Chapter 12

They made their marks

It   has  been   said   arguably  that   Sir Alexander Cunningham of Corsehill was the most important man in the history of Stewarton. He was the man who was responsible for formulating the "great agreement" with the Incorporation of Bonnetmakers and Dyers of Glasgow in 1650 which allowed the bonnets made in Stewarton to be sold in the markets of Glasgow.

   David Dale has also been credited with being  Stewarton's most famous citizen although he lived most of his life in Glasgow. The son of a grocer, he was born in 1739 in a small thatched house in a lane off Rigg Street but little is known about his parents.

   His first job was working as a herd boy at a farm until he entered the weaving trade. Being a rather delicate lad, the close confinement of the weaving shop threatened his health so his landlady, a widowed woman, gave him £1 and sent him on the road with a pack.

   From this small beginning his fortunes sprang  starting with a small shop in Glasgow trading in cotton goods and yarn. From then on everything he put his hands on literally turned to gold. By 1783 with the  co-operation  of  Arkwright,  the inventor, he  established mills at  New Lanark employing over  1,300  - the largest  mills of this kind  in Scotland. He also made sure his workers were well housed.

   That same year with George McIntosh, he founded Barrowfield, the first Turkey Red dyeing works in Britain.

   David Dale opened a branch of the Royal Bank in Glasgow and was elected a magistrate. He also held the position of Chairman of Commerce for some years and served on Glasgow Town Council.

   Dale was not a man who trampled down others to achieve success and his real object in life was to make everyone around him happier and better. It was said he gave money away in "shol's fu'." His religion was a real and loving one and he practised what he preached. When meal rose to 21s & 4d a boll between 1782 and 1799andmanywerestarving,he chartered ships for the importing of grain which he sold cheap to the poor. He also opened factories at Oban and Dornoch to give work to the poor Highlanders.

   Although    David    Dale    was acknowledged to be a kindly and godly man, he, like all mill owners of those times, employed  child  labour.  He  brought hundreds of orphan children to work at New Lanark where they toiled for twelve hours a day with an hour's dinner break. They were accommodated in a special building where they slept three in abed on straw mattresses with sheets and blankets. These dormitories were washed out every week and lime-washed twice a year. After work the children had to attend the factory school and their food consisted of porridge and milk twice daily, with soup and bread, then meat, herrings or bread and cheese for their main meal. It has been said that Dales benevolent use of child labour,  strange  as  it  may  seen  two centuries later, was greatly admired but not frequently emulated.

   Dale was one of the founders of the "Old  Scottish  Independents" and he preached as  a minister at the Greyfriars Wynd for 37 years.

   When his mills at New Lanark were destroyed by fire he lost upwards of £50,000 and he was reproached for not having them insured. But he rebuilt the mills on an even bigger scale than ever and his   good   fortune   was   revived   and continued until his death on 17th March 1806.  He  was  buried  in  Ramshorn Cemetery in Ingram Street. Glasgow.

    It   has  been   said   that   David   Dale turned his back on his home town. This is not the case as he once made an overture to the local men in power to build mills in Stewarton. Hewas turned down because it  was  felt  that  this  would  lead  to  an invasion of riff raff or undesirables into the town.

  Two  men from Stewarton were knighted. One was Sir John Anthony, once a railway clerk at Stewarton station who went to Glasgow to become a famous politician.   Sir   John   never   forgot Stewarton,  however,  and  he  was  a frequent visitor and addressed gatherings at local functions.

   More recently there was Sir John Campbell, whose name appears on the Stewarton Public School Dux Pupils board in  Stewarton  Museum.  He  began  his working life in the local Clydesdale Bank in Lainshaw Street before reaching the top post in Scotland. His signature used to be seen on Clydesdale Bank £5 notes.

   Another Stewarton man who attained fame of a more modest kind was Jock McGill the Bellman, Jock was Stewarton's town crier in the days before advertising of events was common and he walked along the streets ringing his bell and bellowing out his announcements attired in a frock coat, top hat and breeches. Not only was he employed in Stewarton, his services were sought all around the country and he was a well-known figure at sports meetings and cattle shows, etc. Jock's famous cry was - "Come in your crowds by the hundreds  - delay is dangerous."

   Stewarton's last bellman was James Kirkland, known  as  "Heely"  for  his ability at back-heeling on the  football park in his youth.

