River Clyde

The River Clyde (Scottish Gaelic: Abhainn Chluaidh, pronounced [avɪɲˈxlˠ̪uəj], Scots: Watter o Clyde) is a river in Scotland. It is the eighth longest river in the United Kingdom, and the second longest in Scotland. Flowing through the major city of Glasgow, it was an important river for shipbuilding and trade in the British Empire. In the early medieval Cumbric language it was known as Clud or Clut, and was central to the Kingdom of Strathclyde (Teyrnas Ystrad Clut).

Course

The Clyde is formed by the confluence of two streams, the Daer Water (the headwaters of which are dammed to form the Daer Reservoir) and the Potrail Water. The Southern Upland Way crosses both streams before they meet at Watermeetings (grid reference NS953131) to form the River Clyde proper. At this point the Clyde is only 10 kilometres (6 miles) from Tweed's Well, the source of the River Tweed, and 13 kilometres (8 miles) from the Devil's Beef Tub, the source of the River Annan.

From there it snakes northeastward before turning to the west, its flood plain used for many major roads in the area, until it reaches the town of Lanark. On the banks of the Clyde, the industrialists David Dale and Robert Owen, built their mills and the model settlement of New Lanark. The mills harness the power of the Falls of Clyde, the most spectacular of which is Cora Linn. A hydroelectric power station still generates electricity here, although the mills are now a museum and World Heritage Site.

Clyde

Clyde may refer to:

Places

Scotland

Australia

Canada

New Zealand

United States

People and animals

The River

The River may refer to:

Films

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Song of the Clyde

The Song of the Clyde is a song by R.Y. Bell and Ian Gourley.

Popularised by Kenneth McKellar (singer) (although covered by various Scottish singers) it is an affectionate tribute to the River Clyde in Scotland, name-checking the majority of towns and villages on its banks. Although its opening verse includes the line From Glasgow to Greenock with towns on each side, the song includes references to Lanark so fair on the river's upper reaches and Arran on the Firth of Clyde's southernmost outflow. The penultimate verse is a tongue twister meant to be sung in Glasgow vernacular.

The song (McKellar's version) was used on the opening credits of the 1963 film Billy Liar and at the opening of Radio Clyde in 1973.

In a British House of Commons debate in 1994, Labour Member of Parliament Jimmy Hood (Clydesdale) recalled the song in a debate about coal mining, however refrained from acceding to members' requests that he sing it.

It was once parodied by Stanley Baxter, who played "Kenneth McColour" singing "The Pong of the Clyde".