Act would check the extension of tillage; but hitherto it
does not seem to have had that effect; and in Connaught and other
districts it is rapidly increasing. There can, however, be no doubt
that a diminution of tillage, and an increase in the quantity of land
in pasture, would be one of the least equivocal symptoms of an im-
provement in the rural economy of the country.
Irish cattle consist principally of two leading varieties—middle and
long horns. The first are found principally in Kerry, Mayo, and, gene-
rally, in all the mountainous and rugged parts of the country. They
are small, and not very well shaped, hardy and wild, with long
coarse hair; in some places they are black, in others brindled: when
removed from their native mountains to a better soil and climate, they
fatten with the rapidity of the Welsh and Highland cattle. They are
generally good milkers.
The other, or long-horned breed, is found in all the low and level
tracts of Ireland, but principally in Tipperary, Limerick, Roscommon,
East and West Meath, &c. They are much larger and heavier than
the others; but mostly coarse and ill-shaped, with thick hides and
enormously long curved horns, the points of which are mostly turned
inwards. Latterly, however, they have, in many districts, been very
considerably improved by crossing with improved breeds from England.
Attempts have also been made to introduce the improved Teeswater,
or short-horned, breed into Ireland. Owing to the richness of the soil,
its extraordinary aptitude for grazing, and the extent (which, though
now much reduced, is still very considerable) of land in pasture, cattle
and beef have always formed prominent items in the list of Irish
exports. Such, however, was the ignorance of commercial principles,
and the jealousy of Ireland formerly entertained in this country, that,
in 1666, the importation of Irish cattle, sheep, and swine, and of Irish
beef, pork, and bacon, was declared to be a common nuisance," and
absolutely prohibited! The redundancy of lean stock, occasioned by
this proceeding, first lowered their price, and eventually that of fat
cattle, so as to give rise to a brisk foreign demand for Irish salted pro-
visions. The navy of France used to be victualled from Cork, and
was thus, in fact, supplied with British beef cheaper than the British
themselves!--(Newenham's View, p. 108.) This unjust and absurd
prohibition was repealed in 1759, and Irish lean cattle and beef have
since been largely imported into Britain. But of late years, or since
the introduction of steam navigation, it is usual to fatten cattle in Ire-
land before sending them to England; and Liverpool and Manchester
are, at this moment, principally supplied with Irish beef.
Dairy. The dairy, though in a backward state, is probably the
best-managed department of Irish husbandry. Large portions of
Kerry, Cork, Waterford, Carlow, Meath, Westmeath, Longford, and
Fermanagh, as well as the mountains of Wicklow, Leitrim, and Sligo,
are occupied by dairy farms. Butter is the chief produce. The
AGRICULTURE.
533
average number of cows on a dairy farm varies from 5 to 30; two
acres of land, of middling quality, are deemed necessary for the sub-
sistence of a cow; and the annual yield of butter may be estimated at
160 or 170 lbs. a-head. Cows of the native breed are the common
dairy stock; but Ayrshire and other British breeds have been intro-
duced. The quality of the butter differs materially. The best is said
to be made in Carlow and Waterford, the worst in Limerick and
Meath. These differences may in part, perhaps, be ascribed to dif-
ferences of soil and pasture; but there can be little doubt that they
are mostly ascribable to differences of management. This, though
improved, is in many parts very defective, there being frequently an
extreme want of cleanliness and attention. Besides what is sent to
England, Irish butter is exported to the East and West Indies, Por-
tugal, &c. That offered for sale was formerly inspected and branded
by public officers appointed for the purpose; but this was found to be
rather a protection to, than a security against, fraud; and the regu-
lations have been advantageously abolished within these few years.
Sheep.-Roscommon, Galway, Clare, Limerick, and Tipperary are
the chief breeding counties for sheep; and Galway, Clare, Roscommon,
Tipperary, and Meath, those where they are fattened. With the ex-
ception of those in the mountainous districts of the country, Irish
sheep are mostly long-woolled and very large. Mr. Culley, the
famous English breeder, having attended the great cattle and sheep
fair at Ballinasloe towards the close of last century, pronounced the
Irish sheep to be the ugliest he had ever seen; affirming, moreover,
that "they were almost in every respect contrary to what well-formed
sheep should be." (Culley on Live Stock, p. 166.) Since then,
however, a great change for the better has been effected in the cha-
racter and appearance of the Irish sheep, by the importation of im-
proved new Leicester rams * from England, and by the judicious
selection and crossing of the native breed. "The improved stock
struggled," says Mr. Youatt, "against prejudices and difficulties of
every description, and at length completely triumphed. The bad and
unsightly points of Mr. Culley disappeared one by one.
The sheep
became smaller, but more compact, and nearly or quite as heavy;
more of them could be kept on the same space of ground, and they
came to maturity 12 or 18 months sooner than they had previously
done. They gradually spread over the whole of Ireland. A few of
the short-wools were left, maintaining with them an unequal conflict;
but every long-woolled breed was changed, ameliorated, or totally
removed from the land; and the Irish sheep that are now brought so
plentifully to the English market will scarcely yield to the best im-
proved Leicesters that any part of Great Britain can produce. The
fleece weighs from 63 lbs. to 7 lbs., and the hoggett fleece from 5 lbs.
to 5 lbs."-(See Mr. Youatt's excellent work on Sheep, p. 351.) But
* In 1800 an incident happened singularly characteristic of the way in which im-
provements are welcomed in Ireland when they have nothing factious or quackish
to recommend them. Mr. Cossan, a farmer near Tipperary, having hired one of
the improved English rams, the animal had its throat cut the night after it arrived
at his house! Had he brought a ploughman from East Lothian, a dairy-maid from
Ayrshire, or a bailiff from Lincolnshire, the result would most likely have been
the same.-(Youatt, p. 350.)
534
IRELAND.
for the unfortunate prevalence of the small-farm system in Ireland,
there can be little doubt that the breeding and fattening of sheep would
become an important employment.
Hogs are in Ireland a very important stock; and yet the old Irish
breed is about the worst that can be imagined, being long-legged,
thin-sided, lank, haggard, and most unprofitable. Latterly, however,
they have, in some districts, been crossed with the Berkshire and other
improved English breeds, and have consequently been a good deal
improved. "I have often," says Mr. Wakefield, "been at a loss to
account for the number of pigs which I everywhere saw around me,
not being able to discover where they could be bred. But it is to be
observed that the pig is an inmate of every Irish cabin, and remains
there for a considerable time: the hog, indeed, is as much a domestic
animal in Ireland as the dog, and becomes so habituated to the warmth
of the cottage that it seldom strays far from home."-(Account of
Ireland, i. 254.) But hogs seem, in many parts of Ireland, to be now
giving place, as cottage inmates, to goats. The latter are still more
easily kept than pigs, and are particularly useful, by furnishing a con-
siderable supply of very nutritious milk.
Large quantities of bacon and hams are cured in Ireland, and ex-
ported to England. They are comparatively coarse and ill-flavoured,
but proportionally low-priced. Their inferiority results partly from
the bad feeding of the animal, and partly from the want of proper skill
and attention in the process of curing.
"The cow, the pig, the goat, the turkies, of which large numbers
are raised," says Mr. Bicheno, "are as much a part of an Irish cottier's
family as the children. They grow up together, eat of the same meat,
drink of the same cup, and lie on the same bosom. The ordinary
answer, when you remonstrate with them about these intrusions, is
now, as of old, And sure hav'n't they a right, for don't they pay the
rint?"-(Ireland and its Economy, p. 32.)
VII. Causes of the depressed State of Agriculture in Ireland.-To
enter fully into this inquiry would require a very long essay, or, rather,
a pretty large volume. We shall, therefore, content ourselves with
noticing a few only of those circumstances which seem to have had the
greatest influence.
Law as to Leases-Division of Land.-We have already remarked
that in England leases are regarded as personal property, and that
they may be assigned by the individual in occupation, unless a special
provision be made to the contrary. Peculiar circumstances, at the
head of which must, perhaps, be placed the institution of the poor laws,
have contributed to prevent this law from having any very injurious
operation in England; but in Ireland, to which it also applies, these
circumstances have not existed; and it has been productive of the most
mischievous effects. It was customary among the Irish, from the
earliest period, to divide all sorts of property, freehold as well as lease-
hold, equally amongst their children.* But as most part of the property
of Ireland has, first by conquest, and subsequently by forfeiture, come
into the hands of English families, estates have been exempted from
the operation of this system. It has, however, continued to prevail
* Davis's Discoverie of the True Causes, &c., p. 172, ed. 1747.
AGRICULTURE.
535
among the occupiers of the land, whose farms have been usually divided,
sometimes during their lives, or at farthest at their death, amongst
their sons; and it not unfrequently, also, happens that the daughters
are portioned by assigning patches of land to their husbands. (See
antè, p. 379.) And this, combined with the stimulus given to the
splitting of farins by the Bounty Acts, and the increased demand for
corn, and by the desire to multiply freeholders, without being coun-
tervailed by the operation of a compulsory provision for the poor, led,
as already stated, to that minute subdivision of the land, and excess of
population, that now prevails everywhere in Ireland.
We believe, too, that this system, how different soever in its ultimate
results, was at the outset by far the most profitable. Where land is
occupied by tenants possessed of capital, and farming for a profit, it
always fetches more rent, all things considered, when divided into con-
siderable farms than when split into minute portions. But in Ireland,
land has been sought after, not as in England and Scotland, as a means
of carrying on an advantageous business, but to enable the parties to
exist; and such has been the competition for small patches, that their
occupiers have always been ready to pay as rent all that they would
furnish above what was required for their own scanty subsistence.
The rents promised under a system of this sort were frequently much
larger than could have been afforded by tenants possessed of capital.
This advantage, however, as might easily have been foreseen, could
only be temporary. There were no means, except by fresh subdivisions
of the land, for providing for the increased population such a system
was sure to call into existence; and, owing to this, the whole produce
of the soil has become in many places inadequate for the support of the
paupers hutted upon it; and even where matters have not attained to
this extremity, a deficiency in the crops of oats or potatoes never fails
to disable a large proportion of the occupiers from paying their rents.
Other circumstances conspired to render this system universal. Had
the landlords let their estates in tillage farms of moderate extent, it
would have been necessary for them to expend considerable sums in
erecting suitable buildings and accommodations. But this is a sort
of outlay to which they have been always exceedingly averse; and
upon which, indeed, with few exceptions, they have not, till very re-
cently, expended a single shilling. The confiscations by which most
of them originally acquired their estates, and the sudden revolutions
to which property in Ireland was for a long time subject, generated
feelings in their minds, and gave rise to systems of management, that
have continued to exert a powerful influence long after the remem-
brance of the circumstances in which they originated might have been
supposed to be effaced, or the circumstances themselves were entirely
changed. From the first invasion of Ireland by the English in the
reign of Henry II. down to the accession of George I., or rather to
the suppression of the rebellion of 1715, the estates of Englishmen in
it were held by a very insecure tenure, and were looked upon as a
species of property of little prospective value, and useful only as the
source of immediate supplies. Hence the origin of that deep-rooted
disinclination, already alluded to, amongst the landlords to make any
outlays that could be avoided, and their indifference as to the influence
536
IRELAND.
of any measures over the future condition of their estates, provided
they were immediately productive. The landlords of Ireland are
neither better nor worse than those of England. The different circum-
stances under which they have been placed explains the differences in
their conduct, and made them pursue a policy not less ruinous to their
own interests than to those of the public.
Never feeling completely satisfied in regard to the security of their
property, looking upon their tenants more in the light of hostile
savages, whom it would be absurd to conciliate, than of rude dependents
who might be attached by just and liberal treatment, ignorant of their
language and habits, and despising or persecuting their religion, it was
not in the nature of things that the landlords could feel much interest
in the improvement of their estates, or in the condition of their tenants.
Both parties looked only to immediate gain, and dealt with each other
precisely as they would have done with Russians or Hindoos.
Thus
it is that "almost every proprietor in Ireland is a trader in land. He
has never been in a situation to command opinions, or to feel the con-
sequence this position imparts to the possessor, and therefore treats
his land simply as an article of profit. Hence he resorts to methods
of letting which are ruinous to the tenant, and, in the end, will be
ruinous to himself. He lets by auction and tender, and encourages
secret biddings; and as competitors have never been wanting in a
country where the occupation of land furnishes the only employment,
and the population presses so hard upon subsistence, he has never felt
much restraint upon his cupidity. The necessity of holding land has
existed to so great a degree, that the rent which the land would not
pay has been derived from other sources, such as an illegal still, a
little home-made linen, the earnings of labour from the landlord at a
low price, and sometimes from savings acquired in England. Many
proprietors have been known, and, indeed, they but thinly disguise
their intentions, to favour smuggling, that they might obtain better
rents."-(Bicheno's Ireland and its Economy, p. 123.)
It is but justice to observe that, though the Irish landlords had
been aware of the pernicious consequences that were to result from
parcelling estates, and disposed to prevent it, the task would have been
exceedingly difficult. It was to no purpose to insert in the lease of a
farm clauses prohibiting its being subdivided or sublet. The courts
were hostile to such limitations; and instead of the forfeiture of the
lease following its infraction, it was merely sent to a jury to assess
damages; which, when they were given, were little more than nominal.
In consequence of this vicious system, it frequently happened, as has
been previously seen, that farms let to single tenants for a moderate
term of years, were occupied at its expiration by some 20, 30, or
50 tenants, whom it was all but impossible to eject!
Subletting Act.-But, notwithstanding the circumstances now men-
tioned, it is obvious, had the majority of the landlords been alive to the
consequences of their conduct, or had they been compelled, by means
of a poor law, to provide for all who obtained a settlement on their
estates, that they would, being a decided majority in parliament, have
early altered the law as to the succession to farms, and obliged the
courts to give effect to the conditions in leases. But, with very few
AGRICULTURE.
537
exceptions, they seem to have entertained no doubts as to the sound-
ness of their policy, and had the infatuation to believe that they should
be able to squeeze exorbitant rents out of multitudes of starving
tenants. At length, however, the evil of subdivision and of a re-
dundant population became so obvious and pressing as to arrest the
attention of most landlords, who discovered, when it was too late, the
signal error they had committed in allowing their estates to be split
into minute portions. The disfranchisement of the 40s. freeholders,
in 1829, took away one of the principal motives to subdivide estates;
and some even of those who had been among the principal patrons of
the practice became suddenly impressed with the conviction that, un-
less an effectual stop were put to subdivision in future, the whole
country would be frittered down into potato gardens, and that it would
be impossible to collect any rent. Under the influence of this feeling,
the legislature passed the Subletting Act, by which the underletting of
farms was prohibited without the landlord's consent in writing, and
which also granted him a summary process for redress. The Irish
demagogues raised a loud outcry against this Act; but, whatever may
be thought of the conduct of some of those by whom it was approved,
it was a highly proper measure, and has been productive of the greatest
advantage.
Unfortunately, however, there is a large extent of Ireland to which
the provisions of this Act do not apply. A great deal of the
country is let on perpetual leases, the landlords having no other inte-
rest in the estates than the receiving their quit rents: a good deal, too,
of that part of the country which is let on terminable leases, has been
let for the lengthened periods of 3 lives, or 31 years. Under such
circumstances, it is clear that any practical change in the nature of the
tenures under which Irish farmers hold their lands can only be intro-
duced slowly; and the result has shown that the apprehensions of
those who feared, or affected to fear, any sudden shock to established
practices and systems, by the introduction of the Subletting Act, were
ill-founded.
way
Eviction of Tenants.—But the difficulties now alluded to in the
of the consolidation of farms are not the only, nor even the most for-
midable, with which proprietors have to contend. The possession of
land is in Ireland, with the great bulk of the population, the sine quâ
non of existence. It is, therefore, clung to with desperate tenacity; and
those landlords who proceed to eject occupiers from their estates, and
the parties by whom they are succeeded, usually become the objects of
the most implacable vengeance. Hence the astounding prevalence of
assassinations in Ireland. These, in almost every instance, originate in
circumstances connected with the occupation of land; they are not,
however, the results of the sudden impulses of passion; on the con-
trary, they are carefully discussed, planned, and deliberately carried
into effect; and are applauded by the populace, who think that the case
of the avenged parties to-day may be their own to-morrow. If,"
say the Commissioners of Land Occupation, "a tenant is removed,
even after repeated warnings, from land which he has neglected or
misused, he is looked upon, in the districts to which we are now re-
ferring, as an injured man, and the decree too often goes out for ven-
66
538
IRELAND.
geance upon the landlord and the agent, and upon the man who suc-
ceeds to the farm; and at times a large numerical proportion of the
neighbourhood look with indifference upon the most atrocious acts of
violence, and, by screening the criminal, abet and encourage the
crime. Murders are perpetrated at noon-day, on a public highway;
and whilst the assassin coolly retires, the people look on and evince
no horror at the bloody deed." This is a fearful state of things, and
one which is not easily grappled with. We have the firmest conviction
that the too great subdivision of the land is the grand evil under which
Ireland labours, the cause of a very large proportion of the want of
employment, idleness, and misery, which is everywhere prevalent; and,
if we be right in this conviction, it follows that whatever tends to
lessen this subdivision must be, in so far, advantageous. On the other
hand, however, the destitution of the cottiers, ejected from their little
patches of land, is a circumstance that should not and will not allow
itself to be forgotten. So long as numbers of people are deprived of
their accustomed means of subsistence, without any resource on which
they may fall back being provided for them, so long will outrage
and assassination afflict and disgrace the country. Such being the
state of the case, it is plain, if we would not, on the one hand,
obstruct that consolidation of the land into larger occupancies, which
gives the only real chance for the permanent improvement of Ireland,
nor, on the other hand, drive the peasantry to despair, that a middle
course should be taken. Ireland is not a country in which the rights
of property can or should in all cases be exercised as they may be ex-
ercised in England. In it the summum jus may sometimes differ but
little from the summa injúria. The private interest of a landlord and
the public interest might, perhaps, be both promoted by the ejection
of some 200 or 300 cottiers from an estate; but it is not enough to
warrant this being done that such is the fact, and that their ejectment,
as the law now stands, would be strictly legal. The question, what is
to become of the outcasts? is not to be lost sight of. If they be mode-
rately well off, or in a condition to emigrate, or to support themselves
till they may reasonably expect to find employment elsewhere, there
appears to be no ground for interfering in their behalf. But if, as
usually happens in Ireland, the reverse should be the case, if the ousted
cottiers be poor and destitute, it is the bounden duty of the legislature
to interfere, and to prevent such an exercise of the rights of property as
must necessarily be productive of all sorts of crimes and disorders.
Perhaps, on the whole, the better plan would be, in the event of the
eviction of cottiers and small occupiers, to make it imperative on the
landlords to allow them sums, to be determined by the extent of the
patches of land which they occupied. Thus, for example, the occupier
of a patch of an acre or under might, on being ejected, be entitled to
get 3 or 4 years' rent; the occupier of a patch of from 1 to 5 acres,
2 or 3 years' rent, and so on. By adopting some such plan as this, a
resource would be provided for the outcasts, and the landlords would
be able to effect that consolidation of small occupancies which is so
necessary, without driving the occupiers to despair, and subjecting
themselves and their agents to the risk of assassination.
No doubt, also, were able-bodied parties out of employment, or
AGRICULTURE.
539
unable to provide themselves with subsistence, allowed to claim public
relief, the stimulus to agrarian outrages would be materially dimi-
nished, and a more advantageous allotment of the land very greatly
facilitated.
Absentees.—Middlemen.—Those even superficially acquainted with
the history of Ireland are aware that more than four-fifths of its surface
have been forfeited at various times, particularly under Cromwell and
William III. The estates so forfeited were, for the most part, assigned
to English noblemen and gentlemen, or to English incorporations. It
was not to be expected that such parties should leave their own country
to reside in Ireland; and, owing to the barbarous state of the latter,
and the indifference of the new proprietors to its condition, they were
glad to let their lands in large tracts to such speculators as could give
them any reasonable security for the rent, allowing these to relet them
in smaller portions to the inhabitants. Hence the origin of absentees and
middlemen-both of them obviously growing out of the peculiar cir-
cumstances under which Ireland has been placed. These, as every one
knows, have uniformly almost been reckoned among the prominent
causes of her backward condition. But, without pretending to say that
they have been altogether innocuous, it is abundantly certain that their
injurious influence has been very much exaggerated. It would be foreign
to our purpose to enter upon the disputed question respecting absentee
expenditure. Our opinions in regard to it are already before the public,
and nothing has occurred to satisfy us that they should be changed
or in any degree_modified.* We have always been ready to admit
that the residence of landlords upon their properties may be, in many
respects, highly advantageous. It is natural to suppose that they will
be inclined, instead of spending their whole incomes in housekeeping,
to lay out a part of them in beautifying and improving their estates,
building houses for tenants, endowing schools, making roads, bridges,
&c. It has, however, been affirmed that, in point of fact, the estates
of resident Irish landlords are, in these respects, decidedly inferior to
those of absentees; but without stopping to investigate the precise
degree of credit due to this statement, those who consider that Scot-
land has quite as great a proportion of absentees as Ireland, must, we
think, admit that the influence of absenteeism in depressing the latter
has been very greatly overrated. It is not that many of the landlords
have been absentees, but that, whether absent or resident, they have
generally acted as if they had no permanent interest in the improve-
ment of the soil, or the prosperity of the inhabitants, that the wretched
condition of the population is, in great part, to be ascribed.
As to middlemen, we admit it would have been much better had
they never been introduced. This, however, is merely another mode
of saying that it would have been much better had Ireland never been
in those circumstances that made middlemen necessary. In the situ-
ation in which the owners of Irish estates found themselves subse-
quently to the expulsion of James II., and down to a comparatively
recent period, they seem to have had no better resource than the em-
ployment of middlemen. It is probable that their employment has
* Edinburgh Review, No. 85, art. 3; Evidence before Irish Committee of 1830.
540
IRELAND.
been continued longer than necessary, it being always difficult to
get rid of a system once firmly established. It is truly observed by
Mr. Bicheno, that "The middlemen in Ireland, who have long leases,
are, to all intents and purposes, the real and efficient owners of the
estate, and have as deep an interest in the welfare of their tenants as
if they were in possession of the fee. I know not that any difference
exists between those estates which are in the hands of the original
landlords and those which are sublet to intermediate persons. As far
as I could observe, the same defects prevailed throughout, always
making exceptions of certain individuals belonging to each class who
had introduced a better system."—(Ireland and its Economy, p. 106.)
Most, as it appears to us, of the mischievous influence ascribed to
middlemen has really grown out of a gross defect in the law. It was
not, and is not, uncommon in Ireland for 3 or 4, or more, intermediate
tenants to be placed between the landlord and the cultivator of the
soil; and though the latter had paid his rent to his immediate superior,
from whom he acquired the land, yet, in the event of his failure, or of
the failure of any other intermediate tenant, the landlord was author-
ized to come upon the cultivator, who was thus frequently obliged to
pay his rent over again. The Subletting Act put an end to this
flagrant injustice, by declaring that no landlord should be authorized
to prosecute a subtenant, admitted to hold by his consent, for rent, in
the event of the subtenant having made a bonâ fide payment of such
rent to his superior. This change in the law has gone far to strip
the middleman system of its most obnoxious feature; and should good
order and security be ever established in Ireland, it will gradually
disappear.
Partnership Tenures.-The same circumstances that gave rise to
middlemen seem, also, to have given rise to the still more objection-
able practice of letting lands in partnership, sometimes even to a whole
village. The tenants being jointly and separately bound for the rent,
it is pretty well secured to the landlord; but in all other respects the
tenure is about the very worst that can be imagined. When the land
is held for the purpose of grazing, it is always overstocked, and the
tenants quarrel about the liberty of turning the greatest number of
miserable beasts upon it. When, on the other hand, it is to be broken
up for tillage, they divide it into shares; but they are so tenacious
of every inch of land, and so apprehensive of being cheated, that
a division is never effected without much altercation and difficulty.
However small the separate portions, they do not generally lie toge-
ther, but are most commonly dispersed in different quarters; so that
a man having 2 acres of tillage land, may have 2 roods in coarse
ground, 2 in deep, 2 in stony, and 2 in wet, if these varieties happen
to occur. And even after the division is made, each of the holders is
liable for the failures and deficiencies of all his neighbours ;
so that
they are wholly divested of any portion of that security without which
there can be neither industry nor civilisation! This monstrous system
prevails in many extensive districts; and yet we wonder at the barba-
rism of the Irish.-(Tighe's Survey of Kilkenny, p. 418.)
Tithes have undoubtedly been far more injurious in Ireland than in
Britain. This is not owing to their being heavier there than here, but
AGRICULTURE.
541
to the poverty of the occupiers, which made them feel more sensibly
any burden of the sort; and to the circumstance of the great majority
of them being Catholics. But tithes are now luckily placed on such
a footing, that although the mass of the occupiers may disapprove of
the object for which they are applied, they do not impose on them any
considerable burden.
The abject poverty of the people has been said to be the real cause
of the depressed state of Irish agriculture. But it would be more
accurate to say, that this poverty has been a consequence as well as a
cause of the depression in question. To whatever circumstances it
may be ascribed, there can be no manner of doubt that the splitting of
the land into minute portions has been at once the principal cause of
the rapid increase and poverty of the population, and of the wretched
condition of agriculture.
Improvement of Ireland.-It is alleged, indeed, that notwithstanding
these unfavourable circumstances, and the unceasing agitation that
prevails in Ireland, very material improvements have taken place in its
rural economy during the last 20 years. And this, no doubt, is true,
if reference be made to the introduction of improved breeds of cattle,
sheep, hogs, &c.; and to the very general use of improved imple-
ments. But the previous statements, and those given in the Reports
of the Commissioners of Poor Inquiry and Land Occupation, prove
that improvements in husbandry are as yet confined to a limited
number of estates and farms, and can hardly be said to affect its
general character. In his tract on the poverty of Ireland (London,
1838), Lord Clements states distinctly that, "there has been no im-
portant amendment in the mode of cropping land since the days of
Arthur Young. Improvements," he adds, "of other kinds may
be noticed in Ireland; there are better markets and improved breeds
of cattle, more mills, and better carts and ploughs, &c.; but the
course of tillage is still the same in all its essential features. It con-
sists simply in taking one or two crops of potatoes from the ley or
grass sod, to which crops alone the manure of the farm is applied; and
then taking a succession of corn crops, which follow one another
without the intermission of a single season, till the powers of the soil
are more or less exhausted; after which it is let out to rest, as the pro-
cess is termed, clothing itself, for the first year or two, with weeds,
and soon after, in an incredibly short space of time, with a 'skin' of
self-sown grass, which goes on improving till the land is again sub-
jected to a repetition of the same course of torture. Potatoes and corn
are still the never-varying products."-(P. 24.)
The increase of the exports of raw produce from Ireland, is very
generally referred to as furnishing an undoubted proof of the improve-
ment of agriculture; and in so far as respects the increased exports of
cattle, beef, butter, hogs, &c., the inference seems to be well founded.
The breed of live stock has, as already stated, been generally improved,
and the increased exports of animal products have been obtained, not
only without any increase, but with a positive diminution of the land
in pasture. But we apprehend it is quite otherwise with the increase
in the exports of corn, meal, &c. It seems to be the result of an
extended, rather than of an improved, system of cultivation, though
542
IRELAND.
the influence of the latter must, no doubt, be felt in a few districts.
"It is remarked," says Lord Clements, "that the export of grain has
increased from all parts of Ireland, and very rapidly from those
(Connaught) where no agricultural amendment whatever is visible; and
as there is abundant evidence that the more substantial farmers do not
increase their tillage, either by ploughing up more pasture or by in-
closing wastes, but, on the contrary, that they are keeping more of
their lands in grass, the extension of tillage must be attributed to the
gradual subdivision of the farms among the poorer farmers, and to the
work which has been achieved upon the bogs and mountains, which
have been brought into cultivation by the same class of persons, as
labourers on their own account. The inferior grain produced by the
poorest cultivator is kept for home consumption, while the better de-
scription of corn is thereby spared for export to England.”—(Poverty
of Ireland, p. 27.)
No doubt, however, the facilities afforded by steam navigation, for
a ready intercourse with Great Britain, are of vast advantage to
Ireland. They have not only opened a ready access for her principal
articles to our markets, but they are of equal or greater advantage,
by affording profitable outlets for a variety of minor articles, such as
poultry, eggs,* &c., that were formerly all but lost. The large sums
of money that are thus brought into the country, can hardly fail to
have, in the end, a marked influence over all employments carried on
in it. But till tranquillity be established, and a complete check put
to the subdivision of the land, the resources of the country cannot be
developed. So long as the Catholics were treated as an inferior and
degraded caste, neither tranquillity nor improvement could be rationally
expected to grow up. Happily, however, this vicious policy has been
wholly abandoned; and were adequate provision made for the Catholic
clergy, every just ground of political complaint on the part of the Irish
would be removed. What Ireland now wants, is a firm and consistent
system of government, which, while it does justice to all classes,
without either flattering or irritating popular prejudices, shall put
down agitation, enforce the empire of the law, and give confidence to
the capitalist, and to the landlord anxious to improve his estate.
We are not prepared to say whether such a government can be es-
tablished in Ireland without the suspension of some of those political
privileges that may be safely entrusted to the people of England.
But if not, they should be suspended. Security of life and of pro-
perty is the one thing needful in Ireland; and were it fully established
she might yet, perhaps, assume a respectable place among civilised
nations; and be a stay and support, instead of a burden upon and a
disgrace to England.
The future condition of Ireland must considerably depend on the
conduct of the landlords. They have reaped nothing but disgrace from
that which they have hitherto pursued, and it is high time that it were
wholly renounced. But it is still in their power, by acting liberally
and judiciously by their tenants and dependents, materially to accelerate
the progress of improvement. Mr. Wakefield has made some obser-
* The price paid by England for these two articles may be estimated at from
250,000l. to 350,000l. a year.
AGRICULTURE,
543
vations on this important subject, which are so very sound and perti-
nent, that we shall make no apology for laying them before the reader.
"Before the improvement I have in view can be accomplished, it is
necessary the landholders should lay aside their former contracted
ideas, and consider their tenants as fellow-men, and not as slaves born
to maintain them in affluence and splendour. Such feudal ideas, thanks
to the enlightened spirit of the times, are now banished from the greater
part of Europe; and I sincerely trust that they have taken their de-
parture never more to return. The people must not be kept in a state
of oppression, nakedness, and misery; it is contrary to justice; it is
contrary to the interest of the landed proprietors, and destructive of the
commercial prosperity of the country. Let the restraints imposed be
removed; give instruction sufficient to make them sensible of their own
importance; encourage them to hope that, by honest industry, they
may rise to a better condition; excite a desire of improvement, without
which its progress will be slow; let them be taught to look for com-
forts not at present within their reach, and to seek enjoyments, to
which they, as yet, are strangers. When they perceive that there are
pleasures superior to those of mere animal gratification, they will be
roused from their torpor; the finer feelings will be awakened; their
thoughts be directed to more laudable objects; and their actions,
instead of being guided by mechanical impulse or brutal passion, be
subjected to the regular and systematical control of reason."-(Vol. ii.
p. 67.)
SECT. 8.-Produce of Timber.
England.-Timber is entitled to rank high among the agricultural
products of England. It grows in the royal forests, in the woods or
plantations of individuals, and in hedge-rows. In some of the southern
and in the greater number of the south-eastern and western counties,
there are large stocks of timber in hedges and in pasture grounds;
and the woods and plantations are, in many places, very considerable.
The principal woodland counties are Kent, Sussex, Surrey, Hants,
Worcester, Cheshire, with parts of Oxford, Northampton, Berks,
Leicester, Nottingham, &c. In general, the western are better wooded
than the eastern counties, and the southern than the northern. There
are no means of forming anything like an accurate estimate of the
value or quantity of timber in England. Dr. Beeke, to whose opinion
on such subjects great deference is due, says that "an estate is in
general considered as having less than its proportion of growing
trees of all ages, if their value do not amount to near two years of the
clear rent.”—(Observations on the Income Tax, 2d ed. p. 36.)
this hypothesis, supposing the rental of England and Wales to be
40,000,000l., the total value of the timber would be near 80,000,000l.
The annual income from woods, after deducting for the cost of repairs,
&c., may be taken at 4 per cent. on their value.
On
There can, however, be little doubt that Dr. Beeke's statement was,
when published, far beyond the mark. The statements in the Appendix
to the 14th Report of the Commissioners of Naval Revision show, also,
beyond a doubt, that the stock of timber had been greatly reduced
during the 15 years preceding 1807; and that the young plantations.
544
ENGLAND,
made during that period were not nearly so extensive as the old woods
that had been grubbed up. The stock of old wood, particularly of oak,
continued progressively to decrease from 1807 to the end of the war;
but, since then, there has been a material increase. The fall in the
price of timber lessened the temptation to cut it down; and while
comparatively few woods have been grubbed up since 1815, many new
plantations have been formed in different parts of the country. But,
notwithstanding all this, we doubt whether there be now so large a
supply of timber in the kingdom as in 1800, when Dr. Beeke's tract
was published. Perhaps, if we estimated the present value of the
timber of England and Wales at from 40,000,000l. to 50,000,000%.,
and its yearly product at from 1,500,000l. to 2,000,000l., we should
not be far from the mark.
Oak, though not the most abundant, is by far the most important
and valuable of British trees. It affects a strong loam, or stiff clay
soil; and is found in the greatest perfection in the weald of Kent,
Sussex, and Surrey. It is also found in great perfection in hedge-
rows in Cheshire, in Hereford, Monmouth, Flint, and many other
parts of England and Wales. But in several counties the annual fall
of oak timber does not exceed what is required for their consumption.
The importance to a naval power like Great Britain of having a
home supply of timber sufficient, at all events, for the use of the navy,
has been much insisted upon. We believe, however, that we should
run little risk in depending on the imports of foreign oak, teak, and
other timber, for ship-building, as we do on the imports of fir, &c., for
house-building and other purposes. But, supposing the importance of
having an independent home supply to be admitted, the interference of
government becomes almost indispensable; for the slow growth of oak,
requiring from 80 to 100 years or upwards to come to maturity, by
preventing individuals from planting and preserving oak woods with a
view to profit, renders it unsafe to trust to private sources for a supply.
Hence, after the country acquired distinction as a naval power, the
state of the royal forests began to attract attention; and it was recom-
mended that they should be enclosed, planted, and preserved with due
care, so that they might furnish an adequate supply of timber for the
navy. But the available extent of these forests is much less than might
be supposed; extensive encroachments having been made them
at remote periods, and many individuals having acquired rights to
pasturage, underwood, &c., within their bounds. In the reign of
Charles II., however, an Act was passed for the adjudication of these
claims in so far as respects the Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire, and
for enclosing and planting the portion remaining to the crown. Little,
however, seems to have been done in furtherance of this object till
after the commencement of the late war; when, owing to the vast in-
crease of the navy and of the mercantile shipping, a general conviction
began to be entertained that it was necessary to take effective measures
for providing an adequate supply of timber. In 1792, the Surveyor-
General of Woods and Forests reported that there was a great and
rapidly increasing deficiency in the supply of oak, and concluded by
recommending that 100,000 acres, in the royal forests and elsewhere,
should be set apart and planted with oaks. And, consistently with
-
upon
AGRICULTURE.
545
this recommendation, enforced as it was by the statements in the
Report of the Commissioners of Naval Revision, already referred to,
various inclosures have been made at different periods; so that the
entire extent of the royal forests, enclosed and bearing oak, may at
present be estimated at from 50,000 to 60,000 acres.
We subjoin a
statement showing the extent of the different royal forests, and of the
number of acres in each, enclosed and appropriated to the growth of
timber for the navy.
Royal Forests.
Acres in
each
Forest.
Acres
enclosed
for the
Growth of
Timber.
Royal Forests.
Acres in
each
Forest.
Acres
enclosed
for the
Growth of
Timber.
New Forest
66,942
6,000
Salcey Forest .
1,847
1,121
Dean Forest
23,015
11,000
Whichwood Forest
3,709
1,841
Alice Holt Forest
1,892 1,892
Waltham Forest
3,278
Woolmer Forest
5,945
1,700
Windsor Forest
·
4,402
4,402
Bere Forest
1,417
1,417
Whittlewood Forest
5,424
3,895
Delamere Forest
Parkhurst Forest
•
3,847
3,847
•
900
900
Acres
122,622
38,015
Lands in Kent, Gloucester, Derby, Durham, &c., belonging to the crown,
enclosed and planted with oak .
6,612
Enclosures thrown open, and enclosed woods of spontaneous growth be-
longing to the crown, estimated at
7,000
Lands in New, Dean, and Woolmer Forests that may be planted
•
11,000
Total
62,627
We have extracted this statement from the Fourth Report (p. 27)
of the Commissioners of Woods and Forests. The Commissioners
state that this is the utmost extent of land likely to be obtained from
the royal forests, or from the crown estates, which it would be de-
sirable to retain for the growth of timber. But, in order to provide a
still more ample supply of oak for the use of the navy, the Commis-
sioners recommended the purchase of such woodlands, or of such land
suitable for the growth of oak, as might adjoin those royal forests
which had establishments of officers, &c., adequate to undertake the
management of the new grounds without additional expense to the
public; but this recommendation has not been acted upon to any great
extent. The best thing that could be done, for the preservation of
the timber now in the country, would be to reduce, or rather abolish,
the existing duties on foreign timber.
Scotland.-There can be no manner of doubt that, in ancient
times, Scotland was a well wooded country. This is proved by the
remains of trees found in the mosses in all parts of the kingdom,
and by various other circumstances. But, excepting some Highland
counties, the old woods were, long since, all but totally destroyed;
and it was not till the early part of last century that they began to be
replaced by modern plantations. The remarks of Dr. Johnson on
the want of wood in Scotland are believed by many to have given a
VOL. I.
*
2 N
546
IRELAND.
considerable spur to planting. We doubt, however, whether such
were really the case. But, about the time of his visit, Scotland was
beginning rapidly to improve. Many mansions were soon after con-
structed in different parts of the country, which required woods for
protection and embellishment; and, as the wealth of the proprietors
increased, the beautifying of their estates, and their improval by
means of planting, attracted more and more of their attention.
Hence, during the last half century, many very large additions have
been made to the plantations of Scotland. The total extent of
woodland in that country was estimated, in the General Report of
Scotland (vol. ii. p. 321), at 913,695 English acres, of which 501,469
were natural woods, and 412,226 plantations. If this estimate may
be relied on, the total woodland must, at this moment (1846), con-
siderably exceed 1,000,000 acres. But, notwithstanding this vast
extent of wood, there are many extensive tracts in which hardly a
tree is to be seen. This is owing to the want of hedge-rows, for
which generally the country is not suitable, and to the wood being
mostly in large masses. The largest and most valuable woods are
in Perthshire, Aberdeenshire, Ross-shire, and Inverness-shire. The
late Duke of Atholl was the greatest planter of his time in the em-
pire: he planted about 15,000 statute acres.
Ireland.—Though now comparatively destitute of timber, Ireland
was formerly very thickly wooded. Very large trees are still dug up
in most of the bogs; and the timber so obtained, forms, in some coun-
ties, all that is made use of by the natives.* The black bogs abound
with oak timber, the red ones with fir, and in all of them there are
yew and holly. Giraldus Cambrensis, who came into Ireland on its
invasion by Henry II., in 1171, represents it as overrun with woods.
Boate, who refers to this statement, adds that the English, being set-
tled in the country, exerted themselves to diminish the woods wherever
they were masters, partly to deprive thieves and other banditti of safe
and convenient hiding-places, and partly to increase the supply of
cultivable lands.-(Ireland's Natural History, p. 119.) But long
after this period Ireland could boast of very large and valuable forests.
Spenser, in his panegyric on the country, says that it is "abundantly
adorned with goodly woods, even fit for building of houses and ships;
so commodiously, that if some princes in the world had them, they
would soon hope to be lords of all the seas, and ere long of all the
world." In 1652, when Boate's Natural History of Ireland was
published, there were many very extensive woods in the country, par-
ticularly in Wicklow, King's and Queen's Counties, and in Wexford,
Carlow, Donegal, Fermanagh, Antrim, Down, Kerry, Tipperary, &c.
(p. 123); and the facts collected by Mr. Wakefield prove that these
were far from having entirely disappeared in the early part of the last
century. (Account of Ireland, vol. i. p. 530.)
Many causes conspired to occasion the destruction of the woods of
Ireland. Of these the principal, perhaps, is to be found in the violent
changes of property in that country down to the accession of Queen
Anne, which, by generating a strong sense of uncertainty, stimulated
* M'Evoy's Survey of Tyrone, p. 188.
† Spenser's Works, Lond. 1715, p. 1526.
AGRICULTURE.
547
the holders of estates to make the most of them while they were under
their control, at the same time that it made them abstain from under-
taking any scheme of improvement that was either expensive or but
remotely productive. While, therefore, there was on the one hand,
little or no motive to plant new woods, or to protect the old from de-
predations, there was, on the other, a considerable temptation to cut
them down. The quantity of tillage land was thus, in some instances,
considerably increased: and in the seventeenth and eighteenth centu-
ries, when iron was largely produced in Ireland, the demand for wood
for the furnaces made it bring a high price, and occasioned the destruc-
tion of extensive forests.-(Wakefield, i. 528.) The disorderly state
of Ireland was also, in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, as it
had been in the twelfth, a prominent cause of the ruin of the woods.
By an order remaining in the council books of the 2nd of November,
1654, Commissary-General Reynolds was directed to fell and carry
away as many trees which, the order says, were dangerous shelter for
rogues, and obstructed the highway, so as to enlarge the road 20 yards
on each side, which was executed accordingly.”—(Smith's Natural
History of Waterford, p. 92.) From the combined influence of these
and other causes, Ireland has been wholly stripped of forests. Spen-
ser's "goodly woods " are now no where to be found. "A traveller
in Ireland finds timber, as he does shrubs and exotic plants, merely as
appendages to a gentleman's place of residence; and, after leaving a
favoured spot of this kind, he at once loses sight of green foliage, so
agreeable to the eye, and enters dreary wastes, where there is scarcely
a twig sufficient to form a resting-place to the birds fatigued with their
flight. To so great an extent does this evil exist, that I have seen the
remains of those who were gone to that bourne whence no traveller
returns' wrapped up in mats, for want of a coffin, and in that state de-
posited in the earth. To a circumstance of this kind I was myself a
witness during the summer of 1809, and Lord Enniskillen informed me
that the same practice is common throughout the county Cavan."-
(Wakefield, i. 531.) Latterly, however, the extent of woodland in
Ireland has been increasing. An Act passed in 1783 (23rd and 24th
Geo. III. c. 39), giving the occupying tenant an interest in the trees
he has planted, under certain regulations, has promoted the growth of
timber; and some noblemen and gentlemen have distinguished them-
selves by the extent of their plantations. It appears from the table
previously inserted (p. 321), that the total extent of woodland in Ireland
amounts to about 374,500 acres, or to about a third part of the extent
of the Scottish woodlands.
SECT. 9.-Distribution of Lands, Rents, Profits of Farmers, &c.
Quantity and Value of Agricultural Produce, &c.—It would be
exceedingly desirable to be possessed of authentic information on
these important topics, and we have to regret that such is not within
our reach. It could not be acquired without much trouble and
expense, and the continued co-operation either of government or of
numerous individuals. But neither the government nor the people of
England has ever given any considerable encouragement to statistical
2 N 2
548
ENGLAND AND WALES.
inquiries; and, notwithstanding the heavy expense that is annually in-
curred in preparing parliamentary reports and accounts connected with
statistics, it is still true that the elements of the science are as little
understood here as in almost any other country. No effectual means
have ever been set on foot for getting accounts of the extent of land in
tillage and in pasture, and of the proportion which one sort of crop
bears to another, or of the numbers and value of the different breeds of
cattle, horses, &c. In reasoning on these subjects, we have, therefore,
nothing but the researches of a few meritorious individuals and analo-
gies to trust to. Under such circumstances, precision is not to be
expected: a rough average is all that can be looked for. We begin
with-
I. ENGLAND.
Number of Acres under Tillage.-In his eastern tour Arthur Young
estimated the extent of land under crop in England, exclusive of
Wales, at 12,707,000 acres (iv. 458). But as 1,000,000 acres would
have had to be added to this estimate for fallow, there cannot be a
doubt it was much too high. Mr. Couling, a land surveyor, laid
before the Emigration Committee of 1827, tables in reference to this
subject, which have been a good deal referred to. In these he esti-
mated the arable and pasture land of England and Wales, exclusive of
wastes, forests, roads, rivers, &c., at 28,749,000 acres, of which he
supposed the arable or cultivated land and gardens to make 11,143,370
acres. We incline, however, to think, that Mr. Couling was as much
under the mark in this estimate, as Mr. Young had been above it in
his. And we are supported in this view of the matter by the authority
of Mr. Middleton, Mr. Comber, Mr. Stevenson, and others. The last
mentioned gentleman, to whose opinion on such subjects great defer-
ence is due, estimated the land under culture in 1812, at 11,500,000
acres. And, supposing it to have amounted at that epoch to that
quantity, or, which is the more general opinion, to 12,000,000 acres, it
may now be safely estimated at from 13,000,000 to 13,500,000 acres.
The number of Acts passed since 1812 for the enclosure of commons
and wastes, and the extent to which they have, in the interval, been
enclosed and cultivated, make it all but certain that this estimate, if it
be not within, is, at all events, not beyond the mark.
Distribution of Tillage Land.-According to Mr. Middleton, the
tillage land of England and Wales, supposing it to amount to 12,000,000
acres, would be appropriated as follows:-
Wheat
Acres.
3,300,000
Oats and Beans
Barley and Rye.
•
3,000,000
Clover
Fallows
•
900,000
1,200,000
Acres.
1,200,000
2,400,000
Total
•
12,000,000*
Roots
Mr. Comber, in an estimate framed, apparently, with considerable
care in 1812, supposes the total acres under cultivation in England and
Wales, to amount to 11,591,000, which he distributes as follows:
*
Survey of Middlesex, 2nd ed., p. 640.
¿
AGRICULTURE.
549
Wheat
Barley and Rye
Oats and Beans
Clover, Rye-grass, &c.
•
•
Acres.
3,160,000 Hop-grounds
861,000 Nursery-gardens
Acres.
36,000
9,000
cultivated by spade
41,000
16,000
Total
•
11,591,000*
2,872,000 Fruit and Kitchen Gardens,
1,149,000
Roots and Cabbages, culti-
culti-}
ti-} 1,150,000
vated by plough
Fallow
·
2,297,000
Pleasure-grounds
Even at the time the extent of ground under fallow appears to have
been very considerably overrated in these estimates. At present
(1846) we are disposed to believe, from the inquiries we have instituted
in the quarters most likely to be best informed, that the extent of
ground under tillage in England and Wales, may be estimated at
13,300,000 acres, distributed as follows, viz. :-
Wheat
Barley
Oats and Rye
Potatoes, Turnips,
and Rape
Acres.
3,800,000
1,500,000
2,500,000
2,000,000
Acres.
Beans and Bran
Clover
Fallow
500,000
1,300,000
1,500,000
•
50,000
Hops
Gardens
150,000
It appears from a table deduced by Mr. Stevenson from the agricul-
tural reports of the Board of Agriculture, that the average produce of
wheat throughout England and Wales, might be estimated in 1812 or
1813, at from 20 to 24 bushels an acre, barley at 32 bushels, and oats
at 36 bushels per ditto. Little dependence could, however, be placed
on this table, even at the period when it was framed; and circum-
stances have changed most materially in the interval. Between 1813
and the present period, a vast improvement has taken place in agricul-
ture. The supply of produce has been increased, partly by the extension
of cultivation, but far more by its improvement. A much greater
quantity of produce is now obtained from the same breadth of land
than in 1812. So much so is this the case, that estimating the average
produce per acre of wheat in England and Wales at the end of the war
at 24 bushels an acre, we are well convinced it cannot now be
reckoned at less than 32 bushels! making an annual increase of
30,400,000 bushels on the 3,800,000 acres of land supposed to be
under wheat. This estimate has been approved by some of the best-
informed agriculturists and corn merchants; and, as will be afterwards
seen, it would be impossible, without a vast increase of production, to
account for the increase of population. We subjoin—
An Account of the Extent of Land in England and Wales under the principal Descrip-
tions of Crops; the average Produce per Acre; the total Produce; the Amount of
Seed; the Produce under deduction of Seed; and the total Value of such Produce.

Produce
under
Deduction
of Seed.
Crops.
A cres
in Crop.
Produce
per Acre.
Total
Produce.
Seed
(1-7th of
Produce).
Price
per
Quarter.
Total Value.
Quarters. Quarters,
Quarters.
Quarters.
Wheat
Barley
Oats and Rye
Beans and Peas
Potatoes,
and Rape
Clover
Fallow
Hops
Gardens
•
•
•
3,800,000
1,500,000
2,500,000
4
15,200,000
2,171,429
13,028,571
50s.
£.
32,571,427 10 0
S.
d.
41
6,375,000
910,714 5,464,286 30s.
8,196,429 0
5
500,000
>
31
12,500,000
1,875,000
1,785,714
267,857
10,714,206
1,607,143
203.
10,714,286 00
30s.
2,410,714 10 0
Turnips,
2,000,000
1,300,000 071. per Acre
1,500,000
50,000 152. per Acre
150,000 15. per Acre
Totals
13,300,000
35,950,000
30,814,286
* Comber on National Subsistence, App. p. 52.
23,100,000 00
750,000 0 0
2,250,000 U
79,992,857 0 0
550
ENGLAND AND WALES.
Produce of Pasture and Wood Land.-This may be determined in
two ways; either by ascertaining the quantity and value of the different
articles annually produced, or by taking a general rough average value
per acre.
The former would be the most satisfactory mode; but the
details are too numerous and too loose to admit of their being brought
forward with much confidence. We believe, however, that the annual
value of the various products derived from pasture and wood land in
England and Wales, may be estimated, at an average, at about 3l. 12s.
an acre; being equivalent, on 16,500,000 acres, to 59,114,0007. But
to this may be added about 2,500,000l. for the annual value of the
waste lands, or of the mountain pastures, heaths, marshes, &c., not in-
cluded in the pastures, making the total value of the produce of the
various descriptions of grazing and wood grounds about 61,614,000l. a
year. This produce may be distributed as follows:
Cattle, 1,200,000, at 127. each
Calves, 200,000, at 37. each
•
Sheep and Lambs, 6,800,000, at 17. 10s. each
Wool (exclusive of slaughtered Sheep), 360,000 packs, at 127.
each
Hogs and Pigs, 555,000, at 17. 16s. each
Horses, 200,000, full grown, annually produced, at 151. each.
Poultry, Eggs, Rabbits, Deer, &c.
•
Meadow and Grass, for work and pleasure horses
Dairy produce, or Milk, Butter, and Cheese
Wood
►
Total
•
£
14,400,000
600,000
•
10,200,000
4,320,000
1,000,000
3,000,000
1,344,000
13,000,000
12,000,000
1,750,000
61,614,000
*
The total annual value of the agricultural produce of England and
Wales may, therefore, be estimated at about 141,606,8577. (79,992,8571.
+ 61,614,0007.) In further corroboration of this estimate, we may
remark, that Arthur Young, in the Agricultural Report of Essex,
estimates the value of the farm produce of England at 145,800,000/.
Mr. Middleton, in the Survey
Survey of Middlesex, estimates it at
126,690,000l.; and Mr. Stevenson, in the article "England," in the
Edinburgh Encyclopædia, estimates it at 131,066,000l., exclusive of
the value of numerous gardens, orchards, &c. Considering the different
circumstances under which it has been framed, the estimate we have
given does not differ materially in the amount from the above. And
though it differs widely from them in many of the details, we flatter
ourselves that the advantage of superior accuracy is on our side. We
may be mistaken on some points, and it is hardly, indeed, possible in
any case to arrive at any thing better than a rough approximation, still
we do not believe that, with the assumed prices, we can be more than
a very few millions on either side the mark.
Rental of England and Wales.-The returns under the former and
present Property Tax Acts, furnish very complete details in regard to
the rent of land, houses, and other fixed property in England and
Wales. And from these returns, and those of the number of acres in
each county, we have compiled the following tables.*
* The statements in regard to the rental for 1810-11 have been derived from the
Parl. Paper No. 64, Sess. 1813; those in regard to 1814-15, from a paper supplied
AGRICULTURE.
551
I. Table showing the Aggregate Measurement of each County of England and that of
Wales; the ascertained Gross Rentals of the Land of each, according to the Returns
under the Property Tax Act for the Years 1810-11 and 1814-15; with the Average
Annual Rent per Acre of the Land of each County at these respective periods, &c.*


Counties.
Acres.
Gross Rental
for
1810-11.
Rent
per Acre
Gross Rental
for
1814-15.
Rent
per Acre
in
1814-15.
in
1810-11.
Inc. or Dec.
of Rent
per Acre in
1814-15 -
over Rent
per Acre in
1810-11.
Englund.
£.
£. s. d.
Bedford.
•
295,582
279,976 0 18 114
Berks
451,040
Bucks
466,932
Cambridge
523,861
Chester
707,078
407,187 0 18 04
497,158 1 1
457,732 0 17
689,731 0 19 6
3號
​£.
£. s.
316,595 1 1 5
502,096 1 2 3
548,630 1 3 5
35
d.
£. S. d.
0
2 51
0 4 21
0 2 2 21
51
Cornwall
873,600
564,607 0 12 11
Cumberland
•
1,001,273
Derby
•
•
558,803
Devon
Dorset
Durham.
Essex
Gloncester
Hereford
Hertford
Huntingdon
1,657,180
•
632,025
•
•
622,476
•
•
1,060,549
•
•
805,102
469,250 0 9 44
619,472 0 18 9
1,217,529
0 14 84
489,004 0 15 5
0 16
505,387
0 17 0
904,894
805,390 1 0 0
541,325 1 0
805,141 1 2 94
629,259 0 14 4
561,468 0 11
707,250
1,360,812
0 3 24
0 3 3
0.1 54
24
0 1 101
1 1
5+
0 2
8
0 16 5
0 1 81
564.377
0 17 101
0 2 5
24
·
534,823
441,343 0 16
6
543,411
1,109,829
971,410
524,781 0 19 74
0 17 5
0 1 24
1
0 11
0
3 101
1 4
4 14
0
4 1
0
3 1
·
391,141
342,056 0 12
4
397,539
0
1 0 34
7 114
230,865
202,076 0 17
6
277,463
1 4
04
0 6 6 61
Kent.
1,041,479
Lancaster
•
1,219,221
>
Leicester
•
514,164
Lincoln.
1,776,738
1,572,756
Middlesex
•
180,168
864,294 0 16 7
1,270,345 1 0 10
699,158 1 7 24
0 17 84
346,634 1 18 5
961,368
0 18 5
0
1 101
1,463,183
1 4
4 0
0
3 2
Monmouth.
•
368,399
202.211
0 10 11
Norfolk.
•
1,354,381
921,581
0 13 7
Northampton
Northumberland.
Nottingham
•
•
630,358
1,249,299
695,691
909,997 0 14 5
1 2 0
807,558
1,865,086 1 0 11
517,669
231,113 0 12
1,102,352 0 16
846,172
1 11 44
0 4 24
0 3 31
2 17 5
0 18 114
6
0 1 7
3
0 28
1 6 1
0 4
04
999,951
0 16 14
0
1
8
•
526,076
Oxford
►
Rutland.
•
•
472,887
·
•
•
95,805
534,678 1 0 34
1
498,086
1
99,149
604,220 1 2 11
0
2 73
1 0
084
589,594
1
4 11
0
3 10
123,296
1 5 84
58
0
5
04/
Salop
Somerset
Southampton
Stafford.
•
•
·
826,055
730,099 0 17 8
823,845
0 19 11
0
2 3
·
↑
•
•
1,047.220
1,353,232
•
•
•
•
1,070,216
•
728,468
593,259
757,678 1 0 94
1
0 11 1
5 10
1,491,734
1 85
0
2
2 74
707,127
0 13 24
0
2 14
862,973
1 3 8
381
0
2 104
Westmoreland
Worcester
•
Suffolk
Surrey
Sussex
·
•
•
Warwick
Wilts
York
Totals for England.
Average Rent per Sta-
tute Acre of England S
947,681
694,078
0 14 7
826,228
0 17 5
0
2 94
478,792
368,457 0 15
4
437,958
0 18 34
0
2 11
·
934,851
567,712 0 12 1
641,736
0 13 8
0 1 7
•
563,946
485,432
·
•
865,092
•
•
兽
​•
472,165
3,829,286
651,306 1 3 1
220,596 0 9 1
812,292 0 18 9
516,203 1 1 14
3,107,751 0 16 2
838,993
260,945 û 10 9
1
964,611 23
609,746 1 5 5 94
0 18 71
3,563,980
1 9 9
0 6 8
0
४
0
3 61
0 4 8
0 2 44
32,590,429 27,880,085
32,502,824
0 17 1
0 19 7
0 261
* Under the old Property Tax Act, the profits, or clear taxable incomes, of the occupiers of land in
England and Wales were estimated at three-fourths, and in Scotland at one-half, the rent, or annual
value of their farms; and they were assessed accordingly.
by Mr. Wood, formerly Chairman of the Stamps and Taxes, and now of the Ex-
cise; and those in regard to 1842-43 from the Parl. Paper, No. 102, Sess. 1845.
* Had all the papers relating to the old property tax been preserved, they would
have supplied a vast deal of authentic information, not only with respect to rent,
but with respect to the numbers and incomes of the different ranks and orders of
the community during the period of its existence. The voluntary destruction of so
great a storehouse of curious information is an act of which it is difficult to say
whether its folly or its barbarism be the more prominent feature.
It has no
parallel, unless it be the burning (which, however, is doubtful) of the Alexandrian
Library.
552
ENGLAND AND WALES.
I. Table showing the Aggregate Measurement, &c.-continued.

Counties.
Acres.
Gross Rental
for
1810-11.
Rent
per Acre
in
1810-11.
Rent
Gross Rental
for
1814-15.
per Acre
in
1814-15.
¡ Inc. or Dec.
of Rent
per Acre in
1814-15
over Rent
per Acre in
1810-11.
Wales.
Totals for Wales
4,734,486
£.
1,622,985
£. s. d.
£.
1,827,638
£. s. d.
£. s. d.
Average Rent per Sta-
tute Acre of Wales
Add for England, as
before
0 6 7
0 7 81
0 1 1
32,590,429 27,880,085
32,502,824
Wales
Totals for England and 37,324,915
·
Average Rent
per Sta-
tute Acre of Eng:and
37,324,915 29,503,070
34,330,462
0 15 9
0 18 44
0 2 7
and Wales
•
II. Account showing the Area of the different Counties of England and the Area of
Wales;
the Gross Rentals of each in 1814-15 and in 1842–43, as determined by the
Assessments under the Property and Income Tax Acts, with the Rent per Acre of each
in 1814-15 and in 1842-43, &c.

Counties.
Acres.
Gross Rental
for
1814-15.
Rent
per Acre
in
Gross Rental
for
1842-43.
Rent
per Acre
1814-15.
in
1842-43.
Inc. or Dec.
of Rent
per Acre in
1842-43
over Rent
per Acre in
1814-15.
Inc.
England.
Bedford.
Berks.
Bucks
•
Cambridge
•
£.
£.
S.
d.
•
295,582
451,040
466,932
316,595 1 1 5
502,096 1 2 3
548,630 1 3 5
£.
£. S.
d.
377,995 1 5 64
594,903 1 6 44
597,736 1 5 7
48000
£. S. d.
0 4 1
4 14
0 2
2 1
523,861
541,325 1 0 8
Chester
Cornwall
•
707,078
805,141 1 2 91
•
Cumberland
•
873,600
1,001,273
629,259 0 14 44
0 11 24
561,468
774,658 1 8 5
962,857 1 7 24
774,692
603,725
0
7 9
0 4 5
0 17 84
0
3 4
0 12 0
0
0 10
Derby
Devon
Dorset
•
•
Durham.
•
658,803
1,657,180
632,025
707,250 1 1 5
0 16 5
1,360,812
564,377 0 17 101
845,681 1 5 74
1,556,181 0 18 9
613,507
0
0
4 21
244
0 19 41
Essex
Gloucester.
Hereford
Hertford
Huntingdon
622,476
1,060,549
805,102
543,411 0 17 54
1,109,829 1 0 11
971,410 1 4 11
•
534,823
•
391,141
230,865
524,781 0 19 7
397,539 1 0 34
277,463 1 4
04
538,781
1,289,645 1 4 3
1,121,125 1 7 1
629,981 1 3 64
438,226 1 2 44
312,083 1 7 01
0 17 31
0 1 6+
Dec.
0 0 2
Inc.
0 3 4
0 244
0 3 11
0 2 1
0 3 3 0
Kent.
•
•
1,041,479
961,368
0 18 5
5套
​1,327,491 1 5 54
0 7 01
Lancaster
Leicester
Lincoln.
•
•
·
1,219,221
1,463,183
1
4
0
1,636,416
1 6 10
0
•
•
•
414,164
1,776,738
807,558
1,865,086
1 11
1
44
899,063
1 14 6
2 10
0 3 2
0 111
2,340,625
1
6 4
0 5 4+
Dec.
Middlesex.
Monmouth.
Norfolk
180,168
517,669 2 17 5
冬
​387,861 2 3 04
0 14 5
Inc.
368,399
231,113 0 12 6
61
•
1,354.301 1,102,352 0 16 3
290,334
1,644,994
0 15 9
0 3 2
1 4 31
0 8 0
AGRICULTURE.
553
Northampton
630,358
Northumberland
1,249,299
£. £. s. d.
846,172 1 6 1
999,951 0 16 14
Nottingham.
526,076
604,220 1 2 111
II. Account showing the Area of the different Counties, &c.-continued.

Counties.
Acres.
Gross Rental
for
1814-15.
Rent
per Acre
in
1814-15.
Gross Rental
for
1842-43.
Rent
per Acre
in
1842-43.
Inc. or Dec.
of Rent
per Acre in
1842-43
over Rent
per Acre in
1814-15.
Inc.
£. s. d.
0 4 9
Dec.
0 2 91
Inc.
0 321
£.
973,144
£. s. d.
1 10 10
835,856
0 13 44
707,756 1 6 11
Oxford
•
472,887
589,594 1 4 11
602,396
1 5 5
0 0 6
Rutland
Salop
•
Somerset.
Southampton
95,805
123,296 1 5 84
130,935
1 7 4
0 1 74
826,055
1,047,229
823,845 0 19 11
1,491,734 1 8 5%
1,050,132 1
1,715,497 1 12
5 2
5
0 5 53
9
0 4 34
1,070,216
707,127 0 13 2
Stafford
•
728,468
Suffolk
947,681
862,973 1 3 8
826,228
0 17 5
777,636
1,104,151
1,147,536
0 14 64
0 1 3
1 10
3
0 6 7
1 4
2 24
Surrey
478,792
Sussex
934,851
437,958 0 18 34
641,736
433,505
0 18 1
0 6 9 94
Dec.
0 0 21
Inc.
0 13 8
855,373
0 18 3
0 4 7
Warwick
563,946
Westmoreland
485,432
Wilts.
865,092
Worcester
472,165
838,993 1 9
260,945 0 10 9
964,611 1 2 2 34
609,746 1 5 91
9
905,869
1 12
14
0
2 4+
269,418
1,021,706 1 3 7
716,498 1 10 4
0 11 1
0 0 4
0 1 31
0 4 64
York
3,829,286
3,563,980 0 18 7
3,989,937 1 0 10
0 2 23
Totals for England
32,590,429 32,502,824
37,795,905
Average Rent per Sta-
tute Acre of England
0 19 7
1 3 2
0 3 6
Totals for Wales
4,734,486
1,827,683
2,371,184
Average Rent per Sta-
tute Acre of Wales
0 7 8
0 10 0
0 2 3
0 18 4
Add for England, as
before.
32,590,429 | 32,502,824
Totals for England 37,324,915 34,330,462
and Wales.
·
Average Rent per Sta-
tute Acre of Eng-
land and Wales
Excess of Total Rent
and of Rent per Acre
in 1842-43 over ditto
in 1814-15.
•
37,795,905
40,167,089
:
1 1 6
:
5,836,627
0 3 1
It is necessary, however, to bear in mind, on comparing these tables,
that the currency was depreciated above 18 per cent. during the five
years ending with 1815, though, probably, from the non-renewal of
leases, rents might not be raised, in consequence, more than 10 per cent.
And, supposing this to be the case, we must, in order fairly to compare
the rental of 1815 with that of 1843, make a deduction of 10 per cent.
on account of depreciation from the returns for the former period.
This is done in the following table, which exhibits the real rise or fall
of rent in the interval:-
554
ENGLAND AND WALES.
III. Account showing the Area of the different Counties of England and the Area of
Wales; the Gross Rentals of each in 1814-15 (under Deduction of 10 per Cent. for
the Depreciation of the Currency) and in 1842-43, as determined by the Assessments
under the Property and Income Tax Acts, with the Rent per Acre of each in 1814-15
and in 1842-43, &c.

Gross Rental
for 1814-15
Counties.
Acres.
(under
Deduction of
10 per Cent.)
Rent
per Acre
in
1814-15.
Gross Rental
for
1842-43.
Rent
per Acre
in
1842-43.
Inc or Dec.
of Reut
per Acre in
1842-43.
over Rent
per Acre
in 1814-15.
Inc.
England.
Bedford
•
295,582
Berks.
Bucks
Cambridge
451,040
466,932
£. £. s. d.
284,935 0 19 3
451,886 1 0 0
493,767 1 1 14
523,861
487,192 0 18 7
£.
377,995
594,903 1 6
597,736 1 5
774,658 1 8
£. s. d.
£. s. d.
1 5 64
06 3
4
0 6 4
74
0
4 5
5
0
99
Chester
707,068
724,627 1 0 6
962,857 1 7 23
0
683
Cornwall.
873,600
566,333 0 12 11
774,692 0 17
ઉ
0
49吋
​Cumberland
•
1,001,273
505,321 0 10 1
603,725 0 12 0
0
1 10
Derby
658,803
636,525
Devon
1,657,180
1,224,731
Dorset
632,025
Durham
622,476
Essex
1,060,549
Gloucester
805,102
Hereford.
534,823
Hertford
391,141
Huntingdon
230,865
Kent.
1,041,479
Lancaster
1,219,221
1,316,865
0 19 3
0 14 91
507,939 0 16 1
489,070 0 15 84
998,846 0 18 10
874,269 1 1 1 8
472,303 0 17 73
357,785 0 18 3
249,717 1 1 7+
865,231 0 16 7
1 1 71
845,681 1 5
1,556,181 0 18
72
0
6 4
9
0
3 11/
613,507 0 19 4
0
3 3
538,781 0 17 34
1,289,645 1 4 3
1,121,125 1 7 1
0 1 64
0
5 53
0
544
629,981 1
36
0 5 10%/
438,226 1 2 44
0 4 1
312,083 1 7 04
1,327,491
0 5 4
1
5 5
0
8 10
1,636,416
1
6 10
0 5 2
Leicester
514,164
726,802 1 834
Lincoln
1,776,738
1,678,577
0 18 10
$99,063
2,340,625
1 14 6
0
6 34
1 6 4
0 7 5
Dec.
Middlesex
180,168
465,902
2 11 8
387,861
2 3 04
0 8 8
Inc.
Monmouth
•
Norfolk.
Northampton
368,399
1,354,301
630,358
208,002 0 11 3
992,117 0 14 74
761,555 1 3 5
Northumberland
1,249,229
899,956 0 14 64
Nottingham.
526,076
Oxford
Rutland
Salop
•
Somerset.
Southampton
472,887
45,805
826,055
1,047,220
543.798 1 0
081
530,635 1 2 5
110,966 1 3 2
741,461 0 17 11
1,342,561 1 5 74
1,070,216
Stafford
•
728,468
Suffolk
947,681
Surrey
478,792
636,414 0 11 104
776,676 1 1 4
743,605 0 15 84
394,162 0 16 5
777,636
290,334
1,644,994
973,144
835,856
707,756 1 614
602,396 1 5 5
130,935 1 77 4
1,050,132 1 5 5
1,715,497 1 12 9
0 14
Inc.
0 5 5
0 3 0
0 4 4 2
0 7 5
0 15 9
0
4 5
1 4 3
1 10 101
0
9 7号
​0 7 4
Dec.
0 13 41
0 1 2
0 7 14
64
0 2 74
1,104,151
1,147,536
438,505 0 18 1
1 10 3
0
8 11
1 4 21
0 8 64
0
1 74
Sussex
934,851
577,563 0 12 41
855,373
0 18
3
0
5 11
>
Warwick
563,946
755,094 1 6 91
905,869
1 12
1
0 5 4
Westmoreland
485,432
234,851 0 9 8
269,418
0 11 1
0 1 5
Wilts.
865,092
Worcester
472,165
York.
3,829,286
868,150 1 0
548,771 1 3 21
3,207,582 0 16 9
0
1,021,706
1 3
7
0 3 6
716,498 1 10 4
3,989,937
0
7 14
1 0 10
0 4 1
Totals for England.
•
32,590,429
29,252,542
37,795,905
Average Rent per Sta-
tute Acre of England S
Totals for Wales
0 17 8
1 3 21
0 5 6
4,752,000
1,644,874
2,371,184
Average Rent per Sta-
tute Acre of Wales
0 6 11
0 10 0
Inc.
0 3 0
Add for England, as
before.
32,243,200 29,252,542
37,795,905
Totals for England 36,995,200
30,897,416
40,167,989
•
•
AGRICULTURE.
555
Counties.
Acres.
(under
Deduction of
10 per Cent.)
III. Account showing the Area of the different Counties, &c.—continued.

Gross Rental
for 1814-15
Gross Rental Rent per
for
1842-13.
Acre in
1842-43.
Inc. or Dec.
of Rent
per Acre in
1842-43
over Rent
per Acre
in 1814-15.
Rent
per Acre
in
1814-15.
£.
£. s. d.
£.
£. s. d.
£. s. d.
Average Rent per Sta-
tute Acre of Eng-
•
land and Wales
Excess of Total Rent
and of Rent
Rent per
Acre in 1842-43 over
ditto in 1814-15
•
IV. Account showing the Area of the different Counties of England and of Wales; the
Gross Rentals of each in 1842-43 and in 1851-52, as determined by the Assessments
under the Property and Income Tax Acts, with the Rent per Acre of each in 1842-43
and in 1851-52, §c.
0 16 6
61
1 1 61
9,269,673
Inc. 5 0


Counties.
Acres.
for
1842-43.
Gross Rental Rent per Gross Rental Rent per
Acre in
1842-43.
for
1851-52.
Acre in
1851-52.
Increase or
Decrease of
Rent per Acre
in 1851-52, over
Rent per Acre
in 1842-13.
Bedford
Berks.
Bucks.
295 582
451,040
466,932
Cambridge
523,861
£
£. s. d.
377,995 1 5 6
594,903 1 6 41
597,736 1 5 7
774,658 1 ४ 5
Chester
707,078
962,857 1 7 23
Cornwall.
873,600
774,692 0 17 8
Cumberland
•
1,001,273
Derby.
658,803
Devon.
1,657,180
1,556,181
Dorset
632,025
Durham
622,476
603'725 0 12 0
845,681 1 5 574
0 18 9
613,507 0 19 43
537,781 0 17 3
Essex.
1,060,549
Gloucester
805,102
Hampshire
1,070,216
Hereford.
534,823
Herts.
291,141
Huntingdon
230,865
Kent.
1,041,479
Lancaster
1,219,221
Leicester.
514,165
Lincoln
1,776,738
1,289,645 1 4 31
1,121,125 1 7 1
777,636 0 14 6
629,981 1 3 64
438,226 1 2 43
312,083 1 7 01
1,327,491
5
1,636,416 1
899,063 1 14
2,340,625
.
5
6 10
64
1 6 4
Middlesex
Monmouth
180,168
368,399
Norfolk.
1,354,301
Northampton
Northumberland
Nottingham
Oxford
Rutland
630,358
1,249,299
•
526,076
•
472,887
95,905
Salop
Somerset
Stafford
826,055
•
1,047,220
•
728,468
Suffolk
947,681
337,861 2 3 01
290,334 0 15 9
1,644,994 1 4 31
973,144 1 10 104
835,856 0 13 4
707,756 1 6 13
602,396 1 5 5
130,935 1 7 4
1,050,132 1 5 5
1,715,497 1 12 9
1 10 3
1,104,151
1,147,536 1 4 24
£.
£. s, d.
398,243 1 6 11+
586,917 1 6 01
635,745 1 7 23
864,788 1 13 0
992,672 1 8 8 01
728,287 0 16 8
634,946 0 12 8
826,146 1 5 0
1,553,120
0 18 8
656,834 1 0 91
573,184 0 18 44
1,358,397 1 5 7
74
1,164,752 1 8 9 91
895,410 0 16 84
650,238 1 4 33
528,645 1 7 0
01
305,397 1 654
1,410,259 1 7 1
1,593,614
1 6
920,599 1 15 9
2,424,696
1 7 3
345,701
1 18 4
285,021 0 15 51
1,759,928 1 5 14
969,742 1 10 9
874,699 0 14 0
717,135 1 7 3
627,980 1 6 64
131,294 1 7 44
1,027,076 1 4 14
1,657,478 1 11 7
1,073,817 1 9 5
1,207,411 1 5 5
s. d.
Inc.
1 41
Dec. 0 41
Inc.
1 71
4 7
091/2
Dec. 1 0%
Inc. 0 71
Dec. 0 7
0 0
""
Inc.
1 4
1 11
1 31
>>
1 8
22
094
4 74
Dec. 0 7
Inc. 1 74
14
Dec. 08
Inc.
1 24
0 111
Dec. 4
4 8
0 3
Inc. 0 93
Dec. 0 11
Inc. 0 7
1 11
""
1 1
''
0 03
Dec.
1 3
1 14
0 10
Inc.
1 3
Surrey
Sussex
Warwick
Westmoreland
478,792
433,505 0 18 1
451,973
0 18 10
091
934,851
855,373 0 18 34
897,900
0 19 24
563,946
905,869 1 12 1
897,174
1 11 91
0 11
Dec. 0 31
485,432
Wilts.
Worcester
865,092
472,165
York.
3,829,286
269,418 0 11 1
1 3 71
1,021,706
716,498 1 10 4
3,989,937 1 0 10
256,600 0 10 6
1,068,131 1 4
4 81
758,321 1 12 14
3,919,776 1 0 51
0 6
Inc.
1
1
1 91
Dec. 0 44
41
Totals and Average
Rent, England
Ditto, ditto, Wales
•
Ditto, ditto, Eng-37,324,915
laud and Wales
1 3 21
32,590,429 37,795,905
4,734,486 2,371,184 0 10 0
38,622,046 1 3 84
2,496,283 0 10 6
Inc. 0
6
063
40,167,089
41,118,329
1 1 64
1
2 01
Inc.
0 6
556
ENGLAND AND WALES.
V. Account showing the Average Prices of Wheat in England and Wales per Imperial Quarter,
from 1776, as ascertained by the Receiver of Corn Returns, with Quinquennial Averages of the
same; the Depreciation of the Currency from 1801 to 1820, both inclusive; the Average Prices
corrected for such Depreciation, with Averages, &c.

Years.
Price
of Wheat
according
to Receiver
of Corn
Returns.
Averages
in Periods
of
Five Years.
Prices, Averages
according
of
to Receiver, Corrected
of Corn Returns,
Returns,
Depre-
ciation of
Years.
Currency
per Ceut.
Corected
in
Periods
for Depre-
ciation.
of Five
Years.
Price
of Wheat,
according
to Receiver
of Corn
Returns.
Prices, Averages
according of
to Receiver Corrected
Averages
in Periods
of
Five Years.
Depre-
ciation of
Currency
of Corn
Returns,
per Cent.
Returns,
Corrected
for Depre-
ciation.
in
Periods
of Five
Years.
£. s. d. £. s. d. £. s. d. £. s. d. £. s. d.
1776 1 19 4
1777 2 6 11
1778 2 3 3
1779 1 14 8
1 19 4
1816
3 18 6
£. s. d. £. s. d. £. s. d. £. s. d. £. s. d.
16 14 3 3 4 8
2 6 11
1817
4 16 11
2 13 2 4 14 4
2 0 2
2 3 3 2 0 2
1818
4 6 3
4 0 10<
2 13
2 4 3 11 3 15 10
1 14 &
1819
3 14 6
4 9
이 ​310 3
1780 1 16 9
1 16 9
1820
3 7 10
2 12
0 3 6 1
1781 2 6
6
0
1782 2 9 3
1783- 2 14 3 >2 8
1784 2 10 4
1785 2 3 1
1786 2 0 0
1787 2 2 5
1788 2 6 4 2 7 3
1789 2 12 91
1790.2 14 9
2
6 0
1821
2 16 1
2 16
1
2 9 3
1822
2 4 47
2 4 ช
2 14 3 2 8 7
1823
2 13 4 2 17 31
2 10 4
1824
3 3 11
2 13 4 2 17 3
3 3 11
2 3 1
1825 3 8 6
3
8 6
22222
0 0
1826
2 5
1827
6 4 2 7 3 1828
2 12 9
1829
2 14 9
1830
లులులు సిని
2 18
8
2 18
6
3
0 5
3 17
3
6 3
3 4 3
1791 2 8
1792 2 3
1793 2 9
1794 2 12 3
1795
3 15 2
70332
2 8
2 3 0
2 13 8
2 9
2 12
3 15
7033 2
1831 3 6 4
3 2 13 8
3
1832 2 18 8
1833 2 12 11
1834 2 6 2
1835
2 12 8
1 19 4
1796
3 18 7
3
3 6 3
3
2 18
8
2 18 6
CA CU CU UN
0 5 3 1 7
4 3
3 6
4
2 18 8
2 12 11 2 12 8
2 6 2
1 19 4
3 18
7
2 8 6
2 11 10 2 13 5
39 0
5 13 10
1836
1837 2 15 10
1838 3 4 7 3 1 2
1839 3 10 8
1840 3 6 4
2 8 6
2 15 10
3 4 73 1 2
3 10 8
3 6 4
1797 2 13 9
1798 2 11 10 3 13 5
1799 3 9 0
1800 5 13 10
2 13 9
1801 5 19
5 19 6
1802 3 9 10
8 7 8 5 9 6
1841 3 4 4
3
my 5 10 3 4 11
1842
•2 17 3
3 Q
4 4
2 17 3
1803 2 18 10 4 0
2 13 2 2 17
2 2 17
3 3 15 11
1843
2 10 1
2 14 94
2 10
12 14 9
1804 3 2 3
1805 4 9 9
2 13 2 3 0 7
2 13 2 4 7 4
1844
2 11 3
2 11 3
1845
2 10 10
2 10 10
1806 3 19 1
44 11 11
1807 3 15 4
1808 4 1
1809 4 17 4
1810 5 6 5
2 13
23 17 0
2 13 2 3 13 4
1846
2 14 8
1847
3 9 9
2 4 3 3 1848 2 10 6 2 11 10<
2 13 2 3 19
2 3 19
2 13 2 4 14 9
13 9 6 4 11 11
1849 2 4 3
1850
2 0 31
2 14 8
3
9 9
2 10 6 2 11 11
2
0
4 31
2 0
3
1811 4 15
1812
6 6
36 947
7 16 10 4 7
20 14 9 5 0
01 4 6
1813 5 9 9 4 14 3 22 18
1814 3 14 4
25 2 6 2 15
16 14 3 2 14
1815 3 5 7
93 6
1851
1 18
1852 2 0
6 3 16 11:
8
6 9
6
1 18
9
6
9
9
2 0 9
AGRICULTURE.
557
Results of Tables.—Rentals of 1814-15 and of 1851-52.-It appears
from Table No. II., that the rental of England and Wales in 1842-3
was 5,836,6271. greater than in 1814-15, being an average rise of
3s. 1 d. per acre; and it appears from Table No. IV., that a farther
increase of 6d. per acre had taken place in the same rental between
1842-43 and 1851-52, making a total increase of 3s. 7ąd. on the rent
per acre of England and Wales between 1842-43 and 1851-52. It also
appears from Table No. V., that the price of wheat during the five years
ending with 1815 amounted to 94s. 3d. per quarter, whereas it only
amounted during the five years ending with 1850 to 51s. 11d., that the
increase of 3s. 7 d. an acre in the rental of the kingdom had taken place
concurrently with a fall of 42s. 4d. a quarter in the price of wheat.
But, as already stated, the currency was depreciated to the extent of
about 18 per cent. during the five years ending with 1815, so that it
is indispensable, if we would make a fair comparison of the rental of
1814-15 with that of 1842-3, to make a suitable deduction from the
former: this is done in Table No. III.; and it appears, from this
corrected Table, that the gross rental of the land of England and
Wales amounted in 1814-15, in undepreciated currency, to 30,897,4167.;
but it amounted in 1851-52 to 41,118,3297., being an increase in the
interval of 10,220,9131., or of 5s. 6d. an acre.
In Table No. V., showing the prices of wheat from 1776 to 1852, &c.,
we have allowed for the nett amount of the depreciation in each year of
its existence, or from 1801 to 1820, both inclusive. And it will be
seen that the average price of wheat in undepreciated currency, during
the five years ending with 1815, amounted to 76s. 11d. a quarter; but
in the five years ending with 1850, the price of wheat amounted to
only 51s. 10d. a quarter, showing, all the estimates being made in un-
depreciated money, that the above increase in the rental of the kingdom
of 10,220,9137. in the whole, or of 5s. 6d. an acre, had taken place,
despite a real fall of 25s. per quarter in the price of wheat.
There is a very considerable difference in the rents of equally fertile
land in different counties; occasioned partly by differences of situation,
and partly by the different degrees of skill and economy with which
they are farmed. Rents of corn farms are highest in Northumberland,
Durham, Essex, Kent, Hampshire, &c. A great deal of arable land,
even of moderately-good quality, lets at from 10s. to 18s. an acre, and
where highest, its rent, exclusive of tithes, poor rates, and other public
burdens, seldom exceeds 35s. an acre. Good pasture land generally
lets higher than corn land. It may vary from 16s. to 37. When it is
of limited extent, and contiguous to a considerable town, it sometimes
fetches 51. and 67. per acre, and even more.
Rise of Rents in England.—Arthur Young, in his Northern Tour
(vol. iv. p. 366) estimated the rental of England and Wales, in 1771,
at 16,000,000l.; and in Dr. Beeke's celebrated pamphlet on the
Income Tax, published in 1800, it is estimated at 20,000,000l. But,
as the rental was ascertained by the returns under the old Property
Tax Act to have amounted in 1806 to 25,908,207., there can be no
doubt that Dr. Beeke's estimate was below the mark, and that the
rental in 1800 could hardly have been under 22 or 224 millions: and,
supposing this estimate to be nearly correct, its progress will have
558
ENGLAND AND WALES.
been, overlooking the variations in the value of the currency, as
follows, viz. :-
Years.
Rent.
£.
1800
22,500,000
1806
25,908,207
1810
29,503,074
Years.
Rent.
£.
1815
34,230,462
1843
40,167,089
1852
41,118,329
Moderate Rent of Land in England.-Considering the advantages
which the English farmer enjoys in fertility of soil, climate, and ready
access to the best markets in the world, the rent which he pays seems
to be unusually low. This, no doubt, is owing partly to the pressure
of the public burdens falling on the tenant; partly (at least in the
south) to vicious customs with respect to the succession of tenants,
and the waste of labour in ploughing; and partly to the want of leases
and the consequent insecurity of the occupiers. A good deal is, how-
ever, to be ascribed to a disinclination on the part of many landlords
to raise rents, and a wish not to remove tenants, and to keep their
estates always underrented. But though the disadvantages resulting
from the overrenting of land be great and signal, the opposite practice,
or its underrenting, is by no means the best that may be devised. Sup-
posing that a tenant has a lease of a farm, or that he is otherwise
secured in its possession, it might be imagined that the circumstance
of its being underrented would have no influence in diminishing his
industry or activity, seeing that he would reap all the advantage of
superior skill, enterprise, and economy; but experience shows that
such is not by any means the case.
To make farmers leave those
routine practices to which they are strongly attached, and avail them-
selves of improved systems and modes of management, they must not
only have the means of meliorating their condition, but their rents
must be such as to impress them with the conviction that, if they do not
exert themselves, their ruin will assuredly follow. Estates that are
underrented are, uniformly almost, farmed in an inferior style to those
that are let at their fair value: and the tenants are comparatively poor.
An increase of rent, provided it be not pushed too far, is, of all others,
the most efficient means of improvement. "I have not," says Arthur
Young, seen an instance of rent being low, and husbandry, at
the same time, being good. Innumerable are the instances of farmers
living miserably, and even breaking on farms at very low rents, being
succeeded by others, on the same land, at very high rents, who make
fortunes. Throughout my journey I have universally observed that
such farms as were the most wretchedly managed were very much
underlet."*
(6
A striking illustration of the same principle is given by Davis, in
the Survey of South Wales:—“A gentleman noted for his liberality
to his tenants, during the last 17 years of his life laid out upwards of
20,000l. in improving the farms of his tenants at will, without charging
them a penny in advance of rent. He died; and his successor, of a
different cast, leaving off improvements, tried what doubling of rents
would do; and it is painful to relate, for it borders on a libel on
* Young's Tour in the North of England, vol. iv., p. 376. See also Analysis of the
Statistical Account of Scotland, part i., p. 258, &c.
AGRICULTURE.
559
human nature, that this advance of rent, considered exceedingly griev-
ous at the time it was imposed, had a greater effect in improving the
agriculture of the estate than all the benevolence and forbearance of
his predecessor. The tenants were now compelled to do for them-
selves what another did for them before."-(Vol. i. p. 165.)
Proportion of Rent of Land to the Produce.-It is sufficiently ob-
vious that, in estimating this proportion, it is not possible to do more
than arrive at a rough average, which will very rarely apply in par-
ticular instances. The cultivation of inferior being quite as expensive
as that of superior land, and, in most cases, a good deal more so, it
follows that, while the whole, or the greater part of the produce of
bad land may be required to indemnify the cultivator, so that little or
nothing may remain for the landlord, a comparatively small portion of
the produce of superior land may suffice to repay the cultivator for his
outlay and trouble, leaving a large surplus to the landlord. Rents do
not, however, depend entirely on the differences in the natural fertility
of the soils under cultivation, but are materially influenced by the de-
gree in which they have been improved; the nature and duration of
the leases under which they are held; the public burdens affecting
them, &c. With respect, indeed, to the influence of the latter on rent,
it is difficult to form any precise conclusions, without previously know-
ing the mode in which they are assessed, and their effect on prices.
In general, however, there can be no doubt that the imposition of
taxes on the land, or on its produce, tends to lower rent, and that
their repeal tends to raise it. But the extent to which tillage has
been carried, and the different degrees of improvement, are the prin-
cipal circumstances that affect rent. A farm of naturally bad land,
if it be furnished with commodious buildings, and be otherwise highly
improved and fertilised by an expenditure of capital and labour, may
yield a pretty considerable amount of rent; while a farm of really
good land, but furnished with indifferent buildings, and but little im-
proved, may probably not let for so much as the other. Agricultural
science has, also, a very considerable influence over rent. The greater
the economy with which the business of agriculture is carried on, that
is, the smaller the outlay for which the different farming operations
may be completed in the best manner, the greater will be the amount
of surplus produce after the claims of the farmer are satisfied. It is in
this respect, in the greater skill and economy with which agricul-
tural operations are carried on, more than in the absence of tithes and
poor rates, though these have, of course, a considerable influence,
that the superiority of Scotch over English agriculture mainly con-
sists, and that, at an average, the Scotch landlords receive a con-
siderably greater proportion of the produce of the soil than the
English.
These statements show how very difficult it must be to form any
tolerably accurate estimate of the share of the agricultural produce of
an extensive country that goes to the landlord; and they also show
how inapplicable such an average proportion would be, even if accu-
rately determined, to the vast majority of particular farms, and even
to very many districts of considerable extent. It is pretty evident,
too, that though the proportion which the produce of a country going
560
ENGLAND AND WALES.
to the landlords as rent at any particular period were ascertained, it
might be materially different at another period. It is, as has been
seen, materially influenced, not only by the skill with which agricul-
tural operations are carried on, and by the magnitude and nature of
the public burdens laid on the land, but by the extent to which the
cultivation of bad land is carried, and by a variety of other circum-
stances, that, like those now mentioned, are liable to perpetual change,
and operate in different directions.
Towards the middle of last century it seems to have been the com-
mon opinion, that the rent of land of medium fertility was about equi-
valent to a third part or more of its gross produce. During the present
century, however, those best able to judge believe that this proportion
is too high, and that the medium rent of land seldom amounts to more
than a fourth part of its produce. We suspect, indeed, that the former
estimate must have been at all times a good deal above the mark.
For any but the finest land a third part of the produce would be a
heavy rent; and for lands of inferior fertility it would be quite op-
pressive. Those who set aside from a fourth to a third part of the
produce of Great Britain as rent, seem to us to make an allowance
sufficiently near the mark.
The following Table has been given, as representing the average
rent of cultivated land in Scotland; but its accuracy has been dis-
puted, and at best it can be considered as nothing better than a rude
outline :--
£. s.
£. s.
Land producing 10 18 per acre, part, or 3 11 per acre.
6 12
4 5
,
,
""
1 13
0 17
Proportion of the gross to the real Rent of Land.-By the gross
rent of land is meant, as every one knows, the entire sum paid by the
occupier to the owner, including, of course, an allowance for the
houses on the farm subservient to agricultural purposes, and for the
fences, roads, drains, and improvements of all sorts that have been
made upon the land. The real rent is much more limited : it means
that portion of the gross rent which may be supposed to be paid by
the occupier to the landlord for the use of the natural and inherent
powers of the soil, or the rent the farm would fetch supposing it were
in a state of nature, and destitute of houses, fences, and of every sort
of artificial melioration. It is impossible, however, to distinguish be-
tween these portions. Most improvements, when once effected, become
so intimately blended with the soil, that they cannot be separately
considered; nor, supposing they were requested to make the attempt,
would any two agriculturists, however skilful, form the same estimate
of the real rent of an improved farm. But it is, notwithstanding, ob-
vious that a very large portion of the rent of Great Britain consists, in
fact, of a compensation, or return, for the vast amount of capital ex-
pended on agricultural buildings and improvements. It is to be re-
gretted that we have no means of estimating, with any pretensions to
accuracy, what the portion of rent accruing to the landlords on account
of improvements may really amount to. We believe, however, that it
AGRICULTURE.
561
is decidedly greater than the other; but, estimating the whole rental
of Great Britain at forty-five millions, if we set apart twenty millions
as real rent, and regard the remaining twenty-five millions as interest
on account of buildings, fences, drains, roads, and other improvements
of the soil, we shall certainly be within the mark.
Dr.
Distribution of Rent in England.-Landed property in England is
not so unequally distributed as many suppose. The highest rental
may amount to about 100,000l. a-year; but there are comparatively
few estates worth more than 10,000l. or 12,000l., and the great ma-
jority are under 1,000l. We regret, however, that there are no means
either of classifying the incomes derived from land, or of estimating
the total number of proprietors amongst whom it is divided.
Beeke says, that the latter amount to at least 200,000,—( Observations
on the Income Tax, 2nd edit., p. 21,) which would give, at an
average, 2001. a-year to each. In the agricultural counties, the
smaller proprietors are understood to have become less numerous
during the present century; but in the manufacturing districts the
reverse is true, and large estates have become comparatively rare.
Agricultural Capital.-Great Britain.-The capital employed in
farming has been very differently estimated. It was supposed by
Arthur Young, in his Northern Tour, to amount to about 4/. an acre,
which, taking the cultivated land of England and Wales at 32,000,000
acres, would give an aggregate sum of 128,000,000l. It is generally
believed that this estimate was at the time pretty accurate; but, owing
to the general rise of prices, and to the great improvements that have
been made in the stock and implements employed on most farms, the
amount of capital engaged in agriculture must be much greater at
present than in 1770; and cannot, we are assured, be estimated at
less, at an average, than 67. or 71. per acre; giving a total sum of from
192,000,000l. to 224,000,000l., or 208,000,000l. at a medium. The
capital required for farming the 5,500,000 arable acres in Scotland
may be estimated at from 57. to 6l. an acre.
Insufficiency of Agricultural Capital.-It is a remark, as old as
the days of Columella, that a farmer's capital should be above rather
than below his farm. But it may notwithstanding be affirmed that,
speaking generally, farms in all parts of Britain are decidedly under-
stocked. This is a point as to which, more than any other, farmers
are apt to miscalculate. Those who should only take a farm of 100%.
or 150l. a-year, not unfrequently take one of 200l. or 300l. They are
led to do this by the greater consequence attached to the occupancy
of a considerable farm by associating in their minds the idea that
much land will bring them much profit; and by an over sanguine ex-
pectation that they will be able, by superior address, or by the assist-
ance of friends, to make the capital answer the demands upon it.
But such conduct is, for the most part, very short-sighted. A defi-
ciency of capital disables farmers from procuring the best sort of im-
plements; from performing the different operations in the best and
most expeditious manner; from executing improvements that are,
perhaps, indispensable; and most commonly ends by involving them
in debt and difficulties, from which it may not afterwards be in their
power to escape. "There is not, in the whole range of rural economy,
VOL. I.
20
562
SCOTLAND.
a more important object than the country being richly stocked. The
best land is of no avail without a sufficient sum of money to render its
fertility of use: neither skill nor industry will make any amends for
the want of an ample stock. One of the most common and yet most
fatal errors, to which the conduct of a farmer is open, is that of under-
stocking."(Young's Northern Tour, vol. iv., p. 272.)
Profit of Farmers.-Under the old Income Tax Act, the profits of
the tenants of land in England were estimated at three-fourths and
in Scotland at half the rent; but under the present Act the profits of
the English farmers are taken at a half and those of the Scotch at a
third of the rent. And we incline to think that this estimate is not,
on the whole, far from, though probably a little under, the mark.
Supposing it to be nearly correct, it would give about 20,000,000l. for
the profits of the occupiers of England and Wales; which would give
about 9 per cent. on the capital of 208,000,000l. engaged in culti-
vation; and we are assured, that if they be supposed to amount to
10 per cent. or to 20,800,000l. in the gross, no sensible error will be
committed.
But it is to be observed, that this gross profit of 10 per cent. includes,
besides the return to the capital possessed by the agriculturists, all that
they receive as wages, or on account of their labour in superintending
and working on their lands. When a fair allowance is made on this
account, it will be seen that the nett profit realized by the occupiers is
but of very limited amount. In this respect, indeed, farmers seem to
be less favourably situated than most other classes. Even with the
greatest care and attention, few amongst them attain to opulence. The
great majority merely manage to live respectably, and to bring up a
family. "The few," says Mr. Loudon, "who do more than this will
be found to have had leases at low rents, indulgent landlords, to have
profited by the accidental rises in the market or depreciation of cur-
rency, or to have become dealers in corn or cattle; and rarely indeed
to have realised aught by the mere good culture of a farm.' -(Ency.
of Agriculture, p. 719.) The opinion of Mr. Burke, who, in the esti-
mation of those most capable of judging, stood high both as a scientific
and practical farmer, is to the same effect. “In most parts of Eng-
land," says he, “which have fallen within my observation, I have
rarely known a farmer (I speak of those who occupy from 150 to 300
or 400 acres) who to his own trade has not added some other employ-
ment or traffic, that, after a course of the most unremitting parsimony
and labour (such for the most part is theirs), and persevering in his
business for a long course of years, died worth more than paid his
debts, leaving his posterity to continue in nearly the same equal con-
flict between industry and want, in which the last predecessor, and a
long line of predecessors before him, lived and died."— (Thoughts and
Details on Scarcity, p. 21.)
II. SCOTLAND.
Cultivated and Uncultivated Land.-Estimates are given in the
General Report of Scotland, (vol. i., pp. 37, 58, &c.,) of the extent
of the cultivated and uncultivated land, exclusive of lakes, in each
AGRICULTURE.
563
county. There may have been errors in these estimates when they
were drawn up; and there can be no doubt, that a great deal of waste
land has been brought into cultivation in the interval. But, such as
they are, they are the only estimates of the kind that have hitherto
been put forth, and, for most practical purposes, they may be regarded
as tolerably correct. We, therefore, have adopted them in the follow-
ing table and have added to it a column showing the extent of culti-
vated land in each county, supposing 1,000 to represent the total extent
of such land in Scotland. (See Table, next page.)
Distribution of Land. Quantity and Value of Agricultural
Produce. This is a subject as to which the real information at our
command is as limited in respect of Scotland as of the other divisions
of the empire. According to the statistical tables in the General
Report of Scotland, published in 1814, (III. Append., p. 5,) the
arable land is estimated at 5,043,450 English acres. Of these the
proportion in grass is estimated at 2,489,725, leaving 2,553,725 in
tillage, which is supposed to be distributed as follows:-
Wheat.
Barley.
Oats
Rye
Beans and Peas
Acres.
140,095
280,193
1,260,352
Potatoes
Turnips
Flax
500
118,000
Gardens
Fallow
Acres.
80,000
407,535
16,500
32,500
218,050
But a large extent of waste land, certainly not less than a million of
acres, has been brought under cultivation during the last 30 years; and
it is all but certain, also, from the greatly increased consumption of
wheaten bread in Scotland, and other circumstances, that the quantity
of land assigned to the growth of wheat has increased both absolutely
and relatively. In our view of the matter, the quantity and the dis-
tribution of the land in tillage may be estimated as follows :—
Wheat
Barley
•
Acres.
350,000
Clover
450,000
Flax
Oats
1,300,000
Gardens
Beans and Peas
50,000
Fallow
Potatoes
200,000
Turnips
450,000
Total
Acres.
450,000
5,000
35,000
100,000
•
3,390,000
Assuming this distribution to be correct, the quantity and value of
the crops will be as follows:-
Account of the Extent of Land in Scotland under the principal Descriptions of
Crops; the average Produce per Acre; the total Produce; the Amount of Seed;
the Produce under deduction of Seed; and the total Value of such Produce.
Crops.
Acres
in Crop.
Produce
per Acre.
Total
Produce.
Sced
(1-7th of
Produce).
Produce
under
Deduction
of Seed.
Price
per
Quarter.
Total Value.
Quarters.
Quarters.
Quarters.
Wheat
Barley
Oats.
Beans and Peas
350,000
34
1,225,000
•
•
450,000
4
•
1,300,000
5
1,800,000
6,500,000
50,000
Fallow
Potatoes
Turnips.
Clover
Flax.
Gardens.
•
100,000
200,000
450,000
450,000
5,000
35,000
$50,000
150,000
71. per Acre
151.
per Acre
15. per Acre
Tetals
3,390,000
9,675,000
8,292,858
t
175,000
257, 143
928,571
21,428
Quarters.
1,050,000 48s.
28s.
1,542,857
5,571,429 20.5.
128,572 30s.
5,571,429 0
20000
192,858 0 0
7,700,000 00
75,000 0 0
525,000 0
18,744,286 16 0
£.
2,520, ,000
3.
0
2,159,999 16
202
564
SCOTLAND.
Tuble of the Extent of Land (exclusive of Lakes) in the several Counties of Scotland,
in Imperial Statute Acres, and in Scotch Acres, distinguishing the Number of
Cultivated, and the Number of Uncultivated Acres in each, according to General
Report of Scotland; and showing the Proportion of Cultivated Land in each
County, assuming 1,000 to represent the total Extent of Cultivated Land in
Scotland.

Imperial Statute Acres.
Scotch Acres.
COUNTIES.
Cultivated.
Not
Cultivated.
Totals.
Cultivated.
Not
Cultivated.
Totals.
Mainland.
Proportion of
cultivated
Land in each
County,
assuming 1,000
to be the
Total culti-
vated Land in
Scotland.
Aberdeen
Argyle
Ayr
451,584
802,816
1,254,400
358,027
636,493
163,970
1,244,030
1,408,000
130,000
986,298
994,520
1,116,298
80.538,700
32.511,475
325,830
339,130
664,960
258,326
268,871
527, 197
64.604,586
Banff
123,840
288,960
412,800
98,183
229,095
327,278
24.554,620
Berwick
137,197
145,683
282,880
108,772
115,502
224,274
27-203,006
Caithness
92,333
347,347
439,680
73,204
275,386
348,520
18.307,503
Clackmannan
23,040
7,680
30,720
18,267
6,087
24,356
4.568,301
Cromarty
D
20,480
143,360
163,840
16,237
113,659
129,806
4.060,712
Dumbarton.
53,990
91,930
145,20
42,805
72,884
115,689
10.704,974
Dumfries
•
232,557
569,363
801,920 184,377
451,405
€35,782
46.110,658
Edinburgh.
144,999
81,561
226,560
114,959
64,664
179,623
28.749,963
Elgin
121,088
181,632
302,720
96,002
144,002
240,004
24.008,962
Fife
209,216
89,664
•
298,880
165,872
71,083
236,960
Forfar (Angus)
41.482,715
369,408
198,912
568,320
292,876
157,702
450,578
73*245,100
Haddington
139,264
34,816
174,080
110,412
27,603
139,015
27 612,844
Lanark .
Inverness
Kincardine
Kinross
Kirkcudbright
Linlithgow.
148,685
1,709,875
1,858,560
117,881
1,355,632
1,473,513
29.480,812
92,416
150,784
243,200
73,270
119,545
192,815
18.323,965
27,648
18,432
46,000
21,920
14,613
36,533
5.481,962
168,243
357,517
525,760
133,387
283,448
416,835
33-358,713
271,296
331,584
602,880
215,090
262,888
477,978
53.791,750
57,600
19,200
76,800
45,667
15,222
60,889
11.420,754
Naim
37,440
87,360
124,800
29,683
69,261
98,944
7.423,450
Peebles
•
24,500
179,660
204,160
19,424
142,439
161,863
4.857,786
Perth
530,022
1,126,298
1,656,320
420,215
892,957
1,313,172
Renfrew
72,000
Ross.
120,378
72,000
1,203,782
144,000
57,083
57,083
114,166
1,324,160
95,439
954,388 1,049,827
Roxburgh.
205,920
251,680
457,600
163,258
199,539
362,797
105 091,158
14-275,942
40.829,
194
23.868, 185
Selkirk
10,100
158,220
168,320
8,008
125,
440
133,448
2.002,597
Stirling
•
195,600
117,360
312,960
155,076
93,046
248,122
88.782,976
Sutherland
•
Wigtown
•
Total of Mainland
68,045
101,136
4,734,825
1,059,515
187,824
11,5 7,975
1,122,560
49,984
840,009
889,993
12.500,372
288,960
80,183.
16,332,800
3,753,887
148,912
9,195,163
829,095
20.052,940

12,949,050
938*806,769
Islands :
Bute and its Isles
•
29,440
73,600
103,040
23,341
58,352
Inverness Isles
Orkney Isles
Hebrides, viz. :—
Argyle Isles.
Ross and Cromarty
107,020
487,540
594,560
84,848
386,534
81,693
471,382
5.837,274
21.219,602
•
95,680
640,320
736,000
75,857
507,662
583,519
18*971,141
30,117
328,283
358,400
23,877
260,271
284,148
5.971,508
•
24,480
247,520
272,000
19,409
196,242
215,651
4.853,820
Shetland Isles
21,888
525,312
547,200
17,353
416,485
433,838
4.339,886
Totals
5,043,450
13,000,550 18,944,000 3,998,572
11,020,709 15,019,281 1,000·000,000
Taking the extent of pasture land and wood land in Scotland, exclu-
sive of heaths, wastes, &c., at 2,500,000 acres, and estimating its pro-
duce to be worth, at an average, 31. per acre, its total value will be
7,500,000l.; but to this has to be added the value of about 13,000,000
acres of mountain pastures, heaths, and waste land, which has been
estimated, apparently with great moderation, at about 1,500,000l.
Hence the total annual value of the land produce of Scotland will be-
Value of Crops and Gardens
Value of Pasture and Wood Land
Value of Uncultivated Land and Waste
•
£.
18,744,286
•
7,500,000
1,500,000
*
Total
27,744,286
Rental of Scotland. We have found it more difficult to obtain
accurate information as to the former rental of Scotland than of
England. Mr. Wood could only supply us with an account of its
AGRICULTURE.
565
aggregate_rental from the Property Tax Returns. There is in the
General Report of Scotland (vol. i. p. 123) an account of the rental
of each county, exclusive of houses, but inclusive of mines, fisheries,
quarries, &c., for 1810, deduced from these returns. Unluckily, how-
ever, this table contains some very gross errors: * these we have en-
deavoured to correct; and the rental for 1810-11 in the following table
differs very little in the result from the correct return, and is, we
believe, nearly accurate. (See Table, next page.)
It appears from this table, and that on page 567, that the rental
of Scotland has not increased since the peace, nearly so fast as that
of England. Various opinions have been entertained with respect
to the causes of this discrepancy, which is not very easily accounted
for. A good many commons and wastes have been enclosed and taken
into cultivation in England during the last thirty years; but though
comparatively few have been enclosed during the same period in Scot-
land, cultivation has there also been considerably extended. Perhaps
it may be safely assumed that the greater part of the different progress
of rent in the two countries may be ascribed to the fact, that the system
of farming having been more improved in 1814, in Scotland, than in
England, the former had less progress to make; and that the rent of
land in Scotland was then, also, more nearly proportioned to its value,
than it has since become in England. It should further be borne
in mind, that a much larger proportion of most Scottish counties
consists of mountain and unimprovable land than of English counties;
and that consequently the field for improvement is comparatively
limited. It must not, however, be supposed, because there has been
little rise of rent in Scotland since 1815, that improvements have been
at a stand. On the contrary, they have been prosecuted with equal
skill, vigour, and success in most parts of the country.
In 1815 the total rental of Scotland, exclusive of houses, amounted
to 5,278,6851., being 307,8431. less than in 1842-3.
It is difficult to decide as to the share of the entire rental to be set
apart as the rent of the 13,000,000 of uncultivated acres ; but there are
good grounds for thinking that it does not exceed 1,000,000l., leaving
4,586,5281. as the nett rental of the arable portion, being at the rate of
about 15s. 6d. an acre. Though there are considerable exceptions,
there can be no doubt that, speaking generally, the arable land of
England is superior in respect of quality to that of Scotland; but,
in consequence of the greater skill and economy of the farmers in the
latter, and of the advantage they enjoy in the possession of leases, and
the absence of tithes and poor rates, they are able to pay higher rents
for lands of equal fertility. The rent of corn land in Scotland varies
from 7s. to 31. an acre, and occasionally even amounts to 5l. and 61.
The best pasture land rarely fetches more than 31. per acre; and that
which is of a medium quality may vary from 14s. to 25s.
Rise of Rent in Scotland.-Down to 1815, rent increased more
rapidly in Scotland than in England. This was ascribable partly to the
*In the table in question, the gross rental of the stewartry of Kirkcudbright, in
1810. is stated to have been 22,7521., whereas it really amounted to 192,0471.! The
gross rental of Kinross-shire is, in the same table, set down at 83,488l., being above
60,000l. too much! These blunders have been copied into some dozen publications.
566
SCOTLAND.
Table showing the Extent in Statute Acres of the different Counties of Scotland, exclusive
of Lakes; the Total Rental of the Land (including Mines, Fisheries, &c.*), according
to the Returns under the Property Tax Act, for the Year ending 5th of April, 1811;
with the Annual Rent per Acre of the Land, &c. in each County; and the Gross
Valued Pent of each County.

