been thought of long before. For in 1773, Watt, the improver of the steam engine, was employed to make a survey, and he announced that the canal was practicable, and pointed out how it could be constructed. It was made, at the expense of Government, from plans, and under the superintendence of, Telford, the engineer, and opened in 1822. Some other canals in Scotland, after being made and used for years, have been superseded by railways.

Thus far it appears that with regard to the means of internal communication both by land and water Scotland was fairly well advanced before the first quarter of the present century expired. But her manufactures and commerce were rapidly extending, and she was thus so far prepared to take advantage of any improved means of communication which might be discovered. The great revolution in the means of communication which took place in the second quarter of this century, however, does not seem to have been anticipated even by those who were most actively engaged in originating it.

A waggon-road, tramway, or railroad, is a kind of road with ways formed of wood, stone, iron, or other material, on which the wheels of vehicles or waggons passing along it run. The immediate end of all such roads is to enable a less quantity of power to impel a loaded carriage and send it forward at a greater speed. It is reported that wooden-rails were first employed about 1630, on roads used for coalwaggons in the north of England. It is recorded that, in 1745, a tramroad existed between the Tranent coal-pits and the harbour of Cockenzie in East Lothian. The first iron rails were cast at Colebrook Dale Ironworks, in Shropshire, in 1767. Rails were laid down at several of the collieries in Mid-Lothian, Lanark, and Ayr, long before locomotives were introduced. The first public railway in Scotland was constructed between Kilmarnock and Troon, nine and a half miles long, which was opened for traffic in 1812. The rails of this tramway were of cast iron and fixed in stone blocks, and the carriages were drawn by horses.

The earliest lines were mostly all connected with mines or quarries, and were worked by horses or by fixed engines. Before the year 1830 the sanction of Parliament had been obtained for the construction of upwards of a hundred miles of railways; and between 1830 and 1840, Parliamentary powers were obtained for two hundred miles of new lines of railways. The more important of these were the Edinburgh and Glasgow; the Glasgow, Paisley, and Greenock; the Dundee and Arbroath; Arbroath and Forfar. In the next ten

years there was a vast extension of railways, and many of the short lines were united into systems. But a number of the new railways then proposed were never made, though some of them were fifteen or twenty years afterwards, but not by the original projectors. For a time the country rang with projects of new and impracticable schemes of railways, and immense sums of money were lost and won; those were the days when millionaires began to arise in the iron trade, and in other less legitimate lines of business. Railway extension, however, continued till the whole country became penetrated with lines; and twenty-six years ago almost the whole of the railways in Scotland were either worked or leased by a few companies -The Caledonian, Glasgow and South-Western, North British, Great North of Scotland, and Highland-each of these companies have large systems of railway communication. In 1866, there were 2244 miles of railways in Scotland.

Along with the development of the railway system, a remarkable improvement and development of the postal system has taken place. The Post Office system is entirely under the control of the Government, and forms a distinct and important department of the administration. The introduction of the penny postage in 1840, and since then the introduction of post-cards, the telegraphic system, and the parcels post, were all important and convenient improvements.

SECTION IV.

Shipbuilding.

In the preceding volumes of this History the progress of shipbuilding from its origin in Scotland, in the form of a boat simply consisting of a single tree scooped out in the centre, has been traced to the end of the seventeenth century; in this section the vast changes and progress of the art since the beginning of the eighteenth century to the present time will be briefly indicated. In 1692, the number of vessels belonging to the chief Scotch ports was about 100, with a total tonnage of about 6000, which gives an average of 60 tons to each. But after the Union, a wider field was opened for the enterprise of the Scots, and the commerce of the nation extended · amazingly. In 1760, the number of vessels had increased to 999, with a total tonnage of 53,913, giving an average of 54 tons to each. But in 1800, the number of ships had increased to 2415, with a

total tonnage of 171,728, giving an average of 71 tons to each, and employing 14,820 seamen. The number and size of vessels continued to increase, and, in 1840, there were 3479 ships with a total tonnage of 429,204, giving an average of over 123 tons to each, while the number of seamen employed was upwards of 28,000. In 1850, the number of sailing ships was 3432, with a tonnage of 491,395, being an average of 143 tons each; and steamships 169, with a tonnage of 30,827; thus giving a total tonnage of 522,222. During the next ten years a marked change took place in the size of the ships, mainly owing to the improvement of harbours and docks, and the extension of foreign trade. The number of sailing ships in 1860, was 3172, being 260 fewer than 1850; but the tonnage had increased 60,817 ; so that in ten years the average tonnage of the sailing ships had risen from 143 to 175; the number of steamships had increased to 314, with a tonnage of 71,579, giving an average of 228 tons. In 1865, the number of sailing vessels of and under 50 tons was 1057, with a tonnage of 32,050; and above fifty tons 1925 vessels, with a tonnage of 600,195; the number of steam vessels of and under 50 tons was 119, and their tonnage 3080; above 50 tons 330, with a tonnage of 131,650.

Leith two centuries ago was the chief shipbuilding port in Scotland. After the Union, the Fury, a line-of-battle ship, was built at Leith. In 1840, two steamships were built, larger than any then afloat; about the same time other large ships were built at Leith; and it was even thought by many that this port would keep the lead in shipbuilding. It is needless to say that Leith has been left far behind in the race, and the centre of shipbuilding in Scotland has for many years been on the Clyde. The order of historic exposition seems to require that the other shipbuilding ports of Scotland should be noticed before this modern centre.

