Coalminers

For decades, if not a century or two, coalmining dominated the Scottish landscape, both physically and socially. The extensive coalfields of Lanarkshire, Ayrshire, the Lothians and Fife, were at the heart of the Industrial Revolution. Initially, coalmining was the business of individual landowners but during the 1800s, control passed to increasingly large private companies.

In the 18th Century, and even later, miners were basically serfs. The owners had extensive powers of patronage over not only the miner but his family as well. It was, for example, the wife's job to transport the coal to the surface, initially by means of baskets strapped to her back and, later, by pushing carts on rails. The work was long, hard and dangerous. The concept of silicosis was unknown, and that lead to many miners dying prematurely from lung disease. If that weren't bad enough, the dangers of explosion, fire and collapsing shafts were never far away: the worst disaster occurring in Blantyre in 1872, when 207 men and boys lost their lives.

Places to Visit
For anyone with a coal mining ancestor - and that will be hundreds of thousands of Scots - a visit to the Scottish Mining Museum is a must. The Lady Victoria Colliery, at Newtongrange, near Edinburgh, built at the end of the 19th Century, brings to life, the sights, sounds and smells of the colliery and the pit village. www.scottishminingmuseum.com