Sayfadaki görseller
PDF
ePub

citizens. The banks contiguous to Peat Bog, were so rugged, and wasted down with springs, that they were not only offensive to the eye, but completely useless.

The Laigh Green lay so low, and was so irregular in its surface, that a slight swell in the River, or a smart shower, laid it under water, which had to be carried off to the Camlachie Burn by an open drain.

The entries to the Laigh Green by the Saltmarket-Street, Cow-Lane, and the Old Bridge, were so narrow, irregular, and dirty, from their vicinity to the Slaughter-House, that, with the exception of the first, they were chiefly used by cattle and fleshers' dogs. The Molindinar and Camlachie Burns ran through these streets in an uncovered state, crossing the Skinners' Green and Saw-mill in an oblique direction. The Skinners' Green was insulated by the Burn and Slaughter-House; and the bottom of the Laigh Green was surrounded by offensive pits used by skinners and tanners. The Slaughter-House spread over a large and irregular surface on the bank of the River, and was bounded by crooked lanes on the north and north-east parts, than which, there was no other entry to the Green from the west. The dung of the Slaughter-House, and the intestines of slaughtered animals, were collected in heaps, and allowed to remain for months together, till putrefaction took place, to the great annoyance of the neighbourhood. A glue work, and a work in which therm was manufactured from the intestines of animals in a recent state, were erected at the bottom of the Laigh Green; and, to complete the nuisance, the adjoining houses were occupied for cleaning tripe, and rees were fitted up for the retail of coal and coal culm.

The space on the bank of the River, at the east side of the Old Bridge, which had been enclosed for a live cattle market, came now to be used by the Police as a receptacle for filth from the streets.

The improvements on the Green and the adjoining properties, were so far completed in 1814, that the following may be taken as a description of them since that period.

The Green, as it now stands, contains upwards of one hundred and eight acres. The circuit of the gravel walks has been completed, and the houses and intermediate walls in the High Green removed; the water-course connected with the washing-house has been rendered unnecessary by a plentiful supply of water from the Water Companies; the banks adjoining Peat-Bog have been drained and turfed, so as to render them at once useful and ornamental; the Laigh Green is in progress of improvement; a street in connection with the gravel walks, has been formed in front of the range of the intended Calton Green Buildings, to be bounded on the side next the Green by a parapet wall and rail; the course of a considerable part of the Molindinar and Camlachie Burns, from their junction, has been completely altered, and arched, and streets formed over it; a breast-work at the River, supporting an iron railing, has been built from the Timber to the Old Bridge; the entries to the Laigh Green by the Saltmarket-Street and East Clyde-Street, are rendered spacious by the removal of houses and nuisances, and the thoroughfare has been greatly increased by the Market-Lane; the lime and tan pits, saw-mill, therm work, tripe-houses, and coal rees, at the Skinners' Green, have been removed, and the Public Offices and Gaol erected on or near their site; the spacious street, one hundred and twenty feet wide, in front of the portico of the Public Offices, has been raised so as to protect it from the highest flood-the side next the Green is to be bounded by a low parapet wall and railing; the SlaughterHouses have been removed from the bank of the River, and East Clyde-Street, eighty feet wide, formed on part of their site; these buildings, which under existing circumstances could not possibly be removed to a greater distance from the River, than where they are now placed, are perhaps the largest in

the Island, for the purpose of slaughtering animals; they contain seventy-seven separate killing-rooms, two live cattle yards, and two alleys, are paved with square stones, and cover 4736 square yards of ground; water-pipes are placed along the killing-rooms, by means of which they are washed every day, and extensive sewers are formed, to carry off every thing that might become offensive into the Molindinar Burn. An Act of Parliament has been obtained, by which the internal regulations are placed under the eye of the Police; in particular, the dung, offals, and blood, must be removed from the killing-rooms every day, and from the Slaughter-House, at least once in the two days. These improvements, however valuable they may now be to the community, were attended with very considerable trouble in the execution, arising alike from the nature of the properties to be acquired, and the work to be executed *.

