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A CLEAR idea will be gained
of the general state of the parish of Cardross as it was sixty years ago,
from a perusal of the short paper which Mr. Dennistoun drew up, at the
request of the minister, the Rev. Archibald Wilson, for the new Statistical
Account of Scotland. The geological character of the parish is of the
secondary formation, the predominating rock being freestone, which is of a
red colour, and friable in quality. On the north-west side of Killiter, an
eminence at the eastern end of the parish, there is a considerable dyke of
jasper, of a coarse, hard quality, interposed between the conglomerate and
sandstone, and there are veins of limestone on the Camis Eskan estate, which
however is more suitable for building than for fertilising purposes. Near
the shores of the Clyde there are extensive banks of blue adhesive clay,
covered with sand, intermingled with shingly stones, which are all submerged
at high-water, and it might be possible to reclaim some of this surface by
judicious embankments. One remarkable feature on the coast is Ardmore, " the
great promontory," which is a conspicuous landmark on the estuary of the
Clyde. At one time this would be an insular rock, from which, through the
gradual recession of the shore, the waters have retired, and it is now
united to the mainland by a flat neck of fertile soil. The rock, which is
forty feet in height, is of the same formation as part of that on Killiter,
half a mile distant, a conglomerate, in which rounded, quartzose pebbles are
imbedded. In a sense the broad entrance to the Gareloch, comprising the bay
in front of Helensburgh, may be said to extend from Ardmore point to the
extremity of the Rosneath peninsula, after which it is suddenly contracted
by the remarkable point at Row.
There were several families
of considerable eminence, amongst them those of Dennistoun of Dennistoun,
Spreull of Dalquhurn, Napier of Kilmahew, Bontine of Ardoch, Noble of
Ardardan, and ' Smollett of Bonhill. Later on a few details will be given of
some of the members of these houses, and of one or two of the more recent
proprietors in the parish. The family of Geils of Geilstoun settled in
Cardross in 1798, when General Thomas Geils of the Madras Artillery bought
the properties of Ardardan and Ardmore from his brother-in-law, William
Noble. The Geils family were a warlike race, and several of them served
their country with distinction in the army, and they still own property in
this and the neighbouring parish of Old Kilpatrick. A still older family was
that of Donald of Lyleston, who acquired the property in the person of James
Donald from the Nobles of Ferme in the year 1708. The latter owned it from
the year 1537, and they again gained possession of it in 1890, when it was
disposed of by the Rev. D. illacalister Donald to Captain Noble, C.B., of
the Royal Artillery, who also, about the same time, again acquired the
Ardmore estate from the Geils family, after having been out of the
possession of the Nobles for about a century. Colgrain, which long was owned
by the Dennistoun family, who first came into the district as proprietors in
the fourteenth century, was disposed of in 1836 by James Dennistoun,
sixteenth in descent from William Dennistoun, first of Colgrain. The
purchaser was Colin Campbell, who also bought Camis Eskan, and whose family
claim to be descended from Colin Campbell of Glenurchy, ancestor of the
Breadalbane house. His grandson, William Middleton Campbell, is the present
owner of the Colgrain and Camis Eskan estates, a merchant in London, and
Director of the Bank of England. Kilmahew estate, so long the residence of
the Napier family, who were territorial lords in the parish for centuries,
is now owned by John William Burns, also proprietor of the fine estate of
Cumbernauld, whose father, the late James Burns, one of the founders of the
famous Cunard Steam-Ship Company, bought the property in 1859. Keppoch
estate, now the property of Alexander Crum Ewing, was for a number of years
in the possession of Mr. Dunlop, a well-known banker in Greenock, several of
whose sons achieved distinction in different walks in Iife. He was a lineal
descendant of the celebrated Principal Carstares, [This eminent man had no
direct descendants, and the thumbscrews with which he was tortured passed at
his death to his favourite sister, Sarah, wife of William Dunlop, Principal
of the University of Glasgow. They had been presented by the Privy Council
to Carstares upon their public acknowledgment of the baseless charges which
had been brought against the latter. He was in the confidence of the leaders
of the Presbyterian party, Argyll and others, then exiled in Holland, and
was a trusted agent of the Prince of Orange. When subjected to the torture,
Sir George Mackenzie, who was one of his persecutors, was constrained
afterwards to admit, "All had on that occasion admired Mr. Carstares'
fortitude and generosity, who stood more in awe of his love to his friends
than of the fear of torture, and hazarded rather to die for Jerviswoode than
that Jerviswoode should die by him." The thumbscrews were inherited by the
Dunlops, now of Gairbraid, and long remained at Keppoch, and Dr. Story wrote
a description of them, which appears in the proceedings of the Scottish
Society of Antiquaries on 11th May, 1891. He also had the honour of
exhibiting them to the Queen at Balmoral in 1886.] the trusted counsellor of
King \Villiam the Third, of glorious Protestant memory, whose life, written
by his relative, Dr. Story, Professor of Church History in Glasgow
University, contains many stirring vicissitudes of an eventful period in our
national history.
Agriculture in the parish,
when Mr. Dennistoun drew up his account, was in a somewhat backward
condition. A slight change for the better occurred amongst the crofter race,
who largely peopled the lands after the rebellion of 1745, but until the end
of last century the outlay of the proprietors extended little beyond the
mains, or home farm, the small holdings being left alone. During the first
forty years of the present century an improved state of matters had
prevailed, and a large amount of money had been spent on roads, enclosures,
buildings, and agriculture. Considerable tracts of waste lands had been
reclaimed, and draining, levelling, and manuring had enhanced the value of
the cultivated soil. Cottaries were turned into farms, crofts into
convenient fields, and the sea ware which used to manure the land was
everywhere being superseded by fertilising stuff from the farm yard, or
imported from Greenock. The ancient occupiers of the soil were being
converted into day labourers or artisans, and earned a good living, while
substantial steadings replaced the dry stone hovels they inhabited. In a few
places small holdings and short leases prevailed, but in the enlarged farms
new tacks for nineteen years, stipulating for an approved rotation of crops
and a fixed money rent, were mostly adopted.
