Laid out below is a copy of the New Statistical Account of Scotland entry for Alloa parish, published in 1845.
The New Statistical Account of Scotland – Volume 8, (1845)
PARISH OF ALLOA
(Presbytery of Stirling, Synod of Perth and Stirling.)
By the Rev. Peter Brotherson, Minister.
I. - Topography and Natural History.
Name, Boundaries, etc. - The name has been variously spelled at different periods. In the charter granted by King Robert I. in the year 1315, to Thomas de Erskyne, it is called Alway ; in some subsequent ones, Aulway, Auleway ; and more recently Alloway. "In ancient Gothic," says the late Rev. Dr Jamieson, "al signifies water; and aull, gurges fluminis et profundiora loca maris. Thus aull waeg would signify the way to the sea, or the sea-way." This seems to be the most probable etymology of the name. *
* See Dr Jamieson's Illustrations of Slezer's Theatrum Scotiae, folio, first published in 1693, reprinted in 1814, also in 1718, and 1719.
The very respectable writers of the former Statistical Account supposed Alloa to be the Alauna of the Romans, which opinion is supported by Camden and others. They also suggested that the name may have been derived from the Greek word Alua, a rural feast of the Athenians, which was adopted by the Romans, and answered to our harvest home. (See Old Statistical Account, Vol. viii.)
Kennedy in the notes to his Glen Ochel, a poem, gives, as the derivation of the name, three Gaelic words, signifying the steepy bank by the still flowing stream - a description which does not apply to the banks of the Forth, at least in this parish. A different etymology was proposed by an eminent Celtic scholar and antiquarian, the late venerable John Coventry, Esq. of Devonshaw. In the following extract of a letter to the writer of this article in August 1835, that gentleman gave his opinion : - "I would by no means have recourse to a Grecian festival for a name to Alloa, but would rather prefer a name alluding to Christianity, and would have more satisfaction in deriving it from the Celtic or Gaelic, the original language of Britain. Shaw, in his Dictionary, makes the word Alla to signify the Most High, and oigh to be the name for virgin ; literally, a church dedicated to the most high Virgin. You will recollect, that in those primitive times, the Catholics treated the Virgin Mary with great veneration. It has occurred to me these many years, that Allaoigh is the original name of Alloa, and it has undergone so little variation, that it may still be easily traced. To illustrate the Celtic word oigh, I must bring in an anecdote relative to the battle of Inverkeithing. When the battle was lost, the Highlanders fled to the Castle of Pitreavie as an asylum, invoking the Virgin for protection in their native words, Oigh ! Oigh ! They put their backs to the walls of the castle, and continued to protect themselves with their drawn swords, when the people within threw down stones from the bartizan, and killed the poor fellows. It was remarked in the country, that, from that day, the Wardlaws of Pitreavie went like snow off a dike."
The parish consists of a town and a landward district, and extends about 4 miles from east to west, by about 2 miles from north to south, and may contain 7 3/4 square miles.
It is bounded on the north by Alva and part of Clackmannan ; on the south, by the river Forth ; on the east, by Clackmannan and the Black Devon ; and, on the west, by the river Devon and parish of Logie. The town of Alloa is situated about a mile from the eastern extremity of the parish, in 56 Degrees 7 minutes of north latitude, and 3 Degrees 46 minutes of west longitude from Greenwich. In the river, which is here 500 yards broad, and separates into two branches, there are two low islands called inches, one of which, nearest the town, is a valuable farm of 80 acres.
Topographical Appearances. - The figure of the parish is exceedingly irregular, a section of Clackmannan parish penetrating it on the north side ; and the sinuosities of the Forth extend it, on the south side, to five and a-half miles in length. The low grounds, lying on the banks of the river, are of a fine fertile carse soil. The subsoil of part of it is a strong clay, fit for making bricks and tiles. The banks that arise from the carse, are mostly composed of gravel, with a fine loam near the surface. On the higher grounds, towards the north, the soil is thin, on a cold till bottom ; but by draining, of late years, it has been greatly improved.
This parish contains no mountains or high hills ; but its finely diversified surface, its little hills and fertile valleys, form a richly varied landscape. From any of the eminences near the town, scenery is presented to the eye, almost unrivalled for picturesque beauty, if not for magnificence. To the eastward, embosomed in trees, is seen the ancient Tower of Alloa, from the summit of which, although situated on flat ground, part of nine counties can be discerned. About a furlong north-east of the Tower, on a gentle elevation, is the new and elegant mansion of the Earl of Mar and Kellle. Beyond Alloa Wood, Clackmannan Tower crowns the summit of the next rising ground; while, on either side of the expanding Firth, innumerable beauties arrest the attention in the rich vale below. On turning to the north and west, a panorama of no ordinary splendour meets the eye : on one side the lofty Ochils, bounding the view, and covered with verdure to their summits; on the other, the numerous windings of the river; Stirling, with its finely elevated castle ; and beyond, in the blue distance, the gigantic Ben Ledi and Ben Lomond, with others of our Scottish Alps.
"And, brightening all, the Forth, with gentle pride,
Gliding along the vernal- verdured shore,
Calm, clear, and mighty, deep and dignified,
Constant as day, abundant as of yore ;
So that the valley laughs to see his tide
Lie in its lovely lap, and sport from side to side!"
The Firth of Forth * and the adjacent scenery seem to have undergone little alteration, in their general outline at least, since they were described by Sir Robert Sibbald, about one hundred and thirty years ago, as follows : -
"Tot campos, sylvas, tot regia tecta, tot hortos
Artifici dextra excultos, tot vidimus arces,
Ut nunc Ausonia, Fortha cum Tibride certet.
Such fields, such woods, such stately piles appear.
Such gardens grace the earth, such towers the air,
That Forth with Roman Tiber may compare."
The height above the level of the Forth of some of the rising grounds of this parish was ascertained, by barometrical measurement, on the 5th October 1839, expressly for this Account, by Mr John Mackie, Mining-Engineer, F. G. S. Gartmorn Hill, the highest of these, is at the north-eastern extremity of this parish, and is 890 feet.
Meteorology, - The following is the result of observations made at Alloa, by means of a register-thermometer, during the year 1822: -
| Month | Temperature of the coldest nights | Temperature of the warmest nights | Average temperature of the month |
| January 1st | 28° | 35.19° | |
| January 13th | 47° | ||
| February 12th | 30 | 38.42 | |
| February 15th | 48 | ||
| March 7th | 29 | 38.41 | |
| March 30th | 48 | ||
| April 20th | 29 | 36.5 | |
| April 2nd | 45 | ||
| May26th | 34 | 44.2 | |
| May 3rd | 55 | ||
| June 12th | 43 | 50 | |
| June 24th | 59 | ||
| July 5th | 40 | 48.7 | |
| July 21st | 58 | ||
| August 1st | 40 | 48.35 | |
| August 21st | 57 | ||
| September 27th | 32 | 43.15 | |
| September 2nd | 55 | ||
| October 24th | 35 | 41.8 | |
| October 31st | 49 | ||
| November 5th | 39 | 43.1 | |
| November 27th | 48 | ||
| December 14th | 25 | 34.14 | |
| December 24th | 45 | ||
| 404 | 614 | 501.96 | |
| Average | 33.66° | 51.16° | 41.83° |
From the above table it appears that the average of the coldest nights is 33.66°; that of the warmest, 51.16°; and the average for the year, 41.83°. January, usually the coldest month, was remarked, in 1822, as having put on a milder aspect; and many plants which flower late in autumn, and early in spring, were then blooming. The average temperature in January 1833 was only 28.5°.
* Fiorda, Gothic, mouth of a river ; - whence Forth as well as firth - the latter sometimes spelled frith, and supposed to be derived from the Latin fretum, (a narrow sea), a less probable etymology.
From observations regularly made by Alexander Bald, Esq. at Craigward Cottage, with a well-regulated thermometer at a north exposure, at 10 a. m. every day, from June 1837, it appears that the average temperature for the last six months of 1837, was 50 5/6 degrees ; that of the whole of 1838, 44 1/2 degrees ; and for the whole of 1839, 45 2/3 degrees. The average temperature of each month in 1838 and 1839 was as under: -
| 1838 | 1839 | ||
| January | 28.14 | January | 32.14 |
| February | 27.23 | February | 35.6 |
| March | 37.6 | March | 37.9 |
| April | 42.13 | April | 44.3 |
| May | 50.24 | May | 51.16 |
| June | 56.15 | June | 58.5 |
| July | 61.1 | July | 59.8 |
| August | 58.17 | August | 58.3 |
| September | 53.21 | September | 53.18 |
| October | 46.27 | October | 43.26 |
| November | 35.27 | November | 40.23 |
| December | 35 | December | 34.2 |
The most generally prevailing winds, as well as storms, are from the south-west ; and, although they frequently bring rain, they are always accompanied by a mild temperature. The least frequent are from the north and north-west The wind frequently blows from the east and north-east for some time in the spring, when it is usually dry and cold, - the westerly winds being generally mild and rainy. Considerably less rain falls here than on the high grounds towards the east and west, or in the more immediate neighbourhood of the Ochil hills, which are believed to attract and carry away the clouds from the vale of the Forth.
The quantity of rain that fell here during 1838 and 1839, has been ascertained by a rain-gauge kept in Mr Bald's garden at Craigward Cottage, which is elevated only a few yards above the level of the Forth, and is as under: -
| 1838 | 1839 | ||
| January | 1.22 inches | January | 2.28 inches |
| February | 0.33 | February | 3.2 |
| March | 4.5 | March | 3.6 |
| April | 1.33 | April | 1.3 |
| May | 2.7 | May | 1.12 |
| June | 6.6 | June | 2.13 |
| July | 3.1 | July | 3.10 |
| August | 4.3 | August | 2 |
| September | 3.4 | September | 5.2 |
| October | 3.13 | October | 3.12 |
| November | 2.19 | November | 2.19 |
| December | 2.14 | December | 3.34 |
| Total | 35 | Total | 34.17 |
Prognostics of Weather. - The following signs of rain (from Dr Jenner's poem on that subject) are also observed here : -
The walls are damp, the ditches smell ;
Closed is the pink-eyed pimpernel.
Loud quack the ducks, the sea-fowl cry ;
The distant hills are looking nigh.
Low o'er the grass the swallow wings ;
The cricket, too, how loud it sings.
The wind, unsteady, veers around.
Or settling in the south is found.
The whirling wind the dust obeys,
And o'er the rapid eddy plays.
The leech,* disturb'd, is newly risen,
Quite to the summit of his prison.
* A cheap weather-guide is a leech, in an eight ounce phial glass, three-fourths filled with water, covered with a piece of linen rag, and kept in a cool place, the water being changed once a week in summer, and once a fortnight in winter. In serene weather, and during frost, the leech lies at the bottom of the glass, rolled together In a spiral form. Before rain or snow, it creeps to the top of its lodging, and there remains till the weather is settled. Before wind, it appears in rapid motion. Some time before thunder and rain, it remains almost constantly above the water, and appears in great uneasiness.
Swallows fly close to the ground, not only before rain, but in continued fine weather, chiefly in the mornings and evenings, when the air is moister below than above; for then, the swallows folding no insects in the upper regions, confine their flight to the lower. Insects, when tempted by a dry and comfortable state of the atmosphere, soar to the supernal regions, whither the swallows pursue them. Again, swallows, and especially swifts, are frequently to be seen flying in the midst of thunder clouds. In fact, a good deal of nonsense has been written on the sutject of prognostications of the weather by animals, which has arisen chiefly from considering the dicta of inaccurate observers as sound. So much for prognostics of the weather from atmospheric phenomena, and from animals. The following are a few of those from vegetables.
In every nook and sheltered dell.
Are faithful monitors, that tell
How pass the hours and seasons by.
Many species of flowers are admirable barometers. Convolvolus arvensis and C sepium (small and great bindweed), Anemone nemorota (wood anemone), and Oxalis acetosella (wood-sorrel), close on the approach of rain. Nymphcea alba (white water, lily), the most magnificent of our wild flowers, opens about seven in the morning, and closes about four in the afternoon. Arenaria (sandwort) opens about nine a. m. and shuts between two and three p. m. Anagalis arvensis (scarlet pimpernel) is called the poor man's weather glass, because it never expands its corolla in moist or rainy weather, but opens, on fine days, at eight a. m. and closes at four p. m. Cichorium intybus (wild succory) opens and closes at same hours. Bellis perennis (the mountain-daisy) is open daily in fine weather. If Stellaria media (chickweed) fully expands its flowers, no rain will happen for four hours or upwards. When it half conceals its miniature white flower, the day is generally showery ; but if it is entirely shut up, a continued rain may be expected. These are facts worth knowing, not merely to the naturalist, but to the traveller, the sportsman, the labourer, and indeed to every one who spends any part of his time in the fields. From a series of observations on the precise time that the flowers of different plants open, expand, and shut, Linnams endeavoured to form a botanical time-piece by means of 46 different flowers. In his Philosophia Botanica, Linnaeus has divided the solar flowers into three classes:-
1. Meteoric flowers, which expand sooner or later, according to the cloudiness, moisture, or pressure of the atmosphere ;
2. Tropical flowers, that open in the morning, and close before the evening ; becoming earlier or later, as the length of the day increases or decreases ;
3. Equinoctial flowers, which expand at a certain hour of the day, and for the most part close at another determinate hour.
Climate. - The whole parish, although the greater part of it lies low, is considered to be very healthy ; and the town being situated by the side of a great river, where the regular flowing of the tide is attended by a strong current, damps are thereby cleared away, and the atmosphere rendered fresh and pure. The Firth of Forth, expanding eastward till it falls into the German Ocean, certainly contributes to moderate both the summer's heat and winter's cold. The Ochil Hills, also, from their vicinity, give all this parish an advantage in regard to climate, by protecting it from the piercing north winds. There are no diseases peculiar to the town or parish. Fevers prevail at certain seasons, but they are seldom of a malignant nature, and are less fatal than in some of the neighbouring parishes. Agues, when the last Statistical Account was written, were "scarcely ever heard of."
Hydrography, - Wells. There are several spring-wells in the parish ; but their waters have never been carefully analysed. Some of them have evident marks of being chalybeate, others hold in solution carbonate of lime, which harmless substance, although it occasions a degree of hardness, and renders the water unfit for washing and bleaching, does not make it less suitable for culinary purposes. Most of the wells belonging to private families in the town, are of this description. One of these wells or springs was within Alloa House, and is described in the former Statistical Account, as "strongly impregnated with steel." At the east end of the town, is a spring of very pure water, apparently chalybeate, which, from time immemorial, has been called the King's well ; and at Tullibody is one of excellent water, the Lady's well, - a name coeval with the early days of Popery. The town of Alloa is well supplied with excellent water, brought by pipes, at great expense, from Gartmorn Dam (of which afterwards), about thirty-five years ago.
Rivers. - The River Forth, which rises at the eastern side of Ben Lomond, extends along the south side of the parish by a very circuitous course, a distance of four miles and a half to the westward of the town ; and about one mile to the eastward, where it ceases to be a river and becomes a firth.* At Alloa ferry, the river is about half a mile broad at high water, and it is navigable beyond Stirling, as far as the "Cruives" of Craigforth. Ships of 800 tons burden come up as far as Alloa. The windings of the Forth, commonly termed "links," are very remarkable, and are well described by the old English poet, Drayton, in the following lines, applicable to another serpentine river : -
Ouse, in measured gyres, doth whirl herself about.
That, this way, here, and there, back, forwardy in and out ;
And, like a sportive nymph, oft doubling in her gait,
In labyrinth-like turns, and twinings intricate,
Through those rich fields doth run.
* By an old Scotch Act of Parliament, the "Pow" of Alloa, (so the act renders our word harbour), is between the river and the sea, as to the salmon-fishing. Long has been the litigation, and very great the expense of determining, Upon scientific principles, where the river ends and the sea begins in the river Tay and other rivers, for regulating the kind of nets to be used in each of these divisions.
The distance from the quay of Alloa to that of Stirling, measured in the middle of the stream, is about 16 miles, and to the old bridge of Stirling, nearly 20 miles ; whereas the distance by land between these towns does not exceed 7 miles by the turnpike-road, and is about 5 in a direct line.
Tides, - The spring-tides at Alloa harbour rise about 22 feet, the neap-tides about 15 feet; and in the harbour there is about 3 feet deeper water than in Leith harbour. It has been asserted, upon unquestionable authority, and from levels actually taken, that the top of the pier at Leith is upon a level with the bottom of the quay at Alloa. Hence, the level line of high-water, between Leith and Alloa, is an inclined plane, rising towards Alloa : Otherwise the town of Leith would be deeply flooded at full tide.*
* There is a singular circumstance connected with the tides in this district. There are what are called the double or "leaky tides," chiefly observed at high and low water, during spring-tides. Their nature is this ; when the tide has flowed apparently to its full height, it ebbs and flows downwards, until it has sunk from a foot to 15 inches perpendicularly. The flowing then returns, and frequently overflows the first flowing, above a foot in height, so that vessels which may have grounded in leaving Alloa harbour during the first tide, have floated off freely with the second tide. Hence, it is a common question at Alloa harbour, when the spring-tides begin to ebb, "Is the tide away for all tides ?" A similar ebbing and flowing takes place at low water during the spring-tides. This singular phenomenon has not been thoroughly investigated in a philosophical manner ; but the apparent cause is the very narrow part of the river at Queensferry, with the sudden great expanse of the north and south shores, both above and below that point.
These "leaky tides" were taken notice of by Sir Robert Sibbald in his History of Fife and Kinross, in which is inserted an interesting letter respecting them, (without date), by the Rev. Alexander Wright, then minister of Alloa.
There is a curious traditionary and superstitious account of these double tides,- which is, that when St Mungo, the tutelary saint of the district, was proceeding in a vessel with some of his ecclesiastics to Stirling, the vessel ran a-ground and could not be got off, from the falling of the tide; that while he and his friends ardently wished for the return of the tide, it did return with an overflow, so that the saint proceeded upon his mission, and the double tides have returned periodically ever since.
A somewhat similar phenomenon occurs at Southampton and Portsmouth, where there is a kind of "double tide" every time the sea flows, owing to the Isle of Wight, which is opposite to them ; for when the first tide is, the flow comes in by a place called the Needles, at the west end of it, - and by the time it goes round the island, it is beginning to ebb ; so when it comes to St Helen's at the east end of it, this makes a kind of second tide, though not so high as the first, unless a strong wind comes along with it.
