Glasgow Rivers and Streams Their Legend and Lore

GLASGOW RIVERS AND STREAMS THEIR LEGEND AND LORE

’ Clyde s First Bridge .

n e One mile f r om the sou .

PREFACE

TH E following chapters embody the results of a

’ summer s wayfaring a mong the green hills and grey moorlands which lie around Glasgow town .

' These wedges of wild nature and old r omance thrust themselves into the heart of a very workaday

a nd world . They sweeten its atmosphere , remind uS of wide - Spreading Spaces where sunshine and

S r hadow dwell , whe e the only sounds are the half

c r wail , half wile of the peesweep , the y of the

lonely whaup , and the soft music of hidden waters .

Among these solemn wastes where earth and sky seem to meet in perfect harmony , we ﬁnd the

r and crystal cradle of the Clyde , and of the ivers

She streams to which beckons , as a mother to her

r r wayward children . As they hu ry to the eve lasting

her shelter of ample bosom , they tumble down .

r ‘ r through red scau s , and th ough shadowed glens , t valleys akin to hose of which Stevenson sang , vi PREFACE

where birds are on every tree and in every corner

r e r s of the ove hanging woods , pealing out th i note

air is until the full of them . They pass grim

r e embattled towe s and ancient mills , th y form into deep pools where the children of old- world villages are to be seen on the summer afternoons looking

- r r for yellow bellied t out , still eaches over which

' tree and cloud weave dissolving patterns of light

r r r and b ightness , places of tende beauty whe e it is good for a man to be alone with nature and

r r himself. Such scenes abound in the oute f inges of Glasgow town .

There are few cities so richly framed with the

picturesque , or the call of whose highways and byways better deserves a gener ous response fr om

r the rambler and the love of nature . Singularly pleasant are the paths which lead the wayfarer to the dreamy solitudes amidst which are to be found

ur r r the sources of o ive s and streams . I have ” r il no dearer wish , said Bu ns , than to make p grimages thr ough Scotland to Sit on the ﬁelds of her battles : to wander on the r omantic banks of her rivers and to muse by her stately towers and

r ra er vene able ruins . The city mbl may easily

’ o r for our realise the poet s f nd desi e , gates look out PREFACE vii

upon haunts of ancient peace and war and upon

waterways redolent of Scottish legend and r omance .

I have endeavoured to suggest the historic and

literary charm which clings to these storied streams .

r They are cha ged with splendid pictorial possibilities ,

and much antiquarian lore and folk memory still

linger on their banks . I sincerely hope that as

e r r th se pilgrimages inte ested me , they may also p ove

interesting to other wayfarers in this the land

we love the most .

Several of the chapters were published in the

Glas owEvenin Times for g g , and permission to repro

duce these I am indebted to the proprietor s of that I newspaper . have added much to the material ,

r ll ca efu y sifting the facts , and conscientiously verify

ing the references . My debt to Scottish writers in general and Glasgow authors in particular is a large I one . trust it is fully acknowledged in the foot notes .

T . F. B . . C

G S W A G O 1 1 . L , 9 4

CONTENTS

PAG E CH AP.

INTRO D UCTI O N xiii

T o TH E SO URCE O F TH E WHITE CART

TO TH E LO NELY LO NG LO CH

TH E B IRTHPLACE O F THE B LACK CART

THRO U G H PICTU RESQ U E ST RATHG RYFE

B Y T H E MEETING O F T H E WATERS

TO KE LVINH EAD

TH E MO DEST LU G G IE

’ TO T H E G LAZE RT S SO U RCE

’ B Y CO ACHING WAY S T O EA RN S SO U RCE

T H E B O NNIE ALLANDE R

’ T H E CLYDE S B I RTHPLACE

’ G LA SG O W S B URIED STREAM S

I N DEX

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

’ CLYDE S FIRS T BRIDGE WATERFO O T O N THE WHITE CART O N THE G RYPE EAGLES HAM MAINS BELO W PO LNO O N TH E CART ABO VE RAAH EAD

G B STO RAAH E AD A LE NE, TH E LO NELY LO NG LO CH

O LD O O F R SS A D T WER AI , B RRHEA CALDWELL TO WER CALDWELL VILLAGE

’ LEVE RN S SO URCE WHERE B LACK CART RI S ES

’ G ABRIEL SEMPEL S STO NE

O LD FO NT T C R AST S M IN HE HAPEL UIN , C LE E PLE C ST T IRCULAR AIRWAY , HE PEEL LO CHWINN O CH A LO CHWINNO CH RELIC WHERE CALDER MEETS THE LO CH T H E G REAT DAM : SO URCE O F THE G RYPE T H E MEETING O F CART AND G RYPE A SYLVAN AI SLE WALKINS HAW H O U S E A RENFREWS HIRE B YWAY DUC H ALL CASTLE

’ K S H O S G DAM EEPER U E , RYPE

T H E C O O F T O NVAL HARI T S . C INCHINNAN TO LL

’ RUIN ACHIEVED BY CART S FLO O D xii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

A TT SS I H A BU RE , NC INN N BRIG TH E CART ABOVE INCHINNAN WALKINSHAW BRIG

CO O F M T ST T K S T RNER ARKE REE , IL Y H

TH E WEE M T ST K S T AU ILL , IL Y H KE LVINH EAD VILLAGE

TAMRAWER WHERE LUGGIE AND KELVIN MEET B ADE NH EATH TO WER

T o RB REx

PALACERIG G WO RKS O N THE Mo oRs SO URCE O F THE LUGGIE CAMPS IE KIRK

’ TH E SHEPHERD S CO T O N THE CAMPSIE FELLs SO URCE O F THE G LAZE RT TH E KINCAID MAUSO LEUM T H E O LD RE D LI O N : A CO ACHING INN MEARNS CAS TLE TH E KIRKTO N O F MEARNS T H E STAR AND G ARTER INN

’ NO RTH MO O RHO US E : PO LLO K S B IRTHPLACE TALL TREES THEY WERE AND O LD AND HAD B EEN A CENTURY

’ E ARN S SO URCE TH E ALLANDE R ABO VE MILGUY CLO B ER H OUS E TH E O LD H ALFWAY O N THE DRYMEN RO AD TH E WH ANG IE FRO M TH E LILY LO CH LAMINGTO N B RIG TH E CLYDE AT ELVANFO O T SKETCH MAP O F THE SO URCES O F CLYDE MO LENDINAR BURN INT R DU T I N O C O .

WATER LORE .

A n n e m dm e c ru ni g str a they na ross .

IN the literature of anthropology and folklore we

Of ﬁnd an extensive , if rather scattered, mass curiously interesting material connected with the divinities Of the waters and with the belief in sym

Of pathetic magic . Study the superstitions and customs which mankind in all ages and in all coun tries has associated with the fountains Of the woods

and the rivers of the plains , is startling in its revela a A tion of the homogeneity of the hum n race . S

we dip into the subject the more fascinating , and b certainly the more suggestive , ecomes the atmo

r it sphe e which gathers around . We are carried

r back to the ve y sources of human history , and standing there we discover that the framework of our own age and its institutions and beliefs has its roots in savagery and paganism . Superstition may xiv INTRODUCTION

be a dangerous guide in practice , and admittedly

the evils which it has wrought are incalculable .

m aleficent But while it has been to our fellows , can it not also claim to have been occasionally benefi cent ? Has it not Often conferred a benefit on

society by furnishing the ignorant , the weak , and the foolish with a motive for good conduct : and once the harbour lights are passed and the ship is in port it surely matters little whether the pilot

’ steered by a Will 0 the wisp or by the stars Folklore brings us face to face with the crude

Of beliefs primitive man , beliefs which have been

us handed down to _ through countless generations , and which even this restlessly progressive age has t failed to entirely banish . We canno blink the fact that the generation of those who believed ﬁrmly in the power of the evil eye of the witch , and who feared to disturb the revels of the fairies on their A rings and mounds is only just passing away . llow me to give an example Of the extraordinary persist ence of a belief in the Virtues Of the hallowed wells . A friend and I were visiting 1 the crypt of Glasgow

S . Cathedral , and when standing by the hrine of St

Mungo we observed a poorly- clad woman with a

1 1 In autumn 1 9 2 . xvi INTRODUCTION we have many allusions to the divination of wells

Of with garlands , to the ﬂinging nosegays into foun tains , to the veneration paid to the nymphs of

S prings and streams . " s Diana , the mistress of mountains and forest j green and lonely glades and sounding rivers, had a famous sanctuary on the banks of the lake of m Ne i overlooking the Roman Campagna , and Ovid describes her shrine as hung with ﬁllets and com memorative tablets The abundance of cheap votive Offerings and copper coins which the Site has yielded in our day speaks volumes for the piety

and numbers , if not for the opulence and liberality

1 of the ancient Italian worshippers . Another mythi cal personage of some importance was the water

nymph Egeria , in whose sacred river married women

sacriﬁced and to this day the spring Of the nymph 2 r retains medicinal virtues . Such customs a e world

wide , and alike common to savage and civilised

O man . Another ceremony bserved by the peoples

of antiquity , and traces of which still linger at home

- and abroad , is the marriage of a river god or spirit

to a woman . Thus , to take a few instances , the

' 1 Fr z r E l H ist the K n shz e ar . o i . 1 2 et se . a , y f g p, p q

2 R n n A 0 88 La iani i the um 1 1 . . c me , O c t. , 5 INTRODUCTION xvii god of the great Victoria Nyanza Lake in Africa was propitiated by the Baganda every time they

u undertook a long voyage , and they f rnished him with girls to serve as his wives . This custom lasted

1 r until King Mwanga was converted to Ch istianity .

Of Again , in one the states of Upper Burma , there is a certain lake inhabited by a powerful spirit to whom four maidens were annually dedicated in

O marriage , a custom that was bserved as late as

These are types of folk- tales of which ver sions are to be found from Japan in the east to

Senegambia , Scandinavia , and Scotland in the west , with variants among the red men of America .

r In other versions we have a se pent or satyr , a water-horse or a kelpie who takes possession of the lake or river and only allows the water to ﬂow or the people to make use of it on condition Of receiving

3 periodically a human victim , generally a virgin .

r These tales are not me e inventions . We may

1 Sir H rr ohns one The U anda P rotectorate 1 02 n a y J t , g , 9 , .

6 . p . 77

1 E arl H ist Kin shi . 1 . y . g p, p 79

3 For a list of these tales with references to authorities see m r Fr zer no e on P s n s ix . 2 6 : r her e les a e a , t au a ia , , 7 fu t xa p en in h e hir e ion O f his won er l work The G olden giv t t d dit d fu , B u o gh. xviii INTRODUCTION

reasonably assume that they are echoes of real

e customs when primitiv man , overawed by the

mystery of the ﬂowing stream , sacriﬁced girls

- or women to be the wives of the water spirit .

The - uruis ean and kelpies and the water bulls, the g , the brownies of our Scottish lochs and streams are familiar features in our national folk-tales and super

stitions . We see them in perspective , dim and f shadowy . To our forefathers these guardians O the ﬂood were a grim reality , and their memory still haunts the shores of many a lonely mountain tarn and wandering moorland stream . The magic pen of Scott throws a halo over the celebrated

’ Coir- nan-Uruisgean or Goblin s Cave where Loch f 1 Katrine washes the base O Ben Venue . There

ur fays resort , and satyrs hold their sylvan co t , and, says Sir Walter , tradition has ascribed to the uruisgean a ﬁgure between a goat and a man

in short , however much the classical reader may be

r startled , precisely that of a Grecian Saty . In

2 the Coolin Hills Of Skye there is a wild corrie of s - imilar name to the Perthshire one , Coir nan

Urais r g, and local tradition describes the monste

1 Lad o the Lake n o . . y f , Ca t III xxvi 2 ll M c o Folklore o Sk e . 2 . ac u ch , f y , p 39 INTRODUCTION

Of S n that inhabits it as fearful hape , half huma , half goat , with long hair , teeth , and claws . Loch

' nan Dubhrac han between Isle Ornsay and Knock

- rr is haunted by a water horse , an obj ect of te or

r especially to women , as the g isly beast is said to

ff r prefer carrying o young gi ls . We can detect in this tale an echo of ‘ the sacriﬁcial rites of a long i van shed age . The women of the district are afraid to venture near the loch , but we may suppose they little dream whence sprang the feeling of awe . We ﬁnd manifestations of the same fearful creatures all " r r over Scotland , Bu ns , whose instinct for folklo e

2 r Of is very ma ked , speaks the wintry seasons when

’ ’ - i d water kelpies haunt the foord , An n ghte tra

’ vellers are allur d r , To thei destruction . The rivers

3 r r r - iri of Abe deenshi e abounded in wate sp ts . A Braemar kelpie stole a sackful of meal to give to a woman for whom he had taken a fancy . As the d thief was isappearing , the miller caught sight of

r - r him . He threw a fai y who l at the retreating

1 A sea-spirit c alled Shony was wont to be annually pro iti in h D ated t e ewis isl n . r n I S ot L s es . West. sles o c p a d Ma ti , f la d 6 8 n 1 . 2 2 , 95 , pp , 9 .

2 A ress to h e e l dd t D i .

3 - Dr r . G e or F olklore ournal 1 88 Cf M c kin F olk e . . or g , J , 9 a lay , o S tt s is Lock 0 . co h . f , x xx INTRODUCTION

ﬁgure , which broke a leg , and the kelpie fell into

the mill race and was drowned . Such was the fate

r of the last kelpie seen in Braemar . A st eam some four miles from Skibo Castle in Dom och Parish

- 1 had its water spirit , a female dressed in green with yellow hair like ripe corn beautiful to look

upon , but the horrid being had no nose . On the river Spey in Cromdale there is a pool which in bygone days was haunted by a water 2 Of . horse , the terror the surrounding haughs In

this case we hear again the note of human sacriﬁce .

- The water horse appeared at certain seasons . It f fed with the cattle , permitted itsel to be mounted

by the herdsman , but then quick as an arrow it

plunged into its pool . The man was seen no more ,

and the horse disappeared for a year and a day . On one occasion a maiden ventured to ride the W dl creature , hich plunged hea ong into the deepest

part of a lochan , and this was the last that was

seen of the water- horse of Poll nan Craobhan Hugh Miller tells us 3 of the frightful goblin or water- spirit of the Conon in Ross- shire which took

1 m ll T le st i l nd Ca e a s o the We H h a s . pb , f g 2 l F olk T a es and F air Lore . 0 et se . y , p 3 9 q

3 h ls nd S h lm aste s . M Sc oo a c oo r . y , c x INTRODUCTION xxi

a malignant delight in luring into its pools or over

at . powering its fords , the benighted traveller The boding voice of the wraith Of the Conon could sometimes be heard rising above the roar of the

’ waters uttering the warning , The hour s come but not the man 1 and a south- country tradition quoted 2 by Scott says that while a little stream was swollen into a torrent the discontented voice of

the water- spirit was heard to pronounce these

words . At the same moment a man urged on by

e his fate , or f y, arrived at a gallop and prepared m to cross the water . No re onstrance was of power — to stop him he plunged into the stream and

perished . A faint memory of the kelpie or water

Spirit was perhaps revealed to me when making

Of a my way to the source the Luggie . When p

roachin Torbrex ﬂaxen p g , I met in with a little

was haired laddie , and as he going in my direction

I spoke to him . The Luggie near Torbrex plunges

into a sylvan dell , and on passing this dell my little companion remarked that a big hairy beast used ” droo to live doon there and it used to n folk . On

1 SO said Meg Merrilees to Dirk H atteraic k onth e eve of her hi n ea s h s . Gu M anne in i r l v . d th at a d y g, c .

1 H eart o M idlothian o e f , N t B . xxii INTRODUCTION

my asking who told him that , he said, My granny ,

’ S S but he s deid . I hould have liked to learn more about that big hairy beast of the Luggie , but my

nf i ormant had no more to tell . It may have been

’ C Old a hildhood s bogey , an inspiration of the granny

on the other hand , it is conceivable that I had

- stumbled across a trace of the grisly river spirit , so feared and detested by our ancestors in the long ago .

Water is endowed with many virtues . Fire and

. di water were the j oint agents in quelling sease , and the worshippers of yor e mingled their rites when they kindled the ﬁres on Beltane day , or made a pilgrimage to the sacred spring before sunrise on the ﬁrst Sunday in May . In his notes to Tam

’ ” O Shanter - , Burns remarks that it is a well known fact that witches or any evil spirits have no power to follow a poor Wight any farther than the middle

of the next running stream . Robert Bruce washed

In Kin sease the well near Prestwick , called g to

- this day a memory Of its sanative qualities . Water drawn from under a bridge over which the dead

re were carried , as well as water ﬂowing south , 1 putedly possessed special powers . The Kinloch

1 H r on F lk Dal ell Darker S u erstitions . 8 8 en e s , o y , p , pp 4 , 7 d xxiv INTRODUCTION

all of kinds were left at our wells . The saints do not appear to have been very hard On the wor

r O shippe s, and a common pin was ften regarded as fﬁ su cient . Rags and portions Of wearing apparel

' b were also used y the pilgrims . There is a spring

’ called Fillan s Well near the ruined Kirk of Kill allan—some three miles from Houston and Kilma colm—to which country women brought their

s rickety children and bathed them in its water . On the bushes which shade its crystal ﬂuid they were wont to leave some bits of cloth as an Offering t z Of o the saint . In the same way the old citi ens Glasgow hung their Offerings on the tree which

’ Tenew s shadowed the ancient well of St . , the site

’ of which is now known as St . Enoch s Square and there is the haunting romance enshrined in the Old ballad which tells us of the love virtues of the

’ ” 1 0 arie lanesome Wells We . I have attempted in th ese necessarily brief notes to indicate the wealth of folklore that clings to the

rivers and streams and fountains of our native land . Differences may exist as to the precise value Of this

inheritance . That it has a certain deﬁnite scientiﬁc

value can scarcely be doubted . The stories of the

1 ’ Ne r Ar h r s Se E in r h . a t u at , d bu g INTRODUCTION xxv satyrs of Greece and the kelpies of Scotland ; of

’ Off the erings at Diana s sanctuary , and the humble ’ f pin dr opped into St . Fillan s Well ; O the water

Of N anzi uruis ean Of god Lake y , and the g the Skye

a t lochs are more closely akin than may ﬁrst appear .

They have their roots deep down in human history , f deep enough to establish their general a ﬁnity , and to forge at least another link in the chain of evidence of a common origin between the East and the

West .

TO THE SOURCE OF THE WHITE CART .

IN its brief pilgrimage from the windswept moor lands of Eaglesham to the meeting of the waters at Inchinnan Brig , the White Cart traverses a beauti

S d ful and fertile land . A ilver threa on the moss clad heave Of the shoulder of Eldrig becomes a

r Off Raahead wimpling st eamlet , and emerges a clear and sparkling burn from the woodland Shades

Curr ac hfaulds m of ruined , some three iles as the

crow ﬂies from Eaglesham . On a ﬁne summer afternoon a ramble over and about these places will yield keen enj oyment to

the lover of nature . To the wayfarer , who cares o to direct his footsteps thither, I pr mise him , or

Of O her , the full charm freshness and the pen air,

bills of and meadows , and deep country paths , W ’ here you hear naught but the wild birds cry ,

z and where the winds blow the sun bla e into kisses ,

places which are shady and cool , and where stillness i . u l ngers forever Tr e , these things are but the ” u homely ro nd of plain delights . But they are A 2 SOURCE OF THE WHITE CART

r good to seek , and in the quest the eof we may perchance get a ﬂeeting glimpse of that peaceful vista of the Elizabethan poet , which all men seek ” 1 and few men ﬁnd .

Of The immortal Nicol Jarvie , Magistrate Glasgow , im and honest man , praise to his memory , on his

Of mortal tour to the clachan Aberfoyle , found himself upon the banks of a narrow , deep , and

’ S ilent river . That s the Forth , he remarked , and

SO— O sbaldistone he did adds Mr . Francis ; a puir t ochtless H mm r h . a o aw callant , Mr g with an air of reverence which I have Observed the Scotch 14 r usually pay to their distinguished rive s . The

are Clyde , the Tweed , the Forth , the Spey named by those who dwell on their banks with a sort of ” respect and pride . The White Cart is not included in Scott ’ s famous

quartette . But the genius of Burns provided

against any such omission , and he is but a feckless

" ’ o r Sc t who cannot trill The Weave s March , which tells us so pleasantly and daintily how the gallant wabster lived 3

’ Wh ere rt rins ro in to th e sea Ca w , ’ n B y m ony a ﬂow r a d spreading tree .

