Downloaded from http://trngl.lyellcollection.org/ at Indiana University Libraries on July 19, 2015 HUNTER—ON LEADHILLS AND WANLOCKHEAD. 373 No. XL. — THE SILURIAN DISTRICTS OF LEADHILLS AND WANLOCKHEAD, AND THEIR EARLY AND RECENT MINING HISTORY. BY JOHN R. S. HUNTER, D.SC, LL.D., F.R.Ph.S.E., Eon. Mem. [Read 29th May, 1884.] LEADHILLS, the seat of an extensive mining industry, is situated in the parish of Crawford, in the southern extremity of Lanark­ shire, adjacent to the sources of the Glengonnar Water, on the mountain road leading from Upper Nithsdale to Upper Strath- clyde. It is about 2 miles distant from Wanlockhead, about 44 miles S.E. by S. from Glasgow, and 46 miles S.W. by S. from Edinburgh. Its site has an elevation of at least 1300 feet above sea-level, and is possibly the highest inhabited land in Scotland. The village lies on the side of a valley; some of the houses being in rather a low position, one position being named the High Toun and the other the How Toun. The appearance of the neighbour­ ing country is of the most sterile character, hill above hill showing only scanty herbage or heather. The miners have, however, reclaimed about 300 acres, and grow crops of potatoes and hay, corn not ripening here, and the green patches show in pleasing contrast to the otherwise bleak and barren country above. The outlook is magnificent: in a clear day can be seen on the north the Pentlands, on the south the Solway Firth, the Isle of Man, the Cumberland Hills, on the west Ailsa Craig, the Arran Peaks, the Paps of Jura, and Ben Lomond. The parish of Crawford is very hilly, and was aptly designated a portion of the Southern Highlands by Heron, the friend and admirer of Bobert Burns. According to Forrest's map of the county, published in 1816, its area is 118J square miles, or 60,183 Scots acres. The boundary line of the county runs for the greater part along the watershed which divides the basin of the Clyde from the rivers flowing through the neighbouring counties. Many of the higher hills are only partly in Lanarkshire. They may be classed as follows:—1st. A great portion of the ground between the Avon and the Douglas is 1000 feet above sea- level; on the boundary line are Goodbush Hill, 1556 feet; Priest- hill Heights, 1615 feet; and Nutberry Hill, 1712 feet. 2nd. The district between the Douglas and the El van is moss, moorland, Downloaded from http://trngl.lyellcollection.org/ at Indiana University Libraries on July 19, 2015 374 TRANSACTIONS OF THE GEOLOGICAL SOC. OF GLASGOW. and hill, a large area being 1000 feet in height, except near the Clyde and some tracts on the Douglas and Duneaton "Waters. The chief heights along the boundary are Cairntable, 1944 feet; Stoneyhill, 1843 feet; and Wanlock Dod, 1808 feet, Many other hills reach a height of from 1500 to 1800 feet. Tinto rises to 2335 feet. 3rd. A triangular mass of hills in the extreme between the Elvan and Clydesburn having, along the boundary, Lowther Hill, 2377 feet; Queensberry Hill, 2285 feet; and this is the most southerly point in the county. The Lowther Hills belong to a range running 7 miles N.E. and S.W. between the Elvan and the Powtrail, of which Green Lowther Hill attains the altitude of 2403 feet. Between Clydesburn and the Mouse the ground rises rapidly from the Clyde. On the boundary are Hill- shawhead, 2141 feet; Coulter Fell, 2330 feet; and others nearly as high. An old rhyme of the district runs as follows : — Tweed, Annan, and Clyde Sprang frae ae hillside ; Tweed ran, Annan wan, Clyde fell an' brack its back o'er Corra Linn. This is nearly correct—the sources of all these streams not being far from each other. The Annan flows southwards to the Sol way Firth, a distance of nearly 30 miles; the Tweed goes by Tweeds- muir and Drumelzier, and then eastwards, having a course of nearly 100 miles ; the Clyde takes a north-westerly direction till* below Greenock, it expands into the Firth of the name, a distance of over 100 miles. For 20 miles from its source, it winds and wimples around green hills without trees, covered for the most part with grass and heather, but in some places deep moss hags with their treacherous " walle'es." The river is formed by the junction of the Dair and Powtrail Waters with the Clyde Burn, a few miles above Elvanfoot, where also the Elvan Water meets the others. In some of the valleys of this upland district vast quanti­ ties of alluvial drift are strewn about. Great banks have been formed along the foot of the hillsides, with stretches of meadow land below. There is a lower valley cut out by the action of the river, with haughs in its windings presenting here and there steep gravel banks. Near Crawford the Clyde is joined by the Midloch and Camp Waters, and a little above the village of Abington the Downloaded from http://trngl.lyellcollection.org/ at Indiana University Libraries on July 19, 2015 HUNTER—ON LEADHILLS AND WANLOCKHEAD. 