For as long as I can remember I have had an interest in our family's history and my thoughts
on how they lived and died. Perhaps this is partly due to the times I used to spend as a child
on the family farm in Cambusnethan. Summerside was it's name, on the banks of the Auchter burn,
Situated North of Carluke, South of Allanton and East of Morningside, it was approx 100 acres of
arable fertile land, and in the title deeds it was always referred to as "comprising of half the
lands of Daviesdykes".
Old hand me down tales said that the farm had been in the family for nearly 400 years,
and had always been passed on to the eldest son (as was the laws in the early days)
(I will get the right name for the law of procuratiory?)
If you have trawled through the Old Parish Records for Cambusnethan you may recognise
some of the old farm names in the vicinity;- Daviesdykes (of course), Darngavel, Auchterhead,
Redmyre, Summerhill, Sunnyside, Hairscraig, Watsonhead (mid & Foot), Cairnyside, Hyndshaw,
Athcartmuir, Kirkhall, Gallowhill, South Dyke and Hartfield to . Many of these farm names
still exist.
So, probably about 2 years or so ago (1997/8) I decided to set about proving just how long
we had owned the farm, never did I imagine just where this curiosity would get me. As I
delved through OPRs and Scot's origins finding names that should fit (but never able to),
trying to get the more elder members of my family to divulge some snippets (isn't it just
wonderful how, when you have spent weeks and months searching for clues and eventually fit
some pieces together and proudly wanting to show what information you have and the answer
will come back "oh yes she was such and such"). After spending hours on the Internet, I
decided the only way to go next was to consult original documents and records. By this time
my wife Janis decided she had to investigate just what I was up to, spending all these
evenings at a computer that I hardly knew how to operate. After a few searches for the name
McGHIE on the LDS she was too was firmly hooked.
With the help of these pages we hope to share our information on the STEEL family and on the
Communities of Shotts & Cambusnethan.
This is the original well as it is today where many
of the adjacent farmers would come for drinking water
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