OLD GLASGOW.
GLASGOW CAT II I.DRAL.
THE OLD WESTERN TOWER AND CONSISTORY HOUSE.
LOOKING NORTH-EAST.
KKoM A DKAtVINc; ItY W. I,. LEITCH.
• LACKIB & SON, LONDON, GLASGOW, A EDINBURGH.
Ib
OTonbent of OD.
Jfounbeb Jlu
184
THE PLACE AND THE PEOPLE,
FROM THE ROMAN OCCUPATION TO
THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.
BY
ANDREW MACGEORGE,
GLASGOW: BLACKIE AND SON.
1880.
GLASGOW :
W. G. BLACKIE AND CO., PRINTERS,
VILLAFIELD.
PREFATORY NOTE.
THE materials for a History of Glasgow are limited, and such as they
are they have to be searched for through numerous books and docu-
ments— many of them not generally accessible. The present work is
an attempt to bring these materials together in such a systematic form
as to give a connected view of the early history of the City. I have
been enabled also to add some interesting original matter.
It is not a topographical work: neither does it make any pretension
to be a complete history. Its object is to give in a popular form
some idea of the state of Scotland, and especially of the locality around
Glasgow, at and subsequent to the time of Kentigern, its patron saint;
of the growth of the city; of the condition of the people — their lan-
guage, their habits and customs, and their municipal history; with
some notices of the geology of the basin of the Clyde, and the won-
derful development of the river as a means of traffic.
To friends who have supplied me with valuable information, and
to the gentlemen connected with the Corporation by whose courtesy I
have been afforded access to official documents and records, I return
my warmest thanks.
A. M.
GLENARN, December, 1879.
CONTENTS.
Page
THE FIRST BISHOP, i
THE BELL AND THE MIRACLES, ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 19
THE NAME OF THE CITY, 29
THE EARLY CHURCH, 31
THE EARLY INHABITANTS, ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 37
THE EARLY LANGUAGE, ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 56
THE EARLY HOUSES, 68
THE TENURE OF PROPERTY, 80
THE RULE OF THE BISHOPS, 83
THE ARMORIAL INSIGNIA AND CITY SEALS, 99
THE CATHEDRAL, ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 104
THE CASTLE, AND THE MANOR HOUSES OF THE BISHOPS, 116
OLD STREETS AND BUILDINGS, ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 124
THE CITY PORTS AND MILITARY DEFENCES, 162
EARLY STATE OF LAND NEAR GLASGOW, 175
THE PEOPLE, AND HOW THEY LIVED, 181
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY, 189
MUNICIPAL AND SOCIAL HISTORY, ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 215
DISTINCTION OF CLASSES, ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 237
TRADE AND COMMERCE, ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 239
THE RIVER AND HARBOUR, ... ... 248
STATE OF THE STREETS IN EARLY TIMES — SOCIAL HABITS OF THE PEOPLE, ... 266
EDUCATION, AMUSEMENTS, FAIRS, ... ... ... 276
POLICE, WATER SUPPLY, WATCHING, &c., 289
LITERARY HISTORY, ... ... ... ... ... 299
VALUE OF PROPERTY, ... 308
PRICES OF COMMODITIES AND LABOUR, ... ... ... ... 313
CONTRAST BETWEEN FORMER AND PRESENT CONDITION OF THE CITY, 325
ILLUSTRATIONS.
Page
The Old Western Tower and Consistory House of the Cathedral, from a drawing
by W. L. Leitch, ... ... ... ... ... ... Frontispiece.
Inscription bearing date 1597, from a house that stood in the Back Cow Lone, ... xi
The Fiddler's Close, No. 75 High Street, from a drawing by T. Fairbairn, 1844, ... xii
The Pastoral Staff of St. Molloch, now in possession of the Duke of Argyll, ... 15
Prehistoric Church and Cell at Inchcolm, from a sketch by J. Drummond, R.S.A.,
engraved in the Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, ... 18
Seal of the Chapter of Glasgow "for Causes," 1488-1540, from an impression
attached to an old deed, ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 21
The Deid Bell, 1641, now in possession of the Corporation of Glasgow, from a
photograph privately printed, ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 25
Bishop Wyschard's Seal, 1271, from an impression attached to an old charter, ... 27
Facsimile of Inquisitio of David L, from the ancient Chartulary of Glasgow, ... 34
Bee-hive House in Lewis, from a print in the Proceedings of the Society of Anti-
quaries of Scotland, ...... ... 40
Old Wooden Houses in Close No. 77 Saltmarket, from a drawing by T. Fairbairn,
1844, •• 78
First Seal of the Corporation, Glasgow, 1325, from an impression attached to an old
deed, ... 102
The Second Seal of the Corporation, adopted in 1647, from an old deed, ... 102
The Third Seal of the Corporation, adopted in 1793, ... 103
The present Seal of the Corporation, adopted in 1866, ... 103
Old Bridge of Glasgow, from an engraving executed in the Academy of the
Foulises, 1761, ... ••• I05
Crypt of the Cathedral, from a drawing by the late G. M. Kemp, Architect, ... 107
Lady Chapel of the Cathedral, from a drawing by the late G. M. Kemp, 112
Sculptured Stone — Archbishop Beton's Arms, from wall of the Castle of Glasgow, 116
Sculptured Stone — Royal Arms, &c., from gateway of the Castle, after a photograph
privately printed, ... ...117
Cathedral and Archbishop's Palace, from an engraving after a drawing by T. Hearne,
published in 1783, ... 120
x Illustrations.
Page
Partick Castle, in 1828, from a drawing by A. Macgeorge, 121
The Islands in the Clyde, near Glasgow, from Blaeu's map, 1654, ... ... 122
Sculptured Stone, from an old house in the Stable Green — Arms of Sir John Stewart,
drawn by A, Macgeorge, ... 124
The Old Pedagogy in the Rottenrow, from a print in the Munimenta Universitatis,
after a drawing by W. S. Rose, ... ... ... ... 132
Bird's-eye View of the College, 1660, from Slezer's Theatrum Scotia?, 133
Fine Art Exhibition in the College Court on the occasion of the coronation of
George III., 1761,* 134
The College and High Street, 1845, fr°m a drawing by W. L. Leitch, ... ... 135
The Old Tolbooth at the Cross, from an old engraving, ... ... ... ... 140
The Trongate from near the Cross, 1845, from a drawing by R. Carrick, ... ... 148
View of Govan, and Fisherman's Hut, from an original drawing made in 1815, ... 151
Old Thatched Kiln, Corner of Mitchell Street, from an original drawing made
about the year 1820, ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ^6
Plan of the Water Port and part of the Old Bridge, 1760, from a plan produced in
an old law suit, ^5
North End of the Old Bridge, drawn and etched by James Brown, Esq., 1776, ... 166
Old Canoe, found at Clydehaugh in 1852, from a drawing made at the time by
Mr. Robert Hart, 250
Another Old Canoe found at Clydehaugh in 1852, from a drawing by Mr. Hart, ... 251
The Foulis' Academy of the Fine Arts, in the Fore Hall of the College, 1 760, 303
Comparative Map showing the size of the City in 1773 and in 1879,— the extent of
the city in 1773 is from a contemporary map, 32g
* This and the illustration of "The Foulis' Academy of the Fine Arts," p. 303,
are from prints, now very rare, engraved in the Academy, from drawings by David Allan,
who was himself one of the students.
The above inscription is from a stone which formed part of an old house in Back Cow Lone,
believed to have been a. store belonging to the Incorporation of Bakers,
The stone is now built into the back wall of the house No. 125 Candleriggs.
THE FIDDLER'S CLOSE, No. 75 HIGH STREET.
Cleared away in the course of the City Improvements in 1878.
THE FIRST BISHOP.
|MONG the earliest, as he was one of the most celebrated, of
the Episcopi Britannorum was Kentigern, the evangelist of
the Strathclyde Britons, and the founder of the see of Glasgow.
As Columba was the founder of the Christian Church among the Picts,
so Kentigern was the great agent in the revolution which again, after
a period of darkness, christianized Cumbria. We have his life written
by Jocelin, a monk of Furness, to whom the task was intrusted by the
bishop of the same name, formerly abbot of the Cistercian monastery
of Melrose, and who was appointed to the see of Glasgow in 1174.
The memoir by the monk contains much that is absurd — embodying as
it does many legends which are evidently the invention of an age long
posterior to that of Kentigern, but there is no ground for thinking, as
some have supposed, that the whole history is fabulous. On the
contrary, there is reason to believe that, like many others of our early
authorities, it contains trustworthy fragments of authentic history, but
tampered with for ecclesiastical purposes.
Jocelin informs us that, by the instructions of the bishop his patron,
he visited the localities and sought out all the sources from which infor-
mation could be obtained. Among others he found a missal, then, as
he tells us, in use in the Cathedral ; and it is curious to us, who enjoy the
light of the nineteenth century, to think that in the old High Church of
Glasgow there were read from this ancient manuscript to the early
inhabitants of the city, as parts of divine service, such stories as that of
the profligate Queen of Cadzow and her ring; and how Kentigern
restored to life a tame robin whose head had been accidentally torn off;
and how he lighted the refectory fire by breathing on a frozen twig
plucked from a hedge, causing it to burst into flame, and such like fairy
tales. It would be unsafe to conclude, however, that in the earlier
A
2 Early Biographies.
records from which the monk of Furness drew his materials the legends
appeared in the form in which he presented them, and in which they
appear in the Breviary of Aberdeen. Some of them may have had
their origin in very simple occurrences of easy explanation, and the
form in which they have reached us is accounted for by the tendency
of the Church of Rome in the middle ages to endow their adopted
saints with miraculous powers. What Mr. Burton says of Adamnan's
history may be applied to that of Jocelin, but making perhaps a still
larger allowance for the later time in which the monk of Furness wrote.
" No doubt," says Mr. Burton, " the great bulk of the life of Columba
" is occupied by vaticination and miraculous fable. But there are small
" facts to be found in the telling of the large fiction, and if we disbelieve
" all narratives because they have the supernatural in them it is difficult
" to say at what period true ecclesiastical history commenced, or, speak-
" ing strictly, is to commence."1
It is important as it is interesting to note that in the preface to his
work, Jocelin informs us that he found in the old manuscript referred
to — read in the Cathedral though it was — quoddam sannce doctrince et
Catholica fidei adversus. Finding, besides, as he farther states, that the
style and composition were defective, he made search for some better
authority, and he • was rewarded by discovering another treatise stilo
scotico dictatum — containing many solecisms, he admits, but giving a
more full and accurate account of the life and acts of the saint. It is
possible that this may have been the Life which the Bollandists say was
written by St. Asaph, but of which no trace now remains.2 Such as it was,
Jocelin found that unfortunately it was, like the other, defiled by what
he calls doctrinal error. From these statements of the monkish chron-
icler there can be little doubt that the two ancient records from which
he derived a portion at least, and probably the most authentic portion,
of his information, belonged to the early period when the purer faith of
Columba and Kentigern and Asaph was preached in Scotland. That
the religious views of the earlier writers should differ very much from
those held by a devoted adherent of the Church of Rome in the twelfth
century is only what might be expected. By that time the greater part
1 History ot Scotland, vol. i. p. 256. 2 Act. Sanct. Jan. ii. 97.
Birth of Kentigern.
3
of what we regard as the errors of that system had come to prevail.
In the tenth century corruption, both in doctrine and morals, had become
general; and two centuries later, when Jocelin wrote his history, the
state of matters, as regards doctrine at least, had not improved. It is
quite natural, therefore, that Jocelin should regard as error what he
would find recorded in the writings of the Irish ecclesiastics. From
these materials, however, such as they were, but rejecting the " errors,"
the monk of Furness compiled the Life of Kentigern which we now
possess; and making all due allowance for the views of the writer, it
really is, what Bishop Forbes calls it, a charming piece of mediaeval
biography.
Every archaeologist knows of course that the language in which the
oldest of these records was written — stilo scotico — is not in any way to
be confounded with what we now understand as the Scottish dialect.
It was not by any means, as a recent writer has supposed, the vulgar or
vernacular speech prevalent in the west of Scotland — not very different
from the nascent English found in Piers Plowman and the earlier
romances.1 It is no doubt quite probable, as I shall have occasion to
show afterwards, that when Jocelin wrote his history the vernacular
spoken in Glasgow had already assumed very much the form of later
times ; but when he speaks of his authority as stilo scotico die f alum we
may be certain it was in the Irish language. No part of Scotland was
known by that name till the tenth century, and not till even after that
period was Strathclyde included in the designation. The only Scotia
of the time of Kentigern, and for long after, was Ireland, and the
statement in Adamnan's interesting biography that Columba came de
scotia ad Britanniam would settle the point were there not so many
other confirmations of it.
There are two accounts of the date of Kentigern's birth. One places
it in the year 518, and the other in 527. The latter is, I think, the more
probable. The date of his appearance on the banks of the Clyde has
been generally fixed as the year 560, but it must have been ten years
earlier. Jocelin states that he was consecrated a bishop at the age of
twenty-five, so that (assuming his birth to have been in 527) the date
1 The Legends of St. Kentigern, by Dr. Stevenson. Edin. 1872.
4 6V. Ninian.
of consecration must have been 552. But Jocelin also tells us that it
was not till after he had been some time in Glasgow that he was made
a bishop, and if we allow only two years for this previous residence,
his advent to Glasgow could not have been later than 550.
He was not, however, the first missionary who had come to that
district. During the Roman occupation the Christian religion had
been introduced to our island under their auspices; and probably as
early as the second century there was a Christian church in Roman
Britain. The paganism which it came to supersede has been called
Druidical, but it had certainly nothing in common with the repulsive
system attributed to the Druids of Gaul, with its human sacrifices and
Baal worship. As little had it any connection with the singular stone
erections which we find at Stonehenge and elsewhere, which were
simply sepulchral monuments, and not, as is popularly supposed, temples
or altars.1 According to Mr. Skene, the paganism of Scotland was the
same as what prevailed among the Picts of Ireland: " a sort of fetichism
" which peopled all the objects of nature with malignant beings, to
" whose agency its phenomena were attributed ; while a class of persons
" termed Magi and Druadh or Druada exercised great influence among
" the people, from a belief that they were able through their aid to
" practise a species of magic or witchcraft, which might either be used
" to benefit those who sought their assistance, or to injure those to
" whom they were opposed."2
Among the earliest of the Christian missionaries was Ninian, who
had been trained at Rome in the doctrine and discipline of the Western
Church, and who appears to have built a cell on the banks of the
Molindinar towards the end of the fourth century. All that we know
of his connection with Glasgow is from the account of the monk of
Furness, which bears that when Kentigern came to Strathclyde he
made his settlement " near a certain cemetery which had long before
" been consecrated by St. Ninian," and which, at the time when Jocelin
wrote, was " encircled by a delicious density of overshadowing trees."
But the probability is that Ninian did not long remain there, and this
may be inferred from the fact that although he had consecrated the
1 Dr. Hill Burton, in Edinburgh Review, July, 1863. 2 Celtic Scotland, vol. ii. p. 118.
Early Irish Church. $
cemetery, no interment had ever taken place in it — the interment there
by Kentigern of the old saint Fregus or Fergus, to be presently noticed,
having been, according to Jocelin, "the first burial in that place where
" afterwards many bodies were buried in peace." The chief labours of
Ninian were among the neighbouring Picts. The southern division of
that people was certainly converted to Christianity at an earlier period
than the Strathclyde Britons, and probably by Ninian, who afterwards
built his church at Candida Casa, or Whithorn, in Galloway, in the year
397. If Ninian made any converts at Glasgow they must have after-
wards lapsed into apostasy.
Before the end of the fourth century Christianity had also been intro-
duced among the Scots in Ireland — whether by Ninian or at an earlier
period does not appear; but Ninian is said to have left his settlement at
Candida Casa at the request of his mother and relations in the last years
of his life, and to have gone to Ireland, where, at a beautiful place called
Cluain Coner, granted him by the -king, he built a large monastery,
in which he died.1 Soon afterwards the dominion of the Romans in
Britain, after an occupation of nearly four hundred years, came to an
end (A.D. 410), and they abandoned the island for ever.
There now followed a long period of darkness. Britain had practi-
cally ceased to be a part of the Roman Empire. Her intercourse with
the Continent had been almost entirely cut off; and, with the exception
of a notice of the temporary prevalence of the Pelagian heresy in the
British Church, all is silence for a century and a half.2
During this period it was chiefly in the Irish Church that the
light of Christianity was preserved, and it was probably maintained there
in a comparatively pure and primitive state. This may be inferred from
the account given of himself by Columbanus or Colmanus when, with a
small band of missionaries, he appeared in Gaul in 590. When asked
who they were and whence they came, his answer was : " We are Irish,
"dwelling at the very ends of the earth. We be men who receive
"nought beyond the doctrine of the evangelists and apostles. The
" catholic faith as it was first delivered by the successors of the holy
" apostles is still maintained among us with unchanged fidelity." They
1 Round Towers of Ireland, by Dr. Petrie, p. 138. 2 Celtic Scotland, vol. ii. p. 4-
6 Early Episcopacy.
did not acknowledge the supremacy of the Pope : on the contrary, they
recognized only "one head, our Lord." They maintained that the
Pope's jurisdiction as Bishop of Rome did not extend beyond the limits
of the Roman Empire, and when opposed by the clergy of Gaul on
account of observances which were characterized as schismatical, Colum-
banus, in a letter to the Pope, said in effect : " I am a missionary from a
" church of God among the barbarians, and though temporarily within
" the limits of your territorial jurisdiction, and bound to regard you with
"respect, I claim the right to follow the customs of our own church."1
As illustrating farther the separate and independent position of the
church in our islands, may be mentioned the interesting fact that in the
latter half of the fifth century, and for long afterwards, an old Latin ver-
sion of the Scriptures peculiar to the British Isles was in use in the
Scoto- Britannic churches differing largely both from the Vulgate and
from the known ante-Hieronyman versions.2 It is questionable if the
Vulgate was known to St. Patrick.
The episcopal system in the form it had assumed on the Continent in
the time of Columbanus, or as it now exists, was unknown in the early
British churches. The monastic element prevailed : the sacerdotal was
all but unknown. There was episcopacy in the church, but it was not
diocesan episcopacy. The bishops were no doubt treated as a superior
order. They were specially invested with functions of consecrating the
elements at the communion, and of conferring the right of ordination,
but practically their episcopacy was a personal more than an official dig-
nity. They were, in short, nothing more than the ministers of parishes,
and in many instances they were subject to the abbots.3 They were
very numerous. We know from Nennius that when St. Patrick founded
in Ireland 365 churches he at the same time ordained 365 bishops, and
it was the complaint of St. Bernard and other assailants of the Irish
Church that they had a bishop for every congregation. In many
instances indeed we find that a single religious community worshipping
in one place had several bishops.4
1 Celtic Scotland, ii. p. 11.
* Councils and Ecclesiastical Documents of Great Britain and Ireland, by A. W. Hoddan and
Wm. Stubbs, vol. i. p. 170. 3 Celtic Scotland, vol. ii. p. 44.
4 The Early Celtic Church, by the Bishop of Argyll, p. 34.
St. Columba. 7
Of this early and purer primitive church was Columba — saint, soldier,
statesman — one of " the twelve apostles of Ireland" who in the year 563
sailed from Ireland to Britain and became the founder of the world-
renowned island monastery, and the head of the Christian church in
Scotland. Although the birth and early life of Kentigern are veiled in
obscurity there can be little doubt that his education and his religious
views when he came to Strathclyde were the same as those of his great
contemporary. In doctrine and matters of observance both of these
eminent missionaries followed the earlier apostolic type, and opposed
themselves to the differences, in matters of faith as well as practice,
which had crept into the Western Church during the period when the
intercourse between it and the British churches had been interrupted.
We know from Adamnan that the great instrument employed by
Columba in the conversion of the pagan tribes was the simple preach-
ing of the word of God, and the same means were no doubt followed by
Kentigern.
But although a pure doctrine was preached the earliest "conversions"
at the first introduction of Christianity were often of a very wholesale
character. Clanship, as an eminent Celtic scholar1 has justly said, is
the true key of Irish history — political and ecclesiastical. Upon the
clan Christianity was engrafted in the monastic form. When the Chris-
tian missionaries first went to Ireland they found the clans existing there
as the primitive form of government, with numerous chieftains virtually
independent, and one or more nominal kings. St. Patrick and his fol-
lowers always addressed themselves in the first instance to the chieftain,
and with his conversion followed that of the clan or sept.2 Then fol-
lowed the establishment of a monastery, and it was constituted on the
model of a family. The abbot was the father: the monks his children.
The society at lona was known as " the family of Hy."
The advent of Kentigern to the banks of the Clyde occurred at a
momentous period in the history of Scotland. The dominion of the
Romans had come to an end more than a century before, and the light
and civilization which they had brought with them had now become
all but extinguished. The tribes which had, nominally at least, embraced
1 Dr. Todd. 2 Godkin on the Old Church of Ireland.
8 Kingdom of the Britons.
Christianity had almost all relapsed into heathenism, and the kingdom
was entering upon a long period of darkness, confusion, and anarchy.
The Romans, indeed, had never practically obtained a footing in Scot-
land beyond the great fortified wall which .they had erected between
the Clyde and the Forth, and which, beginning at Bridgness near Carri-
den, ended at Chapelhill near West Kilpatrick on the Clyde— a distance
of twenty-seven miles. But their occupation necessarily tended to dif-
fuse a considerable amount of civilization among the tribes or nations
within their lines, between whom and the barbarians to the north of
the wall there must have been, in this respect, a marked contrast.
When the Romans withdrew, however, a great change followed. The
contest which succeeded their departure was one not merely for the
possession of the Roman territory, but for the succession to her dominion
in the land. " The competing parties consisted, on the one hand, of
" the provincial Britons who had just emerged from under the Roman
"rule, and on the other, of those independent tribes, partly inhabitants
" of the island and partly piratical adventurers from other regions, who
" had so frequently ravaged the Roman province, and now endeavoured
" to snatch the prize from the provincial Britons and from each other.
" The races engaged in this struggle were four — the Britons, the Picts,
" the Scots, and the Saxons or Angles. The two former were indigen-
"ous, the two latter foreign settlers."1
It was within this great wall that Kentigern constructed his monas-
tery, but in his time the wall had ceased to form a barrier to the tribes
beyond, and all signs of civilization were rapidly disappearing.
The kingdom of the Britons had at this time no territorial designa-
tion, but its rulers were styled kings of Alcluith, and belonged to that
party of the Britons who bore the peculiar name of Romans, and claimed
descent from the ancient Roman rulers in Britain. The kingdom com-
prehended the greater part of Cumberland and Westmoreland, with the
counties of Dumfries, Ayr, Renfrew, Lanark, and Peebles, and part of
Dumbarton. The population embraced the two varieties of the British
race, the southern half being Cymric or Welsh and the northern being
the Damnonii, who belonged to the Cornish variety. The capital was
1 Celtic Scotland, vol. i. p. 19.
Kentigern — his Ordination. 9
the Castle of Dunbarton, termed by the Britons Alcluith — the Rock of
Clyde, Ail being Welsh for a rock. By the Gaelic people it was called
Dunbreatan, or the Fort of the Britons. Bede, writing in the eighth
century, speaks of Dunbarton as the city called Alcluith, the chief fast-
ness of the Britons. Glasgow at that time must have been all but un-
known.
The grandfather of Kentigern is said to have been a British king, and
his mother Thaney or Tenew, the daughter of King Leudanus, a pagan
prince. She is said to have been a believer in Christianity, but not
baptized. Jocelin gives two etymologies of the name of the saint. One
is that it means capitis dominus; the other that it is derived from Kyen,
albanice, caput, and tigern, domimis. The first is the meaning in Welsh,
and the second the same meaning in Gaelic. The Welsh form Cyn-
deyrn is from Cyn, chief or principal, that is, capitalis, and Teyrn — in
composition Deyrn, dominus. The Gaelic form is Ceanntighearn, from
Ceann, a head, caput, and Tighearn, lord.1
Kentigern, according to Jocelin, spent his diaconate under Servanus
at the Cistercian settlement at Culross. The old bishop, he says, was
much attached to him, and was accustomed to address him by the familiar
appellation of Munchu, cants amicus. The name is of Welsh derivation
— mwyn, clemens, nrbanus, and cu or chu, carus. In composition cu be-
comes in Welsh gu; hence Mungu. And so in process of time Kenti-
gern came to be popularly known as St. Mungo, by which name, says
his biographer, " even until the present time the common people are
" frequently used to call him and to invoke him in their necessities." At
an early age, according to the same account, he left Servanus and came
to Strathclyde. According to Mr. Skene, however — by whose admirable
work on early Scottish history so much light has been thrown on this
dark period — the hitherto received accounts which connect Kentigern
with Servanus must be discarded, for there are satisfactory reasons for
concluding that Servanus lived two centuries later. Be that as it may,
the patron saint of Glasgow did certainly not receive his consecration
from Servanus and Palladius, as Professor Innes has supposed.2 By
the custom of the Scottish Church only one bishop was necessary for
1 Skene. 2 Reg. Episc. Glasg. Preface.
I0 Advent to Glasgow.
the consecration of another bishop, and this practice was followed in the
case of Kentigern. He was ordained by a single bishop, who was
invited from Ireland for that purpose.
Professor Innes points out that in the Inquisitioof David, to be after-
wards noticed, it is recorded that Kentigern was ordained bishop of
Cumbria; but the statement in the Inquisitio is scarcely correct. The
district had no doubt come to be called Cumbria in David's time, but it
was not so called in the time of Kentigern, nor for long afterwards. The
diocese, if it could be so called, over which this early Christian mission-
ary presided was probably no larger than the small territory occupied
by the Christian community of which he was the head. The names
Cumbri and Cumbria were not applied to any part of the territories or
people of Britain prior to the tenth century. Not even in David's time,
nor till long afterwards, had Scotland any recognized capital. The
king's court moved from place to place, resting mostly in the great
abbeys; but David had a dwelling on the castle rock of Edinburgh as
a place of refuge against the surprise of an enemy.
The legend which relates the circumstances under which Kentigern
is said to have come to Glasgow is interesting, connected as it is with
the name of the aisle or crypt which forms the foundation of what was
intended to have been the southern transept of the Cathedral. This
portion of the building has been improperly called Blackadder's Aisle-
its real name, which is inscribed on it, having, as I have pointed out
elsewhere,1 apparently escaped observation. The legend is that on the
same night on which he left Servanus Kentigern lodged in the house
or cell of a holy man named Fergus, dwelling in a place called Kear-
nach, to whom it had been revealed that he should not die till he had
seen the holy Kentigern. He expired immediately after the saint
entered his house, and Kentigern having placed the body on a car,
to which were yoked two wild bulls, he commanded them to carry it to
the place ordained of the Lord. This they meekly did, and, followed
by the saint and a great multitude, carried the body to Glasgow, then,
as the legend says, called Cathures, where they rested beneath certain
ancient trees near a forsaken cemetry, which had been hallowed by
1 Armorial Insignia of Glasgow.
Flight to North Wales.
ii
St. Ninian of Galloway. Here the remains of the good Fergus were
committed to the earth, and over what was supposed, no doubt, to be
the very spot of his interment the south transept of the Cathedral was
founded, and the lower aisle or crypt dedicated to Fergus. This fact is
recorded in the interesting inscription to which I have referred. It is
in long Gothic letters on a stone in the roof over the entrance, on which
is also carved a rude representation of the dead saint extended on the
car. The words are, IJJB if tjtf tie flf tat fmjttl What m means I do not
know. The story in its main features may be true. It is in no way
improbable that Kentigern buried here one of the early Christians bear-
ing the name recorded. At all events as the aisle is actually dedicated
to Fergus, and bears his name, it is obviously improper to call it Black-
adder's Aisle. I may add that if, as is supposed, this part of the
Cathedral was erected not later than the middle of the fourteenth cen-
tury, the words of the inscription present a very early example of the
Scottish vernacular.
Some time after he had settled at " Cathures" — whatever that word
may mean — Kentigern was obliged, in consequence of the persecution
of an apostate British prince named Morken, to take shelter in North
Wales, where, in the vale of Clwyd, he constructed a monastery, and
founded the church of Llanelwy, afterwards called St. Asaph.
It should be explained that before the advent of Kentigern to Glas-
gow four kings of the Britons were engaged in conflict with the Saxons.
One of these kings, Rhydderch or Rederchen, was at the head of that
party among the Britons who were, as already mentioned, termed Romans,
from their supposed descent from Roman soldiers or Roman citizens, and
this king appears to have embraced Christianity after its introduction
by St. Ninian. The other kings belonged to a party which, though it
had also embraced Christianity, had apostatized, and reverted to a semi-
paganism fostered by their bards; and one of these kings having obtained
an ascendency in Strathclyde opposed and persecuted Kentigern, and
obliged him to fly, as I have said, to North Wales. Among these four
kings the dissensions broke at last into open rupture, and a great battle
took place on the river Esk near Carlisle in the year 573, which resulted
in the victory of the Christian party, and the establishment of Rhydd-
I2 Return to Glasgow.
erch as king of the Cumbrian Britons. On this event Kentigern was
invited to return, and having appointed Asaph, one of his monks, to be
his successor, he left North Wales. On his way back he resided for a
time at Hoddam in Dumfriesshire. According to one tradition he also
dwelt for some years at Lockerwort, near Borthwick, and there are
some historical indications that such may have been the fact. The
churches of Borthwick and Pennicuik were dedicated to him, and the
spring in the manse garden at Borthwick is still known as St. Mungo's
well. It may have been for this reason that in the reign of David I.
the bishop of St. Andrews, with consent, or more probably by com-
mand, of the king and prince, conveyed the church of Lockerwort or
Borthwick to the bishop of Glasgow.
On the return of Kentigern to Strathclyde he was gladly received by
the king, by whom he was protected until the death of the latter in
603. Rhydderch is mentioned by Adamnan as reigning at Alclyde or
Dumbarton at the time of St. Columba, and according to Jocelin he had
also a manorial residence at Partick, near Glasgow. He speaks of
Rhydderch as residing shortly before his death " in the royal house
"which was called Pertnech," by which no doubt Partick is meant. It
is interesting to note that one of the old sculptured stones of Scotland
found near Yarrow kirk, in Selkirkshire, and which attracted the atten-
tion of Sir Walter Scott, is conjectured by Dr. Wilson to have been
erected in memory of the two sons of this old British king.1
Kentigern now took up his residence, with his colony of converts, on
the banks of the then beautiful stream " vocabulo Melindonor," where
he had buried Fergus, and where he and his followers maintained
themselves by rural industry and by the practice of the arts of peaceful
life. In this they followed the custom of the second period of the early
Scottish Church, which was in its form monastic, but with a monasticism
strongly mixed up with active secular life.2 In its first and earliest
form the Scottish Church exhibits a secular clergy founding churches;
in its second we find a clergy observing rules and founding monasteries,
of which that of Ninian at Candida Casa was perhaps the first. In
these communities the elders gave themselves up to devotion and the
1 Prehistoric Annals, vol. ii. p. 21 1. 2 Burton's Hist, of Scotland, vol. i. p. 242.
The Monastery. 13
service of the church, and to transcribing the Scriptures and works of
devotion, while the remainder were occupied in the labours of the field
and mechanical work. Of such a community Jocelin no doubt gives a
correct account when he is describing the arrangements of the monas-
tery constructed by Kentigern at St. Asaph's. Of the multitude who
came to the saint there, and brought their children for instruction, Ken-
tigern, he says, appointed a portion who were unlettered to the duty of
agriculture, the care of the cattle, and other necessary duties outside the
monastery. Another portion he assigned to duties within the inclosure,
such as preparing food, erecting workshops, and doing other ordinary
work; and the remainder who were lettered he appointed to the cele-
bration of divine service in the church by day and by night. The same
arrangement appears to have prevailed at lona, and the description
which we possess of that monastery by Adamnan, and of the habits of
the community, may be accepted as applicable to the settlement of Ken-
tigern at Glasgow. At lona the erections included a church with an
altar, and a hospitium> or house of entertainment for strangers; a space
including the separate huts or bothies of the monks; a dwelling-place
for Columba himself, styled domus; offices for laying up the produce of
their fields, and a place or plateau surrounded by the various portions
of the monastery. No vestige remains of these old erections. The
buildings now on the island are the remains of the Benedictine monas-
tery and nunnery founded by Reginald, Lord of the Isles, in 1 203. The
Abbey Church was built shortly before. The first buildings were con-
structed entirely of timber and wicker-work. The monks were employed
in reading and prayer, in the rearing and repairing of the buildings, in
the cultivation of the ground, and in the tending of cattle. They were
summoned to their devotions by a bell. They were not barefooted, but
substantially shod with some kind of calceus or sandals. They possessed
wheeled vehicles, and they used sailing vessels made of hides stretched
on wicker-work, which are thus alluded to in an old stanza: — -
" With their curachs across the sea
And for rowing threescore men."1
The monks of later times lived much like these old communities.
1 Dr. Reeves and Professor Innes, quoted by the Bishop of Argyll. lona, p. 32.
I4 Visit of Columba.
As a rule they held a great part of their lands in their own hands, and
cultivated them by their serfs or villains in their several granges. The
-range itself, the chief house of each of the abbey baronies, must have
bcc:ii a spacious farm steading. In it were gathered the cattle, imple-
ments, and stores, needed for the cultivation of their demesne lands, and
the serfs or carles who cultivated it lived there, with their women
and families. A monk or lay brother superintended the whole.1 I am
not aware that any remains of these exist in Scotland, with the exception
of an old tower at Huntlaw, near Hassendean, in Roxburgh, still called
the Monks Tower, where there was a grange belonging to the Abbey
of Paisley.2 But there is yet to be seen at Torquay, in the present
farm steading of Ilsham, a grange which exactly corresponds with the
description of Mr. Innes. It was the home farm of Tor Abbey, a very
ancient foundation. The massive farm buildings still in use there,
remain as they were in the time of the monks, and in the centre is a
square tower divided into three stories, in which lived the monk who
superintended the farm. The lower part was appropriated to stores.
The centre, approached by a massive flight of steps, was his oratory or
chapel, and above was his dormitory. In the farm buildings can still
be seen the loft, with its fire-place, in which the nativi or serfs were
accommodated. "Outside of the grange dwelt the cottarii or cottars, a
class higher than what are now called cottars, as each occupant was the
tenant of from one to nine acres of land, for which they rendered certain
services as well as a money payment.3
In like manner as lived the monks at lona lived Kentigern and his
followers at Glasgow under the shade of the trees of St. Ninian, and
here he was visited by his celebrated contemporary Columba, who came
from lona with a great following, multa disdpulorum turba et alioritm.
On this occasion it is recorded by Jocelin that the Irish saint presented
Kentigern with a crozier, virga de simplice ligno. This crozier or staff
appears to have found its way to Ripon, originally a monastery founded
for a branch of the Scottish Church, which owned Hi, or lona, for its
head; and Fordun, who wrote at the beginning of the fifteenth century,
1 Scotland in the Middle Ages, p. 138.
2 The Abbey of Paisley, by Dr. Lees, p. 161. 3 Scotch Legal Antiquities, p. 244.
Costume of Kentigern. \ 5
and who, however doubtful his authority when he deals with ancient
history, may be trusted for contemporary events, says that in his time
it was still to be seen in the church of St. Wilfrid at Ripon, where it
was held in great veneration, and preserved in a case inlaid with gold
and pearls. In form it was in all probability similar to the " Bachal
" More," or pastoral staff of St. Moloch, represented in the subjoined
cut, and now in the possession of the Duke of Argyll. It is a black
thorn stick with traces of a metal covering — the latter, no doubt, the
addition of a more recent period. Like other ancient croziers, it is very
short, measuring only two feet ten inches in length. Such was probably
the pastoral staff of Kentigern.
His costume is thus given by the monk of Furness, who may have
found the description in the ancient Irish record which he had dis-
covered. " He wore," says Jocelin, "a shirt of roughest haircloth
" next his skin, and over it a garment made of the skins of goats,
" and a close hood like that of a fisherman. Above this garment,
" concealed by a white alb, he wore over his neck a long stole. He
" had a pastoral staff, not rounded, or gilt, or gemmed, as is now seen
" with those in high places, but of plain wood, yet curved back, tamen
" reflexum. He carried in his hand a manual, always ready for the
" exercise of his ministry whenever necessity or cause demanded.
" Thus," adds his biographer, " by the whiteness of his dress he
" expressed the piety of the inner man and avoided vainglory." He
is described as tall of stature, of a robust constitution, and capable of
enduring great fatigue both of body and mind. He was of a mild and
gentle temperament, had the spirit of a true missionary, and was
indefatigable in the exercise of his ministry. Such was the first bishop
of Glasgow. He died in the year 603, full of years, leaving a name
which has come down to us as a bright light out of an age when a very
profound darkness prevailed in Scotland.
!6 T/ie First Churches.
The monastic settlement formed by Kentigern and his followers
was no doubt a very simple affair — nothing more, indeed, than a rude
village of huts, constructed probably of wood and wattles. The huts
at lona, as we have seen, were so constructed, and this was, in all like-
lihood, the case with most of the monastic houses and oratories down
to the twelfth or thirteenth centuries.1 In the life of Columba we read
that when he went to the monastery of Mobhi Clairenach, on the banks
of the river Finglass, where no fewer than fifty scholars were assembled,
he found their " huts or bothies," botha, by the water or river; and it is
told of Mochasi, abbot of Nendrum, that on one occasion he went with
seven score young men " to cut wattles to make the church." The
so-called cathedral of Lindisfarne, built by disciples of Columba, was
merely an edifice of wood thatched with reeds " after the manner of the
" Scots," that is, of the Irish.2
But even at that early time it is certain that, so far as the churches
were concerned, some of them were built of stone, and in a few cases
the whole of the monastic buildings were constructed of that material.
A monastery established by Columba in one of the Gaveloch islands
was constructed entirely of stone, and remains of it, consisting of two
beehive-shaped cells, still exist.3 There is another interesting example
of a stone cell adjoining the ruins of the beautiful old church of St. Blane
in Bute, and which is supposed to have been erected by St. Chattan,
or Cathan, the uncle of St. Blane, before the middle of the sixth cen-
tury. It is a circular building, constructed of irregular-shaped blocks
of stone, not dressed, but chosen so as to fit each other, and some of
them of great size. There are no small stones for packing, but pro-
bably the interstices were filled with turf and mud. It is thirty-three
feet six inches in diameter, and the walls are eight feet six inches thick.
This is not unlike the cell constructed by St. Cuthbert on the island ot
Fame in the year 670, as described by Bede. It was "nearly circular,
" constructed not of hewn stone nor of brick and mortar, but of un-
" wrought stones and tiirf. Of these stones some were of such a size
"that it seemed scarcely possible for four men to lift them. It was
1 Dr. Petrie's Round Towers of Ireland, p. 138.
2 Bede- 3 Reeve's Adamnan, Appendix No. i.
Early Irish Churches. 17
"divided into two parts — an oratory, namely, and another dwelling
" suited for common uses."
In Ireland there are many such remains, but there is every reason
to believe that stone churches existed in Scotland before they were
known in Ireland. According to Dr. Petrie, a very reliable authority,
there were no stone churches in Ireland before the time of St. Patrick;
and he is of opinion that the very earliest church in Ireland built of
that material was built by Patrick at Daimhliag, now Duleek, in Meath.
That St. Patrick was the first to erect stone churches there is confirmed
by an ancient poem quoted by Dr. Petrie,1 and which he accepts as
authentic, in which the various persons who constituted the household of
Patrick are enumerated, and among them the names of his three stone-
masons, with the remark that they were the first builders of Daimhliags
or stone churches in Ireland. The passage is as follows:—
" His three masons, good was their intelligence,
Caeman, Cruithnec, Luchraed strong:
They made damliags first
In Erin: eminent their history."2
This was certainly not earlier than the middle of the fifth century.
But the church at Candida Casa, which we know was built of stone in
the Roman style — insolito Britonnibus more, as Bede expresses it — was
erected by Ninian in 397, at least half a century earlier than the church
at Duleek. Ninian, as I have said, afterwards left Candida Casa and
passed over to Ireland, where he built the large monastery in which
he died; and as this was the first introduction of monachism into
Ireland, so it is not improbable that Ninian was the first to introduce
there the building of stone churches, the knowledge of which he had
acquired at Tours on his return from Rome, although the first actual
erections may have been made under the directions of Patrick.
If the first church at Glasgow was of stone, the probability is that it
was similar in form to those interesting erections combining church and
cell, of which examples known to have been constructed at that very
time still remain in Ireland, and of which another example exists in the
1 The Poem of Flann, preserved in the Book of Lecan, fol. 44.
2 Ecclesiastical Architecture of Ireland, p. 138.
jg First Church at Glasgow.
little island of Inchcolm, in the Firth of Forth. The latter is described
in Dr. Wilson's Prehistoric Annals as " an irregular quadrangle, measur-
ing externally only 2\\ feet in greatest length. Internally it is little
4< more than 6 feet in breadth at the east end, where probably the
"stone altar table stood under its small window; while it diminishes
"to 4 feet 9 inches at the west end. The vaulted ceiling is con-
structed of rude masonry, with a triangular wedge for the key-stone;
"and over this it is roofed with square stones laid in regular courses."1
Dr. Petrie was of opinion that this was one of the cells belonging to
the period of Columba, erected in all probability by one of Columba's
disciples who had made his way from lona to the eastern territories of
the Picts.
The first church or oratory at Glasgow may have been constructed
in the same way. Such as they were, these early erections — the church
and the adjoining dwelling-places — were the origin of the city of
Glasgow.
1 Prehistoric Annals, vol. ii. p. 370. I am indebted to the courtesy of the publishers, Messrs.
Macmillan & Co., for the illustration. See also Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of
Scotland, vol. ii. p. 497.
THE BELL AND THE MIRACLES.
It is not within my purpose to write the life of Kentigern, or to
detail all the stories of his acts and miracles as related by his historian
Jocelin. But familiar as we all are with the devices or emblems on our
city arms — the tree, the bird, the fish, and the bell — it will not be out
of place to notice here the legends which relate to these.
As regards the bell, however, which appears on the sinister side of
the shield, the story is not a legend, for it has an authentic history. It
represents a real bell, which, although its origin cannot be traced, is
known to have been in existence in Glasgow from a very early period
till so late as the middle of the seventeenth century.
Jocelin says that the bell was brought to Glasgow by St. Kentigern
among certain "sanctorum pignora et ecclesiae ornamenta quae ad decorem
" domus Dei pertinaverunt/' which he had received from the hands of
the pope; but upon this legend no reliance can be placed. The popes
in early times did, no doubt, in certain cases, give bells to bishops, and
an instance is recorded in the Breviary of Aberdeen of a bell which
Pope Gregory the Great presented to St. Ternan, the apostle of the
Picts; but it is most improbable that the pope ever gave one to
Kentigern, for the early Scottish Church had no connection with Rome,
and did not recognize the supremacy of the Roman bishops.
Bells were held in great reverence in the ancient church. They
were baptised, and anointed oleo chrismatis, and there is a ritual for
these ceremonies in the Roman Pontifical. They were, indeed, among
the articles which appear to have been necessary to the episcopal
function. It is so stated by Dr. Petrie, than whom there can be no
higher authority; and he mentions as an instance the presents given
to Fiac, bishop of Sletty, near Carlow, when St. Patrick conferred on
him the episcopal dignity. The passage in the Book of Armagh which
Dr. Petrie refers to as his authority is as follows: — "He (Patrick)
" conferred the degree of bishop upon him (Fiac), so that he was the
"first bishop that was ordained among the Lagenians; and Patrick
2O
St. Mungos Bell.
" gave a box to Fiac containing a bell, and a menstir (reliquary) and a
" crozier, and a poolire." The poolire was a leather case for holding
sacred books and reliquaries.
According to Jocelin Kentigern visited Rome seven times, and he
adds that it was on the last of these occasions that he received from the
pope " what was wanting to his ordination," including the bell. This
supposed visit is referred to in a hymn believed to be of the fifteenth
century: —
" Romam visit septies : papa quern honorat
Ut serviret praesuli : avi se decorat
Et campanum sustinet que sonos dulcorat."
But that Kentigern ever received anything from the pope, or that he
was ever at Rome at all, is, as I have said, in the highest degree
improbable. The same story is told of Columba in the later legends of
that saint, but in the authentic Life there is not a word of it, and the
bishop of Rome is not even mentioned.
The probability is that Kentigern's bell was made at home — perhaps
in Ireland — and it is quite possible it may have been given to Ken-
tigern at the time of his ordination by the bishop who came from Ire-
land to perform that office. We have unquestionable evidence, at least,
that bells of the same form as Kentigern's, and of which the form is
preserved on our ecclesiastical seals, were made in Ireland at quite as
early a period. Dr. Petrie says — I quote from his work on the Round
Towers: — "We have not only abundant historical evidence to show
" that many of the ecclesiastics in those early times obtained celebrity
"as artificers and makers of the sacred implements necessary for the
" Church, and as illuminators of books, but we have also still remaining
" the most indisputable evidences of their skill in these arts in ancient
"croziers, bells, shrines, &c., and in manuscripts not inferior in splen-
"dour to any extant in Europe." Some of these old bells are of
the same shape as that of Kentigern, and many of them are most
elaborately ornamented. In an ancient but authentic life of the
celebrated artificer Saint Dageus, who lived in the early part of the
sixth century, as quoted by Colgan, it is stated that " he fabricated
" bells, croziers, and crosses, and though some of these implements were
Ancient Bells.
21
" without ornament, others were covered with gold, silver, and precious
(< stones, in an ingenious and admirable manner." Some of these bells
are still preserved in Ireland, and among others the bell of St. Mura
of the early part of the ninth century, a representation of which is
given in the Ulster Journal of Archaeology, exhibits a wonderful rich-
ness of ornamentation.
The bell appearing on the early seals of our bishops, and also, as we
shall find, on one of the early seals of the community, is undoubtedly a
representation of a bell then in existence in Glasgow, and believed to
have belonged to Kentigern. It is a quadrangular bell — a form which
indicates a very high antiquity. The seal on which it is here shown
is that of the Chapter of Glasgow " for
"Causes," which was in use 1488-1540.
Dr. Petrie, in the learned work to which
I have referred, gives a representation of a
sculptured stone which formed the pediment
of one of the oldest of the Irish churches,
and on which there is a figure holding a bell
of the same form as that which appears on
this seal. Referring to that stone Dr.
Petrie says : " The quadrangular-shaped bell
" which appears in the hand of one of the figures exhibits that peculiar
" form which characterizes all the consecrated bells which have been pre-
" served in Ireland as having belonged to the celebrated saints of the
"primitive Irish Church, and there is every reason to believe that this
" quadrangular form gave place to the circular one now in use previous
" to the twelfth century. Indeed, (Dr. Petrie adds) we see a remark-
" able example of the transition to the latter form in a bell formerly in
"the collection of the Dean of St. Patrick's, and now in the Museum
"of the Academy, which, as an inscription in the Irish character carved
" upon it clearly shows, is undoubtedly of the close of the ninth cen-
" tury."
Some fine specimens of these quadrangular-shaped bells will also be
found in the Museum of the Society of Antiquaries in Edinburgh. The
workmanship of them may be classed among the earliest efforts of art
22
Sanctity of Bells.
in connection with the introduction of Christianity into the British isles.
Their base is usually malleable iron longitudinally rivetted on either
end. A coating of bronze envelops the iron, and over all there is, in
some cases, a coating of gold.
A curious illustration of the great reverence in which consecrated bells
were held is given in the great national work of Ireland, the Annals of
the Four Masters. It is there recorded, under date 1261, that in that
year " Donnell O'Hara committed a depredation upon theclann Feoraes
" [Mac loris or Bermingham, Barons of Athenry] in revenge for their
" having slain Cathal O'Hara and desecrated the church of Saint Feich-
" inn; he also killed Sefin Mac Feorais, who, while being killed, had upon
" his head the bell which he had taken from the church of Ballysadare."
In a note to this passage the learned editor, Dr. O' Donovan, explains
that " Sefin had on his head a blessed bell which he had taken away
"from the church of Ballysadare, thinking that O'Hara would not
"attempt to strike him while he had so sacred a helmet on his head,
" even though he had obtained it by robbery."
We find another illustration of the importance and value of the bells
of the old saints in a notice which has been preserved of the bell of
St. Medan, the patron saint of the parish of Airlie. It had been
assigned to the care of a hereditary keeper, who in the year 1447
resigned it into the hands of Sir John Ogilvy, and Sir John thereupon,
by a formal deed, conferred on Lady Margaret Ogilvy, his wife, the bell
"with its pertinents" for her liferent use.1
It does not appear whether the bell of St. Kentigern was adorned
with any of those rich ornaments which are found on some of the con-
temporary bells. We know, however, that it was held in great venera-
tion in Glasgow, and if forms the subject of various minutes of the
corporation. It is also mentioned more than once in the ancient offices
for the festival of the saint. I need hardly say it was not a church bell
for calling the people to worship, nor of such a size as would have made
a helmet for the sacrilegious scion of the house of Athenry. Neither
is it to be confounded with that kind of bell called a skellat, such as
was used in old times by the town-criers in Glasgow and other towns,
1 Second Parliamentary Report on Historical Manuscripts, p. 187.
Uses of Ancient Bells. 23
and of which we find repeated mention in our burgh records. It was
one of those small tinkling bells, called a sacryn bell, which among
other uses was employed in the altar services of the Cathedral. In size
it was probably less than that of the beautiful bell of St. Mura, already
referred to, which was 4^ inches high exclusive of the handle, and
3 inches broad at the bottom. That bell was made of bronze, and that
of St. Kentigern was probably of the same material.
These bells were not used exclusively at the altar services. They were
also rung through the streets by the friars for the repose of the souls of
the departed, especially of those who had been benefactors to the church;
and we know that to this use Saint Mungo's bell — as it was familiarly
called — was put in Glasgow. There is preserved an indenture exe-
cuted at Glasgow " the xviij day of the moneth of December in the
" yher of our Lord a thousand four hundreth fyftie and four yheris,"
between " ane honorabyll man Johne Steuart the first provost that was
" in the citie of Glasgu on the ta part, and discreyt religious men frieris
" of Glasgu, and the covent of the samyn, on the tother part," by which,
in consideration of certain lands and tenements conveyed by Provost
Steuart, "the saydis priour, covent, and their successouris" undertake
to say certain masses at St. Katherine's altar in the Cathedral for the
soul of the donor, " and alsua, on the day of the discesse of the said
" Johne Steuart yherely, tyll ger Sant Mongouse bell be rungen throw
" the toun for the said Johnes sawle." There are other deeds to the
same effect preserved, and among them a " foundatioune donatione and
"legatione" by "Schir Archibald Crawfurd vicar of Cadder," bearing
date 28th November, 1509, which contains the following among other
burdens on the property: — " Item I leif to Sanct Mongowes bell to pas
" throwe the toune one salmes day eftyre noune, and one the morne for-'
" roure nyne, to gar praye for mye faderis saule, mye moderis saule, my
" awin saule, and all Christyne saulis, aucht peneis of annuale of the said
" place."
After the spoliation of the Cathedral which took place at the Refor-
mation this interesting relic appears to have fallen into the hands of two
of the citizens, by whom, a few years later, it was brought to the magis-
trates, who, with good taste, and apparently with a true sense of its
24 Custody of Bell.
archaeological value, secured it for the community. On the iQth of
November, 1577, there occurs in the records of the council the following
interesting entry : — " SANCT MONGOWIS BELL. The quhilk day the
" provest baillies and counsall with dekeins, coft [purchased] fra John
" Mr. sone to umquhile James Mr. and Andro Laing J)e auld bell that
" ged throw the toune of auld at J>e buriall of J>e deid for J>e soume of
" ten pundis money quhilk thai ordainit Patrick Glen thair thesaurare to
" pay to thaim and also grantit J>e said Andro to be maid burges gratis;
" quhilk bell thai ordainit in all tymes to remane as comone bell to gang
" for J?e buriall of )>e deid and to be gevin geirlie to sic persoun as thai
" appoynt for anys in J?e geir takand caution for keping and delyvering
" thairof the geiris end. And the said Andro Laing, as sone to umquhile
" Mr. Robert Layng, is maid instantlie burges, as ane burges sone, gratis,
" for J>e said caus of J)e bell."
The liberal terms accorded to those who had thus rescued the bell,
and the anxious provision made for its safety by taking security from
the person intrusted with it for its careful preservation, shows the value
attached to it, and the veneration in which it was held as a relic dating
from the foundation of the city. In October of the following year the
treasurer's accounts contain a charge of two shillings " for ane tong to
" St. Mongowis bell." And under date 4th June, 1590, there occurs the
following entry: — " The quhilk day the provest baillies and counsall hes
"gevin thair twa commoun bells viz the Mort and Skellat bells togedder
" with the office of pwnterschipe to George Johnstoune for ane zeir to
" cum bund for the soume of thrie scoir pundis to be payit in maner
"following:" and then follow the terms of payment and names ot
sureties.
A few years later the presbytery claimed to have the custody of the
bell and the nomination of the party intrusted with the ringing of it. as
being more within their province than that of the magistrates, and on
5th November, 1594, there is the following entry in the records of the
presbytery :— " Quhilk clay the presbiterie declairis the office of the
" ringing °f the bell to the buriall of the deid to be ecclesiastical and
" that the electioun of the persone to the ringing of the said bell belongis
11 to the kirk, according to the ancient canonis and discipline of the
The Deid Bell.
" reformit kirk." Whether anything followed on this resolution does not
appear. In 1631 the bell was still preserved, as we learn from Camer-
arius, in whose work, " De Scotorum Fortudine Doctrine et Pietate,"
printed in that year, it is stated that Glasgow " has for its achievment
" a salmon and also a bell which was used by the man of God [Kenti-
" gern] and which is preserved in Glasgow at the present day."
But at the time when Camerarius wrote the ancient bell was probably
almost worn out, and in 1640 we find an order by the town council
directing a new one to be made. The order is as follows: — " Anent ane
" deid bell : The said daye ye deid bell dely verit to Patrick forsyth, qm-
" ordaines to give ye half of ye pryces [emoluments] of his part of ye
" bell to William Bogle during his lyfetime. And ordaines ye Dean
" of gild to caus mak ane new deid bell to be runge for and before ye
" deid under hand."1 The new bell then made, after having been in use
for many years, disappeared, but in 1867 it was
discovered and restored to the corporation, in
whose possession it now is.
It is 4^ inches in height, exclusive of the
handle, and bears the date 1641, the year
after the order by the council to have it made.
It is interesting as having upon it a variety
of the city arms not found on any of the
other examples — the fish not being on the
shield at all, but below it, just as it appears
below the shield of Bishop Blackader on the
basement of the rood screen in the Cathedral. But what is still
more interesting is that the bell represented on the shield is not a
round bell, such as were by that time exclusively in use, but an ancient
square bell, the same as appears on the seal of the Chapter of Glasgow
" for Causes," and none of which were manufactured later than the
beginning of the ninth century. There is every probability, therefore,
that the sculptor of the shield on this "new deid bell" had before him
and copied the ancient bell of St. Kentigern, then still preserved and
used in Glasgow. It is possible that, notwithstanding the manufacture
1 Council Records, 23d October, 1640.
26 The Salmon and Ring.
of the new bell of 1641, the old bell of the saint may have still con-
tinued to be used occasionally, because Ray, when he wrote his account
of the city in 1661, says: " Their manner of burial is, when one dies
" the sexton or bellman goeth about the streets with a small bell, which
" he tinkleth all along as he goeth, and now and then he makes a stand
" and proclaims who is dead, and invites the people to come to the
" funeral at such an hour." This description would be very applicable
to the old bell of the saint, though it may possibly refer to the other.
At all events, subsequently to this all trace of the saint's bell, so long
known to the inhabitants, and the affectionate veneration for which
had survived the levelling storm of the Reformation, is unfortunately
lost.
The salmon with the ring, appearing on the seals of the bishopric
and on the city arms, refers to the story of the recovery by St. Kenti-
gern of the lost ring of the Queen of Cadzow. The story is thus given
in the office for the saint's day in the Breviary of Aberdeen: "It
" happened that the Queen of Cadzow had laid herself open to the
" suspicion of an intrigue with a certain knight, whom the king had
" taken with him in hunting. And the knight being asleep, the king
" abstracted from his scrip1 a ring which the queen had given him, and
" flung it into the river called Clyde (Cludam). Returning home he
" demanded the ring of the queen, threatening her with death if she
" did not produce it. She having sent her maid to the knight, and not
" receiving the ring, despatched a messenger to Kentigern, telling him
" everything, and promising the most condign penance. St. Kentigern,
" taking compassion on her, sent one of his people to the river to angle
" with a hook, directing him to bring alive the first fish he might take;
" which being done, the saint took from its mouth the ring, and sent it
11 to the queen, who restored it to the king, and so saved her life."
The whole scene is well represented on the counter seal of Bishop
Robert Wyschard, made about the year 1271. In the upper portion
of this interesting old seal St. Kentigern is represented seated, to whom
a monk kneeling presents the fish with the ring in its mouth. In the
middle compartment are two niches. On the dexter side appears the
1 Mercipio in the Breviary, being monks' Latin for marsupio.
The Tree.
27
king, with a drawn sword in his hand, prepared to slay his frail lady
unless she shall produce the abstracted ring; and on the sinister side
is the lady triumphantly presenting the
missing pledge. In a niche occupying the
lower part of the seal the saint is again
represented in the act of prayer, kneel-
ing on a lion couchant, and on each side
are heads of saints crowned with the
nimbus. The legend round this fine and
very curious example of ancient art tells
in few and pithy words what the sculp-
ture so well represents — REX FURIT: H^EC
PLORAT I PATET AURUM I BUM SACER ORAT.
The hymn appointed for the more solemn
altar service of the saint's day thus sums
up the story: —
" Moecha moerens1 confortatur
Regi reconciliatur
Dum in fluctu qui jactatur
Piscis profert annulum."
What has recently grown into an oak tree, covering a large portion
of the escutcheon, was at first only a twig or branch. It is properly so
expressed in all the early seals, and it appears in that form on the seal
of the chapter given above. It was introduced to commemorate a
frozen bough which St. Kentigern miraculously kindled into flame.
The saint, then a boy, had, according to the legend, been appointed
by his master Servanus to maintain in the refectory the holy fire which
had been sent to Servanus from heaven. Having fallen asleep, some
of his companions, out of envy, extinguished the fire, whereupon
Kentigern when he awoke broke off a frozen branch from a neigh-
bouring hazel, and, breathing on it in the name of the holy Trinity, it
immediately burst into flame. This story forms the subject of the
1 I have corrected these words from the version hitherto given by all the writers, who
(following the monkish Latin of the Breviary) write them " media" and "merens." The first
word would be quite unmeaning, and the latter would convey a meaning the very opposite of
what it was intended to express, for the lady was anything but a deserving character.
2 g The Bird.
third lesson for the saint's day, and is commemorated in the lines of
the hymn —
" Ardent rami congelati
Sacro flatu inflammati."
It is interesting to observe, in passing, that the constant maintenance
of the fire referred to in this legend appears to have been one of the
customs introduced by the Asiatic ancestors of the ancient British
population. In prehistoric times the sacred fire of the Aryans was
kept perpetually burning on the family hearth. It was regarded in
some sort, indeed, as a living household deity who watched over the
family, and when the members met at meals a portion was always first
offered to the fire.1
The legend of the bird is also curious. In most of the verbal
descriptions of the city arms it is called "a bird" merely. One writer
calls it a raven, and in the " Additions," by Dr. Brown and others, to
the third edition, published in 1718, of Captain Slezer's interesting
work, the Theatrum Scotia, it is stated that on the arms of Glasgow
" there is an oak with a red bird on it." This is nearer the truth.
The bird was a redbreast, and it is so described in the office of the
saint in the Breviary of Aberdeen. The second lesson for the day in
that ancient office consists of the story which tells how the saint mira-
culously restored to life " quodam avicula que rubesca2 dicitur." A
tame robin, the favourite of St. Serf, was by chance killed by his dis-
ciples, who, to screen themselves, laid the blame on Kentigern. That
youthful confessor, taking the bird in his hand, made over it the sign
of the cross, whereupon it was restored to life, and flew chirping to its
master. Mr. Robertson, in his preface to the Liber Collegia, says,
" The bird is obviously the little favourite of Saint Serf — the avicula
" qua vulgo ob ruborem corpiisculi rubesca noncupatur — the tale of whose
" miraculous restoration to life by Saint Kentigern fills the fifth chapter
" of his Acts by Jocelin." And he adds, " Long after this legend was
" wholly forgotten it was remembered that the bird exhibited in the
" arms of the city was a redbreast, as we learn from the inscription
" which Dr. Robert Magnus has prefixed to his epigram on the Insignia
1 Dawn of History, p. 89. 2 Rubesca is medieval Latin for Rubecula.
Name of the City.
29
" Civitatis Glasguae : Salmo, quercus, cui insidet rubecnla avis, campana,
" et annulus aureus salmonis ore exortus."
It appears to have been a common thing for these old saints to tame
wild animals and make pets of them, as St. Serf did of his robin. We
read in an ancient Life of the Irish Saint Kiaran of Saigher, that he
had a fox, a badger, a wolf, and a fawn, who became tame and lived
with him in the desert; and another Irish legend of the sixth century,
contained in the Book of Ballymote, tells that Saint Carnech, who was
son of the King of Alban, kept a pet fawn. And many other instances
might be cited of the same kind.
THE NAME OF THE CITY.
The name of the city founded by Kentigern has been differently
spelt at different times. In the manuscript of the Life by Jocelin in
the British Museum — the one which Pinkerton followed — the original
name is said to have been " deschu." The first church, the manu-
script bears, was established " in villa dicta deschu quse nunc vocatur
glaschu" What this word deschu could mean has given rise to much
conjecture, and has puzzled many archaeologists. None of the writers
have attempted to explain it, and, indeed, it is meaningless. I men-
tioned it to Mr. Whitley Stokes, one of our best Celtic authorities,
and with the instinct of a true archaeologist, he made it clear at once.
He suggested that what had taken the form of the letter d in the
word was nothing more than the letters c and / placed too close
together in the original manuscript; that the monk, copying only by
the eye, had mistaken them for the letter d (which is just c and /
joined), and that the word is deschu, pure Welsh, the same as the
glaschu which Jocelin says the place was called in his time. That this
is the true explanation I have no doubt, and it is an instructive example
of the manner in which names become unintelligible by the carelessness
of copyists. Since I obtained that explanation my attention has been
called to another example, mentioned by Mr. Skene, of the very same
30 Name of the City.
mistake made by the transcriber of the history written by Asser in the
end of the ninth century. In narrating the subjugation, by the Danes, of
the Picts and the Strathclyde Welsh or Britons, the names of these
nations are written Pictos and Strathduttenses. The last word should
be Strathduttenses, the d, as in the case of deschu, being put for c I.
In the earliest of the charters the name is written Glasgu, but on the
oldest of the city seals, of which impressions exist as early as 1325, the
legend is " Sigillum comune de Glagu." How it came to be so written
I do not know. I suppose it was intended for a contraction, but if so
it is an unusual one. It was certainly not a mere error of the artist
who cut the seal, in omitting the s by mistake, as I have found the same
spelling in documents under the hand of the accomplished prelate
Wyschard, written while he was a prisoner in England, shortly before the
battle of Bannockburn. One of these is a petition addressed by the
bishop to Edward II., in which he prays the king "pur Dieu et pur charite
" et pT salvacion de sa alme," to allow him to dwell in England within
certain bounds, and in this document he styles himself " le Evesque de
" Glagu." The petition appears to have received no attention, and
again the unfortunate prelate, in a second appeal, prays, "a nre seign1; le
" rey et a son conseyl voyle fere grace de sa deliveraunce a demorer
" deinz Engleter're denz certynz boundes al volonte le roy;" and
here also Wyschard designs himself " le Evesque de Glagu/' In
other documents of the time the name of the city appears in different
forms. On the seal of the chapter used in 1180 it is called Glesgu.
In a letter by the Earl of Warrenne and Surrey to the English king, in
1297, he makes mention of the "evesque de gfasgeu? In another
letter addressed by the same nobleman to his sovereign he speaks of
" Sire le evesk de Glascu" In a letter by Hugh de Cressingham to
the King of England, written in the same year (1297), the name
appears in one place as Glasgu and in another as Glasgou — very much
its present form. In a charter by Robert III. in 1324 it is written
Glasgw. In a charter by John Stewart, lord of Darnley, in 1419, it is
written Glesc/ww; and in the will of Archbishop Betoun he designs
himself Archevesque de Glasco.
The local historians have interpreted the name as meaning " grey
The Early Church. 31
" smith." This is a mistake, and it has arisen from their seeking its
origin in the Gaelic of the Scottish Highlands. An archaeological
friend and an excellent Gaelic scholar, looking for the origin of the
name in the same direction, suggests " clais," a ravine or hollow, and
" dhu," dark. But this part of Clydesdale was a Welsh settlement, and
the origin of the name is to be sought in the British branch of the
Celtic language. It means, I think, the beloved green place — "glas,"
viridis, and "cu" or "gu," carus, as in Munchu; and it probably took
its origin from the spot where Kentigern and Columba met, and where
the first church was erected.
THE EARLY CHURCH.
Of the early church and of the local history of Glasgow during the
long dark period between the time of Kentigern's patron, King Rydd-
erch, and the accession of David in the beginning of the twelfth century,
during which the kingdom was passing through so many changes, we
have almost no record. It was a period of great confusion and change.
For some time the district fell under the dominion of the Angles. Then
the Britons regained their liberty. Towards the middle of the eighth
century we find the Picts and Angles in alliance against the Britons and
Scots, and in 756 the Britons of Alclyde passed a second time under
subjection to the Angles. Early in the ninth century Kenneth, king of
the Dalriad Scots, taking advantage of the weakened state of the Picts,
caused by an invasion of the Norwegians and Danes, invaded Pictavia
and subdued it, and became its king. After various vicissitudes, and after
the death of the last of the kings called of Alclyde, the district re-appears
as an independent kingdom under the designation of the Britons of Strath-
clyde, and then, for the first time, the people appear under the name of
Cumbri or Cumbrians. In the year 900 the greater part of the kingdom
north of the Forth and the Clyde became established in the male line of
the Scottish descendants of Kenneth Macalpine, and became known as
the kingdom of Alban or Albania — Orkney and Shetland, with the Isle of
32 The Early Bishops.
Man, being claimed by the Norwegians. South of those provinces there
were, on the east coast, the northern district of Northumbria, and on the
west the district occupied by the Britons of Strathclyde, including the
site of Glasgow. The kingdom of Northumbria came to an end in 954,
when it was incorporated into the kingdom of the Angles. About the
same time Edmund, king of the Angles, subdued Cumbria, and gave it
to Malcolm, king of the Scots. The mixed population of Picts and
Scots now became to a great extent amalgamated, and under the influ-
ence of the Scots, now the dominant race, became identified with them
in name. Early in the following century Lothian was ceded to the
Scots after a great battle with the English, and the Tweed became on
that side the boundary of the Scottish kingdom. Scotia, as a territorial
designation, first appears in the year 1034, superseding the previous
name of Alba, but in the year 1092 Cumbria south of the Sol way Firth
was wrested from the Scots. After this the name of Cumbria or Cum-
berland was transferred to the English portion — the Scottish part, includ-
ing the districts extending from the Solway to the Clyde, being com-
prised under the name of Gallovidia or Galloway. On the death of
Malcolm Caenmore, in 1093, rie kft tne kingdom for the first time with
the same southern frontier which it ever after retained.
In the beginning'of the twelfth century the bishops of St. Andrews
were the sole bishops in Scotland. There was no bishop then in
Glasgow. Of the immediate successors of Kentigern in the church
we have no record, and of the state of religion in that district during
the dark period which preceded the restoration of the see by David I.
we have little information. The Britons of Strathclyde, on regaining
their freedom from the domination of the Angles, obtained from Ireland,
about the year 720, a bishop named Sedulius. Previous to this nearly the
whole, probably, of the Strathclyde Britons, as well as the entire nation
of the Picts, had conformed to Rome, and there is evidence of Sedulius
having been at Rome in 721. But the movement towards Rome was
resisted by the Columban community till the year 717, when they were
expelled from lona. They were the last to disappear of the Celtic
communities, and they were replaced by monks who adopted the
canonical observance of Easter and the coronal mode of tonsure. The
The Kallidei. 23
breaking up of the monastic church and the introduction of a secular
clergy followed. Early in the ninth century the supremacy exercised
from lona came to an end. In Ireland it was transferred to Kells, and
in Scotland to Dunkeld, but the supremacy of the Columban Church
remained, and the Abbot of Dunkeld was placed at the head of the
Pictish Church.
To the early part of the eighth century may be ascribed the introduc-
tion of the Deicolce, otherwise Keledei, or God-worshippers, who came
to be called Culdees. They were an ascetic order, who led a solitary
life of devotion and self-mortification, and who became associated in
communities of anchorites or hermits. Jocelin of Furness, in his Life
of Kentigern, relates that the saint joined to himself a great many dis-
ciples, whom he trained in the sacred literature of the divine law, and
educated to sanctity of life by his word and example. He says they
were content with sparing diet and dress — possessing nothing of their
own, and living in separate huts or cottages. " These solitary clerics,"
he adds, "were called in common speech Calledei." But, as Mr. Skene
points out, in assigning the Kallidei of Glasgow to the time of Kenti-
gern, Jocelin is guilty of as great an anachronism as when he assigned
to him Servanus as a teacher. When Jocelin wrote, however, there did
exist bodies of Keledei in Scotland, and in his description of the charac-
teristics of the Culdean clergy, before they became canons, he is no doubt
reporting a genuine tradition. The Kaledei of Glasgow really belong
to the time of Servanus and Sedulius, bishop of the Britons, and this
connection with the real Servanus may have led to the history of this
period being drawn back, and both the Kaledei and Servanus associated
in popular tradition with the great apostle of Glasgow.1 These Kaledei
or Culdees were in the ninth century brought under the canonical rule
along with the secular clergy.
The " Scottish Church" first appears under that name in the end of
the ninth century, when it became amalgamated into one body. At this
time the kingdom of the Picts still existed, and by a king of that dynasty
the church with its possessions was " freed from servitude under Pictish
law and custom" — freed, that is, from all secular exactions. The
1 Celtic Scotland, ii. p. 260.
34 Early Scottish Church.
supremacy, after lona had been deprived of it, had been, as I have said,
transferred to Dunkeld, and now it was transferred to St. Andrews,
and the church placed under one head, who was designated Bishop of
Alban.1 The last of the bishops of Alban was Tuthald. He died in
1107, when the old Celtic Church came to an end, and the see of
St. Andrews, then the only bishopric in Scotland, remained for a con-
siderable time vacant. The old church was superseded by the bishoprics
founded in the earlier years of King David's reign, and by the estab-
lishment of the ordinary cathedral staff of canons, deans, and other
functionaries. The process of assimilating the native church to that of
Rome was begun by Queen Margaret, and resumed by her sons Alex-
ander and David. Alexander filled up the vacancy in St. Andrews,
under the bishops of which were placed all the Culdee establishments
which remained in the kingdom, including that of Glasgow. Alexander
also created the bishopric of Moray, and revived that of Dunkeld.
In the southern districts David, who ruled as earl, was carrying out
the same policy, and among others he reconstituted the bishopric of
Glasgow, at which place, as stated in his " Notitia," "the confusions and
"revolutions in the country" had destroyed all traces of the church. A
record of the proceedings for the restoration of the see, and for ascer-
taining the possessions of the church, is contained in this Notitia— a
remarkable document, of which a copy is preserved in the Chartulary of
Glasgow. A Notitia such as this was the admitted and approved mode
at that time of establishing the property and privileges of churches be-
fore charters came into general use. The date of the document is fixed
by Father Innes as circa 1116, but Mr. Skene — probably with more
accuracy — places it in 1 120 or 1 121. It records an investigation by the
good men of the country, directed to be made by David, who is designed
in it as Prince of the Cumbrian region — regione quadam inter Angliam
et Scotiam sita. It relates the foundation of the church and the ordina-
tion of Kentigern as bishop of Cumbria. It mentions the death of the
saint, and that he was succeeded by many bishops in the see, but that
the confusions and revolutions in the country had at length destroyed
all traces of the church and almost of Christianity. The restoration of
1 Celtic Scotland, ii. p. 320.
UA
roftttcacfc
^twf <Twn
x^n^^^
-mutef ti4t6ntm> ^ -mifif ^al?;
FACSIMILE OF FIRST PAGE OF THE INQUISITIO OF DAVID I., CIRCA 1120.
Notitia of David. 35
the bishopric by David is then stated, and the election and consecration
of John, who had been tutor and afterwards chancellor to the prince, and
who has been commonly called the first bishop of Glasgow. This is
followed by a record of the possessions of the church " in all the pro-
" vinces of Cumbria which are under his [David's] dominion and power."
The district thus designated extended from the Clyde on the north to
the Solway Firth and the march with England on the south, and from
the western boundary of Lothian on the east to the river Urr on the
west, and it included Teviotdale, which had remained a part of the
diocese of Durham while the Lothian churches north of the Tweed
were transferred to St. Andrews, but which was now reclaimed as
properly belonging to Glasgow.1
Professor Innes truly observes that there is no more instructive record
for ecclesiastical antiquities than this Inquisition regarding the posses-
sions of the church of Glasgow. Some people talk loosely of the Scot-
tish Church having been endowed by the state, or at least by the crown,
but such was not the case. With certain trifling exceptions in our
own day — so small as not to be worth mentioning — the church in Scot-
land has never received any endowment either from the crown or from
the state. If David was a " sair saunt for the crown," the see of Glas-
gow certainly experienced none of his bounty. It was endowed, as all
the other parishes both in England and Scotland were endowed, by the
private voluntary liberality of the great landowners, and it is a rem-
nant of these grants, and that a very small one, which now forms the
endowment of the Church of Scotland — a church whose doctrine has
been from time to time modified or reformed, but which, in historical
continuity, and in a strictly legal sense, is identically the same church as
that on which the endowments were first bestowed. In the case of
Glasgow the probability is that the valuable possessions with which the
Inquest of David dealt consisted of donations which had been made to
the first bishops and their early successors, for it is extremely improbable
that during the long dark periods of confusion and anarchy which pre-
ceded the reign of David the church received any accession of property.2
1 Celtic Scotland, vol. ii. p. 375.
2 Professor Innes, Preface to Origines Parochiales, p. xxiv.
36 Possessions of the See.
And these possessions consisted not of mere tithes, nor of the dues of
churches only, but of broad lands and numerous manors, scattered all
over the south of Scotland. The object of the Notitia, accordingly, was
not to confer on the see of Glasgow any new possession, but to ascertain,
by careful investigation, and by the verdict of the Inquest, what were
the properties which at the time legally belonged to the church, and to
confirm the title by a royal charter.
Previous to the Reformation the see of Glasgow possessed the
baronies of Glasgow, Carstairs, Ancrum, Lilliesleaf, Ashkirk, and Stobo,
besides Eddleston, called in the Inquisition Penteiacob. What came to
be called the Regality of Glasgow embraced the city and a large district
adjoining, comprising the Barony Parish, the parishes of Cadder and
Govan, and a large portion of the parish of Old Monkland. But under
the benignant rule of the church the lands were let for small returns.
At the Reformation the whole money rental of the archbishops, as given
up in the Book of the Assumption of Thirds (1561), amounted to only
^987, 8s. *jd. Scots, which, according to the value of money at that time,
was equal to about only ^200. Besides this there were of meal
32 chalders 8 bolls; of malt, 28 chalders 6 bolls; of bear, 8 bolls; of
horse corn, 12 chalders 13 bolls; and lastly of "salmond," 14 dozen.
Before leaving the Inquisitio — that important old document by which,
to use the words of Professor Innes, "the full light of history first falls
" on Glasgow," it may be interesting to give a short account of the
Register in which it is preserved. When Beton, the last of the arch-
bishops, fled from Glasgow he took with him the ancient muniments
and Registers of the diocese, including two volumes of the original
Chartulary. These two volumes, with many other papers now lost,
were deposited by him in the Scots College at Paris. At the French
Revolution they were removed for safety, and eventually they were
brought to Scotland by the Abbe" Paul Macpherson, who left them in
the hands of Bishop Cameron, by whom again they were transferred to
the custody of Bishop Kyle in Aberdeenshire. There exist several
copies of the Glasgow Chartulary, but the first in importance is the
ancient Register — one of the volumes referred to — which is quoted by
Father Innes and other antiquarians as the Registrum vetus Ecclesice
The Early Inhabitants. 37
Cathedralis Glasguensis. It is an octavo volume of vellum, and the
early portion of it, consisting of 67 leaves — the portion which contains
the Inquisitio of David — is undoubtedly in a handwriting of the twelfth
century. It is valuable, therefore, as being a contemporary copy.1
I have given a facsimile of the commencement of the Inquisitio, which,
apart from its intrinsic value, is interesting as a specimen of the hand-
writing of the period.
THE EARLY INHABITANTS.
Of the condition and habits of the early inhabitants of the district
now occupied by Glasgow there are few materials from which to obtain
authentic information. At the time of Kentigern, it may well be
believed, they were in a very rude state. Even within the Roman
wall, as I have said, neither the language nor the civilization of the
Romans appears to have made any great impression on the ancient
population; and when the forces of the Empire were finally withdrawn,
the people returned in a great measure to their primitive barbarism.2
The Roman historians describe the barbarians or hostile tribes in
Scotland with whom they came in contact as two nations, bearing the
names of Caledonii and Maeatse. The latter occupied the territory
next the Roman wall. They had neither walls nor cities. The his-
torian Dio, as abridged by Xiphiline, describes them as living on the
milk of their flocks and wild fruits, and on what they could get by
hunting. They had, he says, no houses properly so called, but tents or
huts, where they lived almost entirely naked, and they painted or
punctured their bodies, so as, by a process of tatooing, to produce the
representations of animals. As regards their houses, however, this
was no doubt their condition only at the period of the year, namely
1 Professor Innes, Pref. to Reg. Epis. Glasg. p. xii.
2 Hudson Turner's Domestic Architecture, Introd. p. i.
^ 8 Eirde Houses.
summer, when the Romans saw them. That they had houses better
fitted to protect them in winter is certain. Remains of these have
been found in various parts of Scotland, and they are almost invariably
found in groups. The rudest of them consisted simply of shallow
excavations in the soil, of a circular or oblong form; they rarely exceeded
7 or 8 feet in diameter, and they were generally surrounded by a raised
rim of earth, in which a slight break indicated the door. On digging
within the area charred wood or ashes, mixed with fragments of decayed
bones or vegetable earth, are generally found.1 An interesting group
of these huts or "weems" was discovered not many years ago near
Busby, in the vicinity of Glasgow. They were of the most primitive
kind, being mere semicircular pits cut out of the hill side, with a passage
to the door, also dug out of the slope on a level with the floor. Each
consisted of one small apartment, about 1 2 feet square and 5 feet high,
and faced with stone. The floors were neatly paved with thin flag-
stones. In the centre was a hole for a fireplace, in which ashes were
still visible. Near the fireplace were small piles of water-worn stones,
2 or 3 inches in diameter, probably for cooking food by placing heated
stones round it, as is still done by some of the islanders in the Pacific.
Several hand querns of stone for grinding grain were also found in
these houses. At a short distance a grave was discovered, lined with
stone, and containing rude urns filled with ashes, indicating that the
inhabitants had disposed of their dead by cremation. Unfortunately,
the whole of these curious pit houses were destroyed.2
In the country lying north of the Forth, the ancient Pictland, the
remains of underground weems or " eirde houses" are very abundant,
while on the south of that river they are rare, and in Galloway they
seem to be unknown.3 In these weems, querns, deers' horns, and
bones have been found. They agree very much with the description
by Tacitus of the winter dwellings of the Germans. Another group
of these weems was found within a few miles of Aberdeen, which
Professor Stuart suggested might mark the site of the capital of Taixali
when the Roman eagles passed the river Dee in the second cen-
1 Wilson's Prehistoric Annals, vol. i. p. 104. 2 Dr. John Buchanan.
3 Progress of Archaeology, by Dr. Stuart. Glasgow, 1866.
Bee-hive Houses.
39
tury.1 They show a slight advance in constructive skill in the strength-
ening of the inclosure with stone.
Remains have also been found of another class of ancient Scottish
dwellings. In some parts of Argyleshire there have been found rough
oval pavements of stone, bearing marks of fire, and in many instances
covered with charred ashes. They are usually found to measure 6 feet
in greatest diameter, and they are sometimes surrounded with the
remains of pointed hazel sticks or posts, the relics, doubtless, of the
upright supports with which the walls and tapering roofs, probably of
straw, were framed.2 Julius Caesar describes the dwellings of the Britons
as similar to those of the Gauls, and these, we know, were constructed
of wood, in a circular form, and with tapering roofs of straw. Some
of these ancient Caledonian hearths have been discovered beneath an
accumulation of 8 to TO feet of moss, with a stratum below of a foot
deep of vegetable mould, resting on an alluvial bed of gravel and sand ;
and Dr. Wilson conjectures from these accumulations that the dwellings
point to an era more remote than that of the Romans. But I think
there are reasons for concluding that geologists have been too hasty in
assigning such very long periods of time for deposits of this kind, and
the discoveries recently made in the neighbourhood of Glasgow of a
pavement, apparently Roman, under deposits to which an equally long
period might be assigned, and to which I shall afterwards have occasion
to refer, confirm me in this opinion.
Other ancient Scottish dwellings have been found constructed of
huge masses of granite frequently over 6 feet in length. Some of
these have been found 30 feet long and from 8 to 9 feet wide. The
walls are made to converge towards the top, and the whole is roofed in
by means of the primitive substitute for the arch which characterizes
the cyclopean structures of infant Greece, and the vast temples and
palaces of Mexico and Yucatan.3
What are called the bee-hive houses were circular in form, with
dome-shaped roofs, and walls of great thickness, which were built with-
out mortar. They were called by the Irish clochans. When used for
1 Archseolog. Scot. vol. ii. p. 54.
2 Prehistoric Annals, vol. i. p. 106.
3 Ibid., vol. i. p. 109.
Ancient Forests.
solitary retirement by hermits or anchorites they were called carcair or
prison cells. Examples of these ancient houses are still frequently to be
met with along the remote coasts, and on the islands, of the western
and south-western parts of Ireland; and in Scotland the bothans or
bee-hive houses of Lewis and Harris, which are occupied to the
present day as the summer sheilings of the Hebrideans, are of the
same description. The cut represents one of these interesting structures
at Aird in Lewis. In form it is almost identical with one in Ireland
described by Dr. Petrie, and of which he gives a drawing in his work
on the Round Towers. It is — or was when Dr. Petrie sketched it-
situated on the north side of the great island of Aran in the Bay of
Galway, and was known by the peasantry as the Clochan-na-Carraige,
or the stone house of the rock. Dr. Petrie ascribes it to a period before
the introduction of Christianity, when the use of lime was unknown.1
There is every reason to believe that in the time of Kentigern, and
even in times far more remote, the country around what is now Glas-
gow, and, indeed, the whole face of Scotland, was covered with immense
forests, chiefly of oak ; and it is interesting to note that in the oldest of
the canoes dug up from under the streets of Glasgow, we possess por-
tions of the wood grown in these ancient forests, not later, and probably
earlier, than the time of Abraham. By waste, and want of care in
replanting, much of this wood disappeared, but many of the forests
continued to exist long after the time of Kentigern; and when Edward I.
overran the country, he was in the practice of repaying the services
1 Round Towers, p. 126.
Marshes. 4 !
of those who submitted, or whom he desired to win to his authority,
by presents of so many oaks and stags from the forests which he found
in possession of the crown. Thus, on the i8th of August, 1291, the
king directed the keeper of the forest of Selkirk to deliver thirty stags
to the Archbishop of St. Andrews; twenty stags and sixty oaks to the
Bishop of Glasgow; and six oaks to Brother Bryan, Preceptor of the
order of the Knights Templars in Scotland. Among these old forests
was that of Glasgow, but, like all the others, it gradually disappeared,
partly, no doubt, from waste, and partly that the ground might be
brought under cultivation, but also as a measure of safety, for the
wolf and other savage animals abounded in them to an extent which
must have proved troublesome, and, indeed, dangerous. But while
the forests existed the game was, as a rule, scrupulously preserved, and
many of the old charters relate to these rights. There is preserved
a composition or settlement, in the reign of Alexander II., between
the Avenals, Lords of Eskdale, and the monks of Melrose, regarding
disputed game rights in their forests. The Avenals. were to have the
great game, viz., "hart and hind, wild boar and sow, buck and doe;
" also eyrie of falcons and sparrowhawks." The monks were to have
the other game, but were forbidden to hunt with dogs and nets, or to
set traps except for wolves.
