Q

Quarrelton. A collier village in the SW of Abbey parish 4 mile S of Johnstone.

R

Ralston. An estate in Abbey parish, 1 3/4 mile E of Paisley. From an early period down to the beginning of the 18th century it belonged to a family of its own name, originally called Ralphston from their ancestor Ralph; and in 1800, with some exception, it was acquired by William Orr, Esq., who had previously purchased from the Earl of Glasgow a part of the adjacent estate of Ingliston, and who erected there a handsome mansion called Ralston House.--Ord. Sur. sh. 30 1866
Ravenscraig. A station in Innerkip parish on the Wemyss Bay railway, 2 miles SW of Upper Greenock station.
Renfrew (Br. Rhyn, `a point of land,' and frew, `the flowing of water'), A parish containing a town of the same name lying along and intersected by the Clyde, in the NE of Renfrewshire and in the Upper Ward of that county. A small part of the parish of Govan and of the county of Lanark which was situated within the burgh of Renfrew was transferred by the Boundary Commissioners in 1892 to the parish and county of Renfrew. It is bounded N by Dumbartonshire, E by Lanarkshire, S by Abbey parish, Paisley, W by Kilbarchan, and NW by Inchinnan. On the N and E the parish and county boundaries coincide. Starting from the centre of the Clyde at the mouth of the Black Cart, the line passes up the centre of the former river till at Yoker Burn it strikes to the N, and follows the course of the burn for about 1 mile. It then strikes across to Yokermains Burn, and follows it up to beyond Scaterig, whence it turns southward and south-westward to the Clyde, which it reaches at the old position of Marline Ford. Crossing the Clyde the line continues near the E and S of the grounds of Elderslie House to Pudzeoch Burn, which it follows to Millburn Bridge, whence it follows the Mill Burn to the N end of the reservoir, and then proceeds irregularly to the corner of Hillington Wood. There it quits the county boundary and takes first a south-westerly direction to a point a little E of the 5-mile post on the Glasgow and Paisley joint railway, and afterwards a north-westerly direction to a point on the road midway between Newmains and Bogside. From this the course is up a small burn to a point a little west of Arkleston, and then westward to a point on the White Cart opposite the mouth of Abbots Burn, up which it proceeds by Wester Walkinshaw to the Black Cart, the centre of which it follows back to the Clyde. The greatest length, from the WNW at the junction of the Gryfe and the Black Cart to the ESE at Hillington Wood, is 4 miles; the greatest width, from the N at the mouth of the Black Cart to the S at Arkleston, is 23/8 miles; and the area is 4488 acres, of which 18 are foreshore and 159 are water. The Clyde divides the parish into two unequal portions, about one-third of the whole area lying to the of the river. In the northern section, which is the only part of Renfrewshire lying N of the Clyde, the ground is flat along the edge of the river, but thereafter rises rapidly to 50 and then to 100 feet, and reaches, towards the NE, in the grounds of Jordanhill House, an extreme height of 149 feet. On the S side of the Clyde the ground is flat, rising in the SW to only from 17 to 20 feet above sea-level; in the SE to from 28 to 30 feet; and in the extreme S, at Cockle and Knock Hills, to over 50, the latter (85 feet) being the highest point of the southern section. On the extreme S the parish includes a portion of the municipal and parliamentary burgh of Paisley. Both sections are well-wooded and highly cultivated, the soil being a rich and fertile alluvium, with a subsoil of sand or strong clay. The underlying rocks are carboniferous, and both coal and ironstone are worked. Some of the clays in the NE and elsewhere are extensively used in the manufacture of bricks, and several of them contain arctic and recent shells. The drainage is effected by the streams and rivers mentioned in describing the boundaries. The ground between the policies of Elderslie House on the SW and the river Clyde is known as the King's Inch, and was, down to the middle of the 17th century or later, an island--a narrow branch of the Clyde having struck off from the main river at Marline Ford and passed between it and the burgh. Somerled, Lord of the Isles, who had risen in rebellion against King Malcolm IV., was defeated and slain at Renfrew in 1164; and a mound with a stone on the top is noticed by Pennant as, traditionally, the memorial of the place of his defeat, but no trace of it now remains.
