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Cambusnethan
Cambusnethan is a village and a parish in the Middle Ward of Lanarkshire, Scotland. The village stands
about one mile WSW of Newmains and 1-1/2 miles NE of Wishaw. The parish contains also the towns and villages of Wishaw, Newmains,
Overtown, Coltness Iron-works, Clydesdale-Rows, Chapel, Stane, Morningside, Waterloo, Bonkle, and part of Shotts Iron-works.
The first recorded visitors to this Lanarkshire parish were the Romans. The time of their arrival can only be guessed
at, but their visit to this part of Scotland is marked by the Roman road which passes through the town of Wishaw. This road
was used for centuries and, although little of it remains now, it is interesting to watch how closely our modern roads have
followed its course. Until recently there was a Roman tumulus, some distance from Garrion Bridge, which also testified to
this visit of the Roman Eagle. Today the spot where this tumulus stood is marked by an oak. There was a superstition about
this tumulus, which held that, if anyone tried to remove it, a terrible storm would sweep the country.
Cambusnethan
parish rises in a narrow strip from the Clyde to the borders of Lothian. The South Calder forms a chief part of its northern
boundary. The Auchter water and the Garrion burn flow through it. Its shape is rather like a sand-glass, and stretches from
east to west. Its length from the old kirk on the Clyde, at the west, to Badallan beside Breich Water on the east, is nearly
12 miles. The widest part at the west end, from Garrion on the south, to Calder near Swinstie on the north, is 4 miles and
1 furlong; and the widest part on the east, from Aughterhead on the south, to Calder at Dykehead on the north, is nearly the
same. In the centre, from Bogside on the south, to Bridgend on the north, it is scarcely 2 miles. The landscape possesses
many interesting features and in the Clyde lowlands, the wooded private estates, the plant seeker will meet with a varied
flora. The private estates, by their very privacy, allow many rare species to grow undisturbed in their deep glens and gills.
Since Cambusnethan is in part industrial, its fauna is restricted. Badgers and otters have been seen by gamekeepers and farmers
at very long intervals. The ubiquitous fox still frequents the parish, and the lesser carnivores, the weasel and the stoat,
are common. Voles, horseshoe bats and the occasional red squirrel may be included in the fauna. On the west boundary are the
Haughs of Motherwell, an area rich in aquatic birds, and Cambusnethan often had visitors from these parts. Rainfall is abundant,
yielding 35 -40 inches a year. The climate is more severe than in the lower levels in the valley in and around Glasgow. Snow
may be more frequent and frost more intense, but the fog, that so often lies in the lower levels and in the city, stops short,
as a nile, at Motherwell. The tract along the Clyde is low and level, consisting of beautiful fertile haughs, and sinking
to less than 100 feet above sea-level; the surface thence has a general eastward rise, attaining 950 feet on Auchterhead Muir.
It was in the year 706 AD that the parish took the name of Cambusnethan. At that time Scotland was made up of many
small Kingdoms and Nethan was a Pictish king of the time. He was a monarch who had his royal seat at Abernethy, anciently
known as Abernethyn. Whether he ever resided at the southern extremity of his domains is not known, but his name has been
commemorated through the centuries here. "Cambus" signifies either the land enclosed by the bend of a river or the
steading within such a bend. The prefix is familiar in Cambusmore and Cambuskenneth on the Forth, and in Cambuslang further
down the Clyde. Cambusnethan, therefore, signifies "the steading in Nethan's bend" of the Clyde. Nethan, however,
played a more important part in the history of Scotland than the mere naming of it, for historians record that this same Nethan
was the person through whom Catholicism came to Scotland. This king was famed alike for learning and piety and was visited
by Roman priests. Anxious to further his knowledge, Nethan received them, and through flattery was converted to the Roman
religion. In those far-off days the subjects followed the king's example, and thus one of the most important districts in
Scotland became Catholic.
