Home About Us Events Did You Know Join Us Contact Us Sponsors

Did you know

Population: In 1801 Inverclyde's total population was 23,774. By 2001 the population was 84,203.

Industry: In 2001, the service industry was the largest sector of the local economy, employing 63% of all workers, while in 1841 45% worked in manufacturing.

Social Class: In 1841, 12.5% of male workers had middle class jobs - now 40.1% do.

Learning and Language: In 1981, 8% of 16 and 17 year olds stayed on at school. Today, 37% of 16-17 year olds stay on at school.

Life and Death: In 1921, 85 babies in every thousand died in their first year. By 2001 the rate was 7.

Newark Castle: Newark Castle was built by the Maxwell family who were Lords of Newark until 1694. The oldest parts of the castle date from the 15th century and the lofty tower house and the gatehouse were built at that time. King James IV visited there in 1495. Today's visitors can climb to the top of the tower and look up and across the river.

In the 1590s Patrick Maxwell added a splendid Renaissance three-storey mansion to the tower house. The main hall has been partially furnished by the present owners, Historic Scotland, and a nice touch is to play a selection of Scots instrumental music from the Middle ages which wafts through the corridors of this part of the castle.

"New-port Glasgow" which became Port Glasgow was built on land beside the castle. Over the years shipyards were constructed and so today the castle is located beside the cranes of one of the last remaining shipyards on the Clyde!

Captain Kidd: Kidd is undoubtedly the most famous of pirates, and yet in reality he could scarcely be called a pirate at all. The son of minister, tradition records he was born in Greenock around 1655 and having set of for a life at sea at a young age, he was given his first command in early his early thirties. In 1695, King William III, wrote to his "beloved friend, William Kidd", offering him the command of the Adventure, with orders to suppress pirates operating off the coast of America. Built at the Thames river shipyard in Deptford, the Adventure was a Privateer, a ship given legal authority to search out and destroy illegal pirates and enemies of the King. Like most such ships, the Adventure was financed by respectable, wealthy businessmen, who would take a share of any profits from the voyage, either through the capture of other ships or their treasure. It was a profitable business, and a popular venture among London's elite and powerful. However, it seems that the offer to command the Adventure was a poisoned chalice.

captain kidd

Having been legally granted a license to raid French ships by five senior ranking Whig lords, including the Lord of the Admiralty and the secretary of State, Kidd appeared to be well protected. However things turned sour when Kidd mistakenly plundered the East India company vessel, the Quedagh Merchant, mistaking it for a French ship. The East India Company was a powerful institution with wealthy investors, who wrote to the Lord Justice in London accusing Kidd of piracy. Instead of backing him, Kidd's well-placed backers now found him a liability. The scandal threatened to engulf the government and when opposition party the Tories found out about the pirates connections to the government, they used Kidd's reputation to further smear the Whigs. Rumours spread that the Whigs had known that Kidd was a reckless, murdering villain, but they chose to employ him anyway. The gory stories of his nefarious deeds were hastily printed in cheap pamphlets and distributed all over London. Keen to avoid further controversy the Whigs did nothing to clear Kidd's name. However, Kidd himself did not help matters by arriving at his trial drunk and near incapable. He refused to repent as he stood before the noose and instead delivered a bitter and blasphemous tirade against all those he felt had wronged him, almost everyone apparently, from his crew and their families all the way up to God himself. The trial itself was something of a sham. The admiralty granted Kidd £50 for his defence, but it arrived only the day before proceedings began. The guilty verdict was all but inevitable and on the 23rd May 1701, Kidd was hanged at the gallows at execution dock.

Transcripts of the trial and Kidd's last words were quickly distributed as pamphlets. Also published on the day of his execution was "Captain Kidd's Farewell to the Seas", a song which - ironically - records Kidd's regrets on the gallows as he lists his many crimes and asks forgiveness for them all. It started life as an almost religious penitential ballad, but has darkened down the years to become a more lusty celebration of his crimes. These pamphlets, legends and ballads found wider appeal through Daniel Defoe - author of Robinson Crusoe. Defoe embellished Kidd's legend, combining fact with fiction and attributing crimes to him that had been committed by other pirates. While tales of Kidd's violent exploits were popular, no legend was more enchanting than the mystery of his buried treasure. These stories were particularly popular in America, indeed, while living in New York, Kidd himself had encouraged rumours of his "hidden wealth". It was thought that Kidd had stashed his booty somewhere between India and Boston. By 1750, hopeful treasure hunters had dug up almost every point of land and island along the New York coast. The most likely candidate was thought to be Oak Island, the famous "money pit", believed to be riddled with secret mines and booby traps, treasure aficionados still dig there to this day. Kidd was the first pirate to be associated with "buried treasure", and it was these popularised legends Robert Louis Stevenson had in mind when he came to write Treasure Island.

