Harrower Family Tree » Jean Stevenson (1826-1870)

Données personnelles Jean Stevenson 

• Elle est née le 13 avril 1826 dans Outer Wood, Kilwinning, Ayrshire, Scotland.Les sources 2, 3, 4
• Elle a été baptisée le 30 avril 1826 dans Outer Wood, Kilwinning, Ayrshire, Scotland.Source 6
• Profession: en l'an 1851 Sawyer and Labourer Wife.Source 2
• Résidant:
• en l'an 1841: Wood, Kilwinning, Ayrshire, Scotland.Source 4
• en l'an 1851: Eglinton Mains, Kilwinning, Ayrshire, Scotland.Source 2
• Elle est décédée le 7 août 1870 dans Morton Place, Kilmarnock, Ayrshire, Scotland, elle avait 44 ans.Source 7
• Un enfant de John Stevenson et Mary Johnston

Famille de Jean Stevenson

Elle est mariée avec Andrew McClelland.

Ils se sont mariés le 15 novembre 1846 à Kilwinning, Ayrshire, Scotland, elle avait 20 ans.Source 8

Enfant(s):

1. John McClelland  1847-????
2. Mary Ann McClelland  1849-????

Notes par Jean Stevenson

1. "Homely Musings, by a Rustic Maiden" (Jane Stevenson) written in 1870, downloaded from https://archive.org/details/homelymusingsby00stevgoog

2. The book describes part of the authors life, visiting various family residences, on her travels around Ayrshire. Jean/Jane Stevenson's Grandmother, Mary Galt, is Jean Galts sister, her Great Grandmother is Helen Young, Great Grandfather is John Galt.

3. 1/10/2012. After again looking at Homely Musings, by a Rustic Maiden, the author, mentions her sister, Jane, who is Mrs Mclelland. She also states thet she is the last born child. Jean was the 10th born child in the authors family, born in 1826, of 3 brothers and 6 sisters. As the last born child was David, in 1830, the last born daughter appears to be Ann.

The Homes of my Fathers.

I left the Wood altogether on the evening of Wednes-
day, the 29th of May, 1867. As I was passing on my
way to Towerlands, I called at my sister's house in
Kilwinning. My sister was not in at the time, but her
daughter, Mary Brown, and Isabella Goldie (who were
in my sister's house at the time), accompanied me along
the road a part of the way. We entered into Eglinton
Policies at the first gatehouse. The two girls came
with me to what is called the Long Ride, the double
gates near Irvine being at the one end of it, and the
Stane castle gates at the other end. They left me at
the end near Irvine, and turned back to Kilwinning,
and I had to pursue my way alone. With the gloom
of the trees, and the lateness of the hour, it was by this
time nearly as dark as a summer night will be. After
walking on that long path with trees on every side, I
at last reached the Stane castle gates, and came out on
the country road, and arrived at Towerlands just after
they had all gone to bed. I knocked at the door, but
no one appeared to have heard me, as none but Annie
Brown, their girl, was sleeping in the kitchen, at the
door of which I knocked. Seeing that they were gone
to bed, I did not like to disturb them any further that
night, as I feared they might think that I had come at
an unseasonable hour ; so I went up to an open boiler-
house to see what accommodation I could get there. I
had been accustomed to sit up many a night in the
spring time with cows (when necessary to do so), so it
appeared to me to be a small matter to sit up all night
now ; but the greatest difficulty was to get a seat to
sit down on. I groped and looked around in the faint
light, and at last found a place to lay some clothes that
I was carrying, which I had felt growing heavy long
ere I reached the house. The boilers in the boiler-
house were steaming away a long time, but I saw no
fire, neither could I discover any proper place to sit
down. I sat on the edge of a trough sometime, but
there appeared to be dirty water in it, and I was
afraid that my good cloak would be wetted and soiled
in it before I was aware, so I went out to a gate that
goes into the stackyard, at the side of which (behind
the hedge) there was a heap of stones, and there I sat
down awhile, it being the only clean place I knew of.
At last I began to fear that I would catch the cold by
being exposed to the night air, and went into the
boiler-house again, and after looking all round a second
time I found a little luggy, which, by turning
the bottom upward, I made to serve as a seat for a
time. The hours passed, and at last the boilers ceased
to steam, and the boiler-house grew colder ; so I rose
and walked to keep myself warm, and then I sat down
again, and continued to walk and sit down by turns till
the morning. I thought to myself how comfortable a
bed of clean straw itself must be to a poor wanderer or
beggar who has no home or bed of their own to lie
down on when they are weary, and scarcely know
where to find one. Early in the morning, when light
began to dawn, the little birds began to sing in the
neighbouring plantations of Bourtreehill with great
spirit. At length the hour of rising came, and on one
of my nephews coming out he was struck with surprise
at seeing me so early in the morning, not thinking, till
I told him, that I had left the Wood and come there
the night before. That was the way in which I spent
the first night after bidding farewell to my birthplace -
my father's house - (where I had spent so many years)
without a home, without a bed, without a companion.
But it was well that I had health, strength, and spirit
left to endure it. After staying a week with my eldest
sister at Towerlands, I came to Kilmarnock, on the 6th
of June, 1867, and went to stay with a Mrs M'Corkie,
Henrietta Street. A letter came to me the following
evening inviting me to go to Linncraig, near Dalry, on
Monday, the 10th, to be at the marriage of my niece,
Anabella Stevenson, with Bryce Barr, eldest son of Mr
William Barr of Bankend. I left Kilmarnock next day
and went to Towerlands, and from thence to the wedding
on Monday. After staying four nights with my sister
in Kilwinning, I went to my sister's house at Fergus-
hill, where I remained three weeks. I then came by
Towerlands to Kilmarnock, exactly one month after I
had left it. I stayed in Kilmarnock with Mrs Dunlop,
18 Wellington Street, till the 24th of August, 1867,
when I left it, and came by Towerlands and Fergushill
to Mosculloch, where I had been desired to go and stay
with my niece some time, her husband having fallen
into a bad state of health. I was there till he died.
A week or two afterwards I left it, and came to Tower-
lands, where I stayed till the 11th day of December,
- my niece, Margaret Howie of Towerlands, was
married to Robert Smith of Broomlands whilst I
was there at that time. On the 11th of December I
again came to Kilmarnock, and after staying till the
27th of that month with my sister, Mrs McLelland, in
18 East Langlands Street, I came to 5 West Langlands
Street, where I am at present staying with a Mrs
Paton.

