Topographical dictionary of Scotland > Volume 1

CAMP
CAMP
buoys, and to which are appended numerous single
lines, of length sufficient to reach the depth at which
the fish are most generally found. About 500 families
are employed in this fishery. The herring-fishery is
extensively carried on, during the months of June, July,
and August ; and in 1843, 150 boats, of four men each,
were engaged in this fishery, in the sound of Kilbrandon.
Cod, haddock, and ling are also taken in abundance,
and are partly sent in a fresh state to Glasgow, whence
they are conveyed to the neighbouring towns, and parti}'
dried for the purpose of exportation to distant mar-
kets.
The number of vessels registered, as belonging to the
port, is thirty-three, chiefly sloops and schooners in the
coasting trade ; this is exclusive of the number of fish-
ing-boats, which is very considerable, and there is also
a vessel of 515 tons, employed in the timber trade with
Canada. In 1842, 646 vessels entered inwards, and 365
cleared outwards, two of which were in the foreign
trade. The custom-house department is under the
superintendence of a collector, comptroller, and two
tide-waiters; and the excise-office has a collector, two
clerks, three supervisors, and fifty officers. The har-
bour is sheltered on the north and south by lofty hills,
and on the south-east by the isle of Devar, with which
it is joined, on the south side, by a bar of sand nearly
half a mile in length, which is visible at low water, and,
by intercepting the violence of the waves, renders the
anchorage peculiarly safe. The entrance is from the
north, by a narrow channel of great depth ; and the
harbour, which has generally from three to fifteen
fathoms water, has two boldly projecting piers, of which
the eastern, called the new pier, is of recent formation.
The quays are well adapted for the loading and unloading
of vessels, and every requisite accommodation has been
provided, for facilitating the trade of the port. The
market, which is on Thursday, is amply supplied with
grain and agricultural produce; and fairs are held for
cattle, horses, and various kinds of merchandise, at
Whitsuntide, Lammas, Michaelmas, and Candlemas.
In the market-place, which is in the centre of the main
street, is an ancient cross, richly sculptured with foliage,
and supposed to have been brought from Iona.
By a charter of William III., the town, which was
previously a burgh of barony, was erected into a royal
burgh, and the government vested in a provost, two
bailies, a dean of guild, a treasurer, and twelve coun-
cillors, who are elected under the provisions of the
Municipal Reform act. The burgesses have no privi-
leges beyond the freedom of carrying on trade within
the burgh ; the fees of admission are, to a stranger, as
a merchant burgess, £3. 3., and as a craftsman, £2. 2.,
and to the sons, sons-in-law, or apprentices of burgesses,
one-half of those sums. The magistrates hold courts for
civil matters, to any amount ; in criminal cases, their
jurisdiction is confined to misdemeanours and offences
against the police, in which they are assisted by the
town-clerk, who acts as their assessor. The town-house,
situated in the. central part of the town, is a neat build-
ing, with a handsome spire, and contains two council-
chambers for the transaction of public business, and a
spacious hall in which the courts are held. Above these,
is the prison for debtors, consisting of two apartments ;
and on the ground-floor, are three cells for criminals,
all badly ventilated and lighted, and of which two are
173
damp. The burgh is associated with Ayr, Irvine, In-
verary, and Oban, in returning a member to the im-
perial parliament ; the parliamentary boundaries extend
beyond those of the royalty of the burgh, including the
populous villages of Dalintober and Dalaruin. The
number of householders of the rent of £10 and up-
wards, within the royalty, is 165, of whom seventy- four
are burgesses ; and beyond the royalty, but within the
parliamentary boundary, forty.
The parish forms a portion of the peninsula of
Cantyre, including the ancient parishes of Kilkivan,
Kilmichael, and Kilchonsland, which were united
about the time of the Reformation. It is bounded
on the east by the sound of Kilbrandon, and on
the west by the Atlantic Ocean, and is about thirteen
miles in length, and from six to ten in breadth,
comprising an area of 87-§ square miles ; two-thirds
of the land are arable, and the remainder pasture,
heath, and waste. The surface is diversified with hills,
rising both from the north and south shores of the
bay of Campbelltown, and varying from 800 to 1000 feet
in height. Of these, the highest is Bengaillin, about
a mile from the town, and commanding an extensive
prospect, embracing, to the north-west, the islands of
Islay, Jura, and Gigha ; to the north-east, the isles of
Arran, Bute, and Cowal, with the Frith of Clyde ; to
the south, the lowlands as far as Loch Ryan, with
Ailsa Craig ; and to the south-west, the coast of Ireland,
with the isle of Rathlin. Between the town and the
bay of Machrihanish, which indents the western shore,
is a tract of level ground, about four miles in length,
and nearly three in breadth, called the Laggan of Can-
tyre, having an elevation of nearly forty feet above
the sea, and of which the soil has the appearance of
being alluvial. The soil of the parish is extremely
various, but, in many parts, of considerable fertility;
the principal crops are, bear, oats, barley, potatoes,
which are raised in large quantities, and beans. The
system of agriculture is improved, and much of the
waste land has been drained ; the hills, of which some
are cultivated on the acclivities, afford pasturage for
black-cattle and sheep, the latter of the native breed.
The substrata are chiefly sandstone, limestone, and
ironstone, and the rocks are composed of mica-slate,
porphyry, greywacke, and trap ; some beautiful varieties
of green, brown, and other porphyry, occur on the
island of Devar. Coal is found within three miles of
the town, but of inferior quality ; and there are seve-
ral mines in operation, formerly wrought by a com-
pany, for the supply of the town, to which the coal
is conveyed by a canal. Several plantations, chiefly of
ash, elm, plane, larch, and Scotch and spruce firs,
are in a very thriving state.
The ecclesiastical affairs are under the superin-
tendence of the presbytery of Cantyre, of which Camp-
belltown is the seat, and the synod of Argyll ; there
are two ministers, of whom one officiates in the Gaelic,
and the other in the English language. The minister
of the first charge, which is the Gaelic, has a stipend
of £146. 15. 10., whereof about one-third is paid from
the exchequer, with a manse, and three glebes, valued
at £92 per annum ; and the minister of the second
charge has a stipend of the same amount, with a
glebe valued at £26. 10. per annum ; patron, the Duke
of Argyll. The Gaelic church, which had been, for some