The Queen’s Jubilee.
On the occasion of the first Jubilee of
the reign of Queen Victoria (1887), amid splendid summer weather,
Neilston and Barrhead were the scene of right loyal rejoicings. From
an early hour signs of coming enthusiasm were visible, and as the
day wore on, the buildings were gay with bunting; strings of
bannerets were thrown across the streets, and flags of many
descriptions were displayed from the windows and house-tops, many of
them bearing expressions of loyal good wishes. In Barrhead, the band
marched through the burgh amidst general rejoicings : at Neilston,
as the shades of night came down, electric lights flashed from the
top of the clock-tower at Crofthead thread works, lighting up the
country around. A bonfire was kindled, and a grand display was
produced by setting off a large number of brilliant rockets. The
streets were perambulated by an enthusiastic company amidst great
rejoicings and the singing of snatches of popular songs. Later in
the evening, to the inspiring strains of the violin and cornet,
dancing on the street was kept up for several hours by the younger
members of the community.
BURSTING OF GLANDERSTON DAM.
This dam is the
reservoir for supplying South Arthurlie print-works with water, and
is situated on a much higher ground about two miles to the west of
the works. The accident occurred when the works were stopped for the
New Year holidays, and is supposed to have been caused by some
interference with the water-levels at Walton dam, immediately above
it, and to which it is a supplementary reservoir. The embankment
gave way during the night of the 30th December, 1842, when the great
volume of water thus let suddenly loose rolled down the valley
through which Glanderston Burn flows to the printfield below,
dashing amongst the buildings there with very serious consequences.
Several families resided at the works, and there were many narrow
escapes, but one family had eight of its members cut off without the
slightest warning. Most probably the disaster would have been more
destructive than it unfortunately was, had it taken place at any
other than the holiday time. The members of the unfortunate family
who lost their lives were interred in the burial-ground of what is
now Arthurlie U.F. Church, where a large tombstone was subsequently
erected to their memory, with the following inscription :—
Sacred to the Memory of Mrs. M'Intyre, aged 48, and her daughter
Margaret, aged 8 years ; also, Robert Johnston, aged 45, and his
wife Margaret M'Nae, aged 50, and their children, Henrietta, aged
26, Archibald, aged 21, and Margaret, aged 17 years; also, their
grand-child, Margaret Henderson, aged 4 years, daughter of
Henrietta; who perished together in their own house at South
Arthurlie Field, on the night of the 30th December, 1842, in the
flood occasioned by the bursting of the embankment of Glanderston
Dam.
“Truly, as the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, there is but a
step between me and death.’'—1 Sam. xx. 3.
“Boast not thyself of to-morrow, for thou knowest not what a day may
bring forth.”—Prov. xxvii. 1.
VICTORIA PIT EXPLOSION.
In the year 1851—when
the general heart of the country, with pleasure and pride, was
looking forward to the approaching great world’s show, the first
International Exhibition, then being raised in Hyde Park. London, in
which the Prince Consort was taking such an active and praiseworthy
interest—a great gloom fell over the inhabitants of the parish of
Neilston and neighbourhood, and many hearts were suddenly stricken
by an irretrievable loss through the dreadful explosion at the
Victoria Pit, Nitshill. This pit is situated just beyond the
boundary of the parish at Barrhead, and the sound of the explosion
was heard there and over a wTide area for miles around, causing an
anxious and uneasy feeling amongst the people who heard it, from the
dread that something mysterious was impending, though no conception
could be formed of its nature at the time. This appalling
catastrophe took place on the morning of Saturday, between four and
five o’clock, 15th March, 1851.
The pit had been working for many years before the disaster, and the
underground arrangements were of such a superior character that the
pit had the reputation of being one of the best managed and
healthiest in Scotland, as well as one of the safest. The explosion
took place in the Hurlet shaft, which was about 170 fathoms deep,
whilst the workings below covered an area of 70 acres. Sixty-four
men and boys had been checked off as having descended the shaft that
morning before the explosion took place, and of that number only two
men were taken out alive, whilst sixty-two were killed. Many of
those who had met with such a sad end resided in Barrhead and
several in Neilston ; where a profound feeling of sympathy prevailed
for the sufferers left—the orphans and widows. Many funerals took
place on Saturday, 22nd, and Sunday, 23rd, when a large number of
the dead were buried in the little graveyard attached to St. John’s
Chapel at Barrhead. Conscious of the far-reaching effects the
catastrophe would have upon the living sufferers, men’s minds were
early drawn to take steps such as the urgency called for. Messrs.
