Scotland > 1868, 1878 - Slater's (late Pigot & Co.'s) Royal national commercial directory and topography of Scotland > 1878 > Part 1

BUTESHIRE.
MILLPORT.
SLATER'S
TINSMITHS.
Orr William, 9 Cardiff st
Wright Alexander, 11 Gnilford st
mSCELLANEOUS.
Boyd William, gardener, 7 Stnart st
Fraser John, chemist, 26?^ Stuart st
Brown Alexander, nurseryman, Viewfield
Glass Margaret, shopkeeper, 9 Stuart st
Hastie William, painter, 30 Stuart st
M'Donald J. hosier, 14 Cardiff st
Paton Walter, boat builder, 13 Ritchie st
Shaw Henry, hairdresser, 8 George st
Smith William, smallware dealer, 83 Stuart at
Wiehart David, bookseller, &c. Millport
Public Buildings, Offices, &c.
PLACES OF WORSHIP
AND THEIR MINISTEES.
Established Chukch— Rev. J. S. Macnab
Free Chukch— Rev. Alex. Walker, m.A.
Baptist Chapel— Rev. Thomas Blackstock
United Presbyterian Church — Rev.
Robert M'Lean
Scotch Episcopal Collegiate Church—
Rev. F. R. H. H. Noyes, D.D., Rev. J. P.
Keigwin, Rev. H. H. Richardson, and Rev.
H. Brown
SCOTTISH EPISCOPAL COLLEGE.
Provost— Rev. P. B. H. H. Noyes, d.d.
Burgh CommiBsioners' Office — Duncan
M'Laren, clerk; David Wishart, collector
and treasurer [treasurer
Gas Light Co.— David Wishart, secretary &
Light House, Little Cumbray- Jas. M'Lean
and WUliam Wallace, keepers
MiUpoi-t Pier and Harbotu- Co. — David
Wishart, secretary; Alexander Cameron,
harbour master
Parochial Board—A. Smart, chairman; David
Wishart, inspector & collector [M'Laren
Registrar and Sessions Clerk — Duncan
Sheriff Clerk — Ninian Crawford
CONVEYANCE BY WATER.
To AEDROSSAN, AYR, LARGS, WEMYSS
BAY, GLASGOW, and GREENOCK,
Steam Packets^ daily
ROTHESAY,
KAMESBURGH, ASCOG, EINGARTH, KERRYCROy AND NEIGHBOURHOODS.
XiO
_10THESAY is a royal burgh, a town of great antiquity, and
the capital of its parish, 96 miles w. from Edinburgh (by Mid-
€alder), 40 s.w. from Glasgow, 18 from Greenock, 22 from Lamlaeh,
in the Isle of Ai-ran, 12 from Cumbray, and 9 from Largs; finely
situated at the head of a bay, called Rothesay, on the east side of
the island of Bute, of which it is the capital, as well as of the shire.
The origin of Rothesay was its castle, whose ruins yet exist, and
the following are considered as some of the most remarkable par-
ticulars respecting it. The first mention of it in history is in 1228,
■when it was besieged by Hushac, the Norwegian, in conjunction
with Clave, King of Man, and taken after a stout resistance. Having
been recovered from the northern invaders, it was again taken by
them about the year 1253, and retaken by the Scots shortly after the
battle of Largs. It was seized by the English during the reign of
John Baliol, but in 1311 it surrendered to Robert Bruce. In 1334,
Edward Baliol retook the castle, and fortified it; it soon afterwar^is,
however, submitted to Bruce, the steward of Scotland. King Robert
II. visited this castle in 1376 and in 1381, he again visited it in 1392,
and subsequently created his eldest son, Prince David, Duke 6f
Rothesay, which has ever since been the principal Scottish title of
the heir apparent. Additional facts are given in Mr. Wilson's
admirable *' Guide to Rothesay," to wliich we refer our readers.
