Topographical, statistical, and historical gazetteer of Scotland > Volume 1

742
HAMILTON.
name of the original parish is the Old Church parish
of Hamilton. The church is rather a handsome one,
and was designed about 100 years ago, by the elder
Adams, for 800 sitters. Till July 183.5, the original
parish was a collegiate charge. At that time, how-
ever, it was uncollegiated, quoad sacra, by the pres-
bytery of Hamilton, and, in 1836, was divided by the
same authority into two parishes, quoad sacra, the
new parish receiving the name of St. John's. Pa-
tron, the Duke of Hamilton. Stipend of minister
of the Old church £313 13s. lOd. There is no manse,
but in lieu of one, together with an allowance in
name of rent for glebe, the minister receives £107
10s. annually from the Duke of Hamilton. — St. John's,
the new parish-church, was built by the Hamilton
National Church association at a cost of £1,630,
and was opened in 1835. It is seated for 1,100 per-
sons. Stipend £313 ]3s. 10d. Patron, the Duke
of Hamilton. There is a manse, but no glebe, and
no provision in lieu thereof. — The first Relief con
gregation was established in 1776, when the church
was built, which is seated for 1,105. There is a
manse built in 1832, at the cost of £717, and an ex-
cellent walled garden. The stipend is £185 per an-
num The second Relief congregation was estab-
lished in 1831, and their church, seated for 94.5, was
erected at an expense of £1,300. Stipend £120 per
annum without manse or glebe. — The first United
Secession congregation was established in 1759, and
the church built in 1761, for 582 sitters. Stipend
£100 per annum, with house and garden The se-
cond United Secession congregation was established
in 1799, and the church is seated for 656 sitters. Sti-
pend £130 per annum, without manse or glebe. —
The Independent congregation was established in
1834, and their place of meeting is seated for 230.
Stipend £100 per annum, without manse or glebe
There is also an old Scotch Independent congrega-
tion, established about 60 years since, the numbers
of which are very limited, and the pastors have no
emoluments. The Reformed Presbyterians also
meet regularly in the town. The Catholic popu-
lation are superintended by a priest from Glasgow.
. — Hamilton is well-known for the excellence of its
educational establishments, and, in addition to the
parochial or grammar-school, there are many private
seminaries conducted with considerable ability. The
salary of the parochial master is £34 4s. per an-
num, and it is understood that his fees are not less
than £50, in addition to £30 for officiating as
session-clerk. The school-house is a venerable
erection near the centre of the town, containing a
long wainscotted hall, upon which are graven the
names of the former scholars, many of whom have
distinguished themselves in their several walks in
the world. In 1808. a public subscription library
was instituted in the town principally through the
exertions of the late Dr. John Hume, and it now
contains more than 3,000 volumes. The charitable
institutions belonging to the town and parish are of a
very respectable order. The Duke's hospital is an
old building, with a belfry and bell, situated at the
Cross, and erected in lieu of the former one, which
stood in the Netherton. The pensioners do not now
reside here ; but it contributes to the support of a
dozen old men, at the rate of £8 18s. yearly, with a
suit of clothes biennially. Aikman's hospital in
Muir-'street, was built and endowed in 1775, by Mr.
Aikman, a proprietor in the parish, and formerly a
merchant in Leghorn. Four old men are here lodged,
have £4 per annum, and a suit of clothes every two
years. Rae's, Robertson's, and Lyon's, and Hiss
Christian Allan's mortification also produce consider-
able sums for the support of the poor, and some other
funds have been placed at the disposal of the kirk-ses-
sion for the mitigation of distress.
To the stranger, however, the great object of at-
traction about Hamilton is the palace of the pre-
mier Duke, situated in the immediate neighbourhood,
with the enchanting grounds, laid out in lawn, woods,
and gardens, stretching far away around and beyond it.
The germ of this magnificent structure was originally
a small square tower, and the olden part of the present
house was erected about the year 1591 . The structure
was almost entirely rebuilt or renewed more than a
century afterwards. The present Duke — whose archi-
tectural taste is well known — commenced a series of
additions in 1822, which have entirely altered the
character of the building, and though scarcely yet
completed, promise to make it one of the most mag-
nificent piles in the kingdom, and not inferior to the
abode of royalty itself. " The modern part con-
sists of a new front, facing the north, 264 feet 8
inches in length, and 3 stories high, with an additional
wing to the west for servants' apartments, 100 feet in
length. A new corridor is carried along the back of
the old building, containing baths, &c. The front is
adorned by a noble portico, consisting of a double row
of Corinthian columns, each of one solid stone, sur-
mounted by a lofty pediment. The shaft of each
column is upwards of 25 feet in height, and about 3
feet 3 inches in diameter. These were each brought
in the block, about 8 miles from a quarry in Dalserf,
on an immense waggon constructed for the purpose,
and drawn by 30 horses. The principal apartments,
besides the entrance-hall, are, the tribune, a sort of
saloon or hall, from which many of the principal
rooms enter; a dining-room, 7] by 30; a library and
billiard-room; state bed-rooms, and a variety of
sleeping apartments; a kitchen, court, &c. The
gallery, 120 feet by 20, and 20 feet high, has also been
thoroughly repaired. This, like all the principal
rooms, is gilded and ornamented with marble, scag-
liola, and stucco-work. The palace stands close
upon the town, on the upper border of the great
valley, about half-a-mile west of the conflux of the
Clyde and Avon. As a curious statistical fact we
may state, that there were employed in building the
addition to the palace 28,056 tons, 8 cwt., and 3
quarters of stones, drawn by 22,528 horses. Of
I lime, sand, stucco, wood, &c, 5,534 tons, 6 cwt.,
I 1 quarter, 7^ lbs., drawn by 5,196 horses. In draw-
| ing 22,350 slates, 62,200 bricks, with engine-ashes,
; and coal-culm to keep down the damp, 731 horses
i were employed. Total days, during which horses
[ were employed for other purposes, 658-i. In the
I stables there are 7,976 tons of stones, drawn by
I 5,153 horses. Of lime, sand, slates, &c, 1,361 tons,
drawn by 1 ,024 horses ; besides 284 days of horses
employed for other purposes." [New Statistical
Account, July 1835.] The interior furnishings of
the palace are, in every sense of the word, well
worthy of its magnificent and imposing exterior, and
here, in many instances, in the case of the cabinet
and other furnishings, the triumph of art is so con-
spicuous that it may be truly said the " workman-
ship surpasses the material." The collection of
paintings in the picture-gallery, which has been vastly
increased by the present Duke, has been long allowed
to be the finest in North Britain, and it may not be
out of place to name a very few out of many that
are rare and excellent. Daniel in the lions' den has
been often described. The portraits of Charles the
First, in armour on a white horse, and of the Earl of
Denbigh in a shooting dress, standing by a tree, with
a black boy on the opposite side pointing to the
game, are allowed to be master-pieces by Vandyke.
An Ascension-piece, by Georgione; an entombment of