Chapter 12.

The Leadhills Silver-Lead Mining and Smelting Company's shareholders were quick to criticise the board, but the Company was operating at an exceptionally difficult time. By 1880 the buoyant lead market of the mid century had collapsed and with it much of the British leadmining industry. Production had peaked at over 100,000 tons of bar lead, selling at £24 per ton, in the 1850s, but by 1880 the market was in decline. In 1882 the London Lead Company abandoned its mines on Alston moor; and in 1885 it was said that only two mines were still profitable in North Wales. In 1896 the Duke of Devonshire closed his mines in the Pennines; mines which had been seen as at the forefront of technology and which had given him around £15,000 yearly in profits.

The total UK output fell to 37,000 tons, and with it the numbers employed. In 1871 there had been 14,563 men working in the lead mines, by 1891 there were only 5,723, and scores of communities found themselves without work. No other industry fared so badly at that time, and only those mines which produced silver and, or, zinc blende as well as lead could be confident of survival.

The mining companies at Leadhills and Wanlockhead not only weathered the depression but by 1880 production had increased to about 2000 tons of ore per annum at the former and 1900 tons from Wanlockhead, in each case more than twice the output in 1850. Then the two Scottish mines had produced barely 2% of the British output, now the figure was nearer 8%. Both had silver in their ore. Wanlockhead was the richest with a consistant recovery of over 5oz/ton. Leadhills usually managed little more than 3oz, except during the decade after 1882, when output matched that at Wanlockhead. The latter also had the advantage of producing zinc, and by the 1880s around 100 tons pa. of blende was being mined as well.

It was a time not only of economic change but also of political aspiration and, in Scotland, national idealism. As discussed in the previous chapter, there had been "disturbances" at Wanlockhead, but there is no record of corresponding disputes at Leadhills. The removal of those who led the strike of 1836 meant that episode had been largely forgotten. The renaissance in the mines after 1861 must have lead to feelings of optimism, and in 1869 the miners were described as "cheerful and contented". It is perhaps significant that the population increased from 850 in 1851 to 1033 in 1871, whereas at Wanlockhead it fell from over 800 to 772 in the same period. Although there is no record of any rousing of social much less political awareness among the miners at this time, attitudes were to change in the 1880s and by the end of the century many of the Leadhills miners had begun to demonstrate an active militancy.

Brown vein was being worked from Wilson's shaft, which also gave access to the Brow and Raik veins. The Company later drove a deep level to Susanna, which, although "no longer rich", was reported to yield 6.5 tons of ore per fathom. By 1880 there were 105 miners working below ground and 114 men on the surface, 219 in total. All were referred to as "hands", a description which says much for company attitudes.

Around the same time, a new dressing floor was laid out at Raikhead. The site was probably chosen to command a supply of water from the main leat, but a consideration may have been its position in relation to the hoped for railway. A tramway linked the floor with the Wilson mine, and after it was frequently blocked with snow in the spring of 1886, part was covered. The Company later purchased nine horses so as to be independent of hiring animals to haul the ore. Transport underground was also improved; the arrangements were not described but it was claimed that one man could now do the work of ten.

At the general meeting in 1879 Peter Watson had told the shareholders that retorts were being obtained to recover gold. The Company was reticent as to the methods to be used, but it seems the intention was to produce an amalgam by passing the rich alluvium over mercury. This would then be distilled to leave the gold, and the mercury condensed to be used again.

The price of lead continued to fall and, in spite of the large amounts of ore being produced, the company's fortunes declined. In 1884 the dividend was only 1.1/4%, and there were loud complaints that the value of the shares was no more than £1.1/8. Anonymous shareholders addressed critical letters to the Mining Journal and Watson's optimistic remarks at the annual meetings were described as "cauld kail" and dismissed as "prattle".

* * *

At Wanlockhead, James Stewart's reign had advanced the mines in the mid century, and his son, T.B.Stewart, seems to have continued from where his father left off and was not to be seduced by the lure of gold. Output increased from 930 tons of lead ore in 1870 to 1900 tons in 1880, most of this from the New Glencrieff and Bay mines. But, like the Bay, Glencrieff too had its problems. The winder on the South shaft was inadequate and the ore had to be moved nearly 3/4 kilometre before it could be hauled to the surface. Flooding continued to bedevil operations and the beam engine pump at Straitsteps was built to deal with water trickling into the workings "through unknown fissures".

A failure to make adequate investment was also seen in the new dressing floor which Stewart had built, and which was later said to have been a "pretty little plant" but inadequate to handle the output from the mine.

