Ordnance gazetteer of Scotland > Volume 4

KILMARNOCK
KILMARNOCK
and rising to a height of 70 feet, it commands an ex-
cellent view. It contains two telescopes — one New-
tonian 9g inches in diameter, and the other Gregorian
7 inches in diameter, and both made by Mr Morton
himself — and a camera obscura. Kilmarnock House
stands between St Marnock Street and Nelson Street,
and was the place of residence of the Kilmarnock
family after the burning of Dean Castle already referred
to. The older part dates from the latter part of the
17th century, and the western part was being built
immediately before the rebellion of 1745-46. There
are grounds with trees, and along the line of Dundonald
Road is a tree-bordered avenue known as the Lady's
Walk, which is said to take its name from its having
been a favourite place of resort of the last Countess of
Kilmarnock after the execution of her husband. The
Walk was considerably improved in 1879. The build-
ing itself is now used as a Ragged and Industrial School.
During the Reform agitation of 1832, a meeting at which
it is said 17,000 persons were present, was held on the
lawn in front. There are also other handsome build-
ings in several of the streets — particularly the buildings
of the Co-operative Society at the corner of John Finnie
and John Dickie Streets, erected in 1879-80 at a cost of
£4000, and several of the bank offices. In Ladeside
Street is a model lodging-house erected in 1878. At
the Cross is a statue of Sir James Shaw (1764-1843),
a native of the adjacent parish of Riccarton, Lord
Mayor of London in 1805-6. The monument, which
was the work of James Fillans, was erected in 1S48.
The statue, which represents Sir James in his official
robes as Lord Mayor, is about 8 feet high. It is of
Carrara marble, and stands on a pedestal with a base of
Aberdeen granite. The scroll he is holding in his hand
represents the warrant of precedence he obtained in
1806, reviving the right of the Lord Mayor of London
to take precedence of every one except the sovereign
in all public processions in the city. At the S corner
of the Cross is a circular granite stone with the inscrip-
tion, ' John Nisbet was executed here 14th April 1683.'
It marks the place of execution of a Covenanter who
was charged with having been engaged in the battle
of Bothwell Bridge. A temperance coifee house, pre-
sented to the town by Lady Ossington, lady of the
manor, was erected in 1883 at a cost of £3500.
On the NE of the town and E of High Street is
the large and well laid out public park known as
the Kay Park. The ground was purchased in terms
of a bequest by the late Mr Alexander Kay (1796-
1866), who, at his death, bequeathed £10,000 for the
purpose of acquiring ground for and laying out a public
park in Kilmarnock. The present ground, extending
altogether to over 40 acres, of which a very small part
is reserved for feuing, was acquired at a cost of £9000,
and after £3000 had been spent in laying it out, was
finally opened to the public in 1879. Near the centre
of it is the Burns Monument erected in 1878-79. It is
a two-story building, Scotch Baronial in style, with a
tower rising to a height of 80 feet. The situation is
elevated, and from the top of the tower fine views are
obtained of the town and the surrounding districts. On
the ground floor are rooms for the accommodation of
the keeper. A handsome stone staircase leads up in
front to a projecting portion of the upper story, and
here, as in a shrine, is a fine marble statue of Burns by
W. G. Stevenson. The poet is represented standing
with a pencil in his right hand and a note-book in his
left, while a cluster of daisies rises at his feet. Behind
are three rooms used as a museum, and containing a
number of interesting relics connected with the poet, a
copy of the first (the Kilmarnock) edition of his poems,
a copy by James Tannock of Nasmyth's portrait of
Burns, a portrait of Mr Alexander Kay by A. S. Mackay,
and a portion of the remains discovered in the crannoge
found at Lochlea. The building cost over £1500 and
the statue £800. The fountain to the SW was the gift
of the late Mrs Crooks of Wallace Bank. There is also
a public recreation ground between Dundonald Road
and the bank of Irvine Water.
