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ON-LINE GUIDE TO AYRSHIRE
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This brief guide provides
summary information on towns, villages and places to visit
in Ayrshire as well as some interesting
facts and anecdotes on the local area. To find a specific
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Ayrshire was at one time Scotland's
largest Lowland county. Facing the Firth of Clyde, it is ringed by moorland
and hills which slope down to a rich agricultural patchwork of small fields, country
lanes, woodland and picturesque villages. The poet Keats, when he made his pilgrimage
to the birthplace of Robert Burns in Alloway, compared its scenery to that of Devon.
The county was formerly divided into three parts. Carrick is the most
southerly, and it owes a lot to neighbouring
Galloway. It is separated from Kyle, a rich
dairying area where the native Ayrshire cattle can
be seen dotting the fields, by the River Doon. To the north, beyond the River Irvine,
is Cunninghame, which at one time was the most industrialised of the three, though
it managed this without losing too much of its rural aspect.
Kyle itself was divided by the River Ayr into Kyle Regal and Kyle Stewart,
reflecting the fact that one section was ruled
directly by the king while the other was ruled by
high stewards of Scotland, who eventually went on to be kings in their own right.
Ayrshire and Robert Burns, known to all Scottish people as "Rabbie" (never,
ever Robbie!) are inextricably linked. He
was born in Alloway, which nowadays is a well-off suburb of Ayr,
and spent the first 29
years of his life in the county before moving south to Dumfriesshire.
We know a lot about the man, and all the places in Ayrshire where he lived, drank, courted
and visited people are carefully signposted. A full week could easily be spent
tootling around the main roads and narrow lanes of the county visiting such
towns and villages as Tarbolton, Mauchline, Ayr,
Kilmarnock, Irvine, Failford and Kirkoswald. Every
year in May the Burns an' a' That Festival
takes place throughout Ayrshire to celebrate his life and work. Venues include pubs,
concert halls, theatres, museums and churches. The most spectacular concert is held out
of doors at Culzean Castle.
There are three main towns in the county - Ayr, Kilmarnock
and Irvine. Irvine is the largest, though it was not always
so. In the 1960s it was designated a new town, and
took an overspill population from Glasgow. Industrial estates
were built, factories were opened and new housing
established. However, its central core is still
worth
exploring. Kilmarnock is traditionally the industrial centre,
though it is an ancient town, and Ayr was the administrative
and commercial capital before Ayrshire ceased to exist as a
local government unit in the 1970s.
Up until the 1960s, when more exotic places took over, the
Ayrshire coast was Glasgow's holiday playground. Known as the
"Costa del Clyde", it attracted thousands of people each year who
flocked to such holiday resorts as Troon, Largs, Prestwick, Girvan and Ayr itself.
These halcyon days are gone, though it is still a popular place for day trips and for people
to retire to, giving it a new nickname - the "Costa Geriatrica". The coastline is
also famous for another reason - golf. The first British Open Golf Championship was
held at Prestwick in 1860, and both Troon and Turnberry have regularly hosted
the tournament in modern times.
Ayrshire is also a county of castles, from the spectacular Culzean (pronounced
"Cull- ane") perched on a cliff top above the
sea,
to Kelburn near Largs or Dean Castle in Kilmarnock, with its collection of
rare musical instruments.
The Ayrshire coalfield used to employ thousands of people, though nowadays not
a deep mine remains. But even at its height, the industry never did as much damage
to the environment as in, say, South Yorkshire or the Welsh valleys. Now
you would never suspect that the industry ever existed, and
a day just motoring round the quiet lanes is a relaxing experience in itself.
Twenty miles offshore is the island of Arran, at one time within the county
of Bute, but now more associated with Ayrshire. It has been called "Scotland
in Miniature", and is a wonderful blend of
wild scenery, pastoral views and rocky coastlines. Its history stretches right back into
the mists of time, as the many standing stones and ancient burial cairns testify.
Also within Bute were two other islands - Great and Little Cumbrae. Little Cumbrae
is largely uninhabited, apart from one or two houses, but on
Great Cumbrae is the town of Millport, a gem of a holiday
resort. Within Millport is another gem - Cumbrae Cathedral, the smallest cathedral in
Britain. It is truly one of the hidden places of Scotland.
Maybole
This quiet town is the capital of Carrick, and sits on a hillside about four
miles inland from the coast. It was here that Burns's parents, William Burnes
(he later changed the name to Burns) and Agnes Broun met in 1756.
In 1562, a famous meeting took place in Maybole between John Knox, the
Scottish reformer, and Abbot Quentin Kennedy of nearby Crossraguel Abbey. The purpose
of the meeting was to debate the significance and doctrine of the Mass, and it attracted
a huge crowd of people, even though it was held in a small room of the house
where the provost of the town's collegiate church lived. Forty people from each side
were
actually allowed in to hear the debate, which lasted for three days. It only broke
up - with no conclusion reached - when the town ran out of food to feed the
thronging masses round the door. The ruins of Maybole Collegiate
Church (Historic Scotland) can still be viewed, though
they are not open to the public.
There are two "castles" in Maybole.
One, now part of the Town Hall, was the
17th century town house of the lairds of Blairquhan Castle, about five miles to
the east of the town. The other is still referred to as
Maybole Castle, though it too was a town house, this time for the Earls
of Cassillis. There is a curious legend attached to the building. It seems that Lady
Jean Hamilton, daughter of the Earl of Haddington, was in love with Sir John
Faa of Dunbar (nicknamed "King of the Gypsies"), but was forced against her will
to marry John, 6th Earl of Cassillis, head of the Kennedy family. Unwillingly she
went to live in Ayrshire, but never forgot her
first love. One day when the Earl was away on business, Sir John came with 14 gypsies
and carried her away.
