Chapter 5

Stewarton's "Middle Ages"

Three or four hundred years ago Stewarton was an almost entirely different town from the Stewarton of the late 1980s. At that time there was no town council and no police force. Administrative duties and the enforcement of the law were executed by a body known as the Baron Court which was chaired by the Laird of Corsehill or his deputy, the Baron Bailie.

The Laird of Corsehill, however, only had jurisdiction over the vassals of the barony of Corsehill and although there are no records, it is presumed that the Lairds of Lainshaw and Robertland performed similar duties with the same powers. Stewarton’s main industries were farming and bonnet-making, the latter being controlled by the Court of Corsehill and later by the Society of Bonnet Makers, both of which have been dealt with in another chapter. From the minutes of the Baron Court (1673-1790) the way of life in the town at that time is portrayed and the misdeeds' of the residents are recorded. The quirks and idiosyncrasies of the farmers and the constant villainy of the people, especially those who lived in the Kirktown whose misdemeanours were the most frequent cases to be brought up before the Court.

Those Kirktown scoundrels were up to every type of mischief. They broke each others dykes, they blocked their neighbours' drains, they kept hens at seed-time and at the harvest, and fed their animals on other people's grass. And that was not all for the Kirktown rogues sold excessive quantities of ale to beggars which made them violent and pests to the more respectable inhabitants. They also spent their spare time "in drinking and in flyting, scolding, cursing, swearing, bating and striking another to the great dishonour of God and shame among Christians." The final outrage was in providing lodgings for "Margaret Dog, a common thief."

Today they would be called social outcasts, undesirables or "lager louts." Some of the trials which came before the Baron Court were quite funny, although probably not to those concerned. In 1688, one William Walker of Goosehills was accused of "committing a blood and batterie upon John Dillidaff, tailor, in that ‘he gripped him by the hair of the head and wounded him in the face" in Arthur Bryce the smith's house. The injured tailor did not take this lying down for, after nursing his sore face and his wrath all night, he set upon Walker the next day with a big stick, battering him about the head and shoulders to the great effusion of blood." It was revealed at the trial that Walker had also struck a stranger on the highway so he was fined Ł20 while Dillidaff got off with a tenner. It was the custom of the townspeople to keep their horse’s tethered in common grazing land. Sometimes the animals managed to escape from their tethers and join "the milk kye, sheep and calves whereby they were wronged or hurt" and this resulted in complaints and squabbling.

There were a variety of actions involving horses around the end of the seventeenth century and hens too caused a great deal of bother. In 1684 an act was passed forbidding the keeping of hens at seed-time or harvest time and it was augmented in 1709 when no person in the town of Stewarton might keep any poultry from 1st March to 1st October under the penalty of Ł4 Scots for each bird. So, no one could go to work on an egg during these months. The animal which was the cause of most cases at the Baron Court was the cow and it appears in each page of the Court Book. The coos were always straying into somebody else's grass or eating a neighbour's corn due to poor broken down dykes, and fencing did not seem to have been invented at that time. In 1668, William Wyllie of Corsehouse was accused of "batting and abusing one, Jonat Armour, with stroks and bruising her with his knees when she was turning off his cattell from her own grass." She was also alleged to have been thrown to the ground. After listening to two witnesses, the Judge, Finding the matter "dubious," fined both parties.

Other events often led to a breach of the peace with all disputes over money or articles being repaired or delivered. One case of this kind took place in 1709 when James Miller, shoemaker, was tried for beating William Peacock's wife over the head with a stranger's shoe to the great effusion of her blood, all the while uttering "horrid oaths." The ladies did not seem to get much reverence in those times. An action was once brought before the Court in which Isobel Hunter, the wife of "Hew Hamill at the Kirk," accused the minister, the Rev. John Duncanson, of defamation of character. It was said that the minister had slandered the couple by saying they had bought cheese that had been plundered by the Highlandmen and had sold it one pound lots, and that they had bought the Laird of Lainshaw's bonds from the same source. It was also alleged that Mr Duncanson had called Hew a knave. The clergyman denied having said all this but he added he could prove that Hew WAS a knave. He was unsuccessful with his defence and the court fined him Ł20 Scots, declaring that Hew Hamill was an honest man.

