History of Mid Calder

wmmmmmff'i^'mmm ^^E GENEALOGY COLLECTION 3 1833 00674 2206 THE PARISH OF MID-CALDER EDINBURGH : PRINTED BY TURNBULL AND SPEARS FOR RICHARD CAMERON, i ST DAVID STREET T H E HISTORY AND ANTIQUITIES OF THE PARISH OF MID-CALDER WITH SOME ACCOUNT OF THE RELIGIOUS HOUSE OF TORPHICHEN FOUNDED UPON RECORD BY HARDY BERTRAM M'CALL, f.s.a. AUTllOk OF "SOMK OLD FAMILIES" liTC. •1 -' ' 'i Pirinacle of Calder Church EDINBURGH RICHARD CAMERON, i St David Strkkt 1894 1369781 TLbc partsbioncrs ot ^iC)*(Ial&cr Zbis IDoIumc is 1RcspectfuU\) H)cMcatct) —— Contents INTRODUCTORY OBSERVATIONS .... Page i CHAPTER I. : THE PARISH. Topographical and Physical details — Prehistoric and Roman Remains Civil History and Institutions—The Reformation—John Knox at Cakler Raids and Deeds of Violence—The Civil War— Montrose at Cakler—The Religious Persecution—Administration of Justice—The Baron Court—The Kirk Session—The Stocks—Witchcraft in the Parish—The Plague, 1645 The Church— The Grammar School— Calder Fair— Erection of the West Parish— Population, Industries, etc. .... Page 7 CHAPTER II.: CALDER HOUSE AND THE LORDS TORPHICHEN. Architectural and historic details of Caldcr House—The Earls of Fife The Douglas Succession — Sandilands of Calder—John Knox — Lord St John, Preceptor of Torphichen— Sandilands of Slamannan— Fatal Affray on the High Street of Edinburgh—Attempts of the Earl of Bothwell on the person of King James \T. —The Family Arms and Pedigree of the Lords Torphichen— Notices of the lands of Craigs, Letham, Williamston, etc. Page 43 CHAPTER III.: COUNTY SEATS AND HISTORIC LANDS. Architectural and historic notices of the following Seats and Lands, with succession of Proprietors from the earliest times to the present day— Genea- logical and IMographical Notices, etc. — Alderston— Nether Alderston Bankton — Cairns — Wester Causewayend — Calderbank — Charlesfield — Gi-ange—Howatston—Colzium—Greenbank— Harperrig—Howden—Nether Hovvden — Linhousc — Skivo — Over-Williamston — Blackhall — Murieston — Dressilrig— Ncwpark— Pumpherston—Wcstheld and Wester Murieston Page 85 CHAPTER IV. : THE PARISH CHURCH. Founded prior to 1160— Rebuilt by the Rev. Peter Sandilands, Rector of Calder, 1540-5—Architectural details— Heraldic Carvings — Ancient Pew, dated 1595—Communion Cups, 1673— Extension of the structure in 1863 Tombstones, etc. ...... Page 195 \1II CONTENTS. CllAriER v.: ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. Saint CiUhberfs Church, 1160— Early references to Calder Church in Papal and other Confirmations of the 12th century— Pre-Reformation Clergy- Superintendent Spottiswood—John, Archbishop of Glasgow— Succession of Ministers until the present day—Ecclesiastical discipline—The Manse —United Presbyterian Congregation—The Ecclesiastical Records— List of Elders of the Parish from 1600 to 1700 . Page 213 CHAPTER VI. : THE RELIGIOUS HOUSE OF TORPHICHEN. Origin of the Order of St John of Jerusalem— First Settlement of the Knights in Scotland— Sir William Wallace and King Edward I. both at Torphichen Priory— Suppression of the Knights Templars— Notices of the Preceptors from 1296 to 1560—The Heart of James I. taken on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land by the Knights of Torphichen— Suppression of the Order at the Reformation—Architectural Notices of the Preceptory Page 249 APPENDIX: The Text of the Original Specification for re-building the Parish Church, dated 30th January 1541 —Also a copy of a Valuation Roll of the Parish, compiled in 1726 ...... Page 263 INDEX: ........ Page 267 — Introductory Observations ''The treasures of antiquity, laid up in old historic rolls, I opened." Beaumont. EVERY one acknowledges the value and usefulness of history. Most people like to know something more than the mere passing events of the day or the hour. The fireside tale of other days—the old man's reminiscences —and the story of the land which gave us birth, possess a certain fascination for most of us. But if this feeling be a proper and a right one, it must be allowed that the means of gratifying it have been of too restricted a nature. It is not enough for us to read the history of kings and of courts, of wars and national convulsions; the interest which we feel and take in our own immediate surroundings demands information of a more special and local kind. We desire to know concerning ordinary mortals like ourselves, how they lived and thought in olden times ; what was the condition of the people at large? In the arena of human life what part did our predecessors play amid the shifting scenes of the great drama of our country's history.