of the revenues of the vicarage of Symonton, for the payment of L. 30 yearly: And he was, moreover, obliged to get the service of the church duly performed. After the Reformation, the patronage, tithes, and church lands of the parish church of Symontoun belonged to the commendators of the monastery of Kelso, till 1607, when they were granted with the other property of that establishment to Robert Lord Roxburgh. The patronage of this church was resigned by the Earl of Roxburgh to Charles I., and it was afterwards conceded to Sir James Lockhart of Lee, who purchased from Baillie of Lammington, the barony of Symontoun, which had belonged to his ancestors, in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. The barony and the patronage of the church passed from Lockhart of Lee to Lockhart of Carnwath, at the end of the seventeenth century. The patronage of the church of Symontoun now belongs to Lockhart of Lee and Carnwath.

Boundaries, &c.-The parish is bounded on the north and east by the River Clyde; on the south-west, by the parish of Wiston; on the north-west, by the parishes of Carmichael and Covington. The figure of the parish is oblong, though somewhat irregular on the west side.

Hydrography. The parish abounds with springs, both perennial and intermittent. The only river is the Clyde, which bounds one-half of the parish, running nearly north, and then turning to the west.

Plantations.-The plantations are mostly of Scotch fir and larch: the latter of which seems to suit the soil best, but none of the trees have yet grown to any great size. A few hard-wood trees of different kinds surround the village.

II. CIVIL HISTORY.

Land-owners.-The chief land-owners are, Mr Dickson of Hartree; Mr Carmichael of Eastend; and Colonel Campbell of Symington Lodge.

Parochial Registers.-These consist of the records of the kirksession, a register of births, and accounts of the poor, commencing in the year 1709; but neither of them have been regularly kept nor well preserved.

Antiquities.-There are the remains of an ancient camp of a circular form on the top of an eminence, about a quarter of a mile south of the village, called Castle-hill, containing nearly half an Some say that it was the site of a castle, of which nothing now remains. It is now planted with trees.

acre.

There are other remains of camps in the parish, but none of them so entire. There were found a few years ago, in a tumulus at the bottom of Tinto, on the east side, some bones of a human body, but not the skull; and as the grave was shorter than the ordinary dimensions, it was supposed that the body had been bu ried after being decapitated. About a quarter of a mile north from this, another tumulus was opened about the same time, and in it were found two urns, one of which was broken by the workmen. The preserved one fell into the hands of Mr Carmichael, Younger of Eastend. About fifty yards north from the village, in an enclosure, the plough still turns up occasionally stones with lime adhering to them, where there has been a building, (said to have been called the Place,) understood to have been the residence of Symington of Symington. The moat is still visible on all sides; and although the field has been long cultivated, some old people recollect of part of a building standing.

On Tinto, a little above the base on the south-east side, there are the remains of an ancient castle, called Fatlips: a piece of the wall, about two yards high, is still standing: its thickness is fully six feet, and it adheres so firmly, that persons building a stone fence lately chose rather to quarry stone than take them from the wall. *

20

upwards of 70,

Number of proprietors of land of the yearly value of L. 50, but none of them resident,

Number of unmarried men upwards of 50 years.:

bachelors,

widowers,

51628

Number of unmarried women upwards of 45 years of age, 12

widows;

Number of families in the parish in 1881,

chiefly employed in agriculture,

106

40

trade, manufactures, or handicraft, 42

• Vide Chambers's Picture of Scotland.

Agriculture.

IV. INDUSTRY.

Number of acres in the parish, arable, Scotch measure,

which never have been cultivated,

Very few acres of these could be brought under cultivation with a profitable

application of capital.

Number of acres under wood, Scotch fir and larch,

1953

688

113

Rent. The average rent of arable land per acre is L. 1, 2s. 6d. The average rent of grazing per cow, L. 3.

Wages. The common rate of labour per day in winter is 1s. 6d., in summer, 2s.; mason per day in summer, 3s.; carpenter per day in summer, 2s. 6d.

Great attention is paid to the Ayrshire breed of cows, and the Clydesdale breed of horses; and husbandry is carried on with great spirit, in the best manner, and with great economy. Nineteen years form the general duration of the leases. Produce.

Market-Town, &c.—Biggar, the nearest market-town, is distant three miles; it is also the nearest post-town. The length of turnpike roads in the parish is about four miles. A coach running between Edinburgh and Dumfries passes through the parish. There is one bridge over the Clyde, which joins the parishes of Culter and Symington, and along which passes the road between Lanark and Biggar.

