half of the farm-houses are now slated, and three of them are of The average size of the farms is about 90 imperial acres. The above is exclusive of the turnpike and parish roads, and of that part of Loch Brown that is flooded in summer, so that the whole contents of this parish are above ten square miles. The produce of the oats per acre is from thirty-two to sixty-four imperial bushels, average forty-eight bushels per acre. The average produce of beans is twenty-four bushels per acre. Potatoes average about eight tons per acre; turnips average about sixteen tons per acre: ryegrass weighs about twenty-six cwt. of 112 lbs. each; and meadow hay weighs about twenty-eight cwt. per imperial acre on an average. Pease are included along with the beans. Perhaps there may be five or six acres of pease. The barley is mostly sown for family use. Little flax is sown, and few field-cabbages are raised, perhaps not more than an acre of each. Live-Stock.-The live-stock is as follows: 148 horses and mares fit for work; 25 bulls, 759 milk cows; 437 young cows, including queys, stirks, and calves to be reared; 293 sheep, mostly of a mixed breed; and 145 swine. The milk of the cows is for the most part manufactured into sweet milk cheese, and the yearly produce of each cow is from 24 cwt. to 3 cwt.; the average is 3 cwt. The whey is mostly used in feeding swine. V.-PAROCHIAL ECONOMY. Ecclesiastical Stute.-The church was built in 1776, and the manse in 1808 and is in good repair. The stipend consists of sixteen chalders of grain, one-half oatmeal, and the other half barley, paid by the fiars price of the county, and L. 10 to provide communion elements. The glebe contains about five acres, and is worth L. 10 per annum. The patronage belongs to James Campbell, Esq. of Craigie. One hundred and twenty-eight families belong to the Established Church; 3 families belong to the United Secession; and of other 9 families, part go to the Established Church, and part to the Secession. Education.-There are two schools in the parish, the parochial school, and one in the south-west end of the parish, at Underhills, near Barnweill, and no additional schools are required, as the east end of this parish has the advantage of schools in the vicinity, one in the parish of Galston, and another in the parish of Mauchline. The school-room at Underhills is given free of rent by the proprietor, and the teacher is supported by the school-fees. The parochial school-house was built in 1807. The schoolmaster's salary is the maximum; and the average amount of schoolfees per annum for ten years is about L. 20 Sterling, making the schoolmaster's income about L. 54 per annum, exclusive of house and garden. Friendly Societies.-There are two Friendly Societies for males only, and their expenditure yearly is from L.60 to L.70. Poor. The average number of persons receiving parochial aid is 12, who are paid monthly from the poor's funds. A few others receive aid occasionally. The average sum paid to each of these twelve is L. 4, 2s. 5d. per annum. 'Three of these have about L. 6 each; the rest have considerably less than the average. The annual average amount of contributions for relief of the poor for the last nine years is L. 51, 19s. Id., viz. Church collections, Interest of a fund, L. 7, 3s. 24d., gifts, L. 2, 14s. 3 d. Total average amount of contributions made for relief of the poor of Craigie, February 1842. L. 30 17 7 L. 51 19 1 PARISH OF KILMAURS. PRESBYTERY OF IRVINE, synod of glasgow aND AYR. THE REV. WILLIAM SINCLAIR, MINISTER. I. TOPOGRAPHY AND NATURAL HISTORY. Name and Extent.-IN some ancient records of session, the name is spelled Kilmares, which appears to be connected with the word Marie, and if so, it is probable that the Kil was dedicated to the Mother of our Lord. Others suppose the name to be derived from the circumstance of the church having been dedicated to St Maurs. The length of this parish from east to west is six, and the greatest breadth from north to south three, miles. It is bounded on the north, by the parish of Stewarton,-east, by Fenwick,-south, by Kilmarnock,—and west, by Irvine. A A rivulet, which rises in Fenwick, and runs the whole length of the parish from east to west, divides it nearly into two equal parts. This rivulet is known here by the name of Kilmaurs water. little lower it is called Carmel, which name it retains, till it loses itself in the Irvine. The surface consists of large fields, with many gentle risings and declivities interspersed. The summits of these are covered with trees, planted in circles, which, with others of the same kind, spread all over Cunninghame, give a beautiful appearance to the whole of this country, as well as profit to the owners. The prospect from these summits, which are in every farm, is extensive and delightful; for many miles all round, the whole country appears as one well cultivated garden. Parochial Registers.-The register of births and marriages commenced in 1688, but was not regularly kept till 1783. Town of Kilmaurs.