JAMES WATT AT CAMPBELTOWN
Rev. Richard L. Hills
M.A., D.I.C., Ph.D., F.M.A.
James Watt's visit to Campbeltown in the summer
of 1773 may be regarded as a microcosm of his surveying career. His reports
covered improving harbours, draining land, developing watermills and giving
instructions for building the Campbeltown to Drumlemble canal. He went there
at the instigation of a friend, Charles MacDowall, but his work should be
seen against the background of the prevailing passion for the improvement
and development of the resources of Scotland.
After the collapse of the 1745 rebellion, Scotland
made astonishing economic advances. Contemporary authors are full of the
new spirit of enterprise and activity which occurred in every sphere. A writer
to the Scots Magazine said:
Since 1746 the whole system of trade,
husbandry, and
manufactures began to advance...
It was not merely the
fashion for landlords to become improvers,
they engaged
in every useful project, they are the chief
adventurers in
our fisheries, manufactures and trading
companies.'(1)
Scottish landlords must have looked south and seen the great advances being
made to improve agriculture in England and wished to follow that example
on their own poor estates. This "improving movement" became extensive during
the second half of the century when, almost everywhere except in the West
Highlands, turnips and potatoes were being sown, land was being cleared and
drained, agricultural implements were being improved and small holdings were
being thrown into large farms. Farming for profit was taking the place of
subsistence farming.(2) Campbell of Shawfield, the proprietor of Islay, was
a well-known agriculturalist, and the farms on his estate were early improved.(3)
His relations living around Campheltown looked at their lands and wished
to follow his example.
Even at the beginning of the eighteenth century, Campbeltown was the centre and seaport of a rich agricultural district.(4) The preparation of malt for use in the brewing of ale was a skill practised for centuries by the farmers of Kintyre and in 1770, Orr, Ballantine & Co. built a brewery near Campbeltown Town Mill. In 1743, twenty-one maltsters signed a petition relating to the supply of barley from neighbouring farms and the existence of this industry, with as many as forty malt barns in the town, was an important factor in the growth of whisky distilling here.(5) There was some whisky distilling in Kintyre during the seventeenth century and there is a reference in 1706 to 'Distillers in the Burgh' (Campbeltown).(6) By 1713 there was a need for three inspectors and in 1792 there were twenty-two licensed distillers. This was to meet the demand both locally because the Scots preferred whisky to their home-brewed beer and in England where around 1776 whisky became popular and where large quantities were sent.(7) In 1782-3 and again in 1795-7, the Commissioners of Supply for Argyll banned the manufacture of whisky in those years due to failure of harvests. In 1785, a harsh Licence Duty was imposed and it became less profitable to make whisky on a small scale.
Presumably, to begin with, most of the malting and indeed distilling was carried out with peat fuel for there was peat in abundance in the region known as the Laggan between Campbeltown and Machrihanish. The great majority of the inhabitants burnt peat. The freight for a pony load of peats from the Moss to the town was two pence.(8) But there was also coal near Machrihanish. How it was first discovered is not known, but as early as 1498 it was being worked to supply the castles maintained in Kintyre by King James IV. A survey was made in the summer of 1745 when it was decided that coal could be won provided that some mechanical means of draining water from the mines by a steam engine or a windmill was employed. Mines owned by the Duke of Argyll were in existence by 1750 at 'Drunilemon', today the small village just east of Machrihanish called Drumlemble.(9) One of the seams was six feet thick. A report of 1752 refers to diverting neighbouring springs and rivulets to provide power for driving the pumps.(10) From at least 1763, some coal was being sent by horse and cart to Campbeltown for use by the many distilleries.(11) It was thought that the harbour there had greater potential for exporting coal than those at Saltcoats, Irvine or Ayr. However, the Drumlemble coal was poor quality and in 1807 it was not to be sent to Inveraray because 'We get Clyde coal as cheap and 2 carts of them are better than 3 of Kintyre."(12)
In 1771, the Duke of Argyll let the Campbeltown coal and salt works to Charles MacDowall for twenty-seven years. He agreed not to take any rent or royalty before Whitsuntide 1773 in order to encourage development and expand operations.(13) Charles MacDowall of Crichan was admitted advocate in 1734 and later became Sheriff of Renfrewshire.(14) That he was both influential in the community and knowledgeable about coal mining is clear because he and one Peter Colville were approached by the Carron Company in 1767 to act as arbitrators in a dispute about mining practices.(15) His correspondence shows that he must have known Watt well and it is possible that there was a connection through John Robison, Watt's close friend, who around 1765 was tutor to two MacDowall boys.(16)
MacDowall must have been investigating how to develop the coal mines near Machrihanish during 1770 because he wrote from Campbeltown to the Carron Company that August about having wrought iron cranks forged which they were unable to do.(17) He did install a waterwheel to pump out his mines, and cranks would have been a necessary part of such a machine. The earliest surviving correspondence between MacDowall and Watt is at the end of February 1771 when MacDowall urged Watt to write to the Board of the Annexed Estates about his willingness to carry out a survey before the following July for what would become the Crinan Canal. This letter ends with the comment, "I know some of the Commissioners think you very dilatory", something which MacDowall would soon discover in his own dealings with Watt.(18)
With some reluctance, Watt accepted the commission
to carry out the survey of the isthmuses at Crinan and Tarbert.
