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Barbara Gilmour
Barbara Gilmour (married name Barbara Dunlop; died 1732) was a significant figure in 17th century Ayrshire having introduced a method of cheese making which became common throughout Ayrshire and beyond, providing employment and extra income for farmers and others. She lived near Dunlop, a village in East Ayrshire, Scotland, lying between the village of Lugton and the town of Stewarton on the old turnpike road to Glasgow. Cheese made by her method became known as "Dunlop cheese".
Barbara Gilmour was a woman whose wits had been sharpened by her exile as a presbyterian in Ireland around 1660, during Scotland's troubles between the Restoration of Charles II and the dirk & drublie dayis after the revolution. In Ireland she is thought to have learned the art of making whole milk cheese. She may have been in the Bantry Bay area, County Cork, where James Hamilton, 1st Viscount Claneboye was at one time based.[citation needed] Hamilton was a strong presbyterian adherent and son of Hans Hamilton the first Protestant minister of Dunlop Kirk. McMichael states that she was in County Down, Northern Ireland.
It is not known precisely where she came from, however "Gilmore" or "Gilmour" is a common local name, with for example a family of that name living in the Lands of Chapeltoun at around the start of the 18th century.
Another source states that she was a pious young woman–a devout Covenanter–and, hearing of the martyrdom of Margaret Wilson (in 1684 or 1685) on Wigtown Sands, and being determined not to renounce the Covenant, she fled, like many others, from her home in Ayrshire to Ireland, and found employment in County Down, where she acquired a knowledge of the Irish process of cheese making. The persecution of females having abated after the horrible event of Wigtown Sands, Miss Gilmour returned to her home in Dunlop, and became a farmer's wife.
Eventually, according to the Rev. Brisbane (1793), she returned to Dunlop, East Ayrshire, after the Revolution of 1688, bringing the recipe for the cheese with her; McMichael has it that she combined the best of Scottish and Irish cheese making methods to produce Dunlop cheese. Paterson records that she was the wife of John Dunlop, the farmer of Overhill Farm, now known as The Hill. Introducing a new style of cheese was not straightforward and, some of the locals adamant that cheese could not be made from 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.
Most sources, e.g. Dobie state that "Barbara's Gilmours cheese press can still be seen today at The Hill", however the cheese press there 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.
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Barbara Gilmour
Barbara Gilmour (married name Barbara Dunlop; died 1732) was a significant figure in 17th century Ayrshire having introduced a method of cheese making which became common throughout Ayrshire and beyond, providing employment and extra income for farmers and others. She lived near Dunlop, a village in East Ayrshire, Scotland, lying between the village of Lugton and the town of Stewarton on the old turnpike road to Glasgow. Cheese made by her method became known as "Dunlop cheese".
Barbara Gilmour was a woman whose wits had been sharpened by her exile as a presbyterian in Ireland around 1660, during Scotland's troubles between the Restoration of Charles II and the dirk & drublie dayis after the revolution. In Ireland she is thought to have learned the art of making whole milk cheese. She may have been in the Bantry Bay area, County Cork, where James Hamilton, 1st Viscount Claneboye was at one time based.[citation needed] Hamilton was a strong presbyterian adherent and son of Hans Hamilton the first Protestant minister of Dunlop Kirk. McMichael states that she was in County Down, Northern Ireland.
It is not known precisely where she came from, however "Gilmore" or "Gilmour" is a common local name, with for example a family of that name living in the Lands of Chapeltoun at around the start of the 18th century.
Another source states that she was a pious young woman–a devout Covenanter–and, hearing of the martyrdom of Margaret Wilson (in 1684 or 1685) on Wigtown Sands, and being determined not to renounce the Covenant, she fled, like many others, from her home in Ayrshire to Ireland, and found employment in County Down, where she acquired a knowledge of the Irish process of cheese making. The persecution of females having abated after the horrible event of Wigtown Sands, Miss Gilmour returned to her home in Dunlop, and became a farmer's wife.
Eventually, according to the Rev. Brisbane (1793), she returned to Dunlop, East Ayrshire, after the Revolution of 1688, bringing the recipe for the cheese with her; McMichael has it that she combined the best of Scottish and Irish cheese making methods to produce Dunlop cheese. Paterson records that she was the wife of John Dunlop, the farmer of Overhill Farm, now known as The Hill. Introducing a new style of cheese was not straightforward and, some of the locals adamant that cheese could not be made from 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.
Most sources, e.g. Dobie state that "Barbara's Gilmours cheese press can still be seen today at The Hill", however the cheese press there 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.