Parish of Kilmarnock

A historical perspective, drawn from the Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland: A Survey of Scottish Topography, Statistical, Biographical and Historical, edited by Francis H. Groome and originally published in parts by Thomas C. Jack, Grange Publishing Works, Edinburgh between 1882 and 1885.

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1791-99: Kilmarnock
1834-45: Kilmarnock

Kilmarnock (Gael. Kil Marnoch, the 'Church of St Marnoch'), a parish containing a large town of the same name in the Cunninghame district of Ayrshire. Prior to 1642 it included also the present parish of Fenwick. The modern parish is bounded N and E by Fenwick, SE by Loudoun, S by Galston and by Riccarton, and W by Kilmaurs. The shape is somewhat irregular, but may be roughly described as a parallelogram with the SW corner drawn out and a protuberance stuck on to the NW corner. The boundary on the SE is formed by Polbaith Burn for 5½ miles, and on the S for 7¾ miles by Irvine Water, which divides it from Kyle; elsewhere the line is artificial. The greatest length is from ENE at Sneddon Law, to WSW at the point where the parishes of Kilmarnock, Riccarton, and Kilmaurs meet, a distance of 91/8 miles, and the greatest breadth, from NW at the point where Kilmarnock, Kilmaurs, and Fenwick meet, to SE at the point where Kilmarnock, Loudoun, and Galston meet, a distance of 51/8 miles. The area is 95521/3 acres, of which 1081/3 are water. The surface rises from S to N. The height above sea-level on the S side is 127 feet near the town, and 173 at the SE corner, and from this there is a gradual increase till near the NE corner of Northcraig Reservoir it reaches 327 feet, N of Laigh Blackwood 410, near High Rusha 650, and at Sneddon Law 782. The drainage is effected by the Polbaith Burn on the SE, by Kilmarnock Water on the W, and by several smaller burns between, all flowing to the SW and entering Irvine Water. The soil is a deep strong fertile loam, though in the NE it is somewhat inclined to moss.

Up till near the close of last century agriculture was in a very backward condition, but, in 1792, a society was instituted for the purpose of promoting agricultural progress, and now the whole landward part of the parish, except about 400 acres at the NE corner at Sneddon Law, and a few patches of wood at Craufurdland Castle and elsewhere, is under cultivation. Great attention is paid, as elsewhere throughout Ayrshire, to dairy farming, the produce in cheese being about equal in value to that in oats, and double the value of the produce in wheat. The underlying rocks are carboniferous, partly volcanic, and partly sandstone. Coal is extensively worked in the SW, and an excellent white sandstone has long been worked near Dean Castle at the junction of Craufurdland and Fenwick Waters, and near this are also workings of fire-brick clay. Other industries are noticed under the burgh. The chief seats are Annanhill, Assloss, and Craufurdland Castle; and the latter, Dean Castle, and Rowallan are the principal objects of antiquarian interest. The oldest part of Craufurdland Castle, 2½ miles NE of the town of Kilmarnock, on a steep bank overlooking Craufurdland Water, dates traditionally from the early part of the 11th century; the centre is modern. The glen of the stream below is very pretty, and in the woods to the N is a large loch-a great curling resort. The proprietor, Lieut.-Col. J. R. Houison-Craufurd, is a lineal descendant of the Houisons or Howiesons of Braehead. Dean Castle, 1 mile NE of the town, at the junction of Fenwick and Craufurdland Waters, is described by Pont in his Cunningham Topographized (circa 1609) as 'Kilmernock Castell. It is a staitly faire ancient building, arrysing in two grate heigh towers, and bulte arround courtewayes vith fyve low buldings; it is veill planted, and almost environed with gardens, orchards, and a parke; it belonged first to ye Locartts, lords thereof, then to the Lord Soulis, and now the cheiffe duelling almost for 300 zeirs of ye Lords Boyde. 'The remains of the building consist of two large towers of unequal height. In the second story of the higher is the great hall 38 by 22 feet, and 26 high. There is a finely arched stone ceiling. The space between the two towers was at one time covered with buildings, but these are now gone. Here Margaret or Mary, the sister of James III., and wife of Thomas Boyd, Earl of Arran, was kept 'as in a free prison,' and in Covenanting times Dean Castle was occupied by Captain Inglis or Inglish (some of whose infamous exploits are referred to in a note to Scott's Old Mortality) and a body of soldiers trying to enforce the hated prelacy. In 1735 the castle was almost entirely destroyed by fire, and was never restored. The Boyds make their first appearance about 1205 with Sir Robert de Boyd, who signs as a witness in a contract about Irvine, and his son, also Robert, having distinguished himself at the battle of Largs, was rewarded by Alexander III. with 'grants of several lands in Cunningham.' His chief exploit was the defeat of a strong body of Norsemen at a place called Goldberry Hill, and this is said to be the origin of the motto Gold Berry on the Kilmarnock arms. They next figure on the National side in the wars of Independence, and they were rewarded by Bruce with grants of additional land. From this time down to the reign of James III., they were prominent in the west' country, and, in 1468, Robert, Lord Boyd, became regent, and married his son Thomas to Margaret, King James' sister. The creation of Thomas as Earl of Arran, his mission to Denmark, and the fall of the family are w ell known. The Earl of Arran died at Antwerp, but the estates were subsequently restored, and the title revived by James V. in favour of Robert Boyd, a descendant of the old family, who distinguished himself at the Battle of the Butts (see Glasgow). His son sided with Queen Mary, and was, of course, looked on with disfavour by Regent Murray, but he was held in high esteem subsequently by King James VI. During the troubles in the time of Charles I. the Boyds were staunch Royalists, and were rewarded in 1661 with increased rank as Earls of Kilmarnock. The representative of the family in 1715 adhered to the Hanoverian cause, but the fourth Earl, in 1745, took a different course, partly through resentment against the government for depriving him of a pension, and partly perhaps through the entreaties of his wife, who was a daughter of the Earl of Linlithgow, who had been attainted for taking part in the rebellion of 1715. Taken prisoner after Culloden, he was tried before the House of Lords, condemned to death as guilty of high treason, and executed at London on 18 Aug. 1746. His son recovered the estate, but afterwards sold it to the Glencairn family. By the death of his grand-aunt, who was Countess of Errol in her own right, he, in 1758, became Earl of Errol, and that family now represents the Boyds in the direct line, while, since 1831, the Earl has also held the title in the British peerage of Baron Kilmarnock of Kilmarnock. Rowallan Castle is in the outlying corner of the parish on the NW, on the banks of Carmel Water. A portion of the house dates from 1562, but part is older. It was long the residence of the Barons of Rowallan, but now belongs to the Earl of Loudoun. It was the birthplace of Elizabeth More or Mure, first wife of Robert II., and the residence of Sir William Mure (1594.1657), a member of the parliament that met at Edinburgh in 1643 to ratify the Solemn League and Covenant, and a poet of some note in his day. From the religious meetings that took place in his time part of the house still bears the name of the 'Auld Kirk.' His chief works are The Cry of Blood and of a Broken Covenant (Edinb. 1650), The Historie and Descent of the House of Rowallane (written about 1657), and a metrical version of the Psalms, which, under the name of Rowallan's Psalter, was held in high esteem among the Reformers.

