Even to those who know it best, Renfrewshire is a surprising county. Round its northern fringe it is rapidly changing its appearance; almost in a night, it would seem, a rural area served by a few winding lanes, has become a suburb of some town.
Elsewhere the county remains the same – wide-spreading moors rising gently from the lower reaches of the Clyde to the ridge which marks its boundaries with Ayrshire and Lanarkshire and broken at intervals by villages and hamlets which remain strangely remote.
Shipyards, engineering works and factories extend along the Clyde from Govan to Greenock; and on its tributaries, Cart, Leven and Gryfe, numerous industries have been developed, with farmhouses dotted about the carse which extends from Paisley to Port-Glasgow. Above the fertile “laich lands,” numerous lochs in the heart of the moorlands, are overlooked on the south and west by the high ground on the Ayrshire border.
Paisley has its own Gleniffer Braes, haunted by the shade of Robert Tannahill; the Fereneze Hills overlook Barrhead, and Neilston Pad stands sentinel over the county’s “Lochlands”; behind Port-Glasgow and Greenock the land rises to the Hill of Stake and Misty Law.
Greenock and Gourock are magnificently placed. They are the main gates to the Firth of the Clyde, and look across the blue waters to the rounded Luss Hills and the smooth slopes above Kilcreggan. Inverkip and Wemyss Bay, round the point and on the opening firth, are in full view of the lochs which thrust their long arms into the land surrounded by the Cowal Hills and the rugged peaks of Argyll’s Bowling Green.
It is only eight miles from Gourock to the county boundary at Wemyss Bay, but this road is one of the finest in the world, with every bend revealing a fresh vista.
Inverkip, between Gourock and Wemyss Bay, is pleasantly situated at the mouth of Inverkip Glen and surrounded by wooded heights. Through this glen, in which is found scenery of unimaginable beauty, one can approach the highest peaks of Renfrewshire, of which the Hill of Stake takes first place.
Although none of these hills exceeds 1711 feet, from their summits expansive views may be obtained. If it is a clear day you may discern the peaks of Arran, the Paps of Jura, Ailsa Craig, Ben More and Stobinian and their neighbours round Crianlarich, the Ochils, the Pentlands, Tinto, and the Galloway Highlands.
The traveller through Renfrewshire will find picturesque villages like Houston and Kilbarchan, modern townships such as Kilmacolm and Langbank, the superb Rouken Glen, the meeting of the waters near Busby, and such links with the Middle Ages as St Fillan’s Church at Killallan, and Crookston Castle. He may end his journey in Paisley, with its abbey and its thread factories, or he may proceed to the old town of Renfrew, once a rival of Glasgow in size, trade and prosperity.
A fine example of a crannog was found at Langbank in 1901, while a burial-place belonging to the Bronze Age was discovered near Cathcart and Druids kindled fires to Baal at the Clochodrich Stone, south of Kilbarchan.
John Knox belonged to a family whose seat was at Ranfurly, and some of his followers wrecked the beautiful abbey at Paisley which had dominated the religious life of a wide area. The moors round Eaglesham provided a refuge for Covenanters fleeing form the wrath of Claverhouse, and in 1685, after the failure of his ill-conducted revolt, the Earl of Argyll was captured in the Blythswood grounds.
Few Scottish counties can boast of so many main roads and such a wealth of delightful byways. Renfrewshire, too, has many streams – most of them feeders of the mighty Clyde – which tumble down the hillsides through heather.
For sheer exquisite beauty the Earn, which rises in the heart of Mearns Moor, surpasses many larger waters.
Christopher North discovered its charm as it rushes to join the White Cart, itself a silver ribbon in a dark moss as it flows from its source on Eldrig Hill to Inchinnan. At Crookston, White Cart takes in the Levern, which rises beyond Neilston Pad and flows through Barrhaead. The Black Cart has its origin in Castle Semple Loch, which in turn is fed by the Calder from the slopes of the Hill of Stake and its neighbours. The Gryfe, flowing from the reservoirs above Greenock, sweeps by Bridge of Weir to join the Black Cart at Georgetown.
The possibilities in Renfrewshire are almost without limits. There is only one thing which the average lover of natural beauty will deplore – and that is that he has not enough time to spend among its many charms.