#stanrigg

[mndoughboy1918]

Rawyards, Stanrigg and the Road Not Taken

Nothing from Robert today; I just want to use this space to capture some words and images I found relating to some of Robert’s and my ancestors. 

Robert’s paternal grandparents were Robert Donald West (his namesake) and Ann Paterson. In 1841, Ann was a teenager living with her family in Rawyards - a place that always seemed creepy and/or horrible to me, just from the name. Ann’s father, John Paterson, was a miner, as were many of their neighbors.

Here’s Rawyards as of 1860 or so:

And this is from the Glasgow Herald in 1875; a reporter took a walking tour of the area and had this to say:

Let us now go to Rawyards, which may be said to be a suburb of Airdrie. Rawyards is a big and apparently flourishing village, with a mixed class of houses and a corresponding diversity of population. There is a large factory in the place, to which crowds of young women were trooping during the breakfast hour, when I happened to be there. At the end of the village is Baird Square, a mining settlement owned by various proprietors. Here there are two rows, belonging to Dr Robertson, which are quite as miserable as those already described. They are single apartments, lighted from one side only, with earthen floors patched with pieces of wood, and are all terribly out of repair. The earthen floors are broken up into a series of watery holes, some of which the tenants have filled up with clay and mud from the street Everything is untidy inside and outside. The ashpits and closets are filthy in the extreme, and the road in front of the houses is a dirty puddle. A good deal of overcrowding exists in these rows. In two of the single apartments which I entered there are eight of a family. The rent is 7s a-month. I was informed that Dr Robertson became the proprietor of the houses two years ago, and before that time they were held for 2s a-month, which, I take leave to say, is their full commercial value. In Black's Place, also at Rawyards, I found single apartments rented at 5s a-month, which, relatively to Dr Robertson's, are worth 12s a-month. The sanitary condition of Black's Place, and indeed of all this portion of the village, is highly objectionable. 

And then there’s this disturbing coincidence. On July 9, 1918, while Robert and the 140th waited in Saulxures-sur-Moselotte for their turn in the trenches, 19 Scottish miners - some of them as young as 14 - were buried alive in a coal mine less than two miles from Rawyards. One of the victims was a 17-year-old boy who lived in Baird Square in Rawyards - potentially near where Robert’s grandmother lived 70 years earlier. It’s easy to imagine Robert in that mine, had his family not left Scotland for America.

Now known as the Stanrigg disaster, the tragedy is still well known in Scotland and was only one of many such mining accidents. 

Here’s Rawyards today; Black Street and Airdriehill Street are still there; most of the other roads have been renamed. And, fortunately for everyone involved, the old Baird Square apartments are long gone.

Next: Letter to Dad

[alifelineborninthenegative-blog]

The Stanrigg Pit Disaster Memorial. The smaller rocks have the miners initials carved onto them. Nineteen men and boys were killed. Eleven were entombed in the pit

[mndoughboy1918]

Letter to Dad

March 1, 1919 - Letter to Robert’s father:

Dear Dad

Your letter of Feb. 2 came today. It was delayed some as you did not put the Co. on it.

We are being deloused now and expect to be out of this town within a week and out of France inside of a month. 

I got a nice box from Uncle Geo. and Aunt Teenie West today. That is the second I have received from them. The three day leaves that you spoke of have been cancelled. No one from the 35th ever had a chance to take advantage. I applied for a special furlough but it did not go through, so I guess I won’t be able to go to Scotland. My trip would be just twice as nice if I could have gone to see my relatives. They have sent me altogether a dozen boxes. The only one in B Co. to get boxes. Only soldiers who have homes in Europe can be mustered out here, so I am out of luck there too. The 2-day passes would not permit leave out of France.

You will be surprised when you see my boy. When he was four months old he had two teeth and weighed 16 pounds. I suppose he is heavier than Teddy because Elinore has been able to nurse him and Jane has not.

Your suggestion about the furniture business appeals to me strongly. The only thing is that I have a family to support and might not be able to earn enough to support my family on while learning something about the business. That kind of business appeals to me though and I could put up with most anything for a time. It is good of you to be thinking of me that way, I had not thought of furniture. Let’s keep that in mind until I get back.

Since I am not to go to Germany, Bolshevism does not interest me as much as before. I still have my work here tho. There might be Bolshevic or German influence in the A.E.F. 

Your second Digest came today.

The weather is fine today. It is not raining for a wonder. 

So far I have not been able to locate an appropriate souvenir for Mother. I see a lot of nice “real Frenchie”things but they are usually “made in USA.” Especially silk and linen + lace stuff.

I am anxious to know whether Elinore + I can have the little cottage at Rebecca for a few weeks. I am planning on that a lot.

The big de-cootieizing machine just pulled into town now.

Love to all, Rob.

Robert and his father seem to be birds of a feather. As you go through these letters, Robert goes on and on about how he doesn’t want to think about his future career yet, but keeps bringing it up. And his father says he doesn’t need to worry about a job yet, but seems to be mentioning it frequently. Today’s “maybe you should sell furniture” is the perfect example.

Here’s a delousing machine from the era:

And a video of them being loaded and unloaded (WARNING: brief rear nudity at the end!)

Where was Robert today? See the timeline.

Next: Rawyards, Stanrigg and the Road Not Taken

[alifelineborninthenegative-blog]

Another mining memorial from where I live. This one is The Stanrigg Pit Disaster on 9th July 1918. Nineteen men and boys were killed and eleven of the bodies were never recovered.