Though much of the parish
consisted of moor pasture, it was largely employed in grazing cattle and
sheep purchased from the ti\Test Highlands. The low country being well
adapted for dairy husbandry, a number of animals of the finest breed had
recently been introduced from Ayrshire. Also the race of horses had been
improved by a cross with the Clydesdale stock, and cattle of all sorts were
rapidly gaining in quality under the auspices of an association recently
formed in the county in connection with the Highland Society of Scotland.
Though the district is remarkably well adapted for the growth of oak, the
extent of natural wood was not great, and yet the evidence of ancient
charters proves that in the country west of the Leven were situated the
principal forests of the Lennox. On the Dalquhurn, Camis Eskan, and Kilmahew
estates there were considerable oak, birch, and fir plantations. The
fisheries were of small account, and there were yairs only at Ardmore and
Colgrain, but large supplies of salmon were taken by the recently introduced
bag-nets in the open Frith near Ardmore.
At that time the state of
education was fairly good, and there was a parish school, of which the
teacher drew £34 of salary and £24 of school fees, besides £15 as the
average value of some grounds. The schoolmaster, in addition, acted as
Session Clerk and to Mrs. Moore's Mortification, and this gave him £25 more.
In addition there were five private schools, the emoluments derived from
fees varying from £15 to £70. At these schools the usual branches were
taught, the fees at the parish school being, for English reading 10s.,
writing 12s., arithmetic 14s., and for Latin 16s. There was also a good
general subscription Library at Renton, containing 1000 volumes, and one at
Geilston for the landward district with 400 volumes. The poor were well
cared for, and the weekly collections from the parish church produced £120 a
year, with £15 additional from various other `sources for the support of the
70 paupers on the Session Roll. Mrs. Moore's Mortification produced £228
from the rent of the estate of Ballimenoch, in addition to the interest on
£1000 obtained from the sale of the freehold superiority. There were no
public charitable institutions, friendly societies, savings banks, prisons
or fairs in the parish, and considerable exertions had been made to check
the increase of public houses.
The following is the account
of the origin of the Moore Mortification as given in the Dennistoun MS.:-
"A servant in the family of \Vhitehill
of Keppoch, named Jane Watson, had been in the habit of bestowing on her
aged mother, who lived in the neighbourhood, a small piece of beef taken
from the barrel, in which every Scotch farmer used to preserve his winter's
supply. Making her way to the barrel in the dark one winter morning, Jane,
by mistake, took out and wrapped up a fine tongue which had been placed
there exclusively for her master's use. As it was cut up and partly used
before she was aware of her mistake, no way seemed open to her to avoid
detection and disgrace, and she therefore secretly fled from the house, and
continued her course eastward till a stop was for a time put to her flight
by the swollen burn of Auchenfroe. Sitting down upon the bank, and
reflecting, no doubt, upon her past and present position, she is then said
to have vowed that if she ever became possessed of the necessary means she
would erect a bridge over the burn as a useful token of her penitence. Jane
Watson proceeded to Leith, where she married a shipbroker named Moore, who
afterwards settled in London, and was so successful in business as to enable
his widow to exhibit, in a manner more munificent than she at one time ever
expected, her sympathy for the poor of her native parish."
In former years the mosses
and uplands of Cardross were covered with birches, pine and oak trees, and
in digging in the moors, roots and trunks of trees are often encountered.
Thick woods, amidst which roamed the wild animals of the chase, clothed the
lands of Darlieth, Auchendennan and Bromley, intermingled with copse woods
of hazel, willow and birch. The very name of Darlieth, the "grey oak wood,"
indicated the prevailing class of wood which was indigenous to the soil, and
the name of the river which bounds the eastern portion of the parish, Leven
or EIm river, shows that the elm tree once was a feature of the forest. At
one period the whole of Scotland was thickly wooded, and the ancient name of
those who dwelt to the north of the Forth, Caledonians, men of the Celyddon,
or woodland thickets, is proof of this fact. The valley of the Forth from
Balloch to Stirling, was once a continuous forest, and the famous Flanders
moss, near Aberfoyle, was said to have been formed when the Roman invasion,
under Severus, took place, by the vast quantity of timber he caused to be
cut down. The highest hill in the parish, the Killiter, or "wood of the wet
hillside," indicates that both wood and water were more abundant than now,
and near Drumhead may be seen the site of an ancient lake which formerly
received the accumulated waters of the uplands of the district.
From the pages of Dr. David
Murray's masterly survey of the parish in Old Cardross, are gathered the
following particulars regarding the old Tribe Lands, and the conditions
under which they were granted according to ancient Celtic tenures. These
charters also show evidence of the mode of life, and customs of the people
at a byegone era. The lands were the property of the tribe or family, held
for beboof of all its members, the arable land being subdivided at intervals
of time amongst individuals—reverting to the community after a certain fixed
period—and the waste and pasture land being common to all. From this custom
arose the merklands, pennylands, and quarter lands, into which the soil was
divided, also the baneful system of runrig, which so seriously hindered all
improvements in agriculture. The word "tours," "town," or "tun," is
frequently found in connection with the old tribe-land distribution of the
soil, not to describe a settlement of individuals, but merely a farmsteading,
or the centre round which a number of farm tenants dwelt. In the district
leases of no very remote date, the town was often mentioned, as the town and
lands of Havock, the town and lands of Succoth. In the parish of Old
Kilpatrick there are some farms described as the "fourteen towns of
Kilpatrick," from which the singular old feu-duty, called the "Watch mail of
Kilpatrick" is payable as part of the revenue of the Constabulary of the
Castle of Dunbarton.
During the 13th century the
great possessions of the Earls of Lennox were becoming sub-divided and
alienated, and the lands became gradually concentrated in different
families, who continued to hold them in many instances till within recent
years. \Vithout attempting to give a complete list of the lands in the
parish, it will be of interest to summarise those mentioned by Dr. Murray.
