III. NOTICE EARLE TH F YSO HISTOR PARISE TH F GOVANYF O H O . B . Y0J . ROGER, ESQ., F.S.A., SCOT. At an early period it appears that was the seat of an ecclesiastical establishment; -a " Monasterium, terme s Breviari e t th i s n d i "a Aberdeenf yo . Constantine, King of Cornwall, according to Fordun, having renounced his throne, accompanie t ColumbdS o Scotlant a n A.Di d . 565d preachean , e dth doctrine e deato t th f Christianit t so y hb pu s e Scot th wa d Picts o e t syan H . inhabitants of Cantyre, whom he had laboured to convert, and his remains were deposite e monasterth n i d f Govanyo bee d founderf whice o ,ha th n e h d an , over presidedd whicha e hh . Notwithstandin obscurite gth y which invest histore sth thif yo s early religious settlement, leavin t impossiblgi indicato et successive eth e stageprogress it f so s and decay, in monuments still extant, which recent discoveries have brought to light, there is evidence to show that the monastery of Govan must have oc- cupied an important place among the religious houses of our early history. The parish of Govan, intersected by the , and lying chiefly within sheriffdoe th Lanarkf mo ancientls wa , y bounded wese th tn parise bo , yth f ho Renfrew, and north of the river, on the east (not west, as stated in " Origines Parochiales" watee th Kelvinf y o rb ) . Stretching eastward fro boundare mth y of the parish of Renfrew, along the south bank of the Clyde, to the distance of 5% miles, it comprehended the present parish of , which was erected int oseparata e paris divisioe 1771n hi e parisTh th .f nho lying e soutth f ho River Clyde formed of old the township and territory of Govan, as did that on the north the township and territory of ; and as these were distinct ANTIQUARIES OF . 213

manors hels i t di , probable that previou 115o st 2 the alsd yha o formed distinct parishes. Prior to the year 1147, King David I., with consent of his son Henry, granted Guuen "t Kentegerperpetuan i S f o e se f Glasgowln o e almsth o t " , and soon after the church of Oovan, " with all its ecclesiastical rights and per- tinents, and with ' the islands between Govan and Perthec, together with that part of Perthec which David the king gave to the church of at its dedication; and that other part of Perthec which the same king afterwards gav purn ei e alm Bishoo st successors,s p hi Joh d nan erectes ' "wa Bishoy db p Herbert into a prebend of the cathedral church of Glasgow. " Under these grants," says the author of Caledonia, " the whole parish of Govan belonged anciently in property and superiority to the bishops of Glas- gow" residenca (wh d oha t Pertheea c previou 1277)includeo s st wa ,d n "di an regalite th f Glasgow,yo " which, accordin Hamiltoo gt Wishawf no , compre- hended addition i ,paris e th f o Govannht o r 'he parishe f Glasgowso , Barony, Calder Monklandd pard Ol f an ,o t . churce Th f Govaho dedicates nwa t ConstantineS n altao da t d r ha con t I -. secrated to the Virgin, and an endowed chaplainry, the revenues of which, at the time of the Reformation, were, 12 bolls of oats, 3 bolls of meal, and 26 shillings in money. In 1560, on the withdrawal of Archbishop Beaton into France patronage th , s assume s afterwarde Crownewa th wa y d db an , s (1577) bestowe Universite th n do Glasgowf yo whicn i , stils i t hl i sam e vestedth en I . year commission was granted to Walter Commendator of Blantyre to feu the whole lands withi lordshie nth regalitd pan f Glasgowyo , whic n 159hi 0 occa- sioned its division among the respective tenants, who became heritable pos- sessors " for payment of their ancient rent be way of few duties." Towards the beginning of the present century a large portion of the land withi parise nth f Govah o numbe a hels y db nwa f smalro l proprietore th f so name of Rowan, believed to have been the descendants of the Huguenot refugees, who, emigrating from Rouen, in Normandy, during the persecution, consequen revocatioe th n edice o t th Nantesf o tf no , settle thin di s parisho S . numerous, indeed, did these families become, that it was found necessary to distinguish their individual members by a kind of soubriquet, as appears from recorde e parishth th f so , where such founde entrieb y "s a ,Joh sma n Rowan, son of John Rowan (Long John)," and the like. . At , the name of a rivulet on the left bank of the Clyde (said to denot Wolf'e eth s Burn), stoo hospitan da receptioe th r lfo destitutf no e persons of bot erectehs sexeswa t dI .previou dedicates 1249wa o st t John d S an o ,dt . . To the " Poor's House of Polmadie" were annexed the church and lands of 214 PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY OF