In ancient times, the peasantry were little better than serfs, and chroniclers devoted
their attention almost exclusively to the fortunes of the landowners. Consequently, we learn practically nothing about the
parish for many centuries, except the names and some of the exploits of successive lords of the manor. As in many other things
about the parish, there is great obscurity surrounding the date of the first parish church. It was not until the twelfth century
that its name first appeared in church records as part of the diocese of Glasgow, when around this time the barony of Cambusnethan
was gifted to William Finnemund during the reign of William the Lion. In the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, we find the
names of William Finnemund and Rudolph de Cler, Norman barons who had fought their way northward and secured a footing in
Strathclyde. Rudolph granted to the monks of Kelso the privilege of grinding their corn at Garrion Mill. The ancient manor
of Cambusnethan probably at one period comprehended the whole parish. In later times the parochial district was made up of
the barony of Cambusnethan; the lands of Auchtermure, belonging to the abbey of Arhroath; and the lands of Watsoun and Watsounhead,
an old possession of the family of Hamilton. During the greater part of its history the Manor of Cambusnethan was associated
with the Sommervilles, the first of whom married the heiress to the estates in 1392. The fortunes of the family varied and
parts of the parish were split up among others, including the Belhaven family and the Stewarts of Allanton and Coltness. As
we enter the millennium, Cambusnethan is now a small village overshadowed by the town of Wishaw. If we had lived at the beginning
of the nineteenth century, the town of Wishaw did not exist. Wishawtown was one of several inconsiderable villages scattered
over the broad slope from the Clyde to the moors, which for a thousand years had borne the honourable name of Cambusnethan.
Wishaw is the upstart product of industrialism. Cam'nethan, in the comparative obscurity of modem days, can console itself
on a long pedigree.
The old church of Cambusnethan stood in a most romantic spot at the southwest point of the
whole parish, very near the river Clyde. It had certainly been built there for the accommodation of the Baron of Cambusnethan,
so near his mansion house, and probably at his sole expense, there being no other heritor in the parish then but himself.
The date of its erection is unknown but it was long before the barony was separated, and long before Thomas Lord Somerville
gave to Lord Yester his first interest in the parish. It had a choir, and from the remains of it still visible, must have
been a much more magnificent structure than the present one. It was, however, inconveniently situated for the parish at large,
many of the parishioners, particularly those beyond Redmyre, having to travel from six to twelve miles to attend it.
Barony (Early History)
It was not until the twelfth century that the Cambusnethan name first appeared
in church records as part of the diocese of Glasgow, when around this time the Barony of Cambusnethan was gifted to William
Finnemund during the reign of William the Lion. In the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, we find the names of William Finnemund
and Rudolph de Cler associated with the land. These were Norman barons who had fought their way northward and secured a footing
in Strathclyde. Rudolph, for example, granted to the monks of Kelso the privilege of grinding their corn at Garrion Mill.
According to the Wishaw manuscript, the lands which were to comprise the Barony of Cambusnethan eventually came
into the possession of a family of the name of Baird. In about 1315, thee warrior king Robert the Bruce, formally granted
the Barony to his knight, Robert de Barde (1st Baron of this creation), Sheriff of Lanark . He built a building some twenty
foot square and four stories high, which was still standing in the same form and fashion until the year, 1661, when it was
demolished by Sir John Harper, when he rebuilt the house of Cambusnethan."
After Robert Baird's death, it
came into the hands of Sir Alexander De Stewart (2nd Baron) of Darnley, who had married the heiress to the property, Jean
Baird, in 1360.
In 1392, the Barony of Cambusnethan was granted to Sir Thomas de Somerville of Carnwath (3rd Baron)
by King Robert III in terms of a Crown Charter dated in July 1391. He was married to Janet Stewart, the daughter of Sir Alexander
and Lady Jean. The payment or 'tribute' due to the King for the Barony was a pair of gilt spurs. Thomas Somerville, Baron
of Cambusnethan, was a close associate of King James I and attended the Scots Parliament held at Perth in 1434-35. In a charter
of 1439, Thomas is described as a lord or "dominus".
Thomas de Somerville (sometimes called the first
Lord Somerville) was born in about 1370. He was the son of Sir William de Somerville of Linton and Carnwath who in 1386 granted
a foundation for the chapel of St. Michael at Cambusnethan. (Sir William hod been one of the hostages (in 1354 and 1351) for
the release of the Scots king, David II. who had been captured by the English after the Battle of Neville's Cross.) He was
Justicar of Scotland south of the forth. He died in December 1444 was buried in the choir of Cambusnethan church, beside his
wife,
and was the first of the name who was buried there. He was succeeded by his eldest son, William (4th Baron).
This ancient and valuable barony remained in the hands of the Sommervilles for six generations. During this period,
much of it was disposed to other heritors: particularly, the lands of Crindledyke and Branchellburn, to the Laird of Lauchope;
the lands of Coltness, Wishaw, Watstein and Stain, were purchased by Hamilton of Uddsten, the predecessor of Lord Belhaven;
Greenhead was purchased by John Robertson, and Overtown and Pather, became the property, first of Lord Belhaven, and latterly
of Sir David Stewart of Coltness.