The Devon, or North Devon, rises in the parish of Blackford, in the county of Perth, and, descending with impetuosity from the Ochils, where its course is to the east, till it reaches the Crook of Devon, in the parish of Fossaway ; it there makes a very acute turn towards the west, and proceeding placidly in that direction through a highly picturesque and beautiful vale, often denominated the Arcadia of Scotland, falls into the Forth at the village of Cambus, about two miles west from the town of Alloa. Exclusive of its windings, the course of this river is more than twenty-six miles, though the distance in a direct line from its source to its embouchure, (directly north from, and opposite to its source), does not exceed six miles. Its whole course is famed for its beauty and fertility ; for it flows, "arva inter, nemorisque umbras, et pascua laeta" The Black Devon, or South Devon, which forms part of the boundary of this parish to the eastward, has its source among the Saline hills in the county of Fife. It flows westward, in a direction nearly parallel to the north Devon, and falls into the Firth of Forth opposite Clackmannan. In dry seasons, it is a small stream, most of its waters being then collected in dams or reservoirs, for the supply of mills and other machinery.
Gartmorn Dam. - Nearly 140 years ago, the celebrated John, Earl of Mar, who had a great mechanical turn, and attended much to the improvement of hydraulic machinery (the steam-engine not having been then brought forward,) caused a strong dam-head to be thrown across the Black Devon, at Forest-Mill, in the parish of Clackmannan, by which he raised the bed of this river, 16 feet higher. From the top of this dam-head, he carried an aqueduct westward, about four miles, which carried the water into Gartmorn dam, perhaps the largest artificial lake in Scotland, covering, when full, above 160 imperial acres. It is about 160 feet above the level of the Forth, and 92 feet above Alloa. In some places, it is 36 or 37 feet deep, being sufficient to carry a seventy-four gun ship. Prior to 1785, only a temporary dike existed. A dam-head was then built of hewn stone, measuring upwards of 320 yards, at an expense of several thousand pounds. In the year 1827, this embankment threatened to give way, in which case, it would have swept away, with the torrent of its waters, all the lower part of the town lying in its course. It then underwent a complete repair, by Mr John Craich, the present manager of the colliery, at an expense of only L.300 ; whereas, in the opinion of a celebrated engineer, the sum necessary for performing the work effectually would be L.3500. This lake is situated at the north-east extremity of the parish, about two miles from Alloa. Its waters form a permanent supply for driving the Hydraulic machinery of the Alloa colliery, and the water-wheels of various manufactories. The temperature of the water, at the depth of 15 feet, was 52 Degrees Fahr. and of the air 61 degrees on 10th September 1836, at four o'clock P. M.
Zoology — Mammalia. — The wild animals of this class which have been found in this parish, and the adjoining Firth, are the following :
| Scotophelus murinus | Martes Foina | Arvicola agrestis |
| Plecotus auritus | Lutra vulgaris | Lepus timidus |
| Erinaceus Europaeus (1.) | Vulpes vulgaris | Lepus Cuniculus |
| Sorex araneus | Sciurus vulgaris (3.) | Cerrtu Capreolus (6.) |
| Sorex fodiens | Mus rattus | Phoca vitulina |
| Talpa Europaea (2. ) | Mus decumanus (4.) | Phocoena communis (7.) |
| Meles Taxus | Mus musculus | Rorqualis Borealis (8.) |
| Mustela putorius | Mus sylvaticus | Phocaena Grampus |
| Mustela Erminea | Mus messorius (5.) | Globioephalus deductor(9.) |
| Mustela vulgaris | Arvicola amphibia | Beluga leucas (10.) |
(1) The hedgehog was not known as an inhabitant of this parish when the last Account was written. It is now found in the woods. This innocent, although proscribed animal, has been most absurdly accused, of sucking cows. It feeds altogether upon slugs, beetles, cockchafers, and other insects, which are extremely injurious to the agriculturist, both in their larva and perfect state.
(2.) Worms and slugs, etc. are the food of the mole ; and, although in its mining process, it undoubtedly overturns many growing plants, yet it is probably, upon the whole, more useful than injurious to man, wherever it exists in this parish.
(3.) The squirrel, which was also unknown here when the last Account was written, is now numerous in the woods. This nimble and elegant animal has been lately accused by a certain author of destroying the small birds. This must be a mistake ; for it lives entirely on vegetable food, and is particularly fond of nuts and acorns. When feeding, it sits erect, and uses its fore-feet like hands. It is a curious circumstance, and not generally known, that most of those oaks, which are called spontaneous, are planted by the squirrel, which thus performs the most essential service to the British navy.
(4.) The brown or Norway rat (originally from Asia in 1750) is too numerous throughout the parish. It is said by some naturalists, but without sufficient evidence, to have nearly extirpated the original British, or black rat, which is very seldom seen here.
(5.) This is the smallest of British quadrupeds, measuring only 2 1/4 inches, from the nose to the tail, and weighing not more than one-sixth of an ounce.
(6.) Roe-deer are not mentioned among the wild animals in the Old Statistical Account ; but have been seen occasionally, for more than thirty years, in Tullibody woods. They are more rarely observed of late years.
(7.) Porpoises and seals are constant inhabitants of the Firth here. The former not only destroy the salmon, but prevent them from entering the river. The latter are also equally inveterate and destructive enemies of the herring.
(8.) One of this species, in 1808, ran itself ashore on the banks of the Forth, between Alloa and Cambus. where it was discovered by two ploughmen, who endeavoured for a long time to kill it with their knives, but without effect, the animal at the same time making dreadful exertions to get away. At last a surgeon pointed out the mortal part, - and, by applying a spit, they soon effected their purpose.
(9.) On the 7th of October 1814, a number of large animals of the cetaceous order were discovered in the Firth of Forth, opposite Tullibody House. The late John Moubray, Esq. of Cambus, having ordered out all the boats in that place, which were manned by his servants, he went out, accompanied by Mr Dick, officer of excise, to attack them. They killed seven, and succeeded in driving eight more up the Devon to shallow water, where they also were killed. Two were killed a little way off by some of Lord Abercromby's tenants and other two went up before a steam-boat to Stirling, where they shared the same fate. On examination, they appeared to be a species of the grampus, and seemed to agree with those described by Dr Patrick Neill, to which the islanders of Orkney and Shetland give the name of the ca'ing whale, having several marks to distinguish them from the common grampus. They were from 15 to 21 feet long, and from 10 to 14 feet in circumference.
(10.) A stray individual of this singular species of small whale had been for some time observed passing up and down the Firth of Forth, its fine white colour rendering it very remarkable. In June 1815, it was killed by the salmon-fishers, by means of spears and fire-arms ; and was purchased by Robert Bald, Esq. Alloa, who transmitted it to Bailie Robert Johnstone, Edinburgh, who presented it to Professor Jameson for the Royal Museum. It was exhibited on the Calton Hill for behoof of the poor, when L.40 were drawn. The skeleton was for some years in Dr Barclay's Museum, and he lectured on the anatomy of the whale while it was on the Calton Hill The stuffed skin is now in the Royal Museum at Edinburgh. Those larger visitors are found in this river more frequently than in others farther to the north, the entrances of which are less extended, and more interrupted by banks and bars. The salmon, on the other hand, as if instinctively to avoid their enemies, are more abundant in the confined estuaries.
Birds, - The following list comprehends the more uncommon birds, known either as permanent residents, or temporary visitants of this parish :
Land Birds.
| Milvus vulgaris | Falco peregrinus | Butco nisus | Circus cyaneus | Strix fiammea (1.) | Strix stridula |
| Otus vulgaris | Phasianus Colchicus | Phasianus torquatus (2.) | Columba turtur | Coturnix vulgaris | Motacilla alba |
| Motacilla flava | Motacilla boarula | Carduelis aurata | Linaria spinus | Pyrrhula vulgaris | Sturnus vulgaris (3.) |
| Merula pilaris | Merula torquata | Merula iliaca | Emberiza Schoeniculus | Emberiza miliaria | Plectrophanes nivalis |
| Lanius excubitor | Loxia curvirostra | Bombycilla Bohemica(4.) | Sylvia sibilatrix | Regulus auricapillus | Alcedo ispida |
| Curruca atricapilla | Aiauda arborea | Saxicola rubetra | Saxicola rubecula | Saxicola oenanthe | Parus camileus |
| Parus ater | Parus caudatus | Yunx torquilla | Certhia familiaris | Phoenicura rusticola |
Waders and Water Birds.
| Ardea cinerea (5.) | Squatarola cinerea | Vanellus cristatus | Charadrius pluvialis | Charadrius morinellus | Charadrius hiaticula |
| Rissa cinerea | Numenius arquata | Scolopax rusticola | Scolopax gaIlinago | Scolopax gallinula | Limosa rufa |
| Tringa Canutus | Arenaria calidris | Totanus hypoleucos | Totanus ochropus | Totanus glottis | Totanus calidris |
| Rallus aquaticus | Crex porsana | Cinclus aquaticus | Uria Troile | Fulica atra | Mergus merganser |
| Mergus albellus | Cygnus ferus | Phalacrocorax carbo | Pelecanus carbo | Colymbus subcristatus | Clangula chrysophthalmo |
| Tadorna Bellonii | Spathalea clypeata | Anas palustris | Anas Boschas | Anas acuta | Anas Penelope |
| Anas Crecca | Anas querquedula | Procellaria Pelagica (6.) | Thalassidroma Pelagica (6.) |
(1.) "If this useful bird," says Mr Waterton, "caught its food by day, instead of hunting for it by night, mankind would have ocular demonstration of its utility in thinning the country of mice, and it would be protected and encouraged everywhere. It would be with us what the Ibis was with the Egyptians. "They are found in various parts of the parish, and sometimes in the top of Alloa Tower.
(2.) Commonly considered a distinct species. This beautiful bird, - ("His varied plumage like a heap of gems On a coarse carpet spread,") is much less numerous here than it was some years ago. This must be attributed to the destruction of them by poachers, there being few parishes where they have more abundant shelter than here.
(3.) The starling has become plentiful here of late, being known to breed in the steeple of the old church.
(4.) This beautiful bird is an irregular winter visitant. Specimens of it have been shot in this parish, at long intervals ; the last in 1823.
(5.) There were few herons that bred here when the last Account was written. It is still a scarce bird, only a few of them now breeding in the old trees of Alloa wood, and sometimes a pair or two in the firs of the island in Gartmorn Dam. The congener of the heron, the bittern, which had then become very scarce, has totally disappeared from the parish, as has also the whimbril.
(6.) Considerable numbers of these "solitary wanderers of the deep" have been seen on the Forth at Alloa, at different times, but their appearance at such a distance from the sea is of rare occurrence, as was observed by the writers of the Old Statistical Account. It is generally believed that they leave the sea only on account of very tempestuous weather. A storm from the eastward was experienced here in the beginning of November 1840, when several petrels were shot near the Alloa ferry, and when some of them were seen at Cambus, two miles farther up the river. One of these little creatures, the smallest of web-footed birds, has been preserved, and is in the possession of the writer of this account.
All the song-birds common in Scotland are abundant here, as are the swallow and pie tribes, with all the cawing genus. In the Old Statistical Account, it is stated that only the Royston or hooded crow, bred in the parish ; and that magpies, ravens, crows, and jack-daws were often seen, but did not breed there. A colony of the last now find an asylum in the roof of Alloa Tower, and a few have taken possession of the upper part of the new church steeple. The intelligent farmers here, in general, seem convinced that rooks are beneficial, not hurtful to their crops ; and it has often been observed that, when the ploughman and sower are at work in the same field, the former is followed by a train of rooks, the latter being unattended, his grain remains untouched. They will indeed, sometimes steal a little corn, but that only when the ground is so hard and dry as to prevent them from digging up insects and grubs, which are their natural food. - See an able pamphlet under the title of " Farmers versus Rooks," by J. S. Menteath, Esq. younger of Closeburn, published at Ayr in 1838. The object of the author is to show that rooks, so far from being injurious to the farmer by eating his newly sown corn, render him the most essential service by devouring grubs, which destroy not only corn, but the roots of grass and growing plants of every description. A pleasing poem on this subject, entitled the "Farmer's Vision," has been privately printed and circulated among his friends, by its noble author, Lord Erskine, in whose distinguished life, one of the most pleasing features is, his long exerted zeal in the cause of the suffering animal creation.
Fishes. - The following list of the fishes found in the Forth and tributary streams in the parish of Alloa, was kindly furnished to the writer by an eminent ichthyologist, Richard Parnell, Esq. M.D., F.R.S.E.
| Perca fluviatilis | Labrax lupus | Trigla gurnardus | Cottus scorpius | Aspidophorus cataphractus | Gasterosteus leiurus | Pagellus centrodontus |
| Thellus pelamys | (Xiphias gladius) (f) | Caranx trachurus | Mugil chelo | Blennius pholis | Anarrhichas lupus | Gobius minutus |
| (Esox lucius)§ | Belone vulgaris | (Scomberesox saurus) (||) | Salmo salar | Salmo eriox | Osmerus eperlanus | Clupea harengus |
| Gobius unipunctatus | Callionymus lyra | ( Lophius piscatorius) (X) | Leuciscus phoxinus | Cobitus barbatula | Clupea sprattus | Clupea alba |
| Alosa finta | Gadus morrbus | Merlangis vulgaris | Merlangis carbonarius | Lota molva | Lianiceps trifurcatus | Platessa vulgaris |
| Platessa flesus | Rhombus maximus | Solea vulgaris | CycIopterus lumpus | Liparis vulgaris | Anguilla acutirostris | Conger vulgaris |
| Syngnathus acua | (Acipenser sturio) (**) | Spinax acanthias | Raia batis | Ria (clavata) (tt) | Petromyson marinus | Petromyson fluviatilis |
| Salmo trutta | Salmo coecifer (^) | Salmo salmulus | Syngnathus typhle |
* Dr Parnell's elaborate contributions to the Memoirs of the Royal and Wemerian Societies, (see Vol. xiv. of the former, and Vol. vii. of the latter,) on the fishes inhabiting or frequenting the Firth of Forth, form one of the most valuable additions to the zoology of Scotland within the last fifty years. Thousands of persons never imagined that the Forth possessed any other kinds of fish than the eight or ten seen in our markets, salmon, cod, haddock, herring, skate, flounder, eel, smelt, etc. It will surprise such persons to learn that this arm of the sea contains no less than 125 species, of which 40 were not known to exist in it until they were discovered by this enthusiastic young naturalist , and six had not been previously recorded by any writer, as frequenting the British seas.
f The sword-fish has been occasionally found here; but is rare in our seas, its proper habitation being the Mediterranean.
X A large specimen of this very deformed fish (which is also named frog-fish, toad-fish, and sea-devil,) was captured here on the 20th September 1837. It is rare on our coasts.
§ Pikes were introduced into Gartmorn dam several years ago, much to the injury of the other fishes. One was captured there last season, weighing 16 lbs., and one some years ago of 24 lbs. weight.
II In the Old Statistical Account, these fishes are called gaudanooks, or Egyptian herrings ; and when it was written, were said to be a great help to many poor people. During the last thirty years, very few of them have been seen here.
^ The Lochleven and some other species of trout were introduced into Gartmorn dam, soon after its formation. Dr Parnell's learned communication to the Royal Society (Transact. Vol. xiv. pp. 9 and 10,) contains an interesting account of this singular species, and of the much disputed par.
•• A sturgeon, which weighed 180 lbs., was captured here in 1823.
tt Of the thornback or thorny skate, a gigantic specimen was taken in the yair at Alloa, on the 25th of November 1777. The following account of it is taken from the handwriting of the late worthy Alexander Bald, Esq. Senior.
WEIGHT.
The (total) weight, 13 stone, 7 lb., 940 pts. Dutch.
The weight of the eatable part, 8 stone, lbs., 152 pts.
The weight of the head and tail, 2 stone, 7 lbs.
Those of the above within parentheses, are not in Dr Parnell's list, but have all been found in the parish ; as have also a species of star-fish (Asterias,) and the cuttle-fish (Sepia officinalis,) common on the British coasts. In 1635, a specimen of the uncommon and very beautiful opah (Lampris luna) was obtained from the firth here. It is common on the coast of Guinea, and but rarely caught off the shores of Britain. Its common weight is nearly 80 lbs. It has a smooth skin, without scales ; the eyes are large, and the irides of a scarlet hue, encompassed with a gold-coloured circle ; and it is destitute of teeth. The upper part of the body is of a beautiful green, blue, and violet intermixed, and enriched with a shining golden hue, like the feathers of a peacock, and speckled with white spots ; the chops are of a pale red colour ; the nose, gills, and belly silvery ; and all the fins of a bright scarlet hue.
These and innumerable other living creatures inhabit the waters which cover the surface of the globe, especially the tropical seas, where they
"Graze the sea- weed, their pasture, and thro' groves
Of coral stray ; or sparkling with quick glance,
Show to the sun their waved coats dropt with gold."
Well, then, might Oppian say. In mari multa latent.
"In the waters we may see all creatures.
Even all that on the earth are to be found ;
As if the world were in deep waters drowned."
The salmon, "king of fresh water-fishes," the migration of which is analogous to that of birds, is bred in rivers connected with the sea, but so remote as to be beyond the salt or brackish water. The spawning season in the Forth is believed to extend from the beginning of November to the end of January. The fry or young salmon migrate towards the sea chiefly during April and May, and return in July, August, and September, from 4 lb. to 10 lb. weight. The descent of the parent fishes to the sea commences in February, and continues till the end of April.
DIMENSIONS.
From the tip of one fin to the tip of the other, 5 feet 9 inches.
From the tip of the nose to the point of the tail, 7 3
Across the middle of the eyes, and across the small back fins, each, 2 2
The length from the very back of the eyes to the very beginning of the tail, 3 0
The thickness of the thickest part, 0 7
Much new light has recently been thrown upon the natural history of the salmon ; and the very difficult question, what is a par ? is now completely set at rest by Mr John Shaw of Drumlanrig. (See Blackwood's Magazine, April 1840.)
From the result of carefully conducted experiments made by Mr Shaw of Drumlanrig, Drumfries-shire, and other ichthyologists, it appears that the young fry do not proceed to the sea in the same year they are hatched, as has generally been supposed, but that they remain in the fresh-water over the first winter, and migrate about the May following, or when about twelve or thirteen months old. If it shall be hereafter proved that they do not leave the river for thirteen or fourteen months, it is evident that an immense destruction of them must take place during their continuance in the fresh-water ; a circumstance of great importance to the fisheries.
Insects. - The following list of a few of the insects found in this parish, includes some not common throughout the county, and others which are hurtful to vegetation.
