Lanark

Coordinates: 55°40′30″N 3°46′37″W / 55.674903°N 3.777019°W / 55.674903; -3.777019

Lanark (/ˈlænərk/; Scottish Gaelic: Lannraig,Scots: Lanrik) is a small town in the central belt of Scotland. The name is believed to come from the Cumbric Lanerc meaning "clear space, glade".

Lanark is traditionally the county town of Lanarkshire, though there are several larger towns in the county. Lanark railway station and coach station have frequent services to Glasgow. There is little industry in Lanark and some residents commute to work in Glasgow and Edinburgh. Its shops serve the local agricultural community and surrounding villages. There is a large modern livestock auction market on the outskirts of the town.

History

Lanark has served as an important market town since medieval times, and King David I made it a Royal Burgh in 1140, giving it certain mercantile privileges relating to government and taxation. King David I realised that greater prosperity could result from encouraging trade. He decided to create a chain of new towns across Scotland. These would be centres of Norman civilisation in a largely Celtic country, and would be established in such a way as to encourage the development of trade within their area. These new towns were to be known as Burghs. Bastides were established in France for much the same reason.

Lanark: A Life in Four Books

Lanark, subtitled A Life in Four Books, is the first novel of Scottish writer Alasdair Gray. Written over a period of almost thirty years, it combines realist and dystopian surrealist depictions of his home city of Glasgow.

Its publication in 1981 prompted Anthony Burgess to call Gray "the best Scottish novelist since Walter Scott".Lanark won the inaugural Saltire Society Book of the Year award in 1982, and was also named Scottish Arts Council Book of the Year. The book, still his best known, has since become a cult classic. In 2008, The Guardian heralded Lanark as "one of the landmarks of 20th-century fiction."

Plot summary

Lanark comprises four books, arranged in the order Three, One, Two, Four (there is also a Prologue before Book One, and an Epilogue four chapters before the end of the book). In the Epilogue, the author explains this by saying that "I want Lanark to be read in one order but eventually thought of in another", and that the epilogue itself is "too important" to go at the end (p. 483).

Lanark (electoral district)

Lanark was a federal electoral district represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1917 to 1968. It was located in the province of Ontario. This riding was first created in 1914 from Lanark North and Lanark South ridings.

It consisted of the county of Lanark.

The electoral district was abolished in 1966 when it was redistributed between Frontenac—Lennox and Addington and Lanark and Renfrew ridings.

Electoral history

On Mr. Hanna's death, 27 February 1918:

On Mr. Stewart's death, 7 October 1922:

On Mr. Preston's death, 8 February 1929:

On Mr. Blair's death, 16 June 1957:

See also

External links

Renfrew

Coordinates: 55°52′01″N 4°22′01″W / 55.867°N 4.367°W / 55.867; -4.367

Renfrew (/ˈrɛnfruː/; Scottish Gaelic: Rinn Friù) is a town 6 miles (10 km) west of Glasgow, and the historical county town of Renfrewshire. Called the "Cradle of the Royal Stewarts" for its early link with Scotland's former royal house, Renfrew gained royal burgh status in 1397. The town is also a barony: the current Baron of Renfrew is Prince Charles, Duke of Rothesay (aka the Prince of Wales) who holds lands in the area.

As the county town, Renfrew once was a centre of local government for the surrounding area. Whilst the county remained known as "Renfrewshire", the focus of local government gradually shifted from Renfrew to its larger neighbour Paisley. Following the reorganisation of 1996, Renfrewshire was divided for local government purposes into three modern council areas: Renfrewshire, with considerably smaller boundaries than the old county, including Renfrew and with its administrative centre at Paisley; Inverclyde with its centre at Greenock, covering the western part of the county; and East Renfrewshire, with its centre at Giffnock. The boundaries of the historic County of Renfrew remain for a number of ceremonial and administrative purposes.

Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke

Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke is a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons since 1979.

It is represented by Cheryl Gallant of the Conservative Party.

Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke includes all of Renfrew County and a small section of Nipissing District around Algonquin Provincial Park.

The largest community in the riding is the city of Pembroke; other communities include Arnprior, Barry's Bay, Chalk River, Cobden, Deep River, Eganville, Killaloe, Petawawa and Renfrew.

The riding was a Liberal stronghold both federally and provincially for over half a century; however, a growing religious and agricultural population has turned this district into one of the most conservative areas of Ontario.

Geography

It consists of

Political geography

Most of the riding is fairly Conservative. In the 2006 election, Deep River was the only significant community which voted Liberal. Pikwakanagan, a First Nations reserve, also voted Liberal, and the Township of Wylie had a tie vote. A small handful of polls in Pembroke voted Liberal, but most of the city voted Conservative.

Renfrew (Parliament of Scotland constituency)

Renfrew was a royal burgh that returned one commissioner to the Parliament of Scotland and to the Convention of Estates.

After the Acts of Union 1707, Renfrew, Dumbarton, Glasgow and Rutherglen formed the Glasgow district of burghs, returning one member between them to the House of Commons of Great Britain.

List of burgh commissioners

Renfrew was represented at meetings on 6 April 1478, 2 April 1481, 2 December 1482, 9 May 1485, 1 October 1487 and 6 October 1488, though the commissioners' names are unknown.

Lanark—Renfrew—Carleton

Lanark–Renfrew–Carleton (also known as Lanark and Renfrew) was a federal electoral district represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1968 to 1988. It was located in the province of Ontario.

This riding was created as "Lanark and Renfrew" in 1966 from parts of Carleton, Lanark, Renfrew North and Renfrew South ridings.

Lanark and Renfrew was initially defined to consist of:

(a) in the County of Carleton, the Townships of Fitzroy, Huntley, March and Torbolton;

(b) in the County of Lanark, the Townships of Beckwith, Darling, Drummond, Lanark, Pakenham and Ramsay; and

(c) in the County of Renfrew, the Townships of Admaston, Bagot, Blythfield, Bromley, Horton, McNab, Ross and Westmeath.

The name of the electoral district was changed in 1970 to Lanark–Renfrew–Carleton. In 1976, it was redefined to consist of

(a) in the Regional Municipality of Ottawa-Carleton, the Townships of March and West Carleton;

(b) the County of Lanark, including the Town of Smiths Falls; and

(c) in the County of Renfrew, the Townships of Bagot and Blythfield and McNab.