Strathblane e easterth d ne landan , th hal f so f of. Little Govan formee th ; r belongin t befori o gyeat e th e rlattee 1316th d r beinan , g grante Bishoy db p John in 1320. The privileges which pertained to the hospital in the reign of Alexander III. were, in 1317, confirmed by King Robert Bruce. Vestiges of the hospita e lasl th wer t f centuryo e d traceabl en t thes e bu , th e t ehava w eno totally disappeared. On the south bank of the Clyde, extending from the site of the old bridge of Glasgo weste rivulea th o n t ,w o t calle Bline dth d east e portioBura th s i ,n no n of land known by the name of St Ninian's Croft, Here stood the leper hospital, founded in 1350 by Marjory Stewart, grand-daughter of King Robert II., and wif f Duncaeo n Campbel e progenitor f Lochawth o l f o famil e e th on ,f f syo o Argyll plainA . , old-fashioned structure, situate e dbrine th th closf ko y b e river, between the foot of Muirhead Street and Hospital Street, is understood to have been the lazar-house of St Ninians. In front of the building, the site of which is now occupied by power-loom factories, was placed a statue of the e baronth n foundeo f Gorbaly o t bu ; r s being transferre e cit f th Glasy o o dt - gow groune th , whicn do hospitae hth situates wa l feue s Covenantera dwa o d t , who, possibly, deeming the statue a relic of Popery, proceeded to its re- moval. Towards the beginning of the present century, close by the building referred to, large quantities of human bones and fragments of coffins were disinterred, plainly denoting the position of the leper's cemetery. On the east side of the Main Street of Gorbals (nearly opposite to Malta Street) stood the mansion of Sir George Elphinstone of Blythswood, at one time Provost of Glasgow, and Lord Justice-Clerk of Scotland in the reign of Charles I. This magnificent structure, with its stately courtyard, commodious cham- bers, elaborately-carved ceilings, projecting turrets, and sculptured shields— having passed from the residence of a judge of the Supreme Court, and of a realme th peeprison-housa f o o rt , thievesr efo latterld e abodan , th f yo et o pooe wretched—had th an r t lengta s h disappeared, wit e exceptiohth e th f no chapel formerly attache whichn i s saidd i remainit e o dt t an ,i , th , f Elphinso - stone were deposited. The chapel was rebuilt by Robert Douglas, Viscount Belhaven, who at the same time erecte square dth e tower slaadjoinina n b O inserte . git d inte oth fron tchapel e walth f o lhig n i , h reliefsculpturee th s i , d coa Douglasf to , being a man's heart ensigned with an imperial crown, within a double tressure, flowered and counter-flowered. In middle chief,' a martlet, between two mul- lets, supported on the dexter by a naked savage holding a baton erected, and wreathed about the middle, and on the sinister by a lion crowned. Crest, on a ANTIQUARIES OF SCOTLAND. 215 wreath (surmountin ga deface d coronet), a Scots thistle e legenTh . d cannot be deciphered. lande Th f Gorbalso s appea havo t r e been acquired from Archbishop Boyd, r GeorgbySi e Elphinstone 1607n i , n fouI . r years afterward r GeorgSi s - eob taine dchartea confirmatiof ro n from James VI., whe lande nth s were disjoined from the regality of Glasgow, and erected into a separate jurisdiction, called the Baron Blythswoodf yo r Georgdeate Si th f e baronho n th e O acquires . ywa d by his nephew Viscount Belhaven, by whom it was disponed in 1647 to the city and corporations of Glasgow. Within the ancient manor of Partick, a short distanc villagee westh t manf o tno , y years since stoo uninterestinn da g ruin, popularly regarde a residenc s a e dArchbishop th f eo f Glasgowo s t bu , whic certainls hi y know havo nt e Brother th e beef o ne s builHutchisoon y b t n of , who founded an hospital in Glasgow. That the Archbishop of Glasgow had a residence at Partick is sufficiently ascertained ; the adjustment of a dispute between the Bishop and his Chapter, conducted at the manor-house of Partick, stands upon record. Spanning