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THE

BMRDS OF GARTSHERRIE

THE

I

airtJS ot liartsJjerrie

SOME NOTICES OF

THEIR ORIGIN AND HISTORY

PRIVA TE

GLASGOW

Printed at the Ettiticrsiti] JJrtss 1875

LAURISTON CASTLE BEQUEST FUND

Some time ago, it was suggested to Mr. James Baird, by a gentle- man of high standing in the literary world, that he ought to preserve some record of the history and rise of the remarkable family of which, with the exception of two sisters, he is the only surviving member.

In accordance with this suggestion, Mr. Baird placed in my hands all the old family papers in his possession, consisting of Leases, Deeds of Settlement, Letters, and other Documents. From these, and from the business books of the Ironworks, and from information obtained principally from Mr. Baird himself, the following narrative has been compiled. I am glad to give so much of it in Mr. Baird's own words.

A. M.

Glasgow, November IS, 1875.

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

PAGE

1. Houses at Woodhead, ------- 22

2. Portrait of Alexander Baird, Sen., - - - 27

3. Old Farm Steading of Woodhead, ----- 28

4. Kirewood, --------- 30

5. Portrait of Mrs. Baird (Jean Moffat), - - - - 33

6. Old Monkland Church, - - - - - 37

7. " Loupin'-on-Stane," - - - . - - - 38

8. High Cross, -.--.-_- - 43

9. Furnaces at Gartsherrie — Old Side, - - 60

10. Section of Heater, ------- 63

11. "Coal Hole," ... - 67

12. Furnaces at Gartsherrie— -New Side, - 74

13. Gartsherrie Staff, 1858, ------ - 77

14. Arms of William Baird of Elie, - - 96

15. Portrait of William Baird of Elie, - - - - 96

16. Elie House, ------- - 97

17. Portrait of present Mr. Baird of Elie, - - 98

18. Arms of John Baird of Lociiwood, - 98

19. Portrait of John Baird of Lochwood, - - 101

20. Urie House, -------- 102

21. Portrait of Alexander Baird of Urie, ----- 104

22. Cambusdoon House, - - - 105

23. Arms of James Baird of Cambusdoon, - - 105

24. Portrait of Mr. Baird, - - - 106

25. Portrait of Bobert Baird of Auchmedden, - 110

26. Arms of Douglas Baird of Closeburn, - - 112

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS -continued.

PAGE

27. Portrait of Douglas Baird, - - 112

28. Old Castle of Closeburn, 1797, - 113

29. Old Castle of Closeburn in its Present State, 115

30. Closeburn Hall, ----- - ng

31. Portrait of George Baird of Strichen, - - 117

32. Arms of George Baird, ------- 117

33. Stricken House, - - 118

34. Stichill House, ....... 119

35. Portrait of David Buchanan Baird of Stichill, - 121

36. Portrait of Mrs. Weir — Janet Baird, - - - - 122

37. Arms of Alexander Whitelaw of Gartshore, M.P., - - 124

38. Portrait of Mr. Whitelaw, M.P., - - 124

39. Gartshore House, - - - - - - - - 126

40. Portrait of William Weir of Kildonan, - - - 127

41. Arms of Mr. Weir, ------ 127

42. Arms of David Wallace of Glassingall, - - - - 128

43. Portrait of David Wallace, - - - - 128

44. Portrait of Mrs. Jackson — Jane Baird, - - 129

45. Genealogical Tree, - - - 130

THE BAIRDS

OF GARTSHERRIE.

The family from which are descended the Bairds of Gartsherrie — so called, not because they are proprietors of that estate, which they are not, but because of the extensive ironworks and the large village they established there — has been settled for cen- turies in Lanarkshire ; and there seems no room to doubt the accuracy of the family tradition, that they are a branch of the Bairds of Cambusnethan. The name was anciently spelt " Bai'd " and " Barde." From a branch of the Cambusnethan family which settled in the north of Scotland in the fifteenth century, were descended the Bairds of Auchmedden. The last male repre- sentative of that family was William Baird of Auchmedden, who joined the rebellion of 1745, and whose estates, though not confiscated, were wasted by the sums he had borrowed to aid the cause of the Stuarts. This gentleman has left an interest- ing account of the Aberdeen branch of the family, in his Genea- logical Collections concerning the Sir-name of Baird. This account was written in 1770, and was first printed in 1857, by W. N. Fraser, Esq., whose grandfather married Henrietta,

