Wester Livilands, near Stirling, having become the property of Mr J W Drummond, that gentleman will take down the old mansion house and build a new one on its site. The old house of Livilands is famous in local history as being the residence of General Monk during the siege of Stirling castle by Cromwell, and there are legends connected with the Covenanters and also Prince Charlie. The most interesting thing about the house is the series of panels showing paintings of the Sibyls, with prophetic verses of the life of Christ in a curious mixture of Gothic and Roman lettering… Edinburgh Evening News, 3 Aug. 1898.
The Drummonds were a very significant family in Stirling. James Drummond’s grandfather, William (1760-1824) set up in business in the late 18th century as a nurseryman and seedsman in the Bannockburn area. The Drummonds were pioneers in turnip development with the Drummond’s Improved Swede and Drummond’s Extra Improved Swede. So ‘neeps and tatties’ all round!
If you visit the NHS Forth Valley Central Supplies Department (home to Health Promotion and Procurement) at Colquhoun Street in Stirling, pictured above in 1950, you can still see a ‘ghost sign’ on the rear of the building advertising Drummond’s seeds.
The ‘Sibyls’ referred to in the newspaper article are now kept at the National Museum of Scotland and are rare survivors of 17th Century domestic art.
If you have any other information about the history of the SHCV site in Stirling, please contact Amy Cawood, Corporate Records Manager, who is working with the Greenspace project to create a historic timeline.
