Until the middle of the nineteenth century, the villages on the western shore of the Gareloch were poorly served with piers to connect with the frequent steamboat services from Glasgow and Greenock. The sometimes difficult means of boarding was by ferry boat and there were ferries at Rahane, Crossowen and at Roseneath. It was in 1845 that a pier opened at Roseneath, just south of the narrows that mark the boundary of the Gareloch proper. The good folk of the village of Clynder had either to walk to Roseneath or use the ferry at Crossowen, north of the village, where the ferryman was James Campbell, . Archibald Chalmers was born on March 22, 1836, the son of James Chalmers and Sarah M‘Cunn who lived, along with other members of the Chalmers family at Little Rahean. He was baptized on May 5 of the same year. James farmed Little Rahean with his older brother Robert who also had a son,...