Counties > Renfrewshire > 1832-1833 - Historical and descriptive sketches of the towns and principal villages in the Upper Ward of Renfrewshire

SKETCH OP NEILSTON, &C. 19
NEIZSTON, MARMHEA&,
AND
GUAHAMSTONE.
Neilston derives its name from some person who was nam-
ed Neil, who settled here in early times, and who gave to the
place the name of Neil's-town.
Crawfnrd mentions that there was a chapel or hospital
near Neilston, founded by Robert de Croc, under the reign
of King William ; and to which Rodger, prior of Paisley, be-
fore 1225, gave to the infirm brethren of the hospital, which
Robert de Croc erected in his own land, that they may have
a chapel and a chaplain, and they should perform divine
duty, so that Robert de Croc shall provide for the same
Chaplain adequate stipends, and all other things proper for
the uses of divine service. Robert de Croc pretended to have
a right to the church of Neilston, and troubled the monks
with his claim. But at length he recognised their right, and
abandoned his pretensions in presence of Walter, the third
High Steward of Scotland, and other honest men. W e are in-
formed that such claims, and such troubles still continue to
agitate the good people of Neilston, but we trust, ere long, to
hear that the descendants of Robert de Croc will so far fol-
low his example, and accede to a mutual accommodation.
There is perhaps no country parish in Scotland which
abounds so much in thriving and populous villages and clach-
ans, as Neilston. This rising of country towns was occas-
sioned by the introduction of manufactures and machinery,
within these forty or fifty years. Levern water and its tribu-
tary streams and burns, abounding with water falls, are admi-
; rably suited to the propelling of Cotton Mill machinery, and
i the purposes of bleaching. This place has accordingly long
! been famed for its Mills, and spinning of cotton, a species of
: manufacture that gives very extensive employment to men,
I women, and children, and its bleachfields agree with Ramsay's
cheerful description:
A flourie howm atween twa verdant braes,
Whar lasses use to wash and spreid their claes ;
A trotanburnie.wimplan thro' the grun;
Its channel pebbles shynan smooth and rounj
Thair view twa barefute bewties, &c.
Neilston, the Kirk-town, has long been a place of note. It