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Craigman (NS 541 119)
Marchburn (NS 540 124)

The original farm of Craigman was situated just to the north of the site of Waterhead Castle, within a bend in the Beoch Lane. In 1514 the 4 merk lands of Craigman were held by Besseta Wallace and her spouse George Craufurd of Lefnories. Their son, William Craufurd, and his wife Agnes, had a royal charter from James V in 1533 for the '2 merk lands of Cragmain and 2 merk lands of Nether Beaux'( Beoch). In 1557 the property passed to the next generation of the family, George Craufurd and his spouse Margaret Creichtoun, although the occupant at that time was 'Elizabeth Craufurd, relict of John Makirwaill'. In the early decades of the 17th century the Craufurds of Lefnories began to sell up their properties in the parish of Cumnock (New an Old) with David Dunbar of Enterkin acquiring the lands of Beoch in 1622, whilst in 1653 William Crichton, Earl of Dumfries acquired the Lefnories lands, the future site of Dumfries House [1].

Craigman was held by Daniel Mitchell from some time before 1626 through to the middle of the century, possibly through his first wife Katherine Dunbar, presumably of the Enterkin branch of Dunbars . After her death he married Marion Cathcart, daughter of his near neighbour Allan Cathcart of Waterhead. Only the names of daughters, Joanna and Marion, appear in the Sasine Register, and the Mitchells lose their hold on Craigmain before the end of the century, but their names lives on in that of Mitchells' Sike, one of the many small tributaries of the Beoch Lane [2].

Haliburton of Craigman is listed as one of the heritors in the parish in 1667, when the Earl of Dumfries was successful in his action to annul the decision in 1650 to sub-divide the parish of Cumnock, into the two new parishes of Old and New Cumnock. This may be a George Haliburton of Pitcur, but when and how he became the landowner of Craigman is unclear [3].

Robert Crichton formerly of Auchtitench was in Waterhead in 1680, and in the same year his son John had a price put on his head for being with Richard Cameron 'The Lion of the Covenant', as the Sanquhar Declaration was nailed to the town's Mercat Cross.Four years later Robert was in Craigman and was one of many of the parishioners of New Cumnock that were interrogated as the authorities, tried to seek out the rebels, his son John was still at large [4]. He probably survived the "Killing Times", and the family held on to Craigman, where the first born of David Crichton and Margaret Howatson was baptised as John Crichton, in 1707, named after his Covenanting forefather [5].

However, Sir John Cochrane, lord of the neighbouring barony of Ochiltree, did suffer for his allegiance to the Covenanting cause. Denounced as a traitor his lands of Ochiltree along with his lands of Craigman, Beoch, Brunston and Greenhill in the barony of Cumnock, were in 1685, annexed to the crown [6]. Not too many tears in the Crichton household, since 5 years beforehand it was Sir John that had informed the government troops of Richard Cameron and his men's whereabouts, which led to him and eight others being killed at the Battle of Airdsmoss [4].

In the mid 19th century Craigman was home to agricultural labourers William Reid and George Morrison and their families(1841) and then later to John Lawrie and Irishman Andrew Orr and their families (1851), while James McQueen and his family were in Craigman Cottage on the banks of the Beoch Lane. Ten years later, in 1861, dairyman James Graham is in Craigman, son of William Graham, now 90 years old, who farmed Marchburn Farm, half-a-mile or so to the north of Craigman. William, was married to Isabella Campbell, daughter of Ivie Campbell (I) and Margaret Dunbar of Dalgig and had been farming the 110 acres of Marchburn for at least twenty years [7,8].

Place-names

Craigman 'rock of the mineral'
There are many names in the parish which contain the common place-name element craig. When it is the first element e.g. as in Craigman, Craigdarroch, Craigdullyeart then it is typically Gaelic creag 'rock' which of course gives us the Scots craig 'rock'.

An early form of the name, Craigmain (1533), suggests that the second element of the name could be Gaelic man, main 'hand', perhaps some reference to the shape of the rock. However, considering the mineral deposits in the area Gaelic meinn 'mineral' is worthy of consideration.

Identifying the rock in question is difficult in the current landscape. There is a small rocky outcrop south-west of Craigman, on the banks of the Beoch Lane called Dow Craig. This appears to be to be the Scots equivalent of Gaelic creag dhu 'black rock'. could this too be named after the mineral or coal reserves.

Marchburn 'boundary stream'
There are a number of march burns, or boundary burns in the parish, many applied to natural streams. In this case the farm takes its name from a man made linear March Burn [10], which possibly is the demarcation line between Marchburn and Craigman property.

Soon, there would be many men carrying the name Ivie in this corner of the parish and beyond. Ivie Campbell's (I ) son, Ivie (II) and his wife Jean Richmond succeeded to Dalgig while their son Ivie Campbell (III) and his wife Christina McCaig (she was also his cousin, daughter of his aunt Wilhemina Campbell and Thomas McCaig) were in Craigman in 1871, where he farmed 800 acres, only16 of which were arable. His neighbour at Marchburn was Ivie McKenzie, a quarryman, and his family. By 1881, Ivie (III) had moved to Marchburn, but the farm was re-named as Craigman; while his wife's brother William McCaig and his wife Jean McKerrow were in Craigman, now known as Old Craigman. By 1891, Old Craigman was uninhabited and by 1901 the name no longer appeared in the Census records [7,8]

Ivie Campbell (III) and his wife Christina were still in Marchburn in 1891and ten years later after his wife had died, he continued to live on at Marchburn which was now farmed by his son in law Andrew Smith and his daughter Jean Campbell; Andrew was the son of John Smith of nearby Beoch [7].

In the 1850's George Sloan and John Nisbet operated the small Craigman and Marchburn collieries, the landscape around Craigman peppered with coal-pits, but their partnership folded in 1857, with Nisbet turning his attention to the coal at Coalburn east of Dalgig, as did Ivie McKenzie. A graphite or wode mine was also opened close to Marchburn but the quality was not of what was required and this too closed. The Marquis of Bute having the mineral rights at that time of the lands of Craigman and Marchburn [9].

Ultimately, it was the rich coal reserves that resulted in Craigman (the former Marchburn) joining its predecessor 'Old Craigman' on the uninhabited list as the Open Cast workings of the late 20th and early 21st centuries continue to sweep relentlessly across this part of the parish. Today the deserted farmhouse of Craigman stands on the former site of Marchburn overlooking a landscape that would be unrecognisable to the "Ivie League".