 Douglas Community Council (incorporating Glespin and surrounding area) | sitemap | log in
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Heritage & Tourism
 Dae ye Mind? Dae ye mind on Taylor's Coalyard The station at the West Dae ye mind on Cotton Houses Welfare Ha' an' aw the rest Sanatorium an' Gas works The sawmill at Newmains There was a British Legion Ha' Sadly nane o' them remains'
Dae ye mind on Davie Taylor Driving bus and ambulance An' a' the time conversin Wi' his lans and' backward glance An' Joe Bairner took his lorries Tae the Outer Isles nae less While Frank Malone wi' stretcher Never failed us to impress
Dae ye mind on Jock McCullochs's Morning rolls an' strawberry tarts Adam Kay who deftly shorn oor heids John Gold a man o' many parts Dae yi mind on ither merchants Billy Graham, George Sinclair Willie Paterson, McBain an Fell An' Charlie Dobbie butcher rare
Dae ye mind on a' the journeymen Like brothers Bannatyne Jimmy Kirkhope an' Bill Clarkson Alan Cameron painter fine Dae ye mind on chalk and inkwells Slate pencils at the school Dae ye mind on Stitt an' Harvie An' Mitchells playground rule
Dae ye mind on district nurses A breed noo getting rare There was Robertson and Graham A well beloved pair Dae ye mind when a' oor doctors In the village had their hame There was Somerville, McFeat an Croall, Scott, Gardiner, Addison an' Kane
Dae ye mind on local Bobbies Aitken, Prattis nae sae blate That skelpit lug an' warning word Were mair than adequate Dae ye mindf Jimmy Gordon Pouring' pints in Heather Inn There was Wilson at the Cross Keys An' Wull Purdie art'tiie Sun Inn
Dae ye mind on Sabbath mornin's When folk gaed tae the Kirk Tae hear fae gentle Salmond Smith Sine Hardie nane would shirk Dae ye mind o' trusted Bankers Hugh Moorcroft an' Louis Dean When Jenny was the Postie Bill Telfer postmaster keen
Dae ye mind the Townhead garage Wi' John Weir at the door Whilst pumping oot the petrol Wi' sarcastic wit an' more Dae ye mind o'joiner Marchbanks O' fashion Tam was fond An' Walter Scott the Forester Fly casting on the pond
Dae ye mind on Alexander John Stitt, the Shankly pair George Reid an Willie Harvie Whose gardens a' bloomed fair An' Tam Wharrie wi' his barrow Kept the streets sae clean The Scaffies wi' their muck cairt Were every Monday seen
Dae ye mind on wash hoose bilers An mangles sair tae ca' An squares o' paper hung wi string On every toilet wa' When a' we had were coal fires Tae keep awa the cauld If you admit tae mindin' these Like me yir getting auld
by Alexander Addison Douglas 
Old Douglas (conservation area ) showing the
Stable Lake ( first pond ), top left, and the A70, top right
© A Brown
Cameronian Scottish Rifles
Cameronian Collection - Hamilton
Cameronian Cairn © of Lindsay Addison
Castle Dangerous
© of Lindsay Addison
Castlemains
© of Lindsay Addison
Church
Old St Bride's Church dates to the late 14C. The Chancel survives as a ruin from this period while the tower was built in 1618. The church houses the tombs of the Douglas family and was renovated in the 1880s on the orders of the Earl of Home. The clock is said to have been gifted by Mary, Queen of Scots.
Douglas’s fine old clock on the spire of the equally fine old St Bride’s Church, is possibly the oldest working clock in Scotland.
As far as it is known the workings are the original and having had a new wheel piece replaced in the last 100 years. The bell ropes are of coarse renewed when required. After an inspection by two Ministry of Works officials some years ago, they commented how the pendulum was added after 1565 and that in their opinion the “roots” of the pendulum were probably connected to the clock. The clock, famous for its good timekeeping through the centuries, chimed three minutes BEFORE the hour in accordance with the Douglas motto “Jamais Arriere” …never behind. 
© of Lindsay Addison
' Mausoleum of the Black Douglases '
This ruin was once the parish church of Douglas. The remains consist of the choir (housing the altar) and the south aisle of the nave; both late 14th century in date, with a clock tower added in the 16th century. The clock, dating from 1565, is probably the oldest working in Scotland. The choir was re-roofed in the 19th century.