COUNTIES.
Statute Acres.
Ascertained
Rental for
1810-11.
Rent per
Acre in
1810-11.
Aberdeen
·
Argyle and Isles
Ayr
•
1,260,625
2,058,126
650,156
Banff
Berwick
Bute
Caithness
439,219
309,375
109,375
£. £. s. d.
233,827 0 3 8
192,074 0 1 102
336,472 0 10 4
79,396 0 3 71
231,973 0 14 113
18,591 0 3 43
Valued Rent in Scotch
Money.†
7
£ s. d.
235,665 8 11
149,595 10 0
191,605 0
79,200 0 0
178,366 8 62
15,042 13 10
•
455,708
30,926 0 1 44
37,256 2 10
Clackmannan.
Dumbarton
Dumfries
Edinburgh
29,744
32,048 1 1
63
26,482 10 10
•
174,532
56,973
•
722,813
246,002
254,300
277,828
Elgin
•
340,000
62,312
0210
6
6
33,327 19 0
6
9/2
1 10
3 78
Fife
322,031 335,291 1 0
Forfar (Angus)
568,750
260,197 09
792
932
Haddington
185,937
Inverness and Isles
2,668,658
Kincardine
252,250
Kinross
45,531
Kirkcudbright
610,735
Lanark
631,719
Linlithgow
64,375
Nairn.
137,500
Orkney and Shetland
591,726
16,236 0 0
Peebles
226,488
Perth
1,788,438
Renfrew
Ross and Cromarty
•
150,000
1,993,875
Roxburgh.
Selkirk
Stirling
Sutherland
Wigtown
•
460,938
170,313
Total
1,207,188
326,736
19,500,348 4,851,404
286, 188
180,654 0 19
145,844 0 1 1
159,896 0 12 8
22,753 0 9 112
192,047 0 6 31
298,019 0 9 5
82,947 1 5 9
11,726 0 1
57,382 0 5 01
460,739 0 5 1
127,069 0 16 111
101,950 0 1
230,663 0 10 0
39,776 0 4 8
177,499 0 12 43
28,457 0 0 5/1/
123,837 0 7
314,663 6 4
5
158,502 10 Q
191,054 2 9
65,603 0 0 5
363,192 3 72/2
171,239 16
168,873 10
73,188 9 0
74,921 1 4
20,250 4 33
114,537 2 3389790
8
8
162,131 14 6
75,018 10 6
15,162 10 11
57,786 0 447
51,937 13 10
339,892 6 9
100
69,172 1 0
87,940 12 10
80,307 15 6
108,509 3 312
26,093 9 9
67,641 17 0
3,804,221 0 0
The Average Rent per Statute Acre in Scotland,
in 1810, on the data here given, was .
0 4 11/1/
* These only amounted to about 140,000l., and have, therefore, no sensible effect on the
averages.
+ By valued rent is meant the rental as ascertained by valuations made previously to 1667, or by
the Commissioners appointed to carry the Act of that year into execution. The Land Tax, and most
other public burthens falling on the land, have ever since been assessed according to the valued
rent. (See Erskine's Principles of the Law of Scotland, p. 170, ed. 1827.)
extremely backward and depressed state of Scotch agriculture till after
the peace of Paris in 1763, and partly to the extraordinary advance it
made after the close of the American war. The entire rental of the
kingdom is not supposed to have exceeded 1,000,000l., or 1,200,000l.,
in 1770. In 1795 it is believed to have rather exceeded 2,000,0007. ;
AGRICULTURE.
567
and between that epoch and 1815, it increased two and a-half millions
more! So rapid an increase of rent is probably unmatched in any
old settled country, and indicates an astonishing degree of improve-
ment.
Account showing the Area of the different Counties of Scotland, the Rent per Acre of
each in 1842-43, and Gross Rental and Rent per Acre of each in 1851-52, as dëter-
mined by the Assessments under the Property and Income Tax Acts; showing the
Increase or Diminution of the Rent per Acre in 1851-52, as compared with that for
1842-43.

COUNTIES.
Imperial
Acres.
Rent per
Acre in
1810-11.
Gross
Rental in
1842-43.
Rent per
Acre in
1842-43.
Gross
Rental in
1851-52.
Rent per
Acre in
1851-52.
Aberdeen.
Argyle.
•
Ayr.
£. s. d.
1,260,625 0 3 84
2,058,126 0 1 104
659,156 0 10 4
£.
£. S. d.
423,389 0 6 81
232,441 0 2 3
390,278
0 12
0
£. £. s. d.
444,867 0 7 0
232,508 0 2 3
391,119 0 12 04
Inc. or Dec.
of Rent per Acre
in 1851-52, as
compared with
1810-11.
£. s. d.
Inc.
3 4
""
0 44
1 8
"
Banff
Berwick
Bute.
439,219 0 3 74
309,375 0 14 113
109,375 0 3 44
110,608
0 5
237,042 0 15 3
20,597 0 3 9
04
114,473 0 5 24
205,946 0 15 10
22,640 0 4 10
1 7
""
1 11
""
1 54
Caithness
Clackmannan
455,708 0 1 41
29,744 1 1 6+
57,982 0 2 61
35,240 1 3 8
60,539
26,106
0 2 73
1 3
0 17 6 Dec.
4 0
Dumbarton.
Dumfries.
174,532 0 6 62
722,813 0 6 91
72,041 0 8 3
266,547 0 7 7 41
69,097
0 7 11
""
1 43
275,372
0 7 7+ Inc.
0 10
Edinburgh
Elgin
254,399 1 1 10
340,000 0 3 74
239,189
84,082
0 18 9
0 4 114
233,322
99,886
0 18 4 Dec.
3
3 6
0 5 9 Inc.
2 2
Fife
Forfar (Angus)
322,031 1 0 91
568,750 0 9 2
381,672 1 3
3 81
312,201 0 10 11
368,799
277,607
1 2 103
2
1
0 9 8
་་
0 6
Haddington.
•
185,937
0 19 5
221,714
1
3 10
176,304
0 18 11 Dec.
0 5
Inverness
2,668,658
0 1 1
161,499
0 1 2 159,545
0 1 2 Inc.
21
0 14
Kincardine
•
•
252,259
0 12 8
Kinross.
45,431 0 9 11
Kirkcudbright.
610,734 0 6 34
128,469
38,892
182,926
0 10 2
0 17 1
0 5 11
123,200 0 9 9
41,407 0 18 2
190,330 0 6 2
Dec.
2 11
Inc.
8 24+
Dec.
0 04
Lanark..
Linlithgow
•
Nairn
Orkney and Shetland.
631,719 0 9 5
64,135 1 5 9
137,500
598,726 0 0 6
341,122
82,842
0 10 9
1 5 84
324,208
76,297
0 10 3
1
Inc.
0 10
3 81 Dec.
2 04
0 1 81
15,202
0 2 24
38,888
Q
1 3
17,306
36,643 0 1 21
0 2 6
Inc.
0 92
0 8
"
Peebles.
Perth..
•
•
•
226,488 0 5 0
1,788,438
0 5 14
67,675 0 5 11
551,078 0 6 2
68,416 0 6 01
512,077
0 5 8
"
0 114
39
0 61
Renfrew
•
150,000
Ross and Cromarty
Roxburgh.
•
1,993,875
460,038
0 16 11
152,924 1 0 4
0 1 01 120,824 0 1 24
235,041
0 10 0
0 10 2
133,043 0 17 8
133,446 0 1
0 10 5
241,511
083
99
4
0 34
""
0 54
"
Selkirk.
Stirling.
•
Sutherland
•
Wigtown..
170,313 0 4 8
236,188 0 12 4
1,207,188 0 0 5
326,736 0 7 6
38,714 0 4 6
181,147 0 12 7
33,689 0 0 6
124,807 0 7 7 133,995 08 2
37,228 0 4 4
180.189 0 12 7
36,108 0 0 7
Dec.
0 34
Inc.
0 21
0 11
""
0 74
Totals.
•
19,500,348
5,586,528
5,487,585
Average Rent, per
Imperial Acre, in
Scotland
0 4 11
0 5 8
0 5 7 Inc.
0 8
• •
•
Distribution of Rent in Scotland.-Landed property in Scotland is
less divided than in England; and owing to the system of strict entail,
568
IRELAND.
now so general in that part of the empire, it is daily accumulating in
larger masses. The total number of proprietors in Scotland has been
estimated at about 7,800, of whom more than 6,000 are the owners of
properties worth 6007. a year and under.—( General Report of Scotland,
vol. iii. Appendix, p. 4.)
Owing to the greater economy with which most sorts of farm labour,
particularly ploughing, is performed in Scotland, the capital on Scotch
farms is, we believe, a good deal less than on English farms of the
same value. We should not be inclined to reckon it at more than
35,000,000l. on the 5,500,000 arable acres in Scotland. The profits
of the farmers may be reckoned at 4,000,000l.
Number of Farmers and Size of Farms.-We have already given
some details with respect to these points (antè, p. 456), in so far as
respects England. In Scotland the proportion of land occupied by
tenants, is a good deal larger than in England; so much so, that we
should not be disposed to estimate the entire annual value of the lands
of that kingdom occupied by owners at more than 300,000l. a year.
If this supposition be well founded, there will remain land worth
5,200,000l. a year occupied by tenants; the number of which, ac-
cording to the census of 1841, being 54,873, it follows that each pays,
at an average, about 951. a year.
III. IRELAND.
Cultivated and Uncultivated Land-Rent, &c.—Until recently
there were no means of forming any tolerably accurate estimates in
regard to any of these points. The property tax did not extend to
Ireland; and all that we had to trust to in determining its rental were
estimates deduced from the rental of particular estates, or from valua-
tions made for the assessment of the local burdens, and for the adjust-
ment of the composition on account of tithe. The first, unless made
with unusual care, is rarely much to be depended on, and leads almost
always to exaggerated conclusions. In 1727, Mr. Brown computed the
gross rental of Ireland, inclusive of quit rents, tithes, &c., at
2,824,000l.; and in 1778, Mr. Young estimated it at 6,000,000%.—
(Newenham's View of Ireland, p. 232.) Mr. Wakefield, from mi-
nutes collected in his tour, estimated the average rental of Ireland at
27s. the Irish acre, or at 16s 64d. the imperial acre (vol. i., p. 305.) ;
and, notwithstanding the imperfect data on which it was founded, this
estimate, though rather in excess, came pretty near the mark.
In 1832, an elaborate estimate by Mr. Griffith, was published in
the Second Report of the Lords' Committee on Tithe, which made the
average rental of Ireland 12s. 5½d. an acre. But the area assigned to
the different counties, and to the kingdom in general, from which Mr.
Griffith deduced the rent, included the lakes extending over 630,825
acres (see antè), which should certainly have been excluded; and the
estimated rental was also believed to have been rather below the fair
letting value of the land at the time.
Since that epoch, two valuations have been undertaken, one by Mr.
Griffith under the Act 6 and 7 Will. IV., c. 84, and one by the autho-
rities under the New Poor Law. The former, however, has only been
completed in 20 counties; and having been made under certain assump
AGRICULTURE.
569
tions, it is admitted by Mr. Griffith himself, to be generally about a third
part, or 331 per cent., under what the lands would let for. The valua-
tion for the Poor Law assessment has been completed; but it is about
20 per cent. below the real value of the land; it also includes the
value of houses, while as the unions by which the valuations are made
frequently run into different counties, it is not easy to discriminate the
exact valuation, or gross rental of the latter.
Under these circumstances there is no possibility of making an exact
estimate of the rental of the different counties of Ireland; though
we incline to think that that which follows is sufficiently accurate
for all ordinary purposes. In compiling it, we have taken Mr.
Griffith's new valuations, as far as they have been completed, increas-
ing them by a third, to make them equivalent to the true present (1846)
value of the land. For the counties not yet valued by Mr. Griffith,
we have taken (with the exception of Dublin and Cork), the valuations
under the New Poor Law, adding to them one-fifth part for deficiencies.
In the case of Dublin and Cork, we have adopted Mr. Griffith's old
valuations, which we have been assured are nearly accurate, though,
perhaps, a little too low.
There are a great many statements in regard to the rent of land in
Ireland, in the Reports of the Land Occupation Commission. But it
is difficult to draw from them any general conclusions. They are
more often guesses, or estimates, than anything else; they uniformly
refer to particular farms, estates, or districts; and it is sometimes impos-
sible to say whether they apply to the Irish or to the imperial acre.
One thing, only, they make clear, viz., that rent is, all things con-
sidered, excessively high.
Table of the Extent of the several Counties and Provinces of Ireland, exclusive of
Lakes, distinguishing the Cultivated Land from the Unimproved Mountain and
Bog; showing also the Proportion of Cultivated Land in each County, assuming
1,000 to represent the Total Extent of Cultivated Land in Ireland; with the esti-
mated Gross Rental of the Land in the several Counties and Provinces, and the
Average Rent per Statute Acre.
Provinces
and
Counties.
Cultivated
Acres,
including
Towns
and
Plantations.
Unimproved
Mountain
and Bog.
Total
Extent of
Acres,
exclusive
of
Lakes.
Proportion
of
Cultivated
Acres,
assuming
1,000 as
the whole
Cultivated
Land of
Ireland.
Gross
Annual
Value
of Land.
Average
Rent
per Acre.
Leinster.
Acres.
Acres.
Acres.
Acres.
Carlow
❤
189,588
31,249
220,837
13.657
Dublin.
207, 102
19,312
226,414
14.919
£.
222,319
250,201
£. s. d.
1 0 14
1 2 1
Kildare.
365,565
51,854
417,419
26.334
387,401
0 18 7
Kilkenny
485,550
21,126
506,676 34.978
393,280
0 15 6
King's
346,416
145,836
492,252
24.955
354,131
0 14 5
Longford
196,797
58,937
255,734
Louth
185,490
15,603
201,093
Meath
560,622
16,033
Queen's
355,169
69,289
Westmeath
374,649
56,392
Wexford
527,419
45,501
Wicklow
298,334
200,754
4,092,701
731,886
14.177
13.362
576,655 40.386
424,458 25.585
431,041 26.989
572,920 37.994
499,088 21.491
4,824,587
201,061
0 15 8
280,650 1 7 11
703,458
202,500
387,597
531,916
310,305
294.827 4,224,819
1 14 5
0 11 11
0 18 0
0 18 7
0 12 5
Average rent per
statute acre in
0 17 6
·
Leinster.
570
IRELAND.
Table of the Extent of the several Counties and Provinces, &c.—continued.
Provinces
and
Counties.
Cultivated
Acres,
including
Total
Extent of
Proportion
of
Cultivated
Gross
Unimproved
Mountain
Towns
and
Plantations.
Acres,
exclusive
and Bog.
of
Lakes.
Acres,
assuming
1,000 as
the whole
Cultivated
Land of
Ireland,
Annual
Value
of Land.
Average
Rent
per Acre.

Munster.
Clare
Cork
•
Acres.
464,041
1,367,577 465,889
Acres.
Acres.
Acres.
£.
£. s. d.
296,033
760,074
33.428
351,582 0 9 3
1,833,466
98.517
1,203,936
0 13 1
Kerry
426,590
726,775
1,153,365
30.731
Limerick
•
541,210
121,101
662,311
38.987
421,759 0 721
777,386 1 3 51
Tipperary
870,025
178,183
1,048,208
62.674
1,041,214
0 19 101
Waterford
350,278
105,496
455,774
25.233
346,949
0 15 2

4,019,721
1,893,477
5,913,198
289.570
4,142,826
Average rent per
statute acre in
Munster.
Ulster.
0 14 0
Antrim.
Armagh
Cavan
•
528,166 180,423
708,589
38.048
275,017
35,117
310,134
19.812
383,300
71,918
455,218
27.611
650,509
322,673 1 0 94
334,699 0 14 8
0 18 4
Donegal
400,749
769,587
1,170,336
28.869
300,065 0 5 14
Down
530,746
78,317
609,063
38.233
607,619
0 19 11
Fermanagh
295,593
114,847
410,440
21.294
228,195
0 11 1
Londonderry
•
327,559
180,709
508,268
23.596
293,907
0 11 64
Monaghan.
•
292,005
21,585
313,590
21.035
271,147 0 17 3
Tyrone.
462,977
311,867
774,844
33.352
370,075
0 9 6
3,496,112
1,764,370
5,260,482
251.850
3,378,889
Average rent per
statute acre in
Ulster
Connaught.
0 12 10
Galway.
Leitrim
Mayo
•
Roscommon
Sligo
768,324 708,000
252,746 115,869
506,795 800,111
448,022 130,299
297,290 151,723
1,476,324
55.348
614,208 0 8 34
368,615
1,306,906
578,321 32.274
449,013 21.416
18.207
36.508
161,338 0 8 9
400,412 0 6 11
385,818
254,336
0 13 4
0 11
4

2,273,177 1,906,002 4,179,179 163.753
1,816,112
Average rent per
statute acre in
Connaught.
Grand Total
Average rent per
statute acre in
the whole King-
dom.
0881
•
13,881,711 6,295,735 20,177,446 1,000.000
13,562,646
0 13 5
ABSTRACT.
Leinster
4,092,701
Munster
Ulster
Connaught.
731,886
4,019,721 1,893,477
3,496,112 1,764,370
2,273,177 1,906,002
13,881,711 6,295,735
4,824,587 294.827
5,913,198 289.570
5,260,482 251.850
4,179,179 163.753
20,177,446 1,000.000
4,224,819
4,142,826
3,378,889
1,816,112
0 17 6
0 14 0
0 12 10
0 8 8 81
13,562,646
0 13 5
The annual rent of the unimproved mountains, bogs, and plantations,
has been variously estimated at from 500,000l. to 600,000l. If we
suppose the latter to be the more correct sum, it will leave for the
gross rental of the cultivated land of Ireland, amounting, under deduc-
AGRICULTURE.
571
tion of the area occupied by towns and plantations (417,411 acres),
to 13,464,300 acres, a sum of 12,962,6467., equivalent to a rental of
19s. 3d. an acre.
It has been said, that this is by no means a high rent, and that it
goes far to weaken the credit to be attached to the statements respecting
the excessive competition for land in Ireland: such, however, is not
the case. Considering the wretchedly defective system of agriculture
that prevails in Ireland, and the fact that the land has to support more
than three times the number of individuals that can be advantageously
employed upon it, 19s. 3d. per statute acre is a very high rent. This,
however, is not the only payment in the shape of rent that has to be
made by the occupiers. We have already seen, that what is called the
"Tenants' right" exists in most parts of Ireland; and that it is a very
heavy burden on entrants to farms.-(See antè, p. 520.)
Distribution of Land.- Quantity and Value of Agricultural Pro-
duce.-There are no means by which to form any accurate estimate of
the extent of land under different crops in Ireland. But, after much
inquiry and consideration, we are disposed to believe that the following
estimates may be regarded as nearly correct.
Account of the Extent of Land in Ireland under the principal Descriptions of
Crops; the average Rate of Produce per Acre; the Total Produce; the Amount
of Seed; the Produce under deduction of Seed; and the Total Value of such
Produce.

Crops.
Acres
in Crop.
Produce
per Acre.
Total
Froduce.
Seed
(1-6th of
Produce.)
Produce
under
Deduction
of Seed.
Price
per
Quarter.
Total Value.
·
Wheat
Barley.
Oats
Potatoes
•
Fallow
·
Flax
Gardens
Totals
5,765,000
450,000
400,000
2,500,000
2,600,000
300,000
100,000
15,000
34
5
per acre.
151. per acre.
Quarters.
3
Quarters.
Quarters.
Quarters.
1,350,000
225,000
1,125,000
46s.
1,4.0,000
12,500,000
233,333
2,083,333
1,166,667
265.
£.
s. d.
2,587,500 0 0
1,516,667 2 0
10,416,667
20s.
61.
•
•
10,416,667 0 0
12,000,000 00
1,500,000 o
121. per acre.
·
0 0
180,000 0 0
:
15,250,000
12,708,334
28,200,834 20
Now, supposing this estimate to be nearly correct, there will remain
about 7,600,000 acres of pasture land, exclusive of unimproved bog
and mountain, and exclusive also of plantations. The annual produce
of this pasture land may, perhaps, be taken at about 50s. an acre,
making a gross sum of 19,000,000l.; and to this may be added the
further sum of 1,000,000l. for the annual produce of waste land and
woodland. Hence, on this hypothesis, the total annual value of the
land produce of Ireland will be-
Value of Crops and Gardens
of Pasture Land
£.
28,200,834
19,000,000
of Uncultivated Land, &c.
1,000,000
48,200,834
Total annual Value
Deductions from the Rent.-Landed property in Ireland is placed
under what would be considered in England very advantageous circum-
There is no land tax, and till lately, there was no poor's rate
to pay the landlord, as has been seen, rarely lays out a sixpence on
stances.
572
IRELAND.
farm buildings or repairs: even the agent, instead of receiving a salary,
is frequently allowed to indemnify himself by extorting fees from the
tenants; so that the rent-roll, and the free income, have been nearly
identical. But, with the exception of the relief from the land-tax, it
may well be doubted whether these apparent advantages should not be
considered very serious disadvantages. The poor's rate that has re-
cently been established, will contribute to stop the vagrancy that is so
prevalent in Ireland; and it will be beneficial to the landlords, by
obliging them, from a regard to their own interest, to take effectual
measures for preventing the subdivision of the land, and the increase
of cottages. The want of proper farm buildings is, in the end, quite
as injurious to the owner of an estate as to the occupiers; and nothing
can be imagined so hostile to the interests of all parties, as the pay-
ment of agents by fees collected from the tenants: it opens a wide door
for oppression and jobbing of all sorts, and puts an end to that confi-
dence which should always exist between the tenants and the agent,
and the latter and the landlord.
The Price of Land depends on the condition of the district in
which it is situated. In some places it is hardly possible, except at the
most imminent risk of personal danger, to eject a tenant from an
estate, or to consolidate the small patches into which it may be divided.
In such cases, land fetches, of course, a comparatively small price,
perhaps not more than 17 or 18 years' purchase; but where good order
prevails, and the law is respected, land fetches 28 or 30 years' purchase.
Undoubtedly, however, a feeling of insecurity attaches to all invest-
ments in Ireland; and this circumstance contributes to keep down
the price of land in it, and hinders English capitalists from making
loans on the usual terms on most Irish estates. Were the security of
property and the empire of the law as well established in Ireland as in
Britain, land would certainly sell higher in the former than in the
latter. Most Irish estates are, comparatively, in a state of nature; and
afford capacities for the profitable outlay of capital that are all but
unknown in England.
Importation of Corn from Ireland into Great Britain. This is
exhibited in the following table.
Account of the Quantities of Grain, including Flour and Meal, of the Growth of
Ireland, Imported into Great Britain from Ireland in different Years, from 1800
to 1845 inclusive, stated in quarters.

Years.
Wheat
and
Wheat
Flour.
Barley,
including Oats and
Bear or
Bigg.
Oatmeal.
Rye.
Peas.
Beans.
Malt.
Total.
Quarters.
Quarters.
1800
749
78
1801
150
1802
108,751
1805
84,087
7,116
15,656
Quarters.
2,411
375
341,151
Quarters. Quarters. Quarters. Quarters.
Quarters.
3,238
525
282
113
ii3
1,655
2,303
461,371
203,302
235
1,634
2,010
306,924
1806
102,276
3,237 357,077
330
1,389
2,361
466,760
1807
1808 43,497
1810 126,388
44,900
23,048
389,649
431
1,390
3,777
463, 195
30,586
579,974
573
75
2,065
656,770
8,321
492,741
20
216
3,541
631,227
1812 158,352
43, 138
390,629
178
51
5,008
597,356
1813 217,154
63,560
691,498
420
mmy
4,455
977,164
1814 225,478
16,779
564,010
4
460
5,731
812,462
1815 189,544 27,108
597,537
207
425
6,371
821,192
!
AGRICULTURE.
573
Account of the Quantities of Grain, &c.-continued.
Wheat
Barley,
Years.
and
Wheat
Flour.
including
Bear or
Oats and
Oatmeal.
Rye.
Peas.
Beans.
Malt.
Total.
Bigg.
Quarters.
Quarters.
Quarters.
Quarters.
Quarters.
Quarters.
Quarters.
Quarters.
1816
121,631
62,254
683,714
43
239
5,984
873,865
1817
55,481
26,766
611,117
12
2,275
695,651
1818
105,179
25,387
1,069,385
4
10
4,768
1,204,733
1819
153,850
20,311
789,613
2
3,904
967,680
1820
403,407
87,095
916,251
134
439
8,396
1,415,722
1821
569,700
82,884
1,162,249
550
2,474
4,959
1,822,816
1822
463,004
22,532
569,237
353
728
7,235
1,063,089
1823
400,068
19,274
1,102,487
198
586
5,540
1,528,153
1824 356,384
44,699
1,225,085
112
756
5,791
1,173
1,634,000
1825 396,018
1826
314,851
1827 405,255
1828 652,584
154,256 1,629,856
64,885 1,303,704
67,791 1,343,267
220
1,431
11,355
10,826
2,203,962
77
1,452
7,190
1,203
1,693,392
256
1,282
10,037
572
1,828,460
1829
519,017
84,204 2,075,631
97,140 1,673,628
1,424
4,826
7,068
853
2,826,590
568
4,435
10,445
2,011
2,307,244
1830
529,717 189,745 1,471,252
414
2,520
19,053
2,820
2,215,521
1831
1832
1833
557,498
790,293 123,639 2,051,867
844,211
185,409 1,655,701
515
4,142
15,029
10,888
2,429,182
294
1,915
14,530
8,229
2,990,767
101,767 1,762,520
166
2,646
19,114
7,017
2,737,441
1834 779,505
217,885 1,769,503
983
2,176
18,771
3,865
2,792,658
1835661,776
156,242 1,822,767
614
3,417
24,235
10,357
2,679,438
1836 598,757
184,156 2,132,138
483
2,920
17,604
22,214
2,958,272
1837
534,465
1838
542,583
1839
258,331
1840 174,439
1841
218,708
1842 201,998
187,473 2,274,675
156,467 2,742,807
61,676 1,904,933
95,954 2,037,835
75,568 2,539,380
1,016
60
25,630
4,174
3,030,293
628
5,232
21,
,584
5,001
3,474,302
2,331
1,484
11,535
2,861
2,243,151
122
1,403
14,573
3,456
2,327,782
172
855
15,907
4,935
2,855,525
50,297
2,261,435
76
1,555
19,831
3,046
2,538,234
1843
413,466
110,449
2,648,032
371
1.192
24,329
8,643 3,206,482
1844 440,152
90,656
2,242,308
264
1,091
18,580
8,153 2,801,204
1845 779,113
93,095 2,353,985
165
1.644
12,745
11,154
3,251,901
Agricultural Produce of United Kingdom.
It may now be convenient to bring into a single point of view the
results of the previous statements, with respect to the annual value of
the agricultural produce of the United Kingdom.
England:-
Crops and gardens
Grass and woodland
Scotland :-
Crops and gardens
•
Grass and woodland
•
Ireland :-
Crops and gardens
Grass and woodland
£.
£.
•
79,992,857
•
61,614,000
141,606,857
18,744,286
9,000,000
27,744,286
28,200,834
20,000,000
48,200,834
217,551,977
United Kingdom.
SECT. 10.- Slow Progress of Agricultural Improvements.- Notices
of the Progress, Present State, and Prospects of English and
Scotch Agriculture.
1. Slow Progress of Agricultural Improvement-Circumstances
which retard it.-Considering the wonderful facilities of communica-
tion that exist in Great Britain, and the universal diffusion of inform-
ation by means of the press, the slowness with which agricultural
improvements make their way is not a little surprising. Mr. Harte
574
ENGLAND AND WALES.
mentions that, when he was a youth, he heard Jethro Tull declare
that though he had introduced turnips into the field in King William's
reign, with little trouble or expense, and great success, the practice
did not travel beyond the hedges of his own estate till after the Peace
of Utrecht.-(Essays, ii. p. 223.) It might, one should think, be
reasonably enough supposed that improved practices would now be
much more rapidly diffused; but experience shows that this is not
really the case. "What is well known and systematically practised in
one country, is frequently unknown, or utterly disregarded, in the ad-
jacent districts; and what is to every unprejudiced observer evidently
erroneous and injurious to the land, is, in some quarters, persisted in
most pertinaciously, though a journey of not many miles would open
to the view the beneficial effects of a contrary practice.'
In a large
portion of England there is no regular alternation of corn and green
crops, and in many counties the drill husbandry has hardly obtained
any firm footing. When speaking of the state of agriculture in
Worcestershire, Messrs. Kennedy and Grainger observe, "The mode
of farming in this county is generally in itself a very bad one, and is
carelessly and negligently conducted. There being no restriction as
to rotation or manner of cropping, there is no regular system, but the
plan usually adopted is, to sow the land that requires the least work,
and barley and oat stubbles are frequently dunged over after harvest,
and sown with wheat; a system of farming which certainly does not
require much labour, but it is a ruinous one to the land. No pains
whatever are taken to relieve the ground from water, nor is a water-
furrow to be seen scarcely in any part of the county. The ploughing
is, in general, very indifferently performed, and the appearance of the
land is sufficient to convince any one that neither master nor man have
here any system to act upon."-(Vol. i. p. 358.) The agriculture of
Somerset, Oxford, Sussex, Middlesex, Surrey, Berks, and several other
counties, though more advanced, is still far behind. In Wales, agri-
culture is more backward than in the most unimproved of the English
counties. In Anglesea, a few years ago, it was not uncommon to take
five corn crops in succession; and throughout the principality the
arable land is, with few exceptions, wretchedly managed. In fact it
"does not produce half what it is capable of doing under proper
management."(Kennedy and Grainger, vol. i. p. 169.)†
Notwithstanding, too, that the best cultivated lands in Northumber-
land, Norfolk, Lincoln, and the Lothians are all ploughed by 2 horses,
nothing is more common, as already stated, than to see in the vicinity
of the metropolis, and throughout most parts of the south and west of
England, 3, 4, and, still more frequently, 5 horses yoked in a line to a
plough, even where the soil is light and sandy! And as a driver is
always necessary when there are more than 2 horses, at least double
the labour is expended on ploughing where this barbarous practice is
followed that is required where it is abandoned.
It is very difficult to account for this rooted disinclination to leave
established practices, even after experience has clearly demonstrated
the superiority of others. There is no ground for ascribing it to the
* Kennedy and Grainger on the Tenancy of Land, vol. i., Introd. p. 8.
† See antè, p. 216.
AGRICULTURE.
575
influence of tithes, poor rates, or other public burdens; for these press
as heavily in Norfolk, Northumberland, Suffolk, and Hampshire, as in
Worcestershire, Somerset, or Sussex. The truth is, that there is a
much greater aversion to precipitate changes, and a more resolute
adherence to whatever has been long practised, among farmers, than
amongst any other class of persons. "Improvements, which effect
material changes in established customs, have, under all circumstances
and in all countries, ever been slowly and reluctantly admitted. It
requires no little effort to quit the common routine of practice, and
still more to relinquish long maintained opinions. The general cir-
cumstances affecting agriculture are, moreover, little favourable to
great and, more especially, sudden alterations. The farmer is not so
much within reach of information as the merchant and manufacturer;
he has not, like those who reside in towns, the means of ready inter-
course, and constant communication, with others engaged in the same
occupation. He lives retired; his acquaintance is limited, and but
little valued; and, unless in the habit of reading, he is little likely to
acquire any other knowledge of his art than what is traditionary, what
is transmitted from father to son, and limited in its application to his
own immediate neighbourhood.”*
The able writer from whom we have borrowed this striking passage
thinks that the obstacles to the more rapid diffusion of agricultural
improvements will be gradually overcome by the ready access that is
now afforded to all sorts of information. We confess, however, that we
are by no means sanguine in our expectations on this head; and that
we should anticipate ten times more from the efforts of the landlords to
enforce a better system, than from any improvement in the knowledge
of the farmers. The former have it in their power, by granting leases
of a reasonable length, and containing judicious regulations, by assist-
ing in the drainage of wet lands, and by raising their rents to a proper
level, speedily to introduce a better system; and by doing so they will
at once add largely to their own wealth, and to that of their tenants
and of the public. Agricultural clubs, shows, premiums, and essays
have done, and can do but little good. The disease is too deeply seated
to be eradicated by such gentle means.
Let the tenants have security
that they will be allowed to reap all the advantages resulting from
increased outlays of capital, and from additional skill and economy;
and let them, at the same time, be made to feel that their existence
depends on their availing themselves of improved processes and machi-
nery; and we venture to predict that agriculture will make a more
rapid progress in ten or a dozen years than it will otherwise do in a
century.
2. Notices of the Progress of English Agriculture -Agriculture,
and all sorts of industrious pursuits, were kept in a peculiarly back-
ward state in England till after the accession of Henry VII. This
arose partly from the destructive contests that grew out of the wild
efforts of our Norman monarchs to conquer France, and the civil wars
by which they were succeeded; and partly from the abuses produced
by the feudal system, and the enslaved and depressed state of the cul-
* Rigby's preface to his translation of Chateauvieux, on the Agriculture of Italy.
576
ENGLAND AND WALES.
tivators of the soil. In Henry's reign the foundations were laid of an
order of things more favourable to the growth of opulence, and the
progress of improvement. By his marriage, he united the opposing
claims of the rival houses of York and Lancaster; and put an end to
those unhappy quarrels that had, for upwards of 40 years, desolated the
country. He also succeeded in repressing the turbulence, and in un-
dermining the power, of the feudal aristocracy; and in establishing a
system of severe, but generally impartial, justice. Hitherto it had
been the practice to let lands to occupiers who paid a portion of their
rents in kind, and a portion in services. But Henry having succeeded
in obliging the great lords to dismiss their retainers, it became for their
interest to convert the service rents into money rents; a change still
more beneficial to the occupiers than to the landlords. The increase
of cities, the revival of arts, and the introduction of new branches of
commerce, and of new tastes and modes of enjoyment, contributed to
hasten and complete that revolution in our social system which the
policy of Henry had done so much to accelerate. The great lords,
unable any longer to vie with each other in the number and boldness
of their retainers, turned their competition into more advantageous
channels, and began to seek for distinction in the magnificence of
their dress and houses, the expensiveness of their tables, and the
splendour of their equipages. It ceased to be desirable to have a
large dependent population on an estate; the object being to have it
occupied so that it might produce the greatest nett revenue. The
small occupiers, who were in consequence ejected from the estates of
the great lords, being without any settled habits of industry, were at
once deprived of the means of subsistence. Hence the extraordinary
increase of vagrant poor in the reigns of Henry VII., Henry VIII.,
and Elizabeth; and hence, also, the origin of the compulsory provision
for the support of the poor. The lands previously possessed by the
retainers, and small occupiers, were immediately converted into sheep
pasture. Wool formed at the accession of Henry VII., and for a long
time before and after, the principal article of export from England;
with the exception indeed of tin, cheese, and a few other articles of
inferior importance, there were no means of paying for foreign articles
except by exports of wool. When, therefore, the taste of the nation
began to improve, and its wealth to increase, wool became in greater
demand than ever, as a means of carrying on the more extensive com-
merce of the country. In consequence, sheep-farming went on in-
creasing, notwithstanding the efforts of the legislature to arrest its
progress, till the increase of manufactures at home furnished other
materials to send abroad, and till the growth of population, by aug-
menting the demand for corn, raised its price in relation to wool, and
checked the growth of the latter. This change began to become mani-
fest during the latter years of the reign of Elizabeth.
The first English treatise on agriculture, entitled the Book of Hus-
bandry, written by Sir Anthony Fitzherbert, judge of the Common
Pleas, was published in the reign of Henry VIII. It contains much
useful information; and, in some material branches, has not been im-
proved upon.
The culture of hops, and of several species of garden
plants, was introduced into England in this reign. In it, too, the
AGRICULTURE.
577
power of making leases was extended to tenants in tail; to tenants in
right of their wives; and to parsons in right of their churches.
Turnips, clover, and potatoes were all introduced into England in
the seventeenth contury. Mr. Stevenson states, that some of the
landed proprietors, who accompanied Charles II. in his exile, intro-
duced, after the Restoration, sundry principles, modes of agricultural
practice, and crops, they had observed on the Continent, and par-
ticularly in Flanders; and that we are indebted to them for the
first examples of the culture of turnips and clover, the two grand in-
struments for improving agriculture. But, though there can be no
doubt that these circumstances had a considerable influence in diffusing
the knowledge of a better system of cultivation, it is certain that the
crops referred to had been introduced into England a good many years
previously to the Restoration. Sir Richard Weston, in his Discourse
of Flanders Husbandry, published in 1645, recommends the sowing of
clover and other grass seeds alone, and not with spring corn, contrary
to the custom of England and Flanders; adding, "I found by expe-
rience in Herefordshire, that it (clover) will thrive much better the
first year, and turn to more profit alone, than that and a crop of oats
sown together will do."-(P. 17.) It is probable that turnips were
introduced about the same time. Ray, in 1686, mentions that turnips
were cultivated for the sake of their roots, both in fields and gardens,
in England and abroad. It appears from Lisle's Husbandry (4th ed.
p. 233.), that about the year 1700 the field culture of turnips was not
uncommon in Norfolk, Leicestershire, Hampshire, &c.; but it is not-
withstanding true that it spread only by slow degrees. Lord Towns-
hend, in the reign of George II., was one of the most successful and
extensive growers of turnips; but there is no foundation whatever for
the common story of their culture being introduced by him.
There is a discrepancy in the accounts of the introduction of potatoes.
Most probably they were brought over from Virginia by Sir Walter
Raleigh. Houghton, in one of his papers, written in 1699 (No. 386.),
mentions that "they are now very numerous in Lancashire, and begin
to spread all the kingdom over.
Blythe's Improver Improved, published in 1649, is the first sys-
tematic work in which there are any traces of the alternate system of
husbandry, or of the introduction of clover, turnips, &c., between cul-
miferous crops. The practice did not, however, make much progress
during the 17th century; and though it forms, as it were, the very
foundation of good farming, there are extensive districts in which it
is still very imperfectly understood, and but little followed.
The famous Jethro Tull was the first, or among the first, who in-
troduced the drill husbandry; and his work on Horse-hoeing Hus-
bandry, published in 1731, did a vast deal to recommend the practice;
though, from his undervaluing the influence of manure, it was, in other
respects, prejudicial.
The relaxation and ultimate abolition of the restraints and duties
that had been laid on the exportation of corn gave, undoubtedly, the
greatest stimulus to agriculture that it received in the seventeenth cen-
tury. In England, as in other countries, exportation was for a long
time entirely prohibited, from a notion that this was the best means
2 P
VOL. I.
*
578
ENGLAND AND WALES.
by which plenty could be maintained at home. When the laws for
this purpose were framed, the sound principles of public economy
were almost wholly unknown; and no one seems to have been aware
that, without the ability to export, a luxuriant crop, by causing an
overloading of the market and a heavy fall of price, might be as in-
jurious to the farmer as a scarcity; and that no market can be steadily
and liberally supplied, unless the surplus produce of plentiful years.
meets with a profitable vent. Not only, however, was exportation to
foreign countries prevented, but even the internal corn trade was laid
under the severest restraints, and the business of a corn dealer was in
great measure proscribed. But the constant alternation of exces-
sively high and ruinously low prices, which this system occasioned,
at length opened the eyes of the legislature to a sense of its perni-
cious influence; and, in the reign of Elizabeth, exportation was allowed
when the home prices were under certain limits.* During the ascend-
ancy of the house of Stuart, the practice of laying duties on the ex-
portation of corn was introduced; but at the Revolution these were
totally abolished, and the contrary policy adopted of granting a bounty
on exportation. The laws restricting the freedom of the internal corn
trade were almost wholly abolished in the reign of Charles II.; so that
our farmers, having ready access not only to the markets of Great
Britain, but to those of the Continent, were stimulated to put forth
all their energies; and agriculture advanced with a rapidity unknown
at any former period. Restrictions on importation were imposed at
the Revolution, and had existed previously; but it was not till after
the Peace of Paris in 1763, when, in consequence of the rapid growth
of manufactures and commerce, population increased so fast that the
home supply of corn became inadequate, that these restrictions began
to attract attention, and to have a powerful influence.
But, notwithstanding the stimulus to cultivation given by the
bounty, and by the rise of prices since 1760, and particularly during
the late war, stock-husbandry has been more improved since 1750
than tillage husbandry. As soon as Bakewell's system of breeding
began to be known, it was taken up and followed by spirited and judi-
cious farmers in all parts of the country. Of these, Mr. Culley of
Northumberland, was one of the most conspicuous. He published his
Observations on Live Stock in 1786; and in it the just principles
for improving the breeds of domestic animals were, for the first time,
fully elucidated. This has had, as formerly observed, a wonderful
influence in increasing the supply of butchers' meat. Indeed, the
principal improvement in arable husbandry-the general introduction
and superior management of green crops-may be, in no inconsider-
able degree, ascribed to the anxiety of farmers to procure an abundant
and suitable supply of food for their stock. The superior attention
paid to stock-farming may probably be, to some extent at least, ac-
counted for from the circumstance of tithe pressing with compara-
tive lightness on pasture land, while it fell with its full weight on arable
land, and operated powerfully to prevent the outlay of capital upon it.
* Exportation had been previously allowed, but the limit when it was to cease
was generally such as to render this license of little practical importance. See
article Corn Laws and Corn Trade in the new edition of the Encyc. Britannica.
AGRICULTURE.
579
But however it may be accounted for, there can be no doubt of the
fact, that stock husbandry is now more advanced than tillage husbandry;
and that, in all that belongs to the breeding and rearing of cattle,
horses, sheep, and pigs, the English are, at present, superior to the
Scotch, and to every other people.
But, though surpassed by its kindred branch, the progress of arable
husbandry in England since 1760, and of the improvements connected
therewith, has notwithstanding been astonishingly great. From the
beginning of last century, down to about 1765, we exported large
quantities of corn. During each of the 10 years ending with 1750,
the exports amounted at an average, to 378,000 quarters of wheat,
and 424,000 quarters of other grain. During the next decennial
period, the exports were materially reduced; and, subsequently to
1770, the balance began to turn to the side of importation, to which
it still continues to incline. This diminution of exports and increase
of imports is, however, wholly ascribable to the greater demand for
corn, caused by the rapidly increasing population and wealth of the
country; and not, as has sometimes been contended, to any change in
the corn laws, or to any decay of tillage. Mr. Charles Smith, the
well-informed author of the Tracts on the Corn Trade (2nd ed. p. 140),
estimated the consumption of wheat in 1765, at 3,840,000 quarters.
Eight years after, the produce of the wheat crop was estimated at
4,000,000 quarters. In 1796, Lord Hawkesbury (afterwards Lord
Liverpool) stated in his place in the House of Commons, that govern-
ment estimated the consumption of wheat at 6,000,000 quarters, of
which only a trifling portion was imported. And we have already
seen that in estimating the growth of wheat in England at this
moment (1846) at 15,200,000 quarters, we are certainly within the
mark.
The number of wastes, commons, and common fields was long, and,
though much diminished, still continues to be, in some degree, a re-
proach to England. The two former are not cultivated: common
fields are, however, subjected to the plough; but property in them
is so much subdivided and intermixed, that they are altogether un-
susceptible of improved cultivation. During the last and present
century, much progress has been made in wiping off this stain on the
rural economy of the country; and in nothing, indeed, has the progress
of improvement been more remarkable than in this particular. The
first inclosure act was passed in the reign of Charles II. Since the
Revolution, the progress has been as follows:—
Reigns.
In Queen Anne's reign
Number of
Acts passed.
Number of
Acres Inclosed.
2
In George I.
16
•
In George II.
226
In George III., to 1797
1,532
1,439
17,660
318,778
2,804,197
According to this statement, which is taken from the Report of the
Committee on Waste Lands, it appears that each enclosure act passed
JA

2 P 2
580
ENGLAND AND WALES.
*
during that period of the reign of George III., which terminated with
1797, enclosed, at an average, 1,830 acres. Now it appears, from the
official returns, that from 1798 to 1832, both inclusive, 2,103 enclo-
sure acts were passed; and, supposing each to have enclosed, as before,
1,830 acres, the total would amount to 3,848,490 acres ; making, when
added to the quantity enclosed previously to 1798, an aggregate of no
less than 6,652,687 acres, enclosed since the accession of George III.
But, as it seems probable that the earlier acts applied to a larger extent
of land than the latter ones, we may, perhaps, estimate the total extent
of land enclosed and divided by Act of Parliament, from 1760 to
1832, at from 5,500,000 to 5,800,000 acres. And it may be safely
affirmed that in consequence of its enclosure, the produce of this im-
mense extent of land has been increased, at least, five fold!
As might
be expected, a decidedly greater number of enclosure acts were passed
in 1802, and during the 5 years ending with 1814, when prices were
enormously high, than in any other equal period.
Of recent improvements the most important have been the ex-
tension of the system of furrow draining, and the introduction of bone-
dust and guano as manures. In many places, but particularly in Lin-
colnshire, the use of bone-dust has occasioned a vast increase of
produce, and has enabled many extensive tracts to be brought into a
high state of cultivation.
There has been, in fact, almost everywhere throughout the country,
but especially in the northern counties, a progressive improvement in
agriculture, effected partly by the better drainage of the land, partly
by the adoption of better rotations, partly by the enforcement of greater
economy in the management of the details, and partly by other causes.
No doubt there is still, in many counties, great room for further im-
provements; but there has been, even in the most backward, very
great advances since the peace.
3. Progress of Agriculture since 1815.—It was for a while con-
tended that, owing to the fall of prices, agriculture declined mate-
rially after 1815, and in particular in the years immediately subsequent.
to 1820. This view of the matter was strongly supported in the
Report of the Agricultural Committee of 1833; and it is but too cer-
tain that the fall in question involved many persons, landlords as
well as farmers, in very great difficulties; and in some districts, par-
ticularly in the southern parts of the island, there may have been, for
a while, a pretty general decline. On the whole, however, there is
incontestible evidence to prove, speaking of Great Britain generally,
that the effects of the sudden and heavy fall of prices in 1814 and
1815, though severe at the time, were very soon overcome, and there
has been an all but unparalleled improvement in agriculture since
1820. How else could the extraordinary increase of population, that
has taken place in the interval, have been provided for? and how
else could the rental of England and Wales in 1842-3 have exceeded
by 5,836,6277. its rental in 1814-15? There was no increase, worth
mentioning in a question of this sort, in the quantity of foreign corn
retained for home consumption during the 20 years ending with 1840,
as compared with the previous 20 years; and yet the population
of Great Britain increased during that interval from 14,481,139
AGRICULTURE.
581
to 18,844,434! Now it is impossible, that a result of this sort could
have taken place without either a very great increase of agricultural
produce or a signal and almost unprecedented falling off in the
demand for corn: but the latter supposition is out of the question.
Instead of there being any decline in the consumption, there can be
no manner of doubt that, speaking generally, the bulk of the population
consume, at this moment, more corn, and particularly wheat, than at
any former period. In fact, wheaten bread has now almost entirely
superseded every other sort of bread. The consumption of rye, barley,
and oats in the northern and south-western parts of England, and in
Wales, is reduced to a mere trifle. All classes subsist mainly on
wheaten bread; and, during the last 20 years, there has been a grow-
ing indisposition to use even the inferior sorts of such bread.
In
Scotland the change has been still more decided than in England;
and we believe we are quite within bounds, when we express our con-
viction that, fully ten times more wheat is consumed in Scotland at
present than in 1790.
A part of the extraordinary increase in the supply of corn has been
derived from Ireland; this part is, however, much smaller than is
generally supposed. The imports of all sorts of grain from Ireland are,
at present, from 1,400,000 to 1,500,000 quarters a-year greater than in
1820. But during that period we have added, including the increase
since 1841, about 5,603,295 individuals to the population of Great
Britain; at the same time that, at an average, the consumption per
head has been materially increased; and that there has been a large
increase in the number of horses-the great consumers of oats, the
principal article of import from Ireland.
On the whole, therefore, it may be safely affirmed, that the soil and
agriculture of Great Britain furnishi, at present, food sufficient for the
comfortable subsistence of at least five millions of inhabitants more
than in 1820. Little, comparatively, of this wonderful result can be
ascribed to the bringing of waste land into cultivation, or to the ex-
tension of tillage. It is principally a consequence of improved
drainage, improved modes of management, and the adoption of im-
proved processes and implements. In proof of the extraordinary
change that has taken place, we may mention that, in the wolds of
Lincolnshire, the crops of turnips are said to have become from five
to ten times heavier within the last few years from the application of
bone manure to their culture; at the same time that there has been a
proportional increase in the productiveness of other crops!—(Antè,
p. 178.) Similar improvements, and in some instances quite as great,
have been made in other parts of the country. It is gratifying, too,
to know that the capacities of improvement are far from being any-
where exhausted. But what has been effected shows what may be
done, were the productive energies of the more backward districts
better developed by the extension of the improved practices of Norfolk,
Northumberland, Lincoln, &c., to other counties. The granting of
leases of a reasonable length, and the enforcing of proper conditions
as to management, would be the most likely means to bring about so
desirable a result. It is impossible, indeed, to say to what extent;
under such circumstances, improvement might be carried.
582
ENGLAND AND WALES.
4. Future Prospects of Agriculture.-It is supposed by many that
the change that has recently been effected in the Corn Laws will have
a most injurious influence over agriculture: we believe, however, that
there is no good foundation for this opinion. In submitting a few
remarks on this important question, it is not necessary that we shoul
enter into any details with regard to the history of the Corn Laws,
It is
which, indeed, would be out of place in a work like this.
sufficient to observe, that there is no way in which the new system can
injure agriculture unless by reducing the price of agricultural produce.
If there be no probability of its doing this to any considerable extent,
there can be none of its being injurious to agriculture.
Now, though this be a matter in regard to which there must, neces-
sarily, be a good deal of uncertainty, we are entitled to say, that there
are no good grounds whatever for thinking that wheat of the average
quality of that of England will be imported, even in abundant
years, after the introduction of the new system, at less than from
44s. or 45s. to 48s. a quarter.* The expenses of importing wheat
into this country may be taken at from 10s. to 12s. a quarter; so that,
supposing its cost in the great shipping ports to be from 34s. to 37s.
a quarter, it could not be imported and sold under the price specified
above. But wheat of the average quality of English wheat is seldom
so low as this either at Dantzic or any other corn-shipping port
within a reasonable distance; and it is never so low when there is any
considerable exportation. It is, no doubt, impossible to say what
changes may take place in prices in the course of a few years. But,
looking at the rapid increase of wealth and population † in the countries
in the North of Europe, round the Black Sea, and in America, the
presumption is, not that prices will fall but that they will rise. But,
supposing that, under the new system, they are pretty constant at from
44s. or 45s. to 48s., it is quite clear its introduction can have no inju-
rious influence over agriculture. The average prices of corn in Eng-
land and Wales, during the five years ending with 1835, were 52s. 8d.,
and, during the five years ending with 1845, they were 54s. 9d. a
quarter, being only from 6s. to 9s. a quarter above their future probable
average range under a perfectly free system. Prices, indeed, were
decidedly lower in 1834, 1835, and 1836-years of great agricultural
improvement—than there is much probability of their being after the
new system has been carried into full effect.
But, supposing that prices were to fall 10s. a quarter, it is the greatest
error to suppose that this fall would be productive of any real injury to
agriculture. Prices, after allowing for the depreciation of the currency,
were, during the five years ending with 1810, no less than 83s. 3d. a
quarter; they have since fallen, so that, during the five years ending
with 1845, they were only 54s. 9d. a quarter, being a fall of no less than
28s. 6d. a quarter in the interval: and yet we have already seen that
there has been, in the teeth of this immense fall, and coincident with it,
For proofs of this see the article Corn Laws and Corn Trade in Commercial
Dictionary.
The population of Prussia, which amounted to 10,223,499 in 1816, had in-
creased in 1840 to 14,992,738! The increase of population in the countries round
the Black Sea, during the same period, has, we believe, been still greater.
AGRICULTURE.
583
an extraordinary improvement of agriculture, accompanied with a vast
increase of production and a very great increase of rent. And such
being the case, with a fall of 28s. 6d. a quarter, it would be contra-
dictory and absurd to suppose that agriculture should sustain any
serious, or, indeed, perceptible injury from a further fall of 6s. or 7s.,
or even of 10s. a quarter. (See ante, pp. 551–557.)
It is, no doubt, true, that a considerable part of the increase of pro-
duction and of rent that has taken place since 1815 is the consequence
of the expenditure of a large amount of capital upon the land. But it
is plain that this amount of capital would not have been laid out had
not the reduced price of corn been such as to make its outlay pro-
fitable. The supply of corn, like that of other things, cannot be in-
creased without the application of additional skill or capital, or both,
to its production; and if the application of such additional skill and
capital, instead of being checked, appears rather to have been pro-
moted by a fall of 28s. 6d. in the price of corn, on what principle or
pretence can any one suppose that it will be checked by a fall of
7s. or 10s. a quarter?
At the same time we are ready to admit, that we should have been
quite as well or better pleased had this question been settled by im-
posing a low fixed duty of 5s. or 6s. a quarter on wheat, and other
grain in proportion, accompanied with a corresponding drawback. We
make this statement on general grounds, and without any reference to
the peculiar burdens that affect the agriculturists, though these
should neither be forgotten nor overlooked. It would be easy to
show that in scarce years a duty of this amount would fall wholly on
the foreigner, without affecting prices, or narrowing importation ;
while, in years of unusual plenty, the drawback would facilitate
exportation, and would, consequently, tend to steady prices, and to
prevent them from falling so low as to injure the farmer and ob-
struct improvement. And in a matter of such immense importance it
is the part of a wise government to be cautious how they take any
step, of the consequences of which they are not fully assured, or which
may expose any great interest to serious vicissitudes. But, even if our
limits permitted, it would be to little purpose to insist on these or any
similar considerations. The pertinacity with which the agriculturists
opposed every approach to a more liberal system roused a spirit which
would not be satisfied with anything short of a complete abandonment
of all restrictions. The time for compromise and arrangement having
been allowed to go by, government had to deal with an unreasoning
necessity: Cum ventre humano tibi negotium est, nec rationem patitur,
nec æquitate mitigatur, nec ulla prece flectitur populus.-(Seneca, de
Brev. Vitæ, c. 18.) There can, indeed, be little doubt that, under the
circumstances, it was infinitely better to make an end of the matter at
once than, by attempting to introduce any intermediate system, however
well devised, to prolong, as it would have done, a sense of insecurity,
and the pernicious trade of agitation. The agriculturists need not,
however, despond: they have, in truth, little or nothing to fear from
the downfall of the protective system. There is not, as already seen,
any real room or ground for thinking that it will occasion such a fall
of average prices as will do them any material injury; and should
584
SCOTLAND.
there be at any time so very abundant a season in this country and in
the North of Europe as to threaten such a fall of prices as might give
a serious shock to agricultural industry, the crisis may be warded off
by some temporary expedient. It is not, however, very probable that
it will be at any time necessary to interpose in the way now alluded
to The notions current amongst us, respecting the extreme cheapness
of corn in foreign ports, have no very solid foundation. Though
sound in principle, there is good reason to think that in its operation,
the new measure will disappoint alike the fears and apprehensions of
the one party, and the expectations of the other. Indeed, the chances
are, that the agriculturists will gain by the change; for it will teach
them to depend for success on skill, science, and industry, and to cease
to rely on the worthless resource of Custom-house regulations and par-
liamentary majorities; and it will give them increased security by
identifying their interests in opinion, as well as in fact, with those of
the public.
5. Notices of the Progress and present State of Scotch Agriculture.
—Though now highly improved, agriculture, down to a comparatively
recent period, was in the most depressed state in Scotland. So late
as the beginning of last century, and for a considerable period there-
after, lands, even in the Lothians, were divided into infield and outfield.
The whole manure made on the farm was laid on the former, which
was ploughed and cropped without intermission, so long, at least, as it
would bear anything. There was little alternation of crops; neither
turnips, clover, nor potatoes had been so much as heard of; but corn
followed corn in an unbroken series. Leases were but seldom granted,
and the cultivators were destitute alike of capital and intelligence.
In the Countryman's Rudiments, written by Lord Belhaven, and pub-
lished in 1723, we are informed that the "infield in East Lothian,
where wheat is sown, is generally divided by the tenant into four
divisions or breaks, as they call them; viz., one of wheat, one of
barley, one of peas, and one of oats; so that the wheat is sown after
the peas, the barley after the wheat, and the oats after the barley."
Here we have a rotation with three consecutive corn crops, and a crop
of peas once every four years. The returns were, as might be ex-
pected, about three times the seed! It is of importance, too, to
observe, that this trifling return was obtained at a great comparative
expense. At this period, and for about half a century after, there was
no instance in Scotland of a plough being drawn by fewer than
4 horses. Most commonly it was wrought either by 6 horses, or by
4 horses and 2 oxen; and in some of the less cultivated districts, a
still greater number of animals, sometimes as many as 10 or 12, were
yoked to it.* This was ascribable, partly to the awkward and clumsy
form of the implement itself, partly to the weakness of the cattle, their
diminutive size, and the improper manner in which they were yoked,
and partly, and principally perhaps, to the ignorance of the cultivators.
On the whole, however, the work was at once very expensive, and
very ill performed; the ridges were crooked and twisted, and so much
heaped up in the middle, that a great deal of land in the hollows
between them was lost to any useful purpose.
Robertson's Rural Recollections, p. 196.
AGRICULTURE
585
In 1723, a Society of Improvers was established at Edinburgh,
which, though it lasted only about 20 years, contributed to diffuse a
knowledge of better principles.
Though very ancient in England, in Scotland the practice of fal-
lowing is comparatively recent. It began to be tried in the Lothians
about 1720; but it spread slowly, and did not become very general till
more than 20 years afterwards.*
Political circumstances have almost always exerted a powerful in-
fluence over agriculture; and nowhere, perhaps, has this been more
clearly evinced than in Scotland. The Union with England in 1707,
though its beneficial operation was not very obvious for a number of
years, began at no very distant period to have a sensible influence.
Besides opening the markets of England and of her foreign possessions
to the products of Scotland, the removal of the seat of the legislature
to London obliged an unusually large proportion of the Scottish nobility
and gentry to reside partly in England, where they became acquainted
with improved habits and modes of management, and acquired sounder
ideas as to the relation between landlord and tenant than those that were
then prevalent in Scotland.
But of all the political measures by which the agriculture of Scotland
has been affected, none had so powerful or beneficial an influence as the
Act, passed in 1748, for the abolition of hereditary jurisdictions. In
most counties, down to this period, a tenant, who had any dispute with
a landlord, could only appeal either to that individual, or to some one
else of the same class. The mischievous consequences of such a state
of things are too obvious to require to be specified. It was fatal alike
to the real interests of both landlords and tenants.
The Act abolishing hereditary jurisdictions effectually obviated this
abuse. The sheriff or principal judge in each county has since been a
salaried officer appointed by government, and selected from among the
most eminent practising barristers. He has had no leanings in favour
of one class or another, but has been equally ready to redress the griev-
ances of all. And the fact of their generally holding under well-
defined leases of a reasonable length, and having ready access to local
judges distinguished for their ability and integrity, have given a feeling
of independence, and a consequent energy and enterprise, to the Scotch
tenants of our times, that were quite unknown to their ancestors.
About the middle of the century we begin to find symptoms of
amendment. In Maxwell's Practical Husbandry, published in 1756,
an improved system is laid down and inculcated. He pronounces it to
be bad husbandry to take two consecutive corn crops; and he farther
informs us that the best farmers in East Lothian, after fallow, take a
crop of wheat; after the wheat, peas; then barley; and after that oats.
This is still very bad, though a material improvement on the practice
described by Lord Belhaven. It shows, too, that, down to 1757, neither
* The introduction of fallowing is ascribed to Thomas, sixth Earl of Haddington,
and to a Mr. Walker, tenant of Beanston. The latter is said to have been led to try
the practice by the representations of some Englishmen by whom he had been
visited. His neighbours, when they saw what he was about, concluded that he was
either insane or in bankrupt circumstances!-(Somerville's Survey of East Lothian,
p. 29.)
586
SCOTLAND.
turnips, potatoes, clover, nor cultivated herbage of any sort, formed any
part of the system, even of the best farmers in the Lothians. Lord
Stair is said to have been the first who introduced the turnip culture
into Scotland, having raised turnips on his estate of New Liston, near
Edinburgh, about the middle of last century. But William Dawson,
tenant of Frogden, in Roxburghshire, has an unquestionable title to be
considered as the real father of the improved Scotch husbandry. Being
a farmer, and cultivating for profit only, his example had infinitely
more influence over his neighbours than it would have had, had he been
a landlord. He commenced raising turnips at Frogden in 1759. They
were at first sown broadcast; but he set about drilling on a large scale
in 1763, and his success stimulated others to adopt the same system.
Dawson was also the first who introduced, not long after 1760, the
practice of ploughing with 2 horses abreast, without a driver; nor is it
easy to exaggerate the obligations which the agriculture of Scotland owes
to his sagacity and enterprise. But even in the Lothians the 4-horse
plough continued in general use till about 1780, and it was not finally
superseded by the 2-horse plough for several years after. In the other
parts of the country the former kept its footing even longer than in the
Lothians. Nothing contributed more to pave the way for this important
revolution in the method of ploughing than the signal improvements
made upon the construction of the plough by Small, about 1770, to
which we have already alluded.
From the close of the American war, the progress of improvement
in Scotland has been rapid beyond all previous example. This has
been owing to a variety of causes, but chiefly to the extraordinary
progress made in commerce and manufactures since that period. In
the distracted state in which Scotland had formerly been placed, these
could make no considerable progress. But after the battle of Culloden
had extinguished the hopes of the Jacobites, and the abolition of here-
ditary jurisdictions had paved the way for the introduction of a regular
system of government, a spirit of industry and enterprise began to be
diffused on all sides. A good many branches of trade and manufacture
carried on in England were introduced into Scotland soon after the
peace of 1763; and not a few of them were prosecuted with much
success. Their progress was checked for a while by the American
war; but after the treaty of Paris, in 1783, they acquired more than
their former vigour: others were introduced; and all of them have
since continued, with few, and those but transient interruptions, to
advance with a rapidity that could not previously have been supposed
possible.
This unprecedented extension of manufacturing and commercial
industry occasioned a corresponding increase of wealth and population,
especially in towns and villages. Improved accommodations of all sorts
began to be in universal demand; and, besides the greater quantity of
the inferior sorts of food required to supply the increasing population,
a novel, or, at least, a vastly increased market, was opened for wheat
and butchers' meat. These circumstances had an astonishing in-
fluence over agriculture. The new and constantly increasing markets,
established at their very doors, stimulated the farmers to put forth all
AGRICULTURE.
587
their energies, and to avail themselves of discoveries and practices to
which they had hitherto been total strangers. We believe, indeed,
that we run little risk in affirming, that agriculture has made a more
rapid progress in Scotland since 1760 or 1770, than it has ever made
in any nearly equal period in any other civilized country.
But in contrasting the progress of improvement in England and
Scotland during the last 60 or 70 years, allowance should be made for
the different situation of the two countries when the competition began.
England in 1770 was, as compared with Scotland, a highly improved
country. When, therefore, the latter began to enter on the career of
improvement, she had much greater scope for advancement, at the same
time that she could avail herself of the example and experience of
England.
There can, however, be no doubt that a good deal of the progress of
Scotch agriculture, since the epoch referred to, is ascribable to other
causes; among the most prominent of which may be specified the
improvements made in the public roads, or in the means of commu-
nication among different districts: and it has, also, been partly owing
to the absence of tithe and poor's rate; and, in a still greater degree,
if not principally, to the habit, that has become universal in all the
best cultivated districts of Scotland, of granting leases, with conditions
hindering the exhaustion of the soil, and of a sufficient length to induce
the tenant to make every possible exertion and every profitable outlay.
The following statement of the comparative weight of the produce
annually afforded under the system of farming followed in East Lothian,
as described by Lord Belhaven, and that which is now followed, is
taken from a paper by the late Mr. Oliver, of Lochend, near Edin-
burgh, an intelligent and extensive practical farmer:
"The mode of cropping at the former period (1723) was, first, peas;
second, wheat; third, barley; fourth, cats; the produce being about
three seeds; but, to prevent all cavil, say four seeds. This, taking the
seed for each acre at 1 boll,* over a farm of 100 acres,† is 400 bolls.
The quantity of straw for each boll of such a crop could not exceed 15
stones, which on 400 bolls gives 6,000 stones, or 42 tons 15 cwts. of
straw, to be consumed by the stock and returned to the land in the
shape of manure. But upon a farm of 100 acres, cultivated as at
present, viz., a fourth turnips; a fourth wheat or barley; a fourth
clover or rye-grass, pastured, or made into hay and consumed on the
farm; and a fourth oats or wheat; the account would stand thus:—
50 acres of wheat, barley, and oats, at 8 bolls per acre, which, we are
convinced, is not above the average crops of the best district of East
Lothian (and such only was cultivated when Lord Belhaven wrote):
this, allowing, as above, 15 stones of straw for each boll, gives 120
stones per acre; which, over 50 acres, makes in all 6,000 stones of
straw, or 42 tons 15 cwts.; being equal to the quantity produced by
the whole 100 acres under the old system. Now, suppose that the 25
acres of clover and rye-grass are made into hay (which, however, is not
* One East Lothian boll.of wheat was equal to nearly 4 bushels; a boll of barley
to near 6 bushels.
†The Scotch acre, equal to 1.261 imperial acres, is here referred to.
588
SCOTLAND.
the mode practised, nor the best mode for obtaining the greatest quan-
tity of manure, and keeping up the fertility of the soil), and that each
acre yields 200 stones, the total quantity will be 5,000 stones, or 35
tons 14 cwts.; and add to this 500 tons turnip, being the produce of
25 acres, at 20 tons per acre, which is by no means above a fair average
crop. Upon these data the weight of materials produced annually for
manure under the old and new systems will be as follows:
0
Old system, Straw
Straw
New system, Hay
Turnips
6,000 stones, 42 tons, 15 cwt.
6,000
42
5,000
35
70,000
500
,,
151
1410,
"Thus, making the weight of materials to be converted into manure
under the new system, in round numbers, 577 tons; while, under the
old system, the quantity is only 42 tons, leaving a balance in favour of
the new of 533 tons per annum, being more than twelve times the whole
quantity produced under the old! Nothing more is necessary to show
the superiority of the new system, in as far as keeping up the fertility
of the soil is concerned; and upon this depends the progress of agricul-
ture. And as to the question of comparative profit, it would be easy
to show, from unquestionable data, that the new system is as superior
to the old in this respect as it is in the supply of manure; but this, we
think, must be abundantly obvious to every one who contrasts the
almost imperceptible advances made in agriculture, and in the accumu-
lation of agricultural capital, for many centuries, with their extraor-
dinary progress during the last 70 years, or since the new system was
introduced."
The farmers having generally obtained leases for 19 years, and fre-
quently for a much longer period, for what the lands were worth when
this system was beginning to be introduced, it is easy to see that, with
such means of improvement in their hands, combined with the rise of
prices, they could not fail of rapidly accumulating wealth; and we
believe that the increase of capital in the hands of the farmers of Scot-
land, in the interval between 1780 and 1815, has never been equalled,
in the same period, in any other old settled country. The heavy fall
of prices at the end of the war occasioned, in some districts, the loss of
a considerable quantity of capital. But that has been since far more
than replaced; and at present (1846) the farming capital of Scotland
is very decidedly greater than at any former period; while it has, at
the same time, gained most materially in efficacy, or in productive
power.
The improved thrashing machine, introduced about 1794, an instru-
ment of the utmost importance in agriculture, was the invention of a
Scotch mechanic of the name of Meikle.
Most of the commons and wastes that formerly existed in Scotland
have been divided, and the greater number, at least in the lowlands,
have been enclosed and cultivated. In this respect the practice in
Scotland is very superior to that in England. Instead of requiring, as
is the case in the latter, a particular Act of Parliament for the enclo-
sure and subdivision of each common, they have all been enclosed and
subdivided, in Scotland, under the provisions of an Act of the Scotch
AGRICULTURE.
589
Parliament, passed in 1695. This Act is so very important, and at the
same time so brief and comprehensive, that we subjoin it :—
Act concerning the dividing of Commonties, passed in the Parliament of Scotland,
17th July, 1695.
"Our Sovereign Lord, with advice and consent of the Estates of Parliament, for
preventing the discords that arise about commonties, and for the more easy and
expedite deciding thereof in time coming, statutes and ordains, That all common-
ties, except the commonties belonging to the King and royal boroughs in burgage,
may be divided at the instance of any having interest, by summons raised against
all persons concerned before the Lords of Session; who are hereby empowered to
discuss the relevancy, and to determine upon the rights and interests of the several
parties concerned; and to grant commissions to sheriffs, stewards, bailies of regality
and their deputies, or justices of peace, or others, for perambulating and taking all
other necessary probation; which commissions shall be reported to the said lords,
and the said processes ultimately determined by them: And, where mosses shall
happen to be in the said commonties; with power to the said lords to divide these
said mosses among the several parties having interest therein, in manner aforesaid :
or in case it be instructed to the said lords that the said mosses cannot be con-
veniently divided, His Majesty, with consent aforesaid, statutes and declares, that
the said mosses shall remain common, with free ish and entry thereto, whether di-
vided or not; declaring, also, that the interest of the heritors having right in the
said commonties shall be estimate according to the valuation of their respective
lands or properties; and which divisions are appointed to be made of that part of
the commonty which is next adjacent to each heritor's property."
Had a similar Act been passed in England, at the same period, it
would have saved the proprietors of such commons as have been en-
closed a great deal of money, and would have led to the cultivation of
a much greater extent of waste land.
The introduction of the sheep-farming system into the highlands
has effected a radical change in the internal economy of the northern
counties, and has been, on the whole, most advantageous. Under the
old system, the population was collected in the arable districts in the
glens, or valleys between the mountains, and along the banks of the
lochs, or arms of the sea. Their habitations were usually clustered
together in a sort of villages; the lands susceptible of tillage being
sometimes cultivated in common; though they were more usually
divided into small patches, or crofts, held by the occupiers, generally
from year to year, sometimes from the proprietor, but more commonly
from a middleman, or principal tacksman. Owing to the very limited
extent of the low grounds in the glens, particularly on the western
coast, and the torrents of rain by which they are frequently deluged,
but little corn could be raised, even in the most favourable seasons;
and the entire failure of the crops was a calamity of anything but rare
occurrence. Hence, the principal dependence of the occupiers was on
their cattle, fed on the contiguous mountain pastures: and had they
renounced all attempts at tillage, and appropriated their valleys to the
production of winter food for their cattle, importing supplies of meal
from the lowlands, their condition would have been much improved;
but the petty tenants were too poor, too ignorant, too indolent, too
firmly attached to old customs and habits, and too much occupied in
schemes of illicit distillation, to attempt any innovation of this sort.
They uniformly endeavoured to raise on their little patches of low
590
SCOTLAND.
ground bread for themselves and their families, and fodder for their
stock during winter. In this, however, they often failed; and when
such was the case, men and beasts were exposed to all the evils of
scarcity, and even famine.
Such a system was fitted only to perpetuate and extend the most
abject poverty and barbarism. The population, as is always the case
where the land is held by cottiers, was decidedly redundant. The
rents the occupiers paid were but trifling; but, though they had been
themselves the owners of the land, their condition would not have been
sensibly ameliorated. They had no capital with which to undertake
any improvement; and though, during the greater part of the year,
they had little or nothing to do, the smallness of their occupancies
obliged them to keep a much greater number of horses than would
have been required for larger farms. At length, however, the occur-
rence of circumstances similar to those that occasioned the extension of
sheep-farming in England, in the reigns of Henry VII. and Henry
VIII., led to its introduction in the highlands. After hereditary
jurisdictions had been abolished, and good order and a regular system
of government were introduced into the northern counties, the landlords,
finding they could no longer acquire distinction by the number of their
vassals, became more than ever desirous to increase the rental of their
estates. Under such circumstances, they could not help perceiving
that the mode in which they were occupied constituted an effectual
barrier to all improvement, and to any material increase of rent. The
prejudices in which they had been educated hindered many of those
who were the first to perceive the inconveniences of the old system
from attempting to modify it; but these gradually lost their efficacy,
and, at length, completely disappeared. It is to no purpose, however,
to ascribe the overthrow of the cottier system in the highlands to any
undue preference of sheep-farming. The introduction of this system
determined the mode in which an inevitable change has been accom-
plished; but it did not bring it about. Though the hills and moun-
tains north of the Forth had continued to be exclusively depastured
by black cattle, the obvious advantage of clearing the glens of their
petty occupiers, and of appropriating them to the production of winter
food for the cattle, would have led to nearly the same results, in so far
as the cottier population is concerned, that have resulted from the
introduction of sheep. But it must not be supposed that black cattle
have been banished from the highlands; they have merely been con-
fined to the pastures less suitable to sheep; while the greater attention
paid to the selection and improvement of the breed, and the circum-
stance of the entire produce of the meadows and low grounds being
reserved for their support in winter, make it be generally concluded
that the exports of cattle from the highlands are about as great at
present as at any former period; and supposing it to be so, it follows,
that the vast quantities of wool and sheep annually furnished by the
highlands are so much added, through the change in the mode of
occupancy, to the free available produce of the country! It would
not, therefore, be easy to exaggerate the beneficial results of the sheep-
farming system. Immense tracts of mountain land, that were formerly
AGRICULTURE.
591
either wholly useless, or appropriated only to the depasturing of the
half-starved oxen of the glens for a few months in summer, have been
made, through its agency, considerably productive. The increase of
food, and other accommodations thence resulting, have not been con-
fined to any particular class or order. The benefit has been truly
national; and has redounded, despite the violence with which the
change was, in a few instances, forced upon the poor occupiers, as much
to their advantage as to that of the landlords.
It has been repeatedly objected to the new system that it has
depopulated the highlands, and forced the inhabitants to seek an
asylum in foreign countries; but it is hardly necessary to say, that a
system of farming which has added most materially to the supply of
produce in a country, cannot, whatever other effects it may have,
occasion any diminution of population. Now, no one doubts that this
has been a consequence of the introduction of sheep-farming into the
highlands; so that the fallacy of the objections alluded to is seen at a
glance. Perhaps, however, it may be thought, that though, in con-
sequence of the increase of exportable produce from the highlands,
the population of the other parts of the empire may have been in-
creased, the inhabitants of that district may, notwithstanding, have
been diminished: but, provided the population of the empire be not
injuriously affected, its distribution is of inferior consequence.
In
point of fact, however, there has been no falling off in the population
of the highlands; on the contrary, it has materially increased since
the epoch when sheep-farming began to be introduced. This is
obvious from the following returns of the population of the principal
sheep counties:-

Counties.
Pop., 1755. Pop., 1801. Pop., 1831. Pop., 1841. Pop., 1851.
Argyll
•
63,291
71,859 101,425
Inverness
64,656
74,292
Ross and Cromarty
47,656
Sutherland .
20,774
97,371 89,298
94,797 97,799
55,343
74,820 78.585
23,117 25,518
24,782
96,500
82,707
25,793
Totals.
298,637 294,298
193,377 224,611 296,560
Hence, instead of declining, it appears that the population of the
principal highland counties has increased 97,921 since 1755, aud
69,687 since 1801! And this, after all, is only what a more unpre-
judiced inquiry into the circumstances would have led any one to an-
ticipate. The inhabitants, instead of being scattered over the country,
have been collected into villages and towns; and, from being lazy
half-employed petty farmers and cottiers, numbers have been con-
verted into comparatively industrious artisans, fishermen, &c. The
proprietors, in consequence of the immense increase of their rentals,
have been enabled and stimulated to undertake the most expensive im-
provements; and their efforts have been so well seconded by the new
class of tenantry, that a totally different appearance has been given to
592
SCOTLAND.
the entire country. There is, also, a greater demand for labour, and
more people employed than at any former period; with a proportional
increase in the quantity of work done, and of the products brought to
market. The condition of the people has, at the same time, been
signally improved; and, instead of those frequently recurring famines
that used to spread disease and death over large portions of the country,
scarcity is now as little prevalent in most highland districts as in the
lowlands.
6. Present State of Agriculture.-It was supposed by many, that
the extraordinary improvement in the agriculture of Scotland, during
the late war, being mainly owing to the high prices that then pre-
vailed, the heavy fall of prices that took place subsequently to the
renewed intercourse with the Continent in 1814, would check its
further progress. Luckily, however, this anticipation has not been
realised. No doubt, the shock occasioned by the fall alluded to, was
as severe as it was sudden and unlooked for by most persons; and, in
the first instance, was productive of much distress, and the ruin of a
few landlords in embarrassed circumstances, and of tenants paying
money rents, calculated on the footing that the high prices that had
prevailed during the previous half dozen years, would be permanent.
This, however, was not the situation of the great body of the agricul-
turists; and, while the fall was comparatively little felt by them, it
was highly advantageous to the manufacturing and commercial classes;
no inconsiderable portion of the wonderful progress made in manufac-
tures and commerce since 1815 being clearly ascribable to the fall in
the cost of necessaries. It is impossible, too, that agriculture can be
long depressed where manufactures and commerce are flourishing; and
in a brief period it began to revive, and to flourish more vigorously
than ever.
The property tax, which pressed severely on the land, was
struck off; rents, where necessary, were reduced: and the farmers
exerted themselves to meet the new order of things by fresh efforts of
industry, and by proscribing every useless expense.
These efforts have been powerfully promoted by the formation of
improved means of communication. We have already had occasion to
exhibit some of the effects of the opening of new roads (antè, p. 301,
&c.); and the establishment of steam-packets has been quite as im-
portant. They have brought most part of the great markets in the king-
dom within reach of the occupiers in some of the remotest districts.
The farmers of the east coast of Scotland, as far north as the Moray
Frith, are now able to send up full-fed cattle and sheep to London at a
fourth part of the expense, and in a tenth part of the time, that was
formerly required to send them up half fed to the Norfolk fairs; at the
same time that a new and boundless market is created for all other
sorts of agricultural produce. The same machinery has opened an
equally easy access to the great markets of Liverpool and Manchester
for the farmers of Dumfriesshire, Galloway, Ayrshire, and generally
of all the west of Scotland. The advantages accruing from this have
been, both directly and indirectly, of the greatest importance; and, in
most places, have more than countervailed the fall of prices.
The introduction of bone manure into Scotland has also been of the
AGRICULTURE.
593
very highest value. Bone mills are now erected in most parts of the
country; and large quantities of dust are imported. Its influence, assisted
as it has latterly been by that of guano, in increasing the crops of
turnips and corn, and, consequently, the supply of butcher's meat and
of farm manure, has been quite wonderful. The facility, too, of the
carriage of bone dust and guano has permitted many hilly and com-
paratively inaccessible districts to be improved at a comparatively
small cost.
But here, as in England, next to the introduction of these manures,
or, perhaps, before it, the extension of drainage, and principally of the
new practice of furrow-draining, has been the most important of the
recent improvements in Scotch agriculture. Large tracts, that were
formerly comparatively unproductive, have been, through its means,
rendered capable of bearing heavy crops. Everywhere, indeed, a
spirit of improvement is diffused; and the land is not only rendered
more suitable for the production of most sorts of produce, but is better
cultivated, and subjected to rotations better suited to its capacities.
Hence the quantity of corn, butcher's meat, &c., at present raised in
Scotland, vastly exceeds the quantity raised in 1815; and there are
good grounds for thinking that prices might be considerably reduced,
without materially retarding the progress of agriculture.
The only thing that seems at all likely to check the future progress
of agriculture in Scotland, is the fact of the Reform Act having con-
ferred the elective franchise on all occupiers of lands worth 50l. a-year
and upwards. This has been in every respect, economical and poli-
tical, a pernicious, ill-advised measure. Formerly the landlords rarely
inquired respecting the politics of their tenants; and provided they
paid them their rents, and managed their lands according to the sti-
pulations in their leases, they might be of any political or religious
party they pleased. But now it is altogether different. The landlords,
desirous, like other people, of extending their political influence,
endeavour to control, or rather command, the suffrages of their tenants,
and to multiply the dependent voters on their estates. In furtherance
of these objects, they have not scrupled, in many instances, to resort
to intimidation, and to adopt vindictive measures against such of their
tenants as have voted contrary to their wishes. This, however,
though the most prominent at the time, is but the least evil resulting
from the new state of things. It has already led in many instances to
a change in the mode of letting land; and there is but too much
reason to fear that it may, in the end, subvert, to a great extent, that
system of giving leases for 19 or 20 years certain, that has been a
main cause of the improvement of agriculture. It has also occasioned,
in many instances, a subdivision of farms for the mere purpose of
creating voters; and there cannot, indeed, be a question that, however
well intended, the conferring the elective franchise on the tenants has
been one of the heaviest blows ever struck at their independence, and
at the prosperity of agriculture.*
* For the influence of this measure, in a political point of view, see the chapter
in the 2nd volume of this work on Political Institutions.
VOL. I.
2 Q
594
ENGLAND AND WALES.
NUMBER OF PERSONS EMPLOYED IN AGRICULTURE.
I. Account of the Number of Farmers and Graziers, Agricultural Labourers, Gardeners,
&c., in each County of England and Wales in 1841, according to the Census of that
Year.

Farmers and Graziers.
Agricultural Labourers.
Gardeners,
Nursery-
men, and
Florists.



Total
Males.
Females.
Males.
Females.
Counties.
20 Years
*
and up-
wards.
Under
20
of Age Years
and up-
of
Under
20 Years
20
of Age Years
of
Total.
20 Years
of Age
and up-
Under
20
Years
of
wards,
wards.
Age.
Age.
Age.
20 Years
of Age Years
and up-
wards.
Under
20
Persons
engaged
In
Agricul-
Total.
Total.
ture.
of
Age.
England.
Bedford
1,321
31
•
Berks
1,728
Bucks
2,256
•
Cambridge.
8,136
Chester
6,482
•
Cornwall
7,668 128
Cumberland
4,796
Derby
6,182
Devon
•
11,187
324
Dorset
2,701
Durham
3.274
Essex
4,575
120
Gloucester
4,577
Hereford
•
3,194
•
Hertford
1,628
•
Huntingdon
1,027
Kent.
•
5,123
Lancaster
Leicester
14,740
139
3,358
·
Lincoln
10,579
Middlesex
1,118
Monmouth
Norfolk.
Northampton.
2,263
6,960
8,069
Northumberland
Nottingham
2,817
•
8,444
Oxford
•
•
2,178
Rutland.
567
•
Salop
Somerset
4,487
8,196
Southampton .
3,420
Stafford
5,791
Suffolk
4,957
Surrey
Sussex
1,892
3,805
Warwick
3,461
Westmoreland.
2,293
Wilts
4,149
133
•
•
Worcester
2,991
York:
East Riding.
4,165
*** **** ***9 2 ♪ ♪~2 A 8** 88 **** * * ***8*** **** 8
106
32
116
1,458
1,876 13,997
10,977
1,813
59
12
12,861
614
40
169
2,465 15,681
3,005
2,702
318
1,329
18,649
724
21,2
14,933
249
341
136 18,860
572
21,897
1
176
53
919
405
26
432
3,341
7,454 14,795
2,675
8,201 14,279 2,752
5,254 7,574
15,990 2,068
619
239
18,916
661
22,918
542
443
18,455
895
26,804
795 177
18,003
658
26,862
1,075
1,073
357
10,079
278
15,611
53
756
6,991
10,019
1,447
188
122
11,776
566
19,333
521
12,032 | 31,667
7,481
1,178 728
41,054
1,436
54,522
33
120
2,854 13,043
2,060
592 181
15,876
462
19,1: 2
46
218
3,538
7,886
1,203
726 274
10,089
735
14,362
415
5,110 36,272
6,541
1,074
321
44,208
1,798
51,116
57
319
4,953
19,949 2,878
1,578 320
24,725
1,592
31,270
27
292
8,513
10,664
1,474
603
90
12,831
272
16,616
22
130
1,780
14,110
3,066
297
22
72
1,121
6,004
866
183
297
5,477 33,504
5,502
521
1,767
285
78
631
16,646 24,761
3,669 11,259 1,353
11,288
5,194
442
133
36,917 7,712
643
122
32
55
278
414
205
222
294
3,787 12,769
1,205 9,627 1,437
2,597
4,472 1,172
7,447 34,592 5,784
18,538
3,315
3,045
3,065 10,669 1,817
2,923
522
126
735 164
186
883 290
220
8* * *** ** ****
17,541
824
20,145
>
7,112
247
8,480
39,611
2,497
47,585
188 30,585
2,338
49,569
12,770
653
17,092
45,394
879
57,561
82
83
23
11,668
5,853
41,275
21,792
13,659
5,291
18,164
235
8,685
1,643
50,365
624
25,731
615
17,339
14 15,926
645
20,358
164
2,365 14,483 2,350
870
206 17,909
515
20,780
47
616 2,169
420
39
1
2,629
71
3,316
494
5,024 17,075 4,929
297
60
22,361
618
28,003
407
147
685
381
111
8,687 26,949
3,614 24,898 4,948
6,515 17,484 3,847
5,382 81,700 4,952
2,030 15,865 3,140
5,693
1,382
814 34,338
1,442
44,467
514 175 30,535
1,392
35,541
194
43 21,568
1,037
29,120
206
4,042 24,845
5,264
567
207 70
323
132 37,351
1,125
43,858
19,282
4,040
25,352
90 30,522
4,144
35,708
203
8,799 15,914
3,009
328
83
19,284
1,156
24,239
173
2,478
3,085
708
122
60 3,975
113
6,566
174
4,456 22,965
5,133
2,308
693 31,099
835
36,390
323
3,356 13,577
2,904
1,820
942
19,243
950
23,549
271
4,475 13,824
4,110
324
120
18,378
653
23,506
City & Ainsty
449
4
42
North Riding
West Riding.
7,265
15,327 164 1,247
68
613
495 1,180
7,946 13,982 3,981
16,738 24,615 4,941
284
49
1,843 443 19,752
613 152 30,321
6 1,519
165
2,179
479
28,177
2,238
49,297
Total England 194,596 2,467 15,392
212,455 724,625 139,661
26,888 8,460 899,634
45,727 1,157,816
Wales.
Anglesey
•
2,068 19
261
Brecon
1,941
6
160
2,348 3,706 1,222
2,107 2,358
227 144 5,299
949
Cardigan
3,072
24
371
3,467 3,560 1,687
64
129
89 3,410
102 5,478
Caermarthen
4,817
26
660
5,503 5,787 2,568
334
197 8,936
2 2 52
73
7,720
72
5,589
8,996
72
14,511
Caernarvon
3,064 12
420
3,496 4,708 1,428
44
15 6,195
122
9,813
Denbigh
3,022
13
32
3,467 5,758 1,937
48
24 7,767
207
11,441
Fliut.
•
1,499
13
259
1,771
Glamorgan
2,957
20
208
8,191
2,742
4,825 1,699
822
18
4 3,586
134
5,491
89
30 6,643
252
10,086
Merioneth.
2,110
11
246
Montgomery
3,143 15
325
Pembroke
•
•
2,632
22
339
2,367 2,324 856
3,483 4,600 1,928
2,993 5,003 1,300
58
24 3,262
48
5,677
81
60 6,669
77
10,229
66
15 6,384
93
9,470
Radnor
•
Total Wales.
Isles in the Bri.
1,482
31,807
8
99
:
1,584
2,076
759
92
81
8,008
17
4,609
190 | 3,787
35,777
47,447 17,155 1,300 735 66,037 1,218
103,632
tish Seas
3,752
44
164
:
3,960
•
| 3,247
626
335
38
4,246
287
8,493
AGRICULTURE.
595
II. Account of the Number of Farmers and Graziers, Agricultural Labourers, Garden-
ers, &c., in each County of Scotland in 1841, according to the Census of that Year.

Agricultural Labourers.
Farmers and Graziers.
Gardeners,
Nursery-
men, and
Males.
Females.
Males.
Females.
Florists.
Total
Persons
Counties.
20 Years
and up-
of Age Years
Under
20
of
20
Years
of Age Years
and
Under
20
Total.
of
20 Years
of Age
and up-
Under
20
Years
engaged
20
Years
of Age
and
Under
20
Years
In
Agricul-
Total.
Total.
ture.
of
wards.
of
Age.
up-
wards.
Age.
wards.
Age.
up-
wards.
Age.
Aberdeen
Argyle
8,052 39
586
9,677
9,134
5,896
517
427
15,974
573
25,224
•
3,811
28
707
4,546
5,951
2,097
361
110
8,522
119
13,187
Аут
2,839 28
161
3,028
5,665
1,869
234
61
7,829
803
11,160
Banff,
Berwick
Bute
•
2,301
10
242
2,553
2,562
1,824
303
236
4,925
103
7,581
560
9
10
579
3,443
1,117
623
318
5,501
93
6,173
592
1
19
612
442
291
16
15
764
43
1,419
Caithness
1,768
3
144
1,915
1,610
1,012
397
145
3,164
37
5,116
Clackmannan
•
113
6
7
126
581
166
12
12
771
55
052
Dumbarton.
500
2
19
521
1,468
367
81
25
1,941
141
2,603
Dumfries
1,708
17
133
1,858
4,650
1,632
1,736
901
8,919
161
10,938
Edinburgh.
Elgin or Moray
Fife
•
Forfar
•
632
8
17
657
4,012
1,102
635
116
5,865
1,234
7,756
1,390
1
1,483
1,780
1,287
321
83
3,471
126
5,080
1,187
16
42
1,195
6,019
1,730
555
181
8,485
361
10,041
1,665
14
92
1,771
5,193
2,072
483
157
7,905
402
10,078
Haddington
308
8
5
321
3,610
976
694
434
5,714
133
6,168
Inverness
3,495
22
249
3,766
7,088
1,411
1,138
163
9,800
180
13,746
Kincardine.
1,234
1
97
1,332
2,615
1,345
350
109
4,419
97
5,848
Kinross
157
1
2
160
535
209
54
9
857
15
1,032
Kirkcudbright
1,046
Lanark .
2,395
30
Linlithgow
354
co & er
72
1,123
2,864
709
879
5.5
4,007
126
5,256
127
2,552
7,126
2,109
422
372
10,029
588
13,169
3
15
372
1,423
438
107
89
2,007
77
2,456
Nairn
386
7
393
577
360
209
37
1,183
15
1,591
Orkney and
Shetland.
3,656
14
343
4,013
1,119
761
236
63
2,229
6,251
Peebles
•
245
3
4
252
225
3'5
89
65
1,374
43
1,669
Perth
·
•
3,690
13
176
3,879
7,489
3,534
729
228
11,980
443
16,302
Renfrew.
1,054
18
56
.
1,128
3,432
753
167
58
4,410
328
5,866
Ross and Cro-
2,169
19
153
2,340
5,822
marty.
1,007
853
139
7,826
115
10,281
Roxburgh
664
14
20
698
3,402
985
807
440
5,634
198
6,530
Selkirk
90
2
1
93
601
160
18
6
785
24
902
Stirling
1,194
15
57
1,266
3,393
1,349
150
53
4,945
204
6,415
Sutherland
399
4
47
Wigtown
1,128
1
85
450
1,214
2,115
211
577
11
2,914
16
3,380
2,954
680
217
46
3,897
56
5,167
Total Scotland 50,732 354 3,787
..
54,873 109,550′ 39,854
13,528
5,114 168,046
6,418
229,337
GREAT BRITAIN.

England
•
194,596 2,467 |15,392
Wales
•
Scotland
•
Isles in the
British Seas
31,807 190 3,780
50,732 354 3,787
44
3,752
164
|212,455 |724,625 |139,661
35,777 47,447 17,155
54,873 109,550 39,854
3,960
626
3,247
26,888
8,460
1,300
13,528
335
735
5,114
899,634
66,637
168,046
38 4,246
45,727 1,157,816
1,218
103,632
6,418
229,337
287
8,493
Total
•
•
|280,887 |3,055 23,123
307,065 884,869 |197,296
42,051
14,347 |1,138,563 53,650
1,499,278
The foregoing tables comprise all the information embodied in the
census of 1841, in regard to the number of persons engaged in agri-
cultural employments. Little reliance can, however, be placed on
these returns. The numbers given in them are all very decidedly
below the mark. As formerly observed, all those artizans, such as
smiths, carpenters, saddlers, machine-makers, &c. engaged in the
manufacture of implements for the agriculturists, though essentially
agricultural labourers, are reckoned in the manufacturing class; and
many also of the menial servants, and others employed by the agri-
culturists, are enrolled in the official returns in other classes. It is
difficult to form any estimate of the numbers that should be added to
make up for these deficiencies, to those in the preceding returns, so as
to arrive at the total number engaged in what are really agricultural
employments; but we incline to think, that in Great Britain only
they may be moderately estimated at about 800,000, making in all
2 Q2
596
MINES AND MINERALS.
about 2,300,000 individuals engaged in agriculture and its immedi-
ately subsidiary and dependent employments.
The number of persons engaged in, and dependent upon, agriculture
in Ireland is comparatively much larger than in Great Britain. It
appears from the census of 1841 that there are in Ireland 1,472,787
families, of which no fewer than 974,188 were employed in agriculture.
Hence, as there are very near 5 individuals to a family (11 indi-
viduals to 2 families) in Ireland, it is seen that in that part of the
United Kingdom 5,358,034 persons are directly dependent on the
culture of the soil, out of a population of 8,175,124, and taking into
account its subsidiary employments, the dependence on agriculture will
be proportionally greater.
CHAPTER II.-MINES and MINERALS.
THE mineral riches of Great Britain, if not superior, are at least
equal to those of any other country. We cannot, it is true, boast of
mines of gold or silver; but we possess what is of still more import-
ance to a manufacturing nation, an all but inexhaustible supply of the
most excellent coal. Iron, the most useful of all the metals, is found
in the greatest abundance, and of an exceedingly good quality, in
most parts of the empire. Our tin mines are the most productive of
any in Europe; and we have also very productive and valuable mines
of copper, lead, manganese, &c. Our salt springs, and beds of fossil
salt, are alone sufficient to supply the whole world for an indefinite
period.
The most valuable minerals are situated in the western and northern
parts of England; and in the southern and middle parts of Scotland.
The English mines are the most important. Were a straight line
drawn from the Isle of Portland, in Dorsetshire, to Rugby in War-
wickshire, and thence to Hartlepool, on the coast of Durham, the
country to the east of it would be found to be destitute of coal,
copper, tin, lead, salt, &c. Iron is, indeed, found in various places to
the eastward of the line now mentioned; but, owing to the want of
coal, it is not wrought. This district may, therefore, as compared
with the other parts of the country, be said to be destitute of minerals ;
and, to a considerable extent, also, of those branches of industry for
the successful prosecution of which an abundant supply of minerals is
necessary.
We begin our notices of the different minerals with that of coal, by
far the most important and valuable of them all.
1. COAL. It is hardly possible to exaggerate the advantages
England derives from her vast beds of coal. In this climate, fuel
ranks among the principal necessaries of life; and it is to our coal
mines that we owe abundant and cheap supplies of so indispensable
an article. Had they not existed, wood must have been used as fuel ;
and it is not possible that any attention to the growth of timber
could have furnished a supply equal to the wants of the present
population of Great Britain, even though a large proportion of the
cultivated land had been appropriated to the raising of trees. But,
COAL.
597
however great and signal, this is not the only advantage we derive
from our coal mines: they are the principal source and foundation of
our manufacturing and commercial prosperity. Since the invention of
the steam-engine, coal has become of the highest importance as a
moving power; and no nation, however favourably situated in other
respects, not plentifully supplied with this mineral, need hope to rival
those that are, in most branches of manufacturing industry. To what
is the astonishing increase of Glasgow, Manchester, Birmingham,
Leeds, Sheffield, &c., and the comparatively stationary or declining
state of Canterbury, Winchester, Salisbury, and other towns in the
south of England, to be ascribed? It cannot be pretended, with any
show of reason, that the inhabitants of the former are naturally more
ingenious, enterprising, or industrious, than those of the latter. The
abundance and cheapness of coal in the north, and its scarcity, and
consequent high price, in the south, are the real causes of this striking
discrepancy. The citizens of Manchester, Glasgow, &c., are able, at a
comparatively small expense, to put the most powerful and complicated
machinery in motion; and to produce results quite beyond the reach
of those who have not the same command over coal, or, as it has been
happily defined, "hoarded labour." Our coal mines have been some-
times called the Black Indies; and it is certain that they have con-
ferred a thousand times more real advantage on us than we have
derived from the conquest of the Mogul empire, or than we should
have reaped from the dominion of Mexico and Peru. They have
supplied our manufacturers and artisans with a power of unbounded
energy and easy of control; and enabled them to overcome difficulties
insurmountable by those to whom nature has been less liberal of her
choicest gifts.
Consumption of Coal in Great Britain.—It is uncertain when coal
first began to be used amongst us as fuel: probably it did not long pre-
cede the 13th century. In 1281, however, Newcastle is noticed as
having some trade in this article. In the reign of Edward I. its use,
in London, was prohibited, because of the supposed injurious influence
of its smoke. This prohibition was renewed at several subsequent
periods, but to no purpose. Experience showed that the smoke was
not deleterious; while the growing scarcity, and consequently increased
price, of timber, and the superiority of coal as an article of fuel, se-
cured its ascendancy in despite of every obstacle. Since the reign of
Charles I., it has become almost the only description of fuel used in
London, and in most other towns and districts throughout the kingdom.
The consumption of coal in Great Britain is immense. It was esti-
mated, about 17 years ago, by Mr. Taylor, an experienced coal owner
and engineer, at 15,580,000 tons, exclusive of the exports to foreign
countries. We suspect, however, that this estimate was even then
(1829) under the mark, and the consumption has increased rapidly in
the interval. The yearly importation of water-borne coal into the
port of London amounts, at present, to about 3,000,000 tons. The
population of the district that derives its principal supply from this
source amounts to about 2,600,000, or 2,700,000, giving an annual
supply of above a ton to each individual. There are, no doubt, several
very extensive gas-works, breweries, brick-works, &c., in London
598
MINES AND MINERALS
and its vicinity, in which large quantities of coal are consumed; and
the population may be reckoned more opulent, and, consequently,
able to consume more fuel than that of most other parts of the
kingdom. But, on the other hand, the comparatively high price of
coal in the metropolis and its vicinity reduces its consumption by the
middle and lower classes considerably below the level of the consump-
tion of the same classes in Lancashire and other coal counties. The
researches of Dr. Cleland show that, in 1831, when the population was
202,000, the consumption of coal in Glasgow amounted to 437,000
tons; and we believe we shall make a liberal allowance for the coal
consumed in cotton factories, and other public works of a description
not carried on in London, if we estimate it at 225,000 tons; which
would leave 212,000 tons, or more than a ton for each individual,
for the domestic consumption of the city.-(New Statistical Account of
Scotland, No. 7, p. 162.) On the whole, therefore, we should be
disposed to think that, including the consumption of coal in gas-works,
breweries, distilleries, brick-works, soap-works, sugar-refineries, bake-
houses, and other businesses carried on in the valley of the Thames,
the consumption of Great Britain may be estimated at nearly the
same rate, or at about a ton of coal for each individual, exclusive of
the consumption in iron-works and other great branches of manufacture.
This would give about 20,000,000 tons for what may be called the
domestic consumption of the island in 1846. The domestic consump-
tion of coal in Scotland, in 1813, was estimated in the General Report
(vol. i. p. 66), at 2,000,000 tons; the population being, at the time,
under 1,900,000. But to this quantity many very large additions have
now to be made.
The quantity of iron annually produced in Great Britain may be taken
at 1,750,000 tons; and estimating the quantity of coal required, at an
average, to produce each ton of pig iron, at 3 tons, the consump-
tion in this branch will be 6,125,000 tons a year; to which 3,000,000
tons may be added for the conversion of pig iron into bar iron, making
the total consumption of coal in the iron manufacture 9,125,000 tons.
According to Mr. Kennedy, the quantity of coal consumed in the cotton
manufacture, in 1817, was upwards of 500,000 tons; and the manufac-
ture has since more than quadrupled; so that, allowing for greater
economy, we may fairly estimate the consumption of coal in the cotton
trade at 1,000,000 tons a year. Its consumption in the woollen, linen,
and silk trades, may be taken at about the same. The quantity of
copper ore annually smelted in Great Britain amounts to about 185,000
tons; and it is supposed that about 2 tons of coal are required to smelt
each ton of ore, making the total consumption in this department equal
to 462,500 tons. It is generally believed that the brass and copper
manufactures require nearly as much coal as the copper smelting. In
the salt-works of Cheshire, Worcestershire, &c., the consumption is
probably not under, if it do not exceed, 375,000 tons.
The consump-
tion in lime-works may, it is believed, be estimated at 700,000 tons;
and that of steam-boats, railway carriages, &c., may perhaps be taken
at 1,200,000 tons. It would appear, therefore, that the total annual
consumption of coal in Great Britain may be moderately estimated
as follows:-
COAL.
599
Tons.
Domestic consumption, and smaller manufactures (1846) 20,000,000
Production of pig and bar Iron
Cotton Manufacture
Woollen, Linen, Silk, &c.
Copper Smelting, Brass Manufactures, &c.
Salt-works
Lime-works
•
Railway Carriages, Steamers, &c.
Exports to Ireland
•
Ditto to Colonies and foreign parts (1846)
Total
9,125,000
1,000,000
1,000,000
1,000,000
375,000
700,000
1,200,000
34,400,000
1,500,000
2,500,000
38,400,000
In this estimate no allowance has been made for the coal consumed
in the manufacture of hardware and cutlery at Birmingham, Sheffield,
&c.; so that for this, among other reasons, we do not think it can be
justly accused of exaggeration.
If we suppose that the above quantity of 38,400,000 tons costs the
consumer, at an average, 10s. a ton, it will be worth in all 19,200,0007.
a year!
Supply of Coal in England.-The importance of coal as a necessary
of life, and the degree in which our superiority in arts and manufactures
depends upon our obtaining supplies of it at a cheap rate, has naturally
attracted a good deal of attention to the question, as to the period when
the exhaustion of the coal mines may be anticipated. But the investi-
gations hitherto made in regard to the magnitude and thickness of the
different coal-beds, and the extent to which they may be wrought, are
too vague and unsatisfactory to afford grounds for forming anything
like a tolerably near approximation to a solution of this question. But
such as they are, they are sufficient to show that many centuries must
elapse before posterity can feel any serious difficulties from a diminished
supply of coal. According to Mr. Taylor, to whose estimate of the
consumption of coal we have already referred, the coal-fields of Durham
and Northumberland are adequate to furnish the present annual supply
for more than 1340 years. We subjoin Mr. Taylor's estimate :—
Estimate of the Extent and Produce of the Durham and Northumberland Coal-fields
DURHAM.
From South Shields southward to Castle Eden, 21 miles; thence
westward to West Auckland, 32 miles; north-east from West
Auckland to Eltringham, 33 miles; and then to Shields, 22
miles; being an extent or area of
•
NORTHUMBERLAND.
From Shields northward, 27 miles, by an average breadth of 9
miles
Sq. Miles.
594
243
837
Portion excavated in Durham-on-Tyne, say
in Durham-on-Wear, say
39
40
in Northumberland, say 13 miles by 2
28
79
26
105
732
600
MINES AND MINERALS.
Estimating the workable coal strata at an average thickness of
12 feet, the contents of 1 square mile will be 12,390,000 tons
and of 732 square miles
Deduct 1-3rd part for loss by small coal, interceptions by dikes,
and other interruptions.
Remainder
Tons.
9,069,480,000
3,023, 160,000
.. 6,046,320,000
This remainder is adequate to supply the present vend from New-
castle, Sunderland, and Stockton, of about 4,500,000 tons, for a period
of 1,343 years.
It will be understood that this estimate of the quantity of coal in
Durham and Northumberland can only be an approximation, especially
as the south-eastern coal district of Durham is yet almost wholly un-
explored; but it was framed by its author, in the hope of satisfying the
public that no apprehension need be entertained of this valuable mineral
being exhausted for many future generations.
There is also a considerable extent of coal-field in the northern and
south-western districts of Northumberland; but the foregoing comprises
that which is continuous and most suitable and available for exporta-
tion.-(Lords' Report, 1829, p. 124.)
We may add, that Dr. Buckland, in his examination before the
Committee of the House of Commons on the Coal Duties, quoted with
approbation a passage of Bakewell's Geology, in which it is stated, that
the coal-fields in South Wales are alone sufficient to supply the demand
of England for coal for 2,000 years.
It is unnecessary to add anything more, to show the futility of the
apprehensions of the speedy exhaustion of our coal mines. But, though
we were shut out from South Wales, and though the supply in Northum-
berland and Durham were far more limited than it really is, we should
have nothing to fear. In the West Riding of Yorkshire there are
many extensive coal-beds, hitherto wholly untouched. In Staffordshire
the coal-beds are of immense magnitude, that round Dudley being no
less than 30 feet thick! It is true that, in the present slovenly mode
of working the mines, more than two-thirds of the coal is left in the
mine and wasted (Bakewell's Geology, 4th ed. p. 183); but it is abund-
antly certain that, were there anything like a scarcity of coal appre-
hended, this wasteful practice would be put an end to, and means
would be found of totally exhausting the mines. There are also very
extensive coal-fields in Flintshire and Denbighshire; so that for all
practical purposes, and in relation to such periods of time as may be
supposed to come within the scope of the remotest schemes and combi-
nations, our supply of coal may be considered as inexhaustible.
Supply of Coal in Scotland. The previous statements in regard to
the consumption of coal apply to Great Britain; but those in regard to
its supply are applicable only to England. We should, however, have
a very incorrect notion of the coal-fields of Great Britain, if we omitted
to notice those of Scotland; they are of great extent and value; and
would of themselves suffice to furnish the whole empire with an ade-
quate supply of coal for a very long series of years. We borrow the
following details from the General Report of Scotland :—
"Coal is found in several districts of Scotland, as in Dumfriesshire,
COAL.
601
and Roxburghshire, in the more southern counties; but the great field
of Scotch coal stretches from S. W. to N. E., across the centre of the
kingdom; and is to be found in greater or smaller quantities, in the
shires of Haddington, Edinburgh, and Linlithgow (commonly called
the Lothians), Stirling, Clackmannan, Kinross, Fife, part of Perth, Ayr,
Renfrew, Lanark, Dumbarton, and part of Argyll. Its average breadth
is 33 miles, and its length on the mainland of Scotland, is 98 miles;
consequently, its total area is 3,234 square miles. From this, deduct-
ing 360 miles for the space covered by the Frith of Forth, there will
be left 2,874 square miles of territory, in most parts of which coal is
found at different depths, and of various qualities; and in 600,000
acres of which, it is computed, it may be worked to advantage. The
districts through which this great field of coal extends are by far the
most populous in the kingdom, containing above two-fifths of the people
in less than one-tenth part of the space; and the soil in general is well
cultivated. This improved cultivation is, in no small degree, to be
attributed to the advantages arising from the extensive distribution,
easy conveyance, and moderate price of coal; for wherever fuel is most
abundant, there the population is greatest, and manufactures, commerce,
and agriculture, mutually aid and stimulate each other.
"The depth of coal varies, but in general it seems to be rather nearer
the surface in the western than in the eastern division of the country.
There is also a great variety in the number of its seams or strata, and
their thickness. The most extraordinary thickness in the island is at
Quarrelton, near Paisley, where five contiguous seams are upwards of
50 feet thick. Seams less than 18 inches are not deemed equivalent to
the expense of working."-(General Report of Scotland, i. p. 64.)
Number of Persons engaged in the British Coal Trade.—Mr. Buddle,
of Wallsend, an extremely well informed coal engineer, estimated as
follows, the number of persons engaged in the different departments
of the coal trade on the Tyne and Wear, in the conveyance of coal to
London, and in the London coal-trade in 1829:-"I hold a paper in
my hand, stating the number of people employed in the coal trade in
each department. I would beg to observe, the returns from the Tyne
are official documents; from the Wear I have no returns, but it is by
an approximate calculation. The number of persons employed under
ground on the Tyne are,-men, 4,937; boys, 3,554; together, 8,491:
above ground,-men, 2,745; boys, 718; making 3,463: making the
total employed in the mines above and below ground, 11,954, which,
in round numbers, I call 12,000, because I am pretty sure there were
some omissions in the returns. On the river Wear, I conceive there
are 9,000 employed; making 21,000 employed in digging the coal, and
delivering it to the ships on the two rivers. From the best calculations
I have been able to make, it would appear that, averaging the coasting
vessels that carry coals at the size of 220 London chaldrons each vessel,
there would be 1,400 vessels employed, which would require 15,000
seamen and boys. I have made a summary. There are seamen 15,000;
pitmen and above-ground people employed at the collieries, 21,000;
keel-men, coal-boatmen, casters, and trimmers, 2,000; making the total
number employed in what I call the northern coal trade, 38,000. In
London, whippers, lightermen, and so forth, 5,000; factors, agents,
602
MINES AND MINERALS.
&c., on the coal exchange, 2,500; 7,500 in all, in London. Making
the grand total in the north country and London departments of the
trade, 45,500. This does not, of course, include the persons employed
at the outposts in discharging the ships there."
But though this estimate came from a well-informed quarter, it was
intended to set the importance of the trade in the most striking point
of view, and we have been well assured that it was not a little exag-
gerated. Notwithstanding the great increase of the trade in the
interval we doubt, whether it now (1846) employs as many persons as
it is said by Mr. Buddle to have done in 1829. But supposing such
to be the case, and that the coal trade of the Tyne and Wear, includ-
ing the home consumption, amounts to one-seventh part of the coal
trade of Great Britain, it follows as 21,000 persons are engaged above
and below ground on the Tyne and the Wear, and in carrying the
coal to the ships, that there will be in Great Britain seven times this
number, or 147,000 persons, engaged in the raising of coal and in its
land carriage; and adding to these 30,000 for the seamen, wharfingers,
and others employed in the trade from the Tyne, the Wear, and the
Tees, to the south, and from Whitehaven, Liverpool, Ayr, &c., to
Ireland, and the trade by sea with other places, we get 177,000 as the
total number of persons directly engaged in the British coal trade.
We do not of course put forth this as an accurate estimate: we have
stated the grounds on which it is made; and it is merely to be regarded,
in the absence of more authentic information, as an approximation to
the real state of the case.
Gradation of Workmen in Coal Mines." There are trap-door
keepers, boys who attend to the doors, to open and shut them to let the
workmen pass to and from the working places; these doors are neces-
sary to keep the current of the air to the front of the working places,
and thus sweep off the gas which is evolved from the coal. The next
class in age and size is the rolley drivers, who are stouter boys, gene-
rally about 12 to 14 years of age; those boys are the drivers of the
horses which convey the coals from the crane to the bottom of the
shaft. There is another class of boys called putters, who are stronger
lads, and whose ages vary from 15 to 22 or 23 years; those lads are
employed in bringing the corves, filled with coal, from the hewers
working at the face of the bords, or the pillars working to the crane,
where they are lifted to the trains and put upon the rolleys, which
bring them to the bottom of the shaft. The next class is the hewers,
who are the producers of the coal. The next gradation in rank is the
deputy, who is under the immediate direction of the overman; this
man has the management of the pit, and the care of the miners, in the
absence of the overman. The next in station is the overman, who gives
the daily directions to the miner as to the working of the mine; he
takes an account of their daily earnings, and sees that each working
place is properly ventilated before the miner is permitted to go to it.
Then the underviewer, whose business it is to descend the mine daily,
and see that all is right in the ventilation and general management;
he consults with the overmen, and gives them such directions as he
sees necessary, if nothing occurs of so much moment as to require his
previous communication with the viewer, and to take his directions as
COAL.
603
to what may be necessary for the management of the mine. The viewer
is the chief superintendent."—(Report of 1835 on Accidents in Mines,
p. 87.)
Mode of paying Colliers' Wages, &c.-Colliers are always paid by
the piece, and consequently their wages, although at the same rate per
chaldron, vary according to the quantity of work they have to do; and
it is difficult to form an average, they vary so very considerably; they
have varied from 14s. a-week to, in some instances, 40s. The colliers
can earn up to 5s., or even more, per day; but there is not full em-
ployment for them; they sometimes do not earn more than half that
sum; 2s. 6d. is the certain wages that they are hired to receive from
their employers, whether they are employed or not; that is, conse-
quently, a tax on the coal owner, during the suspension of his colliery
from any accident. The men have the option of finding work else-
where; but if they cannot do this, they may call upon their master to
pay them 14s. a-week.
Accidents in Coal Mines.-These, we regret to say, are very fre-
quent. They arise principally from explosions of inflammable gas, but
partly also from the presence of carbonic acid gas, or choke damp, and
partly from other causes. The returns of these casualties are very far
from complete; but the committee of the House of Commons appointed
to inquire into the subject, in 1835, state that, defective as the returns
are, they show that 2,070 persons had lost their lives in coal mines
within the previous 25 years. While the committee was sitting, an
explosion took place in one of the northern coal mines, by which 101
men and boys were destroyed in an instant, and many similar accidents
have since occurred. The report of the committee serves rather to
show the dangerous nature of the evil to be contended with than any-
thing else. In many instances, not one of those engaged in mines that
have exploded has survived to tell how the accident arose; and the
causes of explosions, and the means of obviating them, have not been
subjected to the continued or searching investigation of scientific men.
It appears that, during the period that has elapsed since the introduction
of Sir Humphrey Davy's lamp, decidedly more accidents have taken
place in the northern mines than during any equal previous period.
This, however, is not to be ascribed to the instrument not realizing the
expectations of its illustrious inventor, but to the fact of very dangerous,
or, as they are expressively called, " fiery mines," being wrought by
its means, that must otherwise have been long ago abandoned. It is,
however, clearly established that, under certain circumstances, and
especially when exposed to a current of air, the safety lamp is no pro-
tection at all. As matters now stand, all the more dangerous mines
require in their working a degree of vigilant and continuous attention
that can hardly be expected from ordinary workmen, and especially
from boys. The smallest inattention, the placing a lamp where it
should not be placed, the closing of a door that should not be closed,
or the opening of one that should be kept shut, the accidental striking
of a spark, or any such occurrence, may occasion an explosion, and the
instant death of hundreds.
At present, it would seem to be the opinion of the most experienced
miners that efficient ventilation is the only thing to be depended on.
604
MINES AND MINERALS.
But the statements in the report go to show, what we have been other-
wise well assured of, that this indispensable security is, in numerous
instances, too little attended to.
The question whether the legislature should interfere in such a case
is one of much difficulty, and involves various considerations. Cer-
tainly, however, it does appear to us that the working of "fiery,” or
unusually dangerous mines, should not be permitted till they have been
so ventilated, or otherwise secured, that the risk of danger may be
obviated with ordinary attention. It is useless to trust anything_to
the disinclination of the pitmen to engage in dangerous mines. By
daily exposure to danger they become habituated to and careless about
it; and, besides, they are apt to trust implicitly to the reports of
"viewers" and others, who are quite as much interested in getting the
coal brought cheaply to the pit mouth as in the security of the mine.
It has been suggested that it would be good policy, in the view of
making the owners and overseers more attentive to the state of their
mines, to compel them to make provision for the widows and other de-
pendants of the parties losing their lives in them. And there can be no
doubt that a regulation of this sort would be the most effectual of any.
But before resorting to other means, it might be well, in the first
place, to see whether the resources of science might not be made to
yield greater security. And, on this ground, we think that a commis-
sion, consisting partly of eminent scientific men, and partly of the most
skilful mining engineers, might be advantageously appointed to inquire
into the state of the mines, in the view of preventing accidents, and of
increasing the security and comfort of the miners. Some very de-
structive accidents have taken place, even in the course of this present
year (1846).
Profits of Coal Mining.-Instead of the business of coal mining
being, generally speaking, an advantageous one, it is distinctly the
reverse. Sometimes, no doubt, large fortunes have been made by
individuals and associations engaged in this business; but these are rare
instances. The opening of a mine is a very expensive and hazardous
operation, and of very uncertain result. Collieries are exposed to an
infinite number of accidents, against which no caution can guard.
Besides explosions, which are every now and then occurring from the
carelessness of the workmen, and other contingencies, mines are very
liable to be destroyed by creeps, or by the sinking of the roof, and by
drowning, or the irruption of water from old workings, through fissures
which cannot be seen, and, consequently, cannot be guarded against.
So great, indeed, is the hazard attending this sort of property, that it
has never been possible to effect an insurance on a coal-work against
fire, water, or any other accident.
66
Mr. Buddle, who was intimately acquainted with the state of the
coal-trade, informed the Committee of the House of Lords, that
although many collieries, in the hands of fortunate individuals and
companies have been, perhaps, making more than might be deemed a
reasonable and fair profit, according to their risk, like a prize in a
lottery, yet, as a trade, taking the whole capital employed on both
rivers, he should say that certainly it has not been so."-(First Re-
port, p. 56.) Again, being asked, "What have the coal owners on
COAL.
605
the Tyne and Wear, in your opinion, generally made on their capital
employed?" he replied, " According to the best of my knowledge, I
should think that by no means 10 per cent. has been made at simple
interest, without allowing any extra interest for the redemption of
capital." (p 57.)
Irish Coal Mines.-There are mines of coal in Ireland, at Bally-
castle, on the north coast of Antrim; at Arigna, in Leitrim; at
Castle-Comer, in Kilkenny; and in some other places. The mines
now mentioned are all wrought, but not to any considerable extent.
The quality of the Irish coal is, in general, bad; and we agree in Mr.
Wakefield's opinion, that "there is no vein of coal yet discovered in
Ireland which can come into general consumption.”—(i. 621.) As
already stated, almost all the coal used in Dublin, Belfast, and other
towns, is imported from England and Scotland.
Duty on Coal.-A duty on sea-borne coal was imposed in the reign
of William III., and continued till 1830. A duty of this sort fell, of
course, principally on London and the southern and south-eastern
counties, and was not at all felt in the coal districts, or in those places
to which coal could be conveyed by inland carriage. It is impossible,
in fact, to imagine a more partial, unequal, and oppressive impost. At
the period of its repeal it amounted to 6s. a chaldron, and produced
about 900,000l. a-year. Duties appropriated for local purposes are still
charged on the coal imported into London and some other ports. In
1845 the entire importation of coal into London amounted to 3,461,169
tons; of which only 68,687 tons were brought by internal navigation
and land carriage. We subjoin
An Account of the Cargoes and Quantities of Coals brought Coastways and by
Inland Navigation into the Port of London in 1841, 1842, 1843 and 1844.

