Page:The Strand Magazine (Volume 2).djvu/207

 Newton's discovery of the law of gravitation was due to the simple circumstance of seeing an apple fall to the ground, or the discovery of the steam locomotive was due to the throbbing of the kettle on Stephenson's hob. Somewhere in the last century a Bristol mechanic named Watts, who was employed in cutting up strips of lead into small pieces for the purpose of shot, is said to have imbibed a little too freely. He went to bed in a muddled state, and as is, we should imagine, not improbable, dreamt various dreams. Having taken too much strong drink and too little water, he would naturally conjure up visions of the only ale with which Adam was acquainted. He saw it rain heavily, and as he watched, to his surprise the rain became lead, and the earth was covered with shot. Awaking to his sound senses, Watts is pictured dwelling on his dream until he came to believe there was something in it. He determined to make an experiment, and proceeded forthwith to the tower of St. Mary Redcliff in Bristol. He is said to have proved the correctness of the idea of the dream. Shot could best be made by dropping the lead from a great height. Shrewd man as he was—up to a point—Watts by this discovery made, according to the chronicler, £10,000. Having made a fortune, however, he did not know how to keep it. He determined to build Clifton Crescent, but the excavations, &c., necessary to so grand an enterprise exhausted his money before a single house was commenced. Hence Clifton Crescent, we are told, became known as Watts's Folly.

This is one explanation of the inception of the idea of shot-making as now witnessed.