Kirk in the Craigs IV.
James Dodson
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CHAPTER IV.
LOCAL DETAILS: (1) The Site.
Returning to Stirling and to 1783, we find that in that year the congregation set about securing a site and erecting a church of their own. They fixed upon the site of the present church. This is the legal description of it:—“All and haill that yard and vacant ground lying in the East Craigs of Stirling, and byre and outhouses built thereon, bounded on the north by the middle road through the Craigs, on the south by the principal road to Polmaise thro’ the said Craigs, on the west by a piece of vacant ground or road which leads to the late Mr Stewart’s trench, and on the east by the yard now belonging to John Paton, weaver, and Alexander Stewart, and that as for principal and in special warrandice & security thereof, all and haill these tenements and yards belonging to Alexander Fairley & spouse, lying in the said Craigs on the south side of the principal road leading thro’ the Craigs to Polmaise.” The following is a copy of the receipt granted for the price thereof:—
We, Alexander Fairley, residenter in Craigs of Stirling, and Jean Cruickshanks, spouses, grants us to have received from Mr William Brown,
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merchant in Stirling, for John Risk, tenant in Touchgorm, the sum of ten pounds sterling money as the price of the yard or vacant ground in the East Craigs of Stirling, and one pound sterling as a complement to me, the said Jean Cruickshanks. In witness whereof we subscribe these presents at Stirling the sixth day of June, seventeen hundred and eighty-three years. Before these witnesses, Donald M‘Kenzie, residenter in Stirling, and John M‘Gibbon, writer thereof, and hereof.
ALEX. FAIRLEY.
JEAN CROOKSHANKS.
JOHN M‘GIBBON, Witness.
DONALD M‘KENZIE, Do.
Sites were cheap in those days if compliments were dear.
By disposition and assignation of date, September, 1784, James Risk, tenant in Touchgorm, conveyed certain lands, yards, and houses in the Craigs of Stirling, to the Rev. John McMillan, minister of the gospel in Stirling, William Brown, merchant there, Robert Harvie, manufacturer there, Archibald Gilchrist, manufacturer there, George Dickson, weaver and portioner of Newhouse, William Robertson, tenant in Bandeath, John Kerr, tenant in Stewart Hall, Thomas Forfar, weaver in Bannockburn, John Cowan, tenant in Burnhouse of Touch, Thomas Downie, portioner of Norriston, and John Thomson, senr., shoemaker in Black-quarter,
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(2) The Trustees.
With the exceptions that the names of Thos. Galloway and Adam Dawson are substituted for those of Wm. Brown and John Thomson, these were the original trustees of the church. They were appointed at a congregational meeting held on 8th July, 1783.
The Trustees were “bound and obliged faithfully to account for the whole profits, rents, & duties of the premises, and to bestow and lay out the same for the support of the ministers officiating for the time to the said congregation, and for maintenance of the said meeting house, and carrying on the dispensation of the ordinances therein, in such manner as they shall be directed from time to time by the majority of the congregation so owning and adhering to the Testimony in favours of the said Covenanted reformation. It being understood that such of the said congregation as shall decline from the said Testimony shall have no interest or concern in the premises.” . . . . . . . . .
At the same meeting at which the Trustees were appointed, Messrs Wm. Ker, Wm. Brown, Wm. Russell, John Risk, John Forfar, Thos. Nicoll, Geo. Dickson, Wm. Nielson, Jas. Weir, and Thos. Gilchrist, were appointed to assist in borrowing money for the building expenses. The friends who advanced the money were the Rev. John Muschet, one of the ministers of Stirling, £120; Mr John Robin, Bannockburn, £20; Mr Thomas Touch, farmer, Touchadam, £20; and Mr John Thomson, shoemaker,
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Auchenbowie, £10. There is pleasing evidence of kindly feeling and confidence in the fact that Mr Muschet advanced money for such a purpose, and that he advanced so large a sum. In time the above obligations were all honourably met.
(3) The Building of the Kirk.
Mr Robert Taylor’s estimate for the building of the walls of the church was accepted on 4th June, 1783. He promised to build the walls two feet six inches thick, and to finish his work by 1st Oct., 1783. Mr Taylor was certainly a substantial builder, as these walls still testify. On 4th Aug., 1783, Messrs John M. Gibbons, wright, and Archd. Telford, contracted for the roof and the seats, giving as their cautioner that the work should be sufficiently done Michael Connal, merchant, Stirling.
Mr Taylor’s account for building alone—free-stone, sand, and lime, were all “laid to his hand”—amounted to £61 4s 8d; while Messrs Gibbons and Telford’s came in all to £120 2s 11d; James Stobo did the plaster work, and the smith work was entrusted to John Bell. The total outlay seems to have amounted to £284 9s 8d.
