Kilmacolm; a Parish History, 1100-1898
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THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES Kilmacolm : a Parish History M ^ 'i '^ KILMACOLM A PARISH HISTORY I I oo— 1898 P.Y JAMES MURRAY, M.A., Minister of the Parish -^%5^^^5i^- PAISLEY: ALEXANDER GARDNER yublishcr aiib |."iool!scUcr tc ^jcr ^tlajcsti) the (Qaccn 1898 ^ "; 7 PREFACE. I WRITE these few preliminary sentences., neither for the purpose of asking the forbearance of critics, if my book shall be deemed worthy of their notice, nor to point out its faults and imperfections, a task I leave to others as being more agreeable to tliem than to myself I desire to anticipate only one objection that may be urged— viz., that Kilmacolm has had no history that is worth recording. It is true that, until recent years, it has been a very remote and secluded parish, " out of the world ; that no event of national importance has taken place within its borders that but few of its inhabitants have attained to eminence either in thought or action ; that no poet has drawn attention to the beauty of its scenery, or invested its hills and dales and sparkling streams with the halo of romance. But, while this is so, the student of past times, who knows that the vast majority of a nation must always be undistinguished, and that only a very insignificant fraction of its life is occupied with not- able events, may, perhaps, find it useful to know something of the commonplace doings of people quite unknown to fame. After all, local records, if only they be authentic, must aftbrd the surest, if not the only sure basis, on which a general estimate of the growth of the whole nation can rest. And so I venture to think that even a humble story like this may supply a thread or two, that the dignified dame who presides at the loom of history, may be willing to weave into the background of the pictured tapestry, the outstanding figures of which are glittering knights and fair queens, and magnificent courtiers. The by-path that I have traversed is new, not marked in any guide book. It may, therefore, well be that I have not laid it down quite cor- rectly, and that I have overlooked much that should have been noted. To those who may be good enough to point out errors and omissions, I shall feel very grateful. 5933S6 ENGLISH LOCAL . — PREFACE. I cannot attempt to express my thanks to all who have helped me ; but I may be allowed to say that I owe much to my friend, Mr. William Kidston, for all the trouble he has taken with the Illustrations ; to Mr. John Honeyman, R.S.A., for his architectural sketch of portion of old cliurch ; and to Mr. W. L. Walker, who contributed the notes on Natural History. The Professor of Celtic in Edinburgh University, while dis- claiming responsibility for the explanations ottered, kindly revised the chapter on Etymology of Place Names. I am indebted also to Mr. James Caldwell, Clerk; Mr. C. Bine Renshaw, M.P., and many others County ; and not least, to my esteemed Publisher. I append a list of the chief authorities quoted or consulted : 1. MS. Records of the Presbytery of Paisley. 25, Continuation of above, by Semple. 2. 3IS. Records of t/ie Presbytery of Greenock. 26, Continuation of above, by Robertson. 3. MS. Records of the Kirk-Session of Kil- 27, Sheriffdotns of Lanark and Renfrew, by mctcolm. Hamilton of Wishaw. ' 4. MS. Records of the Heritors of Kilmacolm. 28. Hector's Judicial Records of Renfrew- 5. MS. Genealogy of the Porterfields. shire. 6. Accounts of the Lord Hiyh Treasurer of 29. Cochran Patrick's Mediceval Scotland. Scotland. 30. Diary of Cunninghame of Craigends. 7. Exchequer Rolls of Scotland. 31. Book of the Universall Kirk. 8. Register of the Great Seal of the Kings of 32. Hill Burton's History of Scotland. Scotland. 33. Tytler's History of Scotland. 9. Register of the Privy Council of Scotland. 34, Social England— Portions referring to 10. Papal Registers and Petitions. Scotland. 1 1 Origines Parochiates. 35. Chalmers' Caledonia. 12. Fasti Eccle.'iae Scoticanae. 36. Cunninghame's Historij of the Church of 13. Walcott's Ancient Church <f Scotland, or Scotland. Scoti-Monasticoii. 37, Knox's History of the Reformation. 14. Chai-tulary of the Abbey of Paisley. 38, Crookshanks' History of the Church of 15. Rental Roll of the Abbey of Paisley. Scotland. 16. Lees' History of the Abbey of Paisley. 39, Calderwood's History of the Kirk of Scot- 17. Brown's History of Paisley. land. 18. Chronicle of Lanercost. 40 Wodrow's Correspondence, and other pub- 19. Poll Tax Rolls for Renfrewshire, 1695. lications of the Wodrow Society. 20. Gemmill's Notes on Kilmacolm. 41. Wilson's General View of Agi-iculture in 21. Old Statistical Account of Scotland. Renfrewshire. 