Ayrshire Housing Part 5

45. Craigbank, Parish of New Cumnock

(Owned by the New Cumnock Collieries, Limited.)
Craigbank Village was formerly owned by the late Bank Colliery, but now belongs to the New Cumnock Collieries, Limited. The village forms a square, and has a population of 247 persons. The back row of this square has two earth-closets, one of which has no roof. No one can ask friends to come here. How the people who are condemned to live here manage to exist is a mystery. It is alleged that one lady visitor lately had to go out into the open moss, no other accommodation being available. She is not likely to repeat the experience. Such is the shameful state of affairs here. The houses are two-apartment ones, many of them consisting of two storeys, the room above the kitchen.

There are a number of new houses in course of erection presently (13th November 1913), of a superior character. They consist of two rooms and a kitchen, the kitchen 12 feet by 12 feet, the rooms each 12 feet by 10 feet. There is a bathroom, water-closet, scullery, and coal-bunker, all on the premises. There is an oven grate in the kitchen and a sink. The rooms are also provided with handsome grates. If these houses are not too highly rented they will be a boon to the mining families who get them.

46. Burnfoot Row, Parish of New Cumnock

(Owned by the New Cumnock Collieries, Limited.)
Burnfoot Row, about three miles from New Cumnock, consists of four blocks of houses, containing in all forty-one houses. It was formerly owned by the Lanemark Coal Company, now by the New Cumnock Collieries, Limited. Burnfoot might, in common parlance, be termed the limit. My colleague has described Drongan, Cronberry, and Darnconner, which seemed to be the worst possible. Burnfoot could give all of them points, and win in a contest for abominations.

There are 234 human beings in this village. There are six earth-closets of two compartments each, having no doors, and with ash-pits attached, the contents of which had long ago overflowed their walls, and were strewn about in a manner indescribable. Three of these abominations are set in between the blocks, the gables of the houses forming the walls of the alley leading to them, with a wall from gable to gable completely shutting out egress to the field. There are no washing-houses and no coal-houses, except the wooden sheds built by the tenants.

The first block consists of 10 two-apartment houses, the kitchen measuring 14 feet by 11 1/2 feet, the room 11 feet by 9 feet. The rent is 2s. 3d. a week.

The second block consists of 12 single-apartment houses, measuring 16 feet by 11 feet. The rent is 1s. 8d. a week.

The third block has eight houses, the same as to dimensions as the first block.

Fourth block has 11 two-apartment houses, with sculleries, in which there is a boiler. The rent here is 2s. 9d. a week. The pathways to and before all the houses are unpaved, and very, very dirty in wet weather.

47. Craigmark, Parish of Dalmellington

(Owned by Dalmellington Iron Company, Limited.)
Craigmark lies about a mile from the town of Dalmellington, in the Parish of Dalmellington, and consists of six rows containing 52 two-apartment houses and 21 single - 73 in all.

Although the frontage is unpaved, the pathways are fairly clean. Each house has a water-closet and a coal-house, with a washing-house for about every four tenants. All the houses are built of stone, and are between sixty and seventy years old. The rents are - double houses 2s. 3d. per week, and singles 1s. 9d. There are two inset iron beds in the kitchens, but some of the houses are rather small. One kitchen might be described as a lobby, as it measures 14 feet by 8 feet. The room was equally narrow, and this house contained eleven persons. Many of the people complain of the lack of repairs, and some of those we saw were indeed greatly in need of attention. The sewage arrangements, too, leave much to be desired. The arrangement consists of what seems to be a settling tank, and we were informed that it was never cleaned and was very offensive in hot weather. Some repairs and some attention to the sewage would greatly increase the comfort of the people.

48. Fardlehill, near Kilmarnock

(Owned by Caprington Coal Company, Limited.)

Fardlehill is a small place about a mile from Kilmarnock, on the Irvine road, containing 10 two-apartment houses. There are two rows - one of four, the other of six houses.

The kitchens measure 12 feet by 10 1/2 feet, the rooms 10 feet by 9 feet.

There are two dry-closets, with doors, and two open ash-pits, but there are no washing-houses nor any coal-houses, the tenants requiring to keep their coal below the bed.

The floors are of brick tiles, but underneath the beds there is nothing but the bare earth. When we visited this place (26th November 1913) we found women doing their washing on the middle of the kitchen floor, which is bad for all concerned.