Another striking peculiarity in the aspect of the country was the
prevalence of those marshes or fens which Herodianus describes as
forming places of refuge for the early Britons when pressed by their
enemies. They existed all over Scotland, occupying those now fertile
and beautiful districts which, by clearing and drainage, have been
brought under cultivation. Within these inaccessible morasses, which
came to be intersected by paths known only to the inhabitants, Wal-
lace and Bruce often defended themselves, and were able to defy the
heavily-armed English soldiery. It is said that by lying out amid
their damp and unhealthy exhalations Bruce caught the disease of
which he died.1
In the midst of these morasses, in very old times, the natives were
accustomed to construct fortified dwellings and strongholds. Caesar
1 Tytler's History of Scotland, vol. ii. p. 112.
42 Pile Dwellings.
describes the ancient Britons as living in palisaded strengths and
marshes; and quite recently many fortified islands or "crannogs" have
been discovered, in marshy grounds and in lakes, which are no doubt
what Csesar referred to, and which correspond with the pile buildings
of the Swiss lakes. An interesting group of these was discovered in
Dowalton Loch, in Galloway, in 1863. They were all constructed on
the same principle. Masses'of fern and heather were laid on the bottom
of the loch, and above this layers of brushwood, consisting of hazel and
birch, mixed with occasional large boulders. On this rested a flooring
of sawed trees, and above all a surface of stones. The whole of the
mass was penetrated by vertical piles formed of young oak trees, and
the islands were surrounded by numerous rows of these piles. Strong
beams of oak, with large morticed holes, seemed to have been part of
a framework surrounding the edge of the islands for keeping them
compact. Bones of the ox, deer, and other animals were found in them.
In the same loch were found canoes of a size exceeding any of those
discovered in the Clyde, to which I shall afterwards have occasion to
refer, and several articles of bronze were found — one a beautiful speci-
men of Roman workmanship. Another of these crannogs, formed of
masses of stones resting on the moss, was discovered in a marsh in
the parish of Culter. It was penetrated by many oak piles, and
connected with the firm ground by a causeway. The old name of the
place is the Cranney Moss, which may have been derived from the
crannog erected in its centre. Similar constructions have been found
in Loch Doon and other localities. Among others, an interesting
example was found quite recently at the farm called Lochlea, of which
the father of Robert Burns was tenant; but there is no loch there now.
In some instances these crannogs were approached by a causeway, but
more generally they must have been reached by the canoes which are
almost invariably found in their neighbourhood.1
The period of the introduction of these lake dwellings in Scotland is
uncertain, but in Switzerland the earliest of them may be assigned to
a period 2000 years before Christ.
Of the people who, in the time of the Romans, inhabited these and
1 Dr. Stuart, Recent Progress of Archaeology. Glasgow, 1866.
Ancient Sculptures.
43
the other primitive dwellings I have been describing, there have come
down to us more than one interesting representation. In the museum
of the College of Glasgow there is preserved a sculptured stone of the
period of the Roman occupation, having on it a Latin inscription, and
the figures of three natives seated on the ground as prisoners, with
their hands tied behind their backs, and guarded by a cavalry soldier
armed with shield and spear. Behind him is a figure of Victory holding
a wreath, and on another part of the stone is the Roman eagle. The
prisoners are represented naked. The sculpture is considerably oblit-
erated by the wearing of the stone, but the face of one of the figures is
pretty well preserved. He wears a cap or bonnet, and has a beard
and moustache. The head is massive, and the expression of the face
is grave and shows determination. This interesting slab was discovered
in the Roman fort at Castlehill, in the wall of Antoninus near Kil-
patrick. It represents, no doubt, three of the captives taken by the
Romans from the tribes outside of the wall.1
Another example in better preservation was found in 1868, at another
part of the same wall at Arniebog, a mile west from Castlecarry. The
stone had been broken, but the two pieces fitted exactly, and they
had evidently formed part of a larger slab which had probably been
broken by the Romans themselves, and hid when they finally retreated
from the district. On one of the portions was a representation of
Neptune, and on the other that of a captive Briton. The latter is thus
described by Dr. Buchanan, who visited the spot on hearing of the
discovery : — " The figure of the captive is particularly interesting, for
" it affords a portrait by Roman hands of a native Briton. He is
u naked, on one knee, with his hands tied behind his back. The coun-
' tenance is that of a young man of about twenty-two years of age;
" the features not at all savage; the nose good, slightly aquiline; no
"beard or moustache; the hair rather short and apparently plaited
" round the brow; the body plump and muscular, the whole figure
"exhibiting a strong, well-built man."2
1 A representation of the stone, but badly executed, is given in Stuart's Caledonia Romana,
plate ix. fig. i.
2 Paper read at meeting of Society of Antiquaries, Edinburgh, by John Buchanan, Esq.,
LL.D. 1868.
44 The Native Britons.
A third slab, also representing British captives, was discovered in the
same year, 1868, at Bridgness, near Carriden, and it is particularly
interesting from the fact that one of the captives is a woman— verifying
and illustrating what we read in history, that in the battles with the
Roman troops the British women fought side by side with the men.
On this stone a mounted Roman soldier is represented galloping among
and slaying the captives. The attitude of the woman is that of shrink-
ing modesty. Her hair is arranged in two bands plaited round the
forehead. It would have been interesting had there been also preserved
a representation of the celebrated British dogs — the ferocious mastiffs
which, along with the women, took part in the battles against the
invaders.
From historical accounts we know that the native Britons were
exceptional in stature, and that the Romans greatly admired the beauty
of the females — their commanding forms, their fine complexions, their
small and delicate eye-brows, and their pearly teeth.1 Of the men,
Herodianus, writing about the year 245, says: "They swim through
" the fens, or run through them up to the waist in mud. They wear
" iron about their loins and necks, esteeming this as fine and rich an
" ornament as others do gold. They make on their bodies the figures
" of divers animals, and use no clothing that these may be exposed to
"view. They are a very bloody and warlike people, using a little
" shield or target and a spear." Another writer, Xiphiline, describes
the inhabitants, both those near the great wall and those beyond it, as
living " upon barren uncultivated mountains, or in desert marshy plains,
" where they have neither walls nor towns nor manured lands, but feed
" on the milk of their flocks and what they get by hunting, and some
" wild fruits. They never eat fish, though they have great plenty of
" them. They have no houses, but tents, where they live naked. They
"fight upon chariots; their horses are low but swift. They have great
" agility of body, and tread very surely. The arms they make use of
" are a buckler, a poniard, and a short lance, at the lower end of which
" is a piece of brass, in the form of an apple. They are accustomed to
" fatigue, to bear hunger and cold, and all manner of hardships. They
1 Athenaeus, quoted by Logan.
Food of Natives. . -
" run into the morasses up to the neck, and live there several days
" without eating. When they are in the woods they live upon roots
"and leaves."
These descriptions must be taken with reserve, as the Romans per-
haps never saw the inhabitants outside of the wall except during the
summer season and when they met them in combat. The habits and
mode of living of those within the great rampart would of course be
greatly modified by their intercourse with the Romans, but the account
is interesting as giving a description, no doubt correct in the main, of
the inhabitants in the neighbourhood of Glasgow before Kentigern
entered on his Christian mission in Strathclyde.
It is not difficult to conjecture on what food these early inhabitants
of our district subsisted, but we possess some real evidence on the sub-
ject in the state of the teeth in various crania which have been from
time to time discovered. Dr. Thurnham, after describing one of the
earliest of these, says : " Altogether the condition is such as we must
" attribute to a rude people subsisting in great measure on the products
" of the chase and other animal food, ill provided with instruments for
" its division, and bestowing little care on its preparation, rather than
"to an agricultural tribe living chiefly on corn and fruits."1 In the
remains of the older settlements by far the larger number of the bones
of animals found are those belonging to wild species, showing that
the principal food of the people was obtained by hunting. After the
introduction of bronze the reverse is the case, and in the later remains
the bones of domestic animals become much more common, and those
of wild animals rare.
Dr. Wilson observes that a decided change took place in the com-
mon food of the country, from the era when the native of the primeval
period pursued the chase with the flint lance and arrow, and the spear
of deer's horn, to that recent one when Saxon and Scandinavian
marauders began to effect settlements and build houses on the scenes
where they had ravaged the villages of the older British natives.
" The first class, we may infer," Dr. Wilson says, " attempted little cul-
" tivation of the soil, though within their narrow insular limits only a
1 Crania Britannia, Table I. No. 13.
46 The New People.
" very thinly scattered population could long subsist on the spoils of the
"chase, and the combined labours of the megalithic builders were
" doubtless expended on other works besides their chambered barrows.
" Improving on the precarious chances of a mere nomadic or hunter
" life, we are led to suppose from other evidence that the ancient islander
" introduced the rudiments of a pastoral life while yet his dwelling was
" only the slight circular earth pit incovered with overhanging boughs
" and skins. To the spoils of the chase he would then add the milk
" of his flock of goats or sheep, probably with no other addition than
"such wild esculents, mast, or fruits, as might be gathered without
"labour in the glades of the neighbouring forest."1 This is exactly the
state in which Xiphiline, in the passage just quoted, says he found the
natives in Scotland in the year 245.
But the habits of the people were to undergo a change, as the
natives themselves were to be in a great measure dominated or dis-
placed by a new people now rapidly and steadily spreading over the
lowlands of Scotland. It has been commonly considered that the
marriage of Malcolm Cean Moir with the Saxon princess Margaret
gave a great impetus to this immigration of Southerns, and no doubt
it did; but it had begun much earlier. The character of the move-
ment, as described by a high authority, was peculiar. It was not
the bursting forth of an overcrowded population seeking wider room.
The new colonists were what we should call of the upper classes — of
great Anglian families, and Normans of the highest blood and names.
They were men of the sword, above all servile and mechanical employ-
ment. They were fit for the society of a court, and many became the
chosen companions of our princes, and the old native people gave way
before them. These new settlers were of the progressive party —
friends to civilization and the church. In many cases they found
churches on their manors — for the endowments made for the benefit of
the people date from a very early period — or if not already there they
erected them.2 As a rule they respected the existing endowments,
and they themselves made liberal grants from their private estates, and
the districts so endowed became parishes.
1 Prehistoric Annals, vol. i. p. 295. 2 Professor Innes, Preface to Origines Parochiales, p. xxvii.
The Serfs.
47
When we come to mediaeval times we find what remained of the
native population in a state of serfdom under the dominion of these
Saxon invaders, and it is not easy for us who live in the light and
liberty of the nineteenth century to form an adequate idea of the
degraded state of the great bulk of the population at that time.
Professor Innes, writing of the district around Melrose — and that dis-
trict was not by any means exceptional — says : " The original inhabit-
" ants had either removed to districts not yet coveted by the southern
" colonists, or were reduced to the condition of serfs, then appropriately
" termed nativi, who were transferred by sale or gift along with the soil
" which they cultivated." In the reign of Alexander II. there is a
charter by which Osulf the Red, with his son Walter, are sold for ten
merks (£6, 135-. 4^.). By another charter of the same period one
Patrick de Prendergast, burgess of Berwick, purchases the freedom of
Renaldus, a Neyf or slave, with all his followers, "so that his wife and
" children and all descendants from him may go and return and stay
•' wherever they please like other freemen."1 What is curious in this
case is that the Neyf or native whose freedom is purchased is styled in
the deed praposifus, or bailie, of the town of Berwick. The price paid
is twenty merks (^13, 6s. 8d.), a high sum compared with the usual
price of serfs at that time, but this may be accounted for by the higher
position held by the subject of the transaction. At Brackley, in the
beginning of the thirteenth century, a serf was sold for three merks,
and in the end of the same century another, with all his family and
chattels, was sold for twenty shillings.2
In the old chartularies there are many other interesting notices of
this state of serfdom. In the LIBER DE MELROS is a charter dated
towards the end of the thirteenth century, in which John de Vesey
conveys and confirms to the abbey certain lands, and along with them
assigns the "bondos cum nativis, sequeles, et catalles corundum."
Sequeles means the followers, the children of the native, just as a horse-
dealer sells a mare with her followers.3 There is another charter,
1 Parliamentary Report on National MSS., part i. p. 3.
2 MSS. of Magdalene College, Oxford— Report on National MSS., part iv. p. 458.
3 Scottish Legal Antiquities, p. 51.
48 Sales of Serfs.
granted in the year 1280 by one Andrew Fraser, by which he conveys
to the abbey of Kelso two crofts occupied by Adam of the Hog and
John the son of Lethe, together with "Adam of the Hog himself my
"native with all his following;" and the charter contains a clause of
warrandice of the subjects conveyed, which are enumerated as " the
" said lands, meadows, men, and pastures." And to come nearer home
we find a charter of King William (circa 1 180), by which he conveys to
Jocelin, bishop of Glasgow one Gilmachoi de Conglud, "with his
" children and all his descendants." This was an exceptional case, for
as a rule the Neyf or serf was conveyed or sold only along with the
land on which he resided. There appears, however, to have been
an exception to this rule when the sale was made to provide for the
necessities of the granter. Among the national manuscripts of the
twelfth century is a deed by which Bertram, son of Adam of Lesser
Reston, sells to the prior and convent of Coldingham " Turkil Hog
" and his sons and his daughters for three merks of silver which in my
"great want they gave me of the house of Coldingham."1 Other
charters occur about the same time of serfs sold apart from the land,
but in each case it is for sums paid to the granters "in their great
" necessity;" and Professor Innes conjectures, I have no doubt correctly,
that the villains of an estate might not be sold off the lands except
in such circumstances.2
In England also there are many other examples of the sale of serfs.
By a deed in the beginning of the thirteenth century John de Paries grants
to the monks of St. Mary of Lancaster his naif John son of John son of
Hamo, with his issue and chattels, for the yearly payment of one pound
of cummin — no land being conveyed. In some cases the bondman
purchased his freedom, the price being commuted into a yearly pay-
ment. By a charter granted by the John de Paries just mentioned he
enfranchises his naif William — the newly made freeman undertaking to
pay yearly to the prior and monks of Lancaster the sum of two pence.3
Even where the native continued in a state of serfdom his labour
was occasionally commuted into a stated tax in money. In the earliest
1 National MSS., No. liv. 2 introduction to National MSS., p. xii.
3 MSS. of Thurnham Hall— Third Report on Historical MSS., p. 305.
Condition of Serfs. 40
times it was the custom to extort from the serfs the largest possible
amount of manual labour, and their condition must have been
miserable in the extreme; but this became gradually relaxed, and they
acquired some few privileges, one of these being that the lord accepted
an annual money payment instead of labour, and the serf, if he was
industrious, was enabled in this way to earn something for himself, and
even to acquire cattle and to rent a piece of land from his master. An
example of this, by which certain land held by a serf was sold along
with the serf himself, occurs among the papers of Queen's College,
Oxford. It is a charter granted in the reign of Richard I. by Nicholas
de Pentiz, by which he conveys to the Hospital of Hamtone " illam
" virgatam terrse in Gersiz quam Turstinus tenuit cum ipso Turstino et
"tota sequela sua."1
Sometimes the son of a bondman might, without the knowledge of
his overlord, leave the land and rise to a better position, but if his
birth could be traced he could at any time be reclaimed. An example
of such reclamation occurs in one of the old deeds belonging to the
corporation of Axbridge, in the county of Somerset, granted in the
thirty-fourth year of Edward III. (1361), but in this case the owner of
the serf, after asserting his right, had the generosity to give him his
freedom. The deed (in Latin) by which he did so is worth quoting
as an example of these curious old writs. It is as follows : — " To all
" the faithful in Christ to whom this present writing shall come, John
" de Cleveden, knight, Lord of Alre, greeting in the Lord : Whereas
" Thomas Salamon was lately claimed in my court as being a bondman
" born by blood, yet do I, the said John, will and grant for myself and
" my heirs that the said Thomas shall be quit in future of all servitude
"and neifty, together with all his following and his issue: granting that
" he shall be free, and of free condition, without any claim by me or
" my heirs for ever."2 In England we find frequent examples of
natives or bondmen so improving their condition as to become bur-
gesses; and in the city of York, in the fourteenth century, this appears
to have prevailed to such an extent that the corporation had their
1 Fourth Report on Historical MSS., p. 453.
2 Third Report on Historical MSS., p. 305.
50 Serfdom.
attention called to it, and the practice was prohibited. In an old MS. book
of " Memoranda touching the City of York," there occurs, in the year
1394, an ordinance that no nativus or born bondman shall be admitted
to the freedom of the city.1 Probably in consequence of this resolution
the archbishop — Scrope — was encouraged to insist on a claim " to the
"person of William de Wystowe, as being his nativus or bondman;"
but either his claim was unfounded, or for some reason the corporation
saw fit to resist it, for it is recorded that the mayor and others " pro-
" tested personally and openly in the chamber of the archbishop, within
" his palace at York, that he is not such bondman, but a free man
" born."2 The result is not stated.
The great proprietors kept genealogies, or stud books, as we might
call them, of their serfs, to enable them to trace and reclaim them,
and numerous examples of these are to be found in the Dunfermline
Chartulary.
Among the mass of the common people, indeed, there was at that
time no real personal liberty. With the exception of the " king's bur-
" gesses," every man was under one lord or another, to whom he owed
allegiance and personal service. There is a law of King David which
provides that "gif any man," other than a freeman of course, "be
" funden in the kyngis land that has na propir lord he sal haf the space
" of xv dayes to get him a lord; and gif that he wythin the saed term
" fyndes na lord, the kyngis justice sal tak of hym to the kyngis oise
" viii ky and kepe his body to the kyngis behuffe quhill he get him
14 a lord."
There was, however, another kind of serfdom, that of a freeman
finding it necessary to seek the protection afforded by that condition,
and for that purpose voluntarily rendering himself a bondman to a
feudal lord.3
Of course those who entered the church became free from the con-
ditions of compulsory servitude, but this applied only to those in orders,
and it was so from the earliest times. The familia of a monastery
included every one attached to it, and every individual down to the
lowest grade of those who occupied the church lands was a monk, but
1 First Report on Hist. MSS., p. 109. 2 Ibid p I09 3 QUOniam Attachementa.
Colliers and Salters. cx
it was only those on whom church orders were conferred who acquired
the valued privilege of freedom from slavery.1
The practice of selling serfs along with the land continued in England
till the end of the sixteenth century. Among the Oxford manuscripts
is a deed recording the manumission of a serf in Lincolnshire so late
as I562.2 Professor Innes says that the last claim of neyfship or
serfdom proved in a Scotch court was in 1364, and he adds that in
that or the following century the institution must have died out.3 I
doubt this. The probability is that it continued as long in Scotland as
in England. There is a charter by James VI. (1584) granting the
lands of Bandeith, in Stirlingshire, to Alexander Rannald, son of John
Rannald and Elizabeth Alschinder, veteri nativo et tenenti nostro.^
Certain it is, incredible as it may appear, that the institution of slavery
continued to exist in Scotland among certain classes down almost to
our own day. Such was the condition of every person employed in a
colliery or salt work, including women as well as men. These, by the
mere operation of law, and without any paction, by entering the employ-
ment became the property of the owner, and bound to perpetual
servitude in that particular work. The master could not sell him off
the land to another, but if the owner sold or alienated the ground on
which the works were, the collier or salter passed over to the new
owner as fundo annexum, and if he made his escape the master could
follow him and bring him back — exercising this power, to use the words
of our great institutional writer Erskine, in virtue of "his right of
" property in the deserter." This state of matters continued to a period
within the memory of some still living. It was not till the year 1799
that it was put an end to by the act 39 Geo. III., which declared
colliers to be " free from their servitude." One of these slaves, an old
man called Moss Nook, was living in 1820. He had been originally
on the estate of Mr. M'Nair of Greenfield, near Glasgow, but in the
year mentioned he was in the service of Mr. Dunlop, of Clyde Iron
Works, to whom, as he himself told the gentleman who relates the
1 Brechon Laws, vol. iii. p. 31.
2 MSS. of Magdalene Coll., Fourth Report on National MSS., p. 458-
3 Scotch Legal Antiquities, p. 159. 4 R. M. S. xxxvj. 193.
5 2 Sales of Thieves.
story, he had been many years before transferred by Mr. M'Nair in
exchange for a pony.1 But this was an illegal transaction, as colliers,
although they could not leave the land and were sold with it, could not,
.is the law then stood, be transferred to another estate. I may add
that so late as 1843 the late Dr. Norman Macleod had among his
parishioners at Dalkeith a woman who had been in this state of slavery.2
The records of the ancient "lawting" courts of Orkney and Shetland
contain decrees which, in a somewhat similar way, controlled the per-
sonal liberty of the cultivators of the soil. One of these, dated in 1602,
proceeds on a complaint made by " ane greit number of the gentilmen
" and utheris the commonis of the contrie," that permission had been
given to " a great number of servandis and wtheris indwellars within
" the land to pas afe the contrie to wther partis quharbe a great part of
" the landis of the contrie are likelie to ly ley." It is therefore ordained
that " na skippair, merchand, or awner carie away or transport afe the
" contrie ony persoun or personis in ther schipis bottis, great or small,
" without my lordis licence or his deputis," under penalties. " My
11 lord" here referred to is " Patrik, Earl of Orkney, Lord Zetland."3
In Scotland, for a long time, a very different class of the com-
munity were made the subjects of sale, namely, thieves and other
malefactors. Among the Argyll papers is a charter, granted (circa
US0) by John of Menteith, lord of Knapdale and Arran, in favour
of Archibald Campbell, lord of Lochow, by which is given to the
said Archibald and his heirs the power " of selling and dismissing of
" thieves as they please; and if they be condemned to death with power
" to hang them on the gallows."4 By an act of the Scottish Parlia-
ment in 1606 power is given to the owners of Coalheughs and Saltpans
to apprehend and put to labour in their works all vagabonds and sturdy
beggars.5
I do not know what exact amount of liberty the inhabitants of
Glasgow enjoyed in the old times of which I have been speaking,
for the subject is involved in considerable obscurity. In the earlier
Domestic Annals of Scotland, vol. iii. p. 250. • Old Country Houses of Glasgow.
3 Maitland Club Miscellany, vol. ii. p. 147.
4 Fourth Report on Historical Manuscripts, p. 476. * Act Parl. Scot., vol. iv. p. 286.
Homines Episcopi. 53
part of their history they were most of them, no doubt, the native
bondmen of the bishop; and I find no reason for supposing that they
were exempt from the law to which I have referred, which entitled the
bishop, as their feudal lord, to prevent them from leaving his jurisdic-
tion. The homines episcopi were, however, of a higher grade than the
natives or serfs, and they might, by acquiring a "toft," become bur-
gesses. In 1242 we find a grant by King Alexander to the Bishop of
Glasgow, " ut burgenses et homines sui," should be free to buy and sell
in Argyll and Lennox " without disturbance from our bailies of Dum-
barton." But whatever was their status, it was higher than that of the
neyfs. The latter, there is every reason to believe, were, as their name,
nativi, indicates, the original native population who had been brought
under subjection by the invaders. They were mere chattels, over whose
persons the bishop had a power, or rather a right of property, which
entitled him, if the bondsman escaped, to pursue him and bring him
back. And the greater part of the rural population — called churles,
thrylls, and upland men, and also natives and serfs — were in the same
condition.
But the ancient burgh laws provided certain limitations to the power
of the bishop. If one of his native bondsmen could escape to a royal
burgh — to Rutherglen or Dunbarton, for example — and there " remain
" quietlie the space of ane yeir and ane day" without being challenged
and reclaimed by his lord, " in that case he shall be free and delyvered
" fra bondage." Such was the law when the bishops got the grant of
a burgh at Glasgow, and it applied to every native bondsman in the
kingdom " whais bond that ever he be."1
Another limitation of the power of the bishops and other feudal lords
over the persons of their bondmen was, that at all fairs the liberty of
the bondman was assured during his presence there. By one of the
old burgh laws it was provided that if a serf (nativus) had fled from
his master, and the latter found him at a fair, he could not take or
attach him while the fair lasted.2 Neither could any one, serf or
freeman, be taken at a fair for debt.
In Glasgow, perhaps, as was the case at one time in the English
1 Regiam Majestatem, lib. ii. c. ix. 2 Leges Burg. 88.
54 Bishops Burgesses.
burghs, the "masters" of certain crafts enjoyed greater privileges than
others, and those who were able to buy a "toft" in the burgh, and who
thereby became burgesses, would acquire a higher status; but it is
certain that none of the inhabitants enjoyed the rights and immunities
peculiar to royal burghs, and out of the royal burghs there was at that
time no real liberty. In the case of all mere burghs of barony the
property of the community continued as truly a part and parcel of the
barony as if it were the property of a single vassal. The bishop was
accordingly the feudal as well as the spiritual lord of the community,
and of every individual composing it. For his own interest, and in
order to promote the prosperity of his diocese, he permitted them to go
and come in trading; but, without his permission, they could not per-
manently leave the district. One of the Leges Qiiatuor Burgornm
provides that it shall be " lachful and lefull till ilk burges to geyff or
" sell his lands the quhilk he has gotten of purchas or of conquest in
" the kyngis burgh to quham sa evyr hym likes, and may frelie pass and
"gang quhar he wyl" — a privilege which, limited as it is to the royal
burghs, would seem to imply that at that early time no other, neither
the "homo episcopi" nor any one else, could leave the territory where
he was settled and " gang quhar he wyl" without his lord's permission.
Even in the royal burghs personal freedom was not enjoyed by every
class of the traders and burgesses. We find an example of this in the
case of the wool-combers, in regard to whom it is provided that " gif
" ony kemistaris levis the burgh to dwell with uplandys men, having
" sufficient work to occupie thaim within burgh, thai aw to be takyn
"and prisonyt." And so late as the year 1369 it was enacted by the
parliament of David II., held in Perth in February of that year, "that
" na burgisis nor marchands transport thaim out of the realme withoutyne
" leave of our lord the king or his chalmerlan soucht and obtenit." If
such was the case with the king's freemen we may conceive what must
have been the powers of the bishop over those homines ejus, as well as
over the nativi et servi, of whom he was the feudal lord.
The king's burgess, again, had the right of battle, potest habere
duellum, with the burgess of an earl, baron, or churchman, but the
latter was denied that privilege against the king's burgess. The royal
The Kings Burgesses.
55
burghs, from the outset, enjoyed complete self-government. The
magistrates were appointed " thruch the counsals of the guid men of
" the toun," but in Glasgow they were named by the bishop, and could
be removed by him at his pleasure. In Glasgow there were no "free-
"men burgesses" and no guildry or convenery — these being the two
incorporated classes into which burgesses of royal burghs alone were
divided. Again, no citizen of Glasgow could, in the time of these laws,
have an oven, that being a privilege confined, by stringent enactment,
to the king's burgess. Such were some of the ancient burgh laws of
Scotland, and there were many others in which the freedom which the
"burgenses domini regis" enjoyed stands out in striking contrast with
the state of dependence and vassalage of the " burgenses abbatis prioris
" comitis et baronis." In process of time, no doubt, many of the privi-
leges and immunities of the royal burghs came in practice to be con-
ceded to the burghs of barony and regality; but the change must
have been very gradual, and it is probable that for a long time none
but the royal burghs enjoyed the benefit of those leges burgorum which
placed them so high above the burghs which held only of subject
superiors.
But on the whole the people of Glasgow appear to have been fortu-
nate in their ecclesiastical rulers, and their condition was greatly superior
to that of the communities who were under the sway of lay barons.
From the time of David the city was ruled by bishops till 1491, when
Robert Blackader, who then . filled the see, was at the instance of
James IV. (who, like James II., was a canon of the Cathedral) promoted
by the pope to the dignity of archbishop, with metropolitan, primatical,
and legislative dignity, and until the Reformation the archbishops were
the lords temporal as well as spiritual of the community. But farther
on I shall have occasion to refer again to the condition of the citizens,
and their municipal rights under the rule of the bishops.
THE EARLY LANGUAGE.
Another interesting subject of inquiry is the language spoken by
the early inhabitants of Glasgow. In remote times it was undoubtedly
that of the Celts or Kelts, the first of the many divisions of the
Aryans which found its way to our country. At first inhabiting the
greater part of Europe, and either exterminating or partly mingling with
the Stone Age men whom they found there, we find this people inhabit-
ing the British Isles — for the ancient Britons belonged to that family, as
did also the old Gaelic population, until they were ousted by another
branch of the same Aryan race, the Teutons, from whom the English
are descended. This early Celtic language, in the form in which we
first have any knowledge of it, was Irish or Welsh, and with it the
language now spoken in the Scottish Lowlands has little or no affinity.
When we read of the early " language of the Scots," it was undoubtedly,
Mr. Skene says, "the Irish language still spoken there, and which is
" identic with the Gaelic of the Scottish Highlands and the Manx of the
" Isle of Man. -They form indeed but one language, which may be
" called Gaelic, and show no greater variety among each other than
" those which characterize the vernacular speech of different provinces
"of the same nation."1 The common belief is that the Western High-
lands were peopled from Ireland, but there can be little doubt that this
Irish or Dalriadic tradition was an invention of the Scottish monks,
and that the Highland clans are, with very few exceptions, descended
from the northern Picts, and formed one peculiar and distinct Gaelic
nation, who have inhabited the same country from time immemorial.2
But it is equally true that it is to the Columban Church, issuing from
Ireland, that the northern Picts owed the introduction of letters and a
written language. To it we owe the standard of the written Irish, and
in that most interesting old manuscript, the Book of the Columbite
1 Celtic Scotland, vol. i. p. 193.
* The Highlands of Scotland, by W. F. Skene, vol. ii. p. 16.
The Irish Language.
57
Abbey of Deir, there is preserved a specimen of it. The portion of
this MS. which contains an imperfect copy of the Gospels in Latin, is
in a character which may be ascribed to the ninth century. The other
portions — written on what had been the blank pages — which contain
legends of the foundation of the church and memoranda of grants of
land, are in Gaelic, in the Irish character, in a handwriting of the early
part of the reign of David I. It is identic with the written Irish of
the period, and it was in this language no doubt that the "little volume"
of the Life of Kentigern found by Jocelin, the monk of Furness, was
written. It was then called Scottish, the Lowland Scotch being termed
English, as indeed it was. In the beginning of the sixteenth century
the spoken language of the Highlands began to be called Irish, and the
Anglican dialect of the Lowlands came to be called Scotch. In course
of time the language spoken in the Highlands came to be different from
its written form, but after the Reformation the first literature introduced
in the Highlands, consisting of some religious books and the Bible,
were all in the written Irish language. The version of the Bible read
in our parish churches in the Highlands was, till within quite a recent
period, Bishop Bedel's translation into Irish. The general use of written
Scottish Gaelic is comparatively recent. The only charter of Scotch
lands in Celtic speech extant is one by M'Donald, lord of the Isles,
which is dated on "the sixth day of the month of Beltaine," 1408.
The British language — that which was spoken in Clydesdale in the
time of Kentigern — must have been very much the same as what is
still spoken in Wales, though not now in Cornwall, though a variety
of it lingered there till the middle of the last century.1 The Gaelic
spoken by the Picts who peopled the Highlands and Islands, and the
Irish spoken by the Scots, were displaced by the language of the
Angles, except in localities where each of them continued to exist to
a greater or less extent in its own country — these localities being in
each case the maritime and mountainous parts.2
This language of the Angles — Anglo-Saxon, as it is often called — is
known to have been, in its early forms, the national speech of the same
race since at least the end of the fifth century, when the first settlers by
1 Celtic Scotland, vol. i. p. 193.
2 Craik's English Literature, vol. i. p. 320.
H
58 Tke Gothic Language.
whom it was spoken came to our island. It is interesting to find the
roots of it — to find, indeed, many of our English words themselves — in
the Gothic, the oldest representative of the Teutonic branch of the Aryan
or Indo-Germanic family of languages as it was written so early as the
fourth century. All that remains to us of this old language is a portion
of a translation of the New Testament from the Greek, written about
A.D. 370 by Ulfilas, a Gothic prince, who had been converted to Chris-
tianity, and afterwards preached to his countrymen in the region of the
Lower Danube. From this precious fragment a few words as examples
cannot fail to be interesting. In Mat. v. 35 footstool is rendered fotu-
baurd, i.e. footboard. The same phonetic resemblance in our language
between sun and son is found in this old Gothic. Sun is sunna, and
son sunns — both being derived from the Sanskrit su, to beget. Our
word steal is the representative of the Gothic stelan. Gate and door
are rendered by the word daur. The term used for woman or wife is
qino or quenst from which two words of very opposite meaning with us,
queen and quean, have their common origin. The mysteries of the
kingdom of heaven are, in Gothic, its runes, runa: hence our runic.
The word for millstone, asiluquairnus, is the relic of a time when the
mill was worked by asses. The second half of the word survives in our
word quern, the rude handmill till quite recently used so much in the
Highlands. When our Lord is described as twelve years old it is
rendered twelve winters — tvalib vintruns. When the disciples are told
that they shall tread on serpents the old Gothic is trudan ufaro vaurme,
i.e. tread on worms. Dust is rendered mulda, mould. When St. Paul
calls himself the least of the apostles the rendering is the smallest,
smallista. Thrones are rendered sitlos, i.e. settles. Such are a few
specimens of English words used by the Goths fifteen hundred years
ago.1
Since the introduction of the Anglo-Saxon language into our country
it has been moving — now faster, now slower — throughout the twelve
or thirteen centuries over which our knowledge of it extends, and it
appears to have at an early period come northwards to Scotland, and to
have continued to make the same progress there as in England. Many
1 The Gothic Fragments of Ulfilas, by Professor Stanley Leathes.
The Anglo-Saxon Language. ^
causes conduced to the establishment of the English tongue over that
of the Normans. Among others, as Professor Innes observes, the
Anglo-Saxon language had been cultivated in prose and poetry. It was
endeared to the people from having been written by their great Alfred
and by the fathers of the Church before any of the vernacular tongues
of Europe had been studied by the learned; and the cultivated and
written language prevailed over the rude and unwritten.1
King Alfred left a collection of " Proverbs," one of which, taken from
an early version, shows that the matrimonial experiences of some in his
time were not different from many in our own : —
Monymon singep
£at wif horn bryngep
Wiste he hwat he broughte
Wepen he myghte.2
That is,
Many a man singeth
That a wife home bringeth,
If he knew what he brought
Weep he might.
Among the MSS. of Sir William W..E. Wynne at Poniarth is a gift
of land made in the year 942, in which occur the words, " nou is thisses
"landes feourtie hyde."3
The English of the eighth century differed nearly as much from that
of the nineteenth as Latin differs from Italian.4 But the change after
that was rapid, and by the beginning of the eleventh century the
language was fast assuming its present form. An interesting example
of the English of that period is preserved in the fragment of a song
composed by Canute. It refers to the music which came floating from
the choir of Ely as the king was rowing on the Nen:—
Merie sungen the muneches binnen Ely
Tha Cnut ching rew there by
Roweth cnichtes noer the lant
And here we these muneches saeng.
1 Scotland in the Middle Ages, p. 75. 2 Old English Miscellany, London, 1872, p. 118.
3 Second Report on Historical MSS., p. 105. 4 Craik's English Literature, p. 36.
60 Chaucer and Barbour.
That is,
Merry (sweetly) sang the monks within Ely
That (when) Cnute king rowed thereby.
Row, knights, near the land,
And hear we these monks' song.
The lines are recorded by a monk of Ely who wrote about 1166, and
being in verse and in rhyme it is, with reason, conjectured by Dr. Craik
that the words are reported in their original form.
The English of Canute's song was — making allowance for ordinary
provincial differences — the same language that was spoken at that time
in the little fishing village founded by Kentigern on the banks of the
Clyde.
Passing over a period of more than two hundred years it is the same
language which we find in Chaucer, only advancing farther to its pre-
sent form. The writings of Chaucer can be read now with little
assistance from a glossary, and the same is to be said of the ver-
nacular of Glasgow and of the rest of the Lowlands of Scotland at
the same time. The language spoken in the Lowlands at that period
(circa 1370) sprang from the same sources and had been affected by the
same influences as the language of England. In fact it was the same
language. What we are accustomed to call the Scottish dialect differs
less from that of England than do the dialects of different counties in the
latter kingdom at the present day. Divested of the cumbrous spelling
of the old manuscripts, the verses of Barbour are quite as intelligible
to an English reader as are those of Chaucer; and, indeed, Barbour's
great poem of Bruce, though earlier in date than the Canterbury Tales,
is, in some of the grammatical forms, even more modern than those
which we find in the poetry of Chaucer. For example, Barbour uses
our present they, them, and there (thai, thaim, and thar), while Chaucer
and his countrymen were still adhering to the Saxon hey or hi, hem,
and hir or her.
The language of Wycliffe — whose translation of the New Testa-
ment was made in 1380 — is, although subsequent to Barbour, still less
modern than the language of that writer. It is proper to add, however,
that the earliest manuscripts of Barbour extant must have been tran-
Scottish Vernacular. 61
scribed fully a century later than the time when he wrote the poem,
and the language, therefore, cannot be absolutely relied on as that of the
writer. The change after Wycliffe was very rapid, and the language of
Tyndale's Testament — the first printed in English, and which appeared
in 1525, only forty-five years after Wycliffe — differs little from that of
our own day.
Of the vernacular language used in Scotland in legal writs Professor
Innes has given, as the earliest known example, a writ of the year
I389;1 but there exists an example still older in a document preserved
among the family papers of Sir Patrick Keith Murray of Auchtertyre,
which, apart from the language, is curious as a record of early judicial
proceedings. In early times the local courts of the great barons were
held on a hill or mound called the Moot-hill, and the document to which
1 have referred shows that these courts survived till towards the end of
the fourteenth century. It is peculiarly interesting as a record of prob-
ably one of the last of these early baron courts, and it is perhaps the
only example in existence. The proceedings took place in the year
1385, and had reference to a disputed right to certain lands. The
record bears that the court was held on a Moot-hill called the hill of
Longforgund, and that the baron was attended by the same officers as
figure in the courts of the sovereign, while the speqal character of
the proceedings is their strict adherence to legal formalities. The
locality is away from our city, but it will not be without interest
to quote the final decree as a specimen of the same vernacular which
was spoken in Glasgow in an age contemporary with Harbour's great
poem.
It is recorded that at the final court, held at the Hund hill on the
2 ist of April, 1 385, " throw Sir Patrick Gray lorde of the chefe barony of
" Langforgande, mony nobilles thare beande, with consale of tha nobillis
" and of his curt, he wele awisit that the forsayde personaris contenyt
" in his prosces souch hym nother with grace lufe na with lauch to delay
" his dome na his proces, with consale of the forsayde curt and noblis
" that thare was, throw the moutht of Robert Louranson than dempstare
" of oure lord the kingis curt and of his, it was giffyn for dome that the
1 Scotland in the Middle Ages, p. 260.
52 Ancient Writs.
" Lytilton and Lourandston of Ouchtercomane suld dwell in the handis
" of the forsayde Sir Patrick and his ayeris quhill the tyme that all the
" forsaydis personaris, and all thaire namys nemmyt, suld recouir the
"landys othir be grace, trety, or prosces of law: and thus endyt the
" proces."1
But if Professor Innes is right in supposing that the interlined gloss-
ings which occur in a conventio, or lease, between the Abbot of Scone
and the Hays of Leys, in the year 1312, are contemporary with the
deed itself, we have in these interlineations a specimen of the Scots lan-
guage more early still — perhaps, with the exception of local names and
terms, the earliest in existence. It is possible these glossings may
have been introduced at a later period, but after carefully examining
the facsimile of the deed which is given in the Chartulary of Scon,2
I am disposed to think that they are, within a very few years at least,
as old as the text. The following are a few of them. I give the
Latin words first, adding the gloss or translation (which is written over
them) in italics: — Triginta, thretti'. Annuatim, iere bi iere; quod motent
pro sustacione sua, y* yai sal grind for yair fode; in circuitu, abute
thaime; percipiunt focale, sal take fuayl; et eorum successoribus, tha y*
comis in thair ste.de; (Abbatis) dominio, y6 laurdscape; resident!, dwelland;
revocare, cat again; demittat edificata, sal leve biggit; exorte fuerint,
haf gruyn; solebant, war wont; (sigilla) appensa, hingand; rectis divisis,
richtwis divisis; cyrographi, hand chartir; construi facient, sal ger be
made.
One of the most interesting of the glosses is that over the word
nativi. It is inbornmen, confirming the hypothesis that these were the
remains of the native-born population compelled by the invaders to
become their serfs. The date of the deed is two years before Bannock-
burn and nearly fifty years before Chaucer, and it shows that the
language was very little different then from what it was a century
afterwards. And it was the same in England. In a Latin document
in the reign of Edward II. among the papers of the corporation of
Bridport, there occur various English glosses over the Latin terms;
1 Third Report of Royal Commission on Historical MSS., App., p. 410.
2 Liber Eccles. de Scon, Maitland Club, p. 104.
Old Glasgow Vernacular. 63
for example, vebbis (webs), vedercoc (weathercock), stokes (stocks), bordis
(boards), &C.1
Of the vernacular language of Glasgow in local writs, one of the
earliest examples is to be found in a deed which I have referred to
elsewhere — an agreement between " Frer Oswald Priour of the Freris
" of Glasgow and the Convent of the Samyn on the ta part and John
" Flemyn of the Covglen on the tother part," bearing date 22d January,
I433.2 It is a curious document apart from its interest as an example
of what the language in Glasgow was four hundred and fifty years ago.
It bears that "the said Johne has set in to feferm tyll the said Priour
" and the Convent, or quha sa be Priour in that said Convent, a rud of
" lands lyand on the gat at strekis fra the Markat Cors tyll the he kyrk
" Glasgu . . the said priour and convent payit thar for yherly tyll the
" said Johne hys ayris or assignyis ten schylling of vsuale mone of the
" kynryk of Scotland . . and stabylling for twa hors in that samyn place
" or ellis within the Freris tyll the said John Flemyn qwhen hym lykis
" tyll cum tyll do hys erandis or mak residens within the toun / And
" attour gyf it lykis the said Johne Flemyn tyll cum and dwell and
" mak residens within Glasgu / the said priour and convent, or qwha
" sa be priour in the tym, sail byg tyll the said Johne an honest hall
" chamir and butler, with a yard to set cale in, sic as effeiris in thir
" thyngis, till the said Johne Flemyn till be herberyt in / the said Johne
" ressavand nan annuell of the said plase sail lang as he maynures it in
" the maner as is beforsaid but fraud or gyle / To be haldyn and had
" the said landis with thair appertenans fra me myn ayris executoris
" and assignyis tyll the priour and the convent of the said freris in
" fourme and maner as is befor spokyn . . with all profitis commoditeis
" and eysmentis and als frely as ony land is broukyt or possedyt in fe
" and heritayge within the burgh of Glasgu."
We have a specimen of the language spoken in Scotland of an earlier
date than this — although much later than the Scone fragments — which
is interesting from the curious circumstance in connection with which
it has been preserved. Thomas of Walsingham tells that when the
Scots of the Borders were making inroads on the English territory in
1 Sixth Report on Historical MSS., p. 490. 2 Lib. Coll., p. 166.
64 Old Legal Writs.
the fourteenth century, they found a pestilence prevailing, and on
inquiry were told by the inhabitants that it had come on them " by the
"special grace of God." The Scots did not quite appreciate a "grace"
that came in this fashion, and in their inroads they used as an invo-
cation, Walsingham says — and he gives it in the vernacular, instead
of the Latin in which his work is written — " Code and Sainct Mungo
" Sainct Romayn and Sainct Andrew schield us this day fro Goddis
" grace and the foule death that Englisch men dien upon." This was
in 1379, five hundred years ago.1
Among the papers in the Glasgow Chartulary is a curious and, so far
as I am aware, a unique document, which is also worthy of notice not
only as another specimen of the vernacular language of the period
(1477), but as the record of a peculiar process of law observed at that
time in Glasgow, which cannot fail to be interesting to the legal
antiquary.
The vicars of the choir of the Cathedral were in right, it appears, of
" a certain annual yearly" — what we would now call a ground annual-
payable from a tenement in the Rottenrow. The "annual" had ceased
to be paid, and the vicars were unable to recover it from the property
in consequence • of the tenement having fallen into disrepair — being,
indeed, in an utterly dilapidated state. The proprietor had died, and
his heirs having failed to pay the arrears, the vicars took proceedings
to obtain possession of the ground in satisfaction of the debt. With
this view the following process is adopted. The document from which
I quote is an instrument under the hand of a notary, entitled " Adjudi-
" catio curie civitatis Glasguensis vasti tenementi in favorem Vicariorum
" chori Glasg. pro solutione annuo reditus vicariis ex eo tenemento
" debiti." The notary, after the usual commencement in Latin, pro-
ceeds to embody in his instrument the proceedings from the records
of the court " in wlgare" — that is, in the vernacular tongue — as follows.
I avoid the old contractions of words :—
" The hed court of the burgh and cite of Glasgw haldyn in the Tol-
" both of the samyn be Johne Stewart provest James Stewart and Johne
" Robynson Bailzies of Glasgw the xxij day of the moneth of January
1 Chronica Thomae Walsyngham, Edit. Carndeni 1602, p. 228.
Early Judicial Proceedings. 65
" in the gere of God a thousande four hundreth Ixx and sevyn yers.
" the soyts (suits) callit, the court affermyt &c. the quhilk day in presens
" of the said hed court and al the members thereof planly comperit
" Sir Thomas of Bargille ane vicar ministrand in the queyr of Glasgw
" and procuratour til al the vicars of the said queir as his power was thair
" sufficiently knawin And openly said that ane tenement within the
"said cite lyand within the Ratonraw and on the south side of the
"samyn, betwyx ane tenement of Master Gilbert Reryk archiden of
" Glasgw on the est syde and the tenement of Schir Johne Browne
"vicar of the quehyr of Glasgw on the west syde the quhilk acht
" [owed] the vicars forsaid certane annuel <gerly as was noterly knawin
" to al the membrs of that court was destitut of all bigging and repar-
" acion in al parts at [that] it mycht not be strenzeit be thaim for the
" payment of the annwell bot alanarly the groonde remanande wast and
" wnhabit. Quarfor he besoch the juge and court forsaid til deliver
" hym erd and stane in fait of payment of the grund annuell accordand
" to the kyngis lawis maid tharupon And that considerit to be con-
" sonande to ressone thai assignit to the said Sir Thomas procurator
" Johne of Monfode sergeand to pass to the said tenement and deliver
" to the said procurator erd and stane of the samyn befor witnes. the
" quhilk sergeand at comand as said is passed to the grunde and fand
" wast and uninhabit and not strenzeable and therfor deliverit to the
" said Sir Thomas procurator erd and stan closit efter the consuetude
" of the cite in sik things as for the first court of recognicioun befor
" thir witnes George Robynsoun and Johne M'clelane citenars of the
" samyn and therof the said Sir Thos. Bargylle procurator askit ane
" rowment and tuk the court to witnes et sic finit rotulament."
This, which is called, it will be observed, " the first court of recog-
nition," takes place on the 27th of January. Then the instrument
goes on to record a proceeding of precisely the same kind — verbatim,
indeed — on the 7th of April following. This is called "the second
" court of recognition." And once more the whole proceeding is again
repeated and recorded word for word at a head court held on the
1 3th of October, thus completing what the notary calls " rotulamentum
" tercie curie."
I
66 Early Local Names.
Earth and stone having been thus delivered to the vicars on three
several occasions, the instrument proceeds to narrate the conclusion of
the process by which the vicars were invested in the absolute property
of the tenement. It states that on the 26th of January following, at
another head court of the burgh, the previous procedure was referred
to, adding that proclamation had been also made at the market cross
" openly warnand the lochful heritars or Ayrs of xl dais to cum and pay
" the said annuell acht of the said tenement efter the forme of the lawis
" of the burgh the quhilk payment was not maid." The instrument
then proceeds thus: — "And therfor continuand the said Sir Alexander
" procurator present, erd and stane of fortyme deliverit as said is after
" the forme of the lawis, and askyt in plan court ward and dome of the
"said wast tenement as it was lachfully recoverit in full of pay-
" ment of the annuel acht of the samyn efter the forme forsaid and
" effect of the rowments maid tharupon at the thre hed courts And
" this beand said, the foresaid Sir Alexander procurator remouyt, the
" court wardit and ryply and weil avisit, and therefter the said Sir Alex-
"ander called in againe, Sir John Michelson borow clerc at the special
"command of the provest and bailzeis forsed judicialy informyt the
"demestar John Nerlson the quhilk gaif for dome at [that] the said
" procurator to the vicars of the queir of Glasgw had lachfully wonnyn
" and obtenyt the foresaid tenement with the pertinents in defalt of the
" payment acht of the samyn. The quhilk dome the said Sir Alexander
"procurator askit to be rowit and therof ane instrument of the samyn."
The instrument concludes with the usual attestation by the notary in
Latin.
It is interesting to note that in the proceedings preparatory to and
after giving judgment the same forms are here observed which still
prevail in our ecclesiastical courts. Before the court proceeds to
deliberate the party is " removed," and he is " called in again " to hear
the sentence.
Df early examples oT local names in the vernacular tongue as early
as the Inquisition of David (1116) we have "Aschchyrc" (Ashkirk) and
" Drivesdale." In a charter in 1130 we have " Strevelinschire.1 In
1 Lib. Cart. Sancti crucis, p. 8.
French Terms. 67
1 179 " Kirkpatric," "Cludesdale," "Annansdale," "Glenkarn." In 1189
"Neuton." In 1283 "le Weynde."1 In 1304 " Medu well" (Meadow
well). "The Bromilaw" (broomy law) occurs in 1325; " Gallowgate,"
of the same date; " Bogtoune" in I336.2 In a Latin charter of a tene-
ment in Rutherglen in 1405 the subject conveyed is described as called
"vulgariter Thendehows" (the end house), in the street called "la
"Watryraw" (the watery row). In a charter of a property in Roxburgh
in 1309 it is described as situated "in vico qui vocatur Kyngstret."3 In
other charters as early as the reign of William the Lion (i 190) we have
specimens of Lowland Scotch, such as " standand stane," " stane cross,"
and others. From these and various other names and terms occurring
in the earliest writs which exist there is every reason to believe that
from the beginning of the twelfth century, and probably earlier, a
genuine Teutonic language was spoken in Scotland, and that the ver-
nacular language of Glasgow was very much then what it was down to
a comparatively recent period.
In later times the intimate relations which prevailed between Scot-
land and France were the cause of the introduction into the Scottish
language of many words which are still retained, and which are unknown
in the vernacular of England; such as jigot, ashet (assiette), caraffe, and
many others; and in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries we have
frequent examples, in stating sums or dates, of the use of French idiom.
For example there is mention in our burgh records of a head court held
at Glasgow on "the xix day of Januare, the geir of God IMVclx
" threttene yeirs" — the soixante treize of the French. In an entry in the
council records (i3th August, 1660) a sum is written "thrie scoir twelfe
"pounds." In another minute mention is made of the occasion when
the tanners "paises" their hides — that is, weighs them — from peser;
and there are many other similar examples.
To save recurring to the subject I may mention here that the same
close relations with France were the cause of the introduction into
Glasgow of great quantities of inferior French coin. The expression
that something useless is " not worth a doyt " is still in use among us.
The doyt was a French copper coin of the value of the twelfth part of
1 Reg. de Passelet, p. 385. 2 Lib. Coll., pp. 156, 158. 3 Reg. Epis. Glasg., No. 280.
68 Old Houses.
a penny sterling, and under date igth March, 1660, there is an entry in
the burgh records bearing " that the toune and country is lyke to be
" abused be the frequent inbringing and passing of French doyts," and
strictly prohibiting the introduction " of all sort of such bais capper
" coyne." Another French coin with which the town council had also to
deal because of its large circulation in Glasgow was "dinnaries," as they
are called in the minute.1 This was the French denier, the tenth part
of a sous.
THE EARLY HOUSES.
Of the houses of the ancient inhabitants of Clydesdale and other parts
of Scotland I have referred only to those of very early times — the
weems and earth-houses and the fortified crannogs used by the natives
at and preceding the time of the Roman occupation. . Buildings of a
better kind were, of course, used by the Romans themselves, and by
the limited number of colonists who accompanied them from Belgium
and Gaul, and by the few of the chief inhabitants who had obtained the
honour of citizenship. These houses would no doubt exhibit, in a
greater or less degree, the peculiar features of the Roman style of build-
ing, but after the Romans withdrew they fell into ruin, and the houses,
or rather huts, occupied by the native population generally — not only
by the peasantry and labourers, but by the chiefs and leaders — must
have been for a long time of the rudest description. The first cluster
of houses in Glasgow were no doubt mere hovels built of wattles
and mud, and thatched with reeds or coarse grass or turf. As a rule
they had no second room, and the single apartment served as a cham-
ber in which all the family slept promiscuously.2 A description of
such a house is given by Longland in " Piers the Ploughman's Crede."
When such was the case in England we may be sure matters would be
no better in Glasgow — probably worse. But no doubt in the first
1 ;th Sept. 1867. 2 Domestic Architecture of England, part i. p. 17.
Wattled Houses. 69
Glasgow houses stone might be also partially employed; for in the
middle ages the materials used for building were always those which
were cheapest and which came most readily to hand — none being
brought from a distance when it could possibly be avoided, and as
stone as well as wood was to be had at Glasgow, both of these materials
would probably be employed — the stones being, in the oldest construc-
tions, left unwrought, and the interstices filled in with mud.
An incidental mention of an old wattled house not far from Glasgow
occurs in an interesting document of the year 1233, relating to certain
lands which the abbot and monks of Paisley averred to have been
unjustly alienated from their abbey. The document is entitled Litera
examinationis de terra Monochkenneran injuste alienata, and consists of
a recorded declaration, intentio, of the abbot's claim in a suit depending
before certain judges delegated by the pope to decide between the
abbot and convent and one Gilbert, son of Samuel of Renfrew, the
party in possession of the disputed lands. The writ records the
evidence adduced by the abbot, and one of the witnesses testifies
that sixty years before — which would take back the date to about the
year 1 1 70 — he recollected a person named Bede Ferdan in possession
of the land, and " habitantem in quadam domo magna fabricata de
" virgis juxta ecclesiam de Kylpatrik." The decision of the delegates
follows, in a separate writ, adjudging the land to the monks, and finding
Gilbert liable in expenses, which are taxed at thirty pounds, " videlicet
" in triginta libris a parte monachorum juratis et a nobis taxatus et
" moderatis." Other writs follow, recording the restoration of the lands
with the large house made of wands upon it. They form altogether a
most interesting record of a mediaeval lawsuit conducted with as much
. attention to the forms of strict justice as would be done in our own
day.
It is highly probable that most of the earliest houses in Glasgow
were constructed in a similar way to that at Kilpatrick, and that it was
not till after the bishop got a grant of a burgh that buildings of a more
substantial kind began to be erected, if indeed the proper building of
the city was commenced at all before that time. In the Chartulary of
1 Reg. de Passelet, pp. 166-168.
70 Construction of Early Houses.
Melrose there is a grant (circa 1195) by Bishop Joceline, who had for-
merly been abbot of Melrose, in favour of his old abbey, of a house in
Glasgow, which he describes as that toft which Ranulphus de Hadintune
built " in the first building of the burgh " — expressions which seem to
imply that it was only after the date of the charter by King William, in
1175, in favour of this same bishop, that any houses within the burgh
other than mere huts began to be built. There is another early notice
of buildings and a garden in Glasgow in a charter of the year 1260
granted by the bishop to William de Cadihow, which conveys " aream
" illam de gardino nostro apud Glasgu," with trees and buildings.
It is extremely improbable indeed that in the then unsettled state of
the country any substantial erections would be made, except under the
walls of the feudal lords or in territories protected by burgal rights;
and even these were very different from what would be called substan-
tial in our days. It is necessary to keep this in mind when reading of
the damage caused by the destruction of towns and villages by fire in
these early times. A fire in Edinburgh or Glasgow is a very serious
thing nowadays, but in the thirteenth or fourteenth centuries, when the
houses were chiefly constructed of wood, although such a calamity must
have no doubt caused much temporary distress, it was comparatively easy
to repair it. When Richard II., in revenge of an inroad made by the
Scots into the northern parts of England in 1385, advanced towards
Edinburgh he resided there for a few days, and then consigned the town
to destruction. Froissart tells us that "the kyng of Englande came
" and lodged in Edenborrowe the chefe towne in all Scotlande and there
"taryed fyve dayes; and at his departyng it was set a fyre and brent
" up clene." Only the castle escaped, " for it was strong ynough and
"well kept."1 Another passage from Froissart is also interesting as
showing how unsubstantial were the dwellings of the people generally
in those times. After describing the wildness of the country and the
poverty and rudeness of the people whom the French had come to
assist, he mentions the uncourteous reception his countrymen had met
with — the Scots complaining that " they (the French) wyll ryffle and
" eat up alle that evir we have in this countrey. They shall doo us
1 Froissart's Chronicles, by Lord Berners, vol. ii. fol. iii.
Burning of Edinburgh. * l
"more dispytes and damages than thoughe the Englysshemen shulde
"fyght with us: for though the Englysshe men brinne our houses we
"care lytell therefore; we shall make them agayne chepe ynough: we
" axe but thre dayes to make them agayne, if we may gete four or fyve
"stakes and bowes to cover them."1
It no doubt took more trouble than this to rebuild Edinburgh after
King Richard burned it, but probably a great part of what had been
flimsy wooden erections covered with straw was then replaced by more
substantial stone buildings, so that the actual loss to the inhabitants
would be comparatively small. In 1544 Edinburgh was burned again
by the English under the Earl of Hertford. The author of a contem-
porary account says — " Settynge fyer in thre or iiii partes of the toune
" we repayred for that night unto our campe. And the next mornynge
" very erly we began where we lefte and continued burnynge all that
" daye and the two dayes nexte ensuinge contynually, so that neither
"within the wawles nor in the suburbes was lefte any one house
" unbrent. Also we brent thabbey called Holy Rodehouse and the
"pallice adjonynge to the same." The stone walls of the houses
remained, however, and the city would appear to have been again
speedily repaired. The burning of the Abbey and Palace could only
have been partial, as Queen Mary was residing in the Palace in 1561,
and she was married to Darnley in the Abbey Church five years
afterwards.
The description by Froissart of the dwellings of the people is con-
firmed by that of Eneo Silvio, afterwards Pope Pius II., who, writing
of Scotland in the time of James I., describes the towns as unwalled,
the houses commonly built without lime, and in villages, roofed with
turf, while a cow's hide supplied the place of a door.2
Even in England, during the Saxon dominion, the best of the habi-
tations of the common people were wooden huts of small dimensions,
with rarely more than one room, in the centre of which the fire was
kindled, and this was the case even in the towns.3 The walls were
1 Bannatyne Miscellany, vol. i. p. 180; Froissart, vol. ii. p. 170, edit. 1518.
2 Pii II., Comment, rerum mem. sui temporis, Francfurt, 1614.
3 Hudson Turner. Introduction, p. xi.
72 Early English Houses.
constructed of wattles plastered with mud, and sometimes of wood with
twigs and mud over it. The roofs were mostly of thatch, but occasion-
ally slates were used in districts where they could be easily had.
London itself continued to be a town mainly of wood and plaster
almost to a period so late as the great fire in the seventeenth century.
Among the papers of Queen's College, Oxford, there is a curious and
highly interesting account, dated 1306, containing the whole disburse-
ments for the erection in the town of what must have been one of the
better class of these ancient houses. The materials employed are all
given in detail, even to the quantities of nails used, with the cost, and
also the wages of the workmen. The house was entirely of wood, and
it is curious to note that among the materials for constructing the front
were the staves of ten " tun-casks." Twigs were placed on the walls
over the wood, and these were covered with plaster. The roof was
covered with "sclattes," and the windows appear to have been of
wooden "trellis."1 In none of these houses were there chimneys. In
another of the accounts of the same college, relating also to the erection
of a house about the same period, there is a charge indicating that
chimneys were only then coming into use. The charge is for "a
"wooden construction in the roof for the smoke to escape by,"2 and
items of the same description occur in other accounts of the period.
The floors were of clay, and instead of carpets they were strewed with
rushes, and many entries for " claying" floors and of the purchase of
rushes to cover them occur in the old accounts both in England and
Scotland. The fuel used was chiefly peat and furze, and payments for
the cutting of these are also frequent. Occasionally coke was used.
In Glasgow, houses of this description, combined with more or less
of stone work, remained to a comparatively recent period. Glass was
seldom used in the old houses. It is found in our ecclesiastical build-
ings as early as the twelfth century, and there is evidence of its being
used in the houses of some of the ecclesiastics in Glasgow in the
beginning of the sixteenth century;3 but for a long time it was a luxury
seldom known in private houses, the windows of which, when closed at
1 Sixth Report on Historical MSS., p. 561. 2 Ibid., p. 557.
3 Liber Protocollorum, Grampian Club, No. 307.
Houses in Scottish Villages. j<*
all, were either, like the Oxford house, of trellis, or protected by wooden
shutters only. In some instances we know that canvas was used to fill
in windows, and in England there is evidence of this being resorted to,
even in the case of churches, so late as the thirteenth century. In
houses in Scotland where glass was used the casements appear to
have been frequently made so as not only to fit different windows in
the same house, but even those in different houses to which they might
be removed.1
It is probable that in Glasgow, and in other towns in Scotland, the
partial use of stone in the construction of houses was introduced sooner
than in England, and it was certainly used in our towns at an earlier
period than in the rural districts. An English traveller who visited
Scotland in the beginning of the eighteenth century, and who passed
through Glasgow and a considerable part of Lanarkshire, gives an
interesting account of the poor state in which he found the rural dis-
tricts, although it was probably much the same in England at that time.
Of Crawfordjohn he says : " The houses here are of much such building
(< as those of Dulwich Wells, near London. The walls are either of
" earth or loose stones, or are raddled. The roofes are of turfe and the
" floors of the bare ground. They are but one storey high, and the
" chimney is a hole in the roof and the fire place is in the middle of the
" floor. Their seats and beds are of earth turfed over and raddled up,
" near the fire place, and serve for both uses." Coming to a village not
far from Moffat, early in the morning, he could obtain no admittance
at any of the houses. To make himself heard, he says, he would have
broken their windows, " but could not find a pane of glass in the town.
" I shall never," he adds, " go into such a country again. I had heard
" much talk of it, and had a mind to see it for variety, and indeed it
" was so to me, for I thank my God I never saw such another, and
" must conclude with the poet Cleveland that
" Had Cain been Scot God sure had changed his doom,
Not made him wander, but confined him home."2
1 Accounts of Lord High Treasurer, p. ccii.
2 North of England and Scotland in MDCCIV. Printed in Edinburgh from an original
MS. 1818.
74 Old Houses in Edinburgh.
Probably the first houses of any importance which were erected in
Glasgow were the manses which Bishop Cameron caused the thirty-
two rectors of the Cathedral to build near the church, some of which
remained till a recent period. This would be about the year 1440.
In Edinburgh the introduction of stone-built houses was earlier — pro-
bably after the burning of the ancient city by King Richard, and by
the end of the fifteenth century they were very common. The Spanish
ambassador at the court of Scotland, in his report to Ferdinand and
Isabella, written in 1497, says: " The houses are good, all built of
" hewn stone, and provided with excellent doors, glass windows, and a
"great number of chimneys."1 But this account must, as regards the
glass windows, be taken with reserve. The walls inside, even in the case
of the king's palaces, were only very roughly plastered, and when the
apartments were occupied they were hung with cloth or arras. Even
in the best houses there were no carpets, the floors being, as I have
said, strewn with bent-grass or rushes mingled with sweet herbs.
But in Glasgow, although the manses of the rectors and a few
others were built of stone, the great majority of the houses were, till
the middle of the seventeenth century, constructed chiefly of timber
and covered with thatch. Even where the houses were in part con-
structed of stone, the fronts to the streets were mostly composed of
timber, and it was the same in other towns. Sir William Brereton, a
gentleman of Cheshire, who visited Scotland in 1634, and who wrote an
account of his travels, says of the High Street in Edinburgh: " If the
" houses, which are very high and substantially built of stone, were not
" lined to the outside and faced with boards, it were the most stately
" and graceful street that I ever saw in my life, but this face of boards,
" which is towards the street, doth much blemish it and derogate from
"glory and beauty; as also the want of fair glass windows, whereof
" few or none are to be discovered towards the street. This lining
" with boards, Avherein are round holes shaped to the proportion of
" men's heads, and this encroachment into the street, about two yards,
" is a mighty disgrace unto it."2
1 Calendar of Spanish Papers, quoted by Mr. Dickson. Preface to Accounts of Lord High
Treasurer, p. cc. * Hrereton's Travels.
Great Fire in Glasgow. 7c
To the same effect Ray, who wrote in 1661, says that in the towns in
Scotland " they make up the fronts of their houses with fir boards nailed
" one over another, in which are often made round holes or windows
" to put out their heads. Instead of ceiling, even in the best houses in
great towns, they cover the chambers with fir boards nailed on the
" roof within side." Such were most of the houses in Glasgow, and as
might be expected in such circumstances, the town more than once
suffered severely by the ravages of fire. By a great conflagration which
occurred in 1652 nearly a third of the town was destroyed, and many
families were obliged to betake themselves to huts hastily erected in the
adjoining fields. A minute of the town council of 226. June in that year,
after enumerating the closes and tenements destroyed, thus sums up the
loss : " Whereby after compt it is fund that there will be neir fourscoir
" closses all burnt, estimat to about ane thousand families so that unless
" spidie remedie be vseit and help soght out fra such as hes power and
" whois harte God sail move it is lyklte the toune sail come to outer
" ruein." On this occasion the magistrates ordered the church doors to
be opened, not for shelter, but for the benefit of people who " now want
"chalmberis and other places to reteir to for making of their devo-
" tioune." A collection was made throughout the kingdom to assist
those who had suffered by the fire — the funds being distributed by a
committee of the town council. In making grants to assist in rebuild-
ing a limited sum only was allowed if the windows were to be " built
" with dealls," and a larger amount if they were built of stone.
But the old mode of construction appears to have been very much
adhered to, and fifteen years afterwards another great fire occurred, by
which 136 houses and shops were destroyed. On this occasion the
heat was so great at the Cross that it set fire to the clock of the
tolbooth, and the people broke open the doors and liberated the
prisoners, who were in danger of perishing — among them being the
laird of Kersland, who had been confined on account of the part he
had taken at the Pentland rising.1 By this fire between six and seven
hundred families were rendered houseless. The distress was very
great, and it engaged the anxious consideration of the magistrates.
1 Memorials bv Law.
76 Second Great Fire.
Their minute on the occasion, under date 4th December, 1677, is
curious. It commences by noticing " the great impoverishment this
" burgh is reduced to throw the sad and lamentable wo occasioned by
" fyre on the secund of Novr. last that God in his justice hath suffered
'• this burgh to fall under, and lykwayes the most pairt of the said
" burgh being eye-witnesses twyse to this just punishment for our
" iniquities by this rod which we pray him to make us sensible of that
" we may turn from the evill of our wayes to himselfe that so his wraith
" may be averted and we preserved from the lyk in tyme to come."
And then, feeling satisfied, no doubt, that providence helps those who
help themselves, they proceed to practical measures — first stating the
obvious cause of the calamity and then providing against its recurrence.
This part of the minute is valuable, as containing a contemporary
description of how the houses in Glasgow were at that time constructed.
Such calamities, it bears, " are mor incident to burghs and incorpor-
" atiounes be reasone of their joyning houss to houssis, and on being
" inflamed is reddie to inflame ane uthir, especiallie being contiguouslie
" joyned and reared wp of timber and deall boards without so much as
" the windskew of stone." To remedy this it is provided " that each
" persone building de novo on the Hie Street, or repairing, sail be obleiged
" to doe it by stone work from head to foot back and foir without
" any timber or daill except in the insett thereof, quhilk is understood
" to be partitions, doors, windows, presses, and such lyk." This is
ordered to be done " not only for their probable security, but also for
" decoring of the said burgh."
But till far on in the eighteenth century there was little improvement
in the construction of the houses of the middle classes in Scotland.
Captain Burt, writing in 1725, speaking of towns so considerable as
Inverness, says, "The houses were neither sashed nor slated before the
" Union, and to this day the ceilings are rarely plastered. Nothing but
" the single boards serve for floor and ceiling, and the partitions being
" often composed of upright boards only, and they are sometimes shrunk,
" anybody may not only hear but see what passes in the room adjoin-
" ing. The houses that are not sashed have two shutters that turn
" upon hinges for the low part of the window, and only the upper part
First Fire Engine.
77
" is glazed, so that there is no seeing anything in the street in bad
" weather without great inconvenience."1 Such were, no doubt, a large
number of the houses in Glasgow at that time.
With the exceptions mentioned, there were in these early times few
instances where the magistrates interfered with the mode of erection
of houses, and those possessing tofts put down their buildings very
much according to their own fancy. It is interesting to notice, however,
that, in the division of land and the fixing of boundaries, certain officials,
then as afterwards called Liners, exercised at a very early date the
functions now performed by the Dean of Guild Court. There is pre-
served an instrument in 1512 relating to the transfer of certain lands
adjoining the church and cemetery of Saint Roche, in which it is stated
that seisin was given of the lands as equally divided per lineatores
civitatis Glasguensis?
After the first great fire the city procured a fire engine. The
magistrates had heard that Edinburgh possessed one — probably the
first that was in Scotland — and they sent a person to ascertain what
sort of a thing it was — in the words of their minute, " to visite the
" engyne thair for sleekening of fyre;"3 and being satisfied with the
report they had one made for themselves. But it must have been a
very primitive machine, and practically useless in such a conflagration
as that which so soon again overtook them. The first proper engine
which they got was in 1725, and it was made in London.4 After the
two great fires the houses erected within the burgh were more carefully
constructed, and the magistrates appear to have again given premiums
to encourage a better kind of building. A fund had been raised
to assist those whose houses were burned, called at the time "the
" brunt moneye," and we find a grant made to one John Dainziell, the
amount being limited to 400 pounds Scots, " if he build his windowes
" with daills in Saltmercat," but he is to have 600 pounds " if he build
" them with stone."5 And again, a grant of 500 merks is paid to Mr.
John Bell, " more than what he gote formerly, for building his land in a
1 Burt's Letters, vol. ii. pp. 59-61.
' 23d August, 1656.
5 4th November, 1671.
2 Protocolla Diocesis Glasguensis, No. 606.
4 Minute of Council, 25th September, 1725.
7 g Old House in Saltmarkct.
" decent way and decoring Bell's Wynd."1 But some of the old tene-
ments " reared up of timber and deall boards," which had escaped the
fire, remained to our own day. The subjoined woodcut represents
a characteristic example of one of these, which stood in the close
No. 77 Saltmarket. It is from a drawing made by Mr. Thomas Fair-
bairn in i849.2
In 1684 a great fire occurred in Gallowgate, and in the absence of
any efficient fire-engine the device was resorted to of taking wet hides
and spreading them over the sides and thatched roofs of the adjacent
houses to prevent the spread of the conflagration. Under date 26th
September, 1684, there is a minute of council ordering reparation to be
made " to John Woddrop for the loss of his hydes that was taken out
" of his holes" for this purpose.
But imperfect in their construction as the houses in Glasgow and
1 28th September, 1682. 2 Relics of Ancient Architecture, from Water-colour Drawings
by T. Fairbairn. Lithographed by Miller & Buchanan, 1849.
The Knights Templars. 79
in the other towns in Scotland unquestionably were, till a comparatively
recent period, they were undoubtedly, as I have already said, greatly
superior to those in the rural districts. And this was what in the
nature of things was to be expected. Many of the "bishop's men,"
as they acquired means by trading, would be able to buy a toft, and so
become a burgess and to build a good house; but others of a higher
grade than the bishop's vassals came also to hold property in the burgh,
and these no doubt set the example of building superior tenements.
Among others we find ecclesiastics in other localities acquiring pro-
perty in the town, and thereby becoming burgesses. For example, the
monks of Kil winning and of Paisley held land in the burgh at a very
early period, and in some of the old deeds the distinction between
ecclesiastics and other burgesses is noted by the latter being termed
" laic burgesses."1
It is interesting also to notice that the great military fraternity of
the Knights Templars were among the very first holders of property
in the infant city. There is a charter, executed circa 1180, by which
" brother Raan Corbeht, Master of the Temple in the territory of the
" King of Scotland, with advice and consent of our bretheren of Plen-
" ticloc," grants and confirms to William Gley of Glasgow, homini nostro,
a plenary toft which Jocelin, bishop of Glasgow, had given to the
Templars, and " which the said William held before the bishop gave it
" to us." It will be observed — and it illustrates the independence and
power of this great fraternity — that William Gley, the disponee, is
designed neither a burgess of Glasgow nor one of the homines episcopi,
o o o •« •*
but " our man," and the property is to be held not of the bishop, but of
the military order of the Temple — domo militie Templi — the reddendo
being the payment of twelve pence annually at the feast of St. Michael.
This is one of the very earliest transferences of property after the grant
to the bishop of a burgh.
The Templars at this time held vast possessions in almost every
part of Europe, and in Scotland they had several preceptories depend-
ent on the Temple in London. The annual income of the order has
been roughly estimated at the enormous sum of six millions sterling.
1 Lib. Coll. N.D., p. 246.
3o Tenure of Property.
Besides the larger grants which they obtained in land and money, they
enjoyed, under various Papal bulls, immunities and advantages which
ultimately gave great umbrage to the clergy. Their fall was as rapid
as their rise. The Master of the Temple in London, and his vicegerent
the Preceptor of Scotland, both fell in the battle of Falkirk in 1298.
The order was thereafter subjected to persecution, and, after suffering
repeated acts of spoliation, it was abolished by the pope in 1313. The
real cause of their downfall was their wealth, which fell a prey chiefly
to King Philip and the pope and the European sovereigns.1
TENURE OF PROPERTY.
Any one who acquired a toft in Glasgow was at liberty to sell it,
but this privilege was limited. If he acquired it " by conquest or
" purchase" he could dispose of it as he thought proper; but if it came
to him by inheritance from a father or mother he could not voluntarily
dispose of it except in the case of extreme poverty. In that case, and
it was the same in the royal burghs, he was bound first to offer it to the
nearest heir, and this was done by a peculiar judicial process at three
several head courts of the burgh. If the heir availed himself of the
offer he was bound to provide the seller in food and clothing — " the
" clothing to be of a hew grysande or quhyte."2 If again the property
was seized for debt the creditor was bound to hold it for a year and a
day, and within that time to offer it to the nearest heirs; and only if
they declined to buy it, or to pay the debt, was he at liberty to sell the
land — returning, in that case, the surplus of the price, if any, to the
debtor.3
One of the earliest examples of a sale of land in Glasgow on account
of poverty occurs in the deed already referred to, granted in 1280 by
Robert de Mithyngby to Reginald de Jrewyn, Archdeacon of Glas-
gow. It proceeds on the narrative of the granter being compelled to
1 Addison's History of the Knights Templars. 2 Leg. Burg., 42. 3 Leg. Burg., 90.
Early Transfers of Property. 8 1
make the sale in consequence of his extreme poverty and necessity
the fact of his poverty having been certified " by men worthy and suffi-
" cient." It bears that the land had been offered to the granter's nearest
relatives and friends, at three principal head courts, and at other courts
of Glasgow, " according to the law and custom of the burgh," and it
acknowledges receipt of a sum of money " paid to me in my urgent
" necessity." The granter gives warrandice " against all men and
" women."1
Besides the possession of a toft, residence was necessary to confer
the privileges of a burgess, and every burgess was bound to render the
services of watch and ward. He might, however, become free from
these and from other burgal obligations by renouncing his freedom
and the privileges of a burgess, and this was occasionally done.2 After
selling his property the granter in all cases ceased to be a burgess, and
in the royal burghs, as I have already mentioned, he was at liberty
" to go where he will."
Among the oldest transferences of property in the Glasgow chartu-
lary is one which is interesting from the circumstance that the land is
conveyed not to any individual, but direct to one of the lights in the
Cathedral. It is dated in 1293, and bears that Odardus, son of the
deceased Richard Hangpudyng, \\zApro salute anime sue, predecessorum
et successorum siiorum ac ceterortim Christi fidelium, given, granted, and
confirmed " to the Light of the blessed Mary in the great church of
" Glasgow/' a certain piece of land — seisin being given to John of
Boyewyl, vicar of the choir of Glasgow, " then procurator of the said
" Light, per intol et uttol" Another peculiarity of this old deed is, that it
does not proceed in name of the real granter. It proceeds in the name
of "Oliverus et Ricardus Smalhy prepositi, et ceteri prepositi ac cives,
" congregati in placitis burgi que tenebantur apud Glasgu," and it is
they who certify, through the said Oliver, that Odardus has made the
gift. Other examples occur of deeds of the same kind where the
property is transferred without the signature of the granter, and without
the deed proceeding in his name, there being only the declaration of a
notary that the transfer had been made. In one of the deeds the
1 Reg. Episc. Glasg., No. 236. 2 Burgh Records of Aberdeen, ;th June, 1596.
L
g2 Rural Possessions of See.
notary declares that the transaction had taken place in the church of
Glasgow, in presence of the sub-dean, the vicar of Kilpatrick, and
two burgesses of Glasgow;1 and another bears that the transfer had
been made in presence of the notary and twelve of the citizens and two
of the town's officers — ville servientibus?
The old records contain also some curious notices as to infeftments.
The usual mode was by earth and stone, and by hesp and staple,3 but
an instance occurs where, in addition to this, the bailie, in token of pos-
session, shut up the procurator of the purchaser in the principal house
of the lands — in signum possessionis inclausit dictum Willelmum Small
in principali domo sive messuagio dictarum terrarum*
The rural properties belonging to the see were held by a very simple
tenure. They were to a large extent possessed by a class — generally
p00r — called rentallers, who, although technically holding only by will
of the bishop, were, as a rule, treated as proprietors, and allowed to
transmit the possession to their descendants, or, if held by a female, to
her husband, and in some cases to transfer it to a third party. The
rents which they paid were small, and in some instances the returns
were in service instead of money. Thus a possession called Columby
in the barony, of Carstairs is given to James Livingston and William
his son, and to I sable his wife after his death, on condition of the said
James, William, and Isable " resevand the Archebischop of Glasgow
" present and to cwm als aft tymes he pleises til repair to the said place
" of Columby til hospitality on the said archebischops expenss : the said
" James, William and Isable and their successours fyndant fyre weschelle
" and tyn with sax furnist beddis, stable for viii horss with hay feirand
" tharto, and fewale, vpon thair expenss."5 The barony of Carstairs was
one of the earliest possessions of the see, and it is known that Wyschard,
the warrior-bishop, built a castle there towards the end of the thirteenth
century. No trace of it remains, but it is not improbable that it was at
this place of Columby.
When the right to one of these rental possessions came by succes-
1 1418. Lib. Coll. N.D. 2 Reg Episc Glasg., No. 248.
3 Liber Protocollorum, No. 603. 4 Ibid., No. 262.
6 Rental Book of the Diocese. Grampian Club, vol. i. p. 195.
R^de of the Bishops. g 3
sion, there was always a reservation of the liferent of the new rentaller's
father and mother. There was also in the diocese a peculiar custom
known as that of " Sanct Mungo's Wedo," by virtue of which the widow
of a rentaller was entitled, while she remained single, to possess the
lands during her life.1
The rentallers possessed no written title. Their names, with the
different transmissions of the possession, were merely entered in the
rental book of the diocese, and this appears to have been always done
by the archbishop himself. The record, which has been preserved,
extends from 1509 to 1570, and the volume is holograph of the three
prelates respectively, the period of whose possession of the see it
embraces.
THE RULE OF THE BISHOPS.
But I must now return to the ecclesiastical and municipal history of
the city from the time of the restoration of the see by David in 1 1 20.
After the famous charter or Notitia by that prince, the see of Glasgow
received many rights and privileges from popes and kings. In the
reign of Malcolm IV. (1172), there is a writ by the pope confirming a
Constitution of the Dean and Chapter of Glasgow which had been
introduced after the model of Sarum by Herbert, elected bishop in
U47.2 The Archbishop of York claimed at first a supremacy over
Glasgow, but this was resisted, and the non-dependence of the diocese
on any metropolitan bishop was established.
In 1175 the bishops of Glasgow obtained from William the Lion the
grant of a burgh, which was confirmed by Pope Lucius in 1181; and
King Alexander, by a charter in 1189, granted to the bishop the right
of a fair cum firma et plenaria pace, and this important privilege of "the
" king's peace " to every one frequenting the fair was confirmed by a
subsequent royal charter in 1210. The right of a fair was a very valu-
able privilege in those days, and without it the trade which the bishops
1 Chalmers : Caledonia. 2 Reg. Epis. Glasg., No. 28.
g. Privileges of the See.
coveted could not have been attracted to their burgh. A considerable
commerce was in this way established in Glasgow, including trade from
foreign countries, particularly from France, with which, from a very
early period, Glasgow had much intercourse. An incidental notice of
this occurs in one of the Argyll charters of the fourteenth century, from
which we learn that French gloves were among the articles then sold
at the fair of Glasgow. By this charter, which is dated in 1363, Mary,
Countess of Menteith, grants to her kinsman Archibald, the son of Colin
Campbell of Lochow, the lands of Kilmun on Cowal, and the reddendo
is the yearly payment of a pair of Paris gloves at Glasgow fair.1 The
bishops had also grants at different times of tofts in other burghs, e.g.
in Forfar, Stirling, and Dumfries.
Originally the district in which Glasgow is situated was included in
the territory over which the rights of the royal burgh of Rutherglen
extended — for the territory of the latter, as defined in its charter, ex-
tended "de Garin usque ad Kelvin" — and Rutherglen exacted toll in
Glasgow itself, at that time, no doubt, a very insignificant village. From
this toll the bishops obtained an early exemption for themselves and
their people, but only for their own chattels. This was renewed in the
reign of Alexander II. (1235), but it brought them into collision with
Rutherglen, and also with Dunbarton. Against the latter the bishops,
as I have already stated, succeeded in securing for their vassals a free
trade in Argyll and Lennox; but as regards the more powerful burgh
of Rutherglen, all that could for some time be obtained was a protec-
tion against its levying toll and custom within the town of Glasgow
itself, or nearer than "the cross of Schedenistoun " (Shettleston).2
I have already referred to the dependence of the inhabitants on the
bishops as their feudal lords, and the whole history of the city shows
how small was the amount of liberty which they enjoyed compared with
the king's burgesses. For the government of his burgh, the Bishop of
Glasgow appointed magistrates, but they had no independent power.
