[ In this context it is worth noting the ]River Garnock
The River Garnock ( gd, Gairneag / Abhainn Ghairneig), the smallest of Ayrshire's six principal rivers, has its source on the southerly side of the Hill of Stake in the heart of the Clyde Muirshiel Regional Park. About a mile and a half south of t ...
used to run along a route that included a section through nearby Dubbs and below Ardeer House; Ardeer sand dunes being effectively an island at that time.
The abandonment of Piperheugh
The area upon which the village once stood is now partly developed and the Piperheugh Plantation has been felled. It is not clear what led to its abandonment, leading to the suggestion that Piperheugh was essentially an artisan encampment of gypsies
The Romani (also spelled Romany or Rromani , ), colloquially known as the Roma, are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group, traditionally nomadic itinerants. They live in Europe and Anatolia, and have diaspora populations located worldwide, with sign ...
or tinker
Tinker or tinkerer is an archaic term for an itinerant tinsmith who mends household utensils.
Description
''Tinker'' for metal-worker is attested from the thirteenth century as ''tyckner'' or ''tinkler''. Some travelling groups and Romani p ...
s rather than a village of permanent dwellings,[ although it was significant enough to appear on Blaeu's map in the 17th century.][ Ardeer House (demolished 1968) and estate owned the land on which the hamlet stood and this would have had a bearing on the fate of the settlement. Robin Campbell states that the 'Piper's Haugh' was "''Swallowed up in the sands of Ardeer.''" Such a suggestion is possible when it is looked at in the context of dry summers, such as that of 1826, when the wind blown sands from Ardeer caused havoc for miles inland.
]
Trumps
The Jew's harp was called a 'trump' in Scots, also referred to as ''the tongue of the trump''.[Scots Dictionary]
Retrieved : 2012-08-04 It is not known why the village had the apparent monopoly of the 'trumps' trade, however other examples exist, such as Stewarton
Stewarton ( sco, Stewartoun,
gd, Baile nan Stiùbhar ...
for Scots bonnets, Colinsburgh
Colinsburgh is a village in east Fife, Scotland, in the parish of Kilconquhar.
History
The village is named after Colin Lindsay, 3rd Earl of Balcarres (1652–1722), who gave the land on which it was built. It was here that the first meeting of ...
for corkscrews, and Culross
Culross (/ˈkurəs/) (Scottish Gaelic: ''Cuileann Ros'', 'holly point or promontory') is a village and former royal burgh, and parish, in Fife, Scotland.
According to the 2006 estimate, the village has a population of 395. Originally, Culross ...
for girdles.[
The Jew’s harp was one of the most popular and cheap musical instruments and records show that hundreds of thousands were imported from at least the 15th century. It was thought that manufacturing of the instrument in the UK did not start until the Industrial Revolution, when it was centred on ]Dudley
Dudley is a large market town and administrative centre in the county of West Midlands, England, southeast of Wolverhampton and northwest of Birmingham. Historically an exclave of Worcestershire, the town is the administrative centre of the ...
in the West Midlands. Piperheugh may be unique as the only known pre-Industrial Revolution Jew’s harp manufactory.[
Dr Landsborough in 1837 wrote that although the hamlet was in ruins, the spirit of the pipers and harpers lived on in the fondness that the people of Stevenston had for music.
]
Coal mining
A relatively thin dislocation, gall or dyke is present in the coal strata in the area and is known as the Piperheugh Gall or Step, running in a south westerly direction from Ardeer Mains Farm towards the River Garnock; in 1798 this is recorded as the 'Piper Hugh Step'. The other dislocation is the Caponcraig Gall which is about 20 yards thick. The coal seams here were known as the ''"West Field"'' of Stevenston Colliery. It was important that such dislocations (barriers) were left unpierced to prevent water flowing between the adjacent coal fields. One of the old coal workings contiguous to the hamlet was called the Piper-heugh pit.[Three Towners]
Retrieved : 2012-08-05
In 1798 a report recorded that the mines in the vicinity of Pypersheugh (sic) Gaw and found them to be comparatively dry thanks to the dyke not having been pierced.[Clements, Page 29]
In 1725 the Earl of Eglinton was granted a 57 year tack from Patrick Warner to work coal within the lands of Dovecothall and Piperheugh. In 1774 Patrick Warner and Robert Reid Cunningham signed a mutual agreement to work coal on the lands of Ardeer and Pyperheugh (sic).[Clements, Page 27]
Micro-history
The Kirk Session records of April 1700 show that John Glasgow of Pipers-Heugh (sic) applied to the session for a testimonial, however this was refused on the basis of his having stolen a goose on a Sunday and that he had been drunk on the Saturday before. He was rebuked by the minister in front of the congregation and was then given a testimonial.[
]
References
;Notes
;Sources
# Clements, James (1974). ''Stevenston. The Kernel of Cunninghame''. Stevenston : Burgh of Stevenston.
# Douglas, William Scott (1874). ''In Ayrshire; A Descriptive Picture of the County of Ayr, with relative Notes on Interesting Local Subjexts, chiefly derived during s recent personal tour''. Kilmarnock : McKie & Drennan.
# Paterson, James (1863–66). ''History of the Counties of Ayr and Wigton. V. - II - Cunninghame''. Edinburgh: J. Stillie.
# Service, John (Editor) (1887). ''The Life & Recollections of Doctor Duguid of Kilwinning.'' Pub. Young J. Pentland.
# Smith, John (1895). ''Prehistoric Man in Ayrshire''. London : Elliot Stock.
# Wallace, Archibald (1902). ''Some Notes on an Ayrshire Parish. Stevenston Past and Present''. Saltcoats : Archd. Wallace.
External links
The Lost Village of Piperheugh
{{DEFAULTSORT:Piper-Heugh
Buildings and structures in North Ayrshire
History of North Ayrshire
Demolished buildings and structures in Scotland
Villages in North Ayrshire
Ardrossan−Saltcoats−Stevenston