Lands of Morishill | |
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Beith, North Ayrshire, Scotland UK grid reference NS342535 | |
Coordinates | 55°44′47″N4°38′36″W / 55.7464°N 4.6432°W Coordinates: 55°44′47″N4°38′36″W / 55.7464°N 4.6432°W |
Grid reference | NS 34186 53505 |
Type | Laird's House |
Site information | |
Controlled by | Montgomerie |
Open to the public | Yes |
Condition | Demolished |
Site history | |
Built | 17th century |
Built by | Shedden family |
Materials | Stone |
The lands of Morishill, [1] Morrishill, [2] Moorishill [3] or Moricehill [3] were part of the holdings of the Barony of Beith, Regality of Kilwinning and Bailiary of Cuninghame. The name may have derived from large shielings or huts that were once erected at the site. [3]
In the early 17th century Robert Peibles held Moreisheills, Pedderland and Maynshill. In 1637 the lands of old extent of 'Morishill' were held by James and Janet Stewart. [3] By 1748 the Adam family had held the 20/- land of old extent of Morishill for several generations, acquiring it through the marriage of Henry Adam with Margaret Stewart, daughter of John Stewart of Morishill. [4] Robert Shedden of Marshalland purchased the property from William Adam upon his return from Virginia where he had prospered as a merchant. [1] He was born on 5 October 1709 as the second son on John Shedden of Marshalland. [1] Robert also purchased the Longcroft, Hillhead, the Shortback of the hill and other lands at Townhead of Broadstone. [5]
William Adam was rather too fond of drink and as a result he failed to manage the lands of Morishill and was advised to sell. Robert Shedden in 1748 purchased the property and this gave rise to this short ditty [6] -
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James Dobie was of the opinion that the name 'Morishill' was derived via the old name 'Moreishiels' from the large shielings or temporary summer dwellings for shepherds erected on the site. [3]
After the Adam family, the Sheddens obtained the property. Robert Shedden married Margaret Simson of nearby Willowyard and secondly Elizabeth Moore of Bruntwood, with whom he had seven children. He died in 1759 and his widow married James Wilson, the master of the parish school. [7] The eldest son by this marriage became an eminent surgeon in London. [7] John Shedden, born 1753, inherited in 1760 and after a spell abroad as a merchant he returned and in 1787 married his cousin Barbara Wilson of Kilmarnock and secondly Janet Simson of Willowyard. He had six children and died at Morishill in 1833. [8]
Alexander Shedden inherited in 1833 and in 1842 he also inherited the Willowyard Estate from Mr Wilson of Crummock. [9] Alexander married Jessie Glasgow and had a daughter Jessie Caldwell Shedden; he married secondly Martha Wilson in 1851 with no offspring and died in 1867. [9] Jessie Shedden inherited Morishill, Willowyard, Ferguslie and the Superiority of Drums. Jessie died aged 27 of measles and diphtheria, and the property went to Mrs Shedden-Dobie who died in 1883, aged 97. [10] John Shedden-Dobie succeeded his mother.
In 1938 Morishill was the home of Colonel and Mrs Hope Murray. [11]
The first case in Scotland of a runaway slave attempting to gain their freedom was that of Jamie or James Montgomery, later named 'Shanker' by Robert Shedden or later still as James Montgomery Shedden. Montgomery had been purchased by Shedden from Joseph Hawkins, a slave trader in Fredericksburg, Virginia, for £56 12s 6d in 1750. He had been baptised as 'Jamie Montgomery' by none other than the Reverend John Witherspoon in Beith. Robert Shedden objected to this as slave owners usually did not allow their slaves to be baptised or to take a Christian first name and surname.
