Macleod's History of the Castle and Town of Dumbarton. Second edition

Front matter

me LE OjS I °UHEV*: Mile 4 J^wa DUMBARTON) BENNETT BROTHERS, 9 & 11 HIGH STREET 3D^is 00k IS DEDICATED BY ITS AUTHOR TO IIIS FRIEND, ALLAN M'LEAN, Esq., OF MAYFIELD, EX-BAILIE OF DUMBARTON, AS A SINCERE, THOUGH HUMBLE, TOKEN OF ESTEEM. CONTENTS. page Castle, 5 Town, 33 Reminiscences, 79 Industrial Establishments, 1 137 Public Buildings, - - J 151 Clubs and Societies, 161 Sayings and Doings of Old Dumbarton Worthies, - - - 194 MAPS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. Views of Objects op Interest in Bukgh and County, Frontispiece. Map of Dumbarton, 33 Map of Dumbartonshire, 57 Ship "Coriolanus," 140 Steamer "Helensburgh," 142 ERRATA. Ia page 124 William Denny is represented as having built the steamer "Marjory." Now that is correct in one sense, but incorrect in another, and is therefore apt to mislead. The facts are these — Archibald M'Lachlan, of Bannachra, shipbuilder in the Woodyard, was the nominal builder of the vessel alluded to, while William Denny, his manager and draughts man, was the real one, as she was got up entirely and solely under his directions.

Another mistake has crept into the text in regard to this now historic craft, and that is, instead of her engines having been supplied by David Napier, as therein set forth, they were, as I have just learned, supplied by Janies Cook, of Tradeston, Glasgow. Further, and lastly, instead of this vessel having been built in 1818, she was launched in 1814. PEEFACE TO SECOND EDITION. Almost the whole of the first edition of this history has heen bought up speedily, without the aid of any great laudation, and in spite of a certain amount of possibly not unmerited fault-findings on the part of the critics who did me the honour of reviewing it. An old Scotch proverb says that ' ' It's gude gear that pleases the merchant. " My gear having met with such a ready market, I hope that I may, without laying myself open to the imputation of vanity, lay the flattering unction to my soul that there are some meritorious points about the article, otherwise I would not have been laid under the necessity of going to press so soon with a second edition.

My readers are not to suppose for a moment that the History of the Castle and Town of Dumbarton has now for the first time been written, for nothing could be farther from the truth. I am only a humble worker in the field where Mr Joseph Irving, F.S. A.,Scot., the historian of the town and county of Dumbarton, par-excellence, gained his unfading laurels. His noble work stands in the very front rank of county histories, and leaves nothing to be desired further in that way; but then the fruits of his great research, industry, and talent, on account of the price of the volume in which they are contained, are beyond the reach of the great bulk of the population. Then as regards an unpretentious little history of the town, issued a number of years ago by the late Mr John Glen, tanner, although it contains a good deal of valuable information, which reflects credit upon his industry and research, yet it is burdened with a certain amount of irrelevant matter, and its arrangement is somewhat imperfect.

Preface

TO FIRST EDITION. I wrote this work primarily for my own amusement and gratification, and now publish it, in the hope that it will conduce to the amusement and instruc tion of the public. It is a product of some years' growth. The portions which relate my Reminiscences of Dumbarton, the Clubs of Dumbarton, and the Sayings and Doings of some old Dumbarton Worthies, have, in part, been read within the last few years before the members of the Philosophical and Literary Society of this place. Extracts from t%vo of these papers being subsequently published in the columns of the local newspaper, evoked a considerable amount of interest, and were, upon the whole, well spoken of. Learning these facts, I was emboldened, to attempt a lofter flight, by writ ing, in my leisure hours, a popular History of the Castle and Town of Dumbarton, so that it, along with the other local matter in my possession, might be presented in book form, at a moderate price, to my fellow-towns men and any others who might feel an interest in the subject.

