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Nesbitt Nisbet 2022 Gathering Ayrshire Add-On 12/13th Sept |
Peter & Celia Nisbett with Dave Nesbit Harvey at Dunfries House
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Although the initial interest for this Ayrshire tour was around 10 persons, it dwindled to 3 over the weekend before, due to covid.
On Monday 12th September Celia and Peter Nisbett (UK President) picked up Dave Nesbit Harvey (N/A President) from his lodgings in Edinburgh and we headed off to Kilmarnock. We arrived just before lunch, deposited our luggage at The Park Hotel and headed off into the centre of town to visit the Burns Shopping Mall and gaze on the circular, stone monument in the floor of the entrance, dedicated to the execution of John Nisbet in 1683. We then went on to The New Laigh Kirk to view the gravestone of the same John Nisbett (often referred to as “the younger” to distinguish him from John Nisbet of Hardhill who was executed in Edinbugh).
After some lunch, we took a deviation from N/N matters to visit Dumfries House, 20 mins drive south of Kilmarnock. Set in 2,000 acres, a stunning estate and 18th-century house has an unrivalled collection of Chippendale furniture. https://dumfries-house.org.uk/
We enjoyed an 80 min tour of the house which, as well as the Chippendale furniture, has an amazing collection of clocks and a 260-year-old orrery. The following link shows the orrery being restored. https://youtu.be/U7gtrtKPJVY
On Tuesday 13th September we had a busy day ahead visiting 5 locations in the Newmilns/Greenholm area and finishing with a tour around the Glen Water valley above the town of Darvel.
We drove out towards Galston on the A71, up the Irvine valley. We made a brief stop, close to Galston, to look up the hill at the believed to be location of Hardhill Farm where Murdoch Nisbet and descendants lived. The story of Murdoch, his descendants and the Covenanters, is well documented in many newsletters especially the 2006 Kilmarnock Gathering and Patrick T del C Nisbett’s 2019 report.
Next, we drove to the ruins of Loudoun Old Kirk where many Greenholm Nisbet’s came to pray and observed many Nisbet gravestones. “The Friends of Loudoun Kirk” have recorded the gravestone/memorial inscriptions on the Genealogy tab of their website below with a map which is free to access. https://loudounkirk418696562.wordpress.com/
The following YouTube video gives a good tour of the ruins. Just ignore the creepy start and finish. The rest is excellent.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6Tn9ntJ5Jg
We then had an 11 am appointment at Galston Church with the current minister Rev Christina Hine. The key feature to see here was the memorial to the Greenholm Nisbet’s on the wall just inside the door on the upper floor.
A group of N/N’s came here during the 2006 Kilmarnock Gathering and you can see details of their visit in our UK newsletter 2006 vol 2.
We then moved on to Sornhill (House) Farm where the current owners had kindly agreed to let us visit today and view some of the conserved features relating to Nisbet’s who lived there many centuries ago. They spent many years restoring what was a derelict 17th century Lairds house into a luxurious family home.
We were able to see most of the features mentioned in Patrick T del C Nisbett’s 2019 newsletter report except for the initials AN and date 1799 scratched above a fireplace under the arch downstairs in the Kitchen area which are either covered over or lost.
We then moved on to Loudoun Parish Church where we met Willie Lindsay. Willie is a local farmer and caretaker for the church, who loves to recite Robby Burns poems. What a character he was and clearly well know in the neighbourhood. He showed us around, frequently reciting RB’s poetry. The church itself is not very old and there is little inside related to Nisbet’s. Outside however there are several monuments to covenanters, already well documented in the 2006 and 2019 newsletters. These include John Nisbet Junior executed 1683, James Nisbet executed 1684 and John Nisbet of Hardhill executed 1685. Then there is the plaque to Murdoch Nisbet, famous for translating the bible into Scots and fixed to the outside wall in 2006 I believe. The sad news is that the church is due to close sometime in 2023. Knowing that we have a lot of interest in the memorials outside and the plaque to Murdoch was donated by the Society, Willie will keep us appraised of developments as they occur.
When we left the church, Willie suggested we go look at Newmilns old tower or keep in Castle Street. This was built in the 1530’s and was used, amongst other things, to imprison captured covenanters. The oldest building in the area, now in private ownership, Willie new the owner, promptly knocked on the door and arranged for him to give us a brief talk about its history, very interesting.
You can read a lot more about the region on Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newmilns
The final step of our Ayrshire add-on was to take a leisurely drive around the valley of Glen Water (North of Darvel) to give Dave a view of the countryside our Greenholm ancestors lived and worked in. We passed the following Nisbet ancestral locations identified by Jean from old documents and annotated on an old map you can see on WikiTree:-
https://www.wikitree.com/photo/jpg/Nisbet_of_Greenholm-1
Foulpapple; Knoevoklaw; Carlingcraig; Braidly; Feoch; Highside; Glen and Bankhead
We finished the day with a nice meal at The Long House on Titchfield Street in Kilmarnock. On Wednesday morning we left The Park, took Dave to Edinburgh airport and headed back home.
On Monday 12th September Celia and Peter Nisbett (UK President) picked up Dave Nesbit Harvey (N/A President) from his lodgings in Edinburgh and we headed off to Kilmarnock. We arrived just before lunch, deposited our luggage at The Park Hotel and headed off into the centre of town to visit the Burns Shopping Mall and gaze on the circular, stone monument in the floor of the entrance, dedicated to the execution of John Nisbet in 1683. We then went on to The New Laigh Kirk to view the gravestone of the same John Nisbett (often referred to as “the younger” to distinguish him from John Nisbet of Hardhill who was executed in Edinbugh).