—It was erected into a burgh of barony by James V. at the instance of Cuthbert Earl of Glencairn, and William, his son, Lord Kilmaurs. That noble family then resided in this parish, where they had a house. By a charter, written in Latin, and signed by the said Cuthbert Earl of Glencairn, and his son, Lord Kilmaurs, at Glasgow, 15th November 1577, it appears, that the five-pound land of Kilmaurs, consisting of 240 acres, was disponed to forty different persons in feu-farm and free burgage, and to be held in equal proportions by them, their heirs and successors, upon the yearly payment of eighty merks of the usual money of the kingdom, that is, two merks for each fortieth part. It is obvious, that the great design of the Noble family in this erection, was to bring together into one place as many trades-people as possible, and that the feuing of these lands was meant as an encouragement and help to such; but it has all along produced a contrary effect. The town is pleasantly situated on a gentle ascent, looking towards the south.* The Kilmaurs or Glencairn Family.-The barony of Kilmaurs was bestowed, in the beginning of the twelfth century, by De Morville, Lord High Constable of Scotland, on Warnebald, who is said to have come from England in the reign of Malcolm IV., and who probably assumed the name of CUNINGHAME, from the manor place of Cuninghame, in the parish of Kilmaurs, supposed to have been about a mile from the town in the farm of Jock's Thorn, and probably the original villa de Cuninghame. The family obtained additional lands from King Robert the Bruce. About the beginning of the fifteenth century, Sir William Cuninghame married a coheiress of Dennieston of that Ilk, and with her acquired great possessions. Alexander of the thirteenth generation was raised to the dignity of Earl in 1448. Alexander, the fifth Earl, was very favourable to the Reformation, and was in consequence distinguished by the name of the good Eart. William, the ninth Earl, lived in the troublous times of Charles I. and Oliver Cromwell, and died Chancellor of Scotland in 1664.+ About this time, the chief family residences seem to have been Kerdan Castle, in the parish of Stewarton, and Finlayston, on the Clyde above Port Glasgow. John, the twenty-fifth Earl, died in 1796, when the honours of this elder branch of the family became extinct for want of male issue. + The burial aisle of the Glencairn family has in it a monument erected to the memory of the chancellor, the ninth Earl of Glencairn. IV. INDUSTRY. Agriculture. This is a very rich parish. There are neither barren moors, nor stagnant mosses, nor sterile sand-hills, increasing the extent of surface without adding much to the rent-roll. There is scarcely an acre of bad land in the parish. The soil throughout is of first rate quality, strong, and deep, and fertile; yielding heavy crops of wheat, beans, barley, oats, potatoes, &c. The pastures are very rich, and dairy produce not only abundant, but, from skill in management, of great excellence. Great improvements have lately taken place in the agriculture of the parish by means of tile-draining. The average rent of land is about L. 2, 5s. per acre. The Scots valuation of the parish is L. 5310. Manufactures.-Cotton-weaving and shoemaking are carried on to some extent. In days of yore, Kilmaurs was a little Scottish Sheffield, and much famed for cutlery. Though the cutlers have passed away, their fame survives in the Ayrshire Proverb, "As gleg as a Kilmaurs whittle," which cut, it was said, an inch before the point. V.-PAROCHIAL ECONOMY. Ecclesiastical State.-About 1900 of the population belong to the Established Church: and about 651 are Dissenters. There are also 62 Roman Catholics in the parish. Stipend, 17 chalders. Glebe 4 acres in extent, and worth about L. 12 per an num. The manse was built in 1778. It is in a very insufficient and comfortless condition. It is to be lamented that the parish church is not sufficiently ruinous to be legally condemned, for it is far from being such a church as should be found in the rich and populous parish of Kil maurs. The following is a list of the ministers of this parish since the Revolution:-The Rev. David Brown, ordained 1688; the Rev. Hugh Thomson, 1691;* the Rev. John Miller, 1718; the The Rev. Hugh Thomson, the second on the list, was a person of great muscular strength. We have heard, that, being in Kilmarnock on a market day, he approached a stand on which a blacksmith had exposed to sale horse-shoes and other hardware articles of his own manufacture. Mr Thomson wishing to purchase some of the horse-shoes, asked the price of them, and on being told, said by way of joke," so much for these! I could twist them with my fingers." "Twist them then," said the Smith, " and you shall have the price of your own making." Mr Thomson took one of them up, and twisted it almost with as much ease as Samson broke the green withes with |