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Cumnock
CUMNOCK,(1) (Old Cumnock,) a
parish in the eastern section of the district of Kyle in
Ayrshire. It is bounded on the north by Auchinleck and Muirkirk; on
the east by Dumfries-shire; on the south by NewCumnock; and on the
west by Ochiltree and Auchinleck. It is of an oblong figure, and about
10 miles in extreme length, by about 2 in average breadth: stretching,
as to its length, from east to west. The surface is in part flat, and
in part hilly. The soil in general is clay upon a strong till; but in
some places is bog, and in the holms is a light and dry mixture of
sand and gravel. The river intersects the parish from east to west,
drinking up several rivulets in its course, and eventually emptying
itself, near Barskimming, into Ayr water; and it abounds in trout, and
furnished an occasional banquet of eels. On the southern confines of
the parish are three lakes which jointly have an area of about 100
acres, and which, though communicating with one another, discharge
their waters south-eastward, though the rivulet Aith into the Nith,
and north-westward, through another rivulet, into the Lugar. The
uplands — hilly but not mountainous, though partly covered with heath
— are in general verdant, abound in a coarse grass called sprit, and
exhibit some volcanic appearances intermixed with basalt. In the beds
of the rivulets, petrifactions of shells and fish are thrown up from
the strata. In an extensive lime-quarry belonging to the Marquis of
Bute, are beds abounding with a species of coral. The limestone in
this quarry is, in some places, mixed with
shells and spar, takes a beautiful polish, and is capable of being
dressed into a pleasing bluish marble. A vein of lead-ore likewise
runs through it, and was found, on trial at the lead-mines of
Wanlockhead, to yield 65 pounds per cwt. Freestone abounds, is of easy
access, and has contributed largely to the walls of neat and
comfortable dwellings. Coal is supposed, with a covering or
crumb-cloth of strata, to carpet the parish; but has been 'worked
chiefly in subordination to the burning of lime. Very recently a bed
of what is called black ironstone, 2½ feet thick, has been
discovered here. Hugh Logan, Esq., 'the Laird of Logan,' and
celebrated wit of Ayrshire, was a native of this parish. Here also,
within the precincts of the burying-ground, are the remains of the
famous Alexander Peden, of covenanting, and, as the vulgar say, of
prophesying memory, — remains which were originally interred in the
aisle of Lord Auchinleck, — which, after forty days, were exhumed by a
body of dragoons, who intended to hang them up on a gallows, — and
which, in yieldance with the entreaties of the Countess of Dumfries
and other influential personages, were eventually allowed to rest
along with the remains of other martyrs, at the Gallowsfoot of
Cumnock. Around the dust of Peden, as well as on the estate of Logan,
and on the moor which forms the south-west boundary of the parish, is
the dust of martyrs, who, in popular phrase,
sacrificed themselves to the covenant of Scotlnnd, but who may be
allowed to have surrendered their lives in the cause of heaven. The
principal proprietor is the Marquis of Bute and Earl of Dumfries, who
acquires from the parish his title of Baron. Dumfries-house, the seat
of the Marquis, is situated in the north-west part of the parish, near
the banks of the Lugar, and is surrounded with a fine demesne {The
grounds belonging to a mansion or country house} which, extending
on
both sides of the river, is connected by an elegant new bridge at the
most accessible point from the mansion. The other mansions in the
parish are Garallan, Logan, and Glasnock, the last of which, situated
on the stream whence it derives its name is a recent and elegant
edifice, built of white free
stone. Within the demesne of Dumfries-house stand the ruins of
Terringzoan castle, whence the present Countess of Dumfries—Countess
in her own right, though Marchioness of Bute by matrimonial alliance—
still derives the title of Baroness. Some traces, in the southern
division of the parish, exist of an old keep called Boreland castle,
and also of a Catholic chapel, which gives to the farm on which it
stands the name of Chapel-house. This parish is traversed,
south-eastward, by the
great line of road from Glasgow to Dumfries, and, in various
directions, by minor lines; and it boasts no fewer than 16 bridges.
Population, in 1801, 1,991; in 1831, 2,763. Houses 454.
