Ordnance gazetteer of Scotland > Volume 4

KIRKMIEN
remains of old Kirkmichael church, graphically described
by Hugh Miller. Mansions, both noticed separately,
are Newhall and Poyntzfield ; and 2 proprietors hold
each an annual value of more, 7 of less, than £500.
Kirkmichael is in the presbytery of Chanonry and synod
of Ross ; the living is worth £365. The parish church,
built in 1830, is amply commodious. There is also a
Free church ; and two new public schools, Cullicudden
and Newhall, each with accommodation for 123 children,
had (1881) an average attendance of 64 and 76, and
grants of £53, lis. and £67, 15s. Valuation (1860)
£4782, (1881) £6491. Pop. (1831) 1470, (1861) 1568,
(1871) 1527, (1881) 1424, of whom 601 were Gaelic-
speaking.— Ord. Sur., shs. 94, 93, 83, 84, 1876-81.
Kirkmien or Kilmein Hill. See Daleymple.
Kirkmuirhill, a collier village in Lesmahagow parish,
Lanarkshire, 5 furlongs from the left bank of the
Nethan, 2| miles NNW of Abbeygreen, and 3| SE of
Stonehouse. It has a post office, with money order,
savings' bank, and telegraph departments, a school,
and a TJ.P. church. Pop. (1861) 371, (1871) 501,
(18S1) 547.— Ord. Sur., sh. 23, 1865.
Kirkness House, a mansion in Portmoak parish,
Kinross-shire, 1 mile SE of the south-eastern extremity
of Loch Leven, and 4 miles N of Lochgelly.
Kirknewton, a village and a parish of W Edinburgh-
shire. The village stands 5 furlongs E by S of Mid-
calder or Kirknewton Junction on the Caledonian rail-
way, this being 36J miles E of Glasgow, and 11 WSW
of Edinburgh. It has a post office, an inn, and a
police station. Pop. (1861) 318, (1871) 383, (1881) 368.
The parish, containing also the villages of East Caldee,
Oakbank, and Wilkieston, comprises the ancient parishes
of Kirknewton and East Calder. It is bounded NW by
Uphall in Linlithgowshire, N by Kirkliston and Ratho,
E by Ratho and Currie, and S and W by Midcalder. Its
utmost length, from NNE to WSW, is 6| miles ; its ut-
most breadth, from E to W, is 3| miles ; and its area is
9491J acres, of which 14J are water. The river Al-
mond winds 9 furlongs north-eastward along all the
Linlithgowshire border ; Linhouse Water, in a run of
5J miles, traces all the western boundary to the Almond ;
the Water of Leith for 3 miles traces the southern part
of the eastern boundary ; and three head-streams of
Gogar Burn rise in the interior, and drain the north-
eastern district, one of them, over a distance of 2 miles,
tracing the northern part of the eastern boundary. In
the extreme N the surface declines to close on 200 feet
above sea-level, and thence it rises gradually southward
to 500 feet near Kirknewton village, 700 near Lyden,
and 1000 at Corston Hill ; the southern district, which
comprises nearly one-half of the entire area, lying near
the Pentlands, but being neither mountainous nor rocky,
and consisting largely of excellent sheep pasturage. The
northern district is gently diversified champaign, and
exhibits a highly cultivated surface, gemmed with man-
sions, and embellished with parks and woods. Multi-
tudes of stand-points, not only on the hills but like-
wise throughout the plain, command magnificent views
over the Lothians and across the Firth of Forth, to
the Lammermuirs, the Ochils, and the Grampians.
The rocks belong to the Calciferous Sandstone series,
with porphyrite at Corston Hill, and patches elsewhere
of intrusive basalt ; the soil is a mixture of clay and
sand on the northern border, a fertile loam in the cen-
tral and southern parts of the northern district, and on
the hills a vegetable mould. About two-thirds of the
land are under tillage ; about 550 acres are under wood ;
and most of the remainder is in permanent pasture.
