Leadhills: Difference between revisions

|static_image= Main Street, Leadhills - geograph.org.uk - 4708148.jpg

|static_image_caption= OldMain MineStreet, Workings at [[Wanlockhead]]Leadhills

'''Leadhills''', originally settled for the accommodation of miners, is a village in [[South Lanarkshire]], Scotland, {{convert|5+3/4|mi|km}} WSW of [[Elvanfoot]]. The population in 1901 was 835. It was originally known as Waterhead.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FDctAAAAYAAJ&dq=%22with%20regard%20to%20Leadhills%22&pg=PA98#v=onepage&q=water-head&fpg=falsePA98 |title=The Statistical Account of Scotland: Drawn Up from the Communications of the Ministers of the Different Parishes |volume=21 |first=John |last=Sinclair |author-link=Sir John Sinclair, 1st Baronet |date=1799 |location=Edinburgh |publisher=William Creech |page=98}}</ref>

It is the second highest village in Scotland, the highest being neighbouring [[Wanlockhead]], {{convert|2|mi|km|0|abbr=off}} south.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-47948518 |title=Where is Scotland's highest village? |author=Phoebe Keane |publisher=BBC |date=17 April 2019 |accessdateaccess-date=17 April 2019 }}</ref> It is near the source of [[Glengonnar Water]], a [[tributary]] of the [[River Clyde]].

The Leadhills Miners' Library (also known as the [[Allan Ramsay (poet)|Allan Ramsay]] Library or the Leadhills Reading Society), founded in 1741 by 21 miners, the local schoolteacher and the local minister, specifically to purchase a collection of books for its members’ mutual improvement<ref>On his 1841 visit to Leadhills, the statistician and school inspector [[Joseph Fletcher (statistician)|Joseph Fletcher]] was so impressed with the Leadhills’ Reading Society that he included its "Articles and Laws" in his report to the Children's Employment Commission (they appear at Fletcher, 1842, pp. 874-878874–878).</ref><ref>"The inhabitants [of Leadhills], though chiefly employed in the severe labour of mining, are an enlightened set of people, having a pretty extensive subscription library, and exhibiting a zeal in the acquisition of useful knowledge perfectly astonishing" (Chambers & Chambers (1844), p.701.</ref> — its membership was not restricted to the miners; several non-miners, such as [[William Symington]], [[John Brown (physician, born 1810)|John Brown]] (author of ''[[Rab and his Friends]]'') and [[James Braid (surgeon)|James Braid]], were also full members — houses an extensive antiquarian book collection, local relics, mining records and minerals. The library is the oldest subscription library in the British Isles;<ref>Foster & Sheppard (1995), p.41.</ref> and is of significant historical and geological importance.

:As the miners work only six of the twenty-four hours in the mines, and as the barrenness of the soil affords little scope for agricultural pursuits, they have of course abundance of time for reading: and I believe they generally employ it to good purpose; for many of them can converse upon historical, scientific, and theological points so as to astonish a stranger; and even on political questions, they express their opinions with great acuteness and accuracy.<ref>"J" (1823), p. 27.</ref>

Leadhills Golf CourseClub, instituted in 1891, is the highest in [[Scotland]]. The nine-hole course offers a considerable challenge as the winds can be high and unpredictable as they are channelled between the hills.

The grave of John Taylor is also available to visit in the cemetery. Reputed to be 133137 years of age at the time of his death, Taylor's grave (shared with his son, Robert) even attracted the attention of the BBC.<ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/history/making_history/makhist10_prog6b.shtml BBC Radio 4: Making History (23 November 2004): John Taylor, the ancient lead miner - could he really have been 137?]</ref>

The minerals [[lanarkite]], [[leadhillite]], [[caledonite]], [[susannite]], [[plattnerite]], [[scotlandite]], [[macphersonite]], [[chenite]] and [[mattheddleite]] were first found at Leadhills.<ref>{{cite book |last=Livingstone |first=Alec |date=2002 |title=Minerals of Scotland |url= |location=Edinburgh |publisher=National Museums of Scotland |page= |isbn=978-1901663464 |accessdate= }}</ref> The area is renowned amongst mineralogists and geologists for its wide range of different mineral species found in the veins that lie deep within the (now abandoned) mine shafts;<ref>The mines, operated by the Hopetoun family since 1638, finally closed in the 1930s.</ref> with some{{Which|date=March 2017}} now recognized as unique to the Leadhills area.<ref>In fact, "during the first quarter of the 19th century, the Leadhills and Wanlockhead mines were making a significant contribution to the early development of mineralogy" (Gillanders, 1981, p.236). The exceptional range and scope of the extremely rare mineralogical specimens were such that, "so well known had the minerals of Leadhills become during the 1820’s1820s that the Scots Mining Company had to make a regulation preventing the miners from disposing of specimens to the growing number of collectors" (p.237). The later routine use of dynamite, rather than gunpowder, "was particularly unfavourable to the collector as many hundreds of valuable specimens that might have been [otherwise] saved were blown to pieces" (p.238).</ref>

