Topographical dictionary of Scotland > Volume 1

G R E E
GREE
Burgh Seal.
GREENLOANING, a village, in the parish of Dun-
blane, county of Perth, 5 miles (N. E. by N.) from
Dunblane ; containing 5S^inhabitants. It is situated in
the north-east part of the parish, and on the east bank
of the river Allan : there .is a Secession place of wor-
ship.
GREENOCK, a sea-port,
burgh, and market-town, in
the Lower ward of the county
of Renfrew, 17 miles (W. N.
W.) from Renfrew, 22 (W. N.
W.) from Glasgow, and 65
(W.) from Edinburgh ; com-
prising the parishes of East,
Middle, and West Greenock,
and containing 36,936 inha-
bitants. This place is said
by some to have derived its
name, in the Gaelic language
Grian-chnoc, from the site of its ancient baronial castle
on a hill unsheltered by any intervening object from
the rays of the sun. It originally consisted partly of
the lands of Easter Greenock, in which is the suburb of
Cartsdyke, or, as it is also called, Crawfurdsdyke, so
named from the erection of a small quay by its proprie-
tor, Thomas Crawfurd, Esq. ; and partly of the small
village of Greenock, belonging to Sir John Shaw, owner
of the barony of Wester Greenock, and who, in 1669,
purchased from Margaret Crawfurd, lady of Kilberny,
the barony of Easter Greenock, with the exception of
the lands of Crawfurdsdyke, which are now the pro-
perty of William Crawfurd, Esq. On the decease of Sir
J. Shaw, the last of that name, in 1752, John Shaw Stew-
art, Esq., afterwards Sir John Shaw Stewart, succeeded
to the lands of Easter and Wester Greenock, in right of
his mother; and on his death in 1S12, they passed to
his nephew, Sir Michael Shaw Stewart, from whom they
descended to Sir Michael Robert Shaw Stewart, the
present proprietor.
The villages both of Wester Greenock and Crawfurds-
dyke at first consisted only of a few thatched huts,
stretching along the bay, and inhabited by fishermen ;
but they gradually increased, and in 16/0, Sir John, son
of the former Sir John Shaw, obtained from Charles II.
a charter annexing the lands of Finnart, of which he
had become proprietor, to the barony of Wester Gree-
nock, and erecting both into one barony, under the
designation of the barony of Greenock. The inhabitants
appear to have pursued the fishery with success ; they
had some shipping, and carried on a considerable coast-
ing, and a small foreign, trade, chiefly in herrings, of
which, in 1674, they sent 20,000 barrels to Rochelle,
exclusively of other quantities to Sweden and the Baltic.
The two places had each a harbour capable of receiving
vessels of large burthen ; and from that of Crawfurds-
dyke, a part of the expedition to Darien was fitted out,
in 1697- The union of the two kingdoms opened to
the inhabitants new channels of commerce ; and in
1719, they fitted out the first vessel employed in the
American trade, which they afterwards prosecuted with
singular success, bringing home great quantities of
tobacco, which they exported for the supply of the con-
tinent. The rapidly-increasing importance of Greenock
was, in fact, such that it excited the jealousy of the
ports of London, Bristol, and Liverpool ; but the break-
522
ing out of the American war greatly obstructed its chief
source of prosperity, and the loss of the American trade
for some time impeded the commercial interests of the
port. It was, however, soon counterbalanced by an
enlarged traffic with South America and the East and
West India colonies ; the trade of the port revived ;
and it has continued to increase till the present time,
the place now ranking as one of the principal sea-ports
of the country. The town, extending in every direction
for the accommodation of its growing population, has
become the residence of numerous merchants and ship-
owners; the seat of various thriving manufactures, which
put it nearly on a par with the most flourishing com-
mercial and manufacturing towns in the kingdom ; and
more recently, a parliamentary borough.
The town is beautifully situated on the south shore
of the Frith of Clyde, which is here four and a half
miles broad ; and extends for almost a mile along the
margin of the united bays of Greenock and Crawfurds-
dyke. The buildings occupy a narrow site of level
land, bounded on the south by a ridge of hills which
rises abruptly to an elevation of nearly 600 feet imme-
diately above the town, commanding a richly-diversified
view of the Frith and the coast of Dumbarton, on the
north, and much variety of interesting scenery on the
east and west. The place is for the most part very
irregularly built, consisting, in the older portion, of vari-
ous narrow and ill-formed streets, and in that of more
modern date, of several spacious and handsome streets,
with numerous pleasant villas, especially towards the
west, iu which direction chiefly the houses are increas-
ing. It is paved, lighted with gas, and amply supplied
with water from the vicinity, passed through filters
previously to its being distributed through the town,
the necessary works having been constructed by a com-
pany incorporated by act of parliament, in 1825, chiefly
for providing water-power for giving motion to the
machinery of mills and factories. For this latter pur-
pose, an enterprize of vast magnitude has been com-
pleted under the direction of Mr. Thorn, civil engineer,
and proprietor of the Rothesay cotton-works, at the
suggestion of Sir Michael Shaw Stewart, from whom the
undertaking is called the Shaw's-water works. These
works, which are mostly situated at a distance of about
three miles, on the south-west side of the ridge of hills
that overlooks the town, consist partly of a spacious
reservoir formed by strong embankments, inclosing an
area of 295 acres, and containing 284,678,550 cubic feet
of water, conveyed by an aqueduct six miles in length
from numerous streams ; and there is also a compen-
sation reservoir of forty acres, containing 14,465, 89S
cubic feet. From the principal reservoir, which has an
elevation of 500 feet above the town, the water descends
by a gradual declivity, and in its course towards Gree-
nock forms, at. convenient intervals, many falls of greater
or less height, from which it is diverted to the several
factories that have been erected near it, supplying to
each 1200 cubic feet per minute for twelve hours
daily. The aggregate power of these different falls,
which vary in depth, according to the wants of each
factory, is estimated as equivalent to that of 1782 horses.
This important undertaking was successfully completed
in 1829, at an expense of £51,000, including the pur-
chase of the ground.
The public library, established in the year 1783, and