Barbara Gilmour
Encyclopedia
Barbara Gilmour was a significant figure in 17th century Ayrshire
having introduced a method of cheese making which became common throughout Ayrshire and beyond, providing employment and extra income for farmers and others. She lived near Dunlop
, a village in East Ayrshire
, Scotland
, lying between the village of Lugton
and the town of Stewarton
on the old turnpike road to Glasgow. Cheese made by her method became known as "Dunlop cheese
".
and the dirk & drublie dayis after the revolution. In Ireland she is thought to have learned the art of making whole milk cheese. She may have been in the Bantry Bay
area, County Cork
, where James Hamilton, 1st Viscount Claneboye
was at one time based. Hamilton was a strong presbyterian adherent and son of Hans Hamilton the first Protestant minister of Dunlop Kirk. McMichael states that she was in County Down
, Northern Ireland.
It is not known precisely where she came from, however 'Gilmore' or 'Gilmour' is a common local name, with for example a family of that name living in the 'Lands of Chapeltoun
' at around the start of the 18th century.
Eventually, according to the Rev. Brisbane (1793), she returned to Dunlop, East Ayrshire
, after the Revolution of 1688
, bringing the recipe for the cheese with her; McMichael has it that she combined the best of Scottish and Irish cheese making methods to produce Dunlop cheese. Paterson records that she was the wife of John Dunlop, the farmer of Overhill Farm, now known as 'The Hill'. Introducing a new style of cheese was not straightforward and, "knowing" that cheese could not be made from whole milk, some of the locals came close to accusing her of witchcraft which could have resulted in her being burned to death at the Cross of Irvine
.
Another source states that she was a pious young woman – a devout Covenanter – and, hearing of the martyrdom of Margaret Wilson
(in 1684 or 1685) on Wigtown
Sands, and being determined not to renounce the Covenant, she fled, like many others, from her home in Ayrshire to Ireland, and found employment in the county Down
, where she acquired a knowledge of the Irish process of cheese making. The persecution of females having abated after the horrible event of Wigtown Sands, Miss Gilmour returned to her home in Dunlop, and became a farmer’s wife.
Some others accused her of copying their recipes and indeed a farmer, Mr W. Aiton of Strathaven, pointed out that practical cheese makers were already aware of the benefit of adding cream to cheese before Barbara's time, and in his opinion Dunlop cheese was so named from a trader who took these cheeses from the parish up to Glasgow; others have cast doubt on the Irish origin of the 'recipe' without disputing Barbara Gilmour's introduction of Dunlop cheese.
Another stone at the farm may represent the remains a primitive cheese press. It is an expertly carved 'trough' with various holes, grooves and three vertical sides. The groove running horizontally along the 'back' may have helped support a wooden frame above the 'trough'. It may have been re-used for a different purpose at a later date and is unlikely to have been part of the 1760 press.
This farm steading, previously known as Over Dunlophill Montgomerie, has an U-shaped plan and has been little modernised since the 19th century, leaving evidence for earlier phases plainly visible. The farm buildings comprise a two-storeyed farmhouse flanked to the south by stables, a harness room and a forge and to the north by a byre and a dairy. A barn and a cart shed are in a detached range to the rear (to the east) of the main block and a small watermill is to the north, adjacent to the dairy. The farm steading is built of whinstone rubble and has slate roofs. It was visited by the RCAHMS in 1993. In the surrounding fields can be seen the earthworks of a rig, some of which is slightly reverse-S in plan. The farm buildings are notable, if not exceptional, for the numerous date stones and Marriage stone
incorporated into various parts of the buildings.
The 17th-century road from Glasgow to Irvine ran passed 'The Hill' farm on the opposite side to the existing road, which is itself on the line of the 18th-century turnpike. The house use to 'face' the other direction as can be seen by a slight asymmetry in the existing frontage and the old 'front door' is now a just a window, but with 'tell tale' ornamentation on the lintel. Then presence of the road running passed the farm would have made the transport of her cheeses that much easier in those days of transport by pack animal or sledge. Timothy Pont
's map of Cunninghame (1604–1608) marks an 'O Hill', emphasising the age of this settlement.
Barbara successfully manufactured a 'species' of cheese till then unknown in Scotland, being made from unskimmed milk from the famous Ayrshire cows. Her process was copied by her neighbours and 'Dunlop cheese
' came into such demand, that whether made by Barbara or her neighbours, or by the housewives of adjoining parishes, it found a ready market. It is suggested that the spread of the cheese to other districts was largely through farmers who had settled there from Dunlop parish.
