ment is founded upon many careful observations and inquiries in different parts of the parish, and though it be only the result of a combination of partial averages, will be found to be pretty near the truth. It certainly does not, upon the whole, exceed the truth. Average gross produce of grain, L. 12,210 9,828 3,100 7,751 3,340 216 1,146 650 495 L. 38,736 V.-PAROCHIAL ECONOMY. very Market-Town-Means of Communication.—There is no markettown in this parish, the nearest being Kilmarnock, which is five miles distant from the village of Galston. With this town as well as Glasgow, and indeed all parts of the kingdom, the communication is easy by means of excellent turnpike-roads, of which about ten miles fall within the parochial boundaries. The parish roads amount to upwards of twenty miles, and are generally kept in good order. There are two carriers who go to and return from Glasgow, each twice in a week, and one carrier to Kilmarnock, who goes every lawful day. There is also a daily communication with Ayr, Edinburgh, and all the intervening places, by means of a stage-coach, which passes through the village, and a coach from Glasgow to London by Dumfries passes through another part of the parish. There is a penny-post in the village, and a daily delivery of letters. Ecclesiastical State. The parish church is situated in the village of Galston; and as there is here a population of nearly 1900 immediately contiguous to the church, its situation with regard to the general mass of the parishioners cannot be said to be inconvenient. At the same time there are several houses in the eastern part of the parish which are about eight miles distant from the village, and the regularity with which some of their inhabitants attend the parish church, in spite of its distance, must be acknowledged to be highly creditable to their religious character, as well as indicative of their attachment to the national establishment. The present church was built in 1808, on a neat and substantial plan, and is ornamented with a spire and clock. It affords sittings for 1020; of which number, however, there are not more than 250 appropriated to the villagers, the rest being divided amongst the heri tors and occupiers of land. About 50 of these sittings are strictly free, and for the remaining 200 a small rent is paid, rather for the purpose of appropriating them to the most regular occupants, than for defraying the expense of erection. The produce, amounting to about L. 10 annually, is thrown into the poor's funds. The manse was built in 1795, and after undergoing the repairs which generally become necessary in a short time where houses are built by contract, it may now be reported as a good and comfortable house. The glebe contains about 144 imperial acres, and the productive part of it may be stated at the annual value of L. 18. The stipend consists of the whole teinds of the parish, which amount to 202 bolls, 3 pecks, 33 lippies of meal; 13 bolls, 1 firlot, 1 peck, lippies of bear, and L. 5, 7s. 9 d. of money, besides L. 1, 11s. 8d., paid by certain lands in the parish of Tarbolton. There is one Dissenting chapel in the village of Galston, which is occupied by members of the United Secession Church. The minister is supported by the voluntary contributions of his people, and the average amount of stipend is L. 110. The number of families under the exclusive superintendence of the parochial minister is 573, and the families connected with the different denominations of Dissenters amount to 169. The relative proportions of individuals connected as above is not so easily ascertained, but it may safely be stated to be still higher in favour of the Established Church. The average number of its communicants is 830. Education. There are 5 schools within the bounds of this parish, in four of which the teachers undertake to give instruction in Latin, arithmetic and book-keeping, writing, English reading and grammar. The parish schoolmaster has the maximum salary appointed by Act of Parliament, and provision is made by the heritors for a salary of L. 5, 12s. to two of the other teachers. The fees at all these schools are 2s. 6d. per quarter for English reading, 3s. for writing, 3s. 6d. for arithmetic, and 4s. for Latin; but as the higher branches always include the lower, the greatest sum paid by one pupil for education is 16s. a-year. With such facilities for instruction, it is not surprising that there should be scarcely a single native of the parish who cannot read; but as this has happily been the case for many years, it is impossible now to ascertain the change which may have been produced upon the character of the parishioners by the universal prevalence of educa tion. Without doubt this universal capacity of reading, exercised as it is by a public library, containing a considerable number of useful and entertaining books, must have a powerful influence in increasing the enjoyments, and improving the morals of the people. Yet, notwithstanding the ample provision thus made for the education of youth, the state and prospects of the manufacturing community in Galston have for several years been such as to excite strong apprehensions that the education of their children would for the future be neither so general nor so complete. The wages of the hand-weavers have been so very low as to render it impossible for many of them to pay for the instruction of their children, even at the moderate rate of 10s. a-year. In these circumstances, the inhabitants of Galston have great cause to congratulate themselves, that the late Mr Charles Blair of Longhouse, one of the heritors of the parish, bequeathed the whole of his property, amounting to nearly L. 4000, for the erection and endowment of a free school. It is expressly ordered in Mr Blair's will, that no steps be taken for this purpose, till the free annual rent of his bequest amount to L. 200 a-year; and on this account the parish will not begin to reap the actual benefits of this laudable institution till after the expiration of six or eight years. In the meantime, however, it is proper to state, that a legacy of L. 1000, left by John Brown, Esq. of Waterhaughs, for a similar purpose, has for many years furnished the means of clothing and educating six children from the parish of Galston, and as many from that of Loudon. It is scarcely necessary to add, that these two charitable bequests have been put under the most judicious regulations, and that they promise to produce the most extensive and beneficial effects upon the intellectual and moral state of the community. Poor and Parochial Funds.