William Murdoch, Inventor

 by Roberta McGee

William Murdoch, the inventor of gas lighting, was born at Bello Mill, Lugar in 1754, the third child of John Murdoch and Anna Bruce. 

Father John was born in 1725 at Skerrington Mill, Cumnock. In 1747, when he married Anna Bruce, whose brother James was a land agent for the Dumfries Estate, John was in Orchard farm, Auchinleck. According to a Cumnock Chronicle report of 1975 he had previously joined the army  and fought in Flanders during the Austrian Succession War (1740-1748). He most likely would have fought at Dettingen under Lord Stair. Dettingen was the last time a British monarch led his troops into battle. Dettingen Wood, on the Dumfries Estate, commemorated this great battle of 1743. John also supported the Government Forces during the Jacobite Rebellion.

John and Anna and their family moved to Bello Mill, Lugar in 1754. They were tenants of James Boswell's Estate in Auchinleck. 

John was a farmer, millwright, miller and inventor, who, in 1760, invented the first iron-toothed pinion gear wheel to be made in Britain. Also, with the assistance of his son William, who showed signs of mechanical genius at an early age. 'made a wooden horse on wheels, on which, by the assistance of propelling poles, he used to visit Cumnock' (Source: The New History of Cumnock, John Strawhorn, p58) This predated Kilpatrick MacMillan's first bicycle by about 75 years.

William Murdoch - Image wmgaz.pl

William Murdoch was schooled firstly in Cumnock and then in Auchinleck. He excelled at mathematics and the principles of mechanics under William Halbert, a well respected author of an arithmetic text book. He also assisted his father working in metal and wood. In addition he carried out experiments in coal gas using coal heated in a copper kettle in a small cave by the River Lugar near his father's mill. 

Entrance to Murdoch’s Cave - Image Wikimedia 

In 1777 he (purportedly) walked 300 miles from Lugar to Birmingham to find work at the Soho Works of James Watt and Matthew Boulton. James Boswell, the Murdoch's landlord, had made several visits to the Boulton and Watt factory and most likely gave him a letter of introduction. At first they were reluctant to employ him but then Boulton noticed his wooden hat made on a lathe of his own design. They were so impressed that they gave him a job. So began his career with Boulton and Watt who manufactured steam engines which were used to drain Cornish tin and copper mines. He moved quickly from making patterns for machine parts into fitting and erecting steam engines and also repairing and refining the ones which the company had installed at various pits and factories.  

In 1779 Murdoch was sent to Redruth in Cornwall as their agent and leading engineer where he was responsible for the erection, maintenance and repair of Boulton and Watt steam engines in the Cornish tin mines to make them more efficient at pumping water out of the mines. He was kept busy travelling around the area and, after being met with some hostility initially, because he had also been engaged by Boulton and Watt to make reports against competitors to determine whether patents had been infringed, he became very well respected there. 

On Christmas Eve 1785 William Murdoch married Anne Paynter at St. Mewan, Cornwall. Sadly, it was a short marriage as Anne died five years later following the birth of their son John. 

Whilst based in Redruth Murdoch spent his spare time at his home, Murdoch House, in Cross Street,working on an idea for a 'horseless carriage' known as The Murdoch Flyer. In 1794, in order to see properly, his spare time being in the evening, he illuminated his house with a gas that he had extracted from coal, also putting a lamp outside, thus making Cross Street the first street in the world to be lit by artificial light. The coal gas was generated in an iron retort at the bottom of his garden, then piped into his house, where he lit the rooms with a variety of burners. 

He built several working models of The Flyer, and it is said that he used to travel from mine to mine in a full-sized version which had a portable gas lantern. 

The Murdoch Flyer from original oil painting by Gordon Grogan

In 1795 he demonstrated methods for producing and storing gas at Neath Abbey, South Wales. Back in Birmingham he lit up the Soho factory in 1802 during the celebrations for the signing of the Treaty for  the peace of Amiens, and in 1816 he lit up his newly-built house at Sycamore Hill by gas supplied from the Soho factory. 

Throughout his time in Redruth and Birmingham Murdoch had made many inventions and improvements to the basic steam engine designs used by Boulton and Watt, who took the credit, their excuse being that Murdoch was their employee so whatever he invented while employed by them was, by rights, theirs. In 1786 Murdoch attempted to patent his steam carriage but was talked out of it by Boulton. His employers did all they could to discourage and hinder Murdoch from pursuing his experiments and, it has been argued, by removing evidence of the origin of some of the inventions they patented. Murdoch, however, was entirely loyal to their interests and he proved an invaluable help to Watt, becoming his right-hand man. 

In 1799 Murdoch invented a much simpler and more efficient steam wheel. This was an early version of the steam turbine. It allowed steam pressure to turn a wheel directly. By this time, Murdoch's contract had changed, and he could patent the device himself. 

Image - IQSdirectory.com

Murdoch is best known for being the inventor of gas lighting and inventing the first steam engine carriage in Britain. However, he had many other strings to his bow. Some other examples of his genius are: -

• Sun and Planet Gear and D slide valve. The 'Sun and Planet Motion' which is included in Watt's patent of 1781 was contrived by Murdoch (Lives of Boulton & Watt 1874 p245)
• Oscillating cylinder steam engine
• Steam gun and steam cannon
• Developed the pneumonic tube message system which worked by using compressed air to propel a message in a cylinder through a tube to its intended destination. It became used in big department stores.
• Worked on one of the first British paddle steamers to cross the English Channel.
• Iron cement used to fix and harden the joints of steam engines.
• A special type of paint for ships' bottoms.
• From 1784-1795 built working models of steam engines.
• In 1795 he developed a replacement for isinglass which was used in the clarifying of beer to remove impurities. 
• The bell crank engine
• Making stone pipes (patent 1810). Sold to Manchester Stone Pipe Co. to supply the City with water.
• Stone and wood borers
• In 1807 designed and built the engine for the North River Steamboat, the first steamboat on the Hudson River.
• In 1815 designed and installed the first modern gravity fed piped hot water system at The Royal Pump Rooms in Leamington Spa.
• In 1817 he moved into a large new house which he had built in Sycamore Hill, outside Birmingham. The house had many innovative features such as gas lighting, a doorbell which worked with compressed air and an air conditioning system.

In 1808 Murdoch was awarded the Rumford Gold Medal, which bears the inscription Ex Fumo dare lucem, which translates as 'to give light from smoke'. This was for 'both the first idea of applying, and the first actual application of gas to economical purposes'.

In 1882 the National Gas Institute founded the Murdoch Medal which is awarded periodically to the authors of useful inventions connected with gas making. 

The town of Redruth holds an Annual Murdoch Day in June. In 2007, they had a parade and the first public journey of a full-sized working copy of Murdoch's Steam Carriage. The whole day is dedicated to the legacy of his creativity and innovation. Thousands of people flock into the town for the festival with street entertainment, workshops, food, street stalls, steam engines, a traditional fairground and the Murdoch Day Parade. (Source: Celebrating Murdoch Day - Discover Redruth)

William Murdoch died 15 November 1839 at his Birmingham home and was buried in St Mary's Churchyard, Handsworth, Staffordshire, England near the graves of Watt and Boulton. There are statues of him at the Wallace Monument, Stirling and in Centenary Square, Birmingham. In 2019 William Murdoch was added to the Scottish Engineering Hall of Fame. A truly remarkable man.