However, the Earl returned unexpectedly, and set out in pursuit. He caught Sir
John and his men and made his wife watch as he hung them from a tree at Cassillis
Castle, his main residence. He then incarcerated his
wife in one small room in Maybole Castle, where she spent the rest of her
life in one small room making tapestries. A window high in
one wall is still pointed out as the room where she was kept, and
above it are some carvings of heads, said to be those of Sir John and his gypsies.
However, the story is completely untrue, as
letters written by both the Earl and his Countess to each other show that they were a
close and loving couple.
A few miles west of Maybole, near the farm of Drumshang, is the curiously
named Electric Brae, on the A719 road
between Ayr and Turnberry. Stop your car on the convenient layby at the side of the
road,
put it out of gear, let off the brake, and be amazed as it rolls uphill. Better still, lay
a football on the layby's surface, and watch it roll uphill as well. The phenomenon
has nothing to do with electricity, and everything to do with an optical
illusion. The surrounding land makes you think
that the road rises towards the coast when it fact it descends.
Around Maybole
Kirkmichael
3 miles E of Maybole on the B7045
Like its neighbour Crosshill, Kirkmichael is a former weaving village. However, its
roots go deeper into Scottish history. The
Parish Church dates from 1790, and the picturesque lych-gate from about
1700. Within the kirkyard is the grave of a Covenanter called Gilbert MacAdam,
killed in 1686.
Kirkmichael is the scene, every May, of the Kirkmichael International
Guitar Festival, which draws musicians from
all over the world. It covers everything from jazz to pop and country to classical.
Huge marquees are erected, and local pubs host impromptu jamming sessions and
folk concerts.
Dalmellington
11 miles E of Maybole on the A713
This former mining village sits on the banks of the Doon. Over the last few years, it
has exploited its rich heritage, and created some visitor centres and museums
that explain the village's industrial past. The
Dunaskin Open Air Museum, which covers 110 acres,
has many facets, and each one is well worth exploring.
The Dalmellington Iron Works were first opened in the 1840s, and are
now the largest restored Victorian Ironworks in Europe.
Other attractions include the Brickworks and the
Scottish Industrial Railway Centre, where steam trains run
on a restored track. The Cathcartson Centre
in the village is housed in weaving cottages dating from the 18th century, and
shows how weavers lived long ago.
A couple of miles beyond Dalmellington is a minor road that takes you to
lovely Loch Doon, surrounded by lonely hills
and moorland, and the source of the river that Burns wrote about. It was here,
during World War I, that a School of Aerial
Gunnery was proposed. Millions of pounds were wasted on it before the plans
were finally abandoned. When a hydroelectric scheme was
built in the 1930s, the water level of the loch was raised.
Loch Doon Castle, which stood on an island in
the loch, was dismantled stone by stone and reassembled on the shore, where it can
still be seen.
In the early 14th century it withstood a siege from the English army for four
years. When it finally surrendered, its keeper Sir Christopher Seton, who was related
to Robert I, was executed at Dumfries.
In the late 1970s it was announced that 32 deep tunnels would be bored in the
hills surrounding the loch to store most of Britain's radioactive waste. After
many protests by local people, the idea was abandoned.
Crosshill
3 miles SE of Maybole, on the B7023
Crosshill is a former handloom-weaving village established in about 1808, with
many small, attractive cottages. Many of the weavers were Irish, attracted to the place
by the prospect of work. There are no outstanding buildings, nor does it have
much history or legend attached to it. But it is a conservation village with a quiet charm,
and well worth visiting because of this alone. Some of the original cottages built by
the Irish immigrants in the early 19th century can still be seen in Dalhowan Street.
Straiton
6 miles SE of Maybole on the B741
A narrow road runs south from this lovely
village called the Nick o' the Balloch. It doesn't go through the Carrick of
gentle fields or verdant valleys, but over the
wild hills and moorland that make the edges of this area so beautiful, and finally
drops down into Glentrool.
Straiton itself sits on the water of Girvan, and has
picturesque little cottages facing each other across a main street some
with roses growing round the door. The local pub, The Black Bull, dates from 1766,
while parts of St Cuthbert's Parish Church
date back to 1510. Close to the village is
Blairquhan, a Tudor-Gothic mansion that sits on the site of an earlier tower house.
It was once a McWhirter stronghold before passing to the Kennedys,
but is now owned by the Hunter Blair family. It is open to
the public in summer, and has a fine collection of paintings by the Scottish
Colourists. On a hill above the village stands the
Hunter Blair Monument, built in 1856 to commemorate James Hunter Blair, killed
at the Battle of Inkerman.
Many of the scenes in the film The Match
(also called The Big Game) were shot in Straiton, which became the
fictional Highland village Inverdoune.
Old Dailly
9 miles S of Maybole on the B734
The ruins of 16th century Old Dailly Parish
Church stand beside the road. Within the kirkyard are two hefty stones called
the Charter Stones, which people tried to lift
in bygone days during trials of strength.
Buried in the kirkyard is the pre-Raphaelite artist
William Bell Scott, who was staying at nearby
Penkill Castle (not open to the public) when he died.
Many members of the pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood visited the place, including
Dante Gabriel Rossetti. Close by is the 17th
century Bargany House, with its marvellous gardens,
once a Kennedy stronghold. The mining village of
New Dailly, with its T-shaped New Dailly Parish
Church of 1766 is three miles to the east.
Barr
11 miles S of Maybole on the B734
Tucked in a fold of the Carrick hills, Barr is an idyllic village that was once the site
of the wonderfully named Kirkdandie Fair.
It was the largest annual fair in Southern Scotland during the late 18th and
early 19th centuries, and was held on a strip of land where once had stood
Kirkdandie Church. Its main claim to fame was the fighting that took place there every
year, and it soon became known as the "Donnybrook of Scotland".