^ These arc questions which are seldom answered —with any approach to accuracy, at all events. For it is re- markable that whilst we like to feel with regard to general or national history that our information rests upon respectable authority, we are often satisfied with the veriest old wives' stories in relation to matters of purely local interest. Now, this surely ought not to be the case. If the past have any lessons for us at all, its teachings are then most potential when conve}'cd through the medium of what lies nearest to us. The associations of our immediate environment, especially in early life, exercise a certain influence upon our thoughts and characters ; consciously or unconsciousl}' they arc our constant companions and monitors. How A — THE PARISH OF MID-CALDER. important then that they should teach us that which is true, and only that which is true ! It was some such reflections as these which gave birth to a desire on my part to know something of the past life of the parish of Mid-Calder. And in offering the results of my studies to my fellow-parishioners, I would like, in the first place, to say something regarding the sources whence the information is derived. It may be well to do this in some detail, both as indicating the materials which exist for the elucida- tion of authentic local history, and also to record for the information of future investigators the precise ground which has been already traversed. The Heritors, without exception, have opened their charter chests to me, and from their title deeds and other papers much has been gleaned. Local evidence and reminiscence has been called into requisition, but it will be obvious that this can extend only for the past fifty or one hundred years at most, and even during that period it requires verification and correction from documentary sources. A general search has been made through printed literature which could be supposed anywise likely to bear upon the subject ; but by far the richest quarry of information has been original records—the resources of Avhich, in relation to the matter in hand, have never before been opened up. Besides numerous other authorities, casually or partially examined, the following have been systematically searched for the periods indicated : Register of Baptisms, &c., Midcalder . 1604— 1800 Register of Kirk-Session of Midcalder 1604— 1800 Proceedings of the Baron Court of Calder . 1583— 1601 Minutes of the Heritors' Proceedings , 1782— 1815 Register of Testaments for Edinburgh 1514— 1750 Particular Register of Seisins for the Lothians 1603— 18S0 Retours of Services of Heirs in Scotland 1600 — 1800 Register of the Great Seal (Scotland) 1306— 1620 Register of the Privy Council of Scotland 1545— 1616 Acts of the Parliaments of . Scotland 1 1 24— 1707 Acts of the Lords of Council in Civil Causes 1478— 1495 Acts of the Lords Auditors 1466— 1494 INTR OD UCTOR V OBSER VA TIONS. 3 The Rotuli Scotiae ...... 1291 — 15 16 The Exchequer Rolls of" Scotland . 1264— 1522 Accounts of the Lord High Treasurer . 1473 — 1498 Particular Register of Hornings and Inhibitions, etc. etc. The claim, therefore, put forward by the title-page, that the work is " founded upon record," is in no sense an illusory one. I have steadily resisted all material, however tempting, which cannot be vouched for by proper documentary evidence. The earliest original writing relating to our parish is a grant of the church of Calder Comitis to the Monks of Dunfermline about the year 1160; and notices of the district are sufficiently meagre for fully two hundred years thereafter. It is not until the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries that the records become truly picturesque of life and manners in the parish. The reader will observe that I have not hesitated to descend to matters of comparatively trivial import ; many of the extracts from the Session's and other Registers may appear to be very unimportant in themselves, but they present, nevertheless, when taken together, a picture of the parish life in olden days w^hich could not otherwise be obtained. It is not without con- siderable thought and hesitation that I have decided to forego any system of direct reference to authorities by footnotes or otherwise. The work does not pretend to the character of scientific or critical history, and to load its pages with references would afford no assistance to the general reader, as a set-off to the embarrassment occasioned by the constant breaks in the continuity of the narrative. The allusions, also, in the text itself are for the most part so pointed as to render special reference unnecessary and superfluous. When we meet, for example, with the statement that Mr Peter Kinloch, of Alderston, "died on 17th September 1C2 1, nominating Mr Patrick Kinloch, his eldest son, his only executor," no one who possesses the most superficial acquaintance with the records will have any difiiciflty in turning to the Register of Testaments to verify this fact. Similarly with the Record of Seisins, which forms the ground- work of Chapter III., the references could scarcely be more manifest from the though they were directly alluded to ; whilst the quotations local registers and that of the Privy Council also announce themselves. With a view to greater precision in this matter, somewhat copious extracts 4 THE PARISH OF MID-CALDER.

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