Employment is given by limestone quarries and the
Oakbank shale oil-work. Alexander Bryee (1713-86),
geometrician, was minister from 1745 till his death, as
also from 1786 was William Cameron (1751-1811), a
minor poet. William Cullen, M.D. (1710-90), the cele-
brated physician, was proprietor of Ormiston, and is
buried in the churchyard, along with his son Robert
(1764-1810), an eminent judge. Two other eminent
Lords of Session were also connected with this parish —
Alexander Maconochie of Meadowbank (1748-1816) and
434
KIRKOSWALD
his son, Alexander (1776-1861), who successively on
their elevation to the bench assumed the title of Lord
Meadowbank. Mansions, noticed separately, are Lin-
burn, Hillhouse, Meadowbank, Ormiston, and Calder-
hall ; and 7 proprietors hold each an annual value of
£500 and upwards, 12 of between £100 and £500, 3 of
from £50 to £100, and 11 of from £20 to £50. Kirk-
newton is in the presbytery of Edinburgh and synod
of Lothian and Tweeddale ; the living is worth £448.
The parish church, near the Junction, was built in
1750, and, as enlarged and restored in 1872, now presents
a handsome appearance in the Gothic style, and contains
588 sittings. There are also a Free church for Kirk-
newton and Ratho, and a U.P. church at East Calder.
Five public schools — East Calder, Kirknewton, Oakbank,
Sunnyside, and Wilkieston — with respective accommo-
dation for 200, 135, 122, 25, and 130 children, had (1881)
an average attendance of 211, 96, 88, 16, and 88, and
grants of £194, 16s. 6d., £88, 16s., £69, 6s., £13, 2s.,
and £62, 18s. Valuation (I860) £10,130, (1883) £17,508,
plus £4026 for railways and waterworks. Pop. (1801)
1071, (1831) 1445, (1861) 1539, (1871) 2198, (1881) 2742.
— Ord. Sur., sh. 32, 1857.
Kirkney Burn. See Gartlt.
Kirk-o-muir. See Kikkamuie.
Kirkoswald, a village and a coast parish in Carrick
district, Ayrshire. The village, standing 332 feet above
sea-level, is If mile from the coast, and 4| miles WSW
of Maybole, under which it has a post office. An old and
picturesque place, with a good inn, it was here that
Burns spent his seventeenth summer in the study of
mensuration, making pretty good progress therein,
though not so great as in the knowledge of mankind, in
' scenes of swaggering riot and roaring dissipation,' In
the burying-ground are the graves of his ' Tarn O'
Shanter' and ' Souter Johnnie' (Douglas Graham and
John Davidson), as also of his grand and great-grand
parents, the Brouns, the restoration of whose tomb-
stone was inaugurated on 3 Aug. 1883. Pop. (1871)
302.
The parish, containing also Maidens village, in-
cluded, till 1652, a considerable tract on the NW side
of Girvan Water, now belonging to Girvan and Dailly.
It is bounded NE and E by Maybole, SE by Dailly, S
by Dailly and Girvan, and W and NW by the Firth
of Clyde. Its utmost length, from W by N to E by S,
is 7J miles ; its utmost breadth, from NNE to SSW, is
6J miles ; and its area is 15,444 acres, of which 503|
are foreshore and 79| water. The coast-line, 8J miles
long, exhibits prominent features at Colzean Castle and
Turnberry Point, but elsewhere is chiefly a sandy beach,
with verdure down to the water-mark. It offers good
bathing facilities, and, though destitute of any village,
attracts to the farmhouses and the cottages in its
vicinity a considerable number of summer visitors. The
interior shows great diversity of contour, attaining 886
feet above sea-level at Mochrum Hill and 800 at Craig-
dow — vantage-grounds that command a wide and mag-
nificent prospect ; and it is everywhere richly embel-
lished with park and wood and culture. Mochrum Loch
(24 x 1J furl.) and Craigdow Loch (If x 1J furl.)
lie on the north-eastern and the eastern borders ; and
Milton Burn and numerous rills, running in various
directions to the Firth, afford abundance of pure water.
The rocks are partly eruptive, partly carboniferous ; and
coal has long been mined, but to no very great extent.
The soil of the NW district is mostly a very rich argil-
laceous loam ; of the SE, is generally lighter and more
humid. Nearly all the land, except that in parks and
under wood, is regularly or occasionally in tillage. Col-
zean Castle, Thomaston Castle, the vestiges of Turn-
berry Castle, and the ruins of Crossraguel Abbey, all
noticed separately, are objects of great interest. The
Marquis of Ailsa owns three-fourths of the parish, 2
other proprietors holding each an annual value of more,
and 9 of less, than £500. Giving off a portion to the
quoad sacra parish of Crossbill, and a smaller one to
that of Maybole West Church, Kirkoswald is in the pres-
bytery of Ayr and synod of Glasgow and Ayr ; the