IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Church Road, HELENSBURGH, G84 8RW

The memorial is located in the kirkyard of Image "In Memoriam Helen Newton Whitelaw, the beloved wife of Sir James Guthrie, P.R.S.A., b Apr 13 1864, d Oct 20 1912 and Sir James Guthrie, R.S.A., LL.D., b June 10 1869, d Sept 6 1930; Also their only child: Thomas Whitelaw Boyd Guthrie, b Sept 30 1899, d Feb 21 1938." James Guthrie was prominent in the influential group of artists known as the Glasgow Boys. There is a page about him at the Helensburgh Heritage website: http://www.helensburgh-heritage.co.uk/index.php?view=article&id=962

The Church and Tower Rhu.

The memorial is in the kirkyard of Image, beside the Image The vessels Cumberland and Empress, mentioned below, were run by the Clyde Industrial Training Ship Association; boys who were homeless, destitute, or petty offenders might receive training for naval service on such ships. The horizontal lines in the transcription below are intended to show the places where the text continues on a different face of the monument. "In memory of boys buried here from the training ship Cumberland. JAMES FORRESTER, 14th May 1870. JAMES WILSON, 29th November 1872. JOHN McEWAN, 3d September 1873. JOHN DOWIE, 21st February 1874. HENRY O'HARA, 15th July 1875. PATRICK CAMPBELL, 1st September 1875. JAMES B. SMITH, 21st June 1877. JOHN HERRET, 2d May 1878. ALEXANDER WEIR, 10th June 1878. JOHN BUCHANAN, 3d August 1878. WILLIAM McLEAN, 7th April 1885. H.M.S. Empress JOSEPH McLAUGHLIN, aged 15 years, 26th May 1891, ALEXANDER GRANT, 1st Sep't 1892 aged 49 years, ALEXANDER McALLISTER, 29th Aug't 1893 aged 9 years, JAMES HOSSOCK, 13th October 1897 aged 13 years, JOHN McCARTHY, 4th November 1898 aged 13 years, WALTER ANDERSON aged 33 years, JOHN FYFE aged 23 years, drowned 8th November 1899, __________________________ JAMES COCHRAN, aged 11 years 3d March 1904. ANDREW WHYTE, aged 14 years 4th March 1904. CLIFFORD LAMONT, aged 14 years 9th January 1905. WILLIAM BAIN, aged 14 years 4th July 1905. __________________________ The Cumberland training ship was moored off Rhu in 1869 and served as such until destroyed by fire but without loss of life on the early morning of 13 February 1889. The Cumberland was replaced by HMS Revenge which was renamed the Clyde Training Ship Empress and which continued to function successfully in this capacity until withdrawn by the Admiralty to be broken up in 1923."

The monument to the engineer Henry Bell stands in the kirkyard of Image It was erected by fellow engineer Robert Napier. For a view of the whole memorial in context, and for the main description, see Image

Henry Bell is commemorated by other monuments, such as Image at Dunglass near Bowling, and another obelisk in Helensburgh: Image The memorial in the present photograph stands in the kirkyard of Image, and was erected by fellow engineer Robert Napier, who also provided some of the funds for the building of the church itself (see the listed building report mentioned in the end-note; for more on Napier himself, see Image). For other images, see Image, and another contributor's earlier picture: Image The inscriptions around the base are rather worn, but read as follows: NEAR: "Henry Bell / Born 7th April 1767 / Died 14th Nov 1830 / His spouse / Margaret Young / Died 30th April 1856." RIGHT: "Underneath / lie the remains of / Henry Bell / and his spouse and true helpmate / Margaret Young." LEFT: "The / Comet / built for Henry Bell in 1811 / was the first steam vessel in / Europe / which successfully navigated / rivers and open sea." FAR: "Erected / by / Robert Napier / Engineer and Shipbuilder / Glasgow." The modern building in the background is a nearby primary school. On the steam vessel Comet, see Image Some sources give a different month for the date of Bell's death, but it was in November, as indicated above. Much more information can be found in the book "The Ingenious Mr Bell", by the late Brian D. Osborne, who was a Geograph contributor (see http://www.geograph.org.uk/profile/2117 for his images). Bell's grave, here in Rhu kirkyard, was unmarked for a long time, even though Bell had previously provided a memorial there for Captain Robert Bain (of the above-mentioned Comet); it is located nearby: Image The Henry Bell Monument at Dunglass (see above) was erected in 1839, but it was Robert Napier who provided the memorial shown in my photograph: "Napier remedied the lack of a memorial to Bell by erecting a statue in Rhu churchyard in 1853"; nineteen years later, "he again recognised Bell by becoming one of the major contributors to the monument to Bell on the seafront at Helensburgh" [from the book just cited].

The memorial is in the kirkyard of Image (and can be seen in that photograph). For additional context, see Image The main inscription reads: "Here lyes intrred Ann Margrat and Janet McFarlands of Robert McFarland and Margrat of Achavenal 1728" Later additions appear in smaller text below the figures. The three sisters named in the main inscription, Ann, Margaret and Janet, born in the 1680s-90s, are represented in the carving. Searching for further details will turn up a tale about the girls dying for the sake of fashion, from a habit of being too tightly-laced: an implausible story that was clearly inspired by the narrow-waisted appearance of the carved figures, and which no doubt originated as a joke. Auchenvennel (the later spelling) was a farmstead in Glen Fruin; see Image and Image

This memorial, in the kirkyard of Image, depicts three sisters from the farmstead of Auchenvennel (in Glen Fruin); for further details, such as the text of the inscription, and for the folklore that has grown up around the carving, see Image The present view is intended to provide further context, showing the position of the carving on the eastern side of Image (the carved figures are also visible in that photograph, at the extreme left). The arch in the background is now part of the Buchanan Memorial; it is a fragment of the 1763 church that stood here, the predecessor of the present-day church.

The flat stone (actually iron) is located in the kirkyard of Image, and lies to the south-east of the church. The elegantly-carved inscription is worth reproducing in full: "To the Memory of Captain Robert Bain, born May 1788, departed this Life at Fort William, Dec. 1827, aged 39 years. - - • - - C R Bain was appointed by H Bell, to the command of the Comet Steam Boat in 1814, by which Vessel a communication was opened up between the Western Islands of Scotland and Glasgow, through the Crinan Canal in July 1819. He was the first Captain who commanded a Vessel from Sea to Sea, through the great Caledonian Canal, in 1822. - - • - - This was erected as a tribute of honour, for 16 years faithful service, By Henry Bell, Engineer, Helensburgh. - - • - - Cast and completely finished At The Shotts Iron Company's Works John Baird Manager 1829." Henry Bell, mentioned here, is buried not far away in the same kirkyard: Image A Image is displayed on the shore at Helensburgh, about 2 miles away, Image, along with an Image See also Image

For a view of the structure from the other side, and for further information, see Image The memorial is located within the kirkyard of Image The plaque at the foot of the arch was placed there in 1981, and reads, in part: "here stood the second church of Row, built in 1763". The arch itself is a fragment of that earlier building.

The block on top of the pedestal in the foreground is a sundial. It is dated 1637, and stands in the kirkyard of Image, just to the south-east of the church. For another view, and for more information about it, see the main description: Image