1 6 e l a An l Th Co e t e c . xxi n W n e 1 8 . Sir H e r o o d . m r . y tt , 5 , cf p g , 2 Rob Ro 0. ii . y , xxv i 3 Bur ns is said to have written Th e G allant Weaver speci n nn n n him ally for the pleasure o f heari g Bo ie J ea si g it to . It ’ m ay be rec alled that in 1 786 when J ean s parents broke off the m rri e e ween the oe and h er sh e was c ke 011 to sle a ag b t p t , pa d Pai y and in th e c ourse of a m onth or two news r ea c hed Mauc hline WATERFOOT 3

The Stygian- like pools Of the Cart in its lower

r reaches are painfully familia , and we are not desirous of cultivating their acquaintance . They represent the Cart in its decrepit Old age we want m to gaze upon its ra pant youth . It would be interesting to inquire how many have sought its birthplace among the dusky moorland heights of Lanarkshire P

The Cart may not have magnitude , but we do nOt or measure beauty by bulk , river by breadth , nor is the artistic charm of hills to be ascertained by the aneroid . The White Cart has its romantic r SO r evelations . on this hot summe day let us bid farewell to the stony sermons of the streets . The

are b blue hills eckoning to us , and , in fancy , we hear

Of the eerie notes the peaseweep and the whaup . Let us begin our quest for the far- away source

r r - at Wate foot , that fai y haunted spot beloved of

’ r the artistic fraternity . Ch istopher North s lovely

Earn merges into the Cart here , yet the two com bined sufﬁ ce only to make just such a burnie as would wimple ower a linn . The leonine Christo pher spent his boyhood days by the banks of the Earn ; and looking back over the vanished years

Old Of the man recalled the summer days long ago , and as the fond memories of youth crowded upon

’ that sh e had been dancing Th e Weaver s Marc h with a ” lso n c er in Ro e W w s er e . In er e rs r n ta bi i , a ab t gud aft y a Bu s wr o te this song and do ubtless had a quiet pleasure in putting ’ n it into J ea s m o uth . 4 SOURCE OF THE WHITE CART him he penned loving lines on the voices that were still , but which for him yet mingled with the gentle

Of murmur the Earn and the Cart . Waterfoot is a place of cool stretches of woodland

i and green meadows . Fishers smoke the r pipes and lazily watch their lines ﬂoating on the bosom of

r the youthful Cart . The sunlight ﬁlte s through sylvan Shades and plays on the ancient mill and

Ol r l the d grey b idge . It is a p ace where one drinks to the full of the charm of woodland walk and

r river path , a place whe ein one may learn to forget the grimy bricks and mortar and the noisesom e ,

fﬁ . SO tra c of the town to Eaglesham . Three miles along a country road which marches

r e 1 with the Cart brings the wayfare to Eagl sham , dl a quaint upland village , which is rapi y making

;

a name for itself as an inland health resort . It is

r a pleasant habitation , where the winds blow f esh e and fr e , and where you may look down upon miles

Of of heaving lines wood and hill and green ﬁeld ,

- a health giving spot , where the sun and the sharp moorland air will quickly mottle the pallid coun

r tenanc e with the pattern Of the fe n .

r Eaglesham is no modern , shoddy subu b , but a

place of a respectable antiquity . It boasts of a

1 Th e r ec ors or r E aglesham was a prebend o f G lasgow. t p e r f n bendaries O f Eaglesham wer e c haplains to th e Alta O St . J oh D e r nse s oo in the r ait. th e Baptist in th e Cathedral. Th i Ma t d yg

Crawfur d H ist. Shi e nwic k Glas ow P rotocols vol. i. et se . r Re , g , q , n Ol v l ii. o d 0 S A . o . Ren ew ed . 1 8 2 . 2 1 . . L of fr , 7 , p 9 ugt , G l Ludgings of asgow.

6 SOURCE OF THE WHITE CART

ﬁnel - 1 y preserved moot hill , and the endowment charter of Paisley Abbey , granted by Walter , the

1 1 0 Of High Steward , about 7 , bears the signature 2 a Montgomery of Eaglesham . In the Acts of the Old Scots Parliament we ﬁnd mention in 1 672 of the granting Of a yearlie fair and weiklie mercat ” Kirktoune Of at the Eaglesham , which , lying on the Kingis high way , is a most ﬁt and convenient place for keeping mercats . 3 S r My sketch hows the little ki k , with its quaint ,

- r Dutch like steeple , and the village st aggling in haphazard fashion up the steep brae which leads to moorlands and hills . On a stone beneath the shadow Of the Old kirk one may read a brief record ” of the Killing Times , for Here lye Gabriel

r Thomson and Robe t Lockhart , who were killed for owning the Covenanted Testimony by a party of Highlandmen and Dragoons under the command

Arde c l I 1 6 r r n a e st 8 . of p , May , 5 These two ma ty s

S COW lie r Of were hot at p , a fa m at the foot Mellow

Of ther Hill , some three miles south the village ,

Wodrow and it is interesting to note that James , father of the man who chronicled the sufferings Of

1 his m a h e been ei her or i e Motehill or Moothill T y av t a f t ﬁ d , a , ” is s B hind Lectures i . m in Chris son Sc o o e e. ee l c e . i t g p a t , tt h M t , , 1 8 94 .

2 r f P i Chartula y O a sley .

3 l b or E lin on 1 0-2 r e io s to whic an o ld Bui t y L d g t 79 , p v u h ” l i . A . ii li wors . O S . vo . Popish c hapel was used for pub c h p .

1 2 0 . p . EAGLESHAM 7

the Covenanters , was born at the hill of Eaglesham in

Leaving Eaglesham by the Strathaven road , we

’ cut off the king s highway about a mile beyond the village , and , dipping down to the left , strike the Cart again at the ruined mill Of Millhall and

Main s below Po lnoon . P the dam of olnoon . In a clump Of trees on a knoll a couple of hundred yards from the dam are to be seen the mouldering vestiges of the ancient keep Of Polnoon . The storm and shine of six cen turies have well- nigh obliterated the erstwhile home of the powerful chiefs of Montgomery . They were a bold and enterprising race . John de Montgomery ,

1 G i son Tombstones o the Covenanters . 1 1 1 1 Carslaw b , f , pp 4 , 7 ,

e n n M e orials 1 . Cov na ti m . g , pp 3 , 34 8 SOURCE OF THE WHITE CART

Of circa 1 60 master of the manor Eaglesham 3 , Obtained by marriage with the heir of Sir Hew

El inton r 1 g the ba onies of Eglinton and Ardrossan , and from that marriage there sprang the present 2 possessors of these estates . A more or less reliable , but persistent , tradition has it that it was this

Of r r same individual who at the battle Otte bu n , 1 88 in 3 , took Percy prisoner , and with the ransom or poind money built the castle Of Polnoon or

poinoon as the name suggests . The exploits Of the Montgomeries are c ommemo rated ln the ancient Scots and English ballads of

Chevy Chase and Otterburn , but there is a

serious lack of uniformity in the ballads , which does not exactly bear out the tradition regarding P l n o noo . In the English versions printed by Percy in his Reliques Sir Hew Montgomery is killed Chevy Chase and is taken prisoner Otter

’ burn in the Scottish (Herd s is the earliest , 1 766 ; the earliest English version is c irca 1 550 in 3 the Cottonian MS . ) he takes Percy prisoner . The

fact seems to be that Hugh was really slain , and

1 Crawfurd Ren rewshire . 2 1 . , f , p 3

2 m VI n rm to H on O n Ma 2 1 6 Kin es . o e y 4, 57 , g Ja c ﬁ d ugh M t om er son of th e E rl O f E l n on and his afﬁanc ed s o se g y, a g i t , p u , h e ower or al c e and m nor of Polnune and o er l n s t t , f t i , a , th a d

m Re a Si No . 2 o e h M . . 2 . in the ron of E les a e . . N ba y g g g g 4 , 57 t ,

Glas ow P rotocols vol. iii. . g , v p. 7

3 B e ol i 8 Sc o M instrels o the Scottish ord r v . . . 6 tt, y f , pp 345 , 3 - E re o d Scottish B allad oetr . 2 1 2 2 . y T d , P y , pp 7, 4

1 0 SOURCE OF THE WHITE CART

that Percy was captured by Lord John Montgomery ,

’ r Hugh s father . In any case the wayfa er should

Of Polnoon - visit the Knoll , for its sadly time worn and battered remains of the Castle Of the Mont gom eries are saturated with the spirit of Scottish

romance . Polnoon Dam is one of the most picturesque of

r spots , and I cordially ecommend it to the attention Of the young Glasgow artist or photographer on

r the outlook for good bits . Viewed f om the l little bridge of Mil hall , it presents a perfect feast

- r of tender Corot like colou , and a charming com position that cannot fail to tempt the brush and D n n camera alike . u wa and Ardoch burns meet a h few hundred yards above Millhall , and t eir waters

form the dam .

a It is brief, but pleasant , ramble to follow the united streams down past ruined Polnoon and the

Old Milltown of Mains , to where they j oin the White

Cart , a mile north of the dam . Meantime Carts

head is our objective . It is good going on the modest highway that leaves the dam of Polnoon

and strikes due east to Millhouse farm , where the

T r SO h eepland burn adds its quota to the Cart . through scented folds of land and over high tree crowned ridges from which we catch pleasant glimpses of the fresh greens and greys of a country side that is famed for its humplucks of butter and

l - its acidu ent soor dook . POLNOON 1 1

The second road to the right past Millhouse takes — us twice over the Cart here but a purling brook and SO past Currachfaulds and to the old- world farmhouse which owns the philologically stimu lating name of Rawhead (a Celtic or Teutonic root

-a memory (perhaps) of the days when the ancient Pictish tongue was spoken on the moorlands of

- 1 Cart head . The typical Scot who farms Rawhead is an Armour , and of the good stock that gave B urns his bonnie Jean On his lands , and away

S r r up on the houlde of Eld ig Hill , the Cart has its source the guidman Of Rawhead warned us that

’ deeﬁcult it would be a j ob gettin there , and When ye dae get there ye ’ ll ﬁnd little else than a — wheen sheuchs a grimly iconoclastic descriptive

note . An Old ﬁeld path leads from Rawhead to the

r S Ca t , now , as our sketch hows , the most modest

Of r b ooks , but clear as crystal , and the home of

s many fat trout . A couple of miles over bent land and through peat haggs brings the wayfarer to the

Of sheuchs . There are four these channels

cleuchs or sykes , and taking our bearings

by the south , the third of the four leads us to the

1 n elic is l c ir l f s n A h Raw i G a app ied to c es o to es . t t e c lose of th e eighteenth c entur y a ver y large c airn c alled H erlaw stoo d

near Rawhead . Tho usands of c artlo ads of stones wer e taken r om and m n r ns w r m en s O f m n ones were f it , a y u ith f ag t hu a b E il n n . K bride . o a d es ro e . H ist . 2 1 C r s son f u d d t y d , p 3 ; h i ti , E arl F rt ation in o 1 6 e e o i c s S c tland . t s . y ﬁ , p 3 q 1 2 SOURCE OF THE WHITE CART

source of the White Cart , a little babbling spring ,

Of a gleaming eye silver and green , set like a jewel

r on the da k Shoulder of Eldrig .

G H B LE STO NE ° R HHHEHD 0

14 THE LONELY LONG LOCH solitary Long Loch and watch the sunshine weaving gigantic patterns on the distant hills , and to note the wagtail and the dipper ﬂash across the limpid waters where silvery trout lurk , and where the soft summer breeze stirs the shimmering surface into wavy laughter . The tentacles Of the most wonderful of all c ar

Of are r systems , that Glasgow , ﬂung to all the ai ts .

On r the south they each that upland hive of industry ,

r r Bar head , and there the wayfa er may do as we

r did , make it the sta ting point for his or her ramble to the moorlands of Neilston At Barrhead we are at the entr ance to the curious

W r s geologic gap , or valley , through hich the e ebb and ﬂows by road and rail the great ﬂood Of industry from Glasgow town to the south . Geologists tell us that this gap- which extends from Barrhead to — Loch Libo represents a fracture in the crust

Of of our old earth . But the analysis the geologist is

’ not in harmony with the rambler s synthetic vision .

r r Time has healed the f actu e , and in these days we

r wander through a g een and pleasant valley , a

Of Sheltered vale set in a framework fertile hills .

Barrhead is aggressively modern . It takes its name from the solitary farmhouse which stood in 1 773 upon the land now occupied by the product 1 r of commercial enterp ise . Like other things modern

1 w 0 Th e ﬁr st ho use of Barrhead village as erec ted abo ut 1 76 . las w F In 1 800 th e po pulation c o nsisted of 40 families . G go ree

P ress 1 8 Se . 1 8 2 . , pt 7

1 6 THE LONELY LONG LOCH

the product is blatant and oppressive . But it still keeps in its heart an interesting relic of other times ,

r the moulde ing remains of the fortalice Of Raiss . The grim wall Of the ancient tower nods across the

Levern to the railway line , whose coming it has seen and whose going it will doubtless see .

s r History has not much to tell u rega ding Raiss . What it does say carries us far back on the pathway

r of the years . From an early pe iod it was in pos

r session Of the Stewa ts of Darnley . The Paisley

redem monks had the tithe of its mill multure , in p

Of circa tion which Alexander the High Steward , 1 2 0 5 , granted two chalders of meal out of ‘ them r f Inchinnan . Alexande Stewart O Raiss was witness to a charter in 1 443 and a family of the name of H alrig seem to have held the tower in the closing 1 1 years of the sixteenth century . So late as 782

Of the greater part the keep was standing , but with the founding Of Barrhead in 1 760 the ancient struc ture served as a convenient quarry for the icono clastic builder . My sketch shows the remnant that

Of has survived the attack the vandals , and if the civic authorities Of Barrhead entertain the slightest respect for this ﬁne relic of a mediaeval Scottish fortress they ought to expend a little time , and

Of . even money , in the work preservation Its neglected state is a sad commentary upon Barr

’ head s civic aestheticism .

1 w 0 Crawfurd Ren re shire . 2 . , f , p 4 BARRHEAD 1 7

Leave Barrhead by the road that bears to the

a r Of right and skirts the railway . A ple sant t amp a little over a mile takes us to the mills of lower

Nellston . The highway is good going , and a generous tribute to the watchfulness of the road authorities ,

whoever they may be . We have the Levern as a companion on the way . The tint of the water speaks eloquently Of the tang of the thread mill yet on a summer afternoon the glancing sunshine helps wonderfully in adjusting the balance between nature and industry . The ancient and the modern dwell amicably together at Neilston . Writing about C 1 8 THE LONELY LONG LOCH eighty years ago a gossipy local chronicler remarks that there is perhaps no country parish in Scot land that abounds SO much in thriving and populous 1 villages as Neilston , and all has arisen owing to the introduction of manufacturing establishments on a great scale , and whose main movements are impelled by powerful waterfalls or by steam engine machinery . Neilston disputes with Rothesay the honour Of

r having had the ﬁ st cotton mill in Scotland . We are told that in 1 791 there were only two small

r s Of - cotton mills in the pa i h , one these at Dove cot

r Of r hall , the other at Gateside , the numbe wo kers

’

600 . being In Alexander s great mill , which the

r are wayfarer passes , the e double that number of girls employed (many of whom travel daily from Glasgow) and that is only one Of several mills in this busy upland village . The village stands on the brow of the great escarp

r ment ove looking our highway . It is a clean little place , windswept and essentially healthy . It looks down on Glasgow , and on a clear day the stately

’ r fabrics and tho oughfares Of St . Mungo s town may 2 r r Of be clea ly traced f om the High Street Neilston .

r Old memories cling a ound Neilston . The barony was held by the Cr ocs of Crockstoun (Crookston)

1 D 1 8 1 Le er elineated . v n , 3 2 In 1 78 0 th e village c ontai ned 55 ho uses wher ei n are 5 2 ’ m l b h sle m n r rs m l we ers loom s e o e t e e . Se e av p y d y Pai y a ufactu p ,

1 8 2 . ed . 7 NEILSTON 1 9

r Castle , and Robert C oc , one of the witnesses to the foundation charter of Paisley Abbey , gave the patronage of the Kirk of Neilston to the monks of 1 r that establishment . The Ki k of Neilston claims to occupy the highest situation of any ecclesiastical

In ediﬁce broad Scotland . It is a quaint little

r structu e , and comparatively modern . It dates

1 62 Of e ita hiana from 7 , and students p p will ﬁnd not a little to interest them in the records of frail m r r r ortality scatte ed a ound the old kirkya d . These ,

s if somewhat commonplace , point a u eful moral

r Airston That which adorns the stone of Mr . Geo ge is typical of several

R member m an as h o sses b e t u pa t y , As h o art now so o n e was I t u , c , As I am now so m s h o b e u t t u ,

Th erefor e pr epare to follow m e . The highway and the railway go hand in hand

r r th ough the Libo Gap . Bidding fa ewell to the

rr - ba ack like mills and Neilston Station , we strike

Cowdon r Of r the Bu n , one the tributa ies of the

r Levern , which j oins the latter at the ailway depot .

r We are on one of the pleasantest of count y roads ,

- r r tree bo dered , and quiet . The bu n that wimples

Cowdon on our right takes its name from the lands of ,

r Crawfurd which , acco ding to , gave ﬁrst title of

r r Lord to Sir William Coch ane , afterwa ds Lord of

1 Ro er Cr oc is esc r e as s e i l rien o f o ur o se b t d ib d a p c a f d h u , 80 P l Re . M n . de se e 8 l 1 1 . Ro e Cro c of e s o o as t . r N n g , p 7 ; b t i t r in I e s ee o 1 2 1 . bid 2 . app a a d d ab ut 4 . p . 3 20 THE LONELY LONG LOCH

Dundonald , and he adds , an ancient family of the Sprewls did possess the forementioned lands

for r many yea s .

‘ i r M r s to . U e This inte esting the Glasgow man ,

’ Of S reul the city s ﬁrst historian , speaks John p , a learned man designed in the year 1 507 magister

r r Of Cowdon r artium , b othe of the house , a ve y

r s r r ancient family in Renf ew hi e , whe e he was born .

r r T uly it was a vene able family . Hamilton of

’ Wishaw s Accompte of the Sheriﬁdom of Renfrew (Maitland Club) tells us that Walter Spruile wes ” i ll r f circ 1 Sen sc a O a 2 . to Malcolm , Ea le Lennox , 94

r S ruiles are severall Thi p , he adds , tymes men

r tioned in the car tula y Of Paisley . The lands of Cowdon passed by purchase in 1 766

’ wdon r . Co to the Mu es of Caldwell Ha , the erst while residence Of the Dundonalds and Thir

S ruiles We p , stood on an eminence to the left , as head for Libo Loch . With a pardonable parochial

s enthusia m , the reverend gentleman who penned the New Statistical Account asserts that Loch Libo presents a scene Of unpar alleled beauty and excels in picturesque scener y Rydal Water in

r r Cumbe land , while Miss Ai d , the author of Home

Of r the Hea t , eulogises the lochan as

’ ’ A scene for po et s song o r pain ter s ey e ’ ’ A li in i r e low in e r h u e v g p ctu g d v y , ’ As e er was painted o n V en etian Sky As ever Titian o r Pao lo drew

1 Crawfurd . 1 8 2 . , p

22 THE LONELY LONG LOCH

Crawf r u d . to The waters of Lugton , one of Ayr

’ shire s streams , has its source in Libo, issuing at the south end of the loch and ﬂowing past Caldwell

r Station . At one pe iod coal was extensively wrought , and the remains of the Old pits may yet be detected

- . M h . onteat on the south west bank The Rev John , writing in remarks there is just now a coal pit working at the west end of Loch Libo with a

r Of steam engine upon it , the prope ty Mr . William ” 6 r 0 . Mure , Esq . , rented at £ per annum A few yea s after these words were penned the waters of the

r loch burst in upon the mine s underground , seven

r r in numbe , deluged the pit , and d owned the poor

r fellows . One of the unfo tunate men who perished

r M n th . . o tea was the se vant of the Rev Mr , who

had gone from Neilston to fetch coal , and had

ventured down the pit . The eight bodies were

never recovered , and to this day they rest in their

grim tomb by the Side of the little loch . Peeping over the trees on our right is the Old

l r Peel of Caldwel , an excellently prese ved four

enth r te century relic , and all that emains of the

s Castle of Caldwell , the home of the Caldwell of

1 0 r that ilk , about 35 , and latte ly of that other old

r ? West of Scotland race , the Mu es of Caldwell

1 v l. 11. A . o O . S .

3 m C l well was C nc ellor O f th e Kin om in 1 Willia a d ha gd 349 , and an heir female O f th e Caldwell fam ily m arri ed G ilc hrist A erc or n th e or Hi C m erl n r son O f Lor L . Mo e, a d b , d gh ha b ai This G ilc hrist was the original anc estor of the anc ient family CALDWELL 23 The ﬁrst road to the left past Loch Libo wanders uphill through the picturesquely- situated village of

Caldwell . Pass the Village by the ﬁne highway which leads to Neilston and take the old country

ff is road that branches o on the right . It a path ’ f among the hills . A couple of miles stif walking , 00 during which we rise over 7 feet , brings the

Comm ore pedestrian to Dam , when we are again

in touch with the Levern and the king ’ s highway

o to Stewarton . We cut ff the main road about a r e quarter of a mile f om the dam , and k eping to

Old the road on the left , pass , on the right , the

- f r bien looking farm O H a elaw. It gives a name to

H arelaw the Dam , which lies hidden among the hills about half a mile beyond the steading . Our

r path crosses the Leve n , a brawling brook , as it bids the dam adieu and scuttles across the scaurs

m r for Com o e .

r of C l ll udic al Re of th e Mores or Mu es a dwe . j i cords of Renfrew shire . 2 6 . , p 9 24 THE LONELY LONG LOCH

At this point I Should advise all but the most experienced ramblers to retrace their steps and make

r for Neilston . It is a pleasant road , and pe haps fﬁ su ciently long for one who may not be feeling ﬁt . Those desirous of reaching the solitary Long Loch have a tough walk before them . Leave the road

r at Moyne Farm , and ski t the dam on its southern

. r W edge The t ack is rough at the best , and here it can be followed a mere sheep pad mostly it is bog and marsh , which leads us through a moorland wilderness round the steep shoulder of the scaur that shuts out the Long Loch from the rest of the

S world . And it is in this lonely pot that we come

on the cradle of the Levern . It is an upland soli

r r tude , a ba e and unblessed moo land , devoid of all human life and of all sound save the half wail , half wile Of the peesweep or the eerie scream of

the curlew . We step across the Levern where it bids farewell

to the lonely loch , and , keeping to the moor on the

H arelaw north of Dam , a tramp of a mile takes us

Old r - on to an g ass grown road , a relic of the days

r Of the post horn and the coach . F om this ancient

eilston track , which passes under the shadow of N

Pad , we look down on Neilston village , on the

r Dun o ne spi es of Glasgow town , and on to where g y

is silhouetted against the northern horizon . The

r h omeward way is clea . ’ r e Levem s So u c . III .

