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Notes on the way
through Ayrshire - 100 years ago
FENWICK PARISH.
The village of Fenwick
stands north west of Loudoun.
In the Churchyard is a
monument to Captain John Paton
of Meadowhead, the Covenant
hero and martyr, who was interred in Greyfriars’ Churchyard,
Edinburgh;
the tombs of several other martyrs
of less note, and of John
Howie, author of the "Scots
Worthies." The picturesque old Parish Church, kept still in good
repair, may be regarded as sacred to the memory of the Rev.
William Guthrie, celebrated
Covenant preacher, author of "The Christian’s Great Interest."
He was ordained minister of Fenwick in 1644.
John Fulton,
self-taught astronomer and mathematician, was born at Fenwick, 1800,
and bred a shoemaker. Died in 1854. See his orrery
in Kelvingrove Museum, Glasgow; it is one of the wonders of the world. Lochgoin
farmhouse, far away on the wild moors near the north-east boundary of
the parish and of the county, five or six miles from Fenwick by road, is
famous as the birthplace and residence of John
Howie, and as a refuge for Covenanters.
Above the door of the old one-story dwelling are the dates, 1178, 1710,
1816, indicating when it was built and re-built by the generous and
patriotic family of Howie,
whose residence it has been all the time. During the long years of
persecution it was frequently visited by the enemy in search of refugees,
and was plundered twelve times. John
Howie, born 1736, was bred to
working on the farm, where he remained during his lifetime, devoting his
evening: to self-education and writing the lives of his country’s
martyrs. He published the " Scats Worthies" in 1781; collected a
valuable library and a few relics of Covenant heroes. Died in 1793.
About two miles
south-south-west of Lochgoin is Meadowhead, once the home of
Captain
Paton,
whose sword and Bible are amongst the relics preserved by the Howies
at Lochgoin. When he was about to be executed in the Grassmarket,
Edinburgh, May 8, 1684, he handed his Bible down from the scaffold to his
poor, devoted wife, who had followed him thither.
The parish contains
coal, ironstone, and limestone. The surface, from 914 feet ahove sea level
at Lochgoin, slopes gently down south-west. Originally very wet, it
has been greatly improved of late by drainage, but much of it lies in poor
natural grass. Its length, from east to west, is eight and a quarter
miles. Area, 16,134 acres. Population in 1821, 1852; in 1871, 1318; in
1881, 1152.
Fenwick 1846
FENWICK, a parish, in the district of Cunninghame, county of Ayr; including
the villages of Kirktown and Upper Fenwick, and containing 2018 inhabitants,
of whom 355 are in Upper Fenwick, 4 miles (N. N. E.) from Kilmarnock. This
place in ancient times formed part of the parish of Kilmarnock, from which it
was separated in the year 1642, and called New Kilmarnock, its present
appellation having been subsequently derived from Fenwick hill, in the
vicinity of the church. The parish is nine miles in length, and upwards of six
in breadth, and is in figure nearly an oblong, the surface rising gradually
from the south to the north, and reaching an elevation of about 700 feet near
the part where it joins the Mearns moor. The climate is moist, and rain is
very frequent, and the soil to a great extent unproductive, several large
tracts consisting of deep moss, which, at many seasons in the year, are
impassable without risk of life. The lower division contains most of the
population, and the land here produces good average crops; the higher grounds,
bordering on Renfrewshire, are chiefly pastoral, and of excellent quality, and
the stock grazed upon them is of a good breed, and in superior condition. The
process of draining has been for some time attended to, and much land once
entirely useless is now under tillage, and affords good returns. Limestone is
abundant, and is quarried in several places; coal has recently been discovered
in much larger quantities than those formerly obtained, and iron has also been
found in the same locality in considerable abundance, one bed measuring five
feet in thickness.
The parish contains several
small hamlets; the inhabitants generally dispose of their produce at the
markets of Glasgow and Kilmarnock: coal is procured from the neighbourhood of
the latter place, and peat is obtained plentifully from the mosses in the
district. The public road from Glasgow to Kilmarnock and Ayr passes through
the parish. The rateable annual value of Fenwick is £9366.
The ecclesiastical affairs
are under the presbytery of Irvine and synod of Glasgow and Ayr, and the
patronage vested in the Earl of Glasgow; the minister's stipend is £123, of
which a part is received from the exchequer, with a manse, and a glebe of
eight acres, valued at £24 per annum. The church, seated on the right bank of
one of the two streams which intersect the parish, is a plain cruciform
structure, built in 1643, and containing between 700 and 800 sittings, all
free. There is a place of worship for members of the United Secession. The
parochial school affords instruction in the ordinary branches; the master has
a salary of £28, with a good house, built in 1805, a rood of garden, and £20
fees. There is a second school, with an endowment of £10 per annum; and the
parish contains a subscription library. The Earl of Glasgow takes the title of
Baron Boyle, of Fenwick, from this place.
