DUNLOP, a parish, chiefly in the district of CunNiNGHAME,
county of Ayr, and partly in the Upper
ward of the county of Renfrew, 2^ miles (N. N. W.)
from Stewarton; containing 1150 inhabitants. This
place derives its name, signifying in the Gaelic language
a " winding hill ", from the situation of its ancient
castle on the summit of a hill, whose base was surrounded
by a small river. The parish is about seven
miles in length, and two in average breadth, comprising
6554 acres, of which 5834 are arable, 130 woodland
and plantations, and the remainder hill pasture, moss,
and waste. Its surface is gently undulated, and though
rather elevated, in no part attains a height of more than
1 50 feet above the level of the sea. The highest hills are
those of Craignaught and Knockmead, towards the northeast,
which command some pleasing and richly varied
prospects over the adjacent country. From Bruckenheugh,
about a mile to the south of the church, the view
embraces the wooded district between this parish and the
sea, the shores of the Firth of Clyde and their numerous
bays and promontories, the lofty mountains of Arran,
with Ailsa Craig and the hills of Ireland in the distance.
There are many springs of excellent water, and the lands
are intersected with various streams, the principal of
which is the Lugton; it has its source in Loch Libo, in
Renfrewshire, and after a course of about fifteen miles,
in which it forms a boundary between this parish and
that of Beith, flows into the river Garnock near Kilwinning.
The Glassert burn runs through the centre of
the parish (dividing it into two equal parts), and, receiving
several streamlets in its course, falls into the
Annack. Corsehill burn is also a small stream, separating
the parish from that of Stewarton. The Lugton
abounds with trout and pike; trout are also found in
the other streams, and in the Glassert char used formerly
to be taken in abundance, but they have now
totally disappeared. Halket loch, covering about ten
acres, has been drained within the last few years, and is
now a luxuriant meadow.
The SOIL is generally of a clayey retentive quality, but
fertile, and under proper management very productive;
in the southern parts of the parish a rich loam is prevalent,
and in the higher lands are some patches of
moss. The principal crop is oats; barley and bear are
raised for home consumption, with a few acres of wheat,
and also small quantities of potatoes and turnips, for
which, however, the soil is not well adapted. The
system of agriculture is improving; the rotation plan of
husbandry is adopted, and the draining of the lands,
hitherto much neglected, is now becoming general. The
dairy-farms are the chief objects of attention with the
farmers, and the cheese produced has long been distinguished
for its quality. It differs from other kinds
mainly in its being made of unskimmed milk, a practice
originally introduced here by Barbara Gilmour, from
which circumstance all cheese made in a similar manner
has obtained the distinctive appellation of Dunlop
cheese. About 25,000 stone are annually produced
in the parish, and find a ready sale in the various markets.
Great attention is paid to the rearing of live-stock;
the cattle are all of the Ayrshire or Cunninghame breed,
and the sheep generally the Leicestershire: about 900
milch-cows are kept for the dairy. The annual value of
real property in the parish is £8493. There are no
natural woods; the plantations consist of larch, Scotch
fir, ash, elm, beech, and plane, and on the larger properties
they are well attended to, and are in a flourishing
state. In this parish the substrata are, claystone passing
into porphyry and amygdaloid, with occasional masses
of greenstone and basalt; limestone, sandstone, and coal.
The limestone, which abounds with petrified shells, has
long been quarried at Laigh-Gameshill; it occurs in
seams about sixteen feet in thickness, and being of excellent
quality about .5000 bolls are annually raised,
part of which is burnt on the spot. Limestone is also
wrought in other parts of the parish, but to a comparatively
small extent. The coal, of which a few cart-loads
were removed, was found to be of so inferior a quality
that it was not thought advisable to continue the working
of it. The greenstone and freestone have been quarried
in several places for building purposes, for making dykes
for inclosing the lands, and also to furnish materials for
the furrow-drains.
Dunlop House, a spacious and elegant mansion in the
early English style, is beautifully situated on the bank
of the Corsehill burn, in a deeply-sequestered spot, and
embosomed in a richly-planted demesne. The village,
which is pleasant, consists principally of one street,
neatly built; a subscription library has been established,
and there is also a library in connexion with a Sabbath
school, which contains about 2.50 volumes. Part of the
inhabitants of the village are employed in the various
trades requisite for the supply of the parish, and many
of them are engaged as cheese-factors for the neighbouring
districts, which they supply not only with the
produce of Dunlop, but with that of other places in the
county of Ayr. Fairs for the sale of dairy stock and
agricultural produce are held on the second Friday in
May (O. S.) and the l'2th of November, at both of which
a considerable quantity of business is transacted. Ecclesiastically
the parish is in the presbytery of Irvine, synod
of Glasgow and Ayr, and in the patronage of the Earl of
Eglinton: the minister's stipend is £'215, with a manse,
and a glebe valued at £'20 per annum. Dunlop church,
erected in 1836 to replace the ancient building, which
had become too small for the increased population, is a
neat and substantial edifice adapted for a congregation
of about 830 persons. A new parochial school-house was
built in 1840, consisting of a large and commodious
schoolroom below, and a dwelling-house for the master
above: the old school-house, which is yet standing beside
the kirk gate, was built in 1641 by James, Viscount
Clandeboyes, by whom, according to the inscription in
front, it would appear to have been endowed; but
nothing is known of the funds appropriated to that
purpose.
At Chapel House, about half a mile from the village,
were the ruins of an ancient chapel dedicated to the
Virgin Mary, which have been removed within the last
few years. The castle of Dunlop, which was taken dowa
to make room for the present modern mansion, was of
great antiquity; but both the date and the original
founder are unknown. Aiket Castle, about a mile southward
of the church, was for many centuries prior to the
year I700 inhabited by a branch of the Cunninghame
family: the original tower, which was four stories in
height, and of which the ground-floor has a vaulted roof
of stone, has been lowered to make it correspond with
the additional buildings requisite for converting it into
a dwelling-house. The learned John Major, the tutor of
John Knox, and professor of theology in the university
of Glasgow, was vicar of Dunlop; and James Hamilton,
Viscount Clandeboyes, was born in the parish, of which
his father was vicar. Lieutenant- General James Dunlop
of Dunlop, father of the present proprietor, was eminently
distinguished in his profession; the general's mother was
the early friend and correspondent of the poet Burns.