When Walter Francis, the 5th Duke of Buccleuch, took over the works in 1842 he had been hailed as a "benefactor", but the privileges which had been enjoyed under the Marquis of Bute's tenancy were not continued. The re-claiming of ground for small holdings was discouraged; one time concessions were withdrawn; and Robert Reid, a local poet who had emigrated to Canada, wrote how his widowed mother had been denied the

lowly roof Buccleuch might well have given.

To shield her till she passed from earth to heaven.

* * *

The new works at Leadhills were to be driven by steam engines, and a 25 HP Fowler engine was purchased to turn the machinery at the new dressing floor. It served as a winding engine for the adjacent Reid's shaft as well, and by 1884 a 30 HP engine was pumping Wilson shaft. It was to prove unequal to the task, and as at the Bay mine, a water-wheel was later needed to augment it.

The improvements to the village, which had been begun in the 1860s, continued and the Company offered a "new" system of loans to enable the miners to improve their cottages. Three quarters of them were now roofed with slates, and five company houses were built near the smelt mill. It was stipulated that these should "be soundly built and have not less than two apartments. There was no comparable refurbishing at Wanlockhead where the majority of cottages were still thatched.

Various records show the growth of shops in the two villages, no doubt reflecting an increase in "ready money". Leadhills seems always to have been the more prosperous; in 1862 it had 16 "shopkeepers" compared with 8 at Wanlockhead and by 1882 the figures were 29 and 11.

Leadhills also seems to have done more business in "summer visitors", and in 1885 a correspondent to the Mining Journal wrote that the village offered "everything a tourist could require". In fact the burn was still regarded as "offensive", and there were now complaints of the "nuisance" caused by dungheaps and pigsties. Following an outbreak of typhoid in the summer of 1880, it was reported that the state of the village was "most insanitary" and efforts were made to clear the burn and improve the surface drainage. However, in 1885 the Crawford Medical Officer made a critical report which particularly remarked on the "imperfect sanitary arrangements". This was countered by the Inspector of Nuisances who claimed the situation was not as bad as the "doctor would make out", and remarked that "privies are not so greatly wanted (for) the byres serve that purpose". However the Parochial Board did appoint a part time Scavenger, at a salary of £10 to which the Earl of Hopetoun contributed £5.

By the second half of the nineteenth century the Free Church had become firmly established in Scotland, and the Earl of Hopetoun's opposition to one at Leadhills relented. In 1882 those villagers who had once made a Sunday journey to worship at Wanlockhead presented a Memorial for a church of their own. The petition had 286 signatories, and that the congregation was by then arranging services in the school at Leadhills lent support to their desire for independence. The request was approved by the Presbytery; the Earl provided ground; enough money was collected to begin work that year, and the church was opened in 1884.

Members of the Free Church were eager to re affirm fundamental principals, but the parent body was never far behind. In 1885 the Elders of the Established Church at Leadhills took the Rev. James Symington, to task for a sermon which, they said, "denied the belief in an eternal hell". Symington stood his ground, but in April the Elders proposed that the communion service be postponed because of the minister's "heresy". However the matter seems to have been resolved and Symington continued in office until 1917. In January, 1883, and in spite of an exceptionally bad winter the anniversary of the founding of the Reading Society was marked with "happy social evening"; but the poor state of the library building and its furnishings occasioned much concern. Support for renovation was canvassed; Peter Watson agreed to meet the cost of a new porch, and a Mr Williamson of Leicester, a family whose connection with Leadhills went back to the 1740s, provided a pulpit for the preses and a desk for the clerk.

The re-furbishment meant the numbers of those using the library increased to over one hundred, each reading on average 26 books per year. However, this surge of interest was short lived for by 1888 the membership had fallen to 36 and in December the subscription was reduced to 2/-. The Trustees of the Ferguson Be-quest had again criticised the administration of the Society, and in January 1889 the committee took the step of "revising the Laws and made other arrangements necessary for (its) better working".

* * *

The price of bar lead fell, and bargain rates at Leadhills were held down. In 1879 it was said of the miners that "there was not a poorer class in Scotland", and many earned no more than 5/- (25p) a week. Three years later a correspondent to the Hamilton Advertiser wrote that many miners had been forced to leave Leadhills, and although the Company claimed the men there were "comfortable", in reality many faced "poverty and want". He added that they should "stand up for their rights". His call may not have been a trigger but the 1880s saw the beginning of a new militancy none the less.

Changes in political structures must also have had an influence. The miners not only had their own cottages but had land as well. So did Reform give them a vote ? In reality they had tenuous titles to their properties but they were undoubtedly franchised by the Third Reform Act of 1884. Local politicians became interested in the two moorland villages and it was said that their inhabitants were "having great attention paid to them". This was especially the case at Leadhills for after 1886 the local Tory MP, J.H.C.Hozier, held the seat by a majority of only 18 votes. Such attentions perhaps encouraged political awareness.