Commencing at the north-eastern end of the parish there are the two
Dalquhurns, the Cordales, and Pillanflatt, part of which is now enclosed in
the public park of Renton, and next Rosrivan and St. Sebastian. Beyond this
on the low ground beside the Leven is the Mains of Cardross, and higher up
Hill Acre, Greenhill, and the Cottary of Hillhead and Dalreocb, Sinkyholm
and Henryshott on the high road leading to Dunbarton, and near the bridge on
the Ferrylands of Cardross. Laigh and High Kirkton encircle the Ferrylands
close to Cardross point and up to the high ground, on which are Kirkton
lands and muir. Easter Hole or Foul Hole and Braehead succeed, with
Sandybraes, Castlehill, and Muirhouses fronting them, and beyond are Upper
Mains, Barbisland and Whiteleys. Near this we arrive at BlairshaIloch (or
Willow Plain) with its castellated tower, and then to the north is Succoth.
Nearer to the Leven are High and Laigh Dalmoak, to the west of which are
North and South Kipperminshoch and Kipperoch, with Ardochbeg to the south.
West of Ardochbeg is Kellochy, and beyond this Hawthornhill, or as it was
formerly called Latriehill—the wet hill slope. Looking down upon the estuary
of the Clyde is Clerkhill, and below this at the foot of the old sea beach
is the Havock with Tartan Perrays to the west. We now arrive at the farm of
Clydebank, which at the close of last century was taken out of the
surrounding land by Mr. Robert M'Kenzie, who was then factor on the Ardoch
estate.
Beyond Clydebank is the Lee,
then Burnfoot of Ardoch, and ascending the burn Ardochmore is reached, where
formerly the old mansion house of Ardoch stood. Wrester Ardoch, Craigend,
and Walton lie beyond, and much of these were included in the old barony of
Ardoch, long the property of the Bontine family. Bloom-hill, Bainsfield and
Burnfoot of Auchenfroe succeed, and higher up Mildovan and Asker, also
formerly a portion of the Bontine estate. Crossing the Auchenfroe burn the
estate of Kilmahew is entered, which extends to Geilston burn. For many
generations this ancient estate belonged to the Napiers of Kilmahew, one of
the oldest branches of the Napier family, who were by marriage connected
with the old family of Maxwells of Newark on the opposite side of the Clyde.
Between Geilston burn and the Keppoch burn are Geilston, Ballimenach,
Ardardan Noble, Ardmore and Lyleston, and to the north is Drumhead, or
Blairhennechan, as it was called until the name was changed about the end of
the seventeenth century by Archibald Buchanan of Glenmaguire, on his
marriage with Isobel Buchanan, the heiress of the property. To the west of
Lyleston is Keppoch, and then comes Colgrain, the two Camis Eskans, Little
and Meikle, Drumfork and Kirkmichael-Stirling, the latter of which was
originally part of the estates of the Stirlings of Cadder, and was obtained
from the rival house of Keir by a villainous plot.
The improvements in
agriculture and in estate-management which were gradually set on foot about
the latter end of the 18th century, were commenced early in Cardross parish.
It was only in 1747 that sheep-rearing was introduced into the county by Mr.
Campbell of Lagwyne, and yet in 1782, when the Ardoch leases were renewed,
the tenants were prohibited from keeping sheep. So unremunerative was this
industry that even in 1796 sheep were only raised on three farms in Cardross.
The lairds had small rentals, and a number of poor cottars were settled on
the lands who mostly paid their rents in kind. Some of the former
proprietors increased their wealth from various incidental sources, and in
other cases their estates were sold to those who had money at their command.
Thus the farm-steadings, roads, enclosures, and fences, were greatly
improved, and considerable sums of money circulated in the district, and the
tenantry were enabled to co-operate with their landlords in enhancing the
value of the soil. Large tracts of waste lands were thus brought into
cultivation, while what was formerly tilled was rendered more productive
through improved systems of drainage and manuring. In Cardross parish the
building of dykes and fences commenced in 1766, when a march dyke was set up
between Keppoch and Colgrain, and Geilston and Ballimenach improved
similarly by enclosure in 1770. In 1773 and 1774 march dykes were erected in
Walton, Kirkton, Drumhead, and Dalreoch. The sheep-park and other home-parks
at Ardoch were enclosed about this period, and cross-fences within the farms
were constructed, provisions to this effect being inserted in the tacks and
leases.
The land of old was held a
great deal in runrig, rig and rig about, according to the number of tenants
on the farm—one ridge belonging to one tenant, the next to another, and so
on. The ridges were unequal, perhaps forty feet in breadth, and the crown of
the ridge above could be ploughed, and commons and common property were
numerous. As far back as 1569, the Common of Ardardan was divided between
the proprietors of Ballimenach, Drumhead, and Geilston, though even after
the division the lands were dovetailed into one another, and the lands of
Geilston are still conveyed with the pasturing and grazing of six cows and
one mare with a foal in the commonty of the 12 merk land of Ardardan—Macaulay.
In 1783 Mr. Robert M'Kenzie, for many years factor on Ardoch estate, took a
lease of two small parks where Dennystown of Dunbarton now stands, for the
purpose of experimental improvements. At that time they were soft and boggy,
but Mr. M'Kenzie got them drained, cleared of stones, and, after ploughing
the fields, succeeded in raising good crops of oats and wheat. In 1789 he
formed the holding of Clydebank farm, although it seemed unfavourable for
agricultural operations, being open and unenclosed, full of brushwood,
stones, and water. After draining, levelling, and ploughing the ground,
putting in good supplies of lime and manure, it was brought into a full and
profitable state of cultivation. Similarly, in 1773, the lands of Ardardan,
under the energetic and skilful treatment of Mr. Walter Brock, were
reclaimed from a waste condition to produce abundant crops. Colgrain estate,
then and long owned by the Dennistouns of Dennistoun, was not reclaimed
until the end of the last century, its public-spirited owner being presented
in 1801 with a medal on account of his improvements. Part of Ballimenach in
1784 was a mass of stones, and Blartimore was of such poor soil that the
tenant could dig peats close to the dwelling-house, and on the high lands of
nearly all the farms in the parish were great tracts of waste, scrubby, and
uncultivated ground. Kirkton and Drumsaddoch were, not much over fifty years
ago, covered with whins, heather, bracken, and wood, with stretches of
marshy soil and bogs, while now they present all the appearance of
prosperous farms.