COLNOPTERA
| Coccinella septum-punctata (1.) | Carabus catenulatus | Carabus hortensis | Anthonomus pomorum (2.) |
| Melolontha vulgaris (3.) | Gyrinus natator | Carabus violaceus | Chrysomela fastuosa |
LEPIDOPTERA
| Pontia brassicae | Pontia cardamines | Vanessa urticae | Vanessa polychloros | Vanessa C. album | Vanessa Atalanta |
| Hipparchia AEgeria | Hipparchia AEgeria | Hipparchia Megaera | Hipparchia Semele | Hipparchia hyperanthus | Hipparchia pamphilius |
| Hipparchia blandina | Lycena Phlaeas | Lycena alsus | Polyommatus Artaxerces | Pamphila linea | Pamphila sylvanus |
| Anthrocera loti | Smerinthus populi | Acherontia Atropos (4.) | Sphinx ligustri | Metopsilus Elpenor | Macroglossa stellatarum |
| Cerura vinula | Arctia caja | Calocampa exoleta | Thyatira batis | Rumia crataegata | Hydrocampa nimphaeta |
| Plerophorus pentadactylus | Abraxas grossulariata (5.) |
HEMIPTERA
| Blatta orientaIis (6.) | Coccus Persicae (7.) | Coccus mali | Aphides var(8.) |
(1.) The seven spotted lady-bird belongs to a large family, of which fifty arc already known. All of them, both in the larva and perfect state, feed on the aphides, so mischievous in gardens, and do not injure vegetable substances. Their eggs are commonly found in groups, on leaves where aphides abound. The lady-bird has been often charged with being the cause of blight, when seen on the cankered spots of apple-trees ; but it is in reality the best remedy against that disease.
(2.) The Anthonomus pomorum, (the Curculio p. of Linn.) is a weevil about a quarter of an inch long, the elytra dotted in rows, and of a dusky red. Bandages of tar applied round the stems of the trees prevent their ascent, for it is only in hot weather that they fly from tree to tree. They destroy the buds, and prevent the blossoms from unfolding.
(3.) The cock-chafer, so very destructive in pasture grounds, has been rarely seen here these several years. The larva, a whitish worm with six legs, a red head, and strong claws, lives in the earth four years, devouring the roots of the grass. Their increase may be prevented by employing children to take the insects in May and June, before they have laid their eggs ; which may be done by shaking and beating the trees and hedges during the day. Where land is ploughed up in the spring, if the weather be warm, hundreds of the grubs are exposed, when rooks, gulls, jays, etc. will devour them. The almost constant employment of rooks for three months in the spring is to search for this sort of food.
(4.) The death's-head moth is generally found on its natural food, the potato plant.
Superstition has been particularly active in suggesting causes of alarm from the insect world ; and, where man should have seen only beauty and wisdom, he has often found terror and dismay. But all these vain imaginations are flitting away before the light of revelation, reason, and experience.
(5.) The caterpillars of the magpie or gooseberry-moth, which in some seasons commit extensive depredations on gooseberries and currants, may be killed by the smoke of live coal or peat, in a flower-pot or other vessel, placed under the bush, having an old cloth or carpet thrown over it. The smoke will ascend and be confined to the bush, from which the caterpillars will fall, apparently lifeless, in four or five minutes, but would recover if not collected with a hoe and destroyed. This plan should also be used in the earlier stages of the caterpillar ; - and it will likewise kill Aphides.
(6. ) This species of cockroach, sometimes erroneously called the black beetle, is supposed to have been originally imported from Asia, and is thoroughly domesticated in many houses here, particularly those near the harbour, to the great vexation of the inhabitants. These insects, are among the most disagreeable annoyances to which the dwellings are subject ; and, when their multiplication is permitted, the ravages they commit are very extensive. The sapient Sancho Panza declares that there is a remedy for every thing but death ; and it is truly fortunate for mankind that the increase of this pestilential race may be repressed by aid of their own voracity. They may be poisoned by meal, and one-third of white or red lead, or with arsenic sublimated, etc. mixed with molasses: and they may be entrapped by putting some food for them in a deep glass or tumbler, and covering the outside of it with cap-paper. Crickets may also be caught by the same means.
(7.) Of the Coccus, or cochineal tribe, two are very destructive in gardens, the C. Persicae or peach coccus, and the C. mali or apple-coccus, sometimes called the London bug, the history of which is at present involved in much obscurity. It throws out a large quantity of cotton-like matter.
The above applies only to the apple-coccus. If the peach-coccus cannot be eradicated, its numbers may be greatly reduced by brushing the twigs of the tree early in the spring with a hair brush. When they are very numerous, and on the points of the twigs, these are sometimes cut off and carried out of the garden. This causes the loss of the fruit in a great measure for that season ; but the tree will be thrown into such health as to be of the finest order for the ensuing year. Should any females of this insect be found on the trees about the beginning of May next season, they should be carefully removed by means of a blunt knife having a very thin blade, and deposited in a vessel to be carried out of the garden. With every female which is taken at this period, about 3000 eggs are destroyed.
"Knowing," says the ingenious Mr Waterton, "that the bug could not exist, if totally deprived of air, I resolved to bury it alive ; and this I effected by an application at once the most easy and simple that can be imagined. It costs nothing. I mixed clay with water, till it was of a consistency that it could be put on the injured parts of the tree, either with a mason's trowel or a painter's brush. I then applied it to the diseased parts of the tree, and it soon smothered every bug. A second coat upon the first filled up every crack which showed itself when the clay had become dry ; and this resisted for a sufficient length of time the effects both of sun and rain."
(8.) The Aphides, or plant lice, are very destructive to various growing crops ; and yet their history is very little known. The very name is omitted in some of the roost extensive catalogues of British insects. The bean dolphin, or collier, an insect of this genus, though named, is neither figured nor described. These facts are not very creditable to our literature. Their natural enemies are the coccinellae, and the smaller soft-billed birds, (Sylviadae), yellow wren, gold-crest, tit, etc. which gardeners and others often unjustly accuse of devouring the crop itself, when they are busy in search of plant-lice. These, and many other birds, do more good than harm in gardens, and the shots intended for their destruction do more harm than good, as any man of observation may see in the broken bushes and mutilated bark of trees on the one hand, and the insectivorous propensities of the birds on the other.
Botany. - This parish comprehends,
- "the boundless store
Of charms which Nature to her votary yields ;
The warbling woodland, the resounding shore.
The pomp of groves, and garniture of fields;"
but its botanical treasures have been imperfectly explored. The following list includes some of the more uncommon species, a few of which are probably not indigenous, but only "mark where a garden has been."
| Ligustrum vulgare | Pinguicula vulgaris | Anthoxanthum odoratum | Valeriana officinalis | Valeriana Pyrenaica | Valeriana rubra | Eriophorum augustifolium |
| Arundo Phragmites | Arundo arenaria, Sm. | Knautia arvensis | Scabioea suceisa | Scabiota columbaria | Asperula odorata | Pulmonaria officinalis |
| Myosotis palustris | Anagallis arvensis | Lysimachia nemorum | Lysimachia thyrsiflora | Primula vulgaris | Primula veris | Erythraea Centaurium |
| Atropa belladonna | Solanum dulcamara | Lonicera Periclymenum | Hydrocotyle vulgaris | Cicuta virosa | Apium graveolens | Bunium flexuosum |
| Myrrhis odorata | Conium maculatum | Statice armeria | Drosera rotundifolia | Berberis vulgaris | Allium ursinum | Hyacinthus non-scriptus |
| Hyacinthus flore albo | Colchicum autumnale | Alisma Plantago | Calluna vulgaris | Erica Tetralix | Erica cinerea | Vaccinium Myrtillus |
| Chrysosplenium alternifolium | Silene inflata | Stellaria nemorum | Stellaria bolostea | Arenaria serpyllifolia | Sedum Telephium | Sedum acre |
| Oxalis acetosella | Sempervivum tectorum | Anemone nemorosa | Caltha palustris | Euphrasia officinalis | Ajuga reptans | Bartsia Odontites |
| Rhinanthus Crista-Galli | Linaria Cymbalaria | Scrophularia nodosa | Digitalis purpurea | Digitalis flore albo | Cardamime amara | Cardamime hirsuta |
| Geranium pratense | Geranium sylvaticum | Geranium sanguineum | Lavatera arborea | Malva sylvestris | Fumaria parviflora | Hypericum Androsaemum |
| Hypericum calycinum | Carduus eriophorus | Onopordum Acanthium | Tanacetum vulgare | Cichorium Intybus | Senecio aquaticus | Anthemis nobilis |
| Achillea Ptarmica | Orchis mascula | Orchis morio | Orchis latifolia | Orchis maculata | Polypodium vulgare | Polypodium Phegopteris |
| Polypodium Dryopteris | Aspidium lobatum | Aspidium thelypteris | Aspidium oreopteris | Aspidium Filix-mas | Aspidium spinulosum | Asplenium trichomanes |
| Asplenium Adiantum nigrum | Asplenium Filix-Foemina | Scolopendrium vulgare | Pteris aquilina | blechnum Boreale | Ophioglossum vulgatum. |
The various species of wild roses flourish here in their season, with a luxuriance and beauty that may be said almost to rival the plains of Persia, and the valleys of Judea. This honour may be thought to belong rather to the rich garden rose, with all its varieties, than to the humble hedge-rose, which so frequently "wastes its sweetness on the desert air ;" but yet it is rarely beheld without awakening those less exciting, though not less delightful emotions which spring from objects of beauty, and lead to the devotion of gratitude, "from Nature up to Nature's God."
"Ah ! who can look on Nature's face,
And feel unholy passions move!"
Woods. - In this, and in most of the lower districts of Scotland, few remains of her ancient sylvan vegetation present themselves, and these are confined chiefly to ravines and narrow glens, where they are generally intermingled with planted trees. At the south-eastern extremity of this parish, in the grounds of the Earl of Mar and Kellie, there was part of a natural wood when the last Statistical Account was written, a very small portion of which now remains. We are informed by Mr Tytler, that, in ancient times, so long ago as the reign of David II., this district of Clackmannanshire, contained royal forests, in which, by a grant from the King, the monks of Holyrood had the right of cutting wood for building and other purposes, and of pasture for their swine.*
* A foreign traveller, Hartmann Schedel, (in "Historia AEtatum Mundi," Nuremburg, 1493,) gives a description of Scotland in the reign of James II "The following miracle" he says, "was presented to us. We saw poor people almost naked coming to church and begging ; upon which they received stones, for which they expressed thanks, and showed the greatest joy. This kind of stone, being composed of sulphur or other fat matter, is burned instead of wood, of which the country is destitute." This, perhaps, veracious traveller does not say what part of Scotland he traversed ; but it is evident that he had arrived at a place where the old forests were all exterminated, where modern planting had not commenced, and where coal was just beginning to be wrought.
We may well suppose, however, that no two pictures could be more dissimilar than Scotland in the thirteenth and fourteenth, and Scotland in the nineteenth century ; for the present sylvan vegetation can have little or no resemblance to the old; as trees from the continent of Europe, from Asia, and from America, now supply the place of those which once indigenously occupied the soil. The gardens and grounds at Alloa were the first that were laid out on a great scale in Scotland ; and, with the advice of Le Nautre, they were indebted to the taste of John, the late Earl of Mar, who began to plant them in the year 1706. They would have exhibited to the fastidious Dr Johnson, had he travelled this way, as fine timber of fourscore years growth as his favourite England can produce. Alloa park, which includes all the older plantations, is very much enlarged, containing now no less than 480 imperial acres, one-half of which has been planted ; and, in several of its more elevated parts, the present noble proprietor has introduced a variety of fine trees, in clumps and otherwise, very tastefully arranged. The beauty of park scenery is here well displayed in a finely diversified surface, where hanging lawns, screened with wood, are connected with valleys. This extensive and beautiful park, thus rich in the beauties of liberal nature, is not less rich in historic associations ; for here much that is memorable in Scottish history has a "local habitation." The great variety of trees, both indigenous and exotic, makes a fine contrast in every season of the year ; of these the following are some of the more remarkable :
| Quercus heterophylla | Pinus cerdrus | Pinus strobus | Pinus balsamea | Pinus canadensis | Pinus horizontalis | Pinus Pinaster |
| Taxus baccata | Taxus baccata stricta | Cupressus sempervirens | Cupressus sempervirens stricta | Thuja orientalis | Thuja occidentalis | Robinia Pseudacacia |
| Viburnum Lantana | Sorbus aucuparia | Pyrus prunifolia | Liriodendron Tulipifera | Juglans regia* | Juglans nigra | Juglans alba |
| Castanea vesca | Esculus hippocastanum | Corylus Avellana | Corylus colurna | Crataegus oxycantha | Crataegus Crus galli | Fagus sylvatica |
| Acer Pseudo-Platanus | Populus ascladesca | Populus alba | Populus monilifera | Populus fastigiata | Prunus cerasus | Cerasus avium |
| Ulmus rubra pendula | Fraxinus excelsior, pendula | Tilia Europea | Salix Alba | Quercus Robur | Quercus ilex | Quercus coccinea |
| Quercus messiflora | Quercus cerris | Quercus esculus |
Tullibody woods are also extensive, and comprise a track of woodland of fine sylvan beauty. The more elevated parts are, in general, covered with Scotch fir (Pinus sylvestris) and other pines or soft wood, as they are called, chiefly as a shelter to forest trees in the younger plantations ; but occasionally standing by themselves, and being of stately size, they add to the height of the rising grounds, and to the picturesque appearance of the landscape. In the more fertile lower grounds, the usual forest trees, oak, ash, beech, horse-chestnut, planes, poplars, etc are in a very thriving condition ; and these, with all the other trees, appear to have been planted. The most generally prevailing tree appears to be the oak, (Quercus Robur,) several of which are of great size. Only that portion of Shaw Park wood which surrounds the mansion-house is in this parish, - and it consists chiefly of beech. There are a few other thriving trees, oak, elm, lime, chestnut, etc. and some varieties of the pine, including fine healthy specimens of the cedar of Lebanon, but not remarkable for size. It is surprising that this tree is so little cultivated throughout the country. It grows as fast to a large tree as the oak, stands as long or longer, is green all the year round, and, therefore, a shelter to the land, at the same time that it is the most ornamental of all large-growing trees. **
*The fruit ripens here most seasons.
** The Deodar, or Indian cedar, (Cedrus Deodara,) introduced to Hritain in 1822, seems, in respect of its timber, possessed of all the properties ever ascribed to the cedar of Lebanon, compared with which the tree seems also equally, if not more hardy and suitable for the climate of Britain, - and it has also the advantage of growing more rapidly when young ; so that it may yet become one of the most valuable of the Coniferae, whether as a timber or an ornamental tree. It is a native of the Himalaya mountains, where trees 150 feet high, without branches, and 30 feet in circumference, are not uncommon ; some are even larger. If the Deodara be grafted on the cedar of Lebanon, it will make a tree much sooner than upon its own bottom. Many fine plants are spoiled by being grafted on larches, merely because cedars of Lebanon are expensive stocks.
In Alloa woods, a few of the trees have been measured, (the girth being taken at one foot from the ground,) as under : Horse-chestnut, girth, 19 feet, extent of branches 70 feet ; another horse- chestnut, girth, 13 feet, extent of branches, 66 feet ; beech, girth, 18 feet; another beech, girth, 14 feet 6 inches. Of the latter, the height to the branches is 20 feet. Oak, (Quercus Rohur,) girth, 15 feet, extent of branches, 68 feet. This very beautiful tree stands singly in the park. Greater maple or sycamore, girth 12 feet 6 inches; yew, (Taxus baccata,) girth, 7 feet 6 inches; at beginning of branches, (3 feet from the ground,) girth, 11 feet.
These dimensions give an average girth of 9 feet 3 inches, and a diameter of 3 feet 1 inch, or 37 inches, which, by De Candolle's method, being multiplied by 12, gives 444 years as the age of the tree. This is on the supposition that each annual ring is equal to one line in breadth. If for aged trees we take the average of one line annually, we make them younger than they really are. There are several more yew trees here of apparently the same age.
A fine ash (Fraxinus excelsior) in the park, long named the "giant's staff," is more remarkable for beauty than for size, being free from branches to a great height, and as straight as a ship's mast. A similar tree is thus alluded to by Homer,
"From Pelion's cloudy top, an ash entire
Old Chiron felled, and shaped it for his sire ;
A spear which stern Achilles only wields.
The death of heroes and the dread of fields."
The largest tree in the parish is an oak near Tullibody House,* measuring in girth 20 feet ; extent of branches, 98 feet ; others do. measuring in girth, 14 feet; an ash measuring 15 feet; and several sycamores, 14 feet.
* In the year 1745, when the rebel army, consisting of 4000 men, had got possession of the town, though not of the Castle of Stirling, the Rev. Ebenezer Erskine, one of the fathers of the Secession, found it expedient to retire for a season, and preached to his people in the wood of Tullibody.
Geology and Mineralogy,* -
* For this valuable contribution the writer is indebted to Robert Bald, Esq. F.R.S.E., F G.S., M.W.S., etc. Mining- Engineer.
The whole of this parish is composed of rocks, without exception, belonging to the independent coal formation, upon which rests a thick cover, both of old and recent alluvial clay. The surface is undulated, forming hill and dale, all of it in an arable state. The recent alluvial cover is evidently formed by deposits from the river Forth, and its tributary streams, washing down the old alluvial clay, and extends along the north side of the river, until it joins the old alluvial cover northward ; the line of junction being quite distinct. This line is about twenty-five feet higher than the surface of the river, at the highest spring-tides ; hence it is evident, that the tides, when washing along the margin of the old alluvial cover, flowed at least twenty-five feet higher than they do at present. It is supposed by geologists, that the formation of the recent alluvial cover by the river along both its banks, has been the cause of the excluding of the tides, and lowering them so much in their height ; but this must have taken place at a remote, period, as it is evident that the height of the tides is very little altered since the Romans were in Scotland, as may be seen from the artificial fords in the river, and the site of the roads and military works of those people.
The old alluvial cover consists of clay, sand, gravel, and boulders, intimately mixed, so as to render it impervious to water, and is the most sterile of all compounds ; it is of various thickness, from a few feet to many fathoms. In the rising ground, immediately north from the town of Alloa, a shaft or pit was sunk through no less than fifty-four yards of this clay, ere the rock was found. The lower part of this alluvium, of about a foot thick, was composed of very fine clay in laminae not thicker than a common wafer, and of great flexibility and toughness ; from which it is inferred that this fine clay had been deposited in still water, previous to the thick heterogeneous mixture being superimposed. It is also to be remarked, that, wherever this kind of cover forms rising grounds in this and the adjoining parishes, the steep brow of these hills faces the west, and from this height gradually slopes to the east, these hills and valleys being in a west and east direction.
