History of Cambuslang
Now in South Lanarkshire, the town of Cambuslang is an ancient part of Scotland where Iron Age remains (at Dechmont Hill)[1][2][3] loom over 21st century housing developments.
It has been very prosperous over time, depending first upon its agricultural land, (supplying food, then wool, then linen) then the mineral resources under its soil (limestone and coal, and, to some extent, iron).
The origin of the Parish Kirk of Cambuslang is lost to history, though by struct tradition it was founded by Saint Cadoc in the 6th century.
Certainly, St Cadoc (or Cadow in some sources) is recorded in Medieval texts to have founded a monastery at or near the mountain of Bannawc where a king called Caw had his stronghold or Caer, and that this was in the district of Lintheamus.
[7] This suggestion was focused on by Cambuslang antiquarians with gusto from the late 1800s onwards, especially as it found repetition in less detailed sources which clouded the particulars and uncertainty of the matter, such as The Lives of Irish Saints, or otherwise authoritative authors such as Joseph Bain in their contributions to the proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland.
For example, the old testamentary records of the parish note dying wishes of residents in the 1550s - to be buried 'in the dust' (soil) of St Cadoc.
In 1429, as Bishop, he made Cambuslang a prebend of Glasgow Cathedral – meaning that the Rector (or Prebendary) could siphon off its teinds (that is tithes) to pay for one of his officials.
(James Hamilton, 2nd Earl of Arran, was granted the title of Duc de Châtellerault in 1548 for his part in arranging the marriage of Mary, Queen of Scots, to Francis, Dauphin of France).
Nowadays, Cambuslang takes advantage of its proximity to the motorway system and has developed several industrial estates and distribution centres.
On the one hand he records personally-gathered and extensive data on weather, population, farming, industry, history, transport and local personalities.
He gets quite carried away with enthusiasm in describing the great improvements brought to Cambuslang in the late 18th century as a result of applying reason and science to practical problems.
At the top of the gorge, near the kirk, is a ‘natural amphitheatre on the green side of the ravine’ where the Methodist preacher George Whitefield came to preach in the open.
It occurred from 15 February until 15 August 1742 under the ministry of the Rev Mr Mcculloch ‘when in an encampment of tents on the hillside, Whitefield, at the head of a band of clergy, held day after day a festival, which might be called awful, but scarcely solemn, among a multitude calculated by contemporary writers, to amount to 30,000 people.’[4] Dr Robertson had inherited his father-in-law’s suspicion of 'enthusiasm'.
By the end of the 19th century, many wealthy Glasgow businessmen had built houses in Cambuslang due to its easy accessibility by rail from the city.
The original wall to its orchard and garden can be seen on Brownside Road – the limestone blocks are roughly hewn as opposed to more 'modern' villas whose machine-cut stones are very regular.
The very diverse domestic architecture comprises 19th-century mansions, villas and tenements, and sheltered and nursing homes constructed from Victorian public buildings.
[36][37] For a time the Dunlop Family, operators of the Clyde Iron Works around a mile to the north on the opposite side of the river, were also the owners of Rosebank House, explaining the desire to link the sites.
[38] The wooden bridge burned down in a fire in 1919, by which time the iron works were linked to the closer Rutherglen and Coatbridge Railway lines and most of the local coal had been exhausted.
For 80 years it carried the main road north towards Tollcross in the East End of Glasgow and was the only such crossing in that part of the city, but weight restrictions meant it became unsuitable for such heavy use and in 1976 a replacement was built upstream.
In 2015 a feasibility study was conducted on creating a new cycling and walking route which would run along the south (Cambuslang) river bank to Farme Cross in Rutherglen via the Clydebridge Steelworks site.
John Cameron (of the Lochiel Campbells) became Bishop of Glasgow – and made the Prebendaries of Cambuslang Chancellors of the Cathedral – and went on to hold all the Great Offices of State.
Both Cameron and Beaton were members of the Scottish aristocracy, as were a number of other Rectors and Prebendaries – such as Lord Claud Hamilton – and the "English Cleric" mentioned below no doubt accompanied the many Anglo-Norman adventurers who came to Scotland at the time.
Several were doughty fighters for Presbyterianism, notably John Howison, while others, such as Patrick Hamilton gave much of their time to (sometimes provocative, not to say scurrilous) poetry.
Subsequently, many of M’Culloch's Elders opposed the Duke of Hamilton's nominee, James Meek as his successor, on the grounds that he was unsound in doctrine.
This was John Robertson, who died the year before a great split in the Church of Scotland over the long-standing issues, familiar to his predecessor, of Patronage and doctrine.
Robert Sibbald Calderwood wrote "Bible Stories", but also proclaimed his patriotism on the coronation of George V. In 1799 some Christians who were not prepared to attend the Parish Kirk, perhaps including some remnants of M’Culloch's Cambuslang Wark, rented a house to hold independent meetings.
The Duchess of Hamilton gave land for an Episcopalian Church to serve the needs of English immigrants who had come to work in the Cambuslang collieries and Hallside Steelworks (Newton).