Whatever were their functions, they were the mere nominees and in-
struments of their lord paramount. Gibson, in his History of Glasgow,
has gone far wrong on this subject. He says that so early as the year
1 Orig. Paroch., vol. ii. p. 72. 2 Cosmo Innes, pref. to Reg. Epis. Glasg.
The First Magistrates. 85
1268 Glasgow was governed "by provosts, aldermen or wardens, and
" bailies, who seem to have been independent of the bishop, and were
" possessed of a common seal distinct from the one made use of by the
" bishop and chapter," and in this Gibson has been followed by other
local historians. It is true that at that early period the community had
a seal, but in other respects there is no foundation for the statement, if
it means that Glasgow was at that time presided over by a provost.
Gibson cites as his authority the terms of the charter by Robert de
Mithyngby in 1280, but that deed does not prove that there was a
provost as we now understand that term. The statement is that seisin
of the lands conveyed was given, not coram prceposito et ballivis, but
coram prcepositis et ballivis — terms which appear to have been at that
time synonymous, and to indicate nothing more than officers entrusted
by the bishop with the management of the civil affairs of his burgh,
and who acted, I have no doubt, under his instructions, as it is beyond
question they were nominated by him. I am confirmed in this by the
terms of the charter of 1293 already referred to, which bears that seisin
was given in presence of " Oliverus et Ricardus praepositi et ceteri prce-
" positi ac cives Glasguensis." The seal of the community was appended
to this document, as it was to the one cited by Gibson, but it is not un-
important to observe that that seal was not considered sufficient to
attest the writ. It required also to be attested by the ecclesiastical seal,
and accordingly there are added the words, " et ad majorem rei gesti
" securitatem sigillum officialitis Glasguensis eidem est appensum."
And this appending of the seal of the bishop in all writings of importance
continues in the later charters.
In England, in the old times, the term pr&positus was equivalent to
reve or bailiff. A deed of conveyance of a property in Bridgewater in
the second year of Henry II. is certified by the seal of the provostship
—pr&positatus — and two persons designed as provosts set their seal to
the deed at the request of the granter, " because his seal is unknown to
" most persons."1
I would just add as a farther proof that there was no provost in
Glasgow in those days, that a Transumpt in 1322 — professing to pro-
1 Third Parliamentary Report on Historical Documents, App., p. 310.
86 Early Constitution of City.
ceed in name of the magistrates of Glasgow — of a charter by Gilaspac
Maclachlan, dated from his castle on Loch Fyne, commences in these
terms: " Noverint universi quos nosse fuerit opportunism, quod nos bal-
" livi ceterique burgenses de communitate civitatis Glasguensis vidimus,
" &c." The word prcepositus does not occur at all. Indeed there was
no provost in Glasgow, as we understand the term, till the middle of
the fifteenth century — the first who filled that office being John Steuart,
to whom I had occasion to refer in connection with the story of St.
Mungo's bell.
There has been much misunderstanding in other respects on the
part of our local historians in regard to the early history and constitution
of the city. We find M'Ure complacently telling how Glasgow was
created a royal burgh by the charter from King William the Lion, and
the same statement is repeated by such respectable historians as Gibson
and Brown, and later still by Dr. Cleland. For this I need not say
there is no ground. But it may be interesting to trace shortly the early
history of the burgh in order to see how very small was the amount of
civic liberty enjoyed by the inhabitants or burgesses in the olden time.
Glasgow was at first a mere bishop's burgh — a constitution which,
while it increased the power and importance of the bishop, implied no
real independence on the part of the inhabitants. On this subject it is
with diffidence that I differ from an authority so deservedly high as
Professor Innes. He was quite aware, as may be supposed, that Glas-
gow was not at first a royal burgh, but he says that at the early period
to which I am referring, the citizens " obtained privileges of the same
" nature as those of the free burghs." Elsewhere he says : " Such
" bishops' cities in later times were scarcely distinguishable from royal
"burghs as to privileges of trade, as to bearing public burdens, and
" even as to representation in Parliament."1 In "later times" this in a
great measure was so, but at the earlier period to which I am referring
it was certainly not the case. The object of the sovereign in creating
the royal burghs was to raise up a class of freemen between himself
and his powerful barons, of whom, therefore, the burgesses were to be
entirely independent. It was the essential peculiarity of their position,
1 Preface to Ancient Laws and Customs of the Burghs of Scotland, p. 42.
Status of Inhabitants. 87
therefore, that they held, not of any subject superior, but directly of the
king himself, and under the obligation of doing service to the king only.
One of the old burgh laws was that "na man may be the kyngis burges
" bot gif he may do service to the king of als mekyl as fallys til ane rude
" of land at the leste;" and he was also required first of all to be faithful
and true " to the king, his bailies and communitie of that burgh in the
" quhilk he is made burges." Having thus qualified himself, the "king's
" burgess" became a free man, and owed allegiance to no subject superior
whatever. But such was by no means the position or status of the in-
habitant of a mere burgh of barony. It was not the object, as it could
not possibly be the policy, of the bishop in acquiring right " to have a
" burgh at Glasgow," to give freedom to his vassals, or to render them
in any respect independent of his powers and jurisdiction over them.
What he desired, and what he obtained by the grant, was to secure for
his infant city the protective privileges of a market, so as to induce
dealers to come and trade there, and also to acquire for his vassals those
rights of burgal trade which were so essential to his own prosperity.
But this was all. The inhabitants continued, after the town became
a burgh as before, to be what they are called in the charters, mere
" homines episcopi," with a lower grade of native bondsmen — " nativi
" et servi." They continued to hold not of the sovereign, like " the
" king's freemen," but of the bishop, and to be subject to his power as
their feudal lord. They acquired the advantages of fairs and markets
no doubt, and protection in going from and returning to the city — "in
" eundo et redeundo" — when engaged in trading; but as between them
and the bishop, their overlord, the relations which previously subsisted
remained unchanged. The terms of a charter constituting a royal
burgh, and of that which was granted to the Bishop of Glasgow, were
essentially different. The charter, for example, by Alexander II. erect-
ing Dunbarton into a burgh, bears that the king had made a burgh
" ad novum castellum meum apud Dunbritan," and the grant is " eidem
" burgo et burgensibus meis in eo manentibus omnes libertates, &c."
But the charter of William the Lion, to which M'Ure refers with so
much pride, so far from conferring any right on the inhabitants, or on
Glasgow the status or independence of a free burgh, bears that the
88 Supremacy of the Bishops.
king had "granted, and by this my charter confirmed to God and St.
" Kentigern, and Joceline, bishop of Glasgow, and all his successors
" for ever, that they shall have a burgh at Glasgow with a weekly
" market, &c."
In the same way the charter by William, conferring the right to hold
a fair, grants and confirms " to God and St. Kentigern, to the church of
" Glasgow, and Joceline, the bishop of that place, and to all his successors
" for ever, a fair to be kept at Glasgow, and to be held every year for
" ever from the 8th of the Apostles Peter and Paul for the space of
" eight days complete, with my full protection, &c."
Again, in the charter by Alexander II. in 1235, granting a charter
of exemption from toll — sixty years after the date of the grant which
made Glasgow a burgh — the exemption is not in favour of the citizens
or burgesses as such, but to the bishop, that he and his successors, et
eorum homines, nativi et servi, should be free from toll.
Again, in a precept by James II. in 1449, addressed to the royal
burghs of Renfrew and Rutherglen, and which the Bishop of Glasgow
had obtained in order to check certain alleged encroachments by these
domineering corporations on his own territory and jurisdiction, in the
matter of fairs, and markets, the narrative bears that complaint had
been made — not by the citizens or magistrates — for they had no say or
voice in the matter — but "by Wylgam Bischop of Glasgu that ge mak
" disturblans and impediment tyll our leiges and communities of burgh
" and land that bryng ony guds to the mercat of Glasgu to sell or by,
" doing tharthrow hurtyng and prejudice to the priveleges and custom
"granted to the kyrk of Glasgu of auld tym." The refractory burghs
are accordingly prohibited " to mak ony minwsing prejudice or lattyng
" to the fredom and kyrk of Glasgu or the mercat of it." In this pre-
cept Glasgow is not called a burgh at all, but only "the barony of
" Glasgow."
In like manner the charter of James II. of 2oth April, 1450, which
raised the city from the rank of a burgh of barony to that of a burgh
of regality, was in reality nothing more than an increase of power and
dignity to the bishop. It is granted in favour of Bishop Turnbull, the
founder of the university, and it confirms, not to the citizens, but to the
Vassalage of Citizens. 89
bishop and his successors, " the city of Glasgow, barony of Glasgow,
" and lands commonly called Bishop forest, to be held by them of us
" in free pure and mere regality in fee and heritage for ever."
In all this there is no recognition of the inhabitants as a separate
or independent community. The whole power over the temporalities
of the city, and of the lands embraced in the charter, remained centred
in the bishop, with all the rights of a feudal lord over the inhabitants
as his vassals. The charter last quoted contains a provision giving
power to the bishop to appoint a sergeant for executing the edicts of
his court, who was to have a silver staff or mace having the royal arms
blazoned on the upper part and those of the bishop on the lower. Of the
arms of the city no mention is made, nor had it any at that time. The
community, indeed, is not mentioned or recognized in the charter at all.
The bishop, in whom alone any power is vested, appointed civic officers
to manage the affairs of his city, and he may have called them " pro-
"vosts" or "bailies," for, as we have seen, even a native or serf might
hold the position or office of prapositus, but this implied no freedom.
The status of the inhabitants, no doubt, came gradually in time to be
of a higher grade than at the date of the charter of Alexander II.
They bought and sold and traded, and those of them who acquired
heritable property were burgesses, and they must have possessed many
advantages which were not shared by the landward inhabitants " ututh
" the burgh." But the privileges of the royal burghs they certainly did
not possess; and as the magistrates, by whatever name they were
called, were the mere creatures of the bishop, the entire power and
control in everything relating to the affairs of the community centred
in his person, and he " did what he liked with his own."
Even when the town had to vindicate its rights at law the process
proceeded in name of the bishop as the principal party. Thus so late
as the parliament of 1469 a decree is recorded "in the actioun and
" cans pursuat be a reverend fader in Christ Andro bischop of Glasgu,
" and the provost, bailies, and communitie of his cite of Glasgu, against
" the provost, bailies, and communitie of the burgh of Dumbartane."
The complaint was that the burgh of Dumbarton "has wrangit and
" injured the said reverend fader and the said provost, baillies, and
M
go Representation in Parliament.
" communitie of Glasgu in the stopping of them in bying of certane
" wyne fra Pevis Copate, Fransch man, out of his schip in the water of
" Glide." The decree, it is satisfactory to know, was in favour of the
bishop and the bailies, who got their wine — no doubt good claret, such
as that to the more general use of which we have returned.
In the following year, namely in 1470, there is a charter by James
III. in favour of the Bishop of Glasgow, John Laing, afterwards lord
high chancellor, by which, inter alia, there is confirmed to the bishop
full powers " to constitute and appoint provosts, bailies, sergeants and
" other officers within the said city, for the management and govern-
" ment of the same, as often as to him shall seem expedient, and to
" appoint and remove to and from these offices such persons as he shall
" think proper." In favour of the inhabitants as an independent com-
munity there is no grant.
I need hardly say that the community was not represented in the
early parliaments of Scotland, as the royal burghs were. It was not
till the parliament of Queen Mary, held in August, 1546, on the very
eve of the Reformation, that Glasgow first appears among the " com-
" misarii burgorum" who sat as part of the third estate, and it is only
after that period that I find the city mentioned in any state document
along with the other burghs. The first example of this which I have
noticed — and even that was only in a matter of trade — is in the act ot
Mary, 1555, where it is declared that "the haill burrowis of the west
" cuntrie, sic as Irwin, Air, Dumbertane, -Glasgow, and other burrowis
" at the west parts," shall be free from the exactions which " certain
" cuntrie men adjacent and dwelland besyde Loch Fyne" had been
enforcing " on every last of maid hering that are tane in the said loch."
It is somewhat curious that the first time in which Glasgow found
mention as a burgh in an act of parliament, should be on the occasion of
its contending for freedom of trade in salt herrings.
Down to that time, or rather till 1560, Glasgow as a city had not
even the appearance of independence. If a Seal of Cause was to be
granted incorporating one of the trades, it could only be done by con-
sent and with the concurrence of the bishop; and the fees payable for
the "upsett" of a freeman, with the fines for the infringement of the
Charters of the Crafts. 9I
rules of the society, were to be applied for the benefit, not of the craft
itself, or even of the community as in the royal burghs, but of the
church. Thus the charter in 1516 in favour of " the kirkmasters and
" the laife of the maisters of the skinner craft and furrier craft" of
Glasgow, is granted by the magistrates " with the consent approbatioune
" and ratificatioune of our maist reverend fadir in God James Archbishop
" in Glasgow, Chancellor of Scotland and Commendatour of the Abbey
" of Kilwinning." The fees for the "upsett" are to be applied "to the
" reparatioune and upholding of divine service at our said altar." One
of the penalties is " ane pund candle of wax thairfor als aft as the fault
" happens;" and "ilk maister haulding buith within the said burgh and
" citie, of the said craft, shall pay his wouklie pennie to the reparatioune
"of the adornments of the said altar, and to susteine the priests; and
" that na falss stuff be sauld to the kingis leidges under the paine of
" ane halfe pund candle of wax to the altar;" while power is given "to
" poynd and distrenzie gif need be for the takeing raising and inbringing
" of these dhewes forsaid to the sustentatioune and uphalding of God's
" fabric foresaid."
In like manner the seal of cause in favour of the cordiners, dated
more than forty years later (1558), bears to be granted by the magis-
trates " with J>e consent, assent, approbatioune, and ratificatioune of
" me maist reverend fadir James by the mercie of God Archbishop of
" Glasgow." And " the reverend fadir, our lorde and prelat, in verifi-
" catioune of his consent and approbatioune," appends his seal before
that of the community.
If, again, a provost had to be elected, he was nominated by the
bishop, and when bailies fell to be appointed a list was prepared by
the provost, who, along with the council, proceeded to the castle and
presented it to the bishop, who chose from the list any two names he
thought proper, and these were elected to the vacant offices. There
is preserved a curious instrument under the hand of John Hamilton,
notary, bearing date 3d October, 1553, in which one of these transac-
tions is recited. The instrument bears how "an honourable man, Andrew
" Hamilton of Cochnay, provost, and all the rest of the council of the
"said city," came into "the inner flower garden, near the palace in
^2 Ceremony of appointing Magistrates.
" Glasgow, of the most reverend father in Christ, James, by divine
14 mercy Archbishop of Glasgow having in their possession a certain
" schedule of paper in which the names of some of the most respectable
"and substantial men of the said city were inserted, which they
" reached out, desiring the most reverend father that he would admit
" two of them to be consuls or bailies for the ensuing year . . . out
"of which the said most reverend elected two by pointing out the
" names of those on the schedule to be proclaimed by the said provost
" and council," which, being done, the instrument bears, " the provost
"and council promised faithfully to the most reverend" to elect the
parties named "by saying these words: We will satisfy the desire
"of your lordship; and having so said they repaired to the town hall."
It is an interesting picture of the olden time which is disclosed
in this record of the Glasgow notary. The whole council, composed
of the most respectable and substantial of the citizens, headed by
their aristocratic provost, wending their way up the High Street, the
palace of the archbishop with its then beautiful surroundings, and the
prelate himself in his inner flower garden under the shadow of the
grand old cathedral, receiving his vassal burghers. It was one of the
closing scenes, in the ecclesiastical greatness of the city. The prelate
who figures in the picture was Betoun, the last of the archbishops.
Troublous times were at hand — were even now upon him. Within a
short time and his beautiful garden was trodden down by armed men ;
the walls of his castle, then occupied by Lennox, were being battered
by the guns of the Regent Arran ; a very short time later and the
archbishop was a fugitive, and the palace, and the garden, and the
glory of the old hierarchy had all passed away for ever.
On the flight of Betoun in 1560 there was no one to nominate the
magistrates as formerly, and the expedient resorted to in these circum-
stances is recorded in a notarial instrument which bears date September,
1561. In this document the notary declares that search had been made
for the archbishop in order to the election of magistrates, and not being
found, he protests that the council there, who had been nominated by
his lordship, may themselves elect, which they accordingly did.
But this was but an isolated act of independence, as the Protestant
Glasgow made a Royal Burgh. 03
archbishops, or the feudal lords who had obtained grants of the tem-
poralities, continued to nominate the provost and bailies, and to interfere
as before, and this, there is every reason to believe, in a manner much
more oppressive than their Roman Catholic predecessors. The Refor-
mation, too, was followed by anything but a state of tranquillity, and
for some time after that event the community had other matters to
think of. The constant troubles, civil and ecclesiastical, which followed
the arrival of Mary: English invasions and civil wars at home — some
of the latter, such as that of 1570, unexampled in exasperation and
ferocity; the efforts made by the Romish party to recover their as-
cendency; and then the obstinate struggle which took place between
Episcopacy and Presbyterianism — all these kept the kingdom in a con-
tinued state of agitation, and distracted men's minds from all but the
stern realities and exigencies of the moment. Glasgow, too, was in a
state of transition. Though steadily advancing in importance, however,
it was as yet but of insignificant extent. So late as 1556 it held only
the eleventh place among the towns of Scotland, and at that time the
population did not exceed 4500.
Not till 1636 did Glasgow take its place among the royal burghs
under the charter of Charles I. granted in that year. Yet even this did
not bring independence. Certain rights were still reserved, and the
archbishop not only claimed but exercised the right to appoint the
provost and magistrates, under the charter granted by James VI. and
Charles I.;1 and when the power of nomination fell from the hands of
the archbishop, it was taken up and exercised by a temporal baron. In
1641 Glasgow was erected, upon a royal signature, confirmed by the
Parliament of that year, into a temporal lordship in favour of the Duke
of Lennox, one of the nearest collateral male heirs of James VI. By
this act there is ratified and confirmed to the duke "the lands and
" barony of Glasgow, castel citie and regality thereof, with the right of
" nomination of the bailies and magistrates of the said burgh." The
corporation was thus still very far from real freedom.
It is probable that in the earlier history of the city the rule of the
bishops sat lightly on the community, and the absence of civic privileges
1 Burgh Records, 3d October, 1637.
94 The Reformation.
would be less felt in presence of the substantial advantages derived from
the residence among them of the bishop and his clergy. The rule of
the Church was notoriously more benignant than that of the feudal
barons, and the saying, " better under the crozier than under the
lance," was applicable to the vassals of all the spiritual lords. The
see of Glasgow formed no exception to this state of matters. In
early times, before the spoliation of its possessions, it was one of
the most opulent in the kingdom. Its prelates lived in a style of
great splendour, and exercised a powerful influence, not only locally,
but in the affairs of the kingdom. Their court was the resort of in-
fluential members of the aristocracy, and they but followed the practice
of the other dignitaries of the Church in dispensing a liberal and generous
hospitality; while the residence of the thirty-two rectors, first enforced
by the princely Bishop Cameron, who required each of them to build a
manse near the cathedral, added to the importance and wealth of the
city. To all this is to be added the great influx of suitors to the bishop's
court, attracted by the high character and reputation of the chapter, and
the large amount of civil business which resulted from the extension of
the privileges and civil jurisdiction of the bishop conferred by James
IV. The temporal advantages which would necessarily result to the
community from this state of matters must have been great, and — con-
sidering the limited ideas of freedom which then prevailed — more than
sufficient to reconcile them to the absence of those civic privileges which
were enjoyed by their less favoured neighbours of Rutherglen, Ren-
frew, and Dunbarton.
It is not surprising, therefore, to find that in Glasgow there was
an influential party by no means favourable to that great movement
which resulted in the reformation of religion and the subsequent
abjuration of Episcopacy. It was no doubt under the influence of such
sentiments that, after the long vacancy in the see caused by the flight
of Betoun, we find a large body of the citizens taking the part of even
so notorious a character as Montgomery, the nominee or "tulchan
" bishop " of the Duke d'Aubigne, when the question concerned the re-
settlement of a resident archbishop. We read in Calderwood how in
1582 the Laird of Minto, the provost, with one of the bailies, and a
Spoliation of the Church Lands. 95
number of the citizens, invaded the presbytery-house, and because the
presbytery, then sitting in judgment with a view to the deposition of
Montgomery, refused to stay proceedings, " put violent hands on the
" moderator, Mr. John Howsone, smote him on the face, pulled him by
" the beard, knocked out one of his teeth, and put him in the Tolbooth."
The effect of the Reformation was at first indeed very injurious to
the prosperity of Glasgow. The seizure by the crown and the great
barons of property which had been originally gifted by private liberality
for the benefit of the people, and which belonged to the Church, after as
before it was reformed, by a title as indefeasible as that by which the
lords held their own lands, was an act of unjustifiable spoliation. And
it was rendered still more oppressive by the mode in which the lords
exercised their usurped rights. All the lands within St. Mungo's
halidom which were not in the actual possession of the bishops them-
selves, were held, like other church lands, by tenures of the most mild
and liberal character; but now the possessors of these lands — the rental-
lers, who, as we have seen, were practically proprietors — were threatened
with ejection if they did not feudalize or enfranchise their titles by heavy
payments, amounting in many cases to confiscation. In the case of
Glasgow, the greater part of the church lands seized by the crown
were disponed to Walter Stewart, commendator of Blantyre,1 from
whom the poor proprietors were compelled to take new charters, and
this although in a crown charter quoted by Mr. Hill, confirming one of
these titles, it is admitted on the face of the charter itself that the titles
of the previous possessors of the church lands — styled in the charter
antiques nativi, panperes tenentes, et rentallarii — had "for times past
" memory of man been estimated and reputed as equally sufficient to
" the said rentallers for their lands as if the lands had been disposed to
them in feu " — that is in perpetuity.2
The Reformation was injurious also at first to the trade of the city;
1 1587. Act. Parl., iii. 431. The baronies of Stobo and Eddleston were excepted, these being
granted to Maitland of Thurlstane. What remained of the other large possessions were erected
into a temporal lordship called the barony of Glasgow, for payment to the crown of a feu-duty
amounting to only ,£50 of our money.
2 Huchesoniana, by Laurence Hill, Esq., p. 13.
96 Removal of Markets to the Cross.
and it is curious to observe that the change from the palmy days when
so many ecclesiastics were " in residence," seems to have been felt most
severely by the inhabitants who lived in the upper part of the town—
those who lived towards the foot of the High Street, and about the
Cross, finding a compensation in the pursuits of trade, for which their
fellow-citizens higher up the street possessed fewer facilities. In the
year 1587 there was presented to Parliament a supplication "be the
" fremen and vtheris induellaris of the citie of Glasgw abone the gray
" frier wynde," setting forth " that qr that pl of the said citie that afoir
" the reformatioun of the religioun was intertenyt and uphalden be the
" resort of the bischop, parsonis, vicaris, and vtheris of clergie, for the
" tyme, is now becum ruinous, and for the maist part altogidder decayit,
" and the heritouris and possessouris therof greitly depauperit, wanting
" the moyane to vphald the samen." It is then set forth that this state
of matters might be greatly remedied were " the grite confusion and
" multitude of mercattis togedder in ane place about the croce " to be
divided, and some of them appointed to be holden in the upper portion
of the city; and they feelingly put it that "as thai ar ane pairt of the
" bodie and memberis subject to the payment of taxt stent, watcheing,
" warding, and all uther precable charges, even sa al the commodities of
" the said cietie suld be commoun to thame all." As a crowning reason
why the supplication should be granted, it is added that " that part of
" the said cietie abone the said gray frier wynde is the onlie ornament
" and decoratioun thereof, be ressone of the grite and sumptuous build-
" ingis of grite antiquitie, varie propir and meit for the ressait of his
" hienes and nobilitie at sic tymes as thai sail repair thereto; and that it
" wer to be lamentit to sie sic gorgeous policie to decay." The Parlia-
ment ordered the matter to be looked into, but it does not appear that
the petitioners succeeded in getting any of the "mercattis" moved
above the wynd.
It soon came to be understood, however, that in whatever way
matters were to be mended, this was not to be attained by the main-
tenance of Episcopacy. The splendid court of the Roman Catholic
archbishops, and the advantages derived from the resident clergy, had
become things of the past. The Protestant archbishops, who were in
Statits of Archbishops. Q7
most cases the mere nominees of the party in power, were poor, and
their status had become contemptible. The archbishop, indeed, was
nothing more than the locum tenens of a non-resident baron who held
the temporalities, and who exacted everything he could wring out
of them, caring nothing for the interests of the community when his
own were in question. To this the amiable Leighton was certainly
an exception. Although he filled the see but a short time, he quite
won the affections of the people of Glasgow; and when it was known
that he had gone to London to resign his charge, a deputation of the
citizens waited on the magistrates " entreating and desiring them," as
the minute of council bears, to endeavour to prevent his demission,
alleging "that the whoill citie and incorporatiouns therin hes lived
" peaceably and quietlie since the said archbishop his coming to this
" burgh, throw his Christian cariage and behaviour towards them, and
" by his government with great discretioune and moderatioune."1 But
as a rule the archbishops, enjoying but a miserable pittance out of the
once ample revenues of the see, were tempted, perhaps obliged, to
exercise all the power that was left to them, and to enforce their
exactions, in a manner very different from that which had prevailed in
former times; while the magistrates imposed on the community were
those, of course, who would prove most subservient to the interests of
those who appointed them.
Under this state of " tyranny and avarice," as the new magistrates
soon after had occasion to describe it, Glasgow, which by means of the
extension of trade had been growing in importance and prosperity,
appears to have declined considerably.2 The community also, under
the more general diffusion of liberty and expression of thought which
was now beginning to prevail, must have felt more keenly the inferiority
of their status to that of their smaller neighbours who enjoyed the full
privileges of the royal burghs, while their subjection to the archbishops
and to the temporal lords, in the nomination of their provost and
magistrates, as well as in other matters relating to the city, must have
1 Burgh Records, 2d May, 1673.
2 The population, which at the restoration of Charles II. in 1660 amounted to 14,600, had
in 1688 fallen to 1 1,900. No doubt the great fire of 1677 accounted in part for this.
N
g£ J7ie Revolution.
become intolerably irksome. We are prepared, therefore, to find the
community now taking a prominent part in those events which resulted
in the Revolution. We know that they took an active share in pro-
moting the cause of the Prince of Orange, and as they were among the
first of the burghs to congratulate the prince and the queen on their
accession, so the services which the city had rendered towards bringing
about that event were early recognized by the new sovereigns. By
royal charter dated 4th January, 1690, the city was declared free; and
in the " humble and thankful address" which " the provost, bailiffs, town
"council and other citizens" presented in the following month, the
feelings of the community on the contrast between the past and present
state of matters found energetic expression. "As your citie of Glasgow,"
the address bears, "hath shared in the common benefit, so hath she
" tasted of your royal bounty and favour, in particular by giving your
" high commissioner a special instruction for our freedom by act of
" parliament. And now by your royal grant, given at Kingsintown
" the 4th of Januar last, wherein your majestic is graciously pleased to
" notice and putt ane value upon the zeal for the Protestant religion
" and loyal affections of your citie of Glasgow, and to give to her a full
" right and libertie for electing her own magistrates in all tyme comeing,
" als frelie as the royal borrowes of this your majesties ancient king-
" dom, by which being emancipated from the slaverie of ane imposed
" magistracie, the instruments of our bishops, their tyrannic and avarice,
" the public interest of this once flourishing corporation being thereby
"recovered, we are delivered from the fears and secured from the
" dangers of a future relapse into what has been the source of our past
" miserie." This address was presented on the ist of February 1690,
and by the Act of William and Mary of that year the city and town
council acquired for the first time " the power and privilege to choose
" their own magistrates, provost, bailies, and other officers within the
" burgh, als fully and als freely as the city of Edinburgh or any other
" royal burgh within the kingdom enjoys the same." Then, and not till
then, may Glasgow be said to have acquired an independent political
existence.
THE ARMORIAL INSIGNIA AND CITY SEALS.
The armorial insignia of the city, and the corporation seals, may be
briefly referred to as part of our municipal history.
Towards the end of the sixteenth century Glasgow, then growing
in importance, began to use armorial bearings: whether under the
authority of the Lord Lyon does not appear. The probability is it
was done without any official sanction, and certainly the authorities
adhered to no fixed blazon. On the contrary, it appears to have been
left very much to the caprice of stone-masons and seal engravers to
represent the arms from time to time as they thought fit, and this loose
practice continued down to a very recent period. The first example, of
which I am aware, in which the devices now borne by the corporation
appear on a shield, occurs on a stone built into the wall over the
entrance to the Tron Church, and which bears the date 1592; and the
first mention which is made of " the tounes armes" is in an entry in the
council records under date I7th July, 1630. From 1592 down to 1866
the arms appeared at intervals on stones and seals and medals, official
and non-official, in every variety of combination, each differing from the
other in points which in heraldry are essential. In the year last men-
tioned the whole subject was investigated by order of the magistrates
and council, and a report was prepared, which resulted in the blazon
being authoritatively settled by a patent from the Lyon office in the
form in which it is now borne. Lyon at the same time granted to the
city supporters and a crest.1
The history of the arms is detailed very fully in the report just men-
tioned. I shall therefore only give here the verbal blazon as contained
in the patent: "Argent, on a mount in base vert an oak tree proper,
" the stem at the base thereof surmounted by a salmon on its back, also
" proper, with a signet ring in its mouth, or; on the top of the tree a
" redbreast, and on the sinister fess point an ancient hand bell, both
" also proper : Above the shield is to be placed a suitable helmet, with
1 Enquiry as to the Armorial Insignia of Glasgow. Printed for Private Circulation. 1866.
I0o City Arms.
" a mantling gules, doubled argent, and issuing out of a wreath of the
" proper liveries is to be set for crest the half length figure of St. Kenti-
" gern, affronte, vested and mitred, his right hand raised in the act of
"benediction, and having in his left hand a crozier, all proper: On a
" compartment below the shield are to be placed for supporters two
" salmon proper, each holding in its mouth a signet ring, or; and in
" the escrol entwined with the compartment this motto, ' Let Glasgow
" Flourish/"
I have already given the history of the bell and the legends which
gave rise to the other "charges" on the shield. In regard to the
mount, out of which the tree is represented as growing, Dr. Stevenson
says1 that it represents the mound which elevated itself beneath the
feet of Kentigern on the occasion related by his biographer, when
he was preaching, so as to enable him to be better seen and heard.
This is a mistake. The mound is quite a modern addition. The
original "branch" of the legend having been expanded into a tree, it
was natural to introduce the mound for it to rest on. The first example
in which it is thus represented is on the bell of the Tron Church, which
was made in 1631, but the mound did not appear on the seal of the
corporation till so late as the end of the last century (1789).
Although Glasgow had no armorial bearings, properly so called,
till towards the end of the sixteenth century, it had, from a very early
period, a common seal, which the bishop, acting through the magistrates
whom he appointed to rule the city for him, caused to be appended to
public documents. As I have already mentioned, however, it was
never used except in subserviency to the bishop, whose own seal, in all
important matters of civic administration, was also appended, and which
always took precedence of that of the city. The bishops, as we have
seen, obtained their grant of a burgh in 1175, and so early as the
century following, there is evidence that the community was using a
common seal. In the charter granted by Robert de Methyngby in
1 280, the notary states that, besides his own seal, " sigillum commune
" de Glasgu huic scripto est appensum." This seal has unfortunately
been lost, but we have a description of it by Father Innes, who saw it.
1 Legends of St. Kentigern, p. 145.
City Seals. IOi
His note, appended to a manuscript copy of the charter, is as follows:
" Huic carta appensa erant dua sigilla, quorum unum [that of Methyngby
" the granter] amissum est : alterum, sigillum commune Glasguensse,
"remanet, fere integrum, ex cera alba, exhibens caput episcopi cum
" mitra, scilicet S. Kentigern."
There can be no doubt that the designs on the seals of the com-
munity were adopted from the seals of the bishops. The one just
described contained the head of St. Kentigern only. In like manner,
on the earliest examples which we have of the seals of the bishops-
such as those of Florence in 1 200, of Walter in 1 208, and of William de
Bondington in 1233, there is nothing but the figure of the saint in the
act of benediction. The first of the bishops who added to his seal any
of the emblems of the miracles was William Wyschard, who was elected
to the see in 1270, and immediately afterwards we find the civic seal
altered, and to the head of the saint there is added a representation of
his bell, which was then, as it continued for a long time afterwards, in
use in the Cathedral services. In the beginning of the fourteenth
century the city seal was again altered, and to the head of Kentigern
and his bell were added the fish, the bird, and the branch. In this also
the civic seal was copied from the ecclesiastical, for these emblems
were at that time represented on the seal of the prelate who then filled
the see. This was Wyschart, the grand old warrior-bishop, who, in
the crisis of his country's liberties, exchanged the crozier for a sword,
and buckled on his armour in defence of the cause for which Wallace
and Bruce were at that time contending against such terrible odds.
This old seal of the corporation must have continued in use for a
very long time. A representation of it is given in the Liber Sancte
Marie de Metros, in which the document to which it is appended is
printed, being the return or certificate of a service and infeftment of
one Thomas de Aula. It is addressed to the Abbot of Melrose, and bears
date 8th October, 1325. But I have found in the archives of our own
city several impressions of the same seal, attached to charters and seals of
cause, in more perfect condition — one in 1445 ; another, nearly a hundred
years after, in 1551; another in 1605, appended to a deed of agreement
among the incorporated trades of Glasgow for the support of St.
102
City Seals.
Nicholas' Hospital, with a ratification by the provost and magistrates;
and another relating to the same hospital in 1606. I subjoin a copy of
the last-mentioned impression.
This ancient seal continued in
use till 1647, so that even assum-
ing that it was not made earlier
than 1325, the date of the first
document to which it has been
found appended, it must have been
in use for the long period of three
hundred and twenty-two years.
I have carefully compared the
different examples, and I am satis-
fied that the one attached to
the charter of 1606 is impressed
from the same die that was used in 1325.
In 1647 this seal ceased to be used, and a new one of a totally
different design was adopted in its place. The change is so complete,
indeed, that the two seals have hardly a single feature in common. The
bishop's head fs discarded; the miraculous branch is promoted into a
full-grown tree; and the salmon,
hitherto upright, is placed in a hori-
zontal position. The arrangement
of the emblems is almost identical
with what now appears on the city
arms — the only difference being
that the tree is represented era-
dicated, without any mound, and
that the salmon is in the natural
position, and not on its back. The
representation here given is copied
from an impression appended to
a charter in favour of the incor-
poration of Hammermen -in Glasgow, dated i6th July, 1650. This seal
continued in use for one hundred and forty-three years — a long period
"Arms of Bishopric''
also — longer in proportion, perhaps, than that of the previous seal,
if judged by the greater number of impressions which must have been
taken from it. It was replaced, for what reason
I cannot conceive, by a seal in which again the
position of the emblems is changed. There is
no precedent for it, and the whole arrangement
is in the worst possible taste. The field is
parted per fess argent and gules; the bell is
placed on the wrong side, and the fish is raised
up and placed across the centre of the stem of
the tree. This seal continued in use till the
form of the arms was finally settled by the Lord Lyon in 1866, when
the seal now in use was made, showing the city arms as then adopted.
In regard to the " arms of the bishop-
ric" so often spoken of in our local his-
tories, I am satisfied that neither the see
of Glasgow nor any other of the bishoprics
of Scotland ever had any. Nisbet speaks
of the see of Glasgow as having arms, and
in the register of the Lyon office there are
arms registered which are erroneously
called those of the see of St. Andrews.
But in both instances the arms blazoned are
only those personal to the bishop who filled
the office at the time. The first, those referred to by Nisbet, are the
arms of Archbishop Cairncross, and the second are those of Archbishop
Sharp; and I believe the same will be found in regard to the so-called
arms of all the Scottish bishoprics. None of the sees had even a per-
manent seal. Each bishop varied the devices on the seal according to
his taste. Sometimes heraldic bearings occur on them and sometimes
not, but in every instance where they are found they are the family arms
of the incumbent.
Before leaving the seals and armorial bearings, I must mention the
origin of the peculiar motto of the city — "Let Glasgow flourish" — about
which there has been a good deal of controversy. It forms part of an
JO4 e Cathedral.
old inscription on the bell of the steeple of the Tron Church which
bears the date 1592. The entire inscription is "Lord let Glasgow
" flourish through the preaching of the word and praising thy name."
This certainly never was intended as a heraldic motto, and at no time
was it used as such. The city arms no doubt appear on the bell,
but the inscription has reference not to them but to the bell itself. It
is an invocation in short, — an ecclesiastical inscription, or dedication, or
prayer, — examples of which are so common on the bells of churches.
In subsequent examples it is curtailed, and reads thus: " Lord let Glas-
" gow flourish by the preaching of thy word." In 1699 it appeared for
the first time occupying the place of a heraldic motto in connection
with the city arms over the entrance to Blackfriars church, and here it
is still further shortened to the words, " Let Glasgow flourish." In
this form alone was it ever used heraldically. It continued to be so
used in all the subsequent examples, and it was approved and confirmed
by the Lord Lyon, as what had become, by usage, the motto of the
city. When the patent was obtained, some members of the Town
Council suggested whether we should not adopt one of the earlier forms
of the inscription — "Let Glasgow flourish by the preaching of the word"
—but it was answered that if we went back to the original, the whole
invocation should be adopted, and that the "praising of God" should be
included, as a practice calculated to promote the prosperity of the city
as well as "preaching." And the motto as it stands was adopted by
the corporation.
THE CATHEDRAL,
It is not my purpose, nor would my limits permit me, to write a
topographical history of Glasgow. I must confine myself to a few
notices of its principal buildings in the olden time, and of the wonderful
progress of the city.
As originally built after the restoration of the see, Glasgow consisted
of only a small cluster of residences near the Cathedral and the bishop's
castle. All around was muirland and forest. At first the only access
The First Cathedral.
105
from the south side of the river was by a ford, but at a very early period
a bridge was constructed, probably of wood, on or near the site of the
old Stockwell Bridge. It has been supposed by some of our local his-
torians that this last-mentioned bridge, which was constructed by Bishop
Rae in 1345, was the first ever erected over the Clyde at Glasgow; but
this was certainly not the case, as in a charter dated sixty years earlier
—namely in 1285 — mention is made of the pons de clud. The above
view of Bishop Rae's Bridge is from an engraving published by the
Foulis's in 1761.
From a very early period — long anterior to the present Cathedral-
there must have been a church at or near the spot where Kentigern
resided. The first church no doubt was a very humble structure, but we
have no record of what it was previous to the twelfth century. David
having refounded the see and appointed John to be bishop, that prelate
proceeded to rebuild the old church which he found there, and the new
structure was dedicated on the nones of July, 1136. A great part of
it was probably of wood, and not long afterwards it was destroyed by
fire. Bishop Jocelin, who was consecrated in 1174, probably repaired
this original structure. He certainly added to it, and he founded
a society to collect funds for the purpose. For this he obtained the
royal sanction and protection, by a charter granted by William the
Lion in 1190, in which the king states that the original erection had
I06 The Present Cathedral.
been destroyed by fire " in these our days." In the year 1 197 the new
Cathedral was dedicated.
Professor Innes speaks of the church thus erected as the present
Cathedral, although not completed at the date of the dedication, and
this has been for a long time the general belief, but I have become
satisfied that it was not so. There is, I think, every reason to believe
that the present magnificent structure was only commenced to be built
by Bishop Bondington, who was consecrated in 1233, and this is the
result arrived at, after a critical investigation, by Mr. Honeyman, whose
eminence as an architect, and attainments as an archaeologist, entitle
his opinion to the greatest respect.1 Mr. Honeyman made a more care-
ful examination of the structure, and a more strict comparison of its
styles of architecture than appears to have been done before, and the
conclusion at which he arrived was that the only portion which remains
of the building consecrated in 1197 is a small pillar and part of the
vaulting in the south-west corner of the crypt. This, as Mr. Honey-
man points out, belongs to the transitional style. At the supposed
time of the building of the present Cathedral the style in which it is
erected was not even in existence. The architecture of the present
building is ear.ly English, of a fully developed type, and the very oldest
examples of that style, even in England, were not erected till after
ii9O.2 Apart from this, there is no reason to doubt that the church
which was dedicated in 1197 was, at that date, a completed structure.
It is described as a building which Bishop Jocelin " ipse novam con-
" struxerat " — terms which could not properly be applied to a building
then, as Mr. Innes supposes, still only in the course of erection.
All the probabilities indeed go to show that the building so dedi-
cated by Jocelin in 1197 was of a temporary character, to be super-
seded by a grander structure, and that sometime after the year
1238 the erection of the present Cathedral was commenced by Bishop
Bondington. In all probability the crypt and choir were completed
in his time. That he was engaged in extensive building operations,
and not in mere additions, is rendered probable by the fact that in
1 The Age of Glasgow Cathedral, &c., by John Honeyman, Architect, Glasgow.
2 Sir Gilbert Scott's Lectures on Mediaeval Architecture, 1879, vol. i. p. 126.
3
-
_
Western Tower and Consistory House. 107
1242 — forty-five years after the dedication of Jocelin's Church —
there is an ordinance for a national collection annually during Lent, in
aid of the new building, then in progress; and more than thirty years
later, namely in 1277, under the episcopate of Robert Wyschard,
there is evidence that the work was still unfinished. In that year
we find among the Glasgow charters a deed by the Lord of Luss, by
which, in consideration of a sum of money paid to him, he makes a
grant of timber from his forests in Dumbartonshire for building a
steeple and treasury, campanile et thesaurariai and later still there is
a grant by King Edward to Bishop Wyschard for the same purpose.
The wooden spire erected with the timber from Luss was, in the year
1400, struck by lightning and totally consumed. The erection of a stone
structure to supply its place was immediately projected, and the work
was begun and carried at least as far as the first battlement by
Bishop Lauder, who died in 1425. It was continued and probably
completed by his successor, Bishop Cameron, whose episcopate lasted
till the year I446.1
The crypt is the finest in the kingdom. The annexed view of a
portion of it is from an original drawing by the late Mr. Kemp, the
architect of the Scott monument in Edinburgh.
The nave was no doubt added subsequently to the crypt and choir,
although there appears to be no means for determining the date; and
the massive and imposing square tower, which till recently stood at the
north-west end of the Cathedral, must have been commenced and
finished immediately afterwards. Mr. Billings, indeed, is of opinion
that the west doorway of the nave, and the lower stage of that tower,
were the oldest portions of the Cathedral.2 Be that as it may, the tower
was undoubtedly of great antiquity. It was 120 feet high, and on each
side near the top were two fine windows with rounded arches. In the
upper part of the tower were some curious grotesque sculptures. These
are now lying in the crypt below the chapter-house. On the opposite
or south-west corner of the nave stood also, till recently, another
important erection in all probability coeval with the tower. This was
the Consistory house. It had no doubt been intended for a tower, but
1 Billings. 2 Baronial and Ecclesiastical Antiquities of Scotland.
Iog Mutilation of Cathedral.
it was not carried up, having been finished with gables. In the
ancient records it is called the library house of the Cathedral. It was a
highly picturesque building, supported by buttresses, and lighted on the
south side by a variety of windows, square headed and pointed; and
it was specially interesting as the place where the bishops held their
ecclesiastical courts, and where the records of the diocese were pre-
served. Both buildings, apart from their antiquity, were valuable as
adding greatly to the beauty of the Cathedral, and the tower was really
essential to the proper balance of the structure.
Yet, incredible as it may appear, these two interesting and important
parts of the Cathedral — the tower and the consistory house — both at
the time in the most perfect state of preservation, were, within the last
forty years, pulled down by order of Her Majesty's First Commissioner
of Works, in the course of certain operations professing to have for their
object the improvement and restoration of the Cathedral ! This was
done at the instigation of certain individuals in Glasgow whose want
of taste was only equalled by their ignorance, and among them, with
shame be it told, were the then Lord Provost and magistrates of the city.
Mr. Billings condemns the removal of the tower as an act of barbarism,
and I have never met an artist or an archaeologist, or any other person
having a reputation for good taste, who did not share his opinion. A
remonstrance against the outrage was presented to the magistrates at
the time, subscribed by a number of gentlemen, comprising probably
every one in the city competent to form an opinion on the subject — ten
of them being architects — but it was of no avail. The late Mr. M'Lellan,
who wrote an account of the Cathedral, and who was one of those who
instigated the act of sacrilege, sought to excuse the removal of the tower
on the ground that it was of a date later than the nave, yet he himself
ascribes it to the time of Bishop Bondington — that is to the thirteenth
century — a period sufficiently remote surely to have saved it from the
profane hands of modern empyrics.
The evidences of the great antiquity both of the tower and the Con-
sistory house or library, are abundant. At the time of the Reformation
the whole structure, as is well known, was saved by the spirit and good
sense of the trades of Glasgow, from the violence incited by the ministers,
Antiquity of Western Tower and Consistory House. 109
which, under the pretext of putting down idolatry, would have made it
share the fate of the other grand old ecclesiastical monuments of Scot-
land. But although thus saved, the building had, during the troublous
times which preceded and accompanied the Reformation, been allowed
to fall into a state of disrepair, and one of the first acts of the magis-
trates, when quieter times came, was to save it from falling into ruin.
The minutes of the town council, towards the end of the sixteenth
century, and in the beginning of the seventeenth, are full of entries
recording the efforts made in this direction by the magistrates in con-
junction with the citizens, and it will be found that the western tower
and the consistory house shared their attention, as ancient portions of
the fabric, deserving their care equally with the nave and choir. This
is so important as to deserve more than a passing notice.
It was not the duty of the magistrates to uphold the church; but,
as true archaeologists, they had a reverence for it as a great national
monument — in this respect presenting a contrast to their degenerate
successors of the nineteenth century. Very soon after the Reforma-
tion, accordingly, we find them summoning the representatives of the
crafts, and some of the leading citizens, to consult with them on the
subject, and under date 2ist August, 1574, the following interesting
minute occurs in their records. I quote from the volume of extracts
so well edited by Dr. Marwick : " The provest baillies and counsale
" with the dekynnis of the crafts, and divers wtheris honest men of the
" toun, convenand in the counsal hous, and haveand respect and con-
" sideratio unto the greit dekaye and ruyne that the hie kirk of Glasgw
" is cum to throuch taking awaye of the leid, sclait, and wther grayth
" thairof in thir trublus tyme bygane, sua that sick ane greit monument
" will alluterlie fall doun and dekey without it be remedit, and becaus
" the helping thairof is so greit, and will extend to mair nor thai may
" spair, and that they are nocht addettit to the vphalding and repairing
" thairof be the law, yit of thair awin fre willis vncompellit, and for the
" zele thai beir to the kirk, of meir almous and liberalite, sua that induce
" na practik nor preparative in tymes cuming, conforme to ane writting
" to be maid thairanent, all in ane voce has consentit to ane taxt and
" impositioun of twa hundredtht pundis money to be taxt and payit be
! I0 Repair of Cathedral.
" the tounschip and fremen thairof for helping to repair the said kirk
" and haldyng it wattirfast."
On a subsequent date, loth December, 1581, the magistrates are
joined by " the superintendent, with the deyne of facultie, principall of
" the college, and others members of the kirk," and there is farther
discussion as to the " rwyng and decay of the kirk."
A later minute, 26th July, 1589, records that complaint had been
made by " the ministers, elderis, deaconis and vtheris of the toun for
" non-repairing of the Hie Kirk according to the charges and ordinances
" maid thairanent," and arrangements are made for raising money for
the repair of " the queir." On the same occasion it is recorded that
Lord Blantyre attended and offered to contribute 400 merks towards
the expense.
The funds thus raised appear to have been altogether inadequate
for the purpose, as a still later minute, 29th April, 1609, bears that
" Maister John Bell and Robert Scot, ordiner ministeris of this burgh
" and citie," attended the council " to deploir the present hurt of the
" High Kirk and metropolitan of this diocie, and apperand rowen
" thairof;" and it is resolved to ask help of the king, besides promoting
a voluntary subscription. In this way more funds were raised and the
work was proceeded with.
The choir would probably be first repaired, but the western tower is
specially treated as part of the structure which had fallen into decay.
Under date I5th May, 1624, there is a minute in these terms: — "The
" provest, baillies, and counsall ordanis that the laich steple of the
" Heich Kirk [the western tower] be theikit with leid." On a subse-
quent date, 1 6th August, 1628, the treasurer is ordained to have a
warrant for the balance of ^178, 15$. "debursed for poynting the tua
" stipillis of the Metropolitan Kirk" — that is, the centre spire and the
western tower. And again on i8th October, 1628, a warrant is granted
to the treasurer for forty merks for " beitting and repairing the laich
" stipill of the Metropolitan Kirk."
The consistory house, which, as I have said, was probably coeval
with the tower, had, through age, fallen into still greater decay, and it
required a more extensive repair. A minute of the town council of
Repair of Western Tower and Library. 1 1 1
date 5th April, 1628, bears that "the proveist, bailyeis, and counsell has
" condescendit and aggreit that James Colquhoim, wricht, and John
" Boyid, masoun, build and repair the dekayet pairtis of the Librarie
" hous of the Hie Kirk, putt the ruiff thairon, geist and loft the samyn,
" and theik the samyn with leid, and do all thingis necessar thairto for
" 3100 merk."
All this shows that the western tower and the consistory house
were, so far back as nearly three hundred years ago, regarded then as
part of the ancient structure, and deserving of preservation equally with
the other parts of the Cathedral. I have already stated that there is
every reason for believing that the western tower was erected immedi-
ately after the nave. Indeed it made be said to have been coeval
with it. Of this there is proof in a piece of real evidence which has
been communicated to me by Mr. Honeyman. " I was told," he writes
me, " by one who examined it at the time, that the jambs of the west
" window of the north aisle, which was covered up by the tower, were
" found when exposed to be quite fresh. There was no chase cut for
"glazing, and evidently the window had never been used before the
" erection of the tower." The inference from this is obvious. If the
tower did not form part of the original design, its erection must have
been resolved on before the nave was completed, and it was built before
even the window of the north aisle required to be glazed.
Such were the portions of our grand old minster which were pulled
down in the middle of the nineteenth century. Every archaeologist —
every person with any taste or knowledge of architecture has con-
demned it. Dr. Wilson, after referring to " the rich groining springing
" from large half figures of angels bearing shields and scrolls of the
" west tower," observes truly that its removal, " for the purpose of
" restoring the west front to a uniformity, but poorly repays the idea of
" size and elevation formerly conveyed by the contrast between the
" central and west towers."1
One excuse put forward for the removal of the tower and the Con-
sistory house was that they were to be replaced by two finer towers, as
if anything modern could supply the loss of such venerable relics of a
1 Prehistoric Annals, vol. ii. p. 428.
j 1 2 Library of Cathedral.
past age. It is said that a fund was partly raised, and a government
grant promised towards the erection of these towers, but if so, nothing
came of it, and the mutilated building remains, a disgrace to the city,
and a monument of bad taste and ignorance.
To my friend Mr. W. L. Leitch, one of the greatest of living artists,
and himself a Glasgow man, and one who deplores the outrage by which
the Cathedral was mutilated, I am indebted for the beautiful drawing
of the western tower and Consistory house which is prefixed to the
present volume. The annexed view of the Lady Chapel is from an
original drawing by the late Mr. Kemp.
The see of Glasgow was one of great dignity and influence, and its
cathedral was held in very high reputation. The general jubilee pro-
claimed in 1450 on the termination of the great papal schism was
extended to Scotland, and penitential visits and offerings at the Cathe-
dral of Glasgow were declared equally meritorious with those at Rome.1
As might be inferred from the importance of the see, and the extent
of its possessions and endowments, the church was richly furnished
with ornaments, jewels, and vestments, and its "library house" con-
tained what would then be considered a pretty extensive collection of
books. A catalogue of these and of the ornaments, vestments, and
other items belonging to the cathedral has been preserved.2 But none
of the religious houses possessed extensive libraries. A catalogue
exists of the books of the priory of Lochleven, and it comprises only
seventeen volumes, and among them there is not one complete copy
of the Bible. In the list, however, which we have of the books of
the Cathedral of Glasgow 165 volumes are particularized, many of them
distinguished as being solennes, auro illuminati, magni voluminis, &c.,
indicating that they were rare and expensive books. Among them
were some fine Bibles — one of them pulcra bene illuminata. There
were also Concordances and Psalters, several lives of the saints,
including a life of St. Kentigern and one of Servanus, several costly
missals, a number of works in theology and philosophy, but very
few of the classics. One exceptionally important work there was,
1 Professor Innes, Pref. to Reg. Epis. Glasg., p. xlvii.
* Printed by the Maitland Club, from a copy made by Mr. Dillon from the ancient Chartulary.
O
Relics. 1 1 3
a CatholicoHy or Great Dictionary of the Latin Tongue, compiled by
Johannes Balbus Januensis, described as valde preciosum et solenne.
There are two manuscript copies of this work in the Hunterian Museum
at Glasgow, each in two immense volumes. The collection did not
contain a single book in the Greek language. All these books were
distinguished in the catalogue by their colours, size, number of volumes,
or the place where they were deposited, some being chained, and others
preserved in chests and presses. In the same old catalogue one of the
breviaries is described as being outside of the choir — chained, no doubt,
for the use of the general public, few of whom probably were capable
of taking advantage of it. Other books are mentioned as chained both
in the choir and in the library. This collection is all now lost or
scattered. In a minute of the town council of 2Oth September, 1660,
Bailie Pollock reports " that he had gottin in from James Porter the
" thrie great Bybilles belongs to the kirks, and that they are now lying
" in the clarkes chamber." But these were in all likelihood English
versions belonging to a much later period — probably the first large folio
of 1611, or other folio editions of the version now in use.
The Cathedral possessed, besides its books and vestments, many
relics. In an inventory of these, and of the vestments and ornaments,
which was made by order of the bishop and chapter in 1432, we find,
among other items, two linen bags containing part of the bones of
St. Kentigern and St. Thomas of Canterbury; a small phial of silver-
gilt containing a portion of the girdle of the blessed Virgin Mary, and
a piece of the crib of our Lord. To these and the other relics many
offerings were made. In the accounts of the Lord High Treasurer in
1495 there is a charge of xiiij^. given to James IV. "to offir to the
reliquis in Glasgw."1 The vestments and ornaments would appear from
the inventory to have been of more than usual magnificence.
The interior of the Cathedral was enriched with many beautiful
altars and sculptures. There were also many richly decorated altars in
the crypt. In 1290 Robert, a burgess of Glasgow, and Elizabeth his
wife, give a tenement for the augmentation of the Light of St. Mary the
Virgin in "le crudes" — the crypt.2 And in 1460 David Hynde, a bur-
1 Annals L. H. Treasurer, p. 242. 2 Regist. Glasg. p. 298.
P
jj^ Altars and Painted Glass.
gess, gives an annual of twelve pence to sustain the lights of St. Mary
and St. Kentigern in the crypt.1 The altars in the choir and nave were
very numerous, and each of them had a separate endowment. There
were besides endowments for the general services of the Cathedral.2
The windows were no doubt filled with painted glass, and the stalls
were richly decorated. There is preserved a contract, in the year 1 506,
between the dean and chapter and one Mychall Waghorn, wright, for
the repair of five of the stalls, and making a covering for them of carved
work, the details of which are given in a separate schedule, in the ver-
nacular. It includes "schorne and kerset work, and colums, and anglis,
" and frontellis fiellis with knoppis, and four lefis about ilk knop, sik lik
" as is in the chapell of Striviling," with other details. Michael was to
have for the work 40 merks, a considerable sum for that time, consider-
ing that the dean and chapter were besides to do the sawing of the
larger " burdis and treis," and also to find the stuff for the scaffolding.3
All this beautiful work, with the altars and their ornaments, the
sculptures and the painted glass, disappeared at the Reformation.
Indeed the whole structure, as already mentioned, very narrowly escaped
destruction at that time. The magistrates, probably against their own
judgment, but -instigated by Andrew Melville and others of the minis-
ters, agreed to demolish the Cathedral, and workmen were actually
convened for a particular day to commence the work. But the crafts
of the city assembled with arms in their hands " swearing with many
" oaths that he who did cast doun the first stone should be buried under
" it." The magistrates were compelled to yield, but they cited the
leaders, and threatened them with punishment. The young king, how-
ever, on being appealed to, took the part of the crafts, and prohibited
the ministers, who were the complainers, " to meddle any more in that
" business, saying that too many churches had already been destroyed,
" and that he would not tolerate more abuses of that kind."4
But the crafts were unable to save what would have been so dear
1 Regist. Glasg., p. 412. 2 Orig. Paroch. pp. 4-6.
3 Reg. Episc. Glasg., vol. ii. p. 612. There is also a copy of this curious contract — probably
the original— inserted in the Lib. Protocollorum, lately brought to light by the Grampian Club,
No. 198. 4 Spottiswoode.
Destruction of the Ornaments. \ \ 5
to the archaeologist — the altars and ornaments. An order by the Lords
for the destruction of the images and altars was obtained, but it was
granted with the proviso that " ge tak guid heyd that neither the dasks,
" windocks, nor durris be ony wise hurt or broken — either glassin wark
" or iron wark." Nevertheless, all the painted glass was destroyed,1
with many other decorations, and some of the beautiful windows of the
choir were roughly built up with stone, to save the expense of putting
other glass in them. The nave also fell into complete disrepair. I
have told how much had been accomplished by the citizens to remedy
this state of matters, but in 1638 a great deal remained to be done. In
the prospect of the famous General Assembly which was held in
Glasgow in that year, the magistrates — ashamed no doubt of the state
into which the church had fallen — made an effort to put it into better
order. It was the only place in which the Assembly could meet, and
in view of so many distinguished strangers coming to the city they
were naturally anxious to make both the church, and the city gener-
ally, look respectable. With this object they ordered that all poor
people should be kept off the streets and confined to their houses;
stringent orders were issued to keep the streets clean, and the inhabit-
ants were directed to " put out candells and bowattis" at night during
the sitting of the Assembly. As regards the Cathedral, it was resolved
by the town council that " grate paines be takin by making of the
" sait for the assemblie; repairing of the flure of the uter kirk; taking
" doun certain windous in the inner kirk biggit up with stane, and
"putting glass thairin; and other warks thair incumbent, as occasion
"sail offer."2 The repairs then and previously made prevented the
fabric from falling to ruin, but it continued in a sadly neglected state
1 The disregard of the fine painted glass of our old churches which was shown till quite
recently is incredible. There is among the MSS. of Miss Con way Griffith, at Carreglwyd, a
letter dated so late as 1786, addressed by a glazier at Hornham, near Salisbury, to a Mr. Lloyd
in London, sending him a box full of old painted glass. " It is the best," the glazier says, " I can
" get at present, but I expect to beat to pieces a good deal very soon, as it is of no use to us
" and we do it for the lead. If you want any more of the same sort you may have what there
" is, if it will pay for taking out, as it is a deal of trouble to what breaking to pieces is." This
letter is endorsed " Berry the glazier, about beating to pieces the fine painted glass window at
" Sarum to save the lead."— Fifth Report on Hist. MSS., p. 415.
2 20th October, 1638.
n6
Castle.
down to the period of its restoration in the present century — a noble
work if it had not been marred by the act of vandalism which I
have referred to.
THE CASTLE, AND THE MANOR HOUSES OF
THE BISHOPS.
Another of the old landmarks of Glasgow — of which unhappily no
trace now remains — was the bishop's castle or palace, which stood near
the western entrance of the Cathedral, and the ruins of which remained
till the end of the last century. It is mentioned in an old charter as
early as 1290. At first a mere place of strength, it was extended into
a palace with gardens and courts, and we have already seen that it was
in "the inner flower garden" that the archbishop, in 1553, received the
provost and council of the city, when they waited upon him for the pur-
pose of his nominating the bailies for the year. Of its early history we
have no record. A great tower and some other portions of the structure
are known to have been built by Bishop Cameron towards the middle
of the fifteenth century. A smaller tower was built by Archbishop
Beton, a short time before the battle of
Flodden, and by the same prelate the
castle was surrounded by a protecting
wall, on several places of which, Nisbet
tells us, were " the arms of Beton quar-
tered with Balfour, and below the arms
a salmon with a ring in its mouth."1
When the castle was demolished the
greater part of the architectural orna-
ments were no doubt destroyed, but a
few sculptured stones were saved. One
of these, evidently one of those described
by Nisbet, was till recently to be seen built into the front wall of an old
house in North Woodside Road, which was pulled down in 1869. This
1 Nisbet's Heraldry, iii. 2, p. 41.
Old Sculptures of Castle. r r ;
stone is now, or was recently, in the possession of the clergymen of the
Roman Catholic church of St. Joseph. The arms, it will be observed,
are those of the archbishop as described by Nisbet: Quarterly, ist and
4th azure a fess between 3 mascles, or, for Beton; 2d and 3d argent, on
a chevron sable an otter's
head erased of the first,
for Balfour — the arch-
bishop having been de-
scended from the heiress
of Sir John Balfour of
that ilk.
A handsome gate -
house and arched gate-
way were added to the
castle by Beton's suc-
cessor, Bishop Dunbar —
the last but one of the
Roman Catholic prelates
who occupied the see,
and who died in 1547.
Over this gateway was
an elaborate sculpture, or
rather series of sculp-
tures, on two separate
stones, the one over the
other. These stones have
also fortunately been pre-
served. Like the one
already mentioned they
were removed by one
of the citizens, and about the year 1760 they were built into the
back part of the tenement No. 22 High Street, where they remained
till quite recently. On the upper stone are the arms of Scotland with
the supporting unicorns; and this portion I have no doubt was erected
by Dunbar himself, for it bears the initial of the reigning sovereign—
! r g Decay of the Castle.
"I. 5" (James V.), who died in 1542 while the archbishop was still
living. On the lower stone are two shields. On the one is sculptured
the paternal arms of Dunbar. He was of the family of Mochrum,
descended from Randolf, Earl of Moray, and the arms are those of that
noble family: — or, three cushions within a double tressure flory and
counter-flory gules, with a mullet for difference. Underneath this shield
is the salmon with the ring in its mouth. On the lower shield are the
arms of James Houston, sub-dean of Glasgow, being those of Houston
of that ilk, viz., or, a chevron cheque sable and argent between three
martlets of the second, with a rose in chief for difference. On each side
of these shields is an ornamental pillar. The sub-dean was a friend
of the archbishop, and a person of great influence in Glasgow, and the
probability is that this part of the sculpture was erected by him after
Dunbar's death. These interesting sculptures were recently presented
by Bailie Miller, the proprietor of the tenement, to Sir William Dunbar,
the lineal descendant of the Dunbars of Mochrum, for the purpose of
being built into his new mansion in Wigtonshire — a fitter resting-place,
perhaps, for the old stones than the back tenement in High Street,
though it is to be regretted they were not retained in the city. The
engraving is from a photograph taken immediately before their removal.
These stones, and an oak panel in the possession of the Archaeological
Society of Glasgow, are, so far as I know, all that remain of the old
castle.
Within this castle of Glasgow the bishops, in the palmy days of the
see, kept a splendid court, and entertaining, as they did, princes and other
visitors of rank, their expenditure must have been considerable. After the
Reformation the castle presented a very different aspect. Yet, although
the building was ruinous, and the archbishops poor, they still exercised
a limited hospitality, but it was little they could afford to do in that
way. We have one interesting peep into the interior towards the middle
of the seventeenth century — Sir William Brereton being our informant.
" Going into the hall of the castle," he says, " which is a poor and mean
"place, the archbishop's daughter, a handsome and well-bred proper
" gentlewoman, entertained me with much civil respect, and would not
" suffer me to depart until I had drank Scotch ale, which was the best I
Dilapidation of Castle. ! z g
" had tasted in Scotland."1 This was in 1634. The archbishop was
Patrick Lindsay, a descendant of an old branch of the Earls of Craw-
ford— a quiet gentlemanly man by all accounts. In 1638, when matters
came to a crisis, he was deposed and excommunicated with the other
bishops by the General Assembly, when he left the castle and withdrew
into England, where he died in poverty. But it is pleasant to know that
his handsome and hospitable daughter was well married.
Before the Reformation the meetings of the town council appear
to have been held in the castle, but after the flight of Beton they were
removed to the Old Tolbooth at the Cross. Under date 28th Septem-
ber, 1576, there is an entry in the burgh accounts of a payment "for
"bringing doun of the counsal hous burds furth of the castell;" and
another for the bringing of " furmes, coilles, and peittis fra the castell."
After this the building fell into disrepair. It was partially restored in
1611 by Archbishop Spottiswoode, who made it his residence. Ray,
writing in 1681, speaks of it as "a goodly building," and still in good
preservation; but Morer, who wrote his "Short account of Scotland" in
1689, speaks of it as a building " formerly without doubt a very magni-
" ncent structure, but now in ruins." For some time after this, however,
it was occasionally used as a prison.
In the beginning of the eighteenth century a praiseworthy, but
apparently fruitless attempt, was made by one of the burgesses to save
the building from further dilapidation. Among the scattered leaves
saved from the fire at the Exchequer in Edinburgh, is a representation
to the barons by "Robert Thomson, merchant in Glasgow," dated 1720,
which sets forth that " the castle formerly possest by the archbishops is,
" throw its not being inhabited thes many years past, become wholly
" ruinous. And also that some bad men are become so barbarous and
" unjust as to carry of the stones timber sklates and other materials
" belonging thereunto, and apply the same to their own particular use, to
" the shame and disgrace of the Christian religion — which the said
" Robert Thomson as living neer to the said castle thought it his duty
"to represent to your Lops."2 About forty years afterwards, when
the Saracen's Head Inn was erected in the Gallowgate, the magistrates,
1 Brereton's Travels, p. 117. 2 Preface to Reg. Epis. Glasg., p. Iviii.
i2o Bishops Manors.
who actively promoted that undertaking, by way of encouragement to
the contractor allowed him to take the stones for building it from the
castle. All that remained of it in 1789 was removed in that year
when the present Royal Infirmary was erected. Even at that time,
however, judging from drawings of it which are preserved, it must have
been a picturesque building and the ruins of considerable extent. The
annexed view is from an engraving published in 1783, after a draw-
ing by a Mr. Hearne.
There is a tradition that the bishops had, not very far from the
castle, a rural manor in a locality which was then a part of the old
Bishop's Eorest, but is now almost in the heart of Glasgow, and which
is traversed by the street in Anderston called Bishop Street; but of this I
have not been able to find any positive confirmation. An elderly woman,
who had all her life resided in Bishop Street, informed me recently that
when she was a child she was told by a person, then a very old woman,
that the bishop's house was situated in the midst of gardens on the
west side of the street; and she described a narrow lane existing in her
day, and running northwards from the main street of Anderston, on the
east of Bishop Street, as what had been the bishop's entry to his house.
It was called the Bishop's Walk. The name of the present street, and
the name of the corn-mills on the west side of it — Bishop's Garden
Mills — give countenance to this tradition.
It is certain, however, that the bishops had, from very early times, a
manor at Partick. Mention is made of it as early as the twelfth cen-
tury in a charter by King David (1136), giving lands in " Perdeyc" to
the church of Kentigern in Glasgow. In 1277 the grant already men-
tioned, by Maurice, Lord of Luss, of wood for the repair of the church, is
dated at Partick, where he was no doubt at the time on a visit to the
bishop; and a notarial instrument executed in 1362, entitled Compro-
misso in Arbitros inter Episcopum et capitnlum, bears to be dated
"apud manerium dicti domini Glasguensis episcopi de Perthik." It
may have been from a tradition of this residence that an old house, the
ruins of which stood till recently on the right bank of the Kelvin, not
far from the junction of that river with the Clyde, came to be called
the bishop's castle. But it was certainly not built by a bishop of
p fc
JZi cb
Partick Castle.
121
Glasgow. Chalmers, in his Caledonia, referring to this house, says
that Archbishop Spottiswood, who repaired the Cathedral and the
archiepiscopal palace, built also in 1611 a castle at Partick as a country
seat for the archbishops ; and elsewhere he speaks of it as situated " on
" an elevated site on the west bank of the Kelvin, the ruins being called
" the bishop's castle." By this name it was no doubt known for nearly
a century, but it is certain that the house referred to was built by
George Hutcheson, one of the founders of the hospital of that name, as
a residence for himself, and the contract for building it, dated in 1611,
is still extant.1 The view which I have given of this well-known old
landmark is from a drawing made in 1828. Of the old manor-house
erected by the bishops, there remains no trace, but it is not improbable
that Mr. Hutcheson may have built his house on the site of the bishop's
residence, and that, indeed, he may have used in its construction some
of the stones of the old castle.
While mentioning Partick, it is interesting to note that in one of the
earliest charters, granted by Bishop Herbert in 1152, mention is made
1 History of Partick Castle, by Laurence Hill, Esq., LL.B.
Glasgow: privately printed.
Q
122
Islands in the Clyde.
of lands in Partick "with the adjacent islands between Guvan and
" Perthic." Of these islands no trace now remains. But there were
till a comparatively recent period several islands in the Clyde below the
mouth of the Kelvin, some of which may be recognized although now
joined to the land. They are shown on Blaeu's map, which was pub-
lished in 1654. The above cut is a fac-simile of the portion of that map
containing the islands. One was the Water Inch, lying immediately west
of the mouth of the Kelvin. Another, farther down and much larger,
was the White Inch, comprising the district which still bears that name.
Still farther down was the Sand Inch, and below the mouth of the river
Cart was the New-shot Isle. There were other islands in the Clyde
above the harbour. One, according to the map, was below the bridge,
and another, called the Point Isle, was opposite the Green, a little below
the Arns Well, but this does not appear on Blaeu's map. It was in
1730 upwards of an acre in extent, and at that time it formed one of
the principal salmon shots of the river. No trace of it now remains.
At a period still earlier than that of the manor at Partick the
Bishops of Glasgow had a rural palace at their barony of Ancrum.
Of this manor and barony they were the earliest possessors on record,
and the lands are mentioned as belonging to the see as early as the
Notitia of David in 1116. Here the bishops often resided, and from
here they dated many of their charters. In a letter from Lord Dacres
to Henry VIII. in October, 1513, shortly after the battle of Flodden,
Manor of Lochwood. 123
the bishop's house is styled the Castle of Ancrum. Its remains form
part of the present mansion of the Scotts of Ancrum.1
Besides these, the bishops possessed from the beginning of the
fourteenth century another residence at Lochwood, about six miles
eastward from Glasgow. The castle stood on the south side of a small
lake called the Bishop's Loch, and in the old charter it is called Maneri-
um de lacu juxta Glasgu. It contained a chapel, and many of the
episcopal charters are dated from this place. It is mentioned also in a
curious instrument of protest, taken during the episcopate of Bishop
Lindsay, which bears that while the bishop was residing at his Manor
of the Lake, his seal had been lost by Robert del Barkour near the
chapel of St. Mary of Dunbretan, and found and restored to him by
James of Irwyn, a monk of Paselet. After the flight of Beton, the last
Roman Catholic archbishop, Lochwood was taken possession of by the
Duke of Chatelherault, from whom Robert Boyd of Bannheith obtained
a grant of the lands, but his right appears to have been disputed. The
archbishop was then at the court of France, as ambassador of Queen
Mary, and one of his adherents in Scotland writes to him, under date
7th March, 1588: " Quhat sail becum of the Lochwood God knawis, for
" the Laird of Bannheith and the gudeman of Orbiston are contendand
" for it, althocht the best richt be gours."2 By an act of parliament in
1600 Beton, in consideration of his services as ambassador, was restored
to his archbishopric, notwithstanding his never having acknowledged the
reformed religion. This restitution was made, however, without pre-
judice to certain feus which had been made of the episcopal lands, and
under reservation of the stipends of the ministers, and of certain rents and
duties which had been given to the college. There was exempted also
from the restitution " the castell of Glasgow and cheising of the pro vest
" and bailleis of Glasgow, and provestrie and baillierie thereof."3 But
the bishop got back his Manor of the Lake, the rents of which he"
enjoyed for the remainder of his life. He did not return to Scotland,
however, and died at Paris in 1603. The castle of Lochwood was
afterwards demolished, and no trace of it now remains. In later times
1 Orig. Paroch., vol. i. p. 304. 2 Miscellaneous Papers, Maitland Club, p. 44.
3 Munumenta Universitatis, vol. i. p. 155.
I24
Old Streets and Buildings.
the place became the property of Mr. John Baird, of the Gartsherrie
family.
The Bishops of Glasgow had still another residence — Castel Tarras,
or Castel Staris, a locality now known as Carstairs, where, as I have
already mentioned, Wyschard, the zealous supporter of Bruce, built a
castle. He was called to account by Edward I. for having clone so
without his permission, but was afterwards allowed to complete it.
OLD STREETS AND BUILDINGS.
r "~c~
To the south of the castle was the Stable Green, so called from
its being near the castle stables, and from which one of the ports
of the city took its name. It is described in an instrument in 1510
as "the Stablegreyn beyond the city gates."1 It was in the Stable
Green that the family of Lennox acquired their first residence in
the city, by the purchase of a house in 1509 by Earl Matthew, after-
wards provost of Glasgow, from the rec-
tor of Stobo. It was in this house that
the earl's widow, the granddaughter of
James II., resided after her husband had
been killed at Flodden. Here also her
descendant, the unfortunate Darnley, re-
sided with his father during his recovery
from the effects of poison; and it was
here that Queen Mary visited him not
long before his murder. There has been
preserved a stone on which are sculptured
arms, as shown in the cut, which formed
part of that house. The arms are those of Sir John Stewart, second
son of Alexander, high-steward of Scotland, from whom the family of
Lennox was descended.2 The house which formerly stood to the south-
1 Liber Protocollorum, No. 434.
2 The Earls of Lennox carried buckles on a border gules, and a progenitor carried roses.
The stone is curious as showing both buckles and roses as ornaments exterior to the shield.
6V. Nicholas Hospital. I25
west of the Cathedral, called Darnley's Cottage, was a comparatively
modern building.1
The " Place of the Vicars" was on the north side of the Cathedral.
We learn this from an instrument in 1508, in which a tenement with
garden and pertinents is described as " lying on the north side of the
" church of Glasgow between the great garden of the archbishop and
" the place of the vicars."2
Near the Stable Green, on the west side of Castle Street, stood
St. Nicholas Hospital, founded by Bishop Muirhead about the year
1460, the revenues of which, though very small, are still, after the lapse
of four hundred years, administered by the Magistrates and Town
Council of Glasgow. The original endowment was for twelve indigent
old men, and a priest to perform divine service in the hours of canonical
devotion. Archbishop Leigh ton in 1677 left to it ^150 as a further
endowment. The other revenues which still remain were derived from
some small ground rents bequeathed by Martin, chancellor of the
Cathedral, in 1501. In 1795, when Brown wrote his History, the hall
and chapel of the hospital still existed, but were in ruins and used as a
cow-house. Nisbet in his Heraldry describes the chapel as "of fine
aisler work of a Gothic form, and the windows supported by a but-
tress between each of them." He adds that over the door were the
arms of Bishop Muirhead — three acorns on a bend, surmounted by
the salmon, and a crozier behind the shield. This chapel remained
till so late as 1808, when it was pulled down. Nisbet also notices a
manse opposite the hospital, built by the bishop as a residence for
the priest, on which also were the bishop's arms. Farther to the
north, and near the Stable Green port, stood another hospital, known
as the Back Almshouse. It was founded by Roland Blackadder, sub-
dean of Glasgow, for the benefit of indigent persons coming casually to
the city. This hospital appears to have become united to the foundation
of Bishop Muirhead. In 1590 there is a deed of bequest by which
John Painter, master of the Sang school, leaves three pounds " to the
" twelve poor men in the free almshouse called St. Nicholas Hospital,
" and twenty shillings to the four poor men of the back almshouse."
1 Liber Protocol!., preface, p. 19. 2 Ibid., No. 307.
126 The Back Almshouse.
And in a minute of council in 1606 the two hospitals are called "the
" Bishop of Glasgow Almshouses situat besyde the castell of Glasgow."
From one of the minutes of the Presbytery of Glasgow, 25th November,
J595> we learn that at that time these almshouses were surrounded
with trees. By this minute the presbytery ordains the four ministers
of Glasgow, with the master of work, and others, " to sicht the treis at
" the almoushous gif it be expedient for the weal of the almoushous that
" the samin be cuttit and gif swa be fund that the same be applyit to
" sum wse of the said almoushous." The presbytery also appears to
have had the nomination of the parties to be admitted to the benefit of
the foundation.1
In a minute of council in 1589 is preserved a description of this
" hospitall besyde the stabil grene," which is interesting as a portrait of
one of our old houses, now that so much of the ancient city has dis-
appeared. The minute records a visit of inspection by " the bailleis."
It first mentions " the gaird dyk, the north syd therof, weill dykit and
" kaipit with stane, and ane haill hedge on the south syd thereof." The
" heich chalmer of the said hospitall" is described as "well loftit and
" jestit, twa windois within the samyn, staincherit with irne; ane stand
"bed fixit in the wall of the said chalmer, weill burdeit; ane pantrie
" dure and ane saig dure . . . without has ane sufficient gude dure, and
" foir gett, weill wallit and lokit, with ane raill galrie stair, and ane
" turlies upon the northmost windo thereof. Item fand the laich hous
" thereof with sex stand beddis of aik sufficient, with ane paintrie lokfast,
" and ane mekill kist standand within the same claspit with irne on
" every nook. Item fand the coilhous dure sufficientlie lockit and
" bandit, weill wallit, and kapit round about. Item the haill hous of
" the said hospitall sufficient in miff, tymmer, sklait, and waterfast.
" Item fand ane doubill foir gett bandit, without ane lok, with the walls
" of the clois weill kapit about."2
All that has been saved of the endowments of these ancient founda-
tions is a capital of ^380 and about ^15 yearly from grain rents and
old houses.
Immediately contiguous to St. Nicholas Hospital stood the manse
1 Presbytery Records, I2th Feb. 1606. 2 Council Records, 3oth December, 1589.
Hospital for Lepers. 127
of the prebendary of Morebattle, which after the Reformation was
acquired by the Incorporated Trades of Glasgow, and became the
Trades House. On the other side of the Hospital stood the manse of
the prebendary of Barlanark and lord of Provan. These manses, which
remained till quite recently, were in all probability two of those which
were erected by order of Bishop Cameron as residences for his canons.
James IV. was a canon of the Cathedral, and held the appointments of
prebendary of Barlanark and lord of Provan.
Besides the hospitals just mentioned there was an hospital for lepers
on the south side of the river. In 1494 it was called "hospitale lepro-
" sorum degentium prope pontem;" and in 1555 it is described as "the
" Leper house of St. Ninian beyond the bridge of Glasgow." It is
said to have been founded by a lady of the family of Lochow about
1350. It had a burying ground and chapel near it. An entry in the
burgh records supplies a graphic picture of these poor lepers — describing
their peculiar enforced costume, and the precautions prescribed against
contact with them. It is as follows: — " It is statut and ordainit that the
"lipper of the Hospital sail gang only upon the calsie syde, near the
" gutter, and sal haif clapperis, and ane claith upon thair mouth and face,
" and sail stand afar of qll they resaif almous, or answer, under the payne
" of banisching thame the toun and Hospitall."1
So terrible does this disease appear to have been, and so much
dreaded, that when a member of a family was stricken the others sought
to have them separated from the family circle. An example of this
occurs in the records of the Presbytery of Glasgow, where a hus-
band denounced his leper wife, requiring, apparently, the sanction of
the church in order to effect the separation. The entry in the presby-
tery books is very curious: "Anent ye lamenting gevin in be James
" Mitchell in baluvin, twiching ye disease of marioun Layng his spous in
" Leprosie, to his great grief qr throw nether he nor his servands can
" have with hir, swa diseasit, sic familiaritie and pleasantnes as is
" requirit." The presbytery refers " the tryal thereof to the minister of
" Campsie, and neighbours to the said marioun," and to report.2 The
result is not stated; but no doubt, if it confirmed the "lament" of the
1 6th October, 1610. 2 Presbytery Records, iQth Nov. 1606.
1 28 The Mint of Glasgow.
husband, the poor woman would be ordered to the almshouse beyond
the bridge. This leper-house was an old foundation. We find James IV.,
during a visit to Glasgow in 1491, giving alms to the unfortunate
inmates. In his household accounts there is this entry: " Item to the
" sick folk at the brig of Glasgw be the kings command ij s."
While the temporal wants of the inmates of the several hospitals
were no doubt well attended to, the presbytery was careful of their
spiritual interests. By a minute of 5th June, 1593, they "ordaine the
" puir folk of the Almshouse to be summoned to this daye viii dayes to
" compeir before them to give the confessioune of their faithe."
In process of time houses extended from the Cathedral along the
Rottenrow — called in the old charters via Rattomim — and eastward
along the Drygate. In early times there was a mint in Glasgow, and it
is supposed to have been in the Drygate, though no trace of it remains.
It existed as early as the reign of Alexander II., as appears from coins
of that reign which have been preserved;1 and from the minute descrip-
tion given by M'Ure of coins of Robert III., of which, he says, specimens
existed in his day, there can be no doubt that in that reign also coins
were struck in Glasgow ; but of these last none are now known to exist.
From the E)rygate and Rottenrow houses gradually extended down
the east side of the steep part of the High Street, but till a compara-
tively recent period there is no record of houses on the west side of that
street. The houses on the east side had most of them gardens with
fields extending down to the Molendinar Burn — then an open limpid
stream — which acquired its name from the mill of the bishop's manor.
One of these possessions in the High Street is described in a charter of
1463 as the tenement of John Wilson, with a garden and fields extend-
ing to the burn — " cum orto et aggeribus tendentibus ad rivolum de
" Malyndoner jacen. in civitate Glasguen. in publico vico principale."
At the foot of the New Vennel was a bleaching green, so large that
it came to be used for pasturing horses and cattle. But to this abuse
the magistrates put a stop, ordaining that " all hors or kyne that beis
"fund theron be poyndit."2
1 Records of the Coinage of Scotland, by R. W. Cochrane Patrick, Esq., vol. i. p. xliii.
2 1 6th June, 1677.
The Old Gardens. 129
To almost all the old houses gardens were attached. Gardening was
much cultivated in Scotland. It was a favourite amusement of James I.,
as it had been of David I., and the monasteries, as well as most lands
near cathedrals, were distinguished for good gardens and orchards.
And the gardens in Glasgow were not mere " kail yards," for they
were of such extent and importance as to be the subject of a special
teind duty. " The tiends of the yairds of Glasgow" were those which
were exigible from the gardens attached to the houses of the ancient
city, and some of these gardens were not deemed unfit for even a king
to walk in. There is a charter in 1649 by Charles II., to Janet and
John Cleland, of a tenement on the south side of the Drygate, with the
gardens, upper and lower, attached to it — the conveyance being burdened
with the payment of a certain yearly sum to the rector and other mem-
bers of the Academy and College of Glasgow; and in this charter the
king reserves to himself and his successors the right to one chamber
and a stable in the back part of the tenement, with the liberty of walk-
ing and recreation in the gardens whenever they resided in Glasgow.
The words are, " Cum potestate spaciandi, ambulandi, et nos delectandi
" in horto sive hortis, vocatis gairdenes, durantibus nostrorum residentiis
" in dicto burgo Glasguensi."
Buildings gradually extended down the High Street to the Cross —
at first a thin line of houses with probably frequent spaces between,
and nothing behind them but fields and gardens, and the open country
beyond. In an old charter this street is called "magnus vicus tendens
"ab ecclesia cathedrali ad crucem fori;"1 and in a later deed (1433) it
is called "the gat at strekis fra the mercat cors tyll the He kirk of
" Glascu."2 The first cross of the burgh stood at the junction of the
Rottenrow with Drygate.
