288 September 2018 - Gryffe Advertizer

24
LOCAL
history
The Advertizer
Craigmarloch Hillfort
A large and Trench V at Craigmarloch Fort
impressive reminder of our
Iron Age past can be viewed
from the cycle track midway
between Kilmacolm and Port
Glasgow. It is sited at 150
metres elevation on a mound
now known as Craigmarloch
Wood.
Around 3,000 years ago, during
the Iron Age, the Damnonii,
a tribe of European origin
established a local hillfort at Craigmarloch which was one of a number
of such forts marking the territory under their control on each side of
the Clyde.
The original palisade walls of this fort were constructed of a double row
of timber posts about 1.5 metres apart interwoven with branches to
form a thick barrier. Some time later, this was destroyed by fire and was
rebuilt. It was massively reinforced inside the existing timber palisade
using a composite construction of stone with a timber core, providing an
additional thickness of 3 metres. Despite this strong construction, it was
soon seriously damaged by another huge fire, which not only destroyed
the timber core, but also melted the stonework of the enclosing walls.
View from Craigmarloch Hillfort
to the West
The need for extremely welldefended
forts suggests that
the Damnonii were engaged in
endless disputes. They worked
and battled hard to establish
and protect their way of life.
They were also very creative
in the making of pottery, with
some of it decorated, and had
pioneered the first smelting of
pieces of cast-iron from naturally
occurring iron ore. Remarkably,
this ore led eventually to the
birth of the great industries of iron, steel, and shipbuilding located in the
Clyde Valley during the Industrial Revolution.
Johnstone History Museum
Our new season of meetings start on the 11th of September in the
Masonic Hall Collier Street at 7.30pm. Iain McGillivray of the National
Trust for Scotland will be our first speaker of the year and his subject will
be Alexander ‘Greek’ Thomson who was a famous Glasgow architect.
This should prove to be a very interesting evening and we would hope
for a good attendance. Returning members and new members will all
be made most welcome.
The Museum has continued to open throughout the summer Wednesday
Friday and Saturday from 10.30am till 4pm. If you have not been in for
some time you may enjoy another visit as we have a few new displays
well worth looking at. The Museum will also be open Saturday and
Sunday 8th and 9th of September for “Doors Open “ day we will have
some new displays and also a Quiz for the children. On sale there is a
selection of books ,maps and publications these can also be purchased
online at johnstonehistory.org and paid for through PayPal.
The Semples of Beltrees
John of Beltrees - the Dancer
The Semples of Beltrees was a cadet family of the Semples of Castle Semple.
The first Laird of Beltrees, John Semple, was the illegitimate son of Robert,
3rd Lord Semple, (c1505-1573) and his mistress, Elizabeth Carlyle, who were
later married. John was legitimised in 1546, at the time of the marriage of his
parents.
John was gifted the lands of Beltrees in Lochwinnoch Parish and Thirdpart in
Kilbarchan Parish by his father. The Semples were a privileged family and
moved in court circles. In the early 1560s John, the first Laird of Beltrees
(c1536-1579), spent much of his time at the court of Mary, Queen of Scots.
He was said to have a happy disposition and was popular at court. However,
in this period of political and religious turmoil caused by the Reformation in
Scotland, the Presbyterian preacher, John Knox, scathingly named John of
Beltrees ‘the Dancer’.
John ‘the Dancer’ married Mary Livingston, the daughter of Alexander, 5th Lord
Livingston, in 1565. Mary had been a close friend of the Queen since infancy.
She was one of the ‘four Marys’, chosen by Mary of Guise (1515–1560) to
be companion ladies-in-waiting to her infant daughter. When Queen Mary
returned from France to Scotland in 1561, Mary Livingston is said to have been
in charge of the Queen’s jewels. She, too, was a keen dancer and also an
accomplished horsewoman. In court circles she was known as ‘the Lusty’.
John Semple and Mary Livingston must have met at court where both were
great favourites of the Queen. On their marriage on 6 March 1565 Queen
Mary paid for the wedding dress. Soon after, the Queen further promoted the
couple’s wealth with the gifts of lands in Ayrshire and Fife, and subsequently
with gifts of more land in Ayrshire and Aberdeenshire. Their eldest son and heir,
James (1566-1626), was educated with King James VI (1566-1625), by George
Buchanan, and completed his education at the University of St. Andrews.
John of Beltrees remained unfailingly loyal to Queen Mary. His loyal support
of the Queen appears to have resulted in the long-term enmity between John
and Regent Morton, the last of four Regents during the minority of James VI.
This resulted in what appears to have been a trumped-up charge of treason
accusing John of involvement in a conspiracy to murder Regent Morton. In
1577, under the severe torture of the Boot, John was eventually forced to
confess involvement. He was sentenced to imprisonment in Edinburgh Castle
‘during the Regent’s pleasure’. He was released the following year when
Regent Morton was forced to resign. John, the Dancer, sadly died in 1579.
© Helen Calcluth, Renfrewshire Local History Forum
Renfrewshire Local History Forum will hold the first of our series of lectures in
Room 116, in the Coats Building, University of the West of Scotland (entrance
in Storie Street, Paisley) at 7.30pm on Thursday, 11th October, 2018. Our
speaker is Adrian Cox, archaeologist in the Cultural and Natural Resources
Team, Historic Environment Scotland. His lecture is entitled Newark Castle:
History, Archaeology and Interpretation. Visitors are welcome at all our lecture
meetings.
Kilbarchan September 1918
Private George Morrison was a baker who volunteered at the start of the
war for the Army Service Corps, where he continued to bake bread. After
the March 1918 German Offensive, which caused many British casualties,
fit men were ‘combed out’ in France and the UK as replacements. George
was transferred to the 2nd Battalion, Wiltshire Regiment to serve as an infantry
soldier. He was wounded on 3rd September 1918 and died a week later, in 32
Casualty Clearing Station, on 10th September. He was 26 years old and his
widow, Janet, lived at 6 Gateside Place, Kilbarchan. He is buried in Lapugnoy
Military Cemetery Reference XI.A.5.. six kilometres west of Bethune.
Deadline date for our October issue - Friday 14th September - you don’t want to miss it!!