which are not great. The parochial schoolmasters have all more than the legal accommodation, except the schoolmaster at Chryston, who has no garden, and an insufficient dwelling-house. The teachers have all attended the University of Glasgow; and the principal teacher is a preacher of the Gospel. There are few, if any, persons belonging to the parish who cannot read; but some of the children of the weavers who cannot earn above 6s. a week are put very early to drawing and even weaving, and are but partially taught. We have at least three Sabbath schools in the west division of the parish, supported by the lady before-mentioned. There are small juvenile libraries attached to three of the Sunday schools by Mrs Stirling. A library was originated last year at Auchenairn. There is a library also begun at Chryston.

Societies. We have two charitable societies in the west district of the parish, of about thirty years standing. They do some good to decayed members; but had it not been for extraneous aid, they would have been far reduced, if not completely sunk. There was one in Chryston, perhaps more flourishing than either of them, and which had existed longer, but it was by general consent dissolved and the stock divided.

Savings Bank.-The late Charles Stirling, Esq. about ten years ago, established a savings bank, upon the liberal principle of giving at least one per cent. above any chartered, united, or individual banks. The whole of the parishioners, and even those in contiguous parishes, are allowed to lodge their savings in it. A great deal has been lodged; but not chiefly by those for whom such banks are intended. It promises fair to supplant all the friendly societies. The same active and enterprising merchant bequeathed to the kirk-session of Cadder, the right of recommending three patients to the Royal Infirmary of Glasgow. The parish had previously the right of recommending at least one patient.

Poor and Parochial Funds.-The average number of persons receiving parochial aid is 16. The average allowance per month is 4s. 4d. in the east district, and a little less in the west. There are two persons in the asylum, supported at an average of 9s. 1d. weekly. At the church and chapel, the collections amount to about L. 27 annually, nearly in equal proportions. The deficiency is made up by voluntary assessment. Besides the supply of the regular poor by the collections and voluntary contributions, a small proprietor of Slakiewood in the east district, named Walter Barton, burdened his property in perpetuity with L. 5 Sterling annually, to

be given to poor householders in the district of Chryston, not upon the roll,—so long as a board was kept upon the chapel in Chryston in good order, and a tombstone also in good repair in the churchyard of Cadder, recording the donation. These boards were common in the olden time. In the parish church of Cadder, there were a great many keeping in remembrance the sums mortified for their particular uses, by the beneficent individuals. They were all, very improperly, cast above the ceiling in 1784, when the late church was lathed and plastered. When it was taken down, the only one that was rescued was that of the Rev. Mr Warden, recording his mortification of 1000 merks to the school of Auchenairn. It is much decayed. Mr Hamilton of Mavisbank lately left to the kirk-session L. 50 Sterling, which is deposited in the Glasgow bank, and aids a little in supplying destitute householders. Beside all this, the necessitous householders would sometimes suffer severely, were it not for the help they receive from their working brethren. No less than L. 9 were collected lately for one destitute family, all almost from the working classes. It must be noticed that the extra collection at the sacrament in Cadder is immediately divided among the needy,—over and above their regular supply. This may average L. 7. At Chryston, the extra collection is given to the minister, to defray public and private expenses.

Fair. There was a fair held in Chryston for fat cattle, and other things about Martinmas: but it gradually dwindled away about the beginning of the present century.

Inns, &c.-Of inns and alehouses, there are at present no fewer than 21; but not more than nine would be required. There is one distillery in the parish; and another was lately erected,—but luckily there was not a sufficient supply of water, and it was converted into a farm-steading.

The fuel that is used in the parish is chiefly, it may be said solely, coal. Coals when carted above five miles cost 5s. 6d. the 12 cwt.

June 1836.

PARISH OF CAMBUSLANG.

PRESBYTERY OF HAMILTON, SYNOD OF GLASGOW AND AYR.

THE REV. JOHN ROBERTSON, D. D. MINISTER.*

I. TOPOGRAPHY AND NATURAL HISTORY.

Name.-IN the last Statistical Report, it is stated that this parish was anciently called Drumsargard; but this appears to be a mistake. In the seventeenth century, the name of the barony of Drumsharg or Drumsargard, which includes the larger portion of the parish, was changed to Cambuslang, the name the parish always bore; and hence, probably, the misapprehension into which the late Dr Meek, Anderson in his Diplom. Scotia, and others have fallen. Cam in the British and Celtic, transformed by the Scoto-Saxons into Cambus, signifies bending or bowed,-usg or uisg means water, -and glan, which in composition becomes lan, denotes a bank or bank of a water; thus Cambuslang appears to signify the "water with the bending bank." But whether the Cam or Cambus is to be sought for in the bending banks of the rivulet which passes the church, or in the magnificent sweep of the Clyde, as it winds round the northern end of the parish, it is impossible to say.