Gilded bronze statue of Boulton, Watt and Murdoch in Centenary Square, Birmingham
Image - Wikimedia Creative Commons Attribution License

William Murdoch on the Cumnock Connections tree

The Killing Times

by Kay McMeekin

The Ayrshire countryside was the site of a violent and bloody religious persecution in the 17th century. The Covenanters were a group of simple people who refused to follow King Charles II's instructions on religious matters. Many were hunted down and arrested in the hills and glens for holding illegal religious services. The captured rebels were then taken to Edinburgh for trial. The trial verdicts were mostly foregone conclusions, and many of the covenanters were hanged in the infamous Grassmarket area of that city. Others hid in the hills for many months, but were eventually discovered by the King's soldiers and shot where they stood, for refusing to recognise the King as the head of the church. 

The hardcore of the Covenanting movement was in the radical south-west of Scotland. Several Cumnock men were involved in the Pentland Rising; the Covenanting march from Dumfries via Mauchline, Ochiltree and Cumnock to the debacle of the battle of Rullion Green in 1666. This was followed by repression, and two local men were amongst those who paid for insurrection. Patrick McNaught was indicted in 1667, and George Crawford, a Cumnock weaver, was executed in December 1666. 

Further unrest in 1678 brought a billeting of some of the Highland Host* in the parish. An armed uprising followed, which ended disastrously with the Covenanters' defeat at the battle of Bothwell Brig. Two Cumnock men, John Gemill and James Mirrie, were taken prisoner, incarcerated in Edinburgh. The prisoners were held in the Greyfriar’s Churchyard, Canongate and Edinburgh Tollbooths (prisons) and Heriot’s Hospital. In November 1679, these unfortunates were led on to a ship in Leith, the Crown of London, with 257 prisoners, where they were to be transported to English plantations in America to become slaves. They spent 12 days in port, confined in a small space below deck, said to be so crowded that many fainted and some almost suffocated. They were given little to drink or eat which only exacerbated their already bleak conditions.

The captain's planned course is unknown, but the ship’s first port of call was Orkney, where, on 10 December 1679, she sheltered from a storm off Scarvataing, a headland in the parish of Deerness, a mile or two from the sheltered bay of Deer Sound.

In gales typical of the season, the ship was driven onto rocks after her anchor chain snapped. The captain and crew escaped the doomed vessel by hacking down the ship's mast and clambering across it to reach land.

The prisoners, however, were not so fortunate. They had been confined to the hold and the hatches were battened down under the captain’s orders. The reasoning behind this act was simple - the captain would be paid for the number of slaves on board the vessel and recompensed for those who died on the voyage. He would receive nothing for an escaped prisoner. So, when the ship left port, the captain took steps to make sure none did. One member of the crew did attempt a rescue by breaking through the deck with an axe. His valiant efforts meant that around 50 prisoners escaped and made it to the Deerness shore.The remainder perished as the ship broke up and sank. It is said that over the following days, bodies washed up over three miles of the Deerness coastline. Over 200 drowned. Of the 47 or so prisoners who escaped to shore, most were recaptured and shipped to slavery in Jamaica or New Jersey.

The people of Orkney were told that the prisoners were rebels fleeing from justice, but some are said to have escaped capture. Tradition has it that some survivors made it to Stromness, where they found passage on a ship to Holland. Local tradition also dictates that some were permitted to settle in Orkney. The 46 known survivors were possibly reshipped to Barbados, Jamaica or New Jersey as slaves. However, some were reported to have escaped to Ulster, Ireland. Additionally, the families of Muir and Delday, on Orkney, claim to be descended from survivors.

A monument for the Covenanters was erected in Deerness in 1888, three hundred yards from the spot where the ship went down. 

* The Highland Host refers to the deployment of a large force of troops, mainly from the Scottish Highlands, into the Lowlands of Scotland in 1678. This event was a form of military coercion authorised by the Scottish Privy Council to enforce religious conformity and suppress dissent against the established Episcopalian Church. 

Sources

Historic Cumnock, burgh survey 

see also 

https://www.orkney.com/news/covenanters-memorial

https://www.douglashistory.co.uk/history/ships/crown.htm

Rev Alexander Kennedy

 By Ron Sharpe

Rev Alexander Kennedy 1804 to 1892  New Cumnock,Trinidad  and Canada

Alexander Kennedy was born at Farden Farm, New Cumnock, Ayrshire, Scotland, on Sunday 12 May 1804, the third child and the first son of tenant farmer and miller, James Kennedy and his wife Mary Young. As the first born son, Alexander was almost certainly named after his grandfather, in keeping with the Scottish naming tradition. Around 1809 the fledgling Kennedy family moved from Farden to another farm nearby at Dalricket Mill.

According to the Old Parish Records for New Cumnock, Alexander seems to have been part of a mass christening of the Kennedy children which took place on Wednesday 28 May 1817.  Alexander would have been 13 years old at the time. Quite why this came about is unknown. The family were deeply religious, and it seems totally improbable that James and Mary would have raised their children to an age, where adulthood in some cases was only a few years off, before having them baptised. It may have been an early administration error in the fact that it wasn't documented at the time, and the minister corrected this error by noting all the children in a mass entry on the same day. Although little is known about Alexander's day to day childhood, it seems to have been happy, although he would have been expected to work at the many jobs around the farm from a young age. But most of all it was definitely deeply religious. Religion in the Kennedy farmhouse formed the mainstay of family life, and James was known to have given religious instruction to all his children around the fireside at Dalricket Mill in the evenings. James was an elder of the Secession Church in the Tanyard area of Old Cumnock, and it's said that he and the minister of the time, the Reverend David Wilson, were chief among the early influences that helped to form Alexander's character.

            In 1860 and 1861 Alexander wrote a series of articles for the Canadian United Presbyterian Magazine entitled "Memories of Scottish Scenes and Sabbaths of Forty Years Ago" Although it concentrates mainly on religious life it still gives us an insight into the Kennedy families day to day existence in the early part of the nineteenth century

Alexander describes life on a typical Sunday of the 1820s in the quoted passage below,

In the home of my youth the Sabbath day was wholly reserved for religious exercises, except so far as works of necessity and mercy claimed attention. On other mornings the household were up betimes and busily engaged in the varied employments of the farm, in the house and out of doors. On the Sabbath the inmates did not rise quite so early, but were up in good time to attend to the needs of man and beast and prepare for going to church which was five miles distant. It was necessary that some remain at home to look after the house and the cattle, but those that could be spared "Got ready for the Kirk" and set out the young and vigorous mostly on foot, while the guidman and the guidwife with perhaps an aged neighbour and some of the younger children would ride in a cart.

Alexander also writes about the occasions when the “guidman" went to church without his "guidwife"*

The guidman would ride to church on his hardy little Highland pony, Donald, a beast that was as docile as a lamb when to their cost." The lang man on the wee powny" was a somewhat conspicuous figure on the road, and attracted notice and remark. His master was on his back, but by no means so gentle when some other was in charge, as some occasionally found 

 The terms ;  Guidman and Guidwife are terms in the old Scots language meaning husband and wife. Lang, wee, and powny are again terms in Scots for long, small and pony  

Alexander describes the quiet roads going towards Old Cumnock and how as the family approach the town the roads become busier with the farms and cottages off the road releasing great swathes of humanity in search of redemption, salvation and Christian comfort. By the time they reached the confines of the town the road was "thickly dotted with individuals and little groups all going the same way"

At that time Old Cumnock only had two churches, the Parish Church in the square, and the Meeting House, in the Tanyard. Alexander was quite scathing in his condemnation of both the Parish Church and its minister Dr. Miller. He described the Kirk as capacious and dingy and Dr. Miller as moral, but feeble minded and a dreary preacher. The Parish Church enjoyed the patronage of many of Cumnock's worthy families including the Marquis of Bute and the Laird of Logan

