Paisley and the river Clyde near Renfrew-ferry — a
distance of 3^ miles — was opened in 1837. The line
of railway to Glasgow and Ayrshire, opened in 1840,
and that to Greenock, opened in 1841, have been
described in separate articles. In consequence of a
short canal, to avoid the shallows at Inchinnan bridge,
having been cut, and of the river Cart having been
deepened soon after the year 1786, the river is navi-
gable up to the town for vessels of from 60 to 80
tons burthen. Additional improvements upon it,
for which an act of parliament was obtained, have
been in progress since 1835. The expenditure on
these for the five years ending November 1840,
amounted to £19,032 7s. 4.^d. A branch of about
J of a mile in length from the Great canal to the
Clyde, nearly opposite the mouth of the Cart, was
opened in 1840, for the benefit of the Paisley trade.

With regard to public buildings, the first place is
due to the Abbey-church of the monastery, which,
as has already been incidentally stated, was estab-
lished here by Walter the High Steward, about the
year 1163. It was founded for monks of the Clu-
niac order of Reformed Benedictines, who were
brought from the priory of Wenlock in Shropshire,
his native county, and was specially dedicated to St.
James the Apostle, St. Mirinus, and St. Milburga.
The latter was the patroness of the parent-house of
Wenlock. Mirinus— or, as he is popularly called,
Mirren — was a confessor who, in early times, passed
his life in this vicinity, and became the tutelar saint
of the place. The monastery was so munificently
endowed by the founder and his successors, and other
pious persons, that it became the most opulent in the
south of Scotland, with the exception of Kelso. By
the original constitution it was ruled by a prior, but
in 1219-45 it was raised to the rank of an abbacy.
This was the burying-place of the Stuarts before
their accession to the throne of Scotland ; and even
after that period, it was sometimes employed as such,
Robert III., and the two consorts of Robert II.,
having been entombed here. Fordun records that
this monastery was burnt by the English in 1307.
It was afterwards rebuilt, and greatly enlarged and
embellished. The greater part, if not the whole of
what now exists, appears to have been built in the
15th century, by Abbot Thomas Tarvas, who died
in 1459, and Abbot George Shaw, who ruled here
from 1472 to March 1498-9.* A tower or steeple
which had, by its own weight, and the insufficiency
of the foundation, given way ere it was well com-
pleted, was rebuilt at immense cost by John Hamil-
ton, the last abbot, in the 16th century; but about
the end of the same century it again " fell with its
own weight, and with it the quire [choir] of the
church. "f The remains of the strong clustered pil-
lars that supported the tower are still to be seen.
The buildings of the monastery, with its orchards
and gardens, and a small park for fallow-deer, were
surrounded by a magTiilicent wall, upwards of a mile
in circumference, formed of squared freestone, and
adorned with statues. This wall was constructed
by Abbot Shaw, in 1485, as appears from an inscrip-
tion on a stone which was originally fixed on it, and
now forms the lintel of a house in Lawn-street. The
wall remained nearly entire till 1781, when the Earl
of Abercorn sold the stones to the feuars of the New
Town, by whom they were used in building their
houses. A portion which has escaped destruction
is still to be seen in its place near the Seedhill bridge.

* See the Auohinleck Chronicle, where (p. 13,) "the mony
notable thingis" done by Abbot Tarvas towards re-edifying
the structure are recorded; and Crauford (p. 17), who says
that the " wall, with most part of the fabric of the abbey that
now stands, was built" by Abbot Shaw.

f Appendix to Hamilton's Desiriptiou, p. 1+7.



