The Cairn of Lochwinnoch

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'The Cairn of Lochwinnoch', Renfrewshire and the 'West of Scotland Matters' was compiled by Andrew Crawfurd in Johnshill of Lochwinnoch from about 1827 to 1854. The word 'cairn' used in this context in Scotland means a collection. There are forty six leather bound volumes, or quairs, of manuscript including the index. These volumes are a unique and invaluable source of information for both family and local historians. The Cairn of Lochwinnoch is available to use in Renfrewshire Libraries local studies library.

Andrew Crawfurd was born in Johnshill in 1786 and matriculated from Glasgow University in 1813. The Marquess of Bute was a class-mate and friend and after graduating, Dr Crawfurd went to Rothesay on the Isle of Bute to practice as a surgeon. Sadly, in December 1819 he contracted typhus fever and although he survived he was left a permanent invalid with severe and physically disabling injuries. He returned home to Johnshill where he spent the next thirty years up to his death, sociably pursuing his many scientific, literary and antiquarian interests with his knowledgeable friends. One of these interests was compiling the Cairn.

The volumes are a miscellaneous collection of information, interesting, moving, informative and occasionally very funny, often derived from interviews with local people and presenting a lively picture of life in Lochwinnoch and the surrounding area.

The contents include family trees and pedigrees, births, marriages, deaths, murders and suicides, a heads-of-families census for Lochwinnoch dated 1821 in Volume 18, extracts and clippings from newspapers and books, scandalous stories and entertaining gossip.

Dr Crawfurd included an internal index to most of his volumes and also prepared an index to the complete work. In addition to the 'Cairn of Lochwinnoch' there are a further 10 volumes associated with Lochwinnoch, comprising; Lochwinyoch Matters, The Bridgend Papers, The Craigend Papers and Auld Ballats with Lochwinyoch Matters.

He died on 27 December 1854, "highly respected of his talents and wishes, endeared to all by his amiable manners and the unaffected kindness of his heart" and is buried in the churchyard of the ruined Auld Kirk of St John’s in Lochwinnoch.