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Parish of Kilmarnock
KILMARNOCK, a parish in the district of
Cunningham, Ayrshire; bounded on the
north by Fenwick; on the east by Loudoun; on the south by the river
Irvine,
which divides it from Galston and Riccarton in Kyle; and on the west
by Kilmaurs.
It measures, in extreme length, about 9 miles; in extreme breadth,
about 5 miles; and, in superficial area, about 5,900 Scottish acres.
The parish is traversed
in its western division by Kilmarnock water. The surface is in general
flat, with
a very gentle declivity to the south. The soil is deep, strong, and
fertile; but
runs a little into a kind of moss toward the north-east. All the area,
with some
trivial exceptions, is arable. Nowhere, perhaps, in Scotland, has
agricultural
improvement been conducted with more enterprise, or carried out into
happier
results. Oats, wheat, and bailey, are raised nearly in the
proportions to each other of 23, 5 and 1. Five or six large corn-mills
are worked
by the water-power of the streams of the parish, and prepare large
supplies of
oat-meal, both from local produce and from Irish importations for the
markets of
the west of Scotland. But great attention, as in other parts of
Ayrshire, is paid
to the dairy, — the produce in cheese alone being about equal in value
to that in
oats, and double the value of produce in wheat. The whole district is
remarkably
rich in its agricultural aspects, and has been constantly plied with
the skilful
assiduities of a local agricultural society, which was formed so early
as 1792.
Plantations occur around the mansion of Craufurdland, and in some
places in the
east and north-east; but, in the other and aggregately large
districts, they are
tamely and coldly represented by nothing better than the
hedge-enclosure. The
climate is very moist, but is far from being unhealthy. Coal is very
extensively
worked; nearly three times more being exported than what is consumed
in the
factories and dwellings of the very populous town and parish. A firm
and
beautiful white sandstone has long been wrought, and furnishes
excellent building
material. Fire bricks are to some extent made. The principal
land-proprietors are
the Duke of Portland, the Marquis of Hastings, Craufurd of
Craufurdland, Blane of
Grougar, Dunlop of Annanhill, and Parker of Assloss. Dean-castle, the
residence of
the noble but unfortunate family of Kilmarnock, stands about ½ a mile
north-east
of the town. It is of great but unascertained antiquity. In 1735, it
was
accidentally reduced to bare walls and ruin by fire; and, since that
period, it
has been gradually crumbling toward a total fall. The growth of an ash
tree on
the top of an arch, and in the centre of the dining-room, was regarded
by
superstitious credulity as the fulfilment of some random or alleged
prediction
uttered during the period of the last persecution. The ruin, as seen
from the
south-west, has still a magnificent appearance, and suggests the
melancholy idea
of fallen
grandeur. Soulis' cross, which gives name to a
quarter of the town, is a stone pillar 8 or 9 feet high, placed at the
south
entrance of the High church, and erected in memory of Lord Soulis, an
English
nobleman, who is said to have been killed on the spot in 1444, by an
arrow from
one of the family of Kilmarnock. As it was mouldering to pieces in the
latter
part of last century, the inhabitants re-edified it by subscription,
and placed a
small vane upon its top with the inscription "L. Soulis,
1444." Rowallan-castle, situated on the north-west verge of the
parish, about 2½
miles from the town, consists of a very ancient tower, in which
Elizabeth More,
the first wife of Robert II., is believed to have been born, and of
large and
ornamental additions erected about the middle of the 16th century;
but, in all its parts, it is hastening to decay. Craufurdland-castle,
1½ mile north-east of Dean-castle, exhibits a tower of high
antiquity, and of great thickness of wall, and a central structure of
quite
modern erection and of fine Gothic architecture. Besides the large
town of
Kilmarnock, with its numerous inhabitants, the parish has several
collier
villages and hamlets, containing aggregately a population of about
1,000. From
the town roads, which are kept in excellent repair, radiate in every
direction, — amongst others the continuation of the great line of
turnpike between
Glasgow and Dumfries. The Kilmarnock and Troon railway, which runs off
westward
from the west side of the town, is of great value for the exportation
of coal,
and the importation of lime, slates, timber, grain, and other
commodities. The
railway has a double line, each constructed of flat rails resting on
blocks of
hard stone, and was completed in 1812 at a cost of more than £50,000.
The difference of
elevation between the depots at Troon and at Kilmarnock is only 80
feet. A
discouraging attempt having been made so early as 1816 to place upon
it the
locomotive engine, horsepower alone continues to be employed. The
annual
aggregate of portage is about 200,000 tons. — A branch-line to the
Glasgow,
Paisley, and Ayr railroad, was opened in March 1843. Its terminus is
in
Langlands-street, immediately behind the George Inn ; and it joins the
main line
at the end of the 23rd mile from Glasgow; thereby rendering the
distance by
railroad to the latter city nearly 34 miles; the length of the
branch-line being
10½ miles. Population, in 1801, 8,079; in 1831, 18,093. Houses 1,578.