The pathway is unpaved and very dirty in wet weather. At No. 1 Row we found the cesspool chocked, in consequence of which a considerable quantity of mud was collected, and the house in front very damp.

There seems to be considerable subsidence here, as one of the gables was shored up, and several rents were seen in the walls.

The houses look very old, are built of stone, and are rented at 1s. 7 1/2d. per week.

There is a supply of gravitation water.

49. Kelk Place, near Kilmarnock

(Owned by Caprington Coal Company, Limited.)
Kelk Place is a village of thirty dwellings, also about a mile from Kilmarnock, on the Irvine road. These at one time must have been superior houses, but are now sadly out of repair. One house which we visited (26th November 1913) was very dilapidated, owing to the ceiling being badly broken, and there were large rents across. This is due to subsidence from underground workings. The houses are of four apartments. The kitchen measures 18 feet by 12 feet, one of the rooms might pass, 10 feet by 9 feet, but the other two are mere closets, 9 feet by 6 feet each, and all of them are entered in a line from the kitchen. There are no beds in the kitchen. All are built of brick, and are said to be about seventy years old.

There is a supply of gravitation water.

There are no washing-houses. There are two dry-closets to every six families, one with a door, the other without a door, with one very small open ash-pit to every two closets. There are small wooden coal-houses. There are gardens behind, a small plot in front, and many of them are cultivated.

The pathways are unpaved and dirty, the cesspools being within a couple of foot of the door.

The rent is 1s. 10 ½d. a week.

These houses, which are built in five blocks of six each, might be made tolerable if washing-houses and water-closets were erected. We would strongly urge that the front pathways should be paved here. This would add greatly to the comfort and cleanliness of these houses, as well as of all the other houses which have unpaved pathways.

50. Busbie Rows, Parish of Kilmaurs

(privately owned.)
Busbie Rows, about a quarter of a mile from Cross-house, on the Kilmaurs road, is a melancholy. looking village from the outside. The inside view does not give a better impression. These rows formerly belonged to a colliery company, but are now privately owned. They are built of brick, and said to be about twenty-four years old, but they are very much older than their years, as the material, so it is alleged, was brought from Birnieknowe, where it had formed old houses.

Busbie Rows are locally known as the "Bug" rows, because of the importation of the insect with the wood and the bricks. These houses certainly do not look wholesome.

1st Row. - There are in all six rows, the first row consisting of 10 two-apartment houses, with porches both back and front. The kitchen measures 12 feet by 11 feet, and the room about the same. The front porch is 8 feet by 5 feet, the back porch 4 feet by 4 feet.

There are two closets for this row, one with a door the other with no door, and one small, dirty, open ash-pit.

The rent of this row is 2s. 6d. a week. It is owned, so we were informed, by Mr Lamont, of Crosshouse.

2nd Row. - The second row consists of 4 two-apartment houses similar to first row, except that there is only one porch in front, 9 feet by 4 feet. The kitchen floor is of cement, the room floor of wood. These houses are overrun by rats. There are no coal-houses, the coal being placed below the beds, which have no floors. This, as well as the other four rows, are said to belong to a Mr Thompson, of Wishaw.

3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th Rows. - Rows Nos. 3, 4, 5, and 6 are single-apartment houses. They measure 15 foot by 12 feet. The rent is 1s. 6d. a week.

There is a washing-house for every six tenants, but no coal-houses. There is one closet for every six houses, having no door, and one small open ash-pit. Both are too filthy for words.

The pathways are unpaved, and are very dirty, often having pools of dirty stagnant water. The open syvor is 4 feet from the doors.

There is a supply of gravitation water.

This, in our opinion, is the worst village in the Crosshouse district. We can suggest no remedy. The houses seem to be beyond remedy, and fit only to be razed to the ground and the rubbish carted to the nearest public coup.

Additional information from James Brown, Minutes of evidence

"Take the case of the Busbie Rows, the material to build these houses was brought from Birnieknowe, with the result that these houses for years have been practically uninhabitable. I must say they are the dingiest houses we have in Ayrshire". (Commission asks why?) "Because of the old material that was put into them. The result was that they were infested with insects."

51. Hemphill, Parish of Kilmaurs

(Owned by Messrs J. & R. Howie, Limited.)

