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The house at this site is now a ruin. It was called Ardochbeg, and it saw at least four centuries of habitation, as shown by occasional references in historical records.

October 4th, 1539, saw "John McRobert McFarlane, Duncan Dow McKippoune, and Duncan McKillop, Convicted of art and part of Fire-raising and of Burning the Town of Ardochbeg, and for common Theft and 'Sornyng' - HANGED" ["Criminal Trials in Scotland from AD 1488 to AD 1724", Vol 1, Part 1, by Robert Pitcairn].

('Sornyng' refers to abusing hospitality by exacting free board and lodgings by force or by threats; note also that "town" in this context means a ferm toun, and not a town in the modern sense of the word. There would have been a cluster of buildings here.)

In 1625, Ardochbeg was among the properties "apprised" from a certain Thomas Fallasdaill (also spelled "Fallisdail", "Fallisdaill", etc.); in other words, it was valued and sold in order to pay off a debt; in this case, 1100 Scots merks (plus interest).

Fallasdaill, a quarrelsome man, was appointed Dumbarton's first provost in 1612 (a post which he would hold seven times in all); he supervised repair work in Dumbarton Castle in 1617 and again in 1618, and he also oversaw work to protect Dumbarton from flooding by the River Leven [pages 106-108 and 181 of "Dumbarton Castle" (I M M MacPhail, 1979)].

The OS Object Name Books (1860) describe Ardochbeg as a "farm house and offices, the property of Bontine Graham Esq. of Finlaystone", and they list Robert Traquair as the occupier at that time. On the long association of the surname Traquair with this area, see the relevant comments at NS3477 : The gravestone of John Traquair).

At about the time of the Second World War, the building was still inhabited (by the family of the author of this shared description, for whom the site therefore has some added significance), and it was still called Ardochbeg. The name can be found on older Ordnance Survey maps.

The Farm Horse Tax Rolls for 1797—98 have an entry for an Alexander McIntyre here at Ardochbeg.

If there was an Ardochbeg ("small Ardoch", from Gael. "beag"), there should also have been a corresponding Ardochmore ("big Ardoch", from Gael. "mòr"). Indeed there was: the site now occupied by Ardoch Farm (NS36357688) is labelled Ardochmore on the first-edition OS map (surveyed in 1857).

Created: Mon, 22 Jan 2018, Updated: Sun, 22 Sep 2019