The Meeting house had a membership of over 700 and the Sabbath day services, which were all day affairs with a break for lunch, would have been well attended. Alexander tells us that people, many of them elderly travelled ten or fourteen miles on foot to attend this house of God. Poor weather didn't put people off either. Alexander recalls that in twenty years he could only remember two occasions when his family were trapped in their home by the weather. He wrote of one of these instances, when unusually heavy snowfalls and drifts covered the land and travel was impossible. He described the snow thus,

I have never witnessed a snowstorm in Canada that equalled in blinding bitterness what I have often seen and felt in the land of my birth

Alexander speaks of being taken by the hand by a parent or elder sister (probably Jane) when he first entered the Church and saw the figures 1777 painted on a partition behind the pulpit. The year 1777 was the year of the establishment of the church and was of course significant in its history, but it came very close to not being built at all. The local landowners and aristocracy would not sell any land to the Secession and they were not in any way helpful or sympathetic to their cause. This negative attitude was prevalent in many parts of Scotland and those residing in Cumnock had every obstacle placed before them in order to prevent the building of the Church. Alex speaks of a conversation he had with an elderly church member who could remember all of this happening. It seems an unnamed female, who was herself a member of the Established Church, felt pity for the congregation and either gifted or sold them a small piece of land at the "Toun Fit" (Townfoot or end of the town). It was at the meeting point of the two rivers, the Glaisnock and the Lugar.

Now that the congregation had the land the building work on their church could begin, but once again they were to be refused the raw materials by the people who didn't want the church built. All the quarries in the local area were closed to them, and all building materials had to be transported from the neighbouring parish. Building work began and as the labourers started digging out the foundations a quantity of sand was discovered. This sand was removed and allowed them to make the mortar. However it was a limited supply and after the walls had reached a height of about two feet the sand ran out and building work had to stop. It seemed as though they were going to have a long wait and incur great expense to get further supplies of sand. The masons looked out over the river close by and saw a sand bank that had been created by the drought of the summer. Even though it was so close Lord Dumfries claimed the channel and all its contents. He had already refused them any land and he was certainly not going to sell them any sand. All building work stopped for some time and it seemed as if they would have to pay a great deal of money for sand in order to continue. However at this point providence stepped in and lent a hand. A great rain fell and caused the two converging rivers to overflow and the excess waters filled the low walls of the fledgling church. When the flood waters receded it was found that great deposits of sand had been left within the building, enough sand in fact to complete the entire building. Regardless of your religious views you can see why many people would see this as a great miracle and an act of God.

Church singing was unaccompanied by any form of music and no choirs were used, it comprised purely of only the human voice. The singing was conducted by a precentor, he read out every line with "musical monotony" prior to the congregation singing it. It's thought this was to allow the people who couldn't read an opportunity to take part in the service. Alexander describes the singing as "usually of a very cordial character though perhaps not distinguished for the sweetness of its melody" however he frowned upon people who he says took part in "the sinful fashion of sitting mute in Gods house while his praises were being sung" Alexander it seems, was not a man to mince his words, and he was already showing early signs of the strong-willed personality that would manifest itself many times in religious discussions in far off Trinidad.

In order for the children to read and understand the bible it was extremely important for their future and religious well-being that they received some form of an education. James and Mary must have been aware of this and tried to ensure that they all had a working knowledge of the three Rs.  One factor that may explain why they were so well educated is that Mary Young’s father was supposedly a teacher, and given that this is true, Mary had possibly learned enough from him to give her own children some basic tuition. It's also known that travelling tutors toured the countryside in the early part of the nineteenth century giving lessons to country children, and James and Mary, regardless of the cost, may well have used the services of these people. Much later a school for country children was established at Daleagles, about a mile from Dalricket Mill farm. It became the place where the next generation of Kennedy children would receive their basic education. An education that was so thorough, that many of these children would leave this small country school for university, and onwards towards a professional life.

In 1827 at the age of 23, Alexander Kennedy went on to study the arts curriculum at Glasgow University under the tutorage of Sir Daniel K Sanford, a noted Greek scholar. He successfully graduated with an Arts degree in the classics, quite an achievement for a son of the soil. It was while Alexander was studying in Glasgow that he shared a room with David McCowan who was another Cumnock student. Both Alex and David's mothers sent provisions to the two men every week by carrier. Student life seems to have changed very little, only now we just send money. David would go on to become a hugely successful businessman and a great benefactor to many causes including the Greyfriars Mission Board. On his passing his obituary described him as  “one of Cumnocks worthiest sons”. 

Alexander’s listing in the year book reads:

12039  Alexander Kennedy   'Filius Nath Maximus Jacobi Agricol in com de Ayr.

 From the Latin this reads as;

Alexander Kennedy  ' First born son of James, Farmer, in the county of Ayr

After completing his studies and passing the relevant exams, it was thought he would continue to study at Glasgow University towards obtaining an MA in Classics, as his marks were high in all his subjects. But it seems he felt the expense he would incur in travelling and living costs would be too high. Alexander had decided his future lay in missionary work, and he travelled to Edinburgh where he entered the Divinity Hall of the Secession Church at some point around 1831.

With his ministerial training completed at the Theological College of the United Presbyterian Church, Alexander offered himself for service in the foreign mission field and made an application to the Greyfriars Mission Board in Glasgow. He was accepted and offered the position as the first missionary to Trinidad. Presbyterianism had only arrived in the island the previous year, mainly due to the majority of the British settlers being Presbyterian Scots. A Trinidad Presbyterian Association had been formed in order to petition the Governor to acquire a minister for them. The Missionary Society of Greyfriars Original Secession Church were to provide for this much requested spiritual need. Being the first missionary to be assigned to Trinidad would have meant that a considerable amount of time and effort would have to be spent preparing for a journey into an almost unknown land. He was quickly ordained by the presbytery of Glasgow on 30 September 1835, and was told to prepare for the voyage to the Caribbean. 

Greyfriars

Shortly before embarking on the long voyage to the West Indies, Alexander married Mary the 28 year old eldest daughter of John Dalziel, a well to do Glasgow merchant. The couple were married in Govan, Glasgow on the 1st of October 1835.  After their marriage they had about eight weeks to prepare for their departure, and would have put some time aside to visit their respected families to say their goodbyes. Around the sixth of December 1835 the newly married couple left Scotland aboard the brig Penelope and passed their well-being into the hands of the ship’s master, Captain Spencer. The voyage to this unknown land that they had read and heard so much about was not an easy one. They encountered many uncomfortable days at sea as the little ship fought a seemingly constant battle with high winds and rough seas, finally arriving in Trinidad on 25 January 1836. The voyage had lasted around fifty days.

On their safe arrival in the islands capital, Port of Spain, Alexander quickly wrote a letter home, in it he wrote;   

We gladly record our gratitude to Almighty God for preserving us amidst the dangers of the deep and upholding us amidst much personal affliction.  Not many days after sailing, Mrs Kennedy was taken dangerously ill, so that for several weeks we scarcely dared to cherish the hope, that she would survive so long as reach the land whither we went; But he “whose we are and whom we serve” heard our prayers, disappointed our fears, and has now restored her to almost wonted strength. It is God only that can bring back from the gates of death - that can turn the darkness of sorrow and affliction into the light of joy and health.

In 1834 an Act of Parliament had led to the "Abolition of Slavery Act" and on Alexander's arrival the new legislation was proving to be economically disastrous. The islands depended on the sugar trade, which in turn depended on the slave trade. The former slaves, although free, and now paid for the work they carried out, were still treated very badly. It wasn't long until Alexander realised what was happening to the black population and he was veracious in his condemnation of the treatment meted out to them. He believed to the core of his being in the equality of all races and creeds, and that it had been God's plan all along to place him in this land, to ensure the promised freedom of these former slaves. Alexander's eyes were firmly set on the next world, his quest was to save not only the people from exploitation, but to save their very souls. His congregation was mainly made up of white merchants and clerks but there were also many Negroes who fell into his sphere of ministrations. Alexander would undoubtedly have faced vicious opposition to any ideas of change. Former slave owners who now saw what had been, lucrative profits disappearing rapidly, would probably have had little or no time for this interfering Scot. However Alexander, who was known for his strength of will, continued with his mission regardless of any opposition to his views.

