Category Archives: The Black Collection

The Lost Chapel of St Katherine’s-in-the-Hopes

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Glencorse reservoir from the air - the chapel is in the right-hand corner

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of the finest walks in the Lothians is by the side of Glencorse reservoir in the Pentland hills. The reservoir was built in 1822 to supply water to the city of Edinburgh. How many people know that beneath the reservoir are the remains of lost chapel of St Katherine’s-in-the-Hopes?  

St Katherine's-in-the-Hopes 1890s

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are references to St Katherine’s chapel in thirteenth-century documents and it seems to have had some connection with Holyrood abbey inEdinburgh. There’s also a more fanciful story that it was built in the fourteenth-century by Sir William St Clair who had prayed to St Katherine to help him win a hunting wager with the king.

 

But who was St Katherine? The likeliest candidate is St Catherine ofAlexandria, famously martyred on a fiery wheel. At nearby Liberton, there was once a chapel dedicated to St Catherine and a famous holy well where the water had drops of oil in it.

 

St Katherine’s-in-the-Hopes is situated at the northern end of Glencorse reservoir, close to the Kirk burn and Kirkton farm. ‘Hopes’ is a Scots word meaning ‘a partly-hidden upland valley, often narrow and twisting’.    

 

The remains of the chapel have long been submerged underneath the reservoir but periodically they re-emerge during an extended period of dry weather. 

 

 

The Black Collection

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Black Collection, which is held by Midlothian Council archives, contains several reports about the remains of St Katherine’s becoming visible in 1898, 1901 and 1915. The site became a popular tourist attraction and many people took the walk from Edinburgh to have a look at the ruins.

 

At this time, only the foundations of the chapel and a few small walls remained. The chapel measured approximately 40 feet long and 20 feet wide. The walls were built of local stone in rubble work. The outlines of the chapel grounds were also clear. 

 

Interestingly, two ancient tombstones were still visible at this time.  One was very large and had the date ’1623′ and some figures carved on it as well as the text ‘Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from henceforth’, which is taken from the Book of Revelations. In 1898, it was reported that the tombstone was broken in places and some thoughtless people had chipped pieces off as souvenirs.

 

Sketch of a tombstone at St Katherine's

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some reports also state that there was another stone to the memory of James Glendinning and erected in 1666. It seems likely that some Covenanters would have been buried in the churchyard. On28 November 1666, there was a battle at nearby Rullion Green between the Covenanters and Royalist forces in which the former were routed and many Covenanters were killed.

Another report states that a local farmer used stones from the ruins of the chapel to repair dykes and walls in nearby fields. Supposedly, an urn containing several gold coins was discovered below the site of the altar, but where it is now is anybody’s guess.

 

St Katherine's in the 1930s

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The ruins of the chapel also became visible during a dry spell in the 1930s. Photographs suggest that by this time it was little more than a pile of stones.

 

The chapel and its tombstones still lie beneath its watery grave. Who knows when it will resurface again?

New Midlothian Archive Guide available

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In Spring 2012, Midlothian Council Archive Service launched a new guide to the Midlothian archives. The purpose of the guide is to raise awareness of the archive collection and to encourage greater use of it. Copies of the new guide are available from local libraries or from Midlothian Local Studies. 

The Midlothian archive collection began shortly after the end of Second World War largely thanks to a man called Andrew Fraser, an unassuming native of Bonnyrigg who became county librarian for Midlothian County Library Service (then based inEdinburgh). Andrew had enough intelligence and foresight to start collecting material which was then regarded as insignificant and could be had for next to nothing. One example of this is a wonderful collection of old postcards of Midlothian. In Andrew’s day, these could be obtained quite cheaply, but are now very expensive and highly expensive.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Andrew Fraser saved a lot of archive material which was almost thrown away during local government reorganisation in 1970s. Amongst these were volumes of burgh records, council minutes, and logbooks and class registers from local schools. These records form the basis of the current collection, although there have been many later additions, usually donated by the public.

Currently, Midlothian archives are based in two sites: Library headquarters in Loanhead and at the Council Records Centre in Bonnyrigg, which is not open to the public. The collection is maintained by the Council Library Service. Midlothian Council has not employed a professional archivist for some years, but there is a Local Studies Officer and a Records Officer who jointly care for the archives.     

