THE EXTINCT EARLDOM OF GLENCAIRN.

Otago Witness, Issue 2690, 4 October 1905, Page 78

THE EXTINCT EARLDOM OF GLENCAIRN.

We (Modern Society) were requested some tims ago to afford information concerning the extinct Earldom of Glencairn. Only now have some documents come into our hands which supply the links that were missing in the sfory. It begins rather remotely. One of the first things to catch the. eye on nearing Glasgow is "St. Rollox's big stalk" — the huge chimney of Teimant's chemical works. Sir Charles Tcnnant, principal partner in the firm, is one of the most notable of living Scotsmen, while his daughters — Lady Ribblesdale and Mrs Asquith — and his daughter-in-law. Mrs Tennant, are among the best-known figures in London society of to-d.iv. The Temiants are descended fiom Bnrns's friend, '-Webster Charlie. ' the son of the miller of Ochiltree. "'that ace and wale of honest men," who. from his cottage on tha banks of Doon, took note of the folk who travelled to and fin acres* the famous Brig. His invention of bleaching by chemical's instead of by the more tedious process of sunshine and clear watei Ipkl the foundation of a fortune similar to that which Arkwii^hfs invention made for the Midland "Webstei." Charle* Tennant not only managed his own affairs admirably bub

lie did his best for a friend, Hugh M'Guire, to whom fortune had also bpen -extraordinariiv kind.

M'Guire was a joiner by trade, but a fiddler by choice. At aiy'hour he would fling away his tools and take to his bow. No wedding party in .\U the countryside was complete without 7 iughie's music ; no funeral cotild be properly conducted without the wailiiig not' s cf his "lament." And Hughie had fo-ir daughters, sonsk lassies with lint-white locks and shining eyes, who ran with bare feet about the shallows of the Doon Water. To this simple company came suddenly one day a. gift from the gods in the shape of a longlost relative, wiio many years before had left home to earn his bread before the mast on board an East Indiaman, and now returned rich beyond the dreams of avarice.

Among the Ayrshire grandees of the time was William Cunningham, thirteenth Earl of Glencairn, a nobleman whose pedigree wa.s considerably longer than his purse. It was Charles Tennant conceived the idea that bonnie Leezie M'Guhe's "tocher" might build up the tottering glories of th« earldom of Gl&noairn.

And co the fiddler's daughter became a Countess. For her "down sitting" she re oeived the sum of £45,000, as well as diamonds to the .value of nearly as much again. Quite lately letters from. Countess Laezio t-o the minister of her pariah have come to light — letters which reveal a good deal ot bar gentle but unhappy life. One' of her kind schemes was the establishment of a spinning school, where young girls could be taught all tie intricacies of yam and lint, and where a treasurer would manage the profits for the benefit of the scholars — she herself adding handsomely to the savings, so that marriage portions might bs gathered and misfortune guarded against. .

■ Countess Lsezie had three sons, fine handsome lads, whose love soothed a heart saddened by lier husband's rj&gleot. The eldest, Lord Kilmaurs, devbt-cd himself to his mother's old friend! and guardian, Tennant. Some of his aristocratic relations angered him by jeers about the fiddlier and the weaver. Kilmaurs was too gallant 3 genLleman to profit by M'Guire and Teirnant gold while "ignoring its source. Riding one day with the old -weaver, they ciossed -a ford when the steaain was in spate. < His '.horse, missed its footing. Kilmaurs was carried away in the flood •water, caught- a severe, chill which settled on .Ms lungs, and in a" few weeks he was dead. Janies, Ms next brother, eventually succeeded to the earldom. He it was ■whose kindness ' to Robert Suras drew from the poet the touching lament that is eveai yet scarcely approached for pathos and beauty. Countess Laezie's fortune was insufficient to save Glcncairn. Earl James 1 soid his Ayrshire- estates to the Marchioness, of Titchfield, afterwards Duchess of Portland- The worry of it ail, added to constitutional delicacy,., was too great a strain, and ha fell dangerously ill. His adoring , mother look him to Lisbon, hoping" much from the warmer diniate ; but he pined for friends and home, and died at Palmouth on ,Ins return journey. John, the youngest son, fifteenth and last Earl of Gltncamn, was in holy orders. He lived but five years a^er his succession, and Iris mother laid lA last hope of eaxlhly happiness with him in his grave in St. Cuthbert's Kirkyaxd, under the Castle Hock in Edioiburgh. The Einlayston estates in lienfrewfjhir.3 passed to his kinsfolk, the Cunningham'} Grahams of G<iri.inore. Gkncairn itself is in Dumfriesshire, and it- was sold during Countess Leezie's -life. , "She was ■in truth but a fiddler's daughter,'"' 'wrote Robert Burns ; "yet a queen might have taken lessons from her. Ncvble^hearced and gesntle-voiced — a lady through and through !"