Miscellaneous Stained Glass

Arnotdale

Arnotdale House was one of the first of the magnificent large villas to be built to the west of Falkirk in 1832 by James Russel.  By 1860 the lobby was lighted from a stained glass window, the work of Mr Watson, Dunfermline.  James Russel also gifted a window to Falkirk Parish Church.

The house passed through a number of owners, including Sheriff Moffat and Robert Barr, before being bought by Robert Dollar and handed to Falkirk Town Council so that the grounds could be used as a public park.  At some time in this process the stained glass was lost.

(SMR 945)

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Bantaskine House

In 1861 J. Wilson, ex Provost of Govan, commissioned major interior decoration at Bantaskine House.  In the passage from the dining-room to the butler’s pantry he had imitation walnut panels put in, lighted by a handsome stained glass window.  In the centre of this window was a trader in calico exhibiting his goods to two black ladies, while on the margin were the following mottoes:

            “Let Hercules himself do what he may,
The cat will mew, and the dog will have his day”

            “Plough deep while sluggards sleep,
And ye’ll have corne to sell and keep;”

“There’s a divinity that shapes our ends,/
rough hew them how we will;”

“East or west – hame is best.”

On the sidelights of this window were representations of fruits and birds.  The main stair had a large stained glass window.  In the centre was a figure clad in classic garb (a personification of Science and Art) giving the right hand of fellowship to a female in eastern costume.  Immediately above were the heads of Columbus and other early navigators, and above these representations of various fruits.  On each side female figures stood in foreign costume.  Beneath, in either corner, was a head representing town and country under the names Urbs and Rustica, while between was the crest of the proprietor and his motto – “Semper vigilane.”  The stained glass windows were executed by W & J Kier, Glasgow.

The house was demolished in the 1960s and it is not known what happened to the windows.

(SMR 1050)

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Burlington Hall, Cow Wynd, Falkirk

The Burlington Dance Hall on the upper floor of the building on the corner of Cow Wynd and Mission Brae had stained glass installed by Daniel O’May, glazier, in 1927.  The windows have since been reglazed and it is not known what happened to the originals.

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Falkirk & District Royal Infirmary

Falkirk Infirmary had a miniature glass window bearing the Infirmary coat-of-arms and the motto “Touch ane, touch a” installed in 1930 in the new recreation and lecture hall.  The glass was put into storage in the 1980s and it was proposed to move it to the new hospital in Larbert.

(SMR 1565)

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Rosehall

Rosehall was built for James Neilson the auctioneer in 1852.  The internal decoration included a lofty stained glass staircase window by Ballantine of Edinburgh, and there was another in the corridor by Mr Watson of Dunfermline.  It came to be owned by the Scouts and during the Second World War was occupied by Polish troops.  Due to dry rot it was demolished shortly thereafter.  It is not known what happened to the windows.

(SMR 1543)

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Miscellaneous

G.B. Bailey (2019)