In Chamber's "Popular Rhymes of Scotland", the following poem tells of several of the people and places in the district around Whitburn - some of which are very close to Stoneyburn.

The lang Flints o' Whitburn,
And Tennants o' the Inch,
John Maccall o' Bathgate
Sits upon his bench.
Yarryanban, Tarrybane,
Tarbane hills and sca't yauds,
Easter Whitburn's assey pets
And Wester Whitburn's braw lads.
The Duke i' the Head,
The Drake o' the Reeve
The Laird o' Craigmalloch
And Birnieton Ha'.
Hen-nest and Hare-nest,
Cockhill and Crippierest,
Belstane and the Belstane Byres,
Bickleton He' and the Guttermyres.

Possibly the most important and influential family in the area were the Waddell's.  Having purchased Holehouseburn in 1609, the first documented Waddell had one son that we know of called James, who married a daughter of the Thornton family from Davidson near Livingston.   They had two sons, Alexander who died in 1707 leaving the house to his younger brother James who was born in 1658.   As a young man James became deeply involved with the Covenanters and his life and exploits are well documented in a most interesting book. "Christian Life 200 Years Ago", which he wrote in 1721.   James married in 1681 and had two sons again called Alexander and James.   His unnamed wife died after only nine years of marriage.  He married his second wife, Elizabeth Bengo, who died in 1724.   James died in March 1728 and is buried in Whitburn churchyard.

His eldest son, Alexander, married Agnes, a daughter of John Wilson of Bents and moved to Stonehead Farm near Fauldhouse.   Alexander was responsible for the building of the first bridge over the Breich Water in the late 1700's and he left money in his will to provide a school at Holehouseburn for the education of the few local children at that time.   The younger son, James, took over Stoneyburn House in 1779.

From the Valuation Rolls of 1868 it appears that the Waddell family owned most the north side of the Breich Valley - from Fauldhouse to Stoneyburn House with an Alexander in the latter and a James in Crofthead, Bents and yet another James in Crofthead at Fauldhouse.   Alexander formed a partnership with a Mr Jamieson of West Breich to develop a small colliery at Stoneyburn about 1870.

John Wilson of Bents was also an ardent supporter of the Covenanters and had many narrow escapes from the dragoons who harried them.   On one occasion he had fallen ill, no doubt from being out on the open moors.   Whilst suffering from a terrible fever he took shelter in a small cave beside the 'Scholaburn' or Scollieburn near Addiewell.   His daughter Agnes was told where he was and she secretly brought him food and nursed him back to health.   Incidentally, this cave collapsed during the 1920's when some miners tried to dig coal from it during one of the strikes at that time.   The last account of John Wilson was then William of Orange landed in Torbay in 1689 to take over the British Throne, John travelled down to meet him and enlisted in his army as a Captain.

The Storrey or Storry family have also had a long history in the area.   They first lived at Burnhead sometime before 1868 and later took over Stoneheap Farm.   John Storry was a well liked man and was often referred to as Laird Storry or the Laird o' Bents.   It is said he had a great taste for whisky and that when his over indulgence caused ill health, he was hospitalised in Edinburgh for quite a lengthy time.  He became desperate to get home and one night he broke out and walked all the way back to Bents without his boots.   At one point he thought he had got completely lost because the Garden City had been built during his absence so he no longer recognised his surroundings.

The Blacks are without doubt the family with the longest association with the district and became known as the Blacks 0' Breich Water.   A James Black, originally believed to have come from Holland in King William III's army in 1689, settled at Calla, near Carnwath.   He had several sons, one call William came to live in the little farm, then called Liltie co-Kee, now less romantically knows as Bridge End on the road to Fauldhouse.   William and his wife, a Mary Tod, came in 1710 and raised a large family of six sons - James, John, William, David, Robert and Alexander - along with two daughters.   Father William died in 1742 and Mary died in 1767 and both are buried in Whitburn churchyard.   The eldest son, James, married an Agnes Mochrie and had two sons, the eldest, William, married Catherine, a daughter of the Waddell's of Crofthead and became the Laird of East Whitburn.  He died in 1829 aged 68 and his wife died in 1834 aged 80.   There is no mention of them having any heirs and so the line passed through the second son John, who married a Helen Steel of Turnhigh.   They had five sons and five daughters and lived at Bushdyke, near Levenseat where he became a Limemaster as well as being a farmer.

It would take a book of its own to follow this family line whose descendants are still living in the village after 284 years of association with the district.  Probably the best known of these is Mary Black who worked in the chemist shop for over 30 years until a car accident forced her to give up work in 1992.    Also in the village is Mary's cousin Richard (Richie) and his wife, daughter and granddaughter together with another cousin, Helen Cormack.

Webmaster: Mary lives in the house opposite me in Knowepark Road and was a friend of my late wife's.

One exceptional member of this 'clan' was John Black who was a talented and prolific poet.  He had three books of poems and narrative sketches published between 1909 and 1920, containing a total of 327 poems and 48 sketches, many of them written about the places we know of today beside the banks of his beloved Breich Water, which he refers to as 'Bentybrae'.   He was the eighth child in a family of four sons and eight daughters brought up on the farm of East Handaxewood near Breich   After living in the valley for twelve years with his wife and family they moved to Glasgow and it was there that he wrote most of his works.   In his first book, 'Melodies and Memories', he gives a highly detailed account of his family history.   It is indeed a great pity that his works are not more widely known and appreciated as they furnish a great deal of information about that time and in many instances almost rival the works of Rabbie Burns.