Mausoleum of the Martins of Auchendennan

Image: © Lairich Rig Taken: 5 Nov 2012

The mausoleum is better seen in another contributor's picture: Image It is located beside a driveway leading to Image (The stone on the right is not related to it, but is for "William Ewing, native of Vale of Leven, graduate of Glasgow University, for fifty years resident of the southern states of America, etc".) The lands of Auchendennan were subdivided into Auchendennan-Dennistoun, Auchendennan-Rhie, and Auchendennan-Lindsay. Auchendennan-Rhie came into the hands of the Rouet family (Image) in the eighteenth century, and the family built a mansion house which they called Belretiro. The lands later passed to a Colonel Mure of Caldwell, then to William Colquhoun of Rossdhu; he sold it to William Campbell of Tullichewan (on whom see Image; incidentally, Campbell is said to have considered the Italianate name "Belretiro" a ridiculous one for a house in this setting, beside a Scottish loch). He finally sold the estate to George Martin, of the family whose vault is illustrated here. This George Martin was born in Glasgow in 1805, and he founded commercial houses in Java, Singapore, and the Philippines. He purchased the Auchendennan estate from William Campbell in 1864, and built the mansion house of Auchendennan; it survives to this day: Image / Image As for the vault, it contains several marble tablets; these commemorate the aforementioned George Martin of Auchendennan, his wife Mary Ann MacLellan, and other relatives. The tablets are shown in Image; a structure on the floor in front of them is shown in Image Those interior views were taken on a later occasion, after the vault had been tidied up and the tablets cleaned. Dating from about 1830, the mausoleum is from a later period than many of those that can be seen along the southern boundary wall of the kirkyard (see Image and Image). References: ● Joseph Irving, "The History of Dumbartonshire" (2nd edn., 1860), mainly on pages 359-360, for a brief history of the Auchendennan lands up to the time of William Rouet. ● Donald MacLeod, "Historic Families ... of the Lennox" (1891), pages 156-159 (Rouet of Auchendennen-Rhie), 164-165 (Campbell of Tullichewan), and 166-168 (Martin of Auchendennan). ● Donald MacLeod, "Dumbarton, Vale of Leven, and Loch Lomond" (1884), pages 175-176 on Campbell of Tullichewan, on Campbell's dislike of the name Belretiro, and on the sale of the Auchendennan estate to George Martin.

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