I had the less hesitation in doing so on account of having been long of the opinion that there was a decided opening for such a work. As this is my first attempt at authorship, it is exceedingly probable that there will be both sins of omission and commission; but, be that as it may, T can truly say that I have, to the utmost of my power, endeavoured to execute my self imposed task worthily, being stimulated thereto by the servant hope that the result might prove that I was a workman who needed not to be ashamed of his labours. In conclusion, in the words of a great modern poet, I will say: — "'What is writ is writ; would it were worthier." PAET I. THE CASTLE OF DUMBARTON. Come with me, gentle reader, and in spirit let us make the pilgrimage up the rocky heights of the bifurcated Castle Rock of Dunbritton, and I will discourse with you, with all the eloquence at my command, about the batteries, buildings, and other objects of interest or beauty which are to be seen in or from it ; and, in addition, gossip with you in regard to the height, circumference, and formation of the Rock itself.

To begin with the Rock,— it is a basaltic crag, which shoots abruptly up from a level plain at the confluence of the rivers Leven and Clyde, to a height of 206 feet above the sea level. The western peak is more conical than the other, and about thirty feet higher. On it is placed the flag-staff ; but in olden times the Royal Standard (the ruddy lion rampant on a field of gold), floated proudly from the eastern peak. The Castle Rock is a mile or so in circumference, and the base of three-fourths of its huge bulk is laved by the waters of the once pellucid and salmon-haunted rivers just named ; alas, that I should have to say crystal no longer. The salmon in their depths are now few and far between. How different from the state of matters in the days of old, when they were so plentiful that the servants in their surrounding districts made a compact with their employers, when they were being engaged, that they should not be compelled to eat salmon more than twice a day and once on Sabbath.

The appearance of the Rock from any point of view is grand ; but the most effective views are to be obtained from the Quay of Dumbarton, and Langbank on the south side of the Clyde. As seen from these coigns of vantage, you are vividly impressed with its huge bulk, its unique configuration, its beetling cliffs and jagged outline. On the Leven side of the Castle, several large masses of stone, which have fallen from the Rock in by-gone ages, lie scattered. The largest of these is called the Washing-stone. It lies on a beautiful grassy bank, called the Washing stone Green. There is a projecting portion of it under which women used to wash clothes — hence the name. There is a somewhat thread-bare legend extant about its having fallen, centuries ago, upon a cow and the maid who was engaged in the milking of it ; but that can be taken with a grain of salt (eum grano salis).

There used to be cairns of stones on several spots round the base of the Rock, to commemorate the spots where soldiers, who were smitten with a love of midnight adventure, fell and met their death OF while being lured forth from the Castle by the god Bacchus, or the goddess Venus, to taste of forbidden pleasures. The following plants abound on the Rock, and with ordinary care botanists run little danger in securing them : — Smyrnium Olusatrum, Cardusus Marianus, Malva Sylvestris, M. Moschata, Conium Maculatum, Carex Muricata, Poa Maritima. I may here state, for the sake of those who may only read this portion of my work, that the ancient entrance to the fortress was a little to the left of the Washing-stone. The gate-way was at a spot corresponding to the centre of the existing wiill underneath the barracks of the Castle, and from that old gate-way Queen Mary, three hundred years ago, stepped gracefully forth, with her attendant lords and ladies, and embarked at the Washing-stone Green for France on board of a galley specially sent by the French monarch for her reception amid much pomp and ceremony, From its portals also came forth Wallace wight, a chained prisoner, on his dreary pilgrimage to London.

The tide of battle must have rolled its ruddy waves ever and anon over this hallowed ground for at least a thousand years. Underneath your feet lie the bones of patriots who laid down their lives for their country, and alongside of them in peace lie the remains of those who were once their foes. All silent lie the great army of the dead, awaiting the sound of the .last trump. The late Treasurer Latta of Dumbarton, while engaged in carting away some soil or sand from Castle Green, came upon a large quantity of human remains, the grim memorials of some fiery fight. When you leave this portion of the Castle, and make your way up a narrow passage, the Castle Road is reached. Turning to the right you come, in a. few minutes, to a white-washed cottage on the roadside, built close to the Castle Rock.

Right over it is the place where Captain Crawford of Jordanhill and his daring band scaled the Castle walls, and took the fortress by storm, in Queen Mary's time. Still moving onwards toward the Castle entrance, you come to a sheer precipice, crowned with an ivy-covered wall : it is, for what reason I know not, called Wallace's Cradle ; and about this part there is an absurd legend of a lover's leap that I will not practice upon your credulity by reciting. But it is high time we entered within the Castle gates, aud explored its interior. The first place reached is a small square, in which are a powder magazine, and some piles of shot. There used to be, in the time when a detachment of infantry soldiers occupied the Castle, a sentry at the outer gate ; but the only thing remaining to mark where a sentry had been is an empty sentry box.

