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General Quintus
Lollius Urbicus
There is very little
known about this Roman General, Indeed according to Burton "The
meagreness of all ancient
record, of the achievements of Lollius Urbicus is worthy of emphatic
mention and recollection, because his name has got into the ordinary
abridged histories which speak of it, and of 'his campaign in
the north', as well-known events, of which people naturally expect
fuller information elsewhere. The usual sources for reference
regarding him will however be found utterly dumb."
The
only certain piece of information is that Lollius Urbicus was
given the task
of linking the forts established by Agricola in 80 AD between
the Forth and the Clyde by building Antonine Wall. This was mainly
built by the II, IX & XII Legions, but undoubtedly they utilised
a considerable amount of slave labour.
It
has also been claimed that a Roman Province named Vespasiana
was also established
by Lollius Urbicus. The Province was said to have comprised of
the land between the Forth & Clyde and the Moray Firth. There
is of course several Roman Forts within this vast area of ground,
but there is very little evidence to link them with any northern
expeditions made by General Quintus
Lollius Urbicus.
From what records
there are it seems very unlikely that by 140 AD the Romans wanted
to establish any colony further north than Antonine Wall. Indeed
the Romans found the Caledonians so troublesome that Antonine
Wall had been temporarily abandoned in 154-5 before finally being
abandoned in 161 AD.
To examine this
unlikely claim it is perhaps worth scrutinizing what happened
between 80 AD and 139 AD when work on Antonine Wall commenced.
It is however clear
that after the Governor of the Province of Brittania, Gnaeus
Julius Agricola, came to Caledonia in A.D. 80 he reached the
River Tay with an army of about 20,000 men. He built a string
of forts between the Rivers Forth & Clyde, while being supplied
by the Roman fleet, to keep out the northern tribesmen. At Inchtuthil
on the river Tay the IX Legion built Pinnata Castra: described
as a “great fortified camp”. Agricola was recalled to Rome, but
returned three years later to conquer Morayshire and Galloway.
Having strengthened his armies with British auxiliaries from the
south Agricola returned in the summer of 84 AD intent on conquering
Northern Caledonia. At a place, which Tacitus calls Mons Grampius, near
the Fort of Ardoch the Caledonian army, amounting to some 30,000
men, under the command of Galgacus was sited. Numbering 20,000
to 30,000 the Roman Army consisted of 8,000 British Auxiliary
Infantry, occupying the centre, the wings consisting of 3,000
horse. The Roman Legions mainly consisted of Romanians, better
suited to the climate, and not Romans, but nevertheless they were
situated to the rear as a reserve to remain inactive unless specifically
required to take part, in order to avoid spilling “Roman” blood.
After the battle
of Mons Grampius, which Archaeologists believe to be in the north-east
near Raedykes, the Roman fleet went sailed north to Orkney, Fair
Isle, the Western Isles through the British channel and back to
the River Forth and Tay to investigate the topography of the British
Isles and for the first time proving Britain to be an island
Within a year of
the Roman victory at Mons Grampius the 53 acre fort at Inchtuthil,
which was to be the centre of the Province of Vespasiana, was
abandoned and the Roman Army fell back using the natural barrier
of the River earn as their front line.
Some 30 years passed
until 114 AD when the Caledonian without warning attacked the
IX Legion forts killing many of the unprepared soldiers and scattering
the rest. Without leadership the Romans tried to make their way
south, but within a week all were killed. Four years later in
118 AD a new Roman IX Legion marched north, but no trace of them
or their equipment has ever been found.
It is therefore
highly implausible that any attempt would have been made by General Quintus Lollius Urbicus to
march north to conquer the Caledonian tribes. Forts were however
built north of the Antonine Wall, such as at Duntocher in the
west and Bertha on the Earn at the eastern edge, to protect its
flanks
However
the fact that there were several Roman Forts in the area of
what is now
Bo’ness means that there would almost certainly have been a large
local indigenous community living in and farming the area. There
would most probably be a port in the local area and another at
Cramond where one can speculate that merchants would barter for
goods, slaves would be sold, soldiers and Tribunes would travel
back and forward to England and Europe.
It
was once speculated that Bridgness was at the most eastern end
of Antonine Wall because
an elaborately decorated Roman tablet, measuring 9 feet two inches
long by three feet eleven inches high, was found there in 1868. The
nature of the inscription on the tablet may indicate that Antonine
Wall started at Bridgeness instead of terminating there. The Augustan
or Second Legion responsible for building this “first section” of
Antonine Wall (Wall of 139 completed in 142 AD) completed 4652
passus of wall or Vallum. Since the Roman pace of two steps was
4.84 feet the extent of their portion of wall was four miles 465
yards. This is the distance from Bridgeness to Inveravon on the
Avon where one might expect to find the matching tablet since
one would almost undoubtedly have been erected at each end of
the Augustan section of the Wall. Whether Antonine Wall ended
or started at Bridgness or Carriden it is almost certain that
the military way would have continued eastward to reach Edinburgh.
By: Ken
Wright
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St Serf
St.
Serf (St Servanus) reached the
south shore of the Forth (where Bo’ Ness is now) and on seeing
a sunbeam light up the Ochil Hills on the opposite side took
this as a good omen and founded St Serfs Monastery on the north
bank of the Forth (Culross Abbey was built on land gifted
by Malcolm, 7th Earl of Fife, in 1217, during the reign of Alexander
II). Another version is that St. Serf, standing at Kinneil,
threw his staff over the Forth. It landed in Culross and blossomed
and as a result the Saint founded a monastery. St. Serf arrived
at Culross around 520AD as the first Christian missionary to
this wild untamed area. Brude, a Pictish king, sent men to slay
St. Serf and his followers. The saint’s life was spared when
a sudden illness overtook the king and St. Serf cured him. The
king was converted to Christianity and allowed St. Serf and
his followers to live in peace.
By: Ken
Wright
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Bede or *Baeda, St
(known as
the Venerable Bede)
(b. 673, d. 735)
Although I would speculate
that a village at Kinneil dates back to at least the time of the
building of Antonine Wall and the Roman occupation of the area,
we can be sure that it existed by the 8th Century.
This is because the Venerable Bede mentions Kinneil in the
8th Century; "called in the Pictish language Peanfahel
but in the English tongue Pennulton".
Anglo-Saxon
scholar, theologian, and historian, born near Monkwearmouth, Durham,
NE England. At the age of seven he was placed in the care of Benedict
Biscop at St Peter’s monastery at Wearmouth, and in 682 at the
age of thirteen he moved to the new monastery of Jarrow in Durham,
where he was ordained priest in 703 and remained a monk for the
rest of his life, studying and teaching. His devotion to Church
discipline was exemplary and his industry enormous. He wrote homilies,
lives of saints, lives of abbots, hymns, epigrams, works on chronology,
grammar and physical science, and commentaries on the Old and
New Testaments; and he translated the Gospel of St John into Anglo-Saxon
just before his death. His greatest work was his Latin Historia
ecclesiastica gentis anglorum (Ecclesiastical History of the English
People), which he finished in 731, and which is the single most
valuable source for early English history, earning him the title “Father
of English History”. Our fundamental measure of time the BC/AD
dating system, based on the birthdate of Christ, was popularised
by Bede. Bede was canonized in 1899; feast day 25 May.
By: Ken
Wright
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William Di Vipont
(William
de Vetereponte)
Monks of Holyrood
Abbey, Edinburgh, were granted a tithe by William Di Vipont during
the reign of William the Lion (1165-1214) to dig a tenth of the
coal from his Carriden Estate, which was then carried to Holyrood
in panniers strapped to the backs of their horses; later it was
taken to Leith by sailing ship. The tithe was significant as it
first recorded the coal-mining or more correctly at the time the
digging of coal in Scotland. He also gave Holyrood “Karedyn Church”.