People even came over from Ireland to participate in
the great pitched battles.
Above Barr is the estate of Changue (pronounced "Shang"), to which an
old legend is attached. The Laird of
Changue was a smuggler and distiller of illicit
whisky who always penniless. One day, while walking through his estates, Satan
appeared and offered him a deal. If he handed over his soul when he died, he would
become rich. The laird, who was a young man, agreed, and duly prospered. But as he
grew older he began to regret his rashness, and when Satan at last appeared before him
to claim his soul - at the same spot where he had appeared all these years before -
the laird refused to keep his side of the bargain. Instead
he challenged the Devil to fight for it. Drawing a large circle on the
ground round both of them, he said that the first person to be forced out of it would be
the loser. After a bitter struggle, the laird cut off the end of Satan's tail with his
sword, and he jumped out of the circle in pain. The laird had won.
Up until the end of the 19th century, a great bare
circle on some grassland was shown as the place where
all this took place. It's a wonderful story, but no one has ever managed to put a name
or date to this mysterious laird.
A small leaflet has been produced which describes some walks that can be taken
in the surrounding hills.
Colmonell
19 Miles S of Maybole on the B734
The River Stinchar is the southernmost of Ayrshire's major rivers, and flows through
a lovely valley bordered on both sides by high moorland and hills. In this valley, four
miles from the sea, sits Colmonell. It's an attractive village of small cottages, with
the romantic ruins of Kirkhill Castle close
by. Knockdolian Hill, two miles west, was
at one time called the "false Ailsa
Craig" because of its resemblance to the
volcanic island out in the Firth of Clyde.
Ballantrae
22 miles S of Maybole on the A77
When on a walking tour of Carrick in 1876, R.L. Stevenson spent a night in
Ballantrae, a small fishing village. However, dour villagers took exception to his
avant-garde clothes and almost ran him out of town.
He got his revenge by writing "The Master of Ballantrae", which confused everyone
by having no connection with the place whatsoever.
In the churchyard is the Bargany Aisle, containing the ornate tomb of
Gilbert Kennedy, laird of Bargany and Ardstinchar, who was killed by the Earl of Cassillis
(also a Kennedy) in 1601. A bitter feud between the Cassillis and Bargany branches of
the Kennedy family had been going on right through the 16th century, with no
quarter given or taken. Matters came to a head when the two branches met near Ayr,
and Bargany was killed. The power of the Bargany branch was broken forever, and
the feud fizzled out. The ruins of Ardstinchar
Castle, Bargany's main stronghold, can still be seen beside the river.
Glenapp Castle, a few miles south of the village just off the A77, was designed
in 1870 by the noted Victorian architect David Bryce for James Hunter, the
Deputy Lord Lieutenant of Ayrshire. It is now a luxury hotel surrounded by 30 acres
of grounds and gardens.
Lendalfoot
18 miles S of Maybole on the A77
Carleton Castle, now in ruins, was the home of Sir John Carleton, who,
legend states, had a neat way of earning a living.
He married ladies of wealth then enticed them to
Gamesloup, a nearby rocky eminence, where he pushed them to
their deaths and inherited their wealth. Sir John went through seven or eight wives
before meeting the daughter of Kennedy of Culzean. After marrying her, he took her
to Gamesloup, but instead of him pushing her over, she pushed him over, and
lived happily ever after on his accumulated wealth.
But if it's a gruesome tale you're after, then you should head for
Sawney Bean's Cave a few miles south of the village,
on the shoreline north of Bennane Head, and easily reached by a footpath from a
layby on the A77. Here, in the 16th century, lived a family of cannibals led by
Sawney Bean, which waylaid strangers, robbed them, and ate their flesh. They
evaded capture for many years until a troop of men sent by James VI trapped them
in their cave. They were taken to Edinburgh and executed. It's a wonderful story, but
no documentary proof has ever been unearthed to prove that it really happened.
Kirkoswald
4 miles SW of Maybole on the A77
It was to Kirkoswald, in 1775, that Burns came for one term to learn
surveying. Though his poem Tam o' Shanter is set
in Alloway, all the characters in it have their origins in
the parish of Kirkoswald, which was where his maternal grandparents
came from.
Kirkoswald Parish Church dates from 1777, and was designed by Robert
Adam while he was working on Culzean Castle. Dwight D. Eisenhower worshipped
here twice, one of the occasions being when he was president of the United
States. Another visitor is not so well known, but the airline he helped to found is.
The late Randolph Fields, together with Richard Branson, founded
Virgin Airlines. Randolph loved this part of Ayrshire, and when he died in 1997,
he left some money for the restoration of the church. A year later his
widow presented the church with a small table, on which is a plaque
commemorating him.
Old Parish Church of St Oswald lies at the heart of the village. It is a ruin now,
but in its kirkyard are the graves of many people associated with Burns,
including David Graham of Shanter Farm near Maidens, the real life "Tam o'
Shanter".
The church also contains one interesting relic - the
Robert the Bruce's Baptismal Font. Both Lochmaben in
Dumfriesshire and Turnberry Castle, within the parish
of Kirkoswald, claim to have been the birthplace of Robert the Bruce. Turnberry
is the more likely, as it was the ancestral home of the Countess of Carrick,
Bruce's mother, and it is known that she was
living there at about the time of the birth. The story goes that the baby was premature,
and that he was rushed to Crossraguel Abbey for baptism in case he died. The abbey's
font was used, and when Crossraguel was abandoned after the Reformation,
the people of Kirkoswald rescued the font and put it in their own church.
Within the village you'll also find Souter Johnnie's
Cottage (National Trust for Scotland). John Davidson was a "souter",
or cobbler, and featured in Tam o' Shanter. Now his thatched cottage has been
turned into a small museum.