She was something of an 'evangelist' in the matter of making sweet milk (unskimmed milk) cheese,and being a forthright and energetic character she traveled widely to teach the making of her Dunlop cheese, and so stimulated a nation-wide demand. This demand stimulated merchants to visit Cunninghame, buy Dunlop cheese and sell it throughout the central lowlands of Scotland. Local cheese merchants from Kirktoun also bought up the cheese and took them to Glasgow for sale in the markets.
Barbara's system for making Dunlop was widely copied and extended rapidly to many all parts of Scotland by the end of the 18th century, even where traditionally sheep's milk cheese had been made. "...from "Cheesemaking in Scotland". Nothing but skimmed milk having been used in the process of cheese making in this district, previously. All the cheese similarly made in the western counties received the appellation of "Dunlop" and in 1837 the Ayrshire Statistical Account records that 25,000 stones imperial were made in this parish annually.
The high value which was set on the Barbara Gilmour cheese for the purpose of roasting was very much confined to Ayrshire, where a farl of oat cake or supple scone spread with roasted cheese, and a bowl of milk, or whey, or tea, or cold water, made a highly relished and substantial meal, precluding in many families the use of bacon for breakfast.
In the long maturing stage Dunlop cheese loses very considerably in weight, which made dealers impatient to get it off their hands; and it was usually therefore retailed before it was ripe, and at an inferior price.
Dunlop cattle are supposed to have originated here or within the parish, bred by J. Dunlop of that Ilk from improved stock from Holland, in around 1550 to 1700 or later. J. Dunlop of Titwood is said to have first bred 'Ayrshire Cows' at one of his home farms. The breed, also known as Cunninghame or Ayrshire cattle
are pied, white and brown, short in leg, long in the horn, straight in the back: the bulls are fiery in temper and the cows are peculiarly placid and docile. They produce milk which is very high in butterfat and ideal for cheese-making. The milk has a high protein content but is relatively homogenous.
It is an interesting point to note that the selective breeding of cattle was almost impossible before the enclosure of land by dykes and ditches in the 18th-century, because prior to this the cattle were free to mix without much control from the farmer and establishing or maintaining a 'pure breed' was therefore practically impossible.
In the 17th century Dunloppe had two fairs a year for the sale of dairy stock, one on the second Friday of May; and the other called Hallowday, on the 12th. of November.
An Ayrshire cow was given to Robbie Burns in 1788 by Mr. J. Dunlop of Dunlop. He wrote to say that the gift was the finest quey in Ayrshire. A 'quey' was the Scots for a heifer until she had birthed a calf.
In Sir Walter Scott's 'Heart Of Midlothian
' he has the Duke of Argyll
saying ``the Dunlop is the very cheese of which I am so fond, and I will take it as the greatest favour you can do me to send one to Caroline Park. But remember, be on honour with it, Jeanie, and make it all yourself, for I am a real good judge.
Timothy Pont
states of Stewarton & Dunlop in 1604 - 1608 that "the butter of this countrey in effecte ferues a grate pairt of ye Kingdome, one aker of ground heir zeilding more butter then 3 akers of ground in aney adiacent countreys".
One place that Dunlop cheese is made today (2008) is at West Clerkland Farm, a short distance from Barbara Gilmour's old home.
Ayrshire
Ayrshire is a registration county, and former administrative county in south-west Scotland, United Kingdom, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. Its principal towns include Ayr, Kilmarnock and Irvine. The town of Troon on the coast has hosted the British Open Golf Championship twice in the...
having introduced a method of cheese making which became common throughout Ayrshire and beyond, providing employment and extra income for farmers and others. She lived near Dunlop
Dunlop, East Ayrshire
Dunlop is a village and parish in East Ayrshire, Scotland. It lies on the A735, north-east of Stewarton, seven miles from Kilmarnock. The road runs on to Lugton and the B706 enters the village from Beith.-The village:...
, a village in East Ayrshire
East Ayrshire
East Ayrshire is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It borders on to North Ayrshire, East Renfrewshire, South Lanarkshire, South Ayrshire and Dumfries and Galloway...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, lying between the village of Lugton
Lugton
Lugton is a small village or hamlet in East Ayrshire, Scotland with a population of 80 people. The A736 road runs through on its way from Glasgow, to the north, to Irvine in North Ayrshire. Uplawmoor is the first settlement on this 'Lochlibo Road' to the north and Burnhouse is to the south...
and the town of Stewarton
Stewarton
Stewarton is a town in East Ayrshire, Scotland. In comparison to the neighbouring towns of Kilmaurs, Fenwick, Dunlop and Lugton, it is a relatively large town, with a population of over 6,500. It is 300 feet above sea level.Groome, Francis H. . Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland. Pub. Caxton. London....
on the old turnpike road to Glasgow. Cheese made by her method became known as "Dunlop cheese
Dunlop cheese
Dunlop is a mild cheese or 'sweet-milk cheese' from Dunlop in East Ayrshire, Scotland. It resembles a soft Cheddar cheese in texture. It fell out of popularity some time after the end of the Second World War, however it has now appreciated for its value in various recipes and for eating on its own...
