Abbildungen der Seite
PDF
EPUB

by his first wife failing, John Shaw, a descendant of John the son of Alexander, became chief of the name, and succeeded to the primogenitureship of the lands of Sauchie. It was this John who in 1592 built the West Kirk of Greenock, His grandson John in 1651 was Lieutenant Colonel of the regiment of horse which the Earl of Dunfermline commanded at the Battle of Worcester. Charles II. in acknowledgement of his gallantry, conferred on him the honour of knighthood; and James VII. for his services to the crown, by letters patent dated the 28th June 1687 at Windsor, made him a Baronet. In 1694 he died, and was buried in the chapel of Holyrood - house. Shaw's grandson John, who succeeded in 1702 to the title and estates, is still remembered among the oral historians of Greenock for his magnificence and bashawic disposition. He was the first member of Parliament for the county of Renfrew, after the union of the kingdoms : an anecdote is told of the journey to London of a band of the Scotch members, who in going to the first Session resolved to travel together, in order, it is supposed, to save expence. Sir John Shaw happened to join the party, and the anecdote seems to show what sort of gentry his companions were, as well as to illustrate his character. When they had crossed into England, they stopped at an inn to dine: a smart waiter came into the room, and with much assurance enquired what they would have for dinner. "Do you eat pork, Sir?" said this of ficious gentleman to one of Sir John Shaw's honourable friends. The independent and worthy member to whom the question was put, abominated pork as much as he did state-corruption, but like many other members of a certain assembly, bamboozled by eloquence,

* Possibly the Great Moguls were of Scottish origin, as their family name is Shaw.

said aye when he should have said no, The waiter then went round the company, and the ayes were like to have proved unanimous, till he inquired at Sir John Shaw if he would eat pork. No, I'll be damn'd if I do eat pork, said Sir John, enraged at the sheepishness of his fellow-travellers. "I'll no tak' pork neither," quoth he that first said 66 aye; nor me," said the next, nor me, nor me," said all the others, The motion for eating pork was accordingly lost.

66

The daughter of Malcom Galbraith, who inherited the barony of Easter Greenock, married Crawford, the laird of Kilburny. The history of the descendants of this lady is not unlike that of the offspring of her sister.One of them, Hugh Crawford, adhered to Queen Mary, and led his vassals to the battle of Langside, for which offence the regent Lennox granted him a remission in 1576. In 1661 the male issue of the Kilburny family failing, the estates descended to a daughter, who in 1669 alienated the barony of Easter Greenock to Sir John Shaw, by which the ancient barony of Greenock, after being divided more than two hundred and fifty years, was reunited in the person of a descendant of the original stock.

The view annexed represents the ruins of the castle of Easter Greenock, as they appeared about five years ago. The tower has since fallen, and in the course of a few years the plough will probably pass over the remains. The castle of Wester Greenock was greatly amplified by the anti-porkist Sir John, and is a large structure, resembling in appearance those manor-halls of England which were built about the beginning of the last century *. J.G.

* Some account of the rise and progress of the town of Greenock would Le very acceptable to the readers of the Scots Magazine.

Monthly Memoranda in Natural His

tory.

Sept. THE weather has been very 1,-26. inconstant, and upon the whole not favourable for harvest operations. A few good days, however, have occasionally intervened; and the reaping is all over in the low country. The hardships to which the Highland reapers this season exposed themselves, by coming to the Lothians at the usual time, while the harvest was three weeks later, were most humanely relieved by gentlemen and farmers in different parts of the country, and by a general subscription, and a collection at the church-doors at Edinburgh. Mr Nisbet of Dirlton in Haddingtonshire, kept a public kitchen for their benefit for a fortnight. Nothing interesting has this month occurred in the natural history department, in this neighbourhood. The wetness of the season has produced a great crop of fungi, The grounds at Bellevue, where trees formerly grew, were covered with Phallus impudicus, the fetid odour assailing every passenger. A mushroom of uncommonly large dimensions was announced in the Newspapers it was said to be no less than 43 inches in circumference; 9 inches in height, exclusive of the stalk; and it weighed 5 lb. 6 oz. It grew near Paisley. If it was really the Agaricus campestris, it was by much the largest we have ever heard of.

Sea-Snake and Mermaid. The frequent recurrence of accounts of such strange monsters appearing on our coast, seems to have served only to embolden scepticism. This is not however very reasonable. Our belief and assent ought not certainly to be limited by any notion of our own, of what is probable or likely to occur in nature; but ought to rest, rather, on the validity of the evidence, however unaccountable or improbable the phenomena may appear to us.

