Editing Sanquhar (section)

===Crawick Village===
Other work came in the form of a carpet factory, along the [[River Nith|Crawick Water]]. At first, it consisted of a few separate looms, but by the 1830s, there was a large factory, boasting 54 looms at its height. The carpets made here were world-renowned for their durability and orders came from as far away as South America. A large proportion of their total production was shipped to [[Valparaíso]], [[Chile]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.socantscot.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/mar2012.pdf|title=A rare Victorian Scotch carpet|date=1 March 2012|publisher=Society of Antiquaries of Scotland|access-date=23 July 2022}}</ref>

The location along the Crawick River was also the home of John Rigg's forge. In the late 18th century, he had been persuaded to move here from Dalston in Cumbria to supply tools for the coalfields. He made a damhead opposite the village of Crawick and used the water to power his factory. The water separated the parishes of Sanquhar and [[Kirkconnel]], and although the forge was on the Kirkconnel side, Sanquhar always laid claim to it. The forge produced shovels and other tools into the 20th century.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.futuremuseum.co.uk/collections/life-work/key-industries/engineering-firms/riggs-of-crawick-forge.aspx|title=Riggs of Crawick Forge|publisher=Future Museum| access-date=23 July 2022}}</ref>

The village of Crawick had once been known as a haven for [[witchcraft|witches]]. One story is that the parish minister's cows began making milk that would not churn. He sent one of his servants to tie a branch from a [[rowan]] tree over the doorway of the witch's house in Crawick, which ended the curse. For a long time, a large rowan tree flourished in the front yard of the church, perhaps partly to keep these evil spirits away. Life in Crawick was described beautifully by James Brown, in his ''History of Sanquhar'':

<blockquote>“Crawick Mill was a clean tidy little hamlet pleasantly embosomed on the banks of the Crawick and sheltered from almost every wind that blew, and there was no happier colony of weavers to be found in any country district in Scotland. They were almost all natives, whose whole life associations were connected with the place. We have no pleasanter memory than that of the weavers playing quoits, of which they were very fond, on the summer evenings on the "Alley", a long strip of ground on the banks of the stream behind the Village, while their wives, with their clean "mutches" sat about or sauntered up and down chatting and gossiping, and the bairns were either scrambling along the wooded banks of the Crawick or "paidling" in its clear water, the pleasant babble of the stream as it rushed over the dam-head mingling with the voices of the men at their game and the joyous shouts and laughter of the children.”<ref>{{cite book|first=James|last= Brown|title=History of Sanquhar|year=1891|publisher=J. Anderson}}</ref></blockquote>