In this article Jean Barclay provides new evidence which appears to solve the problem of the location of the long demolished Blue Row. In the mid 19th Century the Red, Black and Blue Rows were a set of streets north of the Mill Dam, mostly inhabited by workers in the textile industry. An Update on Dunfermline’s Coloured Rows by Dr. Jean Barclay In my `Did you know?` article on the Black, Blue and Red Rows of Dunfermline I asked if anyone knew where the Blue Row was situated. It is very seldom mentioned, but that it did exist is evident from the parish registers. It was in Blue Row that little James Gordon died aged two in February 1852 from unknown causes and Alexander Adamson was born to John McLaren Adamson and Jean Bell in January 1858, and no doubt many other examples could be found. Although Red Row (marked `B` on the original map) is correctly placed round the corner from Harriebrae `A` along the road called `Back of the Dam` new information has led me to reposition Black Row and given me an idea of where Blue Row was situated. I believe that Black Row should be marked `C` as part of Cusine`s Lane, which would bear out an account of 1855 which describes it as a row of `mean looking houses flanking the north side of the Dam`. I also believe that Blue Row ran northward at the west end of Black Row. A revised map makes this clear. Extracts from the minutes of the Dunfermline Police Commissioners 1854-1865 have led me to this conclusion. For example:…
John Jackson, Coachbuilders
John Jackson and Sons, Coachbuilders Dunfermline’s Industrial Past By George Beattie John Jackson was born in the hamlet of Shiresmill, near Blairhall, Fife, in 1885. He founded a firm which, for 70 years, built high quality vehicle bodies in Dunfermline. On leaving school he served an apprenticeship as a joiner and wheelwright with Kilgour and Sons, St. Leonard’s Street, Dunfermline and, in 1908, he acquired small premises at High Beveridgewell, Dunfermline, where he founded his own business, initially concentrating on the wheelwright side of his profession. He had little capital but had an abundance of enthusiasm and this, allied to his professionalism, saw him rapidly secure work covering all sections of coach-building. In the 1911 census, John and his wife, Margaret, who were married the previous year, are shown as residing at 12 Low Beveridgewell, Dunfermline. The business soon outgrew the High Beveridgewell workshop and a move to larger premises at 109 Mill Street, Dunfermline, saw the business continue to flourish. Mr Jackson had by then acquired a reputation as a highly proficient craftsman as he became increasingly involved in designing and building bodies for various types of horse-drawn and motorised forms of transport. The motor vehicles, by manufacturers such as Albion, Leyland, Dennis, Dodge, Reo, Morris and Commer, would be supplied in basic chassis form and John Jackson would design and build the cab and body to customer requirements. During the…
There Was a Soldier, a Polish Soldier..
By George Robertson. Recently, whilst researching the history of Middlebank House near Dunfermline, I stumbled across details of the death of a Polish soldier named Jan Wagner. In 1945 he had been shot and killed while attempting to escape from Middlebank, officially known at that time as No. 2 Court Martial Detention Barracks. Wagner was one of over 50 Polish military personnel being held at the Barracks, who awaited, or were there as the result of, court martial proceedings. I felt this required further research since this young man had travelled a long way from his homeland, only to die such an ignominious death in Fife. I was unable to find any trace of Wagner’s burial in Fife records, but was eventually successful while trawling through the website of Glasgow photographer Derek Crowe. This provided me with the information that he was buried at Wellshill Cemetery, Perth and also provided a photograph of his grave stone. I contacted the Ministry of Defence, Polish Enquiries Department, which forwarded to me Wagner’s service records, including his photograph, his death certificate and also gave confirmation of his place of burial. These service records described Jan Wagner as being born on 15th June 1922 at Turka, Lwow, Poland (now Ukraine). His mother was named as Anna Wagner but there was no mention of his father. His civilian occupation was given as fisherman, he was unmarried and his religion was Greek Catholic. He was shown to be 5’5” tall, weighed 10 stones 4…
Re-burial of King Robert the Bruce
It is well known that King Robert the Bruce is buried in Dunfermline Abbey, but the story of the discovery of his remains in the 19th Century and the ceremonies surrounding his re-burial are not so well known. In this article Sue Mowat presents to us a fascinating newspaper article from the time and tells us about the large gathering of Scotland’s “great and good” who were present on the day. Robert the Bruce Buried Again By Sue Mowat This story really begins in January 1807, when the Heritors of the parish (local landowners) and representatives of the Town Council met in the session house of the kirk (the old nave) to discuss the state of the building, which was `incommodious and in bad repair`. At first they thought they would just have repairs done and the pulpit and seating re-arranged. A competition for a suitable plan was won by the architect William Stark and in July a committee of the Heritors was formed to get the alterations carried out. Less than a month later however the southwest tower collapsed, emphasising the perilous state of the building and by October the Heritors were considering an estimate for repairs (£3310 3s. 10d) along with one for building a new church (£3700 16s. 2d). It will surprise no-one who has experience of committees that nothing further was done about a new building and over the next eight years, apart from the essential rebuilding of the tower, money was wasted on a series of ineffectual repairs. Finally, in February…
Dunfermline’s Cokete Seal
The Chequered History of Dunfermline’s Cokete Seal by Dr. Jean Barclay Much interest was aroused among antiquarians, patriots, politicians and others when Dunfermline`s medieval cokete seal – or rather the matrices that created it – came up for sale in 2014, especially when the purchaser turned out to a foreigner who wished to take his purchase home with him. A cokete (or cocket) seal was used on documents by customs officials in medieval times. The seal was created by a beeswax mixture being placed between two carved matrices of different designs, so that its two faces had different patterns. The seal was then affixed to the document by a strip of parchment. The matrices were of legal standing, kept securely and normally destroyed when obsolete or damaged. Dunfermline`s seal is of particular interest as it was commissioned by Robert the Bruce in 1322. Made of a copper alloy, each matrix is 55mm (about 2 ¼ inches) in diameter and weighs 337g. They are in a good condition apart from slight cracking at the edges resulting from pressure from the seal press in forcing the wax fully into the design. It is possible that they were discarded (but somehow not destroyed) when the damage became evident. The obverse (facing) matrix depicts St. Margaret robed and crowned, holding a sceptre in her right hand and a book in her left, She is standing between two shields, one bearing the arms of Dunfermline Abbey (a cross among five martlets – Margaret`s birds), the other the…