Cargoes.
Quantities.
Ports whence Shipped.
1841
1842
1843
1844
1841
1842
1843
1844
No.
No.
No.
No.
Newcastle •
3,849
3,580 3,595
3,185
Sunderland
2,801
2,448 2,374
2,258
Tons.
1,246,710
837,770
Tons.
1,164,832
728,132
Tons.
1,137,037
698,373
Tons.
1,001,621
639,726
Stockton
2,099
2,067
1,979
1,986
552,531
562,302
521,920
504,823
Blythe and Seaton Sluice
372
408
421
313
98,591
100,294
98,622
76,361
Leith, Inverkeithing, Kirk-
caldy, and other parts of
Scotland.
229
201
148
354
25,634
19,484
12,108
66,347
Swansea, Llanelly, Milford,
and other parts of Wales
244
249
307
318
74,315
73,699
79,924
83,039
Hull, Goole, Gainsborough,
and other parts of York-
shire
673
703
712
945
66,705
69,512
71,034
94,199
Sundry Places, Small Coal,
&c.
44
35
57
107
6,888
4,945
9,502
24,794
Quantity which passed the
boundary stone on the
Grand Junction Canal at
Grove Park, Herts, and
the River Thames at
Staines
5
:
418
31,519
34,594
72,256
Total
10,316 9,691 9,593 9,466 2,909,562 2,754,719 2,663,114 2,563,166
Exports.-The coal exported in 1845 amounted to 2,531,282 tons.
All coal exported to countries having reciprocity treaties with Great
Britain, and to colonies, is duty free. France, Holland, Russia, Prus-
sia, Germany, the British North American and West Indian Colonies,
the East Indies, Spain, the United States, &c., are the principal foreign
markets for British coal.
2. IRON.-We are ignorant of the period when iron began to be
606
MINES AND MINERALS.
made in England; but there is authentic evidence to show that iron-
works were established by the Romans in the Forest of Dean, in Glou-
cestershire, and in other parts of the kingdom.* They were also esta-
blished, at an early period, in Kent and Sussex; these counties being
well supplied, not only with iron ore, but (which was, at the time, of
still more importance) with timber, the only species of fuel that was
then used in the furnaces. It is to this latter circumstance that the
slow increase in the production of iron in England, during a lengthened
period, is to be ascribed. Complaints were very early made of the
destruction of timber by the iron works; and in the reign of Elizabeth,
when an unusual demand for timber for the navy, and for merchant
vessels also took place, the decrease of timber excited a great deal of
attention. At length, in 1581, an Act was passed prohibiting the
manufacturers of iron from using any but small wood, and from esta-
blishing any new works anywhere within 22 miles of the city of London,
and 14 miles of the river Thames, and in several parts of Sussex specified
in the Act. Soon after this Edward Lord Dudley invented a process
for smelting iron ore with pit-coal instead of timber; and it is not
possible, perhaps, to point out another invention that has been more
advantageous. The patent which his Lordship obtained in 1619 was
exempted from the operation of the Act of 1623, (21 James I. c. 23,)
setting aside monopolies; but though, in its consequences, it has proved
of immense value to the country, the works of the inventor were de-
stroyed by an ignorant rabble, and he was well nigh ruined by his
efforts to introduce and perfect his process.† The invention seems, in
consequence, to have been for many years almost forgotten. The com-
plaints of the destruction of timber continued; so much so that, in 1637,
the exportation of iron without licence was prohibited, and fresh restric-
tions were laid on the felling of timber. But the evil could not be
abated by such means; and, in the early part of last century, complaints
of the destruction of timber by the iron-works became more prevalent
than ever, and their total suppression began to be contemplated as a
lesser evil than the continued decrease of the stock of timber. At this
period more than two-thirds of the iron made use of was imported, and
the condition of the manufacture was most unprosperous. But the
growing scarcity and high price of timber, coupled with the increasing
demand for iron, at last succeeded in drawing the attention of some
ingenious persons to Lord Dudley's process; and about 1740 iron was
made at Colebrook Dale, and one or two other places, by means of pit-
coal, of as good a quality as that made with timber. From this period
the business steadily increased; at first, however, its progress was com-
paratively slow, and the furnaces of Kent and Sussex were not wholly
relinquished for more than 30 years after iron began to be largely pro-
duced by means of pit-coal. The great demand for iron occasioned by
the late war, and the obstacles which it threw in the way of supplies
from abroad, gave the first extraordinary stimulus to the manufacture,
which has since become of vast importance and great value. In 1740
the quantity of pig-iron made in England and Wales amounted to about
17,000 tons, produced by 59 furnaces. Since this epoch, the increase
*Pennant's Wules, ed. 1810, vol. i. p. 89.
† Report of Committee of House of Commons on Patents, p. 168, &c.
IRON.
607
is believed to have been as follows, viz., in 1750, 22,000 tons; in 1788,
68,000 tons, produced by 85 furnaces; in 1796, 125,000 tons, pro-
duced by 121 furnaces; in 1806, 250,000 tons, produced by 169
furnaces; and in 1820, about 400,000 tons were produced; but there
is no account of the number of furnaces. From extensive inquiries
made by government and parties connected with the iron trade, the fol-
lowing statements have been deduced. They exhibit the districts in
which iron is made the number of furnaces, and the total quantity
produced in 1825, 1830, and 1840:-
Account of the Number of Furnaces, and of the Quantities of Iron produced, in
1825, 1830, and 1840.

Districts.
Number of Furnaces.
Tons of Iron produced.
1825
1830
1840
Tons of
Coal con-
sumed in
Production
of Pig
Iron.
In
Blast.
Out. Total. Total.
In
Blast.
Out. Total.
1325
1830
1840
1840
South Wales
Staffordshire
Shropshire.
Yorkshire
Derbyshire
North Wales
Forest of Dean
•
•
•
•
Scotland
Ireland
Various
(including
Northumberland)
•
****** :`N
80
27 107 113 132
80
27 107 123
36
13
49
22
12
34 27
14
5
19
8
6
14
5
5
8
25
***** 27:
123
48
18
20
********:
31
163
23 151
7 31
7
3
8222854
230,412
277,643
505,000
1,436,000
182,156
212,604
427,650
1,665,000
89,
596
73,418
82,750
40º,000
32
39,104
27,926
56,0.0
306,500
18
22,672
17,999
31,000
120,000
17,756
25,000
26,500
110,000
15,500
€0,000
70
33,540
37,500
241,000
723,000
:
3,000
.
→
5,327
11,000
38,500
Totals
•
259 103 362 376 402
88
490618,236 677,417 1,396,400 4,877,000
The increase of production, as shown in this table, is to be matched
only by the progress of the cotton manufacture, after the inventions of
Arkwright and others; and, extraordinary as it may appear, the increase
in the course of the five years ending with 1845 will be found to have
been little, if at all, inferior. It will be seen from the subjoined table,
that the make of iron in Scotland, in 1853, was at the rate of 685,750
tons a-year; and sundry new furnaces being then in the course of
erection, the make in 1854, will not be under, if it do not exceed,
700,000 tons a-year! Estimating the make in England at 1,600,000
tons, the total make in the United Kingdom, in 1854, will be 2,300,000
tons!
►
Account of the Number of Furnaces, for the Production of Iron in Scotland In and Out
of Blast, in December 1853, with the Number of Furnaces then Building, and the
Weekly and Annual Produce of Iron.
Works.
Gartsherrie.
Dundyvan
Summerlee
Langloan
•
Calder
Carnbroe
Monkland
Where situated.
Furnaces
in
Blast.
Furnaces
Building.
Out.
Lanarkshire
15
1
6
3
6
6
5
4
8
321
Weekly Yearly
Produce. Produce.
Tons.
1,800
Tons.
90,000
660 33,000
720
36,000
720 36,000
650
32,500
520 26,000
880
44,000
609
MINES AND MINERALS.
Account of the Number of Furnaces, &c.-continued.

Works.
Where situated.
in
Blast.
Furnaces Furnaces
Out.
Building.
Weekly Yearly
Produce.
Produce.
Tons.
Tons.
Shotts
Lanarkshire
3
1
Castlehill
3
Coltness
6
Omoa
Clyde
345
17,250
345
17,250
690
34,500
•
Glengarnock
Blair
Eglinton
Muirkirk
Lugar
Portland
Dalmellington
New Cumnock.
Ardeer
Govan
Garscube
Carron
Devon
Forth
Lochgelly
Lumphinnans
Kinniel
•
Linlithgow
Ayrshire
4
5
4
460
23,000
Dumbartonshire
Stirlingshire
Fifeshire
""
2
2 2 2 1
• 225 N
450
22,500
600
30,000
230
11,500
220
11,000
1
575
28,750
230
11,500
2
,"
""
429 43
2 2 2
460
23,000
000
3
300
15,000
1,200
60,000
1
560
28,000
330
16,500
4
1
250
12,500
1
300
15,000
1
,,
220 11,000
4
•
114
30
CO
6
13,715 685.750
N.B.-The weekly quantity is multiplied by 50 only, the average stoppages
being equal to two weeks per annum.
The whole of the above iron is made by means of heated air.
Bar Iron Works in Scotland in December 1853.

Works.
Where situated.
Weekly
Produce.
Tons.
Monkland
•
Lanarkshire
750
Govan
•
Dundyvan
Mossend
Glasgow
330
""
St. Rollox
Coatbridge
•
330
East of Scotland Fifeshire
160
Muirkirk
250
375
Works.
Where situated.
Weekly
Produce.
Tons.
Lanarkshire
65
50
50
Ayrshire
70
2,430
Motherwell
30 cwt. of pig iron to the ton of bars.
The above Malleable Iron Works are all situated near Glasgow, with the excep
tion of the East of Scotland and Muirkirk.
Bar Iron Works erccting in Scotland in December 1853.

Works.
Where situated.
Quantity intended to be
Made.
Blochearn, Glasgow
•
Lanarkshire
300 tons per week
Airdrie .
80
""
The above works erecting will be in operation in the course of two months.
IRON.
609
This astonishing increase has been owing to a great variety of
causes, among the more prominent of which may be specified the
greater cheapness of iron, and its consequent application to a great many
purposes, including the construction of various descriptions of agricul-
tural implements, pipes for the conveyance of water, and even the
building of ships, for which it was not formerly supposed to be appli-
cable. Unquestionably, however, the unprecedented demand for iron
for railways in this country, and in the United States and the continent,
has, within the last three or four years, given the most powerful stimu-
lus to the manufacture; and, if a tenth part of the railway projects now
(1846) on foot be executed, the production of iron, vast as it at present
is, will be quite inadequate to supply the demand.
It will, however, readily occur to the reader that a demand for iron
for railways, depending, as the formation of the latter does, on so many
varying circumstances, must necessarily be both capricious and fluc-
tuating; and hence it is not really possible to infer from the state of
the iron trade at any given period what may be its state a few months
after. Even so late as 1842 and 1843 the price of pig-iron had sunk to
from 21. to 31. per ton, and the manufacturers in the least favoured
districts were involved in the greatest difficulties. But within the last
two years the price of iron has doubled or trebled; and larger fortunes
have been made in this than in any other department of industry.
Similar mutations will, doubtless, take place in future. On the whole,
however, the fair presumption seems to be that the manufacture will
go on increasing for an indefinite period. The uses to which iron may
be applied seem to be all but infinite; and every fall of its price always
introduces it into new channels. Most probably, indeed, the works
situated in the least favoured districts, or those where iron is produced
at the greatest expense, will, in the course of time, have to be aban-
doned. This, however, is merely a local and accidental grievance, and
can in nowise affect the general well-being of the business.
The employment of the hot-blast, or of air heated to a high tem-
perature, instead of common atmospheric air, in the working of fur-
naces, has been one of the greatest improvements in the manufacture,
and has at once reduced the cost of iron and increased its quantity. It
was first used in Lanarkshire, in Scotland, and has been one of the
principal causes of the extraordinary extension of the trade in that part.
of the empire, where it is now universally made use of.
Taking the annual produce of pig-iron in the United Kingdom at
2,300,000 tons, and supposing that about 3 tons of coal are required
for the production of each ton of iron, the consumption of coal in this
branch of the iron trade will, on this hypothesis, amount to 6,900,000
tons a-year; and adding to this quantity 3,000,000 tons for the coal
required for the conversion of pig-iron into bar-iron, it follows that a
supply of no fewer than 9,900,000 tons of coal will be annually required
in this single department of industry! And hence, also, the fact that
the consumption of coal in the production of iron is about three times
as great as its consumption in the metropolis!
About three-tenths of the total quantity of iron produced is used in
the state of pig, or cast-iron, and is consumed principally in Great
VOL. I.
*
2 R
610
MINES AND MINERALS.
Britain and Ireland; the exports of pig-iron amounted, however, in
1853, to 329,511 tons, sent principally to the United States, Holland,
and France. The other seven-tenths are converted into wrought-iron,
being formed into bars, bolts, rods, &c. The exports of bar-iron
amounted, in 1853, to above 653,000 tons, and the exports of all sorts
of iron are, probably, at present (1854,) not under 1,250,000 tons;
which, at 107. a-ton, would be worth 12,500,000l.
Supposing the total quantity of pig-iron produced in Great Britain
to amount to 2,300,000 tons a-year, and to be worth, at an average,
67. a-ton, its total value will be 13,800,000l.; and the additional labour
expended in forming the pig-iron into bar-iron, that is, into bars, bolts,
rods, &c., may, probably, add about 4,000,000l. more to its value;
making it worth in all about 17,800,000l.
The increased production of iron has not only led to its exportation
in immense quantities, but has reduced our imports of foreign iron for
home consumption from about 34,000 tons, which they amounted to at
an average of the five years ending with 1805, to from 20,000 to
25,000 tons, consisting principally of Swedish iron, which is subse-
quently manufactured into steel, for which it is peculiarly well fitted.
Amount of Capital and Number of Hands engaged in the Produc-
tion of Iron.-It appears from the previous statements, that South
Wales, (including Monmouthshire,) Staffordshire, and Shropshire, par-
ticularly the first two, are the grand seats of the iron trade.
We regret
our inability to lay any details before the reader on which much reliance
can be placed as to the amount of capital and the number of persons
engaged in the business. In 1806 it was proposed to lay a tax on pig-
iron; and, among other arguments in opposition to the tax, the pro-
ducers contended that the capital employed in the establishment and
support of the works amounted to 5,000,000l., and that they supported
a population of 200,000 persons. Inasmuch, however, as this state-
ment was made by persons engaged in the trade, and anxious, by dis-
playing its importance, not only to avert the threatened tax, but to
increase their own consequence in a public point of view, it may fairly
be reckoned as a good deal exaggerated. But even admitting the
estimate of the capital, &c., then engaged in it to have been correct, it
would not be increased, owing to the improvements that have been
made in the business, in anything like the proportion in which the latter
has increased. Without pretending to give any very positive opinion
on the subject, we may, perhaps, be warranted in estimating the total
amount of capital at present engaged in the trade at about 30,000,000%.,
and the number of persons engaged in and dependent on the various
departments of the business at from 150,000 to 175,000.
The following table, extracted from the returns obtained under the
late census, gives an account of the number and description of persons
engaged in iron-mines and iron-works in Great Britain :
IRON.
611
Table showing the Number of Males and the Number of Females above and below 20
Years of Age engaged in Iron Mines and the Iron Manufacture in Great Britain
in 1841.

Males.
Iron Mines.
Females.
20 Years of Age
and upwards.
Under 20 Years
of Age.
and upwards.
20 Years of Age
Under 20 Years
of Age.
Total.
Iron Manufacture.
Males.
Females.
and upwards.
20 Years of Age
Under 20 Years
of Age.
20 Years of Age
and upwards.
Under 20 Years
of Age.
Total.
Total Iron.
Males.
Females.
20 Years of Age
and upwards.
Under 20 Years
of Age.
20 Years of Age
and upwards.
Under 20 Years
of Age.
Total.
England,
Wa.es, &c.
Scotland.
5,933 2,174
399
53
8,559 19,930 5,535
271 142
•
1,840 505 25
20
2,390 2,741 840
30
8
424
Total Great Į
Britain. }7,773 2,679 73 10,949 22,671 6,375 301
case.
·
25,878 25,863 7,709 670 195 34,437
3,619 4,581 1,345 55 28 6,009
150 |29,497 30,444| 9,054| 725 223 40,446
It would seem from this table as if the total number of persons em-
ployed in iron-mines and in the production and manufacture of iron did
not exceed 40,446. Such, however, is very far from being really the
The persons employed in raising the coal used in smelting the
ores and manufacturing the iron, are obviously as much entitled to be
classed among those engaged in the business as those employed in the
iron-mines; and the same may be said of those employed as carriers in
the conveyance of coal and ore to the works, and of the smiths, car-
penters, brickmakers and bricklayers, engineers, and others, employed
in the construction of the works and in keeping them in repair.
it is the opinion of those best acquainted with such matters, that when
allowance is made for the parties now referred to, and others engaged
in the subsidiary departments of the business, the total number of those
really engaged in it will be a great deal more than double the number
given in the census returns.
And
We borrow from the treatise on the manufacture of iron, written for
the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, the following state-
ment of the number and description of persons employed in and about
a work with fire furnaces and a forge and mill capable of producing
about 200 tons a-week of bar iron. It strikingly illustrates and corro-
borates the previous statements :--
Colliers, including road-men, horse-tenders, and sundry la-
bourers.
Miners, including stacking and loading the mine, road-
men,horse-tenders, and sundry labourers
Furnaces, &c., including furnace labour, viz., keepers, fillers,
refiners, cokers, pig-weighers, engineers, fitters-up, mould-
ers, smiths, carpenters, sawyers, stablemen, brickmakers,
masons, machine-men, carriers, &c. &c. .
Forge and mill, viz., puddlers, shinglers, rollers, catchers,
straighteners, smiths, ballers, engineers, bur-weighers,
clerks, &c. &c.
Agents, overlookers, and others, not included in the above
Totals
Men, Women. Boys.
280
27
395 40
73
257
39
3
10
145
5
55
31
1,108
84
191
2 R 2
612
MINES AND MINERALS.
The iron-works of South Wales and Monmouthshire are comprised
in a range of country of about 25 miles from one extremity to the
other, stretching in the direction of north-west and south-east. The
works at Hirwain in Brecknock, and Aberdare in Glamorgan, form
the extreme points to the westward. Then comes Merthyr Tydvil,
the focus, as it were, of the manufacture; and from Merthyr there is
a continued line of furnaces formed by the works at Dowlais, Romney,
Tredegar, Sir Howey, Beaufort, Nant-y-Glo, Blaenafon, Varteg,
Abersychan, and Pontypool, which finishes the principal range in that
direction.
The progress of the manufacture in South Wales and Monmouth-
shire has been rapid beyond all precedent. Merthyr Tydvil and the
contiguous district, the seat of the immense works of Messrs. Guest
and Co., the largest in the empire; of Crawshay and Co., Thomson
and Co., &c.; was, about the middle of last century, an insignificant
village. In proof of this, it is sufficient to state, that, in 1755, the
lands and mines for several miles round the village, the seat of the great
works now referred to, were let for 99 years for 2007. a year! In 1841,
the population of Merthyr Tydvil amounted to 34,977; and the in-
crease at Tredegar, in Monmouthshire, and other seats of the business,
has been nearly similar.
The Staffordshire iron-works, including those of Warwickshire, are
principally situated in the district stretching from Wolverhampton
round by Walsall to Birmingham, and then round by Dudley. Cole-
brookdale is the principal seat of the iron-works of Shropshire.
The Scottish iron-works, though latterly they have began to be es-
tablished in various parts of the country, are mostly within no great
distance of Glasgow; and the advantages which the country round that
city enjoys for the prosecution of the business, in an inexhaustible
supply of coal and ironstone, with the command of improved commu-
nications by land and water, warrant the presumption that it will pre-
serve its ascendancy as a principal seat of this important branch of
industry.
Instead of using, as had hitherto been done, the cool blast, or a blast
of common atmospheric air, in working furnaces, the proprietors of the
Clyde iron-works began some years since to use the "hot blast,” or
air heated to a high temperature. This discovery has been of material
importance; and has led to a considerable saving of expense in fuel,
and consequently, in conducting the manufacture. It is now adopted
at many works in England, and even in France, as well as in
Scotland.
Iron was formerly made in considerable quantities in various parts
of Ireland, its manufacture having contributed in no slight degree to
the destruction of the woods in that country. Boate tells us that the
iron-works of the great Earl of Cork, in Munster, produced to his lord-
ship a clear profit of 100,000l. (Natural History, p. 137, edit. 1652);
but, owing to the scarcity of timber, the iron-works were subsequently
almost entirely abandoned. The attempts that have been made within
these few years, to revive them at Arigna and other places, have been
very unsuccessful.-(See vol. i. p. 397.)
IRON.
613
Account of the Quantities of British Iron (including Unwrought Steel) Exported from
the United Kingdom in 1851, distinguishing the Kinds of Iron, and specifying the
Quantities sent to different Countries.

Wrought Iron, viz.
Countries to which Iron,
Exported.
Bar
Bolt
and Rod
Of all
Pig.
Iron.
Cast
Iron.
Iron
Wire.
Iron.
Anchors,
Grap-
nels,
&c.
other
Old Iron
for
Un-
Re-ma-wrought
Sorts
Hoops. Nails.
nufac- Steel.
(except
ture.
Ord-
nance).
Tons.
Tons.
Tons.
Tons.
Tons.
Tons.
Tons.
Tons.
Tons.
Tons.
Tons.
Russia
Sweden
Norway.
Denmark
Prussia
2,837
2,220
138
1,027
280
190
3
169
604
786
567
50
6
88
4
194
17
Σ
66
6
1,688
3,825
117
415
26
340
122
5
563
140
20
8,676
2,583
642
79
48
368
941
16
1,073
233
59
16,780
4,905
97
19
18
116
44
41
1,887
9,037
169
Mecklenburgh
Hanover
260
292
79
124
9
58
123
1
87
4
1,743
5,943
1,036
87
76
111
193
3
742
80
14
Oldenburgh.
Hanseatic Towns
•
554
7,756
558
78
10
27
69
9,482
1,553
500
*107
809
1,593
•103
103
7,120
706
*770
Heligoland
3
1
..
Holland
22,536
8,059
458
937
i20
1,099
1,381
97
5,413
99
452
Belgium.
34
5
16
883
17
1
85
610
Channel Islands
295
920
108
314
5
200
35
160
277
4
15
France
12,031
554
225
10
20
189
389
2
1,122
119
:
Portugal, Azores,
1,168
5,904
2,060
47
27
143
1,673
69
685
10
and Madeira
•
Spain and the
Canaries
4,697
1,077
63
933
272
725
2,081
39
1,210
365
87
·
Gibraltar.
20
310
14
6
2
167
33
43
13
70
Italy
9,485
23,232
2,970
1,687
200
1,107
2,533
131
2,529
1,596
351
Malta
795
42
9
6
80
17
67
:
Ionian Islands
259
2
Greece
895
96
2
1
៦៨៩
15
6
18
46
79
24
Turkish Domi-
nions, exclusive
of Wallachia,
Moldavia, Syria,
Palestine, and
Egypt
Wallachia
Moldavia
Syria and Palestine
Egypt
417
3,794
2,712
180
35
387
152
70
1,016
13
..
•
•
and
}
80
1,656
515
2
104
560
78
840
:
109
59
1
1
30
20
3
12
341
1,152
102
84
17
17
102
21
101
Algeria
260
100
:
Morocco
2
1
8
25
Western Coast of
Africa.
1,705
34
428
31
606
28
171
1
British Possessions
in South Africa }
Cape Verde Islands
25
1,147
24
224
2
216
200
143
475
:
12
10
14
1
1
3
Philippine Islands
Hong Kong)
in Australia
St. Helena and
Ascension Islands
Mauritius
Aden
•
British Territories
in the East Indies
Java
China (including
}
British Settlements 1,937
•
South Sea Islands
British North Ame-
rican Colonies.
British West Indies
& British Guiana
Foreign West Indies
United
1
18
1
2
4
::
10
518
174
1
56
42
187
191
2
1
..
1,148 | 80,382
60
2,083
2,708
27
472
2,092
331
5,308
81
1,603
174
56
7
247
89
51
171
10
200
43
6
5
114
30
2
25
160
521
3,215
23
61
24
298
26
49
:
:
•
3,117
130
1,457
44
368
832
1,796
1,659
86
53
2
2
1
6
2
36
}|23,117
23,117 48,601
298
3,545
200
8,701
2,108
2,089
6,788
482
80
1,023
26
1,240
51
86
749
1,098
1,473
90
3,066
451
2,789
14
56
341
633
1,309
2
256
9
25
America
States of 79,783 333,138
1,316
2,353 1,460
5,478
8,685
710 18,328
5,956 7,352
Mexico
10
946
17
37
10
11
Central America
Ecuador
Brazil.
New Granada
Venezuela
•
326
2,130
1
67
58
·
1
18
50
96
10
40
1,927
3,793
35
2 3
127
♡
2100
30
56
73
43
55
36
30
3
14
80
38
8
1.121
3
82
25
29
21
•
412
235
509
1,042
*iol
•
Oriental Republic
of the Uruguay.
Buenos Ayres
Chili
Bolivia
•
Peru
Falkland Islands
80
315
3,605
175
58
1,259
Total
201,264 517,327
282
969
50
1
2
66
29
51
1
..
51
295
18
93
158
84
224
6
502
6
632
161
106
447
31
::
6
202
89
41
32
5
1
3
1
255
4
18
21,08424, 128
4,576 18,714
29,022
9,147 €3,845
18,571 11,801
Total quantity exported in 1851-919,470 tons.
614
MINES AND MINERALS.
3. Tin is exclusively produced in Cornwall and Devonshire, but
principally in the former. The tin mines of Cornwall have been
wrought from the remotest antiquity; the Phoenicians being supposed
by the most judicious critics to have traded thither for tin. In more
modern times, the business of mining has been prosecuted with various
skill and success. During the reign of Elizabeth, some German
miners were brought over, by whom the processes were considerably
improved. The produce of the mines has fluctuated a good deal during
the last half century. At an average of the 5 years ending with
1845, it may be taken, inclusive of the washings, at about 5,000 tons
a year, worth from 657. to 80%. a ton.
Duty on British Tin.-All tin produced in Cornwall was subject,
from a very remote period down to 1837, to a coinage duty of 41. a ton,
payable to the Duke of Cornwall: the tin raised in Devonshire was
subject to a similar duty of 17. 13s. 4d. a ton. This duty produced
from 16,000l. to 20,000l. a year; and was felt to be a serious griev-
ance, not only from its amount, but from the vexatious regulations under
which it was collected. Luckily, however, the duty on tin, and all
regulations with respect to its coinage, were abolished by 1 and 2 Vict.
c. 120. Compensation was made to the Duchy of Cornwall for the
loss arising from this abolition, by settling on its possessors a perpetual
annuity equal to the nett average amount of the duties during the 10
years ending with 1837.
The price of British tin, at an average, from 1811 to 1815, inclusive,
was about 71. a cwt. Its fall from 1815 to 1820, and its comparatively
low price since, have been owing to a variety of causes; partly to im-
provements in the art of working the mines, partly to the increased
supply of metal obtained from them, and partly and principally to the
competition of the tin of Banca and of the Malay countries. Previously
to 1814, we had in some measure a monopoly of the market of the
world. But since then the Banca mines have been wrought with
unusual spirit; and their produce has been so much increased, as not
only fully to supply the market of China, to which we formerly ex-
ported from 600 to 1,000 tons, but to meet us in every European
market. Malay tin is now very extensively imported, for warehousing,
into England, at the same time that large quantities are carried direct
to Holland, where there are refining houses; but, notwithstanding these
circumstances, our exports of tin have increased considerably of late
years.
4. COPPER. This metal is most abundant in Cornwall, where it is
produced on a very large scale, and is of much more importance than
tin. The ores of copper and tin being frequently intermixed, it is
natural to suppose that the former would be wrought to some extent at
an early period; but it is only since the beginning of the 18th century
that a due sense began to be entertained of their superior importance,
and that they were wrought with spirit and success. From 1736 to
1745, they annually furnished about 700 tons of fine copper. From
1756 to 1765, they yielded 1,800 tons. In 1775, the produce increased
to 2,650 tons. In 1798, it exceeded 5,000 tons; and at present it
amounts to from 10,000 to 12,000 tons. Subjoined is—
COPPER.
615
An Account of the Quantity of Ore, Pure Copper, &c., obtained from the Cornish
Mines in each year, from 1800 to 1842, both inclusive.

Years.
Quantity
of Ore.
Copper.
Value
of Ore.
Produce Standard.
Years.
Quantity
of Ore.
Copper.
Value
of Ore.
Produce Standard.
Tons.
Tons.
£.
£. 8.
Tons.
Tons.
£.
£. s.
1800
55,981
5,187
550,925
9.25
133 3
1822
104,523
9,140
663,085
8.75
104 0
1801
56,611
5,267
476,313
9.25
117 5
1823
95,750
7,927
608,033 8.25
109 18
1802 53,937
5,228
445,694
9.625
110 18
1824
99,700
7,823
587,178 7.875
110 0
1803
60,566 5,615
533,910
9.25
122 0
1825
107,454
8,226
1804
64,637
5,374
507,840
8.375
136 5
1826
117,308
9,026
1805
78,452 6,234
862,410
7*875
169 16
1827
126,710
10,311
726,353
788,971
745,178 8.125
7.625
124 4
7.625 123 3
106 1
1806 79,269 6,863
1807
1808 67,867
1809 76,245
730,845
8.625
138 5
1828
130,366
9,921
756,174
7.625
112 7
71,694 6,716
609,002
9.375
120 0
1829
124,502
9,656
717,334
7-75
109 14
6,795
495,303
10.
100 7
1830
135,665
10,890
784,000
8.
106 0
6,821
770,028
8.875
143 12
1831
146,502
12,218
817,740
8.375
99 18
66,048 5,682
1810
1811 66,786
1812 71,547 6,720
1813 74,047 6,918 594,345
1814 74,322 6,369 627,501
1815 78,483 6,525
1816 77,331
570,035
8.5
132 5
1832
139,057
12,099
835,812
8.75
104 14
6,141
556,723
9.125
120 12
1833
138,300 11,185
858,708
8*
110 0
549,665
9.375
111 0
1834
143,296 11,224
887,902
7.75
114 4
9.25
115 7
1835
150,607 12,271
896,401
8.125
106 11
8.5
130 12
1836
140,981 11,639
957,752
8.25
115 12
552,813
8.25
117 16
1837
140,753
10,823
908,613
7.625
119 5
6,697
447,959
8.625
98 13
1838
145,688 11,527
857,779
7.875
109 3
1817
76,701 6,498
1818
86, 174
1819
88,736
1820 91,473
1821 98,426
8.5
6,8-19
686,605 7.875
6,804 623,595 7.625
7,508 602,441 8*125
8,514 605,968 8.625
494,010
108 10
1839
159,551 12,451
932,298
7.75
110 2
134 15
1840
127 10
113 15
103 0
1841
147,266 11,038 792,758
135,090 9,987 819,949 7.375
1842 154,180 9,896 822,870 7.125
7.5
108 10
119 6
120 16
Exclusive of the copper raised in Cornwall, considerable quantities
are raised in Anglesey and other parts of Wales, in Devonshire, Staf-
fordshire, &c. The famous mines in the Parys mountain, near Amlwch
in Anglesey, were discovered in 1768. The ore being in the moun-
tain, it was not necessary to work it like the Cornish mines, by shafts
and levels, but to dig at once into its sides. The supplies of ore were
for a long time abundant beyond all precedent, and formed a vast
source of wealth to the adventurers and proprietors. But for many
years past the productiveness of the mine has been declining, and it
now yields comparatively little. In all, it is supposed to have fur-
nished about 85,000 tons of pure metal, amounting, at 907. a ton, to the
enormous sum of 7,650,0007. ! At present, the entire produce of the
mines of Anglesey and other parts of Wales does not exceed 900 tons
a year. Previously to 1770, the mine of Ecton, in Staffordshire, was
one of the most productive in the kingdom. The following statement,
extracted from the Transactions of the Cornwall Geological Society,
contains an authentic-
Account of the Produce, in pure Metal, of the Copper Mines of Great Britain and
Ireland, during the 5 years ending with the 30th June, 1827.


Districts.
1823
1824
1825
1826
1827
Tons.
Tons.
Tons.
Tons. Tons.
Cornwall
Devon
8,070
8,022
8,417
9,140
10,450
510
451
554
•
482
424
Other parts of England
5
23
20
21
89
Anglesey
740
726
726
758
735
Other parts of Wales
120
126
131
186
143
Scotland
13
Ireland.
257
488
512
482
540
Totals
9,715
9,836
10,350 11,069 12,381
Owing to the want of coal, the Cornish copper ores are not smelted
on the spot, but are shipped from the nearest port to the mine for
616
MINES AND MINERALS.
Swansea, where the principal smelting companies have their establish-
ments. Formerly there were one or two companies which smelted in
Cornwall; but it seems to have been found, by experience, that it is
less expensive to carry the ore to the coal than to bring the coal to the
ore. The copper produced in Ireland is also carried to Swansea to be
smelted; so that by taking an account of the quantity of copper brought
from Cornwall, Devon, Anglesey, &c., to Swansea, we get a pretty accu-
rate account of the total produce of the different mines of the empire.
At present (1846) the annual produce of the empire in copper may
probably be estimated as follows, viz. :-Cornwall, 11,000 tons;
Devon, 500 ditto; other parts of England, 260; Anglesey, 750; other
parts of Wales, 150; Ireland, 1,400; making a grand total of 14,060
tons. The price may be estimated at from 90l. to 100l. a ton, giving
a gross sum of from 1,265,000l. to 1,406,000l. a year.
Of this quan-
tity from 8,000 to 9,000 tons are exported, partly wrought and partly
manufactured. More than the half of all the copper exported is
shipped for the East Indies and China, France and the United States
being the next greatest markets. Foreign copper imported is altogether
intended for exportation.
Working of the Tin and Copper Mines of Cornwall.—The number
of these mines in this county is not accurately known; but 140,753
tons of copper ore, brought to market in 1837, were furnished by 77
mines. Exclusive, however, of these mines, there are many copper
mines in which trials for ore are going on, and there is no correct list
of the tin mines, but they are comparatively unimportant. Old
workings are frequently given up, and new ones opened, while those
that were formerly abandoned are again in many instances brought into
activity. Within the last few years several new mines have been
opened, and a large amount of money expended by companies formed
in London, Liverpool, &c. These are generally called, from the way
in which shares in them have been issued, scrip companies. In all
there may be from 200 to 220 mining concerns with works now in pro-
gress.
The veins or lodes vary in thickness from 3 inches to no less than
30 feet. The mines are sometimes wrought to a very great depth.
In the consolidated mines in the parish of Gwennap, between Truro
and Redruth, there is a shaft 300 fathoms deep, and the temperature
at the bottom varies from 96° to 99°. No fewer than 21 steam-en-
gines are employed in these mines, some of which are of the very
largest size.
There are many instances in which a single engine, with
its apparatus, and the sinking of the shaft, has cost upwards of 12,000/.
Mines in Cornwall are generally undertaken by companies of ad-
venturers, the shares being divided into 64th, and sometimes into
128th parts. If the mine be upon a waste, it is the property of the
King, as Duke of Cornwall, to whose agents the adventurers apply
for a lease. If the mine be private property, its owners are of course
applied to. It is usually let for 21 years, or for such part of that
time as the workings shall be proceeded in. The payment to the
proprietor, or the lordsman, varies, according to circumstances, from
1-10th to 1-15th part of the ores raised, but the deep mines pay only
1-24th part.
COPPER.
617
The ore, after being brought to the surface, is washed, reduced to
a powder, and otherwise prepared, so as to be fit for the smelting-
house.
Besides the tin mines, there are stream-works, which supply a con-
siderable portion of the finest tin. They occur in valleys, and derive
their name from the manner in which they are worked, which consists
chiefly in washing the alluvial soil, by directing a stream of water over
it, when the earthy particles being washed away, the tin ore remains
in a separate form. It is a singular fact that the only traces of gold to
be found in Cornwall are in those alluvial depositions, in which it some-
times occurs in small grains, mostly detached, but occasionally adhering
to quartz.-( Guide to Mounts Bay, p. 197, 2nd edit.)
The miners, whether tin or copper, are sometimes paid by the piece,
and sometimes by a certain per centage of the ores they raise. The
workmen relieve each other by turns, each set generally continuing in
the mine for eight hours; but when working at the bottom of very
deep shafts, they relieve each other every six hours. When it is
remembered that the miner always works in a damp atmosphere, fre-
quently with his feet in water, and his clothes perfectly wet, his occu-
pation will seem anything but enviable. But if he make what he calls
wages, he is satisfied; and is cheered by the prospect of attaining to
the rank of captain or overseer.
Tin and copper mining, like that of the precious metals, partakes
largely of the nature of a lottery. There is no certainty beyond the
present moment. Veins that promise much in their beginning some-
times lose all traces of advantage below, and occasion immense loss to
the adventurers, or continue to be wrought for many years under pro-
mising symptoms, but with little or no profit. And on the contrary,
many mines and veins, which, at the outset, promised little or nothing
in the estimation of experienced miners, have yielded very large profits.
Hence, although great losses often occur, great fortunes are sometimes
made, and even to an amount which far outstrips the expectations of
the most sanguine.-(Phillip's Mineralogy and Geology, pp. 194-
211.) Dr. Paris mentions that Crennis copper mine returned a clear
profit to the adventurers of 84,000l. in one year! Huel Alfred, during
the last period of its working, yielded very nearly 130,000l., after de-
fraying every necessary outlay. The expense attending the working of
some of the large mines is very great.
The miners and others engaged in the mines of Cornwall and
Devonshire are under the especial jurisdiction of the Stannary courts,
held by the lord warden of the Stannaries, or his deputy. These
courts were established about 500 years ago; and, after being modi-
fied in the reign of Charles II., have been much improved by a late
Act. Formerly they were applicable only to the tin miners; but
now their jurisdiction is extended to all sorts of miners in the two
counties. These local courts are found to be of great advantage; and
transact the peculiar business that comes before them cheaply, skil-
fully, and expeditiously.
The capital employed in connection with the copper and tin mines
of Cornwall has been estimated as follows:
618
MINES AND MINERALS.
In the working of the mines.
In the wharfs and trades dependent on them
In waggons, carts, horses, &c.
Smelting works and mills
Collieries
Shipping
Total
£.
1,000,000
120,000
100,000
1,000,000
100,000
120,000
£2,440,000
The number of persons employed in connection with the mines have
been supposed to be as under:
In and on the mines
Carriers
Sailors
In the smelting works
Total
60,000*
2,500
2,500
6,000+
71,000
5. LEAD.-Mines of this valuable mineral have been wrought in
England from the era of the Romans. It does not, however, appear
that it was obtained anywhere except in Derbyshire, till 1289, when it
was discovered in Wales: and the fact having transpired that silver
was found intermixed with the Welsh ores, gave a new stimulus to the
business; but in other respects the discovery of silver was of no use;
the quantity obtained being insufficient to defray the cost of its separa-
tion from the lead. At present, the most productive lead mines are
situated in Flintshire and other parts of North Wales; the western parts
of Durham and Yorkshire; Allendale and other parts of Northumber-
land; Aldstone-moor, &c., in Cumberland; the hundred of High Peak,
in Derbyshire; Salop; in Scotland, at Leadhills, on the confines of
Dumfriesshire and Lanarkshire; in the Isle of Man; and in Wicklow,
and elsewhere in Ireland. We subjoin an account obtained from the
highest authority of the produce of the lead mines in 1839.
Produce of the Lead Mines in the different parts of the United Kingdom in 1839.
England-
Tons.
Durham.
Northumberland
Cumberland
7,628
4,421
•
4,241
Westmoreland
630
Yorkshire
•
6,155
Derbyshire.
4,500
Shropshire
•
3,350
Cornwall and Devon
1,750
32,675
Wales
13,396
Isle of Man
1.829
Scotland
•
1,313
Ireland
1,927
Total
. 51,140
The foreign lead imported is mostly all re-exported; so that the
supply obtained from our own mines must be adequate, not only to
*We are assured that this is a very exaggerated estimate; 45,000 would be
nearer the mark, but probably above it.
The same remark applies to this estimate.
SALT.
619
furnish an annual export of from 10,000 to 14,000 tons a year, but to
supply the home consumption, which is very great. The price of lead
declined considerably after 1820, a result principally to be ascribed to
the increased supplies of lead from Spain, and to the comparatively
cheap rate at which they were furnished; latterly, however, the
supplies from the Spanish mines have fallen off, and prices have again
risen. A considerable quantity of silver is now obtained from lead;
the expense of its extraction having been materially diminished by
the invention of improved processes. It is believed that of the
lead raised in Great Britain, about 25,000 tons yield 8 ozs. per
ton of silver. Supposing this estimate to be correct, the entire
produce in silver will be 200,000 ozs.; which, at 5s. per oz. will be
50,000l. a-year.
That very rare mineral called black_lead, plumbago, or wad, is
found in Borrowdale, in Cumberland. The mines in this place have
been wrought since the days of Queen Elizabeth, and furnish the very
best material hitherto discovered for making pencils.
The lead is not found in veins but in detached pieces, or in what are
called sops or bellies, so that the supply is very irregular, the miners
being frequently employed for a lengthened period in seeking at random
for the lead. Its quality also differs very widely. The best is that
which is lightest, and the trace of which on paper is easily and com-
pletely removed by the application of India rubber. The mine used
only to be opened at intervals, but for a considerable number of years
past it has been constantly open. The supply, however, has of late
been extremely scanty, and mostly also very inferior. The trade is sup-
plied at sales held on the first Monday of each month, in Essex Street,
Strand, London.
This lead is now almost wholly employed in making pencils: an
inferior variety from Spain and Ceylon being used in the manufacture
of crucibles, the polishing of cast iron utensils, the diminishing of fric-
tion, and other purposes to which genuine black lead was formerly
applied. Foreign black lead and antimony are now, also very exten-
sively used in the manufacture of spurious pencils.
6. SALT.-There is no country better supplied than England both
with brine springs and beds of fossil or rock salt. The former have
been known and wrought at Northwich, Winsford, Middlewich, and
other places contiguous to the river Weaver in Cheshire, and at Droit-
wich in Worcestershire, from a very remote æra. But the beds of
rock salt were not discovered till a comparatively recent epoch; the
first of them having been met with in 1670, about 34 yards from the
surface, in searching for coal in the vicinity of Northwich. Another
bed of fossil salt was discovered in 1779, near Lawton, 42 yards below
the surface; and others have since been discovered in other parts of
the surrounding country. These fossil beds are generally of very great
thickness; and it has been found that, upon cutting through the indu-
rated marl at the bottom of the first bed, there was another below it of
still greater thickness. In one instance a third bed has been pierced
to the depth of 25 yards, without having been cut through. It has
been ascertained that there are also beds of fossil salt at Droitwich;
but they are not wrought, and comparatively little is known with
respect to them.
620
MINES AND MINERALS.
In the early part of last century, the salt made in England was sup-
posed to be inferior to that of several other countries; and while a
good deal of foreign salt was imported, very little native salt was ex-
ported. But the manufacture progressively improved; and for these
many years past, the production of salt for home consumption has been
carried on to a vast extent, and has become an object of great national
importance.
Rock salt is not generally, when dug from the mine, of such a degeee
of purity as to admit of its being used for most purposes, without being
refined; and by far the largest part of the salt produced in Cheshire,
with the whole of that produced in Worcestershire, is obtained from
the brine springs. In the former, the brine being pumped up by
means principally of steam-engines, from very deep wells, is collected
in reservoirs, where it is sometimes saturated, or strengthened, by an
admixture of crushed rock salt. It is then conveyed into large, broad,
shallow pans placed over furnaces, and the water being evaporated,
the salt is taken out. Different qualities of salt, such as the stoved or
lump salt, common salt, large-grained flaky salt, large grained fishery
salt, &c., are produced according to the mode in which the heat is
applied, and the evaporation conducted. Animal jelly, butter, and
other foreign substances, are sometimes made use of to assist in clearing
the brine, and in the granulation of the salt.
The coal used at the salt works at Northwich, Winsford, and other
places, is obtained from the collieries in the southern part of Lan-
cashire, near St. Helen's. The flat-bottomed boats (flats) which
convey the salt from the different works to Liverpool, after discharging
their cargoes, return loaded with coal; so that few channels of com-
munication are more crowded than the Weaver.
During the 10 years ending with 1806, the average quantity of
white, or manufactured salt, brought down the Weaver, amounted to
139,317 tons a-year.- (Holland's Cheshire, p. 321.) But the business
has been since very greatly increased; so much so that, during the three
years ending with 1834, the average annual supply of white salt, sent
down the Weaver, for home consumption and exportation, amounted to
368,594 tons, exclusive of about 15,000 tons a-year sent by canals
into different parts of the interior, and of about 27,000 tons a-year
sent down the river to be used at the Gartshore and Dungeon works,
on the Lancashire side of the Mersey, and at Frodsham. Of this vast
quantity, Northwich furnished about 220,000 and Winsford about
150,000 tons.-(Private Information.) The supply has since in-
creased considerably.
During the 10 years ending with 1806, 51,109 tons of rock salt was
sent down the Weaver, being destined mostly for Ireland, and for
exportation.-(Holland's Cheshire, p. 317.) This department of the
business has also greatly increased in the interval, though not so much
as the other. The supply of rock salt at present brought down the
Weaver, varies from about 100,000 to 110,000 tons a-year; but as a
part of it is used at the Gartshore and Dungeon works, where fine salt
is prepared, it is not possible accurately to estimate the quantity ex-
ported and sent coastwise to Ireland, and other parts; but it may pro-
bably amount to from 80,000 to 90,000 tons a-year.
In 1805, the manufacturers of white salt, with the proprietors of
SALT.
621
the fossil beds, and others interested in the salt trade of Cheshire,
presented a memorial to Mr. Pitt, against the duty which it was un-
derstood he intended to propose on salt when exported. In it they
stated, that the capital vested in salt works, rock pits, and lighters,
amounted to 436,000l. over and above the capital employed in carry-
ing on the trade; and that 2,950 individuals were engaged in the
works, exclusive of those dependent on them.-(Holland's Cheshire,
p. 316.) In 1838 the trade employed about 300 flats, or lighters,
measuring at an average, about 70 tons each, employing in all, inclusive
of carpenters and builders, about 1,200 men. Altogether there were
about 8,000 individuals directly employed in the salt trade of Cheshire;
and the capital then embarked in it, was estimated at from 600,000l. to
700,000l. (Private Information.)
Salt has been obtained from the brine pits at Droitwich in Worces-
shire, for at least, 1000 years. When dug to a proper depth, the
brine ascends to the surface of the pit. A canal has been constructed
from Droitwich to the Severn, navigable by vessels of 60 tons burthen,
which convey the salt to Gloucester, and other ports, and return laden
with the coal required in the works. The quantity of white salt made
at Droitwich is very inferior, as compared with that produced in
Cheshire, and it does not furnish any supplies of rock salt.
Exclusive of the salt produced in Cheshire and Worcestershire, a
good deal was formerly obtained by the evaporation of sea water,
principally at Lymington, and other places on the Hampshire coast ;
but also in various other parts. But since the abolition of the duties,
these works have been either wholly abandoned, or much reduced.
Part of the rock salt shipped at Cheshire is refined at Newcastle and
other places.
Consumption of Salt.-The consumption of salt in this country is
immense. Necker estimated the consumption in those provinces of
France, which had purchased an exemption from the Gabelle (Pays
francs redimées) at about 19 lbs. (Eng.) for each individual.
(Administration des Finances, tom. ii. p. 12.) From all that we have
been able to learn on the subject, we believe that the consumption of
the people of this country may be estimated a little higher, or at 22
lbs.; the difference in our food and habits, as compared with the
French, fully accounting for this increased allowance.
On this sup-
position, and taking the population at 20,000,000, the entire consump-
tion of Great Britain only, exclusive of Ireland, will amount to
440,000,000 lbs, or nearly 200,000 tons.
Exclusive of this immense home consumption, we annually export
from 13,000,000 to 14,000,000 bushels, which, at 56 lbs. a bushel,
are equivalent to about 337,000 tons. The Americans are the largest
consumers of British salt; the exports to the United States, in 1844,
having amounted to 4,664,430 bushels. During the same year, we
exported to Holland and Belgium 1,823,230 bushels; to the British
North American colonies, 1,772,790 ditto; to Russia, 1,823,756 ditto;
to Prussia, 1,686,520 ditto, &c.
The cheapness of this important necessary is not less remarkable
than its diffusion. Its present cost may be estimated, at a medium, at
from 14s. to 16s. a ton.
622
MINES AND MINERALS.
Duties on Salt.-In ancient Rome salt was subject to a duty
(Vectigal salinarum; see Burman, Dissertatio de Vectigalibus Pop.
Rom. c. 6.); and it has been heavily taxed in most modern states.
The gabelle or code of salt laws, formerly established in France, was
most oppressive. From 4,000 to 5,000 persons are calculated to have
been sent annually to prison and the galleys for offences connected
with these laws, the severity of which had no inconsiderable share in
bringing about the Revolution.-( Young's Travels in France, vol. i.
p. 598.) In this country duties upon salt were imposed in the reign
of William III. In 1798 they amounted to 5s. a bushel; but were
subsequently increased to 15s. a bushel, or about forty times the cost of
the salt! So exorbitant a duty was productive of the worst effects; and
occasioned, by its magnitude, and the regulations for allowing salt,
duty free, to the fisheries, a vast deal of smuggling. The opinion of
the public, and of the House of Commons, having been strongly pro-
nounced against the tax, it was finally repealed in 1823.—(Commercial
Dictionary, art. SALT.)
7. MANGANESE, a metal of considerable consequence in the arts, is
found principally in Devonshire, the eastern part of Cornwall, and in
Warwickshire. The quantity raised is from 3,000 to 4,000 tons a
year. Zinc is obtained from the Derbyshire mines; but Flintshire and
the Isle of Man furnish ores of the best quality. It is produced, but
in very small quantities, in England, the metal being imported in great
abundance and at a very cheap rate from Silesia.
8. QUARRIES (STONE).-The quarries of England are not of any
great value or importance; and, in consequence, the greater number
of buildings in most parts of the country are constructed of brick. The
principal quarries are situated in the Isle of Portland, and in the
neighbourhood of Bath. The former, which are the most important,
have supplied the stone used in the construction of St. Paul's, and
most other public buildings in London. The annual produce of the
Portland quarries may at present be estimated at about 18,000 tons.
The best blocks bring from 18s. to 22s. a ton, and the inferior from
6s. to 8s. The quarries are wrought partly by owners and partly by
lessees, who pay the proprietors at the rate of 1s. 6d. a ton on the
superior stones, and of 11d. on the coarse or inferior. In all, about
300 men and boys are employed in the quarries.-(Private Informa-
tion.)
The quarries of Gateshead Fell, near Newcastle, furnish the grind-
stones known in all parts of the world by the name of "Newcastle
grindstones," from the port of shipment.
There are some very excellent quarries in Scotland. That of
Craigleith, near Edinburgh, Cullalo, in Fife, and some others, are
amongst the most celebrated. The beauty of the houses in the new
town of Edinburgh attest the excellence of the quarry (Craigleith)
which furnishes the stone of which they are built. Large quantities
of granite are shipped from Aberdeen for London, where it is employed
in paving the streets. The docks at Liverpool are partly constructed
of granite brought from the stewartry of Kirkcudbright.
Quarries (Slate).—The principal slate quarries in Great Britain
are in Caernarvonshire. Those belonging to Mr. Pennant (formerly
BRICKS AND TILES.
623
Lord Penrhyn's), near Bangor, are the most extensive and valuable.
They furnish employment for above 1,500 men and boys. The other
slate quarries in Caernarvonshire and North Wales generally employ
about 2,000 men and boys. There are also extensive quarries in dif-
ferent parts of South Wales, at Ulverstone, in Lancashire, &c.
The principal slate quarries of Scotland are in the island of Easdale
and at Balachulish in Argyleshire. Speaking generally, they do not
furnish slates of the size and smoothness of those obtained from the
Welsh quarries.
9. LIME.-Limestone is very widely diffused over Great Britain and
Ireland; and being, when calcined, used largely both in the building of
houses and as a manure, its consumption must be immense. There are
not, however, any means of accurately estimating its amount.
10. FULLERS' EARTH.-This is a species of clay used in the
woollen manufacture, being once deemed of so much importance that
its exportation was prohibited under a heavy penalty. At present,
however, it is not employed to nearly the same extent as formerly,
many of the clothiers using soap in preference to it. Malcolm, in his
Survey of Surrey, published in 1809, says, that he was at considerable
pains in endeavouring to ascertain the consumption of fullers' earth,
and that he found it to amount to about 6,300 tons a-year for the
whole kingdom, of which about 4,000 tons a-year were furnished by
Surrey.
11. BRICKS AND TILES.-These, though manufactured articles, may,
perhaps, be more properly noticed here than in any other place. By
far the greater number of houses in London, and other English towns,
as well as in most country districts, are built of brick, so that the con-
sumption is immense. Tiles, also, though inferior to slates as a roof,
are used in large quantities; and they are now, also, largely consumed
in draining. Owing to the general use of stone in buildings in Scot-
land, the consumption of bricks in that part of the empire is compara-
tively limited.
Both tiles and bricks have been subjected to an excise duty; but that
on tiles was repealed in 1833, and that on bricks in 1850. It produced
from 350,000l. to 450,000l. a-year. Sound policy would suggest its
repeal; for no duty being laid on stone, the use of bricks was unfairly
limited, and an injury done to those engaged in their manufacture. We
subjoin an
Account of the Number of Bricks upon which Duty was paid in 1843 and 1844 in
England and Scotland; with the Amount of such Duty.

1943
1844
Number of Bricks. Amount of Duty. Number of Bricks. Amount of Duty.
• ❤
England | 1,158,857,167
Scotland
25,531,499
Total
• •
1,184,388,666
£. s. d.
355,464 8 41
7,910 13 2
363,375 1 61
£.
1,420,730,745
37,129,535
s. d.
435,735 15 51
11,491 2 8*
1,457,860,280
447,226 18 1
We subjoin the following estimate of the aggregate quantity and
value of the minerals annually produced in Great Britain.
624
MINES AND MINERALS.
Estimate of the Quantity and Value of the Mineral Produce of Great Britain, at
an Average of Three Years, ending with 1852.
Quantity.
Value.
£.
Silver
Copper
Tin.
Lead
•
•
68,166 lbs. Troy
·
•
13,000 tons
210,000
1,300,000
·
• • •
•
• •
Iron 2,300,000 tous
550,000
1,000,000
11,500,000
5,500 tons.
52,000 tons.
•
•
Quantity.
Coal, 40,000,000 tons.
Salt, Alum, and other minor
Produce
•
Value.
£.
20,000,000
1,500,000
Total value probably exceeds £36,060,000
Profits of Mines, Iron Works, &c.-Subjoined is an account of the
profits of quarries, mines, iron-works, &c., in 1810-11, and 1851-52,
as ascertained by the Property Tax Commissioners.
Account of the Profits arising from Quarries, Mines and Iron Works in England, Wales,
and Scotland in 1810-11, and in 1851-52, as determined by the Assessments under
the Property and Income Tax Acts.
1810-11
1851-52
COUNTIES.
Profits of
Quarries.
Profits of
Mines.
Profits of
Iron Works.
Profits of
Quarries.
Profits of
Mines.
Profits of
Iron Works.

England.
£. s. d.
£
8. d.
£.
s. d.
£.
£.
£.
Bedford
59 10 0
•
Berks
2,688 11 0
40
Bucks
Cambridge
137
Chester
Cornwall
Cumberland
887 0 0
2,147 10 0
951 13 6
9,568 0 0
106,027 14 2
8,354 5 0
5,187
36,202
2,209
162,365
473
32,465 11 10
656 in 0
924
47,678
5,18)
Derby
1,959 3 9
18,678 9 3
34,613 1 9
6,775
41,072
10,600
Devon
Dorset
•
Durham.
3,907 5 0
261 5 0
1,668 0 0
10,830 10 0
13,043 3 2
5,850
49,579
1,967 12 0
1,695
51,071 8 11
12,258 17 6
8,329
285,811
36,135
Essex
330 0 0
3,366 18 6
817
•
Gloucester
Hereford
Hertford.
Huntingdon
319 8 0
7,096 14 9
1,926 10 0
2,312
•
15 0 0
•
•
2,083 15 0
751
138
31,830
7
8,960
Kent.
•
Lancaster
Leicester
15 0 0
3,248 5 0
921 0 0
80,813 10 0
550 0 0
Lincoln
893 16 6
18,726 3 9
42 0 0
5,782 19 6
5,199
•
34,888
4,082
1,425
469,881
82,372
316
Middlesex
8,138 0 0
20
•
Monmouth
11,980 0 0
2,362 10 0
714
31,150
88,408
Norfolk.
586
Northampton.
Northumberland
Nottingham
54 0 0
3,795 17 0
25 10 0
92 0 0
1,742
•
45,012 14 11
0
3,235 0
17,419 12 2
8,533
363 0 0
1,131
•
134,991
17,867
•
4,580
Oxford
67 15 0
63
•
Rutland.
•
673
•
Salop
Somerset
•
•
Southampton .
Stafford
•
Suffolk
•
Surrey
Sussex
•
1,705 12 0
77 18 0
327 10 0
140 0 0
340 2 0
26 0 0
8
21,058 1
19,155 14 7
214 5 0
21,366 0 0
6,438 12
4,293
520 0 0
2,395
43,443
31,087
65,848
76
6,742 5 0
1,678
8,393 0 0
8,518
230,013
185,394
2,690 0 0
1,700 0 0
738 7 4
83
1,188
1,119
144
351
Warwick
Westmoreland
Wilts
Worcester
York
Wales
England and Wales
Scotland
•
•
Great Britain
·
•
45 5 0
324 4 0
307 7 6
477 0 0
3,799 15 0
793 16 0
29,160 6 11
13,406 4 0
42,566 10 11
250 0 0
1,570 16 8
16,714 15 0
1,344
113 15 0
321
11,082
5,739
•
3,369 2 0
943
8,225 5 0 1,775 10 0
34,506 9
6
7,853 6 0
49,814 13 5 30,711 13 3
487
42,638
11,845
34,327
186,706
54,518
102,254
218,615
156,462
483,490 19 8
77,741 13 0
222,672 16 11
45,462 2 1
243,028
47,681
2,110,285
261,704
629, 199
177,408
561,232 12 8
268,134 19 0
280,709
2,371,989
806,707
We, however, incline to think that the profits of iron-works in
1851-52 are underrated in the above account. At present (1854) we
are well convinced they are not under 1,000,000l. a-year.
FISHERIES.
625
CHAPTER III.-FISHERIES.
THE supply of fish in the seas round Britain is most abundant, or
rather quite inexhaustible. "The coasts of Great Britain," says Sir
John Burroughs, "do yield such a continued sea harvest of gain and
benefit to all those that with diligence doe labour in the same, that no
time or season of the year passeth away without some apparent means
of profitable employment, especially to such as apply themselves to
fishing; which from the beginning of the year unto the latter end,
continueth upon some part or other upon our coastes; and these, in
such infinite shoales and multitudes of fishes, are offered to the takers,
as may justly move admiration, not only to strangers, but to those that
daily are employed amongst them.". "That this harvest," says Sir
John Barrow, "ripe for gathering at all seasons of the year, without
the labour of tillage, without the expense of seed or manure, without
the payment of rent or taxes, is inexhaustible, the extraordinary fecun-
dity of the most valuable kinds of fish would alone afford abundant
proof. To enumerate the thousands and even millions of eggs which
are impregnated in the herring, the cod, the ling, and, indeed, in
almost the whole of the esculent fishes, would give but an inadequate
idea of the prodigious multitudes in which they flock to our shores:
the shoals themselves must be seen, in order to convey to the mind any
just idea of their aggregate mass."-(Ency. Britannica, vol. ix. p. 590.
new ed.)
This abundance of fish, coupled with the predilection of a large
portion of the population for a maritime life, would naturally make
one anticipate that the fisheries would be prosecuted on a very large
scale, and be in a very flourishing state. But hitherto, except in
London, and a few seaport towns, the consumption of fish has not been
great; and it has been found to be, on the whole, rather more expen-
sive than most other sorts of food. And hence, notwithstanding the
efforts that have been made, by bounties and otherwise, to stimulate
different departments of the fishery, none of them had till lately,
attained to any very great magnitude.
Latterly, however, the consumption of fish has been materially in-
creased. The difficulty and expense of conveying fish fresh, and in
good order, into the interior of the country, was till very recently the
principal obstacle to its consumption. But the opening of railways
from the coast to all the great internal towns has gone far to remove
this obstacle; and has, in consequence, increased the consumption
of fish in the great manufacturing and other towns, at a distance
from the sea, in a degree not easy to be imagined. In proof of this,
we beg to lay before the reader the following extract from a letter in
the Morning Chronicle, by the Birmingham Correspondent of that
Journal.
"In the year 1829, there were only ten fish merchants in Birmingham, but since
the opening of the various railways which now centre in or communicate with the
town, the number has increased to forty, exclusive of several dealers of smaller
note who reside in the suburbs. The quantity of fish consumed by the community
has increased in the same ratio, and in round numbers is estimated thus :—
VOL. I.
2 s
626
FISHERIES.
#
Tons.
Population.
1829
400
150,000
1835
1,000
160,000
1840
2,500
180,000
1845
3,910
200,000
"This amazing increase has not been occasioned by the tariff of 1842, notwith-
standing it opened our markets to foreign salmon, smelts, and herrings; for the in-
crease in the consumption of salmon, though considerable, has not been such as was
expected, the price of that fish still continuing above the reach of the working man.
Smelts were formerly prohibited; now they come in free, but very few of them
have yet found their way to the centre of England. Cured herrings are now more
in demand than formerly, but with the exception of plump soft reds, no material
increase has taken place in the quantity imported. The great increase has been
in the consumption of what are termed fresh fish: that is, of all kinds of white
and shell fish, as they come out of the water. This is entirely owing to the facili-
ties of speedy conveyance afforded by railway transit. Although Birmingham
stands in the very centre of England, and is distant from the nearest sea-port a
hundred miles, fish caught in the morning on the east or west coast, may now be
found in excellent order on the bench of the fish merchant here in the evening.
As cod, herrings, mackarel, and shell-fish, have each and all particular seasons, in
which they can be caught in abundance and good condition; and as these seasons
differ widely according to the coast on which the fish are caught, the herring for
example, being abundant in July and August on the east coast, and in winter on the
west coast of Ireland, so we are now in circumstances from our communications
with both sides of the island, to have a fresh supply of fish of some kind or other
all the year round! Nothing like this could be obtained before the railways were
made. A fresh cod was then only to be seen on the table of the merchant or manu-
facturer who could afford to pay 1s. to 1s. 6d. a pound for it, sometimes 30s. was
paid for one good round full-sized cod. Now any quantity can be had as low as 2d.
to 4d. a pound, and in much better condition than when the conveyance was from
London by mail or stage-coach, even though packed in ice. The same may be said
of herrings, mackarel, salmon, and shell-fish, the current price of fresh herrings
now being twelve to fifteen a shilling, mackarel 2d. to 4d. each, and crabs, which
formerly cost from 1s. to 3s. Ed., may now be had for from 1d. to 2d., 4d., and 6d.,
the very largest and finest not exceeding 1s. to ls. 3d. each. As many as twenty
tons of crabs have been brought to town in a morning, and on several occasions no
fewer than 300 barrels of fresh herrings have been delivered amongst our various
fish merchants, one of whom now thinks nothing of having 40l. to pay for carriage
of fresh fish delivered in the course of one day.”
The principal fish-market in the British dominions is that of Billings-
gate, in the city of London. A notion has been pretty current, that
the dealers in this market contrived to exercise a sort of monopoly,
and that they had succeeded in restricting the supply of fish, and in
forcing up its price to an unnatural elevation. But there does not
appear to be any foundation whatever for this notion.
On the con-
trary, there are but few markets in which competition is so keen as at
Billingsgate; and none, perhaps, in which the supply and price of the
articles sold are so very fluctuating. The smacks that catch the fish
are allowed to be eight days at Gravesend; but, except in winter they
seldom lie so long. The fish is transhipped from the smacks to hatch-
boats, that bring it to town; and, owing to the liability of the fish to
spoil, and other circumstances, it is always a great object with the
fishermen to bring their boats as early to market as possible. It is
said, that if, during the mackarel season, a vessel come to the wharf at
5 o'clock in the morning, when the market opens, the fish may sell
from 48s. to 50s. a hundred; whereas, if the same vessel came at 10
o'clock, the mackarel would not be worth more than 36s. a hundred ;
FISHERIES.
627
and if she came in the afternoon, they would not fetch more than 24s.
or 28s. !—(Report of 1833 on Channel Fisheries, p. 89.) A good
deal of the mackarel and other fish taken on the Kentish and Sussex
coasts used, for the sake of dispatch, to be sent to London in vans with
four horses; and, to hasten their arrival, they not unfrequently had
six horses; but these are now abandoned, the fish being conveyed much
more cheaply and expeditiously by railway. There is now, also,
owing to the command of steam tugs, comparatively little difficulty
in getting fish up by water in adverse winds; and the market is in
consequence more regularly supplied. But the fishery is in itself ex-
tremely uncertain; and instances occur every season, of the price of
the same description of fish varying cent. per cent., and sometimes
more, from one day to another. On the whole, however, there has
been a great decline in the prices of most sorts of fish at Billingsgate,
within the last 12 or 20 years; though, as the price of butcher's meat
has declined in a nearly equal ratio, it is not supposed that the con-
sumption of fish in London has been materially increased.
In Billingsgate, fish, other than salmon and eels, are sold either by
tale or by measure; but it has been supposed that, taking all the fish
that comes to market, its price, as sold by the fishers, would, at a
rough average, be about 23d. per lb.-(Report, p. 95.) The extreme
difference between the wholesale price at Billingsgate, and the retail
price at the west end of the town, is owing to various causes; but
principally, perhaps, to the perishable nature of the article, which, if
not speedily disposed of, cannot be sold at all, except at a heavy re-
duction. The notion, that fish is thrown into the river or destroyed,
to enhance or keep up the price of the remainder, is quite unfounded.
The only difficulty is to prevent bad and unwholesome fish from being
sold; and to effect this, is the duty of a clerk of the market, or in-
spector, appointed by the city.
The fishery is carried on partly in the rivers, and in the bays and
along the coasts, of Great Britain and Ireland; and partly in the seas
at a less or greater distance from our shores. Of the first, the salmon,
herring, pilchard, and oyster-and of the second, the cod, turbot, and
whale-fisheries, are the most important.
1. Salmon Fishery.-Salmon being rarely caught, except in æstuaries
or rivers, is, in most instances, private property: the fisheries fre-
quently producing a large revenue to their owners. It is found in
most English rivers; but seldom in such abundance as to make the
fishing an object of much attention. London derives the principal part
of its supply from Scotland; and Liverpool, Manchester, &c., from
Ireland. The fishery in the Tweed is important and valuable. About
20 years ago it produced a rental of from 15,000l. to 18,000l. a-year.
But in the interval the decline has been such, that at present it does
not yield above 4,000l. or 5,000l. a-year to its proprietors. This
extraordinary decline is principally owing to a nearly corresponding
falling off in the catch of salmon, the exports from Berwick having
sunk from about 9,000 or 10,000 boxes a-year to 3,000 or 4,000.—
(Kerr's Berwickshire, p. 460; Penny Cyclopædia, art. BERWICK.)
Exclusive of the Tweed, there are valuable salmon fisheries in the
Tay, Forth, Dee, Don, Findhorn, Spey, Ness, Conon, and other Scotch
2 s 2
628
FISHERIES.
rivers. But they are mostly all in about the same condition as those
of the Tweed. There are everywhere complaints of a growing scarcity
of fish; and the fact that the exports and the rentals of all the prin-
cipal rivers have decreased very much during the last 20 years, shows
that these complaints are but too well founded. Subjoined is an ac-
count of the
Produce of the Salmon Fishery on the River and Estuary of Tay, and the River
Earne, annually from 1830 to 1835.

1830
1831
1832
Salmon. Grilses. Salmon. Grilses. Salmon. Grilses.
River Tay
Estuary of Tay.
River Earne.
•
Total
•
28,560
55,904
22,896 43,102 14,224 30,180
4,762 10,147 5,603 8,574
902 2,655
583 1,765
20,410 40,519
20,838 43,248
5,054
766
9,836
2,638
26,658 55,722
1833
1834
1835
River Tay
Estuary of Tay
River Earne
Total
•
Salmon. Grilses. Salmon. Grilses. Salmon. Grilses.
14,114 34,787
6,432 16,206
773 2.240
21,319 53,223
21,733 37,592 25,614 51,315
6,407 10.018 7,271 9,721
733 1,685 1,084 3,193
28,873 49,295 33,969 64,229
Most persons seem to think that the declining state of the salmon
fisheries is mainly owing to the prevalence of poaching, or to the de-
struction of the breeding fish and fry in the upper parts of the rivers,
during close time; and the extent to which this pernicious practice has
been carried of late years has, no doubt, been highly injurious, though
we doubt whether it has been so in the degree that is commonly sup-
posed. On the whole, we rather incline to think that fully as much
injury is done to the fishery in most rivers by the weirs, or salmon
traps, and other obstructions placed in the way of the fish when ascend-
ing the rivers to spawn, as by anything else. These obstructions are
not, indeed, always equally prevalent, and, in some instances, they have
been partially demolished; but there is hardly a river in which they
do not still exist to a greater or less extent, and are generally believed
to be very destructive. The fishery has also, perhaps, been injured by
the temptation to overfish, caused by the high price of salmon; and in
a still greater degree by the too limited duration of the close time.
The last-mentioned cause of decline is thought, by many good judges,
to be the most powerful of the whole; and it is justly objected to the
acts for the regulation of the Scotch fisheries, that they prolong the
period for fishing too far into the spawning season. A police has been
established for the protection of the fisheries on the Tweed, under
the provisions of a local act passed in 1830; and it has been, in part at
least, effectual to the end in view. The fisheries in the north of
Ireland are said to have been seriously injured by the steeping of flax
in waters communicating with the rivers in which salmon are taken.
The fisheries in the Bann, near Coleraine; the Foyle; the Billick,
near Ballyshannon; the Boyne, above Drogheda ; and in various other
FISHERIES.
629
Irish rivers, are very productive. Their produce is principally shipped
for Liverpool; and it is mainly owing to the increased supplies derived
from this source, and more recently from Holland, and the facility with
which they are brought to market by steam-packets, that, despite the
falling off in the produce of the Scotch, and English rivers, the price
of salmon in England has been materially diminished. It has been
stated that the Irish salmon brought to Billingsgate market is generally
in superior condition to the Scotch; a circumstance for which, if it be
really true, it is rather difficult to account.-(Report on Channel
Fisheries, p. 96.)
The salmon fisheries in the Foyle belong, with a trifling exception,
to the Irish Society, a branch of the Corporation of the City of London.
Contrary to what has happened in most other places, these fisheries
have very considerably increased of late years. From 1827 to 1845
inclusive, the yearly produce has been as follows:

Years.
No. of
Salmon.
Years.
No. of
Salmon.
Years.
No. of
Salmon.
1827
46,001
1833
50,337
1839
43, 181
1828
50,606
1834
53,748
1840
59,305
1829
32,770
1835
55,906
1841
52,582
1830
66,053
1835
1842
No
83,106
1831
62,560
1837
1843
Returns.
62,348
1832 64,447
1838
1844
49,387
Formerly, the greater part of the salmon caught in the Tweed and
other Scotch rivers was pickled or kitted, after being boiled, and sent
to London, under the name of Newcastle salmon, a little only being
brought up fresh during the early spring months. But, about 1790,
the plan, suggested by Mr. Dempster of Dunnichen, of packing salmon
in boxes with coarsely pounded ice, began to be introduced; and, by
this ingenious contrivance, it is now brought quite fresh to London in
the summer months from the most distant parts of Scotland and Ire-
land. This discovery immediately raised the price of salmon in the
remoter parts of the country, where it had previously been a drug,
almost to the London level, and restricted its consumption within the
narrowest limits. "Within memory, salted salmon formed a material
article of economy in all the farm-houses of the Vale of the Tweed, as
a considerable portion of their winter stores for family use, inasmuch
that in door servants often bargained that they should not be obliged
to take more than two weekly meals of salmon! It could then be
bought, fresh caught, in summer, at 2s. the fish stone, of nearly
19 pounds weight. But, from the introduction of ice, enabling the
whole to be sent fresh to London at all times, the price hardly falls
now below 12s. a stone, and is often 30s., and sometimes 42s."—(Kerr's
Berwickshire, p. 461.)
It is enacted by the 9 Geo. IV., c. 39, that the Scotch rivers are to
be shut from the 14th of September to the 1st of February. Every
person catching, or attempting to catch, fish in that period, is to forfeit
not less than 1., nor more than 107., for every offence, besides the
630
FISHERIES.
nets, boats, or other implements he may have employed. Pecuniary
penalties are also imposed on poachers and trespassers; and provision
is made for the watching of the rivers. As previously remarked, it is
believed that the commencement of the close time, as fixed by this Act,
is too late; and that it should begin by the 25th of August, or, at all
events, not later than the 1st of September.
We have been fortunate enough to obtain from a source, on which
every reliance may be placed, the following
Account of the Quantity of Salmon packed in Ice imported into London, from Scot-
land, during each of the Eight Years ending with the 14th of October, 1841, and of
the Wholesale Price of the same.

Years ending
Oct. 14.
Weight of Fish.
Average
Price, about.
Total Value.
lbs.
d.
£.
1834
3,432,800 9 per lb.
135,900
1835
4,740,960 9
177,800
1836
2,751,840 10/
""
120,400
1837
3,617,600 10
150,750
1838
2,396,800
10/31/
""
104,160
1839
1,830,080 11
""
83,880
1840
1841
1,697,920 11
3,192,672
77,850
832129
116,400
This, it will be observed, is independent of the pickled salmon
brought from Scotland, the quantity and value of which varies as much
as that of the fresh salmon; but we are well assured that, at an average
of the last eight years, its value has not exceeded 12,000l. a-year. At
an average, the retail price of salmon in London may be taken at from
50 to 75 per cent. above the wholesale price.
We may remark by the way that, as by far the largest portion of the
salmon made use of in London comes from Scotland, the above state-
ment shows that its consumption in the metropolis is not nearly so
great as is generally supposed. In fact it is little used, except by the
more opulent classes; and nothing that is not generally used by the
middle classes, or by them and the lower, is ever of much importance.
2. Herring Fishery. This department of the fishery business has
been prosecuted, at different parts, on the coast of Great Britain from
a very early period. Yarmouth used to be its principal station; and
the herring fair, held in that town, was deemed of so much importance
in the 14th century, that different statutes were passed for its regula-
tion.-(Stat. Edw. III., an. 31, 35.) But, notwithstanding this early
commencement, the fishery made, for a very long period, little or no
progress; and, till a comparatively recent epoch, by far the greatest
part of the fish taken on our shores was captured by the Dutch.
"Veniam enim piscandi,” says Camden, "semper concesserunt Angli,
honore sibi reservato, utilitate vero exteris, quasi per desidiam resig-
nata.”—(Brit., p. 586.) But, notwithstanding this sarcastic remark,
and the circulation of the most exaggerated accounts of the advantages
derived by the Dutch from the fishery, they were allowed, with but
little interruption, to monopolise it until towards the middle of last
FISHERIES.
631
century. At length, however, a vigorous effort was made to induce
the public to set about exploring and cultivating this new and, as it
was supposed it would turn out to be, most productive field of industry.
In 1749, in pursuance of a recommendation in his Majesty's speech at
the opening of parliament, and of a report of a committee of the House
of Commons, 500,000l. was subscribed for carrying on the fisheries,
under a corporation, called "The Society of the Free British Fishery.'
The Prince of Wales was chosen governor of the society, which was
patronised by men of the first rank and fortune in the state. But this
society did not trust entirely to its own efforts for success. The duties
were remitted upon the salt used in the fisheries; and, besides this
reasonable encouragement, a high tonnage bounty was granted upon
every buss fitted out for the deep-sea fishery. In consequence, many
vessels were sent out, as Adam Smith has truly stated, not to catch
herrings, but to catch the bounty; and to such an extent was this abuse
carried, that, in 1759, when the tonnage bounty was 50s., the almost
incredible sum of 1591. 7s. 6d. was paid as bounty upon every barrel of
merchantable herrings that was produced!-(Wealth of Nations,
p. 231.) It is hardly necessary to add, such being the waste and mis-
management of the company's affairs, that it was speedily destroyed.
Dr. Smith says that, in 1784, hardly a vestige remained of its having
ever been in existence.
But, notwithstanding this ill success, a new company was formed,
for nearly the same objects, in 1786, of which George III. was patron.
It had nearly the same fate. "For a season or two busses were fitted
out by the society; but if every herring caught had carried a ducat in
its mouth, the expense of its capture would scarcely have been repaid.
The bubble ended by the society for fishing in the deep sea becoming
a kind of building society, for purchasing ground in situations where
curers and fishermen find it convenient to settle; and selling it or
letting it in small lots to them, at such advance of price as yields some-
thing better than fishing profits. (See an able article on the Herring
Fishery, in the 11th Number of the Quarterly Journal of Agriculture.)
""
In 1808, a fresh attempt was made for the improvement and exten-
sion of the fishery. The act 48 Geo. III. established a distinct set of
commissioners for the superintendence of all matters connected with
the fishery, and authorised them to appoint a sufficient number of
fishery officers, to be stationed at the different ports, whose duty it was
to see that the various regulations, with respect to the gutting, packing,
&c., of the herrings, and the branding of the barrels, were duly carried
into effect. In 1809, a bounty of 37. per ton was granted on all ves-
sels employed in the deep-sea herring fishery of above 60 tons burthen,
but payable only on 100 tons; and, in 1820, a bounty of 20s. per ton,
which, under certain specified circumstances, might be increased to
50s., was granted on all vessels of from 15 to 60 tons, fitted out for
the shore herring fishery; and, exclusively of the bounties on the
tonnage, a bounty of 2s. a barrel was allowed on all herrings cured
gutted, during the six years ending the 5th of April, 1815, and a bounty
of 2s. 8d. a barrel on their exportation, whether cured gutted or un-
gutted. During the 11 years ending the 5th of April, 1826, the
bounty on herrings cured gutted, was 4s. a barrel.
632
FISHERIES.
It is stated, in the article previously referred to, that the cost of a
barrel of cured herrings is about 16s.; half going to the fisherman for
the green fish, the other half to the curer for barrel, salt, and labour.
The bounty of 4s. a barrel was, therefore, equal to half the value of the
herrings as sold by the fisherman, and to one-fourth of their value as
sold by the curer! In consequence of this forced system, the fishery
was rapidly increased. The subjoined account, extracted from the
Report of the Commissioners of the Fishery Board for 1844, shows
the progress it has made since 1811.
Abstract of the Total Quantity of White Herrings Cured, Branded for Bounty, and
Exported, in so far as the same have been brought under the Cognizance of the
Officers of the Fishery, from the 5th of April, 1810, distinguishing each Year, and
the Herrings Cured Gutted from those Cured Ungutted.-(Parl. Paper, No. 47,
Sess. 1846.)

Total Quantity of Herrings
Cured.
Years
ending
April 5.
Gutted.
Ungutted.
Total.
Total
Quantity of
Herrings
Branded. Gutted.
Total Quantity of Herrings
Exported.
Ungutted.
Total.
Barrels,
Barrels.
Barrels.
Barrels.
Barrels.
Barrels. Barrels.
1811
65,430
26,397
91,827
55,6624 18,880
19,253
38,313
1812
72,515
39,004
111,5194
58,430
27,564
35,256
62,820
1813
89,900
63,587
153,488
70,027
40,100
69,625
109,725
1814
52,931
57,611
110,542+
38,184 34,929
83,4741
118,403
1815
105,3724
54,767
160, 1394
83,376
68,938
72,3674
141,305
1816
135,981 26,670
162,6514
416,436
81,5441
26,1434
107,688
1817
155,776
36,567
192,3434
140,018
115,480
23,148
138,6281
1818
204,2701
23,420
227,691
183,0894
148,147 14,192
162,389
- 1819
303,777
37,1164
340, 894
270,022
212,301
14,860
227,162
1820
347,1901
35,301
382,491
309,700+
244,096
9,420
253,516
1821
413,308
28,887
442,1954
363,872
289,4451
5,360
294,805
1822
291,626
24,8974 316,542
263,2054
212,890
2,065
214,956
1823 225,037
23,832
1824 335,450 56,740% 392.190
1825 303,397 44,268
1826 340,118 39,115
1827 259,171
248,869 203,110
169,459
985
170,445
299,631
238,505
1,125
239,630
347,6651
270,844
201,8821
134
202,016+
379,233
294,4224
217,0534
20
217,073
29,324
288,4951
223,606
165,741
695
166,406
1828
339,360 60,418
399,778
279,3174
210,766
893
211,659
1829
300,2421 55,737
355,979+
234,827
202,813
3,062
205,875
1830
280,933 48,623
329,557
218,418
177,776
3,878
181,654
1831
371,096
68,274
439,370
237,085
260,976
3,927
264,903
1832
313,1134
49,547
362,6604
157,839+
214,8201
2,679
217,4903
1833
353,684
63,2794
416,9641
168,2594
218,422
2,255
220,6841
1834
382,677+
68,8531
451,531
178,000+
269,1334
2,960
272,093₫
1835
217,2421
60,074
277,317 |
85,0794
156,2294
2,580
158,805
1836
399,334
98,280
497,6143 192,317
270,846
2,547
1837
290,169
107,6604 397,8291
114, 192
187,238
2,027
273,393+
189,265
1838 382,400
1839 382,229
1840
405,3791
125,374
173,3304 555,559
138,5654 543,945
507,7744
141.552
229,160
5,997
235, 158
153,659
233,690
6,040
239,739
152,231 250,554
1,968
252,522
1841
431,157
126, 105
1842
1843
489,6204
442,290
1844 473,556
177,6244
181,129
191,803
557,262 154,189 246,851
667,245/ 190,9224 283,530
623,4193 162,713 287,043
665,359 182,988 311,167
3,286
250,137
1,206
284,736
4,757
2,349
291,800₫
313,516₫
Note.-In the six years ending 5th of April, 1815, the bounty on herrings cured gutted was 28. per
barrel, while there was a bounty at the same time of 2s. 8d. per barrel, payable by the excise, on the
exportation of herrings, whether cured gutted or ungutted, but which ceased on the 1st of June, 1815.
In the eleven years ending 5th of April, 1826, the bounty on herrings cured gutted was 4s. per
barrel; in the four succeeding years the bounty was reduced 1s. per barrel each year, till the 5th of
April, 1830, when it ceased altogether, and has not since been renewed.
On looking at this table, it is seen that the fishery made no progress
under the new system till 1815, when the bounty was raised to 4s.
This is a sufficient proof of the factitious and unnatural state of the
business. Its extension, under the circumstances in question, instead
of affording any proof of its being in a really flourishing condition,
FISHERIES.
633
"Most
was distinctly the reverse. Individuals, without capital, but who ob-
tained loans sufficient to enable them to acquire boats, barrels, salt, &c.,
on the credit of the bounty, entered in vast numbers into the trade.
The market was most commonly glutted with fish; and yet, the tempta-
tion held out by the bounty caused it to be still further overloaded.
Great injury was consequently done to those fish-curers who possessed
capital, and even the fishermen were injured by the system.
of the boats employed in the fishery never touch the water but during
six weeks from the middle or end of July to the middle of September.
They are owned and sailed, not by regular fishermen following that
vocation only, but by tradesmen, small farmers, farm-servants, and
other landsmen, who may have sufficient skill to manage a boat at that
season, but who do not follow the sea, except for the six weeks of the
herring fishery, when they go upon a kind of gambling speculation of
earning a twelvemonths' income by six weeks' work."-(Quarterly
Journal, No. 11, p. 653.)
On
It has been often said, in vindication of the bounty system, that, by
extending the fishery, it extended an important nursery for seamen ;
but the preceding statement shows that such was not the case.
the contrary, it tended to depress the condition of the genuine fisher-
man, by bringing a host of interlopers into the field; and it was also
prejudicial to the little farmers and tradesmen by withdrawing their
attention from their peculiar business, and tempting them to embark
in what has been little better than a sort of lottery adventure.
These consequences, and the increasing amount of the sum paid for
bounties, at length induced the government to adopt a different system.
By an Act passed in 1825, the bounty of 2s. 8d. on exported herrings
was made to cease in 1826, and 1s. was annually deducted from the
bounty of 4s. a barrel paid on gutted herrings till it ceased in 1830.
And the above table shows conclusively that those who contended that
the best way to promote the fishery was to let it alone, were in the
right; the quantity of herrings cured and the quantity exported having
been both nearly doubled since the cessation of the bounties.
fishery is now, for the first time these hundred years, placed on a secure
foundation; the supply is proportioned to the real demand, while the
genuine fishermen, and those curers who have capital of their own, are
no longer injured by the competition of landsmen and others allured to
the business by factitious encouragement and trading on capital fur-
nished by government.
The
The repeal of the salt laws and of the duty on salt, which preceded
the repeal of the bounty, was of signal service to the fishery. It is
true, that the salt used in the fisheries was exempted from the duty;
but, in order to prevent the revenue from being defrauded, so many
regulations were enacted, and the difficulties and penalties to which
the fishermen were in consequence subjected were so very great, that
some of them chose rather to pay the duty upon the salt they made use
of than to undertake compliance with the regulations.
The greater part, by far, of the British herring fishery has been
long carried on from different places, principally on the east coast of
Scotland, of which Wick, in Caithness, is the principal.—(See p. 305.)
Of the 665,359 barrels of herrings, reported by the Fishery Commis-
634
FISHERIES.
sioners to have been cured in the year ended 5th of April, 1844,
108,089 were cured at Wick; 96,031 at Peterhead; 68,131 at Fraser-
burgh; 37,960 at Helmsdale, &c. We subjoin—
An Account of the total Number of Barrels of White Herrings which have been Cured
on Board Vessels cleared out for the Fishery, or Cured on Shore. in the Year ended
5th April, 1844; distinguishing the Stations where Landed or Cured, and dis-
tinguishing also the Herrings Cured Gutted from those Cured Ungutted.
Herrings Cured Gutted.
Herrings Cured
Ungutted.
STATIONS.
Gutted and
Packed
within 24
Hours after
being Caught.
Gutted
and Packed
not within
24 Hours
after being
Caught.
Barrels.
Barrels of
Bulk.
Total
Herrings
Cured.
Barrels.
Barrels.
Barrels.
Campbeltown and Islay
2,785
951
3,736
Dumfries and Stranraer
2,084
2,084
Glasgow
18,266
2,$30
20,596
Greenock and Ayr, &c.
22,591
18
213
62
22,884
Inverary and Loch Gilphead
8,882
8,882
Loch Broom
1,693
639
2,332
Loch Carron and Dunvegan
1,767
1,767
Loch Shildag
1,157
1,118
48
2,323
Rothsay.
•
11,969
18
11,987
Stornoway and Barra
9,202
110
92
423
9,8274
Isle of Man.
4,043
45,175
49,218
Whitehaven
1,291
937
4,580
6,808
Anstruther
•
Banff
16,976
141
14,081
650
31,848
27,001
1,961
28,962
Burntisland.
576
813
1,389
Cromarty
•
14,173
50
2,052
16,275
Eyemouth
6,825
50
6,345
6843
13,904
Findhorn
Fraserburgh
Helmsdale
15,109
159
1,662
16,930
45,308
22,079
744
68,131
37,137
823
37,960
Leith
586
33
619
Lybster.
•
32,328
34
202
Orkney, North Isles
32,564
7,762
7,762
Peterhead
Orkney, South Isles
•
Port Gordon
Shetland, Lerwick.
Shetland, Unst.
Shetland, Walls
15,178
·
15,178
58,368
37,467
196
96,031
2,668
114
2.782
2,776
2,776
48
48
89
89
Stonehaven.
906
5,238
130
6,274
Thurso
1,230
48
1,278
Tongue.
Wick
North Sunderland
•
Whitby.
Total
1,765
97,454
1,765
30
8,7443 1,860
108,0893
5,732
161
25,037 1,227
99
32,158
99
471,685 1,871 134,381 57,421 665,3593
The Yarmouth fishery, though much fallen off, is still prosecuted to
a considerable extent. About 100 sail of fishing vessels, averaging
from 40 to 50 tons each, belong to the port, exclusive of about 50 or
FISHERIES.
635
60 vessels that arrive annually from Yorkshire during the herring
season. The capital employed is estimated at about 250,000l. Lowe-
stoff, 9 miles from Yarmouth, employs about 70 fishing boats, of 40
tons each. The greater number of the herrings taken at Yarmouth
are smoked, and are known in London by the name of "Yarmouth
bloaters."-(Report of 1833, on Channel Fisheries, p. 17.)
An Account of the Number of Boats, whether Decked or Undecked, that have been
Employed in the Year ended 5th April, 1844, in the Shore-Curing Herring and
Cod and Ling Fisheries; distinguishing each Station; showing also the Number
of Fishermen and Boys by whom the said Boats were manned; the Number of
Coopers employed; the Number of Persons employed in Gutting, Packing,
Re-Packing, Cleaning, or Drying the Fish; the Number of Labourers; and the
Total Number of all such Persons; together with the Number of Fish-Curers in
each District.