Crossraguel Abbey
2 miles SW of Maybole, on the A77
These romantic ruins (Historic Scotland) sit complacently beside the main
Ayr-Stranraer road. They are very well preserved, and give a wonderful idea of
the layout of a medieval abbey. Some of the medieval architecture and stone
carving, such as that in the chapter house, is
well worth seeking out. Duncan, Earl of Carrick, founded it in 1244 for Clunaic
monks from Paisley Abbey, though most of what you
see nowadays dates from after the 13th century. To the north are the ruins of
Baltersan Castle, an old fortified 16th century
tower house built either for John Kennedy of Pennyglen and his wife Margaret
Cathcart or as the residence of Quintin Kennedy,
the Abbot of Crossraguel from 1548 until 1564.
Turnberry
7 miles SW of Maybole on the A719
Very little now survives of Turnberry
Castle where Robert the Bruce is supposed
to have been born. The story of how his parents met is an unusual one.
The Countess of Carrick was a young widow who saw a knight passing by Turnberry
Castle. She immediately became infatuated with him, and had him kidnapped and
brought into her presence. He turned out to be Robert de Brus, Lord of Annandale, and
she persuaded him to marry her. The result of the marriage was Robert the Bruce,
who himself became Earl of Carrick on his mother's death. Because Robert
ascended the throne of Scotland as Robert I, the earldom became a royal one, and
the present Earl of Carrick is Prince Charles.
Built onto the scant ruins of the castle is Turnberry
Lighthouse, surrounded on three sides by the championship golf course.
The elegant Turnberry Hotel is situated
south east of the castle, just off the main road, and is one of the premier hotels
in Scotland. It even has its own small runway for aircraft. During World Wars I and II,
all this area was an airfield, and the runways can still be seen.
There is a War Memorial on the golf course dedicated to the men
of the airfield who died in World War I. It is in the shape of a double Celtic cross,
and was erected by the people of Kirkoswald parish in 1923. In 1990 the monument
was altered so that the names of the airmen killed during World War II could be added.
Girvan
10 miles SW of Maybole on the A77
This pleasant little town is the main holiday resort in Carrick. It is also
a thriving fishing port, with many boats in the harbour at the mouth of the Water
of Girvan. Though there is a long, sandy beach, a boating pond and a small
funfair in summer the town is a quiet place, overlooked by the bulk of
Byne Hill to the south. From the top there is a fine view
of the Firth of Clyde, and on a clear day the coast of Northern Ireland can be seen.
The small Crauford Monument above Ardmillan House, on the western
side,
commemorates Major A.C.B. Crauford, who took part in the capture of the Cape
of Good Hope in 1795.
Out in the Firth of Clyde the bulk of Ailsa
Craig rises sheer from the water. It is the plug of an ancient volcano, which
is now a bird sanctuary. Trips round it are available from Girvan harbour.
Within the town, in Knockcushan Street, is a small, curious spired building which
has been given the nickname of Auld Stumpy. It dates from the 18th century, and at
one time was attached to the later McMaster Hall, which burnt down in 1939.
Behind Knockcushan House, near the harbour, are
Knockcushan Gardens, the site of a court held by Robert the Bruce in 1328. At
the McKechnie Institute in Dalrymple Street art exhibitions are sometimes held.
Culzean Castle
4 miles W of Maybole off the A719
Culzean Castle (National Trust for Scotland), perched on a
cliff above the Firth of Clyde is possibly the most spectacularly sited castle in
the country. It was designed by Robert Adam in 1777, and built round an old keep for
the 10th Earl of Cassillis. It has some wonderful features, such as the Oval Staircase and
the Circular Saloon with its views out over the Firth. Surrounding the castle is
Culzean Country Park, with such attractions as
a Walled Garden, the Swan Pond, the Deer Park and the Fountain Court.
In gratitude for his part in World War II, the National Trust for Scotland
presented General Eisenhower with the life tenure
of a flat in Culzean. Eisenhower accepted, and spent a few golfing holidays there.
The Eisenhower Presentation, within the
castle, explains his connections with the area,
and has exhibits about D-Day.
On the shoreline are the Gasworks, which at one time produced coal gas
to heat and light the castle. At one time a small boat-building yard stood on the
shore immediately to the south of the castle, and
many fine yachts were built there.
The caves beneath the castle were at one time used by smugglers. A
recent archaeological dig unearthed human bones dating form the Bronze Age, showing
that the caves have been occupied for thousands of years. However, there is no access
to them, as they can be quite dangerous.
Dunure
5 miles NW of Maybole off the A 719
This pretty little fishing village would not look out of place in Cornwall. Arriving
by car, you drop down towards it, giving excellent views of its cottages and pub,
all grouped round a small harbour. To the south of the village
are the ruins of Dunure Castle, perched on
the coastline. This is the original castle of the Kennedys,
and dates mostly from the 14th century. It was here
that the famous Roasting of the Abbot took place
in 1570. The Kennedys were at the height of their powers,
and Gilbert Kennedy, 4th Earl of Cassillis, owned most of the land
in
Carrick. However, he never owned the lands of Crossraguel
Abbey, which, at the Reformation, had been placed in the hands
of Allan Stewart, commendator, or lay abbot, of the
abbey. Gilbert invited Allan to Dunure Castle for a
huge feast, and when Allan accepted, had him incarcerated in the
Black Vault. He then stripped him and placed him on
a spit over a great open fire, turning him occasionally like a side of beef.
Eventually Allan signed away the lands, and was released.
But he immediately protested to the king, who ordered Kennedy to pay for
the lands. But such was Kennedy's power that he ignored the order.