16th-century mining entrepreneurs working the area were landowners, goldsmiths and metallurgists, granted patents by the monarch and [[Privy Council of Scotland|Privy Council]]. These included, [[Cornelius de Vos]], [[George Douglas of Parkhead]], [[John Acheson (miner)|John Acheson]], [[Eustachius Roche]], [[Thomas Foulis]], [[George Bowes (prospector)|George Bowes]], [[Bevis Bulmer]], and [[Stephen Atkinson (metallurgist)|Stephen Atkinson]]. In 1720 a Dutch traveller, Hugh Kalmeter, described the mine workings and noted that exported ore was used for pottery glazes.<ref>Helen & Keith Kelsall, ''Scottish Lifestyle 300 Years Ago'' (John Donald: Edinburgh, 1986), p. 56.</ref> In the 18th-century lead ore was shipped to Holland and used to make [[White lead|white]] and [[Lead(II,IV) oxide|red lead]] paint pigments.<ref>Daniel Kemp, ''Tours in Scotland by Richard Pococke'' (SHS: Edinburgh, 1887), p. 42.</ref>

: "Nothing can equal the barren and gloomy appearance of the country round [Leadhills]: neither tree nor shrub, nor verdure, nor picturesque rock, appear to amuse the eye…"<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=biIJAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA129#v=onepage&q&f=false Pennant (1774), p.129.]</ref>

Three years later, in 1776, artist [[William Gilpin (priest)|William Gilpin]] found that, in relation to the working conditions, "the mines here, as in all mineral countries, are destructive of health", "you see an infirm frame, and squalid looks in most of the inhabitants".<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=hCQJAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA76#v=onepage&q&f=false Gilpin, 1789, II, p.76];</ref> and twelve years later, according to Rev. William Peterkin (1738-1792), the Minister at Leadhills (and member of its library) from 1785 until his death, the conditions of both the miners and the lead smelters were no better:

:The external appearance of Leadhills is ugly beyond description: rock, short heath, and barren [clay]. Every sort of vegetable is with difficulty raised and seldom comes to perfection. Spring water there is perhaps as fine as any in the world: but, the water below the smelting-[mills], is the most dangerous. The lead before smelting is brokebroken very small and washed from extraneous matter. It contains frequently arsenic, sulphur, zinc, &cetc. which poisons the water in which it is washed. Fowls of any kind will not live many days at Leadhills. They pick up arsenical particles with their food, which, soon kills, them. Horses, cows, dogs, cats, are liable to the lead-brash.<ref>'''Lead-brash''': literally, "lead-sickness". It was a most horrible form of [[lead poisoning]], and the term ''lead-brash'' specifically referred to a condition in animals.</ref> A cat, when seized with that distemper, springs like lightning through every corner of the house, falls into convulsions and dies. A dog falls into strong convulsions also but sometimes recovers. A cow grows perfectly mad in an instant and must be immediately killed. Fortunately, this distemper does not affect the human species.<ref>[https://archive.org/stream/b21365799#page/n111/mode/2up Peterkin, 1799, pp.98-99 98–99.]</ref>

:The miners and smelters are subject here, as in other places, to the lead distemper, or ''mill-reek'', as it is called here; which brings on palsies, and sometimes madness, terminating in death in about ten days.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=biIJAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA130#v=onepage&q&f=false Pennant (1774), p.130.]</ref>

However, because lead was attracting such high prices during the American and Napoleonic Wars, and the domestic construction boom,<ref>At its peak (1809) lead was selling at £32 per ton (approx £21,000 in 2015 per 1,000kg). Yet, by 1827 the price had slumped to £12 per ton — dueton—due to the removal of import dues on foreign lead, and the significant expansion of Spanish lead production, due to the re-emergence of Spanish trade following the end of the [[Peninsular War]] (Smout, 1962, pp.152, 154).</ref> Leadhills became world-famous for its lead mines.<ref>The mine operators paid one in every six bars of lead, as rent, to Lord Hopetoun; and the average number of bars produced was around 18,000 each year ([https://books.google.com/books?id=u7NCAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA701#v=onepage&q&f=false Chambers & Chambers, "Leadhills", (1844), p.701).]</ref>