These sums seem small, but it must be borne in mind that all the work was of the plainest character, and that the price of labour was much less than it is now. For example—the work of a mason was charged for by his master at 1s 2d per day; a mason’s labourer was charged for at 10d, sometimes 1s. A joiner’s work was put down at from 1s to 1s 4d. When the church roof
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was “fogged” in 1785, Mr John Caddle, slater, charged per day for his own and each man’s labour, 1s 8d.
(4) How the Kirk was paid for.
This outlay was liquidated in three ways:—(1) The Trustees and the Committee appointed to assist them went in pairs to the various “quarters” of the congregation, to ascertain what “superscriptions” the members were able to afford in the undertaking. (2) Some were appointed to wait on outside friends, and in this way contributions reached the congregation even from Glasgow. (3) The Kirk Session gave £31 5s 6d from their funds; and four public collections were made, which yielded £17 16s 8d. When the whole amount was gathered, it reached the sum of £292 10s 6½d. Mr William Brown—the worthy Treasurer at the time—must have had his mind relieved when he found that instead of being in debt—a condition which the Cameronians always dreaded—he had a balance in hand of over £8. For this more than sufficed to pay the legal fees of Mr John McGibbon—the Town Clerk—which amounted to £5 19s 8½d. The book of “superscriptions,” which is extant, is quite a curiosity in its way. The minister himself was the largest subscriber; among the people Mr William Brown—a most useful and liberal member—comes next, and then Mr Archibald Gilchrist. Doctor John Forrest, Mr Michael Connal, Mr Ebenezer Connal, and Mr John Connal, merchants, Stirling (the latter
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described as a “merchant, dyer,”) all find a place. Andrew Wallace, Esq. of Forthside gave no money, but subscribed “two chalders lime in compliment.” An interesting entry is this, which touchingly tells that Mr McMillan was not forgotten in his father’s house.—“Janet Cunningham, servant in Sandhills, 5s.” The last subscription which came in was from the Bridge of Allan, from “John the Peapr (paper) maker.” Strange that they did not know John’s surname at the time! I find from another paper that that last half-crown came from John Ferguson.
I was assured on the high authority of Mr W. B. Cook that the John Cowan mentioned above belonged to the same family as the famous John Cowane—the benefactor of Stirling. This is confirmed by the present representatives of the Thomson family, who, last century, were neighbours of the Cowans. The Thomsons and the Cowans intermarried, so that the family referred to now represents both branches.
Mr Robert Harvie was a carpet manufacturer, the grandfather of Miss Harvey, Albert Place; of Mrs McLuckie, Carbrook Lodge; and of the late John Harvey, Esq., Park Terrace, whose first wife (Isabella Binnie) was a sister of Dr Binnie, the third minister of the Craigs Church. Mr Archibald Gilchrist was a manufacturer in Port Street. Dr John Forrest was the son of the Rev. David Forrest of Inverkeithing, and the maternal grandfather
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of Dr Wm. Johnston, Pitt Terrace. Michael Connal—designated merchant, Stirling—afterwards three times Provost of the Burgh, was the grandfather of the late Sir Michael Connal of Parkhall and Arngomery. Mr William Nielson or Neilson was the father of the famous publisher, Thomas Nelson.
The “church yard dyke” was built in May, 1784, by Mr Robert Taylor at a cost of £5 7s 9d. Robert had confidence in his employers, for he says on his receipt—“To the stones quarreieng for the work I leave to your selfs to judge of.” Robert allows a discount of 4s 9d. and grants his discharge on July 12th, 1784. Sand, lime, and carting came to £2 11s 4d, so that the total cost of the wall was £7 19s 1d.
The Session-house was not built at the same time as the Church. On 31st Oct., 1785, the trustees agreed that it should be built at the east end of the Church. I cannot find any record as to the execution of this work. But the Session-house must have been built for some time before 12th Aug., 1788, for at that date there is an account rendered by John King for “joining up the doors of the Session-house” and furnishing “a pair of new, strong hinges.”
(5) Finance: Some Quaint Entries.
It may be well here to introduce some information about the management of the financial affairs of the congregation in the early days of the century. In 1804 the elders appear to
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have been—Peter Baxter, John Dunn, James Henderson, John Ker, Thomas McFarlane, Robert Mitchell, John Nuckel (Nicol), and Alexander Pearson. By the same process of inference from the managers’ book, I think the list of managers at the above date may have been—James Cuthel, Ebenezer Dickson, John Forrester, Robert Gillespie, Alexander McDonald, William Nilson, and James Paterson.
Education was but scanty in those days. Sound, rather than a sense of correctness, guided the worthy men who so carefully and correctly kept the old books still in possession of the congregation. Some of them signed their names in a variety of ways. But this was common then.
