A difficult time in Port Glasgow 1776

On 27 April 1776 the Reverend Archibald Simpson of Port Glasgow wrote in his diary:- "This day there has been a great concourse of people about this town and Greenock to see a large fleet of transports set off for America, aboard of which are three thousand Highlanders to be employed to subdue that country and forge chains for that brave people, which will undoubtedly revert upon ourselves, and destroy our liberty as well as theirs, if the tyrannical measures of government take place.  But I hope God will order it otherwise.”

Extract from Caledonian Mercury April 1776

This was the 71st Regiment of Foot, known as Fraser's Highlanders.  Simpson had good reason to be concerned, just a few years before, he had left his home, plantation and church in South Carolina to return to Scotland with his two young daughters.

Archibald Simpson, born in 1735 in Perth, grew up in Glasgow where his father was a cordiner (shoemaker).  Archibald was greatly affected by the GreatAwakening, an evangelical religious revival, and especially by the words and work of George Whitfield (1714-1770) who had spent time preaching in America.  After spending a year at Glasgow University, Simpson was offered a position at Whitfield's Bethesda Orphan House in Georgia.  Before leaving Glasgow, Simpson married Jean Muir and travelled to America in 1752.

George Whitfield

However, things did not go to plan.  On his arrival in Georgia, for some reason, Whitfield and Simpson had a disagreement.  (Some say that it was because of Simpson’s marriage.)  Simpson left Georgia for South Carolina and in 1754 took up a position at Stoney Creek (or Indian Land)  in the north east of the State.

South Carolina Historical Marker (photo - Mike Stroud)

Simpson worked there for several years and travelled widely throughout the State preaching at various Presbyterian churches.  In 1766 he was responsible for setting up the Salkehatchie Presbyterian Church.  Jean Muir and one of her daughters had died, leaving Archibald with two young daughters, Betsy and Susy to look after.  In 1772, with unrest on the increase in the area, Archibald Simpson decided to return to Scotland leaving his home, plantation and church.

On his arrival in Scotland he was “examined” by the established Church of Scotland and offered a position at Bellshill near Glasgow.  He did not want the post.  In 1774 he was appointed to the Parish Church in Port Glasgow as an assistant to the minister John Forrest.  At first he dealt with the “overflow” congregation which met in the meeting house or sail-loft in the town because the original church was too small, but when the (Newark) Chapel of Ease was built in 1774 he, and his congregation moved to the new building.  He settled in Port Glasgow with his daughters and in 1776 married Jean McLean Wallace, a widow from Greenock.

Former Newark Chapel, Port Glasgow

It was from this position in Port Glasgow that he was able to look on the progress of the Revolutionary War in America.  Port Glasgow owed its wealth to the importation of tobacco from America and was being hit hard by events on the other side of the Atlantic.  Simpson had the additional personal worry over loss of income from his plantation in South Carolina.

His diary continues: - “People in this poor unhappy land are so blinded to their own destruction that there is nothing to be heard but curses and abuses of the poor Americans, and vain boasts of what vengeance and destruction shall fall upon them by fire and sword, the absolute conquest and desolation of the provinces being determined on by the ministry.  These things are very grievous and distressing to me, yet am obliged to hear them daily and hourly …”.

Simpson was keen to return to America, but ill health and the ongoing War prevented him going.  Eventually in 1784 he was given a year’s “leave of absence” by the managers of Newark Chapel who by this time were probably quite glad to get rid of him.  He left his wife and daughters and returned to a very different South Carolina.

After a difficult journey, Simpson arrived back to find that much had changed in Charleston, South Carolina.  He writes in his diary:- September 1783 – “… the whole country at any distance from the seat of government is still in a very unhappy situation.  Robberies are almost daily committed, and many murders are lately perpetrated by an armed banditti, who call themselves British Refugees, or Loyalists, and sometimes call themselves Americans, taking revenge for the evil treatment they have met with”.

He found things even worse at his old home: -"I rode around by my old parsonage or manse, which is still standing; stopped on the road and viewed it for some time, with a heart ready to burst at the remembrance of the past.  There my dear children were born; there they and their ever dear mother died; there I had many a sweet, pleasant and comfortable – many a sick, melancholy, and sorrowful hour.”