In 1291 monks from Dunfermline Abbey were also given the right
to dig coal from outcrops around Bo'ness.
Note: I would like to hear from any reader who could contribute
information on the above named character.
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Sir
Gilbert Hamilton
Sir
Gilbert Hamilton fought on the side of Robert the Bruce at Bannockburn
as one of
the seven Royal Knights or bodyguards and is even reported to
have slain the “Great Lieutenant of England”. In 1329 it was Sir
Gilbert Hamilton that gave the funeral oration at the burial
of King Robert the Bruce at Dunfermline Abbey. History is not
clear whether Kinneil Estate was given to Sir Gilbert or his son
Sir Walter, but the Hamilton family history seems to err on the
side of Sir Walter. However it is my belief that since Sir Gilbert
clearly outlived King Robert, was his bodyguard at Bannockburn
(while Sir Walter sided with King Edward) and was chosen to give
King Robert’s funeral oration I tend to think that Kinneil Estate
was gifted to Sir Gilbert Hamilton although it may be that some
paperwork was done afterwards officially giving ownership to Sir
Walter.
By: Ken
Wright
The Following
is by: Thomas James Salmon
The
barony of Kinneil is one of their most ancient possessions, and is
associated with many interesting events in the
history of the family. According to “Ffrier Mark Hamiltonis Ristorie” King
Robert the Bruce gave all the lands of Kinneil to Sir Gilbert Hamilton “for
his trew service and greit manheid,” and especially for having slain “for
King Robertis pleasour the great lieutennand of Yngland upon Kynnale
Muir.” Sir Gilbert had been with the Bruce on the field of Bannockburn,
and was one of the seven knights that kept the King’s person. For
Sir Gilbert’s exploit upon Kynnale Muir, he tells us, “King Robert
gaif till him his armis till weir in Scotland thre sink fuilzies2 in.
ane bludy field.” in connection with the alleged “exploit” on the
muir, Mr. M’Kenzie has stated that in a place formerly
known as Kinneil Muir a remarkable stone lay near the road, which
was at one time used as a thoroughfare between Linlithgow and Falkirk
or Stirling. It was seven feet long, live feet broad, and three feet
thick. Its upper surface bad been roughly dressed, a groove had been
cut round the border with a cross in the centre. The stone had a monumental
appearance, but there was no vestige of tradition regarding it.The
only explanation that occurs is that it might have been meant to mark
the resting-place of “the great lieutennand of Yngland,” whoever that
worthy was. Early in the nineteenth century the stone, being an obstruction
to the plough, was blown to pieces and removed. But to return to “Schir
Gilbert.” We are told he persevered continuallv with Ring Robert “in
trew service on till ye end of his dayis, and was at his buriing in
ye Abbay of Dunfermling. He appears to have been “ane naturall oratour.” and
gave the funeral oration on that occasion.
We
have no desire to discredit the alluring narrative of the
learned “Ffrier” concerning
Sir Gilbert and his adventures at Bannockburn, and on Kinneil
Muir, but his statements do not accord with the information
given in Anderson’s “Memoirs of the House of Hamilton,” or
in the recent work of the Lyon King, Sir J. Balfour Paul.
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Sir
Walter Hamilton
It is recorded
that, in 1323, Walter Hamilton, the son of Sir
Gilbert Hamilton, was gifted Kinneil Estate by Robert the
Bruce, and although Hamilton House was the family's main seat,
their house at Kinneil became an important residence, conveniently
located for Edinburgh and the Royal Court. Walter fought on the
side of the English at Bannockburn, but changed allegiance after
the capture of Bothwell Castle, for which he was in charge of
the defence, by King Roberts's soldiers. Robert later knighted
him.
By: Ken
Wright
The Following
is by: Thomas James Salmon
The
present Duke is the twenty-third possessor, and the first of the family
is given in both these authorities as
Walter Fitz-Gilbert (Walter son of Gilbert). He appears under that
designation in 1294 or thereabouts. Walter is reported to have sworn
fealty to King Edward 1. in 1296 at Berwick, and remained an English
partisan till the capture of Bothwell Castle by a detachment of the
Scottish army after Bannockburn. Quite evidently there was a Gilbert;
but it is difficult to believe that Walter, his son, should have been
on King Edward’s side at the time of Bannockburn whilst the father,
according to the “Ffrier” was with Bruce in that battle, and “am of
the seven knights that kept the King’s person.” This may have been
possible, but it does not seem very probable.
Walter is reported to
have joined the Bruce after his capture at Bothwell Castle, and
was knighted. Later, King Robert made him several grants of land,
and among those the lands of Kinneil. Sir Walter was twice married,
and the grant of Kinneil in 1323 was to him and Mary Gordon, his
second wife, and to his heirs by her.
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Pope
Pious 11
(Aeneas Syluvious Piccolomini)
(b. 1405, d. 1446)
At
the age of 30 Aeneas Sylvius, the future Pope Pius II, visited
the area and wrote in
his journal "the poor, who almost in a state of nakedness begged
at the church door, depart with joy in their faces on receiving
stones as alms!" This account reveals that although coal was
commonly used as fuel in Scotland it was yet unknown in many parts
of Europe. This is reinforced as in another account of his visit
to Scotland the future Pope wrote, "A sulphurous stone dug
from the earth is used by the people as fuel." Although Aeneas
rode through the Lothian's it is not clear that he visited Carriden,
although as an area mined by the monks of Dunfermline and Holyrood
it is entirely possible. His voyage to Scotland in 1435 was not
without incident, he met with severe weather in the North Sea and
void that if spared he would walk from where he landed to the nearest
shrine of Our Lady. In this case he landed at Dunbar, at the mouth
of the Firth of Forth, and made a 10-mile pilgrimage through snow
and ice to the sanctuary of Whitekirk. In doing so he contracted
gout, which plagued him for the rest of his life. This visit also
indicated that he had not yet received Holy orders because of his
low moral standards and debauched life style. The record is unclear
about how long he stayed in Scotland, but it was certainly long
enough to make acquaintances and father an illegitimate child. That
he freely indulged his passions was endorsed by fathering a second
child while visiting Strasbourg.
By: Ken
Wright
The following is by: N.A. WEBER
Transcribed by Herman F. Holbrook Ubi Petrus, ibi Ecclesia.
Born at Corsignano, near Siena, 18 Oct.,
1405; elected 19 Aug., 1458; d. at Ancona, 14 Aug., 1464. He
was the eldest of eighteen children of Silvio de' Piccolomini
and Vittoria Forteguerra. Although of noble birth, straitened
circumstances forced him to help his father in the cultivation
of the estate which the family owned at Corsignano. This village
he later ranked as a town and made an episcopal residence with
the name of Pienza (Pius). Having received some elementary instruction
from a priest, he entered, at the age of eighteen, the University
of Siena. Here he gave himself up to diligent study and the
free enjoyment of sensual pleasures. In 1425 the preaching of
St. Bernardine of Siena kindled in him the desire of embracing
a monastic life, but he was dissuaded from his purpose by his
friends. Attracted by the fame of the celebrated Filelfo, he
shortly after spent two years in the study of the classics and
poetry at Florence. He returned to Siena at the urgent request
of his relatives, to devote his time to the study of jurisprudence.
Passing through Siena on his way to the Council of Basle (q.v.),
Capranica, Bishop of Fermo, invited Enea to accompany him as
his secretary. Bishop and secretary arrived there in 1432, and
joined the opposition to Pope Eugene IV.
