An important birthday for local club - 225 years old!

While America celebrated it's 250th birthday in July this year, a local organisation 

celebrated 225 years of its history - Greenock Burns Club!

While we usually associate the annual celebrations of the life of poet Robert Burns with his birthday on 25 January - known worldwide as Burns Night, a commemoration of the 5th anniversary of the poet's death on 21 July 1801 took place in Greenock.  Admirers of the poet, along with members of the Greenock & Ayrshire Society met in the White Hart Hotel in Cathcart Square, Greenock to mark the occasion.  This was the start of Greenock Burns Club.  

The Greenock & Ayrshire Society started in 1796 and included in its membership many local men as well as Ayrshire men with business interests in the area.  You can read about some of these Ayrshire men in a previous post here.

Certificate of Greenock Ayrshire Society (also on view in Burns Club Room in Greenock Custom House

On Friday 24 January 1902, an article appeared in the Greenock Telegraph noting that the Centenary celebrations of Greenock Burns Club would take place the following day in the Town Hall Saloon - that is, the 100th celebration of Burns' birthday.  But also mentioned, as proof of the earlier 1801 meeting, an important artefact which was once housed in a wooden chest with other important documents belonging to the Club.  The article states –

“The principal treasure, perhaps, in this chest is the original minute-book of the Greenock Club, the first entries in which are dated 1801, in the summer of which year the society was first formed.  It is an excise book which belonged to Robert Burns or rather was in his keeping and for his use as a Government servant.  It is of the once familiar form, oblong and narrow in width, and bound in thick brown calf boards.  The leaves have taken on an age-worn appearance, but otherwise the little volume is in a state of good preservation.  On the first leaf under the top cover is the following inscription:

“This Book was found in the house of the late Mr Robert Burns at his demise and presented to the Burns Club of Greenock by Adam Pearson, Esq, of His Majesty’s Excise, Edinburgh, AD 1801.”

On the second page is the following in large and legible handwriting: “Greenock Burns Club and Ayrshire Society.”

Cover on display in Greenock Burns Club's Archive and Exhibition Room in Greenock Custom House

The donor of the book, Adam Pearson (1743-1815) was Secretary of Excise for Scotland based in Edinburgh.  He was a witness at the trial of Deacon Brodie and his associate who were charged with robbing the Excise Office in Chessels Court in the Canongate, Edinburgh.  They were found guilty and hanged in front of the Tollbooth in the High Street.  Adam Pearson died in 1816.  He and his family are buried in the Canongate Kirkyard in Edinburgh.   Also buried in the same place are poet Robert Fergusson (1750-1774), whose work was greatly admired by Robert Burns.  Burns was responsible for providing the headstone for Fergusson's grave.  Agnes Maclehose (1759-1841), Clarinda to Burns' Sylvander is buried there too.

The Greenock Telegraph article continues by describing the first entry in the minute book -

"The minutes in this book open with an Ode on the poet composed by Mr Neil Dougal, a prominent and gifted local musician of the years of the last century, and the author of some Psalm tunes long popular with Presbyterians, including the well-known “Kilmarnock.” 

The long Ode – oh, how lengthy and gushing these old odes on Burns usually were! – concludes as follows:

“Sae for his [Burns] sake the dainty cheil,
I wish his weans and widow weal,
Gude grant them wealth
O’ milk and meal, For brose and bread,
And bless them with a cosy beil,
Till they are dead.”

Neil Dougal (1776-1862) was a Greenock born poet and composer.  He started life at sea but was seriously injured in 1794 while in Greenock when the ships in harbour were ordered to fire a salute in  honour of Lord Howe's victory over the French.  His gun misfired and he lost an arm and the sight in his right eye.  He had to give up his life at sea and turned to other ways of making a living.  He taught singing and composed many psalms, the best known being "Kilmarnock".  He was a lifelong member of Greenock Burns Club.

The cover of the excise book still exists and can be seen in the Archive and Exhibition Room of Greenock Burns Club in the Custom House in Greenock.  Unfortunately, the rest of the book has been lost.  No one knows what happened to the inside pages after the cover was removed to be photographed.

