Falkirk in historic gazetteers

Gazetteer of the British Isles (Edinburgh: Bartholomew, 1887). John Bartholomew

Falkirk, parl. burgh, market town, and par., E. Stirlingshire, on a declivity overlooking the Carse of Falkirk, 21¾ miles NE. of Glasgow, 25 ½ NW. of Edinburgh, and 396 NW. of London by rail -- par., 19,551 ac., pop. 25,143; parl. burgh, pop. 13,170; town, pop. 15,599; 5 Banks, 2 newspapers. Market-day, Thursday. The town of Falkirk includes Falkirk proper, Grahamston, Bainsford, Camelon and Lock 16, and Parkfoot and High Station. It is connected with the port of Grangemouth by a railway 3 miles long. In the town or its vicinity are the Carron Ironworks, the Falkirk Foundry at Bainsford, and the Rosebank Distillery; also, collieries, chemical works, brick and tile works, &c. The Falkirk trysts are the largest cattle fairs in Scotland. Two battles have been fought in the neighbourhood of Falkirk -- between Sir William Wallace and Edward I. (July 1298), in which Wallace was defeated, and between the Royal forces and those of Prince Charles Stuart (January 1746), in which the Royal forces were defeated. In the churchyard are the graves of Sir John Graham and Sir John Stewart, who fell in the battle of 1298, and of Sir Robert Munro of Foulis and his brother, Dr Munro, who fell in the battle of 1746. The Falkirk Burghs, for parliamentary purposes, return 1 member; they consist of Falkirk, in Stirlingshire; of Lanark, Hamilton, and Airdrie, in Lanarkshire; and of Linlithgow, in Linlithgowshire.