of two years they were
discontinued. It was not till 1774 that branches were again established by
the bank.

Soon after the establishment of the Bank of Scotland the directors began to
issue notes, or, as they were then called, bills or tickets, for L100, L50,
L20, L10, and L5. In 1704 L1 notes were issued for the first time. In 1727
the Royal Bank of Scotland was established by a charter of
incorporation,--which granted them "perpetual succession and a common
seal." There was a great rivalry between the two companies. The British
Linen Company was incorporated in 1746 for the [v.03 p.0340] purpose of
undertaking the manufacture of linen, but by 1763 they found it best to
confine their operations to banking transactions. This bank also was
incorporated by charter.

The note circulation was always an important item in the Scottish banks.
Thus in the case of the Bank of Dundee, the receiving money from the public
did not commence till 1792. Up to that time the whole business of the bank
from 1764 onwards, twenty-eight years in all, had consisted in its issue of
notes, which had varied from about L23,000 to L56,000. The Bank of Dundee
was amalgamated with the Royal Bank of Scotland in 1864, when its deposits
amounted in round figures to L700,000 and its note circulation to L41,000.
After 1792, the money deposited with the banks in Scotland rapidly
increased, but the habit of hoarding savings in a chest up to amounts of
L10 or L20 continued to a much later period (_History of the Dundee Banking
Co._).

Private banking never appears to have had any considerable hold in
Scotland. In 1819 eight private banks were in existence. These had all
disappeared by 1844. In 1906 there were only ten banks of issue in
Scotland, which practically carried on the whole business of the country.
There were two other small banks established comparatively recently. These
ten banks had, in 1906, 1180 branches.

The history of the growth and expansion of Scottish banking since 1826 is,
as far as can be traced, as follows:--

+------+---------------+----------------------------------------+
| Date.| Deposits. | Number of Offices. |
+------+---------------+----------------------------------------+
| 1826 | L21,000,000 | 167 = 1 to every 13,170 inhabitants. |
| | | |
| 1841 | 27,000,000 | 380 = 1 to every 6,600 inhabitants. |
| |