In regard to the Great Sea Snake of Orkney, the smallness of the body in proportion to its amazing length, as well as the remarkable character of the row of shining filaments along the back, render the notion of its being the Squalus maximus of Linnæus (even supposing that animal to be very different from our Basking Shark) entirely inadmissible. The cranium and upper jaw, together with the under jaw, are now lodged in the University Museum, Correct drawings have been taken of these parts. Several oblong masses of cartilage, supposed to be ribs, with a fin nearly complete, a number of vertebræ of different sizes, and a collection of the dorsal filaments, make up the slender catalogue of remains saved from the wreck of this curious inhabitant of the deep. Those naturalists who have seen these fragments, and have read the unaffected testimony of the Orkney farmers as to the appearance of the animal when cast ashore, have become completely satisfied of its being a non-descript, excepting in so far as its existence and general appearance have been mentioned by Pontoppidan.

As to the Mermaid, it is unlucky that no specimens whatever have yet been procured. The account of the recent Caithness-shire one, rests entirely on the credibility of the witnesses, and on their capacity for observing, and for describing what they saw. Of their veracity no one entertains a doubt. As for their opportunities, and fitness for observing and describing, there may certainly be room for hesitation, without giving any reasonable offence to the witnesses, and without any imputation on their understanding or faculties, more than on their moral honesty.The witnesses were chiefly two young ladies, who had not probably been in the habit of examining or describing large marine animals; whose minds, it may easily be supposed, were apt to be fluttered, and whose imagina

tions would thus be ready to supply deficiencies; the distance at which they stood has been calculated at 60 feet; the sea was running high, and rising into foam all around the rock no which the animal was pitched. The account given by the ladies is however very circumstantial; and we are inclined to pay much attention to it. They observed the creature for about an hour; and they distinguished a seal at some distance from it, which evinces a considerable precision in their observations. The description of the head agrees very well with the appearance of the Angel-fish, or Mermaid-fish of Artedi (Squalus Squatina); but the minute account of the hair on the head, of the long arms, and fingered hands, baffles our conjectures. We repeat, however, that we have no doubt whatever that they have fairly related the impression made upon their minds by what they saw; and they deserve no little praise for having ventured to avouch the spectacle, when they knew that their testimony was to be opposed to a tide of philosophical prejudice, (if the expression may be used,)-a prejudice, we believe, more frequently directed against the name Mermaid, than against the probability of the existence of an undescribed amphibious animal in the North Seas.We shall soon resume the subject. Edinburgh, Sept. 28.

N.

[blocks in formation]

attention of the Public. Its superiority to the Martello towers seems particularly deserving of notice, and in order to make this more conspicuous, I beg leave to present you with the following comparative view of their structure and contents, drawn from authentic documents.

According to a statement given in parliament, and not contradicted, there has been built in England twentyseven Martello towers, each of which has cost upwards of 20,000%. These towers are forty feet high, with only one gun on the top of each. They are placed at the distance of about a mile from each other. I know not if they are all built on a direct line; but, in order to shew them as much favour as possible, I shall suppose that they are. In this case there will, within the distance of twenty seven miles, be only twenty-seven guns to play against the enemy. Moreover, from the height of these towers, the gun could not be pointed within 250 yards of their base, so that when the enemy was once so near the tower, he might destroy or march past it, without the least resist

ance.

Upon the whole, to any one who impartially considers the subject, it must appear, that these towers can serve only as beacons to point out to the enemy the vulnerable parts of our coast, and to draw his attack to these, but not to oppose the least obstacle to them, should they unhappily take the hint.

Mr Gillespie undertakes to erect a Revolving Battery for 10,000 /. which is less than half the expence of a Martello tower. Instead of the so. litary gun fired from those erections, his machine discharges eight battering guns, and 104 for grape shot. Within the same distance, therefore, of 27 miles, there will be discharged 216 battering guns, and 2818 small guns for grape shot. This single statement is enough, surely, to demonstrate its im mense superiority.

Mr

Mr Gillespie's machine, however, possesses other advantages. It involves a method of directing the ball towards the wished-for point with infallible precision, which is not even attempted in the Martello towers. In the latter too, the piece, after constant firing for two hours, would become so heated as to be altogether unfit for use, But here, the guns being fired successively, as the machine revolves, each is allowed an interval to cool, while the others are firing; and this inconvenience is quite obviated. The present machine, besides, notwithstanding its immense superiority of execution, might be worked by a smaller number of men. In short, there is no respect in which it is not superior to the Martello

towers.

Considering the circumstances of this kingdom, which imperiously call for the use of every mode of defence as well of attack, is it not incumbent on those who have the disposal of naval and military affairs to make strict inquiry into the merits of this invention, and to adopt it, if found to answer the above description. Can it be doubted, that if it had been employed on the Scheldt, that expedition, in all likelihood, would have terminated in a way more conducive to the national honour and interest. Indeed Mr Gillespie undertakes, by means of them, to destroy any of the enemy's harbours, however strongly fortified. When employed in sieges also, they would render the place to be defended almost impregnable; for while they committed the utmost destruction on the assailants, they would completely cover the persons of the defenders.