Piccolomini, however,
soon left the service of the impecunious Capranica for more remunerative
employment with Nicodemo della Scala, Bishop of Freising, with
Bartolomeo, Bishop of Novara, and with Cardinal Albergati. He
accompanied the latter on several journeys, particularly to the
Congress of Arras, which in 1435 discussed peace between Burgundy
and France. In the same year his master sent him on a secret mission
to Scotland. The voyage was very tempestuous and Piccolomini vowed
to walk, if spared, barefoot from the port of arrival to the nearest
shrine of Our Lady. He landed at Dunbar and, from the pilgrimage
of ten miles through ice and snow to the sanctuary of Whitekirk,
he contracted the gout from which he suffered for the rest of
his life. Although on his return from Scotland Cardinal Albergati
was no longer at Basle, he determined to remain in the city, and
to his humanistic culture and oratorical talent owed his appointment
to different important functions by the council. He continued
to side with the opposition to Eugene IV, and associated particularly
with a small circle of friends who worshipped classical antiquity
and led dissolute lives. That he freely indulged his passions
is evidenced not only by the birth of two illegitimate children
to him (the one in Scotland, the other at Strasburg), but by the
frivolous manner in which he glories in his own disorders. The
low moral standard of the epoch may partly explain, but cannot
excuse his dissolute conduct. He had not yet received Holy orders,
however, and shrank from the ecclesiastical state because of the
obligation of continence which it imposed. Even the inducement
to become one of the electors of a successor to Eugene IV, unlawfully
deposed, could not overcome this reluctance; rather than receive
the diaconate he refused the proffered honour.
He was then appointed
master of ceremonies to the conclave which elected Amadeus of
Savoy to the papacy. He likewise belonged to the delegation which
was to escort to Basle in 1439 the newly- elected antipope, who
assumed the name of Felix V and chose Piccolomini as his secretary.
The latter's clearsightedness, however, soon enabled him to realize
that the position of the schismatic party could not fail to become
untenable, and he profited by his presence as envoy of the council
at the Diet of Frankfort in 1442 again to change masters. His
literary attainments were brought to the attention of Frederick
III, who crowned him imperial poet, and offered him a position
in his service which was gladly accepted. On 11 Nov., 1442, Enea
left Basle for Vienna, where he assumed in January of the following
year the duties of secretary in the imperial chancery. Receding
gradually from his attitude of supporter of Felix V, he ultimately
became, with the imperial chancellor Schlick, whose favour he
enjoyed, a partisan of Eugene IV. The formal reconciliation between
him and this pope took place in 1445, when he came on an official
mission to Rome. He was first absolved of the censures which he
had incurred as partisan of the Council of Basle and official
of the antipope. Hand in hand with this change in personal allegiance
went a transformation in his moral character and in March, 1446,
he was ordained subdeacon at Vienna. The same year he succeeded
in breaking up the Electors' League, equally dangerous to Eugene
IV and Frederick III, and shortly afterwards a delegation, of
which he was a member, laid before the pope the conditional submission
of almost all Germany. In 1447 he was appointed Bishop of Trieste;
the following year he played a prominent part in the conclusion
of the Concordat of Vienna; and in 1450 he received the Bishopric
of Siena. He continued, however, until 1455 in the service of
Frederick III, who had frequent recourse to his diplomatic ability.
In 1451 he appeared in Bohemia at the head of a royal embassy,
and in 1452 accompanied Frederick to Rome for the imperial coronation.
He was created cardinal 18 Dec., 1456, by Calixtus III, whose
successor he became.
The
central idea of his pontificate was the liberation of Europe
from Turkish domination.
To this end he summoned at the beginning of his reign all the
Christian princes to meet in congress on 1 June, 1459. Shortly
before his departure for Mantua, where he was personally to direct
the deliberations of this assembly, he issued a Bull instituting
a new religious order of knights. They were to bear the name of
Our Lady of Bethlehem and to have their headquarters in the Island
of Lemnos. History is silent concerning the actual existence of
this foundation, and the order was probably never organized. At
Mantua scant attendance necessitated a delay in the opening of
the sessions until 26 Sept., 1459. Even then but few delegates
were present, and the deliberations soon revealed the fact that
the Christian states could not be relied on for mutual co-operation
against the Turks. Venice pursued dilatory and insincere tactics;
France would promise nothing, because the pope had preferred Ferrante
of Aragon for the throne of Naples to the pretender of the House
of Anjou. Among the German delegates, Gregory of Heimburg (q.v.)
assumed an ostentatiously disrespectful attitude toward Pius II;
the country, however, ultimately agreed to raise 32,000 footmen
and 10,000 cavalry. But the promise was never redeemed, and although
a three years' war was decreed against the Turks, the congress
failed of its object, as no practical results of any importance
were attained. It was apparent that the papacy no longer commanded
the assent and respect of any of the Powers. This was further
demonstrated by the fact that Pius, on the eve of his departure
from Mantua, issued the Bull "Execrabilis", in which
he condemned all appeals from the decisions of the pope to an
oecumenical council (18 Jan., 1460).
During
the congress war had broken out in southern Italy about the
possession of the
Kingdom of Naples. The pope continued to support Ferrante against
the Angevin claimant. This attitude was adverse to ecclesiastical
interests in France, where he aimed at the repeal of the Pragmatic
Sanction of Bourges. At his accession to the throne in 1461, Louis
XI suppressed indeed that instrument; but this papal success was
more apparent than real. For Louis's expectation of support in
southern Italy was not realized; and opposition to the suppression
manifesting itself in France, his dealings with the Church underwent
a corresponding change, and royal ordinances were even issued
aiming at the revival of the former Gallican liberties. In Germany
Frederick III showed readiness to comply with the obligations
assumed at Mantua, but foreign and domestic difficulties rendered
him powerless. Between Pius II and Duke Sigismund of Tyrol, however,
an acute conflict developed concerning the Bishopric of Brixen
(q.v.). Likewise the refusal of the Archbishop of Mainz, Diether
of Isenburg (q.v.) to abide by the pope's decree of deposition
led to civil strife. Diether was ultimately defeated and supplanted
by Adolf of Nassau, who had been appointed in his stead. More
difficult to adjust were the troubles in Bohemia. Hussitism was
rampant in the kingdom, which was governed by the wily George
Podiebrad, a king seemingly devoid of religious convictions. He
had promised in a secret coronation oath personally to profess
the Catholic faith and to restore, in his realm, union with Rome
in ritual and worship. This was tantamount to a renunciation of
the "Compact of Basle", which, under certain conditions
subsequently not observed by the Bohemians, had granted them communion
under both kinds and other privileges. The pope, deceived for
a time by the protestations of royal fidelity, used his influence
to bring back the Catholic city of Breslau to the king's allegiance.
But in 1461 Podiebrad, to further his fanciful schemes of political
aggrandizement, promised his subjects to maintain the Compact.
When in 1462 his long- promised embassy appeared in Rome, its
purpose was not only to do homage to the pope, but also to obtain
the confirmation of that agreement. Pius II, instead of acceding
to the latter request, withdrew the misused concessions made by
Basle. He continued negotiations with the king, but died before
any settlement was reached.
The prevalence
of such discord in Christendom left but little hope for armed
opposition to the Turks. As rumours had been circulated that the
sultan doubted the faith of Islam, the pope attempted to convert
him to the Christian faith. But in vain did he address to him
in 1461 a letter, in which were set forth the claims of Christianity
on his belief. Possibly the transfer with extraordinary pomp of
the head of St. Andrew to Rome was also a fruitless attempt to
rekindle zeal for the Crusades. As a last resort, Pius II endeavoured
to stir up the enthusiasm of the apathetic Christian princes by
placing himself at the head of the crusaders. Although seriously
ill he left Rome for the East, but died at Ancona, the mustering-place
of the Christian troops.