Tradition has it that the visitors included Keir Hardie. Since the two villages lay between Hardie's home in Nithsdale and his trade union base in Clydesdale, this is very likely. Writers have commented on the particular characteristics of Scottish labour leaders such as Hardie, Alexander MacDonald, and his successor, Robert Smillie. W.Knox remarks how their heroes included "Burns and Carlyle", as well as "Jesus and Mazzaroni", and A.J.P.Taylor, writing of Hardie as the "cloth cap MP", remarks how his political outlook stemmed from Robert Burns.

Such characteristics, a belief in a natural democracy, support for land reform, and adherence to evangelicalism, are also found in the ethos of the members of the Leadhills Reading Society. It had once been a medium for radical ideas, now the smallholdings were to become the focus of political ideology.

In his History of Sanquhar John Brown wrote how the lead miners "worked on the crofter system", and in 1882 the correspondent to the Hamilton Advertiser had described them as "the crofters of the hills". The Scottish crofter is defined as one who obtains a material proportion of his sustenance from working a small farm, but needs another occupation to make ends meet. His counterpart once existed in many lead-mining areas, where families needed their small holdings to provide a tolerable living and to get by when times were bad. In Swaledale in the 1870s a mine owner, Sir George Denys commented, "A bit of land makes them (the lead miners) stick to their homes and accept low wages", and in 1878 Peter Watson excused low wages at Leadhills by remarking the miners were "contented with an acre and a cow".

Strict definition places the crofter in the Scottish Highlands and Islands, but the term is significant. The Highland crofters were, in the main, Free Churchmen who subscribed to the principal "The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof". In 1882 those on Skye rose in revolt against their landlords, the first such action since the Levellers Uprising in South West Scotland in 1724. The crofters went on to espouse a political militancy, and it seems to have been an identification with their interests which was to influence political action at Leadhills.

There, the amount of land reclaimed as smallholdings had risen to 400 acres, and the milk production was such that some was being supplied to Wanlockhead. In 1853 it was remarked that "pigs are seldom kept", but in 1885 the Crawford Medical Officer counted 47 sties, plus 111 cow-byres. Byres and sties added a rural dimension to the village, and it was said that there was a "great interest in agricultural matters". Cattle seem to have been the main business of the smallholders, and may also have been a source of wealth to others. The head stones on the graves of two Leadhills' shop keepers, John and Robert Grierson, give them the caption "Merts", a now forgotten title but perhaps meaning cattle dealers.

The produce from the smallholdings might enable the miners to get by on low wages, but the investment in the land itself could not be realised should the miner want to sell up. In 1888 the "Notes from Scotland" in the journal Democrat referred to the way the Leadhills miners' cottages and crofts were held "at the pleasure of the Earl of Hopetoun", and suggested this restriction had led to unspecified disputes. In the same year a correspondent to the North British Daily Mail expressed concern as to the effect of the collapse in the market for lead, and pointed out that the miners were compelled to remain in the village, since "they have houses they built themselves and fields they re-claimed from the moors but they cannot dispose of them".

The miners were seen as "kindly tenants", a form of tenure which had been common in medieval Scotland, but which Professor Smout regards as being almost extinct by 1600. It was described as being "as near an ideal arrangement as one can hope for", but in reality the Leadhills smallholders were a part of a forgotten feudal system which found no sympathy in the legislation of the nineteenth century.

However there was support for a system some saw as an example of benevolent paternalism. In July 1888 the Rev. Moir Porteous replied to what he saw as "strictures" about the condition of the Leadhills miners by asserting he had "never known the miners to be unjustly deprived of their cottages". Perhaps where this had occurred, Porteous saw it as deserved.

Interest in the Irish Land Act of 1881 had focussed attention on the plight of peasant farmers, and many radicals began to see Ireland as a mirror of British, and in particular Scottish, rural problems. Michael Davitt, founder of the Irish Land League, toured Scotland in 1882; when he drew what was said to be a "warm response" from crofters in Inverness; and he came again in 1886. In that year Irish MPs queued to support the Crofters' Bill, and in 1887 a Liberal meeting at Carstairs was reminded "Ireland is not only fighting her own battles but Scotland's also".

Such sentiments were perhaps found among the miners, for T.G.Gracie had written how those at Wanlockhead "favoured the radicals and land nationalisation". The historian Douglas Roy now claims that land agitation was one of the most important issues in the history of the times. The Scottish Liberals made land reform and devolution an election policy, and this led to the creation of the Scottish Office in 1885.