".
Barbara Gilmour
Barbara Gilmour was a woman whose wits had been sharpened by her exile as a presbyterian in Ireland around 1660, during Scotland's troubles between the Restoration of Charles IICharles II of England
Charles II was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland.Charles II's father, King Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War...
and the dirk & drublie dayis after the revolution. In Ireland she is thought to have learned the art of making whole milk cheese. She may have been in the Bantry Bay
Bantry Bay
Bantry Bay is a bay located in County Cork, southwest Ireland. The bay runs approximately from northeast to southwest into the Atlantic Ocean. It is approximately 3-to-4 km wide at the head and wide at the entrance....
area, County Cork
County Cork
County Cork is a county in Ireland. It is located in the South-West Region and is also part of the province of Munster. It is named after the city of Cork . Cork County Council is the local authority for the county...
, where James Hamilton, 1st Viscount Claneboye
James Hamilton, 1st Viscount Claneboye
James Hamilton, 1st Viscount Claneboye was a Scot who became owner of large tracts of land in County Down, Ireland, and founded a successful Protestant Scots settlement there several years before the Plantation of Ulster...
was at one time based. Hamilton was a strong presbyterian adherent and son of Hans Hamilton the first Protestant minister of Dunlop Kirk. McMichael states that she was in County Down
County Down
-Cities:*Belfast *Newry -Large towns:*Dundonald*Newtownards*Bangor-Medium towns:...
, Northern Ireland.
It is not known precisely where she came from, however 'Gilmore' or 'Gilmour' is a common local name, with for example a family of that name living in the 'Lands of Chapeltoun
Chapeltoun
Chapeltoun is an estate on the banks of the Annick Water in East Ayrshire, Scotland. This is a rural area famous for its milk and cheese production and the Ayrshire or Dunlop breed of cattle.-Templeton and the Knights Templar:...
' at around the start of the 18th century.
Eventually, according to the Rev. Brisbane (1793), she returned to Dunlop, East Ayrshire
Dunlop, East Ayrshire
Dunlop is a village and parish in East Ayrshire, Scotland. It lies on the A735, north-east of Stewarton, seven miles from Kilmarnock. The road runs on to Lugton and the B706 enters the village from Beith.-The village:...
, after the Revolution of 1688
Glorious Revolution
The Glorious Revolution, also called the Revolution of 1688, is the overthrow of King James II of England by a union of English Parliamentarians with the Dutch stadtholder William III of Orange-Nassau...
, bringing the recipe for the cheese with her; McMichael has it that she combined the best of Scottish and Irish cheese making methods to produce Dunlop cheese. Paterson records that she was the wife of John Dunlop, the farmer of Overhill Farm, now known as 'The Hill'. Introducing a new style of cheese was not straightforward and, "knowing" that cheese could not be made from whole milk, some of the locals came close to accusing her of witchcraft which could have resulted in her being burned to death at the Cross of Irvine
Irvine, North Ayrshire
Irvine is a new town on the coast of the Firth of Clyde in North Ayrshire, Scotland. According to 2007 population estimates, the town is home to 39,527 inhabitants, making it the biggest settlement in North Ayrshire....
.
Another source states that she was a pious young woman – a devout Covenanter – and, hearing of the martyrdom of Margaret Wilson
Margaret Wilson (Scottish martyr)
Margaret Wilson was a young Scottish Covenanter, from Wigtown, Galloway in Scotland executed by drowning for refusing to swear an oath declaring the King as head of the church. She died on May 11, in 1685...
(in 1684 or 1685) on Wigtown
Wigtown
Wigtown is a town and former royal burgh in the Machars of Galloway in the south west of Scotland. It lies south of Newton Stewart and east of Stranraer. It has a population of about 1,000...
Sands, and being determined not to renounce the Covenant, she fled, like many others, from her home in Ayrshire to Ireland, and found employment in the county Down
County Down
-Cities:*Belfast *Newry -Large towns:*Dundonald*Newtownards*Bangor-Medium towns:...
, where she acquired a knowledge of the Irish process of cheese making. The persecution of females having abated after the horrible event of Wigtown Sands, Miss Gilmour returned to her home in Dunlop, and became a farmer’s wife.
