THE CALDWELL MYSTERY

Some nine miles from Paisley, in Renfrewshire, Scotland, lies the village of Uplawmoor. It has around 250 dwellings, a population of 1000 souls, no shops nowadays, but it does have a kirk, Caldwell Parish Church, built in 1889. It is on the origins of the name 'Caldwell' that this article concentrates.

The villagers play golf on Caldwell Golf Course. William Mure, Laird of Caldwell Estate, occupied Caldwell House, built in 1773, as recently as 1909. The family later moved to Hall of Caldwell nearby, a smaller and much older mansion. On a rise above the golf course stands an even earlier, keep-like structure which carries the name Caldwell Tower; a steep hill above a small stretch of water, Loch Libo, also once within Caldwell Estate, has, not unexpectedly, the name Caldwell Law.

Although these places are frequently on the lips of Uplawmoor folk, few may stop to wonder ‘Why Caldwell?’ This is an attempt to solve that question.

Since the Golf Course in its previous form figures in the story, it commences the narrative under its original title, ‘Little,’ or ‘Wester’ Caldwell. The area was once the home farm to the Estate and the layout on part of it as a nine hole golf course (now eighteen) dates from 1903, when the last Laird, Colonel William Mure and his wife Lady Georgina were still living.

In ‘The History of Neilston’ (1910) by Doctor David Pride, there is an item covering the Estate of Caldwell, stating:-
‘In 1294, the boundaries marched with the Steward’s forest of Fereneze.’

The historian goes on to state that it came to the Mures through the marriage, in 1347, of a Godfrey Mure to the heiress of Caldwell, she being of ‘That Ilk.’ From this, it is certain that the estate was known by that name long before the 13th century and that Godfrey became Laird of Caldwell in the right of his wife, taking the title due to its existence in the first place.

It seems that the Lady of Caldwell did not own all of the estate - a younger male branch of the family held Little or Wester Caldwell – the area surrounding the present Hall of Caldwell, including the area later to become the golf course. Little Caldwell did not come into the Mure possession until towards the end of the 17th century.

The Mures (or Mores, Muirs, Moirs or Moores,) are generally regarded as ‘benevolent landlords,’ most of the lands which once extended into Ayrshire and Central Scotland having been acquired by marriage and grants from the Crown.
This was not always so. Several tales of less likeable traits have come down in history.

There was an incident in 1515, when John Mure captured and plundered the Palace of Glasgow after a dispute with the Bishop. He was fined 200 merks, but there is no record of this ever having been paid.
Another incident took place in the latter half of the 16th century, when the wealthy were held more prestigious according to the areas of land they owned.

Many bought back farmland that had been purchased by tenants, something readily acceptable provided the farmers could again pay rent and continue growing their crops.
One who would not allow his land to be bought by the Laird of Caldwell was James Reid of West Kittochside. His farm was near East Kilbride in Lanarkshire, an illustration of the extent of the estate as it is some seventeen miles from Uplawmoor. Caldwell’s Laird was one Robert Mure who had, for twenty five years, tried unsuccessfully to persuade a stubborn Farmer Reid to sell his ground. Three of Robert Mure’s sons mounted up and made their way to West Kittochside where the farmer was not at the house, but his wife and family were out in the fields. The young men set about terrorising them, riding their horses at the huddled group, brandishing knives and shouting at them, finally driving their swords through beds and setting the house on fire before galloping off, taking with them the plough horses and sacks of seed corn.

James Reid returned. Furious at the cowardly way Caldwell's men had behaved, he rode to Edinburgh, seeking an audience with the King, James V1, who was in residence. He was heard with sympathy, the upshot of which was the arrest of father Mure and his incarceration in Edinburgh Castle.
He was to stay there until he guaranteed safety from his ruffianly sons. It appears that this was forthcoming as Kittochside farm was still owned by the Reid family in the 20th century, and was recently made over to the National Trust by the widow of the last Reid to farm there.

The Mure motto is ‘Duris non frangar,’ or ‘Courage in the face of adversity.’
Perhaps it would have been more appropriate had it applied to the Reids!

In1666, another Laird., William Mure, raised a squadron of cavalry totalling some fifty horse in support of the Covenanters. The riders were mainly from Caldwell tenantry, but the loss of the battle of Rullion Green sealed the fate of the Cause and William Mure was ‘attainted.’ (accused of treason) Strangely enough, some of his own estate workers gave evidence against him. One described seeing the Laird give a man a sword – a fact that illustrates that not ALL Scots were in favour of the Covenanters’ activities.
He fled to Holland where he died in 1670, having forfeited the Estate to the Crown. His wife, the Lady of Caldwell, was imprisoned, without trial, in Blackness Castle. This lasted for three years, during which she was not even allowed out to tend her dying daughter, even although she begged to be freed under the supervision of the prison governor and/or guards.

For almost a quarter of a century, the Mures lost ownership of the Estate. During this time, it came under the administration of the notorious General Thomas Dalziel, (forebear of the present well-known politician ‘Tam’ Dalyell) and remained thus until 1690, when the land and property were restored to the Mures, to a married daughter, Barbara. She had no family, so the property passed to a cousin, William Mure of Glanderston (Barrhead) in 1710.

