Sanquhar
Encyclopedia
Sanquhar is a town on the River Nith
in Dumfries and Galloway
, Scotland
. It lies north of Thornhill
and west of Moffat
. It is a Royal Burgh.
Sanquhar is notable for its tiny post office
(established in 1712), claimed to be the oldest working post office in the world. It was also the place where the Covenanter
s, who opposed episcopalisation
of the church, signed the Sanquhar Declaration renouncing their allegiance to the King, an event commemorated by a monument in the main street. The church of St. Brides contains a memorial to James Crichton
, a 16th-century polymath
. The ruins of Sanquhar Castle
stand nearby. Nithsdale Wanderers F.C.
, the local team, were formed in 1897. In 1924-5, Wanderers won the Scottish Division Three
.
times. Several prehistoric British forts can be found in the area as well as traces of a Roman outpost. Some of the earliest recorded settlers in the area came from Ireland in the 9th and 10th centuries, and these Scoto-Irish
people were the inhabitants for hundreds of years. In the 12th century, Norman
colonization of the British Islands brought a feudal system
of government and squabbling barons and sheriffs ruled the land for several centuries. Sanquhar is in the county of Dumfriesshire
, which rests along the English border. These border counties were constantly in a state of turmoil as groups raided each other across the dividing lines.
During the war of Scottish Independence
the English army took over the old castle at Sanquhar. The Lord of the Castle, Sir William the Hardy, Lord of Douglas, learned of this and came up with a clever plot where one man sneaked into the castle and threw open the gates, allowing Lord Douglas to seize it. The English began a counter-attack, but William Wallace
learned of the battle and came to the rescue. As the English army retreated Wallace chased them down and killed 500 of them. Wallace visited the castle on several occasions.
they obtained the lands round about Sanquhar and ruled over the area from the mid-14th until the mid-17th centuries. Mary, Queen of Scots, (cousin of Queen Elizabeth the 1st
) came to Sanquhar in May 1568 after her defeat at the battle of Langside
. Lord Crichton of Sanquhar was loyal to Mary, and harboured her until she escaped across the River Nith. For this he was punished after the Scots lairds besieged and captured Sanquhar castle once again.
The end of the Crichton family power in the area was the result of a lavish party. In July 1617 the King of Great Britain, James VI and I
, travelled through Scotland to Glasgow
, and on his way home stopped at the castle in Sanquhar. The Crichtons welcomed him with a display so huge that it bankrupted them. It is said that Lord Crichton escorted the king to bed carrying a lighted torch made from £30,000 in bond notes that the king owed Lord Crichton. By 1639 the Crichtons had moved to Ayrshire
, and sold their holdings in Sanquhar to the Earl of Queensberry
.
A joke in the region is that many a young woman who worked for the Crichtons would "Go in the servants' entrance and come out the family way
". However, one well-regarded member of Crichton family was James Crichton
(known as 'The Admirable Crichton').
, King of Great Britain in the mid-17th century, was a closet Papist who called a priest to his death-bed to be given the last-rites of the Catholic Church. The Covenanter
s were dedicated Scottish Presbyterians devoted to maintaining Presbyterianism
as the sole form of church organisation in Scotland. They led Scotland into England’s civil wars of the period against King Charles (and later against Cromwell). Throughout the 17th century, there was fighting and persecution by both sides.
Sanquhar was a hotbed of unrest during the Covenanting period. With its position as the only major town in a large area, and situated by the River Nith
, it seemed that whenever any remarkable political movement was going on people would go to Sanquhar to proclaim their testimonies on the subject. It was here, in 1680, that Richard Cameron, with a band of armed supporters, posted on the town cross the first declaration of Sanquhar renouncing allegiance to Charles II. The year 1685 saw the second declaration, by James Renwick, who also took a large armed party into Sanquhar, frightening all the townspeople who thought a battle was coming. The Sanquhar Declaration
s, as they are known, set forth the basis of religious freedom in Scotland. Sanquhar’s location also led those who were hunted and persecuted to pass through or hide in the area.
