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Roads.—In the 12th century an act was passed providing that the highways between market-towns should be at least 20 ft. broad. Over the principal rivers at this early period there were bridges near the most populous places, as over the Dee near Aberdeen, the Esk at Brechin, the Tay at Perth and the Forth near Stirling. Until the 16th century, however, traffic between distant places was carried on chiefly by pack-horses. The first stage-coach in Scotland was that which ran between Edinburgh and Leith in 1610. In 1658 there was a fortnightly stage-coach between Edinburgh and London, but afterwards it would appear to have been discontinued for many years. Separate acts enjoining the justices of the peace, and afterwards along with them the commissioners of supply, to take measures for the maintenance of roads were passed in 1617, 1669, 1676 and 1686. These provisions had reference chiefly to what afterwards came to be known as “statute labour roads,” intended primarily to supply a means of communication within the several parishes. They were kept in repair by the tenants and cotters, and, when their labour was not sufficient, by the landlords, who were required to “stent” (assess) themselves, customs also being sometimes levied at bridges, ferries and causeways. By separate local acts the “statute labour” was in many cases replaced by a payment called “conversion money,” and the General Roads Act of 1845 made the alteration universal. The Roads and Bridges (Scotland) Act of 1878 entrusted the control of the roads to royal and police burghs and in the counties to road trustees, from whom it was transferred by the Local Government Act of 1889 to county councils, the management, however, being in the hands of district committees. The Highlands had good military roads earlier than the rest of the country. The project, begun in 1725 under the direction of General George Wade, took ten years to complete, and the roads were afterwards kept in repair by an annual parliamentary grant. In the Lowlands the main roads were constructed under the Turnpike Acts, the earliest of which was obtained in 1750. Originally they were maintained by tolls, but this method, after several counties had obtained separate acts for its abolition, was superseded in 1883 by the act of 1878.

Canals.—There are four canals in Scotland, the Caledonian, the Crinan, the Forth and Clyde and the Union, of which the Caledonian and Crinan are national property (see ). The Forth and Clyde Navigation runs from Bowling on the Clyde, through the north-western part of Glasgow and through Kirkintilloch and Falkirk to Grangemouth on the Forth, a distance of 35 m. There is also a branch, 2¾ m. long, from Stockingfield to Port Dundas in the city of Glasgow, which is continued for the distance of 1 m. to form a junction with the Monkland canal. This last has a length of 12¼ m., and runs from the north-east of Glasgow through Coatbridge to Woodhall in the parish of Old Monkland. It was begun in 1761 and opened for traffic in 1792. The Forth and Clyde canal was authorized in 1767 and opened from sea to sea in 1790. In 1846 its proprietors bought the Monkland canal, and in 1867 the combined undertaking passed into the hands of the Caledonian Railway Company. The Union canal, 31½ m. long, starts from Port Downie, on the Forth and Clyde canal near Falkirk, and runs to Port Hopetoun in Edinburgh. Begun in 1818 it was completed in 1822, and in 1849 was vested in the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway Company, which in turn was absorbed by the North British Railway Company in 1865. The Forth and Clyde canal has a revenue of about £120,000 a year, including receipts from the docks at Grangemouth, and the expenditure on management and maintenance is about £40,000. The Union canal earns between £2000 and £3000, and its expenditure is but little