STATIONS.
Campbeltown and Islay
Dumfries and Stranraer
Glasgow
•
or Un-Boats were
Number Number of
of Fishermen Number
Boats,
and Boys
of
whether by whom Coopers
Decked
Number of
Persons
employed in
Total
Gutting,
Packing,
the said
Re-packing,
Em-
Number
of La-
bourers
Em-
Number Number
of
Persons
of
ployed.
Cleaning, or
Drying the ployed.
Em-
Fish
Curers.
decked.
Manned.
Fish.
ployed.
462
1,687
20
813
2,520
81
•
191
620
14
213
30
877
4
46
50
60
156
7
Greenock and Ayr, &c.
Inverary and Loch Gilp-
518
1,280
121
370
584
2,355
46
head, &c.
1,080
3,076
43
1,550
..
4,669
35
·
Loch Broom.
441
1,783
11
45
1,839
10
Loch Carron and Dunvegan
Loch Shildag
582
2,244
8
3,346
4
5,602
20
201
814
6
10
20
850
5
Rothsay
278
•
875
21
120
1,016
41
Stornoway and Barra
•
578
3,369
66
514
184
4,133
25
Isle of Man
•
655
4,686
21
295
114
5,116
135
Bristol
•
184
476
8
18
20
522
3
Liverpool
334
1,669
43
75
31
1,818
8
St. Ives
Whitehaven
Anstruther
•
784
2,697
23
1,143
3,863
191
•
137
444
14
32
12
502
8
267
1,335
99
1,236
534
3,204
40
Banff
•
Burntisland
Cromarty
61
276
63
616
82
1,037
29
158
516
50
172
9
747
14
325
1,368
131
1,863
2,329
5,691
34
Eyemouth
Findhorn
Fraserburgh
159
795
55
298
46
1,194
24
214
729
57
493
15
1,294
19
192
•
917
107
1,299
158
2,481
54
Helmsdale
264
•
1,320
119
828
102
2,369
29
Leith
376
1,072
93
173
29
1,367
14
Lybster
280
1,400
88
890
91
2,469
33
Orkney, North Isles
•
258
1,160
11
721
8
1,900
11
Peterhead
Orkney, South Isles
Port Gordon.
•
Shetland, Lerwick
490
2,205
49
1,116
15
3,385
57
226
809
189
1,853
136
2,987
54
356
1,800
14
876
14 2,704
14
510
1,684
36
549
45
2,314
36
Shetland, Unst
139
726
4
129
859
20
Shetland, Walls.
251
1,431
6
328
76
1,841
25
Stonehaven
•
192
1,032
64
467
30
1,593
28
Thurso
117
525
16
240
119
900
14
Wick
Tongue
•
London, including Dover,
Portsmouth, Gravesend,
150
750
525
2,610
2885
20
358
323
1,451
9
283
2,089
204
5,186
69
and Yarmouth, from
which resident officers
have now been with-
drawn
North Sunderland
Whitby
1,426
8,249
211
2,188
1,013 11,661
325
443
·
1,082
54
508
263
946
22
293
78
1,722
669 1,930
27
16
Total
24,067 60,457 2,306 28,177
7,184 98,124 1,614
The herring fishery of Ireland has never been of any material im-
portance.
It is
It is only, indeed, in a few places that we meet with any
636
FISHERIES.
regular fishermen in that country; the minute division of the land, and
the dependence so generally placed on it, are very formidable obstacles
to the success of the fisheries. Subjoined is-
A Statement of the Number of Boats and Men engaged on the Coast Fisheries of
Ireland in 1836, enumerated by the Officers of the Coast Guard.
Decked Vessels.
Half-decked Vessels.
COUNTIES.
No.
Tons. Men. ¡ No. Tons. Mcn.
Open Sail Boats.
No.❘ Men.
Row Boats.
Number
of
Fisher-

No.
Men.
men.
Dublin, North of
85
the Bay
3,321
645
23
232
123
60
261
41
153
1,207
South of
the Bay
36
1,330
144
4
33
22
6
36
24
96
238
Wicklow.
39
4,174
156
153
1,425
958
57
246
14
33
1,378
Wexford
Waterford
20
6
•
77
683
493
209
1,129
229
1,228
2,856
101
1,668
595
52
301
266
1,260
2,156
Cork
•
Kerry.
•
Clare
Galway
Mayo.
Sligo
Donegal
302
82
233
3,315
1,316
346
1,698
2,039
10,353
13,738
22
7
44
498
234
421
2,612
610
3,458
6,311
7
88
35
39
141
334
1,236
1,462
18
116
1,125
525
479
4
42
12
•
130
28
61
42
Down
Louth
Antrim (including
also the coast to
Lough Foyle)
•
5
60
15
3
25
9
•
33
13
288
67
83
872
363
*22* * *
2,260
1,376
5,750
8,539
12
42
677
3,518
3,768
10
29
172
995
1,294
84
289
1,169
6,254
6.613
13
28
242
746
816
92
13
434
80
11
225
22
358
1,608 2,305
52
5
313
1,106 1,378
Total
•
•
215 7,099 1,234
870 10,292 4,681 1,812 9,179
·
7,864
37,829 54,119
In 1842, a Board of Commissioners was appointed for the improve-
ment and regulation of the fisheries of Ireland; and under its direction
the coast of the island has been divided into 28 districts, each of which
is placed under a superintendent officer, whose duty it is to see the
laws regulating the fishery carried into effect, to register the fishermen,
&c. It appears, from the Fourth Report of this Board, that, in 1845,
there were employed in the various coast fisheries of Ireland, 19,883
vessels and boats of all descriptions, and that 93,073 men and boys were
wholly and partially engaged in the fishery. This shows a rapid in-
crease as compared with the return for 1836, if we may depend (which
is doubtful) on the accuracy of the latter.
3. Pilchard Fishery. This is exclusively carried on along the
coasts of Cornwall and Devon, particularly the former, its principal
seats being St. Ives, Mountsbay, and Mevagissey. The fishery has
been said to be in rather a declining state for some years past; but it
seems doubtful whether this be really the case. Dr. Borlase mentions
that, at an average of the 10 years ending with 1756, the annual ex-
port of pilchards amounted to 29,795 hogsheads. At an average of
the 10 years ending with 1842, the annual export was 16,694 hogsheads;
but in 1842, it amounted to 20,714 hogsheads. And when it is con-
sidered that the trade at the former period, and for long after, was
forced by means of a bounty, which, previously to its repeal a few years
ago, was as high as 8s. 6d. a hogshead, there would seem to be but
slender grounds for thinking that the fishery has really declined.
Pilchards are not used in England, except in the counties in which
they are taken, where about 3,000 hogsheads are retained for home
consumption. They are mostly exported to Italy; and the imposition
of a heavy duty on pilchards in Naples did more injury to the fishery
than the repeal of the bounty; we are glad, however, to have to state
that last year (1845) this duty was reduced a half. Pilchards are all
cured on shore, principally by women. The total capital employed in
FISHERIES.
637
this department of industry, in boats, nets, &c., has been estimated at from
200,000l. to 250,000l.—(Commercial Dictionary, art. PILCHARDS.)
4. Oyster Fishery.-Oysters of excellent quality are found in many
parts along the British shores, but principally in the rivers and creeks
of Essex and Kent; in Poole harbour, and elsewhere on the coast of
Hants and Dorset; at Porth-Einion, in Glamorgan, &c. They are
also very abundant on the Mersey shores. Those found at Carling-
ford, in Ireland, are said to be of a peculiarly delicate flavour. The
breeding and fattening of oysters for the London market forms a con-
siderable branch of business. It is principally carried on in Essex and
Kent; the rivers Crouch, Blackwater, and Colne being the chief
breeding-places in the former, and the channel of the Swale, contiguous
to Milton, in the latter. The oysters found in them are not, however,
brought immediately to town; but are deposited for a while in beds or
layings in the adjoining creeks, where they are fed and fattened for the
market. Exclusive of the oysters bred in Essex and Kent, vast num-
bers, brought from Jersey, Poole, and other places along the coast, are
fattened in the beds. The export of oysters from Jersey is very con-
siderable, having amounted, at an average of the four years ending with
1832, to 208,023 bushels a year, of which a large portion comes to
London. The Jersey fishery employs, during the season, about 1,500
men, 1,000 women and children, and 250 boats.-(Inglis's Channel
Islands, 2nd ed. p. 142.)
Lobsters, of which the consumption in London is immense, are
brought from the Shetland Isles, the Yorkshire coast, &c.; but the
largest supply comes from Norway.
5. Cod Fishery.-This fishery, including under the term not only
the fishery of common cod, but of haddock, ling, hake, torsk, &c., is
next in importance to that of herring. It is carried on in a great
variety of places contiguous to the shores of the British islands; but
the most productive and valuable of the adjacent fisheries are those in
the neighbourhood of the Shetland and Orkney Islands, and off the
shores of Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk, Lincoln, &c. Formerly the prin-
cipal part of the cod brought to London was taken round the edges
of the Dogger bank, or rather in the hollows between it and the Well-
bank; and the finest fish is still brought from thence. But, within
the last few years, the London market has been principally supplied
with cod taken between Yarmouth and the Nore; and, in consequence
of its being procured so much nearer home, the average price of cod
has fallen from 30 to 50 per cent, under what it was twenty years
ago.-(Report of 1833, on the Channel Fisheries, p. 85.) This change
has occasioned a great increase in the number of fishing smacks belong-
ing to Barking, Gravesend, and other ports on the Thames; while
those belonging to Harwich, and some of the more distant ports, have
been materially reduced. The cod taken by the fishermen of Shetland
and the Western Isles is mostly cured dried, but it is partially, also,
cured green or in pickle; and it is sometimes, though much seldomer now
than formerly, conveyed alive in welled vessels to London. The had-
docks taken on the Aberdeenshire coast, and cured at the village of
Finnan, near Aberdeen, are held in the highest estimation all over the
kingdom.
638
FISHERIES.
The great bank of Newfoundland is the principal station of the
distant cod fishery; the fish found on it being not only of excellent
quality, but in the greatest abundance. The bank began to be resorted
to by fishers early in the sixteenth century. In 1578, France had on
the bank of Newfoundland 150 vessels, Spain 120 or 130, Portugal
50, and England from 30 to 50. During the first half of last century,
the fishery was principally carried on by the English (including the
Anglo-Americans) and the French; but the capture of Cape Breton,
and of their other possessions in America, gave a severe blow to the
fishery of the latter. The American war divided the British fishery;
that portion of it which had previously been carried on from New
England being thereafter merged in that of the United States. Still,
however, we contrived to preserve the largest share. At an average
of the three years ending with 1789, we are said to have had 402 ships,
1,911 boats, and 16,856 men engaged in the American fisheries.
During the last war, the French being excluded from the fisheries,
those of England attained to an extraordinary degree of prosperity;
the total value of the produce of the Newfoundland fishery, in 1814,
having exceeded 2,800,000l. But since the peace, the British fishery
on the Newfoundland banks has rapidly declined, and can hardly,
indeed, be said, at this moment, to exist. It is now carried on almost
entirely by the French and the Americans; the facilities enjoyed by
the latter for its prosecution being greater than those of any other
people, and the former being tempted to engage in it by the extraor-
dinary encouragement afforded by government. At present the British
fishery carried on by the inhabitants of Newfoundland is confined
entirely to the shore or boat fishery. But this, though probably not
so good a nursery of sailors as the bank fishery, is admitted to be
"the most productive of merchantable fish and oil.”—(M' Gregor's
British America, 2nd ed. vol. i. p. 206.) The average annual pro-
duce of the fisheries of all sorts, including seal, salmon, &c., exported
from Newfoundland during the three years ended with 1832, is stated
by Mr. M'Gregor at 516,417/.-(vol. i. p. 161.) A considerable
fishery is also carried on from the ports and harbours of Nova Scotia
and Cape Breton, New Brunswick, &c. But, next to that of New-
foundland, the principal British fishery is carried on along the coast of
Labrador,-its produce being estimated at from 300,000l. to 350,000l.
a year.
The Exportation of Fish from Newfoundland in each of the Years, 1832, 1833, and
1834, was as follows:—

Cod, Dry
Cod, Wet
Herrings
Cwt.
Barrels
Boxes
Barrels
,,
·
,,
Herrings
Mackarel
Salmon
Value of Fish exported
•
•
C+
1832
1833
1834
619,179
658
86
1,728
883,536
3,633
763, 187
23
477
2,690
2,039
326
3,256
1,623
202
3,363
319,265
455,672
443,577
FISHERIES.
639
The total produce of the British fisheries, in the various seas and
rivers of America, including seal oil and skins, is estimated by Mr.
M'Gregor, at an average of the 5 years ending with 1832, at 857,210.
a-year.—(Vol. ii. p. 596.)
Abstract of the Total Quantity of Cod, Ling, or Hake, Cured, Punched, or Branded,
and Exported, in so far as the same have been brought under the cognizance of the
Officers of the Fishery, during the 19 Years ended 5th April, 1844.
Total Quantity of Cod, Ling, or
Hake Cured.
Total Quantity of Cod,
Ling, or Hake
Punched or Branded.
Total Quantity of Cod,
Ling, or Hake
Exported.
Periods.

Cured
dried.
Cured in Pickle.
Cured Cured in
dried. Pickle.
Cured dried,
Cured in
Pickle.
Year ended
5th April,
Cwt.
Cwt.
Barrels.
1826
69,1361
5,634
5,621
Cwt.
66,315
Barrels.
Cwt. qrs. lbs. Barrels.
5,337
7,281 1 14
1827
95, 1614
9,273
9,025
82, 185
8,008
14,051 2 27
1828
82,515
6,726
6,142
74,103
6,609
13,208 2 0
1829
81,321
5,786
6,819
73,500
6,204
20,587 3 4
1830
101,014
5,652)
8,8361
92,3141
8,464
16,369 3 15
1831
37,647
2,950
34,3374
2,459
11,920 1 1
1832
50,293
3,779
13,879
3,230
20,168 3 16
47
1833
58,461
6,4671
13,5814
4,3932
14,754 1 26
67
1834
52,7101
5,522
14,255
3,829
16,298 3 0
24
1835
44,152
3,767
9,492
2,235
10,632 0 0
1836
38,040
6,276
6,766
3,018
10,992 0 0
1837
66,976
7,273
9,589
3,206
10,195 0 0
14
1838
84,996
10,303
9,259
4,373
22,166 2 12
36
1839
85,2791
10,051
23,9361
5,093
26,701 3 0
150
1840
93,5603
6,053
21,695
3,205
29,656 1 0
24
1841
91,4944
9,480
21,0294
3,891
30,550 1 0
44
1842
76,849
7,0381
13,283
2,164
25,293 1 0
1843
77,207
6,431
10,0301
1,342
23,737 3 0
1844
92,813
5,123
20,8104
2,2261
35,476 0 0
:0*
ΤΟ
4
N.B.-The books of this department do not exhibit the total quantity of cod, ling, or hake cured
till the year commencing 5th April, 1825. The bounty from the commencement of this abstract to
the 5th April, 1830, was near 4s. per cwt. for fish cured dried, and 2s. 6d. per barrel for fish cured in
pickle, taken by the crews of vessels or boats not on the tonnage bounty; while the bounty vessels
licensed for cod, ling, or hake fishery, on the tonnage bounty, was 50s. per ton for tonnage and
cargo to the 5th July, 1826; 45s. from thence to the 5th July, 1827; 40s. to the 5th July, 1828; and
35s. to the 5th of April, 1830; when the bounties ceased altogether, and have not since been
renewed.
We subjoin the following particulars with respect to the fisheries of
Cod, Ling, and Herrings, during the year ended 5th of April, 1844.
Cod:-
Vessels
Men.
Tonnage.
•
Number of Fish taken or bought
Quantities cured dried
Number of Fish taken, or purchased by Crews of
open Boats
Quantity cured dried
Quantity cured pickled
•
Boats employed in Herring and Cod Fishery
Herring :
Fishermen and Boys
•
Coopers
Persons employed gutting, packing, re-
packing, cleaning, and drying the Fish .f
Labourers employed
60,457
2,306
28, 177
7,184
105 Number
883 Men
3,4661 Tons
382,954 Number
12,203 Cwts.
2,697,841 Number
80,6101 Cwts.
5,119 Barrels
14,067 Number
Total number employed
98,124 Men
640
FISHERIES.
Number of Fish-curers
Quantity of Herrings:
Cured gutted
Cured ungutted
1,614
473,556 Barrels
191,803 Barrels
Total
665,3593 Barrels
Cured Branded
Cured, exported gutted
Cured, exported ungutted
182,988 Barrels
311,167
2,349
Barrels
Barrels
Total
313,516 Barrels
Quantity of Cod, &c. cured dried
&c. cured pickled
&c. exported dried
&c. exported pickled
92,8133 Cwts.
5,123 Barrels
35,476 Cwts.
4 Barrels.
6. Turbot Fishery.-Turbot is rather scarce in the Channel and on
the English coasts. By far the largest portion of turbot brought to
the London market is taken on the Dutch coast, principally, too, by
Dutch fishermen, who sometimes import the fish direct, but who more
frequently sell it to English fishermen. The greater part of the eels
used in London, and even at Hampton and Richmond, is also brought
from Holland.
Immense numbers of sprats and other small fish are annually cap-
tured, to be used as manure, on the coasts of Kent, Norfolk, and Essex,
but especially the first.
Mackarel are found, in the proper season, in many parts along the
The London market is principally supplied with those taken
off the shores of Kent and Sussex.
coast.
The
7. Whale Fishery.-The English engaged in the Greenland whale-
fishery towards the commencement of the seventeenth century, but it
was not prosecuted continuously, or on a considerable scale, till so
recently as 1750. At that period, however, in conssquence of a
bounty of 40s. a ton being allowed on the vessels fitted out for the
fishery, a good number were despatched, as much certainly in the view
of catching the bounty as of catching whales. Deceived by the pros-
perous appearance of the fishery, parliament imagined that it was
firmly established; and in 1777 the bounty was reduced to 30s.
effects of this reduction showed the factitious nature of the trade, the
vessels engaged in it having fallen off in the course of the next 5 years
from 105 to 39! To arrest this alarming decline, the bounty was
raised to its old level in 1781; and of course the trade was soon re-
stored to its previous state of apparent prosperity. The hostilities
occasioned by the American war reduced the Dutch fishery to less than
half its previous amount, and gave a proportional extension to that of
England. The bounty which had, in consequence, become very heavy,
was reduced in 1787 to 30s. a ton; in 1792 it was further reduced to
25s.; and, in 1795, it was reduced to 20s. ; at which sum it continued
till 1824, when it ceased.
Altogether there have been about 2,500,000l. expended in bounties
FISHERIES.
641
for the encouragement of the whale fishery; and it is doubtful whether
even this enormous outlay, had it been unaccompanied by extrinsic
and accidental circumstances, would have established it on the very
moderate scale at which it now stands. But the late war totally de-
stroyed the Dutch fishery; and, in addition to this, many of those
engaged in the business emigrated to England, bringing with them
their capital, industry, and skill. In consequence of this encourage-
ment, the fishery carried on from England became more extensive and
valuable than at any former period; so much so, that in 1815 we em-
ployed in it 134 ships of the burthen of 43,320 tons. But since then
the fishery has greatly declined; partly, no doubt, in consequence of the
competition of the Americans, who have peculiar advantages for carry-
ing it on, but more in consequence of the increasing scarcity of fish,
and of the greater difficulty and danger of the voyage.
A remarkable change has taken place in the localities of the fishery.
When it began, the whales were found in vast numbers in the seas
round Spitzbergen; but being gradually exterminated, and driven from
thence, the whale ships followed them to the icy barrier that bounds
the Greenland sea on the north. In 1719 the Dutch commenced fish-
ing in Davis's Straits; but they were not resorted to till a compara-
tively late period by English ships. In 1820 by far the larger portion
of our ships went to the Greenland seas; but from 1826 to 1837 they
were nearly abandoned.
The same thing, however, has happened in Davis's Straits that had
formerly happened in the seas round Spitzbergen. The whales having
become much less numerous in the lower part of the Straits, it was
necessary to pursue them into Baffin's Bay, Lancaster's Sound, and the
recently discovered inlets to the west of the Straits, where the risk of
loss is considerably greater. In consequence the ships sent out since
1836 have gone mostly to the Greenland seas.
For several years past the whale fishery has been so very hazardous
as to have partaken more of the character of a gambling adventure
than of a regular industrious pursuit. Sometimes the ships have come
home with only half a cargo, sometimes they have arrived clean, or
without any fish, and sometimes they have been wholly lost. In 1830,
of 91 ships that sailed for Davis's Straits, 19 were totally lost, 24
returned clean, or without a single fish; and of the remainder not one
had a full cargo, only one or two being half fished. The year 1835
was also very unfavourable, several of the ships having been detained,
locked in the ice. The business may now, in fact, be considered as all
but abandoned, in as far as the capture of whales is concerned, the
produce of the fishery having consisted of late years almost wholly of
seals.
There has been a singular change in the ports from which, as well
London
as the places at which, the northern fishery is carried on.
had, for a lengthened period, by far the greater number of ships in the
business; but within the last dozen years she has almost entirely
withdrawn from it, having, in 1834, only sent out three ships, and
latterly not one. Hull is now the only seat of the fishery in England,
and Peterhead the principal in Scotland.
VOL. I.
2 T
642
FISHERIES.
Abstract Account of the Northern Whale Fishery for the 28 Years ending with 1842.
Number of Ships to
Greenland and Davis's
Straits.
Total
Ships.
Tonnage.
Ships Number of Tuns of Oil.
Lost. Whales.
Tons of
Bone.
Years.
G.
D. S.
1815
98
48
146
47,148
1
733
10,682
528
1816
101
45
146
46,868
1
1,330
13,590
632
1817
97
53
150
48,084
5
828
10,871 539
1818
94 63
157
50,362
2
1,208
14,482
666
1819
96
63
159
51,082
12
988
11,401
517
1820
102
57
159
50,546
3
1,155
18,745
946
1821
80
79
159
50,709
14
1,405
16,853
923
1822
61 60
121
38,144
8
630
8,663
422
1823
55 62
117
36,759
3
2,018
17,074
921
1824
32
79
111
35,013
1
761
9,871
534
1825
21
89
110
34,751
500
350
1826
5
90
95
30,414
5
512
7,200
400
1827
16 72
88
28,273
1
1,162
13, 186
733
1828
14
79
93
28,665
3
1,197
13,966
802
1829
1 88
89
28,812
4
871
10,672
608
1830
91
91
29,396
19
161
2,199
119
1831
8
80
82
28,608
3
451
5,104
273
1832
19 62
81
26,393
5
1,563
12,610
676
1833
3
74
77
25,294
1
1,695
14,508
802
1834
7 69
76
24,955
3
872
8,214
442
1835
1
70
71
6
167
2,623
1836
3
58
61
1837
15 37
52
1838
31
8
39
221
70
707
122
1,356
65
466
4,345
236
1839
29
12
41
115
1,441
79
1840
11 20
31
2
22
412
14
1841
1842
11
14
84
19
52
647
22
18
54
668
;
8. Southern Whale Fishery.-This department of the whale fishery
began to be prosecuted about the beginning of the American War
and was, for many years, carried on to a considerable extent. The
ships engaged in it principally apply themselves to the catch of the
Physeter Macrocephalus, or spermaceti whale; but large quantities
of oil are also obtained from the common whale of the southern seas,
and from the sea elephant, a species of marine animal, intermediate
between the walrus of the northern seas and the seal. This fishery
has, however, of late decreased very rapidly. During last year (1845)
not a single vessel cleared out for it.
This decline is a consequence, partly of the growing searcity of the
whales in their old haunts, and of the greater difficulty experienced in
their capture, but more of the competition of the Americans, and of
the colonists in New South Wales and Van Diemen's Land. The
situation of the latter gives them peculiar advantages for the prosecu-
tion of the fishery, which they now carry on to a great extent, and
with much spirit and success.
9. Value of British Fisheries.-There are no means by which to
form any accurate estimate of the total annual value of the different
MANUFACTURES.
643
fisheries belonging to Great Britain. It must, however, amount to a
very large sum, though less, perhaps, than is commonly supposed. Sir
John Barrow, in an article on the fisheries, in the new edition of the
Encyclopædia Britannica, estimates their total value, including foreign
as well as domestic, at 8,300,000l. a year; but there can be little
doubt that this is a very great exaggeration. We are convinced that
those who estimate the entire value of the fisheries at 4,000,000l. or
4,500,000l. a year, will not be within, but beyond the mark.
CHAPTER IV.-MANUFactures.
SECT. 1.—Circumstances favourable to the Progress of Manufactures
and Industry.
THESE are partly of a moral and political, and partly of a physical
description. Of the former class, the most important seem to be the
security and free disposal of property; the absence of monopolies, and
the
the non-interference of government in industrious undertakings
diffusion of knowledge amongst the people; the cordial reception of
foreigners; and the emulation and energy inspired by inequality of
fortune, and by the gradual increase of taxation: among the more
prominent of the physical circumstances conducive to their progress
are, supplies of the raw material used in manufactures, with the com-
mand of power, that is, of coals, waterfalls, &c. A good deal, also, of
the progress of manufactures seems to depend on the advantageous
situation of a country for commerce, and on the nature of its climate.
We shall briefly notice some of the more prominent of these circum-
stances.
Moral Circumstances contributing to the Progress of Manufactures.
1. It would be unnecessary to take up the reader's time by enlarg-
ing on the necessity of security, and of the free disposal of property to
success in manufacturing industry, or, indeed, in any laborious under-
taking. Without security there cannot, in fact, be either industry or
invention. No man will engage in any undertaking, or exert either
his bodily or mental powers, unless he be well convinced that he will
be allowed to reap all the advantages accruing from the exertion of
his labour, skill, or genius. Any doubt as to this is sure to paralyse
all his exertions. And if, owing to the weakness or ignorance of go-
other cause, the
vernment, the prevalence of a revolutionary spirit, or any
security of property were materially impaired, all sorts of industrious
undertakings, that did not promise an immediate return, would be
forthwith abandoned, and every person possessed of property would
endeavour to convey it out of the country. The want of security
is, therefore, by far the greatest of all public calamities. Wherever
it does not exist, we find nothing but the most abject poverty and
barbarism; and, supposing other things to be equal, the wealth and
civilization of nations will be pretty nearly proportioned to the degree
of security they respectively enjoy. Every other circumstance con-
2T 2
644
MANUFACTURES.
ducive to the advancement of industry may exist in a country; but
without security these cannot be of any material service.
A high
degree of security will compensate for many deficiencies; whereas
nothing can make up for its want: it is a sine quà non of national
prosperity.
2. The absence of monopolies, and the non-interference of the
government in industrious undertakings, undoubtedly conduce in no
ordinary degree to the progress of industry. Every man is always
exerting himself to find out how he may best extend his command over
the necessaries and conveniences of life; and sound policy requires that
he should, so long as he does not interfere with the rights and privi-
leges of others, be allowed to pursue his own interest in his own way.
Human reason is, no doubt, limited and fallible; we are often swayed
by prejudices, and are apt to be deceived by appearances: still, how-
ever, it is certain that the desire to promote our own purposes con-
tributes far more than anything else to render us clear-sighted and
sagacious. "Nul sentiment dans l'homme ne tient son intelligence
éveillée autant que l'intérêt personnel. Il donne de l'esprit aux plus
simples." The principle that individuals are, generally speaking, the
best judges of what is most beneficial for themselves, is now universally
admitted to be the only one that can be safely relied on. No writer
of authority has, latterly, ventured to maintain the exploded and un-
tenable doctrine, that governments may advantageously interfere to
regulate the pursuits of their subjects. It is their duty to preserve
order; to prevent one from injuring another; to maintain, in short,
the equal rights and privileges of all. But it is not possible for them
to go one step further, without receding from the principle of non-
interference, and laying themselves open to the charge of acting par-
tially by some, and unjustly by others.
The most comprehensive experience corroborates the truth of these
remarks. The natural order of things has been less interfered with in
Great Britain than in most other countries. Since the passing of
the Act of James I., in 1624, for the abolition of monopolies, full
scope has been given to the competition of the home producers; and,
though the various resources of talent and genius have not been so
fully, perhaps, or at least so early, developed as they would have been
had there been no restrictions on our intercourse with foreigners, they
have been stimulated in a degree unknown in most other countries.
France, previously to the Revolution, was divided into provinces,
having each peculiar privileges, and separate codes of revenue laws;
and in consequence the intercourse between them was subjected to the
most oppressive restrictions. In Germany and Spain the same miser-
able system prevailed; so that they were not only deprived of the
freedom of foreign, but even of internal, commerce. The inhabitants
of each province being in a great measure isolated from the rest, there
was comparatively little competition; and instead of invention and
active exertion, there was nothing but routine and sluggish indifference.
Holland and the United States have been almost the only countries
that have enjoyed the same degree of internal freedom as Great Bri-
tain; and the former, notwithstanding the unfavourable physical cir-
cumstances under which she is placed, has long been, and still is, the
MANUFACTURES.
645
richest country in Europe; while the latter, whose condition is in other
respects more favourable, is advancing with giant steps in the career of
improvement.
It is sometimes said, that restrictions on industry and commerce
cannot be so injurious as has been represented, seeing the progress we
have made notwithstanding they have always existed amongst us. The
previous details show the weight to be attached to this allegation. The
restrictions referred to have been confined to some branches of foreign
trade; and, luckily, the freedom allowed to all sorts of industry at
home would have insured our advance though the fetters laid on
foreign trade had been a good deal more oppressive than they actually
have been. But to imagine, as many have done, that these restric-
tions contributed to accelerate our progress, is the climax of absurdity.
Their influence has, in every case, been distinctly and completely
the reverse; but, though considerable, it has been insufficient to
countervail the advantages resulting from the freedom we otherwise
enjoyed.
3. The ability to read, and the diffusion of instruction among all
ranks and orders of the people, by the general circulation of books
and journals, the establishment of mechanics' institutes, &c., have had
a material influence on the advancement of arts and industry. The
circumstances in question have had the double advantage of multi-
plying the means and chances of improvement, and of preventing any
invention or discovery, when made, from being engrossed by a few.
An uninstructed people, though surrounded by all the means and
capacities for the production and accumulation of wealth, being unable
to apply them to any useful purpose, are necessarily poor and desti-
tute; whereas an intelligent people, though placed in a comparatively
unfavourable situation, never fail, by availing themselves of the powers
and energies of nature, and making them subservient to their pur-
poses, to become rich and prosperous. That "knowledge is power,"
is true in a physical as well as in a moral sense. The more familiar
our acquaintance with, and the more complete our command over,
natural agents, the greater, of course, must be our command over the
necessaries and conveniences of life. In tracing the causes of our
progress, it is not possible to appropriate to each the portion belong-
ing to it of a result which is the joint effect of the whole united; but
if this could be done, it would be found that no inconsiderable share
is fairly ascribable to the extraordinary diffusion of scientific informa-
tion amongst us.
""
4. For a lengthened period, the reception given to foreigners in
England was anything but cordial. In most countries, indeed, not in
an advanced state of civilization, strangers are uniformly the objects of
popular dislike; and this feeling seems to have prevailed quite as much
in England as anywhere else. But, notwithstanding the various legal
disabilities laid on foreigners, and the ill-treatment they often expe-
rienced, their settlement here has been productive of the most advanta-
geous results. The Flemings, invited over and protected by Edward
III., gave the first great impulse to the woollen manufacture; and the
immigrations from the Low Countries during the persecutions of the
Duke of Alva, and from France subsequently to the revocation of
646
MANUFACTURES.
the Edict of Nantes, materially forwarded our commerce and manufac-
tures. During the last century the prejudice against aliens lost much
of its force; and several of the disabilities under which they formerly
laboured have been removed. But, in all that respects the treatment
of foreigners, our policy has been less liberal and enlightened than
that of the Dutch. In Holland they have always been received with
open arms; and a short residence in the country, and a small pay-
ment to the state, entitled them to all the privileges enjoyed by natives.
The highest authorities agree, that this was one of the main causes of
the extraordinary progress made by the republic in commerce and
wealth. "It has always been our constant policy to make Holland a
perpetual, safe, and secure asylum for all persecuted and oppressed
strangers: no alliance, no treaty, no regard for, nor any solicitation of
any potentate whatever has at any time been able to weaken or destroy,
or make the state recede from protecting those who have fled to it for
their own security and self-preservation. Throughout the whole course
of all the persecutions and oppressions that have occurred in other
countries, the steady adherence of the republic to this fundamental law
has been the cause that many people have not only fled hither for
refuge, with their whole stock in ready cash, and their most valuable
effects, but have also settled and established many trades, fabrics, ma-
nufactures, arts, and sciences, in this country; notwithstanding the first
materials for the said fabrics and manufactures were almost wholly
wanting in it, and not to be procured but at a great expense from
foreign parts.
""*
5. We incline to think that the great inequality of fortune that has
always prevailed in this country has powerfully contributed to excite
a spirit of invention and industry among the less opulent classes. It
is not always because a man is absolutely poor that he is perseveringly
industrious and economical; he may have already amassed considerable
wealth; but he continues with unabated energy to avail himself of
every means by which he may hope to add to his fortune, that he may
place himself on a level with the great landed proprietors, and those
who give the tone to society in all that regards expense. No successful
manufacturer or merchant ever considers that he has enough till he be
able to live in something like the same style as the most opulent per-
sons. Those immediately below the highest become, as it were, a
standard to which the class next to them endeavour to elevate them-
selves; the impulse extending, in this way, to the very lowest classes,
individuals belonging to which are always raising themselves by industry,
address, and good fortune, to the highest places in society. Had there
been less inequality of fortune amongst us, there would have been less
emulation, and industry would not have been so successfully prosecuted.
It is true, that the desire to emulate the great and the affluent, by em-
barking in a lavish course of expenditure, is often prematurely indulged
in, and carried to a culpable excess; but the evils thence arising make
but a trifling deduction from the beneficial influence of that powerful
stimulus which it gives to the inventive faculties, and to that desire to
improve our condition, and to mount in the scale of society, which is
* Proposals for amending the Trade of Holland, printed by authority in 1756;
Eng. ed. p. 12.
MANUFACTURES.
647
the source of all that is great and elevated. Hence we should dis-
approve of any system which, like the law of equal inheritance
established in France, had any tendency artificially to equalize fortunes.
To the absence of any such law, and the prevalence of customs of a
totally different character, we are inclined to attribute a considerable
portion of our superior wealth and industry.
It
6. We are also disposed to believe, how paradoxical soever such a
notion may appear, that the taxation to which we have been subjected
has, hitherto at least, been favourable to the progress of industry.
is not enough that a man has the means of rising in the world within
his command; he must be placed in such a situation, that, unless he
avail himself of them, and put forth all his energies, he will be cast
down to a lower station. Now, this is what our taxation has effected:
to the desire of rising in the world, implanted in the breast of every
man, it superadded the fear of being thrown down to a lower place in
society; and the two principles combined produced results that could
not have been produced by either separately. Had taxation been carried
beyond due bounds, it would not have had this effect. But, though
considerable, its increase was not such as to make the contributors
despair of being able to meet the sacrifices it imposed by increased skill
and economy; and the efforts they made in this view were far more
than sufficient for their object; and, consequently, occasioned a large
addition to the public industry and wealth, that would not otherwise
have existed.
II. Physical Circumstances contributing to the Progress of Manu-
factures.
1. Supplies of the raw material may be classed among the more
prominent of this description of circumstances; and those who reflect
on the nature, value, and importance of our manufactures of wool; of
the useful metals, such as iron, tin, lead, copper, &c.; of leather, flax,
and so on, will readily admit that our success in them has been ma-
terially facilitated by our possessing abundant supplies of the raw
material. It is of less consequence, when the material of a manufacture
possesses considerable value in small bulk, whether it be furnished from
native resources, or be imported from abroad; though, even in that
case, the advantage of having an internal supply, of which we cannot
be deprived by the jealousy or hostility of others, is far from immaterial.
But no nation can make any considerable progress in the manufacture
of bulky and heavy articles, the conveyance of which to a distance
necessarily occasions a large expense, unless she have supplies of the
raw material within herself. Had we been destitute of iron ore, lead,
and tin, we could never have distinguished ourselves by the magnitude
and value of our manufactures of these articles. But any one who re-
flects on the signal advantage resulting to every branch of manufacturing
industry from being able to procure abundant supplies of iron at the
cheapest rate, will be convinced that we are under anything but slight
obligations to our exhaustless stores of this mineral.
2. But of all the physical circumstances that have contributed to our
extraordinary progress in manufactures and industry, none have had so
648
MANUFACTURES.
much influence as our possession of the most valuable coal mines. They
have conferred advantages on us not enjoyed in an equal degree by any
other country. Our extraordinary success in the manufacture of iron,
copper, &c., is not owing so much to our possessing the ores, as to our
possessing the coal, by the aid of which they have been smelted and
refined. But the paramount importance of coal as a manufacturing
agent has been principally manifested since the invention of the steam-
engine. Without a cheap and abundant supply of fuel, the engine, as
now constructed, would be of comparatively little use. It is, as it were,
the hands; but coal is the muscles by which they are set in motion,
and without which their dexterity cannot be called into action, and they
are of no use. Our coal mines may be regarded as vast magazines of
hoarded or warehoused power; and, unless some such radical change
should be made on the steam-engine as should very decidedly lessen the
quantity of fuel required to keep it in motion, or some equally service-
able machine, but moved by different means, be introduced, it is not at
all likely that any nation should come into successful competition with
us in those departments in which steam-engines, or machinery moved
by steam, may be advantageously employed.
Since the introduction of the steam-engine, waterfalls have lost much
of their value; and unless they be very favourably situated, and of a
superior description, we no longer reckon them of any considerable
importance.
3. The advantageous situation of the country for commerce, and the
nature of its climate, have also powerfully contributed to the perfection
of manufacturing industry. Owing to the facilities afforded by our
insular situation for maintaining an intercourse with all parts of the
world, our manufacturers have been able to obtain supplies of foreign
raw materials on the easiest terms, and to forward their own products
wherever there was a demand for them. Had we occupied a central
internal situation in any quarter of the world, our facilities for dealing
with foreigners being so much the less, our progress would have been
comparatively slow. But being surrounded on all sides by the sea, that
is, by the great highway of nations, we have been able to deal with the
most distant as well as with the nearest people, and to profit by all the
peculiar capacities of production enjoyed by each. With such advan-
tages on our side, it would have been singular had we not shot ahead
of most of our competitors in the race of improvement.
Our climate is peculiarly favourable for all sorts of exertion and
enterprise; without being too severe, it is sufficiently so to render
comfortable clothing and lodging indispensable; and, consequently,
gives rise to wants that are either unknown, or less sensibly felt, in
more genial regions. Its inequality, too, by requiring incessant care
and attention on the part of the husbandmen, makes them vigilant and
active, as well as industrious; and the qualities that are thus naturally
impressed on this great class are, through their example, universally
diffused.
Mr. Stevenson, in his valuable article on English statistics in the
Edinburgh Encyclopædia, when enumerating the causes of our extra-
ordinary success in manufactures, lays the greatest stress on the supe-
riority of our machinery, the vast magnitude of our capital, and the
MANUFACTURES.
649
extent to which the division of labour is carried amongst us. But
this is to mistake effects for causes. These are, in fact, the means by
which and the modes in which manufacturing industry is carried on;
and the real inquiry is, What are the circumstances that have rendered
us so abundantly supplied with the former, and have enabled us to use
them so efficiently?-We have endeavoured briefly to answer this in-
quiry, by stating what we believe to have been the most prominent causes
of that extraordinary accumulation of capital, and of that employment of
improved and powerful machinery, and subdivided labour, which mark
our eminence as a manufacturing people. Still, however, we are in-
clined to think that a good deal must in these matters be ascribed to
chance, or to some lucky accident. Had Hargreaves, Arkwright, Watt,
or Wedgwood not existed, or been born abroad, it is impossible to say
how much it might have affected the state of industry here: but there
seem to be sufficient grounds for thinking that it would have been, at
this moment, materially different from what it actually is. A good
deal, too, depends on priority. A country, town, or district, that has
already established and made a considerable progress in a manufacture,
acquires, in consequence, an advantage that may enable it successfully
to contend with competitors placed under what are naturally more
favourable circumstances: its merchants are already in possession of
the markets; its inhabitants, being trained to the business, have acquired
that peculiar sleight of hand that is necessary to form expert workmen ;
and they are in this way frequently able to preserve their ascendancy
for a lengthened period, and sometimes even to drive those from the
field who have a preponderance of natural advantages on their side.
It seems to be the peculiar good fortune of England that, as respects
all the great branches of manufacture, she has at once the advantages
of priority and of acquired skill and dexterity on her side, as well as
the natural advantages already noticed of abundant supplies of the raw
material, of inexhaustible beds of coal, and of situation. Cotton is not
an exception; for, though the raw material be the product of other
countries, the freight upon it is not very considerable, and is but a
trifling deduction from the other circumstances that seem to insure our
superiority in this department.
To excel in machine making, is to excel in what is certainly the most
important branch of manufacturing industry. Superiority in any single
branch, except this, may exist simultaneously with great inferiority in
many others; but eminence in the manufacture of machinery is almost
sure to lead to eminence in every other department.
Mr. Stevenson has laid considerable, though not, as it appears to us,
too much, stress on the practice generally adopted in Great Britain, of
paying workmen, wherever it is practicable, by the piece, or by the
work done, and not by the day. This system gives the workmen an
interest in being industrious; and makes them exert themselves to
execute the greatest quantity of work in the least space of time. And,
in consequence of its prevalence, this practice materially influences even
the day labourers; who, to avoid invidious comparisons, make exertions
unknown in other countries. Hence, a given number of hands in
Great Britain perform much more work than is executed by the same
number of hands almost any where else: in fact, if we regard wages in
650
MANUFACTURES.
their proper light, that is, if we look upon them as a compensation for
the quantity of work done, and not for the time spent in doing it, they
will, we believe, be found to be cheaper in Great Britain than in most
other countries.
SECT. 2.-Woollen Manufacture.
Rise and Progress of the Manufacture.-It has been pretty com-
monly supposed that the woollen manufacture was, for the first time,
established in England in the reign of Edward III.; but, though the
policy of that able prince contributed powerfully to its advancement,
it certainly existed amongst us from the time of the Romans. There
are notices in the statute book of "broad cloths 2 yards within the
lists," more than 100 years before the date of the measures adopted by
Edward III. for its improvement.
Owing to the suitableness of the soil and climate of England for the
growth of sheep, the excellence of our wool, the demand for warm
clothing, and the ingenuity of our people, it might be fairly presumed
that we were, at an early period, distinguished by our proficiency in
this manufacture. But, for several centuries after the Conquest, our
ancestors were, in this respect, very far behind the Flemings; and,
though there can be no doubt that a greater or less supply of coarser
articles was always produced at home, it was customary, down to the
16th century, to carry large quantities of English wool to Flanders ;
whence were brought back in return, not only the finer descriptions of
woollen cloths, but most part of the foreign products required for our
consumption.
Though without any claim to be entitled its founder, Edward III.
certainly did much for the improvement of the manufacture. He had
a clear perception of the advantages resulting from the immigration of
foreigners, as well by communicating a knowledge of the arts practised
abroad, as in exciting a spirit of emulation and invention amongst the
native population. Acting on this principle, Edward availed himself,
in 1331, of some discontents existing among the Flemish manufacturers
to invite them over to England. This invitation was accepted by a
number of weavers, dyers, fullers, &c., who settled in different parts of
the country, being protected by the vigorous policy of the king from
the assaults of the rabble. From this early period down to the present
day, the manufacture has always been regarded as of primary import-
ance. In 1337, an Act was passed prohibiting the wear of any cloths
made beyond seas; and it is supposed that the exportation of English
wool was then also interdicted: but the words of the Act do not bear
this interpretation; the exportation being prohibited only "till it be
otherwise ordered;" that is, till measures were matured for subjecting
it to a duty. In these unsettled and turbulent times prohibitory Acts
were but little attended to, and the one now referred to was soon after
repealed.-(Smith's Memoirs of Wool, vol. i. p. 32, and p. 39.) During
the reign of Edward III., and for long after, the duties on exported
wool formed a large branch of revenue; and, though the manufacturers
were exceedingly anxious to have its exportation prohibited, and this
was then believed to be good policy, they did not succeed in their object
WOOLLEN.
651
till 1660; when, owing to the increase of industry and commerce,
means were found for raising a sufficient revenue independently of the
wool duties.
It may, however, be doubted, whether the benefit derived by the
manufacturers from prohibiting the export of wool was not more ap-
parent than real: it occasioned a material diminution of the growth of
the article; and it is well known, that large quantities were at all times
clandestinely exported. Mr. Smith, who has carefully investigated the
early history of the manufacture, states, that it made a far more rapid
progress during the reign of Elizabeth, when wool might be carried
out of the kingdom, than it ever did during any equal period subsequent
to the restriction on exportation. Foreign wool began to be imported
in small quantities in the 13th century.
At first, the manufacture seems to have been pretty equally distri-
buted over the country. In an insurrection that took place in 1525,
more than 4,000 weavers and other tradesmen are said to have assem-
bled out of Laneham, Sudbury, and other towns in Suffolk. The ma-
nufacture had been previously introduced into Yorkshire. In 1533,
an Act was passed (34 and 35 Hen. VIII., c. 10), reciting, that "the
city of York, afore this time, had been upholden principally by making
and weaving of coverlets, and the poor thereof daily set on work in
spinning, carding, dyeing, weaving, &c. ;" that the manufacture, having
spread into other parts, was 66 thereby debased and discredited ;" and
enacting as a remedy for this evil, that henceforth "none shall make
coverlets in Yorkshire but inhabitants of the city of York!" This
seems, indeed, to have been, at the time, a favourite principle of com-
mercial legislation: for it was enacted, nearly at the same period, that
the manufacture should be restricted, in Worcestershire, to Worcester
and four other towns. Worsted goods, so called from Worsted, now
an inconsiderable village in Norfolk, where the manufacture was first
set on foot, were produced in the reign of Edward II., or perhaps
earlier but Norwich soon after became the principal seat of this branch
of the manufacture: and continued to preserve its superiority, till it has
been surpassed, within these few years, by Bradford and the contiguous
district, in the West Riding of Yorkshire. In an Act of Henry VIII.
(33 Hen. VIII., c. 16), worsted yarn is described as
"the private
commodity of the city of Norwich."
""
But, however objectionable, these statutes may be regarded, if com-
pared with others enacted about the same period, as formed on tolerably
sound principles. In proof of this, we may mention that the statute
5 and 6 Edward VI., c. 22, was framed for the express purpose of
putting down machinery; while the statute 2 and 3 Philip and Mary,
cap. 11, prohibits any clothier out of a borough, market town, or cor-
porate town, from having more than one loom, and any weaver dwelling
out of a city from having more than two looms; and it also prohibits
any white woollen cloths being made, except where they had been made
during the 10 preceding years. It further interdicts any one from
setting up the trade of a weaver unless he have served a seven years'
apprenticeship to the same; and no weaver dwelling out of a city is to
have more than two apprentices at a time.
In 1614 an improvement took place in the woollen manufacture of
the west of England, by the invention of what is called medley or
652
MANUFACTURES.
mixed cloth, for which Gloucestershire is still celebrated. But, in
despite of this, there were, during the reign of Charles II., many,
though probably exaggerated, complaints of the decay of the manu-
facture; and, by way of encouraging it, an Act was passed (30 Car. II.,
st. 1, c. 3), ordering that all dead bodies should be buried in woollen
shrouds! This Act, the provisions of which were subsequently en-
forced, preserved its place in the statute book for more than 130
years!
Much has been said about the encouragement formerly afforded by
the English legislature to the establishment of manufactures, but
those who inquire into the matter will, we apprehend, agree with us
in thinking that their chance of success would have been decidedly
greater had they been left to shift for themselves, without any inter-
ference. The Acts specified above, and others of a similar description,
confining the manufacture within certain limits, were early repealed;
but those prohibiting the employment of machinery, and regulating
the number of looms, kept their place on the statute book to a recent
period, and opposed the most formidable obstacle to the progress and
improvement of the manufacture. They were not, as may perhaps be
supposed, allowed speedily to fall into disuse; on the contrary, their
provisions were every now and then put in execution. So late as 1802
there were serious disturbances in Somersetshire and Wiltshire on
account of the manufacturers setting up gig-mills, or machines for
raising the nap on cloths, it being contended that they were proscribed
by the Act of Edward VI.! Nor was the public rendered fully aware
of the real nature and powerful influence of the Acts in question till
the publication of the Report on the Woollen Manufacture by the
Commons' Committee in 1806. Hence, notwithstanding all the cir-
cumstances favourable to the manufacture in England, and which, had
it been let alone, would have insured its rapid advancement, it was
long in a very backward and depressed state. The Dutch and Flemings
retained a decided superiority over the English till the end of the
17th century. It was not, indeed, till 1668, when some immigrants
from Flanders settled in England, that we succeeded in producing any
of the finest cloths, or those made entirely of Spanish wool, without
the admixture of any wool of an inferior quality.—(Memoirs of Wool,
vol. i., p. 229, &c.)
The statute of Edward VI., for the discouragement of machinery,
seems, combined no doubt with other circumstances, to have been as
completely successful as any one of its promoters could have desired.
"From the most remote period of the woollen manufacture, until the
latter end of the last century, or about the year 1780, very few, if any,
mechanical improvements had been introduced into it. During the
whole time the various processes were carried on nearly in the same
manner, but with greater or less skill, and were employed upon mate-
rials more or less valuable. The carding and spinning of wool, and
the weaving and finishing of cloth, in the early part of the reign of
George III., were effected by the same machines as in the reign of
Edward III., which, probably, were similar to those of the ancient
Romans, but more rude in their construction. In an art which had
seen so many centuries roll on without any change, it did not appear
possible to the manufacturer that any improvement could be effected ;
WOOLLEN.
653
and had not the genius of Hargreaves and Arkwright changed entirely
the modes of carding and spinning cotton, the woollen manufacture
would probably have remained at this day what it was in the earliest
ages of civilized society."-(Rees's Cyclopædia, article "Woollen
Manufacture.")
But the astonishing improvements made in the cotton trade roused,
at length, the dormant energies of the woollen manufacturers, and
stimulated them to make something like corresponding efforts. In
consequence, machinery began, in the interval between 1785 and 1800,
to be everywhere employed in the carding and spinning of wool, until
the performance of these processes by hand-cards and spinning-wheels
was wholly abandoned. The repeal of the Acts of Edward VI. and
of Philip and Mary, in 1807, paved the way for the general intro-
duction of gig-mills, shearing-mills, brushing-mills, &c.
The power-loom is, as yet, but little introduced into the cloth trade,
and is employed only in weaving the finer description of goods. This
is supposed to be owing to the loose way in which the yarn is spun,
which, while it facilitates the process of felting, makes it unsuitable for
the power-loom.-(Report on Yorkshire, Factory Commission, c. i.,
p. 168.)
Towards the end of the 17th century, Mr. Gregory King and
Dr. Davenant (Davenant's Works, Whitworth's ed., vol. ii., p. 233)
estimated the value of the wool shorn in England at 2,000,0007.
a-year; and they supposed that the value of the wool (including that
imported from abroad) was quadrupled in the manufacture; making
the entire value of the woollen articles annually produced in England
and Wales 8,000,000l., of which about 2,000,000l. was exported. In
1700 and 1701, the official value of the woollens exported amounted
to about 3,000,000l. a-year. Owing to the vast increase in the wealth
and population of the country, the manufacture must have been very
greatly extended during the last century; but the increase in the
amount of exports was comparatively inconsiderable. At an average
of the 6 years ending with 1789, the annual official value of exports
was 3,544,1607. a-year, being an increase of only about 540,0007. on
the amount exported in 1700. The extraordinary increase of the
cotton manufacture soon after 1780, and the extent to which cotton
articles then began to be substituted for those of wool, though unac-
companied by any absolute decline of the woollen manufacture, no
doubt contributed to check its progress. In 1802 the official value
of the exports rose to 7,321,012/., being the largest amount they ever
reached till 1833, when they amounted to 7,788,8421. In consequence
of the revulsion in the trade with the United States, the exports of
woollens declined considerably in 1837 and 1838. But a depression
arising from such a cause could be temporary only; and the declared
value of the exports during the three years ending with 1845 has ex-
ceeded that of the exports of any previous period of equal duration.
The declared or real values of the woollen manufactures exported from
the United Kingdom since 1818 are shown in one of the annexed returns.
The subjoined account shows the quantity and value of the British
woollen manufactures exported in 1844, and their distribution. It sets
the importance of the market of the United States in a very striking
point of view :
654
MANUFACTURES.
Account of the Quantities and Values of the different Descriptions of British Wool, Woollen
and Worsted Yarn, and Woollen Manufactures Exported from the United Kingdom in
1844, specifying the Quantities and Values of those sent to different Countries.

Woollen Manufactures.
Wool, Sheep's
and Lambs".
Woollen and
Worsted Yarn.
Countries to
which Exported.
Entered by
the Piece.
Entered by
the Yard.
Hosiery and
SmallWares
Total
Value.

Quantity.
Declared
Value.
Quantity.
Declared
Value.
Quantity.
Declared
Value.
Quantity.
Declared
Value.
Declared
Value.
ibs.
£.
Russia
lbs.
781,091
£.
Pieces.
£.
Yards.
£.
£.
£.
105,046
26,822
49,624
98,2:28
7,130
631
162,431
Sweden
15,378
1,551
15,968
19,497
13,580
972
344
22,364
Norway
Denmark
2,163
301
6,880
17,098
79,081
3,996
1,444
22,839
1,404
151
628
1,280
6,610
332
166
1,929
Prussia
Germany.
Holland
8,055
828
896
1,293
3,145
267
9
2,397
13,997
933 4,614,745
516,786
591,780
821,579
3,536,697
190,124
19,870
1,549,292
240,750
13,203 1,652,890
165,890
223,367
363, 199
591,320
36,564
8,998
587,854
Spain and the
Belgium.
France
Portugal, Proper.
Balearic Islands
Gibraltar
Italy, and the
Italian Islands f
6,862,572
420,267
494,872
54,476
97,986
160,895
900,763
56,479
3,087
695,204
1,685,890
99,162
365,885
77,403
54,501
104,771
1,331,187
79,433
3,686
364,455
500
75
5,479
574
51,474
161,343
84,832
7,015
2,532
171,539
336
25
20,591
2,413
31,226
70,994
83,281
7,288
769
81,489
14,332
1,256
60,798
102,582
387,530
14,316
2,025
120,179
:
73,202
8,264
160,765
232,216
1,488,570
91,057
8,723
340,260
Malta
•
Turkey.
48
5
6,525
17,565
21,649
1,599
1,435
20,604
1,549
190
61
12
33,962
73,183
178,230
10,758
1,379
85,522
Africa
Hope
Mauritius
America
Egypt.
Western Coast of
•
Cape of Good
St. Helena and
Ascension Is-
lands
East India Com-
pany's Terri-
tories and Cey-
on
China
British Austra-
lian Colonies
North Ame-
rican Colonies
West Indies,
Cuba and other
Foreign West
IndianColonies
United States of
Mexico
New Granada,
Venezuela, and
Equador.
Brazil
·
States of Rio de
la Plata.
1,763
4,250
1,791
233
117
4,600
552
126
3,254
5,474
2,457
184
1,461
7,245
:
17,478
35,347
167,916
9,401
2,585
47,333
20
2
152
4,939 10,622
634
614
80
29
745
124,658
3,579
256
14,457
200
16
872
134
128,184
385,772
591,176 41,012
11,859
438,793
•
:
108
6
96
84,355
50
209,985 558,567 68,786 6,192
12,307 35,134 354,654 23,379
669
565,423
7,009
65,572
2,531 183,773
112
5
224
27
24,433
20,635
378,546 2,066,628 118,512
52,360
55,734
89,339
538,934
346,425 18,902
7,428
78,695
244,684 14,311
3,250
73,322
140,317
1,222
139,567
17,959
118
16
Chili
Peru and Bolivia
The Channel Is-
lands
1,400
35
All other Places
25,411
383
2,355
56
18,150 44,729
625,240 1,401,471
20,952 67,394
7,406
25,703
79,029 250,141
42,136
155,748
47,999 175,013
43,733 230,291
9,601 34,648 229,172 14,631
98,698 6,266
11,976,772 917,507
437,004 24,464
28,698
125,811
2,463,970
666
92,524
2,583
411
28,697
481,703 35,394
3,389
288,940
268,529 22,479
6,730
184,957
337,549 28,462
2,866
206,341
307,553 29,907
8,050
263,248
2,080
53,749
1,229
52,279
Total.
•
8,947,619 535,134 8,271,906
958,217 2,864,727 6,104,696 26,940,170 1,824,808 | 275,332 |9,698,187
Imports of Foreign Wool.-We have already seen (antè, p. 505)
that the entire produce of British and Irish wool may be estimated
at about 540,000 packs of 240 lbs. each. But, exclusive of this, we
use large supplies of foreign wool, English wool not being suitable,
at least without an intermixture of foreign, for various departments
of the manufacture. Formerly the principal part of our imports came
from Spain; but the late King of Saxony, when elector, introduced
the breed of Merino sheep into his dominions, and exerted him-
self to promote their growth. His praiseworthy efforts were crowned
with the most signal success. The Merino sheep seem to succeed
better in Saxony, and other German States, than in Spain; and, since
the peace of 1815, the imports from the latter have been inconsiderable,
compared with those from the former. The Australian colonies, also,
WOOLLEN.
655

Countries
Cloths
of
to which Exported.
all Sorts.
Napped
Coatings,
Duffels,
&c.
Baizes
Kersey-
mere.
of
all Sorts.
Stuffs,
Woollen or
Worsted.
An Account of the Quantities and Declared Value of British Woollen Manufactures Exported from the United Kingdom in the Year 1851,
specifying the Countries to which they were sent.
Hosiery;
viz.
Stockings,
Woollen
or Worsted.
Tapes, Small
Wares, &c.
Total
Sundries
;
Flannel.
Blankets
and
Blanketing.
Carpets
and
Carpeting.
Woollens,
consisting of
mixed
Rugs, Coverlids,
Declared Value
with Cotton.
of
Exports.
Russia
Pieces.
938
Pieces.
Pieces.
Pieces.
Pieces.
Yards.
Yards.
Yards.
Yards.
Dozen Pairs.
£.
£.
77
3
7,248
2,080
8,471
20,568
76,575
259
2,854
84,910
Sweden
197
47
2
29,271
1,092
2,796
11,027
11,079
82
1,467
41,889
Norway
1,230
46
55
13,404
14,427
1,292
1,456
44,344
205
2,722
32,414
Denmark
1,537
Hanseatic Towns
14,057
Holland
4,754
Belgium.
839
Channel Islands
8,447
France
2,564
25
Portugal, Azores, and Madeira.
14,190
280* **
27
110
7,565
5,166
4,056
5,550
132,341
27
798
28,745
447
446
458,505
441,571
40,884
188,174
3,798,673
524
21,497
915,705
63
322
8,108
185,202
96,521
726
115,244
1,645,485
2,336
6,867
403,157
16
517
4
66,967
19,044
798
35,960
790,634
991
2,781
155,318
312
101
2,643
92,243
23,693
29,632
81,153
1,499
2,265
54,563
821
118
32,147
12,115
745
46,697
736,809
842
3,077
122,409
12
381
1,080
21,752
25.679
2,956
6,221
854,772
585
954
143,557
Spain and the Canaries
1,296
176
211
20,715
7,576
4,341
56,916
95,525
88
985
64,474
Gibraltar
1,712
78
9
12,893
11,378
520
8,343
65,999
696
1,440
29,051
Italy
16,097
47
356
96
131,950
36,458
15,191
100,926
5,164,512
18,660
5,498
469,322
Malta.
1,456
9
3,377
4,305
3,979
5,696
98,651
945
580
20,155
Ionian Islands
657
2
2,272
9,916
946
709
66,055
994
258
9,296
Turkey, Syria, Palestine, and Egypt
2,248
18
79
25,877
11,359
5,008
80,085
598,880
4,146
2,594
75,768
Wallachia and Moldavia.
544
2
1,596
3,702
123,079
300
161
Syria and Palestine
7,166
655
6,264
890
60
1,870
27,376
45
676
9,302
Egypt
379
12
5,975
5,140
150
7,115
80,159
281
482
14,694
British Possessions in South Africa
4,302
204
728
443
14,888
114,684
105,009
8,555
90,425
514
4,170
65,462
Mauritius
359
2
2
2,937
19,176
1,880
1,682
44.777
42
287
British Territories in the East Indies
9,575
50,227
290
351
132
30,840
232,681
23,564
10,606
526,892
2,952
13,264
815,908
Java
949
17
:
6,675
7,760
5,690
108
77.960
257
Philippine Islands
13,058
1,071
5,289
5,870
2,050
135
15,000
30
94
10,406
China
44,103
77
22
103,376
9,066
7,880
3,038
29,577
355
962
874,608
British Settlements in Australia.
•
9,307
175
704
899
46,844
336,903
609,354
93,475
798,311
21,268
14,921
258,097
British North American Colonies
52,654
85
1,220
891
156,497
1,457,862
432,105
30+,283
5,639,154
80,820
22,650
747,021
British West Indies
4,627
21
189
188
20,956
102,597
79,532
5,084
893,847
2,565
8,707
78,573
Foreign West Indies
4,829
6
20
21,599
11,624
136,991
11,460
283,082
2,338
2,243
70,549
United States of America
146,292
852
1,329
3,561
419,880
220,171
3,904,678
472, 121
82,155,281
83,512
51,176
2,437,061
Mexico
•
Central America
New Granada
Venezuela
10,024
8
11,013
8,255
4,065
263,710
252
1,182
60,727
1,627
15
3,755
8,840
320
821,664
462
152
23,289
3,484
160
3,680
494
1,944
1,845
17,710
125
174
20,271
3,412
2,723
3,578
22,946
255
36,703
848
140
24,714
Brazil
63,555
60
540
3,288
60,508
11,569
206,919
34,276
1,101,424
1,064
5,148
446,049
Uruguay
9,150
93
7,327
800
3,566
16,750
195,458
100
1,258
Buenos Ayres
69,678
19.041
8
12,487
4,499
17,611
210,331
1,305
8,148
141,644
Chili
24,034
2,707
1,075
26,593
16,244
12,845
98,964
928,583
7,136
1,137
244,816
Peru
36,202
All other places
8,894
6
632
26
120
28,616
194
6,787
1,988
10,329
2,440
51,752
635,836
1,037
1,403
285,036
22,615
6,523
41,550
2,151
3,156
38,952
Total
562,181
1,472
11,953
20,864
2,034,930
3,361,584
5,706,965
1,814,284
58,318,528
192,176
188,571
8,377,183
656
MANUFACTURES.
have risen, with an all but unprecedented rapidity, to the highest im-
portance as wool-growing countries. We subjoin an
Account of the Quantities of Sheep and Lambs' Wool, Foreign and Colonial, Imported
into the United Kingdom, in the Year 1851, distinguishing the Countries from which
they came, and the Quantities brought from each.
IMPORTS.
Sheep and
Lambs' Wool,
IMPORTS.
Sheep and
Lambs' Wool,
Foreign and
Colonial.
From
Russia, Northern Ports
Sea
•
Ports within the Black
Denmark, including Iceland
Prussia
Hanseatic Towns
Holland
•
Foreign and
Colonial,
lbs.
From
lbs.
584,067
Morocco
967,040
British Possessions in South
5,312,139
Africa
5,816,591
•
1,657,910
British Territories in India
4,549,520
42,211
China
8,216,020
West Australia
69,546
368,595
142,082
South Australia
3,392,603
496,783
New South Wales
14,772,132
908,314
Victoria
•
17,269,521
2,356,622
Van Diemen's Land
5,198,083
383,150
New Zealand
•
809,203
448,120
United States of America
594,017
•
14,956
Brazil.
·
179,946
408,157
Buenos Ayres or Argentine Re-
·
158,534
public
853,194
•
220,436
Chili
129,221
495,804
Peru.
1,675,644
181,255
All other places
•
45,135
831,240
•
Total.
1,748,602
81,298,793
Belgium
France
•
•
Portugal Proper
Spain.
Gibraltar
•
Italy, viz., Sardinian Territories
Malta.
Tuscany
Papal Territories
Naples and Sicily.
Austrian Territories
Turkish Dominions, including
Wallachia and Moldavia
Egypt, Syria, and Palestine .
RE-EXPORTS.
All Sorts.
RE-EXPORTS.
All Sorts.
To
lbs.
Το
Russia
•
28,402
Sweden
285,533
France
Italy
•
lbs.
1,496,811
190,317
Norway
·
·
14,000
Hanseatic Towns.
800,632
United States of America.
Other places.
2,029,968
47,170
Holland
• •
1,100,483
Belgium.
•
7,718,407
Total.
13,711,723
In 1852 the imports and re-exports of the different varieties of wool
and woollen manufactures were as follows:-
IMPORTS.
RE-EXPORTS.
Wool, Beaver
lbs.
56
12
cut and combed
Coney
Hares
42
6,507
50
12
Wool or Hair, Goats'.
2,564,330
Wool, Sheep and Lambs'
91,692,864
71,734
11,266,939
Alpaca and the Llama Tribe
2,068,594
49,994
Woollen Manufactures, not otherwise described.
value
£655,049 108.
£35,659
WOOLLEN.
657
Return of the Rates of Duty chargeable on Foreign and Colonial Wool, the Quantities
thereof Imported, the Prices of Southdown and Kent Long Wool, and the Declared
Value of British Woollen Manufactures Exported in each Year, from 1818 to 1845.—
(Parl. Paper, No. 109, Sess. 1846, amended.)

Declared Value of Exports.
Rates
Years.
of
Duty.
Foreign Colonial
Wool
Wool
Imported. Imported.
Price
Price
Total
Wool
Imported.
of
South-
down.
of
Kent
Long.
Woollen Woollen
and Worsted Manufac-
Yam.
Total.
tures.
1818
2. per lb.
•
1819
6d. per lb.
•
lbs.
24,720,139
16,034,999
lbs.
lbs.
per lb.
per lb.
s. d.
8. d.
£.
£.
£.
•
2 6
2 0
8,145,327
1 7
1 3
1820
1821
9,653,366
16,416,806
1822
18,859,265
1823
18,863,886
122,239
9,775,605
205,761 16,622,567 1 3
198,815
19,058,080 1 3
502,839 19,36€,725 1 34
1 5
1
1
0 11
1
34110
5,989,622
5,586,138
6,462,866
6,483,167
•
5,636,586
Dec. 1824:
ld. per lb.
of is. va-
1824
lue
•
•
22,147,540
416,94522,564,485 1 2
1 1
6,043,051
11. per lb.
under 18.
value
1825
Colonial free
43,465,282
351,684 43,816,966 1 4
1826
14,747, 103
1,242,009
15,989,112
1827
28,552,742
562,592
23,115,341
1828
28,628,121
1,607,938
30,236,059
1829
1830
1831
1832
1833
1834
42,684,932
19,639,629 1,877,020 21,516,649 0
30,303,173 2,002,141 32,305,314 0 10
29,110,073 2,541,956 31,652,029 1
25,681,208 2,461,191 28,142,489 I
34,461,527 3,614,886 38,076,413 1 5
3,770,300 46,455,232
17
1835
37,472,032
4,702,500
1836
57,814,771
6,425,206
42,174,532 1
64,239,977 1
1837
38,945,575
9,434,133
48,379,708 1
409860I0L7GB3
1000
1 4
6,185,648
0 10
0 11
4,966,879
0 101
5,245,649
0
5,069,741
0 9
4,587,603
0 10
4,728,666
1
0 10
1 0
158,111
235,307
5.231,013
5,389,124
5,244,479 5,479,786
0 10
246,204
6,294,522 6,540,726
1
238,541
5,736,871 5,975,415
1
309,091
6,810,511 7,149,602
1 8
358,690
7,639,354
7,998,044
1 3
333,098
4,655,977
4,989,075
1838
42,430, 102
1839
44,504,811
10,164,253
12,975,112
52,594.355 1
1 5
384,535
5,795,069
6,179,604
57,379,923 1 4
1 5
423,320
6,271,645
6,6 14,965
1840
36,498,168
12,938,116
1841
1842
1843
39,672,153 16,498,821
27,394,920 18,486,719
26,633,913 21,151,148
49,436,284 I 3
56,170,974 1 0
45,881,639
47,785,061
1
452,957
5,327,953
5,780,810
0 11
552,148
5,748,673
6,300,821
0 11
0 10
637,305
5,185,045
5,822,350
0 11
0 11
742,888
6,790,232
7,538,120
1844 {
6, free
•
From June 42,473,228 22,606,296 65,079,524
|
1 2
1 2
958,217 8,204,836 9,163,053
1845
44,970,793 31,843,062 76,813,855 1 4
1
3
1,066,925
7,693,118 8,760,043
The imports of all sorts of wool amounted in 1847 to 62,592,598 lbs.,
in 1848 to 70,864,847 lbs., in 1849 to 76,768,647 lbs., and in 1850 to
72,674,483 lbs.
Prices of Southdown Fleeces in the Month of July, in each Year, from 1846 to 1853,
both inclusive, per Pack of 240 lbs.
Years.
Average Quality, such as the Growths of Surrey,
Essex, Hertfordshire, &c.
Ewe and Wether.
Teg Fleeces.
£. s. d.
£. s. d.
1816
11 10 0 per pack.
1847
11 10 0
1848
9 0 0
1849
10 0 0
13 10 0 per pack.
12 10 0
10 0 0
11 0 0
,,
1850
11 0 0
1851
10 10 0
1852
12 10 0
1853
16 0 0
12
0 0
12 0 0
14 0 0
17 0 0
Years.
Superior Quality, such as the Growths of Sussex,
Wiltshire, part of Kent, &c.
Teg Fleeces.
£. s. d.
14 10 0 per pack.
13 10 0
Ewe and Wether.
£. s. d.
1846
12 10 0 per pack.
1847
12 10 0
"
1848
10 0 0
1849
11 0 0
1850
12 0 0
1851
11 10 0
1852
13 10 0
1853
17 0 0
VOL. II
*
11 0 0
12
0 0
13
0 0
,,
13
0 0
"
15
0 0
18 0
0
2 U
658
MANUFACTURES.
Value of the Manufacture.-Number of Persons employed.--The
most discordant estimates have been given as to both these points. For
the most part, however, they have been grossly exaggerated. In a
tract published in 1739, entitled Considerations on the Running
(Smuggling) of Wool, the number of persons engaged in the manu-
facture is stated at 1,500,000, and their wages at 11,737,500/. a-year.
Dr. Campbell, in his Political Survey of Great Britain, published in
1774, observes, " Many computations have been made upon this im-
portant subject, and, amongst others, one about 30 years since, which,
at that time, was thought to be pretty near the truth. According to
the best information that can be obtained, there may be from 10,000,000
to 12,000,000 sheep in England, some think more. The value of their
wool may, one year with another, amount to 3,000,000l.; the expense
of manufacturing this may probably be 9,000,000l., and the total value
12,000,000l. We may export annually to the value of 3,000,000/.,
though one year we exported more than 4,000,000l. In reference to
the number of persons who are maintained by this manufacture, they
are probably upwards of 1,000,000. Sanguine men will judge these
computations too low, and few will believe them too high."—(Vol. ii.,
p. 158.) But the moderation displayed in this estimate was very soon
lost sight of. In 1800 the woollen manufacturers objected strenuously
to some of the provisions in the treaty of union between Great Britain
and Ireland, and were allowed to urge their objections at the bar of
the House of Lords, and to produce evidence in their support.
Mr. Law (afterwards Lord Ellenborough), the counsel employed by
the manufacturers on this occasion, stated, in his address to their lord-
ships, on information communicated to him by his clients, that 600,000
packs of wool were annually produced in England and Wales, worth,
at 117. a pack, 6,600,000l.; that the value of the manufactured goods
was three times as great, or 19,800,000l.; that not less than 1,500,000
persons were immediately engaged in the operative branches of the
manufacture; and that the trade collaterally employed about the same
number of hands.-(Account of the Proceedings of the Merchants,
Manufacturers, &c., p. 34.)
It is astonishing that reasonable men, conversant with the manu-
facture, should have put forth such ludicrously absurd statements. We
have already seen that the quantity of wool produced in England and
Wales in 1800 did not really amount to 400,000 packs; and the
notion that three out of the nine millions of people then in the country
were directly and indirectly employed in the manufacture is too ridi-
culous to deserve notice, though it was generally acquiesced in at
the time.—(See Middleton's Survey of Middlesex, 2nd ed., p. 644;
Adolphus's Political State of the British Empire, vol. iii., p. 236.)
Mr. Stevenson, who is one of the very few writers on British sta-
tistics to whose statements much deference is due, has given the follow-
ing estimate of the value of the woollen manufactured goods annually
produced in England and Wales, and of the interest, &c., of the
capital, the wages, and the number of persons employed in the manu-
facture:-
WOOLLEN.
659
Total value of manufactured articles
Value of raw material
£18,000,000
£6,000,000
2,400,000
Interest on capital, sum to replace its wear and
and } 2
tear, and manufacturers' profits
Wages of workmen
9,600,000
Number of people employed, 480,000, or, perhaps, 500,000.
£18,000,000
But even this estimate requires to be materially modified. Taking
Scotland into account, and allowing for the increase of population and
of exportation since Mr. Stevenson's estimate was made, the total value
of the various descriptions of woollens annually produced in Great
Britain may, at present, be moderately estimated at from 25,000,0007.
to 27,000,000l., or 26,000,000l. at a medium. We have further been
assured by high practical authorities, that Mr. Stevenson's distribution
of the items is essentially erroneous; and that assuming the value
of the manufacture to be 26,000,000l., is made up nearly as follows:-
Total value of manufactured articles
Raw material, 110,000,000 lbs. British wool,
at 1s. 3d. per lb., and 60,000,000 do. Fo- £12,875,000
reign, at 2s.
Wages
Oil, dye stuffs, soap, &c.
7,725,000
1,200,000
Profits, sum to replace wear and tear of 4,200,000
capital, &c.
•
£26,000,000
£26,000,000
At present, the average wages of the people employed may be taken
at about 247. a-year, making the total number employed 322,000.
And, however small this may look as compared with former estimates,
we believe it is fully up to the mark, if not rather beyond it.
Most of the innumerable statutes formerly passed for the regulation
of the different processes of the manufacture have been repealed within
these few years, and the sooner every vestige of the remainder dis-
appears from the statute book the better.
Notwithstanding the carding engine, the spinning frame, the gig or
raising machine, the shearing machine, brushing machine, &c., have
been mostly introduced since 1790, it is the opinion of some well-
informed manufacturers that as many hands are at present required
to produce the same quantity of cloth as at the last-mentioned epoch.
This result, so different from what might be expected, is accounted for
by the fact that a great deal more work is now expended upon the
cloth, the appearance of which has been vastly improved.
In 1793, cloth of a medium quality, worth at the time about 13s. a
yard, was made of the best English wool. In 1815, middling cloth
was made of Spanish wool, and cost 16s. or 17s. a yard; while in 1832
similar cloth made of German, and cost about 12s. a yard; but, owing
to the improvement of the manufacture, cloth produced in 1832, though
not actually finer than that produced in 1793, had a great deal better
appearance, so much so that we have been assured by undoubted judges
that cloth worth only 10s. a yard in the former year looked quite as
well as cloth worth 13s. in the latter. The deterioration in the
quality of English wool, occasioned by the farmers having laboured
2 U2
660
MANUFACTURES.
to increase the carcass, though at the expense of the fleece, is the
reason that it is now seldom used, unless mixed with foreign wool in
the manufacture of the finer cloths.-(Private Information.)
Distribution of the Manufacture.-Factory and Domestic Systems,
&c. The principal seats of that branch of the manufacture which is
especially denominated woollen are the West Riding of Yorkshire, and
the counties of Gloucester, Wilts, and Somerset. Worsteds used to
be principally manufactured in Norfolk, but they are now produced
at Bradford, Halifax, and Leeds, but especially the first, to a far
greater extent than in Norfolk. Stockings are mostly made in Lei-
cestershire.
The manufacturing district of the West Riding of Yorkshire, which,
with the exception of that of Lancashire, is by far the most important
of any in the kingdom, extends from north to south about 40 miles, its
mean width being about 20 ditto, including an area of nearly 800 square
miles; but this space comprises the hardware manufacturing district
contiguous to Sheffield, as well as the clothing district. The latter
commences below Craven, and extends over a tract of which Leeds,
Bradford, Halifax, Huddersfield, and Wakefield, are the principal
centres. Cloth is the chief article manufactured in this district, the
greater part being made in the neighbourhood of Leeds, Wakefield,
Huddersfield, and Saddleworth. Leeds, in particular, is the grand
mart for coloured and white broad cloths. The former, which are
usually called mixed cloths, are made wholly of dyed wool. The
mixed cloth manufacturers reside partly in the villages belonging to
the parish of Leeds, but chiefly at Morley, Gildersome, Adwalton,
Driglington, Pudsey, Farsley, Calverley, Eccleshill, Idle, Baildon,
Yeadon, Guiseley, Rawdon, and Horsforth, in or bordering upon the
vale of the Aire, principally to the west of Leeds; and at Batley,
Dewsbury, Osset, Horbury, and Kirkburton, west of Wakefield, in or
near the valley of the Calder. Few mixed cloth manufacturers are to
be found to the east and north of Leeds, and there are but few in the
town itself. White cloth is principally manufactured at Alverthorpe,
Osset, Kirkheaton, Dewsbury, Batley, Birstal, Hopton, Mirfield, Ec-
cleshill, Cleckheaton, Bowling, and Shipley, a tract of country form-
ing an oblique belt across the hills that separate the vale of the Calder
from the vale of the Aire, beginning about a mile west of Wakefield,
leaving Huddersfield and Bradford a little to the left, terminating at
Shipley on the Aire, and not coming within less than 6 miles of Leeds
on the right. The districts of the mixed and white cloth are in general
distinct and separate, but in some places, particularly at their south-east
and south-west extremities, they run into each other. Flannels and
baizes are the principal woollen articles manufactured in and near Hali-
fax; but cloth is also largely made. The blanket and flushing line lies
between Leeds and Huddersfield. Worsted spinning is carried on upon
a very large scale, and to the exclusion of almost everything else, at
Bradford; stuffs being made in its vicinity, and in Halifax and Leeds.
Narrow cloths are made in and near Huddersfield. Saddleworth
furnishes broad cloths of nearly equal fineness to those of the west of
England, with kerseymeres, &c. White cloths are made at Wakefield;
but it is principally distinguished by its wool-market, and the superior
WOOLLEN.
661
skill of its cloth-dyers. Dewsbury is at the head of what is called the
shoddy trade. Refuse woollen rags, brought from all quarters of the
kingdom and from foreign countries, are collected here, and, having
been subjected to various processes, torn to pieces, and reduced to their
original state of wool, by the aid of powerful machinery, they are re-
spun, and again made into cloth. Formerly, shoddy cloth was used
only for padding and such like purposes; but now flushings, druggets,
carpets, and table covers, cloth for pilot and Petersham great coats,
&c., are either wholly or partly made of shoddy. The clothing of the
army and the greater part of that of the navy, consists principally of
the same material, which, in fact, is occasionally worn by everybody.
Large quantities of shoddy cloth are exported. Great improvements
have recently been effected, not only in the fabric of the cloth, but
also in the dyes; this is especially seen in the cloth for soldiers'
uniforms, which is no longer of a brick-dust colour, but makes a much
nearer approach to scarlet. The beautiful woollen table cloths are
made wholly of shoddy, being printed by aquafortis, from designs
drawn in London and Manchester, and cut on holly and other blocks
on the spot. The whole trade, in fact, is one of the greatest triumphs
of art and civilization: it is of comparatively recent origin, and is
rapidly extending itself. It is most active in summer, and is com-
paratively dead in winter. Between 2,000 and 3,000 men, women,
and boys are engaged in the trade in Dewsbury and its vicinity. No
power-looms are employed in the manufacture.
Rochdale, in Lancashire, may be almost considered as forming a
part of the woollen district of the West Riding, to which it is con-
tiguous, being, in fact, within the parish of Saddleworth. Its manu-
factures consist principally of baizes, flannels, kerseys, and broad
cloths. They are very extensive, and employ a great number of
hands.
It is impossible accurately to ascertain the proportion which the
woollen manufacture of Yorkshire bears to that of the rest of the king-
dom; but we have been assured, by those well qualified to give an opinion
on such a point, that it is from a half to two-thirds of the whole; and
this statement seems to be completely borne out by the returns obtained
from the factory inspectors. From these it appears that, of 1,179
woollen (ex-worsted) factories, employing 48,500 work-people, at work
in England in 1839, 543 factories and 26,180 individuals belonged to
the West Riding.
Halls have been established for the sale of cloth at Leeds, Halifax,
Bradford, Huddersfield, &c., which are attended, on the public market-
days, by thousands of the smaller class of manufacturers. These halls
are divided into long walks or galleries, consisting of two rows of
stands, each of which is marked with the name of the individual to
whom it belongs, or by whom it is occupied. On these the cloth is
exposed for sale; and, when the market opens, the manufacturers take
their stations at the stands behind their goods; the merchants, or
buyers, passing to make their purchases through the avenues between
The time during which the halls are open is limited usually
to an hour or an hour and a half; and, during that brief period, pur-
chases to a very large extent are often completed. At Leeds there
the rows.
662
MANUFACTURES.
are two large halls: that for mixed cloth was erected in 1758, and has
about 1,800 stands: the white cloth hall is of later construction, having
been built in 1775; it has 1,200 stands. These halls are appropriated
exclusively to the use of those who have served regular apprentice-
ships to the business of cloth-making. The halls at Bradford, Halifax,
&c., though large and commodious, are inferior, in point of magnitude,
to those of Leeds. All of them are managed by trustees; and most of
the stands are said to be the freehold property of those by whom they
are occupied.
A good deal of cloth is, however, produced and sold, in the districts
referred to, without passing through the halls. This is effected by the
merchants giving out samples to the manufacturers, and getting the
cloth sent direct to their warehouses.
All the cloth sold in the halls is rough or undressed. Those by or
for whom it is bought have what are called finishing shops, where the
cloth is shorn, dressed, and fitted for the consumer. This is a distinct
branch of the business, and it is one in which no female children, and
but few boys, are employed; the machinery being, for the most part,
attended to, and the work performed, by men.
In some of the Yorkshire factories every part of the work is per-
formed, from the spinning of the yarn to the dressing and finishing of
the cloth in some, again, the yarn is sold; and in some it is given
out to hand-weavers, who bring it back as cloth. But we understand
that the greater number confine themselves to some one department, of
which the dressing and finishing is the most extensive.
For a lengthened period various Acts of Parliament existed, some
of them being applicable only to certain districts, called the Stamping
Acts. These were intended to obviate frauds in the measurement of
cloth; but, at length, their impolicy became obvious to every one, and
they were finally repealed in 1818. From 1725 down to that period
returns were annually made to the Justices at Pontefract sessions,
from officers at the different fulling-mills, of the quantity of cloth
manufactured in the West Riding. Kerseymeres and various other
articles, were not, however, included. We subjoin a copy of these
returns. (See p. 663.)
This table shows the great increase of the manufacture in the West
Riding during the period to which it refers; and the extraordinary in-
crease in the number of factories erected since 1813, and in the imports
of foreign wool, show that the manufacture has continued to increase,
since the last-mentioned epoch, even more rapidly than before.
The woollen manufacture is carried on to a greater extent in
Gloucester than in any other of the western counties. Broad cloths
of various sorts are made in it, but chiefly superfine, of Saxon, Aus-
tralian, and Spanish wool; and fine narrow fancy goods are, also,
extensively produced. The manufacture is carried on in the district
called the Bottoms, including parts of the several parishes of Avening,
Painswick, Pitchcomb, Randwick, Minchinhampton, Stroud, Biesly,
Rodborough, Stonehouse, King's Stanley, Leonard Stanley, Wood
Chester, Horsley, and Eastington. Extensive works are also carried
on at Dursley, Cam, Uley, Alderley, Wickwar, and Wooton-under-
Edge. Stroud may be considered as the centre of the manufacture in
WOOLLEN.
663
this part of the country; all the surrounding valleys exhibiting ranges
of houses or villages occupied by persons engaged in this business;
and the banks of the Frome being thickly set with fulling-mills. In
1839, there were, in Gloucestershire, 125 woollen factories, employing
5,415 work-people, being the next greatest district to the West Riding
of Yorkshire and Lancashire.
Account of the Number of Broad Cloths Milled at the several Fulling mills in the
West Riding of the County of York from the 12th March, 1726, and thence
Annually, distinguishing each Year; and of the Narrow Cloths from the 20th
January, 1738, and thence Annually, distinguishing each Year; exhibiting also
the Number of Yards made each Year, from Easter Sessions, 1768.
Years. Broads. Narrows.
Years.
Broad
Pieces.
Narrow
Yards.
Yards.
Pieces.
1726
26,671
1769
92,522 2,771,667
87,762
2,144,019
1727
28,990
1770
93,075 2,717,105
85,376
2,255,625
1728
25,2234
1771
92,782 2,966,224
89,920
2,235,625
1729
29,643
1772
112,370
3,223,913
95,539
2,377,517
1730
31,579
1773
120,245
3,635,612
89,8744
2,306,235
1731
35,563
1774
87,201
2,587,364
88,323
2,133,583
1732
35,548
1775
95,878 2,841,213
96,794
2,441,007
1733
34,620
1776
99,733
2,975,389
99,586
2,488,140
1734
31,123
1777
107,750
3,153,891
95,786
2,601,583
1735
31,744
1778
132,506
3,795,990
101,629
2,746,712
1736
38,899
1779
110,942
3,427,150
93,143
2,659,659
1737
42,256
1780
94,625
2,802,671
87,309
2,571,324
1738
42,404 14,495
1781 102,018
3,099,127
98,721
2,671,397
1739
43,086
58,848
1782 112,470
4,458,405
96,743
2,598,751
1740
41,441
58,620
1741
46,364
61,196
1742
44,954
62,804
1743
45,178₤
63,545
1744
1745
50,453
1746
56,637
1747
62,480
1748
60,765
1749
60,705
1751
1750 60,447
60,964
1752
60,724
1753
55,358
1754
56,070
72,394
1755
57,125
76,295
•
1756
33,590₫
79,318
1799
1757
55,777
77,097
1800
1758
60,396
66,396
1759
51,877
65,513
1760
49,362
69,573
1761
48,944
75,468
1804
1783 131,092
1784 138,023
1785 157,275
1786 158,792
54,627+ 63,065 1787 155,748
63,423 1788 139,406
68,775 1789 154,134
68,374 1790 172,588
68,080 1791 187,569 4,815,079 154,373
68,889
1792 214,851 6,760,728 190,468
78,115 1793 190,332 6,054,946 150,666
74,022 1794 190,988 6,067,208 130,403
72,442 1795 250,993 7,759,907
71,618 1796 246,775 7,830,536 151,594
1797 229,292 7,235,038 156,709
1798 * 224,159 7,134,114 148,566
272,755 8,806,688 180,168
285,851 9,263,966 169,262
1801 264,082 8,699,242
1802 265,660 8,686,046
1803 266,785
298,178
4,563,376
4,094,335 115,500
4,844,855 116,036
4,934,975 123,025
4,850,832 128,740
4,244,322 132,143
4,716,460 145,495
5,151,677 140,407
108,641
3,292,002
3,356,648
3,409,278
3,536,889
4,058, 157
4,208,303
4,409,673
4,582,122
4,797,594
5,531,698
4,783,722
4,634,258
155,087
5,172,511
5,245,704
5,503,648
5,180,313
6,377,277
6,014,420
137,231
4,833,534
137,016
5,023,754
8,942,798
139,575
5,023,996
9,987,255
150,010
5,440, 179
1762
48,621
72,946
1805
300,237
10,079,256
165,847
6,193,317
1763
48,0381
72,096
1806 290,269
9,561,178
175,334
6,430, 101
1764
54,916
79,458
1765
54,660
1766
1767
1768
77,419
72,575 78,893
102,428 78,819
90,036 74,480
1807 280,056 9,111,006
1808 279,859 9,050,970
1809 311,239 9,826,048 151,911
1810 273,664
1811 269,892
162,120
6,180,981
144,624
5,309,007
5,951,762
8,671,042 158,252
6,180,811
8,535,559
141,809
5,715,534
1812 318,431
1813 369,890
9,949,419
>
136,863 5,117,209
11,702,837 142,863 5,515,755
Bradford, in Wiltshire, is the centre of what is, perhaps, the greatest
fabric of superfine cloth in England; the district including the sur-
rounding towns of Trowbridge, Westbury, Melksham, and Chippen-
ham. Woollen cloth, of a thin texture, is made at Wilton; and cloths
of various qualities, but all fine, are made at Warminster, Heytesbury,
and Calne. In 1839 there were, in Wilts, 55 woollen factories, em-
ploying 3,228 work-people.
664
MANUFACTURES.
In Somersetshire the manufacture is carried on at Taunton, where
the goods produced are principally of a coarse fabric, and at Frome and
Tiverton (near Bath). Shepton Mallet has entirely lost its woollen
trade. Taunton is famed for its manufacture of second cloth; Frome
for superfine, of which it produces a large supply. West of England
cloths are commonly divided into five classes, according to their thick-
ness the thickest are double milled superfine; the finest and thinnest
cloths are for the Turkey trade; ladies' cloths are rather thicker than
these; cloths manufactured for the East and West Indies a degree
thicker; the superfine being, in point of thickness, next to the double-
milled superfine already mentioned. The Western woollen manufac-
ture also extends into parts of Dorsetshire; Sturminster Newton, in
that county, producing white baize and flannels.
The county of Norfolk was long the principal seat of the stuff or
worsted manufacture. The name worsted is said, as previously men-
tioned, to be derived from Worsted, a parish in this county, where
woollen twist and stuffs were first made. But the manufacture was
early transferred to Norwich, whence it extended to other towns.
A number of refugees, who sought an asylum at Norwich from the
persecutions of the Duke of Alva, introduced the manufacture of bon-
basins, for which this city was afterwards distinguished. It has been,
also, celebrated for its manufacture of crapes and camlets; and, more
recently, for that of shawls. On the whole, however, the manufactures
of Norwich appear to have declined considerably during the present
century; and those in the other towns of the county are at present of
trifling importance. The falling off is principally, we believe, as-
cribable to the want of coal, and to the consequent disadvantage under
which most businesses are carried on here, as compared with those
established in the districts where this mineral abounds: in fact, the
greater part of the yarn now made use of in the Norwich fabrics is
made at Bradford, in Yorkshire; and, as already stated, the worsted
manufacture of the West Riding is become of vastly greater extent and
value than that of Norfolk. Worsted yarn is also largely produced in
Leicestershire and Lancashire; and, to some extent, in Warwick and
other places.
Exclusive of the leading fabrics already adverted to, an immense
variety of woollen goods, the mere recapitulation of the names of which
would be a tedious task, are manufactured in various places. Druggets,
long-ells, &c., are made in Devonshire and the contiguous parts of
Cornwall, and in some parts of Somerset. They are sold, as they come
from the loom, to the merchants of Exeter, by whom they are milled,
dyed, finished, and afterwards exported. The East India Company
were the principal buyers of long-ells; but, as they are but little used
at home, and the exports have declined, the manufacture is no longer
in a flourishing state. The manufacture of plush, at Modbury, in
Devonshire, deserves notice; but, notwithstanding the ingenious ma-
chinery that was employed, it is much decayed.
Baize was formerly largely produced in the towns and neighbourhood
of Colchester, Bocking, Braintree, and Coggleshall, in the county of
Essex ; but the manufacture has almost entirely passed to other places,
especially to Rochdale, in Lancashire. Baize and flannels are also
WOOLLEN.
665
manufactured at Bury, in Lancashire; and the former article, with
coarse cloth and blankets, at Chichester, in Sussex. Salisbury is noted
for its flannels. Blankets are made at Dewsbury, Witney, Dulverton, &c.
But with respect to Witney it may be observed, that, since the intro-
duction of machinery, the chief part of the blankets sold at its markets
(though they still retain their former name) has been made in Gla-
morganshire. Carpets, of every variety of quality and pattern, and of
a very great value, are manufactured at Kidderminster, Wilton, Ciren-
cester, Worcester, Axminster, &c. The best of those made at Wilton
and Axminster are deemed but little, if at all, inferior to those im-
ported from Turkey and Persia.
Coarse woollens, druggets, &c., are made in considerable quantities
at Kendal, Ambleside, and Keswick. Druggets, shalloons, serges, and
a variety of worsted articles, at Andover, Basingstoke, and Alton, in
Hampshire. Worsted shags at Banbury and Coventry; rugs, at Bur-
ford; and fleecy hosiery at Godalming, in Surrey. Light stuff, bunting,
crape, &c., are made at Sudbury, Bury St. Edmund's, Needham Mar-
ket, and Lavenham. Woollen yarn is likewise made at Mottram, in
Cheshire, and in various parts of Lancashire, &c.
Leicestershire is the grand seat of the manufacture of woollen and
worsted stockings. In 1844, Mr. Felkin, of Nottingham, who has
given much attention to this subject, estimated that 11,457 frames
were then employed in the county in the manufacture of woollen
stockings, gloves, drawers, &c., principally in the borough of Leicester
and its vicinity, but partly, also, at Loughborough (celebrated for the
manufacture of patent fleecy hosiery), Hinckley, and other places.
The yarn used in the manufacture is partly prepared in the county,
and partly brought from a distance.
Mr. Felkin, at the same time, estimated the total number of frames
employed in the United Kingdom, in the manufacture of woollen and
worsted stockings, gloves, &c., at 14,083; of which England had
11,703, Scotland 2,380, and Ireland only 15. Mr. Felkin further esti-
mated the entire value of the wool and worsted hosiery at 1,223,750.
But in this estimate no allowance is made for the value of the stockings
produced by wires; which, though very much fallen off, is still too
considerable to be altogether neglected. (Paper on the Hosiery Trade,
by Mr. Felkin, 8vo. London, 1845.)
Woollen Manufacture of Wales.-This is principally situated in
North Wales, in the counties of Montgomery, Merioneth, and Den-
bigh. Its products consist of webs, flannels, stockings, socks, wigs,
and gloves. The webs manufactured in North Wales are distinguished
into two sorts; strong, or high country cloth; and small, or low
country ditto. The first kind is made in Merioneth, principally on the
domestic system; though, in some parts, there are factories.- (See
post.) Almost every little farmer makes webs, and few cottages are
without a loom. In some cases, the manufacturing farmers employ
wool of their own growth; but it is principally bought from the wool-
staplers and skinners. All kinds are used indiscriminately. The
qualities of the manufactured article are very various. There is a
market for strong cloth at Shrewsbury; but it is customary for the
drapers of that town to travel into the country, and buy goods wherever
·
666
MANUFACTURES.
they find them. It is usual, also, for the principal drapers to keep
servants, the greater part of the year, among the manufacturers, who
get acquainted with them, assist those who are poor with loans to pur-
chase wool, and superintend the making and dressing of the goods.
A good deal of the strong cloth is exported to Europe and America;
but a very considerable quantity is retained at home for workmen's
jackets, ironing cloths, blankets, &c.
The small cloth is manufactured in Denbighshire, in that tract of
country which includes Llangollen and Corwen. The factory system
has not yet been applied to this article. The raw material is procured
from the neighbourhood of Oswestry, and is sorted into two kinds; the
finer part being manufactured into a sort of flannel, called Oswestry
flannel, while the coarser part is made into small cloth. Most of this
is sent abroad.
Flannels form the most important and valuable article of the Welsh
manufactures. They are principally made in Montgomeryshire; but
not entirely so, for they are also made in various places within a circle
of about 20 miles round Welshpool. The manufacture used to be
principally conducted upon the domestic system; but there are now
many factories in which it is carried on. In Shropshire, too, into
which the manufacture has spread itself, machinery is pretty generally
employed. A market for flannels is held at Welshpool every alternate
week. Formerly the manufacturers used to bring hither their goods;
but now a set of middle-men go about the country, and buy all the
flannels they can lay their hands on. At this market nothing is sold
on credit, every piece being paid for as soon as measured; and a similar
system prevails at the other woollen markets throughout the princi-
pality. Stockings, socks, wigs, and gloves are made principally in the
town and neighbourhood of Bala.
The goods produced in the west of England and in Norfolk are
not sold, like those of the West Riding of Yorkshire, in halls, but at
public fairs or markets, or to the agents sent round by the drapers.
The woollen manufacture of the south of England has, speaking
generally, fallen very much off within the last 30 years; a circum-
stance ascribable, no doubt, to the greater advantages enjoyed, through
the possession of coal and otherwise, by the northern manufacturers.
The manufacture in the western counties has stood its ground better.
It is pretty certain, however, that, down to a recent period, it was
gradually, though slowly, declining; but latterly it has revived.
Within these few years various improvements have been made in
different departments; and, besides the extension of those branches of
which it had retained possession, it is now recovering some of those
which it was supposed were wholly transferred to the north.
Woollen Manufacture of Scotland.-As compared with that of
England, the woollen manufacture of Scotland is inconsiderable.
Formerly it was usual for the occupiers of land to spin, in their own
houses, the greater part of their wool, and to send the yarn to a weaver
in a contiguous village, to get it woven into a species of coarse cloth,
called plaiding; but this sort of manufacture could exist only in a
rude and backward state of society, and is now entirely abandoned.
Factories for the making of fine cloth have since been set on foot in
WOOLLEN.
667
various parts of Aberdeenshire, and in some other counties; but coarse
cloth still continues to form the staple article of Scotch manufacture.
Some of the woollen spinning-mills and factories, established at Aber-
deen and its vicinity, are upon a very large scale. Narrow cloths, of
various kinds, known by the name of Tweeds, with tartans, shawls,
plaids, flannels, &c., are extensively produced at Galashiels and Jed-
burgh, but especially at the former. They used, also, to be produced
in considerable quantities at Hawick; but the attention of the manu-
facturers of the latter is now principally directed to the production of
woollen hose, of which they annually furnish above 1,000,000 pairs,
exclusive of blankets and flannels. Tartans are principally produced
in the counties of Stirling (especially in that town), Argyle, and
Inverness. Bonnets, which were, at one time, almost universally worn
by the middle and lower classes in all parts of Scotland, are now
everywhere throughout the Lowlands superseded by hats; and they
are, also, rapidly disappearing in the Highlands. At Kilmarnock,
which is one of the most flourishing manufacturing towns in Scotland,
above 1,000 weavers are employed in the carpet manufacture, which is
also carried on at Stirling, and some other places. Kilmarnock is
further supposed to furnish an annual supply of about 1,500,000 worsted
shawls, besides large numbers of bonnets and foraging caps for the
army. The manufacture of woollen stockings is also pretty exten-
sively carried on at Dumfries and Selkirk, especially the former.
Altogether, there were in Scotland, in 1839, 117 woollen factories,
employing 5,076 work-people.
Woollen Manufacture of Ireland.-Owing to the unsettled, tur-
bulent state of the country, and the dependence uniformly placed by
the great mass of the inhabitants on agricultural pursuits, manufac-
tures, with, perhaps, the single exception of linen, have always been in
a depressed state in Ireland. The woollen manufacture is said to have
made some considerable progress in the interval between 1640 and
1687; though, considering the convulsed state of the country during
that period, and the wars and proscriptions of which it was the theatre,
it is difficult to believe that it could be very perceptible; but, such as
it was, it alarmed the English manufacturers, who prevailed on parlia-
ment to address William III. to take measures for discouraging the
woollen manufacture in Ireland! and, in consequence, the exportation
of Irish wool and woollens to foreign countries was prohibited, and
oppressive duties laid on the importation of Irish woollens into Eng-
land. The gross injustice and impolicy of such measures are too
obvious to need being pointed out. We do not, however, believe that
they had any considerable practical influence, or that the woollen
manufacture of Ireland would have been in a much more advanced
state than it really is had the measures referred to never been heard
of. The facilities enjoyed by England for the successful prosecution
of the manufacture are so very great, that it seems quite visionary
to suppose she should, under any circumstances, have anything to fear
from the competition of Ireland.
In 1779 the prohibition of the export of Irish woollens to foreign
countries was repealed. The Act of Union also gave fresh facilities
to the Irish manufacture, notwithstanding the unreasonable opposition.
668
MANUFACTURES.
of the British manufacturers, and of a considerable party in parliament.
And at length, in 1823, all duties and restrictions on the woollen trade
between the two divisions of the empire were put an end to, and the
Irish manufacturer placed, in all political respects, on the same footing
as the British. This, however, has not hitherto been of much advan-
tage to Ireland. The continued prevalence of agitation has deterred
capitalists from making investments in that country; and, though this
cause had not existed, the want of abundant and cheap supplies of good
coal, and of expert and careful workmen, would have opposed all
but insuperable obstacles to the progress of the manufacture, which,
instead of advancing, has declined. Several of the factories, that were
bolstered up by the protecting duties, abolished in 1823, have been
since abandoned. At present, the only broad-cloth factories in Ireland
are in the vicinity of Dublin, and at Glenmire, near Cork; but these,
with the factories in every other part of the country, do not employ
more than from 1,200 to 1,500 hands. Flannels are made in Wicklow,
though to no great extent; and the blanket manufacture exists, on a
small scale, in Kilkenny.
-The
Modes in which the Woollen Manufacture is carried on.—
woollen manufacture of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and of Glou-
cester, Wilts, Somerset, and North Wales, is carried on in three different
modes: 1st, on the system of the master clothier of the West of Eng-
land; 2nd, on the factory system; and 3rd, on the domestic system.
We shall briefly notice the peculiar features of each.
1. Through the whole of the west, as well as in the north, of Eng-
land there are factories; but the practice is for the master clothier of
the west of England to buy his wool, if it be foreign, from the im-
porter, mostly assorted, but partly in the fleece, or from the woolstapler,
if it be of domestic growth; employing, in the different processes
through which it passes in the course of its manufacture, distinct
classes of persons, who sometimes work at their own houses, and some-
times in the factories of their masters. Each workman confines him-
self exclusively to a peculiar branch of the manufacture; and the
greater skill and dexterity resulting from this more perfect division of
employments was believed, by the committee of 1806, to be the prin-
cipal cause of the acknowledged excellence of the west of England
cloths. The committee state that, previously to the introduction of
machinery, it was common (and the practice is not yet entirely relin-
quished) for the north-countryman to come into the west of England
to purchase wool; and, having worked it up in Yorkshire, to carry it
back in a manufactured state, and sell it in its native county. This is
supposed to proceed from the system followed in the north, giving the
clothier more liberty to work himself, and employ his family and others,
in any way that his interest or fancy suggested: but the practice is
now nearly fallen into disuse.
2. In the factory system, the master manufacturers, who sometimes
possess a large amount of capital, employ a greater or smaller number
of workmen, in one or more buildings or factories, under their own
inspection, or that of their superintendents. This system admits,
of course, like that of the master clothier of the west of England, of
much variation; but in neither has the workman any property in the
WOOLLEN.
669
goods he is employed to produce: and this, as the committee justly
state, forms the essential distinction between them and the domestic
system.
3. The latter was the original system; and was, indeed, the only one
heard of till the accumulation of capital, and the introduction of im-
proved and expensive machinery, paved the way for the others. It is
now principally confined to the vicinity of Leeds, Huddersfield, and
North Wales; at least they are the only places where it is at present
carried on to such an extent as to deserve any particular notice. Under
this system, the manufacture is conducted by a number of small masters,
generally possessed of but very limited capital, who, besides their
business as manufacturers, mostly occupy farms of a few acres, partly
for the support of their families, and partly for the convenience of
their manufacture. The domestic clothiers have, in these houses,
sometimes only 1 loom, sometimes 2 or 3, and but seldom as many as
4: at these they employ themselves, their wives and children, and
from 2 or 3 to 6 or 7 journeymen. During harvest, their wives, chil-
dren, and servants are sent out to work. Formerly the domestic
manufacturers used to carry the wool through all the stages of its
manufacture, till it was brought to the state of undressed cloth; but
for several years past they have availed themselves, in the performance
of various processes, of the public mills established in or near all the
manufacturing villages in the district which is the seat of the domestic
system. These mills have been, in various instances, erected on a joint-
stock principle, by shares of 50l. or 100l. each, principally subscribed
by the domestic clothiers, to whom they have been of the greatest
service. They have, in fact, enabled them to maintain a successful
competition with the large manufacturers in the production of inferior
cloth; that is, of cloth worth 8s. a yard and under. A good many of
the smaller manufacturers have also become partners in factories.
The extension of the factory system, consequent on the improve-
ments that were made in machinery subsequently to 1790, excited the
fears and jealousy of the domestic clothiers, and even led to outrages.
At last, in order effectually to arrest the progress of what they naturally
enough considered a very serious evil, they petitioned parliament to en-
force the statute 5 and 6 Edward VI., which they contended applied
to gig-mills, and the statute 2 and 3 Philip and Mary, limiting the
number of looms in one building. These petitions were referred to a
committee; and in their report, to which we have already referred,
the most satisfactory reasons are assigned, not only for refusing to
accede to the request of the domestic clothiers, but for recommending
the repeal of both statutes.
We extract from the report the following statements, which set
some of the peculiar advantages belonging to both the domestic and
factory systems in a very clear point of view, at the same time that
they explain the grounds on which the committee concluded that the
fears entertained by the domestic clothiers, of being swallowed up by
the factory system, were, in a great degree, visionary and ill-founded.
"Your committee cannot wonder that the domestic clothiers of Yorkshire are
warmly attached to their accustomed mode of carrying on the manufacture: it is
670
MANUFACTURES.
not merely that they are accustomed to it-it obviously possesses many eminent
advantages seldom found in a great manufacture.
"It is one peculiar recommendation of the domestic system of manufacture, that,
as it has been expressly stated to your committee, a young man of good character
can always obtain credit for as much wool as will enable him to set up as a little
master manufacturer; and the public mills which are now established in all parts of
the clothing district, and which work for hire at an easy rate, enable him to com-
mand the use of very expensive and complicated machines, the construction and
necessary repairs of which would require a considerable capital. Thus, instances
not unfrequently occur, wherein men rise from low beginnings, if not to excessive
wealth, yet to a situation of comfort and independence. It is another advantage of the
domestic system of manufacture, and an advantage which is obviously not confined
to the individuals who are engaged in it, but which, as well as other parts of this
system, extends its benefits to the landholder, that any sudden stoppage of a foreign
market, any failure of a great house, or any other of those adverse shocks to which
our foreign trade, especially, is liable in its present extended state, has not the effect
of throwing a great number of workmen out of employ, as, in the domestic system,
the loss is spread over a large superficies: it affects the whole body of manufac-
turers; and though each little master be a sufferer, yet few, if any, feel the blow so
severely as to be altogether ruined. Moreover, it appears in evidence that, in such
cases as these, they seldom turn off any of their standing set of journeymen, but
keep them at work, in hopes of better times.
"On the whole, your committee feel no little satisfaction in bearing their testi-
mony to the merits of the domestic system of manufacture; to the facilities it affords to
men of steadiness and industry to establish themselves as little master manufacturers.
and maintain their families in comfort by their own industry and frugality: and to
the encouragement which it thus holds out to domestic habits and virtues. Neither
can they omit to notice its favourable tendencies on the health and morals of a large
and important class of the community.
"But while your committee thus freely recognize the merits and value of the
domestic system, they at the same time feel it their duty to declare it as their de-
cided opinion, that the apprehensions entertained of its being rooted out by the fac-
tory system, are, at present at least, wholly without foundation.
"For, happily, the merchant, no less than the domestic manufacturer, finds his
interest and convenience promoted by the domestic system. While it continues, he
is able to carry on his trade with far less capital than if he were to be the manufac-
turer of his own cloth. Large sums must then be irrecoverably invested in ex-
tensive buildings and costly machinery; and, which, perhaps, is a consideration of
even still more force, he must submit to the constant trouble and solicitude of watch-
ing over a numerous body of workmen. He might then often incur the expense
of manufacturing articles which, from some disappointment in the market, must
either be kept on hand, or be sold to a loss. As it is, he can agree with his customer
at home or abroad for any quantity of goods; and, whether on a long expected or a
sudden demand, he can repair at once to the market, and most probably, purchase
to the precise extent of his known wants; or, if the market happen not to furnish
what he wishes to purchase, he can give out his sample, and have his order executed
immediately. While these, and various other considerations which might be stated,
interest the merchant, as well as the manufacturer, in the continuance of the do-
mestic system, and when it is remembered that this mode of conducting the trade
greatly multiplies the merchants, by enabling men to carry on business with a com-
paratively small capital, your committee cannot participate in the apprehensions
which are entertained by the domestic clothiers. In fact, there are many merchants,
of very large capitals, and of the highest credit, who for several generations, have
gone on purchasing in the halls; and some of this very description of persons state
to your committee, that they not only had no thoughts of setting up factories them-
selves but that they believed many of those who had established them were not
greatly attached to that system, but only persisted in it because their buildings and
machinery must otherwise lie a dead weight upon their hands. Under these cir-
cumstances, the lively fears of the decline of the domestic, and the general esta-
blishment of the factory system, may reasonably excite surprise. It may have been
in part occasioned by the decrease of the master manufacturers in the immediate
neighbourhood of the large towns, especially in two or three populous hamlets ad-
WOOLLEN,
671
joining to Leeds, whence they have migrated to a greater distance in the country,
where they might enjoy a little land, and other conveniences and comforts. It may
have strengthened the impression that, as your committee have already stated, three
or four factories have, within no very long period of time, been established in Leeds
or its vicinity.
"The right of every man to employ the capital he inherits or has acquired ac-
cording to his own discretion, without molestation or obstruction, so long as he does
not infringe on the rights or property of others, is one of those privileges which the
free and happy constitution of this country has long accustomed every Briton to
consider as his birthright; and it cannot, therefore, be necessary for your committee
to enlarge on its value, or to illustrate its effects. These would be indubitably con-
firmed by an appeal to our own commercial prosperity, uo less than by the history
of other trading nations, in which it has been ever found that commerce and manu-
factures have flourished in free, and declined in despotic countries. But, without
recurring to principles of which, even under different circumstances, your committee
would be compelled to admit the force, your committee have the satisfaction of
seeing that the apprehensions entertained of factories are not only vicious in principle,
but that they are practically erroneous to such a degree, that even the very opposite
dispositions might be reasonably entertained; nor would it be difficult to prove that
the factories, to a certain extent, at least, and in the present day, seem absolutely
necessary to the well-being of the domestic system; supplying those very particulars
wherein the domestic system must be acknowledged to be inherently defective: for
it is obvious that the little master manufacturers cannot afford, like the man who
possesses considerable capital, to try the experiments which are requisite, and incur
the risks, and even losses, which almost always occur, in inventing and perfecting
new articles of manufacture, or in carrying to a state of greater perfection articles
already established. He cannot learn by personal inspection the wants and habits,
the arts, manufactures, and improvements, of foreign countries: diligence, economy,
and prudence are the requisites of his character, not invention, taste, and enterprise ;
nor would he be warranted in hazarding the loss of any part of his small capital.
He walks in a sure road as long as he treads in the beaten track; but he must not
deviate into the paths of speculation. The owner of a factory, on the contrary being
commonly possessed of a large capital, and having all his workmen employed under
his own immediate superintendence, may make experiments, hazard speculation,
invent shorter or better modes of performing old processes, may introduce new
articles, and improve and perfect old ones; thus giving the range to his taste and
fancy, and thereby alone enabling our manufacturers to stand the competition with
their commercial rivals in other countries. Meanwhile, as is well worthy of remark
(and experience abundantly warrants the assertion), many of these new fabrics and
inventions, when their success is once established, become general among the whole
body of manufacturers; the domestic manufacturers themselves thus benefiting, in
the end, from those very factories which had been, at first, the objects of their jea-
lousy. The history of almost all our other manufactures, in which great improve-
ments have been made of late years, in some cases at an immense expense, and after
numbers of unsuccessful experiments, strikingly illustrates and enforces the above
remarks. It is, besides, an acknowledged fact, that the owners of factories are often
among the most extensive purchasers at the halls, where they buy from the domestic
clothier the established articles of manufactures, or are able at once to answer a
great and sudden order; while at home, and under their own superintendence, they
make their fancy goods, and any articles of a newer, more costly, or more delicate
quality, to which they are enabled, by the domestic system, to apply a much larger
proportion of their capital. Thus the two systems, instead of rivalling, are mutual
aids to each other; each supplying the other's defects, and promoting the other's
prosperity."
Experience has proved the correctness of these conclusions. The
number of small manufacturers, and the quantity of cloth produced by
them, have both increased since 1806; but, as the number of factories,
and the quantity of cloth made in them, have increased still more
rapidly, the former constitute, at present, a less proportion of the
trade.
672
MANUFACTURES.
Comparative moral Influence of the Factory and Domestic Systems.
The committee have made no remarks on this head; and it comes,
indeed, more within the sphere of the politician and moralist than of
the statist. Though the question be not free from difficulty, we
are, on the whole, disposed to agree with those who think that the
domestic system is, in a moral point of view, decidedly preferable to
the other. In it the manufacturer works at home, surrounded by his
family, on goods which are his own property. In this case, therefore,
the young are not corrupted by the contaminating influence of the
unworthy companions they may meet with in factories; and, being
under their father's eye, they are restrained from indulging in vicious
habits; while the industry of the family is stimulated by the conscious-
ness that they are working for themselves, and that they will reap all
the advantage of superior perseverance and skill. It is really, how-
ever, quite unfair to contrast the condition of those employed in
factories with that of the small country clothiers. Factories are, for
the most part, established in considerable towns: and the individuals
engaged in them are not often taken from the class of small manufac-
turers, but from a very inferior class, who have few or none of the
advantages enjoyed by the clothiers. To such persons, and particularly
to their children, well-conducted factories are really schools of im-
provement; and both their morals and their health are improved by
being in them. Those familiar with the cold and comfortless habita-
tions of the poor in many of the large towns, and the little attention
paid to the children, will have no difficulty in assenting to what is now
stated. Provided the children be not sent too early to factories, nor
wrought too hard, they acquire habits of industry, and of regular,
orderly conduct, that are of the highest importance; and the influence
of which is materially assisted by the education they receive at the
Sunday and other schools.
Health of the People employed in Woollen Factories.--There is,
as might be expected, a great deal of contradictory assertion on
this point, and but little evidence that can be entirely depended
upon. It is evident, indeed, that much of the influence of a factory
depends on its construction, the branches carried on in it, and the way
in which it is managed; so that what may be true of some may be
quite false, if affirmed of others. On the whole, however, we are
inclined to think that, speaking generally, woollen factories may be said
to be decidedly healthy. Children are no longer admitted into them
under 9 years of age: the proportion of females, at least in the English
factories, is less than in most other manufactures: the hours of working
have, also, been materially reduced, and greater attention paid to ven-
tilation, cleanliness, and comfort, within the last dozen years. The late
Mr. Thackrah, an intelligent surgeon of Leeds, states that slubbers and
spinners are strong, robust, and healthy. Some of the other de-
partments are, no doubt, less favourable; but, taking the whole manu-
facture together, there is nothing in it, now that the hours of labour are
of a reasonable length, to occasion any injury to health.
66
""*
The numbers and the ages of males and females employed in the
woollen and worsted mills or factories in the different parts of the
* On the Effect of Trades, Professions, &c., on Health and Longevity, 2d ed. p. 33.
COTTON.
673
United Kingdom, are exhibited in the tables attached to the account of
the SILK MANUFACTURE in this volume (see post). We regret we are
unable to lay before the reader any statements with regard to the rate
of wages in these and other departments of the manufacture, on which
much reliance could be placed. They are in a constant state of fluc-
tuation, being influenced not merely by the prosperous or backward state
of the manufacture at the time, but also by the cost of provisions, lodgings,
&c.; by the good or defective state of the machinery employed, and a
variety of other considerations which it is very difficult to appreciate.
It may, however, be safely said that, speaking generally, wages in most
departments of the trade are good, and adequate in years of moderate
abundance to maintain the workpeople in a state of considerable com-
fort. The stocking branch is, perhaps, the least prosperous of any.
SECT. 3. Cotton Manufacture.
The precise period when the cotton manufacture was introduced
into England is not known; but it is most probable that it was some
time towards the end of the 16th, or in the early part of the 17th cen-
tury. The first authentic mention is made of it by Lewis Roberts, in
his Treasure of Traffic, published in 1641, where it is stated, “The
town of Manchester, in Lancashire, must be also herein remembered,
and worthily, for their encouragement, commended, who buy the yarne
of the Irish in great quantity, and, weaving it, return the same again
into Ireland to sell. Neither doth their industry rest here; for they
buy cotton-wool in London, that comes first from Cyprus and Smyrna,
and at home worke the same, and perfect it into fustians, vermilions,
dimities, and other such stuffes, and then return it to London, where
the same is vented and sold, and not seldom sent into forrain parts, who
have meanes, at far easier terms, to provide themselves of the said first
materials.”—(Orig. ed. p. 32.) It is true, indeed, that mention is fre-
quently made by previous writers, and in acts of the legislature, passed
at a much earlier period,* of "Manchester cottons," "cotton velvets,”
"fustians," &c.; but these articles were wholly composed of wool, and
had, most probably, been denominated cotton from their having been
prepared in imitation of some of the cotton fabrics imported from India
and Italy.
From the first introduction of the cotton manufacture into Great
Britain, down to the comparatively late period of 1773, the weft, or
transverse threads of the web, only were of cotton; the warp, or
longitudinal threads, consisting wholly of linen yarn, principally im-
ported from Germany and Ireland. In the first stage of the manu-
facture, the weavers, dispersed in cottages throughout the country,
furnished themselves, as well as they could, with the warp and weft for
their webs, and carried them to market when they were finished; but
about 1760 a new system was introduced. The Manchester merchants
began, about that time, to send agents into the country, who employed
* In an act of 5 & 6 Edw. VI. (1552), entitled, "For the true making of woollen
cloth," it is ordered, "That all cottons called Manchester, Lancashire, and Cheshire
cottons, full wrought for sale, shall be in length," &c. This proves, incontestably,
that what were then called cottons were made wholly of wool.
VOL. I.
2 X
674
MANUFACTURES.
weavers, whom they supplied with foreign or Irish linen yarn for warp,
and with raw cotton; which, being carded and spun, by means of a
common spindle or distaff, in the weaver's own family, was then used
for weft. A system of domestic manufacture was thus established:
the junior branches of the family being employed in the carding and
spinning of the cotton, while its head was employed in weaving, or in
converting the linen and cotton yarn into cloth. This system, by re-
lieving the weaver from the necessity of providing himself with linen
yarn for warp, and raw cotton for weft, and of seeking customers for
his cloth when finished, and enabling him to prosecute his employ-
ment with greater regularity, was an obvious improvement on the
system that had been previously followed; but it is at the same time
clear, that the impossibility of making any considerable division among
the different branches of a manufacture so conducted, or of prosecuting
them on a large scale, added to the interruption given to the proper
business of the weavers, by the necessity of attending to the cultivation
of the patches of ground which they generally occupied, opposed
invincible obstacles to its progress, so long as it was conducted in this
mode.
The custom-house returns of the imports of raw cotton, and of the
export of cotton goods, during the first half of last century, are very
imperfect. The following account, furnished by authority to Mr.
Baines, contains all the information that can be rendered by the cus-
toms' officers on this subject.