THE BIRTHPLACE OF THE BLACK CART .

THE r r Black Ca t , sable b other to the White , has

r S its birthplace in a ich and smiling valley, harply

r s windshorn s in cont a t to the bleak , upland whereon

r r f f the White Ca t sp ings into li e . The amous streams are misnamed . In limpid purity the Black Cart is a crystalline water compared with the clouded hues

- of its moss borne comrade . It ought , in all fair e h ness , to have b en endowed wit the virginal nomen cl tur a e . Nature intended it so , but the perverse ingenuity of man has willed it otherwise .

- Verdant topped hills , soft and yielding in outline , rise in gentle undulations from the feathery tree

r r fringed shores of a silve y lake . Th ough the sum — mer screen of foliage we look upon the triple islets clothed in a garb of luscious green and seeming to the eye as if they were ﬂashing emeralds set on

- the burnished surface of the sun blown lake . Light wafts of scented air come to us from wide- stretching ﬁl meadowlands . The sun ters through a dark barred web of branches , and the oaks, the beeches, THE SOURCE 27 and the elms cast long shadows on the fresh and grassy land .

It is a place of pleasant sounds . The low of a

s - di tant cow , the clink of a scythe blade , the note

r r of the la k ove head , pleasant sounds indeed and whispering gladly of summer and green ﬁelds and open country . Listening to them , the city man forgets for a space the harshness of the eternal

W r e c k r ri h e Bla Ca t ses .

bricks and mortar . In such a valley of ancient peace , a sleepy hollow if you like , we ﬁnd the birth

r S place of the Black Ca t , and where it lowly bids farewell to the placid lake , there surely once upon a time , when the world was young and man was bold , the great god Pan must have sounded his pipes down by the reeds in the river . NO pedestrian feat is necessary for the wayfarer

e h who would s ek this s eltered and pleasant vale .

By the Glasgow car to Paisley , and the Paisley car to Thorn , the roadside clachan on the brow of the 28 BIRTHPLACE OF THE BLACK CART steep that looks down on the sad- coloured vista of ’

Johnstone town , and at Thorn we are on the king s highway and three miles from Howwood . It is a

r good country oad , with many good view points , giving glimpses of distant hills and a pretty pastor al landscape , with the Black Cart woven like a silver thread through a shelving r egion Of meadow and

r pasture , co nﬁeld and copse . The highway , the railway , and the river move shoulder to shoulder 1 r u arreltc n from Tho n , past Q and Milliken Park , to the straggling village of Howwood .

r r It is a good road , a compa atively modern oad , and I fancy it owes its existence to that ﬁne old world country gentleman , Major James Milliken ,

1 6 all who died about 77 , regretted by the poor folks of the district for his kindly heart and good works he had done . These good works em b a - H OW raced fair amount of road making , and the wood road , I think , may be included . The kindly

hr heart makes pleasant reading , and t ows a fra ? granc e over the memory of the old major

It is a road to which many memories cling . John

r stone , with its of a population , p esents a

1 In 1 78 2 Alexander Sp eir s of Elder slie planned O ff a piec e g o f r o n for uil n new own th e or n w er e the g u d b di g a t at Th , h r o ads fro m Kilbarc han and Q uarr elton c oal- work to th e to wn At s c e i l w r O f Paisley m eet . thi pla s he d a c o fai upon the f e h r n m r o c t e o F r . Se e sec on s ed . d Thu day July , all d Th ai pl , ’ W lson s A icultural S u e o Ren 1 8 6 1 c f . r v w 1 2 1 8 2 . 2 r re 7 , p i g y f f ,

2o 2 2 . pp . ,

2 ’ m . xi S . A . R s s Views 0 . Vo l . O . . xv a ay ,

30 BIRTHPLACE OF THE BLACK CART

T ird r r . h a t ou Dundonald p , on right and on the

r r Ca t , and about a mile f om Howwood , was an old

r r inhe itance of the Crawfords , a b anch of the family which for over four hundred years pos

Auchinam es r sessed the Castle and Barony of , nea

r 1 Kilba chan .

H r owwood is a village with a wide main st eet ,

r r Of the houses p esenting a va iety outline , pitched

r on the hillside at many angles , and chee ful enough on a summer afternoon when the trees and ﬁelds are musical with the song of sweet - throated warblers and when the sunshine is weaving patterns on the little cottages and lending a charm to the dream

r like quiet of this count y place . And the village

’ has one solid claim to the rambler s regar d in its

r ﬁne hostel , a cool ca avansary on a hot day , wherein the passing wayfarer may ﬁnd rest and peace from

r fr a dusty world , and e eshment and a pipe to em

i r phas se the p ivilege . As we leave Howwood the highway dips and crosses the Black Cart at a spot beloved of the

- amphibiously inclined youth Of the village . The handsome gateway guarding the policies of Castle

s Semple stands on the left a little pa t the bridge ,

r is r and he , or she , who ca es welcome to ente

1 n Kno th e r e R e or m er was esc en e r o m th e Jo h x , g at f , d d d f Th e r em ns O f e r O ld Kn o x fam ily O f Kilbarc han parish . ai th i i c astle ar e still to b e seen o n th e hill abo ve th e fam o us Clo c h o dr c k . n Fo r th e s or O f his s r n e s o ne see m S lva n Sto e . t y t t a g t y y 8 S cenes near Glas ow . . g , pp 7 , 79 ’ G abr iel Sem p el s Ston e . 32 BIRTHPLACE OF THE BLACK CART

therein . Doing so we ﬁnd a pleasant path that

winds leisurely along the banks of the Cart , now

r with the st eam , now climbing a rounded eminence ,

r r now loite ing among ancient t ees , through which we catch a glimpse of a little temple on the hill ,

‘ a relic of the M Dowall regime and now over a

r centu y old .

r 1 60 Along our pathway in Ma ch , 5 , there came the Duke of Chatelherault and four thousand men for the pur pose of suppressing the old Catholic laird Of Castle Semple and thereby asserting the peaceful

r r s s p inciples of P otestanti m . Pit cottie tells us that the Duke took the place before the French

r ul auxilia ies , who lay in Glasgow, co d come to the m ill assistance of old Se p . The fact that it required such an army to do so is surely Signiﬁ cant of the importance of the ancient castle of the m ill Se p s . The huge untenanted mansion that greets the way ’ — farer s gaze to- day a good mile from the entrance

afore aidw s 1 of gate s wa built in 735. The lands 1 Castle Sempill passed in 1 727 fr om their ancient

Sem ills ll guardians , the p , to Colonel Wi iam

‘ M Dowall G arthland , a scion of , Wigtownshire , a family whose genealogical tree carries us back to

Dowall 2 0 of Galloway , who lived about 3 years

r our i Nothatus befo e the birth of Saviour , k lled

S the Tyrant , the ixth King of Scotland , and

1 Crawfurd . 1 2 . , pp 49, I 5 CASTLE SEMPLE 33

Reutherus established , who had the better right to the throne .

‘ The M Dowall reign at Castle Semple lasted barely

r s 1 808 a centu y , the old e tate being broken up in ,

f r r and parcelled out to dif e ent pu chasers , when the mansion and pleasure grounds were acquired by

. are John Harvey They now, we believe , in the

r - hands of t ustees . The nobly designed mansion

r house is fast hastening to a prematu e decay , and

h r the blig t of neglect seems to haVe settled all a ound .

C HAPEL RUIN CAST LE. S enn a

On the magniﬁcent sweep of lawn at the fr ont of the house latter- day people have established a hen

r r - run , and the useful if p osaic ba n fowl has a mono poly of the scene . Withal it is a beautiful one , thanks to the ancient trees which stand in rows

r and sometimes solita y ; beeches , ash and elm ,

r r r variegated plane , ﬁr , la ch , and silve bi ch form

r a great lattice wo k , beyond which gleams the

r - loch of Castle Semple , mo e familiar to day as

Lochwinnoch . Although they cannot claim the high antiquity

‘ M Dowalls Sem ills ' r of the , the p have a espectable E 34 BIRTHPLACE OF THE BLACK CART

r ancestry . In the cha tulary of Paisley during the

r reign of Bruce , Robe t Semple is witness to the

r r donation of the Ki k of La gs , which Walter , the

r Of High Stewa d of Scotland , gave to the monks Paisley for the health of his sowl and for the

r r r his sowl of Ma j o y B uce spouse , anno

They were great ﬁghting men , and we hear of them

r Sauchieburn wielding the swo d on the ﬁelds of ,

Flodden , Pinkie , Langside , and Culloden . On the opposite side Of the loch are the lands of

r Sem ills r Belt ees , and the p of that ilk we e a noted

r m ill Of r . Se intellectual family F ancis p Belt ees ,

r a 1 68 r who su vived till bout 5, is c edited with the ” ” r r H r autho ship of Maggie Laude , allow Fai ,

r and She aise and loot me in , Scottish fare of b d a most substantial type . To him also is ascri e

B l th esom e r r r the y B idal , whe ein the mar iage supper is described with amazing humour and minuteness , and in a dialect which to an English man , and indeed to many living Scotsmen , is a sealed book . 1 Let us take a swatch of this good old Scot , who In his heyday must many a time and oft have

r r We are r wande ed whe e rambling , a ound Castle

r Semple and by the shores of Lochwinnoch . Afte

1 H is er Ro er Sem e was th e or of th e m o s fath , b t pl , auth fa u ” H abbie S m son th e P er of K l rc n oem w c i es i , ip i ba ha , a p hi h g v us a c uri ous and am using glim pse O f Sc o ttish village life abo ut H n er on S cott s S ttish P oetr . e s i h 1 600 . o s co D ugla , y , pp 43, 44 ; d , P S E r e o S cot. oetr even Vernacu lar Literature 0 . . y , xii ; y T dd, t enth Centur 2 1 cl se . e y, 5 q

36 B IRTHPLACE OF THE B LACK CART enumerating lang- kale and pottage and guid saut

rr he ing to relish the ale , he proceeds

And h ere ill be es and brach an 1 t w fadg , ’ ’ 2 ’ Wi o h O i abbo c ks o s e f ut gu d g kat , Powsowdie an d r am m o and row ie 3 , d ck , c d , An d caller nowt - feet on a plate And th ere will be par tans and buckies 4 An d s el ins an d h o s ene p d add ck w , And sin e sh ee - h ea s an d h is g t p d a agg , l 5 An d sc ad ips to sup till y e spew .

’ 6 And h ere ll be l er - m il kibbuc ks t app k , 7 And so ens and rles and ba s w fa p , ’ Wi sw s 3 and eel sc ra it ain h es at w p p c , And br n in s o s an d in s a dy t up caup , S r e h o s il s lse and n le c ap d add ck , w k , du , ta g , ’ ’ And a m ill 0 guid sneeshin to prie ’ ’ ’ Wh en weary wi eatin and drinkin ’ We ll rise u p and dance till we dee .

The description overﬂows with good humour and

s r good Scotch , and it hows the autho as a wag of

r the ﬁ st water , endowed perhaps with more vigour

r than g ace , and revelling in the idea of the moun tains of good cheer which his memory and his

r SO imagination suggested to him . Clea ly , far as

rr r are ma iage suppe s concerned , we have degener

r r ated from the days of ou fathe s . The modern tea and trimmings are but feckless fare compared with the meal- kail and castocks with skunk to

Sem ill sup till ye rise , of the times of which p (or

1 2 l r swee s and hic k r el. o s . Colewo t, t t g u M uthfu

3 - Shee s ro m e l and w er and c rd . p h ead b th , a at , u 4 5 rie Fat ro h . D d haddocks . b t 7 3 3 - N l w a . in c kes . e e Curded m ilk c heese . Th a

38 BIRTHPLACE OF THE B LACK CART

C Scottish ircle deep that fought around the king , and he gave his life blood to rear that rampart

which th e boldest dared not scale E er s one S o ish bo v y t a c tt dy ,

Every step a corpse in m ail.

On the panel of the cusped half arch is the insc rip

lad i tion John , Lord Sempil ande his y , D ” r r Marga ita . The memo ial slab which I sketched

r stands in the central church . It was e ected in wh 1 8 memory of Gabriel Sempel , o died in 5 7, and it gives an excellent idea of the style of lettering i at that period . The ancient font will repay n spec tion . It is possible that it may at one time have formed the base Of a cross ? A few yards from the church are the beautifully- embowered Old 1 r ﬁsh - In s wo ld ponds , where the ummer days of long ago the j ovial monks doubtless went a- ﬁshing for the Friday refection . From our ancient habitation it is a pleasant walk

S of some couple of miles by the loch ide to where ,

’ Crawfurd s r in quaint ph ase , stands the vilage 2 Loc hwh noch Old and church of y , a chaplainry in times depending upon the Abby of Pasly At the entrance to the village we pass the little God ’ s acre where the fathers of the hamlet sleep , and

1 Crawfur d . 1 . , p 54

2 nn i i n Wini Loc hwi oc h der ves ts am e from St. oc h (a c ontem K rn who r ell b orar of St . enti e o the s ores p y g ) , p bably had a c y h h h o f t e loc . THE AULD KIRK 39 where stands the curious architectural relic of the

r 1 80 r old ki k . In 7 the ki k , of which the mutilated fragment I have sketched is all that remains , is

- described as commodious and well built , having

A Loc hwinnoc h Relic

two wings , one upon the south and the other upon the north , a good bell , and a town clock . Standing in the Old kirkyard we look across the 1 loch to the crumbling walls of The Peel . The ruin is on the shore , but when the keep was built in 1 540 that spot Of land was an island in the centre

1 l h m l a r in m e o f war Bui t by t e Se p es s a efuge ti . 40 BIRTHPLACE OF THE BLACK CART

r 1 of the waters . The d aining operations of recent

r and years have materially alte ed the landscape ,

The Peel now sits on a green and level haugh . 2 r r Calde , a murmuring st eam when it mingles

s with Lochwinnoch at the we t end of the village , comes brawling down the hillsides , into which it has cut for itself the most romantic Of r ocky chan

' T ir l n r nels . he sy va beauties a oused the muse of

r r Alexande Wilson , the Paisley weave , who became

r r the Ornithologist of Ame ica . Wilson esided at

LochwInnoc h for r r r some yea s befo e he emig ated , and in his now almost forgotten verses on Calder Banks the gentle Sandy laments the neglect to which the scenery had been doomed

Sa e bles s enes o f soli e and e e y , y t c tud p ac , ’ Str ayed e er a bar d alon g this h erm it sh ore ’ Did e er his pen cil your per fection s trace O r did his m u se to sing your beauties so ar Al s m e hin s th e ee in or s ro n a , t k , w p g w k a u d , And th e lo n e str eam that m urm ur s far below An d trees and caves with solem n h ollo w sound ”

B re h e ou t one m o rn l m el n h ol NO . at u fu , a c y

The neglect of which the Scoto - American poet sung

r has not been banished by the passing yea s . But 3 Nature has dealt bountifully with this smiling valley .

1 - Th e loc h was m aterially reduc ed in ar ea by dr aining in 1 773 4 .

2 The salm on fr om th e Clyde wer e wont to pass thr ough Loc hwinnoc h an d depo sit their spawn in th e Calder near ”

n Cr awfurd . I . r e . B idg d , p 55

3 c an o s o f le s Loc hwinnoc h is a healthy place . It b a t at a t o ne c ast o f longevity alm ost rivalling that Of th e c elebrated m n ns c re ne f h O S . A . e o u o r Th e wr er o t e . O ld Pa r . it ti a pi t d CALDER BANKS 41

r Its rich beauties do not ask for aught . Thei mar vellou s wealth of colour on stretching haughs and hillsides fenced with oak would scorn the alien touch

r r of man . The summe haze th ows a glamour of romance over the umbrageous landscape and its silvery lake and the inward eye that is the bliss of solitude may see the cowled ﬁgures of the ancient monks ﬂitting among the ancient trees . The gentle Spirit of the past has surely sunk to r r est in this peaceful vale , and , sleeping the e , awaits the coming of the gallant knight who will wake her with a kiss .

m h li e b Coo er in 1 wi h th e o lowin nsc r on fr o t e f y J . p 739 t f l g i ipti Margar et Patton b or n in th e par ish of Loc h nugh n ear Paisley in Sc o n l n in th e work o se O f r re s Wes tla d ivi g h u Ma ga t , t 8 m ins er e 1 e r s . t , ag d 3 y a IV .

TRAT F THROUGH PICTURESQUE S H GRY E .

STRATH G RYFE r r r G r fe , so named f om the ive y , is one of the many picturesque valleys which lie on

r r r the bo de land of Glasgow . It is broad and fe tile ,

vol and it deeply etches the Kilbarchan hills , the c anic - born barrier that shuts out the coasts of Clyde

' 1 r - from the dwelle s in mid Scotland . The vale thr ough which our streamlet ﬂows is barred on the west by the swelling mountain- range on whose northern base there has risen the aggressively modern

e - r Gre nock and its grey tinted neighbou , Port

Glasgow . the of We ﬁnd birthplace the river in a loch , whose blue expanse is encircled by billowy heights clothed with rough mountain grass interspersed with

r r r stretches of heathe . Here and the e in the li k of the hills we note bein and cosy- looking farm

1 o h e s h an o erl k n G Cairnc u rr an H ill (90 8 ft . ) t t out d v oo i g r yfe n n n Th Reservoir is a ﬁne exam ple of a exti c t volc a o . e p ro j ec ting lava plug whic h ﬁlled up th e vent when volc anic ac tion c eased for m s a tableland standi ng ou t di stinc t and high abo ve Kilmacolm 2 8 2 its s rr o ndin s . rr H ist. . . u u g Mu ay, , p THE G RYFE RESERVOIR 43 houses wherein the rambler will hap upon the warm

bed and covered table . From the ramparts of the

G r fe great dam on the y Reservoir , we look far down

- the Strath . It is framed with undulating hill lines . The soft Slopes are sculptured by innumerable brooks

r which , th ough vast geologic ages , have scooped

THE GRE

r deep channels and miniatu e glens for themselves . Their waters gleam pleasantly to the eye on a summer afternoon and the tender music of their

r wimple cha ms the ear . These uplands of Renfrewshire are redolent of

- pastoral calm and seclusion . Their far spreading 44 THROUGH PICTURESQUE STRATH GRYFE

heights dissolve into spaces of dreamy solitude , into

r r r g ey moorlands utte ly devoid of human life , wei d places to which in days long past the witches of Kilmacolm hurtled through the air and footed it

s on the heath , while the Devil himself, a touzy hape ,

r l pe ched on a hoary bou der , played lustily on a pair of pipes . From the platform of Houston Station and bearing

— r s north east , we note the towe s of Walkin haw peep

r r ing over an umb ageous and verdant st eam . The

G r fe - r s r r y , a reed borde ed t eam , ski ts the highway at this point . Half a mile further on we come to

of Old wr where , in the words Hamilton , who ote

1 1 0 h r in 7 , the Grief ath its inﬂux into Black Ca t

r at the Walkinshaw, a ve y pretty dwelling which has been long the inheritance of Walkinshaw of f o . h that ilk , chief his name We know t at the

Walkinshaws h 1 68 eld the estate till 3, in which year Gavin Walkinshaw sold his patrimony to

a s J mes Walkin haw , merchant in Glasgow , and ﬁ ld second son Of John Walkinshaw of B arrow e . And in 1 769 it passed into the hands of the Millars of r Paisley , one of whom was And ew Millar, the famous London bookseller .

— r r r Decent , God fea ing bu ghe s were the Walkin shaws , and but for a little amiable weakness on the feminine side , the family would have lived and passed away as many other respectable mediocrities have done unwept , unhonoured , and unsung .

46 THROUGH PICTURESQUE STRATHG RYFE

The fates had decreed otherwise , and the name of Walkinshaw has been r endered memorable in his 1 r tory , thanks to the cha ming Clementina who

rs r Of r yielded he elf to the emb aces Prince Cha lie , and left her bonny Glasgow home to be his mistress . The King of Fr ance conferred the title of Countess

Alber tstrof r r of on the fai and f ail Clementina .

r r She had at least one daughte to the P ince , and she in 1 784 was acknowledged by her Royal father 2 s r as Duchess of Albany , a t ange leap in the social

r r scale , su ely , for the granddaughte of the Glasgow

h Old merchant , but I some ow fancy that Walkin shaw would not derive much j oy from the honour .

r s The p etty dwelling afore aid still stands . It

r r s is a curious bit of a chitectu e , suggestive omewhat of a quartette Of gigantic pepper - boxes welded to

s gether . Withal it is a plea ant place , venerable in

s r r r aspect , and in pi ing a ce tain feeling of espectful

s r r awe . It is set on a bank of haven tu f, te raced , and encircled by noble tr ees and variegated hollies

S . of goodly ize A magniﬁcent avenue , like the dim aisle of some vast Gothic cathedr al rear ed by a / cyclopean r ac e leads from the ruined boathouse at the conﬂuence of the G ryfe and Cart up to the

s man ion . But the seeds of dreary decay have settled upon

1 Th e youngest of the ten daughters O f J ohn Walkinshaw of

ld and Cam lac hi e Glas hu F acies vol. . . 606 . B arrowﬁe g , i p

2 n Burns writes of h er as Th e Bonnie Lass of Alba y . THE WALKINSHAW FAMILY 47

l the bui ding . Great yawning cracks extend from

r r basement to roof, the result of unde g ound work ings ; and grass and weeds have taken the place of gravel on the stately terr aces and jessamine

r r r framed walks . Commerce and mode n ente p ise in the Shape of a coal mine have appeared on this r r r eti ed spot , and , as is thei wont , they have laid

Sylvan Aisle .