Some others accused her of copying their recipes and indeed a farmer, Mr W. Aiton of Strathaven, pointed out that practical cheese makers were already aware of the benefit of adding cream to cheese before Barbara's time, and in his opinion Dunlop cheese was so named from a trader who took these cheeses from the parish up to Glasgow; others have cast doubt on the Irish origin of the 'recipe' without disputing Barbara Gilmour's introduction of Dunlop cheese.
The cheese presses
Most sources, e.g. Dobie state that "Barbara's Gilmours cheese press can still be seen today at 'The Hill'", however the cheese press here is dated 1760 and she died in 1732. The design of the press, with a heavy 'lintel' stone having a screwed shaft passing through it attached to a frame, allowed the dead weight of the stone to be lowered onto the cheese progressively, improving the overall drainage of the whey and the firming up of the curd.Another stone at the farm may represent the remains a primitive cheese press. It is an expertly carved 'trough' with various holes, grooves and three vertical sides. The groove running horizontally along the 'back' may have helped support a wooden frame above the 'trough'. It may have been re-used for a different purpose at a later date and is unlikely to have been part of the 1760 press.
The Hill farm and the old road
This farm steading, previously known as Over Dunlophill Montgomerie, has an U-shaped plan and has been little modernised since the 19th century, leaving evidence for earlier phases plainly visible. The farm buildings comprise a two-storeyed farmhouse flanked to the south by stables, a harness room and a forge and to the north by a byre and a dairy. A barn and a cart shed are in a detached range to the rear (to the east) of the main block and a small watermill is to the north, adjacent to the dairy. The farm steading is built of whinstone rubble and has slate roofs. It was visited by the RCAHMS in 1993. In the surrounding fields can be seen the earthworks of a rig, some of which is slightly reverse-S in plan. The farm buildings are notable, if not exceptional, for the numerous date stones and Marriage stone
Marriage stone
A marriage stone is usually a stone lintel carved with the initials, coat of arms, etc. of a newly married couple with the date of the marriage. They were very popular until Victorian times, but fell out of general use in the 20th century...
incorporated into various parts of the buildings.
The 17th-century road from Glasgow to Irvine ran passed 'The Hill' farm on the opposite side to the existing road, which is itself on the line of the 18th-century turnpike. The house use to 'face' the other direction as can be seen by a slight asymmetry in the existing frontage and the old 'front door' is now a just a window, but with 'tell tale' ornamentation on the lintel. Then presence of the road running passed the farm would have made the transport of her cheeses that much easier in those days of transport by pack animal or sledge. Timothy Pont
Timothy Pont
Timothy Pont was a Scottish topographer, 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 actual survey.-Life:...
's map of Cunninghame (1604–1608) marks an 'O Hill', emphasising the age of this settlement.
Gravestone and descendents
Barbara and John's 'table' style horizontal gravestone is now positioned as an upright against a wall of Dunlop kirk. It is very well preserved and as stated, gives the date 1732 for her demise. The gravestone inscription mentions 'children' plural, however only a daughter, Mary, survived her parents, marrying Allan, son of Allan Brown of Gabroch-hill. Their son, Andrew Brown, succeeded to Hill, and through his wife Jean Anderson, they afterwards succeeded to Craighead farm. Mary Dunlop, daughter of John Dunlop of Boarland and Jean Gilnour of Tailend, had the half of Boarland, died at the Hill, the property of her mother's brother-in-law, in 1839. The Rev. Brisbane noted in 1793 that Barbara's grandson was still living and was the proprietor at 'The Hill.'Dunlop cheese
Dunlop cheese
Dunlop is a mild cheese or 'sweet-milk cheese' from Dunlop in East Ayrshire, Scotland. It resembles a soft Cheddar cheese in texture. It fell out of popularity some time after the end of the Second World War, however it has now appreciated for its value in various recipes and for eating on its own...
' came into such demand, that whether made by Barbara or her neighbours, or by the housewives of adjoining parishes, it found a ready market. It is suggested that the spread of the cheese to other districts was largely through farmers who had settled there from Dunlop parish.
She was something of an 'evangelist' in the matter of making sweet milk (unskimmed milk) cheese,and being a forthright and energetic character she traveled widely to teach the making of her Dunlop cheese, and so stimulated a nation-wide demand. This demand stimulated merchants to visit Cunninghame, buy Dunlop cheese and sell it throughout the central lowlands of Scotland. Local cheese merchants from Kirktoun also bought up the cheese and took them to Glasgow for sale in the markets.