     The parish of Renfrew is distinguished for its connection with the ancient house of Stewart, the lands of Renfrew being the first mentioned of the estates specified in the charter granted by King Malcolm IV. in 1157 in favour of Walter, `son of Alan,' and confirming a grant previously made by King David I. The office of King's High Steward being also conferred on Walter and his descendants, they took thence the surname of Stewart, and so this corner of the land became the cradle of the illustrious race destined to ascend in succession the thrones of Scotland and England. Knock Hill on the S is still shown as the traditional spot where Marjory Bruce, wife of a succeeding Walter, High Steward of Scotland, was thrown from her horse and killed while hunting in 1316. She was far advanced in pregnancy at the time, and the Caesarean operation was resorted to in order to save the life of the child, who afterwards became Robert II. The tradition adds that an injury caused to his eyes during the operation was the occasion of the affection that procured him his popular name of `Bleary.' The spot was marked till somewhere between 1779 and 1782 by an octagonal pillar placed on an eight-sided base, and known, by some confusion of names, as Queen Bleary's Cross. The monument was then destroyed by a rustic vandal who occupied the neighbouring farm, and who used the pillar as a door lintel, and the stones of the supporting steps to repair a fence. Its site was to the ESE of Knock Farm, and a little farther to the ESE there was formerly a mound called Kempe Knowe. It was a circular mound of earth about 20 yards across, and surrounded by a moat about 5 yards wide, but no trace of it now remains. According to tradition it was constructed to be the place of contest between the last Sir John Ross of Hawkhead and a noted English wrestler, whose match the English king of the period had challenged the Scotch king to produce. Ross disabled his adversary in a way that procured him the name of `Palm-mine-arms,' and was rewarded by the king with the lands and royal castle at `the Inch; and the older inhabitants always referred to his monument, which is placed in a burial vault constructed for it by the Earl of Glasgow on the SE of the new church, as `Palm-mine-arms.' Semple, in his continuation of Crawfurd's History, mentions that an urn had been dug up at the Knock Hill in 1746, and another in 1782, so that in all probability the mound had been a barrow much older than Sir John Ross's time. The lower part of the hill is called the `Butts,' and was probably the place where the burghers of Renfrew practised archery. At the side of the road from Renfrew to Inchinnan, near the bridge across the White and Black Carts, and within the policies of Blythswood House, is a large block of sandstone known as the Argyll Stone, and marking the spot where the Earl of Argyll was wounded and captured after the failure of his ill-conducted enterprise in 1685. After the dispersion of his forces in Dunbartonshire he crossed the river Clyde, and was attempting to make his escape in disguise when he was stopped by a party of militia who were guarding the ford where the bridge now stands. Some reddish veins in the stone, long pointed out as the stains made by his blood as he leant wounded against the rock, are no longer visible. Besides the burgh of Renfrew the parish also includes, on the N, the village of Yoker, and on the extreme NE the small mining village of Scaterig. The portion to the N of the Clyde is traversed by the road from Glasgow along the N bank of the river; while the high road from Glasgow to Greenock passes through the southern portion. A road from N to S passes from Paisley through the burgh of Renfrew to the Clyde, where a ferry, with large ferry boats for horses and carts, provides communication with the opposite side at Yoker. To the W of this road is a branch railway line from Paisley to Renfrew. The mansions are BLYTHSWOOD (the seat of Lord Blythswood), ELDERSLIE, JORDANHILL, Scotstoun, and Walkinshaw. Besides agriculture and the industries connected with the burgh, there are pits, brick and tile works, shipbuilding yards, and a distillery at Yoker.
     The parish is in the presbytery of Paisley and synod of Glasgow and Ayr, and the living is worth £480 a year. The churches are noticed in connection with the burgh. The landward School Board has under its management the Oswald, Scotstoun, and Yoker schools; and these, with accommodation for 200, 340, and 190 pupils respectively, have an average attendance of about 155, 270, and 190, and grants of nearly £140, £280, and £2:0. Pop. (1801) 2031, (1821) 2646, (1841) 3076, (1861) 4664, (1871) 5938, (1881) 7439, (1891) 9338, of whom 4768 were males and 4570 females.--Ord. Sur., sh. 30, 1866.
