Dalry, North Ayrshire

Dalry (in Gaelic..“Dail-righ”) means "King's Valley" .Its history has signs of early inhabitants in the area. The remains of an ancient fort made of three concentric round walls can be found on the summit of Carwinning Hill to the North of Dalry, west of the B784 to Largs. In 1883 excavations by John Smith of caves in the Dalry Blair estate at Cleeves Cove cave found evidence of prehistoric man and otter bones.

Aitnock fort at the SW angle of Hindog Glen was excavated by John Smith in 1901-2, it showed a possible dun occupying the summit of a cliff which rises about 60ft perpendicularly from the Rye Water. He stated in”Excavations of the forts of Castlehill, Aitnock and Coalhill, Ayrshire” it was defended on one side by the steep drop to the Rye and by a horse shoe shaped deep ditch and stone walls. The interior was about 30ft in diameter, the floor had been leveled, then covered with yellow clay over which a pavement of rough slabs and river pebbles were laid. On the pavement was an accumulation of deposits, in some places 6ins deep, in and on which the relics were found… coins, stone objects, a glass bead, 1st or 2nd century Samian bowl fragments, burnt bones and iron objects. A sandstone cauldron was found near the centre of the interior, close by was a fireplace of slabs set on edge, this he states was possibly used to heat the water in the cauldron. An irregular lump of sandstone was found, bearing two chiseled cup marks one on each side, almost opposite each other. During his excavations he found 4 silver Roman coins, all denarii, two of Antoninus Pius and one each of Vespasiam and Hadrian, all of which came from parts of an upper black layer of occupation. Smith's collection of material from here was donated to the National Museum of Antiquities of Scotland in 1981.

At Courthill excavations were undertaken by Cochrane–Patrick ( 1878 ) & Dobie (1876) in the 1870’s.The remains of a timber hall similar to those in England dated to around the 700’s were found. These digs refer to a timber hall or court structure with a turf roof, that was then replaced by a motte ( a structure on a hill ) similar to those used by the early Normans infiltrating the area then. Amongst the debris a flint arrow head from an even earlier period was found.

Primroses in Lynn Glen.

At Auchinskich, meaning Cleeves Cove caves, there is a natural cave mentioned as the "Elf House" about 183 feet in length near the middle it expands into a large chamber, 35 feet long by 12 broad, and 12 feet in height.

In the reign of Charles II, it was said to be a refuge to the covenanters of this parish from the violence of their persecutors.

When David I, (1082–1153) was crowned King of Scots he brought in and created a high-ranking Norman aristocracy in his new kingdom. These Norman nobles were given lands creating in Scotland an influential Norman aristocracy.

One of these “nobles or knights” a Hugh de Morville was made high constable of Scotland and given lands in Cunninghame. De Morville probably then gave some of these lands or baronies to a relative a Walter de Lynne, to William de Blair, to William Kerr and to the Boyles of Kelburne.

The name Lynne then meaning “a waterfall,” is first noted in the area of Dalry in the years 1200-1300 They were located here and had land and owned the Castle of Lin near the waterfall of the Calf.

The name Blair at that time meant “a field clear of woods” and is recognised in the area in late 1100,s when a Norman keep was within the barony of Blair. This was later replaced by the Blair castle.

Dalry was mentioned in 1226 as a "chapel of Ardrossan". The parish of Dalry was probably formed in 1279 when a "Henry, Rector of the Church of Dalry" appears in the Register of the Diocese of Glasgow. Two places of worship in the parish appear by the late 13th century. One on the east bank of the River Garnock at Kilcush, and the other on the west, located near the Old Glebe. This was the main parish church, it almost certainly dedicated to St. Margaret of Antioch, a 3rd or 4th century virgin martyr.

A Knights Templar stone coffin of an Ardrossan Baron was found when excavations were made to the Ardrossan Parish Church. It would most likely have been made by a French mason working on the construction of Kilwinning Abbey during the late 12th - early 13th centuries. “Templand” names derived from the word templar are to be found in the Dalry area.

Lands including the area of Pitcon in Dalry were given by Robert the Bruce to his right hand man Robert Boyd in 1316.