The end of the Covenanting period in the early 18th century was not the last religious upheaval for the area. The Church of Scotland
was torn by several disputes over the years. One of the major issues was whether the local populations or church headquarters could hire local ministers. In the 1830s many churches seceded and in 1843 a large number of churches broke away to form the Free Church of Scotland. The time was known as the “Great Disruption”
. In Sanquhar the minister was leaning towards the new splinter groups, mostly at the urging of his wife. When she died he lost his nerve. The split came and he stayed behind, along with most of his parishioners. He kept his job and his church house, but lost the respect of the community. The creation of the Free Church in Sanquhar, and the wobbling of this minister, left many hard feelings in the town. There was hardly a family that wasn’t torn apart by the disputes. At this point the parish records become a shambles, and hardly a birth or marriage was recorded until civil registration started in 1855.
Sanquhar was legally recognized by the crown as early as the 15th century and was made a royal burgh in 1598. Despite the political unrest in the area agriculture began to flourish in the early 18th century. Local industries came into their own, particularly coal mining. Coal had been dug in the area for hundreds of years, but more advanced methods helped the industry grow. Other industries that depended on coal, such as weaving, carpet making and forges began to appear.
was a frequent visitor to Sanquhar. When he was renovating a farm in 1788 he often passed through on the way back to his wife, Jean, in Ayrshire. Afterwards he became a well-known face because of his excise duties. Burns called the town “Black Joan” in his ballad “Five Carlins” in which he represented the local burghs as characters. He would stay overnight at the Queensberry Arms in the High Street, making friends with the owner and calling it “the only tolerable Inn in the place”.
trade had been an important one in the coastal trading towns of Dumfriesshire
and Kirkcudbright
since medieval times and by the 18th century Sanquhar had developed as an inland market centre. The Sanquhar Wool Fair, held in July, regulated the prices for the whole south of Scotland. A distinctive two-coloured pattern of knitting which is widely known as 'Sanquhar knitting' takes its name from this small parish. A traveller’s account early in the 18th century tells us: 'Gloves they make better and cheaper than in England, for they send great quantities thither.' Many a poor farm family supported themselves with extra income from these sought-after knitted garments. While knitting died out as an industry, the presentation of traditional Sanquhar gloves is an important part of local celebrations even today.
During the 18th century the life of a weaver was enviable. They earned good wages and worked at their looms indoors, often at their homes. They could work whatever hours they wanted, and could take time off in autumn to help farmers with their harvests. It was said that any time there was a noise in the streets all the weavers would be the first ones to drop their work, run out and begin gossiping about the matter. Towards the end of the century, however, advances in technology made the home shops less profitable, and many of Sanquhar’s weavers found themselves looking for other work.
. At first it consisted of a few separate looms, but by the 1830s there was a large factory, boasting 54 looms at its height. The carpets made here were world-renowned for their durability and orders came from as far away as South America. A large proportion of their total production was shipped to Valparaíso
, Chile
.
The location along the Crawick River was also the home of John Rigg’s forge. In the late 18th century he had been persuaded to move here from Dalston in Cumbria to supply tools for the coalfields. He made a damhead opposite the village of Crawick and used the water to power his factory. The water separated the parishes of Sanquhar and Kirkconnel
, and although the forge was on the Kirkconnel side, Sanquhar always laid claim to it. The forge produced shovels and other tools into the 20th century.
The village of Crawick had once been known as a haven for witches
. One story is that the parish minister’s cows began making milk that would not churn. He sent one of his servants to tie a branch from a rowan
tree over the doorway of the witch’s house in Crawick, which ended the curse. For a long time a large rowan tree flourished in the front yard of the church, perhaps partly to keep these evil spirits away. Life in Crawick was described beautifully by James Brown, in his History of Sanquhar:
Between 1885 and 1916, Crawick even had its own post office (known as Crawick Bridge); it also had gas-powered streetlights two years before the rest of the town of Sanquhar. All of this came to a sad end when one of the owners of the factory died, and the others squabbled. By 1860 the factory was shut down. Many of the weavers moved to larger cities to keep their trade. The forge, and the nearby colliery, kept people employed until the 20th century. During the period just before World War II
many people moved away, and the little hamlet was all but deserted. Only a few homes stand there now, the occupants little aware of the industries that once thrived there.
