On the other side of the
river are the towns of Paisley and Renfrew. The first, from an
inconsiderable village, is become one of the most flourishing
places of the kingdom, enriched by the linen, cambrick, flowered
lawn, and silk manufactures. It was formerly noted for a rich
monastery of the monks of Clugny, who wrote the famous Scoti-Chronicon,
called The Black Book of Paisley. The old abbey still
remains, converted into a dwelling-house, belonging to the earl
of Dundonald. Renfrew is a pretty town, on the banks of Clyde,
capital of the shire, which was heretofore the patrimony of the
Stuart family, and gave the title of baron to the king's eldest
son, which is still assumed by the prince of Wales.
The Clyde we left a little on our left-hand at Dunbritton, where
it widens into an aestuary or frith, being augmented by the
influx of the Leven. On this spot stands the castle formerly
called Alcluyd, washed, by these two rivers on all sides, except
a narrow isthmus, which at every spring-tide is overflowed. The
whole is a great curiosity, from the quality and form of the
rock, as well as from the nature of its situation -- We now crossed
the water of Leven, which, though nothing near so considerable as
the Clyde, is much more transparent, pastoral, and delightful.
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