B

10 THE BAIRDS OF GARTSHERRIE.

the daughter of William Baird of Auchmedden, the last male representative of the family. It was reprinted in 1870, under the editorship of Captain F. M. Smith, with additional notes, including a short notice of the Bairds of Gartsherrie. The name of the Henrietta Baird just mentioned appears in the family register inserted in a Bible, which bears to have belonged to her father, and which is now in the possession of Mr. James Baird of Cambusdoon, to whom it was presented in 1873, by Mr. Philip, of Port Elizabeth, Cape Colony.

There is a farm called Auchmedden in the parish of Les- mahagow ; and this name was carried to Aberdeenshire, and appropriated to the land he acquired there by the Baird who founded the Auchmedden family. Following the same practice, one of the same family, Sir John Baird (Lord Newbyth), having sold the lands of Byth, in Aberdeenshire, purchased the lands of Foord and Whitekirk, in the county of Haddington, and got them erected into a barony by the name of Newbyth.

The estate of Auchmedden was subsequently sold in 1750 by William Baird, the author of the Collections, to the Earl of Aberdeen, whose son, Lord Haddo, married Miss Christian Baird of Newbyth, one of the Auchmedden family. It after- wards became the property of the Honourable William Gordon, and thereafter of Sir Charles Forbes of Newe and Edinglassie. And now, after having' been so long possessed by proprietors of another name, Auchmedden is again the property of a Baird. The estate was purchased in 1854 by the late Mr. Robert Baird, from the Trustees of Sir Charles Forbes, and was entailed in terms of directions in his deed of settlement. The

THE BAIRDS OF GARTSHERRIE. 11

heir of entail in possession is Mr. James Baird, the next elder brother of Mr. Robert Baird.

In connection with the possession of this property by the Bairds there is a curious story, which, extraordinary as it may appear, is attested by authentic evidence. The first part of the story is given by Mr. Eraser in his preface to the Genealogical Collections. For a long period, during the occupation of the Bairds, a pair of eagles regularly nestled, and brought forth their young, in the rocks of Pennan, on Auchmedden ; and there was an old prophecy that " there Avould be an eagle in the Crags while there was a Baird in Auchmedden." When William Baird, the last of that family, sold the estate to the Earl of Aberdeen, the eagles disappeared ; " but," adds Mr. Eraser, " the most remarkable circumstance is, that when Lord " Haddo, the eldest son of the Earl of Aberdeen, married " Miss Christian Baird of Newbyth, the eagles returned to the " rocks, and remained until the estate passed into the hands " of the Honourable William Gordon, when they again fled, " and have never since been seen in the country. These facts, " marvellous as they may appear, are attested by a cloud ol " living witnesses."

But the sequel of Mr. Fraser's story is still more remarkable. Remembering these curious facts, the minister of the parish and the people in the neighbourhood, when the estate was acquired in 1854, by Mr. Robert Baird, of the Gartsherrie family, became curious to see whether the eagles would return ; and the minister in particular, the Rev. Mr. Gardiner, the minister of the parish, was on the look-out, and, as he said,

12 THE BAIRD S OF GARTSHERRIE.

" expecting their return." And, strange to say, they did return to their old eyrie, and continued there for some time. But, unhappily, there was a coast-guard station at Pennan, and the men tried to shoot the eagles, which scared them away, and, up to this time, they have not again come back. Mr. Robert Baird was not at Auchmedden at the time ; but the facts, as stated, were communicated to him by Mr. Gardiner, and by Mr. Baird they were repeated to his brother, Mr. James Baird, the present proprietor of the estate.