:[At Leadhills] the miners must sometimes work in places where there is so little circulation of air, that their candles can scarcely burn; and I have almost invariably observed, that a continuance for any considerable length of time, (although in such situations they may only work three or four hours daily), brings on pneumonia in the young and plethoric, and hydrothorax in the old, if rather of spare habit of body; and if there should happen to be any healthy middle-aged men working as hand-neighbours to these others, although of course both must breath[e] the same impure air, these middle-aged men will remain free from any '''''urgent''''' complaint, till both their young and their aged neighbours are laid aside, perhaps never more to return. I became so fully convinced of this fact, as long ago to have induced me to recommend to the agents and overseers of this place, to avoid, as much as possible, putting thither very young or very old men into such situations.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=v6lBERSKoDYC&pg=PA550#v=onepage&q&f=false Braid, "Hydrothorax", (1832), p.550.]</ref>

The individual miner’sminer's family also contributed; the sons worked on the uncovered washing platforms (exposed to the elements in all weathers) washing the impurities from the ore prior to smelting, and the wives and daughters spun wool and embroidered muslin for sale in Glasgow.

The partners supplied their own tools; and were responsible for their upkeep. Many important responsibilities lay with the partners; thus, for instance, only two overseers were needed to manage more than 200 Leadhills’ miners. In the absence of an overseer’soverseer's constant and immediate personal supervision, the partners were totally responsible for their collective work practices and occupational safety; thus, the partners, rather than overseers, would decide how to act against threats posed by subterranean water, loose ground, earth tremors, etc. However, with no overseer, there was also no oversight; and, often, hastily constructed passages/shafts were misaligned with those of other teams, affecting the structure of the entire mine — alsomine—also, the disposal of waste and rubbish from one team’steam's work area often impeded the progress of another team (or teams).

Coal-fired steam engines, were an important part of the operation at Leadhills. Leadhills had three steam engines as early as 1778 (Smout, 1967, p.&nbsp;106). In the winter of 1765, [[James Watt]] had been approached to design and build a steam engine for Leadhills that would raise water from 30 fathoms (approx. 55m.55 m) below the surface. Watt did not get the contract (Hills, 1998).

To aid those at the 25 -fathom level, who were beginning to become violently affected by the fumes, a trap-door was opened to help clear the air; however, unfortunately, the noxious fumes descended rapidly, and another three men, at the 80 -fathom level, suffocated. The other miners, many of whom were affected to a considerable degree, were restored by Braid as they emerged from the mine.<ref>On 17 March 1817, the ''Caledonian Mercury'' reported that "five of the seven miners who were suffocated by the smoke of the steam-engine at Leadhills, have left widows, and in all thirty fatherless children to deplore their loss".</ref>

The famous mathematician [[James Stirling (mathematician)|James Stirling]] was employed by the [[Scots Mining Company]] at Leadhills from 1734 until 1770.<ref>Whilst at Leadhills, Stirling published a paper on the ventilation of mines, based upon his experience and observations of the techniques of Venetian glassblowers: [http://rstl.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/43/472-477/315.full.pdf "A Description of a Machine to Blow Fire by the Fall of Water; By James Stirling, F. R. S.", ''Philosophical Transactions'', Vol. 43, (1 January 1744), pp.315-317.]</ref> [[James Braid (surgeon)|James Braid]], the (later) discoverer of hypnotism, was surgeon to the Leadhills mining community and to [[Charles Hope, 1st Earl of Hopetoun|Lord Hopetoun]]'s lead and silver mines from early 1816 to late 1825.<ref>According to "J" (1823) pp.27,29, as the appointed surgeon, Braid received a horse, a house, and a salary from ''The Scots Mining Company'' as well as "the gains of his practice".</ref> [[Edward Whigham]], Provost of [[Sanquhar]] and friend of [[Robert Burns]] was born in Leadhills.