The church, when entire, appears to have consisted
of a nave, a tower, a choir, and a northern transept,
with the chapel, whose proper name is ' St. Mirren 's
aisle,' but which is better known by that of ' the
Sounding aisle.' It does not appear that there was
a southern transept, the aisle just mentioned partly
occupying what would have formed its site. The
edifice has been 265 feet in length, measured over
the walls. The internal measurement of the nave is
93 feet in length, and 59| feet in breadth, including
the width of the aisles. The transept measures in-
ternally 92i feet by 35, and the choir, which has
been without aisles, 123j by 32 feet. The measure-
ment of the transept is carried across the church to
the wall of the Sounding aisle. The west front of
the church is an elevation of much dignity, composed
of a central and two lateral compartments, separated
and flanked by buttresses, three of which are termi-
nated by recently erected cones, a similar one of
which is on the east end of the nave. These cones
are by no means ornamental. The aisles are lighted
by pointed windows, in the decorated style. On the
north wall towards its west end, is a porch, above
which is erected the present vestry. "Through this
porch is an entrance in a style of architecture some-
what similar to that of the western. On the left
wall of the portico is a Latin inscription, which tells
that John de Lithgow, abbot of the monastery, chose
this for his place of sepulture, on the 20th day of
January, 1433. The clerestory windows are twelve
in number, and are on each side of the main body of
the nave. The eastern gable of the nave is merely a
screen of modern masonry filling up the western arch
beneath the place where the great tower stood. On
the outside of this gable may be traced the remains
of a mural tablet, apparently erected to the memory
of the unfortunate John Hamilton, the last of the
abbots, who was ignominiously put to death at Stir-
ling in 1571, for adhering to the cause of Queen
Mary. The initials J. H., and the Hamilton arms,
with the motto ' Misericordia et Pax,' are still visi-
ble. But neither the modern part of the gable, the
window inserted in it, the bell-turret that rises above
it, nor the roof of the building, also of modern date,
are at all in keeping with the other parts of the edi-
fice. — The interior of the nave is truly magnificent.
Ten massy clustered columns, 17 feet in height, with
simple but elegantly moulded capitals, divide the
aisles from the body of the fabric. Of these columns,
the circumference of each of the two nearest the
west is more than double that of any of the others,
plainly indicating that they were intended by .the
architect, in connection with the front wall, to sup-
port two western towers. From the imposts of the
columns spring pointed arches, with delicate and
graceful mouldings. From a floor formed above the
first tier of arches, spring those of the triforium.
Above the triforium rises the clerestory, the arches
of which are simple, pointed, and narrow, but of just
proportions. The original roof, which has given
place to a simple coved one, vv'as finely groined with
sculptured bosses, at the intersections of the ribs,
of which a specimen is still to be seen, towards the
west end of the southern aisle. The modern east
window, in the inside, is filled with stained glass,
and beneath it is a white marble monument, erected
by the county of Renfrew in 1810, in memory of
William MacDowall, of Castle-Semple and Garth-
land, Esq., lord-lieutenant and member of parliament
for Renfrewshire. The nave has been employed as
a parish-church ever since the Reformation. It un-
derwent a thorough repair in the year 1789. Stoves
were introduced into the edifice in 1832 ; and having
since been again cleaned and repaired, it forms not
only one of the most magnificent, but also one



PAISLEY,



483



of the most POitiforfal>le places of worship in Scot-
land. — The transept, although ruinous, displays in its
northern window a fine relic of motiastic grandeur.
The window, abont 25 feet in height, by 18 in
breadth, occupies the greater part of the space that
intervenes between the graduated buttresses which
support the northern angles of the transept. It is
formed within an arch of beautiful proportions, and
of the decorated kind. The walls of the choir .-ire
now levelled to within ten feet of the ground. The
font still remains, with a niche on each side near the
east end of the south wall. A little to the west, in
the same wall, are four recesses, supposed to have
been stalls or seats for the priests.

South of the nave, and closely adjoining to it, is
the cloister-court, from which entrance is afforded to
St. Mirren's aisle, a building on its east side, which
is understood to have been erected about the year
1499 ; for in that year James Craufurd of Kil wynnet,
burgess of Paisley, and his wife, founded and endowed
a chapel " in the church of the parish of Paisley, on
the south side thereof, to the altar of Saints Rlirren
and Columba." This building is about 24 feet long,
by 24 broad. Beneath a window in the east gable,
now, blocked up, is a series of sculptured figures,
chiefly representing ecclesiastics engaged in various
offices of the Romish ritual. In the south is the
font. Under the elevated pavement at the east end
is a vault, 14 feet deep, the burying-phice of the
Abereorn family, and on the north wall is an inscrip-
tion in memory of three infant childien of Lord
(-'laud Hamilton. Nearly in the centre of the lower
floor is an altar tomb, which, after having lain for
many years in a mutilated state in the cloister-court,
was, about the year 1816, reconstructed, coated with
stone-coloured cemeiit, and placed in its present shel-
tered situation, under the direction of the late Dr.
IJoog, senior minister of the church. On the top is
the figure of a female in a recumbent posture, with
hands closed in the attitude of prayer. This monu-
ment is popularly called ' Queen Bleary "s Tomb,'
and is said to have been erected in honour of Marjory
Bruce, daughter of the renowned King Robert, and
wife of Waiter the High Steward, who died in 1326.
But that princess never was queen, and it is not
known that she could be fitly designated by the epi-
thet of ' Bleary.' If not referriitg to her, the monu-
ment may represent one of the consorts of her son,
Robert II., who, from a remarkable inflammation in
one of his eyes, was called ' King Bleary.' This
chapel being vaulted, and containing nothing but the
monument, has an echo so striking as to have ob-
tained for it the name of 'the Sounding aisle.'
Instrumental or vocal music performed in it has a
curious effect, from the prolongation and consequent
mingling of the notes.