Assessed property, in 1815, £7,287. - The parish is in the presbytery
of Ayr, and synod of Glasgow and Ayr. Patron, the Murquis of Bute.
Stipend £218 0s 7d.; glebe £20. - There are 3 schools, one parochial
and 2 nonparochial. Salary of the parish schoolmaster £34 4s. 4½d.,
with £45 other
emoluments. The parish-church, built in 1754, and situated in the
village, at a distance of 5½ miles from the most remote limit of the
parish, has from 600 to 700 sittings. A United Secession
meeting-house, also situated in the village, has 900 sittings. More
than one-third of the parishioners are
dissenters. Cumnock was dislocated, early last century, into its
present form, and that of the parish of New Cumnock. Originally it was
a rectory; but in the l5th century it became a prebend of the
cathedral of Glasgow, and afterwards a vicarage.
CUMNOCK, a village in the parish just described, situated in a
deep sheltered hollow, at the confluence, of the Lugar and the
Glisnock, 10½ miles south-west of Muirkirk, 6½ south-east of
Mauchlin, and 16 east of Ayr, on the main road from Glasgow to
Dumfries. It was, in the year 1509, made a burgh-of-barony by
James IV., and consists principally of a sort of square, or
rather triangle, which occupies the area of what was anciently
the burying-ground. A remarkable circumstance is that,
situated in a sort of mimic basin, it can, from any point of
the compass, be entered only by a declivity. Its
subsistence is weaving, which, when trade is good, keeps 120
looms at work; hand-sewing, winch is a common employment with
both adult and young females; the manufacture of
thrashing-mills, which are in high esteem throughout the west
of Scotland, and are, in considerable numbers, exported to
Ireland; a pottery, which, from clay of the best quality
found in the parish, produces a superior brown-ware; and the
manufacture of wooden snuff-boxes, which, throughout Scotland,
have, for their inimitable beauty, rendered—among
snuff-takers, at least—the village surpassingly celebrious.
In the last of these sources of support, Cumnock is competed
with only by Laurencekirk and Montrose. An ingenious
mechanician of the name of Crawford, seized — from a box
which had been made at Laurencekirk, and which was sent to him
to be repaired — the first idea of the celebrious Cumnock
manufacture. Improving upon the pattern which was produced by
previous inventors, he, or his successors, contrived to
execute so delicately the hinge of the snuff-box, as to make
the name of Cumnock essential to the vest-pocket's storehouse
of most in Scotland who are politely "led by the nose." "A few
years ago, "says a writer in the New Statistical Account of
Scotland," a solid foot of wood, that cost only 3s., could be
manufactured into boxes worth £100 sterling, and then the
workmanship increased the original value of the wood nearly
700 times; but at present a solid foot of wood, will only
yield, in finished boxes, about £9 sterling. "The great
falling-off is to be accounted for chiefly by the satiating of
the passion for novelty, — snuff-takers being as curious in
the recherché of their box, as antiquarians are in the high
date and freshness of their discoveries; and, in a degree, by
the sharpness of competition from the quarters whence the idea
of the 'Cumnock snuff-box' was originally obtained. In
addition to the area already mentioned, Cumnock consists of
very narrow lanes; and, on the whole, it is irregularly built.
Yet it occupies a picturesque site, is clean and healthful,
overlooks some beautiful woodlands in the parish, is
romantically interspersed with fine old trees, and altogether
presents a picture on which the eye of the traveller may
delight to rest. The village contains good shops in all
departments, a gas-work, and branch-offices of two banking
companies; and, owing to its advantageous position in relation
to the surrounding country, transacts much retail business. Of
the 16 bridges in the parish, 3 are in the village. Four
annual fairs are held here, respectively in February, in May,
in July, and in October, O.S. Here, also, are 2 public
libraries, 3 friendly societies, and a savings-bank.
Population of the village in 1801, apart from the parish,
1,798.