Sanquhar itself prospered through the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The decline of traditional industries in the middle of this century hurt the town, but now new manufacturers are moving in and there is a strong sense of community in the burgh. Sanquhar had a public school as early as 1793. William Adam, a famous Scottish architect, designed the tollbooth
in the centre of town, which is the only surviving building of this type designed by him. Built in 1731, much of the building materials for it were taken from the old castle in Sanquhar and it is currently used as the town museum, containing local artifacts and memorabilia. In 1800 the population of Sanquhar was 2,350. It grew to 3,268 by the year 1830, but by 1991 had collapsed again to 2,910. Today it stands at about 2,100.
The sport of curling
runs in the blood of people from Sanquhar. The town has the world’s oldest curling society, formed in 1774 with sixty members. James Brown, who wrote an important history of the town, is also credited with writing the rules universally used for the sport. The witches of Crawick were known for casting hexes on other teams. There were tournaments where the prize was a sack of grain. The winning team would get the food and distribute it to the poor and needy in their hometown.
In the arts, the Sanquhar Pantomime Group performs a traditional Christmas pantomime
in aid of local charities. An annual occurrence during the 1990s, it now alternates with a production by the local primary School.
Every year, on the Saturday closest to 18 August, the Royal Burgh of Sanquhar holds its annual Riding of the Marches. This week-long event celebrates the Royal Burgh, through the selection of a "Queen" and her "Attendants" from fourth-year girls in the secondary school, and a parade of lorries and horses, to name but a few events. Many of the pubs are busy during this time, indeed it's been noted that some publicans begin to have delusions of grandeur during this period.
The railway line has remained open for freight and passenger traffic, however the station was closed and only re-opened in recent years.
range to the west and the Lowther hills
to the south east. These hills offer excellent possibilities for the outdoor enthusiast. The Southern Upland Way
passes through the town on its way from Portpatrick
on Scotland's west coast to Cockburnspath
on the east.
River Nith
The River Nith is a river in South West Scotland.-Source, flow and mouth:The Nith rises in the Carsphairn hills of East Ayrshire, more precisely between Prickeny Hill and Enoch Hill, 7 km East of Dalmellington...
in Dumfries and Galloway
Dumfries and Galloway
Dumfries and Galloway is one of 32 unitary council areas of Scotland. It was one of the nine administrative 'regions' of mainland Scotland created in 1975 by the Local Government etc. Act 1973...
, 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...
. It lies north of Thornhill
Thornhill, Dumfries and Galloway
Thornhill is a town in the Mid Nithsdale area of Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, south of Sanquhar and north of Dumfries.A monument to the explorer Joseph Thomson , who lived in neighbouring Penpont and Gatelawbridge, can be found close to the school...
and west of Moffat
Moffat
Moffat is a former burgh and spa town in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, lying on the River Annan, with a population of around 2,500. The most notable building in the town is the Moffat House Hotel, designed by John Adam...
. It is a Royal Burgh.
Sanquhar is notable for its tiny post office
Post office
A post office is a facility forming part of a postal system for the posting, receipt, sorting, handling, transmission or delivery of mail.Post offices offer mail-related services such as post office boxes, postage and packaging supplies...
