The parish of
Neilston, both in origin and name, is a very ancient one, and many
of the incidents connected with it date back to a remote antiquity
in the civil and religious history of our country. But,
notwithstanding this, objects of outstanding interest from an
antiquarian point of view are not numerous. The earliest objects of
this character are of ecclesiastical origin. Following on the
missionary enterprise of St. Columba to Iona in the sixth century,
it would seem that quite a number of monks from the monastic
establishments in Ireland came to different parts of Scotland, and
with great zeal entered upon the labours of converting and
civilising its early inhabitants. Of this number was St. Conval.
St. Conval’s Chapel and Well.
This saint was born
in Ireland in the fifth century, and came to Scotland in early life,
primarily as a disciple of St. Mungo or Kentigern, the patron saint
of Glasgow, and landed at Inchinnan on the Clyde. Strange stories
are told of his passage across the Channel—how, in the absence of
regular “shipping,” he was able by a miracle to transport himself
over on a boulder, which is still pointed out at Inchinnan as St.
Conval’s stone, and is credited writh powers of healing through
touch. He was eminent as a confessor, and patron of the churches of
Pollokshaws, Cumnock, and Ochiltree, and had many churches named in
his honour in other parts. Of this class was the very ancient
religious house situated at the primitive township of Fereneze, now
the lands of Chappell at Barrhead. Doubtless this early structure
was a very simple one, possibly at first only a votive cell of mud
and wattle, though in its later history becoming a church of greater
pretension and importance. In the sixteenth century the kirk lands
of this chapel were presented by Lord Semple as part of the
endowment of his collegiate church at Lochwinnoch. The lands of
Chappell lie immediately to the south of Fereneze hills, then
covered by forest; and it is a distinctive feature of this early
church “that its garden sloped back to the hills of Fereneze.” The
important question now is, Are there any relics of this church in
evidence? In the vicinity of the present mansion-house of Chappell
there exist certain substantial remains of a very early wall,
traditionally associated with the chapel of St. Conval. In the
opinion of the present proprietor, Mr. Joseph Watson, who has
investigated this matter thoroughly, these remains are most probably
relics of the boundary wall of the ancient church land, including
possibly part of the foundation of the ancient chapel. There is also
convenient to this mural relic a large dipping well, with abundance
of spring water, from which, it may be safely concluded, the
religious drew their water supply.
Our Lady’s Chapel of Aboon-the-brae,
and Lady-well.
About two miles to
the west of Neilston, on a plateau of the farm lands of Aboon-the-Brae,
overlooking Commore (the great valley), in which lie Waterside and
the Links of Leven, there formerly existed another of those early
religious houses, which, from its convenience to the great road
through Dumgraine Muir to Kilmarnock, has been conjectured to have
been most probably of the character of a hospice and monastery.
There are now no remains of this church visible above ground, but
within the memory of a gentleman still alive, the writer’s reverend
friend, Dean Tracy of Barrhead, certain remains of a pavement or
court were visible on the plateau referred to, such as are to be met
with in old Continental monasteries, by which it was almost possible
mentally to restore the outline of the ancient court of the hospice.
During the existence of Waterside Works, now razed to the ground,
there existed an old structure, little more than a gable partly
built into the other erections, which was out of all harmony with
its surroundings : for while the other windows were everywhere of
the ordinary quadrangular bleach work type, this gable presented
several shapely narrow lancet windows such as are characteristic of
ecclesiastical structures. Indeed, looking at them there was no
getting past the conclusion that the stones of this gable and these
windows had got into plebeian company, and that when Waterside was
being built, they had been brought from the then existing ruin of
the ancient religious house on the plateau of the farm above, hewn
and ready to the builder’s hand.
Many traditional stories have come down the ages from the old chapel
Aboon-the-Brae—such as the finding of hollow stones resembling
holy-water fonts, and, also, statues among the rubbish, by workmen
at different times, and especially of the image said to have been
thrown into one of the linns in Image (or Midge Hole) Glen.