This cover, as before noticed, is remarkable for its sterility, the cause of which appears to be that no vestige of animal or vegetable remains has ever been found in it, though it has been frequently sunk through both in the opening of mines and quarries. But this cover rests on rocks of the coal formation, which contain immense quantities of organic remains, both of the animal and vegetable kingdoms. From these undeniable facts, it is concluded that the old alluvial cover is not the deposit of the deluge, for had it been so, both animal and vegetable substances would have been found in it ; and the conclusion is formed that this cover had been deposited previous to the deluge, and it is supposed that the subsiding waters of that flood, in some degree, influenced the form of the valleys, and the steep brow of this cover facing the west.
The boulder stones found in this cover, consist chiefly of those belonging to the trap and transition rocks ; and along the surface, particularly near the line of junction with the recent alluvial deposit of the River Forth, are found large masses of greenstone rock, which must have been brought by the waters, from the great rocks of greenstone, which abound in the vicinity of Stirling, upon the west, as no beds or dikes of this rock have been found in this parish.
The recent alluvial cover deposited by the River Forth consists entirely of soft blue mud or silt in the lower part, and strong tenacious clay at the surface, suitable for brick-making. No stones of any kind are found in it, the deposit having been made from still-water ; but it rests sometimes on clay of the old alluvial cover, and at the surface of this clay boulders of greenstone are found.
This recent alluvial deposit of the river Forth is of various thickness, from a few inches at the line of junction with the old alluvial cover, to thirty yards. This depth was bored through, ere the rock was reached at Longcarse farm-steading, west from the harbour of Alloa.
At the Rhind point, south from Longcarse farm-steading, there is a ford known by the name of the Throsk Ford, which is the most southerly part of this parish. The whole bed of the river, as far as low water-mark, is laid over with an immense quantity of boulders, chiefly of greenstone. This ford is four feet higher than the pitch of low-water, or the lowest ebb at Alloa harbour, and there is deep water beyond this ford to the westward. Hence it is concluded, that this ford or collection of stones in the river is altogether artificial, having been made by the Romans as a pass, similar to the other fords up the river towards Stirling.
In some places, there are found quantities of a brown ferruginous sand, overlaying the old alluvial cover, and in the narrow valleys, there are deposits of brown tenacious clay, with small stones disseminated through it. These deposits appear to have been formed by the deluge.
The rocks in this parish being entirely of the coal formation, consist only of a very few varieties, viz. 1st, Sandstone of various colours, but chiefly light red, yellowish, and grey, inclining to white.
2d, Sandstone combined with coal slate, in the form of clay, and in very various proportions. 3d, Coal slate containing bands and balls of common clay ironstone. 4th, Coal slates of a dark colour found generally with a bed of coal resting upon them. 5th, Beds of coal from one inch to nine feet thick. 6th, Limestone. The general dip of the rocks is to the north-east, and the declination from the horizon is, on an average, one foot perpendicular in six feet horizontal.
This coal-field is intersected by many dislocations or slips, both in an east and west, and in a south and north direction. Two of these, which are in an east and west direction, are very remarkable.
The one farthest north passes through the rising ground north from the farm-steading of Parkhead, and has the effect of throwing down the coals and their accompanying strata, more than 100 fathoms. The coal-field to the north of this slip in the parish is known by the name of Coalyland ; the coalfield upon the south of this slip is known by the name of Carsebridge. Both these coal-fields contain the same beds of coal.
In the Carsebridge coal-field, all the coals having cropped out, as it is termed in the miner's language, or having come to the surface of the rocks in a south direction, and in contact with the alluvial cover, it is found that, on the south side of the parish, near to the parish of Clackmannan, an immense slip takes place, and has the effect of throwing down the coals and accompanying strata fully 200 fathoms, and forms the south coal-field of this parish, with coals and strata the same as those before-mentioned.
This is understood to be the greatest slip of the strata hitherto ascertained in the coal-fields of Scotland ; and it is remarkable, in a geological point of view, that the surface gives no indication whatever of such a dislocation or slip, either here or at the other great slip before-mentioned, and that these slips are somewhat parallel with the south front of the Ochil mountains, which form part of the north boundary line of the coal-formation of Scotland.
These coal-fields being intersected by the great slips before-mentioned, each coal-field is, as to its coals and accompanying strata, basin-shaped, or rather, the portion of a basin, and some-what of a fan shape: at least, such is the south coal-field next Clackmannan parish, and the middle coal field of Carsebridge. But the Coalyland coal-field is part of a long elliptic basin, the coals and their accompanying strata dipping northwards to the River Devon, and then rising very abruptly along the face of the Ochil mountains. The east end of this trough is about a mile east from the town of Dollar; the west end of it, where coals are found, is at the north-west part of the parish, crossing the River Devon towards the Ochil mountains.
At the north-east part of the parish, in the farm of Jellyholm, near to Gartmorn dam, is a great diagonal slip, which runs from the north-east to the south-west. The extent to which it dislocates the strata, is unknown, but it throws the coals and the accompanying strata down to the east, and gives formation to an extensive coal-field, stretching chiefly into the parish of Clackmannan. The coals are the same as those before described ; and, besides these great slips or dislocations of the strata, there are many other slips of less magnitude in the coal-fields.
The Ochil mountains are composed of trap and porphyry rocks. This fact, combined with the circumstance before-mentioned, has given rise to many discordant theories. It may, however, be inferred, that these trap rocks underlie the whole of these coal-fields.
Quality of the Rocks and Economical Uses. - The first class of sandstone is applied to the ordinary purposes of building, but they are generally porous and liable to imbibe water, both by capillary attraction from wet foundations, and from rain. The red-coloured variety has been frequently mistaken for the old red sandstone, but it is altogether different from both it and the new red sandstone. This red sandstone belongs decidedly to the alternating strata of the coal-formation, and is of a light-red or bluish colour.
The bands and balls of ironstone found in the strata of coal slate are of the same kind of clay ironstone commonly found accompanying coal in Scotland, which yields from 30 to 35 per cent, of pig-iron, and has been long wrought in this parish for the iron furnaces.
The fourth class of rocks before-mentioned, viz. argillaceous rock or fire clay, is of a dark colour, and when wrought, turns out in irregular lumps, very different from the coal slate. The latter, when exposed to fire, becomes of a brick-red colour, and melts easily into a black glass or slag. The former comes out of the fire of a yellowish-white colour, and is found to be very refractory, and is consequently much used for making fire-bricks for the lining of furnaces, where an intense heat is required.
The coals are very abundant, and are from a few inches to nine feet in thickness. They are all of an open burning quality, and composed both of splint and cubical coal. They in general hold very little sulphur in combination, but it is found in the form of pyrites, which can be separated from the coal and thrown aside. These pyrites have not been found so abundant as to be of any use. None of them are suitable for smiths' forges, where a very strong heat is required, being only suitable for ordinary light work, so that smithy coals for heavy work have to be imported from a distance. The only cannel or parrot-coal found in the parish is about four inches thick, and is of so little value, that all the cannel coals for the Alloa gas-works are brought by sea- carriage from a considerable distance.
No workable coal has been found farther west than this parish, upon the north side of the Forth ; nor even farther west than the estate of Mar. Many attempts have been made by boring in Lord Abercromby's estate of Tullibody to find coal, without success. From these borings and the quarries in the vicinity, there appears to be a very thick body of whitish sandstone underlying the workable coals of this, parish.
The only appearance of limestone in the parish is found at the western boundary in the river Devon, near the village of Cambus. Its situation prevents it from being wrought, and very little is known of its quality or thickness. There is, however, every reason to conclude, that, in the lower series of rocks connected with this coal-field, there is a bed of mountain or carboniferous lime-rock, and that this rock lies under all the workable beds of coal, as is generally the case in Scotland, England, and Wales ; and it is inferred that this is the mountain-limestone.
Organic Remains. - In the old alluvial cover which chiefly over-lies the rocks of this parish, no organic remains of any kind have been found. In the recent alluvial cover of the rocks formed by the river Forth, they are found in the lower part of it, not only very many large common oyster shells, but also the greater part of those species of shells which are found in the sea near Leith, including the shells of crabs, and also the bones and horns of deer.
In the coal formation, there are immense quantities of impressions of the vegetable kingdom, and of oysters, which naturalists consider as belonging to the fresh-water class. These organic remains are found chiefly in the coal slate, and in the bands and balls of ironstone. In the sandstone the petrifactions are comparatively rare, but they are in general found of a larger size than in the other strata, and chiefly of the vegetable kingdom.
The chief organic remains in this coal-field are of the following classes :
Animal.- Unio, a fresh water bivalve, also Mytilus, and other molluscs. Of fishes, remains of the genera Gyracanthus, Mega-licthys, (the species Hibberti) ; also teeth, scales, and spines of other fishes. Coprolites found in nodules of iron clay stone.
Vegetable. - Species of the genera Calamites, Stigmaria, Lepidodendron, Pecopteris, Equisetum, Favullaria, (tessellata,) etc.
Of these there are many varieties ; and along the roof of the coals are impressions of gigantic palm trees, which the miners here term plough furrows.
Collieries. - The coals of this parish have been wrought for a long period of years, but at what time they commenced is quite uncertain. It would appear, however, from some very old papers, in possession of the family of Mar, that coals were wrought previous to the year 1650, by day-levels.
As the collieries were opened both for home sale and exportation, they have been wrought extensively, and the workable coals in this parish have been distinctly ascertained.
The stratification has been satisfactorily proved to the depth of 140 fathoms, extending beyond the lowest workable seam of coal in the field. This lower coal is known by the name of the lower Coalsnaughton main coal, and throughout all the Clackmannanshire coal-field no workable coal has been found under it. The number of seams of coal found in the depth of 115 fathoms, is 21, the aggregate thickness of which is fully 60 feet. At the present time, no coal here is reckoned workable to profit below 2 1/2 feet thick. If all the coals below that thickness are deducted, there remain nine workable coals, the thinnest of which is 2 feet 8 inches thick, and from that to 9 feet.
It is proper here to remark, that a coal being workable or not workable, according to its thickness, depends much upon the district in which coals are found, no coal, however thin, being physically unworkable. If coals are very high in price, and no thick seams are to be found in the district, coals of 1 foot 6 inches are wrought ; but when coals are thick and very moderate in price, coals under 2 feet 6 inches are estimated as not workable to profit, unless they are of the rich caking quality, suitable for smith's forges, bringing a comparatively high price. Of the thin coals in this parish some of them are only an inch or two thick.
There are three coal-fields in this parish composed of the same strata, and seams of coal, and are divided from each other by the great north slip before-mentioned. The coal-field on the north side of the slip is named the Coalyland coal-field, that on the south side of the slip is named the Carsebridge coal-field. In both of these, collieries upon an extensive scale have been wrought The first operations were by day-levels upon a very limited scale. There are yet traces of a day level running in a north and south direction near the Carsebridge distillery.
The application of the steam-engine for the drainage of mines being comparatively of a recent date, viz. about the year 1715, previous to this date, when day-levels could not be obtained, horse machinery, with chains and buckets, were applied to a depth not exceeding 15 fathoms. This machine was known in Scotland by the name of the Cogg and Run Machine, that is, a wheel with teeth working into a trundle or lanthorn pinion, such as was used in the old corn-mills. Such machines being very soon overpowered with water, the next resource was hydraulic machinery, for which large collections of water were made in the coal districts of Scotland. Pumps with valves were then unknown in Scotland, and the hydraulic machine, as then applied in this parish, was a water-wheel, with the axle across the pit-mouth ; over this were several tires of endless pudding-link iron chains, and when the water was scarce, then comparatively few buckets were attached to the chains. In this manner, water was raised at a pit in the Carsebridge colliery, which was 40 fathoms deep to the 9 feet coal, and the drainage was carried on effectually for about fifty years.
For ensuring a supply of water for this water-engine, Gartmorn dam was formed. It is situated upon the east side of the parish, and its surface, when full, measures above 160 acres.
It is particularly to be noticed, in a statistical point of view, that, about the year 1700, John, Earl of Mar, who was so remarkable for the improvement of the arts and sciences in Scotland, and who wished to have the best advice as to the forming of Gartmorn dam, the sinking of the before-mentioned engine pit of 40 fathoms deep, and the application of the machinery, could then find no person of sufficient skill in Scotland to make a survey and report thereon. His Lordship, therefore, that he might have the most eminent person of that day, brought Mr Sorocold, a mining engineer, from Wales, at a great expense. He tried the levels for bringing in a supply of water from the river Black Devon, in the parish of Clackmannan, to Gartmorn dam, and the aqueduct was executed according to his directions. The levels were not taken by a spirit level, as is the present practice, but by a large wooden quadrant, set upon a tripod with brass lights, along the upper radius, the index being a plummet suspended by a fine thread This instrument was of no use in a strong wind, but when the wind was moderate, the undue oscillation of the plummet was brought to rest by immersing it in water. For this purpose an attendant was at all times required to carry a wooden cup with water, and apply it to the plummet, at every observation.
In Mr Sorocold's report on the sinking of the before-mentioned engine pit, he recommended the application of large pumps with valves, in place of the chains and buckets, - the former being greatly superior to the latter in every point of view. But when the recommendation came to be acted upon, the Earl's secretary states, in a document still in preservation, that, as there was no person in Scotland who could construct such pumps as were required, he requested to know from the Earl, "whether he would apply for advice to John Young, who had been sent by the town of Montrose to Holland to see the windmills there, or to the mechanical priest in Lancashire."
The pit was sunk, and the main or nine feet coal laid dry, not with pumps, but by the old system of chains and buckets. It is said, that, at this time, gunpowder was not in practice for blowing up rocks in sinking, and this pit was sunk by aid of what is termed plug and feathers. This method is to bore a hole in the rock about three feet deep, then to insert in each side of the hole a feather of iron longer than the hole is in depth. These feathers of iron are circular on the one side, and plain on the other. Betwixt these a long tapering wedge is placed, and driven with the full force of sledge hammers, until part of the rock was burst asunder. In this most laborious manner, the sinking was conducted in the midst of a deluge of water, occasioned by the imperfect mode of drawing the water up the pit ; and it is a matter of remark, when descending these old shafts where this method of sinking was used, that, wherever very hard beds of stones are passed through, the pit is considerably narrower at these beds, but it is at the regular width in the ordinary strata. This arose from the very great expense of this mode of sinking; and it is thus seen how much the sinking of pits has been improved and facilitated since the introduction of gunpowder in blasting rocks.
This winning being exhausted, the next operation was the winning of the same nine feet coal on the north side of the great north slip at Coalyland, near the river Devon. This was begun in the year 1764, and was won by a steam-engine, according to Newcomen's plan, with Beighton's arrangements, having the boiler immediately under and almost close to the cylinder. This pit gained the nine feet coal at the depth of 48 fathoms. The cylinder was 40 inches in diameter, the pumps 10 inches diameter. All these pumps were of plane-tree, bored out of the solid wood, hooped with iron, having spigget and faucet joints. The only pipes in the two columns made of cast-iron were the working barrels. About thirty-five years ago, the mines of this colliery took fire, but from what cause is unknown ; nor could the fire be extinguished until a stream of water was poured down the engine-pit, and the colliery was abandoned. There yet remains an extensive field of coal to work, consisting of several seams. The mining operations in one of the coals has been commenced on an extensive scale, by means of mines brought from the pit bottom of the New Sauchy pumping engine, situated in Clackmannan parish, - the property of the Earl of Mansfield.
The present colliery of Carsebridge, on the south side of the great north slip, is about 50 fathoms deep to the upper five feet coal. This winning was made about the year 1760. It is drained by a hydraulic engine of considerable power. The water-wheel is 30 feet diameter overshot, and 3 feet wide in the buckets, with a 3 feet crank on each side of the axle, and draws the water to the surface by means of pumps 10 inches diameter. This method of draining a colliery is nearly as economical as that of a day level The water for drawing the water-wheel is brought from Gartmorn Dam.
The limited coal-field on the south side of the great south slip was nearly wrought out about a century ago. This slip cut off the workings to the north, and many trial bores were put down to the north of the workings in search of the nine feet coal which had been lost ; but all these trials were fruitless. At that time, the effect of these slips was unknown ; and the fact is, that the coal which was lost was thrown up 200 fathoms, and the consequence is, that the crop of it is not found for about three-quarters of a mile, and that immediately to the north of the Carsebridge hydraulic pumping-engine. The effect of these slips is only a recent discovery, as well as the true constitution of the coal-fields.
All the coals in this parish were wrought in the common way, by post and stall as it is termed, or in pillars and rooms, till within these thirty years, when the Shropshire method was introduced, and no pillars left. It was begun in the Carsebridge colliery, in a coal about three feet thick, and is carried on successfully at present. In the Colyland colliery, the post and stall system is now pursued, the coal being too thick for working in the Shropshire system with economy. By this last system, from an eighth to a ninth of the coal is lost ; by the other system, the coal left in pillars is from a fourth to a third of the whole.
Inflammable air, the carburetted hydrogen of the chemists, was never found in these mines, which is no common blessing to the miners. Fixed air or carbonic acid gas, however, is abundant, and has been the cause of loss of life. The miners name it styth, black-damp, choke-damp, and also the pease-bloom damp, conceiving that it is generated by the blossoms of the field pease and beans, or by the flowers of the wild mustard, which they name skelloch. The cause of this supposition is, that, during the heat of summer, when these plants are blooming, the air in the mines is commonly very bad, whereas the sultry air is the cause.
Until within these thirty years, all the coals in this parish were brought from the wall face or foreheads of the mines by women, married and unmarried, old and young; these were known by the name of bearers. When the pit was deep, they brought the coals to the pit bottom ; but when the pits did not exceed 18 fathoms, they carried the coals to the bank at the pit-head by a stair. A stout woman carried in general from 100 to 200 weight, and, in a trial of strength, 300 weight imperial.
Of all the slavery under heaven's canopy (the African slavery as it was in the West Indies excepted), this was the most cruel and oppressive, both as regards body and mind, and wherever this system exists, the condition of the collier and his family is most lamentable, - it is a bar to any improvement or comfort whatever.
As the collieries in this parish extended, this oppressive slavery became evidently worse, and the late most worthy and excellent John Francis Earl of Mar, with a benevolence and philanthropy which does honour to his memory, ordered this system to be completely abolished. The evils attending this system, may, in some degree, be estimated, when it is stated, that, when his Lordship put an end to it, 50,000 tons of coals were raised at his collieries annually, every ounce of which was carried by women. Iron railways and tranmers, with four-wheeled carriages, are now substituted, to the great comfort of the miner, his family, and all concerned with the collieries.
The rotatory steam-engine is used for drawing the coals up the pits, and this can be accomplished with any velocity required.
The coals are carried from the pits to the harbour of Alloa, by means of a railway, and the progressive improvements in this mode of conveyance have been passed through here.
