Cunninghamhead, Perceton and Annick Lodge

Cunninghamhead is a hamlet in North Ayrshire, Scotland. It was the centre of the lands of Cunninghamhead, Perceton and Annick Lodge in Cunninghame. This mainly rural area is noted for its milk and cheese production and the Ayrshire, Cunninghame or Dunlop breed of cattle.

The estate was within the demesne of the De Morvilles, Lords of Cunninghame, and passed by marriage to Alan de la Zouche and William de Ferrars (see Lambroughton) who, as supporters of John Baliol forfeited the property to Robert the Bruce. James Francis of Stane obtained most of the property and Roger de Blair of that Ilk,

This farm is shown on Pont's / Blaeu's 1654 map and it is close to the River Annick (previously Annock or Annack Water) in the area once known as Strathannick. The name may refer to the appearance of the long strips of land which were typical of the 'rig and furrow' ploughing system. Langlands Farm overlooks the confluence of the Annick and the Glazert at Water Meetings; two high arched bridges provide the road crossing. Langlands was owned at one time by the Sword family who ran the Western SMT Bus Company in the mid 20th century. They had a large collection of Hackney horses with an exercise track and other facilities at Langlands (Smith 2006). A rare example of a pear tree grows near the farm.

A mill is marked on Timothy Pont's map of 1604–1608, published in 1654, identified as a waulk mill, used for preparing serge for clothing. The site of the mill is marked on Aitken's 1829 map as Scroaggie Mill, in Robertson (1820) it is called Scrogie Mill and valued at £36 rent. Thomson's 1832 map shows it as being close to and upstream from Ramstane on the Annick Water. It was on the west side near to a pronounced bend in the river. EtymologyThe word Scroag or Scrog in Scots means a gnarled or stunted tree or tree stump. Specifically it can mean a Crab Apple tree or Scrog Apple as they were known. William King was born to Thomas King and Barbara Neilson who are recorded on the 1755 baptismal records as living at Sevenacres Mill near Kilwinning. William went on to become the miller at Scroggie Mill and also worked as a farmer. Baptismal records show that his son, also William, was born in 1792 at Scroggie. His son, again a William, was born in 1833 remained at Scroggie until 1851 when he moved to Old Monkland, his place of work. Buried in St Maurs Glencairn Kirk in Kilmaurs William and Mary King's gravestone reads " late of Scrogiemill parish of Stewarton d. 3.6.1816 aged 61y. Also his wife Mary Aitken d. 17.11.1841 aged 86y". Aiton comments that crab apple trees were sometimes used in the hedges which were erected since the year 1766. The 'Place of the Crab apples' description fits well with the present appearance of the site which has an old wood next to it with a contiguous woodland recently planted by the farmer at Langlands. Crab apples trees are common among the ruins of the old mill itself. In 1832 Thomson's map shows a ford and a lane running down from Ramstane, which can still be made out and the natural bedrock dyke of the river bed here made this an obvious site for a ford. The 1860 OS shows a lade running across the 'peninsula' of land made by the 'U' bend, with a dam across the river below Langlands farm forming a mill pond. At this date the mill is known only as Fairliecrevoch, being a clothmill with a track running down to it from Barnahill and a footbridge across the river from Ramstane. Steven states that the representative of the family of Ross now the Earl of Glasgow, has inter alia the title of Lord Boyle of Stewarton, and at this date, January 1842, has now only about in the parish, formerly called Crivochmill, but now commonly called Scrogmill where was till late, a meal mill, now converted to a wool spinning mill. The 1923 OS marks the site and the ford, but does not name it as a mill and the 1963 OS indicates a single building at the end of a rough track which would originally have been the miller's dwelling. Very little remains today (2006) other than the vague line of the lade, the ruins of the miller's house, the foundations of the mill and the lade water outlet area beside the river. The name change may have occurred as the mill at Fairlie Crevoch by Kennox had been abandoned and could now be used here next to the farm of that name. Scroaggy is a name still used for this area by local farmers (Hastings 2006). A very substantial metal bridge with concrete abutments crosses the Annick nearby. It is now without its wooden decking and was presumably built by the Sword's when they owned both Barnahill and Langlands farms. The map rather improbably shows the track from this bridge running up to join the mainroad near the point where the lane runs down towards Aultonhead and Aulton Farms. The track can still be seen below the hedge with a gradient that would be too great for most vehicles and a dangerous proximity to the river. The exit to the road was at a dangerous bend and this route must have been abandoned after only a relatively short period of use.