Although there were countless cases brought before the Baron Court, this does not infer that Stewarton was a lawless and wild place inhabited by drinkers, fighters, moaners and trouble-makers. In fact, the opposite was the case, as the majority of the people were well behaved and peaceful. In addition to the court cases and trials, the Court made regulations for the general good of the community. On one occasion it enacted that each occupier of property must plant a certain number of trees in proportion to the acreage of land he occupied; and there was another act to encourage the erection of dykes and the draining of land, and an "Act against dogs known to wirrie Sheep."

One old property from this period which still exists and is inhabited is Mid Cutstraw Cottage. It was built by Alexander Cunninghame of Corsehill, who was the father of Sir Walter Montgomery Cunninghame, and his initials and those of his wife - "AC AP 17 36"-appear on the front door lintel. A musical man, Alexander Cunninghame was the composer of "Stewarton Lassies" which Robert Burns described as the oldest reel composed in Ayrshire. The first Statistical Account of Stewarton was written by the Rev. Thomas Maxwell towards the end of the 18th century. In the first paragraph it states that "the air is rather moist, and in some seasons of the year there are heavy rains for a continued time." Some things never change.

There were freestone quarries at Cocklebee and Hillhouse and limestone at Cutstraw, but no coal, which was unfortunate for the residents as the nearest coal was "a considerable distance away." The parish was notable for its large number of good milk cows. Some persons were said to own from ten to twenty and there was a great demand for locally made cheese which fetched a high price. One farmer won an award at Edinburgh for making "the best cheese in Scotland." Stewarton around this period was said to compare with any town of its size in the West of Scotland “for beauty, regularity and cleanness." It consisted of one long and broad street and a cross one. The population had increased and a large number of new houses had been built.

There were two tolls in the parish one on the Kilmarnock road and the other on the road to Irvine - but none on the Glasgow road, which had been made some thirty years earlier. Two schools existed in the country and three in the town. It has been said that the poor shall always be with us and they certainly existed in Stewarton in those days but there was a local rule that they must not beg out with the parish. As the road from Glasgow to Ayr and Irvine passed through Stewarton, the local people were oppressed with great numbers of "the strolling poor" from Glasgow and neighbouring towns.

The population was 2319 and 2,300 of those were attached to the Kirk. There were some Burghers and Anti-burghers and "a few old Cameronians." All of the sects lived in harmony with the people and the minister of the Established Church. The town had one surgeon and one writer, one hundred to one hundred and thirty weavers while the bonnet trade, by far the chief industry, employed "a great many hands." The townspeople were "mostly of the usual size" although there were some who were considerably bigger and in general, they were sober, intelligent, hospitable to strangers and charitable to the poor, which is still the case to this day. At a time when the average lifespan was relatively low, Stewarton was renowned for longevity. One man reached 103; there was a lady over 97 and another of 90.

Stewarton was a post town and had been for a long time with regular dispatches and arrivals of mail to and from all towns in Britain. In 1797 Stewarton, along with other towns in North Ayrshire, became involved in the militia riots which followed the passing of the Scottish Militia Act. Although not quite conscription, “a compulsory levy of men" was made to serve in the armed forces as Britain at that time was at war with the French. The worst riot took place at Beith where even the intervention of the Lord Lieutenant's deputies failed to quell it and they had to beat a hasty retreat.

This was during the reign of George III and volunteers were also sought. One public notice pleaded for men to fight the French: "Men who love their country, their religion, their King, and who hate the French and damn the Pope." Strange as it may seem, the American Civil War influenced the affairs in the small town of Stewarton thousands of miles away. One man who benefited immensely from the conflict was one, William Cunninghame, a Glasgow merchant, who in 1774 became exceedingly rich. When the war started, tobacco was 3d per pound. When it suddenly jumped to 6d per pound, Cunninghame purchased all the available stock he could lay his hands on and stored it.

When the price escalated to 3s6d he sold his large stocks and made a fortune. The house he had built in the Cow Loan, later the Royal Exchange, was the finest building in Glasgow in its day. William Cunninghame had become a so-called Tobacco Lord or Baron, one of the "strutting grandees" who used to wear scarlet cloaks, powdered wigs and tricorn hats as they proceeded about the city centre. But Cunninghame was not satisfied as he aspired to a lairdship in the country so he obtained temporary possession of Lainshaw in Stewarton from the Montgomeries, who had lived there for around three hundred years but whose cash resources had been depleted by the same Civil War and their own extravagances.