   A Yorkshireman who made a name for  himself in  Stewarton  was George Nunn, the pioneer of the hosiery industry who introduced the first hand flat machine in his small factory in High Street. George Nunn's other name was George Cooper and he lived at Salisbury, Dunlop Street, Stewarton, the house now owned by the writer of this book. He died, aged 54, in 1897 and is interred in the old kirk yard.

   A Stewarton man who invented a special type of bee hive in the early part of the 19th century was one, Robert Kerr, a cabinet-maker, whose exceptional insight into the ways of bees earned him the nick-name of "Bee Robin."

   In those days very few of the combs, which were cut from straw skeps, were fit for   direct   consumption   owing   to cocoons, etc. Kerr devised a method of producing nice, clean combs of honey by making a honey box from which queens were excluded by confining them to specialised brood chambers; thus it was no  longer  necessary to sacrifice bee colonies to obtain honey.

   An example of Robert Kerr's bee hive is to be seen in the local museum. Click here for more information

   One Stewartonian who most certainly made his mark on the town was William Cunninghame (the younger) of Lainshaw, who, in the 19th century, was a hero to some of his compatriots and a rascal to others. His life and doings have been fully dealt with in another chapter,

   The  author  of  the  Bibliothica Britannica was a Stewarton man, namely Dr. Robert Watt, who lived at Girgenti, on the Kilwinning Road and he was usually referred to as "Girgenti."

  Two  contemporaries  made  a tremendous  contribution  to  life  in Stewarton in the second half of the 19th century and the early part of this century. They were David Sim and Robert Mackie, whose lives followed similar paths over a long period. Both were provosts of the burgh and J.P.S, and both were in the bonnet-making  industry.  They  were Stewarton born and bred.

   David Sim was the son of Robert Sim, the man who founded the first bonnet making factory in the town in 1820 and he took over the business when his father died. But it was in his public work that David Sim was most widely known, and for the greater part of half a century there was no movement of municipal, moral or political significance in the Stewarton district in which he did not take a leading part. A man of strong convictions, into whatever task he took up he threw the whole weight of his enthusiasm and forceful personality and his apparently illimitable vigour.

   A member of the Town Council for eighteen years and provost for nine, he served on numerous committees and under his guidance far-reaching schemes for the improvement of the burgh  and  the amenities of civil life were achieved.

   He was a member, then chairman of the School Board and the first chairman of the Parish Council. For some twelve years he represented Stewarton on the Northern District Committee of Ayrshire County Council. He was chairman of Stewarton Gas Company, chairman of the local Nursing Association, and he was also chairman of the Burgh Old Age Pensions Committee. For twenty years he was President     of    Stewarton    Liberal Association.

   A  strong  advocate  of temperance, David Sim was a life-long member and one time Treasurer of Cairns U.F. Church. He died within a month of his 71st birthday in April 1919, a truly remarkable Stewartonian.

   Two years earlier Robert Mackie had died, aged 94.The son of Thomas Mackie, the founder of Thomas Mackie & Sons, Spinners and Dyers, he left the family business to start his own factory at Holm Street and his wool spinning, bonnet and hosiery manufacturing business thrived under his control. His business life has been covered in another chapter.

   Robert Mackie too was firmly attached to the Cairns Church and he was an elder for 61 years. He and David Sim were mainly responsible for the business of purchasing the  ground  on which the church was built.

   His political career began early and in his boyhood he marched in the Reform Bill procession in 1832 with the lrvine Academy Boys. All his life he played a prominent part in political circles in North Ayrshire  occupying  the  position  of President of Stewarton liberal Association and of North Ayrshire Central Association. From the inception of County Councils he was Stewarton's representative on the Northern District Committee. He had the honour of heading the poll at the first school board election in the 1870s and was Chairman when Stewarton Public School opened in 1876.

   Robert Mackie was elected to the first Stewarton Town Council in 1868. After serving for some years he withdrew but returned to the Council in 1898 when he was elected Provost at the age of 7 6 and he served for nine years in this post. His most outstanding achievement was the provision of the water works at the White Loch, a scheme he had advocated for years.  He  too  was  associated  with Stewarton Gaslight Company and was Chairman for 50 years. A keen bowler, he was the only man present at the jubilee of Stewarton Bowling Club who had taken an active part in its formation.

   Robert  Mackie  was  buried   in Stewarton Parish Churchyard.

