Trindlemoss Loch, Scott's / Scot's Loch or the Loch of Irvine was situated in a low-lying area running from Ravenspark to near Stanecastle and down to Lockwards, now represented only by the playing fields off Bank Street in the Parish of

Irvine Irvine may refer to: Places On Earth Antarctica *Irvine Glacier *Mount Irvine (Antarctica) Australia *Irvine Island *Mount Irvine, New South Wales Canada *Irvine, Alberta * Irvine Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom *Irvine, North Ayrshire, Scotla ...

North Ayrshire North Ayrshire ( gd, Siorrachd Àir a Tuath, ) is one of 32 council areas in Scotland. The council area borders Inverclyde to the north, Renfrewshire and East Renfrewshire to the northeast, and East Ayrshire and South Ayrshire to the east and so ...

, Scotland. The loch was natural, sitting in a hollow created by glaciation. The loch waters were progressively drained and in 1691 this was finally achieved.

History

The loch is shown as two lochs on Blaeu's map of 1654, surveyed by

Timothy Pont Rev Timothy Pont (c. 1560–c.1627) was a Scottish minister, cartographer and topographer. He was the first to produce a detailed map of Scotland. Pont's maps are among the earliest surviving to show a European country in minute detail, from an a ...

in the early 1600s.Blaeu's Map
Retrieved : 2011-02-06 In around 1691 the Rev Patrick Warner, purchased the property of Clonbeith from Walter Scott and likewise purchased his lands in

, which included the loch of Trindlemoss with the bounds, fowlings and fishings. Additionally Warner's purchase included the north quarter of the Braid Meadow and two other meadows contiguous with the loch.Strawhorn, Page 60 Warner went on to drain much of the 'Loch of Irving' or Trindlemoss, later called Scott's Loch. Strawhorn records that Provost John Scott of Clonbeith was the one time owner from whom Trindlemoss gained its new name. In 1763 the common from the Minister's Cast or Gott (a trench, ditch, or watercourse) to Redburn Bridge was enclosed.

Treaty of Irvine

The information plaque at

Seagate Castle Seagate Castle is a castle in North Ayrshire, in the town of Irvine, close to the River Irvine, Scotland. The castle was formerly a stronghold, a town house, and later a dower house of the Montgomery Clan. The castle overlooks the oldest street ...

records that the 'Treaty of Irvine' between Scotland and England was signed at Seagate Castle on 9 July 1297. In 1297

Edward I Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he ruled the duchies of Aquitaine and Gascony as a vassal o ...

had sent a

punitive expedition A punitive expedition is a military journey undertaken to punish a political entity or any group of people outside the borders of the punishing state or union. It is usually undertaken in response to perceived disobedient or morally wrong behavio ...

under Sir Henry Percy to Irvine to quash an armed uprising against his dethronement of

John Balliol John Balliol ( – late 1314), known derisively as ''Toom Tabard'' (meaning "empty coat" – coat of arms), was King of Scots from 1292 to 1296. Little is known of his early life. After the death of Margaret, Maid of Norway, Scotland entered an ...

. The Earl of Carrick, Robert Bruce, Bishop Wishart and others led the Scottish army, however after much argument they decided to submit without a fight. The armies had been encamped in sight of each other, the English at Tarryholme and the Scots at Knadgerhill, with the Trindlemoss Loch between them.

Drainage

Tanzie Well or St Anne's or Washing House Well

By 1500 the loch drainage had begun with the Gruipe Gutter cut to drain the loch waters into the

River Irvine The River Irvine ( gd, Irbhinn) is a river that flows through southwest Scotland. Its watershed is on the Lanarkshire border of Ayrshire at an altitude of above sea-level, near Loudoun Hill, Drumclog Moss, Drumclog, and SW by W of Strathaven. I ...

, the natural outflow being a burn that ran into the

Annick Water The Annick Water (previously also spelled as Annack, Annoch (1791) or Annock) is the largest tributary of the River Irvine. The river runs from Long Loch, just inside East Renfrewshire, in a generally south-western direction through North Ayrsh ...

at Lockwards. Patrick Warner of Ardeer, the parish minister of Irvine, had been exiled to Holland following the

Battle of Bothwell Brig A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

and had learned the techniques of drainage from the Dutch. He first dug ditches or 'gotts' that ran into the drain known as the 'Minister's Cast' that ran from the northern end through the old Williamfield area and then into the Irvine as Jenny's Burn. This worked well and the existing drain or stank (a stretch of slow-moving water), known as the 'Grip or Gruipe Gutter' running through the town along what is now Chapel Lane, dried up. Others drained the south end of the loch via the outflow that ran into the Annick Water. The newly drained areas became valuable farm lands. In August 1682 the Baillie of Irvine, Hugh Montgomery, was reimbursed for a payment of two shillings made to Robert Miller for "casting the goat leading to the loch running betwixt the taelling rigs and the town lands." The Tanzie Well, St Anne's or the Washing House Well is a spring that runs into the River Irvine near the Pouther House on the Golf Fields. This spring or spout still exists beside the New Bridge, the pedestrian bridge, and is said to drain water from the old Scott's Loch site.

Watermills

Several mills were powered by the loch's waters, such as Lochmills built on Burgh land at Lochwards and powered by the natural outflow of the loch. In 1666 Johne Boill was the miller. The mills lost the water power upon the loch's drainage in the 1690s.

in the early 1600s records a mill as being situated on the southern outflow exit.

Micro-history

When, in the 18th century, a religious group known as the

Buchanites The Buchanites were the late 18th-century followers of Elspeth Buchan, a Scottish woman who claimed to be the Woman Clothed with the Sun, one of the figures named in the Book of Revelation. History In 1783, Mrs Buchan, in her late 40s and th ...

were expelled from

, residents threatened to drown them in Scott's Loch, however they made it safely to the village of Closeburn.Irvine Times, 2011-03-16. page 14

References