Stair is a village in Ayrshire,

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

. It lies at the bottom of a glen beside the

River Ayr The River Ayr (pronounced like ''air'', ''Uisge Àir'' in Gaelic) is a river in Ayrshire, Scotland. At it is the longest river in the county. The river was held as sacred by pre-Christian cultures. The remains of several prehistoric sacrificial ...

at the north-west border of the 5,376 acre (22 km²) Parish of Stair where the

is joined by the Glenstang Burn.

History

The parish is known for its connection with the Dalrymples,

Earls of Stair Earl of Stair is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created in 1703 for the lawyer and statesman John Dalrymple, 2nd Viscount of Stair. Dalrymple's father, James Dalrymple, had been a prominent lawyer; having served as Lord President ...

. The family first became associated with the village in 1450, when William de Dalrymple acquired the lands of Stair-Montgomery and built Stair House. Formerly part of the Parish of Ochiltree, Stair was made a separate parish in 1653 at the request of

James Dalrymple, 1st Viscount of Stair James Dalrymple, 1st Viscount Stair (May 1619 – 29 November 1695), Scottish lawyer and statesman, and a key influence on the Scottish Enlightenment. He was a leading figure of Scottish law, “and also one of the greatest thinkers on law ...

. Places of interest in the parish include Stair Brig built in 1745 and Stair House. Dalmore House stood overlooking the River Ayr until destroyed by fire in 1969. The "Stair Fair" at the churchyard was the equivalent of the Mauchline Holy Fair and was equally wild with people travelling from miles around and staying several days until every last item of food and drink had been consumed. A "Fair Stair Sacrament" was an expression used to describe a good hearty meal at which everything was eaten for many years after the fair ceased to be held.

Stair Church

The Parish of Barnweill, in the old District of Kyle, was suppressed in 1673 and the larger part of the stipend was transferred to the minister of the newly erected Parish of Stair. Nearby Craigie had been disjoined from the Parish of

Riccarton Riccarton may refer to: New Zealand * Riccarton, New Zealand, a suburb of Christchurch ** Riccarton (New Zealand electorate), the electorate named after it ** The location of Riccarton Race Course * a locality on the Taieri Plains in Otago Scotlan ...

in 1647.British history Online
Retrieved : 2010-11-13 It is said that the Earl of Stair was the prime mover in suppressing the parish because of the inconvenient horse ride he had to undertake to get to Barnweill Church from his home at Stair House. Until 1707 the Minister of Stair had to preach under an oak tree on the Fulton Estate to lawfully qualify for the stipends of Barnweil]. A number of the old Barnweill parishioners joined the Symington, South Ayrshire, Symington Church. The original church of circa 1706, replaced in 1864, was very simple in character with an earthen floor, resembling an abandoned hay shed and only the belfrey on the gable end indicated its true purpose. It contained three lofts reserved for the local lairds, namely Barskimming, Stair and Drongan. A manse was built in 1807, now renamed Glenstang, it was sold by the Church of Scotland in 1979.

Milton

At the old Clachan of Milton on the other side of the bridge from Stair which lies in South Ayrshire, there used to be an inn here at which

Robert Burns Robert Burns (25 January 175921 July 1796), also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the best known of the poets who hav ...

would stop on occasion and here also was the end of the old pack horse road to Annbank that once followed the course of the river. Opposite the inn was once an old toll house and nearby was the thatched cottage in which Mailly Crosbie lived, onetime housekeeper at Stair House. The miller here was one of the Covenanter martyrs who gave his life by refusing to hand over his bible to the king's soldiers.

Links with Robert Burns

Margaret or Peggy Orr was a nurserymaid at Stair House and

lent a hand as a 'blackfoot' with his friends courtship of this lady, however the engagement was brief and she later married John Paton, an Edinburgh shoemaker. In his first 'Epistle to Davie' entitled An Epistle to Davy, a Brother-Poet, Lover, Ploughman and Fiddler'', Burns wrote :- Catherine Stewart of Stair and Afton Lodge, the wife of Major-General Alexander Stewart, became aware of 'Robert Burns the poet' through his visits with David and she was the first member of the upper classes to acknowledge his ability and befriend him. Burns sent her a number of his poems in a document known as the 'Stair Manuscripts'. Burns would visit the thatched cottage at the Clachan of Milton in which Mailly Crosbie lived, onetime housekeeper at Stair House and a friend from the days of

David Sillar David Sillar (1760–1830) was a Scottish farmer, poet, grocer, schoolteacher and baillie who was a close friend of the poet Robert Burns. He died in 1830, aged 70, after a long illness, and was buried in Irvine's Old Parish Church cemetery. Hi ...

s attempts at courtship. The family kept the handleless cup from which Burns used to drink as a souvenir.

Views in Stair

File:Stair and Stair House Farm.jpg, Stair and Stair House Farm File:Stair Church, Ayrshire.JPG, Stair church File:Stair Bridge over River Ayr. 2010..JPG, Stair Bridge over the River Ayr File:Stair Inn, East Ayrshire.JPG, The Stair Inn File:Milton Mill hone works houses, Stair, Ayrshire.JPG, Cottages at Milton Mill

References

Bibliography

*Barber, Derek (2000). ''Steps through Stair''. Stair Parish Church. *Boyle, A. M. (1996). ''The Ayrshire Book of Burns-Lore''. Darvel : Alloway Publishing. . *Mcvie, John (1927). ''Burns and Stair''. Kilmarnock : The "Standard Press''. *Nimmo, John W. (2003). ''Symington Village, Church and People''. Darvel : Alloway Publishing. .

External links

Video footage of Trabboch CastleVideo footage and narration - Free Church of StairStair Church
{{authority control Villages in East Ayrshire Robert Burns