THE property and residence of Francis Robertson Reid, Esq., is situated in the parish of Rutherglen, close to the ancient Burgh of the same name, and county of Lanark, and about three miles from Glasgow.
The house, as it originally stood, was built about 1769 by Patrick Robertson, a gentleman long in very extensive practice as a writer in Glasgow. His town residence, as given in the Glasgow Directory of 1789, was "north side Trongate above No. 80." His eldest son, a writer to the signet in Edinburgh, having predeceased him, Mr. Robertson was succeeded by his second son, Andrew, who died in 1847, and his nephew and heir, the late John Robertson Reid, became proprietor.
This gentleman was the representative of four old Glasgow families of Reids, who, of old, held property respectively in the Trongate and Argyle Street, in the Bridgegate, in the High Street, and in Argyle Street and the Stockwell. Matthew Reid, his direct ancestor, was one of the persons chosen to assess the Corporation on Queen Mary's assessing the burghs of Scotland in 1556. Another of the family was Robert Reid, Bailie in 1726, who was shot in the Saltmarket about 1730 while assisting to quell a riot. In Hamilton's Lanarkshire we have description of Bailie Reid's country house in Govan. "At Little Govan, in the upper end of his parish, there is a new house built by Robert Reid, late Bailie of Glasgow, in a pleasant place, and convenient gardens projected and designed." The whole male line of the four families of Glasgow Reids have merged in the descendants of John Reid, who was born in 1733, and the late John Robertson Reid was his grandson.
John Robertson Reid was a well known and respected citizen of Glasgow. He formed the fine Arcade between Argyle and Buchanan Streets through his urban property. On his death, in the year 1866, his eldest son, Francis Robertson Reid, the present owner, succeeded to Gallowflat.
The house was added to in 1834 and 1864, the latter addition being from designs of James Thomson, architect, Glasgow.
There is a Tumulus in the garden at Gallowflat, formerly surrounded by a moat. Mr. Robertson converted this moat into a pond, and in doing so an earthenware vessel was found, believed to be of Roman workmanship, containing coins and beads. Unfortunately none of the coins have been preserved, The beads were formed of terra cotta, neatly ornamented, and of a blue colour. They very much resemble those which have been discovered in well-ascertained Roman sites elsewhere. Probably, therefore, the Tumulus was of Roman origin, and if so it would constitute one of the few traces of that warlike people yet discovered in the district of Glasgow.
Back to Contents