In Dundee shipbuilding was carried on from an early period. At the beginning of the present century a considerable number of vessels was built in Dundee for the coasting trade and the over-sea commerce. The size of the vessels continued to increase, and, in 1856, the Messrs. Alexander Stephen built a ship of 1848 tons burthen. There were then six firms engaged in building wooden ships, but, in 1870, there were only two exclusively employed in this branch. Steamship building was introduced at Dundee in 1823, when a paddle vessel was built for the traffic between Dundee and Perth, and it has since been carried on with great energy. Iron shipbuild

ing was begun at Dundee in 1838, but there were not many iron vessels built at this port till after 1854. The first screw steamer was launched from the yard of Mr. John Brown in 1851. In 1854, the firm of Messrs. Gourlay Brothers began to build iron ships, and for many years they turned out a large number of steamers. Prior to 1865 all the vessels built in Dundee had been formed either of wood or iron, but in that year the Messrs. Stephen began to build ships with a combination of both materials; such vessels were known under the name of "composite," as consisting partly of iron and partly of wood. 16 In 1869 there were five shipbuilding firms in Dundee. In 1891 the number of hands employed in Dundee was

1,772.

A considerable number of vessels were built at Newburgh, Tayport, Arbroath, and Montrose.

Throughout the eighteenth century there was a growing shipbuilding trade at Aberdeen, and before the end of that period there were three or four firms carrying on this department. Early in the present century a class of larger vessels began to be constructed, and,

16"A number of years ago there was a great run upon what was designated 'composite' ships, that is to say, vessels having a skeleton, as it were, of iron, with a shell or cover of timber planking. They have had their day, and have already gone almost entirely out of vogue. If we go back to the year 1863, and note the statistics of the composite type of vessels, we find that there were launched two steamers and four sailing ships-only six in all. In the following year there was only one composite steamer launched, and there were six sailing ships of the same build, the total tonnage of the seven vessels being 5814 tons, none of them being over 1000 tons. In the year 1865, however, we find an extraordinary leap, one composite steamer and 19 composite sailing ships, of a total of 12,010 tons, being launched during that year. Of the same build there were three steamers and 12 sailing vessels launched in the year 1866, five steamers and 13 sailing vessels in 1867, followed in 1868 by six steamers (three of which were gunboats) and 18 sailing vessels, the total tonnage of the 26 sailing vessels being 17,713 tons. There was a sensible falling off in the composite tonnage launched in 1869, six steamers and 13 sailing ships, with a total of 14,395 tons. In the year 1870 no composite steamers were built and only six sailing ships of that build, of a total of 6100 tons; and no composite steamers have been launched during the last five years, and only two small composite sailing ships, and actually no composite shipping at all during 1873, 1874, or 1875. It was certainly rather a strange phase that the shipbuilding trade passed through during the ten or twelve years ending with the year 1872, in respect of the adoption of the composite type of build, more especially for sailing vessels."— Notices of some of the Principal Manufactures of the West of Scotland, p. 174.

in 1816, the Castle Forbes, a vessel built for the Indian trade, was launched. In 1817, 20 ships were launched, with a total tonnage of 2770; and in the following year 22 vessels were built, with a total tonnage of 3300 tons; from this time onward for about half a century the trade continued to extend.

Mr. Alexander Hall, of A. Hall & Sons, introduced the " clipper type of vessels, and, in 1830, he built the Scottish Maid, a vessel of 142 tons, which showed the advantages of sharp lines. This vessel was much admired, and, shortly after, the Aberdeen shipbuilders became famous for their clipper ships. A large number of the vessels employed in the Australian emigration trade were built at Aberdeen. In 1854, the Messrs. A. Hall & Sons launched the Schomberg, a vessel specially constructed for the Australian passenger trade, and she was one of the finest and largest vessels then afloat.17 She was 262 feet in length, 45 in breadth, and 30 in depth, and of 2600 tons burthen. Other vessels of a similar description were built; but the general introduction of iron shipbuilding has had the effect of checking the prosperity of shipbuilding in Aberdeen. Although the Aberdeen firms have built iron steamers of a high class, still the substitution of iron for wood has produced extremely depressing effects upon the shipbuilding industry, not only in Aberdeen and all round the coasts of the Moray Firth, but also in the smaller seats of shipbuilding throughout the country.

In 1868, there were six shipbuilding firms in Aberdeen, the yards of the Halls and the Duthies being the oldest establishments; and there were then between 1000 and 2000 persons employed in the trade; but in recent years the hands employed have not exceeded 500 or 600. At the above date there were considerable shipbuilding establishments at Peterhead, Banff, Inverness, and other ports on the Moray Firth where wooden vessels were built. But the introduction of iron steamers in the London trade, in the coasting and coal-carrying trade, has almost totally extinguished shipbuilding at these ports, and a similar result has been produced in other parts of the country. Thus the ultimate effect of the change from timber shipbuilding to iron shipbuilding has been to concentrate the building of large vessels on the Clyde; and to it I will now proceed.

In a preceding chapter the earliest attempts at steam navigation

17 This vessel was described in the article "Shipbuilding," in the ninth edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica.