Topographical, statistical, and historical gazetteer of Scotland > Volume 1
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DALRY.
north-east ; and, owing to the peculiar nature of its
site, and the liability to inundation of the mountain
streams by which its environs on three sides are
washed, it has sometimes the appearance of lifting its
head from a lake, and being seated on an island. It is
16 miles from Paisley, 14 from Kilmarnock, 5 from
Beith, and 9 from Saltcoats. Of no higher origin
than the beginning of the 17th century, and long
existing as a mere hamlet, it has eventually attained
considerable prosperity, and at present contains a pop-
ulation of upwards of 2,000. There are five streets
three of which converge, and form a sort of square or
open area near the centre of the town. The streets
indicate the want of police, yet enjoy the luxury of
being lighted up at night with gas. The principal
manufacture is weaving, which employs about 500
individuals. Nearly 50 persons are employed also in
a woollen carding and spinning-mill. Here are the
parish-church, two dissenting churches, three schools,
and a number of inns and other appurtenances of
village importance. There are 6 annual fairs, the
chief of which is held on the last day of July. The
town as well as its vicinity will probably now rise
rapidly in prosperity, from its being touched by the
Glasgow and Ayr railway. Population of the town
and parish, in 1801, 2,815; in 1831, 3,739. Houses
503. Assessed property, in 1815, £13,141 Dairy
is in the presbytery of Irvine, and synod of Glasgow
and Ayr. Patron, Blair of Blair. Stipend £231
10s. 6d. ; glebe £24. Unappropriated teinds £575
9s. lOd. The parish-church was built in 1771. Sit-
tings 941. Before the Reformation the church be-
longed to the monastery of Kilwinning, and was
served by a vicar. On a rising ground to the east
of the Garnock, about a mile from the present vil-
lage, formerly stood a chapel, vestiges of which have
not long ago disappeared. At a greater distance
from the village are still some ruins of another an-
cient chapel One of the meeting-houses in the
village belongs to the United Secession, and the
other to the body of Original Burghers, part of whom
recently became reunited to the Established church.
Sittings in the former 508; in the latter 282. Sti-
pend of the former £110; of the latter £70. Ac-
cording to a survey made in 1835, there were 2,762
in connection with the Establishment, and 927 dis-
senters within the parish There are in the parish
4 schools, 3 of which are nonparochial. Parish-
schoolmaster's salary £32 15s. 9d., with £65 school-
fees.
DALRY, a parish in the north-east verge of
Kirkcudbrightshire ; bounded on the north by Ayr-
shire and Dumfries-shire ; on the east by Dumfries-
shire; on the south-east by Balmaclellan ; on the
south-west and west by Kells; and on the north-
west by Carsphairn. It is of the form of a triangle,
having a small parallelogram resting on its northern
angle, and presenting its apex, or greatest angle, to
the east. Its greatest length, from the confluence
of Grapel burn with Ken water on the south, to a
point north- eastward of Black-Larg-hill on the north,
is 14 miles ; and its greatest breadth, from the con-
fluence of Deugh water and Ken water on the west,
to the point where Cairn water leaves it on the east,
is H miles. Over a distance of 15 miles, following
the sinuosities of the stream, Ken water forms its
north-western, western, and south-western boun-
dary; and over the southern half of that distance it
flows through a fine vale, richly tufted with natural
woods. But even behind this vale, as well as through
all the other districts, the parish is almost entirely
pastoral and hilly. Toward the north, and along
the eastern boundary, it is very mountainous; and
it terminates northward in the towering eminence of
Black Larg, which rises 2,890 feet above the level
of the sea. Grapel burn, which flows south-west-
ward into Ken water, and Cairn water, which flows
north-eastward into Dumfries-shire, along with an
intermediate boundary-line of only about a mile,
divide the parish from Balmaclellan, or form one of
the sides of its triangle. Numerous mountain-brooks
rise in the interior ; a few of which flow southward
into Capel burn, and the most westward into Ken
water. Lochinvar, near the centre of the southern
division, is a sheet of water little less than 3 miles
in'circumference ; and, as well as the smaller lakes,
Boston, Knocksting, and Knockman, contains ex-
cellent trout, and is much frequented by fishers.
Pike, trout, and salmon abound in the Ken. The
salmon, however, except in high floods, cannot ascend
higher than to a linn or cascade at Earlston, and they
there often excite observation by repeated and ex-
hausting, though generally vain leaps, to surmount
the water-spouts which repel their further progress.
The parish is traversed by only three roads ; one along
its western limit, down the vale of the Ken ; another,
along its south-western limit, chiefly on the banks
of the Capel and the Cairn; and one, among the
mountain-gorges from east to west, about midway
between the northern and the southern extremities.
In Lochinvar are the remains of an ancient fortified
castle which belonged to the Gordons, formerly
knights of Lochinvar, and recently viscounts of Ken-
mure. There are several moats, cairns, and curious
places of defence. In the farm of Altrye, near the
top of a hill, whence a distant view is commanded
through the mountain-passes, is an artificial trench
capable of accommodating 100 persons, reported to
have been a hiding-place of the persecuted Cove-
nanters, and — in derivation from the epithet by which
that suffering people were most commonly known — ■
bearing the designation of the Whighole. Dairy, in
common with the contiguous mountain-districts, was
the scene of not a few eventful occurrences under
the persecutions of the Stuarts. In the churchyard
of Dairy one gravestone covers the dust of Major
Stewart, of Ardoch, and of John Grierson, who
were shot in 1684, by Graham of Claverhouse, and
after being buried in the family-cemetery belonging
to Ardoch, were dug up, by Graham's orders, and
finally reinterred in the north-west corner of the
churchyard of Dairy The village of Dairy is beau-
tifully situated on a bend of the Ken, near the
southern angle of the parish. The houses, though
irregularly scattered over a considerable space of
ground, produce a fine effect to the eye. The little
crofts lying around them are all carefully cultivated ;
and the gardens are neatly surrounded with hedges,
and sheltered by rows of trees. Here are the parish-
church, and an United Secession meeting-house.
Population of the parish, in 1801, 832; in 1831,
1,246. Houses 211. Assessed property, in 1815,
£5,889 Dairy is in the presbytery of Kirkcud-
bright, and synod of Galloway. Patron, Forbes of
Callander. Stipend £217 12s. 2d. ; glebe £20.
Unappropriated teinds £180 4s. 6d. The church
having formerly been dedicated to St. John the Bap-
tist, the village, till recently, was called St. John's
clachan, and a large stone, shown to strangers as an
object of curiosity, is called St. John's chair. Before
the establishment of Carsphairn parish in 1640, Dairy
comprehended the mountainous and extensive tract
between the Ken and the Deugh, and it anciently
had several chapels, all subordinate to the mother or
parochial church. During episcopal times the par-
son was a member of the chapter of Galloway. The
present church was built in 1832 ; sittings 700.
The United Secession church was built in 1826 ;
sittings 200. Stipend £70. There are 3 schools ;
1 parochial, 1 endowed, and 1 supported wholly by
DALRY.
north-east ; and, owing to the peculiar nature of its
site, and the liability to inundation of the mountain
streams by which its environs on three sides are
washed, it has sometimes the appearance of lifting its
head from a lake, and being seated on an island. It is
16 miles from Paisley, 14 from Kilmarnock, 5 from
Beith, and 9 from Saltcoats. Of no higher origin
than the beginning of the 17th century, and long
existing as a mere hamlet, it has eventually attained
considerable prosperity, and at present contains a pop-
ulation of upwards of 2,000. There are five streets
three of which converge, and form a sort of square or
open area near the centre of the town. The streets
indicate the want of police, yet enjoy the luxury of
being lighted up at night with gas. The principal
manufacture is weaving, which employs about 500
individuals. Nearly 50 persons are employed also in
a woollen carding and spinning-mill. Here are the
parish-church, two dissenting churches, three schools,
and a number of inns and other appurtenances of
village importance. There are 6 annual fairs, the
chief of which is held on the last day of July. The
town as well as its vicinity will probably now rise
rapidly in prosperity, from its being touched by the
Glasgow and Ayr railway. Population of the town
and parish, in 1801, 2,815; in 1831, 3,739. Houses
503. Assessed property, in 1815, £13,141 Dairy
is in the presbytery of Irvine, and synod of Glasgow
and Ayr. Patron, Blair of Blair. Stipend £231
10s. 6d. ; glebe £24. Unappropriated teinds £575
9s. lOd. The parish-church was built in 1771. Sit-
tings 941. Before the Reformation the church be-
longed to the monastery of Kilwinning, and was
served by a vicar. On a rising ground to the east
of the Garnock, about a mile from the present vil-
lage, formerly stood a chapel, vestiges of which have
not long ago disappeared. At a greater distance
from the village are still some ruins of another an-
cient chapel One of the meeting-houses in the
village belongs to the United Secession, and the
other to the body of Original Burghers, part of whom
recently became reunited to the Established church.
Sittings in the former 508; in the latter 282. Sti-
pend of the former £110; of the latter £70. Ac-
cording to a survey made in 1835, there were 2,762
in connection with the Establishment, and 927 dis-
senters within the parish There are in the parish
4 schools, 3 of which are nonparochial. Parish-
schoolmaster's salary £32 15s. 9d., with £65 school-
fees.