There
have been widely divergent appreciations of the life of Pius
II. While his
varied talents and superior culture cannot be doubted, the motives
of his frequent transfer of allegiance, the causes of the radical
transformations which his opinions underwent, the influences exercised
over him by the environment in which his lot was cast, are so
many factors, the bearing of which can be justly and precisely
estimated only with the greatest difficulty. In the early period
of his life he was, like many humanists, frivolous and immoral
in conduct and writing. More earnest were his conceptions and
manner of life after his entrance into the ecclesiastical state.
As pope he was indeed not sufficiently free from nepotism, but
otherwise served the best interests of the Church. Not only was
he constantly solicitous for the peace of Christendom against
Islam, but he also instituted a commission for the reform of the
Roman court, seriously endeavoured to restore monastic discipline,
and defended the doctrine of the Church against the writings of
Reginald Peacock, the former Bishop of Chichester. He retracted
the errors contained in his earlier writings in a Bull, the gist
of which was "Reject Eneas, hold fast to Pius". St.
Catherine of Siena was canonized during his pontificate.
Even
among the many cares of his pontificate he found time for continued
literary
activity. Two important works of his were either entirely or partly
written during this period: his geographical and ethnographical
description of Asia and Europe; and his "Memoirs", which
are the only autobiography left us by a pope. They are entitled "Pii
II Commentarii rerum memorabilium, quae temporibus suis contigerunt".
Earlier in his life he had written, besides "Eurialus and
Lucretia" and the recently discovered comedy "Chrysis",
the following historical works: "Libellus dialogorum de generalis
concilii auctoritate et gestis Basileensium"; "Commentarius
de rebus Basileae gestis"; "Historia rerum Frederici
III imperatoris"; "Historia Bohemica". Imcomplete
collections of his works were published in 1551 and 1571 at Basle.
A critical edition of his letters by Wolkan is in course of publication.
CAMPANUS, Vita
Pii II in MURATORI, Rer. Ital. script., III, ii, 967-92; PLATINA,
Lives of the Popes, tr. RYCAUT, ed. BENHAM (3 vols., London, 1888);
WOLKAN, Der Briefwechsel des Eneas Silvius Piccolomini in Fontes
rerum Austriacarum (Vienna, 1909-); VOIGT, Enea Silvio de' Piccolomini
als Papst Pius II und sein Zeitalter (Berlin, 1856-63); CREIGHTON,
History of the Papacy, III (new ed., New York, 1903), 202-358;
WEISS, Aeneas Silvius Piccolomini als Papst Pius II (Graz, 1897);
PASTOR, History of the Popes (London, 1891-94); BOULTING, Aeneas
Silvius (Pius II), Orator, Man of Letters, Statesman, and Pope
(London, 1908); The Cambridge Modern History, I; The Renaissance
(New York, 1909), passim.
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James First Duke
of Hamilton
The Following is by: Thomas
James Salmon
James
succeeded at the age of nineteen. For the next three years he
remained in
Scotland. He then received ~ pressing message from King Charles
to come to Court. This he did, and had the Order of the Garter
and a number of other offices bestowed upon him. He was afterwards
sent abroad, by the King’s desire, to assist Gustavus Adolphus
in invading Germany. When Charles visited Scotland in 1633 the
Marquis accompanied him and took part in the Coronation ceremonies.
After this he seems to have retired from public life, until the
people began to openly resist the order to use Laud’s Service-Book
in all the churches. Charles then specially commissioned the Marquis
to settle these disorders; and in this task he naturally incurred
a marked degree of popular odium. His efforts were useless, and
he was obliged, after many negotiations and two journeys to London,
where he seriously consulted and advised with Charles, to proclaim
the meeting of the famous General Assembly at Glasgow in November,
1638. Hamilton then went south again, but returned in a year as
General and Commander of a fleet with which the King meant to
silence the Covenanters. It is related of his mother, Marchioness
Anna Cunningham, that when her son the Marquis arrived with his
fleet in the Forth she rode up and down the sands of Leith, carrying
pistols in her holsters, and threatening to blow out the brains
of her son should be cross her path to molest the Covenanters.
Whether this scared him we do not know, but at any rate a truce
was before long agreed to at Dunse Law, and the Marquis again
retired into private life.
In
1641 Charles made his second visit to Scotland, and Hamilton,
who was with
him, was one of the intended victims of a plot known as “The incident,” whereby
Argyll, Hamilton, and Lanark, his brother, were to be seized and
carried on board a Royal frigate at Leith. The plot was discovered,
and these lords withdrew to Kinneil House, and refused to meet
the King. It is not clear, however, whether Charles was involved
in the affair or not.
In
April, 1643, the King, by a charter dated at Oxford, created
the Marquis Duke
of Hamilton, Marquis of Clydesdale, Earl of Arran and Cambridge,
Lord Avon and Innerdale, with remainder to himself an~ the heirs-male
of his body; whom failing, to his brother William and the heirs-male
of his body; whom failing, to the eldest heir-female of the Duke’s
body, without division; and it was under this destination that
his daughter, the Duchess Anne, in time succeeded. The Duke and
his brother Lanark were slandered to the King, and the former
was for a time imprisoned.
It
must be remembered that during all this time the Duke’s old mother was still alive.
Her son’s association with the King against the Covenanters, of
whom she was a strong supporter, not only aroused her wrath, as
we have seen, but caused her great grief. This can be gathered
from her Will.” That document was written with her own hand at
Holyrood House on 4th November, 1644, and in the introduction
she explains that she considers it her duty to put her house in
order, lest she “should be chapit at on ane soudentie.” Referring
apparently to this imprisonment of her son, my lord douck,” she,
in making him her executor and heir, leaves him her blessing,
and prays the Lord to direct him and to grant that he may make
the right use of this visitation” that is laid upon him; also
that he may have God’s glory before his eyes, and look more to
that than to all this world can give him. Then she says, there
is one thing that she would beseech him to do above any other
earthly thing, if ever he got out of prison, and that was to “mack
chois of soum good woman to mache with,” so that if it pleased
the Lord his father’s house might stand in his person, which she
prayed the Lord might be. (Hi. first wife had died some years
before, and their two sons had died young.) In her bequests she
leaves him her right, and leases of her coal of Kinneil, and mentions
that it had cost her much money, and servants did reap the profit;
but now it was in so good ease that he could not but make great
benefit out of it. She counsels him to put faithful servants to
it, and never to put it Out of his own hands. She leaves him all
her salt-pans, and advises him to build more, for she believes
the profit will be great if God sent peace. She also leaves him
the plenishing in her house in Kinneil, her new tapestry, and
all other movables she either made or bought, except her silver
saltfit and some little silver porringers which she left to her “dochtir.” She
further requested him to be “caynd to his sister and hir childring,” for
she believed she was a good woman and feared the Lord.
As
for her son Lanark, who had also been, as a Royalist, opposed
to the Covenanters,
she prayed the Lord to hold his heart upright before Him, and
make him now, after his past wanderings, a faithful servant in
His cause, and let him never fall back from Him, lest his last
state be worse than his first; she prayed God also to take a grip
of his heart and reveal Himself, and let him know that in the
day of death there is no comfort to be found but in Him, for all
the monarchs and monarchies in the world could not give one moment’s
ease. A blink of the face of a reconciled God was a sweet thing;
therefore, for Christ’s sake, he was to seek Him in time, and
away with the follies of Courts, for their ways were but wicked,
and all their delights and sweetness in the end would bring bitterness.
These maternal solicitations concluded with, “Remembir this is
the last saying of ane louing mother.”