In an alley on the west side of the High Street, a little above the
College, was the monastery or " place " and gardens of the friars called
the Fratres Minores de Observatione, or Minorites, founded circa 1476
by Bishop John Laing and Thomas Forsyth, rector of Glasgow.3 No
records of the foundation, nor of the extent of its property, are preserved,
but in the Liber Protocollorum there is an instrument recording a grant
1 Lib. Coll. N. D., p. 240. 2 Ibid., p. 166. 3 Spottiswoode.
£ OQ Convent of the Black Friars.
to them by the chapter of Glasgow of a portion of the Ramshorn
grounds adjoining the walls of their garden to the west for extending
their buildings and garden.1 An unfortunate member of this fraternity
—one Jeremy Russell — was burned for heresy in 1599.
On the other side of the High Street, near where the old College
Church was afterwards erected, stood the more important convent of
the Dominicans or Friars Preachers, popularly known as the Black
Friars. Their church, which was surrounded by a cemetery, was begun
to be built some time before 1246 — probably in the preceding century.
Although it did not probably come up to the description given of it by
M'Ure, it must have been a fine old building. It was, M'Ure says,
" the ancientest building of Gothic kind of work that could be seen in
" the whole kingdom, as was observed by Mr. Miln, the Architect to
" King Charles I., who when he surveyed it in 1638, declared that it
" had not its parallel in all Scotland except Whittairn in Galloway."2
Of its general appearance a representation has been fortunately pre-
served in the bird's-eye view of the college by Captain Slezer, which I
have given in a subsequent page.3 This view must have been taken
shortly before the church was destroyed by lightning in 1670.
The Place or Convent was in the High Street to the west of the
church, and it was richly endowed. There are notices of it in Glasgow
deeds as early as 1270. In one charter of that date there is bequeathed
to the vicars choral of the Cathedral a house which is described as
"proximior Fratribus Predicatoribus in villa Glasguensi inter ipsos
" fratres et domum Willelmi de Belledstane." There are many deeds in
the Chartulary relating to the property of the order, some of them curious
and interesting. In 1301, when Edward I. was in Glasgow, endeavour-
ing to bring the western shires of Scotland under his dominion, he was
lodged in the convent of the Friars Preachers. It was probably the only
place in the town capable of receiving the royal retinue, and like other
buildings of the Dominicans it was no doubt richly furnished. Edward
at this time was constant in his offerings at the high altar, and at the
shrine of Kentigern, in the Cathedral, and the sums which he paid on
1 Lib. Protocollorum, No. 560. 2 M'Ure's History, ist edit., p. 60. 3 Page 133.
Black Friars.
P:se occasions are preserved, and also, in some instances, the occasion
the gifts. On the 230! of August, 1301, he offered seven shillings in
lour of St. Bartholomew. Two days afterwards he offers the same
sum in consequence of " good news which he had of the Lord Malcolm
" of Drumman, a Scottish knight, having been captured by the lord John
"of Segrave." And on the 2d of September in the same year the
occasion of his offering is " good news which he had of the Castle of
"Turnberry."1
Among the endowments of the convent there is an old writ sub-
scribed by two notaries, which mentions a chalder of meal as being paid
"to the friers" furth of the lands of Balagan, with liberty of cutting
timber, and also a right of fishing in Lochlemont (Loch Lomond).
For many years the convent shared, along with the chapter-house
of the Cathedral, the merit of sheltering under its roof the more import-
ant assemblies of the university after its foundation in the middle of
the fifteenth century. In the century following the prior and convent
made an attempt to vindicate for their precincts the privileges of a sanc-
tuary. The question came to be tried in a suit arising out of a sudden
quarrel between two of the citizens, in which one of them wounded the
other. The aggressor, according to the representation of the friars,
" fled into the said place and sanctuary for girth, traisting to haif bruikit
" the privilege of the samyn." But the friends of the injured man " be
|"fource and way of deid tuke him furthe of the porche kirk dure
" thereof, delivered him to the provost and baillies of the said citie and
" chalmerlane of the castell thereof, qua hes and wythaldis him, and will
" not restore him againe to the fredome and privelege of the said sanc-
" tuary without thai be compelled : to the grait hurt of the freedome and
"privelege of Halie kirk." Their suit was unsuccessful, and the court
assoilzied the defenders, on the ground that the convent had failed to
establish their alleged right.
The friars had a grant in 1304 from Robert, bishop of Glasgow,
authorizing them to introduce into their convent the water of the Dean-
side or Meadow well — a spring which was then and for long afterwards
in great repute — " Fontem quendam qui dicitur Meduwel in loco qui
1 Reg. Epis. Glasg., No. 548.
1^2 The College.
"dicitur Denside scaturientem in perpetuum conducendum in claustrum
" dictorum patrum ad usus necessaries eorundem."1
The whole property of this community was transferred to the univer-
sity in 1568. In 1578 there still remained "a tenement of howssis per-
"teining sumtime to the saids Friers Predicatouris"2 —possibly the one
fronting the High Street, shown in Captain Slezer's view — but with
this exception the only part of their buildings which appears to have
survived the Reformation was their conventual church. It remained,
though in a ruinous state, till the year 1670, when, as already stated, it
was destroyed by lightning,3 and what was afterwards known as the
College Church — also now removed — was built upon its site.
The well-known pile on the same side of the High Street, farther
up, till recently occupied by the college, is not of very ancient date.
The building of it was begun only in 1632. Glasgow was the second
of the universities of Scotland, and was founded in 1450. It had the
papal privilege of a Studium Generate — the then technical term for a
university — and a foundation by the Pope. It took for its model the
famous schools of Paris and Bologna — adopting the same mode of
teaching and examining, and prescribing the same text-books. The
pope in making the grant professed to be actuated by the fitness of the
city "on account of the healthiness of its climate and the plenty of
" victuals, and of every thing necessary for the use of man."
The first building, called the Schools, in which the masters taught,
was a house which had belonged to the parson of Luss, and which was
afterwards called " the auld Pedagogy." It was situated in the Rotten-
row, and is supposed by Professor Innes to have been in existence and
used as a chapter-house before the papal foundation. It included a
dwelling-place for students of arts, which was named Collegium^ in which
they had chambers and a common hall. This old building remained till
the middle of the present century. The accompanying view of the ruins
is taken from the north.
But the faculty did not long remain there. In 1459 they acquired
from James, the first Lord Hamilton, a portion of the land in the High
Street on which the present buildings were subsequently erected. The
1 Lib. Coll. N. D. 2 Munimenta Universitatis, vol. i. p. 120. 3 Law's Memorials.
The College Buildings.
33
grant was in favour of Master Duncan Bunch, principal regent of the
faculty of arts of the Studium of Glasgow, and it conveyed a tenement
in the High Street, near the Place of the Dominican Friars, together
with four acres of land in the Dove Hill, contiguous to the Molendinar
Burn, on the condition that twice in every day, at the close of their
noontide and evening meals, the regents and students should rise and
pray for his own soul and that of Euphemia his wife, countess of Douglas
and lady of Bothwell; and that if a chapel or oratory should be built in
the college, the regents and students should also there assemble, and on
their bended knees sing an ave to the Virgin with a collect and remem-
brance for himself and his wife.1 To this ground an addition was made
in 1475 by "the annexation and union of Sir Thomas Arthurlees' place
" or manor to the pedagogy."
In 1563 the possessions of the University in the High Street were
still farther increased by a grant from Queen Mary of the manse and
" kirkroom " of the Friars Preachers, with thirteen acres of land in the
Dove Hill, with certain rents from tenements in the city and elsewhere.2
4 Munimenta Universitatis Glasguensis, vol. i. p. 9. 2 Ibid., vol. i. p. 67.
Students Apartments.
The occasion of the grant is stated to be the ruined state of the univer-
sity and college — its schools and chambers standing half-built, and the
endowments of its teachers and the provision made for its poor scholars
having ceased.
The new buildings were begun, as I have mentioned, in 1632, and
by 1656 the structure had been completed, with the exception of the
court, in which the professors' houses were. The prefixed bird's-eye
view of the college is from the curious work of Captain John Slezer,
Theatrum Scotiae, already referred to, and it may be accepted as a correct
representation of what it was about the year I66O.1 Captain Slezer's
work was not published till 1693, but the view must have been taken
some time previous to 1670, as it represents the old church of the
Blackfriars, which was destroyed in that year.
Previous to the new erection the general chapters of the university
met, as already stated, sometimes in the Cathedral and sometimes
within the precincts of the Friars Preachers. The first general chapter,
held in 1451 for the incorporation of members, met in the chapter-house
of the Friars, and the last transactions recorded before the Reformation
show us the university met in full convocation in the chapter-house of
the Cathedral, while the faculty of arts held its congregation in the crypt
at the altar of St. Nicholas.2 On the 25th October, 1637, we find the
faculty holding a meeting " at the castell of Glasgow " — the archbishop
being at that time chancellor.3
In 1577 James V. issued a new erection or foundation, which more
amply endowed the university, and in several respects changed its origi-
nal constitution and character.
Within the precincts of the college in the High Street many of the
students resided, as they had done in the old premises in the Rottenrow.
They occupied apartments in the different courts, and dined at a common
table. At first they appear to have paid no rent for their rooms, but
after 1712 a charge was made for each room, varying from four shillings
sterling to ten shillings for the session, according to the situation.4 The
students appear to have furnished their own rooms. Dr. Carlyle of
Inveresk, who studied at the university in 1743, says: "I had my
1 See cut, p. 133. 2 Professor Innes. 3 Munimenta, vol. iii. p. 379. 4 Ibid., vol. iii. p. 513.
College Gardens.
135
" lodging this session in a college room which I had furnished for the
" session at a moderate rent. John Donaldson, a college servant, lighted
"my fire and made my bed; and a maid from the landlady who fur-
" nished the room came once a fortnight with clean linens."4
The accompanying view of the inner court of the college is interest-
ing from its having been taken on the occasion of the rejoicings which
took place in Glasgow in 1761 on the coronation of George III. The
smoke behind the steeple proceeds from a bonfire kindled in the High
Street before the college gate. On this occasion the court was decorated
with pictures supplied by the Foulises, who had at that time their studio
within the college buildings. The illustration is copied from an engrav-
ing executed in their academy, and published at the time. It is farther
interesting as showing the costume of the citizens of Glasgow in the
middle of the eighteenth century. The above view of the College is
from a drawing made by Mr. Leitch in 1845.
Besides the garden behind the college, called "the great yard," there
was constructed in 1704 a " Physic garden;" but to these gardens all of
the students had not access — an unjust partiality having been shown by
confining the privilege to "the sons of noblemen who are scholars." To
4 Autobiography of the Rev. Dr. Alexander Carlyle, Edin. 1860, p. 99.
i 36 jurisdiction of Professors.
each of this favoured class the faculty allowed "a key to the great garden
" and Physic garden, providing the said privileged persons promise to
" allow no other the use of the said key."1 About this time the students
appear to have been in the habit of acting plays, but eventually this was
prohibited by the faculty under the pain of expulsion. In many other
respects the faculty exercised a strict discipline over the students. On
one occasion a student was fined for cutting the gown of another student
on the Lord's day. On another the faculty deals with a student for
challenging another to fight with swords. The wearing of swords by
the students was strictly prohibited, and on one occasion a student is
severely rebuked for having been " found by the Principal on Tuesday
" last with a sword girt about him in the toun," and the sword is
impounded. Another student is reprimanded for being " found drink-
" ing in an ale-house with some touns people at eleven of the clock at
" night," and threatened with expulsion if it be repeated. Cases of riot
and insubordination are frequent, and these are summarily dealt with by
the college authorities. One singular piece of mischief practised by
the students was to give in the name of some fellow-student, whom they
wished to annoy, to be publicly prayed for in the church by name. This
went so far that" the professors had to interfere. A number of students
were summoned before them and reprimanded, and one of them was
expelled.2
But the faculty claimed a much larger power over the students than
dealing with such cases of discipline. They asserted an absolute juris-
diction, extending even to criminal charges, to the exclusion of that of
the magistrates of the city; and they put in practice what they claimed,
for they had a prison of their own in the steeple to which delinquent
students were consigned. On one occasion a student — John Satcher
by name — was committed to this prison for sending a letter to the
principal " conceived in very insolent terms." Thereupon some of the
other students broke open the prison door and released John, who,
as the faculty minute bears, forthwith " threw off his gown and with-
" drew himself from the college till this morning, when he was seized
"and put into his former place of confinement." Subsequently the
1 Munimenta, vol. ii. p. 421. 2 Ibid>) vol ^ pp 373-379.
Charge of Murder. 137
culprit " acknowledged his great offence," and having " humbly begged
"pardon of the principal and all the masters" he was reponed — the
ringleader of those who had broken the prison door being subjected to
a fine of eighteen shillings sterling."1 The faculty also exercised the
discipline of corporal punishment. One of their edicts in 1667 is that
if any students occupying rooms within the college shall be " found
" guiltie of breaking the glass windowes or doing anie other detriment
" to the hous, they shall be forthwith publicklie whipped and extruded
"the colledge."2
But these were small matters. A case occurred when a student,
Robert Bartoune, was charged with murder, and the faculty did not
hesitate, even in that case, to assert its jurisdiction and proceed to
exercise it. The court was held in " the laigh hall of the universitie,"
on the 1 8th of August, 1670 — Sir William Fleming of Farme, rector,
presiding, with the dean of faculty and three regents as assessors.
The indictment was given in by " John Cummyng wryter in Glasgow,
" elected to be Procurator Fiscal of the said universitie, and by Andrew
" Wright Cordoner in Glasgow neirest of kine to umquhill Jonnet
" Wright," whom Bartoune was charged with having murdered in her
own house " by the shoot off ane gun." The punishment demanded at
the hands of the faculty was that of death. The panel having pled not
guilty, " an inqueist of honest men" (fifteen jurymen) was impannelled
and the case proceeded to trial. A curious incident is recorded in the
course of it, namely, that the jury, before giving in their verdict, demanded
that the university should hold them skaithless in case they should
afterwards be challenged for having taken part in the proceedings, " in
" regaird they declaired the caice to be singular, never haveing occurred
" in the aidge of befor to ther knowledge, and the rights and priviledges
" of the universitie not being produced to them to cleir ther priviledge
" for holding of criminall courts, and to sitt and cognose upon cryms of
" the lyke natur." The, rector and his assessors answered that the
objection to the jurisdiction came too late, after they had agreed "to
"pase upon the said inqueist in initio;" but notwithstanding "for ther
" satisfactioune and ex abundanti gratia" the court agreed to hold them
1 Munimenta, p. 415. 2 Ibid., p. 340.
Student Life.
free " of all coast danger and expenses." The verdict was not guilty,
and it is not unlikely that a sense of the responsibility which would
have attended a different result did not fail to influence the jury."1
The magistrates, however, did not always recognize the jurisdiction
thus claimed by the university. On one occasion (in 1711) when some
students had been caught misconducting themselves in the city, the
magistrates had them apprehended and brought before them, and
compelled each of them to pay a fine before he was released. The
university resented this, and demanded the restitution of the fines, under
protest that if the magistrates refused they would be held liable " for all
" expenses and damadges that the said Masters of the University may
" be putt to in vindicating their right and jurisdiction over any of the
" scholars committed to their charge."2 The result is not stated.
The burgh records also contain some curious notices as to the
relations subsisting between the town and the university. The sons of
burgesses appear to have enjoyed certain privileges and exemptions,
and the magistrates were tenacious in asserting them. Among others,
under date i6th November, 1626, notice is taken of an undue exaction
made " by the Principal and Regents on the town's bursars quha are
"urgit to gif aiie silver spune at their entrie."
In the Muniments of the University are to be found many other
interesting notices of student life, and of the customs of the college.
One of the latter was that the students at one time prayed publicly by
rotation in the classes. This practice was, probably, in many cases
exercised injudiciously, and it ceased soon after the beginning of the
eighteenth century, in consequence of a resolution by the faculty that it
should be gradiially discontinued. The minute bears that in order
" that it may be worn out by degrees, and with the less noise, the
" faculty recommends it to the several masters that at these times when
" the students used to pray they put it only on those of greatest gravity
" and sobriety, and sometimes themselves to do it at these turns, and
" sometimes altogether to omit it."3
In 1634 Charles I. addressed an autograph letter to the Archbishop
of Glasgow requiring him to see that the members of the college repair
1 Munimenta, vol. ii. p. 340. 2 Ibid., p. 400. 3 Ibid., vol. ii. p. 375.
The College Mace. j^
together to divine service in the Cathedral in their gowns, according to
their degrees, forenoon and afternoon, and that they occupy seats to be
specially appropriated to them.
When Beton at the Reformation carried with him to Paris the
ornaments and jewels belonging to the Cathedral, he took among them
a silver staff, the history of which is interesting. It is thus described in
an " Inventur of the Guddis and inspreth pertening to the College of
Glasgow," circa 1614: " Item in the Principal his studi ane silver staff
" callit the rectors staff, of five pund sevin unce ane quarter unce veight,
" quhilk Mr. James Balfure deane of Glasgow, Rector the yeir of God
" 1560, gave to the bischop of Glasgow, quho carijt the same with all
" the silver warke and hail juels of the Hie Kirk to Paris with him.
" Notwithstanding the said staff, be the travels of Mr. Patrick Sharpe
" Principal, was recoverit, mendit, and augmentit the yeir of God CID. ID.
" xc as the dait on the end of the staff bears."1 The staff which the
dean thus improperly gave to Beton, and which was recovered in 1590,
was the present college mace. The "augmentation" of it must have
been considerable, for while the original weight was five pounds seven
ounces and a quarter, it now weighs eight pounds one ounce. It was
originally constructed in 1465. It now bears the following inscription
in modern letters: Hcec virga empta fuit publius Academice Glasguensis
sumtibus A.D. 1465: in Galliam ablata A.D. 1560, et Academice restituta
1590.
A great part of the old buildings of the college has been destroyed,
and the portions which remain have been converted to other uses, but
it is to be hoped that the front to the High Street will be spared as one
of the landmarks of Glasgow, and that in its new premises the univer-
sity will continue to deserve the character given to it by James Melville.
"I daresay," wrote Melville in his diary, "there was no place in Europe
<( comparable to Glasgw for guid letters during these yeirs for a plentiful
" and guid chepe mercat of all kynd of langages artes and sciences."
In one of the wynds running west from the High Street was the
Grammar School. It was founded by Simon Dalgles (Dalgliesh),
official of Glasgow in the middle of the fifteenth century; and from
1 Munimenta Universitatis Glas., vol. iii. p. 523.
140
The Old Tolbooth.
a notarial instrument in 1508 we learn that, founding on the terms of
the original grant, the chancellor of Glasgow claimed to be master
of the school by virtue of his office, with the right to appoint and
remove the teachers. But Sir John Stewart of Minto, the provost,
on behalf of the burgesses, disputed his right and claimed the power
of admitting all masters to " the mural schools and buildings as-
signed for the instruction of scholars."1 Of the result of the dispute
there is no record. In 1578, as appears from an entry in the burgh
minutes, the Grammar School was covered with thatch. The later
building was erected in the beginning of the seventeenth century, and
while it was being built the scholars met in the High Church.2 Over
the door of the school were the arms of Glasgow, with this inscrip-
tion : " Scola grammaticor. a senatu civibusque Glasguensis bonar. liter.
" patronis conditu."
At the foot of the High Street stood the old Tolbooth. We have
no account of its appearance, or when it was erected. In the records
of Our Lady College it is mentioned as the " Pretorium burgi de Glasgu
" jacens in via S. Teneu ex parte boreali ejusdem." And in the ancient
charters it is repeatedly mentioned
as the place of meeting of the burgh
courts — " the heid court of the burcht
" and citie of Glasgow halden in the
" Tolbuithe thairof." From an entry
in the council records in 1574 it
appears that there were "buythis
"vnder the tolbuyth/'the rents of which
were appointed to be applied "in
" mendyng and reparyng of the tol-
"buyth and to na vther vse." This
old building having become dila-
pidated was taken down, and a new
tolbooth erected in 1626. This,
as will be seen from the cut, was a fine picturesque structure. A
traveller in the time of the Commonwealth describes it as "a very
1 Lib. Protocoll., No. 342. 2 Presbytery Records, nth March, 1601.
The Cross Steeple. j^
" sumptuous, regulated, uniform fabric, large and lofty, most indus-
" triously and artificially carved from the very foundation to the super-
" structure, to the great admiration of strangers, and is without exception
" the paragon of beauty in the west."1 This building served as a prison
and as the place for the council meetings till early in the present century,
when it was removed and the present building erected on its site.
When the old jail was taken down the magistrates had the good
taste to preserve and repair the beautiful tower attached to it, now
known as the Cross steeple. But it nearly experienced at the hands of
their less worthy successors the fate which, somewhat later, befel the
western tower of the Cathedral. The demolition of the steeple was
actually under the consideration of the town council for several weeks,
and it was only saved by the vote of a majority. This was in 1814!
They must have witnessed some curious incidents, those old tol-
booths, and like all the other prisons in Scotland, till a comparatively
recent period, they must have been the scene of much suffering.
Prisoners of all sorts were crowded together without classification; men
and women often confined in the same apartment; and young offenders,
imprisoned for trifling matters, locked up with hardened criminals, even
murderers. Ill clothed most of them, cold and hungry, and in filth,
imprisonment was then a real punishment. Those who could afford to
bribe the jailer might fare better, for that functionary exercised a very
despotic power, and had the means of subjecting his prisoners to
painful suffering. Even so late as 1818, when Mr. Gurney visited the
prisons in Scotland, his account of what he observed is almost incredible.
Our burgh records contain but few notices of the prison discipline in
the old tolbooths of Glasgow; but one curious incident may be quoted
which illustrates the relations subsisting between the jailers and their
prisoners. In the year 1666 an individual called "Johne Rowat mer-
" chand," held the office of jailer of the Tolbooth at the Cross, and
one of his prisoners — committed for what cause is not stated — was
" the Laird of Branshoyle." John had some dispute with his prisoner,
which he ended by putting him in irons. Possibly the laird deserved
it, but he had friends who brought the matter before the magistrates,
1 Franck's Northern Memoirs.
Prison Discipline.
and the jailer lost his place. He applied to be reponed, and his sup-
plication and apology is recorded in the council minutes. After stating
his appointment to the office of " keiper to their Lordships tolbuith
" quhilk he hes attendit theis divers yeares bygane," it proceeds thus :
" And laitlie ane of the prisoners therein, the Laird of Branshoyle,
" haveing far exceeded the bounds of ane prisoner towards the suppli-
" cant, his keiper, trew it is that in ane passioune the supplicant did
" exceid his power and commissioune, in laying him in the irones, for
" the quhilk he is very sore grieved from the bottom of his heart, albeit
" he was heighlie provocked therto : And trewlie he dar say that he hes
" dearlie payit for it, for with the anger he took at that tyme he hes
" never sensyne bein quyt of ane most cruell collick and gravell, quhairby
" he was very lyklie to have lost his lyfe and is not git fullie quyt of it."
He then acknowledges the justice of his dismissal, and craves the council
" to pitie him at this tyme seing their Lordships know he hes lived
" honestlie heirtofoir, and come of honest and ancient parents within
" this burgh, besyde that he is awand fyfe thowsand marks and hes the
" burdone of four motherles childerin; and that your Lordships wald be
" pleased to readmitt the supplicant againe to his charge, and be the
" grace of Go'd the lyk should never be sein in him againe."1 He was
reponed, but he lost his place again soon afterwards for allowing a
prisoner to escape.
The jailers in those days received no salary. They appear to have
been remunerated by fees derived from the fines imposed upon prisoners
of the class who could afford to pay, and in earlier times there were
doubtless many such; but when only those of the baser sort, or those in
absolute poverty, came under their care, their emoluments must have
been very small. A keeper of the Glasgow jail who had suffered from
this cause applied to the town council in 1661, and there is a minute by
which the treasurer is ordained "to pay to Charles M'Cleane Jylor
" twentie punds for his extraordinarie paines in attending the tolbuith
" this long tyme bygane haveing got no profeit therby, having only
" thiefes and Lounes his prisoners." Witches being an exceptional class
a special allowance was made for them. On one occasion the jailer
1 Burgh Records, 2d October, 1666.
High Tolbooth. 143
gets "four score two pounds fourteen shillings four pennies Scots money,
" depensed be him for the maintenance of the witches who are prisoners
"here in the tolbuith be order of the Commissioners, from the 22d of
" May last to this day."1 And on a subsequent occasion "Alexander
" Cunningham servitor to the jayler" is allowed sixty-six pounds eight
shillings Scots as " expenses in maintaining witches and warlocks in the
" Tolbuith imprisoned by order of the Commissioners of Justiciarie at
" Paisley."2
Our prisons now are in a very different state from what they were
in the old times, and prisoners are treated after a different fashion;
but it is questionable whether we have not gone too far in the oppo-
site direction. A recent report presented to parliament on the subject
of prisons tells us that now " the prisoner appears to feel that the
" prayer for daily bread is rendered unnecessary by the solicitude of his
"custodians; that nestling comfortably in his hammock he lives less
" rapidly than before, and that he finds, in many instances, a peace and
" repose to which as a law-abiding citizen he was perchance a stranger."
We may quite accept the conclusion of the commissioners, that they
have " abundant reason to think that, as a rule, imprisonment, as now
" conducted, inflicts no injury, and that in a large proportion of cases its
" punitive character is but little felt."3
Besides the old Tolbooth at the Cross there was a prison in the
upper part of the town, which appears to have become necessary in
consequence of the insecure condition into which the building at the
foot of the High Street had fallen. This upper prison is mentioned in
the burgh records in 1574 as "the heicht tolbuyth," and it was probably
a very wretched and uncomfortable place. In the year 1605 there
occurs an entry regarding a debtor imprisoned there, whose brother
had procured (" purchest") his removal " out of ward of the heich hows
" to the laiche tolbuithe," but the brother — probably in consequence of
the insecurity of the lower prison — was obliged first to find caution that
the debtor " sail remaine in waird in the laiche tolbuithe" until he has
1 4th September, 1697. 2 I2th March, 1698.
3 Report by Mr. Briscoe, Inspector of Prisons, and other Commissioners, presented to Par-
liament, Session 1878.
The City Cross.
satisfied the debt for which he was incarcerated. After the Reformation
the magistrates acquired the building on the south side of the Drygate,
which had been occupied as a manse by the prebendary of Cambuslang,
and fitted it up as a house of correction for vagrants and women of
dissolute character. This building having also become unfit for the
purpose, the magistrates, in 1792, obtained a lease from the College of a
part of their property adjoining the old meal market in the High Street,
and used it as a bridewell, but this was discontinued on the erection of
the prison in Duke Street.1
At the foot of the High Street stood the city cross — the one erected
after the ancient cross at the head of the street was superseded. Of
what form it was there is no authentic record. At the beginning of
the seventeenth century — perhaps earlier — the guard-house was built
against or round it, and when the guard-house was in 1659 removed
farther west — having been found an obstruction to the street — the cross
was found to have been so defaced that it was thought necessary to
remove it also. The minute of council which records this is interesting:
" The same day [ist October, 1659] the Magistrats and Counsall having
" receavit warrand and ordours for downe taking of the guard house
" was buildit about and wpon the Croce, and in regard the samyn Mercat
" croce throw the building of the said guard house thairupon, was alto-
gether defaced, it is therefore now concludid to remove the samyn
" with all convenient diligence and mak it equall with the ground."
In each of the four streets that branched from the cross there were
arcades or piazzas. Defoe, referring to these, says : " The lower stories
" for the most part stand on vast square doric columns with arches which
" open into the shops adding to the strength as well as the beauty of the
" building." But it was probably true of them what Pennant said, that
they were " too narrow to be of much service to walkers."2
The beautiful street which now stretches westward from the Cross
was in old times a country road leading to two chapels — one dedicated
to St. Thomas of Canterbury and the other to St. Tanew or Thenew,
the mother of Kentigern, who, according to the Aberdeen Breviary, was
buried there. In a deed in 1498 mention is made of "the chapel where
1 Cleland's Statistical Tables, 3d edit. p. 97. - Tour in Scotland, 1771, p. 200.
6Y. Tanew s Well. j^
"the bones of the beloved Thenew mother of the blessed confessor
" Kentigern rest now in the city of Glasgow." It was surrounded by a
burial-ground, now the site of St. Enoch's Square. When M'Ure wrote
his history in 1736 the remains of this old chapel were still to be seen
—a solitary spot in the country, surrounded by cornfields. There ap-
pear to have been property in the High Street held in connection with
this chapel, as in a charter in 1419 a tenement in that street is described
as lying between the tenement of Stephanus de Pollok " et terram
"Sancte Tanew."1 The name became subsequently corrupted to
St. Enoch.
Not far from the present church, and near where the old chapel had
stood, there was a sacred well dedicated to St. Tanew, which, before the
Reformation, was much resorted to for cures. In 1586 James VI.
addressed a letter to Mr. Andro Hay, commissioner for the west country,
in which, among other things, he condemned the practice of people
making pilgrimages to such chapels and wells; but I have little doubt
that for some time after that St. Tanew's well was resorted to. It
was shaded by an old tree which drooped over the well, and which
remained till the end of the last century. On this tree the devotees
who frequented the well were accustomed to nail, as thank-offerings,
small bits of tin-iron — probably manufactured for that purpose by a
craftsman in the neighbourhood — representing the parts of the body
supposed to have been cured by the virtues of the sacred spring —
such as eyes, hands, feet, ears, and others — a practice still common in
Roman Catholic countries. The late Mr. Robert Hart told me that he
had been informed by an old man, a Mr. Thomson, who had resided in
the neighbourhood, that, at the end of the last century or the beginning
of the present, he recollected this well being cleaned out, and of seeing
picked out from among the debris at the bottom several of these old
votive offerings, which had dropped into it from the tree, the stump of
which was at that time still standing.
The road or street leading to St. Tanew's chapel and well is in a
charter of 1426 called the " magnus vicus extendens a cruce fore versus
" Capellas Sancte Thomae marteris et sancte Tanew."2 In a later charter
1 Lib. Coll. N. D., p. 240. 2 Lib. Coll. N. D., p. 244.
146 The Trongate.
(1487) it is called " vicus Sancte Thanew,"1 and in a still later deed
(1548) it is called "the gait passing fra the west port to sanct Tenewis
" chappil."2 By the year 1520 this road or street had come to be
spanned, at a point not quite half-way between the Cross and St. Thenew's
Chapel, by the gate called the West Port.3 The privilege of having " a
" free Tron " in the city and barony of Glasgow had been granted to
the bishops by James IV. in 1489, and the portion of the street lying
within the port acquired the name of " the Troyngate," from the place
of weighing being there. The outer portion, west of the port, obtained,
about two centuries later, the name first of West Street and then of
Argyll Street.
For a long time there must have been few houses in the Tron-
gate, and most of these had gardens and fields behind them. In the
charter of 1426 just referred to, the granter, Malcom Lytstare, burgess
of Glasgow, sells to John Stewart, sub-dean of Glasgow, a tenement
on the north side of this street or road, with the garden adjacent on
the north. In 1505 there is a deed in which mention is made of "a
"garden with pertinents" in commune via sancti Tenew? and there are
many other deeds of still later date in which mention is made of houses
in the Trongate with gardens and orchards attached to them.
On the south side of the Trongate, on the site now occupied by the
Tron Church, stood the collegiate " Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary
"and St. Ann" — called in some of the old writs "our Lady College,"
and afterwards the Church of St. Mary. Mr. Robertson says that the
erection and endowment were completed in 1549. The endowment
may not have been completed till then, but the church must have been
erected before 1528, as in a charter of that year of lands adjoining,
mention is made, "nove ecclesise beatarum Marie virginis et Anne
" matris ejus."5 There could have been no houses near it then, as
it was surrounded by a large burying -ground. After the Reforma-
tion the market for grass and straw was, by a minute of the town
council in 1577, appointed to be held in this bury ing-ground — called
in the minute "the New Kirk yarde." It was required that one of the
1 Munimenta Universitatis Glasg., vol. i. p. 35. 2 jkjd^ p, 248.
8 Ibid., p. 73. 4 Lib. Coll. N. D., p. 258. * Lib Coll N D ? p ^
Church of St. Mary and St. Ann. 147
prebendaries of this church of St. Mary should be expert in playing
the organ, and that he should perform on it daily according to the use
and wont of the metropolitan church. He was also required to keep
a school for the instruction of youth " in plain song and descant."
This school stood in the Trongate, on the west side of the Collegiate
Church, and is mentioned in the burgh records as " the scuile sum-
"tyme callit the sang scuile." In 1575 there is an entry in the burgh
accounts of a payment " to Thomas Craige of the New Kirk scule for
" straye to the mending thairof and for onputyng of the samyn xxij s."
(is. 10^.), from which it appears that, like most of the other buildings
in the city, it was thatched. Neither the "sang scule" nor the church-
yard, nor any other portion of the collegiate property, ever belonged
to the corporation. They held it in trust only for the benefit and
endowment of the Tron Church, but they disposed of it nevertheless
in 1588, along with some properties belonging to the corporation, at a
time when they were greatly pressed for funds.1
Behind the Collegiate Church, within an open area, and on the site
of what is now the presbytery house, stood the old manse of St. Mary's.
It fronted the south, with its back to the church. It was a narrow
two-story building, rough-cast, with a steep roof and crow steps on the
gables. It had five windows in front, three in the upper flat, and one
on each side of the door, which was above the level of the ground, and
was approached by two or three steps. Around the house was a
garden inclosed by a hedge. This old manse remained till the middle
of the present century.
"Our Lady College" was founded by James Houston, sub-dean of
Glasgow, in the early part of the sixteenth century. The provision
made for the services embraced a provost, eight canons or prebendaries,
and three chaunters. The number of the prebendaries was increased
by subsequent benefactors. All the prebends were endowed, partly
from lands and houses within or near Glasgow, and partly from the
fruits of the parish churches of Dairy and Maybole. After the Refor-
mation the revenues within the city were appropriated by the magis-
trates, but the prebendaries were allowed to draw their stipends until
1 Burgh Records, 24th Dec. 1588.
148
The Gallowgate.
they died out. Even subsequent to the Reformation, however, the
church received (in 1650) an endowment of some value by a deed
granted by the magistrates, with consent of the Stewarts of Minto, " for
"the use and profeit of their two ministers serving the cure at the New
" Kirk [the Tron] as part of their stepend." What has come of this
endowment I do not know, but certainly it cannot be said of this church,
whatever may be the case as to the others in the city, that the support
of its ministers has come exclusively from " the common good."
The Trongate has undergone many changes. The above view is
from a drawing made in 1845.
Early in the fourteenth century the formation of the Gallowgate
must have been commenced, as in the charter of 1325 already referred
to mention is made of a tenement "in vico qui dicitur le Galogate." In
other charters it is variously called via fiircarum; vicus furcarum juxta
torrentem Malyndoneri and via furcarum tendens a cruce forali ad
orientem portam.
On the site now occupied by the old Saracen's- Head Inn, and just
outside the City Port, stood the chapel called Little St. Mungo's, sur-
rounded by a burying-ground. It was founded some time before 1500
The Molendinar Burn. 149
by David Cunningham, archdeacon of Argyll. In a deed granted by
him in that year, endowing the chapel, he describes it as " imam capel-
" lianam cum capellano extra muros civitatis Glasguensis in communi
" via furcarum extra torrentem de Malindoner et prope arbores vocatas
" Sancti Kentigerni."1 By extra muros the granter meant beyond the
city gate. The churchyard was surrounded by trees. After the Reform-
ation it became the property of Donald Cunningham of Aikenbar and
Marion Lyon, his wife, from whom it was purchased by the magistrates
in 1593 at the price of 200 merks — ^13, 6s. %d. according to the value
of Scots money at that time — on the condition that the " chapell, hous,
(( and gaird " were to be maintained as an hospital for the poor. The
magistrates did convert it into an hospital for lepers, and for some
time maintained it as such ; but, in breach of their trust, they conveyed
it about the middle of last century to Robert Tennent, for the purpose
of his building on it a first-rate hotel, which he did. This was the
Saracen's Head.
Even so late as 1736, when M'Ure wrote his history, the Gallowgate
extended no farther than the East Port. Beyond that was only a
narrow country road, chiefly between hedges, leading to the old village
of Camlachie. Between that port and the Cross, and not far from the
old chapel, the street was crossed by the Molendinar Burn. Like
St. Enoch's Burn, it crossed on the surface, and there was a considerable
descent to it on each side, with stepping-stones in the stream for foot
passengers. When it was swollen by rains people had to cross in carts
or on horseback. The burn was a favourite place for watering horses
and cattle, and Dr. Buchanan, writing in 1856, says he had conversed
with old people who remembered it in that state.2 Now a foul under-
ground sewer, it was then a clear limpid stream. In the Glasgow
Courant for 1755 there is an advertisement of a piece of ground at the
Spoutmouth to be let, and one of the inducements held out to a tenant
is its vicinity to the Molendinar as suitable for bleaching.
Beside the " trees of St. Kentigern " mentioned in the foundation
charter of Little St. Mungo's Church, there was near the same place a
well, called St. Mungo's Well. — Fons Kentigerni. Like many of the old
1 Regist. Episc. Glasg., p. 501. 2 Desultory Sketches, p. 664.
150 The Salmon Fishers.
saints Kentigern is said to have had his bed, his bath, and his chair.
The bed, Jocelin tells us, was hollowed out of the rock. He bathed
in the Molendinar, and his seat, according to an ancient tradition,
was super lapidem in super cilio mentis vocabulo Gwleth. Gwleth,
forming in combination Wleth, signifies dew, and hence, it has been
said, the hill was called the Dew Hill, corrupted afterwards into the
present name of Dow Hill. In a charter in 1581 it is called " Dowhill
''alias Gersumland."1
The Gallowgate ended in a common called the Gallowmuir. The
place of execution was there, and till near the end of last century the
gallows — which gave their names to the street and the muir — was still
standing. It was on the north-west end of the common, near the upper
corner of what is now Barrack Street.
A continuation of the High Street, leading to the South Port or
" Nether Barras yett," was inhabited chiefly by fullers and dyers, and
from them it -was called the " Walcargate" — in the old charters via Fid-
lonum — a name which about the middle of the sixteenth century was
superseded by that of Saltmarket.
In its earliest history — apart from its ecclesiastical position — Glasgow
was only known as a salmon-fishing village, and the Clyde as a prolific
salmon river. From the earliest times, accordingly, salmon-fishing was
a valuable right; it formed a staple branch of trade, and the earliest of
our records contain grants of rights of fishing conveyed along with
houses in the burgh. In the charter by the master of the Temple
already referred to (1180) there is conveyed along with the "toft"
unum rete in piscatione de Clud. Down to a comparatively recent
period, indeed, salmon-fishing continued to be one of Glasgow's most
important industries. There are those still living who recollect the
huts of the fishermen on the banks of the river. I recollect one of
these within what is now the harbour of Glasgow, and I have seen the
fishermen drawing their nets on green banks where there is now deep
water. There was another hut close to the village of Govan, of which
I am able to give a view from an original drawing made about the year
1815. The quantities of salmon taken were sometimes very great, and
1 Reg. Epis. Glasg., p. 588.
Pis her men s Huts. 15!
the price of the fish was small. In 1748, when there had been a very
plentiful supply, the Glasgow Journal of i8th July in that year
announced that salmon was to be sold in the Glasgow Market at a
penny the pound. In the early acts of parliament relating to the
deepening of the river the rights of fishing were carefully protected,
but before long all protection had to be abandoned, and salmon-fish-
ing in the Clyde above Dunbarton is now a thing of the past. The
fishing rights of Renfrew were very extensive, and the Clyde Trustees
still pay upwards of ^"200 a year to that burgh as compensation for the
loss caused by their operations.
Detached at first from the rest of Glasgow, and probably of a date
as old as, or older than, most of the houses in the city, was a row com-
posed of the huts or houses of the salmon-fishers. In a charter so
early as 1285 it is called the vicus pischatorum de prope pontem de Clud^
—a description which proves what I have already stated, that there was
1 Reg. de Passelet, p. 400.
1 52 The Fishergate.
a bridge at this place anterior to the one erected by Bishop Rae. After-
wards this row is called "the Fyschergate," and Mr. Cosmo Innes sug-
gests that it is to be identified with the present Bridgegate.1 But it is
not so. The Fishergate occupied what is now the lower end of Stockwell
Street, that name having, in the early part of the sixteenth century, been
adopted from a well, called the " Stok Well," which had for many years
stood in the Fishergate. In a deed of sale in 1487 a tenement is
described as lying in vico Piscatorum juxta le Stok well; and it is stated
to be bounded by a certain tenement on the south, and by another tene-
ment on the north — a description which could not be applicable to a
building in the Bridgegate, which runs east and west. But the matter
is put beyond doubt by two instruments in the recently published
Book of Protocols, both of the same date — Qth November, 1512 — in
one of which a tenement is described as situated in " le Fischaregait,"
and in the other the same tenement is described as lying " apud Stok-
well " — showing that at that time the street was known by both
names.2
For reasons to be afterwards stated it is not unlikely that the south
end of the Fishergate was near to what was at that time the margin of
the river.
By the end of the fifteenth century the fishermen had come to pos-
sess better houses, some of them with gardens attached. In a charter
of 1487 mention is made of a tenement and garden belonging to John
Leiche, fisherman, in the street leading to the bridge of Glasgow. They
formed very much, no doubt, a community by themselves, and at an
early period the magistrates established a court, which was held at the
Broomielaw, called the Coble Court, which took cognizance of disputes
among the fishermen, and of other matters relating to the river. Under
date 2ist April, 1589, is a minute of "the Coble court of Glasgw
" halden at ye Brumelaw thairof be honorabill men James Flemyng and
"Robert Rowat baillees — Dempster Johnne Maxvell." On this occa-
sion Niniane Hucheson, a fisherman, is decerned to pay to John Clarke,
another fisherman, nineteen shillings as the price of " twa salmound
" fische," which he had taken from him " in a wrangous and maisterfull
1 Orig. Parochiales, vol. i. p. 14. 2 Liber Procollorum, Nos. 595, 596.
Bishop Raes Bridge.
" way." According to the value of money at that time this was equal
to one shilling for each salmon.
The bridge which came in place of the one mentioned in the charter
of 1285 was erected, as I have said, by Bishop Rae in the year 1350.
It was only twelve feet wide, and, till altered in 1776, it had a very
steep ascent to its centre. The late Mr. Reid (Senex) says he recollects
having crossed it when it was still in that state. Before that time it had
become very insecure, and carts and carriages, Mr. Reid says, generally
crossed the river at a shallow ford immediately above the bridge.1 So
unsafe, indeed, was it, even a century before this, that the tacksman of
the bridge was ordered by the magistrates " not to suffer any cairtis with
" wheilleis goe alongst the brig vntill that the wheilleis be taken off and
"the boddie of the cairt alone harled by the hors."2 In 1765 the magis-
trates endeavoured to close the bridge altogether against carts. This
was resisted by some of the inhabitants of Rutherglen, and led to the
bridge being widened and repaired.
For a long time the Fishergate, or Stock Well Street, was quite
a rural locality. It was on the western extremity of the city, and the
houses, many of which were quaint buildings with thatched roofs, were
shaded by trees, and those on the west side had also gardens and the
open country behind them.
Till a comparatively recent period there were no streets in Glasgow
besides those which I have named, and the population was very small.
In the end of the sixteenth century (1581) the Confession of Faith was
signed in Glasgow, at the same time as the rest of Scotland, and as
the obligation to sign was stringent the probability is that among the
Protestant part of the population, at least, the signature was very
general, yet the Confession received only 2250 signatures. The sub-
scription books were carried from house to house by the elders, and as
it is recorded that all the names were got in High Street, Gallowgate,
Trongate, Saltmarket, Bridgegate, and Stockwell, it may be inferred
that these, with the Rottenrow and Drygate, comprised at that time
the whole town. That no names were got in the two streets last
named may be accounted for by the fact that it was there that the
1 Glasgow Past and Present, vol. iii. p. 540. 2 Council Records, i8th Sept. 1658.
U
154 Gardens in Trongate.
ecclesiastics and their dependents, the adherents of the old faith, resided.
Among the earliest houses of importance in the city were the manses
of the thirty-two canons of the Cathedral, already referred to, with their
gardens and orchards, as arranged by Bishop Cameron about the
middle of the fifteenth century. These, with the residences of the
choral vicars and the officers of the Cathedral, were situated in the
Rottenrow and Dry gate and in the extreme upper end of the High
Street, and down to the time of the Reformation they formed the
centre of the city. It is not probable, therefore, that in this ecclesias-
tical region, under the shadow of the Cathedral, the elders would obtain
any signature to the Confession of Faith that could possibly be evaded.
To say that the Confession received 2250 signatures does not by any
means imply that so many of the adult population could write. A cer-
tain number would adhibit their own names, and those of the rest
would be adhibited for them by some one — probably the session-clerk
— having their authority to do so. This was done in all the parishes
of Scotland when the Solemn League and Covenant was signed.
Even so late as 1708, after the Union, the population of Glasgow
was under 13,000. In the first year of the present century, when a
census was taken, it had increased to only 83,000.
Of the wonderful growth of the city after this time I must confine
myself to a general notice. Much of the story has been well told in
the attractive pages of Mr. Reid ("Senex") and of the late Dr. John
Buchanan.
There continued to be gardens behind the houses in the Trongate
till near the close of the last century. In the Glasgow Journal
of 1 6th January, 1766, there is an advertisement of the sale " in
" whole or in parcels of the garden at the head of William Anderson's
•'tenement and close of houses in Trongate;" and in 1789, in the
Glasgow Mercury, the sale is announced of a garden " lying on the
" north side of the Trongate Street, on the west side of the Candleriggs
" Street and on the south side of Ingram Street, with an entry of
" 30 feet wide from the Candleriggs into the said garden." Through
this garden Brunswick Street was subsequently formed. In the same
year (1789), Mr. Reid tells us " the whole of the Deanside brae
The First Sugar-house. \ c c
" was vacant ground. The Deanside or Meadow well was situated
" on a meadow at the west end of Greyfriars' or Buns Wynd, close to
" a footpath leading up to the Rottenrow. It is now on the street at
" 88 George Street, opposite the lane leading into Shuttle Street. This
" well was then a rural spot — the whole lands on the west as far as
" Partick being garden grounds and cornfields." In 1780 an advertise-
ment in one of the local papers announces " summer quarters to be let
" at the west end of Rottenrow, in the common gardens."
The Candleriggs was opened as a street in 1724, but for a long time
there were few buildings in it. At first it was called the New Street,
and it bears that name in M'Ure's History. At the corner of Candle-
riggs and Bell's Wynd was the Wester Sugar-house, among the first,
if not the very first sugar manufactory erected in Scotland. It was
established in 1667 by four merchants in Glasgow. Sugar was then a
scarce luxury, and it is only within a period comparatively recent that
tea and coffee and potatoes came into use amongst us.1 M'Ure, referring
to this Wester Sugar-house, says that " having got a little apartment for
" boiling sugar, and a Dutchman as master boiler, the undertaking proved
" very effectual, and their endeavours were wonderfully successful." They
afterwards left this " little apartment" and erected a larger building.
Other sugar-works were afterwards established, but for a long time
they were all on a comparatively small scale.
So late as 1750 the head of the Stockwell, where the Trongate
ended, was the western extremity of Glasgow — the old West Port
marking the boundary. Outside of this gate a market for the sale of
cattle was held on the open road. On the south side of the street
adjoining what became Dunlop Street was a malt kiln and barn, and
on the opposite side — near what was afterwards Virginia Street — was a
small thatched hostelry for drovers. To the west of this was a farm-
house, standing back from the highway, flanked by byres or outhouses,
the gables of which projected to the road. In front of this house the
cows were milked, and Dr. Buchanan, writing in 1851, says: " People
" are yet alive who have witnessed this scene."2 A few malt kilns or
1 Potatoes were first introduced into the Stewartry of Kirkcudbright in 1725.— Mr. Maxwell
of Munches, quoted in Murray's Lit. Hist, of Galloway, p. 337.
2 Glasgow Past and Present, vol. ii. p. 190.
156
Old Thatched Houses.
barns, with a one-storey thatched house here and there, occurred along
the road, which was then called St. Tennoch's gate or the Dumbarton
Road. The last to disappear of these old buildings was a thatched
malt barn and kiln, which stood back from the roadway at the foot of
Mitchell Street. It was taken down about the year 1830. The above
view of it is from a drawing made, I believe, about the year 1820.
For a long time the only opening from the main road was the Cow
Lone, afterwards Queen Street — a lane between old hedges, and an
almost impassable quagmire.
The first mansion built in this rural locality was erected by Provost
Murdoch on the south side of the road, and nearly opposite the farm-
house just mentioned. This mansion afterwards became the Buck's
Head Inn. Soon afterwards another house, similar in design, was built
by Mr. Dunlop to the east of Provost Murdoch's. This fine old man-
sion still remains, but much disfigured by being adapted to business
purposes. At the time of the erection of these houses the ground to
the south was vacant all the way down to the Clyde, and on the other
Formation of Streets. 157
side of the street, towards the north, there were only gardens and corn-
fields. This was after the middle of last century.1
Virginia Street was opened in 1753. At the head of it, on the site
now occupied by the Union Bank, stood the splendid mansion of Mr.
Buchanan of Mount Vernon, " a Virginia merchant," erected in 1752.
At that time, at the place which is now the bottom of the street, there
was a small house, with a malt kiln and barn and a "kailyard" behind,
and all around were cornfields and vegetable gardens. Miller Street
was not opened till 1771. Before that date it formed the garden ground
of Mr. Miller, a wealthy maltman. The garden extended back to what
is now Ingram Street, and at the south end, facing the Trongate, were
Mr. Miller's malt kiln and barns.2 After the street was laid off no lots
were sold for a considerable time — the locality being considered too far
out of town! The first steading was sold in 1771, and the price was
4,5-. 6d. per square yard.3
Nelson Street, Brunswick Street, Hutcheson Street, and Glassford
Street — at first called Great Glassford Street — were all opened subse-
quently to that date. Buchanan Street was opened in 1778. It may
be interesting to give the advertisement announcing the opening of
this street. It is dated April, 1777, and runs thus: " Andrew Buchanan,
" merchant, has made improvement on his former plan, and now pro-
" poses to take down his house in Argyle Street and to make the entry
" to his intended street correspond exactly with opposite the entry
" leading into St. Enoch's Square. The lots are laid off 65 feet in
" front, with sufficient room backwards for garden plots. The situation
" is very pleasant and convenient, and affords a prospect rural and
" agreeable."
The Back Cow Lane was not converted into Ingram Street till after
1777. In June of that year the north-west portion of the Ramshorn
grounds, then lying in grass fields, was offered for sale by the magis-
trates at the price of 2s. 6d. per square yard. These lands had origin-
ally belonged to the Church. In a charter by the king, Alexander, in
1241, confirming to the bishop "terras suas circa Glasgu," the lands
1 Glasgow Past and Present, vol. ii. p. 191. 2 Ibid., vol. iii. p. 201.
3 Desultory Sketches, p. 619.
158 Rise in Value of Property.
of " Ramnishoren " are included; and in a subsequent charter in 1494
they are described as " terras domini episcopi Glasguensis que appel-
" lantur Rammyshorne."1 The dingy old Ramshorn Church, which
was erected there in 1720, is described by M'Ure — writing in 1736
— as that " stately and magnificent structure, the North-west Church,
" lying at the head of the New Street in a pleasant valley." The
church, indeed, when erected was quite out of the town, and sur-
rounded by fields and gardens. When the ground was taken for the
building, the tacksmen were paid the sum of ^108, 165. 4^. Scots, about
^9, " in full satisfaction to them for loss and damage by the rooting out
" of their cherry and apple trees, gooseberry and curran bushes, kaill,
" leeks, and other ground herbs."2
In 1751 the Broomielaw Croft was chiefly in cornfields, and the
portion of it facing the river was covered with the remains of an old
wood. So late as the beginning of the present century broom bushes
were growing on a rocky elevation at the foot of Robertson Street.3
What is now Jamaica Street was then an enclosed field. It is described
in an advertisement in the Glasgow Courant of 3d June, 1751, as "that
" field belonging to the Merchants' House beautifully situated between
" the Broomielaw on the south, and the West Street [Argyll Street]
" on the north," and intimation is made that the field is " now planned
" out in a large open street of 45 feet wide, with convenient lots of
" ground for building upon." This was what became Jamaica Street,
but with an increased breadth. The first house built on it was the
mansion erected in 1761 by Mr. George Buchanan, which afterwards
became the property of Mr. Black of Clairmont. Mr. Black occupied
it as his winter residence, and went out to Clairmont — now part of the
city — to spend the summer in the country.
The rise in the value of property in this locality has been very remark-
able. In 1788, just after Buchanan Street was opened, a lot of ground
fronting the street was sold for 2s. 6d. the square yard. In 1777 the
magistrates resolved to dispose of " the towns building ground" in Argyll
Street and neighbourhood, and by their minute of 24th March in that
1 Lib. Coll. N.D., p. 258. 2 Burgh Records, I3th January, 1719.
3 Rambling Recollections of Glasgow, by " Nestor," 1879.
Anderston and other Villages. 159
year they fixed the prices. They resolved that the ground in the old
green — the " Dowcat green," lying between Jamaica Street and Stock-
well — should be sold at 3^. 6d. the square yard; that St. Enoch's Square,
the ground in Argyll Street "westward of Mr. Robertsons," and the west
side of Jamaica Street, should all be sold at q.s. 6d. the square yard; and
that for the steading on the east side of Jamaica Street, " as it is a corner
" steading," the price should be five shillings the square yard. Within
the last few years ground in St. Enoch's Square has been sold at
prices ranging from £20 to ^25 the square yard, and one lot was sold
as high as ^50 the square yard; while in Argyll Street, near St. Enoch's
Square, the prices have ranged from ^50 to ^80, and one steading was
sold at £ i oo the square yard. These were the prices paid for the
ground alone, over and above the value of the buildings at the time of
the sales.
By the rapid extension of buildings, what were till quite recently
rural villages have been absorbed into and now form portions of the city.
Anderston, Finnieston, Gorbals, Hutchesontown, Tradeston, Kingston,
and Calton — each till a recent period a detached village — are all now
parts of Glasgow. Anderston acquired its name from a Mr. Ander-
son, then proprietor of the lands of Stobcross, who in 1725 formed the
plan of a village on part of these lands; but very few houses, and these
of a mean description, were then erected. At that time what is now
Stobcross Street was the avenue to Stobcross House, the entrance to
the avenue being at what came to be known as the " Gushet-house"
in Anderston. The estate on which Anderston was built came into
the market in 1735, when it was bought by Mr. Orr of Barrowfield.
At that time the projected village consisted of only a few thatched
houses, one of them built of turf. About thirty years afterwards
Mr. Orr projected another village farther west, on part of what was
then an unproductive farm. This village he named Finnieston, in
compliment to a Mr. Finnic, then a tutor in Mr. Orr's family. Such
was the beginning of these important suburbs. In 1776 Mr. Orr sold
the whole of the Stobcross lands west of Finnieston to Mr. David
Watson, merchant in Glasgow. At this time there was nearly a mile
of space between the westmost part of Glasgow and the first houses in
160 Extension of the City.
Anderston. It was still a country road inclosed by hedges, with fields
and gardens on both sides, and was then known as Anderston Walk.
On the south side of this road, between Anderston and Glasgow, there
was a piece of ground, part of the Broomielaw Croft, extending to
something more than nine acres. So late as 1 79 1 it consisted of open
fields. It had been acquired in 1774 by Brown, Carrick & Co.,
manufacturers of lawn and cambric, in whose title it is described as a
park or enclosure consisting of nine acres, one rood, and ten falls,
bounded by the high road leading from Glasgow to Anderston on the
north and by the river Clyde on the south ; with " the ground or grass
" on the water side opposite the said enclosure." The whole price paid
for this property, now so valuable, was a ground annual of ,£46, 1 2^. 3^.
for the field, and 1 55. for the water side ground. Brown, Carrick & Co.
used the ground as a bleachfield until it began to be built upon, when it
became known as the village of Brownfield.1 It is now in the heart of
the city.
The extension of the city on the south side of the river has been
equally recent. In the year 1650 Sir George Douglas and his lady
sold the lands of Gorbals, with the office of bailiary and justiciary, to
the magistrates of Glasgow, in trust for Hutcheson's Hospital to the
extent of a half, and for behoof of the " Crafts' Hospital," now the
Trades' House, to the extent of a fourth, and for the City itself to the
extent of the remaining fourth. In 1789 the property was divided
among the parties interested, when the Trades' House acquired the
portion on the west of the then small village of Gorbals. This portion
was called Tradeston. The part which fell to the Hospital was called
Hutchesontown. Part of this lot consisted of the portion of a field
lying at the south end of Jamaica Street Bridge on which was a wind-
mill. It is incidentally alluded to in the Presbytery records as early as
1599, in which year proceedings are mentioned against " Andro Nicol-
" son miller in ye vindmylne on gorballis besyde Glasgw." The
wind-mill was still standing in the beginning of the present century, and
from it the field acquired the name of the Windmillcroft. In the
paper from which I have taken some of these particulars — one of the
frown's History of Glasgow, vol. ii. p. 113.
Gorbals and Bridgend. j6i
/
pleadings in an action in the Court of Session between the magistrates
and Mr. Galloway, a brewer, as to certain duties on ale and beer levied
in Gorbals — it is added, " The Hospital having feued this ground for
" building there is now (1805) erected upon it a village called Laurieston,
" including some elegant buildings called Carlton Place. The other
" part of the Windmillcroft, that upon the west side of Broad Street,
" now called Bridge Street, was allocated to the Trades' House, and
" upon it has since been built the populous village of Tradestown. The
" remaining part of Windmillcroft was allocated to the town of Glasgow,
" and since the commencement of this action a part of it has been feued
" out for the erection of another village, under the name of Kingstown.
" The whole of these newly erected villages, Hutchesontown, Lauries-
" town, Tradestown, and the proposed new village of Kingstown, are
" situated without the bounds of the parish of Gorbals."
Gorbals formed part of the barony of Blythswood, and was part of
what was called "the six pound land of Gorbals and Bridgend." In the
beginning of the seventeenth century the village of Gorbals was called
Bridgend, and it consisted of only a few houses at the south end of the
old bridge of Glasgow. In a charter by Charles II. in 1661 reference
is made to " the lands of Gorbals and the town of Bridgend." It was
afterwards erected into a separate barony. In 1607 the Archbishop of
Glasgow granted to Sir George Elphinston a charter in feu farm of the
barony of Blythswood, comprehending Gorbals and Bridgend, with the
office of heritable bailie and justiciary, and power to hold courts. The
charter declares that the inhabitants " shall have power of carrying on
" merchandise and manufactures of all kinds, in the same way as any
" other free burgh of barony." The inhabitants were thus formed into
a community, and they held a tenement of land in the village, which
was called " the community land." The barony was afterwards acquired
by Sir George Douglas of Blackstone. All these villages now form
part of Glasgow, and the site of the wind-mill is now deep water near
the centre of the river, a little below the bridge.1
1 Glasgow and its Environs, p. 47.
THE CITY PORTS AND MILITARY DEFENCES.
Although in some of the old charters properties are described as
infra micros civitatis Glasguensis, it is certain that at no time was
Glasgow a walled town. The expression " infra muros" meant simply
within the ports or gates. Eneo Silvio describes the towns in Scotland
in the fifteenth century as all unwalled; and John Major, who taught
for some years in the University of Glasgow, writing in 1521, speaks of
Perth as being the only properly walled town in the kingdom. Our
burgh records afford sufficient evidence, that as regards Glasgow, at
any rate, while there were several ports, there were no walls. At a
time when pestilences prevailed in Paisley and elsewhere, there are
repeated entries enjoining that the ports be kept secure. But behind
the houses which formed the boundary of the city there appear to
have been only back yards and gardens, separating them from the open
country beyond, and we find repeated orders enjoining the inhabitants
to keep their back premises sufficiently fenced, so as to prevent any one
entering the city except by the gates or ports.
By an old ordinance " twa honest men of the town" were appointed
to take charge in turn of each of the ports. This fell into desuetude,
and the order was renewed in 1588, on the occasion of a pestilence
breaking out in Paisley.
In 1574 there is an entry in the council records ordering "the four
" ports to be kept daylie continewalie, and at ewin the portaris to deliver
" the keyes to ane of the baillies." And again, " Ordains the Ratton-
" raw, Drygate, and Grayefriar portis to be made sure and lokit, and
" stand lokit, and keyis thairof deliverit to the baillies, and nane to
" repair thairthroucht without the special license of the provest and
"baillies."1 An unlucky wight who disregarded this injunction is thus
dealt with a few weeks after the date of the order: " Robert Thomsone
" is fund in the wrang and amerciament of Court for the lifting of the
" myd tre of the Port beside the Castelyett, it being lockit, and the
October, 1 574.
The City Ports.
porter at his denner, at his awin hand, and entering thairat, it being
"lockit, and dwme gevin thairupoune."1 As regards other inclosures
for the protection of the city, these are dealt with by ordinances such as
this: — "31 October, 1588. It is statut that everie persone repair and
" hauld clois thair yairds endis and bak sydis, swa that nane may repair
" thairthrow to the toun bot be the common ports, vnder the pane of
" fyve pundis to be taiken of ilk persone quha contravenis the
" same."
The Stable Green Port, as already mentioned, was near the wall
surrounding the Castle garden. On the opposite side of the Castle,
across the street called the Wyndhead leading to the Cathedral, was
the Castle Yett Port, or Castle Port. A part of the wall connected
with this port remained till near the end of the last century, with an
old tower that formed its termination on the south. This tower was
removed to make way for that unsightly building the Barony Church.
Besides a port at the eastern termination of the Drygate there was
another, which is referred to in a deed in 1410 as "the Subdean port
" of Glasgow between the Gyrtheburn and the street called the Dreg-
"gate." The Gallowgate or East Port stood, as already mentioned,
immediately to the west of the Old Saracen's Head Inn. The south
end of the barrier or traversing wall joined the face of an old two-storey
thatched house. The north end rested on an angle of the old church-
yard wall of Little St. Mungo. This port was taken down in I749-2
The West Port stood originally a short distance westward from the
cross, near the mouth of the Old Wynd. Having become ruinous,
it was in 1588 ordered to be transported " to the Stockwalheid."3 At
the foot of the Saltmarket was a port called in some of the charters the
Porta Inferior, and in others the South Port or Nether Barras Yett.
The street leading from it to the old bridge, now called the Bridgegate,
is called in one old writ via extra portam Australem que ducit ad
Cludam; and in another, via que ducit a Porta Australi ad magnum
pontem lapideum trans Cludam? The original port was a considerable
way back from the river, but in 1644 it was by a minute of council
1 3oth November, 1574. 2 Glasgow Past and Present, vol. iii. p. 674.
3 28th December, 1588. 4 Lib. Coll. N.D., pp. 34, 35, 220.
The Water Port.
ordered to be taken down and "buildit of new nearer the water." In
this minute it is called "the Salt mercat port."1
Besides these ports others are referred to in the burgh records, and
regulations are also made as to keeping certain closes and vennels closed
by gates at the lower ends, some of them to be locked day and night,
and others to have a wicket by which the inhabitants are to have leave
to pass. The following entry occurs in October, 1588: "It is statut
" that Lindsayis port, the Stinking vennall, and the Grayfrier port to be
" all closit ; the Scuile Wynd to be likwayis closit and keepit daylie,
"as vse was, be the maister of the scule; the wickit of the Grayfrier
" port to be patent to the nichtbouris besyd, and they to be ansuar-
" able for the same; and the Rottin Raw port to be lockit nicht and
" day."
In June, 1639, "it is statut and ordanit that ane dyk be buildit at
"the Stockwallheid, and ane port put thairin; and to build ane dyk
" from the lithous [dye-house] to the custome hous, with ane port
" thairin, lykwayes ane betwixt the bridge and Johne Holmis hous, in
" ane cumlie and decent forme."
The dyke last mentioned in this minute was the Water Port. It
had two gates — one between the dyehouse and the custom-house, and
the other between the custom-house and the house of John Holms at
the east end of the bridge, next the Bridgegate. The " custome hous"
was a small toll-house at the north-west end of the bridge, at which
were received the dues on goods brought into the city from the south
side of the river. A view of the Water Port, but probably not a very
correct one, is given in Capt. Slezer's view of the bridge. Its exact
position, however, is shown in an old map or plan made in the year
1760, the accuracy of which may be the more relied on that it formed
a production in a law suit between the magistrates and Mr. William
Fleming, afterwards of Sawmillfield, relative to a saw-mill belonging to
the latter. It shows the small "custome house" at the north end of
the west parapet of the bridge, with the dykes on each side — one rest-
ing on the " lit house " and the other on the house at the west end of
the Bridgegate. It shows also that there was then no water under
1 Minutes of Council, I4th Sept. 1644.
*-K
The Brig Port. I(55
the northmost arch, and that the bank extended to about the centre of
the second arch. By that time, indeed, the bank was so high and the
ground had become so consolidated that a road passed under one of
the arches. This fact we learn from the deposition of one of the wit-
nesses in Mr. Fleming's case, who speaks of the slaughter-house as
bounded by a road " leading from the foot of the Saltmarket Street
" through one of the arches of the bridge to the Broomielaw."
The Brig Port, which has been frequently confounded with the
Water Port, was of much older standing than the Water Port. It is
mentioned in the burgh records so early as 1588, but where it stood
or at what time it was removed I have not been able to ascertain. To
Mr. William Brown, late of Kilmardinny, I am indebted for the annexed
most interesting and hitherto unpublished view of the old bridge, taken
by his father, Mr. James Brown. The date of the drawing is probably
somewhere about the year 1776, by which time the two northmost
1 66 Fortification of the City.
arches had been built up, but the bridge had not yet been repaired and
widened.1 The illustration is specially interesting as being now printed
from the original copperplate etched by Mr. James Brown himself.
Whether the port or arch which forms so striking an object in this view
is the original Brig Port I do not know. Mr. Brown was an accom-
plished draughtsman, and the etching may be accepted as a faithful
representation of what the old bridge was twenty-five years before the
end of the last century.
I have mentioned that before 1776 the bridge had become so inse-
cure that carts and heavy carriages passed the river by a ford. The
order by the magistrates was that only "coaches and chaises" should
pass by the bridge, and Mr. Brown's drawing is valuable as confirming
this. It shows the coaches crossing the bridge and the carts crossing
by the ford above. It shows also that there was a ford below the
bridge as well as the one above it mentioned by Mr. Reid, and this is
confirmed by a minute of the town council (24th November, 1767),
which mentions " the foords above and below the bridge of Glasgow."
The only evidence I can find of any attempt to fortify the city was
during the civil war, when the magistrates, for the protection of the
town, ordered "a trench or ditch to be made around it. The first
notice of this which appears in the council records is under date
I5th November, 1645, where "it is ordainit be the Committee of
" Estaites that fyve hundrethe bollis of meill be advancit for the vse
" of the people that cumis in to help to cast up the trinche about this
" citie, quhilk is to be payit out of som sowmes of monye the Provest
"is to receave for the vse of the publict; and becaus the meill can not
" be commodiouslie gottine, the said Provest Baillies and Counsell hes
" concludit to pay to everie man that cumis in to wirk at the said wark
" ten schilling scots for the haill time they wirk, in satisfaction of the
" peck of meill ilk man sould have, conform to the act and ordinance
" of the said Committee." In the following year there is an entry
showing that the presbyteries in the neighbourhood were required
1 The contract with Shaw, the mason, to widen the bridge was concluded in October, 1775,
and as in May, 1778, there is a minute of council as to causewaying the bridge, the work was
probably completed in that year.
w
0 %
P w
w §
n
.P co
^ 3
o g
W P
si
Q
K
h
P^
o
fe
The Trench and Barricades. 167
to furnish men for this work: "24 March — ordains Jon. Johnston to
"go to the Presbiterie of Lanerk and get answer from them anent
" ther sending of men, or moneys to hyre men, to work at the trinch.
" As als ordains to wryte to the rest of the Presbiteries for ther defi-
"; ciencie." And on the Qth of May in the same year the council "ordains
" the haill inhabitants of this burghe to come out ilk Mononday of
" the weik to the works." It is further declared that those who fail
shall be " countit disaffectit to the caus in hand, and punishit be the
" Sub Governour according to the wull of the Magistrats." And again,
on the 8th of August in the same year, " ordains that the Magistrats
" tack up ane list of the haill horses in the toune, and caus ane com-
" petent numbir of thame serve weiklie at the trinche."
This trench does not appear to have been completed. The work
was renewed at the time of the rebellion of 1715, the projected size
of the ditch being twelve feet wide and six feet deep. Barricades
were at the same time erected, and there are repeated entries on the
subject in the burgh records of that year. Under date 2Qth October,
1715, there is a minute bearing "that in this tyme of common danger
" the toun is put to vast charges and expences in fortyfieing the
" toun, and many other wayes which they cannot evite, and that it is
" the advyce of his Grace the Duke of Argyll, General and Commander
" in Chiefe of his Majestys forces in North Brittan, the toun should be
" put in a better posture of defence by drawing lynes of intrinchment
" about the toun in case of an attack against it be the rebells and that
"the same be done with all expedition;" therefore the treasurer is
authorized to contract a loan to the extent of ^500 sterling. Then
follow numerous entries of payments for barricading the different ports,
for barricades " at the Gallowgate and St. Tennochs burn," for stop-
ping the passage at Buns Wynd, and for wages and tools to the men
working on the trenches.
The " lynes of intrinchment," however, if they were ever completed,
which is doubtful, must have been of a very imperfect character, and
for purposes of defence probably useless. There remains no trace of
them now. In the formation of them, so far as they went, a good many
gardens attached to the houses appear to have been invaded, for in
1 68 Weapon Schaws and Drillings.
the burgh accounts of 1715-16 there are repeated charges for the value
of " Kaill plants and Leiks quhilk were destroyed by the Trenches."
As a rule the Scottish people were all trained to arms. An act of
James I. (1426), which was passed in a time of perfect peace, enacts
that all merchants should import some armour and arms with their
cargoes. In Glasgow — encouraged by the bishops and by the men of
rank, many of them soldiers, who officiated as provosts — the people
were early trained to military habits. Previous to the Union they had
their " weapon schaws." There were " buttis" in the Gallowmuir for
44 exerceiss when schutting,"1 and where for a long time regular drill-
ings were held; and repeatedly the city raised troops and sent them to
the field. A detachment of the citizens was led to Flodden by their
provost, Mathew, Earl of Lennox, who was slain in that battle. In the
reign of Queen Mary the citizens took part with the then Earl of Len-
nox against the Earl of Arran, afterwards Duke of Chastelherault, and
an engagement took place at the Butts in the Gallowgate, near where
the infantry barracks were afterwards erected. In this encounter —
known as the Battle of the Butts — Lennox was defeated and about three
hundred of the citizens were slain; and the regent having entered the
town gave it up to pillage. So unmercifully was this carried out that
the very doors and windows of the houses were pulled down. The
citizens had their revenge at the battle of Langside. A considerable
body of them were in the army of Murray, and so much satisfied was the
regent with their services that he conferred on several of the corporate
trades substantial marks of his approval. Some of them had grants,
with increased privileges and immunities; and the bakers had a charter
for the erection of the well-known mills on the Kelvin, which came to
be so valuable a property.
The burgh records contain many notices as to drillings and the rais-
ing of armed levies, and of "stents" imposed on the town to meet the
expense. In 1589 the magistrates, on the requisition of James VI.,
raised a company of "fyftie hagbutteris to await on his Majesties service
" in the north."2 A stent was imposed for their support, and it was
ordained that " the saidis hagbutteris be gratifeit with the soume of an
1 Burgh Records, 2ist May, 1625. 2 i2th and iQth April, 1589.
Arming of the Citizens. 169
" hundreth markis by and attour the soume of money sett doune for
" ane daily wage to them, being ten shilling to everie ane of thame in the
" day during their absence" — more than a shilling a day according to
the then value of money — a liberal allowance for those times. The
citizens generally had arms, and when occasion called for it the magis-
trates furnished them with ammunition — for example, in 1609, when a
certain sum was " debursit of comand of the baillies for poulder to the
" young men of the toun that tyme quhan the Dwik of Wertenbrig came
" to this toun."
On a later date " it is ordainit that thair be electit thrie score of
" young men apt to be tranit up in handlinge of thair armis and to begin
'' on Tuisday next; and the dreiller to have for his panes fourtie shil-
" lings (35. 4^.) ilk day for his cuming out of Edr. till he be dischargit,
" with his hors hyre home and a field."1 This was the year in which
Episcopacy was abjured, and in which the famous Assembly was held
in Glasgow. In the following year the " pro vest bailzies and counsell
" concludit that thair be sent out ane hundreth men to the border to the
" common defence;"2 and by a subsequent order " all inhabitants within
" the toun wha are myndit to carie musquattis are commanded to have
" in redines ilk persone twa pund weght of powder, twa pund leid, and
" five fadom of match." At the same time fifty additional men are
ordered to the Border.
To meet these several expenses the magistrates, among other
resources, "ordainit that publicatioune be made throw the toun be sound
" of drum that the inhabitants of this burghe bring thair haill silver plait
" to be bestowit in defence of the Commoun Cause in hand, conforme
" to the ordinance of the Committee at Edr."3 And in the following
year — which was the year of the meeting of the Long Parliament — the
provost " is appoyntit to go to Edinbrughe with the silver and gold
" wark, the lint money and the contributions collectit for the commoun
" cause."4 In the same year "a perfyt catallog" was ordered to be made
up " of the haill names of the persons within this burgh able for weir,"
and certain days were fixed for drilling. Three years later, as the
troubles thickened, every one capable of bearing arms was called out
1 8th Sept. 1638. 2 ioth April, 1639. 3 I5th June, 1639. 4 5th Sept. 1640.
V
i 70 Raising of Troops.
In that year — 1643 — Charles I. issued a proclamation for "putting of
" this haill kingdome on ane present postoure of war," and the magis-
trates of Glasgow ordered that " in everie ane of the four quarters of the
" toun everie man be in readiness at all tymes with sufficient armes and
"that they use and exerce the same;" and directions are given as to
this, and officers appointed.1 A subsequent order " ordains ane pro-
" clamatioune to be sent throw, the toune commanding all maner of per-
" sones betwixt sextie and sextein to be in readiness with thair best
" armes, and to this effect to cum out presentlie with their several capi-
" taines, with match, powder, and leid, and also to provyde themselfs
" with twentie dayes provisioune to march according as they sail get
" ordours under the paine of death."2 A series of other warlike orders
follow in rapid succession. All the ports are appointed to be guarded
during the day as well as at night, and the officers of the burgh are
appointed " to weir in tyme cuming everie man his sword and halbert."
The master of works is ordained to send to Holland for " sex scoir
" sword blads;" and "eight tun of beir" is ordered to be supplied "for
" outreiking" a ship of war called "the Kings Eight Whelpe" conform
to an order of the Committee of Estates. It was a stirring time, and
the affairs of the unhappy king were getting sorely complicated.
It will be recollected that the Committee of Estates in Scotland
concluded a secret " engagement " with Charles in the Isle of Wight,
by which, in consideration of his undertaking to subscribe the Covenant,
the Committee agreed to commission an army to aid the king. In pur-
suance of this engagement the Committee proceeded to levy an army,
and Glasgow was called upon to furnish a contingent. But Glasgow
did not approve of this questionable alliance with the Cavaliers, and a
majority of the magistrates, backed by the kirk-session, refused com-
pliance, alleging as a reason that they were " not satisfied in their con-
" sciences concerning the lawfulness and necessity of this present
" Engadgement."3 But they suffered severely in consequence. They
were thrown into prison, and deprived of their offices. Four regiments
of horse and foot were sent to Glasgow, with orders to quarter solely
1 Minute of Council, 2d October, 1643. 2 3ist August, 1644.
3 Minute of Council, 23d May, 1648.
Disarming the Citizens. iji
on the disaffected magistrates and council, and on the members of the
kirk-session; and so strictly was the order executed that each individual
had to find board and lodging for ten, twenty, and in some instances
as many as thirty soldiers. The defeat of the Engagers by Cromwell,
his visit with his troops to Glasgow, when he lodged in Silvercraig's
house in the Saltmarket, his disputes with the clergy, and his inter-
view with Zachary Boyd, the minister of the Barony parish — whose invec-
tives against himself he punished by inviting him to dinner and inflict-
ing on him a prayer of three hours' duration — are incidents well known.
The Restoration brought still more troublous times, and Glasgow
again had its share of the suffering. Among other acts of oppression
the citizens were disarmed by an order of the Privy Council requiring
them to bring in their weapons, accompanied by a warning that " all
" who neglects to doe the samyn sail be looked upon as dissaffected to
" the present government and punished accordinglie."1 But the people
complained loudly of being deprived of their accustomed arms in times
so unsettled, and so great did the outcry become that two years later
the magistrates made an attempt to get the arms back. Their minute
bears that " taking to their consideratioune the great danger sundrie
" of our nighbours may fall in regard of the last proclamatioune
" emittit anent the inbringing of armes, and that many of our nighbors
" and com-burgesses may not now frielie trauell abrodd as they wont to
" doe without carieing of some armes, it is therfor concludit that the
" Provest sail ryd to Edinbrughe and petitioune the Lords of his
" Majesties Privie Counsall for granting liberty to our honest nighbors
" for carieing armes when they goe abroad."2 It does not appear what
success the provost had in his mission. Probably none, for it was well
known that the city was at that time far from being well affected to
the Stewart dynasty, and the covenanting leanings of so many of the
citizens gave great offence. The laws against such were rigidly enforced,
and soldiers were quartered on those of the inhabitants who were sus-
pected of having entertained the " outed " ministers, or of frequenting
conventicles.3 The magistrates and principal citizens were also com-
1 Minute of Council, 22d April, 1665.
2 4th May, 1667. 3 Minute of Council, 25th June, 1674.
1 7 2 Suppression of Conventicles.
pelled to subscribe a bond " that they their wyfes bairnes servants and
" coaters sail not be present at any such conventickles or disorderly
" meetings, but sail live orderly conforme to the Acts of Parliament."
This bond was subscribed by Provost Campbell, three of the bailies, and
the whole council, and by several merchants and tradesmen. The total
number who subscribed, however, was only 153. The Privy Council
on this occasion sat for some time in Glasgow, and, to the scandal of
the citizens, transacted business on Sunday in the fore hall of the college
during the hours of divine service, while those of the inhabitants who
refused to sign were being plundered by the soldiers. Claverhouse
chased into the city a number of persons whom he found attending a
preaching near Strathaven, and massacred a considerable number of
them near the Gallowgate Port. Of the Presbytery of Glasgow four-
teen ministers were ejected from their livings. Several persons were
hanged in the streets merely because they refused to conform to Epis-
copacy, and guards were placed at the city ports on the Sabbath morn-
ings to prevent any of the citizens from attending services in the fields.
Many of the townspeople were present at Bothwell Bridge, and the
minister of the Barony parish, Mr. Donald Cargill, was executed at
Edinburgh for complicity in that affair.1
On the occasion of the Duke of York coming to Glasgow, Provost
Bell, a zealous royalist, announced the fact, and appointed " the haill
" counsell to attend vpon the magistrates for waiting on him; that the
" handsomest of the younge men of the toune be warined to beir par-
" tizains in their hands to wait wpon him, and ordaines the inhabitants
" to put out baill fyres at the heid of ilk closs at such tymes as they
" be warned by ringing of the bells."2 The magistrates appear to have
spared no trouble or expense on this occasion, for we find from a subse-
quent minute that their outlay amounted to 4001 pounds 12 shillings
scots, a considerable sum in those days. On this occasion the duke
lodged in Provost Bell's house in the Bridgegate.
On the abdication of James II. the city, as might be expected, was
not slow to show its Protestant leanings. It raised a regiment of 500
men, and sent them to Edinburgh under the command of the Earl of
1 2/th Feb. 1681. * ist Oct. 1681.
The Rebellions.
Argyll. It got the name of the Scotch Cameronians, and became after-
wards the 26th Regiment of Foot.
At the outbreak of the rebellion of 1715 the city again raised a regi-
ment of 500 militia, and sent them to the camp at Stirling; and at the
same time 300 stand of arms were sent to Glasgow from Edinburgh
Castle for the use of the town. Soon afterwards we find the magis-
trates supplicating the Duke of Argyll " to give orders for removing of
" the 353 rebel prisoners who are lying on the touns hands, and in cus-
" tody in the Castle prison, and easing the toun of the burden of them
" and of their maintenance." The Castle Prison could not have been
very secure at that time, as one of the reasons urged for the removal
is that " these prisoners require a guard of about ane hundred men
" always upon them, without which they might have opportunity to
" escape."
In connection with the civil wars there is a curious entry in the
burgh records regarding the son of one of the burgesses who had been
engaged against the king's troops: — " 13 January, 1694: the said day
" ordaines the Mr. of Wark to pay to Adam Todd four dollars to help
" to pay the cure of James Todd his son who was deadlie woundit at
" Killicrankie." The four dollars were well expended if the services
rendered resulted in the cure of a person in such circumstances.
In 1745 the citizens of Glasgow and their neighbours were very
forward in support of the government. About 3000 militia turned out,
and from these was organized a regiment of 650 men, under the Earl of
Home as their colonel, of which about 500 were Glasgow men, and the
remainder chiefly from Paisley. They were marched to Stirling early
in December, and were employed to guard the passes of the Forth.1
In the Glasgow Courant of I2th February, 1746, they are mentioned as
a regiment which made " a very fine appearance, notwithstanding it
"had been raised and marched in nine days." On Friday the 27th of
December, 1745, the Prince himself came to Glasgow, and took up his
quarters in the fine residence of Mr. Glassford, afterwards removed to
make way for Glassford Street. Writing to Mr. Maule the secretary
of the Duke of Argyll, Provost Cochrane says, " On friday the clans
1 Cochrane Papers, Maitland Club, p. 117.
Prince Charles in Glasgow.
" with the Prince came to the town. They attempted to huzza two or
" three times as he went to his lodgings, but fell through it, our mob
" with great steadiness declining to join in it. Our people of fashion
" kept out of the way; few or none at the windows; no ringing of bells,
" and no acclamation of any kind. He appeared four times publickly in
" our streets, twice in all his mock majesty, going and coming from a
" review at our green, without the least respect or acknowledgment paid
" by the meanest inhabitant. Our ladies had not the curiosity to go
"near him, and declined going to a ball held by his chiefs/'1 One
exception to this was the notorious Miss Walkinshaw. Of a good
family, which was ruined by its adherence to the Stewarts, she became
fascinated with the Prince, and, regardless of her reputation, she accom-
panied him abroad and lived with him there. She is said to have been
handsome, but she had no elegance of manners, and like himself she
became a drunkard. They often quarrelled, and sometimes fought.2
Dr. Thorn, of Liverpool, writing in 1851, supplies an interesting
reminiscence of the unfortunate Prince in Glasgow. " Well do I recol-
" lect," he says, " Mr. William Walker, who died I think in 1820, taking
"me in 1815 to a spot in the Saltmarket two or three doors from my
" father's shop, and mentioning that under the then piazza, close to
" where we were, he had stood and seen the rebel army pass up from
" the review on the Green. The Pretender rode at their head. He
" was pale, and, in Mr. Walker's apprehension, looked dejected. He
" said he had a distinct recollection of ' Bonnie Prince Charlie' after the
" lapse of seventy years. He saw the rebel forces, when they had
" reached the Cross, turn to the left and march along the Trongate on
" their way to Shawfield House, at the bottom of the present Glassford
"Street, then the residence and head-quarters of the Chevalier."3
The want of all sympathy on the part of the citizens of Glasgow,
and the marked keeping aloof of the ladies, is said by Provost Cochrane
to have "fretted" the Prince — not the less so that, as Gib, who acted
as steward of his household, mentions, he dressed more elegantly when
in Glasgow "than he did in any other place whatsomever."4 On the
1 Cochrane Papers, p. 66. 2 Ibid., p. 113.
3 Glasgow Past and Present, vol. i. p. 198. 4 Cochrane Papers, p. no.
The Bishop's Forest. x^
occasion of this visit of the rebel army, Glasgow was subjected in a
contribution amounting in value to ,£10,000, which was subsequently
repaid by the government.