Coats, Paisley, to whom the pit belonged, subscribed £500 towards a
fund in aid of the stricken people, and the Earl of Glasgow, who had
arrived early on the scene from Hawkhead, and had taken an active
part in helping the rescuers, with a noble generosity, also
subscribed £500, besides giving £50 as a reward to the heroic
explorers, who, at the risk of their own lives, had volunteered and
gone down the shaft as a search party. The disaster was thought to
have been caused by the roof having fallen in in some part of the
workings, by which a large accumulation of gas had taken place.
ACCIDENT ON THE CANAL AT PAISLEY.
Fifty years ago many
of the older inhabitants here possessed a vivid recollection of the
disastrous accident on the then Glasgow, Paisley and Ardrossan
Canal, since converted into the Canal Railway, which occurred on the
10th November, 1810, and cast a gloom over the whole district, some
Neilston people having friends in the disaster. The Canal, which had
its Glasgow terminus—Port-Eglinton—where Eglinton Street Station of
the Caledonian Railway now is, had been in use as far as Johnstone
for some time, and the fly-boat which plied regularly between these
ports had just brought a full complement of passengers from
Johnstone as far as Paisley, and put into the landing-stage there,
when an excited crowd of excursionists, not giving time for those on
board to land first who wanted to do so, rushed on to the deck of
the little craft. This extra side weight caused the vessel to heel
over, and immediately two hundred people were thrown into the canal
basin and struggling for life, and although the water was only about
six feet deep, eighty-five of their number were drowned.
LOCH LIBO COAL PIT DISASTER.
At various times coal
has been wrought in the western division of the parish, especially
about Caldwell, Uplawmoor, and Loch Libo. At the loch the coal seam
dips under the water from its southern margin, and here the remains
of the old engine seat of a former pit are still to be seen. About
the end of the eighteenth century—1793—the waters of the loch,
unfortunately, burst through upon the men underground, deluging the
workings. How many men were in the pit at the time of its occurrence
is not said, but six or seven of their number were drowned. One of
the men, we learn, was a servant of the Rev. John Monteath, D.D.,
afterwards minister of Houston, who had gone with a horse and cart
for coal, and who had gone down the shaft out of curiosity, or at
all events without any special message. The bodies of the
unfortunate men were never recovered.
THE FRENCH IN IRELAND.
Fifty years ago
several of the oldest Irish residents in Neilston could tell that
they quite well remembered the rebellion in Ireland of 1798 ; and of
seeing the French warships appearing in Killala Bay, on the shores
of which they then lived, and of the French troops being quartered
in the town of Killala, County of Mayo. It is interesting to observe
that this military adventure brought out one of those generous
courtesies that sometimes pass between gallant foes. General Humbert,
commanding the French, having been defeated and taken prisoner at
Carrick-on-Shannon—out-manoeuvred by Colonel Yereker of the Limerick
Militia— was one day at mess asked to give a toast, and immediately
gave “General Vereker”; being informed that Yereker was only a
Colonel of Militia, he exclaimed, “ Vraiment! mais c’est dommage
(Indeed ! that is a pity), for he is de only general I have met with
since I came to Ireland;” and this though he had been opposed by
Generals Luke and Lord Cornwallis.
THE BAPTISMAL CAKE.
Among customs that
still existed in the parish fifty years ago, though then dying out,
was that of the baptismal cake; in which, when a child was to be
presented for baptism, the mother baked beforehand a special
christening bread, designated the “blithemeat cake.” The cake, or so
much of it, was carried by the person, mother or nurse, who took the
infant to church, and was presented by her to the first adult person
whom she chanced to meet. If the person who received the cake was
aware of what was expected of him in the ceremony, he would
immediately take the child in his arms and accompany the mother or
nurse part of the way to church, as an evidence of his good-will
towards the family. But on the solitary occasion on which the writer
was presented with such a cake, being totally ignorant of the part
he was expected to take in the affair, he simply received the cake
with thanks and continued his journey, rather surprised at the
nurse’s insistency, as she offered no explanation.
