Dunlop (; , or )List of railway station names in English, Scots and Gaelic – NewsNetScotland is a village and parish in East Ayrshire, Scotland.The Imperial gazetteer of Scotland. pp.472-473. https://archive.org/stream/imperialgazettee01wils#page/472/mode/2up It lies on the A735, north-east of Stewarton, from Kilmarnock. The road runs on to Lugton and the B706 enters the village from Beith and Burnhouse.
History
The village The name, first recorded in 1260, may be derived from the Gaelic words Dun (a castle) and Luib (a bend). Therefore, it is the fortified hill by the bend in the river. The old local pronunciation was Dulop or Delap without an 'n' and this has led to suggestions of other origins.Paterson, Page 227Dobie, Page 126
In the 1600s, Dunloppe had two fairs a year for the sale of dairy stock, one on the second Friday of May; and the other called Hallowday, on 12 November.Dobie, Page 39 The Estate was erected into the Barony of Dunlop in 1688. Dunlap, Dunlapp, Dunlape, Dunlopp, Dunlope, Dunloup, Downlop, Dalape, Delap, DeLap, Delappe, Dulop, Dulap, Dulape, Dullope, Donlop, Donlap, Dounlap, Dunlip, Dewlap are all recorded variations of today's Dunlop.Clan Dunlop Accessed | 2009-12-02
Dunlop cheese, a sweet milk cheese, was first made by Barbara Gilmour who went to Ireland to escape the covenanting prosecutions. Her stone cheese press was said to be preserved at 'The Hill' Farm in the 1860s but the existing press is dated after her death. The cheese became world famous and created a cottage industry, with cheese merchants from Kirktoun buying up the cheeses and taking them to Glasgow for sale. The cheese-making used up excess fresh milk but the coming of the railways reduced the need for cheese manufacture. Dunlop cheeses are still made at Clerkland Farm (2010).
Tam Giffen was reputed to be a warlock from the Dunlop Parish and many anecdotes are told of his marvellous doings in the 1860s.Paterson, Page 222 Tam could not get over the flood swollen Lugton Water so he just ....came through below it. On another occasion he was prevented from helping the Devil blow a man off the thatched roof he was repairing by the man uttering God save me and had to make do with blowing off the man's wig and bonnet; finally he once entered a blacksmith's house by flying down the chimney. Tam died in odd circumstances, supposedly being murdered by the fairies for giving away their secrets.Robertson, Pages 105 - 106.
In 1791 Dunlop is recorded as having six masons, 12 weavers, three smiths, three shoemakers, four tailors and three inn-keepers; by 1874 the village had 10 shoemakers, eight masons, six weavers, six smiths, five wrights and one tailor, but no baker or flesher and the people's health was such that no surgeon was need or writer (lawyer).Dobie, Page 129 1823 saw 'Mackie's Mill', producing woollen blankets, being set up on the banks of the Glazert Water and by 1939 Mackie's Mill was producing carpet yarn and had also branched out to establish two more manufacturing sites. In 1849 a Mr Wilson set up shop as a ham curer. By the 1930s this ham-curing business had diversified, branched out into Ireland and had factories in Barrhead and at Eglinton in Irvine; the original curing house, known as the 'Burnhouse', has been landscaped and transformed into a local park thanks to funding from the Barcapel Foundation, previously the Clement Wilson Foundation. Robert Howie and sons started a small meal-mill in 1857 and then established a sawmill. They moved closer to the railway, where they remained until recently (2010).Clan Dunlop Retrieved; 2010-10-04
The railway finally came to Dunlop in 1871 and because of the improved connection with Glasgow the farmers were able to send their milk direct to Glasgow, resulting in the decline and finally the cessation of cheese making in Dunlop. The population of the village in 1871 was 380 and 357 in 1881,McMichael, Page 158 whilst the parish was 1,160 and 1,361 persons respectively.McMichael, Page 161 In 1876 the town had acquired a butcher, a baker, a branch of the Clydesdale Bank and a Free Church (1845) but still no writer or doctor was needed. By the 1950s Dunlop had a post office, four grocers, a baker, a newsagent, a hotel and a public house.
Below the church stands the bridge over the Black Burn, known locally as the 'Tee Wal Burn' after a spring that flows out under the bridge. It is commonly thought that the 'Tea Well' water was so pure that the people went there to get the water for their tea but it may be a Gaelic element related to the name for a place where the coffin bearers rested for the last time before heading up the hill to the cemetery. The 1860s OS maps show that a cottage, Bridgend, once stood close to the bridge.
Dunlop's castles
A tradition states that the De Ross's first held Boarland or Dunlop hill (NS 4019 4940) as their seatPaterson, Page 226 and a well-fortified structure existed there. Later their seat was moved to Corsehill in Stewarton. There may have been a Celtic hillfort here, as suggested by the etymology of the placename.Arch Ayr Wigton, Page 26
In 1848 the Scottish Journal records that a number of years ago the foundation of a ruin of considerable extent was removed by the late proprietor.Arch Ayr Wigton, Pages 26 - 27 In 1853 Mr Dobie recorded that There can still be traced the meiths (boundary line) of a building of considerable extent on the top of the Hill of Borland.Arch Ayr Wigton, Page 27 In 1856 Mr G. Howie of Dunlop stated that he remembered seeing a small portion of what was said to be one of the walls about 70 or 80 years ago. It was a sort of bank, quite crumbled down and overgrown with grass. Since then the ruins of a building of considerable extent have been removed and the ground cultivated.Name Book On the southern side of the hill there are the remains of a wide ditch or fosse, locally known as the 'Cuckoo slide’.Hutchison, Pages 7 - 8. PatersonPaterson in 1866 states that the foundation of a ruin was removed some years ago by a late proprietor.
