CLAN
BOYD INTERNATIONAL
Richard G. Boyd
The Origins of Kilmarnock, Scotland
(excerpted from the book)
History of Kilmarnock, 1864, 3rd ed.
Archibald M'Kay
The origin of Kilmarnock, like
that of many other towns of real im-
portance, is involved in considerable
obscurity, and scarcely any
thing illustrative of its
ancient history can be gathered from the
various statistical works
in which it is mentioned. That it is a
place of great antiquity,
however, seems to be the general opinion.
It is stated by some writers
that, so far back as the year 322, it
was the residence of a St
Mernoc or Marnock. Here, according to
tradition, he founded a church,
and hence, in all likelihood, the
origin of the town; for those
who were seeking or had enjoyed his
holy instructions would naturally
incline to settle at or near the
hallowed scene of his labors.
It is also said that he is interred
here within the precincts
of the ground he had consecrated. From the
same Saint the town has evidently
derived its name, which, as shown
by the Celtic word Kil, signifies
the cell, the church, or the
burial-place of Marnock.
The very early date, however,
assigned to the time of St Marnock is
doubtful; and it is more probable
that he settled here about the end
of the sixth or the beginning
of the seventh century, when some of
the early teachers of Christianity,
who had been educated at I-colmm-
kill, under St Columba, established
places of religious worship in
different parts of our island.(1)
But there is no account, we
believe, on which reliance
can be placed, regarding the Church of
Kilmarnock prior to the twelfth
century. The author of Caledonia,
whom we shall afterwards quote
on the subject, states that it
belonged of old to the monastery
of Kilwinning, which was then
founded; and Pont, who seems
to have perused the records of that
monastery, says "it was bulte
by the Locartts, (2) Lords of it
(meaning a barony), and dedicat
to a holy man, Mernock, as witness
ye records of Kilvinin Abbay."
To trace the course of the
progress of Kilmarnock, even from this
time, would be almost impossible.
The Town Books extend no farther
back than 1686, and, consequently,
throw no light on the subject.(3)
We may infer, however, that
besides the Church of the good old Saint
the many natural advantages
of the place, such as its somewhat
sheltered, yet healthy situation,
together with the stream of the
Marnock gliding through it,
and the Irvine meandering at a short
distance, would all tend to
make it a favorite place of residence, as
the more peaceful arts began
to be cultivated. Regarding the
particular site of the first
houses of the town we are left to
uncertainty. The most likely
supposition is, that they were scattered
around the ancient Chapel
dedicated to St. Marnock, which was no
doubt situated near to or
on the identical spot now occupied by the
Low Parish Church. The
narrow lane in the immediate neighborhood,
1. See Dr. Smith's Life of St. Columba.
2. The Loccarts here mentioned
are supposed to have been vassals of
Hugh de Morville, an Anglo-Norman
Baron, who founded the Monastery of
Kilwinning, and who "obtained
a grant of the extensive and valuable
bailiwick, or great Barony
of Cunningham" -- See notes on Pont's
Cunningham, by John Fullarton,
Esq. of Overton.
3. The first entry in the Register
of Baptisms is dated 6 Feb 1644.
Page 2
called College Wynd, is, or
rather, lately was, one of the most
antiquated streets of the
town, and derives its name, we believe,
from being the site of some
Educational Institution in the olden
time; one of its old-fashioned
tenements is still pointed out by aged
persons as having been a school-house
of some importance.(1) In the
same lane is another building,
said to have been the Manse, and
behind it is what was called
the Glebe Land. The first Bank, too, of
which the town could boast,
and which was a branch of the Bank of
Scotland, was in the adjoining
alley, called Low Church Lane;(2) and,
assuming these statements
to be true, it is not improbable that this
now unfashionable quarter
was the nucleous of Kilmarnock. Grange
Street, which is near to College
Wynd, and which at one time was
called the Clay Mugs, from
the circumstance of a pottery having been
in the place, is also, we
believe, one of the ancient neuks of Auld
Killie. Strand Street, in
close proximity to the Church, has likewise
the appearance of considerable
antiquity, and in all probability, was
one of the earliest streets
of the town. Though now chiefly occupied
by the poorer classes, it
was the residence of some of the more
wealthy families during the
last century. We may suppose, too, that
the Cross, where stood the
corn mill of the parish till the year
1703, would be partly occupied
with houses at a comparatively remote
period; its appearance, so
late as the beginning of the present
century, before King Street
and Portland Street were formed, was old
and antiquated in the extreme.
But of this afterwards.