Hemphill is a small village of twenty-one houses, forming a half-square. It looks dingy, but the inside is rather better than the outside. These are two-apartment houses, built of brick. The kitchen is 13 feet by 12 feet, the room 12 feet by 9 feet.

There is one ash-pit and four dry-closets for the place, all very dirty when we saw them on 26th November 1913. There are coal-houses for all, and there are four very nice looking washing-houses.

The paths were unpaved, but were covered with very rough red "blaes," which, although against the appearance of the place, kept the pathways dry.

There is a supply of gravitation water.

The rent is 2s, per week. At the time of our visit there were ten empty houses.

52. Burnfoothill, Parish of Dalmellington

(Owned by Dalmellington Iron Company Limited)

What is known as Burnfoothill is composed of rows, of various names numbering, when we visited it on November 27th, 1913, about 256 dwellings. The great majority of those are single-apartment houses ; indeed they were all, with a very few exceptions, originally built as single-apartment houses, but some families, in the course of time, have obtained two of these houses, which gives them rooms and kitchens. A number of the doors of these are built up, so that they are permanent double houses. We were informed by an old man that the dwellings formerly numbered 350, the difference being explained by this later formation of the double houses from two single ones.

The houses are all owned by the Dalmellington Iron Company, Limited, the majority of them built of stone, and every one of them lacking in even the elementary conveniences of life. Many families have absolutely no washing-house, no coal-house, no ash-pit, no closet. What do the people do? That is a question which should not be asked too loudly. From time to time one hears rumours that fever is rife here. We have only these rumours to go by, but there is certainly plenty of fever breeding ground.

Here are a few suggestive figures from the County Medical Officers Report for 1912. What is given as Ayr District embraces the following parishes, viz. Auchinleck, Ayr (Landward), Coylton, Dalmellington, Dalrymple, Monkton, Muirkirk, New Cumnock, Ochiltree, Old Cumnock (Landward), Stair, and Tarbolton.

For these parishes there is a total of 382 cases of all kinds. Three parishes had 223 cases, viz., New Cumnock 46, Coylton 53, Dalmellington 124. Take them in detail. The Ayr District had 40 cases diphtheria, 12 of these from the Parish of Dalmellington. There were 283 cases of scarlet fever, 101 of these from the Parish of Dalmellington ; 22 enteric cases, 8 from Parish of Dalmellington ; 29 cases erysipelas, 3 from Dalmellington. The remaining 8 are the less common diseases.

NB. Burnfoothill, at which there are no conveniences, is in the Parish of Dalmellington. It would be interesting to know how many came from Burnfoothill.

53. Ponnessen Rows

1st Row. - The first houses visited on the way up from Patna were Ponnessen Rows. There are three rows, the first built of stone, containing twenty-two families. About three-fourths of these are in single-apartment houses, with sculleries. The kitchen measures 18 feet by 11 feet, the sculleries 9 feet by 8 feet. There is no washing-house, but generally there are boilers in the sculleries, but bought by the tenants. There are no coal-houses, the coal usually being placed below the bed. There are no closets in the proper sense, but a tenant may apply to the Company, who may give him a wooden erection, ready made, not much larger than a sentry-box. This is set up, but nothing more, for the tenant has to place in his own pail and to empty them, and as there are no ash-pits the matter is either scattered among the ashes or put on ground called a garden.

The rent for single houses is 1s. 9d. a week, for double 3s. 6d.

The paths in front are unpaved, and when we saw them were lying under pools of water.

The ashes and slop pails are emptied in front of the houses on the open moor. In spite of everything, the people in this row, as in all the other rows, are of a superior appearance.

2nd Row. - The second row is built of brick. It contains twenty-three families, and is hardly anything different from the first row. Here there are no coal-houses, no washing-houses, no ash-pits, and only the same tiny wooden closets. Hardly the half of the people had them. The rent is the same also. The majority are single-apartment houses.

3rd Row. - The third-row is built of stone, and houses twenty families. The houses are the same size, the same rent, the same lack of accommodation. Three or four of these are two-apartment houses, the rest single. Ashes and slop pails are emptied on moor in front, with the same irritatingly small wooden hutches for closets, when the tenant is fortunate enough to get one.

There is a supply of gravitation water which is brought from the surrounding hills. Paths both back and front are unpaved and muddy, and the open syvor which runs along all three rows is very flat and sluggish, the tenants themselves often having to look after them in wet weather. There is no sewage, unless one might call an iron pipe such, which empties itself on the moor a few yards from the doors.