The cognizance of the Auchmedden family was a wild boar passant, and the same arms, with a difference, have been granted by the Lord Lyon to the Gartsherrie family. But originally it appears to have been a bear that was borne on the shield. The origin of this cognizance is thus given by Mr. William Baird of Auchmedden, in his Genealogical Collections : —

" There is a tradition that, as King William the Lion was " hunting in one of the south-west counties of Scotland, and " happened to straggle from his attendants, he was alarmed at " the approach of a wild bear, and cried for help, upon which a " gentleman of the name of Baird, who had followed the king " from England, ran up, and had the good fortune to kill the " bear, for which signal service the king made a considerable " addition to the lands he had given him before, and assigned " him for his coat of arms, a bear passant, and for his motto, " ipomittUS f crit ; and, if it will contribute to the credibility of " this story, one foot of the bear came north with Ordinhave's " ancestor, and is still preserved. And, indeed, it well deserves " it, because of the enormous size — being fourteen inches long,

THE BAIRDS OF GARTSHERRIE. 13

" and nine broad where it is cut from the ankle." Mr. Fraser, writing in 1857, states that this curious relic was then in his possession.

In the earliest charters in which the name of Baird appears in Scotland, they are mentioned as holders of land situated in the county of Lanark, in which the Gartsherrie family has been so long located. So early as 1240 there is a charter by Robert, son of Waldevus de Biggar, in favour of Richard Baird, of the lands of Little and Meikle Kyp, in the county of Lanark. In 1306 there is a crown charter, by King Robert Bruce, of the Barony of Cambusnethan, in favour of Robert de Barde. From this Robert de Barde, all the Lanarkshire Bairds, and also the branch which was settled in Aberdeenshire, are believed to be descended. The estate of Cambusnethan was lost to the family, in 1345, by the forfeit- ure of Sir Robert Bai'de, and it then came into the hands of the Somervilles. But some of the name appear to have retained, or afterwards to have acquired, other lands in the same county. Previous to 1540, "Alan Bard" was proprietor of the lands of Kirkwood, in Avondale. He died in that year, leaving an only child, a daughter ; and under date 1 4th March, 1540, there is a charter, under the Great Seal, of the lands of Kirkwood in favour of this daughter, designed Janet Baird, daughter and heiress of Alan Bard of Kirkwood. Since then the Bairds have ceased to be proprietors of these lands. The family of the name in Lanarkshire was known as " The Clydesdale Bairds," in contradistinction to the Aber- deenshire branch.

14 THE BAIRDS OF GARTSHERRIE.

Changes of occupancy were in early times of rare occurrence. The home of the Gartsherrie family for a very long time was at High Cross, or at Kirkwood, both in the parish of Old Monkland.

High Cross is situated on the east of the parish road, leading from Langloan to Old Monkland Church, and Kirk- wood is not far off on the other side of the road. There is a tradition that, in very early times, a monk came from Rome, bearing a consecrated stone, which he was instructed to carry to a certain spot on the lands of Sidetonhaugh, or Sedgie Ha', with a view to its forming the foundation of a church in that locality. As he came past High Cross, being attracted by a cross believed to have stood there, and which gave the name to the lands, he inquired what place it was. Being told that it was High Cross, he said, " Then I am near my journey's end." He was then within a few hundred yards of where the church of Old Monkland now is, and where he planted the stone. Mr. James Baird remembers seeing long ago a stone, said to have been the one brought by the monk. It was then inside the church. It is mentioned in the Statistical Account of Old Monkland, written near the end of the last century, by the Rev. John Bower, the then minister of the parish. This good old man married Mr. and Mrs. Baird, the father and mother of the Gartsherrie family, and baptized all their ten children. He died in 1820, having been minister of the parish for about forty years. The present is the third church which has been built at Old Monkland. The name of the original church — the one founded by the monk — was

THE BAIRDS OF GARTSHERRIE. 15

Baderruonoc, under which name it was confirmed to the see of Glasgow, among the bishop's mensal churches, by Pope Alex- ander III., in the year 1170. The name of Monkland, as attached to the land, first occurs in a deed, by Walter the Steward, in favour of the monks, in 1323 ; but the name, as applied to the church, occurs for the first time in a deed by the vicar of Calder, who was also vicar of Monkland, in 1509.

Kirkwood certainly took its name from its vicinity to the kirk, and from a large wood, which is known to have existed on the lands.

The family of the Gartsherrie Bairds were tenants in Kirkwood and High Cross ; but there were others of the name, and no doubt branches of the same family, in this and the neighbouring counties. In the seventeenth century some of them are found in the ranks of the Covenanters. During the persecution of 1683, "William Baird in Drips" was remitted to the sheriff, and fined one hundred pounds for refusing to recognise the curate settled in Cathcart. In 1680, in a process of forfeiture against certain of the Covenanters, appears the name of " Baird Younger of Dungeon." And at the same period there is mention made in Woodrow's History of one of the sufferers, " a worthy and judicious man, James Baird, in or near Strathaven."