MacDowall hoped that, when Watt had finished at the top end of the Kintyre peninsula, he would come south and survey the line of a canal to link his mines at Drumlemble to Campbeltown. He tried to assist Watt by introducing him to a local laird:
Mr Campbell of Duntroon lives on the Loch of Crinan,
I
have told him of the Survey which you are going to make,
and you will find he will show you all manner of civility,
and will assist you as far as he can, by finding a proper
boat
to carry you on your expeditions, & proper people
to give
you information & show you what you wish to see.
I beg you may write to me to Campbelltown after you
have been a week in the highlands, I will be there about
that time and will be glad to know what you are doing.
(19)
Watt left Greenock on July 11, carried out his surveys and returned from
Tarbert on July 31. Possibly they missed each other because MacDowall was
becalmed at Ayr and wrote to Watt from Campbeltown on August 1:
I came here only the 30th July in the evening, &
next day
sent a letter by express to you at Tarbert, but I have
got
no answere, so I suppose you was gone. I was windbound
eight days at Ayr which I regretted exceedingly, but
had
you come here, you could have done my business without
me.
Yesterday I got yours of July 24 & as I presume you
have
finished the survey of the Tarbets as well as the other
Lochs, I beg you'll let me hear from you.. (20)
MacDowall wrote again on September 1, for, having
missed Watt in Glasgow, he wanted to know whether Watt had to return to Tarbert
to finish his surveying and "Whether or not I can expect you to make my survey.
This I am anxious to have done whether you have any thing to do at Tarbet
or not."(21) Watt must have answered that he had completed his surveys there
and had no time to go to Campbeltown, to which MacDowall replied:
I am favoured with your of the 14th in course
[October].
I am vexed that your affairs will not allow you to come
here,
but am determined to have no body else. You say right
that I ought not to doubt your willingness to come, if
you
could, but pray, ought you to doubt my belief on that point?
Wishing that both your operations & mine may be storm-
proof, I am with sincerity tho disappointed...
My machinery is all ready for erecting, but the weather
is
terrible & we must submit. (22)
The 'machinery' presumably referred to the new waterwheel and pumps which
MacDowall installed at his mines.
Watt and MacDowall dined together in Glasgow on 22 March 1772 when we can safely assume that the subject of this survey was raised again. Over a year later, MacDowall was still urging Watt to go to Campbeltown and that April even told him that the packet boat from Campbeltown would wait a night at Greenock so that Watt could catch it as it returned.(23) It was not until 8 June 1773 that Watt set sail from Greenock at night in the 'vinegar boat' but was becalmed off Pladda and so did not finally arrive at Campbeltown until the tenth, a Thursday.(24) After he dined, he took a preliminary view of the line of the canal.
Watt was occupied with surveying the canal for the
next couple of days and took Sunday off but continued with the canal again
on the Monday. Tuesday was spent looking at the Craigs Water, a stream starting
in the hills to the north of Campbeltown but flowing in a broad zig-zag to
reach the sea by Machrinhanish. It caused flooding in the meadows west of
the town and it was proposed to use this stream to help power Campbeltown
mill. Then he returned to MacDowall's problems and looked to see if the water
supply for working the mine pumps could be improved as well as the line of
the canal. The beginning of the week June 21 saw him planning how to drain
Loch Sanish which lay in the low ground between Campbeltown and Machrihanish.
On Tuesday, the report about the water supply for Campbeltown mill was sent
to Inveraray and a rough estimate made of the canal. The rest of that week
was spent checking levels at Loch Sanish and details of the canal with a
possible alternative, more southerly route. On the Saturday, he noted that:
This night Mr Macdowal set his sliding work agoing which
went very smoothly, only the swords being too slender
bobbed up and down - recommended them to be made
about 9 inches broad by 4 inch thick. (25)
This must refer to the pumping engine for the mines. An undated map in the
Argyll Record Office shows the waterwheel placed just west of West Drumlemble
farm on the north side of the Machrihanish road. The leat, or channel supplying
the water, comes from the hills to the south and was carried over the road
on some sort of wooden structure.(26) The pumps in the mine would have been
driven by a series of reciprocating flat rods, with the use of cranks to
change the rotary movement of the waterwheel into reciprocating motion for
the pumps.
