Lambroughton - Micro History, Traditions and Archaeology

Micro History, Traditions and Archaeology

In 1780 Kilmarnock Council paid Robert Fraser 2s. 6d. for dressing a Maypole, one of the last recorded examples of the rural festival of the first of May in Scotland, having been put down by Act of Parliament immediately after the Reformation.

McNaught records that John Armour was a resident clockmaker in 1726, with Kilmaurs clocks regarded as having brass dials of the highest standard. He had one arm shorter than the other and was called 'Clockie' for this reason.

Both Beattie and the Kilmarnock Glenfield Ramblers refer to the iron bridge over the Carmel Water near Kilmaurs-Glencairn church as being the oldest iron bridge in Scotland. It was erected following a 1d subscription from each of the house-houlds of Kilmaurs. The council demolished it without consultation in around 2000 and replaced it with a wooden bridge.

John Gemmell is buried in Kilmaurs-Glencairn chuchyard. He was surgeon to the Royal American Reformers, one of the loyal militias who fought against the American 'rebels' in the American War of independence.

Templehouse and its associated fortalice are mentioned by Dobie and were located in Stewarton on the lands of Meikle-Corsehill Farm. The name Templehouses was still current in the 1860s on the OS map for the tenements along from the Mill House Inn. The fortalice is not marked, however an area on the opposite side of the road from Templehouses was known as 'The Castle' within living memory. Robertson in 1820 gives the proprietor as William Deans Esq. and the rental value as £13.

Morton Park overlooked by Kilmaurs Place in was gifted by the Morton family of Lochgreen in 1921 and the official opening was 9 September 1922. A terrapin was found living in the Carmel burn in 2006. Kingfishers were seen there in 2004, 2005 and 2006. Mink were seen in 1995 and 2000. Dippers and Grey Wagtails are regularly sighted.

The poet William C. Lamberton of Kilmaurs was also a shoemaker and the Kilmarnock town chaplain. He published a volume of verses in 1878 under the nom de plume of 'An Ayrshire Volunteer'.

The Monk's or Mack's Well water runs into the Carmel beneath Kilmaurs Place. It is said that many years ago the local lord tried to prevent the local people from using the well. It dried up until the lord changed his mind, but has run continuously ever since.

In 1820 Kilmaurs Parish had only four freeholders qualified to vote and Dreghorn had only five, these being the proprietors of Cunninghamhead, Annock Lodge, Langlands (2) and Warwickhill. On Saturday, 3 March 1827 a remarkable snow-storm hit Ayrshire. The snow lay up to twenty feet deep in places and it snowed for twenty-four hours. A strong wind got up and drifts covered even the tops of the hedges so the roads were all but hidden.

A Mrs Lambroughton lived at Fulshaw Farm in the 1950s, a rare example of the name being used in this form. The name is still (2006) linked to Fulshaw Farm Cottage.

In Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English Church and People written in AD 731 is recorded the case of a Cunningham of Northumbria who died after a gradually worsening illness. All his grieving family were gathered around his corpse when he suddenly sat up. Everyone ran away, apart from his wife to whom he told the story of his adventure. He had been guided in death by a man in a shining robe to a broad, deep, dark valley of infinite length and from here he crossed a high wall beyond which was a broad and pleasant meadow. His guide told him that he had to return to live amongst men again and despite his reluctance to go he found himself back in his body again, alive.

Standalane—a number of properties in this area have this name, however no obvious pattern exists, other than its humorous use in connection with lonely or solitary places or a dwelling just outside a village or town.

Aiton in 1811 mentions "a curious notion that has long prevailed in the County of Ayr, and elsewhere, that the wool of sheep was pernicious to the growth of thorns."

Feuds were a feature of life in old Ayrshire and in 1547 Sir Neil Montgomerie of Lainshaw was killed by Lord Boyd of Kilmarnock in a skirmish which took place in the streets of Irvine (Robertson 1908).

Near Langlands Farm in the hedgerow of the main road is a rare example of a Wild Pear tree. The blossom is outstanding in the month of May, but in the absence of another tree nearby it doesn't set fruit. The nearest grows near Chapeltoun Mains.

