This article
is made up of extracts from 'Minute Book of the Board of Green Cloth 1809-1820
with Notices of the Members' which was compiled and edited by Colin Dunlop Donald
and privately printed in 1891 by James Maclehose & Sons, Glasgow. Only 150
copies of the book were produced. It is of interest because of the insights
it provides into the ways of life of the members of a Whist and Supper club
in Glasgow which, at the beginning of the 19th century, provided entertainment
for a section of society which the book calls "the burgher aristocracy"
(ie. the leading businessmen, many of whom were local landed gentry).
This article has been transcribed by Peter Barns-Graham for Stirnet Limited.
Effort has been taken to make the spelling and grammar exactly as shown in the
book - but some minor errors may have arisen.
First released: 19 September 2003.
The Board of Green
Cloth was a Whist and Supper Club in Glasgow. It was founded probably between
1780 and 1790, and came to an end about 1820. Convivial Clubs were one of the
most marked features of that time in Glasgow. Many of them have been chronicled
by Dr. John Strang, but he merely mentions this Club without saying anything
about it, perhaps because he knew nothing. We shall never see such clubs again,
for our habits of life, to say nothing of the enormous size to which Glasgow
has grown, are against them; but while they lasted they must have been very
enjoyable. In the memoir of Colin Dunlop Donald in Memoirs and Portraits
of One Hundred Glasgow Men, Glasgow, 1886, Vol. I., pp. 108-110, there is
a notice of this Club, which, with the permission of Messrs. James MacLehose
& Sons, is here quoted:-
"Probably
his (Mr. Donald's) most marked characteristic was his individuality. Much of
this, no doubt, was natural; but it was also fostered by the state of society
in Glasgow at the end of last century and beginning of this, which was then
different in almost every point from what it is now. In the first place, it
was not then the chief duty of man to resemble every one else; on the contrary,
character was allowed full swing, and took it. The Cross was still the centre
of the town, which was, comparatively speaking, a small place. A few adventurous
spirits had gone so far west as Buchanan Street, but the better class houses
were mainly in Queen Street, Miller Street, Virginia Street, Dunlop Street,
George Square, and St. Enoch Square. West of Buchanan Street were a few market
gardens and suburban villas, and then the country. Indeed Mr. Donald remembered
as a lad shooting hares where St. Vincent Place now is, and where the Western
Club now stands; and his brother-in-law, George Stirling, who only died twenty
years ago, had gone partridge shooting over what is now Blythswood Square. There
is now no burgher aristocracy. The place is too big and the men are too new.
Then there was a small exclusive clique who knew each other well and no one
else at all. There were no railways, no steamboats, no daily newspapers, no
telegraph, no penny post. One stage coach a day, which was three or four days
on the way, left for London. The Continent was closed, and the Highlands had
not yet been called into being by Sir Walter. In consequence, men were both
in mind and body confined to Glasgow, and sought and found their pleasures and
interests there to an infinitely greater extent than they do now. There still
lingered some of the blessed leisure of the eighteenth century. The easy day's
work was generally over at four o'clock, leaving men plenty of energy to engage
vigorously in talk and conviviality. All these causes contributed to the abundance
of clubs, which was one of the most distinctive features of the social life
of Glasgow of that day. These clubs had nothing in common with the palatial
buildings of to-day where men gather to scowl at each other, abuse the cook,
and grumble at the committee. In the strictest sense they answered to Dr. Johnson's
definition of a club, - 'an assembly of good fellows meeting under certain conditions.'
They consisted, as a rule, of a knot of friends, who met at stated intervals
in a room of a tavern in the Saltmarket, the Trongate, or the Stockwell for
good fellowship and conviviality. Some of these clubs owned their origin to
mere chance, like the 'Hodge Podge' still green and flourishing in the hundred
and thirty-third year of its existence. Some, like the 'Gaelic' Club, which
has passed its century, formed a rallying point for Highlanders in Glasgow.