After the Reformation, Lord Claud Hamilton, a
younger son of the Duke of Chatelherault, became
commendator of this abbacy. In 1587, the whole
property of the monastery, which he held for life
only, was erected into a temporal lordship, and
granted to him and his heirs and assigns in fee, and
he was raised to the peerage with the title of Lord
Paisley. His eldest son was, in his lifetime, created
Earl of Abereorn. In 1052, his grandson and suc-
cessor, the 2d Earl, sold this opulent lordship to the
Earl of Angus, from whom, next year, the larger
part of it was purchased by Lord Cochrane, after-
wards Earl of Dundonald. Great portions were at
different times sold by the Dundonald family. In
1764, what remained was repurchased from Thomas,
8th Earl of Dundonald, by James, 8th Earl of Aber-
eorn, to whose successor, the Marquis of Abereorn,
it now belongs.

On the south side of the abbey buildings is an an-



cient mansion, of old called ' the Place of Paisley,
which was successively the residence of Lord Pais-
ley, and of the Earls of Abereorn and Dundonald.
The last proprietor of the Dundonald family having,
between 17.58 and 1764, demolished the gateway, and
feued ofT the adjoining ground for building, the ap-
pearance of this place was entirely changed, and it
was rendered unfit for a family residence. It was
therefore let out to tradesmen's families, and now
presents a gloomy aspect.

The next edifice which demands attention is that
called 'the County Buildings,' erected in 1818-21,
at an expense of about £'28,000. This pile stands
on the west bank of the river. Its general form is
quadrangular, and the style of the exterior castel-
lated. The front division contains a court-house,
county-hall, council-chambers, and a number of offi-
ces for different departments of public business. The
eastern range consists of the correction-house and
common jail, with a chapel. The former prison and
court-house stood at the Cross, and occupied the site
of the new portion of what has long been known as
the Saracen's Head inn. They were removed when
the County Buildings were erected ; but the spire

which was attached to them still remains On the

opposite side of the area of the cross are the Coffee-
room buildings, erected in 1809. The upper part is
adorned with Ionic pilasters, and includes a large
elegant and comfortable reading-room. — The Town's
hospital for maintaining the poor, was opened in
1752, and a small asylum for lunatics was since add-
ed. The Dispensary was established in 1780, and
about 15 years afterwards a commodious House of
recovery or Infirmary, for the reception of persons
labouring under contagious disease, was built. — The
Grammar-school was founded and endowed by royal
charter, dated 3d January, 1576, and was kept in the
street called School-wynd till 1802, when the present
building adjacent to the High-church was erected.
Near the head of Moss-street, on the east side, are
the Exchange buildings, erected in 1837, partly on
the site of what was till then the Fleshmarket. On
the opposite side there stood till the beginning of this
century the trcn or custom booth, and above that a
place dignified by Semple (p. 318,) with the name
of ' the Assembly-hall,' where, 60 years since, the
young people of the town were taught the accom-
plishment of dancing. — At the suburb of Williams-
burgh, barracks for the accommodation of a battalion
of infantry were erected in 1822.

Of the places of worship to be afterwards noticed,
we may here particularize the High Church, a hand-
some building with a lofty spire, which occupies an
eminence, and is seen from a great distance ; St.
George's church, a spacious Grecian structure ; one
of the Secession churches, also Grecian ; and the
Episcopal chapel, which is of chaste Gothic. All
these are modern structures.

Paisley was formerly the town-residence of some
of the families of the nobility and gentry of the county.
On the north side of the High-street, a short distance
above the Cross, stands a mansion once the property
of the Lords Sempill, and bearing their arms, with
the date 1580. On the opposite side of the same
street westwards, is a tenement which was built in
1594, and belonged to the family of Ferguslie. Far-
ther west, a little above the head of New-street,
there stood the mansion of Cochrane of Craigmuir.
To these have to be added the families of Abereorn
and Dundonald, successive occupants, as already
seen, of the mansion contiguous to the Abbey.

