Table showing the Number of Acres in the several Counties of Scotland, exclusive of Lakes, with the Numbers of Persons, Families, and Inhabited Houses in each county, according to the Population Returns of 1831: showing also the Number of Acres corresponding to each Person, each Family, and each House; and the Number of Persons corresponding to each Family and each House. Population of Principal Towns.-The following Table exhibits the Population of the Principal Towns of Scotland in 1811, 1821, and 1831; showing the Ratio of their Increase, with the Number of Inhabited Houses in 1831, and the average Number of Persons to a House. Population, Increase Population, Increase Population, Inhabited Persons to Cities and Towns. Edinburgh and Leith 1811. per cent. 1821. per cent. 1831. Houses, a House in 1831. 102,987 Glasgow, with Gorbals, &c. 110,460 Aberdeen Paisley, with Abbey Parish 36,722 S-571 47,003 22-26 57,466 3,696 15548,16 Dundee Greenock 3,892 11653,391 22,088 24 823 27,571 2,577 10-698,874 18,093 1,578 11:465,779 Dunfermline 11,649 17:41 13,681 16:608 12,055 1,190 10-130,252 Falkirk 9,929 16:184 11.536 12:156 12,743 9,850 1,578 6'242,078 It appears, from this and the preceding Table, that while the entire population of Scotland increased, during the ten years ending with 1820, 16 per cent., and during the ten years ending with 1830, 13 per cent., the population of the great towns increased, during the same periods, 261 and 26 per cent. The number of persons to a house in the Scotch towns is greater than in those of most other countries, with the exception of Ireland. In Edinburgh there are nearly 16 individuals to each house; and, at an average, there are 8.276 inhabitants to a house in the great towns of Scotland, while in those of England the average is only 6·165. This discrepancy is mainly owing to the custom, formerly so prevalent in Scotland, and not yet entirely laid aside, of building very high houses, and dividing them into distinct stories (provincially flats), each story being a separate lodging, and having its entrance by a common stair, ascending from the bottom to the top of the building. Some of the old Edinburgh houses have 6 or 7, and a few 10, and even more, such stories, piled one above another. But this custom is now every where falling into disuse, and is seldom acted on in modern buildings. The extraordinary density of population in the Irish towns is partly owing to the same cause, but more to the crowding of families together in the same houses and stories. Registers. The registers of births, marriages, and deaths kept in Scotland are so exceedingly defective, that, except in a very few parishes, they are good for nothing. Previously to 1783, it was usual, This is exclusive of Maxwelton, in the parish of Troqueer, a suburb of Dumfries, on the Galloway side of the Nith, with a population of above 3,000. + This is exclusive of Newton-upon-Ayr, a suburb of Ayr, communicating with it by means of bridges, with a population of between 3,000 and 4,000. both with persons belonging to the established church, and the principal classes of dissenters, to register the baptisms of their children. In 1783, however, a tax was imposed on registration, and it was so very unpopular as to cause an instant and almost total cessation of the practice. This injudicious impost was repealed in 1794; but the practice of registration has not been more than partially revived. In proof of this we may mention, that in Edinburgh, in 1834, only 480 births were registered in the thirteen city parishes; being little more than a fifth part of what they must have really amounted to! In Scotland, it is not necessary that marriages should be solemnised by clergymen of the established church, or, indeed, by clergymen at all; the simple declaration of the parties that they are married being, under certain circumstances, quite enough to give validity to the contract. Generally, however, marriages are performed facie ecclesiæ; and most persons that have been irregularly united subsequently appear before the session of the parish, and acknowledge their fault. But, notwithstanding, the marriage register is, in nine cases out of ten, a register of the publication of banns merely, and not of marriages. Sometimes the proposed marriage never takes place ; and when, as is frequently the case, the man resides in one parish, and the woman in another, there is a double proclamation of banns ; so that the register affords few conclusions, except such as are false and misleading. In many parishes there is no register of burials; and in those where it is kept, it is, in general, very little to be depended on. It is common, particularly in country parishes, in Scotland, for persons to be buried, not in the parish where they resided at the time of their death, but in some contiguous parish, where their ancestors have been buried; so that, although the registers of burials were accurately kept, they could not afford any means of fairly estimating the mortality in particular parishes. Poor persons pay no burial fees, and are not usually registered. It is much to be wished that something effectual were done to put an end to a state of things so adverse to the interests of individuals, as well as to the progress of statistical science. Various bills in relation to it have been introduced into parliament; but none of these has hitherto passed into a law. It will be essential to the success of any measures that may be taken with respect to it, that the registration should be compulsory on all individuals, and that it should be committed to the care of respectable parties, perhaps the parish schoolmaster would be the best of any, who should have an interest in seeing that it was made as complete and perfect as possible. Births, Marriages, Burials, &c. at Glasgow, in 1830. The only details with respect to the births, marriages, and deaths, of any considerable part of the population of Scotland, on which dependence may be placed, are those for the city of Glasgow during some late years they were framed through the meritorious exertions of Dr. Cleland, of that city, whose devotion to statistical inquiries is well known. The following particulars, as to the population of Glasgow in 1830, are too interesting to be omitted in a work of this sort: Population of Glasgow, in 1780, 42,832; in 1801, 83,769; in 1830, males 93,724, females 108,702, total 202,426. The children were baptised as follows, viz. :— By Clergymen of the Church of Scotland Secession Church Relief Church Roman Catholic Church Scotch Episcopal Church, Independents, Methodists, and other denominations, including births among Baptists, Society of Friends, Jews, &c. Total 3,123 664 671 915 1,024 6,397 Hence, as the population was 202,426, there was one birth for every 29-47 persons. Marriages in 1830:- In the city, 857; Barony, 691; Gorbals, 371; total, 1,919; being one marriage for every 105.48 persons. Hence, also, as the births were 6,868, there were 3.57 births for every marriage. Ages of Persons in Glasgow, and the suburban Parishes of Barony and Gorbals, - Married Men, Families. The Householders were distributed as follows: 30,032; Widowers, 1,790; Bachelors, 1,437; total Male Householders, 33,259: to these have to be added, Female Householders, viz., Widows, 6,824; Spinsters, 1,882; being together, 8,786; making the entire number of 41,965 families. Persons to a Family. The number of families, in 1830, being 41,965, each family must, at an average, have consisted of 4·82 persons. Persons to a House. The number of houses, in 1830, being 41,598, each house must, at an average, have been occupied by 4.866, or nearly 5, persons. Races. -In 1831 the population consisted of Scotch, 163,600; Irish, 35,554; English, 2,919; Foreigners, 353; in all, 202,426. Ages. The following account of the ages of the people of Scotland was obtained under the census of 1821: Abstract of the Ages of Persons in Scotland (distinguishing between Males and Females), according to the enumeration of 1821. |