Old- r a dismal blight upon its wo ld beauties . In

r c ollo ul alism r the p egnant q of the b ight little lad , son of the mine overseer who now occupies the

Walkinsh aws r home of the , the Milla s , the Alex

r r Cunnin ham es of ande s , and latte ly the g ( Craig

s r ends) , the ancient and hi to ic house of Walkinshaw ” s r is a wa te .

’ Gr fe Where the y and Cart , in Hamilton s homely 48 THROUGH PICTURESQUE STRATHGRYFE

phrase , meet and mix themselves , is one of the

r most peaceful of sylvan scenes . The loite ing streams wander thr ough a rich pasture - land of low lying ﬁelds . June , like a cunning alchemist , has

her r passed wand over them , and the ve dant sward

rs r is seamed with ba of living gold . Butte cup and

f ar daf odil e in full midsummer bloom . Foamy meadowsweet and the wild pansy prinkt with j et , ﬂaunt gaudily in the stately glades that lead

r r down to the reeds by the ive , where the tasselled

r r s r r sedges with the ﬁe y spiked o chi f inge the wate s , and where on this summer after noon there are

r r r feathered songsters on eve y bush , and f om eve y corner of the overhanging woods they peal out their ﬂute- like notes until the whole scene brims ” s s r like a cup with sun hine and the ong of bi ds .

’ r r r r It is a pictu e of summe s glo ious p ime , when ramblers and wayfarers and artists and poets and

’ r s othe s of God own folk , longen to go on pil grimages 1 to the highways and the leafy woods

r W r and the green ﬁelds , and the moo lands , he e they

s may seek , and will ﬁnd , the soft motion and mu ic

r r of natu e , and the solitudes whe e sunshine , and

for r health , and sweetness eve abide

r r Not quite as st aight as an a row , but almost

r r r so , the pleasantest of count y t acks leads us f om

r r r Houston Station to the noted mode n health eso t ,

b - yclept Bridge of Weir . It is a delightful y way ,

1 C c er Canterbur Tales ro o e . hau , y , p l gu BRIDGE OF WEIR 49

r not exactly a dull clod of a oad , along which we pass unsuspected nooks of local history . Feverish motor cyclists whiz past us as we tramp out the miles (there are ﬁve between the points noted) , but , believe me , walking is the one and only way

m s of extracting all the honey of romance fro thi , or s r G r fe r any other , di t ict . The y ma ches with us

w r un all the time , t isting and turning in a ather

s comfortable fa hion , but , as if conscience struck ,

Old always coming back to its companion .

I can promise you some hard work on this sunny ,

s and at times shadowed , avenue , with its teady

- upward rise from 20 ft . above sea level at the start

1 80 r r ing point to at B idge of Wei . But it has its reward in its charming and old- world bits for the artist and photographer in its wayside ﬂowers and their attendant sprites for the botanist and entomologist ; in the ancient village of Houston 1

1 In a Bull of Pope H onorius 1 2 25 - 7 m entioni ng th e c hurc hes o f Str athgr yfe there is inc luded th e c hurc h of the town G 50 THROUGH PICTURESQUE STRATHGRYFE

1 with its ancient Mercat Cross , which we pass on

SO our right ; and to the Bridge of Weir , where the Gryfe and its rocky channel and old mills have provided an abiding fascination for Dick Tinto and his comrades ; and where the wayfarer may have

r b ead and cheese and ale , and feel for the nonce

r that of all mo tals the pedestrian is most blessed .

To Kilmacolm the highway , the railway , and the river march shoulder to Shoulder along the gr assy slopes of the tree - crested ridge of Strathgryfe and three miles or so from Bridge of Weir the road runs — through Kilm alc olm popular etymology prefers

- - — r Kil ma com which , acco ding to a chronicler of

1 1 0 severall r 7 , is a gret perish and conside able

r r r Of r he itors the ﬁ st being the Ea le Glencai n . The Kilmacolm 2 of tod ay is a product of railway

ways and railway days . Streets of detached and

handsome villas , and many even imposing residences ,

r scattered along the bosky shoulde of the strath ,

r r have sp ung up within living memo y . When the ﬁr st railway train on a summer day in 1 869 steamed

into the newly erected station , Kilmacolm was a

r sombre little count y Village of three hundred souls .

The village has vanished , the last thatched house

’ — - H o n wn enc e s o . Re de P s o f H H s o . as elet ugh ugh t , h u t g , 1 1 p . 4 . 1 See m y Sylvan Scenes near Glasgow for a dr awing and

desc ription of thi s ﬁ ne c ro ss .

2 In 0 - Kilm ac o lm is an anc ient plac e . a deed o f 1 2 2 1 20 7 th e c hurc h o f Kilm ac olm with its lands and teinds is c on de P R . isl A e ssele 1 1 . rme to P e e . a t . ﬁ d a y bb y g , p 3 KILMACOLM 51

i h f off - r hav ng s u ﬂed some half dozen yea s ago , and 1 Old r r in the inn , which like all espectable elics of the good Old times stands in the shadow of the Old r i ki k , we may meet w th old men who played in

r the village st eet in the sunny days of boyhood , and from whom we get some sense of the poetry that lingered around the old place . Kilmacolm has m emories thick as leaves in

JRENFREW5HIRE

S 1 6 Vallombrosa . In the pring of 55 the reverend and godly John Knox j ourneyed from Calder House " ” to Kilmacolm before the Pasche , as he tells us in his history? and ministrat the Lordes Table

r and it is interesting surely , and a memo y worth

r che ishing , to know that this was probably the ﬁrst occasion on which the rycht use Of the Lordes Table —to quote the words of the great reformer

1 Built abo ut 1 78 0 as a weaving fac tor y by th e Earl of G len T r n I ir l o s in th e ll e . h c ai . t was th e th d s ated h u e vi ag e fac tory

l n n inn rr ist. Kil e a d th e o se ec m e a . H macolm fai d h u b a Mu ay , , 8 1 . p . 4 2 K ’ no s H ist i . 2 0 . x . . p 5 32 THROUGH PICTURESQUE STRATHGRYFE — according to the Protestant form was ministrat 1 in Scotland .

A century after these doings , Kilmacolm was in

a sad state , if we are to believe the parish minister

r of that day . Witches and wa locks were haunting its moors and mosses , where they met the devil himself, a black , grim man , says the reverend

r r puritan who eco ds these matters . Happily , one

Wodrow b r . witch , Janet y name , was captu ed Of her guilt there could be no doubt , for the diligent

’ pricker found on her body the devil s mark

’ r inﬂicted by the devil s own ﬁnge s . The civil

powers proved but broken reeds , and they ordered poor Old Janet to be released ? She returned to Kilmacolm and at once renewed what the r everend

r ch onicler terms her hellish pranks .

u 1 20 The village m st have been in a ferment in 7 , for in that year the Presbytery had up the minister

of ilm alc olm K , against whom there was read out the terrible indictment that on the month of June last he was not only seen very late in a tavern of

Kilm alc olm r r k , but dreadfully diso de ed with drin ,

and sitting on his knee one Jean Fleming , a widow

s yea , ki sing her again and again with immodest ” r r gestures . The reve end and amo ous gentleman

1 The four c omm union c ups used on that oc c asion were lent l G l nc n e wer lon r r Fin by th e Ear O f e air . Th y e g p ese ved at ’ n A l s on th e E rl s resi e c e h e e dis e r e . O . S . ay t , a d , but t y hav app a d

iv . . 2 rr . 0 1 vol. p 79 ; Mu ay , pp 3 , 3 .

2 w i e 1 0 Wit he o Ren re sh r . 2 c s . f f , p

54 THROUGH PICTURESQUE STRATHGRYFE

King Jamie came to Duchall ten years later on

a much more pleasant errand , to meet the sweetly pretty Marion Boyd 1 (a daughter of the Boyd of

Duchall Bonshaw) , and it was within the walls of

r r that the fai , though rather frail , Ma ion , bore a son to the King ? Much of deep interest clings to

’ r that Old omance . Marion Boyd s barne is

known in Scottish annals as Alexander Steuart ,

Archbishop of St . Andrews , who fell ﬁghting by his royal father ’ s side in that desperate ring ’ 3 on Flodden s stricken ﬁeld . Older memories still

Du chall cling to the mouldering walls of . — In the pages of the valuable chronicle 1 201 to — 1 346 compiled by the good monks Of Lanerc ost

r Priory, a t anslation of which has just been pub lished by Sir Herbert Maxwell , there is preserved a weird story of Duchall Castle . It is curious and interesting as a contemporary example of the extra

- ordinary credulity of a monk ridden age .

Duc hall 1 The occurrence took place at in 296 . In the quaint phrase of the old monkish scribe

1 rw r s wi e o f o n M re of Rowallan . E xche uer Rolls Afte a d f J h u q ,

". v l . X o . xii . p

’ 2 Th e treasurer s ac c ounts partic ularise a pr esent m ade by the king when at Duc hall to th e noris that fosterit Marioun ”

l. ii . . x I bid. x B oydis barn . p

3 O f all the ﬂ owers of th e forest that were there wede away n was m or e lo el m or e rec o s n his rc ell s surely one v y, p i u , tha t Ma u ” ’ e n S nle s Rec or l A ress o f th e Sc ottish Churc h . D a ta y t ia dd at An w o e w r o b Princ l Shair in his St . re s d , qu t d ith app val y ipa p

S ketches in H istory and P oetry . DUCHALL CASTLE 55 something terrible and marvellous happened then ” in the west of Scotland in Clydesdale , a few miles from Paisley , in the house of Sir Duncan de Insula or Delisle the De Lyles held Duc hall for several centuries . A certain wicked fellow died most wickedly and " long after his body had been buried his ghost haunted Paisley Abbey , and

Duchall . then proceeded to , why is not stated Says

S the monk , it assumed a bodily hape , whether

r or r natu al ae ial is uncertain , but it was hideous , gross , and tangible , and used to appear at noonday in the dress of a black monk and settle on the turrets of Du chall Castle . When men shot at the apparition with arrows or thru st it through with picks , whatever was driven into that damned substance was burnt to ashes in less time than it takes to tell it , also it so savagely felled and battered 56 THROUGH PICTURESQUE STRATHGRYFE those who attempted to struggle with him as well ” nigh to shatter all their j oints . The Appearance came in the midst of the family ” r as they sat one night around the hea th , throwing them into confusion with missiles and blows . They all ﬂed except the eldest son . He attacked the

S r r r fr pi it , sh ieks and moans we e borne to the af ighted

r r - watche s a ound the demon haunted house , and when the morning broke and the people who had ﬂed r eturned they found the young knight dead 1 r r r and the co pse hor ibly to n . To this day wild shrieks and stranger whisperings are often heard

r around the shatte ed keep , and it may be that the demon shape still lurks in some long forgotten and

r c l bu ied vault among the covered mounds of Du hal . Who knows P Ghost and daemon vanish before the sunshine and free airs that meet us on the highway to the

r f dam of G y e . It is three miles of a typical country

r r s road , chee ful and pictu e que , where we pass cottages with brown- faced children playing at their

- r - doors , and brown faced men and osy cheeked women watching them ; where we pass innum er able wimpling burns and innumerable little bridges and bien farmhouses and steadings entombed in trees ; a road of pleasant surprises and splendid

r vistas , which leads us up the little g een glen down

r S which , and ﬂashing like silve , in the summer hine ,

1 M well Lanerc ost Chronicle . 1 1 8 1 1 . ax , , pp , 9 THE DAM OF GRYPE 57

Gr fe comes the bright waters of our y , a modest stream hereabouts , but carrying in its gentle whispers the story of sylvan dells and queer places among

’ D Kee er s H o se G r te am . p u , y

h f r- s r t e a . away hill And , esting gratefully on the

r Of G r fe g een slopes the great dam of y , we gaze

r s down the long st ath and on the best of all Vista ,

r the grassy b aes , and the yellow broom of a Scottish countryside . V

BY THE MEETING OF THE WATERS .

TH E r wayfa er who , perchance , has followed these rambles h as been with me to where the White Cart rises among the windswept moorlands which l ie on the borders of Renfrew and Lanark Shires ; has lain on the mossy banks of the lonely Long Loch in the bosom of the purple hills and listened to the wimple of the Levern in its brief and crystalline childhood ; has wandered by the beautiful shores of Lochwinnoch down to the sylvan dell wherein the Black Cart ’ s birthplace is found and has stood on the great dam at the head of Strathgryfe and watched the silvery G ryfe babbling into j oyous life amidst the cool depths which fringe the base of the embattled heights . It is good to know these places with their vast silences , good to know the dusky moorlands , good to know the swelling uplands , where the sunshine

r glints over a wide landscape , as the clouds ide

- r r high , and the full th oated la k , far above us , is sharply deﬁned against the clear light shed on such THE Two CARTS 59

favoured spots . From the most of these places the

r di are ailway keeps a respectful stance , but they

all open to the pedestrian , who may be free of an

r r afte noon , and who is not af aid of the lonely miles which within a couple of hours will lead one into

the very heart of the lonely hills , by river paths

and quiet lanes , where the rural sights and sounds seem like wedges of wild nature and old romance thrust into the heart of our workaday world . The Levern links with the White Cart and the G ryfe

r o f Conval. Th e Cha iot St.

and r with the Black , the two Ca ts become one at the meeting of the waters by Inchinnan Brig . And one of the pleasantest of quiet afternoon rambles may be had around this picturesque place of the gathered streams .

’ From Renfrew the king s highway to Inchinnan is imbued with all the charm of a woodland walk .

Stately beech and ancient elms fringe the road , and their umbrageous covering throws grateful

r S shadows , tempe ing the summer hine which ﬁlters through the green lacework overhead . Turn aside 60 BY THE MEETING OF THE WATERS

at the second gateway on the right , and pay your devoir at the strange relics which these immemorial woods keep in their bosom . The courtesy of Lord B lythswood permits a right of way past the little gatehouse to wayfarers who care to linger around the rude symbols that mark the holy places of long vanished generations . There are few , if any , more revered memorials Of the past to be found among the borderlands of Glasgow town than the hoary monolith and the weather- worn boulders which rest within the B lythswood woods . They stand in a little hollow almost hidden by the tapestries of u nature . The path leads to them thro gh a green

Of o jungle underw od , where dark foliage inter

r o weaves in one unb oken ro f of leaves . The origin of their erection is one of the secrets of the ages . But tradition has poured a ﬂood of monkish romance over the grey stones of Inch

’ inn n s a saint , and later Scottish history links them

’ r with one of the g eat ﬁgures of our country s story . My sketch gives a good idea of these ancient monu ments . The rounded monolith on the left is the 1 ru . Conval. Its Cur s Convalli , or chariot of St story takes us back to the very dawn of Christianity in

our island . List to the old tradition .

nval . St . Co was the son of an Irish king He was

Kenti ern a disciple of St . g , and although born within

1 her s one is o io sl the e im en of ross and Th e ot t bv u y p d t a c , n s il be sc ern th e soc ket for th e shaft c a t l di ed . These ho ly ere for el e h ndr r stones have (probably) stoo d th tw v u ed yea s .

62 BY THE MEETING OF THE WATERS tunate Archibald Earl of Argyll was captured prior to ﬁnishing his career on the scaffold of the

Maiden in the High Street of Edinburgh . Half a century prior to this historic incident the two stones were the starting post for the Bell Race of Paisley, which was appointed to be startet

' ’ l s a . Conva at the gr y stane callet St stane , and fra that rycht eist to the lytile house at the c alsaend

’ of Renfrew, and fra that the hie king s way to the Walnuik of Paislaye and qubat horse comes ﬁrst over a sc oir at Renfrew Shall have ane dowbell

m aIrof angell , and the horse and aister y that ﬁrst comes over the seoir at the said Walnuik of Paislaye sall have the silver bell in th e said burghes airm es

eir yair upon for yat y .

In passing , it may be noted that the older of the two s ilver bells preserved at Paisley bears the date 2 1 608 although as far back as April 7 , the

Paisley Council Records have an item , Act anent ' c oncludit ae the silver bell , when it is that siller bell be mad of four unces weight wit all diligence ” for a hors race yeirlie . The White Cart has shifted its quarters since the

’ Conval s days when St . Stone marked the ancient ford . The river is now a few hundred yards west of the venerable memorial , and the rambler crosses the White Cart by the swing bridge which over looks the canal-like cut made about 1 835 by

1 isle . 2 06 . Me c l e H ist. o a t a f , f P y , p

64 BY THE MEETING OF THE WATERS

the Town Council of Paisley . The second bridge ,

our S on which stands the quaint old toll of ketch , is also over the channel of the White Cart ; the

r third , and longest , bridge spans the wate s of the

' G r fe r runs with Black Cart and y . The latte river

r r considerable fo ce he eabouts , and during the extra ordinary ﬂoods of last November 1 its waters rose

- to an unprecedented height , invaded the toll house to the depth of several feet , and put the good man

r r r and his wife into so e dist ess . A little fu ther n dow , the angry ﬂood attacked its right bank and

Old scooped out a great gash . At high tide the

l of r right way is now far in the bed of the st eam .

My sketch was done at low water . It serves to

S r how the ruin achieved by the ﬂoods , and the emains of the old riverside path can be seen in the fore

B l thswood ground . y House shelters among the trees to the right of the river . The present mansion was 1 8 1 0 Old built in , succeeding the house of 2 Renﬁeld 1 1 0 , which in 7 is described as standing

r r r among pleasant o cha ds and gardens . Poo John

r Wilson , the unfo tunate teacher poet , whom the scholastic authorities of Greenock forbade the use

his of the muse on pains of dismissal , speaks in too little known poem Clyde of

Wh ere th e ro bri e on s el r h es ri es p ud dg tat y a c d , And from his h eigh t surveys th e slumbering tides

O f tranquil Cart .

1 2 Crawfurd ed . 1 82 . 1 1 2 . . 9 , 7 , p 33 INCHINNAN BRIG 65

’ The proud bridge of Wilson s day collapsed in 1 80 o the 9 ﬂo d after a career of exactly half a century , having been built in Its foundations are

r n nn A Butt ess I c hi an Brig . still visible at low water a few yards beneath the

r u 1 80 - 1 2 p esent elegant str cture , which dates from 9 , when it was erected at a cost of To meet

1 It had ten large arc hes of goo d c ut stone where vessels of or n As c o s onl f ty tu s bur den passes thr o ugh below. it t y 0 f l Cr w £ 1 45 we need not b e surprised at its bri ef tenur e o ife . a t r H ist R n R A ricu ltu r e Ren r ew . t e rewshire . 1 e or u d , f , p 4 ; p g f , ‘ 1 8 1 2 8 8 1 8 1 . 1 M l llan I n h n n 1 C e d c i na . , p 4 ; , , pp 7 , . 66 B Y THE MEETING OF THE WATERS

a the cost a toll was put on . Over a thous nd per

r annum was d awn at the old toll . It continued in

r use till about forty yea s ago , when , the debts being

r clea ed , the toll gates were removed and passengers and vehicles passed without payment . The architectur e of the bridge will repay inspec

r tion , the detail , which I sketched f om the little 1 island on which the old toll stands , indicates the

ﬁne classic atmosphere of the design . In his very

‘ Mr M Clelland r good monograph the Rev . asse ts that the Inchinnan bridges are the ﬁnest specimens of architecture in the parish and the costliest W and best in the hole county of Renfrew , a state

r s ment that I fancy is pe fectly ju tiﬁed . Let me quote an amusing story which is told of the pre- bridge days when travellers crossed the Cart

r th and G yte by e fords at low water . It concerns

r the ministe of Lamington who , accompanied by

’ r r his faithful ministe s man , had j ou neyed, on horse back from the lonely upland parish to assist his

AS r brother of Inchinnan . the couple fo ded the waters at Inchinnan they admired the modest

a r stre m that wimpled ove a pebbly bed . On the

r r r ﬁne Sabbath mo n , the beadle was ea ly asti ,

r doubtless to sharpen his wits for se mon tasting , h of w ich he was a noted expert , although pro

undl r fo y igno ant of the law of tides . Strolling

r a down to the iver, he was amazed to see the w ters

’ 1 n f r Th A o s c . Craw u d e I . 1 . bb t h , p 4 THE MINISTER OE LAMINGTON 67 rushing back in the opposite direction to what he

r r r had last seen them . A ter ible fea g ipped his

r heart . The day of judgment had ar ived , and the waters were hastening to deluge the land . The

r poor man ﬂed to the manse , awakened the ministe ,

- and in awe struck tone related the awful news .

Th e r o n nn n Ca t ab ve I c hi a .