Two days, I think, before going to stay with Mrs
McCorkie (on the 4th, I think of June, 1867), I came
up from Towerlands to Kilmarnock to see if I could
find out any person who had a bedroom to let, and
after looking for one I fixed on going to stay with Mrs
McCorkie, Henrietta Street. I stayed that night with
my sister, Mrs McLelland, and on the following day I
went down again to Towerlands to bring up some things
that I needed. I walked down from Kilmarnock on
foot, and the day being very fine when I set out, I had
a desire to gratify my curiosity by looking on the place
where my father was born at Carmelbank (as from the
highway it appeared to lie in a pretty spot), and also on
Hallbarns where his father and forefathers were born and
had lived many years ; so I made up my mind to go that
day and get a glimpse of both of the places. I left
the main road at Crosshouse, as I had been directed
to do, and passed some men who appeared to be cutting
a road or something of that kind. As I went to Car-
melbank it came on a shower of rain. I went in by
the end of the house, and stood there till the storm
was past. To make myself sure if it was Carmelbank,
I knocked at the byre door where I was standing,
and on a woman coming to the door, who I thought
was the mistress, I asked her what they called the
place. She said it was Carmelbank ; she told me that
the farm belonged to Overton. I did not know her,
neither did she know me. She invited me to go in,
but I went on my way as the rain had abated. On
going to a high part of the road beyond the house,
where there was a heap of stones, I tarried a little,
both to rest and enjoy the prospect around. As I
went on again I passed a row of pretty cottages, which
(as I went forward) T took to be a gentleman's house
with a pretty garden in front. But on an old woman
coming out, I asked at her the name of the place, and
she told me that it was Pollock of the Craig's cottages
for his workmen. They are, I think, the prettiest
cottages and gardens for workmen that I have passed
anywhere. (There is also a nice row called Peace and
and Plenty, which we pass when going to Treesbanks
gates on the Ayr road.) I passed the gatehouse at
Craig, and at length came to Hallbarns. As I went
forward to it, I looked over the hedge at the end of the
house and saw some lillies growing amongst the grass :
Whose hand was it that first planted lillies there ?
Perhaps there was no one about the house that could
have told me though I had asked. I knocked at the
door of the long plain building, and a woman came to
the door ; I asked her if she would give me a drink of
water, which she did. On making inquiry she told me
that they called the house Hallbarns ; she told me the
name of the man who had the farm was Howit, I think.
She knew me not, but as a traveller who was thirsty
and appeared to be ignorant about the road and houses
there, I went on and reached the main road at Thornton,
and from thence I went to Towerlands. That was the
first visit that I made to the Homes of my Fathers.

