[History of Rutherglen Contents]
BOTH Rutherlgen and Kilbride abound with excellent WATER. Copious and permanent springs are found at Mains, Rawhead, Clochern, &c. &c. One of the most remarkable rises a little below Crosshill: it produces a run that would fill a pipe of a two inch bore. It is called St. Mungo’s, from its having been consecrated to that famous ecclesiastic. But the virtue of the consecration gradually diminished, as ignorance and superstition decreased.
HARD, or mineral water is chiefly found, where coal, iron and lime prevail. Calcareous and chalybeate springs must, therefore, abound in both parishes. A few Hepatic, or sulphureous springs make their appearance in the banks of Calder, a little above Calderwood. But the most celebrated in the parish, is in the lands of Long Calderwood, the property of Doctor John Hunter* in London. The existence of the hepatic gas is evident by the colour, taste and smell of the water; and by its discolouring silver, when put into it. Many applications, in the way of medicine, have, with success, been made to this water. At Shawfield there is a spring of the same kind; although neither so copious nor strong.
THE village of Kilbride is plentifully supplied with water, there being no fewer than 26 pit-wells, some of which are pretty deep. The method of procuring the water is none of the best: it is raised by means of a long pole, having a hook, or cleek fastened at the lower end, and on which the pitcher, or stowp is suspended. This method, as the well are always open above, is attended with danger, as well as difficulty. There is one pump-well in the village, but, like all the rest of the wells, is private property.
THE town of Rutherglen is furnished with a considerable number of pump-wells, built of stone, at the public expence. These, with private wells in closes and gardens, afford a copious supply of water.
BEFORE I proceed to describe the extraneous fossils, it will not be improper to give some account of the subterraneous geography of these parishes.
THE general succession of the strata, in Rutherglen, as far as the parish has been explored, will appear from the following Table.
A TABLE of the STRATA at Stonelaw.
|
Feet. |
In. |
|
| Earth and clay, |
12 |
0 |
| Free-stone, white, argillaceous, |
20 |
0 |
| Till, with plies,1 |
18 |
6 |
| Till, with vegetable impressions, |
16 |
0 |
| Doggar, coarse iron-stone, |
0 |
6 |
| Coal, soft, |
4 |
6 |
| Till, with plies, |
6 |
0 |
| Free-stone, extremely hard, |
24 |
0 |
| Coal, soft, |
1 |
0 |
| Till, with some seams of iron-stone, |
62 |
0 |
| Coal, soft, |
5 |
0 |
| Till, |
20 |
0 |
| Marble, full of bivalve shells, |
1 |
6 |
| Till, |
8 |
0 |
| Free-stone, white, very hard, |
2 |
8 |
| Till, with iron-stone, |
32 |
0 |
| Coal, soft, |
6 |
0 |
| Till, with a stratum of free-stone, |
47 |
6 |
| Doggar, |
0 |
8 |
| Coal, soft, |
3 |
0 |
| Till, with vegetable impressions, |
10 |
0 |
| Free-stone, |
6 |
0 |
| Till, with bivalve shells, |
14 |
0 |
| Iron-stone, two strata, |
0 |
10 |
| Coal, hard, good for Iron-works, Forges, &c. |
3 |
6 |
| Till, |
3 |
0 |
| Coal, soft, |
1 |
6 |
| Till, thin seams of coal, free-stone and iron-stone, penetrated by boring, |
84 |
0 |
|
413 |
8 |
THIS arrangement is not invariably the same. The stratum of marble, for example, is, in some places, no more than an inch or two in thickness, and in others is it entirely lost. The thickness of the seams of free-stone varies considerably. The coal itself is, in this respect, liable to exceptions. The strata are frequently deranged by troubles, or dykes, of which three large ones run in a direction east and west, and at pretty regular distances from each other. They are intersected by smaller ones, running generally from south to north. The derangement is so great at one place in Stonelaw, that the hard coal, at the depth of about 50 fathoms, on the north of the dyke, is, in the space of a few yards, raised to near the surface. Owing to these troubles, the dip of the metals is various from one foot in 6, to one in 18. The strata rise to day at one o’clock.