22. New Statistical Account of Scotland. 42. Paisley Magazine. 1828. 23. Analecta Scotica. 43. Andrew of Wynton's Chronicle. 24. Crawford'.s History <f Renfrewshire. ——— — CONTENTS. Page I. The Parish before it was a Parish, 1 II. Roman Catholic Times—The Church, 7 III. Roman Catholic Times—The Parish, IG IV. From the Reformation to the Revolution^The Church, 1.560- 1612, 26 V. From the Reformation to the Revolution—The Church (2), 1612-1660, 42 VI. From the Reformation to the Revolution—The Church (3), 1660-1690 64 VII. From the Reform.4tion to the Revolution —The Parish, .... 85 VIII. Poll-Tax Roll for Year 1695 Kilmacomb Parochine, 96 IX. The Eighteenth Century—The Church, 119 X. The Eighteenth Century—The Parish, 159 XI.^The Nineteenth Century—The Church, 171 XII. The Nineteenth Century—The Parish, 188 XIII. Leading Families of the Parish, ... ... ... 199 XIV.— Etymology of Local Names, 256 XV. Some Notes on N.^tural History of the Parish, 261 List of Illusteations. To face Page The Old Village—Etching, .... Frontispiece. Portion of Old Church before Restoration, 8 The Manse, 85 General View of Village, .... 171 Portion of Old Church Restored—used as Vestry, ... 182 The Village Cross, 1898, 188 Finlaystone, 199 Carruth, 225 Old Duchal Castle, 231 DUCHAL, 240 KILMACOLM. I.—THE PARISH BEFORE IT WAS A PARISH. Ill early times wliat is now known as the Parish of Kilinacolm formed part of the Kingdom of Strathclyde, which stretched from the Clyde on the north to the Dee on tlie south, where it marched with Wales. Later, the southern portion was detached from it, so that in tlie eighth century, when it had come to be more generally known as Cumbria, it was bounded on the south by the Solway. The northern part, in which Kilmacolm is situated, was known as Strathgryfe, now the County of Renfrew. Strath- clyde, or Cumbria, continued as an independent prmcipality—with its capital at Alcluith, " fort on the Clyde," afterwards called Dunbreaton, " hill of the Britons," now corrupted into Dinnbarton,—till the time of Malcolm Canmore, when it was added to the crown of Scotland. It had, thereafter, a brief space of independence under David, a son of Canmore, who was Prince of Cumbria during the reign of his brother Alexander, but on his accession to the throne of Scotland as David I. in 1124, it was finally merged in that kingdom. David was the first king of all Scotland, and with his reign the history of the nation really begins. Strathclyde had been within the Roman Province : the famous wall between the Clyde and the Forth, shutting off the northern barbarians, ended not far from Dumbarton. The inhabitants were Britons, that is Cymric or Welsh Celts, and their language was probably not different from modern Welsh. They must have received, to some extent, the impress of Ptoman civilisation, and even some knowledge of Christianity from the missionaries that followed the train of the imperial armies. The existence of a fortified Roman camp so near at hand as at Paisley may 2 KILMACOLM. lead us to assume that tlie people of Kilmacolm were not unacquainted with the manners and customs of their conquerors. But, whatever the influence may have been, it certainly was not lasting. On the final de- parture of the Romans, at the beginning of the fifth century, the Celts of the Province seem speedily to have relapsed into barbarism, and the practice of their old heathen rites. But their ancient hardihood was gone, and could not be recovered. Accustomed for centuries to rely on the strong military arm of Eome, on its withdrawal they became an easy prey to their more warlike neighbour's on the north, the Scots, or Gaelic Celts of Caledonia. No longer restrained by the Pioman Wall these wild Scots burst in marauding bands on Strathclyde, and drove before them the enfeebled inhabitants, taking possession of their lands, and, in many cases, holding the original owners as serfs. Tlie inhabitants of Strathgryfe, as being nearest, would be the first to feel the brunt of the invaders, and would be most completely subjugated. In tlie end—how long it was before the end came we cannot tell—the British population were driven from the land, many of them taking refuge with their brethren in Wales, and others becoming the slaves of their conquerors. In Kihnacolm so complete was the eradication of the original inliabltants that no trace now remains, hardly so much as a local name, to tell that it was once peopled by Welshmen. But the Gaels were not long left in undisputed possession. Soon Saxou invaders from the eastern kingdom of Northumbria poured in upon Strathclyde, while its sea-board was ravaged by Norse rovers.