Secret History Of Cumnock (SHOCk)

[Geoff]

The parish of Cumnock holds many secrets and this thread will try to uncover a few.

SHOCk

Will New Cumnock's history be totally overshadowed by the younger Old Cumnock? wikimapia.org/4124398/gd/A-Chumanag

Cheers, Geoff

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[Geoff]

St Conval is the patron saint of Cumnock and Nithsdale, so was Connel Burn named after him.

Conval was said to be a student of St Mungo, who in turn was the son of St Enoch, therefore I can see a connection leading to Comenoch. With the Connel springing up from near Enoch Hill, as does the Nith, it seems reasonable that Comenoch is "the confluence of the rivers of Enoch".

[Geoff]

Was this written about Cumnock before it became New Cumnock or does it refer to Old Cumnock? This would supply a reason for the market moving to Old Cumnock if it was New Cumnock being referred to.

THE COVENANTERS: THEIR HOMES, HAUNTS, AND BATTLEFIELDS by A.B.Todd. Chapter 16

ALTHOUGH the men of Ayrshire played a great and prominent part in the early times of the Reformation, — And on to and down through the protracted Covenanting struggle until the Revolution of 1688, — the county town figures less in the great and stirring transactions of these eventful periods than many other places in the west, and fewer executions took place there than might have been expected, from the many cold-blooded murders which were perpetrated, from one end of the county to another, during the twenty-eight years which preceded the Revolution. Both Qeorge Wishart and John Knox preached repeatedly at Ayr; and that other indefatigable man of God — John Welsh — of whom extraordinary things are told, laboured here for a {period of years, until that narrow-minded pedant, King James I. of England, got him banished from the kingdom, because of his maintaining these views — so dear to all true and enlightened Presbyterians still —'That Christ is the Head of the Church; and that she is free in her government from all other jurisdiction except His. For holding and advocating those opinions, he and several others were, as he says himself, "imprisoned and convicted as traitors."

In the early days of his ministry at Ayr, the people there appear to have been little less rude than the wild tribes of Central Africa are at present; but by his firmness, fearlessness, and faithful preaching of the gospel among them, he soon effected a wonderful change for the better, so that, whereas they had despised and defied him at first, they now loved, obeyed, and trusted him on all occasions. One instance of this is given by John Howie and others, in their lives of this remarkable man. "One day two traveling merchants, each with a pack of cloth upon a horse, came desiring entrance that they might sell their goods, and producing a pass from the magistrates of the town whence they came, which at that time was sound and free. Notwithstanding all this, the sentinels kept them till the magistrates were called, and when they came they would do nothing without their minister's advice. Accordingly Mr. Welsh was called, and his opinion asked. He demurred, and taking off his hat, he stood with his eyes toward heaven for a little while, and though uttering no audible words, continued in a praying posture. He then told the magistrates they would do well to discharge the travelers, affirming, with strong asseveration, that the plague was in their packs. Of course the magistrates commanded them to be gone, and they went to Cumnock, a town about twenty miles distant, and there sold their goods, which kindled such an infection in the place, that the living were hardly able to bury their dead." That there is truth in this narrative, tradition in Cumnock has ever since asserted; and a place called "the green braeheads”, close to the town, — but never since built upon, — is still pointed out where the humble dwelling of the last victims of the plague (an aged man and wife) stood.
Tradition has all along stated that their bodies were left where they died, and that the inhabitants heaped the earth up over them and their house out of fear, and to prevent the infection from spreading again. The place is still well known, and is a little way to the south-east of the Dumfries Arms Hotel Stables, and has all the appearance of some such movement of the earth having been made at some time or other.

Having at length been permitted to return from France (where for a while he had lived in exile) to London, he desired greatly to return to his beloved Scotland, but was not allowed to do so, and he died in London in 1622, when he had only attained the 53rd year of his age. From the description given of the disease whereof he died, it would seem to have been elephantisis; and when at last the king yielded to his earnest request to be allowed to preach, — though only after he heard that he was dying, — he was so eager to do so, that though weak and ill, and previously suffering great pain, he went and preached "long and fervently," and then returned to his chamber, and within two hours, quietly, and without pain, resigned his spirit into his Maker's hands." His wife, who was the third daughter of the great John Knox, survived him only three years, dying at Ayr in the year 1625.

www.archive.org/stream/homeshauntsandb00toddgoog/homeshauntsandb00toddgoog_djvu.txt

If they went to Cumnock, a town about twenty miles distant, then that would put them at New Cumnock.
Green Braes perhaps or Glaisnock head.

