The first steam-ship built in the United Kingdom (and so far as is known unnamed) was constructed on the River Carron in 1789 by William Symington, and the engines for it were made at the Carron Works at a cost of £363 10_s._ 10_d._ The following affidavits relating to this vessel are of interest, as they go far to prove that William Symington was the inventor of the marine steam-engine, the patent of which was taken out in 1786: “I, William Symington, civil engineer, now residing at Falkirk, in the County of Stirling, in that part of the United Kingdom called Scotland, produce herewith, and refers[25] to a memorial containing a narrative of his connection with the invention of steamboat navigation, each page of which memorial is subscribed by the deponent as his relative hereto, and he maketh oath and sayeth that the said memorial contains a true narrative of facts, as connected with the said invention; and he further sweareth that he did not receive any aid or assistance of any kind to enable him to invent and apply a steam-engine to the propelling of boats. [Illustration: PATRICK MILLER’S TRIPLE BOAT THE “EDINBURGH.”] “Sworn at Woodburn, in the County of Stirling, upon the first day of December, in the year one thousand eight hundred and twenty-four, before me, one of His Majesty’s Justices of the Peace for the County of Stirling. “(Signed) WILLIAM SYMINGTON. “(Signed) JOHN CALLANDER, J.P.” [25] _Sic_ in original. “Joseph Stainton Esq., of Biggarshiels, manager for Carron Company at Carron, in the County of Stirling, in that part of the United Kingdom called Scotland, maketh oath, and sayeth: That he knows William Symington, engineer at Falkirk. That he has access to know that the said William Symington made certain experiments in the year one thousand seven hundred and eighty-nine, by applying a steam-engine to propel a boat along the Forth and Clyde Canal. That the machinery for said experiment was made at Carron, under the direction of the said William Symington, and the expense thereof, amounting to three hundred and sixty-three pounds, ten shillings and ten-pence, was paid to Carron Company by the now deceased Patrick Miller, Esq., of Dalswinton. That the deponent has seen the boat in which the said experiments were made, and has frequently heard of the experiments mentioned. That in the year one thousand eight hundred and one, or about that time, the said William Symington was employed by the now deceased Thomas Lord Dundas to erect a boat and construct a steam-engine to propel it along the said canal. That the deponent saw the said boat when completed, and had access to know that it was employed in the way of experiments to drag vessels along the canal. That it consists with the deponent’s knowledge, Robert Weir was employed by the said William Symington about the said boat. That he knew the said Robert Weir, who now resides at Kincardine, to be a