By the time Archibald Simpson returned to Port Glasgow, having taken well over the year he had been permitted by the chapel managers, he found that his services were no longer required at Newark Chapel.  Port Glasgow's productive and rich tobacco trade had diminished rapidly since the beginning of hostilities.  The War had disrupted traffic across the Atlantic and would continue to do so for some time.  Port Glasgow had changed too. 

Tobacco ships

Archibald Simpson moved away from the area and died in Glasgow in 1795.  His daughter Susanna (Susy) married Port Glasgow’s Collector of Customs, Adam Johnston in January 1784.  She and gave birth to a son, Archibald Simpson Johnston in September 1784 in Port Glasgow.

Archibald Simpson's time in Port Glasgow must have been very difficult.  To see and hear first hand the effect that the War in America was having among his parishioners as well as having the worry of what was happening to his friends and property across the Atlantic must have weighed heavily on his mind.  His sympathies obviously lay more with America than Britain and how disillusioned he must have been on returning to his old home.  Fortunately for us today, Archibald Simpson keep diaries and notes which give a fascinating insight into his thoughts as well as what was happening in both Scotland and America in those troubling times.

Port Glasgow Heritage Walk and Map

This summer why not take a walk through Port Glasgow enjoying both the scenery and the fascinating history of the town.  Download the guided walk booklet here.  Or you could take a copy of the map and enjoy the walk on its own.

I've updated the details of my Port Glasgow Heritage Walk and you can download a pdf of the walk and larger map from here.  There are some great things to see along the way.  Here's just a few you might like:-

1    Newark Castle dating from the 15th century
3    Ropework Buildings - former ropeworks, now apartments
6    Coronation Park and riverside
7    Shipbuilders of Port Glasgow sculpture

Shipbuilders of Port Glasgow sculpture, Coronation Park

8    Memorial Clyde Boating Tragedy
9   Murals at Steamboat Quay
10 & 11    Lighthouses
14     Shipyard Names (Tesco carpark)
17    Church of St John the Baptist built in 1854
19    New Parish Church and Churchyard - this building dates from 1823, original church much earlier
21    Murals & Hood's Well in Port Glasgow railway station

Hood's Well, Port Glasgow railway station

23    Former Town Hall and Masonic Lodge in King Street built circa 1750s
25    Port Glasgow Library, former town buildings built in 1816
27    Port Glasgow War Memorial
28    Endeavour Sculpture

Endeavour sculpture, Port Glasgow

As you can see, there's lots to explore in Port Glasgow.

Port Glasgow's coat of arms

Download the Booklet and Map to find out more.

Alexander Knox, Brewer of Crawfurdsdyke

These stones once marked the burying place of the family of Alexander Knox of Crawfurdsdyke.  Alexander Knox was a brewer and owned the large brewery in Crawfurdsdyke or Cartsdyke, which he took over in the early 1760s.  He was born in Glasgow in 1722, the son of Alexander Knox and Ann Duncanson.  In 1762 he married Mary Allason, the sister of tobacco trader William Allason of Virginia and half sister of Robert Allason of Port Glasgow.  He corresponded regularly with William Allason, keeping him up to date about family members here in Scotland.  Alexander Knox died in February 1774.

Alexander's wife Mary managed to keep the business going with the help of advice from her brother in law, James Knox, bookseller in Glasgow, until her son Alexander (1763-1789) was of an age to take over.  Alexander unfortunately died young, and his brother James (1771- c1800) then took over the running the brewery.  Mary died in 1790.  James Knox sent books and periodicals out to William Allason in Virginia.

The brewery was a very successful enterprise.  James Knox was a respected merchant in Crawfurdsdyke, which at that time was separate from Greenock.  He was one of the first members when a corps of local volunteers was instituted in 1794 and was appointed as a lieutenant.  He also kept up a correspondence with his uncle William Allason in Virginia.  (Read more about the Allason family here.)

In his book Old Greenock, George Williamson states that the inscription on the stone "is the only Latin inscription in the churchyard".  It reads -

1769

Hoc

Est solum sepulchrale

Alexandri Knox

Cer(e)visiarii in Vico

Crawfurdsdyke

Patet

In longitudinem Octo

In latitudinem totidem

Hoc est

Sexaginta quatuor

Quadratos pedes

Williamson translates this as " The burial-place of Alexander Knox, Maltman (or Brewer) in the village of Carwfurdsdyke … it is 8 feet in length, the same in breadth, or 64 square feet".  