Others, like the 'Camperdown' Club, took their name from a band of thirsty patriots
assembling to celebrate some victory; or, like the 'Medical' Club, from the
pursuits of its members. Except the Hodge Podge and the Gaelic, they are all
dead - unless, indeed, the suspended animation of the 'Jumble' may be regarded
as a sort of life. They met at various hours from five to seven. After a reasonably
quantity of rum punch or whisky toddy had been consumed, supper of Welsh rabbits,
Finnan haddies, or tripe, etc,. was brought in; and after that, what, to modern
ideas, would seem an unreasonable quantity of rum punch or whisky toddy. The
frequenters of these clubs were, it must be remembered, not only the gay young
men of the town, but also respectable middle-aged merchants and manufacturers
with wives and families. As was natural, each set or clique in Glasgow had its
club, and the club of the burgher aristocracy in the end of the last century
and beginning of this was the 'Board of Green Cloth.'
The minutes before
1809 are lost. ..... The value, such as it is, of the Minute Book, lies in the
fact that it is a contemporaneous document. It shows us what subjects the citizens
of Glasgow discussed in their leisure hours and how they amused themselves.
.....
One of the most
remarkable features of the Board of Green Cloth was the extent to which the
Members were related to another. Thomas Donald was father of Colin Dunlop Donald,
brother-in-law of John Dunlop and James Dennistoun (1), and uncle of James Dennistoun
(2), and his wife, Janet Dunlop, was first cousin of John Hamilton, and of Margaret
Bogle, wife of Richard Marshall. Robert Houston was brother-in-law of John Barns,
first cousin once removed of John Dunlop, and second cousin of Archibald Campbell,
Blythswood, Colin Dunlop Donald and Thomas Dunlop Douglas. ......
It is worthy of
note, as showing the class from which the commerce and society of Glasgow were,
at one time, recruited, that a large proportion of the members were landed men,
sons of landed men, or, at least, men of good family. ..... It is true that
most of the estates in this somewhat Homeric catalogue were small, and that,
in many cases, they had been bought either by the owner or his immediate ancestor.
In only nine cases had the ancestor of the man who, in 1791, owned one of these
estates, held it in 1691. The nine were Mure of Caldwell, Barns of Kirkhill,
Douglas of Mains, Dennistoun of Colgrain, Maxwell of Dargavel, Colquhoun of
Barnhill, Campbell of Blythswood, Brown of Auchlochan, and Buchanan of Ardoch.
Colgrain is no longer owned by a Dennistoun, Auchlochan by a Brown, nor Ardoch
by a Buchanan, but the other six are still held by the same family as in 1691
and 1791. It is remarkable that, except these six, Carstairs, and Killearn,
not one of the estates owned by members of the Board of Green Cloth is now in
the possession of their descendants or representatives.
It is easy to understand
how, in the eighteenth century, the ranks of commerce were so largely recruited
from gentle families. Scotland had always been a poor country, and it must ever
have been difficult to find something for younger sons to do. In the fifteenth
century, those for whom there was no fighting or robbing to do at home, went
to France to fight the English, and gain either a fair lordship, or a soldier's
grave. In the sixteenth the new world was opening, and there were Spain and
the Devil to fight. In the seventeenth century thousands of Scotsmen, besides
Captain Dugald Dalgetty, fought as soldiers of fortune all over Europe. Specially
did they favour Gustavus Adolphus, the Lion of the North, and the Scots Brigades
were the flower of his army. In the eighteenth century hard blows were not the
same royal road to fortune, but the Union had opened the Colonial trade of England
to all Scotsmen. The men who, had they lived earlier, would have fought at Verneuil,
in the Low Countries, or at Lutzen, dashed into trade with the same courage
as they would have shown in battle. The result was wonderful. From being one
of the poorest countries in Europe, Scotland has become one of the richest,
and this we owe in great measure to such men as the members of the Board of
Green Cloth and their compeers.
1st. The First
twelve names in the list are the original members.
2d. The Club not to exceed Eighteen, and every Candidate to be proposed at one
Meeting and balloted for the next. One black ball to exclude. The ballot to
be at what time the Præses shall choose, and one half of the Members must
be present.
3d. The time of the Meeting to be at or as soon after 5 o'clock as convenient,
and supper to be on the table at 1/4 past Ten o'clock. No new Rubber to be begunn
after ten o'clock.
4th. A Præses to be appointed at each Meeting, who must be one of the
Company when chosen, - and it is expected he will be at some pains to get the
Members to meet early in the evening and stay support. He shall have it in his
power to admit one or two strangers to the Club, but no Townsman can be admitted.
