THE BEITH SUPPLEMENT

THE STORY OF BEITH'S NEWSPAPER (2000)

BY

DONALD L REID

Contact at:

7 Manuel Avenue, Beith KA15 1BJ

Tel: 01505-503801

E: donaldleesreid@hotmail.com

E: heraldbeithnews@hotmail.com

Introduction

E'en then a wish, I mind its pow'r

A wish that to my latest hour

Shall strongly heave my breast

That I, for poor auld Scotland's sake,

Some usefu' plan or book could make,

Or sing a sang at least

Robert Burns

So wrote Robert Burns to the Guidewife of Wauchope in March, 1787. He got his wish. He wrote his book and he sang his song and preserved the Scottish tongue in his matchless melodies. In this small book I simply hope to preserve a little bit of the history of Beith's Newspaper in The Story of the Beith Supplement.

Beith is a small town with a rich heritage of history which can be traced back to the sixth Century when a battle was fought in the woods of Beith - and the Kingdom of Strathclyde waged a losing battle against invading Saxons, Scots and Northmen. Beith was also particularly well endowed with woodlands and it is thought that the name of the town evolved from the Gaelic word meaning birch.

In the early 9^th Century St. Inan is reputed to have preached Christianity to the ancient Druid and Baal worshippers of Priest's Hill or Cuff Hill as it is now known. A cleft in the rock of Lochlands Hill is said to be St. Inan's chair (OS63: 373 554) and a spring nearby St. Inan's Holy Well. Close by is the rocking stone (OS63: 374 554) dating from the times of the Druids and possibly used for ritual human sacrifices. Several Druids graves were discovered under a cairn of stones at the bottom of Cuff Hill (OS63: 386 551).

Since the 12^th Century when the monks of Kilwinning erected a farmhouse at Grangehill and a mill for grinding grain at Roebank, the lands of Beith have been divided into small farms and holdings. Arable farming was practised and potatoes and oats were extensively grown. Dunlop cheese was made in the 1700's using a method developed by Barbara Gilmour, a Dunlop farmer's wife. For this purpose 100 of the best Ayrshire cows were kept in the parish.

Industrial Beith flourished in the 18^th Century with a considerable part of the population engaged in spinning cotton, making thread and weaving muslin. By the end of the Century there were three distilleries, a tobacco factory, tanneries, roperies, four corn mills and two candle works. The silk and thread industries continued to thrive and a textile mill, owned by the Crawford brothers, was opened in Barrmill in 1836. This was eventually taken over by the English Sewing Cotton Company in 1908. Unable to convert to modern plant, the mill stopped production in 1946 shortly after the Second World War.

In the 1880's Beith had a proud reputation as a town 'which licks creation in making chairs and tanning hides.' Furniture and chairmaking were staple industries in Beith from the 1850's until the early 1980's. By 1950 four large firms, employing over 1200 men, were in production making everything from sideboards to ship's furniture.Tanning factories existed from the late 1700's until the early 1900's. Today the town has a population of around 7,000 with the large local employers being Defence Munitions (RNAD) and Roche in Dalry. Most local people travel to Paisley and Glasgow to work although number of factory units employ small numbers of people in Beith and Glengarnock.

In many respects Beith is very much a dormitory town. Native Beithites and those who have adopted the town as their home, tend to appreciate the sense of community and heritage which is evident, despite the fact that the town suffers from mindless vandalism and general crime and disorder, not all reported to police, on an all too regular basis.

Looking back to a slightly earlier period in the early 18^th Century Heron (Scotland Delineated) describes the town as "a little to the east of Kilbirnie at the other side of the loch stands Beith, surrounded by populous country, and containing upwards of seventeen hundred inhabitants. Here are two candleworks, and three distilleries, besides branches of the thread, silk, gauze and muslin manufactures. A species of hard free-stone, and many petrifactions of marine excavations are found here and merit the particular notice of the naturalist."

Today we live in a world where there is an almost insatiable appetite for instant news. Communication is the marvel of the 20^th Century and whatever wonders the next 100 years have to offer, there can be nothing to match the communication revolution that has transformed our lives. The diverse sources range from the telephone, radio, television, and newspapers both national and local and, of course, the World Wide Web. The Internet is now providing an ever-increasing number of ordinary people with access to previously undreamed of sources of fascinating information.