(established in 1712), claimed to be the oldest working post office in the world. It was also the place where the Covenanter
Covenanter
The Covenanters were a Scottish Presbyterian movement that played an important part in the history of Scotland, and to a lesser extent in that of England and Ireland, during the 17th century...
s, who opposed episcopalisation
Episcopal polity
Episcopal polity is a form of church governance that is hierarchical in structure with the chief authority over a local Christian church resting in a bishop...
of the church, signed the Sanquhar Declaration renouncing their allegiance to the King, an event commemorated by a monument in the main street. The church of St. Brides contains a memorial to James Crichton
James Crichton
James Crichton, known as the Admirable Crichton , was a Scottish polymath noted for his extraordinary accomplishments in languages, the arts, and sciences before his killing when aged 21.-Life:...
, a 16th-century polymath
Polymath
A polymath is a person whose expertise spans a significant number of different subject areas. In less formal terms, a polymath may simply be someone who is very knowledgeable...
. The ruins of Sanquhar Castle
Sanquhar Castle
Sanquhar Castle, now a ruin, was built by the Crichton family in the 13th century. Situated on the southern approach to the former royal burgh of Sanquhar in Dumfries and Galloway, south west Scotland, it sits on the trail of the Southern Upland Way, and is passed by hundreds of visitors who walk...
stand nearby. Nithsdale Wanderers F.C.
Nithsdale Wanderers F.C.
Nithsdale Wanderers Football Club are a senior football club based in Sanquhar, Dumfries and Galloway. Their home ground is Lorimer Park and they currently play in the South of Scotland Football League....
, the local team, were formed in 1897. In 1924-5, Wanderers won the Scottish Division Three
Scottish Football League Third Division
The Scottish Football League Third Division is the lowest division of the Scottish Football League and the fourth overall in the Scottish football league system....
.
History of Sanquhar
The name “Sanquhar” comes from the Scottish Gaelic language Seann Cathair, meaning "old seat". There is an ancient ruin of a castle that overlooks the town, but the name predates even this ancient fort. With its location along the River Nith, Sanquhar has been a major crossroads for centuries. Artifacts have been found here from NeolithicNeolithic
The Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BC in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world. It is traditionally considered as the last part of the Stone Age...
times. Several prehistoric British forts can be found in the area as well as traces of a Roman outpost. Some of the earliest recorded settlers in the area came from Ireland in the 9th and 10th centuries, and these Scoto-Irish
Scoti
Scoti or Scotti was the generic name used by the Romans to describe those who sailed from Ireland to conduct raids on Roman Britain. It was thus synonymous with the modern term Gaels...
people were the inhabitants for hundreds of years. In the 12th century, Norman
Normans
The Normans were the people who gave their name to Normandy, a region in northern France. They were descended from Norse Viking conquerors of the territory and the native population of Frankish and Gallo-Roman stock...
colonization of the British Islands brought a feudal system
Feudalism
Feudalism was a set of legal and military customs in medieval Europe that flourished between the 9th and 15th centuries, which, broadly defined, was a system for ordering society around relationships derived from the holding of land in exchange for service or labour.Although derived from the...
of government and squabbling barons and sheriffs ruled the land for several centuries. Sanquhar is in the county of Dumfriesshire
Dumfriesshire
Dumfriesshire or the County of Dumfries is a registration county of Scotland. The lieutenancy area of Dumfries has similar boundaries.Until 1975 it was a county. Its county town was Dumfries...
, which rests along the English border. These border counties were constantly in a state of turmoil as groups raided each other across the dividing lines.
During the war of Scottish Independence
History of Scotland
The history of Scotland begins around 10,000 years ago, when humans first began to inhabit what is now Scotland after the end of the Devensian glaciation, the last ice age...
the English army took over the old castle at Sanquhar. The Lord of the Castle, Sir William the Hardy, Lord of Douglas, learned of this and came up with a clever plot where one man sneaked into the castle and threw open the gates, allowing Lord Douglas to seize it. The English began a counter-attack, but William Wallace
William Wallace
Sir William Wallace was a Scottish knight and landowner who became one of the main leaders during the Wars of Scottish Independence....
learned of the battle and came to the rescue. As the English army retreated Wallace chased them down and killed 500 of them. Wallace visited the castle on several occasions.
