It is recorded in Robertson's Index, that, in the year 1470, and reign of James II., Lord Livingstone obtained a grant of the lands of Slamanan under the Great Seal. His Lordship's successors, the Earls of Linlithgow and Callander, feued out these lands to different proprietors, the superiority of which remained in the Callander family till the year 1715, when they were forfeited to the Crown, together with the patronage of the church. But it is uncertain whether the foresaid charter contained a grant of all the lands, or only a part, as the papers of many of the proprietors bear that their lands were forfeited from Lord Torphichen. In proof of this we find, that Robert II. gave a charter to James de Sandelands of Slamanon More, in Stirlingshire, to be holden by the said James, and Joanna, the king's daughter, his spouse, and their heirs. As the lands of the parish are sucken to two mills, it would seem that Lord Torphichen was proprietor of one half of the parish, and the Earl of Callander the other.

Name.-This parish is called Slamanan and St Laurence. The former is generally used, and the latter is only found in the records of session, and in the presentation issued by the Crown, "the church and parish of Slamanan, otherwise St Laurence." It is highly probable that St Laurence was not the original name of the parish, but only of the church, and the lands adjoining to it; for a little to the south-east of the church, there is an excellent spring of water which still goes by the name of St Laurence's Well. As places of worship were frequently denominated from particular saints, St Laurence would appear to have been the titular saint of this parish. But the etymology of the name Slamanan is, like that of many other proper names, uncertain, and merely conjectural. Some writers have supposed that the word signifies slender river; that is, " place of a slender part of river." Others have derived it from the following circumstance : that when the Earl of Callander sent to plough a certain portion of the parish, (then a moor,) he inquired of the servant on his return, how it would work, to which the answer was, "it would slay both man and mare." Others have supposed, that, from its vicinity to the Caledonian forest, it had often been the scene of conflict in proof of which, there is a rising ground a little to the south of the church, called Castle-hill, where a fort once stood, but of which no vestige remains, excepting the farm-house, which still goes by the name Castle-hill; and a little to the eastward of this hill, there is another rising ground where there are still some remains of a trench, and which goes by the name of Kill-hills, because of the numbers which were supposed to have been slain there. Besides, there were adjacent to these, two cones of earth about forty yards separate, which are supposed to have been raised as monuments of peace, like the two at Dunipace. One of these still remain, and is evidently artificial; the other was levelled, and the church of St Lawrence built upon it; the former still goes by the name of the moat. The names of these places, with others of similar import, such as Balcastle, Balquhatston, &c. confirm the belief, that these grounds have been the arena of many a severe battle. In the session records, the name is always spelt Slamanna, dropping the letter n. It is highly probable that the name is of Gaelic origin, purporting brown, or grey, or long heath, for the parish must have been originally covered with heath.

Situation and Extent.-This parish is bounded on the north-west by the parish of Cumbernauld ; on the west and south-west, by the parish of New Monkland; on the east and south-east, by the parish of Torphichen; and on the north and north-east, by Muiravonside, Polmont, and Falkirk. At the north-west extremity there is a point where three counties meet, viz. Stirling, Dumbarton, and Lanark ; and on the south, there is another point where the counties of Stirling and Lanark meet with the county of Linlithgow. The parish of Slamanan lies on the south of the water of Avon, and is from 5 to 6 miles in length, and about 3 in breadth. In 1730, when the parish of Polmont was disjoined from that of Falkirk, a considerable portion of that parish which lies on the north of the Avon, was annexed, quoad sacra, to the parish of Slamanan, making the whole parish upwards of 6 miles in length, nearly 5 in breadth. The heritors, of the annexed divisions are bound to maintain the church and the church-yard wall of Slamanan for 100 years, and the poor of that district were supported by one-third of the collections, and occasional assessments. But the wise men of this generation have disturbed this arrangement, and the heritors in the annexation are now assessed along with the other heritors, in maintaining the poor in that parish.

Rivers and Lochs.-The river or rather the stream Avon, which runs from west to east, through this parish, takes its rise from a moss in the parish of New Monkland, and a small tributary stream from Fannyside loch, in the parish of Cumbernauld, and another from the Annexation in Moss Candle. These streams, though small in summer and in dry weather, yet swell to a great extent after a fall of rain, and the breaking up of a snow storrn,-so that the Avon often overflows its banks, and exhibits the appearance of an estuary. When these floods happen during summer or harvest, great damage is done to the growing corn and the meadow hay: and so offensive is the mud which these mossy waters deposit, that the cattle will sooner starve, than eat either the meadow hay or the straw, after being inundated. There are two lochs in this parish, called the little and the great Black Lochs. The latter is the principal feeder of the reservoir formed on the lands of Auchingray, for supplying the Monkland Canal. There is another called the Ellrig Loch, lying to the north-east of the Annexation There are perch and eel found in all the lochs, and good sizeable trout in the Avon, many of which are annually destroyed, when the pools used for steeping lint are emptied into the Avon.

Soil.-The soil in the vale of the Avon yields chiefly excellent crops of meadow hay, and when not flooded proves wholesome and fattening for cattle; but the crops are often damaged by the rains which usually fall in time of cutting. As the grounds rise in regular ridges towards the south, they yield good crops of oats, some barley, and occasionally a little wheat. Some of the lands bring L.2 per acre, others L.1, l0s., others I5s., some 7s. 6d. per acre. The lands towards the western district of the parish, being of a black mossy nature, yield but indifferent crops, when the season happens to be wet and cold. The number of bolls from an acre in a favourable season, varies considerably. The best soils produce, at an average, 6 bolls, others 5 and 4, and even 3 an acre. The surface of the parish being undulating, and the ridges lying east and west, the rains and storm beat with great severity in the winter months, as these ridges are 600 feet and upwards above the sea level at Grangemouth. Between most of these ridges, there is a considerable field of moss, under which is found nothing but coarse sand, or a reddish till, which is very unfriendly to vegetation. Towards the south and south-west of the parish, there are several hundreds of acres, entirely moss, varying from three to twelve feet in depth, the substratum being chiefly sand, affording no inducement to remove it. The farms in the parish are in a much better state of cultivation, than they were in fifteen years ago. The ploughing competitions in the spring have had a good effect in stimulating the young to industry, and to a higher improvement of their lands. Of late years, the resident heritors have paid particular attention to their dairies, and in rearing young cattle, from the produce of which the tenant chiefly pays his rent. Though the iron plough be in general use in the parish, yet the old Scots plough seems to have the preference both in opening and making a wider furrow.