Dalziel of Bardrainney

It is difficult to imagine now, but the Bardrainney area of Port Glasgow was once quiet countryside with Bardrainney House and a surrounding estate of small farms.  The surrounding land belonged to James Cunningham, 14th Earl of Glencairn.  Alexander Dalziel living at Bardrainney was his factor, dealing with the efficient running of the Estate of Finlaystone.

any of the local farms were let out and as this newspaper clipping from 1789 shows, some of the names may be recognisable - Bogside, Knockmountain, High Langside, Laigh Langside, Laigh Castlehill, Bardrainnies and Parklee.

Alexander Dalziel was born in West Linton, the son of George Dalziel who was thought to have been an innkeeper at West Linton and Noble-house Inn.  He also owned farming land in the area. (He certainly seems to know how to attract clients!) 

It was reported that George Dalziel “was the first farmer that sewed turnip in open fields;  I believe he had a field of perhaps two or three acres at Linton, so early as 1763 or 1764.  I believe he might also be the first who cultivated potatoes on a large scale, by the plough”. (History of Peeblesshire, William Chambers, 1864.)  Alexander Dalziel had (at least) two sisters, Margaret, and Mary who married James Craig, a mason in Penicuik.

Earl of Glencairn

As factor to the Earl of Glencairn, Alexander Dalziel would have often had to travel to Edinburgh on the Earl's business and it is here that he is thought to have met the poet, Robert Burns.  They both admired the work of Edinburgh poet Robert Fergusson (1750-1774).  Dalziel is said to have been responsible for introducing Burns' poetry to the Earl of Glencairn who became a valued patron of the poet.

Burns and Dalziel corresponded regularly and Burns was devastated to learn of the Earl's death in January 1791.  He wrote to Dalziel:-

“My Dear Sir, I have taken the liberty to frank this letter to you, as it encloses an idle poem of mine, which I send you; and, God knows, you may perhaps pay dear enough for it if you read it through.  Not that this is my own opinion but the author, by the time he has composed and corrected his work, has quite pored away all his powers of critical discrimination.
I can easily guess from my own heart, what you have felt on a late most melancholy event.  God knows what I have suffered, at the loss of my best friend, my first and dearest patron and benefactor; the man to whom I owe all that I am and have!  I am gone into mourning for him, and with more sincerity of grief than I fear some will, who by nature’s ties ought to feel on the occasion.
I will be exceedingly obliged to you indeed, to let me know the news of the noble family, how the poor mother and the two sisters support their loss.  I had a packet of poetic bagatelles ready to send to Lady Betty, when I saw the fatal tidings in the newspaper.  I see by the same channel that the honoured remains of my noble patron are designed to be brought to the family burial place.  Dare I trouble you to let me know privately before the day of interment, that I may cross the country, and steal among the crowd, to pay a tear to the last sight of my ever revered benefactor?  It will oblige me beyond expression."

(Glencairn had died on his return from Lisbon where he had gone for his health.  He died and was buried at Falmouth, and not at Kilmaurs in Ayrshire which is where Burns seemed to think he was to be buried.  "Lady Betty mentioned in the letter was Glencairn's sister, Lady Elizabeth.)

Robert Burns wrote a poem Lament for James, Earl of Glencairn which you can read here.  He also named his fourth son James Glencairn Burns (1794-1865) in his memory.

James Glencairn Burns

Alexander Dalziel died in early January 1819.  His obituary from the Edinburgh Magazine & Review reads:-

"Alexander Dalziel, Esq of West Linton, formerly of Port Glasgow.  Mr Dalziel was the intimate friend of the Scottish poets, Fergusson and Burns; of the former he was accustomed to relate many interesting anecdotes, and, of the latter, he was fortunate enough to be the early patron, by introducing him to the Earl of Glencairn, an event which Burns never recollected but with the enthusiasm of grateful feeling.  Mr Dalziel is styled by an excellent judge, the elegant biographer of our immortal bard, one of the ablest of his correspondents.  No man was more remarkable for acuteness and accuracy in business, for a sturdy independence of mind, and for keen indignation at any appearance of falsehood, dishonesty and meanness.”