The first notice of any consequence
which we have of Kilmarnock, and
more especially of the extent
of its population, at an early date, is
in a document, given in Chapter
X, respecting the appointment of a
priest or clerk for the parish
in the year 1547. The parishioners who
took part in that election
amounted to about three hundred; and as
they, in all likeihood, comprised
the whole, or nearly the whole, of
the heads of families at that
time in the parish, it may be inferred
that the population was little
more than fourteen hundred -- a number
which appears very small when
we consider that the parish of Fenwick
was then included in that
of Kilmarnock.
1. Since the above was written,
we have been favored with extracts
from various letters respecting
Kilmarnock in past times, written by
William Gregory, Esq., Virginia,
to his brother here, James S.
Gregory, Esq., Registrar.
One of these extracts corroborates the
above statement regarding
the name College Wynd. Mr Gregory says: "At
the north end of the Wynd,
and the north-west corner of the Kirk-
yard, stood an old house (it
may be standing yet), the walls of which
belonged to the College, and
in it were probably educated some of
your west country worthies--Boyd
of Troch-rigg, and perhaps, his
kinsman, Zachary Boyd, and
others. The College was burnt down about
the middle of the last century.
My father attended there at the time,
but was too young to be examined
regarding the fire; however, I have
heard him say that John Glen
(whom I remember) was brought before the
Bailies and examined as to
what he knew about the fire. John answered
that he "kent naething about
it, as he and Rab Elshender were making
clay men in the Kirk-yard
at the time." The Collegians used the
Church-yard at that time as
a play ground." It is said that the name
of the last teacher in the
College Wynd School was Mushat. As
coroborative of Mr Gregory's
conjecture respecting Zachary Boyd we
may state that, according
to Chambers Encyclopedia, that eminent
divine was educated at Kilmarnock.
Page 3
Of course the document furnishes
us with no idea of the aspect of the
town in regard to its streets
or buildings; but it is worthy of
remark, that the most of the
names attached to it, though different
in their orthography, are
such as are common amongst us at the
present day. The following
are the various surnames from the document
mentioned; and as the number
of each is also given, it will be
observed that the prevailing
names were Brown, Smith, Boyd and Adam.
Adam......... 11
Fulton...............10
Nevine...........3
Allan............3
Gemyll................6
Norvell... .......3
Andro...........4
Gilmure...............5
Nychole.........1
Angus...........1
Gray..................2
Pally..............4
Arnot............2
Halkill................1
Pawtoun........12
Auchenloss....6
Harbartsoune.....1
Patrick.... .....1
Bar........
...1
Harper...............8
Quhyte....... ...6
Blakwod.......2
Hillhouss............3
Rankyne.........1
Black........ .1
Hobkyn.............1
Robisone........1
Boill.............1
Howay..............1
Ross........... .4
Boyd.........15
Holmes.............1
Schaw........... 2
Borland.......3
Hog..................7
Smyth.......... 16
Brokat........1
Kendy...............1
Steele.......... 6
Brown........20
Kirkland............1
Stesen......... .1
Calderwood....1
Launchland.......4
Stevinsone......1
Campbell.... ..1
Lowdoun..........3
Strauchand......1
Chalmer.... ...1
Lowry...............3
Tailzeour....... 8
Cochrane..... .1
Lymburnat.........4
Tanathill....... 9
Craig..... ......2
Lyndsay............4
Tempeltoun......1
Craufurd.........2
Masoun............2
Thomson......... 3
Credy............2
Miller...............8
Tod............. 1
Crux..............7
Mure...............2
Torrence....... .1
Cunynham......5
Mychell...........1
Wallace......... 8
Curry.............5
Myll................1
Warnock........ 3
Cuthbertsoune.1
Nasmyth..........1
Wilsoun........ .2
Dickey...........5
Neill................2
Wright......... .1
Duncane.........2
Wylie.......... .6
Findlay...........4
Timothy Pont, about sixty
years after the time spoken of, namely, in
1609, visited the town when
making a survey of Cunningham, and, in
his own quaint manner, thus
describes it: "Kilmernock-toune and Kirk
is a large village and of
grate repaire. It hath in it a veekly
market, it hath a faire stone
bridge over the river Marnock vich
glydes hard by the said toune,
till it falles in the river Irving. It
hath a pretty church from
vich ye village, castell and lordshipe
takes its name.... The Lord
Boyd is now Lord of it, to quhose
predicessors it hath belonged
for maney generations. In tis church ar
divers of ye Lord Boydes progenitors
buried, amongs quhome ther is
one tombe or stone, bearing
this inscription and coate, Hic jacet
Thomas Boyde Dominus de Kilmarnock
qui obiit Septimo die mensis Julii
1432, and Johanna de Montgomery
eius spousa. Orate pro iis.(1)
1. In the books of the Irvine
Presbytery, the following notice occurs
regarding Lord Boyd's tomb:
"At a visitation at Kilmarnock, 19th June
1649, anent ane superstitious
image that was upon my Lord Boyd his
tomb, it was the Presbiterie's
mynd that his Lordship sould be
written to that he wold be
pleased to demolish and ding it doun, and
if he should refuse, that
then the Presbiterie was to take a further
course." This appears to have
been in accordance with an act of
Parliament, passed a few years
previously, for "abolishing monuments
of Idolatrie."