There is evidence that long before the 17th century, on the site where the tower now stands, there was a fortified dwelling. This will probably have been the Caldwell family stronghold and may have been fortified by crenellated walls and towers.
Some descriptions refer to this as a castle, but recent investigations following the sale of the Tower have revealed no trace of any building. It is probable that any worthwhile masonry was plundered for use elsewhere as this building was allowed to fall into disrepair during the forfeiture of the Estate in 1666.
Some local farms are reputedly constructed with stone taken from the site. Only the Tower remains today, almost certainly erected from material taken from the ruins. The archway in front of Hall of Caldwell is said to be from ‘the Castle.’.

Several generations of Mures lived at Hall of Caldwell before the erection of Caldwell House in 1773, the latter to designs by Robert Adam, but brevity constrains further data on these earlier members of the family and we come now to the last Laird of Caldwell in living memory, Colonel William Mure. His name can be seen on the front gable of the village hall, also his father, Baron Mure, endowed the church already mentioned.

Colonel Mure assumed management of the Estate in 1891 and like many of his ancestors, was to be a genuinely ‘benevolent’ landlord. Several of the dwellings in Uplawmoor were built for former members of staff.

Originally called ‘Montgomerie Villa,’ a Tudor styled house next to the church was erected for a retiring Governess and the ‘Old Iron Church,’ latterly at the hamlet of Lugton three miles away, was built in 1860, funded by the Mures. It functioned as a missionary station. The Colonel’s support was given after representations from Uplawmoor villagers and estate workers to Lady Georgina who, before marriage to the Colonel, was a member of the Montgomerie family, eldest daughter of Lord Eglinton.
They were asking for a place of worship nearer than Neilston or Dunlop, two and a half miles away east and west of the village and Estate. The building was made of corrugated iron (available as early as then) and stood on Little Caldwell ground near the Golf Pavilion. When the Parish Church was erected in 1889, it was dismantled and reconstructed at Lugton to serve as a church hall for the Dunlop congregation.
When it was finally demolished around 1992, the writer restored its brass bell which now stands in the Centenary Corner in the Parish Church.

By the latter part of the 19th century, the Estate was becoming expensive to run, so the Colonel extended and altered the Hall of Caldwell in 1909 and it again became their home until he died suddenly in 1912. He was the last Mure to be laid to rest in the family tomb at Neilston Parish Church three miles from his home.
Caldwell House, in the twenties, had been rented to various tenants such as Captain Colville of steel-making fame until the old building finally became a hospital for handicapped children; this closed in 1985.
The direct Mure connection came to an end when the family moved away to Brighton many years before the much - reduced Estate was sold to private owners in the early 90s. Fire destroyed Caldwell House in 1995 and only the outer walls remain, a sad reminder of former times.
The last Mure in the male line died in London in 1978, having maintained interest in the church and village most of his life. Of two married sisters, both attached the Mure name to their surnames.

Having run through some of the history of the Estate, it has to be said that this information does little to explain the source of the name ‘Caldwell.’
There is a possible explanation that relates to water and its presence on the estate both in the form of Loch Libo AND various streams that still exist.

In 1722, Alexander Nisbet published a book ‘A System of Heraldry.’ In it, the crest of ‘Caldwell of that Ilk’ is described as: -
‘Argent, three Piles issuing from the Chief sable and in base, four Barrs waved Gules and Vert (red & green bars) to show Water, equivocally relative to the Name.’
The crest illustrated is certainly the one described. One theory is that an ancient spelling, ‘Caeld weill’ (Anglo Saxon) means ‘cold well.’
Some believe that this refers to drinking water drawn from a source which rendered it always chill. The Mure crest has three stone built symbols, the ‘Piles’ which may represent wells, and there is still an ancient well in the grounds at Hall of Caldwell

The red and green wavy lines in Heraldry depict water and the word ‘Caldwell’ seems a simple abbreviation of the early description. The 1722 book adds
‘This family continued for many hundred years in a good Reputation, by intermarriage with many honourable families; and ended of late in the person of John Caldwell of that Ilk, one of the Commissioners for the shire of Renfrew, about the year 1693.
Some experts say that English (Anglo Saxon) was not spoken in the west of Scotland, as far as is known. Gaelic was the language long before and up to the reign of Macbeth. (1040-57) It is possible that ‘Caldwell’ is derived from the Gaelic ‘cadha’ – a pass, narrow pass or entry, a description that fits exactly the valley leading directly into the Estate grounds from the east. It takes the route of the Levern Burn along the line of the A736 and the railway line bordered on either side by volcanic cliffs. Whenever the Caldwell name DID come to Renfrewshire, it must have been long before the 12th century, when heraldic symbols and crests were introduced.
Other historians propose the view - as postulated by Doctor Pride, that the Celtic Gaelic word ‘Keld’ (woodland) and ‘Well’ means ‘the well in the wood,’ perhaps the Forest of Fereneze described earlier in the story.

‘Caldwell’ HAD to come from somewhere. Its origins may have nothing to do with the suggestions made above, but if any readers have, or can find, any more positive derivation for the title, the writer would be delighted to hear from them. Surfing the Internet reveals Caldwells in England, America, Ireland and Canada. During the writer’s years spent as Church Officer in Caldwell Parish Church, many people whose surname is Caldwell, natives of these countries, arrived, looking for historical details of the family name. In some cases, they were far more knowledgeable than the author, but few had much to tell about the Renfrewshire branch.
G. Barclay Robertson.
8 Glen Lane
Uplawmoor. Glasgow G78 4DF.
Email::GrgRbrtsn@aol.co.uk Tel: 01505850 243