RIDING THE BROOSE.
This custom, though
also rapidly dying out, was occasionally practised in the parish
fifty years ago, especially at country marriages. The broose was
generally ridden by well-mounted young farmers, tolerably mellowed
with the national beverage, and was a spectacle greatly enjoyed. The
object of the race was, of course, to be first to welcome the young
wife; and guns were fired into the air when she was seen
approaching. When the bride reached the threshold of her future home
she was frequently lifted over it, lest she should stumble, an omen
of ill-luck, and, as with her Roman sister of old, a farle of
oat-cake, or sacred cake baked for the purpose, was broken over her
head,1 as a sort of invocation that she might always have abundance
of the staff of life. It is to this custom, more common in his time
than it is to-day, that our national bard alludes in his address to
his “Auld Mare Maggie” :—
“At brooses thou had’st ne’er a
fallow
For pith and speed.
But every tail thou pay’t them hollow
Where’er thou gaed.”
The writer had an
experience of being sent for on one occasion to see professionally a
young birkie who had, in the comparative darkness of the night and
his zeal and hurry, ridden into the midden-stead that lay empty,
except for some water, convenient to an entrance into the farm
court. No doubt, in this case the “barmy noddle” had contributed to
the mistake ; but it was so far satisfactory that there was
practically no injury done.
THE BELTANE TANEL.
Firing the whin, or
gorse, on Capellie and Fereneze hill slopes, as darkness came down
on the evening of “May Day,” was a common practice among the young
people of Neilston until well within the memory of many of the older
inhabitants of the present day; and numbers of them can, doubtless,
recall merry evenings spent on the braes, between Killoch Glen and
the locale of the “kissing tree,” romping round the bonfires on
these occasions of welcoming in “the good old summer time.”
This custom was, doubtless, a relic of the very ancient Celtic
festival, celebrated by the Druids about this season of the year,
when the sacred fires were kindled—not without the suspicion that
they were frequently the scene of human sacrifice and suffering—with
the new light, which was produced by forcibly rubbing together two
pieces of wood. These rejoicings, with the amount of superstition
surrounding them, lingered long in the Hebrides and Western
Highlands generally, but they seem to have been common enough in
other parts of Scotland as well. The merry-making associated with
them is referred to by the royal bard, King James I., in his poem,
“Peblis to the Play”:—
“At Beltane when ilk bodie bownes
To Peblis to the play,
To hear the singin’ and the soundes
The Beltane, suth to say.”
GATHERING THE YARROW.
Another practice
indulged in by the youthful maidens of Neilston, in common with many
other places, on this eventful May Day evening was to “gather the
yarrow,” that they might try the fates as to the appearance of their
future partner in life. To be effective and propitious, this had to
be done just as the sun went down. Having culled the plant, it was
taken home and placed under the pillow, where its reputed influence
was expected to evoke the necessary dream; and just before
“slumber’s chains had bound ” the fair one, the following rhyme had
to be slowly repeated :—
“Yarrow, fair yarrow!
I hope before this time to-morrow
That you will show me
Who my true love shall be;
The colour of his hair,
The clothes that lie’ll wear,
And the words that he’ll speak,
When he comes to court me.”
THE PAYING, OR PENNY WEDDINGS.
The method of
celebrating the marriage festival by Penny Wedding was occasionally
had recourse to among a certain class of people in our community.
On such occasions, the custom was for each guest—and the more the
merrier—to contribute towards the expense incident to carrying out
the marriage in this fashion, and also to help the young couple to
start in their new sphere of life. The assembly generally took the
form of a night’s dancing in one of the halls, when the local
disciple of Paganini was requisitioned, and the fun went fast and
furious for several hours. But for many years this practice has been
given up, and paying weddings are now things of the past.
NEWSPAPER CLUBS.