CUMNOCK (New), a parish, in the district of Kyle, forming the
south-eastern limb of Ayrshire. It is bounded on the north
by Auchinleck, Old Cumnock, and Ochiltree ; on the east by
Dumfries-shire; on the south by Galloway; and on the west by
Dalmellington. It has an outline of very nearly an oblong
square; is 12 miles in length from east to west, somewhat more
than 8 in breadth, and contains an area of upwards of 100
square miles, or about 30,000 acres. Its surface is dotted
with hills, and, in its southern division, is warted with
mountains. Its highest elevations are Black-craig, about ½ a
mile from its eastern boundary, rising 1,600 feet above the
valley of Nith, and Black-Larg-hill, on its southern boundary,
which rises 2,890 feet above sea-level; but these elevations
are excelled in interest by the Knipe, to the south, 1,260,
and especially by the Corsancone, 872, which, owing to its
position, commands a beautiful and extensive view. Indeed
the whole southern division of the parish is lifted upwards
by elevations, Craigdarroch, Saddlehagg, Coptaw-Cairn,
Benty-Cowan-hill, Chang-hill, High-Chang-hill, Enoch-hill,
Blackstone-hill, Craig-hill, and several other heights.
The lowest ground is the valley of the Nith, — a river which,
rising in the south-west extremity of the parish,
intersects it from west to east, flows here about 500 feet
above sea-level, and, on leaving the parish to irrigate
Dumfries-shire, begins to form, in that county, the district
of Nithsdale. The Nith is here shallow and sluggish,
highly tinctured with moss, and about 15 feet broad.
Flowing northwards, of local origin, and falling into the
Nith, the small stream called the Afton, forms a beautiful
valley, and is overlooked by richly sylvan banks. There
are, on the northern confines of the parish, 3 small lakes,
averaging about ½ a mile in circumference; but abounding in
perch, pike, and water-fowl. Carboniferous limestone occurs in abundance, lies
in beds 2 feet thick, and is wrought, at Benstone, Mansfield, and Polquhortor.
Improved limekilns
have been erected by the enterprising and judicious Monteith of
Closeburn, Dumfries-shire. Freestone, for the most part of
a dingy white colour, and coarse in the grain, is plenteous.
Ironstone is found in bands and balls, but has never been
wrought. Alternate seams of smith's coal and cannel coal
appear to pavement the eastern district and are in
considerable request; the former for making gas in Dumfries
and Catrine, and the latter, for less chemical purposes, in
Ayr, Kilmarnock and other places. Plumbago, or black-lead,
is found in the coal-formation, and has, for a considerable
period, been wrought. It is, however, of very inferior
quality to that of Borrodale in Cumberland. There are the
parish, 3 villages, or hamlets, Path-head, Afton-Bridge-end,
and New Cumnock; which had, in 1831 a population, — the first,
361; the second, 242; and the third, 161. Two great roads
traverse the district both through New Cumnock, the one from
north to south, along the valley of the Afton; and the other,
the great road from Glasgow to Dumfries a short way due south,
and then from east to west, making an extraordinary debouche in consequence of
the hilly configuration of the surface.
Population, in 1801, 1,381; in 1831, 2,184. Houses, 454.
Assessed property, in 1815, £8,538. - New Cumnock is in the
presbytery of Ayr, and synod of Glasgow and Ayr. Patron,
the Marquis of Bute. Stipend £194 11s. 8d.; glebe, £24.
This parish was S' nally a section of that of Cumnock, or Old
Cumnock and shared in its ecclesiastical history. Its
present church is of recent structure, and accommodate 1,000
sitters. — Connected with the Reformed Presbyterians, there
are here about 120 individuals who have a local place of
worship. There are also nearly 200 members or hearers of
the United Secession, who attend their place of worship in the
village
of Old Cumnock. - Schoolmaster's salary, £32, with
school-fees of from 2s. to 3s. per quarter, and other
emoluments, £4 10s. There are 2 schools non-parochial.
{1 "The name of Cumnock, "says the
author of 'Caledonia,'" is derived from the British cym, a hollow or valley, and
cnoc, a hill, which was usually pronounced 'Cumnock.' The British cym,
in the prefix of the name, applies exactly to the hollow or valley in which the
church and village or Old Cumnock "stand, on the bank of Glasnock rivulet, which
falls into Lugar water; but whether the cnoc, in the termination of the name,
applies to the small hill at the village, or to some other hill in the
vicinity, is not quite certain."}
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