Rents of farms in the parish
were very low in former days as compared with what are now drawn for the
same holdings, and much of them was paid in meal, poultry, and eggs, while
the tenants also were subject to "bondage," or services of various kinds
which they had to render to their landlords. The rent of Hawthornhill, of
fifty-two acres in extent, was, in the reign of Alexander III., 20s. per
annum. In 1629 the whole value of the land would be about £60, or £5
sterling, and in 1657 its annual value under Oliver Cromwell's Act was £45
Scots, equivalent to £3 15s. sterling money. In 1806 the rent was £40
sterling, and the present tenant pays nearly as much per acre as was given
in 1657 for the farm. The annual value of the two holdings of
Kipperminshochs in 1367 was 16s.; in the reign of James V. it was £10 13s.
4d. Scots and twelve poultries, which afterwards became a feu-duty payable
to the Crown. In 1550 the whole estimated capital value of the entire farm
might be assumed to be about £33 5s. sterling; in 1657 the valued rent was
£7 Is. 8d. sterling, and in 1880 the rent paid was £455. Ballimenach was
purchased in 1708 by the Trustees of Mrs. Moore's Mortification for 11,500
merks Scots, or in sterling money about £639, the capital value of which is
probably twenty times the original cost.
Keppoch, a compact and finely
situated property in 1676 produced £144 Scots, or £12 in sterling money, and
one hundred years later it was let on a 19 year's lease at 450 merks Scots
or about £25 sterling. In 1820 Mr. Dunlop, a well-known banker in Greenock,
who effected great improvements in the estate, purchased it for £12,820
sterling, and its annual value at the present time, is about £350, excluding
the mansion house. Gilbert Graham of Knockdolian sold Ardochmore and
Wallacetown about the year 1531 to Walter Colquhoun, the third son of the
laird of Luss, for 278 merks Scots; and in 1625 Ardochbeg, Hoill and
Dalreoch were apprised from Thomas Fallasdaill for a debt of 1100 merks
Scots and interest, and were not redeemed.
In 1721 the estate of
Kilmahew proper—consisting of the two Auchensails, Kirkton, Kilmahew Mill,
and Mill Lands of Kilmahew, Drumsaddoch, the Barrs, Auchenfroe, and the
Spittal of Auchenfroe, was adjudged from George Napier by Sir James Smollett
for two debts of £12,896 1s. 4d. Scots and £1295 12s. Scots. In order to
redeem his ancestral domain, George Napier sold in 1735 to James, eldest son
of Sir James Smollett, the Auchensails, Barrs, and Drumsaddoch, with
Wallacetown and Walton at the price of £33,152 Scots or £2762 sterling,
being about 28 years' purchase of the then rental of £1200 Scots.
Alexander Chalmers, who was
the tenant of Succoth farm, died bankrupt in 1735, when, owing to the need
of realising the stock for the benefit of the landlord, it was disposed of
by public roup, with the following result:—
The farmer of Succoth, John
Leckie; a former tenant, died bankrupt in July 1661, leaving an estate worth
£158 Scots.
The foregoing most
interesting information from Old Cardross gives a good idea of the condition
of agriculture in the parish during the past century. In the same work will
be found many curious illustrations of the style of houses in which both the
lairds and the farmers lived, the food of the farm servants, and the very
small wages for which they gave their services. The cottages were just built
of dry stone, cemented with mud or clay, a door so low that you needed to
stoop before entering, windows with no glass, the fire on the floor, and the
smoke found its way outside through a hole in the roof. The ordinary fuel
was peat, sticks, and whins, and in summer the servants rose at four in the
morning and toiled on to nine or ten o'clock at night. While the servants
lived in such a condition of drudgery, the owners of the soil evidently had
but a small share of worldly goods and chattels, and money was a scarce
commodity. Even such a laird as William Dennistoun of Colgrain when he
purchased, in 1683, ten bolls of here from MacAulay of Laggarie, at the
price of eight merks a boll, was obliged to grant a bond for the same of £4
8s. 10d. sterling. In 1676 John Semple of Fulwood, granted his bond to
William M'Farlane of Drumfad for £1620 Scots, or £135 sterling, having as
cautioners William Dennistoun of Colgrain, Thomas Fleming of Dalquhurn,
William Semple of Dalmoak, and John Bontein, fiar of Geilston. In spite of
all these securities the lender of the money had to go to the process of
horning and poinding before he could get repayment. On 5th February, 1732,
George Napier of Kilmahew granted to George Mitchell of Glasgow a bill for
£6 5s. 31d. sterling, payable on 1st June at Mr. Shiells' coffee-house, and
the bill being dishonoured legal proceedings had to be instituted for its
recovery. Another illustration of the slender resources of the Cardross
lairds is thus recorded: "In a scheme of the income and expenditure of
Captain James Smollett of Bonhill, in 1735, the sum of 400 merks, or £22 4s.
5d., is set aside for the support of his brother Archibald's two younger
children, one of whom was the celebrated Tobias Smollett, 'until they are
twelve years old.' Small though this sum may appear, the provision made at
the same time for the widow of Sir James Smollett—Old Lady Bonhill, as she
is termed in the scheme—stepmother of the novelist, was but twice the
amount, £44 8s. 10d."
