LANARK LANIMER DAY
An ancient celebration held within the Royal Burgh of Lanark on the Thursday between the Sixth and Twelfth days of June annually since the year 1140.
 

A Neighbour Looks at Lanark

Memorial on Castle Hill Lanark (Erected by Lanark Townswomen's Guild)

The Inscription reads:

On this Mound, site of an Ancient Roman Fortification, stood the Royal Castle of Lanark, a residence of David I (1124-1153), William the Lion (1165-1214), and later Kings, from which many of their Royal Charters are dated. It was the meeting place of the Scots Parliaments in 1293-4-5. The Castle was occupied by the English under Edward I. and Edward II. and was finally won back in the Wars of Independence.

One of life's supreme distinctions eluded me at birth: I am not a Lanark man. But near enough all the same - I was born just across the Clyde, in the neighbouring parish of Lesmahagow, where we regard Lanark with a friendly but critical eye, as one regards an elder sister.

I note that a previous contributor to this brochure chose to describe Lanark as a "snug little town". I am not sure about that adjective. I remember hearing an old man say this: "And whit made them build a toon awa up there on the cauld brae-side? Whit wey would they no' come doon here and bide wi' honest folk in Kirkfieldbank?"

But no one could expect the Lanark people to abandon their windy town. They have been there a long time. No one knows when the first settlement took place, but the fact that the Romans thought it desirable to establish a military post in the near vicinity seems to indicate that Lanark was a significant place in those days. And if there are some who regard the Roman occupation of Scotland as a mere transient military progress, it may be useful to remind them that the local Roman garrison was on duty, sounding its trumpets for Reveille and Lights Out, for just about as long as there was a British army in Burma, that is to say about 80 or 90 years.

Did the Romans leave anything behind them, apart from a few blocks of stone in a field ? There is a tradition that they introduced the growing of fruit into Clydeside; and this tradition derives interesting support from a reference in an ancient British poem (Celtic but not Gaelic) which refers to "the sweet apple-tree that grows in Lanark"; this poem relates to post-Roman times. A more certain attribution for the introduction of fruit-growing is to the great mediaeval monasteries; and yet I would be sorry to abandon the Romans. Anyone who has seen the pathetic but determined efforts of British soldiers and colonists in places like Burma to grow the fruits and vegetables of their native land will not find it difficult to imagine the Roman soldiers digging little plots near Cleghorn station to plant the slips of olive and peach and pear which their relatives in the Campagna would send out to them by the Roman Imperial Mail....

The Upper Ward of Lanarkshire is not generally regarded as one of the renowned beauty-spots of the world. For those of us who live there it does well enough, and we would not willingly go elsewhere; but we do not say more than that. And yet there is by Lanark one of the most spectacular pieces of scenery in Europe - I mean the gorges of the Clyde and the three great waterfalls, Bonington, Cora Linn, and Stonebyres. For forty or fifty years the water that roared and thundered over those rocky cliffs has been put into a pipe and made to drive dynamos; and the riverside walks which used to attract innumerable tourists are neglected and even (in places) dangerous.

Naturally the falls were employed in olden days to drive mills, but even the heaviest pre-electric user of water-power did not dry up the water. This was Robert Owen, who used power from Cora Linn for his New Lanark Mills. Here again we have a controversial asset, and a diminishing one. What should be done about New Lanark? I have attended several meetings on this subject, and I am no single-minded enthusiast for preservation. To qualify for preservation the buildings would require to be outstanding for historical distinction or for artistic beauty. I doubt if they quite meet the first qualification, and they certainly do not reach the second. Not that I would let them fall into ruin, or destroy them. No: I would set up a distillery there and make a decent Lowland malt whisky from the sparkling Clyde water, with a picture of Cora Linn on the bottle. The distillery could be placed at the power station, once we have closed down the dynamos; and the long buildings at New Lanark seem ideally suited for a bonded warehouse.

So if we want to remember our distinguished English guest, let us put up a statue to Robert Owen where people can see it; and let it be as good as the statue to William Wallace in St. Nicholas's Church.

One of my treasured recollections relates to the Wallace statue. Two American tourists, pointing up to the statue, asked the local dustman who it was. Was it some great man? "Willie Wallace?" he replied. "Aye - he was a great man. Aye, and he was a good man - he killed many English...."

Sir Andrew Gilchrist