I apologise for how long it has taken me to finish this
blog. That’s because I got up to here, our day in Burntisland – the beginning, because
Burntisland is where William Bald, the central figure of this journey, was born
and spent his childhood. This blog entry in no way does justice to the richness
of our Burntisland experience, but as it’s now the anniversary of the
completion of our trip I decided I should post it regardless.
Iain Sommerville developed the website
burntisland.net, dedicated to the people,
history and goings-on of this town of some 6500 people on the northern shore of
the Forth of Firth. When Dad first “found” William and discovered he’d been
born in Burntisland, he also discovered Iain’s website, and made contact. Iain
added a William Bald page to the “People” section of the website, and over the
years has done a stellar job of collating information, even doing his own
research on William and adding significantly to our knowledge of the Bald
family.
I’ve been in touch with Iain quite a bit in the lead-up to
this trip, and meeting him is a real highlight. He had obviously put a lot of
effort into preparing for our visit – he’d printed out family trees and copies
of records, planned the itinerary for the day, and he also had copies of his
books about Burntisland for us. He picked us up from the Beach House B&B just
after 10, and took us around several family sites. First and foremost was the
site of the Bald house at the bottom of High Street – now unfortunately just a car
park next to the railway overbridge. However, there is a plaque in William’s
honour installed on the bridge, and it’s amazing to stand there under the
plaque, looking across and up the road, and see other houses that were there
during William’s childhood in the late 1700s.
We went to Somerville Square, named after mathematician and
astronomer Mary Somerville, a daughter of Burntisland. (I had always assumed
Iain Sommerville must be descended from Mary’s family, but it turns out that’s
not the case. I’d never noticed the extra ‘m’ in Iain’s surname!) Somerville
Square was formerly called ‘Quality Street’, presumably because it was where
some well-off, “quality” families lived. These included at one time the
McOmishes – in-laws of Christian McOmish nee Bald, William’s sister who married
mason/builder William McOmish.
After that we spent some time looking around the churchyard
of the Parish church, where we saw the headstone of William’s niece Margaret
Conquergood (great name!) nee McOmish. Margaret would be cousin to William’s
son Charles, so our cousin 3 or 4 times removed… close ties! Her mother,
William’s sister Christian, according to her death certificate was also buried
in the churchyard, and it’s fairly likely their father and mother were buried
here too – but there are no headstones remaining and I don’t think any records,
so unfortunately we don’t know exactly where either Christian or her and
William’s parents’ graves are.
We also saw another large bronze plaque installed at the
other end of High Street, by the entrance to The Links, honouring the sons and
daughters of Burntisland – including William Bald – who have become renowned
for their sporting, political, academic or business achievements. Burntisland
really punches above its weight as the hometown of many people who have made
big contributions to society one way and another.
Iain treated us to a lovely lunch at the Kingswood Hotel,
then delivered us to Ian Archibald, convenor of the Burntisland Heritage Trust.
Thank you Iain, I’m indebted to you for the care you took of us and for the
full and fascinating day you arranged. It was an honour to meet you.
Ian Archibald started off by showing us around the Burgh
building, which has a long history and contains some really interesting
paintings and other artefacts.
Then we went back to the Parish church, this time for a look
inside. Ian warned us as he opened the door that it wouldn’t be as we expected
inside – and he was absolutely right! The design is most unusual; instead of
entering at the back of a central aisle with pews either side, running up to
the pulpit front and centre, this church is square, with pews on all four
sides, including gallery pews upstairs, and the pulpit in the middle. (I didn’t
think of it at the time, but it’s occurred to me since to wonder how they manage
typical ceremonial processions, like a bride walking down the aisle or a coffin
being carried out?)
The church was built in the late 1500s, and the design makes
it feel quite intimate. Other unusual aspects were the designs/paintings on the
front of the upper level pews, which have been beautifully restored, and the
way the pews are closed in - they’re sort of like corrals rather than just rows
of seats. (One especially amused me – it’s double-depth, apparently because the
parishioner who occupied it was fond of bringing his dogs to church services!)
One last lovely thing about our wonderful hosts in
Burntisland…It turns out Ian Archibald is a retired surveyor/cartographer who
worked for the Crown Survey in Edinburgh and he came across William Bald some
years ago, around the same time that Dad first made contact with Iain
Sommerville via the Burntisland.net website. An 1805 map of the Isle of Harris
in the Outer Hebrides had apparently been attributed to John Ainslie; but a
print of the map was found in 1988 and it has William Bald’s name on it… Through
his work Ian managed to get a copy of that print, and I am thrilled to say that
Ian has generously passed that copy on to us now!
In the evening Levi and I took a drive around, first over to
the old ruined Kirk where I had a wander round the churchyard, and then to
Broomhill where we walked up to the lookout which has a great view over the old
town.
The day in Burntisland was wonderful; I came away loaded
with interesting information, and with a strong sense of connection.