Crichton family
It is believed the Crichton family came to Britain from Hungary. During the reign of Robert the BruceRobert 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...
they obtained the lands round about Sanquhar and ruled over the area from the mid-14th until the mid-17th centuries. Mary, Queen of Scots, (cousin of Queen Elizabeth the 1st
Elizabeth I of England
Elizabeth I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty...
) came to Sanquhar in May 1568 after her defeat at the battle of Langside
Battle of Langside
The Battle of Langside, fought on 13 May 1568, was one of the more unusual contests in Scottish history, bearing a superficial resemblance to a grand family quarrel, in which a mother fought her brother who was defending the rights of her infant son...
. Lord Crichton of Sanquhar was loyal to Mary, and harboured her until she escaped across the River Nith. For this he was punished after the Scots lairds besieged and captured Sanquhar castle once again.
The end of the Crichton family power in the area was the result of a lavish party. In July 1617 the King of Great Britain, James VI and I
James I of England
James VI and I was King of Scots as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the English and Scottish crowns on 24 March 1603...
, travelled through Scotland to Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
, and on his way home stopped at the castle in Sanquhar. The Crichtons welcomed him with a display so huge that it bankrupted them. It is said that Lord Crichton escorted the king to bed carrying a lighted torch made from £30,000 in bond notes that the king owed Lord Crichton. By 1639 the Crichtons had moved to 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...
, and sold their holdings in Sanquhar to the Earl of Queensberry
Marquess of Queensberry
Marquess of Queensberry is a title in the peerage of Scotland. The title has been held since its creation in 1682 by a member of the Douglas family...
.
A joke in the region is that many a young woman who worked for the Crichtons would "Go in the servants' entrance and come out the family way
Pregnancy
Pregnancy refers to the fertilization and development of one or more offspring, known as a fetus or embryo, in a woman's uterus. In a pregnancy, there can be multiple gestations, as in the case of twins or triplets...
". However, one well-regarded member of Crichton family was James Crichton
James Crichton
James Crichton, known as the Admirable Crichton , was a Scottish polymath noted for his extraordinary accomplishments in languages, the arts, and sciences before his killing when aged 21.-Life:...
(known as 'The Admirable Crichton').
Religious upheaval
A new period of disruption came in the form of religious rebellion. 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...
, King of Great Britain in the mid-17th century, was a closet Papist who called a priest to his death-bed to be given the last-rites of the Catholic Church. The Covenanter
Covenanter
The Covenanters were a Scottish Presbyterian movement that played an important part in the history of Scotland, and to a lesser extent in that of England and Ireland, during the 17th century...
s were dedicated Scottish Presbyterians devoted to maintaining Presbyterianism
Presbyterianism
Presbyterianism refers to a number of Christian churches adhering to the Calvinist theological tradition within Protestantism, which are organized according to a characteristic Presbyterian polity. Presbyterian theology typically emphasizes the sovereignty of God, the authority of the Scriptures,...
as the sole form of church organisation in Scotland. They led Scotland into England’s civil wars of the period against King Charles (and later against Cromwell). Throughout the 17th century, there was fighting and persecution by both sides.
Sanquhar was a hotbed of unrest during the Covenanting period. With its position as the only major town in a large area, and situated by the River Nith
River Nith
The River Nith is a river in South West Scotland.-Source, flow and mouth:The Nith rises in the Carsphairn hills of East Ayrshire, more precisely between Prickeny Hill and Enoch Hill, 7 km East of Dalmellington...
, it seemed that whenever any remarkable political movement was going on people would go to Sanquhar to proclaim their testimonies on the subject. It was here, in 1680, that Richard Cameron, with a band of armed supporters, posted on the town cross the first declaration of Sanquhar renouncing allegiance to Charles II. The year 1685 saw the second declaration, by James Renwick, who also took a large armed party into Sanquhar, frightening all the townspeople who thought a battle was coming. The Sanquhar Declaration
Sanquhar Declaration
The Sanquhar Declaration is a speech read by Covenanter, Richard Cameron, accompanied by twenty armed men in the public square of Sanquhar, Scotland, in 1680, disavowing allegiance to Charles II and the government of Scotland, in the name of "true Protestant and Presbyterian interest", opposition...
s, as they are known, set forth the basis of religious freedom in Scotland. Sanquhar’s location also led those who were hunted and persecuted to pass through or hide in the area.
