KIRKOSWALD, a parish, in the district of CarRiCK,
county of Ayr, 4 miles (W. S. W.) from Maybole;
containing, with the village of Mardcns, 20S0 inhabitants.
The name of this place is derived from Oswald,
a Northumbrian king, who built a church here, in gratitude,
it is said, for a victory he had obtained. An abbey
called Cross-Regal, or Crossraguel, was founded at a
later period for monks of the Cluniac order: the last
abbot was Quintin Kennedy, brother to the Earl of Cassilis.
The building still remains, about two miles cast of
the village; and being the most entire abbey in the west
of Scotland, it is preserved with the greatest care. From
this institution the celebrated George Buchanan received
£500 (Scots) yearly, on which account he denominated
himself Pensionarius de Crosragmol. Both the temporalities
and the spiritualities of the abbey were annexed
to the bishopric of Dunblane by James VL, in I617.
This parish was also formerly remarkable as containing
the ancient castle of Turnberry, the seat of the Earls of
Carrick, and which was held in the year 1306 by an
English garrison under Percy; it was afterwards stormed
by Robert Bruce, and the structure was thus greatly desolated
by the contending parties.
The PARISH is situated in the district of Carrick, and
on the shore of the Atlantic Ocean; it is six miles in
length from north to south, and comprises about 13,850
acres, of which 9350 are arable, 650 pasture, and the rest
in wood. Kirkoswald is skirted nearly for its whole
length by a fine sandy beach, and the shore is covered
with verdure almost to the margin. The surface is hilly:
but the eminences, of which Mochrnm and Craigdow are
the most considerable, do not attain any great height.
From every part of the coast are interesting and beautiful
prospects, comprehending the Firth of Clyde, with
the rock of Ailsa, the islands of Bute and Arran, and the
coast of Ireland. There are two lochs, each about thirty
acres in extent; and numerous small streams traverse
the parish in different directions. The whole of the lands
are under tillage, with the exception of the summits of
the two highest hills, several tracts of moss, and the
plantations. Wheat is grown in considerable quantities,
and a little barley; but the principal grain is oats, the
crops of which are of very superior quality. Dairyfarming
receives much attention, and the produce is
chiefly cheese, disposed of at the Glasgow market: to
that city also, and to Ayr, many cattle and sheep are
sent for sale, having been fattened on turnips. Draining
is extensively carried on; and three works are established
here, producing yearly about 1,000,000 drainingtiles.
Sandstone is the prevaihng rock; and coal is
obtained at Dulzellowlie, to the value of about £1750 per
annum, thirty persons being generally employed in raising
it. The annual value of real property in the parish
is £10,556. Culzean Castle, the seat of the Marquess of
Ailsa, was built by David, Earl of Cassilis, in the year
1777, and is surrounded by about 700 acres of park and
pleasure-grounds, interspersed with thriving plantations.
It is a splendid pile, situated on a rock projecting a little
into the sea, and commanding a beautiful view of the
Firth of Clyde: a little below are the gardens of the
old house of Culzean, formed on three terraces cut out
of a rock, and kept in fine order. The village has about
300 inhabitants, who, with the rest of the population,
are chiefly agricultural: a few persons are employed as
cotton-weavers, obtaining work from Maybole, Girvan,
and Glasgow; and many females procure floweringwebs
from the same places. The agricultural produce
is chiefly sent to Glasgow, from the ports of Ayr and
Girvan, especially from the latter place, seven miles distant,
to which large quantities of potatoes are forwarded,
as well as wheat and oatmeal. There is a regular fishing-
station; and besides various kinds of shell-fish, many
plaice, haddock, turbot, cod, salmon, and herrings are
taken, valued at about £360 per annum. The public
road from Glasgow to Portpatrick runs through the
parish, and steam-vessels are constantly passing.
Kirkoswald is ecclesiastically in the presbytery of
Aj'r, synod of Glasgow and Ayr, and in the patronage
of the Crown: the minister's stipend is £213, with a
manse, and a glebe of four acres and three-quarters,
valued at £6 per annum. A church was erected here
by David I., in the twelfth century, on the decay of that
of Oswald; the present edifice, a neat structure, was
built in 1777. The parochial school affords instruction
in the usual branches; the master has a salary of £30,
with £40 fees. There is also a school endowed by the
Kilkerran family, with accommodations and £12 per
annum for a master. The most striking and interesting
remains of antiquity in the parish, the ruins of the
monastery, stand in the middle of an area of eight acres
of ground called the Abbot's Yard, or the Precinct of
Crossraguel, and consist of the side-walls of the church
and choir to the height of fourteen feet. Towards the
east is the niche formerly containing the principal altar;
and on the right are the vestry and the abbot's courtroom,
handsomely arched; besides which there are
several vaults and cells, of fine dressed stone. At the
east end of the abbey is the ruin of the abbots' original
house, and on the west are the remains of the last mansion
they inhabited. The ruins of the old castle of
Turnberry are still to be seen, occupying a promontory
on the barony of the same name; and about half a mile
to the south-east of Culzean is the castle of Thomaston,
built, according to tradition, in 1335, by a nephew of
Robert Bruce: it was inhabited towards the close of the
last century. Near Culzean Castle are some caves, six
in number, supposed to have been originally designed
for the celebration of worship. The parish contains also
the remains of a vitrified fort, or Phoenician place of worship
dedicated to the sun, a Druidical temple, and numerous
tumuli, cairns, and vestiges of encampments.