Alexander Dalziel seems to have been a very interesting character and is thought to have been an early  member of Greenock Burns Club along with fellow Port Glasgow resident and friend of Burns, Richard Brown.

Grose at Newark

In 1770s the antiquarian, Francis Grose (1731-1791), visited Newark Castle.  Here's a drawing he made  of the castle at that time.

Newark Castle, Port Glasgow, Grose

Grose describes Newark Castle - "This was the castle or principal mansion of the barony of Finlaystun Maxwell, which about the middle of the fifteenth century, with diverse other lands, came to Sir Robert Maxwell of Calderwood, a younger son of the family of Nether Pollock, in right of Elizabeth, his wife, second daughter and co-heiress of Sir Robert Denniestoun, of that ilk.  It continued in the possession of the Maxwell family for several generations, till sold by George Maxwell alias Napier, of Kilmahew, Esq; to Mr Cockrane, of Kilmaronock, about the beginning of the eighteenth century.  It is at present the property of – Hamilton, of Wishaw, Esq; in whose family it has been for a considerable length of time. 

 This castle stands on the Eastern point of the bay, which contains the town and harbour of Port Glasgow and Newark.  It is now in ruins; but some part of it was inhabited about fifty years ago.  It consists of a square court, with high walls, round turrets, and battlements.  Over the main door are the arms of Maxwell, very much defaced, having beneath them this inscription:  “The Blessing of God be herein, anno 1597”.  On another part of one of the North windows is engraved the date 1599.  Over most of the windows are the letters PM, being the initials of Sir Patrick Maxwell, who probably built the modern part of it.  The tower is of more ancient date than the rest; when or by whom it was built is not known."

"The Blessings of God be Heirin" above doorway at Newark Castle.

Francis Grose

Francis Grose was a London born antiquarian and writer who travelled throughout Britain noting the historical buildings and ruins he visited.  In 1772 he published "The Antiquities of England and Wales" containing his drawings with a short description of the buildings they showed.  In 1788\1789 he travelled widely in Scotland and later produced "The Antiquities of Scotland" which included Newark Castle.  

The ruins of Alloway Kirk, Grose

While in Scotland in 1789, Grose met the poet Robert Burns who suggested that he included Alloway Kirk in his writings.  Grose agreed to this on condition that Burns would write a story about a witch to go along with the drawing.  This led, in 1790 to the famous Burns work - "Tam O'Shanter" being included in the second volume of Grose's "Antiquities of Scotland".  

The pair became good friends and Burns wrote to Frances Dunlop:- "I have never seen a man of more original observation, anecdote and remark ... If you discover  a cheerful-looking grig of an old, fat fellow, the precise figure of Dr Slop, wheeling about your avenue in his own carriage with a pencil and paper in his hand, you may conclude: "Thou art the man!".  (Dr Slop is a character in "Tristam Shandy" (1759) by Laurence Sterne.)

Burns and Grose kept up a correspondence.  Burns wrote a poem for his friend, and also this epitaph -

"On Captain Francis Grose

The devil got notice that Grose was a-dying,

So whip! at the summons, old Satan came flying;

But when he approach’d where poor Francis lay moaning,

And saw each bed-post with its burden a-groaning,

Astonish’d! confounded! cry’d Satan, “By God,

I’ll want him, ere I take such a damnable load!”

Grose was also the author of the very interesting and amusing "A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue" (1775) and several other works.  Grose died in Dublin while travelling to find material for a book on the antiquities of Ireland.  One of his sons, also named Francis Grose (1758-1814) became Lieutenant Governor of New South Wales, Australia.

The Soldier's Return

These words from the poem “The Soldier's Return" by Scottish poet, Robert Burns is a fitting tribute to acknowledge the 80^th anniversary of the D-Day landings of 6 June 1944.  Part of the poem is quoted on a little artefact which is on display in the Greenock Burns Club's Exhibition and Archive Room in the Custom House, Greenock. 