Renfrew. A market town, port, and royal and parliamentary burgh, and the county town of Renfrewshire, is in the E of the parish just described, and close to the S bank of the river Clyde. Until 1892 it was also partly in the parish of Govan and the county of Lanark, but in that year it was placed by the Boundary Commissioners wholly in the parish and county of its own name. It is by rail 3 miles N by E of Paisley, and 6 W of Glasgow. The burgh is of considerable antiquity, for in the charter granted by Walter, the High Steward, when he founded the Abbey of Paisley in 1160, it is spoken of as `burgo meo de Reinfru' and `oppidum meum de Reinfru,' so that it must even then have made some progress. The burgh, at first one of barony, became in the reign of Robert III. a royal burgh, having received a charter from that monarch in 1396, and subsequent confirmatory charters were granted by James VI. in 1575 and 1614--the former making an additional grant of all the religious houses and altarages connected with the burgh, and the latter making provision, among other things, for the better maintenance of the grammar school; and again by Queen Anne in 1703. The burgh and district gave in 1404 the title of Baron Renfrew to the heir apparent to the Scottish throne, and the connection of the place with `the ancient Stuart line' is still maintained by the retention of the title among those borne by the Prince of Wales. At the date of the charter of 1614 the burgh seems to have been the principal port on the Clyde, and as is mentioned in the article on Paisley, it had some bitter struggles with that place at earlier dates as to its privileges of trade. Its old prosperity has now, however, suffered decline, and it has been completely eclipsed by its younger and more vigorous rivals, though why it is a little hard to say. Probably when the pinch came it relied more, on the dignity of its long descent and ancient origin than on its energy. The town now consists of a main body--the original town--about 1/2 mile distant from the present channel of the Clyde, and a more modern extension reaching down to the Clyde itself. From the Cross near the centre of the main body of the town High Street passes to the E along the roar to Glasgow, with Queen Street branching off it, while Fulbar Street continues the line to the W. Southward, along the Paisley Road, is Hairst Street; and northward are Canal Street and Ferry Road, with Orchard Street branching off to the westward. The older buildings have for the most part a humble and very unpretending appearance, but the outskirts have many villas and cottages. The old town was washed along the N by the old channel of the Clyde, which cut off the King's Inch, as noticed in the preceding article; but this has long been closed up, though a portion of its course is occupied by the harbour at the mouth of Pudzeoch Burn and the channel connecting that with the Clyde. These were constructed originally about 1785, and a stone wharf added in 1835 at a cost of about £800. During the year 1884 fresh operations were undertaken at a cost of £3000 for the purpose of giving greater accommodation and affording increased facility in loading and unloading vessels, with the result that there is now a depth of 6 feet at low water, and 16 feet at high water of ordinary spring tides, while in the former case the water area is 1.169 acre, and in the latter 1.862 acre. Along the Clyde is a wharf, which is a place of call for steamers and at which the largest vessels that frequent the river can discharge and load. The original castle of the Stewards probably stood on the Inch, but their later one was on a slightly elevated piece of ground on the W side of the road leading from the town to the ferry, and although all trace of the building has long been gone the site is still called Castlehill, and traces of the fosse, remained till about 1775. Adjacent lands are known as the Orchard, the King's Meadow, and the Dog Row, and the Castlehill and Orchard are excluded from the burgh royalty, though they are almost in its centre. The foundation of the Abbey of Paisley seems to have been preceded by the establishment of a number of monks at Renfrew, as in one of the grants to the Benedictines of Paisley mention is made of `molendinum de Renfru et terram ubi monachi prius habitaverunt;' but whether the buildings they occupied were on the Inch or near Millburn House has been a matter of dispute.
