St. Johns Town of Dalry

About St. Johns Town of Dalry

Drive through St John’s Town of Dalry and you’ll probably not realise that this quiet little town has a not-so-quiet past. Historically also known as ‘St John’s Clachan of Dalry’, it is named after St John the Baptist: a figure who was venerated by the Knights Templar. It is reputed that the Knights owned the land on which the town was built. When you visit the town today you can still take a seat on ‘St John’s chair’, traditionally said to have been used by St John himself.

The town’s name is now more commonly shortened to ‘Dalry’, a name which means ‘Haugh or low-lying riverside land of the king’ and if you stop for a visit, you’ll find a medieval motte hidden behind the town’s main street. This motte, or articial mound, marks the site of an early castle, since lost, which pushes the town’s origins back to at least the 12th century.

If you like your ruins though, then head north of the town to Earlstoun, where the remains of a late 16th century castle still stand. This castle once housed the famous Covenanter, Alexander ‘The Bull’ of Earlstoun, and it is in its associations with Covenanters that the town’s bloody past resides.

Dalry’s residents were dealt some of the harshest punishments given out to Covenanters and it is here the that the famous Pentland Rising of 1666 originated. Wander through the kirkyard and you’ll come across the ‘Martyr’s Grave’ of two covenanters killed in 1684 and, at the southern end of the town, the Burning Bush memorial stands as a testament to the Covenanter memory.
Along with its historic Main Street, Dalry today boasts fantastic pubs, a village shop and a 24 hour petrol station – the only one for many a mile! The Kirk and the Town Hall are must-visits, especially with their strong Covenanter links.