The old mansion of Dalquhurn
at Renton, where the Smolletts of Bonhill long resided, and in which the
novelist was born, is described by Mr. Macleod in his volume on the Leven
district as follows :"The site of the old house Dalquhurn, in which Tobias
Smollett was born in 1721, is embraced within the bounds of a field at the
south end of the village, over-looking the Leven. Dalquhurn House was a
three storey, gaunt, prosaic building, of a severely plain style of
architecture. Its northern front showed unadorned walls, pierced with three
oblong windows in each flat. It had a one-storey wing at its west end, the
whole being surrounded by a low wall. The old mansion house stood on a
commanding knoll, which dominated the river at one of its most beauteous
links. Its northern windows commanded a fine view of the Leven valley, and
from its southern ones prospects of the castle and town of Dunbarton, and
their beautifully diversified surroundings, could be obtained, so that while
the `auld hoose' was itself unlovely, its position was most attractive." At
that period the scenery of the Vale of Leven was rich and pastoral, the
verdant meads laved by the clear waters of the rapidly,fiowing stream, and
its uplands diversified by a blending together of arable lands, woods, and
great stretches of heather. As yet there were none of the great Turkey-red
works which have been such a source of wealth to the Vale of Leven, and the
landscape presented a scene of Arcadian peacefulness and beauty which is
alluded to in Smollett's fine Ode to Leven later.
"Pure stream, in whose
translucent wave
My youthful Iimbs I wont to lave;
No torrents stain thy limpid source,
No rocks impede thy dimpling course,
That sweetly warbles o'er its bed,
With white, round, polished pebbles spread
While, lightly poised, the scaly brood
In myriads cleave the crystal flood."
The Smolletts of Bonhill, who
long resided at Dalquhurn, and owned much of the land in the parish, are an
old family who still possess the estate, and some of whose members achieved
distinction. John Smollett, the first of the family, occupied a good
position in the burgh of Dunbarton as a merchant and bailie about the year
1504. His son John was one of the commissioners appointed to negotiate with
the burgh of Renfrew regarding the navigation of the Clyde. Tobias Smollett
who was designated as of Over Kirkton, was bailie of Dunbar-ton, and was
slain at the battle of Glenfruin in 1603. Another John Smollett was bailie
depute of the Regality of Lennox, and provost of Dunbarton for a number of
years, and died about 1680. Sir James Smollett his son was the first
proprietor of Bonhill, which he purchased in 1684 from the Lindsays. He was
educated at the University of Glasgow, and in 1665 was apprenticed to a
Writer to the Signet in Edinburgh, but after his marriage to Jane Macaulay
of Ardencaple, he commenced business on his own account as a writer in
Dunbarton. In 1685 he was chosen as commissioner from the burgh to the
Parliament, and this appointment was continued during twelve successive
Parliaments. About the time of the Revolution of 1688 he came under the
suspicion of the Jacobite party as one who favoured conventicles, and he
felt it necessary to remove with his family to Edinburgh. In 1698 he was
made a Judge of the Commissary Court of Edinburgh, and was knighted by King
William III. Sir James was nominated as one of the commissioners who were
empowered to treat regarding the Union between England and Scotland, a
measure which he warmly supported, though his Dunbarton constituents were
averse to its being passed. By a Minute of Council dated 4th October 1706,
it was resolved that their representative "declare their dislike of and
dissent from the articles of Union, as in their judgment inconsistent with
and subversive of the fundamental laws and liberty of the nation," and a
petition was also forwarded from the Burgh of Dumbarton to the same effect.
Sir James, however, resolved to continue his support of the Union, as
conducive to the best interests of the kingdom, and showed his constituents
that their action interfered with his independence. He was created a
Deputy-Lieutenant of the county in 1715, whets he received a letter from the
Duke of Argyll, who wrote, "I am very sensible of the good affection of your
shyre for his Majestie's person and government, and I don't at all doubt but
you will exert yourselves upon this occasion, for supporting me in reducing
the rebells now in arms against their Protestant King, in favour of a Popish
Pretender." Besides being elected as ruling elder to represent the burgh in
the General Assembly of the Church, Sir James was nominated one of the
Commissioners appointed to visit and report upon the Universities and
Schools in Scotland. He died in 1731, and was succeeded by his grandson
James, a lieutenant in Captain Paget's regiment, who largely increased the
family estates by the purchase of Kilmahew from George Napier in 1735, and
other properties. Upon his death in 1738 he was succeeded by his cousin
James, who was Commissary of Edinburgh and Sheriff-Depute of Dunbartonshire.
He was a man of enlightened views, and of a very charitable disposition. He
purchased the beautiful estate of Cameron, where the Smollett family now
live, in 1763, and he and his successors have since resided at this finely
situated house on the banks of Loch Lomond. Here he entertained Dr. Johnson
and James Boswell on their return from the adventurous journey in the
Highlands. []From Boswell's Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides the following
is extracted: "Mr. Smollett was a man of considerable learning, with
abundance of animal spirits, so that he was a very good companion for Dr.
Johnson, who said to me, ' We have had more solid talk here than at any
place where we have been.' I remember Dr. Johnson gave us this evening an
able and eloquent discourse on the `origin of evil,' and on the consistency
of moral evil with the power and goodness of God. He showed us how it arose
from our free agency, an extinction of which would be a still greater evil
than any we experience. I know not that he said anything absolutely new, but
he said a great deal wonderfully well; and perceiving us to be delighted and
satisfied, he concluded his harangue with an air of benevolent triumph over
an objection which has distressed many worthy minds, `This then is the
answer to the question "Hoften ro Kaeov."' Mrs. Smollett whispered me that
it was the best sermon she had ever heard. Much do I upbraid myself for
having neglected to preserve it."