DALRY, a parish in the north-east verge of
Kirkcudbrightshire ; bounded on the north by Ayr-
shire and Dumfries-shire ; on the east by Dumfries-
shire; on the south-east by Balmaclellan ; on the
south-west and west by Kells; and on the north-
west by Carsphairn. It is of the form of a triangle,
having a small parallelogram resting on its northern
angle, and presenting its apex, or greatest angle, to
the east. Its greatest length, from the confluence
of Grapel burn with Ken water on the south, to a
point north- eastward of Black-Larg-hill on the north,
is 14 miles ; and its greatest breadth, from the con-
fluence of Deugh water and Ken water on the west,
to the point where Cairn water leaves it on the east,
is H miles. Over a distance of 15 miles, following
the sinuosities of the stream, Ken water forms its
north-western, western, and south-western boun-
dary; and over the southern half of that distance it
flows through a fine vale, richly tufted with natural
woods. But even behind this vale, as well as through
all the other districts, the parish is almost entirely
pastoral and hilly. Toward the north, and along
the eastern boundary, it is very mountainous; and
it terminates northward in the towering eminence of
Black Larg, which rises 2,890 feet above the level
of the sea. Grapel burn, which flows south-west-
ward into Ken water, and Cairn water, which flows
north-eastward into Dumfries-shire, along with an
intermediate boundary-line of only about a mile,
divide the parish from Balmaclellan, or form one of
the sides of its triangle. Numerous mountain-brooks
rise in the interior ; a few of which flow southward
into Capel burn, and the most westward into Ken
water. Lochinvar, near the centre of the southern
division, is a sheet of water little less than 3 miles
in'circumference ; and, as well as the smaller lakes,
Boston, Knocksting, and Knockman, contains ex-
cellent trout, and is much frequented by fishers.
Pike, trout, and salmon abound in the Ken. The
salmon, however, except in high floods, cannot ascend
higher than to a linn or cascade at Earlston, and they
there often excite observation by repeated and ex-
hausting, though generally vain leaps, to surmount
the water-spouts which repel their further progress.
The parish is traversed by only three roads ; one along
its western limit, down the vale of the Ken ; another,
along its south-western limit, chiefly on the banks
of the Capel and the Cairn; and one, among the
mountain-gorges from east to west, about midway
between the northern and the southern extremities.
In Lochinvar are the remains of an ancient fortified
castle which belonged to the Gordons, formerly
knights of Lochinvar, and recently viscounts of Ken-
mure. There are several moats, cairns, and curious
places of defence. In the farm of Altrye, near the
top of a hill, whence a distant view is commanded
through the mountain-passes, is an artificial trench
capable of accommodating 100 persons, reported to
have been a hiding-place of the persecuted Cove-
nanters, and — in derivation from the epithet by which
that suffering people were most commonly known — ■
bearing the designation of the Whighole. Dairy, in
common with the contiguous mountain-districts, was
the scene of not a few eventful occurrences under
the persecutions of the Stuarts. In the churchyard
of Dairy one gravestone covers the dust of Major
Stewart, of Ardoch, and of John Grierson, who
were shot in 1684, by Graham of Claverhouse, and
after being buried in the family-cemetery belonging
to Ardoch, were dug up, by Graham's orders, and
finally reinterred in the north-west corner of the
churchyard of Dairy The village of Dairy is beau-
tifully situated on a bend of the Ken, near the
southern angle of the parish. The houses, though
irregularly scattered over a considerable space of
ground, produce a fine effect to the eye. The little
crofts lying around them are all carefully cultivated ;
and the gardens are neatly surrounded with hedges,
and sheltered by rows of trees. Here are the parish-
church, and an United Secession meeting-house.
Population of the parish, in 1801, 832; in 1831,
1,246. Houses 211. Assessed property, in 1815,
£5,889 Dairy is in the presbytery of Kirkcud-
bright, and synod of Galloway. Patron, Forbes of
Callander. Stipend £217 12s. 2d. ; glebe £20.
Unappropriated teinds £180 4s. 6d. The church
having formerly been dedicated to St. John the Bap-
tist, the village, till recently, was called St. John's
clachan, and a large stone, shown to strangers as an
object of curiosity, is called St. John's chair. Before
the establishment of Carsphairn parish in 1640, Dairy
comprehended the mountainous and extensive tract
between the Ken and the Deugh, and it anciently
had several chapels, all subordinate to the mother or
parochial church. During episcopal times the par-
son was a member of the chapter of Galloway. The
present church was built in 1832 ; sittings 700.
The United Secession church was built in 1826 ;
sittings 200. Stipend £70. There are 3 schools ;
1 parochial, 1 endowed, and 1 supported wholly by
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