Glasgow, Lanarkshire : Historical writing

Descriptive gazetteer entries

These other entries in our collection of descriptive gazetteers are also about Glasgow. You may be able to find further references to Glasgow in the descriptive gazetteers by doing a full-text search here.

Place Type of entry Source
Glasgow parliamentary and royal burgh Bartholomew
Glasgow the commercial and manufacturing capital of Scotland Groome
Glasgow and South-Western Railway a railway Groome

Travel writing

This website includes the complete texts of books describing journeys around Britain, written between the twelfth and nineteenth centuries. Selecting one of the links below will take you to the first reference to Glasgow within the selected text. This will not always be a description of a visit: travellers often mention places other than where they are, for example as a basis for comparison.

Traveller Section No. of Refs.
Daniel Defoe Letter 12, Part 2: Glasgow and central Scotland 20
Daniel Defoe Letter 12, Part 1: South-Western Scotland 13
Feargus O'Connor O'Connor's tour of Scotland, January 1839 7
Thomas Pennant September 5-17: Inveraray to Edinburgh 7
George Head Up the West Highland Coast 6
James Boswell October 27th to November 7th, 1773: Through Glasgow to Ayrshire 5
Daniel Defoe Letter 13, Part 1: Fife and Perth 5
George Head The Caledonian Canal 5
John Wesley 1771-3: Windsor Park; Wesley as Art Critic; Glasgow and Perth; Preaches to 30,000 People 4
William Camden Scotland: South of the Antonine Wall 3
Daniel Defoe Letter 13, Part 2: Dundee, Aberdeen and the Highlands 3
Samuel Johnson South to Glasgow and Auchinleck 3
James Boswell August 18th to 20th, 1773: From Edinburgh to Montrose 2
James Boswell October 23rd to 26th, 1773: Inveraray 2
Daniel Defoe Letter 11: South-Eastern Scotland 2
George Head Carlisle and the Solway Firth 2
Thomas Pennant July 24-31: Fife and Perthshire 2
Thomas Pennant Appendix VIII: Itinerary 2
James Boswell Introduction 1
James Boswell October 17th to 22nd, 1773: Inchkenneth and Iona 1
Daniel Defoe Letter 8, Part 1: The Trent Valley 1
Robert Gammage Working and Campaigning in Chelmsford in 1841-2 1
George Head Selby and Goole 1
George Head Ramsey; a Manx Wedding 1
Samuel Johnson Elgin, Forres and Fort George 1
Samuel Johnson Mull 1
John Wesley 1751-3: Wesley's Marriage; Cornwall Smugglers; Illness and Recovery 1
John Wesley 1757-9: "I do Indeed Live by Preaching"; Advice to Travelers; French Prisoners 1
John Wesley 1763-4: In Scotland Again; Methodist's Wealth; "No Law for Methodists"; Exhausting Days 1
John Wesley 1765-8: Justice for Methodists; Methodist Character; Instructions to Parents 1
John Wesley 1774-6: Wesley Arrested; A Terrible Ride; A Methodist Isaac Newton; the American War 1
Thomas Pennant August 7-13: Aberdeen and the North East 1
Thomas Pennant August 30-September 5: The Great Glen and Argyll 1
Thomas Pennant September 18-23: The Borders and back to Cheshire 1
Thomas Pennant Appendix II: Of Elgin and the Shire of Murray 1

This website includes two large libraries, of historical travel writing and of entries from nineteenth century gazetteers describing places. We have text from these sources available for these places near your location:

Place Mentioned in Travel Writing Mentioned in Historical Gazetteer
Barony 0 1
Gorbals 0 1
Calton 0 1
Dennistoun 0 1
Anderston 0 2
Bridgeton 0 2
Barrowfield 0 2
Govanhill 0 1
Pollokshields East 0 1
Kinning Park 0 1
Dalmarnock 0 1
Camlachie 0 2
Crosshill 0 1
Parkhead 0 1
Springburn 0 1
Pollokshields 0 1
Hillhead 0 1
Blackhill 0 2
Crossmyloof 0 2
Rutherglen 0 3

Names from historical writing

The following appear as names for Glasgow. Follow the links for what the author actually said:

Name Author Source
GLASCO William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).
GLASCOW William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).
GLASGOW John Bartholomew Gazetteer of the British Isles (Edinburgh: Bartholomew, 1887).
F.H. Groome Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland (Edinburgh: T.C. Jack, 1882-4).
GLASGOW AND SOUTH WESTERN RAILWAY F.H. Groome Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland (Edinburgh: T.C. Jack, 1882-4).

NB: These variant names come from our collections of historical travel writing and descriptive gazetteers:

  • The above links take you to the first reference to this particular version of the name within a book of travel writing, or to the relevant gazetteer entry.
  • Some names may derive from research by antiquarian writers such as William Camden and Thomas Pennant into the Roman, Saxon and medieval names of places. Their claims are not always supported by modern place-name researchers.
  • References by travel writers to the place using its "normal" name are not included. Descriptive gazetteer entries are included only if the name does not appear anywhere else.