_Glass and Earthenware Manufactures._
The manufacture of glass was introduced into Scotland early in the
seventeenth century, as noticed in the third volume.¹ But this useful
and indispensable industry was for long hampered by the imposition of
a duty on the manufactured glass, which was not finally repealed until
1845. There are various kinds of glass: (1) The common bottle glass;
(2) the cheap, broad or spread window glass; (3) crown glass or window
glass, formed in discs or large circular plates, and this variety is
peculiar to Britain; (4) flint glass, crystal glass, or glass of lead;
(5) plate or fine mirror glass. But only two of these kinds are made to
any extent in Scotland――flint glass and bottle glass.
¹ Mackintosh’s _History of Civilisation in Scotland_, Volume
III., pages 315‒16.
The principal flint glass manufacture is in Edinburgh, in the
Canongate, and has been long known as the Holyrood Glass Works, which
were commenced by Mr. Ford about the opening of this century. There
are two furnaces in the works, which contain 22 pots; and the furnaces
consist of large cones of brickwork, which are pierced with a series
of openings corresponding to the number of pots in each. In the centre
of each cone a great fire is kindled, and the flames and heat from
it are drawn through flues and brought into contact with the pots,
which are arranged round the interior of the wall. The pots are made
of a particular kind of clay, which can withstand intense heat without
cracking or giving off any matter that would be injurious to the glass.
The pots do not last long, and require to be frequently renewed. The
removing of a broken pot and the insertion of a new one is an extremely
difficult and trying operation; besides the waste of the pots, the
furnace itself requires to be entirely reconstructed at the end of nine
or ten years.
The pots for making bottle glass are open, and the flames and smoke
come into contact with the “metal;” in the case of flint glass this
arrangement would not suit, as the smoke would spoil the purity of
the glass, and the flint glass pots are made so as to prevent direct
contact between the “metal” and the fire. “The pots are charged every
Saturday morning. Each contains about 18 hundredweight of glass, the
ingredients for which are put in gradually as the fusion proceeds,
from twelve to fifteen hours being required to complete the charging.
Though the ingredients become melted in that time, the ‘metal’ is not
in a fit state for working owing to the presence of air bubbles, which
can be got rid of only by urging the furnaces to its utmost intensity,
and maintaining it there at from thirty to forty hours, the mouths of
the pots being sealed during that time. The glass is ready for working
by an early hour on Monday morning. There are two sets of workmen, who
relieve each other every six hours, and the work goes on constantly
from Monday until Friday. The weekly consumption of coal is about
twenty tons to each furnace.
“Under the intense heat to which it is subjected, in order to get rid
of the gaseous bubbles, the glass becomes nearly as fluid as water, and
in that state could not be worked. Before the blowers begin operations
the temperature of the pots is lowered until the ‘metal’ assumes the
consistency of treacle. The tools used by the workmen are exceedingly
simple.... Owing to the peculiar nature of the material the formation
of articles in glass depends more upon the skill, the expertness,
and tact of the manipulator than upon the employment of complicated
appliances. The surface of the glass would be spoiled by a free use
of metal tools, and almost the only implements employed are composed
of charred wood. The operations of the glass-blowers are probably the
most wonderful in the whole range of the arts, no manipulation of the
conjurer being more mysterious to one who witnesses them for the first
time.”¹
¹ _Industries of Scotland_, by D. Bremner, pages 378‒379.
There are upwards of 200 persons employed at the Holyrood Glass Works.
There are six or seven flint glass and eight bottle manufactories in
Scotland. The value of the glass exported in 1861 was £62,140, and in
1867, £106,555. The chief centres of the glass manufacture are Glasgow,
Edinburgh, and Leith; and, in 1871, there were 2020 persons employed in
it, and of this number 88 were females. In 1891 there were 2084 hands
employed in glass manufacture.
The art of glass engraving is also carried on in Scotland, though only
since a recent date. The firm of Messrs. Millar & Company, of Edinburgh,
has attained distinction since the Exhibition of 1862; and they have
shown some fine and beautiful specimens of this branch of art.
Glass painting has been revived in Scotland in the present century.
The firm of Messrs. Ballantine, of Edinburgh, has been long well known
for the excellence of its work in this branch of art. About fifty years
ago Mr. Ballantine was selected by the Fine Arts Commission to execute
the windows in the new House of Lords; and he did much to promote the
improvement of glass painting in Scotland. Painted glass is now pretty
extensively used in public buildings, churches, and in some of the
houses of the wealthy class. This art has reached a high degree of
elaboration, and specimens of it may he seen throughout the country
which exhibit fine taste and skill in execution.
It was shown in the third volume¹ that there were no earthenware works
in Scotland in 1703; and one of the earliest potteries was established
at the Broomielaw, Glasgow, in 1748. Glasgow is still the chief centre
of this manufacture; Edinburgh and Kirkcaldy come next. The largest
Glasgow pottery is that of Messrs. Bell & Company, which covers upwards
of three acres of ground. This firm has devoted much care and attention
to the higher departments of the art, and has produced some fine work.
There is a wide field afforded for the exercise and display of artistic
taste and elaboration in the decoration of porcelain; and both in form
and colouring many of the productions of this firm are very beautiful.
They employ upwards of 800 persons.
¹ Page 317.
In 1871, there were fourteen potteries in Scotland, and there were
about 4000 persons employed in this manufacture. In 1891 there were
4,128 hands employed.
In 1871, there were 123 manufactories of brick, tiles, clay pipes,
and articles of a similar description, which were spread throughout
the country. The largest work of this kind is at Garnkirk, about
six miles east from Glasgow, on the side of the Caledonian Railway.
At this establishment there is an extensive manufactory of glazed
fireclay sewage and water pipes. Works in terra cotta are also produced
at Garnkirk. There are about 300 men and boys employed, and 200 tons
of clay are used daily at the works. In 1891 there were 5000 persons
employed in connection with this useful industry.