The couple’s first home was a hotel in Port of Spain, but soon after this the couple moved into the Cleaver family home on 12 Edward Street. It's unknown if the Cleavers had moved out or the Kennedys were lodgers, but around November 1841 the Kennedys moved into a new manse on Brunswick Square. However as there was no mission hall available, early services were held in the Methodist Hall in the evenings. Although this enabled Alexander to get his mission established it was never really going to be suitable, and on 25 September 1836 Alexander rented a former theatre and had it converted into a place of worship that would accommodate 500 people. Alexander made it known that he didn't believe it was the most convenient building for the praising of God, but he felt it was an improvement on its previous use. No bitterness there then.

The theatre church was never going to be the permanent answer to the missions problems. A stone built church was what was really required and on the 16th of March 1837 Alexander advertised for tenders for the building of just such a church. Plans were drawn up, a plot of land was purchased from the town council for £300, and a fund raising plan was put into action. This proved to be very successful, with just under five hundred pounds being raised from colonists on the island in under a week, and still more from sponsors back in Glasgow. The foundation stone was laid on 10 April 1837 and after ten months of intense labour the Port of Spain Greyfriars church, was completed, and opened as a place of worship on Sunday 21 January 1838. The church was completed for just under £4,900.

By 1840 the couple had been resident in Trinidad for four years and Mary was expecting a child. They were due some sort of a holiday and Alexander petitioned Greyfriars in Glasgow for a temporary replacement. On the 6 April 1840 a ship docked in the harbour, and the Rev George Brodie stepped ashore after a long voyage from Scotland. Alexander lost no time in acquainting George with his duties, but before he left he was called upon by the Anti Slavery Society and presented with this address, and it seems a rather fine snuff box in recognition of his efforts on behalf of the black populous.

 

                                                  REVEREND ALEXANDER KENNEDY

Sir;

      The Trinidad Auxiliary Anti Slavery Society beg leave to express to you their sorrow and deep regret at the loss of their worthy President. They request of you to accept as a small token of their respect and gratitude and not as adequate to your desert, a SNUFF BOX, on which, if the time had permitted, they would have engraven, “Given by the Trinidad Auxiliary Anti Slavery Society to their President, the Reverend ALEX. KENNEDY” Your views have been too enlightened and humane for the generality of our community, and for the strong remains of ancient prejudice; and unhappily your just and intrepid efforts in the sacred cause of liberty have not met with zealous support which they merited. May you, by the Blessing of Divine Providence, safely arrive at Great Britain, the land of Liberty; may you enjoy in the bosom of your family, and amongst those who claim as their ancestors a Wallace and a Bruce, that tranquillity and satisfaction of which you were deprived in Trinidad, by the annoyance and vexation of a selfish faction and a corrupt press.

By order of  The Trinidad Auxiliary Anti Slavery Society

Thomas Hinde

Secretary

Trinidad, Port of Spain, 14 May 1840

The society must have gave this presentation as Alex and Mary were running up the gangplank as the couple left that same day. They sailed for Greenock on the west coast of Scotland and close to both their respective families aboard the ship “Helen” under the care of Captain Nicholls, It was perhaps just as well, that they left when they did, as they avoided the storm of protest from the editor of the Port of Spain Gazette. No doubt the voyage home on the “Helen” would not be without its concerns but no record of the voyage has survived.

Back home in Scotland at Dalricket Mill, Mary gave birth to a little girl, Margaret Tannahill Kennedy on the first of November, and she was registered in the local Parish records.                 

Dalricket Mill Kennedy,  Margaret Tannahill, lawful Daughter to Rev Alexander Kennedy and Mary Dalziel,

was born 1st and Baptized 2nd day of November 1840.

The child may have been born premature or was sick as she was christened the next day, which was unusual. It is unknown if she was baptized by her own father, although that would seem to be the most logical conclusion. But being baptized so quickly after her birth, would also indicate that she was a weak and sickly baby and not expected to live long.

Around 6 March 1841 the couple and their new daughter left Scotland, sailing again from Greenock on the Arethusa under the command of Captain Lyons. Although it would be some time before the news reached him Alexander's father James Kennedy had passed away on 16 March. Alexander, and his wife and infant daughter had been on the high seas at the time. They arrived back in Trinidad on 22 April 1841.  Alexander had visited Scotland just in time to see his father for the last time.

 

Safely back in Port of Spain. life returned to normal and Alexander returned to his duties, but some concern were being heard from the board of management about the debt owed on the plans for the new manse and the new church.

It seems that while Alex was on holiday in Scotland, he raised £500 in subscriptions towards the payment of the church. To raise this sort of money was a remarkable feat and would most likely be impossible today.

Alexander had bought the land for his new manse back in 1839 for £250 and had the deed of ownership passed to the Greyfriars congregation in Glasgow in 1841.

Little Margaret was now six months old and would have been thriving, but by the time of her second birthday she was taken ill and subsequently died on the 20th of November 1842.

We don't know the cause of death, but yellow fever and many other tropical diseases were rife in this part of the world. She was laid to rest in the churchyard of her father’s church in The Port of Spain. And a small well weathered headstone to her memory was erected.

Even though infant mortality was high in these days, and death was very much a part of life, we can only wonder as to how Alex and Mary coped with this. Their faith in God is one thing, but how did they justify Gods right to take their only infant daughter.

Alexander and Mary had no further children, which is unusual in itself, as it was common for mothers to become pregnant very quickly after the previous birth. This tends to lead our thinking towards the fact that Mary may just barely have survived the birth of Margaret herself.

By 1843 there was some real concerns about the church debt and it was suggested to both Alex and George Brodie, the other island missionary, that their sermons might be written in such a way as to encourage more donations from the congregation. Taking in all the property including the church itself there was still a large sum of money outstanding.

On 16 September 1846 a group of 197 Portuguese refugees sailed into the Port of Spain harbour. In Trinidad, where freedom of worship and religious tolerance had been decreed in the final year of the reign of George III, they were welcomed by Alexander Kennedy and the already established but small Church of Scotland, Many of the Portuguese would be accommodated by the Scottish community of Greyfriars Church. These immigrants became known as the Presbyterian Portuguese and they eventually built their own church in Port of Spain in1854

Alexander is known to have conducted the marriage ceremony for at least two couples although there were probably more. It's unknown if Alexander learned to speak Portuguese although many of the Scottish ministers did learn the language in future years.

At some point around 1848 Alexander's health started to fail and the couple decided to return to Scotland. Fourteen years of living in a tropical climate had taken its toll on Alexander and he had decided to return to his native climes in the hope that any damage he had suffered would be repaired by the northern hemispheres bracing air.  Alexander wrote to the Mission board asking to be relieved of his charge. There is no transcript of that letter, but a fading letter from the mission board to Alexander survives to this day in the National Library of Scotland, where it can still be viewed, the writing has faded over the last 160 years and certain portions cannot be deciphered. This is the only surviving correspondence between the Mission Board and Alexander.

The following is a partial transcript of a letter sent at some point in 1848 to Alexander Kennedy from the Greyfriars Mission Board in Edinburgh.

