a police burgh of Renfrewshire, Scotland, situated on the Levern, 71 m. S.W. of Glasgow by the Glasgow & South-Western railway. Pop. (1901) 9855. Founded in 17 73, it has gradually absorbed the villages of Arthurlie, Dovecothall and Grahamston, and become a thriving town. The chief industries include bleaching, calico-printing, cotton-spinning, weaving, iron and brass founding, engineering and the manufacture of sanitary appliances. Neilston (pop. 2668), about 2 m. S.W., has bleachfields and print-works, and 2 m. N. by E. lie Hurlet, where are important manufactures of alum and other chemicals, and Nitshill (pop. 1242) with chemical works, quarries and collieries.