Ancient Kilmacolm

Kilmacolm was inhabited by settlers in the stone age. Traces of their pottery and flint tools have been found dating to 1600 BC. Bronze age people emigrated to the area, bringing with them improved pottery, agriculture, and stock breeding. They built "crannogs" nearby (man-made islands in lakes) on which they built their fortified dwellings. The crannogs were connected to the shore by causeways, allowing them to hunt or farm on the shore during the day and retire to their protected homes at night, or in times of danger from intruders.

The Romans came to Scotland in the first century AD. A system of roads and forts was constructed, including a cavalry fort at Whitemoss, from where they patrolled across Kilmacolm and the surrounding area. The Romans found the northern tribes very difficult to subdue, and finally the Emperor Hadrian built a wall across the island, which was manned and patrolled to keep the Scots at bay.

By 411 AD, the Romans withdrew, yet through them Christianity was introduced to the UK. In the fourth century AD, Constantine, the Emperor was converted to Christianity, making it the official religion of the empire. The Roman church was the one stabilizing element in the dark ages to follow.

The Romans took children of local chiefs to Rome, where they were held as hostages, insuring the continued allegiance of their families to Rome. While there, they were educated in Roman ways and the Christian faith. One such hostage, Ninian, became a bishop and returned to Scotland, where he began his own school for priests. One of Ninian's pupils was St. Patrick, who carried the faith to Ireland. Another pupil was named Columba, who became a prominent cleric in Ireland and Scotland, and for whom a church was built and named the Church of Columba, Kil-ma-colm, on which site the present church, or Old Kirk, stands today in Kilmacolm. (The current St Columba church was built in 1903) See the St Columba biography for more details

The first church in Kilmacolm was built around 570 AD, and was probably a "mud and wattle" hut. A timber building followed, and then the thirteenth century stone chapel, which forms a part of the present Kilmacolm Old Parish Church.

The Norman Invasion, Feudalism and Kilmacolm's Duchal Castle

Between the departure of the Romans and the conquest of England and Scotland by William the Conqueror in 1066 AD, the various peoples of Britain, the Picts, Scots, Britons, and Angles, held sway in their areas of the island. With the unification of the country by the Normans, the feudal system was introduced, through which nobles were granted land in return for allegiance to the king. One of the sons of a Norman knight who came over with the conqueror, Walter Fitz Alan, gave a portion of his lands in Renfrewshire to one Ralph de l'Isle, who built a castle with moat and keep at the junction of two rivers near Kilmacolm, which he called "Duchal".

Duchal Castle was enclosed by a stone wall 70 yards long by 30 yards wide. A ditch was dug later joining the two rivers, making it, in effect, an island. It remained the stronghold of the Lyles (from de l'Isle) until it was purchased by one John Porterfield in 1544. The castle's history includes tales of ghosts, skirmishes with local families, and even a siege by King James IV of Scotland when the Lyles had backed an insurrection against him. James had two large cannons dragged across Scotland to subdue his enemies. One of the cannons was called "Mons Meg", now in Edinburgh Castle. The other may have been used against the Lyles, for thereafter it was called "Duchal". The Porterfields occupied Duchal Castle until 1710, when "New Duchal" was constructed.

The Covenanters

The history of Scotland is filled with political and religious strife. In fact, politics and religion became inseparable after the Reformation, when the Catholic Church was replaced by the Church of England as the official state church in England. Scots, however, saw very little difference in the Church of England and the old church, and either refused to abandon Catholicism, or embraced the stern Presbyterian faith of John Knox. The people of Kilmacolm were moving steadily toward the Protestant faith. Part of this was undoubtedly an attempt to free themselves from the clergy's constant demands of tithes. Some nobles, including Lord Lyle of Duchal, had their own priests and chapels.

In 1560, the Scots Parliament passed acts abolishing the jurisdiction of the papacy and declaring the celebration of the mass to be illegal.

With the death of Queen Elizabeth I of England in 1603, James VI of Scotland ascended to the throne And became King James I of England. James was the first of four Stuart kings who tried to force the Scots to abandon the Presbyterian faith for the Church of England, which was a thinly-veiled version of Catholicism. After years of dispute, in 1638 thousands of Scots signed the National Covenant, by which they affirmed loyalty to the king, but rejected the idea of any type of customs being imposed on the church except by the church Itself. These "covenanters" eventually became outlawed, even though the king, Charles I, had signed the agreement.

The Porterfields were staunch covenanters, and Duchal was known as a place of refuge for others of the same belief.

The 1662 Act of Glasgow, requiring an oath of allegiance to the king in all matters, civil and religious, resulted in the ousting of the minister in Kilmacolm, who refused to take the oath. The minister was welcomed at Duchal, and allowed to hold his services on the estate. These outdoor meetings , called "conventicles", were a rejection of the church, which now imposed fines for failure to attend services. Covenanting became a capital crime under the last Stuart, James VII, and many Presbyterians paid the penalty.

Despite heavy fines for the Lord of Duchal, the castle remained a haven for covenanters and was closely watched by the authorities. One night a spy arrived at Duchal disguised as a gypsy woman. Admitted to the kitchen for refreshment, the cook noticed the size of the boots on the intruder's feet. She was alone at the time, since the other household members were at a conventicle. She began to ply the visitor with strong drink, and by the time the other members returned, he was so drunk that he was incapable of escape. He was thrown into the river and left to make his own escape.

Alexander Porterfield, Lord Of Duchal from 1790-1743, spent a great deal of his life in disputes with the church in Kilmacolm. After one incident, in which he slandered the Kilmacolm priest as being a drunkard and a womanizer, Alexander was suspended as an elder, and it was twelve years before he could bring himself to sue for forgiveness and restoration of his eldership. His contentious attitude may have been caused by the persecution of his father and grandfather at the hands of the church.

The wife of Alexander Porterfield found the old castle to be very damp and otherwise unsuitable. So, in 1710, he built a summer house down the River Gryfe, using many of the stones from the old castle. When part of the old castle was dismantled, a number of human bones were found in an upper room.

In 1768, the Porterfields rebuilt and enlarged the summer house, converting it into a wing of the new house. The estate passed to the Stewart family, and was bought in 1910 by a George Wallace. In 1915, Lord Maclay purchased the property, and his grandson now occupies the home along with his family.