The hen'ing fishery, which has long been active here, caused a
great revival in Rothesay, and stimulated the restoration of decayed
buildings and the erection of new ones: fish curing is still carried
on, but not to the same extent as formerly. Cotton spinning and
the manufacture of cotton and mushns by power looms give employ-
ment to many hundi-eds of hands ; there are several mills or
factories in Rothesay, worked by steam power. Three branch banks
and one for savings, and several comfortable hotels are in the town.
The Bute Hotel, at the head of the pier, the Queen's Hotel, in
Argyle- street, and the Victoria, in Victoria-street, being the princi-
pal ; they are all conducted in a manner satisfactory to their
numerous visitants. The lodging houses are very numerous, and
upon every scale. Two newspapers are published here every Satur-
day, the " Butesman " and the " Rothesay Chronicle." About a
mile to the east of the town is a salutary mineral spring, very
efficacious in cutaneous diseases; near this is Gleuburn House
Hydi'opathic Establishment, erected by William Paterson, Esq.,
M.D., M.R.c.s.L. Dr. Paterson studied the water treatment in Grae-
fenberg, imder Priestnitz, the discoverer, and in 1843 opened this
estabUshment. It is commandingly situated, and, having been
much enlarged, affords ample accommodation. A complete set of
new baths has also been erected, embracing all modern improve-
ments, for the treatment of certain diseases. The revenue of the
burgh derived from rents, feu duties, gas works, harbour dues, &c.,
amounted in 1875 to £9,463. The bay is very spacious, and the
anchorage ground excellent. The present pier was erected in 1822, it
has since been enlarged, and the harbour much improved and
deepened, at a very considerable expense. In the east harbour, a
pier hasalao been erected to facilitate the landing of heavy goods. At
Toward Point, on the north-east side of the entrance to the bay,
from the Frith of Clyde, stands a fine and conspicuous lighthouse,
the beacon of whichis revolving and intermitting. The site of a
battery which was erected early in the present century, when
Napoleon threatened to invade Britain, on a point adjoining
Mount Stuart road, on the shore of the oast bay, is now occupied
by the Rothesay Royal Aquarium. In fi'ont of the east pier,
an elegant fountain has been erected, as a memorial of the
late Prince Consort, and another neat fountain is erected in Guilford
square. The town hall and county buildings were rebuilt at an
expense of upwards of £9,000., raised by assessments on the county
and burgh, and by subscriptions; they forma handsome pile, and
are ornamented with an elegant castellated tower, containing a bell
and beautiful clock, having four transparent dials, which at night
are illuminated; the clock was the gift of the late lamented
Marquis of Bute; the edifice comprises a spacious court room, in
which the sheriflf, burgh and justice of peace courts are held, and
the town aud sheriff cleric's and procurator fiscal's offices, with
other requisite apartments. At the east end of the handsome court-
house is a painting of the late Lord Bute, by Mr. Graham Gilbert.
Beneath the court room is the prison, which was enlarged in 1370.
The Victoria Hall, near the Town Hall, was opened in 1858; it was
built bv James M'Indcee, Esq.. at a considerable expense. The
bodv ef the hall is used for concerts, lectures, public meetings, &c.
There are several good schools and academies in the town, amongst
the latter is the Rothesay Academy and the Thomson Institute,
■which was erected and partially endowed by the trustees of the late
Duncan Thomson, Esq., Adbeg, Bute. It is intended to provide a
course of classical and general education, suited to the demand of
the present time. The building is a noble pile in the Gothic style'
518 • 1-1
of architecture, and occupies a commanding site on the rising
ground of the west bay, in the middle of a park kindly presented
by the present Marquis of Bute, The Academy has lieen tranferred
to the School Board of the burgh. Rothesay was erected into a
royal burgh by Robert III., under charter dated 12th January, 1400;
and its privileges were confirmed and extended by James VI, in
1584. The government of the town is invested in a provost, three
baillies, a dean of guild, the town treasurer, and twelve councillors.