The
closing events in the reign of King Charles are all so veil
known that they need
not be recalled here. We must remember, however, that when the
King was captured the Duke did all ho could to obtain his release,
just as he before that had—hopelessly, however, because of the
King’s obstinacy in repudiating the Covenant—done what he could
to advance the King’s interests. And we must also remember that
when a last effort was made to rescue the King from the hands
of Cromwell, the “Engagers” or band of Scottish Royalists who
did so were led by the Duke. Cromwell easily defeated this force
near Preston in 1648. The Duke was taken and imprisoned in various
places, Windsor Castle being the last. He had an affecting interview
with the King here on the Latter’s last journey to London. After
the King’s execution in January, 1649, the Duke escaped, but was
re-taken. He was then tried at Westminster, and beheaded in the
Palace Yard on 9th March. His remains were first sent to his house
of Kinneil, and from there taken to Hamilton, where they were
buried. He is said to have been of an affectionate and kindly
temperament, and strongly attached to his brother. It was a good
thing that his poor old mother was spared the grief of his trial
and execution, she having been “chapit at,” and left this troublesome
world some little time before. The Duke did not marry a second
time. He Left two daughters—Anne, who became Duchess of Hamilton
in her own right, and Susanna, who married the seventh Earl of
Cassillis.
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General
Tam Dalyell (b. 1615, d. 1685)
Between
the 14th & 18th Century many Scots
served as mercenaries in Europe, most were soldiers or low ranking
officers, but a few such as General Tam Dalyell of The Binns
were very influential and well educated. General Dalyell was
captured at the Battle of Worcester and imprisoned in the Tower
of London by Cromwell. One of the few prisoners ever to escape
from the Tower Tam fled to Russia where he became a noble and
took a Russian wife while training the army when in the service
of Czar Alexei Mikhailovitch: father of Peter the Great.
General
Dalyell (or Dalziel) (1615-1685), the scourge the Covenanters
who called him "Bluidy Tam" (for
his suppression of the Pentland Rising at Rullion Green) is
probably the most famous or infamous local character about which
much has been written. Returning home from service in Russia,
while in exile, to fight against the Covenanters for Charles
II, the Muscovite De'il (a pun on his name) was also known as
'The Muskovia Beast who used to roast men in the baking ovens
of The Binns.
After
the Restoration of Charles II Tam was appointed Commander-in-Chief
of the King’s forces in Scotland and made a Privy Councillor.
It
is interesting to note that after the defeat of the Covenanters
forces at Rullion Green in 1666 Tam received a letter of congratulations
from the King only to resign his commission for 10 years because
30 women and children camp followers were massacred by the King’s
troops after Rullion Green. This protest was because of the
action of his troops against his specific instruction not to.
The
Dalyell’s have inhabited the Binns for over 300 years and have
had a great influence on local history: Sir
Tam (Thomas) Dalyell Baronet (Bt NS 1685) 10th Laird
of the Binns MP being the current inhabitant. Like the
apes of Gibraltar it is said that while peacock’s parade on
the lawns of the Binns (which is Gaelic for hills) it will remain
in the hands of the Dalyell family.
Eerie
tales about the Commander-in-Chief of the King’s forces in Scotland
(1666 – 1685) have transcended the years since his death. It
was said that Tam and the devil played cards on a regular basis.
Auld Nick usually beat Tam but one night the General won. The
devil was so enraged that he hurled the heavy marble table that
they were playing on at Tam's head. The table missed the General
and landed in a pond, which lay outside the house.
Tam
had added a west wing to the building creating a "U" shape
around the cobbled courtyard. He had also added turrets to the
corners of the Binns, which puzzled his tenants, as they couldn't
figure out exactly what the fortified towers were for.
Rumour
said that Tam had had an argument with his old friend the devil.
Auld Nick had threatened to blow the Binns down and the General
had replied that he would make sure he wouldn't by fortifying
the building with walls. The devil had said Tam's walls wouldn't
be strong enough to protect the Binns, but the General replied
that he would reinforce the building's corners with turrets
to anchor his property down.
In
August 1685 Lieutenant-General Tam Dalyell died at his town
house just off John Street in the burgh of the Canongate where
he lived with his fourth wife Marion Abercrombie. Following
military tradition his boots were hung in reverse from the saddle
of his horse while his martial baton was carried on the top
of the coffin. Troopers of the Royal Scots Dragoons, the red-coated
Scots Guards and six field guns escorted his funeral procession.
Watched by hundreds of citizens, who lined the route, the sombre
military procession with muffled drums beating wound its way
slowly up the hill through Portsburgh leaving the city by the
west gate.
"Old
Tom of Muscovy" as he had been nick named by King Charles
II was buried beside his parents in the family vault at Abercorn
Church not far from The Binns. Tam's third son John took his
father's cavalry boots back to his home at Lingo in Fife but
he was forced to return them to The Binns. Every night when
he took them off they wakened the sleeping household as they
marched round the house. It was said that if cold water was
poured into them, it would quickly come to a boil.
Although
he was gone, Tam's legend continued to grow. On pitch black
nights the General mounted on a white charger could be seen
entering his estate by the Black Lodge situated on the road
between Bo’ ness and Queensferry. Clattering across the ruined
bridge over the Errack Burn, the ghostly horse and rider would
gallop up the old road to the Binns.
During
the long hot summer of 1878 nearly two hundred years after the
General's death, the Sergeant's Pool outside the Binns where
the troopers of the Greys had watered their horses dried up.
A
heavy table of carved marble that Tam might have used when he
was playing cards was found buried in the mud.
General
Dalyell raised the Scots Greys in 1681 after he noted while
in Russia that it was much more difficult to spot Russian soldiers
than traditional "British Red Coats". Therefore the
Scots Greys wore grey uniforms as camouflage, which was successfully
used against the Covenanters. He had also raised a regiment
of infantry in 1666, but no records of the foot regiment exist
today.
By: Ken
Wright
The following
is the official Biography of General Dalyell written by:
Lady Kathleen Dalyell, daughter of Lord Wheatly
The
story of The Binns is dominated by one man —General Tam Dalyell,
born in 1615 to Thomas Dalyell and his wife Janet Bruce. The
general was a
leading figure in the turbulent times of seventeenth-century Scotland.
Like his father,
Tim signed the National Covenant in 1638, but became a Royalist,
fighting for Charles fin the Civil War. When Charles was executed
in 1649 Tam took an oath never to cut his hair until the Stuarts
were restored to the throne.
When
Charles 11 was crowned in Scotland in 1650, General Tam joined
the army raised
to invade England and was captured at the Battle of Worcester
the following year. Cromwell imprisoned him in the Tower of London,
but he escaped — one of the very few prisoners ever to do so.
He
fled to the Continent, where he became a mercenary in the service
of Tsar
Alexei Mikhailovich, father of Peter the Great. For ten years,
General Tam trained the Tsar’s army: he became a Russian noble
and took a Russian wife. He returned home after the Restoration
in 1660 to become Commander-in-Chief of the king’s forces in Scotland
in 1666.
Charged
with the suppression of the Covenanters, Tam defeated their
forces in 1666
at Rullion Green in the Pentlands, and received a letter from
the king commending him for ‘the happy success you have had against
the rebels in Scotland’.
From
his exploits in Russia and from the Covenanting historians the
General gained
his reputation as ‘Bloody Tam, the Muscovy Brute’. Yet when thirty
women and children camp followers were massacred by the king’s
troops after Rullion Green, against Tam’s express instructions,
the General resigned his commission in protest. He retired from
public office for ten years, devoting himself to his estate and
garden at The Binns.
But
by 1678 General Tam was back in the king’s service to combat a renewed threat
from the Covenanters. In 1681, he was appointed Colonel of the
Royal Regiment of Scots Dragoons, later to become the Royal Scots
Grey’s (and now amalgamated into the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards).
