Clyde

Third-longest river and firth in Scotland, and longest in southern Scotland; 171 km/106 mi long. Formerly one of the world's great industrial waterways, and famed for its shipbuilding, its industrial base has declined in recent years and the capacity of the ports on the Clyde has reduced. A decline in pollution has led to the return of salmon and sea trout.

Daer Water and Portrail Water, which unite near Elvanfoot, are the river's chief headstreams. The headwaters of the Daer were dammed (1948-54) as part of a scheme to serve the growing needs of industry and new housing in central Scotland.

Near Lanark the Clyde rapidly falls 70 m/230 ft within 6 km/4 mi, forming the four Falls of Clyde.

The chief towns on the Clyde's banks from Elvanfoot to Glasgow are Lanark, Hamilton, Bothwell, and Blantyre. The junction with the Forth and the Clyde Canal is at Bowling. Ports on the river are Glasgow, Port Glasgow, and Greenock, and on the Firth of Clyde, are Ardrossan, Troon, and Ayr. The Firth, which reaches from Dumbarton to Ailsa Craig, is over 100 km/62 mi long. The chief islands in the Firth are Arran, Bute, Great Cumbrae, and Little Cumbrae, and among the sea lochs are Gare Loch, Loch Long, Holy Loch, and Loch Fyne. On the left bank the principal tributary is White Cart, on the right the Kelvin.

Clyde

City in Sandusky County, northern Ohio, USA, on Raccoon Creek, 11 km/7 mi east-southeast of Fremont; population (1990) 5,800. Settled in the 1820s, it is an agricultural trade and service centre.

Sherwood Anderson lived here 1884-96, and the city is thought to be the model for Winesburg, Ohio (1919).