With James Smollett, the
Commissary, the direct male line of Sir James's descendants ended, as he had
no issue. The estate reverted to the heirs of Archibald Smollett, the fourth
son of Sir James, who had married Barbara Cuningham of Gilbertfield, and had
two sons and one daughter. One of the sons was the novelist and historian,
Tobias Smollett, who was born in 1721, and died at Leghorn, in Italy, in
1771, in the 51st year of his age. He was apprenticed to a surgeon in
Glasgow, Gordon by name, and then went to London in 1739, and soon after
entered the Royal Navy as surgeon's mate, but after a short experience
retired from the service. About the year 1746 he returned to London, and
tried to practice as a physician, in which he had but small success. From
henceforth he devoted himself to literature, and wrote several novels which
brought him fame and money, and his most important work, the continuation of
Hume's History of England. His cousin, James Smollett of Bonhill, who did
little to assist the impecunious author during his life, erected an elegant
column of Tuscan architecture to his memory, which may be seen in the
village of Renton, beside the public road. The long Latin inscription upoii
the pedestal, written chiefly by Dr. Stuart, Professor of Humanity in
Edinburgh University, records the claims of Smollett to literary
distinction. On the death of James Smollett without issue, the estate of
Bonhill devolved upon his cousin Jane, who married Alexander Telfer of
Scotston, and assumed the name of Smollett, and was succeeded by her son,
Alexander Telfer Smollett, who married Cecilia Renton, one of the beauties
of Edinburgh, after whom the village of Renton, built upon the Smollett
property, was named. Alexander Smollett died in 1799, and had issue,
Alexander, a colonel in the army, and member for the county of Dunbarton,
who was killed at the battle of Alkmaer in Holland. His brother John
succeeded, and married first Louisa, daughter of William Rouet of
Auchendennan, and secondly, Elizabeth, daughter of the Honourable Patrick
Boyle of Shewalton, Lord Presindent of the Court of Session.
Admiral John Rouet Smollett,
who succeeded to Bonhill, was a type of the naval officer of the last
century, plain of speech and somewhat eccentric in dress, but of a kindly
disposition. He died in 1842, in the 75th year of his age, and was succeeded
in the family estates by his son, Alexander Smollett, who was born in 1801.
The new laird of Bonhill was, in every respect, a true representative of a
Scottish proprietor who continually resided on his estate, and whose earnest
desire was to add to the happiness and prosperity of every one with whom he
was brought in contact. He shewed great judgment in the management of his
extensive property, and in 1866 rebuilt the family mansion at Cameron, which
now presents a fine baronial aspect on the beautifully wooded banks of
Lochlomond. The town of Alexandria may be said to owe its existence to
AIexander Smollett, and at all county meetings his sound advice and intimate
knowledge of public business made him a trusted counsellor. From 1841 to
1859 he represented Dunbartonshire in Parliament, in the Conservative
interest, and he was a devoted adherent of the Church of Scotland, to whose
schemes he was a liberal benefactor.
On Alexander Smollet's death
in 1881, lamented and esteemed by all who knew him, his brother, the late
Patrick Boyle Smollett of Bonhill, succeeded to the estate. Having, early in
the present century, left his country to seek a career in India, it was only
late in life that Patrick Smollett was much known in BonhilI. He was
educated at the old High School of Edinburgh, where one of his schoolfellows
was the eldest son of Sir Walter Scott, and another the late William Forbes
of Medwyn. Young Smollett boarded with a clergyman who lived in Brown
Square, and opposite was the house of Lord Glenlee, one of the judges, and
he used to watch the old judge dressing in his robes in the morning, and
marching with his cocked hat on across the Cowgate to the Parliament House.
In his father's house in Queen Street, while attending the University, he
often met Sir Walter Scott, and he remembered the sensation caused when Sir
Alexander Boswell of Auchenleck was shot in a duel by Stuart of Dunearn. He-
used to see Sir Walter also at Ross Priory, on Loch Lomond, the seat of Mr.
Macdonald Buchanan, and Sir Adam Ferguson used to visit his father at
Cameron House. After leaving the University of Edinburgh, young Smollett
went to the East India Company's College at Haileybury, where, among his
instructors, were Sir James Mackintosh and the famous Malthus. About the
year 1824, when he was twenty years old, Patrick Smollett got an appointment
in the Board of Revenue, Madras, and was afterwards made Secretary to the
Board. After a time the Governor of Madras, Lord Elphinstone, offered him
the post of Agent to Government at Vizagapatam in 1843, where he had great
powers, both judicial and revenue, and here he remained till 1857, when he
quitted the service upon a moderate pension. On his retirement Mr. Smollett
carried with him the respect and regard of the native gentry, and of the
whole native agricultural community.
Returning to London, Patrick
Smollett began to employ his active mind in political affairs, and in 1859
when his brother Alexander retired from the representation of
Dunbartonshire, he was invited to contest the county, and was successful. He
continued to represent the county till 1868 when he resigned, rather than
face an expensive contest. Once more again he entered Parliament in 1874,
this time for Cambridge, and sat for the burgh till the year 1880. His
speeches in the House of Commons were vigorous and racy, and sheaved an
intimate acquaintance with Indian affairs, and he mercilessly exposed any
extravagance or abuses in the Indian Civil Service, while his absolute
independence made him dreaded by the officials, whose ill-will he lightly
esteemed. On several occasions he crossed swords with Mr. Gladstone, and the
House greatly enjoyed the quaint and peculiar humour of the descendant of
Tobias Smollett. In 1881, on the death of his brother Alexander, Mr.
Smollett succeeded to Bonhill, where he constantly resided, and discharged
his various duties of Convener of the county, and chairman of different
local boards with exemplary fidelity. Recognising his self-denying labours
his friends and neighbours presented him, in September 1893, with his
portrait, and a copy was placed in the county buildings at Dunbarton, beside
that of his brother Alexander. In spite of his great age Mr. Smollett was
regularly found on the moors every 12th of August, till within two years of
his death, and to the very last he retained his tenacious memory, and great
mental activity, shewing an intimate acquaintance with passing events. Like
his brother, Patrick Smollett was never married, and peacefully passed away
from this earth on 11th February 1895, the last scion of that branch of the
Smolletts of Bonhill. A very large concourse of mourning friends and
neighbours followed in the funeral procession to the cemetery at Alexandria,
the chief mourner being his cousin Captain James Drummond Telfer, of
Glenview Hall, Hereford, who has succeeded to the estates of Cameron and
Bonhill.