Fifty years ago, when
the spread of knowledge was still trammelled by the tax upon paper
and newspaper duty (removed in 1861), when the evening paper was yet
a thing of the future, and a daily paper a luxury beyond the reach
of many, even middle-class families, it was no unusual thing in our
good town, where the desire was to keep abreast of the times as
regards news, for several persons to join or club together in
procuring a daily paper amongst them. The writer was one of five who
jointly carried out this economical method of procuring the Glasgow
Herald daily for many years.
THE CHARTISTS OF NEILSTON.
During the exciting
period that for some years preceded the passing of the great Reform
Bill of 1832—more particularly after the disastrous affair at
Manchester in 1819, known as Peterloo, when a political gathering
was dispersed by cavalry, and from 500 to 600 people were killed—
the whole country for miles around Paisley was in a state of intense
political ferment, aggravated by the suffering the people endured
through bad harvests and want of employment. For three years, from
1817 till 1820, many meetings of an alarming and riotous character
were held in Paisley under Radical and Chartist leaders, requiring,
in some instances, the intervention of the military force for their
suppression. Fortunately these disturbances did not lead to any loss
of life, but the destruction of property was very considerable in
different parts of the town.
As was to be expected in an advanced community, the people of
Neilston did not escape the contagion of this political commotion.
From the nature of a special part of their trade, the people of
Neilston were brought a good deal into contact with Paisley, then
the great centre of the hand-loom industry, and through this they
came to have strong sympathies with the movement that was there in
progress. A great meeting was held on Meikleriggs Moor in September,
1819. The people assembled in thousands from the surrounding towns
and villages, carrying Hags draped with black in sympathy with their
compatriots who had fallen in the struggle at Manchester; and we
learn that the brass band from Neilston entered the grounds playing
“Scots Wha Hae,” at the head of a contingent of followers. The
Magistrates of Paisley, at an earlier date, had issued a
Proclamation forbidding the carrying of flags at this gathering, and
a rumour got out during the progress of the meeting that the Hussars
had been sent for to disperse it. This may have helped to break up
the meeting a little earlier, but it had not the effect of improving
the temper of those taking part in it, and consequently when those
of the eastern section were on their way home, they got engaged in a
riotous disturbance in High Street, which, at the Cross, required
the assistance of the cavalry for its suppression. “But the Neilston
contingent, with their band playing, turned down Storie Street, then
just outside the burgh, and got quietly away.”
The intelligent moderation displayed in this instance was not,
however, acceptable to all the members of the j)arty, as the people
of Neilston were not without keen representatives in the struggle ;
and a story is told of some physical force Radicals and Chartists
who, after a rousing meeeting in the Masons’ Arms Hall, with
deputations from other parts, were resolved to “go out” against the
oppressor. The intention was, according to the “plan of camjjaign,”
first to march to Paisley Cross, whence, with increased numbers,
they would proceed by way of Renfrew, to Dumbarton, and, in
emulation of the brave Sir Thomas Crawford of Jordanhill, would
seize the castle there, and place the guard in irons. Having done
this, and supplied themselves with arms, they would march to London,
increasing in volume as they neared the capital, and there demand
the charter. But, as the day approached for the grand start being
made, it became rumoured that the Yeomanry were on the alert, and
that a domiciliary search might be made of suspects, which had the
effect of giving their zeal pause; and, finally, the fiasco burst
up. And in later years and happier times, when the object of their
agitation had been practically granted by statesmen who “took
occasion by the hand to broad base the constitution on the people’s
will,” and their own better sense had asserted itself, they could
join with others heartily in the laugh at the Chartist escapade,
even when at their own expense.
THE “SNUFF MULL” IN THE KIRK.
The late John
Carswell, sometime minister’s man, church officer, gravedigger,
postman, and registrar, was quite a type of characters that were to
be found in many old and somewhat isolated towns fifty or sixty
years ago. His family, by his maternal relatives of the name of
Gemmell, had been continuously “ church officers and gravediggers
for over seven hundred years, as proved from church records.” John,
or Johnny, as he was generally called, was an all-round man, about
seventeen stone weight, and not by any manner of means a teetotaller.