At Aboon-the-Brae is also found the justly celebrated spring known
as the Lady-well, conjectured to have been one of the holy wells of
Scotland. This well has been elsewhere referred to in detail.
In the neighbourhood of Waterside, too, the first High Steward
erected a castle near the old Celtic town of Dumgraine, on the south
side of the Leveni, possibly a hunting seat, convenient to the
forest of Dumgraine, but no relic is known to exist.
ABTHURLIE STONE.
Within the grounds of
Arthurlie, at Barrhead, the property of Mr. H. B. Dunlop, D.L.,
there is a pillar stone of much interest and great antiquity, and
which in its day has passed through many vicissitudes. In its
original condition it is said to have stood in the field immediately
west of the present policies, a field designated the “ Cross-stane-park
” in the plan of the estate. Previous to 1788, there is good reason
for presuming that the structure was in this field and entire, base
and shaft, as it is stated that Gavin Ralston, in whose possession
the estate was at that time, had the upright shaft removed, and the
base on which it stood taken away. The base was spoken of as a
“trough stone,” from being hollowed out on its upper surface, where
probably the end of the shaft was fixed into it. There are said to
be historic grounds for thinking that the stone must have been
erected before 1452, but how much earlier is unknown. This very
ancient pillar is by some thought to be of Danish origin, and to
have marked the last resting-place of some venerated chief of the
name of Arthur; but by the majority of thinkers who have examined
it, it is considered to be much older, and associated in some way
with the memory of Arthur, the King of the Britons, the famous
“Knight of the Round Table,” and champion of many battles against
the Piets and Scots for the independence of the kingdom of
Strathclyde. This aspect of its history is more fully referred to
under “Arthurlie.” The stone is generally spoken of as “Arthurlie
Cross.” The material of which it is composed is a very hard and
compact sandstone, and the shaft is of the following
dimensions:—Height, 6 ft. 6 in.; breadth across the widest part of
the
base, 23 in.;
thickness at the same part, 9 in.; it tapers slightly towards the
top, where its breadth is 18 in. and its thickness 8 1/2 in. The
front and back surfaces of the stone are each divided into three not
quite equal panels, the middle one being the largest. The lower
panel of what is the north surface as the stone stands at present,
is surrounded by a flat moulding which is continued round the margin
of the stone, and divides it into three panels, the lowest of which
encloses a cross in slight relief. The shaft and arms of this
enclosed cross are respectively 3 in. and 2 in. wide, and are
entire, excepting that the lower part of the shaft seems shortened,
probably from the lower end of the stone having been broken at some
time, and possibly also from its base being set about a foot into
the stone on which it at present stands. The upper panels have no
cross, but are filled in with an intricate pattern of tortuous
interlacing rope work, very much after the manner of runic designs.
The pattern is boldly cut, and, considering the reputed great age of
the stone, is fairly well defined. What is now the south, or reverse
side of the stone from that we have just been describing, is also
divided into three panels, but this time more equally, and they are
defined by a rather obscure moulding and filled in with the same
interlacing pattern, blit there is no cross or other symbol. The
centre part of this surface is a good deal worn, and at one place
near the middle the pattern has been almost obliterated by the
tramping of many feet, a condition due to the fact that for many
years the stone did duty as a footbridge across the stream in
Colinbar Glen, at the bottom of “Cross-stane-park,” in which it had
stood originally. The edges of the stone show three panels, and are
traversed from base to top by a linked chain or rope pattern, the
members of which are about f-in. thick and well defined. At about
four feet up from the bottom of the stone, and in the middle of the
surface as regards its edges, there is an iron ring indented into
it, almost flush with the surface, and run in with lead, put there
to receive the end of an iron bolt when the venerable pillar did
duty as a gate-post at the entrance to a field, after its services
as a footbridge were over. But now, in its extreme old age, this
ancient relic has fallen upon better times, and once more stands
erect upon a double block of hewn sandstone at the end of a walk in
the garden, where it is carefully looked after by the present
proprietor, Mr. Henry B. Dunlop, the utilitarian age being past. But
it is doubtful if even now it is in proper position, as what is
presently the north surface should probably have faced the orient.