5. The Bill to be called at or before 12 o'clock.
6. The Præses to be fined in five shillings for non-attendance, or two
and sixpence if he does not come before Seven o'clock.
7. Each Member who does not attend to pay 1/-, and those who go away to pay
3/-.
8. No Cards after supper under a penalty of 5 Guineas each player. ** replaced
by Rule 13.
9. All fines and Betts made at the Club to be at their disposal.
10. The Club to meet every Tuesday.
11. Each Member shall pay his suppers six months p. advance at the rate of 1/6
each.
12. If the Præses does not bring or send the Club book before 7 o'clock
he is fined in a bottle of Rum.
13. If any Cards are played after supper the Cards belonging to the Club are
not to be used under the penalty of 5 Shillings for each pack so used.
14. 18 April, 1809. - There shall be no regular Shuffling of the Cards such
as Milking, dividing them in two's, three's, or five's; and after a rubber has
begunn no person is allowed to change the Cards unless they order new Cards
and pay for them.
28 April, 1812.
- At the meeting of the Board this day it was unanimously resolved that in place
of the Club commencing their regular meetings on the first Tuesday of November
and ending the first Tuesday of May, The meetings shall commence on the first
Tuesday of October and end on the second Tuesday of May.
The first 12
members were: Robert Bogle, Thomas Donald, Alexander Dunlop, John McDowall,
Robert Houstoun, Richard Marshall, John Baird, John Barns, John Campbell, Alexander
Stevenson, Robert Dunmore, James McDowall.
The
following selection is not truly representative as, although it contains some
of the minutes that refer to fun bets, it ignores the many minutes that recorded
the resignations and appointments of Members and sundry administrative matters
and focuses on items of historical interest.
The Footnotes are as provided in the book.
20 May 1809 - Mr.
Dunlop betts a bottle of Rum that Miss Sommerville is not Married to Mr. Nicol
Brown before the Eighth day of July. Mr. Leckiesaye he will. Mr. L. Lost. Married
in Augt.
10 October 1809
- Mr. Wm. McDowall Betts a bottle of Rum with Mr. S. Hunter that Mr. Percival
is First Lord of the Treasury this day four Months. Mr. H. Lost. Footnote: The Duke of Portland's Administration was dissolved on his death
on 30th October, 1809. The Right Hon. Spencer Perceval's Administration began
in November, 1809. He was shot by Bellingham in the Lobby of the House of Commons,
11th May 1812.
13 February 1810
- Mr. H. Monteith Betts with Mr. Colquhoun a bottle of Rum that the Glasgow
Jail is not 30 feet wide over the walls. Mr. C. lost. Footnote: The old Jail at the Cross.
20 February 1810
- Mr. Carnegie Betts a bottle of Rum and a Guinea dry with Mr. Middleton that
the French are in possession of Cadiz on or before the first of April next.
Mr. C. Lost Footnote: Cadiz was not taken by the French. It was invested by them in 1809,
and the siege lasted till 26th August, 1812, when it was raised owing to the
victory of Salamanca on 22nd July of that year.
19 February 1811
- Mr. J. Graham has lost a bottle of Rum to Mr. J. Maxwell about the Latitude
of New Holland. Footnote: New Holland, now Australia, stretches from Cape York in 10°45'
south to Wilson's Promontory 39°9' south.
14 May 1811 - Mr.
Hunter Betts a bottle of Rum with Mr. Jas. Monteath that His Majesty will never
resume the Royal Functions. Mr. Monteath Betts that he will resume the Royal
Functions. Mr. M. Lost Footnote: In December, 1810, George the Third's insanity, which had returned
a little time before, was aggravated by the death of the Princess Amelia, his
youngest and favourite child, and became so violent that the Regency Bill in
favour of the Prince of Wales was passed. The King never resumed the royal functions
and died on 29th January, 1820.
30 March 1813 -
Mr. Connell Betts wt. Mr. Craigie five Guineas dry and a bottle of Rum that
preliminaries of Peace between Britain and America are signed before the thirty-first
of December next. Mr. Connell loses. Footnote: There were no preliminaries of peace between Great Britain and
the United States signed in the year 1813. The Treaty of Peace was signed at
Ghent on 24th December, 1814, but was not ratified by the United States till
17th February, 1815. In the meantime the English, under Sir Edward Pakenham,
who was killed, attacked New Orleans on 8th January, 1815, and were repulsed
with the loss of two thousand men.
