In the 16th century many of Glasgow’s benefactors were clergymen. I’ve already written about Zachary Boyd and John Howieson who were both decided Presbyterians and against an Episcopalian Church of Scotland.
Figure 1 Archbishop James Law. Wikipedia Public Domain.
On this occasion my subject is James Law who became the seventh post reformation Archbishop of Glasgow in 1615.[1] James VI of Scotland who succeeded to the throne in 1567 was in favour of an episcopalian church and had restored bishoprics after becoming king, the first Glasgow post reformation archbishop being John Porterfield, appointed in 1571. When the crowns of England and Scotland united on the death of Elizabeth I in 1603 James specifically aimed to have the same church structure and doctrine in Scotland as existed in England.
This objective was shared by his son Charles I who succeeded in 1625, leading to the National Covenant of 1638 which opposed the king’s intentions. Bishops were finally abolished in the Church of Scotland when William of Orange and Mary Stuart ascended the throne in 1689.
James Law was born circa 1560 to James* Law of Spittal in Fife and Agnes Strang of Balcaskie, also in Fife.[2] He matriculated at St Andrews University in 1578 [3] and graduated M.A. in 1581. His first ministerial appointment (given by the king) was in 1585 to Kirkliston in the presbytery of Linlithgow. He was not a stern Calvinist and on one occasion was rebuked by the Lothian synod for playing football on a Sunday with his friend John Spottiswoode, who was to precede him as Archbishop of Glasgow. As time went on his leanings were not to the Presbyterianism of John Calvin or Knox but to the Episcopalian system espoused by the king. Probably the most fervent supporter of the king’s objectives re the Scottish church was Law’s friend Spottiswoode.
In general terms the majority of the leaders of the church at this time were king’s men and consequently Law’s career developed and grew accordingly. In 1589 he became a commissioner for the maintenance of religion in Linlithgow and became a royal chaplain in 1601. He remained in Linlithgow for a number of years and in 1608 was Moderator of the Assembly held there.
In 1605 he was appointed titular bishop of Orkney following the establishment of the episcopal Church of Scotland eventually being consecrated in 1611 by his friend John Spottiswoode, then the Archbishop of Glasgow. Other appointments in Orkney included being a commissioner of the peace and also for the justiciary. He also became chamberlain and sheriff principal during his relatively short tenure there.
His time in Orkney seems to have been very successful in that he established Scots law replacing Norse, and established the bishopric financially, legally and in accordance with King James’ objectives.[4],[5],[6]
He was also instrumental in bringing to an end the despotic and oppressive rule of Orkney and Shetland by Patrick Stewart, the second Earl of Orkney. His father Robert was the bastard son of James V, and initially he and his half cousin James (VI) had been close. However that was not to last as his behaviour, claims and his mistreatment of ordinary islanders, and in some cases those who owned land and property, brought him to the attention the authorities in Edinburgh. He faced a piracy charge in 1594 and between 1600 and 1608 was engaged in seizing property from the rightful owners, using islanders as slave labour and generally behaving in a manner that was construed as challenging the king’s authority.[7]
In 1609 Bishop Law laid charges against him and he was summoned to Edinburgh to face trial. In the event he was released on swearing he would not escape. That was not to last as he was reimprisoned in 1610 in Dumbarton Castle. Whilst there in 1614 his son Robert, at his father’s instruction, landed in Orkney, took possession of the Earl’s Palace, this action being seen as an uprising against the king. In the event it did not last more than a few months with Robert being captured and hanged in Edinburgh in January 1615. A number of prominent buildings were badly damaged or destroyed by artillery during the fighting, with St Magnus Cathedral being spared the same fate by the direct intervention of Bishop Law. Despite blaming his son for the ‘uprising’, a month later on the 6th February Patrick Stewart was beheaded, his execution being delayed to allow him to learn the Lord’s Prayer.[8]
In July 1615 James Law was promoted to Archbishop of Glasgow, following his friend John Spottiswoode who became Archbishop of St Andrews. He also became a member of the king’s Privy Council shortly afterwards. He remained as Archbishop for the rest of his life undertaking a variety of commissions which supported the doctrinal and structural church King James wanted. In 1616, he was chosen to compile a book on canon law.[9]
Since the Reformation Glasgow Cathedral had suffered structural damage and vandalism and there were views expressed that it should be demolished as it was in poor condition. There were also strong feelings that it was representative of the kind of doctrine and practises which existed in the pre-reformation church.
