One of Burns' finest
songs begins:--
"Behind yon hills where Lugar flows."
That was the scene of William Murdock's boyhood. When a boy, he
herded his father's cows along the banks of the Bellow; and as
there were then no hedges, it was necessary to have some one to
watch the cattle while grazing. The spot is still pointed out
where the boy, in the intervals of his herding, hewed a square
compartment out of the rock by the water side, and there burnt
the splint coal found on the top of the Black Band ironstone.
That was one of the undeveloped industries of Scotland; for the
Scotch iron trade did not arrive at any considerable importance
until about a century later.[3] The little cavern in which
Murdock burnt the splint coal was provided with a fireplace and
vent, all complete. It is possible that he may have there
derived, from his experiments, the first idea of Gas as an
illuminant.
Murdock is also said to have made a wooden horse, worked by
mechanical power, which was the wonder of the district. On this
mechanical horse he rode to the village of Cumnock, about two
miles distant. His father's name is, however, associated with
his own in the production of this machine. Old John Murdock had
a reputation for intelligence and skill of no ordinary kind.
When at Carron ironworks, in 1760, he had a pinton cast after a
pattern which he had prepared.
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