on the Clyde, "The Comet," was constructed, and who indeed j was the first to put into operation the idea of employing steam for navigation purposes, lived at Helensburgh, where he died in 1830. A monument to him was erected near Bowling. The celebrated ship-building firm of Napier & Sons had its origin in a smith s foundry business at
Dumbarton.Several important watering-places, including Helens- burgh, Kilcreggan, Roseneath, &c., are situated in Dum bartonshire. The other principal towns and villages are Kirkintilloch, Alexandria, Duntocher, Bonhill, llenton, Dalmuir, Kilpatrick, Cardross. The leading gentlemen s seats are Rossdhu (Sir James Colquhoun, Bart.), Roseneath, (duke of Argyle), Garscube House (Sir George Campbell), Tillichewan Castle (J. Campbell), Bonhill Castle, and Shandon (now a hydropathic establishment), built by the late Robert Napier.
The county sends one member to Parliament. Population in 1801, 20,710; in 1841,44,296; in 1871, 58,857.
Dumbarton, a royal parliamentary and municipal burgh and seaport-town of Scotland, capital of Dumbartonshire, is situated at the confluence of the rivers Clyde and Leven, 14 miles north-west from Glasgow. It is a very ancient place, and is said to have been once the capital of a kingdom of the Britons in the vale of the Clyde. Alcluyd, " the rock upon the Clyde," was the name of this ancient capital of the Strathclydenses ; but whether it was situated on the site of the present town, or confined within the precincts of the castle, cannot be exactly ascertained. The site had previously been used as a naval station by the Romans, who called it Theodosia. At a subsequent period, Dumbarton was the capital of the earldom of Lennox, but was given up by Earl Maldwyn to Alexander II., by whom it was erected into a royal burgh in the year 1221, and declared to be free of all imposts and burgh taxes. It afterwards received other charters from succeeding monarchs, and finally it obtained a confirmation of the whole from James VI. Among other privileges conferred was that of levying customs and dues on all vessels on the Clyde from the Kelvin to the head of Loch Long ; and ships within these bounds had to pay duties at Dumbarton. " Offers dues " on foreign vessels corning into the Clyde were also levied. In 1700 these rights were transferred to Glasgow by a contract, but were subsequently vested in a special trust created by successive Acts of Parliament. The town is principally built upon the eastern bank of the Leven, which almost encircles it, and is chiefly composed of one main street, lying in a semi-circular form round the head or west end of the peninsula and parallel to the river. A good stone bridge of five arches, 300 feet long, connects the town with Bridgend, a suburb on the western side of the Leven. The waters of the Leven form the harbour. For seventy years the staple trade of Dumbarton was the manufacture of crown glass, commenced in 1777 and discontinued after the abolition of the glass duty. As many as 300 hands were employed in the business. But for many years its principal trade has been ship-building, and particularly the construction of iron steamers. By situation the most " natural " port on the Clyde, Dumbarton has the distinc tion of originating in Britain the formation of steam naviga tion companies. In 1815 a joint-stock company was formed in Dumbarton to run a steamer from that town to Glasgow, and their steamer, the " Duke of Wellington," was built by James M Lachlan in Dumbarton. The next steamer was built by William Denny in 1820, from which date the ship-building of the town may be said to have started. But it was not till 1844, on the application of iron to the purposes of ship-building, that the trade assumed the important proportions to which it was raised by the firm of Denny and by others. The Dennystoun Forge Company, which is amongst the largest and most unique in Great Britain, both as respects the building itself and the machinery employed, was opened in 1855. Extensive harbour improvements were entered upon in 1852, and successfully carried out. In 1874 the total tonnage of iron vessels launched in Dumbarton amounted to 32,000, in 1875 to 37,000, in 1876 to 17,500. Some of the vessels built in Dumbarton are among the most magnificent employed in the British trade. The General Police Act has been in operation in Dum barton since 1855. In 1857 the sanction of Parliament was obtained to a bill for extending the municipal boundaries so as to include West Bridgend. The embankment of the Broad Meadow, a project which had been entertained for 250 years, was accomplished in 1859, securing for the town a considerable tract of agricultural land and 20 acres of recreation ground. Since 1860 the burgh has been supplied with water drawn from the Long Craigs. A fine cemetery, a mile from the town, was formed in 1854; and the old Dumbarton parish churchyard has been closed by authority since 1856. The disadvantage Dumbarton long laboured under of having access to the river steamers merely by ferry boats is now obviated by a pier recently constructed from the foot of Dumbarton Rock, at a cost of from 8000 to 9000.
The situation of Dumbarton Castle is eminently picturesque. The buildings composing the fort are perched on the summit of a rocky mount, shooting up to the height of 206 feet sheer out of the alluvial plain on the east side of the mouth of the river Leven. To the east of the castle there are rocky eminences on the verge of the Clyde, of a similar form, though less iso lated. The Rock of Dumbarton measures a mile in circumference at the base. It diminishes in breadth near the top, which is cloven into two summits of different heights. The rock is basalt, and has a tendency to columnar formation. Some parts of it have a magnetic quality. The fortress, naturally strong, possesses several batteries, which command a very extensive range. According to a provision in the Treaty of Union, the defences are kept in constant repair, and a garrison is maintained in the castle. The affairs of the burgh are managed by a provost, 2 bailies, and 16 councillors. The county and burgh buildings are good. Dumbarton joins with Port-Glasgow, Renfrew, Rutherglen, and Kilmarnock in returning a member to Parliament. In 1871 the population amounted to 11,404.
DUMDUM, or Damdama, a town and cantonment in British India, at the head of an administrative subdivision in the district of the Twenty-four Pergunnahs, in the presidency of Bengal, with a station on the Eastern Bengal railway, 4/ miles N.E. of Calcutta, in 22 37 53" N. lat. and 88 28 1" E. long. It was the head-quarters of the Bengal artillery from 1783 to 1853, when they were transferred to Meerut as a more central station ; and its possession of a cannon foundry and a percussion-cap factory procured for it the half jocular name of the Woolwich of India. The barracks still occupied by small detachments are brick-built and commodious ; and among the other buildings are St Stephen s Protestant church, a Roman Catholic chapel, a European and native hospital, a large bazaar, and an English school. The population in 1872 amounted to 5179, of whom 1201 were Mahometans, 1053 Christians, and 2586 Hindus. The males numbered 3414, the females 1765. It was at Dumdum that the treaty of 1757 was signed, by which the nawab of Bengal ratified the privileges of the English, allowed Calcutta to be fortified, and bestowed freedom of trade ; and in 1857 it was the scene of the first open resistance of the sepoys to the use of greased cartridges.