The end of the Covenanting period in the early 18th century was not the last religious upheaval for the area. The Church of Scotland
Church of Scotland
The Church of Scotland, known informally by its Scots language name, the Kirk, is a Presbyterian church, decisively shaped by the Scottish Reformation....
was torn by several disputes over the years. One of the major issues was whether the local populations or church headquarters could hire local ministers. In the 1830s many churches seceded and in 1843 a large number of churches broke away to form the Free Church of Scotland. The time was known as the “Great Disruption”
Religion in the United Kingdom
Religion in the United Kingdom and the states that pre-dated the UK, was dominated by forms of Christianity for over 1,400 years. Although a majority of citizens still identify with Christianity in many surveys, regular church attendance has fallen dramatically since the middle of the 20th century,...
. In Sanquhar the minister was leaning towards the new splinter groups, mostly at the urging of his wife. When she died he lost his nerve. The split came and he stayed behind, along with most of his parishioners. He kept his job and his church house, but lost the respect of the community. The creation of the Free Church in Sanquhar, and the wobbling of this minister, left many hard feelings in the town. There was hardly a family that wasn’t torn apart by the disputes. At this point the parish records become a shambles, and hardly a birth or marriage was recorded until civil registration started in 1855.
Sanquhar was legally recognized by the crown as early as the 15th century and was made a royal burgh in 1598. Despite the political unrest in the area agriculture began to flourish in the early 18th century. Local industries came into their own, particularly coal mining. Coal had been dug in the area for hundreds of years, but more advanced methods helped the industry grow. Other industries that depended on coal, such as weaving, carpet making and forges began to appear.
Robert Burns
In the 1780s the legendary Scottish poet Robert BurnsRobert Burns
Robert Burns was a Scottish poet and a lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland, and is celebrated worldwide...
was a frequent visitor to Sanquhar. When he was renovating a farm in 1788 he often passed through on the way back to his wife, Jean, in Ayrshire. Afterwards he became a well-known face because of his excise duties. Burns called the town “Black Joan” in his ballad “Five Carlins” in which he represented the local burghs as characters. He would stay overnight at the Queensberry Arms in the High Street, making friends with the owner and calling it “the only tolerable Inn in the place”.
Wool trade
The woolWool
Wool is the textile fiber obtained from sheep and certain other animals, including cashmere from goats, mohair from goats, qiviut from muskoxen, vicuña, alpaca, camel from animals in the camel family, and angora from rabbits....
trade had been an important one in the coastal trading towns of Dumfriesshire
Dumfriesshire
Dumfriesshire or the County of Dumfries is a registration county of Scotland. The lieutenancy area of Dumfries has similar boundaries.Until 1975 it was a county. Its county town was Dumfries...
and Kirkcudbright
Kirkcudbright
Kirkcudbright, is a town in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland.The town lies south of Castle Douglas and Dalbeattie, in the part of Dumfries and Galloway known as the Stewartry, at the mouth of the River Dee, some six miles from the sea...
since medieval times and by the 18th century Sanquhar had developed as an inland market centre. The Sanquhar Wool Fair, held in July, regulated the prices for the whole south of Scotland. A distinctive two-coloured pattern of knitting which is widely known as 'Sanquhar knitting' takes its name from this small parish. A traveller’s account early in the 18th century tells us: 'Gloves they make better and cheaper than in England, for they send great quantities thither.' Many a poor farm family supported themselves with extra income from these sought-after knitted garments. While knitting died out as an industry, the presentation of traditional Sanquhar gloves is an important part of local celebrations even today.