It is estimated that most homes will have an Internet connection before 2005. Few people today are without a mobile phone which highlights the pace of change which has been quite staggering.

It is also true to say that every generation has been keen to keep abreast of local affairs. Our kith and kin of a few generations back would have been the kind of people who enjoyed a "guid crack," conversation being one of the main sources of sharing information. At the turn of the 19^th Century there were many literary and debating societies in all the Garnock Valley towns and villages as well as a large number of social and recreational organisations which encouraged mainly men to meet and debate and exchange views.

So, over the last 150 years there was an ever-increasing demand for information and news. What was happening on your own doorstep always held more appeal because local people had background knowledge of the people and places involved. It is likely that your parents and grandparents would doubtless have been avid readers of books, magazines, and national dailies and almost certainly would have eagerly awaited the weekly local newspapers such as The Beith Supplement and The Ardrossan & Saltcoats Herald. Of course the local newspapers were read, often from cover to cover, because in bygone times they were often the only source of local and national news.

Dispensing justice at Beith JP Court was infinitely more interesting than what the Chancellor was saying about financial affairs. A fire at the West of Scotland Furniture Company, a new minister arriving in town or the death of an important local man would often fill a whole page.

Events at the badminton, bowling and tennis clubs; Boys Brigade; Women's Rural Institutes; Church Guilds and Fellowships were the bread and butter of the Beith Supplement. Every three years the School Board elections created a tremendous interest in Beith. Candidates held public meetings to air their views and The Supplement would print their manifestos. The progress of Beith Juniors and local amateur teams were covered in great detail and news from the local schools was an essential ingredient of local reporting.

The District and County Council meetings often took pride of place over happenings, which had supposedly, national or even international significance. The reader wanted to know what was happening in his small corner of the world and my goodness how the local newspaper responded with a vengeance.

This is a story of one local newspaper, published and printed in Beith from 1865 until 1965. It is also in part, a story of four enterprising men - the Millars and the Lennoxs - who managed and edited the local newspaper. Much of the interest and enjoyment will come from reading the extracts of Garnock Valley news from The Supplements. They highlight the style of writing and openness of reporting in earlier times. Many older readers, doubtless with a twinkle in the eye, will personally recall some of the events mentioned in this book.

Stories about local folk and local happenings were the very lifeblood of the Beith Supplement, showing a capacity for defining in bold emotion, vivid images of local events, often in quite gruesome detail. The very ordinariness and mundane nature of events help to spell out what local people think and feel; they tell us about attitudes to life, beliefs, sorrows and aspirations in bygone times.

And of course the editorial input of the newspaper could be quite dynamic. They waged war to fight for a supply of clean water for the town and were great encouragers of the campaign to obtain a branch railway line into Beith. Anonymous correspondents such as "The Rambler" in his column "Round About Town," or "Notes and Echoes - by "Passer By" could also be quite hard hitting and covered an enormous range of subjects, always speaking directly to local folk or gently chastising those in authority.

I hope that you enjoy reading about the Beith Supplement. The story is by no means complete, but I felt that it was important to record some of the available information as the passage of time makes it more difficult to ascertain facts with any degree of certainty. Beithites should be proud of their little local newspaper with 100 years of virtually unbroken service highlighting the news of people and events in the towns and villages of the Garnock Valley.

May this book, for you, keep the memory fresh, and be for your children, and your children's children, a glimpse of a world they never knew. A world which, with sorrows intermingled with the gladness of life, produced a great little newspaper which stood the test of time - the Beith Supplement. I have enjoyed researching this book and I hope that you enjoy reading it.

Donald L. Reid

A proud Beithite by adoption

Acknowledgements

Particular gratitude is expressed to Ian Lennox, the last editor of The Beith Supplement, for kindly agreeing to be interviewed and for his helpful suggestions. I am also indebted to Graham Kerr for his advice, guidance and assistance in relation to producing the manuscript and photographs into book form. Graham was also instrumental in the production of the two previous books, Reflections and Beith and District and Yesterday's Beith - A Pictorial Guide. Neither of these books is currently in print.

