Bothwell, a town of Lanarkshire, Scotland, had a population in 1901 of 3015 (town) or of 45,905 (parish). The town lies on the right bank of the River Clyde, 9 miles east-south-east of Glasgow. Owing to its pleasant situation it became a residential quarter of Glasgow. The choir of the old Gothic church of 1398 (restored at the end of the 19th century) forms a portion of the parish church. Joanna Baillie (1762 - 1851), the poetess, was born in the manse, and a memorial honours her.

A suspension bridge crosses the Clyde, as well as the bridge near which, on 22 June 1679, the Royalists, under the duke of Monmouth, and the Covenanters fought the Battle of Bothwell Bridge , in which the Covenanters lost 500 men and 1000 prisoners. Adjoining this bridge, on the level north-eastern bank, stands the castle that once belonged to James Hamilton of Bothwellhaugh (fl. 1566 - 1580), the assassin of the regent Murray; and near the present farmhouse a Roman bridge spans the South Calder.

The picturesque ruins of Bothwell Castle occupy a conspicuous position on the side of the river, which here takes the bold sweep famed in Scottish song as Bothwell bank. The fortress belonged to Sir Andrew Moray, who fell at the Battle of Stirling Bridge in 1297, and passed by marriage to the Douglases . The lordship was bestowed in 1487 on Patrick Hepburn, 3rd Lord Hailes, 1st earl of Bothwell, who resigned it in 1491 in favor of Archibald Douglas, 5th earl of Angus , known as "Bell-the-Cat". It thus reverted to the Douglases and eventually descended to the earls of Home . The castle furnishes a fine example of Gothic, and mainly consists of a great oblong quadrangle, flanked on the south side by circular towers. At the east end stand the remains of the chapel. A dungeon bears the nickname of "Wallace's Beef Barrel".

The unpretending mansion nearby was built by Archibald Douglas, 1st earl of Forfar (1653 - 1712), but suffered mining subsidence and was demolished in 1926.

The parish of Bothwell contains several flourishing towns and villages, all owing their prosperity to the abundance of coal, iron, and oil-shale. The principal places include Bothwell Park, Carfin, Chapelhall, Bellshill, Holytown, Mossend, Newarthill, Uddingston, Clydesdale, Hamilton Palace, Colliery Rows and Tannochside.

Original text from the 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica

Bothwell can also refer to the town of Bothwell , Tasmania, Australia.