The minister promptly reminded his horror - struck

ﬁre follower that the last judgment was to be by ,

r and then turned and esumed his nap , while the

a appeal to The Word , let us hope , calmed the fe rs of the man . The wayfarer follows the road which runs from 1 opposite the Old tollhouse south and towards

Paisley . It is two miles exactly from Inchinnan

1 l 1 8 1 0 Bui t . 68 BY THE MEETING OF THE WATERS Toll to the bridge which crosses the river at the

‘ policies of Walkinshaw . The highway is pleasant going through the ﬂat meadowlands which form a

r r verdant bo der to the Ca t . In summer weather

r r it is an altogether delightful oad , f inged with a wealth of wayside ﬂowers and foliage and the air sweetened by the breath of the wild- rose and honey

r suckle . On our ight we pass the farms of Point

— - - ﬂ house an Old place name and Yonderton where we can see one of the few thatched houses r emaining

’ r r r r in Renf ewshi e . And so to Ca t s b idge , which we cross , and leaving the highway take the path by the river leading back again to Inchinnan .

r b - It is a most inte esting y way . Unexpected vistas of blue mountain and green meadows full

r of scented g asses and clovered hay meet the, ram

: r r bler the Cart is a loite ing st eam , but of almost

r r majestic , and ce tainly unsuspected , b eadth as it winds hither and thither before passing the knowe

r on which stands the Ki k of Inchinnan . The grey church tower peeps over the treetops at the smiling

r ﬁelds and listens to the gentle music of the rive .

r Conv For seven hundred years a chu ch of St . al has stood on that holy mound by the banks of the 1 ’ r r s Ca t . Knights templa s gathered within its cloi

1 - I . 1 1 2 1 1 r n e to G od an d to th e c rc David , 4 5 3, g a t d hu h K n i n s w n r of St. e t ger of G la go i p e p etual alm s th e tithe of his Chan (r ent payable In ki nd by th e o wner ) du e to him annually r o m Strath riu a Strath r fe w c in In n n f g ( g y ) hi h c luded c hi na . E l - wri ar S t sh Char e s . L e c o ti t r 6 1 2 . a , y , pp 3

KELVINHEAD TO .

H ANKS r T to the ra e magic of the muse , the Kelvin

s takes its place among the Scottish ﬂuvial divinitie .

r for r The spi it of poesy lingers eve on its banks , mor e - lovingly perhaps in the far- away upper r eaches

r whe e the sun casts blue shadows on the hillsides , adown which a wimpling burn comes seeking with

r r r tremulous whispe s the wo kaday wo ld of men . Romance and poetry all but vanish where Clyde

r r and Kelvin meet . The spa kling st eam of the

r r pastoral lands has become a g ey and tu gid ﬂood . The soiled waters ﬂow between mathematically pre cise banks , whereon vast skeleton shapes of steel and iron blot out the Sky and the clang of hammers and smoke of furnaces brazenly remind us that the dreariness of trade is the price we are paying for a

- r r much vaunted comme cial g eatness . Yet I have

’ s spoken to men , old men , whose boyhoods memorie are associated with a clear ﬂowing Kelvin at the 1 Pointhouse Glasgow , men who in the summer

1 In 1 734 the Sm ithﬁ eld Ir on Com pany was established at in h o n Ro er son m erc h n in G l s ow er w om Po t ouse . J h b t , a t a g (aft h THE CLYDE AT GOVAN 71

’ days 0 auld langsyne played on the green banks and sheltered among the overhanging trees by the quaint Old inn which once upon a time nodded

’ across the Clyde to G ovan s ancient hostel of the

Water Rowm another ﬁne old relic shaken off by 1 an iconoclastic age hotly desirous of getting on . In the process of growth the Kelvin at its con ﬂuenc e with the Clyde has bidden farewell to the

r beautiful , and its ugliness and odours p ovide a fit setting for the rusty grey hulks that plough its waters and flaunt their financial claims to considera

are tion . We indebted to an unknown poet of a past generation for an exquisite cameo which pre serves for all time the original pastoral Simplicity of Kelvinm outh

LO r i s le 2 re r and lone , Pa t ck Ca t , d a S n s li e silen loo er - on ta d k a t k , Wh ere Clyde and Kelvin m eet

Ro er son S r ee is n m e was r ner in c om n b t t t a d) , a pa t that pa y 8 0 H o th e es e f P n ion G o n in o 1 . e o ab ut 7 b ught tat la tat , va , 1 783 owne d a c luster of ho uses at th e Pointh ouse ; and put o n th e ﬁrst r egular ferry fr om th e K elvin m o uth at Pointh ouse

H s G an c . n i tor o ov . to G o . va y f , xi 1 — Rem oved in 1 91 2 after stan ding for three c enturi es to affor d a few yar ds of r oadway to a high level ferr y " It was n - n o h n a stra ge O ld thatc hed c r ow stepped gabled buildi g . J ne ‘ M Nai r in Ferr e B inn o f ne is m n ne in 1 i ot G ova e ti o d 593 . For m any c uri ous and interesting tr aditi ons c onnec ted with this

n n l m H st r o G o an . 1 2 an c s vi c e o s e see i o v d . i a i t h t y y f , pp 5 , 5 , . n a d xxiii . 2 Built by G eor ge H utc heson (o ne o f th e fo unders o f the os a o f n m in 61 1 I s o o o n th e r o n now h pit l that a e) 1 . t t d g u d ’ o c c b th H n r upied y e Messrs . enderson s Shipbuildi g Ya d . Laur nc Hill P i C n M e e H ist. art ck astle : ri el ri e ac eor e , p vat y p t d ; g g , Old G las f C l v 6 ow . 1 1 c l m ers a ed n a o . iii . . 2 . . C l o i g , p 3 ha , , p 9 72 TO KELVINHEAD

’ Th e low rank grass waves o er its walls NO so n is h e r i hin its h lls u d a d w t a , Save noise o f distant water falls ” Wh ere hil r n l h 1 c d e ave t eir feet . The Halcyon bird of peace must have had its abode on the Kelvin in the days of which the unknown speaks so tenderly , but Vulcan has put it to ﬂight. Looking back across the year s we see a Shady little river ﬂowing through a deep ravine on the — outskirts of a growing city a stream whose crys talline waters sparkled like a silver thread among the woodland verdure , a place of pleasant scents ,

’ and the pleasanter sound of childr en s voices at

’ r play . And by the iver s bank , and peeping out

r r r r f om whe e the foliage screens the ve dant b ae , 2 Old is the Pear Tree Well , beloved of the Glasgow lovers of long ago : a spot where a poet might m dwell , and where one at least did wander to so e purpose .

It is to a humble Paisley surgeon , who just about this time last century settled in the High Street of Glasgow , that we owe the beautiful lyric of ” 3 Kelvin Grove . Thomas Lyle , like many other

r sons of the muse , found his tende ﬂower of genius wither away on the barren soil of adversity . He 1 0 1 2 was born at Paisley on September , 79 , studied 1 8 s wM a azine 1 8 2 . The Gla go g ,

2 A wri er in 1 8 0 Also rem ember ed as th e Three Tr ee Well. t 5 desc ribes th e situati on of th e well as m ost rom antic and beau ” Its s e is now c o ere b e em nkm en . tiful . it v d y a hug ba t 3 O riginally published in 1 8 20 in th e H arp of Renfrewshire.

74 TO KELVINHEAD

r ve ities of human passion and human nature , and

r doing so he speaks to the g eat heart of man . The source of the Kelvin is to be found far up on the Shoulder of the Kilsyth Range and over looking the deep but pleasant valley which cr osses

r the waist of Scotland f om the Clyde to the Forth . Along the brow of the southern escarpment of this

r r fe tile vale the Roman enginee s , sixteen hundred 1 r r yea s ago , ran the alignment of the g eat wall whose mouldering lines can still be easily followed

r ac oss several counties . Those who care to come with me to Kelvin ’ s fountainhead and to see many things and places that are worth seeing will ﬁnd the modern highway , railway , and canal all march ing shoulder to shoulder with the survey laid down by those wonderful men of old Rome, and it is surely a tribute to their far- seeing genius that the

- engineers of to day have accepted their lead . Put a biscuit in your pocket and take a retur n ticket at Queen Street to Kilsyth on the ﬁrst after

s noon you have to pare . I promise you a pleasant

is ramble . There not much from Glasgow to Kil syth that is not familiar to the most of city folks 2 but as you pass Sum erston it is well to remember that across the Kelvin— the railway rarely deserts

1 Th e so uthern boundary of Kilsyth Parish runs nearly par allel to th e Rom n W ll for w r s of six m les a a up a d i .

2 The line of th e gr eat wall c r osses th e public r oad leading ro m Sum erston r w ln n s ion to e . c o f ail ay tat Mi gavi Ma d ald , e R ll Th oman Wa . 1 1 . , p 7

76 To KELVINHEAD — our river on the sloping ground to the right there has been laid bare the great Roman Fort of Bal m uild 1 f S y, the excavations af ording plendid evidence

’ of the truth of Roy s obser vation of a century and

B em ulie a half ago , that was one of the most ” r 2 conside able stations on the wall .

r i Kilsyth is a quaint old place , whose e stwh le charms have been rudely disturbed by the planting 3 of grimy coal mines on the green haughs and br aes which at one period must have lent a Singu larly beautiful setting to this c ountry town . De

’ spite man s efforts to blot the landscape the spirit

r r r are of beauty linge s a ound the township . The e picturesque nooks and corners wher e thatched r oof and cr ooked gable whisper to u s of the placid days when the hum of the weaver ’ s shuttle was all that br oke the stillness of a sleepy summer afternoon ; and there are one or two old- fashioned caravan series where buirdly " farmers and canny weavers pledged each other in deep draughts of cool yill

1 In 1 9 1 2 - 1 3 th e G lasgow Arc haeo logic al Soc iety c o nduc ted Mr i l r c r er in ns e e c o ns B ahn uild . e exte iv x avati at y , M l a , l tu R o m n H s or G s ow Un er s k n c r e o f th e a i t y at la g iv ity , ta i g ha g H is R e or s are em o e in th e Transactions of the wor k . p t b di d m a be no e G or on saw B alm uild th e So c iety . It y t d that d at y l k h n f a n ol C r em ains of a pr o digio us For t ver y i e t e r ui s o d ity . Under th e gr ound her e ar e sever al arc hed vaults with hollow squared sto nes by way of c o n duits for bringing in o f water ”

K I ine ar iu m S e tentrionale 1 2 6 . . R r e n . t r from th e ive lvi p , 7 , p 53

2 ilitar Anti uities 1 . 1 . M y q , 793, p 59

3 i s in Kel n e in 1 6 0 Lor d Kilsyth op ened a p t at Bu h vi vall y 7 .

l i . . 2 1 . S . A . vo . O . xv ii p 4

78 TO KELVINHEAD

r r is as full , nay the very shroud is as clea and f esh and the ribbons as bright as the very day they

r were lodged in the tomb . What enders the scene truly interesting as well as striking is that the body

r r of her son and only child , the natu al hei of the titles and estates of Kilsyth , lies at her knee . His colour is as fresh and his ﬂesh as full as if in the

r Of Of pe fect glow health . The body Lady Kilsyth

r is equally well prese ved , and it would not be easy for a stranger to distinguish whether she is dead ” 1 r or alive . Crowds of people came f om far and r d r near to see what is te me the ma vel , and , remarks the reverend gentleman who chronicles

r S these st ange happenings , to the hame of the

r r t custodians of the g aveya d , the beau iful lifeless for ms after lying in undisturbed seclusion for a hundred years were made a public Show and money

r r taken at the chu chya d gate for getting in to see .

r There are other and less gruesome memo ies .

1 6 0 Cromwell and his Ironsides in 5 , coming from

r r the c owning mercy of Dunba , passed through

Arnbrae the town , and encamped on the heights of . The Protector was wont to leave his mark behind

r r him whe eve he went , and at Kilsyth , in a ﬁeld on the shoulder of the Muckle Ben , is to be seen a shattered fragment of what at one period was the Castle of Kilsyth and the home of the great

1 00 H ist. K ls th i. . 2 o i i c . x1 S A vol. O . . . xv i pp 99, 3 ; f y ,

Nimm o S tirlin shire i. . 2 1 . , g , p 3

80 TO KELVINHEAD

1 ’ Livingstone race , which Cromwell s engineers under

r mined and blew up with gunpowde . The grim old Englishman is said to have had his headquarters in a quaint thatched house , which

r r stood till last year? by the roadside at A nb ae .

r Like so many other elics around Glasgow , the old house has been demolished , the stones being wanted to build a threshing mill

Leaving the town by the broad highway , we

should , had we lived in the old coaching days , have

r Duntreath stopped , of cou se , at the Arms , a remark

Of r ably ﬁne example an old coaching inn , whe e in the stirring pre - r ailway times the landlord kept from six to twelve post horses and four post- chaises leaving Kilsyth and this digression behind us , we

’ have a pleasant two or thr ee miles ramble along the pleasantest of country roads to Kelvinhead

Kelvinhead village . And at you are at the water

shed , and may stand on a slight eminence near the 3 Glasgow and Edinburgh Canal , a few hundred yards

r Kelv1n r f om the clachan , and note the , a pu ling

r —ﬁfteen b ook a foot wide , ﬂowing due west , while — feet away the Bonny springs fr om a babbling little

well , and ﬂows due east . Kelvinhead is a charming country hamlet lying

1 In 1 58 6 Alexander Livi ngstone of th e Callendar family was n f K s Th e m r es r e o n th e e of parso o il yth . fa ily ﬁgu la g ly pag or Sc o ttish hist y . 2 1 91 2 .

3 - 0 Constr uc ted 1 769 7 .

82 TO KELVINHEAD

of on the wooded slopes the great hills , and just such a quiet backwater as one might associate with the source of the poet ’ s bonny Kelvin of long

1 r r ago . The bi thplace of our rive will be found about a mile north Of Kelvinhead and near the rural and attractive hamlet of Banton . A little beyond Banton and on the lands of Meadowside are the ruins of the farmhouse of Tam

1 r Es . rawer , where , in 739, Robe t Grahame , q, a

’ trul atriotic r r spirit y p , set vigo ously to wo k in the

r cultivation of potatoes , and thus int oduced to Scotland the delicious and mealy tuber which has become such an essential item in the national menu ? Raleigh had brought the potato to Britain a couple

r r f of centu ies prio to this , but di ﬁculties opposed

r its eception in Scotland . The zealots of the day

r S f condemned the new plant , decla ing it a in ul root ” because no mention of it was made in the

r r 1 r Bible . A ch onicle of 790 desc ibes the amazing ” r r r beneﬁt that acc ued to the nation , and ema ks , had they known this they would have hailed the

1 in 1 0 h e R v M n r . Ro r Renni Writi g 79 t e . be t e pr aises the f h K n K an O t e e ro . At s h e s e n size d. quality lvi t ut il yth had e em two r ee a nd e en o r o n s we an d in oo th , th v f u p u d ight, a f t note h e adds that befor e th e Partic k m ill - dam was er ec ted over th e K elvin salm on in spawning tim e c am e up as far as n r n T K Ki s a d we e to b e o in e er oo . h e el in l yth , f u d v y p l v n nc l c e s e os c on s O . S v l A . o . h s s e . . a ad y ha g d i th hal y day xviii .

2 Altho ugh th e ﬁrst app ear anc e of th e potato as a ﬁeld c r op in E n n was o 1 0 n ne e rs e r er n in Sc o n gla d ab ut 73 , i y a a li tha tla d , its intr o duc ti on into Britain is supposed to have been in the r 1 8 yea 5 4 . TAMRAWER 83

r auspicious event and erected a monument to M .

s Grahame on the Spot . We till await that monu ment , the only memorial of this benefactor of the race being the crumbling relic which I sketched . From Tamrawer we look down on the beautiful Kelvin Valley and on the still waters of Banton 1 Dam , which cover the battleﬁeld where , on a sum

1 6 mer day of 45, Montrose and his Highlanders routed Baillie and his covenanting Lowlanders and

On w r Dullatur Bog , ith its grim sto y of the fully accoutred trooper who , when the bog was drained , was discovered sitting on his dead horse 2 just as when the treacherous marsh had engulfed him as he ﬂed from the ﬁght that has given Kilsyth an honourable place on the page of Scottish history .

1 Th e m em ori es o f that ﬁght survive in th e lo c al plac e- nam es lle and e Knowe th e r m r n th e Sl er Bu t Baggag , D u Bu , aught H w n o e, a d so o n . 2 W e Walks the Roman Wall . . aldi , , p 53 VII .

THE MODEST LUGGIE .

TH E Luggie and the Kelvin salute one another almost beneath the shadow of the steep breastwork on which the venerable town of Kirkintilloch has

r been reared . The meeting of the wate s is a place

r of faded beauty . Doubtless at a not emote period the LuggIe was a Winsome little burn and warranted

’ poor Gray s assertion that fairer stream rolled ” never golden sand into the sea . But that must have been in the good Old times of which the poets prattle and of which more mundane men fondly

dream . Modern industry and its knights have little

r s for r r e pect the silve y b ook and the pebbled beach ,

r r and the noisome , tu gid pool whe e our little stream mingles with its classic parent is a silent but im

r r pressive tribute to the powe of comme ce .

r Withal the Luggie has its cha ms , and these it will coyly r eveal to the rambler who cares to spend

r a summer afternoon by its banks . F om th e source

r Torbrex r all in the moo lands of its cou se , told, is

but a brief ten miles . To reach the silvery eyelet

86 THE MODEST LUGGIE on the purpling heath is the pleasantest of tasks

’ for those who inherit the wayfarers love of the open road : for the bosky dells where light and shadow wield the wand of faery and for the weird

r for moo lands where the spirit of silence reigns ever . All these and other hidden beauties lie in the keeping hi of the Luggie , and the ghways and byways which lead to them also possess a subtle charm which

beckons the wayfarer onward . The ancient and the modern rub shoulders on

the High Street of Kirkintilloch . It is a place of

1 - Old memories . Picturesque crow stepped gabled

houses greet the eye , houses which witnessed Prince Charlie and his Highlanders march past on that dismal trek that closed on the stricken ﬁeld of

r Culloden . T adition has it that the clans passed through the town 2 with ﬂags ﬂying and pipers

r playing, and an equally pe sistent tradition tells

r th e how the st agglers of the host , acting on good ” S old rule , the imple plan , took with them a fair

’ r r amount of the honest bu ghers movable p operty . But the memories of the High Street go much

’ further back than the 45 . They link the town with the Bruce and with the red tragedy that took place on a February day of 1 306 in the Church of

1 I is in eres in to no e ose r in th e n i r t t t g t that J ph T a , a t qua y n n f Sir W er Sc o was on rien and. c orres o e o e c se and. f d p d t alt tt , x i So m e of th l h duty for a tim e at Kirkintilloc h . e re ic s e pic ked up there are to be seen in Abbotsford . 2 ll 1 8 1 0 i kinti och . . n H ist. K r Watso , , pp 7, 9 KIRKINTILLOCH 87

the Minorite Friars at Dumfries . The Comyns held 1 the lands of Lenzie and Cumbernauld prior to the slaying of the Red Comyn , after which deed Bruce granted to the Flemings— one of whom was with — him in the Minorite Friars the whole barony of

r Kirkintilloch with its pe tinents . Centuries before the dawn of Scottish history as we know it the Roman engineers had selected Kirkin tilloc h as the Site of one of the great forts of the e r gr at wall , and it may be that the grassy tu fed lines in the public park of to- day were constructed

? r by Roman hands And the Cowgate , th ough which we pass on our way to the sweet Luggie

s of David Gray , lead up past the famous Old

r r Aisle Kirkya d , the chu ch of which was founded

Thorald r r r r by , prop ieto of the ba ony of Ki kintilloch

r r f r s r and Cumbe nauld and High She if of Sti ling hi e ,

1 1 0 about 4 . Within the sacr ed precincts Of the Auld Aisle there sleeps one whose name was traced in sand i he died , not know ng what it was to live The

1 Abo ut 1 1 70 Kir kintilloc h was c o nstituted a burgh o f barony b W l m th e L on in o r o f W ll m C m n ro n o f y il ia i fav u i ia a i , Ba L nzie an a r o f C m rn l m m i d e . S ti li sh re e L N o r n . 2 i d u b au d i , g , i 9 on H st Ki intilloc 1 1 et e s i . h rk s . O . S A . 2 8 . W . . at , , q ii 7 2 G o r on H ors e Ro and n r ee re r n th e d , l y, y , Maitla d ag ga di g Peel of K rk n o c as is c e e n o f Rom n o r n i i till h , it all d , b i g a igi i D G o u r es or r . eor e c on l el e es th e Peel lat t auth ty , g Ma d a d, b i v m rks th e s e of th e m e e l c s le o f th e C m ns an d h e a it di va a t u i , ” rr es th e e n e c onc l s on th e Peel is no m n a iv at d ﬁ it u i t Ro a . At th e sam e tim e h e adm its th e c laim of Kirkintilloc h to be re r e as th e s e o f Rom n s o n Rom n ll 1 . a Wa ga d d it a a tati , 74 e et s q. 88 THE MODEST LUGGIE Luggie owes all its fame to the genius of David

Gray .

r Bo n , like Burns, in a humble but and ben , 1 ’ on the banks of our stream Gray s brief span of life was little more than a piece of childhood

- r n . r th ow away He died in his twenty thi d year , yet he left behind him some poems which afford a

r r glimpse of a ra e gift of poesy , a gift that one write

r r u r desc ibes as the t est , purest , tende est lyrical note that has ﬂoated to English ears this half century . Like so many Scottish lads , Gray tasted ” of the poortith cauld , and he withered and sank

off before the chilling blast . A true poet cut

’ r r befo e his prime is M . Eyre Todd s sympathetic

s Poe s note in his Gla gow t .

A V ision s irr e m s iri h l e t d y p t , a f awak , T o ﬂin g a pu r er lu stre on th o se ﬁ elds Th a t knew m y boyish foo tsteps and to sing

Th s o r l be L ie in o m e . y pa t a auty , ugg , t fa

And as he wished , so it be . He sang his little br ook into fame? and in the eloquent words of

Monckton Milnes , the Luggie is now numbered ” r 3 with the streams illust ious in Scottish Song .