Years.
Raw Cotton
imported.
Official Value of
British Cotton
Goods exported.
Years.
Raw Cotton
imported.
Official Value of
British Cotton
Goods exported.
lbs.
£.
lbs.
£.
1697
1701
1,976,359
1,985,868
1710
1720
715,008
1,972,805
5,915 1730
23,253 1741 1,645,031
5,698 1751 2.976,610
16,200 1764 3,870,392
1,545,472
13,524
20,709
45,986
200,354
The following more detailed account of the import and export of
cotton wool, during the seven years ending with 1749, is taken from a
paper laid before a committee of the House of Commons, on the linen
manufacture, and printed in Postlethwayte's Commercial Dictionary,
art. LINEN.

Years. Cotton imported. Cotton exporte'
Cotton retained
for
Home Use.
1746
lbs.
1743 1,132,288
1744 1,882,873
1745 1.469,523
2,264,868
lbs.
40,870
lbs.
1,091,418
182,765
1,700, 108
73,172.
1,369,351
73,279
2,191,529
1747 2,221,869
1748 4,855,966 291,717
29,438
2,195,431
4,561,249
1749 1,658,365
330,998
1,327,357
COTTON,
675
Postlethwayte's Dictionary was published in 1766; and the author
estimated the then value of the different species of cotton goods pro-
duced in England at about 600,000l. a-year. This, however, includes,
besides the cotton, the value of the linen yarn used in the manufacture;
and, when a reasonable deduction is made on account of the latter,
the inconsiderable amount of the cotton trade, even at this late period,
is sufficiently obvious.
Such was the depressed state of this manufacture at the commence-
ment of that wonderful career of invention and discovery which has
carried it to its present unexampled pitch of greatness and prosperity.
The first, and perhaps, also, the most important step in this career was
made by James Hargreaves, an illiterate but most ingenious mechanic,
who invented the spinning-jenny, in 1767. At first, this admirable
machine enabled eight threads to be spun with the same facility as one;
and it was subsequently brought to such perfection, that a young girl
was able to work no fewer than from eighty to one hundred and twenty
spindles !
The jenny was applicable only to the spinning of cotton for weft,
being unable to give to the yarn that degree of firmness that is required
in the longitudinal threads or warp; but this deficiency was soon after
supplied by the introduction of the spinning-frame, that wonderful
piece of machinery, which spins a vast number of threads of the
strength and hardness suitable to warps, leaving to man merely to feed
the machine with cotton, and to join the threads when they happen to
break. It is not difficult to understand the principle on which this
machine is constructed, and the mode of its formation.
"In every
mode of spinning, the ends to be accomplished are, to draw out the
loose fibres of cotton wool in a regular and continuous line; and, after
reducing the fleecy roll to the requisite tenuity, to twist it into a
thread. Previous to the operation of spinning, the cotton must have
undergone the process of carding, the effect of which is to comb out,
straighten, and lay parallel to each other, its entangled fibres. The
cotton was formerly stripped of the cards in loose rolls, called cardings,
or slivers; and the only difference between the slivers produced by the
old hand-cards, and those produced by the present carding-engine, is,
that the former were in lengths of a few inches, and the latter are of
the length of some hundred yards. Let it be remarked, that the sliver,
or carding, requires to be drawn out to a considerably greater fineness
before it is of the proper thickness to be twisted into a thread. The
way in which this is now accomplished is by two more pairs of small
rollers, placed horizontally, the upper and lower roller of each pair
revolving in contact. The sliver of cotton, being put between the first
pair of rollers, is, by their revolution, drawn through and compressed,
whilst, still passing through these rollers, it is caught by another pair
of rollers, placed immediately in front, which revolve with three, four,
or five times the velocity of the first pair, and which, therefore, draw
out the sliver to three, four, or five times its former length and degree
of fineness. After passing through the second pair of rollers, the
reduced sliver is attached to a spindle and fly, the rapid revolutions of
which twist it into a thread, and, at the same time, wind it upon a
2 x 2
676
MANUFACTURES.
bobbin. That the rollers may take hold of the cotton, the lower roller
is fluted longitudinally, and the upper is covered with leather.
"Such is the beautiful and admirable contrivance by which a
machine is made to do what was formerly, in all countries and ages,
effected by the fingers of the spinner. It is obvious that, by lengthening
or multiplying the rollers, and increasing the number of spindles, all
of which may be turned by the same power, many threads may be
spun at once, and the process may be carried on with much greater
quickness and steadiness than hand-spinning. There is, also, the im-
portant advantage, that the thread produced will be of more regular
thickness, and more evenly twisted."—(Baines's History of the Cotton
Manufacture, p. 120.)
The invention of this wonderful piece of mechanism has been
usually ascribed to Sir Richard Arkwright, who took out a patent for
spinning by rollers in 1769. But Mr. Baines has shown that the
merit of being the original discoverer of this great invention is incon-
testably due to Mr. John Wyatt, who took out, in the name of Mr.
Lewis Paul, a foreigner, a patent, wherein the process of spinning by
rollers is distinctly described, as early as 1738, or 31 years before.
Arkwright's patent. And it further appears that, in 1741 or 1742,
Wyatt erected a mill at Birmingham, which was turned by two asses,
and attended by 10 girls. Some of the yarn spun by this mill is still
in existence. Owing, however, to the imperfection of the machinery,
the want of skill, capital, or some other cause, this undertaking was
speedily abandoned. The invention was soon after tried, on a larger
scale at Northampton, but with no better success. * It appears, from
the special reference made to them in the case printed by Sir Richard
Arkwright in 1786, that he was fully aware of these attempts to
spin by machinery; but it is not known whether he was aware
of the principle on which they proceeded, or had seen the patent
referred to. Undoubtedly, however, the presumption is that he had seen
it; and if so, he cannot be regarded as the inventor of the spinning-
frame. But, notwithstanding this deduction from his extraordinary
merits, enough will still remain to justify the claims of Arkwright to
the respect and gratitude of mankind. The machine he constructed,
though in principle the same, differed materially in its form and make
from that of Wyatt. In the hands of the latter, the invention, how
ingenious soever, was of no practical utility; and all traces of it seem
to have been lost. If Arkwright did not invent it a second time, he
did what was equally important, he made it available in practice, and
showed how it might be rendered the most prolific source of individual
and public wealth.
Sir Richard Arkwright's patent was set aside in 1785, and since
then the progress made in every department of the manufacture has
been most rapid. The improvements made on the steam-engine by the
genius of Watt relieved the spinners from the necessity, under which
they would, of course, have been placed, of building factories in incon-
venient situations, merely for the sake of waterfalls, and enabled them
* Letter by Mr. Charles Wyatt, son of the inventor, in Baines's Cotton Manu-
facture, p. 134.
COTTON.
677
to raise them in the centre of an industrious population, where all the
processes necessary in the manufacture might be brought together, and
carried on, as it were, almost in the same workshop. The mule jenny,
so called from its being a compound of the jenny and the spinning-
frame, was invented by Mr. Samuel Crompton, of Bolton, in 1775; but
it did not come into general use till after the dissolution of Arkwright's
patent. The yarn produced by the spinning-frame, though well fitted
for warp, was of too firm and hard a texture to render it available for
weft, which was, in consequence, mostly spun upon Hargreaves' jenny.
But the introduction of the mule almost entirely superseded the latter,
and forms an important æra in the history of the cotton manufacture.
All sorts of wefts, from the lowest to the highest numbers, are now spun
by means of this machine; and, as evincing the perfection to which
spinning by it has been carried, we may mention that in 1792 no
fewer than 278 hanks of yarn, forming a thread of 233,520 yards, or
upwards of 132 miles in length, were spun on the mule, from a single
pound of raw cotton; and since then Mr. Houldsworth, of Manchester,
has obtained as many as 500 hanks, forming a continuous thread of
nearly 240 miles in length, from a single pound of cotton!
Mr. Crompton did not take out any patent for his invention, which,
indeed, he only perfected by slow degrees. In 1812 he was advised to
apply to parliament for a reward. His claim being entertained, a com-
mittee of the House of Commons was appointed to investigate the
matter, before which evidence was brought to prove that upwards of
four millions of spindles were then employed on Mr. Crompton's prin-
ciple; that two-thirds of the steam-engines for spinning cotton turned
mules; and that the value of the buildings, machinery, &c., employed
on the same principle, amounted to from 3,000,000l. to 4,000,000l.
It is painful to have to add that, notwithstanding this conclusive evi-
dence of the great utility and importance of his invention, the House
of Commons voted Mr. Crompton the paltry sum of 5,000l.; a pittance
hardly adequate to defray the expenses of the application!
At first the mule carried only 144 spindles; but, by successive im-
provements, it was rendered capable, about a dozen years ago, of working
300 or 400 spindles. Its maximum capability was far, however, from
being yet attained; and several mules are now at work in Manchester,
and other places, carrying the extraordinary number of from 700 to
800 spindles, and a few as many as 1,100 spindles.
Various attempts have been made, at different periods, by Mr. Kelly
and others, to work the mule solely by machinery, without the aid of
manual labour. But none of the contrivances for that purpose were
altogether successful till the self-acting mule of Messrs. Sharpe and
Roberts, of Manchester, came into the field. The machinery is so con-
structed as to roll the spindle-carriage out and in at the proper speed,
without a hand touching it; the only manual labour employed in these
machines being that of the children who join the broken threads. The
machine seems to have come very near perfection, producing a con-
siderably greater quantity of yarn, of a more uniform twist, and less
liable to break, than mules wrought by the hand; at the same time
that it has the important advantage of rendering the mill-owners, to a
678
MANUFACTURES.
great extent, independent of the combinations and strikes of the working
spinners.
It was at one time supposed that the mule would wholly supersede
the water or spinning frame; but the improvements made on the latter
have enabled it to keep its ground. The improved machine is called
a throstle; and of late years the proportion of throstle-spindles has been
increasing.
Besides these leading inventions, there have been many of inferior,
indeed, but still of very great importance. In consequence of the com-
bined influence of the whole, and of the gradually increasing skill and
dexterity of the workman, the art of spinning has been carried to a
degree of perfection that, in 1760, could not have been believed attain-
able even by the most sanguine and visionary of projectors.
But, to complete the manufacture, it was necessary to improve and
perfect the art of weaving as well as of spinning; and this, also, has
been done. The power-loom, invented by the Rev. Dr. Cartwright, a
clergyman of Kent, has done for weaving what the invention of Ark-
wright did for spinning. Dr. Cartwright states, in an interesting
letter addressed to Mr. Bannatyne, of Glasgow, that the idea of con-
structing a power-loom was excited in his mind by being in company
with some Manchester gentlemen at Matlock, in 1784, who remarked
that so many cotton-mills would be erected, and so much yarn spun,
that it would be impossible to procure hands to weave it. Dr. Cart-
wright replied that, in that case, Mr. Arkwright must set his wits to
work to invent a weaving-mill. The Manchester gentlemen all de-
clared that that was impracticable; but Dr. Cartwright denied that
there could be any greater difficulty in inventing a machine to weave
cotton than to spin it; and, meditating afterwards on the subject of
this conversation, he succeeded in constructing a loom, all the move-
ments of which were performed by means of machinery! Dr. Cart-
wright took out a patent for his invention in 1787, and, subsequently,
received 10,000l. as a reward from government.
The progress of power-loom weaving was not, at first, so rapid as
might have been expected. This arose partly from the imperfections
that attached originally to the machine, but chiefly from the circum-
stance of its being necessary to dress the webs, from time to time, after
they were put into the looms, which made it impossible for one person
to do more than attend to one loom. But a beautiful machine, invented
by Mr. Thomas Johnson, of Bradbury, for warping and dressing the
yarn used as warps, completely obviated this difficulty; and, at this
moment, a boy or girl, of from 12 to 14 years of age, can with ease
attend to two power-looms, and can, by their means, produce three and
a half or four times as much cloth as could be produced by the best
hand-loom weaver.
"The best hand-weavers seldom produce a piece of uniform evenness;
indeed it is next to impossible for them to do so, because a weaker or
stronger blow with the lathe immediately alters the thickness of the
cloth, and, after an interruption of some hours, the most experienced
weaver finds it difficult to recommence with a blow of precisely the
same force as the one with which he left off. In power-looms the lathe
COTTON.
679
gives a steady certain blow, and, when once regulated by the engineer,
moves with the greatest precision from the beginning to the end of the
piece. Cloth made by these looms, when seen by the manufacturers
who employ hand-weavers, at once excites admiration, and a conscious-
ness that their own workmen cannot equal it.”—(Baines's Cotton
Manufacture, p. 240.)
Arkwright's spinning-frame is not confined to the spinning of cotton,
but is now employed, with nearly equal success, in the woollen, the
worsted, and the flax manufacture. It is the same with the power-loom.
It is principally employed in the manufacture of cotton goods, particu-
larly of calicos and fustians; but it is well adapted for weaving all sorts
of plain silk, linen, woollen, and worsted goods, and is now largely
introduced into most of these departments. In 1835, when the last
official return was made out, there were, in the United Kingdom,
116,712 power-looms. But it appears from the Report of Mr. Horner,
Inspector of Factories, dated 26th November, 1845, that there were in
his district, (which includes Lancashire, part of the West Riding of
Yorkshire, the North Riding of ditto, and the four northern counties
of England,) in 1835, 63,861 power-looms, whereas they amounted, at
the above date, to 142,949. Now, if we suppose that the increase in
the number of power-looms in the other parts of the kingdom has been
about equal to their increase in Mr. Horner's district, the total number
at the end of last year (1845) would be 261,252. Inasmuch, how-
ever, as Mr. Horner's district includes the principal seat of the cotton
marrufacture, in which power-looms are employed to the greatest extent,
the probability is that their increase will have been less rapid in other
parts of the country; and on the whole they may, perhaps, be fairly
estimated to amount at present (1846) to from 240,000 to 250,000.
Of these nearly 18,000 belong to Glasgow and its neighbourhood.-
(See post.)
(C
Such is a hasty, and, necessarily, very imperfect, sketch of the leading
steps in the astonishing progress of the British cotton manufacture.
At present, it is by far the most wonderful triumph of mechanical
genius and invention that the world has ever seen. "The operations,
says Mr. Baines, are numerous, and every one of them is performed
by machinery, without the help of human hands, except merely in trans-
ferring the material from one machine to another. It is by iron fingers,
teeth, and wheels, moving with exhaustless energy and devouring speed,
that the cotton is opened, cleaned, spread, carded, drawn, roved, spun,
wound, warped, dressed, and woven. The various machines are pro-
portioned to each other in regard to the capability of their work, and
they are so placed in the mill as to allow the material to be carried
from stage to stage with the least possible loss of time. All are moving
at once, the operations chasing each other, and all derive their motion
from the mighty engine, which, firmly seated in the lower part of the
building, and constantly fed with water and fuel, toils through the day
with the strength of, perhaps, a hundred horses. Men, in the mean-
while, have merely to attend on this wonderful series of mechanisın, to
supply it with work, to oil its joints, and to check its slight and infre-
quent irregularities; each workman performing, or rather superintend-
ing, as much work as could have been done by 200 or 300 men 60
680
MANUFACTURES.
years ago.* At the approach of darkness the building is illuminated
by jets of flame, whose brilliance mimics the light of day-the produce
of an invisible vapour, generated on the spot. When it is remembered
that all these inventions have been made within the last 70 years, it
must be acknowledged that the cotton-mill presents the most striking
example of the dominion obtained by human science over the powers of
nature of which modern times can boast. That this vast aggregate of
important discoveries and inventions should, with scarcely an exception,
have proceeded from English genius, must be a reflection highly satis-
factory to every Englishman."-(Cotton Manufacture, p. 243.)
The following tables, exhibiting the imports, exports, &c., of cotton
wool since 1697, set the progress of the manufacture in a clear point
of view.
Account of the Imports and Exports of Cotton Wool, into and from Great Britain,
since 1697.

Years.
Imports.
Exports.
Years.
Imports.
Exports.
1697
lbs.
1,976,359
Ibs.
lbs.
lbs.
1794
24,358,567
1,349,950
1795
1701
1,985,868
26,401,340
1,193,737
1796
1700 to 1705
1,170,881
32,126,357
694,962
1797
(Average)
23,354,371
609,058
1798
1710
715,008
31,880,641
601,139
1799
1720
1,972,805
43,379,278
844,671
1800
1730
1,545,472
56,010,732
4,416,610
1801
1741
1,645,031
56,004,305
1802
1,860,872
1751
2,976,610
€0,345,600
1803
3,730,180
1764
3,870,392
53,812,284
1,561,053
1804
1771 to 1775
4,764,589
61,867,329
1805
503,171
(Average.)
59,682,406
1806
804,243
1776 to 1785
6,766,613
58,176,283
651,867
1807
(Average.)
74,925,306
2,176,283
1808
1781
5,198,778
96,788
43,605,982
1,644,867
1809
1782
11,828,039
421,229
92,812,282
4.351, 105
1810
1783
9,735,663
177,626
132,488,935
8,787,109
1811
1784
11,482,083
201,845
91,576,535
1,266,867
1812
1785
18,400,384
407,496
63,025,936
1,440,912
1813
1786
19,475,020
323,153
50,966,000
1814
1787
23,250,268
1,073,381
60,060,239
6,282,437
1815
1788
20,467,436
853,146
99,306,343
6,780,392
1816
1789
32,576,023
297,837
93,920,055
7,105,034
1817
1790
31,447,605
844,154
124,912,968
1818
8,155,442
1791
28,706,675
363,442
177,282,158
15,159,453
1792
34,907,497 1,485,465
1819
149,739,820
16,622,969
1793
19,040,929
1,171,566
* Mr. Kennedy stated, in 1815, since which time many improvements have been
made, that the united effects of the spinning-machines amounted to this: that the
labour of one person, aided by them, can now produce as much yarn, in a given
time, as 200 could have produced 50 years ago.-(Rise and Progress of the Cotton
Trade.) Mr. Farey, in his Treatise on the Steam Engine, says, “An extensive
cotton-mill is a striking instance of the application of the greatest powers to perform
a prodigious quantity of light and easy work. A steam-engine of 100 horse power,
which has the strength of 880 men, gives a rapid motion to 50,000 spindles, for
spinning fine cotton-thread: each spindle forms a separate thread; and the whole
number work together, in an immense building erected on purpose, and so
adapted to receive the machines that no room is lost. Seven hundred and fifty
people are sufficient to attend all the operations of such a cotton-mill; and, by the
COTTON.
681
Cotton Wool Imported, Exported, and Entered for Consumption, from 1820 to 1845.

Years.
Quantity
Quantity
imported. exported. Consumption.
Quantity
entered for Years.
Quantity
imported.
Quantity
exported.
Quantity
entered for
Consumption.
lbs.
lbs.
lbs.
lbs.
293,682,976
1820
1821
1822
1823
1824
302,935,657
lbs.
lbs.
151,672,655 6,024,038 152,829,633 1833 303,656.337 17,363,882
132,536,620 14,589,497 137,401,549 1834 326,875,425 24,461,963
142,837,628 18,267,776 143,428,127 1835 363,702,963 32,779,734 326,407,692
191,402,503 9,318,402 186,311,070 1836 406,959,057 31,739,763 | 363,684,232
149,380,122 13,299,505 141,038,743 1837 407,286,783 39,722,031 368,445,035
1825
228,005,291 18,004,953
1826 177,607,401 24,474,920 162,889,012 1839 389,396,559 38,738,238 352,000,277
1827 272,448,909 18,134,170 249,804,396 1840 592,488,010 38,673,229 528,142,743
1828
227,760,642 17,396,776 208,987,744 1841 487,992,355 37,673,585 437,093,631
222,767,411 30,289,115 204,097,037 1842 531,750,086 45,251,302 473,976,400
263,961,452 8,534,976 269,616,640 1843 673,193,116 39,619,979 581,303,105
288,674,853 22,308,555 273,249,653 1844 646,111,304 47,222,541 554,196,602
286,832,525 18,027,940 259,421,463 1845 721,523,712 42,916,384
202,546,869 1838 507,850,577 20,644,469 455,036,755
1829
1830
1831
1832
Sources whence the Supplies of Cotton Wool are derived.-Pre-
viously to 1795, our supplies of raw cotton were principally brought
from the West Indies, South America, India, and the Levant. The
United States, which, for many years past, has been the grand cotton
mart, producing more for exportation than all the other countries of
the world taken together, was then only beginning to come into the
field. A little cotton had, indeed, been raised for domestic use, in the
Southern States, previously to the revolutionary war; but its produce
was quite inconsiderable. In 1791 it began, for the first time, to be
exported; the trifling quantity of 189,316 lbs. having been shipped in
the course of that year, and 138,328 lbs. in 1792. Such was the late
and feeble beginning of the American cotton trade! And we are war-
ranted in saying that there is nothing in the history of industry to
compare with its subsequent progress and extension, unless it be the
growth of the manufacture in this country.
Un-
American cotton, the produce of the Gossypium herbaceum, is of
two kinds, generally known by the names of Sea Island and Upland.
The former grows along the low sandy shores of Carolina, Georgia,
&c. It is long in the staple, has an even silky texture, a yellowish
tinge, is easily separated from the seed, and is decidedly superior to
every other description of cotton hitherto brought to market.
luckily, however, it can be raised only in certain situations, so that its
quantity is limited, and has not, in fact, been increased since 1805.
At present, 97 or 98 per cent. of the cotton produced in the United
States consists of what is denominated upland; from its being grown on
the comparatively high ground at a distance from the coast. Though
of varying qualities, it is all short-stapled, and its separation from the
seed and pod, if attempted by the hand, is so very difficult, that the
cotton is hardly worth the trouble and expense. This, however, was
the only way in which it could be made available for home use or ex-
assistance of the steam-engine, they will be enabled to spin as much thread as
200,000 persons could do without machinery, or one person can supply it with fuel.
Each spindle in a mill will produce between two and a half and three hanks (of 840
yards each) per day, which is upwards of a mile and a quarter of thread in 12
hours; so that the 50,000 spindles will produce 62,500 miles of thread every day
of 12 hours, which is more than a sufficient length to go two and a half times
round the globe."
682
MANUFACTURES.
-
portation in 1791; and, had any one then ventured to predict that
10,000,000 lbs. of upland cotton would ever be exported, he would
have been looked upon as a visionary dreamer. But the genius and
talent of Mr. Eli Whitney did for the cotton-planters of the United
States what Arkwright did for the manufacturers of England. He
invented a machine by which the cotton wool is separated from the pod,
and cleaned, with the greatest ease and expedition; and, in this way,
doubled the wealth and industry of his countrymen.-(Pitkin's Sta-
tistics of the United States, p. 109, ed. 1835.) Mr. Whitney's inven-
tion came into operation in 1793; and, in 1794, 1,601,760 lbs., and, in
1795, 5,276,300 lbs. of cotton were exported! The effect of the ma-
chine was, like that of Arkwright, all but miraculous. The exports
of cotton from America, during the year ending 30th of September,
1840, amounted to the enormous sum of 743,941,061 lbs. ; worth,
when shipped, 63,870,307 dollars. And it is not going too far to say
that, had not Whitney's or some equivalent machine been invented,
there is no reason to think that the exports during the above year would
have exceeded 45,000,000 lbs., if so much; so that the existence of the
other 700,000,000 lbs., with the greater part of that retained for home
consumption, may be ascribed to Mr. Whitney's machine, as to its real
source and origin !*
Whitney, Arkwright, and Watt, were all necessary to each other.
Without an adequate supply of cotton, Arkwright's inventions would
have been comparatively unimportant; without the demand for the
raw material, which they occasioned, Whitney's machine would have
been but little employed; and, without the invention of Watt, neither
that of Arkwright nor of Whitney could have been brought into full
play. So true it is that omnes artes quæ ad humanitatem pertinent,
habent quoddam commune vinculum, et quasi cognatione quadam inter
se continentur. It would be curious to investigate how many persons
in the Old and New Worlds, at present, directly depend for subsist-
ence on the inventions of these three individuals. They certainly
amount to several millions; at the same time that they have made
immense additions to the comforts and enjoyments of almost every one
else.
Notwithstanding the vastly increased demand for cotton-wool during
the last 20 years, the supply, contrary to what some had anticipated,
has increased in a more than equal proportion; and there has, in con-
sequence, been a material reduction of price.
*Like too many inventors, Mr. Whitney enriched others without materially
enriching himself. South Carolina gave him 50,000 dollars for liberty to use the
machine, and he received smaller sums from North Carolina and Tennessee. But
Georgia, which was signally benefited by the invention, piratically invaded his
patent; and, before he succeeded in establishing bis rights in the Supreme Court of
the United States, 13 years of his patent had expired, and he had expended a large
portion of the sums paid him by the other states. In 1812, after the vast im-
portance of his invention had been recognised in all parts of the Union and of the
world, Mr. Whitney petitioned Congress for a renewal of his patent, or for some
indemnity for the losses he had sustained by its invasion. But, notwithstanding a
Committee of Congress made a strong report in his favour, the thing fell to the
ground; and Mr. Whitney died, without having gained anything by an invention by
which his countrymen have already realised a clear profit of 200,000,000l. sterling.
-(Pitkin's Statistics, p. 110.)
COTTON.
683
The subjoined table, taken from the carefully compiled and compre-
hensive annual statement of Messrs. George Holt and Co., eminent
cotton brokers of Liverpool, dated 31st of December, 1852, shows in a
very striking manner the progress of the manufacture in this country,
and the fall in the price of cotton wool. The manufacture declined in
1847, but that was wholly owing to the decrease in the supplies of raw
cotton from the United States in 1846-47, and the consequent rise in
its price.
Statement of the Imports into, the Exports from, and the Consumption, Prices, &c. of Cotton
Wool in, Great Britain, in different Years, from 1816 to 1852, both inclusive.

Consumption.
Average Weekly 1816
1820
1825
1830
1835
1840
1845
1850
1851
1852
Upland
2,918
3,713
5,452
5,896
5,346
7,243
Orleans & Alabama
990
1,182
2,442
4,756
7,23
13,854
17,169
Sea Island
409
360
460
354
392
392
4,450
15,768
529
5,308
18,438
579
5,750
21,998
450
Total United States
4,036
4,519
6,515
10,668
14,073
Brazil.
1,589
2,408
2,502
3,602
2,339
19,592
1,444
21,804
20,767
24,325
28,158
2,192
3,310
2,421
2,411
Egypt.
·
8/1
•
508
446
540
1,062
1,542
1,458
1,885
•
Demerara, West
Total
consumed
East India
India, &c. .
Packages annually 337,400
207
1,518
1,096
940
1,069
2,227
1,888
3,385
3,686
3,163
656
534
527
234
421
260
331
121
93
123
6,488 8,979
466,900
11,531 16,002 18,313
599,600 832,100 954,100
24,063
1,251,300
30,277
1,574,400
29,125
1,514,500
31,988
1,663,400
35,790
1,861,100
•
•
Av
Average weight of
packages con-
263
258
278
298
333
367
385
388
396
397
sumed, in lbs..
Weekly consump-
*
tion in packages,
5,758
8,003
10,282 14,015
15,752
22,243
29,363
28,465
31,907
35,790
average 397 lbs.
256
249
2,0
29,300
23,400
72,800
300
33,400
93 9
143.9
222.4
261 2
88.7
120.3
166.8
247 6
19.2
110.5
107.0
91.4
..
Average price per
127.0
115 5
118.8
181d.
114d.
11.6d. 6.9d.
Ditto, ditto, Pernains
26.
1544.
15.
8.
15⚫ld. 8ld.
8.9d. 5d.
Average weight of
packages import-
ed, in Ïbs.
Packages exported.
Lbs. weight annu-
ally imported, in
millious & tenths
Lbs. weight con-
sumed, ditto
Lbs.weight in ports,
31st. Dec., ditto
•
Lbs.weight in Great
Britain, ditto.
lb. of Uplands in
Liverpool
Ditto, ditto, Surats.
N.B.-Messrs. Holt and Co estimate the average weight of packages imported in 1852 at 390 lbs. per bag Upland; 440 lbs. Orlean
and Alabama; 339 lbs. Sea Island; 180 lbs. Brazil; 250 lbs. Egyptian; 385 lbs, East Indian; and 210 West Indian.
We borrow from the elaborate and valuable statements of Messrs.
Dufay and Co., of Manchester, the following details respecting the
cotton trade of this country, as compared with that of others:
Comparative Estimate of the Quantity of Raw Cotton Consumed in the Chief Manufac-
turing Countries for Ten Years, from 1836 to 1845, in Millions of Pounds.
1836 1837 1833 1839 1840 1841 1842 1843 1844 1845
331
365
£86
3.2
399
302
102,800
119,700
122,800
271,800
268,500
282,800
561.7
583.4
716.3
685.6
760*1
925*2
318 1
458 9
606*6
588 z
658.9
739.6
73.3
162.9
400 8
194 1
186 4
242.2
89.6
207.0
453.3
231.6
225.9
300⚫9
10ld.
14⚫ld.
71.
6d.
4.375d.
71d.
53d.
51d.
9fd.
4 .25d.
6.375d.
7 ğl.
7td.
7d.
öd.
5id.
4.
33d.

Countries.
Great Britain.
350 369 435 362
473
422
462 531 543
597
France, including adjacent Į
Countries.
118
121
133
110 157
154
163
152 146
158
Holland, Belgium, Ger-
many, and North of Eu-
57
58
61
48
72
65
78
82
86
96
rope.
Countries bordering on the
28
32
26
26
28
29
38
44
26
38
Adriatic
United States of North
79
75
83
94
105
108
99
122 130
147
America
•
Total.
632
655
738 640 835
778
840
931 931 1,036
681
MANUFACTURES.
Comparative Estimate of the Quantity of Raw Cotton, &c.—continued.
Countries.
Great Britain
France, including adjacent Countries
Holland, Belgium, Germany, and North
of Europe
Countries bordering on the Adriatic
United States of North America
Total
Total last Five Years,
1841-5.
Total
previous Five Years,
1836-40.
Increase
per Cent.
2,555
1,989
28 4
773
639
407
296
27 8
175
140
606
436
38.9
4,506
3,500
or Great Britain 56.5 or Great Britain 56.8
per cent. of the whole. per cent. of the whole.
"Our statement embraces a period of 10 years, and shows the total consumption
of this important staple in the chief manufacturing countries to have amounted for
the five years from 1836 to 1840, to 3,500 millions of lbs. weight, and in the five
years from 1841 to 1845, 4,506 millions of lbs.-Total consumption from 1836 to
1845, 8,006 millions of lbs. weight. Of this quantity, Great Britain has consumed,
in the five years from 1836 to 1840, 1,989 millions of lbs. weight, and in the five
years
from 1841 to 1845, 2,555 millions of lbs. weight, showing that England has
steadily maintained her proportion of about 56 per cent. of the total consumption
of cotton from 1836 to 1845; and in going back for a further period of 10 years, we
find very nearly the same result, as will be seen from the following statement. The
total average consumption of cotton per annum has been, (in round numbers,) in the
chief manufacturing countries-
5 years from 1826 to 1830 an average of about .
5 years from 1831 to 1835
""
5 years from 1836 to 1840
""
""
5 years from 1841 to 1845
""
Millions of pounds
a-year.
365
500
700
900
"Of which the proportion consumed in Great Britain, (in round numbers,) aver-
ages as follows;
5 years from 1826 to 1830 an average of about
5 years from 1831 to 1835
5 years from 1836 to 1840
5 years from 1841 to 1845
""
""
Millions of pounds
Per Cent. of
a-year.
the whole.
210
or 57.5
289
•
or 57.8
398
or 56.8
510
or 56.6
which shows that there has been for some time an increase in the total consumption
of raw cotton, equal to about 200 millions of pounds weight per annum in the average
annual consumption of every succeeding five years, or of about 1,000 millions of
pounds weight of total increase in five years; and that, notwithstanding this
immense increase, Great Britain has continued to consume the same proportion of
about 56 to 57 per cent. of the total quantity.
"Of all the cotton-consuming countries, France has made the least progress in
this branch of industry, considering the advantages which an advanced state of
science and mechanics afford. Not only in her cotton trade, but also in the increase
of her population, France keeps behind other nations; it is well known, also, that
the population of that country has been stationary, compared with that of other
European states.
"For some time past, we have taken pains to ascertain the number of spindles at
work here and elsewhere, and have great pleasure in submitting the result to our
friends. The returns were procured from the trade, as regards Great Britain, and
have been carefully collated and revised. The information of the productive
powe foreign states has been derived from the best authorities, and well-in
formed quarters. The estimate of the number of spindles at work in the principal
foreign cotton manufacturing countries is, according to the latest accounts received
from abroad, as follows, viz:-
COTTON.
685
"In the States comprised in the German Customs League, viz.-
Saxony
•
Prussia
•
500,000)
130,000
Baden
Wurtemburg.
95,000 together
30,000
815,000 spindles.
Other States
60,000
In Austria and Italy
1,500,000
In France
3,500,000
•
In Belgium
420,000
In Switzerland and all other parts of Europe
1,350,000
In United States of America
•
2,500,000
Together.
10,085,000
"The numbers of yarns, spun in Austria and the Customs Union, rule between
Nos. 30 and 60, while France produces finer numbers.___ Austria imports only about
12 per cent. of the yarns consumed in that country. The States comprised in the
Customs Union, on the other hand, import 67 per cent.
"The average number of mule yarns produced in Great Britain, is generally
assumed to be No. 38, and of throstles or water twist No. 18.
"Mr. John Kennedy estimated the number of mule spindles at work in 1819 at
7 millions; the estimate for 1832, was 9 millions; and the quantity of cotton con-
sumed in the latter year amounted to about 276,900,000 lbs.
"The quantity of cotton consumed in 1845, is estimated, in round numbers, at
600 millions of lbs. ; and it appears that this quantity (after deducting the usual
per centage for loss, and cotton used in the raw state, for waddings and other pur-
poses,) has been reduced into yarns by 13 millions of mule spindles, and 4 mil-
lions of throstle spindles, in all 17 millions. Of these-
Ireland possesses
Scotland
England and Wales
Spindles
Mule Spindles.
159,333
1,476,083
11,364,584
13,000,000
•
Throstles.
56,170
•
253,795
4,190,035
4,500,000
"The spinning process is carried to a high degree of perfection in this country.
There is very little loss of material in reducing cotton into yarns; the waste of the
finer numbers is re-spun into a second quality, and this process is going on, down
to the lowest material. The speed in spinning has been much increased of late
years, which accounts for the comparatively small number of spindles required to
reduce the large quantity of cotton into yarn. In 1834 about 10,904,000 spindles
were requisite to reduce 300 millions lbs. of cotton into yarn, at present we require
only 17 millions of spindles to work up double the quantity of cotton. The
coarser numbers which are produced now, account partly for this, but only in a
very small degree."
Fall in the Price of Cotton Goods.-In consequence, partly, of the
reduction in the cost of the raw material, but in an incomparably
greater degree of the wonderful improvements in the manufacture,
the price of cotton goods has undergone an extraordinary fall since
1780, and even since 1820. They are now, indeed, so extremely
cheap, that there is hardly an individual so very poor as to be unable
to supply himself abundantly with cottons. This has improved the
dress and appearance, and added to the comfort, of the great bulk of
the female part of the population, not merely of this, but also of other
countries, in a degree and to an extent not easy to be imagined.
Increase in the Proportion of Coarse to Fine Goods.-During the
last twenty years the cotton manufacture has undergone a singular and
not easily explained change in respect of the average fineness of its
products. As successive improvements have been made in the con-
struction and management of machinery, and in the experience and
686
MANUFACTURES.
manual skill of the workpeople, the proportion of fine to coarse yarns
and fabrics might have been expected to make a corresponding increase,
whereas it has, on the contrary, been very greatly diminished. During
the last twenty-five years, the consumption of cotton has increased four-
fold; but the quantity of fine yarn produced (i. e., of yarn of above
sixty hanks to the pound), instead of keeping pace with the increased
consumption of cotton, has really undergone a positive and by no means
inconsiderable reduction. For a number of years past no new esta-
blishments for the production of fine yarns have been formed; but in
Manchester only about twenty mills, formerly employed chiefly or
entirely in fine spinning, have been given up, or devoted to the pro-
duction of coarser yarns. To some extent, no doubt, the diminution
of produce arising from this cause has been countervailed by the in-
creased speed of the machinery still at work; but after making every
reasonable allowance on that score, there can be no doubt that the
total produce of fine yarn has materially decreased. This conclusion
is strengthened by the falling off which has taken place in the imports
of Sea Island cotton, which is used almost exclusively in the produc-
tion of fine yarn.
This change in the average fineness of cotton goods cannot be
ascribed to foreign competition, for fine spinning is precisely that
branch of the trade in which English cotton-spinners most excel their
rivals abroad; and the tariffs of most foreign countries are framed in
the view of excluding coarse rather than fine fabrics. It has been
sometimes attributed to one of those capricious changes of taste and
fashion which frequently operate disadvantageously on particular
manufacturing pursuits; but it has been too long in operation, and has
proceeded too gradually and uniformly, to be so accounted for: and it
is abundantly certain that powerful natural causes must be in opera-
tion, otherwise so extensive an alteration could not have been brought
about, and maintained for so long a period. These causes are by no
means obvious; but we incline to think that the reduction which
has taken place in the price of silk, and still more the prodigious im-
provements which have been made in various descriptions of worsted
goods, have had no inconsiderable influence in lessening the demand
for fine cottons. The main cause, however, will probably be found in
the continued reduction which has taken place in the price of raw
cotton, and the consequent greater comparative cheapness of stout and
serviceable fabrics. It is found that an advance of a penny per pound
in the price of the material speedily and invariably causes an increase of
two or three hanks in the average produce and fineness of the yarn per
pound. And it is not, therefore, surprising that the great decline
which has taken place in the price of the raw cotton of the United
States and Brazil should have occasioned a corresponding increase of
demand for heavier fabrics, and a corresponding diminution in the
average fineness of yarn.
Export of Cotton Goods.-Down to 1750, the exports of cotton
goods, or rather, of goods consisting partially of cotton, were so very
inconsiderable that they hardly attracted the least attention from any
of our commercial writers. But, after the inventions of Arkwright
began to come into general operation, the exports increased with un-
precedented rapidity. At the commencement of the present century
COTTON.
687
they were nearly as large as the export of woollens, the produce of
the old and staple manufacture of the country. But though the export
of woollen goods has increased considerably since 1800, that of cotton
goods and
yarn has increased so much more that it is now about three
times the amount of the other; and
and constitutes, indeed, about a half
of the total exports of the empire!
Account of the Official Value of the Cotton Manufactures exported from Great
Britain from 1697 to 1797.

Years.
Official Value
of Exports.
Years.
Official Value
of Exports.
Years.
Official Value
of Exports.
£.
£.
£
1697
5,915 1765
248,348
1790
1,662,369
1701
23,253
1766
220,759
1791
1,875,046
1710
5,698 1780
355,060
1792
2,024,368
1720
16,200 1785
864,710
1793
1,733,807
1730
13,524
1786
915,046
1794
2,376,077
1741
20,709
1787
1,101,457
1795
2,433,331
1751
1764
45,986 1788
200,354 1789 1,231,537 1797
1,252,240 1796
3,214,020
2,580,568
Account of the Total Quantities and Declared Values of British Cotton Manufac
tured Goods, Twist and Yarn, Exported from the United Kingdom in each Year,
from 1814 to 1845, both inclusive.

Cotton Manufactures.
Cotton Twist and Yarn.
Years.
Entered by the Yard.
Quantities.
Declared
Value.
Hosiery, Lace,
and
Small Wares.
Declared Value.
Quantities.
Declared
Value.
Total
Declared Value
of Cotton
Manufactures,
Twist,and Yarn
Exported.
Yards.
£.
£.
1814
1815
192,340,825 16,480,750
252,884,029 18,158,172
798,826
lbs.
12,782,354
£.
2,791,246
£.
20,070,824
880,034
9,241,548
1,674,021 20,712,227
1816
189,263,731 12,309,079
746,634
15,740,675
2,628,448 15,684,161
1817
236,987,669 13,475,534
571,515
1818
1819
1820
1821
255,331,695 15,708,183
202,514,682 11,714,507
250,956,541 13,209,000
266,495,901 13,192,904
623,803
1822
304,479,691 13,853,954
727,712
1823
1827
1828
301,816,254 12,980,644
1824 344,651,133 14,448,255
1825 336,466,698 14,233,010
1826 267,060,534 9,866,623
365,492,804 12,948,035
363,328,431 12,483,249
718,124
1,165,763
1829
402,517,196 12,516,247
1,041,885
1830
444,578,498 14,119,770
1,175,153
1831
421,385,303 12,163,513
1832
1835
1,118,672
461,045,503 11,500,630 1,175,003
1833 496,352,096 12,451,060 1,331,317
1834 555,705,809 14,127,352 1,175,219
557,515,701 15,181,431 1,240,284
12,717,382
692,136 14,743,675 2,395,304 18,795,623
474,968 18,085,410 2,519,783 14,709,258
498,111
23,032,325 2,826,643 16,533,754
21,526,369 2,305,830 16,122,537
26,595,468 2,697,590
27,378,986 2,625,947
866,886 33,605,510 3,135,396
920,260 32,641,604 3,206,729 18,359,999
735,791 42,179,661 3,491,338 14,093,752
1,146,988 44,878,774 3,545,578 17,640,601
50,505,751 3,595,405 17,244,417
61,441,251 3,976,874 17,535,006
64,645,342 4,133,741 19,428,664
63,821,440
2,014,181 16,061,230
17,279,256
16,324,715
18,450,537
3,975,019 17,257,204
75,667,150
4,722,759 17,398,392
70,626,161
4,704,024 18,486,401
76,478,468
5,211,015 20,513,586
83,214,198
1836
637,667,627
17,183,167 1,328,525
88,191,046
5,706,589
6,120,366
22,128,304
24,632,038
1837
531,373,663
12,727,989
912,192
103,455,138
6,955,942 20,596,123
1838
690 077,622
15,554,733
1,161,124
114,596,602
7,431,869 24,147,726
1839
731,450,123
1840
790,631,997
1844
1845
105,686,442
16,302,220 1,265,090 118,470,223
1841 751,125,624 14,985,810 1,246,700 123,226,519
1842 734,098,809 12,887,220 1,020,664
1843 918,640,205 15,168,464 1,0×5,536
1,046,670,923 17,612,146 1,204,618
1,091,686,069 18,029,808 1,126,288
16,378,445 1,313,737
6,858,193
24,550,375
7,101,308
24,668,618
7,266,968
23,499,478
137,466,892
7,771,464 21,679,348
140,321,176
7,193,971 23,447,971
138,540,079
6,988,584 25,805,348
135,144,865
6,963,235 26,119,331
I
688
MANUFACTURES.
Present Value of the British Cotton Manufacture.-Amount of
Capital and Number of Persons employed in it.-It would be very
desirable to have some accurate information with respect to these parti-
culars. But the data on which all estimates of this sort are founded
being necessarily very imperfect, it is impossible to arrive at anything
like precision. Probably, however, the following statements may
not be very wide of the mark.
Mr. Huskisson stated, in his place in the House of Commons, in
March, 1824, that he believed the total value of the cotton goods, then
annually manufactured in Great Britain, amounted to the sum of
thirty-three and a half millions. But there can be no manner of
doubt that this estimate was excessively overrated; and we do not
think we should be warranted in estimating the total value of the cot-
ton goods and yarn now (1846) annually produced in the United
Kingdom, at above 36 millions. If, indeed, we took the increase in
the imports of the raw material, since 1824, as a test of the increase in
the value of the manufacture, we should estimate it a good deal higher.
But the improvements that have been made in the different processes,
and the fall in the price of raw cotton, have had so powerful an influ-
ence in reducing the price of the goods brought to market, that not-
withstanding the increase of the quantity, their total value must have
remained comparatively constant.
The average annual quantity of cotton wool imported, after deduct-
ing the exports, may be taken at about 550,000,000 lbs. weight. It
is supposed that of this quantity about 50,000,000 lbs. are used in a
raw or half-manufactured state, leaving a balance of 500,000,000 lbs.
for the purposes of manufacturing, the cost of which may be taken,
at an average at nearly 5d. per Ib. Deducting, therefore, from the
total value of the manufactured goods, or 36,000,000l., the value of
the raw material, amounting to nearly 10,000,000/., (10,413,0007., at
5d. per lb.) there remains 26,000,0007., which, of course, forms the
fund whence the wages of the persons employed in the various depart-
ments of the manufacture, the profits of the capitalists, the sums re-
quired to repair the wear and tear of buildings, machinery, &c., the
expense of flour for dressing, coals, &c., must all be derived. If,
then, we had any means of ascertaining how this fund is distributed,
we should be able, by taking the average of wages and profits, to form
a pretty accurate estimate of the number of labourers, and the quantity
of capital employed. But here, unfortunately, we have only probabili-
ties and analogies to guide us. It may, however, be confidently assumed,
in the first place, that in consequence of the extensive employment of
highly valuable machinery in all departments of the cotton manufac-
ture, the proportion which the profits of capital, and the sum to be set
aside to replace its wear and tear, bears to the whole value of the manu-
facture, must be much larger than in almost any other department of
industry. We have heard this proportion variously estimated, at from a
third to two-thirds of the total value of the manufactured goods, exclu-
sive of the raw material; and as the weight of authority seems to be
pretty much divided on the subject, we shall take an intermediate pro-
portion. Assuming, therefore, that the profits of the capital employed
in the cotton manufacture, the wages of superintendence, &c., the sum
required to replace the wear and tear of machinery and buildings, and
COTTON.
689
to furnish flour, coals, &c., amount together to half the value of the
manufactured goods, exclusive of the raw material, or to 13,000,000%.,
a sum of 13,000,000l. will remain as the wages of the spinners, weavers,
bleachers, &c., engaged in the manufacture; and taking, inasmuch as
a considerable number of children under 16 years of age are employed,
the average rate of wages at only 241. a year, we shall have (dividing
13,000,000 by 24), nearly 542,000 as the total number of persons
directly employed in the different departments of the manufacture.
An Account of the Quantities and Declared Value of British Cotton Manufactured
Goods and Yarn Exported from the United Kingdom, distinguishing the Description
of Goods, and the various Countries whereto the same were Exported, in the Year
1852.
Cottons, Plain and Dyed,
entered by the Yard,
Hosiery, Lace,
and
Small Wares.
Cotton Twist and Yarn.
Countries to which
Exported.
Total
Declared
Value.
Yards.
Declared
Value.
Declared
Value.
Lbs
Declared
Value.
£.
£.
£.
£.
Russia
•
Sweden.
2,307,734
45,571
15,170
2,592,125
133,409
194,150
344,993
6,529
2,437
1,065,529
36,2.59
45,225
Norway
1,095,354
20,80+
1,664
368,620
15,458
37,526
Denmark
2,735,853
37,903
2,054
1,768,536
60,754
100,711
Prussia
6,044
52
89
497,926
18,700
18,941
Mecklenburgh Schwerin
Hanover
•
329,4€8
6,119
110
Oldenburgh
Hanseatic Towns
41,539,214
70,612
Holland
27,776,866
479,
183
Belgium
1,572,860
39,824
204,791
76,106
44.245
1,000
2,830,451
10,800
39,651,41
87
37
139,646
145,875
25,948,240
370
1,950,703
1,486,893
370
2,374, 10:
1,151,603
67.787
Channel Islands
958,200
27,813
3,423
5,334
356
2,042,188
151,856
31,592
France
3,808,149
80,139
41,686
141,668
55,391
186,216
Portugal, Azores, and Ma-
deira.
51,293,872
645,488
12,759
980,276
87,474
695,721
Spain and the Balearic Is-
lands
3,761,454
99,636
6,627
260,775
9,421
115,684
•
Spain and the Canary Islands.
1,557,820
21,899
973
Gibraltar
•
23,913,836
326,360
16,215
3.722
2€8,198
Italy, with the adjacent Coast
of the Adriatic and Islands
69,617,064
990,008
76,976
19,832,632
151
13,320
717,507
23,023
355,895
1,793,491
Malta
Ionian Islands
Kingdom of Greece.
Turkey
•
Wallachia and Moldavia
Syria and Palestine
•
9,000,118
103,731
3,070
653,528
22,078
128,879
6,401,371
79,751
849
690,166
27,755
108,358
6,904,395
109,891
812
729,190
17,716
127,949
110,278,325
1,570,619
9,406
5,251,256
199,668
1,779,623
7,973,247
110,538
845
3,343,382
117,756
229,139
32,098,272
427,242
85
2,525,270
57,937
485,264
Egypt, Ports on the Medi
terranean
Mcdi- 33,470,200
423,964
9,246
860,995
33,217
471,327
•
•
Tripoli, Algeria, and Morocco.
Western Coast of Africa
6,505,707
87,148
446
38,512
1,286
88,880
14,212,537
217,604
637
1,575
233
215,474
British Possessions in South
Africa
Cape Verde Islands
South}
15,369,740
263,087
10,541
6,126
349
273,977
Eastern Coast of Africa
169,071
2,044
2,044
192,497
2,480
2,480
Ascension and St. Helena
Mauritius
•
45,791
1,362
72
1,434
Aden
British Territories in the East
Indies
Sumatra, Java, and Islands of
Indian Seas
5,584,370
131,677
82,313
1,923
84,236
st} 352,637,240
1,883
4,242,272
46,102
31,201,407
Philippine Islands
6,161,239
China
140,922,065
465,399
85,597
1,649, 183
4,713
1,840
2,631
46,500
24,802,091
1,175,205
98,630
6,638,552
1,643
1,070,068
3,526
5,358,442
41,456
2,110
511,568
89,547
253,507
1,905,321
British Settlements 'in' Aus-
tralia
12,548,172
259,591
70,893
197,408
7,476
337,900
South Sea Islands
485,485
16,670
67
16,737
British North American Colo-
25,119,492
405,152
41,812
575,805
22,800
463,854
nies
•
British West Indies
•
32,337,610
440.382
30,632
19,896
1,503
472,517
Foreign West Indies
44,727,285
660,664
70,675
17,990
1,328
732,667
Mexico.
United States of America
Uruguay and Buenos Ayres
110,994,733
1,121,357
552, 185
171,629
7,483
2,681,025
8,315,908
1€6,201
10,713
2,540
154
177,068
44,652,020
689,141
46,214
43,027
1,£83
737,338
Brazil
•
124,177,785
1,831,163
€0,211
3,€52
191
1,891,565
Central America, New Gra-
nada, Venezuela and
Ecuador
40,637,731
595,421
27,293
146,919
10,156
632,963
Chili
38,092,531
532,734
36,504
Peru
•
29,953,154
443,861
29,568
50,090
72
2,072
4
571,310
Falkland Islands.
6,708
161
44
473,433
205
Total
•
|1,521,256,914
21,648,458
1,574,974
145,478,302
6,654,653
20,878,087
VOL. I.
2 Y
690
MANUFACTURES.
We should mistake, however, if we suppose that this number,
great as it certainly is, comprised the whole number of persons to whom
the cotton manufacture furnishes subsistence, exclusive of the capi-
talists. Of the sum of 13,000,000l. set apart as the profit of the
capitalists, and the sum required to furnish coal and to defray the
wear and tear of machinery, &c., a large portion is annually laid out
in paying the wages of engineers, machine-makers, iron-founders,
smiths, joiners, masons, bricklayers, &c. It is not easy to say what
this proportion may amount to; but taking it at 4,000,000l., and sup-
posing the rate of wages of each individual to average 501. a year,
the total number employed in the various capacities alluded to will be
(4,000,000 divided by 50) 80,000; and a sum of 9,000,000l. will remain
to cover the profits of the capital employed in the various branches of
the manufacture, to repair the machinery and buildings as they wear
out, and to buy coal, flour, &c. The account will, therefore, stand
as under :-
Total value of every description of cotton goods annually
manufactured in Great Britain
•
Raw material, 500,000,000 lbs. at 5d. per lb.
Wages of 542,000 weavers, spinners, bleachers, &c. at
241. a year each .
Wages of 80,000 engineers, machine-makers, smiths,
masons, joiners, &c., at 50l. a year each
Profits of the manufacturers, wages of superintendence,
sums to purchase the materials of machinery, coals, &c.
£
36,000,000
•
£10,000,000
13,000,000
4,000,000
9,000,000
36,000,000
It has been said by some that this estimate of the total value of the
manufacture is under, and by others that it is overrated; but we believe
it will be found to be nearly correct. Misled by the authority of Mr.
Huskisson, we, no doubt, estimated, in the former edition of this work,
the value of the cotton stuffs and yarn produced in the United King-
dom in 1836 at 34,000,000l. ; but farther inquiry has convinced us
that this estimate was too high; and it is to be borne in mind, that,
though the consumption of raw cotton has greatly increased since 1836,
there has been in the interval a very considerable fall in the value of
the raw material, and in the prices of the manufactured articles. The
declared value of the exports of cotton goods and yarn, in 1845,
amounted to 26,119,3317.; and estimating the value of those con-
sumed at home at two-fifths of the value of those exported, we shall
have 36,567,0831. for the total value of the manufacture. Perhaps it
may be thought that in this estimate we have underrated the home con-
sumption of cottons; but we are not sure that we have not inclined
to the opposite side. In Burns' Glance, a publication of authority,
exhibiting the state of the cotton trade in 1845, the total weight of
cotton spun in England (after deducting for loss in spinning) is esti-
mated at 467,029,465 lbs., of which the exports in wove fabrics and
yarn amounted to no less than 368,520,560 lbs., leaving (including
the quantity sent to Scotland) only 98,508,905 lbs. for the home con-
sumption. Hence, if we took this account for a standard, the value
of the goods retained at home would be very decidedly under two-fifths
of the value of those exported. But we doubt whether this would be
·
COTTON.
691
a fair standard, both because it is doubtful whether the weight of the
yarn left for home consumption be not underrated in the publication
referred to, and because the great bulk of the cotton goods retained
at home are of a superior fabric, and more costly than those sent
abroad. On the whole, therefore, we are disposed to believe that in
estimating the present value of the products of the British cotton
manufacture at 36,000,000l. a-year, we shall not be very wide of the
mark; and moderate as this estimate may appear as compared with
others put forth on the same subject, it strikingly evinces the great
value and importance of the manufacture.
The capital employed may be estimated as follows:-
Capital employed in the purchase of raw material
Capital employed in the payment of wages
Capital vested in spinning mills, power and hand-looms, work-
shops, warehouses, stocks on hand, &c.
•
£4,000,000
8,000,000
35,000,000
£17,000,000
Now this sum of 47,000,000l., supposing the interest of capital,
inclusive of the wages of superintendence, &c., to amount to 10 per
cent., will yield a sum of 4,700,000l.; which, being deducted from
the 9,000,000l. profits, &c., leaves 4,300,000l. to defray the waste of
capital, the flour required for dressing, the coals necessary in the
employment of the steam-engines, to effect insurances, and to meet all
other outgoings.
The aggregate amount of wages, according to the statement on p. 690,
is 17,000,000l.; but there are not many departments of the business
in which wages have to be advanced more than six months before the
article is sold. We, therefore, incline to think that 8,000,000l. is a
sufficient (perhaps too great) allowance for the capital employed in the
payment of wages.
If we are nearly right in these estimates, it will follow-allowance
being made for old and infirm persons, children, &c., dependent on
those actually employed in the various departments of the cotton manu-
facture, and in the construction, repair, &c., of the machinery and
buildings required to carry it on-that it must furnish, on the most
moderate computation, subsistence for from 1,000,000 to 1,200,000
persons! And for this new and most prolific source of wealth we are
indebted partly, and principally, as already shown, to the extraordinary
genius and talent of a few individuals; but, in a great degree, also.
to that security of property and freedom of industry which give confi-
dence and energy to all who embark in industrious undertakings, and
to that universal diffusion of intelligence which enables those who
carry on any work to press every power of nature into their service,
and to avail themselves of productive capacities of which a less in-
structed people would be wholly ignorant.
Distribution of the Manufacture.-Lancashire was the earliest, and
it still continues to be the principal, seat of the cotton manufacture;
Manchester being, as it were, the head quarters of this great depart-
ment of industry. Of 1,594 cotton mills, employing 118,920 indi-
viduals, reported to be at work in England in 1839, no fewer than
2 Y 2
692
MANUFACTURES.
1,125 mills, employing 82,234 individuals, were situated in Lancashire ;
163 mills, employing 34,039 hands, being within the single parish of
Manchester! And so rapid has been the increase of the manufacture
in the interval, that there were in Mr. Horner's district (see antè,
p. 679) in November, 1844, no fewer than 1,724 cotton mills, em-
ploying 197,460 hands. The greatest seats of the manufacture in
Lancashire, after Manchester, are Oldham, Rochdale, Bolton, Bury,
Preston, Wigan, Stayley Bridge, Heap, &c. Cheshire is, next to
Lancashire, the principal manufacturing district: it had, in 1839, 154
mills at work, which employed 18,676 hands. The Cheshire manu-
facture is principally carried on at Hyde, Stockport, Bollington, and
Mottram. The manufacture is also carried on to a considerable extent
in Derbyshire, principally in the hundred of High Peak, in Cumber-
land, Stafford, and in the West Riding of Yorkshire, principally in the
parish of Halifax. In Wales it is principally confined to Flintshire.
Nottinghamshire is the principal seat of two rather peculiar, but
important, branches of the cotton manufacture—that of lace and
of cotton stockings. The application of the stocking frame to the lace
manufacture was first attempted by a watchmaker of the name of
Hammond, in 1768; but the difficulties in the way of the attempt were
not completely overcome till Mr. Heathcoat made some important al-
terations and improvements in the machinery, for which he took out a
patent in 1809. The lace, or, as it is usually called, bobbin net, pro-
duced on Mr. Heathcoat's frames, having seriously affected the manu-
facture of pillow lace, or lace wrought by the hand, his machines
became the object of attack by the workmen; who, under the name of
Luddites, maintained, for a lengthened period, a formidable combina-
tion against them. But this conspiracy being suppressed, and Mr.
Heathcoat's patent having expired in 1823, and various improvements
The
having been effected in the manufacture, it rapidly increased.
beauty and cheapness of the fabric are such, that it has not only
destroyed the old manufacture of pillow lace in this country, but in
Belgium and France; and instead of smuggling French lace into
England, English lace was very largely smuggled into France. Lat-
terly, however, the French have made considerable progress in the
manufacture of bobbin-net, and have even begun to export it to Ger-
many and elsewhere. The aggregate value of the bobbin net, including
silk as well as cotton lace, annually produced, was estimated, in 1842,
at 2,740,000l., and the hands engaged in the business at 70,000; but
it was not then, nor is it now, in a flourishing condition.
The cotton stocking manufacture is principally carried on in Not-
tinghamshire, and partly also in Leicestershire, Derbyshire, and to a
small extent in some other places. The total number of frames em-
ployed in 1844, including 384 in Scotland and Ireland, was estimated,
by Mr. Felkin, at 24,823; the stockings made at 2,872,000 dozen
pairs, and their value at 998,7007.
Lanarkshire, and the contiguous county of Renfrew, have always
been the principal seat of the Scotch cotton manufacture. Some of the
fabrics made at Glasgow and Paisley are of almost unrivalled beauty
and fineness. The first steam-engine for the spinning of cotton,
COTTON.
693
erected in Scotland, was constructed so late as 1792. Mr. Leonard
Horner, one of the Factory Inspectors, reported, in 1833, that "In
Scotland there are 134 cotton mills; that, with the exception of some
large establishments at Aberdeen, and one at Stanley, near Perth, the
cotton manufacture is almost confined to Glasgow and the country im-
mediately adjoining, to a distance of about 25 miles radius; and all
these country mills, even including the great work at Stanley, are con-
nected with Glasgow houses, or in the Glasgow trade. In Lanark-
shire, in which Glasgow is situated, there are 74 cotton factories; in
Renfrewshire, 41; in Dunbartonshire, 4; in Bute, 2; in Argyle, 2;
and in Perth, 1, &c."
But the following statements, on the accuracy of which every reli-
ance may be placed, obligingly furnished to us by Dr. Watt of
Glasgow, give by far the best account hitherto published, of the recent
progress and present extent of the cotton manufacture in Scotland.
Statement of the Quantity of Cotton Wool Consumed in Scotland from 1820 to 1844
inclusive.
Year,
Bales.
Average
Weight per
Bale.
Total Weight.
Average Consumption,
in periods of Five Years.
lbs.
lbs.
Bales.
lbs.
1820
52,103
258
13,442,574
1821
52,908
258
13,650,264
1822
55,447
267
14,804,349
54,010
14,385,172
1823
54,891
275
15,095,025
1824
51,702
273
14,933,646
1825
56,995
278
15,844,610
1826
56,117
294
16,498,398
1827
72,655
297
21,578,535
68,009 19,900,336
1828
74,037
297
21,988,989
1829
80,242
294
23,591,148
1830
79,801
298
23,780,698
1831
85,929
306
26,294,274
1832
88,162
311
27,418,382
87,292
27,478,522
1833
86,964
326
28.350,264
1834
95,603
330
$1,518,990
1835
89,415
333
29,775,195
1836 100,904
343
34,610,072
1837 101,857
346
35,242,522 100,665
34,478,152
1838
112,726
346
39,003,196
1839
98,425
343
33,759,775
1840
122,946
367
45,121,182
1841
98,469
367
36,138,123
1842
97,998
375
36,749,250
110,117
41,169,437
1843 118,950
379
45,082,052
1844 112,222
331
42,756,582
Note.-The number of spindles in Glasgow and Lanarkshire is 908,020
Renfrewshire
•
Other parts of Scotland
445,840 the proportional
374,768
consumption of
cotton should be
Total spindles
1,728,628
Per Cent.
52.5
25.8
21.7
·100.0
694
MANUFACTURES.
Statement of the Cotton Spinning in Glasgow and Neighbourhood, June, 1845.

Number of
Spindles.
Estimated
Value
of Factories.
Estimated
Number of
Workers
Employed.
Estimated
Average
Weekly Wages
per
Worker.
Estimated
Total Weekly Wages.
784,756
784,7567. 7,847
8s. to 9s.
3,138/. 16s. to 3,531l. 3s.
Statement of Power-Looms in Glasgow and Neighbourhood, June, 1845.

Number of
Looms.
Estimated
Value
of Factories.
Estimated
Number of
Workers
Employed.
Estimated
Average
Weekly Wages
per Worker.
17,620
264,300l.
11,200
8s. to 9s.
Estimated
Total Weekly Wages.
*
4,480l. to 5,0407.
Note A.-The engines employed in working the above machinery are nominally of 3,705 horse
power, but their real working power may be reckoned at from 30 to 50 per cent, additional.
Note B.-The number of spindles in Glasgow and Lanarkshire is 52.5 per cent.
Renfrewshire
Other parts of Scotland
The number of power-looms in Glasgow and Lanarkshire is
Renfrewshire
Other parts of Scotland.
•
•
•
25.8
21 7
"
"
100 0
779.0
""
8.0
13.0
"
100.0
**
The cotton manufacture of Ireland is of very inferior importance,
not merely to that of England, but even to that of Scotland. It is
principally situated in Belfast and its vicinity, or in the counties of
Antrim, Down, and Armagh; but there are factories in the county of
Dublin, and in other places. Contrary to the anticipations of most of
those engaged in it, the manufacture has increased considerably since
the repeal of what were falsely called protecting duties, laid on English
cottons when imported into Ireland; the real effect of which was to
make the manufacturers depend for success rather on custom-house re-
gulations than on their own skill and enterprise. The scarcity and bad
quality of Irish coal, is, however, an all but insuperable obstacle to the
extension of the manufacture in Ireland. Most part of the coal used in
Belfast is, in fact, imported from Britain. In 1839 there were in Ire-
land 24 cotton factories, employing 4,622 hands.
CONDITION OF LABOURERS EMPLOYED IN COTTON FACTORIES.
Wages. The wages of the adults engaged in factories are in
general high, many of them earning from 3s. 6d. to 7s. 6d. a day, and
some more. Employment in factories is also remarkably steady, not
depending, like work carried on out of doors, on the state of the
weather, or other uncertain contingencies, but is prosecuted almost
without interruption. Hence the superior condition of the factory
work-people. Such of them as are provident are in decidedly comfort-
able circumstances. The money wages of some classes have somewhat
COTTON.
695
declined since the peace, but they have not declined to any thing like
the extent that the prices of bread, beef, clothes, and almost every ne-
cessary and useful article, have done; so that the manufacturing part
of the population possess, at this moment, a greater command over
the necessaries and conveniences of life, and are in better circumstances,
than at any former period. We subjoin-
I. An Account (obtained from the very best sources) of the Wages paid to the
Labourers in Cotton Factories, and other descriptions of Work-people, in Man-
chester, in 1832 and 1846.
1832
1916
s. d.
s. d.
S.
d.
5. d.
50
0 to 60
GO 0
OK
Spinners, Men
per week.
Women
20 0
10 0
OO
to 25 0
By hand.
-
"
"
15 0
17
0
—
19 0
Self-actors.
Stretchers
25 0
19
Piecers (Boys and Girls)
4 7
""
Scavengers
1
6
| | |
26 0
7
0
5
0
10 0
"9
2 8
2
6
3
6
In the Curd Room.
Men
Young Women
Children
•
Throstle-spinners
Reelers
14
6
17 0
10
0
21
39
9
">
0
9
6
8
0
10
6
0
0
2 0
"}
6 0+
5
0
9
6
10
0
"
7
0
9 0
8
0
9 0
00叶
​Weavers by Power.
Men
13 0
16 10
""
10
0
I
16 0
Women
8
0
12 0
39
Dressers' Men
28 0
30 0
40
0
"
Winders and Warpers
8
0
11 0
9
0
11 0
"
Mechanics
24 0
26 0
27 0
32 0
""
Weaving by Hand.
QUALITY.
WOVEN BY.
Nankeens, Fancy,
Men
9
0
15
•
""
Common, Children & Women
6 0
""
""
Best
Men
10 0
13
10 00 00
0
8 0
15 O
0
8
0
5
0
7 0
0
•
>>
•
""
Checks
Fancy,
Men
7 0.
7
6
7
0
10
•
""
>>
Cambrics
Common, Children.
6
0
my 0
5
0
99
All ages
6
0
6 6
6
0
070
8
OOO
0
0
0
•
99
Quiltings
Men and Women
9
0
12 0
12
0
Fustian Cutters
•
All ages
10
0
12 0
8 0
9
0
•
"
Machine Makers.
Men
26 0
30
0
26
0
30 0
•
""
Iron Founders ‡
Men
28 0
30 0
28 0
36
0
•
""
•
Dyers and Dressers, Men
15 0
20 0
"2"
20
Dyers and Dressers, Young Men
12 0
14 0
0 average.
Dyers and Dressers, Boys
5
0
10 0
6
0
•
>>
Tailors.
Men
18
0
18
0
27 0
•
""
Porters
Packers
Shoemakers
Whitesmiths
14
0
15
0
14 0
30 0
20 0
20 0
33 0
39
15 0
—
16 0
12 0
13
0
"J
22 0
24 0
14 0
35
0
>>
Sawyers
24 0
28 0
7
6 per day.
""
•
Carpenters
24 0
24 0
30 0
"
•
25
Stonemasons
18 0
22 0
30
0
33
•
Bricklayers
17 0
20 0
27 0
30 0
Bricklayers' Labourers
12 0
18 0
20 0
18 0
18 0
27 0
Painters
"
Slaters.
3
35
8 per day.
4
6 per day.
19
0
21 0
Plasterers
Spademen.
10 0
15 0
20 0
15 0
26 0
18 0
39
* In 1832 the spinning was done chiefly by hand; it is now chiefly done by self-acting machines.
+ Hours of infant labour now restricted.
The increase of railways since 1832 has given rise to a species of iron work, at which skilled
operatives may earn as much as 77. 10s. per week.
696
MANUFACTURES.
11. Table of Wages paid to Artizans and Labourers in the following Trades at Manchester
in the first week of April in the undermentioned Years.-(From Returns prepared by the
Manchester Chamber of Commerce)

Trades.
1840
1841
1842
1843
1844
1845
8.
d.
•
•
Boiler Makers
Spinners, Male
Self acting, Males
Trostles, Young Wo-
men.
Piegers
Scavengers
Card Room, Men
Young Women
Children
Power loom Weavers
Reclers
Mill Mechanics
Warpers
Labourers
Machine Makers. Me-}
Blacksmiths 24
Millwrights. 33
Joiners
Ditto Assistants
Ditto Strikers
Moulders, Ironfounders
Skein Dyers
Builders, Joiners
25
13 0
8
6
6
2
6
12
7
3
•
11
•
6 0
•
23 41
13
6
2000 00000000f0
8.
d.
| | | 8
0 to 27 0
19 0
11
2000
$.
d.
13
8
0
10 0
5 2
6 0
joo o
91 1 1
s. d.
$.
24 0 to 27 0
22
0 ΣΟ
0
13
10 0
8
10 0
6
2
6
5 4
2
16 0
12 0
18 0
12
6
12 0
7 6
11
7 6
6 0
3
0
6 0
3
14 2
10 2
14 2
9 10
9
7 5
9 0
7 7
-
25 6 33 9
25 6
33 9
24 0
24 2
24 3
17 0
13 6
17 0
13 6
joo o oCOODČNOBO
d.
3. d.
6 to 27 0
s. d.
20 9 to
0
20 0
13 0
s. d.
29 0
16 0
13
6
-
10 0
8
6
-
10 0
0
M
10 0
6
0
10 0
6
5 2
3
0
5 2
18 6
13 0
16 0
10
0
7 6
10 0
6 6
3 0
7 0
14 2
9 3
14 2
9 0
6 8
9 0
33 9
26 0
30 0
26
24 5
17 0
13 6
17 0
24 0
32 0
25 0
32 0
24 0
M
32 0
26 0
31 0
0
I
32 0
24
0
32 0
23
0
32 0
24
0
31 0
•
0
33
0
33
0
33 0
31
30
•
•
0
30
0
30
0
29
22
0
22
25 0
0
25 0
22 0
1
25 0
22 0
1
25 0
•
20
0
20
0
20 0
20 0
0
18
0
18 0
16 0
•
•
32
0
15
0
26
0
| | |
34 0
32 0
34 0
34 0
32 0
21
0
15
0
21
0
15
28 0
26
0
T
28 0
26 0
11
21 0
15 0
21 0
28 0
24
0
28 0
Sawyers.
28
€
23
6
28 6
29 6
*21 ~ 71*can*** * *********
8. d.
s. d.
22 0 to 30 6
0
6
| | 8
s. d.
23 6 to 32
3. d.
16 2
16 0
―
20
10 0
9
6
10
7 0
-
10 0
7 6
10 S
3 0
0
4
5 10
0
| | | | | | | |
5
8
3
6
5
0 16 O
14 0
16 6
0 10 0
8 0
11 0
4
7 0
6
7 0
14 2
11
3
14 2
9 0
7 6
9
0
30 0
27 7
31
€
gua & BxUJONOU
24
0
24
13
6
28 0
11
17 0
13 6
17 0
31
0
30 0
33 0
25
0
31
0
26 0
34 0
6
34
29
0
30 0
22 0
25 0
24 0
—
26 0
20
0
21 0
16
0
19 0
30 0
32 0
34 0
36 0
15
0
My
21
0
15 0
21
0
24 0
29 0
26 0
28 0
28
28 6
Labourers
Spademen
Cabinet Makers
Ditto Joiners
Upholsterers
18
0
13
0
18 0
18 0
19 0
18
0
16 0
18 0
16 0
18 0
16 O
18 0
16 0
18 0
16
0
13 0
16
0
+
25
0
27 0
25 0
27 0
25
27
0
25
0
27 0
25 0
27 0
25 0
—
18 0
23 0
27 0
27 0
27 0
27 0
27 0
27 0
24
0
I
28 0
24 0
1
28 0
24
28 0
24 0 -
28 0
24 0
23 0
24 0
28 0
•
•
Ditto Females
10
0
10
0
10 0
10
0
10
0
10 0
Ditto Carvers
26
Stonemasons
2,
Tailors
19 1-
Boot and Shoe Makers
22
Ditto for Ladies
15 II
Painters
26
•
Plasterers
26
•
Ditto Labourers
17
Machine Calico Printers
30
Ditto Engravers
40
Sawyers by hand
24
Ditto by Steam
24
Chest Makers
Whitesmiths.
Saddlers
24
24 0
25 0
OOLR100------0-
30 0
26
0
f
30 0
26 0
30 0
26
030 0
26 0
30 0
28 0
1
30 0
27
27 0
27 0
27 0
27 0
25 3
16
84 34 21 24 23 74 21 6
25 1 23 34 — 24 104| 25 104 – 26 6
8
18 3
17 9
19 10
21 6
22
+
17 2
16 9
17 1
17 5
18
0
30 0
26 0
30 0
26
0
30 0
26 0
30 0
—
30 0
26 0
30
0
26 0
30 0
26 0
30 0
26
18 0
17
0
18 0
17 0
18 0
17 0
18 0
40
0
30 0
40 0
30
0
40 0
30 0
40 0
30
0
50 0
40
0
50 0
40 0
50 0
40
0
50 0
40
0
30
0
24 0
30 0
24 0
30 0
24 0
30 0
| | | | | |
26 0 30 0
26 0
30 0
0 30 0
26 0
17 0 18 O
17 0
30
40 0
0
50
40
0
50
0
24 0 30 0
24 0
$989
30
0
18
0
40 0
0
30 0
24
0
24 0
24 0
24
0
24
0
24
0
21 0
24 0
24 0
24
0
30 0
24 0
25 0
30 0
24
0
1
30 0
24
0
50 0
24 0
30 0
24 0
30 0
25 0
25
0
25 0
25
0
Spinners are paid according to a fixed scale of prices, depending on
the work done, and which decreases when the quantity of yarn they
produce, in equal space of time, is increased. But the ratio of the
decrease of price is less than that
that of the increase of work; so that
when a workman is able, by the assistance of improved machinery, to
produce, in a given time, a third or a half more yarn than previously,
his wages do not fall a third or a half, but in some less proportion, so
that he, as well as his master, reaps a direct and immediate advantage
from the improvement of machinery; while, owing to the fall that
takes place in the price of the manufactured article, the demand for it
is extended, and the manufacture kept on the increase.
Hand-loom Weavers.-The condition of this class of work-
people has, we regret to say, long been one of great misery
and destitution. We are satisfied, however, that a great deal of
misconception exists with respect to it. We doubt much, not-
withstanding the currency of the opposite opinion, whether the
hand-loom weavers have been materially injured by the introduc-
tion of the power-looms. Had the weavers been in a prosperous
state before they were exposed to this new competition, there would
have been plausible grounds, at least, for concluding that it had been
COTTON.
697
mainly instrumental in sinking them into their present hopeless
situation. But, in point of fact, the condition of the weavers, when
power-looms were only beginning to be talked of, was very little,
if anything, better than at present. So far back as 1808, Mr. William
Radcliffe, one of the inventors of the dressing-machine, and intimately
acquainted with the manufacture, was examined by the Committee of
the House of Commons appointed to inquire into the claims of the Rev.
Dr. Cartwright, the inventor of the power-loom, to a public reward;
when he made the following statement:-" To that part of your ques-
tion, whether I think the general adoption of the loom by power will
operate to the prejudice of the weavers in the old way, I answer, no.
In the first place, their situation, for the last twelve or eighteen months,
has been such, that it cannot be made worse; as, during that time,
generally speaking, they have neither been able to pay rents nor buy
themselves clothes; all their earnings have barely been sufficient to
keep them alive; and men who have families to support are obliged to
work from sixteen to eighteen hours in the day to do this." Nor was
this distress temporary merely. From 1808, when this striking
evidence was given, down to 1818, when there were not more than
2,000 power-looms in Lancashire, the weavers were exposed to similar
privations. Their wages have fluctuated since, according to the greater
or less prosperity of the trade; but, a few short intervals excepted, they
have always been so ruinously low, as to be altogether inadequate to
support them in anything approaching to comfort.
But it will probably be said that, how much soever the condition
of the hand-loom weavers may have been depressed in 1808 or 1818,
the subsequent extension of the manufacture would have insured its
being very materially improved, but for the introduction of the power-
looms. This, however, is a very questionable proposition. A very
considerable part of the extraordinary progress of the manufacture of
late years is certainly ascribable to the employment of power-looms;
but, supposing Dr. Cartwright's invention had not come into the field,
and that the progress of the manufacture had, notwithstanding, been
equally great, still we doubt whether the situation of the weavers would
have been materially different from what it now is. The truth is, that
their low wages are not occasioned by the competition of the power-
looms, but by the easy nature of their employment. The following re-
marks of Mr. Baines seem to be quite decisive as to this point:—
"The
labour of the cotton-loom requires little strength, and still less skill;
it may be performed by a boy or girl of 12 years old, and may be
quickly learned by men who have been brought up to any other em-
ployment. It is obvious, that that which is only a child's labour, can
be remunerated only by a child's wages. In point of fact, women and
children are continually put to the loom: weavers, who have not an
opportunity of sending their children to mills, teach them to weave as
soon as they are able to throw the shuttle. Thus this department of
labour is greatly overstocked, and the price necessarily falls. The evil
is aggravated by the multitudes of Irish who have flocked into Lanca-
shire, some of whom, having been linen weavers, naturally resort to the
looin, and others learn to weave as the easiest employment they can
adopt. Accustomed to a wretched mode of living in their own country,
698
MANUFACTURES.
they are contented with wages that would starve an English labourer.
They have, in fact, so lowered the rate of wages, as to drive many of
the English out of the employment, and to drag down those who
remain in it to their own level. It is manifest that these are reasons
amply sufficient to account for the long continued and extreme de-
pression of the hand-loom weavers: and, as they are incapable of
remedy so long as the employment itself exists, the introduction of the
power-loom, which must put an end to it, is to be hailed as a national
blessing."
The greatest improvement that could possibly take place, at present,
in the manufacturing districts, would be the general transfer of the
hand-loom weavers to the factories in the progress of being built. A
transfer of this sort has occurred to some extent; but it is checked,
partly by the improvement that has taken place in the wages of hand-
loom weavers within the last two or three years; partly by expecta-
tions of relief founded on legislative interference; and partly by the
unwillingness of the weavers to enter factories, and to submit to the
But there can be
strict discipline that is necessarily kept up in them.
no doubt that, sooner or later, they will be driven from their business.
The increased wages they are now receiving, act as a premium upon
the erection of power-looms, which not only do their work cheaper,
but better. The only resource, in fact, for the weaver, is to bring up
his children to other employments; and to embrace the first favourable
opportunity of leaving the business himself. All attempts to interfere
with the natural rate of wages, by the formation of what have been
called Boards of Trade, or otherwise, are mere quackery and delusion.
They might, if it were seriously attempted to carry them into practice,
do much injury to the manufacture; but it is a contradiction and an
absurdity to suppose that they should do any good to the weavers.
Their only resource is to abandon their business.
Health of the Labourers employed in Cotton Factories.-This is a
subject as to which there has been a great deal of misrepresentation.
Children, that is, young persons between the ages of 9 and 16 years,
as well as adults, are largely employed in factories; and, while the
health and morals of the latter are said to suffer severely, the former
have been described as being stunted in their growth, and rendered
decrepid and miserable for life, by the prolonged confinement, drudgery,
and ill-treatment to which they are exposed. These representations of
the injurious effects of what has been called white slavery, were
embodied in a Report of a Committee of the House of Commons in
1832. We believe, however, that we run little risk in affirming
that this report contains more false statements and exaggerated repre-
sentations than any other document of the kind ever laid before the
legislature. It made a great sensation; and the discussions to which
it, or rather the proposal that grew out of it, for limiting factory
labour to 10 hours a day, gave rise, induced government to appoint a
commission to inquire, on the spot, into the actual condition of the la-
bourers, and especially of the children, employed in factories. This
commission collected a great deal of authentic information; and much
light has since been thrown on the question of factory labour by the
reports of the Factory Inspectors. It were absurd to pretend, as some
COTTON.
699
have done, that the statements and representations in regard to its per-
nicious influence, were proved to be wholly destitute of foundation;
but they were shown to be much exaggerated. Great inattention to
cleanliness, and some very revolting abuses, certainly existed in some
factories, particularly in those of the smaller class, at the time (1832)
when the above Report was published; but the factories in question
bore but a small proportion to the total number, and the abuses by
which they were disgraced, are now wholly rooted out.
It appears from the tables previously given (ante, p. 416), that the
mortality in Lancashire and Cheshire, the two great seats of the cotton
manufacture, especially in the former, is decidedly greater than in any
other part of the kingdom. But, though the great extent to which factory
labour is carried on in these counties, be partly a cause of this greater
mortality, it is certainly not the only cause. The crowds of Irish im-
migrants, and of other poor persons, attracted to the great manufac-
turing towns, and the dirty and badly-ventilated houses and cellars in
which many of the work-people live, and their improvident habits, are
powerful causes of increased mortality. The appointment of Factory
Inspectors has been productive of the greatest advantage, not merely by
making the regulations, in regard to the employment of children and
young people in mills and factories, be particularly attended to, but by
obliging masters to attend to their security, cleanliness, ventilation,
&c. And were police regulations enforced in the manufacturing towns,
providing that the houses built for the accommodation of the labouring
classes should be liberally supplied with water, and properly drained
and ventilated, it can hardly be doubted that the existing rate of mor-
tality would be materially reduced.
We do not, however, know that we should object to the total exclu-
sion of children, under 10 or 12 years of age, from factories, provided
we had any reasonable security that they would be moderately well
attended to and instructed at home. But no such security is to be
looked for. The parents of such children frequently want the ability,
oftener the opportunity, and sometimes the wish, to keep them at home
in anything like a decent condition; to provide them with instruction,
or to impress on them the importance of habits of cleanliness, sobriety,
and industry. Were they turned out of the factories, few would either
go to the country or to school. Four-fifths of them would be thrown
loose upon the streets, to acquire a taste for idleness, and to be early
initiated in the vicious practices prevalent amongst the dregs of the
populace in Manchester, Glasgow, Leeds, and other great towns.
Whatever may
be the state of society in these towns, we hesitate not to
say, that it would be much worse but for the factories. They have
been their best and most important academies. Besides taking the
children out of harm's way, they have imbued them with regular,
orderly, and industrious habits. Their earnings are considerable, and
are a material assistance to their parents; at the same time that they
make them perform their tasks with a zeal and alacrity that is rarely
manifested by apprentices serving without pay, merely that they may
learn some art, trade, or mystery. Many factories have day-schools,
or Sunday schools, or both, attached to them, and all children under
13 years of age, must attend school five days every week for certain
700
MANUFACTURES.
specified periods. But, independently of this, the training they undergo
in factories is of inestimable value, and is not more conducive to their
own interests than to those of the public.
We subjoin some conclusive extracts as to the state of the adult
and non-adult work-people employed in factories, from the valuable
report of Mr. Tufnell, one of the commissioners who travelled in
Lancashire:
C
And
"Of all the common prejudices that exist with respect to factory
labour, there is none more unfounded than that which ascribes to it
excessive tedium and irksomeness above other occupations, owing to its
being carried on in conjunction with the unceasing motion of the
steam-engine.' In an establishment for spinning or weaving cotton, all
the hard work is performed by the steam-engine, which leaves for the
attendant no manual labour at all, and, literally, nothing to do in
general, but at intervals to perform some delicate operation, such as
joining the threads that break, taking the cops off the spindles, &c.
And it is so far from being true that the labour in a factory is inces-
sant, because the motion of the steam-engine is incessant, that the fact
is, that the labour is not incessant on that very account, because it is
performed in conjunction with the steam-engine. Of all manufacturing
employments, those are by far the most irksome and incessant in which
steam-engines are not employed; and the way to prevent an employ-
ment being incessant, is to introduce a steam-engine into it.
these remarks, strange as it may appear, apply peculiarly to the labour
of children in cotton factories. Three-fourths of the children so em-
ployed are engaged in piecing at the mules, which, when they have
receded a foot and a half or two feet from the frame, leave nothing to
be done,—not even attention is required from spinner or piecer, but
both stand idle for a time, which, if the spinning is fine, lasts in general
three-fourths of a minute or more. Consequently, in these establish-
ments, if a child remains during twelve hours a day, for nine hours he
performs no actual labour. A spinner told me that during these
intervals he had read through several books. The scavengers, who
have been said to be 'constantly in a state of grief, always in terror,
and every moment they have to spare stretched all their length upon
the floor in a state of perspiration,' I have seen idle for four minutes at
a time, and certainly could not find that they ever displayed any symp-
toms of the condition described in this extract from the Report of the
Factory Committee.
"The objections urged against the factory system, from its collecting
a large number of persons together under one roof, are equally un-
founded. In truth, so completely erroneous is this notion, that the
complaint ought to be just the reverse,--that there are not enough large
factories, and too many small ones. I invariably found that the large
factories were those in which the health, general comfort, and conve-
nience of the workmen were most attended to, and where they were the
best off in every respect. And it would be an extraordinary circum-
stance if it were not so. When a large body of workmen are collected
together under one employer, he is enabled to allow them many in-
dulgences, at a comparatively small expense, but which would cause a
serious outlay to the proprietor of a small establishment. It is the
COTTON.
701
interest of a master manufacturer to do all that is in his power to accom-
modate his men, as he thereby is enabled to attract the best workmen
into his employ, owing to the good repute which his factory will bear
among them; therefore, a large establishment is certain to be best regu-
lated, as it can be most cheaply well regulated. Accordingly, the
greatest mills I always found to be the cleanest, the machinery most
securely fenced off, and the hands of the neatest and most respectable
appearance. In Messrs. Birley and Kirk's mill, the largest in Man-
chester, the workmen are allowed as much hot water as they please at
tea-time, without charge, and persons are employed to take it to them.
In Messrs. Strutt's mill, at Belper, each hand is allowed a pint of good
tea or coffee, with sugar and milk, for one halfpenny, and medical
assistance gratis: a dancing room is also found for them in this establish-
ment. It could never answer to put up a copper to heat water for 20
or 30 persons, nor could tea or coffee be sold at this price, unless a
large number were supplied with it. Mr. Ashton can afford to pay for
all the surgical assistance that is yearly required by his 1,173 workmen,
as he can contract for it at six guineas a-year: did he employ only a
twelfth part of that number, he assuredly could not get a surgeon to
take the contract at a twelfth part of six guineas. Mr. Bott undertakes
to attend to all the ailments of the operatives in Messrs. Lichfield's
mills, on payment of a halfpenny each, weekly he certainly would
refuse to attend 20 persons for eighteenpence a week."
The statements in respect to the vicious morals and profligacy of the
persons employed in factories, have also been shown to be much beyond
the mark. The rectors of St. John's and St. Paul's, Manchester, the
chaplain of the Manchester gaol, and various dissenting clergymen,
intimately acquainted with the factory population, were closely examined
as to this point, and their evidence went to show that the morals of the
persons engaged in mills are about as good as those of any other class
of people, and that they have been materially improved-by means of
Sunday schools and otherwise-during the last 15 or 20 years. But,
notwithstanding what has now been stated, we incline to think that the
Legislature did right in prohibiting altogether the employment of
children in mills under eight years of age. The limitation of the hours
of work in factories is, however, a matter of great nicety and difficulty ;
and interference has already, we think, been carried in this respect quite
as far as it can be carried with safety. A false step in a matter of this
sort would be alike irretrievable and ruinous. The less, generally
speaking, the cotton trade is tampered with the better. It has not been
indebted for any part of its rise to legislative encouragement or pro-
tection, and we hope no one may ever be able truly to affirm that, when
the Legislature did interfere, its progress was retarded.
"It is worthy of remark," says Mr. Rickards, late inspector of
factories, "that most of the wonderful discoveries which have raised
these manufactures to their present unrivalled superiority, such as
roller-spinning, the jenny, the carding-machine, the mule, &c., owe
their existence to the natural genius of uneducated men, moving only
in the class of common workmen or labourers ;-this is their proud
boast. The improvements through which they have attained their
present perfection are all ascribable to the same class; whilst, I
702
MANUFACTURES
A Return showing the Number, Age, and Sex of the Workpeople employed in 412 Cotton Mills in Manchester and the surrounding Districts, in April.
1844; compiled from Returns prepared by the Proprietors and Occupiers.
Operatives
under 13.
Operatives
13 and
under 18.
Operatives
18 and
under 21.
Operatives
21 and
under 40.
DISTRICT.
No.
of
No. of Ope-
ratives 40
and upwards.
Employment of
Married.
the Husbands of Females
working in Factory.
Assessment
Total
Firms
Male. Fem. Male. Fem. Male. Fem. Male. Fem. Male. Fem. Male. Fem.
No. em-
ployed
No. who
Total
No. of
Males.
No. of
Total
No. of
No. of
Ope-
No. of
Fe-
Ope-
males.ratives.
Other
have no
ratives
able to
Read.
Horse-
power.
to Poors'
Rate of 314
Mill-owners
making the
Aggregate
Number
of Years
engaged
Return,
in
Business.
in Trades. regular Em-
out of 412.
Factory.
ployment.
Mottram
Hyde, Glossop, and
Burnley
£.
14
Wigan
Preston
14
Lancaster
Glossop
Dukinfield and
Stalybridge
Stockport
1€
Heywood
Blackburn
Bolton
Rochdale.
16
Oldham.
36
Newchurch
18
Todmorden
Ashton-under-Lyne
Manchester
43
•
Bury
+++ ∞ 00*28*****
43
31 685 760 279
4801,011 1,087
413
71
6
7
3
191 368 102
210 181 293
77
3
147
4
-N:
1
198 366 121
218
222 29-1
51
47
8
51
68
9
60
30
12
183
12- 7 283
839 1,038
385
667
916 1,072
253
197
364 107
257
300 412
105
112
67
46
48
134 71
31
273
340 197
366
661 884 172
g༠=°
951 447
$33
180
53
2,436
2,429 4,865
4,072
1,006
7,049
196
16
176
87
37
45
5
559
830
1,448
1,231
295
960
122
8
50
30
8
19
3
593
886
1,479 1,058
301
2,097
28
52
825
400
210
155
27
2,545
2,843
5,388
4,026
921
9,668
2304
24
273 157
52
90
12
756
1,089
1,845
1,473
341
1,884
97
6 106
22
9
13
323
193
516
493
139
1,143
116
60
495 368
179
72
50
1,354
1,667
3,021
2,661
659
5,329
129
281,1061,124
537
232 273 148
1351,019 928 631
882 1,353 1,620 391
142
1,183
863
531
260
64
3,510
3,796
7,306
6,189 1,691
10,889
300
161 465 477 115
24 420 227
153
58
11
1,020
965
1,985
1,704
419
3,603
149
6571,175
928
285
38 894 435
244
132
16
3,298
2,636
5,984
5,156
968
10,803
1124
22
128
63
434
258
70
46 349
17
10
12
29
269
14
92
Various Towns
168
1,123
553
9 203 308 128
552 281
104 756 798 524
429 208 275 502 398
64 71 12 48
115
19 351 421 204 331 590 729
253 1,913 2,649 1,120 2,258 2,592 4,082
48 353 522 174
6,107 7,342 3,443
223 242
302
53
13
193
78
37
38
3
648
855
1,503
1,338
355
2,137
88
569 402
593
80
17 250 130
43
71
4
1,325
1,733
3,058 1,785
841
5,242
209
587 1,255
1,113
464
£3 1,126
58.)
296
153
29
3,257
2,695
5,952
4,539
1,291
10,338
745
156
11 439
108
75
25
2
1,285
1,159
2,444
2,401
453
2,166
203
80
31
6 102
16
2
1
269
218
487
456
113
498
78
159
31 532
335
173
123
30
1,333
1,591
2,924
2,454
602
4,977
157
850
347 2,382
1,831
716
820
229
6,704 9,539
16,293
376
5,597
523 644
8,989 9,907 2,872
203
60
405 223
86
102
4
765 7,978
4,375
2,230
1,570
279
1,335 1,650 2,985 2,669 702
22,634 24,164 46,798 39,167 9,571
12,770
3,862
33,321
790
2,693
209
64,970
2,662)
Total
412
#
| 18,780
2,615 1,396 15,38218,723 8,727 |14,269 21,593 |24,926|6,866 |1,784 18,780|10,721| 5,314
PROPORTIONS PER CENTUM OF THE DIFFERENT CLASSES EMPLOYED IN THE ABOVE 412 MILLS.
3,927
821
55,183 61,098 |116,281
95,642 24,570 179,767
6,622
Per Cent.
Under 13 years
3:20
9
Males
Females
21/1
•
13 and under 18
•
29.7
20
Males
Females
·
13
16.
•
18 and under 21
Per Cent.
. 193
{
Males
Females
7}
12
Males
21 and under 40
40
Females
40 and upwards
7
Per Cent. Males
7
570
Females
10
Married.
213
253
Males
Females
•
•
163
9/
years, viz.-72 occasioning death; 168 loss of limb; and 13 not specified;-196 have reported
The proportion of accidents therefore appears to be about 1 death per annum in 104 mills, and
Out of the 412 mill-owners, 167 have reported the following accidents occurring within an average period of 20
1 loss of limb in 41 mills.
that no accidents involving loss of life or limb have occurred in their factories, in an average period of 13½ years.
From 49 of the mills no returns have been made with respect to accidents.
From the Return of Accidents (by Coroners, &c.) sent with this Return, it appears that out of upwards of 858 accidents occasioning loss of life, only 29 (or 3 2-5ths per cent.) have been occasioned by factory
machinery, while 79 have been caused by carts, &c., and 85 by coal-pits.
The above Return shows that no less than 82 per cent. of the whole number of factory operatives can read, while it appears from the registrars' returns for England that about one-half of the population do not
know how to write their names.
Some of the mill-owners have neglected to make a retum of the amount of wages paid by them; but returns have been made by mill-owners employing 112,706 operatives, and the total amount of nett weekly
wages paid by them is 57,801 18s. 1., or the average weekly wages to each operative of 10s. 3 d. nett, being a reduction of 2d. per week in the average wages of each operative since 1833, as shown by a similar
statement then published, of 151 mills employing 48,645 persons,




LINEN
703
believe, it may be safely added, that every one of the great fortunes and
immense establishments existing in the manufacturing districts may be
traced to the minute savings of common operatives, who, from the
smallest of small beginnings, nave, by prudence, skill, and unremitting
perseverance and industry, raised themselves, with unexampled rapidity,
to a pinnacle of wealth and importance which, but for its existence,
could scarcely be believed. This, then, is a state of society, with its
magnificent institutions, essentially popular in its origin; its progress
and present results owing little to science,-nothing to patronage,-
but all to the unaided efforts of natural genius and practical ex-
perience; often obstructed, but never encouraged, by legislative en-
actments; and, consequently, exhibiting a striking example of the
benefits of non-interference in matters where nothing is wanting but
equal protection and security to insure splendid success."
We subjoin an important statement, drawn up and subscribed by
some of the principal mill-owners of Manchester and its vicinity
(see page 702).
SECT. 4.-Linen Manufacture.
The linen manufacture has been prosecuted in England for a very
long period, but until of late years its progress has been inconsiderable,
compared, at least, with the progress made in other branches of manu-
facture. This seems to be partly owing to the attempts to bolster up
and encourage the manufacture in Ireland, partly to the absurd restric-
tions that were for a lengthened period laid on the importation of foreign
flax and hemp, and partly to the rapid growth of the cotton manufac-
ture; fabrics of cotton having, to a considerable extent, superseded
those of linen.
Mills for the spinning of flax were first constructed at Darlington.
Previously to their introduction, about 50 years ago, the manufacture
was in a very depressed state, the German and Belgian spinners being
so superior to ours, that we derived the greater part of our linens from
Flanders and the north of Europe; but the introduction of spinning by
machinery, and the improvements that have been made in it, and in
bleaching, &c., have raised us to the same level as the foreigner, and in
some departments given us an advantage over him; so that, besides
supplying our own markets with linen, we now export large quantities.
The manufacture is at present principally carried on in the West
Riding of Yorkshire; its chief seat being in Leeds and its immediate
vicinity, and in Lancashire, Dorset, Durham, and Salop. Of 16,573
individuals employed in flax mills within England and Wales, in 1839,
9,654 were in the West Riding, and of these about a half belong to
Leeds and the adjacent township of Holbeck. One of the largest
mills in the empire, that of Messrs. Marshall, is in the latter. The
principal flax-mills out of Leeds are situated on the Nidd and its
tributary streams, in the neighbourhood of Knaresborough, Ripley,
and Pateley.
Lancashire, which, after the West Riding, is the next greatest seat
of the English linen manufacture, had, in 1839, 2881 individuals
employed in flax-mills. Formerly, about half the sail-cloth required
for the use of the navy was manufactured at Warrington; but the
704
MANUFACTURES.
manufacture has declined since the peace, though it is still carried on
to a considerable extent. There is also a large manufactory of canvass
at Freckleton, near Garstang. The manufacture in the other English
counties is but inconsiderable.
Scotch Linen Manufacture.
The linen manufacture was long
reckoned the staple branch of industry carried on in Scotland. But
such were the narrow limits within which it was confined, that
at the Union, in 1707, its total product is not supposed to have
exceeded 1,500,000 yards a-year. In 1727 a board of trustees was
established for the superintendence and improvement of the manufac-
ture. It is not easy to suppose that the institution of this board could,
of itself, be of any material service; but considerable bounties and
premiums being, at the same time, given on the production and ex-
portation of linen, the manufacture went on increasing; the quantity
stamped for sale in 1750 having amounted to 7,572,000 yards; and,
at the end of last century, to about 20,000,000 yards. Still, however,
the manufacture did not increase so fast as cotton and some others,
which have not received any adventitious support, until machinery
began to be extensively employed in spinning, &c.; so that it is very
doubtful whether the influence of the bounty has been so great as it
would, at first sight, appear to have been. The regulations as to the
inspection and stamping of the linen intended for exportation, after
having been long objected to by those concerned, were abolished in
1822; and the bounties ceased in 1830. We subjoin-
An Account of the Quantity and Value of the Linen Cloth manufactured and stamped
for Sale in Scotland, during the Ten Years ending with 1822; being the latest
Period to which it can be made up.

Years.
Yards.
Value.
Average
Price
per Yard
Years. Yards.
Value.
Average
Price
per Yard
1813
1814
1815
£.
19,799,146 977,382 1
26,126,6204 1,253,574 16 104
32,056,0154 1,403,766 15 2
s. d.
d.
£. S. d.
d.
71
11.8
1818
31,283,100
1,253,528 8 10
9.6
11.5
1819
29,334,428
1,137,923 4 11
9.4
10.5
1820
26,259,00141,038,708 18 5
9.4
1816
1817
9.4
་
1821
9.1
1822
30,473,46141,232,038 15 4‡
36,268,5301|1,396,295 19 114 9.2
9.7
26,112,0454|1,026,674 1 11
28,784,96741,092,689 2 84
This account, which extends as far back as 1728, is not, however, of
any use, as affording any certain test of the progress or total value of
the manufacture. The stamp was only affixed to linen on which a
bounty was paid; that is, on linen intended for exportation. Linen
manufactured for home use, or intended for private sale, was not
stamped. Since 1822 all the branches of the manufacture have made
an astonishing progress.
Dundee is the chief seat of the Scotch, and, indeed, of the British,
linen manufacture. The business seems to have been introduced into
it early last century; but for a lengthened time it was quite incon-
siderable. In 1745 only 74 tons of flax were imported. From that
period to 1791 the progress of the manufacture was more rapid: in the
latter year 2,444 tons of flax and 299 tons of hemp being imported,
and about 8,000,000 yards of linen, sail-cloth, &c., exported. Pre-
viously to this period all the yarn used in the manufacture was spun
LINEN.
705
upon the common hand-wheel, partly in the town and partly in the
adjacent country; but the spinning of yarn by machinery began soon
after to be introduced; and the increased facility of production, con-
sequent to the erection of flax-mills, has been such, that the cost of
the yarn, including, of course, the raw material, is now less than the
mere expense of spinning amounted to 40 years ago! The result has
been the total cessation of hand-spinning in all parts of Scotland, and
a wonderful increase in the quantity of yarn produced, and of the manu-
facture. In 1811 four spinning-mills had been constructed in Dun-
dee. In 1831 the number was increased to 31, and now (1846) they
amount to about 50, and are all in full work! We subjoin—
An Account of the Imports of Flax, Hemp, &c., into Dundee, and of the Exports of
Linen, Sail-Cloth, &c., from the same, during 1831, 1835, 1844, and 1845.
IMPORTS.
Articles.
1831
1835
1844
1845
Tons.
Tons.
Tons.
Tons.
Flax
14,607
12,141
20,724
19,865
Codilla.
3,907
6,497
8,077
9,198
Hemp Codilla
2,179
5,397
950
1,127
1,566
1,124
389
72
Jute
6,814
9,298
Totals
22,259 25,159
36,954
39,560
EXPORTS.

