Notes on the way through Ayrshire - 100 years ago 

STRAITON PARISH

South-east of Kirkmichael. The village of Straiton lies at the union of Lamdoughty Burn with Girvan Water, near the north-west boundary of the parish, six and a half miles south-east of Maybole. It is a pretty little place, invested with pastoral hills east, south, and north, and the cultivated broad vale of the Girvan on the west. It has an Established Church, a public school, a post office, a smithy, shoemaker’s, joiner’s, and cartwright’s shops. 

In the Churchyard is the martyr’s grave of Thomas Machaffie, a fine young man, a farmer’s son, who in January, 1686, removed from long hiding in a cold, damp cave which had brought on fever, and - not daring to go home to the besieged dwelling of his father and mother - was lying ill in a house at Linfairn, two and a half miles south of the village, where he was found by Captain Bruce and his men, who took him out of his bed and out of the house and instantly shot him. A stone marks the spot there he fell.

Blairquhan Castle stands a mile west of the village, with the Girvan meandering through its luxuriant policies; and the whole is overlooked by the lofty Craigengower, whose summit, 1086 feet high, is crowned with a monument to the brave Colonel Blair of Blairquhan.

The village of PATNA stands on the Doon, which traces the east boundary of the parish, four miles north-by-east of Straiton, and nine and a half miles from Ayr. , It has grocery and drapery shops; a post office, with money order and savings bank departments; Established and United Presbyterian Churches, a public school, a smithy, and a railway station. Population in 1871, 766; in 1881, 603. This includes 179 in Dalmellington parish, over the bridge.

Dalvennan Farm, about two miles west of Patna, is the native place of the Rev. Hugh Binning, who was born 1627., graduated M.A., and was appointed to the Professorship of Philosophy in Glasgow University, July, 1646. He left a number of theological works in manuscript, published after his death, which took place at the early age of 26.

Berbeth House, on the Doon, seven miles above Patna, is famous for its connection with the distinguished Generals Cathcart, and for its romantic scenery of Ness Glen and Loch Doon. 

In the immediate neighbourhoods of Patna and Straiton are some cultivated fields, but the surface of nearly the whole parish is hill and moor. The south half contains about half-a-dozen lochs, the largest of which is Loch Doon. From fully a mile north of Patna, southward, its length is 14 miles; and its width across the middle is eight miles-comprising 49,SOl acres. Population in 1871, 1443; in 1881, 1241.

By Kenny Monaghan kennymonaghan@btinternet.com contact him here

Map of Straiton today

This Link takes you to the MULTIMAP website where you will find a map of the town and the surrounding area as it is today. You can zoom in and out and move around in all directions.

StreetMap of Straiton

This Link takes you to the STREET website where you will find a street map of the town as it is today. You can zoom in and out and move around in all directions.

Old Maps of Ayrshire Place Names

This link goes directly to the OLD MAPS website for an Ayrshire Index to detailed old maps of most Ayrshire Towns around 1860. You can explore out to all sides by using the arrows at the top of the page. These maps are ideal for finding the locations of areas such as farms.

The parish of Straiton is located on the moorland between Dalmellington and Barr with Kirkmichael to the north-west. It is a large but now thinly populated parish centred around the small village of Straiton. The village lies alongside Girvan Water. The village is described as the most picturesque of Ayrshire with two rows of single-storey cottages facing each other across the quite main street. The Black Bull Inn dates from 1766. Traboyack, the old Manse, is a charming small mansion of 1795 in its own grounds set at one end on the street...........