23 November 1813
- Mr. W. Stirling Betts a bottle of Rum and twenty guineas that Dantzic holds
out till the first day of Jany. Mr. Saml. Hunter bets it does not hold out.
Mr. Hunter loses. Footnote: The note "Mr. Hunter loses" must be a clerical error.
Dantzic defended by the French, under General Rapp, was besieged by an allied
army under the Duke of Wurtemburg, in the first week of October, 1813. The defeat
of Napoleon at Leipsic put an end to all hopes of relief and General Rapp capitulated
on 29th November, 1813.
30 November 1813
- Of the two marriages yesterday, Mr. Wallace and Mr. Wardrope, Coppersmith,
whose wife is to produce first after nine months from this day ? Mr. Monteith
says Mrs. Wardrope, Mr. Hunter, Mrs. Wallace. A guinea and a bottle of rum.
11 January 1814
- Mr. H. Monteith bets a guinea and a Bottle of Rum with Mr. Jno. Douglas that
the Americans are not in possession of Montreal in six months. Mr. Douglas bets
that they are. Mr. Douglas loses. Footnote: This bet refers to the American War of 1812-14. In July, 1814,
Major General Brown, with a force of five thousand Americans, invaded Canada
and was met by General Drummond with twenty-eight hundred British troops. On
25th July the battle of Niagara was fought and Brown driven back into the States
with the loss of fifteen hundred men: the British loss was eight hundred and
seventy-eight. The Americans never got possession of Montreal.
13 December 1814
- Mr. Hunter has lost a Bottle of Rum to Mr. H. Monteith about a substance found
in the Toasted Cheese.
14 January 1817
- Mr. Craigie bets a Bottle of Rum with Mr. Colin Campbell that Mrs. Ashburner,
late Miss Farquhar Gray is thirty years of age. Mr. Campbell bets she is under
that age.
The
book contains notices on 68 members. They vary from just a few lines to a few
pages. The following are the members reported on with links provided to the
notices provided for a selected few. The selection is viewed as reasonably representative
of the 'more interesting' notices. The members were: Robert Bogle, Thomas Donald,
Alexander Dunlop, Robert Houston, Richard Marshall, John Baird, John Barns,
John Campbell Jun., Alexander Stevenson, William Mure, Robert
Dunsmore, James McDowall, John Dunlop, Peter Blackburn,
David Cross, Colin Douglas, John Wallace, Robert Scott, Archibald Henderson,
James Dennistoun (1), Laurence Craigie, Duncan Campbell, John
Hamilton, William Clark, John Buchanan (Carston), Archibald Campbell (Finlayston),
Patrick Carnegie, William McDowall, James Buchanan, Kirkman Finlay, James Watson,
William Smith, John Maxwell, Charles Campbell, Thomas Craigie,
Colin McLachlan, William Corbet, Henry Monteith, John Leckie, Walter Colquhoun,
Richard Dennistoun, Archibald Campbell (Blythswood), James Grahame, Robert Dennistoun,
John Blackburn, John Douglas, James Connell, James Monteath,
William Middleton, David Connell, Samuel Hunter, Archibald Hamilton, Colin Dunlop
Donald, Colin Campbell, James Dennistoun (2), William Stirling, John Brown,
Francis Pott, John Lang, George Stirling, Thomas Dunlop Douglas, Thomas Smith,
Alexander Oswald, John Buchanan (Ardoch), Robert Aitken, William Monteith, Colonel
Norcote, John McDowall.
Alexander Stevenson
Alexander Stevenson, M.D. of Dalgain, in the Parish of Sorn and County of Ayr.