The Montgomeries moved out and Cunninghame redeemed the estate which he was to hold for a term of years and part of the agreement was that he would be repaid any sums he spent upon improvements. During his tenure, he spent lavishly on the property and the grounds, so much that the Montgomeries were never able to redeem their former domain. Cunninghame was responsible for the building of the lodge gates when the builders were told: "Make them they'll stand frae here till the Day of Judgement," and as the lodges are still standing to this day with a storey added. Judgement Day has not yet arrived. William Cunninghame’s son, also named William, succeeded his father and he was responsible for many extraordinary happenings associated with religion in Stewarton, the effects of which are still in existence today. His story is told in another chapter of this book.

Lainshaw castle or mansion has stood for centuries and over the years many additions and alterations have been made, A large part of it was built by William Cunninghame Senior with walls ten feet thick. Earlier in the 18th century a regular visitor to Lainshaw was James Boswell of Auchinleck, the famous biographer of Dr. Samuel Johnson, and he married his cousin Margaret Montgomerie. The second Statistical Account of the Parish of Stewarton was written, again by a local minister, the Rev. Charles Ballantyne Steven, in 1841. He listed 83 landowners in the parish, presumably in order of importance, and they included William Cunninghame, Esq. of Lainshaw; Alexander Kerr, Esq of Robertland C.S. McAlister, Esq. of Kennox and Sir A.D.M. Cunninghame. Bart of Corsehill.

Although Alexander Kerr built Robertland House in 1820, the Cunninghame’s of Robertland had lived there for centuries. The estate once formed part of the Corsehill Estate. Over the west door leading to the Robertland garden there is a large ornamental stone with the letters for James the sixth of Scotland (son of Mary Queen of Scots) and Ann of Denmark. At the side of this doorway there is a stone in the wall dated 1597 and a Latin sentence, "Vita post fine eraverit." (There will be life after the end.) A stone marked "D.C." for Sir David Cunninghame is to be found over a door situated on the north side of the garden wall.

Incidentally, Cunninghame, Cunninghame , or Cunningham, is derived from the Gaelic. "Cunneag" in Gaelic means butter churn and "Cunneag 'am" stands for the churn country. Long ago the Ayrshire cow was known as the Cunninghame cow, and the Cunninghame district was famed for its high butter output. Robert Burns' uncle, also Robert Burns, was employed at Robertland. Poet Burns visited his relation, "pair Uncle Robert," and he also stayed in the Buck's Head Inn on Main Street when visiting Mrs Dunlop of Dunlop House, Ultimately, due to rheumatism, Uncle Robert had to give up work at Robertland and moved into Stewarton where he ran a school for farmers' sons, During the first part of the 19th century there was a gradual increase in population. In 1811 it was 3,049;in l831 it had risen to 4,503; and by 1841 there were 4,654 residents in the parish.

Stewarton had its own library from 1810. There were three Friendly Societies, and two banks - a branch of the Union Bank and of Messrs Hunters and Co. of Ayr. The poor still existed, although Mr Steven felt that some of the poorer classes expected to be supported by the wealthy from whatever cause this poverty arose. In 1837 there were 80 "permanent poor" and 17 "occasional poor" and all received hand-outs regularly, the cash coming from "voluntary contributions. Mortification, Mortcloth and other sessional funds." The highest rate given to the “permanent paupers" was Ł5 8s and the lowest Ł1 4s. Stewarton must have been a drinking town as there were three inns and 17 taverns, which probably led to the great temperance movement later on.

By the 1850s Stewarton was "a thriving community." There were nineteen Gentry and Clergy, five schools, eight agents to manufacturers, six bakers and five blacksmiths. The manufacturers numbered ten and there was one firm making carpets. Stewartonians must have walked a lot — proven by the fact that there were nine boot and shoe makers in the town. There were four cabinet-makers; six carpenters or joiners; three cattle dealers; eleven cheese and meal dealers; seven fleshers; no less than fourteen grocers, five of them licensed; five linen and wool drapers; and six millers. And Stewarton must have been a well-dressed community as there were mne milliners or dressmakers and thirteen tailors. The other businesses included shops selling "sundries," slaters, stone-masons and fifteen vintners. There was even a ginger beer manufacturer and a steel clockwork forger, but only one painter.