In the valuation roll of New Monkland there is a small property, called " Baird's Mailing," which, no doubt, belonged to, and took its name from, some member of the connection. When the valuation roll was made up, it was the property

16 THE BAIRDS OF GARTSHERRIE.

of the Honourable "William Elphinstone. In the Memorie of the Somervilles, there is an interesting notice of the house which the Bairds inhabited, when they possessed Cambusnethan. " The " first of the name of Somerville," we are told, in the Memorie, " is said to have dwelt at Cambusnethan, the pleasantnes of " the place inviteing him thereto, albeit at the time there was " nae other house upon it (except some laigh office houses), " but the Bairds' Tower, a building, some twenty foot square "and four storie high, which was still standing in the same "forme and fashion, untill the year 1661, that it was " demolished by Sir John Harper, when he rebuilt the house " of Cambusnethan." This had been, evidently, one of the old feudal towers, of which remains are still to be found in so many parts of Scotland.

The first member of the Gartsherrie family, of whom there is any account, was Alexander Baird, who was tenant in Kirkwood and High Cross. He was a very powerful man, and, in consequence of the enormous weight which he was able to carry, got the name of " Double-ribbed Sandy."

His son was Alexander Baird, the great-grandfather of the Gartsherrie brothers. The exact date of his birth is not known, but an approximation may be made to it. There is documentary- evidence to show that his eldest son John was married to his first wife on the 9th of August, 1749. Assuming that John was then thirty years of age, this would give as the date of his birth 1719; and, on the assumption that his father was at that time thirty, this would give the date of Alexander

THE BAIRDS OF GARTSHERRIE. 17

Baird's birth as in 1689. On the same computation " Double- ribbed Sandy" would be born about 1659.

Alexander died in or immediately before 1766, as appears from a deed in that year, executed by his widow, his second wife, discharging her legal rights. This deed will be afterwards noticed. His age at the time of his death, on the computation made above, would be seventy-seven.

This Alexander Baird (the great-grandfather of the Gart- sherrie brothers) was twice married. The name of his first wife, from whom the Gartsherrie family is descended, is not certainly known. It is supposed to have been Cumming, as a very old Bible which had belonged to a family of that name, and contained their family register, was in the possession of Mr. Baird, the father of the Gartsherrie family. Unfortu- nately it has gone amissing since his death.

He married, second, Elizabeth Paterson, by whom he was survived, and by whom he . left no children. There is a piece of ground attached to High Cross farm called " Paterson's Acre," which probably got its name from this Mrs. Baird.

By his first wife, Alexander Baird had three sons, John, William, and Robert. Having died intestate, an agreement was, on 21st July, 1766, apparently immediately after his death, executed between his widow, Elizabeth Paterson, then living in Airdrie, and his three sons, by which, in lieu of her legal rights, they agreed to pay her the sum of 1,500 merks Scots, "together with ye delivery of certain furniture ; " and for these provisions she gi-anted a discharge in their favour on the 24th of the same month of July.

18 THE BAIRDS OF GARTSHERRIE.

By a testament dated 13th February, 1772, this Elizabeth Paterson nominated her step- son, John Baii'd — designed in the deed as " tenant in Kirkwood" — to be her sole executor. After legacies to her own relatives, she directs her executor to deliver to " Robert Baird in High Cross," another of her step-sons, "my cow"; and to pay to "William Baird in Woodhead," her other step-son, £3 sterling, " in order to buy a suit of black clothes with " ; and " to the said John Baird himself" she bequeaths £3 for the same purpose. The residue she leaves to her brother and sister.

How long the ancestors of the Gartsherrie family were in Kirkwood and High Cross does not appear, but it must have been for a very long period. In a renewal of the lease granted by Sir James Hamilton of Rosehall on the 20th of July, 1745, Alexander Baird is designed as then occupying " High Corsse " ; and there is let to him for another period of nineteen years the lands of High Cross, Millhouse, Woodhead, and Kirkwood, all in the Parish of Old Monkland.