   While some Stewartonians stayed at home to make their mark others travelled across the world to realise their ambitions. Alexander Millar Lindsay was born at Byrahill Farm near Stewarton in 1841 ,the son of Alexander Lindsay, a cabinetmaker. Young Alex attended the Parochial School in Stewarton and it was his ambition to become a doctor; but although his father employed  five  men, lack of funds  prevented  him  furthering  his education and he was apprenticed to a draper in Kilmarnock. This was to be the start of a fabulous career.

   After working in Glasgow to complete his apprenticeship, in 1865 he emigrated to the United States of America to Boston before moving on to Rochester, New York State, where he started up in a draper's business with two partners.

   The business flourished and eventually Alexander Lindsay owned the  largest store in Rochester. He was also involved in other  projects including the  Eastman Kodak Company, and became a wealthy, but generous, man and prominent citizen, He never forgot his background and named his  yacht  "Rowallan"  after  Rowallan estate, which was not far from Byrahill farm.

   When he died in 1920 Alexander Millar Lindsay was a millionaire.

   A  Stewarton  man.  Bill  Smillie, emigrated to the United States with his parents when he was a boy in the 1930s. He ultimately became an actor in Hollywood and has appeared in many pictures.

   Another Stewarton emigrant to the USA was John C. Flint who left Stewarton in 1906 with his wife, Robina Sim, also from Stewarton. John was in business at various periods as a carpenter, steam laundry proprietor, and undertaker.

   In 1938 he was so well thought of in Buffalo, New York State, where he was a central figure in the social life of that town, that he was named "The First Citizen of Buffalo."

   Jim Morton, born in Stewarton in 1872, was the pioneer of Scottish boxing. He was the first manager in Scotland to introduce "midget" or flyweight boxers and over the years he had under his charge many famous Scottish exponents of this sport. He died in Glasgow in 1925.

   One of Stewarton's most distinguished and best known citizens in the first half of the century was Andrew Wilson Kerr who had many facets to his character and activities  during  a  life-long association with the town.

   A businessman in Glasgow, Andrew found  further scope and outlet in a variety of artistic and literary pursuits in  the  place  he  loved  all  his  days. Possessing musical gifts of a high order, this  aspect  of his life  has been dealt with in Chapter 7. He was a keen reader and student of the Scottish heritage of literature and it was he who inspired the formation of the Stewarton Literary Society which existed for many years. An enthusiastic Bumsian, he was much in demand as a speaker on "The Immortal Memory" at many of the leading Burns Clubs   throughout    Scotland.   His admiration for the poet found further expression when he was involved with the erection of an obelisk in Stewarton kirkyard to the memory of Burns' Uncle Robert.  And he was also  associated with the placing of a plaque in Dunlop Parish Church in commemoration of Mrs Dunlop of Dunlop House, one of the Bard's staunchest friends. Andrew Kerr was a writer of some repute and he also found joy in gardening and achieved some distinction as a horticulturist. He died, aged 83,in 1957.

   Although David Dale was rebuffed in his attempt to build factories in Stewarton, William Deans was not. Last century, it was he who built one of the wool and worsted mills at Robertland on the banks of the Annick. He was the originator, and for some time a partner, of the largest carpet work in the town. Deans was renowned for his hierolatry, hospitality, and intelligence and it was said that after closing his factory he would  pass the evenings composing essays and writing verses at his home at Peacockbank.

   The district in which he erected his mill was once known at Templehouse, then  Darlington. Subsequently it was renamed Deans Street after William Deans. It is now known as Dean Street.

   A native of the parish, James Gillies, M.D" became a successful practitioner in Bath and one of the then King's Physicians for Scotland. He died in 1826.

   In the 17th century between 1625 and 1630 there was a great religious revival known as "the Stewarton sickness." One woman who was affected was the Lady Robertland  who  lived  in Robertland Castle. She was a friend of the Stewarton Parish   minister,   the   Rev.   William Castlelaw, and she helped him in his work among the sick and needy in the parish. Sometimes   called   "the   Lady  of Robertland" and "a famous saint," during "the sickness" she would come down from Robertland and cany off those affected to her home beside the Annick. Lady Robertland was also known outside Stewarton for her charitable and cheerful manner, and her hospitality to those who were suffering.

   A Stewartonian who made his mark at  the  battle  of  Trafalgar  on  board the "Victory" was David Laughland, who had been pressed into the Navy at the age of twenty-two. He saw service on many ships in the Mediterranean and elsewhere and had the distinction of serving as a Captain of the maintop on board the "Victory."