After some lunch, we took a deviation from N/N matters to visit Dumfries House, 20 mins drive south of Kilmarnock. Set in 2,000 acres, a stunning estate and 18th-century house has an unrivalled collection of Chippendale furniture. https://dumfries-house.org.uk/
We enjoyed an 80 min tour of the house which, as well as the Chippendale furniture, has an amazing collection of clocks and a 260-year-old orrery. The following link shows the orrery being restored. https://youtu.be/U7gtrtKPJVY
On Tuesday 13th September we had a busy day ahead visiting 5 locations in the Newmilns/Greenholm area and finishing with a tour around the Glen Water valley above the town of Darvel.
We drove out towards Galston on the A71, up the Irvine valley. We made a brief stop, close to Galston, to look up the hill at the believed to be location of Hardhill Farm where Murdoch Nisbet and descendants lived. The story of Murdoch, his descendants and the Covenanters, is well documented in many newsletters especially the 2006 Kilmarnock Gathering and Patrick T del C Nisbett’s 2019 report.
Next, we drove to the ruins of Loudoun Old Kirk where many Greenholm Nisbet’s came to pray and observed many Nisbet gravestones. “The Friends of Loudoun Kirk” have recorded the gravestone/memorial inscriptions on the Genealogy tab of their website below with a map which is free to access. https://loudounkirk418696562.wordpress.com/
The following YouTube video gives a good tour of the ruins. Just ignore the creepy start and finish. The rest is excellent.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6Tn9ntJ5Jg
We then had an 11 am appointment at Galston Church with the current minister Rev Christina Hine. The key feature to see here was the memorial to the Greenholm Nisbet’s on the wall just inside the door on the upper floor.
A group of N/N’s came here during the 2006 Kilmarnock Gathering and you can see details of their visit in our UK newsletter 2006 vol 2.
We then moved on to Sornhill (House) Farm where the current owners had kindly agreed to let us visit today and view some of the conserved features relating to Nisbet’s who lived there many centuries ago. They spent many years restoring what was a derelict 17th century Lairds house into a luxurious family home.
We were able to see most of the features mentioned in Patrick T del C Nisbett’s 2019 newsletter report except for the initials AN and date 1799 scratched above a fireplace under the arch downstairs in the Kitchen area which are either covered over or lost.
We then moved on to Loudoun Parish Church where we met Willie Lindsay. Willie is a local farmer and caretaker for the church, who loves to recite Robby Burns poems. What a character he was and clearly well know in the neighbourhood. He showed us around, frequently reciting RB’s poetry. The church itself is not very old and there is little inside related to Nisbet’s. Outside however there are several monuments to covenanters, already well documented in the 2006 and 2019 newsletters. These include John Nisbet Junior executed 1683, James Nisbet executed 1684 and John Nisbet of Hardhill executed 1685. Then there is the plaque to Murdoch Nisbet, famous for translating the bible into Scots and fixed to the outside wall in 2006 I believe. The sad news is that the church is due to close sometime in 2023. Knowing that we have a lot of interest in the memorials outside and the plaque to Murdoch was donated by the Society, Willie will keep us appraised of developments as they occur.
When we left the church, Willie suggested we go look at Newmilns old tower or keep in Castle Street. This was built in the 1530’s and was used, amongst other things, to imprison captured covenanters. The oldest building in the area, now in private ownership, Willie new the owner, promptly knocked on the door and arranged for him to give us a brief talk about its history, very interesting.
You can read a lot more about the region on Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newmilns
The final step of our Ayrshire add-on was to take a leisurely drive around the valley of Glen Water (North of Darvel) to give Dave a view of the countryside our Greenholm ancestors lived and worked in. We passed the following Nisbet ancestral locations identified by Jean from old documents and annotated on an old map you can see on WikiTree:-
https://www.wikitree.com/photo/jpg/Nisbet_of_Greenholm-1
Foulpapple; Knoevoklaw; Carlingcraig; Braidly; Feoch; Highside; Glen and Bankhead
We finished the day with a nice meal at The Long House on Titchfield Street in Kilmarnock. On Wednesday morning we left The Park, took Dave to Edinburgh airport and headed back home.
Peter D Nisbett & Dave Nesbit Harvey viewing the Memorial to John Nisbet in the entrance to the Burns Shopping Mall, Kilmarnock
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John Nisbet's gravestone in the New Laigh Kirkyard, Kilmarnock
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Dave is soaking up the atmosphere around the ruins of Loudoun Old Kirk where many Greenholm Nisbet’s came to pray and are buried
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Galston Parish Church; Dave, Peter & Celia by the memorial to Greenholm Nisbet’s on the upper floor
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Dave N Harvey, Willie Lindsay and Peter D Nisbett by the memorial to John Nisbet of Hardhill in the Loudoun Parish Churchyard
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Newmilns old tower or keep in Castle Street
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Rear view of the restored Sornhill (House) Farm that overlooks the Greenholm region south of the Irvine valley
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Dave N Harvey, George Haddow and Peter D Nisbett by the front entrance porch of Sornhill Farm
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