Old West Kirk - illustration from Old Greenock by George Williamson

They can now be found on the south wall of the Old West Kirk, Esplanade, Greenock.  The church and burial ground once stood at the north end of Nicolson Street, Greenock.  

When that land was needed for an extension to the Harland & Wolff shipyard, the building was taken down and rebuilt on its present site in the 1920s.

The Crawfurdsdyke Brewery was once situated across from the old quay at Cartsdyke.  After James Knox's death it was taken over by James Watt (no relation to the famous engineer).  This James Watt was Provost of Greenock 1834-1837.

Allan Park Paton - remarkable Greenockian

Allan Park Paton was born in Greenock in 1818.  His father was John Paton,  a writer (lawyer) in Greenock and his mother was Margaret Park.  The family lived at East Blackhall Street. 

Allan had (at least) three brothers -

Robert Paton (1827-1869) - mariner.

Rev John Allan Hunter Paton (1831-1911) - minister at Duddingston.

James Fraser Paton (1832-1864) - doctor who died of typhus during an epidemic in Greenock.

His sister Mary Weir Paton (1830-) lived with her brother John at Duddingston.

Their father died in 1835 and their mother a few years later when the children were still very young.

In his youth Allan Park Paton travelled widely.  He studied law and had an office in Rue End Street, Greenock - he was also Land Factor for the Toward Estate, Dunoon.

 

In 1845 he published a book of poems which included "To My Native River".  Another poem about the local area was "The Road Round By Kennedy's Mill".   He published a second collection of poems in 1848.   He would later publish a novel entitled "The Web of Life".  He also wrote various pamphlets on literary subjects and was editor of the Hamnet edition of Shakespeare (Hamnet was the name of one of Shakespeare's sons).

In 1852 he was secretary of a bazaar which was held to raise funds for additions to the Watt Library.  In 1866 the Museum was added to the Library building.

Watt Library, Union Street, Greenock

In 1868 he became librarian at the Watt Library, a position he held until the end of 1894.  "During the period that he acted as librarian he did much to foster an appreciation of good literature in the community, and enriched the archives of the library with many interesting letters and autographs of men famous in the world of politics, literature, science and art". He corresponded with many of the great names in art and literature.

He lived in a house at the corner of Margaret Street and Brougham Street "Pmalder Cottage" (red lamp backwards).  The red lamp, a navigation aid once stood on the Esplanade at the corner of Margaret Street.

He was instrumental in raising money for the Galt Fountain on the Esplanade, just in front of his home.

He was greatly interested in the restoration of the Old West Kirk and was responsible for sourcing the beautiful stained glass windows from artists of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood.

Burne-Jones window in the Old West Kirk

In 1864 aged 46 he married 24 year old Annabella Rodger, daughter of Alexander Rodger and Eliza Buchanan of Bagatelle, Eldon Street, Greenock.  Annabella was the granddaughter of Walter Washington Buchanan more information here.)  The couple had two children, James Fraser Paton born in 1865 and Ida born in 1866.  Annabella died at Bagatelle in June 1870 shortly after giving birth to a still-born son.  After her death, Allan lived with his two children near the Library on Union Street.  He continued working there until he retired in 1894 aged 76.  His son James Fraser Paton (1865-1928) was an artist and his daughter Ida (1866-1943) was a poet and artist.

Home Cottage, Esplanade, Greenock

Allan Park Paton died in 1905 at Home Cottage, Roseneath Street, Esplanade, Greenock and is buried in Greenock Cemetery.

Greenock Cemetery - the grave of Annabella Rodger and Allan Park Paton

It is impossible to quantify what this great man did in the interests of the literary and artistic heritage of Greenock.

Poetry panels - Cathcart Street

On 18 December 1909 a badly decomposed body was found floating in the sea off Mousehole, Cornwall.  Brought to shore, it was identified as being the remains of poet John Davidson.  He had disappeared from his home in Penzance in March of 1909. 

