Dalserf is a small village of only a few streets in

South Lanarkshire South Lanarkshire (; ) is one of 32 unitary authorities of Scotland. It borders the south-east of the Glasgow City council area and contains some of Greater Glasgow's suburban towns, as well as many rural towns and villages. It also shares bor ...

, Scotland. It lies on the

River Clyde The River Clyde (, ) is a river that flows into the Firth of Clyde, in the west of Scotland. It is the eighth-longest river in the United Kingdom, and the second longest in Scotland after the River Tay. It runs through the city of Glasgow. Th ...

, east of

Larkhall Larkhall (, ) is a town in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, around southeast of Glasgow. It is twinned with Seclin in northern France. Larkhall sits on high ground between the River Clyde to the East and the Avon Water to the West. Larkhall ...

and south east of

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: * Alexander Hamilton (1755/1757–1804), first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States * ''Hamilton'' (musical), a 2015 Broadway musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda ** ''Hamilton'' (al ...

. Dalserf is also a traditional

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

. It includes

Ashgill Ashgill is a village in South Lanarkshire, Scotland near Larkhall. It is part of the Dalserf parish. The village church dates back to 1889. It is twinned with Saint-Cirq-Lapopie in France. The village has a shop, a chip shop and a hairdress ...

, Larkhall, Netherburn, Rosebank and Shawsburn. The parish has a population of 17,985 (mostly from Larkhall's near 15,500 population). The name of the village comes from the

Gaelic Gaelic (pronounced for Irish Gaelic and for Scots Gaelic) is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". It may refer to: Languages * Gaelic languages or Goidelic languages, a linguistic group that is one of the two branches of the Insul ...

''dail'', meaning "field", and

Serf Serfdom was the status of many peasants under feudalism, specifically relating to manorialism and similar systems. It was a condition of debt bondage and indentured servitude with similarities to and differences from slavery. It developed du ...

, the name of a 6th-century saint who dwelt here. Of old, it was also known as ''Machan'' or ''Machanshire'', from the Gaelic ''Maghan'' meaning "small plain". The village kirk, built in 1655, is dedicated to Saint Serf, and may be built on the site of an early church founded by him. The church dates from

The Killing Time The Killing Time was a period of conflict in Scottish history between the Presbyterian Covenanter movement, based largely in the southwest of the country, and the government forces of Kings Charles II of England, Charles II and James II of En ...

, when the rebel

Covenanter Covenanters were members of a 17th-century Scottish religious and political movement, who supported a Presbyterian Church of Scotland and the primacy of its leaders in religious affairs. It originated in disputes with James VI and his son C ...

s were persecuted for their faith, and was a centre of Covenanter activity.

John M'Millan John M'Millan was the founding Father of the Reformed Presbyterian Church. He was the first minister of the Cameronians after the Revolution Settlement. He was born at Minnigaff, near Newton Stewart in Kirkcudbrightshire, around 1669, and spen ...

, the controversial preacher and first post-Revolution minister of the United Societies, is buried in the kirkyard. The kirk is Category A listed. A ferry once operated across the Clyde at Dalserf, although this has long since been superseded by the nearby Garrion Bridge. Dalserf railway station once served the village.

References

External links

Dalserf Parish Church WebsiteDalserf Parish Church ListingVideo footage of the Dalserf hog-backed stone

Video footage of Dalserf Kirk
Villages in South Lanarkshire Parishes in Lanarkshire {{SouthLanarkshire-geo-stub

See also

References

External links