Stewarton had no railway line and the nearest station was at Cunninghamhead, four and a half miles away, and there was a coach running to it daily every morning and evening. Among the three carriers was Alex. Armour with a daily service to Kilmarnock and William Sym, three times per week to Glasgow. John dark carried between Stewarton and Irvine every Wednesday and Saturday. Law and order had been established with a "Constabulary Station and Prison" at Rigg Street, and cases came before the Justice of the Peace Court on the first Thursday of each month. The Local Gas works at Holm Street were going strong and a Stamp Office existed at Avenue Street. Although the search for local coal continued, only a small quantity was found and it was only suitable for burning limestone, but peat for fuel was available in abundance at each end of the parish.

While Stewarton was undoubtedly a flourishing town in the middle of the 19th century, there were some residents who were either in dire straits or lived out extremely meagre existences. One of the latter was named James Jamieson, who in 1856, was a widower whose son, Alexander, had emigrated to Australia and it is from letters from father to son which were preserved that much information about the life and times in Stewarton at that time is obtained. That year at the age of 69, James Jamieson was in poor health but was still seeking work as a labourer at the local quarry. He had worked there for a short time but Mr Cunninghame (of Lainshaw) had "changed his mind" about a certain project and he had done little for ten months.

Three hundred weavers in the town were employed in cotton and silk fabrics and also shirtings, sheetings, tablecloths, towelling and blankets. Upwards of fifty families "beside a great number of boys and girls" were employed in the bonnet trade. Steel clockwork, which was in great demand not only in Britain but in America, was manufactured and spindles were made for the local cotton and woollen mills. A tile and brickwork factory was erected in 1839 by Mr William Deans on his property at Peacockbank which turned out 500,000 tiles a year. A Justice of the Peace Court was held once a month, there was a Baron-bailie, and there was a jail to confine "delinquents," but no police. Gas was introduced to Stewarton in 1832 at great expense when the Stewarton Gaslight Company was probably established. A printing press was in operation for bills, etc., in 1835. Stewarton had its own library from 1810. There were three Friendly Societies, and two banks - a branch of the Union Bank and of Messrs Hunters and Co. of Ayr. The poor still existed, although Mr Steven felt that some of the poorer classes expected to be supported by the wealthy from whatever cause this poverty arose. In 1837 there were 80 "permanent poor" and 17 "occasional poor" and all received hand-outs regularly, the cash coming from "voluntary contributions. Mortification, Mortcloth and other sessional funds." The highest rate given to the “permanent paupers" was Ł5 8s and the lowest Ł1 4s. Stewarton must have been a drinking town as there were three inns and 17 taverns, which probably led to the great temperance movement later on. By the 1850s Stewarton was "a thriving community." There were nineteen Gentry and Clergy, five schools, eight agents to manufacturers, six bakers and five blacksmiths. The manufacturers numbered ten and there was one firm making carpets. Stewartonians must have walked a lot — proven by the fact that there were nine boot and shoe makers in the town.

There were four cabinet-makers; six carpenters or joiners; three cattle dealers; eleven cheese and meal dealers; seven fleshers; no less than fourteen grocers, five of them licensed; five linen and wool drapers; and six millers. And Stewarton must have been a well-dressed community as there were mne milliners or dressmakers and thirteen tailors. The other businesses included shops selling "sundries," slaters, stone-masons and fifteen vintners. There was even a ginger beer manufacturer and a steel clockwork forger, but only one painter. Stewarton had no railway line and the nearest station was at Cunninghamhead, four and a half miles away, and there was a coach running to it daily every morning and evening. Among the three carriers was Alex. Armour with a daily service to Kilmarnock and William Sym, three times per week to Glasgow. John dark carried between Stewarton and Irvine every Wednesday and Saturday. Law and order had been established with a "Constabulary Station and Prison" at Rigg Street, and cases came before the Justice of the Peace Court on the first Thursday of each month. The Local Gas works at Holm Street were going strong and a Stamp Office existed at Avenue Street.

Although the search for local coal continued, only a small quantity was found and it was only suitable for burning limestone, but peat for fuel was available in abundance at each end of the parish. While Stewarton was undoubtedly a flourishing town in the middle of the 19th century, there were some residents who were either in dire straits or lived out extremely meagre existences. One of the latter was named James Jamieson, who in 1856, was a widower whose son, Alexander, had emigrated to Australia and it is from letters from father to son which were preserved that much information about the life and times in Stewarton at that time is obtained.