For gold the merchant ploughs the main,

The farmer ploughs the manor;

But glory is the sodger's prize,

The sodger's wealth is honor:

The brave poor sodger ne'er despise,

Nor count him as a stranger;

Remember he's his country's stay,

In day and hour of danger.

Source - The Soldier's Return

This poem tells the story of a soldier returning from abroad and looking for the girl he loved.  It also pays homage to those of his colleagues who did not return and those family members left behind:-

When wild war's deadly blast was blawn,

And gentle peace returning,

Wi' mony a sweet babe fatherless,

And mony a widow mourning;

I left the lines and tented field,

Where lang I'd been a lodger,

My humble knapsack a' my wealth,

A poor and honest sodger.

The legend on the wooden plaque in the Greenock Burns Club Exhibition and Archive room reads –

Made of Wood From
Burns’s Trysting-Thorn
Mill Mannoch, Near Coylton
“At length I reached the bonnie glen,
Where early life I sported
I pass’d the mill and trysting-thorn
Where Nancy aft I courted.”

A trysting thorn is a meeting place, usually romantic beside a tree.  The wood here comes from the trysting thorn tree (hawthorn) at the Mill of Mannoch in Coylton in Ayrshire where Burns had romantic meetings.  The actual tree died and the wooden artefact at Greenock was probably made from the wood of that original tree.  There are many similar pieces of Burns' trysting thorn around the world.   A sapling for the original was planted in its place and is now protected.  It can still be seen today.  

The poem has a happy ending when the returning soldier meets the lover he left behind and she still has feelings for him.  You can read the whole poem below -

When wild war's deadly blast was blown,
   And gentle Peace returning,
Wi' mony a sweet babe fatherless,
   And mony a widow mourning,
I left the lines and tented field,
   Where lang I'd been a lodger;
My humble knapsack a' my wealth,
   A poor and honest sodger.
 
A leal light heart beat in my breast,
   My hands unstain'd wi' plunder;
For fair Scotia hame again,
   I cheery on did wander.
I thought upon the banks o' Coil,
   I thought upon my Nancy;
I thought upon the witching smile,
   That caught my youthful fancy.
 
At length I reach'd the bonnie glen,
   Where early life I sported;
I pass'd the mill and trysting thorn,
   Where Nancy aft I courted.
Wha spied I but my ain dear maid,
   Down by her mother's dwelling?
And turn'd me round to hide the flood
That in my een was swelling!
 
Wi' alter'd voice, quoth I, Sweet Lass,
   Sweet as yon hawthorn's blossom,
O! happy, happy may he be,
   That's dearest to thy bosom!
My purse is light, I've far to gang,
   And fain wad be thy lodger,
I've served my king and country lang:
   Tak' pity on a sodger.
 
Sae wistfully she gazed on me,
   And lovelier was than ever;
Quote she, A sodger ance I lo'ed,
   Forget him shall I never.
Our humble cot and hamely fare,
   Ye freely shall partake o't;
That gallant badge, the dear cockade,
   Ye're welcome for the sake o't.
 
She gazed - she redden'd like a rose -
   Syne pale as ony lily;
She sank within my arms and cried,
   Art thou my ain dear Willie?
By Him, who made yon son and sky,
   By whom true love's regarded,
I am the man! and thus may still
   True lovers be rewarded.
 
The wars are o'er, and I'm come hame,
   And find thee still true-hearted;
Though poor in gear, we're rich in love,
   And mair we'se ne'er be parted.
Quoth she, My grandsire left me gowd
   A mailin' plenish'd fairly;
Then come, my faithful sodger lad,
   Thou'rt welcome to it dearly!
 
For gold the merchant ploughs the main,
   The farmer ploughs the manor;
But glory is the sodger's prize,
   The sodger's wealth is honour.
The brave poor sodger ne'er despise,
   Nor count him as a stranger:
Remember he's his country's stay,
   In day and hour o' danger.