The Leadhills' Reading Society bought a copy of a pamphlet The Irish Question in June, 1887, and in December J.J.Clancy, the MP for Dublin North, visited the village, and subsequently wrote to the Society thanking its members for their "interest". Clancy had a militant approach to the question of Home Rule, and was censured by Parnell's supporters for advocating the "wringing of English necks".

The books in the libraries in both villages are a tangible indicator of community attitudes, and a study of the titles purchased by the Leadhills committee during the last decades of the nineteenth century, show that a considerable proportion of them related to social and political issues and a number dealt with Irish problems. For example, Daly's Radical Pioneers; Mallock: Labour and Welfare; Trench: The Realities of Irish Life and O'Connor"s History of the Irish People.

All are perhaps of a "liberal" rather than "socialist" content but their presence in the library is of particular interest. The titles are not in the lists of the Wanlockhead library, and the number at Leadhills was not equalled in Scottish public libraries at that time. There seems no evidence from other lead mines of any identification with Irish problems, indeed in 1849 a miner who had been involved in a strike at Allenheads had asserted "I disclaim being identified with Irishmen".

Among the visitors to Leadhills was a charismatic politician, and member of the Scottish Home Rule Association, James Galloway Weir. In June, 1888, he addressed meetings in both villages and at Leadhills on the 30th of that month "William Hislop, miner, and Adam Stewart, merchant", proposed that a resolution be made to Scottish Liberal candidates that they should urge for a "Scottish parliamentary party to promote the interest of the miners, crofters, and the working classes." The resolution anticipated one passed by members of the nascent Scottish Labour Party when they met in Glasgow soon after. It is not known if Galloway Weir was present, but Keir Hardie and Robert Smillie were there.

Working people were reacting to political change, but the run down of metalliferous mining, and the resulting unemployment, produced reactions in the industry and over the years there were critical letters in the press. In 1868 one in the Mining Journal complained about "worsening labour relations", and in 1886 a writer to a Cornish paper remarked that demands for action came from younger miners who were "pressing for change" but "older men (were) not eager for it".

In August 1888 voices from Leadhills were heard in London for the Mining Journal reported that the "workmen at the Leadhills mines" had not only proposed that leases should be denied to companies whose capital was so large as to "handicap the enterprise", but also the miners to be given shares, paid for out of profits, and were to have a voice in the way the mines were worked. The editor regarded the proposals with consternation and claimed they were "undesirable", "monstrous", and "absurd". In fact twenty years previously a correspondent had proposed a scheme which gave the miners a bonus, and which included a "joint arbitration committee of masters and men". It had occasioned little comment, perhaps the voice was an acceptable one.

Old attitudes remained for when the 7th Earl of Hopetoun was married on the 23rd October, 1887, the villagers presented the bride with a gold ring and a nugget weighing 355 grains. There were great celebrations in the village, and a song was composed for the occasion with the chorus

"Hurrah for young Hopetoun,

Gallant young Hopetoun"

The villagers may have sung the Earl's praises but Peter Watson complained that the tack duty levied by the Earl took no account of the depressed lead market. In 1887 the tack was reduced to a flat rate of £600, but even so it was still seen as "oppressive", and it was said that there was "much abuse of their landlord" at the Company's meetings. At a Leadhills re-union in Glasgow in January, 1888, the Earl claimed he had had to make sacrifices and hoped some of this might "benefit the pockets of the miners".

In September the Countess of Hopetoun visited Leadhills, via a decoration of "floral arches spanning the street", and the Duke of Buccleuch came up to Wanlockhead in November. Both visits offered the opportunity for that charity and ceremony which maintained the paternal bonds between the villagers and their landlords; countering criticism about the tenure of the smallholdings, and emphasising unassailable class differences.

The year 1888 also saw the opening of the International Exhibition in Glasgow, and Queen Victoria made a tour of the country. Perhaps promoted to strengthen the Union and discourage demands for home rule.

* * *

The decline in the Company's fortunes led to talk of the works being "abandoned" and at a meeting of the Leadhills Co-Operative Society in 1888, it was suggested that the mines were run as a co-operative. In fact a colliery in the North East of England was worked as a co-operative in the 1870s, but that there was any knowledge of this at Leadhills can be only speculation.

In 1889 the Company sold lead to the value of £24,497, and announced a profit of £4085. The upturn does not appear to have benefited the miners for they petitioned the Earl seeking his support for an increase in wages. This was somewhat bruskly refused, but in any event the improvement was short lived, and Watson pressed for a further reduction in the tack. The high rate of royalties paid on British mines had become a major issue, and in 1881 an editorial in the Mining Journal had complained that they were "an unwarrantable extraction" and had been a factor leading to the closure of the mines at Weardale.