To a blustering manner, he added a good deal of natural shrewdness
and wit, a straight out and honourable man. In his time he had been
brought into contact with the ministers of most of the parishes
around, through the occasional interchange of pulpits. On one
occasion, when the minister of Neilston, the Rev. Dr. Fleming, was
preaching at Eaglesham, he had his man Johnny with him as coachman.
John, having seen the horse duly stabled, attended the church in
company with his brother beadle, occupying the same seat with him.
The sermon having got fairly under weigh, the home beadle, by way of
courtesy, after helping himself, handed his snuff-box as a friendly
greeting to the stranger, who, having helped himself, returned the
box to its owner. This, as a matter of course, they thought had
passed unnoticed, but such was not their luck; the preacher had
observed the proceedings, and, being a strict disciplinarian, could
not allow this flagrant want of attention to pass unchecked ; so,
suddenly stopping in his discourse, to the no small surprise of the
congregation, including the beadles, he leaned over the pulpit and,
looking the culprits straight in the face, remarked with great
deliberation: “There are some of you more concerned about your
noses, than the salvation of your souls.” Needless to say, more
caution would be exercised when next the kindly beadle ventured to
pass the “mull” in the kirk.
THE GOOSE AND THE “JAW-HOLE.”
The Rev. Dr. Fleming
was a powerful and resourceful preacher, and during the many years
he presided over ecclesiastical affairs in the parish, was held in
the highest esteem by the people, but he did not get on very
harmoniously with the heritors. Law pleas, and bickerings of various
kinds, led to estrangement, and they seldom saw eye to eye in things
pertaining to the management of the church. The disproportion
between the accommodation of the church and the population of the
parish at this time, 1826, led to considerable friction. The
minister wanted more accommodation for the people; whilst the
heritors contended the church had ample sitting room for those of
the inhabitants for whom they were obliged to provide sittings,
viz., the agricultural section of the community. This demand
resulted in the heritors rouping the seats for people other than the
farming population, a practice which was continued for some time. At
a public meeting, however, the people resolved that they would
attend church and disregard the seat-rouping. This led to legal
proceedings, when it was ultimately found the heritors were in error
in acting as they had done; and rouping the seats was prohibited by
interdict, greatly to their annoyance. Some of them even left the
church and ceased to worship with the reverend doctor, and began to
attend a dissenting church in Barrhead; which the reverend doctor,
in consequence, designated the “Jaw-hole.” During this period of
disputation, the minister preached to one section of the
congregation in the churchyard from what was called “the tent,” a
square box on four legs with a covering over it, and steps leading
up to it, as to a pulpit; and in the church to another section, the
heritors, their families, and supporters; and this practice he
continued one way and another for eight years. On a particular
Sunday, as the open air service was being thus conducted, a fine
large goose wandered into the churchyard among the people—or, as
some aver, was thrown in by one of the malcontent heritors—when it
began screaming and gabbling in its own peculiar way, greatly to the
annoyance of the worshippers. The reverend doctor, however, who was
a keen satirist and wit, was equal to the occasion. Pausing in his
discourse and addressing the church officer, he said, “John, take
that poor creature out, and send it down the hill to gabble with its
kindred geese in the jaw-hole.”
On the misconduct being repeated the following Sunday, the minister,
again pausing, remarked, “ It is perhaps well, at all events it is
so far pleasant to think that the owners of this creature are not
unmindful of ordinances; for since they have not come themselves,
they have had the grace to send a suitable representative.” These
retorts w'ere more than the obtruders had calculated upon, and
finding they were only supplying a means by which they were
themselves chastised, the unseemly disturbance thenceforth ceased.
Another instance of the reverend gentleman’s ready wit is given, on
an occasion in which he had applied to the heritors to have his
garden properly fenced round. The spokesman of the heritors who
waited upon him to examine the defects, said, “Well, suppose we give
your garden an effectual enclosure in the form of a strong fence of
‘stabs and railings.’ "Stabs and railings, sir,” replied the
reverend doctor, “I have had nothing else since I came amongst you.”
“Smeekin’ Johnny.”
