Mauchline's initialled stones - have you ever wondered about them?

Most folk in Mauchline are probably unaware of their existence, and certainly, folk from further afield have probably never heard of them. What do they commemorate and why are they there?

The three stones are of sandstone, and one of them is probably a replica of the original. This is inscribed MPP 1594. The next oldest stone is inscribed Mr WM 1730, and the third stone is inscribed 17 : Mr WA: 44.

The 1594 stone probably commemorates Rev Peter Primrose, minister of Mauchline church. It is thought that the manse was rebuilt in 1594. Probably born in Culross, Primrose was appointed as minister in 1567.

Rev Peter Primrose, minister of Mauchline church is commemorated on this stone.

He played an active part in local politics, being selected in 1586 to deal with irregularities amongst ministers and in 1589 he was on a committee to ensure the Reformed religion was preserved. He was described as being ‘the most Presbyterian of Presbyterians’. In 1610 he became noted when he stood up against the king, who had planned to introduce Episcopacy to the Scots church.

He probably died around 1621. It is thought that one of his sons, Duncan Primrose, may have become the King’s Physician.

The second stone commemorates the erection of a new manse. This was located roughly where the present house in Mansefield Road stands, the fields of the glebe, which were part of the minister’s salary or stipend, extending south from it.

The manse comprised of an open courtyard of buildings, which included the manse itself, which had two low rooms and a cellar in the middle, with three bedrooms on the first floor and garrets.

Adjoining were offices, consisting of a kitchen, brew house, byre, stable, barn and a shed. To the rear was a small garden of one rood and 18 falls. Water for the building was obtained from a pump-well in the garden.The open side of the courtyard faced south-east, over the fields that formed the glebe.

Mr WA (William Auld), the ‘Daddy’ Auld of Robert Burns.

The initials refer to Magister (for Rev) William Maitland, who was minister in the parish for 44 years until his death in 1744. According to his grave in the old kirkyard, he had ‘taught his flock with a sincere heart.’

Over the years the manse was extended several times, perhaps including 1744. The stone with that date and ‘Mr WA’ refers to Rev William Auld, the famous ‘Daddy’ Auld of Robert Burns. He is mentioned in the poet’s ‘The Kirk’s Alarm’ and in the introduction of ‘Holy Willie’s Prayer’. Auld was minister in the parish for almost fifty years. It was he who had to reprimand Burns for his liaisons with Jean Armour. He died in 1791.

In 1792-3 a new manse was erected in the middle of the Glebe. It was a substantial building, and adjacent to it a separate block was erected to contain offices for the minister. The glebe extended to seven acres at this time. On Thursday 5 March 1795 the old manse was sold by public roup at Mrs Crooks’ inn in Mauchline.

There have been a number of well-known ministers occupying these old manses. James Boswell, the famous diarist from Auchinleck House, visited the manse on a number of times to have conversations with Rev Auld.

Initials of William Maitland,1730.

In 1782 he recorded in his diary that he spent the Sunday at Mauchline kirk, and ‘was at worthy Mr Auld’s between sermons’. Auld was to be a regular visitor to Auchinleck House for dinner with Boswell. Another noted minister was Rev Andrew Edgar, who served Mauchline from 1874 until 1890. He wrote extensively, including a popular book, Old Church Life in Scotland.

When the 1730 manse was demolished to allow the erection of the present row of houses in Mansefield Road, the stones were saved and either incorporated in the gable, or new copies of the originals made. The 1792 manse was deemed too big for modern life, and so in 1992 it was sold and a new manse acquired in Westside Gardens. The building was demolished, and the lands of the Glebe were developed with private housing, forming Glebe Crescent.

The site of the 1792 manse is where a short cul-de-sac strikes off the right-hand-cul-de-sac of the street.