James Stirling was a Scottish mathematician. He was nicknamed "The Venetian".
William Symington (1764–1831) was a Scottish engineer and inventor, and the builder of the first practical steamboat, the Charlotte Dundas.
Leadhills, originally settled for the accommodation of miners, is a village in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, 5+3⁄4 miles (9.3 km) WSW of Elvanfoot. The population in 1901 was 835. It was originally known as Waterhead.
Hopetoun House is a country house near South Queensferry owned by the Hopetoun House Preservation Trust, a charity established in 1974 to preserve the house and grounds as a national monument, to protect and improve their amenities, and to preserve the furniture, paintings, manuscripts, and other articles of historical interest associated with the house. The south wing of the house is occupied by the family of Adrian Hope, 4th Marquess of Linlithgow. The house is a Category A listed building and the grounds are included in the Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes in Scotland.
William Adam was a Scottish architect, mason, and entrepreneur. He was the foremost architect of his time in Scotland, designing and building numerous country houses and public buildings, and often acting as contractor as well as architect. Among his best known works are Hopetoun House near Edinburgh, and Duff House in Banff. His individual, exuberant style built on the Palladian style, but with Baroque details inspired by Vanbrugh and Continental architecture.
Wanlockhead is a village in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, nestling in the Lowther Hills and 1 mile south of Leadhills at the head of the Mennock Pass, which forms part of the Southern Uplands. It is Scotland's highest village, at an elevation of around 466.6 m (1,531 ft), and can be accessed via the B797, which connects it to the A76 near Sanquhar and the A74(M) motorway at Abington.
Edzell Castle is a ruined 16th-century castle, with an early-17th-century walled garden. It is located close to Edzell, and is around 5 miles (8 km) north of Brechin, in Angus, Scotland. Edzell Castle was begun around 1520 by David Lindsay, 9th Earl of Crawford, and expanded by his son, Sir David Lindsay, Lord Edzell, who also laid out the garden in 1604. The castle saw little military action, and was, in its design, construction and use, more of a country house than a defensive structure. It was briefly occupied by English troops during Oliver Cromwell's invasion of Scotland in 1651. In 1715 it was sold by the Lindsay family, and eventually came into the ownership of the Earl of Dalhousie. It was given into state care in the 1930s, and is now a visitor attraction run by Historic Environment Scotland. The castle consists of the original tower house and building ranges around a courtyard. The adjacent Renaissance walled garden, incorporating intricate relief carvings, is unique in Scotland. It was replanted in the 1930s, and is considered to have links to esoteric traditions, including Rosicrucianism and Freemasonry.
Alloa Tower in Alloa, Clackmannanshire in central Scotland is an early 14th century tower house that served as the medieval residence of the Erskine family, later Earls of Mar. Retaining its original timber roof and battlements, the tower is one of the earliest, and largest, of Scottish tower houses, with immensely thick walls. It was designated as a scheduled monument in 1960 and is now owned by the National Trust for Scotland.
The Leadhills and Wanlockhead Light Railway was a short branch railway built in Scotland to serve mining settlements, high in the Lowther Hills, connecting them to the Carlisle - Carstairs main line. The line was opened in 1901 - 1902, and was the highest standard gauge railway line in the British Isles. Hoped-for developments did not emerge, and when the world lead price slumped in the 1920s, the line sustained heavy losses. It was closed on 2 January 1939.
Airthrey Castle is a historic building and estate which now forms part of the buildings and grounds of the University of Stirling in central Scotland. The 18th-century building with 19th-century additions occupies a beautiful setting in landscaped grounds in the southern edge of the Ochil Hills, above the Forth valley. It is located close to Bridge of Allan, 2 miles from the historic city of Stirling.
Craigiehall is a late-17th-century country house, which until 2015 served as the Headquarters of the British Army in Scotland. It is located close to Cramond, around 9 km (5.6 mi) west of central Edinburgh, Scotland.
The Lowther Hills, also sometimes known as the Lowthers, are an extensive area of hill country in the Southern Uplands of Scotland, though some sub-ranges of hills in this area also go under their own local names - see "Hillwalking" below. They form a roughly rhomboidal or lozenge shape on the map with the acute angles being to north and south. It has river valleys along its boundaries to north east (Clydesdale) and south west (Nithsdale) which carry the two largest arterial routes northwards into the west side of the Central Belt of Scotland. A string of small towns have long since developed along these routes. Most of the Lowther Hills lie in the Administrative County of Dumfries and Galloway, though part in the administrative county of South Lanarkshire moves into them around the village of Leadhills and the Daer Reservoir.
Sir James Hope of Hopetoun (1614–1661) was a Scottish lawyer, industrialist and politician.
The Scots Mining Company, or Scotch Mines Company, was formed shortly after the Jacobite rising of 1715 by Sir John Erskine with the intention of better developing the mineral resources of Scotland. Primary investors were largely garnered from expatriate Scots living in London.
Events from the year 1741 in Scotland.
The Wanlockhead beam engine is located close to the Wanlock Water below Church Street on the B797 in the village of Wanlockhead, Parish of Sanquhar, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. The site is in the Lowther Hills above the Mennock Pass, a mile south of Leadhills in the Southern Uplands. This is the only remaining original water powered beam engine in the United Kingdom and still stands at its original location. It ceased working circa 1910 after installation circa 1870.
Leadhills railway station was opened on 1 October 1901 as the intermediate stop on the Leadhills and Wanlockhead Light Railway and served the lead mining area, farms and the village of Leadhills circa 5.5 miles (8.9 km) WSW of Elvanfoot railway station in South Lanarkshire until 2 January 1939 for passengers and freight. Until Wanlockhead station opened Leadhills was the highest standard gauge adhesion station in the United Kingdom.
Wanlockhead railway station was opened on 1 October 1902 as the terminus on the Leadhills and Wanlockhead Light Railway and served the lead mining area, farms and the village of Wanlockhead. Elvanfoot railway station in South Lanarkshire was the junction for the branch and was located on the west coast main line. It remained open until 2 January 1939 for passengers and freight. When Wanlockhead station opened in 1902, a year after Leadhills station, it became the highest standard gauge adhesion station in the United Kingdom at 1,413 ft (431 m), seven miles and 24 chains from Elvanfoot.
George Douglas of Parkhead,, was a Scottish landowner, mining entrepreneur, Provost of Edinburgh, and Keeper of Edinburgh Castle.
Gold has been mined in Scotland for centuries. There was a short-lived gold rush in 1852 at Auchtermuchty and Kinnesswood, and another in 1869 at Kildonan in Sutherland. There have been several attempts to run commercial mines. In the Lowther Hills, Leadhills, and Wanlockhead areas gold prospecting and the extraction of lead metal went hand in hand. From 1424, under the Royal Mines Act, until 1592, gold and silver mined in Scotland were deemed to belong to the crown.