   Lord Nelson's death affected him deeply. During his second term in the Navy, he was nine years on board "The Recruit," commanded by Captain Napier, later  Admiral  Sir  Charles  Napier, and during one battle against the French, he was instrumental in helping to save his Captain's life.

   In 1815 Laughland returned home to marry and return to his original trade as a bonnet maker. Although he made repeated claims for a Naval pension, this was not granted until he was ninety years of age and he only lived to receive one half yearly payment.  He  died  in  comparative poverty.

   During this century there was a man who devoted his life to service in Stewarton. His name was Thomas Barclay. Stewarton born, he served on the Town Council as Parks Convener, Mice Judge, Baflie and was  Provost from 1941-1947. He was mainly responsible for the provision of the pond at Strandhead Park in 1930.

   In 1932 when he was Bailie Thomas Barclay, he was the man who proposed holding a gala day for the children of the town. He formed a committee and this led to the founding of Stewarton Bonnet Guild and the Bonnet Guild Festival. Tom Barclay was the first President of the Guild.

A life-long member of the Congregational Church, he was deacon and treasurer for thirty years. He was associated with the Foundry Boys movement, and he was active both in the Shopkeepers' Association and the local Temperance Association.

Tom was a well-known local butcher to trade with a shop in Lainshaw Street and his cheerful disposition and readiness to share a joke with both his customers and everyone he met, made him a popular person in town. Sadly, his elder son, Jim, a Lieutenant in the Royal Tank Regiment was killed in action on the very last day of the war in Germany. Tom Barclay was never the same man again.

   During Stewarton's long existence, only two. men were honoured with the title: Freeman of  Stewarton. They were John Hamilton, long serving Town Clerk, and Thomas W. Mackie, former Provost. At a special function in the Institute Hall on 26th April 1973, they were presented with wooden caskets containing illuminated Burgess Tickets in calf vellum.

   Jack Hamilton served as Town Clerk from 1932 until 1975 when he retired. He was appointed Kirk Session Clerk of the Laigh Kirk in November 1945 and continued to fill this post when the name was changed to St. Columba's Church and until he died in April 1985.

   A founder member of the Bonnet Guild, he was the first secretary, later president and finally treasurer.

    In the early Thirties, with the help of his  wife-to-be.  Ruby,  he  formed  a committee to organise an annual trip for the over-seventies in the town. This led to the foundation of the Stewarton Old People's  Welfare  Association  and  he worked for this organisation as President for the remainder of his life. He was, in addition, the President of the Central Old Men's Club.

   Jack Hamilton was a member of the Stewarton Bowling Club and the Club's Treasurer, After he retired he joined the local Community Council and served for several years.

   Tom Mackie, or "T.W." as he was generally  known,  was  a  long-serving member of Stewarton Town Council and was the provost from 1954 to 1960. He was a founder member of Stewarton Bonnet Guild and a past president.

   A long serving elder in the Cairns Church, he continued as an active elder in St. Columba's when the two congregations combined in 1961.

  T.W. was  a  member of one of Stewarton's   oldest   and   best-known families. The firm of Thomas Mackie & Sons, Spinners & Dyers, was founded by his  grandfather,  and  T.W.  was  the managing director for many years. His father, James W. Mackie, was also a provost of Stewarton.

   A Stewartonian born and bred, he loved his home town and made a study of its early history and of the bonnet trade, and he addressed numerous local meetings on these subjects. From his notes and speeches, some of the information about old Stewarton which appears in this book was obtained.

    After the death of their son, Jim, who was killed in a motoring accident, Mr and Mrs Mackie left their home at Old Glasgow Road and went to live in Ayr. T.W. Mackie died in 1981.

   Many ministers of the kirk made their marks and they have been mentioned in another chapter.

   One local man who made his mark literally  was  James  Taylor  Brown, an artist  of exceptional ability  who  lived from 1869 to 1924. He specialised in scenes of the Stewarton countryside but he was a man of moods. It has been said that when things were going well and he was of a cheerful disposition his brighter paintings   personified   his   emotions. Conversely when he was depressed he expressed  himself in dark and sombre tones but these are the qualities which have made pictures collectors' items today fetching good prices when sold. During his lifetime he achieved considerable fame and his works were exhibited in the Royal Scottish Academy, the Glasgow Institute of Fine Arts, and the Society of Scottish Artists in Edinburgh.

