BOTHWELL, a parish, in the Middle ward of the
county of Lanark; including the villages of Bellshill,
Bothwell, Chapelhall, Holytown, Newarthill, and Uddingston;
and containing 11,175 inhabitants, of whom
570 are in the village of Bothwell, 8 miles (S. li.) from
Glasgow. The name is supposed by some to be derived
from Both, an eminence, and u-alt, a castle; terms applied
to the parish from the elevated situation of Bothwell
Castle above the river Clyde. Others derive the
appellation from two Celtic words. Both, signifying a
dwelling, and ael or hyl, a river, as descriptive of the
castle in its contiguity to the river. This extensive
barony, in the reign of Alexander I., was held by Walter
Olifard, justiciary of Lothian, who died in 1242. It
afterwards came into the possession of the distinguished
family of Moray, consisting at that date of a tower and
fortalice, with their appurtenances, and of lands in various
districts, constituting a lordship. In the time of Edward
I. of England, it became a place of great importance, and
it appears that that monarch resided in the castle from
the 17th to 20th September, 1301. In this reign, also,
it was the residence of Aylmer de Valence, Earl of Pembroke,
who fled hither from Loudon Hill, where he had
been defeated by Wallace, in 1307, and who in 1309 was
made governor of the castles of Selkirk and Bothwell.
At the time of the battle of Bannockburn, Sir Walter
Fitzgilbert, ancestor of the Hamilton family, was governor;
and after the death of Bruce, when Edwaid HI.
invaded Scotland, in 1336, the king was at the castle
from the 18th November till the 13th December, in the
course of which time fifteen writs were issued thence in
his name. It came at length to the Earl of Bothwell,
from whom it descended to Archibald the Grim, Earl of
Douglas; and after passing through many other hands,
it reverted to the ancient family of Douglas in 1715.
The collegiate church of Bothwell was founded for a
provost and eight prebendaries on the 10th October,
1398, in the reign of Robert H., by the first Earl of
Douglas, and was richly endowed. Most of the superiorities,
with part of the property, and all the tithes, now
belong to the Duke of Hamilton. Bothwell-Bridge, in
the southern part of the parish, is celebrated in history
for the battle fought there, in 1679, between the Covenanters
and the Duke of Monmouth; and at a little distance
is Bothwell-Haugh, formerly the property of James
Hamilton, who shot the regent Murray, for confiscating
a part of his estate, and the barbarous treatment of his
wife, on account of his having espoused the cause of
Mary, Queen of Scots.
The PARISH is about eight miles and a half in extreme
length, and varies in breadth from two to four miles,
containing 13,600 acres. It is bounded on the north
and west by the North Calder, and on the south by the
South Calder and the river Clyde. The parish is comjirehended
by the elevated ground running along the
north-eastern bank of the Clyde from Lanark to near
Glasgow, which range, however, recedes from the river
in traversing this district, and leaves an intermediate
plain, till it again inclines to the stream in the neighbourhood
of Bothwell-Bridge. Near this it forms a piece of
table-land about one mile in extent, running westward,
at the head of which are situated the church and village,
about 120 feet above the level of the sea, and commanding
to the east a beautiful view of the vale of Clyde.
From the eastern boundary of the parish, the land falls
rapidly to a distance of nearly four miles, after which a
flat of about equal length succeeds, declining southward
towards the Calder and the Clyde; and the western extremity
of this tract sinks gradually into the extensive
plain on which Glasgow is situated. The Clyde, the
chief river, enters the parish at Bothwell-Haugh, and
forms a majestic stream, the banks of which are famed
for their diversified and picturesque scenery; it is 120
yards broad at Blantyre-Works, but at Bothwell-Bridge
contracts itself to a span of seventy-one yards. The
North and South Calder, after running separately for
about fifteen miles, form each a confluence with the
Clyde; they flow between banks of sandstone rock,
beautifully abrupt in many parts, and affording wellwooded
and romantic scenery. Of these rivers, the
Clyde was formerly celebrated for the abundance of its
salmon, but it has now greatly fallen off in this respect,
very few fish comparatively visiting it, a circumstance
owing to many causes, one of which is said to be the
impediment presented to their progress by the dam over
the river between Blantyre Mill and Bothwell.
The prevailing soil is clay, resting upon a tilly subsoil,
and frequently, and in various proportions, mixed
with loam and sand. In some places the soil consists of
fine light mould, and in the vicinity of the rivers is a
fertile alluvial deposit. The whole land is productive,
with small exceptions of moss and moor: two-fifths are
in pasture, and grain of all kinds, and of good quality, is
raised; potatoes, turnips, peas, &c., are also cultivated,
with some flax, though this last is not grown so largely
as formerly. Considerable attention is given to dairyfarming,
there being no less than 1000 cows kept, most
of which are native varieties of the Ayrshire breed. The
horses are in general likewise of a good stock. The annual
value of real property in the parish is £35,207.