These operations, which have cost little short of fifty thousand pounds, have been executed by estimate, at the sole expense of the Corporation; it being a standing rule of that body, to undertake no public work which shall cost more than ten pounds, till an estimate has been obtained, and discussed at least in two meetings.

The breast-work at the River between the Old and New Bridges, was built in 1772. Before that period, the bed of the River was so widely extended, that islands were formed in it, and the tide flowed over a considerable part of the ground from which Clyde-Street and the grass plot between it and the River, have been taken. Previous to the year 1772, the ground on the north side of the River, adjacent to the Old and New Bridges, was known by the name of the Ducat Green.

* The more important part of these works were either agreed on, or executed during the time that James Black, Esq. was chief Magistrate.

[blocks in formation]

The improvements on the banks of the Clyde, from Ruther glen Bridge to what was formerly Dumbuck Ford, have been chiefly effected from funds under the control of the Town Council. These, when taken in one grand view, from the time that Mr. Golborne first commenced his operations on the River in 1770, may serve as a specimen of what can be done by the union of talent, industry, capital, and perseverance. In the stretch alluded to, there is a variety of picturesque and interesting objects, varying in their extent and form, which, for natural beauty, design, and execution, may, it is believed, challenge comparison with those on the banks of any river in the empire. The space between the Old and New Bridges, as a street view, attracts the notice of every stranger. On the east and west, the Bridges, the Green, and the Broomielaw, enrich the scene, while the chaste and elegant designs of Carleton Place Buildings, on the one side of the River, confront the magnificent Roman Catholic Chapel, and ornamental buildings, distant six hundred and seventy feet, on the other, the Clyde flowing between them within its gently sloping banks, partially ornamented with shrubbery.

In reference to the history of the public improvements of the City, since the Revolution, it is evident that the greatest attention has been uniformly paid towards the acquirement, preservation, and embellishment of the public property; and the zeal and talent displayed in our own day, by gentlemen acting without pecuniary consideration, call for the cordial approbation of all those who value the public property, and consider the Green, as the pride of the citizens.

LETTER, OR TYPE FOUNDING.

The elegant art of Letter-Founding was first introduced into Scotland, in the year 1740, by Mr. Alexander Wilson, late Professor of Astronomy in the University of Glasgow, and his friend, Mr. John Baine. They first settled in St. Andrews, the place of their nativity, but soon after removed to Camlachie, in the vicinity of this City, where they carried on business, till the partnership was dissolved on Mr. Baine's going to Dublin, where he remained but a short time.

This art was carried to the highest degree of perfection, by the talents and unwearied application of Professor Wilson, who lived to see his Foundry become the most extensive and the most celebrated of any in Europe.

At the Professor's death, the business was carried on by his Sons, and is now conducted by his Son and Grandson, on a still more extensive scale, under the firm of Alex. Wilson & Sons. The celebrity of this manufactory has been acknowledged over the continent of Europe, wherever a taste for the fine arts has been evinced.

Besides the following, which are specimens of the shapes and sizes of the Types most generally used, Messrs. Wilson & Sons manufacture all the intermediate and regular sizes, down to Diamond, and up to Canon and Four-line Pica, &c. They also cast the various sizes of Hebrew, Greek, Saxon, and Old English, or Black Letter; besides a great variety of ornamental devices, such as Open Letter, Ships, Checks, Flowers, &c. *

* The following is a List of all the sizes of Printing Types which are cast by Letter-Founders, beginning with the smallest size; viz. Diamond, Pearl, Nonpareil, Minion, Brevier, Bourgeois, Long Primer, Small Pica, Pica, English, Primer, Great Primer, Paragon, Double Pica, Two-line English, Two-line Great Primer, Two-line Double Pica, Canon, Four-line Pica, Five-line Pica, &c. up to Twenty-line Pica. Larger Letters are occasionally used for Posting Bills, but they are cut on wood.

« ÖncekiDevam »