PORTNACROISH, a village, in the parish of LisMORE-and-AppiN,
district of Lorn, county of Argyll.
This village, situated on the estate of Laroch, at the
foot of Glencoe, has gradually sprung up in consequence
of the extensive operations in the adjacent slatequarries.
It is in a thriving and progressive state, and
occupied principally by miners and others connected
with the works. Previously to the year 1/60 the then
proprietor opened a vein, which was wrought with great
profit for many years; but another being discovered, that
offered superior facilities for quarrying, the works were
transferred to it from the former, and have been there
carried on for more than fifty years. These veins, which
are so extensive as to be considered inexhaustible, are
on the opposite sides of a valley; and the quarries now
wrought are situated in the bed of a high mountain
rising out of Loch Leven, a branch of Loch Linuhe.
The rock is annually let to parties who manufacture the
slates by contract, and are paid at a price before agreed
upon. The colour of the material is a deep blue, spotted
with pyrites, or, as called by the workmen, " diamonds,"
incorporated into the texture of the slate. The quantity
of slate annually produced varies from 8000 to 11,000
tons; and from five to seven millions of slates are formed,
which are shipped to sea-ports both in Scotland and
Northumberland, to be transmitted thence to most parts
of the kingdom. Cargoes of them are sometimes even
sent to America and the West India colonies. The
number of persons employed, including those engaged
in the care and repair of the machinery, &c., amounts to
about 300. When separated from the rubbish in the
quarries, the blocks are conveyed by waggon-trains on
tramroads to a bank raised in the sea by refuse thrown
over. Here the slates are split and dressed; and they
are afterwards conveyed by other tramroads, along inclined
planes, to the harbour. The harbour is formed
by banks of rubbish projecting into the sea on each
side, and is safe and commodious. The distance from
the most remote part of the quarries to the wharf does
not exceed 650 yards. The larger part of the persons
engaged in the works have houses built with stone and
lime, slated, and consisting of three apartments; and to
each of the houses are generally attached a cow-house, a
small vegetable garden, and some potato-ground. The
fuel in use is mostly coal, brought in the vessels which
come for slates.