Bothwell

Bothwell, a town of Lanarkshire, Scotland. Pop. of town (1901) 3015; of parish (1901) 45,905. The town lies on the right bank of the Clyde, 9 m. E.S.E. of Glasgow by the North British and Caledonian railways. Owing to its pleasant situation it has become a residential quarter of Glasgow. The choir of the old Gothic church of 1398 (restored at the end of the 19th century) forms a portion of the parish church. Joanna Baillie, the poetess, was born in the manse, and a memorial has been erected in her honour. The river is crossed by a suspension bridge as well as the bridge near which, on the 22nd of June 1679, was fought the battle of Bothwell Bridge between the Royalists, under the duke of Monmouth, and the Covenanters, in which the latter lost 500 men and 1000 prisoners. Adjoining this bridge, on the level north-eastern bank, is the castle that once belonged to James Hamilton of Bothwellhaugh (fl. 1566-1580), the assassin of the regent Murray; and near the present farmhouse the South Calder is spanned by a Roman bridge. The picturesque ruins of Bothwell Castle occupy a conspicuous position on the side of the river, which here takes the bold sweep famed in Scottish song as Bothwell bank. The fortress belonged to Sir Andrew Moray, who fell at Stirling in 1297, and passed by marriage to the Douglases. The lordship was bestowed in 1487 on Patrick Hepburn, 3rd Lord Hailes, 1st earl of Bothwell, who resigned it in 1491 in favour of Archibald Douglas, 5th earl of Angus. It thus reverted to the Douglases and now belongs to the earl of Home, a descendant. The castle is a fine example of Gothic, and mainly consists of a great oblong quadrangle, flanked on the south side by circular towers. At the east end are the remains of the chapel. A dungeon bears the nickname of “Wallace’s Beef Barrel.” The unpretending mansion near by was built by Archibald Douglas, 1st earl of Forfar (1653-1712). The parish of Bothwell contains several flourishing towns and villages, all owing their prosperity to the abundance of coal, iron and oil-shale. The principal places, most of which have stations on the North British or Caledonian railway or both, are Bothwell Park, Carfin, Chapelhall, Bellshill (pop. 8786), Holytown, Mossend, Newarthill, Uddingston (pop. 7463), Clydesdale, Hamilton Palace, Colliery Rows and Tennochside.