In the 1400s the parish had five main baronies.. Kelburne, Blair, Kersland, Lynn and Pitcon. These names are still reflected in some of the areas, farms, houses and surnames in the area. Kersland had a church school and ruined castle and is linked to the covenanter Robert Ker of Kersland.

[edit] Cleeves Cove caves gallery

A passageway showing the erosion activity of water.

A passageway and an 'Elf.'

One of several entrances to the caves.

One of the entrances to the Cleeves cove cave system.

[edit] Lords of Lynn

The barony of Lynn was created from lands inherited about 1204 from Hugh de Morville. It reportedly was first held by Walter de Lynne, who signed the 1296 Ragman Roll. According to Douglas, the family bore the name Lynne long before coming to Ayrshire. If, as Douglas reports however, the family line is Robert de Lynne appearing in 1207 (Perthshire), William de Lynne appearing in 1246 (Perthshire), and Walter de Lynne appearing in 1296 (Ayrshire), one would expect William (or perhaps even Robert), rather than William's son Walter, to be the de Morville heir, first Lord of Lynn in Dalry, and progenitor of the Lynns of that Ilk. In any case, the Lynns held the property for nearly half a millennium, from about 1204 until the mid 17th century.

The waterfall on the Caaf Water at Linn Glen.

A small waterfall on the Caaf Water at Linn Glen.

During this period, the family also owned Baidland on the northwestern side of Dalry, Highlees just south of Dundonald, and the estate of Bourtreehill near Irvine. In 1385, the Laird of Lyne rented Baidland to the Cunninghams for one silver penny, then an average week's wages (this being the only known record of Lynns owning Baidland). In 1452, Andrew Lyn, Lord of that Ilk, gave a charter for Highlees to William Hunter of Arnele "for services rendered and to be rendered" (the Lynns remained superiors of Highlees for more than two centuries, their last recorded title being in 1668). In 1505, Andrew Lyne received a charter for Bourtreehill from Robert Frances, Lord of Stane (the last mention of the Lynns of that Ilk in Bourtreehill being in 1608).

In 1522, the barony of Lynn was described in a charter from John Lyne of that Ilk to John Lyne of Bourtreehill as the "dominical lands of Lyne together with the house called Burnesyd with the garden thereof and Lyne Knoll lying in the town and territory of Lyne bailliary of Cunningham and sheriffdom of Ayr." The property included the beautiful Lynn Falls, lying in a glen said to be the dwelling of witches, elves, and fairies. However, that same glen is the location of Peden's Point, where the noted Covenanting minister Alexander Peden preached from a pinnacle forming a natural pulpit overlooking the water above the falls. The Lynns themselves were Presbyterians, and it may be that they willingly made their land available for the preaching of the reformed faith.

The Lords of Lynn became extinct as a landed family in Dalry, but they were remembered in Ayrshire folklore as "a beloved aristocracy that came, lingered a while, and vanished."

[edit] The Wraith of Lord Lyne

The story is told of Lady Lyne, mother of the young Lord Lyne, many years ago witnessing the wraith of the her son, a warning of his impending death. The Lyne family had a tradition of such premonitions and on this occasions she was in the glen when all of a sudden she espied a company of huntsmen on horseback; her son in the lead with the dogs, who were in full cry after a stag. As she watched this vivid scene they vanished like a dream. She hurried back to urgently find and warn her son.

Lord Lyne listened and accepted his fate, for what could he do if it was indeed God's will. The next day he was up and about, bright and early, but never to return. His anxious mother had sent out all the servants to search the glen for him, eventually finding her son in a pool at at the foot of Lynn Spout, seemingly having fallen and then drowned. Lady Lyne believed to her dying day that her son had encountered death himself that morning in Lynn Glen and that her vision was that of her son hard on the heals of a ghostly stag and the wild dogs of hell.