THE general succession of strata in the space intervening between Cathkin hills on the north, and Rawhead hills on the south of Kilbride, is argillaceous free-stone, schistus, iron-stone and coal. Among these substances, however, there is no small disorder, with respect to arrangement, position and qualities.
No where in the parish are they displayed to better advantage, and are, perhaps, no where more regular than in the Blackcraig. The face of this craig is about 140 feet perpendicular, and exhibits more than 40 distinct strata, in regular succession. Of these about 17 are iron-stone; the rest are free-stone and till. The appearance, especially to a person who takes pleasure in contemplating the works of the Almighty, is so beautiful and grand, that a Gentleman, struck with the sight, gave the following account of it in the Glasgow Mercury, May 1785. When addressing the inhabitants of Clydesdale, respecting their manufactures, and mentioning the many local advantages they enjoyed, he says, “That at a place called the Blackcraig, near Calderwood, may be counted 17 seams of iron-stone lying one above another, a sight, I verily believe is not to be found any where else in the world.” The Gentleman who gave this account is a careful observer of the works of nature, and has travelled the greatest part of Europe.
THE general arrangement of the strata, in different parts of the parish, will be seen from the following Tables.
A TABLE of the STRATA, penetrated by boring
near the Mains of Kilbride.
|
Feet. |
In. |
|
| Earth, |
2 |
0 |
| Free-stone, argillaceous, |
1 |
0 |
| Daugh, a soft and black substance, chiefly of clay, mica, and what resembles coal-dust, |
0 |
6 |
| Free-stone, brownish, |
12 |
0 |
| [Free-stone,] white, |
3 |
0 |
| Plies, |
3 |
0 |
| Daugh, |
0 |
6 |
| Plies, |
2 |
0 |
| Free-stone, |
4 |
2 |
| Till, |
58 |
10 |
| Iron-stone, |
0 |
6 |
| Till, |
5 |
9 |
| Whin-stone, |
0 |
7 |
|
93 |
10 |
HERE the search was left off, owing to an opinion that coal, at least in this country, is never got below whin-stone.
A TABLE of the STRATA near Torrance.
|
Feet. |
In. |
|
| Earth, |
8 |
0 |
| Free-stone, whitish, |
6 |
0 |
| Till, |
1 |
4 |
| Free-stone, |
2 |
9 |
| Till, soft and black, called the coal crop, |
3 |
3 |
| Till, hard, |
10 |
0 |
| Doggar, or Cathead band, |
0 |
8 |
| Till, |
5 |
0 |
| Coal, |
1 |
6 |
| Till, |
4 |
0 |
| Coal, called jaunt coal, |
1 |
8 |
| Fire-clay, |
3 |
6 |
| Coal, called smithie coal, because used for smith’s forges, |
1 |
2 |
| Mill-stone grit, argillaceous, fine grained, |
1 |
2 |
| Till, |
5 |
0 |
| Plies, |
3 |
6 |
| Till, with iron-stone, |
9 |
6 |
| Coal, |
0 |
6 |
| Till, |
1 |
4 |
|
67 |
10 |
STRATA in the Murrays.
|
Feet. |
In. |
|
| Earth and clay, |
43 |
0 |
| Till, |
2 |
9 |
| Plies, gray, |
1 |
5 |
| Fre-stone, with vegetable impressions, |
0 |
10 |
| Till, black and hard, |
2 |
1 |
| Coal, |
0 |
2 |
| Free-stone, |
2 |
0 |
| Till, |
0 |
10½ |
| Free-stone, with 3 black stripes or seams, |
5 |
2 |
| Till, |
4 |
8 |
| Free-stone, |
2 |
7 |
| Till, very hard, |
1 |
3 |
| Iron-stone, |
0 |
3 |
| Free-stone, |
10 |
1 |
| Till, inflammable, |
0 |
5 |
| [Till,] not inflammable, |
2 |
0 |
| Coal, |
3 |
4 |
| Till, called the pavement, |
3 |
0 |
| Coal, |
0 |
7 |
| Free-stone, with vegetable impressions, |
2 |
5 |
| Plies, |
2 |
0 |
| Till, black, |
4 |
3 |
| Plies, |
0 |
10 |
| Till, |
0 |
5 |
| Plies, |
1 |
0 |
| Free-stone, white, |
5 |
8 |
| Till, |
2 |
0 |
| Free-stone, white, |
4 |
7 |
| Plies, |
1 |
8 |
| Coal, |
0 |
7 |
| Till, |
1 |
4 |
| Free-stone, white, |
4 |
6 |
| Plies |
1 |
2 |
| Till, hard, inflammable, with a large portion of iron, |
0 |
2 |
| Coal, |
0 |
10 |
| Till, pavement, |
2 |
1 |
|
121 |
11½ |
A few yards north of the pit in which the last mentioned metals were dug through, is found a thick dyke of hard argillaceous free-stone, south of which the strata are altered, as appears by the following Table.