1st The first railroad here was laid in the year 1766. This was composed of Scotch fir-rails of a scantling 4 inches by 5 inches, fixed by wooden pins to cross pieces of wood near to each other, termed sleepers.
2d The above was improved upon and strengthened by laying a top rail above the other, of the same kind of wood ; but the fir-wood chafed and wore so fast with the iron-wheels, that this had to be improved.
3d The next improvement was to make the top rail beech-wood. This became smooth and glossy, and continued to be the improved railway until the introduction of cast-iron.
4th The next attempt at improvement was the adopting of cast-iron, by plating the wooden rails with cast-iron in pieces of four feet long, of an inch and a quarter square ; each piece of rail having three projecting ears with holes, through which a pin was driven to fix the iron-rail in its place. This plan proved quite abortive, for the instant the wood gave way or yielded, the cast- iron was broken, and it was found so useless and so expensive that it was thrown aside altogether. The engineers then never once contemplated the substitution of cast-iron rails of a proper form, in lieu of the wooden-rails.
5th The next improvement adopted was the double wooden rails before-mentioned, being formed of best Memel or Prussian fir, plated with Swedish malleable iron, IJ inches broad and I of an inch thick. This railroad kept long in a good state, but when the wooden rails began to fail, the repairs were never ending and expensive.
6th The preceding improved road was superseded, about thirty years ago, by an edge railroad composed of cast-iron rails and sleepers of the same, which plan had become common in England, and had been adopted at several collieries in Scotland. This was a decided improvement upon all the former plans in every point of view.
7th, The cast-iron railway being worn out after thirty years service, the next and last improvement made in this railway was the substituting edge rails of malleable iron, known by the name of Bedlington patent rail. These are laid on stone blocks and fixed thereto by cast-iron chains, as is the universal practice in every district in Great Britain.
The improvement as to the execution of work done upon these several kinds of railroads is as follows, -
Previous to the introduction of the first railroad in this parish, a horse brought from the coal-hills to the town or harbour one cart of coals weighing six cwt.
By the first railway a horse brought down a chalder waggon, containing 30 cwt., that is five times more than formerly.
The second, third, and fourth improvements gave a more substantial and lasting road, but no better execution of work than by the first plan.
By the fifth improvement a man and a horse brought down at a time three waggons of coals, or 90 cwt, which was thrice the quantity performed by a man and a horse upon the former plans of railroads.
By the sixth improvement, waggons containing only one ton or 20 cwt. were adopted, and one man and one horse brought down eight tons at a time or 160 cwts., which was nearly double of the former improvement.
The seventh improvement produces no more effect or execution than the former at present ; but this fact is undoubted, that, if necessary, ten tons will be as easily drawn along the malleable iron railway as eight tons along the wavy surface of the last iron railway. If, therefore, the improvement in railways is viewed, and compared with the work of a horse in a cart before the railroads in this parish were made, a man and a horse actually do the work of what would have required 27 men and 27 horses formerly. The hire of a man and horse for drawing coals along the present railway from the coal-hills to the Alloa harbour, a distance of two miles and a half, is 3^d. each ton, the waggons being furnished and upheld to him.
As to the output of coals in this parish annually, it has been greatly reduced, although as a coal-shipping port the annual quantity is increased. This arose from the circumstance, that John Francis Earl of Mar, in the year 1806, took in lease New Sauchy colliery, in the parish of Clackmannan, which he wrought very extensively by colliers and their families taken from Alloa parish to reside in the parish of Clackmannan. Previous to this arrangement, the quantity of coal raised, annually, in the parish, may be taken at from 44,000 to 50,000 tons. At present the annual quantity raised is about from 76,000 to 80,000 tons.
Wages. - The price paid the collier for working the coal, and filling the same at the wall-face into the corve, is, on an average, 1s. 8d. per ton of 20 cwt., and a good workman can earn from 16s. to L.1 4s. per week. Smiths' wages at the colliery are 16s. and Wrights' 17s. per week. Sinkers and miners have about 2s. 6d. per day, and ordinary labourers from 9s. to 12s. per week. The colliers have their houses and their fire coals free, but they work the coals.
In considering the rate of a collier's wages, compared with other labourers for a century back to the present time, it is concluded that a collier ought to earn double the amount of an ordinary effective labourer or spademan, because to be an expert miner requires much practice. They are exposed to many casualties, arising from the roofs falling and noxious vapours. Besides which, they have their lights and tools to uphold.
With regard to the selling prices of coals in this parish, those have varied much within a comparatively short period. During the latter part of the last war with France, the prices were as follow per ton of 20 cwt, — great coal on the hills, 6s. 8d. ; chews, 5s. 4d. ; great coal put on board at the harbour, 10s. : chew coal, do. do. 7s. 6d.
From the end of the war to Martinmas 1835, they declined very much, and no coal was sold on the Alloa hills, as all land sales were made at the Alloa coal-fold and at the New Sauchy colliery, in the parish of Clackmannan.
The sea sale prices previous to Martinmas 1835 were as follow, - great coal put on board, per ton, 6s. 6d. ; chew coal, do. do. 4s. 6d.
These prices are as low as they were here, a century ago, not-withstanding the decrease of the value of money, and a more than double rate of wages.
This is chiefly owing to the application of the steam-engine for drawing water from the mines and the coals up the pit.
The prices of coals here at present, anno 1837, are as follows: great coal on the hills, per ton, 8s. 9d. ; chew coal, do. 7s. 2d. ; great coal put on board at the harbour, per ton, l0s. ; chew coal, do. 8s. 9d these coals do not cake, the culm or dross, named here lime-coal or pan-wood, is of little value. A small quantity is raised, being generally thrown aside into the wastes as rubbish, to the extent of many thousand tons. The present prices are, per ton, lime coal on the hill. 1s. 8d. per ton; lime coal on board at the harbour, 4s. per ton.
As to the condition of the colliers, a very decided and evident improvement has taken place since the women were relieved from the most disgraceful slavery of bearing the coals, and the workman from all charge of the coals, the instant they are weighed at the pit. From the circumstance of the wives remaining at home to attend to the domestic economy, the houses are much more comfortable and better furnished than they formerly were, and the whole style of living has been improved.
There are three particulars worthy of notice, in connection with the colliers, viz. the pension or allowance to superannuated workmen ; the Bailie Court or Court of Equity ; the Friendly Society or Colliery Fund, as it is commonly named. Formerly all colliers and salters who made salt from sea-water in Scotland, were attached to the property where they were born, that is, they were serfs or slaves, and were, with their wives and children, sold with the estate, from which they could not be removed. This slavery existed until the year 1775, when it was abolished by Act of Parliament. Before its abolition, the very name of collier was a reproach. But since that event, the colliers have risen in the scale of society, and now form a very respectable class.
While in the state of slavery, their masters had to support them, when superannuated. Although the obligation to give this support terminated, so soon as they were emancipated, the family of Mar continued the allowances to the colliers at Alloa, which amounted to from L. 200 to L. 500 a year, according to the prices of oatmeal.
After the colliers obtained their freedom, they fell into a habit of going from one colliery to another. To obviate the inconvenience thus occasioned, their employers engaged them and their children for a period extending from 7 to 14 years. This system, however, did not work well, for the idea of being engaged for so long a term of years, hung so heavy upon their minds, that they were constantly running off; and this was followed by warrants to apprehend and imprison them. This system at last came to such a height, that all engagements whatever were put an end to by the late John Francis Earl of Mar ; since which time, they have settled quietly at their work.
The colliery having been let by the present Earl of Mar to a Company, his Lordship declined to support the poor on the lists. In this emergency, the Alloa Colliery Company agreed to pay one-third of the charity in money, another third being paid from the parish funds, and the remaining; third by his Lordship. Such a change as this had been contemplated many years ago, while John Francis Earl of Mar was alive, who suggested to the workmen, to make an additional weekly instalment to the then existing fund. To this they agreed : the society is now beginning to operate, and in a few years will be able to meet all the calls arising from superannuated members.
The Colliery Bailie Court or Court of Equity. — This is one of the most singular and useful institutions in Scotland, and it is doubtful if any other of the kind exists in Scotland, or perhaps in Great Britain. Its history is as follows. About eighty years ago, Lord Thomas Erskine was proprietor of the estate of Mar, and the collieries. The workmen being then serfs or slaves, and grossly ignorant, were living without comfort, and exceedingly degraded in the scale of society. Quarrels frequently took place amongst them ; and the weak being oppressed and tyrannized over by the strong, the former had recourse to the Bailie of the barony of Alloa for redress, who, by his commission, had ample powers to correct offenders, by fine or imprisonment. The business of the baron bailie thus became very great, and much loss of work arose from the operatives attending from day to day at the Bailie Court. Thomas Lord Erskine saw the evils of this system, and devised a novel plan, which was to supersede the Bailie Court, so far as regarded his colliers, and institute the Alloa Colliery Bailie Court, or Court of Equity, which still exists, at the present day, in vigour and usefulness.
The constitution of the court was as follows : - His Lordship selected five of the most reasonable and discreet of the colliers, and nominated them bailies ; one of the five he made president of the Court, whom he named Head Bailie ; one of the workmen who could write, (and there were but few of them who could,) was appointed clerk ; and the Court was completed by appointing an active workman in the decline of life to be the officer, to attend on the bailies, and give verbal summonses of appearance to those complained against. The jurisdiction of this Court was limited to the settlement of quarrels amongst the colliers. The bailies have no written appointment under Lord Erskine's hand ; they are uniformly common colliers, and not one grade higher in condition than those who are brought before them, so that the workmen are truly and absolutely judged by their peers. It might be supposed that in a society so rude, individuals would have spurned the idea of submitting to the sentence of such a court, and set the bailies at defiance. But it is most remarkable, that, in no instance was this ever the case ; and the court goes on at the present day with the greatest efficiency and regularity. The Court is held now once in the fortnight ; when the bailies are decently dressed, and no one is allowed to appear before them in their "heugh dudds,'' that is, in their pit clothes.
The head bailie or preses is chosen by the proprietor of the colliery. At one time, he remained in office seven years ; but it was found expedient to shorten the period to three years.
The manner of electing the four assistant bailies is this : The two oldest colliers who are working at the coal-wall, and are in the list of count makers, give in a list of twelve workmen to the proprietor, who they think are men of discretion, and fit for the office of bailie; from this list the four assistant bailies are chosen by the proprietor.
This court of equity has now more than realized the objects which Lord Erskine had in view, and its influence has greatly tended to improve the general conduct of the men.
The Alloa Colliers' Fund or Friendly Society. - This Society was instituted in the year 1775, for the purpose of raising a fund for payment of schoolmasters, burying of the dead, and supporting old and sick persons belonging to the colliery, and members of the society.
The progress of this fund may be illustrated by the following statement :
From January 1775 to January 1776, Received L.I9 15 2 Paid Out L.11 7 6
For the year from Martinmas 1833 to Martinmas 1834, Received 345 3 6 Paid Out 332 7 0
Another fund was instituted in the end of the year 1833, for providing support to members and their widows in old age.
So correctly were these Societies managed, that the aggregate surplus stock, lying at interest at 5 per cent, was at Martinmas 1835 as follows :
Surplus stock of the old fund, - L.251 3 11
Surplus stock of the new fund, - L.1124 6 0
Total surplus stock, - L.1375 9 11
The two funds are now united, and the surplus stock had, in 1839, increased to about L.1600.
II, - Civil History.
In the large new edition of the Acts of the Parliament of Scotland, in nine volumes, folio, there are various allusions or references to the parishes of Tullibody and Alloa. The earliesl of these is in Vol ii p.75, relating to a period so far back as 1452 ; the remaining references extend to the beginning of the eighteenth century.
There are also short notices of Alloa and other parishes in the 1st vol. of the Macfarlane manuscript, (in the Advocates' Library, Edinburgh,) drawn up by Mr Alexander Rait, in the year 1722. In the chartulary of the abbey of Cambuskenneth, there are two charters which refer to the kirk of Alloa, the first entitled "Contra Capella de Alway, May 20, 1409," beginning thus, "Henry miseratione Divina Episcopus Sancti Andreae, capellario parochiali ecclesie de Clakmanane salutem, etc." and the second entitled, "Instrumentum de Capella de Alway, 15 May 1401," beginning "In Dei nomine. Amen," etc. and referring to some arbiters chosen by the abbot of that day, for the interest of the convent on the one part, and a noble lord, Thomas Lord Erskine, Knight, oo the other, about the "servicio capellae de Alway, quod dictus Dominus Thomas clamebat fieri dicte capelle per dictum dominum Abbatem ut perpetuum vicarium de Clackmanan," etc
In the ill fated attempt of Charles I. to introduce Episcopacy into Scotland, in opposition to the Covenanters, the Earl of Montrose, just before the battle of Kilsyth, (15th August 1645,) after remaining a night at Kinross, marched towards Alloa, in the neighbourhood of which he arrived in the evening, and passed the night in the wood of Tullibody. General Baillie. (leader of the forces of the Covenanters,) followed with such speed, that he encamped at Tullibody, the same evening his antagonist did at Kilsyth, — which he also reached with his troops, the following day. The Highlanders plundered the town of Alloa, and the adjoining lordships belonging to the Earl of Mar ; but, notwithstanding this unprovoked outrage, the Earl and Lord Erskine gave Montrose, the Earl of Airly, and the principal officers of the army, an elegant entertainment in the Castle of Alloa. Montrose did not delay the march of his army, while partaking of the hospitality of the Earl of Mar. The Macleans then burnt Castle Campbell, the principal residence of the Argyle family in the lowlands, in requital of similar acts of the Marquis in the country of the Macleans. The Marquis of Argyle, now, also caused the house of Menstrie, the seat of the Earl of Stirling, the king's secretary, and that of Airthrey, belonging to Sir John Graham of Braco, to be burnt. This was done by way of retaliation for the destruction of Castle Campbell by the Macleans. He, moreover, sent an insolent message to the Earl of Mar, notifying to him, that, on the return of the army from the pursuit of Montrose, he, the Earl, might calculate on having his castle also burnt, for the hospitality he had shown Montrose.
Burning of Alloa House. - On the 28th August 1800, Alloa House, that extensive range of buildings attached to the ancient Castle or Tower of Alloa, which was the residence of the family of Mar, suffered a terrible disaster. Between the hours of 11 and 12 p. M., a most dreadful fire broke out. No engine could be procured for some hours, and the rivulet near the house happened unfortunately to be dried up. No assistance being thus within reach, the flames continued to rage with incredible violence, till, by two o'clock in the morning, the roofs had fallen in, and before day light, the whole house was burned to the ground. Fortunately no lives were lost. All the books and papers were saved, with part of the furniture, and most of the pictures. Among many valuable curiosities, there was then consumed a picture of Queen Mary, on copper, (perhaps the only genuine original then existing in Scotland,) gifted by her to one of her ladies before her execution.
Maps, Plans, etc. - A plan of the town of Alloa, from an actual survey, was published in 1825 by Mr John Wood. The archives of the family of Mar contain some curious papers, relative to the transactions of ancient times, and the intimacy which existed between that Noble family and their sovereigns. (See former Statistical Account.)
Family of Mar. - The Erskines are of a very ancient family, and distinguished themselves in the service of their sovereigns, so early as the beginning of the thirteenth century. Sir William Erskine was an eminent adherent of King Robert Bruce. One of his descendants, Robert Lord Erskine, claimed the Earldom of Mar, to which he was served heir in 1438.
Robert, the fourth Earl of this* family, fell at the battle of Flodden Field. He was succeeded by John, the fifth Earl, who was Regent of Scotland, and who had the custody of his infant sovereign, Queen Mary, whom be retained until the year 1548, when the estates of the kingdom ordered him to carry her to the Court of France. His son John, the sixth Earl, was appointed to an office of similar trust to that of his father, and had chaise of James VI., afterwards King of England, when an infant He was greatly distinguished by James VL, and was the friend and fellow-labourer of Napier of Merchiston, the Inventor of Logarithms.
* Alexander Lord Erskine, third Earl of Mar, founded a chaplainry at St Mungo's Altar, in the Kirk of Alloa, for the welfare of the souls of King James III. and Christian Chrichton, his deceased spouse (daughter of Sir Robert Chrichton of Sanquhar), and for the health and prosperity of King James IV., himself, and Helen Home, his then wife (eldest daughter of Alexander, first Lord Home), relict of Sir Adam Hepburn of Hailes, - out of a number of small rents of property in the town of Alloa, extending together to L.8, 13s. 4d. This is confirmed by charter under the Great Seal, Oct. 21, 1497.
John, the eleventh Earl of Mar, was unfortunately engaged in the Rebellion of 1715 ; and adhering to the fortunes of the Pretender, followed him to Rome, and afterwards to Paris and Aix-la-chapelle, where he died in 1732. His attainder took place io 1716. His Lordship was twice married; first to Lady Margaret Hay, daughter of the Earl of Kinnoull, by whom he had two sons ; John, who died in infancy, and Thomas Lord Erskine. He married, secondly. Lady Frances Pierrepont (sister to the celebrated Lady Mary Wortley Montague), daughter of Evelyn, Duke of Kingston, by whom he had one daughter. Lady Frances Erskine, who married her cousin, James Erskine, son of Lord Grange, through whom the line of the family is kept up.
Whatever errors his lordship may have committed, it cannot be denied, by any one who reads the papers he has left behind him, that he had the general improvement of his country greatly at heart. It deserves to be generally known, that plans of the North and South Bridges, and the new town of Edinburgh, were found in his portfolio, after his death. His Lordship was the original projector of the Forth and Clyde Canal ; he also planned the new town of Alloa, which is rapidly extending.
John Francis, late Earl of Mar, who died in 1825, had the titles and honours of the family restored to him in 1824. He endeared himself to his tenantry and dependents, by a life devoted to their happiness, and an unremitting attention to the prosperity of Alloa. Every view of his character entitles his name to be transmitted to posterity, with the most estimable and venerable characters of his times, and with a distinction to which no external rank or honour would have added any thing ;
"Hinc tua me virtus rapit, et miranda per omnes
Vita modos ; quod, si decesset tibi forte creato
Nobilitas, eadem pro nobiliute fuisset." — Lucan.
John Francis, the present Earl of Mar, grandson of the preceding, is the premier Earl; and as Viscount Fenton he is the premier Viscount of Scotland. He is also Earl of Kellie. His Lordship , has very much improved the appearance of the neighbourhood, by enclosing, with an elegant stone wall, Alloa Park, which to the eastward, was wholly unenclosed. This, with the building of his Lordship's new mansion, has, during these several years, afforded employment to a great number of workmen.
In 1827, he married Philadelphia, daughter of Sir Charles Granville Stuart Menteath,* of Closeburn.
