National Gazetteer, 1868

"MAYBOLE, a parish in the district of Carrick, county Ayr, Scotland. It is a station on the Maybole and Girvan railway. The parish is situated between the rivers Doon and Girvan, abounding in salmon and trout, and includes the ancient parish of Kirkbride. It is bounded by the Firth of Clyde, and by the parishes of Ayr, Dalrymple, Kirkmichael, and Kirkoswald. The parish, which extends in its greatest length 9 miles, with a breadth of 5, contains a market and post town of its own name, and the villages of Culroy, Dunure, and Fisherton. On the banks of the rivers Doon and Girvan there are many well-managed farms, and some rich arable land in the eastern and south-eastern districts, which form an undulating plain, but the surface is in general mountainous, and appropriated to sheep-walks. The town of Maybole, which is a place of considerable antiquity, is situated on an eminence, and is defended from the northerly and easterly winds by a range of hills which surround it in the form of an amphitheatre, attaining, at Brown Carrick Hill, an eastern attitude of 925 feet above sea level. This range, though eminently beneficial in mitigating the severity of the climate, rises like a screen to intercept the view of the Firth of Clyde, with its numerous sails, and the rock of Ailsa in the distance. A collegiate church was founded here by Alexander II., as a cell to North Berwick, and, in 1516, the town was erected into a burgh of barony under the Kennedys, ancestors of the Marquis of Ailsa. It stands near the southern extremity of the parish, on the road from Glasgow to Portpatrick, about 9 miles S.W. of Ayr, and 12 N.N.E. of Girvan. The only parts of the town of any pretension are the main street, and what is called the Kirk-wynd. These contain many ancient residences, but are destitute of any modern attraction. The lower streets, called Kirklands, Newyards, and Ballony, are not within the limits of the burgh, and consist almost wholly of weavers' houses and workshops. The town contains the post-office, commercial bank, townhall, a cumbrous old pile with a spiral tower, situated near the cross, the toll-booth, once the town residence of the lairds of Blairquhan, and the Castle. This last was the ancient residence of the earls of Cassillis, the principal branch of the Kennedys. It is well supplied with water, and is noted for the health and longevity of its inhabitants. The principal manufactures are woollen-weaving and that of blankets, which are sold at the four annual fairs held in the town. The parish is in the presbytery of Ayr and synod of Glasgow and Ayr, in the patronage of the crown. The minister has a stipend of £336, besides glebe. The parish church was built in 1808, and improved in 1830. There are besides two chapels of-ease, one situated at the W. end of the town and the other on the coast of Fisherton. Also a Free church in the town, an United Presbyterian church, and an Episcopalian chapel. There are a grammar school, of ancient foundation, and six non-parochial schools. The principal antiquities are the remains of the Collegiate church of Maybole, rebuilt by Sir Gilbert Kennedy, of Dunure, in 1441, on the site of an older one founded by Alexander II.; the ruins of the church of Kirkbride, on the shore about half a mile to the north of Dunure Castle; also traces of a chapel, on the lands of Auchendrane, the scene of Sir Walter Scott's "Auchendrane, or Ayrshire Tragedy," and the house, now occupied as the Red Lion Inn, in which John Knox, the reformer, disputed with Quentin Kennedy, Abbot of Crossraguel. Market day is Thursday. Fairs are held on the third Thursdays in January, April, July, and October."

"CULROY, a village in the parish of Maybole, in the county of Ayr, Scotland. It is situated 3½ miles N. of the town of Maybole."

"FISHERTON, a fishing hamlet in the parish of Maybole, county Ayr, Scotland. Here is a chapel-of-ease."

"MINNISHANT, a post-office village in the parish of Maybole, county Ayr, Scotland, 9 miles S. by W. of Ayr."

"KIRK-BRIDE, an ancient parish in the county Ayr, Scotland, now joined to Maybole."

Description(s) from The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1868)
Transcribed by Colin Hinson ©2003