whole milk, came close to accusing her of witchcraft which could have resulted in her being burned to death at the Cross of Irvine. Some accused her of copying their recipes and indeed a farmer, Mr W. Aiton of Strathaven, pointed out that practical cheese makers were already aware of the benefit of adding cream to cheese before Barbara's time, and in his opinion Dunlop cheese was so named from a trader who took these cheeses from the parish up to Glasgow. Others have cast doubt on the Irish origin of the recipe without disputing Barbara Gilmour's introduction of Dunlop cheese. The cheese presses Most sources, e.g. Dobie state that "Barbara's Gilmours cheese press can still be seen today at The Hill", however the cheese press here is dated 1760 and she died in 1732. The design of the press, with a heavy lintel stone having a screwed shaft passing through it attached to a frame, allowed the dead weight of the stone to be lowered onto the cheese progressively, improving the overall drainage of the whey and the firming up of the curd. Another stone at the farm may represent the remains a primitive cheese press. It is an expertly carved trough with various holes, grooves and three vertical sides. The groove running horizontally along the back may have helped support a wooden frame above the trough. It may have been re-used for a different purpose at a later date and is unlikely to have been part of the 1760 press. The Hill cheese presses, 2007 The Hill farm and the old road This farmstead, previously known as Over Dunlophill Montgomerie, has a U-shaped plan and has been little modernised since the 19th century, leaving evidence for earlier phases plainly visible. The farm buildings comprise a two-storied farmhouse flanked to the south by stables, a harness room and a forge and to the north by a byre and a dairy. A barn and a cart shed are in a detached range to the rear east of the main block and a small watermill is to the north, adjacent to the dairy. The farmstead is built of whinstone rubble and has slate roofs. It was visited by the RCAHMS in 1993. In the surrounding fields can be seen the earthworks of a rig, some of which is slightly reverse-S in plan. The farm buildings are notable, if not exceptional, for