The History of the Barr area
The parish of Barr
was created in 1653 out of parts of the parishes of Dailly, Girvan and
Colmonell. The area is traditionally sheep pasture and borders on large
forestry commission plantations to the south and east bordering on the
Galloway Forest Park.
Evidence of Barr's past can be seen in the churchyard where a gravestone
commemorates Edward Mc'Keen, a Covenanter, who was shot, in February 1685.
A company of 24 soldiers, surrounded Dalwyne farm north of Barr where
they discovered Mc'Keen. He had traveled from Minnoch vale in Galloway.
McKeen tried to escape and was shot twice in the head by Colonel James
Douglas.
When you enter Barr you cross the Stinchar Bridge which was built in 1787. There are a number of 19th century buildings including the Church and Free Church.
Local Business in 1837
In 1837 the main landowners of the district were the Marquess of Ailsa and Sir James Ferguson. The main shopkeepers and traders of the town at that time were listed as:
Baird, William, surgeon Caldwell, John, blacksmith Ferguson, Wm, grocer & spirit dealer Fergusson, Thos, grazier, Dinmurchie Forsyth, Geo, boot and shoe maker Forsyth, Janet, vinter Forsyth, John, boot and shoe maker Gibb, Geo, shopkeeper and teacher Kennedy, John, joiner & cartwright McCaa, Jas, shopkeeper and cartwright McCraken, Robert, blacksmith McCreedy, Andrew, tailor McCubbin, George, tailor McGarvie, John, vinter McKinnan, J, cartwright & joiner McMurtrie, John, Innkeeper Pringle, Wm, cartwright & joiner Walker, Stephen, master of the parochial school, and librarian of the subscription library.
The Kirkdandy Fair
People came from far afield to trade, barter and enjoy themselves. In a ballad of the time the writer describes seeing 63 tents, the sound of pipes and fiddles, and people drinking and eating cold haggis, ham, cheese and bread. There were travelling merchants together with fortune tellers, ballad singers and wandering minstrels. The fair would start early in the morning selling sheep, bartering wool, and getting supplies for the winter. Later the minstrels would play, folk would dance, drink would flow and eventually fighting would erupt. Pitched battles were a characteristic of the fair. The fair was eventually replaced with a Girvan fair. The ballad describes the Kirkdandy Fair:
And mony a lad and lass cam' there,
Sly looks and winks to barter,
And some to fee for hay and hairst,
And others for the quarter.
Some did the thieving trade pursue,
While ithers cam' to sell their woo';
And ithers cam' to weet their mou,
And gangs wi lassies hame, man.
It was also a time of smuggling and the illicit stills provided much of Galloway with large quantities of peat-scented whisky.
So as you wander through the quiet village of Barr and experience the solitude and splendour of the countryside, if you hear some pipes in the distance it may be the ghosts of the locals dancing at the Kirkdandy Fair.
Penkill Castle
The book Ayrshire and Arran An Illustrated Architectural Guide by Rob Close is worth having if you are investigating the castles and houses in Ayrshire.