Several of the illustrations which appear are the work of Anne McLean, better know to Beithites by her maiden name, Anne Goldie. Anne is a native Beithite but has lived in Wemyss Bay for many years. However, she always has a special place in her heart for Old Beith. A popular artist, she was an absolute gem in her enthusiasm and support of this project.

Elizabeth Nimmo was, in her teenage days, an enthusiastic member of Beith High Church Senior Youth Group. She was one of the original young people who undertook the Duke of Edinburgh's Award challenge and she achieved the Silver award. Elizabeth is a very talented artist and jewellery maker and contributed drawings to the two previous books published by the Senior Youth Group. Always keen to help, we are delighted to include some of her work.

In-depth research into the history of The Beith Supplement was particularly difficult simply because so few copies are now readily available - most of the bound archived copies were unfortunately lost after the closure in 1965. Fortunately a number of copies do still exist in private hands and I was able to gain access to some of these.

I am indebted to Anne Crowe of Beith for allowing me access to a diary of cuttings from old Beith Supplements kept by the late Charles McLauchlan, costing clerk, Barrmill Linen and Thread Mill. McLauchlan worked in the Mills for 38 years and retired in 1943. He began his diary in 1910 and this provided an enormous amount of information about Barrmill.

A special word of thanks must go to Peter Barr of Kilmarnock and Isobel Monahan of Beith, both good friends. Peter and I spent many happy days of yesteryear on memorable cycle tours all over Scotland. Isobel and I compiled Yesterday's Beith - A Pictorial Guide which sold 1500 copies in seven short weeks in 1999. Both took on the time consuming task of reading and commenting on various drafts of the manuscript and making helpful suggestions. However, I would emphasise that any mistakes or omissions are mine alone.

I gratefully acknowledge assistance provided by the following individuals:

The editor, Mr Alex Clark and staff of The Ardrossan & Saltcoats Herald, David McDonald, Craig Nisbet and especially Lillian McDowall who was very supportive of this project; Freddy Anderson, George Anderson, Maureen Barr (Kilmarnock), Tom Blackwood, Archie Brodie, Christine Brown, David Blair, Robert Boyd, Tom Boyd, Ian Buchanan, James Chalmers, Robert F. Clark, John Darroch, George Dickie (Kilbirnie), Margaret Fairns, William Fairns, Margaret Ferguson, Alexander Forrester, John Fulton (North Bay, Ontario), Sheila Garden, Robert Gilmour (Kilmarnock), Arthur Hay, Rev David Harbison, Francisco Haro (Stewarton), Jack Harvey (Dalry), Norman M. Henderson, Bertie and Isabel Hobkirk, Dr John Hibberd who sadly died in March 2000, Rae Hutchinson, Mrs Ria Irvine, Tom 'Pie' Irvine, Adam Johnstone, Jean Kelly, Moira Kinniburgh, Miss May Lennox, Robert McCarter, Irene MacPherson, Katherine McGregor, Ian - Nature Boy- McLean former Beithite of Wemyss Bay, May McLeish, Catherine Berry or McMaster, Harry McMaster JP, David McMillan, Kay McPhee, Hugh McTaggart (Dalry), Harrington E. Manville, Washington D.C., Angela Nesti or Mackie, Sandy Mackie, Eric and Irene Monk, Walter and Marjorie Menzies (Kilbirnie), Robert Muir, Alexander 'Sandy' Munro, Janet Osborne (Treasurer, Beith Open Award Group), George Parsonage MBE (of River Clyde fame), Sheila Pearson, Jimmy Quinn, Andrew Rae (Dalry), Allan & Marjorie Richardson, Anna Reid, Elaine Reid, Fraser Reid, Kathleen Reid, Alex and Nan Sanderson, Ian and Collette Shaw of Houston, James Shaw (formerly a printer on the Beith Supplement), Jean Smillie, Elizabeth Joyce (Walker), Cissie Shearer, Jim Smith, John Boyd Smith, John and Noreen Steele (authors of HMS Dasher books), Gordon Turner, Joyce Walker (school crossing patroller), Miss Maisie Young and Matthew Yuill.