The first muster
of the recruits was held at The Binns. At the Barns on the estate
the building they used as a barracks is still visible, although
in ruins. The pond to the left of the drive
up to the house was widened and deepened to water the horses,
It is interesting
that General Tam sent to Flanders for grey cloth for uniforms
for his regiment. Having seen in Russia how effectively the Poles
had used white uniforms as camouflage against the snow, he decided
that grey could be used in the same way in Scottish surroundings.
So the regiment wore grey instead of the traditional scarlet,
and became known as the Royal Scots Greys.
General Tam died
in 1685 in his house in the Canongate in Edinburgh. After a military
funeral his corpse was buried in the family vault in the ancient
church of Abercorn near The Binns, site of one of the earliest
Christian settlements in Scotland in the seventh century, and
mentioned by Bede.
Charles
II had intended to grant a baronetcy to General Tam for his
services,
but they both died before this could be finalised. Instead, James
II conferred the title on General Tam’s son. By a special disposition,
it can descend through ‘heirs male and of tailyie’ — that is,
through the female line in default of male heirs. This has happened
three times in the family’s history.
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Anne
Duchess of Hamilton (b. ~ 1636, d. 1716)
Hamilton
family had already been connected with Kinneil for 336 years at
the time of the Restoration when Charles II returned from France
and was restored to kingship at Whitehall in May 1660. In 1661 the
King re-granted Duchess Anne all the lands and baronies of Hamilton,
Kinneil and others that had previously belonged to her uncle William
second Duke of Hamilton. Of all the members of the Hamilton family
it is Duchess Anne or Anna that the people of Bo’ ness are most
obligated. In January 1668 King Charles II granted a charter, in
favour of Duchess Anne and her heirs, creating the lands and baronies
of Kinneil, Carriden, and others, and the town of Borrowstounness
into a Regality. This charter named the Borrowstounness as the head
burgh of the Regality. An Act of the Scots Parliament in 1669 embodied
the aforementioned charter and additionally gave the burgh the privilege
of a free port and harbour. In addition to this it was Anna that
enlarged and restored Kinneil Palace to become the grand house that
we now see today. There is also evidence that the Palace was going
to be further enlarged to include a southern wing, which speculation
predicts may have been a mirror image of the existing northern wing.
Anna may also have been responsible for creating 4 annual fairs
in Bo’ness about 1668, certainly she petitioned parliament and brought
forward the date of the fourth fair from 18th November
to the second Tuesday of July. This may have been because of inclement
weather in November or to compete commercially with Linlithgow’s
Marches Day since it was at these country fairs that much business
was done!
By: Ken
Wright
The Following
is by: Thomas James Salmon
We have now reached that member of
the Hamilton family whose interest in Kinneil and Borrowstounness
was very great. This was Anne, Duchess of Hamilton in her
own right. As her uncle William left no male issue, she
succeeded him, in terms of the destination in the charter
of Charles I. to her father.
The Duchess Anne,
or Anna as she is sometimes named, was born about 1636, and so
was about fifteen when her uncle died. She lived to the long age
of eighty, but her long and useful life was not without its heavy
sorrows. When she was thirteen her father, the first Duke, was
executed, and she lived to bemoan the termination of the career
of her son, the. Fourth Duke, in a duel with Lord Mohun. She was
a lady of great constancy of mind, evenness of temper, solidity
of judgment, and unaffected piety. In April, 1656, she married
William Douglas, eldest son of the second marriage of William,
first Marquis of Douglas.
Four years after
the marriage came the Restoration, when Charles II. returned from
France and was restored to kingship at Whitehall, amid great rejoicing,
in May, 1660. Duchess Anne and her husband soon came under Royal
favour, and in September of the same year the King bestowed upon
the latter for life the titles of Duke of Hamilton, Marquis of
Clydesdale, Earl of Arran, Lanark, and Selkirk.
A
year later the Duchess received from the King a re-grant of
all the lands and
baronies of Hamilton, Kinneil, and others which had been resigned
by her uncle to the King when they were together at The Hague
in 1650.The Duke’s first business was to remove the burden of
debt under which the Hamilton estates lay. He then gave some attention
to public affairs.
To
Duchess Anne and Duke William, her husband. much credit is due
for the early
development of “the village” of Borrowstounness. With them commenced
a thoroughly practical interest in the struggling town and in
their own House of Kinneil. On the latter they made very considerable
alterations, greatly enlarging and embellishing it. And there
is no doubt whatever that they made it a frequent place of residence.
The
reign of Charles 11., as we know, was full of bitterness and
bloodshed for Scotland
over religious difficulties. In all this the inhabitants of the
young town and of the surrounding district had their share: and,
loyal as the Duke had originally been to the King, he seems to
have resented the repeated attempts of Charles to pat down Presbyterianism.
Hamilton most strongly and openly opposed the Duke of Lauderdale,
who had become Secretary for Scotland, and was, unfortunately,
exercising a remarkable influence over the King. Lauderdale, in
the former reign, had been a zealous Covenanter.>He now turned
about and became as bitter and severe against Covenanters and
conventicles as he had hitherto been zealous for them.
There
is good evidence locally to show that Duke William was a keen
practical business
man, and we are not surprised to find that he strongly condemned
Lauderdale’s Government, setting forth a variety of grievances
in the law, revenue, and commerce. This attitude lost him all
favour at Court. On the accession of James II. that monarch was
anxious to get the Duke’s support for his schemes Of toleration
during his short reign of three years, but he does not appear
to have succeeded.
On the contrary,
it is stated that the Duke was one of the first in Scotland to
welcome the coming of William, Prince of Orange. Moreover, he
was President of the Convention of Estates, which met in 1690,
and accepted William and Mary as King and Queen of Scotland. He
died in April, 1694, at Holyrood, and was buried at Hamilton.
William, we read, was not of polished manners; he was rough, but
candid and sincere. His temper was boisterous, less calculated
to submit than to govern. He wrote well, but spoke ill. It is
said also that he had an expert knowledge of the families, laws,
and history of his country.
To revert to their
local connection, we will find in the first chapter on the Regality
that King Charles II., in January, 1668, granted a charter in
favour of Duchess Anne and her heirs, creating the lands and baronies
of Kinneil, Carriden, and others, and the town of Borrowstounness,
into a Regality, and naming the town to be the head burgh of the
Regality. This was the first important step towards the proper
local government of the district.
An
Act of the Sects Parliament ~n 1669, doubtless on the supplication
of the Duke
and Duchess, embodied the above charter, and, in addition, gave
the burgh the privilege ~of a free port and harbour. There can
be no doubt that the Regality Charter was obtained by the Duchess
on her own and her husband’s initiative in the interests of a
town and district which seemed full of possibilities for superior
and vassal alike.
Then,
in 1669, we discover the Duke and Duchess Anne supplicating
Parliament
and getting the Kirk and Parish of Kinneil suppressed and included
in the Parish of Bo’ness, the Kirk of Bo’ness declared to be the
Kirk of the United Parish, and appointing the Duke and Duchess
to provide a manse and glebe in Bo’ness in place of the old manse
and glebe of Kinneil. Again, we find an Act of the Sots Parliament
in favour of Duchess Anne changing the fourth fair of Borrowstounness
from 18th November to the second Tuesday of July.
Another
Act is also found in 1672 authorising the Duke and Duchess to
appropriate
the vacant stipend to the repair of the Kirk and manse of Bo’ ness.
And in the “Register of Bandes” of our Regality Court there is
recorded in October, 1717, an Obligement by the Duchess Anne to
contribute £5 sterling yearly for defraying the expense of the
communion elements at the celebration of the sacrament in the
Kirk of Bo’ness.
