‘A New Song, Concerning the Kilmarnock Improvements’ by James Rodger, features in our current display on Kilmarnock’s Literary Heritage. It is notable in two ways: firstly, it is a pretty bad piece of poetry! And secondly, it is a fantastic piece of local history.
Almost every verse contains a valuable snippet of the town c1850s, probably 1857. It reflects the vast range of new buildings and developments during this period, for example, the development of Duke Street in verse 10:
“There’s another great improvement which I hear is to be done, It’s the making of a new street, straight by the Sun Inn…”There are lots of other place names mentioned or alluded to that will send you off to consult 1850s Ordnance Survery maps: Bonnyton Curling Loch, the Cattle Market, Mr Dyke’s Nursery, and the Holm. And new inventions such as hand-held gas lights and steam carriages! There’s also mention of the industrial and manufacturing activity in the town: steam-looms and the extensive array of workshops around the Railway Station.
So we can forgive Mr Rodger for some bad rhymes. His ‘New Song’ provides us with a really fascinating portrait of the town in the middle of the 19th century.