The 7th Earl of Hopetoun was created Marquis of Linlithgow and an involvement with Australian affairs took him away from Scotland. In his absence, negotiations over the terms for a new lease proved difficult and protracted, but when they were eventually confirmed in 1892, Watson succeeded in getting the tack set at 1/30th if the price of lead was £14 a ton or less, rising to 1/16th if was above £22.

The leases for ground at Leadhills had regard for changes in technology and the demands of the community. The lease of 1892 took account of what would now be seen as environmental issues for it referred to the dangers of open shafts, and the damage that could be caused by the smelter fume. Open shafts were to be capped or fenced, and a larger condenser at the smelt mill was intended to "obviate damage from fumes and smokes".

Even so, there were problems with pollution emanating from it. In 1886 a memorandum to the Duke of Buccleuch had noted that the Leadhills smelter was particularly effective in "taking lead from the smoke" and an analyses of the output figures suggests a recovery of over 75% at the time. In the 1860s it had been around 70%, and had perhaps been little more than 60% when the smelter was managed by William Borron. Yet in spite of the considerable improvement, the degree of pollution seems to have been worse than at Wanlockhead.

In 1886 an action by local farmers for £400 in damages was "defended", but in 1891 there was a complaint about the effluent running into the burn at the smelter and the Company had to build "catch pits". Problems with the fume continued and in 1894 the Company met another claim for "land damages".

In 1891 Leadhills celebrated when a monument was erected to the memory of William Symington, engine builder and steamboat pioneer. Symington had been born in the village, and had built engines on the Bay and the Humby mines a century before. The monument, which still stands above Symington Street, was unveiled by Colonel Hare, the Hopetoun factor, and the day was declared a holiday.

* * *

In the same year the congregation of the Established Church accepted the gift of an organ, the "kist of whistles" despised by the reformers. But all over Scotland the Churches were losing members, and in October 1899 the attendance at the Fast Day service at Leadhills had fallen to an extent that it was decided "to dispense with it". This decline in influence in the country was evidenced by a search for alternative religious structures, and at Leadhills a group of Swedenborgians emerged among the villagers. All that remains of this little heresy is the books they left on "the true religion" and several works on spiritualism, all now in the library. The movement appealed to many socialists, not the least Ramsay MacDonald, who was said to have had many friends in Leadhills, and its presence there is an example of the sort of interests of which little record now remains.

After 1843 the Presbyterian churches went their different ways, and after 1846 Parochial Boards administered what came to be a measure of local government. The heritors still had the power base, but the Church had its role and at Crawford the local minister sat alongside the landowners. Leadhills was the largest community in the parish and, over the years, the Board listened to frequent complaints from villagers.

In 1895 the Government replaced the Boards with elected Parish Councils. A degree of democracy had been achieved, and Leadhills now had its place, for the first Crawford council included James Murray, one of the miners; Noble, the innkeeper; and the Rev. McGarrity, the Free Church Minister; and it was agreed that alternative meetings be held in Leadhills.

One cause of complaint had been the circumstances of the Shelter House at Leadhills, one of the few in the South West which afforded refuge to beggars and the homeless. In 1897 there was a move to close it, but it was kept open and funds made available to have it cleaned, painted inside, and the "blankets washed".

* * *

The mining Company's main effort was now in Brown's Vein where Wilson's shaft was sunk to 145 fathoms, 265 metres. There was a pump on the Jeffereys shaft on Gripps level, driven by a water wheel in the mine. But much water was encountered and, as already noted, the steam engine proved inadequate. In 1891 a 30ft (9M.) diameter wheel was erected down the hillside, so adjacent to the leat, and it drove a pump in the shaft via a line of flat rods. Investment on the wheel and the fume condensers at the smelt mill was reported as £3000.

Wilson's shaft was laddered to the bottom, and this necessitated a time consuming climb down and an exhausting ascent at the end of a shift. So much so that it was alleged men had collapsed after reaching the surface portal. Forty years before, the Mining Journal had commented on the waste of effort, and the cost to health, occasioned by lengthy ladder climbs, but it was not until the Royal Commission on Conditions in Mines (Kinnaird) reported in 1864 that the matter received much attention. Adverse comments occupied the letter columns of the Mining Journal in the decade which followed, and at Leadhills Thomas Newbigging asked for a cage to wind men up with the whim, but nothing was done.

In 1892 a young labourer fell from the ladders, and in the same year a miner was badly injured by an explosion of dynamite in the mine. He was taken up the shaft and then to the Infirmary in Edinburgh. How he fared after what must have been an agonising journey was not recorded.

Over the years many ambitious Leadhills' men had left to start successful businesses elsewhere. Among them was James Alexander who made a fortune as proprietor of the Glasgow coach builders, Buchanan & Co., and was a Baillie of the city, and a shareholder in the Leadhills Silver-Lead Mining and Smelting Company. He took an active interest in the welfare of the miners, and in 1892 he gave 40 tons of coal to be distributed among "deserving families" by the Deacon Court of the Free Church.