Ecclesiastical State.-The situation of the parish church is in the centre of the parish; and the greatest distance from it is about a mile and a-half. It is not exactly known when the church was built, but it underwent extensive repairs in 1761, and an addition was built about twenty years ago. The old part is now going fast out of repair. It accommodates about 300 sitters; and about 30 of the seats are free. The manse was built in 1790; it was repaired and received an addition in 1838. The glebe is 10 acres in extent, and the value about L. 15. The amount of the stipend is the minimum. Almost all the parishioners attend the parish church. The number of communicants is about 220.

Education-There is but one school in the parish, the paro

chial.

Salary, the maximum; fees about L. 15. The teacher has the legal accommodations.

Library. There is one parochial library.

Poor and Parochial Funds.-The number of poor this year is 11, four of these have families, 4, 2, 4, 5, in all, 15 children; the 11 have at an average 1s. 54d. per week.. It may be said the poor are yearly increasing. There is a legal assessment for their support, the collections at the church not being sufficient. The poor do not consider it in the least degrading to seek relief.

Inns.-There is one small inn on the road between Lanark and Biggar.

Fuel.-Coals are procured at Rigside and Ponfigh, the former in the parish of Douglas, and the latter in the parish of Carmichael: distance ten miles; expense, 13s. 6d. per ton.

MISCELLANEOUS OBSERVATIONS.

Great advances have been made in husbandry since the Carlisle and Stirling road was made through the parish, which passes through Lanark, and opens up a fine market for produce; and if the proposed rail-road from the south passes through the village, at which the branches from Glasgow and Edinburgh are to meet, the village will probably become a general depôt, and speedily receive a great increase of inhabitants.

July 1840.

UNITED PARISHES OF

COVINGTON AND THANKERTON. *

PRESBYTERY OF BIGGAR, SYNOD OF LOTHIAN AND TWEEDDale. THE REV. THOMAS WATSON, MINISTER.

1.-TOPOGRAPHY AND NATURAL HISTORY.

Name.-THE writer of the former Statistical Account of this parish states the name Covington to be a corruption of Conventtown, without giving any reason for this opinion. But, according to Chalmers (Caledonia, iii. 747), the old parish and barony of Covington was called Colbanstoun in the charters of the twelfth • Drawn up from Notes furnished by Mr Archibald Stodart, Covington Hill-head.

and thirteenth centuries; the name being obviously derived, he says, from a person named Colban, who settled there and gave his name to the place. In subsequent times, this name appears in the different forms of Cowanstown, Coventoun, and Covington.

The parish of Thankerton is said to have derived its name from a Flemish settler of the name of Tancard, who obtained a grant of lands therein during the twelfth century. In the charters of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, it is called Tankards-toun, villa Tankardi, villa Thankardi. The same Tankard, or another individual of the same name, obtained from Malcolm IV. a grant of lands in the lordship and parish of Bothwell, where he settled, and to which he gave the same appellation-Tankardstoun.

Extent, Boundaries, &c.—The united parish extends in length from south to north 4 miles, and its breadth is about 23 miles. It is bounded on the east by the Clyde, which separates it from the parish of Libberton; on the west, by Carmichael; on the south, by Symington and Wiston; and on the north, by Pettinain.

The mineralogy, zoology, and botany of this parish are so similar to those of the neighbouring parishes of Carmichael and Pettinain, that it is unuecessary to enter into the details. Trout and pike of large size are found in the Clyde, which winds along the eastern boundary.

IL-CIVIL HISTORY.

Thomas de Colbanstoun witnessed a charter of William the Lion at Lanark in 1188. In 1296, Margaret de Colbanstoun, Isabel de Colbanstoun, and Edmund de Colbanstoun swore fealty to Edward I. In the reign of Robert I., the lands of Colbanstoun were acquired by Sir Robert de Keth, Marischal of Scotland, and they were held by his descendants for more than a century. From that family the lands and barony of Colbanstoun, with the patronage of the church, passed to a branch of the family of Lindsay before 1442; and the Lindsays of Colventoun or Coventoun held this property for two centuries and a half. One of this family built the castle or fort, the massive ruins of which are still to be seen not far from the church. A short time before the Revolution, the barony of Covingtoun, with the patronage of the church, was purchased from Lindsay of Covington by Sir George Lockhart of Carnwath, Lord President of the Court of Session.

The patronage of the church of Covington has been connected with the territorial property from the twelfth century. In 1296, Hurve de Chastel-Bernard, the parson of the church of Colban