Rev. Alexander Kennedy,1848

My Dear Sir,

Now some six months ago the Rev, Dr. King, intimated to us that you wished to demit your charge of the congregation of Port of Spain and to come home. You requested that we endeavour to obtain a properly qualified person to carry on your work. We put an advertisement in the Record but up to this period none has made application. At the last meeting of the mission board, Messrs John Jamieson and Dr. Said Andrews were present and a deputation from the missionary society of Greyfriars congregation stated to us what had been done by them with regard to the congregation of Port of Spain, the cost of the church and the amount of debt (£1376), the condition of the mission in the Port of Spain constituent and the means by .............

............ would assume the charge and the support of the station housing. The individuals in Greyfriars congregation to whom the property belongs and , the impossibility of the debt that is upon you, but with the understanding that the use of Latta church manse be in reasonable terms given that .............

Unfortunately this is all that I could read from the poorly preserved letter.

Continually active in the community Kennedy, and the church, were involved in a variety of projects during his time in Trinidad. A Sabbath school and weekly prayer meetings were established; Greyfriars Congregational Library was founded at a time when there was no public library on the island; the church donated 100 dollars to help those affected by the earthquake in Guadeloupe in 1843; Kennedy personally provided refuge for Portuguese refugees who fled from Madeira, on account of persecution for their Protestant faith; he also regularly contributed to the Trinidadian press writing columns for the Trinidad Spectator and The Trinidadian; furthermore he taught at the first public school inaugurated by Sir Ralph Woodford on the island.

Kennedy was a fervent opponent of slavery: advocating equal rights and criticising the apprenticeship terms imposed after the Abolition Act in 1833. He never shirked his beliefs in the face of criticism or temptation. His commitment and sympathy with the Black population is evident as Kennedy would rise early on the Sabbath and travel to the countryside to preach to free blacks before fulfilling his duties as minister of Greyfriars. On 1 August 1838 – when the first of the apprenticeship terms were officially concluded – Kennedy made direct reference to this, quoting Exodus: ‘Remember this day in which ye came from Egypt out of the house of bondage’ during a sermon. The service was viewed as inflammatory, by some, and he was accused of trying to create tension between the recently emancipated slaves and their future employers. Despite such censure, and some planters’ attempts to win his support he never abandoned his principles and denounced their efforts. He maintained a sympathetic ear to the plight of the black population and according to his biographer, C. B. Franklin, he was reported to have claimed that once, he was governor of the island, for twenty-four hours, when he prevented a planned revolt on account of his good relationship with them.

Alexander and Mary left Trinidad in December 1849 and decided to visit family and friends in Canada on their way home to Scotland. This was to be a momentous decision on Alexander's part and would determine that their future lay in Canada and not back in Scotland as they had first thought. Reading from the book "Past years in Pickering" it seems that Alexander was so unwell that he may well have thought he was dying. The following paragraph is quoted from the book,

But on reaching Canada he found wide doors of opportunity for service and cast in his lot with the church of Upper Canada for whatever years of labour might remain to him. In the bracing northern air he largely recovered from the ravages which the southern climate had made in his constitution and though never what might be called a strong man, he was spared to give many years of earnest work to the Master's cause.

So going home to Scotland now didn't appear to be an option. Alexander had found his calling in Canada and was quite happy to stay and work there. By September 1850, a mere nine months since leaving Trinidad, Alexander was received as a minister with the Toronto Presbytery. On the 3 December 1850 he accepted a charge as minister to Darlington. He remained there until the spring of 1854 when he resigned the post for some reason. He then took a position at the presbytery of Wellington. While he was there he was offered a charge at Brant, and his old congregation at Darlington requested him to return, but Alex declined them all for whatever reason.

Finally in September of 1854 he was called to a charge in Dumbarton which he accepted. He was inducted into his new charge on the 3rd of October 1854, it was to prove the right choice for Alexander and he would remain there for a further 28 years until his retirement.

By 1863 Alexander (59) and Mary (56) were advancing in years and must have felt a huge longing to see home and Scotland one more time. Unlike many of his siblings who never returned to their home shores, Alex and Mary left Canada and returned to Scotland for three months in the summer of 1863.  We know he was back in Scotland and at Dalricket Mill in particular on 21 August 1863. It was here that he officiated at the marriage of his niece Isabella Baird to Robert Cunningham.

Alexander's father, who he always credited as giving him his religious values had died twenty two years earlier, but his 83-year-old mother was still head of the house at Dalricket Mill. It would have been a great meeting but a truly sad farewell when the holiday was over as they would all know that this was to be their last gathering together.

On their return to Canada Alexander and Mary resumed their duties as minister and the equally important ministers wife. By April of 1879 however Alex at 75 years of age was becoming increasingly tired. He had tendered his resignation on more than one occasion in the later years of his ministry, but the congregation had always convinced him to continue. However this time he meant it and he requested that he be released of his charge. The Clerk of Session was John Parker an Ayrshire man and former business partner with Alexander’s younger brother John Kennedy. John Parker read out the following to the congregation,

While regretting very much the loss we will sustain by the pastoral relation being dissolved between Mr. Kennedy and this congregation, yet in the circumstances we offer no opposition to his resignation being accepted, but would petition Presbytery to appoint him stated supply and also as moderator of Session, and if this prayer be granted we promise to pay him the same amount as previously.

Although Alexander wasn't going to be totally retired he would still have a close involvement with the church. This was in the times when no one had a pension and even though he would technically still be retained as a supply pastor and Moderator his duties would be greatly reduced but his salary would be retained.

This arrangement worked well for another three years but by now Alexander was 78 and even the light duties he carried out in his position as "stated supply" was proving too much to bear and he begged to be released of all responsibilities after the last Sabbath of the month. Alexander’s request was finally accepted by the presbytery and he retired from active church life at the end of April 1882. The congregation of course could not let such an auspicious occasion pass without marking it in some way. Alexander was honoured with an address and presented with a purse containing $143 by his close friend and near neighbour Jonathan Holmes. It's thought that the couple left Dumbarton soon after retiring and moved to Newcastle where Alexander could be close to one of his friends, a Mr Drummond, who was the minister there. But Alexander returned to Dumbarton in 1883 when he gave an address at the ordination and induction of his successor, the Rev R. M.  Craig. By this time it appears that Mary was gravely ill and on the 22nd of December 1883, Mary, his wife and companion of 48 years was taken from his side. According to her death certificate Mary had been ill for nine months with what appears to have been cancer.  

After Mary’s passing, Alexander moved from Newcastle to Welland, Ontario where he stayed with his brother-in-law, Mr Cowper. In 1890 Alexander once again returned to his old charge at Dumbarton. This occasion was when the Rev John Chisholm succeeded the short-lived sojourn of the Rev Craig, who had stayed for only a year. Alexander once again gave the address to the new minister.

In his, now new, home town of Welland, he preached twice on 3rd January 1892. During the following week he contacted influenza and although he was in church on the Sunday morning and at a lecture on the Monday evening he was never himself again. Between the 11th and the 18th he was critically ill but by the evening he had rallied and the doctor thought he would pull through. He fell into a restful sleep and awoke twice with a coughing fit. After the last coughing attack he told the attendant who was sitting with him to go and lie down and get some rest. Alexander then placed his hand across his chest and fell into a restful sleep.  When the attendant returned he found Alexander in the same position only this time he was dead. He had quietly passed away.

When Alexander died on the 19 January 1892, at the age of 87 years, he had outlived all of his brothers and sisters in terms of years.

Alexander Kennedy was a man of tremendous faith and compassion, a man who it seems always put others first. As a devoted and conscientious Christian missionary he possessed an energetic and enterprising character, becoming a prominent and well-regarded figure on the island of Trinidad. When he set sail from Glasgow for the Caribbean in 1835, he was akin to one of the great pioneering explorers of the day in many ways. But Alexander wasn't going out from Scotland to plant flags, he was going out to plant ideas, ideas that would help to ensure the total freedom of former slaves, and the rethinking of the idea that one people could claim ownership over another

The following is quoted from the 1899 edition of "The History of Old Cumnock" by Rev. John Warrick M.A.

