Chancellor’s seat, Leadhills.
Amidst the Lowther Hills, on a slope rising from the Shortcleugh Burn, the friends of the late Henry Chancellor of Newton and Shieldhill have erected in his memory and to mark the spot where, he was found dead on the 1st of April, 1915, a stone seat, which is a centre of interest to visitors in this district. On paying my first visit on a fine Autumn day to Chancellor’s Seat, as it is called, I was deeply impressed by the circumstances of his death and the wild beauty, solemnity and solitude of the scene of his passing, In front, the main Lowther Slope rising steeply to its lofty summit, its still smooth sides dressed in soft springy grey green turf; from the right, the Shortcleugh Burn springing from the rocks of the Five Cairns, winding its way down the Glen; to the left, the purple heather clad hills stretching as far as the eye could see, and in close proximity the Reservoir, its surface water moved by the wind, and sparkling in the rays of the sun—the whole made a scene that could not fail to soothe the jaded spirit, weary with the vexations and troubles of life. Such, with its Spring instead of its Autumn dressing, was the scene of the passing of Henry Chancellor.
Amidst the everlasting hills
He loved so well,
He met his end; what pain he bore
No tongue could tell;
No earthly friend was standing by,
No loved one over him to sigh,
No tender human heart was nigh
With grief to swell.
And, yet, his greatest Friend was there,
In yon’ lone glen,
Who holds Creation in His care
And lives of men;
To comfort and uphold him, till
The Angels winged adown the hill
To bear his spirit from all ill
And mortal ken.