[edit] Lord Lyne's lesson from the grave to his son

Lord Lyne despaired of his naive and foolish son, generous to a fault and giving trust were none was deserved. On his death bed he called for his son and one last time warned him of the perils that a rich man faced in this world. With his last breath he told his son that if he lost everything he should go to a ruinous old cottage which would be his last hope for shelter. As the months went by the young Lord Lyne entertained his many new friends and indeed his baron-baillie was especially helpful and supportive. Shortly the young Lord found that all his money was spent and eagerly accepted an offer from the baron-baillie who purchased the barony and promptly threw Lord Lyne out his home and exiled him from his lands. Full of self-importance, upon his successful betrayal, the baron-baillie offered to sell the whole property back for a fraction of its value, knowing that such a young fool would never be capable of gaining even such a relatively small sum.

Lord Lyne remembered his father's death bed advice and in his despair sought out his last resort, the dilapidated cottage in the woods. After much searching he found and entered the building, only to be greeted by the sight of a hangman's noose dangling from the ceiling. Convinced of his father's apparent message from the dead he put the rope around his neck, only to find himself falling to the floor and being rained upon by gold coins. A new wisdom, from an almost fatal lesson, guided the Lord Lyne for the rest of his days, living quietly, with many real friends to enjoy; dwelling in his ancestral home and upon his lands, bought back from that despairing traitor, the Baron-bailie of the Court of the Baron of Lyne.

Sources:

The Genealogy of the Family of Lind, and the Montgomeries of Smithton, Sir Robert Douglas, Baronet, Windsor (1795)
Historical Tales and Legends of Ayrshire, William Robertson, London and Glasgow (1889)
Scottish Record Society Publications, Scottish Record Society, Edinburgh (late 19th-early 20th centuries)
National Archives of Scotland online

[edit] Craig Mill and Lynn Glen gallery

Detail of an opening in the gable end of the old mill.

The old mill's gable end facing Lynn Spout.

The Craig Mill ruins from below Lynn Spout. This mill was associated with Kilwinning Abbey, together with Garnock and Sevenacres mills.^[2]

Lynn Spout on the Caaf Water.

[edit] Dalry Witch

On the 8th Nov 1576, midwife Bessie Dunlop, resident of Lynne, in Dalry, was accused of sorcery and witchcraft. She answered her accusers that she received information on prophecies or to the whereabouts of lost goods from a Thomas Reid, a former barony officer in Dalry who died at the battle of Pinkie some 30 years before.

She said she first met him while walking between her own house and the yard of Monkcastle, and after a discussion he then disappeared through a hole in a wall, apparently too small for a normal person to pass through.

She said she was trained by her “familiar” on how to make and use ointments to heal livestock and people. She was said to have cured and advised various people from poor children to gentry. As a “wise woman” her strange efforts at the time attracted the attention of the law. Her abilities were more akin to today’s current psychics, and with an understanding of medicinal herbs, she was identified in a time of witchcraft hysteria. It resulted in a conviction and the tragic outcome was that she was burnt at the stake at Castle Hill in Edinburgh in 1576. She is also said to have been burnt at Corsehillmuir, just outside Kilwinning.

Peden's pulpit or point in the Lynn Glen.

Alexander Peden (1626-1686) the renowned covenanting minister and remarked as a “profit” (sic) traveled throughout the district. He was said to have preached from Peden’s Point (a rocky outcrop) in a natural auditorium at the head of the Lynn glen.

When the main parish church at the Glebe was resited at the "cross" in 1608 it created around it a “kirktoun” establishing the village of Dalry. By 1700 the inhabitants of Dalry still however, numbered barely 100 and contained only about six dwellings. In the mid 18th century, Dalry was still the only town in the parish.

In 1830 there were about 1,000 inhabitants, and the town consisted of five streets, three of these radiated from the "cross" or centre forming a square.Weekly market were held on Thursdays, and there were fairs in January, May and July.

At that time it was a reasonably large irregular shaped rural parish, centred around on the small town of Dalry. The parish included the small settlements / villages of Blair, Burnside, Drakemire, Southfield and the Den.

[edit] Industrial History

Various manufacturing existed in the parish relating to cotton and carpet yarn with silk and harness weaving, in which both men and women were employed.A significant number of women were occupied in sewing and embroidering, mainly for the Glasgow and Paisley manufacturers. The dressing and spinning of flax to some extent was also done in the area.