John Davidson was born in Barrhead in 1857 and his family moved to Greenock when he was just five years old.  His father, Alexander Davidson was a minister in Nelson Street Evangelical Union Church.  John was educated at Highlanders Academy and became a pupil-teacher there.  He worked for a while in the laboratory at Walker’s sugar refinery.  Later he moved to London.

Sculpture of Ginger the Horse, Cathcart Street, Greenock.

John Davidson was a poet and a writer.  The poetic lines on the panels come from his work A Ballad in Blank Verse on the Making of a Poet written in 1894.  The poem deals mainly with a son’s attitude towards the religious beliefs and expectations of his parents.  These lines from the poem, referencing the River Clyde, can be found etched on panels at the piazza at the east end of Cathcart Street in Greenock, behind the sculpture of Ginger the Horse.

His father’s house looked out across a firth

Broad-bosomed like a mere, beside a town

Far in the North where Time could take his ease,

And Change hold holiday; where Old and new

Weltered upon the border of the world. 

Now may my life beat out upon this shore

A prouder music than the winds and waves

Can compass in their haughtiest moods.  I need

No world more spacious than the region here:

The foam-embroidered firth, a purple path.

...

This old grey town, this firth, the further strand

Spangled with hamlets, and the wooded steeps,

Whose rocky tops begind each other press,

Fantastically carved like antique helms

High-hung in heaven’s cloudy armoury,

Is world enough for me.  

For this was in the North, where Time stands still

And Change holds holiday, where Old and New

Welter upon the border of the world,

And savage faith works woe.

You can read the whole poem here.  There are other lines (not on panels) which I’m sure will strike a chord with any one who remembers the Greenock that was –

... this grey town

That pipes the morning up before the lark

With shrieking steam, and from a hundred stalks

Lacquers the sooty sky; where hammers clang

On iron hulls, and cranes in harbours creak

Rattle and swing, whole cargoes on their necks;

Where men sweat gold that others hoard or spend,

And lurk like vermin in their narrow streets: 

The last words rest with Davidson who wrote in a letter to a friend -

“Of all poets, I envy Homer, of whom nothing is known.  The lives of men of letters should never be written; only the lives of Caesar and Napoleon are worth writing.”

Macknight of Ratho and Cartsburn

Christian Arthur Crawfurd was the daughter of ChristianCrawfurd and Robert Arthur.  She succeeded to the Cartsburn estate on the death of her mother in 1796, becoming the sixth Crawfurd of Cartsburn.  Born in Greenock in 1749, Christian married Thomas Macknight at Irvine in 1779.  In 1786 Macknight bought the estate of Ratho in Midlothian where the couple lived.  The area is now part of Ratho Park Golf Course. 

Ratho Kirkyard

Thomas Macknight (1738-1811) had a remarkably interesting life before settling at Ratho.  He was the son of William Macknight (d.1750), minister at Irvine, Ayrshire and his wife, Margaret Gemmil (d.1753), (daughter of Gemmil of Dalraith, Fenwick, Ayrshire).

In the 1750s Thomas Macknight, like many other young Ayrshire men set out for America and settled in the Currituck and Pasquotank regions of North Carolina around 1757.  He owned the Belville Estate which he describes – “The plantation on which I lived lay near the centre of the whole tract; this I had improved at a very great experience by enlarging the clear ground; by taking in meadow lands; by planting extensive orchards of fruit trees, carefully collected from different parts of Europe and America; by making a garden and pleasure-ground containing ten acres for which I kept a regular-bred gardener from Britain”.  

Photo courtesy of North Carolina Historical Marker Program

He also set up a shipyard on the North River and owned several ships, including one named the Belville, trading between America and Europe.  This is how he describes his yard – “I had erected on the north side of the river at a very great expense the most commodious, and I will venture to say the best shipyard in the province, where I had every convenience for careening as well as for building vessels.”  There’s a very interesting article about archaeological work undertaken at his shipyard - The Macknight Shipyard Wreck (click to read).

