Small Scottish town with mighty history overshadowed by its neighbour

Renfrewshire is still the name used by many to designate the locality west of Glasgow on the south bank of the River Clyde, and is the name of the local authority area centred on Paisley, which is the largest town in Scotland by population with more than three times the number of residents that Renfrew now has.

Perhaps confusingly there is also the East Renfrewshire local authority area, mostly to the south of Glasgow, which has Giffnock as its administrative centre.

That the two Renfrewshires cover such a large area shows just how important Renfrew was in the development of that part of Scotland, and the town has a particularly fascinating ancient history, much connected to the House of Stewart.

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First of all however, let me give you an update on where we are in this series about Scotland’s ancient towns. If you have missed any and are an online subscriber it is easy to read any of the past columns.

I have already written about St Andrews, Stornoway, Elgin, Falkirk, Arbroath, Ayr, Paisley, Dumbarton, Dumfries, Lanark, Tain, Brechin, Rutherglen, Dunbar, Dunkeld, Haddington, Montrose and Hamilton. As a result of special pleading by a VIR (Very Important Reader), I will be adding Linlithgow to the list and will write about it next week. Also still to come are Irvine – which will be the last in the series – along with Kilmarnock, Forfar and Kilwinning.

Regular readers will recall that to be included, towns need to be “ancient”, which I interpret as being established as a town, usually a burgh, before the Reformation in 1560. They also need to have played a part in the history of Scotland and have a history that has been thoroughly researched, I’ll repeat that anyone who wants to promote their ancient town for a column should email me at nationalhamish@gmail.com – do keep the suggestions coming.

Today, I rely heavily on the book A History Of The County Of Renfrew From The Earliest Times by William M Metcalfe, which was first published in 1905 and is available today via that invaluable website, electricscotland.com. Renfrew Museum, located in the magnificent Town Hall, is also worth a visit.

That Renfrew was occupied in prehistoric times is a matter of speculation rather than evidence, and despite its strategic position on the Clyde near the river’s confluence with the River Cart, it does not seem that the Romans had any great presence in the vicinity though it lies opposite the western end of the Antonine Wall. Like much of Scotland, Renfrew’s history in the first millennium is lost, but it was certainly ruled by the Brythonic kings of the ancient kingdom of Strathclyde, which was headquartered at Dumbarton.

Christian saints such as the Welsh monk Cadoc are said to have ministered to the unconverted around Renfrew in the sixth century, but then later reports of his activities include meetings with the legendary King Arthur. So again this all lies in the field of speculation, though the local Roman Catholic diocese of Paisley has no doubts as to St Cadoc’s provenance, as a parish church and school named after the saint are both located in East Renfrewshire.

St Conval's stone in Renfrew (Image: Archive)

Local missionaries who later became saints by acclamation came from Ireland, including St Mirren – I use the current spelling – and St Conval. Metcalfe quotes an ancient legend about the latter monk: “Wishing to leave his native country, the stone on which he chanced to be standing by the sea, suddenly became a skiff, whereon he was borne across the sea to the River Clyde, where he landed.

“The stone was thereafter called St Conval’s Stone, and by the touch of it men and cattle were healed”. I’ll explain what happened to that stone – which is also known as St Conval’s Chariot – later in this column. When Strathclyde became part of Alba, as Scotland was then known, in the 11th century, though Renfrew was little more than a village, it began to thrive as a port and trading centre.

Like so many of our other ancient towns, it hugely benefited from royal and aristocratic connections, especially under the revolutionary rule of King David I who reigned over Scotland from 1124 to 1153 and who introduced the feudal system to this land among other developments such as the institution of burghs – Renfrew would indeed soon become a “burgh of barony”. Famous for building castles and fortalices – small forts or fortified houses – the king apparently had a castle built at Renfrew, though all trace of it was lost long ago. On one of his regular forays into England, David I met Walter FitzAlan, a Shropshire noble of Breton descent.

David I, king of Scotland (Image: Print Collector/Getty Images)

Along with his supporters, FitzAlan came north and must have rendered some great service to King David as the monarch made Walter his High Steward and gave him vast tracts of mostly uncultivated land extending from modern-day Inchinnan to Eaglesham.

The charter confirming these grants is lost but it was confirmed in a later charter by King Malcolm IV, David’s grandson and successor.

According to Metcalfe, Walter FitzAlan quickly portioned out parts of his territory to his friends and followers and they swiftly built fortresses. Metcalfe wrote: “The district soon resembled a vast military encampment. At the same time, the methods of a superior civil life were introduced and the land began to be reclaimed and cultivated.”

It all happened just in time, for in 1164, Renfrew featured in an extraordinary battle which, if it had gone the other way, would have made Scotland an entirely different place.

