Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1885-07-16
Mutes ott fureian gaud5.
SKETCHES OF TRAVEL IN SCOTLAND.
BY REV. r. LATHAM.
Written for the Yorkville Enquirer

Written for the Yorkville Enquirer.]
England, Ireland and Scotland constitute
the British Isles. Ireland, as will be seen
by glance at the map of insular Europe,
is separated from England and Scotland by
the Irish Sea, which in the South bears the
name St. Georges Channel, and in the
North, the North Channel. England, in
Guiding Wales, and Scotland are in fact only
one island, which extends from about the
fiftieth to the fifty-ninth degree of north
latitude. The most southern part is Liz
ard Point, in England, and the most north,
ern is Dunnet Head, in Scotland. Scotland
is, in part, separated from England by the
Chariot Hills and the river Tweed. Be-
tween these-a distance of perhaps twenty
miles-there is no natural boundary. In
size, Scotland is little less than the State
of South Carolina, butin general appearance
as unlike South Carolina as it is possible for
two sections of the globe to be. Scotland is
we'll described by poet thus:
"Land of the brown heath and shaggy wood.
Land Of the mountain and the Hood
The most southern part of Scotland is sew
eral degrees farther north than NeWfound-
land, and the northern part is in the latitude
of Hudson's Bay. Edinburgh, the capital
miles farther north than the city of Wash
ington, the capital of the United States, and
Dunnet Head is more than two hundred
miles north OF Edinburgh. Scotland is di-
vided into the Lowlands and the Highlands.
The Highlands are, of course, in the North
and the Lowlands in the South, but the line
which separates the two divisions is not, so
far as I know, well marked. With some
trifling exceptions, the whole of Scotland
might be called the Highlands of insular
Europe. The Highlands were originally
settled by the Irish, and the LoWlands by
various races from Continental Europe. The
inhabitants of these two general divisions
of Scotland have always been very different
customs. They are different to-day, but the
Highlands are gradually losing their an
cient characteristics.
Scotland is divided for political purposes
into thirty-two counties, each Of which is,
in some sense, under the supervision and
control of a Lord Lieutenant. The whole
population of Scotland, according to the
best British authority, was, in 1881, 1885,
573. This is less than the population of the
city of London. Scotland contains 1896
132 acres of land, of which only 4,43S, 1877
acres are cultivated. 1 suppose that one
half of Scotland is covered with mountains
mountains or the lakes are more charming.
Of these, however, will speak in detail as
these sketches progress.
In many respects the Irish and the Scotch
are strikingly alike. This is not to be Won
dered at, since the Protestant Irish are all of
Scotch descent, and the Highlands of Scot
land, as stated, were originally settled by
the primitive Irish. The Protestants of Ire
land call themselves Scotch-Irish. This
means Scotchman born in Ireland. Ulster
Province in Ireland was, as formerly stated,
largely settled by Scotch Presbyterians who,
because of persecution in their native land,
on account of their religion, fled to Ireland.
From Ireland large numbers of the descend
ants of these Scotch-Irish Presbyterians
came to America, both before and after the
Revolutionary war. In the Revolutionary
war the Scotch-Irish Presbyterians were all
Wings. The Scotch, think, were general
ly Loyalsts. They were not Tories. This
latter class was made of individuals of all
nationalities, and, as rule, were worthless
creatures. They were ofsO low grade that
they could scarcely be said to be able to COM
prehend what is meant by the words liberty
or slavery. They had no country and desir-
ed none.
With these preliminaries, commence a
series of sketches of menand things in Scot
land, as they presented themselves to me.
l begin with Glasgow. 1t was in that city
that first put my foot on Scotch soil. 1t
was on dark rainy morning, and l must
confess that everything wore a sombre hue.
l left Belfast on the preceding night, about
nine o'clock. The boat, the name of which
l do not now remember, steamed out of Bel
fast harbor up the Lough of Belfast, having
on the left hand the town Of Carrickfergus,
and on the right hand Bangor. The dis
tance from Belfast to Glasgow is one hun
dred and thirty miles. The course is a lit
tie east of north until the mouth of the river
Clyde is reached, then it is nearly southeast.
From Belfast to Port Patrick, in Scotland,
is not more than thirty miles. In going
from Belfast to Glasgow, the North Channel
is first crossed and then up the Firth OF
Clyde.
The Irish Sea has the reputation of being
usually rough and foggy. The Firth of
Clyde, when first entered is, l suppose,
about fifteen miles wide. Its main direc.
tion is nearly north, but it branches out
into number of firths. Opposite, ora little
north of Glasgow it thrusts it's arms out in
all directions. The direction of one of these
arms is southeast. Into this offshoot from
the Firth of Clyde, the Clyde river flows.
Perhaps it would be correct to say that the
Clyde river widens out at its mouth, form
ing what appears to be an estuary. On the
CLYDE, about twenty-five miles from the
Firth of Clyde, is situated the city of Glas.
COW. The city is located on both sides of
the river. At its mouth, that is where it
emptes into the Firth of Clyde, the river
Clyde is, | suppose, five miles wide, but it
continues to grow narrow until, in some
places, it is only little wider than large
boat.
The commercial existence of Glasgow de-
pends upon the Clyde. This stream rises
among the Lowther mountains, about fifty
miles in a north eastern direction, from
Glasgow. In a straight line, it is about
seventy-fve miles from its source to its
mouth. Such being the case, it would be
natural to conclude that the Clyde, compared
with many of the rivers in the western Sec
ton of the United States, is small. Such is
the case. / was told by an old lady in the
city of Glasgow that she remembered when
the Clyde at Glasgow was, when the tide
was up, not more than four feet deep, and
when the tide was down she had waded it
frequently. Now it is claimed that the
Clyde is capable of bearing up the largest
ships This has been effected by persistent
dredging. The water of the CLYDE is as
black as ink-the fithiest looking stuff that
l ever saw. l was told that this was caused
by the vast quantities of waste dye-stufts
which are thrown into the river by calico
manufactures. From the mouth of the
Clyde to Glasgow, both its banks are lined
with places of interest The first on the
left bank, and at or near the mouth of the
river, is Greenock. This was in the seven
teenth century, only small fishing village.
1t is now town of seventy thousand inhab-
itants. Greenock is noted for the extensive
commerce which it carries on, with both
North and South America, with both the
East and West Indies; for its WaterWOrks,
f.,s Ii. IL nd tic