Whilst staying at Kilmarnock I passed Knockinlaw,
a farm where my father and mother lived after they
were married, and where nine of my brothers and
sisters were born, and where one of my sisters died. I
went in from the Glasgow road, and after passing
Knockinlaw farm house, where Clelland now is (but
where my father and mother lived from 1807 to 1825).
Before coming on to the Kilmaurs road I came to a
little cottage called Knockinlaw Cottage. It had a
pleasant appearance, being clad with fragrant honey-
suckle - it seemed to me, on that sunny morning, to be
a spot of quietness and beauty. Mrs Walker (as she
afterwards told me her name was) was at the door in
front of the house. As I was going to pass the house,
though I was a stranger to her, she handed me a
rose, and invited me to go in and rest a little. I went
in a short time. She said she had lived there twenty
years, but I do not know when the house was built.

I saw the little Onthank which my father had along
with Knockinlaw. The tack of Wardlaw ending in
1801, and the tack of Onthank commencing then, my
father and aunt Margaret must, I think, have been
living there till 1805, when the tack of Knockinlaw
commenced, where he afterwards lived. As I went
toward Onthank, to get a nearer view of the place I
passed a grass field where there was a great many
lapwings, or what we call peaseweeps, sitting or
running in the bright sunshine of that summer
morning.
On the New Year's day of 186 S, I passed the farm
of Wardlaw, near Kilmarnock, into which my grand-
father, William Stevenson, entered in 1783, and where
(I have reason to believe) he died ; and most likely my
grandmother either died before my father left it, or
else not long after they went to Onthank. The
afternoon was far advanced - all appeared to be quiet
about the house. I went past it to see where the road
would lead to ; it took me into a field, over which there
appeared to be a road, which I kept by till it brought
me down into a Holm by the side of the water ; but by
that time it was nearly dark, so I hastily retraced my
steps and returned to Kilmarnock.

In December, 1868, I went in near to the farm
house of Struthers, near Kilmarnock, where my great-
grandfather (John Galt) and my great-grandmother
(Helen Young) lived before going to the farm of
Harelaw. I saw two or three large willow trees
growing by the side of the road near to the house. I
could not help wondering if they would be growing
when my great-grandfather and great-grandmother
were living there. How many years does a tree take
to grow so large ? It will, I think, be about half a
century nearly since my great-grandmother died, and
she lived till she was above ninety years of age. Her
eldest sister was married to - Currie, in the farm
of Gree, near Fenwick. I have heard my aunt (Mrs
Brown) say that my great-grandfather (John Galt) was
offered a lease of the farm of Struthers if he chose,
which would last as long as woods grew and waters
ran, for five shillings per acre ; but of so little value
was land in these days that he durst not accept the
offer. An old woman named Mrs Rankine told my
aunt that when a young girl she was a companion of
my great-grandmother, Helen Young. She said she
was counted the brawest lass in Fenwick parish, to
which she belonged. She said her father's close was
sometimes filled with riders wanting her to go with
them to the fairs, as was the custom in those days.
My great-grandfather, John Galt, was older than her;
he was reckoned a real fine man. He died whilst in
the farm of Harelaw, at the foot of Craigie Hill. His
only son, John Galt, was in the farm afterwards. My
great-grandmother in her old age went to live some-
time in Riccarton. Afterwards, when too old to live
in a house alone, she was taken by turn from one
daughter's house to another to live. She died, I
believe at Inchgotrick farm house, where her daughter
Agnes (who was married to Andrew Calderwood), was
living. Another of her daughters was married to his
brother, William Calderwood, who was in the farm of
Dirkyett, near Symington I think. I have heard that
his son, Andrew Calderwood, is now in the farm of
Borland, in Craigie Parish. Another of my great-
grandmother's daughters was married to Manson,
farmer, in Millans, near Galston I think. Another
daughter was married to John Rankine, farmer, in
Wardneuck, near Kilmarnock. David, his youngest
son, who was left in the farm, is now in the farm of
Goatfoot I think. Another daughter was married to a
man called Hamilton ; he was a mason, and lived at
Parkneuk at the foot of Craigie Hill, where my grand-
father (John Johnstone) also lived, who was married to
her favourite daughter - Mary. I think there is none
of the family which Hamilton had now living, at least
in Scotland ; a son went to America long since, but I
do not know whether he is living or not. My great-
grandmother's only son, John, who was left in the farm
of Harelaw, was married to the eldest daughter of a
farmer called Knox, who was in the farm of Fencedyke
in the parish of Mauchline. He had a family, but I
have heard little about them. One was sometime in a
place called Blacksink ; one daughter was married to a
man called Fulton ; and one to a man called Howit, I
heard it said; and one to the son of a Caprington
factor, I think, whose name I did not hear. When he
left Harelaw he went to a place near King's Well I
think. He is now dead.