It is not uninteresting to note the rents paid at that time for these lands. They were as follows : —

For High Cross, 96 pounds Scots and 12 hens;

For Millhouse, 48 pounds Scots and 3 hens ;

For Woodhead, 109 pounds G shillings and 8 pence Scots; 4 bolls good and sufficient oatmeal, "with the weight and measure of Rosehall " (showing apparently that Rosehall had a customary weight and measure of its own), 6 bolls and 3 firlots of bere, and 1 3 hens ;

THE BAIRDS OF GARTSHERRIE. 19

And for Kirkwood, 212 pounds 18 shillings Scots, a stone of butter, and 12 capons.

The total rental was thus 466 pounds 4 shillings and 8 pence Scots, 4 bolls of meal, 6 bolls and 3 fhlots of bere, a stone of butter, 2S hens, and 12 capons. On the occasion of obtaining this renewal of his lease, Alexander Baird, in addition to the stipulated rent, made a money payment down of "twenty guineas," at the signing of the tack, as " entress."

The above must have been a considerable farm. The rent, when reduced to sterling money, is certainly not large ; but the value of land was very different then from what it is now, and, besides, the times were not very settled. It was just five days before the signing of this tack that Prince Charles effected his memorable landing in Moidart.

On 1st April, 1764, Alexander Baird obtained a renewal of his lease from Archibald Hamilton of Rosehall. This Mr. Hamilton was accustomed to ride through the country in a carriage with four horses, and three or four footmen running behind him. These runners could go very long distances, and in sjDeed they were equal to most horses. It is related of Mr. Hamilton that one evening he o-ave to one of these footmen an important letter to carry to Edinburgh, and to bring back an answer. Happening eaily in the morning to go into the place where the man slept, Mr. Hamilton found him in bed, and in a fury at his supposed neglect of duty (believing he had never been away) he was about to stab him, when the man turned quietly round and handed to his master the answer to the letter.

20 THE BAIRDS OF GARTSHERRIE.

The lease which Alexander Baird obtained from this laird of Rosehall, in 1764, was for the further term of nineteen years. It embraces the same lands, with the addition of what is described as "Luggie Bridgend or Waukmill house." This time the rent was increased to 516 pounds 18 shillings Scots, with 7 bolls oatmeal, 8 bolls and 3 firlots "barley bear," 35 hens, and 12 capons. From a receipt among the papers by Mr. Hamilton to John Baird in 1767 (the year after his father's death), it appears that the Kaim fowl, stipulated as part of the rent, were paid for in money, at the rate of 8d. for each hen, and 12d. for each capon. From the terms of the receipt this must have been sterling money; and if so, it was a high price for fowls at that period.

Two years after the date of this lease — namely, in 1766 — Alexander Baird died at High Cross, and was succeeded in his farms by his eldest son, John Baird. At the time of his father's death, John Baird was in the occupation, under his father, of the lands of Kirkwood, and had been so for some years previously ; and he continued in the same possession till the time of his own death in 1798.

After the death of Alexander Baird, John appears to have held, under his father's lease, all the lands which had been held by the latter — his brother Robert possessing High Cross, and William possessing Woodhead, as his sub-tenants. This continued till 1786.

On the 4th of February in that year, John Baird obtained from the then proprietor, Colonel John Hamilton of Rosehall,

THE BAIRDS OF GARTSHERRIE. 21

afterwards of Orbiston, a renewal of the lease for a further period of nineteen years. The lands are described as " Kirk- wood, High Cross, Woodhead, Waukmill, and Luggie Bridge, as the same were then possessed by him and his sub-tenants." This tack does not include the lands of Millhouse. In this and subsequent deeds John Baird continues to be designed as " farmer in Kirkwood."

John Baird married Ann Lawson, of the same family as Captain Lawson of Cuparhead. By their contract of marriage, dated 9th August, 1749, he provided and secured to her the sum of 400 merks Scots. She died before him, leaving no children.

By a will executed on 30th November, 1764, Ann Lawson left to her husband her whole means and estate, including the above 400 merks, under burden of certain pecuniary bequests and specific legacies to her brothers and sisters and others, including one to Margaret Kirkland of her "wedding gown." At that period the preservation of wedding gowns was very common. Mrs. Weir (Janet Baird) possesses now (1875) the wedding gown of her grandmother, Janet Craig.

