inding up of the Ayrshire Iron Company, of which he
was a shareholder. The bankruptcy of this company, as many gentlemen on
'Change will well remember, was induced by the mismanagement of its
affairs. The works of the company were extended far too rapidly, and, in
order to compel business, iron was bought upon credit and sold for cash
at a ruinous sacrifice. The result was that the concern became
insolvent, with liabilities to the extent of L250,000, and without a
copper in the shape of assets except the works at Dalry. It was a
terrible dilemma, and very few of the shareholders were equal to dealing
with the emergency. Mr. Watson, however, undertook the labour of
extricating the company from its awkward position, and his efforts were
ably seconded by those of the late Mr. James Dennistoun, and Mr.
Mansfield, accountant, Edinburgh, assisted by one or two other gentlemen
in Glasgow. On the bankruptcy of the company being announced, Mr. Watson
called a meeting of subscribers, at which the late Mr. W. Brown, of the
_Standard_ office, was appointed to act as secretary. Time was allowed
by the creditors, the money was called up by separate instalments, and
with the aid of L60,000 borrowed from the British Linen and the Bank of
Scotland Banking Companies the name of the concern was kept out of the
_Gazette_. After a period of five or six years the whole affairs of the
company were wound up, and the plant and premises were disposed of to
the Messrs. Baird, of Gartsherrie, for the sum of L20,000, or fully
L70,000 less than they had originally cost. Mr. Watson's efforts, his
patient plodding industry and commercial skill in connection with this
insolvency, were greatly commended at the time; and, indeed, as the
affairs of the company were in a state of the greatest confusion, it
required more than ordinary tact and perseverance to place them on an
intelligible and proper footing.

It would be unpardonable to omit reference to Mr. Watson's intimate
connection with the railway system in the West of Scotland. He was the
first interim secretary of the Glasgow and Ayrshire Railway, which was
promoted in 1836, and he continued to act in that capacity until 1839.
Afterwards he became secretary of the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway, in
the promotion of which he was associated with Mr. Andrew Bannatyne, the
late Dean of Faculty, and the first solicitor to the company. It will be
remembered that the first bill of the Edinburgh and Glasgow R