1 ’ A sketc h o f G ray s birthplac e will be fo un d in m y Sylvan

G . 1 2 S cenes near las ow . g , p 3 2 For fairer stream Rol e ne er o l en s n n o the sea l d v g d a d i t , ’ e swee er m s c n th e L e loo m d Mad t u i tha uggi , g B ens w ose m elo m n les wi h er own y gl h dy i g th . ” Th i o nin nz e L e e s a . ugg , p g t a 3 From th e insc ription c om posed by Monc kton Milnes (Lord ’ H oughton) and engr aved on G ray s m onum ent in th e Auld K k r Aisle ir ya d .

90 THE MODEST LUGGIE

" of the district . I know of districts that would cheerfully part with a comfortable slice of their r v e enue to possess it .

Waterside is a quaint and quiet nook , a little

r r advan haven of rest , whe e one can escape f om the

l r r r tages of civi isation as ep esented in t amways , r r teleg aphs , and electric light . It is a place whe e surnames are said to be few and nicknames ther e

r fore necessa ily common , somewhat after the prin c iple honour ed by Dandie Dinmont in his dealings

rr r r with the celebrated te ie s , Auld Peppe and Auld

r r Mustard , Young Peppe and Young Musta d , and

r s r Little Peppe and Little Mu ta d . Such things argue a ﬁxity of tenure to which the larger towns

r s r r of these times a e t ange s . A fragment of r omance clings to the nomenclature legend , and will bear repeating . It links this little Sleepy Hollow with the clansmen who wer e name less and landless . Following the Act of which

r r prohibited the name Macg egor , th ee of the clan

r r settled for a time in Sti ling , thence mig ating to

i r Waterside . The w ld men p oved to be not only

r d quiet but indust ious . They multiplied excee ingly , hence the prevalence in the district of the name of

1 A o h Pr Co nc e rd A ri 1 60 : b subse c t f t e ivy u il dat d 3 p l , 3 y a qu ent Ac t of Co unc il death was denounc ed against Mac gregors wh o did assem ble in greater numbers than four and ﬁnally by 0 6 h es ws were e en e to n Ac t of P rl m en 1 6 c . 2 e a a ia t, 7, , t la xt d d r n To the E rl of Ar e was c o mm e th e th e rising gene atio . a gyl itt d n se se r nd n s le m e s res exec utio o f the ve e a u ju tiﬁab a u . B ADENHEATH 91

Stirling , which the three clansmen had assumed out of gratefulness perhaps to the town which had afforded them Shelter in these far- away days of strife and bloodshed . From Water side a stretch of over a couple of

l s mi e by the banks of the Luggie , and we come to 1 B adenheath , the erstwhile home of the Boyds of Kilmarnock ? This old ﬁfteenth or early sixteenth

B RDENHERTH century tower is but a mere fragment of its former self. The little that is left of the turrets and cor belling suggest that at one period it must have

r f been supe ior to structures O its class . It has been built of ﬁne, regularly coursed masonry , which has proved too strong a temptation to the needy builders

r of later and presumably mo e enlightened times .

S dl My ketch shows its sa y ruined state , the result

1 A l n r c o n and Ross G s e ee h c en kee a . at ﬁft t tu y p . Ma gibb , d o a D m r S cot. n . A ch .

Sir o m s B o of Kilm rno c k wh o s re th e c i i a? Th a yd a , ha d apt v ty o avi II m n 6 w s th f d . er the le of r i 1 a e er c aft Batt Du ha 34 , fath Ro o f W lli m nc es or of th e o s o f B adenh eath . er son i a , a t B yd b t , A s l H ist. hi e v r r o . ii. 1 y , p . 33 . 92 THE MODEST LUGGIE

vi largely of ha ng been used for years as a free quarry , to the great advantage of many neighbouring byres and dykes . 1 One of the Boyds of B adenheath fought under

’ r his father, Lo d Boyd , for the Queen s cause at the 1 68 Battle of Langside in 5 , and this gentleman made 1 61 1 his will at B adinyath the xiii . day of July

earis z eerlie roffeit y , in which he left ye p of four akeris of landis in Kirkintulloc h to the puir

r folks . F om the Boyds the fortalice or peel of

B adenheath circa 1 6 0 passed, 7 , to the Coupers , one

r 1 08 r i r of whom in Novembe , 7 , ma r ed Marga et

~ W l am Rev . il i Thom , a relative of the Thom , minister of Govan , the celebrated wit and eccentric , about whom there is much in the Anecdotage of Glasgow ? city And at B adenheath the wayfarer will ﬁnd it of service to take to the highway for the next

r r couple of miles . It is a pleasant oad . C oss the

r r Luggie , and, turning to the left , go st aight th ough l Mol inburn , where there is a hostel and good ale,

- s M vet and so by a shady, old world road pa t North y

s Farm down to the Luggie ford, seven mile from Kirkintilloch and only three from the fountain

head . From the for d the banks of our stream may again

1 Crawfurd m entions having seen a c har ter granted by to Wi l m o ren e r of o o f en Ro er III . B b t l ia yd , appa t h i B yd Bad

0 Ren ewshi e 1 8 2 1 6 . e in th e e r 1 . r r ed . . h ath y a 4 5 f , 7 , p 3

2 n 8 Al so . 1 1 . i , pp 33, 3

94 THE MODEST LUGGIE

r purpose , presents a grouping and a colou which I cordially recommend to the attention of the younger artistic fr aternity of the brush and the n c amera . A risi g highway of half a mile takes us to

Tannoc h h l - Farm , from whence an old e d path leads to Torbrax and the moorlands str etching from that

r r - w r r pictu esque fa m to n , away to whe e the summe sky rests on the far distant hills . The Luggie, a

r r wimpling bu n , a foot wide , skirts the b ae on which

Torbrax set r rr is , hu rying and scu ying with reck less haste , to lose its virgin beauty in the dell by t ’ he mill . On these wan moorlands Glasgow s civic fathers have chosen to establish their peat works

Palac ri connected with the e gg Farm Colony . The

ri building , square and commonplace , st kes a repel lent and cold note on the wide spaces of the moor t and looking at it , silhouetted against the eas ern

Sk r y , it seems to intensify the sad colou s of the withered heath and bent . The rambler is on a more pleasant quest than that of gazing upon a gr ey- hued and cheerless

’ r r shed . Down by the Luggie s side the e linge patches

r r our l r of livelie g een , between which ittle b ook

r bl thel goes bicke ing y y, forgetful , apparently, of the fact that at this point it has the honour of

r Old fo ming the county boundary, and at the Rowan

r Tree on the moor , which the ramble who seeks

s nl the source must pa s, one has o y to take a single

r r step from Dumba tonshire to Lanarkshi e . Far up

96 THE MODEST LUGGIE

on the moors , and where the eye rests gratefully

ffr r on sa on grass and green moss , and whe e the ear lists to the trickling of unseen waters and to

r S r r the st ange music of ec et bi ds , there will be found

r the sou ce of the modest Luggie , a silvery patch

r s on the dusky face of the lonely moo land .

’ 98 TO THE GLAZERT S SOURCE

r Glazert. is eally the True , locally the good folks term the former the Glen burn some writers c all it the Kirkton burn . Let us be just to the one

r 1 for time sparkling salmon st eam , and the nonce confer upon this tributary of the Kelvin the pic tures ue r qmaj esty of possessing a bi thplace . At least it is a lovable fancy and ’ twill please the

r Spi it of the fells . No fewer than nineteen burns are said to discharge themselves into our modest

z rt Gla e . r Withal , it is not a rive , and by the dwellers on the banks of the noble Clyde it might

r r r be egarded as a t iﬂing b ook . Still , it is not

i r ins gniﬁcant . Its bi thplace in a vale uplifted

wa high among the mountains , lies within king

our r distance of great city , yet a ound it there is that awe of solitude and elusive glimpse of fear which impress the mind so powerfully when wander ing among the far - distant mountains and glens of

the highlands and islands . If you have a half-holiday and wish to escape din the of the town , and at the same time indulge

in a modest ramble , I promise you , that if you care

r r to take a etu n ticket to Campsie Glen Station , and from there follow the Glazert up the beautifully wooded glen on to the uplands of the windswept

’ r fells you will get your heart s desi e . The railway

1 La slie s s h l z Mr . t e G e in ri n in 1 th e Rev . a rt W ti g 795 p ay , orm er im es was re e os for s m on s n and an un f t a g at d p it al paw , on n i of fr was ro c e e rl for rec r i in c om m qua t ty y p du d y a y, u t g

S A . . 20 . O . . . th e Clyde ﬁsh eries . xv p 3 LENNox CASTLE 99 sets you down in the heart and centre of one of

’ s r Scotland loveliest st aths .

our On left and on the southern side of the valley, and set amidst the bosky woodlands like a glittering j ewel on the breast of some dusky maiden stands

art Lennox Castle , a noble example of the of David 1 r . Hamilton , the Glasgow a chitect This handsome

1 8 pile was commenced in 1 837 and ﬁnished in 41 . Possibly the best View of it can be got from the

r auld Craw Road, to which , late on , our ramble w ill lead us . The records of the Lennox family go far back on

of the pathway Scots history , back indeed to those dim days when our ancestors united into one nation

— r at the bidding of Malcolm I II . familia to the

s r r or . choolboy as Canmo e the G eat , Head King The early ancestors of the Lennox race were Nor t um ri O ne r h b an chiefs . of them se ved under Mal colm? and he and his descendants became and still are the principal heritors or owners of land in

s r Camp ie . During the long period of three hund ed year s they were prominent in Scottish society as

r of Ea ls Lennox , or in the beautiful old Scottish

Levenachs our r phrase , the , as dist ict was then

r 1 1 0 s more prope ly termed . In 5 the chief eat of

r the Ea l was Dumbarton Castle , and we read of

1 m m S tirli s hire . 1 N o n i . i , g , 3 7

2 ie T e t i r P r titi the ennox 2 c l se . h S co t h N a on o L . s ap , f , pp q tion 6 - N a 6 6 . , 4 53 ’ 100 T0 THE GLAZERT S SOURCE

his successors having castles , and giving grants to their relatives of lands and castles at many places

r f om Loch Lomond eastward to Kilsyth , one of

Cam sie r l these being Castle , afte wards cal ed

B alc orrach Castle . Lennoxtown takes its name from the old Lennox race . It is a place where peace and industry seem united in tolerably equal proportions . As we j our

r 1 ney towa ds the Clachan of Campsie , we see on our right down the strath the church tower of the

r r r Pa ish Chu ch of Lennoxtown . It was e ected in

1 82 r 9, and occupies a commanding position nea the

Of centre the village , Its ﬁrst minister was the late Rev . Dr . Norman Macleod of Glasgow . In 1 8 6 3 Dr . Macleod was translated to the city . His

affec more popular son of the same name , who is tionately r emembered for his long association with

G ood Words Sl In - , eeps the north east corner of the

i laz rt r . G e ki kyard of Lennoxtown And our l ttle , getting up the appearance of a very respectable

r st eam , slips past Lennoxtown , a brown torrent speckled with foam .

r 1 8 The industries of Lennoxtown date f om 7 5, when the Kincaid printﬁeld was erected upon a farm rented from the lair d of Kincaid at the modest sum of three pounds an acre But long before

1 It is interesting to rec all that Lunar di on one of his balloon ’ m An rew s Kirk r in G s ow o n voyages asc ended fro St. d ya d la g up th ec em er 1 8 an d esc en e on th e rm of E s er c k 5 D b , 7 5 , d d d fa a t Mu in C m s e c roft a p i .

1 02 TO THE GLAZERT’ S SOURCE Among the more famous parsons of Campsie were

r r Bishop Lambe ton and Ca dinal Beaton , notorious for r r r his seizure of the reforme , Geo ge Wisha t ,

r are whose t ial and execution familiar , as is also the subsequent assassination of the cardinal . The Clachan Kirk was a place of some note in Catholic

’

. 1 2 B a im ond or B a am ont e times In 75 g y , the Pop s

r r s s commissione , valued the Chu ch posses ion in the

Levenachs 06 r for at £4 yea ly revenue , and in the Old Extent valuation the Crown r ents and proﬁts

1 are estimated at £ 442 . Generations of long dead

’ and forgotten Campsie folk sleep in this quiet God s acre on the Shoulder of the everlasting hills . Many quaintly carved tombstones are to be seen peeping out of the long rank grass of what is now a sadly neglected spot . Time , neglect , and vandal hands have combined in defacing many of these records

r r r is of the fo efathe s of the hamlet . Appa ently it

’ r ir nobody s business to look after the old ki kya d , and‘ its present condition 1 is by no means a credit to the district . My little sketch shows the old and elegantly designed mausoleum of the Kincaids of that ilk . It is the most imposing memorial in the venerable

r r ki kya d , and, judging from the date on a panel ,

1 was erected in 71 5. Built into it are a couple of

- 1 60 - 6 i quaintly lettered stones of 4 , each record ng

honorabil the demise of ane man , scions of the

1 A us 1 1 . ug t, 9 3

’ 1 04 To THE GLAZERT S SOURCE

r Kincaids of Kincaid . The Kincaids a e a very 1 r ancient ace . We ﬁnd them among the feudatories of the Earls of Lennox in the thirteenth century . They obtained a charter of their Campsie lands in 1 280? and their descendants have held the same lands ever since . Fr om the old kirkyaird we look upon the fringe of woodland on the edge of the little valley that

r wanders up and into the very hea t of the fells .

r Old w iters call it the Kirkton Glen ; others , the

z rt Glen of the Gla e . The popular designation is

s Campsie Glen , a name that mu t carry fond memories to thousands of people at home and in the lands across the seas . Ever since the railway whistle awoke the echoes of the strath in Campsie Glen has formed one of the most favoured haunts of those who in

a- 1c n1c 1n r the summer days go p g f om Glasgow town .

f r ar o e . And justly so , its beauties various and many

ar Its lower slopes e clothed in luscious green . Through the dark lattice work of branches that guard the entrance we look into cool depths and deeply shadowed hollows amidst which the Glazert

r S plashes . The sunshine linge s on the steep lopes

1 Th e Lair d of Kinc aid for valuable servic es in r ec o vering m h En l s in m e f E w r was Edinburgh Castle fro t e g i h ti o d a d I .

m ade Constable of that c astle . 2 8 i ii . . i t tirlin sh re . H s . S g , p 9 3 Th e Campsie branc h from Lenno xtown to Killearn was

e in 1 866 and rom Killeam to A er o le in 1 8 82 . open d , f b f y

’ 1 06 TO THE GLAZERT S SOURCE the youthful lovers whose tender fancies send their footsteps wandering by brooks that sing in brambly ways , the sylvan dells of the little glen with the

s r r wimpling burn and the gentle ve pe of the bi ds , are such as will tempt them to dream away a

’ ” r summe s day . The path that leads up and through the glen

r pa takes of the neglect of the old kirkyard . In

r the higher pa t , indeed, it is dangerous, and the scr amble over the huge water-worn and tossed boulders gives one at times a breath of the perils

nl im os of mountaineering . It is certai y almost p sible for a lady to negotiate the upper reaches of

auth ori the glen, and it seems a pity that the district ties do not give a little attention to a matter which the public would deeply appreciate . At the top of the glen a few yards of stiff climbing takes one on to the old Crow Road at or about the

’ celebrated Jamie Wright s Well and again we note with keen regret that vandal hands have de faced the lettering of the singularly neat memorial . It passes or dinary comprehension why anyone

r r should desi e to dest oy these harmless relics , but apparently there is a class of person who must derive a species of pleasure from such fatuous

actions . A brisk tramp of a little over a mile ” 1 brings us in sight of the Auld Muir Toll .

Glazert The , which has so far faithfully followed

1 r n h n in h e ol s A g eat smuggli g au t t d day . ” AULD MUIR TOLL 1 07

ﬁ r — the highway, rst on our ight and then passing

—on our S under the road left , turns harply in the

r s r latter di ection, and lead our footsteps ove the

r gorse and uphill . The sou ce will be found at

r the foot of a rocky scalp , far up on the shoulde of the Fells , and almost overlooking the back of the

O ld tollhouse . It is set in the midst of a region of

- r gorse clad hummocks . Th ough a gap in the Fells

s we catch a glimp e of Glasgow , showing dimly through the shimmering summer haze that rests

di r on the stant landscape . It is wonde ful indeed to be within sight of the busy haunts of men , and yet around us there is naught but the peaks Sweeping

c r r upward to the sky , and the y of a solita y whaup is the only Sound t hat breaks the stillness of the

a nd r bare unblessed moo lands . IX .

’ BY COACHING WAYS TO EARN S SOURCE .

TH ERE are still some of the Old coaching ways to

r be found among the borde lands of Glasgow town . One of the best I know is the old Kilmarnock road which leaves the Red Lion a mile out of Newton

- Mearns , and passing the quaintly steepled , Dutch

n r looking kirk of Mear s , bea s south over the uplands and moors until it j oins the modern highway four miles and two furlongs from the Newton . It is a

r ﬁne road , narrow as was the wont of the old oad

r makers , but with a su face and build that deﬁes

h - the elements , qualities w ich induced a ruddy hued passing C oachman to remark to me that it bates the new road hollow .

r r To the wayfare on these summer afte noons , it will prove the pleasantest of roads , pleasant because of its coolness and quiet as it dips into a sh ady

Old hollow, or winds among the kindly shadows of trees through whose green lacework we get glimpses of the woodlands in all their summer glory of ﬂowers and fragrance .

1 1 0 COACHING WAYS TO EARN ’ S SOURCE In these days of nameless splendour every where , with their ﬂeeting suggestion of autumnal

r our is as b eath , old road decked in its best , just it must have revealed itself to our ancestors , who in the summers of long ago took the Diligence coach 1 at th e Avondale Arms in the G allowgate of Glasgow and were carried at great speed —according to — an ancient advertisement to Kilmarnock . And these good folks must have had famous times on — the O ld road rollicking times in the summer days when the burly coachman changed his team 2 at

r Old the Red Lion or Star and Ga ter , both good inns , with snug bars , behind which there stood a buxom landlady , behind whom were stimulating l rows of green bottles and gold labels , and Dun op cheeses and rounds of red beef and piles of fresh

— in —a - bannocks , with the snell wintry days roaring

ﬁre - of peat and logs piled half way up the chimney . Wh at a motley crowd of ghostly and romantic ﬁgUreS accompany the wayfarer along the old high way , poets and wits , and soldiers and statesmen ,

1 This ﬁne o ld- fashioned inn stoo d at 1 8 2 G allowgate until 8 The w ll of th e E s Por r es e o n th e e of th e 1 73 . a a t t t d gabl inn and th e o llowin c eer ul n on th e ns r io n o f , f g h f i vitati , i pi at som e n m eless r ree e th e w rer a ba d , g t d ayfa All ye that Pass throw G allow Mo or ’ Stap intill H elen Whiteh ead s Door ’ She s what will c heer Man in due c o urse

And entertainment for his H orse .

8 8 . l s hu ies II . G a F ac . g , p 3

2 The ﬁrst stage co ac h to Kilmarnoc k (the Camperdown) was ‘

i il rnock th ed. . 1 0 . M Ka st. ma in 1 8 . H K started 7 7 y, , s p 3 THE MEARNS 1 1 1 and C oachmen and crinolined ladies posting to or coming from the great city , laughing and gay , f sorrow ul and sad , before grim Fate sent them all posting to the mools . And their ghosts cling

di Old- to the old road , len ng it the world fragrance and ﬂavour which all wayfarers love , and which

s the mo t of honest men seek .

s C s le Mearn a t . The romance of old ways and old men weaves a

delicious halo around The Mearns . The Kirkton

Old- is a peaceful world spot , redolent still of the days when herdsmen and dairy folks—whose coun try occupations gave to the district the old British — name of Meirinas stabled their horses and gigs

at the Red Lion , and thence went afoot to the

r neighbou ing kirk . It is an ancient place , wherein

r the forefathe s of the hamlet sleep .

u re- Refor For seven long cent ries a kirk , or, in p ’ 1 1 2 COACHING WAYS TO EARN S SOURCE

mation days , a chapel , has stood there . In the

days of Bruce , Maxwell of that ilk granted to the monks of Paisley six merks of silver yearly from his mills at Mearns 1 for the support of a chaplain to celebrate divine service for the living and th e dead and in honour of the Virgin Mary in the

r parish church of Mea ns . Long before his day William the Lion conﬁrmed to the Paisley monks the church of Mearns 2 and among those 1 6 who swore fealty to Edward I . in 29 is John ” 3 M ir Petit of the e nes . The quaint kirk building of my sketch is of eigh teenth century date : and in the manse which we see peeping through its leafy scr een the genial and big- hearted Christopher North Spent the golden

- r days of boyhood . On a tree clad knoll to ou l left stands the hoary keep of Mearns , for the bui d 1 ing of which James II . in 449 gave a license to the Lord Maxwell to big a castle on ye Baronie ” Mearnis Renfrushir of in , and to surround it with strong walls and ditches and iron gates , and to

1‘ erect on the top of it warlike appliances . Then there is that picturesque caravansary the

1 6 isle Nos . 62 . Chart. a P y , , 3 2 I i b d . . 59

3 lm ers Caledonia vi 8 0 C . . m 66 c f . r nne . P y , 3 ; ha , , 5 4 In 1 648 Sir G eorge Maxwell of Polloc k sold th e barony and c s le of e rns to th e S ew r s of l c kb ll w ose r ine a t — M a — t a t B a a , h u d keep now a byr e stands on th e banks of th e Cart near sl Th e mil is re resen e b Sir c h el S -S ew r Pai ey . fa y p t d y Mi a haw t a t

k Crawfurd 2 0 . of G reeno . c , 5

1 1 4 COACHING WAYS TO EARN ’ S SOURCE

bi it old Red Lion , which was gg nearly two 1 centuries ago by one of the Howies of Lochgoin and you may read his name and that of his spouse

r ove the doorway of the snug hostel . From the Kirkton of Mear ns the pleasant old

r if road takes the wayfare due south , and he be possessed with imagination he will meet the happy

r r shade of a ﬁne young count yman , an e ect and graceful man some ﬁve feet nine in stature , broad

S r r a r r in the houlde s , symmet ic l , muscula , and st ong ,

r r r and with ema kably black , keen , and exp essive

r r eyes (eminding him of Bu ns) , posting in hot haste

r r towa ds Glasgow and his Unive sity .

u 1 8 1 Thus it was that in Aug st , 7, Robert Pollok

r hied him to the great city , full of hope and b im

r r ming ove with the d eams of conquest and fame . And the Old highway is fragrant still with the

r r memory Of that young ﬁgu e . The old Sta and

r r Ga ter , alas no longe a welcoming inn for man ” and er beast , saw him pass and , doubtless , che ed him on the quest on which so many young hearts have gone forth . And if you be of the cheerful disposition of all 2 r r wayfarers , you may at the Star and Ga ter fa m

1 O n th e door lintel of Loc h goin farmho use is the date 1 1 97 - H a Flem n s es s O SS we o to r e Dr . B — y i g ugg t that P I LY ught ad 1 597 and th e H owie family have been there for seven hundred is re s re ro e of Co en n in r l c s The o se e . years . h u a t a u t v v a t g i For sketc hes of these and desc riptive no tes of a visit to Loc h G l s ow 1 1 1 1 S e es n ear a . 2 2 o n see m S lvan c n . g i , y y g , pp , 2 1 91 3. ROB ERT POLLOK 1 1 5

forgather with a dear old lady who will tell you that the bronze portrait on the monument which you will pass at the junction of the coaching way

Pe trif

with the modern motor- scarred road is that of

a real Pollok face and the real Pollok hands, and she ought to know these anatomical details

’ by heart for ~ she her self is a scion of the poet s

race .

