Like the North UF, the South UF had various names over time. Being at the foot (lower end) of the town, it was sometimes referred to as the Townfoot Church. It was originally part of the Relief Church, formed in the Second Secession in 1761. It became the South UP (United Presbyterian), then the South UF (United Free). It merged with the North UF in 1925 and moved to the North’s building, with the combined congregations being named the Erskine Church after Ebenezer Erskine (1680-1754), one of the leaders of the First Secession in 1733.
The congregation had its roots in nearby Canonbie in 1797 where it met in a field. The catchment area soon incorporated Langholm and by 1802 its meetings had moved there.
After also initially meeting in the open air in Langholm, the congregation was given a building in Drove Road by Dr Archibald Graham of Holmfoot house. Dr Graham had previously been the Deputy Inspector-General of Hospitals in the Bombay Army.
A new building was constructed on the same site in 1883-1884 with a stone carving of the then minister, Rev William Watson (1817-1890), above the entrance. Watson was minister from 1844 to 1890 and was the founder of the Langholm Penny Bank, a savings scheme.
His successor was Rev John Wallace Mann from 1890 to 1901, who led the celebrations for the church’s centenary in October 1900 [history in E&L article 31 Oct 1900 fiche 691-4]. He used his middle name as part of a double-barrelled surname and moved to Eastbank Church, Shettleston, Glasgow.
Rev Thomas Cairncross was minister from 1901 to 1907, a writer of stories and poems, and an early mentor to Christopher Grieve (later known as the poet Hugh MacDiarmid). MacDiarmid was a Sunday School teacher at South UF in his teens, but the two fell out later over MacDiarmid’s public criticism of Cairncross.
The minister from 1908 to 1925 was Rev James Macdonald, originally from Inverness. Like Rev George Orr of the North UF, he had a particularly strong academic background.
Rev Macdonald coordinated a temporary association between the South UP and Chalmers UF congregations while the Chalmers minister Rev David Inglis was away as an army chaplain from 1916 to April 1918.
The church’s Roll of Honour of Great War participants lists 53 people. Nine were killed, including:
- John Warwick: bugler, in the Battle of Achi Baba Nullah, Gallipoli (see 12th July in the Diary).
- Frank Thomson: bomb (grenade) thrower, in the Battle of Loos, France (see 25th September in the Diary).