The old sandstone parapet of the bridge overlooking the site of Cunninghamhead railway station has many carvings on it, probably made over the years by local children and pupils from the primary school as they waited and watched the old steam and diesel trains going by on this long closed line. Extensive cattle sidings and docks can still be made out here (2006). Ayrshire or Cunninghame Cattle were sent from here to all parts of the United Kingdom and Empire beyond. Ayrshire Cattle were sent from nearby Wheatrig Farm to restock the Falkland Islands after the war with Argentina.

A number of small whinstone quarries were also present in the area, such as at Townhead of Lambroughton on the 1858 OS. The area is later marked as a fox covert and the old road down from Floors ran beside it.

An unusual feature of Kilmaurs Mill was a carved stone showing a millstone drive spider or rind (often used on Miller's tombstones as a symbol of the milling trade) on which the upper grindstone rested, a ring of rope, a bill for dressing millstones, and a grain shovel.

A ball of fine-grained sandstone, 2½ ins in diameter, with the surface ornamented by six equal, circular and slightly projecting discs, found at Jock's Thorn farm (NS 417 410). 387 are known from Scotland, but only two from Ayrshire. They are from the neolithic or Bronze Age and their function is not known, however they may be symbols of power, equivalent to the orb in the British Coronation ceremony.

In 1911 McNaught records the last sighting of an otter. This took place at the Brackenburn Bridge on 9 September in full moonlight. They have probably made a comeback in the last few years (2000–2006).

Next to the Kilmaurs-Glencairn church is a patch of woodland which was once an orchard. The Tour streamlet joins the Carmel nearby and before the confluence can be found an old well, arched over, known as the Lady's well, with never-failing, excellent and refreshingly cool water. A small wooden bridge used to run across to it from the church glebe side.

Lord John Boyd Orr, awarded the Nobel Peace Prize was born in Holland House on the Fenwick Road in Kilmaurs. He may have been related to the Orr's of Townhead of Lambroughton.

The dovecot at Tour below Kilmaurs-Glencairn Church is dated 1636 on its door lintel (not 1630 as stated by McNaught). It is rectangular on plan, with a centre ridge roof and crow-stepped gables. Only the foundations of the tower still exist, the remains having been taken down in the late 20th century. Kilmaurs was spelt Kylmawse in Circa 1564 (1980). The fields below the kirk, running down to the footbridge over the Carmel are named in the 1860 OS. 'Broomy knowe', presumably named after Broom and the knowe on which the old orchard was situated, lies to the left of the Tour rivulet. Bounded by the hedge on the right and the rivulet on the left is the 'Dovecot Fauld'. The Scots term 'fauld' means a meadow which is manured by keeping animals on it; pigeon droppings from the nearby dovecot seem to have been used, at least in part, judging from its name. Finally, the field on the other side of the hedge, running towards the Carmel is called 'Girnal', meaning a granary in Scots, suggesting that such a building once stood hereabouts. These fields seem to have formed the glebe of the kirk.

Kilmaurs Council House had the top twelve feet of the steeple thrown down by a lightning strike in 1874. The front steps were smashed, but no one came to harm. The "juggs", which dangle from an iron chain, were last used officially in 1812 to hold a young woman who had been found guilty of theft. She was later drummed out of the parish by a mob.

The Stewarton cricket ground was located between Wardhead House and Lochridge House. A golf course also existed here for a few years after WW2.

The Royal Mail re-organised its postal districts in the 1930s and at that point many hamlets and localities ceased to exist officially, such as Templehouse, Darlington, Goosehill and other areas in Stewarton.

Kilmaurs was famous for producing cutlery and swords, the local expression As Gleg as a Kilmaurs Whittle, with the addition that it cuts an inch before the tip; meaning "the sharpest of the sharpest". A restaurant by the name of the Gleg Whittle existed here until 2006.

The Parish council chambers in Kilmaurs, the 'juggs' or 'jougs', has a fine example of a stepped Mercat Cross in an enclosure behind it, the cross is surmounted by a large sandstone ball and dated 1830.