Barbara's system for making Dunlop was widely copied and extended rapidly to many all parts of Scotland by the end of the 18th century, even where traditionally sheep's milk cheese had been made. "...from "Cheesemaking in Scotland". Nothing but skimmed milk having been used in the process of cheese making in this district, previously. All the cheese similarly made in the western counties received the appellation of "Dunlop" and in 1837 the Ayrshire Statistical Account records that 25,000 stones imperial were made in this parish annually.
The high value which was set on the Barbara Gilmour cheese for the purpose of roasting was very much confined to Ayrshire, where a farl of oat cake or supple scone spread with roasted cheese, and a bowl of milk, or whey, or tea, or cold water, made a highly relished and substantial meal, precluding in many families the use of bacon for breakfast.
Cadgers
Cadgers were the 'middlemen' who toured the farms and bought the cheeses by direct negotiation, sending them to the markets in Glasgow, Edinburgh and other places. By 1837 some fourteen cadgers made a living in Dunlop Parish through buying and selling Dunlop cheese.In the long maturing stage Dunlop cheese loses very considerably in weight, which made dealers impatient to get it off their hands; and it was usually therefore retailed before it was ripe, and at an inferior price.
Ayrshire or Dunlop cattle
Ayrshire cattle
The Ayrshire cattle is a breed of dairy cattle originated from Ayrshire in Scotland. The average mature Ayrshire cow weighs 1,000-1,300 pounds . Ayrshires have red markings. The red can be an orange to a dark brown, with or without coloured legs. They are known for low somatic cell counts,...
are pied, white and brown, short in leg, long in the horn, straight in the back: the bulls are fiery in temper and the cows are peculiarly placid and docile. They produce milk which is very high in butterfat and ideal for cheese-making. The milk has a high protein content but is relatively homogenous.
It is an interesting point to note that the selective breeding of cattle was almost impossible before the enclosure of land by dykes and ditches in the 18th-century, because prior to this the cattle were free to mix without much control from the farmer and establishing or maintaining a 'pure breed' was therefore practically impossible.
Micro history
The British army & navy of this time purchased Barbara Gilmour's 'Dunlop' type of cheese as the taste of cheeses made from skimmed milk when compared with unskimmed cheeses was so unsatisfactory that it caused dissent amongst the regular troops or sailors.In the 17th century Dunloppe had two fairs a year for the sale of dairy stock, one on the second Friday of May; and the other called Hallowday, on the 12th. of November.
In Sir Walter Scott's 'Heart Of Midlothian
Midlothian
Midlothian is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and a lieutenancy area. It borders the Scottish Borders, East Lothian and the City of Edinburgh council areas....
' he has the Duke of Argyll
Duke of Argyll
Duke of Argyll is a title, created in the Peerage of Scotland in 1701 and in the Peerage of the United Kingdom in 1892. The Earls, Marquesses, and Dukes of Argyll were for several centuries among the most powerful, if not the most powerful, noble family in Scotland...
saying ``the Dunlop is the very cheese of which I am so fond, and I will take it as the greatest favour you can do me to send one to Caroline Park. But remember, be on honour with it, Jeanie, and make it all yourself, for I am a real good judge.
Timothy Pont
Timothy Pont
Timothy Pont was a Scottish topographer, 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 actual survey.-Life:...
states of Stewarton & Dunlop in 1604 - 1608 that "the butter of this countrey in effecte ferues a grate pairt of ye Kingdome, one aker of ground heir zeilding more butter then 3 akers of ground in aney adiacent countreys".
One place that Dunlop cheese is made today (2008) is at West Clerkland Farm, a short distance from Barbara Gilmour's old home.
See also
- Dalgarven MillDalgarven MillDalgarven Mill is near Kilwinning, in the Garnock Valley, North Ayrshire, Scotland and it is home to the Museum of Ayrshire Country Life and Costume. The watermill has been completely restored over a number of years and is run by the independent Dalgarven Mill Trust.The village of Dalgarven was...
- The Ayrshire Museum of Country Life & Costume - Corsehill - A history of the area
- Dunlop cheeseDunlop cheeseDunlop is a mild cheese or 'sweet-milk cheese' from Dunlop in East Ayrshire, Scotland. It resembles a soft Cheddar cheese in texture. It fell out of popularity some time after the end of the Second World War, however it has now appreciated for its value in various recipes and for eating on its own...
- LugtonLugtonLugton is a small village or hamlet in East Ayrshire, Scotland with a population of 80 people. The A736 road runs through on its way from Glasgow, to the north, to Irvine in North Ayrshire. Uplawmoor is the first settlement on this 'Lochlibo Road' to the north and Burnhouse is to the south...