Imperial gazeteer of Scotland, or, Dictionary of Scottish topography > Volume 1

INTRODUCTION.
1755, when the exports amounted in value to £535,576, and the imports to £465,411, Scot-
land's commerce was almost as unknowing of foreign lands as her own hardy mountaineers,
and as cold and cheerless as their climate and their dress. But from that period, and especially
from a decade before the close of last century, it has progressively, though not uniformly, moved
on to importance. The following is an account of the official and declared value of the im-
ports into and the exports from the Scottish ports, from 1824 to the latest period at which
the accounts are made up separately from those of the ports of England and Ireland : —
Official Value of Exports.
Imports
British and Irish
Foreign
Declared
Tears.
into
Produce and
and Colonial
Total.
Value of
Scotland.
Manufactures.
Merchandise.
Exports.
1824
£3,145,958
£5,009,324
£159,896
£5,169,220
£2,670,134
1825
3,719,366
4,937,746
109,811
5,047,557
2,721,186
1826
3,086,679
4,283,074
147,270
4,430,344
2,167,459
1827
3,948,205
5,932,850
126,745
6,059,595
2,745,965
1828
4,023,642
6,148,444
185,138
6,333,632
2,897,525
1829
3,888,994
6,528,587
127,530
6,656,117
2,787,935
1830
3,908,714
6,984,392
125,941
7,110,333
2,843,143
1831
4,187,087
7,943,612
111,086
8,054,698
3,189,318
1832
4,451,351
7,120,595
155,615
7,276,210
2,640,751
1833
4,638,652
6,820,381
130,721
7,051,102
2,636,840
1834
4,683,985
7,159,102
117,564
7,276,666
2,647,212
1835
4,659,151
8,372,598
156,735
8,529,333
3,272,250
1836
6,053,611
8,258,673
131,572
8,390,245
3,265,995
1837
5,130,371
7,250,554
134,332
7,384,886
2,724,476
1838
5,878,612
10,012,599
134,790
10,147,389
3,469,051
1839
4,933,611
11,216,504
105,376
11,321,800
3,961,692
1840
6,614,446
12,956,241
127,440
13,083,684
4,394,374
1841
6,476,670
12,240,523
132,451
12,372,974
4,124,957
1842
5,268,114
11,910,328
88,446
11,998,774
3,731,578
1843
7,043,691
13,712,735
91,479.
13,804,214
4,073,626
1844
7,003,773
14,249,975
84,329
14,334,304
4,253,944
1845
8,264,806
14,751,366
105,927
14,857,293
4,320,275
1846
6,563,277
14,183,634
90,812
14,274,446
4,462,634
1847
7,367,465
12,723,097
144,419
12,867,516
4,151,695
1848
7,991,493
12,186,206
74,355
12,260,561
3,349,548
1849
9,508,064
13,721,492
192,127
13,913,619
4,027,626
1850
8,956,715
17,689,656
227,696
17,917,352
5,129,732
1851
8,921,108
17,478,695
393,174
17,871,869
5,016,116
The amount of customs from Scotland was, in 1836, £1,129,802 ; in 1844, £1,915,990 ;
in 1850, £1,949,030 ; in 1855, £2,042,396 ; in 1860, £2,453,045 ; in 1864, £2,826,827.
The head-ports, in 1864, named in the order of the magnitude of their customs, were Green-
ock, Glasgow, Leith, Port-Glasgow, Aberdeen, Dundee, Kirkcaldy, Perth, Arbroath,
Grangemouth, Montrose, Troon, Alloa, Dumfries, Inverness, Banff, Ayr, Peterhead, Wick,
Campbelton, Ardrossan, Borrowstownness, Stranraer, Lerwick, Kirkwall, Wigton, and Storno-
way. But Granton also, in 1866, from being a sub-port, was made ahead port.
FISHERIES.
The salmon fisheries of Scotland have long been extensive and famous, both yielding a
large supply of prime fish for home consumption, and affording a considerable quantity for
exportation to England ; but they have materially declined during the last thirty years, and
probably are now worth something less on the average than £150,000 a-year. The haddock
fisheries, along the east coast, for the supply of fish both in a fresh state and in a half-cured
state, have of late years become important, and may be regarded as inexhaustible. Whitings,
skates, flounders, rock cod, and cuddies also are abundant. Turbot occur in the frith of
Clyde and in the Moray frith. The lythe is extensively fished on the west coast. Soles,
mullets, and garnets are scarce. Crabs are common ; cockles abundant ; lobsters not infre-
quent ; shrimps and prawns rare ; oysters very plentiful in small limited beds, but elsewhere
not to be found. Several kinds of fish form no small part of the staff of life to the inhabi-
tants of many parts of Shetland, Orkney, and the Hebrides. But by far the most important
of the Scottish fisheries, both for market value, and for diffused connexion with general
economy, are those of herrings, cod, and ling.