Kilbirnie West
James Dodson
Illustration: exterior and interior photographs.
THE CHURCH.
KILBIRNIE WEST 11
I
THE ORIGINS OF THE CONGREGATION
One of the most interesting examples of the evolution of a Church occurred during the eighteenth century, when what became the Reformed Presbyterian Church of Scotland was gradually established as an ecclesiastical organisation. At the beginning of the century it consisted of a community of isolated societies which were scattered over the south of Scotland, literally as sheep without a shepherd. These societies held meetings as best they could—in kitchens, barns and caves—and in the absence of a stated ministry their members did what they could to encourage and edify the brethren by meditation, prayer, and reading of the Word. It was not till 1708 when the famous John M‘Millan of Balmaghie adhered to them that they, for the first time since the days of Cameron and Renwick, had the benefit of ministerial supervision and assistance. The accession of a second minister enabled a Presbytery to be set up in 1743, and from that date the organisation of the Church proceeded apace.
Pencilled marginal note beside “1708”: “1706”.
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The first step in the concentration of the people into congregations took place in 1762, when all the scattered societies were divided into two sections—a northern and a southern—each under the charge of two ministers. The Northern Congregation comprised all the adherents of the Church in Fife, the Lothians, the Lower Ward of Lanarkshire, Stirling, Dumbarton, Renfrew, and Ayr, and the ministers allocated to it were John Thorburn, who resided at Pentland in Midlothian, and the second John M‘Millan, who ultimately settled down at Sandyhills, near Glasgow. From 1775 onwards the process of concentration was accelerated. Certain places began to be recognised as the centres of their respective districts, even although they could not claim any special right to the services of the ministers allocated to their whole region. The supply of students for the ministry was never adequate to the needs of the Church, but as preachers of the Gospel were licensed and as opportunity offered, suitable men were settled at the most necessitous centres. Although Kilmacolm in the west was early recognised as one of the most populous centres of a widespread district, it was at Bridge of Weir that the Rev. Thomas Henderson was ordained on April 26, 1787, over the extensive parish of which it was a part.
The region placed under Mr Henderson’s inspection comprised the northern parts of Ayrshire, the county of Renfrew, the Leven valley across the Clyde, the lochs of Argyle, and even distant Lorne—where a revival movement late in the century had brought many adherents under the jurisdiction of the Re-
REV. THOMAS HENDERSON 13
formed Presbytery. With such an extensive parish it was impossible that there could be great continuity of services at any one place, and at the beginning of the nineteenth century an arrangement was at work whereby Mr Henderson’s ministrations were secured to necessitous localities at regular intervals. The district which included the townships of Dalry, Beith, Kilbirnie, and Lochwinnoch, had sermon once every six weeks. For this and for “ministerial visitation and examinations which were punctually attended to,” they paid the fourth part of Mr Henderson’s stipend, which, beginning at £45 per annum, rose ultimately to £80. It would have been difficult to maintain spiritual efficiency under such conditions had it not been for the prayer and fellowship societies which continued their beneficent work. The dispensation of the Lord’s Supper naturally was infrequent because its due celebration was considered of such importance that several ministers were required for its proper administration, and the paucity of qualified men necessarily reduced the number of occasions for the whole Church. Kilmacolm was the spot most convenient for Mr Henderson’s scattered flock, and, when the sacrament was appointed to be observed there, communicants reached the place from all quarters. The arrangement may have had many disadvantages, but it had at least one desirable effect: it allowed the people to know one another and brought the farthest adherent into contact with the centres of interest.
The name most closely connected with the origins of the Kilbirnie congregation is that of William Orr
14 KILBIRNIE WEST
of Kilbirnie Place. He died at Causeyfoot in reduced circumstances on October 25, 1814, leaving behind a great reputation for the sanctity of his character and devotion to the cause of religion in his neighbourhood. It may have been he who, about the beginning of the century, led the people in Kilbirnie, Beith, and Dalry to think that their combined societies were strong enough to support a minister of their own. The proposal took shape so far that they planned the erection of a place of worship for themselves, “of rude construction, not seated with pews, but with a pulpit and rough planks.” The building project, however, had to be abandoned for a time through the death of Robert Knox, who is described as “the most active” among those who were promoting the scheme.
