1755 was L. 71, 16s. 8d; in 1798, it was L. 145, 9s. 10d. At present it consists of 121 bolls, 3 firlots, 3 pecks, 24 lippies of meal; barley the same; surrendered teind or money, L. 49, 8s. 10d. To which must be added Duchess Anne Hamilton's bounty for communion elements of 50 merks, or L. 2, 15s. 6d. CommuThere is a small congregration belongor Congregational Union. The church It is situated in the village of Chapel There nion elements, L. 10. ing to the missionaries was built about 1802. ton Cambuslang, and is capable of containing 200 sitters. The average number attending public worship is below 50. are about 20 communicants, all of the poor or working-classes. The minister has about L. 30 per annum. The parish church stands considerably to the north-west side of the parish. It is about 1 mile and 4 furlongs from the border of Carmunnock on the west, and the eastern corner is 3 miles distant. Eighteen inhabited houses are farther than two miles from the church. The relative number of churchmen and dissenters is as follows: Working-classes, establishment, Do. dissenters, Establishment, 2016 1928 Other denominations, 562 511 The ave The number of communicants at the Established Church is 245, of whom 186 are of the poor or working-classes. rage attendance in June, July, and August is 400; in December, January, and February 300. About 848 say they are in the habit of attendance, of whom 697 are of the poor or working-classes. There are in the parish about 1008 persons twelve years of age and upwards, belonging to the Establishment; and 281 of the same ages belonging to dissenters or persons of other persuasions. The accommodation in the church is 500 sittings, and if the population twelve years and upwards be 1008, about 508 must be without seats; and if 848 be in the habit of occasionally attending public worship in the parish church there must be 348 who cannot attend every day for want of seats. But if 848 could be accommodated, there would still be 150 twelve years of age and upwards without accommodation. The number of persons belonging to other persuasions scarcely amounts to one-fifth of the population; and those twelve years and upwards are scarcely one-tenth. About one twenty-third part of those belonging to the Establishment are of the wealthy classes, among those of other denominations oneeleventh part. Those belonging to no denomination form upwards of a twentieth part of the whole population. The proportion of the poor or working-classes who worship in the parish church is at least twice greater than among the other denominations. Education.-Besides the parish school, there are also schools at Lightburn, Bushyhill, and Silverbank. The parish school has for many years past been in a very flourishing condition under Mr Hall. The salary is the maximum, with a good house and garden. Through the liberality of the heritors a considerable addition is now making to the school-room, and also to the dwellinghouse above it. The following tables will give an interesting view of the state of education in this parish. The branches taught are English reading, English grammar, writing, arithmetic, book-keeping, Latin, geography and French. The average attendance is 95, and the fees amount to about L. 40. It would appear that the average number of boys more than girls in the summer season is 19, and in the winter season 18. Silverbank no returns. The following table will give an idea of the ages of pupils, and of the branches of education taught in the private schools. Lightburn. Bushyhill 1st. Bushyhill 2d. M. Silverbank. Total M. F. Total M. F. Total Under 5, 5 to 15 reading, 29 1 1 5 to 15 writing, The average number of children attending the above schools is 82, and if we add 95 for the parish school, the total number of scholars in the parish will be 177. If the number of children below twelve years of age be 1352, only one-seventh attend school. There are 615 children below ten, of whom 350 will be below five, leav ing 265 capable of attending school; and admitting that 177 do so, there must be 83 who are not receiving regular public instruction at any of the schools in the parish. Poor and Parochial Funds.