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Midlothian collection is not vast, but there are plenty of interesting and unique items. Probably the best example is the Black Collection which contains over 150 scrapbooks about Penicuik and the surrounding area. These were compiled by two local men, James Black and his son Robert, from about 1880 to 1930. The scrapbooks record almost every aspect of life in Penicuik and are a rich source for local historians and genealogists.

The bulk of the archive collection comes from the nineteenth- and twentieth-centuries, but there are a few earlier items. These include eighteenth-century minute books from the Guild of the Dalkeith Hammermen, the Penicuik Farmers’ Society, Loanhead Subscription Library (1818-53), and the Trustees of the Burgh of Dalkeith, which began in 1760. There are also several family and estate collections, such as the Don Wauchope of Edmonstone papers, a prosperous family that lived at the Edmonstone house in the parish of Newton, just outsideEdinburgh.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The new archive guide is an attempt to summarise the Midlothian collection and to make it more accessible to users. The guide is organised into eight basic categories, such as Local Authority Records and Unions, Guilds and Associations. There is also an index and a glossary of unfamiliar terms. It is worth remembering that many people may be unfamiliar with archive collections and may not understand how they are organised. The guide was made as simple and clear as possible whilst maintaining the highest archive standards.

It is hoped that the new guide will be first in a series and that new versions will be produced at regular intervals. There is still plenty of material to be added and many new donations. Recently, we were given the punishment book from the Dalkeith Combination Poorhouse which records the penalties handed out to inmates for misbehaviour. This is a fascinating document that shows the harshness of the Victorian workhouse system. In February 1874, a woman called Jane Brunton, who was 23-years-old, was locked up for 8 hours and denied food for being insubordinate to the matron.      

As well as the guide, we are also compiling new catalogues for individual collections. Once these are completed they are placed on the Midlothian Council website as PDFs. This is, of course, time-consuming but also rewarding and a good way to become more familiar with the collections and to uncover hidden treasures.

There is a huge amount of work to be done with theMidlothianarchives but we think that the new guide is big step in the right direction.   

 

 

 

 

Jamie Gorrie: a Penicuik Character

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Jamie Gorrie

The Black Collection is a remarkable record about Penicuik and surrounding area from 1880 to 1930. It is named after James Black and his son Robert, who assembled a mass of material about life in Penicuik. The collection includes research and lecture notes, newspaper cuttings, notebooks, postcards, photograph albums and many other items. 

Amongst the cllection is an obituary to Jamie Gorrie, a well known Penicuik character. 

 

 

 

 

Jamie Gorrie: a Penicuik Character
From the Midlothian Journal 24 January 1890 

Jamie Gorrie’s Tree Fallen 

Every native of Penicuik will hear with regret that the recent storm has demolished “Jamie Gorrie’s tree.” This fir tree, which is situated in the Bog Wood, on Sir George D. Clerk’s estate has been for nearly half a century the favourite pleasure haunt of the children of the village and round its base they have played together while the boys and even girls vied with each other in reaching the highest point and cutting their names in the wood. The result was that a considerable portion near the top was covered with names of boys and girls, who are now grown up and many of them gone to different parts of the world. The tree is 77 feet in length and two feet from the base measures 4 feet 2 inches in circumference. 

From the appearance of the tree as it lies it would seem that its fall is due not to the weakness of the roots but to the fact that the children have been making fires at the side of it with the result that for nearly two feet from the base the tree is like a shell having been burned so much, and the wonder is that it has stood so long. The “Jamie Gorrie” tree in addition to being an interesting pleasure spot for the village children had the reputation of being the highest fir tree in the wood and the one most easily climbed – the branches spreading from the tree at regular intervals like a ladder, and from this cause there is scarcely a man or child in the village who cannot boast of having climbed it. Visiting it on Monday when the snow was lying deep on the ground and everything had the appearance of winter, we could not but think of the many who will hear of the tree being blown down with regret contrasting strongly with the sentiments of one of our local poets, who wrote recently in the Journal about the Penicuik bairns: 

Simmer’s come again my lads,
Hurra! hurra! hurra!
Simmer’s come again my lads,
Hurra! hurra! hurra!
Awa’ wi’ buits or shoon
For freely we maun rin
By muir, or dalce, or linn,
O sae braw! O sae braw!
The ‘Bog’ we’ll hunt wi’ glee,
When we come frae the schule,
An’ roon’ the ‘Gorric Tree’
We’ll see nae dunce nor fuIe;
Or doon the ‘sunny knowe,’
Where the wee primroses grow,
We’ll play the auld row-chow
Frae the tap o’ the hill. 

