FORDS, PERRIES, FLOATS, and BRIDGES NEAR LANARK. the River Clyde, Drawing Its Water from Many Affluents, All Rapid, Noisy, and W
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FORDS, FEREIES, FLOATS, AND BRIDGES NEAR LANARK. 209 I. FORDS, PERRIES, FLOATS, AND BRIDGES NEAR LANARK. Br THOMAS REID, M.A., LANAKK. The river Clyde, drawing its water from many affluents, all rapid, noisy d wildlan , y frolicsome, assumes afte s junctioit r n wite th h Duneaton Wate broaa r deed dan p current. From this point down- wards for many a mile fords were carefully noted and extensively used, though their use was frequently accompanied with great loss of life. a ver Ther d passages ol y wa e opposite Roberton leading across to Wandal parish, replaced by a bridge in 1661, the oldest bridge over Clyde above Bothwell Brig. From Roberto o Culternt , Clyde flows between wooded banks, heathy uplands, pasturesd an , cornfields til t reachei l confinee sth Biggaf o s r parish, wher t epassei s along the very edge of an outspread morass, so slightly elevated above its ordinary current that at every high freshet its water is discharged into the Biggar Burn, thence into Tweed. Here Culter Bridge spans e rivee Clydeth th rs A approache. s Thankerto s compellei t ni o dt tak vasa e t sweep roun eastere dth n bas Tintof eo circuitouo s , s that water-waa twentf yo y miles, exclusiv manf eo minoya r loop reduces ,i d abouo t miles x travellee si tth f ,i r take direce sth t route acros bene sth d from Thankerton to Hyndford. Around this sweep of the river, many ancient places of transit can be traced : a ford, ferry, and bridge (1778 t Thankertoa ) fora n; d near Covingto e Blac th t for n; Po k d between Pettinain and Carnwath ; the Lampits ferry-float; Langfurde and Mary's ford between Pettinain and Carstairs ; Carmichael ford ferryd an longeo n , r used sinc e buildine th bridge th f go e t a clos y b e Hyndford (1773). At various points along an extremely placid reach rivere oth f , extending from Hyndford Bridg Bonningtoo et n Falle ar , notee b o dt several passage fory b sr ferry do , suc s Howfordha , Crook Boat, Tillieford, all now discontinued. Below Cora Linn there is 4 1 VOL. XLVII. 210 PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY, FEBRUARY 10, 1913. found one of the most important passes through the Water of Clyde, viz. the Clydesholm ford, ferry, and bridge (1694-9). Four miles farther down the river come the ford, boat, and bridge (1793) of Crossford. Immediately below the Clydesholm Bridge the Water of Mouse (i.e. Moss) enters Clyde, over which on its lower course several old and important bridges have been buil : tCleghor n Bridge (about 1661), Lockhart Mill Bridge (1776), Cartland Bridge (1822) d Mousemilnan , - brig (1649). The Leechford, quite close to Jerviswood House, once the residence of Robert Baillie, martyred 1684, is the oldest, and in early times was the most frequented of all the crossings of the Mouse, as it lay King'e onth s highway fro fore mt th Clydesholda Lothianse th mo t . CLYDE'S BRIDGE. Betwee e parisheth n f Eobertoo s Wandad nan l there existed from of old a ford across Clyde to which converged several " oroce wayes and passadges." It was also of some importance to such travellers as " have occasione frowese e placth y th f mgo coman o o f ett e o d ean Kingdome towardis the eastermost pairts, and from the north-west e soutth o ht betuix e e moutriveth th t f r o hCly d from Glasgow, Dumbarton downwardid an , s towardi wese sth t bordere Cairlylld san , the entrie to Ingland on that hand, Or betuixt this chief citie and metropolitant d pairtian , s adjacen e placeth t f greateso s t resorf o t the Kingdome, and the boundis of Nithisdaill, Galloway, Kilpatrick, and Ireland." This ford, too, lay on the route leading from the mines at Leadhills to Biggar, whither in the first instance the lead ore was carried on pack-horses previous to its distribution to other centres, e.g. Leit r Glasgowo h , This pack-horse traffi s attendewa c d with danger both by flood and field : we'read under date 1597 that a convoy of Leadhills pack-horses laden with ore after crossing the ford was attacked and robbed by some " broken men of the bordure," who took possession of the " horses, armour, clothing, and haill carriages." FORDS, FERRIES, FLOATS, AND BRIDGES NEAR LANARK. 