30 To place editorial email inbox @ thereviewstewarton . com the history of the glencairn aisle , booklet and a restoration appeal
The Glencairn Aisle is perhaps our areas best kept secret , hidden as it is behind St Maurs-Glencairn Church in Kilmaurs . The aisle and monument have great potential as a tourist attraction and are historically part of the ancient St Maurs Kirk and College that has been linked with the Cunningham Clan and later the Earls of Glencairn from the earliest days , at a time when the ‘ Over Fork Over ’ legend had its origins at Stewarton ’ s Corsehill Castle .
The aisle contains the burial crypt of twentyone of the Cunninghams of Kilmaurs and Finlaystone and has wall plaque memorials to the Cunningham families from Robertland ,
Caprington and Corsehill . The historical gem however is the magnificent AD 1600 Glencairn Monument inside the aisle that has carvings of the 7th Earl and Countess of Glencairn with eight of their children , their coat of arms , etc ., shown as if the family were at a church service in their own ‘ Lairds Loft ’.
James Cunningham , the 14th Earl , also commemorated in the aisle , was Robert Burns ’ s main patron who persuaded 100 of his influential
friends to purchase Burns ’ s SECOND book of poems and this helped to make Robert into our National Bard and the worldwide acclaimed figure that he is today . Burns would have visited the Glencairn Aisle himself whilst at local cattle fairs or when on his journeys up to Dunlop to visit another supporter , Frances Dunlop . One of the gravestones lying against the aisle is that of a Kilmaurs minister who was given a sarcastic mention in Burns ’ s poem ‘ The Holy Fair ’, much to his annoyance !
The aisle has suffered much over the centuries , with its roof collapsing in 1840 , damaging the monument and the walls being partly robbed to provide whetstones for the Kilmaurs leather workers ! A pair of railway navies even smashed open the crypt at one point and Kilmaurs school children played amongst the ruins . In 1846 however the roof was replaced and in 1870 a Stewarton based stonemason partly restored the monument and crypt however , much still needs to be fixed , such as removing cement additions done to the monument and figures , securely attaching the earl and countesses heads , lowering the humidity that is eroding the stonework , improving external drainage , etc . etc .
A Glencairn Aisle history booklet has been published locally by The Print Room Scotland to raise funds through donations and our Facebook ‘ Glencairn Aisle and Monument , Kilmaurs ’ group page gives details of how to contribute to the restoration appeal as well as how to get a copy of the booklet . The ‘ Wee Art Shop ’ in Kilmaurs Main Street is one of our outlets .