ALLOA, a seaport town of Scotland, in the county of Clackmannan, situated on the north side of the Firth of Forth, 25 miles from Edinburgh, and 6 below Stirling, with which it is connected by railway. The town as a whole is irregularly built, although in the modem portions there are several spacious streets, with good shops and houses. The parish church, opened in 1819, is a fine Gothic edifice, with a handsome spire 200 feet high; there are also places of worship belonging to the other denominations, as well as the county court-house, a corn exchange, and schools of various grades. In the immediate vicinity of the town is an ancient tower, 89 feet high, with walls 11 feet in thickness, said to have been built about the year 1315, formerly the residence of the powerful family of Erskine, descendants of the Earls of Mar. Here many of the Scottish princes received their education as wards of the Lords Erskine and the Earls of Mar, the last of these educated here being Henry, the eldest son of James VI. Among the manufactures of Alloa are ale, whisky, iron goods, glass (especially bottles), bricks, yarns, shawls, and blankets. Shipbuilding is also carried on to some extent, and in the neighbourhood there are several collieries. The harbour is safe and commodious, having a depth of 16 feet at neap, and 22 at spring tides; adjoining it is an excellent dry dock, and a capacious wet dock was constructed in 1863. In 1872, 446 vessels of 49,941 tons entered, and 533 of 70,499 cleared the port of Alloa, in addition to coasting vessels in ballast; and in the same year £453 were derived from customs duties. The chief exports were pig-iron, ale, glass, and coals; the imports, timber, grain, iron, linseed, and flax. There is a ferry here across the Forth. Population in 1871, 9362.