Proceeding onwards and upwards, and entering through a gate-way, a short flight of steps leads you to where the Governor's house is situated, and which is now used as quarters for the married members of the Coast Brigade. At this landing you become acquainted with the big guns with which this (King George's) battery is defended, and also make the acquaintance of some stalwart Coast Brigadesman, who will pilot you through the Castle, and to whom, after his labours are over, "a tip" is not obnoxious. From this landing upwards you require to screw your courage up to the point of determination that you won't stick n the narrow, long, and steep way that leadeth up to the Master Gunner's house and the Armoury, which is the next stage. "Set a stout heart to this stey brae," and all will be well and comparatively easy thereafter.

At an intermediate landing between the Governor's house and the Master Gunner's, there is a miniature house, over-arching the passage, in which tradition sayeth Wallace was confined after his capture by Monteith, before DUMBARTON. 7 he was sent captive to London. I have no hesitation in pronouncing that to be apocryphal, as it has evidently been erected at a date long subsequent to Wallace's era. On one of the corners of this building there is a time worn carving of "the fause Monteith's" face. He is represented in the act of tearing his jaws madly in remorse for his traitorous conduct in the betrayal of his friend. Another flight of steps brings you to an arched doorway of antique mould, which, by its graceful proportions and massive solidity, makes you regret that no more of the masonry of its era exists in the Castle.

The buildings which now disgrace the historic Rock are of the cotton factory style of architecture, and betray an utter absence in the builders of either taste or sentiment. Scotsmen might utter, in disgust, when they behold them, "An enemy hath done this." By the Articles of Onion between this country and England, this Castle is one of those which the Government is bound to keep in repair in all time coming. If some friendly barrels of gunpowder would only explode, and nobody be injured, nobody would weep if all the existing modern buildings were blown into space, as it would be simply impossible to build anything more utterly ugly in their room and stead. After leaving the archway, a few steps take you to the house of the Master Gunner. If you are desirous of inspecting the Armoury, his obliging good lady, or gudewife, as we say in our native Doric, will introduce you to it, and affably explain its contents- On the ground floor of the Armoury you will be shown a quantity of military stores, consisting of grape, canister, and other kinds of shot, with shells, rockets, and other infernal agents for robbing short-lived humanity of their lives.

In the Armoury, before the Crimean war, there was a stand of one thousand muskets, apparently brand new, but really very old, as instead of being fired off by the aid of the percussion caps, the old-fashioned and exploded system of flint and steel had to do that work. They were at this period removed, and the stand is now empty. The walls, however, of the room are covered with interesting specimens of the Lochaber axe, and the skene-dhu, picked up on ancient battlefields, and rudely-shaped pikes which were captured at the raid on the Radicals at Duntocher, locally known as the "Battle of the Bellows." There are also, neatly arranged along the wall, pistols, and other weapons of offence and defence. These, along with several regimental flags,! which for long braved the battle and the breeze, have here found an honourable resting place.

The only other object of interest is the Wallace Sword ; but, as a true Scotsman, I am truly sorry to have to state that the venerable two-handed weapon called by his name, has been pronounced to be a myth by parties competent to judge. An embargo has been placed upon its keeper to prevent its being exhibited as such. The labourer here is also worthy of her hire. On this level are the barracks, and other buildings, but they are of ho historic note. - You may, however, take a peep at the blackhole, where military delinquents are confined, and take after that a look at the battery where Victoria, in 1847, held her reception ; and then, if you are inclined to do a little unnecessary work, you may ascend the eastern peak, on which is situated the powder magazine, and enjoy the scenery ; but I would not advise you so to do, as you command the same view, but in a higher degree, from the western peak .

