CHAPTER III

 

Early Mining in the District

At the beginning of the latter half of the 18th century, when the Carron Iron Company was founded, they came into the district in search of coal and ironstone, and established themselves on South Couston estate, to the north of Armadale, and on the north boundary of Barbauchlaw estate, where they opened pits and worked the ironstone and coal seams known as the "Ball-Coal" and the "Grey-Stone", so extensively operated in the district later on.  The village of Colinshiel, which once stood about a mile to the north of Armadale on the Linlithgow Road, was the centre of the works district, and there the workmen were housed.  The ironstone was laid out in bings and burned, after which the char was carted to Carron to be made into iron and manufactured into all kinds of articles, and dispatched to all parts of the world.  The company at that time supplied the Government with large numbers of cannon, so that the district can boast of having supplied the material for many of the big guns that were used at the battle of Waterloo.  Towards the close of the 18th century, the company's lease having expired, they vacated the district in favour of a more convenient field.

The Colinburn seam of rough coal having been found of easy access along the side of Barbauchlaw Burn, many private individuals were privileged to sink shafts or drive mines, with a view to securing fire-coal to save the wood on the estate.  But it was not until the year 1819 that a coal company was really formed to work the coal for public supply, when Mr. John Harvie, who had privately operated a small pit on the estate about a mile west of Armadale, joined with Mr. John Wilson and Mr. William Roberts, and procured a ten years' lease to work the coal on the estate, at an annual rental of £86.

The company entered upon their lease of Barbauchlaw on the 12th November, 1819, and this is a copy of the agreement between the partners:-"That John Wilson, William Roberts, and John Harvie, in company about the lease of the Boarbauchlaw Coal that each have jointly subscribed, agree to the following articles:-  Article 1. - That John Harvie shall have the charge of keeping all books connected with the works, so long as it may be agreeable to the proprietor, and for so doing shall submit his fee to the discretion of the other partners.  Article 2. - That a neutral man shall be engaged as a salesman, who shall make at least a weekly report of the output, with sales and cash drawn, to John Harvie.  Article 3. - That none of the partners shall employ any hands for the work, nor make any contracts for any department of the work, without the consent of parties.  Article 4. - That what articles shall be purchased for the prosecution of the work shall be purchased jointly, and be considered as a joint stock till the end of the lease.  Article 5. - That what cash any partner may lay out more than another shall be allowed 5 per cent. interest for the same till repaid to him.  Article 6. - That John Wilson shall direct the workings below ground, and to receive for so doing the sum of —— per day, the other partners to have the liberty to bring any man they can trust to inspect the workings for their own satisfaction, and who shall be paid jointly by whole."

These articles, which are in good preservation, were drafted by John Harvie, the principal partner in the company, but they are not dated nor signed, so that the surmise is that the copy quoted may have been an uncompleted draft of the articles signed by the partners.  Be that as it may, we find on the first page of the company's books the following entry:-

Entered to Boarbauchlaw Coalrie, Novr. 12, 1819.

Novr. 27th - Paid as under to this date for coals put out, etc.

John Wilson, junr., and Co., 299 loads great coal, at 4½d per load,

£5

12

Do., 55 small at 2d,

0

9

2

 

£6

1

 

 

 

 

James Henderson, 186 great coal,

£3

7

6

     “             “         , 40 small,

0

6

8

 

£3

14

2

 

 

 

 

James Twaddle, 136 great coal,

2

11

0

     “           “       , 35 small coal,

0

5

10

 

£2

16

10

 

This is all the coal produced during the first two weeks, but it is sufficient to prove that the mine was in operation before this date, when Mr. Harvie was the owner.  The John Wilson, jun., mentioned, was father of the late Provost Wilson of Armadale, and seems to have been a contractor or to have been in company with someone else, since the amount of coal is greatly in excess of the output of any others, which generally represent two persons.  Following the coal producers on the paid-out side of the book, we find James NeiI to be salesman, and John Wilson, sen., to be the works manager, and their wages, with others, entered as follows:-

James Neil, 14 days at 2s per day,

£1

8

0

John Wilson, sen., 10 days,

1

0

0

Betty Stevenson,

0

3

6

Wm. Brock, 1 day,

0

2

0

Total paid out,

£15

5

 

On the opposite page of the book, in one line, the coal sales are shown at £11 8s 11½d.