William Somerville was created a Lord of Parliament in 1445. He carried out many
diplomatic missions for the Scots Kings and witnessed at least 62 charters granted by King James II. As a special favour to
him, the small town of Carnwath was in 1451 created as a free burgh of barony with many commercial privileges. Lord Baron
William Somerville died in 1456 apparently from a "surfeit of fruit". His son, John (5th Baron), succeeded as the
second Lord Somerville (of the peerage creation).
John Somerville had been one of the leaders of the Scottish
forces which defeated the English army at the Battle of Sark in 1449. In 1456, he was declared as the heir to his father in
the Barony of Cambusnethan and many other estates. There is a curious instance in 1459 when be received a pardon under the
King's Great Seal for forging a receipt for money. Lord John was with James II at the siege of Roxburgh in 1460 when the King
was killed by an exploding cannon. In 1466, John Somerville took part in the abduction of the young king James III for political
advantage. John died in 1491 and was succeeded as Lord Somerville by his young grandson, also called John (born about 1484).
However, the Barony of Cambusnethan was gifted by the second Lord Somerville to a younger son, Sir John Somerville
of Quothquan (born about 1457) (6th Baron). This John Sommerville received a charter of the Barony from his father, with his
mother's consent, under reservation of their liferent confirmed in 1488. He married in 1489, Elizabeth Carmichael, Lady Cambusnethan,
daughter of John Carmichael of Balmeadie, and they had daughters Helen Somerville (Lady Boyd) and Agnes Somerville (d. 1541/3),
who was first married to John, 2nd Lord Fleming, and later George Leslie, the Earl of Rothes.
Sir John, Baron of
Cambusnethan, fought with King James III at the Battle of Sauchieburn against the traditional English enemy (when the king
was killed). Afterwards, he became an intimate friend of James IV and entertained the King very lavishly. Sir John and his
family were, because of their great feastings, called the "Pudding Somervillles". In return, the King presented
Sir John of Cambusnethan with gifts of horses, crane, wild geese, plovers and live dotterels. This was an age of chivalry
and knightly tournaments when great valour went hand in hand with extreme brutality and lawlessness. John had control of his
nephew, the incompetant third Lord Somerville, and used this for his own financial advantage. At the same time, he was able
to improve the family estates. John, Baron of Cambusnethan, fell at the Battle of Flodden against the English army along with
the renaissance king James IV and the nobility of Scotland on 9 September 1513.
Disastrous as it was, the defeat
at Flodden did not much effect the development of Scotland. The country's spirit was unbroken and the infant king, James V.
was duly crowned. However, the rivalries between the remaining nobles continued. In 1520, for example, there was a bloody
fight in the High Street of Edinburgh (known as the "Cleanse the Causeway" affair) in which the Douglas faction
beat up their rivals, the Hamiltons, and also James Beaton, Archbishop of St. Andrews. Taking part in this fracas was John
Somerville (7th Baron) (b.c. 1490), Baron of Cambusnethan, who had succeeded after his father's death at Flodden. He was knnwn
as "Red Bag" from his wearing of a pouch covered with red satin to hold his hawk's meat. The Scottish historian,
George Buchanan, describes him as "juvenis nobilis et magni enimi" (a young noble of great courage and spirit) and
says that he had previously led an attack on Sir James Hamilton at the raid in Jedwood Forest in 1519, slew five of the Hamilton
family and put the rest to flight. For a time, he was punished by the government with the forfeiture of his estates, but these
were restored to him in 1525. John, who was married in 1510 to Margaret Graham, died in 1553 and the Barony estate of Cambusnethen
went to his son John (8th Baron), called "Lord of the Plaides." John married Catherine Carmichael, and their son,
James (b 1540), called "Velvet Eye," became the 8th Baron. James married Katherine, daughter of Patrick Murray of
Philipaugh, co. Selkirk. Their son John, called "Harry Hot Spurs," became the 9th Baron. John married Mary Hamilton.
Their daughter Margaret married Gilbert, the Lord Somerville, while their son James, the 9th Baron, inherited the title.