Extent-Boundaries.-The length of the parish from near Stonymeadow toll-bar on the south, to the Clyde near Kenmuir on the north, is 3 miles; and from the eastern boundary of Carmunnock near Fishes Coat, on the west, to the point where the waters of the Calder fall into the Clyde on the east, it is nearly the same across. It is bounded by the Clyde on the north, which separates it from the parish of Old Monkland; by the Calder on the east, which separates it from Blantyre; by part of Blantyre and Kilbryde, on the south; and by Carmunnock and Rutherglen, on the

west.

Topographical Appearances. It forms a very irregular quadrilateral figure, one part of it jutting a considerable way into the pa

Drawn up by the Rev. William Patrick. The notes to the account of the “Cambuslang Work" are supplied by a clergyman who was for some time minister of an adjoining parish.

rish of Rutherglen, in the north-west corner. According to an authentic and very accurate survey, it contains 8.50 square miles, and 4325 statute acres. Lying at the north-west extremity of the great trough of the Clyde, near the western boundary of the district of Clydesdale, the greater part of the parish exhibits a low undulating surface, and forms part of the great vale on which the city of Glasgow stands. The high grounds at Turnlaw and Dechmont, towards the south-west, which form a ridge about half a mile broad, and extending nearly two miles from east to west, are a continuation of the same range of whin hills which separate Douglas and Lesmahago from Ayrshire, and running through Avondale, Stonehouse, Hamilton, Blantyre, and Cambuslang, terminate in the county of Renfrew. Dechmont is about 600 feet above the level of the sea; but as it lies in a comparatively level country, the view from it is very extensive. Towards the south-east, Tinto, the Tweeddale, and Pentland hills are distinctly seen; and to the north-west, the " lofty Benlomond," and many of the hills of Cowal and Breadalbane. Among these last, the conical summit of Ben Loe, which is partly covered with snow from the end of October to the beginning of July, makes a conspicuous figure. But (as the writer of the last account of this parish justly remarks) "the beauties of this prospect lie nearer at hand and more immediately in view, comprehending the strath of Clyde, from Lanark on the one hand, to Dumbarton on the other." Amidst the amazing variety of objects which here present themselves to the eye of the spectator, the most striking are the windings of the river, and its banks adorned with villages, towns, and gentlemen's seats; the extensive woods and plantations about Hamilton; the magnificent ruins of Bothwell Castle; but above all, the large and populous city of Glasgow, with its numerous spires and beautiful cathedral.

Meteorology. The air, as in other places in the neighbourhood, varies considerably according to elevation and the nature of the soil. In the low dry sheltered lands near the Clyde and Calder, it is generally mild and temperate; but towards the west and south-west, especially about Dechmont and Turnlaw, it is sharper and more incleNo diseases are peculiar to the climate; but small-pox, which was scarcely heard of for many years, is again beginning to make its appearance, and often in an aggravated form. The climate is so mild that snow seldom lies in the lower parts of the parish towards the Clyde; but in the high grounds towards the south west, Dechmont often assumes a wintry shroud. Almost every fa

ment.

mily of any consequence is now possessed of a thermometer, barometer, and hygrometer, which are hung up in a handsome mahogany frame as a piece of ornamental furniture. But few who are possessed of these instruments make any use of them, or know their value. We must therefore have recourse to other sources. From the most careful inquiry, it appears that the following tables, drawn up by the late Dr Meek from observations made at the manse of Cambuslang, from 1st January 1785 to 31st December 1791, are the most correct which can be procured, and accord best with the present state of the climate. The three first columns contain the mean, the greatest, and least height of the barometer; the three next, the mean, the greatest, and least height of the thermometer; the four following, the average number of days in which the wind blew from the N. E., the S. E., the S. W., and the N. W. quarters; the two last, the average number of dry and wet days. The barometer was marked every day at 8 o'clock in the morning, and 10 o'clock at night; the thermometer, not only at these times, but also at 2 o'clock afternoon; so that columns first and fourth express the mean height between these extremes of the day. The situation of the manse is about 200 feet above the level of the sea, and about two miles north of Dechmont. The last column is supplied from a rain-gage kept within a mile of the eastern border of the parish.

Barometer.

Thermometer.

Winds.

Weather.

Rain 1

M. H. G. H. L. H. M. H.,G. H. L. H. N ES ES WNW Dry. Wet. inches.

The mean monthly and quarterly temperature in 1820 was as