SLAMANNAN, or Slamanan, a parish, in the county of Stirling, 6 miles (S. S. W.) from Falkirk; containing, in 1841, 979 inhabitants. This place, in the sessional records and crown presentations, is called " Slamanan, otherwise St. Lawrence," and it is concluded that on account of the dedication of the church to that saint, the latter name was occasionally or perhaps invariably applied to the parish till the former, the etymology of which is quite uncertain, became the ordinary appellation. In the year 14*0 the chief lands were conveyed under the great seal to Lord Livingstone; and the superiority, and the patronage of the church, remained in the Callendar family, successors to the Livingstones, till 1715, when they were forfeited to the crown. From certain existing records, however, it appears that the Earls of Callendar were not the sole proprietors, but that some estates were feued from the Lords Torphichen. This locality, from its proximity to the ancient Caledonian forest, from remains of castles, trenches, and other military works, and the names of several places in the vicinity, is conjectured to have been the scene of warlike conflicts; but nothing is known with certainty on this point. The parish was formerly of much less extent than at present, measuring originally only five miles in length and three in breadth. In 1730, upon the division of the parish of Falkirk, when the whole of that of Polmont was taken therefrom, a part also was annexed quoad sacra to Slamannan, increasing its limits to six miles in length and upwards of four in breadth. The SURFACE is broken by ridges, running from east to west, and much undulated, producing a great diversity in the scenery, the soil, and crops; and as the ground, rising from the north, attains an elevation of more than 600 feet above the level of the sea, at its southern limit, the severity of early frosts, and wintry storms, often impede the labours of the husbandman. The stream of the Avon traverses the parish from west to east, and formed its northern boundary before the annexation of the Falkirk portion. It takes its rise in a moss in New Monkland, and though of small breadth, yet, when swollen after rain or snow, overflows its banks to a great extent, and frequently in time of harvest entirely destroys the neighbouring crops. It contains good trout, but they are killed in great numbers every year when some stagnant waters used fur steeping lint are emptied into the stream; and after floods, on account of the mossy nature of the water, cattle invariably refuse to eat the hay made from the meadows near it. The Great Black loch, situated here, affords the principal supply to the reservoir on the lands of Auchingray formed for feeding the Monkland canal; besides which there is a loch called the Little Black loch, stocked like the former with perch and eels. On each side of the Avon the grounds are composed of a mixed alluvial soil, which is light and fertile, and produces good crops when not flooded. In other parts the soil is clayey and heavy, and to a considerable extent cold wet moss, especially between the ridges, and in the western district, where the crops only come to maturity in very fine seasons. Oats and barley are raised, and a little wheat, with large quantities of potatoes, turnips, and cabbages, and some lint. The annual value of real property in the parish is £4373. The nature of the strata was unknown, and the mineral contents of the place une.Kplored, till the recent construction of the Slajnannan railway, the cuttings for which partially laid open the rock, and caused bores to be made by way of experiment. Fine freestone has been found in abundance, and good coal is wrought on a considerable scale, 200 tons of it being sent off daily by the railway. Ironstone, also, as well as coal of various kinds, is extensively spread beneath the lands; and as a decided impulse has been given to agricultural efforts, by the facilities of conveyance supplied by the new method of transit, so it is expected that mining operations, now comparatively in their infancy, will derive equal advantages. Since the census of 1S41, upwards of 200 workmen and miners have settled in the parish. Coal and peat are the fuel of the inhabitants, who obtain both from their own district, from which, also, the large whinstone blocks used in the construction of the railroad were quarried. Tiie marketable produce is disposed of at Falkirk and Airdrie. Ecclesiastically the parish is in the presbytery of Linlithgow, synod of Lothian and Tweeddale, and in the patronage of the Crown; the minister's stipend is £2.57, with a manse, and a glebe valued at £28 per annum. Slamannan church, rebuilt about 1816, is a plain edifice, nearly square in form, and contains upwards of 600 sittings. The parochial school affords instruction in Greek, Latin, mensuration, and all the ordinary branches; the master has a salary of £34. 4., with a house, and £20 fees. There is another school in the parish.