Thus died, in the 92nd year
of his age, one who possessed mental gifts of no common order, and a
politician who, although holding pronounced Conservative views, yet fully
recognised the need of admitting all the respectable classes of the
community to share in the electoral franchise. Having had the opportunity of
hearing from Mr. Smollett, reminiscences of his early days at Cameron, and
in Edinburgh, the author is able to give some details of that period. His
father, the Admiral, was a regular old sailor, who went about shabbily
dressed, and one day coming out of his avenue gate was accosted by - a
beggar, with the question, "did ye get onything there?" His mother was a
kindly old lady, who regularly gave the deserving poor from the neighbouring
villages a supply of meal and other articles, and they were allowed to warm
themselves by the kitchen fire on these fortnightly visits. The village of
Renton in those days was only a row of cottages, called the "Red Row" for
the workers at Dalquburn dye-works. What is now the flourishing town of
Alexandria, was then only a cluster of thatched cottages, known locally as
"the Grocery," from a shop kept by John Campbell for supplying such goods. A
butcher, a shoemaker, and two public-houses ministered to the necessities of
the neighbourhood, and the carrier went up to Glasgow on Monday, returning
on Wednesday with the requisite goods. All the way from Renton to
Alexandria, where now is a continuous row of houses and public works, in
these days were green fields in which young Smollett used to shoot rabbits
and hares. The old family mansion of the Smolletts, in Dunbarton, was then
in existence on the south side of the High Street, but in a dilapidated
condition, and was three storeys high, with an old-fashioned crow-stepped
gable projecting on to the street. One or two of the stones of the mansion,
which was built in 1661 by Margaret Smollett, may yet be seen, though the
house itself no longer exists. In those days the old Elephant Inn was the
great hostelry in Dunbarton, which was kept by Mrs. M'Nicol, and there was
always a large number of post-horses for the use of the county families when
they drove to Glasgow or Edinburgh. Patrick Smollett used to post with his
father to Edinburgh, but afterwards he made the voyage in Henry Bell's small
steamer, the Comet, from Dunbarton to Glasgow. He remembered how she
sometimes went aground when off the mouth of the Cart, and the passengers
would run rapidly from side to side with the view of moving the vessel.
Cameron House was built about
1790, and was a modest, old-fashioned building, but was enlarged in 1812 by
Admiral Smollett, and only a small portion of the first house remains in the
present mansion. His father brought the most of the estate into cultivation
when Patrick Smollett was a boy, and spent a great deal in draining and
building suitable farm-steadings. He used to shoot on the moor, which came
down to the high road near Cameron, and got abundance of grouse, black game,
and woodcocks, while there were various birds, not now to be seen which
frequented the shores of the loch, such as owls, hawks, herons, kingfishers,
etc. Capercailzies were encountered occasionally, but most of the winged
game has well nigh disappeared, with the exception of pheasants. In those
days only the Duke of Montrose and Sir James Colquhoun kept gamekeepers, and
the modern system of battue shooting was unknown. The farmers came to
Cameron house to pay their rents to the steward, and some of them brought
live poultry with them as part of the rent. They were a primitive set, and
Mr. Smollett remembered one old farmer, who had lived for sixty years on
Auchensail, telling him that during that time he had only once been at
Dunbarton. Smuggling was a great institution, and was openly pursued, and
once he remembered seeing a party of twenty smugglers passing along the road
near Cameron, with a piper at their head, taking a large supply of whisky to
Dunbarton for sale. He knew where four illicit stills were at work on
Cameron moor, and could see the smoke of five others rising from the grounds
of Balloch and Boturich on the opposite side of Loeb Lomond, and the gaugers
were set at defiance by those engaged in the contraband trade. Some of the
Highland proprietors who were in the way of dealing in cattle and sheep,
used to stay at Cameron on their way to the well-known Carman market, held
on the moor above Dunbarton, regular visitors being Ai llNeill of Colon-say,
and his brother of Oronsay. Their cattle and sheep were pastured in the
fields, and many dealers came all the way from Norfolk and Suffolk to
purchase stock. Much kelp also was sold by the M`Neills to the Dixons of
Levengrove for their glass works, and after a fortnight's stay in the
hospitable house of Cameron, the brothers would wend their way back to their
island homes by way of Glencroe. The Dunbartonshire lairds then were glad to
increase their means from sundry incidental sources, but several of them
were obliged to alienate their cherished family acres. Towards the close of
last century the farm-steadings, roads, enclosures, and fences, were much
improved, more money circulated in the district, and the tenants were able
to co-operate with the landlords in enhancing the value of the soil.
Considerable tracts of waste lands were thus brought under cultivation, and
what was tilled was rendered more productive through improved systems of
drainage.
