The jougs at Broad Close

Image: © Lairich Rig Taken: 25 Sep 2010

At the time of writing, only a short section of Broad Close now remains; for the context of this photograph, see Image, where the entrance of Broad Close is the gap between the James Watt Bar and the building just beyond it; the latter building is occupied by McColls (newsagents) and a post office, and the jougs are fixed high up on the wall of the building, just inside the entrance of the close. In the 1860s, the site of the James Watt Bar was occupied by the Tontine Hotel, which was built in 1802-03 (the proprietors of the hotel later relocated to Ardgowan Square; for the present-day Tontine Hotel located there, see Image and Image). The other side of Broad Close, where McColls is now located, was occupied by the City of Glasgow Bank Buildings. The old Tontine Hotel was replaced by the Post Office (built 1898-99), later to become the James Watt Bar (it is to this former Post Office that Robert Murray Smith refers, in his comments cited below). As for the jougs (pron. "jowgz") shown in the present photograph, these were "an instrument of public punishment consisting of a hinged iron collar attached by a chain to a wall or post and locked around the offender's neck" ["The Concise Scots Dictionary", Chambers]. Their presence on the wall here alludes to the fact that the earliest known jail in Greenock was at or near this spot. In his book "The History of Greenock" (1921), Robert Murray Smith notes that "the earliest prison of which there is any information was fitted up by the Magistrates in a thatched house at the foot of Broad Close. Jougs were affixed to the wall, and another set was put at the West Quay Head, at a place called the Inspector's Land. Some time thereafter a change was made to the old Court house and jail on a site between Cross-Shore Street and Broad Close, now occupied by the Post Office. On this being found insufficient as a prison, the Keep or Massimore of Greenock Mansion-house was utilised until 1765, when the Town Buildings were erected in Hamilton Street." George Williamson, in his "Old Greenock from the Earliest Times" (1886), states that "the Massimore, or public prison, the earliest on record, was at the head of Broad Closs, where the Tontine buildings stand. It was afterwards transferred to the foot of the Closs, where Bailie Alexander's house was. The Town buildings in Hamilton Street next furnished the means of detention and punishment of the criminal population, later the Guard-house in Market Street, and later still the Bridewell. A story is told of a prisoner making his escape from the lock-up in Hamilton Street, by breaking through the Coffee-room, then on the ground floor, before being turned into shops. The Bridewell was erected in 1810, after the infirmary". "Greenock Street Names" (c.1907), by Gardner Blair, adds other picturesque details; in connection with Broad Close, it is recorded there that in the early days of Greenock "a little thatched cottage at the bottom of this close was sufficient to serve the purpose of a house of detention. Here the jougs were wont to rattle on the cottage walls as a terror to would-be doers of evil, while the branks and other instruments of torture might be found within." See also Image, not far from here.

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