CUMNOCK author and historian, Dane Love, has written a new history of 40 communities which no longer exist.

Called Scotland’s Lost Villages, it details histories of a selection of larger places that have been cleared away for one reason or another.

The author, who wrote Ayrshire’s Lost Villages a few years ago, has extended his quest to find more abandoned villages from around the country.

Some of the villages were lost to blown sand, such as Forvie in Aberdeenshire, or else were cleared away by improving landlords, such as the original villages of Cullen or Inveraray.

Some, like Kincardine, just faded away slowly, their original purpose no longer existing, even although Kincardine was a Royal Burgh and county town.

Most of the villages, however, date from more recent times, having been erected by mine-owners to house their workers. These were usually built close to the pitheads, and may have been remote from the main centres of population, with their services expected by the residents.

When the pits closed, the villages were usually abandoned soon after, the miners moving on to find work elsewhere. Many of these miners came and went from Ayrshire communities, too, in the search of work.

Dane Love, who has written extensively on Scottish and local history subjects, relates the stories associated with the communities. He details some of the privations endured, with some colourful accounts of life and death in each community.

The book is illustrated with old pictures, as well as some modern ones where random relics may survive, as well as detailed Ordnance Survey maps.

Scotland’s Lost Villages by Dane Love is published by Carn Publishing, Auchinleck, at £18. Visit www.carnpublishing.com for more details.