Clever Mr.Gibson

Reminiscences of Dollar, Tillicoultry and other Districts adjoining the Ochils
by William Gibson (1883)

Diane [nee Drysdale] Monteith pointed this out

 Page 203 ROMANTIC STORY OF DRYSDALE FAMILY 

 From a very old document that has been put into my hands I find Mr Drysdale can trace his genealogy back to the beginning of the sixteenth century I herewith give a copy of it in full 

       On the twentieth day of May one thousand five hundred and three years We Thomas William and James Douglas sons of the departed Thomas Douglas of Brush wood Haugh in the parish of Drysdale and shire of Dumfries left our native place for the reason here assigned viz Defending our just and lawful rights against our unjust neighbour Johnstone of Greenstone hill who being determined to bring water to his mill through our property and having obtained leave of his friend the king began his operations on Monday the 16th May We prevented him by force The next day he brought twenty of his vassals to carry on the work We with two friends and three servants eight in all attacked Johnstone with his twenty and in the contest fourteen of his men were killed along with their base leader A report of these proceedings was carried to the king and we were obliged to fly the tocsin being sounded We took shelter under the shadow of the Ochil Hills in a lonely valley on the river Devon After having lived there two full years we returned home in disguise but found all our property in the possession of Johnstone's friends and a great reward offered for our lives We having purchased a small shot called the Haugh of Dollar and changed our names to the name of our native parish and are clearly in mind to spend the residue of our days under the ope of the Ochils and wish the name of Drysdale to flourish in the lonely valley The king passed through this with his court on the 12th of June 1506 going from Stirling to Falkland dined on Halliday's green an eastern neighbour but we were not known The foregoing document had been preserved among 

the descendants of those three brothers Douglas now known by the name of Drysdale and copied first by Symon Drysdale of the Haugh of Dollar in the year 1620 by Robert Drysdale of Tillicoultry in 1708 and renewed at different times since then

   The spinning mill of Edward Senior & Co was erected in 1864 and the Oak Mill built by a limited liability company in 1873 The latter is now the property of Mr Gill and was acquired by him in 1 881

 I will now shortly take notice of a number of manufacturing firms who did not spin but bought all their yarns and some of whom carried on pretty extensive businesses and foremost amongst these is the enterprising firm of Monteith & Drysdale The original partners of this firm were Mr James Monteith and Mr Alexander Drysdale and they commenced business in 1836 in premises nearly opposite J & G Walker's Mill and carried on also the dye house in connection with this mill for a good many years They had no spinning mill at this time but bought all their yarns Mr James Monteith died in 1847 and the business for a long period was earned on solely by Mr Drysdale until his son Mr James was of age to assist him in it In 1849 Mr Drysdale bought the two mills at Devon side to the west of Thomas Monteith & Son's and built the fine new spinning mill there with the large powerdoom shed and other premises that now form their extensive works Mr Drysdale retired from the business in 1871 and it is now being carried on by Mr James Drysdale and Mr Allan Eitchie under the same old firm of Monteith & Drysdale