A still older family, whose
representatives long possessed extensive lands in Cardross, is that of
Dennistoun of Colgrain, the proud boast of one of them being, "Kings have
come of us, not we of kings." Sir William Denzelstoun, the first of Colgrain,
third son of Sir John Denzelstoun of that ilk, is designed in a deed in
favour of the church of Glasgow, in 1377, as "Dominus de Colgrane et do
Cambesescan," and was one of the household of the unfortunate Prince David,
and received a pension of 20 merks out of the great customs of the burgh of
Dunbar. In 1455 Charles Denzelstoun of Colgrain is mentioned as witness to a
deed, and in 1481 died, seized in the lands of Col-grain, two Camiseskans,
Auchendennan, and Cameron. Passing by several of the family, we come to
Robert Denzelstoun, who seems to have been concerned along with the Earl of
Glencairn in treasonable correspondence with Henry VIII. of England. He also
sought to protect his property from the lawless invasion of some of the
Highland clans, and had a commission from the tenants and occupiers of his
lands to recover the goods spuilzied from them by John Colquhoun of Luss,
Duncan Macfarlane of Arrochar, and others. In 1638 the family is represented
by John Dennistoun of Colgrain, a strong supporter of the royal cause, his
many services being at last crowned with the sacrifice of his life. The Earl
of Glencairn having been appointed by Charles II., in 1653,
Commander-in-Chief of the Royalist troops in Scotland, granted commissions
to Dennistoun in November and December of that year. Monk, Couper, Argyll,
and other Parliamentary leaders, came to Dunbarton in 1654 "advising on a
hard and sorrowful work, what houses and what corn to burn." Very soon they
apprehended John Dennistoun as one of the most active Royalists in that part
of the country. He subsequently died, after lingering for many months, of a
wound he received in the Highland expedition in 1655. He left three
daughters, failing whom the property was to go to William Dennistoune of
Dalcluhurne, the son of Archibald Dennistoune, minister of Campsie, who now
came into the direct Iine of succession to the estate. William Dennistoune
being unable to maintain his rights against various interested parties, was
obliged to live in retirement, although he was a strong supporter of the
Tory party. He was nominated as Commissioner for the County of Dunbarton in
the Acts of Supply for the years 1678-1685 and for 1704. He was succeeded by
his son John, who, during his occupancy, cleared the estate of debt, and
left it to his son much enhanced in value, and also was a warm supporter of
the Jacobite cause. James Dennistoun in 1752 had a resignation from his
father of the family estates, reserving to the latter his life-rent of the
mansion-house. He would have joined Prince Charles Edward in 1745 had it not
been for his father, and ultimately took the more prudent and profitable
course of devoting himself to commercial pursuits. He gave up the estate to
his eldest son, and resided in Glasgow, becoming one of the leading
Virginian merchants in the city. His son James, who succeeded in 1796, on
the other hand, preferred a country life, though very successful in
mercantile pursuits, and was chosen Convener of the county, holding this
office till his death. lie was an enthusiastic supporter of the Militia and
Volunteer forces, and long commanded the regiment of Dunbartonshire local
Militia. Another James Dennistoun, son of the preceding, succeeded to the
family honours in 1816, and in 1825 he acquired from Sir James Colquhoun of
Luss the lands of Drumfork in excambion for those of Auchenvennal Mouling.
He also established his right to the designation of Dennistoun of Dennistoun.
In 1834 there succeeded to
the estate the man whose intellectual and literary acquirements shed lustre
upon the name—James Dennistoun of Dennistoun. He was born in 1803 and lived
a considerable part of his life at Scotstoun with his grandfather, Mr.
Oswald. After having studied at Glasgow University, where he gave great
promise of future scholarly eminence, he passed advocate in 1824, and very
soon turned his attention to literary matters. He became a member and
contributor to both the Bannatyne and Maitland Clubs, which had been started
with the laudable intention of aiding archeological researches, and
elucidating and tabulating recondite and abstruse subjects in connection
with our Scottish history. Mr. Dennistoun presented to the Bannatyne Club an
edition, drawn up by himself of Moysie's Memoirs of the Affairs of Scotland
from 1577 to 1603, in addition to which he edited for the Club The
Cartularium Comitatus de Levenax, The Coltness Collection, and The Cochrane
Correspondence. He also contributed to the Miscellany of the Maitland Club
"Letters from Henry II. King of France to his cousin, Mary, Queen Dowager of
Scotland," and other valuable papers. In 1825 he made a long tour on the
Continent, and met at Rome his future wife, Miss Wolfe Murray, daughter of
Lord Cringletie, one of the Lords of Session, whom he married in 1835. Next
year he was reluctantly obliged to sell the fine old family estate of
Colgrain, and afterwards purchased Dennistoun Mains in Renfrewshire, the
property from whence his family designation was derived. From this time his
studies seemed directed more towards artistic subjects; while family
genealogies and local topography appeared to be left in abeyance, and he
contributed elaborate and scholarly articles to the Edinburgh and Quarterly
Reviews. Released from his duties as a resident county gentleman and
magistrate, Mr. Dennistoun devoted a considerable portion of his time to
Continental travel, and he was thus enabled to pursue his researches into
the fascinating field of foreign art. His elegant work, published in 1852,
the Memoirs of the Duke of Urbino, was a proof of his zeal in art
investigation, and it received ample approval from those thoroughly
qualified to treat the higher branches of artistic criticism. The
suggestions which Mr. Dennistoun threw out in the course of his examination
in 1853 before the Select Committee to inquire into the constitution of the
National Gallery, proved to be most practical and valuable. The last work
which came from his refined and fastidious pen was the Memoirs of Sir Robert
Strange, Engraver, and his Brother-in-law, Andrew Lumsden, the finished copy
of which, sad to say, was only delivered at his house on the day of its
author's lamented death in 1855.
The works which, above all
others, testify to Mr. Dennistoun's archaeological skill, critical culture,
and powers of intricate and laborious research, are the eleven manuscript
volumes which, by his trust deed, he left to his friend, the late Mark
Napier, Advocate, himself an author of some repute, though his writings are
disfigured by one-sided and very extreme views. After careful examination
and selection, and being accurately catalogued and indexed, Mr. Napier, in
accordance with his friend's bequest, presented the volumes to the
Advocates' Library in Edinburgh. On this occasion the learned Faculty
adopted a minute in which they record their gratification "on becoming the
possessors of these collections, which cannot fail to be of great interest
and importance, as being the work of one whose eminent qualifications for
researches of that kind were so well known and universally acknowledged."
While these manuscripts are rich in antiquarian and topographical
information touching upon many Scottish families and places, the notes and
chapters specially bearing upon a projected history of Dunbartonshire
constitute a mass of details, elaborate and accurate, which have been of
incalculable value to all who seek to investigate the county history. Mr.
Dennistoun was an eminent agriculturist, who did much to develope the
capabilities of his estate, and was a capable and judicious man of business,
holding several prominent positions in connection with industrial
enterprise, and his advice was eagerly sought as a trusted counsellor. By
his express desire he was not buried in the family vault at Cardross, but in
that of a former Sir Robert Dennistoun of Mountjoy, in the Greyfriars
Churchyard at Edinburgh, so full of hallowed and pathetic historic
associations. The epitaph on his tomb truthfully tells of Mr. Dennistoun as
"Distinguished in literature, of cultivated mind, sound judgment and refined
taste ; his Christian character, moral worth, and courteous manners,
endeared him to many friends." The present representative of the ancient
Colgrain family is James Dennistoun's nephew, James Wallis Dennistoun,
formerly a lieutenant in the Royal Navy. |
