Mauchline, United Kingdom

In 1544 George Wishart, an influential Protestant preacher, visited Mauchline to find the doors of St Michael's church barred against him. His reaction to this was to retreat to Mauchline Moor and to preach for over three hours to a large congregation, under the watchful eye of the Sheriff of Ayr and an armed force. John Knox also preached in Mauchline in 1599 after his return from exile in France and Switzerland. When the Scottish Parliament adopted the Scots Confession of 1560, the reformation was immediately accepted in Mauchline.

Later, Mauchline became something of a stronghold for the Covenanter movement. Mauchline Parish's minister at the time, Reverend George Young, signed the Covenant in Greyfriars Church in Edinburgh in 1633 and subscribed to the Solemn League and Covenant in 1643, and several battles and skirmishes took place in the area during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. In 1684 the Covenanter James Smith was wounded during a skirmish at Burn of Ann in Kyle. He was taken to Mauchline where he died in prison. In 1685 five men from the town were dragged out of their homes and executed at the loan. A monument was placed over their grave (this was removed in 1861 and replaced by a plinth, with the original monument being built into the wall of the school shed where it stands to this day). The Battle of Mauchline Muir took place in 1648 between Covenanters and Royalist troops. A Covenanters' flag from this battle still hangs in the church. The flag was also carried at the battles of Drumclog and Bothwell Brig.

The village has at some point been a centre for quarrying sandstone, clock making, box-work, and the production of curling stones.

The sandstone quarry dates back to the 18th century. The peak of production and demand was at the turn of the 19th century when over 200 men were employed at the quarry. A railway siding was installed and as many as 60 wagons a day were transported from Mauchline. Many old buildings throughout the West of Scotland are built with Mauchline sandstone, and stone was being sent as far away as America. After 1918 the use of sandstone declined (houses were built with bricks instead) and this coupled with increased costs meant that eventually, in the 1950s, the last quarry closed.

In the 18th century, Mauchline was renowned for clock making – John "Clockie" Brown is buried in the Kirkyard. The industry declined in the 19th century.

The production of Scottish white-wood products, or Mauchline ware, was carried out from the 1820s until 1939 by the firm of W & A Smith, among other less long-lived manufacturers. The wood used was sycamore. These boxes were extremely collectable. They ranged from the basic transfer as on small vases, each piece having the view of the place of purchase. The transfer subjects ranged across Scotland and more of the British Isles to the rest of the world. Tartan ware was also extremely popular as a result of the Smiths inventing a machine for "weaving" tartan designs on paper. Fernware was introduced in the 1870s. This involved applying actual ferns to the wood which was then stippled in dark brown, the ferns removed and the wood varnished. These products were sent all over the world. A fire in 1933 stopped production, which was never restarted, and W & A Smith finally closed down in 1939.

The making of curling stones began in the 19th century and for many years experienced full production, however for various reasons, the industry began to decline. Forty people were employed in the 1960s compared to a dozen now. However, the Kays of Scotland curling stone factory is now the only one of its kind in the world, leading to an upsurge in trade.