Carrick, Scotland
Encyclopedia
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...
which today forms part of South Ayrshire
South Ayrshire
South Ayrshire is one of 32 council areas of Scotland, covering the southern part of Ayrshire. It borders onto East Ayrshire, North Ayrshire and Dumfries and Galloway....
.
History
The word Carrick comes from the GaelicScottish Gaelic language
Scottish Gaelic is a Celtic language native to Scotland. A member of the Goidelic branch of the Celtic languages, Scottish Gaelic, like Modern Irish and Manx, developed out of Middle Irish, and thus descends ultimately from Primitive Irish....
word Carraig, meaning rock or rocky place. Maybole
Maybole
Maybole is a burgh of barony and police burgh of South Ayrshire, Scotland. Pop. 4,552. It is situated south of Ayr and southwest of Glasgow by the Glasgow and South Western Railway. ...
was the historic capital of Carrick. The county was eventually combined into Ayrshire
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...
which was divided naturally by its rivers. into the three districts of Cunninghame in the north along the River Irvine
River Irvine
The River Irvine is a river flowing through southwest Scotland, with its watershed on the Lanarkshire border of Ayrshire at an altitude of above sea-level, near Drumclog, and SW by W of Strathaven...
, in the centre by the River Ayr
River Ayr
The River Ayr , longest river in what was the old county of Ayrshire of Scotland, is approximately 65 kilometres in length. It originates at Glenbuck Loch in East Ayrshire on the border of Lanarkshire and winds its way through East and South Ayrshire to the town of Ayr, where it empties into the...
and Kyle in the south along the River Doon
River Doon
The River Doon is a river in South Ayrshire, Scotland. The river flows 23 miles from Loch Doon, joining the Firth of Clyde just south of Ayr. Its course is generally north-westerly, passing near to the town of Dalmellington, and through the villages of Patna, Dalrymple, and Alloway, birthplace...
by the District of Carrick. These three districts formed Ayrshire
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...
, one of the counties of Scotland
Counties of Scotland
The counties of Scotland were the principal local government divisions of Scotland until 1975. Scotland's current lieutenancy areas and registration counties are largely based on them. They are often referred to as historic counties....
. The main reorganisation took place during the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889
Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889
The Local Government Act 1889 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which was passed on 26 August 1889. The main effect of the Act was to establish elected county councils in Scotland...
, this Act established a uniform system of county council
County council
A county council is the elected administrative body governing an area known as a county. This term has slightly different meanings in different countries.-United Kingdom:...
s and town councils in Scotland and restructured many of Scotland’s counties. (See: History of local government in the United Kingdom
History of local government in the United Kingdom
The history of local government in the United Kingdom covers the development of local government in the United Kingdom since its formation in 1707. Each of the four countries of the United Kingdom has a separate system of local government with origins that predate the UK itself...
)
The Earldom of Carrick
Earl of Carrick
The Earl of Carrick was the head of a comital lordship of Carrick in southwestern Scotland. The title emerged in 1186, when Donnchad, son of Gille Brigte, Lord of Galloway, became Mormaer or Earl of Carrick in compensation for exclusion from the whole Lordship of Galloway...
was home to Scotland's Bruce
Bruce
The English language name Bruce arrived in Scotland with the Normans, from the place name Brix of the Manche département in Normandy, France, meaning "the willowlands"...
family. Robert de Bruce, the 6th Lord of Annandale, acquired the Earldom as a result of his 1274 marriage to the widow, Marjorie of Carrick. Their son became King Robert I of Scotland
Robert I of Scotland
Robert I , popularly known as Robert the Bruce , was King of Scots from March 25, 1306, until his death in 1329.His paternal ancestors were of Scoto-Norman heritage , and...
, more commonly known as Robert the Bruce. The title Earl of Carrick is now one of the lesser Scottish titles of the heir apparent to the throne, currently Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales
Charles, Prince of Wales
Prince Charles, Prince of Wales is the heir apparent and eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. Since 1958 his major title has been His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales. In Scotland he is additionally known as The Duke of Rothesay...
, whose principal Scottish title is Duke of Rothesay
Duke of Rothesay
Duke of Rothesay was a title of the heir apparent to the throne of the Kingdom of Scotland before 1707, of the Kingdom of Great Britain from 1707 to 1801, and now of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland....
.
Kyle and Carrick
Kyle and Carrick
Kyle and Carrick was one of nineteen local government districts in the Strathclyde region of Scotland from 1975 to 1996....
was the former name (1975-1996) of a local government district in the Strathclyde
Strathclyde
right|thumb|the former Strathclyde regionStrathclyde was one of nine former local government regions of Scotland created by the Local Government Act 1973 and abolished in 1996 by the Local Government etc Act 1994...
region of Scotland. In 1996 it was re-constituted as a Unitary Authority, but renamed South Ayrshire
South Ayrshire
South Ayrshire is one of 32 council areas of Scotland, covering the southern part of Ayrshire. It borders onto East Ayrshire, North Ayrshire and Dumfries and Galloway....
.