Gazetteer of Scotland > Volume 1

GLASGOW.
403
These vessels depart from and arrive at the
quay of the Broomielavv, for the greater part,
twice a-day, from early in the morning till the
evening, the long- destination boats departing
and arriving less frequently. Boards, showing
the hours of sailing of nearly the whole, may be
seen near the head of the quay. In general, each
vessel carries ofF, on an average, twenty passen-
gers ; and on Saturdays, fairs, or other holidays,
it is not unusual for at least eighteen or twenty
boats to carry off from one hundred and fifty
to two hundred passengers each. The quan-
tity of coal consumed annually in the furnaces
of these steam-boats belonging to Glasgow, is
computed at about 25,000 tons. The number
of passengers altogether departing from Glas-
gow daily, by coaches, track-boats, and steam-
vessels, has been calculated at about 2000, the
same returning.
Hackney Carriages, §-c. — Hackney coaches
were first established at Edinburgh in 1673,
but they did not make their appearance " in
Glasgow till a much later period, and even now
their number is but few, when compared with
the wealth and population of the city. Coaches,
called noddies, drawn by one horse, [a great
improvement in street coaching, unknown in
Edinburgh], were first introduced into Glasgow
in 1818. Sedan chairs, which were in great
use formerly, have for some time past been on
the decline. In 1800, there were twenty-seven
for hire in Glasgow; in 1817, only eighteen;
and in 1828 the number was reduced to ten.
The number of hackney carriages in Glasgow,
in August 1828, were as follows :
Hearses . • • • 17
Coaches drawn by two horses 12
Noddies, or coaches drawn by one
horse .... 54
Chaises 23
Phaetons . . . ' . 22
130
There are seven persons who let hearses for
hire, nine who let coaches with two horses,
twenty-six who let coaches with one horse, and
seven who let phaetons. The hearses are very
gorgeously fitted up ; some of them cost two
hundred and fifty guineas. Although there are
but few hackney carriages here, when compared
with other great cities, it redounds much to the
credit of proprietors [and taste of the peoplej
that they are of a superior quality to those of
London and Edinburgh, In these cities it is
usual to purchase gentlemen's old carriages,
which in Glasgow is never done. It is not un-
common here for postmasters to give two hun-
dred guineas for a hackney coach, and one hun-
dred and fifty guineas for a chaise."* In Glas-
gow there are not a few private carriages ; and
it is recorded by tradition, that the first person
who kept one for his own use was Allan Dreg-
honi, timber-merchant and builder, who had it
made by one of his own house carpenters in
1752.
GLASGOW SOCIETY, &C.
Though this great emporium of the com-
merce and manufactures of Scotland possesses
not either the sublimity or the elegance of the
legal and aristocratic capital, it is, nevertheless,
as has been already mentioned, an impressive
and fine city. The number of its spires, and
the judicious arrangement of its public build-
ings — the more general prevalence of a mode-
rate degree of elegance in the private struc-
tures, and the grace given to the whole by the
Clyde, are points in which it surpasses the
more ambitious city of the east. It possesses
various other advantages in point of outward
appearance. Its cathedral gives a solemn dig-
nity to the more ancient district. The college
buildings, the finest in Scotland before the
erection of those of Edinburgh, and still pos-
sessing the superior merit of more nearly re-
sembling the splendid models of Oxford, have
also a highly dignifying effect. The Tron-
gate, which, with its continuations, intersects
the whole city from east to west, is a noble
piece of street scenery, indeed one of the no-
blest things of the kind in EuKope. Few
of the streets are irregular or mean, while
many of them may be called fine ; and what
must add greatly to the pleasure experienced
by a stranger contemplating them, is, that all
* To the above remarks of Dr. Cleland the present
writers give a cordial assent. The hackney coaches of
Edinburgh and London are the worst in Britain, and are
drawn by the most wretched of animals. In Edinburgh
they are so dreadfully bad, as frequently to break down
on the streets, and the poor starved cattle are often un-
able to move. As far as they can judge, the most suffi-
cient and the most elegant vehicles of this kind are to be
found in Manchester, where they are built for the pur-
pose.