Fellow villagers thought Kirkpatrick MacMillan mad for dreaming up the idea. He rode his cumbersome machine 68 miles over rough roads from his home to Glasgow to visit his two school teacher brothers. In June 1842 the inventor was fined 5 shillings for speeding at 8 mph into the Gorbals and knocking down a little girl. The magistrate was sufficiently impressed to ask MacMillan for a figure-of-eight demonstration in the courtyard, and is said to have slipped him the money for the fine. Before you ride away from Keir you might also like to look for MacMillan’s gravestone in Keir Mill graveyard. It's in the old graveyard which is on the right down a lane, 50 metres beyond the church leaving the village - the only grey coloured gravestone.

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