54. Lethanhill

1st Row. - The next series of rows are called Lethanhill, but every one has a distinctive name given by the people. That which we called the first row has 21 two-apartment houses, built of brick. The kitchen is about 17 feet by 11 1/2 feet, the room about 9 feet by 9 feet, the scullery 8 feet by 7 feet or thereby. The rent is 2s. 3d. a week. There is a supply of gravitation water. The paths are unpaved and very muddy. There is not a single ash-pit, coal-house, nor closet, with the exception of the wooden hutch already mentioned, which the tenants have to clean out, scattering the matter as they think fit. The boiler in the scullery is the property of the tenant.

2nd Row. - The second row is a replica of No. 1. The houses are damp, the rain having easy access at some of the front doors. If there is any difference from the first, there are fewer of those diminutive closets. Coals usually kept in scullery. Ashes and refuse scattered in front and at back in a horrible mixture. These houses are sadly in need of repair. There are twenty-three houses in this row.

Briggate Row. - What is called the Briggate Row contains eighteen dwellings, single apartments generally, with sculleries. The kitchen and scullery are of the usual size here, and the rent is 1s. 9d. a week. There is a supply of gravitation water, but the people complain of the scarcity of water, there being but one well for two rows. There are no washing-houses nor coal-houses. Only nine of the tenants have those wooden closets, though the others would be glad to get even one of them. The fronts and backs are, of course, unpaved, and in the usual condition of unpaved paths. There in one broken-down ash-pit, the first we had seen in the whole of the district. We were told there was actually one other in some other row, though we had not discovered it as yet.

White Brick Row. - White Brick Row consists of 20 single-apartment houses, but a few families occupy two. Rent of single 1s. 9d., double 3s. 6d. per week. There are also one or two originally built two-apartment houses at a rent of 3s. a week.

The kitchens here are 21 feet by 12 feet, the sculleries 9 feet by 8 feet.

There are no coal-houses, no washing-houses, no closets, but the impertinent apologies so often mentioned, and even these are not sufficient to give one to every house. The washing-boiler belongs to the tenant, as in other rows.

People complain of prevalence of epidemic disease. It would be a miracle if it were otherwise. The other remaining ash-pit was found here.

Stone Row. - The Stone Row has 20 two-apartment houses. The kitchens measure 17 feet by 11 feet, the rooms 9 feet by 9 feet, scullery 9 1/2 feet by 8 feet. The rent is 2s. 3d. a week.

No ash-pit, no coal-house, no washing-house, no closets except a few of the kind peculiar to this district, the small wooden erections.

We learned from an old man that the age of all the houses in the rows was about sixty or seventy years. There is one well of gravitation water. The paths were in the usual unpaved, muddy condition. The people complain that they cannot ask anyone to visit them because of the want of accommodation.

Whaup Row. - The Whaup Row has twenty-four houses, single apartments, but eight families occupy sixteen of them as rooms and kitchens. The rent is 1s. 9d for single and 3s. 6d. for double houses.

No washing-houses - one woman was standing in the rain washing (27th, Novenber 1913) - no closets, except a few a la Burnfoothill, no ash-pits ; but each house has a small brick-built coal-house. The kitchen measures about 18 feet by 10 1/2 feet, the sculleries 9 feet by 6 feet. Gravitation water.

Old School Row. - The Old School Row is built of brick, and contains 28 two-apartment houses. The kitchen is 17 feet by 11 feet, the room 9 feet by 8 feet, the scullery 10 feet by 8 feet.

The accommodation is the same as in former rows. No coal-house, no washing-house, no closets except the small wooden one, and we were told that these can hardly be got, one tenant having had to wait years for one. The open syvor at back is very sluggish, and when flooded by rain causes shameful conditions. Here, as elsewhere, the tenant must empty his closet, with no place provided to receive contents, consequently contents must be flung out exposed on the moor.

Rents are 2s. 3d. a week. This row has the right to a share in the only ash-pit in the district.

Step Row. - The Step Row has eighteen dwellings, in some cases the family occupying two. The kitchen is about 17 feet by 11 feet, the scullery 9 feet by 7 feet. The rent is 1s. 6d. a week.