About a year ago an old man visited the village and asked to be directed towards “Jamie Gorrie’s tree.” On being shown, he remarked “I maun see hit ye ken, for its the only freend I can mind o’ an’ its thirty ‘ear since I saw’t an’ played aboot it.” Such no doubt will be the exclamation of many who are now for various reasons unable to see the old relic of the past. 

“Jamie Gorrie” after whom the tree was called was a painter to trade, but having sustained an accident his brain became affected and for years he was the character of the village, running messages and doing odd jobs for a living. He was generally in a happy mood, but sometimes when he was threatened with punishment he would take refuge in this tree from his tormentors, and thence the name has originated. When the band was out he always accompanied it – ready to assist in the carrying of the drum. Gardeners Walks and Whupmen Plays were his great days, and he aIso attended all the funerals in the district. He played the whistle and triangle, and was often smart in answering those who tried to raise a laugh out of him. 

Echoes of War

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Penicuik Volunteers 1897

The Black Collection is a remarkable record about Penicuik and surrounding area from 1880 to 1930. It is named after James Black and his son Robert, who assembled a mass of material about life in Penicuik.        

The main part of the collection is a series of carefully compiled scrapbooks on life in Penicuik. The subjects range from local industries, sport, clubs and societies, and biographies of Penicuik people.        

In the 1970s, the Black Collection was gifted to Midlothian Library Service by James Black’s grandson, William. The originals have been indexed and microfilmed, and these can be consulted in Penicuik Library or in Local Studies at Loanhead.        

Amongst the Collection is a fascinating photograph album about the Penicuik Rifle Volunteers. The Volunteer Force was a citizen army of part-time rifle, artillery and engineer corps, created as a popular movement in 1859. Originally highly autonomous, the units of Volunteers became increasingly integrated with the British Army after 1881 before forming part of the Territorial Force in 1908.        

A Volunteer Battalion called the 3rd Midlothian Rife Volunteers was established in Penicuik in 1860. Several members of the Black family became members of the Volunteers. The Black Collection has nine scrapbooks about the individual Penicuik Companies.      

'The Coming Volunteers'

The photograph album includes this small picture taken on Peebles Road, Penicuik in 1901. Captioned as ‘The Coming Volunteers’, it shows a small group of young boys who have formed their own Volunteer Company. They are standing to attention with their wooden swords and home-made helmets made out of cardboard. The photograph was taken during the latter stages of the South African War or Boer War (1899-1902). This was a very emotive period in British history when the country was caught-up in a distant war against an elusive but very determined enemy. The War engendered very strong feelings in Britain with many people strongly opposed it.        

This photograph is interesting artifact of the time but it also has an extra, almost heart-breaking poignancy. The boys in the photograph are probably around 8-10 years old. Thirteen years after the photograph was taken the First World War started and these boys would be in their early twenties. Sadly we do not know the names of the boys but it is almost certain that most of them would be playing soldiers for real. One cannot help but reflect about how little they knew about what fate had in store for them or how many of them would survive the traumas ahead.     

 

Wheelbarrow Men

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Bob Carlisle and his Peep Show

The Black Collection is a remarkable record about Penicuik and surrounding area from 1880 to 1930. It is named after James Black and his son Robert, who assembled a mass of material about life in Penicuik.

The collection includes research and lecture notes, newspaper cuttings, notebooks, postcards, photograph albums and many other items. It is particularly strong on papermaking, the Thistle Lodge of Free Gardeners, the Penicuik Rifle Volunteers, and Penicuik and the First World War.

The main part of the collection is a series of carefully compiled scrapbooks on life in Penicuik. The subjects range from local industries, sport, clubs and societies, and biographies of Penicuik people.

In the 1970s, the Black Collection was gifted to Midlothian Library Service by James Black’s grandson, William. The originals have been indexed and microfilmed, and these can be consulted in Penicuik Library or in Local Studies at Loanhead.

Amongst the collection is a small, 3-page scrapbook about the curious phenomena of ‘Wheelbarrow Men’.

Originally Wheelbarrow Men were carters or delivery men, who carried goods from one place to another on their wheelbarrows. They were too poor to own a horse to pull their wheelbarrows so instead relied on their own strength and power.

With the arrival of the railways and improved transport the role of the Wheelbarrow Man changed into one of entertainment and novelty. Wheelbarrow Men promoted themselves as being able to travel huge distances by their own efforts whilst relying on charity and donations to survive. The idea seems to have originated in the United States of America where there are records of several Wheelbarrow Men who tried to walk across the entire continent pushing their wheelbarrow.

