Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 10.djvu/657

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GAB—GYZ

GLASGOW’ the eflbrts he made to rebuild the cathedral which had been destroyed by fire. He collected funds with so much success that in 1197 the new structure was sufliciently advanced to be dedicated. The next bishops of note were Bodington and Wisheart. The former carried on the build- ing work of Jocelyn; the latter was a patriotic Seot who resisted the conquering army of Edward I., and was among the first to join in the revolt of Wallace, and to receive Robert Bruce when he was proscribed by Edward and lay under the ban of the church for the murder of the Red Comyn. Wisheart was a prisoner from the year 1306 to the . battle of Bannockburn, and he lived to see Bruce firmly established upon the Scottish throne. Bishop Rae deserves mention for having built a stone bridge over the Clyde (1345). Bishop Turnbnll was the greatest benefactor the city had till then found ; for he was the founder of Glasgow university (1150). He also received a charter from James ' wealth of its ecclesiastical lords. G39 took place between the parties at the Butts to the east of the town. The regent’s troops were successful, and to punish the inhabitants for their devotion to the Lennox family the town was pillaged. The unfortunate Queen Mary visited her husband Darnley when he lay ill at his father's house Limmerfield, near Glasgow—a visit which afterwards was made of fatal significance to her when her case was heard before Queen Elizabeth in council. The inhabitants of Glasgow had no liking for the fair queen, for many of them fought against her at the battle of Lang- side, where she lost her crown and kingdom. Glasgow seems to have been fairly prosperous after the accession of James VI. and the union of the crowns of England and Scotland. It was recovering from the loss which it sus- tained by the Reformation through the dispersion of the Alittle trade was spring- ing up with foreign parts, chiefly with the Low Countries. II. in 1-120, erecting the town aml the lands of the bishops I But the city suffered somewhat severely in the reign of into a regality. In 1401 the see was made metropolitan through the influence of James IV., who had been a canon of the cathedral in early life. The last Roman Catholic arch- bishop of Glasgow was James Bethune, consecrated in 1552. At the Reformation in 1560 the archbishop fled to France, carrying with him all the relies, documents, and valuables belonging to the see. The cathedral, upon which so much care l1-ad been bestowed by the successors of Bishop J ocelyn, very nearly suffered the devastation which was inflicted upon so many abbeys and churches by the more bigoted of the Reformers. It was saved by the craftsmen of Glasgow turning out in their strength and chasing away the destroyers of the “ rookeries,” who had already begun to lay sacrilegious hands upon the venerable building. After the Reformation, and till the Revolution of 1688, which re-estab- lished Presbyterianism as the religious form of worship in Scotland, the see of Glasgow was occupied by a number of archbishops, the tenure of whose oflice in many cases was precarious. The most notable fact after the Reformation in the history of the Glasgow Church was the Assembly of 1638 which was held in the city, when Episcopacy was energeti- cally abjured, the Solemn League and Covenant accepted, and its signature made binding upon all who claimed the ordi- nances of the Presbyterian Church. The fact that the craftsmen were zealous for the preservation of their fine old cathedral indicates probably that the Reformation doctrines were not received so enthusiastically in Glasgow as in many other places in Scotland ; but they took deep root latterly, and in the struggles for religious and civil liberty in the 17th century the inhabitants were among the foremost to assist and endure in the good cause. tlasgow owed its erection into a burgh to its ecclcsiastic lords. One of these obtained a royal charter from William the Lion in the last quarter of the 12th century (between the years 1175 aud 1178), which made the town a burgh, and gave it a market with freedom and customs. Another charter, it is supposed, was granted in 1190, and according to a deed dated l268 the town was governed by a provost and bailies, and had courts of justice for settling disputes among the inhabitants. There are no records, however, till ahnost quite recent times. A few incidents of national history with which Glasgow was connected may be noted, to fill up the blank from the period when it was an ecclesi- astical town to the date at which it started its_ great eareer as the capital of Scottish industry and commerce. Wallace fought one of his successful battles for Scottish liberty in the High Street of Glasgow in the year 1300. In 1350 the plague raged in the city, and returned thirty years after- wards, though not in so severe a form. About 1542 the bishop’s castle, which was garrisoned by the earl of Lennox, was besieged by the earl of Angus, then regent, and after its surrender 011 terms which were dishonoured, a skirmish Charles I. Its inhabitants had become fiercely anti—pre- latical, a11d were obnoxious to the ruling powers. Vhen Montrose in his victorious course marched into the city after the battle of Kilsyth he levied a heavy contribution, although the eity was suffering at the time from one of the periodical visits of the plague. In 1648 the provost and his bailies were deposed for contumacy to Charles I., and were imprisoned for a few days, while four regiments of foot aud horse were quartered on the magistrates, council, and session. Plague and famine prevailed during the following year ; in 1652 there was a great fire which destroyed about a third of the town and £100,000 worth of property. After the restoration of Charles II., and during the persecutions of his and his brother’s reign, Glasgow suffered severely. It was a centre of dis- aflection against the Government, the headquarters of the Whigs of the west of Scotland. Glasgow prison was filled to overflowing with the rebels, as they were called, and it is a proof of the sympathy with which they were regarded by the citizens that on the oecasion of another great fire in 1678 the doors of the prison were thrown open, and the prisoners set at liberty. The Govern- ment retaliated by sending an army of wild Highlanders to the city, who savagely oppressed the inhabitants and roused up the spirit of resistance which vented itself at London Hill and Bothwell Bridge. With the Revolution peace and prosperity came to Glasgow, only to be partially interrupted by the risings in 1715 and 1745. A regiment of 500 men was raised in Glasgow to support William and Mary and Presbyterian rights and privileges; and in return the city was declared free by a charter, the citizens having the right of electing their own municipal rulers. Glasgow was not aware of the vast benefits that were conferred upon her by the union of England and Scotland in 1707. The measure was stoutly resisted by the inha‘.:~i- tants, and its proclamation nearly led to a riot; but the merchants very soon saw that by the Water highway which flowed through the town they could have access to the pro- fitable trade that had been opened up in North America. Glasgow’s situation for the western foreign trafiie was the best in Scotland, and inferior to none of the great towns cf England. The Treaty of Union put every Scottish port,'so far as trade was concerned, on an equal footing with the English ports 3 and there was no reason why Glasgow should not share in the wealth which in ever—increasing amount was yearly coming across the Atlantic. As has been already stated, after the trouhlous times of the Reformation the trade prosperity of Glasgow was considerable. In the middle of the 10th century there were ten towns in Scot- land above it in population and importance, but by the close of the 17th century it had risen _to the second rank,

with a population of about 10,000 or 11,000. This