     Public Buildings, etc.--The old town-hall, with it diminutive spire, was built in 1670, and remained on the W side of the Cross till 1871, when it was removed and a new town-hall erected in 1871-73 at a cost of £7500. The original structure was partially destroyer by fire on 6 March 1878, but was immediately after renovated. The style is a somewhat mixed French Gothic, and at the E end is a massive square tower rising to a height of 105 feet, with corbelled turret and ornamented cresting and finials. The design is poor, and some of the ornamentation very tawdry. The buildings contain a public hall with accommodation for 800 persons, a council chamber measuring 39 feet by 24, business offices, and a police office and cells. The Athenaeum, with a public library, dates from 1853. In 1894 it was proposed to erect a joint hospital at Blawart hill, E of Yoker, for the burghs of Renfrew and Clydebank, The parish church, to the S of High Street, was erected in 1861, and is an excellent building in the Early English style, with an aisle to the SE over the burial-place of the family of Ross of Hillhead, now represented by Lord Glasgow, and containing the old effigy of Sir John Ross, commonly known as `Palm-mine-arms.' It replaced a very old church which had been repaired till it would repair no longer. There is a good spire about 130 feet high. The Free church, NW of the town-hall, which was built immediately after the Disruption, was replaced in 1882-83 by a new plain Gothic building on the same site. It has a squat square tower with pinnacles. The U.P. church, in Hairst Place, is a plain Gothic building with a corner turret. A mission charge, St. Margaret's, in connection with the Scottish Episcopal Church, conducts its services in the Coffee Palace. The Roman Catholic church (St. James), erected in 1877, has 250 sittings. The Blythswood Testimonial, to the W, is a classic building, erected by subscription in 1842 in honour of Mr. Campbell of Blythswood. Used as the burgh grammar school, it was vested in the town council on condition of their maintaining it as a school and contributing £100 a year to its support; and in 1873 it was, under the Education Act, handed over to the burgh school board. There was a grammar school from an early date, and under the charter of 1614 revenues derived from the old chapelries and altarages were specially set aside for its better support. The Blythswood Testimonial and St. James' (R.C.) schools, with respective accommodation for 1251 and 150 pupils, have an average attendance of about 970 and 115, and grants of nearly £1045 and £100. A handsome red polished granite fountain has been erected at the Cross to the memory of Provost Crawford by his nephew, A. C. Bryce, Esq. of Glasgow.
     Municipality, etc.--The old royalty of the burgh was very extensive, covering an area of nearly 5 square miles, but the boundaries of the municipal and parliamentary burgh are much more confined. The latter line starts from the Clyde and passes up Pudzeoch Burn to Millburn Bridge, thence in a straight line S to the Mill Burn about 1/6 mile farther up. From this it strikes straight north-westward to a point on the road near Longcroft Cottage, and then N by E straight back to the Clyde. Municipal affairs are managed by a provost, 2 bailies, a dean of guild, a treasurer, and 7 councillors; and the corporation property is, considering the size of the burgh, large and valuable, comprising farms, pasture land, house property, the ferry across the Clyde, and the harbour dues. The annual value, which was £1448 in 1833, is now over £4000. Extensive rights of salmon fishing in the Clyde belong to the town, but they have long ceased to be exercised in consequence of the changed condition of the river, and a yearly sum of upwards of £200 is paid to the town by the Clyde Trustees as compensation. By the Burgh Police Act of 1892 police affairs are managed by the provost, 2 bailies, and 6 commissioners, who have under their charge a force of 8 men and a superintendent (one to every 875 of the population), the latter with a salary of £120 a year. There is a gaswork to the N of the burgh, and water is supplied by the Paisley waterworks. The burgh arms are a vessel with the sun over the prow and the moon over the stern, with two crosses, one fore and another aft. At the top of the mast of the ship is a flag with a St. Andrew's cross, and from the yard hang two shields, one bearing a lion rampant and the other the arms of the Stewarts; motto, Deus gubernat navem. The Queen was here in 1888, the Prince and Princess of Wales in 1876, and the Duke of Albany in 1875 and 1882. The industries are connected with two shipbuilding yards, a cabinet work, a forge, a sawmill, and a muslin manufactory.
     The town has a post office, with money order, savings bank, and telegraph departments, an office of the Union Bank, a golf course (laid out in 1894), police and fire-engine stations, a horticultural society, a reading and recreation club, an investment and building society, and a masonic hall. A burgh court is held every Monday; and quarter sessions meet here on the first Tuesday of March, May, and August, and the last Tuesday of October. The weekly market is on Saturday; and cattle fairs are held on the third Tuesday of May and the last Friday of June. Renfrew unites with Rutherglen, Dumbarton, Port-Glasgow, and Kilmarnock in sending a member to parliament. There is a terminal station on a branch line of the Glasgow and South-Western railway, connecting Renfrew with Paisley and Glasgow. Omnibuses ply several times daily to and from Govan. Parliamentary constituency (1895) 1014, municipal constituency,1114. Valuation (1885) £13,884. (1895) £25,421. Pop. of parliamentary burgh (1881) 4825, (1891) 6764, of whom 3461 were males and 3303 females. Population of the royal burgh (1891) 6254.