Alexander Kennedy (New Cumnock) entered the Secession Hall in 1830. He was sent to Trinidad as a missionary in connection with Greyfriars, Congregation, Glasgow. After labouring there for fourteen years, he went to Canada for the sake of his health in 1849, and was called to a charge in Darlington, which he accepted. A few years later he removed to Dumbarton, near Toronto , where he ministered for thirty years. On retiring from active service through old age, he settled in Wellend  where he died on 19th January 1892,at the age of 88. Mr Kennedy wrote a series of articles in the Canadian Presbyterian Magazine, describing "Scenes and Sabbaths in Scotland" in his early days.

"After many days"; a memoir, being a sketch of the life and labours of Rev. Alexander Kennedy, first Presbyterian missionary to Trinidad, founder of Greyfriars church, and its pastor for fourteen years: January 1836-December 1849

Franklin, C. B. 1910.

 

Rutherford, Brian C., ed. Greyfriars of Trinidad 1837-1937: A Historical Sketch of the Congregation of Greyfriars Church of Scotland, Port-of-Spain, Trinidad, to mark the 150th Anniversary. Port-of-Spain: Greyfriars Church of Scotland, 1987. 

The Cumnock Chronicle  October 1902

The History of Old Cumnock   by Rev. John Warrick MA 1899

Port of Spain Gazette 1837

Alison Moore Sheffield, for Photographs of Greyfriars Church and memorial tablets in Port of Spain

Other Photographs from family stock.

 

Housing

 by Alexandra Watson

Today, Cumnock is a thriving town with a population of 9,000, with a diverse range of housing options. These include modern, private housing estates, individually architecturally designed houses, blonde and red Ballochmyle sandstone Edwardian and Victorian small and large homes, and sprawling council-funded residential areas. There is even a private development initiated by King Charles, called Knockroon, inspired by traditional village ideals. 

However, Cumnock is an ancient settlement. Its status as a thriving town confirmed in 1509 when James V designated it as a Burgh allowing it greater trade opportunities, markets, fairs etc.  A survey of all the parishes of Scotland was commissioned in 1845 (The Old Statistical Account) giving detailed activities and population. Many of the stories in this work relate to the remarkable period of growth in the 1800s.

                                               Cumnock

 1755                                                                         580         persons

 1831                                                                        1600

 1871                                                                         2903

 1881                                                                         3345

  2025                                                                        9000

  Note:  The land areas covered by the town will have varied over the years

History books list the many castles and grand houses in the area. Few advise on the living conditions of the workers or explain how such a small town as Cumnock could accommodate incoming workers enabling the population to expand so remarkably. Farmers and estate holders did provide tied housing but if the employee lost their job or died in service the family would be evicted. The mine and mill owners also offered rented accommodation for the large number of incoming workers and built rows of terraced housing but the standard was poor and variable.  The 1913 Housing Report in Scotland, was commissioned to investigate and report on housing conditions, particularly of the industrial population, both rural and urban, in Scotland. The report published in 1914 included the evidence submitted regarding miners' rows in Cumnock. The Commission's report highlighted the shocking environments. It found cesspits, no washing facilities, wells, widespread dampness, and for one “Row” housing over a hundred people there were only 3 outside toilets with doors and numerous ashpits to be used for sanitary purposes. The Burgh built an initial 12 houses in 1914 and more were planned but these were postponed until the end of the First World War.  Ayr County Council also initiated house-building programmes and the tradition of publicly funded housing continued from then till now. More in depth reading on this topic is available on the CHG website here

In addition to family homes, Lodging Houses sprang up across the country and a number of these private lodging houses were built in Elbow Lane.  Newspaper reports at the time described such private lodging houses were places where ‘men and women were huddled together promiscuously in dark and ill-ventilated rooms, without any of the conveniences requisite for decent living, not to speak of healthy existence’. Although there is no evidence of such a situation in Cumnock these Lodgings provided only the basics enabling working people to start jobs before finding longer-term housing.  

Cumnock reunion in Glasgow 1890

Ayr Observer - Tuesday 11 March 1890

THE CUMNOCK RE-UNION IN GLASGOW 

Since the resuscitation of the annual reunion of the natives of Cumnock resident in Glasgow, a trio of these pleasant, popular, and interesting social gatherings have taken place; and while they have all been attended with a marked degree of success, it is admitted on all hands that the latest one—that which took place on Friday evening week was by far the most successful of the three. As in former years, the place of meeting was the Trades' Hall in Glassford Street, a building that is thoroughly well adapted for a gathering of the kind, being at once spacious, comfortable, and beautiful; and the attendance was so large as to afford the utmost gratification to the committee, upon the members of which a considerable amount of labour must have fallen, both in making the preliminary arrangements and seeing the affair brought to such a successful issue. The company numbered between three and four hundred, and it would doubtless have been much larger if there had been facilities (as in former years) for the people resident in Cumnock to return home the same evening, many having found it inconvenient to go and stay over night. 

George Torrance Samson, Esq., J.P., who was unable through illness to take the chair last year, occupied the seat of honour upon the platform, and supporting him were :—The Rev. Robert Campbell, Calton Street U.P. Church, Glasgow; Messrs George Torrance, Glasgow; John Torrance, Glasgow; John Murray, Edinburgh; John Boswell, of Garrallan, Cumnock; Robert Brown, schoolmaster, Cumnock; Jas. Ferguson, builder, Glasgow; William Hill, Hartfield, Cumnock; William Ronald, Glasgow; Thomas Ronald, Glasgow; George printer, Cumnock ; Robert ßlack, watchmaker;Glasgow ; John Templeton, shoemaker, Glasgow; Councillor Richmond, Cumnock; and William Miller, baker, Kirkcowan. On entering from the side room, these gentlemen were received with hearty and prolonged cheering. When the cheering subsided, the Rev. Mr Campbell asked a blessing; and tea was served out and partaken of, thanks being returned by the entire company singing two verses of the second paraphrase to that grand old tune, St Paul s, led by Councillor Richmond. 

