IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Church Street, ALEXANDRIA, G83 0NP

Looking southward.

The memorial is set in the eastern wall of Image, and the first part of its inscription is as follows: "In memory of the Rev'd William Kidd, Minister of this Parish, ordained 25th January, 1844, died 20th September, 1891, in his 85th year." The minister was born at Arniston (Image), Midlothian, in December 1806, and attended school at East Linton (Image). The family later moved to Edinburgh, and he attended the High School and university there. He was licensed by the Presbytery of Dalkeith in 1834, and served in various parishes before being ordained to the charge of Alexandria congregation in January 1844. His successor was J Cromarty Smith, who, to lighten Kidd's load, had been appointed his assistant and successor in June 1888 [these biographical details are from Donald MacLeod's "Historic Families ... of the Lennox" (1891); I have corrected "Armiston" to "Arniston"]. The inscription also commemorates his wife, Margaret McClure, and their sons and daughters. Just out of shot to the right is Image

The memorial is set in the eastern wall of Image; it is located immediately to the right (south) of the Image Several of those named in the inscription were involved in the medical profession. The first named is John Cullen, born at Pollokshaws in 1800, who died in 1858. He was the first of the family to settle in this area, and he worked as a surgeon. His wife was Clementina Elphinstone Fleming (also named in the inscription), and their three sons all entered the medical profession. One of them, John Fleming Cullen is named in the inscription; he died in 1889, aged 61. A grandson of the elder John Cullen was also a local doctor (the family has therefore provided at least three generations of local doctors), but he is not named in the inscription: Dr John Robert Fleming Cullen, son of John Fleming Cullen and Jane Alexander Graham, died in 1942, aged 78, at Dunfraoich, Crianlarich; his memorial is in Alexandria Cemetery. [See Donald MacLeod's "Historic Families ... of the Lennox" (1891) for additional biographical details of the first two generations of doctors.]

The stone is set beside the southern boundary wall of Image The inscription names Archibald Ferguson himself (he was a painter in Dumbarton), his son David Napier Ferguson, and his wife Grace Napier. The stone is not particularly remarkable in itself, but the story of its being located here does say something about nineteenth-century Dumbarton. Donald MacLeod, in his book "Historic Families ... of the Lennox" (1891), mentions "Three Dumbartonians" buried in this churchyard, one of whom is Archibald Ferguson, "painter, town councillor, and elder of the Parish Kirk; a decent worthy, prosperous man". The other two are William McFarlane, "grocer and proprietor in the royal burgh, an honest, plain, blunt man of the old school, and also an elder of the Kirk" (his memorial is located nearby), and Robert Lang, who worked in a coalmaster's office, and later ran a steam tug (MacLeod says that "he was a smart man, but possessed of a fiery, ungovernable temper"). MacLeod explains the reason for their being buried here; they had been parties to the expensive litigation connected to the shutting down of the old kirkyard of Dumbarton Parish Church (see http://www.geograph.org.uk/article/Dumbarton-Cemetery#closing-the-parish-churchyard where this is discussed at length; the three Dumbarton men were opposed to the closure of the old Dumbarton kirkyard), and, as MacLeod puts it, "rather than lie within the borders of its new and beautiful cemetery, they preferred that their mortal remains should decay and be resolved into dust among 'unco folk'". He follows it up with a remark that "the ruling spirit, in each of the above cases, was strong in death". [That last remark sounds, to me, like a snide comment (those who wished to be buried elsewhere are, in effect, being described as very stubborn). If it is, the reason lies in the politics of Dumbarton life at that time. There was an underlying division into two factions, one of them consisting of the Denny family and their supporters, and another that was opposed to their activities. In the resulting disputes, MacLeod was very much on the Denny side; in fact, he was personally involved in some of the resulting litigation. As a result, a bias is sometimes apparent in his works, and it is as well to be aware of this (though it does not detract from the historical value of his books). For example, the Dennys had been behind the creation of the new Dumbarton Cemetery, which MacLeod described in glowing terms (as quoted above), and they were also behind the moves to have Dumbarton's old parish churchyard closed to new burials. See http://www.geograph.org.uk/article/Dumbarton-Cemetery#closing-the-parish-churchyard where these factional divisions are discussed under the subheading "The Chronicles of Gotham".]