   Taylor Brown was a far-out relation of mine as he was my grandfather's cousin and best man at his wedding. For a wedding present he gave my grandfather, also James Brown, two pictures, but being in dire straits as he was most of the time, he painted the scenes of Stewarton on the back of cigar boxes, as he could not afford   canvas.  Those  two  pictures eventually became the property of my mother, who thought so little of them they were kept in a cupboard wrapped in brown paper. Years later I made search for the paintings but they must have been thrown out accidentally at a flitting and were never seen again.

   Not many people in Stewarton have had a poem written about them. One who was the subject of a piece of prose by Bobby Deans was Mrs Jean Ewing, who was the District Nurse from 1924 until 1951.

   A familiar figure in her uniform of navy blue coat and matching hat, Nurse Ewing was a credit to her profession and was extremely highly regarded in the town and district.

The last verse of the poem says it all: "There on the roll of honour of the famous bonnet town, Your deeds will he recorded your name will be written down, That all in the future may read of the loving service you gave, True to your healing mission a lady noble and brave.

   There were others who made their marks in an entirely different province - the field of war. In the "Great War," as it was known (1914-1918), twenty five men were honoured. See "Roll of Honour"

   One man, Private Ross Tollerton, won the top honour, the Victoria Cross, and he is listed because he lived for a few years in  Stewarton  as  a  boy  and  went  to Stewarton School. His father was the local Police Sergeant. The following list has been taken from a book published by T. G.Philip in 1927.

HONOURS WON IN WORLD WAR I VICTORIA CROSS (V.C.)

Pte Ross Tollerton,V.C.

DISTINGUISHED SERVICE ORDER (D.S.O.)

Major John Macrae, D.S.O.

  MILITARY CROSS (M.C.)

Major Alan Cook, M.B., C.M., M.C.

Lieut. William Cume. M.M., M.C.

Lieut. James Ferguson, M.C.

 CROIX DE GUERRE.

      Sergt .-Major John Caldwell.

DISTINGUISHED CONDUCT MEDAL (D.C.M.)

Trooper James Dinning, D.C.M.

 MILITARY MEDAL.

Sapper Alexander Armour, M.M.

Private William Currie, M.M.

Corporal James Haining, M.M.

Pte. Daniel Hamilton, M.M.

Sergt. Alexander G. Highet, M.M.

Corpi. William King, M.M.

Sapper John Lambie, M.M.

Pte. William Miller, M.M.

Pte. Duncan Thomson, M.M.

Bombardier Thomas Young, M.M.

Corpi. John Yuille, M.M.

L/CorpI Robert King, M.M.

   MENTIONED IN DISPATCHES.

Lieut. Alexander Campbell

Lieut.-Col. Duncan F. Campbell, D.S.O"M.P.

Sergt. Alexander G. Highet, M.M.,

2nd Lieut. Donald M. Nicolson.

Corpi. (Acting Sergt.) Andrew Porter.

Artificer Robert Templeton, R.N.

   No list was ever recorded of the men or women who were decorated in World War II. Those who were killed are listed on the War Memorial at Standalane, as are the servicemen who were lost in the 1914-1918 war.

   Among the names on the obelisk are Captain  James  Barclay,  Royal  Tank Regiment, who won the Military Cross. Sergeant William Allan, R.S.F., who won the Distinguished Conduct Medal (D.C.M.) and Sergeant Angus Ferguson, A. & S.H., who won the Military Medal (M.M.) Among those who survived .Major Thomas Currie,  R.S.F. won the Military Cross (M.C.) Corporal James Ferguson, Durham Light Infantry, was awarded the Military Medal for "outstanding bravery inaction" on the Holland/German border in October 1944. He lost his right arm in this action.

   Back  in  1815,  Sergeant  William Patrick, who was born at the Pointhouse, charged with the  Scots Greys at the Battle  of Waterloo.  He  survived  this historic skirmish and eventually returned to  Stewarton where he built Chelsea Cottage at Loudoun Street. He died in 1855 and his headstone can be seen in the parish churchyard. The epaulettes worn by Sergeant Patrick are exhibited in Stewarton Museum.

   Four   men   who    contributed tremendously to the health and wellbeing of the people of Stewarton and District over a very long period were the four  general  practitioners,  Dr.  John Cunningham, Dr. Thomas Watson, Dr. Evan Lloyd, and Dr. Matthew Bowman. Dr. Lloyd was also a member of the Town Council and Provost from 1947 to 1954.

   Another G.P. who gave invaluable service to the town in more recent years was Dr. Tom Duke who retired in 1987.