However it survived, James Law playing a part in that by donating 1,000 merks for the restoration of the library house and to complete the cathedral’s lead roof.[10] That sum equalled £56 sterling which in today’s terms is somewhere between £12,000 and £3.2m, with the latter number being the more likely one.[11]
He married three times, his first wife in 1587 being Marion Dundas with whom he had a daughter Margaret. She married Patrick Turner, minister of Dalkeith in 1612. He then married Grizel Bosworth and had a further six children, four boys and two girls, son Thomas being a minister at Inchinnan, and son George becoming a burgess of Glasgow in 1631. Grizel died in 1618 and two years later James married widow Marion Ross (nee Boyle).[12]
James died in 1632 and in his will bequeathed 500 merks to St Nicholas’s hospital and 250 merks each to the Merchants and Trades Houses hospitals.[13]
On his death his wife had erected in the chancel of the cathedral a magnificent monument, described as the finest in the ‘High Kirk’ commemorating his life and his gifts to Glasgow..[14]
[3] Anderson, James Maitland. (1926). Early Records of the University of St Andrews. Matriculation 1473-1579. Edinburgh: St Andrew University Press. p.293. https://digital.nls.uk/
[5] Scott, Hew. (1928). Fast Ecclesiae Scoticanae. The Succession of Ministers in the Church of Scotland since the Reformation. Vol. VII. New Edition. Synods of Ross, Sutherland and Caithness, Glenelg, Orkney and Shetland, The Church in England, Ireland and Overseas. Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd. p.322. https://archive.org/details/fastiecclesiaes07scot/page/322
[12] Scott, Hew. (1928). Fast Ecclesiae Scoticanae. The Succession of Ministers in the Church of Scotland since the Reformation. Vol. VII. New Edition. Synods of Ross, Sutherland and Caithness, Glenelg, Orkney and Shetland, The Church in England, Ireland and Overseas. Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd. p.322. https://archive.org/details/fastiecclesiaes07scot/page/322
[13] Testamentary Records. Scotland. 6 September 1633. LAW, James. Testament. Glasgow Commissary Court. CC9/7/26. www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk
Figure 1. Dragon Bob. Mitchell Library, GC 941.435 GOR
A few years ago I came across an individual named Robert Dreghorn (3rd of that name) who was very wealthy, facially scarred by smallpox and who liked to follow young women. His nickname was ‘Dragon Bob’, no doubt as a consequence of his scarring, and he lived from 1748 to 1804.
Recently I was clearing out some old research paperwork and came across notes I wrote about him which have prompted me to do a bit more digging into his family, where his wealth came from, what he did, if anything, professionally, and so on. Did he or his family benefit Glasgow in anyway being the question I’m trying to answer.
