Moscow, Scotland

Coordinates: 55°37′59″N 4°24′14″W / 55.633°N 4.404°W / 55.633; -4.404

Moscow
A view near Moscow.
Moscow  Moscow shown within East Ayrshire
Population	141 (Census 2001)
Language	English
OS grid reference	NS487404
Council area	East Ayrshire
Lieutenancy area	Ayrshire and Arran
Country	Scotland
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	Galston
Postcode district	KA4
Dialling code	01560
Police	Strathclyde
Fire	Strathclyde
Ambulance	Scottish
EU Parliament	Scotland
UK Parliament	Kilmarnock and Loudoun
Scottish Parliament	Kilmarnock and Loudoun
	Central Scotland
List of places: UK • Scotland •

Moscow is a hamlet in East Ayrshire in Scotland. It is on the A719 road some four miles east of Kilmarnock. The name is thought to be a corruption of 'Moss-hall' or 'Moss-haw' but its spelling was formalised in 1812 to mark Napoleon's retreat from Moscow. A stream called the Volga Burn flows through the village.

Walter Emery of the Kilmarnock Glenfield Ramblers had researched the names Moscow, Volga and Ruschaw in 1933. The Ordnance Survey (OS) notified him that the local residents had authorised the name 'Moscow' and that the name appears on Aitken's 1829 map, the valuation role, the Grougar Estate map, and Johnson's 1828 County map. The Ordnance Survey also referred to a local tradition that the name was derived from the burning of Moscow in Russia in 1812, the first house in Moscow in Ayrshire having been built at about that time. Ayr County Council suggested that "during the Crimean war there were various refugees and prisoners located in the neighbourhood, and it was then that Russian names were given to various places."^[1]

Shaw records that "a generation ago Russian prisoners of war were located between Galston and Fenwick, at a place called Moscow".^[2]

Locally the land and forest around Cowans Law to the North West is referred to as little Russia.

In the 1980s it was reported a delegation of Russian dignitaries stopped in the village to see the other "Moscow".^{[citation needed]}

As of 2006^[update] its population is reported as 118. It is represented in the "Galston West and Hurlford North" ward of East Ayrshire Council.

Recently (2008) a personal airstrip was established in a field near the village for light aircraft.

A Geocache is located near the village, just up the road from the Community Woodland.

The village is referenced in the song "Hayfever" by The Trash Can Sinatras on their album "I've Seen Everything": "Moscow's in Ayrshire, what's the problem?"

See also

• River Irvine - tributaries listed.

References

1. ^ Emery, Walter (1933), Armsheugh Glen and Templetonburn, 19 August 1933. Annals of the Kilmarnock Glenfield Ramblers Society. Jubilee Number. 1934. P. 169.
2. ^ Shaw, James Edward (1953). Ayrshire 1745-1950. A Social and Industrial History. Edinburgh : Oliver & Boyd. p. 166

External links

• Local government website
• Map sources for Moscow, Scotland
• [1]

Coordinates: 55°37′58″N 4°24′18″W / 55.63265°N 4.40493°W / 55.63265; -4.40493