Sixty years ago, in
the bleaching works about Neilston, where a large number of
unmarried women were employed, most of them girls from “Far Lochaber”
and other parts of the Highlands, it was the custom to provide them
with lodging accommodation inside the work, in what was known as the
woman-house ; a practice now wisely discontinued, as its tendency in
most instances was not towards elevation. At this period there was
no limitation to the number of hours women might be obliged to work,
and frequently they were called to labour at a very early hour. To
ensure there being no excuse for not being up in the morning, the
night watchman was sent to the woman-house to rouse them in plenty
of time. One morning some of the girls had been more than usually
somnolent, and had not got to their work in what their irate
employer thought a reasonable time after being wakened, so he
resolved to give the sleepers a rude awakening. For this purpose he
filled the sleeping apartment with the fumes of chlorine, liberated
from chloride of lime, bleaching powder, by the action of sulphuric
acid or vitriol, seemingly ignorant of the physiological effects of
the gas upon human life. Some time afterwards, wondering at the
continued nonappearance of the women, the foolish man fortunately
sent some one to see how they were relishing their fumigation ; when
it was discovered that the inmates were all but suffocated ; many of
them barely escaping with their lives after strenuous medical
efforts and attention. Legal proceedings were only stayed by
subsequent liberal treatment. But ever afterwards the fumigator was
known in the neighbourhood by the sobriquet of “Smeekin’ Johnny.”
The following quatrain of some doggerel verses written at the time
indicates sufficiently the 'smeekin’ process :—
“The chemic barrels were brought
o’er,
Paddy set them soon a-reekin’,
‘Now,’ quo’ Johnny, steek the door,
And let the bitches get a smeekin’!”
STREET PREACHING.
The practice of
street preaching dates from a period long anterior to the inception
of the Salvation Army, in country towns at least, and in our good
town it was not without a following. The place usually selected for
these meetings was the Cross, near to the church gate, and
convenient to a tavern at the Cross which we shall designate the
“Pump Tavern,” from a pump well that stood just beside it. The
landlord of this tavern, an irate and peppery old “son of a bung,”
had frequently had his temper sorely tried by the attacks his trade
and he were weekly subjected to by a special preacher of the name of
H . . . . cock. At length, however, the proverbial last straw was
reached, and “ Old Pump,” as he was called, unable to contain
himself any longer, fumed out of his den, and attacked the preacher
with such sustained volleys of expletives as made him fain to beat a
retreat, “Old Pump” winding up the final volley with, “Dang ye, sir,
ye may be a H ... . cock, a gem cock, or a midden cock, but I’ll let
ye see ye’ll no craw at my door as you’ve been doin’, without bein’
tell’t o’t.”
On another occasion, the worthy landlord of the “Pump” had been
hay-making. When he began work, the strength of the wind had been
such as suited the operation ; but suddenly springing into quite a
little gale, the hay got blown out of the old man’s arms as he
carried it across the field to be ricked. Having borne with the
annoyance for some time, he at length lost what little patience he
possessed, and threw the whole of what was left in his arms into the
wind, at the same time exclaiming, as he addressed his windy enemy,
“There, dang ye, tak it a!”
WITCHES IN NEILSTON.
It is scarcely matter
for surprise to learn that, during the witch-hunting time, towards
the end of the seventeenth century, Neilston did not escape
suspicion. Pardovan informs us that “our General Assembly, July 29,
1640, had ordained all ministers carefully to take notice of
charmers, witches, and all such abusers of the people, and to urge
the Acts of Parliament to be execute against the people.” When such
was the state of matters “in the green tree,” we do not wonder when
we learn at a later date that “a number of witches were apprehended
in Tnverkip, Lin wood, Neilston, and Kilallan, 1650,” against whom
“an appeal was made to the Committee of Privy Council for their
punishment.” It would appear that this appeal was listened to, and
that after the wretched people were duly “worrit,” the following
decision was given out:—“ 26th July, 1650, find Janet Hewison, in
Kilallan guiltie of divers points of sorcerie and witchcraft, and
seriouslie recommend her to the Lords of Secret Council or Committee
of Assembly that ane Commission may be granted for her trial and
punishment.”