-The average number of persons receiving parochial aid for a period of seven years prior to 1832 was 24 annually. The average allowance to each per year is L. 4, 18s. ditto per week, 1s. 10d. The annual sum expended in their support, L. 117, 4s. 9d.; of which there arose from collections, &c. L. 48, 18s. 9d.; from assessment upon the heritors (alone,) L. 68, 6s. It must be remarked, however, that the number of poor, and the sum expended upon their maintenance, has greatly increased within the two years lately expired, so that the assessment for the poor alone amounted, in 1832, to L. 215. The great mass of the people are sufficiently sensible of the degradation that is inseparable from a state of dependence, and are sufficiently backward to apply for parochial aid. But there is a pretty numerous class of the manufacturing population who have been taught to found their claims for support not upon the statutes nor the legalized practice of the nation, and still less upon the principles of Christian charity; but upon some vague notions of natural right. It is not surprising that some persons of this class should neither be very solicitous to provide for their own independence, nor very reasonable in their demands when they come to stand in need of relief. Fairs.-There are annually four fairs in Galston, none of which, however, is of public importance. The most frequented are held on the third Thursday of April, and on the first Thursday of De cember. Alehouses. The number of alehouses or rather of whisky shops is 14,—a number which will be thought by far too great for the population. But little advantage would be gained by the mere diminution of their numbers, if the deleterious fluid which they retail can be procured from the spirit-dealers at its present low price, and consumed as it is at present in the drunkard's own house, and even in the fields. There are now only four corn-mills and one lint or flax-mill. The paper-mill mentioned in the former report still remains, and two of the others have been converted into saw-mills. MISCELLANEOUS OBSERVATIONS. When the present state of the parish of Galston is compared with what it was in 1790, it will certainly be found in many respects to have undergone considerable changes, and, as far as outward appearances are concerned, great improvements. The system of agriculture is indeed nearly the same, and perhaps it is that which is best suited to the soil and climate. But the implements with which the husbandman now labours are far more perfect, and the skill and industry with which he conducts his operations much greater. The hand of taste has also adorned the barren moors with thriving woods and smiling pastures, and rendered the prospect from Molmont Hill fairer and more enchanting than ever. It is in the moral aspect of this parish that any thing like decay or deterioration is to be found. The cotton manufacture, along with wealth and population, has introduced its too frequent attendants, vice and impiety. And although Galston has perhaps less reason to bewail these unhappy changes than many parishes in a similar situation, it must still furnish its quota to the accumulating mass of practical evidence which damps the benevolent aspirations of the philanthropist, annihilates his utopian visions of earthly perfection, and proves that even the blessings of civilization are always alloyed, and sometimes outweighed, by evils from which it seems to be inseparable. July 1837. PARISH OF ARDROSSAN. PRESBYTERY OF IRVINE, SYNOD OF GLASGOW AND AYR. THE REV. JOHN BRYCE, MINISTER. I. TOPOGRAPHY AND NATURAL HISTORY. Name.-ARDROSSAN is the only name by which this parish has been ever known. It may be derived from the Celtic words, Ard, high, ros, a promontory, and an, a diminutive, and may signify a highish promontory, which is descriptive enough of the small hill, on which the remains of the Castle of the ancient Barons of Ardrossan still stand. Situation, Boundaries, &c.—This parish is situated in the district of Cuninghame, the north division of the county of Ayr. It is bounded on the south-west by the Frith of Clyde; on the northeast by Dalry; on the south-east by Stevenston and Kilwinning; and on the north-west by West Kilbride. It extends in length about 6. miles; its greatest breadth is about 4 miles; and it contains, according to Robertson, about 11 square miles. Topographical Appearances.-The surface is a mixture of hilly and flat country, and almost all of it fit for the plough. From the south-east corner of the parish, for more than a mile, the ground along the shore may be described as an inclined plane of considerable breadth, gently rising towards hills of different heights, which nearly stretch across the whole parish. These hills increase in height towards the north-west, and also approach nearer the shore, where they terminate in steep banks, which bear evident marks of having at one time been washed by the sea. The highest hill in the range is Knockgeorgan, which is upwards of 700 feet above the level of the sea; from which, when the atmosphere is favourable, the hills in ten counties may be easily seen. The others are of various elevations, to about 400 feet. Clumps of |