The top of the stone has been broken off at the point from which the
arms of the cross would spring, and the general appearance of the
shaft at present would indicate that, when complete, the cross would
resemble that cut in the panel on its front.
Capelrig Stone.
On the lands of
Capelrig, in a field to the north of the “Home Farm,” there is an
upright stone, very similar in appearance and general treatment to
that of Arthurlie; both are broken at the top; they are of the same
taper and composed of the same material, a hard sandstone; and as it
is probable that this stone is in its original position, it may
throw some light on the Arthurlie stone, which is certainly not so
at present, and is our reason for referring to it here. In the first
place, it is to be noted that the Capelrig stone is oriented—the
obverse surface to the east, the reverse west, and the edges north
and south—but the stone itself is not nearly so well preserved as
that at Arthurlie. Both surfaces are channelled from the top to
fully half-way down the shaft, as if long splinters had been burst
out of them by frost and exposure, and near the north edge of the
east face there is now a fissure as if the beginning of another
splinter. Both surfaces of the stone are divided into two nearly
equal panels, the dividing and border mouldings being 4 in. and 3
in. respectively. These panels have been filled in with some form of
figuring, possibly of an interlacing pattern, but it is so worn as
to be untraceable, and the pattern on the edges is similarly
obscured. There are no symbols or other specific forms on any part
of the surfaces. If this stone, as is assumed, is in its original
site, then it is flush with the ground, the grass growing rankly
round its shaft, and there is no visible trace of a base or trough
stone, as is claimed for that at Arthurlie. On separating the grass,
the base of the shaft seems packed round with stones, but it must be
set deep in the ground to give it the stability it evidently
possesses. Its measurements are:—Height, 6 ft. 4 in.; greatest width
at base, 30 in.; width at top, 20 in.; thickness at base, 14 in.; at
top, 12 in.
There are also preserved traditional accounts of the “Steed-Stane
Cross,” which, it is said, stood near “Rais Castle,” now in ruins,
at Dovecothall, Barrhead, and “Cross-stobs Cross,” which is alleged
to have marked the grave of the famous Donald Lord of the Isles, on
his defeat at Harelaw in the neighbourhood.
No relic of either of these two stones now exists; but Mr. Dunlop,
of Arthurlie, informed the writer that he remembered, many years
ago, seeing part of the stone from Cross-stobs lying behind the
hedge on the north side of the road leading by Hawkhead to Paisley.
These four stones,
Arthurlie, Capelrig, Steed-Stane Cross, and Cross-stobs, have been
evidently memorial structures and not wayside devotional crosses; a
view which tends greatly to strengthen the inference that
Neil’s-stone, which stood on Cross-stane Brae, was a fifth pillar of
the same character.
DRUID, OR COVENANTERS’ STONES.
On either side of the
footpath leading through the Moyne moor to the Long Loch there are
several stones of evidently considerable antiquity. They are seven
in number, and all lie in one direction, east and west. How they
came to be placed there, or for what purpose, is not known. They are
flat, undressed stones, with no inscription or other markings to
indicate their purpose. They have been variously called Druidical
and Covenanters’ grave-stones. The former they are not so likely to
be, but the latter is not at all unlikely, as they are quite in the
track of moor that leads by the south-west into Ayrshire by Lochgoin,
and we know that the suffering “Men of the Moss hags” during “the
killing time” were frequently in that district; and the further
fact, that it was by the Mearns moor route that a body of their
number marched to join the Pentland Rising, shows they were not
unfamiliar with the locality referred to. “The Covenanters of the
shire of Ayr, headed by several of their ejected ministers, whom
they had cherished in the solitary dens and hidings in the moors and
hills, to which they had been forced to flee from the proclamation
against the field-preacliings, advanced to meet us on our march,”
and “as we toiled through the deep heather on the eastern skerts of
Mearns Moor a mist hovered all the morning over the Pad of Neilston,
covering like a snowy fleece the sides of the hills down almost to
the course of our route, in such a manner that we could see nothing
on the left beyond it.”
