Stirlingshire

STIRLINGSHIRE, midland county, Scotland, bounded north by Perthshire, north-east by Clackmannanshire and the Firth of Forth, south-east by Linlithgowshire, south by Lanarkshire and the detached part of Dumbartonshire and south-west and west by Dumbartonshire; area 288,842 ac. (excluding water). In the north-west the Grampians culminate in Ben Lomond (3,192 ft.), and the centre is occupied by the Lennox hills. The oldest rocks are the Dalradian schists in the north-west beyond a great fault which runs from near the bottom end of Loch Lomond in a north-easterly direction across Scotland. On the south-eastern side of the fault are the conglomerates and sandstones of Lower Old Red Sandstone age, followed by the Upper Old Red series. Then follows the Carboniferous system occupying the rest of the county. The true coal-measures are well-developed between Grangemouth and Stenhousemuir and about Falkirk. Intrusive sheets of basalt have penetrated the Carboniferous rocks and are quarried for road metal ; Abbey Craig and Stirling Castle hill are formed of one of the more important of these intrusions. Much boulder clay covers the older rocks and an interesting blue marine clay is found beneath it in the Endrick valley. The Carse of Stirling is overlaid by the muds and sands of the 50-ft. raised beach; and traces of the I oo-f t. beach also are found.

The chief river is the Forth, which forms most of the northern boundary. The other important streams are the Carron, rising in Campsie fells and flowing to the Forth at Grangemouth; the Endrick, which, rising in Fintry hills, empties itself into Loch Lomond ; the Kelvin, which, from its source in Kilsyth hills, flows southwest to the Clyde at Glasgow after a run of 2 2 m. ; and the Avon, rising in the detached portion of Dumbartonshire, and flowing to the Forth. The principal lochs include the greater part of the eastern waters of Loch Lomond; a small portion of the upper end of Loch Katrine, and Loch Arklet, in the north-west area, which, like Loch Katrine, provides part of the water supply of Glasgow. The Forth and Clyde canal crosses the south-eastern corner of the county from Grangemouth to Castlecary.

History and Antiquities.

The wall of Antonius, built by Lollius Urbicus, in A.D. 142, connecting the Forth and Clyde, passed through the south-east of the county, in which it is locally known as Graham's Dyke. At Castlecary and Camelon many relics have been found. The Camelon causeway ran eastwards from Castlecary and crossed the rampart at Camelon, whence it proceeded northwards to Stirling and the Forth, where there was a station near the present bridge of Drip. Thence it crossed the river to Keir and Dunblane in Perthshire. After the withdrawal of the Romans the county once more fell into the hands of the native inhabitants, who, however, gradually retired before the advance of the Saxons and Scots. By the time of Malcolm Can more (d. 1o93) the lowland area had become settled, but the highland tract remained a disturbed and disturbing region until the pacification following the Jacobite rising of The county played a conspicuous part in the struggle for Scottish independ ence, being particularly associated with many of the exploits of Sir William Wallace and Robert Bruce. The three great battles of the independence were fought in the shire—Stirling Bridge (1297), Falkirk (1298), Bannockburn (13ig.). James III. was

stabbed to death in a cottage in the village of Milton after the battle of Sauchieburn (1488), but apart from the disastrous de feat of the Covenanters at Kilsyth (1645) and the transitory tri umph which Prince Charles Edward won at Falkirk (1746), the history of the shire practically centres in that of the county town.

Agriculture and Industries.

The arable soils are of two kinds, locally distinguished as "carse" and "dryfield," the rest of the land being composed of pasture, moor and peat. The "carse" extends along the valley from Buchlyvie to the eastern boundary. The soil consists of the finest clays, without stones, but inter spersed with strata of marine shells. It has been largely stripped of the overlying peat, and by draining, subsoil ploughing and the use of lime has been converted into a rich soil, especially adapted for wheat and beans. The "dryfield," which occupies the valleys and the higher ground bordering the carse, is fertile and suited for potatoes and turnips. Oats and wheat are the chief grain crops. Beans are also extensively grown. The cattle are comparatively few, but numbers of sheep, chiefly black-faced, are raised. The average size of the holdings is from 7o to 8o acres. Birches grow on the lower slopes of the mountains in Buchanan and Drymen, and oaks on the banks of Loch Lomond. Larch and Scots fir are the leading trees in modern plantations.

The coalfield of the south-east supplies the staple industry, and coal is also mined in the east, near the Forth and Clyde canal. Iron ore and fireclay are also obtained, while granite, limestone and sandstone are quarried. The ironworks at Carron near Fal kirk are important and nails are made at St. Ninians and else where. Woollens are manufactured at Stirling and Bannockburn; calico-printing and bleaching are established in the south-west, especially at Lennoxtown and Milton, and there are chemical works at Falkirk and Denny. Tanning, iron-founding, paper-mak ing, brewing and distilling are carried on at different places, and shipbuilding at Grangemouth, the chief port. The southern and south-eastern districts are served by the L.N.E. railway from Edinburgh to Glasgow (via Falkirk) and the L.M.S. railway from Glasgow to Stirling (via Larbert), while branches connect Grange mouth, Denny and other places with the through-lines. A L.N.E. line crosses the shire, mostly in the north, from Stirling to Balloch, and there is a line of the same company from Glasgow to Aberfoyle.

Population and Administration.

In 1931 the population of the county was 166,447. The principal towns to be noted are Falkirk (population 36,565) ; Stirling (22,593) ; Grangemouth (11,798) ; Kilsyth (7,551) ; Denny and Dunipace (5,512) ; and Bridge of Allan (2,897). The shire returns a member to parliament with Clackmannan, and Stirling, Falkirk and Grange mouth one member. The police burghs include Falkirk, Grange mouth, Kilsyth, Denny and Dunipace and Bridge of Allan. The shire forms a sheriffdom with the counties of Dumbarton and Clackmannan, but there is a resident sheriff-substitute at Stirling and another at Falkirk. The shire is under school board jurisdic tion, and there are high schools at Stirling and Falkirk.