Ann Lawson made a subsequent will on 19th January, 1768, which is interesting, from the simple and touching terms in which it is expressed ; the language being evidently her own. It bears : — " Being at present in distress of body, but sound in " memory and judgment, considering with myself that for several " years past I have been in such affliction of body as not to " be capable to do the smallest service for the utility of my " husband, but on the contrair have been a great burden

22 THE BAIRDS OF GARTSHERRIE.

" and expense upon him, therefore for that reason " she bequeaths to him her whole property absolutely, unburdened with any bequests.

John Baird afterwards married Elizabeth Moffat, by whom he had one child, Elizabeth, born 1783.

By a deed of settlement, dated 10th August, 1798, John Baird left all his property, except the lease of his farms, to this daughter, burdened with an annuity to her mother of 100 pounds Scots, with the possession, rent free, of a house at Woodhead "possessed by Robert Pettigrew." This was one of two small houses, or rather the one-half of a double house and garrets — the tenement having been apparently the only subject of which John Baird was absolute proprietor. This house is still standing. A view of it is given in the accompanying plate — the entrance being the centre one of the three doors shown in the sketch. Mr. Alexander Baird, the father of the Gartsherrie brothers, built an addition to this house consisting of the portion in which are the farthest oft' door and window. The plate represents these houses as they were in his time. The place where the tree and hedge are is now occupied by recently built houses.

By the deed of settlement just mentioned, John Baird bequeaths legacies of £10 each to his nephews, John, son of William Baird, and John, son of Robert Baird ; and he leaves the same amount to his grand-nephew, " John Baird, son of Alexander Baird in Woodhead." This last was the late Mr. John Baird of Lochwood, then an infant of six months old. The testator also appointed his nephew, " Alexander Baird in

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THE BAIRDS OF GARTSHERRIE. 23

Woodhead," with three others, to be curators to his daughter Elizabeth.

Elizabeth Baird married, in 1800, James Mochrie of Gor- dronan or Coudronan (his own property), by whom she had several children. She and her husband executed a deed on 4th June, 1801, discharging her cui'ators.

John Baird, the father of Elizabeth, died in September, 1798, and assuming the computation of his birth above men- tioned to be correct, he would be then in his seventy-ninth year.

It will be necessary to return to this John Baird in noticing the family of his brother William ; but before doing this, the third son of Alexander — namely, Robert Baird — may be disposed of.

The first time he is mentioned in any of the existing papers is in 1772. In the testament executed by Elizabeth Paterson in that year, he is designed as " in High Cross " : and in a deed of nomination of curators executed by his brother William in 1774 (to be afterwards mentioned) he is also designed as "in High Cross." This farm he no doubt held, as already mentioned, under his brother John, in whose lease from Mr. Hamilton of Rosehall it was included. He afterwards became tenant of the farm of Stan or Stand, in New Monkland, and subsequently he was in Woodend. In the settlement by John Baird in 1798 above mentioned, Robert's son John is designed as " son of the deceased Robert Baird in Woodend."

24 THE BAIRDS OF GARTSHERRIE.

Robert Baird married Janet Thorn of Gartverrie, on the Gartsherrie estate, and had two sons — John, born 16th November, 1777 ; and James, born 10th September, 1786 — and three daughters, Janet, born ; Ann, born 1775 ; and

Agnes, born in 1784, besides another daughter Agnes, born in 1780, who died in infancy. Both of the sons, and also two of the daughters, married, and had issue. John, the eldest son, married Janet Cleland. Ann, one of the daughters, mar- ried Walter Thorn. Janet married Robert Moffat in Lanafloan.

'.->'

The second son of Alexander Baird was William Baird, the grandfather of the Gartsherrie brothers.

The first deed in which he is mentioned is the agreement already referred to between him and his two brothers, and their stepmother, Elizabeth Paterson, in 1766 ; but neither in this, nor in the discharge which followed on it, is his residence stated.

In 1772 he was tenant in Woodhead, and he is so designed in the testament of Elizabeth Paterson, dated 13th February in that year. This farm he must have possessed as sub-tenant of his brother John, as Robert in the same way occupied High Cross.