The name 'Shanker' was used by Robert Shedden to reinforce the impression that Montgomery was mere property. Shedden claimed that the baptism was solely undertaken so that Montgomery could unlawfully free himself as a slave. Montgomery was dragged in chains behind a horse to Port Glasgow and put on board a ship bound for Virginia, however on 21 April 1756 he managed to escape with the help of others and made his way to Edinburgh where he was eventually recognised as a runaway slave and placed in the tolbooth following the placing of descriptions of him in the local newspapers. [12]
Shedden had Montgomery apprenticed to a wright or joiner [13] so that as a skilled person he would fetch a much higher price back in Virginia, delivering a handsome profit to his owner. [14] Shedden even petitioned for a quick trial as he had to pay for Montgomery's keep in the tolbooth and because Montgomery was not well. Montgomery died in the Edinburgh tolbooth before the case could be concluded, [12] however it is said that the Lords were going to find in favour of Robert Shedden. [15]
The appellation 'Shanker' appears to be an insult as this word is a variant of 'chancre' which is the name for a sore or ulcer caused by syphilis. [16]
After several years in the West Indies and America as a merchant John Shedden returned to Morishill and made a number of improvements. [7] In the 1830s Alexander Shedden improved the old house and offices at Morishill and also erected a gatehouse and gates, together with many improvements to the gardens which eventually covered fourteen acres. [17] A new house was completed by 1842 and a two-storey detached octagonal tower to the north with a walled garden. The marsh fed by 'Tams Well' was converted into an ornamental lake with three islands. [7]
In the 1870s a new road was made to the stables and in 1888 the original house was unroofed and modified to become an ivy-clad garden feature. This old house had been much altered and improved over the years, serving latterly as a coachmans' quarters. It carried a marriage stone dated 1752 which commemorated the union of Robert Shedden and Margaret Simson, as well as a date stone of 1887 with the initials 'J.S.-D' in relief. [3] A summerhouse and dovecote were present [11] as was a walled garden. A rookery was established at the estate by tying small bundles of sticks in the forks of the trees upper branches. [3]
A feature of the grounds was a copy of the principal pinnacle of the monument in the Skelmorlie Aisle at Largs which had been made by Mr Logan of Beith, a local sculptor. This had been moved here from Grangevale and stood on a wall that linked the house to the laundry; it bore the inscription Designed for Elizabeth by W. Dobie, 24th May 1845. [3]
In 1865 the lands of Morishill extended to 272 acres (110 ha). [18]
The house was demolished in early 1980s and a housing estate named Morishill Manor was built at the site. [11] A large number of the old trees were kept and still grace the estate today (2013).
An asphalt artificial curling rink was made for Alexander Shedden at Morishill for playing during the summer months. This game used a 10-inch (25 cm) and 23-pound (10 kg) ball made from lignum vitae covered in copper and previously balanced in a bath of mercury. The ball had a handle which could be pulled out with a hook for use, which then quickly sprung back into place upon release. [9]
The Morishill 'Pleasure pond' otherwise known as 'Beith Loch' was used for curling in the winter months and in 1892 on 27 December the Glasgow Herald records that a match took place between Beith and Morishill. [19] The Beith Morishill Curling Club is still in existence and plays at the Greenacres Curling Rink. [20]
Beith is a small town in the Garnock Valley, North Ayrshire, Scotland approximately 20 miles south-west of Glasgow. The town is situated on the crest of a hill and was known originally as the "Hill o' Beith" after its Court Hill.
Bourtreehill House and the enclosed land on which it was built form the original estate of Bourtreehill. The wooded hill-top, a distinctive feature of the estate, is now a landmark that sits at the centre of modern North Bourtreehill in the district of North Ayrshire on the west coast of Scotland.
Hessilhead is in Beith, North Ayrshire, Scotland. Hessilhead used to be called Hazlehead or Hasslehead. The lands were part of the Lordship of Giffen, and the Barony of Hessilhead, within the Baillerie of Cunninghame and the Parish of Beith. The castle was situated at grid reference NS380532.
The Barony of Giffen and its associated 15th-century castle were in the parish of Beith in the former District of Cunninghame, now North Ayrshire. The site may be spelled Giffen or Giffin and lay within the Lordship of Giffin, which included the Baronies of Giffen, Trearne, Hessilhead, Broadstone, Roughwood and Ramshead; valued at £3,788 9s 10d. The Barony of Giffen comprised a number of properties, including Greenhills, Thirdpart, Drumbuie, Nettlehirst and Balgray, covering about half of the parish of Beith. Giffen was a hundred merk land, separated from the Barony of Beith, a forty-pound land, by the Powgree Burn which rises on Cuff hill. The Lugton Water or the Bungle Burn running through Burnhouse may have been the Giffen barony boundary with that of the adjacent barony and lands of Aiket castle.
Gateside is a small village in North Ayrshire, Scotland about 1⁄2 mile east of Beith on the B777.
Glengarnock Castle is one of the ancient ruined fortifications of Ayrshire. Its keep is located on a remote rocky promontory overlooking the River Garnock about 2 miles (3.2 km) north of the town of Kilbirnie in North Ayrshire, Scotland. There is no clear account of when this was erected or by whom, but it may have been built by the Cunningham family or by the Riddels who preceded them. The Barony of Glengarnock is one of three feudal baronies which together form the parish of Kilbirnie in the district of Cunningham which lies in north Ayrshire. The River Garnock flows through the village of the same name 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) to the south, but the name Glen Garnock applies more specifically to the ravine at Glengarnock Castle.
