Newmains - The Past

A study of the place-names of Scotland reminds us constantly of the Catholic past From the far North right to the Borders our forebears have shown their devotion to Our Lady and the Saints in the names which they gave their lands. Place-names like Motherwell, Lady-well, Kilpatrick and Kirkmuirhill are examples of this pious practice. In our own parish we have the names, Cambusnethan and Chapel to help us to follow the early history of the Church in this district.

The civil parish of Cambusnethan in which Newmains is situated takes its name from the Gaelic Camus, meaning a bay or curve. There are two bends of the River Clyde either of which may have given the name - one at the Garrion, the other at the old church dedicated to St Nethan. Hence the meaning of the word "Cambusnethan"- the "bend (of the River) of St Nethan." The name Cambusnethan carries the story back to the eigth century to Nethan, King of the Picts, who came to be known as Saint Nethan. According to the Venerable Bede, monk of Jarrow-on-Tyne, King Nethan was a wise and holy man. He was anxious to bring the Church in his kingdom into closer communion with Rome by obeying the orders of the Holy See regarding the date of Easter. Nethan "persuaded himself and all his subjects to celebrate the Catholic time of the Lord's Resurrection" and caused the clergy to adopt the circular tonsure, thus bringing the Church in Scotland into line with the Church in England in accordance with the decrees issued at the Synod of Whitby, A.D. 664. To help him in his work, Nethan sought the aid of Ceolfrid, Abbot of Jarrow, asking him to send architects to help to build a stone church after the manner of the Romans. The Abbot sent the builders and with them letters explaining the observance of Easter. A meeting of the nobles was called and the meaning of the Abbot's letter explained. Bede reports that King Nethan knelt on the ground in the midst of the assembly, thanking God for the opportunity of serving the See of Peter.

It is thought that the district called Chapel or Watston Chapel in Morningside derived its name from a little church built there by the monks of Arbroath Abbey, who held land in thirty-five parishes of Scotland, among them the parish of Cambusnethan. The King favoured the monasteries with princely gifts of land in different parts of the country because