There are no ash-pits, no washing-houses, no coal-houses, with only a few of the small wooden closets.

There is a supply of gravitation water.

Summary. - The lack of conveniences at this large village is disgraceful, and not worthy of such an important Company as the Dalmellington Iron Company, Limited. The people in every row gave evidence of being able to appreciate better conditions. We trust better conditions, will be given to them.

55. Kilgrammie Rows, Parish of Dailly

(Owned by V. C. Dalrymple-Hamilton, leased by the Killochan Coal Company, Limited.)
Kilgrammie Rows are beautifully situated on Kilgrammie Hill, rather better than 2 miles above the village of Dailly. It is probably the finest site in Ayrshire for a village, but the village as it stands is one of the worst, both as to type of house and conveniences. Happily it is not a large village, there being only thirty-one dwellings in it. It is leased by the Killochan Coal Company, Limited, from Mr V. C. Dalrymple-Hamilton.

New Row.- In what is called the New Row there are ten houses of two apartments, the kitchen measuring 12 feet by 12 feet, the room about the name. The row is built of brick and rough-cast.

There is a dry-closet at the back for every two houses, with two open ash-pits. There are coal-houses, but no washing-houses.

The ash-pits, when we visited the row on 4th December 1913, were full of water, and about 35 yards from the houses we saw the emptyings of these ash-pits, which had been dumped down from time to time regardless of decency or of health. A few yards from the ash-pits it was really an awful looking mess.

The path in front is unpaved, very dirty, and broken, owing to the rain and usage having worn much of it away.

Some of these houses are out of repair, although only about nine years old. One doorstep was completely broken down, and already this row has a drab, dirty appearance.

The rent is 2s. 6d. a week.

Old Row, No. 1. - The Old Row No. 1, consists of six houses, two having two apartments and four only one.

The rent of the double-house is 2s. a week, the single one 1s. 9d. a week. We were told that the age of these houses was fully a hundred years.

There is one dry-closet of two compartments, one of which had no door, and ashes and filth were strewn around. There is no ash-pit, no coal-house, and of course no washing-house.

The single houses measure 16 feet by 11 feet. The double house measures - kitchen 14 feet by 9 feet, the room 18 feet by 10 feet.

The floors are of brick tile, very badly broken.

The coals are kept below the bed, and the washing is done on the middle of the floor. One woman we saw in a one-apartment house doing her washing there. A wet winter day, an abominable path into the house, a floor littered with dirty clothes ready for the wash, made a picture which one is almost ashamed to think about.

The houses are very damp, and much of the plaster is badly broken. All of them need repair.

The fronts are unpaved and filthy. All around were ashes, filth, and broken glass, with the other rubbish which one sees in an ash-pit. The truth about this row would seem to one who had not seen it the wildest exaggeration. The whole row is a pollution.

Old Row, No. 2. - What we call No. 2 Old Row really consists of but two dwellings of two apartments each. The kitchen measures 14 feet by 11 feet, and the room about the same.

There is a dry-closet for these two houses, but no coal-house or washing-house.

The path was unpaved but clean and altogether this row is superior to the rows already mentioned.

There are large and rather nice gardens to them, and the rent is 2s. a week.

Old Row, No. 3. - No. 3 Old Row also consists of 2 two-apartment houses, in size and conveniences the very same as No. 2 Row. The only difference is that the gardens seem to be a little larger.

Old Row, No. 4, or Low Row. - No. 4 Old Row, or Low Row, has 2 single- and 3 two-apartment houses.

The single house measures 16 feet by 12 feet, the kitchen of the double house 16 feet by 8 feet, the room about the same.

The rent for the single house is 1s. 9d. a week, the double house 2s. a week.

These houses are very old and out of repair. They are damp, and in some cases the rain gets in.

The roof seems to be so rotten that it cannot hold slates for any length of time, and in one house the water was being caught in a pail placed at the foot of the bed.

There is no washing-house, no coal-houses, the coals being kept below the beds. There is one dry-closet, but no ash-pit, the ashes being flung in heaps all around, both back and front.

Water Supply for whole Village. - The water supply is on a par with the village. It is simply surface water collected in a sort of well at which a pump is placed. This pump is about 300 yards distant, sitting on the side of the hill below the rows, and the surroundings of this pump were scandalous when we saw it. We were told that in summer time the water here is so thick and dirty that it has to be sieved through a fine cloth before it can be used. Many of the people prefer to go further down the hill to a common horse trough, which is on the public road.