EARLY STATE OF THE LAND NEAR GLASGOW.
To pass to another interesting subject, of inquiry regarding ancient
Glasgow — the state of the country around the infant city. There
can be no doubt that for a period long after the restoration of the
see by David the land around Glasgow, except that near the river,
was waste muir, with probably a considerable amount of wood and
bush land. A large district lying to the north and west was called
the Bishop's Forest, but that name did not necessarily imply that
it was all in wood. The term was frequently applied, as it still is, to
ranges of land set apart and having privileges for the preservation of
game; and there is evidence that in early times the southern division,
at least, of Scotland was not by any means a well-wooded country.1
The Bishop's Forest, whatever it consisted of, was of considerable extent,
and certainly in some parts it was covered with wood. Probably also
it abounded in wild animals. One of the legends told by the monk of
Furness is that there being no men to plough the land, St. Kentigern
commanded two deer which he saw on the edge of the wood to yoke
themselves to the plough. They obeyed, and continued daily to per-
form their task. But on one occasion a wolf came out of the wood
and attacked and devoured one of the deer, whereupon the saint com-
manded the wolf to take the stag's place in the plough. " This he did
" with great humility, and, yoked with the other stag, ploughed up nine
" acres, whereupon the saint freely allowed him to depart."2 Whatever
credence we give to the story, we may accept it as a memorial of the
fact that in ancient times the Bishop's Forest was infested by wolves.
Bishop Jocelin, indeed, to whom the monk's work was dedicated, might
1 Sketches of Early Scottish History, p. 101. 2 Life by Jocelin, c. xix.
176 Ancient State of the Land.
well accept the story of the wolf, for in his own time (1176) wolves
abounded in the neighbourhood of his old monastery of Melrose; and
in the following century (1225) there is an act of the Scottish Parliament
empowering the monks of Melrose to set snares for wolves in Eskdale.
Wolves, indeed, continued to infest the forests of Scotland till nearly
the middle of the eighteenth century. The last was killed in Moray-
shire in 1743. Like the other old Caledonian forests, the Bishop's
Forest at Glasgow contained also wild cattle, including the white species,
of which remains are still preserved in the ducal domains at Hamilton;
and by some accounts even bears were found in them.1
Even so late as the middle of the seventeenth century the lands
around Glasgow — beyond the gardens and the few cultivated fields —
must have been almost in a state of nature. From the inventory of
the personal estate of James, Archbishop of Glasgow, it appears that
the whole amount owing by " the fewaris, farmeris, tennants, occupiers
" and possessiors of the lands and baronie of Bishops forist" for the
crop and year 1632 was only ^33, 6s. %d. Scots, equivalent to ^2, i$s.
6 \d. of our money.2 But this of course included only what was feued
or under lease, and, as we have seen, the feu duties were very moderate.
The Bishop's Forest embraced probably the whole of the Easter and
Wester Commons, which, under the liberal administration of the bishops,
the inhabitants were allowed to use as common pasturage and for
casting peats, and for which no rent would be paid.
A portion of the ancient forest appears to have remained in its
original state till so late as the year 1795. Brown, writing in that
year, in describing the newly formed village of Anderston, says that
the ground on which it is built " is bounded on the north by the wood
" of Blythswood, the only remains of a forest, formerly belonging to
" Glasgow, in a natural state."
Among the lands held in common by the citizens, besides the Easter
and Wester Commons, were the Burgh Muir, and the district known as
Garngad Hill. For some time after the flight of Beton, his faithful steward
William Walker, continued to manage the temporalities, and to enter the
"Rentallers;" but about the year 1568 the magistrates — following the
1 Caledonia Romana, p. 16. 2 Hamilton's Lanarkshire, p. 149.
The Ancient Commons.
example of the Duke of Chastelherault when he seized Lochwood took
possession of the common lands — as they did of many other properties and
endowments belonging to the Church — and proceeded to dispose of them
in lots to the inhabitants. Walker, whose heart was sorely grieved at this
spoliation of his lord's benefice, wrote to the archbishop, then in France,
that he had been "in great trublis, as is knawin utuartlie be the change-
" ing of the colouris of my hair qlk was blak and now is quhyte." In
this curious letter, which is dated 6th April, 1569, Walker tells his
master that he had been required and commanded by the provost and
bailies of Glasgow to become a burgess, which he had refused, and in
consequence of that refusal, he says, " I can in no wayis haif justice
" ministrat unto me in quhatsumever actioun I haif ado befoir the
" provest and baillies." He goes on to tell that "al the borrow muir of
" GlasgY on the Southe syde of the towne, and als Garngad hill on the
" north part of the toune, ar distribuit be provest baillies and com-
" munitie of the towne to the inhabitaris thairof, every ane his awin
" portioun conforme to his degrie, and hes revin it oute and manuris it
" this geir instantlie, bot I wald have na parte thairof q1.1 [until] it plies
" God and goure L. to make my parte, be ressoun I knew thai hade na
" power to deill gour L. lands w'oute sum consent of goure L. or sum
" utheris in goure L. name."1 The archbishop, as already mentioned,
was restored by act of Parliament in 1600, but the feus which had been
given off he did not recover.
I It would appear, however, that the division had not been an impar-
tial one, and that the inhabitants did not get " every ane his awin
" portioun." The people also had got alarmed lest the whole of the
muir should be thus alienated, and the land which the bishops had
permitted them to use as common pasture -ground for their cattle,
taken away. We find accordingly, about this time, repeated pro-
tests made by the merchants and deacons of crafts, in name of the
community, against the alienation — "geving furth or delying" — of any
part of the " common muirs." Such a remonstrance occurs under date
ist May, 1574, against a grant to one James Boyd, and the parties
1 Papers in possession of the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland. Contribution to Maitland
Club of the late Andrew Macgeorge, Esq., p. 24.
Z
1 7 8 Alienation of the Commons.
making it protest that " the partis thereof ellis delt and geven furtht
" by [without] thair consent in tymis bigane suld nocht prejuge them
" but that thai may have tym and place for recalling and remeid thairof.''
Again, in 1576, a more formal protest is made, and the magistrates are
entreated " for the luf ye beir to God and the commoun weill of our
" toune" not to alienate any more of the common lands, so necessary as
pasture " for the sustening of our babies." This touching protest was
successful for the time, and under date 2ist June, 1576, there is a
minute of council which bears that after mature deliberation it was
statute and ordained, "in respect that their commoune muris, yet left
" wndelt and set furthe, will scarslie serue the tounschip for halding of
" thair guddis and furnesing fewall necessour," no part of the common
muir shall in time coming be set or given in feu to any person, " bot to
" ly still in communitie to the weill of the haill tounschip.'*
We cannot in our days so well understand the discontent of the
people at the invasion and inclosure of commons. In Scotland, as well
as in England, the land held in common was in the old time of vast
extent. Only on the lower grounds, along the river banks and the sea,
was the land appropriated and cultivated. The inland portion — upland,
muir, and mountain — was, as a rule, not occupied for agricultural pur-
poses, or specially appropriated at all, but served only to keep the poor
and their cattle from starving. It was only as cultivation increased
with greater wealth, and a higher civilization came to prevail, that the
common land began to be inclosed, and the poor man's grazing ground
appropriated by the neighbouring barons or burghal authorities.1 But
the ecclesiastics, who held the church lands, were the last to make these
encroachments, and the appropriations by the magistrates of Glasgow
of the " common muirs," which had been included in the patrimony of
the Church, would probably not have been made by the bishops had
they continued the feudal superiors.
In connection with the subject of commons, I may mention in
passing that the proceedings of the Enclosure Commissioners in
1878 disclose the interesting fact that so late as that year there
existed tracts of common land in England, forming part of a high
1 Scotch Legal Antiquities, p. 155.
The Common Pastures.
and wild range of hills in Somersetshire, in which red deer still roamed
at large.
Having referred to the common muir of Glasgow, which was on the
north side of the city, I may mention that there stood upon it the small
church or chapel of St. Roche the Confessor — called in a minute of
council in 1647 " Sein Rokis Kirk." It was founded in the beginning
of the sixteenth century by Thomas Muirhead, canon of Glasgow and
prebendary of Stobo, and the cure was served by one of the order of
the Blackfriars. It was surrounded by a burying-ground, which, when
the town was visited by a pestilence in 1647, was used for the reception
of the infected poor, for whose accommodation wooden huts were
erected in it. From a corruption of the name of this chapel the district
called St. Rollox took its name.
The portions of the land round Glasgow, which were saved from
appropriation, continued till a comparatively recent period to be held in
common by the inhabitants for pasturing their cattle. Certain parks in
the locality now called Cowcaddens, and elsewhere, including the Green,
were used for this purpose till near the end of the last century. The
cattle were collected every morning, and sent out to pasture on the
common muirs, under the charge of herds appointed by the magistrates.
In 1589 there is a minute of council appointing two individuals "to be
" common Hirdis of the toun for this yeir to cum," one for the " nolt and
" guidis aboue the croce" and the other "for the nolt and guidis beneth
" the croce, and the rest of the nether pairtis of the toun." " Nolt and
" guidis" mean black cattle and milch cows. The herds were required
to give their oath of fidelity, and to find caution " for leill and trew
" administratioun in their office."1 The cattle from the lower district
were collected by the herd and driven through the west port, and up
the common thoroughfare called the Cow Lone, now Queen Street, to
the Cowcaddens parks, and he brought them home the same way in
the evening. At that time there was on the site of what is now the
Royal Exchange a thatched farmhouse, with large dungsteads at either
end. Cow Lone, as I have previously mentioned, was then a rural,
muddy lane, neither bottomed nor causewayed, and in wet weather the
1 26th March, 1589.
i£o The Common Herds.
cattle often sunk in it so deeply as to get " laired" — causing the herd
no small trouble in their extrication. It continued in this state till so
late as 1760, when it was causewayed. Sometimes the cattle were
taken westward by what was called the Back Cow Lone — now Ingram
Street — a rural lane which led westward from the High Street by Buns
Wynd, Shuttle Street, and Canon Street, till it joined the main Cow
Lone. This practice of leading out the cattle to pasture continued
till a comparatively recent period. Dr. Buchanan, writing in 1855, says,
" I have conversed with people who perfectly well remembered the
" last Town herd collecting the cows and driving them along the streets
" and both of the lones, in the manner now described. His name was
" John Anderson, and he lived in Picken's Land, Rottenrow. I am in
" possession of his horn, and a very primitive looking wind instrument
" it is." It was made out of a cow's horn, with an indentation round
the mouthpiece for the purpose of suspending the instrument from the
worthy official's neck.
Originally there appears to have been a herd for the cows and a
separate herd for the calves. In 1579 there is an order of the town
council by which " Matho Wilsone is maid and constitut calf hird, and
" is ordanit to have vjd (a halfpenny) for ilk calf, and his meit daily
" about, or ell is xijd (a penny) for ilk melteth [each meal] gif thai failzie
" and to be poyndit thairfoir."1 Perhaps the calves were pastured on
the Green. There was certainly a house for the herd there, situated
near the site of Nelson's Monument.
No one was allowed to pasture his cattle apart from the common
herd. There is a minute which bears that "John Hogisyarde is fund
" in the wrang and amercement of court for halding of ane kow by
"[apart from] the herde, contrare to the statuts of the toune; quhilk
" kow was fund and gottin in James Flemynges corne;" and the delin-
quent is ordained to make good "the skaitht to the said James."2
The prices at which the magistrates disposed of the common lands
were very small. The agricultural value of the ground was certainly
not great, as may be judged from the fact that in 1712 the whole of the
muir known as the Wester Common, extending to about TOO acres —
1 26th May, 1579. 2 Council Records, i6th August, 1579.
Habits of the People. jgi
now part of the city — was let to one James Bell at the rent of £i 1, 8s. 6d.
That was probably all that could be then got for it; but the magistrates
were not justified in permanently alienating lands which they held in
trust — if not for the Church, to which they really belonged, at least for
the citizens — at prices which were merely nominal. On the i8th of
June, 1730, they sold sixty acres of this Wester Common to James Rae,
a merchant in Glasgow, at the price of ^145, i6s. %d. and an annual
feu-duty of ,£5, 1 1 s. Taking the feu-duty at even twenty-five years'
purchase, this is less than ,£285 for sixty acres of land. And in 1747
they sold the remainder of the common, extending to between thirty
and forty acres, to John Young, a tailor, at the price of ^130 and a
feu-duty of £it i$s. 4^. Again, on the other side of the city, the magis-
trates so late as 1764, sold to Hugh Tennent, a gardener, what is
described in the conveyance as " the town's lands and muir of Easter
" Common consisting of 42 acres," for payment of a feu-duty of only
£10 sterling. In the same way other valuable lots of ground were dis-
posed of at prices equally inadequate.
THE PEOPLE, AND HOW THEY LIVED.
Of the personal habits of the people of Glasgow, and their mode
of living in mediaeval times, we have little information, but down to
the fifteenth or sixteenth centuries these must have been of the rough-
est. And it was the same all over Scotland. Eneo Silvio describes
the people as small in stature, but bold, the commonalty as poor and
uneducated, eating flesh and fish, but bread a dainty. In Froissart we
get a picture of the Border Scots in one of their forays, in the year 1327,
which is worth transcribing; and from the description which he gives of
an army equipped for an invasion, we may form some estimate of the
state of the people at large at that time. Their luxuries appear to
have been few, but they were probably not without substantial means
of living. " The Scots," writes Froissart, " are bold, hardy, and much
1 82 Border Raids.
" inured to war. When they make their incursions into England they
" march from twenty to four and twenty leagues [miles] without halt-
" ing, as well by night as day; for they are all on horseback except the
" camp followers, who are on foot. The knights and esquires are
" well mounted on large bay horses: the common people on little
" galloways. They bring no carriages with them, on account of the
" mountains they have to pass in Northumberland; neither do they
" carry with them any provisions of bread and wine, for their habits
" of sobriety are such in time of war that they will live for a long time
" on flesh half sodden, without bread, and drink of the river water
" without wine. They have therefore no occasion for pots or pans, for
" they dress the flesh of their cattle in the skins after they have taken
" them off, and being sure to find plenty of them in the country which
" they invade, they carry none with them. Under the flaps of his saddle
" each man carries a broad plate of metal, and behind the saddle a little
" bag of oatmeal. When they have eaten too much of the sodden flesh,
" they place this plate over the fire, mix with water their oatmeal, and
" when the plate is heated they put a little of the paste upon it and
" make a thin cake like a cracknel of buscuit, which they eat to warm
" their stomachs. It is therefore no wonder that they perform a longer
" day's march than other soldiers." When the English army on one
occasion entered a camp which the Scots had just quitted, they found,
among other things, says Froissart, "more than three hundred cauldrons
" made of leather, with the hair outside, which were hung on the fires
" full of water, and meat ready for boiling, and more than ten thousand
" pairs of old worn out shoes made of undressed leather, which the
"Scots had left there."1
In a curious document written in the early part of the sixteenth
century we have an account of how these shoes were made. It is a
paper presented to Henry VIII., after the death of James V., by one
John Elder, a clergyman, a native of Caithness, containing a project of
union of the two kingdoms, and it contains some interesting notices as
to the habits of the Highlanders. As a rule, he says, they go barelegged
and barefooted, but in winter, when the frost is very severe, "we go
1 Chronicles — Johnes, vol. i. pp. 18-24.
Dress of the Common People.
" a-hunting, and after we have slain red deer we flay off the skin, and
" setting our bare foot on the inside thereof, for want of cunning shoe-
" makers, by your graces pardon, we play the cobblers; compassing
" and measuring so much thereof as shall reach up to our ankles; prick-
" ing the upper part thereof with holes, that the water may repass when
" it enters, and stretching it up with a strong thong of the same above
(< our said ankles. So we make our shoes — the rough side outward."1
The custom of boiling the beef in the hide continued in some parts of
Scotland till a very recent period. Burt says that in his time (1730), in
some of the islands, the people still retained that custom.2
Men who fed on half-sodden flesh prepared in raw hides, and who
made their shoes of undressed skins, would not be very particular as to
how they were housed. Nor were they; for, as we have seen, they con-
sidered the occasional burning of their houses by the English a calamity
more endurable than the expense of supporting their French allies.
In the Lowlands, including Glasgow and the other burghs, the dress
of the men among the common people in the fifteenth century consisted
chiefly of a doublet and cloak and a kind of short trews — the head being
covered with a hat sometimes of basket-work and sometimes of felt, or
with a woollen bonnet, while the legs and feet remained bare. Shirts
were almost unknown, even among the better classes. Among women
the kirtle or close gown was rarely accompanied either with the wylicot
or under-petticoat, or with the mantle, and the feet were bare. From the
poem " Peblis to the Play/' by James I., we learn that in his time the
women wore kerchiefs or hoods, and tippets about the neck. Some of
the men wore hats of birch twigs interwoven, others flat bonnets. Their
music was the bagpipe. A description is given of a tavern, with a fair
linen cloth on the table, and a regular score on the wall, and the reckoningj
which is twopence halfpenny each — about a penny farthing of our money
—is collected from the company in a wooden trencher. Such would be
a tavern in Glasgow about the year 1450.
In food there was hardly any luxury till James I., who had resided
nineteen years in England, set the example of a better style of living.
1 Holograph MS. quoted by Pinkerton, Hist, of Scotland, vol. ii. p. 397.
2 Burt's Letters, vol. ii. p. 271.
1 84 Food.
Under Robert II. the French knights could obtain no wine but at a
great price. The ale was no better than small beer, and the bread,
when there was any, was of barley or oats.1 Among the common people
milk and its various preparations formed a chief article of diet till a
much later period. Meat boiled with oatmeal, or fish, supplied the
more substantial meals. Bread and vegetables were luxuries, and were
very little used — a circumstance to which, perhaps, may be imputed the
prevalence of leprosy.2 The people generally, too, were much more
gross in their tastes than they are now. Even the higher classes
indulged an appetite for coarse and strong-flavoured food which would
astonish a gourmand of the present day. At the royal table, in the thir-
teenth century, porpoise and grampus, fresh and cured, were regular
items of provision. In the following century the household books of
James V. show repeated entries of payments for " pellok," the " phoca"
or " selch," with the " cattus marinus," called sometimes " se cat," and
the "polypus," as viands provided for the king and his court. The
flesh of the porpoise and seal, indeed, continued to be used till at least
the end of the sixteenth century. And this was not peculiar to Scot-
land. In the accounts of the corporation of Rye, in 1448, we find
twenty pence paid for a " porpais." They were dearer at Lydd, for in
the accounts of that corporation in 1449 there is a payment of six shil-
lings for a porpoise, to be presented to no less a person than Jack Cade
— called in the account " the Captain " — to propitiate his friendship in
case of his ultimate success.3 Pike was in common use in Scotland, and
there are notices of its having been sent to James IV. from Luss. Cranes,
swans, herons, bitterns, solan geese, and other birds of coarse flavour,
were also esteemed as articles of food.4 Sturgeon was reckoned a great
delicacy, and in the royal accounts in 1496 there is a payment of five
shillings "to the man that brocht the sture [sturgeon] fra Glasgo."5
After the Reformation the mode of living improved. Vegetables and
oatmeal were more used, and less flesh was eaten; but the habits of the
people were still coarse, and cookery was little cultivated. Fynes Mory-
1 Froissart. 2 Pinkerton's History, vol. i. p. 154.
3 Fifth Report on Historical MSS., pp. 492-520.
4 Accounts of the Lord High Treasurer, preface, p. ccvii. 6 Ibid., p. 277.
Habits of Better Classes. 185
son, a gentleman who travelled in Scotland towards the end of the six-
teenth century, writing in 1599, says: " The Scotch eat much colwort
" and cabbage, and little fresh meat. Myself was at a knight's house
" who had many servants to attend him, that brought in his meat with
" their heads covered with blue caps, the table being more than half fur-
" nished with great platters of porridge, each having a little piece of sodden
" meat. And when the table was served the servants did sit down with
" us, but the upper mess [above the salt] instead of porridge had a
" pullet with some prunes in the broth. And I observed no art of
" cookery, or furniture of household stuff, but rather rude neglect of
" both, though myself and companion, sent from the Governor of Ber-
" wick about Border affairs, were entertained after their best manner.
" They vulgarly [commonly] eat hearth cakes of oats, but in cities have
" also wheaten bread. They drink pure wines, not with sugar as the
" English, yet at feasts they put comfits in the wine after the French
" manner." As to dress, he says, the common people wear coarse home-
made cloth " and flat blue caps very broad. The gentlemen did wear
" English cloth, or silk or light stuffs. Gentlewomen did wear close
" upper bodies after the German manner, with large whalebone sleeves
" after the French manner, short cloaks like the Germans, French hoods,
" and large falling bands round their necks. The unmarried of all sorts
" go bareheaded, and wear short cloaks with close linen sleeves. The
" inferior sort of citizens wives, and the women of the country, wear
" cloaks made of coarse stuff, of two or three colours in chequer work,
" vulgarly called plodan" We may accept this description as in a great
measure applicable to Glasgow at that time.
Sir William Brereton, the traveller already quoted, writes thus of the
people in Edinburgh in 1634, and in all probability this description also
applied to Glasgow : — " The women wear and use upon festival days
" six or seven several habits and fashions : some for distinction of
" widows, wives, and maids, others apparelled according to their own
" humour and phantasy. Many, especially of the meaner sort, wear
" plaids, which is a garment of the same woollen stuff whereof saddle
" cloths in England are made, which is cast over their heads and covers
" their faces on both sides, and would reach almost to the ground but
2 A
Wearing of Plaids.
" that they pluck them up and wear them cast under their arms. Some
" ancient women and citizens wear satin straight bodied gowns, short
" little cloaks with great capes, and a broad boun-grace coming over their
" brows and going out with a corner behind their heads, and this boun-
" grace is, as it were, lined with a white stracht [starched] cambric suit-
" able unto it. Young maids, not married, all are bareheaded — some
" with broad thin shag ruffs which lie flat to their shoulders, and others
" with half bands with wide necks, either much stiffened or set in wire
"which comes only behind; and these shag ruffs are more broad and
" thick than others."1
Ray the naturalist, who visited Scotland in 1661, describes the men
of the poorer class as wearing bonnets, and the women having a
covering of white linen on their heads, which hung down their backs.
" When they go abroad none of them wear hats, but a particoloured
" blanket, which they call a plaid, over their head and shoulders." The
magistrates of Edinburgh had, some thirty years previously (1631),
endeavoured, but apparently without success, to put down this wearing
of the plaid over the head. " It has now," the order prohibiting it bears,
" become the ordinar habit of all women within the city, to the general
" imputation of their sex — matrons not being able to be distinguished
" from loose living women, to their own dishonour and scandal of the
" city." When we come to notice the proceedings of the Kirk Session
of Glasgow we shall find that they also, perhaps for the same reason,
strictly prohibited the wearing of plaids over the head by women in
church. There is a similar enactment about the same time by the
magistrates of Aberdeen, in which they condemn "the uncivill forme of
" behaviour of a great many women of the burght of gude qualite quha
" resortes both to kirk and mercat with thair playddis about thair
" headis."2 In Aberdeen, curiously enough, men were, in the sixteenth
century, prohibited from wearing, not plaids only, but blue bonnets.
The magistrates enacted that no burgess should wear a plaid, under a
penalty of forty shillings, and if he wore " a bleu bonatt" he was sub-
jected in a penalty of five pounds.3 But the practice of wearing plaids,
1 Brereton's Travels, p. 101.
2 Burgh Records of Aberdeen, 6th June, 1621. 3 Ibid., 5th October, 1576.
Dress of Tenantry. jgy
in the case both of men and women, had become inveterate, and it
continued notwithstanding these enactments.
Another English traveller, Morer, writing in 1689, says he found the
Lowlanders in Scotland dressed much like his own countrymen, excepting
that the men generally wore bonnets instead of hats, and plaids instead
of cloaks — the women wearing plaids when abroad or at church. " The
" children of people of the better sort," he says, " lay and clergy, go
" generally without shoes or stockings. Oaten cakes, baked on a plate
" of iron, are the principal bread, and they are fond of tobacco." In
Glasgow, till a recent period, it was quite common for the children
of the well-to-do classes to go without shoes and stockings in summer,
and it was the same in other towns. Captain Burt, speaking of the
habits of the people in Inverness towards the middle of the eighteenth
century, says, " Though the children of the upper classes wear shoes
" and stockings in winter, nothing is more common than to see them
"barefoot in the summer."1
Writing of his own recollection of the same period (1763), Mr.
Maxwell of Munches says of the rural population of Galloway: "The
" tenants in general lived very meanly on kail, groats, milk, gradden
« — ground in querns turned with the hand, and the grain dried in a
" pot, with an old ewe now and then about Martinmas. They were
" clothed very plainly, and their habitations were most uncomfort-
" able. Their general wear was of cloth made of waulked plaiding,
" black and white wool mixed, very coarse, and the cloth rarely dyed.
" Their hose were made of white plaiding cloth sewed together, with
" single soled shoes, and a black or blue bonnet — none having hats but
" the lairds, who thought themselves very well dressed for going to
" church on Sunday with a black Kelt coat of their wives' making."2
Linen was everywhere made at home, the spinning being done by
the ladies, and also by the servants, during the long winter evenings.
" Holland," which cost about six shillings the ell, was worn only by the
wealthier classes.
In the burghs no doubt the people lived better than in the rural dis-
tricts, and in Glasgow, whatever their food may have been, they appear
1 Letters, vol. i. p. 96. 2 Murray's Literary History of Galloway, App. p. 337.
1 88 Wines.
to have consumed a considerable amount of wine. In early times it was
only within burgh that the sale of wine was permitted at all, and when
a cargo arrived it was first proved by the " tasters," and the price at
which it was to be retailed in the taverns was then fixed. In the same
way each brewing of ale was proved by the official taster before it was
permitted to be sold, and the price was regulated according to the
price of malt, and "efter the imposicioune of the worthi men of the
" toune."1 Of wines, claret was most in favour in Glasgow, and indeed
throughout Scotland. It was imported from Bordeaux by French and
Scottish traders. The other wines used were chiefly those of Guienne
and Gascony. They were probably of a harsh and acid character com-
pared with what are now imported, and the small quantity of sugar then
consumed — most of which was imported from Italy, Sicily, and Cyprus
—was chiefly used to mix with the wine.2 The beer used in Scotland
during the greater part of the fifteenth century was mostly imported
from Germany. When ale began to be manufactured in Glasgow,
which it came to be to a large extent, it was made both from oats
and barley or bere, and in the absence of hops it was flavoured with
ginger and other spices and aromatic herbs, to fit it for keeping.
Women, called " browster wives," were then the only brewers, and for
a long time the taverns were almost exclusively kept by them.3 In the
old burgh accounts of Glasgow there are repeated entries of payments
for " aqua vitae " at the corporation dinners. This is not always to be
confounded with brandy, to which, in earlier times as well as at a later
period, the term was applied. It was often applied to whisky made
from malt. In 1494 the exchequer rolls contain an entry of the delivery
of eight bolls of malt to Friar John Cor to make aqua vitae. The
quantity manufactured, however, was very limited. Till the sixteenth
century the sale of distilled spirits was chiefly confined to the shop of
the apothecary. It was used only as a luxury or medicinally. On two
occasions there appear entries in the royal accounts of payments by
James IV. "to the barbour that brocht aqua vitae to the king in Dunde."
At a later period French brandy was imported and used in considerable
1 Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland, i. p. 683.
2 Accounts of Lord High Treasurer, Preface ccviii. 3 Ibid., p. ccxiii.
Claret.
quantities, but the excessive use of whisky is quite a modern innovation.
From the burgh accounts it would appear that the amount of spirits
consumed at our early city banquets was very small.
Down to the time of the Union claret was the wine principally
drunk in Glasgow. An English traveller who was there about 1660
says that the people " generally excel in good French wines as they
" superabound with flesh and fowl."1 Another Englishman, who made
an excursion in Scotland in 1704, writes that at the most common
taverns they had good French brandy and French wine — " so common
" are the French liquors in this country." From a tavern bill in 1697
which has been preserved, we learn that claret was then charged 2od.
(sterling) the quart. Morer, writing in 1702, says the Scots " have a
" thin bodied claret at ten pence the mutchkin." After the Union the
price was higher. In 1729 Burt states that claret was charged is. 4^.
the bottle, and that it was soon raised to two shillings.2 He says he
found French claret — " a wholesome and agreeable drink — in every
"public house of any note except in the heart of the Highlands, and
" sometimes even there." The laird of Culloden kept a hogshead of
claret on tap in his hall for all comers;3 and at Arniston House, the
country residence of President Dundas, there were sixteen hogsheads
of claret used every year.4
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY.
The ecclesiastical history of Glasgow — not the history of the
Church, but the proceedings of the ecclesiastics and the church courts,
and the exercise of their jurisdictions, is in many respects curious, but
my space does not permit more than a brief notice of it. The mate-
rials, indeed, are limited. With the exception of the Chartularies the
only local record which we possess of the period before the Refor-
1 Franck's Northern Memoirs calculated for the Meridian of Scotland.
2 Letters from the North of Scotland, vol. ii. p. 134.
3 Burt. 4 Domestic Annals of Scotland, vol. iii. p. 184.
Ecclesiastical Discipline.
mation is the Protocol Register, which Professor Innes believed to
have been lost, but which was fortunately discovered by the Rev. Mr.
Stevenson at Buckie, in Banffshire, among the collections of Bishop
Kyle, and which has been since printed by the Grampian Club. It
embraces only fourteen years — from 1499 to 1513 — but it contains
some curious and interesting entries, and casts considerable light on
church life, and on the proceedings of the ecclesiastical authorities during
that period. Besides collations and presentations to livings, questions
of jurisdiction, and records of the conveyance of property, there are
entries as to ecclesiastical disputes, cases of libel for slander, the exer-
cise of church discipline in cases of assault and slaughter, and other
matters dealt with by the Archbishop of Glasgow and by the dean and
chapter.
The cases in which the discipline of the church was invoked to
redress acts of violence are numerous, and in the worst of them the
delinquents are priests. On one occasion Sir John Carnwath, a priest,
is accused of having violently carried off sub silentio noctis, during the
first week in Lent, the daughter of John Smyth, in the parish of Linton.1
Another priest, Sir Bartholomew Blare — every priest had the prefix of
"Sir" — is charged with " mutilating and dismembering" certain parish-
ioners of Biggar in a conflict betwixt him and the said parishioners.2
And Sir John Wanles, also a priest, is cited before the archbishop, " to
" see and hear himself declared irregular and deprived of his rank, and
" to be thrown into prison by the secular authorities and otherwise
" punished, for the cruel slaughter of Adam Moscrop, scholar."3 Many
other cases of the same kind occur — acts of violence and licentiousness,
and in one instance of theft — all committed by priests.4 In one instance
a priest, for using " loose and profane words " in presence of the chan-
cellor, is ordained to confess his fault and ask pardon of the judge and
the archbishop "jUxis genubus on the floor of the court."5
There is another class of interesting entries in this old record relat-
ing to the forms observed on the induction of ecclesiastics. On the
admission of Archbishop James Beton he is first received by the chapter,
1 20th April, 1504, Lib. Protocol., No. 80. 2 j^ ? ^o. 356.
3 Hth April, 1511, Idem, No. 516. 4 Vide Ibid., Nos. 569, 570. fi Ibid., No. 442.
Induction of Ecclesiastics. j Q j
under letters apostolic addressed by the pope to that body. He is then
received by the rector in name of the university and clergy of Glasgow;
and lastly he is acknowledged by two of the bailies in name of the citi-
zens to be archbishop of the see "and father and shepherd of their souls."1
On a subsequent occasion he takes the oath of office in the chapter-
house of the Cathedral " by touching his breast and swearing on the
" word of an archbishop and on the Holy Gospels." Induction is given
to a chaplaincy, that of St. John the Baptist in the Cathedral, "by touch
" and real delivery of the chalice, book, altar, and ornaments thereof."2
And there is an interesting instrument recording the investiture, by the
king in person, within the Abbey of Holyrood, of Sir John Symington
to the chapel-royal of St. Ninian of Dondonald, in the diocese of Glas-
gow. The investiture on this occasion is recorded to have been made
41 by James IV. king of Scots, the true patron donator and disposer
" thereof, by His Majesty personally taking the right hand of the said
" Mr. John, and subscribing with his own Royal hand a writ containing
" the royal mandate."3 Another instrument records the investiture of
Sir John Heriot, in the parish church of Drumman (Drymen), by lead-
ing the presentee " through the south gate of the church to the high
" altar, and delivering to him the keys of the church, the baptismal font,
" the bell rope, the high altar and ornaments thereof, Chalice and Book;
" all which were handled by the said Sir John in token of real posses-
" sion obtained." And two newly created canons of the Cathedral are
admitted by u making canonical obedience to the Dean and Chapter, by
"joining their hands, and falling on their knees, and taking the oath of
" the canons — placing the right hand on the breast after the manner of
"priests."4
Other instruments in the Protocol are interesting as relating to pil-
grimages from Glasgow to Rome. One of these records that Sir Bar-
tholomew Blare — the same individual, apparently, who had so maltreated
the parishioners of Biggar — being, in expiation of his crime no doubt,
about to visit the shrines of the apostles Peter and Paul in Rome, and
" having taken a staff for support in his right hand, and in his left a
1 Lib. Protocol., No. 359. 2 Ibid., No. 399.
3 Ibid., No. 492, 6th Nov. 1510. 4 Ibid., No. 572.
Conflicting Jurisdictions.
" pilgrim wallet, and setting out in name of the Father Son and Holy
" Spirit," committed to the protection of the pope and the see, himself
and his chaplaincy, and all his goods, "and all those adhering to him;"
and thereupon he asks instruments in the hands of the notary. This
he does in the chapter-house, in presence of the chapter. In another
case the notary records that the pilgrim priest, " taking his wallet, cloak,
" cap, and staff, and taking leave of the byestanders, advancing a little
" distance, took his journey to his Holiness Pope Julius II."
In one case the chapter takes proceedings against George Lyle for
non-adherence to his spouse, and not treating her with matrimonial
affection;1 and in another case the archbishop pronounces a sentence
of divorce.
In the beginning of the sixteenth century we have in the same
records examples of the attempts which had begun to be made by the
citizens to assert their independence, and of the collision into which
they came with the archbishop, in consequence. In December, 1510,
there is a record of proceedings taken at the instance of the commissaries
against the bailies of the city and other citizens, who had " incurred the
"greater excommunication" for having done certain acts and made
certain statutes against the jurisdiction of the Church, " namely, that
" none of the citizens of Glasgow ought to summon another citizen
" before a spiritual judge ordinary respecting a matter which could be
" competently decided before the bailies in the Court House of Glasgow;
" and because they had fined one Alan Lethame a citizen, because he
" complained to the Official against another fellow-citizen." The pro-
vost, the Earl of Lennox, appeared before the chapter " as pleader for
" the said bailies, and procurator for the citizens to defend them," and
demanded to be furnished with a copy of the citation. This bears to
have been "done, Sabbath, ;th Dec. 15 io."2 But the time of inde-
pendence had not yet come. In the following month the earl again
appeared and " publicly confessed and openly acknowledged" the act
complained of, and renounced, in name of himself and the citizens, " all
" statutes made against the liberty and jurisdiction of Holy Mother
" Church, promising never to put them in execution in time to come."3
1 Protocolla, No. 362. 2 Ibid., No. 498. 3 Ibid., No. 504.
Ecclesiastical Division of City. jg?
All law business at that time was in the hands of ecclesiastics; and
notaries received their appointment from the archbishop, who had the
power of suspending them at his pleasure.1 In one of the instruments
the notary styles himself " presbiter, notarius publicus, ac scriba" — writer
—the name adopted by his successors in the Faculty.2
Under the bishops and archbishops the religious life of the inhabitants
was that of other cathedral towns. There were the usual services in
the High Church, in its choir and at its many altars. The Black Friars
had services in their church in the High Street, afterwards known as the
College Church; and in the collegiate church of St. Mary and St. Anne
in St. Thenew's Gate, now the Trongate, there were regular services.
At the Reformation these two last-mentioned churches became ruinous,
and thus there was then only one church for the city — the Cathedral —
with one minister, to whom a second was in 1588 joined as a colleague.
In 1592 the increasing population caused the church of St. Mary and St.
Anne to be repaired, and a third minister was then provided. A fourth
was appointed in 1595 to the Barony, which was separated from the
city in the following year. For this congregation, the crypt — for some
time called the Laigh Kirk — was fitted up. In 1622 the old Blackfriars
Church was added, having been repaired in that year. To accommo-
date an additional congregation the western part of the nave of the
Cathedral was fitted up in 1648. It was called the Outer High Church,
and Patrick Gillespie was appointed its first minister. In that year
Glasgow was divided ecclesiastically into four parishes, and in 1701 it
was divided into six. In making this division the Magistrates and the
General Session — for it was done at the sight of both — appear to have
had regard solely to the number of " examinable persons" which would
be in each division. The total number of such persons to be provided
for was 9994, and how very equally the city was apportioned for their
accommodation will be seen from the division made. There was first
" the north quarter," comprehending the Drygate and Rottenrow " and
" country places," and coming down to the Blackfriars' Church, " con-
taining of examinable persons" 1777. Second, the middle quarter,
down the High Street to the Cross, containing 1685. Third, the east
1 Protocolla, No. 428. - Ibid., No. 501.
2 B
The Kirk Session.
quarter, comprehending the Gallowgate and east side of Saltmarket,
containing 1628. Fourth, the south quarter, comprehending the Bridge-
gate and Goosedubs, containing 1648. Fifth, the south-west quarter,
now the Tron parish, containing 1649; and lastly, the north-west quar-
ter, beginning at the Tolbooth and " taking in all without the west port
" and the west side of Stockwell, and comprehending the Candle Street
" and Bells Wynd with the Grammar School Wynd and the Back
" Wynd," containing I6O7.1 This enumeration is interesting as showing
how the population was located in the beginning of the eighteenth
century. In each of the six divisions it will be seen there was an almost
equal number of persons — the difference between the highest division
and the lowest amounting to not more than seventy, and between the
others much less. Other parishes were subsequently formed, and churches
erected from time to time, till they amounted to ten — the present num-
ber. They are called the City Churches. The stipends of the ministers
are paid by the city out of " the common good," but apart from what
the church lands yielded, some of the churches — certainly the Tron and
Blackfriars — had originally independent endowments and property, of
which the corporation took possession. If the matter were investigated,
and the magistrates were brought to account for all the property which
they hold in trust for ecclesiastical purposes, it would probably be found
that the city churches do not form such a burden on the proper resources
of the community as is generally supposed.
In matters of discipline, after the Reformation, an entirely new order
of things succeeded to what had formerly prevailed in Glasgow, and
the inhabitants found that under the presbytery and the kirk session,
especially the latter, they were to be subjected to a rule very much
stricter than they had experienced under the archbishops.
On the abolition of Episcopacy it might be supposed that all eccle-
siastical matters would fall under the cognizance and control of the
presbytery, but this was by no means the case. There were no parochial
sessions till the middle of the seventeenth century, but in the General
Kirk Session, instituted in 1572, a power arose which appears to have
been at first above both presbytery and corporation. Its rule was
1 Burgh Records, 9th September, 1701.
Church Patronage.
spotic, and it claimed and exercised powers which would not be
credited if we had not the records before us. They sat in secret con-
clave— the whole elders and deacons, being "sworn, with uplifted hands,
" to reveal nothing that shall be voted in the session, nor the voters."1
The original books of the session are unfortunately lost, but copious
extracts from them had been made by Wodrow, and they are preserved
in his unpublished " Life of Mr. David Weemes," the manuscript of
which is in the library of the university. From these we obtain a
curious picture of social life in Glasgow in those olden times.
To begin with, the kirk session exercised for a long time the right
of patronage of the city churches. It was by them that the city was in
1648 divided into four parishes — the magistrates merely concurring.
Even after the magistrates had obtained from the crown a gift of the
patronage, the kirk session still insisted on appointing the ministers,
and this continued down to 1717, when the magistrates, on the ground
that all the churches except the Cathedral were maintained and endowed
from funds dispensed by them, claimed to have a say in the appoint-
ments. This led to an arrangement in that year by which it was agreed
that the session of the vacant church should be allowed to make the
nomination, but that the minister should not be called until the approval
was obtained, not of the magistrates only, but of the General Session.
This continued for some time, but disputes arose which led to the pro-
posal of other schemes, and as the parties could not agree it was at
length settled in a judicial process that the magistrates had the exclusive
patronage. This decision was the cause of a small " disruption," for it
so displeased the General Session that a number of its members left the
church, and having erected a chapel in Canon Street, they termed it
the meeting-house of the Free Presbyterian body.2
Under date 28th May, 1588, we find the kirk session intimating to
the presbytery that the "exercise" of the latter cannot be permitted in
the Blackfriars on Friday, because it " interfeirs with the preaching" on
that day, and the presbytery is desired " to alter the day of their exer-
" cise." The presbytery yielded, and there is an intimation afterwards
1 Session Records, 24th October, 1588. 2 Clelland's Annals, ii. p. 411.
Early Hours.
" that preaching, with consent of session and presbytery, is to be in the
" Blackfriars Wednesday and Friday."
Equally did the session dictate to the town council, and even interfere
in the nomination of the magistrates. On the 26th of September, 1587,
they sent to the council on the day of the election " to request that in
" chusing the baillies men might be chosen that were fit for the office,"
but they added judiciously "as near as possible" In 1644 we find them
giving orders "that the magistrates shall attend the Tables at the
" Communion in the Hie Kirk and keep order; and the Dean of Guild
" and Convener and the old Magistrates in the New Kirk [the Tron]."
This must have been no sinecure, if an order, which was enacted by
the session in 1589, was enforced, that the "time of convening on Sun-
" days of the Communion" should be four o'clock in the morning — the
" Collectors" being ordered to assemble in the High Church on these
occasions at three in the morning.
But, indeed, early hours were generally observed in Glasgow at that
time and for long afterwards. In a journal kept by an English student,
one Josiah Chorley, who attended the university in 1670, the writer
says — " The good orders of the College were very agreeable to mine
" inclination. At five o'clock in the morning the bell rings, and every
" scholar is to answer to his name which is then called over. The day
" is spent in private studies and public exercises in the classes; at nine
" at night every chamber is visited by the respective regents."1
Speaking of the religious life of the people, Mr. Chorley says—
41 The Lord's days are strictly observed : all the scholars called to the
" several classes, where after religious exercises, all attend the Primar
" and Regents to church, forenoon and afternoon, and in the same order
" from church. Then in the evening they are called again to the
" classes, and then come under examination concerning the sermons
" heard, and give account of what was appointed the foregoing Sabbath
" in some theological treatise, and then to supper and chambers." And
he adds : " There is also a comely face of religion appearing throughout
" Chorleyana, or a Register commemorating the most remarkable passages of God's pro-
" vidence towards me from my nativity, by Josiah Chorley," MS., quoted by Professor Innes in
Preface to Munimenta Universitatis, p. xxiv.
"Absents from the Kirk? I97
" the whole city, in the private exercises thereof in the families, as may
"appear to any that walks through the streets; none being allowed
" either in or out of church time to play or saunter about; but reading
"scriptures, singing psalms, &c., to be heard in most houses."1 There
is reason to fear, however, that in many cases it was only " a face of
" religion." Absence from church was in those days a grave offence,
and persons who were guilty of it, or of " playing or sauntering about,"
were severely dealt with. The duty of looking after such delinquents
was imposed by the kirk session on the magistrates and ministers,
who, by a minute of session of 14th April, 1642, were directed "to go
" through the streets on Sabbath nights to search for persons who
" absent themselves from church : the town officers to go through with
" the Searchers." By another minute the session directs the searchers,
on the Sabbath, to pass into the houses and " to apprehend absents
"from the kirk." These searchers, or "compurgators" as they were
called, were also employed in perambulating the streets on Saturday
nights, and when at the approach of twelve o'clock they heard any noisy
conviviality going on, even in a private dwelling-house, they entered
and dispersed the company. Another of their duties was to perambu-
late the streets and public walks during the time of divine service on
Sunday, and compel every one they met abroad, not on necessary duty,
to go to church. At a later period it was left optional to the delinquents
to go home, and if they refused to do so they were taken into custody.
This practice was continued till so late as the middle of last century,
when the searchers having taken into custody Mr. Peter Blackburn,
father of Mr. Blackburn of Killearn, for walking on the Green one
Sunday, he prosecuted the magistrates and succeeded in his suit. This
caused the practice to be abandoned.2
On the restoration of Episcopacy the archbishops took a leaf out of
the book of the kirk session in the matter of compulsory church attend-
ance, and this in a way that neither the session nor the town council liked.
It was one thing to compel the inhabitants to come to church to hear
the " ministers," and a very different thing to have attendance enforced
1 Pref. to Munimenta Universitatis, p. xxv.
2 Notes by Dugald Bannatyne, Esq., quoted in Statistical Account, vol. vi. p. 231.
198 " Monuments of Idolatry"
on the episcopal ordinances, and the orders of the prelates were to a
great extent disregarded. In these circumstances Archbishop Fairfowl
applied to the town council, and insisted on their enforcing the law;
and this was followed, under date 3d April, 1666, by a curious entry in
the records of the council. It bears that there was produced a letter
" direct thereto be the Archbishop of Glasgow in the quhilk his Grace
" declaires that efter search he findes severall persones both men and
" weomen who ordinarlie dishantes [dis-haunts — forsakes] publict ordin-
" ances and flateres themselfes with hope of impunitie, but knew not
" from whence thir confidence springes, and therefor thought it his Grace
" dewtie to adverteis the Counsell that his Grace intendit, gif thair fynes
" be not exactlie leived be them, to employ some of the officers of his
" Majesties Melitia both to observe who withdrawes from ordinances,
" and also to exact the penalties imposed by law which his Grace is
" verie vnwilling to doe." This letter troubled the magistrates not a
little. It was "severall tymes read," and, after much discussion, "it
" was concludit be pluralitie of votes that it was better for the toune
" that thes fynes war collectit and wpliftit be the Magistrates, to the
" effect they might be applyed to pius vses, then that any sojers should
" have the collecting thairof."
But to return to the kirk session. Previous to the Restoration it
would appear that certain pictures and crucifixes, saved from the general
destruction, still remained in the High Church, and no doubt many such
were to be found in the houses of those who adhered to the proscribed
faith. By an act of an Assembly held at Aberdeen in 1640, it was
ordered that all these should be removed, and the execution of this
order naturally fell to the magistrates. But either they were slow to
execute it, or the kirk session did not choose to wait for them, and
accordingly we find the session issuing an order on the magistrates to
take the necessary steps. " The session enacted that the Magistrates
" will cause all monuments of idolatry to be taken down and destroyed
" viz. all superstitious pictures crucifixes &c. both in private houses and
"in the Hie Kirk;" and the magistrates appear to have acted on the
mandate and made the search. But it had not been very successful, as
"next day it was reported that they found only three that could be
First Poor Rate.
" called so viz. the five wounds of Christ, the Holy Lamb, and Quin-
" tigerne ora pro nobis."1
The kirk session was particularly severe on " swearers, blasphemers,
41 and mockers of piety." By one of their minutes they appoint " some
" of their number to go through the toun on the market day, till the
u magistrates provide one for that office, to take order with banners and
" swearers." Swearers are ordained to pay twelve pence (a penny), and
for the second fault to be rebuked in church.
But the kirk session did not confine themselves to morals and
church matters. In the year 1598 we find the following curious entry:
" The Session thinks good that the University, ministers, and Presby-
" tery, take cognisance who are within the toun that pretend to have
" skill in medicine and hath not the same, that they who have skill may
" be retained and the others rejected." And a message is sent to the
town council "to see what course to take with such."2
The first regular assessment for the support of the poor was made,
as we have seen, in 1638, but at a much earlier period the kirk session
had been doing something in that way at their own hand. In 1595
they appointed a committee to prepare " a roll of the people who were
"able in the toun to be stented for helping the poor;" and this they
must have enforced, for there occur frequent entries afterwards of the
distribution by the session of the money raised for this purpose. They
also enacted that no beggars were to be allowed on the streets or at
doors, and they got constables appointed to see this enforced, but not
apparently to much purpose, as street begging continued for a long
time after that.
Immediately before the Reformation, and for some time after it, the
habits of the lower orders in Glasgow appear to have been far from
exemplary — the gentler sex being apparently worse than the men. In
1589 we find the town council specially convened "becauss of the
" manifauld blasphemies and evill wordis vsst be sindrie wemen;" and
as a preventive measure, " they haif concludit that ane pair joges be
" set upp vpon the goves, gangand up with thrie or four fut stepis."3
The magistrates also by another minute appoint two persons " to attend
1 8th January, 1641. 2 Hth Sept. 1598. 3 Minute of Council, 3d June, 1589.
2oo Church Discipline.
"everie day about the Cross, but especially at the sitting of Justice
" Courtes, for executing ther decreits against blasphemers, raillers,
" cursers, and other vicious livers." Immorality prevailed to a large
extent. The session, as might be supposed, took such cases specially
into its own hands, and it was not slow to deal with them. Offences
for which, in our day, there is no punishment, were visited with penalties
which would startle offenders now if they were applied and enforced as
they were in those times. A pillar was set apart in the churches, and
there the delinquent was obliged to stand before the congregation, some-
times for six Sabbaths in succession, " bare foot and bare legged and in
"sackcloth," and in some instances "to be carted through the toun."1
On a repetition, and if the offender had been excommunicated, recon-
ciliation to the church was to be obtained after this fashion. He is
" to pass from his dwelling house to the Hie Kirk every Sunday at six
" in the morning, at the first bell, convoyed by two of the elders or
" deacons or any other two honest men, and stand at the kirk door,
" barefooted and bare legged, with a white wand in his hand, bareheaded,
" till after the reading of the text, and then in the same manner to
" repair to the pillar till the sermon be ended, and then go out to the
" door again till all pass from the kirk; and after this be received."
At such exhibitions the congregation looked on no doubt with
becoming reverence, but not such was the case with a party of English
soldiers who were quartered in the town in 1655, whose treatment of
the ceremonial was the occasion of the following minute : " The Session
" resolves that so long as the English continue in the toun they will put
" no person on the pillar because they -mock at them''
It may be believed that immorality was not confined to the lower
orders, but it is not to the credit of the session that even-handed justice
was not meted out when the offender was of higher degree. It so
happened that on one occasion there was found in this category no less
a person than the Laird of Minto. But then he was the Laird of
Minto. He had recently been provost, and he was a person of influence
in the town. Accordingly, in the exercise of a prudent discretion, and
on his paying the very moderate commutation of "20 lib" (^i, 13^.
1 Minute of Session, 1586.
r Marriages and Banquets. 201
'.) " the Session pass the laird, considering his age, and the station he
leld in the town."
Even the ministers were not free from the charge of exercising
occasionally an undue partiality in such matters, and it was the occasion
of a minute in 1630, by which "the Presbytery censures the ministers
" of Glasgow for dispensing with public repentance for money."
In matters such as marriages, games, and banquets, the session exer-
cised a like despotic authority. In 1583 they decreed that there should
be "no superfluous gatherings at banquets or marriages; that the price
" of the dinner should be eighteen pence [less than twopence], and that
"persons married shall find caution to that effect." In 1593 they
" directed the drum to go through the town that there be no bickering
" nor plays on Sundays either by old or young, and that no person go
" to Ruglen to see vain plays on Sunday."
But apart from the restriction on the price of the banquets, it was
not so simple a matter to get married then as it is nowadays. There
was something more required than a promise to love, honour, and obey.
In 1591 the session enacted that " those who are to be married declare
" the ten commandments, Articles of faith and Lord's prayer, or else
" they shall be declared unworthy to be joined in marriage and further
" censured."1 And following up this there is an entry in the session
records in the same month bearing that a marriage had been actually
» stopped " till the man learn the Ten Commandments the Lord's Prayer
" and Belief."2
And the sentence of the kirk session was no mere brutum fulmen.
They enforced as well as pronounced it. They caused " a ward house"
to be constructed in the steeple of the Blackfriars' Church, and to this
prison they committed offenders. One person is sentenced to con-
finement for eight days, and instructions are given " to the beddal to let
" Steeplers get nothing but bread and water, or small drink, so long as
" they continue in the steeple."3 An individual who had been absent
from " the examination" and the communion for several years is committed
to the steeple, and ordered to make public repentance besides. In 1609
the session enacts that all offenders shall pay their penalties personally
1 2oth Dec. 1591. 2 26th Dec. 1591. 3 Session Records, 7th Sept. 1604.
2 C
202 Ducking in tke Clyde.
before leaving the session- house, "or be put in the steeple till it be
" paid."
In 1665 the manse of the Prebendary of Cambuslang on the south
side of the Drygate was acquired by the Earl of Glencairn, who in that
year sold it to the magistrates, who, as I have already mentioned, con-
verted it into a house of correction for persons of dissolute character.
Of this new prison the kirk session took advantage — the Blackfriars'
Church having become ruinous — and immediately afterwards there
occur entries in their records ordaining persons to be taken to the
house of correction, both men and women, and appointing them " to
" be whipped every day during the Sessions will."
But the session had still more alarming penalties in store for female
delinquents — notably among these being ducking in the Clyde. The
magistrates had themselves previously resorted to this mode of enforcing
morality, as we find an entry in the burgh accounts of a payment in
1575 "to the officeris for dowking of Janet Fawside xld." (about five-
pence).1 But the kirk session improved upon this. By a minute in
1587 certain women are adjudged to be imprisoned and fed fifteen days
on bread and water, and " to be put on a cart one day, and ducked in
" Clyde, and to be put in the jugs at the Cross on a Monday," that
being the market day. The ducking system seems to have proved a
success, but as the duckers probably fared as bad as the ducked, an
ingenious device was resorted to in order to obviate that inconvenience.
The session appointed a pulley to be made on the bridge, whereby the
offenders " may be ducked in the Clyde." By the same minute the
time of exposure at the pillar in the church is relaxed, and it is declared
that for a single offence the punishment shall be " only eight days in the
" steeple, one day on the cockstool and one day at the pillar."
I have mentioned the stringent measures which the session took to
compel attendance at church. When the people were got there they
were subjected to an equally rigorous censorship. In 1587 the session
enacted " that all persons in time of prayer bow their knee to the
ground." In 1588 they ordered some ash-trees in the High Church
yard to be cut down " to make forms for the folk to sit on in the kirk."
1 6th Nov. 1575.
Sleeping in Church.
But this was for the accommodation of the male sex only, for in the
following year they ordain "that no woman sit upon or occupy the forms
" men should sit on, but either sit laigh or else bring stools with them.1
By a later minute they ordained " that no woman married or unmarried
" come within the kirk doors to preachings or prayers with their plaids
" about their heads, neither lie down in the kirk on their face in time of
" prayer, sleeping that way; with certification that their plaids shall be
" drawn down or they roused by the beddel."2 For the better pre-
servation of order they got the town council to enact, on the occasion of
the filling up of " the beddellship of the Laigh Kirk in Trongait," that
it should be the duty of that official not only to ring the bells, " but
"also to walk throw the kirk in tyme of divyne service with ane whyt
" staff in his hand, as wont to be of old, for the crubbing of bairnes
" and uthirs that maks disturbance in the kirk, and for impeiding of all
"abuses therm."3 I find a similar regulation in the minutes of the
kirk session of Perth in 1616, which ordains the session officer "to have
" his red staff in the kirk on the sabbath days therewith to wauken
" sleepers and to remove greeting bairns furth of the kirk."
Even in cases of separation between man and wife the kirk session
of Glasgow took it upon them to exercise jurisdiction. One occasion is
recorded when there came before them two married persons " who
" declare they are content to separate one from another till God send
" more love into their hearts;" and the man having undertaken to give
the wife a small yearly allowance, " the session consent to this."4
Nothing indeed appears to have escaped the cognisance of the
session. It might be supposed that at any rate the regulation of the
city ports would be under the exclusive control of the magistrates. But
no. " The Session enacted that the ports be shut on Sabbath at twelve
" o'clock," and that care be taken " that no traveller go out or come in
" the town, and watches to be set where there are no ports." By another
minute "the Session enact that the ports be shut on Saturday night, and
" watches set to observe travellers."5 By a later order they enact " that
" the ports be well kept in time of sermon because of the highland-
1 loth July, 1589. 2 3d May, 1604. 3 25th March, 1665.
4 22d October, 1635. 5 l8th August> l637-
204 The Presbytery.
The influence of the session continued to be felt till far on in the
eighteenth century, and they appear to have had always considerable
funds at their disposal. When the first town's hospital was erected in
Clyde Street in 1735 it was arranged that, besides a tax on the citizens,
the sum of ^570 towards the cost should be provided by the joint con-
tributions of the town council, the Merchants' House, the Trades' House,
and the general session, and of this sum the session gave no less than
^"250 — the town council giving only ,£140.
The records of the Presbytery also contain many curious entries
which throw light on the manners and customs of these early times.
I have referred to the general practice of carrying arms, and the
presbytery books afford evidence that in this the clergy formed no
exception. The following entry occurs not long after the Reforma-
tion: " On Sunday 28th August 1587 William Cuningham when going
" up by the Wynd heid with his son Umphra and some other persons
" abused Mr. Wemyss the minister of the Hie Kirk, and in coming
" down from the kirk the father and son attacked Mr. Wemyss with a
" quhingear and a pistolet, called him a liar, and struck him on the
" head and breast which made him retire. Mr. Wemyss in fear of his
" life cast his'goun over his arm and drew his quhingear in his defence.
" The Cuninghams attempted to draw their pistolets but were prevented
" by the Parson of Renfrew, who coming doun the Rattonraw at the
" time, and seeing the scuffle drew his quhingear ; and defeated the Cun-
" inghams, who were sentenced to ask pardon of God, of the Kirk, of
" the Magistrates, and of Mr. Wemyss, first at the Wynd heid, and then
" before the Congregation of the Kirk." The record goes on to say
that " the Presbiterie hereon admonished their ministers to be diligent
" in their study, grave in their apparel and not vain with long rufils and
" vain gaudy toys in their clothing."
Repeated instances occur of the presbytery dealing with parties who
had used violence in churches. On one occasion " Andro Granger
" grantis yt he drew his quhinzeir vilfully in ye queer, ye preiching place
" of Glasgow, aganis Arthur Allan burges of Glasgw." He expresses
his regret, and is appointed to make public repentance.1 On another
1 9th Dec. 1595.
Disturbances in Churches. 205
occasion the presbytery deals with John Stirling for forcibly entering
the kirk of Cadder, during the administration of the communion, " with
" ane drawin quhinzeir in his hand," whereby the people were put in
terror and the tables with the elements were "cassen to the grund."
For this act of sacrilege John was excommunicated. He was subse-
quently released from this much-dreaded sentence, but only on his find-
ing surety to obey the injunctions of the presbytery. What these were
is thus detailed : " Ye first ye said Jon paye ye sowme of fourtie merkes,
" qrof ten merkis to be gevin to the Kirk of Cader, and twentie lib to
" ye Collector in ye presbiterie to be bestowit to godlie wses; And yt be-
" ing done y1 ye said Jon mak his publict repentance in sekclay* bairfutit,
"bairleggit, and bairheidit, first in ye Kirk of Cader: 2 in ye Kirk of
"Glasgw: 3 in Leinzaie Kirk: 4 in campsie: 5 in monyaburt: and
" ye rest of ye said dayes in ye said Kirk of Cader, in maner of excom-
" municats — yt is, standing at ye Kirk duir of everie ane of ye said
" Kirkis, yan entring to ye piller yrin remaining q11 ye sermont be endit;
" yan cuming fra ye piller and standing at ye Kirk duir q11 ye pepell be
" cum furt of ye Kirk, and swa to indure wnto ye next Synodall assem-
" blie." It is to be presumed that John went through all this, as we
hear no more of him.1
The fines levied in such cases were usually ordered to be applied to
public works. The maintenance of bridges in those days was a matter
of great importance, and we find many of the fines imposed by the
presbytery of Glasgow were ordered to be applied " to repair ye brig of
" Inchbellie," to " big the brig of Kirkintillat," for " reparacioun of
" ye brig of Campsie," and other such purposes.
Among other offences dealt with and prohibited by the presbytery
was " the playing of bagpipes on Sondaye from sun rising to its going
" doun," and practising other pastimes after canonical hours under pain
of censure.2 This limitation of the time for indulging in amusements
appears to have been only carrying out an extraordinary order which
the presbytery had issued a few years before prescribing the limits of
the Sabbath. Their minute bears that they " interpret the sabbath to
be from sun to sun — no work to be done between light and light in
1 Presbytery Records, Hth May, 1595. 2 7th May, 1594.
2o6 Sabbath Desecration.
winter and between sun and sun in summer."1 It was not till fifty years
afterwards that the presbytery declared that the Sabbath "shall be from
" 12 on Saturday night to 12 on Sunday night/'2
Reverence to parents was strictly enforced in these times. On one
occasion we find the presbytery dealing with a young man because of
his being "gudget stubborne and a disobedient sone to his father" — a
chief cause of his offence being that he had " cum by his father and his
" bonnet on his heid, not salutand his father."3
Extravagance at bridal parties was strictly prohibited by the presby-
tery, as it was by the session. The latter, as we have seen, had in 1583
limited the expenditure to eighteenpence Scots. The presbytery ten
years later relaxed the rule so as to allow forty pence — about fourpence
of our money — for each person present. If anything was spent beyond
that it was followed by a penalty.4 Instances of the infliction of money
fines by the presbytery are very numerous, and they appear, like
those of the session, to have been enforced. Among the offences
punished in this way, and also by the prescription of penance, are
absence from church, non-attendance at the communion, " wirking on
"the Sondaye," and " leiding of cornes" on that day; and in one case
punishment 'is awarded because the offender "ryidis on Sondayes to
" sek his dettis." And the presbytery, as a rule, were no respecters of
persons. They ordered Lord Fleming to be summoned for being
absent from the kirk of Lenzie on a particular Sunday when he was at
Cumbernauld, because it was " the motive and greit occasion moving
" his tenantis to byd avay fra ye kirk."
We have seen how the kirk session exercised jurisdiction in cases
of separation between man and wife, and an illustration of the extent
to which a similar jurisdiction was exercised by the presbytery of Glas-
gow is found in a case of divorce, on the ground of desertion, which
came before them early in the seventeenth century. A man and a
woman — John Philpe and Helen Willsoun — appeared craving the
authority of the presbytery for their marriage, notwithstanding an alle-
gation that a former husband of the woman was still alive. The pres-
1 i;th January, 1590. 2 i8th August, 1640.
3 6th February, 1598. 4 2Qth January, 1593; 22d April, 1594.
Cases of Breach of Promise. 207
bytery having " efter tryell founde that now it is mair than twentie
" yeiris since hir husband left hir, quho since that time hes not been hard
" of, grantis libertie to the saidis John and Helen to marie."1
Repeated cases also occur of the presbytery trying cases of breach
of promise of marriage. In one case the offender, Helein Bull, confessed
to "refusing to marie Johne Miller w* quhome scho hes bein proclaimit
" twyse, now being of mind to marie Patrik Bryce." She is adjudged
" to mak hir repentance in hir paroche kirk of Leinzae for hir incon-
" stancie, and forder to pay penaltie to the thesaurer of hir kirk the
l( nixt sondaye afore she entir to hir repentance."2 In another case
about the same time the lady was the complainer, and her swain having
denied the promise, and there being no proof, she referred it to his
oath. The minute of the presbytery is as follows : " Quhilk daye
" Johnne gudden denyis he maid promise to marie Jonet Busset and
" sweiris be his aithe yt he maid na promise to marie hir — it being
" referrit yrto be ye said Jonet; Thairfore ye Kirk absolvis ye said Johnne
" fra ye said Jonetis psute and grantis to him libertie to marie in ye Lord
" quhat woman he sail pleis."3 So frequent were such cases of breach of
promise that we find the kirk session of Cambusnethan enacting " that
" each pairtie to be proclaimit sould lay doun aucht merk, and the pairtie
" rewer sould lose theirs, and the other sould get their aught merks vp
"againe."4
But the presbytery did not confine themselves to pecuniary penal-
ties. Here is what an unfortunate wight had to undergo for "dinging"
his stepmother. " Quhilk daye the Presbiterie ordaine Gavin Lekprevik,
" for dinging of Marioun Maxwell his stepmother, to be in the joggis
" the nixt sondaye be the space of half ane hour afoir his minister sail
" entir to the sermont, and to stand thairin the said space in linen
" cleithes, bairfuttit bair leggit and bair heidit; and how sone his said
" minister sail entir in the kirk to preiche Gods word, that he pas on the
" piller within the said kirk, and thairon remane during the haill tyme of
" the sermont, and at the command of his minister to ask God his kirk
" and the said Marioun forgiveness on his kneis, for the sclandeir he hes
committit be the dinging of the said Marioun and that he find
1610. 2 yth September, 1596. 3 ist July, 1595. 4 I3th January, 1650.
2o8 "Smooring Bairns"
" souertie under the pane of xx lib money that he sail obey this ordi-
" nance."1
One offence, with a rather startling designation, with which the
presbytery appears to have had repeatedly to deal, was what is called in
their records "smooring bairns" — that is, smothering children. For
example : " three women parochinaris of Cadder accusit of smooring
" thair bairnis in the nicht are referrit to the Session of Cadder to be
" tryit thair;" and there are many other examples. The delinquents
are chiefly women, but on some occasions the man appears and is
" rebuked for being art and part in smooring the bairn." Some have
supposed that these were cases of deliberate smothering — in plain
words, child murder — but this was not so. They were merely cases
where the child had lost its life through the carelessness or intemperate
habits of the parent. The lightness of the punishment awarded, indeed,
shows this. An early entry in the records bears that the presbytery
" advises and resolves that smoorers of bairns mak thair repentance
" two sondayes in sekcleith standing at the Kirk door."2 And it is
made still more clear by an entry in the following century, which bears
that " a number of women in the town having overlaid their children
" in their drunkenness the Presbiterie advise that the old Act touching
" the repentance be revised and put in execution."3
Another crime with which the Presbytery of Glasgow, in common
with all the other presbyteries in Scotland, dealt with exceptional
severity was witchcraft; and some of their minutes on the subject are
very curious. In the end of the sixteenth century there occurs this
entry : " Qlk daye comperit Sibill Dowe and grantis y\ scho said wordes
" to hir fellow servant woman tuiching y« houlat hart [owl's heart] to
" be rubbit to ane manis shuldeir, to cause a man to luif ane woman; but
" scho usit not that thing in any sort."
Shortly afterwards we find the presbytery taking cognisance of a
case where an individual in the parish of Lenzie4 had used the very old
practice of divination by "turning the riddle" to discover the guilty party
in cases of theft. The practice was to place the riddle or sieve on a pair
of tongs held and lifted up by only two fingers. The name of the sus-
1 1 3th May, 1607. 2 2;th April, 1592. 3 25th December, 1647. 4 Kirkintilloch.
Witchcraft. 2Og
pected party being mentioned, if the sieve trembled or was moved round
he was held to be guilty.1 In the case referred to in the Presbytery of
Glasgow the minute is as follows : " Quhilk daye compeirit Jo1} Robeson
" in Leinzie paroche and grantis y* at ye command of margret prestik
" spous to Johnne braid, Christiane braid his dochteir past to Kate
" hopkin to desyr hir to cum doun and turne ye riddell upone yame
" yt had tane away his cleithes: ye said Kate come, ye said Jo1? braid
" being afield, ye said Kate turnit ye riddell for his cbithes yl. he
" wantitt." For this "greit and heynous sin" John Robeson is decerned
to make his repentance on the pillar and to ask pardon at God and his
kirk, — and Katherine Hopkin, for turning the riddle, is subjected to the
same penance.2
A similar superstition prevails at the present day in Shropshire. A
key is placed on a Bible, with the fingers of the party holding it placed
so as to form a cross. It is thus carried from house to house, and on
coming to the residence of the guilty party the key is supposed to turn
completely round.
Another case in which witchcraft was practised in the olden time
was for the purpose of getting mills to grind freely. With such a case
we find the Presbytery of Glasgow dealing on the 24th of March, 1602.
" Quhilk daye compeirit William grinla in ye. parochin of Leinzae and
" grantis yat William baird in Balloche gart him gang w1. him to Annie
forsyithe and thai bayth besocht ye said Annie for godis saik to cause
y*r mylne gang to grind ye said William bairds meill; and y\ ye said
" William baird opened his sek, and ye said Annie pat hir hand in ye
" sek, and efter y\ ye said mylne geid." At a subsequent diet the
presbytery find that the parties " have committed a capital crime replen-
" ischit with sorcerie," and understanding that the woman Annie is
fugitive, they remit the two men "to Lord Flemyng yair ordinar to
" underly punischment for thair offence." Lord Fleming reserving to
himself "ye pecuniall sum" to be exacted from them, remitted them
back to the presbytery to prescribe the penance, and the presbytery for
their " horrible sine" appointed them to make their repentance publicly
in each of three several kirks in sackcloth, " bairfuttit, bairleggit, and
1 Weirus de Magis Infamibus, c. 12, p. 134. 2 9th December, 1601.
2 D
2 1 o Guizards.
" bairheidit, sex severall sondayes and to crave Gods mercie for declyning
" to praye to God and inclining to the said Annie."
On another occasion we find the presbytery ordaining the minister of
Rutherglen to summon the persons within his parish " quha in ye tyme
" called gule days used Gysrie superstitiouslie and troublit yr nichtboars
" in ye nicht tyme to ye great offence of God and his kirk."1 The
offenders are afterwards ordained to make public repentance. And on
a subsequent occasion the presbytery " ordaines James broun in Ruglen
" allegit gysor in womens cloathes to be summoned."2 This relates to
the well-known and, as we now think, very innocent practice of young
men and boys going about at Christmas masked or disguised, and
enacting in the halls or kitchens of the better classes a rude sort of play
or mystery. Sir Walter Scott, in " The Pirate," referring to this custom,
mentions a party " setting forth as maskers, or as they are called in
" Scotland, Guizards." The custom, I believe, dates from a very early
period. In Glasgow the party were sometimes called " Galatians" — no
doubt from the opening words invariably used by the first performer,
" Here comes I, Galatian."
On a later occasion the presbytery ordains Agnes Gourlay " to mak
" publick repentance in sekclaith for charming kine."3 The object in
this case was to produce good cream, and for the information of those
who may wish to repeat the experiment, I may state that the modus
operandi practised by Agnes was " casting some of the milk into the
" grup, and putting of salt and bread into the cow's lugs." The grup
is the trench for carrying off the sewage of the byre.
One peculiar case with which the .presbytery dealt was that of
Mr. George Semple, minister of Killellan, who was accused by John
Hutcheson, one of the bailies of Paisley, that "he had ane book of
" Mr. Michael Scotts of unlawful airtes; that he saw him buy Albertus
" Magnus; that he heard him speak of sundrie vnlawful conceits;" and,
to crown all, that "he hard tell that he made ballads and sonnets"*
There are among ourselves some clerical gentlemen who collect curious
books, and even some who write poetry, with whom it would have fared
1 1 3th January, 1608. 2 2Oth January, 1608.
3 9th Dec. 1650. 4 2;th Oct. 1613.
Declining Jurisdiction of Presbytery. 2 1 1
ill had they lived in those days. There were other charges against
Mr. George, but the result of the trial is not stated.
Another case is interesting for a reason to be presently noticed. One
Robert Stewart was accused " by a libelled summons," at the instance
of the presbytery, of having refused to allow his child to be baptised,
and for setting the authority of the presbytery at defiance; " as also for
" invading [attacking] Mr. Jon Couper ane of ye ministers of Glasgw
" doun ye gait of Glasgw to ye blak frier kirk, touking him, dinging
" him af ye hicht of y^ cassie, minacing w*. wordes, minting to drawe
" ane sword to him, and spewand out blasphemous filthie speeiches
" agains him." What is interesting in the case is that Stewart in his
defence declined the jurisdiction of the presbytery, on a ground which
has been frequently made the subject of observation in later times, viz.
that the presbytery was both judge and prosecutor. "And being
" partie," he pleaded, " ye power of ye Juge did failzie, for in y^ ane
" and y'r self same cause nane can be bayt accuser and juge." So he
appealed to the Synod and General Assembly. To this appeal the
presbytery paid no regard, and having repeated their order to have the
child baptized under pain of excommunication, Stewart " appellit fra ye
" said presbyterie to y® kinges maiestie and lordes of his secret consale."
It seems to have been regarded as an exceptional case of high defiance
of the church courts, and the presbytery appear to have themselves
invoked the civil arm, for shortly after we find Stewart a prisoner in
the castle of Glasgow, and two of the ministers appointed to confer
with him there to ascertain "gif he be penitent." What followed does
not appear, there being no further mention of the case.
There occur in these old ecclesiastical records many other curious
cases which my limits do not permit me to notice. But the chief busi-
ness which occupied the presbytery was offences against morality — vice
in all forms, profane swearing, blasphemy, personal violence, and homi-
cide. At the period of the Reformation, as I have already said, the
morals of the people of Glasgow and of the rural parishes adjoining
must have been at a very low ebb, and during a long series of years
there is hardly one page of the presbytery records in which there does
not occur one or other of such cases. Among the offenders, too, were
2 1 2 Letters of Slayance.
persons of all ranks, including both lords and ladies; and it is amusing
to find the celebrated physician " Mr. Peter Lowe Doctor of chirur-
" gerie" among those decerned to make repentance, and a complaint
afterwards made of him for levity while under the penance; as the minute
expresses it, for " not behaveing him on the pillar as becomes."
Cases of homicide and other deeds of violence were frequent. Some
of the latter I have already mentioned. Of the former, one is curious
for the reference it contains to the practice of offenders in such cases
compounding with the relatives of the slaughtered man. The minute
of the presbytery is as follows: " Ordenis Jon Levingstoun in Inchevod
" to produce yis day viii dayes before yame Lettres of Relaxation fra
" ye home, and respet he hes fra ye slauchter of wmq11 Jon Adame: As
" also ane Lettir of Slayance for ye said slauchtir fra ye said wmq1.1 Jons
" wyfe, bairnis, kin, freindes and alyance for ye said slauchtir. And
" ordariis y ! minister of Campsie to summond ye said wmq11 Jon wyfe
" and bairnis before yame yis daye viii dayes, that yai may declair gif yai
" be aggreed w'. ye said Jon Levingston and satisfeit for ye said wmq11
" Jon Adames slauchtir."1
On another occasion Arthur Colquhoun is arraigned before the
presbytery " for the cruelle murther of wmq11 James Pincartoun his
" brothers son quha had not affendit him." He is ordained " to under-
" lye ye censure of ye kirk for ye saming," and subsequently he is
excommunicated.2
A few pages on we find an individual dealt with " for swearing and
" blasphemy;" another for coming into the church of Cathcart armed
with hagbut and steel bonnet, and making a disturbance. A little
farther on, Matthew Fleming, merchant burgess of Glasgow, is delated
for having " in ane rage and anger" struck off the hat of Mr. John
Young, minister of Beith, "on the high street of Glasgow," for which
" hevie sclander to Godis kirk" he is ordained to make his public repent-
ance.3 John Hamilton, younger of Preston, and another, are charged
for a "sclandeir offerit to ye kirk and presbiterie of Glasgow be ye
" hurting done be yame of Robert Hamilton of Silveston and Andro
" Hamilton of Letthame in ye effusion of yair bluid wpone ane Sondaye
1 Presbytery Records, ;th Feb. 1595. 2 8th April, 1600. :! 3ist October, 1603.
The Ministers Regiment. 213
" eftir nwn amangis ye middis of ye pepill cuming fra ye hie kirk at y"
" wynd heid of Glasgw immediatelie eftir ye preeching."1 A parishioner
of Campsie is enjoined penance for having " interrupted his minister in
" the pulpit by mony proud wordes before the lettir prayer."2 And a
woman is charged with " laying doun twa twynes [twins] at ye door of
" ane poor honest man." Cases of ordinary discipline for immorality
occur, with wearisome regularity, at almost every diet of the presbytery,
as do likewise cases of Sabbath-breaking. On one occasion an indivi-
dual is charged with " ye sclandeir done be slaying on ye Lordes daye
"of salmont and red fische;" and accusations for attending stage plays
on Sunday are frequent — these, curiously enough, being almost invari-
ably enacted at Rutherglen.
Of charges against ministers there are few, but they do occur occa-
sionally. One of the presbytery, Mr. David Weems, is accused that
he is " fund to be declynand in doctrine, negligent in preparacioun, and
" in his teaching hes gevin occasioun of lauchtir; and aftymes to be
" overtaine wl. drink."3 Another minister is charged with the crime of
usury — receiving interest on certain sums he had lent. In this case
the proceedings are voluminous and protracted, for usury in those days
was a serious offence.
The records of the presbytery contain also some curious notices
regarding their forms of procedure. For example, we are accustomed
to suppose that only a minister can be moderator at meetings of a pres-
bytery, but it was not always so. On one occasion there were in the
Glasgow presbytery two candidates for the office — one a minister and
the other a schoolmaster — and the schoolmaster was elected.4
The ministers, as a rule, were educated gentlemen, many of them
belonging to the best families; and they were undoubtedly the true
patriots of the time. Repeated evidences of this occur in their
records. In the time of the Commonwealth there was read in the
Presbytery of Glasgow a letter from the Presbytery of Edinburgh, sub-
scribed by Mr. Hugh M'Kail, pointing out the expediency of ministers
of their own accord contributing to the defence of the country, and
suggesting the levying of a regiment of horse in the interests of Crom-
1 25th April, 1598. 2 yth May, 1606. 3 29th October, 1600. * nth March, 1600.
214 Small Stipends.
well. This was agreed to — the whole members contributing in propor-
tion to their stipends.1 The regiment thus raised by the Presbytery of
Glasgow was called " the ministers' regiment," and was commanded by
General Strachan.
For a long time there were no pews in the churches in Glasgow,
and when seats came to be provided they were free. They were first
let in 1667, and one of the bailies and the master of work was
appointed " to visit the haill seats and lay on the quantitie of mailles
11 thairon."2
The ministers had, indeed, much need of seat -rents. Out of the
ample possessions which belonged to the church at the Reformation
the rapacity of the nobles left but a scanty remnant for the support of
the ministers, and their stipends in the end of the sixteenth century
were miserably inadequate. There is an incidental notice of this in a
minute of presbytery in 1595. It bears that the Presbytery of Glas-
gow consists of six churches, viz., Glasgow, Govan, Rutherglen, Cadder,
Lenzie, and Campsie, " and of the said sex Kirkis thair is the minister
" of Campsie ane auld man having onlie in yeirlie stipend fourscoir and
" sex lib [about £9] and the minister of Leinzae onlie in stipend fourtie
" aucht lib with the vicarage worth twentie merkis in the geir [altoge-
" ther under £f\ and the saidis ministers of Campsie and Leinzae
" throch povertie keipis nocht the dayes of presbiterie."3 No wonder.
The object which the presbytery had in view, however, was not the
increase of the emoluments of these poor gentlemen — which was pro-
bably at that time hopeless — but to get the General Assembly to cause
the church of Monkland and some other churches to be joined to the
Presbytery of Glasgow so as to increase the number of members neces-
sary for the despatch of business. At a period long after this the
stipend of the first charge in Glasgow was only 500 merks — equal at
that time to only ^27, 155-. 6d. ; that of the second charge was 300
merks — ^"16, 13^. 4^.; that of Cadder was only 68 lib. vis. \md. and
three chalders — in all ^14, 17^. 6d. In many cases residence was impos-
sible for want of a house, and the minister of Cadder had to reside
1 Presbytery Records, i6th July, 1650.
2 Minute of Council, i6th Dec. 1667. 3 Presbytery Records, i6th March, 1595.
Rule of the Magistrates. 2 1 5
and study in the steeple. It was true what Knox wrote, that "thair
" was none within the realme more unmercyfull to the poor ministers
" than war thei whiche had the greatest rentis of the churches."1
MUNICIPAL AND SOCIAL HISTORY.
To return to the corporation. The manner in which the magis-
trates conducted the affairs of the city in early times was in all proba-
bility much the same as prevailed in other burghs. So far as can be
judged from the records they appear to have acted, on the whole, with
intelligence and discretion, and with a considerable amount of public
spirit. Some notices of their proceedings, and of the manner in which
they conducted municipal affairs, cannot fail to be interesting.
When left with perfect freedom of action we find them, as a rule,
acting equitably and with prudence; but they lived in unsettled times,
and had sometimes to bend to circumstances. On one occasion they
were obliged, against their own judgment, to issue an order to eject
from his holding a valued servant, "John Hamiltoune their tenant
"in Provand," on account of his "keeping of conventickles "- — - the
reason recorded being " that the secreit counsell is insensed against
" the toune for suffering him to doe the samyne," and that his removal
had become necessary " for preventing, therfor, the danger the toune
" may sustein."2 In the same way they had to submit to the disgrace-
ful order of the privy council which required " the wyfes and families
"of all vtted ministers" to be expelled from the city.3 In 1645 they
showed a want of discretion when, on the victory of Montrose at Kil-
syth, the magistrates then in office gave expression to their sympathies
with what they thought to be the winning side by inviting the marquis
to Glasgow and entertaining him sumptuously. But they speedily paid
the penalty of their indiscretion, for in the following month, Leslie
having gained the battle of Philiphaugh, his first act was to lay Glas-
1 Knox's Hist, vol. ii. p. 128. 2 Burgh Records, 5th Oct. 1678. 3 22d March, 1679.
2 1 6 Dispensing of Justice.
gow under a heavy contribution, which he jeeringly told the magistrates
was to pay the interest of the money they had expended in entertaining
Montrose. And this was not the only penalty they had to suffer, for
when the magistrates came to be elected immediately afterwards the
Committee of the Estates of parliament interfered and insisted on the
exclusion from office of all those who had been " actours in the capitu-
" latioune with James Grahame."1 They had no doubt a difficult part
to play, but at the Revolution the favours conferred on the city showed
how much the government of William and Mary was satisfied that the
bulk of the inhabitants had been true to the Protestant cause, and that
the authorities, on the whole, had been careful of the maintenance of
order in very trying times.
In the administration of justice the magistrates appear to have shown
considerable vigour, and if the constitutional liberty of the subject was
sometimes invaded — as undoubtedly it occasionally was — the error was
generally on the side of equity, and the act one of poetical justice.
Some of the punishments awarded were certainly of the latter character.
On one occasion " Richeart Herbertsoun fleschour" was brought before
them " for the maist barbarus bangsterrie done be him against James
" Watsoun flescheour, and for stiking of the said James Watsouns grit
" dog." The slain dog was represented as worth £2 sterling, and
" maist necessar and profitable to him;" and James craved " to be fred
" of the said Richearts oppressioun, bost, and bangsterrie, in tyme cum-
" ing and to mak the said James satisfactioune and recompens for his
" said dog." Richard having appeared and confessed, the punishment
awarded was that he be "wardit qll monanday next and that day stockit
" at the croce, and the dog to be laid befoir kirn" and thereafter to be put
in sure ward till he find security to keep the peace.2 On another occa-
sion a person described as "ane idill vagabound" is apprehended "upon
" suspitione" of having committed an assault on a young child. There
is no trial, and no evidence whatever is taken, but on the strength of
the suspicion only, and of the assumed fact that he is an idle vagabond,
he is ordained off-hand " to be laid in the stokis qll the evening, and
" thairefter put out of the toun at the west port, and banist the same for-
1 Minute of Council, 3oth Sept. 1645. 2 25th January, 1612.
Arbitrary Proceedings. 2\7
" evir; and gif evir he be fund within this toun heireftir, of his awin
" consent, to be hangit but [without] ane assyze."
