(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, 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." http://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: http://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. http://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. http://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). http://www.nls.uk/maps/detail.cfm?id=247
& http://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.]