Back Top
Colonel
James Gardner (b. 1687, d. 1745)
James
Gardner was born at Burnfoot cottage on the banks of the River Forth
on 10th January 1687. The cottage is aptly named because
it is situated immediately to the west of Carriden Burn where the
burn exits Carriden Glen to join the shoreline. The cottage also
lies immediately north of Cat Craig Ridge also to the west of Carriden
Glen and about half a miles walk due east of Carriden Church. Little
still stands of the cottage, but the one remaining window is said
to be that of the room in which Colonel Gardner was born. Thomas
Salmon, extensively using Colonel Gardner’s biography, written by
Dr Philip Doddridge, composed the following.
The Following
is by: Thomas James Salmon
Built
into a wall at Burnfoot, Carriden, is a tablet with this inscription:-
To the memory
of Colonel James Gardiner, born here
January 10th,
1687; mortally wounded at the Battle
of Prestonpans,
September 21st, 1745.
A
brave soldier and a devout Christian.
I have fought a good fight, I have
kept the faith.”—
Tim. iv. 7.
Readers
of Scott will remember that Colonel Gardiner was Edward Waverlev’s
commanding officer. The reverence which Waverley gave to his
chief, the horror
with which he witnessed his death, and the unavailing efforts
he made to get near to help him when cut down by the Highlanders,
form part of the graphic description of the battle.
His pious character
recalls Hedley Vicars and Chinese Gordon.
Philip
Doddridge, the famous divine and hymn-Writer, was On terms of
the closest
intimacy with Gardiner, and about two years after Prestonpans
he wrote Gardiner’s biography. There he gives a vivid and lengthened
account of his friend’s spiritual experiences. Jupiter Carlyle,
also, in his autobiography gives frequent glimpses of him. Thus
abundant material is at the disposal of any one who wishes to
make the acquaintance of this brave and pious soldier. Doddridge
is evidently in doubt as to the year of his birth, as he gives
1687-8, but the tablet at Carriden has 1687.
Gardiner’s
father was Captain Patrick Gardiner, of the family of Torwood
Head. and his mother Mary Hodge, of the family of Gladsmuir. The
Captain served in the Army in the time of William and Queen Anne,
and died with the British forces in Germany shortly after the
battle of Hochset.
The
eon, afterwards Colonel Gardiner, was educated at the Grammar
School of Linlithgow.
He served as a cadet very early, and at fourteen years of age
obtained an ensign’s commission in a Scots regiment in the Dutch
service, in which he continued till 1702, when he received an
ensign’s commission from Queen Anne. At the battle of Ramillies,
where he specially distinguished himself, he was wounded and taken
prisoner, but was soon after exchanged. We are told that at this
battle, while calling to his men to advance, a bullet passed into
his mouth, which, without beating out any of his teeth or touching
the forepart of his tongue, went through his neck. The young officer,
like so many of the wounded engaged with the Duke of Marlborough’s
army, was left on the field unattended, and lay there all night,
not knowing what Me fate might be. His suspicions at first were
that he had swallowed the bullet, but he afterwards made the discovery
that there was a hole in the back of his neck, through which it
must have passed. In the morning the French came to plunder the
slain, and one of them was on the point of applying his sword
to the
breast of the young
officer when an attendant of the plunderers, taking the injured
lad by his dress for a Frenchman, interposed, and said, “ Do
not kill that poor child.” He was given some stimulant, and carried
to a convent in the neighbourhood, where he was cured in a few
months. He served with distinction in the other famous battles
fought by the Duke of Marlborough, and rose to the rank of colonel
of a new regiment of Dragoons.
As
a young man he was what would now be called fast; but he was
at all times
so bright and cheerful that he was known as the “happy rake.” His
remarkable conversion occurred when waiting till twelve o’clock
on a Sunday night to keep a certain appointment. To while away
the time he took up a book which his mother had placed in his
portmanteau. This was “The Christian Soldier; or Heaven Taken
by Storm.” The result was that he forgot his appointment, and
became converted. Nor was the change either fanatical or temporary.
Gardiner was still as careful, active, and obedient a soldier
as ever, but now he tried in his private life to avoid even the
appearance of evil. He was specially anxious to appear pleasant
and cheerful lest his associates might be led to think That religion
fostered a gloomy, forbidding, and austere disposition. At the
same time, he set himself sternly against infidelity and licentiousness.
The
circumstances connected with Colonel Gardiner’s death at the
Battle of Prestonpans are very tragic, and have been frequently
treated in history and
fiction. The brutality connected with his death cannot be excused
and scarcely palliated by the ignorance of his assailants. By
all who knew him - military friend or foe - his death was deplored.
Back Top
William
Wishart
The Following
is by: Thomas James Salmon
WILLIAM WISHART, TWELFTH PRINCIPAL OF THE
UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH, 1716-1729
Mr. Wishart was
a son of the last minister of Kinneil. There is no available evidence
as to date and place of birth, but it ishighly probable that it
was Kinneil. The eldest son, afterwards Sir George,
entered the Army, and ultimately acquired the estate of Cliftonhall,
Ratho; the next, afterwards, Sir James, of Little Chelsea,
was a Rear-Admiral in the Royal Navy, and died in 1723; and the
third became one of the ministers of Edinburgh and Principal of
the University.
William Wishart succeeded
the great William Carstares in the Principalship, and it is
thought that the Latter recommended him to the Town Council, with
whom
the appointment lay. William graduated at Edinburgh in 16Th,
and afterwards proceeded to Utrecht to study theology. Like his
father,
he had to suffer imprisonment, for on his return from Holland
(1684) he was imprisoned by the Privy Council in the “Iron House” on
the charge of denying the King’s authority. He was released the
next year under bond, with caution of 5000 merks, to appear when
called. Ho then became minister of South Leith (it will be recalled
that his father also was minister in Leith after the suppression
of Kinneil), and afterwards of the Tron Church. Wishart was five
times Moderator of the General Assembly, and has been described
as “a good, kind, grave, honest, and pious man, a sweet, serious,
and affectionate preacher whose life and conversation being of
a piece with his preaching made almost all who knew him personal
friends.” Two volumes of his sermons were published. His career
as Principal seems to have been uneventful.
We
may mention here also that on the 10th November, 1736, the Edinburgh
Town
Council proceeded to elect to the fifteenth Principalship William
Wishart secundus, son of the above. The induction, however,
was postponed till November of the next year, a charge of heresy
evidently
barring the way. When called to be Principal he also received
a call from New Greyfriars. The Edinburgh Presbytery interposed
and objected to the doctrine of some sermons published by him
while minister of a Dissenting congregation in London. in which
he had maintained “that true religion is influenced by higher
motives than self-love.” After a keen debate the General Assembly
absolved Wishart from heresy, and he entered upon his charges.
He is said to have been more of a scholar and man of letters
than his father, and of an original turn of mind, adopting a
different
style of preaching from that formerly in vogue. He was less
stiff and formal, dealt more with moral considerations, and
used more
simple and, at the same time, more literary language. His first
act as Principal was to start a library fund for the University.
He also made an attempt to improve the system of graduation
in Arts by demanding literary theses from the graduates. The
Principal
took a great interest in the more promising of the students,
constantly visited the junior classes, and used all means in
his power to
improve scholarship in the University.
Back Top
William
Cadell of Cockenzie (b. 1708 d. 1777)
William
Cadell (1708-1777) first moved to Bo'ness from Cockenzie, East
Lothian, in 1759. Mr
Caddell was a member of a merchant family whose main business was
the import of iron from Russia and Sweden. The Seven Year's War
meant a high demand for weapons made from iron, but it also disrupted
the iron Baltic trade, thus the idea of Carron Iron Works was born.
It was therefore in a venture to mine and smelt ironstone, and not,
as often thought, primarily coal, that Caddell approached Dr Roebuck.