Stories of Kidd's buried treasure were adapted into the new wave of American romantic literature in stories by Washington Irving, James Fenmore Cooper and later, Edgar Allan Poe. The work of Washington Irving was fundamental to bringing a sense of "mythology" to the new world of the Americas. "Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and "Rip Van Winkle" were among his most popular stories. Kidd - who had spent most of his life in America - became a part of this folk patchwork. For this reason, Kidd is better known in America than he is here, a legendary "bogeyman" who still finds his way into children's stories. No surprise then, that Hollywood has plundered his legend before. Charles Laughton played the misguided Kidd in the 1945 film - recently re-released on DVD. A slew of sequels followed, "Captain Kidd and the Slave Girl", "Captain Kidd Against All Flags" and the final indignity "Abbott and Costello meet Captain Kidd" - yes really. Folk Hero? Kidd's legacy lives on, a controversial character long after his death, Kidd's Greenock lineage was recently called into question, and Dundee claimed the pirate as their own. A shrewd move on the part of Dundee city council's tourist board! Yet most folk would maintain that Kidd's birthplace is Jamaica Street in Greenock. We even have a direct descendant still living in the town. One local legend suggests that Kidd's father was a covenanting minister, responsible for some of the baptisms at the Covenanters Well in Larkfield. Perhaps Kidd himself was baptised there. Today, at the site of execution dock you can find "The Captain Kidd", a pub dedicated to his immortal memory. London folk legends talk of his ghost still wandering at the Wapping dockside. Treasure hunters sail around the Caribbean in search of his ill gotten gains and in Boston, schoolchildren are taken on "treasure tours" which use stories of Kidd's journeys to teach history and geography. For too long Kidd has been Greenock's very own buried treasure, appreciated far beyond the shores of his hometown. Perhaps now, we can start to celebrate our links with this legendary character. "There's a high ridge on which grow a few scattered oaks of great age and immense size. Under one of those gigantic trees, according to old stories, there was a great amount of treasure buried by Kidd the pirate..." Washington Irving The Devil and Tom Walker

The Ghostly Captain of Lunderston Bay: Many a good tale is told round the fire at this time of year. Who has not heard the tale of Auld Dunrod, the stories of the Inverkip witches, or the haunting Bogle of Boglestone? But who among you has heard the tale of the Ghostly Captain of Lunderston Bay? Our tale begins in 1588, when King Phillip of Spain raised an Armada and sailed against England.

After a disastrous defeat at the battle of the Gravelines, the Armada found itself blown off course and scattered along the Northern coast of Britain. Only a few brave or foolhardy Captains were able to steer their ships through the dark nights and harsh storms of the North-western coast of Scotland. Among those few left was Captain Mordoba, whose ship the Salamanca became the scourge of Ports and villages along the West Coast of Scotland. The bowels of his ship became stuffed with the gold of the Scots. Then one night, late in October, a fierce storm, much like the ones we still see this time of year, tore the sails from the Salamanca, and threw her into the Firth of the Clyde. As the wind howled and the rain battered down, Mordoba's men scrambled overboard. But the Captain himself would not be separated from his gold.

It was to be the death of him. And so it was the Captain met his fate on the rocks of the Gantocks, his ship lost the waves. Some say that the Captain himself was laid to rest in the old cemetery of Inverkip, and to this day, if you look hard enough amoung the overgrown stones, you will find a small grave marked with a simple skull and cross bones. But what of Mordoba's treasure, you may ask? Well it is said that in the days after the storms a young farm hand named John Carswell came across a black chest while walking along the beach at Lunderston bay.

He thought fortune had smiled on him that day. With Mordoba's gold, Carswell was a rich man. But never a happy one. For the tale goes hat wherever he went, a shadow was always at his back. He became convinced that the Captains Ghost had returned for his gold, following him at everyturn, unresting and unyielding in his haunting. And so, driven mad by the spectre, Carswell resolved to bury what little remained of the gold, and leave the cursed wealth behind. He died a penniless and miserable man, and as he went to his grave, he still muttered of the Ghostly Captain. Just a yarn you might say. But there is a strange twist to this tale. In the 1950's two workmen discovered a cow horn containing sixty coins while digging in Burns Road. The coins were dated to around 1580, and to this day reside in the National Museum of Scotland and the McLean Museum. The last of Mordoba's gold? Perhaps. Or perhaps it still lies waiting to be found. Certainly there are still those today who swear they have seen the haunting spectre of the Ghost Captain stalking along the beach at Lunderston Bay, searching for his treasure.

The Bogle of Boglestone: Coming by the backroad from Kilmalcolm, we come at last to the "Rest and be Thankfu'" and the Bogle Stone, a large quadrangular block of whin eight or nine feet high that stands in the corner of a field, close by the wayside. It has a grassy top, to which we mount, and find it could accomodate half-a-score of persons on it. This far-famed stone stands on the farm of Laigh Auchinleck, and was once larger than it is now, and thereby hangs a tale.