Spier's School, at Beith, in North Ayrshire, Scotland was opened in 1888 and closed in 1972. The school, now demolished, was built using Ballochmyle red sandstone and was reminiscent of the ancient Glasgow University. The school motto was 'Quod verum tutum'. The gardens and woodlands are open to the public at all times.
The Barony of Ladyland was in the old feudal Baillerie of Cunninghame, near Kilbirnie in what is now North Ayrshire, Scotland.
Broadstone lies close to the small village of Gateside in North Ayrshire, Scotland about half a mile east of Beith in the old Barony of Giffen.
Kilbirnie Loch, is a freshwater Loch situated in the floodplain between Kilbirnie, Glengarnock and Beith, North Ayrshire, Scotland. It runs south-west to north-east for almost 2 km (1.2 mi), is about 0.5 km (0.31 mi) wide for the most part and has an area of roughly 3 km2. It has a general depth of around 5.2 metres (17 feet) to a maximum of around 11 metres (36 feet). The loch is fed mainly by the Maich Water, which rises in the Kilbirnie Hills near Misty Law, and is drained by the Dubbs Water that runs past the Barr Loch into Castle Semple Loch, followed by the Black Cart, the White Cart at Renfrew and finally the River Clyde. The boundary between East Renfrewshire and North Ayrshire, in the vicinity of the loch, runs down the course of the Maich Water along the northern loch shore to then run up beside the Dubbs Water.
The old Barony and castle, fortalice, or tower house of Hill of Beith lay in the feudal Regality of Kilwinning, within the Baillerie of Cunninghame, and the Sherrifdom of Ayr, now the Parish of Beith, North Ayrshire, Scotland.
Loch Brand or Loch of Boghall was a loch situated in a depression between the Grange Estate, Crummock, Hill of Beith Castle site and Boghall in the Parish of Beith, North Ayrshire, Scotland. The loch was fed by the Grange Burn and surface runoff, such as from the old rig and furrows indicated by Roy's Maps of the mid 17th century. The loch was drained by the Boghall Burn that runs passed the 'Court Hill' and into Powgree Burn at Gateside.
Bogston or later Bogstone was a small estate in the old Barony of Giffen near Barrmill in the Parish of Beith, North Ayrshire, once held by collateral descendants of the Montgomeries of Broadstone. The estate covered 160 acres or around 65 hectares, its rental in 1896 being £180 per annum.
Roughwood once Ruchwood is a farm, originally a estate, possessing at one time a small tower castle. Roughwood is situated near to the town of Beith in North Ayrshire, Scotland; the lands lay within the old Lordship of Giffen.
The remains of the old castle of Kersland lie about 1.5 miles to the north-east of the town of Dalry in North Ayrshire, Scotland, in the old Barony of Kersland. The River Garnock lies nearby.
The substantial remains of the old castle and sixteenth century manor house of Kilbirnie lie west of the town of Kilbirnie in North Ayrshire, Scotland, on the lower slopes of the Glengarnock Hills, in the old Barony of Kilbirnie. The building is also variously known as the Place of Kilbirnie, The Place, or Kilbirnie House.
The ancient lands of Willowyard, Willieyeards, Williyard or Willizeards were part of the holdings of the Regality of Kilwinning, Barony of Beith, and Bailiary of Cuninghame. They later became the property of the Montgomerie family before being sold to the Simson family in 1723. The manor house still survives as part of a business premises and the nearby industrial estate and whisky bond carry the name 'Willowyards'.
The lands of Marshalland, Marsheland, Marsheyland or Marshyland were part of the holdings of the Barony of Beith, Regality of Kilwinning and Bailiary of Cuninghame. They became the property of the Lyle family, then the Shedden family, passing next to the Spier's family before finally becoming part of the Spier's Trust lands. The laird's house and farm were demolished in the 1960s.
The lands of Threepwood were located in the Parish of Beith, at the eastern boundary between East Renfrewshire and North Ayrshire, Scotland. The settlements of Midtown, Townhead and Townend were part of the old Threepwood Estate. Cuffhill at 675 feet is the highest eminence in the parish and it overlooks the area with Little Hill and Cuff Hill and Little Hill plantations nearby, now situated next to the entirely artificial Cuffhill Reservoir.
The Murder of Hugh Montgomerie, 4th Earl of Eglinton at the Annick Ford in Stewarton, East Ayrshire, Scotland, took place in 1586 as a consequence of a long running feud between the Montgomeries, Earls of Eglinton and the Cunninghames, Earls of Glencairn, families who were competing for power and influence locally and nationally. The significant repercussions of this act were felt throughout the county of Ayrshire and beyond. The spelling 'Montgomerie' is used throughout for both the family and Montgomery for the clan and clan and district names 'Cunninghame' in the same fashion.
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