He was the son of a physician in Edinburgh, but graduated at Glasgow, where
he practised as a physician. He was admitted a member of the Faculty of Physicians
and Surgeons in Glasgow in 1756, and was President 1757-58. In 1766 he was appointed
Professor of the Practice of Medicine in the University of Glasgow, and held
the Chair till 1789, when he resigned and died two years later. Dr. Stevenson
took an active part in the establishment of the Royal Infirmary, but died before
it was opened. He resided first in the High Street, and latterly on the east
side of Virginia Street. Dr. Stevenson married Jean Picken, only child of John
Picken of Ibrox and Jean Barns, his wife, a sister of John Barns of Kirkhill,
and had three children -
(1) John, an advocate, died unmarried shortly after 1812;
(2) James, afterwards Sir James Stevenson Barns of Kirkhill, K.C.B., colonel
of the 20th Foot. Sir James, who was a distinguished Peninsular officer, joined
the First Royals (now the Royal Scots) as ensign on 11th July, 1792, and served
with them under General O'Hara at Toulon till its evacuation; in 1794 he served
in the campaign in Holland, where he was wounded; he accompanied the expedition
to Ferrol in 1800 and to Egypt in 1801, and served throughout the whole of the
campaign to the surrender of Alexandria; he was in the unfortunate Walcheren
expedition of 1809, and he served in Spain, Portugal, and France, from March,
1810, to the end of the war in 1814 : he received the Gold Cross for Busaco,
Salamanca (where he was severely wounded), St. Sebastian, and the Nive (where
he commanded the third battalion of the Royals), and the silver war medal, with
three clasps, for Fuentes d'Honor, Badajoz and Nivelle. Altogether, Sir James
seems to have crammed into twenty-two years about as much fighting as most men.
He succeeded to Kirkhill under an Entail executed by his granduncle, John Barns,
and died without issue on 5th October, 1850;
(3) Jean, who died unmarried.
Dalgain was a small
property which from before 1600 had belonged to a family of Mitchells. It was
bought from the last of these Mitchells by Dr. Stevenson's father. The doctor's
eldest son John succeeded to the estate, and it was sold after his death. It
now forms part of the estate of Sorn. Dr. Stevenson was a Hodge Podger, and
is thus hit off by Dr. Moore:
"An obsequious Doctor appears next in view,
Who smoothly glides in with a minuet bow,
In manners how soft ! in apparel how trig !
With a vast deal of physic contain'd in his wig."
The doctor was honoured by an epitaph by John Dunlop, which is printed in Strang's
Glasgow and its Clubs (1857), p. 46.
John Dunlop
John Dunlop of Rosebank, merchant, Glasgow. He was descended from John Dunlop,
merchant burgess of Glasgow, third son of James (a peculiarly Dunlop name) Dunlop
of that ilk, in the parish of Dunlop and County of Ayr. The first John Dunlop,
besides being a merchant, was a banker after the fashion of his time, and made
money. In 1634 he acquired the lands of Garnkirk, and died in 1662. He had one
son, James, (I) who was a member of the Faculty of Procurators in Glasgow, and
married in 1654 Elizabeth, daughter of James Roberton of Bedlay, afterwards
Lord Bedlay. Of this marriage there were born James Dunlop (II) and eight other
children. James Dunlop (II) was bred to the law and married Lilias, daughter
of Robert Campbell of North Woodside. She died in 1709 in childbed at the age
of thirty-four, after having had sixteen children in nineteen years; there were
giants in those days. Colin Dunlop, afterwards of Carmyle, who doubtless got
his name from the Campbells, the thirteenth child of this marriage, was born
in 1706. He was a great Glasgow merchant and built the fine old house still
standing second east from Dunlop Street, so named after him. He married Martha
Bogle, daughter of John Bogle of Hamilton Farm, and had issue - John, the subject
of this notice, born 1744, a son, James, and a daughter, Janet, married to Thomas
Donald.
John Dunlop was
a merchant in Glasgow, and in the year 1789 he carried on business under the
firm of John Dunlop & Co., in "Leeche's Court", south side of
the Trongate. Mr. Dunlop's town house was on the west side of Queen Street.
For a country house he had Rosebank, close to Cambuslang, then a beautiful place
worthy of its name, and now ! He served the town as a Bailie in 1785-88, as
Dean of Guild in 1792-93, and Provost in 1794-95. He was also a wit, a poet,
and a convivial soul who sang a good song. If Dr. Moore's Hodge Podge verse
is at all fair he must have been unlike most Dunlops, fat.
"A hogshead rolls forward the worthiest among,
What grumbling and growling it makes at the bung;
'Tis as jolly a cask as ere loaded the ground,
'Tis plump John Dunlop with his belly so round."
