masons, six weavers, six smiths, five wrights and one tailor, but no baker or flesher and the people's health was such that no surgeon was need or writer (lawyer). 1823 saw 'Mackie's Mill', producing woollen blankets, being set up on the banks of the Glazert Water and by 1939 Mackie's Mill was producing carpet yarn and had also branched out to establish two more manufacturing sites. In 1849 a Mr Wilson set up shop as a ham curer. By the 1930s this ham-curing business had diversified, branched out into Ireland and had factories in Barrhead and at Eglinton in Irvine; the original curing house, known as the 'Burnhouse', has been landscaped and transformed into a local park thanks to funding from the Barcapel Foundation, previously the Clement Wilson Foundation. Robert Howie and sons started a small meal-mill in 1857 and then established a sawmill. They moved closer to the railway, where they remained until recently (2010). The railway finally came to Dunlop in 1871 and because of the improved connection with Glasgow the farmers were able to send their milk direct to Glasgow, resulting in the decline and finally the cessation of cheese making in Dunlop. The population of the village in 1871 was 380 and 357 in 1881, whilst the parish was 1,160 and 1,361 persons respectively. In 1876 the town had acquired a butcher, a baker, a branch of the Clydesdale Bank and a Free Church (1845) but still no writer or doctor was needed. By the 1950s Dunlop had a post office, four grocers, a baker, a newsagent, a hotel and a public house. Below the church stands the bridge over the Black Burn, known locally as the 'Tee Wal Burn' after a spring that flows out under the bridge. It is commonly thought that the 'Tea Well' water was so pure that the people went there to get the water for their tea but it may be a Gaelic element related to the name for a place where the coffin bearers rested for the last time before heading up the hill to the cemetery. The 1860s OS maps show that a cottage, Bridgend, once stood close to the bridge. Dunlop's castles A tradition states that the De Ross first held Boarland or Dunlop hill (NS 4019 4940) as their seat and a well-fortified structure existed there. Later their seat was moved to Corsehill in Stewarton. There