The opening of numerous limeworks, and a number of coal pits from the 1840s, wholly changed the character of the parish of Dalry. It became an increasingly industrial area peppered with mines to provide the ore and coal to fuel the blast furnaces at the various iron works.

Lynn Spout on the Caaf Water, illustrating the thick limestone deposits in this area.

The town lies on the Ayrshire Coast Line and once was a busier junction with trains from Kilmarnock and the Dalry and North Johnstone Line joining the line here. The railway station at Dalry opened in March 1840 as part of the Glasgow, Paisley, Kilmarnock and Ayr Railway. The station at Dalry Junction opened in April 1843 with the line to Kilmarnock via Crosshouse, subsequently closing in January 1860 with the interchange transferred to Dalry railway station. The line to Kilmarnock remained open with local services ceasing in 1955, with occasional long distance passenger services remaining. The line closed in 1973, following the electrification of the WCML. The closure of the Dalry and North Johnstone Line to passengers in 1966 and through freight in 1971, and steel freight traffic to Kilbirnie in 1977. Dalry station retained four platforms until rebuilding of the station and associated overbridge as part of the electrification of the Ayrshire Coast line during the early 1980s.

Maps and information of the time indicate a rail line from Blair iron works to the main line. This development of large iron works and the mining of ore and coal further increased the housing stock and population in and around the area. The suburb of Blair for example developed around one such ironworks. Numerous bings next to these excavations in the area are still evident to this day.

Morning and evening daily stage coaches passed through Dalry on the routes between Glasgow and various coastal destinations.

The "Fair Trader" coach stopped at the Crown Inn and the "Herald" coach at the King's Arms neither ran on Sundays. There were also several public houses, which had accommodation for travelers.

The public libraries at the time were the "Dalry Library", the “Dalry Church Library" and the "United Secession Library". At this time the town was lit by gas, by a Company formed in 1834.

The River Garnock helps to irrigate the valley and, joined by the tributaries Rye Water and Caaf Water, was a driving force behind the establishment of the town. These waters were utilised by the various mills in the 1800’s

The industries of limestone, coal and ironstone assisted Dalry to develop into a thriving mining community.

The iron was smelted in the furnaces of the four great iron companies - the Ayrshire, the Glengarnock, the Eglinton and the Blair. In 1845 a visitor was “astonished at the change and at the numerous tasks of the busy labourers. The blaze of furnaces, the smoke of coal-pits, the whiter volume emitted by limekilns, and the building of houses, are at intervals seen all over the district.”

In the 1870s it is stated that Blair Iron Works and others in the area were part of the group owned by William Baird & Co. who then was the largiest pig iron producer in the world.

This once industrial town, like many such towns in this area of Scotland has seen a sharp decline of traditional industry, which has hit the town hard. In addition to coal mining, iron stone mining and textile manufacturing the town also had clay mines to be used in the areas various brickworks. To produce common red brick these brickworks were also well supplied with clay extracted from coal mine waste, available from the numerous "bings" throughout the valley, whereas the mined clay was required for higher quality fire brick.

On the edge of the town lies a large chemical plant once operated by Roche, but now run by DSM.

[edit] The Douglas brickworks and Monkcastle fireclay mine

The Douglas Firebrick Company Ltd had its works located where the Wilson Car Auction company now trades (2008). The works closed in September 1945.^[3] The railway was double track and narrow gauge, working through a 'cable and pulleys' system on light steel rails, judging by the artifacts still on site. The surface of the inclined plain seems to have been laid with firebricks, many of which remain in situ (2008). The 'Signal Box' type building had windows facing in all directions so that the 'controller' could look for any problems, such as local Dalry youths catching a 'free ride' in empty trucks. The railway went through a short cutting and passed under the main road in a short tunnel. A truck has been preserved at the nearby Dalgarven Mill Museum of Scottish Country Life and Costume. The 'Signal Box' seems to have been adapted after closure for use as a cattle shelter; windows being blocked up and the roof repaired.