Ayr
Ayr is the major holiday resort on the Ayrshire
coast. It stands at the mouth of the River Ayr, on the south bank, and
was formerly the county town of Ayrshire. Always an important place, it was
granted its royal charter in the early 1200s, and
is
the old capital of the Kyle district. Its most distinctive feature is the tall,
elegant steeple of its Town Hall, built
between 1827 and 1832 to the designs of Thomas Hamilton. Seen from the north, it
blends beautifully with a cluster of fine Georgian buildings beside the river.
After the Battle of Bannockburn, Bruce held his first parliament here, in the
ancient kirk of St John the Baptist to decide on
the royal succession after he died. This kirk is no longer there save for the tower,
now called St John's Tower, which stands among Edwardian villas near the
shore. Oliver Cromwell dismantled the church and used the stone to build
Ayr Citadel, which has now gone as well, save for a few feet
of wall near the river and an arch in a side street. To compensate, he gave the
burgh £600 to build a new church, which is
now known as the Auld Parish Kirk, situated
on the banks of the river where a friary once stood. It dates from the mid 1600s, and is
a mellow old T-plan building surrounded by old gravestones. Within the lych gate
can be seen a couple of mortsafes, which were placed over fresh graves to prevent
grave robbing in the early 19th century.
Ayr was the starting off point for Tam o' Shanter's drunken and macabre ride
home after spending the evening at an inn, as portrayed in Burns's poem of the
same name. In the High Street is the thatched Tam o' Shanter
Inn, where the ride was supposed to have started. At one time
it was a small museum, but now it has thankfully reverted to its
original purpose, and you can enjoy a drink within its walls
once more.
Robert Burns and Ayr are inseparable. He was born
in a village to the south of the town, which has
now become a well-heeled suburb, and his
influences
are everywhere. Off the High Street is the Auld Brig o'
Ayr, which dates from the 14th century, and down river is the
New Bridge, dating from 1878. In a poem
called "The Twa Brigs" Burns accurately
forecast that the Auld Brig would outlast the new one. He was right - the New Bridge
of Burns's time was swept away in a flood, to be replaced by the present New
Bridge, while the Auld Brig still survives.
Apart from St John's Tower, the oldest building in the town is
Loudoun Hall, close to the New Bridge. It was built about
1513 as a fine town house for the Campbells of Loudoun, hereditary sheriffs of Ayr. It
was due for demolition just after the war, but was saved when its importance was
realised. South of Loudoun Hall, in the Sandgate,
is Lady Cathcart's House, a tenement building which dates from the 17th
century. Within it, in 1756, John Loudon McAdam, the roads engineer, was supposed to
have been born (see also Moffat).
The bridges of Ayr take you to Newton upon
Ayr on the north bank of the river, once a separate burgh but now part of
the town. Part of its old tolbooth survives as Newton
Tower, caught in an island in the middle of the street.
The Belleisle Estate and Gardens are to the south of the town, with parkland,
deer park, aviary and pets corner. Nearby is
Rozelle House Galleries and Gardens.
There are art exhibitions within the mansion house, plus a tearoom and
craft shop.
Also south of the town, perched precariously on a
cliff top and always seeming to be in imminent danger
of collapse, is Greenan Castle, a 17th
century tower house. It was built in 1603 for John Kennedy of Baltersan and his
third wife Florence MacDowell, who owned the lands of Greenan. However, an earlier castle
may have stood here, and it may also have been the site of an Iron Age
fort. It is typical of many such tower houses in Ayrshire,
but some experts believe it has one unique claim to fame - it may mark the real
spot where King Arthur's Camelot once stood (see also Kelso).
Around Ayr
Prestwick
2 miles N of Ayr town centre, on the A79
Prestwick is one of the oldest towns in Scotland, having been granted its
original burgh charter in the 12th century. It was
also one of the most popular Clyde Coast holiday resorts
until Spain and Florida took over, and still has a long, sandy beach.
To the north of the town is Prestwick International
Airport, at one time the main
transatlantic airport for Glasgow. It is still a busy place, being
a favourite starting point for those holidays in warmer climes
that eventually saw off Prestwick as a holiday resort. On March
2 1960, the airport had possibly its most famous visitor -
Elvis Presley. Having been discharged from
the American army, his plane touched down at the airport
for refuelling when he was returning home from Germany. He stayed at the American
air force base (now gone) for just under an hour, and then re-boarded his flight. It
was the only time that "The King" ever set
foot in Britain. A plaque near the Graceland Bar in the airport commemorates the visit,
and people still turn up from all over Europe to pay their respects. In later life,
someone asked Elvis what country he would like to visit, and he replied that he would
most like to go back to Scotland.
The name Prestwick means "priest's burgh", and the ruins of the ancient
Parish Church of St Nicholas are near the coastline. At
Kingcase was a lazar house where Robert the Bruce went to seek a
cure for his leprosy. Bruce's Well can still
be seen there.
Monkton
4 miles N of Ayr on the A79
Traffic between Glasgow and Ayr used to thunder through Monkton, but now it
is more or less bypassed. It sits on the edge of Prestwick Airport, and at one time
the main road cut right across the main runway. This meant that buses and cars were held
up every time an aircraft took off or landed - a magnificent site, but time-consuming
for people in a hurry. The ruins of 13th century St Cuthbert's Church sit at the heart of
the village, and at one time the Rev. Thomas Burns, Robert Burns's nephew, was
minister here. William Wallace, it is said, once
fell asleep in the church, and had a dream in which an old man presented him with
a sword and a young woman presented him with a wand. He took it to mean that
he must continue his struggle for Scotland's freedom.
To the north of the village is a curious monument known as
MacRae's Monument. It commemorates James MacRae,
Governor of Madras in the early 18th century. He
was born in Ochiltree in humble circumstances, his father having died before he was
born. He was then brought up by a carpenter called Hugh McGuire, and when
MacRae returned from India in 1731 a rich man he bought the Orangefield estate (which
stood where part of Prestwick Airport now stands). He also found his old
benefactor living in poverty. He bought him an
estate at Stair, east of Monkton, and introduced his daughters into polite society, each
of them making good marriages, one of them even becoming a countess.