Who the suspects from Neilston may have been, that “were
apprehended,” is not set forth, but whoever she or they were, it
would seem that with the others from Linwood and Inverkip, they had
passed through the prescribed ordeal of being “worrit” scathless. No
easy matter in these terrible Councils. But Neilston’s connection
with witchcraft did not end there. In 1697, when “Christina Shaw,
the impostor of Bargarran, who pretended she was bewitched, and made
credulous ministers believe her rhapsodies,” we find the Laird of
Glanderston was of the Commission for Inquiry and of Justiciary with
others; whose finding was “that there were witches,” and that
further inquiry should be made. In consequence of this
recommendation, a new warrant of Privy Council was issued, 5th
April, 1697, subscribed by Polwarth, Chancellor; Douglas,
Lauderdale, Annandale, Carmichael, W. Anstruther, and Archibald Mure
; when, after a trial, which is painful reading in the light of the
present day, seven wretched people, three men and four women, were
condemned to death as guilty of the crime of witchcraft. During the
incarceration of these poor creatures, the Rev. David Brown, then
minister of Neilston, was appointed to deal with them; and
accordingly, on Wednesday, 9th June, 1697, he preached at Paisley
prison, being the day before the execution, a sermon on the sin of
witchcraft from the text, In his closing paragraph he says “One word
further, and that is, delay no longer to Renounce your deed of gift
to the Devil, . . . and give away yourself to the Son of God from
head to foot. Ye have put it off before and since the sentence; ye
have been much dealt with, and now it comes within a day of your
stepping into eternity, and we are come to you the day before your
death, entreating you to put it off no longer. 0 be serious ! God
hath exercised a great deal of long-suffering toward you [how little
they had experienced from man!], and ye have hardened your hearts;
and now we are come to you in your adversity, at last to desire you
to take Jesus Christ, and if you will not take Him, we are free of
your blood, and Jesus Christ is free of your blood; and if ye should
endure a thousand hells, ye yourselves are only to be blamed for the
slighting the reat salvation.”
Next day, for a crime that could not possibly have any existence,
these poor creatures were led out and executed on the Gallow Green
of Paisley, having, we are informed, “ been first hung for a few
minutes and then cut down and put into a fire prepared for them,
into which a barrel of tar was put, in order to consume them the
more quickly! The names of the miserable victims were, John Lindsay,
James Lindsay, John Reid, Catherine Campbell, Margaret Lang,
Margaret Fulton, Agnes Naismith— Sacrificed at the altar of the
three fatal sisters—Ignorance, Superstition, and Cruelty.”
SMUGGLING IN THE PARISH.
The desire to evade
payment of the duties imposed by the Excise upon particular
commodities seems almost like an instinct with a certain class of
people, and to no commodity does this seem more especially to have
applied in early times than to the production of whisky in our
country. From a very remote period the private still has been in
use, and in some districts many exciting scenes and hazardous
adventures have resulted from the endeavour of officials to effect a
capture. The days of the adventurous smuggler and his hardy crew
are, of course, long past, when foreign importations were common
enough, when a kilderkin of gin or a keg of brandy might arrive by
night in some mysterious way from an unknown quarter to certain
folks. In any case, this class of hazard had more to do with
sea-coast villages than with inland country towns. But as showing
that rural towns are not always free from this form of enterprise,
it may be mentioned that between thirty and fifty years ago,
Neilston had at least two illicit manufacturers doing business with
the private still after their own fashion. One of them was situated
in a comparative ruin in a romantic glen, not a mile west of the
Cross, while the other was located in the middle of a peat-bog, not
a mile south of Hartfield dam, in the moorland neighbourhood of old
Peesweep Inn, though both concerns were not going at the same time.
It is a trite proverb, “that woo’ sellers ken woo’ buyers,” and from
each of these fountains of “mountain dew” many gallons of stuff were
sent forth in the winter season when the moon hid her glory,—
“That were brewed in the starlight,
Whaur kings dinna ken.”
But this is now,
happily, a thing of the past. The increased number of police, and
their more thorough surveillance of the district, has rendered this
form of illicit traffic all but impossible ; with the result that,
for many years past, the parish has been free from this nefarious
practice.