The CHAIRMAN then rose, amid loud applause, and intimated apologies for absence from the following gentlemen :—Provost Shankland and Mr D. W. Shaw, Ayr; Provost M`Letchie, Rev. J. S. Robertson, Rev. Alex. Macdonald, Rev. John Warrick, Bailie Bannatyne, Councillor Climie, Councillor M‘Geachin, Messrs Arch. Brakenridge, John Bannatyne, and David Smith —all of Cumnock ; Messrs David M'Cowan, James Templeton, and Hugh Kennedy, Glasgow; Rev. Andrew M. Smith, Hamilton; Mr Marcus Bain, Mauchline ; Mr R. M'Cowan, Strathaven ; Mr Andrew M. Torrance, London; Rev. Dr Brown, Paikley ; and Mr David Wardrop, Greenock, The Chairman explained that Mr David Smith and the Rev. Andrew Smith, an well as several others, were absent on account of the death of Mrs David Smith, which, he was sure, they all regretted. Continuing, he said-- I sincerely appreciate the high honour that has been done me in asking me to preside this evening at this our annual re-union, and the pleasure I now feel in being with you is intensified by contrast with the regret I experienced at my inability to be present on the same occasion last year—a regret which I was unable to stifle, even by recalling that often quoted couplet of our national bard, which tells us that—  "The best laid schemes o' mice and men, Gang aft aglee." We are met this evening to renew the ties that bind us to our native town, to recall our old associ ttions, and to fan and keep alive that flame of love and kindly memory for our common birth-place, which deep down in the hear:, of every leal and true patriot burns with a steady warmth, and which makes us feel in the midst of this mighty city like members of one family. In no race, I think, is this instinct of regard for youthful surroundings more strongly developed than in the Scottish, in no part of Scotland is it firmer than in Ayrshire. Many causes combine to produce and foster this feeling. Our lot is cast in pleasant places, and amidst scenes of great natural beauty. We might search for ever and never be able to complain of monotory in the landscape, such wonderfully diversified succession of pictures has been painted for our delight by the hand of that great artist—n .ture. Our hills, our valleys, our woods have been the admiration of successive age; they have called forth some of the noblest lyrics to be found in the annals of literature; and they will continue to be admired when this and many generations will have passed away. • As well might Sir Walter Scott have been speaking of the Coob's Glen as of the Trossachs when he says it was "So wond'rous fair, the whole might seem, The phantom of some fairy dream." (Applause.) But I shall not weary you with tedious and clumsy description of scenes with which you are all as familiar as I am. However pleasant they are to recall, I prefer not to mar your recollections of them by too much of the proverbial " Linked sweetness long drawn out." The aspect of our nature is not, however, the only pleasant feature of our surrounding. In our social instincts we are equally gratified by the,nature and disposition of the people among whom it is our lot to dwell. We move, so to speak. in an atmosphere of sympathy and mutual regard, which seems only to grow in vigour as we grow in years. We are essentially a clannish people, but our clannishness never degenerates into narrowness. We have a commynity of interests, it is true, and a harmony of inspiration which bind us closer to each other, and makes us more naturally dependent than we would be in laige centres. We have a peculiar and absorbing interest in the fortunes of our townsmen; we rejoice in their good fortune; we follow with sager gaze their career when they have gone out from amongst us; and we consider an honour done to them is an honour done to ourselves. (Applause). It has always been so in Cumnock, from the time when our town consisted of a few thatched houses, with rear gables looking out upon the Square, until now, when it forms one of the most important district centres in the county. (Applause.) But notwithstanding this—perhaps I might even say, because of this—our range of sympathies is the reverse of circumscribed. Though we love and cherish old friends, we can welcome new ones, and the constant spread of commercial activity is bearing them in upon us in an ever-increasing stream. But perhaps the strongest of all reasons we in Ayrshire have for regarding with such love and veneration our native county, and the place of our nativity, will be found to consisd in the glorious history we have inherited, and the no less glorious traditions bequeathed us by our worthy ancestors From the earliest times of which Scottish history gives us any reliable information, Ayrshire men have stood in the fore front of every progressive movement, and have ever come forward as the pioneers of civilization. (Loud applause.) The Lollards of Kyle were among the very first to undergo persecution for the sake of their religious beliefs, and the standard then raised has never been taken down. An endless succession of civil, religious, and moral reformers has followed in their footsteps, and each generation has proved itself worthy of their predecessors. Nowhere in Scotland are the graves of the martyrs more thickly strewn. On almost every hillside these stern old heroes have stained the heather with their noble blood, and to-day their memory is treasured and their last resting places held sacred by a grateful and admiring posterity; and well might we write on their tombstones the words o the poet Collins

how sleep the brave, who sink to rest. Ey all their county's prayers blest? When Spring, with dewy fingers cold. Returns to deck their hallowed mould, She there shall dress a sweeter sod Than Fancy's feet have ever trod."

(Applause.) It is to these men we must look for the origin of many of the finest traits in the Ayrshire character. In them we find the weighty gravity and steady constancy of the Roman, together with the pathos and subtle humour of the Greek; to them we must trace that stern, unbending integrity and deep religious feeling so prevalent among our peasant farm. a century ago; from their influence alone arose these beautiful customs of filial piety and affection of which the poet speaks in these immortal words : 'From scenes like these old Scotia's grandeur springs, That makes her loved at home, revered abroad. Princes and lords are but the breath of An honest man's the noblest work of God." (Applause.) The mention of Burns leads me to state another of the many causes upon which we value our descent and our country; but it is too late in the day now, even if it were at all relevant to the purpose of our gathering here to-night, for me to begin a panegyric on him to whom the unanimous verdict of an appreciative age has awarded the crown of lyric song, who has clothed in the garb of immortality the woods and . glades of our native Ayrshire, who, in some measure ' reflects upon us a little of his neverfading lustre. Friends, I might, like Tennyson's brook, go on for ever, heaping up the causes we have for gratulation, and harping upon things that have long been to you all, trite, hackneyed and stale; but there is a limit to everyone's patience. A few general remarks, and lam done. Undoubtedly, one of the greatest tendencies of the age, and one which has brought us here to-night, is the tendency to centralisation. Yearly, daily, I might almost say hourly, the best and brightest of our youth are leaving the homes of our ancestors to mix in the bustle, the strife, the worry, and the business of our great commercial centres; not infrequently they attain to the highest honours open to them; many of them prosper and acquire great wealth, most of them are a credit to the place in which they first sr.w the light, but we may wonder when the tide of centralisation will cease to flow, and when the cities will cry enough. Assuredly, it cannot last for ever, it must one day stop; our little island cannot become one hideous wilderness of brickfields nnd smoking chimney stalks; without some of the fresh green country our race would deteriorate and decline, and we should suffer a worse fate than that of the native Australians so vividly depicted by Froude —a fate all the more terrible by contrast with the glory we once enjoyed ; the problem is one of iotense and general human interest ; but the Almighty will work it out in hit own good time. I shall not detain you longer. I have already spoken too long; but allow me before concluding, to express the hope that we may be spared to enjoy many other such re-unions as this, that we shall, as the years roll by, find in each of those meetings a more deep and lasting pleasure; and we shall continue to prosper as a town ; and to extend our sphere of usefulness as individually; that we shall ever zealously foster and cherish the associations and friendship of our youth; that we shall endeavour to live ever upward, ever onward, till that happy time is reached, and the poet's prophecy fulfilled, when  "Man to man the world o'er Shall brithers be for a that." The Chairman, before resuming his seat, expressed the c mlial hope that every one would spend a very happy evening. 

