History of Glasgow
Glasgow
is Scotland's largest city, well known for it's history, arts, culture and industry. The city
has extended from the banks of the River
Clyde which played a major role in the ever changing status of Glasgow.
Stone Age canoes unearthed along the banks of the River Clyde suggest early fishing communities but Celtic druids were among the first identifiable religious tribes to inhabit the area. It's likely they would have traded with the Romans who, circa 80AD, had a trading post in Cathures, the earlier name for Glasgow.
In
the 6th century, St Kentigern settled in Glasgow (or Glas Cu, generally construed as “dear
green place”) in 543AD following exile from Culross where his miracle powers had aroused
jealousy among his monastic brothers. In Glasgow, he established his Christian church on the
banks of the Molendinar Burn, a tributary of the Clyde, where Glasgow Cathedral which had it's
beginnings in 1238, now stands. Such was his great popularity among his ecclesiastical community
he was named Mungo meaning “dear one”. Legend has it St Mungo performed four miracles
in Glasgow, commemorated on the City of Glasgow’s coat of arms, depicting a tree with a
bird perched on its branches and a salmon and a bell on either side.
In the 16th century, Glasgow’s foreign trade began in earnest, and it was undoubtedly booming by the time that Oliver Cromwell, hammer of the Stuarts, visited the city in 1650 just after he had invaded Scotland and defeated the Scots army at Dunbar. Cromwell stayed at Silvercraigs House in the Saltmarket.
The
first cargo of tobacco arrived in Glasgow in 1674, and by the later 1690s the city had risen
from its medieval slumber en route to its later accolade of “Emporium of the World”.
Trade with the colonial New World grew, and large quantities were being shipped in from the American
tobacco states, especially Virginia. Glasgow’s merchants in turn had contracts to supply
Europe. By 1730 this trade with America was fully established, and Glasgow’s tobacco lords
had cornered the market, becoming in the process Glasgow’s – and Scotland’s – first
millionaires. The American Revolution, however, delivered a vicious blow, and tobacco investors
suffered. However, many shrewd Glaswegians had diversified into trade with the West Indies, importing
sugar and making rum, and by the end of the 18th century Glasgow had become Britain’s biggest
importer of sugar.
In the 19th century the industrial revolution took hold and soap-making, distilling, glass-making, sugar and textiles were the main idustries in Glasgow. This was also helped by a mass influx of cheap labour mainly from the Highland clearances and a little later from thousands escaping the starvation caused by the potato famine in Ireland. The American Civil War saw an massive cut in the exports of tobacco and cotton and Glasgow turned it's hand to other more heavy industries like ship building, locomotives,
The 20th century saw a slump in Glasgow's industries but in recent years there has been a healthy regeneration in the areas of art, culture and tourism with over 4 million tourists now visiting the city each year.
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