REMARKABLE BURGLARY AT CAPELLIE FARM,
AND EXECUTION OF THE BURGLARS.
In 1820, during the
tenancy of Mr. James Arneil, the farm of Capellie was the scene of a
very daring and successful burglary. On the night of the 13th
November of that year, some hours after the inmates had retired to
rest, several burglars found entrance to the dwelling by breaking
open the door leading to the milk-house. The party were well armed,
and on reaching the kitchen, some were placed so as to overawe the
servant women in bed, and compel them to remain silent, whilst the
others ransacked the rooms. Mrs. Arneil, awakening by noise she
heard, became conscious that something unusual was going on in the
house, and at once suspecting robbery, got up, and, with her
daughter, escaped by a window. Before running off* for help, she had
caution and courage enough to look into the room where the noise
came from, by the window, and there she saw the desperadoes busy at
their work of plunder—Miss Arneil being too much excited to observe
anything that was going on. Mother and daughter now ran with all
haste to the adjoining farm—Nether Capellie—then occupied by Mr.
Brown, to obtain help. Two of the Brown family set out with despatch
for Capellie, and on nearing Arneil’s house were met in the
courtyard by a gang of seven burglars, who, on being challenged,
gave vent to some dreadful oaths—some of the villains shouting “
shoot them,” whilst one of the gang flourished a drawn sword over
Mr. Brown’s head. Ultimately, the order was given to let them
pass—whilst at the same time the gang made off* with all speed. Mrs.
Arneil went next to the old mill on Killoch Burn (since razed to the
ground) for further help, but finding that there were only female
inmates, she remained for shelter. It was discovered that the
burglars had been successful in carrying away ten pounds in money, a
gold watch, and a large quantity of body clothing. Subsequently,
five of the burglars were apprehended, and brought to trial at the
High Court of Justiciary, Edinburgh. They were Alexander Hamilton,
Robert Muir, Samuel Maxwell, James Donnelly, and a wretch of the
name of Dolin, who, by turning Crown witness, gave evidence against
the others, and was set at liberty. Hamilton and Maxwell were hanged
on 12th December, 1820. It is interestin': to note, in connection
with this otherwise wretched affair, that Mr. Brown here referred
to, who so pluckily, in the middle of the night, came to the
assistance of Arneil’s family in their distress, was the father of
the late Provost Brown of Paisley, who was then tenant of Nether
Capellie farm, and there the late Provost passed his early life.
THE COWAN PARK.
By the will of the
late James Cowan, Esq., of Rosshall, the sum of £10,000 was
bequeathed to the Burgh of Barrhead for the purpose of providing a
public park, to bear his name. The want of such a place, and the
amenities it presents, was beginning to be felt by the rapidly
growing population of the burgh, and when it became known that,
through the generosity of Mr. Cowan, this desideratum would be
provided for, a sense of grateful satisfaction pervaded the whole
community.
Mr. Cowan was a native of Barrhead, in which his father at one time
carried on a varied and active business, and which had been also the
scene of his own early business efforts ; and though he had not
resided in the burgh for many years, he appears to have always
entertained a warm feeling for his native town and a deep interest
in its welfare, as shown by his munificent benefaction.
But the gift imposed a somewhat difficult task upon the Town
Council, as it is not always an easy matter to find land that will
be at once suitable and convenient for such a purpose. Many things
have to be considered—the prospective growth of the town; the
condition of the ground as regards improvability with years; its
convenience to the population; its surroundings in respect of
preserving its amenities as to health, outlook, and openness to
sunshine—its general adaptability, in short, as a place for
healthful recreation for the young and middle-aged, and restful
resort for the aged and infirm.
After much inquiry and negotiation—with commendable deliberation and
reserve on their part—the Town Council were in a position to
announce that they had been able to confirm the minutes of the
Special Meeting of 14th February, 1910, at which it was unanimously
agreed to select the Parkhouse site, which is situated to the east
of the town, for the public park, and on the terms offered by Mr.
Turner, the proprietor.
The grounds extend to forty acres, and will cost £4,750. There will
thus be left, after providing for laying off and making the park, a
large sum with which to maintain it in proper condition for time to
come. |