The managers’ book at the time referred to has, on the one side, a record of the collections taken on the Sabbath days; and, on the other, a record of the payments made. This book has been duly audited at regular intervals by the preses of the congregation for the time being; while the session book contains only the collections, and so forms a check on the other.
The entries are, in many cases, quaint and curious. At Communion times both collections and disbursements became comparatively large. For instance, in 1805, the collections at the Communion services, from the Thursday to the Monday, came to £9 6s 5d; the Monday collection being actually £3 13s 10½d, or threepence more than was drawn on the Sabbath.
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Among the payments appear some items which look strange to us now. The congregation would, no doubt, be lavish up to their means in their private hospitality to strangers. Over and above that, 30 lb. of beef at 6d per lb. and 14 lb. of mutton at the same price, besides a leg of lamb at 2s 6d, were provided in July, 1805. Bread, cheese, and various drinkables were not awanting. For the use of the Well-Green, the Craigs folks had to pay 9s. This would cover any temporary damage from the putting up of the “tent”—a moveable wooden pulpit—and the placing of the tables and forms for the accommodation of the worshippers. It was worth while paying the 9s, besides 1s for the erection of the tent, when any notable stranger-ministers were assisting. An old member of the congregation, who was baptized by Mr McMillan in the Waterloo year, has told me that she often heard the old people saying when she was a girl that they had heard a better sermon in the Well-Green than ever they had heard in the Kirk.
The minister got an allowance of £5 or £6 to meet his extra outlay and to pay the assisting ministers. So far back as 1787 the receipt granted to Mr McMillan—which somehow has found its way among the congregational accounts—shows that the Rev. Walter Grieve got £3 3s “in consideration of his assistance on the solemn work of the sacrament.” The receipt is dated at Viewforth.
The usual payment to a preacher over and above his board and the keep of his horse (which
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last was generally charged 2s 6d) was £1 in 1804. When Mr Sprott preached in 1815 he got £1 5s.
At the former of these dates, eggs cost 10d a dozen; peats were 8d a hundred; coals were 7d per cwt.; a horse shoe cost 1s. In 1812 a supply of mustard sufficient for 7s 4d worth of butcher meat was procured for 3d.
For his extra trouble at the communion times, Peter, the door-keeper, was always remembered, as also for attending to the minister’s horses, and keeping the college door open for the students. Twice a year the good man had a trying ordeal to go through. He had to sign his name. With plenty of ink he could make a most effective signature. Seeing that his ordinary salary was so small—about £2 yearly—he certainly deserved, if he did not get, “one pound of a compliment.”
The Craigs folks were not rich, but they always responded liberally to objects in which they were interested. In 1809 and 1810 they made collections “for the support of our brethren at loarn” (Lorn.). In 1814 they contributed £6 13s 7d “for the support of the Gospel in Distant Corners belonging to the Reformed Synod.”
In 1806 a very liberal collection was taken. What moved the R.P.’s so deeply, that, out of their poverty, they raised on Oct. 22nd over £10? This was the contribution of the Craigs congregation for the library. They showed their desire for the continuance of a learned ministry, and they showed their love for the students who
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came yearly to study here and live among them, by that handsome collection. To one who loves books, it is of interest to find that here were not only the first Theological College of the denomination, but the nucleus of a collection of books which afterwards came to be considerable in number and value.
The only connection Professor McMillan had with the financial affairs of the congregation was to receive his salary from Mr Adam M‘Laren or Mr Robert Harvey, who, in succession, occupied the position of preses of the managers. Careful, worthy men they must have been. They did what they could in their day. They have had many and worthy successors.
VIEWFORTH.
During the early years of his ministry, I understand that Mr McMillan resided at Bothwell Hall at the top of St. John Street. In February, 1784, he bought from the Town Council over four acres of the park near St Ninians Well for the sum of £187 19s 7d, with £1 yearly as feu-duty. The place was known as Viewforth, and on it he built a dwelling-house and offices, as shown in Wood’s plan of Stirling of date 1820. From about 1785 he lived there, until nearly the date of his death. It was a white harled house, plain in style, and fairly commodious. Behind the house, across the courtyard, were the minister’s stable and byre.
On the morning of a Communion Sabbath, Dr Mason of Wishawtown, who was one of the
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ministers assisting, prayed earnestly that the dwelling might be kept while the solemn work of the day proceeded. In the evening, Mr McMillan remarked to the other brethren that one part of the morning prayer had not been answered; for, in the absence of the family, some one had broken into the stable and done some damage. “I think, Professor,” said Dr Mason, “that the prayer has been answered. That is not an inbreaking, but an outbreaking.”
The late Mr Peter Drummond acquired and added to the house after Mr McMillan’s son’s time. The late Mr James Paton still further extended it, until it has become the handsome mansion now occupied by John Paton, Esq.