NO RTH M

Three miles or thereabouts take us along the old r oad to where another way branches Off to North

r s —a Moo hou e , the birthplace of the poet , and little ’ 1 1 6 COACHING WAYS TO EARN S SOURCE

on - - further to Mid Moorhouse , where the famous

Course o Time f , pace his somewhat hypercritical 1 feminine biographer , was conceived and written .

r r e At the bein fa m of No th Moorhous , much altered ’ s and enlarged since Pollok day , a bonnie Scotch lass will point out the very place (now a mundane

t e pantry in which h poet was born . Some ﬁve hundred yards up the brae and we

- reach the mouldering ruins of Mid Moorhouse .

’ Pollok s father removed from North to Mid- Moor 1 80 house in 5, when the poet was seven years of one- - s r o age , and when he was and twenty hi ﬁ st , r ﬁ wa d one of his rst , attempts at verse s an O e to

Moorhouse , in which he tells us lovingly of the

’ garden of his boyhood s days , speaking of the old trees four trees I pass not by —as if they were human friends Tall trees th ey were And old and h ad b ee old a ent r , n c u y one li n l sa ht B efore my day . N vi g cou d y aug About th eir youth but th ey wer e goo dly trees And o ft I wondered as I sat and thought B ene h h eir s m m er sh e o r in th e ni ht at t u ad , g O f winter h eard th e spirits o f th e wind G ro lin m on h eir bo h s h ow h had ro n w g a g t ug , t ey g w

SO hi h in s h ro h em es o s l e . g uc a ug , t p tu u p ac — Two of the tall trees still remain one , an elm,

r towe ing in might and maj esty above its neighbours, one in the sore and yellow leaf of its life between

S them , decaying roots how where the other couple

1 Miss Rossaline sson F amous S cots Series . Ma ,

’ 1 18 COACHING WAYS TO EARN S SOURCE

over leagues of moorland and upland, a wide sweep

r of wan , bleached g ass and heath , with patches of a lovelier green around distant farms ridged

r r hollows f inged with fern and ﬂowe s, with the gleam of some wimpling burn stealing down the hillside over woods rich with the gorgeous russets which tell of autumnal air over the great shadowed

r hollow of pearly blue in which Glasgow town shelte s, d - an so to the far away Campsie and Kilpatrick hills, with the maj estically designed mass of Ben Lomond and the delicate cone of Ben Ledi silhouetted in

' opalescent tint against the summer sky . From the solitude of these moors the clink of a

c ar whetted scythe ﬂoats faintly to the , a pleasant note of summer and the open ﬁelds : the distant

’ bark of a shepher d s dog and the ﬁgure of a solitary

’ angler by the Earn s side are the only signs of life in these Wide spaces of moor and glen and meadow — We follow the Earn a clear and sparkling trout — ’ stream at this early stage of its career past Logan s

Old l Well , and j oin the road again at the ittle toll

h r house whose occupation vanis ed a gene ation ago . The way dips down into the hollow where the B lack Loch burn comes murmuring down its pebbly channel to meet the Earn in the sedgy meadow beneath

B rownside farm . Certain amiable geographical draughtsmen and compilers of gazetteer s will have it that our Earn has its birthplace in the moss - hued waters of the THE BLACK LOCH 1 1 9

Black Loch . But they know better in the country side than to make this mistake . The Black Loch sends forth the Black Loch burn , and in the words of a stalwart farmer who lived boy and man for

r half a centu y in the district , and my faither th e r same before me , the Black Loch bu n was ” r never the Earn in thei day . I accept this as sound evidence on behalf of the individuality of the Earn . Those who do likewise will ﬁnd the

r r source , as I did , a clea silve y spring at the foot

Glenouther r of Rig , on the borders of Ay shire , a couple of miles beyond the Black Loch , and ﬁve miles two furlongs by the coaching road from the

Kirk of Mearns.

’ E rn s S r a o u ce . X .

ALLA DER THE BONNIE N .

TH E rambler who car es to devote an afternoon to tracing the Allander Water to its source may look

r r fo wa d to a pleasant experience . From its birth place in the Kilpatrick Hills to where it joins the

Kelvin , a short distance north of the Roman Fort

B alm uild of y , is a modest stretch of six and a half miles . Taking Milngavie as the most convenient ,

r o and ce tainly the most interesting , starting p int , — the wayfarer will have ﬁve miles and perhaps a — bittock to tr averse before he or she reaches the

r small but beautiful Lily Loch , whe e our stream springs into life .

Our way lies through a broad valley , where tree clad slopes melt into sunny meadowlands and green

: knowes quiet nooks , where doubtless fairies linger still ” and from the woodland aisles and bird- haunted hollows we wander into the hear t of great hills , into sombre solitudes of gorse and bracken , and over moorlands rich with their mantle

r of gorgeous pu ple . Amidst these the ponderous

1 22 THE BONNIE ALLANDER irritatingly brief and prosaic account of his parish in And the Allander is also responsible for the presence of various bleach and dye works and

r laundries , which in their turn have been esponsible for destroying the virgin purity of the moorland burn .

Mill u r c ornﬁelds g y is set amid pastu es and , and can boast of such ﬁne Vistas of hill and dale as will deter the wayfarer from lingering within its bounds . A pathway above a dam leads us from

le All nd r the township by the ft bank of the a e . The r anibler who loves the sedgy streams where summer winds go whispering through the reeds may pause

, for the nonce and ask which bank is right and which left P If we take the philOSOphic De Quincey for our guide then he will tell us somewhat pompously

r that in milita y tactics , in philosophic geography ,

r r in histo y , etc . , the unifo m assumption is that you are standing with your back to the source of the ” r river and you eyes travelling along with its current . In that case the bank of the river which lies upon

’ one s r ight is the right bank absolutely and not 2 relatively only Presuming we accept that con c lusion Mill u , then , as I have said , we leave g y by — the left bank of our stream an interesting although perhaps not a vital point .

1 A . . S O . 7 . 2 ’ - l ssi s The O ium E ater Worl s C c . . p ( d a ) , p 97 MILNGAVIE 1 23

Allander Mill u The above g y is a bonnie burn , loitering here and there in quiet backwaters and anon swiftly eddying through a narr ow channel into deep and dark pools , where trout were wont to hide before the era of the bleach and dye works . Among the wide- spreading umbrageous trees on the richly

THE ALLANDEK " AB OVE GU MIL Y.

S wooded lope to our left , we catch a glimpse of the

Clober r quaint , yet stately , house of , ove looking a

- — romantic old world garden a place of perfect sum mer beauty and summer enj oyment . It is a notable 1 house . Mr . James Macgregor , merchant in Glas

1 . gow, erected the oldest portion in 773 This Mr . James Macgregor was the father- in- law of James

1 Old C untr l s w o y H ouses of G a go . 1 24 THE BONNIE ALLANDER

r - Watt , the celebrated enginee , and the still existing

Clober B leachﬁeld Allander , by the banks , was planned by Watt , and during its construction he superintended the making of the water courses — and the erection of the machinery an associa tion that lends an abiding interest to our little stream . Beyond the green ﬁelds and nestling in the woods sheltering the highway that leads to the famous

Drymen road is the old place of Mains and B alvie . For fully ﬁve hundred years scions of the Douglases 1 of Mains have owned the barony of Mains B alvie

i I 1 al ie r came to them n 1 8 1 9. n 373 B v passed f om

r Crai m addie the Galb aiths of g to the Logans , cadets

Restalri r : of the famous g (Edinbu gh) family Mains, circa 1 0 Dou lases r 37 , came to the g th ough the marriage of the son and heir with one of the Gal braiths. At one period the Galbraiths were a great family in the Shires of Dunbarton and Stirling . In 1 296 Arthur de G albrait of Craigm addie was one of the Scottish barons who swore fealty to Edward I ? A century after Scottish independence had been

Crai m addie won , the g family ended with a lass ,

r and the lands passed to other aces . The moulder ing remains of their ancient keep may still be seen nodding across Craigm addie Moor to that hoary

1 l Old Country H ouses of G asgow. 2 Ragm an Roll.

1 26 THE BONNIE ALLANDER

r go back three hundred yea s . The Halfway stands ten miles four furlongs from the Cr oss of

h a-lf Glasgow, and in the coaching days it was the way stage for travellers to Aberfoyle and the

Highland line .

r F ir rvic e Honest Nicol Ja vie and Mr . Andrew a se put up at this hostelry on that immortal j ourney to meet Rob Roy at the clachan of Aberfoyle . It ” was then a most miserable alehouse , but capable 1 of supplying a sound meal . Did not the guidwife tell our three travellers that the guidman had been at the hill P and followed this information by placing before her hungry guests a steaming

b - r roiled moor fowl, ewe milk cheese , d ied salmon ,

r and oaten b ead , which they washed down with some very indifferent tipenny and a glass of — excellent brandy a feast that enabled them to h i resume t eir j ourney with renovated v gour . Rob himself was wont to give the inn a call when he ‘ had been at the hill and doubtless the

’ rubicund Maister Duncan Galbraith o G arsc hat tachin , who told the Bailie to damn the annual r Off ent and drink a bumper , was many a time and oft in the old Halfway .

Soldiers , drovers , Highlandmen , gentlemen , high

r waymen , dukes , and reivers , coming f om and going

r to the g eat city , all looked in for a dram before tackling the wild and open and dreary

1 Rob Ro 0 . i . y , xxv i

1 28 THE BONNIE ALLANDER

Osbaldistone road , on which poor saw naught and heard naught but the monotonous and

r plaintive cry of the lapwing and the cu lew, which the Bailie told him were the peasweep and the whaup . From the hostel we have a good three miles

r r to the waterwo ks of Bu n Crooks . The road takes

r Au c heneden one th ough the bosky policies of , which suffered so sever ely by the terrible storm 1 — of a couple of years ago that a sawmill erected — for the special purpose has been endeavour ing for well- nigh a year to clear off the awful wreckage wrought by the howling winds among the giants

r r of the fo est . The e is a magniﬁcent View as the

r pathway winds upward and over the moo lands . Peak after peak of the Kilpatricks and the Campsies are silhouetted against the skyline , closing up the

r View to the no th and west , while on the east the eye wanders over miles of the richly- wooded and well- formed lands that stretch across the waist of

Scotland to the Shores of the Forth . Leave the road at the waterworks and follow the stone dyke which bears due west over the hills and down into the valleys , pointing all the time to the impressive peak of Duncomb . It is stiff

hum loc ks r going , the p of go se and the steepness of the scarcely- visible pad taxing to the utmost the pedestrian ability of the wayfarer . Looking back

1 1 1 1 9 .

130 THE BONNIE ALLANDER

the artist , and the dreamer who wander thither will catch a ﬂeeting glimpse of the Spirit of solitude which abides for all time in the great shadow of

Duncomb . ’ THE CLYDE S BIRTHPLACE .

WRITING in the early eighteenth century the quaintly 1 P cu ic k gossipy Dr . enne tells us that the famous Tweed hath its ﬁrst spring or fountain nearly a mile to the east of the place where the shire of Peebles marches and borders with the stewartry of Annan — ’ dale that is Tweed s Cross . Both Annan and

r Clyde have their ﬁ st rise from the same height ,

about half a mile from one another , where Clyde

runneth west , Annan to the south and Tweed to

the east . The ancient folk- rhyme coined by some unknown makar of long ago , epitomises the hydrographical topography of the district in a couple of pithy lineS '

Ann n T ee and l e a , w d C yd

Rise o n ae hillsid e .

In 1 764 the gifted but unfortunate John Wilson ” r published The Clyde , a desc iptive poem of great

1 dd S hire of Twee ale. ’ 132 THE CLYDE S B IRTHPLACE

r r me it , and he has left us this pictu e of the infant Clyde

From one st m o n in b rs in on th e va u ta u t g day ,

T ee l e and Ann n r e h eir se r e . w d , C yd a u g t pa at way ’ To An li s sh ores bri h Twee and Ann n run g a g t d a , Th see s th e risin his th e se in sun at k g , t tt g

Clyde far from scenes o f strife and h o rror ﬂ ed l d An d th ro ugh m or e p eac eful ﬁ elds h is water s e .

The Rev . Mr . James Maconochie , who penned

r wf r 1 2 r his account of C a o d parish in 79 , rema ks that the three principal rivers in the south of

iz v . d Scotland , the Clyde , the Tweed , an the Annan have their sources in the hills which divide us from

r Tweedsmui . A cynical and doubting age has

refused to accept the evidence of tradition or poets , and statistical writers and the inquisitorial c hroni

' clers of to - day have adduced well- deﬁned rules and

regulations to prove their predecessors in the wrong . The poetry of folk- memory makes but slender appeal

r r to the iconoclast . The glorious f ate nity of way farers needs pay scant heed to the growlings of these

r r mental berserke s . Squabbles of the pragmatic p e c isions are a poor exchange for the romance and legend which form our richest inheritance from the

t e vanished past . Let us seek h birthplace of the

le r Clyde , and t us ﬁnd it on the shoulde of the hill

of the three streams . And to this vale uplifted high among the mountains we go in excellent

for . company , as companion on our solitary way

LITTLE CLYDE 1 33

r we will have an ancient maka , who , perchance , may speak to us of summer days of long ago when — — he in the ﬂesh foregathered on Huntlee Bank with

- rr our True Thomas , the day sta e of Scottish poetry and the shade of the timid but lovable ” r dreamer who conceived The Clyde , may whispe to us the story of how he was offered the mastership

’ G reenoc k s of grammar school , the managers making 1— the Gothic proposition to which poverty forced ’ — the poet s assent that he Should abandon the profane and unproﬁtable art of poetry making and we may also carry with us the cheerful notes of their modern suc c essor ~ who in a ﬂash of quaint humour 2 describes a mischievous companion using the cork of a hock- bottle to cork the source of

the mighty Clyde and see what happened .

r r It is said locally , howeve , that the little b ook which goes brawling down the hillside past Little Clyde farm is really not The Clyde referred to in the ancient rhyme : and I had pointed out to me

r s r by a sh ewd native of the di t ict , a burn only a 3 r r r few ya ds south of the b ook eferred to , and w which comes do n the next southmost glen , as the "1 real Clyde . He told me that prior to the coming

1 s is c . Th e nc i en ene in 1 6 and or Thi a fa t i d t happ d 7 7, po W so n ne er erw r s o c e th e or en l r il v aft a d t u h d f bidd y e .

2 Neil nro The Cl de 3 1 . , . See . Mu y , p 4 Map

4 n orm o n rec e m I e ro Mr . m es H o e w f ati iv d f Ja p , hose kno w le e o f th e n dg i teresting features o f th e Beattoc k and E lvanfoot is ric is in l d t t va uable . ’ 1 34 THE CLYDE S BIRTHPLACE

r of the Caledonian Railway in the fo ties , this

r bu n was known as the Little Clyde , and that it ﬂowed west and j oined the Daer Water above Elvan foot . Its course was diverted by the r ailway engi neers as it seriously interfered with the enlignm ent of the way , and it now ﬂows south and j oins the Evan . Though rather outwith the scope of a volume that professes to tell of the hidden paths which lie within the compass of the city pedestrian with an

r afternoon to spare , yet it is impossible to ove look the venerable mother of all the Glasgow streams a and rivers . So be it that if you have whole day to spare and wish to look upon something worth

r s seeing , and whose memory will be fondly che i hed ,

r r then take the a m . t ain f om Glasgow Central

r to Elvanfoot , whe e you will land about nine to — — ﬁnd if your barometer is a true prophet a va grant morning wide and blue with adventure and

- the purpled hills a calling . And at Elvanfoot the wayfarer is on the heaving ribs of the brown Lowther Hills and looking down on a swiftly ﬂowing moun tain stream , and to your query a passing shepherd — answers not without a note of pride in his voice

’ that s the Clyde . Away to the right is the road 1 0 — to Leadhills village , where in 79 were and still are—the most famous and ancient lead mines in Scotland and where on a cheerless August after noon in 1 803 there arrived Dorothy Wordsworth with Coleridge weary and William dyspeptic .

1 36 THE CLYDE’ S BIRTHPLACE

The three traveller s did not then understand ” r r f Scotch inns , but despite a di ty parlou , of en sive to the feminine instincts of the observant r Do othy , the ﬁre and the gentle aid of twilight burnished up the room into cheerful comfor t and rested and inspired by the creature comforts Dorothy went a- wandering to the inn kitchen for a gossip with the landlady whose manners did

her not please , but whose kitchen had a shelf with a few books which somehow reminded the

’ visitor of Chaucer s Clerke of Oxenforde who at his bed ’ s head had twenty books clothed in black

red r and . F om Elvanfoot our path lies onward

r r r and upwa d , an old old oad wo n by the toiling

r our r feet of many centu ies , a highway that in g and

’ father s time was cut into deep ruts and br oadening

- s hollows by the stage coache , the ﬂying machines which carried the tr avellers of a past generation from Glasgow to Carlisle and thence to London ’ f . r b or r town Telford s genius was esponsi le this oad , and he again was indebted for its line to the 1 s r geniu of the old Roman enginee s . We pass 2 ancient habitations and forgotten landmarks and

1 Th e m o uldering r am par t of a Ro m an Cam p c an still b e n r l e r m I la on th e line o f th e Ro m n tr ac ed ea Little C yd fa . t y a n H n sse th e A o n Way or Str eet fr om Carlisle orth . avi g pa d v ne r its c onﬂ ux w th e Ann n c on n es o n th e r e a ith a , it ti u al g idg between these rivers till it falls in wi th th e so ur c es o f th e Clyde c e c l e L le C e and so on s E lwinfo o t to Cr at a pla a l d itt lyd , pa t au ” A 1 0 R M l nt. . . i . n m W r o . for d a d Ca p ate . y p 4 2 O n th e sum m it o f B o dsbur y H ill whic h we pass on th e left and o mile ro m El n oo is c ir c lar entrenc m en ab ut a f va f t , a u h t

X II .

O ’ GLASG W S BURIED STREAMS .

A G REAT city is not the haunt wherein we can hope

ﬁ nd r to the wimpling bu ns of which poets , and

r r artists , and wayfare s fondly d eam . The arctic eye of commer ce looks askance at the humbler water

f r ways o natu e , and as the octopus of industry advances over the ver dant countryside she absorbs

r and then hides them f om human ken . Such has been the fate of many pleasant streamlets which at one period spread a network of silvery threads i f n and around Glasgow town . It is di ﬁcult to realise that but a little over half a century has elapsed since the city could boast of its br ooks

r r that sing in b ambly ways . On thei banks in the summer evenings of long ago the O ld Glaswegians

r r were wont to ply the rod . The wate s we e limpid

- and the crimson speckled trout plentiful . The changing year s have brought changes to everyone

r r r and eve ything , and the modest t ibuta ies which ﬂowed into the Clyde at Glasgow have also come

r under the spell of t ansition . They still ﬂow and

’ 146 GLASGOW S BURIED STREAMS d alrea y sanctiﬁed by the traditions of the people , is one of those little incidents which we wish to be true and which we have no certain reason for ” believing not to be so .

r Of It is a st eam long and honourable lineage , and the privilege of residing on its banks was highly

Old s s esteemed in past times . The hou e of the Drygait and Rottenrow had most of them gardens

r r 1 extending down to the Molendina Bu n . One of these possessions in the High Street 2 IS described in a charter of 1 463 as the tenement of John Wilson

rivolum de with a garden and ﬁelds to the burn ,

- M alyndoner . In the ancient title deeds of pro perty on the east side of the Saltm arket it is ex pressly stipulated that the owners shall have free 3 ish and entry by the closes leading to the burn and that they shall also have the privilege of ﬁsh ” Glas ow Courant 1 r ing therein . In the g of 755 the e is an advertisement of a piece Of ground at the

S outm outh p to be let , and one of the inducements held out is its vicinity to the Molendinar as suit

1 O n the nor h s e of the Dr ait were o r m nses K r t id yg f u a , ady , r ol o n C r ross and As k rk : o n th e so s e ﬁve Ta b t , a d , h i uth id ,

E es m Pee es C m s n S obo an d o s . A agl ha , bl , a bu la g , t , D ugla sm all stream let c alled th e G yrth Burn jo ins th e Mo lendinar

r Dr ait l le so o f th e C e r l r in ro n . nea yg , a itt uth ath d a bu y g g u d ‘ ’ This burn c rosses M Leo d Street a few yar ds west o f Provand s Lor dship and it is m entio ned in a deed of sale o f lands nor th R n n w r . wi k s w s e e c G l . h e Ro ttenrow in 1 . I is o e a o f t 574 t a ,

66 . P rot. 7.