It will thus be seen that the expenditure exceeded the income during the first two weeks' operations by £3 16s 8d.  Indeed, the first three years' operations of the colliery proved very unprofitable, the deficit at the end of 1822 being £171 0s 11d, as proved by the following balance-sheet, entitled "A statement of Boarbauchlaw Coalry from Martinmas, 1819, till Martinmas, 1822."

EXPENDITURE

Pits shanking, roads making, water machine, etc.,

£142

16

3

Total expense for working coal to date,

£1302

17

2

Stipulated rent,

£318

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

£1763

13

5

 

INCOME

Total quantity of coal wrought and sold the above 3 years, 30,000 loads great coal at 8d per load,

£1000

0

0

7238 loads lime coal at 7d per load,

£211

2

2

18,308 loads small coal at 5d per, load,

£381

10

4

 

 

 

 

 

£1592

12

6

 

 

 

 

Deficit

£171

0

11

 

The first three years were certainly the most expensive the company had, and considering the boring and sinking they had to do before they could get access to the coal, the deficit was very small indeed.  Wages were not large, the highest paid workman receiving 2s a day, whilst women and boys were paid 1s.

The first pit to be worked was at the side of Barbauchlaw Burn, north of Woodhead houses, about a mile west from the Cross, and was known as the "Wood Pit."  Immediately on getting this pit into working order, the company set to work preparing to develop the colliery, and as the coal was not far below the surface at this part of the estate, little difficulty was attached to sinking a small pit.  At the "Wood," John Wilson and Co. are entered as having sunk a pit to the main coal seam, for which they were paid £5 17s 6d on the 22nd July, 1820.  Boring near Whitockbrae, at the site of the present sewage purification works, at Colinburn, proved coal near the surface, with the result that many holes were made at this part, but the seam was soon exhausted.  The "Mill" Pit and the Boutgate, generally known as the "Level," were perhaps the most substantial mines, and although the most expensive to begin with, were the most profitable when they were got into working order.  But the company did not hold long together beyond the Martinmas term of 1825, when an arrangement was come to, and the colliery reverted to Mr. John Harvie.  John Wilson, sen.'s, name after this disappears from the books, but at the Martinmas term of 1829 John Wilson, jun., took charge of the workings and the sale of the coal in the interest of Mr. Harvie.

The only workmen's houses on the estate at this period were at Barbauchlaw Row, a mile to the west, a number of houses which were built to accommodate the men employed at one time in the quarry; and "Castle Poorie," a two-storey building built by Lord Armadale, a short distance north of the Cross, to accommodate his foresters.  These houses were leased, along with the colliery, to house the miners and their families, the rent charged being 8d a week for a single-room house.

The methods of getting coal in these days were of the most primitive description.  In some cases women carried the coal to the mouth of the mine in creels, and where pits were sunk a ladder was built for the workpeople going up and down at will, and the coal was raised by means of a gin.  A frame erected over the mouth of the shaft, with a flanged wheel for a rope which was attached to an upright shaft in a frame in the centre of a ring a few paces off, was all that was required to meet the wants of the time; a lever projecting from the upright shaft, as employed for a gin-mill, served to hitch the horse to, and by driving the horse round this ring in one direction a bucket of coal was raised to the top.  The gin-horse was supplied by Wm. Brock, farmer, Barbauchlaw Main, at 13s per week.