This large block was famed for a bogle, a sort of impish sprite, that used to haunt it in days of yore. When folks had been visiting the Port, as Burns says; "When we sit bousing at the nappy, And getting fou' unto happy, We think na on the lang Scots miles, The mosses, waters, slaps and stiles, That lie between us and our hame." When the deliquent had clomb up the brae, and had got out of sight of the lights of the town, and was just entering on the wild and dreary moor that seperates Kilmalcolm from the outer world, the Bogle was frequently seen about this stone, and sent the belated worthy onward at an accelerated speed, while he fancied he heard a something following at his heels.

The good wives of Kilmalcolm used to say that, whether it were a ghaist or a deil, it was a god-send to the kintra, for it sent home Kilmalcolm folks at a richt like time o'nicht. It came to pass, however, some time not yet very remote, that a clergyman, whether talking a dislike at vexatious folks holding picnics, junketings, and frolics upon the Stone, or being in want of whin to build his dykes, or wishing to abolish what he regarded as a relic of superstition, we know not, but he resolved to have the stane destroyed. Accordingly much of it was blasted: some built into dykes, and some used otherwise. "Mony a guid curling-stane cam oot o't" as we were tol, "for, ye see it polishes weel." But this deed of his reverence roused a nest of hornets about his ears; the act was denounced, and the vandalism of it shown up. Ultimately, on a new proprietor coming into possession, the pieces were re-united, and now the Bogle Stane looks "amaist as guid as new."

A local poet wrote the following verses on the occassion, which were at one time inscribed on the side of the stone, but are now rubbed off: "Ye weary travellers passing by, Rest and be thankfu' here, And should your lips be parch'd and dry, Drink of my waters clear. I am that far-famed Bogle Stane, By worldly priest abhorr'd, But now I am myself again, By Auchinleck restored." From Alexander Gibb's Much About Kilmalcolm, 1872

The Kempock Stone: One of the most noteworthy objects in Gourock, though one of the least noticeable, is the "Kempoch Stane". You reach it by a narrow pathway which passes back between the houses nearly opposite the Star Hotel, and runs up the side of the little steep, bringing you to a small green angle of ground between the high dead wall of Gourock Castle and the edge of the cliff. On this grassy patch you behold, standing erect, a remarkable looking block of grey mica schist.

It stands about six feet high, with a diametre of tow, and has a faint resemblance to a mantled figure, with a shrouded head. This is the famous "lang stane" of Gourock, more familiarly spoken of as "Granny Kempoch" - little known and less respected in these days, but far otherwise in days gone by. It is supposed that the Kempoch Stane marks the site of in Druid times of an altar to Baal; and that it was wont to gleam, more than two thousand years ago, in the light of the Baal-fire. However that may be, the Kempoch Stane was for many centuries an object of superstitious awe and reverence. The very ballast for ships from Gourock Bay was judged sacred in old times from its connection with the "Kempoch Stane." Marriages in the district were not regarded as lucky unless the wedded pair passed round the "lang stane", and obtained in this way, Granny Kempoch's blessing. It was chiefly in connection with the winds and the sea that the Kempoch Stane was regarded with superstitious dread. Standing forth on the top of the rock, when there were no trees or houses or Castle walls to intercept the view, Granny Kempoch must have been a marked object to ships sailing up or passing down the Firth: and would look like some one placed there to rule the winds and the waves, and watch the ships as they came and went.

At one time, according to tradition, a monk made money by giving his blessing to sea-going ships on this spot. Another tradition tells of a withered hag, reputed to be a witch, who for years dwelt beside the mystic stone, dispensing favourable winds to seafaring men, who secured her favour by suitabel gifts before sailing from Gourock Bay. But long before, and long after the witch's day, the sailiors and fishermen were wont to take a basketful of sand from the shore and walk seven times rund Granny Kempoch, chanting a weird song, to insure for themselves a safe and prosperous voyage. From Rev. D Macrae's Notes About Gourock, 1880

Little Known History Of Greenock: From Daniel Weirs History of Greenock, 1829 The old mansion [The family ceased to reside here in 1154, and now occupy the noble mansion of Ardgowan] of the Shaw Stewart family stands upon a fine rising ground above the Assembly Rooms, and commands a most extensive view of the Town.

This situation, before the buildings encroached upon it, must have been one of delightful retirement and beauty. There must have been various additions built to the house since its first erection. An ancient well close by bears date upon it 1629. Over one of the entrances to the garden is affixed 1635: but the oldest date in connection with the house is over a back entrance, 1637. The front and greater part of the building is of modern erection, and is said to have been planned by James Watt. It was here, however, that baronial hospitality spread the board; and from this place John Shaw, with about 200 of his tenantry, marched to the assistance of King Charles II and fought with that prince at the battle of Worcester, 3d September 1651.