Linens.
1831
1835
1844
1845
Pieces.
Pieces.
Pieces.
Pieces.
Osnaburgs
96,957 139,450
78,816
77,629
Sheetings
131,660
165,959
268,345
281,904
Cotton Bagging
65,592
80,158
10,524
952
Sundries
•
7,395
12,511
16,009
28,886
Sail-cloth
72,268
103,010
118,264
160,861
Sacking
45,893
57,177
174,759
132,317
Dowlas
Sundries
Totals
40,915
46,733
82,987
73,131
11,550
13,709 24,887
29,230
474,230
618,707 774,591
784,910
The entire value of the linen goods annually manufactured in Dun-
dee may be estimated at from 1,500,000l. to 1,600,000l.
A part of the flax which is imported at Dundee, is sold to spinners in
the neighbourhood, but at least 30,000 tons are spun annually by the
mills in the town. The yarns produced from this large quantity of raw
material, are manufactured partly in the town, and partly in the neigh-
bouring towns and villages. A part also is exported to France and other
foreign countries; but the exportation of yarns has been decreasing
for a year or two past, from the circumstance of the French and other
foreigners, having greatly extended the use of spinning machinery in
their own countries. The manufacture of the yarns into linen is car-
ried on partly by the proprietors of the spinning-mills, and partly by
a class of persons called "manufacturers." The latter give out the
yarns in small quantities ready for the loom, to weavers, who perform
the work for the most part in their own houses, or in small weaving
VOL. I.
2 z
706
MANUFACTURES.
shops containing four or six looms, for which the weavers pay a small
rent. There are, also, large weaving shops in which sail canvas is chiefly
manufactured. These contain from 20 to 100 looms of a stronger con-
struction than those on which other sorts of linen are woven. In the
larger factories, men are chiefly employed, but in the smaller shops,
and in private houses, a great many women are employed in weaving.
There are three "power-loom" weaving factories in Dundee, of con-
siderable extent. These have been at work for several years, and per-
form the work very well, but from the circumstance of no power-loom
factories having been erected for the last seven years, it may be
inferred that hand-loom weaving is fully as profitable for the manu-
facturer. The wages of hand-loom weavers are in general very low,
seldom exceeding from 5s. to 8s. a-week. More than half the linens
shipped at Dundee are exported to foreign countries, the remainder
being sent to London and other large towns for home consumption.
The linens which are exported to foreign countries, are for the most
part sent to Liverpool, Glasgow, and London, to be shipped there, as
it is found more advantageous to send them as parts of general cargoes
of goods, than to send whole cargoes of them direct from Dundee.
Some of the manufacturers are the exporters of their own linens; others
sell to exporting merchants in Dundee, who employ their capitals in
that branch of the trade. The linens are in general sent on consign-
ment to agents in foreign countries for sale, and they are sold by them
to the retailers in these countries on credit of six to twelve months.
The foreign countries to which Dundee linens are sent, are the United
States, Canada, Mexico, the West Indian Islands, Brazil, Peru, Chili;
and some, also, are sent to Spain and Portugal, and the countries bor-
dering on the Mediterranean*
The machinery used at Dundee is all moved by steam power, and
there is a considerable deficiency of water. Several projects are now
on foot for diverting some of the adjacent streams into or near the
town; and there is but little doubt that this will, at no distant period
be effected.
It is stated, in the returns as to Forfarshire, under the last census,
that there are engaged in the linen manufacture, at Dundee, 5,614
males, and 4,543 females, making in all 10,157 individuals. The
number of individuals employed in the county at the same time (1841),
in the same business, appears, from the same return, to have been
23,072.
Besides the district of which Dundee is the emporium, embracing
the counties of Angus and Perth, with the northern part of Fifeshire
and the southern part of Kincardineshire, the manufacture is car-
ried on to a considerable extent in other parts of the country. At
Aberdeen are some of the largest flax-mills in the empire; and these,
with the business of bleaching, weaving, &c., dependent upon them,
are supposed to afford employment to nearly 4,000 persons.
* We are indebted for the greater part of our information with respect to Dundee to
a communication from Mr. Brown, the worthy and intelligent provost of the town.
The progress of Dundee has been quite astonishing. In 1814-15 the harbour
dues amounted to 4,4117. a-year; but at present (1846) they amount to abcve
25,000/.
LINEN.
707
Dunfermline is the principal seat of the manufacture of fine table
linen, fine and common shirting, &c.
Previously to the beginning of the present century, all the yarn used
in the Dunfermline manufactures was spun by the hand-wheel; but at
that time machinery was introduced, and has now entirely superseded
the former clumsy and expensive system. The manufacturers obtain
the finer sorts of yarn chiefly from Yorkshire and Ireland, and the
other sorts from the neighbourhood, Dundee and elsewhere; but in
1836 there were seven spinning-mills in the burgh and parish, which
employed 160 men, and 533 girls, the wages of the former being 15s.
a-week, and those of the latter 5s. The quantity of flax purchased by
these mills is about 1,000 or 1,100 tons annually. The mills do not
spin exclusively for the local market, but prepare such articles as
linen thread, shoe thread, twist, &c., for the general market. The
power-loom is not thought applicable to the Dunfermline manufac-
ture, but the jacquard loom, introduced in 1824, and now universally
used, has occasioned a great saving of time, as well as comfort in work-
ing. The fineness, too, and general fabric of the goods, have been
vastly improved, and the manufacture proportionally extended. The
following table shows the progress of the manufacture within the
burgh and parish, and in the neighbouring villages of Torryburn,
Crossford, and Cairneyhill, also in Leslie, Strathmiglo, Auchter-
muchty, Falkland, and Dunshelt, in the middle district of the county,
and in the small town of Culross, in which places the work is carried
on for the Dunfermline manufactures:

Date.
Number of
Looms
within the
Burgh and
Parish.
Number of
Looms
out of the
Burgh and
Parish.
Total.
Value
of Produce.
£.
1749
400
400
1788
900
1818
1,500
150
1,650
120,000
1836
2,794
723
3,517
351,700
1844
2,978
1,200
4,178
400,000
1845
3,050
1,240
4,290
400,000
The following table shows the number of persons, and amount of
capital occupied in all the branches of the manufacture, (damask and
diaper, both single and double, table-covers, ditto with worsted warps,
linen full harness, bed-quilts, floor-covers or crumb-cloths, cloutings,
&c.) prepared by a committee of manufacturers in 1836:-
3,517 looms producing annually finished goods to the amount £.
of (calculating it at 1007. each loom) •
Value of looms, shops, and workhouses
Floating capital (calculated at 601. for each loom)
Total amount of capital invested in 1836
•
351,700
•
156,000
211,020
718,720
The following table shows the aggregate of all the persons employed
in the different departments of the manufacture, exclusive of the spin-
ners, with their wages, at the above period :-
2 z 2
708
MANUFACTURES.

Number of
Average
Trades.
Persons
Employed.
Wages
Weekly.
s. d.
Weavers (Men and Boys)
3,517
10 0
Winders and Pirn-fillers (Women and Girls).
1,100
4 0
Warpers, Warehousemen, and Lappers (Men)
150
15 0
Yarn-boilers (chiefly Women)
29
7
0
Bleachers of Yarn (chiefly Women)
135
17
0
Bleachers of Cloth (Men and Women)
150
8 6
Lappers (chiefly Men)
29
9
Pattern-cutters (Men and Women)
12
10
0
Dyers (Men)
•
Total number of Persons
10
18 0
5,032
The goods produced in Dunfermline, and its vicinity, were, until
within these few years, mostly woven in the houses of the weavers ;
almost every master of a house being owner of his own loom, at least,
if it were of the more common description, and sometimes of two or
three more, which he let to journeymen and apprentices. Latterly,
however, the factory system has been introduced into this department;
sundry manufacturers having fitted up extensive shops with looms,
partly from a belief that their yarns would be safer in such establish-
ments, partly, because on the old plan, they were sometimes obliged
to furnish, at a considerable risk, weavers with peculiarly expensive
looms, and partly from a belief that the business might be carried on
in this way better, and more economically than when it was distributed
over swarms of cottages. Very different opinions are entertained in
regard to the influence of the new system. It, however, is admitted
on all hands, to have had the effect of materially shortening the hours
of labour. Formerly the weavers were frequently tempted to prolong
their working hours to 9, 10, and 11 P.M., whereas the factories are
never open later than 8 o'clock. Some of them have schools attached;
and they are all clean, and well ventilated.
The patterns were till lately conceived in a wretched taste, were ill-
drawn, and in every respect inferior to foreign specimens. They
consisted chiefly of the British flag, the national Scotch arms, gentle-
men's coats of arms; sometimes flowers, birds, &c.; all very unnatural
and extravagant. But now the patterns display equal ingenuity and
taste in design and execution: they are rich and varied, and considered
equal if not superior to the German; besides, the damask loom is
capable of producing any figure, however complicated. There are now
several individuals wholly devoted to design painting.
It is believed that the first articles of the Scotch linen manufacture
that made their way to foreign countries were produced in Paisley;
but, after attaining, in some departments, to great excellence, the linen
trade in that town began gradually to decline, and has been nearly
superseded by that of cotton and silk.
According to the statements furnished by the Factory Inspectors,
there were in Scotland, in 1839, 251 flax-mills in full operation, em-
ploying, in all, 17,897 hands.
Irish Linen Manufacture.-We have previously noticed the unjusti-
fiable proceedings of the English Parliament in 1698, when the two
LINEN.
709
houses addressed William III., stating that it would be for the public
advantage were the woollen manufacture of Ireland discouraged, and
the linen manufacture established in its stead!~(Antè, p. 667.) This
recommendation was carried into full effect. The woollen trade, in
which the Irish had made some progress, was entirely crushed. But,
though it be impossible either to palliate or excuse conduct so illiberal
and unjust, it is but fair to say that the Parliament of England has
always discovered the greatest readiness to encourage the linen manu-
facture of Ireland, and zealously co-operated with the Irish Parliament
in that view. All the expensive and cumbrous machinery of premiums,
regulations, bounties, and so forth, was put in motion; and, had it
been possible to establish a manufacture on a solid foundation by such
means, they might have been expected to succeed in this instance.
In 1711 a board of trustees was appointed to watch over the progress
of the manufacture; to distribute the large sum annually given by
Parliament for premiums; and to provide for the prevention of frauds
in the manufacture, and for other purposes. Under the superintend-
ence of this board, halls were erected in Dublin, Belfast, and Newry,
for the accommodation of the linen factors and others engaged in
the trade; regulations were established in regard to the manufac-
ture and sale of linen; and officers were appointed in different dis-
tricts to see that these regulations were complied with. A more solid
encouragement was given by the granting of bounties on the export-
ation of Irish linen in 1743. Efforts were also made to encourage the
growth of flax-seed; and, in imitation of the English policy of making
dead bodies be buried in woollen shrouds, the use of linen scarfs and
hatbands at funerals was introduced!
In consequence of this extraordinary encouragement, the linen manu-
facture was gradually extended, particularly in the northern part of
the island. But it may be questioned whether its extension has been
advantageous. Mr. Young and Mr. Wakefield, two very high autho-
rities as to all that respects Ireland, contend that it has been preju-
dicial rather than otherwise; and we are inclined to think that they
are right. It certainly contributed to that morbid increase of popu-
lation, and that minute division of the land, which are the bane of Ire-
land, and which are carried to the greatest extent where the manufac-
ture is, and was most diffused. The manufacturers, too, being not only
spinners and weavers, but also little farmers, had their attention
diverted from their proper business, and were neither sufficiently in-
dustrious nor inventive. As might be expected, their earnings were
generally very low, and but few amongst them were ever able to
emerge to a more elevated sphere.
The introduction of mill-spinning has already gone far to effect a
total change in the old mode of conducting the manufacture. The
low wages of spinners in Ireland, and the system on which the manu-
facture had been long conducted, hindered the erection of flax-mills in
that country, for many years after they had been extensively introduced
into England and Scotland. But the rapid progress of the manufac-
ture in the latter, subsequent to the erection of these mills, made it
evident that, unless similar machinery were set in motion in Ireland,
the linen manufacture in it would be entirely annihilated. At length,
710
MANUFACTURES.
notwithstanding the obstacles in the way, mills were introduced, and,
in consequence, spinning by the hand is now nearly unknown; and the
manufacture has disappeared from several parts of the country, where
it had been largely introduced, leaving those who were partially de-
pendent on it for subsistence, in a very depressed state. On the whole,
however, there can be no doubt that the introduction of the factory
system will be, in the end, most advantageous. Belfast is the principal
seat of the new, as it was of the old, system. In 1841, there were in
the town and its immediate vicinity, 25 steam mills for spinning linen
yarn, one of which employed 800 hands. In 1835, the exports of
linen goods from Belfast amounted to 53,881,000 yards, of the value
of 2,694,000l. According to the official returns, there were in Ire-
land, in 1838, 40 flax-mills, employing in all, 9,017 hands.
The regulations relating to the stamping of linen, its sale in the
public markets, and most of those that had reference to the details of
the manufacture, have been repealed, with advantage to all parties.
Imports of Flax.-Exclusive of the flax raised in Ireland, and other
parts of the United Kingdom, we import immense quantities from
foreign countries. Of these, Russia supplies us with by far the largest
share.
Account of the Quantities of Flax and Tow, or Codilla of Hemp and Flax, dressed
or undressed, Imported into and Exported from the United Kingdom, in 1843,
1844, and 1845.
Russia
Denmark
Prussia
•
The Hanseatic Towns
Holland.
Belgium
France
Italy
Malta
Egypt
•
•
Other parts
•
Countries.
Total quantities Imported
Ditto Re-exported
•
Ditto entered for Home Consumption (deduct-
ing quantities re-exported after payment of
Duty)
1843
1844
1845
Cwts.
Cwts.
Cwts.
•
1,089,386
1,112,024
859,627
8,851
7,674
15,193
173,259
249,404
185,019
13,911
17,463
18,312
66,008
106,658
107,592
44,186
44,967
80,168
9.472
7,575
11,145
249
2,557
8,271
55
4,086
29,546
2,227
1,437,150
11,657
1,422,992
30,266
4,906
1,583,494
4,732
1,583,328
124,144
4,766
1,418,323
17,924
Duty repealed
19th March, 1845.
Account of the Quantities of Hemp, rough or undressed, or other substance of the
nature of Hemp, Imported into and Exported from the United Kingdom, in 1843,
1844, and 1845.
Countries.
1843
1844
1845
Cwts.
Cwts.
Cwts.
Russia
463,061
655,954
603,286
Italy
21.981
19,369
•
>
17,708
British Territories in the East Indies
Philippine Islands.
227,812
211,392
273,963
19,354
14,122
4,056
United States of America
Other parts
1,072
2,463
7,592
31,470
4,804
1,367
Total quantities Imported
735,743
913,233
Ditto Re-exported
10,404
11,635
931,850
12,593
Ditto entered for Home Consumption (deduct-
ing quantities re-exported after payment of
689,741
881,351
Duty repealed
Duty)
19th March, 1845.
LINEN.
711
Exports of Linen from Ireland, &c.-The following table, which
we regret the parliamentary accounts do not furnish the means of con-
tinuing to the present day, gives an account of the quantity of linens
exported from Ireland, from 1800 to 1829, both inclusive; and of the
bounty paid on linen exported to foreign parts from Ireland :—
Yards.
Amount of Bounty
Paid in Ireland
on Linen Exported to
Foreign Parts.
£. s. d.
Years.
Exported to Great Britain.
Exported to
Foreign Parts.
Total.
Yards.
Yards.
1800
31,978,039
2,585,829
34,563,868
1802
33,246,943
2,368,911
35,615,854
1804
39,837,101
3,303,528
43,140,629
10,545 2 2
1806
35,245,280
3,880,961
39,126,241
15,668 4 6
1808
41,958,719
2,033,367
43,992,086
6,740 16 0
1810
32,584,545
4,313,725
36,898,270
16,448 19 9
1812
33,320,767
2,524,686
35.845,453
11,548 3 4
1814
39,539,443
3,463,783
43,003,226
17,231 14 11
1815
37,986,359
5,496,206
43,482,565
17,430 17 3
1816
42,330,118
3,399,511
45,729,629
12,082 6 4
1817
50,288,842
5,941,733
56,230,575
21,524 15 44
1818
44,746,354
6,178,954
50,925,308
28,848 6 2
1819
34,957,396
2,683,855
37,641,251
16,177 8 34
1820
40,318,270
3,294,948
43,613,218
14,928 9 11
1821
45,519,509
4,011,630
49,531,139
18,219 19 24
1822
43,226,710
3,374,993
46,601,703
17,112 9 2
1823
48,066,591
1824
46,466,950
1825
52,559,678
3,169,006 51,235,597
3,026,427
2,553,587
17,765 5 10
49,493,377
55,113,265
17,114 13 10₫
1826
The exportation to Great Britain
2,726,297
1827
cannot be ascertained for these
1828
1829
years, the cross-channel trade
having been assimilated by law
to a coasting traffic.
4,284,566
3,214,911
2,386,223
12,015 9 6+
10,249 17 9
12,114 0 8
5
9,494 7
6,886 1 11
Of these exports, more than twelve-thirteenths have been to Great
Britain. The total average export, during the three years ending with
1825, was 51,947,413 yards, of which 49,031,073 came to this coun-
try: the exports to all other parts being only 2,916,340. Since 1825,
the trade between Ireland and Great Britain has been placed on the
footing of a coasting-trade, so that linens are exported and imported
without any specific entry at the custom-house.
Bounties.
Besides premiums and encouragements of various
kinds, bounties were granted on the exportation of linen, for a very
long period, down to 1830, when they ceased. It is not easy to ima-
gine a worse policy. Bounties of this sort, instead of promoting the
manufacture, render those engaged in it comparatively indifferent to
improvements; and, though it had been otherwise, what is to be thought
of the policy of persisting for above a century in supplying the foreigner
with linens for less than they cost? We have not the least doubt that
were the various sums, expended in well-meant but useless attempts
to force this manufacture, added together, with their accumulations at
simple interest merely, they would be found sufficient to yield an
annual revenue little, if at all, inferior to the entire value of the linens
exported from Ireland to foreign parts. And, after all, the business
never began to do any real good or to take firm root, till the manufac-
ture ceased to be a domestic one, and was carried on principally in
mills, and by the aid of machinery, a change which the old forcing
system tended to counteract. The only real and effectual legislative
encouragement the manufacture has ever met with has been the reduc-
712
MANUFACTURES.
tion and repeal of the duties on flax and hemp, and the relinquishing
of the absurd attempts to force their growth at home.
Account showing the Quantities and Values of Linen Manufactures and Linen
Yarn Exported from the United Kingdom in 1844, specifying the Countries to
which they were sent, and the Quantities and Values of those sent to each.

Linen Manufactures.
Countries to which Exported.
Entered by the Yard.
Thread,
Tapes, and
Small
Linen Yarn.
Total
Value
Wares.
Quantity.
Declared
Value.
Declared
Value. Quantity.
Declared
Value,
Yards.
£.
Germany.
Holland
3,6€2,058
110,350
•
•
Belgium.
643,097
£8,968
23,756
£.
lbs.
91,049 4,537,108
10,716 4,299,651
£
230,688
t.
441,087
126.781
161,203
5,256
France
4,976,718
173,455
5,301
1,202
908,597
42,280
52,837
13,546,757
501,241
675,898
Portugal, Proper
871,241
20,038
541
25
20,063
Spain and the Balearic Islands
3,981,153
111,215
1,930
1,458,660
$0,666
193,811
Gibraltar.
•
1,652,475
50,134
487
407,838
25,194
75,815
Cape of Good Hope
Italy and the Italian Islands
Turkey
St. Helena and Ascension Islands
Mauritius
2,069,917
104,715
1,250
648,966
28,520
134,485
251,608
10,046
185
8,054
385
465,828
14,887
1,459
10,616
16,346
17,576
757
26
•
210,900
7,817
280
East India Company's Territories and
Ceylon.
} 1,228,854
50,828
2,814
:
783
8,197
53,642
Sumatra, Java, and other Islands of
the Indian Seas
Philippine Islands.
China,
•
British Australian Colonies
127,825
4,027
164
:
5,091
66,390
3,178
40
3,218
175,703
7,567
315
7,882
976,375
29,186
794
2,228
130
30,110
North American Colonies
3,750,448
112,514
22,823
10,932
327
135,661
West Indies
9,475,435
214,650
2,383
1,097
39
217,072
Hayti.
2,749,846
47,153
267
47,420
Cuba and other Foreign West Indian
Colonies
8,553,263
270,265
5,549
275,814
United States of America.
27,811,411
872,414
64,786
34,407
1,192
938,392
Mexico
•
3,562,896 140,234
469
61,707
1,890
142,599
•
New Grenada, Venezuela, and Equador
Brazil,
2,629,063
56,532
124
56,706
6,106,838
167,349
2,913
900
34
170,296
Chili.
States of the Rio de la Plata.
Peru and Bolivia
The Channel Islands
991,534
31,114
583
31,697
1,902,030
68,998
437
2,868
64
€9,499
•
955,453
36,770
427
37, 197
482,960
22,575
209
All other places.
Total
•
842,841
32,879
4,109
1,245
39,113
120
22,904
91,283,754 2,801,609
223,191 25,970,569
2,150
1,050,6,6
39,138
4,075,476
Value of the Manufacture.-Number of Persons employed.-There
are no means by which to form an accurate estimate of the entire
value of the linen manufacture of Great Britain and Ireland. Dr.
Colquhoun estimated it at 15,000,000/.*; but there cannot be the shadow
of a doubt that this was an absurd exaggeration. In the first edition of
the Commercial Dictionary, published in 1832, we expressed our con-
viction that it could not be valued at more than 10,000,000l.; and
though, probably this estimate was then beyond the mark, farther in-
quiries have satisfied us that it may, at present, be looked upon as nearly
accurate. Now, if we set aside 3,400,000l., or nearly a third part of this
sum for the value of the raw material, and another equal part for profits,
wages of superintendence, wear and tear of capital, coal, &c., we shall
have 3,200,000l. to be divided as wages among those employed in the
manufacture. And, supposing each individual to earn, at an average,
24/. a-year, the total number employed in the different departments of
the business would be about 133,000. It may be thought, perhaps,
that 24/. is too low an estimate for wages; and such, no doubt, would
be the case, were not Ireland taken into the average. But as a great
* Sir F. M. Eden estimated the entire value of the linen produced in Great
Britain in 1800 at 2,000,000l. Treatise on Insurance p. 76.
SILK.
713
many persons are there employed in the manufacture at
very low wages,
we believe that 241. is not very far from the mean rate. We subjoin-
An Account of the Number of Persons, distinguishing between Males and Females,
engaged in the different Departments of the Flax and Linen Manufacture in Great
Britain, according to the Returns under the Census of 1841.

MALES.
FEMALES.
}
England and Wales, and Isles in the?
British Seas
20 Years Under 20 Years Under
of Age and 20 Years of of Age and 20 Years of
upwards. Age. upwards. Age.
Total.
8,819
2,817
3,504
4,008
19,148
Scotland
•
21,395
6,211
13,203
7,791
48,600
Total
•
30,214
9,028
16,707
11,799
Add Proportion of Fabric not specified
67,748
9,224
1,880
4,114
2,247
17,465
Total Great Britain.
39,438
10,908 20,821 14,046
85,213
Health of the People employed in Flax Mills.-It appears to be the
concurrent opinion of Messrs. Stuart, Drinkwater, and Power, Factory
Commissioners, that employment in flax-mills is, speaking generally,
more injurious to the health than in any other class of factories. The
heckling department, in which children are largely employed, requires
constant attention on their part, and also pretty considerable exertion. A
great deal of dust is, at the same time, always flying about, which cannot
fail to be very prejudicial to the health. In the spinning department,
the roving, out of which the thread is formed, is made to pass through
either hot or cold water; and there is in consequence, a continual
spray from the yarn and the machinery, which is not long in wetting
the clothes to the skin. Perhaps the best way to avoid the serious
injury arising from this cause would be the use of waterproof aprons.
These have, indeed, been already introduced into one or two mills,
and found to answer exceedingly well.
SECT. 5.-Silk Manufacture.
THE silk manufacture seems to have been introduced into England so
early as the 14th century. The throwsters of the metropolis were
formed into a fellowship in 1562, but they were not incorporated till
1629. It is stated in the preamble to a statute passed in 1666 (13 &
14 Charles II. c. 15), that there were then no fewer than 40,000 indi-
viduals engaged in the trade. No doubt, however, there is a vast deal
of exaggeration in this statement, and we refer to it only as showing
that the manufacture was then firmly established, and of consi-
derable importance. It received a powerful stimulus by the immi-
gration of Protestants from France, subsequently to the revocation of
the Edict of Nantes, in 1685. Unluckily, however, an end was soon
after put to the importation of foreign silks, which had previously been
carried on to a considerable extent. This prohibition had the effect
that might have been anticipated; the manufacturers trusted in future
rather to custom-house regulations than to their own skill and
ingenuity for the disposal of their goods; routine usurped the place of
714
MANUFACTURES.
invention; and from this distant period down to the adoption of the
new system in 1825, but few improvements were made in the pro-
cesses.
Our largest supplies of the material are derived from China and
India, where the culture of silk is greatly on the increase; but the
higher qualities are imported from Italy and France. Various attempts
have been made to introduce the rearing of the silk-worm in England.
The signal success which attended its introduction into the south of
France, and the encouragement held out for the cultivation of the
mulberry-tree for that object, by Henry IV., excited the efforts of
James I. of England, to introduce the culture of silk into this country;
but, after repeated trials, the pursuit was abandoned as hopeless.
Latterly, however, the attempts to produce silk in this country have
been revived; and samples of native produce have been raised in Corn-
wall, remarkable for their beauty and richness; but we doubt whether
this branch of industry can ever be rendered of any material im-
portance.
In 1719, the first mill for throwing silk was erected at Derby, by
the famous Sir Thomas Lombe, who had made himself acquainted with
the mechanism in Italy, and who, at the expiration of his patent, re-
ceived a parliamentary reward of 14,000l. in consideration of his great
public services. But it is more than doubtful whether the construction
of this mill was of any advantage to the manufacture, inasmuch as ex-
orbitant duties were imposed on foreign thrown silk, in order to bolster
up the new business at home.
For more than a century prior to 1825, the history of the silk
manufacture presents little else than a continuous series of com-
plaints, on the part of the manufacturers, of the decay of their trade,
arising from the clandestine importation of foreign silks, and of impo-
tent efforts on the part of Government to effect their exclusion. In
consequence of this system, the energies of the manufacturer were
paralysed; and, notwithstanding our astonishing progress in other ma-
nufactures, and our superiority in the machinery employed in them,
such is the deadening influence of monopoly, that the machinery we
employed in the silk trade, in 1825, was decidedly inferior to that of
either France or Germany, which, indeed, were superior to us, not in
one only, but in every department of the trade.
Mr. Huskisson had sagacity to perceive the cause of this inferiority,
and courage to undertake the introduction of a new system. This was,
accomplished in 1825, by reducing the duties on raw silk to a nearly
nominal amount, and materially diminishing those on thrown or Organ-
zine silk, while, at the same time, the prohibition against importing
foreign silk goods was repealed, and they were allowed to be freely
imported on paying an ad valorem duty of 30 per cent. This change
of system was violently opposed, and many predicted that it would
occasion the ruin of the manufacture. But these sinister auguries
have proved wholly fallacious. The measure, in fact, has been
signally successful. The manufacturers feeling they could no longer
depend on the wretched resource of custom-house regulations, put forth
all their energies, and having called the various resources of science
and of ingenuity to their aid, the manufacture has been more improved
SILK.
715
and extended during the last twenty years than it had been during the
previous century. In the fancy departments, the French have the pre-
eminence, which they owe to the great attention they devote to the
beauty of designs, and the harmony of colours, assisted by a climate
more favourable for dyeing the material. But the British manufacturers
have not allowed this pre-eminence to remain undisputed, and during
the last few years, have closely approached, in broad silks and ribbons,
that standard of excellence which their neighbours had already at-
tained. Where the value of an article does not depend so much on the
quantity of material of which it is composed as on the taste displayed
in its production, our manufacturers have also emulated, though as
yet they have not reached, that superiority which the French display in
their designs and in the beauty of some of their fabrics. This emulation
has been promoted by the establishment of schools of design, under
the auspices, or with the encouragement of Government, in London
and the manufacturing districts.
The great increase which has taken place in the manufacture, may
be seen by comparing the quantities of raw and thrown silk entered for
home consumption since 1814, comprising the ten years immediately
preceding the opening of the trade (1825) and the twenty years which
have since elapsed :-
Account showing the Quantities of Raw, Waste, and Thrown Silk entered for Con-
sumption in the United Kingdom, from 1814 to 1844, both inclusive.
Raw, Waste, and Thrown Silk entered for Consumption.
Years.
Raw.
Waste, Knubs,
and Husks.
Thrown.
All Sorts.
1814
lbs.
1,504,235
lbs.
29,234
lbs.
586,505
1815
•
1,069,596
27,971
377,822
lbs.
2,119,974
1,475,389
1816
873,414
4,162
210,753
1,088,334
1817
1,343,051
49,055
294,553
1,686,659
1818
1,444,881
86,940
391,166
1,922,997
1819
1,446,097
71,331
331,125
1,848,553
1820
1,622,799
94,883
309,953
2,027,635
1821
1,864,513
105,047
360,248
2,329,808
1822
1,993,764
64,921
382,878
2,441,563
1823
2,051,895
52,362
363,864
2,468,121
1824
3,414,520
133,257
463,271
4,011,048
1825
2,848,506
195,910
559,642
3,604,053
1826
1,964,188
included
233,325
2,253,513
1827
3,759,138
with raw in
454,015
4,213,153
1828
4,162,550
these
385,262
4,547,812
1829
2,719,932
years.
172,239
2,892,201
1830
3,771,969
485,013
436,535
4,693,517
1831
3,035,832
762,258
514,240
4,312,330
1832
3,401,445
660,696
329,932
4,392,073
1833
3,838,795
654,381
268,367
4,761,543
1834
3,346,750
1,009,932
165,6
,669
4,522,351
1835
4,151,008
1,382,872
254,578
5,788,453
1836
4,372,501
1,598,721
294,933
6,266,160
1837
3,730,427
875,781
213,368
4,819,576
1838
3,683,739
960,147
243,570
4,887,456
1839
3,483,363
1,042,655
229,940
4,755,958
1840
3,860,980
745,243
288,981
4,895,20+
1841
3,209,885
1,379,314
267,333
4,856,532
1842
3,936,714
1,434,693
363,977
5,735,384
1843
3,649,747
1,495,457
334,835
5,480,039
1844
4,021,808
1,775,855
410,353
6,208,021
AggregateQuantities entered
for Consumption.
In the 10 Years, 1814-1823
ABSTRACT in DECENNIAL PERIODS.
15,214,245
585,90%
3,608,872
19,409,023
1824-1833
32,916,905
2,891,515
3,872,828
39,681,248
1834-1843
37,425,114
11,924,815
2,657,189
52,007,118
Ditto
Ditto
Average Annual Con-
sumption.
In the 10 Years, 1814-1823
1,521,424
Ditto
1824-1833
3,291,690
58,591
239,151
360,887
1,940,02
387,283
3,968,124
Ditto
1834-1943
3,742,511
1,192,481
265,719
5,200,711
Consumption of the
single year
1844
4,021,808
1,775,855
410,358
6,208,021
•
716
MANUFACTURES.
Previously to 1824, the silk goods produced were comparatively
heavy and rich, and their consumption was proportionally limited,
being mostly confined to the wealthier classes. But the competition to
which the producers were subsequently exposed, led to a greater variety
of styles, and to a reduction of qualities and prices. In consequence,
silks have gradually fallen in value, until at length they have become
articles of general consumption. Though our manufacturers have
with difficulty withstood the competition of our neighbours in patterns,
they have had a largely increased demand for silk goods of medium and
lower qualities. It is only in fancy silks of a high quality that the
English producers have anything to fear from foreign competition;
and even in these they are gaining ground; while British plain fabrics
(satins excepted) are largely exported to our colonies, the United
States, and the Continent, including France itself. The preference
given to French satins is a consequence of the manufacturers paying
more attention to the 'dressing' and 'finish,' by which they impart a
richness, and a brilliancy to their plain satins, which English satins,
though really heavier, do not possess in the same degree; but as re-
gards gros de Naples, and satinettes, the great staple articles of con-
sumption, our manufacturers have the superiority.
Account of the Declared Value of British Silk Goods Exported from the United
Kingdom in each Year, from 1826 to 1845, both inclusive; showing the Countries
to which they were principally Exported, and the Values of those Exported to
each.
Years.
France.
Other
Countries in
Europe.
British Silk Goods Exported from the United Kingdom.
United States
of
America.
Mexico,
South America,
and Foreign
West Indies.
British
Possessions in
America,
and the
West Indies.
Africa, Asia,
and
Australia.
Total.
£.
£.
£.
£.
£.
£.
£.
1826
1,498
49,477
27,265
56,548
19,523
14,490
168,801
1827
4,661
59,406
67,111
61,057
25,352
18,757
236,344
1828
11,009
61,825
46,587
80,346
24,966
31,138
255,871
1829
32,047
70,064
58,683
50,743
36,069
20,324
267,930
1830
34,808
95,196
195,957
69,015
100,342
25,692
521,010
1831
•
43,462
75,252
237,985
67,916
120,521
33,738
578,874
1832
75,187
105,113
92,235
97,591
113,561
46,004
529,691
1833
76,525
119,308
251,278
106,450
129,316
54,527
737,404
1834
60,346
113,894
200,306
106,191
102,487
53,974
637, 198
1835
45,612
157,762
537.040
67,962
116,421
48,989
973,786
1836
48,160
82,850
524,301
75,026
122,990
64,495
917,822
1837
43, 144
84,097
109,629
73,326
113,514
79,963
503,673
1838
56,598
81,214
348,506
65,675
111,109
114,178
777,280
1839
44,628
66,463
410,093
96,681
175,217
75,036
868,118
1840
48.607
68,476
274,159
140,974
162,110
98,122
792,648
1841
117,353
•
72,344
306,757
107,601
116,317
68,522
788,894
1842
181,924
75,779
81.243
98,986
98,395
53,862
590, 189
1843
148,222
106,876
164,233
120,026
62,509
66,086
667,952
1844
•
1845
•
159,680
139,772
110,425
189,698
218,377
117,594
109, 191
49,867
736,455
766,405
It may be interesting, not only for present, but for future compari-
son, to refer to the actual values of both British and foreign silk goods
in plain fabrics, as they are manufactured and imported at the present
period. With this view the following statements have been carefully
prepared, and the results may be relied upon :-
SILK.
717
Particulars of 100 lbs. weight of English Plain Broad Silks.

Description.
Where Manufactured. [turers' Price Cost
lb.
Number of
Yards
per 100 lbs.
Value
per
100 lbs.
Manufac-
per
per Yard.
Manchester
1 6
•
Spitalfields
2 0
Manchester
2 2
Black Gros de Naples*
Ditto.
2 9
Coloured Gros de Naples*
•
Spitalfields
Manchester
Spitalfields
Ditto
Ditto
Manchester
Spitalfields
3 0
3 6
2 0
3 5
Black Satinets*
Ditto
3
3 5
•
Ditto
in
M
N
N
*
Ditto
Coloured Satinets*
Ditto
3 5
Ditto
✰
Ditto
1
Black Satins
Ditto
•
Ditto
Ditto
•
Coloured Satins
Ditto
Ditto
•
Black (Dress) Velvets
Ditto
•
•
Ditto
11
Ditto
Coloured (Dress) Velvets
Ditto
•
Ditto
11
*INNAM ~ ~ 2
tbongovou in t'o
0
ino
* * - 72 ∞36-47-
inco❤-oaa❤❤..
8. d.
8. d.
26 11
31 8
32 8
34
42
སྶ ཨརིས ནི པ ས ཝནྟ
£. s. d.
1,740
130 10 10
1,583
158 7 0
1,509
163 8 1
1,276
175 11 6
1,402
210 6 11
36
1,047
183 4 8
32
1,600
160 0 0
6
38 9
1,553
193 6 8
40
1,189
203 3 0
2 34
27 9:
1,212
138 19
33 7
i, 120
168 0
0
37 1
1,085
185 9 6
4 5
40 2/
910
201 2 4
3 0
35 3
1,177
176 9 5
in
41 101
1,225
209 6 6
5
47 1
1,065
235 9 9
8
37 11
2,279
189 18 0
2.10
44 10
1,583
224 5 1
7 6
50
3
670
251 7 3
54 1
2,596
270 9 4
6 0
60
1,003
301 0 4
9
31
2
831
155 17 9
9
56 0
831
280 4 2
6
80 6
700
402 17 2
6
35 8
794
178 7 6
7 0
6
58 14
80
845
290 14 7
69
400 13 4
•
* These are the chief articles of consumption in England, and are not interfered with by foreign consumption.
[N.B.-The widths of Spitalfields gros de Naples are from 19 to 19 inches; low satins, under 3s. 4d. per yard,
17 inches; dress satins, 19; satinets, 19 inches; and dress velvets, 194 inches. Manchester gros, low qualities, from
17 to 184; higher qualities, from 18 to 194; satinets, all qualities, from 18 to 19 inches.]
Particulars of 100 lbs. weight of Foreign Manufactured Silks.

Price
per Yard.
Cost
per lb.
Value
per 100 lbs.
Yards per
100 lbs.
s. d.
3.
d.
£. 3.
French Exchange, 25*424 :-
Plain Bluck Satins
J Manufacturers' price
2 1
32 11
164 14 10
1559
•
Ditto, with duty, &c., added.
2 7
40 3
2017 5
Manufacturers' price
3
43 11
219 14 7
Ditto coloured ditto
1250
•
•
Ditto, duty added
59 4
296 17 6
•
Velvets
•
10 6
1259 mod
346799
28 31
141 8 9
1
37 6
56 24
67 3
60 5
70 2
187 15 9
281 4 0
336 8 8
302 7 3
350 16
حلم حلم حلم
893
875
661
German Exchange, 25.60 :-
Manufacturers' price
Ditto, duty, &c., added.
Manufacturers' price
Ditto. duty, &c., added
Manufacturers' price
Ditto, duty, &c., added
[N.B.-The widths are about the same as in English goods; but the lower qualities of velvets, at same prices, are de-
oidedly inferior, being shorter in the pile, and having a greater admixture of cotton.]
The broad silk manufacture, though exposed to much fluctuation
from the caprices of fashion, has certainly increased since 1836, when
an estimate of its extent appeared in the first edition of this work. In
that year, which was one of unexampled activity in our textile fabrics
generally, it was supposed that nearly half the silk imported was
consumed in the manufacture of broad silks, the gross value of the
trade being estimated thus, viz., Spitalfields, 1,800,000l.; Manchester,
1,500,000l., and all other places, 500,000l.; and that in all, upwards of
55,000 persons were employed in the trade in the United Kingdom.
The preponderance of the manufacture is now considered to be in
favour of Manchester, a circumstance which was in the first instance
promoted by a local Act of Parliament, called the Spitalfields Act,
passed in 1773, empowering the weavers in Middlesex to demand a
fixed rate of wages to be settled before a magistrate. This Act was
repealed in 1824, but not until it had driven the manufacture to other
718
MANUFACTURES.
quarters, and particularly to Manchester, where it was independent of
the influence of so impolitic a statute.
In the ribbon trade (the next great branch of the silk manufacture),
the estimate formed for 1836 may be taken, so far as the numbers of per-
sons employed, and the value of the entire manufacture are concerned,
as a fair estimate for 1845. During the interval of ten years, no im-
portant changes have taken place in the machinery, with the exception
of the engine-loom, which has been considerably extended, and rendered
applicable to the production, at the same time, of several pieces, in
plaid or checked ribbons, which were formerly woven in one piece by
the single hand-loom. In Coventry, there are only two factories, in
which ribbons are woven by power, and the frequent change of pattern,
promoted by competition, and the ever-varying taste of the public,
offer little inducement to the application of steam power for the manu-
facture of fancy ribbons, where variety of pattern, rather than quantity
of a particular style, is a chief desideratum in the production. The
competition with the French, which is more felt and feared in this than
in any other branch of the trade, has been productive of the best
results in the progressive improvement, both in the design and execu-
tion, of ribbons. The English ribbon manufacturer is already, almost,
if not quite, independent of foreign competition in plain fabrics; and if
we may judge by his progress during the last ten years, he will
speedily arrive at that eminence in the higher classes of the manufac-
ture, which the French have hitherto exclusively occupied. In 1836,
or shortly before that time, English ribbons were scarcely made at a
price above 30s. per piece of 36 yards, whereas they are now made as
high as 60s. per piece; and such is the improvement in bonnet ribbons,
the leading branch of the trade, that a higher class of goods is now in
demand than at any previous period of the English manufacture.
During the last ten years a vast increase has taken place in the con-
sumption of silk for the manufacture of shawls, arising from the
change which has taken place in the fashion. The manufacture of
damask shawls of entire silk has been greatly extended in Manchester
and its neighbourhood, employing, it is supposed, nearly 4,000 hands,
and consuming a great weight of material, a considerable portion being
Italian silk. This has materially interfered with the woollen and mixed
shawl manufacture of Paisley. Latterly, however, this branch has
been again set on foot in that town, with a reasonable prospect of its
succeeding.
In other branches of the silk manufacture, no material changes have
taken place during the last ten years: so that the following estimate of
the total value of the manufacture for 1836 has undergone but little
modification in its results. Silk enters into so many articles, either in
whole, or as a component part; and is so widely spread over the
United Kingdom, that any estimate formed of the entire value of
the manufacture must at best be only a rude approximation. To
distribute the material among the different branches of the trade, to
apportion the value of the manufacture under the heads of labour, wear
and tear, interest of capital, &c., and manufacturers profit, and to
estimate the number of persons employed, would be a task presenting
all but insuperable difficulties. The following table was, notwith-
SILK.
719
standing, submitted to the reader in the former edition of this work, as
some approximation to the truth.
It was drawn up with great care
from the statements of intelligent practical men in all parts of the
country, conversant with the trade, and well able to form an opinion
upon it.
And as the circumstances have changed but little in the in-
terval, we believe it is as nearly correct as it can well be rendered :—
Estimate of the Total Value of the Silk Manufacture of Great Britain (entire and
mixed) for 1836, showing the different Items of which the same is made up, the
Number of Persons employed, &c.

Branches.
Broad silks
Ribbons
Handkerchiefs
Crapes.
Silk hose and gloves
Sewing silks
•
•
Mixed goods
Miscellaneous
Interest
on
Cost to
Estimated
Amount
|Estimated Manufac-
Weight turer,
of Raw including Dyeing. Weaving,
Silk con- Throwing
sumed. and
Waste.
Cost of
paid for Estimated
Winding, Number
Warping,
of
Persons
nery,
Risk, in-
Capital,
[Wear and
Tear of
Machi-Estimated
Total
Value.
Printing, employed.
cidental
Finishing,
&c.
Charges,
andManu-
facturer's
Profit.
lbs.
£.
£.
£.
No.
•
1,800,000 1,845,000 135,000 1,156,500
750,000 768,750 56,250
350,000 262,500 26,250
160,000 140,833 12,000
55,603
£.
627,300
£.
8,763,800
577,500
27,765
280,500 1,683,000
202,125
9,718
98,175
529,050
76,417
7,350
80,238
309,488
180,000 162,000 16,000
139,000
6,683
47,550
364,550
200,000 152,000 15,000
800,000 600,000 60,000
100,000 93,958 7,500
41,000
1,970
41,600 249,600
900,000
49,452
304,374
16,726
£36,000 2,496,000
243,500 649,332
4,340,000 4,025,041 328,000
Deduct from dyeing one-third for labour
at 10s per week, and one-third for pro-
fit, &c.
•
From the Government Returns, just published, there appear to
be employed in silk factories 10,188 males and 20,494 females,
from which deduct for crapes 1,350 persons, and sewings 1,500
persons, engaged in throwing
Producing, at 3s. per week average wages
Total amount paid for wages
Total number employed.
·
•
•
wages.
•
Interest on capital, wear and tear, profit, &c.
Estimated total value
•
218,666 109,333 4,205
109,333
109,334 3,506,249 179,472 2,464,196 10,104,820
27,232
217,090
161,335 378,425
3,723,339
207,304
2,625,531
10,483,245
Estimated silk consumed
Deduct Italian thrown
•
•
Total value of throwing, at 2s. per lb.
•
•
•
4,340,000
195,750
4,144,250 lbs.
414,425/.
The principles on which this estimate was formed were explained in
the former edition of this work, I. pp. 682–690; and it would seem to
be unnecessary to repeat them in this place.
Under Mr. Huskisson's Act, which came into operation on 5th July,
1826, foreign silks ceased to be prohibited, and were admitted to con-
sumption, on payment of a duty of 30 per cent. ad valorem. In con-
sequence of the remonstrances of the manufacturers of Spitalfields and
Coventry, the ad valorem duty was modified to a duty, by weight, of
various rates, applicable to different descriptions of the manufacture.
It was intended that this modification should approximate to the
average duty of 30 per cent. ad valorem, but in practice it has been
found that the duties payable, particularly on the fancy branches of the
manufacture, have ranged from 30 to 50 per cent. These duties, how-
ever, have been again modified; the Act 9 and 10 Vict., c. 23, hav-
ing fixed the duties on foreign manufactured silks at 15 per cent. ad
720
MANUFACTURES.
valorem, or at an assumed equivalent sum charged by weight. The
duty upon raw silk was totally repealed in 1845.
An Account of the Quantities of Foreign Silk Manufactures, entered by Weight,
retained for Home Consumption in the United Kingdom since the Removal of the
Prohibition (5th July, 1826).

Years.
Quantities
retained for
Home
Consumption.
Years.
Quantities
retained for
Years.
Home
Quantities
retained for
Home
Consumption.
Consumption.
lbs.
1826 (from 5th July)
48,301
1827
115,278
1828
169,489
1833 (from 5th July)
1834
1835
182)
121,585 1836
1830
1831
1832
126,314 1837
148,479 1838
144,956
1839
lbs.
142,267 1840 (from 5th July)
166,261 1841
160,840 1842
180,078 1843
172,860 1844
247,067 1845
256,851
lbs.
243,246
248,902
"
237,460
267,673
295,125
•
310,153
Factories and People employed therein.—Mr. Saunders, one of the
Factory Inspectors, gives the following statement of the hands em-
ployed in the silk mills in Derby, viz.:
Year.
Adults. Young Persons.
Children.
Total.
1843
1,552
759
1844
2,186
1,079
1845
2,246
1,220
698
1,064
753
3,009
4,829
4,219
The whole numbers employed in his district, termed the " London
and Leeds District," (but comprising the silk factories in Berkshire,
Bucks, Derby, Essex, Herts, Kent, Lancashire, Middlesex, Notting-
ham, Norfolk, Oxford, Stafford, Suffolk, Surrey, Yorkshire), Mr.
Saunders returns as under, viz :-

Adults,
above 18.
Young Persons,
13 to 18.
Children,
under 13.
Total Employed.
Males. Fem.
Males. Fem.
Males. Fem.
Males. Fem. M. & F.
October, 1838 1,072 3,540 702
January, 1843 1,319 4,150 689
January, 1845 1,695 5,116 878
2,850
2.102
2,826
970
716
742
1,357 2,744 7.747 10,491
1,335 2,724 7,587 10,311
1,291 3,315 9,233 12,548
And the number of occupiers of factories, and power employed, as
under:

Number of
Occupiers.
Available Power.
Steam.
Water.
Steam and Water.
October, 1838
January, 1845
883
69
63*
667
853
281
188*
948
1,023
* The reduction in the number of occupiers, and in the amount of water power, is said to have been principally
caused by some country mills, in which the machinery was wholly propelled by water, having been closed or converted
into flour-mills.
It appears from Mr. Horner's Report (26th November, 1845), that
there were in his district 32 silk mills, employing-

Males.
Females. Total.
Children, 8 to 13
13 to 18
331
693
1,014
494
1,618
2,107
Adults, 18 and above.
1,045
2,279
8,324
1,870
4,575
6,445
SILK.
721
At the same date there were 995 looms engaged in the manufacture.
The inspectors in other districts do not distinguish the silk mills in
their localities, or the numbers employed; but it is supposed that at
present (1846), in the United Kingdom, there cannot be less than 150
mills, employing about 35,000 persons of all ages.*
Account of the Cotton, Woollen, Flax, and Silk Factories in Lancashire, the North and
part of the West Ridings of Yorkshire, and the Four Northern Counties of England
(Mr. Horner's District), specifying the Moving Power, and the Number and Classes of
Work People employed in them in November, 1845.

Moving Power.
Persons Employed.
Number
of
Steam.
Water.
Children.
8 to 13.
Adults.
Young Per-
sons. 13 to 18. 18 and above.
Total.
Mills.
Power
Looms.
En- Horse
gines.
Power.
Wheels.
Horse
Power.
M.
F.
M. F.
M.
F.
M.
F.
Cotton
•
•
1,724
1,393
41,188
285
3,089 7,373 |3,674 |24,646 33,162 58,297 70,008 90,316|107,144 139,717
Woollen and
Worsted.
241
105
1,778
185
1,727
Flax
Silk.
71
30
924
40
•
32
24
448
5
552
45
•
•
1,049 845 1,584 1,978 3,840 2,645
264 222 650 1,119 1,060 2,278
331 683 494 1,613 1,045 2,279
6,473 5,468 3,327
1,974 3,617
1,875 4,575
995
Total.
2,068
1,552
44,338
515
5,413
9,017 5,424 27,374 38,172 64,242 77,208 100,633 120,804 142,949
14,441
65,546
141,450
221,437
We subjoin the following-
Statutory Regulations in regard to the Employment of Children in Factories.
No statutory restrictions respecting the employment of children in the mills and
factories of the United Kingdom existed until 1802, when the 42 Geo. III. was
passed for the preservation of the health and morals of apprentices and others em-
ployed in cotton and other factories, and directing the local magistrates to report
whether the factories were conducted according to law, and to adopt such sanitary
regulations as they might think fit. This Act was followed, in 1816, by the Act
generally called Sir Robert Peel's Act, imposing various regulations on the employ-
ment of children in cotton-mills.
Both of these Acts were repealed in 1831, by the 1 & 2 Will. IV. c. 39, commonly
called Sir John Hobhouse's Act, which provided, that in cotton factories, to which
it alone related, no child could legally be employed till it had attained the age of
9 years; and that no person under 18 years, should be permitted to remain in the
factories more than 12 hours in one day; and that on Saturdays they should only be
employed in the factories for 9 hours.
Sir John Hobhouse's Act was repealed in 1833, by the 3 and 4 Will. IV. c. 103;
and this last-mentioned statute, and the 7 Vict. c. 15, enact the following provisions
relative to persons employed in all processes incident to the manufacture of cotton,
wool, hair, silk. flax, hemp jute or tow, separately or mixed together, or mixed with
any other material, or any fabric made thereof, with the exception of factories used
solely for the manufacture of lace, hats, or paper, or solely for bleaching, dyeing,
printing, or calendering.
1. That no person under 18 years of age shall be allowed to work in the night,
i. e. from half-past 8 in the evening to half-past 5 in the morning, nor on Saturday
for any purpose after half-past 4 in the afternoon, the hours to be regulated by a
public clock, as stated in the notice put up in each factory.
2. That no child under 8 years of age shall be employed, and that no child be-
tween 8 and 13 years old shall be employed more than 6 hours and 30 minutes in
any one day, unless the dinner-time of the young persons from 13 to 18 years old
in the factory shall begin at 1 o'clock; in which case, the children beginning to
work in the morning may work for 7 hours; but any child above 11 years of age
employed solely in the winding and throwing of silk may work for 10 hours a day.
This article has been principally drawn up from materials furnished by our
friend Mr. Robert Slater, of Fore Street, to whom, on many occasions, we have
been largely indebted.
3 A
VOL. I.
722
MANUFACTURES.
And any occupier of a factory restricting the labour of young persons between 13
and 18 years old to 10 hours a day, may on certain conditions employ any child 10
hours on 3 alternate days of every week, provided that such child shall not be em-
ployed in any manner in the same or any other factory on 2 successive days.
3. That no child under 13 years of age shall work in the night for any purpose.
4. That every child under 13 years of age must have a surgical certificate of age,
and must attend some school, on 5 days of every week for certain specified periods,
and obtain a weekly certificate of attendance from the schoolmaster, which may be
annulled by the inspector on account of the unfitness of the schoolmaster.
5. That no young person of the age of 13, and under the age of 18, shall be
allowed to work for more than 12 hours in any one day, nor more than 69 hours in
any one week.
6. That every young person under 16 years of age must have a surgical certificate
of his age.
7. That no female above the age of 18 years shall be employed in any factory save
for the same time and in the same manner as young persons in factories, certificates
of age not, however, being necessary for females above 18 years of age.
8. That in factories, in which any part of the machinery is moved by water, and
time lost by stoppages from want of water or too much water, children or young per-
sons may, under certain conditions, be employed one hour additional, except on
Saturday; and that when from the same causes any part of the manufacturing ma-
chinery drive. by the water-wheel has been during any part of a day stopped, the
young persons who would have been employed at such machinery, may, under cer-
tain conditions, recover such lost time during the night following the said day, un-
less the said day be Saturday.
9. That the inspector of the district, one of the four inspectors appointed under
the Acts, shall have power to appoint a sufficient number of certifying surgeons to
examine the children and young persons, and to give certificates of age to children
and young persons under 16 years of age, according to certain forms and directions,
but which certificate may be annulled by the inspectors or sub-inspectors appointed
under the Acts, provided they believe the real age of the persons mentioned in the
certificates to be less than that mentioned in them, or provided the certifying surgeon
of the district deems such persons to be of deficient health or strength at the time
when the certificates are annulled.
10. That not less than 1 hour shall be allowed every day for meals to every young
person, to be taken between half-past 7 A.M. and half-past 7 P.M., and 1 hour at least
before 3 P.M.: and that no child or young person shall be employed more than
5 hours before 1 P.M., without an interval for meal-time of at least 30 minutes, and
that all the young persons shall have the meal-times at the same period of the day.
11. That all children and young persons shall have not fewer than eight half-holi-
days in the year, four of such half-holidays between 15th March and 1st of October,
and that no child or young person shall be allowed to work in any factory on Christ-
mas Day or Good Friday, in England or Ireland, and in Scotland on any day the
whole of which is set apart by the church of Scotland for the observance of the
sacramental fast in the parish in which the factory is situated.
The Acts embody other regulations respecting the appointment of inspectors to
carry out these provisions, &c.; but these, though of importance to the parties in-
terested, by whom they must be carefully attended to, being of little public impor-
tance, need not be inserted in this place.
SECT. 6. Manufacture of Hardware, Watches, Jewellery, &c.
Hardware.-We have given in a previous chapter an account of
the extraordinary increase in the production of iron since 1780. But,
as was to be anticipated, the articles of utility, convenience, and
ornament, formed out of it, have increased in an equal degree. In no
country in the world are iron, copper, and brass, converted to so many
purposes, as in Britain; and, though some countries may vie with
us in the production of a few articles of hardware and cutlery, yet,
taking the whole range of the manufacture into view, our supe-
riority in it seems to be as decided as in that of cotton; and in
HARDWARE.
723
nothing, perhaps, is the triumph of art, science, and industry more
conspicuous than in the astonishing variety, convenience, beauty, and
cheapness of our hardware articles. The manufacture includes every
sort of iron-work, from the massive castings of an iron bridge, and the
anchors of a first rate man-of-war, down to the minute and delicate
furniture of a lady's work-box. The heavy and coarser articles are
principally prepared at the great iron foundries in South Wales,
Staffordshire, Colebrook Dale, and other places it is unnecessary to
specify. The production of the finer articles, which comes nearer to
what is called a factory business, is principally carried on in Birming-
ham and Sheffield, the two grand seats of the hardware manufactory,
-and in their vicinity.
We have little, or, rather, no satisfactory information respecting the
origin and early progress of the manufacture at Birmingham. Hutton,
the historian of the town, supposes that iron was made in the parish by
the Britons or Romans; and appeals, in proof of this hypothesis, to the
huge mountain of calx, or cinder, at Aston furnace, on the border of
the parish.-(History of Birmingham, 4th edit. p. 23.) But what-
ever weight may be attached to this, it is, at all events, certain that
our information as to the early modern history of the town is very
scanty. It had, however, attained to considerable eminence, as a seat
of the hardware trade, previously to the middle of the sixteenth cen-
tury; for Leland, who visited it about 1540, describes it in his
Itinerary as a good market town ;" adding, "There be many smithes
in the town that use to make knives and all manner of cutting tools,
and many lorimers that make bittes, and a great many naylers; so that
a great part of the town is maintained by smithes, who have their iron
and sea-coal out of Staffordshire.”—(Hutton, p. 19.) From this distant
epoch, the manufacture, though it has sustained some severe checks,
has gone on increasing, with more or less rapidity, till it has arrived at
its present unexampled height of greatness and prosperity.
Its proximity to coal and iron, both of which are found in all
but inexhaustible quantities in its immediate vicinity, was, no doubt,
the primary cause of the establishment of the hardware manufacture
at Birmingham; and, notwithstanding the competition they have had
to sustain, the enterprise, skill, and good fortune of the citizens
have enabled them to keep the start they had once gained. It is
situated almost in the centre of the kingdom, and is not intersected by
any great navigable river. But the obstacles thence arising to the
easy transport of articles to and from the town were obviated in the
course of last century by the construction of canals, by which it has
a water communication with the ports of London, Liverpool, Hull,
and Bristol; and more recently it has become the centre of a system of
railways, which brings it into all but immediate communication with
the metropolis, and the other great towns of the empire.
Mr. Stevenson, in his article on British statistics, in the Edinburgh
Encyclopædia, has enumerated about 200 distinct articles made at
Birmingham! and the list is, notwithstanding, far from complete.* The
manufacture of each article is, in most instances, a separate trade; and
the extreme subdivision of employments thence arising, accounts, in
* It is given in the last edition of this work, i. p. 695.
3 A 2
724
MANUFACTURES.
some measure, for the superior skill of the workmen, and the excellence
of the manufacture.
Of the articles made in Birmingham, fire-arms are among the most
important. Their manufacture has been carried on since the reign
of William III., under whose auspices it was introduced. During last
war more than two-thirds of the fire-arms required by the Board of
Ordnance were produced by the Birmingham workshops; and it appears
from the official returns that, in the interval between 1804 and 1818,
nearly 5,000,000 fire-arms were furnished on account of Government
and of the private trade. At the conclusion of hostilities, the cessation
of the greater part of this extraordinary demand was productive of
much distress and embarrassment. But in no long time industry began
to revive; and the workmen, who had been thus suddenly thrown out
of employment, were gradually taken into those businesses that have
either grown wholly up, or been greatly extended, since 1815. The
manufacture of fire-arms is still, however, of very great importance.
There is a proof-house at Birmingham; and all arms manufactured in
the town and its vicinity are required, under a heavy penalty, to be sub-
jected to the test required by the Board of Ordnance: if they stand this
they are marked by a stamp, to counterfeit which is felony.
The manufacture of swords may also be regarded as one of the staple
trades of Birmingham.
The manufactory of steam-engines, originally established at Soho, in
the immediate vicinity of Birmingham, by Messrs. Boulton and Watt,
(the latter the great improver of the steam-engine,) is of a very exten-
sive description. The engines made at present in this factory maintain
their former celebrity; and the works employ a great number of hands.
The establishment is not, however, restricted to the manufacture of
steam-engines. It produces vases, candelabras, and other descriptions.
of goods in bronze and or moulu, of the most beautiful workmanship.
Plate is also largely produced in this establishment; and here a great
part of the copper coinage of the country used to be executed.
Most sorts of cast-iron articles are made at Birmingham; and the
beauty of the patterns, the goodness of the workmanship, and, what
may seem not very consistent with these qualities, their cheapness, have
been wonderfully increased within these few years. There has, in con-
sequence, been a greatly extended demand for them, and a proportional
increase of the quantity produced.
Little is known of the early history of the brass manufacture in Bir-
mingham, except that it was introduced about 1748. It has been very
greatly improved and extended within the present century. It em-
braces a vast variety of articles of utility and ornament. Lamps, chan-
deliers, candlesticks, vases, fenders, fire-screens, handles for locks, door-
knockers, &c., are among the most prominent articles.
Exclusive of solid gold and silver plate, of which the quantity
produced is comparatively inconsiderable, large quantities of silver and
gold, but especially the former, are used at Birmingham in the plating
and gilding of spoons, knives and forks, teapots, plates, sugar-basins,
buttons, chains, thimbles, and an infinite variety of other articles. The
consumption of silver in the various departments here may be estimated
at about 200,000 oz. a year. The plating business has, however, been
HARDWARE.
725
checked, by the substitution for plated goods of articles made of the
metallic compound called albata. These do not look so well as plated
goods, when the latter are well finished; but they are said to be com-
paratively durable. All articles that were formerly made of pewter,
and most of those that are now made of silver, or which are plated, have
their counterpart in Britannia metal. This is a compound of tin, the
regulus of antimony, copper, and brass. The articles made of it are
extremely cheap, and have a good deal of beauty; and, when care is
taken to buy those that are sufficiently massive, they are also very
durable. But, though articles of Britannia metal and German silver
be made in Birmingham, Sheffield is the principal seat of their manu-
facture.
Japanned articles of every form, variety, and price, are very exten-
sively manufactured at Birmingham. The best trays, and other articles
of that description, are made of papier mâché; the designs on some of
them being of great beauty and elegance.
Birmingham was said by Mr. Burke to be the "toy-shop of Europe."
It is still entitled to this distinction; though, as the manufacture of
other and more important articles has increased, during the present
century, more rapidly than that of toys, the latter does not bear the
same proportion to the entire trade of the town that it formerly did.
The button is placed by Hutton at the head of the toys, though it
seems to be entitled to no mean place among articles of utility. The
fashion of buttons, as of most other things, has varied exceedingly.
Hutton says that, in 1818, the art of gilding was carried to such per-
fection that three penny-worth of gold was made to cover a gross of
buttons!—(p. 106.) The demand for buttons for home consumption
is immense; and, notwithstanding the loss of some branches of the
trade, large quantities are exported. Some idea of the magnitude of
this business may be formed from the fact, that a single manufacturer
had in his workshop, in 1834, as many as 10,000 double sets of cut
steel dies for livery buttons only !—(Manufactures in Metal.-Lard-
ner's Cyclopædia, vol. iii. p. 393.)
Buckles long ranked as one of the staple articles of Birmingham
manufacture; and the rise, mutations, and extinction of the trade
would furnish materials for an interesting work. Large square buckles,
plated with silver, were the fashion in 1781; but soon after that
period shoe-strings began to be introduced; and, the taste for them
having rapidly extended, the demand for buckles declined in an equal
degree. In 1791, his late majesty, George IV., then prince of Wales,
endeavoured, at the solicitation of a deputation from Birmingham,
Walsall, and other places, to revive the taste for buckles. But the
tide of fashion set too strongly in the opposite direction to be controlled
even by the example of royalty: the use of the buckle was entirely
given up.
The manufacture ceased to exist; and the thousands who
depended on it for support were reluctantly compelled to seek for sub-
sistence by resorting to other businesses.
The quantity of fancy seals, brooches, clasps, and other trinkets,
made of what is called Birmingham gold and polished steel, is only
less wonderful than their beauty and cheapness. Few, indeed, unless
they have seen some of the warehouses filled with these articles, can
726
MANUFACTURES.
form any just idea of the extent to which they are produced, and of
their variety. The toy and trinket trade, in its various ramifications,
is quite immense. Mr. Osler, a manufacturer of Birmingham, stated,
before a committee of the House of Commons, in 1824, that he had
received a single order for 500l. worth of dolls' eyes!—(Report on
Artisans and Machinery, p. 314.)
Any article, how trivial soever, may, if it get into extensive demand,
become the subject of a very large business. The steel pen is an example
of this. We are not aware of the exact period when pens made of
steel began to be substituted for quills; but down to 1818 the manu-
facture was confined within very narrow limits. Since then, how-
ever, the quality of the pens has been vastly improved, and their price
very greatly reduced; and the demand has, in consequence, been ex-
tended in a degree not easily to be imagined. At present (1846) it is
believed by the best informed parties that above 300,000,000 pens,
requiring from 150 to 160 tons of fine sheet steel for their production,
are annually manufactured. Of these very large quantities are exported.
More than nine-tenths of the pens are made in Birmingham; and the
trade may in all furnish employment for about 1,000 hands.
There are but few large capitals employed in the manufactures of
Birmingham. Exclusive of the great establishment at Soho, and a few
others, most of the works carried on in the town and neighbourhood
are on a comparatively small scale. The greater number of the manu-
facturers have only very limited capitals; some not possessing more
than from 500l. to 8007.; and many not more than from 2,000l. to
5,000l., employing from 5 to 30 hands. The work is partly carried on
in workshops; but a large portion of it is paid by the piece, and is
carried on in the houses of the work-people to whom it is given out to
be executed. There is also a class of middlemen, or of workmen
called undertakers, from their receiving the rude material from the
manufacturer, and undertaking to get it wrought up. Women are ex-
tensively employed in polishing the goods, in the glass toy branch, and
in the manufacture of braces. Boys are chiefly employed by the out-
workers and undertakers as apprentices, receiving the first year about
1s. a week, and the last from 6s. to 12s., exclusive of their clothing;
but they get their food at home; and in most instances indeed, work in
the houses of their parents. The wages of the men vary according to
the departments in which they are engaged, their skill and dexterity,
and the state of trade at the time. In some branches, where superior
skill and attention are required, wages are very good; being little, if
at all, inferior to those earned by the best workmen in the metropolis.
Some of the small manufacturers have accumulated large fortunes; and
the condition of the work-people is, on the whole, very favourable.
(First Report of Factory Commissioners, B. 1, p. 2.)
No means exist of forming any estimate of the value of the articles
produced in Birmingham and its immediate vicinity. It must, how-
ever, be very great; and, probably, (including gold and silver plate,)
does not fall short, if it do not exceed, 4,000,000l. The value of the
raw material, or of the iron, copper, or brass, bears, in most descrip-
tions of Birmingham goods, a very small proportion to that of the
labour expended upon them; and, in some of the lighter and finer
HARDWARE.
727
finished goods, becomes almost inappreciable. The manufacture of
watch-springs, in which the value of the iron does not amount to
nearly the two thousandth part of the value of the finished article, is
an instance of this.
The town of Birmingham, with the parishes of Aston and Edg-
baston, had, in 1841, a population of 182,922. But Soho, though a
suburb of Birmingham, being in Staffordshire, is not included in the
above. The country for several miles round is exceedingly populous;
and the population is almost entirely dependent on the working of
metals.
The Census Commissioners make the following statements in regard
to the hardware trade of Warwickshire, which is mostly centred in
Birmingham:-
"The principal manufacture of this county consists of articles
denominated hardware, which employs 5,188 persons, of whom 1,148
are under 20 years of age. Of this number 1,093 are employed in the
manufacture of tools of various descriptions, 730 in that of needles,
120 in that of pins, 516 in that of nails, 438 in that of screws, and the
remainder, 2,291, in making bridle-bits, spurs, stirrups, curb chains,
currycombs, and other articles of saddlers' ironmongery, bolts, hinges,
castors, door and other springs, clasps, rivets, brass ferules, buckles,
steel chains, brass, iron, and other candlesticks, lamps, jacks, and pans
of various descriptions, coffee, malt, and other mills, corkscrews, cruet
frames, fenders, fire-irons, scuttles, snuffers, spoons, stair-rods, tea and
coffee-pots, urns, scales and steelyards, brace and other bits, hooks and
eyes, bodkins, steel tags, thimbles, shoe and other tips, mouse and steel
traps and gins, dog collars, steel and metal combs, spectacles, fish-
hooks, rings, steel purses, handcuffs, and swords and other articles of
cutlery.
"The brass manufacture employs 3,388 persons, of whom 852 are
under 20 years of age; and the iron employs 542 persons, of whom
114 are under 20 years of age. In addition to which, 517 persons are
returned as founders, 93 as moulders, and 40 as rollers.
"The manufacture of guns and pistols employs 2,126 persons, of
whom 406 are under 20 years of age; and that of percussion caps
employs 30 persons, of whom 9 are under 20 years of age.
"The button manufacture employs 2,913 persons, of whom 891 are
under 20 years of age; the engine and machine (boiler makers
included) 242 persons, of whom 30 are under 20 years of age; the
Britannia, German silver, and other metals, 249 persons, of whom 59
are under 20 years of age; the toy, 938 persons, of whom 166 are
under 20 years of age; and the tray, 114 persons, of whom 8 are
under 20 years of age. The manufacture of plated ware employs 55
persons, of whom 12 are under 20 years of age; that of wire 381
persons, of whom 84 are under 20 years of age; and that of steel and
other metallic pens 379 persons, of whom 177 are under 20 years of
age. In addition to the above, 902 persons are returned as silver and
other platers, and 700 as burnishers, chasers, polishers, and refiners.
The glass manufacture employs 1,000 persons, of whom 284 are under
20 years of age."
728
MANUFACTURES.
The situation of Birmingham is dry and salubrious. In a few
departments the processes carried on are reckoned very unhealthy;
but this is not generally the case; and, notwithstanding the immense
number of furnaces, and the volumes of smoke which they emit, the
town is not unhealthy.
The manufacturing district, of which Birmingham is the metropolis,
includes a considerable tract to the north-west of the town, embracing
the southern part of Staffordshire, with the extreme northern border
of Worcestershire, and a detached part of Salop. Within this district
are the populous towns of Dudley, Wolverhampton, Bilston, Walsall,
Wednesbury, Stourbridge, &c. Exclusive of the production of iron,
in which most of them are very largely engaged, different branches of
the hardware manufacture are carried on in all these towns. The nail
trade, which is, perhaps, the most important, is principally prosecuted
in and round Dudley, Stourbridge, and Walsall. Many efforts have
been made to supersede the labour of the hand in making nails,
by constructing them wholly by means of machinery; and vast numbers
are now made in this way that answer sufficiently well for various
purposes. But the best of those made by machinery are still very
inferior to those made at the common forge; which, in consequence,
is still very extensively employed.
The art of making nails by the hand continues at present nearly in
the state described by Hutton. "We cannot," says he, "consider it
a trade in so much as of Birmingham; for we have but few nail-
makers left in the town. Our nailers are chiefly masters, and rather
opulent. The manufacturers are so scattered round the country that
we cannot travel far, in any direction, out of the sound of the nail-
hammer. When I first approached Birmingham from Walsall, in
1741, I was surprised at the prodigious number of blacksmiths' shops
upon the road; and could not conceive how a country, though popu-
lous, could support so many people of the same occupation. In some
of these shops I observed one or more females, stripped of their upper
garment, and not overcharged with their lower, wielding the hammer
with all the grace of the sex. The beauties of their face were rather
eclipsed by the smut of the anvil. Struck with the novelty, I inquired
'whether the ladies in this country shoed horses?' but was answered,
with a smile, 'They are nailers.' ”—(P. 117.)
This employment is as poor as it is slavish and degrading. The
wages obtained in it are very low, most probably from the circum-
stance of women and children being largely employed.
The manufacture of japanned-ware is prosecuted on a large scale at
Bilston and Wolverhampton. The latter has been long celebrated for
the excellence of her locks; the general trade in which she almost
exclusively enjoyed till a comparatively late period. At present, the
more costly and best locks are made in the metropolis; and the lock
trade is also carried on in Birmingham. But Wolverhampton still
engrosses the largest share of the manufacture; and she has, also, large
manufactures of brass and copper articles.
Saddlers' ironmongers are a class of manufacturers some of whom
are found in Birmingham, but who chiefly reside in Walsall, Wolver-
HARDWARE.
729
hampton, and Wednesbury. They plate and prepare bridles and
stirrups, with ornaments for coaches and coach-harness, &c. For
cheapness in the common, and perfection in the best, of these articles,
the district in question is unrivalled.
The following statements of the Census Commissioners show the
number of persons employed in the hardware business in Dudley and
its vicinity, and in Staffordshire:
"The principal manufacture of Worcestershire is that of articles
denominated hardware, (principally carried on at Dudley,) which
employs 8,212 persons, of whom 2,186 are under 20 years of age. Of
this number, 6,226 are employed in the manufacture of nails, 1,162 in
that of needles, 160 in that of fish-hooks, 398 in that of tools of various
descriptions, and the remainder (266) in that of fenders, fire-irons,
shovels, scuttles, salt, frying, and other pans, hinges, screws, rivets,
malt mills, swords, and other articles of cutlery, Jews'-harps, and steel
toys.
"The iron and steel manufacture employs 1,171 persons, of whom
274 are under 20 years of age; and the chain 349 persons, of whom
81 are under 20 years of age."
"The iron manufacture of Staffordshire, including Bilston, Wolver-
hampton, Walsall, and other towns, employs 6,359 persons, of whom
1,627 are under 20 years of age; the brass employs 693, of whom 145
are under 20 years of age; the tin employs 612, of whom 172 are
under 20 years of age; the chain employs 397 persons, of whom 107
are under 20 years of age; the engine and machine employs 781
persons (boiler makers included), of whom 110 are under 20 years of
age; the gun and pistol employs 729 persons, of whom 115 are under
20 years of age.
"The manufacture of articles denominated hardware employs 12,080
persons, of whom 2,561 are under 20 years of age; of this number
4,268 are employed in the manufacture of locks and keys, 3,992 in
that of nails, 821 in that of tools of various descriptions, and the
remainder 2,989 are returned under the following heads; viz., bridle-
bits, curb chains, curry-combs, saddletrees, spurs, stirrups, and other
articles of saddlers' ironmongery; bolts, hinges, screws, springs,
ferules, pulleys, spindles, and swivels; buckles, buttons, pins, tags
and tips, candlesticks, coffee mills, corkscrews, covers, fenders, fire-
irons, frying-pans, gridirons, scales, steelyards, snuffers, spectacles,
spoons, urns, gilt and tin toys, steel and other traps and trays.'
Sheffield, in the district of Hallamshire, in the West Riding of
Yorkshire, is the next grand seat of the hardware manufacture.
Nothing is known of its early history, or of the origin of that business
for which it is now so famous; but it had attained to eminence in the
making of knives so early as the 13th century; for Chaucer, who was
contemporary with Edward III., mentions, in his "Reeve's Tale," the
Sheffield "thwytel," or whittle, in such a way as shows it was then in
common use. It does not appear ever to have lost the reputation for
cutlery it had thus early acquired. In 1575, the Earl of Shrewsbury,
lord of the manor of Sheffield, sent to his friend Lord Burleigh "a case
of Hallamshire whittels, beinge such fruites as his pore cuntrey affordeth
730
MANUFACTURES.
with fame throughout the realme."-Manufactures in Metal, Lard-
ner's Cyclopædia, vol. ii., p. 5.) In 1624 a corporation was formed
for the "good order and government of the makers of knives, scissors,
shears, sickles, and other cutlery-wares in Hallamshire;" the govern-
ment being vested in a master, two wardens, six searchers, and 24
assistants, consisting of freemen only. The principal object in the
formation of this corporation seems to have been the regulation of the
marks or other devices which every individual was to strike or impress
on the goods he made for sale. But these regulations can hardly be
said to be any longer in existence.*
The corporation continued on the footing fixed in 1624 till 1814,
when an Act was passed permitting all persons indiscriminately, with-
out their being freemen, or having served an apprenticeship, or
obtained a mark from the corporation for their goods, to carry on
business anywhere within the district of Hallamshire. This liberal
and judicious measure has been of great service to the town, by
inducing men of talent and enterprise, from all parts of the country,
to settle in it, where their competition and industry have had the best
effects.
For several centuries the manufactures of Sheffield were confined
almost entirely to the making of sheath-knives, scissors, sickles, and
scythes. About the beginning of the 17th century, a common
tobacco-box and the Jew's-harp were added to the list of manufactured
articles; but it was not till about forty years after that the manufacture
of clasp-knives, razors, and files, for which it is now so famous, was
introduced. It has been remarked that, for about a century after this
period, the manufacturers of Sheffield discovered more of industry and
perseverance than of enterprise or ingenuity in the conduct of their
business. But about 1750 they began, for the first time, to carry on
a direct trade with the Continent. The manufacture of plated goods
was soon after commenced; and, from that period down to the present
time, Sheffield has made an astonishing progress in the career of
industry; and in many branches of the hardware manufacture has no
superior, and in some no rival.
Like Birmingham, Sheffield was, most probably, indebted to her
situation for her early application to the hardware business. Coal and
iron are found in her immediate vicinity. The Don, on which
Sheffield is built, supplies her with power to work mills for forging,
cutting, and preparing the iron and steel used in her manufactures;
* We may take this opportunity to observe that a considerable difference of
opinion exists as to whether it would be expedient to enforce any general regula-
tions with respect to marks; and the subject is involved in a good deal of difficulty.
No one, indeed, can doubt for a moment the impolicy of attempting to interfere, in
any manner of way, with the description of articles a person may choose to manu-
facture; but it would, at the same time, be very desirable could some means be
devised that would make the public readily aware of the sort of articles they are
buying. At all events, the practice of putting false marks on articles cannot be too
much condemned. We do not object to knives being made of hammered iron, cast
iron, &c.; but we do object to the practice of impressing such articles with the
words "steel," "sheer steel," &c. This is practising a fraud upon the public, and
inflicting an injury on such manufacturers as make similar articles of steel.
HARDWARE.
731
and in this respect she has an advantage over Birmingham. The river
was made navigable to within about three miles of the town so early as
1751; and a lateral canal has since prolonged the navigation to the
town.
Cutlery, as it was the earliest, so it is still the largest and most
important, branch of industry carried on in Sheffield. The principal
articles are table-knives and forks, pen and pocket knives of every
variety and description, scissors, razors, surgical, mathematical, and
optical instruments, scythes, sickles, saws, with all sorts of carpenters'
tools, and so forth. The most beautiful and highly-finished articles of
cutlery exhibited in the shops of the metropolis, though stamped with
the vendor's name, are mostly all made here; and Sheffield cutlery is
deservedly held in the highest estimation in all parts of the world.
With the exception of plated saddlery ware, almost all the other
descriptions of plated goods made at Sheffield are reckoned superior to
those made at Birmingham, or anywhere else. Some of the best plated
articles have silver edges; and, when used with ordinary care, last for
a very long time, and can with difficulty be distinguished from silver.
We have already noticed the extensive manufacture of articles of
Britannia metal and German silver carried on here.
Mr. Jacob says that, in as far as he was able to ascertain by
inquiries of the platers, the owners of flatting mills, and of the manu-
facturers of plated goods, he was disposed to estimate the silver used
for plating in Birmingham and Sheffield, including with it that used at
Walsall and other places, by saddlers' ironmongers, at about 750,000
ozs. a year. (Vol. ii., p. 298.) And deducting from this the
150,000 ozs. (he supposed) used at Birmingham, and 100,000 ozs. for
that used at Walsall and other minor towns, there will remain 550,000
ozs. for the consumption of Sheffield. But the quantity has since
been largely increased.
Few articles of copper and brass, and no toys, are made in Sheffield;
but, in lieu of these, it has some peculiar and important businesses.
The conversion of iron into steel is carried on to a greater extent
in it than in any other part of the empire; and most of the steel used
in Birmingham and other places is prepared in Sheffield. The works
of the Messrs. Sanderson, Jessop and Sons, and others, for the con-
verting and preparing of steel by tilting, rolling, &c., are most
extensive.
The manufacture of files is one of the staple trades of Sheffield.
Files are used in immense quantities at home, and are largely
exported. Any one who has ever seen the process of file-cutting
would be likely to conclude that it was an operation that might be
successfully performed by machinery; and a great variety of con-
trivances have been set on foot in that view. Hitherto, however, none
of them have completely succeeded; so that all the best files continue
now, as heretofore, to be cut by the hand. Within these few years
the manufacture of springs for railway carriages has been largely
carried on.
The town of Sheffield had, in 1841, a population of 68,186, The
manufacture is not, however, confined to it, but is diffused over the
732
MANUFACTURES.
whole parish, representing, though not quite identical with, the old
Saxon manor of Hallam, or Hallamshire. The parish, which includes
an area of 22,830 acres, lies mostly to the west of the town, and had,
in 1841, a population of 111,091. The principal part, not only of the
male, but also of the female part of the population, is engaged in the
hardware trade.
"The manufactures of cutlery and hardware, carried on at Sheffield
and in the surrounding districts, employ 14,603 persons, of whom
8,654 are employed in making various articles of cutlery, whereof
1,759 are under 20 years of age; 729 in making hafts and scales in
connexion with cutlery, whereof 108 are under 20 years of age; 2,854
in making files, of whom 740 are under 20 years of age; 1,595 in
making other tools of various descriptions, of whom 303 are under 20
years of age; and the remainder (771) are variously employed in the
manufacture of fenders, fire-irons, shovels, spoons, tea-pots, and tea-pot
handles, candlesticks, snuffers, corkscrews, spirals, covers, frying-pans,
and skewers; brace, bridle, and other bits, buckles, hooks, clasps,
busks, and tips; pins, needles, steel pens, spectacles, steel toys, and
magnets; bolts, screws, ferules, metal caps, rings, and rivets; powder-
flasks, skates, springs, scale-beams, and spears.
"The iron manufacture employs 2,143 persons, of whom 535 are
under 20 years of age; the nail 1.262 persons, of whom 269 are under
20 years of age; the Britannia, German silver, white and other
metals, 917 persons, of whom 199 are under 20 years of age; the
wire, 482 persons, of whom 49 are under 20 years of age; the steel,
312 persons, of whom 42 are under 20 years of age; the brass, 258
persons, of whom 50 are under 20 years of age; the engine and
machine, 1,391 persons, (boiler-makers included,) of whom 323 are
under 20 years of age; in addition to which, 116 persons are returned
as founders, and 742 as moulders, the manufacture in which they are
engaged not being specified."-(Report, Census 1841.)
Wages in Sheffield vary from about 15s. to 35s. and 40s. a-week.
The labour in some departments is very severe; and in others great
skill is required. Grinders, particularly those who do not use water
in the operation, inhale the finer particles of stone and steel, and are
generally short-lived. A good many attempts have been made to
obviate this, as well as to lessen the risk of accident in the grinding-
mills;
but the employment continues to be more than ordinarily
unhealthy and dangerous;* and, as much skill is required in the
grinding of the finer descriptions of knives and razors, wages, being
influenced by both circumstances, are generally high.
Combinations have been very prevalent in Sheffield. Different
opinions are entertained as to their influence on wages; but it seems
pretty clear that, though they have kept up their nominal rate, they
have effected this by lessening the hours of work, and keeping a con-
siderable number of individuals out of employment; so that there is
but little room for doubt that here, as everywhere else, they have been,
on the whole, injurious to the workmen.
But few, comparatively, of the Sheffield manufacturers have large
* Manufactures in Metal.-Lardner's Cyclopædia, vol. i. pp. 289–296.
HARDWARE.
733
capitals; and the business is not so generally carried on in workshops
or factories as in Birmingham. A person worth a few shillings may
commence business on his own account as a cutler; and, in this class,
individuals are not unfrequently journeymen one year and masters
another, and conversely.
Exclusive of these two grand seats of the hardware manufacture,
and of the districts subordinate to and connected with them, the
business is carried on to a greater or less extent in many other places.
Most part of the machinery used in the cotton and other factories is
made at Manchester and other great centres of the trade. The won-
derful progress of the manufacture has been mainly owing to the
excellence and continued improvement of the machinery made use of;
the preparation and repair of which employs a great number of hands,
and a large amount of capital. The reputation of what are called
"Lancashire tools" is very widely diffused. Under this designation
are comprised files of the best quality, chisels, gravers' tools, watch
and clock makers' tools, hand vices, pincers, metal and wire gauzes,
and an infinite variety of such like articles. Warrington is the centre
of this trade; and in some of its factories may be seen collections
of unrivalled excellence of the articles in question. The best watch-
tools are, however, made at Prescott.
The
Besides tools, pins are largely manufactured in Warrington, and
in Birmingham, Gloucester, Bristol, and Stroudwater; a good many
being also made in Dublin and Dundalk. A company for the manu-
facture of pins by machinery is established at Deptford. The business
is supposed to employ in all from 2,500 to 3,000 hands, of whom about
a sixth part are men, the remainder being women and children.
wages of the former amount, at an average, to about 21s., and those of
the latter to about 5s. a-week. Exclusive of those consumed at home,
large quantities are exported to the Continent and the United States.
The patent pins are made by machinery; the entire pin, head included,
being formed out of one piece of wire. Most descriptions of fire-arms,
including the finest fowling-pieces and pistols, are made in the metro-
polis. A great deal of cutlery business is transacted in London; but,
as already stated, by far the greater number of the articles sold in it,
though bearing the names of the vendors, are really made in Sheffield.
Long Crendon, in Bucks, is supposed to have been the earliest seat
of the needle manufacture, and it still furnishes a few fancy needles for
knitting, netting, sailmaking, &c. But what may be called the "needle
district," with which the manufacture of fish-hooks is now combined, is
situated about 13 miles from Birmingham, on the Cheltenham road.
It comprises the villages of Redditch, Studley, Alcester, Feckenham,
&c., and their neighbourhoods. A very large proportion of the popu-
lation is engaged in, and nearly the whole is dependent on, the business ;
the wages of those employed in it being good, and employment remark-
ably constant, they have been little subject to periods of depression.
The scale on which the business is carried on is vastly greater than
might be at first supposed; the principal houses not unfrequently
receiving orders for from 4,000,000 or 5,000,000 to 10,000,000 of one
variety of needles for exportation! They are sent in immense quantities
734
MANUFACTURES.
to all parts of the world; and being easily smuggled, their sale is but
little affected by foreign tariffs. It is, however, a good deal affected
by the frauds of the foreign makers, the greater number of whom vend
their inferior articles under the forged names and labels of the best
English makers. The fish-hook trade is supposed to amount to about
a sixth part of that of needles. As farther illustrating the importance
of what many suppose to be an insignificant trade, we may, perhaps, be
excused for mentioning that the present opulent and respectable High
Sheriff of Worcestershire is a needle manufacturer, having succeeded
to the business carried on by his father.
Cast-iron goods are produced at different places in Scotland; but the
best known and most celebrated works are at Carron, in Stirlingshire.
They were established in 1760; but have since been greatly enlarged.
All kinds of cast-iron goods, whether for the purposes of war or peace,
are made at Carron. Among the former may be included cannons of
all sorts, mortars, bombs, &c., with shot and shells. The peculiar
variety of cannon called a carronade derived its name from its being
originally produced here. The domestic articles are too numerous to
admit of enumeration; but stoves, grates, fenders, &c., constitute,
perhaps, the largest item. There are many foundries in other parts
of the country, particularly in Lanarkshire. Glasgow, like Man-
chester, Newcastle, and other towns, has very large factories for the
production of steam-engines, railway carriages, and other sorts of
machinery.
The hardware manufacture can hardly be said to exist in Ireland.
Value of the Manufacture.—We regret that no materials exist, or
are likely to be procured, for forming an accurate estimate of the total
value of the hardware and cutlery annually produced in Great Britain.
Mr. Stevenson estimated the annual value of all the articles made of
iron in England and Wales, in 1814, at 10,000,000l.; those of brass
and copper at 3,000,000l.; and the steel, plated, and hardware articles,
including toys, at 4,000,0007.; making the total value of the goods.
17,000,000l., and the total persons employed 320,000.
We incline to think that this estimate was very decidedly beyond
the mark. There has, however, during the last 30 years, been an
extraordinary increase in the production of iron; and the rapid increase
of Birmingham and Sheffield, as well as of the smaller seats of the
hardware manufacture, shows that it has increased in at least a corre-
sponding proportion. But, on the other hand, there has been, during
the same period, a very heavy fall in the prices of most articles; the
reduction in several descriptions of goods having been from 50 to 60,
70, and even 80 per cent., and in few less than from 20 to 30 per cent.
It is, therefore, doubtful whether, notwithstanding the great increase
of the manufacture, its value at present materially exceeds its value in
1814. On the whole, if we might venture a conjecture on such a
subject, we should say that the annual value of all sorts of wrought
brass and iron, and of hardware and cutlery articles, produced in Great
Britain, may be taken at about 17,000,000l. a-year, and the persons
employed at from 250,000 to 300,000.
WATCHES, PLATE, JEWELLERY, ETC.
735
Account showing the Quantities and Values of the Brass and Copper Manufactures
Hardware, and Cutlery, and of the Iron and Steel, wrought and unwrought, ex-
ported from the United Kingdom in 1844, specifying the Countries to which they
were sent, and the Quantities and Values of those sent to each.

Countries TO WHICH Exported.
Iron and Steel,
Wrought and Un-
wrought.
Brass and Copper
Manufactures.
Hardwares and Cut-
lery.
Total
Value.
Quantity.
Declared
Value.
Declared
Quantity.
Quantity.
Value.
Declared
Value.
Cwts.
£.
Cwts.
£.
Tons.
£.
£.
Russia
Sweden
306
1,840
7,313
40,453
14,586
107,413
149,706
453
1,995
630
3,454
96
1,279
6,728
Norway
79
386
Denmark
Prussia
Germany
Holland
Belgium
•
•
1,771
9,276
446
5,814
15,476
388
1,777
1,087
4,227
19,434
111,386
117,390
714
2,991
2,520
9,5×9
34,433
202,241
214,821
16,211
76,434
25,261
156,706
39,456
285,214
518,354
7,470
34,415
7,676
42,35+
69,035
386,
112
469,881
•
13,041
53, 139
6,288
36,071
1,149
27,403
122,413
France
103,214
453,405
21,258
121,555
21,352
100,982
675,942
Portugal, Proper
2,905
14,674
3,059
20,480
4,638
29,600
64,754
Spain and the Balearic Islands
1,249
6,008
4,404
25,841
5,756
34,670
66,519
Gibraltar.
643
3,031
4,410
Italy and the Italian Islands
29,897
1,370
9,816
42,744
16,777
73,555
9,003
53,676
27,728
171,203
298,434
Malta.
783
4,314
733
5,081
775
5,726
15,121
Ionian Islands
•
46
217
163
904
373
3,054
4,175
Morea and Greek Islands.
188
757
954
7,259
8,016
Turkey
258
Egypt.
•
1,332
1,958
12,254
7,542
48.914
62,500
641
3,358
750
3,210
470
5,449
12,017
Western Coast of Africa
4,415
22,352
6,417
24,358
2,053
19,713
66,423
Cape of Good Hope
637
3,038
3,275
17,668
1,687
22.682
43,388
Mauritius.
2,449
12,769
1,617
7,240
1,030
18,614
39,623
East India Company's Territories and
Ceylon.
141,237
611,109
23,645
115,911
35,377
265,698
992,718
Samatra, Java, and other Islands of
Indian Seas
2,008
9,183
2,081
10,572
1,233
7,512
27,267
Philippine Islands.
358
1,610
36
377
410
2,738
4.725
China
647
3,109
2,294
16.281
4,361
29,104
48,494
British Australian Colonies
1,333
6,282
5,349
24,231
2,373
28,676
59,189
British North American Colonies
3,192
15,723
38,657
167,876
27,835
236,958
420,557
British West Indies.
4,717
25,694
19,773
77,525
Cuba, and other Foreign West Indian
6,570
114,151
217,370
Colonies
3,995
18,280
16,526
58,291
4,811
56,748 133,319
.
United States of America
•
43,811
197,289
1€6,524
827,084
107,379
696,937 1,721,310
Mexico
•
345
3,236
1,518
9,928
•
New Grenada, Venezuela, and Equador
Brazil.
2,070
16,200
29,364
542
3,321
2,393
12,446
294
3,719
19,486
9,544
44,261
23,919
79,088
States of the Rio de la Plata.
Chili
•
Peru and Bolivia
The Channel Islands
4,759
61,196
184,545
119
1,373
577
16,400
48,492
1,999
18,884
67,953
7,018
10 365
41,059
1,235
13,721
61,798
All other Places
Total
381
1,984
617
388,882
1,955
6,825
9,375
3,165
2,493
1,612
31,683 1,381
18,545 1,176
6,847 1,119
13,521
47,159
12,745 40,665
10,316 19,656
1,736,545 451,043 2,179,087 458,745 3,193,368 7,109,000
Watches, Plate, Jewellery, &c.-Exclusive of the hardware and
plated goods, referred to above, the manufacture of watches, and of
solid gold and silver articles, is of much importance. Instead of a
watch being the distinguishing appendage to a man of wealth and
fashion, it has become the useful companion of all but the poorest and
idlest of the community. Among even the middle ranks it has grown
into use, not merely for the heads of the family, but few of the junior
members, or even of the domestic servants, are without them. The
increased number of watches, especially since it has been permitted to
form the cases of gold and silver of a lower degree of fineness than our
standard, has been such that they must be counted by millions.*
The separate parts of the mechanism of watches are now generally
constructed by different sets of artists, mostly in Lancashire, on the
principle of the division of labour; the delicate task of putting them
together, and regulating their movements, being left to the watch-
makers. The watchmaking business is principally carried on in
London, especially in the parish of Clerkenwell, and to a lesser extent
in Coventry, Liverpool, Edinburgh, and other places. At an average
* Inquiry into the Production and Consumption of the Precious Metals, by Wil-
liam Jacob, Esq., vol. ii. p. 209.
736
MANUFACTURES.
of the three years ending with 1829, there were annually assayed, at
the Goldsmiths' Hall, London, 13,893 gold and 84,810 silver watches.
—(Jacob, vol: ii., p. 413.) The metal in the gold watches is 18 carats
fine, worth 37. 5s. an ounce; and the weight of metal in each watch is
about 2 ounces. At a medium, the gold watches may, it is believed,
be worth about 157. each, or 208,395/. in all: and, estimating the
value of the silver watches at 67. each, the value of those produced in
the metropolis, during the same three years, will be 508,860l. a-year;
making, when added to the value of the gold watches, a total of
717,255l., exclusive of plated and gilt watches, &c. But the business
has been very considerably extended in the metropolis in the interval.
The average number of gold watches assayed at Birmingham (but
chiefly made at Coventry), Chester, and elsewhere, may be from 900
to 1,000 a-year, worth 137. each; and the silver watches made at
Coventry, Liverpool, Edinburgh, and all other places, exclusive of
London, varies from 135,000 to 145,000 a-year (Jacob, vol. ii., p. 292,
and p. 296), worth, probably, 5l. each. On the whole, including the
gilt and plated watches, &c., the value of those annually manufactured
in Great Britain may be moderately estimated at from 1,500,000l., to
1,800,000l. a-year.
The different pieces of the mechanism of clocks, like those of
watches, are made by different sets of workmen; and are put together
by others, who, though mostly distinct from, are usually confounded
with, watchmakers. It appears, from the population returns, that
there were, in 1841, 12,464 males, of 20 years and upwards, employed
as clock and watch makers in Great Britain, of whom 11,094 belonged
to England, 339 to Wales, and 965 to Scotland. Of those belonging
to England the metropolis had above 3,000.
Exclusive of the gold used in gilding and in watchmaking, large
quantities are annually wrought up into plate, trinkets, snuff-boxes, &c.
The amount so disposed of has been estimated by Mr. Jacob at 58,000
ounces fine gold, worth 4l. 7s. 6d. an ounce, and 232,000 ounces
standard gold, worth 37. 17s. 103d. an ounce, making together 290,000
ounces, worth in all, 1,156,0207.—(Vol. ii. p. 292.) In the same
work, Mr. Jacob estimates the annual consumption of silver in the arts
at 3,282,046 ounces, from which, deducting 900,000 ounces used in
plating, and 506,740 used in watch-cases, there remain 1,875,306
ounces, worth 5s. an ounce, or 468,826l., for all other purposes.—
(Vol. ii. p. 299.) We suspect, however, that both these estimates,
particularly the first, are exaggerated. It should also be observed that
a considerable quantity of the new plate, annually manufactured, is
made out of old plate; and that the absolute consumption of the precious
metals is, consequently, not nearly so great as these estimates would
seem to infer.
Next to it,
London is the principal seat of the jewellery business.
but at a great distance, are Birmingham, Derby, Liverpool, and Ches-
ter. There are, also, manufacturers of gold and silver articles and
jewellery in Newcastle, York, and Exeter, and in Edinburgh and
Dublin. In 1830, of 6,441 ounces of gold plate produced in the
empire, 5,458 paid duty in London, 827 in the rest of England, 68 in
Scotland, and 88 in Ireland. During the same year there were manu-
LEATHER.
737
factured 1,271,322 ounces of silver plate, of which 965,364 were made
in London, 132,900 in the rest of England, 59,498 in Scotland, and
113,560 in Ireland. The jewellery business is believed to be distributed
nearly in the same proportions.-(Jacob, vol. ii. p. 408.)
According to the population returns, there were in Great Britain,
in 1841, 8,727 males, and 380 females, in the jewellery business; of
the former, England had 8,036, Wales 46, and Scotland, 629. More
than half the jewellers of England belong to the metropolis.
In London, the most costly articles of jewellery, contrary to what
might, perhaps, have been anticipated, are devised and completely
finished by the same persons; and, exclusive of the precious stones,
which, in some of the ornamental products, are the chief cost, the
greatest expenditure on them is the gold. That metal is rarely used in
a pure state; though, in some of the more delicate parts, such as the
filigree work, it is mixed with but a very small proportion of alloy.
That commonly used, at least by the first-rate jewellers, is usually 16
carats fine, or with a third part of alloy. The finer gold is supplied by
the refiners; and amounts to about a fourth part of the other. The trade
of a gold-beater used to be restricted to London, where it continues to
be principally carried on; but it is now prosecuted on a smaller scale
at Birmingham, Dublin, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Liverpool, and some
other places.
The declared or real value of the plate, plated goods, jewellery, and
watches, exported in 1845, amounted to 294,128/. The United States
are the best market for this description of goods, and, next to them,
India.
SECT. 7.—Leather Manufacture.
THE leather manufacture ranks either third or fourth among those
carried on in the country, being inferior only, in point of value and
extent, to those of cotton, wool, and iron, if it be not superior to the
latter. Sir F. M. Eden, in his Treatise on Insurance, estimated the
value of the different articles manufactured of leather, in 1803, at
12,000,0007.; and there is reason to think that this statement was not
very wide of the mark. Besides the hides and skins produced at home,
vast quantities are imported. At an average of the three years ending
with 1845, no fewer than 647,712 cwt., or 72,543,744 lbs., of foreign
cow, ox, and buffalo hides were entered for home consumption, exclu-
sive of vast quantities of lamb-skins, goat-skins, &c. The total quan-
tity of all sorts of leather, tawed, tanned, dressed, and curried in Great
Britain, may at present be estimated at about 75,000,000 lbs.; which,
at 1s. 6d. per lb., gives 5,625,000l. as the value of the leather only.
Now supposing, as is sometimes done, the value of the leather to
amount to one-third the value of the finished articles produced from it,
that would show the value of the manufacture to be 16,875,000l. We
incline, however, to think that the value of `manufactured leather
articles does not amount, at an average, to three times the value of the
raw material; and therefore we may, perhaps, estimate the entire value
of the manufacture at about 16,000,000l. Now, to get the number of
VOL. I.
3 B
738
MANUFACTURES.
persons employed, we have first to deduct from this sum of 16,000,000/.
5,625,000/. for the raw material, which leaves 10,375,000l. as the
aggregate amount of profits, wages, &c.; and, setting aside 25 per cent.
as profits, rent of workshops, capital invested, &c., we have a sum of
7,281,250/. remaining as wages. And, supposing those employed as
shoemakers, saddlers, glovers, &c., to make, one with another, 307. a
year, the total number of such persons will be 259,375.
This, however, does not give the total number of persons employed
in the leather trade, inasmuch as it excludes the tanners, curriers, &c.
employed in dressing and preparing the leather. But if, from the value
of the prepared leather, 5,625,000l., we deduct 2,000,000l. for the
value of the hides and skins, and 2,500,000l. for tanners' and curriers'
profits, including the expense of bark, lime, pits, &c., we have
1,125,000l. left as wages. Now as the wages of curriers, tanners,
leather-dressers, &c., may, we believe, be taken at 401. a-year at an
average, we shall have 28,100 as the number employed in these depart-
ments; and, adding these to the persons employed in manufacturing the
leather, we have a grand total of 287,475 employed in the various de-
partments of the business.
Those who may be inclined to suspect these estimates of exaggera-
tion, would do well to reflect on the value of the shoes annually manu-
factured. It is sometimes supposed that the expenditure upon shoes may
be taken, at an average of the whole population, at 10s. a-year for each
individual, young and old; which, taking the population at 20,000,000,
would give 10,000,000l. for the value of shoes alone; but, taking the
value of the shoes at 8s. only, it gives 8,000,000/. for the amount.
Mr. Stevenson supposes (art. ENGLAND, Edinburgh Encyclopædia)
that the value of saddlery, harness, gloves, &c., is at least equal to that
of shoes; but we believe this to be too high, and such would plainly be
the case, were shoes estimated to cost 10s. or 9s. per individual. On
the whole, in estimating the entire value of the manufacture at
16,000,000l., we incline to think that we are as near the mark as it is
easy to come in such investigations.
Distribution of the Manufacture.- Tanneries. The business of
tanning is very widely diffused. As was to be expected, the largest
tanneries in the empire are in the vicinity of London, particularly at
Bermondsey, in the Borough. The manufacture of what is called
morocco leather, principally used by bookbinders, coachmakers, &c., is
almost entirely confined to it. There are, also, extensive tanneries in
the vicinity of most large towns, and at different places throughout the
country. The capital required to carry on the business is very con-
siderable; since, besides what is laid out on pits and buildings, &c.,
there must be sufficient to wait the returns, which are usually very
slow. At present, however, hides can be prepared for sale in half the
time that was formerly required; and this, as is said, not only without
any injury to, but with an actual improvement of, the leather. Many
experiments have been tried with different kinds of bark; but oak still
continues, all things considered, to maintain its ancient pre-eminence :
very large quantities of it are annually made use of; valonia, divi-divi,
and other articles are, also, very extensively employed.
LEATHER.
739
Shoemaking.-London is the principal seat of this business, no
fewer than 23,775 persons, of whom 18,867 were males of more than
20 years of age, having been employed in it, in 1841, in Middlesex
only. Exclusive of the shoes made in London, large quantities are
brought to its markets from Northamptonshire and Staffordshire,
counties in which the manufacture of shoes, over and above what is
required for their own supply, is carried on to a very considerable ex-
tent. In Northampton, Wellington, Irthiingborough, Kettering, and
other places in Northamptonshire, about 5,000 males, of 20 years and
upwards, exclusive of women and children, are employed in the manu-
facture of shoes for export to other parts of the country, and to foreign
countries.-(Population Returns.) In the town of Stafford the manu-
facture employed, in 1841, 1,135 males, and 143 females. It is, also,
extensively carried on, especially of late years, in Norwich. It was
formerly carried on to a considerable extent in Congleton and Sandbach,
in Cheshire; but it has been superseded in the first by the manufacture
of cotton, and in the latter by that of silk. Leather slippers are largely
produced at Bicester, in Oxfordshire.
Saddlery and Harness are made in every considerable town, and even
village, in all parts of the empire; but the largest proportion, as well
as the finest and best articles, are made in London. Of 12,962 males,
of 20 years and upwards, employed in the manufacture of saddlery and
harness in Great Britain, in 1841, 1,745 belonged to Middlesex. The
annual value of the exports of leather, wrought and unwrought (exclu-
sive of saddlery), amounts to above 350,000l. The exports of saddlery
exceed 100,000l. a-year. The West Indies and the British North
American colonies are the principal markets for these articles.
Gloves. The leather used in the manufacture of gloves is not, pro-
perly speaking, tanned, but prepared by a peculiar process that renders
it soft and pliable. Some sorts of leather gloves admit of being
washed, and others not. Woodstock and Worcester, but particularly
the former, are celebrated for the manufacture of leather gloves of a
superior quality, in which a great number of women and girls, as well
as men, are employed. The produce of the Worcester manufacture
has been estimated at about 42,000 dozen pairs of oil leather, or beaver
gloves, and 470,000 dozen pairs of kid and lamb-skin gloves; the value
of the whole, when finished, being about 375,000. Besides Worcester
and Woodstock, Yeovil, London, Ludlow, and Leominster are the
principal seats of the leather glove manufacture. Of these Yeovil is
the most important. "The quantity of all sorts of gloves annually
produced there may be estimated at about 300,000 dozen pairs; and
the number of men, women, and children employed in the place, and
the adjoining districts (spreading over 20 miles), amounts, perhaps, to
20,000. They are principally employed in making men and women's
fine gloves, or those that pass in the shops under the denomination of
kid-gloves, but which are really made from lamb-skins, imported from
Italy, Spain, and Germany, and dressed at Yeovil."—(Hull on the Glove
Trade, p. 69.) Gloves are sometimes sewed by machinery; but this is
done only to improve the work, by rendering the stitches more correctly
equidistant, as it is not cheaper than manual labour. Large quantities of
cotton gloves are made at Nottingham and Leicester. We subjoin an—
3 B 2
740
MANUFACTURES.
Account of the Number of Persons above and below 20 Years of Age employed in the
making of Boots and Shoes, Saddlery, and Leather Gloves, in the different Divisions
of Great Britain in 1841, as returned by the Census Commissioners.

