Moniaive ( 'monny-IVE'; , ''"The Holy Moor"'') is a village in the Parish of Glencairn, in

Dumfries and Galloway Dumfries and Galloway (; ) is one of the 32 unitary council areas of Scotland, located in the western part of the Southern Uplands. It is bordered by East Ayrshire, South Ayrshire, and South Lanarkshire to the north; Scottish Borders to the no ...

, southwest Scotland. It stands on the Cairn and Dalwhat Waters, north-west of the town of

Dumfries Dumfries ( ; ; from ) is a market town and former royal burgh in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, near the mouth of the River Nith on the Solway Firth, from the Anglo-Scottish border. Dumfries is the county town of the Counties of Scotland, ...

. Moniaive has been named best overall small village in the Nithsdale in Bloom competition five times in a row, from 2006 to 2011. The village streetscape was featured in the 2002 Peter Mullan film '' The Magdalene Sisters''. In 2004, ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' described the village as one of the 'coolest' in Britain. Renwick Monument Moniaive with Cairn Valley beyond

History

Moniaive has existed as a village as far back as the 10th century. On 4 July 1636 King Charles I granted a charter in favour of William, Earl of Dumfries, making Moniaive a 'free Burgh of Barony'. With this charter came the rights to set up a

market cross A market cross, or in Scots, a mercat cross, is a structure used to mark a market square in market towns, where historically the right to hold a regular market or fair was granted by the monarch, a bishop or a baron. History Market crosses ...

and

tolbooth A tolbooth or town house was the main municipal building of a Scotland, Scottish burgh, from medieval times until the 19th century. The tolbooth usually provided a council meeting chamber, a court house and a jail. The tolbooth was one of th ...

, to hold a weekly market on Tuesday and two annual fairs each of three days duration. Midsummer Fair was from 16 June and Michaelmas Fair on the last day of September.

Covenanting

In the 17th century, Moniaive became the refuge for the

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, a group of

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...

nonconformists who rebelled at having the

Episcopalian Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protes ...

religion forced on them by the last three Stuart kings, Charles I, Charles II and James VII. There is a monument off the Ayr Road to James Renwick, a Covenanter leader born in Moniaive, and who aged 26 was the last Covenanter to be executed in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

James Paterson

The Scottish artist James Paterson, a founder member of 'The Glasgow Boys', settled in Moniaive in 1884 and stayed for 22 years. He painted many local scenes including ''"The Last Turning"'' – a view of a woman approaching the village on the lane on the western side of the old millpond (now drained) in the Dalwhat Valley – now displayed in the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum. A James Paterson museum existed within the village until 2005 displaying photographs and memorabilia from the collection of his granddaughter, Anne Paterson-Wallace.

Cairn Valley Light Railway

The Cairn Valley Light Railway was opened from

in 1905 as a subsidiary company of the Glasgow and South Western Railway. Plans initially had involved developing Moniaive into a resort due to the countryside being very scenic and peaceful. Passenger services were suspended as a wartime economy on 3 May 1943 and to all traffic on 4 August 1947.

Local economy

The local economy is dominated by sheep and some cattle farming as well as forestry. The area has a large self-employed community including writers, artists, graphic designers, historical interpretation services, clothing designers, aromatherapists, stained glass workers, a wine importing business, a

chocolatier A chocolatier ( ; ; ) is a person or company that makes and sells chocolate confections. Chocolatiers are distinct from chocolate makers, who create chocolate from cacao beans and other raw ingredients. Chocolatiers work artisanally with pre- ...

, computer repairs, garden and landscaping services, plant nursery, and child care. There is a large general store including a post office counter, a garage, a cafe, a chocolatier, an Italian restaurant, several artist studios, a primary school, a guest house and two hotels with bars and restaurants, one with accommodation, and two village halls. A bi-monthly newspaper, called the ''Glencairn Gazette'', is produced by volunteers and distributed free to residents.

Notable people

* Michael Chaplin, the son of

Charlie Chaplin Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin (16 April 188925 December 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, the Tramp, and is considered o ...

, eloped to and married in Moniaive as a teenager *

Rumer Godden Margaret Rumer Godden (10 December 1907 – 8 November 1998) was a British author of more than 60 fiction and non-fiction books. Nine of her works have been made into films, most notably ''Black Narcissus (novel), Black Narcissus'' in 194 ...

, writer, lived in Moniaive * Alex Kapranos of rock band Franz Ferdinand bought the house in Moniaive previously owned by James Paterson * Alan Grant, writer of

Judge Dredd Judge Joseph Dredd is a fictional character created by writer John Wagner and artist Carlos Ezquerra. He first appeared in the second issue of the British weekly anthology Comic book, comic ''2000 AD (comics), 2000 AD'' (1977). He is the magazi ...

and

Batman Batman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. Batman was created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on M ...

* John Inglis (missionary) *

Joanna Lumley Dame Joanna Lamond Lumley (born 1 May 1946) is an Indian-born British actress, presenter, author, television producer, activist and former model. She has won two BAFTA TV Awards for her role as Patsy Stone in the BBC sitcom ''Absolutely Fabulo ...

also has a home near here * Rab Smith, ex-professional darts player

Festivals

In 2015 Moniaive reinvented itself as Moniaive Festival Village and went on to win a Creative Place Award from Creative Scotland. The village is home to a number of festivals that are held every year including; the Moniaive Folk Festival, the Moniaive Michaelmas Bluegrass Festival, Moniaive Comic Festival, the Scottish Autoharp Weekend, the Moniaive Horse Show, the Moniaive and District Arts Association annual exhibition, the Glencairn and Tynron Horticultural Society show and the Moniaive Gala. In 2016 the Moniaive Comic Book Festival was resurrected as part of the Creative Place award programme, it successfully held its second comic festival in 2017.

Cairnhead Community Forest and Striding Arches

Cairnhead Community Forest is a Scottish charity formed in 1998 to encourage and enable community participation through a working partnership with its owner Forestry and Land Scotland. There are four arches by artist Andy Goldsworthy in the area; the first is built into the byre at Cairnhead while three more can be found on Bail Hill, Benbrack and Colt Hill. Each arch stands just under four metres high, with a span of about seven metres, and consists of 31 blocks of hand-dressed red sandstone weighing approximately 27 tons.

The GeoDial and John Corrie Wildlife Garden

In 2009 a GeoDial was commissioned by the Geological Society of Dumfries and Galloway for the people of Moniaive to celebrate the geodiversity of the area. It stands next to the Dalwhat water in the John Corrie Wildlife Garden and riverside walk. The GeoDial has an interpretation board that identifies the rock types of the GeoDial and of the rocks that make up the stone circle that surrounds it.

Gallery

File:Dunreggan Brae, Moniaive - geograph.org.uk - 759468.jpg, Dunreggan Brae, Moniaive File:Inscription on Renwick Monument Moniaive..jpg, Inscription on the Renwick Monument File:Mercat Cross, Moniaive.jpg, Moniaive,

mercat cross A mercat cross is the Scots language, Scots name for the market cross found frequently in Scotland, Scottish cities, towns and villages where historically the right to hold a regular market or fair was granted by the monarch, a bishop or ...

References

External links

Village website

The Striding Arches

The Moniaive Folk Festival

The Moniaive Michaelmas Bluegrass Festival

What's going on in Moniaive

The Moniaive GeoDial
{{authority control Villages in Dumfries and Galloway