In Memory of the Men and Boys of Galston and Loudoun Parishes
East Ayrshire
Barr Street, Galston, East Ayrshire
Nitshill
15 March 1851 Nitshill Road, Glasgow (West of A726 at Nitshill Railway Station)
More about the disaster
Quarrelton and Benston - Joint Memorial
Quarrelton Disaster 2 May 1818 - Benston Disaster 25 July 1860
Wee Wood, Johnstone, Renfrewshire (Quarrelton Road / Beith Road junction and Benston)
This Cairn Commemorates the 5 miners who lost their lives in the Quarrelton Pit Disaster in May 1818.
(See Scottish Mining Website for details). There were 7 miners involved, 5 were drowned, 2 survived, however they were brought out after 12 days, barely alive.
- Alexander Barr
- James Brodie
- John Hunter
- James Inglis
- Alexander Shaw
In Oct 1860 another 5 men were killed in a similar scenario.
The Cairn also Commemorates the 5 men who perished in the Benston Disaster in October 1860.
(See Scottish Mining Website for details). Five lives were lost when Benstone Coal-Pit, Near Johnstone, flooded 23 Oct 1860.
- Robert Alexander, age 24
- John Alllison, age 29
- John Hendry, age 21
- John McMillan, age 44
- Alexander Stewart, age 12
Inaugurated by Councillor Stuart Stevenson JP.
Wallyford
In Recognition of Wallyford as a Mining Community
A Wallyford Miner
Ma da he wis a collier since he was a young lad
He didnae hae much choice in life he just followed his auld dad
At fourteen he finished schill on the Friday oh that week
On the Monday mornin at the crack o' dawn a wage he had to seek
Nothing could prepare him for the day that lay ahead
Excitement in his belly he wis a man noo - so they said
A walk ti the pit heed wi the men - ti brighten up the day
He was off tae make a livin the only Wallyford way.
Deep in tae the bowels oh the earth, in the cage, he sunk into the ground
Through the darkness, at the speed of light it makes a clanking sound
He crawled oot at the pit bottom the lang dark path lay ahead
A walk oh three miles tae the coal face - crouched over so he said
By the time he arrived at the work place, muscles aching, to start his shift
The heat and the noise all around him and a thick murky dust that wouldn't lift
The site of the colliers working all kneeling in a row
Naked from the waist, covered in soot, driving their shovels and hitting a blow
For seven and a half hours working with only a short break
His hand were blistered, his body was black and his muscles continued to ache
It was time to make the journey, wi his Davy lamp, to the pit heid
The three miles uphill, hunched over, he felt he was nearly deid.
The days and the weeks got easier as he accepted what had to be done
Ma gran she needed the money - he was her auldest son
Life was no picnic - it was honest hard graft
Conditions were like hell on earth - doon that mine shaft
Ma Da he deid a young man he was only fifty nine
I think he would still have been with us if it wisnae for the mine
Janet Bourhill
Funded by East Lothian Council's Civic Pride Fund