The price of lead briefly recovered and in 1892 the Leadhills Silver-Lead Mining & Smelting Company sold 1520 tons at £11-7-2 and declared a profit of £2026. However the price then fell back to £11, there was a loss the following year, and the £6 shares could be had for £1. This time the directors looked to have the tack waived altogether and in 1893 the mining engineer, Henry Dennis, was asked to advise. He agreed with the Company's view of their situation, and recommended that the tack should be deferred for three years. However, if this was agreed, then there should be no dividend either, and instead a sum estimated at £2000 should be used to further develop Browns vein. The report perhaps encouraged cost cutting, and in September wages were reduced with the promise that they would be increased once things improved. .

The Marquis returned to Scotland in 1895, but relations between the mining company and the Hopetoun Estate seem to have remained less than cordial. Watson complained that its advisers were hindering plans for the development of the 100f level south of Wilson's shaft, but this was eventually resolved and in 1896 there was a profit of £4800-5-11.

* * *

In 1893 William Borron, now retired and living in Maida vale, got a notion to secure gold from Leadhills to make into a ring to the Princess Mary of Teck. Newbigging was asked to arrange to have the gold panned from the streams, and in July

"a ring of Scotch Gold from the ancient mines of Leadhills (was) given by W.G. Borron, and

the Miners of that district, to the Princess Victoria Mary of Teck".

An extra-ordinary amount of gold was collected by the miners in the second half of the nineteenth century. Porteous reckoned this amounted to 940 grains by 1875, and in 1887 when the Leadhills miners presented gold to the 7th Earl of Hopetoun, they also collected enough for a bracelet for the wife of the local MP, James Hozier.

Perhaps spurred by the miners own skills, the Leadhills Silver-Lead Mining & Smelting Company renewed its own efforts. But back in 1772 Dr Joseph Black had advised that recovering the alluvial gold was a "project greatly exceeded by the expense". The use of mercury had done nothing to contradict Black's findings and it must have become clear that the operation was not viable. Newbigging suggested effort should be made to seek any quartz veins which might contain gold, and this was put in hand by opening "new ground on the Lowther hills". Not only might the elusive "Treasure House" be found, but by advertising the possibility of a gold bearing vein, the price of shares might be raised to the advantage of speculators.

In 1894 exploratory work was begun in the Windgate on the Shortcleuch, and in Glencaple in lower Glengonnar. At the next meeting the secretary produced "a bottle full of gold". Where it had come from it was not noted, but the following year the Marquis asked Henry Dennis to report. He wrote that quartz veins had been uncovered, but assays from them produced only 1 Dwt per ton. Dennis was less than impressed and wrote how he had made it clear to Watson that it was much too early to claim any prospects of finding gold in commercial quantities.

Work was nevertheless pushed ahead and by 1896 trial pits, costean pits, had been sunk to establish the extent of the veins in the Windgate. They were referred to as Nos 1 & 2, and adits were then opened on each "with a view to obtaining gold". These were the first gold "mines" in the area in over two centuries and samples of quartz were handed round at the next meeting. The editor of the Mining Journal regarded the venture as "spirited but risky", and urged expenditure should be restricted.

By 1900 work was in hand on a cross-cut, but there are no reports of any quantity of gold being found. As well as a royalty of 1/30 the value of the gold, the terms of the lease had included 1/20 the value of crushed quartz. There is no quartz to be seen on the spoil heaps in the Windgate, so it is probable that it was this mundane mineral which was processed to pay for the gold mining.

Thomas Newbigging died in 1894. He had come up through the ranks, being an overseer, and under-agent, before being appointed manager. He was succeeded by W.H.Paull who had previously worked in Wales and held the Cornish title "captain". He now provided lengthy reports at the annual meetings, reports which one shareholder was moved to criticise as "incomprehensible".

* * *

The prosperity of the mines in both villages was to greatly benefit from the construction of a light railway from Elvanfoot. The Leadhills Silver-Lead Mining & Smelting Company had approached the Caledonian Railway Company in 1877, but it was not until the Light Railway Act came into force that the steep gradients and tight curves could be tackled. There was a plan to take the line up Glengonnar, but a route along the Elvan Water was the eventual choice. An Order was made on the 19th January, 1897, and an Public Inquiry held in Leadhills on the 14th April. The Rev. McGarrity, the Free Church minister, was one of those who spoke in support of the railway, claiming it would bring not only new industries, - he suggested a paint manufacture and a cement works - but also an influx of tourists.

