Easter 2023 A gentle rising over mountains and hills The new, God filled mornings where birds gently shrill Small new born lambs dance closely by mills as Easter dawns upon Ayrshire Sacred songs, worship, with words full of praise In Churches surrounding the Largs hills and braes Children hunt eggs and voices are raised as Easter dawns upon Ayrshire Another ray shines, o'er those still asleep Hope for all people from the Great Mercy Seat A baby is born, little feet, mothers weep as Easter dawns upon Ayrshire O'er darkened bleak forests, beams shafts of white light Laying beacons of hope, joys, filled with delight The Saviour has risen, o Beautiful Sight as Easter dawns upon Ayrshire Every day of our lives we await his appearing Through our darkened thoughts and opinions still seething Power so Gentle and soft,ever nearing as Easter dawns upon Ayrshire Shining with hope for people oppressed And those with anxiety, seeking some rest Bringing peace to our town, all people are Blessed as Easter dawns upon Ayrshire Pillars of light upon earth's lofty shafts Old time honoured rituals falling at last A new Light is dawning and all are agast as Easter dawns upon Ayrshire An angel appears and rests on our thoughts Like butterflies clinging to their earthly lot Of Thoughts and Prayers higher than possessions sought as Easter dawns upon Ayrshire Joseph McTaggart
Month: March 2023
Meet Malcolm McTaggart and Janet Smith
Malcolm McTaggart and Janet Smith (my Great Great Great Grandparents) lived in Montgomery Street as well as the Paddockholm area of Kilbirnie and then Glengarnock and were in many ways the parents of most McTaggart families who live in Kilbirne and Dalry today. The others came from his siblings, aunts and uncles.
He died in the late 1890s and she lived until 1919. His first wife was Jane Leitch, with whom he had one child and he is pictured here with his second wife Janet Smith. Together they had a lot of children.
Their parents came from Islay, the island off the west coast and they could only speak Gaelic when they first arrived here in the 1840s. Malcolm was born in Kilbirnie. His father was also married to a Janet Smith, Father and son married Mother and niece. Everybody worked in the steel works.
Malcolm and Janet are buried with their son John and they are one of the first graves as you enter the old cemetery across from the old old cemetery gate.
Poem: The Bing, Kilbirnie
The bing was a huge mound of cement and gravel where kids climbed on the corner of Place View and Newhouse Drive. It was converted into a playpark in the mid 80s. Oh the years upon the bing with cousin Margaret children played climbing up with all our power by Newhouse drive where people stayed Amid the thorns and grey cement there seemed a moment, time well spent and sliding down the gravel slope I skinned my knees without a hope My grannie waiting at the door with borax, plasters by the score O the hills we thought were steep when now in older lives we keep Mountains slopes upon our minds perhaps a bing of different kind climbing o’er our darker thoughts just like the thistles we did trod Lessons from the bing well learnt of my granny’s soothing balm o how that Love returns to me a nd brings with it a sense of calm And behind the trees sat Warrior’s bing perhaps a sign of future years with bigger slope and hills to climb amid the darker fading years
Poem: Snow in Paisley
And comes a pure white blanket laid around the river Cart Across the darkened thoughts of man a Love which does impart And o´er the bogs and swamps there´s ice up to the Abbey door A voice says “Man with all your cares be still for just an hour” The darkened views of waning health, exchanged for winter cheer The snow reflects a gentle calm upon the town so dear And on the braes the deer are seen walking proudly by For no man can touch their safety now upon their mountain high Upon the tombs of rested men lies layers of icy sense Reflecting that the One great Mind preserves their innocence