But although the magistrates, as a rule, dispensed even-handed
justice, they undoubtedly did so in many instances in a very arbitrary
way, and with little regard to constitutional forms. To such an extent
had this come to be carried by the magistrates who came into power
after the Restoration, that it became a public scandal, and in 1684 we
find the following minute by their successors : " The same day the
" Magistrats and counsell considering the great clamour made be the
" tounes people by the abuses committed be the lait Magistrats these
" few yeirs past by decerning severall persones to pay debts and
" soumes of money to others, and extorting and exacting fynes from
" several of them, without vsing ane probatioune or decerning any for-
" mall sentence against them in public court, far contrair to the law and
" pratique of the burgh : for remeid therof it is enacted and concluded
" that in tyme cuming none of the Magistrats within the burgh, Baillie
" of Gorballs, nor Watter baillie, shall have power to fyne any persone
" except by conveining the transgressors in a public court."1
The arbitrary committing of suspected persons to prison — often on
the mere verbal orders of a magistrate, and without ever bringing them
to trial, was a practice not confined to Glasgow. Mr. Hector gives
many instances of the same kind occurring in Paisley even so late as
the end of the last century. Here is one taken out of many from the
judicial records: " May 6, 1791, Archibald Bogle incarcerated by order
" of Bailie Brown on suspicion of desertion. May 1 7 liberated by order
" of Bailie Brown." Thus, adds Mr. Hector, Bogle was imprisoned
eleven days without a warrant, and liberated probably after the bailie
had discovered that there was no foundation even for suspicion.2 And
there are many other similar cases.
From an incidental notice in one of the council minutes we learn the
interesting fact that the magistrates of Glasgow, like some of the rulers
in eastern cities in Scripture times, were in the custom of standing in
the public street, near the cross, to hear the suits of the citizens and
to dispense summary justice. On one of these occasions a person,
1 27th October, 1684. 2 Judicial Records of Renfrewshire (second series), p. 221.
2 E
2i8 Courts held on "the Plaine S tones''
described as a merchant burgess, addressed the provost in disrespectful
and abusive terms — the crime being aggravated by the fact that some
distinguished strangers were standing by. The whole scene is so curi-
ous, and it is so graphically described in the record, that I need make
no apology for transcribing it: "2 April 1678 The quhilk day the
" Baillies and Counsell being conveined anent the complent given in
" befor them by John Grahame Procurator Fiscall of this burgh against
" Thomas Crawforde, merchand burges thereof, makand mention that
" upon yesterday the ist of April instant James Campbell present Pro-
" veist of the said burgh with sundrie utheris, the Magistratis and uthir
" burgessis, being standing on the plaine stones beneth the tolbuith, the
"place ordinarie for the Magistratis ther waiting and attending to heir
" the Complents and grievances of the burgesses and uthir s^ and to give them
"justice incumbent to their office accordingly; And at that tyme being
" about thrie houris in the afternoone, several persones of qualitie and
" strangers war standing besyd, the said Thomas Crawforde in ane
" arrogant and prowd maner, without consideratioune or respect that he,
" as a burges of this burgh, oweth to his Magistratis to whom he is
" sworne be his burges oath to give them all dew obedience, most con-
" trair therto, in a furious way come to the said James Campbell Pro-
" veist, and there fell in questioning him about sundrie things, and did
" dialling him therupone; and the Proveist having desyred him severall
" tymes to desist becaus of the straingersy onlookers and marvelling at the
" Proveists patience, and the miscarriadge of the said Thomas, Trew it
4< is the said Thomas wold nowayes decist but said in a disdainful way to
" the Proveist that he knew his malice and wold byd the butt of it &c."
The fiscal accordingly craved the council " to wnlaw and fyne him, and
" to rive and destroy his burges and gild brother ticket, and to cry down
"his fredome;" and this is ordered to be done.
On various other occasions the magistrates showed that they were
tenacious of their dignity, and repeated notices occur in the burgh
records of parties being punished for behaving disrespectfully toward
them. On one occasion " William Watson alias Blackhous William," is
accused of " contempt and misbehaviour done be him to the magistratis
" in uttring disdaynful speiches to thame, with his bonet on his Jicad, and
Compulsory Self-mutilation. 219
" being desyrit be ane of his nychtbors to tak af his bonet and reverence
" the magistratis, answerit and said, with bannyng, that he would not
<l take af his bonet to the baillie." The culprit having " confessit his
" misbehaviour," and the magistrates having " fund the same ane hie
" and proud contempt and evill example to utheris to do the lyke,"
inflicted a fine of ten pounds (i6s. 8d£). But in this case, as in too
many others, punishment did not bring reformation. Blackhouse William
had been unable to pay his fine, and having been consigned to durance
he threatened to set fire to the prison, and actually attempted to do so,
protesting at the same time that " he wad naither acknowledge provest
u nor baillie, king nor casart," and for this he was again arraigned. The
opprobrious words he denied, but he "confessit that being wardit in
" ane hie chalmer of the Tolbuth he pat fyre in ane pekle straw in his
" anger." This time justice was vindicated by the offender being
" ordanit to be wardit in ane unfreemans ward quhill the morn, being
" mercat day, and then to walk bare heidit to the croce, and after being
" put in the irnes thair be the space of 4 hors, he is humblie on his
" kneis to ask God mercie, and the baillies pardon, for his hie and proud
" contempt."1
Some of the punishments for theft are curious : " George Mitchell
" being apprehendit for thift is decernit of his confessioune that gif ever
" he be apprehendit within this citie in tyme cumyng to be brunt on
" the schoulders and cheik and to want ane lug out of his heid."2 The
punishment of mutilation by cutting off an ear was common also in the
old English burghs, and in some of them it was practised after a
somewhat singular fashion. In the ancient town of Lydd there was an
ordinance in the year 1460 that in cases of petty theft the offender was
to be nailed to a post by the ear and left there "with a knyffe in hand."
He might choose the time of his liberation, but he could only effect it
by cutting off his own ear.3
At an early period we find special provision made for conducting
the deliberations of the council with becoming dignity and order. By
a minute in 1589 " it is statut, for keeping of a dew gravitie and amitie
" in counsall, and reverence to be borne to the provost baillies and
1 22d Feb. 1612. 2 24th Aug. 1599. 3 Fifth Report on Hist. MSS., p. 530.
220 Secret Deliberations.
" honourable counsall of the toun, that quatsumever he be that injureis
" ane vther in counsalhous, be word or deid, salbe depryvit immediatelie
" of the counsall, and will nocht be admitted for the space of thrie yeiris
" thairefter, besyd vther punischment that the counsall sail think meet
" to enjoyne to thame for the tyme."1
There were no reporters in those days, and not only were all the
deliberations of the council in secret, but the members were strictly
forbidden to reveal anything which occurred or was said there. At an
election of magistrates in 1584, the minute, after narrating the nomina-
tions, proceeds thus : — " Attour everie ane of the persounes foirsaidis,
" suorne vpoun this present counsell, is content and consentis that thay
" and everie ane of thame quha happinnes to oppin and reueill ony
" mater, purpois, or caus votit, proponit, and concludit, within the
" Counselhows, or yit the votis of the Counsell, to ony persounes nocht
" being counsallouris, that thay and everie ane of thame, immediatly
" efter tryall and knawledge had thairof, salbe depryuit in likemaner, and
" neuir to bee vpoun counsell thaireftir as vnwordie thairof."2
From the same minute we learn the curious fact that one of the
council at that time acted as doorkeeper, and that this duty was
imposed, for each diet, on the latest comer : " Attour it is statuit and
" ordaint that sik of the counsell quha cummis hindmest to the Counsell
" at tymes requirit, thay being warnit, sail keip the dure quhill [until]
" the nixt that cummis relief him, and the hindmest of all to keip the
" dure quhill the counsell ryse for that tyme."
Nor did the council encourage large deputations in those days. A
minute of the middle of the seventeenth century informs us that " Johne
11 Hall being knocking at the Counsall hous doore desyring to have
" entrie, and it being granted that he sould com in his alon and speak
" quhat he pleased : because he was not permittit to com in with ane
" multitud at his back he refused to com in but protestit at the door."3
In connection with the subject of the maintenance of dignity I may
mention here a curious question of precedence which occurred at the
beginning of the present century. The point was raised in 1803 in the
convention of royal burghs, and had respect to the precedence of the
1 4th Oct. 1589. 2 roth Oct. 1584. 3 23d April, 1659.
Question of Precedence. 221
Provost of Glasgow and the Provost of Perth at the meetings of the
convention. At these meetings the seats which had, for a considerable
time, been occupied by the members were as follows : The Lord Provost
of Edinburgh occupied the chair; the commissioner from Glasgow sat
on his right hand, and the commissioner from Perth on his left. The
two commissioners from Edinburgh sat opposite the chairman, and the
other members sat without any prescribed order. But the commissioner
from Perth insisted that thereafter he should sit on the right hand of
the chairman, and that the commissioner from Glasgow should take the
less honourable place on the left. One of the grounds on which this
demand was based was a letter from James VI. in 1594, directed to the
earl marischall, commanding him to place the commissioners of the
burgh of Perth in parliament in the second place, and next to the com-
missioners for Edinburgh. But this was no precedent, as at that time
Glasgow was not represented in parliament at all. Another and a
better ground was that Perth was made a royal burgh at an earlier
period than Glasgow. The case was discussed at great length, and
long printed pleadings were lodged by the parties. The result was
that the convention, at a meeting in July, 1804, decided "that the
" Provost of Perth had no title to the seat claimed by him as his right;
" neither has the Provost of Glasgow, or any member of Convention, a
" right preferable to another to occupy the seat on the right hand of
" the President thereof, and therefore they dismissed the claims of the
" parties." Against this judgment the Provost of Perth protested, with
a view, as was supposed, of bringing the question before the Court of
Session, but he allowed the matter to drop.1
In the earlier times when the interests of the bishops depended so
much on the prosperity and influence of their burgh, the provosts were
selected not from among the citizens, but from among noblemen and
gentlemen of rank whose position and power would prove useful to the
bishop and the town in cases of emergency. Thus we find such persons
as the Earl of Lennox, Lord Boyd, Sir George Elphinston, Crawford
of Jordanhill, the Stewarts of Minto, Houston of that Ilk, Hamilton of
1 The pleadings and the decision will be found in a volume of Law Papers in the office of
the Town-clerk of Glasgow.
222 The Old Provosts.
Cochno, and others occupying the position of chief magistrate. Latterly
it came to be the practice with the archbishops to give grants of the
office during their own life. An example of this occurred when Arch-
bishop Boyd appointed his kinsman Lord Boyd to be provost during
his (the archbishop's) lifetime.1
These old provosts were frequently the leaders of parties in the
council, and among the citizens each had his own partisans and his own
peculiar policy. In the beginning of the seventeenth century we have
a glimpse of a small local commotion arising out of one of their party
disputes. When Sir George Elphinston was provost a change was
made in the system of municipal election, which Sir Matthew Stewart
of Minto thought would be injurious to his local influence. Sir Matthew
succeeded in enlisting the sympathies of the crafts, who took to arms,
and " climbing up to the platform of the market cross proclaimed their
" remonstrance against the new arrangements in the sight of the magis-
" trates who sat in their Council house close by." Nothing seems to
have come of the rising, but some collisions followed, and the two
knights and their principal supporters were imprisoned for some time in
Linlithgow on account of "the general insolency" of which they had
been guilty.2
The fate of these two great families, who gave so many provosts to
Glasgow, was a sad one. A mural tablet in the Cathedral commem-
orates the names of eight Stewarts of Minto in succession, " knights
"created under the banner." When M'Ure wrote his history, in 1736,
the family, he tells us, was " mouldered so quite away that the heir in
" our time was reduced to a state of penury little short of beggary."
Of the other family, Sir George Elphinston, the favourite friend and
servant of King James, who acquired a great estate in Glasgow, and
rose to be lord justice-clerk, " died so poor that his corpse was arrested
" by his creditors and his friends buried him privately in the chapel
" adjoining his house."
As a rule the provosts did not reside within the burgh, but on their
own domains — coming only to the city on occasions of emergency or
special business, and on these occasions, especially when they rendered
1 ist October, 1577. 2 Privy Council Records.
Fees to the Magistrates. 221
any special service, they were usually rewarded by some present, gene-
rally wine. For example, under date :8th June, 1583, we find "given
" to Agnes Broune for wyne presentit to the proveist in time of trublis,
" being caused to abyde in this toune for pacifeing thairof xiij li vis. viij^."
On another occasion the council minutes bear that the provost had
remained in the town " for pacifeing the trubles betwix the merchandis
" and craftsmen;" and no doubt on that occasion also he would be suit-
ably entertained. At the time when Lord Boyd was provost there are
repeated entries of presents of wine to him. One is of " twa hogheidis
" wyn gevin and presentit to my Lord Boyd at the haill townes com-
" mand xxxiij lib. vis. viijV." It must have been very light claret, as
the price of the two hogsheads was, in our money/little over ^"4. Again,
in 1575, there is a present of a half tun of wine to the provost; and
again a tun in 1577 — the last bearing to be an expression of the grati-
tude of the town " in keiping of thame fra syndry particular raiddis to
" the court, thaj being charget thairto, and salfing thame fra wther
" intenementis."
But besides such gratuities there appear to have been both " fees "
and perquisites paid to the provosts and bailies. Thus in 1573-4 there
occurs an entry of a payment " to my lord provost for his fie xiij lib.
" vjs. viijV. (£2, 4^. 6d.} and to thrie of the bailies for their fies xx lib."
(about £i, iSs. each). And from a subsequent minute of council it
appears that each year the fees paid by two of the burgesses entering
in that year were given to the provost, " quhilk hes bein in vse thairof
" of befoir."1 In subsequent years the fees vary in amount. They
appear to have been discontinued before the end of the seventeenth
century, and in 1720 a small fixed allowance was made to the provost.
On the 3 ist of March of that year a minute of council bears that "in
" respect the provest as Chiefe Magistral whiles in that station is obliged
" to keep up a post suitable thereto, and cannot but be at considerable
" charge in furnishing his house with wines for the entertainment of
" gentlemen who may have occasion to wait on him at his house, it is their
" judgment there should be fourty pound sterling settled upon the provest
" yearly for defraying the said charge and he may therewith furnish
1 28th June, 1595.
224 Costume of Magistrates.
" himself with what wines he thinks most fitted." This payment con-
tinued to be made down to the passing of the first reform act, when it
was abolished. The last payment to the provost was made on the
30th of September, 1833.
With the exception of cocked hats and chains I am not aware that,
except perhaps the provost, the magistrates of Glasgow had until quite
recently any distinctive costume. But they may at one time have had
such. One of the sumptuary laws of James VI. was "that the Provest
" bailzeis and some of the principallis of thair counsall of the burrowis of
" Edinburgh, St Johnstoun, Dundie, St Andrews, Glasgow, Striveling and
" Aberdeyne sail weare gownes of reid scarlatt cloathe with furringis
" aggreable to the same vpoun Sondayis and all vtheris solemne dayis."1
If this was ever acted on may it not have been the origin of the scarlet
cloaks which in later times were worn by the "tobacco lords" and other
merchant princes of Glasgow ? It was certainly not till a later period
that the magistrates came to wear gold chains and medals, but there is
evidence that as early at least as 1627 the provost had a distinctive
hat, as there is an entry in the burgh accounts for that year of a pay-
ment " for ane hatt and string to the provest." In 1720 the town coun-
cil enacted that the provost should wear a velvet court dress. The
gold chains were for the first time introduced in 1767, and were then,
as the minute bears, " delivered to the magistrates to be worn by them
"as badges of honour."2 The cocked hats continued to be used till
!^33, when they were abolished at one of the first meetings of council
after the passing of the reform act. At the same time a motion was
made to abolish the gold chains and medals also, and to melt them
down "for the common good;" but this proposal of ill-judged parsimony
was happily defeated. It was not till 1875 tnat official robes were
adopted for the provost and bailies and the town-clerk.3
It was perhaps to keep up a martial spirit among the citizens, as
well as for their own dignity, that, besides two drummers, the magistrates
in old times maintained a trumpeter and a piper — the last-named func-
tionary being sometimes described in the burgh records by the euphoni-
1 Proclamatioun anent the Habits, 1609. - Minute of Council, I5th January, 1767.
3 Minute of Council, iQth January, 1875.
Costume of Towns Officers. 225
ous title of "the touns minstrel." By a minute in 1675, appointing one
John M'Caine to the office, he is designed as "commoun pypper or min-
" strel," and he is directed " to goe throw the toune every day morning
" and evining or at such tymes the magistrats sail appoynt — vsing his
" office." His salary is fixed at a hundred merks — ^5, us. The trum-
peter had the same salary, "by and attour some little thing at the
" magistrates pleasour to be payit to him that day he sail have occasioune
" to ryd in the militia." He was also to be " obleist to wait and attend
" wpon the magistrats for goeing of errands or quhan they sail be pleased
" to send him."1
By an earlier minute all the town's officers, as well as the drummers
and piper, are appointed to be dressed in " coit, brekis, and hoiss of red
" kairsey claithe." On one occasion, where an order is made for new
uniforms, the quantity of cloth allowed to each is fixed at " fyfe eln;"
but " becaus Andro Stark, Wm. Letham, Rob. Wilsoun, elder, and
" Robt. Glasgw ar biggar nor the rest of bodie, to ilk ane of thame
" half ane eln mair." The clothes are all " to be maid be thair selfs in
"jupe fassoun"* When, in the following year, a drummer fell to be
appointed, the magistrates, having in view the making of the clothes,
preferred a tailor to the office, and it was made a condition of his
appointment that he should undertake " to learne Jon. Jeimesoune, his
" collig, the tailzeour craft swa long as ye counsall sail appoint, becaus
" they are onlie thame twa to be drummers."3 The drummers appear
to have quarrelled on a question of precedence, and the magistrates
were obliged to interfere. This they did by a minute which " ordainis
" the drummers to touk throughe the towne weik about, and he who
" toukis for the weik sal onlie have power to touk to the haill Lords and
" strangers sail cum to the town for that weik." The minute concludes
with an admonition to them " to leave [live] together peacablie as bre-
" ther and not wrang or injure utheris."4 The wages of the drummers
were paid by a special tax on the inhabitants.5
In other matters, besides piper and drummers, and officers in scarlet
uniforms, the magistrates, after the Reformation, made provision for
1 Burgh Minutes, 3d April and 4th August, 1675.
2 nth June, 1625. 3 i6th June, 1627. 4 i2th Feb. 1642. 6 5th July, 1676.
2 F
226 Municipal Amenities.
their personal dignity. In 1610 a charge appears in the burgh accounts
" for grein silk, fustean, and other furnesing to the twa grein claiths
" to the Counsall satis in the kirkis heich and laich."1 Some thirty years
afterwards there is a minute of the council which " ordains ane velvot
" cuschein and ane velvot black cloth to be laid in the kirks before
" the provost in tyme cuming."2
It is pleasant also to notice that in early times the Glasgow magis-
trates, with all their troubles, had a regard to the amenities of social
life. They had flowers on the council table, and, what is curious, they
had flowers also placed on their seat in church. In their accounts
towards the end of the seventeenth century there occurs a payment for
" roses and flowers furnished to the Counselhous and kirks, and to the
" Magistrats and Counsell;"3 and there are subsequent payments for
" flowers yearly to the Counsell hous and seats in the Churches."
They were kind to the poorer class of citizens, and liberal in
their charities. Their records abound with examples of this. The
payments to people in destitute circumstances are frequent, and
there are also repeated instances of a kind consideration for those not
actually in pov.erty, but requiring temporary encouragement and assist-
ance. For example, a working man had his horse stolen, and the
magistrates " ordain the Master of wark to pay to him four rex dollars
" for helping to mak vp the loss." A poor " student of philosophic
" presently lawried or to be lawried " — that is, laureated, about to take
his degree — is allowed twenty-four pounds scots " for supplying his
" present wants and helping him to buy cloathes and books." Another
poor scholar has a gift of six pounds scots " to help to buy him a
" coat." On another occasion the master of work is ordained " to buy
" and provyde for ane poor boy going to the College, being a burges
" sone, ane cloak goune, and ane hatt, of the qualitie as the magistrats
" sail appoynt him." Again, one John Gemmell, merchant, " in respect
" he is knowne to be ane verie honest man and hes lost his stock by
" sea venter," is granted a loan of 200 pounds scots. Early in the
seventeenth century (1626) there is a payment of " fourtie merk to ane
" Grecian bishop." A sum of " twenty pundis " is paid to " ane dis-
1 i;th August, 1610. 2 2d Sept. 1643. 3 29th
Physicians and Surgeons. 227
" tressed gentleman." There is an order " to pay to Antoine Nauder
" a Frenchman thrie rex dollars to help to carry him and his wyfe off
" the town, he having left his countrie for his religion." The magis-
trates on another occasion send certain persons " throw the toune for
" collecting a contributioune for releiving of Walter Gibsone Skipper at
" Innerkeithing and Jon Reid his mate, from their slaverie, being
" prisoners with the Turks;"1 and there are many similar cases.
For a long time the magistrates paid an allowance or annual pension
to a " chirurgian " for the benefit of the poorer class of citizens, and
among the practitioners thus subsidized was " Mr. Petir Lou," a name
well known in the medical history of the city, of whom mention has
already been made. The amount paid to this gentleman appears in a
minute of the town council in 1608: " Gifen to Mr. Petir Lou chyrurgin
" for his pensioun addettit be the toun to him \\\}£ vis. viijV. (£4, 8s. lod.)
Subsequently the city paid also for the services of a physician, but this
practice was discontinued in 1684, at a time when the finances of the
burgh were at a very low ebb. The minute on the subject is curious :
"27 October. The said day the Magistrats and counsell considering the
" sad condition the toun is in throw the great debt they are resting, it
" is theirfoir concludit that the toun shall make use of no persone as
" the touns physitian or chirurgian in time coming, and if any person
" who is unwell, and deserves to be cured, wpon their applicatioun to any
" of the Magistrats they are empowered to recommend them to any
" physitian they shall think fitt." Apparently they had not been par-
ticular as to who they employed in cases which they thought deserving
of cure, as in the same year in which they discontinued the employment
of a " chirurgian " there is an entry in the records of a payment " to the
" mountebank for cutting off umqll Archibald Bogles leg." The moun-
tebank was paid for this service " 60 lib " (£5), a sufficiently liberal fee
considering that his patient, being described as deceased, had probably
died under his hands.
But although the magistrates ceased to pension a physician, they
continued to retain the services of a person skilled in lithotomy, and
there is a minute bearing that a certificate having been produced in
1 3oth October, 1676.
228 Surgeons and Barbers.
favour of Duncan Campbell " subscryvit be the haill doctors and most
" part of the chirurgians in toune of his dexteritie and success," they
appoint Duncan to the office to operate on the poor " in place of Evir
" McNeil who is become unfit to doe the same through his infirmitie."
The reason for the appointment appears to have been that the regular
surgeons did not operate for that disease. It is curious to note from
the council records that the disease appears to have prevailed chiefly
among children. To what cause its prevalence at that time is to be
ascribed I do not know. When, long afterwards, it was proposed to
shut up the public wells in the city a committee of the town council
issued a pamphlet containing reports by medical men, in which, among
other things, it was stated that the well water contained lime, especially
sulphate of lime, and the opinion was expressed that " lime is generally
" the cause of gravel and stone." But exception has been taken to the
statement that there was so much lime in the Glasgow water as to cause
the disease. In our own time certainly calculus has been comparatively
rare in Glasgow.
An amusing example of the control exercised in old times over
medical men practising within the burgh is to be found in the " Seal of
"Cause" which the magistrates granted on i6th August 1656 in favour
of the " Chirurgeounis and Barbouris " — these two professions being at
that time united in one corporation. A seal of cause was a local charter
of incorporation granted by the magistrates, in which was defined
the conditions on which it was granted. In the one in favour of the
surgeons and barbers — by which that corporation is authorized to exer-
cise within burgh "the art of chirurgeourie and barbourie" — there occurs
the following clause, which is too good to remain buried in the charter
chest of the corporation. It provides " That no free mane presume to
" taik ane uzr freamans cuir af his hand untill he be honestlie payit for
" his bygaine paines, and that at the sight of the baillies, with the
" udvyce of thair visitour, in caice the patient find himself grived by
" the chirurgiane, under the payne of ane new upsett; excepting always
" libertie to the visitour and qrter maisters to tak patients from ane
" free man not fund qualified for the cuiring of them, and to put them
" to ane more qualified persoune as shall be thoght expedient after exact
" tryall."
Lecchcraft. 22g
Bloodletting in Glasgow, as elsewhere, was universal among all
classes; the usual season being spring. As a rule it was done by the
barbers, and it was this, no doubt, that led to their being united in the
same corporation with the surgeons. This branch of their profession
was symbolized in the sign over the barbers' shops, which remains
over many small shops to the present day. The bare pole — a pun on
poll — referred to the shaving of heads. The red strip painted round
the pole indicated the bloodletting, and the basin suspended at the end
represented the vessel which received the blood. In the Accounts of
the Lord High Treasurer, under date May, 1491, there is a payment to
"a leyche that leyt the king blud;" and in another entry we have the
payment of i2s. to M'Mulane the barber "for the leichcraft done be
" him to the litil boyis of the chalmire." But James IV. not only had
blood let but he practised the art himself as an amateur, and he bribed
his attendants to allow him to operate on them. In the royal accounts
there occurs a payment " to Domynico to gif the king leve to lat him
"blud."1 Even the lower animals were subjected to spring bleeding.
In a book of accounts of the nunnery of Radegunda, in the year 1449,
there is an entry of the payment of twopence " for bleeding the cart
"horses on St. Stephen's day."2
A few instances occur of the encouragement of literature by the
magistrates in a small way. In 1661 the sum of ten dollars is ordered
to be paid " to James Cerss, Philomath, for dedicating his Almanack to
" the toune."3 I have not seen any copy of this Almanack, but it was
no doubt a continuation of it that was printed by Robert Sanders in
1667 and subsequent years. The first of these which I have seen is
entitled "A new Prognostication for the year of Christ 1668 being
" Bissextile or Leap-year, with many fairs not heretofore insert, by
"J. H. Philomathes. Printed at Aberdene and imprinted at Glasgow
" by Robert Sanders Printer to the Town and are to be sold at his
" shop. M.DC.LXVII." The others bear only to be printed by Sanders,
but they had been all compiled in Aberdeen, and they all contain the
1 Accounts of Lord High Treasurer, cclxxx.
2 MSS. of Jesus College, Cambridge. Second Report on Historical MSS., p. 120.
3 ist October, 1661.
230 Literature and the Fine Arts.
usual prognostications of weather; "dismal and perillous days;" direc-
tions for letting blood, &c. Copies of these old Glasgow Almanacks
must be now extremely rare.1
In the year 1662 the burgh accounts show a payment of twenty
dollars " to Mr. Johne Andersoun ane of the doctors of the Grammer
" school for divers respects and for dedicating a book to the magis-
" trates." On another occasion the treasurer has " ane warrand for the
" soume of eight rex dollars payed to Mr. Wm. Geddes minister for
" his incuradgment to print the twa books called a Memoriall Histori-
" cum and another book sett out be him."2 On a later date the
treasurer is ordained " to pay to James Robison Schoolmaster three
" guinzeas for his encouradgment in compiling and printing a litle book
" entituled a dialogue betwixt a young Lady and her Schoolmaster
"shewing the right way of sillabing."3 And in 1736 — the year in
which M'Ure published his well-known history — there occurs this entry
in the burgh records : " Remit to the Annual Committee the petition
"given in by John M'Ure, Writer, craving some consideratioun for
" defraying his charges in putting forth a book which he calls the
" Hystory of the present state of the City;"4 and no doubt the petition
received a favourable answer.
The magistrates did something also in the fine arts. But not much.
In 1641 they ordain the treasurer "to have ane warrand to pay to
" James Colquhoun fyfe dollars for drawing of the portraict of the toun
" to be sent to Holland."5 It would be interesting if this old view of
the city could be recovered. We are indebted also to the public spirit
of the magistrates of that time for the portraits of royal personages
which we have in the Corporation Galleries. In 1670 there is a minute
by which " it is appoynted that the provest wrytt to London to the
" Deane of Gild to buy for the tounes use the portrators of King Charles
"the First and Secund as also ane carpett"^ But the dean succeeded
in getting only one portrait — that of Charles I., and two months after-
wards there is a warrant for the price of it : " twenty fyve punds starling
1 The only series of them which I have seen is in the possession of J. Wyllie Guild, Esq.
2 1 7th May, 1684. 3 2ist Sept. 1723. 4 4th October, 1736.
5 1 2th June, 1641. 6 4th June, 1670.
Corporation Dinners. 231
" for the kings portratour." Seven years afterwards the order is repeated
to procure the other, " that it may be hung in the Counsell-house with
"the rest now there." In 1708 the provost reported that he had
bought from Mr. Scougall, limner in Edinburgh, the portraits of William
and Mary, " both of full length for twentie seven pounds sterling."
Queen Anne's portrait, by the same artist, was added to the collection
in 1712 at the price of ^"15, and that of George I. in 1715 at the same
price. We are all familiar with the stone statues of the Hutchesons,
the founders of the hospital bearing their name. One of these, that of
Thomas Hutcheson, was executed on the order of the magistrates.
The artist was one James Colquhoun, and the price paid was 500 merks,
about ^28 of our money — a good price considering the time and the
character of the work.
In early times the magistrates in their corporate capacity appear to
have exercised a generous hospitality. " Corporation dinners" were of
frequent occurrence, and there are some curious notices of these ban-
quets three hundred years ago. They appear to have been held in
different taverns by rotation, so as to distribute the favour equally.
And our old rulers were not above running up a score, though no doubt
they honestly cleared them off periodically. On one occasion we find
an order by the council " to take ane account of what reckonings is
" restand in any taverns in the tonne that hes been spent wpon the
" tounes accumpt this last yeir, that warrand may be granted for paying
" the same."1 Of special corporation banquets there are repeated
notices. Under date 4th July, 1573, there is an entry of a payment
" to Bessie Douglas for the provost baillies and counsales dennaris on
" Witsonyisday xiij lib. vis. viiid." — about £2, $s. according to the value
of money at that time — not a very extravagant amount certainly. In
the following year another " bancatt" took place in the house of Catherine
Steward, on the occasion of " the seeling of the provosts commissioun."
The expenditure on this occasion was xviij lib., a trifle over ^3, but
this is increased to a small extent by two subsequent payments — the
first " to Robert Lettrik, officer, for aquavitie furnisit to the bancatt vis."
a little more than a shilling; and the second xs. — about two shillings of
1 29th September, 1682.
232 Corporation Hospitalities.
our money — " for cairage of wyne and flour fra Edinbrugh to the bancatt
" at Catho Stewardis." In 1575 there is a payment to Euphame
Campbell " for ane bankat maid to the provest baillies and counsale
" and wtheris, dekynnis and honest men, at command of the baillies;"
and on 24th May, 1656, the council "appoyntes the tounes dennar on
" the first Tysday of June next to be made reddie in Thomas Glenis
" hous, and the Dein of Gild to have ane cair thereof and of thais quha
" sould be invited thairto."
The hospitalities of the corporation cost more in our days, but con-
sidering the importance and wealth of the city the annual expenditure
under that head has been moderate enough — not exceeding, on an
average of the last ten years, about ^400. There have been excep-
tional occasions, such as in the year of the Duke of Edinburgh's mar-
riage, when the city spent in hospitalities nearly ^1600.
The magistrates also in the old times, as now, kept the king's birth-
day. On one of these occasions we find this entry in their minutes :
" Ordeines ane warrand to be grantit for 41 lib los. (£$, qs. 2d.) as for
" expensis of vyne and confeitis spent at the croce upone the fyfte of
" July the kingis daye — my Lord of Glasgw being present with sundrie
" uthir honorabill men."1 And a similar charge appears in the follow-
ing year.
In presents to their provosts, as well as to the bishops and to
strangers, the corporation accounts show various payments. In the
burgh accounts in 1609 we find a charge of fifty pounds Scots (^"4, y.
4^/.) " propynit be the toun to the baptisme of the provests barne," and
for "sugir and sweit meitis" on the same occasion. In 1684 there is an
order to pay to John Finlay, maltman, the sum of 89 lib. gs. (£j odds)
" quhilk was spent in his hous at severall tymes be the magistrats on
" the touns account." Another charge is for " vyne, confeits, and breid,
" and sum aill, furnist and send to the Counsal hous that day the lard
" Auchinbrek was made burges." One of the gifts of wine by the
magistrates may be noticed as illustrating the change in the position of
the archbishops after the Reformation. We can imagine what must
have been the grandeur of the ceremony, and the lavishness of the
1 1 9th August, 1609.
Presents by Magistrates.
expenditure, at the installation of a bishop such as Cameron. When
Boyd of Trochrig was "admitted bischop" in 1573 the town council
appear to have thought it sufficient to present, and the bishop perhaps
thankfully received, "ane gallon of wyne," for the price of which a
charge appears in the burgh accounts.1 But as a rule the magistrates,
after the Reformation, were kind to the archbishops and repeatedly
made them presents. On one occasion there is a charge for "silver
"work given to the ladie Elphinstoun the bischops daughter at her
"marriage."2 On another there is an entry of "the sowme of twelfe
" hundreth threttie sex pounds (^"103) payit for French wynes given be
" the toun to the archbishop of Glasgw and utheris this last yeir."3
And there are many similar entries.
There occurs also in the burgh records a curious series of charges
for wines and confectionery purchased by the magistrates and disposed
of as gifts to parties to whom they were indebted for services rendered
to the town, or whom they desired to propitiate. Between Dunbarton
and Glasgow there never was any great cordiality, yet in 1607 a sum is
paid " to Symon Stewards wyfe for vyne presented to the baillies of
" Dunbarton." In 1668 there is a payment of nearly ^80 sterling "for
" some wynes was disposed of to some noblemen for their courtesie and
" favour showne to the towne." In 1670 there is again a considerable
sum " for twa hogheids French wyne, twa rubors, and ane butt of sek,
"sent to Edinburgh to some per sanest A few years afterwards, 1674,
Donald M'Gilchrist has a warrant for 240 pounds Scots "debursit be
" him for French wyne given be the toun to Sir John Harper at severall
" tymes for service done be him to the said burgh." In 1686 the
council " appoints the provest baillies and Dean of Gild to gratifie such
" of the tounes friends as they shall think fitt by sending them what
"wynes they think convenient on the touns accompt." In 1688 the
treasurer is ordained to pay to Bailie Bell the sum of £12 sterling "for
" ane hodgeshead of sack, and £\\ sterling for half ane tun of French
"wyne, and ^7, 16^. %d. more for two cask of rasenis and two cask of
" figs, all furnished by him on the touns account whilk were given to
" severall of their friends the last year." On one occasion a warrant is
1 i2th October, 1573. 2 $th Oct. 1667. 3 25th June, 1681.
2 G
234 Gifts of Herrings.
granted to the treasurer for the sum of ^10 sterling, which had been
paid by him in Edinburgh " to ane friend for doeing the towne ane gitid
" turne"^- And on 2Oth April, 1695, the council " appoints the thesaurer
" to have allowance in his own hands of 200 merks payed out be him
" as the price of ane hogsheid of wine given to a friend of this toun
" whom it is not Jit t to name."
There can be little doubt that one reason of the city spending so
much in wine was that the taverns, which originally were almost entirely
in the hands of women, were, many of them, now kept by officials of
the burgh — bailies, deacon-conveners, and others. This had given rise
to some scandal; so much so that in the end of the seventeenth century
the town council was obliged to take up the matter. Their minute
bears that they had taken to their consideration " the severall abuses
" hes been committed these severall years past by electing and choiseing
" of magistrats and deacon-conveners in this burgh who keped change
" and publict taverns, which occasioned much debaushire and drunken-
" ness, and poor people to spend their money needlesslie in said taverns;
" It is therefore hereby enacted statute and ordained in all tyme comeing
" that nae person or persones be elected and choisin to bear office as
" Proveist, baillies, Dean of Gild, Deacon Convener, Baillie of Gorballs
" or as Water baillie, wha keipis ane publict tavern or change house."2
Another commodity, more harmless, and more characteristic of the
city, was largely used by the magistrates as the medium of expressing
their good-will — namely, herrings. At a very early period the curing
of salmon and herrings, both for home consumption and for the French
market, was an important branch of trade in Glasgow, and Principal
Baillie states that by the middle of the seventeenth century it had
greatly increased. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries the con-
sumption of herrings was much greater among both the middle and
lower classes than it is now. At that time they formed the principal
food of the reapers in harvest, and they formed, with oaten cakes, the
entire sustenance of the numerous class of seamen employed in the
fishery. Seven herrings to each man for a meal was the common
allowance. The shoals came much farther up the firth then than they
1 22d March, 1656. 2 4th Oct. 1690.
Herring Fishing.
do now; and in some seasons, in the beginning of the seventeenth cen-
tury, it is said that not less than nine hundred boats have been employed
in the herring fishery within the Cloch. When the fish did not come
into the lochs in large quantities, the fishermen were in the practice of
making three voyages during the season to more distant grounds.
Each boat paid to the crown one thousand herrings for each " drave"
or voyage.1 These were called the " Assise herrings," and for a long
time the Argyll family held a grant of the crown's right to this tax on
the Firth of Clyde, for which they paid a reddendo of 1000 pounds scots
£5° — Per annum. Their profit must have been considerable, for in the
old rentals of the Argyll estates the annual value of the assize herrings
is larger than the whole rental of the estate of Roseneath.2 Some of
the Canon lands of Glasgow were held for the payment of so many
cured herrings. In a retour of the seventeenth century it is stated that
Lord Boyd held certain of these lands in the parishes of Largs and
Dairy for the yearly payment, inter alia, of " 6000 halecum rubrarum" —
red herrings.3
The greater part of the herrings caught in the Clyde were taken to
Greenock — which, indeed, owed its foundation and first rise to the
herring fishery — where they were bought by the Glasgow merchants,
and, after being cured there, were exported to foreign markets. In
1564 no less than seventeen hundred lasts of herrings — that is, twenty
thousand barrels — were exported from Greenock to Rochelle alone,
besides what went as usual to the other ports of France and the ports
of the Baltic.4
But the quantity consumed in Glasgow must have been also very
great. The magistrates, as I have said, used them to a large extent
in making presents, and it is curious to note that the fees which
they paid yearly to the counsel permanently retained for the city con-
sisted in part of barrels or half barrels of these fish. In 1612 there is
a minute of council, entitled " Act anent herrings to the Touns advo-
" cates," which bears that the magistrates, " for the great and thankful
1 Brown's History, vol. ii. p. 312. 2 Fourth Report on Historical MSS., p. 481.
3 Fonts Cuninghame Topographised. Edit, by Mr. Dobie, p. 375.
4 Brown's History, vol. ii. p. 315.
236 Advocates Herrings.
"service dune be John Nicoll wryter in Edr. to the toun," in a case
specified, " and for the expectatioun quhlk they haif of his service to the
" toun, hes ordainit the thesaurer and Mr. of werk to send ane half
" barrel of herring to him, for this yeir only; with twa half barrels to
" Mr. Alexr. King; twa to Mr. Thomas Hendersoun; ane to Mr. Wm.
" Hay, and ane to James Winrame with 10 Ib to ilk ane of their clerkis."1
In the following year there is a payment to Jonet Lugie " for ane hog-
" head of herring to be sent in barrelis to the tounes men of law."
Under date i3th December, 1628, there is a minute bearing that "the
" provest bailyeis and counsell hes aggreit and condescendit to give
" yearlie to maister John Robertsoune advocatt, last chosen for them
" agent for the toun, ten pund of yeirlie flail, and twa half barrellis
" hering, as the rest of the tounes principall advocatts gettis, during
" the tounes will and plesour allenarlie." And after this there are
repeated entries of payments for barrels and half barrels of herrings
to the town's advocates and others. By an entry in the burgh accounts
of a later date we learn that the sum paid for " the Advocatts herring "
for the year 1666 was 187 lib. 16^. 8d. (£14, i8s.).
But Glasgow was not alone in the practice of propitiating her friends,
and in showing her " gratitude for favours to come," by occasional gifts.
In the English corporations in very early times it was the custom to
give presents to men in office or persons of influence to whom they
looked for favours. Examples of this are found in the records of
Bridport and Faversham and other places, and curiously enough, in
the case of the last-named corporation, the gifts, as in Glasgow, con-
sisted in a great measure of herrings. So early as the year 1305 we
find the magistrates of Faversham sending a gift of 4000 herrings to
the sheriff of Kent. The price of the 4000 was 2os. Again 1000
herrings are sent to " Elyas the clerk;" 2000 are sent to the constable
of Dovorre, and other quantities are sent in gifts to various other per-
sons.2 The articles which form the subjects of presents by the town of
Bridport and other corporations are bread and wine, chickens, fish,
beef, oats, and articles of horses' trappings.3
1 Burgh Records, iQth December, 1612.
2 Sixth Report on Historical MSS., p. 504. 3 Ibid., p. 490.
Distinction of Classes. 237
In Glasgow, when we come down to the times after the introduction
of tobacco, we find the town's presents made sometimes in that com-
modity. For example, on 3d May, 1701, the treasurer is authorized to
pay to the deacon convener fifty-one shillings scots (45-. $d.) "as the
" pryce of four pound of tobacco presented be him to the Provest and
" given be him to one of the touns friends at Edinburgh, and of a bag
" about the same." In England a century earlier tobacco was a much
more expensive luxury. When the Earl of Northumberland was con-
fined in the Tower for his supposed complicity in the Gunpowder Plot
one of the items of his expenses was £$, IDS. for 2 Ibs. of tobacco.1 But
in Glasgow also, at a later period, tobacco became a luxury too expen-
sive for presents to any friends of the town. At the outbreak of the
first American war it rose in price two thousand per cent., and Mr. Glass-
ford and other large holders among the " tobacco lords " made large
fortunes.
DISTINCTION OF CLASSES.
The mention of these magnates leads me to notice the extra-
ordinary distinctions of class which prevailed in these times. During
the reign of the Tobacco lords — the then merchant princes of Glas-
gow— they had a privileged walk at the Cross, which they trod
arrayed in long scarlet cloaks and bushy wigs ; and such was the state
of society then, that when any even of the most respectable master
tradesmen of the city had occasion to speak to a Tobacco lord, he
required to walk on the other side of the street till he was fortunate
enough to catch his eye, as it would have been presumption to have
made up to him.2 It was dangerous, indeed, for a plebeian to quarrel
with any of these magnates. It exposed him to the risk of ruin.
We have a similar description of them by Mr. Reid (Senex). " I am
" old enough," he says, " to remember our Tobacco lords with their
" bushy wigs and scarlet cloaks perambulating the plane stanes at the
1 Papers of R. Cholmondeley, Esq. Fifth Report on Historical MSS., p. 354.
2 Principal Macfarlan and Dr. Cleland, art. in Statistical Account, vol. vi. p. 232.
238 Tobacco Lords.
" Cross, and keeping the other classes at a respectful distance. No
" lady would venture to walk upon this aristocratic promenade, but as
" soon as she came near King William she directly crossed to the south
" side of the Trongate, and continued her course under the pillars,
" which then, with the exception of the plane stanes, formed the only
" flagged footpath of that bustling thoroughfare. It was with no little
" admiration and wonder that I beheld the powdered flunkies of these
" lords frisking across their barricaded courts, dressed in plush breeches,
" with thread stockings, dashing shoe buckles (which nearly covered
" the whole front of their feet), with massy brass buttons on their coats,
" and gold bands on their hats."1
As trade increased and wealth became more diffused the middle
classes became more independent, and after the opening of the public
coffee-room in 1781 the more marked separation of classes gradually
disappeared.
But previous to the beginning of the seventeenth century the dis-
tinctions of class were still more marked than they were when the
tobacco lords strutted in front of the Tontine. This was more espe-
cially shown in the marked separation between the craftsmen and those
who called themselves merchants. Socially the latter asserted a pre-
cedence which was carried so far that in musters of the citizens, and at
weapon schaws and other public occasions, the merchant kept aloof
from the craftsman, and would not even serve in the same Company
with him. But the separation was still more marked in the matter of
trade, for the merchant denied to the craftsman the right to engage in
any mercantile speculation, affirming, to use the words of old John M'Ure,
" that they were to hold every one to his trade and not meddle with
"theirs." It is a true description which M'Ure gives when he says
that to such an extent was this carried that " there arose terrible heats
" strifes and animosities betwixt them which was like to end with
" shedding of blood, for the trades rose up in arms against the mer-
" chants."2 Mr. Crawford, in his History of the Trades House, ascribes
this feeling in a great measure to religious causes, namely, to the
adoption by the craftsmen generally of the doctrines of the reformed
1 Glasgow Past and Present. 2 M'Ure's History, p. 157.
The Letter of Guildry. 239
iligion, while those of the merchant rank adhered to the tenets of the
Church of Rome.1 But the cause lay much deeper than this, and it
had begun to operate previous to the Reformation. The more opulent
class of burgesses, constituting the merchant rank, had, in Glasgow and
other considerable burghs, enjoyed for a long time a monopoly of influ-
ence and power, and they viewed with distrust the growing importance
of the artisan burgesses or craftsmen. These, on the other hand, rising
as they now rapidly were to wealth and importance, viewed with
jealousy the position of the merchants, and their attempts to exclude
them not merely from a participation in municipal government, but even
from those mercantile adventures which were becoming such sources of
wealth to the enterprising trader. The parties were ultimately brought
together by friendly mediation, and an arbitration was entered into
which, in 1605, resulted in the well-known decree called the Letter of
Guildry, which was ratified by the magistrates and subsequently con-
firmed by the king and parliament. By this important deed the Dean
of Guild Court was established, and its jurisdiction defined; the relative
rights of the merchants and craftsmen were finally adjusted; and, as
expressed in a minute of the town council in 1605, it was settled that
there was to be no more at any "muster, weapon-shawing or other law-
" ful assembly, any question strife or debate betwixt merchant and
" craftsman for prerogative or priority, but they and every one of them,
" as one body of the commonweill shall rank and place themselves
" together but [without] distinction as they shall happen to fall in
rank."2
TRADE AND COMMERCE.
The trade of Glasgow is a large subject, and I can only glance at its
early history. Before the seventeenth century there was little trade of
any kind in Scotland, and few or no manufactures. Even the com-
monest articles of daily use, such as horse-shoes, harness, bridles, and
1 History of the Trades House, p. 45. 2 i6th Feb. 1605.
240 Trade and Commerce.
saddles, were imported ready-made from Flanders. Yet there was, in
the middle ages, trade to some extent, and probably a good deal of it
was in the hands of the religious bodies. There is a charter by
William the Lion granting to the monks of Scone exemption from cus-
toms duties for one ship and its merchandise, showing that these monks
were at that early period carrying on a foreign trade. But by the
middle of the seventeenth century there was a great change, and the
trade of Glasgow in particular had by that time, for so small a place as
it then was, become considerable. In the reigns of James VI. and
Charles I. a considerable traffic was carried on by traders carrying goods
of home manufacture from Glasgow into England, and bringing home
" merchand waires."1 Under the liberal administration of Cromwell,
too, Scotland generally — hating him though she did — could not but
acknowledge the advantages she possessed in perfect freedom of com-
merce. A Scotch vessel was then at liberty to carry a Scotch cargo to
Barbadoes and to bring the sugar of Barbadoes into the port of Lon-
don.2 Speaking of the merchants of Glasgow, Franck says that in
1650 their commerce was extensive. "Moreover," he adds, "they
" dwell in the face of France with a free trade. The staple of the
" country consists of linens, friezes, furs, tartans, pelts, hides, tallow,
" skins, and various other small manufactures and commodities."3 In
the report " on the Settlement of the Revenues of Excise and Customs
"in Scotland" made to Cromwell by Thomas Tucker in i6564 he
speaks of Glasgow as " one of the most considerable burghs, as well
" for the structure as the trade of it. The inhabitants, all but the
" students of the College which is here, are traders and dealers — some
" for Ireland with small smiddy coals in open boats from four to ten
" tons, from whence they bring hoops, rungs, barrel staves, meal, oats,
"and butter; some for France with pladding, coals, and herring, of
" which there is a great fishing yearly in the western sea, for which
"they return salt, pepper, rosin, and prunes; some to Norway for tim-
" ber; and every one with their neighbours the higlanders, who come
" hither from the Isles and Western parts."
1 See Minutes of Council, 1625. 2 Ordinance in Council, I2th April, 1654.
3 Northern Memoirs. 4 Printed by the Bannatyne Club.
77/6' Trade of Glasgow. 241
The Restoration came, and with it the Scotch regained their inde-
pendence, but they soon found, to use the words of Lord Macaulay,
that "independence had its discomforts as well as its dignity."1 The
English Parliament treated them as aliens. A new Navigation Act
put them on almost the same footing with the Dutch, and high, and in
some cases prohibitory duties were imposed on the products of Scottish
industry. But there was no redress — nothing for it, in short, but a
union of the kingdoms, for which matters were now fast ripening.
Yet previous to that event the trade of Glasgow had, as I have said,
become considerable. We may form some idea of it from an account
preserved in one of the acts of the Scottish Parliament of the year 1698,
relating to the affairs of a once opulent but then reduced Glasgow
merchant, a Mr. James Gilhagie. He had applied to Parliament for
relief, and a state of his mercantile transactions and his losses is em-
bodied in the act. It bears that besides the lands of Easter Craigs
and Kennyhill, of which he was proprietor, Mr. Gilhagie had possessed
houses in Saltmarket and in the neighbouring streets, besides his
plenishing in them, and " his two well furnist buiths and merchant ware."
All these had been destroyed by the great fire in 1677, causing a loss
of 20,000 merks — more than ,£1000 sterling. He possessed a ship,
which was lost with all her cargo, consisting of French wines, causing a
farther loss of ^"500 sterling. He had been largely engaged in coal
works near Glasgow, by which he had lost 20,000 merks more; and he
had been engaged in adventures from Glasgow to Archangel, Madeira,
and the Canary Islands. This was in the time of William III.;2 and
there were many other merchants in the city at that time whose trans-
actions were very considerable.
But when the Union came the trade of Glasgow received a great
impetus. There was a general outcry against it at the time, and at first
it certainly was productive of some changes which were unpopular.
Among other things the days of cheap claret came to an end, as Scot-
land, after the Union, had to cease importing French products. But
notwithstanding the opposition, it soon became apparent that this
1 History, vol. iii. p. 253.
2 History of the Merchants' House, printed for Private Circulation, 1866, p. 526.
2 II
242 The First Manufactory.
important political measure was to be the cause of increased prosperity
to all Scotland. In conformity with England she had to cease export-
ing her wool, but on the other hand she found in England a market for
wool and linen, and a greatly enlarged demand for grain and Highland
cattle. In the first year after the Union the total revenue from the
excise in Scotland was, in round numbers, ,£35,000. In 1808, after the
lapse of a hundred years, it had increased to ,£180,000 — more than five
times the produce of the first year.
Until the beginning of the eighteenth century the trade of Glasgow,
besides herrings, consisted chiefly of coarse woollen goods and sugar.
The rise of the last-mentioned industry, in 1667, I have already noticed.
The first " manufactory" which the city possessed was established in
1638. It was a weaving factory, and the magistrates hastened to
encourage the novel proposal, and to offer liberal terms to the projectors.
Marking as it does the commencement, though in a very small way,
of a new order of things which was destined to contribute so largely
to the prosperity of the city, it may be interesting to quote the minute
of the town council on the subject. It is entitled in the burgh records,
" Anent the Manufactorie," and is as follows : — " 31 January 1638. The
" said day foirasmeikle as Robert Fleyming merchand, and his pair-
" tineris, ar of mynd and intentioun to erect and tak up ane hous of
" manufactorie within this burgh, quhairby ane number of the poorer
"sort of people within the samin may be imployt and putt to wark;
" And the said provost bailies and Counsall considering the grait good,
" utilitie, and proffeit will redound to this brught and haill incorporation
" thairof thairby, they have concludit, all in ane voyce, for the said
" Robert his better encuragement to the said good wark to sett to him
" ane lare and tak of thair grait ludging and yairds att the back thairof
" lyand within this burght in the drygaitt, except the twa laich foir voultis
" and back galreis at the back of the samin lyand be eist the entrie of
" the said grait tenement, and of the buithe under the tolbuithe pre-
" sentlie occupayt be James Wood, all maill frie or ony othir kynd of
" deutie, during the space of fifteen yeirs eftir his entry." But the days
of free trade had not yet come. The incorporation of Weavers got
alarmed, and it was reported to the town council, on the 5th of May
Foreign Trade.
following, " that the weivors friemen feirit that the erecting of the manu-
" factorie suld prove hurtfull and prejudiciall to thame," and they insisted
that provision should be made that anything required to be woven by
the citizens should be done by the incorporation of Weavers only. The
projectors yielded, and "thairfoir," as the minute of council bears,
" Patrick Bell, ane of the undertakeris, for himself and in name of his
" partineris, was content that it suld be enactit that there sould be no
" woovis wovin of tounis folkis thairin be thair servandis in hurt and
" prejudice of the said friemen, bot be thais onlie quha ar frie with this
" calling." Such was the first manufactory in Glasgow, and such the
ideas then prevailing as to freedom of trade.
But the real commencement of commercial enterprise was subsequent
to the Union, and it began in Glasgow, as already mentioned, with her
trade with the American colonies. The tobacco trade commenced in
1707. The Glasgow traders had at first no ships of their own, and
their first ventures to Maryland and Virginia were in vessels chartered
from Whitehaven. It was no doubt to trade carried on in such vessels,
at an early period, that Tucker in his report to Cromwell refers when
he says, writing in 1656, " Here hath been some [merchants] who have
" adventured as far as Barbadoes, but the losses they have sustained by
" reason of their going out, and coming home late every year, made
" them discontinue going thither any more." It was not till eleven
years after the Union that a vessel belonging to Glasgow crossed the
Atlantic.
How very limited the trade of the city was, however, till far on in
the eighteenth century we may judge from the state of banking in the
city at that time. Banks, indeed, were unknown in Glasgow till a com-
paratively recent period. The Bank of Scotland, soon after its insti-
tution in Edinburgh, made an attempt to establish a branch in Glasgow,
but it proved unsuccessful. The trial was renewed in 1731, but again
it failed. At that time the small amount of bank accommodation that
was required was provided by private traders. An example of this is
found in an advertisement which appeared in the Edinburgh Evening
Courant in July, 1730. It was inserted by "James Blair merchant at
" the head of the Saltmarket in Glasgow" — merchant being the desig-
244
The Coal Trade.
nation then adopted by the shopkeepers — and he intimates that at his
shop there "all persons who have occasion to buy or sell bills of
" exchange, or want money to borrow, or have money to lend on inter-
" est, &c., may deliver their commands." The Royal Bank was estab-
lished in Edinburgh in 1727, and the effect of its rivalry was to cause
the temporary stoppage of the Bank of Scotland in the following year!
At first the foreign trade of Glasgow was confined to few hands, but
it rapidly developed, and, along with it, other branches of industry. Sir
John Dalrymple, writing shortly before 1788, says: " I once asked the
" late provost Cochran of Glasgow, who was eminently wise, and who
" has been a merchant there for seventy years, to what cause he attri-
" buted the sudden rise of Glasgow. He said it was all owing to four
" young men of talent and spirit who started at one time in business, and
" whose success gave example to the rest. The four had not ten thou-
" sand pounds amongst them when they began." These four gentlemen
were Mr. Cuningham of Lainshaw, Mr. Spiers of Elderslie, Mr. Glass-
ford of Dugaldston, and Mr. Ritchie of Busby — the estates here named
being all purchased out of their acquired wealth.1
It would be interesting to trace the history of the trade in coal, which
in later times became so important, and to which Glasgow owes so
much of its prosperity, and to know the prices at which that article
was sold, but the notices on the subject are scant. The earliest men-
tion of a coal-work in Scotland occurs in one of the Dunfermline
charters in 1291* The workings in all coal-mines must have been for
a long time on a very small scale, and the pits or shafts of very limited
depth. A certain quantity was used for firing, but peat formed the
common fuel of the country. Furze was also used and wood where
there were forests. In the high grounds of Ayrshire there appears to
have existed an extensive forest, and even at Preston, now so sur-
rounded by coal-mines, wood was used as fuel for the salt pans. But
generally wood had become a scarce and valuable commodity.3 Coal
must have been imported as fuel previous to 1283, as in that year
the municipal statutes of Berwick contain regulations for selling it along-
1 Dr. Strang, Glasgow and its Clubs.
2 Scotland in the Middle Ages. :! Professor Innes, Preface to Chartulary of Melrose, p. 16.
Earliest Coal Works. 245
side the vessels importing it. By the beginning of the fifteenth cen-
tury it had become a common article of merchandise.1 In the follow-
ing century, when it was more wrought in Scotland, it was occasionally
exported, but the general supply was so small that in 1563 an act was
passed prohibiting the exportation — the statute bearing that coal was
often used as ballast for ships, and that the export caused " a most
" exorbitant dearth and scantiness of fuel." Writing in the reign of
James I. Eneo Silvio describes Scotland as a cold country, generally
void of trees, but, he adds, " there is a sulphurous stone dug up which
" is used for firing," and these, he says, were distributed to the poor at
the church doors where the country was denuded of wood.2
There is an entry in our burgh records under date igth August
1578, from which we learn that the Archbishop of Glasgow had let
" the coilheuchtis and colis withtin the baronie of glasgw for the space
" of three yeris, for the yeirlie payment to the said reverend father of
" forty pundis money, togeddir witht threttene scoir and ten laidis of
" colis." At this time the pound Scots had come to be worth only
about two shillings and sixpence sterling, so that the rent of all the coal
within the barony, with the use of the existing shafts or openings, was
only £$ per annum and 270 "laids" of coal. The term laid or load, as
applied to coals, is not now used in Lanarkshire, but in some other dis-
tricts it is. In Haddingtonshire, where the term is still employed, there
are seven laids in a ton of coal. That gives 320 pounds to a laid, or
very nearly what is practically the burden of a pack-horse. This, it is
highly probable, was the quantity represented by the " laid " in the
archbishop's lease. From another entry in the council minutes four
years before this time3 we find that the price of " a laid of colis to the
" tolbuytht " was twenty-two pence Scots, or less than 2\d., and as that
was for only a single laid we may safely assume that the value of what
the tacksman had to deliver would be at most not more than twopence
the laid. At this rate the entire rent drawn by the archbishop for all
the coal within the barony was only £7, $s. per annum.
In 1621 the lords of the privy council fixed the price of coal at
1 Early Records of Mining, by R, W. Cochrane Patrick, Esq., p. xliv.
2 Descriptio Asie et Europe, Paris, 1534. 3 5th May, 1574.
246 Prices of Coal.
seven shillings and eightpence (7f^.) the load.1 But from the accounts
of the household expenses of Archbishop Sharp in 1665 we find him
paying lod. a load for coal.2 From another notice in the privy council
records it appears that in the year 1621 the average weekly gains of a
collier's family was about five merks (5^. 6d.}.
In 1655 the magistrates let the coal in what is termed in their minute
" the muir heughe," to two of the burgesses, Patrick Bryce and James
Anderson. The terms of the agreement were that the town should
" deburse for advancement of the said work twa thousand merkis Scotis "
(£i n, 2s. 2d.). The tenants were to have the first year free, and there-
after to pay to the town yearly 600 merks (^33, 4-r.), and at no time to
charge more than four shillings (fourpence sterling) for the hutch of
coals — the hutch to contain nine gallons. They were to be bound " to
" keep the work on futt threttein yeirs," and to employ eight hewers
and no more. This arrangement does not appear to have been success-
ful, or else the coal accessible by the shallow workings then in use had
become exhausted. There is a minute accordingly by the town council
some ten years afterwards, which bears that coals have " become verie
" scant and dear, so that the hutch bought of befoir on the hill for four
" shilling is now bought for no less than six shilling (sixpence), and that
" in regard of the decay of the coall hewes about the towne quhilk maks
" ane great outcry among the inhabitants and mainlie the poor, and the
" magistrats and counsell knowing the same to be most trew, and being
" informed that coalles may be win and gottin in their awin land in Gor-
" balles, they have therefoir concludit to give to Patrick Bryce Weaver
" ane thousand marks moneye (^55, i is.) to sett down there twa shanks
" presentlie." The pits could not have been very deep which were put
down for that sum.
The late Mr. James Baird of Cambusdoon repeated to me in 1875 a
statement made to him some fifty years before by an old man, William
Wotherspoon — then seventy-eight years of age — to the effect that when
he was a boy of fourteen he was in the habit of carting coals from the
Greenend pit of the Calder Ironworks to Glasgow (a distance of nearly
twelve miles'), where he sold them in the Gallowgate for fifteenpence
1 Privy Council Records. 2 Maitland Miscellany, vol. ii. p. 524.
A Present to a Princess. 247
the cart — this sum being all he got to meet the price which had been
paid for the coals at the pit mouth and for the carting. This would be
about the year 1760. Wotherspoon occasionally got employment for
his cart in returning, and he saved money. He became, Mr. Baird told
me, a very strong man, and was able to lift two and a half hundred-
weight in each hand. I do not know what quantity of coals was in the
cart, but it would probably be about nine or at most ten hundredweight.
That fifteenpence was the usual market price of a cart of coals
delivered in Glasgow in the middle of the eighteenth century is confirmed
by the early accounts of the Town's Hospital. M'Ure says1 that the
directors had it in design " to publish Regulations together with an
" abstract of the first year's management," and these particulars did
appear in a little volume, now very scarce, printed in Glasgow in J742.2
Among the items of expenditure for the year 1737 given in this report
I find: "Coals, 560 carts, ^"29, 135. 2d." — that is, less than is. $d. the
cart. When Gibson wrote his History of Glasgow in 1778 "a cart of
" coals," he tells us, contained nine cwt., and we may assume that it was
the same in the earlier part of the century.
By the beginning of the eighteenth century Glasgow had become
known for its manufacture of plaids — that indispensable article of
apparel in early times; and when the magistrates resolved to make a
present to the Princess of Wales the minute of council bears that " it
" was judged not improper to send to her Highness a swatch of plaids
" as the manufacture peculiar to this place, for keeping the place in her
" highness' remembrance."3 A number of plaids were forwarded accord-
ingly, and were graciously accepted. The letter by the magistrates
to the princess describes the plaids as "what are generally used in
<l Scotland by our women for covers when they goe abroad and by
" some men for the morning guns [gowns ?] or for hangings in bed cham-
" bers." This was at the time of the outbreak of the rebellion of 1715,
and the city transmitted at the same time to the king what he, no doubt,
valued more than the " swatch of plaids " — namely, an offer to raise and
officer a regiment of five hundred men. The offer was received with
1 P. 315. 2 A Short Account of the Town's Hospital in Glasgow, 1742.
3 Burgh Records, 26th August, 1715.
The River and Harbour.
thanks, but the magistrates were informed that the government had
already taken such precautions as would render it unnecessary to put
the city to that expense.
At a subsequent date we find the magistrates making regulations as
to "linnen and cotton handkerchiefs," the manufacture of which had
also been introduced in Glasgow, and there is a statute directed against
the use of false or loose colours, and against handkerchiefs " being
"made shorter in length than they are in breadth."1 The foreign trade
of the city increased rapidly. In the year 1775, in the single article of
tobacco, Glasgow imported from America no less than 57,143 hogs-
heads, being more than a half of all the tobacco imported into Great
Britain in that year.2
The subsequent history of the trade and commerce of Glasgow does
not fall within the scope of these notices. The increase in the com-
mercial prosperity of the city after the middle of the eighteenth century
was very rapid. Many causes combined to produce this result, and not
the least among them was the deepening of the river.
THE RIVER AND HARBOUR.
I have as yet said very little of the river, but the subject is well
deserving of attention, apart from its connection with the trade and
commerce of the city. The physical history of the Clyde, and the
wonderful changes which in the course of ages it has undergone, are
matters of the deepest interest.
It is certain that at a time not remote, geologically speaking, but not
so late certainly as the beginning of the Christian era, the district
through which the Clyde flows was the bottom of an inland sea, of
which Loch Lomond, with its tributary valleys, formed a branch.3
Dr. Bryce conjectures that it was an estuary connected with the sea by
1 nth March, 1726. 2 Denholm's History, p. 213.
3 Geological Researches, by Mr. Smith of Jordanhill, p. 67.
The Ancient Clyde Valley. 249
a narrow strait near Erskine, where the hills on either side press close
upon the stream. This estuary, whose limits reached as far as John-
stone and Paisley, was narrowed upwards by the projecting Ibrox and
Pollokshields ridges, but again widening out to wash the base of the
Cathkin and Cathcart hills, swept round north-east in a wide bay so as
to cover what is now the Glasgow Green and the suburb of Bridgeton.
The water would then enter probably about Bothwell or Rutherglen.1
That the sediment formed over this tract of the Clyde valley during
this early period was deposited under marine conditions is conclusively
shown by the discovery of marine shells and other organisms in various
localities near the river.
At what period this state of matters existed it is impossible to say,
but we have unquestionable evidence that what is now the Trongate,
with other lower streets of Glasgow and many parts adjacent, were
covered with water at a time when the district was occupied by man.
The discovery in 1830 of a canoe on elevated ground at Castlemilk, at
a place a long way back from the river, and of the bones of a whale,
which must have been forty feet in length, near Erskine in 1855,
together with canoes in the Trongate and other localities far above the
present level of the river — all of them covered by strata of transported
sand and gravel — show clearly enough that there has been an elevation
of the land, and that it took place within the human period. The
discovery in the Green, in 1876, of a beautiful Roman bowl of Samian
ware, four and a half feet below the surface — covered as it was by
stratified sand — has been pointed to as evidence that another elevation
had taken place since the Roman occupation, but the weight of evidence
is entirely against that hypothesis. The subject is interesting: it has
given rise to much controversy, and relating as it does to the ancient
condition of what is now a part of the city, it will not be out of place
to notice shortly the facts which have been ascertained.
To begin with the canoes. One of these was discovered in 1780
when digging the foundation for St. Enoch's Church; and what made
this discovery the more important was that within the canoe was found
a beautiful polished stone hatchet or celt, one of the instruments, no
1 Geological Notes of the Environs of Glasgow.
2 I
250 Ancient Canoes.
doubt, by which it had been fashioned. Another canoe was found at
the Cross, while excavating the foundation for the Tontine buildings.
In 1824 one was found in Stockwell Street, near the mouth of Jackson
Street; and another was discovered as high up as Drygate, on the slope
behind the new prison. One of these ancient vessels was in a vertical
position with the prow uppermost, as if it had sunk in a storm, and
there were found within it a number of marine shells.1 At a later
period a considerable number of canoes of the same description were
found on the lands of Springfield, on the south side of the Clyde, and
others were found at Clydehaugh. The average depth at which these
last were lying was about 19 feet from the surface of the ground, and
they were all at a distance of more than 300 feet from the modern
margin of the river. They were all imbedded in and covered by
stratified sand, which bore the clearest marks of having been deposited
by the action of water. Whether this was so in the case of the canoes
found at such high elevations as the Drygate, has unfortunately not been
ascertained. That canoes were found in these localities is undoubted,
but we have no account of the state of the soil around or over them
at the time of the discovery.
All the canoes were of the most primitive kind. They were
formed of single oak-trees roughly scooped out — some more carefully
made, and others so rudely
constructed that the roots
had not been entirely cut off,
but merely rounded in a
rough way, and fire em-
ployed to burn out the in-
terior.2 I subjoin a represen-
tation of two of the canoes
which were found at Clydehaugh in 1852, from drawings made at
the time by Mr. Robert Hart, which he kindly permitted me to copy.
No. i is the largest and finest of the group, measuring 14 feet in length,
4 feet i inch in breadth, and i foot n inches deep. It has been hol-
1 Sir Charles Lyell, Antiquity of Man, ist edit. p. 48.
2 Account of Ancient Canoes found at Glasgow, by John Buchanan, Esq., LL.D.
No. 2.
Geological Changes.
lowed out of a magnificent oak, cleanly sawn through at the thickest
part. There has been a seat across the middle, and on the bottom
there are rests for the feet of the rower. The end is closed by two
boards joined, and at the centre where they meet a vertical incision has
been made in each edge all the way down, so as to form a sheath into
which a thin slip of oak had been neatly introduced, and made to draw
out when necessary. In this way
the seam caused by the meeting
of the two boards has been made
completely water-tight. No. 2 is a
very curious little vessel. It was
10 feet long, 3 feet 2 inches broad,
and i foot deep. The sides were
perforated by a number of holes.
These were for fixing the two
o
quarter boards, as shown in the sketch. The boards had been sepa-
rated from the canoe in raising it, but they were found by Mr. Hart
and fitted into their places. The wooden pegs were as well made
as if they had been turned. The quarter boards were half checked
in the gunwale.
Referring to these Clydehaugh and Springfield canoes, the late Dr.
Scouler, than whom, on such a subject, there can be no higher authority,
says, " The depth at which they are found is that of the present channel
" of the river, and cresting waves were quite competent to have carried
" down all the beds of sand and gravel by which they were covered.
" Here then we may infer that no geological change of any importance
" has taken place in this part of the valley of the Clyde. But besides
" these canoes there were others found which do indicate geological
" changes — that is, changes in the relative position of the sea and land
" from elevation. Thus, in the case of the canoes found in London
" Street and at the Tontine, although they were buried at the same
" depth from the surface, they are more than twenty feet above tide
" mark; in other words, what was once the channel of the river has
" been elevated by that amount, and consequently these last canoes
" must be of greater antiquity than those found at the lower levels of
252 Elevations of Land.
" Springfield and Clydehaugh. The history of canoe's found at such
" elevations as Drygate would carry us back to a much higher antiquity,
" but, unfortunately, beyond the undoubted fact of canoes having been
" found in these places, we have scarcely any information. If they were
" found imbedded under transported sand and clay they would point
" to a very great antiquity, but it is possible the aborigines may have
" left them in such places for concealment or security. The result,
" however, of what we have on undoubted evidence, is that no elevation
" of the land amounting to more than twenty feet has taken place since
" the estuary of the Clyde was navigated by these ancient canoes."1
The organisms existing in the superficial deposits that now fill the
Clyde valley tell clearly their own tale. The boulder clay, the oldest
of these deposits, is the product of a sheet of land ice that descended
from the higher levels of the country to the sea level during the glacial
period, and deposited there its burden of stones and other rubbish — the
land being then much lower under the sea than at present. The next
series of beds in the Clyde valley — namely, the older sand beds and
brick clays — still testify to the presence of the sea by the arctic
marine fauna contained in them. These deposits were succeeded by
an upheaval of the land of probably twenty feet, when we have evidence
of a sea of less depth. It was after that upheaval that the sands and
gravels were laid down which form our raised beach beds, and which
contain a marine fauna still living in the Clyde waters; and the proba-
bility is that the earlier canoemen lived during this period. And next
we have evidence of a farther rise of perhaps twenty feet more — which
is Dr. Scouler's conjecture — and this, the latest rise, shut out the sea
from the Clyde valley above Bowling, as well as out of Loch Lomond,
where similar marine deposits are found. After this last rise the Clyde
would for a long time run through a tract of country with no proper
river channel, and the deposits then laid down would be of fresh water
origin. The matter thus deposited will fully account for the rise in the
bed of the river and of the bordering land, as well as for the river
shifting its channel from time to time, without resorting to the hypo-
thesis of any further upheaval. There is, as is well known, a tendency
1 Paper read at meeting of Archaeological Society of Glasgow, 2d May, 1844.
The Green in Early limes. 25^
in all tidal rivers that flow through a flat tract of country not only to
gradually elevate their beds, but likewise the land on either side, so
long as the river is allowed to remain in a state of nature. This silting
up of the river valley goes on, of course, most rapidly when the river is
in flood, and it is hastened when the downward current is checked by
an advancing tidal wave. The deposit, too, will be greatest in the river
itself, as there will be always more sediment there than elsewhere.
The river will thus come to flow on higher and higher levels, till at last
it bursts its bounds and takes a new course over lower ground. That
this was the case with the Clyde in its later history is certain, for we
have evidence of its having changed its course more than once within a
limited tract of country both above and below Glasgow.
That the canoes found at Clydehaugh were at least as old as the
time of the Roman occupation there can be no doubt. The probability
is they were much older. If, then, their presence in the places where
they were found precludes the hypothesis that any elevation of the land
has occurred since they were left there, and if the deep covering of
stratified sand over them can be accounted for by periodical floods, still
less do we require to resort to the theory of elevation to account for
the position of the Roman bowl found in the Green. There is abundant
evidence that in times long after the departure of the Romans our
Green was a low -lying swamp, repeatedly covered — perhaps covered
every year — by floods or " spates," every one of which would leave a
deposit of sand or clay. The place where the bowl was found was on
the slope of the Fleshers' Haugh, four and a half feet under the present
surface, and about twelve feet above the then level of the river. But
this by no means implies that the spot was so much above the level of
the river when the bowl was left there. I have referred to the process
of elevation caused by the deposit of matter brought down by the river,
but we are in possession of actual data which show that by the improve-
ments carried on in the Clyde, by deepening and otherwise, the bed of
the river has been greatly lowered since 1758, when these operations
commenced. So much has this been the case that between that year
and 1876 — the year in which the bowl was found — the level of low
water in the harbour of Glasgow had been lowered to the remarkable
254 Ancient Bed of River.
extent of eight feet. We have no information how much it had been
lowered above the harbour. The extent was no doubt less there than
eight feet, for a weir was formed towards the end of the last century
above the harbour to protect the foundations of the then recently erected
bridge at the foot of Jamaica Street. This weir remained till 1842,
when it was removed, and another erected on the underside of Stockwell
Bridge, and this again was removed in 1852 to allow of the erection of
Victoria Bridge. The formation of these weirs would, of course, from
the time of their erection, prevent so great a lowering of the bed of the
river as that which was taking place below; but that a process of lower-
ing above the bridges had been going on for a very long time is certain,
and it must have been hastened to some extent by the large quantities
of sand which we know the inhabitants were in the custom of taking
from the bed of the river below the old bridge of Glasgow. The
foundations of this old bridge had been laid in what was then the bed
of the river by Bishop Rae in the year 1350, and when the bridge was
taken down in 1850 the remarkable fact became apparent that the
original foundations had stood no less than five feet above the modern
bed. It was also found that means had been taken from time to time
to compensate the lowering process by artificially raising the portion of
the channel immediately adjoining the piers, partly by compact masses
of stone and partly by strong ranges of piles. The old foundations
had been laid on beams of oak, and it is interesting to know that when
these were taken out, after the lapse of 500 years, they were found to
be as fresh as when first put in. This, however, is not so surprising
when we know that the older canoes found under the Trongate were
comparatively fresh when found, although they had been made from
oaks which must have been growing where Glasgow now is at least four
thousand years ago.
As showing also that the river was formerly broader, as well as its
bed higher, than it was in our day, it is important to note that the
bridge as built by Bishop Rae consisted of eight arches. Of these the
two nearest the northern bank were built up, and the pier on that side
removed in or before 1776, having by that time become of no farther
use owing to the lower level and consequent contracted breadth of the
Floods in River.
river — the space being filled up with earth. From this it may be
inferred that the brink of the river was, in Bishop Rae's time, consider-
ably nearer the row of fishermen's houses than the present Stockwell
Street, which probably occupies their site.
On the moderate assumption, then, that the depression of the bed of
the river above the bridges amounted since the time of the Roman
occupation to six feet, it will follow that the place where the Samian
bowl was found was, in the Roman time, not more than six feet above
the then level of the river; and deducting a foot of soil — which the
contractor who found the bowl reported was over the stratified sand
and clay — there remains a depth of only five feet of transported sand,
which may easily be accounted for by deposits left by floods during
the fifteen centuries or more since the bowl was lost in this swampy
spot.
How frequent were these floods or "spates," and to what a depth
the water attained, the present generation can have little idea. From
the diary of Mr. George Brown, already quoted, we learn that a great
flood occurred in 1712; and we have some interesting particulars of
this flood from another eye-witness, Mr. James Duncan, Bookseller—
the first, by the way, who introduced the art of type-making in Glas-
gow. Mr. Duncan, speaking in 1735, as a witness in the lawsuit be-
tween Mr. Fleming and the corporation already referred to, and himself
at that time a man of eighty, says: "In the year 1712 there was an
" excessive high speat in the river. At that time the deponent saw a
" boat swim over the bridge at the foot of the Saltmarket and swim up
" the said street opposite to the north gavel of the tenement lately built
" by Thomas Blackstock, the south end of which house fronts the
" Bridgegate street, and there the deponent saw the said boat take in
" some people who came off an old house which then stood there; then
" the said boat swimed down to the foot of the Saltmarket street and
" up to the foot of the Closes in the Old Yards, and there the said boat
" also took in some people who were in houses at the foot of the
" said closes, and carried them up the Saltmarket street."
Another flood fell under the personal observation of Mr. George
Brown on the nth of September, 1746. On this occasion, he tells us,
256 " Spates y
" the river rose to such a height as to cover all the Laigh Green, to
" overflow the Bridgegate till near Allan Stevenson's house, the Stock-
" well till near James Corbet's house, and the Saltmarket till it stopped
" the entry into the Bridgegate."1 Another Glasgow citizen, Mr.
Reid ("Senex"), gives us his own recollections of two other great
floods. Referring to one which occurred in 1782 he says: "In King
"street the river reached the second shop above the Mutton Market.
" I stood on the upper step of that shop on the I2th of March of that
" year, and while I was there a boat arrived close to me, having been
through the Bridgegate with provisions for the inmates of houses in
" that quarter. Both the markets were inundated, and I remember
" how the flood cleared them of rats." This flood covered all the
lower parts of the Green, " and the then village of Gorbals was so
"completely surrounded that.it seemed like an island rising up in the
" midst of an estuary." The river on this occasion rose twenty feet
above its ordinary level. Speaking of another flood in 1808 Mr. Reid
says : " I was living at that time in a self-contained house on the
" south side of the city, quite detached from any other, but the ground
" on which it was built was a little higher than the surrounding
" grounds. At night the river had put out all the fires of our lower
" apartments, and when I went to bed it stood three feet in our dining
" room. Outside of the house the water all around was deeper than
" the height of a man, and it was running past us with the rapidity of
" a mill race. I think that we were not less than 400 feet from dry
" land." Mr. Reid adds that on the evening of the next day, the
river having fallen considerably, he ventured to attempt his escape
from the house — tying his clothes in a bundle and carrying them on
his head; but even then the water was as high as his shoulders. The
rest of the family did not get away till the day following. In this flood
the Green was again covered, and a young man sailing over it in a
boat lost his life.2 It is quite possible that the Roman bowl may
have been dropt from a boat in similar circumstances, and covered by
the deposits of subsequent floods. In 1816 there was another great
flood. On this occasion the Clyde rose seventeen feet, again submerg-
1 Diary of George Brown. 2 Glasgow Past and Present, vol. i. pp. 81, 82.
Flooding of Green. 257
ing the Green; and there were many floods after that till the continued
deepening of the river put an end to them.
Almost every flood covered the Green. Mr. Reid tells us that even
in his recollection the " Laigh Green" lay so low, and its surface was so
irregular, that a very slight rise in the river, and sometimes even a heavy
fall of rain, left it under water.1 And Mr. Hart, to whom I have
already referred, and whose testimony as a man of science is peculiarly
valuable, told me he quite recollected that after each flood a stratum of
sand or mud was left on the Green often an inch thick.
The extent and effect of these floods is further illustrated by a curi-
ous advertisement which appears in the Glasgow Mercury Q{ 28th Novem-
ber, 1781. It announces "that there is a Ferry boat or lighter Lying in
" a park adjacent to the Green of Glasgow possessed at present by
" John King, late Deacon of the Fleshers, supposed to have been cast
" in by a flood more than twelve months byegone;" and it intimates
that the owner may have it on defraying charges. So that we have it
here stated, as an ordinary occurrence, that a boat, so large as to be
described as a ferry-boat or lighter, was left by the flood, not on the
Low Green, but in the " park adjacent " — namely, the Fleshers' Haugh.
From all these facts it is easy to understand how the Samian bowl could
in a long course of centuries have come to be covered by a strata of
transported sand. The whole Green, indeed, may have been under
water during the Roman occupation, without resorting to the hypotheses
of a subsequent elevation of the land. And it was the same with the
low-lying lands farther down the river. Even at Dumbarton the land
between the castle and the town was, so late as the beginning of the
eighteenth century, "an impassable morass."2
But the proof that there has been no elevation since the Roman
period, or even since the probably earlier time of the canoes which
were found at Clyde Haugh, is much stronger than Dr. Scouler had
supposed. His inference that no geological change of any importance
had taken place in this part of the valley of the Clyde was founded
on the assumption that the site of the canoes was that of the channel
of the river; but he was not aware of the important fact, since supplied
1 Old Glasgow and its Environs, p. 60. 2 Defoe's Tour, 1727.
2 K
258 Changes in River Bed.
in the valuable work of Mr. Deas, that there exist plans and sections
which show that at this place the bed of the river was, in 1853, fully
seven feet lower than what it was a hundred years before — namely,
in 1758. In other words, the site in which the canoes lay was all that
depth below the level of what had been the bed of the river even so
late as the middle of the last century.
How then did they get there ? That they were not purposely
buried at that depth is clear, for they were covered with strata of trans-
ported sand which had been quietly deposited around and over them.
The only inference is that all the low-lying land adjacent was under
water at the time when the canoes were left there, and that it has been
since filled up by debris and detritus brought down by the river sub-
sequent to the last elevation of the land. This hypothesis receives
confirmation from the fact that in digging the trench for the quay wall
of the Victoria Dock in 1875 there was found another canoe, about
twenty feet from the then bank of the river, and at a depth of upwards
of fifteen feet from the surface. It was covered by stratified sand and
gravel, and lay at a point nearly eight feet below the level of what had
been the bed of the river in 1758.
But other discoveries made in the course of the operations by the
river trustees in the same locality gave still more interesting results —
results which not only afford evidence of changes in the bed of the
river, but which tend to show that the land at this place was under
water at a period not by any means so remote as might be supposed.
In the course of excavations at a point about 200 feet from the present
bed of the river the workmen uncovered the remains of an ancient
pavement or causeway — the centre of it lying at a depth of more than
twenty feet from the present surface, and the extremities at depths
varying from nine to ten feet. The stones highest situated were covered
with a muddy soil, and were about the present high-water level. From
this point the causeway appears to have sloped downwards and then
risen again; and the stones at the lower levels were covered with beds
of stratified clay, and gray and brown sand, alternating with beds of
leaves in which hazel nuts were found. The greater part of the clay
was arenaceous. The lowest point at which the stones were found was
A Roman Pavement. 250
fully ten feet below what had been the level of low water in 1758. The
pavement was thirty feet broad, and was traced to a length of 200 feet.
From the positions and levels of the stones the probability is that they
formed a causeway across — not the present bed of the river, but across
an older channel more to the north, and that since that time the river
has formed a new bed for itself. If the lowest of the stones were,
when found, in the position in which they were originally laid, the river
must have been then flowing on a lower level. It is possible that a
flood, bursting through when the new channel was opened, may have
undermined the centre of the causeway and caused the stones to fall
down; and this is the opinion of a gentleman connected with the opera-
tions of the River trustees who saw the stones when they were dis-
covered; but it is more probable that the old level of the river where
the stones were laid was lower than the present. I have already
referred to the habit of rivers to silt up their old channels, and this I
apprehend was the case here. The river would silt up the channel over
the causeway, and afterwards seek a new course for itself farther to the
south, and there again it would proceed to raise its bed until its low-
water level was in 1758 ten feet above the level of the causeway. How-
ever that may be, the important fact with which we have to do is that
the stones were covered with beds of stratified sand and clay and beds
of leaves, the aggregate depth of which was nearly ten feet.