Check out this short video - 

Remember D-Day 80 - 

Commemorating the heroes of the Battle of Normandy.

Death of the Divine Miss Markland

In September of 1851 the death of a woman woman in Greenock was announced in newspapers both locally and much further afield.  It was not usual in those days for the death of an ordinary woman to be announced in such a way, but Jean Findlay was different.  She was well known to many because, in her youth she had been one of Scot's poet Robert Burns' Belles of Mauchline.  She was the "divine" Miss Markland (sometimes written Murkland).

Jean Markland was the daughter of George Markland and his wife Agnes Shaw.  The couple married in 1761 and Jean was born in 1765.  Burns poem “Belles of Mauchline” was written in 1784 - 

In Mauchline there dwells six proper young belles,

The pride of the place and its neighbourhood a';

Their carriage and dress, a stranger would guess,

In Lon'on or Paris, they'd gotten it a'.

 

Miss Miller is fine, Miss Markland's divine,

Miss Smith she has wit, and Miss Betty is braw:

There's beauty and fortune to get wi' Miss Morton,

But Armour's the jewel for me o' them a'.

On 16 September 1788 at Mauchline, Jean Markland married James Findlay a customs officer.  He worked at Tarbolton, Ayrshire and later, in 1792, moved to Greenock where he was a tide surveyor.  James Findlay died in 1834 (age 80) and was buried in the Inverkip Street cemetery in Greenock.  Jean died in 1851 and her death was reported in newspapers throughout Britain.

Plaque in Mauchline marking the home of Jean Markland

It is curious to note that in reports of her death it was stated “In ordinary circumstances, the departure from this life of a respectable lady, ripe in years, would not have afforded matter of general interest, but it happens that the deceased was one of the very few persons surviving to our own times, who intimately knew the Peasant Bard in the first flush of his genius and manhood …”. 

Jean Markland's home in Mauchline

James Findlay as an Excise Officer in Tarbolton was asked, in a letter dated 31 March 1788 to “instruct the bearer, Mr Robert Burns, in the art of gauging, and practical dry gauging casks and utensils; and that you fit him for surveying victuallers, rectifiers, chandlers, tanners, tawers, maltsters etc; and when he has kept books regularly for six weeks at least, and drawn true vouchers and abstracts therefrom (which books, vouchers, and abstracts, must be signed by your Supervisor and your self, as well as the said Mr Robert Burns), and sent to the Commissioners at his expense; and when he is furnished with proper instruments, and well instructed and qualified for an officer, then (and not before, at your perils) you and your Supervisor are to certify the same to the Board, expressing particularly therein the date of this letter; and that the above Mr Robert Burns hath cleared his Quarters, both for lodging and diet; and that he has actually paid each of you for his instructions and examination; and that he has sufficient at the time to purchase a horse for his business”.  The note was signed by A Pearson, Excise Office, Edinburgh.

James Findlay was employed as a customs officer on the River Clyde and would have been involved in looking for smugglers up and down the coast.  Robert Burns also spent some time as a "gauger" (customs officer) and you can find an interesting article about his time in that employment on the website of Alexandria Burns Club.

Picture courtesy of Greenock Burns Club

When James and Jean Findlay lived in Greenock, the had a cottage at the Bay of Quick - might even be the one in this picture.  (Bay of Quick was approximately where the Container Terminal is now, at the east end of the Esplanade.)

Adam Pearson, Secretary of Excise for Scotland who gave the written instructions to James Findlay also has an important link with Greenock.  This picture shows an artefact which can be found on the north-east wall of the Greenock Burns Club’s Exhibition and Archive Room in Greenock’s Custom House.  It reads - “This Book was found in the house of the late Mr Robert Burns at his demise, and presented to the Burns Club of Greenock by Adam Pearson Esq of His Majesty’s Excise, Edinburgh in AD 1801”. 