On the 20th of January, 1868, I went out as far as
Craigie, and before going forward to the village of
Craigie, I went up to the top of the hill. In a little
corner, at the foot of the hill, by the side of the road
from Kilmarnock to Craigie, stands a little old cottage
(part of a row which is now in ruins) called Parkneuk.
At this place my grandfather (John Johnstone) and
Mary Galt (my grandmother) lived ; and there all their
family, my aunt (Mrs Brown) thinks, was born. My
mother was born there in November, 1788. My
grandfather was a master wright, and also a mason ; as
also my great-grandfather and his son, Robert John-
stone, were architects and master wrights. They
lived at a place called the Commonhead of Riccarton.
My grandfather had a sister married to a man called
Wallace, who was farmer in Woodhead, on the water of
Ayr. He had another sister married on a man named
Macauly; one of his sons was a soldier, who, one
day when climbing up somewhere at Dumbarton Castle,
fell down and was killed. Macauly also had a son
who went to America and bought a farm. He fell
from the top of the house and was killed also. A sister
of theirs was married to a man called Dreghom, who
went out to America.

My grandmother, Mary Galt, died at Parkneuk
shortly after the birth of her youngest child, who is
the only one now living - my aunt, Mrs Brown. My
mother, who was about ten years old when my grand-
mother died, kept her father's house sometime. Her
eldest sister, Helen, was married to John Paton, son of
- Paton, farmer, in the Townend of Riccartonfarm.
She had two sons and six daughters ; the eldest, who I
have heard follows after the engineering business, if I
mistake not, is now in England ; his brother, Mr Robt.
Paton, is a seed merchant in Kilmarnock ; the eldest
sister is married to a man called Orr, a wright in
Glasgow ; the second daughter who was married to a man
in England, whose name I do not know ; and also the
third daughter, who was married to an Independent
minister called Chisholm, are both dead. Other two
I think are married (one of them the second time, I
think, as her first husband died), but what their
husbands names or employments are I do not know.
One daughter, for aught that I have heard is unmarried.
It is now a number of years since my uncle-in-law,
John Paton, died ; and my aunt, Helen, was dead a
number of years before him.

My mother's eldest brother, John, was brought up
with his grandfather and uncle at Harelaw. At length
he was married to his uncle's (John Galt's) wife's
youngest sister (Elizabeth Knox), daughter of Mr Knox,
farmer, in Fencedyke, in the parish of Mauchline. I
do not know all the different places or employments at
which he has been during his life time, but I have
heard my aunt say that he was at one time eight years
overseer on the farm of Greenhill, near Kilmarnock.
He was employed by one of the bailies of the town
(Fulton, I think) to straighten and improve the land
on that farm. He was, I think, sometime foreman or
landsteward to a gentleman. I have heard my aunt
say that he had been much respected, and was looked
up to for advice, as being a man of wisdom and
sagacity. He had only two sons, the eldest went to
sea, and the youngest kept a druggist shop ; both of
them died when young men ; and it is now nearly
seven years since my uncle, John (himself), died at
Kilmarnock, about 80 years of age. I have heard that
my aunt-in-law has gone to live at Troon.

My mother's brother, Robert, who was learned
under his uncle, (Robert Johnstone,) during his life-
time followed after the same business that he had done.
He was many years a master wright and architect in
Kilmarnock. In his old age he removed with his wife
and family to Glasgow, where he died ; my aunt-in-law
died not long after. His eldest daughter, who was
married to a man called Paton, a block-cutter, has been
a widow a long time. The second daughter was
married to a man called Hunter, a cabinet wright in
Glasgow. His father was in the farm of Paddocklaw,
and his brother is there still. Another daughter was
married to a man called Paton, a printer or block-
cutter, I think ; another was married to a clerk, about
London, called Fulton I think ; but he died a number
of years since. Three or four daughters, for aught I
have heard, are still living unmarried. They are all,
I think, in Glasgow. My uncle's youngest son, James,
who is a wright, is also (I think) in Glasgow, married.
His eldest son, John, who is an architect, has been a
long time in England, in one of the great cities. I
think I have heard of his being married now, but I am
not sure whether he is or not.