|
Feet. |
In. |
|
| Earth, |
18 |
0 |
| Till, |
2 |
0 |
| Doggar, coarse iron-stone, |
0 |
4 |
| Till, |
2 |
0 |
| Free-stone |
9 |
0 |
| Till, with sea-shells, entrochi, &c. |
24 |
0 |
| Splint-coal, |
0 |
8 |
| Iron-stone, |
0 |
4 |
| Daugh, |
0 |
2 |
| Till, |
5 |
10 |
|
62 |
4 |
A TABLE of the STRATA, as they appear
in the Gill, near Bogton.
|
Feet. |
In. |
|
| Earth, |
12 |
0 |
| Free-stone, |
7 |
0 |
| Plies, |
2 |
4 |
| Coal, |
0 |
3 |
| Till, |
2 |
0 |
| Free-stone, white, of a fine close texture, |
6 |
0 |
| [Free-stone,] very hard, called the whin-stone band, |
2 |
0 |
| [Free-stone,] called the mill-stone band, excellent grind-stones are made of this, |
8 |
0 |
| Plies, |
3 |
6 |
| Till, |
8 |
4 |
| Free-stone, |
4 |
0 |
| Till, |
6 |
0 |
| Iron-stone, |
0 |
4 |
| Till, |
2 |
0 |
| Iron-stone, |
0 |
5 |
| Till, |
1 |
6 |
| Iron-stone, |
0 |
5 |
| Till, |
3 |
0 |
| Iron-stone, |
0 |
5 |
| Till, |
2 |
7 |
| Iron-stone, |
0 |
5 |
| Till, |
3 |
2 |
| Iron-stone, |
0 |
4 |
| Till, |
2 |
6 |
| Iron-stone, |
0 |
5 |
| Till, |
4 |
0 |
| Iron-stone balls, from 4 feet to a few inches in breadth, and from 6 to 2 inches in thickness: they are not the septaria: and lie in a flying stratum, |
0 |
6 |
| Till, |
6 |
0 |
| Iron-stone, coarse, |
1 |
0 |
| Till, |
3 |
0 |
| Lime-stone, good, |
4 |
0 |
| [Lime-stone,] coarse, with a mixture of iron, |
2 |
0 |
| Chert, or rock flint, |
0 |
4 |
| Fire clay, |
2 |
0 |
| Sclutt, soft, and coarse till, |
10 |
0 |
| Lime-stone, coarse, with sea-shells, |
1 |
0 |
| Free-stone, calcareous, with shells, |
2 |
0 |
| Earth and clay, |
2 |
6 |
| Till, |
1 |
6 |
| Lime-stone, good, |
1 |
8 |
| [Lime-stone,] coarse, called the causeway bed, |
0 |
6 |
| [Lime-stone,] thickness not known, | ||
|
120 |
6 |
LIME-STONE abounds in many parts of the parish; and so far as has been explored, is incumbent on alternate strata of till and iron-stone, but not on coal. The lime-stone is full of marine productions. The strata generally dip to the north-east.
IT may in general be observed, that here, as well as in most places in Britain and Ireland, coal is found attended with strata, formed of matter deposited by water, as till, free-stone, &c.
COAL, in many places of Scotland, is found immediately below a thick stratum of lime-stone, containing the exuviæ of the inhabitants of the Ante-diluvian ocean. Examples of this we have at Hurlet, Loudoun, New-Kilpatrick, &c.
