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In the late 1760s the owner was a Captain
William Cuningham, until he was prompted to
build in it's place a fine Georgian Mansion. He
was prompted to do this by a young woman - or
was it her father?
In about 1769 'Captain William Cuningham of
Achenskeith' set sail for the island of St
Kitts in the West Indies to collect sugar from
a plantation owned by a fellow Scot called
Colonel William McDowall. His plantation
manager, Robert Colquhoun, (also from the West
of Scotland) had a beautiful teenage daughter
called Agnes. Capt. William and Agnes fell in
love and he asked her father for her hand in
marriage. Robert Colquhoun agreed, and William
said, "I will take my new young wife back to my
old, cold, damp Castle in the west of Scotland
where we will live happily ever after!" His
prospective father-in-law replied "I don't
think so! As a dowry, I will finance the
building of a new home for you both, a
beautiful little Georgian Mansion. And as a
reminder of how it came to be, you must call it
after the money I have made here on St Kitts,
my 'Pieces of Eight' - the Spanish Dollar, or
as it was once known, the Dalar. You must name
the new house Dallars! Also, the facade must be
of the finest pink sandstone - a reminder of my
daughter's pretty, rosey cheeks." William whole
heartily agreed. He and Agnes married in 1770,
he was twenty six years old and she, by then,
twenty one. Their second child, a son also
called William, was born in late 1772. Dallars
House was completed in 1779 and as a final
reminder of its conception William and Agnes
planted a Spanish (or Sweet) Chestnut tree
close by, to the north west of the property. It
is still there to this day, just beyond the
wishing well. A friend of theirs at the time,
and occasional visitor, happened to be a
certain Robert Burns - a poet I believe!
In the mid 1800s the Second Marquess of Bute
died leaving a young widow, Lady Sophia
Hastings, Countess of Loudoun, and a six month
old son, the Third Marquess, John Patrick
Crichton Stuart. The 2nd Marquess' brother,
Lord James, was unhappy that he had not
inherited a fortune, and out of spite, denied
Lady Sophia and her son use of either Dumfries
House at Cumnock, or Mount Stuart on the Isle
of Bute. Lady Sophia adapted to her predicament
and rented Dallars House, not far from both
Loudoun and Dumfries House. They stayed in this
small country house between 1849 and 1853, when
they moved to Mount Stuart. For the full story
read 'The Grand Designer' by Rosemary
Hannah.
On the third of August 1962 Rab and Sylvia
Richards became the proud owners of Dallars,
unaware of its history - and condition!. In
1964 Aird Walker & Ralston, electricians
from Kilmarnock, recommended that the house be
rewired. In 1995 their sons, now the joint
custodians of this listed building, finally had
the job done! In the mid 1970s, to provide
employment and an income to maintain the house,
Dallars Riding School (now a livery yard) was
set up and so again horses grazed in the field
on the 'windy hill', where the castle had once
stood!
Some renovation work, including a new roof
and the division of the house into three
apartments was carried out in the late 1990s,
with the assistance of Historic Scotland and
the Clydesdale Bank.
In August 2012 the ground floor renovation,
the last part to be done, was finally completed
by the Richards - only fifty years after it was
probably required!
www.dallars.co.uk
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