My mother's brother, James (who was never married),
in his younger years lived a good deal of his time with
his aunt and uncle-in law, Andrew Calderwood, at
Inchgotrick. I am not aware of all the places or
employments he was about in his life, but I have heard
that he stayed sometime with John Baird who was
married to a cousin of his (gardener at Bellfield). And
I also heard my aunt say, that he was foreman some-
time at Fardlehill, near Kilmarnock- She said he kept
a shop some time for a man called Reid, who was a
house painter in Kilmarnock. He is yet living in
Glasgow, in the same house in which my cousin, James
Brown, is living, as far as I know. When my uncle
was keeping the shop in Kilmarnock, he used to
criticise the painters’ work, and they told him they
would like to see himself at it. They either gave him
brushes, or else he got them himself, and commenced,
and they soon saw he could paint. That, I have heard
my aunt say, was all the kind of lessons he got in
painting. Having a taste for it he commenced to draw
the portraits of some of his friends. Robert Paton, his
nephew, and some of his sisters ; a likeness or two at
the Raws (his cousin's house), I think ; his own like-
ness, my mother, and my youngest brother (together) ;
and my three eldest brothers, my four sisters, and
myself were all drawn at Wood ; and also a view of
Kilwinning from the little Wood. He drew the
portraits of one or two persons in Kilmarnock of the
name of Lindsay, Mrs Lindsay having nursed one of
his sister's (Mrs Brown) sons who was a twin. He also
drew the likeness of Dr Brown of Kilwinning and his
dogs, and the Reverend Mr Smith and his wife. When
I was a young girl I recollect him living at the Wood.
Sometime after my eldest brother went to the farm of
High Smithstone, my uncle went there also and stayed
till his death, which took place in 1862 (about a half
year after my mother died.)

I have heard my aunt say that her father belonged
to the Relief Church, and I think that my uncle (Jas.
Johnstone) as long as he was able, went up once a year
to the Communion at Kilmarnock. He was buried in
Kilwinning churchyard, beside my father and mother's
grave. But no stone tells their resting-place, except
one that was standing there when my father was
buried ; erected to the memory of a man called Swan
and his wife (Margaret Howie), I think, in whose place
of burying my father was laid, for want of room in the
churchyard at the time I suppose, though it has been
enlarged since.

Some years before my mother was married, she went
to live with some of her relations ; she was, I think,
some time at Hairlaw, and some time with her aunt at
Wardneuk. I have heard that when she was married,
at the early age of nineteen, her braws were made at
her aunt's house at Millans. I have heard my mother
say that when she was married, the Reverend Mr
McKinlay of Kilmarnock, who married them, paid
my father and her a compliment by telling her that
they were the brawest pair he had ever married.

Some years after the death of my grandmother, Mary
Galt (who, I have heard my aunt say, was looked upon
as her mother's favourite daughter), my grandfather,
John Johnstone, again married a farmer's daughter
called Weir. Her father was in a large farm called
Footum, in the parish of Craigie ; her brother was in
the farm of Titwood. My grandfather being both a
mason and a wright, built (about that time) the little
cottage at Treesbank gates, on the roadside as we go
to Craigie, and made a nice little flower garden ; and
there he came to live after he was married the second
time, and there he died, I believe. I heard my aunt
say, that some time after the death of my grandfather
her stepmother went to live at the Treesbanks gate-
house, that stands near the side of the Ayr road. My
mother's youngest sister, Mrs Brown, when a young
woman lived, I think, some time with some of her
relations. She was a number of years with my father
and mother when they were in the farm of Knockinlaw.
My aunt says she remembers when living at Knockin-
law, of reaping (or shearing as it is called in Scotch)
wheat or corn in fields which my father had at the
time, on which Langlands and other Streets are now
built. There was one house about the place called
Miss Peggy's. Mr Morton was then building the
Observatory in one of the fields in which they were
reaping. She remembers them going into the
Observatory to get a shock ; and a man taking in a
frog to get a shock also (most likely it was a shock of
electricity). My aunt was afterwards five years with
Mrs Morton in the Big Onthank. John Brown, to
whom she was afterwards married, was there at that
time. He was with Mrs Morton, in the Onthank, seven
years. On leaving the Onthank they were married.
John Brown's father was a mason ; he lived, I think,
in the parish of Craigie. His mother's name was
Sophia Greive, she was the daughter of the laird of a
farm called Law, in the parish of Craigie. One of
John Brown's brothers is in the farm of Horsemuir
living, I think ; one of his sisters married in the farm
of Camsisken I think ; one brother, I think, was a
coachman, but he is now dead. After my
aunt and John Brown were married, he went to
live at a place called Househall, where he was plough-
man and coachman too, I think, to two ladies.