-There are in this parish several mortifications for the support of the poor. In 1615, James Marquis of Hamilton, in conjunction with Mr John Howison, minister of Cambuslang, mortified a sum of money, the yearly interest of which was directed to be employed for maintaining in an hospital in Hamilton eight poor men, two of whom were always to belong to the parish of Cambuslang. Gabriel Hamilton of Westburn, in 1700, mortified 600 merks, the interest of which was to be laid out in buying shoes and hose to the indigent. James Glassford, Esq. of the family of Douglaston, mortified L. 100, in 1828, the interest of which amounts to L. 2, 10s. for providing clothing to poor children attending school, and to the more necessitous and better behaving poor. There is an annual collection for coals, which amounts to about L. 3, and Mr Farie, tacksman of the Duke of Hamilton's colliery, usually furnishes twenty-four carts annually at his own expense. The number of poor upon the ordinary poors' roll is 58, including widows, 15 of whom have families, perhaps about 100 persons in all. The regular contributions are L. 100 in six months, or L. 200 per annum, which is at the rate of L. 3, 10s. each per annum, or if 100 in all be dependent on these funds, it will be L. 2 each. Only one twenty-seventh of the population are paupers, and the greater portion of these are rendered incapable of earning a livelihood from debility or old age. The collection at the church door, for the last five years, was as follows: In 1830, L. 31, 11s. 8d.; 1831, L. 28, 16s. 94d.; 1833, L. 23, 8s. 0ąd.; 1834, L. 25, 16s. 5d.; 1835, L. 25, 14s. 2d. Total L. 135, 9s. 14d. Average, L. 23, 1s. 9d. The sum of L. 23, 1s. 9d. per annum will average 218 halfpennies every Sunday; and if 450 be the average attendance, scarcely one-half of those who attend put any thing into the plate. The average amount to those who contribute regularly will not exceed 2s. per annum. The mortcloth dues for the last six years during summer and winter were as follows: It is observable that the second half year exceeds the first by L. 1, 1s. 7d.; the total amount of the whole year is L. 6, 7s. 5d. The average number of deaths is nearly 52; this will give as the average price of each mortcloth for rich and poor 2s. 5d. The excess of L. 1, 1s. 7d. on the latter half of the year, will give fully eight more deaths for that half than for the former half. There are in the parish about 28 public houses where ardent spirits are sold. MISCELLANEOUS OBSERVATIONS. This and the neighbouring parishes depend in a great measure on Glasgow; which is the great mart to which the inhabitants resort, both for buying and selling. The improvements in Glasgow, and the great increase of its population, have extended in a considerable degree to the districts around. An increasing demand for the articles which land produces, a ready market, and favourable, though not extravagant prices, give life and vigour to the exertions. of the farmer. Growing wealth has created new wants, and the habits of the people and their means of subsistence have been gradually improving. The rental of the parish has been more than doubled since the publication of last report, and the gross amount of raw produce has also undergone a proportional increase. The population is more than doubled, and seems to be still on the in crease. June 1836. PARISH OF DALZIEL. PRESBYTERY OF HAMILTON, SYNOD OF GLASGOW AND AYR. THE REV. JAMES CLASON, MINISTER. I. TOPOGRAPHY AND NATURAL HISTORY. Name and Extent.-THE parish of Dalziel is situated in the middle ward of Lanarkshire, 13 miles from Glasgow, 14 from Lanark, and 1 from the town of Hamilton. It is bounded on the east by the parish of Cambusnethan; on the west by the parish of Hamilton and the river Calder; on the south by the parish of Hamilton and the river Clyde ; and on the north by the river Calder and the parish of Hamilton. At the north-west corner, four parishes meet,-Bothwell, Shotts, Cambusnethan, and Dalziel, the two former lying on the north side of the river Calder, and the two latter on the south side of that river. The origin and meaning of the name have been differently explained. In the charters of the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth centuries, the name appears in the form of Dalyell. Some have therefore thought that it is of Celtic origin, and denotes White Meadow, this being the meaning of the word Dalgheal in that language, and that it has been so called on account of a white scurf, or a large white gowan (Chrysanthemum Leucanthemum) which covered the ground before it was improved by cultivation. Others have supposed that it got its name from the Dalzells, afterwards Earls of Carnwath, who formerly possessed the barony of Dalziel. But it is more likely that it had previously received its name, and that they adopted it as their surname. The books of heraldry give the following account of the origin and meaning of the word Dalziel :-"A favourite and near kinsman of King Kenneth II. was taken by the Picts and hanged upon a gibbet. The King, urged by grief at the disgraceful treatment of his friend, proffered a large reward for the rescue of the body, which, as a forlorn hope, was for some time unavailing, until at length a valiant gentleman said to the King, in the old Scottish language, Dal Zell I dare,' and having successfully per 6 |