375 G-lengonnar flows into it. Near Roberton, between Abington and Lamington, the Clyde passes from the Silurian rocks to the Old Red Sandstones, and the country begins to assume a more beautiful and cultivated aspect. Its course soon curves NE. round the base of Tin to Hill, which is composed of a mass of intrusive felstones rising through chocolate-coloured mudstones and conglo merates of the Lower Old Red period. The strata dip here generally N.N.W,, which shows the lowest beds. On the south side of the hill under which they lie, at angles varying from 20 to 50 degrees, at no great distance below might possibly be found the upper members of the Upper Silurian series. The Clyde there flows for several miles through a large, flat, mossy valley extending to Biggar. Here it is only separated from the Tweed by a narrow neck of land and a slight elevation, and the waters of the two meeting occasionally when in spate. By this means, doubtless, it is that salmon find their way to the upper reaches of Clyde, as, of course, they cannot pass the Falls below. The two rivers soon diverge, however, the Clyde flowing for some miles N.W., over Calciferous sandstones near Carstairs, where it is joined by the Medwyn. Running then to the S. W. it again finds the Old Red strata where the Douglas Water joins, and resumes its N.W. course, reaching after a time the famous " Falls of Clyde." Near the village of Crawford or Crawford-Lindsay, which was erected into a Burgh of Barony between 1214 and 1249, stands the Castle of Crawford which tradition says that Sir William Wallace took by assault, putting the garrison of fifty English soldiers to the sword. In the adjoining parish of Lamington Wallace married Marion, daughter of Hugh de Bradfute, and from the daughter of this marriage the Baillies of Lamington claim descent. Crawford-John parish and village have the distinction of being the only ones in Scotland called by a christian as well as a surname, and which were given to distinguish them from the adjoining parish of Crawford-Lindsay. When the Crawfords obtained the grant of Barony in the thirteenth century it was designated as Crawfordville de Johannes, which soon after was corrupted into the present title. This was a favourite locality of King James V. during his many hunting expeditions, and here was erected Bog- house, where he resided. It is said that a castle of considerable Downloaded from http://trngl.lyellcollection.org/ at Indiana University Libraries on July 19, 2015 376 TRANSACTIONS OF THE GEOLOGICAL SOC. OF GLASGOW. importance once stood near the village, and that its materials were used in the construction of Boghouse at the period when this parish and that of Crawford were annexed by the Crown. From ancient records it would appear that great entertainments were given here. At one of them, when the French ambassador spoke of the barrenness of the country, the king retorted that it could produce richer fruits than could be found in France, and a wager being made, he won it by having set before each guest at dessert a bowl with gold pieces made from the produce of the mines on Glengonnar and Elvan Waters. Various localities in the parish show traces of extensive workings for gold and other minerals. Wanlockhead, a great seat of mining industry belonging to the Duke of Buccleuch, is situated on the N.E. boundary of the parish of Sanquhar, about two miles from Leadhills, and might be placed as in the same locality, for the mines of the two companies who now work both districts have their mines underground close to one another. The Wanlock, or Grey Glen, runs south-easterly from the Crawick stream for nearly four miles towards the Lowther Hills, the name evidently having regard to the dreary aspect of rock, bent, and heather which meet the eye on the hillsides. The Wanlock stream, though fed by numerous rills, has a grey, bluish- white tinge characteristic of its surroundings. The Wanlockhead smelting works convey the water in glazed pipes underground for several miles, as motive power for the various pumping engines used to drain the lower levels of the lead mines. Near the head of the stream, and at the base of the Dod Hill, lies the village of Wanlockhead, the houses consisting mostly of "a but and a ben.'' The exploration for lead, gold, and other minerals at Leadhills and Wanlockhead has been carried on for a long period of time.