The library committee had long discussed the provision of newspapers and, no doubt aware of their desire and perhaps conscious of the gifts to her, the Countess of Hopetoun made a present of subscriptions to various papers and periodicals in August 1896. To cater for this the library was opened daily, a move which took the whole concept away from the Reading Society and towards a Public library. As well as the papers etc given by the Countess, and no doubt chosen for their "suitability", the miners took the Labour Leader the Mining Journal and Mining World. The latter periodicals not only gave details of the meetings of the Leadhills Silver-Lead Mining and Smelting Company but also of lead mines and labour problems elsewhere. The availability of such information in the library must have had a major role in the rousing of the miners' social consciousness.

There was still a lack of facilities for community activities, and in 1897 it was agreed that the library could be used for indoor bowls. However this was not without its problems for in 1901 the committee heard a complaint of a lack of "order" on the nights the club met.

* * *

The price of lead had begun to recover by 1898, but wage rates were not restored. It is likely this exacerbated other grievances for it was later remarked that Newbigging's death was a cause of the "collapse" in labour relations at Leadhills. In any event the men were not prepared to accept the situation and some miners advocated the traditional appeal to their landlord, the new Marquis, as the village champion. But others believed the solution to their difficulties lay in their own hands. The sacked leaders of the 1836 "union or society" had left no heirs, and it is questionable if there was any real memory of the earlier combination, for those who later reviewed the history of the Leadhills disputes at Trade Union meetings made no mention of it. A decision to combine again may then have been an original one and this time the men joined the Lanarkshire Union of Mine Workers.

At a meeting of the Union Executive in July 1898 it was unanimously agreed to support the Leadhills' miners in their application for a 27.1/2% increase in wages. This support may have owed much to the interest of Robert Smillie the Union leader. Although colliers traditionally distrusted their fellows in the lead mines as potential strike-breakers, Smillie had a real interest in Leadhills, and it was he who had made the library a gift of the subscription to the Labour Leader, successor to Keir Hardie's Miner. In return Mrs Smillie was given a ring of Leadhills gold which was said to have been "greatly treasured".

The Company refused to consider any increase in wages, claiming the men earned 19/8 (99p) on average, and this, Watson stated, compared very favourably with rates in other metal mines. When the Union Executive met in August it unanimously agreed to advise that the members at Leadhills should be brought out on strike.

The strike of 1836 was probably remarkable in that it occurred at all. By 1898 there had been a number of strikes at British lead mines, but what was remarkable about the stoppage at Leadhills was that it was the first time lead miners had been brought out by a colliers' union. Indeed when the Teesdale miners took action in 1872, they turned down a suggestion that they join the established Union.

At the Company's annual meeting in October it was reported that 71 men out of a labour force of 160, had refused bargains on the 19th August and were "not working". The fact that men were on strike was played down and the Union's role was not mentioned. As was always the case, it was important to keep shareholders "in good heart" and nothing should be allowed to depress the share price.

To add to the community's misfortunes many homes were gripped by a "fever", probably typhoid, but men at the local coal mines were giving support to the strikers, and the Union was paying a strike allowance. The company were also feeling the effects, particularly as the smelters were among the strikers. The Leadhills smelters always seem to have been strongly radical, and it was they who refused to participate in the gift of gold to the Countess in 1862. The opportunity was taken to close down the smelt mill for repairs, and later Captain Paull reported it had been restarted, but "in a small way owing to the want of employees".

At its meeting in April, 1899, Watson admitted that "What the miners called a strike" had interfered with production, and only 450 tons of ore had been produced. The mines were said to be losing more than £200 a month; the outlook was bleak and the possibility of closure had to be faced. Paull reported there were some prospect of ore in Gripps level south of Wilson's shaft, but ventilation there was only by hand driven fans. In spite of the pessimistic tone of the meeting, a motion to continue was carried, however the share price fell to 5/- (25p).

When the strike had begun the workforce numbered about 95 miners and 65 surface workers, 160 in all. A decade before there had been a total of 212 employees, so men were in any event being laid off, and it seems the Company intended reducing its labour force and the strike was perhaps opportune. In 1899, Watson claimed the dispute "was not a strike at all", and when, years later, the strike was acknowledged, it was said to have lasted no more than "two or three months".

The directors were adamant they would "allow no interference by trade unions", and to this end the representatives of the Lanarkshire Union of Mineworkers were ignored. By 1900 some strikers had left the village and the Kirk Sessions noted that attendance at the Sacraments had fallen as a result. Other men found work with the railway contractor. In 1872, Teesdale strikers had found work on the Settle to Carlisle line. Although the authorities tried to prevent strikers being employed on public works, no action was taken at Leadhills.