The banner which was carried on this occasion, was preserved till about 1790, and hung along with the Town flags in the Coffee Room: but since this period was never seen. It was in consequence of the zeal of John Shaw that he was created a Baronet under the flag on the field of battle. Sir John was residing here in 1715, and on the Duke of Argyle's [The Duke was a frequent visitor at Greenock house, and when his Grace intended to return, an impress party were sent to man the barge. The individuals thus seized "came nothing loath," in consequence of the great kindness with which they were treated on these occasions, in not only receiving a silver Jacobus or two, but a supply of the good beverage on both sides of the Clyde.] arrival in Edinburgh on the 14th September, he addressed a letter earnestly begging assistance. "from which place and Cartsdyke he was reinforced with somewhat more than 100 men, accompanied by their minister, the Rev. Mr. Turner. These remained under the orders of his grace for 80 days, doing duty all that time the same as the regular troops.

Besides the above, that were thus employed abroad, there were 50 men belonging to Greenock, and 25 to Cartsdyke, who kept watch every night, bringing all the boats from the south side of the Clyde, to prevent the rebels, especially Rob Roy and his thieves, from transporting themselves across, and plundering the adjacent country." Again in 1745, Sir John, who remained in this place, was applied to, and in the open green close by the house he drilled the various trades before they went on active duty. About this period the Earl of Kilmarnock and Marquis of Tullibardine called upon him to ask his advice; he earnestly implored them not to enter upon that enterprize, which cost the one his life and made the other an exile for ever.

It must appear obvious that during the unfortunate 1715 and 45, the men of Greenock were loyal to the house of Hanover; and however we may admire the exalted devotion of the prince's army, [The chevalier's army never visited Greenock, in consequence of war vessels being moored at intervals from about the old Battery to above Port-Glasgow. It is said that about 18 or 24 came to spy the land, and reached as far as Clune Brae; but on receiving the fire from the ships of war, returned immediately to the head-quarters at Glasgow.] and also deplore the fearful winding up of the tragedy, where so many noble victims were sacrificed; yet there can be but one opinion as to the issue of a contest which secured to Britain its civil and religious liberty, and which raised this nation to its present greatness.

In the neighbourhood of this house, Sir John mustered the different trades to walk the fair for the protection of property; which was often carried off by Rob Roy and his men, as well as other marauders. And though this exhibition latterly became a mere pageant, it was not abolished till 1822.

I CLYDIUS - The Romans in Inverclyde: The Romans never conquered Scotland. This is a fact which as a country we are still, some 1800 years later, still extremely proud of; and why shouldn't we be? The most powerful and efficient army on earth, the active hand of an Empire which spanned over two million square miles, was unable to sub-due a handful of un-organised tribes. But if this is true, why then are the hills and valleys of Inverclyde dotted with the remains of Roman occupation?

The Roman historian Tacitus tells us that several early invasion forces made in-roads into Scotland in the first century A.D, getting as far as the Clyde-Forth isthmus. However, they were unable to maintain a foothold and it was not until around A.D 140, some twenty years after the building of Hadrian's Wall, that the Romans left their greatest mark on the Scottish Landscape.

As part of the strategic move north, the Romans constructed a line of forts along a turf wall stretching between the Clyde and the Forth, known as the Antonine wall. Around this time, two fortlets were constructed in the Inverclyde area; one on Lurg moor behind Strone, and the other at Outerwards, on the hills behind Skelmorlie. Each one was home to around fifteen Legionaries, most likely from the Second Augusta Legion, whose purpose it was to watch the firth of the Clyde for possible raiding forces from the north.

The forts remained undiscovered until around fifty years ago, although the presence of Romans in the area found its way into the local folk memory. A small stone bridge outside Inverkip has for hundreds of years been referred to as the "Roman Bridge", and the local ballad, "The Vision of Auld Dunrod", thought to date from the 17th century, speaks of Roman ships sailing up the Clyde. However, it was only through aerial photographs that the locations of the two forts were finally revealed.

Excavations by Frank Newall in the fifties yielded a number of interesting finds at both sites, including shards of pottery and glassware, all of which have since been lost. Newall also found evidence of a network of roads and signal tracks throughout the area, which linked the two forts with a larger site outside Bishopton. Over the years there have also been a number of other finds, including coins in peoples Gardens, and a spearhead found in Gourock. There has even been a suggestion that the Romans may have operated a dockyard within the area, repairing ships stationed on the Clyde. However, perhaps the most significant find is that at both sites, there is some evidence that the forts were burned to the ground. Perhaps the Legionaries raised them themselves, or maybe they didn't keep a close enough eye on who was crossing the river, either way evidence suggests they left in a hurry. Afterall, the Romans never conquered Scotland - they were just visiting.