The estate of Ladykirk is to be found a few miles east of Monkton. It was here,
in Ladykirk Chapel, which has all but vanished, that Robert II
(the first Stewart king) married Elizabeth Mure of
Rowallan, mother of Robert III.
Troon
6 miles N of Ayr, on the A759
This seaside resort is synonymous with golf, and the British Open has been held
here many times. It is a young town, having been laid out in the early 1800s by the
4th Duke of Portland, who wished to create a harbour from which to export the coal
from his Ayrshire coalfields. It formed the western terminus of Scotland's earliest
rail line, the Troon/Kilmarnock Railway, which was opened in 1812. In 1816
the Duke introduced a steam locomotive onto the line, and it started pulling
passenger
trains (see also Kilmarnock). The town is now the Scottish terminal for the
Scotland/Ireland Seacat ferry service.
On the shoreline is the Ballast Bank, created over the years by ships
which discharged their ballast before taking on coal for Ireland. Behind Troon a
narrow road climbs up onto the Dundonald
Hills, from where a magnificent view of the
Firth of Clyde can be obtained.
Symington
6 miles N of Ayr off the A77
Symington is a pleasant village of old cottages, though a large estate of
council housing on its northern edge has somewhat marred its picturesqueness. At the heart
of the village is Symington Parish Church, Ayrshire's oldest church still in use.
This Norman building, formerly dedicated to the Holy
Trinity, was originally built in the early 12th century, and has in its east wall
a trio of delightful Norman windows. On a hillside to the west of the village, at a
spot called Barnweil, is the Victorian Barnweil
Monument, looking for all the world like a church tower without a church.
This marks the spot where Wallace watched the
"barns o' Ayr burn weel" after he set fire to
them. Next to it are the scant ruins of
Barnweil Church, where John Knox once
preached. The parish of Barnweil was suppressed in 1673, and the church, which may have
been one of the oldest in Ayrshire, gradually became ruinous.
Dundonald
8 miles N of Ayr on the B730
Dundonald Castle (Historic Scotland)
sits on a high hill overlooking the village. The hill
has been occupied for at least 3,000 years, and has been the site of at least
three medieval castles. What you see nowadays are the remains of the third castle, built
in the 14th century by Robert II, grandson of Robert the Bruce and the first Stewart
king of Scotland, to mark his accession to the throne in 1371. It was here, in his
favourite
residence, that Robert died in 1390. When Boswell and Dr Johnson visited the castle
in 1773 during their Scottish journey, Johnson was much amused by the humble home
of "Good King Bob". Since then, the
castle has been owned by many families, including the Wallaces and the Cochranes, who
later became Earls of Dundonald.
From the top, reached by a metal staircase, are fine views northwards
and eastwards over central Ayrshire.
Tarbolton
6 miles NE of Ayr on the B744
When Burns stayed at nearby Lochlee Farm
(not open to the public) both he and his brother Gilbert looked to Tarbolton
for leisure activities. They founded a debating society, which met in a thatched house
in the village. This house is now the Bachelors'
Club (National Trust for Scotland). It was here that Burns also
took dancing lessons, something of which his father William did not approve. Round
the fireplace in the upper room you'll see a helical pattern drawn in chalk - an
old Ayrshire custom to prevent the Devil from entering the house by way of the chimney.
The farm of Lochlee (also known as Lochlea) sat beside a now drained loch
to the west of the village, and had poor soil. When Burns's father died in 1784,
the family moved to Mossgiel near Mauchline.
Tarbolton Parish Church is an elegant, imposing building of 1821 standing on
a low hill.
Mauchline
10 miles NE of Ayr on the A76
When Burns's father died at Lochlee near Tarbolton, the Burns family moved
to Mossgiel Farm near the village of Mauchline. The farm that Burns knew is
no more, but its successor still stands to the north of the village,
with its farmhouse looking considerably more prosperous
than the one Burns knew. It was in Mauchline that he met Jean Armour, his future
wife,
and it was here that they first settled down. Their home in Castle Street (which at
that time was the main street of the village) now houses the
Burns House Museum. The red sandstone building actually had
four families living in it in the 18th century,
but it has now been converted so that various displays
and exhibitions can be accommodated. Robert and
Jean's apartment has been furnished in much the same way as it would have been in
1788 when they moved in. Across from it, but now a private house, was
Nance Tinnock's Inn, Burns's favourite drinking place.
Burns lived in Mauchline from 1784 until 1788, when he and his family
moved to Dumfriesshire. It was the most productive period in his life, and to
his time in Mauchline we owe To a Mountain
Daisy, To a Mouse, Holy Willie's Prayer
and The Holy Fair. But it was also
troubled times for him, and while trying to eke a living from the poor soil of Mossgiel,
he contemplated emigrating to Jamaica.
The Parish Church you see today is not the one that Burns knew.
The old Norman church was pulled down and rebuilt
in 1826, though the kirkyard still has many graves connected with the poet
(including the graves of four of his children). A
chart on the church wall explains where each one is.
One to look out for is that of William
Fisher. William was an elder in Mauchline Kirk, and the butt of Burns's satirical
poem Holy Willie's Prayer, in which he attacks
the cant and hypocrisy of the church. Willie asks God's forgiveness for his
own, understandable sins, while asking that he severely punish the sins of others.
Opposite the church is Poosie Nansy's Inn.
Though not a great frequenter of this inn, the
poet still drank there occasionally, and Burns enthusiasts can still drink there today.
To the north of the village is the Burns
Memorial, built in 1897. It is a tall building in red sandstone with a small
museum inside. From the top, you get good views of the rich agricultural lands of
Ayrshire.
