Shepherd, A. N., ed. (2001). The Scottish Glass Industry 1610-1750. Edinburgh: Society of Antiquaries of Scotland.

The aim of this monograph is to set down, in as much detail as possible, the history of the various glassworks operating in Scotland from the date of the first patent in 1610 to the mid-18th century, by which glass production, particularly bottle making was a well-established industry.

This chapter considers aspects such as measures to encourage manufactories, the importation of foreign expertise, size of the workforce and production levels, the effects of the low level of demand, wages and competition, costs and sources of capital, English capital, investment by the Scottish aristocracy, merchants and craftsmen, patterns of investment, business practices, joint stock companies, credit, bills of exchange, arbitration and developments in Glasgow.

The establishment of a glass industry in Scotland owes much to the turbulent politics of the English industry during the period in which Sir Robert Mansell (d 1652) was trying to consolidate his monopoly. This, in turn, was directly related to the change from wood-burning to coal-burning furnaces. The history of this period is well documented so following a very brief summary, only those aspects which affect Scotland are considered.

Of all the glasshouses, Leith has the best known and longest association with the glass industry, The first glasshouse was built there in 1663 and the last glass cone was demolished in 1912, although production had stopped some 40 years earlier. During more than two centuries of production, the site of the glasshouses changed; the first one was built in the Citadel, the next in North Leith, near the river bank. In the late 1740s, a new cone was erected on the sands of South Leith and that site remained the centre of production, expanding at one point to encompass seven cones. Numerous different partnerships were involved over time, making a range of products, including, by the end of the 18th century, very fine crystal, but throughout the whole period the mainstay of the industry was bottle production.

The commercial foundation on which the future expansion of manufacturing and trade was built was firmly laid during the 17th century. It was that period which saw the start of a formal banking system and the evolution of business methods suited to industrial growth. The economic background to the commercial activities of Scottish entrepreneurs at the turn of the century was far from smooth, however, culminating in the loss of up to a quarter of the country's liquid capital in the Darien scheme, which finally collapsed in 1700. Seven years later came the union of the Scottish and English parliaments with all the upheaval and uncertainty which that entailed, The issues surrounding the Union are too complex to rehearse fully here; instead this chapter is limited to examining briefly some aspects of the economic background, with particular reference to the glass and other 'introduced' industries, especially soap and sugar production.

Despite the fact that the glasshouse at Wemyss is mentioned in much of the literature on British glass, often as the only early Scottish glassworks, very little is actually known about it. The glass cave seems likely to have been the site of the glassworks built at Wemyss by 1621, but no other information has been found. Fortunately, however, some tangible evidence of the later period of its history has come to light which, although slight, does prove that the cave was indeed home to glassmaking in the early 18th century.

The Glasgow bottleworks was one of the more stable and successful of the Scottish glasshouses, although very little has been written about it. James Montgomery and his partners, having campaigned hard for their petition built their glassworks before 1702, probably in 1700 and the same glassworks was still operating on the same site 40 years later.