In 1648, the Barony was sold by James Somerville to his cousin the ninth Lord Somerville (known as James Somerville
of Drum) (10th Baron). The last Somerville Lord Baron of Cambusnethan (the ninth lord) was was born in about 1595. He served
in the armies of France and of the Republic of Venice. Returning to Scotland, he was with the protestant Covenanting army
and at the siege of Edinburgh Castle in 1640. On the invasion of England, he was appointed Governor of Durham. In 1651, Somerville
was present at the coronation of King Charles II at Scone near Perth. He later retired to Edinburgh and died in 1677. He was
buried in the Abbey Church of the Palace of Holyroodhouse. Lord Somerville was the proprietor for only a short time. In 1653,
the Barony estate was "apprised" from him in lieu of debts and in 1661 the estate was sold to Sir John Harper (11th
Baron), Sheriff-Depute of Lanarkshire. Sir John Harper rebuilt the mansion house of Cambusnethan in 1661, which burnt down
in 1819. He sold the superiority of the Mains of Coltness, and also the temple lands of Goukthraple to Sir Thomas Stewart
of Coltness.
Later History
Upon the death of Sir John Harper, the lands of Cambusnethan were
sold to the Lockharts of Castlehill, in favour of James Lockhart of Castlehill (1677-1691)(12th Baron). He was the son of
Sir John Lockhart (d.1694), Lord Castlehill, a Lord of Session, son of James, 12th of Lee. James died without heirs, so the
estate of Cambusnethan was left by the first purchaser of the name of Lockhart to his sister, Martha (1668/9-1752), Lady Castlehill,
spouse of Sir John Sinclair (d. 1726) (13th Baron), the 4th Nova Scotia Baronet of Sinclair of Stevenson. Martha had previously
been married to Cromwell Lockhart of Lee, her first cousin. When he died, they having no children, she married Sir John, and
descendants of this marriage took the name Lockhart of Castlehill, Stonehouse and Cambusnethan (or Sinclair-Lockhart). The
lands were incorporated into a free barony, called the Barony of Cambusnethan by a charter under the Great Seal, dated 26th
July 1695. The superiorities of the estates in the parish of Stonehouse, were also formed into a barony by a charter under
the Great Seal called the Barony of Castlehill. Sir John was succeeded by his oldest son, Sir Robert, who became the 5th Nova
Scotia Baronet of Stevenson. He, in turn, was succeeded as Baronet by his oldest son, five year old John Gordon Sinclair (1790-1863),
the 6th Baronet Stevenson.
However, after Lady Castlehill's death, the lands of Cambusnethan and Castlehill came
into the possession of the third son of Lady Castlehill and Sir John, George Lockhart of Castlehill (14th Baron), one of the
Seretaries of the College of Justice under the title Lord Woohhall. In 1764, Captain James Sinclair (15th Baron) in 1764,
nephew of Lord Woodhall, obtained the barony lands. He in turn passed the barony and land of Cambusnethan to his son, Robert
Sinclair-Lockhart of Castlehill, Cambusnethan and Stevenson (16th Baron). The mansion house of the Barony of Cambusnethan
was rebuilt by this baron by 1819. Called Cambusnethan Priory, it occupied a beautiful raised site overlooking the River Clyde.
It was one of the architect James Gillespie Graham's best gothic buildings.
Robert Lockhart was then succeeded
by his son, Sir Graeme Alexander Sinclair-Lockhart (17th Baron) (b. 1820). Sir Graeme also succeeded as the 10th Baronet of
Stevenson after his second cousin once removed, Sir Robert Charles Sinclair (d. 1899), 9th Baronet of Stevenson, died. At
his matriculation in the Court of the Lord Lyon, on 5 May 1901, he took the title Sir Graeme Alexander Sinclair-Lockhart Bt.
Major-General Sir Graeme Alexander Sinclair-Lockhart of Cambusnethan served in the Persian campaign and at the Indian Mutiny.
Sir Graeme was mentioned in dispatches for his gallantry at the Battle of Lucknow, and created a Companion of the Most Honorable
Order of the Bath. He was Colonel of the 78th Highlanders (the Ross-shire Buffs) and his decorations are in the museum of
that regiment's depot, Fort George, Inverness. He died in 1904. His heirs had, by this time, gone to live in New Zealand.
Sir Graeme was succeeded by his nephew, Sir Robert Duncan Sinclair-Lockhart, 11th Baronet (b. 1859). Sir Robert,
in turn, was succeeded by his son Sir Graeme Duncan Power Sinclair-Lockhart, 12th Baronet, who was succeeded by his brother,
Sir John Beresford Sinclair Lockhart, 13th Baronet.
At the death of Sir Muir Sinclair-Lockhart, 14th Baronet, Cambusnethan
Priory was sold, but the estate was retained. Sir Simon Sinclair-Lockhart, 15th Baronet (b. 1941) succeeded to the title on
the death of his father in 1985.
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