Beside the memorial, and forming part of it, are some pleasant cottages for old people.
Gavin Hamilton was Burns's friend and landlord, and he stayed in the village.
His house can still be seen, and attached to it is the 15th century
Abbot Hunter's Tower. It looks like a small castle, but was in fact
the monastic headquarters of the Ayrshire estates owned by Melrose Abbey.
The Ballochmyle Viaduct, to the
south of the village, carries the Glasgow to Dumfries line across the River Ayr, and
is considered to be one of the finest railway bridges in the world. Work started on it
in 1843, and it is still Britain's highest stone and brick railway bridge, being 163
feet above the river. It has three smaller arches at either end, and one long, graceful arch
in the middle that spans 181 feet.
The Ballochmyle estate, which stood to the south of the village, is no more.
Up until recently it was the site of a hospital, but even that has been pulled down.
When Burns first came to Mauchline it was owned by the Whitefoords, who had
lost everything when a local bank collapsed several years earlier. They eventually sold
it to Claud Alexander and his family to pay off their huge debts.
Burns had been used to wandering the
Ballochmyle estates, which sit on the banks of the River Ayr,
and one day in about 1786 when Burns was strolling along
the banks, he saw Miss Wilhelmina Alexander,
Claud's sister, and he was so taken by her that he wrote
The Lass o' Ballochmyle, one of his most famous works,
in her honour. He sent it to her, but so angry was she that a
humble farmer should write a poem in her honour that she never
replied. In later years, however, she cherished
the poem.
Failford
7 miles E of Ayr on the B743
Near this little village, in 1786, Burns took his farewell of Highland Mary, who
would die soon after in Greenock (see also Greenock and Dunoon).
Burns had asked her to accompany him to Jamaica, and
she was returning home to prepare for the voyage. The
Failford Monument, on a slight rise, commemorates this event.
A mile east of Failford, in a field, are the remains of a tumulus known as
King Cole's Grave. Legend tells us that Old King
Cole of nursery rhyme fame was a real person - a British king called Coel or Coilus. In
the Dark Ages, he fought a great battle in Ayrshire against the Scots under their
king, Fergus. Cole's army was routed, and he fled the battlefield. Eventually he was
captured and killed. His supporters later cremated his body and buried it with some pomp
at the spot where he died (see also Coylton). The Kyle area of Ayrshire is supposed to
be named after him.
The tumulus was opened in 1837, and some cremated bones were discovered.
Up
until not so long ago the nearby stream was referred to locally as the "Bloody
Burn", and one field beside the stream was
known as "Deadmen's Holm", as that is
where those killed in the battle were supposedly buried. Tales were often told of bits
of human bone and armour being turned up by men ploughing the field.
Ochiltree
11 miles E of Ayr on the A70
Ochiltree was the birthplace of yet another Ayrshire writer,
George Douglas Brown, who was born here in 1869, and went on
to write The House with the Green Shutters.
He wanted to banish the "kailyard school"
of writing, which saw Scotland's countryside as being comfortable and innocent, full
of couthy, happy people of unquestionable worth. He set his book in the fictional
town of "Barbie", which is a thinly
disguised Ochiltree, and not many characters in
the book have redeeming features. The cottage where he was born (not open to the
public) now has green shutters, and is itself
known as the "House with the Green Shutters".
Auchinleck
13 miles E of Ayr off the A76
Burns is not the only famous literary person associated with Ayrshire. Though born
in Edinburgh, James Boswell was the son of
a Court of Session judge who lived in Auchinleck
House, near what became the mining village of Auchinleck. He had
the house built in about 1760 as his country seat, and Boswell brought the great
Dr Johnson there to meet him when the pair were touring Scotland. They didn't hit
it off.
Boswell himself is buried in a small mausoleum attached to
Auchinleck Kirk, which is no longer used for worship,
but instead houses a museum dedicated to the writer and biographer.
Sorn
14 miles E of Ayr on the B743
Sorn is one of the most picturesque villages in the county. It sits on the River Ayr,
with an 18th century bridge spanning it, and has many delightful cottages.
Sorn Parish Church dates from 1658, and the lofts,
or galleries, are reached by stairs on the outside of
the walls. Sorn Castle dates from the 14th century, with later additions.
It was built by a branch of the Hamilton family, and James VI once visited
on horseback in the depths of winter to attend the
wedding of Isobel Hamilton, the daughter of his Treasurer, to Lord Seton.
It is open to the public from mid July to early August each year.
Alexander Peden was born at Auchincloich near Sorn in 1626. Known
as Prophet Peden, he was a Covenanter who held secret conventicles, or
prayer meetings, at lonely spots all over central Ayrshire.
The whole area abounds with places that have been named after
him, such as "Peden's Pulpit" and
"Peden's Table". There is even a field
called "Preaching Peden".
Cumnock
15 miles E of Ayr off the A76
Cumnock is a small industrial town which was granted its burgh charter in 1509. In
the middle of its square sits Cumnock Old Parish
Church, built in the mid 1800s. It's a foursquare building that seems to
sprout transepts, apses and porches in all
directions. Two miles west of the town, at Lugar, is
Bello Mill (not open to the public), birthplace
in 1754 of William Murdoch, discoverer of gas lighting. He conducted his experiments in
a cave on the banks of the Lugar Water upstream from Bello.
Dumfries House (not open to the public),
one mile west of Cumnock, was designed for the 4th Earl of Dumfries in
the mid 1700s by John and Robert Adam. It is said that James Armour, Robert
Burns's father-in-law, was one of the masons who worked on the building of the house.