The tilework was started at the Wood in 1839, and
shortly after that my aunt and uncle-in-law, John
Brown (from Burghhead), came to live at Woodside.
He was a moulder of tiles some years, but a year or
two before Miss Bowman of Ashgrove died, he went
into her employment, and was there till she died ; and
afterwards my aunt left Kilwinning where they had
gone to live two or three years before, and went to live
in the little garden at Ashgrove, and John Brown, my
uncle-in-law, was in the employment of my eldest
brother till the day on which he met with what was
the cause of his death. It happened on the afternoon
of the 15th of January, 1868, when opposite the
railway at Kilwinning Station, the horse which he had
the charge of took fright, and plunging violently, when
seeing the train and steam-engine running, he was
thrown from the cart against a wall, and his head was
so severely hurt that he was at once rendered insensi-
ble, into Mrs Nairn's house (niece of Mr Reid, the
painter, whose shop in Kilmarnock my uncle James
once kept), he was carried, and died there ten hours
afterwards, my aunt being there (having been sent for
when the accident happened.) He was buried on the
20th day of the month, in Kilwinning churchyard, on
the very day on which I went to Craigie Hill ; and
perhaps, at the very time that I was looking down, for
the first time in my life, on the little cottage where my
mother and the rest of the family were born, where
they had run and played in their childhood, they
would be laying in the grave the husband of the only
one of the family who was now left ; and, indeed, the
only one of either my father or mother's family who
was now living in the world. But I was not then
aware that my uncle-in-law was dead, and it was some
days afterwards ere the news reached me. On going
to my aunt's house afterwards, she told me that two
mornings before the accident happened, her husband
smilingly told her that he had dreamed a strange
dream. He dreamed he was going to kill himself,
and he had to do it. But as they were not in the
habit of looking to dreams, she did not inquire into the
particulars of the dream. One morning, about the
time that I went to Craigie hill, I wakened up just
when I was dreaming that a funeral was going to cross
the road on which I was walking. I thought I saw it
at some distance behind me, just as I happened to turn
myself and look back. Can any one tell whether
dreams are sometimes sent as warnings or not ? My
aunt told me that her husband was in the habit of
reading through the Bible, and taking the Psalms and
Paraphrases, the same way, when at family worship,
always commencing where he had left off the previous
time. He was at the eighth Paraphrase, and had come
to the ninth verse, which he should have sung and the
following verses that night if he had been living ; but
though he did not sing them himself, yet the truths
contained in those verses were loudly spoken to all by
what happened. Not long after his death my aunt
left Ashgrove and went to Kilwinning to live, where
she is at present. Her eldest son, Alexander, who was
a blacksmith, and went out to America after he had
learned his trade, and lived there a number of years,
was taken into the army in the time of the American
War, and just when about to be dismissed, and when
his parents were expecting him to have come home to
his native land, he took trouble and died after a short
illness. His twin brother, John, is in the employment
of my nephew at the farm of Law; James, the
youngest son living, is a wright in Glasgow ; Mary, the
only daughter, who was a dressmaker, died about ten
years ago.

But I must now return to give an account of my
visit to Parkneuk and Craigie Hill, on the 20th of
January, 1868, with which I commenced this story
about my grandfather and his family. At Parkneuk
all the little row of houses is in ruins, except the one
end. As I passed the chimney was reeking, but no one
appeared to be in at the time, the windows were
screened, and the door was fastened ; but I saw a boy
come out from the manse as I was coming back from
Craigie, who told me that he was born at Parkneuk
and that his father and mother were living there. I
went along a part of the road which leaves the main
road at Parkneuk Cottage and leads to the farm-house
of Harelaw, where my great-grandfather and great-
grandmother (John Galt and Helen Young) lived, and
where their family was brought up. It stands at or
near the foot of Craigie hill. There appears to be a
quarry in the hill, from which stones have been taken.
On the top of the hill there are a great many stones
lying scattered about, some of them very large and
flat. There is a stone dyke round the hill, and also
stone dykes round other small hills near to it. From
the top of the hill the view is magnificent ; the country
around is beautiful ; the fields lying below, with their
hedges as distinctly marked out as the lines in a map.
Riccarton and part of Kilmarnock is seen in the
distance ; the plantations at Treesbanks lying between ;
and sloping fields, plantations, and farm-houses
scattered all over the country; and here and there
some gentleman's place of abode, and Parkneuk and
Harelaw lying at the foot of the hill. The village of
Craigie, which lies beyond the smaller hills, chiefly
consists of one row of houses, with two or three, I
think, on the other side. The church, which stands
near the end of the row, appears to be old-fashioned,
small, and plain ; its windows were closed. The
burying place is beside the church ; and the manse at
some distance, near the main road. When on the top
of Craigie Hill I saw a flock of cattle crossing a field
near Harelaw house.