Douglasdale was the original power-base of the ‘Black’ Douglases. Modest landowners in the 13th century, they gained enormously through their support of Robert the Bruce during the Wars of Independence with England in the early 14th century. By 1400, they were the most powerful family in southern Scotland. But this position brought them into conflict with the Stewart king, James II, and in 1455 they were overthrown.
Their castle at Douglas was finally destroyed by fire in 1755, but a tangible reminder of them still exists here, for the parish church became their mausoleum. Three fine wall tombs survive in the choir, together with memorials from more recent times.
Douglas Heritage Museum will be delighted to welcome visitors.
St Bride's as it may have looked in the 16th century
.jpg)
"Jamais Arriere"
Coat of Arms on the wall of St Bride's underground tomb
© of Lindsay Addison
St Bride's tombs © of Lindsay Addison
The Dogs Grave
Not far from Castle Dangerous, overlooking the flood waters near by, in amongst some trees is a grave to two dogs, Stracathro and Spider. Now ageing, weathered and more than a little forgotten, it stands no more than a few centimetres high and about a metre long and half a metre wide.
© of Lindsay Addison
Below are the fading inscriptions on the stone.
© of Lindsay Addison
Monuments
The Earl of Angus statue was erected to mark the bi-centenary of the raising of the Regiment. It also commemorates the death of the Cameronian Regiment's first Colonel, the Earl of Angus, at the Battle of Steinkirk (Flanders) in 1692. On 17 May 1992 it was given by the Cameronian Trust into the care of the
 
James Earl of Angus © of Lindsay Addison
Inscriptions around the base of statue read as follows...
JAMES
EARL OF ANGUS
SON OF
THE MARQUIS OF DOUGLAS
BORN 1671
KILLED AT THE BATTLE
OF SEINKIRK
WHEN IN COMMAND OF
THE CAMERONIAN REGIMENT
1692
THE TWENTY SIXTH
OR
CAMERONIAN REGIMENT
RAISED BY
THE EARL OF ANGUS
WAS FIRST MUSTERED
NEAR THIS SPOT
MAY 14 1889
THIS STATUE
TO COMMEMORATE
THE TWO HUNDREDTH ANNIVERSARY
OF THE RAISING
OF
THE SWENTY SIXTH
OR
CAMERONIAN REGIMENT
WHICH BEGAN
IN 1881
THE FIRST BATTALION
THE CAMERONIANS
(SCOTTISH RIFLES)
WAS ERECTED
1892
THOMAS BROCK R.A.
SCULPTOR
© of Lindsay Addison
Polish Monuments and Memorial Garden
© of Lindsay Addison
WHEN GERMANY INVADED FRANCE IN THE SUMMER OF 1940 THE POLISH SOLDIERS WHO HAD FLED FROM THEIR HOMELAND WERE EVACUATED TO BRITAIN.
MANY OF THEM WERE WELCOMED TO THE VILLAGE OF DOUGLAS, WHERE THEY SETTLED INTO VILLAGE LIFE AND MADE LONG-LASTING FRIENDSHIPS.
USING SOME OF THEIR MANY TALENTS, THE POLISH SOLDIERS CONSTRUCTED THREE MONUMENTS AS REMINDERS OF THEIR TIME IN DOUGLAS.
THE MONUMENTS WERE SITUATED IN DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE VALLEY.
IN 2002 THE MONUMENTS WERE BROUGHT TOGETHER ON THIS SITE SURROUNDED BY A MEMORIAL GARDEN.
To the left is a copy of one of two small manuscripts that were discovered during the resiting of the monuments. They were concealed in time capsules within the monuments themselves. On each they signed a message of friendship and goodwill to the people of Douglas.
Douglas Heritage Museum
( St Sophia's Church )
© of Lindsay Addison
Open 2 - 5pm Saturady and Sundays only until end of September
Bells Wynd
Douglas ML11 0QH Tel - 01555 851243 
Unveiling of the restored Covenanter banner 21/6/2003
© of Lindsay Addison
The Legacy of William Le Hardi Douglas
( PDF document can be downloaded )
T H I - Heritage Lottery Fund ( HLF )
Conservation Areas and their Planning Controls
( PDF document can be downloaded )
A Guide for Owners and Occupiers (Listed Buildings)
( PDF document can be downloaded )
Douglas village centre showing Main Street and A70
© A Brown
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