He owned other land in connection with business partners, fellow Scots - James Parker and William Aitchison in the company Thomas Macknight & Co.  He describes their joint land holdings – “The lands which we distinguished by the name of Campania were known by the name of the Great-Swamp, and lay in the counties of Currituck, Pasquotank, and Perquimans, adjoining the Virginia boundary line.  The soil of these lands was rich, but in general too wet for agriculture without a considerable expense in draining.  They were however immediately valuable on account of the excellent winter pasture they afforded to cattle, and still more so on account of the Juniper (or white Cedar) and Cypress Trees with which they were covered.  Of this timber the Shingles are made, which are used for covering houses all over America and the West India Islands.”  He was also involved in business with William McCormick who was his brother in law (his brother, James Macknight was married to Elizabeth McCormick).

He took part in local affairs and was a member of the General Assembly for the county as well as clerk to the county court.  He also was responsible for a church being built in the area.  Unfortunately, the Revolutionary War, brought all his work here to an end.  In 1775 as a member of the Provisional Congress of New Bern representing Currituck he refused to sign the Association - papers agreeing to stop trade with Britain.  He and his business partners had many trading links with Britain and the West Indies, and at that time much of the trade was conducted on the credit system.  A failure in continuing trade would mean having to settle large debts.  Branded a loyalist his home, land and businesses were confiscated, and he was in fear for his life.  He travelled to Norfolk, Virginia to speak to Governor John Dunmore to see what could be done.  His engineering skills were put to good use in building a defensive wall around the town much of which he paid for himself.

With the increase in hostilities, he returned to Britain and while in London attempted to obtain compensation for his losses - land, ships, slaves and merchandise - from the British Government.  Macknight filed a claim to recover his losses in the sum of £23,183, but received much less in compensation.  Back in America his plantation of Belville was sold off. 

The summary of his petition to the Government in connection with compensation for his ships reads -Thomas Macknight … “His loyalty having rendered him obnoxious to the Rebels in America he was obliged in October 1775 to leave North Carolina to avoid assassination.  Seizure of a ship of his by the rebels, in December of that year.  Recounts the subsequent capture of this vessel by one of His Majesty’s ships of war, her first detention having prevented her beginning her voyage till after the Prohibitory Act took place.  Other losses he has sustained.  Prays reparation for them, and that their Lordships will grant redress, instead of allowing him to suffer by the effect of British laws.”  His business partners were in the same position, and there was also the difficulty of agreeing how any compensation should be shared between them.

Though unable to receive full compensation, Thomas Macknight returned to his family in Irvine and married Christian Crawfurd in 1779.  He bought the estate of Ratho in 1786.  Like his estate in North Carolina, Thomas Macknight was responsible for many improvements to the land in his time at Ratho. 

Christian and Thomas had three children – Christian born in 1780, Elizabeth born in 1781 and William (who would succeed his mother as seventh of Cartsburn) born in 1785.  Two other children, Robertina and Thomas died in infancy.  The Macknight family grave is in the kirkyard of Ratho Parish Church.  

The centre panel of the grave marker reads:-

In memory of

Thomas Macknight Esquire of Ratho who died April 1811 in his 73rd year

Christian Crawfurd of Cartsburn his wife who died 12 April 1818 in her 60th year

Margaret and Robertina their daughters who died in infancy

Thomas, their youngest son Who died January 18 in his 7th year

All buried here. 

The lower section reads:-

In Memory of William Crawfurd Esq Of Cartsburn their eldest son who died November 1855

Jane Crawford his wife Who died 12th December 18 aged/ ?

Thomas William Allan Macknight Crawfurd their grandson who died February 18?

These are interred in the burying ground of Cartsburn at Greenock. 

Another part reads:-

Sacred to the memory of the late Miss Elizabeth Macknight.

Second daughter of the late Thomas Macknight of Ratho

Born 24 December 1782 died at Edinburgh on the 16th March 1864

 Thomas Macknight died in 1811.  A curious passage in his will reads -

“I have a high value and esteem for the said Mrs Christian Crawfurd, and am sensible that her conduct as my wife has been uniformly and highly meritorious in very trying circumstances, although her income after my decease will be ample from her having lately succeeded to the Estate of Cartsburn, the rents of which after my death will be at her free disposal.”

Ratho Street in Greenock was probably named because of the Macknight family connections with the area and perhaps Belville Street also in Greenock was named after Thomas Macknight’s estate in North Carolina.  Both these streets are in the east end of Greenock, land that was once owned by the Crawfurd family.