The first inquiry which suggests itself in regard to these stones is,
to what age are they to be ascribed ? and here we are assisted by a
material fact. The stones are all tool-marked, and the marks are those
of several kinds of iron tools. Therefore, whoever placed them there
were acquainted with the use of iron, and there is every reason for sup-
posing that they belong to the Roman period. But if so there has been no
elevation of the land here since the time of the Romans. The evidence,
in short, is equally conclusive with that afforded by the Roman ford at
Drip on the Forth, above Stirling, at which place a depression of twenty
or twenty-five feet would now lay the whole of that country under the
sea.
But there are still farther grounds for concluding that this old cause-
way is not pre-historic. The beds of leaves and nuts with which it was
260 The River in the Middle Ages.
covered contained fragments of wrought coal. More than this. In
close proximity to the stones, and covered by the same stratified
deposits, were found logs of oak bearing distinct marks of the ends
having been cut with axe and saw. For these interesting facts I am
indebted to Mr. Deas, who also furnished me with sections of the exca-
vations, showing where the canoe was found and the position of the
logs and stones. One of these stones I had an opportunity of examin-
ing, and I found the tool-marks on it very distinct.
Here, then, we have unmistakable evidence that at a time within the
historic period the river, at this part of the valley, was on a lower level
than it was in the last century, and that it and the adjoining land have
been raised, not by upheaval, but by the gradual deposit of sand, clay,
and gravel.
That the river, at and below Glasgow, was deeper in the twelfth
century than it was in later times there are, I think, pretty clear indica-
tions from history. In the reign of Malcolm Ceanmor the kingdom
was, in 1164, invaded by Somerled, who, it is recorded, having assem-
bled a large force, and collected a fleet of 160 ships, "landed at Renfriu"
with the intention of subduing all Scotland; but he was attacked and
defeated by the people of the district, and with his son Gillecolm slain
—the defeat, by the way, being ascribed in a contemporary poem to the
merits of St. Kentigern.1 It is very certain that in the last century
Somerled could not have carried to Renfrew a fleet containing an army,
with all the accompaniments necessary for so formidable an invasion, if
the depth was no more than one foot at low water, which was all that it
was on some of the shoals there in 1758. In early times the river came
close to Renfrew, and it continued to do so till at least as late as the
middle of the seventeenth century. This will be seen from Blaeu's
map,2 which shows a branch of the river coming close to the town and
forming the island called the Sand Inch, which has since become joined
to the mainland. On this island stood the ancient castle of Renfrew.
We have another proof from history of a greater depth in the river
in the middle ages. Fordun tells us that King Alexander raised an
army and with his fleet sailed for Argyll to subdue that wild district,
1 Chron. Mannias, quoted by Mr. Skene, Celtic Scotland, vol. i. p. 473. 2 Ante, p. 122.
Construction of Roman Wall. 261
but a storm having arisen he was obliged to put back, " and he brought
" up at Glasgow in safety." The king's ships were not, of course, like
those of modern navies, but in order to be fit for a sea voyage, and to
be capable of carrying the troops and stores necessary for the subjuga-
tion of a province, they must have been of dimensions far beyond those
of the insignificant craft which alone could come to Glasgow in the
middle of the eighteenth century, when the depth of water in the har-
bour was only fourteen inches at low water, and at high water did not
exceed 3^ feet.
One reason, besides, for predicating that the Clyde in its present
channel would be deeper in the middle ages than during more recent
years is to be found in the fact that recently the river must have been
silting up its bed more rapidly owing to the increasing cultivation of
the land throughout its area of drainage — the land when cultivated
being, of course, more rapidly denuded of its soil than when it lay
uncultivated and covered with dense vegetation. The same fact has
been observed in all the large river valleys of the country.
A farther evidence still that the depth of water in the river was
greater in the middle ages than it was in later years is afforded by the
fact that in former times herrings came up as far as Renfrew, and were
fished for there. This interesting fact we learn from the great charter
granted by David to the monastery of Holyrood (circa 1143), by which
the king conveys to the monks " unum toftum in reinfry," with a right
not only of nets " ad salmones," but " et ibi piscari ad allechtia libere"-
a free right of fishing herring there, that is, at Renfrew.1
Before leaving this subject I may mention a fact pointed out by
the late Mr. Smith of Jordanhill, which goes to prove that no elevation
of the land near Glasgow (otherwise than by deposits from the river)
has taken place since the Roman occupation. It is this, that the
Romans had evidently constructed their great wall at both ends with
reference to what is the present water level; and in this Mr. Smith is
corroborated by Mr. Dobie Wilson, a sound antiquarian, who resided
near the Clyde terminus of the wall.
I may also mention, in passing, an interesting fact pointed out by
1 Liber Cartarum Sancte Crucis, p. 5.
262 Primordial Races.
Dr. Scouler, which had not been previously noticed, namely, that the
constructors of the earlier canoes were contemporary with two animals
of whose existence near Glasgow we have no historic record, viz. the
reindeer and the Bos primigenius> remains of which were found in the
Clyde and brought up by the dredge near Whiteinch. These animals,
Dr. Scouler surmises, the ancient inhabitants of what is now Glasgow
must have hunted with no other implements than those of stone and
bone, and in a state of barbarism similar to that of the Fins, so graphi-
cally described by Tacitus. The Bos primigenius survived till a com-
paratively late period, but the reindeer, and the stone implements found
in one of the canoes, take us back to a very remote age.
Dr. Scouler suggests that these early settlers were of the primordial
Aryan race, the descendants of Japhet, who dwelt somewhere about
the rivers Oxus and Jaxartes, and on the north of the mountainous
range called the Hindoo Koosh, and to whose language, the Sanscrit,
so many of our words may be traced. There can be no doubt that the
Celts who came to inhabit our Western Highlands, and all the district
around Glasgow, were of this great family, but it is doubtful if the first
canoemen were of that race. They were more probably the men of the
second stone age — the aborigines whom the Celts found there, and
whom they either mingled with or exterminated.
The inscription on one of the most ancient of the sculptured stones
of Scotland, that at Golspie, may have some connection with the early
Aryan settlers. Dr. Moore of Hastings, in his work on the Ancient
Pillar Stones of Scotland, reads the inscription as being in the ancient
Sanscrit character, and supposes the stone to have been erected to a
Buddhist missionary by his followers, who introduced much of their
system into the west at a period long before the Christian era.1
In the history of the Clyde nothing is more interesting than the
wonderful progress made between the comparatively recent time when
it was a shallow stream at Glasgow, capable of floating only small craft
drawing two or three feet of water, and the present time when the
largest ships can come up to the harbour.
1 Paper read by Dr. Stuart, author of the Sculptured Stones of Scotland, at meeting of the
Glasgow Archaeological Society in 1865.
Deepening of the River. 263
From 1752 to July, i7?o,a period of eighteen years, the total revenue
derived from the river was only ^147, os. lod. For the year 1878 it
amounted to upwards of £2 1 7,000.
The first attempt towards deepening the river was made in 1740.
In that year, under date 8th May, the following entry occurs in the
minutes of council: — "Which day the Councill agree that a tryal be
" made this season of deepening the River below the Broomielaw, and
" remit to the magistrates to cause do the same, and go the length of
" £100 sterling of charges thereupon, and to cause build a flatt bottomed
" boat to carry off the sand and chingle from the banks." For 1878-9
the expenditure, including new works, was for that one year upwards of
,£450,000. The total amount expended by the Trust from 1770 to
1879 amounted to nearly eight and a half millions sterling.
When James Watt made his report in 1769 the depth of water
within the harbour at low water was only fourteen inches, and at high
water three feet three inches. The depth at low water at the same
point is now fourteen feet, and at high water twenty-four feet. Even
till within the last few years vessels of 1 5 feet draught were two, and
often three tides in the river in their passage up or down, being, from
the shallow state of the channel, afloat for only one hour or so before
and after high water. Now vessels drawing 22 feet leave Glasgow
two or three hours before high water and get to sea in one tide.1 In
1812 our first steamer, the tiny Comet, with a draught of only four feet,
grounded at Renfrew, although Henry Bell was careful to regulate her
time of sailing so as to avoid low water. This was told to me by Mrs.
Bell, who said she was on board at the time. " And what was done
"then?" I asked. "Oh," was the reply, "the men just stepped over
" the side and pushed her across the shoal." Over this same spot, not
many years afterwards, the great iron-plated line-of-battle ships, the
Warrior and Black Prince, with all their machinery on board, passed
with water to spare.
Previous to 1662 there was no quay at all at the Broomielaw.
Under date 24th July of that year the following minute appears in the
council records : " The said day it is concludit for many guid reasons
1 The River Clyde, by James Deas, 1876, p. 13.
264 The First Quay.
" and considerations for the moir commodious laidining and landing of
" boats that there be ane little key builded at the Broomielaw, and that
" the samyn be done and perfectit with the best convenience be sight
" and advys of the magistratis Deane of Gild and Deacon Conveiner."
This first structure, which extended above what is now the site of
Jamaica Street Bridge, appears to have been of stone, but it must
have been of very small dimensions. In the following year the council
" appoynts the key at the Broomelaw to be heightit twa stones heigher
" nor it was ordained to be of befor, and ordains the Deane of Gild to
" try for moir oakin timber aither in the Hie Kirk, or back galrie, for
" facing the samyn." The zeal for the preservation of the Cathedral,
which the magistrates had evinced in the earlier part of that century,
appears not to have been shared by their degenerate successors. They
seem to have forgotten, or they did not choose to remember, that one
of the reasons stated in the act of Parliament, passed only thirty years
before (1633), by which so many grants and privileges were confirmed
to them, was " the great charges susteinit be thame in upholding the
" great kirk of Glasgow."
Even with the aid of oak from the Cathedral, however, the first
wretched structure appears to have been found of little use, and the
first quay, properly so called, was built in 1688. But this also was of
very small dimensions, and the total cost of it did not exceed ^1600.
At the present time there are four miles of quayage; and, besides the
large dock on the south side of the river, there is on the north side at
Stobcross a magnificent dock, having a water area of thirty acres, cap-
able of accommodating one million tons of shipping per annum.
Below the Jamaica Street bridge, what was within my own recollec-
tion a pleasant green on which clothes were bleached, is now deep water
crowded with shipping. So late as 1839 the river above what is known
as Napier's dock was only 168 feet wide. The width there is now
upwards of 400 feet, and vessels of 3000 tons burthen float where at
that time stood one of the largest cotton mills in the city.1
So few vessels came to Glasgow that not till 1667 was any shipping
register kept. In that year it was ordained that "ane book be maid,
1 The River Clyde, by Mr. Deas, p. 12.
77/6' Port of Rut/ierglen. 265
<and to ly in the Clerks chamber, to the effect that the entrie of each
" ship that come in this river of Clyde may be booked thairintill."1
Previous to 1780 Glasgow was a mere pendicle to the ports of Port-
Glasgow and Greenock. It was not till that year that it was made an
independent port.
In the report of Mr. Tucker to Oliver Cromwell, already referred to,
he says that in 1656 no vessels of any burden could come nearer to
Glasgow than fourteen miles, where they unladed and sent up all com-
modities by three or four tons of goods at a time, in small cobles of
three, four, or five, and none above six tons burthen. The first vessel
of any size that arrived at the Broomielaw was a small schooner called
the Triton, belonging to Mr. Cunningham, which landed some French
brandy on the lyth of May, lySo.2 This was twenty-two years after
the commencement of the operations for deepening the river. The
contrast now afforded by the forests of masts of ocean-going ships and
steamers is very striking.
Previous to the year 1767, when the Jamaica Street bridge was
commenced to be erected,3 and before the weir had been formed to
protect its foundations, the river was navigable for small craft up to
Rutherglen, where there was a small landing quay. Mr. Reid says he
was informed by the late Mr. Alexander N orris, of Greenhead, " that
" in his younger days he had frequently seen vessels sailing up the
" river to Rutherglen, and passing under the arches of the old bridge.
" These vessels were mostly Highland boats loaded with herrings, ling
" fish, eggs, and farm produce; and sometimes there were at that period
" more vessels lying at the harbour of Rutherglen than at the Broomie-
" law; which by-the-bye," Mr. Reid adds, "'was not wonderful, as I once
" saw the Broomielaw harbour with only a single gabbart lying in it."4
Ure, in his interesting history, suggests that in very early times
Rutherglen was the only place " of mercantile importance in the strath
" of Clyde," and that it probably had almost all the shipping trade.
That it was a port is certain, and the ship on the ancient seal of the
1 Burgh Records, 5th Oct. 1667. 2 Glasgow Mercury, i8th May, 1780.
3 The foundation stone was laid on 2Qth Sept. 1767, and it was opened for traffic in 1772.
4 Glasgow Past and Present, vol. iii. p. 820.
2 L
266 Sanitary Condition of City.
burgh is confirmatory of this. But there is little doubt that as early as
the reign of David I. Renfrew, which then adjoined the river, was also
a shipping port. Among the gifts of that king to the Abbey of Kelso
were a toft in Renfrew, and a skip, and a net's fishing in the river.1 It
is true, however, what Ure says — writing in 1793 — "that till of late
" gaberts sailed almost every day from the quay of Rutherglen to
" Greenock — the freight being chiefly coals."2
SANITARY CONDITION OF CITY— HABITS OF THE
PEOPLE.
With the extension of trade and the increase of wealth the habits of
the people became gradually more refined, but until after the middle of
the last century their social condition and sanitary arrangements—
although in advance of the other towns in Scotland — present a striking
contrast to the present state of matters.
For a long time it was the custom of the inhabitants in the High
Street and Trongate to throw out their ashes and other refuse — to have,
in short, what the council records call their " middings" — in front of
their houses. In the buildings there was no uniformity. All along the
Trongate, and also in Argyll Street, there was in early times an irregular
succession of thatched houses, with kilns and other erections, some
nearer the centre of the street and some farther back, and the space
between the houses and the roadway was used not for ashpits only, but
for the deposit of every kind of refuse. In 1589 there is an order by
the magistrates "that na midding be laid vpoun the hiegat;" but no
attention seems to have been paid to it, as we find the practice con-
tinuing till near the end of the next century. It was a time-honoured
institution with which the magistrates appear to have been for a time
powerless to grapple. So great had become the nuisance caused by
throwing all sorts of refuse on the side of the street, and so great the
accumulation of water in consequence, that, as we learn from a minute
1 Liber de Kelso, p. 5. 2 History of Rutherglen and East Kilbride, by David Ure, A.M.
Peat Stacks in Trongate. 26i
of council (5th May, 1655), many of the inhabitants on the north side
of the Trongate were obliged " to mak brige stones" — stepping stones
through the water lying between them and the street " for entrie to
" thair houssis." This obliged the magistrates to interfere again— not
this time, however, to prohibit the ashpits, but to secure a free passage
for the sewage water along the street. To effect this there is a minute
of the town council, under date 2Oth September, 1666, which bears
" that the syre in Trongait, on the north syde therof from Hutchesounes
" Hospitall to St. Tenowes burn, was levelled and maid once straight
" for convoyeing away the water that way, but now of lait divers per-
" sones, yea almost all who hes houses and killes narrest the said syre,
" casts in stra ilk ane foiragainst their awin land to mak fuilzie of,
" quhilk stops the passage of the water should goe that way, and jorgs
" wp so that filth and myre is made to be sein in the gutters quhilk is
" verie lothsome to the beholders; and the said Magistrats taking this
" to their wyse consideratioune, and being desyrous that that abuse
" should be remeided, they therfoir do heirby statut and ordaine that
" no maner of persones presume to do the lyk hereafter, but that everie
" heritor or tennant of the said lands narrest the syre keep the same frie
" ilk ane foir against themselfes for thair parts therof to the effect the
" passage of the watter be not gorged or impeided thereby."
But the " hiegate" was used for other purposes than dungsteads.
Swine were allowed to go at large through the street;1 "stanesand
" tymmer" were deposited on its sides; "skynnis" in heaps were laid
upon it; it was used as a place for "drying lint," and women washed
and "stramped" clothes and yarn and other articles there.2 So much
was it a matter of course to lay bulky articles on the street, that in 1589
the magistrates thought it only necessary to order that such articles as
stones and timber should not lie on the street " langer nor zeir and
" day." But they drew the line at peat stacks. It had actually been
the custom to erect not only these, but hay stacks on the sides of the
Trongate ; and in the year last mentioned we find it enacted " that na
" truff stakis be maid vpon the foirgait under the pane of xvj^. ilk fait."
It takes a long time, however, to eradicate old habits. In the following
1 Advertisement by Magistrates, 1758. 2 Minute of Council, nth Oct. 1623.
2 68 Hay Stacks on Street.
century the skins, the timber, and the peat stacks are found still encum-
bering the highway, and under date 6th October, 1610, there is a statute
directed against each of these nuisances; while so late as the middle of
the eighteenth century the inveterate middings are still the subject of
prohibitory minutes of the council. Probably some of them lingered to
a still later period. So late as 1795 a petition was presented to the
magistrates praying for the removal of all hay stacks in the Trongate,
but it was unsuccessful.1 It has been said, however, and it is in all
likelihood true, that to the space which these dunghills and stacks and
rubbish occupied in front of the houses we owe in part the exceptional
breadth of the Trongate. The booths or "crames" for merchandise
which projected from the houses, contributed also to secure the present
breadth of this fine street.
But the nuisances mentioned were nothing to another of which we
find the magistrates taking cognisance. What would be thought now-
adays of the butchers using the sides of the most public streets in the
city as the places for slaughtering cattle! The minute of the town
council on this subject, 2Oth September 1666, speaks for itself: — "The
" same day forsuameikle as the Provest baillies and Counsell taking to
" their consideratioune that it has been the vse and custome of the
" fleshers of this burgh heirtofoir to slay and bluid the wholl bestiall
" they kill on the Hie street in Trongait on both sydes of the gait,
" quhilk is very lothsome to the beholders, and also raises ane filthie
" and noysome stink and flew to all maner of persones that passeth
" that way throw the king's hie street, and is most unseimlie to be sein
"that the lyk should be done thereon; And the said Magistrats and
" Counsell vnderstanding that the lyk is not done in no place within
" this kingdome or outwith the same in any weill governed citie," there-
fore the fleshers are commanded " ilk ane of them to provyd houses in
" baksyds for the doeing thereof, as is done in Edinburgh and uthir
" weill governed cities, and that betwixt and the term of Witsunday
" next to come."
This statute, however, like those against other nuisances, appears to
have been only partially obeyed, as three years after2 there is an order
1 Burgh Records, 4th Nov. 1795. 2 ,4tjj August, 1669.
Statute "against nestines" 260
by the magistrates forbidding " the fleschers in the Land Mercat to kill
" any muttone or heidron [heifers] on the hie street and that they keip
" their filth and pynches [offal] aff the foir gate." The butchers appear
to have been in the habit also of leaving live cattle on the public street
all night, and there is an order of the council in 1664 prohibiting this.1
About the year 1755 the magistrates erected a new market in King
Street, and it was not till then that a public slaughter-house was pro-
vided. It was situated at the foot of Saltmarket, on what was then
called the Skinners' Green.
Towards the end of the seventeenth century, however, the work of
sanitary reform was progressing, and not only were the "syvers" ordered
to be kept clear, but the streets and closes were appointed to be swept
clean, and all accumulations of refuse to be removed off the streets.
By a minute of council2 the magistrates order that each inhabitant shall
clean the street in front of his house, and that no one within the ports
shall lay any filth " upon the hie streets without the drop of the houss
" excepting that quhilk they sail caus tak or carie awaye within eight
" and four tie hours after the laying out therof." By a later minute3 it
is ordered, under stringent penalties, " that the streets be elated and
" made clean once every week."
These enactments were followed up, some ten years later (1696), by
a long statute, entitled " against nestines," which contains a prohibition
against casting out at windows, by day or night, any dirt or filth of any
kind — the practice of the "gardyloo," in short, which thus appears to
have prevailed in Glasgow as well as in Edinburgh. Great care appears
also to have been taken to prevent any one going to or coming from
places where " the pest" happened to be prevailing. For example, on
23d October, 1588, there is an order of the council " that in consider-
" atioune of the apparent danger of the pest now in Paisley na persone
" indwellar within this toun, because of the mercates of Paisley and
" Kilmacolm approcheing, pas or repair furth of this toun thairto vnder
" the pane of fyve pundis to be tane of ilk persone repairing thairto,
" and banisched furth of the said toun for geir and day, without lief
" asked and geven be the baillies." At a later period (1625) the magis-
1 1 5th October, 1664. 2 29th October, 1670. 3 i?th January, 1685.
270 Beauty of Old City.
trates, "being certainlie informit of the contageon of the plage of
11 pestilence within the Kingdom of Ingland, at God's will and pleasour,
" quhilk daylie increises and that ane great number of merchands
" burgess are daylie passand therto with merchand wairis, and cuming
" back with wairis to this countrie, and speciallie to this burghe, quhilk
" is very dangerous not only to this burghe bot to the haill countrie
" about," it is ordered that no one shall go to England until his name is
first entered in a roll stating where he is going, and that he bring back
testimonials with him. In reference to another pestilence in 1644 the
inhabitants are commanded to " fence and build up their close foots and
" yards that no passage be had throw ther closes, and lykwayes that
" no inhabitants within this burgh suffer any strangers to enter the
" samen, or recept them into their houses, without testimonialls to be
" shawne to the magistrats, and that nane of the inhabitants that ar now
" furthe of this burghe in these bounds be receavit within the samen to
" ther oune houssis till thay shaw the magistrats ther testimonialls."
There occur at different times various other minutes of council to the
same effect. With all these precautions, however, the town was more
than once visited by the plague, and on one of these occasions, in 1647,
the Faculty of the university retired to Irvine " tempore pestis," and
held their meetings and conferred degrees there.1
Yet notwithstanding these visitations, and the necessity of the enact-
ments against nuisances, Glasgow was in early times a bright and
cheerful city; and before the end of the seventeenth century, by
which time much of the " nestiness" had disappeared, it was, as regards
general cleanliness, in advance of every other town in Scotland — Edin-
burgh not excepted. This is the testimony borne by all early travellers
who visited the city, and, what is curious, they nearly all concur in
describing the town itself as more beautiful than the capital. One
writer, who was with the army of Cromwell when it occupied Glasgow,
says: "The toun of Glascow, though not so big nor so rich, yet to all
"seems a much sweeter and more delyghtful place than Edinburgh."2
Another Englishman, already referred to, Richard Franck, who visited
Scotland during the Protectorate, speaks of " the splendour and dignity
1 Munimenta, vol. ii. p. 312. 2 22d October, 1650. Several Proceedings in Parliament.
Mode of Living.. 271
" of this city of Glasgow, which surpasseth most if not all the corpor-
" ations in Scotland. The people were decently dressed, and such an
" exact decorum in every society represents it to my apprehension an
" emblem of England."1 Sir Walter Scott, referring to this account by
Franck, says, " The panegeric which the author pronounces on Glasgow
" gives us a higher idea of the prosperity of Scotland's western capital
" during the middle of the seventeenth century than the reader may
" have perhaps anticipated. A satirist with regard to every other place
" Franck describes Glasgow as ' the nonsuch of Scotland/ where ' an
" ' English florist may pick up a posie.' Commerce had already brought
" wealth to Glasgow, and with wealth seems to have arisen an attention
" to the decencies and conveniences of life unknown as yet to any other
" part of Scotland." Morer also, who wrote in 1689, says that " Glasgow
" has the reputation of the finest toun in Scotland, not excepting Edin-
" burgh, though the Royal city." Defoe, writing at a later date, says
of Glasgow, " It is one of the cleanliest, most beautiful, and best built
" cities in Great Britain."2 And Mr. Campbell of London, the architect
of the celebrated Shawfield mansion, writing in 1712, describes Glasgow
as "the best situated and most regular city in Scotland."3 Of Edin-
burgh Sir William Brereton gives a less flattering account. Writing in
1634, he speaks of the High Street as being certainly a stately and
graceful street; but of the houses and habits of the people, he says,
" I could never pass through the hall but I was constrained to
" hold my nose — their chambers, vessels, linen, and meat but very
'slovenly."4
As regards house accommodation and mode of living the habits of
the Glasgow people were of a very simple kind. It was a long time
before the houses even of the wealthier merchants extended beyond
what in our day would be considered modest dimensions for tradesmen.
Till some time after the beginning of the present century the better
classes lived in flats, and every room in the house, except the dining-
room, contained a bed, and sometimes the dining-room also, either
1 Franck's Northern Memoirs.
2 Tour through the Island of Great Britain, 8th edit. vol. iv. p. 1 17.
3 Vitruvius Britannicus, London, 1717. 4 Brereton's Travels, p. 103.
272 Clubs and Taverns.
openly or behind a screen, and the mistress of the house received her
visitors at tea in her own bed-room. Tea was till a comparatively
recent period a luxury confined to the upper classes, and even with
them the consumption was very limited compared with what it is now.
I have before me an advertisement cut out of a newspaper of 1787, in
which a lady advertises for a nurse to take charge of a child recently
weaned. She is to be " not under twenty-eight years of age; a widow,
"and one above the rank of a common servant, would be preferred; the
" wages £6 per annum, but not permitted to drink tea"
In the beginning of the century the rents of the houses in Glasgow
were moderate enough. Dwelling-houses of a respectable class, in
flats, were let from £$> to £12 a year; and shops or market booths for
about ,£10, few being so high as ^2O.1
It was owing in part to the restricted house accommodation that
taverns were so much frequented by the better classes. Most of the
physicians and lawyers in large practice were consulted each at his
tavern, and gentlemen met there in the evenings at their clubs. On
these occasions, as a rule, the score was moderate — seldom exceeding
fourpence or, at most sixpence for each person. In some few cases
lawyers saw their clients in their own houses. One of these was
Mr. Huchison, who carried on his business in his own house on the
north side of the Trongate, next the old Tolbooth — probably on the site
of what was afterwards the Tontine Exchange and Coffee-room. The
house is described in one of the family deeds as " that large heich tene-
"ment bak and foir at the corse." Into the interior of this old house,
before the middle of the seventeenth century, we have an interesting
peep supplied by Mr. Hill. "There is a tradition," he says, "which I
" had from an old friend and connection of the family, that in
" Mr. Huchison's business room, situated most likely on the ground
" floor, on the opposite side of the close from the dining-room or
" entrance-hall, there stood a long fixed oak table with his papers at one
" end and at the other a large silver drinking tankard always replenished
" with wine or ale for the refreshment of clients, without ceremony or
"show of particular invitation."2 His valuable papers were kept in a
1 Glasgow and its Clubs, p. 109. 2 Huchesoniana, p. 29.
Domestic Life. 27-^
bed-room above, in a Dutch-built spring-locked " kist." This old chest
is still extant.1
At that time the usual dinner hour was not later than twelve o'clock.
Afterwards the better classes dined at one. The next meal was at four,
and was called "the four-hours," a term which continued for a long time,
and which I have myself heard an old lady use so late as 1820 when
calling the children to tea. When there was a dinner party the hour
came to be three, and this continued till about 1 780. With these early
dinner hours supper parties were frequent. After tea, when the family
was alone, the lady of the house usually washed the china cups with
her own hands at table. Almost every lady made her own markets —
not in shops, but in the public markets, for there alone could the chief
domestic supplies be obtained. The market for butter, eggs, and
poultry was at the cross. Butcher-meat was to be had only in the
markets in King Street and Bell Street, and vegetables in Candleriggs.
The meal and cheese market was opposite the college, and fish was only
sold in King Street.2 At a later period there was a market for butcher-
meat in Anderston. Butter-milk was an article much in demand. It was
sold at the cross till after the middle of the seventeenth century, when an
order of the magistrates " ordaines the sour milk mercatt quhilk is now
" keiped at the croce to be transported thence and keiped at the Gallow-
" gait brige heireftir."3
In the autobiography of Dr. Carlyle we have some notices —
interesting because written by a contemporary — of the state of Glas-
gow when he went there to study in 1743. He was then a young
man of twenty-one, well connected, and had introductions to the best
families in the place. He had previously studied in Edinburgh,
and he contrasts Glasgow unfavourably with the capital — "not in
" point of knowledge," he says, " or acquirements in the language or
" sciences — for in Glasgow learning seemed to be an object of more
" importance and the habit of application much more general — but in
" their manner of living, and in those accomplishments, and that taste
" that belong to people of opulence and persons of education. There
" were only a few families of ancient citizens who pretended to be gen-
1 Huchesoniana, p. 26. 2 Glasgow and its Clubs, p. '159. 3 24th June, 1661.
2 M
274 Tavern Bills.
•' tlemen, and a few others who were recent settlers who had obtained
" wealth and consideration in trade. The manner of living, too, at that
" time was but coarse and vulgar. Very few of the wealthiest gave
" dinners to any body but English riders, or their own relations at
" Christmas holidays. There were not half a dozen families in town
" who had men servants : some of these were kept by the professors
" who had boarders. The principal merchants took an early dinner
" with their families at home, and then resorted to the coffee-house or
" tavern to read the newspapers, which they generally did in companies
" of four or five, in separate rooms, over a bottle of claret or a bowl of
"punch."1
Tavern bills were moderate at that time even in the capital. Dr.
Carlyle, still speaking of the year 1 743, says : " There were ordinaries
" for young gentlemen in Edinburgh at fourpence a head, for a very
" good dinner of broth and beef and a roast and potatoes, every day,
" with fish three or four times a week, and all the small beer that was
" called for till the cloth was removed."2 And prices would be at least
as cheap in Glasgow. More than thirty years after Dr. Carlyle's time
one William Chalmers advertises " that he keeps an ordinary at his
" Poultry and Beef Steak Office opposite the Post Office Princes Street,
" where gentlemen will be served with a good substantial dinner of fine
" Broth or Marrow-bone soupe, and Meat both roast and boiled, at the
" cheap rate of 6d. each." In the country the charges at most inns were
still more moderate. Dr. Carlyle, travelling in 1744, came to Whit-
burn, where he was detained by stress of weather for several days,
and when he came to pay his reckoning he was surprised to find that
the charge for lodging and board for four days was only 3^. 6d.
Here is another picture of Glasgow life, drawn by one of the citizens
well known in the beginning of the present century — Mr. Dugald Ban-
natyne — who was for many years secretary of the Chamber of Com-
merce: "At the beginning of the eighteenth century, and during the
" greater part of the first half of it, the habits and style of living of the
" citizens were of a moderate and frugal cast. The dwelling-houses of
" the higher classes contained in general only one public room. About
1 Autobiography, pp. 75, 76. 2 Ibid., p. 63.
Visiting. 2?5
the year 1735 several individuals built houses to be occupied solely
" by themselves, in place of dwelling on a floor entering from a common
" stair, as they hitherto had done. This change, however, proceeded
" very slowly, and up to the year 1755 or 1760 very few of these single
" houses had been built. The living was simple — a few plain dishes
" and these all put on the table at once. The first instance of a dinner
" of two courses was about the year 1786, when Mrs. Andrew Stirling
" of Drumpellier made this change, and she justified herself against the
" charge of introducing a more extravagant style of living by saying
" that she had only divided her dinner and had put no more dishes on
" her table than before. After dinner the husband went to his place
" of business, and in the evening to a club in a public house, where, with
" little expense, he enjoyed himself till nine o'clock. The dinner hour
"was early. Down to 1770 it was two o'clock; after that it came to
"three, and not till about 1818 did it reach six o'clock. The lady
" gave tea in her own bed-room receiving there the visits of her female
" friends, and a great deal of intercourse of this kind was kept up, the
" gentlemen seldom making their appearance at these parties. After
" the year 1 740 the intercourse of society was chiefly by evening parties,
" never exceeding twelve or fourteen persons who were invited to tea
" and supper. They met at four, and after tea played cards till nine,
" when they supped. The gentlemen did not go away with the ladies
" after supper, but continued to sit with the landlord, drinking punch to
" a very late hour. The people were in general religious, and parti-
" cularly strict in their observance of the Sabbath — some of them indeed
" to an extent that was considered by others to be extravagant. There
were families who did not sweep or dust the house, nor make the
"beds, nor allow any food to be cooked or dressed on Sunday; and
" there were some who opened only as much of the shutters of their
" windows as would serve to enable the inmates to move up and down
" or an individual to sit at the opening to read."1
At this period profane swearing among the higher classes of citizens
was considered a gentlemanly qualification. Dissipation at entertain-
ments was dignified with the appellation of hospitality, and he who did
1 Notes by Dugald Bannatyne, Esq., quoted in Statistical Account, vol. vi. p. 231.
276 Education.
not send his guests from his house in a state of intoxication was con-
sidered unfit to entertain genteel company.1 But it must be recollected
that if the drinking at these entertainments was hard the " bouts " were
comparatively rare, and there was probably much less drunk during a
year at that time than there is now, when every day, both at lunch and
dinner as well as at evening parties, wine is so freely used. Certainly
in those days the abstinence of young people from stimulants was in
marked contrast to the habits of our own day, when mere boys and girls,
at late dinners and later dances, are found consuming an amount of
stimulants which would not have been tolerated in the time of their
grandfathers.
EDUCATION— AMUSEMENTS— FAIRS.
If the Glasgow people were content with moderate house accommo-
dation they were always liberal in providing instruction for their chil-
dren. In few places indeed was more regard paid to education than in
Glasgow. The magistrates bestowed on that subject a large amount
of their attention, and they showed also a laudable desire to advance
the social condition of the citizens by encouraging the settlement in the
town of skilled artificers. The council records contain some curious
entries on these subjects, although the ideas of the magistrates and the
presbytery on some points were somewhat peculiar. In regard to
education, for example, it did not appear to be considered that free
trade in schools would tend to the advancement of education. In the
beginning of the seventeenth century (1604) we find the Presbytery of
Glasgow complaining of "a plurality of schools : they consider the school
" taught by John Buchanan, and the Grammar School quite sufficient."
Some thirty years after this the town council, proceeding on the same
principle of restriction, " statut and ordainit that na mae Inglische
" Scooles be keipt or haldin within this burghe heireftir but four onlie
1 Principal Macfarlan, Statistical Account, vol. vi. p. 232.
Spinning Schools. 277
"with ane wrytting schooll."1 And a few years afterwards a poor
woman who had ventured to become a teacher without official permis-
sion, is thus summarily disposed of by the town council : " The same
" day appoynts the Baillies to discharge [inhibit] the womane that hes
" tackine vpe an schole in the heid of the Salt Mercatt at hir awin
"hande."2 But a difference appears to have been made between
" Inglische Schooles" and a lower order of institutions called "Scots
" Schooles." Two years after the date of the last-mentioned minute
there is an order of the council " to tak up the names of all persounes
" men or weomen who keepes Scots Schooles within the toune and to
" report."3 And at a subsequent meeting no less than fourteen indi-
viduals— eight of them being females — are " permittit to keep and hold
" Scots Schooles, they and their spouses ; if they ony have, keiping and
"attending the ordinances within the samyne."4
In those days young girls of all classes learned to spin. In every
well-ordered house there was a spinning-wheel, and early in the
eighteenth century a school to teach the art was established in Glasgow.
In 1728 there is a minute of council approving of a contract betwixt
the magistrates and Susannah Smith, relict of the minister of Car-
dross, whereby " the said Susannah Smith is nominate Mistress of the
" public school erected in this city for teaching girls to spin flax into
44 fine yarn fitt for making threed or cambrick, upon an encouragement
" of ^30 sterling annually granted by the Commissioners and Trustees
" for improving fisheries and manufactories in Scotland." And two
years afterwards there is a payment of ^60 " for spinning wheels and
" chack- wheels and chack-reels to the girls in the spinning school."5
As regards other professions no one was permitted to practise in
Glasgow without the special license of the magistrates, and, in some
cases, not until they had shown evidence of their skill. On one occa-
sion, in 1569, a house painter applies for permission to practise his
craft. In his supplication he sets forth that " he hes skill in washing
" and pynting of housses, that ther is but one the lyk within the samyn
" brughe, and not ane vthir in all the wast of Scotland," and that his
1 9th Feb. 1639. 2 2oth Feb. 1658. 3 2oth October, 1660.
4 1 4th Nov. 1663. 5 24th Sept. 1731.
278 A "Mistress of Manners"
occupation is "rather ane science nor ane craft."1 The permission is
granted. On another occasion one James Corss, a native of the city,
represents to the magistrates that having " studied the knowledge of
" mathematicks, and obtained ane competent knowledge thairin and
" vthir sciences thairto belonging, being naturallie adicted thairto from
" his infancie," he desires to take up a school in the city " for teaching
" of theis airtes and sciences in the vulgar native tongue quhilk hes not
" been done formerlie in this kingdome for want of encuragments
" thereto, and the tyes of birth and educatioune press him to mak the
" first proposells thereof to this his native toune." Such an appeal was
not to be resisted, and the magistrates grant the licence, and " promiss
" heirby to him their best encuragments."2
In 1677 liberty is granted to an " Architector" to "exerce his employ-
"ment and calling in architectorie and measonrie;" but on this occa-
sion the permission is only granted on certain " consideratiounes," and
it is limited to a period ending at Candlemas, 1680.
In 1674 the citizens were favoured by the residence among them of
a certain " Mistres Cumyng mistres of maners;" but this lady, finding
that she was not sufficiently appreciated, threatened to leave the town, a
calamity which the magistrates thought would prove so " prejudiciall to
" this place, and in particular to theis who hes young weomen to breid
" therin," that they undertook to pay her " ane hundreth marks yeirlie
" in all tyme coming to pay her houss maill so long as shoe keepes a
"school and teaches childerin as formerlie."3 Some thirty years after-
wards a charge appears in the city accounts of a pension paid " to a
" schoolmistress for teaching young gentlewomen."
In 1674 the magistrates, with an equal regard to the advantage of
the inhabitants in the matter of creature comforts, appointed one Michael
Leiper to be made a burgess gratis, " and to be keeped frie of quarter-
" ing and localitie, for his better encuradgment to tak ane guid hous for
" serving the leidges as ane commoune coock within the same."4 This
trade appears to have thriven, as some seventeen years afterwards we
find "Margaret Hamiltone Widow" applying for leave "to keep ane
" common cookrie within this burgh," and offering to pay a premium of
1 ist Oct. 1659. 2 1 3th Aug. 1660. 3 2oth June, 1674. 4 2;th Sept. 1674.
Teachers of Cookery. 279
" fiftie merks Scots to the toune" for the permission. Her request is
granted, and she is appointed " to have the freedome as ane burgess
"and gild brothers relict during her lifetyme as a widow."1 In the
same spirit we find a grant of twenty pounds (20^.) made "to James
" Robesoune baxter for helping him to build ane oven to baik plack
" pyes in, as also the sowme of 20 pimds Scots to buy him ane laid of
" wheat to encurradge him to baik guid breid."2 The plack — equivalent
to the groat — was a piece of money coined in billon, a debased white
metal, and was of the value of twopence scots.
Cookery was more studied in Glasgow in the last century by the
better classes than it is in our more refined times, and it was not
thought infra dig. in a lady to know how her husband's dinner should
be dressed. We get some insight as to this from a minute of council in
1740 "anent the petition given in by James Lochead teacher of cookery."
It sets forth that the applicant, "being regularly educated by his Majesty's
" cooks, under whom he served in the Art of Cookery, pastry, confection-
" ery, candying, preserving, and pickling, and of making of milks, creams,
" seyllabubs, gellies, soups, and broaths of all sorts, and also taught to
" dress and order a table, and to make bills of fare for entertainments of
"all kinds; and that of late he has successfully taught severall young
" ladies, to their own and their parents satisfaction, and that for instruc-
" tion of his scholars he is obliged to provide, on his own charge, flesh,
" fowles, fish, spiceries, and severall other ingredients, but when dresst
" lye on his hand for want of sale, by which he is a loser, and will be
" obliged to lay aside his teaching unless he be assisted in carrying it
" on." He therefore appeals to the magistrates for aid. The plea was
allowed, and a grant is made to him of ^"10 sterling yearly during the
magistrates' pleasure.3
On another occasion a teacher of dancing applies for permission to
exercise his art; but this was a matter in regard to which the magistrates
—looking probably to the state of morals at the time — thought that
more caution was required, and accordingly leave is given only " under
"the provisions and conditions underwritten." These are, "that he
" shall behave himself soberly, teach at seasonable hours, keep no balls,
1 23d May, 1691. 2 3oth Dec. 1679. 3 8th May, 1740.
280 Music Teachers.
" and that he shall so order his teaching that ther shall be noe promiscu-
" ous dancing of young men and young women together, hot that each
" sex shall be taught by themselves, and that the one sex shall be dis-
" missed and be out of his house before the other enter therin: And, if
" he transgress in any of these poynts the Magistrats to putt him out
"of this burgh."1
The teaching of music was in early times liberally encouraged in
Glasgow, and the magistrates in this were only continuing what had
been the uniform practice of the Church in ante- Reformation times.
From the time that the Gregorian Chant first found its way into Great
Britain, in the seventh century, it was taught gratuitously to the poor in
connection with our collegiate churches and monasteries and other reli-
gious houses. The clergy were thus the masters of the "Sang scuiles."2
One of these schools, as we have seen, was attached to the collegiate
church of St. Mary and St. Anne in the Trongate. After the Refor-
mation the government pursued the same policy. In 1579 an act was
passed by the Scottish parliament ordering that " Sang schools " be pro-
vided in all burghs for the instruction of the youth in music, and the
magistrates of Glasgow appear to have been very forward to act on
this order. There are repeated minutes in the burgh records on the
subject, and they appear to have been always careful to inquire into
the competency of the teachers. On one occasion, in the early part of
the seventeenth century, they found a qualified professor in the person
of one James Sanderis, and for his better encouragement they granted
him a monopoly. Their minute bears that they had agreed with San-
deris " to instruct the haill bairnes within this burghe that is put to
" his schole, musik for ten schillings ilk quarter to himself, and fortie
" pennes to his man; and thairfoir the said provest and baillies dis-
" charges all other sangsters within this burghe to teach musik in tyme
" coming during thair will allenarlie."3
The plan of monopoly, however, appears to have failed, and forty
years afterwards we find the city without any music master. A minute of
council of 1 4th August, 1668, bears that the magistrates "taking to their
1 nth November, 1700. 2 Dauny, Dissertation on Scottish Melodies.
3 1 5th July, 1626.
Public Amusements. 281
" consideratioune that this citie is altogether destitute of ane musitian
" for instructing the youth in the airt of musick, and seing its the ear-
" nest desyre of manie honest men that ane able musitiane be tryed out
" and brought to this place for that effect, and seing the Bischop is
" willing to bestow yeirlie upon such a persone ane hundreth punds
" scots for the mans better encuragement who is to be brought here,
" Its concludit that the toune pay him yeirlie thrie hundreth and fyftie
" marks and that to conteinew dureing the counsells will and pleasour."1
This, however, appears to have failed to attract a proper teacher, and
twenty years afterwards we find the town still in search of one. In
1691 a " Mr. Lewis de France, musitian," applied, and with him the
magistrates concluded an arrangement. The minute of council bears
that Mr. Lewis had " very willinglie condescended to teach the inhabit-
" ants music and to take only fourtein shilling per moneth (is. 2d. ster-
" ling) for ane hour in the day from these that comes to the schooll,"
and to teach for nothing such of the poor as the magistrates shall
appoint. And for " his encouradgement" it was provided that he should
receive 100 pounds scots yearly (^8, 6s. 8</.), and that no other should
be allowed to teach music.
Still the taste for music languished, and concerts were rare. " There
" never was but one concert during the two winters I was at Glasgow,"
writes Dr. Carlyle, speaking of the years 1744-45, "and that was given
" by Walter Scott, Esq., of Harden, who was himself an eminent per-
" former on the violin, and his band of assistants consisted of two
" dancing-school fiddlers and the town-waits."2
While the magistrates were not slow to enforce justice and repress
immorality, they were always ready to encourage the legitimate pastimes
of the people. Horse-racing was a very innocent thing in those days
compared with what it afterwards became, and there were not only races
at Glasgow, but the magistrates encouraged them by giving cups. In
the early part of the seventeenth century we find an order in the burgh
records which "ordainis the Horss Raiss to be proclamit to the xxv
"day of May instant and the cours to be maid."3 Forty years later
one of the minutes directs " that Glasgow raice be keeped in maner as
1 Hth August, 1669. 2 Autobiography, p. 75. 3 Hth Ma7> l625-
2 N
282 Foot-ball.
" is set doune and contained in the diurnall, and recommends to the
" Provest to cause provyde what is necessar to be made for that effect."1
And then follows an order for the payment of " ane hundreth punds
" (;£&, 6s. 8^.) deburst to the goldsmith in part payment of the coups he
" is making to the toune for the raice."2 Ten years later there occurs an
order that " a proclamatioune be sent throw the toune that ther is a foot
" raice to be run thrys about the New Grein on the xxii of this instant,
" that who desyres to run may be admitted, and that he who wines sail
" have twentie shilling starling."3
Another favourite amusement of the Glasgow people was foot-ball—
a game for which their Green was well adapted. This game was pro-
hibited by the old acts of Parliament, as it was thought to interfere
with the practice of archery. But James IV. was fond of it, and not-
withstanding the law, he often indulged in it himself. It was certainly
encouraged and promoted by the magistrates of Glasgow, who always
provided the foot-balls; and the burgh minutes, from the very earliest
times of which there is any record, contain notices on the subject.
From one of these, in 1575, we learn that the price of a foot-ball was
twopence.4 From another in the beginning of the seventeenth century
we learn that there was "gifen upon the xxviii day of Feb. 1609 to
" John Neill, cordoner, younger, for fute ballis to the toune at fasterins
" evin conforme to the aid use xxvis- viiid- "
While thus encouraging innocent recreation, the magistrates were
ready to suppress among the young men of the city, amusements which
they considered of a more questionable tendency. In this spirit we
find them, on a complaint by the university, restricting the use of
billiard tables. One of the minutes of council bears that on a " com-
" plent being made be the Principall and Masters of the Colledge that
" some persones keeps Bulzard Tables to the prejudice of the young men,
" their scholars, frequenting the same neir the Colledge, quhen they sould
" be att their books" — particularly by a person, not named, living in Mil-
ton's land — "its concludit that he be discharged to keep the same and that
" no Bulzard Board be keiped betwixt the Wynd heid and the Croce."5
1 8th March, 1665. 2 2?th April> l665 3 3cl April) l6?^
4 Burgh Accounts, 6th March, 1575. 6 315! January, 1679.
Magister Ludorum.
From another of the council minutes we learn that, besides these
private "bulzard boards," games and plays were provided for the
amusement of the people in the houses of the publicans or vintners.
Unlicensed places we would call them, and they fell under the same cate-
gory then, only that the magistrates, instead of using means to suppress
them, interfered for their protection. At that time no theatrical repre-
sentations or plays of any kind were permitted by law, unless sanctioned
by an officer appointed by the crown, called Magister Ludorum, the
Master of the Revels; and towards the end of the seventeenth century
we find this functionary, or rather two individuals — for it appears to
have been at that time a collegiate charge — interdicting the publicans
from having " revels" in their houses without the requisite license. In
these circumstances the magistrates came to the rescue, and the matter
is thus disposed of by a minute of council, dated 5th June, 1682 : " The
" same day ordains the provost to have a warrand for two hundred and
" forty pounds Scots payed to Edward and James Fountains, masters
" of the Revels, for descharging the Vintnors in toune of the charges of
" horning given them for keeping games or playes of quhatsomever
" kynd in their housis, and for frieing them of the lyke in time coming
" during their gift" — that is, during the time that the two masters had
a gift of the office. In connection with these functionaries, I may
mention that one of the favours bestowed on Glasgow at the Revolution
was the appointment by royal warrant of one of the citizens, " William
" MacLean son of Charles MacLean merchant in Glasgow, to be our
" sole Magister Ludorum, commonly called Master of the Revels, in our
" Kingdom of Scotland." The office fell into desuetude in the reign of
George I., I think; but it had existed fora long time previously, and in
the books of the Lord Lyon are to be found the armorial insignia
appropriate to the functionary, viz., " Argent a lady rysing of a cloude
" in ye nombril point, ritchlie apparelled; on her head a garland of ivye,
"holding in her right hand a poniziard crowned: in ye left a vizard,
"proper; standing under a vale or canopie azur, garnished or: in base
" a thistle vert."
In providing for the amusements of the people, the magistrates—
if they erred in the alienation of the commons — appear to have been
284 Public Parks.
forward in promoting the health and recreation of the citizens, by pro-
viding public parks for their use. In this respect, indeed, they showed,
at an early period, the same public spirit and liberality which their
successors have been showing in later times — and this too, sometimes,
when the funds of the corporation could not very well afford it. The
first park which belonged to the city was a portion of what came to be
called the Laigh Green. At what time it was acquired is not known,
but it was probably included in the lands originally belonging to the
see, and embraced in the Notitia of David. This portion did not
extend to more than twenty acres. From time to time other portions
were purchased by the magistrates, till it amounts now to more than a
hundred acres. To meet the price of one of the portions of the Laigh
Green, formerly called the Linen Haugh, which was acquired in 1662,
the magistrates were obliged to sell some of their feu-duties, and that
at a very low price — only seventeen years' purchase. The westmost
portion of the Laigh Green was called the Skinners' Green, from its
being used by the tanners for drying their hides. It was separated
from the rest of the Green by the Molendinar Burn. On part of the
Skinners' Green the slaughter-house was, as I have already mentioned,
erected afterwards, with an inclosure for cattle. The remaining portions
of the Green subsequently acquired consisted of the lands of Kinclaith
and others. The portion called the Fleshers' Haugh, consisting of
twenty-six acres, was acquired in 1792 at the price of ^4000. The
Green was bounded on the north by a wall, within which was a walk
and a row of fine trees. A portion of the Green, including this walk,
was, in 1819, taken to form Great Hamilton Street and Monteith Row.
The " old Green," called in the early charters the Commune Viri-
darium Glasguensc, and afterwards "the Doucatt green," from there
being a dovecot on it, was part of the common lands of the city, and
consisted of the ground by the river side from the old bridge to Jamaica
Street, and included a small island in the stream, which at low water
was joined to the mainland. This island is shown in Blaeu's map.1
The old Green was a pleasant grassy lawn, and in the end of the last
century and the beginning of the present it formed the principal pro-
1 See p. 122.
Medieval Pageants. 285
lenade of the citizens.1 But it was not retained as a public park, and
from its position, indeed, it could hardly have been so. The magistrates
took possession of it, and disposed of it to various parties; but, with a
prudent foresight, they stipulated that if the ground should ever be
required for public purposes it might be reclaimed at the prices paid for
it. Of this reserved right the magistrates afterwards availed them-
selves, and the portion of the ground next the river is now occupied by
quays and wharfs.
In connection with the amusements of the people I may refer to
those periodical pageants of the different Trades which in early times
were common in the burghs of England, and of Scotland also, at
least in the royal burghs. In a volume of the fourteenth century,
belonging to the corporation of York, there are numerous entries relat-
ing to such pageants in that city. They occurred at the feast of Corpus
Christi, on the Thursday after Trinity Sunday, and they were remark-
able for the numbers who took part in them, and for their gorgeousness
and the large sums expended in getting them up. In the volume
referred to some of the notices relate to complaints made to the
"Chamber of Counsell" against individuals who carried on certain
trades in the city, and yet refused to contribute to the expenses incurred
by these trades in the pageants, and these complaints are followed by
orders of the chamber on the defaulters obliging them to contribute.2
In the same way, in the Scottish burghs, the magistrates appear to
have not only permitted and encouraged, but enforced and regulated
similar pageants. They were accompanied by music and banners, and
the masques supported the character of some scriptural or classical
person, or age, or event. A very early notice occurs in the burgh
records of Aberdeen, by which the magistrates prescribe to each trade
the fancy characters which it is to contribute to these pageants. It is
as follows : — " Thir craftes vnderwritten sail fynd yerly in the offerand
" of our Lady at Candelmas thir personnes vnderwritten : that is to say
' The littistaris [dyers] sal fynd the Empriour and twa doctoures; the
" Smiths and Hammermen sal fynd the three kingis of Culane; the
" talzoures sal find Our lady Sancte Bride, Sancte Helene, and Joseph;
1 Glasgow Past and Present, vol. iii. p. 542. 2 First Report on Historical MSS., p. 109.
286 King Crispin s Procession.
" the skynnaris sal fynd two bischops and four angeles," and so on
through all the trades — each, in addition to the personated characters,
being enjoined to provide "als mony honeste squiares as thai may."1
A hundred years later, we find from the same records that the custom
was still observed, and the magistrates give very special directions on
the subject, enjoining " the craftismen of this burgh in thair best array
" to keipe and decoir the processioun on Corpus Cristi dais and Candel-
" mas day als honorabillye as they can, every craft with thair awin
" baner with the armes of thair craft thairin" — following in all this, as the
order bears, " the auld lovabill consuetudis and rytt of this burgh, and
" the nobill burgh of Edinburgh, of the quhilkis rite and consuetude the
" provest has gotin copy in write." And then follows the order of the
procession and the particular characters which each trade is to provide.2
Whether similar pageants occurred in Glasgow I do not know.
There are no notices of them in our burgh records, but there may have
been such, as our records do not go nearly so far back as those of
Aberdeen which I have been quoting. It is not at all improbable that
a procession which occasionally took place in Glasgow at a later time,
and the last of which occurred within the memory of some still living,
may have been a relic of these mediaeval displays. I refer to the pro-
cessions of king Crispin, pageants got up by the Cordiners with banners
and masques and music, in a very gorgeous style. They took place at
intervals — sometimes alone, and sometimes in combination with the
other trades. The last was, I think, of this character. It occurred at the
time of the passing of the first Reform Bill, and attracted great attention,
king Crispin being splendidly arrayed in royal robes. There have
been, since then, many occasions on which the crafts went through the
town in procession, accompanied by banners and bands of music, but
the peculiar pageants of the middle ages, if they ever existed in Glasgow,
have become there, as in all the other burghs of Scotland, things of
the past.
I have already referred to the fairs held in Glasgow. In early times
they must have been very insignificant, even though " French gloves "
were to be had at them; but in later times they became of considerable
1 Burgh Records of Aberdeen, 5th Sept. 1442. 2 Ibid., 22d May, 1531.
Fairs.
287
mportance, and were largely resorted to. In early times, if the first
day of the fair fell upon a Sunday, it appears to have been held on
that day all the same; but after the Reformation the magistrates (in
1577) issued a proclamation prohibiting this, and forbidding the opening
of booths and selling of merchandise on a day on which " na mercatt
" aucht to be keipit."1 In such a case, as we learn from a subsequent
minute, the first day of the fair was held on the preceding Saturday.2
The fair began on the 7th of July, and continued for eight days, and
during that period, as I have already mentioned, no one frequenting
the fair could be taken for debt, nor could a runaway serf be seized by
his master during " the peace of the fair." The proclamation of the
fair was an important ceremony, and in Glasgow it continued to be
made till at least the early part of the eighteenth century — probably till
a later period. One of the burgh minutes in 1581 is interesting as
containing the form of this proclamation. It is as follows : " The
" quhilk day the peace of the fair wes proclamit be David Coittes, mair
" of fee, vpone the Greyne, and be Richard Tod toun orficiare vpon the
" croce, efter the forme and tenour vnderwritten : Forasmekle as this
" day is the sext of Julij quhilk is the fair evin of Glasgow, and the
" morne the fair day, quhilk continewis the space of aucht dayis, thair-
" fore I inhibit and forbiddis straitlie in our Souerane Lordis name, and
" in name and behaulfe of ane noble and potent lord Esme erle of
" Lennox, lord Darnlie and Obinze etc. prouest, and baillie of the
" baronie, and in name of the baillies of this toun, that nane of our
" Souerane Lordis legis cumand to this fair, reparing thairin, or gangand
" thairfra, do ony hurt or trublens ane to ane vther for auld dett or new
" dett, auld feid or new feid, bot leif peaceablie, and vse thair merchan-
" dice and eschange vnder Goddis pece and our Souerane Lordis pro-
" tectioun, vnder all hiest pane and charge that may be impvt to thame
" doand in the contrare, and to be callit and accusit for breking the
" kingis Maiesteis pece and trublance of his hienes mercatt To the
" quhilk proclamatioun the orficiares reqvirit witnessis viz David Lind-
" say elder, Thomas Cloggie, Mungo Wilsoun, and Niniane Drew."3
As a precaution against " breking the pece " — and in all probability
1 Burgh Records, 6th July, 1577. 2 3d July, 1605. 3 Burgh Records, 6th July, 1581.
288 Proclamation of Fair.
not an unnecessary one — certain of the citizens were appointed "to keip
" the fair," and for that purpose to be duly armed. Thus at a meeting
of the town council held on 6th July, 1574, "being the fair even," the
magistrates issued an order for " every booth halder to have in readi-
" ness within the booth ane halbert, jack, and steel bonnet, for eschewing
" of sic inconveniences as may happen, conform to the auld statut made
" theranent." This was in accordance with an act of the Scottish par-
liament which required that every yeoman or burgess possessed of
twenty pounds in goods have a good doublet of fence, or a habergeon,
with an iron hat, a bow, and a sheaf of arrows, a sword, a buckler, and
a knife. Those possessed of only ten pounds were to have a bow and
a sheaf, with a sword and knife.1 Again, in the beginning of the follow-
ing century, we find an order by the magistrates " that tuentie of the
" merchand rank, togidder with tua of ilk craft, be electit and chosin, at
" the discretioune and optioune of their deikinis, for keiping of the fair
" of this burgh, Setterday nixt, quhilk is the fair eivin of the said burgh,
" and hauldin as the fair day becaus of the Sabbothe day, and that with
"corslat and pik."2 And in the following year "it is ordanit that xij
" merchandis, and tuelf of craftis nameit and warneit, attend on the sereff
" the tyme of the fair with sword halbert and steilbonnet."3
M'Ure says that in his day the fair was proclaimed or "fenced"
within an inclosure or garden where the convent of the Greyfriars
stood, "at a place they call Craignaught." This place, otherwise written
Craignathe, Craignache, and Craigmak, is mentioned in the old burgh
records as a place where the magistrates met on the occasions when the
fair was to be proclaimed. Thus, under date 6th July, 1580, there is this
minute : " The quhilk daye the Court fensit be the baillies at Craigmak,
" and thaireftir callit the sute roll, and proclamit the fair." And in all the
subsequent minutes of council down to 1607, when the fair is ordered to
be proclaimed, it is at a court held at Craignac or Craignaught, although
in the same years the ordinary meetings of the council are held in other
places; for example, in 1574 the ordinary meetings are held "in the
" Blackfrier Kirk," and in 1575 "in the tolbuytht of Glasgw." M'Ure
says he does not know what " Craignaught" means. Mr. Macvean, in
1 Act. Parl. Scot., vol. ii. pp. 18, 132. 2 Burgh Records, 3d July, 1605. 3 28th June, 1606.
State of Streets. 289
his reprint of M'Ure's work, says that in recently digging a foundation
there was found in the locality a whinstone rock, which it is probable
in former times appeared above the surface, and that this rock may have
given rise to the name. This conjecture receives confirmation from the
peculiar terms of one of the old burgh minutes (6th July, 1607), which
bears that the fair was proclaimed at " the heid court of Craignache
" haldin vpone the Craig thairof by the thrie balleis and accompaneit
" with the Counsell of the said bruch and deikins thairof." It would
appear from this that the ceremony of the proclamation was at that time
made from a " craig" or rock within the inclosure referred to. How it
came originally to be proclaimed there I do not know.
The fair was held at first at the Cross at the head of the High Street.
Afterwards, and for a long time, it was held at the foot of Stockwell,
and latterly at the foot of the Saltmarket. There are some still living
who must recollect the large numbers of cattle and horses which crowded
the Stockwell and streets adjacent on the Wednesday of the fair, to the
inconvenience and sometimes the danger of passengers, any thorough-
fare being next to impossible. Indeed, till the establishment of the
Cattle Market in Grahame Square, the Stockwell, which was then the
chief entrance to Glasgow from the south, was the only place in the
city where a regular cattle market was held ; and the " Brig-end " was
the rendezvous of all country servants coming for hire.1 In our day
the fair of Glasgow is more noted for the inhabitants leaving the city
than for crowds congregating in it.
POLICE, WATER SUPPLY, £c.
In the state of the streets and other matters of police the contrast
between the present and former state of things is very remarkable. Till
towards the end of the eighteenth century none of the streets in Glas-
gow were causewayed, and from all accounts they must have been in a
1 Glasgow and its Clubs, by Dr. Strang, 3d edit. p. 228.
2 O
290 Lighting of Streets. ,
state of great disrepair. In 1577 the magistrates appointed " a calsaye
" maker " for two years,1 and to meet the expense imposed on the
inhabitants a tax of two hundred pounds — ,£16, \$s. ^d. It would
appear, however, that no one of sufficient skill could be had in the city,
and there is an entry in the burgh records in the following year author-
izing "a calsaye maker" to be brought from Dundee. It was not till
1662 that the street from the West Port to St. Enoch Square was
causewayed. Before that time St. Enoch's Burn was an open limpid
stream running across the highway, unspanned by any bridge, and in
that year the magistrates appointed "ane handsome little brige with
" ane pen to be put over St Tenowes burne, and that the casay be
"brought in therfra to the West Port; and recommends to the Mr of
" Wark to send for the calsay layer in Rutherglen to do the work."2
Till so late as 1780 the inhabitants had to find their way in the
Trongate by means of their own " bouets " or hand-lamps when there
was no moonlight. In that year the magistrates agreed to put up nine
lamps on the south side of the Trongate, between the Tron Church
Steeple and Stockwell Street, on condition that the proprietors along
that line would lay a foot- pavement similar to that which had been
formed on the opposite side. The absence of lamps in a town then
so small as Glasgow is less remarkable when we know that till near
the end of the seventeenth century the streets of London remained
unlighted. In the last year of the reign of Charles II. a projector
named Heming obtained letters patent confirming to him for a term of
years the exclusive right of lighting up the metropolis. After all, what
he undertook was merely to place a light before every tenth door on
moonless nights — that is, one night in three — from the beginning of
October to the 25th of March, and only from six o'clock till midnight.
This accommodation, scanty as it was, was hailed as something wonder-
ful, and the projector was overwhelmed with applause.3
Not till the beginning of the present century was there any regular
police force in Glasgow. At an early period a watch, such as it was,
had been instituted, but it does not appear to have been very efficient.
The first notice on the subject in the burgh records occurs towards the
1 igth November, 1577. 2 28th June, 1662. 3 Angliae Metropolis, 1690, § 17.
The City Watch.
middle of the seventeenth century, when the council " ordains ane
" watche to be keepit neightlie heireftir" from six o'clock at night till
five in the morning.1 And in the following year there is an order
appointing one of the citizens to keep watch at each port from seven in
the morning till ten at night.2 These orders appear to have received
little attention, and in 1659 there occurs the following minute: "The
" same day for preventing of the great hurt and damage in the futur
l< quhairof sundrie inhabitants hes fand the smart heirtofoir throw the
" breking of thair houssis and buithes be thiefes : it is therfor heirby
" statute and ordained that ane watch be keipit nightly heirefter, to be
" set ilk night be the baillies in dew tyme, vicissim, to consist of sik ane
" convenient number as they sail think meet." This is ordained to be
made known "be touk of drum," and every man, or a substitute, is
ordered to come out under a penalty.3 This service appears to have
been for a long time performed cheerfully by all the citizens, including
those of the better classes. In the diary of Mr. Brown, already referred
to — a Glasgow merchant in prosperous circumstances, and who amassed
a considerable fortune — there occurs, under date 7th December, 1745,
this entry : " Read the fourteenth chapter of first Corinthians and
" prayed; then went to keep the city guard at ten o'clock at night, where
" I continued till near four in the morning, when I went to bed."4 This
was at the time when the rebel army was expected, and within a few
days afterwards it entered the city with Prince Charles at its head.
But towards the end of the eighteenth century the magistrates made
some efforts to establish a more efficient system of watching. About
1 788 they created a small police force, for which in the following year
a sum of ^135, 2s. was paid to Richard Marshall, for himself as super-
intendent and for his officers. This force appears to have been armed,
and it no doubt assisted the citizens in their watch and ward, but it
was found necessary to introduce among the citizens themselves a more
exact system. A notice was accordingly published bearing that, " in
" consequence of the great extent and populousness of the city," it was
necessary to establish " a night guard and patrol in order to watch and
1 2d March, 1644. 2 20th Dec. 1645. 3 3d Dec. 1659.
4 Diary of George Brown, printed for private circulation, p. 41.
Cleaning and Watering Streets.
" guard the streets." The town was accordingly divided into four dis-
tricts, and all the male citizens, above the age of eighteen and under
sixty, whose yearly rents amounted to ^3 sterling or above, in rotation,
to the number of thirty-six every night, were appointed to mount guard,
and to continue on patrol during the night — those claiming exemption
being obliged to pay two shillings and sixpence for a substitute.1 This
arrangement continued to the end of the century. It was not till 1800
that the police force of the city came to be regulated by statutory
enactments.
Until near the end of the last century there was not a common
sewer in the city. The first was constructed in 1790, and by 1819 the
number of streets which contained common sewers was only forty-five.
So late as 1777 the total force employed by the magistrates in
cleaning the streets was two men. It was only by a minute of council
in the end of that year that they enacted that " a third person should
" be employed along with the said two men." So badly kept were the
streets and roads that till far on in the present century, ladies almost
universally used pattens when walking out.
Previous to 1817 the streets were seldom watered. In exception-
ally dry and sultry weather, when this was done, it was effected by men
with watering cans. In the year mentioned the present mode of water-
ing by means of carts was introduced. It was the invention of Mr.
Black, the superintendent of fire-engines.
As to the general water supply of the city there is nothing in our
burgh records to show that there was ever any scarcity, but it could at
no time have been very abundant. Of course, the supply was, till a
comparatively recent period, derived entirely from wells, but of these
there were a considerable number for the size of the city. M'Ure,
writing in 1736, says: "There is plenty of water, there being sweet
" water wells in several closses of the toun, besides sixteen public wells
" which serves the city night and day as need requires."2 For the
ordinary wants of the inhabitants, as then understood, these were no
doubt sufficient; but in those days there were no baths or other con-
veniences, such as we now consider so indispensable. Some few families
1 2d Dec. 1790. 2 History, p. 144.
The Public Wells.
had private wells, but as a rule the inhabitants had to resort to the
wells in the public streets; and it was an every-day sight — morning and
evening — to see these wells surrounded by housewives and maid-
servants, with their "stoups" set down in rows, waiting their turn to be
served. On Saturdays there was an extra pressure, as a supply required
to be provided on that day for the Sunday. One of the most noted of
these old wells, and the one which finds earliest mention in the old
charters, was the Deanside or Meadow well, the water of which was so
prized that the Friars Preachers, as I have already had occasion to
mention, had a charter authorizing them to conduct it into their convent.
Another was Bogle's well, in regard to which there is a minute of the
town council "that Bogillis well should be assayed for bringing and
" convoying the water of the same to the Hie street according to the
" right the town hes therof," and the magistrates are recommended to
arrange for having this done "by conduits of led." There was another,
an open draw-well, at the Barras yett, near the port of that name at the
foot of Saltmarket. It is mentioned in a minute of council in 1664,
which ordains that " in respect of the heighting of the calsay at the
" Barrazet the well there be heightit twa stones higher round about, for
" preservation of childerin falling therin."1 Opposite the old Black
Bull Inn in Trongate was another open draw-well, afterwards covered
in, which was famous in the palmy days of cold punch, and which is
alluded to in Cyril Thornton as " the west port well."2 On ordinary
occasions this favourite well was surrounded by large numbers of the
town's people waiting a supply. There was also an old well on the
banks of the Molendinar Burn, near the Necropolis bridge. It was
called the " Minister's" or " Priest's Well." Farther down on the east
bank of the burn was the " Lady Well." In early times there was also
a well at the present Cross. There was another "at the Vermeil,"
which appears to have been, like the one in Trongate, a draw-well, as
there is a minute of council in 1656 arranging with John Scott, mill-
wright, to " rewle and governe" this well and " the new well in Trongait,"
he undertaking to uphold them " in cogis and rungis, the toun vphalding
" all ganging greth quhan athir it weiris or breckis." There was
1 1 8th June, 1664. 2 Dr. Buchanan's Reminiscences.
294
The First Water Works.
another well on the Green, the Arns Well, so called from the arn or
alder trees which were planted beside it; and there were various others.
There were thirty in all, besides a few private wells. Among these
last one of the finest in the city was within the precincts of the mansion
in Jamaica Street belonging to Mr. Black of Claremont, which was
taken down in 1849.
In 1776 the magistrates had under consideration the necessity of
obtaining a larger supply, and in that year " the Treasurer is ordained
" to pay to Dr. Irvine ^8, 8s. for his trouble in searching round Glasgow
" for water to be brought into the city." In 1804 Mr. Harley constructed
in what is now West Nile Street an extensive tank or reservoir, into
which he led water from springs in his lands of Willowbank, and he
carted it through the streets in barrels for sale at the rate of a halfpenny
for each "stoup." This water was much in demand, and Mr. Harley
made a considerable sum by it. It was not till 1806 that any effectual
attempt was made to introduce a general supply. In that year the
Glasgow WaterWorks Company was projected, and afterwards, in 1808,
the Cranstonhill Water Works, and by these companies the city was
for a long time fairly supplied. In 1846 the supply was increased by
the establishment of the Gorbals Gravitation Water Company. Ulti-
mately the corporation took the matter into its own hands, with the
result that at present no city in the world is better supplied with water
than Glasgow is. During the year 1877 the average daily supply
introduced into the city amounted to the enormous quantity of thirty-
three millions seven hundred thousand gallons; and as the population
supplied was 730,000, this gives an amount of more than forty gallons
per head each day for every man, woman, and child in the city.
In 1776 the magistrates enacted a scale of charges for porters.
For carrying a letter or parcel any distance not exceeding half the
length of the city the charge was to be a halfpenny, and to any place
not exceeding a mile from the Cross a penny. For a back load from
the Cross to the Broomielaw the allowance was twopence. For an
hour's work the porter was to have threepence, and for each hour
afterwards a penny.
The carters had been dealt with by an earlier edict. In 1655 the
•Sedan Chairs. 20"
magistrates, " takeing to their consideratioune the great and exorbitant
" pryces takine be the kairters within the brughe serving about the
" water of Clyd," enacted that only the following rates should be charged
-I state them in sterling money: — From the Broomielaw to the Tron-
gate, Gallowgate, and Saltmarket, twopence; from the Broomielaw to
any part betwixt the Cross and the College, twopence three farthings;
and from the Broomielaw to above the College, to the Wynd head, and
to " the fardest place in the towne," fourpence.1
Hackney-coaches are said to have been introduced in Glasgow in
the middle of the seventeenth century, but if so they disappeared again.
Under date I5th March, 1673, the council "refers to the provest, and to
" thame he pleases to tak with him, to settle and agrie with ane coach-
" man for serving the toune with haikna coaches the best way they can."
What came of this does not appear, but for a long time there were few
if any coaches in Glasgow, either private or for hire. Dr. Carlyle,
writing of the year 1744, says "there were then neither post chaises
" nor hackney coaches in the town."2 Some sedan chairs were to be
had for hire, and a few were kept by gentlewomen of the better classes.
From an account preserved of the household expenses of Thomas
Hutcheson, one of the founders of the Hospital, who lived, as already
mentioned, " in a house at the Cross," we know that his lady possessed
a sedan chair — one of the items being " for dressing ane siddan with
" thrie losanes of frenshe glass, 12s." that is, one shilling sterling.
These chairs continued to be let for hire till after the middle of the
present century. In 1817, according to Mr. Cleland, there were then
eighteen so let, but only one was kept in the city for private use. This
was by a lady in George Street.3
In the beginning of the seventeenth century the town maintained a
horse post between Edinburgh and Glasgow, but this was soon aban-
doned, and after the middle of the century there was for some time
only a foot post between the two cities. In 1663 there is a minute
appointing John Fergusone to this office, and fixing his wages at three
pounds Scots — five shillings, " and to receive a penny sterling for ilk
1 Minute of Council, i/th Feb. 1655. 2 Autobiography, p. 75.
3 Abridgment of Annals of Glasgow, p. 430.
296 The First Post Office.
" letter he receaves and als much for ilk letter hame wards."1 It is
interesting to see a penny postage thus established in Glasgow more
than two hundred years ago. In 1667 the general postage rate in
Scotland was for a single letter not exceeding one sheet of paper, for
any distance not exceeding forty miles, twopence; and for a double
letter, fourpence. The post to Edinburgh went at first only once a
week. Towards the end of the century an attempt was made by " the
" trading merchands" to obtain a post three times a week, but with
what result does not appear. A horse post was again established, but
not for some time after the beginning of the eighteenth century. In
the year 1688, indeed, the only horse posts in Scotland were those
between Berwick and Edinburgh, and thence to Portpatrick for the
Irish mail. All other places were supplied by foot posts or runners.2
From a notice in the Glasgow Mercury of I3th November, 1782, it
appears that letters for London, despatched from the post-office in Glas-
gow on Saturdays, did not arrive in London till the morning of the
following Thursday. At this time the post-office was in Prince's Street,
then called Gibson's Wynd, and it consisted of three apartments. The
front one measured about twelve feet square, and the two behind were
mere pigeon-holes, not more than ten feet by six, one of these being
the private room of the postmaster. The letter box fronted the street,
and the place for delivery of letters was a small hole broken through
the wall into the close, which was then a common thoroughfare entry to
King Street.3 In 1787 the entire staff of the post-office in Glasgow
consisted of five, of whom two were letter-carriers. In the same year
the complement of the custom-house was two individuals.
There was no stage-coach between Glasgow and Edinburgh till late
in the seventeenth century, and none to London for a long time after-
wards. In 1678 the magistrates contracted with "Wm. Hoome mer-
" chand in Edinburge," to set up " ane sufficient strong coach to run
" betwext Edinburgh and Glasgow to be drawn by sax able horses; to
" leave Edinburgh ilk monday morning and return again (God willing)
" ilk Saturday night the passengers to have the liberty of taking a
1 3 ist Oct. 1663. 2 Short Account of Scotland; London, 1702.
3 Glasgow Past and Present, vol. ii. p. 104.
Stage Coaches. 297
" cloak-bag to receive their clothes linens and sick like; the burgesses of
" Glasgow always to have the preference of the coach. The fare to be
" £4, i6s. Scots (8s.) in summer and £$, 8s. Scots (9^.) in winter, and
" the said Wm. Hoome to have a sallerie of 200 merks (£i i, y.) a year
"for five years."1 Of this "sallerie" he received two years' payment in
advance. How the project succeeded does not appear. Probably it
was a failure, as in 1 743 a proposal was submitted to the magistrates by
one John Walker " for erecting a stage coach betwixt Edinburgh and
" Glasgow, to set out twice a week from Glasgow to Edinburgh, and
" the coach or lando to contain six passengers, with six sufficient horses,
(< for twenty weeks in summer, and the rest of the year once a week—
"each passenger to pay IDS. sterling and to be entitled to 14 pund
" weight of baggage, and the toun to insure to him that 200 of his
" tickets shall be sold here each year."2 The proposal was remitted to
a committee, with what result does not appear. Thirty years after-
wards3 Patrick Heron, vintner at the Black Bull, advertises " that there
"sets out from his house, and from Mrs. Gibsons Inn Grassmarket
" Edinburgh, a stage coach to go to Edinburgh by Falkirk and to reach
" Edinburgh that evening, and to run it from Glasgow upon Mondays
" Wednesdays and Fridays, and from Edinburgh on Tuesdays Thurs-
" days and Saturdays."
To London there was, till a comparatively recent date, no stage-coach
from Glasgow. The first which ran from Edinburgh was started about
the middle of the eighteenth century. In 1755 the proprietor announced
that " it is now altered to a new genteel two end glass machine hung on
" steel springs," and that it would accomplish the journey in ten days in
summer and twelve in winter — a contrast to our day, when several
trains start from each city daily, and accomplish the journey in about
ten hours.
Till after the middle of the seventeenth century there was only one
grave-digger for the whole city, and until a period still later there was
no Register of mortality. It was not till 1670 that the magistrates
ordered " that ane register be keepit of all persones who happens to
1 Burgh Records, 2Qth July, 1678.
2 Ibid., i $th October, 1743. 9 January, 1776.
2 P
298 Assessment for the Poor.
" deceas within this burgh." Samwell Burss was appointed registrar, at
a weekly salary of forty shillings Scots — 3^. /\d.1
The first mention of fire insurance in the burgh records occurs in
1726, and the notice is interesting. The magistrates, "considering that
" there is an agreement signed by several of the heritors within the
" burgh for a mutual insurance of tenements and houses by losses by
" fire, do agree that the towns corner house at the cross be likeways
"insured."2
The first regular assessment for the support of the poor in Glasgow
was made in 1638. The order to keep the poor off the street at
the time of the meeting of the Assembly had proved a great success,
and the magistrates determined to make perpetual what had only been
intended as a temporary measure. Their minute bears that the magis-
trates, "understanding the great and comendable ordour that was keepit
" within this brught the tyme of last general assemblie, be reteiring of
" the poor off the calsay, and susteining of them in their awin houses,
" to the grait credit of the citie and contentment of all strangeris resort-
" ing heir for the tyme; and seeing the same is both godlie and honest,
" thairfoir they have statut and ordanit that the poor be keepit and
" sustenit in "thair houses as they are now at this present, and the
" inhabitants of this burght to be stentit to that effect, and this day
" aucht days ilk counseller to propose his best overtour what way it can
" be best accomplishit."3 At subsequent meetings the mode of assess-
ment was arranged, and in the following year there is an order that
" intimatioun be made be sound of drum to certifie all personis wha
" comes not to pay thair contributioun at the ringing of the bell, as sail
" be appoyntit to that effect, sail be poynded for the double, and thair
" names oppinlie publisched in the kirks who refuses to doe the samyn."4
After this two individuals were appointed whose duty it was " to
" keip the beggars aff the easy," each of them to carry a staff " having
" the tounes armes therupon."5 This order is repeated, but apparently
without effect, as more stringent orders on the subject are issued. A
distinction is made, however, between the common beggars who are
1 Burgh Records, I2th Nov. 1670. 2 ibj^ I2th April, 1726.
3 22d Dec. 1636. 4 2oth Oct. 1639. 5 1 2th April, 1662.
The Toivris Hospital. 299
strangers, and those who are " weill knowne to have bein borne within
" the towne." The latter are to be tolerated, but, " to the effect they
" may be the better knowne, appoynts ane badge with the tounes armes
" thereon to be maid and given to each one who is suffered to begg."
The first general hospital for the poor was erected in Clyde Street
in 1735. It was standing within the recollection of many now living,
who must remember it as a very shabby old building, although M'Ure
describes it as " of modern fashion " and so grand that " nothing of
" that kind at Rome or Venice comes up to its magnificence." I have
mentioned elsewhere the prices of the provisions furnished to its inmates.
They appear to have been kept in considerable comfort — being supplied
not only with the necessaries of life but with tobacco and snuff, verifying
the statement in the first report, published by the directors in 1742, that
" the poor in general are as really relieved from the distresses of
" poverty as if they were persons of wealth." And yet the cost of
living of each inmate in that year — including lunatics — was only about
is. $\d. per week, or ^"3, 85-. $d. per annum. The total number of
inmates was 227. The total cost of maintaining the hospital for the
year was ,£787, us. 3^., and there was "gained by manufactory,"
^40, 5«y. nd.
There are now three great poor-houses connected with Glasgow—
the Barony, the City, and that of Govan. In these the average cost of
the paupers per head is more than $s. qd. per week, and for lunatics
i ay. 6d. each per week; and the total cost of the three institutions for
the year is considerably upwards of ;£ 150,000.
LITERARY HISTORY.
As to the state of Old Glasgow in respect of literature there is not
much to record. I have already given a few instances of grants by the
magistrates for the encouragement of authors, and a few other notices
of our local literature may be interesting.
There was no press in Glasgow till near the middle of the seven-
300 Literary History.
teenth century. Printing was first introduced there by George Ander-
son, who came to the city by special invitation of the magistrates in
1638. The earliest recorded notice on the subject is contained in the
following minute of the town council: "4 January 1640 Ordaines the
" thesaurare to pay to George Andersone printer ane hundrethe pundis
" D£5] *n satisfactioun to him of the superplus he disbursit in trans-
" porting of his geir to this brughe by [besides] the ten dollouris he
" gave of him befor to that effect, and als in satisfactioun to him of
11 his haill bygane fiallis fra Whitsonday in anno 1638 to Martinmas last."
And in the following year, 1641, there is an entry in the treasurer's
accounts : " Item to George Andersone, printer, his yeiris pensioune
" Ixvj lib. xiijs. iiijrtf." This pension the corporation afterwards agreed
to continue " to his relict and his bairnes swa long as they continow in
" prenting in the toune." Anderson was succeeded by his son Andrew,
who continued printing in Glasgow till 1661, when he went to Edin-
burgh. His successor was Robert Sanders, who styled himself " Printer
" to the city," and who was for many years the only printer in the west
of Scotland. I have already noticed the Almanacks printed by him in
1667 and subsequent years. The first copy of the Scriptures printed
in Glasgow was a New Testament printed by Sanders in 1666. In
1671, when engaged in printing another edition of the New Testament,
he was opposed by his predecessor Andrew Anderson, who had obtained
the appointment of his Majesty's sole printer for Scotland, and who
bribed the workmen to desert Sanders. This oppressive action was
brought before the privy council, which decided that Sanders should be
allowed to finish his book, and that every printer in Scotland had an
equal right with his Majesty's to print the New Testament and Psalm
Book, in the letter commonly called English Roman. In 1680 the heir
of Anderson complained to the privy council that Sanders had vended
Bibles printed in and imported from Holland, and that he had reprinted
several works in divinity, contrary to privilege. This charge having
been established against Sanders, by his own confession, he was ordained
to deliver to Anderson the books so printed, but no other penalty was
inflicted. He ultimately acquired by purchase a share of the royal
patent, and having brought workmen and materials from Holland he
Glasgow Printers. 301
printed several works in a creditable style.1 Sanders became wealthy,
and bequeathed some valuable property to the Merchants' House. He
died about 1696, leaving his establishment to his son Robert. The
latter, among other works, printed in 1720 an edition of the Pilgrim's
Progress with coarse but spirited woodcuts.
Printing was now and for some years afterwards at the lowest state
in Glasgow. No one appears to have been employed by the printers
for the sole purpose of correcting the press, and the low wages given
to pressmen, with the badness of the machines, tended to retard im-
provement. A paper was presented to the Faculty in 1713, entitled
" Proposals for erecting a Booksellers shop, and a printing press within
" the University of Glasgow," in which it is stated that people were
" obliged to go to Edinburgh in order to gett one sheet right printed."
Two years afterwards " Donald Govane younger, merchant in Glasgow
" and printer," was appointed printer to the university for seven years.
By the contract the university became bound " to ffurnish for the use
" of the said Donald two chambers within the Colledge to wit num-
" bers twenty four and thirtie, with a sellar for coalls, and a garret in
" the steeple for drying his papers or roumes."2
In 1718 the art of type-making was introduced in Glasgow by James
Duncan. The types were of his own manufacture, rudely cut and
badly proportioned. He is well known as the typographer of M'Ure's
History. In this book, which is very badly printed, he is styled
" Printer to the City." His shop was in the Saltmarket, near Gibson's
Wynd. In 1740 we find Robert Urie and Company printing in the
Gallowgate, and during the following year they executed several works
for Robert Foulis. They also printed the Glasgow Journal, which had
been begun by Andrew Stalker in 1741.
