that nothing in their branch is too hard for them Tr L .
« * * COlQi
monly reckoned that this branch amounts tQ. about 60000!
annually.
A manufacture of ribbons has, within thefe twelve months beei
eftabliihed here, and both flowered and plain are made, in'em
refpeft as good as in any place of England. In. thefe if& J
branches a great number of people are employed, many of then,
boys and girls, who muft otherwife- have been idle for fotne ye®
It muft be extremely agreeable to every man who wiihes w ell „
his country, to fee, in the fummer feafon, both fides of the river, and
a great many other fields about town, covered with cloth and threads,
and to hear, at all feafons, as he pafies along the ftreets, the indiit
trious and agreeable noife of weavers looms and twift-mills. Tit
late unfortunate ftagnation of trade has been felt here, as well as ii
m°ft other parts of theifland; but it is hoped, if things were a little
more fettled, trade will revive, and the induftrious artificers be again
all employed.
Befides thefe general manufactures, feveral others o f a morekd
kind are carried on here : there is a very confiderable one of hard-
foap and tallow-candles, both of which are efteemed excellent of
their kinds, as the gentlemen concerned fpajed no expence to brine
their manufacture to perfedion : their candles, efpecially their
moulded ones are reckoned the beft and moft elegant that have been
made in Scotland, and great quantities of them are fent to Engld
and to the Wift-Indtes. They are made after the Kenfmgton manner, I
and with this view they had a man from London, at very high wages.
There are alfotwo tanning works in to wn, and a copperas work in
the neighborhood.
• , Before
■ Before the year 1735 the whole people in the parilh, town and
country, faid their prayers in one church, and the reverend and
learned Mr. Robert Millar difcharged the whole duties of the pafto-
nl office for many 'years without an afliftant : but fincé that period
the town has irtereaféd fo much, that befides the old church
th e r e are now two large ones, and two feceding méeting-houfes.
The church firft built, called the Laigh, or low-ehurch, is in form
ef a Greek crofs, very well laid out, and contains a great number
of people : the other, called the high-chureh, is a very fine
building, and, as it ftands On the top e f a hill, its lofty ftone
ipire is feen at a vaft diftance : the church is an oblong fquare,.
of eighty-two feet by fixty-two,. within the walls, built of freef
o n e , Well fmoothed, having ruftie corners, and an elegant ftOne-
Mrnice at top : tho’ the area is fo large, it has no pillars ; and
die feats and lofts áre fo well laid out, that, tho’ the church contains
about three thoufand people,, every one of them fees the
minifter : in the conftr.udion of the roof,, (which is- a pavillion,. cover’d
with flate, having a platform covered with lead, on the top)
there is fomething very curious ; it is admired by every man of tafte,
and, with the whole building, was planned and condufted by the
late very ingenious Baillie Whyte, of this place. The town-houfe is-
a Very handfcme building of cut-ftone,.. with a tall fpire, and a
stock : part of it is let for an inn, the reft is ufed as a prifon, and
court-rootns 5 for hefe the iheriff-coufts o f the county are held.
flefh-market has a genteel front, of cut ftone, and is one
ef the neateft and moft commodious o f the kind- in Britain:
butchers meat, butter, cheefe, fifh, wool, and feveral other arti-
«fes, are fold here by what they call the tron-pound o f 22 Englijh
ounces