St Quivox

[Vol. VII, pages 353–360.]

(County of Ayr, Presbytery of Ayr, Synod of Glasgow and Ayr.)

By the Reverend Mr McQuae.

Extent and Soil

The parish of St Quivox contains about 3500 acres of land, all of which is arable, except some part of the banks of the river of Ayr, which are steep, and covered with natural wood or plantations.  The soil is various; nearest to the sea it is sandy – a small part of it is alight gravelly soil, with a dry bottom.  Toward the east it is more clayey; and in general has a hard bottom of till or rotten rock, which makes the uneven surface stratum, springy, and wet.  There are about 100 acres of meadow land; a part of which is much injured by the overflowing of a small rivulet, that is stopped in its course by a mill–dam.  There are likewise about 100 acres of wood and plantations.  The whole parish has been inclosed with hedge and ditch within the last 30 or 40 years, and in general the hedges are in a thriving condition.

Population

In 1755, the population was 499.  In the country part of the parish there are at present 96 families, which contain 490 souls of all ages.  There are two excellent [354] modern built mansion–houses, pleasantly situated on the banks of the river; the one belonging to Mr Oswald of Auchencruive, and the other to Mr Campbell of Craigie, who reside in them occasionally.  Tow–thirds of the parish are the property of Mr Oswald, and the other third is divided among 7 different heritors.  Three of these farm their own property.  Thirty families live by farming; 4 blacksmiths, 4 masons, 5 colliers, 4 house–carpenters, 3 weavers; the remaining 43 are labourers, or poor, or employed in different ways about the collieries.

 

There are 5 married men above 80 years of age, all poor, except one; and their wives above 70, except one.

 

[355]

Rent and Produce

The lands are set from 12s to 40s an acre, and even some so high as £3; but the average of the whole parish is about 20s an acre.  There are in the parish about

 

None of the farmers keep a regular stock of sheep on account of their hedges.  A few are bought in occasionally to be fattened for the butcher, and a few of English breed are kept as pets.  These together may be valued at £50.  The annual produce of a milch cow, beside her calf, is from £3 to £4 the average £3 10s.  Butter, 9d per lb of 24 ounces; and cheese, from 2½d to 6d the same weight.

Agriculture

As to agriculture, the general practice is to plough the land for 3 years, and lay it out into grass for 6; after which, it is again plowed for 3 years, and so on during the tack.  Lands are commonly let for 19 years; and the above course of management is specified in the tacks; however, a better rotation of crops is sometimes followed.  1st, Potatoes with dung, or (though seldon) turnips.  2d, Barley with red clover, 10 or 12 lb to the acre.  3d, Red clover.  4th, Oats.  Then, 5th, Potatoes with dung, and so on as before.  This is found to be a good plan on dry land.  But the staple articles with the farmers here are oats and bear.  Small patches only are sown ith wheat, pease, beans, and barley.  Lime is universally used as a manure; it is laid upon the grass a year or two before the field is to be plowed; the quantity about 100 bolls per acre; that is, 200 Winchester bushels of slacked lime.  Sometimes itis laid upon a fallow, [356] but seldom.  Lime costs 5d per boll, and the carriage 4d, the kilns being 6 or 7 miles distant.  Hence, at the rate of 100 bolls per acre, it costs the farmers £3 15s.  They sow, for two successive years, 6 or 7 Winchester bushels of oats per acre, in the month of April, and reap from 4 to 10 bolls, in the month of September or October.  The third year, the whole dung of the farm is applied as far as it will go, for bear, of which they sow 4 bushels per acre, and reap from 4 to 7 bolls.  Along with the bear, they sow 3 bushels of rye–grass seed, 8 lb of red clover, and 5 or 6 lb of white clover.  The crop of hay is sometimes 200 stone, 24 lb to the stone, each acre; but more frequently does not exceed 100 stone.  It is usually cut for 2 years; then pastured for 4; after which it is plowed for oats.