During the 18th century the life of a weaver was enviable. They earned good wages and worked at their looms indoors, often at their homes. They could work whatever hours they wanted, and could take time off in autumn to help farmers with their harvests. It was said that any time there was a noise in the streets all the weavers would be the first ones to drop their work, run out and begin gossiping about the matter. Towards the end of the century, however, advances in technology made the home shops less profitable, and many of Sanquhar’s weavers found themselves looking for other work.
Crawick Village
Other work came in the form of a carpet factory, along the Crawick WaterRiver Nith
The River Nith is a river in South West Scotland.-Source, flow and mouth:The Nith rises in the Carsphairn hills of East Ayrshire, more precisely between Prickeny Hill and Enoch Hill, 7 km East of Dalmellington...
. At first it consisted of a few separate looms, but by the 1830s there was a large factory, boasting 54 looms at its height. The carpets made here were world-renowned for their durability and orders came from as far away as South America. A large proportion of their total production was shipped to Valparaíso
Valparaíso
Valparaíso is a city and commune of Chile, center of its third largest conurbation and one of the country's most important seaports and an increasing cultural center in the Southwest Pacific hemisphere. The city is the capital of the Valparaíso Province and the Valparaíso Region...
, Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
.
The location along the Crawick River was also the home of John Rigg’s forge. In the late 18th century he had been persuaded to move here from Dalston in Cumbria to supply tools for the coalfields. He made a damhead opposite the village of Crawick and used the water to power his factory. The water separated the parishes of Sanquhar and Kirkconnel
Kirkconnel
Kirkconnel is a small parish and town in Dumfries and Galloway, southwestern Scotland. It is located on the A76 near the head of Nithsdale. Kirkconnel led a more quiet existence than neighboring towns like Sanquhar. Principally it has been a farming community. There are few buildings of any...
, and although the forge was on the Kirkconnel side, Sanquhar always laid claim to it. The forge produced shovels and other tools into the 20th century.
The village of Crawick had once been known as a haven for witches
Witchcraft
Witchcraft, in historical, anthropological, religious, and mythological contexts, is the alleged use of supernatural or magical powers. A witch is a practitioner of witchcraft...
. One story is that the parish minister’s cows began making milk that would not churn. He sent one of his servants to tie a branch from a rowan
Rowan
The rowans or mountain-ashes are shrubs or small trees in genus Sorbus of family Rosaceae. They are native throughout the cool temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere, with the highest species diversity in the mountains of western China and the Himalaya, where numerous apomictic microspecies...
tree over the doorway of the witch’s house in Crawick, which ended the curse. For a long time a large rowan tree flourished in the front yard of the church, perhaps partly to keep these evil spirits away. Life in Crawick was described beautifully by James Brown, in his History of Sanquhar:
“Crawick Mill was a clean tidy little hamlet pleasantly embosomed on the banks of the Crawick and sheltered from almost every wind that blew, and there was no happier colony of weavers to be found in any country district in Scotland. They were almost all natives, whose whole life associations were connected with the place. We have no pleasanter memory than that of the weavers playing quoits, of which they were very fond, on the summer evenings on the "Alley", a long strip of ground on the banks of the stream behind the Village, while their wives, with their clean "mutches" sat about or sauntered up and down chatting and gossiping, and the bairns were either scrambling along the wooded banks of the Crawick or "paidling" in its clear water, the pleasant babble of the stream as it rushed over the dam-head mingling with the voices of the men at their game and the joyous shouts and laughter of the children.”
Between 1885 and 1916, Crawick even had its own post office (known as Crawick Bridge); it also had gas-powered streetlights two years before the rest of the town of Sanquhar. All of this came to a sad end when one of the owners of the factory died, and the others squabbled. By 1860 the factory was shut down. Many of the weavers moved to larger cities to keep their trade. The forge, and the nearby colliery, kept people employed until the 20th century. During the period just before World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
many people moved away, and the little hamlet was all but deserted. Only a few homes stand there now, the occupants little aware of the industries that once thrived there.
