The veins of ore in these mines have been worked to a depth of from 70 to 140 fathoms. In 1861, there were 538 lead-miners in Scotland; and in 1871, there were 600 employed, and of this number six were females. In 1891 the number had fallen to 432.

Traces of copper ore have been found in many places in Scotland, and from early times attempts have been made to work the veins, but only in a very few cases with success. In 1861, there were forty-one copper miners in Scotland; in 1871, there were thirty-six, one of whom was a female. In 1891, there were only thirteen. In 1871, the number of persons employed in connection with mining for minerals and metals-as mineral borers, sinkers, and mine service, was 4000.

SECTION II.

Iron Works and Iron Manufactures.

IRON is one of the staple manufactures of Scotland, and the development which it has attained since the middle of the last century is surprising and wonderful. The Scottish ores are known by the names of the clayband ironstone and the blackband ironstone; the former only was known and used in the eighteenth century, the latter was not even discovered till about the beginning of the present century. But for many years the Scotch ironmasters have imported considerable quantities of hæmatite iron ores from England, ochrey iron ores from Spain, magnetic iron ores, and spathic ores, from various countries, which were used in the Scotch blast furnaces. Thus the quality of Scottish iron has not been dependant on the native ores. From an early period small quantities of iron were smelted by a rude process. A furnace was built at Goatfield in Argyleshire, about 1750; and about the same time another was erected at Bonawe, also in Argyleshire, for making charcoal iron from hæmatite ores. The Bonawe furnace continued and was subsequently known as the Lorne furnace, and carried on by Messrs. Harrison, Ainslie and Co. The hænatite ore used in this furnace was taken from Cumberland, and the charcoal was produced at the works in the woods in the neighbourhood. In 1788, the produce of these two furnaces was 1400 tons of iron per annum. The Bonawe furnace, in 1875, was only producing 800 tons a year, which is accounted for from its being so far removed from the centre of iron ore and coal.

In 1760, the Carron Ironworks were erected by a company, consisting of Dr. John Roebuck, a native of Sheffield, William Cadell of Cockenzie, Samuel Garbet of Prestonpans, and others. They were assisted in some important contrivances connected with the work by Smeaton, the eminent engineer. The first furnace was blown on the 1st of January, and from that memorable day onward the works have had a remarkably successful career.

These works in a few years became amongst the most famous in Europe; and the products of the firm long held a high reputation in the leading markets of the world. Sir John Sinclair in his Statistical Account of Scotland, published in 1792, describes the Carron Works thus:

"There are five blast furnaces, sixteen air-furnaces, a clay mill for grinding clay and making fire-bricks for the use of the said furnaces, an engine that raises four tons and a half of water at one stroke, and on an average draws seven strokes per minute. This engine goes in time of drought, and consumes sixteen tons of coal in twenty-four hours. Besides the coals consumed by the engine, there are a hundred and twenty tons burned every day in the works and by the inhabitants belonging to them. Besides the air-furnaces there are three cupola furnaces that go by virtue of the blast-furnaces, by pipes conveyed from the machinery of the blasts; their business is much the same with the air-furnaces. There are also four boringmills for boring guns, pipes, cylinders, etc. One of the boring-mills is adapted for turning the guns on the outside. They have likewise Smith's forges for making the largest anchors and anvils, as well as small work of various kinds, besides a forge for making malleable iron, and a plating forge; also a forge for stamping iron, the hammer of which, with the helve, are both of cast metal, and weigh a ton and a half."

Thus it appears that, though Carron obtained its reputation chiefly for its pig-iron manufacture and castings, it was also the first place in Scotland where malleable iron was made. There are about two thousand men and boys employed at the works. A farm of four hundred acres is attached to the works, and there are five villages in the neighbourhood, dependencies of the company, in which many of the houses have been built by them.7

7 Notices of some of the Principal Manufactures of the West of Scotland, pp. 31-32, 1876. From Burns to the present day there is a concurrence of testimony to the effect that it was next to impossible for any stranger to get a look

From the establishment of these works till 1788, the quantity of iron produced in Scotland was about 1500 tons per annum, but before the end of the century a number of other iron works were erected. Shortly after 1770, the Cramond Works were started with. two furnaces, which were each 40 feet high and 14 in diameter. Between 1779 and 1796 there were furnaces erected at Glenbuck, Muirkirk, Wilsontown, Calder, Clyde, and Omoa, in Lanarkshire. The Clyde Works were begun in 1786; there were two furnaces in blast in 1792, and in 1799 there were three. At that time nearly the whole produce of the works was cast into cannon and artillery equipments. In 1796 there were seventeen blast-furnaces in Scotland, and the quantity of pig-iron produced in that year was 18,640

tons.

The first of the important group of blast-furnaces in the neighbourhood of Coatbridge and Airdrie was commenced in 1800. Shortly after, David Mushet discovered the blackband ironstone in this locality. While he was crossing the river Calder, at a spot a little above Cairnhill Old Mill, he first observed the blackband in an outcrop. When he ascertained that it belonged to the upper coal measures he continued his investigation, and soon found other beds of the blackband ironstone in the lands of Clifton Hill, Airdrie, Burnfoot, Kipsbyre, Rochsoles, Woodhall, and Lauchope. Since his discovery, this iron ore has been found in other parts of the carboniferous system, and its existence has contributed greatly to the progress of the Scotch iron trade.