The date of William Baird's birth is not known. On the assumption made above that his brother John was born circa 1719, William may have been born about 1721. In a deed to be immediately noticed, executed in 1774, William speaks of himself as having " for sometime byegone been tender and infirm ; " but it is not to be inferred from this that he was

THE BAIRDS OF GARTSHERRIE. 25

then far advanced in years, as all his children were at that time under age, his eldest son being then only nine years old. If born in 1721, he would be then fifty-three.

He married Jean Baillie, by whom he had four children, Alexander, Helen, John, and William.

By a deed of nomination and settlement, dated 22nd April, 1774, William Baird appointed his brothers "John Baird in Kirkwood, and Robert Baird in High Cross," along with his wife, Jean Baillie, and two others, to be tutors and curators to his children. Power is given to his wife, if the other curators shall consent, to continue in the possession of the farm, she paying the rent, and maintaining and clothing the children. But if the other curators shall " find her management " not for the behove and good, of the said children, but rather " tending to their hurt and loss," they are to have the power of removing her from the possession — they providing her, in that case, with a dwelling house and furniture ; and they also giving her a cow, and maintaining the same, summer and winter, during her widowhood. If she shall enter into a second marriage, she is to be paid 200 merks. Jean Baillie accepts of these provisions in full of her legal rights, and signs the deed alonef with her husband. This Jean Baillie was a strong-minded and self-willed woman, and she and her two younger sons had the reputation of being inclined to Radicalism — a political creed not then much in vogue, but which not long afterwards obtained unhappily many followers in the manu- facturing centres.

William Baird, her husband, died at High Cross. The

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26 THE BAIRDS OF GARTSHERRIE.

date of his death does not appear, but it was probably not long after the date of the deed of 1774, in which he describes himself as being in " a tender and infirm state." He must have died, at all events, not later than 1785, as the papers show that his son Alexander had then entered on the pos- session of the farm.

Of Alexander Baird, his eldest son, presently.

The daughter Helen, the second child, married Hart. They left no issue.

John Baird, the second son of William, lived a good deal about Cuparhead and Kirkwood. In July, 1800, he appears to have become tenant, by subset from his brother Alexander, of the lands of Souterhouse, in the parish of Old Monkland, of which Alexander had just acquired a lease from Mr. Lawson.

This John Baird married his cousin, Elizabeth Smellie, daughter of Thomas Smellie of Newarthill, by whom he had six sons and four daughters — viz., William, John, Janet, Thomas, Robert, Alexander, Helen, Elizabeth, Jean, and James. Of these William, Thomas, and Robert died without issue. Alexander was drowned at New York. He left two children, Helen and Alexander. The other children of John Baird are in Canada. Janet married William Colines or Collings. He died before 1863, leaving no issue. Elizabeth married Thomas Convay, and has issue. Jean married Thomas Russell, who died a few years ago leaving issue.

William, the third son of William Baird, was a cabinet- maker in Glasgow. He died unmarried.

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THE BAIRDS OF GARTSHERRIE. 27

To return to Alexander, the eldest son of William. He was born at Woodhead on the 12th of May, 1765. The annexed portrait is from a picture at Strichen, copied by Mr. Munro of Glasgow from an original painting at Lochwood.

Although Alexander, in his youth, had been subjected to the same hard labour as was afterwards kept up on his farm; he received a tolerably good education at the parish school of Old Monkland, under a very excellent teacher named Harry Peat, for whom he always retained an affectionate regard. He had many stories to tell of his school-days, and of his old schoolmaster, and how he kept at the top of his class. He was a good writer, and his ability in figures was far beyond any of his compeers of that day. He could make mental calcula- tions to almost any amount, and among his companions he stood alone as an expert in figures.

In the year 1785, when he was only twenty years of age, he became sub-tenant of the lands of Woodhead in room of his father, under a tack from his uncle John. The tack is dated 19th January, 1791, but it bears that his entry had begun to the arable lands at Martinmas, 1785, from which date John Baird grants him a lease for nineteen years. The rent stipulated was £30, and to carry six carts of coals from the heugh to Rosehall House yearly.