Pont states that the ancient strong Dunlop Castle situated by the Clerkland Burn (NS 42737 49312) was protected by a moat or fosse of water and had “goodly” orchards. SmithSmith, Page 84 records that the 'Airn Yett' of the old castle was still preserved and its details published (see Wikimedia). It was also called Hunt Hall because the Dunlops were huntsmen to the De Ross family (Paterson 1866). The whole estate was sometimes referred to as Hunt Hall. This castle was situated at the site of the present day Dunlop House.
The De Ross family were vassalsMillar, Page 71 to the De Morvilles, Overlords of Cunninghame. The De Morvilles backed John Balliol's claim to the crown and forfeited their lands to the Boyds, and in 1570 the lands were held by the Cassillis family. In 1600 it is noted that David Dunlop of Hapland excambied his lands with Patrick Cunninghame for his portion of the lands of Borland.
The native chiefs, although displaced from Boarland Hill, do not appear to have been exiled but instead established themselves at what is now Dunlop House.Dobie, Page 98 The name Boarland also survives in the names of Borlandhill, Over Borland, North Borland and Low Borland. The name Boarland could refer to the presence of wild boar,Dobie, Page 97 but a 'Boor' also meant a serf and Norman lords often apportioned lands near their castles for their servants.Bayne, Pages 10 - 16. The Borland or Bordland also meant the land that was granted to the feudal superior specifically to be used to furnish food for his castle or dwelling.Mackenzie, Page 29.McMichael, Page 85
There has been a modern-day military use of Dunlop Hill, for in the 20th-century, between the two World Wars, a Royal Observer Corps post composed of huts was built on top of the hill. The personnel tracked enemy-aircraft movement up the Clyde towards Glasgow. Development of more sophisticated radar tracking techniques after World War II made the facility redundant. Until the 1970s the UK Warning and Monitoring organisation operated a bunker on the hill top. The access door and ventilation louvres are still in place.
The Dunlops of that Ilk
The first recorded Dunlop is William de Dunlop of 1260, followed by a supporter of Edward I, Neil Fitz-Robert de Dulap of 1306. His estates were forfeited due to his support for John Balliol, as were those of the De Rosses. The family regained their lands by the mid 15th. Century and by that time we have 'of that Ilk' replacing the Norman 'de'. Sir James Dunlop of that Ilk held the estate in 1596 and married Jean, daughter of Somerville of Cambusnethan, descended from Lord Somerville. This may go some way to explaining why the Somerville family came to purchase lands at Montgomery-Crivoch and Bollingshaw in the 1800s to establish the Kennox Estate.
Frances Dunlop was a witness to the disposition of the Scottish Regalia in Edinburgh Castle after the Union of the Crowns. James Dunlop of 1634-1670 married Elizabeth, daughter of Cunninghame of Corsehill and was an outstanding leader of the covenanters. John Dunlop 1748-1784 married the daughter of Sir Thomas Wallace of Craigie. She was the patron of Burns already referred to and copied extra poems and letters to her copy of his 1786 Kilmarnock Edition, known as The Dunlop Burns held at the Rosenbach Museum and Library.
John Dunlop Esq. MP was resident at Dunlop House in 1837 and Pigot describes it as one of Ayrshires' handsomest mansions, with the Ogrestone or Thurgatstane lying within its estate boundaries. The house was designed in 1831–34 by David Hamilton for Sir James Dunlop of Dunlop. The house is an unusual Scottish-Jacobean style, but the gate lodge is more typical of Hamilton, with strap work, classical and manorial features (Milligan). The last Baronet was Major Sir James Dunlop of 1839-1858 who died unmarried.
The last of the Dunlops to be born at Dunlop were John (1904) and Alexander (1906) Houison Crawfurd. Mrs Houison Crawfurd is remembered for producing the first tubercular-free cattle in Ayrshire. The house was let to a number of tenants, the Henderson family of the Anchor Line being the most notable. In 1933 the house was sold to Ayrshire County Council as a home for “mentally defective” (language used at the time) children.
The Clerkland Burn rivulet runs past the Dunlop House mansion, forming the boundary between the parishes of Stewarton and Dunlop.Paterson, Page 227
The Brechna Braes and Brackenheugh The Brechna Braes area lies close to Dunlop and has been developed as the Templehouse Community Woodland to celebrate the 2000 Millennium. The Brackenheugh is a wooded slope overlooking Aiket Castle. It is said to be the site of the death of one of the Cunninghames of Aiket, killed by a Montgomerie during the times of the feuds between these families.
Dunlop Church In 1516 John Major or Mair, said to be the instructor of John Knox held the post of vicar, mostly absentee as he was a professor of theology.Ayr Arch Wigton, Page 28 By 1566 the vicar was John Houston, who held the manse, garden and an acre of land adjoining the manse. The rest of the Kirkland-Dunlop lands passed from the Abbots of Kilwinning to William Cunninghame of Aiket and remained with the Cunninghames until the latter half of the 17th century. The Earl of Eglinton held the right of patronage when it was abolished in 1875.Ayr Arch Wigton, Page 29