Mr. Dunlop was
unfortunate in business in Glasgow, and became Collector of Customs at Bo'ness.
He was afterwards transferred to Port Glasgow, where he died on 4th September,
1820. He married Miss Jessie Miller of Glenlee, sister of Lord Glenlee, and
had one child, John Colin Dunlop, Sheriff of Renfrewshire, author of The
History of Fiction, who died unmarried 26th January, 1842. John Dunlop is
now represented by his grandnephew, James Dunlop of Tolcross. It is a curious
illustration of the manners and habits of our ancestors that both John Dunlop
and his elder brother, James, who married a Miss Buchanan (grand aunt of Colonel
Buchanan of Drumpellier), eloped with their wives.
John Hamilton
John Hamilton of Northpark, born 1754, died 1829, three times Provost of Glasgow,
was a wine merchant. Latterly, he and his son Archibald were in partnership,
under the firm of John Hamilton and Son with their office at 78 Trongate. Mr.
Hamilton's residence was the southmost house on the east side of St. Enoch Square.
It may have been owing to this circumstance, or to the circumstance of his having
been Provost, or perhaps to other causes, that irreverent persons pretended
to identify him with Provost Shortridge in "Cyril Thornton" who gave
the famous dinner. The Provost married Helen, daughter of Archibald Bogle, a
younger son of Robert Bogle of Shettleston. This was doubling the strain of
Bogle blood, for his own mother was Mary Bogle of Hamilton Farm. He had a large
family by his wife. Among his children were George William, Merchant in Jamaica,
the original of the immortal Aaron Ban in "Tom Cringle's Log", William
of Northpark, Provost in 1826, and Archibald of Woodside, father of George William
Hamilton, now head of the family, and of Helen Bogle, wife of Colin Dunlop Donald
(2). North Park, from which Provost Hamilton took his title, was a small property
of about twenty-five acres lying between the Botanic Gardens on the west, the
Kelvin on the north, and the Great Western Road on the south. It was part of
the Twenty shilling Land of old extent of Byres of Partick and Hillhead, and
was feued from the Gibsons in various lots between the years 1799 and 1828.
In those days there was no access from the east, as the Great Western Road was
not begun till 1839. Accordingly, for an avenue, Mr. Hamilton acquired from
Mr. Letham, of Kelvinside, a strip of ground twenty feet wide and a quarter
of a mile long between his south march and the old Byres or Horselethill Road.
The house stood behind the western half of Buckingham Terrace, facing the north,
with a fine view of the wooded gorge of the Kelvin, and in the distance the
Campsie and Kilpatrick hills. The grounds of Queen Margaret College occupy the
site of the garden. The names of the fields are preserved in the titles, and
have a strangely rural sound now. The house lot acquired in 1799 was the North
Park, which was part of the park formerly called the Meikle Park. Then there
was the West Park, the Coal pit Park, and the Clay Millens or Meallens Park.
The feuing of the
lands began in 1851, when the late Mr. Thomas Corbett acquired 28,298 square
yards, the site of Buckingham and St. James's Terraces, for a feu-duty of £363
18s. 5d. Taking this feu-duty at twenty years' purchase, Mr. Corbett paid only
five shillings and a penny halfpenny per square yard for this ground. The Provost's
name is still preserved in Hamilton Drive and Hamilton Park (it should have
been North Park) Terrace.
John Maxwell
John Maxwell of Dargavel, a man of great wit and humour. His father, also John
Maxwell of Dargavel, was in 1769 admitted a member of the Faculty of Procurators
in Glasgow, and had a large business. He added "Junior" to his name
to distinguish him from John Maxwell of Fingalton, another Glasgow writer. The
son followed his father's business, but did not carry it on very energetically.
