Old photograph of church picnic by Beith in North Ayrshire, Scotland. This small Scottish town is situated in the Garnock Valley, approximately 20 miles South West of Glasgow. Beith has a historical connection to smuggling and built a reputation during the 18th century as being a town which harboured those whose intentions were not always lawful. In 1733 forty or fifty Beith smugglers sacked the Irvine Customs House, escaping with a rich booty of confiscated contraband goods and by 1789 a company of 76 soldiers were quartered in the town dealing with the continuing illicit trade in tea, tobacco, and spirits. This caused great inconvenience to the law abiding citizens on whom the soldiers were billeted. The town was policed in this fashion for some time thereafter. Hence, the Main Street's popular public house is still called the Smugglers Tavern, recalling the days when Beith's location between the coast and Paisley and Glasgow, made it a convenient stopping off point for those involved in nefarious activities. One of Beith's various claims to fame is that a signatory of the American Declaration of Independence, the Reverend John Witherspoon, was a former minister of one its Church of Scotland parishes between 1745 and 1757. In 1745 he led the men of Beith to Glasgow to defend King George III against the Young Pretender in the 1745 rebellion. Despite receiving orders to return to Beith, Witherspoon carried on, was captured at the Battle of Falkirk and imprisoned for a time in Doune Castle. He later emigrated and became a member of the US congress and in July 1776 he voted for the Resolution for Independence. Dr Henry Faulds, the originator of the concept of forensic use of fingerprinting, was born in Beith in 1843.
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