[Geoff]

Plague 1597.
See:

See: books.google.co.uk/books?id=ATOlhaEvN3wC&pg=PA261&lpg=PA261&dq=cumnock+plague&source=bl&ots=CZCgAW1l2L&sig=Nq69p8XmuGcWlzM_6kspzBQnuQ0&hl=en&ei=6HmzSr_8Edee4gbs9cB8&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=9#v=onepage&q=cumnock%20&f=false Pages 261/262/263

home.freeuk.net/wcouperthw/oldcum.htm

www.east-ayrshire.gov.uk/crpadmmin/agendas/southern/april%202003/greenholm%20road,%20cumnock%20-%20new%20city%20homes.pdf

[Geoff]

(SHoCk) Secret History of Cumnock [ www.sup.org.uk/newsletters/august09/shock-secret-history-of-cummnock.asp ]

There is so much history hidden away in the shadowed glens of Scotland but fragments are slowly coming to light. Glen Afton in Ayrshire seems to have more than most, with records of so many icons listed? William Wallace, Edward I and Edward II, Patrick Dunbar, Robert the Bruce, Mary Queen of Scots, Robert Burns, the heroes and anti-heroes of Scotland. The reason for the glen's popularity? Glen Afton lead to Glen Ken and the south and it was perfect for evasive maneuvers.

My question: could New Cumnock have been an important market town into the 16th century? If so, what happened and could it try again 500 years later, the quincentenary of its honour?

500 years ago, on the 27th of September 1509, James Dunbar's Cumnock kirklands in southern Ayrshire were given the honour of being made a burgh of barony. Where were the Cumnock kirklands in 1509: New Cumnock or Old Cumnock? Let me explain. The prefixes New and Old belong to the Kirks of the towns, added after 1610. Old Cumnock is known to have had a market since around 1600 but funnily enough, the settlement doesn't seem to have existed in 1509. (New) Cumnock is much older and home to Cumnock Castle since the 13th century (and probably long before that).

Four years after being allowed to hold a market, things changed. The Battle of Flodden, 9th September 1513. In his Caledonia, Chalmers says, "After the disastrous battle of Flodden, many violent acts were committed in Scotland, particularly in the south. In Ayrshire, the strong houses of Cumnock and Uchletree were both violently taken possession of; their owners having fallen on Flodden Field." www.electricscotland.com/history/nation/colville.htm

Who owned what? This seems to be another thing hidden in the shadows of the glens.
According to Pont's map of Nidisdale (c.1600), New Cumnock was Douglases. The Nithsdale and Kyle border passed below the Castle tower of [New] Cumnock and follows the Achtoun Flu. [Afton Water] west until it nears Monthraw (Afton reservoir) and veers south..This would be an extremely important strategic line for any armed force. Blaeu printed the map in1654: www.nls.uk/maps/atlas/blaeu/page.cfm?id=112

William Crichton (1578-1643), 9th Lord Crichton of Sanquhar became Earl of Dumfries and Lord Crichton of Cumnock in 1633. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earl_of_Dumfries The Crichton family took ownership of Dumfries House estate: Leifnorris, near Cumnock/Auchinleck, Ayrshire in 1635. It was purchased by William Crichton, 1st Earl of Dumfries, the Estate consisting of 'tower, fortresse, mansion place, orchard yards and pertynences'. Early records show that the mansion place, later referred to as Leifnorris House, was situated to the north-west of the present Dumfries House and was in use as a residence by the Crichton family throughout the second half of the 17th Century. www.dumfries-house.org.uk/heritage-history.asp

Herman Moll's maps from the early 18th century shows a border following the west side of the Lowther Hills with the whole of the Nith being inside Dumfriesshire (Dumfries or Nithisdale). www.nls.uk/maps/detail.cfm?id=247
& www.nls.uk/maps/detail.cfm?id=236

[Glenmuckloch farm, east of New Cumnock, has the full name of Glenmuckloch Crichtons and sits beside Crichton Burn on the lower slopes of Corsencon hill on the Dumfriesshire side, just east of the March.]
by Geoff

[Geoff]

The church of the parish of Cumnock in Ayrshire owed allegiance to St. Convall. A pre-Reformation will contains the clause : " Lego corpus meum sepeliendum in pulveribus S. Convalli de Cumnok." Though St. Convall kept his hold on Cumnock till the Reformation, he does not appear to have left any trace of himself in the topography of the parish. As the Rev. John Warrick remarks: "There is no well known by his name, and no spot of any kind, house or hill or stone, whose present name can be regarded as connected with that of our old patron saint." There is no doubt that St. Convall was popular in the district in mediaeval times, for the adjoining parish of Ochiltree adopted him as the titular of its church.

The parish church of Irvine in the same shire had among its altars one in honour of "St. Conval the Confessor." The saint had a chapel at Rutherglen in Lanarkshire. For behoof of its lights King David II., on several recorded occasions, gave six shillings and eightpence, or thirteen shillings and fourpence.

ST CONVAL
2 History of the Church in Scotland, p22.

www.archive.org/stream/churchdedication02mackuoft/churchdedication02mackuoft_djvu.txt
CHAPTER XI. CYMRIC SAINTS.

