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East Clyde Street, HELENSBURGH, G84 7PE

'Twist Cafe' and 'Partners' occupy the nearest properties. In the distance is the Category C listed Bell Tower of the former parish church, Helensburgh.

On East Clyde Street. The business offers an extensive service. Advertised in the window it says: SAME DAY SERVICE - ANIMAL LAUNDRY HORSE RUGS PET BEDS - ALTERATIONS AND REPAIRS - SPORTS KITS DUVETS CURTAINS LOOSE COVERS - DRY CLEANING IRONING Next door is Yummy House, a Chinese take-away.

A friend noticed this stone, and drew my attention to it, showing me a photograph of it. We wished to know more about it, and I was keen to take a look for myself. The stone is built into a wall at the shore end of Maitland Street. The two lower symbols are compasses and an adze, indicating a profession that involves working with wood. The leftmost symbol in the top row is a circle with a smaller circle placed off-centre within it, resembling the end of a barrel (the adjacent symbols may represent a barrel as seen from the side and from the other end), suggesting the cooper's art. At the bottom of the stone is a date, 1778. At the top are some pairs of letters, presumably initials. Taken together, the profession indicated by the symbols, the year 1778 that is shown on the stone, and its location in Maitland Street, led me to an account that explains its presence here. In one section of his book "Annals of Garelochside" (1897), William Charles Maughan draws on the memories of a certain Mr McAulay, fisherman, in describing the early buildings of Helensburgh: "The oldest houses in the town he considers to be the red tiled ones at the foot of Maitland Street, which used to be occupied by John Gray, while a cooperage was situated on the shore, nearly opposite; but in one of the great storms, more than sixty years ago, this building was entirely washed away. There was a carved stone over the door, with the cooper's coat of arms, consisting of the letters P.G.M.D.G., a pair of compasses, and some implements, with the date 1778, which is now to be seen built into the wall of the house at the foot of the street next the shore." [As the photograph shows, the letter M is doubled (thus: "PG MM DG"), but the book's description of the stone is otherwise correct.]

This picture shows the burn flowing, by means of the aperture left of centre, onto the beach at Helensburgh (for a view of the same area from further away, see Image). The burn has its origins at about Image, a short distance to the north-west of the reservoirs (Image and Image) that are to the north of the town; on the way here, it flows through Image, as shown in Image For a view in the opposite direction from about the same point as the present picture, see Image, showing the burn flowing towards the Clyde. The name Millig, encountered in various spellings, has been associated with the area for a very long time. In the item Image, I record its use from as early as 1225; see that item for more information. [Regarding the founding of Helensburgh (in 1777) on the lands of Millig, the first volume of "The Chiefs of Colquhoun and their Country" (William Fraser, 1869) explains that "the barony of Malligs" had previously been owned by Sir John Shaw of Greenock; when he died in 1752, those lands went first to his widow, and then to his only child, Margaret, and her husband, Lord Cathcart. These sold it to Sir James Colquhoun (1714-1786), 1st Baronet Colquhoun of Luss; the last payment was made in June 1756. James wished to create a burgh of barony on the lower parts of the lands; he would eventually name it after his wife, Lady Helen.]

On the front of Argyll and Bute Council's new Helensburgh and Lomond Civic Centre, facing East Clyde Street. The modern extension to the former Clyde Street School was completed in 2015.

At the corner of East Clyde Street and Maitland Court.

Argyll and Bute Council's new Helensburgh and Lomond Civic Centre. The modern extension to the former Clyde Street School was completed in 2015.

Argyll and Bute Council's new Helensburgh and Lomond Civic Centre. The modern extension to the former Clyde Street School was completed in 2015.

At the corner of East Clyde Street and Maitland Court.