In August, 1794, after his entry to Woodhead, Alexander Baird married Jean Moffat, daughter of James Moffat, some time in Airdrie, afterwards in Whitburn, by Janet Craig his second wife. James Moffat had also three sons by his marriage with Janet Craig — viz., James, Robert, and John. All these

28 THE BAIRDS OF GARTSHERRIE.

three were in the Scots Greys, and James was at the siege of Dunkirk. John and James died without issue. Robert was twice married, and had issue by both wives. His eldest son (Robert) was employed in connection with the works at Gartsherrie, and died at Palace Craig. James Moffat's first wife was Elizabeth M'Gowan, by whom he left three children, William, Alexander, and Mary.

Alexander Baird and his wife, Jean Moffat, continued to live at Woodhead till 1798, and their eldest child, Janet (Mrs. Whitelaw, now Mrs. Weir), and their sons William and John, were born there. Mrs. Weir Las an old chair, having the initials A. B. carved on it, which belonged to Janet Craig, her grandmother.

Of the farm house of Woodhead no vestige now remains. The accompanying plate is a restored view of it from a sketch and detailed description supplied by Mr. James Baird, represent- ing it as he recollects it.

As already mentioned, John Baird — " Old Kirkwood," as he was called in the family- — executed a settlement on the 10th of August, 1798, in favour of his wife and daughter Elizabeth. On the 27th of the same month he executed a sub-tack of all his farms in favour of his nephew Alexander. After referring to his lease from Mr. Hamilton of Orbiston, the deed proceeds on the narrative, " that from my present " declining state of health and advanced age, and having no " son to succeed me, it is inconvenient and very troublesome " for me to manage a farm ; and that Alexander Baird, "farmer in Woodhead, my nephew, has agreed to pay me

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THE BAIRDS OF GARTSHERRIE. 29

" three hundred pounds sterling for my improvements, and " the benefit of the said tack for the remaining years thereof " to run ; " therefore he subsets to Alexander Baird the lands of Kirkwood, High Cross, Woodhead, Waukmill, and Luggie Bridge-end, and that for the space of six years, being the unexpired period of the lease. The rent stipulated is £105, the same as in the principal tack, and there is a clause reserving existing subsets, with right to Alexander Baird to draw the rents from them. The sum of £300 was a large amount to pay in these times for the short period of only six years of the lease to run.

Alexander was then himself the sub-tenant in Woodhead, and probably in High Cross also. Robert Baird had been previously sub-tenant in the last-named farm ; but in 1798, when the above deed was executed, Robert was in Woodend on the estate of Gartsherrie.

The £300 stipulated to be paid for the unexpired period of the lease was, after the death of John Baird, paid by Alexander to John's daughter Elizabeth, and her husband, James Mochrie, by two payments — £200 on 16th May, 1801, and the re- maining £100 on 4th June thereafter — this second payment being acknowledged as paid before it was due, " for our accommodation."

John Baird died in September, 1798, and in November of that year his nephew, Alexander Baird, removed to Kirkwood, where he resided till Whitsunday, 1808, and where his children Alexander, James, Jean, Robert, and Douglas were born.

30 THE BAIRDS OF GARTSHERRIE.

A view of the farm house of Kirkwood, as it was in the time of Mr. Baird's occupation, is given in the accompanying plate. This was a comparatively new steading. The old one which it superseded was similar to that of Woodhead. It remains still in the same state, with the exception that the barn, shown in the sketch to the left, has been pulled down.

In the early part of the century fences on such farms were almost unknown, and at this time there were no fences either on Kirkwood or Woodhead.

In 1800, Alexander Baird became tenant of a poi'tion of the lands of Souterhouse by tack from Captain George Lawson of Cuparhead, dated 26th July in that year. Captain Lawson had recently before acquired these lands from Mr. Andrew Stirling of Drumpellier. The rent was £5 for the first two years, £40 for the next eight years, and £50 for the remaining nine years of the lease. By a separate letter, of the same date as the lease, Captain Lawson consented to Mr. Baird subletting this land to his brother John, in consequence of which the latter, as already mentioned, became his sub-tenant in Souterhouse.

In 1804, the lease of High Cross being about to expire, Alexander Baird, on the 4th of August in that year, entered into an agreement with Miss Douglas for a nineteen years' tack of the lands of " Heigh Cross," at the rent of £45 sterling. A formal lease was executed on 6th July, 1807.

This lease was superseded by another, executed by Miss Douglas, on 27th April, 1811, of the same lands of High Cross, for nineteen years from the term of Martinmas, 1808, at the