"18

"The blackband ironstone contains from 50 to 70 per cent. of iron in combination with sufficient carbonaceous matter to calcine it when put into heaps." Good black band iron ore contains from 2 to 8 per cent. of coal; if it contains more than 20 per cent. of coal, it is of little value save when mixed with clayband, which uses up the excess of coal.

After the discovery of the blackband ore, the iron trade advanced more rapidly in Scotland. The most of this ore is embedded in Lanarkshire and Ayrshire, and they became the chief centres of

through the Carron Works. Mr. Smiles wished to see a long-disused apparatus which Smeaton, the engineer, had contrived, but in the autumn of 1858, when he called at the works for that purpose, and requested admittance, the reply of the manager was, "Na, na, it canna be allood. We canna be fashed wi' strangers here."-Lives of the Engineers, Vol. II., p. 61.

8 Notices of some of the Principal Manufactures of the West of Scotland, p. 37,

the iron manufacture. The quantity of iron produced in 1806 was 20,240 tons; in 1825 it was 24,000 tons; and in 1829 it had reached 29,000. But the introduction of railways now began to cause a greater demand for iron, and this, with the rapidly increasing consumption of iron in supplying the machinery and apparatuses of the many manufactories which were springing up throughout the country, gave an enormous stimulation to the iron trade. Accordingly new ironworks and many furnaces were erected in Scotland between the years 1825 and 1850. In 1827, J. B. Neilson, engineer of the Glasgow Gasworks, formed the idea of heating the air before injecting it into the furnace; and in 1829 his invention was tried at the Clyde Ironworks with marked success. This invention gave a great impetus to the iron trade; and the patentee and his partners were reported to have realised £300,000 from it. Powerful engines are used for generating the blast.

An idea may be formed of the activity of the iron trade and its rapid progress in Scotland from a comparison of the annual production of iron at different periods. As stated above, the production in 1829 was 29,000 tons; but for the year 1835 it had risen to 75,000; in 1840 it was 197,000 tons; in 1845 it reached to 475,000 tons; in 1850 it was 690,000 tons; in 1855 it was 820,000 tons; in 1861 it rose to 1,050,000; in 1865 it was 1,164,000 tons; the following year the production fell to 994,000; but it rose again, and in 1870 it was 1,206,000. Thus the production of iron in Scotland had increased in forty years more than a million of tons. But this rapid development of the iron trade was not peculiar to Scotland; there was also a remarkable increase in the production of iron in England and in other countries springing from similar causes.

The Gartsherrie Ironworks, in the vicinity of Coatbridge, which were started by Alexander Baird in 1830, with one blast furnace are now the largest in Scotland. These works were developed with remarkable enterprise and skill. In 1875, the works consisted of sixteen furnaces, placed in two parallel rows, one on each side of the Monkland Canal; these furnaces are all open-topped, and, having been built at different dates, they are of various patterns and sizes. The works produce 100,000 tons of pig iron per annum, and upwards of 3000 men and boys are employed in connection with the works. In the neighbourhood of the works there are some 500 houses

9 Industries of Scotland, by D. Bremmer.

belonging to the Messrs. Baird & Co., which are occupied by their workmen.

In 1875 this firm had other four ironworks in Ayrshire; in all they had forty furnaces, which produced 300,000 tons of pig-iron per annum, and gave employment to about 9000 men and boys.

The Summerlee Ironworks, which were started in 1836, are near by Gartsherrie Works. In 1875 these works had eight furnaces, from which a portion of the gas is taken off and used for generating steam for driving the blowing engines and heating the blast, and three of the furnaces had been raised to a height of 70 feet; the others varied from 42 feet upward. The annual produce of Summerlee Works when the furnaces were all in blast was from 50,000 to 70,000 tons of pig-iron. The Langloan Ironworks, belonging to Messrs. Addie & Sons, are situated in the same locality, and consist of eight furnaces, which are chiefly employed in making foundry iron. In 1875, the Calder Ironworks, which commenced in 1800, where black band ironstone was first used, consisted of eight furnaces. The Coltness Ironworks were begun in 1837, and in 1875 they consisted of twelve furnaces placed in two parallel rows. Each of these furnaces produce from 12 to 15 tons at a cast, and are tapped every twelve hours. 10

In 1867 the number of furnaces in Scotland was 164, but they were not all in blast. On an average each furnace produced about 9546 tons per annum, and each gives employment, directly and indirectly, to 200 men and boys. Thus, if the furnaces were all in blast, the annual production of iron would exceed 1,500,000 tons, and give employment to upwards of 33,000 men and boys.

During the early stages of iron manufacture in Scotland there was not much malleable iron produced. But between the years 1828 and 1836 this branch was successfully established, and it has since been carried on with surprising energy and skill. In 1875, there were upwards of 400 puddling furnaces, many scrap and heating furnaces, and 50 rolling-mills. The average annual produce of malleable iron was about 145,000 tons, representing a value of over a million sterling.

These works produce plates, bars, and all kinds of manufactured iron; and some of them are very large establishments. The Glasgow Iron Company have the largest ironworks of this class in Scotland,

10 Notices of some of the Principal Manufactures of the West of Scotland, pp.