This 'Butt and Ben' is an old site, first recorded in 1775. The name can probably be translated literally as no obvious alternative seems to exist in old Scot's. Thomson's map records it as Ramston in 1832. A lane, still visible, ran down to the River Annick here, the line it took being still clearly visible. A dyke here formed a suitable site for a ford and stepping stones, which are likewise still discernible. The lane from the ford ran up to Barnahill and to old Scroaggy or Failliecrevoch Mill, while another lane didn't cross over and instead followed the river and came out at what is now Cunninghamhead. A favourite swimming pool, called 'Toad Hole' is found near here (Hastings 2006). The house was destroyed by fire in the 1990s but was rebuilt on the same site. James Speirs and his spouse Mary Caldwell (possibly Galdwell) farmed 'Ramstone' in the early 19th. century. James died aged 80 in 1831 and Mary died Mary aged 87 in 1841. They are buried with some of their descendants in the Kilmaurs Glencairn church cemetery.

Sir Hugh de Eglintoun held a charter for Pocertoon in 1361 from John de Moravia (Dobie 1876). In 1361 the Barony of Balgray existed; the lands changed hands many times over the centuries, passing through the hands of the families from Corsehill, Pearston Hall (Annick Lodge), Bourtreehill, Eglintoun, Rowallan, Grange, Auchenharvie, Lainshaw and others. The lands were divided up into South Balgray (now West), East Balgray, Muirhead of Balgray and Knowehead of Balgray. Balgray or East Balgray was originally called Bagra, a Celtic name, on Pont's 17th century map, Bagraw on Ainslie's 1821 map and in 1832 Thomson marks it as Balgary. East Balgray had been the Sword family farm and it was also used to house the John C. Sword collection of 160 Scottish motorcars as well as horse drawn carriages and motorbikes. It had been hoped to open 'The Museum of the Sword Collection of Transport' at East Balgray using John C. Sword's collection of sixty vehicles, however the level of estate Death Duties made this impossible to achieve (Neill 2006). An auction had already taken place in 1962 to sell off duplicate or unrepresentative vehicles and eventually the whole collection was sold off and dispersed.

Barnahill's name previously been Barnhill. (1775) and also Barneyhills on Thomson's 1832 map and Barnyhill in 1837, at which time William Pollock Esq. is recorded by Pigot as being in possession. The farm is not shown on Pont's map of 1654. The traditional workhorse of the ploughman, the Clydesdale, are kept here for breeding and showing by the Mitchell family. Robertson (1820) records the rental value at £168, the farm belonging to an R. Montgomery. Alexander Lindsay (died 5 October 1872, aged 77) and his spouse Marion Miller (died 20 November 1881) farmed at Byrahill (as spelt on their tombstone) in the mid 19th century. They were buried at the Laigh Kirk in Stewarton.

This farm has had many name and spelling changes with Shakhill from Ainslie's 1821 and Armstrong's 1775 maps, Rashshallhouse from Thomson's 1832 survey and Rashillhouse from 1895 onwards. 'Shak' in old Scots is to shake as in threshing, this being usually done on exposed windy sites to help blow away the chaff from the grain. Given its elevated position above the river, Rashillhouse may well have been such a site. Watermeeting's Cottage is nearby, rebuilt from a ruin in the 1980s. The traditional workhorse of the ploughman, the Clydesdale, are kept here for breeding and showing by the Craig family. Robertson (1820) mentions a Thrasher house farm near Barnahill at a £82 rental

