William Currie McDougall (1840–1920) was a Scottish minister of the Free Church of Scotland who is remembered as a poet and for an infamous and unusual court case in which he became embroiled, known as the "Coatbridge Free Church Scandal".

Life

He was born in Glasgow on 9 January 1840 the son of Alexander McDougall, a horn spoon maker, and his wife, Agnes Currie. He moved in his youth to

Saltcoats Saltcoats ( gd, Baile an t-Salainn) is a town on the west coast of North Ayrshire, Scotland. The name is derived from the town's earliest industry when salt was harvested from the sea water of the Firth of Clyde, carried out in small cottages al ...

and lived in a miner's cottage on Raise Street in the town centre. Although some records state there was "no mining" in Saltcoats this is incorrect. The Stevenston coal mine lay on the edge of the town, He emigrated to America in his youth and studied Theology there. He was ordained in the church of

Plato, Indiana Plato is an unincorporated community in Bloomfield Township, LaGrange County, Indiana. History A post office opened at Plato in 1890, and remained in operation until it was discontinued in 1901. The community was likely named for the philosopher ...

in 1871. He also spent time in California which was the subject of several of his poems. He returned to Scotland in 1878 and was licensed to preach by the Free Church of Scotland in 1879. He appears to have initially assisted at a mission in

High Blantyre High may refer to: Science and technology * Height * High (atmospheric), a high-pressure area * High (computability), a quality of a Turing degree, in computability theory * High (tectonics), in geology an area where relative tectonic uplift to ...

as he appears in records on 2 July 1879 attending one of the several

Blantyre mining disaster The Blantyre mining disaster, which happened on the morning of 22 October 1877, in Blantyre, South Lanarkshire, Blantyre, Scotland, was Scotland's worst ever mining accident. Pits No. 2 and No. 3 of William Dixon's Blantyre Colliery were the s ...

s, occurring in a coal mine owned by William Dixon & Co in which 27 were killed and many others injured. In 1883 he was ordained at the West Free Church in Coatbridge. As a very rare event in Free Church history, he was "loosed" (fired) from his post on 19 October 1899. This action was further verified as correct in the General Assembly of 1900. This action resulted in a court case in Edinburgh's High Court in January/February 1902. The church claimed he was released due to "inefficiency". McDougall, in a strange counter-claim, aimed to damage the Free Church, he said it was his opposition to alcohol which caused his release (implying that the Free Church supported alcoholic drink, which is not really true). The court ruled the whole affair outwith their jurisdiction. However, as McDougall refused to promise not to preach again in Coatbridge he was found in contempt of court and had to serve 28 days in

Calton Prison Governor's House is a building situated on the southernmost spur of Calton Hill, beside the south-east corner of Old Calton Burial Ground, in Edinburgh, Scotland. It looks out over Waverley Station, the Canongate and Holyrood Park to the south. ...

, being released on 7 March 1902. This was undoubtedly a severe shock to McDougall, whose attitude (as with many clergy) was one of being beyond reproach. McDougall was totally broken by this event and abandoned all hope of re-employment. He returned to Saltcoats/Ardrossan (probably living with a sister there). He died in Ardrossan (adjacent to Saltcoats) in 1920 aged 80.

Poems

*''A Wayside Sermon: to the Old Pump Well in Raise Street Saltcoats'' (this was a water supply pump) *''Lines to the

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'' *'' Santa Clara'' *''To the Memory of Dr T W Tilden, Chico, California'' *''A Summer Scene: Hollister'' *''The Picket in War'' *''The Fatal Bullet'' *''The Unveiling of the Statue of

Livingstone Livingstone may refer to: * Livingstone (name), a Scottish surname and a given name. **David Livingstone (1813–1873), Scottish physician, missionary and explorer, after whom many other Livingstones are named Places *Livingstone Falls, on the Con ...

George Square, Glasgow George Square ( gd, Ceàrnag Sheòrais) is the principal civic square in the city of Glasgow, Scotland. It is one of six squares in the city centre, the others being Cathedral Square, St Andrew's Square, St Enoch Square, Royal Exchange Sq ...

'' (1879) *'' Drumclog, 1679'' (1879) *''The Tay Bridge Disaster'' (1879)

Other publications

*''An Awakened Church'' (1892) *''Rome or Rum and the Cure for Both'' *''Gleams Yont the Gloom'' (1893)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McDougall, William Currie 1840 births 1920 deaths Clergy from Glasgow 19th-century Ministers of the Free Church of Scotland Scandals in Scotland