The property of Thomas Craig Christie, Esq., is situated about eight miles north-east of Glasgow, on the road to Cumbernauld, and in the parish of Cadder. In ancient times the estate of Bedlay and Mollins formed part of the possessions of the Cathedral Church of Glasgow, having been gifted to the bishoprick by William the Lion in the twelfth century. In 1507 Peter Colquhoun, of the family of Glins, was the rentaller under the Archbishop. Shortly before 1535 George Colquhoun was in possession, and in this year "is rentalit Robert Boyde, the son and apperand ayre of Robert Boyde in Kylmarnock, in the landis of Baydlay, Molens, Cuynglaw, and Auch, be the consent of George Colquhoun, last possessour of the sammyn, . . . the profettis of the saydis landis to remain with the sayd George and Margaret Boyde, his spowsie, presently for their lif tym." (1) Soon after the Reformation James Boyd of Trochrig, titular Archbishop of Glasgow from 1572 to 1581, alienated Bedlay and Mollins to this Robert, his kinsman, by this time fourth Lord Boyd, a man celebrated for the prominent and inconsistent part he took in the political troubles which characterized Queen Mary's reign.
The estate continued in the Boyd family till 1642, when, in consequence of a heavy fine of £15,000 imposed by Cromwell on James, eighth Lord Boyd, for his steady support of royalty, the latter was obliged to mortgage some portions and sell others of his landed possessions. Bedlay and Mollins came under the latter category, and this estate was accordingly conveyed in 1642 to James Roberton, advocate, son of Archibald, second son of John Roberton of Earnock. This new owner of Bedlay was a man of great learning and integrity. In 1661 he was raised to the judicial bench, under the title of "Lord Bedlay," and died in May 1664. Bedlay remained the property of his descendants during five generations; but in 1786 it was judicially sold. The last owner of the Roberton line was James, an advocate, who died childless at Edinburgh, 14th November 1798.
The purchaser of Bedlay and Mollins in 1786 was James Dunlop, who had shortly before acquired the adjoining estate of Garnkirk. He was the eldest son of Colin Dunlop of Carmyle, Lord Provost of Glasgow in 1770. Both father and son were leading merchants in that city. In 1793 the estates of Garnkirk and Bedlay were sold to another Glasgow merchant, John M'Kenzie, who espoused a daughter of Sir John Stirling of Glorat. In 1804 Bedlay and Mollins again changed owners, and passed by purchase to James Campbell of Petershill, a gentleman of large property within the city. (2)
Mr. Campbell resided in Bedlay House till his death on 13th June 1829, at the advanced age of eighty-nine. He was succeeded in Bedlay and Mollins by his second son, Alexander (Petershill having been settled on James, the eldest). Alexander resided in Bedlay, where he died unmarried on 19th August 1852, aged sixty-six. He was a member of the Glasgow Faculty of Procurators, and was noted for his fascinating manners and amiable disposition. He left his estates to his niece, Catherine Cameron Campbell, only surviving daughter of his late brother Captain Campbell of Petershill. She married Mr. Christie (3) and died at Bedlay without living issue in 1854, and was succeeded by her husband in the estates of Bedlay Mollins and Petershill.
Mr. Christie married secondly Anna Bolling, eldest daughter of the late John Cross-Buchanan of Moss and Auchintoshan, (4) and has issue.
It was probably during the ownership of Sir Thomas Boyd of Bedlay, second son of the fifth Lord Boyd, that the oldest part of Bedlay House was erected on apparently an older foundation. The Robertons made great additions to it, comprehending the turreted section and the principal apartments now in use. Their armorial bearings remain in a conspicuous position on the eastern gable. As is often the case in old manor houses, there is a secret hiding place, the access to which is obtained through a panel in a window-seat. The greater part of the oldest division of the edifice was removed about forty years ago, and along with it an ancient mausoleum (5) which stood in a clump of venerable trees in the lawn. This old tomb was an "eerie" place, an abode of the fitful owl, and in some degree it added to the "uncannie" reputation of the mansion house, in whose corridors, it was believed by the country people, that at midnight hour unknown sounds were heard, mingled with footsteps and the rustling of rich attire.
The stately old house stands on the extreme western point of the estate, on a rocky cliff of gentle elevation, on the margin of a little well-wooded dell, through which the Bothlin Burn wimples, and wanders on its way to the Water of Luggie.
Before the removal of the more antique portions of the mansion and of the irregular cluster of offices and retainers' houses which skirted the old-fashioned approach, Bedlay presented no small resemblance to the Tully Veolan of "Waverley."
(1) "This was Robert, afterwards fourth Lord Boyd. The title was then under forfeiture. Hence his father is merely styled 'in Kilmarnock,' which was their chief residence. George Colquhoun, whose wife was a Boyd, was one of the family of Glins, much identified with Glasgow at this era. The wife of the fourth Lord Boyd was Mariota, daughter of Sir John Colquhoun of Glins." - Extract from the "Diocesan Register of Glasgow," p. 107; see also p. 418.
(2) Mr. Campbell was proprietor of Dovehill, in Glasgow, and Campbell Street, Gallowgate, is named after him.
(3) John Christie, only son of Walter Christie, tacksman of Eden Mill, Aberdeenshire, was born there in 1730. Settling in Paisley, he, in company with John Dougall of Easterhouse and John Barns of Lochridge, carried on an extensive soap manufactory, He was also, along with Robert Corse of Greenlaw, a member of the firm of Christie Corse & Co., which traded largely with Russia Holland and the coasts of the Baltic; and in 1788, in conjunction with George Houston of Johnston, John Semple of Earnock, and others, he founded the Paisley Union Bank. He acquired the lands of Greenhill and Westercorslet, and died in 1791. He married Mary, daughter of John Miller of Dykes, sometime merchant in Paisley. His only married son was the late James (Ramsay) Christie, sometime merchant in Rio de Janeiro, and latterly in Glasgow, who by his wife, May, daughter of Thomas Craig of Nantwich, Cheshire, a member of an old Renfrewshire and Glasgow family, was the father of Thomas Craig Christie of Bedlay and Petershill.
(4) See Auchintoshan.
(5) The stones of which this mausoleum was built were taken from the old house of Lochwood, formerly a country seat of the Bishops of Glasgow, and now the property of John Baird, one of the second generation of the Bairds of Gartsherrie. During a severe winter the stones were carted across the frozen water of the Bishop's Loch. When the mausoleum was in its turn taken down, the stones were used in the erection of the entrance lodge of Bedlay. It was at Lochwood House on Christmas Eve, 1436, that the accomplished and munificent Prelate, John Cameron, died.
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