The Reformation of the Scottish Church followed civil war in 1559–60, in which English intervention on the Protestant side was decisive. A Reformed confession of faith was adopted by Parliament in 1560, while the young Mary, Queen of Scots, was still in France.

[Geoff]

[After accompanying his (Edward II's.) father's body for several days southwards, its escort was committed to the Archbishop of York, Edward II., retracing his steps, left Carlisle at the end of July, with the forces destined by his father for the recovery of Scotland. Proceeding up the valley of the Nith, he reached the little town of Cumnock about the second week of August. Near this stood a castle of the Earl of March, where he most likely took up his quarters, and remained till the 25th of that month, when he set out on his return to England. 'By which inglorious retreat, after such mighty preparations for a decisive campaign, he rendered Bruce and his adherents more bold, and disheartened all in Scotland who favoured the English cause.' So says Lord Hailes.] Edited from: www.archive.org/stream/calendarofdocu03grea/calendarofdocu03grea_djvu.txt on 1st December 2010

[Geoff]

AJ Morton recently added a piece to the local paper, Cumnock Chronicle, on the Plague which hit CUMNOCK in 1597.
BUT 'WHICH' CUMNOCK.

wikimapia.org/4124398/gd/A-Chumanag
(SHoCk) Secret History of Cummnock
There is so much history hidden away in the shadowed glens of Scotland but fragments are slowly coming to light. Glen Afton in Ayrshire seems to have more than most, with records of so many icons listed: William Wallace, Edward I and Edward II, Patrick Dunbar, Robert the Bruce, Mary Queen of Scots, Robert Burns. Heroes and anti-heroes of Scotland.
The reason for the glen's popularity? Glen Afton led from Kyle Regis to Glen Ken and the south. It was perfect for evasive manoeuvres in times of unrest, especially during the Wars of Independence.
Could New Cumnock have been the important market town in the 16th century, not Old Cumnock as we are led to believe? If so, what happened to cover her history and could the town try again, more than 500 years later, the quincentenary of its honour of becoming a burgh of barony?
Just over 500 years ago, on the 27th of September 1509, James Dunbar's Cumnock kirklands in southern Ayrshire were given the honour by King James IV, of being made a burgh of barony. But where were the Cumnock kirklands in 1509: New Cumnock or Old Cumnock? Let me explain. The prefixes New and Old belong to the Kirks of the towns, added after 1610. Old Cumnock is known to have had a market since around 1600 but funnily enough, the settlement doesn't seem to have existed in 1509. (New) Cumnock is much older being home to Cumnock Castle since the 13th century (and probably long before that).
Four years after being allowed to hold a market, things changed. The Battle of Flodden, 9th September 1513. In his Caledonia, Chalmers says, "After the disastrous battle of Flodden, many violent acts were committed in Scotland, particularly in the south. In Ayrshire, the strong houses of Cumnock and Uchletree were both violently taken possession of; their owners having fallen on Flodden Field." www.electricscotland.com/history/nation/colville.htm
[It is so easy for history to change if allowed to, simply by leaving out a word or two. I believe that there was a possibility that kirklands did exist near Cumnock Castle and its settlements. “About the year 1600 two traveling merchants, each with a pack of cloth upon a horse, were dismissed from Ayr and gone Cumnock, and there sold their goods. There followed upon this such a plague in the town that the living were hardly able to bury the dead.” ] familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Old_Cumnock,_Ayr,_Scotland
[The peddlers moved on and travelled to Cumnock, a few miles to the east, where the plague unhappily broke out, with fearful loss of life.] www.puritansermons.com/banner/jnwelsh.htm
And then there’s: ["One day two travelling merchants, each with a pack of cloth upon a horse, came desiring entrance that they might sell their goods, and producing a pass from the magistrates of the town whence they came, which at that time was sound and free. Notwithstanding all this, the sentinels kept them till the magistrates were called, and when they came they would do nothing without their minister's advice. Accordingly Mr. Welsh was called, and his opinion asked. He demurred, and taking off his hat, he stood with his eyes toward heaven for a little while, and though uttering no audible words, continued in a praying posture. He then told the magistrates they would do well to discharge the travellers, affirming, with strong asseveration, that the plague was in their packs. Of course the magistrates commanded them to be gone, and they went to Cumnock, a town about twenty (sixteen) miles distant, and there sold their goods, which kindled such an infection in the place, that the living were hardly able to bury their dead." That there is truth in this narrative, tradition in Cumnock has ever since asserted; and a place called " the green braeheads,'* close to the town, — but never since built upon, — is still pointed out where the humble dwelling of the last victims of the plague (an aged man and wife) stood.
Tradition has all along stated that their bodies were left where they died, and that the inhabitants heaped the earth up over them and their house out of fear, and to prevent the infection from spreading again.] www.archive.org/stream/homeshauntsandb00toddgoog/homeshauntsandb00toddgoog_djvu.txt Pages 264 - 265