Encyclopaedia Britannica > Volume 21, ROT-Siam

530
SCOTLAND
[statistics.
Roads.
Canals.
Rail¬
ways.
Communication.—In the 12th century an Act was passed provid¬
ing that the highways between market-towns should be at least
20 feet broad. Over the principal rivers at this early period there
were bridges near the most populous places, as over the Dee near
Aberdeen, the Esk at Brechin, the Tay at Perth, and the Forth
near Stirling. Until the 16th century, however, traffic between
distant places was carried on chiefly by pack-horses. The first
stage-coach in Scotland was that which ran between Edinburgh
and Leith in 1610. In 1658 there was a fortnightly stage-coach
between Edinburgh and London, but afterwards it would appear
to have been discontinued for many years. Separate Acts en¬
joining the justices of the peace, and afterwards along with
them the commissioners of supply, to take measures for the
maintenance of roads were passed in 1617, 1669, 1676, and
1686. These provisions had reference chiefly to what afterwards
came to be known as “statute labour roads,” intended primarily
to supply a means of communication within the several parishes.
They were kept in repair by the tenants and cotters, and, when
their labour was not sufficient, by the landlords, who were required
to “ stent ” (assess) themselves, customs also being sometimes levied
at bridges, ferries, and causeways. By separate local Acts the
“statute labour” was in many cases converted into a payment
called “conversion money,” and the General Roads Act of 1845
made the alteration universal. By the Roads and Bridges (Scotland)
Act of 1878 the old organization for the management of these roads
was entirely superseded in 1883. The Highlands had good (mili¬
tary) roads earlier than the rest of the country. The project, begun
in 1725, took ten years to complete, and the roads were afterwards
kept in repair by an annual parliamentary grant. In the Lowlands
the main lines of roads have been constructed under the Turnpike
Acts, the earliest of which was obtained in 1750. Originally they
were maintained by tolls exacted from those who used them ; but
this method was—after several counties had obtained separate
Acts for its abolition—superseded throughout Scotland in 1883
by the general Act of 1878, providing for the maintenance of all
classes of roads by assessment levied by the county road trustees.
Scotland possesses two canals constructed primarily to abridge
the sea passage round the coast, —the Caledonian and the Crinan.
The Caledonian Canal, extending from south-west to north-east,
a distance of 60 miles along the line of lochs from Loch Linnhe
on the west coast to the Moray Firth on the east coast, was
begun in 1803, opened while yet unfinished in 1822, and com¬
pleted in 1847, the total cost being about £1,300,000. Constructed
originally to afford a quicker passage for ships to the east coast of
Scotland and the coasts of Europe, it has, owing to the increased
size of vessels, ceased to fulfil this purpose, its chief service having
been in opening up a picturesque route for tourists, assisting local
trade, and affording a passage for fishing boats between the east
and west coasts. The Crinan Canal, stretching across the Mull of
Cantyre from Loch Gilp to Jura Sound, a distance of 9 miles, and
admitting the passage of vessels of 200 tons burden, was opened in
1801 at a cost of over £100,000. The principal boat canals are the
Forth and Clyde or Great Canal, begun in 1798, between Grange¬
mouth on the Forth and Bowling on the Clyde, a distance of 30|
miles, with a branch to Port Dundas, making the total distance
33f miles ; the Union Canal between Edinburgh and the Forth and
Clyde Canal at Port Dundas, near Glasgow, completed in 1822 ; and
the Monkland Canal, completed in 1791, connecting Glasgow with
the Monkland mineral district and communicating with a lateral
branch of the Forth and Clyde Canal at Port Dundas. Several
other canals in Scotland have been superseded by railway routes.
The first railway in Scotland for which an Act of Parliament
was obtained was that between Kilmarnock and Troon (9| miles),
opened in 1812, and of course worked by horses. A similar rail¬
way, of which the chief source of profit was the passenger traffic,
was opened between Edinburgh and Dalkeith in 1831, branches
being afterwards extended to Leith and Musselburgh. By 1840
the length of the railway lines in Scotland for which Bills were
passed was 191J miles, the capital being £3,122,133. The chief
railway companies in Scotland are the Caledonian, formed in 1845,
total capital in 1884-85 £37,999,933; the North British, of the same
date, total capital £32,821,526 ; the Glasgow and South-Western,
formed by amalgamation in 1850, total capital £13,230,849 ;
the Highland, formed by amalgamation in 1865, total capital
£4,445,316 ; and the Great North of Scotland, 1846, total capital
£4,869,983. The management of the small branch lines belonging
to local companies is generally undertaken by the larger companies.
By 1849 there were 795 miles of railway in Scotland. The follow¬
ing table (X.) shows the progress since 1857 (see also Railway,
vol. xx. pp. 226-230):—
Year.
1857
1874
1884
1243
2700
2999
Passengers.
First
Class.
1,823,542
4,261,473
4,711,500
Second
Class.