From: A Topographical Dictionary
of Scotland (1846)
JAMES CURRIE.
For a period of forty-six years James Currie has figured in the business
circles of Milwaukee as a florist and landscape gardener and is today at
the head of a mammoth business that has been built up under the name of
the Currie Brothers Company, of which he is the president. A native of
Scotland, he was born in Fenwick, in Ayrshire, June 10. 1853, and
is a son of James and Anna (Boyd) Currie, who were also natives' of that
place and have now passed away. The father was born July 3, 1827, and died
October 29, 1905. He represented the family found in Ayrshire from the
days of Wallace and Bruce in the thirteenth century and many
representatives of the name still reside in Ayrshire, the Milwaukee family
being the first to emigrate from the ancestral home. Mrs. Currie was a
descendant of Lord Boyd, whose estate was confiscated because of his
adherence to the cause of the Pretender, Prince Charles. "Lord Boyd, or
Earl of Kilmarnock, was born in 1704, was taken prisoner at Culloden,
tried for treason, and executed at the Tower of London, his being one of
the last three executions for political offences in the Tower; the other
two were the Lords of Balmerino and Lovat, all convicted after the
rebellion of 1745. The death of William Boyd, Earl of Kilmarnock, ended
the title and the estates in the family. The old castle, called 'Dean
Castle," near Kilmarnock, in Ayrshire, is still standing and many relics'
of the earlier and more distinguished period have descended to Mrs.
Currie." It was in the year 1886 that Mr. and Mrs. James Currie, Sr.,
came- to Milwaukee, following the arrival of their sons in this city. The
former devoted his life to landscape gardening and floral culture and it
was he who laid out the famous gardens of Sir Peter Coates on the banks of
the Doon. He was greatly interested in beautifying Milwaukee especially
through the development of public parks. He belonged to St. Andrews'
Society and to the Milwaukee Curling Club.
James Currie, whose name introduces this review, acquired his education in
the public schools of Girvan and of Minnishant, in Ayrshire, and also
attended the Ayr Academy, one of the oldest and most celebrated places of
learning in Scotland His home was within two miles of the quaint and
historic birthplace of Robert Burns. It was in November, 1872, that James
Currie crossed the Atlantic to the United States being then a youth of
nineteen years. He made his way to the home of relatives at Waltham, La
Salle county, Illinois, where he remained for a short time and then came
to Milwaukee in January, 1873. Here he was joined by his brother, William,
in March, 1875, and the firm of Currie Brothers was organized in the same
year. In 1878 they were Joined by their brother, Adam, and in 1886 the
father and other members of the family came to the new world. Through a
period of forty-six years the business has been continuously carried on
and was incorporated on the 12th of September, 1903, under the name of the
Currie Brothers Company, with James Currie as president, and as seedsmen
and florists they have built up a large reputation. Their business has
been most prosperous and has extended to all parts of the country,
particularly to the west. On the 1st of July, 1880, James Currie was
appointed superintendent of Forest Home Cemetery and still occupies that
position. On the 1st of June, 1911, he was appointed a member of the board
of park commissioners in Milwaukee and has been president of the board for
the past two years. In 1911 he was made a member of the county park
commission of Milwaukee county and was elected president of that board in
1921. His labors have been most effective in promoting the beauty of the
city through its park system, as well as through following his private
business.
On the 3d of July, 1878, Mr. Currie was united in marriage in Milwaukee to
Miss Jeannie A. Harper of this city, a daughter of William and Mary
(Baxter) Harper, both deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Currie have become parents of
four children: William Boyd, who married Beatrice Washburn and has three
children, James W., Esther and Richard; Florence Baxter, at home; Alice
Mary, the wife of Harold W. Drew and the mother of three children,
Prentice James, Joan and Alan; and Jean Young, at home.
Mr. Currie has never sought to figure prominently in connection with
politics but has always given stalwart support to the republican party at
the polls. He belongs to the Calvary Presbyterian church, and on the 12th
of November, 1894, was elected and became a member of Kilbourn Masonic
Lodge of Milwaukee, of which he served as master in 1901. He was also
elected a member of the St. Andrews' Society of Milwaukee, April 9, 1874,
and through several years served in various offices of the society, being
its president in 1891 and 1892. He likewise has membership in the City
Club. His activities have always been on the side of progress, reform and
improvement and his labors have at all times been far-reaching and
resultant.
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