374
Churches. — The Laigh Kirk or Low Parish Church
stands near the centre of the town, and occupies the
site of an older church erected about the middle of the
18th century. This does not seem to have been a very
substantial structure, for it had to be taken down in
1802, when the present one was erected. It might have
stood longer, but, its strength being doubted, the fall
of some plaster from the ceiling during afternoon ser-
vice caused a panic that resulted in the death of 29 per-
sons, and the heritors, anxious to allay all cause of
alarm, sanctioned its removal. The spire seems to have
survived from a still earlier church, and is said to have
had the date 1410 on a door-lintel. The date now to be
seen was cut about the middle of the present century.
The building of 1802 was enlarged in 1831 at a cost of
£1200, and now contains 1457 sittings. One good
lesson learned from the panic is visible in the spacious
staircases leading to the galleries. An organ was intro-
duced some years ago at a cost of about £500. In the
interior is a stone in memory of Robert, fourth Lord
Boyd, with the following epitaph said to be the composi-
tion of Alexander Montgomery, author of The. Cherrie
and the Slae : —
'1BS9
Heir ljis yt godlie, noble wyis lord Boyd
Quha kirk & king & commin weil decoir'd
Quhilke war (quhill they yia jowell all injoyd)
Defendit, counsaild, governd, be that lord.
His ancient hous (oft parreld) he restoird.
Twyis sax and saxtie zelrs he leivd and syne
By death (ye thrid of Januare) devoird
In anno thryis fyve hundreth auchtye nyne.'
In the surrounding churchyard jthere are, among other
interesting stones, several to the memory of persons who
suffered death during the Covenanting persecutions.
The verses on the older ones are very peculiar. The
following are the inscriptions : —
' Here lie the Heads of John Ross and John Shields, who sufEered
at Edinburgh Dec. 27th 1666 and had their Heads set up in Kil-
marnock.
Our persecutors mad with wrath and ire
In Edinburgh members some do lye, some here ;
Yet instantly united they shall be
And witness 'gainst this nation's perjury.'
On another of recent erection is the following : —
' Sacred to the memory of Thomas Finlay, John Cuthbertson,
William Brown, Robert and James Anderson (natives of this
parish) who were taken prisoners at Bothwell, June 22nd 1679,
sentenced to transportation for life, and drowned on their passage
near the Orkney Isles. Also, John Finlay, who suffered Martyr-
dom 15th December, 16S2, in the Grass-Market, Edinburgh.
Peace to the Church ! her peace no friends invade,
Peace to each noble Martyr's honoured shade;
They, with undaunted courage, truth, and zeal
Contended for the Church and Country's weal;
We share the fruits, we drop the grateful tear,
And peaceful Ashes o'er their ashes rear.'
On another : —
'Here lies John Nisbet, who was taken by Major Balfour's
Party and suffered at Kilmarnock, 14th April, 1683, for adhering
to the Word of God and our Covenants. Rev. xii. & 11.
Come, reader, see, here pleasant Nisbet lies,
His blood doth pierce the high and lofty skies ;
Kilmarnock did his latter hour perceive
And Christ his soul to heaven did receive.
Yet bloody Torrence did his body raise
And buried it into another place ;
Saying " Shall rebels lye in graves with me !
We'll bury him where evil doers be." '
The Laigh Kirk is the church that figures in Burns'
poem of The Ordination. The High Church, in Soulis
Street, was erected as a chapel of ease in 1732, and the
steeple (which is 80 feet high) in 1740. The total cost
was about £1000. It is a very plain building with 952
sittings, and is surrounded by an extensive burial-
ground. A separate parish was constituted and at-
tached to it in 1811. A three-light window was, in
1869, filled with stained glass, as a memorial of the last
Earl of Kilmarnock, and a few years ago an organ was
introduced at a cost of nearly £300. In the wall en-
closing the churchyard, but fronting the street, is a niche