Although Renfrew is the county-town, Paisley has
been the seat of the court of the sheriff of the county
since 1705, when it was 'transported' hither in vir-
tue of a warrant by the sheriff-principal. In 1816,



484



PAISLEY.



the county was divided into two wards, the upper of
which Avas annexed to the court at Paisley. The
practitioners before the courts here form one of the
few legal bodies in Scotland that enjoy peculiar pri-
vileges, a royal charter having been granted to them
on 24th June, 1803. The number of members, resi-
dent and non-resident, in 1841, is 47.

The Paisley Commercial Banking company, a
joint-stock undertaking, was established in 1839.
There are besides branches of two Edinburgh and
two Glasgow banks, and a National Security Savings'
bank, instituted in 1838. The Paisley bank, estab-
lished in 1787, and the Paisley Union bank, estab-
lished some years afterwards, were discontinued, the
former in 1837, and the latter in 1838.

There is a weekly market held on Thursday; and
fairs, each of three days' duration, are held in Febru-
ary, May, August, and November. Horse-races are
run on two of the days of the August fair. They
were instituted by the town-council, so far back as
the year 1608; but it was only of late that they at-
tracted any attention beyond the district. The
' Paisley Meeting' is now a fashionable resort. The
race-course has been much improved, and no longer
includes part of the turnpike road to Greenock.

An association, called the Philosophical Institu-
tion, was established in 1808, for the delivery of
lectures on different branches of science and litera-
ture, and has since been carried on with various de-
grees of success. A Mechanics' Institution, which
had existed for some years, was incorporated with it
in 1825. There are three public libraries — the Pais-
ley, with above 5,000 volumes, the Trades', and the
Theological. There are several printing presses, and
one newspaper, the Advertiser, which was com-
menced in 1824, and is published on Saturday.

Alexander Wilson, a poet of some note, but much
better known as the Ornithologist of America, and
Robert Tannahill, one of our finest song-writers,
were natives of Paisley, and both belonged to the
working class. The town also claims as natives two
of the Edinburgh professors, John Wilson, Esq., and
John Thomson, M.D.

In 1590 all the parishes in Renfrewshire, except-
ing those of Eaglesham and Cathcart, were formed
into a presbytery, the seat of which was established
at Paisley. This arrangement continued till May,
1834, when, by a decree of the General Assembly,
seven parishes in the lower part of the county were,
with Largs in Ayrshire, and Cumbray in Bute,
formed into a presbytery, having its seat at Green-
ock. In 1841, the presbytery of Paisley contained 12
quoad civilia parishes, and 10 quoad sacra parishes
and churches. It belongs to the synod of Glasgow
and Ayr.

Till the year 1736 Paisley formed one parish, and
contained only one church — the Abbey. Owing to
the increase of population, a charter was obtainecl in
1733, from Lord Dundonald, the patron of the par-
ish, granting liberty to the magistrates and com-
munity to build within the burgh,, a church or
churches, the patronage of which was to be vested
in the magistrates and town-council. In 1736 a
church was, in consequence, built at the foot of
New-street, and the burgh was erected into a sepa-
rate parish, by a decree of the Lords-commissioners
for the plantation of churches. The population con-
tinuing to increase, another church was built in 1 7.56.
Being situated on the most elevated part of the
town, it was distinguished by the name of the Hiyli
Church, while the former erection, from its relative
situation, was denominated the Laiqh Kirk or Low
Church. In 1781, it was found necessary to add a
third place of worship, which, from its situation be-
tween the other two, received the name of the



Middle Church. The burgh, which Lad hitherto
continued one parish, was, on 20th February, 1789,
by a decree of the court of teinds, divided into three
parishes, which were called from their several
churches, thfe Low church parish, the High church
parish, and the Middle church parish. The patron-
age of these belongs to the magistrates and town-
council, and the stipends of the ministers are paid
out of the funds of the burgh. Since 1834, several
quoad sacra parishes and churches have been erected

out of these The earliest congregation of dissenters

in Paisley was one of Antiburghers, formed about
the year 1750, and which, since its union with the
Burghers in 1820, has been styled the First Congre-
gation in the town belonging to the United Asso-
ciate synod. Many other bodies of dissenters have,
from time to time, been formed, as will appear from
the following details, which are chiefly derived from
the Appendix to the Eighth Report by the Commis-
sioners of Religious Instruction, who visited Paisley
in January 1838.