The parish is traversed by a number of main roads which, starting from the town of Kilmarnock as a centre, pass to Glasgow, Hamilton, Lanark, Mauchline, Ayr, and Irvine; and also by portions of the Glasgow and South-Western Railway system, radiating from the town and passing to Glasgow (by Barrhead or by Paisley), to Dumfries and the S, to Ayr, to Troon, to Irvine, and to Saltcoats. The town of Kilmarnock is situated near the SW corner of the parish, while about the middle of the southern boundary is the village of Crookedholm, now practically swallowed up in the thriving iron town of Hurlford. The principal landowners are Lady Ossington, the Duke of Portland, the Earl of Loudoun, John White, Esq. of Grougar, Lieut.-Col. J. R. Houison-Craufurd of Craufurdland, W. Dunlop, Esq. of Annanhill, and Miss Parker of Assloss. Three proprietors hold each an annual value of £500 or upwards, 108 hold each between £500 and £100, 126 hold each between £100 and £50, and there are a considerable number holding a smaller amount. The parish is in the presbytery of Irvine and the synod of Glasgow and Ayr, and is ecclesiastically divided into the parts attached to the collegiate charge of the Laigh Kirk-the original parish church-the High Kirk, St Andrew's, and St Marnoch's, the latter two being quoad sacra parishes. It also contains a portion of the quoad sacra parish of Hurlford. The populations attached to these in 1881 were respectively 11, 633, 3172, 6915, 3487, and 657. The stipend of the first minister of the Low Kirk is £387; that of the second minister is £355. The churches are noticed in connection with the town. The landward school board has under its charge the public schools of Crookedholm, Grougar, and Rowallan, which, with accommodation for respectively 200, 100, and 100 pupils, had in 1881 an average attendance of 272, 30, and 110, and grants of £128, 2s. 4d., £37, 2s., and £93, 9s. Valuation. exclusive of burgh, (1883) £20, 605, 19s., plus £2363 for railways. Pop. (1801) 8079, (1821) 12, 769, (1841) 19, 956, (1861) 23, 551, (1871) 24,071, (1881) 25, 864, of whom 12, 607 were males, and 13, 257 were females.—Ord. Sur., sh. 22, 1865.

The United Presbyterian Church has a presbytery of Kilmarnock-meeting at that town on the second Tuesday of February, and of every alternate month,-with 4 churches in Kilmarnock, 2 each in Ayr, Irvine, and Saltcoats, and 20 at respectively Ardrossan, Catrine, Cumnock, Dalry, Fenwick, Galston, Girvan, Glengarnock, Kilmaurs, Kilwinning, Mauchline, Maybole, Muirkirk, Newmilns, Patna, Prestwick, Stewarton, Tarbolton, Troon, and West Kilbride.

An accompanying 19th C. Ordnance Survey map is available, or use the map tab to the right of this page.

Note: This text has been made available using a process of scanning and optical character recognition. Despite manual checking, some typographical errors may remain. Please remember this description dates from the 1880s; names may have changed, administrative divisions will certainly be different and there are known to be occasional errors of fact in the original text, which we have not corrected because we wish to maintain its integrity. This information is provided subject to our standard disclaimer

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