56. Skares Rows, Parish of Old Cumnock

(Owned by William Baird & Company, Limited.)
Skares is a village of 118 houses, about 3 miles from the town of Old Cumnock. It is built in three rows, and all are two-apartment houses, one of the rows having a scullery besides. This is the front row, every house of which has a back and front door.

Front Row. - The paths are unpaved, the front being fairly clean, but the back is rather dirty, with pools of water here and there. There are forty-two dwellings here, built of stone, and the rent is £5 a year, exclusive of rates. There is a dry-closet for every five houses, and a washing-house for every eight. There are also ash-pits and coal-houses, but the usefulness of these is marred, in our opinion by all of them - the washing-house, coal-house, closet, and ash-pit - being built together practically under one roof.

The size of the kitchen is 14 feet by 11 feet, the room 10 feet by 10 feet.

There is a supply of gravitation water, but all the tenants complain about the quality of the water. It is said to be brought from a burn quite near, assisted by a receiving tank, also quite near, which, as might be expected, is discoloured in rainy weather. There is a scullery attached.

Second Row or Middle Row. - There are forty houses in the second, or Middle Row. It is built of brick, and the dimensions, rents, and accommodation are the same as the front row, minus the scullery and one tenant less for each closet.

The one marked difference is the concrete pavement in front of the doors. This gives the row a nice, clean appearance, and is really a boon to the womenfolk.

Third Row, or Back Row. - The Back Row consists of thirty-six houses. It is the same in every particular as the second row. Again we saw the difference the concrete pavements made. These should be before every door. The fronts were clean in spite of a rather sluggish open syvor and a badly bottomed roadway for vehicles. There are gardens, but only a few cultivated.

57. Glengyron Rows, Parish of Old Cumnock

(Owned by William Baird & company.)
Glengyron Rows are about a mile from Old Cumnock, and are owned by William Baird & Company, Limited. There are 44 two-apartment houses. Of these two families have three apartments at the expense of other two families, who have now only single apartments.

The kitchens measure 15 feet by 12 feet, the rooms 10 feet by 9 feet.

The rent is £4, 16s. a year, exclusive of rates.

The paths are unpaved, but not very dirty when we saw them on 4th December 1913,

There is one dry-closet for every three tenants, coal-houses for each tenant, and a washing-house for every six tenants. These are all under one roof which, in our opinion, is a bad arrangement. Some of the closets we saw were ill-kept, one with the door off, and very filthy.

The houses are in a bad state of repair. In one house we saw rain getting in and being caught in a basin. Another we saw with half of the window of the room boarded up. We were informed that it had been in this state for a year, in spite of repeated inquiries of the tenants as to when it would be glazed.

The floors are of brick tiles, and broken.

There is a supply of gravitation water taken from the supply of the Burgh of Old Cumnock.

58. Garallan Rows, Parish of Old Cumnock

(Leased by the Carraden Coal Company from Boswell of Garallan.)
Garallan Rows contain twenty-two houses, 4 being two-apartments and 18 single. It is leased from Boswell of Barallan by the Carraden Coal Company.

The rent for double houses is 2s. 1d. and 1s. 11d. for single. The single houses are back to back, and one of these has been halved, one half each being given to two tenants, thus making a small room.

The double houses measure - the kitchen 14 feet by 12 feet, the room 12 feet by 12 feet. The single houses measure 15 feet by 13 feet.

All of these are in a shameful state of repair. We saw in one house a pail placed in bed to catch the water which was coming in from the roof on 4th December 1913.

All of them are very damp. We saw in another house the roof discoloured and the paper hanging in shreds from the walls. One woman said to us - "Ane has nae heart to clean them, for your work is never seen." That is not difficult to believe. The floors are of brick tiles and badly broken. The rooms are wooden floored.

The paths are unpaved and unspeakably dirty, and there are dirty cesspools in front of the doors.

There are six dry-closets, ill-kept and dirty. We saw some of them with at least 3 inches of water lying in them, and some of the seats were covered with filth deposited by children, we presume, for no self-respecting adult could use them. There are no washing-houses and no coal-houses, the coals being kept below the bed.

The water supply, so we were informed, was from field drains.

This row is fully a mile from the town of Old Cumnock.

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