Thomas Macknight's Family 
Thomas Macknight’s brother was the Rev Dr James Macknight (1721-1800), a minister in Edinburgh.  James was married to Elizabeth McCormick (1828-1813), the daughter of Samuel McCormick, General Examiner of Excise in Scotland.  Elizabeth’s brother William McCormick was a friend of Thomas and fellow merchant and loyalist.

Once again trade links between the west coast of Scotland and pre-Revolutionary America are very much a family affair and once again there is the Greenock, Port Glasgow/Ayrshire link.  For more examples of these trade links, please click on the names Robert Adam, Richard Brown, Robert Allison to read about other early local traders in America.

Two ships at Greenock

Two very different ships at on the River Clyde at Greenock today.

At Custom House Quay is the beautiful ship Tenacious.  Part of the fleet of the Jubilee Sailing Trust.

Over at Greenock Ocean Terminal the cruise ship Regal Princess was berthed.

I certainly know which ship I prefer.

Wood Notes Wild - Robert Burns' Seal

Within Greenock’s Custom House is the Exhibition and Archive of Greenock Burns Club, the oldest Burns Club in the world and often referred to as the Mother Club.  It is open in summer on Saturdays from 12 till 2 and when large cruise ships visit Greenock.  Check the Greenock Burns Club website for opening times.  Robert Burns (1759-1796) is Scotland's national poet.

This wooden plaque, on the north-east wall of the Burns Exhibition and Archive in the Custom House, Greenock, shows what appears on Robert Burns’ personal seal.  Robert Burns did not matriculate his arms with the Lord Lyon, but had a great interest in what should appear on his seal.

In March 1793 Robert Burns wrote to his friend Alexander Cunningham, a lawyer in Edinburgh who later went into business as a jeweller with an uncle: -

“There is one commission that I must trouble you with.  I lately lost a valuable seal, a present from a departed friend, which vexes me much.”

He then goes on to describe what he would like on the seal -

“I have gotten one of your Highland pebbles, which I fancy would make a very decent one; and I want to cut my armorial bearing on it; will you be so obliging as enquire what will be the expense of such a business?  I do not know that my name is matriculated, as the heralds call it, at all; but I have invented arms for myself, so you know I shall be chief of the name; and, by courtesy of Scotland, will likewise be entitled to supporters.  These, however, I do not intend having on my seal.  I am a bit of a herald, and shall give you, secundum artem, my arms.  On a field, azure, a holly-bush, seeded, proper, in base; a shepherd’s pipe and crook, saltier-wise, also proper in chief.  On a wreath of the colours, a wood-lark perching a sprig of bay-tree, proper, for crest.  Two mottos; round the top of the crest, Wood notes wild; at the bottom of the shield, in the usual place, Better a wee bush than nae bield.  By the shepherd’s pipe and crook I do not mean the nonsense of painters of Arcadia, but a stock and horn, and a club, such as you see at the head of Allan Ramsay, in Allan’s quarto edition of the Gentle Shepherd.”

The "Highland pebble" referred to by Burns was a topaz given to him by Maria Riddell (1772-1808) who, in a letter to Dr James Currie (biographer of Burns) on 6 December 1797 writes:-

“The seal I mentioned and which you propose engraving in the title page (of his first edition of Burns’ work) I fancy Gilbert Burns or the widow will have got in their custody.  I gave Burns the stone, and we arranged the devise between us.  I do firmly believe in despite and violation of all rules of Heraldry; a holly bush with a shepherd’s pipe suspended, crest a wood-lark, with the motto from Milton’s Allegro, “native wood notes wild” – it is all appropriate enough, and you must not omit to give the Poet’s chosen blazon”.

Maria Riddell  Source

Burns obviously put a lot of thought into the symbolism of his seal.  "Wood notes wild", at the top is a quote from L'Allegro by John Milton (1608-1674) (lines 131-134):- “Then to the well-trod stage anon, If Jonson’s learned sock be on.  Oh sweetest Shakespear, fancie’s childe.  Warble his native Wood-notes wilde.”  The phrase also invokes bird song and Burns used it to describe his wife, Jean Armour having read "a book of “Scot’s poems which she has perused very devoutly; and all the ballads in the country, as she has … the finest “wood note wild” I ever heard."