He seems at times indeed to have preferred his jest to his client, as the following
story shows. He was consulted one day by John Hamilton (who did not care for
jokes) about entailing North Park. "What, Mr. Hamilton," said he,
"entail North Park ! Would you tether a flea ?" In the male line he
was a Hall of Fulbar, and claimed to be chief of that name. In the female line
he represented the Maxwells of Dargavel in Renfrewshire, who were cadets of
Newark, from whom the first Dargavel got the lands in 1522. The Maxwells of
Newark were cadets of Calderwood, who were cadets of Pollok. In John Maxwell's
time the house of Dargavel was the uncomfortable old fortalice built in 1584,
so he resided in Glasgow, in a house on the west side of Queen Street with a
pleasant garden behind it full of good pear and apple trees. The house has been
taken down, and its site is occupied by the building in which Lang's restaurant
is situated. Mr. Maxwell never married, and on his death in 1830 he was succeeded
by his brother William, for long a well known citizen of Glasgow. Many of the
latter's pithy sayings are still remembered. On one occasion he complained to
his butcher that a certain leg of mutton had been bad. The butcher assured him
that was impossible, as the sheep was a very fine sheep, and had been fed in
Lord Blantyre's own park. "I don't care, sir," said the old gentleman,
"though the sheep had been fed in the kingdom of heaven; the mutton was
bad." William Maxwell married Mary, daughter of John Campbell, senior,
and had nine sons and four daughters. He was rather a spartan father, and, it
was said, taught his sons to swim by the simple expedient of throwing them out
of a boat into deep water. Six of these sons went into the army.
For many years
before his death, John Maxwell was paralyzed, and early in the century he handed
over his business to Colin Dunlop Donald. It is now represented by the firm
of McGrigor, Donald & Co. The oldest law firm in Glasgow is Hill & Hoggan.
Next to it comes Mitchells, Johnston & Co., founded certainly in 1751, and
perhaps a few years earlier. Then comes McGrigor, Donald & Co., whose business
dates from 1769.
James Monteath
James Monteath was a partner with Archibald Hamilton in the firm of Hamilton,
Monteath & Co., wine merchants, and Distributor of stamps in Glasgow in
succession to Colonel Mure of Caldwell, which office he demitted on 16th May,
1843. Mr. Monteath was the son of Walter Monteath of Kepp, and Jean, second
daughter of James Douglas of Mains, and Rebecca Wallace. He was a man universally
liked and respected, with a kind heart and gentle manners. His elder brother
was Archibald Douglas Monteath ("the Major"), who resided at 146 West
George Street, and was the recognized arbiter of beauty in Glasgow. The house
was pulled down to build the new Club. Major Monteath had made a fortune in
India (rumour said, by looting a treasure elephant), and on his death in 1842
James Monteath succeeded to his fortune. He also succeeded to Rosehall (now
Douglas Support) under the entail and took the name of Douglas. He bought Stonebyres,
and died unmarried on 3rd June, 1850.
Among the records
of the Club is the following note of one of the Anniversary Dinners, which is
curious:-
Board
Anniversary Dinner, Buckshead Inn, Saturday, 17th May, 1810.
PRESENT: Messrs.
P. Carnegie (the Preses), L. Craigie, J. Hamilton, A. Campbell (of Blytheswood),
Wm. McDowall,C. McLachlan, H. Monteith, Wm. Corbett, A. Campbell (of Finlaston),
W. Colquhoun, J. Grahame, Rob. Dennistoun, J. Blackburn, Jas. Connell, Jas.
Monteith, Wm. Middleton, D. Connell, Jno. Maxwell (the Croupier). (18)
VISITORS: Gen. Hamilton, Hamilton Homehead, Major Hobbart, C. Thomson, W. Maxwell.
(5)
In all 23.
JARDIN'S
BILL, 17TH MAY, 1810.
23 Dinners
at 7s. 6d.
8 B. Champagne, 13 B. Claret, 10s. 6d.
Other Wines - Port 8, Sherry 6, Madeira 8
Tea and Coffee 34s. 6d., Eating 10s.
Punch and other Spiritous Liquors
Porter, Ale, Spruce, Soda, &c.
Ice 5s., Cards 10s.
Snuff 1s. 8d., Breakages 7s. 3d.
May 31. - Paid Mrs. Jardin, In Part.
July 6. - Paid p. Waiter to Mrs. J., do.
" 27. - Paid Mrs. Jardin, In full
It appears from
this Bill that the twenty-three gentlemen at dinner drank, besides porter, ale,
punch, "and other spiritous liquors," forty-three bottles of wine.
The Bill shows the price of wine in 1810. Champagne cost a guinea a bottle,
good claret ten and sixpence, and port, sherry, and madeira averaged seven shillings
and threepence a bottle.
