MUCHLINE MAYOR. 



then tiie residence of Campbell of Kingencleugh, 

 a zealous friend of the Reformation, and of the 

 Reformer. The old walls are carefully preserved 

 by Claud Alexander, Esq. of Ballochmyle, the 

 present proprietor. Another relic of a still more 

 undent age, and in better preservation, is a square 

 portion of the old monastery of Mauchline, in which 

 there is still a large room with a groin-arched roof 

 in tine preservation. To this tower has been an- 

 nexed Mauchline castle, where dwelt Gavin Ham- 

 ilton, Esq., the friend and patron of Burns, which 

 is still the residence of the descendants of that 

 gentleman. The ashes of several of the martyrs 

 of the covenant rest in the church-yard, and in 

 Mauchline green. 



The town of Mauchline is situated near the 

 northern bank of the river Ayr, sixty-two miles 

 distant from Edinburgh, thirty from Glasgow, and 

 eleven from Ayr. The road from Glasgow to 

 Dumfries, and that from Ayr to Edinburgh, inter- 

 sect one another in the middle of the village. It 

 was formerly a burgh of barony, but the charter 

 having been lost, its privileges have never been re- 

 newed. It derives importance as the centre of a 

 rich agricultural district, and must always continue 

 an object of interest as, par excellence, the village 

 of Burns, where he spent his early manhood, where 

 he obtained his wife, and where some of the scenes 

 of his happiest poems are laid. The farm of .Mos<- 

 giel lies about half a mile to the north of the town. 

 The farm-house has been scarcely altered since it was 

 left by the poet. The old church of Mauchline was 

 built in the twelfth century, and after having been 

 the place of the stated devotions of the parishioners 

 for many generations, and on certain occasions of 

 the religious services of assembled multitudes, was 

 taken down in 1827. The present church, which is 

 a remarkably elegant structure, mostly of the modern 

 Gothic style, was built on its site and opened in 

 1829. It stands surrounded by the church-yard, 

 near the centre of the town. The road from Kil- 

 marnock to Dumfries passes through the village 

 by a wide Macadamized way, opened in recent times, 

 but already lined on either side with well-built 

 houses, and though the old causewayed and narrow 

 streets through which formerly lay the thorough- 

 fare be honoured by fewer passengers, they, with 

 many of the houses celebrated by Burns, remain 

 in nearly the same state as when visited by the 

 poet. 



Besides the usual employments pursued in a 

 country village, there is one manufacture in 

 Mauchline which deserves to be noticed as having 

 been carried to an extraordinary degree of perfec- 

 tion. This is the snuff-box manufacture of W. 

 and A. Smith. It was commenced for the first 

 time in this village, by the present proprietors, with 

 a single workman ; it now affords regular employ- 

 ment to between fifty and sixty persons, implying 

 a weekly expenditure of about 50. Here are 

 manufactured not only snuff-boxes, but every arti- 

 cle in the fancy cabinet line, ornamented with paint- 

 ings in a variety of styles, from correct copies of ; 

 ancient and foreign art, missal-work, and the gor- i 

 geous scroll-work of the era of Louis XIV., with 

 the most minute and faithful copies of the works 

 of living artists. The manufacture bears witness, j 

 in all parts, to the admirable ingenuity and taste ; 

 of Mr Andrew Smith, by whom it is conducted. 

 Among other inventions of this gentleman forgiving | 

 neatness and facility in the execution of the work, 

 may be mentioned an instrument which he calls the 



Apograph, by which pictures of all kinds mgy be re- 

 duced to suitable dimensions, with the greatest 

 minuteness and accuracy. The best workmen are 

 engaged; they attain a remarkable perfection in the 

 peculiar work in which each is employed, whether 

 painting or manufacture, and form a class of in- 

 genious and intelligent persons. The principal depot 

 of the manufactory is at Birmingham, where Mr\V. 

 Smith, the senior partner, resides. This box-work is 

 an object of interest and patronage to the neighbour- 

 ing liooilityand gentry ; and work-tables, boxes, \c., 

 have been ordered from this village to the palaces 

 of even foreign monarchs. So favourable was the 

 account which the present marquis of Hastings 

 gave of this manufactory to the late king William 

 iV., that the Messrs Smith were in due form ap- 

 pointed box-makers to his majesty. Population of 

 towii and parish of Mauchline in 1821,2057; in 

 183 1,2232; in 1841, 2156. 



MAYOR, WILLIAM, LL.D., rector of Blandon- 

 with- Woodstock, and vicar of Hurley, Berks, \va< 

 born on the 1st Aug. 1758, in the parish of New 

 Deer, Aberdeenshire. He left his native country 

 at an early age; and when no more than seventeen 

 he officiated as an assistant in an academy at Bur- 

 ford, in Oxfordshire. He subsequently established 

 himself in a school at Woodstock ; and, having 

 been employed to instruct the junior branches of 

 the noble family at Blenheim in writing, he ob- 

 tained so much favour as to get a title for holy or- 

 ders in 1781. In 1789 the duke of Marlborough 

 gave him the vicarage of Hurley in Berkshire, 

 which he retained until his death ; and in the same 

 year the degree of doctor of laws was conferred 

 upon him by the university of Aberdeen. He was 

 afterwards presented by the duke to the rectory of 

 Stonesfield in Oxfordshire, which he resigned, and 

 in exchange obtained the rectory of Blandon-with- 

 Woodstock. As a magistrate for Oxfordshire his 

 conduct was exemplary and useful ; and his bro- 

 ther townsmen evinced their good-will and confi- 

 dence by nine times electing him to the office of 

 mayor. He died on the 29th Dec., 1837, aged 

 eighty. The following is a list of his publications : 

 The Springs of Parnassus, or Poetic Miscellanies, 

 1779, 8vo. Universal Stenography, or the Art of 

 Short-hand, 1779, 2nd edition 1785, and several 

 later editions. Poetical Cheltenham Guide, 1781. 

 The Geographical Magazine, published under the 

 name of Martyn, 1781, two vols. 4to. Dictionary 

 of Natural History, under the same name, 1784, 2 

 vols. folio. Elegy to the memory of Capt. James 

 King, 1785, 4 to. Blenheim, a poem, to which is 

 added a Blenheim Guide, 1787, 4to. New De- 

 scription of Blenheim, 1789, 8vo. ; many subse- 

 quent editions. Vindicise Landavenses, or stric- 

 tures on the Bishop of Landaff's Charge (Bishop 

 Watson), 1792, 4to. Poems, 1793, 8vo. Chris- 

 tian Politics, a Fast-day Sermon, 1793, 8vo. Ap- 

 pendix to the Eton Latin Grammar, 1796, 12mo. 

 The Youth's Miscellany, or a Father's Gift to his 

 Children, 1797, 12mo. ; reprinted in two volumes, 

 1805. The Duty of Thanksgiving, a Sermon, 

 1797, 8vo. Historical Account of Voyages and 

 Travels from the time of Columbus to the present 

 period, 17981802, 25 vols. The British Tou- 

 rists, or Traveller's Pocket Companion through 

 England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland, 1798 

 1800. A series of Tours, by several authors, in 6 

 vols. 12mo. The British Nepos, or Lives of Il- 

 lustrious Britons, 1798, 12mo. Elements of Na- 

 tural History, for the use of Schools, 1799, I2nux 