Above 20 Years of Age.
Under 20 Years of Age.
Total.
Males.
Females.
Males.
Females.
Boot and Shoe Making
England
Scotland
146.169
8,666
21,673
1,970
178,480
•
21,601
749
4,344
143
16,837
Wales
7,99
134
1,301
99
9,463
Great Britain
Saddlery :-
England
Scotland
175,769
9,519
27,320
2,142
214,780
11,223
·
274
1,902
35
13,435
1,195
27
401
6
•
1,632
Wales
514
8
104
650
Great Britain
12,962
309
2,410
15,723
Leather Glove Making :-
England
2,592
4,250
308
1,600
8,750
Scotland
33
27
5
7
72
Wales
62
18
4
85
Great Britain
2,687
4,295
317
!,608
8,907
Grand Total.
·
191,418
14,153
20,047
3,792
230,410
Influence of Repeal of Prohibition of Importation.—The importation
of leather gloves and mitts was formerly prohibited, under the severest
penalties. This prohibition, by preventing all competition and emula-
tion with the foreigner, checked improvement, and rendered British
gloves at once inferior in quality and high in price. This system was,
however, permitted to continue till 1825, when the prohibition was
repealed, and gloves allowed to be imported on payment of duties
which, though high, are not prohibitory. This measure was vehemently
opposed, and many predictions were made of the total ruin of the
manufacture; but in this, as in every similar instance, experience has
shown that the trade had not been really benefited, but that, on the
contrary, it had been injured, by the prohibition. The wholesome
competition to which the manufacturers now felt themselves, for the
first time exposed, made them exert all their energies; and it is
admitted on all hands, that there has been a more rapid improvement
in the manufacture during the last 10 years than in the previous half
century. There is still, no doubt, a great deal of complaining of a
decay of trade among the leather glove manufacturers; but we are
assured that, if there be any real foundation for their complaints, it is
ascribable more to the growing use of home-made cotton and silk
gloves than to the increased importation of foreign leather gloves; and,
had it not been for the improved fabric and greater cheapness of
British leather gloves that has grown out of the new system, it is
abundantly certain that cotton gloves would have gained still more
rapidly on them. In point of fact, however, it does not appear that
there has been any falling off in the leather glove trade; on the con-
trary, the fair inference seems to be that it has increased: at all events,
there has been a very considerable increase in the number of skins
brought from abroad to be used in the manufacture, and, consequently,
in the number of pairs of gloves produced from such skins; and there
is no reason for thinking that it is at all different with the other
departments. (Commercial Dictionary, art. GLOVES.)
EARTHENWARE AND GLASS.
741
SECT. 8.-Manufactures of Earthenware and Glass.
1. Earthenware.-The manufacture of earthenware, or, as it is
frequently called, stoneware, is of considerable value and importance.
It is carried on in several parts of the country; but its principal seat
is in the district called, by way of distinction, "The Potteries," in the
north-west part of Staffordshire, having the town of Burslem in its
centre. It is doubtful when the manufacture was originally established
here; but it has certainly been prosecuted at Burslem for at least two
centuries. The district has great natural capabilities for the successful
prosecution of the business. The upper strata present, in almost every
part, a great variety of clays, covering vast beds of excellent coal,
which, being situated near the surface, are, in general, easily wrought.
But notwithstanding these capabilities, the manufacture was long in a
very backward state. Dr. Plot, whose Natural History of Stafford-
shire was published in 1686, gives what is believed to have been a very
accurate account of the manufacture at that time. The wares were
then of the coarsest and commonest sort, and consisted principally of
pots for the preservation of butter, whence Burslem is, in several old
maps, marked by the name of "Butter Pottery!" Plot says that the
wares were chiefly sold to the poor crate-men, who carried them at
their backs all over the country."-(Nat. Hist. of Staffordshire, cap. 3,
§ 29.) About the year 1690 some improvements were introduced into
the manufacture by two foreigners of the name of Ellers. Superior
clays were also brought from Dorset and Devonshire; and the fabric
of the ware was improved by the addition of pounded flints, &c.
Still, however, British earthenware was very inferior in beauty to that
of France, which was, consequently, imported in considerable quan-
tities, and was almost the only thing made use of by the more opulent
class of customers.
66
It was not till about the year 1760, or 1762, that the grand æra of
improvement commenced in the Potteries. We are indebted for it to
the exertions and example of Mr. Josiah Wedgwood, who did for the
manufacture of earthenware what Arkwright did for that of cotton.
This eminent individual was the youngest son of a potter, was very
indifferently educated, and received but little property from his father.
But these untoward circumstances, far from repressing, served rather
to stimulate, the native vigour of his mind. His original and inventive
genius enabled him to make many important discoveries, while his
practical acquaintance with the business gave him the means of success-
fully introducing them into practice. Besides improving the compo-
sition, the glaze, and the colours of the old wares, he invented several
that were altogether new; and (which was least to be expected from a
person in his situation) he made vast improvements upon the figure of
the articles manufactured, displaying in their formation a degree of
classical elegance, and purity of design, which materially improved the
national taste, and has never been surpassed. In addition to this, Mr.
Wedgwood successfully exerted himself to improve the communica-
tions with the Potteries; and was mainly instrumental in carrying the
Act for the Trent and Mersey Canal through parliament, and in
accomplishing that grand undertaking. The village of Etruria, where
742
MANUFACTURES.
Since his death, which
by his descendants."
*
his works were situated, was built by him.
took place in 1795, they have been carried on
The inventions and discoveries of Mr. Wedgwood were soon
universally introduced; and the manufacture has since continued
gradually to extend and to improve. Its progress, we are assured,
has been such, that a workman at the present day can, in a given time,
produce about four times the quantity of manufactured articles he
could have done in 1790!
Exclusive of earthenware, chinaware is also extensively manufactured
in the pottery district.
Certain descriptions of earthenware are produced, in a considerable
quantity, and of excellent quality, at Lambeth, and the same and other
descriptions in other parts of the country. Chinaware is made at
Worcester, Derby, Colebrook Dale, Rotherham, &c. It is estimated
that the value of the various sorts of earthenware produced at the
Potteries may amount to about 1,700,000l. or 1,800,000l. a-year; and
that the earthenware produced at Worcester, Derby, and other parts of
the country may amount to about 850,000l. more; making the whole
value of the manufacture 2,550,000l. or 2,650,000l. a-year. The
consumption of gold for gilding, &c., at the Potteries, is about 7007.
a-week, and of coal about 9,500 tons a-week.
The finer sorts of clay used in the Potteries are principally brought
from the Isle of Purbeck, in Dorsetshire, and from Devonshire ;
steatites or soapstone is brought from Cornwall; large quantities of
flints from Kent, and some from Wales, Ireland, &c. The railways
and canals by which Staffordshire is intersected, and which unite the
Potteries with all the principal ports of the kingdom, afford the greatest
facilities for the conveyance of the raw materials used in the manufac-
ture, and for the easy distribution of the wares to the great markets at
home and abroad.
But
The population of the pottery district, which is naturally poor and
barren, is exceedingly dense. It comprises from 70,000 to 80,000
inhabitants. The principal places are Burslem, Shelton, Longton,
Stoke-upon-Trent, Henley, Tunstall, Lane-End, Etruria, &c.
several of these are now joined together; and, to a stranger, the entire
district has the appearance of a large straggling town. A very large
proportion of the population is employed in, and a still greater is
dependent for support on, the manufacture. With the exception of
gold, most of the materials made use of are worth very little; so that
the value of the finished articles, as well as their exquisite beauty, and
aptitude to every purpose of utility and ornament, is mainly ascribable
to the skill and labour expended upon them. The wives and children
of the workmen are usually employed; and, though they work together
in factories, yet, as they reside in separate cottages, the manufacture
partakes largely of the domestic character. The wages of a whole
family amount to a very considerable sum.
"The noxious process of
glazing, so injurious to the health of those employed, has been rendered
nearly free from its deleterious effects by the substitution of boracic
acid for lead, which was formerly used in the proportion of 100 per
* See Aikin's Description of the Country round Manchester, p. 528; and the
Supplement to his Biographical Dictionary, art. "Wedgwood."
EARTHENWARE AND GLASS.
743
cent., but now only of 8 per cent. The people employed in that
branch were, formerly, not admissible into clubs, and were considered
as degraded objects, from the insalubrity of their employment; but
they are now gladly received into their benefit societies.-(1st Factory
Report, B. 2, p. 78.) On the whole, the work-people have a healthy,
comfortable appearance. The new parliamentary borough of Stoke,
comprising the principal places in the Potteries, had, in 1841, a popu-
lation of 67,798.
Owing to its extreme cheapness, excellent cream and blue-coloured
stoneware is now found in every cottage; and it has everywhere
superseded, not only the old, ill-glazed, clumsy Delft-ware, but also
pewter-plates, and the greater part of the wooden dishes that were for-
merly used in the kitchen and the dairy. It is not easy to over-rate
the influence of this change in diffusing a taste for cleanliness, and for
increased comforts and conveniences. Nor have its advantages been
confined to this country. It is now widely spread over all parts of the
world; the annual value of the exported articles, during each of the
three years ending with 1845, having been, 1843, 628,7837.; 1844,
766,7647.; and 1845, 828,0841. Formerly, as we have seen, we im-
ported large quantities of stoneware from France, and, at a previous
period, from the Dutch potteries at Delft; but the produce of our own
potteries is now everywhere held in the highest estimation. An intel-
ligent foreigner, M. Faujas de St. Fond, when noticing the English
earthenware, observes, "Its excellent workmanship, its solidity, the
advantage which it possesses of sustaining the action of fire, its fine
glaze, impenetrable to acids, the beauty and convenience of its form,
and the cheapness of its price, have given rise to a commerce so active
and universal, that, in travelling from Paris to Petersburg, from
Amsterdam to the extremity of the South of France, one is served at
every inn upon English ware. Spain, Portugal, and Italy are supplied
with it; and vessels are loaded with it for the East Indies, the West
Indies, and the continent of America."-(Travels in Engand, Eng.
trans., vol. i., p. 97.)
2. Glass.-The manufacture of glass is alike interesting and im-
portant,―interesting from the worthlessness of the materials out of
which so beautiful an article is made, and important from the extreme
utility of glass as ministering, in the highest degree, to our comfort,
and to the promotion of scientific investigations. The art is said to
have been early introduced into this country; but, if so, it was for a
long time but little practised. In the latter part of the 16th century,
glazed windows were luxuries all but unknown, even in the castles of
the principal nobility of England; * and in Scotland, in the early part
of the last century, glass was but seldom seen in the windows of coun-
try-houses. The second Duke of Buckingham materially improved
the manufacture of British glass by bringing workmen from Venice,
which had long taken the lead in this beautiful art. The manufacture
was still further improved by the arrival of the French refugees, subse-
* Northumberland Household Book, xvii.
Ray, in his Itinerary (p. 187), mentions that, in Scotland, in 1661, glass was
only used in the upper parts even of the windows of the king's palaces.
744
MANUFACTURES.
quently to the revocation of the edict of Nantes; and we began soon
after to export considerable quantities of glass bottles.
The year 1773 is an æra of some importance in the history of the
British glass manufacture, inasmuch as a company for the production
of plate-glass was then incorporated by Act of Parliament. This
company erected extensive works at Ravenhead, near St. Helen's,
Lancashire. The manufacture was at first conducted by workmen
brought from France, whence we had previously imported our plate-
glass. The first company, being unsuccessful, was succeeded by
another in 1794. And, for these many years past, glass plates have
been produced at these works that will bear a comparison with any
made in any other country. About 26 years ago, another company
for the manufacture of plate-glass was established at Newcastle; and
these are the only establishments for its manufacture in the empire.
The competition of the latter company would appear to have been not
a little advantageous to the public; the price of plate-glass having
been reduced, since its formation, very far below its previous level.
Next to bottle or green glass, crown and broad glass, being that
which is commonly used in the glazing of windows, is produced in the
greatest quantity. Flint or crystal glass is the purest and most
brilliant of all. It is the material out of which drinking-glasses,
decanters, chandeliers, and most domestic articles, whether for use or
ornament, are usually manufactured. Plate-glass is principally em-
ployed in the making of mirrors, in coach and shop windows, the
glazing of prints, &c.
Distribution of the Manufacture.-Newcastle and South Shields
are, beyond all comparison, the principal seats of the manufacture of
crown and bottle glass. The largest manufactory of crown glass is
that of Messrs. Chance and Hartley, near Birmingham: and there
are considerable manufactories of flint and other descriptions of
glass there, and at Dudley, Stourbridge, &c., situated, some in the
Lichfield, and some in the Stourbridge collection. The manufacture
is also carried on to a very considerable extent `in Liverpool,* Bristol,
and Warrington; and, to a less extent, in Leeds, Manchester, and
London. In Scotland the manufacture is principally carried on at
Dunbarton, Glasgow, and Leith. The Irish manufacture is but of
trifling importance. Its principal seats are Dublin, Cork, Lisburn,
and Waterford.
We gave, in the former editions of this work, statements illustrative
of the injury to the manufacture inflicted by the duties on glass.
But as these were repealed in 1845, it is unnecessary again to repeat
the statements in question. It is sufficient to observe, that the anticipa-
tions of those who contended that the manufacture would rapidly
increase were the duties abolished, seem to be in a fair way of being
realised. In 1844 there were, in the United Kingdom, 13 establishments
which wrought 20 furnaces for the manufacture of crown or window
glass. These firms employed about 2,000 work-people, at wages varying
from 15s. to 31. per week, the average being about 22s., making the
* The works at Ravenhead and St. Helen's are included in the Liverpool
collection.
EARTHENWARE AND GLASS.
745
annual sum paid for labour in this branch of the manufacture about
110,000l. per annum; and the value of the glass being (exclusive of
duty) nearly double that of the labour, it was worth about 220,000%.
Since the duty has been repealed the previously existing establishments
have increased the number of their furnaces to 24; and six new
establishments have constructed seven furnaces, making at present
(July, 1846) a grand total of 31 furnaces. At an average each furnace
employs 100 work-people, whose wages (taking men and boys at a
medium) amount to about 17. per week, making the present expen-
diture for labour in the manufacture of crown glass 161,000l., and its
total value 322,000l. a-year. The price has been reduced from 8/. 10s.
per crate to 31. 10s., and in squares from 1s. per foot to 4d., being
something more than the duty. It is difficult, however, to foretell what
will be the ultimate result of the repeal of the latter on the manufac-
ture of crown glass, the probability being that its consumption will be
interfered with by the increased demand for sheet glass, which is a
better article, and was, also, more interfered with by the Excise laws
than crown glass.
Sheet Glass is formed out of cylinders split longitudinally, and
then spread or flattened into squares. Its manufacture was introduced
into this country in 1832, when the Excise laws were rendered less
stringent. The skilled labour connected with this branch of the
manufacture is at present (1846) mostly performed by Belgians and
Frenchmen, who earn from 4/. to 87. per week! Ultimately, however,
they will be superseded by Englishmen, and when the supply equals
the demand, the wages of skilled labour will, no doubt, be reduced to
the ordinary rate of about 40s. a-week. Previously to the repeal of the
duty, the following establishments existed for the production of sheet
glass :—
Chance and Co.
Hartley and Co.
Cookson and Co.
Birmingham
Sunderland.
2 furnaces.
1
ވ މ
Newcastle
•
1
Pilkington and Co.
St. Helen's
1
5
,,
The wages paid previously to the repeal of the duty were about
25,000l. per annum, and the annual value, minus the duty, 50,0007.
Since the repeal of the duty the preceding establishments have
increased their furnaces from 5 to 11, and the following new establish-
ments have come into the field; viz.—
Birmingham Glass Company. Birmingham
Silvester and Co.
•
Sir M. W. Ridley and Co..
Shortridge and Čo..
Liverpool Company
Coathupe and Ĉo. .
Newcastle.
South Shields
•
1 furnace.
1
1
1
Liverpool
Bristol.
•
1
1
""
6
Raising the present number of sheet glass furnaces to 17, paying
for labour 85,000l. per annum, the annual value of the glass being
170,0007.
The high-priced skilled labour only applies to 8 or 10 men out of
every 100, and makes but little difference in the general average.
746
MANUFACTURES.
At present (July, 1846) the sheet glass manufacture is in a tran-
sition state. Its ultimate success will depend upon whether we can
successfully withstand the competition of the Belgians. Some parties
think this doubtful; but others, quite as competent to judge, hold
a contrary opinion; and when we are supplied with native skilled
labour, which will be the case at no very distant period, there does
not seem to be any good reason why we should not be as successful in
this as in other departments of manufacturing industry.
The following statements with respect to the manufacture of plate
glass in
in England, in 1827 and 1846, were compiled by
compiled by Mr. Henry
Howard, of Fenchurch-street:—
· Plate Glass-making in England in 1846, contrasted with what it was in 1827.
In
1827 Coals, in London, were about 31s. 6d.
per chaldron in the Pool, which,
with lighterage, wharfage, and
cartage to the works, rendered them
about 40s. per chaldron, or
•
•
1827 An annealing kiln contained
1827 A casting furnace produced, say
1927 Hooded or covered pots were used for
melting the glass, containing about
1827 Pearlashes were at a high price, and
a heavy duty on alkáli made
therefrom.
•
1336 Pearlashes were
1827 The casting-table was heated on the
top by charcoal, at an expense of.
1827 An engine of 32-horse power ground
and polished (12 hours to the
day) from..
30s. per ton.
200 ft.
1,200 ft. per week.
12 cwt. each.
In
1816
Coals are landed at works near Lon-
don at about
13s. per ton.
•
1846 An annealing kiln contains
1846 A casting furnace produces
1346 Open pots are used, requiring less
fuel, and containing about.
431. per ton.
5 ol. per annum.
800 to 1000 ft. per
week.
200 to 250 ft. per
week.
1946 A grinding-bench at
•
•
·
1827 A polishing-bench polished
200 to 250 ft. per
week.
1827 A grinding-bench ground.
400 ft.
4,000 ft. per week.
20 cwt. each.
231. per ton.
3,000 ft. per week.
Works
500 ft.
per
600 ft. week.
per
week.
•
500 ft. per
week.
be
con-
1827 A plate-glasswork in London manu-
factured about.
60,000 lt.
per aum.
1827 The price of rough and moulded
plate varied from
5s. to 6s. per foot.
1
1827 Wages were comparatively low.
1827 Large plates were made with great
difficulty, and the cost, on the ave-
rage, is estimated at about.
•
1827 The manufacturers kept a very large
stock on hand.
10s. per foot.
1246 Pearlashes are about
1846
The casting-table is heated under-
neath by cinders
•
1846 An engine of 60-horse power will
grind and polish at least
grinds about
1346 A grinding-bench may be con-
structed to grind
1846 A polishing-bench at
Works
polishes about
1846A polishing-bench can
structed to polish, better and
cheaper.
1846 A company near London is making
8,000 feet per week, or more than
And that is insufficient, but they can
make no more, having no room to
extend.
1846 The price of rough plate ( and 3 of
an inch thick) is
•
And one company has an order for
43,000 feet!
1846 Wages are high, but they do not
amount to so much per foot as in
1827.
1816 The largest plates are made, with
perfect facility, at less than
And this amount may be stili further
reduced to about 2s. 6d. per foot.
1246 None of the houses can keep stock,
but can only supply their cus-
tomers from hand to mouth, and
that very inadequately.
SUMMARY.
Average,
In 1827 Plate Glass sold for about 12s. per foot, to the extent of about 5,000 feet per week.
In 1836 Plate Glass sold for from 8s. to 9s. per foot, to the extent of about 7,000 feet per week.
In 1844 Plate Glass sold for from 6s. to 7s. per foot, to the extent of about 23,0' 0 feet per week.
In 1846 Plate Glass sells for from 5s. to 6s. per foot, to the extent of about 40,000 feet per week.
May 30.-Now nearly 45,000 feet per week.
(Exclusive of Foreign Glass.)
at scarcely any ex-
pense.
nearly 1,000 ft.per
week.
400,000 ft, per
annum.
1s. 6d. to 2s. per
foot (cost 10d.
to 1s. per foot).
3s. per foot.
Looking at the extraordinary increase that has taken place, notwithstanding the severity of Excise restrictions, and seeing that
the demand now progresses more rapidly than ever, even at 5s. to 6s. per foot,-if the price were reduced to 4s. or 3s. 6d. per
foot
(which, free as the trade now is from Excise interference, would afford ample profit), what must then be the demand?
The flint or crystal glass made in England is purer and more
brilliant than any made anywhere on the continent. But in all that
relates to the colouring or staining of glass the Bohemians are at
present superior to every other people. We, however, are gaining
PAPER, BOOKS, ETC.
747
upon them in this department. The following table gives a correct
view of the gross extent of the British glass manufacture in 1840,
1841, and 1842; and will serve as a standard by which to measure
its future progress :-
Account exhibiting the Quantities of the different descriptions of Glass Manufac-
tured during each of the three Years ending with 1842, with the Quantities Ex-
ported, the Rates and Produce of the Duties, &c.
Description of Glass.
Quantity
Manufac-
tured.
Quantity
Exported.
Rate of Duty,
Gross Drawback
Amount of on Glass
Duty. Exported.
Nett Amount of
Duty (Excise),
after deducting
Drawbacks
and other Legal
Allowances.
Cwts.
Flint Glass
•
1940
104,889
Cwts.
19,913
1841
•
97,524
20,516
1842
83,653
13,696
To 15th May. 1840, 18s. d. per
cwt.; since, 188. Ed. per cwt.
and 5 per cent.
£.
101,029
L.
21,199
79,830
95,565 22,605
72,960
81,973
15,098
66,875
Sq. feet,
Plate Glass
1840
33,623
52,879
To 15th May, 1840, 31. per cwt.;
104,117
7,412
96,705
1841
27,639
121,113
nce, 31. per cwt, and 5 per
87,061
17,483
69,578
1842
21,528
68,318
cent.
67,812
9,866
57,946
Cwts.
Crown Glass
18-10
129,978
15,318
To 15th May, 1840, 3l. 13s. 6d.
492,962
73,530
417,497
1841
•
116,8:5
19,118
per cwt.; since, 31. 13s. 6d.
451,064
92,070
357,337
1842
97,495
12,369
German Sheet
Glass
1840
16,839
8,219
per cwt. and 5 per cent.
To 15th May, 1840, 21. 13s. 6d.
376,205
60,891
313,323
63,986
33,604
30,382
*
1841
20,855
8,781
per cwt.; since, 3l. 13s. 6d.
""
Broad
Glass
1842
25,500
7,701
per cwt. and 5 per cent.
80.473
36,876
43,507
98,397
32,348
66,049
Sheet
} 1840
9, 51
14
To 15th May, 1840, 17. 10s. per
cwt.
f
13, 15
2
13,313
1841
1842
To 15th Aug., 1840, 11. 10s. per cwt. and 5 per cent.;
since, 31. 13s. 6d. per cwt. and 5 per cent.
Common Eot-
tle Glass
1840
•
·
1841
1842
525,574
501, 177
390,482
2:2,887
310,937
225,633
To 15th May, 1840, 7%. per 189,883
cwt.; since 78. per cwt, and
5 per cent.
103,926
85,957
184,174
143,46
114,109
70,065
82,915
€0,581
Total Nett Revenue collected during the three years ending with 1842 .
Annual Average Nett Revenue of the three years ending with 1842
1,502,595
634,108
SECT. 9.-Paper Manufacture, Books, Newspapers, &c.
Paper. The application of paper to the purposes of writing and
printing, and the fact of its being indispensable to the prosecution of the
latter, render its manufacture of the highest utility and importance.
But, even in a commercial point of view, its value is very considerable.
France, Holland, and Genoa had, for a lengthened period, a decided
superiority in this department. The finest and best paper being made
of linen rags, its quality may be supposed to depend, in a considerable
degree, on the sort of linen usually worn in the country where it is
manufactured; and this circumstance is said to account for the greater
whiteness of the Dutch and Belgian papers as compared with those of
the French and Italians, and still more of the Germans.
The rags
used in the manufacture of writing-paper in Great Britain are collected
at home; but those used in the manufacture of the best printing-paper
are imported principally from Italy, Hamburgh, and the Austrian
States, by way of Trieste.
We believe, however, that it was owing rather to the want of skill
than, as has sometimes been supposed, to the inferior quality of the
linen of this country, that the manufacture of paper was not carried on
with much success in England till a comparatively recent period.
During the 17th century most part of our supply was imported from
the continent, especially from France. The manufacture is said to
748
MANUFACTURES.
have been considerably improved by the French refugees who fled
to this country in 1685. But it is stated in the British Merchant
(vol. ii., p. 266), that hardly any sort of paper, except brown, was
made here previously to the Revolution. In 1690, however, the
manufacture of white paper was attempted; and, within a few years,
most branches were much improved. In 1721 it is supposed that there
were about 300,000 reams of paper annually produced in Great
Britain, which was equal to about two-thirds of the whole consumption.
In 1783 the value of the paper annually manufactured was estimated
at 780,000l. At present, besides making a sufficient quantity of most
sorts of paper for our own use, and for exportation, we annually export
about 100,000l. worth of books. The importation of foreign paper for
British consumption has now nearly ceased. A small quantity of
French paper was used in this country for copperplate printing till
within these few years; but, in this respect, we now surpass the
French, and there is no artist of either country who does not consider
English paper, manufactured according to the latest improvements,
best adapted for prints. The French have, however, always excelled
in the manufacture of very thin letter paper; and a small portion of
this article, and some paper hangings, are now the only articles of
import.
In 1813, Dr. Colquhoun estimated the value of paper annually pro-
duced in Great Britain at 2,000,000l.; but Mr. Stevenson, an incom-
parably better authority upon such subjects, estimated it at only half
this sum. From information obtained from those engaged in the trade,
we incline to think that the total annual value of the paper manufac-
tured in the United Kingdom, exclusive of the duty, may at present
amount to about 1,800,000l. or 2,000,0001. There are about 700
paper-mills in England, and from 70 to 80 in Scotland. The number
in Ireland is comparatively inconsiderable. Of these mills, we believe
very few have lately been unemployed. About 30,000 individuals are
supposed to be directly engaged in the trade; and, besides the workmen
employed in the mills, the paper manufacture creates a considerable
demand for the labour of millwrights, machinists, smiths, carpenters,
iron and brass founders, wire-workers, woollen manufacturers, and
others, in the machinery and apparatus of the mills. Some parts of
these are very powerful, and subject to severe strain; and other parts
are complicated and delicate, and require continual renovation. Owing
to this, the manufacture is of much greater importance, as a source of
employment, than might at first be supposed, or than it would seem to
have been formerly considered by Government, who loaded it, down to
a very recent period, with an oppressive excise duty.
During the present century this manufacture has been signally pro-
moted by the combined influence of science, ingenuity, and mechanical
skill. These have been successfully exerted in the preparation of the
pulp; the conversion of the pulp into paper; and the provision of
materials and in none has their influence been more remarkable than
in the last. This is evident from the fact, that while the manufacture
has been more than doubled since 1820, the demand for continental
rags and other foreign materials has actually been reduced within that
time, in consequence of the immense home supply we derive from sub-
PAPER, BOOKS, ETC.
749
stances previously regarded as worthless, and treated as refuse. The
sweepings of cotton and flax mills, owing to the grease and dirt with
which they are mixed up, were, until within these few years, of no value
whatever, except as manure. But means having been discovered of
rendering them clean and white, they are now made into very good
paper; and the neighbourhood of Manchester has, in consequence, be-
come a principal seat of the manufacture. The chemical and me-
chanical processes by which these materials are purified, whitened, and
made available for the production of paper, without their strength being
impaired, are not only exceedingly interesting in themselves, but are of
great national importance; and, by reducing the cost of paper, have
done ten times more to lower the price of books, and diffuse literature,
than all the efforts of all the societies that ever existed.
The first idea of a machine for converting pulp into paper, originated
in France, the inventor being an ingenious workman of the name of
Louis Robert. A model of this machine was brought to England by
M. Leger Didot; and though at first it was far from giving an assur-
ance of success, it sufficed to induce English capitalists and engineers,
particularly Mr. Donkin, to follow up the scheme; and in the course
of a few years they brought it to a high degree of perfection. Mr.
Dickinson, of Hertfordshire, one of the most intelligent mechanists and
extensive paper manufacturers in England, has invented a machine of a
different construction for the same purpose, and has also introduced
various subsidiary improvements into the manufacture. One of these
consists in the application of air-pumps to the process, by the action of
which, he produces a partial vacuum under a portion of the wire on
which the pulp is in the act of settling, and thus very much accelerates
its consolidation; in fact, prepares it almost instantaneously for the first
mechanical pressure. The result is all but miraculous. By the agency
of a great deal of complicated machinery, so admirably contrived as to
produce the intended effect with unerring precision and in the very best
manner, a process, which in the old system of paper-making occupied
about three weeks, is performed in as many minutes! A continuous
stream of fluid pulp is, within this brief space of time, and the short
distance of 30 feet, not only made into paper, but actually dried,
polished, and every separate sheet cut round the edges, and rendered
completely ready for use! The paper manufactured by this wonderful
combination of intelligence and power is, at once, moderate in price,
and, for most purposes, superior in quality to what was formerly made
by hand. The same gentleman some time since made an important
improvement in the paper manufacture, on the principle of veneering in
cabinet work. He makes two webs of paper, each by a separate pro-
cess; and by laying them together while in an early stage, they are
rendered inseparable by the pressure to which they are subjected. This
paper is used in copperplate printing; and by adopting a peculiar
method of preparing the pulp, and selecting a finer rag for the web
which forms the face of the paper, it is much better calculated for
taking a fine impression. Its introduction has put a total stop to the
importation of that species of French paper, which was formerly used in
considerable quantities by copperplate printers. Probably, however,
the most ingenious of the modern inventions in the manufacture is that
750
MANUFACTURES.
by which Mr. Dickinson has contrived, without increasing the thick-
ness of paper, to embody parallel coloured threads in its fabric. This
novel description of paper is now used in the printing of exchequer bills
and postage envelopes, for which it is admirably fitted, inasmuch as it
cannot be counterfeited, except by employing similar machinery, which it
would cost a great deal to construct, and be all but impossible to conceal.
Duty on Paper.-Previously to 1836, all writing, coloured, or
wrapping papers, cardboards, and pasteboards, were denominated first
class paper, and paid 3d. per lb. duty (28s. a cwt.); unless manufac-
tured wholly of tarred ropes, without the tar being previously extracted,
in which case the paper was denominated second class, and paid 1½d.
per lb. (14s. a cwt.) Millboards and scaleboards, made of the same
materials as second class paper, paid 24d. per lb. (21s. a cwt.) duty.
This duty varied on the different descriptions of first class paper from
about 25 or 30 per cent. on the finest, to about 200 per cent. on the
coarsest! A duty so oppressive seriously obstructed the progress of lite-
rature and the diffusion of knowledge, and led to the commission of frauds,
which all the vigilance of the officers, and the endless multiplication of
checks and penalties, were unable to prevent. But, laying out of view
for a moment the oppressiveness of the duty, could anything be more
absurd than to interdict the manufacturer of third class wrapping paper
(for it is to him that the regulation applied) from using any other material
than tarred ropes? After the peace, and the very general introduction
of iron cables, tarred ropes advanced considerably in price; but as the
use of any other material would have occasioned an increase of 14s. a
cwt. of duty, advantage could not be taken of this circumstance; so that
the excise regulation, without putting one sixpence into the pockets of
Government, obliged the public to pay an increased price for an inferior
article.
But though the exigencies of the public service have not permitted
the total repeal of the duties on paper, they have been most materially
lowered. In 1836, the duty on first-class papers was reduced to the
same level as that on papers of the second class, or from 3d. per lb. to
14d. per lb.; the manufacturers of the coarser descriptions of paper
being at the same time relieved from the restraints under which they
had previously laboured, and allowed to use any material in the manu-
facture which they may judge best. The oppressive duty of låd. per
square yard laid on paper when printed or stained, over and above the
ordinary duty on paper, was then also repealed, and the various acts
relating to paper were combined into a single statute.
At present,
therefore, the same rate of duty is laid on all descriptions of
paper, so
that there is no longer any room for cheating the revenue by the sub-
stitution of superior for inferior paper, and, consequently, no necessity
for exercising so great a degree of vexatious surveillance over the
manufacture as formerly prevailed.
The influence of this wise and judicious measure in reducing the
price of paper used in printing and writing, has since been decidedly
manifested. The abolition of the discriminating duty on stained or
printed paper has, also, been of material importance. The reduction of
price it occasioned, enabled a much larger class of persons to get their
apartments papered; and has been in this way productive, not only of
PAPER, BOOKS, ETC.
751
a great additional demand for paper and labour, but of a great increase
of comfort and cleanliness.
This measure, also, in part obviated the injustice done to authors and
publishers, by compelling them to pay a duty on the paper used in
printing books previously to their publication; and consequently, before
it can be known whether the books will sell. When they do not sell,
the tax has obviously to be paid out of the capital of the authors or
publishers, and the loss arising from an unsuccessful publishing specu-
lation is increased by its amount. It is true that every duty on paper,
how limited soever, operates in this way, and is, therefore, objectionable
on principle; but the hardship inflicted on an unsuccessful author by
the existing paper duty being only half its former amount, is not nearly
so much felt, and is, perhaps, a useful restraint on the cacoethes scribendi.
As respects revenue, too, the measure has been successful. In 1835,
the nett produce of the duties on paper, in the United Kingdom,
amounted to 796,3057., and notwithstanding they were reduced a half
in the following year, they amounted, in 1845, to 758,9827., showing
that in the interval the manufacture had nearly doubled! In truth and
reality, however, it has done more than this; for, owing to the pre-
mium (for so it may be called) which the present postage regulations
give to the use of thin and light paper, the increase in its production
has been much greater than we might infer from the increase of
weight. Indeed the probability is that, but for the change in the
postage system, the revenue from paper would have been greater now
(1846) than before the reduction of the duties.
Books.—It would be inconsistent alike with the objects and limits of
this work to enter upon any investigations with respect to the influence
of literature, or of the diffusion of books and periodical publications.
But, apart from their importance in other respects, the production of
such works is an important branch of industry; and furnishes employ-
ment, directly and indirectly, to a great number of persons.
London is the great centre of the British book trade; the number
of new publications that issue from its presses being far greater than
all that appear in the rest of the empire. Within the course of the
last 40 years, however, many very important works have been published
in Edinburgh; but the latter, as well as those that appear in Oxford,
Cambridge, Glasgow, &c., are principally disposed of by the London
trade. With the exception of the school-books published by the Com-
missioners of Education, very few new works appear in Ireland, and it is
comparatively destitute of booksellers and of circulating libraries. The
booksellers of Edinburgh, and of all the provincial towns, have agents in
London, to whom they consign copies of every work they publish; and to
whom, also, they address their orders for copies of such new or old works
as they have occasion for. The London booksellers, who act as agents for
those in the country, are in the habit of regularly despatching parcels to
their correspondents on the last day of each month, with the magazines
and other monthly publications; but if any new work of interest appears
in the interim, or orders be received from the country that cannot be con-
veniently deferred to the end of the month, a parcel is immediately for-
warded by railway. The booksellers of Edinburgh and Dublin act as
752
MANUFACTURES.
agents for those of London, and supply the Scotch and Irish country
trade with the metropolitan publications.
The price of new works is fixed by the publishers, who grant a deduc-
tion to the retail dealers of from 20 to 25 per cent. on the price of
quartos, and from 25 to 30 per cent. on that of octavos, and those of
smaller size. The credit given by the publishers to the retailers varies
from seven to twelve months; a discount being allowed for prompt
payment at the rate of 5 per cent. per annum.
From inquiries we have made with much care and labour, we find
that at an average of the four years ending with 1842, 2,149 volumes of
new works, and 755 volumes of new editions and reprints (exclusive of
pamphlets and periodical publications), were annually published in
Great Britain; and we have farther ascertained that the publication
price of the former was 8s. 94d., and of the latter 8s. 2d. a volume.
Hence, if we suppose the average impression of each work to have been
750 copies, it will be seen that the total value of the new works.
annually produced, if they were sold at their publication price, would
be 708,4981. 8s. 9d., and that of the new editions and reprints,
231,2187. 15s. We believe, however, that if we estimate the price at
which the entire impressions of both descriptions of works actually sell
at 4s. a volume, we shall not be far from the mark; and if so, the real
value of the books annually produced will be 435,600l. a-year. Sub-
joined is a summary of these results.

New Works.
Reprints and New Editions.
Years.
No. of Vols.
Value at Publication
Price.
No. of Vols.
Value at Publication
Price.
£. S. d.
£. s. d.
1839
2,302
966 11 2
773
296 7 8
1840
2,091
943 3 5
821
327 16 10
1841
2,011
902 5
9
741
314 12 my
1842
2,193
968
2
2 6
684
295 9 6
Totals
•
8,597
3,780
2 10
3,019
1,234 6 7
Average of the four years
2,149
945
0 81
755
308 11 72
Average price of each vol.
0 8 94
08 2
s. d.
750 copies of 2,149 vols. at 8 9
of 755
£. s. d.
708,498 8 9
8 2
231,218 15 0
of 2,904
4 0
435,600 0 0
We regret that no estimate can be formed of the number or price of
the pamphlets that annually make their appearance.
Periodical Publications.—In a mercantile point of view periodical
literature (excluding newspapers and books published in parts) is of
more importance than most persons would probably be at first disposed
to admit. We have inquired with some care into the subject, and we
are inclined to think that the following estimate of its extent and value
in 1846 may be relied on with pretty considerable confidence.
Monthly Magazines.-These, in the united kingdom, amount, in-
cluding all descriptions, to about 200: and taking their average price
PAPER, BOOKS, ETC.
753
at Is. 2d., and their average sale at 1,500 copies, their produce will be
17,500l. a-month, and 210,000l. a-year.
Quarterly Journals.-There are about 30 of these; and taking
the average price of each at 5s., and their average sale at 2,000 copies,
they will produce 15,000l. a-quarter, and 60,000l. a-year. Hence,
supposing these estimates to be nearly accurate, the annual produce of
the sale of periodical publications (exclusive of what they yield by
advertisements) will amount to about 270,000l.
Newspapers.-In modern times the distinguishing feature of our
literature is, undoubtedly, the newspaper, and especially the daily, press.
To such perfection has the method of conducting the daily journals
been carried, that debates that occur in either house of parliament are
accurately and very fully reported in the morning papers of the ensuing
day, and sometimes in the evening papers of the same day. These,
indeed, are not unfrequently published within two or three hours of the
termination of the debate; and being carried to the country by the
railway coaches, and other speedy conveyances, the report of a debate
ending in the House of Lords or Commons at 4 o'clock in the morning,
may be perused at Birmingham or Bristol, above 100 miles off, by 12
o'clock of the same day! The other departments of the daily journals;
such as communications from foreign parts; criticisms in various
branches of science and literature; and the comments of the editors on
the events of the day, are, for the most part, written with great ability;
and though strongly tinctured with party prejudices, and but little to
be depended on when party interests are concerned, they discover a grasp
of mind, an extent and accuracy of information, and a correctness of
style, that are really astonishing, considering the haste with which they
have to be composed, and the little time given for revision. Generally
speaking, the periodical press of Great Britain is decidedly superior
to that of every other country, and displays much practical good
sense, and, with some few exceptions, the most praiseworthy respect
for the decencies of private life, and for the great principles that form
the foundations of society.
Down to a comparatively recent period the Scotch newspaper press
was alike inefficient and degraded. This was not a consequence of any
indifference on the part of the public to newspaper discussions, but was
wholly ascribable to the corrupt state of the court of justiciary. (See
ante, p. 226.) Full scope was given to the panegyrists of the govern-
ment of the day, how worthless soever it might be; but any one who
happened to question its merits, or who ventured to espouse or recom-
mend any doctrine or theory not approved by the Lord Advocate for
the time being, was, in fact, at the mercy of the latter, and might be
banished almost at pleasure. The servility of the judges, and the
facility of packing juries, afforded the agents of Government a ready
means of crushing any obnoxious writer; and, in fact, it may be said
that Scotland had no newspaper press, or none worthy of the name, till
after the close of last war.
Exclusive of their vast influence over public opinion newspapers
have become an important commercial article. In 1845 the gross
produce of the stamp duty levied on newspapers in the United Kingdom
VOL. I.
*
3 c
754
MANUFACTURES.
was 327,6827.: the gross produce of the sale may be estimated at 43
times this sum; so that on this hypothesis the newspapers produced in
that year must have cost the public about 1,474,570/ sterling, exclu-
sive of the sums paid for advertisements.
Newspapers, in London, are sold by the publishers to newsmen or
newsvenders, by whom they are distributed to the purchasers in town
and country. The newsmen, who are the retailers, receive, for their
business of distribution, a regulated allowance. The papers sold to the
public at 5d., which form the great mass of London newspapers, are
sold to the newsmen in what are technically called quires. Each
quire consists of 27 papers, and is sold to the newsmen for 8s. 9d.; so
that the newsman's gross profit on 27 papers is 2s. 6d. In some in-
stances, where newspapers are sent by the post, d. additional on each
paper is charged by the newsmen to their country customers. Some
of the clerks of the Post-office, called clerks of the roads, used to be
considerable news-agents; but this, we believe, is no longer the case.
Previously to 1836 the stamp duty on a newspaper was rather under
34d. (4d. 20 per cent.); but it was then reduced to ld. nett.
single paper being sold to the newsmen at 4d., the sum which is
received by the newspaper proprietors for paper, printing, and the
expenses of their establishments, is 3d. for each copy.
A
The subjoined statement shows how papers are disposed of at present
to the different classes of dealers.

Papers at
Wholesale Newsmen,
per 27 Papers.
Retail Newsmen,
per 27 Papers.
Retail Newsmen,
per single Copy.
Cost.
Profit on Sale.
d.
s. d.
5
8 9
s. d.
2 6
Cost.
s. d.
9 0
Profit on Sale.
Cost.
Profit on Sale.
8. d.
2 3
d.
d.
4
1
Advertisements form a considerable source of profit to newspapers;
and without this source, some of those that are most widely circulated
could not support their great expenditure. Each advertisement is
charged, without distinction of length, with a duty of 1s. 6d., and in
1845 this duty produced 146,3637. nett in Great Britain, and 10,9117.
in Ireland. We have no means of ascertaining exactly the portion of
this sum derived from newspapers, as distinguished from other publi-
cations, but we believe we should under-estimate it by taking it at four-
fifths of the whole. The charges of newspapers for advertisements are
proportioned to their length, and to the character of the newspaper
itself. The sum received for them may be taken, inclusive of the
duty, at above,340,000l.
Newspaper stamps are obtained at the Stamp Office, where the paper
is sent by the stationers to be stamped. The stamps are paid for before
the paper is returned. The duty on advertisements, which is also
under the management of the Commissioners of Stamps, is paid
monthly; and, for securing these payments, the printer and two sure-
ties become bound in moderate sums.
MALT, BREWERIES, AND DISTILLERIES.
755
A Return specifying the Aggregate Number of Stamps issued for Newspapers in
England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland, in 1842, 1843, and 1844.

England.
Scotland.
Wales.
Ireland.
Years.
Stamps
at ld.
Stamps
at d.
Stamps
at 1d.
Stamps
at td.
Stamps
at ld.
Stamps
at 1.
Stamps
at ld.
Stamps
at td.
1842 50,145,912 1,473,664 4,977,344
1843 51,282,900 1,893,682 5,293,726
1844 53,933,848 3,738,128 5,727,585
443,550
242,150
440,200 10,830 6,063,906 35,750
456,925 2,000 6,452,072 142,580
317,620 479,700 7,000 6,769,067 249,550
The Stamps at d. are for Supplements.
SECT. 10. Malt, Breweries, and Distilleries.
THE establishments connected with the conversion of grain into
fermented and distilled liquors are of much greater magnitude in
Great Britain than in any other country. Owing to the want of wine
as a native product, and to the heavy duties that have always been laid
upon it when imported, the common beverage of the great bulk of the
people has always consisted of fermented or distilled liquors, obtained
either from malted or from raw grain. The manufacture of malt,
beer, and spirits is important, not only from the amount of capital
employed in the business, and the value of the products, but also
because the duties on them constitute an important item of the public
revenue.
Malt. The process followed in the manufacture of malt is very
simple; and has been carried on for a very long period nearly in the
same manner in which it is conducted at present. It is succinctly
described in the Report of the Commissioners of Excise Inquiry on
Malt.
Description of the Process of Malting." Barley is the grain
generally used, but oats and other grain, and pulse, viz., beans and
peas, are sometimes used for the purpose; and the process commences
with wetting or steeping the same in an oblong or square vessel called
a cistern. Sometimes the grain is first put into the cistern and then
covered with water, at other times the water is first put in and the
grain added afterwards.
"Very soon after the grain has been covered with water, it begins
to swell and increase in bulk, and continues to do so pretty regularly
until it reaches its maximum. The amount of the swell depends not
only upon the length of time the grain remains in the steep covered
with water (which by law can in no case be less than forty hours), but
also upon its quality, and state of dryness before put in steep, and
must of course be expected to vary; but the law presumes that the
swell will amount to 17 bushels for every 82 bushels before
steeped.
"The grain, after being steeped, and the water drawn off, is thrown
out of the cistern into a square or oblong utensil called a couch-frame,
in which it is required by law to remain for the space of 26 hours at
the least. Immediately after the expiration of 26 or 30 hours, as the
case may be, the grain in operation is said to be on the floor; and
3 c 2
756
MANUFACTURES.
during the time it remains on the floor it undergoes a variety of
changes.
"Ist. The grain at a certain period (which varies according to
circumstances) becomes moist, and emits a rather agreeable smell, and
soon after this period the roots begin to make their appearance.
"2d. The acrospire or future stem begins to swell, and gradually
advances under the husk from the same end where the roots are
observed to spring, till it nearly reaches the other extremity of the
grain.
"3d. The kernel, as the acrospire advances through it, becomes
friable, and sweet-tasted, and the whole art of malting depends upon
the proper regulation of these changes. In a day or two after the
grain has been thrown out of the cistern, the roots begin to appear at
the end of each kernel in the shape of a small white protuberance,
which soon divides itself into distinct fibres or rootlets. The grain
about this time appears moist on the outside, which is called sweating,
and which usually goes off in a day or two.
"In about a day, generally, after the spreading of the roots, the
rudiments of the future stem may, by splitting the grain, be seen to
lengthen. It rises from the same extremity with the root, and,
advancing with the husk, would at last issue from the opposite end of
the grain, and assume the form of a green blade of grass; but the
process of malting is brought to a conclusion some time before the
stem has made such progress as to burst the husk.
"As the germination proceeds, the grain is gradually spread thinner
on the floor; and when the moisture has been in some degree evapo-
rated, and the germination has thereby been checked, it is again
gradually laid thinner to wither. Maltsters differ much in their
manner of working, which is affected also by the state of the weather.
"The grain, having thus germinated to the extent required, is put
upon the kiln, and heat applied by means of a fire, which is regulated
according to circumstances; and when the malt has attained the requi-
site state of dryness, it is thrown off the kiln, the process being then
finished."
The first of the following Tables shows the quantity of malt annually
made in England and Wales, in different years, since 1702, with the
rates of duty charged upon it, and the produce of the duties. There are
similar accounts for Scotland and Ireland; the one commencing with
1793, and the other with 1790.
The manufacture of malt has been carried on in England to a great
extent from a very early period; but it is singular that, notwithstand-
ing the products obtained from it have always formed the principal
beverage of the great bulk of the people, the consumption of malt
varied very little from the beginning of the last century till within the
last half dozen years! This extraordinary result, so different from
what would have been à priori anticipated, is ascribable partly to the
increase of the duties laid on malt, but still more to the greater
increase of those laid on beer, its principal product. No doubt, how-
ever, it has been partly, also, occasioned by the change that has taken
place in the mode of living, by the introduction and universal use of
tea, coffee, and other articles, substituted in the place of beer. But the
MALT, BREWERIES, AND DISTILLERIES.
757
increase that has taken place in the consumption of malt since the
reduction of the duty on it in 1822, and the repeal of the beer duty in
1830, seems to prove that the duties were, at least, quite as instru-
mental in checking the consumption as the introduction of the articles
alluded to.
Breweries.-The establishments in Great Britain for the manufac-
ture of beer, particularly those in the metropolis, are, many of them,
of great magnitude, and employ a large amount of capital. The latter
principally produce porter, the favourite beverage of the Londoners.
This is a peculiar species of beer, of a bitterish taste, and a dark colour,
both of which it derives from its being prepared from malt dried at a
high temperature, and in some degree charred. Ale is produced from
pale malt, or malt dried at a very low temperature. Edinburgh,
Burton-on-Trent, and several other districts of England, are cele-
brated for the superiority of their ale.
Account of the Quantities of Malt charged with Duty in England and Wales, of the
Revenue received thereon, and of the Rates of Duty, in different Years, from 1702 to
1852, both inclusive.

Number
Years. of Bushels of Amount of Duty.
Malt.
Rate of Duty
per Bushel.
Number
Years. of Bushels of
Malt.
Amount of Duty.
Rate of Duty
per Bushel.
1702
12,166,779
1705
27,120,982
1710
19,671,021
1715
24,472,610
£.
313,907 5 0
702,957 11 1
511,954 10 6
635,330 18 6
S.
d.
16.
1803
29,562,038
1804
21,854,111
£.
d.
3,555,06 18 0
4,858,056 9 4
$.
Stock in hand
914,356 0
23. 5d. 4s. 5.
4s. 53d.
1805
21,665,204
4,841,066 15 0
1806
26,€52,425
5,955,716 0 0
1720
25,625,844
665,527 I
9
1807
24,158,843
5,397,635 6 4
1725
27,265,172
707,467 12 3
1808
21,726,415
4,854,698 2 4
1730
28,410,421
736,915 8 0
1809
22,120,584
4,942,771 7 8
1735
25,494,686
651,259 17 3
1810 23,546,346
5,261,362 12 0
1740
22,074,674
573,059 9
7
1811
25,982,749
3,806,251 15 0
1745
24,917,869
645,998 13 5
1812 18,092,965
4,042,716 16 4
1750
29,284,786
758,396 18 I
1813
21,701,356
4,849,419 5 0
1755
27,916,402
722,732 2 5
1814
16.
1815
1760
27,810,971
999,813 11 11
d.
1816
25,320,615
26,246,795
21,158,348
5,657,228 8 4
1817
1761
28,028,960
1,123,040 17 2
9127d.
20,855,566
1818
24,629,838
1765
25,631,086
996,756 19 8
1819
22,612,290
1770
24,452,9€0
950,827 12 6
Stock in hand
1820
1771
21,961,057
1775
24,967,360
1776
854,344 11
6
971,085 8 2
23,336,298 1,024,336 2 5
91d.
23,884,242
1821
26,138,437
1822
26,688,512
1823
24,845, 152
1777
25,814,436
1,004,050 9 3
1824
27,615,383
1778
26,318,736 1,022,950 9 1
1825
29,572,741
1779
25,273,405
1,028,083 1 6
94. 941d.
1826
27,335,971
420,263 8 8
4,311,446 5 1
4,718,360 10 0
3,624,242 8 0
3,203,502 17 6
0
8,560,693 0
3,813,072 7 6
3,530,895 18 8
5,865,606 18 8
4,217,259 13 1
2,509,817 18 4
2,964,024 12 10
3,268,881 3 2
48. 5ąd. 2s. 5d.
28. 5d.
2s. 5d. 3s. 74d.
3s. 7 d.
3s. 7 d. 2s. 7d.
25. 7d.
1827
25,096,337
3,241,610 3 11
1780
30,805,100
1,534,454 14 5
91d. 18. 4td.
1828
30,517,819
3,941,884 19
1
1829
23,428, 135
3,026,133 19 6
1781
26,718,048
1,817,556 7 4
1s. 4td.
1830
26,400,902
3,474,699 16 10
1782
27, 159, 104
1,846,108 11 10
1831
32,963,470
4,257,781 10 10
1783
16,712,114
1,138,782 16 0
1832
31,669,771
4,090,678 15 1
1784
25,796,105
1,745,953 19 8
1833
33,789,010
4,364,413 15 10
1785
26,269,439
1,777,917 15 2
183+
1786
22,074,334 1,493,548 2 3
1835
1787
26,439,578
1,789,780 39
1836
1788
26,048,072
1789
23,509,552
1,763,277 17 8
6
1837
1790
21,976,959
1791
27,070,363
Stock in hand
1,591,463 15
1,487,775 6 0
2,092,191 15 10
46,716 18 3
1838
33,
4,804,612 0
4,351,929
.823.985 4,368,931
1839
33,826,016
} 1s. 44. 18.71d.
1810
36,653,442
1792
27,789,166
1793
23,706,765
1794
24,813,341
2,142,950 12 10
1,604,717 9 9
1,679,222 8 6
1s. 7d. 18. 4td.
1841
30,956,394
is. 4 d.
1842
30,796,262
1843
30,8 1,000
34,449,646 4,449,745 00
36,078,955 4,660,185 0 0
37,196,998
0
33,692,356
8 3
8 8
4,369,193 14 8
4,841,229 13
4,198,460 18 4
0
4,176,742 19
4,189,592 09
2s. 7d. 2s. 7d.
& 5 per cent.
2s. 7d. & 5 per ct.
1795
23,960,822 1,620,515 7 6
1814
31,856,563
4,320,546 8 3
1796
1798
26,143,432
1799
1800
14,049,749
27,282,973 1,846,819 5 9
1797 29,979,110 2,029,349 7 11
1,769,476 13 11
30,805,822 2,083,701 14 0
950,296 18 5
1845
30,508,840
4,737,774 5 4
1846
35,723,774
4,845,050 11 10
1847
30,269,965
1848
31,848,456
1849
33, 161, 128
1801
18,005,786
1,218,455 16 7
1850
34,423,489
0
4,105,363 0
4,310,446 14 0
9
4,498,152 9
4,668,685 9 3
1802
27,432,584
2,175,406 18 41
1851
34,638,214
4,607,807 10 1
Stock in hand
166,633 8 7
1s. 4}d. 2s. 5d.
1952
35,483,623
4,812,466 20
758
MANUFACTURES.
Account of the Quantities of Malt charged with Duty in Scotland, of the Revenue received
thereon, and of the Rates of Duty, in different Years, from 1793 to 1852.

Number Amount
Years. of Bushels of
of Malt.
Duty.
Rate of Duty per Bushel.
£.
1793
1,715,381
58,164
old.
1795
1,692,946
57,419
1800
876,598
29,670
1802
1,716,278
70,527
fjd.
11s. 8 d.
1829
3,712,563
1830
Number Amount
Years. of Bushels of
of Malt.
Duty.
£.
1825 3,925,847 462,144
1826 2,726,555 335,574
1827 | 2,714,073 335,489
1828 3,867,159 478,508
457,588
4,101,946 505,651
Rate of Duty per Bushel.
Barley.
ys. 7d.
Bigg.
25.
In hand
20,38.)
1831
4,186,955 515,579
1803
1,594,284
137,878
11s. 83d.
1832
3,714,334 458,096
Barley.
1804
1,091,377 | 197,587
3s. 94d.
Bigg.
3s. ltd.
1833
1834
In hand
34,808
1805
1,136,112206,935
1810
820,294 149,206
4,302,036 530,358
4,491,292 553,567
1835 4,45,553 551,096
1836 4,903,187 611,910
1837 4,563,045 578,515
1811
1,012,236
184,882
1838
1812
934,452
169,870
1839
1813
685,244
123,705
1840
1814
1,266,852 231,776
4,419,141 557,913
4,360,363 552,107
4,397,304 572,544
1815
1,297,777 | 236,839
3s. old.
Bs, ltd.
1841
4,058,249 539,572
cent.
2s. 7d. 2s. 7d. 2s. 2d. & 5 per
& 5 per cent.
23.7d.& 5 per ct. 2s, & 5 per cent.
1816
1,162,024 | 164,743 {
3s. 94d.
3s. 1xd.,
1842
3,786,476 503,829
Is. 83d.
18. 8 d.
1817
1,093,678
£4,599
1s. Ed.
Is. 8 d.
1818
1,390,515
120,274
1819
1,454,320
179,2.6
1s. 8d. 88.74d.
1s. 6d. 38.74d.
1843
1844 3,889,442 516,052
1845 4,353,938 577.498
1846
3,618,606 481,311
4,584,667 609,155
In hand
17,739
1847
3,650,445 485,531
1820
1,182,208 | 212,282
3s. 7 d.
1821
1,305,659 231,606
3s. 74d. 3s. ld.
|3s. ld. 2s. 10d.
1848
4,026,937 534,543
1849
4,197,929 558,457
1822
1,403,177 183,032 3s. 7 d. 25.7d.
28. 10d.
1850
4,639,159 618,647
15. 9. 25.
94d.
1851
1623 1,616,590
1824 2,788,608 335,5
198,696
335,505
2s. 7d.
23.
4,102,245 546,723
1852 3,931,790 524,728
Account of the Quantities of Malt charged with Duty in Ireland, of the Revenue received
thereon, and of the Rates of Duty, in different Years, from 1790 to 1852.
Years.
Number of
Bushels of Malt.
Amount of
Duty.
Rate of Duty
per Bushel.
Years.
Number of
Bushels of Malt.
Amount of
Duty.
Rate of Duty
per Bushel,
£.
1790
4,607,953
135,496
7d.
1822
1,756,31
Z.
275,614
1793
5,039,899
148,197
1823
1,702,305
217,302
3s. 63d. 2s. 7d.
2s. 7d.
1794
4,873,984
186,315
ped.
1824
2,107,752
276,255
Stock in hand
17,672
1825
2,706,862
356,108
1795
4,697,153
210,051
1s. 3d.
1826
2,405,253
310,808
Stock in hand
86,761
1827
1,803,091
232,899
1796
4,956,594
306,070
1928
2,409,223
311,192
1798
4,413,817
313,661
Is. 5d.
1829
2,012,079
259,894
Stock in hand
19,768
1799
3,311,463
253,170
1s. 6d.
1830
1,959,606
251,646
Stock in hand
12,226
1831
2,101,844
263,208
Barley.
2s. Jul.
25.
Bigg.
1800
681,340
52,090
1832
2,006,350
25.),278
1802
3,611,579
276,115
1839
1,984,849
245,987
1803
3,553,762
283,584 1s. 6d. is. 94d.
1834
2,204,653
272,201
Stock in hand
81,162
1835
2,353,645
288,602
1804
2,807,535
270,036
1s. 91d. 2s. 34d.
1836
2,287,635
233,357
Stock in hand
28,689
1837
2,275,347
286,470
1805
2,766,867
317,299
28. 34d.
1838
2,262,440
284,954
1806
2,814,418
334, 105
28. 34d. 2s. 6d.
1839
1,744,550
218,503
Stock in hand
22,698
1807
2,372,293
302,251
28. ofl.
1840
1,406,116
178,703-
1810
2,522,543
321,425
1811
2,681,842
341,723
1841
1812
2,206,206
281,117
28. 64d.
1,149,692
151,210 {
28. 7d.
2s. 7d. &
5 per cent.
2s. 7d. &
5 per cent.
2s. 2d.
and
5 per cent.
29. und
5 per cent.
1813
2,967,603
428,830 2s. 6d. 3s. 341.
1842
1,268,656
1€8,009
Stock in hand
63,406
1843
1,184,278
157,048
1814
3,156,175
522,813
3s. 3 d.
1844
1,441, 173
190,462
1815
2,664,466
482,685 3s. 3 d. 4s. 5d.
18:5
1,684,112
222,761
Stock in hand
122,233
1846
1,788,644
237,057
1816
1,879,721
359,809 48. 5d.
2s. 4d.
1847
1,387,405
101,797
1817
1,385,486
164,771
2s. 44d.
1849
1,670,519
222,248
1818
1,783,636
211,930
1849
1,576,403
210,180
1819
1,742,444
207,036
1850
1,682,102
224,108
1820
1,793,671
319,684
3s. 63d.
1851
1,596,956
212,757
Stock in hand
43,974
1852
1,657,073
221,303
1821
1,049,315
347,424
A duty was imposed on the beer produced at public breweries so
early as 1660, and was continued down to 1830, when it was repealed.
We subjoin an
MALT, BREWERIES, AND DISTILLERIES.
759
Account showing the Quantity of the different Sorts of Beer made respectively in
England and Scotland, in each Year, from 1820 to 1830, with the Rates of Duty
on each, and the Annual Produce of the Duties.
ENGLAND.
SCOTLAND.



Years.
Strong Beer. Table Beer.
1820
1821
1822.
1823
1824
Inter-
mediate
Beer.
Barrels. Barrels. Barrels.
5,666,917 1,518,950
5,969,891 1,528,575
6,306,981
1,570,043
6,395,835 1,483,045
6,660,968
1825 7,014,395 1,606,899
1826 6,67,133 1,603,653 7,707
1827 6,403,302 1,532,308 17,153
1828
6,570,310 1,530,419 62,617
1829
5,961,048 1,380,469 55,498
1830 3,570,332 1,066,262 41,834
Amount of Duty.
Strong
Beer.
Table
Beer.
Inter-
mediate
Beer.
Amount of
Duty.
£. 3. d.
Barrels.
Barrels.
Barrels.
£. s. d.
2,838,149 1 1
123,114
207,983
Nil.
80,972 6 0
2,987,366 8 6
128,939
219,546
85,060 4 0
3,153,861 5 7
128,107
227,478
85,117 12 0
7,016
3,190,08 12 8
119,292
226,332
80,532 8 0
1,544,048
15,660
3,326,277 14 2
118,813
239,956
81,894 10 0
6,160
3,495,597 9 1
133,403
264,035
91,731 2 2
3,268,655 99
122,
158
271,335
79,940 0 I
3,131,662 6 0
112,067
241,293
72,877 0 10
3,222,807 2 11
2,923,118 15
118,943
247,443
76,984 16 8
111,071
229,384
71,786 19 5
75,262
178,011
The Rates of Duty were, throughout this whole period, on Strong Beer, 9s. 10d.; on Table ditto, 1s. 11d.; and on
Intermediate ditto, 4s. 11d, per Barrel. The Beer Duty did not extend to Ireland.
The beer duties having ceased in 1830, there are no means of
determining the quantities that have been brewed in the interval.
There can, however, be no doubt of their having been materially
augmented. The increased consumption of malt, more than three-
fourths of which is used by brewers and victuallers, proves that such
is the fact. About 2,000,000 barrels of beer are annually produced
by the great porter breweries of London. The largest of these esta-
blishments belongs to Messrs. Barclay, Perkins, and Co., being, in all
respects, framed on the most gigantic scale. It formerly belonged to
Mr. Thrale, the friend of Dr. Johnson; but, since his death, it has
been greatly enlarged.
The beer brewed in private families for their own use has been
always exempted from all charges on account of duty, except that on
malt. But, instead of being an advantage, this exemption was one of
the most objectionable parts of the beer duty. Persons in the middle
and lower ranks of life, particularly those resident in towns, have no
facilities for private brewing; so that, in point of fact, the exemption.
redounded to the advantage of few except the rich and the great, who
evaded the duty, while it fell with its full weight on most others. It
is astonishing that an unjust monopoly of this sort should have been
tolerated for so long a period.
Account of the Number of Brewers and Retailers of Beer in England, Scotland,
and Ireland respectively, in 1843 and 1844.

ENGLAND.
SCOTLAND.
IRELAND.
1843 1844 1843 1844 1843 1844
Brewers of Strong Beer not exceeding 20 barrels.
Ditto above 20 and not above 50
8,106
7,820
64
12
4
8,724
8,401
21
1
1
50
100
100
1,000
9,687
9,401
29
29
6
15,607
16,129
155
147
33
30
1,000
1,488
1,502
82
83
66
70
Brewers of Table Reer
252
•
Retail Brewers under 5 Geo. IV.
•
217
47
31
4
5
c. 54
11
12
27
81
1
1
Sellers of Strong Beer only, not being Brewers
Beer Retailers whose premises are rated under
201. per annum
1,041
1,021
17
12
118
131
39,614
39,672
14,396
Ditto 201. and upwards
•
•
18,248
18,423
1,117
14,691
1,159
11,806
1,212
12,304
1,210
Retailers of Beer, Cider, or Perry, under the 4
Will. IV. c. 64, and 4 & 5 Will. IV. c. 85
31,212
31,745
•
760
MANUFACTURES.
The beer duty did not extend to Ireland; but it would seem, from
the account of the quantity of malt used in that country by brewers,
that the quantity of beer produced in it must have been about double
that produced in Scotland. Dublin porter enjoys a pretty high repu-
tation.
The brewers of beer being subject to licence duties, varying accord-
ing to the quantity they produce, their number is exactly known. This,
also, is the case with the retailers of beer.
Distilleries.—The distilleries of Great Britain and Ireland are not
less, if they be not more, important than the breweries. Malt liquor
has always been the favourite drink of the bulk of the people of Eng-
land; but they also consume, particularly in the metropolis and other
great towns, large quantities of gin. Whiskey has been, for a length-
ened period, the favourite or national beverage of Scotland and Ireland.
It were well, perhaps, for the public, that the consumption of ardent
spirits were diminished; and repeated attempts have been made, by the
imposition of heavy duties, and otherwise, to bring this about. But
these attempts have not, in any instance, been successful. Whenever
the duty is carried beyond reasonable limits, it gives rise to smuggling;
and, without in any degree lessening the evil of drunkenness, it brings
the law into contempt, and enables those who despise its enactments to
undersell the fair trader. The truth of these statements has been proved
by the most comprehensive experience, and is now, indeed, almost
universally admitted. The existing duties on spirits—in so far, at least,
as Scotland and Ireland are concerned-seem to be on a very reason-
able footing.
I. Account of the Number of Distillers, Rectifiers, and of the Dealers in, and
Retailers of, Spirits, in England, Scotland, and Ireland respectively, in 1843
and 1844.
ENGLAND.
Scotland.
IRELAND.

1843 1844 1843 1844 1843 1844
Distillers and Rectifiers
95
95
186
176
90
84
Dealers in Spirits, not being Retailers.
•
2,724
2,755
425
423
807
317
Retailers of Spirits whose premises are rated
under 107. per annum
15,250
15,125
9,973
10,150
8,618
9,002
Ditto at 107. and under 201.
19,723
19,873
4.038
4,126
2,625
2,668
201.
251.
3,300
3,408
329
344
268
270
""
251.
801.
301.
2,378
2,394
184
198
157
167
401.
3,736
3,751
209
212
251
237
40%.
5OZ.
2,322
2,354
98
94
140
134
501. and upwards
6,221
6,332
263
278
229
213
II. Account of the Number of Gallons of Native Proof Spirits on which Duty was paid for
Home Consumption in the different portions of the United Kingdom, with the Rate per Gal-
lon, and Amount of Duty, in the Years 1843, 1844, and 1845.

ENGLAND.
SCOTLAND.
IRELAND.
The United Kingdom.
Rate
Total
Gallons. per
Gall.
Amount of
Duty.
s. d.
£.
s. d.
Rate
Total
per
Gallons.
Gall.
3. d.
Rate
Amount of Total
Duty. Gallons. per
Gall.
Amount of
Duty.
Total
Gallons.
Amount of
Duty.
£.
s. d.
s. d.
£.
d.
£. s. d.
38
1843 7,724,051 7 10 3,025,253 6 25,593,798 3 8 1,025,529 12 85,546,483
and
28
1844 8,234,410 7 10 3,225,155 13 45,922,948 8 8 1,085,873 16 06,451,137 2 8
1845 9,076,381 7 10 3,554,915 17 106,441,011 3 81,180,852 0 47,605,196 28 1,014,026 28 23,122,588 5,749,794 0 10
852,418 11 4 18,864,332 4,903,201 10 2
860,151 12 0 20,608,525 5,171,181
1
+
HATS, SOAP, ETC.
761
III. An Account of the Number of Proof Gallons of Rum, distinguishing West India,
East India, and Foreign; and of Brandy, Geneva, and other Foreign, Colonial, or
Jersey Spirits Imported in 1852; of the Quantities upon which Duty has been Paid
for Home Consumption, the Quantities Exported, and the Quantities Shipped as Stores,
and used by the Navy, during the same Year; with the Quantities of each Sort
remaining in Bond on the 5th day of January, 1853.

Rum :
'United Kingdom.
Quantities
Imported.
Quantities
Retained for
Home Con-
sumption.
Quantities
Exported
as Mer-
chandise.
Quantities
shipped as
Stores.
Quantities
delivered
for the use
Quantities
remaining
in Bond,
in the United
Kingdom,
of the Navy-5th January,
1853.
Of British Possessions, viz.-
West India and Mauritius
East India
•
Proof Galls. Proof Galls.
Proof Galls.
Proof Galls. | Proof Galls. | Proof Galls.
5,077,683
307,403
2,795,508
46,468
57,612
1,600,625
99,831
152,013
4,869,863
164,787
25,068
39,618
150,193
188,886
79,928
68,636
Foreign
105,138
96
245,699
419
::
44,678
All sorts
5,490,224 2,899,681
2,199,997
205,246
Brandy
3,959,452
1,924,395
1,225,074
104,883
191,631
1,236
5,133,370
3,199,592
Geneva
185,356
26,232
119,150
14,600
68,033
Other Foreign and Colonial Spirits.
Spirits mixed in Bond.
30,582
11,957
19,319
83
52,261
48,728
76
17,450
Spirits of Heligoland.
3,991
3,991
5,859
:
3,968
Spirits of the Channel Islands (Im-
ported previously to 8 & 9 Vict. cap.
65, which places these Spirits under
the Excise)
Total
9,669,605 4,872,118 3,612,268 324,888
192,867 8,474,674
IV. An Account of the Number of Gallons of Foreign Wine Imported, specifying the
varieties thereof; of the Quantities upon which Duty has been Paid for Home Con-
sumption, and the Quantities Exported; the Quantities retained for Home Consump-
tion, after deducting the Amount Exported subsequently to the Payment of Duty,
during the same Year; with the Quantities of each Sort remaining in Bond on the 5th
day of January, 1852.

Quantities
Exported
Quantities
retained for
Home Con-
sumption after
deducting
the Amount
Exported
Quantities remaining in Warehouse
under Bond, in the United Kingdom,
on 5th January, 1852.
subsequently At London.
to the Payment
At other
Places.
Total.
United Kingdom.
Quantities
Imported.
Quantities
upon which
Duty
has been
Paid.
as Merchan-
dise.
of Duty.
Wines, viz. :-
Gallons.
Gallons.
Gallons.
Gallons.
Gallons.
Gallons.
Gallons.
Cape
407,162
234,795
3,023
234,672
285,663
210,676
496,339
French
Portugal
Spanish
Madeira
764,935
468,488
142,064
447,556
345,664
231,877
577,541
•
3,101,031
3,904,978
2,614,578
313,175
2,524,775
2,921,188
1,554,830
4,476,018
2,669,525
886,147
2,533,384
2,804,921
1,611,681
4,416,602
186,122
83,218
108,325
71,025
112,830
39,295
152,125
Rhenish
76,353
60,382
10,164
58,957
26,015
9,195
35,210
Canary
139,293
16,420
109,618
15,928
29,013
14,351
43,364
Fayal
Sicilian and other sorts
Mixed, in Bond
37
428,517
131
406,889
•
84,714
24,172
131
394,225
1,222
192,483
424
Total
·
.
9,008,428
6,554,426 1,681,402 6,280,653 6,719,423
2,673
247,843
4,296
3,926,717
3,895
440,326
4,720
10,646,140
SECT. II.—Manufactures of Hats, Soap, &c.
HATS being universally worn by almost all the male population of
the British empire, the manufacture for home consumption is very
great, and considerable quantities are exported. The quality of hats
differs very widely. The best, or those called stuff hats, are made in
the highest perfection in London. Since the introduction of "water-
proofing," it is found unnecessary to use so valuable a material as
beaver in the foundation or framework of the best hats. Instead of it,
fine seasoned backs of English coney wool, red Vigonia wool, Dutch
carroted coney wool, and a small quantity of fine Saxony lambs' wool,
are employed with equal advantage.
762
MANUFACTURES.
The covering, i. e., the "napping," of the best qualities is a mixture
of cheek beaver, with white and brown stage beaver, or seasoned beaver,
commonly called " wooms.”
Inferior stuffs are napped with mixtures
of stage beaver, nutria, hares' wool, and musquash.
Of late years hats have been much reduced in weight. This is
principally owing to the new method of "waterproofing," which is
effected in the bodies of the hats prior to their being napped. The
elastic properties of the gums employed for this purpose, when dis-
solved in pure spirits of wine, give a body to the stuffs which allows a
good deal of their weight to be dispensed with.
Not 25 years ago, 96 ounces of stuff were worked up into one
dozen ordinary sized hats for gentlemen; at present, from 33 to 34
ounces only are required to complete the same quantity.
The manufacture of the best hats employs in London nearly 1,000
makers and finishers, besides giving employment to nearly 3,000 men
in Gloucestershire and Derbyshire, in body-making and ruffing.
Next to fine hats are those designated "plated," so called from the
plate, or napping, being of a distinct and superior nature to the foun-
dation or body. The latter is generally formed of Kent, Spanish, or
Shropshire wool; while the former consists of a mixture of fine beaver,
hares' wool, musquash, nutria, and English back wool. From the
cheapness of coal and the purity of the water in Lancashire, Cheshire,
and Staffordshire, the whole of the plating trade is engrossed by them.
The men employed in the three counties, including apprentices, do not
exceed 3,000.
Felt Hats and Cordies are the coarsest species, being made wholly
of Kent, Shropshire, and Italian wools. Cordies are distinguished by
a fine covering of camel or goat hair. A very large trade was at one
time carried on in these articles; but since the introduction of caps,
and the manufacture of inferior plates, the returns have sunk from
1,000,000l. to scarcely 150,000l. Atherstone, Rudgeley, Bristol, and
Newcastle-under-Line are the principal places where they are manu-
factured.
At present silk hats of a low quality are more extensively worn;
and recently public taste set strongly in favour of a new and showy
kind of silk hat, made on the French plan, and of a material imported
from France at a duty of 30 per cent. This change, which reduced
the consumption of both stuff and plated hats, probably arose, so far as
regards the lower sorts of silk hats, from motives of economy, induced
by the state of the country, in 1841 and 1842, and in the higher quali-
ties, chiefly from the influence of fashion.
Machinery is extensively used in the preparation of the materials for
the manufacture, but it has hitherto been found inapplicable to the manu-
facture itself, which, in some processes, requires a certain amount of
mental discretion. Particular districts are celebrated for particular
branches of the trade, chiefly from special reasons respecting fuel,
water, or lowness of wages; but the increased competition has of late
had a tendency to concentrate the trade in a few localities rather than
to disperse it, although it is still rather widely distributed. Hitherto
the trade has not been exposed to foreign competition in the home
HATS, SOAP, ETC.
763
market, but it has been of late years seriously affected in the Brazilian
and West Indian markets.
Few beaver or ruffed hats meet the English manufacturer in the
markets referred to; but chiefly hats of silk or felted hares' wool, of
styles not adapted to our taste, though suited to that of the Continent
and of South America. This competition originated most probably in
the high duties paid by our manufacturers on the ingredients or mate-
rials used, especially on spirits of wine and silk; but the latter are
now greatly reduced.
English hats, though to a limited extent, and in an unfinished state,
have been exported to the continent. The hats chiefly exported to our
colonies are silk, plated, and stuff hats, generally of a light description.
Wool felts, which before the Emancipation Act were largely exported,
have now materially decreased, the article termed "negro felts" being
almost extinct.
The trade employs a great amount of labour, being supposed to
furnish, at present, employment to not less than 28,000 or 30,000
persons. In the Lancashire district, the first and second manufacturing
processes are chiefly carried on in the houses of the workmen. The
labour of women and children is very largely employed in the trade
generally, but less in the actual manufacture than in the preparation of
the material; the proportions may be, in both departments, men 50 per
cent., women 25 per cent., and children 25 per cent.; and their earn-
ings, on a yearly average, are, men 25s., women 7s., and boys 5s. per
week. The depression in the finer branches of the manufacture has,
doubtless, affected the earnings of the workmen engaged in them, as a
less amount of skill and labour is required in the production of low
silk hats than beavers, and the increased quantity produced in the lower
descriptions has not furnished an amount of employment equivalent to
the decrease in the higher branch. Combinations on the part of the
workmen have occasionally arisen, sometimes from questions affecting
wages and disputes arising out of the existence of trades' unions, but not
to any considerable extent, from attempts to introduce machinery.
No data exist on which to form any certain estimate of the value of
the different branches of the manufacture or of its aggregate amount.
But it is estimated, on good grounds, that on plated goods, the cost of
the raw material varies from 25 to 40 per cent., the labour and manu-
facturing expenses from 75 to 60 per cent.; on stuff hats, materials 40
to 50 per cent., labour, &c., 60 to 50 per cent.; silk hats, materials
50 per cent., labour, &c., 50 per cent. The proportions in value are
estimated as under:-
Plated hats
Stuff ditto
Silk ditto.
Wool felts
Estimated yearly value
£.
1,200,000
800,000
900,000
100,000
3,000,000
The duty on hats, which was formerly 10s. 6d. each, has been
reduced to 2s.
Soap and Candles.-The use of soap as a detergent is known to
every one, and it should, in fact, be considered more in the light of a
764
MANUFACTURES.
necessary of life, than as the most indispensable of luxuries. Its con-
sumption in this country is immense; and, being subjected, in Great
Britain at least, to an Excise duty, the magnitude of the manufacture
and its distribution are pretty accurately known.
Liverpool, London, Bristol, Runcorn, Newcastle, Glasgow, Brent-
ford, Dudley, Hull, &c., are the principal seats of the manufacture.
Thus of 170,210,561 lbs. of hard soap made in Great Britain in 1845,
Liverpool furnished 47,656,940 lbs.; London, 40,837,075 lbs.;
Bristol, 7,876,103 lbs.; Runcorn, 11,878,610 lbs.; Newcastle, with
Gateshead and South Shields, 7,765,610 lbs.; Glasgow, 7,265,520
lbs.; Brentford, 3,996,460 lbs.; Hull, 3,740,224 lbs., &c. Of
16,880,370 lbs. of soft soap made during the same year, Liverpool
supplied nearly a half, the remainder being supplied by Glasgow,
London, Paisley, &c. There is no duty on the soap made in Ireland,
so that the quantity prepared in that part of the empire is not known;
but it is quite inconsiderable, compared with that made in England.
Duty on Soap.-This article has been long subject to an Excise
duty, formerly of 3d. per lb. on hard, and 1½d. per lb. on soft; but in
1833 these duties were reduced, the former to 1d. and the latter to
1d. per lb. But even this reduction is hardly sufficient to prevent
smuggling, and the better plan would be to reduce the duties on hard
soap to 1d. per lb., and on soft to d. per lb.; and to extend them to
Ireland. The duty would then be so light, that its pressure would be
but little felt even by the poorest classes; the temptation to direct
smuggling would be greatly lessened, while all that indirect smuggling
that takes place in the traffic between Great Britain and Ireland would
be completely obviated. The total repeal of the soap duty would be a
popular measure; but, as a large amount of revenue must be raised,
we are not of the number of those who think it should be abandoned.
The real objections to the tax have been, not that soap is an improper
subject for taxation, but that the duty has been pushed beyond its
proper limits, and that it has been imposed on a part only, whereas it
should have been imposed on the whole United Kingdom.
The candle manufacture may be considered in connexion with that
of soap, with which it is closely allied. The consumption of candles
is immense, though it has been greatly interfered with by the use of
lamps. In 1829, when they were subject to an Excise duty, there
were produced in Great Britain, and brought to charge, 115,156,806
lbs. tallow candles, 746,052 lbs. wax ditto, and 303,683 lbs. sper-
maceti ditto. But, from the facility with which candles are made at
home, many, no doubt, were clandestinely manufactured. The Excise
duty on candles was repealed in 1831; and the consumption, influenced
partly by this cause, and partly by the increase of wealth and popula-
tion, may at this moment be safely estimated at 150,000,000 lbs.
Taking their price, inclusive of wax candles, at a rough average, at
6d. per lb., their total value will be 3,750,000/.
Considerable quantities of soap and candles are exported, especially
to the West Indies and the British colonies in North America and
Brazil. The declared value of the exports of both articles, in 1845,
amounted to 242,756l.
Refining of Sugar.-Of late years the refining of British colonial
HATS, SOAP, ETC.
765
sugar for exportation has almost ceased; but the refining of colonial
sugar for home consumption is carried on to a great extent, and has
increased considerably since the late reduction of the duty. There
were in January, 1846, about 24 establishments, with an aggregate
capital of about 850,000l., for refining sugar for the home market,
which used about 80,000 tons of raw sugar, yielding from 60,000 to
65,000 tons of refined sugar, exclusive of bastards and treacle. The
consumption of refined sugar amounts, in consequence of its compara-
tive cheapness, to about one-third part of the whole. The refining of
foreign sugar in bond is also carried on to some extent; but the
business is narrowed here by the artificial encouragement given to it in
foreign countries.
Coaches. Owing to the vast number of public and private
coaches, and other descriptions of carriages, used in Great Britain, and
the severe wear and tear to which many of them are exposed, their
manufacture affords employment to a very considerable number of in-
dividuals. Formerly all carriages made for sale paid a certain duty;
and in 1812, when it existed, it was paid upon 1,531 four-wheeled car-
riages, 1,701 two-wheeled ditto, and 407 taxed carts. But besides the
repeal of this duty, the annual duties charged on four-wheeled and two-
wheeled carriages, particularly the latter, have been very materially
reduced; and the number of them in use has, partly in consequence of
this reduction, and partly of the increase of wealth and population, been
very greatly increased since 1812. In 1845 duty was charged on
26,478 four-wheeled carriages belonging to private parties; on 36,069
ditto let to hire; and on 36,364 two-wheeled carriages.
Coaches and all sorts of carriages are made at most of the consider-
able towns in the country; but by far the greatest number, as well as
those of the best workmanship and most fashionable shapes, are made
in London. The trade of a coach currier is hardly carried on any-
where except in the metropolis. Of 10,665 males, of 20 years of age
and upwards, employed in the coach-making business in Great Britain,
in 1841, 9,953 belonged to England, 78 to Wales, and 602 to Scot-
land: of those belonging to England, nearly a third, or 3,336 were in
Middlesex. The number of coach and cab owners, drivers, &c., of 20
years of age and upwards in Great Britain, during the same year, was
15,351; of which England had 13,930; Wales, 285; and Scotland,
1,083.-(Population Returns.)
Cabinet-Makers' Goods. The manufacture of cabinet-makers'
goods is largely carried on in every part of the country; but especially
in the metropolis, where the best and most beautiful articles of furniture
are made. There are no means of forming any estimate of the value
of the goods annually produced by cabinet-makers; but it is abundantly
certain that it must be very great. According to the official returns,
of 3,877 males, of 20 years of age and upwards, employed as cabinet-
makers in Great Britain, in 1841, 19,752 belonged to England, 516 to
Wales, and 3,350 to Scotland.
Exclusive of the above, there is a vast number of manufactures,
such as those of gunpowder, starch, dyeing and bleaching stuffs,
colours, vinegar, furs, &c., &c., which it is unnecessary to particu-
larise.

766
MANUFACTURES.
Such is a short sketch of the more important statistical details con-
nected with the principal manufactures carried on in the United King-
dom. We are sensible that it is in many respects defective; but we
believe that it will, notwithstanding, be found to afford a more com-
plete and accurate view of the progress and present state of these manu-
factures than is to be met with in any other publication.
It is to be regretted that there are no means of forming any estimate
of the real value of the manufactured articles annually produced in
Great Britain and Ireland. But the previous statements show that it
must be very great. There are, in fact, but few departments in which
we are able to obtain a tolerably close approximation to the gross value
of the articles produced; and even though we could do this in them
all, the results would not be of so much value as is commonly supposed;
and might, indeed, unless subjected to farther examination and analysis,
lead to the most erroneous conclusions. It is supposed by many that
whatever may be the annual value of our manufactured goods, we shall,
by adding it to the annual value of our agricultural products, get the
total value of the new commodities annually produced in the empire.
But this is an error. The value of the British wool, for example, em-
ployed in the woollen manufacture, may amount to from 5,000,000l. to
5,500,000l. a year; and forms an item of this amount in estimating the
value of the manufacture. It is plain, however, that if we include this
wool in any estimate of the agricultural produce of the country, we
must exclude it from that of its manufactured produce; for if we do
not, it will be reckoned twice over. The same thing happens in a vast
variety of cases. Four-fifths of the value of malt, for instance, consists
of the value of the grain out of which it is made; so that in forming
any estimate of the new products annually brought to market, we must
either reckon the value of malt under deduction of the value of the raw
grain, or else exclude the latter from the estimate of agricultural pro-
ducts. Again; very many manufactured articles, such as beer, spirits,
coaches, &c., consist principally of other manufactured articles, the
value of which must necessarily be deducted to learn the new or addi-
tional value which the peculiar manufacture adds to the wealth of the
country. Hence the extreme difficulty of forming any fair estimate of
the real value of many species of manufactures. It is always a difficult
matter to learn their gross value. That, however, is really but the
smallest part of the difficulty to be overcome.
It is farther necessary,
in order to specify the nett addition made by any manufacture to the
mass of valuable products, to detach from it the value of the raw pro-
duce, and of other manufactured articles embodied in it. But in many,
perhaps most, cases this would be all but impossible; and nothing would
be gained by laying before the reader conjectural estimates that might
be as often erroneous as the reverse, and from which, consequently, he
could derive no real instruction.
END OF THE FIRST VOLUME.
LONDON:
PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, STAMFORD STREET,
AND CHARING CROSS.
1
A CATALOGUE
OF
NEW WORKS IN GENERAL LITERATURE,
PUBLISHED BY
LONGMAN, BROWN, GREEN, AND LONGMANS,
-
39, PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON.
CLASSIFIED INDEX.