Dragon Bob’s grandfather was Robert Dreghorn(1st), a wright in Glasgow, born around 1679.[1] In 1703 he married Margaret Dickie, daughter of deceased fellow wright Robert Dickie and his wife Isobel Anderson.[2],[3]
It appears that grandfather Robert had wide business interests in addition to his trade as a wright and sometime plumber, the Dreghorn family being involved in timber and lead as merchants. He also invested in the coalfields at Govan and Camlachie,[4] having bought Easter Camlachie in 1731 from Walter Corbet of Tollcross.[5] He was a member of the Trades House in Glasgow and was Wrights Deacon in 1724, 1725, 1728, 1731, 1735 and 1740.[6] He was also a Burgess and Guild Brother of the city.[7]
He and Margaret had six children all born in Glasgow:
Allan, b. August 1704.[8] He was initially a wright like his father however he had wide ranging commercial interests which included trading in timber and lead and was a major partner in the Smithfield Iron Company.[9] This particular company which was founded in 1732 had strong trading links with the American colonies, where the partners had extensive possessions.[10] In Tom Devine’s book ‘The Tobacco Lords’ Allan is listed as a tobacco merchant with which company is not clear although it seems probable that he was in partnership with Peter Murdoch in Murdoch, Dreghorn & Co.[11] In 1741 however he and brother Robert (2nd) with three others, one of whom was Matthew Bogle, his wife’s half-brother, decided to use the ship ‘Boyd’ for a single journey to Virginia after which the vessel would be sold. This was despite the fact that ‘they had a settled factor in the colonies to purchase tobacco in advance … and drawing bills on the partners in Glasgow.[12]In 1750 a partnership was formed consisting of Allan, William McDowall, Robert and Colin Dunlop, Andrew Buchanan of Drumpellier and Alexander Houston to establish what became known as the Ship Bank (Dunlop, Houston & Co.).[13] It was located in the Bridgegate close to the then Merchants House. A man of many talents he is also known as an architect. Between 1737 and 1756 he is credited with designing and perhaps building the Town Hall, which later became the Tontine Hotel, and St Andrew’s Church in St Andrew’s Square, just off the Saltmarket, the design of the church being based on St. Martin in the Fields in Trafalgar Square, London. By 1752 he had also designed and built his house, Dreghorn Mansion, in what was then called Great Clyde Street.[14] Around that time using the joiners from his own woodyard he also had built the first private carriage to be seen in Glasgow in which he used to travel about town. Prior to the building of Dreghorn Mansion, in 1749, he had purchased the estate of Ruchill from the Peadie family.[15] Clearly all his commercial activity and partnerships, not least of which was tobacco trading, gave Allan Dreghorn significant financial benefit which allowed him to become an important businessman in Glasgow at a time when the tobacco lords were in their pomp. In 1755, along with others he granted power of attorney to William Cuningham and John Stewart who were merchants on Rappahannock River in Virginia. [16] He also undertook several civic duties. He became a Burgess and Guild brother of Glasgow in 1737 through his father [17] and in 1741 was a Glasgow Bailie.[18] A unique civic duty occurred in 1745 when he, and five others were commissioned by Glasgow to deal with Bonnie Prince Charlie’s Jacobite army. The commissioners were charged with the following task: ‘Whereas the City of Glasgow is in danger of being attacked by a force which they are in no Condition to resist and the inhabitants and their Trade may be exposed to many inconveniences. These are therefor Beseeching you Andrew Aiton Andrew Buchanan Lawrence Dinwoodie and Richard Oswald merchants in Glasgow Allan Dreghorn wright and James Smith weaver in Glasgow. In case any such force shall approach the city and require to be Lodged therein That you meet with the Leaders of the said force and make the best terms you possibly can for saving the City and its Trade and Inhabitants.’ Hay, the Prince’s quartermaster levied the city at £15,000, in the event the commissioners were able to reduce that to £5,000 cash plus £500 in goods.[19]Allan married Elizabeth (Betty/Bessie) Bogle, daughter of Robert Bogle and Jean Carlyle in 1737,[20] The Bogles were a well-established merchant family involved in a variety of businesses including the tobacco trade.[21] There were two main branches of the family, Daldowie and Shettleston, Robert being a member of the latter. Allan and Betty had no children which resulted in his nephew Dragon Bob, son of his brother Robert (2nd), inheriting his estate [22] when he died in 1764 at Ruchill.[23] His wife was provided for, and he also bequeathed £21 sterling to the Merchants house of Glasgow.[24] Elizabeth died at Ruchill in 1767.[25]