William David, Earl of Mansfield, succeeded his father, William Murray, the late Earl, in 1840. His Mansion-House of Shaw Park, and the adjoining plantation are in this parish ; but the greater part of his estate in this county is in the adjoining parish of Clackmannan. When the former Statistical Account was written, this property belonged to the Earl of Cathcart.
George Abercromby, Baron Abercromby of Aboukir and Tullibody, is son of the gallant Sir Ralph Abercromby,** whose father, George Abercromby, Esq., mentioned with so much respect in the former Statistical Account, died in 1800, at the great age of 95 years: - Sir Ralph's brother. Sir Robert, K. B., was a general in the army, and Governor of Edinburgh Castle ; and his other brother Alexander was a Senator of the College of Justice, under the name of Lord Abercromby - and one of the authors of the Mirror and Lounger, in conjunction with Mackenzie and others. James, the brother of the present Peer, late M. P. for Edinburgh, was Master of the Mint, and in 1835, was chosen Speaker of the House of Commons. He is now raised to the peerage, with the title of Baron Dunfermline.
* Descended from Walter, third high Steward of Scotland, and who was the first Earl of Menteith.
** As a remarkable instance of Sir Ralph Abercromby's benevolence of heart, and fatherly care of his people, it may be mentioned that he wrote a letter from Antwerp on the 15th July 1794, to the late Mr Mitchell of Tullibody, giving directions as to a new school and school-house in that village.
Eminent Men. - David Allan, the celebrated painter, sometimes styled the Scottish Hogarth, was born at Alloa in 1744. He was sent to Rome at the expense of the Mar, Abercromby, and Cathcart families, for his improvement in the art of painting. Allan was the first Briton who contended for the prize of historical painting at Rome, where he gained the first prize.
Dr James Beattie, - It is said that Dr Beattie of Aberdeen, in the interval of the College Sessions, was employed, when a young man, in teaching a school at Alloa. In this situation, and in others similar to it, he increased his acquaintance with the principles of grammar, and acquired that accurate classical knowledge, for which he was afterwards so eminently distinguished.
Dr James Fordyce, - the eloquent author of "Sermons to young Women," and "Addresses to young Men," was minister of Alloa, from 1753 till 1760, when he removed to London.
Bishop Alexander. - Upon the east wall of the churchyard was a marble tablet to the memory of Bishop Alexander, who died, April 24, 1776, aged 82 years. This tablet is now removed to the new Episcopal chapel. The reputation of Bishop Alexander still lives in the church, and he continues to be spoken of as a penton of apostolical simplicity, piety, and benevolence. The small chapel, in which he officiated at Alloa, was bequeathed by him to bis successors in that town. He was thirty-three years Bishop of Dunkeld.
Land-Owners. - The valued rent of this parish is L.7492, 19s. 2d. Scots, and that of each proprietor, as follows, - Earl of Mar and Kellie, L.4189; Lord Abercromby, L. 2153, 19s. 2d.; West Cambus estate, - Mrs Moubray, Mrs Reoch, and Mrs Macfarlane, L.401, 2s. 2d.; Earl of Mansfield, L. 145, 16s.; feuars of the town of Alloa, L. 601, Is. 10s. The present land rental is L.11,366, and the house rental, L.8545.
Parochial Registers. - The register of baptisms and marriages, as well as the books of discipline, commence in February 1609; but all of them prior to 1664 are in a bad state of preservation, having apparently been much exposed to damp, and otherwise carelessly kept. The books of discipline or records of session are incomplete, from 1746 till 1760, there being only the records of six years between these two periods; but from 1760 to the present time, they are complete. The number of births registered for five years from 1699, averages 103; for five years from 1799, the average is 138; and for the five years preceding 1840, the average is 119. The number of marriages for the same periods averages respectively 29 3/5, 33, and 61 2/5.
If any opinion of the increase of population may be formed from the number of children's names recorded in five years succeeding 1610, viz. 224, annual average, 44 4/5 ; and from the number in five years succeeding 1680, viz. 490, annual average, 98, - it must be supposed that the population had more than doubled in the interval of seventy years; and as there were no Dissenters at either of those periods, it is probable that all children were registered. It is a remarkable fact, that, in the year 1680, there were 1300 communicants in the parish church, a number somewhat above the present average. Parents are becoming more and more careless as to the registration of their children, the want of which is frequently felt by individuals of every rank. It ought to be more generally known, that, by the 10th of Queen Anne, cap. vii. sec. 6, 1711, commonly called the Toleration Act, parents may be compelled to "enter the births and christenings" of their children in the register books for christenings, belonging to the respective parishes in which they live."
Antiquities. - In the year 1828, an ancient Roman burying-ground was discovered, when the old road between the minister's glebe and Mar's hill was repairing. There were then found above twenty sepulchral vases or urns of coarse pottery, very rudely ornamented. They contained burnt human bones, and were placed in an inverted position, with the mouth resting upon a piece of flag-stone. There were also found two stone-coffins, each of about 3 feet in length. They were composed of flag sandstones. It appears that, in that remote age, those bodies which were not burnt were doubled and put into the stone coffins. In this instance, the bodies appear to have been those of men of distinction, as a pair of pure gold bracelets or bangles was found in each of the coffins. They were highly polished, but devoid of all ornament.
The workmen who found these supposed them to be coffin handles of brass, and paid little regard to them ; but at the very instant, a pedlar, a stranger in the district, having joined the workmen, took advantage of their ignorance, and bought the one pair they had then got, for a few pounds. The Antiquarian Society of Scotland, upon learning the circumstance, put advertisements in all the newspapers, offering the pedlar a reward if he would return them ; but the bracelets never appeared. The other pair, exactly similar, were found in the custody of one of the workmen, from whom they were purchased by Mr Drummond Hay, Secretary of the Antiquarian Society, for twenty guineas ; and they are now lodged in the Antiquarian Museum at Edinburgh.
The cemetery on Mar's hill is the third tumulus that has been discovered, within these forty years, in the immediate vicinity of Alloa. It is, therefore, not improbable that Alloa is the Alauna of the ancients, although there is little positive evidence concerning the true site of it; and that this cemetery, which rises on a gentle acclivity from the banks of the Forth, was the burial-place of the Roman garrison.
About half-a mile east from Alloa, is a large upright stone, known by the name of the Stone Cross. On each side, the figure of an open cross is cut from the top to the bottom. In making a road near to this stone, about forty years ago, human bones were found ; and a few years ago, a stone coffin, composed of flag stones, about 3 feet long, was discovered, and two small figures of the true cross cut upon it. From this it is inferred, that the interment must have taken place early in the Christian era, when the Pagan rite of doubling up the body in short stone coffins had not been abolished.
Old Roman coins have occasionally been found in this parish, and it is particularly to be noticed, that some years ago, a brass coin was dug up with the letters, S. C. upon the one side, and the words Augustus Tribunus upon the other.
Some years ago, there was dug up in the floor of an old house at the village of Cambus, a large jar full of silver coins of Scotland, England, and other countries. Some of the coins of Germany were about the size of a dollar. The greater part of these coins was sold by the workmen. About sixty of them were recovered by the Sheriff of the county, and have, since that time, lain immured in the Sheriff-clerk's office.
Alloa Tower. - This ancient edifice, which is 89 feet high, and its walls 11 feet thick, was built in the end of the thirteenth century, by the sovereigns of Scotland. In 1365, David II. gave it to Lord Erskine, in exchange for the estate of Stragartney, in Perthshire, Many of our Scottish princes received their education here. As they were, for more than two centuries, the wards of the Lords Erskine and Earls of Mar, who held generally the three principal fortresses of the kingdom, Edinburgh, Stirling, and Dumbarton, - James VI, was occasionally brought to live here during his boyhood, though his more frequent residence was the royal castle of Stirling. The last heir of the Scottish Monarchy, who was brought up here, was Henry Prince of Wales, eldest son of James VI., who died in his eighteenth year. Queen Mary spent some of her infant years in Alloa Tower; and here, in after life, she passed two nights, when reconciled to Lord Darnley, in July 1566. The very celebrated George Buchanan, the boast of Scotland, is believed to have resided for a considerable time in Alloa Tower, when superintending the education of the young prince.
Modern Buildings. - The new church was opened in June 1819. It is an elegant structure, in the pointed Gothic style, 124 feet by 78 over the walls, and ornamented by a lofty tower in the centre of the front, surmounted by a fine spire (built by subscription), which together rise to the height of 207 feet The ground on which the new church stands, and the area in front, were generously given by the late John Francis Earl of Mar, with an express provision that it should never be made a burying-ground. The steeple of the old church has been allowed to remain ; and near it, is the cemetery of the family of Mar, which is a handsome Gothic building, erected in the year 1819, on the site of the old church aisle, by the same nobleman, to whose generosity and spirited exertions Alloa is chiefly indebted for the ornament of its elegant new church.
The Independent chapel, lately erected in Castle Street, is a neat building, and was opened in 1839.
The Episcopal Chapel is a Gothic building, very judiciously planned by Mr Angus, and erected in 1839-40.
The Academy is a handsome though small building, in the Grecian style.
Alloa Park Mansion, - the seat of the Earl of Mar and Kellie, which has just been finished, is an elegant structure in the Grecian style, delightfully situated on a gently rising ground fronting the south, about a furlong eastward of the ancient tower. The front of the house with the wings is 120 feet, the depth extending backwards 185 feet, the whole forming an oblong square of beautiful polished ashler building, having a large court-yard in the interior. The external elevation, as well as the interior arrangements, reflect great credit upon the taste of his Lordship. The beautiful white freestone of which the house is built was procured from a quarry in Alloa Park. Four porters'-lodges have been lately erected. Garden walls with hot-houses, of which there are plans, are also intended to be added.
Tullibody House, - a seat of Lord Abercromby, and the birth-place of the gallant Sir Ralph Abercromby and others of that noble family, is pleasantly situated near the banks of the Forth, amidst fine old trees and surrounded by verdant parks. The house itself is ancient, and has no pretensions to architectural beauty.
Shaw Park House, - formerly the property of the Cathcart family, now a seat of the Earl of Mansfield, stands on elevated ground about two miles north of the Forth. It is a fine building, and the view from it is very extensive, comprising the windings of the river, the castle of Stirling, Ben Lomond, and even Tinto in Clydesdale.
There are in the parish two distilleries, eight breweries, five woollen manufactories, two corn and flour mills, glass-works, foundery, brick and tile-works, a pottery, and a tan-work.
III. — Population.
In 1755, the population, according to to Dr Webster, was:
| Town | Villages | Colliery | Country | Total | ||
| 1755 | 5816 | |||||
| 1784 | By last Statistical Account | 3842 | 468 | 539 | 536 | 5025 |
| 1788 | By last Statistical Account | 3522 | 509 | 577 | 558 | 5166 |
| 1791 | By last Statistical Account | 3132 | 458 | 652 | 560 | 4802 |
| 1801 | By the census | 5214 | ||||
| 1811 | By the census | 5096 | ||||
| 1821 | By the census | 5577 | ||||
| 1831 | By the census | 6377 | ||||
| 1836 | taken for the Church Commission | 6867 | ||||
| In town of Alloa | 4820 |
In 1831, the population was as follows : -
Number of males 8062
of females 3315
Total, 6877
Population residing in the town, 4417
Tullibody village, 520
Cambus village 225
The colliery, 819
The country, 396
Number of families, 1598
Inhabited houses, 976
Houses uninhabited and building, 55
Population as ascertained in June 1841 : -
| Houses Inhabited | Houses Uninhabited | Houses Building | |
| Town Of Alloa | 839 | 14 | 2 |
| Village of Tullibody | 137 | 0 | 0 |
| Village of Cambus | 54 | 1 | 0 |
| Holton Square (Colliery) | 58 | 0 | 0 |
| Coalyland (Colliery) | 53 | 1 | 0 |
| All the rest of the parish | 194 | 5 | 1 |
| Total in town and parish, quoad civilia | 1335 | 21 | 3 |
|
East parish of Alloa, quoad sacra, (included in the above) |
448 | 4 | 2 |
| Families | Male | Female | Total | |
| Town of Alloa | 1290 | 2646 | 2797 | 5443 |
| Village of Tullibody | 150 | 278 | 322 | 600 |
| Village of Cambus | 70 | 138 | 149 | 287 |
| Holton Square (Colliery) | 63 | 151 | 144 | 295 |
| Coalyland (Colliery) | 60 | 110 | 124 | 234 |
| All the rest of the parish | 238 | 528 | 543 | 1071 |
| Total in town and parish, quoad civilia | 1871 | 3851 | 4079 | 7930 |
| Computed number of seamen abroad | 200 | |||
| East parish of Alloa, quoad sacra, (included in the above) | 632 | 1227 | 1239 | 2466 |
There is only one noble family residing in the parish.
The habits of the working classes have certainly improved, during the last forty years ; although, in many instances, the abuse of spirituous liquors has had an opposite tendency.
Poaching has prevailed of late years, so far as nearly to exterminate certain kinds of game; such as hares and pheasants. Pawnbroking in one establishment has been carried on, to a greater or less extent, for several years.
The number of illegitimate births in the whole parish, during the last few years, cannot be ascertained ; but the illicit intercourse of the sexes, has of late become lamentably frequent.
IV. - Industry.
Agriculture, - *
* Kindly furnished by David Boosie and Thomas Ritchie, Esqrs.
The number of imperial acres under cultivation, 4375
Of which about 1250 acres are carse soil, the remainder what is termed dryfield.
The number not cultivated, but which might he embanked from the river Forth, and profitably added to the cultivated land, 12
The number under wood, 514
The young plantations consist mostly of oak and other hard wood, mixed with fir, the latter being periodically thinned out. The thinning, pruning, etc. appear to be under judicious management At present, the average rent of land is about L.2, l0s. per acre. The average grazing of a cow or ox, weight about 35 stones imperial, costs about L.3, 5s. ; and a sheep 10s.
Wages. - Ploughmen's wages rate at 9s. 6d. per week, winter and summer; labourers, 10s. to l1s.; women's, 8d. to 9d. a day. A variation of wages takes place during harvest, when women get 2d. an hour, and men 2s. per day without victuals. Smith-work is sometimes performed by estimate at about L.3, 3s. for each pair of horses kept on the farm, which includes all kinds of smith work required on it. This is about the average expense of farm smith work ; and the wright work upon the same principle, at the rate of L.2, 10s. Saddler work, per pair of horses, is upheld at L.1, 15s. a-year.
Only a few of various kinds of sheep are grazed for the butcher. The breed of cattle, in general, does not belong to any particular class. The Ayrshire seems to be the stock aimed at. The short-horned breed was introduced by the late John Moubray Esq. of Cambus, from the best stocks in the south, and was followed up by Thomas Ritchie, Esq. Bowhouse ; the crossing of which with these has tended to improve the stock, in particular, towards early maturity, - two-years-olds now being equal to what threes were formerly.
The husbandry pursued is generally more of a cropping than a breeding character. Upon carse soils a sixth rotation is generally adopted, viz. 1. fallow or green crop; 2. wheat; 3. beans; 4. barley; 5. grass; 6. oats.
Some approve of, 1. fallow or green crop ; 2. wheat ; 3. grass ; 4. oats ; 5. beans ; 6. wheat, barley or oats.
The latter rotation is supposed to produce better grass, and is more sure after wheat than after barley which succeeded beans. The dry-field is cultivated much in the same way, only a few years of pasturing is sometimes introduced; and barley is taken when the soil is not adapted for wheat, and also a mixture of pease or vetches among the beans. The principal improvements to be recommended are, more thorough draining, more j)articular attention to stock, and a more practical application of the artificial manures, which might prove very advantageous on the dryfield soils when properly drained. For the advancement of these improvements, a greater sympathy between landlord and tenant is necessary. Irrigation has not been tried, although there are situations in which it might be profitably introduced. The embankments on the river Forth, extending about six miles, are all of a substantial nature, and prevent about 300 acres from being overflowed. The banks of the Devon are also embanked to the extent of about five miles, preventing its overflow upon about 200 acres; and provided these are kept in good repair, nothing farther seems necessary, than the reclaiming of the twelve acres already referred to. The general duration of leases is nineteen or twenty-one years. The state of farm buildings is, by no means, in accordance with the improved state of husbandry. Inclosures have been made to a fair extent ; but, in some instances, they are ill attended to.
The improvements recently introduced have been in-draining, as formerly stated, whereby an additional quantity of green crop has been raised, instead of fallowing ; but, not so as to supersede the necessity of the latter. After the great depression which took place on the termination of the late war, and also from the change of the currency in 1819, agriculture received an impetus from the attention of the Highland Society being directed to Clackmannanshire by the Right Honourable Lord Abercromby. The first premium which was offered by them for the greatest extent of wedge-drained land in Scotland, was gained by one of his lordship's tenants in this parish, — the late John Moubray, Esq. of Cambus.
Produce. - The agricultural produce may average on carse soils, wheat, about 32 bushels per acre ; barley, 34 bushels ; oats, 38 bushels; beans, 23 bushels; hay, 40 cwt. On dry-field soils, wheat, 25 bushels ; barley, 29 bushels ; oats, 34 bushels ; pease and beans, 19 bushels; hay, 24 cwt.; potatoes, 4 to 8 tons, according to soil and dressing ; turnips, 1 5 to 32 tons.
Quarries. - Two quarries, one of white, and the other of a red stone, are now wrought in this parish, but neither of them to any great extent.
Fisheries. - There are two salmon fisheries in the parish, one of them to the westward of Alloa ferry, belonging to the Earl of Mar and Kellie, and let at from L.30 to L.40 per annum. The other at the village of Cambus, belonging to Lord Abercromby, is let on lease at L.20 a year. The nets now used are coble, yaire, and long nets. The salmon fisheries here have been on the decline for some years, and have afforded an insufficient return to the tacks-men. There are about forty men employed.
Clackmannanshire Union Agricultural Society, - This county and district were indebted to the venerable John Francis, late Earl of Mar,* for many and great improvements in agriculture, and rural economy. By the spirited exertions of that nobleman, this small county, at least fifty years ago, held a prominent place among the most highly cultivated, north of the Tweed ; and it is remembered by many, that a ploughman from Alloa, about that period, was sent with the necessary implements, to plough before his Majesty King George III. The first great ploughing match in Scotland was held here in 1784 ; and even then, this parish was distinguished for the breeding of stock, and other improvements.
* This nobleman, many years ago, with reluctance, turned out the tenant of the Farm now called King of Moors, whose name was Donaldson, on account of his invincible indolence, and aversion to improvement. He was the lineal descendant of the person whom King James V. designated "King of the Moors :" — some of the grand-children of this last representative of Majesty are still in Alloa, and when at school, about twenty years ago, were generally known by the name of "King."