S

Skelmorlie. A watering-place in Largs parish, Ayrshire, and a quoad sacra parish partly also in Innerkip parish, Renfrewshire. The village stands upon the Firth of Clyde to the S of the terminus of the WEMYSS BAY railway (1865), this being 8 miles SW of Upper Greenock and 30 W of Glasgow. Feued out since 1850, and mainly built of native red sandstone, it comprises two portions, Upper and Lower Skelmorlie, the former of which consists of workmen's houses, whilst the latter comprises several rows of villas and a beautiful crescent behind. A hydropathic establishment, in the Scottish Baronial style, was erected in 1868, and in 1875 received the addition of Turkish, salt-water, and other baths. It is perched on the edge of a rugged cliff of conglomerate sandstone and pebble, which rises to a sheer height of 100 feet above the shore-road; and it thus enjoys the most bracing air and commands a magnificent view. The quoad sacra parish, formed in 1860, is in the presbytery of Greenock and the synod of Glasgow and Ayr; the living is worth £455. Its church was rebuilt in 1894-95 at an estimated cost of £5000, and has accommodation for 580 persons and a hall to hold 250. The nave of the church has a central passage leading up to the chancel, whose south window, of three lights, has stained-glass representations of the Ascension, Baptism, and Passion of our Lord; an arcaded west window has also a trio of lights, filled in with figures of three representative saints. There are also a U.P. church (1874), a post office, with money order, savings bank, and telegraph departments, a gaswork, a golf club, a Workman's Rest, and a public school, with accommodation for 297 children. There is also a church school. Pop. of village (1871) 404, (1881) 757, (1891) 951; of q. s. parish (1871) 886, (1881) 1264, (1891) 1380, of whom 301 were in Renfrewshire.
     Skelmorlie Castle, 1 3/4 mile S of Wemyss Bay station and 4 1/4 miles N by W of Largs, stands 1 furlong inland, on the N side of lovely Skelmorlie Glen. Its oldest part dates from 1502; and Pont described it in 1608 as `a fair veill-built housse, and pleasantly scatted, decorred with orchards and woodes, the inheritance of Robert Montgomery, Laird thereof,' whose ancestor, George, was second son of the first Lord Montgomerie, and from him received in 1461 the lands of Skelmorlie, formerly held by the Cunninghams of Kilmaurs. The estate reverted by succession to the Eglinton family; and in 1852, with consent of the late Earl, the old ruined mansion was restored by the late John Graham, Esq., a wealthy Glasgow merchant, who during his occupancy made it a picturesque and delightful residence.--Ord. Sur., sh. 29, 1873. See Gardner's Wemyss Bay and Skelmorlie (Paisley, 1879); and A. H. Millar's Castles and Mansions of Ayrshire (Edinb. 1885).
Southbarr. See INCHINNAN.
Stanely Castle. An ancient seat of the Danzielstons, in Abbey-Paisley parish, at the northern base of the Braes of GLENIFFER, 2 miles SSW of Paisley. A massive corbelled tower, 40 feet high, it is in a state of fair preservation, and since 1837 has been engirt by a reservoir of the PAISLEY waterworks.--Ord. Sur. sh 30 1866.

T

Thom, Loch. See INNERKIP.
Thorn. See JOHNSTONE.
Thornliebank. A manufacturing village in Eastwood parish, lying in a beautiful hollow, on the Auldhouse Burn, 1 1/2 mile SSW of Pollokshaws. It has a post office under Glasgow, with money order, savings bank, and telegraph departments, and a station (1881) on the Caledonian railway. The Established church, erected in 1891, was constituted quoad sacra in 1892. An east window was inserted in 1894 to the memory of Alexander Crum, Esq. (1829-93), who founded the church. There are also a U. P. church (1836; renovated 1883), a public school (1878), and a public hall (1879), erected by the Messrs. Crum at a cost of £4000. That firm's extensive works, for cotton-spinning, power-loom weaving, calico-printing, and bleaching, were commenced towards the close of the 18th century. The mansion of Thornliebank is the seat of Walter Ewing Crum, Esq. (b. 1865; suc. 1893). Pop. (1841) 1620, (1861) 1839, (1871) 2123, (1881) 2156, (1891) 2097, of whom 1060 were females.--Ord. Sur., sh. 30, 1866.