The sheriff and commissary courts are held on every Tuesday and
Thursday; a justice of peace court for the recovei-y of small debts
sits on the first Monday in every month. The quarter sessions are
held on the first Tuesdays in the months of March, May, and
August, and the last Tuesday in October, and all criminal cases, for
the circuit court justiciary, are tried at Inverary. The list of
places of worship will be found at the end of the directoiy of the
town, and the educational establishments at the commencement.
In the neighbourhood of this respectable town are many
mansions of the nobility and gentry. About five miles south-east
is Mount Stuart, the beautiful and romantic seat of the Marquis sf
Bute. About two miles south-west, and at the end of the Chapelton
road, is Woodend, or (as it is more generally denominated)
" Kean's Cottage," from having been built by that eminent trage-
dian ; the house stands in a sweet retired spot, a little above the
western shore of Loch Fad, whoso waters are usefully employed in
propelling the machinery of various mills.
The climate of Bute being very salutary, from its mildness, to
those afflicted with pulmonary complaints, the faculty recommend
numerous patients to the balmy influence of Rothesay. Four miles
to the north-east, on the opposite shore of the bay, in Argyleshire,
is Castle Toward, a massive modem edifice, erected by the late
Kirkmau Finlay, Esq., and now the residence of his son; the
grounds contain the ruins of the ancient castle.
The parish of Rothesay extends over an area of 6,083 statute
acres, and in 1871 contained a population of 8,027 ; of this number
7,800 were retm-ned for the town.
Kamesbv^gh or Port Bannatyne (the latter being better known)
is situated ^^ miles north fi'om Rothesay, and is a fish-curing sta-
tion. This branch of industry is, however, not prosecuted exten-
sively at the present time. Tlie Port possesses a small quay, and
there are several well-fm'nished houses, the latter occupied prin-
cipally by the families who make this pleasant village a summer
retreat. Half a mile distant is the ancient Castle of Kames, the
property of the Marquis of Bute. Nearly a mile to the west is the
new church of North Bute, erected in 1836, at an expense of £1,000,
defrayed by the Marquis of Bute ; and in the village is the Free
church, erected in 1843. Population in 1871, 575.
AscoG, about three miles s.e. fi-om Rothesay, is situated on a
lovely bay. There are many elegant mansions and villas here, and
on a point of rock jutting out into the water, is a neat Free church,
in the grounds of which, to the east, rest the remains of tho
famous painter, Montague Stanley. At the extreme south end of
the island, above Dunnagoil Bay, there stands an extensive vitrified
fort, and on the summit of a gentle eminence, called " Chapel hill,"
rising above Argyle- street, were the remains of the ancient chapel
of St, Bride, removed when improving the hill. The Bute Farmers'
Society has done much for the agriculture and farm stock of the
island, premiums and prizes for which are awarded at the annual
show, which is held in Rothesay, in May. A nominal weekly market
is held on Wednesday, and faii-s on the first Wednesday in May,
third Wednesday and the following Thursday in July, the last
Wednesday in October, and Tuesday before KUbarchan December
fair— all chiefly for cattle.
Four miles from Rothesay is Killicrov hamlet, pleasantly
situated on Scoulag Bay, the village forming a crescent round the
strand, and having a comfortable inn. The entrance to Mount
Stuart policies commences here, and between the village and Ascog
is an Assembly school.
KiLCHATTAN village, about eight miles s. of Rothesay, is beauti-
fully situated on a bay of the same name. Within a short distance
is the parish church of Kingarth, an elegant modern edifice, and
in the village are a Free church and school. Half a mile from the
east shore are the remains of a druidical circle, and towards the
west shore, and also near the north-east shore of the bay, are
several other interesting druidical remains. In the neighbourhood of
Kilchattan is the curious promontoi-y of Garrochhcad ; about a mile
to the south of this, in a quiet romantic dell, stand the remains of
the church or chapel of St. Blaue, and about- a mile south-west
from St. Blaues chapel is the vitrified fort of Dunnagoil. The area
of the parish of Kingarth is 8,995 statute acres, and in 1871 its
population numbered 901.