Page 4
In another old work, entitled
Northern Memoirs, written by Richard
Franck,(1) in the year 1658,
we have an interesting glimpse of the
town as it then appeared.
We suspect, however, that the picture is
rather extravagantly drawn;
at all events, it reflects no great
credit, in some respects,
on the memory of our ancestors. After de-
scribing the town as :an ancient
corporation, crowded with mechanicks
and brew-houses," and as a
place, "through the midst of whose crazy,
tottering ports, there runs
a river replenished with trout," the
writer says: "step into her
dirty streets, that are seldom clean but
on a sun-shiny day, or at
other times, when great rains melt all the
muck, and forcibly drive it
down their cadaverous channels into the
river Marr, whose streams
are so sullied then, that the river loses
its natural brightness, till
the stains are washed out, and so become
invisible. All which to examine.
is enough to convince you that the
influence of planets is their
best scavenger..... These inhabitants,
he proceeds, "dwell in such
ugly houses, as, in my opinion, are
little better than huts; and
generally of a size, all built so low,
that their eaves hang dangling
to touch the earth...... And that
which is worse than all the
rest, is their unproportionate, ill
contrivance.... Not one good
structure is to be found in Kilmarnock;
nor do I remember any wall
it has, but a river there is, as I
formerly told you of, that
runs through the town; over which there
stood a bridge so wretchedly
antient, that it's unworthy of our
commendations.(2) Regarding
the skill of the inhabitants in
mechanical pursuits our tourist
speaks more favourably. "Part of
their manu-facture," he remarks,
"is knitting of bonnets, and
spinning [weaving] of Scottish
cloth, which turns to very good
account. Then, for their tempers
of metals, they are without compeer-
-- Scotland has not better;
and as they are artizans in dirks, so are
they artists in fuddling,
as if there were some rule in drinking, so
that, to me, it represents
as if art and ale were inseparable
companions. Moreover, their
wives are sociable comers [kimmers], too,
yet not to compare with those
of Dumblain, who pawn their petticoats
to pay their reckoning. Here
is a jolly crew of ale-men, but very few
anglers, crowded together
in the small compass of a little
corporation, curiously compacted."
From these scanty quotations
a faint idea may be formed of the
appearance of the town two
hundred years ago. The mean condition in
which Franck represents it
is not to be wondered at; for it was then
but a mere village, with no
Magistracy or Town Council, (3) with
1. Franck as a native of Cambridge,
and is supposed to have served as
a Captain in a cavalry regiment,
under Cromwell. Like old Izaak
Walton, he was a devoted angler:
and he was making a fishing tour
through Scotland when he visited
Kilmarnock. A limited edition of his
memoirs was published in 1821,
with notes by Sir Walter Scott.
2. It is a curious that neither
the Church nor the Dean Castle are
noticed by our author. The
former, he perhaps, considered too humble
an edifice for particular
description; and the latter, being somewhat
distant from the town, might
escape his observation.
3. The first magistrates were
appointed in 1695; and for upwards of a
hundred years prior to that
time, the Burgh was governed by a baron-
bailie, nominated by the Boyd
family. There is still a baron-bailie
appointed by the superior,
and in virtue of his office he has a seat
at the Board of Commissioners
of Police.
Page 5
little commerce, and, consequently,
with few of the comforts and con-
veniences of life. It appears
from his statement that the men of
Kilmarnock were peculiarly
skilled in the art of cutlery; and this is
somewhat corroborated by another
old book, (1) in which the town is
noticed as "famous for
all kinds of cutler's ware." We have found no
other evidence, however, of
such a trade having been ever carried on
in the town to any very great
extent; and we have seen only one
instance of the word cutler
being mentioned in the early Records of
the Burgh. The minute in which
it occurs is rather curious: 13th
July, 1686.-- The quhilk day
James Thomson, ane of the dragoons of
horse, Adam Black's
companie, was decerned to pay John Tod, cutler
in Kilmarnock, the sum of
3s 4d Scots, and the said John Tod to give
up to James Thomson his wyffis
body cott, quhilk was pandit for
threepence, and paid to the
said James." That the inhabitants were
artists in fuddling," as Franck
expresses it, we can more readily
believe, for the Council,
in by-gones times, were often under the
necessity of making enactments
for the suppression of drunkenness. In
1695, for example, it was
enacted that "no ale be sold by vintners
after ten o'clock on Saturday
nights;" and in 1702, a proclamation
was issued, "strickly requiring
all vintners, taverners, and other
retaillers of Liquors, to
shutt their doors nightly at the tolling of
the bells at ten hours throw
the week, and at the tolling of the nine
hours bell at the Saturday's
and Sabbath's night, and to allow none
to drink in their houses after
the Said times, under penalty of six
shillings Scots, for each
person, to be payed by the master or
mistresse of the house." In
the same proclamation all persons were
also prohibited from "walking
upon the streets unnecessarily, and
from bringing in water, or
carrying of burdens upon the Lord's day."
