His forefathers were Gledstanes of Gledstanes, in the upper ward of Lanarkshire; or in Scottish phrase, Gledstanes of that Ilk.
In the Chillingham cattle the ears are generally red, although sometimes black, and the muzzle is brown; while in the breed at Cadzow Chase, Lanarkshire, both ears and muzzle are black, and there are usually flecks of black on the head and forequarters.
On his return to Scotland in 1732 he settled as a practitioner in the parish of Shotts, Lanarkshire, and in1734-1736studied medicine at Edinburgh, where he was one of the founders of the Royal Medical Society.
Almost all the eminences in the Lowlands consist of hard igneous rocks, forming not only chains of hills such as those just mentioned and others in Ayrshire and Lanarkshire, but isolated crags and hills like those on which stand the castles of Edinburgh and Stirling, and others conspicuous in the scenery of Fife and the Lothians.
Linlithgowshire yields nearly three-fourths of the total output, Midlothian produces nearly one-fourth, a small quantity is obtained from Lanarkshire, and there is an infinitesimal supply from Sutherland.