I have only craftily taken you up there for the purpose of stating that Dr. Johnson, when coining back from his tour in the Hebrides in 1773, visited the Castle, Boswell declaring, in his narrative of the same, ' ' that though the approach OP to the Castle is very steep, the Doctor ascended it with alacrity, and saw all that was to be seen." In my boyish days a tower in the norch-eastern corner of the high Castle wall was shown, in the doorway of which the burly doctor stuck hard and fast, and that was put forth as the reason why Boswell recorded so little in regard to their visit to the famous Fortress and Rock of Dumbarton. I beUeved then, as I do now, that there is strong probability for thinking the same to be true ; — when you consider who the men were, you would otherwise feel a difficulty in understanding how such a glorious subject should be disposed of in a single sentence.

Having got rid of my story, I will mount with you to the western peak, and a stiff pull it is, although, fortunately, not a very long one. H the stormy winds do blow, blow, blow, as they do pretty often up here, hold fast by the iron railing, and be stout of heart and march onwards and upwards. When you reach the highest point of the Rock, before you make the slight descent to the flagstaff, you will observe the foundation of a round tower, pharos, or keep; — it is called Wallace's Tower, and is undoubtedly of very ancient date. Before attempting a description of the view which is to be obtained from this elevated position, I will enumerate the names of the Castle Batteries ; — King George's, Duke of Argyll's, Duke of York's, the Spanish, the Bower, and the One Gun ; and it may be also stated that the Castle, prior to the introduction, by pipes, of the water from the Long Crags, was supplied by a never-failing spring on the eastern summit of the Rock.

But now for the descriptive matter. When you have reached the flag-staff, and rested for a few minutes, if the day be clear and favourable, you are perfectly enraptured with the scene which bursts upon your gaze. After the pain of the steep ascent, sweet is the pleasure that the varied landscape affords to the mind attuned to the harmonies of nature. Looking north wards, you see Dumbarton on the plain at your feet, with its bustling ship building yards, whence issue the cheerful rattle of the busy hammers closing rivets up ; and beyond it stretches the Vale of Leven, in its green, weU wooded loveliness, with the Leven meandering through it in linked sweet ness, long drawn out, like a silver ribband. Multitudinous chimney stalks, connected with the great Turkey-red dyeing, and calico printing establish ments, certainly tend in some measure to mar its beauty ; but they also are suggestive, — man liveth not by the beautiful alone.

These brick chimneys are monuments of the world-wide enterprise of their owners ; — there is scarcely a mart of commerce in the wide world where their goods are not known and appreciated. Where the smoke trails in dusky wreaths across the landscape, there thousands of industrious and intelligent men and women are earning a comfortable livelihood and dwelling in comfort. Beyond the region of smoke you see Ben Lomond, dominating and brooding over the vale like a broad-shouldered giant ; and around it and beyond it are Bens many, in the countries of the Colquhouns and the MacGregors, where the air of Heaven has never been contaminated with factory smoke from the dawning of time till now ; the inhabitants can only from mount and hill see it afar off, and be glad that they need not breathe its abomina tions.

Two miles or so off you may discern the monument erected at Renton to the memory of Tobias Smollett, the novelist, who was born in its vicinity. Eastwards, your eye takes in the magnificent Clyde Valley, with its glorious wooded heights, fair mansion houses, busy waters, and thriving towns. The Cathkin Hills bound the immense basin of the river DUMBARTON. and Tintoc's conical peak looms up in hazy indistinctness in the far distance. To the South and East the rich, undulating slopes and fertile plains of Renfrewshire are spread out before you, embossed with many a sweet village and thriving town, distinct as in a map. Westwards, the noble Frith of Clyde gratifies the eye, bearing on its bosom craft of all sizes, from the "Hielant wherry" to the stately screw steamer of three thousand tons burthen.

At high water, from this eminence, the Frith has the appearance of a great lake, hemmed in, as it is, in the distance by the rugged Argyle and Dumbartonshire hills. On the left, by the margin of the river, we descry the towns of Port-Glasgow and Greenock, which are both thriving seaports, famous for shipbuilding and sugar-refining ; and on the right bank we have first the beautifully situated suburban residences of some of the principal inhabitants of Dumbarton, chief amongst which is Helenslee, the palatial mansion of Peter Denny, Esq., the eminent shipbuilder and engineer. Beyond them we have the green undulations of Cardross, terminating in the charmingly wooded headland of Ardmore ; while in the extreme distance the beautiful peninsula of Roseneath fitly closes a scene which those who have once been privileged to gaze on would not willingly let fade from their memory.

