Chamberss Edinburgh Journal, No. 440 | Page 2

mill. Taken completely unprepared by the
inundation, he and his family had been carried off, along with nearly
every fragment of their house. His body was discovered a considerable
time after, at a distance of many miles down the valley. It may be
remarked, that about 100 people perished in the flood; and out of that
number, at the time of our visit, only one body remained unrecovered.
The catastrophe is too recent to require much detail. It took its origin,
as is well known, in a reservoir of water for the use of the mills, formed

by a dam across the valley. This had been constructed in 1838, and in
an imperfect manner. The embankment, eighty feet in height, sloped
outwards and inwards, with facings of masonry, thus obeying the
proper rule as to form; but the puddling, or clay-casing of the interior,
was defective, and it is believed that a spring existed underneath. Some
years ago, the embankment began to sink, so that its upper line became
a curve, the deepest part of which was eight or ten feet below the
uppermost. This should have given some alarm to the commissioners
appointed to manage the reservoir; and the danger was actually pointed
out, and insisted upon so long ago as 1844. But the commission became
insolvent, and went into Chancery; so nothing was done. A sort of
safety-valve is provided in such works, exactly of the same nature as
the waste-pipe of a common cistern. It consists of a hollow tower of
masonry rising within the embankment, in connection with a
sluice-passage, or by-wash, by which the water may be let off. This
tower, rising to within a few feet of the original upper level of the
embankment, was of course sure to receive and discharge any water
which might come to the height of its own lip, thus insuring that the
water should never quite fill the reservoir, or charge it beyond its
calculated strength. By the sluice provision, again, the water could at
any time be discharged, even before it reached nearly so high a point.
Unfortunately, this part of the work was in an inefficient state, the
embankment having itself sunk below the level of the open-mouthed
top of the tower, while the sluice below was blocked up with rubbish. It
was subsequently declared by the manager, that this defect might have
been remedied at any time by an expenditure of L.12, 10s.! If the
commission could not or would not advance this small sum, one would
have thought that the mill-owners might have seen the propriety of
clubbing for so cheap a purchase of safety. They failed to do so, and the
destruction of property to the extent of half a million, the interruption
of the employment of 7000 people, and the loss of 100 lives, has been
the consequence. Surely there never was a more striking illustration of
the Old Richard proverb: 'For want of a nail the shoe was lost, for want
of a shoe the horse was lost,' &c.
The night between the 4th and 5th of February was one of calm
moonlight; but heavy rains had fallen for a fortnight before, and an

uncommon mass of water had been accumulated behind the Bilberry
embankment. The vague apprehensions of bypast years reviving at this
crisis, some neighbours had been on the outlook for a catastrophe. They
gathered at midnight round the spot, speculating on what would be the
consequence if that huge embankment should burst. There were already
three leaks in it, and the water was beginning to pour over the upper
edge. A member of the 'sluice-committee' was heard to say, that before
two o'clock there would be such a scene as no one had ever seen the
like of, and not a mill would be left in the valley. Two persons were
then understood to be sent off, to give warning to the people down the
valley; but no good account of the proceedings of these two messengers
has ever been given. It appears as if the very singularity of the dreaded
event created a confidence in its not taking place. By and by, a breach
was made in the casing of the embankment just below the top; the
water then got in between the casing further down, and the puddle or
clay which invested the internal mass, composed of mere rubbish. In
half an hour, a great extent of this case was heaved off by the water,
and immediately after a tremendous breach was made through the
embankment, and an aqueous avalanche poured through. Men then
began to run down the valley, to waken the sleepers, but the water ran
faster. In a few minutes, it had reached the village, two miles and a half
distant, carrying with it nearly