Robert, (2nd) b. April 1706.[26] He was a wright, who like his brother was involved in a number of business activities, the main one seemingly being the Virginia tobacco trade. As mentioned above he was involved with brother Allan in the ‘Boyd’ venture, is described as a tobacco merchant by Tom Devine and was a partner in James Brown & Co, tobacco merchants.[27] It also seems probable that, like his brother, he was involved with Murdoch, Dreghorn & Co. He was a ship owner, owning two in 1735, the ‘Margaret’ and the ‘Graham’.[28] In 1737 he became a Burgess and Guild Brother of Glasgow.[29] Like many of his contemporaries, and his brother, his wealth enabled him to buy landed property which he duly did in 1752 with the purchase of the Blochairn estate from the Spreull family for £976 sterling.[30] He married Isabella Bryson around 1747 and they had three children as follows: Robert (Dragon Bob), born in 1748,[31] Elizabeth, born 1751[32] and Margaret, born 1755.[33] There seems to have been a fourth child, a daughter born in c.1858[34] called Marion. I can find no evidence of her birth however there is a death notice in the Caledonian Mercury of 3rd June 1815 announcing her death at Ruchill, describing her as the daughter of the deceased Robert Dreghorn of Blochairn.[35] Robert died in 1760,[36] Dragon Bob being his heir and executor along with his mother Isabella and others. He bequeathed £10 sterling to the poor of the Merchants House. [37] One interesting detail of his inventory was that he was owed a fifth share of just over £690 for goods sent to a William Cathcart of Jamaica.[38]
Margaret, b. July 1708.[39] Married shipmaster James Scot from Greenock in 1735.[40] They had nine children.[41]
Robert (1st) died in June 1742 [46] leaving to the poor of the Merchants House in Glasgow £100 Scots (£8 6s 8d Sterling).[47] Margaret died in 1756.[48]
Dragon Bob matriculated at Glasgow University in 1761 at the age of thirteen.[49] By that time he was already the putative owner of his father’s estate, including Blochairn. Four years later in 1764 he inherited his uncle Allan’s estate including Ruchill, thereby becoming an extremely rich individual. At one point his annual income was said to be £8,000,[50] personal and heritable estate being valued at £70,000,[51] in today’s terms worth £14.5m and £127m respectively.[52]
His physical appearance had suffered badly from smallpox. His nose was flattened and to one side and he had lost an eye. Some of the pock marks on his cheeks were ‘as large as threepenny pieces’.[53]
I have not been able to ascertain whether he played a part in any of the partnerships and activities of his father and uncle, as most accounts of his life deal with his looks and eccentric behaviour. The tobacco trade with Virginia was still going reasonably well as the family company Dreghorn, Murdoch & Co. imported 574 hogsheads of tobacco in 1773 and 502 hogsheads in 1774. The company his father had been a partner of, James Brown & Co., had over the two years imported just under 1,100 hogsheads, although I’m not sure if he had any continuing interest in that company. To put that into some perspective however it’s worth pointing out that Glassford, Spiers and Cunningham collectively imported over 14,000 hogsheads in each of these years.[54],[55]
Bob appears to have maintained at least an interest in the tobacco trade as he would join with other tobacco merchants at the Tontine Hotel, whether that was an active interest is not clear. Generally he seems to have been a man of few friends. He did not participate in social events such as concert and dances, perhaps as a result of his disfigurement, nor does he come across as someone with an intellectual bent. In his early years he rode his horse in town and was a member of the Glasgow Hunt. That gradually reduced to riding to Ruchill occasionally from Dreghorn mansion, with a manservant accompanying him.
Walking in the Trongate and Argyll Street became almost his sole preoccupation. He would be dressed in a fairly long coat, have a black ribbon bow in his hair pigtail and carry a cane. However his walks and his associated peculiar behavioural traits caused him some notoriety particularly when it came to following young women. Today, probably, it would be described as stalking.
