Riccarton is a village and parish in East Ayrshire, Scotland. It lies across the River Irvine from Kilmarnock, this river forming the boundary between Riccarton and Kilmarnock parishes, and also between the historical districts of Kyle and Cunningham. The name is a corruption of 'Richard's town', traditionally said to refer to Richard Wallace, the uncle of Sir William Wallace. The parish also contains the village of Hurlford.
History
The village became a Burgh of Barony in 1638, but its civic powers were never exercised. Riccarton is also sometimes called Ellerslie. In 1875 Riccarton had a population of 1889, but by 1951 that had increased to between 7000 and 8000; many of whom were employed at the Glenfield Works in Kilmarnock.
Riccarton has effectively been absorbed into Kilmarnock, partly through the growth of council housing estates at Shortlees, Witchknowe and Burnpark, and later by the improvements to the A71 (T) road, the building of which, together with associated interchanges, effectively made the old village centre into a large traffic island.
The Barony of Riccarton
The ancient 109 merkland barony included 54 separate landholdings, including the coalheughs of Riccarton and all the buildings, orchards, woods, mills, and fishings (salmon and others). Riccarton and Shaws mill were included. Also the £17 lands of Kaimshill, Auchindinane and Hunthall, oddly also the £5 land of Elderslie in Renfrewshire, the 4 merklands of Inchgotrig and the 2 merklands of Holme.
The churches
A pre-reformation Riccarton parish church stood in the centre of the old burial ground; first noted, as a chapel, in 1229, sub-ordinate to the church of Dundonald.Groome, Francis H. (1903). Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland. Pub. Caxton. London. P. 1379. It was granted by Walter, High Steward of Scotland, to the short-lived independent Gilbertine convent of Dalmulin. This convent was dissolved in 1238, and the 'chapel' given to the monastery of Paisley, becoming the parish church, which still belonged to the monks. The last patrons were the Cuninghames of Caprington, whose impressive memorial still stands; some of the Campbells of Treesbank are also interred here.
The old cemetery has a number of interesting pre-reformation style gravestones, ornamented with scenes of men ploughing with oxen, one with a bodkin, shears and iron, another with millstones, wheels, and other gearing, and even a few with Garden of Eden scenes. The oldest discernible stone is marked 1641. Unfortunately many are very worn and heraldic devices, etc. can no longer be made out with any certainty.
From the presbytery records it would appear to have been rebuilt in 1725. It was replaced by the present church (at NS 4282 3639) in 1823, which was built on the old Judgement or Moot hill of the barony of Riccarton. Of the old church in the small churchyard nearby, nothing now remains above ground, the stones being used to build a single story house close to the old bridge.
The manse no longer exists, however it had a claim to significance in that it had a mantelpiece in its kitchen which came from the dining room of Riccarton castle.
Sawney Moodie
Alexander Moodie (1728–1799) was the Auld-Licht Protestant minister of Riccarton lampooned by Robert Burns. Burns has him preaching with hell-fire roaring, enough to send the Devil himself back to his hot hell in fright. He was educated at Glasgow University and starting his ministry at Culross in 1759. He was buried in the Riccarton churchyard, but the present church wasn't built until 1823.
Alexander had a hyperactive and deafening preaching style. Burns also references him in the Holy Fair with :
This was followed by a lampooning in "The Kirk's Alarm" where his swarthy complexion earned him the title of Singet Sawnie. Burns wrote The Holy Tulzie in 1784 in response to a verbally violent dispute over parish boundaries between Alexander Moodie and the John Russel, minister of Kilmarnock's High Kirk.