THE RUINS OF COWDENHALL.
The ruins of this
ancient castle occupy the summit of a rising knoll on the south bank
of Cowden Burn, about half a mile to the west of Neilston railway
station. When the “Joint Line” was being built, it became necessary
to alter the turnpike road here, and the hill on which the ruin
stands had to be cut down, on its northern slope; at which time also
the Cowden Burn was diverted from its natural bed, and made to run
in an artificial channel between the north side of the highway and
the line. To judge bv what remains of this ancient mansion, it must
at one time have been a place of considerable size and importance;
and that it was so, is quite borne out by the position accorded to
it in history. It is surrounded bv a number of line trees, ash,
beech, and plane, of quite forest dimensions, whose sturdy trunks
and mighty arms bear evidence of having wrestled with time, and not
unsuccessfully, for many centuries. Sir William Cochrane, afterwards
Earl of Dundonald, derived his first title of Baron Cowden from this
property.
The Spreuls of Cowden were a very ancient family in the parish.
Walter Spreul, who was High Steward of Dumbarton, Senescallus de
Dumbartoim, is the earliest of the family of whom there is any
record. He appears to have been a retainer of Malcolm Earl of
Lennox, from whom he had the lands of Dalquhern, pro homagio
servitio suo—for attendance and bodily service—referring to war
service, doubtless. This was early in the reign of King Robert the
Bruce, probably the beginning of the fourteenth century.
Subsequently to 1441, the property would appear to have been
alienated ; for in 1545 we find Queen Mary granting the castle,
etc., of Cowden to Spreul, for good services. {Reg- Mag. Sigilli,
1546-80.) The family, however, would appear to have failed in the
person of James Spreul, who sold the property to Alexander Cochran,
whose family, we have seen, afterwards became the Earls of Dundonald.
At a subsequent date, the estate became the possession of the
Marquis of Clydesdale, in right of his mother, a daughter of the
Earl of Dundonald. But on the Marquis becoming the Duke of Hamilton,
he sold it, in 1776, to the then Baron Mure of Caldwell, in which
family it still remains.
THE HALL OF CALDWELL.
This picturesque
building has already been referred to in the description of the
Mures of Caldwell, and it will be sufficient here to mention the
fact there dealt with in more detail: that at one period of its
history the property, under the name of Little or Wester Caldwell,
returned a Member to the Scottish Parliament, 1659, and that he was
paid for his services there by the Laird of Caldwell, as we learn
from “the Accounts” of that family.
Previous to the Covenanting times, “when the heart was young,” the
open green in front of the old Hall of Caldwell, we are informed,
was a favourite place for dance gatherings, and that the rival
followers of Terpsichore from Neilston, Lochwinnoch, and Beith, the
parishes adjoining this centre, had regular meetings for dancing
purposes and general enjoyment on summer Sunday evenings. On these
occasions there would, no doubt, be frequently witnessed the feats
of Goldsmith’s “Sweet Auburn,”
“The dancing pair that simply sought
renown,
By holding out, to tire each other down.”
Or that other picture
by Allan Ramsay, when describing similar meetings, in which—
“While the young brood sport on the
green,
The auld anes think it best
With the broon cow to clear their e’en,
Snuff, crack, and tak’ their rest.”
But with the advent
of the more earnest period referred to, those generally innocent and
happy meetings, that helped to while away the heavy hour— when books
were out of the question and reading to a great extent an unlearned
art—got naturally to be discontinued, and they are now merely matter
of very ancient memory.
GLANDERSTON HOUSE.
The lands of
Glanderston, in the beginning of the eighteenth century, were in the
possession of the Mures of Caldwell. Crawford, referring to the
mansion, in his History, speaks of it as a “Pretty one of a new
model, with several well-finished apartments, upon a small rivulet
adorned with regular orchards and large meadows, beautiful with a
great deal of regular planting.” This was in 1697, when it was
rebult, but “Ichabod” has long years ago been written over it ; its
glory has departed. But even in its ruin it was a picturesque old
structure, with crow-stepped gables and dormer windows with peaked
entablatures, and grass-grown gateway and court, with the initials
T.W. and W.M. carved in the lintel over the door, and the date 1697
over the windows. Its last occupant was Mr. Walton, and in it Mr. E.