When going to Parkneuk and Craigie Hill I passed
the little cottage at Treesbank gates, which my grand-
father (John Johnstone) built and lived in after his
second marriage, and where he died. I was not
disappointed when I saw no appearance of a garden, as
my aunt had told me that the last time she passed
that way there was none - all the flowers had either
been rooted out or had died from neglect.

I went one day to the cottage at Treesbanks gates
on the Ayr road, the door was fastened, and shutters
were on the wmdows, as if no person was in. It was
there that my grandfather's second wife lived sometime
after he died.

On Sabbath, the 26th of January, 1868, I went to
the Low Church in Kilmarnock, and heard Mr
Hamilton both in the forenoon and afternoon. In the
forenoon he lectured in that part of Exodus, which
speaks of the birth of Moses, and his being adopted by
Pharoah's daughter. His text in the afternoon was
Psalm 89th and 47th verse - " Remember how short
my time is, wherefore hast thou made all men in vain ?”
The 124th Psalm was sung; the 16th, 17th, 18th, and
19th verses of the 18th Psalm were also sung. On
Sabbath, October 18th, 1801, William Stevenson, my
father's eldest brother, preached in the Low or Laigh
Church of Kilmarnock. It was on that day that the
great catastrophe took place, when 29 or 30 persons
were killed, owing to a false alarm having been raised
that the church was going to fall. He had preached
in the forenoon, and it was when the congregation had
met for the afternoon sermon that the unfortunate
event happened. The church had to be taken down
and built anew before another preacher stood in the
pulpit or hearers sat in the pews. The sermon my
uncle preached that day, was (along with some other
writings of his) afterwards taken by his youngest
brother to Ireland. In 1857 they were brought back
to Scotland by two of his daughters. I have seen a
book written by my uncle William, telling of his
experiences in his early years, which they also brought
over with them. From papers that I have seen at
Wood, I believe he died in 1803, or not long after, and
was buried in the West-Church, Edinburgh, having
been assistant to the Rev. Dr. Black there.

When a little girl I saw at the Wood a printed leaf
or two, which appeared to have been part of a book
or pamphlet, giving an account of the calamitous event
which took place in the Low Church in Kilmarnock -
29 persons it said were killed. From a memoir of Dr
McKinlay, by his son, and from an old newspaper which
I have seen since I came to Kilmarnock, it is said to
have taken place on Sabbath, the 18th of October,
1801. Last summer, whilst staying in 18 Wellington
Street, Kilmarnock, an old woman who was living in
the house, whose name was Mrs Tannahill, told me
that her father-in-law had been killed at the Laigh
Church in Kilmarnock, when the great disaster
happened in it. She said she was six or seven years of
age at that time. She told me that a pamphlet had
been published about that time with the names of those
who were killed ; also another woman, and a cousin of
my mother's, told me that they had seen the pamphlet.
In the beginning of this year (1868), one Sabbath day,
whilst in the Stevenson Academy Church, Kilmarnock,
at the interval, an old man, who lives in Kilmarnock,
called Thoburn, came forward and spoke to me. He
said he was above ninety years of age ; and that he came
to Kilmarnock just about one month before the catas-
trophe took place in the Low Church. He said they
were at their dinner when they heard the alarm about
the church. They ran to the churchyard, and
it was an awful sight. He told me he knew my father
and the rest of the family when they were living near
Kilmarnock. He said he reaped corn the first harvest
after he came to Kilmarnock, on the farm of Boreland,
near Craufurdland ; the farmer's name was Muir and
his wife's name was Margaret Stevenson, a relation of
my father's. He also told me that there was a relation
of my father's in Kilmarnock then, called Thomas
Stevenson, who was a schoolmaster. I have heard my
mother and aunt speak of a cousin of my father's, called
Robert Stevenson, who went to the Indies, and his
mother, who was a widow, lived in Kilmarnock.