Carron Company was established as: Roebuck, Garbett & Cadells
in 1759. Dr Roebuck and Mr William Cadell agreed to locally mine
and smelt iron ore. The location was decided because of its proximity
to wood (charcoal), water for power, iron ore, coal and water for
transportation. What is not so well known is that the first choice
for the sighting of the iron works was not Stenhousemuir, but a
site near Jinkabout Mill. This choice was abandoned because a lease
was only available for 99 years. New Year's Day 1760 saw the opening
of Carron Company Iron Works, by Dr Roebuck
By: Ken
Wright
Back Top
Dr
John Roebuck (b. 1718, d. 1794)
Dr John Roebuck was
born (b. 1718 d. 1794). Despite having a proven ability at school
he could not go to Oxford or Cambridge, as he was not a member
of the Church of England. He therefore studied medicine at Edinburgh
before completing his studies in 1742 at Leyden University in
Holland. The Seven Year's War meant a high demand for weapons
made from iron, but it also disrupted the iron Baltic trade, thus
the idea of Carron Iron Works was born. It was therefore in a
venture to mine and smelt ironstone, and not, as often thought,
primarily coal, that Cadell approached Dr Roebuck. Roebuck had
initially came to Scotland from Sheffield to manufacture Vitriol
(Sulphuric Acid) at his works in Prestonpans, where he had erected
large leaden chambers to produce the acid using his new process.
The process was so secret that large walls were built around the
factory perimeter and no stranger was allowed access. Carron Company
was established as: Roebuck, Garbett & Cadells in 1759. Dr
Roebuck and Mr William Cadell agreed to locally mine and smelt
iron ore. The location was decided because of its proximity to
wood (charcoal), water for power, iron ore, coal and water for
transportation. What is not so well known is that the first choice
for the sighting of the iron works was not Stenhousemuir, but
a site near Jinkabout Mill. This choice was abandoned because
a lease was only available for 99 years. New Year's Day 1760 saw
the opening of Carron Company Iron Works, by Dr Roebuck.
Dr Black first introduced James Watt (b.1736, d. 1819) to Dr Roebuck
in 1765. This period was to almost bankrupt Dr Roebuck and Watt
was unfortunately forced to Birmingham to perfect his steam engine
with the firm Boulton, Watt & Co. Although he was declared
bankrupt in 1773 Roebuck did manage to survive his financial embarrassment
founding Scotland's first large commercial pottery at Bo'ness
in 1787 under his son's name. He was also responsible for the
town's first fresh water supply.
By: Ken
Wright
The Following
is by: Thomas James Salmon
DR JOHN ROEBUCK
(b. 1718 d. 1794)
John Roebuck was born in Sheffield
where his father was a manufacturer of cutlery. He possessed
a most inventive turn of mind; studied chemistry and medicine
at Edinburgh; obtained the degree of M.D. from Leyden University
in 1742; established a chemical laboratory at Birmingham;
invented methods of refining precious metals and several
improvements in processes for the production of chemicals,
including the manufacture of sulphuric acid, at Prestonpans,
in 1749, where he was in partnership with Mr. Samuel Garbett,
another Englishman.
In
1759, he, along with his, brothers, Thomas, Ebenezer, and Benjamin,
William Cadell,
sen., William Cadell, jun., and Samuel Garbett, founded the Carron
Ironworks, which at one timer were the most celebrated in Europe.
His connection with Borrowstounnees began about the same time
when he became the lessee of the Duke’s coal mines and saltpans,
and took up residence at Kinneil House. The history of his partnership
with James Watt, the part which he played in the government of
the town, and the unfortunate collapse of all his plans are elsewhere
referred to. In I773 the doctor, owing to his financial misfortunes
here, had not only to give up his interest in Watt’s patent, but
had also to sever his connection with the Carron Company. His
spirit and business enterprise, however, were undaunted, and,
in 1784, we find him founding the Bo’ness Pottery. He died here
in 1794, and was buried in Carriden Churchyard.
From
the various works which he projected, all of a practical nature;
from his
generous and kindly treatment of James Watt, and his keen desire
to promote the interests of the inhabitants of Bo’ness, we readily
conclude that, in ability and real goodness, he was far above
the average man. This is attested by the monument to his memory
which his friends erected over his grave. The inscription is in
Latin, but we give below a translation :-
Underneath this tombstone rests
no ordinary man,
John Roebuck, M.D.
who, of gentle birth and of
liberal education, applied his mind to almost all the liberal
arts. Though be made the practice of medicine his chief work in
his public capacity to the great advantage of his fellow-citizens,
yet he did not permit his inventive and tireless brain to rest
satisfied with that, but cultivated a great number of recondite
and abstruse sciences, among which were chemistry and metallurgy.
These
he expounded and adapted to human needs with a wonderful fertility
of genius and a high degree of painstaking labour; whence not
a few of all those delightful
works and pleasing structures which decorate our world, and by
their utility conduce to both public and private well-being he
either devised or promoted.
Of these the magnificent work
at the mouth of the Carron is his own invention. In extent of
friendship and of gentleness he warn surpassing great, and, though
harassed by adversity or deluded by hope and weighed down by so
many of our griefs, he yet could assuage these by his skill in
the arts of the muses or in the delights of the country.
For most learned conversation
and gracious familiarity no other was more welcome or more pleasant
on account of his varied and profound learning, his merry games,
and sparkling wit and humour. And, above all, on account of the
uprightness, benevolence, and good fellowship in his character.
Bewailed by his family and
missed by all good men, he died on the Ides (i.e., 15th)
of July. A.D. 1794, aged 76, in the arms of his wife, and with
his children around him.
This monument—such as
it is—the affection of friends has erected.
Back Top
James
Watt (b. 1736, d. 181
Born
in Greenock, Inverclyde James Watt was to become one of the
world’s greatest
engineers. In 1754 Watt went to Glasgow to learn his trade as
a mathematical-instrument maker and after working in London for
a year he set up business in Glasgow. Although Watt is remembered
as the inventor of the steam engine most people ignore that it
was he who laid out the master plans for the Forth & Clyde
Canal, which was built in 1768-1790. Another of his major achievements
was the deepening of the River Clyde as it approached Glasgow:
this work was to be extended later by Telfer and Rennie when they
extended his initial channel further down river. In fact it is
actually a misconception that Watt invented the steam engine.
It was when he was repairing a Newcomen Engine in about 1763-4
that he found he could improve its performance by using a separate
steam condenser. Undoubtedly it was Watt that developed the steam
engine into a practical source of power. Although Watt was first
introduced by Dr Black to Dr Roebuck in 1765 it was 1768 before
he arrived in Bo’ ness with an engine that was deemed by both
to be worthwhile taking out a patent on. True because of the financial
situation of Dr Roebuck’s mines, by the early1970’s he was bankrupt
and could no longer invest in developing steam as a motive force.
Nevertheless
Watt went into partnership with Mathew Boulton, forming Boulton,
Watt & Co.
in Birmingham. Watt’s new engine was manufactured in 1774 and
the rest is history.
His further inventions
included the double-acting engine, parallel motion linkage, the
centrifugal governor for automatic speed control, and the pressure
gauge. Watt first used the term horsepower, and the SI unit of
power is named after him.
By: Ken
Wright
The Following
is by: Thomas James Salmon
JAMES WATT (b. 1736, d. 1819)
The name and fame of this celebrated
natural philosopher and civil engineer are so well known that they
require little mention here. He was born in Greenock, but Glasgow
and Birmingham were the chief centres of his labours. Bo’ ness,
however, has a right to claim more than a passing interest in his
early endeavours to improve the steam engine. He had been struggling
as a mathematical instrument maker to t |