What has Dumfries and Galloway ever done for us?- Kirkpatrick Macmillan
“He builded better than he knew”
When thinking about what Dumfries and Galloway has done for us we need to remember Kirkpatrick Macmillan. On a smithy wall in Keir Mill, Dumfriesshire, are the words “he builded better than he knew” and this was so true when reflecting back on the life of Kirkpatrick Macmillan. He was born in 1812 in Dumfriesshire and was the son of a Blacksmith. By 1824 he started working with his father and helping his father would have given him an insight into metal work and the use of mechanical devices. During his time working for his father he had become intrigued by the hobby horse, a two wheeled vehicle that was propelled by pushing your feet on the ground. He decided to make himself one but very quickly realised that this could be improved further if he could find some way to propel this mode of transport without actually putting his feet on the ground.
By 1839 he had completed his machine and had in effect created the first pedal bicycle. Although this invention was extremely heavy and would have taken considerable physical effort to propel it Kirkpatrick Macmillan had very quickly figured out how to ride his invention and it was not long before he was making the 14 mile journey into Dumfries. A well known story also tells of Macmillan making the 68 mile journey on his bicycle to Glasgow which was said to have taken him two days. During this journey he was said to have run over a little girl while cycling through the Gorbals in Glasgow and he was subsequently fined five shillings. Legend suggests that the magistrate was so impressed with his invention that he asked for a demonstration of how it worked and that he infact paid his fine for him. Kirkpatrick Macmillan was said to have preferred the quiet country life and was not interested in all the fuss that was being made over his invention. He died in his hometown in 1878 and he is buried in the old Churchyard at Keir.
We truly believe that Kirkpatrick Macmillan is one of the heroes from Dumfries and Galloway and why we include a visit to his smithy and his grave stone as part of our Heroes and Heroines Tour. We love the sign on the side of his smithy which states “He builded better than he knew”. Macmillan, not realising that his invention would go on to be one of the most popular modes of transport never patented it and therefore there have been many questions raised over whether he was infact the original inventor of the pedal bicycle. As well as being able to visit his smithy in Keir Mill there are replicas of his bicycle in Dumfries Museum, in the Loreburne Centre in Dumfries and one is kept at Drumlanrig Castle. His headstone can be visited in the old Keir churchyard.
If you are interested in finding out more about Kirkpatrick Macmillan or any of the other Dumfries and Galloway Heroes and Heroines then please check out our Dumfries and Galloway Heroes and Heroines Tour section of our website.
www.solwaytours.co.uk/tour/dumfries-and-galloway-heroes-and-heroines-tour/