Assessed property, in 1815, £20,175.
Kilmarnock is in the presbytery of Irvine, and synod of Glasgow and
Ayr. Patron
of the quoad civilia parish, or of the Laigh kirk, the Duchess of
Portland.
There are three places of worship connected with the Establishment,
two of them
quoad sacra; and there are eight belonging to various bodies of
dissenters, — all
situated in the town. — The Laigh kirk was built in 1802, and altered
and enlarged
between 1827 and 1830. Sittings 1,457. The charge is collegiate.
Stipend of the
first minister, £145 3s. 7d.; glebe £20. Stipend of the second
minister
£148 7s. 9d.; glebe £11. -St. Marnoch's church
was built in 1836, at a cost of about £5,000. Sittings 1,736. "It is
intended,"
says the Commissioners' Report, "to apply to the presbytery to assign
a
parochial district to it, when an endowment is got for a minister." —
The High
church was built by subscription in 1732, at a cost of £1,000.
Sittings 902.
Stipend £150. An assistant minister has a salary of £80. This church
has attached
to it a quoad sacra urban parish, ¼ of a mile in its greatest length,
less than ¼
of a mile in its greatest breadth, and containing, in 1836, according
to
ecclesiastical survey, a population of 1,677 churchmen, 1,325
dissenters, and 212
no-religionists, —in all 3,214 persons. Deducting these from the
population of the
entire quoad civilia parish, there remained, in 1836, according to a
survey of
the ecclesiastical authorities of the Laigh kirk, 8,957 churchmen,
6,119
dissenters, and 174 no-religionists, —in all 15,250 persons; making a
grand total
in the parish of 18,464. —A regular town-missionary preaches on the
forenoon of
Sabbath in the free-school, which accommodates about 150 persons; and
in the
afternoon in another school-room, which accommodates about
200. Salary £55. -A licentiate, very inadequately
supported by subscription, preaches in an old chapel in the village of
Crookedholm, 1½ mile from the
town. -The first United Secession congregation was
established in 1771 ; and their place of worship was built in 1772.
Sittings 725.
Stipend £140, with a house and garden worth upwards of £20, and £7
sacramental
expenses. -The second United Secession congregation was established in
1774. Their
present place of worship was built in 1807. Sittings 751. Stipend
£120, with a
house, and at each sacrament and each meeting of synod £5. —The Relief
congregation was established in 1814. Their meeting-house was built in
1832, at a
cost of £4,047 12s. 7d. Sittings 1,493. Stipend £210, with £21 in lieu
of a
manse. —The Original Burgher congregation was established in 1772, and
was
connected with the Associate Synod till 1814, when it joined the
Original Burgher
synod. Place of worship built in 1818, at an expense of upwards of
£1,000.
Sittings 813. Stipend £130, with a house and garden. -The Independent
congregation
was established in 1824. Sittings in their chapel, 600. Stipend not
stated, and a
house. -The Reformed Presbyterian congregation was established in
1774. Their meetings, house was built in 1824, at a
cost of £1,150. Sittings 730. Stipend about £100, with a house and
small piece of
ground, and also £10 as the rent of a former manse. -Respecting the
congregation
of Original Seceders, and the Wesleyan congregation, the Commissioners
of
Religious Instruction obtained no
information. -The academy of the town is conducted
by 3 teachers, and attended by a maximum of 303 scholars. The
classical teacher
is the parish schoolmaster, and has £34 4s. 4d. salary, with £94 15s.
fees, and a
house and garden. The English teacher and the teacher of writing and
arithmetic
have each £15 salary, with respectively about £140, and from £192 to
£200 fees.
Twenty-two non-parochial schools are conducted by 28 teachers, and
attended
by a maximum of 2,150 scholars. -The saint from
whom the parish has its name was St. Marnock, said to have been a
bishop or
confessor in Scotland, and to have died in 322, and probably been
interred in
this parish. Yet, though he was the patron-saint of several other
Scottish
parishes, he is known only by vague tradition, and cannot be referred
to either
in evidence of the very early evangelization of the country, or as a
waymark in
the path of its ecclesiastical history. The church anciently belonged
to the
monks of Kilwinning, and was served by a curate. In 1619, the
patronage, then
held by Archbishop Spottiswood, was transferred to Robert Boyd, the
ancestor of
the Earls of Kilmarnock; in the 18th century, it passed to the Earl of
Glencairn;
and about the year 1790, it was purchased from him by Miss Scott, who
afterwards
became Duchess of Portland. In 1641, the northern division of the old
parish was
detached, and erected into the separate parish of FENWICK : which see.
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