Though still nominally under the care of Mr Henderson, the societies working in co-operation with that of Kilbirnie seem to have had power of approach to the local Presbytery as an independent community with interests of their own. At least the Presbytery, acting on its noble officium, granted them special privileges. The first time that the name of Kilbirnie occurs in the official records of the Church as a separate religious community is on February 26, 1821, when supply of sermon was granted to it, the preacher being the Rev. Robert Winning, M.A., afterwards of Eaglesham. By the same authority the sacrament was dispensed, apparently for the first time in the village, on July 15, 1821, the chief officiating minister being the Rev. Hugh Young of Laurieston.
Illustration: portraits captioned Mrs Ferguson. Mrs Martin. Mrs Davidson. Mrs Anderson.
THE MISTRESSES OF THE MANSE.
DEATH OF MR HENDERSON 15
The first reference in the minutes of the Kilmacolm congregation to the desire of the Kilbirnie friends for a separate existence is made in the minute of the congregational meeting held on November 6, 1820. Commissioners appeared from Kilbirnie to plead for permission to be disjoined, but the proposal was referred to the various societies composing the congregation for their opinion. On the 5th of the following February the matter was again brought up, but again no decision was reached. The proposal then appears to have been dropped, for several meetings of the congregation were held at which no steps were taken. The cause of the delay was probably consideration for their minister, who was opposed to any separation.
Mr Henderson died on October 18, 1823, after a long and laborious ministry of thirty-six years, and, the personal element being thus removed, the movement for a disjunction was renewed. The people of Kilbirnie held a meeting on October 27, when they did what they could to organise themselves into a congregation. They appointed managers and resolved to ask the Presbytery for separate pulpit supply. At a further meeting on November 21 they determined to approach the Kilmacolm congregation for a disjunction, and, to remove any objection, resolved at the same time to raise their necessary share of the stipend required and of the funeral expenses of their late minister. The Kilmacolm congregation met on December 2, and it was evident that they did not approve of the action of their brethren, for they made some recommenda-
16 KILBIRNIE WEST
tions which it was hoped they would “fall in with.” They also resolved again to refer the application for disjunction to the various societies. But the claimants were not disposed to wait, and on December 15 they resolved to apply direct to the Presbytery. The dispute with their fellow members, however, was finally adjusted on January 1, 1824, the congregational minute of that date reading: “The meeting took into consideration the motion of a disjunction with the people of Kilbirnie and called a vote which carried for it, but still look on them as liable for their proportion of any debt that may be on the meeting-house here or deficiency of stipend.” There was reason for some anxiety on the part of the Kilmacolm members. They had recently erected a church, and the debt on it was still lying heavy on their hands. They were also going forward to elect a successor to Mr Henderson, and the collection of his stipend must have seemed somewhat precarious. Not only were the friends in Greenock pressing for a similar disjunction, but the members in Johnstone were clamouring for permission to unite themselves with Paisley, which had also recently left the mother church at Kilmacolm. The obligation resting on the Kilbirnie people was not put at a high figure. An addendum to the minute of December 2 declares that the sum of £5 would meet all the claims on them, but even that was resisted.
Long afterwards Mr John Muir, an elder in the Kilbirnie congregation, who knew the events at first hand, showed how difficult it had been for the good people of Kilbirnie to attain their end. “The societies
DISJUNCTION GRANTED 17
now forming this congregation,” he said, “appointed John Shedden and James Miller to meet with the brethren at Kilmacolm, settle pecuniary affairs, and request a disjunction. They were very averse to doing so, and stated as a reason that they were about to call Mr Halliday, then a probationer, who afterwards became minister at Airdrie, but in the event of their proving successful in getting him, they promised to grant a disjunction after his ordination. Our commissioners argued that it was very unreasonable for them to call a young man who expected to have us under his charge, while they knew to the contrary. When that argument failed, they stated that they had some debt, and required us to pay some proportion of it. To this our commissioners replied that, if we did so, we would require the same proportion of the seat rents from them, and ultimately we succeeded in getting a free disjunction”—all which shows that the fathers of the Kilbirnie church were shrewd men.