Wages

Men servants receive from £6 to £8 a year of wages.  Women servants from £3 to £4 a year; but they are commonly hired for half a year only.  A labourer receives a shilling a day; for mowing hay, 18d; a mason, 20d.  The farmers plough with 4 or 3 horses with a driver, or with e horses without a driver, as they think the nature of their soil requires; but most generally with 3 horses and a driver.  The plough most in use is the Scotch plough, with a curved mould–board.  The price of all sorts of provisions is fixed by the markets at Ayr.

Wallacetown

About 30 years ago, the late Sir Thomas Wallace of Craigie began to feu houses and gardens from the north end of the old bridge at Ayr.  At that time, there were not above 8 or 10 straggling houses about the Bridge–end; and now, in 1792, by a gradual increase, there are 250 families living in Wallacetown, so named after its founder.  [357] This increase of inhabitants has been owing, 1st, to the extensive collieries which have been wrought on the Blackhouse estate in this parish, and on the lands belonging to the community of Newton adjoining to it.  2d, Many farmers advanced in life, or unwilling to take their farms at a high additional rent, find houses in Wallacetown, to which they carried their capital, and became dealers in grain, meal, malt, &c.  3d, Mechanics of all sorts flocked into it, and feued houses, or rented those than were built by others, with a view to profit.  They are here exempted from the laws or regulations of the incorporated trades in the adjoining royal burgh of Ayr.  4th, A considerable number from Ireland and the West Highlands settled here, as weavers, day–labourers, &c because they could get higher wages than at home.  It is a considerable disadvantage to this populous and thriving town, that there are no established magistrates residing in it; and evil which is the less likely to be soom remedied, as the present superior of Wallacetown resides at a distance, and has little more connection with it than to uplift the feu–duties.  The attention and activity of the magistrates in Ayr and Newton to preserve good order in their towns, often drives disorderly people, and vagrants of different descriptions, to Wallacetown.  By the activity of some of the principal inhabitants, who, from regard to peace and good order, officiate as constables, this evil has been in some degree checked; and the managers of the collieries have much merit in their attention to the morals of the people employed by them.  When it is considered, that the inhabitants are a mixture of English, Irish, and Highlanders, with the original feuers, who were natives of the county of Ayr, it will be found that there is as much peace and decency of behaviour among them as can well be expected.  They are 3 miles distant from the parish church, in which they have no seats; but have good [358] opportunity of attneding public worship at the church of Newton, which is built at the west end of one of their streets, or at the Seceding meeting–house, which stands at the east end of it.

Population of Wallacetown

The town contains 250 families, in all 960 souls, 187 married pairs, 38 widows, 8 widowers, 7 bachelors, 10 married women that keep house.

 

Religion

There is one Antiburgher Seceding minister.  Four families in the country part of the aprish, and 20 families in Wallacetown, belong to this congregation.  Three Burghers, 3 Moravians, 3 Methodists, and 10 of the Church of England.  All the rest are of the established church.

Baptisms

The register of baptisms for the whole parish is regularly kept, and also the register of marriages; but as many, from adjoining parishes, have burial places in the church–yard of St Quivox, and some are buried at the Seceding meeting–house, no exact information can be given [359] concerning the number of deaths.  For the last 8 years, there have been baptized, in

 

 

The average is 23 males, and nearly 18 females born annually, and about 12 couple married.

Church, School, and Poor

The stipend is,

 

The church was repaired in 1767, uniformly seated, and plaistered [sic] by the heritors; and a new aile [sic] built by the patron, Mr Oswald of Auchincruive.  There are about 20 on the poor's list, who receive only 2s each per month; and even this small allowance could not be afforded them from the weekly collections in the church, but the kirk–session has received, [360] in donations and legacies, during the last 10 years, above £100 which they distributed among the poor.

Day–labourers live comfortably upon 1s a day; all of them in the country, and many in town, have small patches of potatoe ground, which is of great use to their families, and almost without exception, their children are taught to read and write.  The parish schoolmaster is well qualified to teach these branches and arithmetic.  His salary is about £12 a year; school wages, 18d per quarter, and his whole income may be about £24 besides a good house and garden.  The house and school–house were built within these 6 years.

 

Total population of the parish: