James Watt Cairn in Greenock Cemetery

In Greenock Cemetery there is a memorial cairn to the great engineer James Watt born in Greenock in 1736.  In Scotland, a cairn is a pile of stones, usually to commemorate a special place or person.

The plaque on the cairn reads:-

The Watt Cairn

Projected and commenced by the Watt Club 1854.

Arranged and completed on the 200^th anniversary of Watt's birth 1936.

These stones, gifted from all parts of the world, speak of the universal homage

accorded the great engineer, inventor and scientist.

The monument also marks the burying place of James Watt's ancestors

removed from the Old West Kirk, 26^th April 1927.

Another plaque lists the names of those who sent stones to Greenock from all over the world.

The Stones and their Donors

Malta, St Paul's Bay, Major General Sir William Reid, governor of Malta

Sebastopol Granite, Henry Innes, Secretary to the Port Admiral

Marble from Tunis, Sir Edward Baines HM Consul General

Marble from Carthage, Admiral Sir Houston Stewart

Slab from Palestine, John Currie
Stone from Peru, Alex Prentice, Lima

Stone from Ghaut of India, Bombay Mechanics Institution

Red Sandstone from Seneca Quarry, Potomac River, Gilbert Cameron

Granite Slab, Heriot Currie

Pentagonal Column from the Giant's Causeway

Stone, Mechanics Institute, St Helens

Stone from Canada, Rollo Campbell, Montreal

Foundation stones, Dougald Dove, Nitshill and Arden Quarries and

Sir Michael R Shaw Stewart Bt, A member of the Watt Club.

It is a very unusual monument.  It is right beside the memorial to Highland Mary in Greenock Cemetery.