Chapter 1

A Great Little Newspaper

For a' that, an a' that,

Our toils obscure, an a' that,

The rank is but the guinea's stamp,

The man' the gowd for a' that

A Man's A Man For A' That

Robert Burns

We are only a few months into a new Century. So now is a very appropriate time to look back and reflect on Beith and its people of yesteryear. The story of the Western Supplement, later to change its masthead title to The Beith Supplement after 1918, is a story spanning 100 years. Even today Beithites will still tell you proudly that The Supplement was a great little newspaper. The story began in 1865 when James Millar had the vision to set up a local newspaper, given free to any customer buying a daily newspaper or magazine in his Beith shop on a Saturday. Like Topsy, it just grew and grew and in the process it gained a prestigous reputation for fearless reporting on issues relating to Beith and district.

The founder, James Millar, was not a great pensman and would never have claimed to be that, for he was an unusually modest man for a self-taught writer. His characterisation and standard of writing was rarely subtle or penetrating, and his dialogue was long-winded and wooden, very typcal of the writing style of most newspapers of the mid 19^th Century. However, he was a man of his time and today would doubtless be seen as a great innovator.

Storytelling was his strong point and the secret of the newspapers success was identifying what the local people saw as being important. The subjects he chose to boldly address from the outset were to be key issues of his day. Poor housing, fever and cholera, the lack of a gravitational supply of water, the proposed branch railway to Beith town, poor sanitation, and the lack of playingfields for the youth of the town. Once you started to read the two pages of the Western Supplement, you were carried along until you read every last word. The newspaper was a tremendous vehicle for highlighting local issues, news and views. James Millar would have been both surprised and very proud that his great little newspaper was to last for 100 years.

On 19 January,1935 the largest ever edition of The Beith Supplement and Advertiser was published by James S. Millar & Co., The Cross, Beith, thus marking 70 years of its existence as the voice of the people of Beith and district.

Regrettably, only 30 years later - in 1965 - this much-loved local newspaper was to end when its friendly rival - The Ardrossan & Saltcoats Herald - took over the reins when The Supplement ceased publication. The Ardrossan & Saltcoats Herald purchased the newspaper's masthead name the Beith Supplement thus effectively preventing anyone restarting a newspaper with that title.

James Millar & Co., the local business which became synonymous with The Supplement, was formed in 1852 as a newsagent and bookseller and the founder, James Millar, was a man who knew life at the sharp end. He had worked locally in Barkip as a miner - a particularly dangerous occupation in those days when deaths and serious accidents were common place. Intriguigingly, from this lowly position in life he had the vision, foresight and financial acumen to set up this fine local newspaper - then called The Western Supplement and Advertiser - in Beith in 1865.

He must also have been reasonably successful as a miner because as well as wages being very poor, working conditions were atrocious. Older readers will recall that there were many local pits established in the Garnock Valley in the mid 1880's and even more in the 50 years before. However, the costs involved in setting up a newsagent business and establishing a local newspaper would have been considerable.

Even after establishing himself as a newagent, we find him going back to his coalmining roots during the coal strike of 1857, when many of the local pits were idle. Coalburn Farm (OS 63: 338519), is located to the east side of Dalry Road about one mile outside Beith almost at Barkip. It was on these lands that James Millar, together with David Park, James Clark and Archibald Tithe re-opened a coal pit, clearly hoping to profit from the great demand for coal due to the strike. However, on this occasion he was not to be so successful. After working it for eight months they gave it up as an unprofitable concern. James Millar then concentrated on his newsagents business in Beith and nine years later began publishing The Western Supplement and Advertiser.

Shortly after 1918, the masthead of the newspaper was changed from The Western Supplement and Advertiser to The Beith Supplement with which is incorporated The Western Supplement. However, from its inception until its demise in 1965, the newspaper was always published and printed by the company trading as JamesMillar & Co., Beith; first of all at their premises in Main Street and later at 10-12 The Cross. The Supplement has always uniquely been Beith's newspaper.

At the outset, and to put things into perspective, it is interesting to briefly journey down memory lane to discover what was happening elsewhere in the rest of the world in 1865 when James Millar established The Western Supplement and Advertiser.