McIlvaine Lands in Scotland


Photos of McIlvaine lands

From "The McIlvains - A Delaware Branch" by Donald L. McIlvain, 1999. Page 20. Our family [The McIlvaine family] has been primarily associated with three estates (Grimmet, Attiquin, and Thomaston) situated on or near the west coast of Scotland in the district of Carrick, in what is now Ayrshire. They are located near the Heads of Ayr about ten miles south of the city of Ayr. Their locations form the bottom of a rough triangle about twelve miles on each side, with the estate we know today as the "original" Grimmet at the eastern point near Dalmellington, with Attiquin, "new" Grimmet, and Thomaston at the western point, near Maybole and Kirkoswald. It is unknown why there are two Grimmets. The names of these estates live on to this day as working farms in the district, even though the original buildings no longer exist, except in the case of Thomaston. There was also at the northernmost point of the triangle, near Skeldoun, a settlement or estate dating to as early as 1258, of which nothing remains. Its site is still marked on modern maps as Macilveenston. The Carrick Gallovidian defines the origins of the place names of the district. The entries for the three estates are as follows: 1) Attiquin. 1 1/2 mile southeast of Maybole: in Carrick. [The] Gaelic [pronunciation is] ATADH H-UAIGHEAN. [The definition of the name is] Literally: the burial mounds. 2) Grimmet. A farm 1 1/4 miles northeast of Maybole: in Carrick. [The] Gaelic [pronunciation is] GRIOM AT. [The definition of the name is] Literally: The low hill of battle. 3) Thomaston. An ancient, onetime moat surrounded keep or bulwark, 3/4 mile southeast of Culzean Castle: in Carrick. [The] Gaelic [pronunciation is] TOM AIS TUINN. [The definition of the name is] Literally: The moat surrounded stronghold. These entries, while the definitions are subject to some dispute, give some idea of the derivation of the place names. It should be noted that the entry above does not refer to the Grimmet near Dalmellington, but to the Grimmet near Maybole often mentioned in later documents together with its neighbor, Attiquin.