-
Pages.
18
Reece's Medical Guide
Rich's Comp. to Latin Dictionary 18
Richardson's Art of Horsemanship 18
Riddle's Latin Dictionaries
Merivale's Roman Republic -
Milner's Church History
Moore's (Thomas) Memoirs, &c.
Mure's Greek Literature
Agriculture and Rural
Affairs.
Bayldon On valuing Rents, &c.
Caird's Letters on Agriculture
Cecil's Stud Farm
Loudon's Agriculture
(( Self-Instruction
Low's Elements of Agriculture
66 Domesticated Animals
Arts, Manufactures, and
Architecture.
Bourne On the Screw Propeller
Brande's Dictionary of Science,&c.
"6
Organic Chemistry-
Chevreul on Colour
Cresy's Civil Engineering
Eastlake On Oil Painting
Gwilt's Encyclo. of Architecture
Jameson's Sacred & Legendary Art
""
Commonplace-Book
König's Pictorial Life of Luther
Loudon's Rural Architecture
7
8
10
""
-
10
Botany and Gardening.
Conversations on Botany
Hooker's British Flora
<< Guide to Kew Gardens
Lindley's Introduction to Botany
CC Theory of Horticulture
Loudon's Hortus Britannicus
Amateur Gardener
Self-Instruction
8
Trees and Shrubs
13
(6
Moseley's Engineering
16
Gardening
Pages
15
-
15
Pages.
16
-
18
16
5
Roget's English Thesaurus
18
6
Rowton's Debater
18
13
Short Whist
19
Ranke's Ferdinand & Maximilian
Rich's Comp. to Latin Dictionary 18
Riddle's Latin Dictionaries
23
18
13
Thomson's Interest Tables
21
Rogers's EssaysfromtheEdinburgh
-
13
Webster's Domestic Economy
24
Review
18
13
West on Children's Diseases
24
Roget's English Thesaurus
-
18
Willich's Popular Tables
24
Wilmot's Blackstone
24
-
4
4
Southey's Doctor
-
Russell's (Lady Rachel) Letters
Life of Lord W. Russell
"C
St. John's Indian Archipelagu
Schmitz's History of Greece
Smith's Sacred Annals
Stephen's Ecclesiastical Biography 20
Lectures on French History 20
66
Sydney Smith's Works -
""
Select Works
Lectures
Memoirs
Taylor's Loyola
Wesley
Thirlwall's History of Greece
18
18
-
19
19
20
20
9
11
20
11
23
13
20
13
23
13
21
13
21
13
21
rk
Plants
13
Thirty Years of Foreign Policy
21
Richardson's Art of Horsemanship
18
Pereira's Materia Medica
17
Townsend's State Trials
21
Scrivenor on the Iron Trade -
19
Rivera's Rose Amateur's Guide
18
Turkey and Christendom
23
Steam Engine, by the Artisan Club
Tate on Strength of Materials
Ure's Dictionary of Arts, &c.
4
Wilson's British Mosses
24
Turnér's Anglo Saxons
23
21
66
Middle Ages
23
23
rr
Chronology.
Sacred Hist. of the World 23
Vehse's Austrian Court
-
23
Biography.
Alcorn's Chronology
Blair's Chronological Tables
Arago's Autobiography
23
Bunsen's Ancient Egypt
Lives of Scientific Men
-
3
Haydn's Beatson's Index
3459
"
Bodenstedt and Wagner's Schamyl 23
Brightwell's Memorials of Opie
17
Johns and Nicholas's Calendar of
Victory
10
Buckingham's (J. S.) Memoirs
5
Nicolas's Chronology of History - 12
22
Bunsen's Hippolytus
Whitelocke's Swedish Embassy
Geography and Atlases.
Arrowsmith's Geogr. Dict. of Bible
Butler's Geography and Atlases
Cabinet Gazetteer
Cornwall, its Mines, &c.
<
24
GIỚI CÓ
Chesterton's Autobiography -
Clinton's (Fynes) Autobiography
Commerce and Mercantile
Dalton's British Guiana
Durrieu's Morocco
Cockayne's Marshal Turenne
23
Affairs.
Hughes's Australian Colonies
Dennistoun's Strange & Lumisden
7
Forster's De Foe and Churchill
Atkinson's Shipping Laws
Johnston's General Gazetteer
7
23
23
11
23
Francis On Life Assurance
M'Culloch's Geographical Dictionary 14
Freeman's Life of Kirby
11
Haydon's Autobiography,by Taylor
Francis's Stock Exchange
Russia and Turkey
23
8
Loch's Sailor's Guide
11
Milner's Baltic Sea
-
15
Hayward's Chesterfield and Selwyn
23
Holcroft's Memoirs
Lorimer's Young Master Mariner 13
Murray's Encyclo. of Geography
16
23
Holland's (Lord) Memoirs
M'Culloch'sCommerce & Navigation 14
Sharp's British Gazetteer
19
-
9
Scrivenor on Iron Trade
19.
Lardner's Cabinet Cyclopædia
12
Thomson's Interest Tables
21
Mayne's Czar Nicholas I.
Maunder's Biographical Treasury - 15
15
Wheeler's Geography of Herodotus = 24
duvenile Books,
Memoir of the Duke of Wellington
23
Memoirs of James Montgomery
15
Merivale's Memoirs of Cicero
15
Russell's Memoirs of Moore -
18
Austin's Germany
Life of Lord Wm. Russell 18
Southey's Life of Wesley
-
20
Wesley
Taylor's Loyola
Townsend's Eminent Judges
46 Life and Correspondence 20
Stephen's Ecclesiastical Biography 20
Sydney Smith's Memoirs
20
21
21
Criticism, History, and
Memoirs.
Balfour's Sketches of Literature
Blair's Chron. and Histor. Tables
Bunsen's Ancient Egypt
Hippolytus
Burton's History of Scotland
Chalybaeus's Modern Speculative
Philosophy
Amy Herbert
Earl's Daughter (The)
Experience of Life.
Gertrude
55
66
Howitt's Boy's Country Book
Katharine Ashton
I.aneton Parsonage
21
Waterton's Autobiography & Essays 23
Conybeare and Howson's St. Paul
Eastlake's History of Oil Painting
Erskine's History of India
Francis's Annals of Life Assurance
66677
Books of General Utility.
Gleig's Leipsic Campaign
23
Acton's Cookery
3
Gurney's Historical Sketches
Black's Treatise on Brewing
1
Hamilton's Essays from the Edin-
Gilbart's Logic for the Young-
(Mary) Children's Year
Mrs. Marcet's Conversations
Margaret Percival -
Pycroft's English Reading
Medicine and Surgery.
Brodie's Psychological Inquiries
Bull's Hints to Mothers -
-
19
19
19
19
8
9.
19
19
14
13
18
Cabinet Gazetteer
burgh Review
CC
" Lawyer
Haydon's Autobiography, by Taylor ·8
Cust's Invalid's Own Book
Holland's (Lord) Whig Party
9
Management of Children
Copland's Dictionary of Medicine -
Cust's Invalid's Own Book
LO LO 10 Co
5
6
How to Nurse Sick Children.
-
Gilbart's Logic for the Million
Hints on Etiquette
Hudson's Executor's Guide
66 On Making Wills
Lardner's Cabinet Cyclopædia
Loudon's Self-Instruction
Amateur Gardener
Maunder's Treasury of Knowledge 15
Biographical Treasury 15
เส
" Scientific Treasury
Jeffrey's (Lord) Contributions
10
Holland's Mental Physiology
9
9
Johns and Nicholas's Calendar of
How to Nurse Sick Children -
9
Victory
10
-
10
Kemble's Anglo-Saxong
11
10
Lardner's Cabinet Cyclopædia
Latham On Diseases of the Heart - 11
Moore On Health, Disease,&Remedy 15
12
Pereira On Food and Diet
17
12
Macaulay's Crit. and Hist. Essays 14.
"
13
13
68
History of England
Speeches
Mackintosh's Miscellaneous Works 14
History of England - 14
M'Culloch'sGeographical Dictionary 14
•
13
Pereira's Materia Medica
Reece's Medical Guide
17
A
19
13
West on Diseases of Infancy -
24
15
<<
Treasury of History
Natural History
-
15
15
Fiscator's Cookery of Fish
17
Martineau's Church History -
Maunder's Treasury of History
Mayne's Czar Nicholas I.
15
-
15
15
Pocket and the Sfuð
8
Pycroft's English Reading
18
Memoir of the Duke of Wellington 23
Merivale's History of Rome -
15
Miscellaneous and General
Literature.
Atkinson's Sheriff-Law
Austin's Sketches of German Life
Carlisi's Lectures and Addresses
23
CLASSIFIED INDEX.
20
Souvestre's Attic Philosopher
23
"Confessions of a Working Man
23
Stephen's Essays -
20
Stow's Training System
21
Southey's Life of Wesley
Thomson's Laws of Thought
21
Townsend's State Trials
21
Taylor's Loyola
Willich's Popular Tables
24
Yonge's English-Greek Lexicon -
Wesley
24
Theologia Germanica
Latin Gradus
-
24
Thomson on the Atonement
Zumpt's Latin Grammar
24
Thumb Bible (The)
Turner's Sacred History -
Natural History in general.
Pages.
Pages.
Chalybaeus's Modern Speculative
Philosophy
Defence of Eclipse of Faith
Eclipse of Faith
Greg's Essays on Political and
Social Science
Hassall on Adulteration of Food
Haydn's Book of Dignities
Holland's Mental Physiology
Hooker's Kew Guide
Howitt's Rural Life of England
-
-
Visits to RemarkablePlaces 9
Jameson's Commonplace Book
Jeffrey's (Lord) Contributions
Last of the Old Squires
Macaulay's Crit. and Hist. Essays
Speeches
Mackintosh's Miscellaneous Works
Memoirs of a Maître-d'Armes
Kippis's Hymas
11
-17
6
König's Life of Luther
ጳ
Laneton Parsonage
13
Letters to My Unknown Friends
11
<< on Happiness
11
Litton's Church of Christ
11
Maitland's Church in the Catacombs 14
10
66
Margaret Percival -
Martineau's Church History -
Milner's Church of Christ
Montgomery's Original Hymns
Moore On the Use of the Body
"f Soul and Body
19
"
15
15
Marcet's (Mrs.) Conversations
Moseley's Engineering&Architecture 16
Owen's Lectures on Comp. Anatomy 17
Our Coal Fields and our Coal Pits 23
Pereira on Polarised Light
Peschel's Elements of Physics
Phillips's Fossils of Cornwall, &c.
Mineralogy
"" Guide to Geology
Portlock's Geology of Londonderry 17
Pages.
14
17
-
17
17
-
17
-
-
17
16
Powell's Unity of Worlds
20
16
Smee's Electro-Metallurgy
20
16
Steam Engine (The)
10
"C 's Man and his Motives
15
•
16
Mormonism
23
14
Neale's Closing Scene
16
-
13
14
46 Resting Places of the Just 16
Riches that Bring no
23
Maitland's Church in the Catacombs 14
Pascal's Works, by Pearce
17
Pycroft's English Reading
18
Rich's Comp. to Latin Dictionary 18
Riddle's Latin Dictionaries
18
Rowton's Debater
18
Seaward's Narrative of his Shipwreck 19
Sir Roger de Coverley
Sorrow
" Risen from the Ranks
Newman's (J. H.) Discourses
Ranke's Ferdinand & Maximilian
Readings for Lent
Confirmation
Robinson's Lexicon to the Greek
Testament -
-
•
ase SER*22 0
Tate On Strength of Materials
Wilson's Electric Telegraph -
21
23
Rural Sports.
16
16
16
23
19
19
18
20
Saints our Example
19
Smith's (Rev. Sydney) Works
Southey's Common-place Books 20
The Doctor &c.
-
20
Self Denial
-
19
-
19
Sermon in the Mount
Shortland's New Zealand Tradit. 19
Sinclair's Journey of Lite
Baker's Rifle and Hound in Ceylon
Berkeley's Reminiscences
-
Blaine's Dictionary of Sports
Cecil's Stable Practice
Records of the Chase
Stud Farm
The Cricket Field -
Davy's Piscatorial Colloquies-
Ephemera On Angling -
Book of the Salmon
Hawker's Young Sportsman
The Hunting Field
Idle's Hints on Shooting
Pocket and the Stud
Practical Horsemanship
Pulman's Fly Fishing
Richardson's Horsemanship -
St John's Sporting Rambles
Stable Talk and Table Talk
Stonehenge On the Greyhound
The Stud, for Practical Purposes -
-
10
8
8
18
18
19
8
21
8
Veterinary Medicine, &c.
66
•
("
20
Smith's (Sydney) Moral Philosophy 20
(G.) Sacred Annals
20
20
Stephen's Ecclesiastical Biography 20
21
21
21
21
21
23
Wheeler's Popular Bible Harmony 24
Wilberforce on Supremacy
21
Cecil's Stable Practice
Catlow's Popular Conchology
Ephemera and Young On the Salmon 7
Gosse's Nat. Hist. of Jamaica
Kemp's Natural Hist. of Creation
Kirby and Spence's Entomology
Lee's Elements of Natural History
6
" Stud Farm
8
Poetry and the Drama.
Hunting Field (The)
23
Arnold's Poems
Pocket and the Stud
11
Aikin's (Dr.) British Poets
Practical Horsemanship
10 to 20 30 00
6
6
11
Maunder's Natural History -
15
Turton's Shells ofthe British Islands
Waterton's Essays on Natural Hist. 23
Youatt's The Dog -
ૐ
23
Baillie's (Joanna) Poetical Works
Bode's Ballads from Herodotus
Calvert's Wife's Manual
Richardson's Horsemanship
Stable Talk and Table Talk
Stud (The)
8
Goldsmith's Poems, illustrated
Youatt's The Dog
24
23
Kippis's Hymns
-
11
The Horse
24
The Horse
1-Volume Encyclopædias
and Dictionaries.
Arrowsmith's Geogr. Dict. of Bible 3
Montgomery's Poetical Works
Original Hymns
Moore's Poetical Works
21
L. E. L.'s Poetical Works
11
Linwood's Anthologia Oxoniensis -
Macaulay's Lays of Ancient Rome
14
Voyages and Travels.
16
16
Baker's Rifle and Hound in Ceylon
Barrow's Continental Tour
4
-
23
16
Burton's Medina
5
-
Lalla Rookh
16
Carlisle's Turkey and Greece
5
Blaine's Rural Sports
4
"6 Irish Melodies
16
De Custine's Russia
23
Brande's Science, Literature, & Art
CC
Songs and Ballads
16
Eothen
23
Copland's Dictionary of Medicine -
6
Roby's Remains
→
18
Ferguson's Swiss Travels
23
Cresy's Civil Engineering
6
Gwilt's Architecture
Shakspeare, by Bowdler
13
Forester and Biddulph's Norway
8
8
"
Johnston's Geographical Dictionary 11
Sentiments & Similes 10
Southey's Poetical Works
Gironière's Philippines -
23
20
Gregorovius's Corsica
23
Loudon's Agriculture
13
British Poets -
20
Hill's Travels in Siberia
"
Rural Architecture
13
Thomson's Seasons, illustrated
21
Hope's Brittany and the Bible
"
Gardening
13
Watts's Lyrics of the Heart -
-
23
66
Chase in Brittany
24
Plants
13
Howitt's Art-Student in Munich
Trees and Shrubs
13
(W.) Victoria -
9
M'Culloch's Geographical Dictionary 14
Political Economy and
Huc's Chinese Empire
10
" Dictionary of Commerce 14
Statistics.
Huc and Gabet's Tartary & Thibet
23
Murray's Encyclo. of Geography
-
18
Sharp's British Gazetteer
Caird's Letters on Agriculture
5
Hughes's Australian Colonies
23
19
Ure's Dictionary of Arts, &c. -
Webster's Domestic Economy
Francis On Life Assurance
Humboldt's Aspects of Nature
10
23
24
Greg's Essays on Political and
Social Science
Jameson's Canada -
23
-
8
Jerrmann's St. Petersburg
23
Religious & Moral Works.
Amy Herbert
-
19
Arrowsmith's Geogr. Dict. of Bible
3
Bloomfield's Greek Testament
<<
Annotations on do.
Calvert's Wife's Manual
Laing's Notes of a Traveller 11 & 23
M'Culloch's Geog. Statist. &c. Dict. 14
Dictionary of Commerce 14
London
23
Statistics of Gt. Britain 14
Marcet's Political Economy
15
Tegoborski's Russian Statistics 21
Willich's Popular Tables
24
Laing's Norway
-
23
•
Notes of a Traveller 11 & 23
Macintosh's Turkey and Black Sea 14
Marryat's California
-
15
Mayne's Arctic Discovery
-
15
Miles's Rambles in Iceland
Month before Sebastapol
23
15
<<
Conybeare's Essays
Conybeare and Howson's St. Paul
6
Oldmixon's Piccadilly to Pera
Osborne's North West Passage
Paton's Bulgarian, &c. -
16
17
17
Dale's Domestic Liturgy
7
Defence of Eclipse of Faith
7
Discipline
Earl's Daughter (The)
19
Eclipse of Faith
-
7
"
The Sciences in General
and Mathematics.
Arago's Meteorological Essays
Popular Astronomy -
Pfeiffer's Voyage round the World 23
17
Power's New Zealand Sketches
Richardson's Arctic Boat Voyage 18
Seaward's Narrative
-
19
3
Gertrude
-
Hook's Lectures on Passion Week
Englishman's Greek Concordance
Englishman'sHeb.&Chald.Concord.
Experience of Life (The)
Harrison's Light of the Forge
Horne's Introduction to Scriptures
"
7
Bourne On the Screw Propeller
-
St. John's (H.) Indian Archipelago 19
(Hon. F.) Rambles
19
7
19
Brande's Dictionary of Science, &c.
"Lectures on Organic Chemistry
Sutherland's Arctic Voyage
21
4
Wathen's Victoria -
24
-
19
Cresy's Civil Engineering
6
Werne's African Wanderings
23
6
Dela Beche'sGeology of Cornwall,&c. 7
"
9
Geological Observer -
7
9
De la Rive's Electricity
7
Works of Fiction.
Abridgment of ditto
9
Faraday's Non-Metallic Elements
7
Arnold's Oakfield
3
Jameson's Sacred Legends
10
Herschel's Outlines of Astronomy
9
Lady Willoughby's Diary
24
Monastic Legends -
-
10
Holland's Mental Physiology
-
9
Macdonald's Villa Verocchio
14
"
Legends of the Madonna 10
Humboldt's Aspects of Nature
10
Sir Roger de Coverley
20
Sisters of Charity
10
Cosmos
10
Southey's The Doctor &c.
20
Jeremy Taylor's Works -
10
Junt On Light
10
Trollope's Warden
21
Katharine Ashton
10
Lardner's Cabinet Cyclopædia
12
White's Charles Random
21
ALPHABETICAL CATALOGUE
OF
NEW WORKS AND NEW EDITIONS
PUBLISHED BY
Messrs. LONGMAN, BROWN, GREEN, and LONGMANS,
PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON.
Miss Acton's Modern Cookery-Book.-
Modern Cookery in all its Branches, reduced
to a System of Easy Practice. For the use
of Private Families. In a Series of Receipts,
all of which have been strictly tested, and
are given with the most minute exactness.
By ELIZA ACTON. New Edition; with
various Additions, Plates and Woodcuts.
Fcp. 8vo. price 7s. 6d.
Alcorn.-A Compendium of Chronology.
Edited by the Rev. JOHN ALCORN, M.A.
Post 8vo.
[Nearly ready.
Arago. The Works of Francis Arago,
Member of the Institute, Perpetual Secretary
of the Academy of Sciences, Director of the
Observatory of Paris. Copyright English
Edition, translated by Rear Admiral
W. H. SMYTH, Foreign Secretary, R.S.,
Corresponding Member of the French
Institute, &c.; Lieut.-Colonel E. SABINE,
R.A., Treasurer and V.P.R.S.; the Rev.
BADEN POWELL, M.A., V.P.R.S., Savilian
Professor of Geometry in the University of
Oxford; and ROBERT GRANT, Esq., M.A.,
F.R.A.S.
The following portions will be the first to appear :
Popular Astronomy. Translated by Rear-
Admiral W. H. SMYTH, Foreign Secretary;
assisted by ROBERT GRANT, Esq., M.A.,
F.R.A.S. 8vo.
Meteorological Essays. Translated by Lieute-
nant-Colonel E. SABINE, R.A., Treasurer
and V.P.R.S. 8vo.
Lives of Distinguished Scientific Men: to
which are prefixed, Arago's History of my
own Life, and Humboldt's Preface to the
collected Works. Translated by Professor
POWELL, F.R.S., Rear-Admiral W.H.SMITH,
and R. GRANT, Esq., M.A. 8vo.
Aikin.-Select Works of the British
Poets, from Ben Jonson to Beattie. With
Biographical and Critical Prefaces by Dr.
AIKIN. New Edition, with Supplement by
LUCY AIKIN; consisting of additional Selec-
tions from more recent Poets. 8vo. price 18s.
Arnold.-Poems. By Matthew Arnold.
Second Edition. Fcp. 8vo. price 5s. 6d.
Arnold.-Poems. By Matthew Arnold. Second
Series, about one-third new; the rest finally
selected from the Volumes of 1849 and 1852,
now-withdrawn. Fcp. 8vo. price 5s.
Arnold.-Oakfield; or, Fellowship in the
East.
By W. D. ARNOLD, Lieutenant
58th Regiment, Bengal Native Infantry.
Second Edition. 2 vols. post 8vo. price 21s.
Arrowsmith. A Geographical Dic-
tionary of the Holy Scriptures: Including
also Notices of the Chief Places and People
mentioned in the APOCRYPHA. By the
Rev. A. ARROWSMITH, M.A., late Curate of
Whitchurch, Salop. 8vo. price 15s.
Atkinson (G.)—Sheriff-Law; or, a Prac-
tical Treatise on the Office of Sheriff, Under-
sheriff, Bailiffs, &c.: Their Duties at the
Election of Members of Parliament and
Coroners, Assizes, and Sessions of the Peace;
Writs of Trial; Writs of Inquiry; Com-
pensation Notices; Interpleader; Writs;
Warrants; Returns; Bills of Sale; Bonds
of Indemnity, &c. By GEORGE ÅTKINSON,
Serjeant-at-Law. Third Edition, revised.
Svo. price 10s. 6d.
Atkinson (G.)-The Shipping Laws of the
British Empire: Consisting of Park on
Marine Assurance, and Abbott on Shipping.
Edited by GEORGE ATKINSON, Serjeant-at-
Law. 8vo. price 10s. 6d.
4
NEW WORKS AND NEW EDITIONS
Austin.-Germany from 1760 to 1814;
Or, Sketches of German Life from the Decay
of the Empire to the Expulsion of the French.
By Mrs. AUSTIN. Post 8vo. price 12s.
Joanna Baillie's Dramatic and Poetical
Works, complete in One Volume: Com-
prising the Plays of the Passions, Miscella-
neous Dramas, Metrical Legends, Fugitive
Pieces, and Ahalya Baee. Second Edition,
including a new Life of Joanna Baillie;
with Portrait and Vignette. Square crown
8vo. 21s. cloth; or 42s. morocco by Hayday.
Baker. - The Rifle and the Hound in
Ceylon. By S. W. BAKER, Esq. With
several Illustrations printed in Colours, and
Engravings on Wood. 8vo. price 14s.
Balfour.-Sketches of English Literature
from the Fourteenth to the Present Century.
By CLARA LUCAS BALFOUR. Fcp. 8vo. 7s.
Bayldon's Art of Valuing Rents and
Tillages, and Tenant's Right of Entering and
Quitting Farms, explained by several Speci-
mens of Valuations; with Remarks on the
Cultivation pursued on Soils in different
Situations. Adapted to the Use of Land-
fords, Land-Agents, Appraisers, Farmers,
and Tenants. New Edition; corrected and
revised by JOHN DONALDSON. 8vo. 10s. 6d.
Berkeley. Reminiscences of a Hunts-
man. By the Honourable GRANTLEY F.
BERKELEY. With Four Etchings by John
Leech. 8vo. price 14s.
Black's Practical Treatise on Brewing,
Based on Chemical and Economical Princi-
ples: With Formulæ for Public Brewers, and
Instructions for Private Families. New
Edition, with Additions. 8vo. 10s. 6d.
Blaine's Encyclopædia of Rural Sports;
Or, a complete Account, Historical, Prac-
tical, and Descriptive, of Hunting, Shooting,
Fishing, Racing, and other Field Sports and
Athletic Amusements of the present day.
New Edition: The Hunting, Racing, and
all relative to Horses and Horsemanship,
revised by HARRY HIEOVER; Shooting
and Fishing by EPHEMERA; and Coursing
by Mr. A. GRAHAM. With upwards of
600 Woodcuts. 8vo. price 50s. half-bound.
Blair's Chronological and Historical
Tables, from the Creation to the present
time: With Additions and Corrections from
the most authentic Writers; including the
Computation of St. Paul, as connecting the
Period from the Exode to the Temple.
Under the revision of Sir HENRY ELLIS,
K.H. Imperial 8vo. 31s. 6d. half-morocco.
Bloomfield. - The Greek Testament:
With copious English Notes, Critical, Phi-
lological, and Explanatory. Especially
formed for the use of advanced Students and
Candidates for Holy Orders. By the Rev.
S. T. BLOOMFIELD, D.D., F.S.A. New
Edition. 2 vols. 8vo. with Map, price £2.
Dr. Bloomfield's Additional Annotations
on the above. 8vo. price 15s.
Bloomfield.-College and School Greek
Testament: With brief English Notes, chiefly
Philological and Explanatory, especially
formed for use in Colleges and the Public
Schools. By the Rev. S. T. BLOOMFIELD,
D.D., F.S.A. Seventh and cheaper Edition,
improved; with Map and Index. Fep. 8vo.
price 7s. 6d.
Dr. Bloomfield's College and Schooi Lexi-
con to the Greek Testament. Fcp. 8vo.
price 10s. 6d.
Bode.-Ballads from Herodotus: With
an Introductory Poem. By the Rev. J. E.
BODE, M.A., late Student of Christ Church.
Second Edition, with four additional Pieces.
16mo. price 7s.
Bourne.-A Treatise on the Steam En-
gine, in its Application to Mines, Mills,
Steam Navigation, and Railways. By the
Artisan Club. Edited by JOHN BOURNE, C.E.
New Edition; with 33 Steel Plates and 349
Wood Engravings. 4to. price 27s.
Bourne.-A Treatise on the Screw Pro-
peller: With various Suggestions of Im-
provement. By JOHN BOURNE, C.E. New
Edition, thoroughly revised and corrected.
With 20 large Plates and numerous Wood-
cuts. 4to. price 38s.
Brande.-A Dictionary of Science, Litera-
ture, and Art: Comprising the History,
Description, and Scientific Principles of
every Branch of Human Knowledge; with
the Derivation and Definition of all the
Terms in General Use. Edited by W. T.
BRANDE, F.R.S.L. and E.; assisted by Dr.
J. CAUVIN. The Second Edition, revised
and corrected; including a Supplement, and
numerous Woodcuts. 8vo. 60s.
Professor Brande's Lectures on Organic
Chemistry, as applied to Manufactures,
including Dyeing, Bleaching, Calico-Print-
ing, Sugar-Manufacture, the Preservation
of Wood, Tanning, &c. delivered before the
Members of the Royal Institution. Arranged
by permission from the Lecturer's Notes by
J. ŜCOFFERN, M.B. Fcp. 8vo. with Wood-
cuts, price 7s. 6d.
PUBLISHED BY LONGMAN, BROWN, AND CO.
Brodie. - Psychological Inquiries, in a
Series of Essays intended to illustrate the
Influence of the Physical Organisation on
the Mental Faculties. By Sir BENJAMIN C.
BRODIE, Bart., D.C.L., V.P.R.S., Corre-
sponding Member of the Institute of France,
&c. Second Edition. Fep. 8vo. 5s.
Buckingham.-Autobiography of James
Silk Buckingham: Including his Voyages,
Travels, Adventures, Speculations, Suc-
cesses, and Failures, frankly and faithfully
narrated; with Characteristic Sketches of
Public Men with whom he has had personal
intercourse during a period of more than
Fifty Years. With a Portrait engraved by
G. T. Doo from a recent Miniature. Vols.
I. and II. post 8vo. price 21s,
By
Bull. — The Maternal Management of
Children in Health and Disease.
T. BULL, M.D., Member of the Royal
College of Physicians; formerly Physician-
Accoucheur to the Finsbury Midwifery
Institution. New Edition. Fcp. 8vo.
price 5s.
Dr. T. Bull's Hints to Mothers on the Manage-
ment of their Health during the Period of
Pregnancy and in the Lying-in Room: With
an Exposure of Popular Errors in connexion
with those subjects, &c.; and Hints upon
Nursing. New Edition. Fep. 8vo. 5s.
By
Bunsen. Christianity and Mankind,
their Beginnings and Prospects.
CHRISTIAN CHARLES JOSIAS BUNSEN, D.D.,
D.C.L., D.Ph. Being a New Edition, cor-
rected, remodelled, and extended, of Hip-
polytus and his Age. 7 vols. 8vo. £5. 5s.
This Second Edition of the Hippolytus is composed of
three distinct works, which may be had separately, as follows:—
Historical Section.
1. Hippolytus and his Age; or, the Beginnings and Prospects
of Christianity. 2 vols. 8vo. price £1. 10s.
1. Hippolytus and the Teachers of the Apostolical Age;
II. The Life of the Christians of the Apostolical Age.
Philological Section.
2. Outline of the Philosophy of Universal History applied to
Language and Religion: Containing an Account of the
Alphabetical Conferences. 2 vols. 8vo. price £1. 13s.
Philosophical Section.
3. Analecta Ante-Nicaena. 3 vols. 8vo. price £2. 2s.
1. Reliquiae Literariae;
II. Reliquiae Canonicae;
III. Reliquiae Liturgicae: Cum Appendicibus ad Tria Ana-
lectorum Volumina.
J
Bunsen. Egypt's Place in Universal
History: An Historical Investigation, in
Five Books. By C. C. J. BUNSEN, D.D.
D.C.L., D.Ph. Translated from the Ger-
man, by C. H. COTTRELL, Esq. M.A.
With many Illustrations. Vol. I. 8vo. 28s. ;
Vol. II. 8vo. 30s.
LO
5
Burton. The History of Scotland, from
the Revolution to the Extinction of the last
Jacobite Insurrection (1689-1748). By
JOHN HILL BURTON, Author of The Life of
David Hume, &c. 2 vols. 8vo. price 26s.
Burton (R. F.)-Personal Narrative of a
Pilgrimage to El Medinah and Mecca. By
RICHARD F. BURTON, Lieutenant, Bombay
Army. 3 vols. 8vo. with numerous Illus-
[In the press.
trations.
Bishop Butler's General Atlas of Modern
and Ancient Geography; comprising Fifty-
two full-coloured Maps; with complete In-
dices. New Edition, nearly all re-engraved,
enlarged, and greatly improved; with Cor-
rections from the most authentic sources in
both the Ancient and Modern Maps, many
of which are entirely new. Edited by the
Author's Son. Royal 4to. 24s. half-bound.
Separately:
{
The Modern Atlas of 28 full-coloured Maps.
Royal 8vo. price 12s.
The Ancient Atlas of 24 full-coloured Maps.
Royal 8vo. price 12s.
Bishop Butler's Sketch of Modern and
Ancient Geography. New Edition, tho-
roughly revised, with such Alterations intro-
duced as continually progressive Discoveries
and the latest Information have rendered
necessary. Post 8vo. price 7š. 6d.
;
The Cabinet Gazetteer: A Popular Ex-
position of all the Countries of the World
their Government, Population, Revenues,
Commerce, and Industries; Agricultural,
Manufactured, and Mineral Products; Re-
ligion, Laws, Manners, and Social State :
With brief Notices of their History and An-
tiquities. From the latest Authorities. By
the Author of The Cabinet Lawyer. Fep. 8vo.
price 10s. 6d. cloth; or 13s. calf lettered.
The Cabinet Lawyer: A Popular Digest
of the Laws of England, Civil and Criminal;
with a Dictionary of Law Terms, Maxims,
Statutes, and Judicial Antiquities; Correct
Tables of Assessed Taxes, Stamp Duties,
Excise Licenses, and Post-Horse Duties;
Post-Office Regulations, and Prison Disci-
pline. 16th Edition, comprising the Public
Acts of the Session 1854. Fcp. 8vo. 10s. 6d.
Caird.-English Agriculture in 1850 and
1851; Its Condition and Prospects. By
JAMES CAIRD, Esq., of Baldoon, Agricultural
Commissioner of The Times. The Second
Edition. 8vo. price 14s.
Calvert.
The Wife's Manual; or,
Prayers, Thoughts, and Songs on Several
Occasions of a Matron's Life. By the Rev.
WILLIAM CALVERT, Minor Canon of St.
Paul's. Ornamented from Designs by the
Author in the style of Queen Elizabeth's
Prayer Book. Crown 8vo. price 10s. 6d.
NEW WORKS AND NEW EDITIONS
Carlisle (Lord).—A Diary in Turkish and
Greek Waters. By the Right Hon. the
Earl of CARLISLE. Fifth Edition. Post 8vo.
price 10s. 6d.
Catlow.-Popular Conchology; or, the
Shell Cabinet arranged according to the
Modern System: With a detailed Account
of the Animals; and a complete Descriptive
List of the Families and Genera of Recent
and Fossil Shells. By AGNES CATLOW.
Second Edition, much improved; with 405
Woodcut Illustrations. Post 8vo. price 14s.
Cecil.The Stud Farm; or, Hints on
Breeding Horses for the Turf, the Chase, and
the Road. Addressed to Breeders of Race
Horses and Hunters, Landed Proprietors,
and especially to Tenant Farmers. By
CECIL. Fcp. 8vo. with Frontispiece, 5s.
Cecil's Records of the Chase, and Memoirs of
Celebrated Sportsmen; Illustrating some
of the Usages of Olden Times and comparing
them with prevailing Customs: Together with
an Introduction to most of the Fashionable
Hunting Countries; and Comments. With
Two Plates by B. Herring. Fcp. 8vo. price
7s. 6d. half-bound.
Cecil's Stable Practice; or, Hints on Training
for the Turf, the Chase, and the Road;
with Observations on Racing and Hunt-
ing, Wasting, Race Riding, and Handi-
capping: Addressed to Owners of Racers,
Hunters, and other Horses, and to all who
are concerned in Racing, Steeple Chasing,
and Fox Hunting. Fcp. 8vo. with Plate,
price 5s. half-bound.
Chalybaeus's Historical Survey of Mo-
dern Speculative Philosophy, from Kant to
Hegel: Designed as an Introduction to the
Opinions of the Recent Schools. Trans-
lated from the German by ALFRED TULK.
Post 8vo. price 8s. 6d.
Captain Chesterton's Autobiography.-
Peace, War, and Adventure: Being an Auto-
biographical Memoir of George Laval Ches-
terton, formerly of the Field-Train Depart-
ment of the Royal Artillery, subsequently
a Captain in the Army of Columbia, and
lately Governor of the House of Correction at
Cold Bath Fields. 2 vols. post 8vo. 16s.
Chevreul On the Harmony and Contrast
of Colours, and their Applications to the
Arts: Including Painting, Interior Decora-
tion, Tapestries, Carpets, Mosaics, Coloured
Glazing, Paper Staining, Calico Printing,
Letterpress Printing, Map Colouring, Dress,
Landscape and Flower Gardening, &c.
Translated from the French by CHARLES
MARTEL; and illustrated with Diagrams, &c.
Crown 8vo. 12s. 6d,
Clinton.-Literary Remains of Henry
Fynes Clinton, M.A., Author of the Fasti
Hellenici, the Fasti Romani, &c.: Comprising
an Autobiography and Literary Journal,
and brief Essays on Theological Subjects.
Edited by the Rev. C. J. FYNES CLINTON,
M.A. Post 8vo. 9s. 6d.
New Edition,
Conversations on Botany.
improved; with 22 Plates. Fcp. 8vo. price
7s. 6d.; or with the Plates coloured, 12s.
Conybeare.-Essays, Ecclesiastical and
Social: Reprinted, with Additions, from the
Edinburgh Review. By W. J. CONYBEARE,
M.A., late Fellow of Trinity College, Cam-
bridge. 8vo.
[Nearly ready.
Conybeare and Howson.-The Life and
Epistles of Saint Paul: Comprising a
complete Biography of the Apostle, and
a Translation of his Epistles inserted in
Chronological Order. By the Rev. W. J.
CONYBEARE, M.A., late Fellow of Trinity
College, Cambridge; and the Rev. J. S.
HOWSON, M.A., Principal of the Collegiate
Institution, Liverpool. With 40 Engravings
on Steel and 100 Woodcuts. 2 vols. 4to.
price £2. 8s.
Copland. A Dictionary of Practical
Medicine: Comprising General Pathology,
the Nature and Treatment of Diseases,
Morbid Structures, and the Disorders es-
pecially incidental to Climates, to Sex, and
to the different Epochs of Life; with nume-
rous approved Formulæ of the Medicines
recommended. By JAMES COPLAND, M.D.,
Consulting Physician to Queen Charlotte's
Lying-in Hospital, &c. Vols. I. and II. 8vo.
price £3; and Parts X. to XVI. 4s. 6d. each.
Cresy. An Encyclopædia of Civil Engi-
neering, Historical, Theoretical, and Practical.
By EDWARD CRESY, F.S.A., C.E. Illus-
trated by upwards of 3,000 Woodcuts,
explanatory of the Principles, Machinery,
and Constructions which come under the
direction of the Civil Engineer. 8vo.
price £3. 132. 6d.
The Cricket-Field; or, the Science and
History of the Game of Cricket. By the
Author of Principles of Scientific Batting.
Second Edition, greatly improved; with
Plates and Woodcuts. Fep. 8vo. price 5s.
half-bound.
Lady Cust's Invalid's Book. - The In-
valid's Own Book: A Collection of Recipes
from various Books and various Countries.
By the Honourable LADY COST. Fep. 8vo.
price 3s. 6d.
PUBLISHED BY LONGMAN, BROWN, AND CO.
Dale.-The Domestic Liturgy and Family
Chaplain, in Two Parts: The First Part
being Church Services adapted for Domestic
Use, with Prayers for every day of the week,
selected exclusively from the Book of Common
Prayer; Part II. comprising an appropriate
Sermon for every Sunday in the year. By
the Rev. THOMAS DALE, M.A., Canon Resi-
Second Edition.
dentiary of St. Paul's.
Post 4to. price 21s. cloth; 31s. 6d. calf;
or £2. 10s. morocco.
Separately
(THE FAMILY CHAPLAIN, 12s.
THE DOMESTIC LITURGY, 10s.6d.
Dalton. History of British Guiana':
Comprising a General Description of the
Colony, and a Narrative of some of the
Principal Events from the Earliest Period
of its Discovery to the Present Time; with
an Account of the Climate, Geology,
Staple Products, and Natural History.
By H. G. DALTON, M.D. With Plates,
Maps, &c. 2 vols. 8vo. 36s.; or royal 8vo.
price 52s. 6d.
Davy (Dr. J.) — The Angler and his
Friend; or, Piscatory Colloquies and Fish-
ing Excursions. By JOHN Davy, M.D.,
F.R.S., &c. Fcp. 8vo. price 6s.
Delabeche. The Geological Observer.
By Sir HENRY T. DELABECHE, F.R.S.,
Director-General of the Geological Survey of
the United Kingdom. New Edition; with
numerous Woodcuts. 8vo. price 18s.
Delabeche. Report on the Geology of
Cornwall, Devon, and West Somerset. By
Sir HENRY T. DELABECHE, F.R.S., Director-
General of the Geological Survey.
Maps, Woodcuts, and 12 Plates.
price 14s.
With
8vo.
De la Rive.-A Treatise on Electricity,
in Theory and Practice. By A. DE LA RIVE,
Professor in the Academy of Geneva. In
Two Volumes, with numerous Wood En-
gravings. Vol. I. 8vo. price 18s.
Dennistoun. · Memoirs of Sir Robert
Strange, Knight, Engraver, Member of
several Foreign Academies of Design; and
of his Brother-in-law, Andrew Lumisden,
Private Secretary to the Stuart Princes, and
Author of The Antiquities of Rome. By
JAMES DENNISTOUN, of Dennistoun, Author
of Memoirs of the Dukes of Urbino [3 vols.
crown 8vo. £2. 8s.] 2 vols. post Svo. with
Illustrations, 21s.
Discipline. By the Author of "Letters
to my Unknown Friends," &c. Second
Edition, enlarged. 18mo. price 2s. 6d.
7
Eastlake.-Materials for a History of Oil
Painting. By Sir CHARLES LOCK EASTLAKE,
F.R.S., F.S.A., President of the Royal
Academy. 8vo. price 16s.
The Eclipse of Faith; or, a Visit to a
Religious Sceptic. 6th Edition. Fcp. 8vo. 5s.
A Defence of The Eclipse of Faith, by its
Author: Being a Rejoinder to Professor
Newman's Reply: Including a full Exami-
nation of that Writer's Criticism on the
Character of Christ; and a Chapter on the
Aspects and Pretensions of Modern Deism.
Second Edition, revised. Post 8vo. 5s. 6d.
The Englishman's Greek Concordance of
the New Testament: Being an Attempt at a
Verbal Connexion between the Greek and
the English Texts; including a Concordance
to the Proper Names, with Indexes, Greek-
English and English-Greek. New Edition,
with a new Index. Royal 8vo. price 42s.
The Englishman's Hebrew and Chaldee Con-
cordance of the Old Testament: Being an
Attempt at a Verbal Connection between
the Original and the English Translations;
with Indexes, a List of the Proper Names
and their Occurrences, &c. 2 vols. royal
8vo. £3. 13s. 6d.; large paper, £4. 14s. 6d.
Ephemera. - A Handbook of Angling;
Teaching Fly-fishing, Trolling, Bottom-
fishing, Salmon-fishing; with the Natural
History of River Fish, and the best modes
of Catching them. By EPHEMERA. Third
and cheaper Edition, corrected and im-
proved; with Woodcuts. Fep. 8vo. 5s.
Ephemera. - The Book of the Salmon: Com-
prising the Theory, Principles, and Prac-
tice of Fly-fishing for Salmon; Lists of
good Salmon Flies for every good River in
the Empire; the Natural History of the
Salmon, all its known Habits described, and
the best way of artificially Breeding it ex-
plained. With numerous coloured Engrav-
ings. By EPHEMERA ; assisted by ANDREW
YOUNG. Fcp. 8vo. with coloured Plates,
price 14s.
W. Erskine, Esq.- History of India
under Báber and Humáyun, the First Two
Sovereigns of the House of Taimur. By
WILLIAM ERSKINE, Esq. 2 vols. 8vo. 32s.
Faraday (Professor). The Subject-
Matter of Six Lectures on the Non-Metallic
Elements, delivered before the Members
of the Royal Institution, by Professor
FARADAY, D.C.L., F.R.S., &c. Arranged by
permission from the Lecturer's Notes by
J. SCOFFERN, M.B. Fep. Svo. price 5s. 6d.
8
NEW WORKS AND NEW EDITIONS
Forester and Biddulph's Norway in
1848 and 1849: Containing Rambles among
the Fjelds and Fjords of the Central and
Western Districts; and including Remarks
on its Political, Military, Ecclesiastical, and
Social Organisation. With Map, Woodcuts,
and Plates. 8vo. 18s.
Francis.
Annals,
Anecdotes,
and
Legends: A Chronicle of Life Assurance.
By JOHN FRANCIS. Post 8vo. 8s. 6d.
Francis.Chronicles and Characters of the
Stock Exchange. By JOHN FRANCIS. New
Edition, revised. 8vo. 10s. 6d.
Million: a
4th Edition;
12mo. 3s. 6d.
Gilbart. — Logic for the
Familiar Exposition of the Art of Reasoning.
By J. W. GILBART, F.R.S.
with Portrait of the Author.
Gilbart.-Logic for the Young: consisting of
Twenty-five Lessons in the Art of Reasoning.
Selected from the Logic of Dr. Isaac Watts.
By J. W. GILBART, F.R.S. 12mo. 1s.
The Poetical Works of Oliver Goldsmith.
Edited by BOLTON CORNEY, Esq. Illustrated
by Wood Engravings, from Designs by
Members of the Etching Club. Square
crown 8vo. cloth, 21s.; morocco, £1. 16s.
Gosse. A Naturalist's Sojourn in
Jamaica. By P. H. Gosse, Esq. With
Plates. Post 8vo. price 14s.
Mr. W. R. Greg's Contributions to The
Edinburgh Review.-Essays on Political and
Social Science. Contributed chiefly to the
Edinburgh Review. By WILLIAM R. GREG.
2 vols. 8vo. price 24s.
Gurney.-Historical Sketches; illustrat-
ing some Memorable Events and Epochs,
from A.D. 1,400 to A.D. 1,546. By the Rev.
J. HAMPDEN GURNEY, M.A. Fcp. 8vo.
price 7s. 6d.
Gurney.—St. Louis and Henry IV.: Being a
Second Series of Historical Sketches.
By the Rev. J. HAMPDEN GURNEY, M.A.
Fcp. 8vo. 6s.
Gwilt.-An Encyclopædia of Architecture,
Historical, Theoretical, and Practical. By
JOSEPH GWILT. With more than 1,000
Wood Engravings, from Designs by J. S.
GWILT. Third Edition. 8vo. 42s.
Hamilton.-Discussions in Philosophy
and Literature, Education and University
Reform. Chiefly from the Edinburgh Review ;
corrected, vindicated, enlarged, in Notes and
Appendices. By Sir WILLIAM HAMILTON,
Bart. Second Edition. 8vo. price 21s.
Hare (Archdeacon).—The Life of Luther,
in Forty-eight Historical Engravings. By
GUSTAV KÖNIG. With Explanations by
Archdeacon HARE. Square crown 8vo.
[In the press.
Harrison. The Light of the Forge; or,
Counsels drawn from the Sick-Bed of E. M.
By the Rev. W. HARRISON, M.A., Domestic
Chaplain to H.R.H. the Duchess of Cam-
bridge. Fcp. 8vo. price 5s.
Harry Hieover.-Stable Talk and Table
Talk; or, Spectacles for Young Sportsmen.
BY HARRY HIEOVER. New Edition, 2 vols.
8vo. with Portrait, price 24s.
Harry Hieover.-The Hunting-Field. By Harry
HIEOVER. With Two Plates. Fcp. 8vo.
5s. half-bound.
Harry Hieover.-Practical Horsemanship. By
HARRY HIEOVER. With 2 Plates. Fep.
8vo. price 5s. half-bound.
Harry Hieover.-The Stud, for Practical Pur-
poses and Practical Men: being a Guide
to the Choice of a Horse for use more than
for show. By HARRY HIEOVER. With 2
Plates. Fcp. 8vo. price 5s. half-bound.
Harry Hieover.-The Pocket and the Stud; or,
Practical Hints on the Management of the
Stable. By HARRY HIEOVER. Second
Edition; with Portrait of the Author. Fep.
8vo. price 5s. half-bound.
Hassall (Dr.)-Food and its Adultera-
tions: Comprising the Reports of the Ana-
lytical Sanitary Commission of The Lancet
for the Years 1851 to 1854 inclusive, revised
and extended. By ARTHUR HILL HASSALL,
M.D., &c., Chief Analyst of the Commission;
Author of The Microscopical Anatomy of the
Human Body. 8vo. with 159 Woodcuts,
price 28s.
Col. Hawker's Instructions to Young
Sportsmen in all that relates to Guns and
Shooting. 10th Edition, revised and brought
down to the Present Time, by the Author's
Son, Major P. W. L. HAWKER. With a
New Portrait of the Author, from a Bust by
W. Behnes, Esq.; and numerous explana-
tory Plates and Woodcuts. 8vo. 21s.
Haydon. The Life of Benjamin Robert
Haydon, Historical Painter, from his Auto-
biography and Journals. Edited and com-
piled by TOM TAYLOR, M.A., of the Inner
Temple, Esq.; late Fellow of Trinity College,
Cambridge; and late Professor of the English
Language and Literature in University Col-
lege, London. 3 vols. post 8vo. 31s. 6d.
PUBLISHED BY LONGMAN, BROWN, AND CO.
Haydn's Book of Dignities: Containing
Rolls of the Official Personages of the British
Empire, Civil, Ecclesiastical, Judicial, Mili-
tary, Naval, and Municipal, from the Earliest
Periods to the Present Time; Compiled
chiefly from the Records of the Public
Offices. Together with the Sovereigns of
Europe, from the foundation of their re-
spective States; the Peerage and Nobility of
Great Britain, and numerous other Lists.
Being a New Edition, improved and conți-
nued, of Beatson's Political Index. By
JOSEPH HAYDN. 8vo. price 25s. half-bound.
Sir John Herschel.-Outlines of Astro-
nomy. By Sir JOHN F. W. HERSCHEL,
Bart. &c. New Edition; with Plates and
Wood Engravings. 8vo. price 18s.
Hill.-Travels in Siberia. By S. S. Hill,
Esq., Author of Travels on the Shores of
the Baltic. With a large coloured Map of
European and Asiatic Russia. 2 vols. post
8vo. price 24s.
Hints on Etiquette and the Usages of
Society: With a Glance at Bad Habits.
New Edition, revised (with Additions) by a
Lady of Rank. Fcp.8vo. price Half-a-Crown.
Lord Holland's Memoirs.-Memoirs of
the Whig Party during my Time. By
HENRY RICHARD LORD HOLLAND. Edited
by his Son, HENRY EDWARD LORD HOLLAND.
Vols. I. and II. post 8vo. price 9s. 6d. each.
Holland.-Chapters on Mental Physio-
logy. By Sir HENRY HOLLAND, Bart.,
F.R.S., Physician-Extraordinary to the
Queen; and Physician in Ordinary to His
Royal Highness Prince Albert. Founded
chiefly on Chapters contained in Medical
Notes and Reflections [8vo. 18s.] by the same
Author. 8vo. price 10s. 6d.
Hook.-The Last Days of Our Lord's
Ministry: A Course of Lectures on the
principal Events of Passion Week. By
the Rev. W. F. Hook, D.D. New Edition.
Fcp. 8vo. price 6s.
;
Hooker and Arnott.-The British Flora;
Comprising the Phaenogamous or Flowerir g
Plants, and the Ferns. The Sixth Edition
with Additions and Corrections
and ni
merous Figures illustrative of the Umbell
ferous Plants, the Composite Plants, th
Grasses, and the Ferns. By Sir W. J
HOOKER, F.R.A. and L.S., &c., and G. A
WALKER-ARNOTT, LL.D., F.L.S. 12mo.
with 12 Plates, price 14s.; with the Plates
coloured, price 21s.
Hooker.-Kew Gardens; or, a Popular
Guide to the Royal Botanic Gardens of
Kew. By Sir WILLIAM JACKSON HOOKER,
K.H., D.C.L., F.R.A., and L.S., &c. &c.
Director. New Edition; with numerous
Wood Engravings. 16mo. price Sixpence.
Horne's Introduction to the Critical
Study and Knowledge of the Holy Scrip-
tures. A New Edition, revised, corrected,
and brought down to the present time, by
T. HARTWELL HORNE, B.D. (the Author);
the Rev. SAMUEL DAVIDSON, D.D., of the
University of Halle, and LL.D.; and S.
PRIDEAUX TREGELLES, LL.D. 4 vols. 8vo.
[In the press.
Horne. A Compendious Introduction to the
Study of the Bible. By the Rev. T. HART-
WELL HORNE, B.D. Being an Analysis
of his Introduction to the Critical Study and
Knowledge of the Holy Scriptures. New
Edition, with Maps and other Engravings.
12mo. 9s.
How to Nurse Sick Children: Intended
especially as a Help to the Nurses in the
Hospital for Sick Children; but containing
Directions of service to all who have the
charge of the Young. Fcp. 8vo. 13. 6d.
Howitt (A. M.) An Art-Student in
Munich. By ANNA MARY HOWITT. 2
vols. post 8vo. price 14s.
Howitt.-The Children's Year. By Mary
HOWITT. With Four Illustrations, from
Designs by ANNA MARY HOWITT. Square
16mo. 5s.
J
Howitt. Land, Labour, and Gold:
Two Years in Victoria, with Visits to Sydney
and Van Diemen's Land. By WILLIAM
HOWITT.
[In the press.
Howitt. Visit to Remarkable Places; Old
Halls, Battle-Fields, and Scenes illustrative
of Striking Passages in English History
and Poetry. By WILLIAM HOWITT. With
numerous Wood Engravings. First and
Second Series. Medium 8vo. 21s. each.
Howitt.-The Rural Life of England. By
WILLIAM HOWITT. New Edition, cor-
rected and revised; with Woodcuts by
Bewick and Williams. Medium 8vo. 21s.
William Howitt's Boy's Country Book; being
the Real Life of a Country Boy, written
by himself; exhibiting all the Amusements,
Pleasures, and Pursuits of Children in the
Country. New Edition; with 40 Wood-
cuts. Fep. 8vo. price 6s.
C
10
NEW WORKS AND NEW EDITIONS
Huc.-The Chinese Empire: A Sequel
to Huc and Gabet's Journey through Tartary
and Thibet. By the Abbé Huc, many years
Missionary Apostolic in China. Copyright
English Edition, translated with the Au-
thor's sanction. With a coloured Map of
China. 2 vols. 8vo. 24s.
Hudson.-Plain Directions for Making
Wills in Conformity with the Law: with a
clear Exposition of the Law relating to the
distribution of Personal Estate in the case
of Intestacy, two Forms of Wills, and much
useful information. By J. C. HUDSON, Esq.,
late of the Legacy Duty Office, London.
New and enlarged Edition; including the
provisions of the Wills Act Amendment
Act of 1852. Fcp. 8vo. price 2s. 6d.
Hudson.
The Executor's Guide. By
J. C. HUDSON, Esq. New and enlarged
Edition; with the Addition of Directions
for paying Succession Duties on Real Pro-
perty under Wills and Intestacies, and a
Table for finding the Values of Annuities and
the Amount of Legacy and Succession Duty
thereon. Fcp. 8vo. price 6s.
Humboldt's Cosmos. Translated, with
the Author's authority, by Mrs. SABINE.
Vols. I. and II. 16mo. Half-a-Crown each,
sewed; 3s. 6d. each, cloth: or in post 8vo.
12s. 6d. each, cloth. Vol. III. post 8vo.
12s. 6d. cloth: or in 16mo. Part I. 2s. 6d.
sewed, 3s. 6d. cloth; and Part II. 3s. sewed,
4s. cloth.
** Vol. IV. is in the press.
Humboldt's Aspects of Nature. Translated,
with the Author's authority, by Mrs.
SABINE. New Edition. 16mo. price 6s.:
or in 2 vols. 3s. 6d. each, cloth; 2s. 6d.
each, sewed.
Humphreys.-Sentiments and Similes of
Shakspeare: A Classified Selection of Similes,
Definitions, Descriptions, and other remark-
able Passages in Shakspeare's Plays and
Poems. With an elaborately illuminated
border in the characteristic style of the
Elizabethan Period, massive carved covers,
and other Embellishments, designed and
executed by H. N. HUMPHREYS. Square
post 8vo. price 218.
Hunt.
Researches on Light in its
Chemical Relations; embracing a Con-
sideration of all the Photographic Processes.
By ROBERT HUNT, F.R.S., Professor of
Physics in the Metropolitan School of
Science. Second Edition, thoroughly re-
vised; with extensive Additions, a Plate,
and Woodcuts. Svo. price 10s. 6d.
Idle.-Hints on Shooting, Fishing, &c.
both on Sea and Land, and in the Fresh-
water Lochs of Scotland: Being the Expe-
riences of CHRISTOPHER IDLE, Esq. Fcp.
8vo. 5s.
Jameson. A Commonplace Book of
Thoughts, Memories, and Fancies, Original
and Selected. Part I. Ethics and Character;
Part II. Literature and Art. By Mrs.
JAMESON. With Etchings and Wood En-
gravings. Square crown 8vo. price 18s.
-
Mrs. Jameson. Sisters of Charity,
Catholic and Protestant, Abroad and at
Home. By Mrs. JAMESON, Author of Sacred
and Legendary Art. Fcp. 8vo.
[Nearly ready.
Mrs. Jameson's Legends of the Saints
and Martyrs. Forming the First Series of
Sacred and Legendary Art. Second Edition;
with numerous Woodcuts, and 16 Etchings
by the Author. Square crown 8vo. price 28s.
Mrs. Jameson's Legends of the Monastic
Orders, as represented in the Fine Arts.
Forming the Second Series of Sacred and
Legendary Art. Second Edition, corrected
and enlarged; with 11 Etchings by the
Author, and 88 Woodcuts. Square crown
8vo. price 28s.
Mrs. Jameson's Legends of the Madonna, as
represented in the Fine Arts. Forming
the Third Series of Sacred and Legendary
Art. With 55 Drawings by the Author, and
152 Wood Engravings. Square crown 8vo.
price 28s.
Lord Jeffrey's Contributions to The
Edinburgh Review. A New Edition, com-
plete in One Volume, with a Portrait en-
graved by Henry Robinson, and a Vignette.
Square crown 8vo. 21s. cloth; or 30s. calf.
*
** Also a LIBRARY EDITION, in 3
vols. 8vo. price 42s.
Bishop Jeremy Taylor's Entire Works:
With Life by Bishop HEBER. Revised and
corrected by the Rev. CHARLES PAGE EDEN,
Now
Fellow of Oriel College, Oxford.
complete in 10 vols., 8vo. 10s. 6d. each.
ohns and Nicolas.-The Calendar of
Victory: Being a Record of British Valour
and Conquest by Sea and Land, on Every
Day in the Year. Projected and com-
menced by the late Major Johns, R.M.;
continued and completed by Lieutenant
P. H. NICOLAS, R.M. Fup. 8vo. [Just ready.
PUBLISHED BY LONGMAN, BROWN, AND CO.
Johnston.-A New Dictionary of Geo-
graphy, Descriptive, Physical, Statistical, and
Historical: Forming a complete General
Gazetteer of the World. By ALEXANDER
KEITH JOHNSTON, F.R.S.E., F.R.G.S.,
F.G.S., Geographer at Edinburgh in Ordi-
nary to Her Majesty. In One Volume of
1,440 pages; comprising nearly 50,000
Names of Places. 8vo. price 36s. cloth; or
half-bound in russia, 41s.
Kemble.-The Saxons in England: A
History of the English Commonwealth till
the period of the Norman Conquest. By
JOHN MITCHELL KEMBLE, M.A., F.C.P.S.,
&c. 2 vols. 8vo. price 28s.
New
Kippis's Collection of Hymns and Psalms
for Public and Private Worship.
Edition; including a New Supplement by
the Rev. EDMUND KELL, M.A. 18mo.
price 43. cloth; or 4s. 6d. roan.
Kirby and Spence's Introduction to
Entomology; or, Elements of the Natural
History of Insects: Comprising an account
of noxious and useful Insects, of their Meta-
morphoses, Food, Stratagems, Habitations,
Societies, Motions, Noises, Hybernation,
Instinct, &c. New Edition. 2 vols. 8vo.
with Plates, price 31s. 6d.
Kirby.-The Life of the Rev. William Kirby,
M.A., Rector of Barham; Author of one
of the Bridgewater Treatises, and Joint-
Author of the Introduction to Entomology.
By the Rev. JOHN FREEMAN, M.A., With
Portrait, Vignette, and Facsimile. 8vo.
price 15s.
Laing's (S.) Observations on the Social
and Political State of Denmark and the
Duchies of Sleswick and Holstein in 1851 :
Being the Third Series of Notes of a Traveller.
8vo. price 12s.
Laing's (S.) Observations on the Social and
Political State of the European People in
1848 and 1849: Being the Second Series
of Notes of a Traveller. 8vo. price 14s.
*The First Series, in 16mo. price 2s. 6d.
Dr. Latham on Diseases of the Heart.
Lectures on Subjects connected with Clinical
Medicine: Diseases of the Heart. By P. M.
LATHAM, M.D., Physician Extraordinary to
the Queen. New Edition. 2 vols. 12mo,
price 16s.
11
Mrs. R. Lee's Elements of Natural His-
tory; or, First Principles of Zoology: Com-
prising the Principles of Classification, inter-
spersed with amusing and instructive Ac-
counts of the most remarkable Animals.
New Edition, enlarged, with numerous addi-
tional Woodcuts. Fcp. 8vo. price 7s. 6d.
L. E. L.-The Poetical Works of Letitia
Elizabeth Landon; comprising the Impro-
visatrice, the Venetian Bracelet, the Golden
Violet, the Troubadour, and Poetical Remains.
New Edition; with 2 Vignettes by R. Doyle.
2 vols. 16mo. 10s. cloth; morocco, 218.
Letters to my Unknown Friends. By a
LADY, Author of Letters on Happiness, &c.
Fourth and cheaper Edition. Fcp. 8vo.
price 58.
Letters on Happiness, addressed to a Friend.
By the Author of Letters to My Unknown
Friends, &c. Fcp. 8vo. price 6s.
Lindley. The Theory of Horticulture;
Or, an Attempt to explain the principal
Operations of Gardening upon Physiological
Principles. By JOHN LINDLEY, Ph.D. F.R.S.
New Edition, revised and improved; with
Wood Engravings. 8vo. [In the press.
Dr. John Lindley's Introduction to
Botany. New Edition, with Corrections and
copious Additions. 2 vols. 8vo. with Six
Plates and numerous Woodcuts, price 24s.
Linwood.-Anthologia Oxoniensis, sive
Florilegium e lusibus poeticis diversorum
Oxoniensium Græcis et Latinis decerptum.
Curante GULIELMO LINWOOD, M.A. Edis
Christi Alummo. 8vo. price 14s.
Litton.-The Church of Christ, in its
Idea, Attributes, and Ministry: With a
particular Reference to the Controversy on
the Subject between Romanists and Pro-
testants. By the Rev. EDWARD ARTHUR
LITTON, M.A., Vice-Principal of St. Edmund
Hall, Oxford. 8vo. price 16s.
Loch.-A Practical Legal Guide for
Sailors and Merchants during War: Com-
prising Blockade, Captors, Cartel, Colours,
Contraband, Droits of Admiralty, Flag
Share, Freight, Head Money, Joint Capture,
Neutrals and Neutral Territory, Prizes,
Recapture of Property of Ally, Rescue,
Right of Visit and Search, Salvage, Derelict,
Trading with the Enemy, Orders in Council,
&c., Prize Act, Proclamation as to Colours.
With Appendices containing the Orders in
Council and other Official Documents
relating to the Present War. By WILLIAM
ADAM LOCH, of the Hon. Society of Lin-
coln's Inn. 8vo. price 9s. 6d.
12
NEW WORKS AND NEW EDITIONS
LARDNER'S CABINET CYCLOPÆDIA
Of History, Biography, Literature, the Arts and Sciences, Natural History, and Manufactures;
SIR JOHN HERSCHEL,
SIR JAMES MACKINTOSH,
ROBERT SOUTHEY,
SIR DAVID Brewster,
A Series of Original Works by
THOMAS KEIGHTLEY,
JOHN FORSTER,
SIR WALTER SCOTT,
THOMAS MOORE
AND OTHER EMINENT WRITERS.
BISHOP THIRLWALL,
THE REV, G. R. GLEIG,
J. C. L. DE SISMONDI,
JOHN PHILLIPS, F.R.S. G.S.
Complete in 132 vols. fcp. 8vo. with Vignette Titles, price, in cloth, Nineteen Guineas.
The Works separately, in Sets or Series, price Three Shillings and Sixpence each Volume.
A List of the Works composing the CABINET CYCLOPÆDÍA :—
1. Bell's History of Russia......3 vols. 10s. 6d.
2. Bell's Lives of British Poets..2 vols. 7s.
3. Brewster's Optics....
··
1 vol. 3s. 6d.
3 vois. 10s. 6d
•
4. Cooley's Maritime and Inland
Discovery
....
5. Crowe's History of France.... 3 vols. 10s. 6d.
6. De Morgan on Probabilities 1 vol. 3s. 6d.
7. De Sismondi's History of the
Italian Republics.....
1 vol. 3s. 6d.
•
2 vols. 7s.
8. De Sismondi's Fall of the
Roman Empire...
- •
9. Donovan's Chemistry ……….....1 vol. 3s. 6d.
10. Donovan's Domestic Economy,2 vols. s.
11. Dunham's Spain and Portugal, 5 vols. 17s. 6d.
12. Dunham's Historyof Denmark,
•
Sweden, and Norway .3 vols. 10s. 6d.
13. Dunham's History of Poland.. 1 vol. 3s. 6d.
14. Dunham's Germanic Empire.. 3 vols. 10s. 6d.
15. Dunham's Europe during the
Middle Ages.…………. .......4 vols. 14s.
16. Dunham's British Dramatists, 2 vols. 7s.
17. Dunham's Lives of Early
· •
Writers of Great Britain 1 vol. 3s. 6d.
18. Fergus's History of the United
.
States
19. Fosbroke's Grecian and Roman
Antiquities
20. Forster's Lives of the States-
2 vols. 7s.
: 2 vols. 7s.
men of the Commonwealth, 5 vols. 17s. 6d.
21. Gleig's Lives of British Mili-
tary Commanders..
22. Grattan's History of thé
Netherlands
23. Henslow's Botany.
s vols. 10s. 6d.
1 vol. 3s. 6d.
1 vol. 3s. 6d.
·
• •
1 vól. ¿s. 6d.
i voi. ¿š. 60.
24. Herschel's Astronoiny.
25. Herschel's Discourse on Na-
tural Philosophy
26. History of Romé..
2 vols. 7s.
.1 vol. 3s. 6d.
34. Lardner on Heat
35. Lardner's Hydrostatics and
Pneumatics
1 vol. 3s. 6d.
..1 vol. 3s. 6d.
36. Lardner and Walker's Electri-
city and Magnetism
37. Mackintosh, Forster, and
Courtenay's Lives of British
Statesmen
....
• •
2 vols. 7s.
7 vols. 2s. 6d.
38. Mackintosh, Wallace, and Bell's
History of England.... 10 vols. 35s.
39. Montgomery and Shelley's
....
eminent Italian, Spanish,
and Portuguese Authors ..3 vols. 10s. 6d.
40. Moore's History of Ireland ..4 vols. 14s.
41. Nicolas's Chronology of Hist. 1 vol. 3s. 6d.
42. Phillips's Treatise on Geology, 2 vols. 7s.
43. Powell's History of Natural
Philosophy..
.....
·
44. Porter's Treatise on the Manu-
1 vol. 3s. 6d.
nufacture of Silk ………………………. 1 vol. 3s. 6d.
45. Porter's Manufactures of Por-
celain and Glass
...
• ··
1 vol. 3s. 6d.
46. Roscoe's British Lawyers
....1 vol. 3s. 6d.
47. Scott's History of Scotland 2 vols. 7s.
48. Shelley's Lives of eminent
French Authors.......... 2 vols. 7s.
49. Shuckard and Swainson's Insects, 1 vol. 3s. 6d.
50. Southey's Lives of British
Admirals
5 vols. 17s. 6d.
51. Stebbing's Church History.... 2 vols. 7s.
52. Stebbing's History of, the
Reformation
53. Swainson's Discourse on Na-
I
2 vols. 7s.
tural History.... ........1 vol. 3s. 6d.
51. Swainson's Natural History &
Classification of Animals ..1 vol. 3s. 6d.
55. Swainson's Habits & Instincts
•
of Animals
56. Swainson's Birds
..1 vol. 3s. 6d.
..2 vols. 7s.
57. Swainson's Fish, Reptiles, &c. 2 vols. 7s.
27. History of Switzerland
28. Holland's Manufactures
in
Metal
3 vols. 10s. 6d.
58. Swainson's Quadrupeds
men
5 vols. 17s. 6d.
29. James's Lives of Foreign States-
•
30. Kater and Lardner's Mechanics, 1 vol. 3s. 6d.
31. Keightley'sOutlines of History, vol. 3s. 6d.
32. Lardner's Arithmetic
33. Lardner's Geometry.
1 vol. 3s. 6d.
1 vol. 3s. 6d.
.... ··
1 vol. 3s. 6d.
59. Swainson's Shells and Shell-fish, 1 vol. 3s. 6d.
60. Swainson's Animals in Mena-
geries
61. Swainson's Taxidermy and
1 vol. 3s. 6d.
Biography of Zoologists....1 vol. 3s. 6d.
62. Thirlwall's History of Greece..8 vols. 28.
PUBLISHED BY LONGMAN, BROWN, AND CO.
Lorimer's (C.) Letters to a Young Master |
Mariner on some Subjects connected with
his Calling. New Edition. Fcp. 8vo. 5s. 6d.
Loudon's Self-Instruction for Young
Gardeners, Foresters, Bailiffs, Land Stewards,
and Farmers; in Arithmetic, Book-keeping,
Geometry, Mensuration, Practical Trigono-
metry, Mechanics, Land-Surveying, Levelling,
Planning and Mapping, Architectural Draw-
ing, and Isometrical Projection and Perspec-
tive: With Examples shewing their applica-
tions to Horticulture and Agricultural Pur-
poses; a Memoir, Portrait, and Woodcuts.
8vo. price 7s. 6d.
Loudon's Encyclopædia of Gardening;
comprising the Theory and Practice of Hor-
ticulture, Floriculture, Arboriculture, and
Landscape Gardening: Including all the
latest improvements; a General History of
Gardening in all Countries; a Statistical
View of its Present State; and Suggestions
for its Future Progress in the British Isles.
With many hundred Woodcuts. New Edi-
tion, corrected and improved by Mrs.
LOUDON. 8vo. price 50s.
Loudon's Encyclopædia of Trees and
Shrubs; or, the Arboretum et Fruticetum
Britannicum abridged: Containing the Hardy
Trees and Shrubs of Great Britain, Native
and Foreign, Scientifically and Popularly
Described; with their Propagation, Culture,
and Uses in the Arts; and with Engravings
of nearly all the Species. Adapted for the
use of Nurserymen, Gardeners, and Foresters.
With about 2,000 Woodcuts. 8vo. price 50s.
Loudon's Encyclopædia of Agriculture;
comprising the Theory and Practice of the
Valuation, Transfer, Laying-out, Improve-
ment, and Management of Landed Property,
and of the Cultivation and Economy of the
Animal and Vegetable Productions of Agri-
culture; Including all the latest Improve-
ments, a general History of Agriculture in
all Countries, & Statistical View of its present
State, and Suggestions for its future progress
in the British Isles. New Edition; with
1,100 Woodcuts. 8vo. price 50s.
Loudon's Encyclopædia of Plants, in-
cluding all which are now found in, or
have been introduced into, Great Britain:
Giving their Natural History, accompanied
by such descriptions, engraved figures, and
elementary details, as may enable a beginner,
who is a mere English reader, to discover
the name of every Plant which he may find
in flower, and acquire all the information
respecting it which is useful and interesting.
New Edition, corrected throughout and
brought down to the year 1855, by Mrs.
LOUDON and GEORGE DON, Esq., F.L.S. &c.,
8vo.
[In the press.
13
Loudon's Encyclopædia of Cottage,
Farm, and Villa Architecture and Furniture:
containing numerous Designs, from the Villa
to the Cottage and the Farm, including Farm
Houses, Farmeries, and other Agricultural
Buildings; Country Inns, Public Houses,
and Parochial Schools; with the requisite
Fittings-up, Fixtures, and Furniture, and
appropriate Offices, Gardens, and Garden
Scenery Each Design accompanied by
Analytical and Critical Remarks. New
Edition, edited by Mrs. LOUDON; with more
than 2,000 Woodcuts. 8vo. price 63s.

:
Loudon's Hortus Britannicus; or, Cata-
logue of all the Plants indigenous to, culti-
vated in, or introduced into Britain. An
entirely New Edition, corrected throughout;
With a Supplement, including all the New
Plants, and a New General Index to the
whole Work. Edited by Mrs. LOUDON;
assisted by W. H. BAXTER and DAVID
WOOSTER. 8vo. price 31s. 6d. The SUP-
PLEMENT separately, price 14s.
Mrs. Loudon's Amateur Gardener's
Calendar: Being a Monthly Guide as to
what should be avoided as well as what
should be done, in a Garden in each Month;
with plain Rules how to do what is requisite ;
Directions for Laying Out and Planting
Kitchen and Flower Gardens, Pleasure
Grounds, and Shrubberies: and a short
Account, in each Month, of the Quadrupeds,
Birds, and Insects then most injurious to
Gardens. 16mo. with Woodcuts, price 7s.6d.
Low.-A Treatise on the Domesticated
Animals of the British Islands: Comprehend-
ing the Natural and Economical History of
Species and Varieties; the Description of
the Properties of external Form; and Obser-
vations on the Principles and Practice of
Breeding. By D. Low, Esq., F.R.S.E.
With Wood Engravings. 8vo. price 25s.
Low.-Elements of Practical Agriculture;
comprehending the Cultivation of Plants, the
Husbandry of the Domestic Animals, and
the Economy of the Farm. By D. Low, Esq.
F.R.S.E. New Edition; with 200 Woodcuts.
8vo. price 21s.
Macaulay.-Speeches of the Right Hon.
T. B. Macaulay, M.P. Corrected by HIM-
SELF. 8vo. price 12s.
Macaulay. The History of England
from the Accession of James II. By
THOMAS BABINGTON MACAULAY. New
Edition. Vols. I. and II. 8vo. price 32s.
14
NEW WORKS AND NEW EDITIONS
Mr. Macaulay's Critical and Historical
Essays contributed to The Edinburgh
Review. Four Editions, as follows:
1. A LIBRARY EDITION (the Eighth), in
3 vols. 8vo. price 36s.
2. Complete in ONE VOLUME, with Por
trait and Vignette. Square crown
8vo. price 21s. cloth; or 30s. calf.
3. Another NEW EDITION, in 3 vols.
fcp. 8vo. price 21s.
4. The PEOPLE'S EDITION, in 2 vols.
crown 8vo. price 8s. cloth.
Macaulay.-Lays of Ancient Rome, with
Ivry and the Armada. By THOMAS
BABINGTON MACAULAY. New Edition.
16mo. price 4s. 6d. cloth; or 10s. 6d.
bound in morocco.
Mr. Macaulay's Lays of Ancient Rome.
With numerous Illustrations, Original and
from the Antique, drawn on Wood by
George Scarf, Jun., and engraved by Samuel
Williams. New Edition. Fcp. 4to. price
21s. boards; or 42s. bound in morocco.
Macdonald. — Villa Verocchio; or, the
Youth of Leonardo da Vinci: A Tale. By
the late DIANA LOUISA MACDONALD,
Fcp. 8vo. price 68.
in
Macintosh. — A Military Tour
European Turkey, the Crimea, and on the
Eastern Shores of the Black Sea: Including
Routes across the Balkan into Bulgaria,
and Excursions in the Turkish, Russian,
and Persian Provinces of the Caucasian
Range; with Strategical Observations on
the Probable Scene of the Operations of the
Allied Expeditionary Force. By Major-
Gen. A. F. MACINTOSH, K.H., F.R.G.S.,
F.G.S. Second Edition, with several Maps.
Post 8vo. 10s. 6d.
Sir James Mackintosh's History of Eng-
land from the Earliest Times to the final
Establishment of the Reformation. Library
Edition, revised by the Author's Son. 2 vols.
8vo. price 21s.
Sir James Mackintosh's Miscellaneous
Works: Including his Contributions to The
Edinburgh Review. Complete in One
Volume; with Portrait and Vignette.
Square crown 8vo. price 21s. cloth; or 30s.
bound in calf.
*** Also a NEW EDITION, in 3 vols.
fcp. 8vo. price 21s.
M'Culloch. A Dictionary, Practical,
Theoretical, and Historical, of Commerce
and Commercial Navigation. Illustrated
with Maps and Plans. By J. R. M'CULLOCH,
Esq. New Edition; and embracing a large
mass of new and important Information in
regard to the Trade, Commercial Law, and
Navigation of this and other Countries.
8vo. price 50s. cloth; half-russia, 55s.
M'Culloch.-A Dictionary, Geographical,
Statistical, and Historical, of the various
Countries, Places, and principal Natural
Objects in the World. By J. R.M'CULLOCH,
Esq. Illustrated with Six large Maps. New
Edition, revised; witha Supplement. 2 vols.
8vo. price 63s.
M'Culloch. - An Account, Descriptive
and Statistical, of the British Empire;
Exhibiting its Extent, Physical Capacities,
Population, Industry, and Civil and Religious
Institutions. By J. R. M'CULLOCH, Esq.
Fourth Edition, revised; with an Appendix
of Tables. 2 vols. 8vo. price 42s.
Maitland.-The Church in the Cata-
combs: A Description of the Primitive
Church of Rome. Illustrated by its Sepul-
chral Remains. By the Rev. CHARLES
MAITLAND. New Edition ; with many
Woodcuts. 8vo. price 148.
Mrs. Marcet's Conversations on Chemis-
try, in which the Elements of that Science
are familiarly explained and illustrated by
Experiments. New Edition, enlarged and
improved. 2 vols. fcp. 8vo. price 14s.
Mrs. Marcet's Conversations on Natural
Philosophy, in which the Elements of
that Science are familiarly explained. New
Edition, enlarged and corrected; with 23
Plates. Fcp. 8vo. price 10s. 6d.
Mrs. Marcet's Conversations on Political
Economy, in which the Elements of that
Science are familiarly explained. New
Edition. Fcp. 8vo. price 7s. 6d.
Mrs. Marcet's Conversations on Vege-
table Physiology; comprehending the Ele-
ments of Botany, with their Application
to Agriculture. New Edition; with 4
Plates. Fcp. 8vo. price 9s.
Mrs. Marcet's Conversations on Land
and Water. New Edition, revised and
corrected; with a coloured Map, shewing
the comparative Altitude of Mountains.
Fcp. 8vo. price 5s. 6d.
PUBLISHED BY LONGMAN, BROWN, AND CO.
Marryat.- Mountains and Molehills;
or, Recollections of a Burnt Journal. By
FRANK MARRYAT, Author of Borneo and the
Eastern Archipelago. With many Illustra-
tions on Wood and in Colours from Drawings
by the Author. 8vo. 21s.
Martineau.-Church History in England:
Being a Sketch of the History of the Church
of England from the Earliest Times to the
Period of the Reformation. By the Rev.
ARTHUR MARTINEAU, M.A. 12mo. 6s.
Maunder's Biographical Treasury; con-
sisting of Memoirs, Sketches, and brief
Notices of above 12,000 Eminent Persons of
All Ages and Nations, from the Earliest
Period of History; forming a new and com-
plete Dictionary of Universal Biography.
The Ninth Edition, revised throughout,
and brought down to the close of the year
1854. Fcp. 8vo. 10s. cloth; bound in roan,
12s.; calf lettered, 12s. 6d.
;
Maunder's Historical Treasury; com-
prising a General Introductory Outline of
Universal History, Ancient and Modern,
and a Series of separate Histories of every
principal Nation that exists. their Rise,
Progress, and Present Condition, the Moral
and Social Character of their respective in-
habitants, their Religion, Manners and Cus-
toms, &c. &c. New Edition; revised through-
out, with a new Index. Fcp. 8vo. 10s. cloth;
roan, 12s.; calf, 12s. 6d.
Maunder's Scientific and Literary Trea-
sury: A new and popular Encyclopædia of
Science and the Belles-Lettres; including
all Branches of Science, and every subject
connected with Literature and Art. New
Edition. Fcp. 8vo. price 10s. cloth; bound
in roan, 12s.; calf lettered, 12s. 6d.
Maunder's Treasury of Natural History;
Or, a Popular Dictionary of Animated
Nature: In which the Zoological Character-
istics that distinguish the different Classes,
Genera, and Species, are combined with a
variety of interesting Information illustrative
of the Habits, Instincts, and General Eco-
nomy of the Animal Kingdom. With 900
Woodcuts. New Edition. Fcp. 8vo. price
10s. clothi; roan, 12s.; calf, 12s. 6d.
Maunder's Treasury of Knowledge, and
Library of Reference. Comprising an Eng-
lish Dictionary and Grammar, an Universal
Gazetteer, a Classical Dictionary, a Chrono-
logy, a Law Dictionary, a Synopsis of the
Peerage, numerous useful Tables, &c. The
Twentieth Edition, carefully revised and
corrected throughout: With some Additions.
Fcp. 8vo. price 10s. cloth; bound in roan,
12s.; calf lettered, 12s. 6d.
15
Mayne.-The Life of the Czar Nicholas I.
of Russia: With a short Account of Russia
and the Russians. By Miss FANNY MAYNE.
Post 8vo. with Map, 10s. 6d.
Merivale. A History of the Romans
under the Empire. By the Rev. CHARLES
MERIVALE, B.D., late Fellow of St. John's
College, Cambridge. Vols. I. to III. 8vo.
price £2. 2s.
** Vols. IV. and V., comprising Augustus
and the Claudian Cesars, are in the press.
Merivale. The Fall of the Roman Republic
A Short History of the Last Century of
the Commonwealth. By the Rev. CHARLES
MERIVALE, B.D. New Edition. 12mo.
price 7s. 6d.
Merivale.-An Account of the Life and Letters
of Cicero. Translated from the German of
Abeken; and edited by the Rev. CHARLES
MERIVALE, B.D. 12mo. 9s. 6d.
Milner. The Baltic; Its Gates, Shores,
and Cities: With a Notice of the White
Sea. By the Rev. T. MILNER, M.A., F.R.G.S.
Post 8vo. with Map, price 10s. 6d.
Milner's History of the Church of Christ.
With Additions by the late Rev. ISAAC
MILNER, D.D., F.R.S. A New Edition,
revised, with additional Notes by the Rev.
T. GRANTHAM, B.D. 4 vols. 8vo. price 52s.
Montgomery.-Memoirs of the Life and
Writings of James Montgomery: Including
Selections from his Correspondence, Remains
in Prose and Verse, and Conversations. By
JOHN HOLLAND and JAMES EVERETT. With
Portraits and Vignettes. Vols. I. and II.
post 8vo. price 21s.
James Montgomery's Poetical Works:
Collective Edition; with the Author's Auto-
biographical Prefaces, complete in One
Volume; with Portrait and Vignette. Square
crown 8vo. price 10s. 6d. cloth; morocco,
21s.-Or, in 4 vols. fcp. 8vo. with Portrait,
and 7 other Plates, price 14s.
James Montgomery's Original Hymns
for Public, Social, and Private Devotion.
18mo. price 5s. 6d.
A Month in the Camp before Sebas-
topol. By a NON-COMBATANT. Fourth
Edition, Post 8vo. 5s.
Moore. — Man and his Motives. Ey
GEORGE MOORE, M.D., Member of the
Royal College of Physicians. Third and
cheaper Edition. Fep. Svo. price ts.
16
NEW WORKS AND NEW EDITIONS
Moore.-The Power of the Soul over the
Body, considered in relation to Health and
Morals. By GEORGE MOORE, M.D., Member
of the Royal College of Physicians. Fifth
and cheaper Edition. Fcp. 8vo. price 6s.
Moore.-The Use of the Body in relation to the
Mind. By GEORGE MOORE, M.D. Member
of the Royal College of Physicians. Third
and cheaper Edition. Fcp. 8vo. 6s.
Moore. Health, Disease, and Remedy, fami-
liarly and practically considered in a few of
their relations to the Blood. By GEORGE
MOORE, M.D. Post 8vo. 7s. 6d.
Moore.-Memoirs, Journal, and Corre-
spondence of Thomas Moore. Edited by
the Right Hon. LORD JOHN RUSSELL, M.P.
With Portraits and Vignette Illustrations.
Vols. I. to VI. post 8vo. price 10s. 6d. each.
Thomas Moore's Poetical Works. Con-
taining the Author's recent Introduction
and Notes. Complete in One Volume; with
a Portrait, and a View of Sloperton Cottage.
Medium 8vo. price 21s. cloth; morocco, 42s.
-Or in 10 vols. fcp. 8vo. with Portrait,
and 19 Plates, price 35s.
Moore's Irish Melodies. Illustrated by
D. Maclise, R.A. New Edition; with 161
Designs, and the whole of the Letterpress
engraved on Steel, by F. P. Becker. Super-
royal 8vo. 31s. 6d. boards; £2. 12s. 6d.
morocco, by Hayday.
Moore's Irish Melodies. New Edition, printed
in Diamond Type; with the Preface and
Notes from the collective edition of Moore's
Poetical Works, the Advertisements originally
prefixed to the Melodies, and a Portrait of
the Author. 32mo. 2s. 6d.-An Edition
in 16mo. with Vignette, 5s.; or 12s. 6d.
morocco by Hayday.
Moore's Lalla Rookh: An Oriental
Romance. With 13 highly-finished Steel
Plates from Designs by Corbould, Meadows,
and Stephanoff, engraved under the super-
intendence of the late Charles Heath. New
Edition. Square crown 8vo. price 15s.
cloth; morocco, 28s.
Moore's Lalla Rookh. New Edition, printed
in Diamond Type; with the Preface and
Notes from the collective edition of Moore's
Poetical Works, and a Frontispiece from a
Design by Kenny Meadows. 32mo. 2s. 6d.
-An Edition in 16mo. with Vignette, 5s.;
or 12s. 6d. morocco by Hayday.
Moore. Songs, Ballads, and Sacred Songs.
BY THOMAS MOORE, Author of Lalla Rookh,
&c. First collected Edition, with Vignette
by R. Doyle. 16mo. price 5s. cloth;
12s. 6d. bound in morocco.
Moseley.-The Mechanical Principles of
Engineering and Architecture. By the Rev.
H. MOSELEY, M.A., F.R.S., Professor of
Natural Philosophy and Astronomy in
King's College, London. New Edition,
revised; with Woodcuts. 8vo.
[Nearly ready.
Mure. A Critical History of the Lan-
guage and Literature of Ancient Greece.
By WILLIAM MURE, M.P. of Caldwell.
Second Edition. Vols. I. to III. 8vo. price
36s.-Vol. IV. price 15s.
Murray's Encyclopædia of Geography;
Comprising a complete Description of the
Earth: Exhibiting its Relation to the
Heavenly Bodies, its Physical Structure, the
Natural History of each Country, and the
Industry, Commerce, Political Institutions,
and Civil and Social State of All Nations.
Second Edition; with 82 Maps, and upwards
of 1,000 other Woodcuts. 8vo. price 60s.
Neale.--"Risen from the Ranks ;" or,
Conduct versus Caste. By the Rev. ERSKINE
NEALE, M.A., Rector of Kirton, Suffolk.
Fcp. 8vo. price 6s.
Neale. The Riches that bring no Sorrow.
By the Rev. ERSKINE NEALE, M.A., Rector
of Kirton, Suffolk. Fep. 8vo. price 6s.
Neale. The Earthly Resting Places of
the Just. By the Rev. ERSKINE NEALE,
M.A. Rector of Kirton, Suffolk. Fep. 8vo.
with Woodcuts, price 7s.
Neale. The Closing Scene; or, Chris-
tianity and Infidelity contrasted in the Last
Hours of Remarkable Persons. By the
Rev. ERSKINE NEALE, M.A., Rector of
Kirton, Suffolk. New Editions of the First
and Second Series. 2 vols. fcp. 8vo. price
12s.; or separately, 6s. each.
Newman. Discourses addressed to
Mixed Congregations. By JOHN HENRY
NEWMAN, Priest of the Oratory of St. Philip
Neri. Second Edition. 8vo. price 12s.
Oldacre. The Last of the Old Squires.
A Sketch. By CEDRIC OLDACRE, Esq., of
Sax - Normanbury, sometime of Christ
Church, Oxon. Crown 8vo. price 9s. 6d.
Oldmixon.-Gleanings from Piccadilly to
Pera. By J. W. OLDMIXON, Commander
R.N. With Illustrations printed in Colours.
Post 8vo. price 10s. 6d.
PUBLISHED BY LONGMAN, BROWN, AND CO.
Opie (Mrs.)-Memorials of the Life of
Amelia Opie, selected and arranged from
her Letters, Diaries, and other Manuscripts.
By CECILIA LUCY BRIGHTWELL. Second
Edition; with Portrait. 8vo. price 10s. 6d.
Osborn.-A Narrative of the Discovery
of the North-West Passage. By H.M.S.
Investigator, Capt. R. M'CLURE. Edited by
Commander SHERARD OSBORN (Author of
Stray Leaves from an Arctic Journal), from
the Logs, Journals, and Private Letters of
Capt. R. M'Clure; and illustrated from
Sketches taken by Commander 8. Gurney
Cresswell. Post 8vo.
[Just ready.
Owen. Lectures on the Comparative
Anatomy and Physiology of the Invertebrate
Animals, delivered at the Royal College of
Surgeons. By RICHARD OWEN, F.R.S.,
Hunterian Professor to the College. New
Edition, corrected. 8vo. with Wood En-
gravings.
[In the press.
Professor Owen's Lectures on the Com-
parative Anatomy and Physiology of the
Vertebrate Animals, delivered at the Royal
College of Surgeons in 1844 and 1846. With
numerous Woodcuts. Vol. I. 8vo. price 148.
The Complete Works of Blaise Pascal.
Translated from the French, with Memoir,
Introductions to the various Works, Edito-
rial Notes, and Appendices, by GEORGE
PEARCE, Esq. 3 vols. post 8vo. with Por-
trait, 25s. 6d.
VOL. 1. PASCAL'S PROVINCIAL LET-
ters: with M. Villemain's Essay on Pascal prefixed, and a new
Memoir. Post 8vo. Portrait, 8s. 6d.
VOL. 2. PASCAL'S THOUGHTS ON RE-
ligion and Evidences of Christianity, with Additions, from
Original MSS.: from M. Faugère's Edition. Post Svo. Ss. 6d.
VOL. 8. PASCAL'S MISCELLANEOUS
Writings, Correspondence, Detached Thoughts, &c.: from M.
Faugère's Edition. Post vo. 83. 6d.
Paton. The Bulgarian, the Turk, and
the German. By A. A. PATON, Author of
Servia, or a Residence in Belgrale, "The
Modern Syrians," &c. Post 8vo. 58.
Dr. Pereira's Lectures on Polarised
Light, together with a Lecture on the
Microscope, delivered before the Pharma-
ceutical Society of Great Britain, and at the
Medical School of the London Hospital.
2d Edition, greatly enlarged from Materials
left by the Author, by the Rev. BADEN
POWELL, M.A., &e. Fep. 8vo. with Wood-
cuts, 78.
17
Dr. Pereira's Elements of Materia
Medica and Therapeutics. Third Edition,
enlarged and improved from the Author's
Materials, by A. S. TAYLOR, M.D. and
G. O. REES, M.D.: With numerous Wood-
cuts. Vol. I. 8vo. 28s.; Vol. II. Part I. 178.;
Vol. II. Part II. 243.
Dr. Pereira's Treatise on Food and Diet: With
Observations on the Dietetical Regimen
suited for Disordered States of the Digestive
Organs; and an Account of the Dietaries of
some of the principal Metropolitan and other
Establishments for Paupers, Lunatics, Cri-
minals, Children, the Sick, &c. 8vo. 16s.
Peschel's Elements of Physics. Trans-
lated from the German, with Notes, by
E. WEST. With Diagrams and Woodcuts.
3 vols. fcp. 8vo. 21s.
Phillips.-A Guide to Geology. By John
Phillips, M.A. F.R.S. F.G.S., Deputy Reader
in Geology in the University of Oxford;
Honorary Member of the Imperial Academy
of Sciences of Moscow, &c. Fourth Edition,
corrected to the Present Time; with 4
Plates. Fep. 8vo. price 5s.
Phillips. — Figures and Descriptions of the
Paleozoic Fossils of Cornwall, Devon, and
West Somerset ; observed in the course
of the Ordnance Geological Survey of that
District. By JOHN PHILLIPS, F.R.S. F.G.S.
&c. 8vo. with 60 Plates, price 9s.
Phillips's Elementary Introduction to
Mineralogy. A New Edition, with extensive
Alterations and Additions, by H. J. BROOKE,
F.R.S., F.G.S.; and W. H. MILLER, M.A.,
F.G.S., Professor of Mineralogy in the
University of Cambridge. With numerous
Wood Engravings. Post 8vo. price 18s.
Piscator.-The Choice and Cookery of
Fish: A Practical Treatise. Fcp. 8vo. 5s. 6d.
Captain Portlock's Report on the Geology
of the County of Londonderry, and of Parts
of Tyrone and Fermanagh, examined and
described under the Authority of the Master-
General and Board of Ordnance. 8vo. with
48 Plates, price 24s.
Powell.-The Unity of Worlds and the
Philosophy of Creation. By the Rev. BADEN
POWELL, M.A., V.P.R.S., &c., Savilian Pro-
fessor of Geometry in the University of
Oxford. Crown 8vo.
[Just ready.
Power's Sketches in New Zealand, with
Pen and Pencil. From a Journal kept in
that Country, from July 1846 to June 1848.
With Plates and Woodcuts. Post 8vo. 12s.
D
18
NEW WORKS AND NEW EDITIONS
Pulman's Vade-mecum of Fly-Fishing
for Trout; being a complete Practical Trea-
tise on that Branch of the Art of Angling;
with plain and copious Instructions for the
Manufacture of Artificial Flies. Third
Edition, with Woodcuts. Fcp. 8vo. price 6s.
Pycroft's Course of English Reading,
adapted to every Taste and Capacity: With
Literary Anecdotes. New and cheaper
Edition. Fcp. 8vo. price 5s.
Dr. Reece's Medical Guide; for the Use
of the Clergy, Heads of Families, Schools,
and Junior Medical Practitioners: Com-
prising a complete Modern Dispensatory,
and a Practical Treatise on the distinguishing
Symptoms, Causes, Prevention, Cure and
Palliation of the Diseases incident to the
Human Frame. With the latest Discoveries
in the different departments of the Healing
Art, Materia Medica, &c. Seventeenth
Edition, corrected and enlarged by the
Author's Son, Dr. H. REECE, M.R.C.S. &c.
8vo. price 12s.
Rich's Illustrated Companion to the
Latin Dictionary and Greek Lexicon: Form-
ing a Glossary of all the Words representing
Visible Objects connected with the Arts,
Manufactures, and Every-day Life of the
Ancients. With Woodcut Representations
of nearly 2,000 Objects from the Antique.
Post 8vo. price 21s.
Sir J. Richardson's Journal of a Boat
Voyage through Rupert's Land and the
Arctic Sea, in Search of the Discovery Ships
under Command of Sir John Franklin. With
an Appendix on the Physical Geography of
North America; a Map, Plates, and Wood-
cuts. 2 vols. 8vo. price 31s. 6d.
Richardson (Captain).-Horsemanship;
or, the Art of Riding and Managing a Horse,
adapted to the Guidance of Ladies and Gen-
tlemen on the Road and in the Field: With
Instructions for Breaking-in Colts and Young
Horses. By Captain RICHARDSON, late of
the 4th Light Dragoons. With 5 Line
Engravings. Square crown 8vo. price 14s.
Riddle's Complete Latin-English and
English-Latin Dictionary, for the use of
Colleges and Schools. New and cheaper
Edition, revised and corrected. 8vo. 218.
The English-Latin Dictionary, 78.
Separately The Latin-English Dictionary,15s.
Riddle's Diamond Latin-English Dic-
tionary: A Guide to the Meaning, Quality,
and right Accentuation of Latin Classical
Words. Royal 32mo. price 4s.
Riddle's Copious and Critical Latin-
English Lexicon, founded on the German-
Latin Dictionaries of Dr. William Freund.
New and cheaper Edition. Post 4to. 31s. 6d.
Rivers's Rose-Amateur's Guide; contain-
ing ample Descriptions of all the fine leading
varieties of Roses, regularly classed in their
respective Families; their History and
mode of Culture. Fifth Edition, corrected
and improved; including a full Account of
the Author's experience in the Culture of
Roses in Pots. Fcp. 8vo. price 3s. 6d.

Dr. E. Robinson's Greek and English
Lexicon to the Greek Testament. A New
Edition, revised and in great part re-written.
8vo. price 18s.
Roby.-Remains, Legendary and Poe-
tical, of John Roby, Author of Traditions of
Lancashire. With a Sketch of his Literary
Life and Character by his WIDOW. Post
8vo. with Portrait, 10s. 6d.
Henry Rogers's Essays selected from
Contributions to the Edinburgh Review.
Second and cheaper Edition, with Additions.
3 vols. fcp. 8vo. 21s.
Henry Rogers's Additional Essays from
the Edinburgh Review, printed uniformly
with the First Edition, and forming a Third
Volume. 8vo. 10s. 6d.
Dr. Roget's Thesaurus of English Words
and Phrases Classified and arranged so as to
facilitate the Expression of Ideas and assist
in Literary Composition. Third Edition,
revised and improved; and printed in a
more convenient form. Crown 8vo. 10s. 6d.
Rowton's Debater: A Series of complete
Debates, Outlines of Debates, and Questions
for Discussion; with ample References
to the best Sources of Information on
each particular Topic. New Edition. Fcp.
8vo. price 6s.
Letters of Rachel Lady Russell. A New
Edition, including several unpublished Let-
ters, together with those edited by Miss
BERRY. With Portraits, Vignettes, and
Facsimile. 2 vols. post 8vo. price 15s.
The Life of William Lord Russell. By
the Right Hon. Lord JOHN RUSSELL, M.P.
The Fourth Edition, complete in One
Volume; with a Portrait engraved on Steel
by S. Bellin, from the original by Sir Peter
Lely at Woburn Abbey. Post 8vo. 10s. 6d.
PUBLISHED BY LONGMAN, BROWN, AND CO.
St. John (the Hon. F.) - Rambles in
Search of Sport, in Germany, France, Italy,
and Russia. By the Honourable FERDINAND
ST JOHN. With Four coloured Plates.
Post 8vo. price 9s. 6d.
St. John (H.)—The Indian Archipelago ;
Its History and Present State. By HORACE
ST JOHN, Author of The British Conquests in
India, &c. 2 vols. post 8vo. price 21s.
The Saints our Example. By the Author
of Letters to My Unknown Friends, &c. Fcp.
8vo. price 7s.
Schmitz.-History of Greece, from the
Earliest Times to the Taking of Corinth by
the Romans, B.C. 146, mainly based upon
Bishop Thirlwall's History of Greece. By
Dr. LEONHARD SCHMITZ, F.R.S.E., Rector
of the High School of Edinburgh.
Edition. 12mo. price 7s. S.
New
Scrivenor.-History of the Iron Trade,
from the Earliest Records to the Present
Period. By HARRY SCRIVENOR, Author of
The Railways of the United Kingdom. New
Edition, revised and corrected. 8vo. 10s. 6d.
Sir Edward Seaward's Narrative of his
Shipwreck, and consequent Discovery of
certain Islands in the Caribbean Sea.
Third Edition. 2 vols. post 8vo. 21s.-An
ABRIDGMENT, in 16mo. price 2s. 6d.
The Sermon in the Mount. Printed by
C. Whittingham, uniformly with the Thumb
Bible; bound and clasped. 64mo. price
Eighteenpence.
Self-Denial the Preparation for Easter.
By the Author of Letters to my Unknown
Friends, &c. Fcp. 8vo. price 2s. 6d.
Sharp's New British Gazetteer, or Topo-
graphical Dictionary of the British Islands
and Narrow Seas: Comprising concise De-
scriptions of about Sixty Thousand Places,
Seats, Natural Features, and Objects of Note,
founded on the best Authorities; full Par-
ticulars of the Boundaries, Registered Elec-
tors, &c. of the Parliamentary Boroughs;
with a reference under every name to the
Sheet of the Ordnance Survey, as far as com
pleted; and an Appendix, containing a
General View of the Resources of the United
Kingdom, a Short Chronology, and an
Abstract of certain Results of the last
Census. 2 vols. 8vo. price £2. 16s.
Sewell. Amy Herbert. By a Lady.
Edited by the Rev. WILLIAM SEWELL, B.D.
Fellow and Tutor of Exeter College, Oxford.
New Edition. Fcp, 8vo. price 6s.
19
Sewell.-The Earl's Daughter. By the
Author of Amy Herbert. Edited by the Rev.
W. SEWELL, B.D. 2 vols. fcp. 8vo. 9s.
Sewell. Gertrude A Tale. By the
Author of Amy Herbert. Edited by the Rev.
W. SEWELL, B.D. New Edition. Fcp.
8vo. price 63.
Sewell.-Laneton Parsonage: A Tale for
Children, on the Practical Use of a portion
of the Church Catechism. By the Author
of Amy Herbert. Edited by the Rev. W.
SEWELL, B.D. New Edition. 3 vols. fcp.
8vo. price 16s.
Sewell.
Margaret Percival. By the
Author of Amy Herbert. Edited by the Rev.
W. SEWELL, B.D. New Edition. 2 vols.
fcp. 8vo. price 12s.
By the same Author,
Katharine Ashton. New Edition. 2 vols.
fcp. 8vo. price 12s.
The Experience of Life. New Edition.
Fcp. 8vo. price 7s. 6d.
Readings for a Month preparatory
Confirmation: Compiled from the Works of
Writers of the Early and of the English
Church. Fep. 8vo. price 5s. 6d.
Readings for Every Day in Lent: Com-
piled from the Writings of BISHOP JEREMY
TAYLOR. Fcp. 8vo. price 5s.
The Family Shakspeare; in which
nothing is added to the Original Text; but
those words and expressions are omitted
which cannot with propriety be read aloud.
By T. BOWDLER, Esq. F.R.S. New Edition,
in Volumes for the Pocket; with 36 Wood
Engravings, from Designs by Smirke,
Howard, and other Artists. 6 vols. fcp. 8vo.
price 30s.
** A LIBRARY EDITION, with the same
illustrations, in 1 vol. medium 8vo. price 21s.
Short Whist; Its Rise, Progress, and
Laws: With Observations to make any one a
Whist Player. Containing also the Laws of
Piquet, Cassino, Ecarté, Cribbage, Back-
gammon. By Major A. New Edition; to
which are added, Precepts for Tyros, by
Mrs. B. Fep. Svo. 3s.
Shortland. Traditions and Supersti-
tions of the New Zealanders; with Illustra-
tions of their Manners and Customs. By
EDWARD SHORTLAND, M.A. Fcp. 8vo. 5s.
20
NEW WORKS AND NEW EDITIONS
Sinclair. The Journey of Life. By
CATHERINE SINCLAIR, Author of The Busi-
ness of Life [2 vols. fcp. 8vo. 10s.] New Edit.
corrected and enlarged. Fcp. 8vo. 5s.
Sir Roger De Coverley. From The Spec-
tator. With Notes and Illustrations, by
W. HENRY WILLS; and 12 Wood Engrav-
ings from Designs by F. TAYLER. Second
and cheaper Edition. Crown 8vo. 10s. 6d.
or 21s. in morocco by Hayday.-An Edition
without Woodcuts, in 16mo. price 1s.
;
Smee's Elements of Electro-Metallurgy.
Third Edition, revised, corrected, and con-
siderably enlarged; with Electrotypes and
numerous Woodcuts. Post 8vo. price 10s. 6d.
Smith's Sacred Annals.-Sacred Annals:
Vol. III. The Gentile Nations; or, The
History and Religion of the Egyptians,
Assyrians, Babylonians, Medes, Persians,
Greeks, and Romans, collected from ancient
authors and Holy Scripture, and including
the recent discoveries in Egyptian, Persian,
and Assyrian Inscriptions: Forming a com-
plete connection of Sacred and Profane His-
tory, and shewing the Fulfilment of Sacred
Prophecy. By GEORGE SMITH, F.A.S. &c.
In Two Parts, crown 8vo. price 128.
By the same Author,
Sacred Annals: Vol. I. The Patriarchal Age;
or, Researches into the History and Re-
ligion of Mankind, from the Creation of
the World to the Death of Isaac. Crown
8vo. 10s.
Sacred Annals: Vol. II. The Hebrew People;
or, The History and Religion of the
Israelites, from the Origin of the Nation to
the Time of Christ. In two Parts, crown
8vo. price 12s.
A Memoir of the Rev. Sydney Smith.
By his Daughter, LADY HOLLAND. With
a Selection from his Letters, Edited by
Mrs. AUSTIN. 2 vols. 8vo. [In the press.
The Rev. Sydney Smith's Miscellaneous
Works: Including his Contributions to The
Edinburgh Review. Three Editions :-
1. A LIBRARY EDITION (the Fourth), in
3 vols. 8vo. with Portrait, 36s.
2. Complete in ONE VOLUME, with Por
trait and Vignette. Square crown
8vo. price 21s. cloth; or 30s. calf.
3. Another NEW EDITION, in 3 vols. fcp.
8vo. price 21s.
The Rev. Sydney Smith's Elementary
Sketches of Moral Philosophy, delivered at
the Royal Institution in the Years 1804,
1805, and 1806. Third and cheaper Edition.
Fcp. 870. 73.
Robert Southey's Complete Poetical
Works; containing all the Author's last In-
troductions and Notes. Complete in One
Volume, with Portrait and Vignette. Medium
8vo. price 21s. cloth; 42s. bound in morocco.
Or in 10 vols. fcp. 8vo. with Portrait and
19 Plates, price 35s.
Select Works of the British Poets; from
Chaucer to Lovelace, inclusive.
With
Biographical Sketches by the late ROBERT
SOUTHEY. Medium 8vo. price 30s.
Southey's The Doctor &c. Complete in
One Volume. Edited by the Rev. J. W.
WARTER, B.D. With Portrait, Vignette,
Bust, and coloured Plate. New Edition.
Square crown 8vo. price 218.
Southey's Commonplace Books.
Comprising-
1. Choice Passages: With Collections for
the History of Manners and Literature in
England; 2. Special Collections on various
Historical and Theological Subjects; 3. Ana-
lytical Readings in various branches of
Literature; and 4. Original Memoranda,
Literary and Miscellaneous. Edited by
the Rev. J. W. WARTER, B.D. 4 vols.
square crown 8vo. price £3. 18s.
Each Commonplace Book, complete in itself, may be had sepa-
rately as follows:--
FIRST SERIES-CHOICE PASSAGES, &c. 18s.
SECOND SERIES-SPECIAL COLLECTIONS. 18s.
THIRD SERIES-ANALYTICAL READINGS. 21s.
FOURTH SERIES-ORIGINAL MEMORANDA, &c. 218.
The Life and Correspondence of the late
Robert Southey. Edited by his Son, the
Rev. C. C. SOUTHEY, M.A., Vicar of
Ardleigh. With Portraits, and Landscape
Illustrations. 6 vols. post 8vo. price 63s.
Southey's Life of Wesley; and Rise and
Progress of Methodism. New Edition, with
Notes and Additions. Edited by the Rev.
C. C. SOUTHEY, M.A. 2 vols. 8vo. with
2 Portraits, price 28s.
Stephen.-Lectures on the History of
France. By the Right Hon. Sir JAMES
STEPHEN, K.C.B. LL.D. Professor of Modern
History in the University of Cambridge.
Second Edition. 2 vols. 8vo. price 24s.
Stephen.-Essays in Ecclesiastical Bio-
graphy; from The Edinburgh Review. By
the Right Hon. Sir JAMES STEPHEN, K.C.B.
LL.D. Third Edition. 2 vols. 8vo. 24s,
PUBLISHED BY LONGMAN, BROWN, AND CO.
Stonehenge.-The Greyhound: Being a
Treatise on the Art of Breeding, Rearing,
and Training Greyhounds for Public Run-
ning; their Diseases and Treatment: Con-
taining also, Rules for the Management of
Coursing Meetings, and for the Decision of
Courses. By STONEHENGE. With numerous
Portraits of Greyhounds, &c. engraved on
Wood, and a Frontispiece engraved on
Steel. Square crown 8vo. price 218.
Stow.-The Training System, the Moral
Training School, and the Normal Seminary
for preparing School-Trainers and Go-
vernesses. By DAVID STOW, Esq., Honorary
Secretary to the Glasgow Normal Free
Seminary. Tenth Edition; with Plates and
Woodouts. Post 8vo. price 6s.
Dr. Sutherland's Journal of a Voyage in
Baffin's Bay and Barrow's Straits, in the
Years 1850 and 1851, performed by H.M.
Ships Lady Franklin and Sophia, under the
command of Mr. W. Penny, in search of
the Crews of H.M. Ships Erebus and Terror.
With Charts and Illustrations. 2 vols.
post 8vo. price 273.
Tate. On the Strength of Materials;
Containing various original and useful For-
mulæ, specially applied to Tubular Bridges,
Wrought Iron and Cast Iron Beams, &c.
BY THOMAS TATE, F.R.A.S. 8vo. price 5s. 6d.
Taylor.-Loyola: And Jesuitism in its
Rudiments. By ISAAC TAYLOR. Post 8vo.
with Medallion, price 10s. 6d.
Taylor.-Wesley and Methodism. By
ISAAC TAYLOR. Post 8vo. with a Portrait,
price 10s. 6d.
Tegoborski.-Commentaries on the Pro-
ductive Forces of Russia. By L. DE
TEGOBORSKI, Privy-Councillor and Member
of the Council of the Russian Empire.
2 vols. 8vo.
[Vol. I. nearly ready.
Theologia Germanica: Which setteth
forth many fair lineaments of Divine Truth,
and saith very lofty and lovely things touch-
ing a Perfect Life. Translated by SUSANNA
WINKWORTH. With a Preface by the
Rev. CHARLES KINGSLEY; and a Letter by
Chevalier BUNSEN. 2d Edition. Fcp. 8vo. 5s.
Thirlwall.-The History of Greece. By
the Right Rev. the LORD BISHOP of ST.
DAVID'S (the Rev. Connop Thirlwall). An
improved Library Edition; with Maps. 8
vols. 8vo. price £3.
** Also, an Edition in 8 vols. fcp. 8vo.
with Vignette Titles, price 28s.
21
Thirty Years of Foreign Policy: A
History of the Secretaryships of the Earl
of Aberdeen and Viscount Palmerston. By
the Author of The Right Hon. Benjamin
Disraeli, M.P., a Literary and Political Bio-
graphy. 8vo. 12s.
Thomson (the Rev. W.)-The Atoning
Work of Christ, reviewed in relation to some
current Theories; in Eight Bampton Lec-
tures, with numerous Notes. By the Rev.
W. THOMSON, M.A., Fellow and Tutor of
Queen's College, Oxford. 8vo. 8s.
Thomson (The Rev. W.) - An Outline of the
Laws of Thought: Being a Treatise on
Pure and Applied Logic. By the Rev. W.
THOMSON, M.A. Third Edition, enlarged.
Fcp. 8vo. price 7s. 6d.
Thomson's Tables of Interest, at Three,
Four, Four-and-a-Half, and Five per Cent.,
from One Pound to Ten Thousand, and from
1 to 365 Days, in a regular progression of
single Days; with Interest at all the above
Rates, from One to Twelve Months, and
from One to Ten Years. Also, numerous
other Tables of Exchanges, Time, and Dis-
counts. New Edition. 12mo. price 8s.
Thomson's Seasons. Edited by Bolton
CORNEY, Esq. Illustrated with 77 fine
Wood Engravings from Designs by Mem-
bers of the Etching Club. Square crown 8vo.
21s. cloth; or, 36s. bound in morocco.
The Thumb Bible; or, Verbum Sempi-
ternum. By J. TAYLOR. Being an Epi-
tome of the Old and New Testaments in
English Verse. Reprinted from the Edition
of 1693; bound and clasped. 64mo. 1s. 6d.
Townsend.-The Lives of Twelve Emi-
nent Judges of the Last and of the Present
Century. By W. C. TOWNSEND, Esq., M.A.,
Q.C. 2 vols. 8vo. price 28s.
Townsend.-Modern State Trials revised
and illustrated with Essays and Notes. By
W. C. TOWNSEND, Esq. M.A, Q.C. 2 vols.
8vo. price 30s.
Trollope.-The Warden. By Anthony
TROLLOPE. Post 8vo. 10%. 6d.
"Mr. Trollope's tale shews him to possess a very happy vein
in the description of English domestic life and manners. The
hint of its subject appears to have been taken from certain reve-
lations as to the present condition and management of our cha-
ritable institutions, which has awakened no slight degree of public
interest..... The characters are admirably portrayed, and there
are sketches conceived and drawn in a true spirit of comic satire,
humorous and pungent without bitterness or venom."
MORNING CHRONICLE.
22
NEW WORKS AND NEW EDITIONS
THE TRAVELLER'S LIBRARY,
IN COURSE OF PUBLICATION IN VOLUMES PRICE HALF-A-CROWN EACH :
Comprising books of valuable information and acknowledged merit, in a
form adapted for reading while Travelling, and also of a character that
will render them worthy of preservation.
List of 39 VOLUMES already published.
VOL. 1. Mr. MACAULAY's ESSAYS on WARREN HASTINGS and LORD CLIVE
ESSAYS on PITT and CHATHAM, RANKE and GLADSTONE
2.
3. LAING's RESIDENCE in NORWAY
4. IDA PFEIFFER's LADY's VOYAGE ROUND the WORLD
5. EOTHEN, or TRACES of TRAVEL from the EAST
...
2/6
2/6
2/6
2/6
2/6
6. Mr. MACAULAY's ESSAYS on ADDISON, WALPOLE, and LORD BACON.... 2/6
7. HUC's TRAVELS in TARTARY, THIBET, and CHINA
S. THOMAS HOLCROFT's MEMOIRS.
9.
WERNE's AFRICAN WANDERINGS
10. MRS. JAMESON's SKETCHES in CANADA
11. JERRMANN's PICTURES from ST. PETERSBURG
12. THE REV. G. R. GLEIG's LEIPSIC CAMPAIGN
13. HUGHES's AUSTRALIAN COLONIES ...
14. ŞIR EDWARD SEAWARD's SHIPWRECK
...
·
15. ALEXANDRE DUMAS' MEMOIRS of a MAITRE D'ARMES
16. OUR COAL FIELDS and OUR COAL PITS
17. M'CULLOCH's LONDON; and GIRONIERE's PHILIPPINES
18. SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY; and SOUTHEY's LOVE STORY
LORD CARLISLE's LECTURES and ADDRESSES;
JEFFREY'S ESSAYS on SWIFT and RICHARDSON
19.
and
2/6
2/6
2/6
•
2/6
2/6
2/6
2/6
2/6
2/6
2/6
2/6
2/6
2/6
2/6
2/6
20. HOPE's BIBLE in BRITTANY, and CHASE in BRITTANY
21. THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH; and NATURAL HISTORY of CREATION 2/6
22. MEMOIR of the DUKE of WELLINGTON; LIFE of MARSHAL TURENNE..
23. TURKEY and CHRISTENDOM; & RANKE's FERDINAND and MAXIMILIAN, 2/6
BARROW's CONTINENTAL TOUR; and:
s
24.
25.
26.
FERGUSON's SWISS MEN and SWISS MOUNTAINS
SOUVESTRE's ATTIC PHILOSOPHER in PARIS, and
WORKING MAN'S CONFESSIONS
:}
Mr. MACAULAY's ESSAYS on LORD BYRON and the COMIC DRAMATISTS
and his SPEECHES on PARLIAMENTARY REFORM (1831-32)……….
SHIRLEY BROOKS's RUSSIANS of the SOUTH; and
27.
DR. KEMP's INDICATIONS of INSTINCT......
}
28.
LANMAN's ADVENTURES in the WILDS of NORTH AMERICA
2/6
2/6
:}
2/6
...
2/6
2/6
31.
29. RUSSIA. By the MARQUIS DE CUSTINE
30. SELECTIONS from the Rev. SYDNEY SMITH'S WRITINGS, Vol. I.
EODENSTEDT and WAGNER'S SCHAMYL; and】
M'CULLOCH'S RUSSIA and TURKEY
32. LAING'S NOTES of a TRAVELLER, First Series
33. DURRIEU’S MOROCCO; and an ESSAY on MORMONISM
34. RAMBLES in ICELAND, by PLINY MILES
3/6
2/6
2/6
2/6
2/6
2/6
36.
35. SELECTIONS from the Rev. SYDNEY SMITH'S WRITINGS, Vol. II.
(HAYWARD's ESSAYS on CHESTERFIELD and SELWYN; and
MISS MAYNE'S ARCTIC VOYAGES and DISCOVERIES
2/6
"}
2/6
37. CORNWALL: its MINES, MINERS, and SCENERY..
2/6
38. DE FOE and CHURCHILL. By JOHN FORSTER, Esq.
39. GREGOROVIUS'S CORSICA, translated by RUSSELL MARTINEAU, M.A.
...
2/6
3/6
PUBLISHÉD BY LÒNGMAN, BROWN, AND CÓ.
THE TRAVELLER'S LIBRARY,
In course of publication in PARTS price One
Shilling each: Comprising books of valuable
information and acknowledged merit, in a
form adapted for reading while Travelling,
and also of a character that will render them
worthy of preservation.
List of 81 PARTS already published :-
1..Mr. Macaulay's Essay on Warren Hastings.
2..
""
Lord Clive.
3..London in the years 1850 and 1851. By J. R.
M'Culloch, Esq.
4.. Sir Roger De Coverley. From the Spectator.
5..Mr. Macaulay's Two Essays on William Pitt and the
Earl of Chatham.
6 7..Laing's Residence in Norway.
8..Mr. Macaulay's Essays on Ranke and Gladstone.
9 10..Ida Pfeiffer's Lady's Voyage round the World.
11-12..Eothen, or Traces of Travel from the East.
13..Mr. Macaulay's Essays on Addison and Walpole.
14—15.. Huc's Travels in Tartary, Thibet, and China.
16-17..Thomas Holcroft's Memoirs.
18.. The Earl of Carlisle's Lectures and Addresses.
19-20..Werne's African Wanderings.
21-22..Mrs. Jameson's Sketches in Canada.
23..Brittany and the Bible. By I. Hope.
24..The Natural History of Creation. By Dr. L. Kemp.
25..Mr. Macaulay's Essay on Lord Bacon.
26..The Electric Telegraph, etc. By Dr. G. Wilson.
27-28..Jerrmann's Pictures from St. Petersburg.
29-30..The Rev. G. R. Gleig's Leipsic Campaign.
31..Memoir of the Duke of Wellington.
32-33..The Australian Colonies. By William Hughes, F.R.G.S.
34-35..Sir Edward Seaward's Narrative Abridged.
36..Lord Jeffrey's Essays on Swift and Richardson.
37..Ranke's Ferdinand I. and Maximilian 11.
38-39. Memoirs of a Maître-d'Armes. By Alexandre Dumas.
40..Byron and the Comic Dramatists. By T. B. Macaulay.
41..Marshal Turenne. By the Rev. T. O. Cockayne, M.A.
42-43..Our Coal Fields and Coal Pits.
44..Barrow's Tour on the Continent in MDCCCLII.
45.,Swiss Men and Swiss Mountains. By R. Ferguson.
46..Gironière's Philippine Islands.
47..Turkey and Christendom.
48..Confessions of a Working Man. By Emile Souvestre.
49.. The Chase in Brittany. By I. Hope.
50..The Love Story from Southey's Doctor.
51..An Attic Philosopher in Paris. By E. Souvestre.
52..Mr. Macaulay's Speeches on Parliamentary Reform.
53..The Russians of the South. By Shirley Brooks.
54..Indications of Instinct. By Dr. Lindley Kemp.
55-56..Lanman's Adventures in the Wilds of North America.
57-58-59..De Custine's Russia.
60..Durrieu's Morocco.
61-62..Selections from Sydney Smith's Writings.
63..Schamyl, the Chieftain of the Caucasus.
64.. Russia and Turkey. By J. R. M'Culloch, Esq.
65—66.. Laing's Notes of a Traveller, First Series.
67..Mormonism.
68-69..Rambles in Iceland.
70..Chesterfield and Selwyn.
71-72..Selections from Sydney Smith's Writings. Vol. II.
73..Arctic Voyages and Discoveries.
74-75.. Cornwall: its Mines, Miners, and Scener
76-77..De Foe and Churchill. By John Forste
76..Francis Arago's Autobiography.
79-80-81..Gregorovius's Corsica.
23
Sharon Turner's Sacred History of the
World, attempted to be Philosophically
considered, in a Series of Letters to a Son.
New Edition, edited by the Author's Son,
the Rev. S. TURNER. 3 vols. post 8vo.
price 31s. 6d.
Sharon Turner's History of England
during the Middle Ages: Comprising the
Reigns from the Norman Conquest to the
Accession of Henry VIII. Fifth Edition,
revised by the Rev. S. TURNER. 4 vols.
8vo. price 50s.
Sharon Turner's History of the Anglo-
Saxons, from the Earliest Period to the
Norman Conquest. The Seventh Edition,
revised by the Rev. S. TURNER. 3 vols.
8vo. price 36s.
Dr. Turton's Manual of the Land and
Fresh-water Shells of the British Islands.
A New Edition, with considerable Additions
by JOHN EDWARD GRAY: With Woodcuts,
and 12 coloured Plates. Post 8vo. price 15s.
Dr. Ure's Dictionary of Arts, Manufac-
tures, and Mines: Containing a clear Expo-
sition of their Principles and Practice.
Fourth Edition, much enlarged; with all
the Information comprised in the Supplement
of Recent Improvements brought down to
the Present Time and incorporated: Most
of the Articles being entirely re-written,
and many new Articles now first added.
With nearly 1,600 Woodcuts. 2 vols. 8vo.
price 60s.
Vehse.- Memoirs of the Court, Aris-
tocracy, and Diplomacy of Austria. By
Dr. E. VEHSE. Translated from the German
by FRANZ DEMMLER.
[In the press.
Waterton.-Essays on Natural History,
chiefly Ornithology. By C. WATERTON, Esq.
With an Autobiography of the Author, and
Views of Walton Hall. New and cheaper
Edition. 2 vols. fcp. 8vo. price 10s.
Separately: Vol. I. (First Series), 5s. 6d.
Vol. II. (Second Series), 4s. 6d.
Alaric Watts's Lyrics of the Heart, and
other Poems. With 41 highly-finished
Line Engravings, executed expressly for the
work by the most eminent Painters and
Engravers. Square crown 8vo. price 31s. 6d.
boards, or 45s. bound in morocco; Proof
Impressions, 63s. boards.
24
NEW WORKS PUBLISHED BY LONGMAN AND CO.
Wathen. The Golden
Golden Colony: or,
Victoria in 1854; with Remarks on the
Geology of the Gold Fields of Australia.
By G. H. WATHEN. Illustrated with Wood
Engravings from Sketches by the Author.
Crown 8vo. 8s. 6d.
Webster and Parkes's Encyclopædia of
Domestic Economy; Comprising such sub-
jects as are most immediately connected with
Housekeeping: As, The Construction of
Domestic Edifices, with the modes of Warm-
ing, Ventilating, and Lighting them-A de-
scription of the various articles of Furniture,
with the nature of their Materials-Duties of
Servants, &c. New Edition; with nearly
1,000 Woodcuts. 8vo. price 50s.
West. Lectures on the Diseases of
Infancy and Childhood. By CHARLES WEST,
M.D., Physician to the Hospital for Sick
Children; Physician-Accoucheur to, and
Lecturer on Midwifery at, St. Bartholomew's
Hospital. Third Edition, revised and en-
larged. 8vo. 14s.
Wheeler (H. M.)-A Popular Harmony
of the Bible, Historically and Chronologically
arranged. By HENRY M. WHEELER, Author
of Hebrew for Adults, &c. Fcp. 8vo. 5s.
Wheeler. The Geography of Herodotus
Developed, Explained, and Illustrated from
Modern Researches and Discoveries. By
J. TALBOYS WHEELER, F.R.G.S. With
Maps and Plans. 8vo. price 18s.
White.-Charles Random; or, Lunatics
at Large. By THOMAS WHITE. 3 vols.
post 8vo. 31s. 6d.
Whitelocke.-A Journal of the Swedish
Embassy in the Years 1653 and 1654, im-
partially written by the Ambassador,
BULSTRODE WHITELOCKE; and first pub-
lished from the original MS. by Dr. C.
MORTON, F.S.A., Librarian of the British
Museum. A New Edition, revised by
HENRY REEVE, Esq. F.S.A. 2 vols. 8vo. 24s.
Wilberforce.-An Inquiry into the Prin-
ciples of Church Authority; or, Reasons for
recalling my Subscription to the Royal
Supremacy. By Rev. R. I. WILBERFORCE,
M.A. Second Edition, revised. 8vo. 5s.
Willich's Popular Tables for ascertaining
the Value of Lifehold, Leasehold, and Church
Property, Renewal Fines, &c. Third Edition,
with additional Tables of Natural or Hyper-
bolic Logarithms, Trigonometry, Astronomy,
Geography, &c. Post 8vo. price 9s.
Lady Willoughby's Diary (1635 to 1663).
Printed, ornamented, and bound in the style
of the period to which The Diary refers.
New Edition; in Two Parts. Square fcp.
8vo. price 8s. each, boards; or, bound in
morocco, 18s. each.
Wilmot's Abridgment of Blackstone's
Commentaries on the Laws of England, in-
tended for the use of Young Persons, and
comprised in a series of Letters from a Father
to his Daughter. A New Edition, corrected
and brought down to the Present Day, by
Sir JOHN E. EARDLEY WILMOT, Bart.
12mo. price 6s. 6d.

Wilson.
Bryologia Britannica: Con-
taining the Mosses of Great Britain and
Ireland systematically arranged and described
according to the Method of Bruch and
Schimper; with 61 illustrative Plates, in-
cluding 25 new ones engraved for the present
work. Being a new Edition, with many
Additions and Alterations, of the Muscologia
Britannica of Messrs. Hooker and Taylor.
By WILLIAM WILSON, President of the
Warrington Natural History Society. 8vo.
42s.; or, with the Plates coloured, £4. 48.
Yonge.-A New English-Greek Lexicon :
Containing all the Greek Words used by
Writers of good authority. By C. D.
YONGE, B.A. Post 4to. 21s.
Yonge's New Latin Gradus: Containing
every Word used by the Poets of good
authority. By Authority and for the Use
of Eton, Westminster, Winchester, Harrow,
Charterhouse, and Rugby Schools; King's
College, London; and Marlborough College.
Third Edition, carefully revised and cor-
rected. Post 8vo. 9s.
Youatt.-The Horse. By William Youatt.
With a Treatise of Draught. New Edition,
with numerous Wood Engravings, from
Designs by William Harvey. (Messrs.
Longman and Co.'s Edition should be or
dered.) 8vo. price 10s.
Youatt.-The Dog. By William Youatt.
A New Edition; with numerous Engravings,
from Designs by W. Harvey. 8vo. 68.
Zumpt's Grammar of the Latin Lan-
guage. Translated and adapted for the
use of English Students by Dr. L. SCHMITZ,
F.R.S.E.: With numerous Additions and
Corrections by the Author and Translator.
Fourth Edition, thoroughly revised; with
an Index. Svo. 14s.
WILSON AND OGILVY, SKINNER STREET, SNOWHILL, LONDON,
[March, 1855,

:
DO NOT REMOVE
OR
MUTILATE CARD
!

UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
RECENT BIO
MEMOIRS JOURNA
3 9015 03064 2188
CORRESPONDENCE
MEMOIRS.
NTGOMER
CORRESPONDENCE
ENCE of the late ROBERT
FD and WRITINGS Of JAMES
LITERARY REMAINS of HENRY TYNES CHINTON
Autho
The Lozica
MEMOIRS of St ROBERT STRANGE. Knt Logia
her in
The LIFE of BR. HAYDON. Historical Pamter, fre
from
An AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIR of GEORGE
CHESTERTO
bls post 840
Kelas House.
SOUTHEY'S LIFE OF WESLEY and RISE
ROCKES SSLC METHODISM
LIFE
th Notes
2 vols. 8vo, with Portraits price 28s
WESLEY and METHODISM.
a Portrait of Wesle Frave W-Grestbach
BY ISANG TAYLOR – Wi
With
LOYOLA
and Jesuit
Jesuitism in
Rudimen
By Isa
10 price 10S 6
With a Medallion Portrait of LO
The LIVES of TWELVE EMINENT JUDGES of the
LAST and of the PRESENT CENTURY
O price 288.
CHARI
ESSAYS in ECCLESIASTICAL BIOGRAPHY By the
KCB. LLD. Professor of Modern History in the Universi
Right
MAUNDER BIOGRAPHICAL TREASURY Com
lutions.
Thiet Notites of abov 000 emint
u izom extended
Persons of all Ages an
BOUNDEY
WESTLEYS
& Co
LONDON
LONGMAN BROWN GREEN
GREEN and LONGMA
D: LONGM
ondon

V. I
OCH'S
ACCOUNY
OF THE
BRITISH EMPIR
ND