The stone is located near the eastern boundary wall of Image; the church can be seen in the background of the present photograph. Local histories record that William MacKinlay was for many years collector and treasurer for the Leven Gas Light Company, and that, when the village of Alexandria was in its infancy, and supplying water was a problem, MacKinlay and others promoted a private water company to supply part of the village. It is also noted that "deceased had outlived several wives"; this is borne out by the inscription on the stone, which is as follows (note that the wives are not listed in chronological order): "William MacKinlay in memory of Helen Houston his wife, who died Feb. 12 1865 aged 62 years, also his wife Margaret Robertson, who died 20th April 1839, aged 30 years, and Janet Rice his wife, who died 1st Nov'r 1870, aged 50 years, also the above William MacKinlay, who died 11 Dec'r 1890, aged 84 years."

The picture was taken from the south-eastern corner of the churchyard. The disused church itself is in the background.

The mausoleum is shown here straddling the eastern wall of Image The picture was taken from Church Street, outside the kirkyard. I found the use of colour interesting: specifically, the sandstone is grey in the near side-wall, yellow in the end-walls, and red both in the lowest course and in the more detailed far side of the structure. See the end-note for further information. Click on the end-note title for other views. (As noted there, John Rouet Smollett was "Rear-admiral of the Red"; this refers to old divisions of the Royal Navy: there was, at one time, an Admiral of the Red, an Admiral of the White, and an Admiral of the Blue; there were also corresponding Vice Admirals and Rear Admirals, making nine ranks in all. For all his high position, John Rouet Smollett, "an inveterate chewer of tobacco", was a commendably plain-spoken man, without airs or affectations.) As for the rest of the family, the following biographical details are from Donald MacLeod's "Dumbarton, Vale of Leven, and Loch Lomond: Historical, Legendary, Industrial, and Descriptive" (1884): The Smolletts had risen to prominence as merchants and shipowners in Dumbarton from at least the seventeenth century onwards. A certain John Smollett was admitted a burgess of Dumbarton in 1638, and served as a Bailie of the burgh on several occasions, and once as its Dean of Guild. In 1666 he purchased Pillanflatt and Rosruvan from William Lindsay of Bonhill. He died in 1680; his only son, James, born in 1648, became the first Smollett of Bonhill. James purchased the Bonhill estate from William and Anne Lindsay in 1684, and Dalquhurn from Charles Fleming in 1692. James was created Deputy-Lieutenant of the County of Dumbarton in 1715, and was knighted by William III. James married Jane, daughter of MacAulay of Ardencaple (see Image). Of their children, one, Archibald, became the father of the author Tobias Smollett (Image / Image). Archibald was also the father of Jean Smollett, who married Alexander Telfer of Symington, Lanarkshire. Jean eventually succeeded to the family estates. Her son and successor, Alexander Telfer Smollett married Cecilia Renton, daughter of John Renton of Lamberton (the village of Renton was named after Cecilia Renton, and neighbouring Alexandria after the couple's eldest son, Lt-Col Alexander Smollett). Their second son was Rear-Admiral John Rouett Smollett. He first married Louisa, daughter of William Rouet of Auchendennan (see Image), and later Elizabeth, second daughter of the Hon. Patrick Boyle of Shewalton, Ayrshire (second son of the second Earl of Glasgow).

This is a view of the structure from within the kirkyard, showing the shield above the entrance, the dog's head details to either side, and a number of other carved heads. See the end-note for further information. Click on the end-note title for other views, including the various details mentioned above.

For context, see Image, where this detail is shown above the mausoleum's entrance. See also the end-note, which describes the visible features of the shield in detail. Click on the end-note title for other views of the mausoleum.

This is a closer view of the south-eastern corner of the mausoleum. For context, see Image, which is a view of the same corner. The arches on the two end-wings of the structure are flanked by simian faces, but there are human faces on the corners of the building. Click on the end-note title for other views and for further details.