2 Old Glas ow . 1 2 0 1 2 1 . g , pp ,

3 Glas ow ast and P resent . . 1 . g P , i p 3 THE MOLENDINAR 1 41

‘ able for bleaching " When M Ure wr ote his H istory in 1 736 the G allowgate extended no further than 1 the East Port . Beyond that was a narrow country

road , bordered by pleasant green hedges , leading i to the old village of Camlach e . Between the East

Port and the Cross , the street was crossed by the

Molendinar Burn . Like its neighbour on the west ,

’ the St . Enoch s Burn , it ﬂowed on the surface and

there was a considerable descent to it , with stepping

stones in the stream for foot passengers . When

In . spate , people had to cross on horseback The burn was a favourite place for watering horses and

w o cattle , and Dr . Buchanan , h wrote as late as 1 856? says he had conversed with old people who

r remembered it in the halcyon state . In its cou se — from its source at H ogganﬁeld Loch to which the — Riddrie car will help you on the way the Molen dinar was wont to make itself very useful by turning

r several mills . As it app oached Glasgow it drove the ancient Town Mill 3 and the Subdean ’ s Mills 4 near

r the Cathedral . After quitting the old mill the bu n

1 The Por t c rossed the ro ad prac tic ally on a line with the lane n ’ to th e west of th e Sarac e s H ead buildings .

2 Desultor Sketches . 66 . y , p 4

3 O n th Fe r r 1 6 th e r esses and c o m m n 4 b ua y , 44 , bu g u ity agreed to a yearly paym ent of two po unds o f wax to th e keeper ’ K n i o f the lights aro und St . e t gern s to mb for liberty to build a mill on the so uth side of G ar dyngad H ill on th e burn whic h - M l n o n G l s C 1 1 1 6 P . . is c lle a d er . a . hart. t . 2 2 6 a d y 75 49 , ii pp 5 , .

4 Th e mills belonging to the lair d o f Minto c alled th e sub ” ’ - e n s mills . I bid. 1 1 1 6 Pt. i. . c c l iii. d a 75 49, p c v ’ 1 42 GLASGOW S BURIED STREAMS

Dr ate s ran at the bottom of the yg gardens , cros ing — in a hollow what is now Duke Street a pleasant garden long ago—then meandered down to the

G allow ate g houses , at the back of which it received 1 Poldrait the waters of the Burn called , a tribu tary which seems to have taken its rise on the

- Gallow Muir . In these far away days there was a small wood close to the Molendinar at the Spout l mouth in the G a lowgate . This planting was known

’ Kenti ern s as g Trees , and is so referred to in records as late as the Reformation . Near the foot of the Saltmarket the Camlachie

- Burn j oined the Molendinar , and like the latter it is now covered in and answers the purposes of a

r common sewer . At one time , however , it p esented a scene of rare sylvan beauty . A century ago the 2 Camlachie Carnt ne Burn , from y down to the Green ,

r f was f inged with ash trees , which af orded a pleasant walk and a Shadyretreat to the citizens who resorted there on the summer evenings for pleasure and

r recreation . The wate s were pellucid and abounded 1 8 in silver eels , and in 79 , when the York and

I r Cheshire Militia lay n Glasgow, the soldiers in thei leisure moments indulged largely in ﬁshing and are said to have caught many a goodly basket Of these toothsorne ﬁsh . The combined waters of the Molen

1 0 Map of G lasgo w in 1 65 . 2 ri In 1 u m Th e anc ient no m enc lature is ver y va ed . 665 C lac hie Burne ; 1 684 Burne of Cam lac h y ; 1 68 8 Burne of Cam

0 W er of Cam lac hie and so on . Glas Chart. lauc hie ; 1 69 att ,

1 44 GLASGOW’ S BURIED STREAMS

, s ston runs the Pinkston Burn , under the Cowc adden

r and New City Road , whe e it is j oined by the Wood r side Bu n , the combined streams falling into the

r Kelvin about the old Hillhead Fo d at Woodside . So pure was Pinkston Burn in the thirties of last

. r r century that Mr Gillespie , the p oprieto of a

Anderston bleaching establishment at village , laid down a Watercourse from that stream to his works 1 There is a triumvirate of burns which ﬂow into the Clyde on the south side of the river—the Pol

’ madie Burn opposite the Provost s Haugh on the

r Sandieﬁeld r G een , the or Blind Bu n almost facing

r the conﬂuence of the Molendina and the Clyde , and 1 u r the the Kinning Ho se Burn , which ente s Clyde

r adjacent to the Sp ingﬁeld Lane . This rivulet

f re assumes dif e nt names . In some maps we ﬁn d

r it called the Shiels Bu n , in others the Kinning

‘ ’ - r M Arthur 1 House Bu n . s plan of 768 terms it the Shaw Burn : and in an old document belonging to Sir John Stirling Maxwell it is designated the

r r Mile Bu n , but the name Mile Burn eally belongs to a brief rivulet which j oins the Clyde at the western

1 . Th e Kinning H ouse B ur n h as its so ur c e in th e springs o f th e O ld Shawm oss between Strathbu ngo and H aggs Castle th e Blind Burn rises in th e m o ssy subsoil east o f Vic toria Road and ’ north of Queen s Drive the so urc e o f Po lm adie Burn li es south ’ o f R er en and its r r s r e rn r ses li e uth gl , t ibuta y Mall Mi Bu i a ttl sed to be m r to th e east o f Cathc ar t Kirk . Mall u a fa ilia Sc o c s non m for r and r on h as een r t h y y Ma y, t aditi it that Qu Ma y o n h er ﬂight§from Langside had great difﬁ c ulty in bringing h er ’ o se ro th e m nes ne r s rn enc e s h r th ugh uddy la a thi bu , h Mall

Th e e o n is o l. Mire . d rivati d ubtfu THE POLMADIE BURN 1 45

r boundary of the General Te minus . The Kinning

r House Burn , as it may be ch istened , forms for a considerable distance the boundary line of Lanark ” shire and Renfrewshire , and as a march it derives an importance quite out of proportion to

r its insigniﬁcant bulk and characte . Such is the

r brief sto y of the buried streams of Glasgow town . With the exception of the Molendinar and possibly

Camlac hie r are r the Bu n , they all unimpo tant and

r r very humble wate s . The Molendina is on a differ

. r are ent plane Romance , legend , and histo y associ

r r ated with its sto y , lending it an inte est which the

r r othe s lack , and which even the t umpet notes of

s commerce fail to di place . Glasgow has changed vastly since the times when it was considered a privilege to have one ’ s house on the banks of the

r r Molendina . We have polluted and then bu ied the historic stream and its humbler c onfr éres and in doing so have we not perhaps buried something — else that subtle br eath which the woodland path and the wimpling burn give forth to all who care to woo them ? However much it may represent

r industrial activity and comme cial greatness , the evolution of a limpid stream into a foul sewer seems

far a questionable exchange . It is certainly short

or r of being either an elevating inspi ing spectacle . INDEX

’ 6 A o s nc 6 . r x I B r em ix . bb t h , a a , A r Miss 2 0 0 . r o f 8 e We r . i d , , B idg i , 4 , 5 All er h e 1 0- 1 0 nd T 2 . r wn es ii a o i. , 3 B i , xv Th 1 Ann n e 1 1 2 . 6 r c e 8 . a , , 3 , 3 B u , xxii , Arc E r o f Ar l 6 h n Dr 2 uc a an . 1 2 . B _ . hibald , a l gyl , , 4 Ar vo r lic on o i h S e f . r U er d B m . , t , xxiii u a , pp , xvii br e 8 r n Arn a . Cro ks 8 B o 1 2 . , 7 , 79 u , A h eneden 1 2 8 n s Ro r xx u u c . r e 2 1 1 , Bu , b t , xix , , , m e 0 Au c na s . 6 . hi n 1 1 . , 3 4 , 4

A l M r ol 1 06 . u d ui T l , ’

A l es s 1 . irnc W L 2 Ca urran 2 n . u d iv ift , 5 , 4

A o n e Arm s 1 1 0 . C l er Th e 0 v dal , a d , , 4 . l l C we 2 . a d l , 3 h - a enh eat 1 2 . P l 1 B d , 9 9 ee , 2 , 2 2 . i nd B a o n 0 2 n a m r on r . B m o am t 1 . C e g ( y ) , a Bu , 93

- B alc orrac h C s e 1 0 0 . Cam lac hie rn 1 1 . a tl , Bu , 43 44 i 6 0 00 - C m si 1 1 0 1 . B almu ld 1 2 . e y , 7 , a p , lvi 1 G n 0 - 0 le 1 1 . a e 2 . 6 B , 4 , 97, 4 8 r 0 - 0 8 2 . K k 1 n on 1 1 2 . B a t , , 3 i , — k C rr e 1 1 6 . C r R er See c r Ba h ad , 4 , a t , iv Bla a t ;

B e on C r in 1 02 . Wh e C r . at , a d al , it a t

m e 0 . el rees . C s e Se B t , 34 a tl pl , 3 - 1 C r l e Pr n 8 6 . l c k C r Th e 2 6 . a c e B a a t , , 4 h i , i ,

l e 1 2 Chatelh erault ke o f 2 . lac kh al C s 1 . B a tl , , Du 3 8 - C C 8 c k Lo c rn 1 1 1 1 . hev hase . Bla h Bu , 9 y ,

C r s o er or 1 1 2 . e 2 1 . N Bla u , h i t ph th , 3,

Cl c e r . l n rn 1 . B i d Bu , 4 5 a h D a g, xxiii

0 6 Clober 1 1 2 . l th swood 6 . 2 B y , , 4 , 3, 5

o sbur H l 1 6 n . bleac hﬁeld 1 2 . B d y il , 3 , 4

T 8 0 Clo h o dric k S one 0 n . onn h e . c B y , , t —, 3 Cl e Th e 1 1 1 . o r on . B yd , Ma i , 54 yd , , 3 37

o s o f Kilm rno k 1 . Len of 1 n . B yd a c , 9 gth , 37

1 48 INDEX

- I nc nn n Kirk 68 6 . L e Cl e F rm 1 1 6 n hi a , 9 ittl yd a , 33, 3 l 1 ol 6 6 6 . 1 . T , , 4 , 7 37 in R v L s one e . Ale . 80 n . iv g t , x ,

m . es 1 2 . H II 1 on . . W . Ja , , 77 m s IV e . . o c nan D bh h L u rac an . Ja , 53, 54 h , xix ’ m - e Wr s We l 1 06 . oc noc 8 L w n . Ja i ight l , h i h , 33, 3 39 - oc elin 1 0 . Pe l e 0 . J , 4 , 35 , 39 4 ’

o ns one 2 8 . n W 1 8 Lo s e 1 . J h t , ga ll ,

C s le 2 . on oc Th e L L 1 2 . a t , 9 g h , , 4 , 4 w r H Lo e ls 1 1 . th il , 34 , 37 Kel es xvn -xix e Th e 8 - L 6 . pi , uggi , , xxi , 4 9 K l - 8 k n T 0 . ie an e h e Lu b . vi , , 7 5 gg , 93 l - K in G o 8 0 8 2 . n 2 2 e v r ve L o . , ugt ,

’ ‘ K v 8 - L l el inh ead 0 8 2 . u ton s O d Lu d in s o l , g g g f G as Ki o lm - lm alc 0 . ow ' , 5 53 g : 73 K l - 8 0 L rd 0 i 1 0 n . s 6 . una i yth , 7 , 8 e . L e om s 2 . Battl , 3 yl , Th a , 7

- C s le 8 . a t , 7 79 ‘ l l n K n c Prin ﬁel 1 00 . M C el d Rev M d . t a r 66 . i aid , K o i - nc s f K nc 0 . n G . i 1 1 0 c o l Dr . eo r e n i a d i a d , 3 4 Ma d a d , g , 74 ,

l 1 8 . so e 0 . n Mau um, 7 7 ‘ Kin s M D we l l l o l . ease . o Co ne W . 2 g , xxii , , 3 loc e n c e r Kin en Ch rm S o e r o m es 1 2 . hl v a t , Ma g g , Ja , 3

xxu . c re or s Th e 0 . Ma g g , , 9 rn - v D Re . . Kinn n H o se 1 1 6 . c eo r No rm an i g u Bu , 45 4 Ma l d , , K r n o c 8 0 0 k 6 . 1 . i i till h ,

A 8 c on R v . s A s e . oc e e m e 1 2 . uld i l , 7 Ma hi , Ja , 3 ‘ ’ K r 8 M U e s H isto las k on rn . r r o G ow i t Bu , 97, 9 y f g , K n s em lars 68 6 . ight T p , , 9

K o n 0 . n nd B l 2 no n 1 M s a a vie 1 . x , J h , 3 , 5 . ai , 4

lc o lm III . . Ma , 99 ’

L m er on s o 1 0 2 . ll s Mire B rn 1 n . a b t , Bi h p , Ma u , 45

min on r 1 2 r e n 1 n . L . e a gt B ig, 3 Ma y , Q u , 45

R s li 1 1 6 . Lanerc ost C hronicles . sso n o ne , 54 Ma , a ,

L v . 8 well r 1 1 2 . a slie Re . Mr . Lo p , , 9 Max , d ,

Le ills 1 . Sir G eor e 1 1 2 n . adh , 34 g ,

i n C e 1 1 . Lee Penn . e r s s 1 1 1 2 y , xxii M a a tl , , - K k 0 8 1 . Lenno C s e . r 1 1 1 1 1 2 x a tl , 99 i , ,

- F m l 1 00 . e rn 1 . a i y , 99 Mil Bu , 45 w l r Andr e . Lennoxburn 1 00 . , Mil a , , 44 h ler H xx . Lenno own 1 00 . xt , Mil , ug ,

i 8 o se 1 0 . Lenz e . , 7 Millh u ,

l ken or m es 2 8 2 . Levenac h s 1 0 1 . , 99, Mil i Maj Ja , , 9

- liken 2 . L e er n Th e 1 2 . v , , 3 5 , 59 Mil 9 ln 1 2 Mi vIe 0 . L o Lo c 1 2 0 . a ib , h , 4 , g ,

- Lil Lo c 1 2 0 1 2 . P c e n me 1 2 1 . y h , , 9 la a , INDEX 1 49

- R h e d 1 1 . Mo len in r rn 1 0 1 2 1 6 . aa a 1 d a Bu , 4 4 , 4 , ,

R ss 1 6 . o l n rn 2 . 1 M l i bu , 9 ai , , 7 - - n 8 Red o n Inn 1 0 8 1 0 1 1 1 1 . onc k on es 8 . L M t Mil , i , 9, 3 4 ” l H nﬁ . o ns Me . Re e d o se 6 M g , 53 u , 4

R nn R v R r 8 2 n . Monteath Rev . o n 2 2 . e e e . o e , J h , i , b t , 77,

- n o R er G o s . o o m er f E es m 6 . M tg y agl ha , , 7 iv d , xvi

i w 8 R r so n o n 0 n . S r H e . o e , b t , J h , 7 - Ro m n W ll 8 . oor o se 1 1 1 1 . M h u , 5 7 a a , 74 , 7

Wa 1 6 n . o ne Far m 2 . M y , 4 y , 3

o c k C s le 1 2 1 . Mugd a t ,

w n n S . Co l m 1 0 . re o n of Ro alla . t Mu (J h ) , 54 u ba , 4 ’ - v l S o ne 6 2 . S . Con a s res o f C wel 2 0 2 2 . t Mu ald l , , t , 59 ’

Eno c s rn 1 2 1 . St . h Bu , 4 , 44 - K nti rn 1 0 1 S . e . Ne s on 1 1 . t e il t , 7 9 g , 4 , 43 ’

K n w s l . S . e We rk 1 . t T e i , 9 l , xxiv

d n i ﬁeld rn 1 . Pa 1 2 . Sa d e , 3, 4 Bu , 45 - n 0 8 i l er X VIII New on ear s 1 . Sc o S r W t M , tt , a t , , xxi , ”

x i 2 86 n . 1 2 6 . N c o r e 2 1 2 6 . i l Ja vi , , x ii , , ,

S em ill Co lle e C rc . p giat hu h , 37 - 8 il o n or . O er r n 8 . Sem l L tt bu , p , J h , d , 37 3 - 6 Fr nc s . a i , 34 3 ’

P s e A e C har tular 6 S em e G r el s S one 8 . ai l y bb y y , , pl , ab i t , 34 , 3

Ro er n . b t , 34

w n . Pa s e l R c e 6 2 . S r 1 i l y Bal a , ha Bu , 44

Palac eri F rm Co lon Sh awm oss 1 n . gg a y , 94 , 44

- P rt c k C s e 1 . S w S ew r Sir c e a i a tl , 7 ha t a t , Mi ha l , P n r r o e 1 n . 1 1 2 n . att , Ma ga t, 4 P W 2 . e r r ee e S i els rn 1 . a T ll , 7 h Bu , 44

P n c i k Dr . . en e u c 1 1 Sh o n . , , 3 y , xix ’ i Per c s Rel u es 8 . S e rs A e n er of El er y q, p i ( l xa d ) d

P o n 2 . e i 1 1 slie 2 8 n . t t, J h , , P r nks on B n 1 . S reul o n 2 0 . i t u , 45 p , J h , P h s 0 - int ouse G l o w . o 1 S ru ile W l er 2 0 . , a g , 7 7 p , a t , Po ld i - t rn 1 . ra S e Co c es 1 1 0 1 1 1 . Bu , 43 tag a h , P n n o ll na Craobh a . S r and G r er Inn 1 1 0 , xx ta a t P k - Ro e 1 1 1 . o o r 1 1 1 . ll , b t , 4 7 5

Po m ie rn 1 . S e r Ale n er . l ad Bu , 45 t ua t, xa d , 54 n D 0 Po ln o am 1 . o w R v D . S e r e . r . , t a t, , xxiii K ee 8 1 0 . S r n we Sir o n p , 7, , ti li g Max ll , J h Po n m 2 o 1 1 . 1 . t , Ti thy , 45

Po o in S o l n 8 . c 2 Strath r fe 2 . tat t a d , g y , 4 P w o rn . S u m ersto n . Bu , 97 , 74 w P r l . o rn 1 S m 1 . Rev . G eor e 1 2 t ai Bu , 43 y , g , Pro m H l o c L 1 . va al h , 44 — Tam rawer 8 2 8 . , 3 l n 2 8 u arr e to 2 . nn l 1 . Q , , 9 Ta ahi l , 3 1 50 INDEX

m o h F - c k n mil 68 . rm . W l s w F Ta u a , 94 a i ha a y , 44 47, l e o r o m s 1 . 6 C r s n 6 . T f d , Th a , 3 h i ti a , 4 Third a rt 0 . W er oo . p , 3 at f t , 3 om - Rev . W ll m 2 W r orses xvu xvnr x1x . . e Th , i ia , 9 at h , , , Th o ld 8 ra . W er lore . , 7 at , xiii n 8 - or 2 2 . W ersi e 8 1 . Th , 7, at d , 9 9 Th e l d r e an rn 1 0 . W m es 1 2 . p Bu , att , Ja , 4 — ’ r ee ree Well S ee Pe r Wel s 0 W earie . Th T a l , xxiv

ree Wel . We s S c re . T l ll , a d , xiv , xxiv To b x r re 8 h an i Th e 1 2 . . W e , xxi , 4 , 93, 94 g , , 9 — - owrow B rn S ee Cam lac hie W e C r Th e 1 1 2 6 2 . T u hit a t , , ,

n h i n 1 1 2 . r . W m t e L o Bu illia , i 0 n o h 8 lso n Ale n r . r se 6 n . W e T a , J p , i , xa d , 4 ’ - w e s Cro o n 6 1 1 1 . e ss 1 1 . T d , 3 J h , 4 ,—3 33 Pro fessor See Christopher ” Uruis No rth . ean i i. g , xv i

Wis r G eo r e 1 0 2 . ha t , g ,

Wo o r ow m es 6 . d , Ja , Vi i c or N nz i. t a ya a , xvi n e 2 . Ja t , 5

Wo o s e rn 1 . d id Bu , 45

- wo oro 1 1 . W lkins w B r 6 . Wor s r a ha ig, 9 d th , D thy , 34 35

H W li m 1 . o se . l u . 47. 49 i a , 34

G LASG O W Z PRINT E D AT T H E UNIVE RS IT Y PRESS B Y RO B ERT M ACLEH O S E AND CO . LT D.