Wheeled vehicles were unknown to farmers in Ayrshire until the end of the 17th century and prior to this sledges were used to haul loads (Strawhorn 1951) as wheeled vehicles were completely useless. Roads at this time were mere tracks and such bridges as there were could only take pedestrians, men on horseback or pack animals. The first wheeled vehicles to be used in Ayrshire were carts offered gratis to labourers working on Riccarton Bridge in 1726 and even then some refused to use them. In 1763 it was still said that no roads existed between Glasgow and Kilmarnock or Kilmarnock and Ayr and the whole traffic was by twelve pack horses, the first of which had a bell around its neck. The road running up from Irvine to Cunninghamehead and on to Stewarton was made into a turnpike by the 'Ayr Roads Act of 1767' (McClure 1994) and the opportunity was taken to move its route to make the road as convenient as possible for travellers. The date of construction is unclear as the 1775 map doesn't show a new route. Toll house were at intervals and one was on the right as the road joins with the Stewarton to Kilmaurs road opposite the site of the old Lainshaw Mill and the other toll house. Cunninghamhead Toll house was at the corner where the road runs down to the mill (1860 OS). In 1782 Neil Snodgrass of Cunninghamhead petitioned the road meeting at Stewarton for compensation. In adjusting the line of a road, a piece of his improved land had been taken; he had been given in return the land occupied by the old line. His loss amounted to the money he had expended on improving the land given up to the new road. Many of the local dignitaries were present, including The Earl of Loudoun, John Dunlop of Dunlop, Sir Walter Montgomerie of Corsehill, Major Alexander Dunlop of Aiket, etc. His case was carefully researched and he was awarded compensation of £40 5s 9d. with interest, as well as a further 50 shillings as the Fee and Wages for a herd for his cattle for five months during which his grounds were laid open by the alteration of the road (McClure 2002). The name 'Turnpike' originated from the original 'gate' used being just a simple wooden bar attached at one end to a hinge on the supporting post. The hinge allowed it to 'open' or 'turn' This bar looked like the 'pike' used as a weapon in the army at that time and therefore we get 'turnpike'. The term was also used by the military for barriers set up on roads specifically to prevent the passage of horses. Other than providing better roads, the turnpikes settled the confusion of the different lengths given to miles (Thompson 1999), which varied from 4,854 to nearly 7000 feet (2134 m). Long miles, short miles, Scotch or Scot's miles (5,928 ft), Irish miles (6,720 ft), etc. all existed. 5,280 seems to have been an average. Another important point is that when these new toll roads were constructed the Turnpike Trusts went to a great deal of trouble to improve the route of the new road and these changes could be quite considerable. The tolls on roads were abolished in 1878 to be replaced by a road assessment, which was taken over by the County Council in 1889. Red sandstone milestones were positioned every mile. Only one survives in the hedge opposite the entrance to the upper Law Mount field, indicating Stewarton 1 mile (2 km) and Irvine 6 miles, another was positioned opposite the entrance to Mid Lambroughton farm and as with the others the only remaining clue is a 'kink' in the hedgerow as seen near Langlands Farm. The milestones were buried during the Second World War so as not to provide assistance to invading troops, German spies, etc. (Wilson 2006). This seems to have happened all over Scotland, however Fife was more fortunate than Ayrshire, for the stones were taken into storage and put back in place after the war had finished (Stephen 1967–68). The Minutes of the Turnpike Trust of 27 May 1780 state that the road from Stewarton westwards to Crevoch (Crivoch, two miles (3 km) to the west of Stewarton on the minor road running past Lainshaw towards Crossgates—Crivoch was on the road running south from Kennox), had for more than 13 years been totally neglected, not one penny of Statute Money or repair of any kind have been expended. In the Winter Season and during wet weather the road was impassable, even for travelling on horseback, nor could carriages of any kind pass along it.

Only a Newton farm is marked on the 1775 map and a by 1860 a Newtonend Farm is shown just beside the railway, but it is no longer marked by 1897. EtymologyThe name 'Paddocklaw' was originally 'Puddocklaw', which is Toad Hill or Burial Mound in Scot's. Not shown on the 1775 Armstrong map, Paddocklaw was shown on a crossroads in 1821 on Ainslie's map. Thomson's 1820 map only shows three roads and not the fourth which ran down to the Thorntoun Estate area. Paddocklaw has an unusual semi circular road running around it and would have been an ideal site for a wayside inn. The road across to Newtonhead Farm is still present in 1895, however it is only a rough track by 1912 and no longer marked by 1960. The nearby law, next to the railway cutting, is shown on the 1897 OS, but it has now been 'ploughed out'

The Barony of Kilmaurs was composed of the lands of Buston (now Buiston), Fleuris (now Floors), Lambroughton, whyrrig (now Wheatrig), and Southhook (otherwise Southwick, Southook, Southuck, Southeuk, Seurnhouck, Seurnbenck or Hooks (1775)) and therefore this area was associated with the Lands of Lambroughton. On Thomson's 1820 map an East and a West Southhook are shown, but only on Ainslie's map. A Little Southhook is shown on the 1960 OS. A brickworks with this name used to exist in the area, using local clay and coal. James Hunter farmed here in the 1840s with his wife Margaret Young. He died in 1844 and was buried in Dreghorn Parish churchyard. Their son died when his ship, taking him from Quebec to Dundee, sank with all hands.