When he came across a young female servant during his walks who caught his eye, he would immediately start to follow her. That continued until either the young woman moved indoors or more often than not another young woman would get his attention and he would immediately start to follow her; this process being carried out for several hours and during every daily walk, sometimes he would speak to the young woman being followed.
There seems to have been nothing sinister in this, with his walks being well known and the source of some amusement for other passers-by. To some extent it appears that the young women being followed felt complimented by his attention. He also had the habit of leaving a conversation with acquaintances abruptly and whistling.
Despite his fortune he was rather a miserly individual, keeping tight control of his finances. In 1773 Glasgow’s wealthier citizens were assessed to allow money to be provided for the poor of the city. He initially paid what was due by him but after twenty years of doing so in 1793 he objected to the amount asked of him, £19, and refused to pay. The subsequent litigation took four years to conclude with Bob losing and being ordered to pay the required amounts and the expenses of the legal action.[56]
There is also the story told of how on one occasion when hosting a dinner the wine ran out and he was encouraged to get some more from his wine cellar. He was unable to rise from his chair and one of his guests offered to go in his stead to get more wine, it seems he had previously been Bob’s butler, as he knew the way. Bob gave that short shrift by saying that he did not trust him and that he knew the road to the cellar ‘o’er weel’. Bob’s solution was to have his ex-butler carry him to the cellar to collect more wine and return to the table again carrying him and the wine, which is what happened.[57]
Dragon Bob comes across as a not particularly happy individual, with very few friends, mean with his money and with very odd behavioural habits. Unsurprisingly he never married and died in 1804, apparently by committing suicide[58] although the registration document simply says, ‘sudden death’.[59]
His fortune went initially to his oldest sister Elizabeth who was unmarried. When she died in 1824[60] it went to the four daughters of her sister Margaret, who I believe predeceased her, and James Dennistoun of Colgrain whom she married in 1785.[61] Niece Isabella Bryson, who married Gabriel Hamilton Dundas fell heir to Ruchill, her sister Mary Lyon, who married Sir William Baillie, to Blochairn.[62]
Figure 2. St Andrews Church in the Square.Creative Commons Licence CC BY-SA 4.0
Did the Dreghorn family benefit Glasgow? Like other people in the tobacco trade, they did, but at a cost in human misery in the American plantations. Allan Dreghorn is not exempt from that however he did design St Andrew’s in the Square, a beautiful building inside and out and described as the most important and impressive 18th century church in Scotland. It has been category ‘A’ listed by Historic Environment Scotland since 1966.[63]
I suppose it could also be said that Dragon Bob, benefited Glasgow in that he amused its citizens by his eccentric behaviour.
[1] Ewing, Archibald Orr. (1866). View of the Merchants House of Glasgow. Glasgow: Bell and Bain. p. 583.
[4] Smith, John Guthrie and Mitchell, John Oswald. (1878) The Old Country Houses of the Old Glasgow Gentry. 2nd. ed. Glasgow: James Maclehose and Sons. LXXXVI. Ruchill. http://gdl.cdlr.strath.ac.uk/smihou/smihou086.htm
[5] Senex et al (1884) Glasgow Past and Present. Vol 2. Glasgow: David Robertson. p. 528.
[10] Devine, T. M. and Jackson, Gordon., eds. (1995) Glasgow, Beginnings to 1830. Vol. 2. Manchester: Manchester University Press. p. 206. https://books.google.co.uk/
[11] Devine, T.M. (1990) The Tobacco Lords. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. p. 180.
[15] Smith, John Guthrie and Mitchell, John Oswald. (1878) The Old Country Houses of the Old Glasgow Gentry. 2nd. ed. Glasgow: James Maclehose and Sons. LXXXVI. Ruchill
Glasgow's Benefactors 