Having now obtained the consent of the brethren who were likely to suffer from their removal, the people of Kilbirnie lost no time in taking the next step. In a week they had arranged the number of congregational meetings they were to hold each year and had prepared their case for the Presbytery. Commissioners appeared at the meeting of the Western Presbytery at Crookedholm on January 13, 1824, with a formal request that the court should give effect to the decision of the Kilmacolm congregation, and should erect the petitioners into a separate congregation. No doubt the Presbytery
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had been following the procedure of the Kilbirnie friends with sympathetic interest, for they were immediately satisfied with the justice of the claim and with the means at the disposal of the congregation for maintaining their position. The request was unanimously granted. The minute in which they embodied their decision is of some local importance and may be transcribed in full from their record:
“A petition containing a representation and narrative of the disjunction between the congregation of Kilmacolm and the societies of Beith, Dalry, and Kilbirnie is received and read. The Presbytery unanimously agree to sanction the said disjunction and did, and hereby do, declare the said societies to be disjoined accordingly.”
It is a pity that the document laid before the Presbytery is not now available; like many another valuable paper it disappeared long ago. At the same meeting the Kilmacolm congregation asked for moderation in a call, and their request was granted—a request which ultimately issued in the Rev. William M‘Lachlan being settled over them as their minister. Inspired perhaps by the success of Kilbirnie, the adherents of the church at Greenock asked for a disjunction, but the Presbytery judged the time inopportune, and set the petition aside. The parent congregation would have been weakened too much if they also had succeeded.
The newly formed congregation at once set about
BUILDING A CHURCH 19
putting its house in order. They met on February 11 and elected suitable managers. Those chosen were:
John Muir,
Andrew Lusk,
Joseph Barr,
Gavin Riddet,
William Knox,
John Shedden,
John Allan, and
William Craig.
At the same meeting it was also determined to use all diligence to obtain a suitable place of worship. As has already been indicated the people had laboured under some disadvantage regarding a meeting-house. “The preaching,” we read, “was upon Mr Knox’s green when the weather was good, sometimes in a cotton mill belonging to the late Gavin Riddet [now Stoneyholm Mill], and at other times in a flat of a cotton mill where J. W. Campbell’s now stands.” Heartened, however, by their success with the Presbytery, the people set themselves diligently to obtain a building in which they could meet with comfort. They secured the site on which the present church stands from Robert Harvie, who is described as a “labourer in Montgomerystone of Kilbirnie” and its “heritable proprietor,” with the concurrence of William Cochran of Ladylands, the superior. The Instrument of Sasine is dated January 20, 1827, but the church had by that time been built, for they had the satisfaction of entering it for the first time on Sabbath, April 20, 1825, when the Rev. John Milwain of Douglas Water preached and consecrated the building. The trustees named for the property are still of interest:
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Alexander Orr, surgeon, Lochwinnoch.
Joseph Barr, Gateside, Kilbirnie.
John Shedden, contractor, Kilbirnie.
Gavin Riddet, cotton spinner, Kilbirnie.
William Craig, weaver, Kilbirnie.
William Knox, thread manufacturer, Kilbirnie.
John Muir, currier, Beith.
If Dr Orr was ever a member of the congregation he did not remain attached to it. For many years he was an elder at Kilmacolm, and became known throughout the Church for his piety and usefulness. He died on March 28, 1849.
The amount paid for the site and for the building of the church has not been ascertained, but the feu-duty was arranged at the satisfactory price of 5s. 3d. per annum. It is stated that it was due to the good offices of Dr Orr that the superior agreed not to exact the year’s rent as entry money at each single successor. The duty paid by the congregation still remains as at first fixed and is in perpetuity. Some difficulty was experienced in determining the form of the building. “The old people still retained the idea of a church in the barn form, and of rude construction, but the younger members insisted on having something respectable.” As originally built, the church contained no gallery. It was described as “a neat and commodious chapel.”
Nothing was now needed to complete the organisation of the congregation except a kirk-session. On April 26, 1824, it was resolved to petition the Presbytery to aid them in setting up the necessary
Illustration: photograph of the manse and group photograph.
THE MANSE.
THE LADIES’ WORK PARTY, 1923.
THE FIRST SESSION 21
court. The Presbytery appointed the Rev. John Fairley of Glasgow, along with two elders as assessors, to carry out the wishes of the people, and on Sabbath, July 18, Robert Miller was ordained as elder and William Shedden, who had been ordained elsewhere, was inducted into office. At their first meeting the same evening,
John Muir,
James Miller,
Bryce Muir, and
Agnes Craig
were admitted as the first members of the new congregation, joining on the profession of their faith.