Great post, Neil - thanks for taking the time to share it with us, fascinating stuff! I remember reading about J. B. Neilson and his subsequent dispute with the Bairds of Gartsherrie over his Hot Blast process. It was the Neilsons who set up the Summerlee Iron Works - now Summerlee Heritage Park where I used to work. The remains of the blast furnaces are still there to see. Makes me wonder what these industrial towns and cities must have been like in their heyday with all those dozens and dozens of blast furnace going full-blast (pardon the pun) around the clock!