Just under the phrase wood notes wild is a woodlark - a beautiful songbird.  Burns wrote Address to the Woodlark in 1795.

The bird is standing on a sprig of bay.  Bay or bay laurel is an aromatic evergreen plant symbolising victory or triumph.  A laurel wreath worn by heroes in Greek mythology and associated with the god Apollo (god of poetry).  Interestingly the title poet laureate also derives from the laurel.

Under the bird is a shied bearing a shepherd's pipe and crook.  The shepherd’s pipe, or stock and horn, is described in great detail by Burns who managed to acquire one, part of which which is now in the National Museum of Scotland : -

“have at last gotten one; but it is a very rude instrument.  It is composed of three parts – the stock, which is the hinder thigh bone of a sheep, such as you see in a mutton-ham; the horn, which is a common Highland cow’s horn, cut off at the smaller end until the aperture be large enough to admit the ‘stock’ to be pushed up through the horn, until it be held by the thicker end of hip-end of the thigh bone; and lastly, an oaten reed, exactly cut and notched like that which you see every shepherd boy have when the corn stems are green and full grown.  The reed is not made fast in the bone, but is held by the lips and Plays loose in the smaller end of the ‘stock’ while the ‘stock’ and horn, hanging on its larger end, is held by the hands in playing.  The ‘stock’ has six or seven ventiges on the upper side and one back-ventige, like the common flute.  This of mine was made by a man from the braes of Athole, and is exactly what the shepherds were wont to use in that country”.

Scottish poet Allan Ramsay (1684-1758) mentions the stock horn in his work The Gentle Shepherd published in 1725:- “When I begin to tune my stock and horn, Wi’ a’ her face she shaws a caulrife scorn,”.  Burns mentions Ramsay in his letter to Alexander Cunningham (see above).  Both the shepherd's pipe and crook are probably references to Burns' life on the land.

Under the shield is a holly bush.  In The Vision, Burns describes being visited by his native Muse, Coila, and describes her:-

Green, slender, leaf-clad holly-boughs

I took her for some Scottish Muse, By that same token:

An’ come to stop those reckless vows, would soon be broken.

Were twisted, graceful’, round her brows.

Later he describes her as addressing him:-

"All hail! my own inspired bard!

In me thy native Muse regard;

Nor longer mourn thy fate is hard, Thus poorly low;

I come to give thee such reward, As we bestow!

She then winds holly around his head:- 

"And wear thou this"-she solemn said,

And bound the holly round my head:

The polish'd leaves and berries red Did rustling play;

And, like a passing thought, she fled In light away.

Burns was very insistent that it be a depiction of a holly bush rather than a tree and that could be because of the final part of his seal - Better a wee bush than nae bield” – an expression meaning better a small bush than no shelter.  Quite an interesting choice of symbols for his arms.  

Burns did not matriculate his arms.  After his death the seal was used by his eldest son, Robert Burns (1786-1857). He worked at the Stamp Office in London. He married Ann Sherwood in 1809 and had a daughter Eliza (1812-1878) who went to India with her uncle, James Glencairn Burns (1794-1865).  In 1836 Eliza married Dr Bartholomew Jones Everitt (died 1840) of the East India Company at Bangalore and had a daughter Martha Burns Everitt (1839-1906) known as Patty.  The seal was left by Robert Burns to his daughter Eliza, who passed it to her daughter Martha.  In 1889 Martha Burns Everitt married Matthew Thomas and lived at Martinstown, Killinick, County Wexford.  In 1896 James B Morison of Greenock Burns Club wrote to Martha asking for an impression of the seal in wax, which she sent to the Club, beautifully mounted and with an inscription "to Greenock Burns Club with Mrs Burns Thomas's compliments, 2nd October 1896"

Martha Burns (Everitt) Thomas bequeathed the seal to her cousin.  In 1907 the seal was put up for sale at Christies where it was purchased for £200 by William Hamilton Dunlop of Doonside for Burns Museum Trustees.  Dunlop was Secretary of the Burns Monument.

The seal can now be seen at the Burns Birthplace Museum, Alloway.