The Highland Society, in 1827, having offered premiums for improving the breed of cattle, caused the formation in 1828 of the present Agricultural Society, who made choice of Robert Bruce, Esq. of Kennet, as their president. To this gentleman the society have all along been much indebted for the countenance given by him to agriculture in general, and for keeping alive a spirit of competition and enterprise, by his assiduous care and attention to its true interests. Mr Bruce has, for a number of years, given premiums for the best cultivated turnip-fields of various sizes, according to the extent of the farm ; which is improving the cultivation of that valuable root in this district.
Lord Abercromby has not neglected to carry forward what, he saw, would be highly beneficial to the district, by giving premiums for the best cultivated farms of two classes, - the one below, and the other above a hundred acres. His Lordship also assisted the Society in their efforts to improve the breed of horses, by contributing to a premium for the best draught stallion. Other gentlemen in the neighbourhood also give premiums for stock, etc. through the Society, and the competition thus created has caused a spirited and enterprising rivalry amongst the breeders of the various descriptions of stock, which has tended much to their improvement.
At a ploughing match in spring 1839, there were 107 ploughs, a number which, it is believed, has not been attained by any other Society whatever.
Clackmannanshire Horticultural Society, instituted in 1835, has for its object, not only to encourage the culture of useful and ornamental plants, including flowers, fruits, and vegetables, but also to disseminate botanical and horticultural knowledge. For this last purpose, there is a library consisting of books on both these subjects, and on rural economy in general.
Manufactures. - The chief of these is the woollen, which was not carried on to any great extent, until of late years, when great additions were made to some of the mills. Several new ones have lately been erected on a very large scale ; and at present, there are six extensive factories, four of which are driven by steam. The principal articles manufactured are yarns, plaiding, shawls, tartans, druggets, blankets, and cloths of various descriptions. The following statements, from information kindly furnished by some of the principal manufacturers, will give some idea of the extent of the woollen manufacture in this parish, for the year 1839;
Number of men employed, . 190
women, . 72
boys and girls, . 89
Amount of wages paid weekly, L.190.
Quantity of wool manufactured, 483,000 lb.
Value when manufactured, L.71,400.
Hard and soft soap consumed yearly, 45,230 lbs. L.740.
Alkalies, dye stuffs, and oils, L. 3,000.
Number of spindles used in spinning, 6,900.
Quantity of yarn manufactured, 141,900 spindles.
Capital invested in the trade, consisting of machinery, raw material, and manufactured goods, L. 42,800.
Connected with the large works at Keiller's Brae is a manufactory of machinery on an extensive scale.
Distilleries. - There have long been in the parish two distilleries, the one at Carsebridge, and the other at Cambus, which are both in active and constant operation. The following particulars respecting them have been communicated by the proprietors. At the Cambus distillery, there are about 400 cattle fed ; about 374 quarters of malt are consumed weekly, making 6000 gallons of spirits per week, or 300,000 gallons per annum ; there are sixty men employed at the works.
The amount of duty paid is as follows:
Distilling duty per annum, L. 50,000
Malt duty per annum L.10,000
Total L.60,000
Deduct drawback on malt, L. 9,000
Total per annum, L. 51,000
Carsebridge distillery is nearly on the same scale as the Cambus ; and the amount of duties paid by each is nearly the same, including the duty on malt and spirits.
Tannery, etc, - There is an extensive tan and currying work in Tullibody, where leather, etc. is manufactured to the value of L.20,000 per annum. The making of glue is also carried on by the same company ; and they have also commenced the grinding of bones for manure, by means of machinery driven by steam. At these works, are constantly employed from 30 to 40 men. Their employment is deemed a peculiarly healthy one ; and it has long been observed, that pulmonary complaints are unknown among them.
Glass-Works. - These works commenced at an early period, for the making of bottles, and are said to have been first worked by a Danish company. The buildings are extensive, covering a space of about six imperial acres. They are most conveniently situated for trade ; and coals, at a very easy rate, are conveyed from the pits to the furnaces, by a railway of the most approved construction. There is a pier adjoining to the works. A Joint Stock Company, in 1825, erected three additional cones, and other buildings ; when they continued the making of bottles and added that of flint glass of a quality equal to the goods of Newcastle. This Company continued their operations, till about 1832, Another Company then purchased the works ; when, in addition to the making of bottles, they commenced the manufacture of crown glass on an extensive scale ; at which time, there was none made elsewhere in Scotland. Above 200 men were then employed, - adding much to the revenue, and prosperity of the town of Alloa. Since the beginning of 1839, the making of crown glass has been discontinued, and the works, of late, have been on rather a reduced scale, but are about to be extended.
The Foundery and Steam Engine Manufactory was erected in 1832, and gives employment to about 100 men.
Brick and Tile Works. - Bricks and tiles have been articles of -manufacture at Alloa, for a long period of years ; but it was not till the year 1815, that the works were carried on to any great extent. The present proprietor enlarged the works considerably ; improving the mode of manufacture, and making fire bricks for the first time in the district, and which are reckoned not inferior to those produced at Stourbridge. It was here, we believe, that steam power was first introduced (in Scotland), in preparing the clay used in the manufacture of common bricks and tiles, as well as the London system of brick-making. Not fewer than forty hands are employed at these works, where there is a convenient wharf, from which the different articles are transported to all parts of the world.
Pottery. - In addition to the former pottery, a new one has lately been built, at which the manufacturing of white and coloured ware in all its branches is carried on.
Gas-Work. - In the year 1828, a gas- work was erected at the river side by subscription, amounting to L.3000, in shares of L.10. By this means the town is lighted. Gas-pipes are also laid to places in the neighbourhood, particularly to Cambus distillery, a distance of two miles, where there are 100 burners. The price of shares has risen to about L.14 each, so that a fair remuneration is likely to be secured to the subscribers. Gas is sold at the rate of 12s. per 1000 cubic feet, subject to a discount according to the quantity consumed. The gas made here is allowed to be of first-rate quality.
Ship-Building, - The trade of ship-building has been long and successfully prosecuted here. Vessels of from 300 to 400 tons are frequently built, and last year a fine vessel, of 450 tons burden, was launched, intended for the East India trade. There is a dry dock, at which vessels are repaired. Boats are also built. The various departments employ continually about fifty men.
Rope and Sail-Making. - This branch of trade is also of long standing, and is extensive, employing about 8 men in summer, and about 24 during the winter.
Mills. - The mills at Alloa are for grinding wheat, oats, and malt, and are capable of grinding about 250 quarters a-day. They are driven by two water wheels, and occasionally by steam when water is deficient, A thrashing-mill is driven by the same machinery. There are also mills on a less extensive scale, for the same purposes at Cambus. There are many thrashing-mills in the parish, some of which are driven by steam.
Tobacco and snuff were formerly manufactured here to a great extent, - what was called Alloa pigtail having been well known in London. The trade in these is still considerable.
Breweries. - At the eight breweries in the parish, about 22,000 quarters of malt are consumed annually, the duty on which is L.22,733, 6s. 8d. The quantity of ale made amounts to 80,000 barrels : it is exported to England, the continent. North and South America, the East and West Indies, and Australia. Alloa has long been celebrated for the superior quality of its ale, which was first brought into notice by the late Mr Robert Meiklejohn.
Customs, Shipping, and Trade.* -
* Kindly furnished by James H. Cobban, Esq. Collector of Customs.
About the year 1710, Alloa was made a port, where vessels were registered, and all other custom-house business transacted ; and it appears that, from that period to the close of the century, a very considerable trade was carried on between it and Holland, the Baltic, and Portugal ; but in consequence of the bonding system having been introduced with the sanction of Parliament, at the larger ports, Alloa as well as all smaller ports fell off in their importations from foreign parts. The direct importations have, however, of late years increased ; the bonding of timber and all other goods being now allowed at this port, we may confidently look forward to a great increase in trade from the Baltic, Holland, etc. The locality is peculiarly favourable for carrying on an extensive traffic, being in the immediate vicinity of large public works ; and Stirling (a branch of the port of Alloa), being in itself populous and wealthy, as well as being the entrance to the West Highlands, affords advantages to spirited and enterprising merchants, for carrying on a profitable trade in Baltic and Dutch produce, etc.
Alloa has commodious quays at which vessels of a large size can lie with safety, the depth of water being at stream-tides 22, and at neap-tides 14 or 15 feet. The dead water at low ebb in spring- tides at Alloa ferry, is about 10 feet in the middle of the river.
The amount of registered tonnage at Alloa (including ships belonging to Kincardine and Stirling), is upwards of 19,000 tons, which is larger than at any port in the Firth, except Leith, and even that port does not much exceed in this respect. The registered tonnage strictly belonging to Alloa is 9662 tons, and the ships are of a very superior class, being employed in trading to every quarter of the globe. It may be remarked that the first importation of tea to any port on the east of Scotland, after the China trade was thrown open, was by the ship "Isabella" of Alloa, of 423 tons. The cargo was landed at Leith.
There is a very considerable coasting-trade carried on here, both inwards and outwards. The number of vessels entered inwards during the year 1838, was 600, and the number cleared outwards 1250. The importations coastwise, consist chiefly of corn for the use of the numerous distilleries and breweries ; wool, and fuller's-earth for the woollen manufactures in the neighbourhood, and also groceries, wines, teas, etc. from London, Leith, and Glasgow. The exports consist of coals (of which about 80,000 tons were shipped during the year 1838, coastwise and to foreign ports), pig-iron, woollen manufactures, glass, ale, whisky, leather, fire-bricks, roofing-tiles, drain-tiics, and common bricks. The importations from foreign ports consist of timber, battens, deals, hemp, oak-bark, bones for agricultural purposes, etc. Altogether, we would say, that Alloa, as to its shipping and trade, is in a very prosperous condition, with every prospect of its further increase.
V. - Parochial Economy.
Town, Markets, etc. - The town of Alloa was noted so early as the time of King Robert Bruce. It is under the jurisdiction of a baron bailie, appointed by the Earl of Mar and Kellie. Being virtually the county town, the Sheriff and Justice of Peace Courts are held here ; and it is the polling place for the county of Clackmannan, in the election of a Member of Parliament. The principal business of the surrounding district is carried on here. There are markets on Wednesday and Saturday, the latter of which only is well attended. The plan of the town is irregular ; but in the principal streets, most of the old houses have been replaced by handsome buildings, and many of the shops are of peculiar elegance. John Street, planned by John Earl of Mar, in the beginning of the last century, is about 80 feet broad. It leads to the harbour, terminating in a beautiful gravel walk, with a row of lime trees on each side. The streets are well paved and regularly cleaned, with the exception of the old town, part of which is in a ruinous state. The town is extending rapidly toward the west, where several elegant villas have been erected.
Means of Communication. - Besides the post-office twice every day, there is a daily communication with Edinburgh, Stirling, and all the towns on the Firth, by steam-packets. A coach runs daily between Alloa and Glasgow, by way of Falkirk ; and another runs by way of Stirling, for the Glasgow canal boats. There is one weekly carrier for Edinburgh, and two for Glasgow, who generally go twice a week. There are, besides, carriers from Alloa to all the principal towns in the neighbourhood. There are about twelve miles of turnpike-road in the parish. All the bridges are in good order, and the fences generally well kept.
The revenue of the Post-Office, on an average of three years, preceding the commencement of the penny postage, may be stated at L.1.500. Since the alteration in the rates of postage, the number of letters has increased threefold, and averages at least 2000 weekly.
Banks. - There are in the town branches of the Commercial Bank, the Western Bank, and the Glasgow Union Bank; for the last of which, an elegant and substantial building has lately been erected.
Stamp-Office. - The amount of the sale of stamps in the Stamp-Office at Alloa, for five years ending 21st March 1840, was L.8852, 18s., being an average of about L.1770 per annum.
Mechanical Ingenuity. - Michael Stirling, who resided at Cambus, in this parish, was the first in Scotland that thought of thrashing by machinery. He invented what is called a "scutch mill," a rude machine, long ago disused.
The first effective thrashing-machine in Scotland was constructed, in 1787, by Mr George Meikle, the son of its celebrated inventor; both of whom resided here. The last thrashing-machine at which old Meikle himself worked was lately in complete repair, upon the estate of Mar. Mr Meikle, Junior, made a decided improvement upon what has been called the Persian wheel; and Mr Whitworth, the celebrated engineer, adopted, without hesitation, the improvement suggested by Mr Meikle, in preference to his own, in the construction of a wheel for carrying off the moss at Blair Drummond.
Mr James Brownhill, miller at Alloa, first applied the stones of the Abbey Craig, near Stirling, to the purpose of grinding wheat into flour. The Clackmannanshire millstones are a useful substitute for the French bur-stones, which could not be obtained in Britain during the late war ; and they are now considered superior in some respects to the French ones. Many hundreds of them are now used in different parts of England and Scotland. They are sold at from L. 16, 1 6s. to L.21 a pair, whereas bur-stones cost about L.63. The ingenious individual here mentioned was rewarded for his discovery by the Society for the Encouragement of the Arts, who presented him with L.105.*
The Village of Tullibody, ** - This village is situated about two miles to the west of Alloa, and claims a comparatively high antiquity. It is said to be coeval with the accession of Kenneth King of the Scots, about the year of our Lord 834. On succeeding to the throne, this monarch, as may well be conceived, felt highly exasperated at the conduct of the Picts towards his father, whom they put to death, and whose head they affixed to the gate of their capital. Determined on revenge, and supported by the nobles, he proceeded forthwith against the enemy. Druskein, the Pictish monarch, aware of the gathering storm, took every precautionary step to avert its effects. He summoned to his standard every Pict capable of bearing arms, and provided a large body of English auxiliaries. Assembling at Maiden Castle, a fortified place in Lothian, and at that time in his possession, he marched in a westerly direction, and, ordering supplies at Camelon, proceeded to Stirling, where he crossed the Forth, intending to encamp on its northern bank. In the meantime, Kenneth had approached to the distance of about five miles from Stirling ; and, receiving intelligence of the position and strength of the enemy, he assembled his nobles and troops on the rising crofts on the east of the river Devon. Here, with the greatest solemnity, he and they took an oath, that they would not lay down their arms until either they or their adversaries fell. Here also they encamped for the night.
* Mr Henry Hutchison, Manager of the Alloa Rope-works, invented a very ingenious machine, by which can be solved many of the astronomical problems usually solved by the terrestrial and celestial globes.
** In this part of the article, the writer has been much indebted to the assistance of the Rev. George Hislop.
Next morning at day. break, Kenneth, with all his forces, proceeded westward, and, coming up with the enemy, attacked them with such skill and impetuosity, that in a few hours they were totally routed, with immense slaughter. In the evening, he returned with his elated troops to the fields which they had occupied in the morning; and as a mark of gratitude for this signal victory over his hereditary foe, and at the same time, as a memorial of the distinguished bravery and loyalty of the people, he caused a stone to be erected, where the royal standard then stood, observing the ceremonial of anointing the pillar and making a vow. The stone was removed some years ago. But the spot is well known to the neighbourhood, and still receives the name of "the stan'in stane." A little to the east of the field where the main body of his army was encamped, he also founded a village, which he called "Tirly-bothy," (since varied into Tullibodie and Tullibody,) a name originally signifying "the oath of the croft." Such was the origin of this village. For upwards of three centuries subsequent to the period mentioned, little of the history is known.
Tullibody Church. - This small but venerable edifice, stands a little to the north of the village. It was built by David I. King of Scotland, in the year 1 149. By charter, bearing the same date, he granted as a provision for its priest, certain lands in the neighbourhood and Inches (islands) in the Firth of Forth ; and the pious monarch ordained that it should be subordinate to the rich and splendid abbey of Cambuskenneth, which, two years before, he had built on the very spot where his royal ancestor, Kenneth, gave the fatal blow to the Pictish dominion.*
* Cambuskenneth signifies the creek or haven of Kenneth ; the word "Cambus" being from the ancient British Camus, a bay, creek, or haven ; unless, as some suppose, it be derived from the Latin word campus, a plain or field. The churches, with their tithes and pertinents belonging to this abbey, were those of Clackmannan with its chapels, Tillicoultry, Kincardine, St Ninians with its chapels, Alva, Tullibody, with its chapels at Alloa, etc. The first abbot was called Alfredius.
For upwards of 400 years the rites of the Roman Catholic faith were celebrated in this church ; and, as a necessary consequence, its deep shades of ignorance and superstition overspread the adjacent plains. It is recorded that: the church was unroofed by the French in 1559. These, under Monsieur D'Oysel, were stationed on the coast of Fife ; and hearing of the arrival of the English fleet, they were thrown into such alarm that they thought of nothing but immediate retreat. They proceeded accordingly towards Stirling, intending there to cross the Forth. Kirkcaldy of Grange determined to arrest or at least retard their progress, broke down the bridge of Tullibody over the Devon, about a mile to the west of the village. Finding it impassable, they unroofed the church, employing the materials to cover the breach which Kirkcaldy had made. It seems probable from this circumstance, that, for some time before, the church had ceased to be in communion with the church of Rome ; otherwise her adherents would not have committed upon it this act of desecration and impiety.
The truth is, that in this neighbourhood, as throughout the country at large, the Roman Catholic faith had by this time fallen into very general contempt. That this must have been tbe case is proved by the following tradition connected with the "Maiden Stone," - a ponderous stone coffin still existing here.
About the year 1449, Miss Martha Wishart, only daughter of the laird of Mireton, a lady of great beauty and accomplishments, fell deeply in love with Mr Peter Beaton, at that tine priest of Tullibody. The passion was reciprocated by him. But his intentions were not honourable ; and when this was discovered, the circumstance affected her sensibilities so much that her health gave way. She died, leaving express injunctions that her remains should be deposited in a stone coffin, to be placed at the door of the church, in order that the perfidious priest should behold this memorial of his wickedness every time he passed to discharge the duties of his office. It is not difficult to conceive the sensation which, even in that age, such conduct, on the part of the priest, would produce in alienating the minds of the people from the Romish Church. The depravity of that church had in truth become so great as to revolt even some of her own functionaries.
Thus, we are informed that, in the year 1588, Thomas Forrest, vicar of Dollar, a man of great learning and piety, espoused the principles of the Reformation, and publicly exposed the errors and corruptions of Popery. He was apprehended, and suffered martyrdom for the truth. But the blood of martyrs is the seed of the church.
This transaction roused the indignation of Thomas Locklaw, at that time priest of Tullibody ; and led him to inquire into the principles espoused by his late brother in the faith, in common with reformers in general. The consequence was, that he adopted the same principles, and became one of the bitterest enemies of the Romish Church. Among other things, he inquired into the subject of marriage ; and finding it warranted, not only by the express declarations of Scripture, but by reason, he gave practical expression to his belief, by actually entering into the marriage relation.