Leadhills experiences an [[oceanic climate]] ''([[Köppen climate classification|Cfb]])'', bordering on a [[subpolar oceanic climate]] ''([[Köppen climate classification|Cfc]])''. Due to its elevation and inland position, winters are colder and summers cooler than lower lying areas. In terms of the local climate profile, given its elevated position and latitude, Leadhills is amongst the coldest places in the British Isles. According to the most recent 30-year climate period of 1981-2010 Leadhills is the second coldest village in the UK (of those with weather stations) with an annual mean temperature of {{convert|6.76|C|F}} making it slightly colder than the commonly regarded coldest settlement of [[Braemar]], which had an annual average temperature of {{convert|6.81|C|F}} in this period.<ref>{{Cite web | publisher = [[KNMI (institute)|KNMI]] | url= http://eca.knmi.nl/utils/mapserver/climatology.php?indexcat=8&indexid=TX&periodidselect=1981-2010&seasonid=0&scalelogidselect=no&minx=-509404.761906&miny=-4032500.000000&maxx=-76071.428572&maxy=-3707500.000000&MapSize=560%2C420&imagewidth=560&imageheight=420&mainmap.x=369&mainmap.y=92&CMD=QUERY_POINT&CMD=QUERY_POINT&ecapoints=Y#bottom|title=Climatology maps}}</ref> However, Leadhills' slightly more exposed and elevated location than Braemar results in absolute minima being higher than one might expect - the December absolute minimum of {{convert|-15.0|C|F}}<ref>{{Cite web | publisher = [[KNMI (institute)|KNMI]] | url= http://eca.knmi.nl/utils/monitordetail.php?seasonid=18&year=1961&indexid=TNn&stationid=1876 | title = 1961 minimum}}</ref> compares favourably to usually milder Glasgow Airport's absolute minimum of {{convert|-20.0|C|F}}.

* A.G.B. ([[Alexander Balloch Grosart]]), "A Trip to the Gold Regions of Scotland, Described in a letter to a Friend (Part I)", ''The Gentleman’s Magazine and Historical Review'', [https://books.google.com/books?id=DboUAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA459#v=onepage&q&f=false Vol.39, (May 1853), pp.459-468]; "A Trip to the Gold Regions of Scotland, Described in a letter to a Friend (Part II)", ''The Gentleman’s Magazine and Historical Review'', [https://books.google.com/books?id=DboUAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA589#v=onepage&q&f=false Vol.39, (June 1853), pp.589-598.]

* Anon, [https://books.google.com/books?id=GS07AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA219#v=onepage&q&f=false "Mean Temperature of Leadhills for Ten Years", ''The Edinburgh Philosophical Journal'', Vol.5, No.9, (July 1821), p.219.]

* Braid, J., [https://books.google.com/books?id=HQQbAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA428#v=onepage&q&f=false "Case of Reunion of a Separated Portion of the Finger. By Mr JAMES BRAID, Surgeon at Leadhills. Communicated by CHARLES ANDERSON, M.D. Leith", ''Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal'', Vol.12, No.48, (1 October 1816), pp.428-429.]

* Braid, J., [https://books.google.com/books?id=8-9HAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA414#v=onepage&q&f=false "Account of the Fatal Accident which happened in the Leadhills Company's Mines, the 1st March, 1817. By Mr. James Braid, Surgeon, Leadhills. Read before the Wernerian Society 7th June", ''The Scots Magazine and Edinburgh Literary Miscellany'', Vol.79, (June 1817), pp.414-416.]

* Braid, J., [https://books.google.com/books?id=aHAEAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA471#v=onepage&q&f=false "Account of a Thunder Storm in the Neighbourhood of Leadhills, Lanarkshire; By Mr. James Braid, Surgeon at Leadhills. Read before the Wernerian Society 7th June", ''Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine'', Vol.1, No.5, (August 1817), pp.471-472.]

* Braid, J., [https://books.google.com/books?id=v6lBERSKoDYC&pg=PA546#v=onepage&q&f=false "Case of Hydrothorax, successfully treated by Blood-letting, with Observations on the Nature and Causes of the Disease. By James Braid, Corresponding Member of the Wernerian Society, Surgeon at Leadhills", ''Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal'', Vol.19, No.77, (1 October 1823), pp.546-551.]

* Chambers, R. & Chambers, W., [https://books.google.com/books?id=u7NCAAAAYAAJ&pg=PR1#v=onepage&q&f=false ''The Gazetteer of Scotland'', Volume I, Andrew Jack, (Edinburgh), 1844.]

* "J.", [https://books.google.com/books?id=Ch0EAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA26#v=onepage&q&f=false "Letter to the Editor (Short Account of the Miners at Leadhills and Wanlockhead)", ''The Christian Observer'', Vol.23, No.1, (January 1823), pp.26-29.]

* Watson, W., [https://books.google.com/books?id=HsNOAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA89#v=onepage&q&f=false "Observations on the Influence of Imperfect Supplies of Fresh Air, Long Continued, on the General Health", ''The Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal'', Vol.35, No.106, (1 January 1831), pp.89-92.]

* Wilson, J., [https://books.google.com/books?id=pO1WAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA459#v=onepage&q&f=false "An Account of the Disease called ''Mill-Reek'' by the Miners at Leadhills, in a Letter from Mr. James Wilson, Surgeon at Durrisdeer, to Alexander Monro", Essays and Observations, Physical and Literary (of the Philosophical Society of Edinburgh), Vol.1, (1754), p.459-466.]