1. Abbey Parish Since the burgh was sepa-
rated from it in 1736, the original parish has been
distinguished by the name of the Abbey Parish, or,
more properly, the parish of the Abbey of Paisley.
Its greatest length is 9.} miles, its greatest breadth 5^.
It is partly landward, and partly town. The great pro-
portion of the population is assembled in the New
Town and suburbs of Paisley, and in large villages.
By the census of 1831, the population of the parish,
quoad civilia, was 26,006. According to a survey taken
in the end of 1835, the population, quoad sacra, was
17,248, of whom there belonged to the Established
church 9,040; to other denominations, 7,406; not
known to belong to any denomination, 802. The
church has already been described. Sittings 1,158.
The parish has had the benefit of two ministers since
1648. The stipend ofthe minister of the first charge is
£376 Is. Id.; manse and glebe £67. Stipend of minister
of second charge £362 1 5s. 2d. , without manse or glebe.
Patron of both, the Marquis of Abercorn. Unappro-
priated teinds £1,615 7s. lOd. The parish, (/'/oa£^c/t)i-
lia, comprehends the quoad sacra parishes of Elders-
lie, Johnstone, and Levern : which see ; and a
portion annexed, quoad sacra, to the South church
parish.— The Second Relief congregation, Thread-
street, established in 1807, assembles in a church
built in 1808, at a cost of more than £3,000. Sit-
tings 1,640. Stipend rather more than £200. The
late minister of this congregation, the Rev. James
Thomson, D. D., a pious and learned man, who
died in 1841, was Professor of Divinity to the Re-
lief synod. Paisley is the seat of one of the pres-
byteries of that body The Second United Seces-
sion congregation, Abbey-close, was established in
1765, and built a church there in 1769. The
church was rebuilt in 1827, at a cost of £2,588
19s. 3d., besides nearly £300 for a hall, vestry, and
library-room. Sittings 1,178. Stipend, in 1837,
£260. — The Roman Catholic congregation was
established, and built a place of worship in 1808,
at a cost of at least £4,000. Sittings 906. The
minister has no fixed salary. He is allowed to
take from the funds of the congregation what is
necessary for his decent support. In 1838, it was
computed that the total population connected with
the congregation was about 8,000, one-half of whom
were resident in the town of Paisley, and the other
half in some neighbouring parishes. — The Old Scot-
tish Independent congregation was established in
1784 or 5; and assembles in a part of the Abbey
buildings, which is rented from the proprietor, the
Marquis of Abercorn. Sittings 200. Mr. James
M'Gavin, who had been pastor for nearly 42 years,
and who has since died, stated to the commissioners



I



PAISLEY.



485



in 1838, that " he never received one shilling in his
life for preaching." — The Primitive Methodist con-
gregation was established in 1833, and assembles in
the hall of the Philosophical Institution, which is
rented from the directors, who also make use of it.
Sittings 300. Stipend £45, besides a house for the
minister, which is provided and furnished by the
churcli, and all taxes paid.

2. Low Church Parish. — This, as already
stated, was formed in 1782. Length, three-fourths
of a mile ; breadth, half-a-mile. It is almost wholly
town. A small part is landward, but it is included
withintheboundariesof the burgh, and is uninhabited.
A portion has been disjoined quoad sacra, and an-
nexed to the South parish. The population, in
1831, was 6,955. In 1838 it was 6,934, 1,800 of
whom belonged to the disjoined portion. Of the
6,934, there belonged to the Established church,
3,229 ; to other denominations, 2.651 ; not known
to belong to any denomination, 1,054. The present
parish-church was built in 1819 by the magistrates
and council, aided by subscriptions fi'oni private in-
dividuals and incorporations, vvho retain property in
it in proportion to their subscriptions. The cost,
including vestry, presbytery-house, piece of ground,
expense of opening streets, &c., was upwards of
£7,000. Sittings 1,850. Stipend £300, paid out
of the burgh's funds. The congregation removed
to this church in 1820. It is in George-street, and
when built received the name of St. George's, by
which name the parish has also been often called.
The New Jerusalem congregation was established
in 1834, and assembles in a room of a dwelling-house
occupied by the leader, whose services are gratui-