CONTRIBUTED BY J. W. C. minds of many, and her body was exhumed on the 30th, and a great quantity of prussic acid found in the stomach. At the trial the murder was clearly brought home to Thomson, and he was sentenced to be taken from Glasgow to Paisley prison and executed on the 14th of January, 1858, between the hours of eight and nine forenoon. After his conviction, Thomson made a confession, and stated that he had given Agnes Montgomery two drachms of the acid in a glass of beer. No motive could be found for the murder. The execution took place in front of the County Buildings. In 1861, the population was 47.427. In 1863, the Town Council sold the building materials of the old English School, in the School Wynd, and the erection of a new Grammar School and Academy was at once commenced. For that purpose a liberal subscription had been raised, of which the following were the principal subscribers : Abercrombie & Yuil, Forbes St., £50 50 50 70 Baird, John, of Netherhill, Brown, Robert, Underwood Park, 100 Ewing, H. E. Crum, M.P., 50 50 50 50 50 ... 75 50 Forbes, James, Marchfield, M'Farlane, Thos. H., Canal Bank, The 26th of May, 1868, was the inauguration day of the Fountain Gardens. The day was observed as a holiday, and the town was decorated with flags, boughs, and flowers. There was a In large floral arch at the foot of High Street and "Young sapling of a noble sire, That 'gainst the blasts of ages stocd, THE TOWN OF PAISLEY: Within whose shade from dangers dire, Thou stand'st the monarch of the wood." In November, 1869, when the foundation for a house was being dug a little to the west of the Renfrew Road, and about a mile from the Cross, there were found a dozen gold nobles of the reign of Edward III. XXI. In 1870, the Cross Steeple, erected in 1757, was taken down. It had been found to be falling toward the High Street in October 1868, and, in Dec. of that year, had been shored up. The immediate cause of the inclination of the Steeple is supposed to have been a drain 7 feet deep, which had been dug 8 feet from its base. In January 1869, a public meeting had been held at which it had been resolved that the Steeple should be taken down. In July of that same year, the demolition commenced, by removing the bell and hands of the clock, when an interdict was immediately obtained by Mr John Crawford from the Court of Session. This caused a delay till Dec., when the interdict was recalled. Estimates were then sought for taking the Steeple down, and a local poet wrote the following: "Did ever ony mortal hear! the Bailies o' the toun Are cryin' oot for estimates to tak' the Steeple door, To tak' me doon! an' yet they say I'm comin' doun myself, O sich barefaced extravagance did ever ye Lear The cock which surmounted the spire, was HISTORICAL SKETCH. repeatedly lowered to lessen the gradient of the street. Some of the stones of the Steeple were found to have been formerly used for some Gothic building. Abbot Thomas Tarvis, in the fifteenth century, built a Court House and Offices of the Regality, and it is probable that some of the stones of the buildings were used to build the steeple. The stones of the steeple were taken to a field near the Greenock Road, and a house built of them. This had been the third steeple on the same site. In 1870, a clock was fixed by a bracket to one of the houses on the south side of the Cross. It had two horologes set at an angle to each other. The Free Public Library and Museum was formally opened on the 11th April, 1871, by a conversazione, at which about 600 ladies and gentlemen were present. The credit of the proposal to erect a Free Public Library and Museum in Paisley is due to the Rev. Dr Fraser, then president of the Philosophical Institution. This society had for many years been making a collection of natural history objects of Renfrewshire; and the zeal with which they had prosecuted their labours in this department had filled their available space. It was then decided that, should a suitable building be obtained for a Public Museum, these objects should be handed over to the town. A small library of standard books was also considered necessary. A sum of £3000 was considered sufficient to erect a suitable building. The president of the Philosophical Society exerted himself with the utmost enthusiasm in this matter, and receive some encouragement from the wealthier classes of the com. munity, in particular from Mr Peter Coats. At au exhibition and conversazione held in the School of Design under the auspices of the Philosophical Society in January, 1867, it was intimated that Mr Peter Coats was willing to erect the desired Museum and Library, on condition that the town would accept it under the regulations of the Free Libraries Act. A meeting of the ratepayers was held on the 28th March, 1867, to consider whether the gift of Mr Peter Coats should be accepted or not under the conditions offered, when 476 voted for adopting the Act and 21 against it. The cost of the site alone is considered to have been nearly £3000, and the estimated cost of the building was about £15,000. The memorial stone was laid with masonic honours on 27th April, 1869. The day was observed as a holiday, and the town was decorated with flags and floral arches. The Steeple was at that time supported with wooden shores, and these were tastefully decorated with boughs and flowers. After the conclusion of the ceremonies, a grand banquet was held in the Drill Hall. An assembly took place in the Hall in the evening, under the auspices of Col. Campbell of Blythswood. Mr Peter Coats was knighted by the Queen on the 23rd of Sept., 1870. When opened in 1871, the institution was foun! well stocked with books and objects of scientific research. Upwards of £1600 had been subscibed for books for the Reference Department of the Library, more than £1,000 of which had been spent. The following are some of the principal of these subscriptions :James Arthur, Esq., Barshaw, Wm. Wotherspoon, Esq. of Maxwellton House, J. Whitehead, Esq., Kilnside, £100 100 W. Holms, Esq., Glasgow, 100 100 Earl of Glasgow, 150 Duncan Wright, Esq. of Alticry,. 100 Brown & Polson, 50 At the opening of the institution the Reference Library contained over 5,000 volumes. The Lending Library was also well stocked, principally by books gifted by the old Paisley Library. These were arranged under the fol lowing heads :— The works of Art were allotted to the basement floor, and the various branches of Natural History exhibited on the gallery. These latter were principally gifted by the Philosophical Society. The following members of which had been the principal contributors :— Mr John Bell, Mossvale-British Birds. Mr Morris Young, curator-British Birds, Insects, and Eggs. Mr Thos. Henry, High Street-British Plants. Mr James Cook, High Street-British Algæ. Mr Matthew Blair-British Shells. The year in which the Library was most taken advantage of was 1875, when there were lent out 72,878 books; read in Reading Room, 2917; read in Reference Library, 2418-total, 78,213. At present (1878) there are in both Reference and Lending Libraries about 22,000 books. In 1877, a splendid collection, illustrat ive of the Natural History and Manufactures of India, and including 1700 birds, was presented to the Museum by Mr Robert Macneilage Adam of Agra. As it was impossible to find space for this windfall, a meeting of the directors was held, when it was decided that an addi. tion should be made to the building. To aid this undertaking, Sir Peter Coats gifted 1200 square yards of ground behind the Museum and £200. As soon as it became known that an addition was about to be made to the Museum, an Australian collection was offered on condition that suitable space should be reserved for it in the new building. In 1872, the new premises of the City of Glasgow Bank were built at the Cross, and the town erected a clock on a portion of the building reserved for it. The site of the bank was purchased by the Town Council in 1747, and the building that was then erected was an inn, at first called "The Town's House," then "The Public Inn," and latterly "The Saracen Head Inn." It was first called by the latter name in 1794, when Mr James Sloan, the seventh tenant, put up a signboard, on which was the half figure of a Saracen, sword in hand. During the old coaching days, the arrivals and departures of the coaches took place at the Cross, and The Saracen Head Inn was well patronised. When the coaches were given up the business of the inn sadly dwindled, and was let to the City of Glasgow Bank 1835. The building was tenanted by this bank till 1869, when it acquired the property except a portion, of which the Assembly Hall is part, and which forms a printing office. In 1872 St Mirren Street was widened. The year 1872 was a very disastrous one for the farmer on account of the continuous rains during harvest; the ripe grain grew on the stalk. |