Page:The National Gazetteer - A Topographical Dictionary of the British Islands, Volume 2.djvu/111

Rh GLASGOW. 103 GLASGOW. wholesale and retail warehouses. The street is termi- nated hy St. David's church. On the side of the Trongate opposite to the Candleriggs is King-street, where once a market for butcher's meat, fish, and vegetables was carried on, and at the end of it, connecting Stockwell- Btreet with the Salt Market, runs the Bridgegate. In this portion of the town several of the ancient buildings of the city are still remaining, and the various lanes and closes with which it abounds are densely inhabited by the poorest and most squalid of the population, a great proportion of whom are Irish, and who upon any occasion of excitement become very quarrelsome and riotous, and afford much trouble and anxiety to the authorities. Returning to the Trongate up King- street, and proceeding still eastward, we arrive at the Tron church and steeple, and a little further on is the cross, of which the original steeple still remains. From this the High-street runs to the N., the Salt Market to the S., London-street and Monteith-row to the S.E., and the Gallo wgate to the E. Close by the cross on the N. side of the Trongate stands the Tontine Hotel, so called be- cause it was built on that principle. It is under a piazza, and contains a large newsroom, which, before the building of the new exchange, was the principal place of meeting for the merchants and men of business of the city. In front of it stands, on a pedestal, a metal equestrian statue of King William III., which was given to the town by James Macrae, a citizen of Glasgow, who was some time governor of Madras. The gaol and the court-houses once stood at the corner of the Trongate and High-street, but the site is now occupied by shops and warehouses, and the buildings themselves are removed to the bottom of the Salt Market. They are in the Grecian style of architecture, and lie on the right-hand side of the way in going towards the " Green." The townhall, however, still remains, and contains portraits of some of the English and Scotch kings, and a marble statue of William Pitt, by Chantrey. The Salt Market, of which, as well as of Glasgow Cathedral, we have so lively a picture in Sir W. Scott's "Rob Roy," is in modern times tenanted by a very different class of inhabitants to that which occupied it in those days. It is now one of the most squalid parts of the city, the lower portion of it being especially dirty, and crowded by the stores of brokers, old clothes dealers, and a miscellaneous horde of the poorest and most miserable dregs of the popula- tion, whose very means of existence are an enigma to the stranger who has to thread his way among them. On the left side of it is St. Andre w's-square, the area of which is chiefly occupied by St. Andrew's church. At the extreme lower end of the Salt Market, and opposite the courthouses and the gaol buildings, is an extensive area in which "Glasgow fair" is held annually for a week at the beginning of July ; and on the left lies the " Green," which covers an area of 140 acres, and has a good carriage drive of 2J miles round it. In olden times this used to be a favourite resort for the wealthy and aristocratic classes of the citizens, but they have now laid out a fine park on the estates of Woodlands, Kelvingrove, and Claremont, in the western parts of the city, and the Green is now almost entirely left to the humbler classes of the com- munity. By them it is greatly valued, both for tho space which it affords for air and exercise, and also for its convenience as a washing and bleaching ground, since it is not only bordered by the Clyde, but boasts of several fountains of fine spring water. Not far from the entrance is a freestone obelisk to the memory of Nulson, 144 feet high, erected by subscription at tho cost of 2,075. From the Green itself a view is obtained down the river, showing the bridges and the extensive liuildings which stand on the opposite side; while,- at a few miles' distance to the S. and S.E. may be discerned the Oathkiii Braes and tho mansion of milk, at which Mary Queen of Scots is said to have lodged on the night of tho battle of Langside, whii'h was fought on the 13th May, 1,7, after her escape frciii Lochlevin Castle. On (lie S. and N.E. sides oi the ( in en are seen tho tall chimneys or " stalks," as they are called in local parlance, of several spinning and weaving establishments, and of factories of various kinds, from which dense volumes of smoke proceed, and not unfrequently impart to the Green and its surrounding neighbourhood an appearance and an atmosphere which are neither very bright, healthy, or agreeable. Leaving the Green by its N.W. gate, and crossing Charlotte- street (in which stands a Roman Catholic convent, and an infirmary for diseases of the eye), we come to London- street, which leads us back to the Cross. Pursuing our way still eastward along tho Gallowgate, we reach tho infantry barracks, and still farther on a spacious horse and cattle market, lying to the N., and occupying an area of 30,000 square yards. Then returning west- ward along I)uke-street, in which are situated the city and county bridewell, or north prison, and the house of refuge, an institution for the reformation of juvenile thieves, we find ourselves in tho High-street, a little way above Glasgow College. High-street itself being, as we have already said, one of the oldest streets of the city, presents to our view several buildings which testify to its antiquity. From it diverge numerous "closes," " wynds," and "vennels," or, in other words, narrow lanes and culs-de-mc, similar to those which exist in the Trongate, Bridgegate, King-street, and Stockwell-street, and which are densely inhabited by a poor and dirty population, amongst whom fever and various kinds of infectious diseases, bred by want of proper air, suste- nance, and clothing, were once very prevalent. These evils are, however, being daily mitigated by the efforts of the corporation, who, as opportunity offers, improve them both physically and morally, so that the whole eondition.of the place and its inhabitants has undergone, and is still undergoing, a wonderful change for the better. The most important building in this street is the College or University, with the Hunteriau Museum behind it. Both these institutions will be more fully described hereafter. For the present, proceeding still northwards up the High-street, we meet with a con- siderable bend in the road, which here becomes steep and narrow. This portion of it is called the " Bell of tho Brae," and is said to have been memorable for the defeat (A.D. 1300) of the English under Henry Lord Percy of Alnwick, by the Scotch under Wallace. This, however, is only a legend, to be found in a 15th century romance, and cannot be accepted as a genuine historical fact. At the top of the hill are the Rotten-row (in which there is an asylum for indigent old men) to the W., and the Drygate to the E. Still proceeding north- ward, we reach the infirmary and fever hospital, standing upon the site once occupied by the bishop's palace, while on the right appears the venerable pile of the High Church, or Cathedral, surrounded by its ancient bury ing- ground and precincts. This noble building, which is one of the finest examples remaining to us of the early English, or first pointed style of Gothic architecture, stands upon very high ground, and was founded by Joce- line, abbot of tho Cistercian monastery of Melrose, in 1176, upon the spot where there previously stood a church, which was built in 1123, and consecrated to St. Mungo by Bishop John Achaius in 1136, but was burnt down in 1175. The beautiful crypt was consecrated by Bishop Joceline in the year 1197, and he was also for a long time believed to have built tho choir and the lady- chapel, but the truth is, that although they were com- menced by him, they were finished by his successors. This prelate it was who obtained from William the Lion (circa 1180) a royal charter constituting Glasgow a burgh of barony holding under the bishop, and it was not until the year 1G3G that tho burgh duties were declared by an Act of Parliament payable to the crown. The bishops also claimed and exercised the right of nominating tho magistrates and bailies so late as the year 1655. But in 1690 a charter of William and Mary conferred upon tho city and town council the right of appointing their own magistrates in a manner similar to that which was enjoyed by other royal burghs. It was Joceline also who obtained from King William tho charter for the holding of Glasgow fair annually, and