A. Walton, R.S.A., was born about fifty odd years ago. Forty-five
years ago, the windows were gone and the door owned no latch, and
the wind and storm howled through the casements; but even then there
were several very interesting frescoes on the lobby walls—“A harvest
scene,” scenes of “Moonlight on the waters,” and others—possibly
where the R.S.A. “tried his ’prentice hand,” and if so, they were
certainly the promise of the distinguished artist of the present
day. But now they are gone, and the ruin even has been razed to the
ground, not one stone being left upon another to tell of its
existence. Further information will be found with regard to this
interesting old property under “the Mures of Glanderston.”
NEILSTONSIDE.
This property belongs
to Mr. Speirs of Elderslie, but it was at one time a possession of a
descendant of Sir William Wallace, Scotland’s liberator, whose
family removed to Kelly, in the neighbourhood of Greenock. A few
years ago, when some alterations were being made on the dwelling,
now a farm-house, the tradesmen came upon quite a number of old
Spanish silver coins of various values. But how they came to be
there, record says not.
CURIOUS PRESCRIPTION: A GLANDERSTON
RELIC.
For many years before
the Union of Scotland with England, “the predominant partner,” in
1707, the unsettled state of society and the country generally
offered a direct barrier to the advancement of all intellectual
pursuits; and witchcraft was only too often called in to account for
and explain what was not obvious on the surface. In these
circumstances, it is not very surprising to learn—what the following
ludicrous prescription abundantly shews—that the science of medicine
was at a very low ebb, and that empiricism not infrequently covered
want of knowledge. In any case, the prescription is sufficiently
curious in itself to merit notice, even if it had not been connected
with Glanderston in our parish. Dr. Johnstone was probably a
practitioner who had some status in Paisley. (The letter is from the
Caldwell Papers}
“Dr. Johnstoune to the Laird of Glanderstoun.
“Directions for Margret Polick. Paisley, Octr. 28, 1692.
“Sir,
“The bearer labours under the common weakness of being now more
feard yn is just. As she was formerlie a little too confident in her
own conduct. The spinal bon head hath never been restor’d intirly,
qch will make her sensible all her days of a weakness in a descent;
but will be freed from all achin paines if she nightly anoint it wth
the following oyl, viz. :
“Take a littl fatt dogg, take out only his puddings, & putt in his
bellie 4 ounces of Cuningseed; rost him, and carefullie keep the
droping, qrin boyl a handfull of earth wormes quhill they be leiklie;
then lett it be straind and preservd for use, as said is.
“My humble dutie to your Ladie. I am,
“Glanderstoun,
“Your most humble servitor,
“JOHNSTOUNE.”
LETTER FROM KING JAMES VI. TO THE
LAIRD OF CALDWELL.
The following letter
from King James YI. of Scotland to Sir Robert Mure of Caldwell, the
representative of the family at that period, and who had only
shortly before been knighted by him, is of interest, as reasonably
referring to Neilston parish, and also as shewing the personal care
the king took of matters now wisely left to the management of
ecclesiastical courts. The letter emanates from the royal palace at
Falkland, but does not record the year, but it was most probably
about the end of the sixteenth century, and consequently only
shortly before his accession to the throne of England, in 1603. The
diocese of Glasgow then probably extended westward to the parish of
Dunlop, where it became conterminous with that of Galloway, leaving
little doubt, therefore, that the “parochin” spoken of in the letter
as being “within your bondes” of Caldwell, was the parish of
Neilston, then under the care, as we have elsewhere seen, of Schir
David Ferguson, as curate.
“To our traist freind the Lard of Caldwell.
