QUIVOX-ST, a parish, in the district of Kyle,
county of Ayr, 2 miles (N. E.) from Ayr; containing,
with the quoad sacra district of Wallacetown, and the
village of Whiteletts, 605.5 inhabitants. This place,
anciently written St. Kevoch, and subsecjuently St. Evox,
appears to have derived that name from a female saint
who flourished in the reign of Malcolm II., and who is
supposed to have founded some religious establishment
here, the history of which is unknown. The parish is
about five miles in length, and about three miles broad.
It is bounded on the south by the river Ayr, and comprises
5000 acres, of which, with the exception of 250
acres woodland and plantations, the whole is arable and
pasture. The surface is partly flat, but rises towards
the eastern extremity, and is there broken into irregular
eminences: the Ayr abounds with yellow trout, and
there are numerous springs affording an ample supply
of excellent water. In the lower parts the soil is light
and sandy, interspersed with patches of moss and clay;
and in the higher lands, a stiff retentive clay. The crops
are wheat, oats, barley, potatoes, and turnips; the system
of agriculture is in a highly improved state, the lands
are well drained and fenced, and the farm-buildings
substantial and commodious. A dairy-farm is well
managed on the lands of Shiels; from sixty to 100
milch-cows are kept, and large quantities of butter of
good quality are sent to the Edinburgh and Glasgow
markets. The dairy-cows are of the Ayrshire breed, but
a cross with the short-horned is preferred for feeding,
as they rise to a larger size, and attain to greater weight
and value at an earlier age. Few sheep are kept, except
for turnip feeding. The plantations, which are of various
ages, are in a flourishing state. The substratum
of the parish is mostly of the coal formation. There are
two seams of coal, the upper of which is about four feet
in thickness, and of a light and friable quality; while
the lower, which lies at a depth of twenty fathoms, and
is about the same in thickness as the upper, is of harder
texture, and more of the quality of sjjlint. The upper
seam, having been worked for more than fifty years, is
nearly exhausted, but the lower, which has been opened
only within the last few years, is in full operation: three
pits are wrought, and the coal is conveyed by a railroad
to the harbour of Ayr. Freestone is also quarried in
several parts, and the produce arising from the collieries
and quarries together is estimated at £3405 per annum.
Anchencruive and Craigie are spacious and handsome
residences: they are finely situated on the hanks of the
Ayr, in tastefully disposed demesnes embellished with
thriving plantations, and the gardens and pleasuregrounds
of the former are much admired. Tlie nearest
town is Ayr, to which the parish is a kind of suburb; Ayr
forms a market for the agricultural produce, and a port
for shipping tliat of the mines and quarries. The annual
value of real property in St. Quivox is £10,974.
Ecclesiastically this place is within the bounds of the
presbytery of Ayr, synod of Glasgow and Ayr, and in
the patronage of the Oswald family: the minister's stipend
is about £250, with a manse, and a glebe valued
at £8 per anniim. The church, an ancient structure
situated nearly in the centre of the parish, was repaired
and enlarged in 1824, and is adapted for 450 persons.
From the great increase of the population by the erection
of the villages of Wallacetown and Content, a chapel
was built at the former place by subscription in 1835,
affording accommodation to 900 persons; and at Wallacetown
are also places of worship for members of the
United Presbyterian Church, Antiburghers, Independents,
Reformed Presbyterians, and a Roman Catholic
chapel. The parochial school is well conducted: the
master has a salary of £30 per annum, with £30 fees,
and a house and garden; also eight bolls of meal from
the Auchencruive estate. A small parochial library has
been established; and from their proximity to the town
of Ayr, the inhabitants participate in all the general institutions
of that place. There are several friendly societies,
and also a female friendly society founded some
years since under the patronage of Lady Oswald, and
which has a fund of £400 for the relief of its members. In
levelling some ground near Content, several small earthen
urns were found, supposed to be of Roman origin.