Memorials of the lineage, early life, education and development of the genius of James Watt

Vlll INTRODUCTION.
tion, on a national scale, su to speak, accorded to the genius of
Watt in 1824.
With respect to his private history, however, little pains had as yet
been taken to render any of its published particulars accurate. Most
of the floating information that was to be met with was of the most
vague and indefinite description. Even the place of his birth was, at
the date of the institution of the Watt Club, in 1820, not clearly
known, or if known, was, in some quarters, not acknowledged. It is
true, perhaps, that the fact of the town of Greenock having this
honour was never seriously made matter of depute. Still, it having
been alleged in some publications that Glasgow had the distinction of
being not only the place of his birth but of his education, — while,
with not a few of his own townspeople, the impression seemed to
prevail that Crawfordsdyke (until the Reform Act a burgh of barony
independent, though within the parish of Greenock) was, in truth,
the favoured locality, — it was evident that some record of facts of a
more definite character than could be supplied by the then current
sources of information was expedient, — such a record as, from its
internal evidence, might be relied on. The state of incertitude and
vagueness was, in every sense, undesirable, and the risk of its being-
perpetuated becoming every clay more apparent. A long list, in
proof of this, not of inaccuracies only, but of the most erroneous state-
ments, might be cited, were it now necessary, from publications of the
period of recognised authority. Even within the town of Greenock
itself, the circumstances of his private history and the local reminis-
cences of his early life were fast fading away ; so that, unless some-
thing of the nature of the present undertaking had been, at the time,
entered upon, it might at length have come to pass, that, in the very
place of his nativity, the name of Watt, instead of being, as now, a
household word, might have ceased to awaken even a passing interest,
and in the course of years have been all but forgotten.