The Rev. Mr Campbell, at a later stage of the proceedings, was introduced, and briefly addressed the meeting. After several jocular observations, he proceeded to speak in the following terms :—One well known to many of us here was expected to be present to-night, but apprehensive lest he should not be able to come, he sent me a note asking me to be sire and attend. If Mr Smith had asked me to go to Hamilton and preach a sermon for him, or conduct any other meeting, I should only have been too glad to comply with his request, but to come and address a re-union is to me an entirely different thing. (Laughter.) Ido not think anyone present, however, will be disappointed if I do not address you at length. lithe people who attend the Cumnock re-union are like those who attend other re-unions, I am sure they will be clear on one point, viz., that speech-making might be dropped off altogether. (Laughter.) Ladies and gentlemen, I am a Cumnockian. (Applause.) Some of you may perhaps say that New Cumnock is the place to which I belong, but the truth is I belong to both of the Cumnocks. My ancestors belonged to both of the Cumnocks, and I may fairly claim to have the same right and privilege. (Laughter and appl.) I can arsure you that I have very great pleasure in being here to-night ; and although I may be a stranger to you, and although many of you are strangets to me, I am assured of this fact—that your grandfathers and grandmothers, and the same relations of myself, were well known to each other in days long since gone by. (Applause.) I think it is a very becoming thing that we who hail from the same place should meet here in a meeting of this kind(applause)—and if we have not met or seen each other before this time, me have an opportunity of enjoying that pleasure and privilege now—(applause) —remembering the close relationship that there was unquestionably between our common ancestors. (Applause.) I suppose we are all Cumnockians or people hailing from the district or neighbourhood of Cumnock, and I suppose there is no one here whose heart is not going back at this moment to the old spot. " Breathes tlit.re a man with soul so dead This i; my own, my native land'?" And I think we may feel the same thing even to a g..eater degree regarding the place from which we have sprung. (Applause.) My memory to-night has been very busy, and Cumnock occupies the foremost place in my mind. We are here because Cumnock could not keep us. (Laughter.) There was no room in it for us, and with a spirit of enterprise we left the place that was dear to us to fight the battle of life in this great city—(applause)—and I am glad to say that, so far as I know, Cutunock people have been fighting that battle bravely—with honour to themselves, and reflecting credit upon the place from which they have come. (Applause.) My mind has been wandering backward, and I have been looking into ancient history. I have been thinking of some who have gone forth into business and into professions—sof the manner in which they have conducted themselvesand I have come to the conclusion that Cumnock has ' no reason to hide its heud because of any of its sons. (Applause.) Long may this satisfactory and gratifying state of affairs continue, and long may those in Glasgow be ever ready to extend a hearty welcome to Cumnock's soas who are continually pouring in the native town to this great city, in order to find full scope for their energy. (Applause, and a Voice—" The daughters, too.") Oh, no; we don't want the daughters to come here to lose the bloom of their rosy cheeks. (Laughter and applause.) We wish them to remain in the country until they are fully matured and developed, and then the young men can go back and bring them here as wives. (Renewed laughter and applause.) In going over the past I was thinking of those with whom I had the great pleasure of being associated with long since. I was thinking, Mr Chairman, of your brother John Samson; I was thinking of another dear friend, George Drummond, who was closely related to your wife; and I was thinking also of another excellent friend, Duncan Ballantine—all of whom have gone over the border and joined the majority. But, oh ! they lire in our hearts and memories" Still o'er those scenes my memory wakes, And fondly broods with miser care i Time but the mpression deeper makes, As streams their channels deeper wear.' (Applause.) From your own remarks, Mr Chairman, and from other things, I have been thinking of the mighty influence Burns has been in your region. (Applause.) I remember when I used to ramble about in the vicinity of Aird's Moss I had an old copy of Burns—l forget whether it had " batters "or notand it was very dear to me. I don't know what our young friends can really do better than read, after the grand old Book—the Book of books—the works of our poet Burns—(applause)—and if they get the same inspiration from them that I have received, they will get a great blessing indeed. (Applause.) Looking back into the past, it seems but yesterday since I came away from the old place. Why, it is a quarter of a century since I attended a Cumnock re-union in the Merchants' Hall there, and it will soon be twoquarters of a century since I came away from Cumnock ; and yet, do you know, I just feel as closely, even more, attached to it than when I left. (Applause.) The Chairman to-night gave us a good speech. One fine thing he said was about the fens in Cum ock. In days to come, when you have made your fortunes here, what better thing could you do than go back to the old place and settle where you first began? (Applause.) Let me again assure you of the very great pleasure I have had in being here to-night, and in listening to what you, Mr  Chairman, have said, and in seeing so many friends in here before me. My mind was going back to the time when I was a lad, and I would like to quote you the following lines of Motherwell

 "0 morning light, 0 morning love, 0 'lithesome days and long, When honeyed hopes around our hearts Like morning blossoms strung." (Loud applause.)

Some of these scenes are living in my memory, 'twould he a shame if I could forgot them. (Applause.) God bless Cumnock and all its people; and when you go home tell them that, though fifty miles lie between us, we lovingly think of them, and hope they reciprocate our feelings—that we entertain good wishes towards them, and trust they may do the same for us. (Loud applause.)

 Mr Brown, schoolmaster, at the close of the musical programme, said—ln rising to address a few words to you, I may say that I think I am rather out of place, as I am not a native of Cumnock, although I have spent more years in it than a great number of natives have done. (Laughter.) I have spent more time in Cumnock than I have spent, or shall spend, in any other place. But, that aside, a very pleasing duty falls upon me—that of proposing a vote of thanks to the committee. (Applause.) They really deserve it, for they must have wrought hard to being so many people together ; and if you have not had the experience of my native parish (Ochiltree), I hope you will go on increasing, and when you have come to your thirtieth, your fortieth, or perhaps your fiftieth re-union, "may Ibe there to see." (Laughter and applause.) As time is far advanced, I will not detain you. I simply ask you to return a hearty vote of thanks to the committee for their great labours in connection with the get-up of this meeting, and for the success, apart from myself, with which they have filled the platform. (Loud applause.) 

Mr John Strathdee NICOL, the energetic and courteous secretary, who on rising was received with loud applause, acknowledged the vote of thanks in a remarkably neat speech. Ile said—On my own behalf and on behalf of the committee I have to thank you most cordially for the hearty manner in which you have responded to the proposal made by Me Brown. You must all know, as Mr Brown has told you, that the labour in getting up a meeting of this kind is enormous, but in our committee there is so much spontaneous enthusiasm that the labour upon the individual members is reduced almost to a minimum. (Applause.) When we see such a large concourse of Cumnock people here tonight we are almost inclined to believe that this re-union, like Alladin's palace, has been the outcome of a single night rather than the result of any labour on the part of the committee. (Applause.) The pleasure we experience in seeing such a large turn-out amply repays us for any labour we have expended, and I can only say that so long as YOU continue to support us in such numbers as you have done to-night, the committee will leave no stone unturned to cater successfully for your enjoyment. (Loud applause.) In future years we will do as much, if not more than we have done at the present time. (Loud applause.) 

Mr John Boswell, in proposing a vote of thanks to the Chairman, said ex-Provost Samson was certainly one of the most successful of our Cumnock men, and he had done an amount of work on behalf of the community that was almost incalculable. (Loud applause.) 

The Chairman in responding, asked the young men in the meeting to remember, when they met a Cumnock person in the streets of Glasgow, to go forward and extend to him the right hand of fellowship, and he hoped that in days to come the good old town would be made even more famous than it had been in the past. (Applause.) The concert that was given in the course of the evening was one of unusual excellence. This year the committee made a departure from their usual custom, and engaged a professional company instead of securing the services of amateurs; and, with all due deference to the ladies and gentlemen who gave their services in the past, we heartily congratulate the committee on the change. It is a great improvement in many respects, and although it does entail a deal more expense, it obviates a large amount of trouble to the hard-wrought committee, while it also avoids in its entirety that petty ill-feeling which too frequently arises in connection with the selection of amateur vocalists, as those who have experience in such matters very well know. The company was engaged through Mr J. W. Hodge, a native of Cumnock, and consisted of the following artistes :—Miss Maud Bruce, soprano; Mr Fmlayson, tenor; and Mr R. D. Cross, Scotch comedian. They are all well known as standing in the first rank in their respective lines, and it is sufficient to say that they acquitted themselves to the satisfaction of the audience and in a manner worthy their reputations. As a reader and reciter, Mr Dickson Moffat afforded a treat of a rare order, and he was highly appreciated. The proceedings, which were characterised throughout by enthusiasm, refinement, and socialibility, were brought to a conclusion by singing "Auld Lang Sync.' Thereafter the hall was cleared out, and an assembly took place, which was attended by close upon a hundred couples—a galaxy of youth and beauty—and never did a more jovial or good-natured company assemble "to chase the glowing hours with flying feet." Lauchlan's splendid quadrille band of five players was in attendance, and as each fresh tune was struck up, the words of the poet were verified "On with the dance, let joy be unconfined." 

Mr James Arthur acted as M.C. with much acceptance, the dances under his supervision being promptly started and carried out with great spirit and hilarity. Everybody seemed to enjoy themselves thoroughly, and we have no doubt all who were present will retain pleasant recollections of the event until another re-union comes round to blot them out and leave more pleasant ones in their stead.