In the month of March in 1835 the first steam-engine was introduced to the district, when the new pit, afterwards known as the “Rosebud", was sunk for Mr. Harvie by James-Smillie, close by the side of the burn in the glen, directly north of Woodhead houses.  This shaft was sunk for the purpose of dealing with the water that had become so troublesome that the hand-pumps then in use were unable to cope with it.  The engine was procured from Carluke, and was brought from there to the pit by Willie Rodger, one of the best known carriers of the time, who carted salt from Bo'ness to Carluke, making two journeys every week, and Mr. Harvie's inn, at Armadale Cross, was his principal resting-place.  His genial nature and picturesque form, dressed in velvet with knee breeches, shining brass buttons, and broad-brimmed Kilmarnock bonnet, made him a great favourite with those on his route, and he was trusted with many little messages, for which he was often compensated with a dram or a copper; but the carrying of the engine on his return journey, when his cart would otherwise have been empty, was the largest parcel he was entrusted with, and not the worst paid.  The engine was not a very powerful one compared with those in use now, but it was sufficient for the wants of the time, and served the double purpose of pumping the water and raising the coal.

John Wilson, sen., again comes into the work in the capacity of manager, whilst John Wilson, jun., took charge of the engine and sale of the coal, and every difficulty seemed to be overcome and the increasing demand for coal provided for, when lo! the burn broke into and flooded the workings, and a hurried exit had to be made, tools and everything being left behind.

Many little pits seem to have been afterwards put down, but no very large number of people were employed in them.  In 1820, in addition to John Wilson and son. there were Nisbet Easton, senior and junior, Alex. Watson, Robert Baxter, Thomas Colin, Thomas Brown, Betty Stevenson, Meddie Lumsdale, and Jenet Hamilton engaged in the pit with two boys, John Rea and James Thorn, who pumped water.  James Neil attended to the top and sold the coal at the wood pit, and occasionally William Easton and James Smillie are booked for having given their services in one way or another.  At the beginning of 1830 the number of coal producers had increased a little, and embraced Robert Twaddle, Henry Baxter, Dawsy Simpson, Robert Lumsdane, William M'Phail, Peter Russell, Richard Snedden, and Robert Baxter, with John Wilson manager at 15s a. week, and John Pollock as pitheadman.  At the beginning of 1840 the number remained the same, but the names change - G. Williamson, P. Williamson, James Wilson, John Wilson, and Robert Twaddle completing the list of miners.

Meantime, Captain Sandilands, of South Couston, began to turn his attention to the abandoned pits of the Carron Iron Company on his estate.  The Clay Pit, as it was known, on Colinshiel Farm, from the fact that it supplied clay to the brick work, was inaccessible on account of the large quantity of water that had accumulated in the workings, and accordingly a large atmospheric engine was erected to pump the water.  (This engine stood in a high stone house, with a large wooden beam projecting from the wall at the top, up to about the year 1877, when it was broken up and sold for old iron.)  Engines of that type were commonly used at that time for pumping and raising the minerals to the surface, but this engine was adapted for pumping only.  Captain Sandilands, however, after getting the water out of the workings, discovered that he required the engine to wind the coal to the top, and made up his mind to have it applied to the double purpose.  The engineer told him that it would require a greater steam pressure than the engine was built for to do the work, but the captain was sure that if the pressure was raised the engine would manage all right, and so gave the engineman orders to raise the pressure.  The order was carried out, but the result was that the piston was blown up through the roof of the engine-house, there being no cover on these cylinders.  The normal steam pressure of this engine was from 2 to 3 pounds to the square inch, and the pressure required to do the work demanded by the captain was about 7Ib. to the square inch.  The difficulty of raising the coal was soon got over, and Captain Sandilands became a factor in the district in the competition in the coal market until the district began to attract large companies.

In 1834 John Harvie died, leaving his son Thomas, a young man, 17 years of age, to look after the business of the colliery and the Inn, in his mother's interest.  John Wilson and son continued to look after the works, and in the course of another six years Mrs Harvie gave up the Armadale Inn, and became tenant of Barbauchlaw Mill Farm, for long occupied by her late husband's brother Thomas, the father of "Jessie o' the Dell".  Harvie's coal works continued to supply the coal to the district until the Monkland Iron Company entered the field in a large way, taking a long lease of the whole of the minerals of the estate, when the old order of things came to an end.

 

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