Sanquhar more recently
Toll road
A toll road is a privately or publicly built road for which a driver pays a toll for use. Structures for which tolls are charged include toll bridges and toll tunnels. Non-toll roads are financed using other sources of revenue, most typically fuel tax or general tax funds...
in the centre of town, which is the only surviving building of this type designed by him. Built in 1731, much of the building materials for it were taken from the old castle in Sanquhar and it is currently used as the town museum, containing local artifacts and memorabilia. In 1800 the population of Sanquhar was 2,350. It grew to 3,268 by the year 1830, but by 1991 had collapsed again to 2,910. Today it stands at about 2,100.
The sport of curling
Curling
Curling is a sport in which players slide stones across a sheet of ice towards a target area. It is related to bowls, boule and shuffleboard. Two teams, each of four players, take turns sliding heavy, polished granite stones, also called "rocks", across the ice curling sheet towards the house, a...
runs in the blood of people from Sanquhar. The town has the world’s oldest curling society, formed in 1774 with sixty members. James Brown, who wrote an important history of the town, is also credited with writing the rules universally used for the sport. The witches of Crawick were known for casting hexes on other teams. There were tournaments where the prize was a sack of grain. The winning team would get the food and distribute it to the poor and needy in their hometown.
In the arts, the Sanquhar Pantomime Group performs a traditional Christmas pantomime
Pantomime
Pantomime — not to be confused with a mime artist, a theatrical performer of mime—is a musical-comedy theatrical production traditionally found in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Jamaica, South Africa, India, Ireland, Gibraltar and Malta, and is mostly performed during the...
in aid of local charities. An annual occurrence during the 1990s, it now alternates with a production by the local primary School.
Every year, on the Saturday closest to 18 August, the Royal Burgh of Sanquhar holds its annual Riding of the Marches. This week-long event celebrates the Royal Burgh, through the selection of a "Queen" and her "Attendants" from fourth-year girls in the secondary school, and a parade of lorries and horses, to name but a few events. Many of the pubs are busy during this time, indeed it's been noted that some publicans begin to have delusions of grandeur during this period.
The railway line has remained open for freight and passenger traffic, however the station was closed and only re-opened in recent years.
Neighbouring hills
Sanquhar sits in the Nith valley in close proximity to ranges of interesting hills on either side, the Carsphairn and ScaurCarsphairn and Scaur Hills
The Carsphairn and Scaur hills are the western and eastern hills respectively of a hill range in the Southern Uplands of Scotland. Ordnance Survey maps don't have a general name for the hill area as a whole. Also, Ordnance Survey use "Scar" rather than the local spelling of "Scaur" - the word is...
range to the west and the Lowther hills
Lowther Hills
The Lowther Hills, also sometimes known as the Lowthers, are an extensive area of hill country in the Southern Uplands of Scotland, though some sub ranges of hills in this area also go under their own local names - see "Hill Walking" below. They form a roughly rhomboidal or lozenge shape on the map...
to the south east. These hills offer excellent possibilities for the outdoor enthusiast. The Southern Upland Way
Southern Upland Way
Opened in 1984, the Southern Upland Way is a coast to coast walk in Scotland between Portpatrick in the west and Cockburnspath in the east....
passes through the town on its way from Portpatrick
Portpatrick
Portpatrick is a village hanging on to the extreme south-westerly tip of mainland Scotland, cut into a cleft in steep cliffs.Dating back historically some 500 years, and built adjacent to the ruins of nearby Dunskey Castle, its position on the Rhins of Galloway affords visitors views of the...
on Scotland's west coast to Cockburnspath
Cockburnspath
Cockburnspath is a village in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland. It lies near the North Sea coast between Berwick-upon-Tweed and Edinburgh. It is at the eastern extremity of the Southern Upland Way, a long-distance footpath from the west to east coast of Scotland, and it is also the terminus...
on the east.