Dale Tales

20 April 2008

under construction

During my time in Armadale, I have enjoyed hearing Dale tales, and so I thought it was time to publish some to share with the website's readers!  If you have a story to tell, or if you have information about any of the stories that will appear here, please  e-mail Rosie

She wrote to me because she is writing a story based on the journey she and her brother made 'along the road the summer I was 6. I've been unable to find out much about the Northrigg Road although it appears on the old maps of Armadale. We used to play in the remains of a coal mine there and spent many a summer day doun the burn. Harestanes Road children knew of a story of the White Lady who supposedly killed her baby and hung it on the foot long rusty nail that was driven into one of the trees at the top of the big hill. The tree was burned down during a thunderstorm so I was told. What I am wondering is...... if it based on fact or just a story to try to keep wandering children close at hand...... For me the road has fond memories and there's a whole untapped well of stories and information there from the Northrigg cottages to the school house that ended up being a cow byre.'

So was this a story to keep children from wandering, or is there some truth to the tale?
 

On the day when the McAlpines took possession of their new home, the Manse, they found packed boxes in the hallway.  They heard a sound upstairs and, on investigation, they found an elderly lady sitting in an attic room surrounded by her few belongings.  When asked why she was there, she replied that she was Bella, the housekeeper.  She had worked at the house for fifty years.  After the house had been sold, Bella remained there, waiting....

A taxi was duly summoned and Bella and her few belongings were despatched to her home town of Fraserbrugh.  One wonders how long she had been away from 'home' and what reception (if any) she received on her return!

If anyone knows more about Bella and her circumstances, please e-mail Rosie

Here a true highway story that I have encountered a number of times, in various versions.

In 1831, when coaches travelled between Edinburgh and Glasgow, a local man, George Gilchrist, owner of Hillend Inn and the stables at the bottom of Engine Street, Bathgate, was sorely tempted by the news that a large amount of money was to be carried on his coach, the Prince Regent.

He met James Brown at Mid Callendar Fair and together they formed their robbery plans.  They decided that Gilchrist’s brother, William, accompanied by Brown, would signal the coach on the road near Airdrie.  They would sit on outside seats with the driver, Jock MacMillan, and the Commercial Bank of Glasgow porter, James Smith, and they decided to provide a distraction by busily ‘cleaning’ chains that they would bring with them.  Shortly afterwards, near Forrestfield Loch, George Gilchrist would join them, accompanied by a ‘lady’, played by George Davidson whose slender build was more suitable to the role than that of his substantial, burly conspirators. 

At 12 o’clock on the 31st March, the Prince Regent coach defied strong winds to set off punctually for Edinburgh.  In the heavily protected box in the foreboot of the coach was a tin box containing £5,712 - 6 shillings in notes, gold and silver. Near Airdrie, the first passengers, Gilchrist and Brown, posing as a pair of workmen, joined the coach and took their seats with the driver and Smith.

Shortly afterwards, two more passengers, namely Gilchrist and Davidson, the latter in dress, snow boots, ermine mantle and thick veil, joined the coach and took their positions inside.  Once underway, the conspirators outside began their ploy of distraction with rattling chains while the ‘insiders’ tore open the cloth covering, bored holes through the wood, and gained access to the tin box by using a chisel to force the lock.

An hour later, the ‘insiders’ had secreted the money inside their clothing, and so they indicated their wish to alight at Armadale Toll.  On alighting, they gave the driver a half-crown and sped down the Linlithgow road until they reached the old drove road where they turned left towards West Craigs.

Shortly afterwards, they were joined by Gilchrist’s brother and Davidson.  The money was wrapped in handkerchiefs before it and the incriminating lady’s clothing were buried in a hole at the side of the road.

On the coach’s arrival at Uphall Inn, where Smith was to meet Robert Laurie, the porter of the Edinburgh branch, MacMillan, Smith and Laurie were greatly astonished and alarmed, when they discovered the damaged tin box, containing only a remittance slip and fragment of a £1 note.

The robbery had been effectively planned, but the aftermath did not run smoothly.  Gilchrist,  soon ‘in his cups’, boasted of his gang’s achievements to a former horse-dealing ally, James Morrison.

In expectation of a reward, Morrison reported Gilchrist to the authorities and the gang of four was brought before the High Court of Justiciary on the 14^th July 1831.

After lengthy deliberations, the jury returned a verdict of guilty against George Gilchrist and George Davidson. They were sentenced to be hanged on the morning of the 3rd August, but William Gilchrist and James Brown were acquitted, as the evidence was deemed insufficient to convict them.

The two companions were placed in the dungeon-like cells, at the rear of the Tolbooth of Glasgow, at the corner of High Street and Trongate.  However, Davidson did not remain in captivity for long as he was helped to escape to Australia.  From there he moved on to New York, where he remained, living in semi-isolation, until his death in 1904.

A significant petition was raised in support of Gilchrist, but his life was not spared.  His fate was sealed as he had been the Prince Regent’s owner, thereby breaking a position of trust, and there was proof that the robbery was not a hastily conceived plan, but a long-calculated plot to steal. 

And what of the money?  Here the story varies: gold was found stowed in a gun barrel; or, the money was found at Hillend Inn; or money was hidden in another cache beside the road, perhaps by Lily Loch.  Unless you know of another ending?

And, finally, here is the Lamentation of George Gilchrist published as a broadside ballad by George Craig of Edinburgh for the entertainment of an eager public who enjoyed tales of high drama.

Armadale Primary School