It is one of those things of beauty which the poet declares is a joy for ever. But it is time that we now retired from this proud eminence, and retraced our steps to the plain beneath, so as to once more mingle in the business and bustle of life, where each one for himself will again assume the burden of cares that, I trust, during our suppositious ramble together, 1 have eased him of by my prattle. Having acted thus far as "guide, philosopher, and friend," I now assume the role of historian, and go on to give a POPULAR HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE ANCIENT EOYAL CASTLE OP DUMBARTON From the Earliest Times down to the Present Day. We cannot imagine a time, since the period when wild in wood the noble Scottish savage ran, that the weather-beaten, double-peaked, isolated Castle Rock of Dumbarton failed to attract the wondering gaze of all beholders.

Our rude-painted forefathers, while following the war trail, or paddling their fire-hollowed canoes* iu its vicinity, must have looked with superstitious awe upon its huge bulk and unique contour, as it stood in lonely grandeur amidst the sweltering rush of waters apart from its fellows. As man in all ages of civilization or barbarism is a questioning animal, and would interro gate all things, animate and inanimate, and make them give an account of themselves, so I venture to think that the legend current amongst my boyish compatriots to the following effect, might have had its remote origin in the brains of these primitive dwellers in the land. " The demons who inhabit the bowels of the earth warred with each other. Iu their fierce wrath they uptore by the roots the everlasting hills, and these little gentle tokens of affection they hurled at each other's heads.

The big rock, which became famous in after time as the Rock of Dumbarton, was not thrown in vain, * A few years ago there were found embedded in the mud of the river in close prox imity to the Castle, and to each other, two of the fire-hollowed canoes referred to in the text, one was 23£ feet in length, aud 11 feet in girth; and the other only half that size. for it fell upon, and crushed innumerable demons — down, down ten thousand feet into the heart of the earth— so that even yet, to the credulous ear, vhen the storm fiend is abroad, there may be heard their awful groanings f despair, mingling with the howl and shriek of the tempest." There is another legend extant to the effect that Satanus, when St. 'atrick was leaving our shores for the Isle of Saints, wrenched off a huge ■ortion of the hill of Dumbuck, and threw it with a curse at the craft in vhich the saint sailed, with the unholy purpose of sinking all hands.

In pite of the infernal power and malice which winged its flight, it fell short if the mark, and landing, as it did, at the confluence of the rivers Clyde md Leven, it became known in after years as the Castle Rock of Dumbarton ; ■ ut as to how that yarn tallies with the history of Ireland's patron Saint, s written by some of the most trustworthy authorities, wherein it is leclared that he was miraculously conceived in the Castle of Dumbarton, ind born in the neighbouring village of Old Kilpatrick, I will leave my aders to determine. Having in the usual orthodox fashion laid a due quantum of fabulous naterial for a foundation, we will now proceed to rear upon it a solid iuperstructu.re of historical facts. The Rock of Dumbarton has been used as a place of defence as far back is the dawn of history.

Most historians have fixed the termination of the Roman Wall, which was constructed in the second century, at either Old Kilpatrick or Dunglass. Yet there are some of their number, and these not the least capable of forming an intelligent opinion, who think that the terminus was Alcluith (Dumbarton). The grounds for their belief are the following— firstly, Bede, the historian who lived in the seventh century, expressly declares that the wall in question extended from Abercarnig on the East, to Alcluith on the West ; and, secondly, they have a difficulty in conceiving that the far-seeing Romans would leave such a commanding, formidable position outside their line of defence. At all events Theodosius, a Roman General in the year 368, fixed upon this place— (after he had driven back the fierce tribes of Picts, Scots, and Atticotti who hod penetrated into the country within tlie walls)— as the Capital of the Roman Province of V alentia, and called it Theodosia.

Its importance will at once be understood when we consider that those who were masters of this situation dominated and commanded the ford of Dumbuck, and that at the mouth of the Levee, over each of which at low tide there only lay two or three feet of water, so that should the surrounding tribes have attempted to make inroads upon them by crossing these fords, the Roman legions were in the best possible position for giving them a warm reception. After the Romans took their departure from Britain, about the beginning of the fifth century or possibly even before that occurrence, Theodosia became the Capital City of the Strathclyde Britons, which ultimately led to its name being once more changed, and it henceforth figures in history as Dunbritton, or fort of the Britons, now corrupted into Dun or Dumbarton.