Another printer deserves special notice — Dugald Graham, poet and
bellman as well as printer. In the rebellion of 1745 Dugald had fol-
lowed the contending armies in the capacity of pedlar or suttler, and he
has left us a graphic, though rather coarse, rhyming chronicle of that
stirring time. This work ran through many editions, and Sir Walter
Scott at one time thought of printing a correct copy from the original
1 Dr. Lees' Memorial, App. pp. 46, 131. 2 Glasgow Papers, Maitland Club, pp. 5, 120.
302
The Foil Uses.
edition in order to present it as his contribution to the Maitland Club,
because, to use Sir Walter's words, " it really contained some traits and
"circumstances of manners worth preserving."1 Dugald afterwards
took to printing, and from his press there issued the celebrated Glasgow
chap-books, so dear to the book collector of our day, and of many of
which he was the author. While thus employed the office of bellman
became vacant, and Dugald applied for and obtained it.
In connection with printing may be noticed a minute in the burgh
records in the beginning of the seventeenth century, which is interesting
not only from its reference to the publication, under government
authority, of the body of laws known as the Regiam Majestatem, but
as showing the low state of the city finances at that time. The expense
of printing these ancient statutes had been ordered to be provided by
an assessment on all the Scottish burghs. The share to be paid by
Glasgow was fixed at one hundred pounds Scots — only ^8, 6s. 8^/.; but
so poor was the corporation that they were unable to provide the
amount, and being threatened with " horning " they had to borrow the
money " fra William Burn merchand burgess."2
But the press of Glasgow obtained a European reputation by the
skill and enterprise of Robert Foulis and his brother Andrew — the
former born in 1707 and the latter five years afterwards. After visiting
England and the continent, and having acquired a considerable know-
ledge of books, they settled in Glasgow, where, in 1741, Robert began
business as a bookseller. The first production of his press appeared in
the following year, and in 1 743 he was appointed printer to the univer-
sity. The works which issued from this celebrated press — particularly
the folio editions of the Iliad and Odyssey and of Milton's Poems, and
other splendid works — have never been surpassed in beauty of typo-
graphy or correctness of printing. The folio Iliad, as a Greek book, is
considered one of the finest classics ever produced at any press.
Robert Foulis was an early member of the Literary Society estab-
lished in Glasgow, and Andrew joined it soon afterwards. At the
meetings of this society Adam Smith read his valuable essays; and Dr.
1 Letter by Sir Walter Scott to the late Dr. Strang. Glasgow and its Clubs, p. 91.
2 Minute of Council, 25th Feb. 1609.
First School of Art.
Hutchison, Dr. Reid, Dr. Black, and Dr. Moir read papers and took
part in the proceedings. Both Robert Foulis and Andrew delivered
discourses on the fine arts and on various other subjects.
But the Foulises did not confine themselves to printing. To them
Glasgow is indebted for the establishment of its first School of Art.
About 1753 they established an academy for painting, engraving,
modelling, and drawing, and some of the most interesting views which
we possess of the city, as it was in the middle of the eighteenth century,
were drawn and engraved in this academy. The university allowed
them the use of what became afterwards the Faculty hall, in their
buildings in the High Street, as an exhibition room for their pictures,
and of several other rooms for their students; and three Glasgow
merchants, with a view to the promotion of art, became partners in the
undertaking. These were Mr. Campbell of Clathic, Mr. Glassford of
Dugaldston, and Mr. Archibald Ingram. In a letter written by Robert
Foulis in 1763 to Mr. Yorke, he says: " The Academy is now coming
" into a state of tolerable maturity. We have modelling, engraving,
" original history painting, and portrait painting — all in a reputable
" degree of perfection. In the morning our more advanced students
" sketch historical subjects from Plutarch's Lives and other ancient
" books. The day is employed in painting and engraving, and by the
" younger scholars in drawing. In the evening they draw three days a
" week after a model, and other three after casts of plaister from the
" antique."
The annexed illustration, which is copied from one of the engravings
executed in the academy, represents a portion of the fore hall of the
college occupied by the studio of the Foulises. Like the view of the
fore court, it is interesting as showing the costume of the time, and the
prominent figure in cocked hat and flowing gown represents, in all
probability, one of the proud tobacco lords already referred to, who, in
scarlet cloaks, paced their privileged walk in the Trongate.
Besides these and other engravings, the pupils of the academy
executed many paintings, including copies of celebrated works of art.
Among these last was one which Robert Foulis, in a letter written in
1753, describes as a copy of " the most celebrated picture in Scotland,
304 The First Glasgow Bookbinder.
" namely, Daniel in the den of lions — the size of life, which the Duke of
" Hamilton generously offered us the liberty of copying." In the same
letter Robert Foulis says : " The copy was finished a few days ago, and
" placed up in the Duke's gallery on his birthday, and I have been assured
" by many that were present that it gave universal satisfaction to a
"great number of nobility and gentry who were present."1 I refer
specially to this work because in the view previously given of the
inner court of the college,2 it will be recognized in the picture suspended
on the steeple over the bust of Zachary Boyd.
I may mention, in passing, that as the university provided accom-
modation in their own buildings for the special use of Robert Foulis, so
to its credit it accorded afterwards a similar favour to James Watt,
when he was prevented by the incorporation of Hammermen from
carrying on his important experiments in any other premises within the
city.
But latterly matters did not prosper with the Foulises. The academy
was broken up in 1770, and after the death of Andrew the stock of
pictures and engravings was sold at a very inadequate price. On the
death of Robert in 1776, their affairs were found to be in a state of
insolvency, and* they were finally wound up in 1781 by Robert Chap-
man, printer, and James Duncan, bookseller in Glasgow.3 Andrew
left a son of the same name, by whom the printing business was for
some time continued. Among other works from his press was the
beautiful quarto edition of the Gentle Shepherd, published in 1788 by
David Allan, with illustrations designed and engraved by himself " in
" the manner called aqua tinta, a late invention."
Of the history of printing in Glasgow after this, and the very high
position which it has achieved in our own day, I need not speak.
In the old catalogue, which has been preserved, of the books belong-
ing to the Cathedral, one is stated to be in the hands of the binder,
whose name is given — Richard Arr. This was probably the first book-
binder in Glasgow. His prefix of dominus shows him to have been a
churchman.
1 Literary Hist, of Glasgow (Maitland Club), p. 85. 2 Ante, p. 135.
3 Notices Illustrative of the Literary History of Glasgow (Maitland Club), p. 46.
T/ie First Directory.
The first Directory published in Glasgow was compiled and printed
by John Tait in 1783. Its title is, "John Taits Directory for the city
"of Glasgow, villages of Anderston, Calton and Gorbals; also for the
" towns of Paisley, Greenock, Port Glasgow and Kilmarnock." The
list for the last-named town is omitted, "the publisher not having
" received the Kilmarnock list in proper time." Jones' Directory
appeared in 1787. It was printed "for the Editor by John Mennons."
The editor apologizes for the list of names not being so full as he
wished, having found, he says, " a great backwardness in receiving an
" explicit answer from a number of persons in trade, for reasons best
" known to themselves."
Till a comparatively recent period there was no newspaper printed
in Glasgow. Even after the middle of the seventeenth century the
means of obtaining intelligence were very scanty, and the magistrates
appear to have seldom or never seen a London paper. The first step
taken to remedy this dearth of intelligence is recorded in a minute of
the town council of 5th September, 1657, which " appoynts Johne
" Flyming to wryt to his man wha lyes at London to send horn for the
" tounes use weiklie ane diurnall." Previous to this the magistrates
were supplied with weekly intelligence by one of their counsel or law
agents in Edinburgh — Mr. John Nicoll.
Some twenty years afterwards one " Collonell Walter Whytfoord"
obtained an exclusive right from the magistrates " to sett up, to sell,
" top, and vent coffee within the burgh for the space of nyneteen
"yeares."1 One of his objects was to provide newspapers as well as
coffee, as had been the custom in such houses in England. By an
order of the Privy Council soon afterwards, however, masters of all
such coffee-houses were forbidden to allow any newspaper to be read in
their houses "but such as were approved by the Officers of State."2
What success the colonel had does not appear.
The first newspaper published in Glasgow appeared on the I4th of
November, 1715, and, curiously enough, it was a penny paper. It bore
for its title, " The Glasgow Courant containing the occurrences both at
" Home and Abroad: Glasgow, Printed for R. T., and are to be sold
1 nth October, 1673. 2 Crookshanks' Hist, of Ch. of Scotland, vol. ii. p. 127.
2 Q
306 The First Newspaper.
" at the Printing House in the Colledge and at the Post office." It
soon changed its name, however, as the fourth number appeared under
the title, " The West Country Intelligence." The prospectus was as
follows: "This paper is to be printed three times every week for the
" use of the Country round. Any gentleman or Minister, or any other
" who wants them, may have them at the Universities Printing House
" or at the Post Office. It is hoped this paper will give satisfaction to
11 the Readers and that they will encourage it by sending Subscriptions
" for one year, half year, or quarterly, to the above directed places,
" when they shall be served at a most easie rate. Advertisements are
" to be taken in at either the printing house in the College or Post
" office. The gentlemen in the towns of Aberdeen St. Andrews
" Inverness, Brechen, Dundee, St. Johnstoune, Stirling, Dumbarton,
" Inverary, Dumfries, Lanerk, Hamilton, Irvin, Air, Kilmarnock, and
" Stranraer, are desired to send by post any News they have, and espe-
" cially Sea-port towns to advise what ships come in or sail off from
" these parts." The "easy rate" at which the paper was to be sold was
afterwards announced thus: "N.B. This paper is not sold in retail
" under three halfpence, but for encouragement to subscribers for one
" penny." Such was the first Glasgow newspaper. It is not known
how long it was continued, but a set consisting of sixty-seven numbers
is preserved in the college library. It was printed on Tuesdays,
Thursdays, and Saturdays, in a small quarto form, each copy containing
twelve pages. It was made up chiefly of extracts from foreign journals
and the London newspapers, with private letters and occasionally poetry,
but there was very little local news.1 But the Intelligence did not long
survive, and for twenty-five years no newspaper was printed in
Glasgow.
In July, 1 741, as already mentioned, the Glasgow Journal was started,
under the editorship of Andrew Stalker. It was well printed, but it
exhibited little of the courage of journalism. During the rebellion of 1 745
accounts of many of the most important events were suppressed, and at
last the editor got so terrified that he retired from the management,
1 Notices and Documents illustrative of the Literary History of Glasgow (Maitland Club),
p. 6.
Notices of Marriages. 307
announcing as his reason that " considering the situation of affairs, I
" cannot with safety publish so as to please the generality of my
" readers." His place was taken by a Mr. Urie, who continued to print
in Glasgow till his death in 1771.
Some of the notices of marriages in this Glasgow Journal are
amusing. For example: "March 24th 1746. On monday last James
" Dennistoun Junr of Colgraine Esq. was married to Miss Jenny
" Baird a beautiful young lady." "May 4th 1747 On monday last
" Dr. Robert Hamilton Professor of Anatomy and Botany in the
" University of Glasgow was married to Miss Mally Baird a beautiful
"young lady with a handsome fortune." " August 3d 1747 On mon-
" day last Mr. James Johnstone, merchant in this place was married to
" Miss Peggy Newall an agreeable young lady with ,£4000." But the
Journal was not peculiar in this style of notices. It but followed the
common practice of the time — the Gentleman's Magazine and other
publications of that period being full of them. For example: — " 1735
"April. Mr. Wyatt a noted Quaker of Ware to Miss Procter, who the
" day before stood Godmother to him at his baptism." "June. George
" Grantham Esq. to Mrs. Marshall, widow. He is her 5th husband and
" she his 5th wife." " January 20 Mr. Pitt of Bethnall Green to Mrs.
" Cox widow, worth ,£5000. She is about 80 and Mr. Pitt is her 5th
" husband. He is about 70 and she his third wife. Their acquaintance
"commenced since new-year's-day."1
In 1747 the Glasgow Courant appeared, but it had only a short
existence. The Chronicle was commenced in 1766; the Mercury in
1775, and the Advertiser in 1783. The Journal, Mercury, and Adver-
tiser were for a long time the only local papers. The Advertiser was
discontinued in 1801.
1 Gentleman's Magazine, 1735.
VALUE OF PROPERTY.
While Glasgow was growing in wealth and importance, and the city
was increasing in size, there were, I need not say, important changes in
the value of property. I have already given incidentally the prices at
which some properties in and near the city have been sold, but some
farther notices on this subject may be interesting, as also the prices of
different commodities in the early years of the city.
Although, as I have said, the houses within the burghs in Scotland
were, as a rule, superior to those in the landward districts, yet for a
long time they must have been of a very unsubstantial character,
compared with those of the present day, and the ground on which they
stood of little value. That such was the case in Glasgow is certain.
So late as 1410 there is recorded a deed of sale of a tenement in the
Rottenrow, with a garden and a considerable amount of land — " tene-
" mentum cum pertinentibus videlicet iiij caracatas terre in anteriore
" fronte, cum orto, jacentes in burgo de Glasgu, in parte australi vici qui
" dicitur Ratonraw " for the price of five merks — quinque marces vsuale
monete Scocie.1 By that time the Scottish coinage had become some-
what deteriorated, and according to its then value the price of this
house, with garden and land, would be little more than £2, los. of our
money.
I should mention that it has been a common mistake to reckon
Scottish money as worth only one twelfth of that of England, without
reference to dates. Till 1355, however, Scottish money was equal in
value to that of England. From that time, owing to successive public
calamities, and the impoverishment of the kingdom, it sunk by degrees,
reign after reign ; but it was not till 1 600 that it fell to a twelfth part
only of the value of English money of the same denomination. At
that point it remained, till the union of the kingdoms cancelled the
Scottish coinage.
By another deed in 1434 the sub-dean of Glasgow, with consent of
1 Lib. Coll. N. D., p. 237.
Value of Property. 309
the bishop and chapter, sells to Thomas of Welk, burgess of the burgh
of Glasgow, an acre of ground, part of the Deanside land, on the north
side of the Rottenrow, for the yearly payment of " six syllingis and
" acht penys of usuale mone of Scotland," the said Thomas being bound
within a year " to byg a sufficiand tenement on the said akyr of land
" and alsua to mac the half of the calse before the forfront of the said
"akyr."1 Six shillings and eightpence Scots, according to the relative
value at that time, would be about three shillings of our money, and
taking this at the rate of twenty-two years' purchase it gives the price
of this acre of land in one of the principal streets of the burgh as only
£$, 6s. English money.
Twenty years later — 1454 — we find a deed of sale of "a tenement
" lying in the city of Glasgow on the east side of the street leading
" from the Cathedral to the Market cross," at the price of twenty
pounds Scots — viginti libris vsualis monete scociez — at that time equal
to only about £6. And in the following year, 1455, there occurs in
the same register a deed of sale by David Smith, burgess, to Patrick
Leiche, chancellor of the church of Glasgow, of a tenement on the east
side of High Street, cum cauda et orto, extending to the Molendinar
Burn, the price being ten merks, equal to about £2, 5$. only.3
In 1507 an acre of ground on the south side of the Drygate was let
for 28.5-. yearly, equal to about seven shillings of our money — a high
rent for that time.4 In the same year a granary on the south side of
the Gallowgate was let for four years at the yearly rent of 6s. $d.—
only is. <3\d?
In the year 1600 George Hucheson, one of the founders of the Hos-
pital, whose house, as I have mentioned, adjoined the old Tolbooth at
the Cross, purchased a piece of ground next it from Norman Mackenzie
for a stable. It is described as " sax elnes in length and the breid of
" the said Norman's aune tenement." For this not inconsiderable piece
of ground near the Cross of Glasgow Mr. Hucheson paid only twenty-
four pounds Scots, or £2 sterling.6 On 2Qth December, 1656, the
college feued to David Scott two acres " in that part of the burgh of
1 Lib. Coll. N. D., p. 249. 2 Reg. Episc. Glasg., p. 391. 3 Ibid., p. 392.
4 Lib. Protocol., No. 263. 5 Ibid., No. 340. ° Huchesoniana, p. 25.
3 TO Prices of Land.
11 Glasgow called the Long Croft next the Common Lone " for sixty
pounds Scots yearly, and liberty of redemption on payment of one
thousand pounds Scots — ,£83, 6s. So7. The Common Lone afterwards
became Sauchiehall Street.
These prices are, after all, not so surprising when we compare them
with those at which the magistrates sold the common lands of the city.
As late as 1750 thirteen acres of land in the Gallowmuir, including
the property afterwards known as Annfield, and a large field of six
acres on the opposite side of the Camlachie Road, called "the sixth part
" of Laigh Gallowmuir," were sold for ^250 or £16 the acre.1
In the Glasgow Mercury in 1782 there is advertised for sale a tene-
ment on the north side of the Bridgegate, " being the tenement next
" but one to the bridge." It is described as consisting of a fore-shop
and dwelling-house on the ground-floor; a dwelling-house in the first
story above the shop; two dwelling-houses in the second story; a
dwelling-house in the garret with- two back cellars, and a dwelling-
house above them. The rental is "about ;£io," and the whole property
is offered at the price of ^65.
Of the great rise in the value of land at a later date I have already
given some instances. I shall mention a few others. I have referred
to the sale of the lands of Stobcross by Mr. Orr to Mr. David Watson
in 1776. The property contained about eighty acres, and the price
paid by Mr. Watson was ,£4000, being at the rate of ^50 per acre. I
pass over intermediate changes in the proprietorship, but between 1844
and 1870 sixty acres of these lands were sold at prices which amounted
in all to upwards of ^240,000, and if the remaining twenty acres were
sold at no higher price than 255. per square yard the whole lands
which were sold in 1776 for ^4000 will have realized upwards of three
hundred and sixty thousand pounds, or ninety times the price paid a
hundred years ago. But portions of Stobcross have been sold at
prices far above twenty-five shillings the square yard.
The estate of Yorkhill, now becoming part of the city, but in the
beginning of the century far away in the country, was acquired by
Mr. Gilbert in different portions between 1813 and 1823. The total
1 Desultory Sketches, by John Buchanan, Esq., LL.D., p. 697.
Rise in Value of Land. -, i x
extent was 104 acres, and the price which he paid amounted in all to
,£19,440. Previous to 1866 there were feued of this estate about forty-
four acres, at feu-duties which, taken at the low rate of twenty-two years'
purchase, represent a capital sum of, in round numbers, £"220,000; and
assuming that the remainder — upwards of sixty acres — brings no more
than twenty-five shillings the square yard — a moderate estimate
this property will have realized upwards of six hundred thousand
pounds.
The lands of Kelvinbank, in the same neighbourhood, consisting of
about twelve acres, were purchased in 1792 by Mr. Wilson — the uncle
of Mr. Rae Wilson, on whom Hood has conferred an unenviable
notoriety — for £"1000. They were sold by Rae Wilson to the Trades
House in 1846 for ,£20,000, and the Trades House has since re-sold
them for ,£80,000.
In 1790 Hucheson's Hospital advertised their ground in Gorbals,
now so valuable, to be feud at the rate of eight guineas the acre, equal
to a yearly payment of less than a halfpenny the square yard.
In 1754 a portion of Kelvingrove which now constitutes the West
End Park, consisting of something more than twelve acres, was sold by
Mr. Campbell of Blythswood to Mr. John Wotherspoon, for the sum of
1090 pounds Scots — about £"90 sterling — and an annual payment of
sixteen bolls of corn of eight stones the boll. The highest price of
oats at that time was £"6, 8^. Scots the boll — about 10^. 6d. sterling—
which gives as the total annual payment eight guineas, being at twenty-
five years' purchase equal to a capital sum of £"210. The price there-
fore of these twelve acres of ground — not of annual payment, but the
entire price — was only ,£300 — less than a penny farthing the square
yard. In 1803 Mr. John Pattison, who was then proprietor of Kelvin-
grove, acquired from Mr. Campbell of Blythswood an additional por-
tion of ground, part of " Woodsidehill," consisting of upwards of twelve
acres. By that time the value of land had increased considerably, but
still the price was only an annual feu-duty of £"64, 95-. ^\d. This at
twenty-five years' purchase gives as the whole price only about £"1600
—less than .£134 the acre. For these two portions, consisting of about
twenty-five acres, the city in 1852 paid ,£30,000— about five shillings
Rise in Prices.
the square yard. Two years afterwards, having set apart for building
a portion of the ground forming a continuation of Claremont Terrace,
the magistrates feued that portion at the very moderate price of
,£1, 75. 6d. the square yard — equal to ,£66 50 the acre. At this rate
the price of the 24 acres, which cost less than ,£1900, would amount in
round numbers to £ 160,000.
Moore Park, a property of 37 acres lying between the Govan and
Paisley Roads, three miles from the Cross of Glasgow, was purchased
by Mr. Alston so late as 1822 for ,£6500. Less than a half of it —
about sixteen acres — was recently sold to the Glasgow and South-
western Railway Company for £"30,000.
The lands of Gilmourhill and Donaldshill were purchased by
Mr. Bogle in the beginning of the present century for ,£8500. In
1865 they were sold to the College for ,£81,000.
About the year 1770 the College sold to John M'Auslan, a nursery-
man, twelve acres of the lands of Provanside, lying towards the head
of Buchanan Street and eastward to John Street — now in the heart
of the city — for a yearly feu-duty of only ,£37 — little more than ,£800
for the twelve acres. In 1772 four acres of ground situated on both
sides of Stirling's Road, not far from the Cathedral, were sold for an
annual payment of ,£12, i2s. id. — little more than ,£260. The increase
in value of these two properties must be enormous.
In 1782 "the Point House and land adjoining the ferry [at the mouth
of the Kelvin] with the ferry boats " were advertised to be sold. The
extent of land was, I understand, about three acres, and the whole pro-
perty was offered at the upset price of ,£400. It was subsequently
sold in lots at prices which, on the average, represent a total of about
,£14,000. In the Maryhill district and other parts of Glasgow the rise
in the value of ground has been equally striking.
PRICE OF COMMODITIES AND LABOUR.
Few materials remain for ascertaining the comparative value of
provisions and other articles in Glasgow in very early times. In
the Chartulary ; of Glasgow there is preserved a deed of obligation
granted by Richard de Cralein in 1304 in settlement of a claim for ten
merks alleged to have been due by him to the chapter of Glasgow.
The chapter had taken legal proceedings against him, and the claim
was settled by compromise — Richard undertaking by the deed to deliver
to the chapter ten chalders of corn — sex celdras frumenti boni mundi et
pacabilis — in satisfaction of the debt.1 Scots money was at that time
at par. Ten merks accordingly were equal to £6, i^s. ^d. of our
money, and if that amount was paid for six chalders it would make
the price of a boll of corn less than seventeenpence. But as the settle-
ment was the result of a compromise we may assume that the grain
accepted in satisfaction of the debt was, in marketable value, less than
that sum.
In the thirteenth century Alexander III. had come under an obliga-
tion to the Friars Preachers in Glasgow to find them in food for one
day in every week. In the year 1252 the king — for what reason or on
what principle does not appear — transferred this obligation to the burgh
of Dunbarton, and by letters -patent in that year he issued his com-
mands, "prepositis suis de Dunbretan," to pay ten pounds yearly to the
friars from the rents of that burgh in lieu of the king's provision.2 The
money payment into which the king's obligation was so commuted was
thus equal to less than two shillings for one day in every week, which
appears to have been sufficient to find the whole convent in a day's food.
In 1301, when Edward I. was in Glasgow, the accounts of his ward-
robe show that he paid to the Friars Preachers six shillings for three
days' entertainment of himself and his retinue. In the same reign — if
we take as a criterion the commutation in money exigible in fines for
certain crimes — the value of a cow was four shillings.
1 Reg. Episc. Glasg., p. 217. 2 Lib. Col. N. D., p. 150.
2 R
2 14 Prices of Commodities.
In the Fragmenta Collecta1 there is an old burgh law providing
that no " browster wife " sell the gallon of ale, from Pasch to the feast
of St. Michael, dearer than two pennies; nor from the feast of St.
Michael to the feast of Pasch, dearer than one penny. The date of this
law is not known, and therefore we do not know what was the value of
a penny Scots at the time. If it was as early as the thirteenth cen-
tury it was at par, but it deteriorated very rapidly after that.
There is a statute of the Church of Glasgow in the early part of
the fifteenth century (c. 1425) which provides that the six deacons and
archdeacons assisting in the office of the mass at the high altar on
great festivals are to be entertained by the canon on duty, getting from
him their esculenta et poculenta of the day, secundum hujus ecclesicz
veterem consuetudinem, or, in the option of the canon, he might pay them
eighteenpence each — about eightpence of our money — for their daily
expenses. About the same date (1430), when Bishop Cameron founded
so many new prebends, the annual provision of the vicar in each of
five churches was fixed at twenty merks — less than £6 sterling. In
1480 the stipends of the vicars of the choir, which had previously been
five pounds, were augmented to ten pounds Scots, to be paid by the
prebendary in whose stall he ministered — the increase being due no
doubt to the depreciation in the value of money, as ten pounds Scots
was then equal to less than ^3. Besides this allowance, however, the
vicars possessed certain " common goods," with " houses, buildings, and
" lands." These they surrendered to the sub-dean in 1507, on condition
that he should pay to each of them ten merks yearly, either from the
common good or from his own benefice, and apply the remainder of
their common good to the building and repairing of their houses.2 Ten
merks was at that time less than £2 of our money. In 1508 the price
of a boll of oatmeal in Nithsdale and Annandale was fixed by the com-
missary of that district at 2os. Scots — at that time equal to about 5 j. of
our money.3
But till far on in the fifteenth century we have, from the absence of
authentic records, few materials for ascertaining the general prices of
commodities and labour in Glasgow. In England the materials are
1 No. 42. 2 Lib protocollorum, No. 234. 3 Ibid, No. 361.
Prices in England. 315
more abundant, and it may be interesting to notice some of these, as
we may obtain from them an approximation to prices in Scotland the
latter being probably in most cases lower.
In a conveyance of land in Wallingford in the reign of Henry III.
(circa 1220), part of the yearly reddendo is "one pair of white gloves,
"value one halfpenny, at Easter."1 In a taxation of the town of Brid-
port, in 1319, a cow is valued at seven shillings; a horse at twelve
shillings, another horse ten shillings; and two hogs two shillings each.2
In the same accounts we find that "a pipe of wine" cost the corporation
2\ merks (£i, 13^. 4^.), and a gallon of wine fourpence.3 In the
accounts of Merton College, Oxford, in 1315, the price paid for an ox
for the plough is i$s. 6\d.\ two sheep are sold for thirteen pence each,
and two bacon hogs for a shilling each.4 In the proctor's roll of the
same college, a few years later (1346), there is paid for seven chickens
fivepence farthing; for three geese, tenpence halfpenny; for two Ibs.
of figs, threepence ; and for two Ibs. of rice flour, twopence.5
In one of these old college accounts an item occurs of a different
kind, sufficiently interesting to deserve notice. " A bad copy of Horace
" bought for the boys" cost a halfpenny. It was a manuscript of course,
and would, no doubt, command a very different price in our day.
Of other articles we find from the same college accounts tfiat a pair
of shoes to the warden cost, in 1329, fourpence. In 1305 the price of a
pair of shoes in Feversham was threepence. A new wheelbarrow cost
sevenpence.6 In the following century (1449) the nuns of Radegunda
paid for a horse bought at a fair nine shillings and sixpence — for
another horse four shillings; for a cow, 6s. &/.; for a lamb, sixpence;
for a sheep, sixpence; and for thirty-two pullets, three shillings — little
more than a penny each. For a pair of shoes they paid sevenpence;
for a pair of boots to a shepherd, eightpence; for a dozen and a half of
trenchers, fourpence; for a pair of bellows, sixpence halfpenny; for
linen cloth, twopence the ell.7 In 1326 an acre of growing hay was
bought in Oxfordshire for ten shillings; and the charge for reaping it,
1 Sixth Report on Historical Documents, p. 582.
2 Second Report on Hist. Doc., p. 492. 3 Ibid., p. 490. 4 Ibid., p. 563.
6 Ibid., p. 547. 6 Ibid., p. 549. 7 Ibid., p. 119.
316 Prices of Labour.
by the piece, is ninepence. In the accounts of Queen's College, Oxford,
in 1341, we find paid for twelve hens twopence each; and for 240 eggs,
twelvepence — a penny for twenty.1 About the same period, in certain
old accounts of the Manor of Monksleigh, in Devonshire, we find that,
in 1363, twenty-nine shillings was paid for a bull and three cows; i2d.
for "one mutton," izd. for four geese, and 22\d. for fifteen hens. Thirty
years later (1393) a stack of wheat is mentioned in the same accounts
as sold for 22s. 4^.; and 43 sheep, 3 " hoggesters," and 39 lambs cost
6os. for the whole lot.2
The prices paid for services and labour in these old times appear
wonderfully small, when compared with those which prevail in our own
day. In the accounts of Queen's College, in the twenty-seventh year of
Edward I. (1299), we find that the stipend of " Robert the priest" for half
a year was i6s. 8^. Another priest received for the same period only ten
shillings. The wages of a cook and brewer for six months was four shil-
lings. The " Priest's groom" for the same period received three shillings.
A laundress for "washing the clothes of the house for that time" (six
months) received only fourpence; and a carpenter for two days' work
had fourpence "and his victuals." It is to be hoped that the laundress
also received, her victuals. A slater for three weeks' work was paid
sixpence a week and his food. Four years later (1303) a carter received
for his yearly wage five shillings and a penny; a ploughman for the
winter was paid two shillings; a shepherd for a year, five shillings; a
cowherd for the same period, three shillings; and a swineherd for the
whole year, one shilling. These were, no doubt, serfs, who were both
housed and fed by their masters. There is a payment of $s. 6d. to
forty-two women for an entire day's work cutting stubble — a penny each;
and a barber for "shaving all the household for one year" is paid eight-
pence. A dairymaid gets one pair of shoes at the cost of sixpence,
" because she had no wages," but a woman brought to help her in the
dairy and in " milking the ewes" during the summer and autumn, is
paid by the piece, ad tasciam, two shillings.3 In the accounts of the
Hospital of St. John at Winchester there is an entry, in 1315, of wages
1 Second Report on Hist. Doc., p. 568. 2 Fifth Report on Hist. Doc., p. 370.
3 Accounts of Queen's College, Sixth Report on Hist. Doc., pp. 558, 559.
Early Prices in Scotland.
paid to Adam atte Corrsyre of " 15*. 2d. for the year, at one halfpenny
"per day."1 Even more than a century later the rate of wages was
low. In the accounts at Radegunda, already referred to, we find in
1449 a payment to Simon Maydwell of ninepence for six days' work;
to Katherine Rolffe, to hoe in the garden for four days, ^\d. For
skilled labour the rates were higher. To a man making and mending
horse collars for five days there is paid is. iod., and to a man pruning
the vines the nuns paid for two days' work twelvepence.2
There are preserved in Scotland no such early records as those of
the old English colleges and municipal corporations, but in the accounts
of the Lord High Treasurer, recently printed, we have some interest-
ing information as to Scotland, which may enable us to form some
estimate of what were prices in Glasgow towards the end of the fifteenth
century. The price of horses varied very much, and some appear to
have been sold at very low sums. For a horse to a trumpeter in 1489
the price — I give the amount in English money — was only twelve
shillings. In 1491 another horse was bought at the same price. Horses
bought for the king in 1489 cost from £i to forty shillings each. Two
horses, a black and a gray, of superior quality, cost for the two about
£i2\ while in 1496 a horse bought for one of the royal grooms cost
less than eight shillings.
In Aberdeen, in 1577, the magistrates fixed the hire of a horse for
leading peats or other fuel at " xii</. ilk day" — being three halfpence of
English money — " witht mannis meit and horss meit, and to haff four
"gang ilk day."3
According to the accounts of the Lord High Treasurer, shoes, home-
made, cost usually, towards the end of the fifteenth century, fourpence
the pair. The price of a pair of French shoes was about one shilling
and fourpence. Boots were expensive : they cost six shillings the pair.
Of other items, we find that in 1473 there was paid "to a skynnare in
" Striveling for a dusane of gluffis (gloves) to the Quene" less than two
shillings. A hundred haddocks cost tenpence. The price of a cow
was seven shillings. The wages of labourers and seamen were less
1 Sixth Report on Hist. Doc., p. 597. 2 Second Report on Hist. MSS., pp. 119, 120.
3 Records of Burgh of Aberdeen, loth July, 1577.
318 Travelling Charges.
than fourpence a day. Indeed, fourpence a day was reckoned not bad
wages in Scotland for a tradesman even towards the middle of the
eighteenth century. So late as 1748 the magistrates of Dunbarton
enacted that tailors wprking out of their own house should be allowed
only fourpence a day (with diet), and if they declined to work when re-
quired, or asked a higher wage, they were subjected in heavy penalties.1
Writing in 1598 as to travelling charges, Fynes Moryson says a
horse might be had for " two shillings the first day and eightpence the
" day till he be brought home, and the horse-letters used to send a
" footman to bring back the horse." The traveller, he adds, " shall pay
" at the common table about sixpence for his supper or dinner and shall
" have his bed free."2 These sums are stated in English money.
But prices varied very much in different places, and in Edinburgh,
especially during the sitting of Parliament, they were comparatively
high. In the account of the household expenses of Ludovick duke
of Lennox, when commissioner to Parliament in 1607, one of the
charges is thirteenpence halfpenny for a partridge.3 They were cheaper
in Inverness at a later date. Captain Burt says he could buy a part-
ridge there "for a penny or less."4 This was in the early part of the
eighteenth century.
In 1559 the magistrates of Ayr ordered that "guid and sufficient
" corne" be sold for "ten penneys the peck," and hay to be sold at
" aucht pennys the stane."5 According to the value of money at that
time this would be about one-fifth of these sums of our money. In
Renfrewshire the price of "the best hay" in 1722 was twopence the
stone.6 Between 1710 and 1728 the price of horses in the same county
averaged ^3, 195-. 2^., the highest price being ^8, which was considered
exceptionally high. A leg of mutton was sold for ninepence, and a side
of beef for >]s. C)d. In 1726 the average price of a cow in Renfrewshire
was £1, 6s. qd. and of a sheep five shillings.7 The prices in Glasgow
would probably be higher, but not much.
When the Laird of Macintosh attended parliament in 1681 he
1 living's History of Dunbartonshire, p. 249. 2 Itinerary, 1617.
3 Miscellany of Maitland Club, vol. i. p. 159. 4 Letters, vol. i. p. 146.
6 Memorabilia, p. 6. e Judicial Records of Renfrewshire, p. 332. 7 Ibid., p. 338.
Prices in Glasgow.
319
charged to the county as "depursements for the shire of Inverness":
"for 52 sitting days in Parliament and 16 days comeing and goeing at
" ^5 scotts per day ,£340"— that is, Bs. \d. a day of our money— a
liberal allowance for these times. For " ane consultatioun with the
" Lord Advocat" he paid £$ sterling, showing that fees to counsel were
at that date high in proportion to the price of provisions.1 It was not
so in England in the latter part of the fifteenth century. In the church-
warden's accounts of St. Margaret's, Westminster, in 1476, there is a
payment " to Roger Fylpott learned in the law, for his counsel giving,
" 35. %d. with fourpence for his dinner."2
Of prices in Glasgow early in the seventeenth century we have some
examples in a list of the property or articles of executry given up, in
1632, on the death of Mrs. Hucheson, wife of one of the founders of the
Hospital. Among other items there are "three kye ane stirk and ane
" calf estimate to 44 pounds scots" — that is, £$, 1 35. 4^. for the five
animals. Fourteen bolls of bere "standing in the barne at Partick,"
are valued " with the fodder" at £6, 13^. 4</. scots per boll — a trifle over
eleven shillings. A quantity of " mashlock oats" are valued, with the
straw, at ^5, 6s. %d. scots the boll — less than nine shillings.3
In the old Town's Hospital accounts of 1737, to which I have
already referred, shoes for the inmates are charged a fraction over two
shillings the pair. For fresh beef the price paid was less than twopence
the pound; for eggs less than twopence the dozen; for barley seven-
eighths of a penny the pound; for pease, >j\d. the peck; for butter, \s. lod.
the stone; for sweet milk, a fraction less than twopence the scots pint;
for sour milk, a halfpenny the pint. Candles were dearer; they were
nearly fivepence the pound. Oatmeal was in old times almost always
disproportionately dear. In 1737 it was upwards of ten shillings the
boll.4 And it was higher in the preceding century. In 1645, at the time
when the magistrates were employing the town's people " to caste up
" the trinche about the citie," the price of a boll of meal was 135. 4^. of
our money.
1 Scottish Legal Antiquities, p. 152. 2 Hallam's Middle Ages, 2d edit., vol. iii. p. 452-
3 Huchesoniana, by Laurence Hill, Esq., p. 19.
4 Report of Town's Hospital of Glasgow, 1742.
320 Measures of Grain.
Of the expense of living of the students in the College in the begin-
ning of the eighteenth century, we get some information from a minute
of agreement between the principal and professors and Alexander
Eagle, a cook. It would appear that the English students required a
provision to be made for their diet of a better kind than the Scotsmen
were contented with. Accordingly by this agreement, which is dated
in 1711, Eagle undertakes "to furnish with dyet all Englishmen that
" shall desyre to dyet within the Colledge during the continuance of
" this session, three tymes a day with meat and drink, and with such
" changes of dyet as is mentioned in a paper apart — the said English-
" men, and each of them to be dyeted, paying to the said Alexander
" three pounds sterling for each three months dyet, and so proportion-
" ally." The cook was also to be allowed " the benefite of the Colledge
"kitchen brewhouse and ovens and whole outincills therein."1 This is
eightpence a day for three meals.
The articles in which there appear to have been the greatest fluctu-
ations in prices in Glasgow are oatmeal and wheat, and the price there
often differed considerably from that in neighbouring counties. This,
however, may, to some extent, be accounted for by the difference
in the measure^ for there appears to have been no fixed standard. In
1692 the College of Glasgow had under consideration "the diverse
" debates between the Colledge and severall of the gentry who pay their
" tithes to the colledge, anent the measure of the boll," and it ended
by the university resolving that a measure be made for itself, and that
in all leases of the college lands it should be stipulated that grain pay-
ments be made according to that measure.2 The same practice was
followed by many of the neighbouring landowners. For example, in a
lease of the lands of Woodhead by Sir James Hamilton of Rosehall to
Mr. Baird, an ancestor of the Gartsherrie family, in 1745, a portion of
the rent is made payable " in good and sufficient oatmeal with the
" weight and measure of Woodhall."3 It was the same in England
from a very early period. In a lease of lands in Rye, in the twenty-fifth
year of King Henry VI. (1447), mention is made of certain quantities
1 Munimenta, vol. iii. p. 550. 2 Ibid., vol. ii. p. 364.
8 The Bairds of Gartsherrie: their Origin and History. Glasgow: Privately printed, 1875.
Wages in Rutherglen. 321
of grain " mesuride by the mesure of Rye."1 And the same absence of
a fixed standard prevailed in other measures than those of grain. There
is a curious illustration of this in the contract between Mr. George
Hucheson and the builder of his house at Partick. It provides that a
certain part of the house is to be made of the measure of " three futtis
" and ane half, of the said Georges awin fnte"2
Of the wages paid to masons in Glasgow in the beginning of the
seventeenth century we have an example from the same contract. Mr.
Hucheson was to provide the stone and lime, and the wood for the
scaffolding : all the rest of the mason work was to be executed by the
contractor. The house was of considerable size, yet the whole sum to
be paid to the contractor, " himself, his servands and borrowmen," was
only 530 merks scots, "to wit 430 merkis yrof for ye work, and
" 100 merkis in satisfactioun of all morning and eftirnoines drinks,
" disjoynes, sondayes meitt at onlaying of lyntalls, or ony othir thing
" can be cravit fra the said george in any sorte." Five hundred and
thirty merkis scots in 1611, when the contract was made, was less than
£30-
Of the prices of labour in the neighbourhood of Glasgow, fifty
years later, we have some information from the records of the town
council of Rutherglen, which contain various statutes on the sub-
ject. One of these, in the year 1660, bears to have been passed to
provide a remedy " to those abuses and grievances concerning the
" excessive pryces of fies and waidges introduced of late in tymes of
" plentie by the covetousness, idleness, and other corrupt practices of
" some evil affected servands and workmen." For this purpose it
orders that " dureing the scarsnes of money and cheapnes of victwall"
no more than certain fees and wages be taken. Among these are the
following: — "A commone able man servand for all sort of husbandrie is
" to have termly for fie and bounteth ten punds scots (i6s. &/.) with a
" paire of dowble soiled shooes and a pair of hoise and no more. A
(< able woman servand for all necessarie worke ten merks (us. i\d.)
" with a pair of shooes, ane ell of lining in winter, and ane ell of playd-
1 Fifth Report on Historical Records, p. 500.
2 The Story of Partick Castle, by Laurence Hill, Esq., p. 34.
2 S
Wages in the Highlands.
" ing in Sommer; A lass or young made fowr punds scots (6s. %d.} with
"a paire of shooes termly and no more; The harvest fee of an able
"man shierer is not to exceed eight punds (13^. 4</.) and a peck of
" meill with meit and drink; and if he be hired by days, half a merk
" (about 6fdf.) and twa mailles for ilk dayes work; And the able woman
" shierer is not to exceed sex punds (ictf.) and a peck of meill with meit
" and drink, or fyve schilling ($d.) and twa mailles for ilk day." "Com-
11 mone workmen or laborers," and tailors, are to have $\d. a day " and
" their dyet," and no more.1
Throughout the Highlands prices were much less than in the Low
country. Even in Inverness, although it was a garrison town, Captain
Burt, who was stationed there about a hundred and sixty years ago,
says : " Mutton and beef are about a penny a pound. - Salmon, which
" was at the same price, is by a late legislation of the magistrates, raised
" to two pence a pound, which is thought by many to be an exorbitant
"price. A fowl may be had at market for two pence or two pence
"halfpenny." But these last were "so lean they are good for little."2
As regards the salmon, prices in Glasgow were as low as in Inverness.
They were sometimes sold, as I have already mentioned, at a penny
the pound. We are familiar with the story told of the domestic servants
in Glasgow, who stipulated that they should not be obliged to eat this
now costly fish on more than a certain number of days in the week, and
it was the same in Inverness. Captain Burt writes that in his time
" the menial servants who are not at board wages will not make a meal
" upon salmon if they can get any thing else to eat."3 The same writer,
referring to the still lower price of provisions in Inverness at an earlier
date, says : " I have been told by some old people that at the time of
" the Revolution General Mackay was accustomed to dine at one of the
" public houses, where he was served with great variety, and paid only
" two shillings and six pence scots, that is two pence halfpenny for his
ordinary."4 Wages were low in proportion. In Burt's time many
servant girls, he tells us, had for wages only " three half crowns a year
" each, and a peck of oatmeal for a week's diet, and happy she that can
1 Burgh Records of Rutherglen quoted in Ure's History, p. 65.
2 Burt's Letters, vol. i. p. 126. 3 Ibid., p. 126. 4 Ibid., p. 133.
Relative Value of Commodities. 323
" get the skimming of a pot to mix with her oatmeal for better commons.
" To this allowance is added a pair of shoes or two, for Sundays when
" they go to the kirk."1
In looking at these old accounts, in England as well as in Scotland,
we cannot fail to be struck in particular with the very low prices at
which horses and cattle could be purchased, but this is in a great
measure to be accounted for by the wretched state of the breeds and
the difficulty of finding proper provender for them. Captain Burt
refers to this. The horses in Inverness, he says, were very poor and
small, and it was difficult to find the means of feeding them. He men-
tions that in one year he knew of nearly two hundred horses dying of
mere want. He tells of an officer, newly arrived in Inverness, who
observing the miserable state of the horses there, and that his own
would cost him more for their keep than his pay would afford, had
them shot — preferring, as he said, to do this rather than by selling
them " to let them fall into the hands of such keepers."2 This prepares
us to accept a statement by Major which otherwise it would be difficult
to believe. Writing of a period about the beginning of the sixteenth
century, he describes some of the Highlanders as possessing many
cattle and horses, of which last, he says, two or three hundred, wild and
unbroken, would be brought by one Highlander to Perth or Dundee
and sold for two francs each.
Again, in regard to what appears to us as the very low wages paid
in early times, we are too apt to overlook the relative value of commo-
dities. Mr. Hallam, speaking of his own time (1784), observes that
" the labouring classes, especially those engaged in agriculture, were
" better provided with the means of subsistence in the reign of Ed-
" ward III. or of Henry VI. than they are at present. In the fourteenth
" century a harvest man had fourpence a day, which enabled him in a
" week to buy a comb of wheat; but to buy a comb of wheat now, a
"man must work ten or twelve days. So under Henry VI., if meat
" was at a farthing and a half the pound, which I suppose was about the
" truth, a labourer earning threepence a day, or eighteenpence in the
" week, could buy a bushel of wheat at six shillings the quarter, and
1 Burt's Letters, vol. i. p. 96. 2 Ibid., p. 82.
324 Relative Value of Incomes.
" twenty-four pounds of meat for his family. A labourer at present,
" earning twelve shillings a week, can only buy half a bushel of wheat
" at eighty shillings the quarter, and twelve pounds of meat at seven-
" pence."1 A still greater contrast is presented in the prices of the
necessaries of life in our own day.
There are other considerations which we must bear in mind, when
we read of prices in the olden time. In the reign of Edward I. £20
would be the rental of a considerable estate. An income of £IQ or
£20 was reckoned in England a competence for a gentleman; and a
knight who possessed ^150 per annum was considered extremely rich.
Even so late as the reign of Henry VIII. the rent of a considerable
farm was no more than £$ or ^4 a year. Latimer, preaching before
the king, said in his homely style, " My father was a yeoman and had
" no lands of his own; only he had a farm of three or four pounds a
" year at the utmost, and thereupon he held so much land as kept half
" a dozen men. He had a walk for a hundred sheep, and my mother
" milked thirty kine." This would be towards the middle of the fif-
teenth century.
In Glasgow, as throughout Scotland, such incomes would, in those
days, go still farther. Of course, it must also be kept in mind that in
the early times the people were comparatively free from taxation, and
that the expenditure of those in the position of gentlemen and knights
was lessened by the service of the villains or serfs. It must likewise
be remembered that the soil had fewer persons to support. So late as
1377 the entire population of England did not exceed two million three
hundred thousand.2
1 Middle Ages, vol. iii. p. 453. 2 Ibid., p. 456.
CONTRAST BETWEEN FORMER AND PRESENT
CONDITION OF THE CITY.
In bringing these notices to a close it may be interesting to mention
a few prominent points in which the Glasgow of to-day differs from the
city of the last century. The contrast will be found very striking.
In 1779 the population was less than 43000. Including its connected
suburbs it now exceeds 740,000.
We do not know what the rental of the city was in the last century,
but it must have been very small. In 1878-79 it amounted in round
numbers to ,£3,400,000, and of this the increase within the last twenty-
five years has been more than y^2,ooo,ooo.1
A hundred years ago the river was almost in a state of nature. It
was fordable on foot at Dunbuck — twelve miles below Glasgow — and
only small gabbarts could come to the Broomielaw. Now, ships drawing
24 feet of water, can come up to the harbour.
A century ago shipbuilding on the Clyde was practically unknown.
For the seven years ending with 1877 the tonnage of all the vessels
built in the United Kingdom amounted to 3,220,000, and of this there
was built in the Clyde no less than 1,360,000.
Of the increase in commerce I shall mention only two items. In the
middle of the last century a "small apartment" in Bell Street sufficed
as a manufactory for all the sugar imported into the Clyde. By the
last returns the imports of this article amounted in one year — 1878 — to
the enormous quantity of 250,000 tons.
A hundred years ago a very few boxes of tea must have sufficed for
the yearly supply of the few families of the better classes who used it—
the ladies being almost the only consumers. In 1875 duty was paid on
more than six million pounds of tea imported into Glasgow.2
Equally striking is the contrast in matters of police. So late as 1777
the total force employed by the magistrates in cleaning the streets and
removing refuse was two men. For the year 1878-79 there was paid,
1 Statistics of Glasgow, 1878-79, p. 87. 2 Ibid., p. 134.
326 Contrast.
in the cleansing department of the police, in wages alone, upwards of
,£24,000.
Towards the middle of the eighteenth century two individuals con-
tracted with the magistrates "to keep up maintain and uphold the whole
" causeys of the public streets, wynds, vennels, lanes, high ways and
" roads, within and about this city and territories thereof." They under-
took to do this for fifteen years, for a sum equal to a yearly payment
of £66 per annum.1 In this department — statute labour — the expendi-
ture of the corporation for the year 1878-79 was, in the mere repair of
streets and sewers, upwards of ,£25,000, and during the previous twenty-
two years the amount paid for paving alone amounted to .£320,000,
or on an average upwards of £ 14,000 per annum.
Till so late as 1780 there was not a lamp in the city. In that year
the magistrates resolved to put up nine on the south side of the Tron-
gate. At present there are nearly twelve thousand lamps lighted by
the corporation in the streets and courts of the city, at an expenditure
of upwards of .£20,000 annually. This is exclusive of upwards of five
hundred lamps lighted by the Clyde Trustees at the harbours and docks;
and in addition to all these there are upwards of twenty-five thousand
lamps on common stairs, which are lighted by the corporation and partly
charged to the proprietors. Altogether there are thirty-eight thousand
lamps lighted every night in the city by the corporation and the
Clyde Trustees.
In 1788 the magistrates established their first paid police force, and
the expenditure in the following year, for the superintendent and his
officers, was ,£135. In 1878 there was paid in this department, in
salaries and wages alone, exclusive of clothing to the force, and various
other charges, upwards of ,£60,000.
As regards the post-office the changejias been great over the whole
kingdom, but nowhere has it been greater than in Glasgow. A century
ago the post-office of Glasgow consisted of three small apartments, each
less than twelve feet square. The only place for delivering letters was
a hole broken through the wall into a dark close, and the entire staff,
besides the postmaster, consisted of four .individuals, of whom two were
1 Burgh Records, 7th March, 1728.
Changes in the City. 327
the letter-carriers. At present1 in the palatial establishment in George
Square there are employed, besides the postmaster, upwards of 100
clerks, and of letter-carriers and stampers there are more than 220. In
addition to all these, there are engaged in the postal telegraph depart-
ment 175 operators and 168 messengers, besides superintendents, con-
trolling officers, and various other officials.
But I need not pursue this. In all other matters the contrast
between the old city and the Glasgow of to-day is equally remarkable.
As to the city itself an inhabitant of the last century could not recog-
nize it. Apart from its extension, a large part of the old town has
entirely disappeared, and in what remains startling changes have been
made. This has been going on since the beginning of the century
with a wonderful rapidity, but the changes which have taken place
within the last eight years are very remarkable. During that short time
no less than three and a quarter miles of new streets have been formed,
many of the old ones have been widened and altered, and whole streets
of houses have been swept away. The whole of the upper part of the
High Street, including the Bell-of- the- Brae, with its primitive and pic-
turesque houses, has been removed, the gradient of the street has been
reduced, and a large open space — Cathedral Square — has been formed
at the top. The east end of Rottenrow is gone, with large portions of
Drygate. Farther down on the west side there are many changes.
Bell Street has been widened, and nearly all the north side of it pulled
down. On the east side of High Street the whole of the extensive area
between the College and Graeme Street — with all the narrow closes and
vennels which ran eastward from it — has been swept away. Of the
College little more than the front remains, and in what were but yesterday
the quiet haunts of students the scream of the railway whistle is now
heard. Almost the whole of the east side of Saltmarket, with its unhealthy
closes, has disappeared. On both sides of Trongate many objectionable
buildings and unwholesome passages — places which bore the worst
character, and which defied police and sanitary supervision — have been
annihilated. A great part of both sides of the Gallowgate, and large
extents of street in Gorbals and Calton, besides many other parts of the
1 1879-
328 Conclusion .
old city, have been remodelled or entirely swept away — the old build-
ings being, in many instances, replaced by structures which would have
struck with amazement an inhabitant of even fifty years ago. Ill-venti-
lated, overcrowded, and filthy, these old places had become to a large
extent the hot-beds of disease and the resorts of criminals. By their
removal the picturesque has in many cases suffered, no doubt, but in a
moral and sanitary point of view the action of the City Improvement
Trustees — by whom these great changes have been effected — has con-
ferred a lasting boon on the inhabitants.
So much cannot be said of those who preceded the Improvement
Trustees. Nothing could excuse their destruction of historical monu-
ments. The demolition of the Castle of Glasgow, in order that its
materials might be used to build an inn in the Gallowgate, was an act
of vandalism which only found its counterpart in the crime of those who
mutilated the Cathedral.
Of the extension of the city within a century nothing that I have
written can convey any adequate idea. It will be better understood
from the annexed map. As engraved it shows Glasgow as it is. The
portion coloured red shows its entire extent in 1773.
THE END.
POLLOKSHAW3
HI ACKIE » SON I.
COMPARATIVE EXTENT,
IN 1773 (RED) AND IN I8?9.
Sctje of H aJCle
,^i&^
Milto*
GLASGOW*- EDINBURGH
INDEX.
Abbots, Early, superior to bishops, 6.
Absence from church, 196, 198.
Academy, Foulises', 303.
Advocates' herrings, 235.
Alcluith, Kings of, 8.
Ale, Sale of, 188.
— Price of, 314.
Alexander, Invasion of Argyll by, 260.
Alfred, King, his proverbs, 59.
Almanacks, Old, 229.
Almshouses, Bishops', 126.
Altars in Cathedral, 113, 114.
American colonies, Trade with, 243.
Amusements, 276.
Ancrum, Castle of, 122.
Anderson, George, printer, 300.
Andrew, 300.
Anderston, Village of, 159.
Andrews, Bishops of St., 32.
Angles, their language, 57.
Anne, Queen, her portrait, 231.
Aqua vitae, 188.
Arcades under houses, 144.
Archbishops, Forms of admission of, 190.
Architector, 278.
Armorial insignia of city, 99.
— sculptures in castle, 116, 117.
— bearings of Earls of Lennox, 124.
Arms borne by citizens, 168, 169.
— Citizens deprived of, 171.
— borne by ministers, 204.
Art, first School of, 303.
Aryan races, 262.
Asaph's, Monastery of St., 13.
Assembly, General, of 1638, 115.
Back Almshouse, 125.
Back Cow Lane, 157.
Bagpipes, Playing of, upon Sunday, 205.
Bakers, their mills, 168.
Banks in Glasgow, 243.
Bannatyne, Mr. D., his account of Glasgow
society, 274.
Banquets, Cost of, 201.
Barbers, Corporation of, 227.
Barbour's Poems, 60.
Barlanark, Prebendary of, 127.
Barras Yett port, 150.
Battle, Right of, 54.
Beadles, Duties of, 203.
Beehive Houses, 39.
Beggars, 199, 298.
Bell, Provost, 172.
Henry, 263.
Bell, St. Kentigern's, 19, 21.
Bells, Ancient, 19, 21.
Beton, Archbishop, 92, 176.
Bible, Scoto-Britannic version, 6.
- Irish, 57.
Gothic, 58.
Bibles in Cathedral, 112.
Billiard tables, 282.
Bird on city arms, Legend of, 28.
Bishopric, So-called arms of, 103.
Bishops, The earliest, 6.
Later, their feudal power, 54.
their rule, 83, 94.
— their churches and rights, 86.
their court, 94.
Residences of, Partick, 120.
Ancrum, 122.
Lochwood, 123.
Carstairs, 123.
Bishops' Castle, 116, 119.
Bishops' forest, 120, 175, 176.
Bishop Street, 120.
Blackadder's aisle, 10.
Blackburn of Killearn, 197.
Blackfriars, Ancient writing relating to, 63.
Blackfriars' Convent and Church, 130, 132,
196, 201.
Black of Clairmont, his house, 158.
Blaeu's map, 122, 260, 284.
Blasphemies, 199, 212.
Bleaching Green in New Vennel, 128.
Bloodletting, 229.
2 T
330
Index.
Blythswood, Barony of, 161.
Bondington, Bishop, 106.
Bondmen. Sec Serfs.
Bonnets, Blue, Wearing of, prohibited, 186.
Bookbinder, The first, 304.
Border raids, 181.
Bos primigenius, 262.
Bouets, 290.
Boyd of Bannheith, 123.
Breach of promise, 207.
Brereton, Sir William, 118.
Bridal parties, 206.
Bridewell, Old, 144.
Bridge, Bishop Rae's, Stockwell, 105, 153, 166.
its foundations, 254.
Bridge, Jamaica Street, 160, 265.
Bridport, Gifts of herrings at, 236.
Brig Port, 165.
British churches, 6.
Britons, their kingdom, 8.
of Strathclyde, 31.
Sculptures of, on Roman stones, 43.
habits of living and arms, 44.
Broomielaw, 158.
Croft, 1 60.
Brunswick Street, 1 57.
Buchanan of Mount Vernon, his house, 156.
Street, 157.
Buck'shead Inn, 156.
Buildings, Old, 124, 126.
Burgesses, bishops' and king's, 54, 87.
qualifications and services, 81.
Burgh, Glasgow made a Royal, 93.
Burgh Muir, 176.
Burning of Edinburgh, 70.
Butcher market, 269.
Butts, Battle of the, 168.
Calculus, Prevalence of, 227.
Camerarius, 25.
Cameron, Bishop, 127.
Campbell, Mr., his description of Glasgow,27 1 .
Candida Casa, Church of, 5, 17.
Candleriggs, 155.
Canoes, Ancient, 42, 249.
Canute, his poetry, 59.
Cargill, Mr. Donald, executed, 172.
Carlyle, Dr., his account of Glasgow, 273.
his lodging in College, 134.
Carstairs, Castel Tarras, 82, 124.
Carters, Charges by, 294.
Castle, Bishops', 116, 119.
of Ancrum, 122.
of Tarras, 1 24.
Cathedral, 104, 106.
— its repair, 109, 115.
Cathures,ancient name applied to Glasgow, 10.
Cattle of citizens, 179.
Causeway, Causeway-makers, 290.
Cells, Monastic, 16, 18.
Celtic language, 56.
Chapel of St. Thenew, 144.
— of St. Thomas, 144.
— of St. Roche, 178.
— of St. Mungo, 148.
Chapter of Glasgow, Proceedings before, 192.
Charities of Magistrates, 226.
Charles I., his charter to the city, 93, 170.
his " engagement " with Committee
of Estates, 170.
his portrait, 230.
- Prince, 173, 174.
Chartulary, The ancient, of Glasgow, 36.
Chatelherault, Duke of, 123.
Chaucer, 60.
Chirurgeons and Barbers, 227.
Chorley, Josiah, 196.
Church, Early, 31.
— Scottish, 33.
— of Glasgow, its endowments, 35.
Churches, Earliest, 16, 17, 105.
— Services in, 193.
— Attendance at, 197, 198.
- Violence done in, 204, 212.
Citizens, their subjection to bishops, 86, 89.
— Costume of, 135.
City, Name of, 29.
— Extension of, 325, 327.
— Map showing extension, 328.
Civil wars, 93.
Clans, Irish, 7.
Class, Distinctions of, 237.
Claverhouse, 172.
Cleaning streets, 269, 292.
Clyde, River, 150.
Geology of basin of, 248-262.
— Deepening of, 263, 325.
Clydehaugh, Canoes found at, 250, 253.
Coaches, Hackney, 295.
- Stage, 296.
Index.
33i
Coal, Working of, 244.
. Prices of, 245.
Coble Court, 152.
Coinage in Glasgow, 128.
College, 132, 133.
— discipline and jurisdiction, 136.
— mace, 139.
Chapel services, 196.
expense of living of students, 320.
Collegiate Church of Mary and Anne, 147.
Colliers, Slavery of, 5 1.
Columba, St., 7.
Columbanus, 5.
Comet steamer, 263.
Commerce, 239.
Committee of Estates, Engagement with
Charles I., 170.
Commodities, Prices of, 313.
Common Seals, 100.
— Lands, 176.
— Division of, 177.
- Sale of, 1 80.
Communion, Time of observing, 196.
Compurgators, 197.
Concerts in Glasgow, 281.
Confession of Faith, Signature of, 153, 154.
Contrast between old and new city, 325, 328.
Convent of Blackfriars, 130.
Conventicles, 172, 215.
Convention of Burghs, Procedure at, 220.
Cook, Cookery, 278, 279.
Corporation dinners, 231.
Corpus Christi, Processions on, 285.
Costume of citizens, 135, 183, 185.
of provosts, 224.
Council house, Keeping door of, 220.
Cowcaddens Parks, 179.
Cow Lone, 179.
Back, 1 80.
Crafts' Hospital, 160.
— their pageants, 285.
Craignaught, Fairs proclaimed at, 288.
Crannogs, 42.
Crimes committed by priests, 190.
Crispin, Processions of King, 286.
Cromwell, 171.
Crosier of Kentigern, 14.
Cross, City, the ancient, 129.
— Second, 141.
Steeple, 141.
Crypt of Cathedral, 107.
altars in, 1 1 3.
Culdees, 33.
Cumbria, Kingdom of, 10, 32.
Cunningham, Archdeacon David, 149.
Dancing, Teacher of, 279.
Darnley's house, 124.
David I., his Notitia or Inquisitio, 34.
Deanside Well, 131, 165.
Defoe, his description of Glasgow, 271.
Deid bell of Glasgow, 25.
Deir, Book of, 56.
Deschu, what it means, 29.
Dinners, Corporation, 231.
Dio, historian, 37.
Directory, The first town, 305.
Discipline of Church, 190, 194, 200, 211.
Distinction of classes, 237.
Division of city ecclesiastically, 193.
Divorce, Sentence of, by presbytery, 206.
Domestic life, 271, 273.
Dominicans, 130.
Donaldshill, Lands of, 312.
Door-keeper, Councillors acting as, 220.
Doucatt Green, 284.
Douglas, Mr. George, 161.
Dowhill, 150.
Dress of citizens, 135, 183, 185.
Drillings, 168.
Drinking customs, 275.
Druids, 4.
Drummers, The town's, 224.
Drunkenness, Drinking, 213, 276.
Drygate, 128, 129.
Ducking women in Clyde, 202.
Dunbarton, capital of the Britons, 9.
made a royal burgh, 87.
Dungsteads in streets, 267.
Dunkeld, Abbot of, 33.
Dunlop Street, 155.
Dunlop, Mr., his house, 156.
Ear, Cutting off, 219.
Early hours, 196.
East Port, 148.
Ecclesiastical history, 189.
divisions of city, 193.
Education, 276.
Edward I. in Glasgow, 130.
2 T 2
332
Index.
Eirde houses, 37.
Elphinston, Sir George, 161, 222.
Endowments of Church, 35, 147.
Eneo Silvio, Description of Scotland by, 71.
Enoch's, St., Chapel, 144.
Square, 145.
— Burn, 290.
Entrenchment of city, 166.
Episcopal system, Early, 6.
Excise, Revenues from, 242.
Factory, The first in Glasgow, 242.
Faculty. See College.
Fairfowl, Archbishop, 198.
Fairs, 286, 289.
Proclamation of, 287.
Keeping peace of, 288.
Familia of monastery, 50.
Farm-house in Trongate, 155.
in Queen Street, 179.
Faversham, Gifts by corporation of, 236.
Fens, 41.
Fergus, St., 10.
his aisle in Cathedral, 1 1.
Fine Arts, 230.
First school of, 303.
Finnieston, 159.
Fire, Sacred, of Aryans, 28.
Fire engines, 77. «
Fire insurance, First, 298.
Fires in Glasgow, 75.
Fishergate, 152.
Fishermen's huts, 150.
Fishing on Sunday, 213.
Floods in river, 255.
Flowers in church and on council table, 226.
Fons Kentigerni, 149.
Food of native Britons, 45.
of Border Scots, 182.
— of people generally, 183-185.
Football, 282.
Ford at Dunbuck, 325.
Fords at Glasgow bridge, 153, 166.
Foreign trade of Glasgow, 244.
Forests, Ancient, 40.
around Glasgow, 175.
Fortifications of city, 166.
Foulises, Robert and Andrew, printers, 302.
Franck, his description of Glasgow, 270.
Free Presbyterians, 195.
French words in common use, 67.
coins in circulation in Glasgow, 67.
Friars Minorites, 129.
Black, 130, 313.
Froissart, his account of the Scots, 181.
Fullonum, Via, 150.
Furcarum, Via, 148.
Gallowgate, 148.
Gallowmuir, 150, 168.
Games, 201.
Gardens, 128, 129, 146, 154.
- College, 135.
" Gardyloo," 269.
Genealogies of serfs, 50.
General Session, 194.
Geology of Clyde valley, 248-262.
George I., his portrait, 231.
Gibson, his history of Glasgow, 84.
Gilhagie, Mr. James, his losses, 241.
Gilmourhill, Lands of, 312.
Glasgow, meaning of the name, 29.
— its beauty in early times, 270.
Glass, Use of, in early houses, 72.
Old painted, 1 1 5.
Glassford Street, 157.
Golspie, Sculptured stone at, 262.
Gorbals, Lands of, 160.
Gothic language, 58.
Govan, Fisherman's hut at, 150.
Govane, Donald, printer, 301.
Graham, Dugald, printer and bellman, 301.
Grammar School, 139.
Granges, Monastic, 14.
Grave-digger, one for whole city, 297.
Green, The, 179, 253, 256, 284.
Old, 284.
Greyfriars, 129.
Guard, Night, 292.
Guardhouse, 144.
Guildry, Letter of, 239.
Guisers, 210.
Habits of people, 266, 271, 273, 275.
Hackney coaches, 295.
Handkerchiefs, Manufactory of, 248.
Harley, Mr., his supply of water for town, 294.
Hay-stacks in Trongate, 268.
Herbert, Bishop, 121.
Herds, Common, 179, 180.
Index.
333
Herd's house, 180.
Herring fishing, 234, 235.
— at Renfrew, 261.
Herrings, Presents of, 234, 235.
— Assize of, 235.
High Kirk, 196, 198. See Cathedral.
High Street, 128.
History, Early Scottish, 31.
Homicide, Cases of, 212.
Homines episcopi, 52.
Horse posts, 295.
Horse-racing, 281.
Horses, inferiority of breeds, 322.
Hospital, St. Nicholas', 102.
— Bishop's Almshouses, 126.
— Leper, 127.
— Hucheson's, 160.
- Town's, 204, 247, 299.
Hospitality of Corporation, 231.
House accommodation in Glasgow, 271.
House painter, License to a, 277.
Houses, Early, 38, 68, 73.
English, 71.
Rebuilding of, 76.
Houston, James, sub-dean, 147.
Hucheson, George, 121.
his House at Cross, 272.
at Partick, 121.
Street, 157.
Hutcheson's Hospital, 160.
Lands of, 311.
Huts, Fishermen's, 150.
Images, Orders for destruction of, 198.
Immorality, 200, 211.
Improvement Trustees, their operations, 327.
Inchcolm, Early church on island of, 18.
Incomes, Value of early, 324.
Induction of Ecclesiastics, 190.
Infeftments, Early, 82.
Ingram Street, 180.
Inhabitants, Early, 37, 42, 44.
Inquisitio of David I., 34.
Insurance, The first, in city, 298.
lona, Monastery of, 13.
Irish Church, Early, 5.
Clans, 7.
Islands, Fortified, 42.
— in the Clyde, 122, 260, 284.
Jail, Old, 140. See Prison.
Jailers, 142.
Jails, their former condition, 141.
Jamaica Street, 158.
Bridge, 160, 265.
James II., Precept and Charter by, 88.
James III., Charter by, 90.
James IV. a canon of the Cathedral, 127.
his alms to lepers, 128.
James of Irwyn, 123.
Jocelin, the monk, his life of Kentigern, i.
— Bishop, 105.
Journal, Glasgow, curious notices in, 307.
Judicial Proceedings, Early, 61, 63, 64, 69.
Jugs at Cross, 202, 207.
Justice, Arbitrary, 216.
dispensed by Magistrates in street,2i7.
Kallidei, 33.
Kells in Ireland, 33.
Kelts, Celts, 56.
Kelvin, Mills on, 168.
Kelvinbank, Lands of, 311.
Kelvingrove, Lands of, 311.
Kenneth, his invasion of Pictavia, 31.
Kentigern, i, 3, 7, 9, 10, 12, 14.
— Lives of, 2.
— Chapel of, 149.
— Well of, 149.
Kilns, Malt, 155, 157.
Kilns in Trongate and Argyle Streets, 266,267.
Kilpatrick, Old house at, 69.
King's birth-day, 232.
Kirk-session, 194.
Kneeling at prayer, 202.
Knights Templars, 79.
Labour, Prices of, 314, 316.
Lady College, Church of Our, 146.
Laigh Kirk. See Tron Church.
Lake Dwellings, 41, 42.
Lamps first in the city, 290.
Number of, now in city, 326.
Land, State of, near Glasgow, 175.
Rise in value of, 310.
Langside, Battle of, 168.
Language, Early, 56.
Anglo-Saxon, 58.
Scottish Vernacular, 61.
French words in use in Scottish, 67.
334
Index.
Lauriston, 161.
Lawting Courts of Orkney, 52.
Leighton, Archbishop, 97, 125.
Leitch, Mr.W. L., 112.
Lennox, Earl of, 124, 168, 192.
Leper Hospital, 127.
Lepers, their costume, 127.
Letter of Guildry, 239.
Library of Cathedral, 1 1 2.
Lighting streets, 290, 326.
of London, 290.
Lindsay, Bishop, 119.
Lindsay's Port, 164.
Lint dried in Trongate, 267.
Literary history, 299.
Literature, Encouragement of, 229.
Lithotomy, 227.
Little St. Mungo's Church, 163.
Local Names, Early, 66.
Lochwood, Manor of, 123.
Lord High Treasurer, his accounts, 317.
Low, Mr. Peter, 212, 227.
Mace, The College, 139.
M* Ure, John, allowance for printing his work,
230.
Magister Ludorum, 283.
Magistrates, their rule, 214.
Nomination of, 93.
Disrespect to, 218.
Malt Kilns in Trongate, 155, 157.
Manerium de Lacu, 123.
Manors of Bishops. See Bishops.
Manse of St. Mary's, 147.
Manses, Bishop Cameron's, 74.
Markets, Public, 273.
Marriages, 201.
Marshes, Ancient, 40.
Martin, Chancellor, 125.
Mary and Anne, Church of St., 146.
Mathematics, Teacher of, 278.
Meadow Well, 131, 155.
Measures of Grain, 320.
of Length, 321.
Medan, St., his bell, 22.
Medical Practitioners, 199,
curious notices of, 307.
Melros, Liber de, 47.
Middings, 266, 268.
Militia raised in Glasgow, 173.
Miller Street, 157.
Ministers' Regiment, 213.
Mint in Glasgow, 128.
Minto, Stewart of, 140, 222.
Laird of, 200.
Mistress of Manners, 278.
Moderator, Schoolmaster chosen as, 213.
Molendinar Burn, 12, 128, 149.
Moloch, St., his pastoral staff, 15.
Monastic Settlements and Buildings, 16.
Money, Value of Scottish, 308.
Montgomery, Bishop, Opposition to settle-
ment of, 94.
Moore Park, Lands of, 312.
Moot-hill courts, 61.
Morebattle, Prebendary of, 126.
Merer, his account of Scotland, 187.
Morken, King, n.
Motto on city arms, 104.
Mount on city arms, 100.
Mountebank, Operation performed by a, 227.
Muirhead, Bishop, 125.
Mungo. See Kentigern.
Murder, Trial of student for, in College, 137.
Murdoch, Provost, his house, 156.
Murray, Regent, 168.
Music, Teachers of, 280.
Name of city, 29.
Names, Early local, 66.
Natives, Neyfs, 47.
Nave of Cathedral, 107.
Nelson Street, 157.
" Nestines," Statute against, 269.
Nether Barras Yett, 150.
New Kirk. See Tron Church.
New-kirk Yaird, 146.
News, Difficulty in obtaining, 305.
Newshot Isle, 122.
Newspaper, The first, 305.
New Vennel, 128.
Nicholas', St., Hospital, 102, 125.
Night Guard, 291.
Ninian, St., 4, 12.
Nomination of Magistrates, 93.
Northumbria, Kingdom of, 32.
Notaries appointed by archbishop, 193.
Notitia of David L, 34.
Nuisances in streets, 266.
Index.
335
Ornaments in Cathedral, 112, 115.
Paganism of Scotland, 4.
Pageants, Mediaeval, 285.
Parks, Public, 284.
Parliaments, Representation of burghs in, 90.
Partick, residence of Bishops, 120.
— Castle, 121.
Patrick, St., Churches founded by, 6.
Patrol, Night, by citizens, 292.
Patronage, 195.
Peat-stacks in Trongate, 267.
Pedagogy, The Auld, 132.
People, their habits and how they lived, 181,
255, 266, 271, 273.
— their Food, 182, 184, 185.
— their Dress, 183, 185, 187.
Pest in Glasgow, 269.
Pestilences, 162.
Pet animals of old saints, 29.
Pews in churches, 214.
Philipshaugh, 215.
Piazzas under houses, 144.
Pictland, 38.
Picts, their conversion by St. Ninian, 5, 32.
Highland clans descended from, 56.
their language, 56.
Pile dwellings, 42.
Pilgrimages to Rome, 190.
Pillar, place of penitence, 202.
Piper, The town's, 224.
Plack pyes, 279.
Plaids, Wearing of, prohibited, 186, 203.
— Manufacture of, 247.
Plays in taverns, 283.
Pointhouse, Lands of, 312.
Point Isle, 122.
Police, 289, 290.
— Increase in expenditure of, 325, 326.
Poor, Assessment for, 199, 298.
— Cost of maintaining, 299.
Population, 154.
Port, Nether Barras Yett, 150.
— East or Gallowgate, 148, 163.
— West, 155,163.
— Stable Green, 163.
Castle Yett, 163.
— Subdean, 163.
Lindsay's, 164.
Rottenrow, 164.
Port, Water, 164.
Brig, 165.
— Glasgow made an independent, 265.
Porters, Scale of Charges by, 294.
Portraits for town, 230.
Ports, City, how kept, 162.
— Regulation of, by session, 203.
Postage, Rates of, 296.
Post-office, First, in Glasgow, 296.
Present, 326.
Posts, 295, 296.
Poverty, Sales of property on account of, 80.
— Magistrates helping, 226.
Prsepositus, 85. See Provosts.
Prebends of Church of St.Mary and Anne, 1 47.
Precedence, Question of, 220.
Presbytery, Members of, ejected, 172.
Jurisdiction of, 211.
Presents by magistrates, 232, 242.
Prices of Old Properties, 158, 308, 310.
— of Commodities, 313, 314, 317.
in England, 315.
— of Labour, 314, 316.
— of Horses, 317.
of other items, 315-317.
in Glasgow, 319, 321.
in Rutherglen, 321.
in the Highlands, 322.
Priests, Delinquent, 190.
Princess of Wales, Present to, 242.
Printing, First introduction of, 300.
Type making, 301.
Prison, 140.
Castle used as, 173.
in Drygate, 201.
— in College steeple, 137.
— in Blackfriars' steeple, 202.
Prisoners, 141, 143.
Property, Value of, 1 58. See Prices.
Protocol Register, 190.
Provan, Lord of, 127.
Provanside, Lands of, 312.
Provisions, Prices of, 313. See Prices.
Provosts — Praspositi, 84, 90, 221, 225.
— Nomination of, 91.
— Presents to, 223.
generally men of rank, 221.
Fees to, 223.
Costume of, 224.
Punishments, 216, 219.
336
Index.
Quay, The first, 263.
Queen Street, 179.
Ramshorn Grounds, 130, 157.
— Church, 158.
Ray, Bishop, his bridge, 105.
Ray's Travels, 75, 186.
Rebel prisoners, 173.
Reformation, its effects, 95.
Regiam Majestatem, expense of printing it,
302.
Regiment raised by city, 172, 173.
by ministers, 213.
Register of Burials, 297.
Reindeer, Remains of, found in the Clyde, 262.
Relative Values in early and later times, 323.
Relics in Cathedral, 1 1 3.
Religious life of people, 196.
Renfrew, 151.
Castle of, 260.
— Island at, 261.
Herring fishing at, 261.
a shipping port, 266.
Rental of Archbishops, 36.
- of City, 325.
Rentallers, 82, 95, 176.
Rents of Houses, 272.
Repair of Cathedral, 109, 115.
Restoration, The, its injurious effects, 171.
Revolution, The, its advantages to the city, 98.
Rhydderch, King, u.
Riddle, Turning the, 208.
Ring on city arms, 26.
Rise in value of Land, 310.
River Clyde, Geology of, 248-262.
— in twelfth century, 260.
River and Harbour, 248.
Robert, Bishop, 131.
Roman Wall, 8, 261.
- Empire, 5, 7.
— Bowl found in Green, 249, 255.
— Causeway, 258.
Rottenrow, 128.
Russell, Jeremy, 130.
Rutherglen, its exactions on Glasgow, 84.
— Port of, 265.
Sabbath desecration, 206, 213.
Salmon in city arms, 26.
— Fishings, 150.
Salmon, Prices of, 151.
Salmon-fishers, Houses and huts of, 151.
Salters, Slavery of, 51.
Saltmarket, 150.
Samian Bowl, 249.
Sanitary Condition of City, 266.
Sanctuary of the Blackfriars, 131.
Sang School, The, 147.
Saracen's Head Inn, 140.
Saxon immigration, 46.
Schools, 276.
Scotia, the territorial designation, 32.
Scottish Dialect, 3. See Language.
Scottish Money, Value of, 308.
Scouler, Dr., 251, 262.
Sculptured arms on castle, 116, 117.
Seal of Cause of Surgeons and Barbers, 228.
Seals, Ancient, 26.
Seals of Cause, 90.
of Earls of Lennox, 124.
Searchers on Sundays, 197.
Seats in church, 202.
Secrecy in council meetings, 220.
Sedan Chairs, 295.
Sedulius, Bishop, 32.
See of Glasgow, its possessions, 1 12.
Serfdom, Voluntary, 50.
Serfs, 47.
— Sales of, 47, 48, 51.
Manumission of, 49.
Servanus, St., 9.
Session, General, 194.
Sewage, 266.
Sewers, Common, 292.
Shipbuilding on Clyde, 325.
Shoes of Border Scots, 182.
Silver plate given for defence of town, 169
Slaughtering Cattle in Trongate, 268, 269.
Slayance, Letters of, 212.
Smooring Bairns, 208.
Social history, 215.
Somerled, Invasion by, 260.
South Port, 150.
Southern immigration, 46.
Spates in River, 255.
Spinning Schools, 277.
Springfield, Canoes found at, 250.
Stable Green, 124.
— Port, 163.
Stained Glass in Cathedral, 114.
Index.
337
Stalls in Cathedral, 114.
Stewarts of Minto, 140.
Stipends of ministers, Inadequate, 214.
Stobcross, 159.
— Lands of, 310.
Stockwell, 152, 153.
Stones, Old sculptured, 116, 118.
Strath clyde, Britons of, i, 32.
Streets, Old, 124.
Expense of cleaning, 326,
Students, 138. See College.
Sugar-house, Wester, 155.
Sugar-trade, Increase of, 325.
Sumptuary laws of James VI., 224.
Sunday, its limits, 205.
Surgeons, The town's, 227.
Swearers, Swearing, 199, 212, 275.
Swine going at large in Trongate, 267.
Tarras, Castle, 124.
Taverns, 232, 272, 274.
— Plays in, 283.
Tea, First use of, 272, 275.
— Increase of trade in, 325.
Templars, Knights, their possessions in Glas-
gow, 79.
Temporal lordship of Glasgow, 93.
Tenew's Well, St., 144.
Tenure of Property, 80.
Thatched Houses in Trongate, 266.
Theft by priest, 190.
Thenew, Tanew, St., 144.
Thieves, Sales of, 52.
Thomas of Canterbury, St., 144.
Tiends of Yairds of Glasgow, 129.
Tobacco, Gifts of, 237.
Lords, 237.
Trade, 243.
Tolbooth, Old, 140.
- Heigh, 143.
See Prisons.
Tor Abbey, Grange of, 14.
Tower of Cathedral, Western, 107.
Town's Hospital, 204, 247, 299.
First Report of, 247.
Trade of Glasgow, 239, 244, 325.
Traders above the Cross, 96.
Trades House, the old, 127.
Tradeston, 160.
Tree on city arms, 27.
Trees of St. Kentigern, 149.
Trenches, City, 166, 167.
Tron Church, 146.
Tucker Mr. — his report to Cromwell, 265.
Tulchan Bishops, 97.
Turnbull, Bishop, Charter in favour of, 88.
Turning the Riddle, 208.
Type-making, Introduction of, 301.
Union, The, impetus given by it to trade, 241.
Ure's History of Rutherglen, 265.
Usury, 213.
Value of Old Properties, 308.
Values, Relative, of commodities, 323.
Vennel, New, 128.
— Stinking, 164.
Vestments of Cathedral, 1 1 2.
Via, Vicus, Furcarum, 148.
— Fullonum, 150.
— Piscatorum, 152.
Vicars of the Choir, ancient writ relating to, 64.
Vicars, Place of the, 125.
Virginia Street, 157.
Viridarium Commune, 284.
Votive Offerings, 144.
Wages, 314, 316, 321. See Prices.
Walcargate, 150.
Walkinshaw, Miss, 174.
Walls of Glasgow, 162.
Ward-house in Blackfriars steeple, 201.
Watch, Public, 290.
Water Inch, 122.
Port, Plan of, 165.
Water Supply, first survey for, 294.
Watering Streets, 292.
Water- works, Glasgow, 294.
— Cranstonhill, 294.
— Gorbals, 294.
— Corporation, 294.
Watt, James, 304.
his report on river, 263.
Wattled Houses, 69.
Weems, 38.
Weirs in River, 254, 265.
Well, St. Tenew's, 144.
- Bogle's, 293.
— Meadow, 131, 135, 293.
— at Barras Yett, 293.
338 Index.
Well, St. Kentigern's, 149.
— West Port, 293.
Priest's, 293.
— Vennell, 293.
— Arns, 294.
Wells, Public, 292.
Welsh Language, 57.
Western Tower of Cathedral, 107.
White Inch, 122.
William the Lion, his charter to the bishops,
83.
William and Mary, Address to, 98.
their portraits, 231.
Windmill, 160.
Windmillcroft, 160.
Windows in Cathedral, 1 14.
Wine, Use of, 188, 189.
Presents of, to the provosts, 223.
Witchcraft, 208, 210.
Witches, 142.
Wolf compelled to plough by Kentigern, 175.
Wolves, 175, 176.
Wooden Houses, 70, 74.
Writers, 193.
Wycliffe, his dialect, 60.
Wyschard, Bishop, his seal, 27, 101.
Xiphiline, historian, 37.
Yairds of Glasgow, 129.
York, Duke of, in Glasgow, 172.
Yorkhill, Lands of, 310.
GLASGOW: w. G. BLACKIE AND co., PRINTERS, VILLAFIELD.
DA 890 .65 M2 1880 IMS
Macgeorge, Andrew,
Old Glasgow 47089889
LIBRARY
InffiMo of Modiwval
113 ST. JOSEPH STREET
TORONTO, ONT., CAMADA MSS U4
Live Music Archive
Librivox Free Audio
Metropolitan Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Internet Arcade
Console Living Room
Books to Borrow
Open Library
TV News
Understanding 9/11