Mr. and Mrs. Watt arrived and settled early in August,
1776, in Birmingham, which was hereafter to be their permanent home,
although, as we shall see, Watt never ceased to keep in close touch with
his native town of Greenock and his Glasgow friends. His heart still
warmed to the tartan, the soft, broad Scotch accent never forsook him;
nor, we may be sure, did the refrain ever leave his heart----

And may dishonour blot our name
And quench our household fires,
If me or mine forget thy name,
Thou dear land of my Sires,

Many a famous Scot has the fair South in recent times called to
her--Stephenson, Ruskin, Carlyle, Mill, Gladstone and others--but never
before or since, one whose work was the transformation of the world.

At last we have Watt permanently settled alongside the great works to
which he was hereafter to devote his rare abilities until his retirement
at the expiration of the partnership in 1800. His labors at Soho soon
began to tell. The works increased their celebrity beyond all others
then known, for materials, workmanship and invention.

The mines of Cornwall promised to become unworkable; indeed, many
already had became so. The Newcomen engines could no longer drain the
deepened mines. Several orders for Watt engines had been received, and
as much depended upon the success of the first, Watt resolved to
superintend its erection himself. Mrs. Watt and he started over the
terrible road into Cornwall, and had to take up their abode with the
superintendent of the mine, there being no other house for miles around.
Naturally the builders and attendants of the Newcomen engine viewed
Watt's invasion of their district with no kindly feelings. Great
jealousy arose and Watt's sensitive nature was sorely tried. Many
attempts to thwart him were met with, and, taken altogether, his life in
Cornwall was far from agreeable.

The engine was erected, the day of trial came, mining men, engineers,
mining proprietors and others assembled from all quarters to see the
start. Many of the spectators interested in other engines would not have
shed tears had it failed, but it started splendidly making eleven
eight-foot strokes per minute, which broke the record. Three cheers for
the Scotch engineer! It soon worked with greater power and more
steadily, and "forked" more water than the ordinary engines with only
about one-third the consumption of coal. Watt wrote:

I understand all the west country capta