Gazetteer of Scotland

PAl
to government, and, in 1792, paid
3000I.: a black lbap manufactory alfo
paid 4500I. in the fame year. In its
municipal capacity, Paifley is govern-
ed by three bailies, of which the eld-
cft is commonly in the commiffion of
the peace, a treafurer, town clerk,
and 17 counfellors, who are annually
elected. Its revenues are fmall, but
have been lately increafed, in propor-
tion to the increafe of population. It
enjoys all the privileges and powers
neceffary for government and police,
without any of the burdens to which
royal boroughs are fubjected, and
which always retard their prosperity.
The freedom of the town is confer-
red on moderate, terms. It received
its firft charter of erection from King
James IV. in the year 1488 ; being
then erected into a burgh of barony,
under the superiority of George Shaw,
the Abbot of the monastery of Paif-
ley, and his fucceffors; and, upon the
Reformation, it came into the power
of the Hamilton family, now repre-
fented by the Marquis of Abercorn,
who from it takes his fecond Scottifh
title of Baron Paifley. The country
around the town is called 77?,? parifh
of the abbey of Paifley, the extent of
which is -about 9 miles in length, and
from half a mile to three miles in
breadth. The furface is irregular,
fwelling, particularly in the neigh-
bourhood of the town, into gentle e-
minences. Towards the N-. of the
town it is remarkably level, having
formerly been a morafs, but now cul-
tivated. On the oppofite fide of Paif-
ley, the ground is hilly ; one of the
eminences, called Stanley brae, being
6?,o feet above the level of the fea at
flood. The foil varies considerably ;
but is chiefly light loam, rendered to-
lerably productive by long culture,
but wet and cold, from having a bot-
tom of clofe impervious till. This
circumftancc, and the vicinity to the
Atlantic, renders the climate moift ;
and rheumatic, pulmonary, and other
inflammatory diforders, are very pre-
valent. About 140 acres are covered
with natural wood, which is all that
remains of the extenfive/or*;/? of Paif-
ley, mentioned in many ancient papers.
The whole diftrict abounds with va-
rious ufeful and curious minerals.
Coal, limeftbne, and freeftone, are
wrought in many places ; and there
PAN
is one quarry, of a species' of laph
ollaris, called Ofmund flone, which is
Are proof, and highly on demand for
the hearths of ovens. In the limeftone
quarries are found foffil shells, and o*
ther marine exii-vite, ; great variety
and abundance. Befides the fhells na-
tural to our ,'feas, are found many fo-
reign ihells; as anom'ne, gryphytes, mil-
Uperes, fungites, pectines, &c. Corals
and fhells have alfo been found in the
coal fhafts, in detached pieces of lime-
ftone and fchiftus, fometimes at the
depth of not lefs than 160 feet. In
the limeftone there are often fine foe-
cimens of calcareous, and rhomboidal
fpars : one bed of fchiftus contains con-
siderable quantities of iron pyrites, and
even native fulphaie of iron, which is
extracted from it by a company efta-
bliihed in the neighbourhood for the
manufacture of copperas. Some of
the beds offchif.us and freeftone exhi-
bit fine fpecimens of impreffions of
native and exotic plants. In a thriving
manufacturing town like Paifley, the
population muft be always varying ;
and there is every reafon to believe,
that, fince the returns were made to
Sir John Sinclair, in 1791, the number
of inhabitants has increafedone fourth.
At that time, the number of fouls in
the town of Paifley was 13800
In the fuburbs . . . 6103
Total . . 19903
befides 4689 in the country part of
the abbey parifh ; which makes the
whole number in the two parifhes-
24,592, being an increafe of 17,793
fince 17^5.
PALDIE, or PALDIEKIRK ; a
fmall village in the parifh of Fordoun,
in Kincardinefhire, noted for its three
days fair. It is faid to have received
its name from St. Palladius, firft bifhop
of the Scots, who was interred there.
PANBRIDE ; a parifh in Forfar-
fhire, fituated on the fea coaft, at the
mouth of the Frith of Tay. It is about
s\ miles long, and 2 broad : the ge-
neral appearance is flat, with a consi-
derable declivity from the N. to the
fea ; the coaft is flat and rocky, but
has two open harbours at the Eafl and
Weft Havens, where fmall veffels may
deliver their cargoes during the rum-
mer months. The foil varies confi-
derably ; being fandy on the coaft,
loam or clay in the middle, and muiry