The scrapbook in the Black Collection mentions several intrepid Wheelbarrow Men who became quite familiar characters in late nineteenth-century Scotland. Amongst these were ‘Cochrane’ the Dundee Street porter who in February 1887 walked from Dundee to London and back again in 45 days, pushing his wheelbarrow all of the way. The report states: ‘He received very little encouragement in England, and was barefooted and almost starving ere he got back to Scotland. Since he crossed the border on his return matters have improved.’

Another prominent Wheelbarrow Men was Michael Heriot, who in June 1887 walked from Cramond to London and back again in 28 days. Herriot’s feat was doubly remarkable as he had only one arm, the other having been replaced by an iron hook after an accident. Heriot also met with little success or sympathy in England. The newspaper report states: ‘The reception accorded him did not meet his expectations, or even his requirements, and for several days he was without even some of the necessities of life.’

Gambling and betting were an important factor in the story of the Wheelbarrow Men. They survived by taking bets that they could accomplish various feats. In some cases they were encouraged by wealthy sponsors who challenged them to achieve certain tasks. This in turn created a circle of betting about their progress and whether or not they would succeed.

The scrapbook contains an account of the life of Bob Carlisle, a famous Wheelbarrow Man of the late nineteenth-century. Carlisle claimed to have been the first man to introduce the idea into Britain from the United States. Carlisle was a native of Edinburgh but was brought up in Haddington. When a young man he heard of an American visitor called Weston, who took bets that he could walk two thousand miles in one thousand hours on the turnpike roads of England. Carlisle resolved to do something similar and his first stunt was to walk one thousand miles around the roads of Cornwall. Subsequently he made his living by undertaking mammoth walks around the country pushing his wheelbarrow. On at least one walk, from Glasgow to London, he was accompanied by his wife.  

Carlisle was certainly a colourful character with an eventful life. He had been in the Navy and a merchant seaman, and worked in the travelling circus as a clown and a lion-tamer.

However by the time of the newspaper report in 1906 the days of the Wheelbarrow Men were starting to fade. To earn extra income Carlisle built a tiny house on the top of his wheelbarrow and put on a miniature peep-show for paying customers.

The World’s Oldest Pit Woman

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The Black Collection is a remarkable record about Penicuik and surrounding area from 1880 to 1930. It is named after James Black and his son Robert, who assembled a mass of material about life in Penicuik.

The collection includes research and lecture notes, newspaper cuttings, notebooks, postcards, photograph albums and many other items. It is particularly strong on papermaking, the Thistle Lodge of Free Gardeners, the Penicuik Rifle Volunteers, and Penicuik and the First World War.

The main part of the collection is a series of carefully compiled scrapbooks on life in Penicuik. The subjects range from local industries, sport, clubs and societies, and biographies of Penicuik people.

In the 1970s, the Black Collection was gifted to Midlothian Library Service by James Black’s grandson, William. The originals have been indexed and microfilmed, and these can be consulted in Penicuik Library or in Local Studies at Loanhead.

Amongst the Collection is a scrapbook about Coal and Ironstone Mining in the Lothians, which includes a newspaper cutting from February 1910 about Isabella Somerville, who was described as the Oldest Pit Woman in the World.

Bell Somers, as she was better known, was born at Old Craighall in Midlothian sometime around 1824. She had her first job at the age of six-years-old when she was employed as a ‘slype drawer’ at Edmonston Colliery near Edinburgh. A slype was a curved wooden box on iron runners which was used for taking coal away from the cutting-face. Bell was attached to the slype with an iron chain and she had to drag it along on her hands and knees through the mine to the bottom of the shaft.

Bell then worked at Pinkie Colliery in East Lothian where she learned to ‘howk’ coal, push it on hutches and carry it in creels to the surface.

She also worked at Harlaw Muir Colliery near Carlops in the Scottish Borders. Here she had to carry the coal away from the coalface and up a ladder to the surface where it was collected by horse-and-cart.

She worked at Harlaw Muir Colliery until women were expelled from the mines in 1843.

Bell was married to one Sergeant John Harrison.

The employment of child labour now strikes us as appallingly cruel and barbaric but apparently it didn’t do Bell very much harm. According to the report: ‘She is still hale and hearty, living in Tranent.’ She died in 1915. Nobody really knew her correct age but she was certainly well into her 90s.