Overton, previously Overtoun or Evertoun (1775) is surprisingly not on the 1821 map, however it is shown on Thomson's map of 1820. The 1895 OS shows the main line railway and a mineral or freight line branching off near Cunninghamhead railway station and running close to Overton with a branch running parallel to the road to Southhook just in front of the shelterbelt plantation. These lines are gone by 1912 and only some low embankments remain today. In 1860 miners rows, coal pit, school and fireclay works were all located near the point where the Capringstone Burn passes under the road at what is now the Meadow Wood Community Woodland site. Overton Row is marked on the 1912 OS, the place was called Overton, by 1936 only one row remained—Warwickdale Row —it was finally demolished in the late 1950s or 60s, only the foundation being visible today (2007). William McKerrell and his aunt Janet are two names that can be linked with the settlement, having been born there. A colliery near Southhook and a brickworks and a coal pit are shown at Springside on the 1912 OS. The road down to Overton seems to have had a small Belvedere of trees in 1832. In the 1880s the village had a population of 413.

Robertson (1820) mentions this barony, once part of the Barony of Kilmaurs, which ran from Kilmaurs south to the river Irvine. It had no manor house and belonged to the Eglinton family latterly. The following properties were part of the barony: parts of Kilmaurs, Gatehead, Woodhills, Greenhill, Altonhill, Plann, Hayside, Thorntoun, Rash hill Park, Milton, Windyedge, Fardelhill, Muirfields, Corsehouse and Knockentiber.

Thorntoun first belonged to a branch of the Montgomeries, descended from Murthhaw, who is mentioned in the Ragman's Roll of 1296. It was part of the Barony of Robertoun. A Johne of Montgomery of Thornetoun is mentioned in a legal document of 1482 (Dobie 1876). At the beginning of the 17th century it became the property of the Mures, a branch of the Mures of Rowallan Castle. Some confusion exists, for either an Archibald or a James Mure, burgess of Glasgow, married Margaret, daughter of Robert Ross of Thorntoun on 27 June 1607. Nothing is known of how and when this Ross family came to possess Thorntoun. Hew Muir was a son and another son, James Muir of Thorntoun, married Janet Naper, who died in 1626. Robert may have been their son, for he is mentioned in a document of 1634. An Archibald Muir of Thorntoun was knighted by William III in 1699 and his daughter, Margaret, married John Cunningham of Caddell, in Ardrossan. A direct descendant, George Edward Bourchier Wrey succeeded through his mother, Sarah Wrey, née Cunningham and owned the property in 1912 (McNaught 1912).

Greenwood near Irvine was still known as Templeland Farm and plantation in the 1860s, the name Greenwood being restricted to a small cottage. A secondary school and Teachers' Resource Centre are now present at the site. On the opposite bank of the Annick from Annick Lodge is the Friersmill Holm. The Reid Friers were the Red Friars, better known as the Knights Templar. In 1820 Robertson gives Colonel Hamilton as the proprietor of Temple Lands with a rental value of £6 13s 4d. The mill in this vicinity would have belonged to the order before their dissolution and the proximity of Templeland makes this doubly likely. In 1312 the Knight's Templar order, whose Scottish headquarters had been at Torphichen, was disbanded (Barber 1996) and its lands given to the Knights of St. John (Dobie 1876). Lord Torphichen as preceptor obtained the temple land tenements and the lands then passed through the hands of Montgomerie of Hessilhead and Wallace of Cairnhill (now Carnell) in 1720, before passing into unrestricted ownership.

The Darien Company was an attempt by the Scots to set up a trading colony in America in the late 1690s, however the opposition from England and elsewhere was so great that the attempt failed with huge losses and great financial implications for the country and for individuals. Half of the whole circulating capital of Scotland was subscribed and mostly lost. In Cunninghame some examples of losses are Major James Cunninghame of Aiket (£200), Sir William Cunninghame of Cunninghamhead (£1000), Sir Archibald Mure of Thorntoun (£1000), William Watson of Tour (£150) and James Thomson of Hill in Kilmaurs (£100).