2,180,284
3,769,485
2,715,932
Third and
Mixed
Classes.
10,729,677
30,189,934
46,877,642
Total.
14,733,503
38,220,892
54,305,074
•&0 “c
s a |-g
£
916,'
2,350,593
2,931,737
Receipts
from
Goods
Trains.
Total.
£ £
1,584,781 2,501,478
3,884,424 6,235,017
4,426,0237,357,760
Agriculture.—Table XL shows the divisions of land as regards Owner-
ownership according to the return (the latest) of 1873 :— ship of
Owners holding each
Less than 1 acre
More than 1 acre and less than 10.
10
50
100
500
1,000
2,000
5,000
10,000
20,000
50,000
000 and upwards
No areas
No rental
100
50.
100.
500.
1,000.
2,000.
5,000.
10,000.
20,000.
50,000.
100,000.
113,005
9,471
3,469
1,213
2,367
826
596
587
250
159
103
44
24
11
11
Total 132,136 18,946,694 18,698,804
S £
28,177
29,327
77,619
86,483
556,372
582,741
835,242
1,843,378
1,726,869
2,150,111
3,071,728
3,025,616
4,931,884
i,147
Gross
Annual
Value.
£
5,800,046
1,433,106
843,471
380,345
1,674,773
1,263,524
1,179,756
1,946,507
1,043,519
965,166
945,914
588,788
623,148
10,740
<1
O SO®
03 c4 G
*3°
P*H o
£ s.
205 17
48 17
10 17
4 8
3
2
1
1
0 12
0 9
0 6
0 4
0 3
•1
.2
•4
•5
2-9
ST
4'4
9-7
9T
11-3
16-2
16-0
26T
1 0 100-0
soil.
Scotland, as compared with either England or Ireland, is em¬
phatically a country of large proprietors. Taking the population
of 1871 as the basis of comparison, a little over 3'9 per cent, of the
population of Scotland have a share in the ownership of the soil,
the proportion in England and Wales being about 5 per cent., while
in Ireland it is only about 1'7. On an average each owner in
England possesses 33 acres, in Scotland 143, and in Ireland 293.
While in Ireland, however, only a little over one-half of the number
of proprietors possess less than 1 acre, and in England about five- .
sevenths, this class in Scotland amounted to about five-sixths of the
whole. They possessed only -1 per cent, of the total area, the re¬
maining 99-9 being possessed by 19,131 persons, while 171 persons
held 58'3, and 68 persons 42-1. Whereas in England 1 and in
Ireland only 3 proprietors held upwards of 100,000 acres each,
in Scotland there were 24 persons who each held more than this
amount, and together they possessed 26T per cent, of the total
area. The excessive size of the properties of Scotland may be
partly accounted for by the fact that a large proportion of the
land is so mountainous and unproductive as to be unsuitable for
division into small properties ; but two other causes have also
powerfully co-operated with this, viz., the wide territorial authority
exercised by some of the lowland nobles, as the Scotts and
Douglases, and such powerful Highland nobles as the Argylls and
Breadalbanes, and the stricter law of entail introduced by the Act
of 1685 (see Entail, vol. viii. p. 452). The largest estates are
thus in the hands of the old hereditary families. The almost
absolute power anciently wielded by the landlords, who within
their own territories were lords of regality, tended to hinder in¬
dependent agricultural enterprise, and it was not till after the
abolition of hereditary jurisdictions in 1746 that agriculture in
Scotland made any real progress.
The following table (XII.) gives a classification of the holdings Holdings,
of Scotland in 1875 and 1880 :—
Years.
50 Acres and
under.
Number.
Area in
Acres.
From 50 to 100
Acres.
Number.
Area in
Acres.
From 100 to 300
Acres.
Number.
Area in
Acres.
From 300 to 500
Acres.
Area in
Acres.
From 500 to 1000
Acres.
a™"
Above 1000 Acres.
Number.
Area in
Acres.
Total.
Number.
Area in
Acres.
1875
1880
56,311
55,280
666,356
653,295
697,620
721,844
11,823
12,348
1,980,081
2,082,914
1967
2007
729,885
750,295
691
661
427,478
418,650
126
79
109,675
114,298
80,796
80,101
4,611,095
4,741,296
It will be observed that nearly one-half of the total area of the hold¬
ings is occupied by those possessing from 100 to 300 acres each. The
holdings over 300 acres are generally sheep farms, and it is to the
enterprise of the medium class of holders that the agricultural
progress of Scotland is chiefly due. A society of improvers in
the knowledge of agriculture was founded in 1723, but ceased to
exist after the Rebellion of 1745 ; and the introduction of new and
improved methods, where not the result of private enterprise, has
been chiefly associated with the efforts of the Highland Society,
instituted in 1783, and latterly known as the Highland and Agri¬
cultural Society. A great stimulus was also afforded in the be¬
ginning of the 19th century by the high prices obtained during the