Eye on Millig: Poems recall the past in Cardross

This short Eye series on local poets concludes with two articles about some of them, starting with Frances Porter Stoddard.

She was born in New York in 1843 to American parents, whose roots in the New World went back to Puritanical settlers who arrived in 1639.

Her parents held strong beliefs, among them a passionate opposition to slavery, and such attitudes had a profound effect on young Frances.

Her father, Arthur Francis Stoddard, was a successful businessman who was a merchant in silk products, but after a slump in the domestic market, he moved with his family to Scotland in 1844.

The family’s opposition to slavery may well have played a part in their decision to emigrate.

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However, after setting up home in the Glasgow area, Stoddard found that many influential people there were supportive of slavery, if only out of self-interest, something that came to a head at the time of the American Civil War.

As an outspoken critic, he made some powerful enemies. At the same time, he was a sophisticated cosmopolitan businessman, having earlier worked for some time in London.

He took over a failing company manufacturing tapestry carpets, whose fortunes he was able to turn round, thanks to his network of overseas business contacts.

This was to become the world-famous Stoddard Carpets, wound up as recently as 2005. When Arthur died in 1882, he left £325,000 - about £4.5 million today - so the family were well-off by any standards.

The Stoddard family lived for some years at Thornhill House, Elderslie, but by the Census of 1871, they had moved to Broadfield House, Port Glasgow, a mansion on an elevated site just west of Finlaystone Estate, with splendid views across the Clyde.

Among family members listed there in the 1871 census was Frances (26), the eldest daughter. There were also three guests, among whom was a David Murray, described as a ‘Prosecutor’.

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Murray, later Dr Murray, married Frances the following year, and is remembered today as a famous lawyer, antiquarian, author and bibliophile, their home being at Moore Park in Cardross.

The occasion seems to have been something of a matchmaking success - another of the guests married a younger sister of Frances soon after.

Frances was educated largely at home, though she did attend a finishing school in London. A lecturer in Scottish music and a writer, she believed strongly in female emancipation and the education of women, following in the footsteps of her parents.

A great lover of outdoor sports, a keen yachtswoman, horse rider and skater, she came to share her husband’s passion for archaeology and antiquities.

They enjoyed yachting holidays, taking every opportunity to visit interesting sites. One outcome was a privately printed book, entitled “Summer in the Hebrides: Sketches on Colonsay and Oronsay”.

She also took a keen interest in the life of Cardross, helping to organise a number of events, and giving talks on various subjects to large and appreciative audiences in Helensburgh and the village.

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Frances and David had several children, including Sylvia Winthrop, Dorothy, Eunice Guthrie, and Anthony Stoddard.

Sylvia was an authoress and personality in her own right, but Eunice is the best remembered of that generation, and she carried forward the political torch once held by her mother and also composed some poems.

Anthony, the only son, served in the First World War as a 2nd Lieutenant, but was wounded and captured during fighting near St Quentin in 1918, his injuries quickly proving fatal.

Frances’s strongly held views on various political and moral issues feature in some of her poems, but the accent was very much on family life and the countryside.

This is perhaps not so surprising, as the motivation in writing poetry might well include setting aside the grimmer side of life. One poem is entitled “A Winter Ride at Cardross with my Daughter, Five Years Old”, and the opening verse runs:

“Mother said to Sylvia, “Little little lassie run!

Get the horses saddled, that will be such fun!

We will do a-riding, only you and I,

While the daylight lingers, fast away we’ll fly...”

There is a mood of excitement and anticipation in these simple words - it is a world of adventure and freedom from cares, with love of family centre stage.

Another noted Cardross poetess was Euphemia McArthur. Her parents both hailed from Islay, and her father was employed for many years by John McIntyre, wood merchant, at Geilston.

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She had a connection with the Murray family, as for eleven years she was in service with Mrs Murray, the mother of Dr David Murray and the widow of David Murray, who, like his illustrious son and namesake, was a lawyer.

Euphemia’s poems are characterised by a deep love of Cardross, as viewed in exile, exemplified by “Lines to Cardross”, in which she recalls the happy times when she lived there. It begins:

“Sweet Cardross, village of the Clyde,

Thy green and grassy braes,

Are dear to me, and bring to mind,

The past long by-gone days...”

She contrasts the pastoral setting of the village with her present life in the city:

“Amid the city’s toiling throng, a dweller now am I,

Where high stone walls and louring smoke,

Blot out the hills and sky...”

Another poem in similar vein of honest sentimentality is a glowing celebration of Geilston Glen. It begins:

“O, dear to me is Geilston Glen, Each mossy bank and flowery den,

Each leafy tree, ah! Dear as when, I first saw Geilston Glen...

‘Tis there you hear the mavis sing, Whose mellow notes melodious ring,

All that is lovely seems to spring, Around fair Geilston Glen...

Sweet, cherished dreams around me flow, Of days and scenes of long ago,

Of kith and kindred lying low, Far, far, from Geilston Glen.”

With Cardross set in prime agricultural land, farms and farming life have long occupied a key place in the life and times of the community.

An agricultural society was an early village institution, and under its auspices, an annual ploughing match was held and keenly anticipated. The venue rotated each year among the different farms.

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In 1869, one spectator wrote a poem about it. His name was Robert Lawson, and although little has come to light about him, he was evidently a local man and well acquainted with the different farms and those who worked them.

The poem, called “The Cardross Ploughing Match”, begins:

“Last Friday morn the Cardross lads they met to try their hand,

Down in a fine field of Craigend, in turning ow’r the land.

Fourteen ploughs came on the ground - their harness bright did shine -

The men and horses they were fresh, and started in good time.

Willie Traquair o’ Cairniedrouth made twa fine rigs they say,

And carried aff the foremost prize frae Cardross lads that day,

A smart wee lad is James Traquair, his wark he made it tell,

And carried aff the second prize - the Cairney lads did well...”

Various other farms and personalities are mentioned, and the poem concludes:

“Here’s tae the Cairneys and the Glens, the boys o’ Kilmahew,

And a’ the ither Cardross lads, lang may they haud the plough.”

The final part of this four-part series will appear next week.

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Email your suggestions for historical Helensburgh and Lomond topics that could be covered in future Eye on Millig articles to milligeye@btinternet.com.