I am happy to understand, that Mr Gillespie's invention has already drawn the attention of several persons of distinction in this city; and I flatter myself, you will soon have occasion to announce his being rescued from that unmerited neglect with which he has hitherto been treated.

M.

Memoirs of the Progress of MANUFACTURES, CHEMISTRY, SCIENCE, and the FINE ARTS.

R Brewster, of Edinburgh, has in

vented a new gnomiometrical telescope, and microscope, for measur ing the angles of crystals by reflection, and for ascertaining the inclination of strata, and the apparent magnitude of angles, when the eye is not placed at the vertex.

The same gentleman has also invented an instrument for determining distances at one station, without measuring a base, without a portable base being attached to the instrument, or without knowing the magnitude of the object, the distance of which is to be ascertained. A long base is actually created by the instrument, without measuring it; and the distance is obtained upon a principle, which, as far as is known, has never been employed in trigonometrical instruments.

A few years since, Messrs Fourcroy and Vauquelin remarked, that a concrete sugar, or manna, exuded from the receptacle of the flowers of the pontic dwarf rosebay (Rhododendron ponticum.) M. Bosc has recently observed it afresh, and presented to the National Institute some grains of this substance, collected from the receptacle of the fruit, several of which were about 8-10ths of a line in diameter.Their taste and appearance do not differ perceptibly from the purest sugarcandy; but it is necessary to be upon our guard against this appearance, on account of the deleterious properties suspected in the plant. This manna, according to M. Bosc, is dissolved during the night by the moisture of the atmosphere, melted in the day by the heat of the sun, and does not exude from plants of a vigorous vegetation. These are the reasons why it is so seldom seen. Plants growing in pots, and sheltered from the dew, as well as from the sun, are most likely to fur

nish it. The grains above-mentioned were collected from a plant, in which all these circumstances united.

To the methods that have been suggested for improving common alum, by freeing it from the iron which it contains, M. Seguin has added a new one founded on the different solubility of pure alum, and alum mixed with iron. He dissolves sixteen parts of common alum in twenty-four of water, crystallizes, and thus obtains fourteen parts of alum, equal to the Roman, and two nearly equal to that of Liege. This process might be employed in the manufacture of alum, so as to obtain at first an alum worth one-third more than in its impure state.

The Phelloplastic Cabinet of M. Stamaty has been for some time exhibited at Paris. It consists of representations in cork, of the most important and curious monuments of ancient Rome, and the south of France. Nothing is so favorable for representing ruins as cork; its colour and the inequality of its pores, heighten the illusion; but it is very difficult to cut, and works so delicate as Mr Stamaty's require infinite patience. That artist has spent twenty years in executing the ar:icles which he is now exhibiting. They exceed forty among which the great Pantheon of Agrippa, now the Church of the Rotunda at Rome; the Tower of Pisa, with eight rows of columns, inclining7one half fathoms; the Triumphal Arch of Septimius Severus : that of Constantine ; the Pont du Gard, with three rows of arches ; the Maison Carree of Nismes, &c. &c. deserve particular notice.

M. Degen, a watchmaker of Vienna, has invented a machine, by which a person may rise into the air. It is formed of two parachutes, of taffeta, which may be folded up or extended at pleasure; and the person who moves them is placed in the centre. M. Degen has made several public experiments, and rose to the height of fifty four feet, flying in various directions,

with the celerity of a bird. A sub. scription has been opened at Vienna, to enable the inventor to prosecute his discoveries.

Baron Lutgendorf, well known for his travels, has invented a machine, by means of which a person may exist under water, without fear of being drowned. It is a kind of cuirass, which allows the body to assume eveery possible position, and which is expected to be extremely useful in saving persons in danger of being drowned. The police of Vienna have purchased a considerable number of these machines, with the view of assisting in bringing up drowned persons from the bottom of the Danube.

Some works, undertaken at the country-house of M. Trembley, at La Tronches, a village situated a little to the north-east of Grenoble, have brought to light the following anti quities:-1. Several fragments of a mosaic pavement, composed of irregu lar cubes, and arranged either in the form of a draught-board, with black and white squares, or in white and black parallel lines. The substance of the cubes is carbonated lime. 2. Several water-pipes of red clay, of a semi-elliptical figure, regularly fitted into each other, which served to conduct water into basins constructed in the form of the clubs on cards, and were bedded in a composition of broken tiles, lime, and ashes, without any exterior covering. 3. Hollow bricks in the form of a parallelepipedon. Their surfaces are ornamented with diagonal transverse bars; and two square holes, made about the middle of their length, correspond on either side. 4. A domestic lamp of red clay, without ornament, having underneath this inscription: APRIOF. The spot on which these were found, contains to a considerable extent, ruins of Roman buildings, which were examined at some remote period. The situation and nature of these ruins, shew that the whole belonged to a Roman villa.

State

« ZurückWeiter »