John Gorevan

Rosses Bar

March 22, 2017 by John Gorevan Leave a Comment

24 Portugal Street, Gorbals, Glasgow.

exterior view of Rosses Bar 24 Portugal Street Gorbals

Rosses Bar, 24 Portugal Street, Gorbals. 1960s.

There has been licensed premises on this site since 1837. John Duncan acquired a licence to sell Wine, Porter and Spirits. Before 1877 the address of the pub was 12 Portugal Street, although the pub was on the same site. After 1877 the pubs address was 24 Portugal Street.

Over the years many Spirit Dealers have come and gone including Robert Morton, James Johnston, William Frame, he lived at 36 Cumberland Street, John Meikle, he resided at 21 Apsley Place, John Meikle jun, he also owned pubs at 255 Rutherglen Road, many will still remember this old pub as the Kick Off, 128 Paisley Road West, 103 McLean Street, John jun lived at 22 Abbotsford Place.

The Meikle family must have been very successful in this business as they owned a few public houses and lived in well to-do houses in Abbotsford Place.

John Meikle jun a well known and respected spirit merchant owned the pub from 1891, he took over from his father, John Meikle who started out in the licensed trade in 1874 in a small public house on Portugal Street. The family went on to owns other well known pubs in the city including J Meikle, Paisley Road West and Eglinton Street.

John Meikle senior was born in 1826 in Muiravonside Parish, Stirling. Mr Meikle met his wife Jane in Bothwell where they started a family, they soon moved to Glasgow and settled in South Apsley Place, Gorbals.

The happy couple had three other children there, the eldest was Agnes, John, Jane and Robert. John jun learned the trade as a commercial traveller with a silk firm while Robert was a commercial clerk for a grain business. The family then moved on to better accommodation in Abbotsford Place.

After the First World War John jun was running three pubs in the city which included Rutherglen Road, Paisley Road West and Eglinton Street all having the title J Meikle above the doorway. The family continued to run the Rutherglen establishment until the early 1950s.

Rosses Bar, 24 Portugal Street taken from Dunmore Street. Thanks to Norrie McNamee for the image.

Another well-known wine and spirit merchant to own this old pub was Thomas Bennett jun., he took over this pub in 1896 until 1905. His father Thomas Bennet was also a well respected personality in the Licensed Trade in Scotland having premises at 467 Aikenhead Road at the corner of Polmadie Street now called the International Bar, and the Hampden Bar at 58 Albert Road at the corner of Langside Road.

Left to right Jack Baillie (from Guinness); John Hope (from MacKinlay -McPherson); Mrs J K Webster; Mrs John Hope; J K Webster and Cornelius Byrne, at the Gorbals Ward annual outing to Glendaruel, 1966.

In 1906 Peter Kernan took over the licence. Peter paid an annual rent of £48. He lived with his family at 9 Park Road, Pollokshaws. Mr Kernan survived the First World War and continued to run the bar just before the next World War.

In 1937 Hugh O’Neil was licensee. The O’Neil family continued to run this pub until the 1940s.

Another well-known publican to own this pub was James Culligan. Mr Culligan also owned the Norfolk Arms, 66-68 Norfolk Street.

From 1951 to the 1960s the Byrne family owned this pub, James Byrne followed by Cornelius Byrne, he was the last one to have the licence before it was demolished in the early 1960s.

Left to right Mr J Culligan; Miss P McGuire; Mrs Bertha Sendall (Royal Restaurant); and J K Webster (Webster’s Bar). 1963. This image was taken at the annual Gorbals Ward outing.

Left to right Mr & Mrs John Hamilton, (The Tavern Bar, Glebe Street); Mrs and Mr James Culligan. 1962. This image was taken at a Gorbals Ward night out at the Glasgow Empire at the opening of the Andy Stewart Show then followed by a night out at the Ca’doro Restaurant.

Licence Holders…

John Duncan 1837-1839.

Robert Morton 1852-1840.

James Johnston 1853-1864.

William Frame 1865-1871.

John Meikle 1872-1885.

John Meikle jun 1885-1896.

Thomas Bennet jun 1896-1905.

Peter Kernan 1905-1936.

Hugh O’Neil 1937-1940s.

James Culligan 1940s-1950.

James Byrne 1951-1957.

Cornelius Byrne 1960s.

Other Pubs on Portugal Street…

McGovern’s Bar. 2-4

Matelot. 01

Roper’s. 01

Rose Bud Bar. 01

The Roseneath Cottage

March 22, 2017 by John Gorevan Leave a Comment

249-51 Paisley Road, Glasgow.

The Roseneath Cottage was established around the year 1850, and stayed unchanged until it was finally demolished in the wave of the city improvement trust. Charles Scobie the founder of the business, witnessed many of the changes in Tradeston, all the old buildings came down and new tenements were erected on the old sites, but the Roseneath Cottage remained unchanged.

The probability is that it existed far away back in the Jacobite era and that when Prince Charlie and his troops raided the city for boots and shoes and victuals on their victorious march from the south on the way to the ill-fated Culloden Moor, that Roseneath Cottage, under a different name flourished.

In 1891 a gentleman who had gone to Canada sixty years ago returned to the old country and revisited the scenes of his youth, amongst then Roseneath Cottage, he said to the manager at the time, “that little change in the place. I remember every neuk in the hoose after sixty years. The vacant ground behind the main building had been utilised, but the fountain remains, and sparkles as brightly in the sunlight as it did when the first jet of water ascended from it eighty years ago.” The vacant ground had a peculiar history.

Back in the time when quoiting was a favourite pastime, many a game was played behind the Roseneath Cottage. Champion players, men whose names were still remembered, turned up here.

The old part of the house remains intact, and the additions made do not detract from its ancient appearance. The old rooms, two of them unique so far as the ceilings were concerned, were still preserved in their pristine glory. The ceilings of the two referred to were artistically done up with shells and cones of the fir and the spruce.

The figures represented in the design must have been drawn by one who had a keen and appreciative eye for the beautiful. The cones and shells were now blackened with age, but even time has failed to mar the effect of the work, which must have entailed considerable labour.

The bar in the Roseneath Cottage was decorated with trophies of every kind. In the extreme west corner there was a case of ptarmigan, the lone habitants of the great herbless peaks of the Grampian chain.

There was also specimens of the owl, the wild duck and many other wild birds. Perhaps the most attractive of all the bird cases is that containing a pheasant cock and hen, with their brood. There is no doubt, in the city of Glasgow one will find such a fine collection of birds.

There was also a collection of flint guns, strange looking pieces of fire arms, giving the place an air of far off times, an impression which will never fade from the memory of a visitor. This was an old Glasgow hostelry full of character.

All the best liquor was stocked in the Roseneath Cottage, the establishment was run like clock-work, all the waiters had a code of dress, god forbid the man that forgot his uniform, which consisted of a brilliant white starched shirt, black tie and shoes and not forgetting the brilliant white apron.

These white aprons tied at the back and the front had a button hole that attached to the shirt. Throughout it’s history the Roseneath never left the Scobie family. When Charles Scobie died his son Charles took over the running of the business.

All the bottling was done on the premises as well as the blending of whisky, a specialty was of course the Roseneath blend of old Highland. The licence was then taken over by Miss Janey Bell Scobie in 1901 and during the First World War Margory Rollo Scobie was in charge.

Women running pubs was not unusual during war times as all the men were usually fighting for their country. The Roseneath Cottage was demolished shortly afterwards. Miss Marjory Rollo Scobie served the locals until around 1910.