211 The crossing of the ford was frequently attended with loss of life ; and though a ferry-boat was used especially for workpeople from the village of Roberton going to field labour on the other side of the river, it was generally considered that there was no " fitting place for ferrie boat thro feircenee w th e curren th f o s t neisteie th r p mountained san hillis." Ther s evidentlewa y much neea safe f o dr mean f transio s t at this part of the Upper Clyde. A public movement was begun in the early part of the seventeenth century to erect a bridge at this spot; but men and measures were in those days slow to move. The Presbytery of Lanark, dissatisfied with the want of progress in the undertaking, record in their minutes, 22nd March 1632, " The Brether thinkes it meet that the delay of the buildin brige gth g over Cly t Robertonda e shoul regratee db e th o dt erl f Angueo t soma s e convenient occasion. furtheo N " r mentiof no this movemen s beeha tn recorded e yearTh .s that immediately followed 1632 were more remarkabl r politicafo e d ecclesiasticaan l l strife than for the useful arts of peace. The matter was not renewed till about thirty years after. In 1661 a petitio presentes nwa Scottise th o dt h Parliament, signe "y db Clau d Baillie ; W. B., Hardington, and W. B., Littelgill, for ourselves and in name of Roberton paroch and Wandell; Sir W. B., Lamington, in name of myself and tenants ; Sir W. Somervell ; Ard Lindsay ; A. M., Culterallers, for myself and tenantes; J. H., Gilkercleughe, for my tenantes; Ro'. Bailyi " ; in which the suppliants craved favourable consideration to a proposal for erecting a bridge near the Roberton ford. They stat n theii e r petition: "That the s upoi r n the verie centre (as it \ver) of thes croce wayes and passadges ane most convenien tsai e placth d n riveeo r naturallie situa alsweilo ts l throe wth firmnes of the chaunell into a narrow cut over as throw the firmnes of e othee grun th d beinth n sy ro d g ston d roak ean y bot b , h whic• e hth plac r buildinfo e e brid d an gInduranc an g e thairo e evidentliDo f e appea Godiy (b r s providenc orderito s e ) Bein e nixd secongth an t d 2 21 PROCEEDING E SOCIETYTH F O S , FEBRUAR , 191310 Y . meanes under his goodnes for several good efiectis and preveining of the lamentable loses and dangers at the ford." The petitioners con- clude by asking Parliament " to authorize some fitt and eflectuall wa r accomplishinyfo gooo gs a dwor cristiand an k e purpose th s a e building of ane bridg at the said river at such ane place thairof quhair evideno s t advantag f placino e e samegth n doet evidentlio hs d an e obviouslie offer." The Estates of Parliament in a favourable reply grant authority to build not only a bridge over Clyde, but also another over Duneaton Water ; and, seeing that the land wherteon the Clyde Bridge is to be built belongs to Sir William Baillie of Littlegill, they ask him to under- o mee t e necessar tak d th e wort an th e k; y expense they ordained. voluntare "an y contributio collectee b r o ngatheret fo d d dan an y db him throw all the paroches both in burgh and landward on the south e watesidth f fforthf eo o r recommend l noblemenan al , o t d m dhi an , magistrat ministerd san respective th f so e presbetries withi e sainth d bounds." Anticipating, however, that such collectio- nin wile b l adequate purposee foth r , they furtheheirs hi sd e r" an an gran m hi t custom e payeb t o Clydt ea d s Bridge o witr t eac, fo , h footmar o n woman, two pennies Scots ; for each horse with his load or ryder, sex pennie r nolfo t s; beas r singlo t e horse, four sheipk pennieil r fo , s; pennieo thesd tw an satisfaction i e s ; e rateb e customo st th f no f o e both bridges and to be continued dureing the space of twenty seven years afte buildine th r complietind gan saie th d f gbridge,o findine "h g caution to build the bridge in two years. The bridges were built under these conditions, that over Clyde (fig bein) 1 . g erecte spoa t da t called Ramweill Craigs near Catchapel. e samth en I yea whicn i r h this granScottise mads th y wa tb e h Parliament r JameSi , s Hop f Hopetouo e d Damnan e Anna Foulis, his spouse, who had recently become proprietors of the mines at Leadhills obtaininn i , gratificatioa n unde e greath r t a gransea f o l t of these mines from Parliament, were empowered to improve the roads FORDS, FERRIES, FLOATS, AND BRIDGES NEAR LANARK.