The following week, Watt went up to Colonel Donald Campbell's house at Saddell and surveyed improvements to the river there and then rode on to Carradale to advise about building a jetty to make the harbour safer. He returned to Campbeltown and took the packet for Greenock on July 1. He was again becalmed, this time between 'Cantyre and Arran' where he saw some whales. After another day's calm, he finally reached Greenock at 9 o'clock on the morning of July 3. This time he did not delay finishing his reports and wrote those he had not completed at Campbeltown during that August. The interest of his surveys on Kintyre lies in their variety covering so many aspects of improvement. There was improvement of the land through better drainage of the Craigs Water and Loch Sanish. Then there was improvement of water supplies to drive mills at Campbeltown and Glen Saddell as well as the mine pumps at Macbrihanish. Finally there were the improvements for transport with the canal and the harbours at Campbeltown and Carradale. The reports were written first to explain the problems, then to outline the remedy and finally to give instructions about carrying out the recommendations. These instructions show the civil engineering techniques which Watt employed and which presumably were those which other people were also using at that time. These reports show how Watt was evolving the techniques of a consulting engineer, finally giving the instructions which would be carried out by others with only nominal supervision from himself
(To be continued)
(1) H. Hamilton, The industrial revolution in Scotland (lst
edn. 1832; reprint, London: F. Cass, 1966), p. 36.
(2) ibid p 5.
(3) ibid., p. 52.
(4) Col. C. Mactaggart, Life in Campbeltown in the 18th century, a lecture given to the Kintyre Antiquarian Society on 11 Oct. 1923, p. 40.
(5) N. S. Newton, Campbeltown's distilleries: a guide for visitors, Campbe1town, 1991, p.3.
(6) ibid., p. 3.
(7) D. Bremner, The industries of Scotland, their rise, progress and present condition, 1869, reprint David & Charles, Newton Abbot, 1969, p. 445.
(8) Mactaggart, op. cit., p. 34.
(10) Duke of Argyll Papers, Bundle 192.
(10) ibid., Bundle 746.
(11) N. S. C. MacMillan, The Campheltown & Machrihanish Light Railway, David & Charles, Newton Abbot, 1970, p. 21ff This contains the fullest account of the Machrihanish coal mines. See also A. D. Farr, The Campbeltown & Machrihanish Light Railway, Oakwood, Oxford, 1969, reprint 1987, p. 7.
(12) D. A. P., Bundle 744.
(13) B. F. Duckham, A history of the Scottish coal industry: Vol. 1, 1700-1815, David & Charles, Newton Abbot, 1970, p. 160. Duckham states that MacDowall leased the mines from the Duke of Hamilton but this seems unlikely.
(14) J Butt, The industrial archaeology of Scotland, David & Charles, Newton Abbot, 1967, p. 90.
(15) Scottish Record Office, GD581611/6, p. 173, 23 Jan. 1767, to P. Colville and p.200, 16 Feb. 1767, to C. MacDowall.
(16) Birmingham Central Library, James Watt's Papers LB 4, p. 102, April 1805, Recollections of his Friend Dr. J. Robison.
(I7) S. R. 0. GD58/6/1/11, p. 69,22 Aug. 1770, to C. MacDowall.
(18) B. C. L., JWP JW/24., 27 Feb 1771.
(19) B C L , JWP JW/24.3, 7 July 1771, C. MacDowall to J. Watt.
(20) B C L JWP/24 4, 1 Aug. 1771, C. MacDowall to J. Watt.
(21) B C L , JWP JW/24.5, 1 Sept. 1771, C. MacDowall to J. Watt.
(22) B. C. L., JWP JW/24.6, 24 Oct. 1771, C. MacDowall to J. Watt.
(23) B. C. L., JWP JW/24.7, 18 and 27 April 1773, C. MacDowall to J. Watt.
(24) B. C. L., Boulton and Watt Collection, MI/1/20, 8-10 June 1773.
(25) B. C. L., B. & W., MI/1/20, 26 June 1773.
(26) Argyll Record Office, DR4/9/112, Plan of Campbeltown Canal, no
date.
No 41 Spring 1997
Page 2: Campbeltown Whalers
Page 3: Franciscan Converts in Kintyre - Part 1
Page 4: Mr. Macslimun - Clydeside Cameos
Page 5: Military Echoes
Page 6: The Cuckoo is a Bonnie bird // Roadside Flowers
Page 8: By Hill and Shore - Part 1
Page 9: The Screws