Douglas Water

A historical perspective, drawn from the Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland: A Survey of Scottish Topography, Statistical, Biographical and Historical, edited by Francis H. Groome and originally published in parts by Thomas C. Jack, Grange Publishing Works, Edinburgh between 1882 and 1885.

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Douglas Water, a stream of SW Lanarkshire, rising, 1500 feet above sea-level, between Cairntable (1944 feet) and Little Cairntable (1693), at the SW corner of Douglas parish, within a furlong of the Ayrshire border. Thence it winds 16½ miles north-eastward through Douglas parish, and 3³/₈ miles north-north-eastward along the mutual boundary of Carmichael and Lesmahagow parishes, till, after a total descent of fully 900 feet, it falls into the Clyde at a point nearly 1½ mile above Bonnington Linn, and 2¾ miles SSE of Lanark. It receives, on its left bank, Monks and Poniel Waters, and, on its right bank, Kennox Water and Glespin, Parkhall, Craig, Ponfeigh, Shiels, and Drumalbin Burns; contains good store of trout; and gives the name of Douglasdale to its basin or valley, which, comprising nearly all Douglas parish and considerable portions of Carmichael and Lesmahagow, is so overhung by a conspicuous part of a great range of watershed catching the rain clouds from the S and W, as to render the volume of the Douglas nearly equal to that of the Clyde at the point of confluence, and has such a configuration as to impart some peculiarity to the climate. 'The district,' says the New Statist, 'is exposed to high winds, particularly from the SW and W, which, being confined as in a funnel by the high grounds on each side, sweep down the strath with tremendous violence.'-Ord. Sur., shs. 15,23,1864-65.

An accompanying 19th C. Ordnance Survey map is available, or use the map tab to the right of this page.

Note: This text has been made available using a process of scanning and optical character recognition. Despite manual checking, some typographical errors may remain. Please remember this description dates from the 1880s; names may have changed, administrative divisions will certainly be different and there are known to be occasional errors of fact in the original text, which we have not corrected because we wish to maintain its integrity. This information is provided subject to our standard disclaimer