The predominating rock is the red sandstone, which lies
over the whole coal-bed in this district, at a distance of
twenty or thirty fathoms above the coal; it is bright in
colour, and, though sometimes soft and friable, generally
well adapted for building. There are several quarries of
good freestone of a red colour near the Clyde, and in the
upper parts of the parish white freestone is found. Coal
abounds in every direction, and the mineral is chiefly
procured from four large seams, extending throughout
the parish, in which the Ell-coal, Pyotshaw, main, and
splint coal succeed each other, the last being best suited
for the smelting of iron. The average amount of coal obtained
is estimated in value at £80,000 annually, and of
ironstone, £20,000: the annual rentals paid to the proprietors
by the several tacksmen of the collieries amount
to £9500, and the rentals of the ironstone to £2500.
The principal manufactures in the parish are of pig-iron
and steel, the former of which is produced at the Monkland
Company's works at Chapelhall, to a great extent;
in the same estabhshment are mills and forges in which
400 tons of malleable iron are manufactured weekly;
about 100 tons of steel are manufactured annually,
thirty tons of which are made into files, and upwards of
2400 persons, including miners, are employed at the
works. Other similar works are carried on in the parish.
Post-offices are established at Bothwell, Bellshill, and
Holytown; and the lines of the Caledonian railway company
afford great facilities of intercourse.
The chief mansion is Bothwell Castle, a simple yet
commodious residence, built of the same red sandstone as
the old castle, and consisting of an extensive front and
two wings; the apartments are ornamented with several
excellent portraits. The grounds are elegantly laid out,
and the neighbouring scenery, comprising the waters of
the Clyde and its picturesque banks, is ennobled by the
ancient and venerable ruin of the castle, in which the
chief of the English nobility were confined after the
battle of Bannockburn. Woodhall, on the bank of the
North Calder, is a spacious mansion in the style of
the age of Louis XIV.; valuable pictures adorn some of
the apartments, and the entrance-hall contains several
French cuirasses and helmets of brass, broustht from the
field of Waterloo. The mansions of Cairnbroe and St.
Enoch's Hall, both on the North Calder; Cleland;
Carfin; Jerviston; and Douglas Park, are all superior
residences, standing in the midst of interesting scenery;
and Bothwell Park, a handsome and commanding mansion,
has a fine view of the fertile haughs of Hamilton,
and of the vale of Clyde.
For ECCLESIASTICAL purposcs the parish is within the
bounds of the presbytery of Hamilton and synod of
Glasgow and Ayr: the stipend of the minister is £282.
14. 8., with a good manse, and a glebe valued at £36
per annum; patron, the Duke of Hamilton. The church,
opened in 1833, is a superior building in the pointed
style of architecture, and measures seventy-two feet by
forty-five, containing 1200 sittings; the cost of the
building was £4200, and it has a good bell, provided by
the' parish at an expense of £150, and a clock which cJst
£133, raised by voluntary subscription. A church was
some years ago erected at Holytown, late a quoad sacra
parish; and there are meeting-houses at Bellshill and
Newarthill belonging to the United Presbyterian Synod.
The members of the Free Church have likewise two
places of worship, one at Bothwell, the other at Holytown.
Three parochial schools are supported, situated
respectively at Bothwell, Holytown, and Newarthill, the
master of the first of which has a salary of £34. 4. 4., a
house, and £70 fees; the others have £S. 1 1. each: the
classics, mathematics, and all the usual branches of education
are taught.
The chief relic of antiquity in the parish is the magnificent
ruin of the ancient castle, situated near the modern
castle, on the summit of a verdant slope, in the midst of
beautiful woods and pleasure-grounds. The old church,
which was originally the choir of the collegiate church
(the most famous of the five collegiate churches in Lanarkshire),
is a very fine specimen of ancient architecture;
it was built about 1398, and disused as a church
in 1828. Bothwell bridge, across the Clyde, is of great
antiquity, though the age is not precisely known; it
originally consisted of four arches, each spanning fortyfive
feet, and measuring fifteen feet in breadth, but it has
been considerably enlarged within these few years, by
which an additional width of road is obtained. There
is another bridge, supposed to be of Roman construction,
across the South Calder, consisting of one arch of semicircular
form, high and narrow, without parapets; it is
thought to have been on the line of the great Roman
Watling-street, which ran through this part of the
country, along the north-east bank of the Clyde. Chalybeate
springs are very numerous in the district, and
many of them are strongly sulphuretted. The celebrated
Joanna Baillie was born in the manse, during the meumbency
of her father, the Rev. James Baillie.