Somerled had made himself undoubted Lord of the Isles and his kingdom extended from the Outer Hebrides down to the Isle of Man, taking in a lot of the west coast, especially around the Firth of Clyde. Somerled had frequently rebelled against King Malcolm IV (known as “The Maiden”), who had tried and failed to rein in Somerled’s ambitions for his kingdom.

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With his army and navy that included Dubliners of Norse descent like himself, Somerled decided to mount what was nothing less than a coup d’etat against Malcolm IV who had become seriously ill in 1163 and who was unable to command his army. That job went to Walter FitzAlan and Herbert, the Bishop of Glasgow.

Various chronicles attest to the events at Renfrew. Somerled sailed up the Clyde with around 150 boats which suggests he had between 6000 and 8000 men at arms. We do not know who actually commanded the Scottish army, but I have always thought that it was not Bishop Herbert but FitzAlan in his capacity as Steward and lord of Renfrew – else why would Somerled choose to attack the town?

FitzAlan knew the area intimately, and drew support from his local followers that he had enriched. They were mounted and well armed, while the invaders went entirely on foot.

There are various stories about what happened to Somerled, the recurring theme being that he was betrayed and assassinated by some of his own men. I think that was a later falsification to preserve his warrior status, because it is much more likely he joined battle with FitzAlan’s forces and was killed.

Had Somerled prevailed at Renfrew, he would have probably then marched on and taken the whole kingdom, which would have made Scotland an offshoot of his Kingdom of the Isles. But he perished and King Malcolm showed his gratitude by giving FitzAlan more land.

(Image: Image of Braehead Shopping Centre, Newsquest)

Walter also built Renfrew Castle, all trace of which has been lost, at a place called King’s Inch which is now the site of Braehead Shopping Centre. He later served as Steward under King William I, the Lion, until his death in 1177. A benefactor of the church, FitzAlan was buried in Paisley Abbey – as was his son Alan Fitz Walter, the 2nd High Steward, who was given Bute and is said to have built Rothesay Castle, the remains of which stand today.

The descendants of Walter FitzAlan became the hereditary High Stewards of Scotland, and they made Renfrew a thriving town long before the Wars of Independence. It had a monastery or priory and the sons of local nobles and merchants were educated by the monks.

The Stewards became the Stewarts, and Renfrew was their base for decades, with a new castle built in the town, as the name Castlehill suggests. Renfrew and its shire are known as the “Cradle of the Stewarts”, and the monarchy of the UK can trace its ancestry back to the Stewarts of Renfrew.

Indeed, Baron Renfrew is one of the titles of the current Prince of Wales, the future King William IV of Scotland and William V of England. Before and during the Wars of Independence the Stewarts switched sides like so many other nobles, but ended up as allies of Robert the Bruce. Walter, the sixth High Steward, fought on the winning side at Bannockburn and was given an important task by the king: to fetch his wife Elizabeth and daughter Marjorie home from captivity in England.

Marjorie must have been impressed by her rescuer because shortly afterwards she married Walter and swiftly became pregnant. She was probably on her way from Paisley Abbey to Renfrew Castle when she fell from her horse.

Paisley Abbey

Local tradition as reported in 1710 states that she was “riding betwixt Pasly and the Castle of Renfrew, then the principal Residence of the Great Stewart of Scotland, her Husband, she was thrown from her Horse, and by the fall suffered a Dislocation of the Vertebrae of her Neck; she, being pregnant, fell in Labour the child or Faetus, as they report, was a Cesar[ian]: The Operation being by an unskilful Hand, his Eye was touch’d by the Instrument, which afterwards proved incurable, from which he was called King Blearie.”

This son became King Robert II of Scotland, and is recognised as the founder of the Royal House of Stewart. His son, born John Stewart, became King Robert III. He obviously was aware of his Renfrew roots as he made the town a royal burgh. After he suffered a long and mysterious illness, he moved back to Renfrew and Rothesay, where he died in 1406.

Renfrew’s importance diminished as the Stewarts moved eastwards and Paisley grew in size, but there was one more historic moment for the town. The Earl of Argyll had taken part in the Monmouth Rebellion against King James VII & II, but his forces were scattered and he made to Renfrew in disguise, hoping to cross the Clyde and reach safety.

Metcalfe records simply: “Soldiers were sent in pursuit of the Earl, who was habited in mean attire. He was overtaken and overpowered, and carried to Renfrew, and thence to Glasgow and Edinburgh, where he was beheaded at the Market Cross, on June 30, 1685.” The stone on which he was resting when captured is called Argyll’s Stone and now rests beside St Conval’s Chariot as a joint monument in Renfrew, to which I will return in future columns on what happened to our ancient towns in more recent times.