the Kelvin, in the direction of north and south, opposite the centre of the old village, stands the bridge of Partick, now becoming an object of in- antiquary.e terestth o t s arches—fouIt numbern i r , springing fro abute mth - ments at tie height of a few feet from the surface of the river—each describe a hal fpoin e circlth to e t wher e they merge into their opposite piers, whice har supporte eithen do r sid threy eb e prism-shaped buttresses, reachin poina o gt t o linna e arches e wit th e top f hth o s. e Thoseasth e bridgt n eth sido f eo e have been replace othery d b mor a f so e substantial form guaro t , structure dth e from the effects of the periodical flooding of the river. At one end of the bridge is a cottage of hewn stone of the form of the letter T, probably the residence of the person who collected the pontage. Each of the gables is surmounted by the crow-steps, the prevailing fashion of the sixteenth and seventeenth centu- ries. Of this description are most of the cottages of the old villages of Govan and Partick, man f theyo m bearing dates varying from 159 1730e o 0t Th . Bridge, accordin Crawfordo gt s " Historhi n i , f ,yo buils n "wa ti 1577 (a great part of it, he says), by the famous Captain Crawford of Jordan- hil lf Laurenc(sixto n hso e Crawfor f Kilbirnie)o d , whe hel e office nh dth f o e Provos Glasgowf o t e arm Th Captaif so . n Crawford bein galss a place o, it n do hi sfollowine nameth d an , g inscription, viz.:— thae "labouy H tb r doehonestiey san , The labour goes, the honour bydes with thee ; He that by treason does onie vice also, The shame remains, the pleasure soon agoes." 6 21 PROCEEDING SOCIETE TH F F SO YO

The arms, defaced and unintelligible, still remain—a quartered shield, en- signed with a, front-faced helmet d supportean , n eithedo r sid twy b eo grey- hounds, collared. The crest, an ermine (?) on. a mural coronet. Midway between the villages of Goran and stands the Castle of Haggs, one of the ancient seats of the family of Pollock, connected with which there is no particular history. It was built in 1585, as appears from an in- scription placed over one of the doors. Opposite the Ferryhouse is a tumulus knowname th Doomstef y eo n b f whic o bees p ha hto n r e formeHillth n o ,da reservoi r anrfo adjoining dyework feA w. years ago deepeninn i , g this reser- voir, were discovere plankw fe blacf da so k oaksomd an , e fragment f bonesso . d Aflanol t tombstone, formerly standin fare th f Laigma fiel o n n o gi d h Craigton, denotin e resting-placgth plaguea e victi th f e o whicd f mo d an , hha hitherto been respected latels wa , y removede soutth h n river e O banth . f k,o immediatel ypoine westh f to t wher joineKelvins e i opposite th t e i th y dn b o , e side parisd , ol stoo e hd th kir Gf ko o van a structur, greaf eo t antiquity, which was removed in 1762. The churchyard, which, there is reason to believe, had been the site of the dormitory of the early monastery, is retained within a wall, elevation a t a fouf no fivr o r e feet abov surfac e adjacene eth th f eo t groundt I . is skirted by a double row of elms, and occupies in extent about two imperial acres. Various remains have beet froi nn mi du timp gu timeo t e ; among others, fragments of hewn stones, as well as large blocks of whinstone, the latter presenting appearances of having been rounded by the action of waves, and to which morta s sometimerwa s found adhering. These would see indicatmo t e remaine th ancienf so t foundations. Within the parish of Govan, during the last few years, in the course of ope- rations on the River Clyde, have been dug out various objects of archaeological interest. Whole trees of oak (black) from beneath the channel of the river, canoes (of which this Society has had an account), coins and medals; also a stone cross, measuring abou feeo tw t either way, havin appearance gth agef t eo bu , without symbol, inscription, or date. (One of the coins referred to—that of Con- stantius, son of Constantine—is now-presented to the Society, see page 200). In 1832, several urns, containing fragments of bones and portions of hair, were found on the property of Gilmorehill. Some years since a number of the roots of fossil trees were discovered on the banks of the Kelvin. -One- of these is in the Museum of the Andersonian University, Glasgow.