   Dr. Zoe  Norwell has distinguished herself in the field of medicine among the  Stewarton  people  and  also  in connection with her work at Dunlop House. She has been President of the Stewarton  Ladies Committee  for the Handicapped, an organisation which has raised a deal of money for the disabled in the district since its inception in the early 1960s.

   In local government circles, two men, above all others, and of opposite political persuasions, have served the community over a long number of years.

   William  Aitken  joined  the  Town Council in 1956 representing the Labour Party. During the next two decades he held various posts in the Council and was Provost from 1965-1968 and from 19711975. He was elected to the newly formed Kilmarnock and Loudoun District Council and became its first  Chairman (later changed to Provost).

   A  native  of Auchinleck  who  was brought up in Huriford, Bill Aitken was a time-served engineer who became a fulltime  organiser  of  the  Amalgamated Engineering Union and he was on the Board  of  the  Scottish  Development Agency. He is a Past President and Deacon of the Bonnet Guild, and is the Vice President of Stewarton Bowling Club. Bill is also involved with town twinning in the District.

    He received the M.B.E. for his services to  local  government and  was  further honoured by being conferred a Deputy Lieutenant of the County of Ayrshire and Arran.

   Alan MacDougall is a son of the Manse who was born in Caldercruix. Lanarkshire where his father was the minister. He arrived in Stewarton in 1961 where he took over one of the town's old established knitwear firms. Two years later he became a member of the Bonnet Guild and was elected on to the Town Council. He is a past President and Deacon of the Guild and he represented the Conservative and Unionist Party on the Council from 1963-1975. He was Provost of Stewarton from 1968 to 1971 .

   Alan MacDougall, J.P" was elected to the District Council in 1980 but lost his seat in 1984, only to regain it in 1988 and is the present local representative on the Council.

   Two women who have played active parts in Stewarton life are Jenny Andrews (formerly Stewart) and Cathie Taylor. Jenny has given a life-time's service to the Guide movement while Cathie has been a devoted member and leader of the Red Cross since 1936.

   James O'Neill represented most of Stewarton on the Council from 1984 to 1988 and James Thomson represents a part of Stewarton, plus the landward area. On Strathclyde Regional Council, Stewarton has been represented by David Fulton,  a  Hurlford  man,  from  its formation in 1976.

   Several men have become well-known for different reasons. George Barclay, a lifelong member of the Congregational Church and its Vice-President, is a lay preacher   who   assists   ministers   at Christmas, etc. He is a former Scout and Scout Leader, and a past Deacon and President of the Bonnet Guild.

   Matthew Roberton, (known locally as Mattha) has been involved with local activities all his life and he is now 90 years  of  age.  He  was  President  of Stewarton YMCA football club, President of the Bowling Club, and a long serving member of the Bonnet Guild, of which he was Parade Marshal for fifteen years.

   Among the Burnsians, Alee Gillies is renowned for his eloquence and exceptional knowledge on the subject of the Bard. He is a fine reciter of countless Burns' poems and a pawky raconteur at Burns Suppers, etc.

   John Campbell is another Burns enthusiast who is much in demand both locally and further a field and his specialty is "Holy Willie's Prayer."

   Music has been dealt with in another chapter but one local musician of exceptional ability is Bert Wilson, M.B.E. While most of Bert's playing has been done outwith  the  town,  he  is  a  willing performer at local concerts when called upon to play either his trumpet or the piano. He was awarded the M.B.E. through his dedication to Industrial Safety in his regular employment. Bert is retired now but still plays regularly in a big band in Glasgow  and  is  on the  Board  of Governors of the British Safety Council.

   One who has just completed making his  devotional  mark  is  the  Reverend Philip McCardel, who has retired after a lifetime's  service   in  the   Church  of Scotland.

   A son of the manse, Philip McCardel was born in Dunlop where his father was minister, and he came to Stewarton from Renfrew North Church in 1962 to become the first minister of the newly formed St. Columba's Church. This was a difficult time for a new minister as the congregations of the Laigh Kirk and the Cairns Church joined together.

   Mr McCardel overcame this transitional period and helped greatly in the success of the combined church. During his 26 years in Stewarton he has proved himself a man of patience, understanding and compassion. He has been a sympathetic listener, comforter and confidant to all who sought his help and advice, whether church attenders or not. He also cooperated with church unity.

   In 1971 Mr McCardel was invited to Balmoral Castle for a weekend by Her Majesty the Queen and to preach at the Sunday  morning  service  at  Crathie Church, which was attended by the Royal family.