The following extract from
the minutes of the Kirk Session shows that
special efforts were also
made by that body to abate the social
irregularities noted by Franck:
"Sessions, Debr 12th, 1689.--
The qlk day the Sess. appoints the
Elders in their respective
quarters to go through and search the
several ale-houses and other
suspect places therein each Saturdays
night, immediatelie after
nine o'clock, and that they take notice of
such as they find drinking
there, after the sd hour, or any way
deboshing, and make delation
thereof to the Sess. from time to time.
"It is also appointed, that
the Elders, who collect the charitie at
the Kirk doors, do, immediatelie
after the publick worship is begun,
go through the town, and search
for such as absent themselves from
publick ordinances, or are
drinking, or otherwyse profaneing the
Lords day: And that in the
afternoon, after the publick worship is
over and ended, they take
notice of such as, by straying up and down
the town or through the fields,
or by idle discourse in companys
together, or by drinking and
otherwise, do profane the Sabbath; and
that they make delation thereof
accordinglie."
The principle architectural
erections in the town and its immediate
neighborhood, at the beginning
of the seventeenth century, were the
Bridge, the Church, and the
Castle; at least no other is mentioned by
Pont.
The Bridge to which he alludes
was no doubt situated on the same site
which the Old Bridge, leading
from Cheapside to Sandbed Street, now
occupies, and was probably
the one spoken of by the "piscatorian"
1. A Journey through Scotland:
London, 1723.
Page 6
traveler", Franck, as "unworthy
commendations." According to the
Towns Books it underwent some
alteration in 1753, in order that it
might be made "more safe for
all sorts of traffic;" and about 1762,
it was rebuilt in consequence
of having been much injured by floods.
The present structure, we
believe, is the one then erected.
Of the Church no trace now
remains save the steeple, which still
stands attached to the present
Parish Church.(1) About thirty years
ago the date, 1410, was inscribed
on it--a date which some old people
had recollected seeing on
the lintel of one of the doors. That it
belongs to that, if not an
earlier period, its venerable appearance
would seem to testify. In
1770 it was considerably repaired, as shown
by the following notice in
the Town Treasurer's Books: "1770. Nov 22-
-N.B. This day, the roof of
the Parish Steeple was finished by John
Reid, Plumer in Ayr. He agreed
to take down the old roof, & find a
new one compleat, for L52
Sterling. The Heritors to pay the one half,
and the Town Council the other."
It was also furnished, in August
1853 with a finely-toned new
bell, weighing twelve hundredweight,
which cost about L100 sterling.
The old bell, which weighed nearly
four hundredweight, bore this
inscription: BLESSED IS THE PEOPLE THAT
KNOW THE IOYFULL SOVND, PS.
89, 15, NVM. 10, 10. ALBERT
DANIEL, CELI ME FECERVNT,
KILLMARNOCK, AN.DOM., 1697.(2)
It may be added, thatthere
is a tradition that the lower part of the steeple was
used as aprison in the time
of the Covenanters, and that some of them were
therein incarcerated.
The Castle spoken of by Pont
still exists, though in ruins, and is
now known by the name of the
Dean. It is, perhaps, the oldest
building in the locality,
and was long the stronghold of the ancient
barons of Kilmarnock, whose
names are closely interwoven with the
early annals of the Burgh.
We shall, therefore, give a brief des-
cription of it before entering
more fully into other historical
details.
1.
"When the old Church was taken down (1802), and the west side of
the
steeple laid bare, there were brought to view three niches in the
wall,
some five or six feet above the floor, and perhaps some six or
seven
feet in height, before which the altar stood, and the priest
officiated
in Popish times. These niches were arched at the top of a
gothic
shape." Letter of W. Gregory, Virginia.
2.
The old bell was purchased for a church in Stewarton, and still
does
good service in that ancient village.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Richard G. Boyd, Sec/Ed
Clan Boyd International
568 W. Friedrich Street
Rogers City, Michigan 49779
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