That year at the age of 69, James Jamieson was in poor health but was still seeking work as a labourer at the local quarry. He had worked there for a short time but Mr Cunninghame (of Lainshaw) had "changed his mind" about a certain project and he had done little for ten months.

In 1857 James Jamieson wrote about a prospect of a railway line to Stewarton and that a survey had been carried out at the instigation of Colonel Mure of Caldwell. He also stated that there had been outbreaks of scarlet fever and small pox in Stewarton. There had been a change in people's habits and thousands had joined the temperance movement with public houses closing everywhere "even in drunken Dunlop, would you believe." About this time two banks were built in Stewarton with stone from the quarry, which still stand, and two years earlier Mr J.A. Snodgrass, one of the bank agents and the man was involved with the John Knox affair earlier, had built a splendid house "in the centre of the field fronting the Vennel" (Kerrsland) which cost upwards of a thousand pounds. Unfortunately, even in a time of temperance, Mr Snodgrass had taken to strong drink, being seen on the streets "in a beastly state of intoxication" which resulted in him losing his position with the bank. Jamieson reported that the railway line project was still being discussed and that the town had subscribed Ł2,000 towards its cost with various other subscriptions from the local people of wealth but some of the Cadgers (Dealers) had done nothing. In 1858 James Jamieson was working at the quarry cutting stone for Mr Cunninghame of Lainshaw who was considering building a new house. The bonnet trade was busy and the carpets were going full time. There were now three banks in Stewarton: the Royal, the Union and the Clydesdale. Mr Snodgrass had mended his ways and had stopped drinking.

Two years later there was a great religious revival in the West of Scotland which started in Dunlop when large numbers from Stewarton rushed to that village to be "converted," which worried the Stewarton ministers so much that they agreed to hold revival meetings every night until 1864 when Jamieson Senior wrote about the Auld Kirk being crammed: "not a seat to be got for the love or money." That same year he was still working at the age of 77 at Bank end Farm, lifting heavy stones while standing in two or three feet of water building an embankment. This lasted for over five weeks when he had to give up due to a sore back and pains in his chest.

One winter Mr Jamieson became ill, confined to his house in Rigg Street for ‘three weeks with not a living person visiting him and all that time his sole diet was porridge and sour milk twice daily. James Jamieson was a well-read man who wrote long and detailed accounts of the current political scene both at home and abroad, including the Crimean War, the war in China, the threat of Napoleon III and the French invading Britain, and the American Civil War.

He died in 1865, too late to witness the construction of the railway through Stewarton and the magnificent viaduct over the Annick and to tell Alexander in Australia about it. However, his other son, also named James, who lived in Glasgow, wrote to his brother m 1867 as follows: "The railway crosses the road at the one mile stone from Stewarton, crosses the park about one hundred yards east of Hillhouse, passes the east of the Old Castle, crosses the road half-way between Cocklebee and the Society houses, takes straight past the west end of Strandhead houses down the Town's park and crosses the water about seventy yards east of Lainshaw Mill. The bridge there will be about 97 feet above the watter. From that it goes direct to Kilmarnock passing close to the east of the saw pit at Bynahill." This is a very accurate description of the railway route which remains to this day, albeit with only one set of tracks, no staff or booking office, a run-down station and a greatly reduced service. So much for progress.

On 3rd August 1868, Brother Colonel Mure of Caldwell, Right Worshipful Master of Mother Kilwinning Masonic Lodge and the Provincial Grand Master of Ayrshire laid the foundation stone of the last arch, or in reality, one of the last stones for the viaduct was almost completed by that date. It was described as "one of the finest specimens of useful architecture in the West of Scotland." After the ceremony of laying the stone, Colonel Mure addressed the large audience and concluded by urging the men present to use their votes at the forthcoming general election. Due to the Second Reform Act of 1867, this was the first occasion that most men were about to have the privilege of voting. It took another fifty years before the same franchise was given to women of thirty and over.

In 1873 the line between Glasgow and Kilmarnock was completed and the first official train crossed the viaduct.

Stewarton obtained police burgh status in 1868 and the first Town Council was elected three years later. This will be dealt with in a subsequent chapter.