Interestingly, Adam Pearson was a witness at the trial of Deacon Brodie and his associate who were charged with robbing the Excise Office in Chessels Court in the Canongate, Edinburgh.  They were found guilty and hanged in front of the Tollbooth in the High Street.  Adam Pearson died in 1816.  He and his family are buried in the Canongate Kirkyard in Edinburgh.  

The stone reads:-  "The Burying Ground of ADAM PEARSON, Secretary of Excise for Scotland, 1796.  Interred here the said ADAM PEARSON.  Died 13 Nov 1816 aged 70.  BARBARA BALMAIN, his spouse.  Died 16 Oct 1796.  ANDREW PEARSON.  Their youngest son died 2 Aug 1823 aged 5.  DAVID PEARSON, their eldest son died 11 Mar 1830 aged 63.  MARJORY PEARSON eldest daughter of David Pearson.  Died 11 Jan 1822 aged 22.  CHARLOTTE COWAN.  Relict of David Pearson. Died 19 Mar 1854 aged 81."  There were obviously more family names on the stone which have eroded.  Several of Adam Pearson's descendants were Advocates in Edinburgh.  

An invitation to Cartsburn House

In March 1788, Thomas Crawfurd (1746-1791) wrote to the poet Robert Burns inviting him to come and stay with him for a few days at Cartsburn House in Greenock.  It is a wonderful, evocative invitation -

Cartsburn, 16^th March 1788

My dear Sir – For congeniality of mind entitles me to the freedom of this appellation, and never did I use it with more cordial sincerity – through the medium of our mutual friend Brown I hazard inviting you to the participation of an agreeable rural retirement at a convenient distance from a town where there are many of your admirers (but, indeed, it is not distinguished from that by any town in Great Britain); a library I hope not ill chosen; a cellar not ill stored; a hearty cock of a landlord, whom his perhaps too partial friends regard as destitute neither of taste nor letters.  He has reached his eighth lustre untrammelled by the matrimonial chain; and having neither wife nor child to disturb his tranquillity or divide his affections, he can offer you a whole heart.  Halt!  This is going too far; he is not so forlorn a wretch as to be without a friend; but this does not hinder his having a very warm place in that same heart (for though the fellow’s person be little his heart is large) most cordially at your services!  How do you like the bill of fare?  Not amiss, provided it be not a vapouring sign to a wretched ale-house.  Good wine needs no “bush”.  Well-come (I must pun) and welcome; and I hope you will find it deficient neither in spirit nor flavour; but this sage reflection of yours prevents my proceeding to raise your expectations too high.  This much I will, however, in justice to myself, add, namely, that if you should be disappointed, I shall be much more so.  Shall I then be blessed with your society?  Answer me, my dear boy!

But I forget myself; you are no classic – no Latin one, I mean, though certainly to be classed (allow me a jingle) among the first Caledonian classics.  Tell me where you are.  God knows I would gladly come for you in person; but as this is not in my power, will you allow me to send a servant and a horse for you!  Do, my dear Burns, and bless me with your assent. – Your hearty friend,  T. Crawfurd.

Unfortunately Robert Burns did not visit Cartsburn House, Greenock - there were too many other things requiring his attention at the time.  Burns wrote to his friend Richard Brown (alluded to by Crawfurd in the invitation) in March 1788 commenting "I have to thank you for the ingenious, friendly and elegant epistle from your friend Mr Crawfurd.  I shall certainly write to him, but not now." 

Thomas Crawfurd of Cartsburn
Source - National Galleries of Scotland

Thomas Crawfurd was the fourth Baron Cartsburn having succeeded his father in 1783.  Cartsburn at that time was not joined with Greenock, but was classed as a separate area.  The family home was Cartsburn House in (what is now) the east end of Greenock (just west of the present St Lawrence Street) Street).  At the time of this letter it was surrounded by fields and gardens.  Thomas Crawfurd was a well educated and well travelled man.  As his letter states, he was unmarried and had no children.  He even offered to send a servant and a horse to convey the poet to Cartsburn.

Certainly I think most people would have found this invitation difficult to turn down.  Cartsburn House sounds like a very convivial place to visit.