| Notes |
- A Historical walk / talk on Kilmadock Parish (Doune) Old* Kilmadock Cemetery - And three famous Scots buried there.
Approximately 40 members and friends gathered at the stable block, Doune Lodge, Doune, to join Roy Macfarlane on this outing.
Roy firstly told us of the Earls of Moray buying the estate in the 1810's, and in the 1820's building the stable block, designed by the well-known Dunblane architect W.Stirling, for under £5,000. The stable block, traditional Robert Adam style, i s similar to but much bigger than Alva House stable block and that of Harveston House built by the same man. Robert Adam had died in 1792 but his style was used for many future years.
On crossing the busy Doune to Callander road and joining the path through the glen, we halted to admire the remains of the railway line from Doune to Callander, built in the late 1840's. It was the railway which brought tourism to Callander and th e Trossachs, opening up holidays for a wider public. Sir Walter Scott's 'Lady of the Lake', set in West Perthshire 30 years before that, being the great magnet.
Stopping on the hill above the cemetery, which nestles on a plateau above the fast-flowing River Teith, Roy described the boundaries of the Parish and the view in front of us, which embraced the river, Deanston village and the mile-long lade.
Roy then spoke of James Smith of Deanston 1790 - 1850, the first of the three able Scots. He came to Deanston at the age of 18 and over the next 20-30 years was the driving force as engineer, designer and improver, using the river Teith's fast-flo wing water to drive the wheels and machinery of the vast 4/5 storey Mills, taking raw cotton to nearly the finished textiles, sheets, towels, etc., famous as 'Finlay' sheets etc. He described the sister mill in Catrine, Ayrshire (also in the Finla y group) which did the finishing of the goods. Deanston village was created by Smith, comprising 5 blocks of houses, known as "divisions'. At one time nearly 900 people worked in the mill, mostly female, some young, called part timers. The villag e had a school for part time workers and other children. A hall was built, gas installed in 1813. At one time, the 4 large wheels driving the mill were the largest of their kind in the world. Smith raised the idea of taking water from Loch Katrin e to Glasgow. His efforts were similar to Robert Owen and David Dale of New Lanark, but 20 years later. Smith was a land improver, draining by new methods of tilling, pioneering deep ploughing, inventing new machinery for cutting hay, etc. He trav eled all over Scotland, lecturing on agricultural methods .
Roy then showed us photographs of Deanston village and the mills, also of Catrine mills and village and New Lanark in Ayrshire. We then descended to the lovely old cemetery.
John Campbell, Pistolmaker.
Here was a family grave, where the famous pistol maker is buried. Roy took us through the 150 years of Doune pistol making, from the Caddell family who came from Muthill in l646 to John Murdoch who was still at his forge in 1798. John Campbell's b est years were 1740-1746 , making superb pistols. In the early 17th century, pistols were made from old horse nails hammered together - the art was perfected over 100 years. Doune was a centre for fairs and trysts, coming after Falkirk and Crief f in importance, and was ideally situated for selling pistols, being at the crossroads of Scotland, North to South. The defeat of Prince Charles and the Jacobites at Culloden in 1746 killed the pistol trade. The Disarming Act of 1746, forbidding a ny Scot to carry arms or wear the kilt, was the death knell of a vast trade - though some businesses continued on the Continent.
There were three small pistol factories. One building remains, restored mostly by the voluntary work of John Blackwood, local antique restorer. Some fine examples of Doune pistols are to be seen in Edinburgh Galleries, Glasgow Art Gallery, Windso r Castle, Fyvie Castle and the Smith Gallery in Stirling. The Duke of Clarence was presented, in 1790, with a pair of ornamental Doune pistols. Plated and inlaid with gold. These were purchased by Inverness District in 1979 for £50,000 from a priv ate collector in the Channel Islands. Roy showed photos of Doune pistols.
Kirkman Finlay 1772 -1842, a Merchant Prince. If James Smith was the driving force over 30 years in Deanston, Kirkman Finlay was the International Taipan who made James Finlay an International trading company, Calcutta being the H.Q. There were te a gardens in Assam and Travencore, shipping in the East and Insurance. At one time over 100,000 people were employed in India. K.Finlay was elected M.P. for a Glasgow burgh and helped to undermine the monopoly of the East India Company. He becam e Lord Provost of Glasgow, and when he retired buil t Castle Toward, a massive Gothic structure. Buried with honour, elsewhere, his memorial rests here.
Finally, Roy showed us the large Macfarlane graves from the late 18th century, beginning with a Parlane, in direct line 8 generations to now.
Roy Macfarlane, 1st June 1994 (b. 8th July 1917 d.2nd October 1994)
[http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=doigk&id=I57332]
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1917 - 1994 (77 years)
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