A lone line of Kings Uvelt there in regal state, belonging to that ancient dynasty. Ossian siuSs in heroic strains of these warlike chieftains and their fair daughters who Uvelt m the halls of "Balclutha" (another of the old names of the place meaning the town of the Clyde). In the poem of "Carthon," the poet introduces "Clessamor," one of the heroes of the piece, as reciting to ingal the sad tale of his lost bride "Moina," the beauteous Maid of UMBARTON. Balclutha, which I give in full, in the firm belief that it will be highly appreciated for its surpassing beauties by my readers. This picturesque poem of the fourth or lifth century gives a vivid representation of Balclutha at peace and prosperous, with joy reigning supreme in her proud halls, and *-he same laid in ruins by its enemies, and sitting solitary — " ' I was in the days of peace, When, void of care, tired of inglorious ease, My bounding ship I launched into the main, And thought some friendly neighb'ring isle to gain.

Soon rose a storm — the ho;irse winds loudly roar, And far they drive me from my native shore ; Balclutha's tow'ring walls at length appear— Into its winding hay 1 gladly steer, And saw that beam of light, the lovely maid, White-bosom'd Aloina ! While the shell went round The aged hero all my wishes crown'd, And gave his blushing daughter to myjhand : I blest the day when first i touch'd the land. Like foam on wave appear'd her breasts so bright ; Her sparkling eyes shone like the stars of night ; Dark as the raven's wing her flowing hair ; Gen 'rous her soul, graceful and mild her air. Dearly I loved her, nor could aught annoy My bliss, my heart o'erflowed with tides of joy — When lo ! from far a youthful stranger came, 4 A suitor to the fair, the blue-eyed dame ; Boastful he seem'd, and vain ; with scornful view De often eyed me, and his sword half drew.

Then thus, in accents of disdain and pride : ' Where is the restless wand'rer now?' he cried, ' Does Curnhal lead his murd'ring host from far, Comes he to shake Balclutha's walls with war ; For this hast thou so boldly ventur'd here ?— I warn thee hence— behold my pointed spear V ' My soul,' I answered, ' burns with native fire, Nor can thy empty threats make me retire ; They're lost on me. 1 stand unaw'd by fear, Though armed thousands all around appear ; And though my valiant friends are distant far ; Y> t thus alone thy utmost force I dare. 'Tis mean— unmanly— in thee, thus to wrong The absent Comhal with thy sland'rous tongue : Cowards are lavish of insulting words ; — Ihe better trial wire our trusty swords. Come forth, then,— draw ! and try if thou'lt withstand My sword, which longs to glitter in my hand.' Deep stung wilh pride, he rose— we fought— he bled — Die fell— and br-athless at my feet was laid !

The banks of Clutha (Clyde) echo'd back the sound ; A thousand vengeful spears appear around ; Through these I fought my way, but was pursued, Until I plunged into the rolling flood. With speed I swam on board— 1 spread my sails— And o'tr the sea I bound with swelling gales, When, looking towards the shore, my love I spy, Rolling on me her red, her tearful eye, While in the wind her dark hair loosely plays ; The wind, which to my ears her cries conveys. Oft I look back, and oft I try in vain My ship to turn, the wish'd for shore to gain ;— 'I he stubborn wind forbade me to return. Since that sad day, with inward grief I mourn ; Clutha's green hanks I never since have passed, Nor saw fair Moina with the snowy breast. Jn sack'd Balclutha's fall she met her death ; I've seen her ghost, gray, stalking o'er the heath ; I knew her, as she came through dusky night To murmuring Lora ; like the uncertain light Which the new moon through gather'd mist does throw,' When the thick sky pours down the flaky snow, When murky darkness spreads o'er all the plains, And o'er the world a death-like stillness reigns. ' Ye bards,' said Fingai, * raise your mournful lays, And let our hills resound with Moina's praise ; Pour forth your song :— invite her wandering ghost ; Bid her repair to Morven's shady coast, That she may rest with our once blooming fair Of other days, who lovely sunbeams were.