Much of the construction of the light railway to Leadhills and then Wanlockhead took place during the strike. Robert McAlpine & Sons, who had made a reputation by building the West Highland line, were appointed contractors, and by 1899 they had over 100 men at work, many living in temporary accommodation.

The line climbed 685 feet in 7 miles with a gradient of 1 in 40 over one stretch. It was opened to Leadhills on the 5th October, 1901, and a year later it was completed to Wanlockhead. During its construction the navvies visited the village, and it was said that their presence made for a "lively" atmosphere on Saturday nights. There were sporting events between them and the villagers, and no doubt they brought ideas from a wider labour perspective.

That the navvies sometimes worked on Sundays led to complaints to the Kirk session, but the local churches were strongly in favour of the railway, and it was agreed that this was work of an "essential" nature.

The opening of the railway meant the horizons of both villages were dramatically enlarged. It was now possible to have a day in Glasgow, visitors could make the journey as easily, and excursions could be arranged.

By November, 1900, the number of men employed at Leadhills had fallen to 77. A shareholder wrote to the Mining Journal complaining of the "inactivity of the directors", and another asked "What was the object - what were the prospects" of the fruitless search for gold. Questions which suggest this was seen as being less about mining than puffing the share price.

By the following spring the shares stood at 2/6 (12p) and there were complaints of the board's apathy and claims that £109,000 of the capital reserve had been used to provide a dividend. One shareholder asked "can nothing be done to terminate the strike", and another wrote of a young striker who had taken work in a Sanquhar coal mine and had been killed there.

By 1901 there was no prospect of a settlement and the dispute had the dubious distinction of being the longest at any British lead mine. The Union continued with some support and the situation seems to have stabilised for by April the labour force at the mines was up to 106. By January 1902 the Hamilton Advertiser reported that a "prominent gentleman" was negotiating to find a settlement for the dispute. This was apparently successful for the strike ended soon after, having lasted about three and a half years. As with many lengthy labour disputes, its conclusion seems to have gone unnoticed by the press.

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Water in the Brow vein hampered the development of an ore body there, and perhaps for this reason the company now opened old works in the Mill vein. This part of the mining ground had offered Borron an opportunity to avoid the problems occasioned by the dispute over the leats, now Paull's men cleared the old horse level which had been driven to Poutshiel in the 1860s, and by 1901 had sunk 12 fathoms of a shaft. But it was agreed that the water in the Brow mine had to be "mastered" and one of the wheels was altered to provide extra power. This was completed by 1902 but the scheme was frustrated by a dry summer which had reduced the flow in the Shortcleuch leat.

By October 145 men were at work, including 4 repairing Gripps level with timber, two hearths were working at the smelt mill, and in 1903 Watson could report that some of the Company's arrears had been settled. Even so, the Leadhills Silver-Lead Mining and Smelting Company teetered on the edge of bankruptcy, and men were laid off again. Three years before, the annual meeting had considered a motion as to whether or not to continue, now there was a specific proposal to wind the Company up. It was not supported, but disillusioned shareholders pressed for an enquiry.

The Marquis was also dissatisfied, and after much procrastination, and uncertainty; which meant more men were laid off; it was agreed to have the mines inspected by an independent consultant. The choice was W.H. Borlase of the Greenside mine in Cumbria. It was perhaps the best arranged lead mine in the country, and in 1901 Borlase had acted as consultant for Devon Great Consols. The latter was one of Watsons more profitable concerns and at one time the £1 shares had charged hands at £800. Borlase reported the Leadhills mines were still viable, and recommended that Brow vein should be further developed but its ore should be worked from a new mine at Glengonnar, and electric power used to drive the pumps and hoists.

To raise the necessary capital, an extra-ordinary meeting approved the issue of 20,000 Preference shares at 10/- (50p), each. There was much pressure on the shareholders, who were advised by letter that the mine would close and "all investment be lost", if they did not subscribe.

The time was one of stagnation in the metal market, and reviewing the year, the Editor of the Mining Journal wrote that speculators were not just "indifferent", but their attitude to mining shares was "one of refusal". The issue was unsuccessful but a correspondent to the Journal, who signed himself "Ledhill", claimed a 10% debenture stock might have been taken up.

The failure meant the Leadhills Silver-Lead Mining and Smelting Company was forced into voluntary liquidation and was wound up in August 1903. In its place the Leadhills Company was floated with capital of 20,000 shares of £1 each. The news was welcomed in Leadhills, but there seems to have been little interest in the new venture among investors, and the directors had difficulty in meeting the Marquis's insistence that one half of the capital be subscribed before a new lease was signed. It probably says much for Watson's influence that this was eventually achieved, and it was later claimed that he had rallied a hesitant Board with the cry "Don't funk it".