We are informed that the superior clergy were, in consequence, so much exasperated, that, at their instance, three or four men were publicly put to death at Stirling, for the simple offence of attending that marriage and eating flesh in Lent. Locklaw himself, along with Robert Logrie, canon regular of Cambuskenneth, who also had renounced the Romish religion, retired into England, and, in common with the persecuted of the time, sought an asylum under the protecting auspices of the mild and pious Edward VI. This was the last priest who officiated in the church of Tullibody.
In the dismantled condition in which it was left by the French, the church of Tullibody remained till about the middle of last century, when it was roofed in, and in other respects improved by George Abercromby, Esq. of Tullibody. It has since been employed as a cemetery to the family. About six years ago, it was fitted up by subscription as a preaching-station for the benefit of the village and neighbourhood, and especially of those who, from age and other causes, are prevented from attending their places of worship in Alloa.
Ecclesiastical State, - Alloa was formerly a chapel dependent on the parish church of Tullibody ; but afterwards became a separate parish ; and, says Bishop Keith, "swallowed up the mother church."
The Act of Assembly uniting Tullibody with Alloa is to be found in the Book of the Universal Kirk, Assembly 1600. From that Act, it appears that Alloa was a chapel, and Tullibody a kirk, - that the people of Tullibody had, by order of the Presbytery of Stirling, rebuilt the kirk, and chosen a minister, who, for want of adequate support, was forced to leave them ; that Tullibody was a distinct parish, containing 400 or 500 communicants ; that the Abbot of Cambuskenneth drew all the teinds of Tullibody ; and that the Earl of Mar furnished a sufficient stipend to the minister officiating at Alloa.
The church of Alloa being at the west end of the town is conveniently placed for the great bulk of the population. The old church, which, for more than seventy years past, had been accounted much too small for the congregation, in August 1815, was declared ruinous, and the new one was thereafter built.
Benefactions. - In the Advocates' Library, there is a MS. volume containing a list of all the pious donations and mortifications of Scotland from the reign of James I., a.d. 1424, to 1702; in which is to be found a charter of confirmation of a mortification made by Alexander Lord Erskine to a chaplain at St Mungo's altar in the kirk of Alloway, of a number of small rents out of the town of Alloway, (particularly mentioned therein, amounting togther to L.8 13s 4d. Dated 3d October 1497.)
In the year 1739, Mr Robert Johnston,* Merchant in Alloa, left some houses in the town, the rent of which, with the interest of L.600 then in the hands of a company of merchants in Glasgow, was to be applied for the maintenance of an assistant Minister. The L.600 was unfortunately lost in the hands of one of the partners, and nothing left for the assistant minister but the rent of the houses, now somewhat under L.25 a-year. This loss was compensated by the late worthy Lady Charlotte Erskine. Her Ladyship, by a deed executed in 1787, bequeathed L.1200 for making an addition to the church of Alloa, to afford accommodation to the poor inhabitants who are unable to pay for it ; and the remaining seats to be let at a moderate rent yearly; the sum to be applied first in keeping the said addition to the church in repair, and the surplus to be added to the stipend of the assistant minister. Her ladyship, also, bequeathed the sum of L.800 for a stipend to an assistant minister in the parish, "the right of nominating and presenting the said assistant minister being in the gift of the proprietor of the estate of Mar."
* Of the four silver communion cups, two were a donation, each with this inscription : "This cup was dedicated to the church of Alloa by Helen Hamilton, relict of Mr. Robert Johnston, Merchant there, 1741." A large and massy silver communion plate is thus inscribed, "This dedicat to the Kirk of Aloway, by Lady Marie Areskine, daugher to the Earl of Mar ; and payed be monies mortified be her for that end, before her death ; and made anno 1691."
The Church is seated for 1561 persons. There are free sittings for paupers which accommodate about 60 persons. There are also 246 sittings let for behoof of an assistant minister, under the late Lady Charlotte Erskine's settlements.
The manse was built prior to 1700, and has been several times repaired.
The glebe consists of 12 acres, worth L.6 per acre. The stipend is 19 chalders, half meal and half barley, payable by the fiars of the county ; with an allowance of L.10 for communion elements. The last augmentation was granted in 1831. There is but a small amount of unexhausted teinds, viz. L.101 9s 7d. The parish minister is allowed free coal, i.e. On paying the expense of working and driving.
The causes of the separation between the Original Burgher Associate Synod and the Establishment having been removed, the Rev. John Wright, minister of the former denomination here, has been recently received as a member of the Presbytery of Stirling ; and that body has allotted him a parochial district under the name of the East Parish of Alloa. Mr Wright's stipend is paid by the seat-rents and collections. By the Constitution of the Church, the minimum stipend was L.100, which the managers were bound to pay ; but Mr Wright always receives a considerable sum additional.
The Dissenting places of worship in the parish are as follows : Two churches belonging to the United Associate Synod; one Scottish Episcopal chapel ; one in connection with the Congregational Union ; one belonging to the Methodists ; one belonging to the New Jerusalem Church. The stipends of the Dissenting ministers are paid from the proceeds of the seat-rents and collections made at the church doors. The amount of stipend of the minister of the first Secession Congregation is L.142, with an additional gratuity for several years back, of L.20 a year, besides house and garden, and an allowance for sacramental expenses; that of the minister of the second, L.125 a-year, with a house and garden, besides payment of taxes, an annual rate to a widows' fund, and an allowance for sacramental purposes.
| Different Denominations in the Parish | No. of Families | No. of persons of all ages professing to belong to each denomination | No. of sittings | No. of sittings let | No of commun. |
| Parish Church | 766 | 2968 | 1561 | 246 | 1210 |
| Tullibody Church | 117 | 580 | 230 | seats free | 130 |
| East Parish Church | 190 | 750 | 603 | 243 | 333 |
| 1st United Secession | 300 | 1350 | 722 | 660 | 650 |
| 2nd United Secession | 200 | 850 | 640 | 400 | 450 |
| Episcopalians | 79 | . . . | 350 | 220 | 68 |
| Independents | 80 | 300 | 428 | seats free | 90 |
| Methodists | 12 | 50 | 300 | 40 | 25 |
| New Jerusalem Church | 6* | 26 | 100 | . . . | 16 |
Prior to 1838, there were 62 Roman Catholic families, consisting of 112 individuals, residing in the parish. Since that time there are not more than 20 individuals of that denomination remaining in the parish.
* There have existed in Alloa a few readers of the writings of the New Jerusalem church for about forty years. About the year 1798, Messrs Wright and Hands, members of it from London, settled at Airthrey, near Stirling, for the purpose of working a mine of copper ore, for the reducing of which to a metallic state they had an establishment in Alloa. After two or three years trial, owing to the mines not yielding a sufficient quantity of pure metal to cover the expense of working it, Messrs Wright and Hands gave up the undertaking. On leaving Alloa, they presented the readers with a few New Church works, which formed the commencement of their present library.
Divine service is well attended both in the Established churches and in the Dissenting chapels.
There is a Bible Society in the parish, supported by churchmen and Dissenters, -the yearly income of which is about L.40. There is also a Religious Tract Society, supported by all persuasions, the average annual contributions to which may amount to L.20. Besides these Societies, the congregations in connection with the Establishment collected last year for religious and charitable purposes, the sum of L.220 ;* the first congrregation in connection with the United Associate synod, L.281 ; and the second, L.94, 10s.
* Exclusive of the collections for the poor.
The following is a list of the clergymen of the parish of Alloa from the commencement of the present existing records :- Episcopalian, Mr James Duncanson, from 1609 to 1620; Mr John Craigingelt, 1621 to 166- ; Mr James Wright, admitted on 2ad November 1664. - Presbyterian, Mr George Turnbull, admitted on 26th September 1690 ; Mr John Logan, admitted on 2d May 1704.
Mr Logan was translated from Kilmadock. Prior to Mr Logan's induction, the glebe was in front of the manse, where the Broad Street, or John Street, now stands, having been then feued by John Earl of Mar. Mr John Taylor was translated from Tillicoultry, and was admitted on 7th December 1725 ; and in March 1735, he was translated to the Tolbooth Church, Edinburgh. Mr James Gordon was translated from the parish of Alford, in Aberdeenshire, in 1736.
Mr James Syme was inducted in or about 1750, and was settled by military force, in consequence of the opposition of the parishioners, although afterwards they became much attached to him. Mr Syme was succeeded by Dr James Fordyce, who was translated from Brechin in October 1753, and went to London in 1760, when he was succeeded by Mr James Frame on the 25th September 1760. Mr Frame was succeeded by Mr James Maxton on the 8th September 1803; and he was succeeded by the present incumbent on the 26th November 1828.
We have no records of the Episcopal church of Alloa prior to May 1743, when, upon the death of Bishop Rattray, the clergy of Dunkeld elected Mr John Alexander, presbyter at Alloa, to succeed him in the Episcopal office. After Bishop Alexander, succeeded Mr Alexander Cruickshanks, who was about fifteen years in that charge here ; whence he was translated to Muthil, where he died, leaving an excellent character. He was succeeded by Mr Rhind, who died in 1806. The congregation, then, had the service of the Episcopal church performed for some years (having no minister) by the Rev. Dr Russell, now Bishop of Glasgow, and some others. The first minister subsequently settled amongst them was the Rev. John Hunter in 1837, who is the present incumbent.
Education. - In the town of Alloa, there are ten schools, including the parish school and the academy. The parish school-master has the maximum salary, L. 34, 4s. 4 1/2d., with an allowance of L.16 per annum in lieu of house and garden ; which sum, now that rents have risen so exorbitantly high, is insufficient to procure him such accommodation as is enjoyed by his brethren in any of the neighbouring parishes. The school fees may amount to about L.25 per annum. The branches taught are, English reading, at 3s. per quarter; with writing and English grammar, 4s. ; with arithmetic, 5s. ; any or all of these with Latin, 7s. 6d. ; with French, Greek, or Italian, 10s. 6d. ; also practical mathematics, geography, book-keeping, or navigation, 10s. 6d. per quarter; or L.1, 1s. each, per course.
At Alloa Academy, which was erected by subscription in 1824, the branches taught by the present rector, Mr Bruce, are, English reading, English grammar, writing, arithmetic, book-keeping, geography, Latin, Greek, French, Algebra ; the various departments of practical and theoretical mathematics, including the higher departments of analytical geometry, trigonometry, and theoretical mechanics. The fees vary from 5s. to l1s. 6d. per quarter ; 2s. of which, for each pupil, goes to the support of an assistant teacher. There is an annual subscription to pay the feu-duty, and defray the expense of repairs ; and for a considerable time also a small sum was paid as a Salary to the teacher ; but this is not permanent.
There are three other schools in the villages, viz. the Colliery school, one at Tullibody, and one at Cambus, connected with the colliery is an excellent school-house, built in 1819, at the sole expense of the late John Francis Earl of Mar. At last examination, it was attended by 180 scholars. The teacher has a salary of about L.21, varying with the fiars, arising from a bequest of the late lady Charlotte Erskine ; besides an allowance in money from the colliery fund ; a very good dwelling-house and garden, and free coals. He has also a piece of ground, for only a small portion of which he has to pay any rent, as upwards of an acre of it is freely appropriated to his use, through the liberality of the present coal company. He teaches a Sabbath school the scholars attending which vary from upwards of 50 to 80.
Lord Abercromby gives a school-house, dwelling-house, and garden, with an acre of land, and a salary of about L.6 per annum, to the schoolmaster of Tullibody. In the town, there are two charity schools, at which 140 children are taught English reading gratuitously, and writing on paying a penny a week. One of them is supported entirely by public subscription ; the other by the same means, and by the interest of L.300, bequeathed for that purpose, by the late Lady Charlotte Erskine. There is a boarding-school for young ladies in the town ; and three other day-schools conducted by females, where the usual branches are taught, besides plain and ornamental needle-work. The number of pupils attending all the day-schools in the parish in March last was 1004; at evening schools 120 ; and at ten Sabbath schools, the number now attending is 766. An Infant School on a large scale is about to be erected in the town, the greater part of the money necessary for the purpose being already subscribed.
The number of the young between six and fifteen years of age who cannot read or write, it is impossible to ascertain ; but it is not supposed, that there are any persons natives of this parish upwards of fifteen years of age, who cannot read, and probably not a great number, except old people, who cannot also write. The people, in general, appear alive to the benefits of education ; and it is believed that they are improving in morals and religion.
Literature. - The Clackmannanshire Library was founded at Alloa in the year 1797, and now contains upwards of 1500 volumes, which have been judiciously selected. Its only source of increase is an annual subscription of 10s. from each subscriber.
There are two libraries in connection with the United Secession Congregations, and one in connection with the Established Church, lately founded by the Countess of Mar and Kellie, one in connection with the East Church parish, founded by Mr Wright some years ago ; the books in all of which are chiefly of a religious nature.* A library of suitable books was established several years ago, and is supported solely by the present teacher of the parish school, without any contribution even from his scholars.
* There is a library in connection with the New Jerusalem Church Society, containing all the theological works of Emanuel Swedenborg, and several other books explaining and recommending the doctrines held by that body of Christiana.
There are two public reading rooms in the town, both frequented by the higher classes. There are four booksellers' and stationers' shops in the town, and three printing-presses. No newspaper or other periodical has yet been published here.
Mechanics' Institution. - An institution of this kind was formed in 1826, when it commenced with a course of lectures by the late Mr John Steel ; since which time different courses of lectures have been given by Messrs Wylie, and Gray, Dr John Murray, and other eminent persons, some of whom gave gratuitous lectures in different seasons. It was carried on with considerable spirit for many years, but does not now receive that support from the superior classes, which is necessary to insure its success. The library connected with it consists of 470 volumes of valuable books chiefly of a scientific nature.
Shakspeare Club. - This far-famed literary Club was formed by a native of this parish, who is distinguished for literary taste, in the year 1804, and prior to that even in the poet's birth-place ; and at the different anniversaries, it has occasionally been visited by several distinguished poets, and other literary characters, honorary members of the club. The late Mr Hogg's beautiful Ode to the Genius of Shakspeare was written for the anniversary of 1815.
Friendly Societies. - The Alloa Friendly Society, instituted in 1823, has for its object the supporting of its members, when they are unable to work, either from disease or accident. The number of members at present is 112. The yearly expenditure averages L.30, which is raised by a small weekly contribution from the members. A similar Society exists among the ship-carpenters.
The Alloa Friendly Society for funerals was instituted in 1814, and gives an allowance to members and their relations, at the death of a member, or any of his family, in the name of funeral money. The expenditure for twenty years preceding July 1834 was L.1377, 10s. The funds are raised by each member paying 1s. when a death occurs in the Society. These Societies have obviously been of advantage to the members, by supporting many who might otherwise have fallen into abject poverty. Some other similar Societies formerly existed, but are now extinct.
There is now no savings' bank in the parish, although one seems to be very much wanted.
Poor and Parochial Funds. - During the last fifty years, the number of paupers on the poor's roll has considerably increased. The number taken on an average of fifteen years preceding 1790, was 111 on the regular roll, and 86 on the temporary list. The average annual allowance to each individual on the regular roll for the same period, was L.1, 14s. 6 3/4d. In the year 1839, there were 235 on the regular roll, receiving an allowance of L.1 10s 0 1/3d. each, and 99 temporary. The causes of this great increase are various, but we presume the chief of them are, - the increase of the population since the former period, the great increase of manufactures in the parish, and the increasing improvidence of the working-classes, arising in a great measure from their intemperate habits. The amount of contributions for the relief of the poor in 1839 is as follows :-
Voluntary Contributions by the heritors L.140 6 4
By Inhabitants of the parish L.196 0 9
Total L.336 7 1
Collections at church-doors, L.174 9 2 1/2
Bell-money, mortcloth, etc. L.45 10 11
Donations from Dissenting Congregations L. 29 0 0
Total L. 585 7 2 1/2
Besides what is stated in the preceding account, the heritors pay for the maintenance of several pauper lunatics in the Glasgow Asylum, the expense of which, during 1838, was L.130 15s 4d.; in 1839, L.91, 8s. 3d.
A committee of the inhabitants, ever since 1770, have acted in concert with the heritors and session ; the ministers of the other congregations, who contribute to the finds, being members ex officio. This plan has been found of much benefit, both to the funds and to the paupers maintained by them. In 1839, the committee was enlarged, and their mode of operation much improved. By their united exertions, the poor have hitherto been supported without having recourse to a compulsory assessment ; how long that may continue, cannot be predicted. One principal object of the committee is to induce the inhabitants to be more liberal in their voluntary contributions, that all may contribute according to their means and substance, so 1ong as they have it within their power, and thereby prevent a legal assessment ; another, is to limit public begging as much as possible, and to make some addition to the allowance of the most necessitous and sober of the poor ; for it is notorious that a few of them do pass the bounds of sobriety, whenever they have it in their power.
The committee of management are materially aided by the praiseworthy exertions of the "Alloa Female Society for the benefit of Old and Indigent Women," the ladies composing which generally distribute above L.70 annually. In 1839, they gave to deserving objects, L.78; and they also distribute comfortable clothing to the amount of from L.12 to L.15 per annum.
In the year 1829, a friend to this institution sent, anonymously, L.250, as a donation in aid of the funds of this excellent charity, the interest of which is intended to be always at the disposal of the Society.
There are now few persons who reckon it any degradation to receive parochial aid ; and some able-bodied young men, who are apparently in circumstances to enable them to assist their aged parents, allow them, without scruple, to be supported from the parish funds.
Prisons. - The only place of confinement for prisoners in the parish, is the old jail of Alloa, in a room of which the Sheriff-courts were formerly held ; it is now termed the lock-up-house, - the jail of Stirling being at present that of Clackmannanshire.
Fairs, - Four fairs are held on the second Wednesdays of February, May, August, and November. At three of these cattle are sold ; but the fairs are little more than nominal. That held in August is the great fair, where servants are hired, and reapers for the harvest : it is attended by immense multitudes of people from all the surrounding district.
Inns, etc. - In the town of Alloa are five hotels and inns, at four of which chaises and other carriages are let out for hire ; 27 taverns, and 30 grocers' shops, where spirituous liquors are sold. There are also 11 taverns or public-houses in the villages ; making a total number of no less than 72, which are more than the necessities of the people require.
Fuel - Coal, the only fuel made use of in the parish is obtained in the immediate neighbourhood ; and a constant supply for the town is kept at the coal-fold, for household purposes, so low at present as 4s. 6d. per ton, owing to the generally depressed state of the coal trade along the river Forth.
Drawn up December 1840.
Revised September 1841.