I have heard my aunt speak of a woman, called
Elizabeth Smith, living in Kilmarnock, who came
sometimes to Knockinlaw when my father was living
there. She used to tell her about what happened at
the Low Church in Kilmarnock, in 1801. She said
that three young women, dressed in white, had come
into her mother's house on the Sabbath morning (to
wash their feet, I think,) before going to the church to
hear my uncle preach that day, but none of them
returned alive - they were all killed. One of them
was a cousin of my father's; a daughter of John
Stevenson of Hallbarns, who appears to be buried in
Kilmaurs churchyard from the inscription on a head-
stone there, telling that she died at the melancholy
event that happened in the Low Church in Kilmarnock.

On the 8th day of February, 1868, I went to
Thornyhill. I came on to an old road that runs over
the hill, the part of it that runs down from the top of
the hill towards Busby Castle is over-grown with
grass, and was wet, as if a spring of water was running
down from the summit. On the other side of the
hill, the road, though not overgrown with grass, was
running with water like the other. I came down by
Kirkland, and reached the main road from Dreghorn
to Kilmarnock, at the Croft Inn. I thought the old
road had perhaps at one time been a public highway
over Thornyhill to Busby Castle, Kilmaurs, Kilmar-
nock, and other places, when the castle was in its
prime ; but now the castle and the highway have
grown old together. The farmhouse of Thomyhill
stands on the top of the hill, with a plantation behind
it. There is a fine view of the country around from
the top of the hill.

On leaving the farm of Knockinlaw at the May term
of 1825, my father came to the Thornyhill, and lived
there till the November term of that year, when he
came to the Wood Farm, near Kilwinning. None of
my brothers or sisters were born at Thornyhill ; but
my sister Jane was born five months after leaving it.
On the 5th day of February, 1868, I went up by old
Inchgotrick, where miners or cottars of some kind ap-
pear now to be living. I then turned back to the main
road, and from thence I went up near to the present
farm-steading of Inchgotrick. I stood on a rising
ground near a little house and saw the farmhouse at a
short distance. It was in the farm of Inchgotrick
that my mother's aunt (Agnes) and her husband
(Andrew Calderwood) lived. My aunt, Mrs Brown,
told me, since then, that they first lived in old Inch-
gotrick, which was the farm-steading then, and then
they went to live in the new farm-steading, which was
built for them. They had no family. My great
grandmother lived some time at Inchgotrick in her old
age, and I was told that she died there, more than
ninety years of age. It was there that my uncle James
lived a good deal in his younger years. I heard that in
their old age my mother's aunt and uncle-in-law left the
farm and went to live at a place called La Poota some
time before they died. There is a line of old quarries
nmaing from Inchgotrick to Harelaw, which are not a
great way distant from each other.

In writing the names of some of these farms I have
mentioned, most likely I am not spelling them aright,
as I do not remember seeing some of them in print,
and only write them as I hear them spoken.

On the 27th of March, 1868, I went out from Kil-
marnock to Kilmaurs. I had been told that my sister
Helen, who died at Knockinlaw in 1824 when she was
only 6 years of age, was buried in Kilmaurs church-
yard, and as I had a desire when I was there, to go
and visit her resting-place, I went as I was directed,
through an entry into the churchyard, and I looked
amongst all the headstones to see if there was any one
set up to mark the place where she or any other re-
lation was buried. A great many graves I saw had
nothing but the green grass above them. There was
no stone to tell the name, age, or place of abode of
those who were lying beneath ; and some of the stones
that had been set up, were so old, and the letters worn
out with time and weather, that I found it impossible
to know for whom they had been erected. I read all
that I could read, but I saw no stone that told of a
relation being buried there, except one erected to the
memory of my father's uncle, John Stevenson of
Hallbarns, who died on 'the 26th of December, 1825,
aged 93 years ; and his wife, Agnes Millar, who died
on the 12th of June, 1812 - the stone was set up by
his sons, John Stevenson of Kirkland and his brother
in Hallbarns. It also told that Elizabeth their
daughter died at the melancholy event which happened
in the Low Church in Kilmarnock, in 1801. The
sons themselves, who had set up the stone, died - John
at Kirkland, and his wife and daughter Janet.
Hugh died at Hallbarns in 1852 ; their sister Helen
in 1849 ; and their brother, Peter Warner Stevenson,
the last of the family, in 1862 - the year in which my
mother died.

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Barre chronologique Jean Stevenson

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