Dunsyre

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Use British English|date=June 2025}} {{Infobox UK place |official_name = Dunsyre |gaelic_name = Dùn Saghair |country = Scotland |coordinates = {{coord|55|43|05|N|3|28|40|W|region:GB_type:city|display=inline,title}} |unitary_scotland = South Lanarkshire |lieutenancy_scotland = Lanarkshire |os_grid_reference = NT073481 |historic_county= |post_town = LANARK |postcode_area = ML |postcode_district = ML11 |constituency_westminster = Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale |constituency_scottish_parliament = Clydesdale }}

'''Dunsyre''' ({{langx|gd|Dùn Saghair}}) is a village in South Lanarkshire, Scotland. It is {{convert|6|mile|0|order=flip}} from Carnwath. Dunsyre is associated with an ancient barony and parish church. The name of Dunsyre is of Celtic origin and is supposed to signify the "Hill of the Seer." {{dubious|date=August 2018}} It is located by the burn known as the South Medwin Water.

In a charter dated June 29, 1444, William Douglas, 8th Earl of Douglas, gave lands in Dunsyre to Patrick Hepburn, 1st Lord Hailes, who subsequently became known as Sir Patrick Hepburn of Dunsyre. The charter was confirmed on May 20, 1452.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Paul |first1=Sir James Balfour |title=The Scots Peerage: founded on Wood's ed. of Sir Robert Douglas's Peerage of Scotland; containing an historical and genealogical account of the nobility of that kingdom |date=1904–1914 |publisher=Douglas |location=Edinburgh |page=2:141 |url=https://archive.org/details/scotspeeragefoun02pauluoft/scotspeeragefoun02pauluoft/page/140/mode/2up?q= |access-date=18 Nov 2024}}</ref>

From 1867 until 1945 Dunsyre was served by a railway branch from Carstairs to Dolphinton, originally built by the Caledonian Railway, and the disused embankment of this runs along the south side of the village close to the church.<ref>Railway Passenger Stations of England, Scotland and Wales: A Chronology; M.E. Quick; Railway & Canal Historical Society, Richmond, Surrey; 2005.</ref>

The surface is generally elevated, and rises further still into the surrounding hills. Dunsyre Hill overlooks the area from the north and Blackmount from the south. Dunsyre Hill forms the termination of the Pentland Hills, a range extending for nearly {{convert|20|mi|order=flip|abbr=on}} from the immediate vicinity of Edinburgh. This hill has an elevation of {{convert|500|ft|order=flip}} above the general surface of the lands, and of {{convert|1315|ft|order=flip}} above sea level; a small range of gradually diminishing hills branches off towards the west from it, stretching to the parish of Carnwath. Between the Dunsyre and Walston ranges is a level valley about {{convert|3|mi|0|order=flip|abbr=on}} in length and {{convert|1|mi|order=flip|abbr=on}} wide. The small river of the South Medwin runs along the valley, eventually joining the river Clyde. The ornamental garden Little Sparta lies immediately to the west of the village.

<gallery> File:Black Mount, Dunsyre, Lanarkshire.jpg|'''Black Mount'''<br />Black Mount ({{convert|516|m|disp=or|abbr=on}}) looking over Dunsyre and the South Medwin Valley. File:Dunsyre Castle keep, Lanarkshire.jpg|'''Westhall Tower'''<br />The remains of the 16th-century tower at Westhall Farm, Dunsyre. Originally built in the Peel tower style. </gallery>

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== * [http://www.scottish-places.info/towns/townfirst943.html "Dunsyre"- geo.ed.ac.uk] * [http://www.dunsyre.com Dunsyre.com and Dunsyre.net] Information about Dunsyre and local links.

Category:Villages in South Lanarkshire Category:Parishes in Lanarkshire