“Traist freind we greit zou weill. Undrstanding that our belovit
Robert Archbishhope of Glasgw is to repair and travell to the
visitatioun of all kirkis within the boundes of his dyocis, for
ordour taking and refor-matioun of abuses within the samyn according
to his dewitie and charge ; We have thairfoir thoucht gude, maist
effectuouslie to requeiste and desyr zou to accompany assist
manteine and concur with him in all thingis, requisit tending to
gude ordour and refermatioun of all enormiteis, within zour bondes
and parochin ; And to withstainde all sic as ony way wald seame to
impeid or hinder him in that hehalf; As ze will gif pruif of zour
gude aflectioun to our service and do us acceptable pleisour. Thus
we comit zou to God. From Falkland, the 22d day of July.
“James R”
THE TOWER OF THE PLACE OF CALDWELL.
This is another of
those relics that carry the mind back to an early period of the
history of the parish. The ancient “keep” is now in a good state of
repair, having been thoroughly strengthened by the late Colonel Mure,
M.P. It is situated on the summit of a hill overlooking the valley
of Loch Libo. The structure is a quadrangular or square tower, and
consists of three stories ; the walls are of great thickness, and
there are several windows and loop-holes in them. There are many
towers of similar character throughout the country; and, judging
from its style, it was probably built about the middle of the
fifteenth century. The kitchen, or ground flat, enters from the
court; the second flat is reached by an outside stair, while access
is gained to the third flat by a winding stair built in the
thickness of the wall; and the outside on the top, which is
surrounded by a battlemented parapet about three feet in height, is
reached through a hatchway or window in the roof. The ceilings of
all the apartments are built of stone, and vaulted, giving the
greatest strength to the erection. The present tower is but an
outwork of the original building, and in the palmy days of the
castle was connected with several other buildings, and a screen, in
such a way as to enclose a large court: the structures other than
the tower having been demolished during the forfeiture. Some of the
old trees of the avenue leading to the tower are still to be seen at
the top of the hill, the present turnpike road having been cut
through them; and, up till 1879, a number of their companions stood
in the field round the tower. Old and gnarled they looked, and
doubtless, from their elevated position, had wrestled with many a
storm in their younger days. But the hurricane wind-storm of that
winter— the winter after the Tay Bridge disaster—proved too much for
them, and they were all blown down, singularly enough, with their
heads all turned iu towards each other, as having been caught in a
whirlwind; and now the old tower stands alone.
THE OLD WINDOW IN THE CHURCH.
This ancient Gothic
window in the north side of the church is an object of much
architectural interest, which has already been referred to. Its age
is quite unknown, but the stone mouldings and general composition
would seem to point to a period not long after the foundation of the
religious houses, in the other parts of the parish, which were
holden of the Abbey of Paisley. The structure, as we learn from
Crawford, was gifted to the Abbot by De Croc of Crookston. It is
beyond doubt a preReformation relic; but what relation it bears to
that important event, whether of the church of De Croc, is
unascertained; most probably it is of mediaeval origin. The burial
vault of the Mures of Caldwell is situated under this window; and
during the many years this family was in possession of Glanderston,
they were patrons of the church. Referring to this place of
sepulture in 1640, on the occasion of making his testamentary
settlement, Robert Mure, the then Laird of Caldwell, directs,
amongst other things—“my body to be honestlie buryit, according to
my qualitie, besyd my predecessors in the kirk of Neilstoune.”
ANCIENT CROSS IN CHURCHYARD.
In the triangular
space between the walks in front of the church there is a most
interesting recumbent stone, having sculptured on its surface what
is considered to be an ancient Runic cross, all reference to which
is lost in obscurity.
STEWART RAISS.
Of this once
important castle only a very small part remains. The ruin is
situated at Dovecothall, on the south bank of the Levern, and
north-east boundary of the parish, and is remarkable for the great
thickness of its walls. In an assize connected with the lands of the
County in 1545, George Stewart of Raiss proved that the lands in
question at one time belonged to his kinsman, Matthew Earl of
Lennox; and Crawford tells us that he had seen a charter granted by
John Lord Darnley and Earl of Lennox, which puts beyond question the
fact that this property at one period belonged to that once powerful
family. |