Dumbarton - History

History

Dumbarton history goes back at least as far as the Iron Age and probably much earlier. It was the site of a strategically important early settlement, the residents of which were known to have traded with the Romans. The earliest record of a settlement in Dumbarton is a record in Irish chronicles of the death of Guret, rex Alo Cluathe ("king of Clyde Rock"), in AD 658; but a story about another king of Clyde Rock (petra Cloithe) in Adomnan's Life of St Columba (book 1, chapter 15) probably predates this, and a later source links King Ceretic, a British King who received a letter from St Patrick with Ail, thought to be Clyde Rock.

Dumbarton functioned as the royal centre of the kingdom of Clyde Rock mentioned in these sources, but had probably been eclipsed as a "capital" by the time of the establishment of the ancient Kingdom of Strathclyde around 900. It was later the county town of the county of Dunbartonshire, formerly known as Dumbartonshire. The name comes from the Scottish Gaelic Dùn Breatainn meaning "fort of the Brythons (Britons)", and serves as a reminder that the earliest historical inhabitants of Clydesdale spoke an early form of the Welsh language. These Britons themselves knew this dùn as Alt Clut, "Clyde Rock", a name which occurs both in Gaelic and in English sources of the 7th, 8th and 9th centuries (also spelled Alclud, Alcluyd, Alcluith).

Dumbarton was struck severely by the black death in 1350 and much of it burned down in 1424. But by the 17th century it was an important port with trade routes going as far afield as the West Indies. By 1800 the town was Scotland's largest producer of glass, for bottles and windows.

In September 1605 Chancellor Dunfermline reported to King James VI that inundations of the sea were likely to destroy and take away the whole town. It was estimated that the flood defences would cost 30,000 pounds Scots, the cost being levied nationwide.

During World War II Dumbarton was heavily bombed by the German air force. The Germans were targeting the shipyards, and the area in the vicinity of the yards was consequently hit, with Clyde and Leven Street being severely damaged. In an attempt to lure the German aircraft away from the shipyards, decoy lights were routinely placed on the Kilpatrick hills above the town, lights were set out on reservoirs to mimic those of the shipyards reflecting on the waters of the Leven and Clyde. The ploy was sometimes successful in diverting the bombers and many bombs fell harmlessly onto the moors and lochs.