Muirkirk
23 miles E of Ayr on the A70
This former mining and iron-working town is surrounded by bleak but lovely
moorland. To the west is the site of the Battle
of Airds Moss, fought in 1680 and marked by a memorial. A Covenanting army
was heavily defeated by Government troops. Just south of the town, and along
an unmarked road, is a small monument to John Louden McAdam, who owned a
tar works in the vicinity. A mile-long canal was dug here in 1789, which served the
former iron works.
New Cumnock
18 miles E of Ayr on the A76
It was near here that the Knockshinnoch Mining
Disaster took place in 1950. 129 miners were trapped underground when
a slurry of mud and peat filled some workings that were
close to the surface. 116 were eventually brought out alive, and
great bravery was shown by the rescuers. A feature film,
The Brave Don't Cry, was made about the disaster in
1952. To the south of the village is Glen
Afton, through which flows the Afton Water. A cairn marks
the spot where Burns was inspired to write Flow Gently Sweet
Afton.
Dalrymple
5 miles SE of Ayr on the B7034
In this quiet little village of weavers' cottages Burns first received an
education. While staying at Mount Oliphant, he and his brother Gilbert attended the
Parish School on alternate weeks. The village sits on the Doon, and has a small
Parish Church built in 1849. Some people say
it was the inspiration for the musical Brigadoon, about a mysterious
Scottish village that only appears every 100
years. Alan Jay Lerner, who wrote the words, was looking for a way of turning a German
fairy tale about a magical village called
Germelshausen into a musical, and one day
while in Scotland he suddenly happened upon Dalrymple, which sits in a small
glen, hidden until you're almost upon it. He immediately thought of locating his
musical in Scotland, and called it Brigadoon because there really is a bridge over
the River Doon in the village. He also called one of the characters Charlie Dalrymple.
Two miles south, and straight out of a fairy tale
as well, is Cassillis Castle (not open to the public), the home of
the Marquis of Ailsa, head of Clan Kennedy. It is a wonderful concoction of pepper
pot turrets and towers built originally in the
15th century but added to throughout the years.
Alloway
2 miles S of Ayr town centre on the B7024
Robert Burns was not the uneducated "ploughman poet" from the peasant
classes that his more romantic admirers would have us
believe. His father was a tenant farmer, and although not well off, still managed
to employ workmen and serving girls on his farm.
Burns himself was a highly educated man for his time, thanks to his far-sighted
father. He knew his Classics, he could speak French and some Latin, he could
read music, he took dancing lessons, and he could play both the fiddle and,
surprisingly, the guitar. When he went to Edinburgh
in later life, he was possibly better educated than some of the gentry who
patronised him. Two of his sons, James Glencairn
Burns and W. Nicol Burns, attained the ranks of Lieutenant Colonel and
Colonel respectively in the British Army.
At one time, Alloway was a small country village. Now it forms part of Ayr, and is
full of large, impressive houses which illustrate the
relative affluence of this part of Ayrshire. It was here, in 1759, that
Robert Burns was born in a cottage that his father built with his own hands. Now
Burns Cottage is a place of pilgrimage, and
people come from all over the world to pay their
respects. Within the grounds of the cottage is the
Burns Museum, containing many of his manuscripts, letters and possessions.
Alloway Kirk is where Robert's father, William
Burns, is buried, and it was the main setting for the poem Tam o'
Shanter. It dates from the early 16th century, but even in Burns's day it was a ruin. Across
the road, within some beautiful gardens, is the Grecian
Burns Monument, built in the 1820s. Inside is a small museum.
Spanning the Doon is the graceful Brig o'
Doon, a single arched bridge dating from the 15th century or possibly earlier. It
was across the Brig o' Doon that Tam o' Shanter was chased by witches he disturbed
in Alloway Kirk. However, he managed to gain the keystone of the bridge and
escaped unharmed (as witches cannot cross running water), even though his horse lost its
tail. In Burn's day it lay on the main road south into Carrick, but a newer, wider bridge
now carries traffic south.
Across the road from Alloway Kirk is the Tam o' Shanter
Experience, a visitor centre with two audiovisual shows within
its large auditorium. One illustrates Burns's life and times, and the other re-creates
what happened to Tam o' Shanter after he left the inn and made his fateful ride south
from Ayr.
East of Alloway is Mount Oliphant Farm (not open to the public) to which
Burns and his family moved when he was seven years old.
St Quivox
2 miles NE of Ayr just off the A77
The tiny Parish Church is a small gem of
a building. Though altered beyond recognition over the years, its basic fabric
is still medieval, and it takes its name from a shadowy Celtic saint called variously
St Kevock, St Kennocha, St Kenochis, St Cavocks and St Evox. It was restored
by Lord Cathcart of Auchincruive - and no doubt altered to suit Protestant services -
in 1595.
To the east is Oswald Hall designed by Robert Adam for James Oswald in 1767.
It is now a conference centre. The surrounding Auchincruive estate is one of the
campuses of the Scottish Agricultural College.
Kilmarnock
Though it is largely an industrial town, Kilmarnock was granted its burgh charter
in 1592, so its roots go deep into Scottish history. Legend says it grew up round
a church founded by St Marnock, a Celtic saint, in the 7th century. The
present Laigh Kirk (now called The Laigh
West High Kirk) in Bank Street dates from 1802. It has
a 17th century steeple (a date stone on it says 1410,
but this may refer to an earlier building), and is
supposed to stand on the site of this church. In 1801, during
a service, 29 people were trampled to deaths when plasterwork started falling off
the ceiling of the previous kirk, causing a mad rush for the
doors. The town's other old church is the Old High
Kirk, which dates from the early 1730s.
Kilmarnock has many Burns associations, and the first edition of his poems
was published in the town, at Star Inn Close (now gone) in 1786. Now a copy is
worth thousands of pounds. A stone marking the spot can be found in the small
shopping mall. Also in the mall is a stone marking the spot where Covenanting martyr
John Nesbit was executed in 1683. His grave can be seen in the kirkyard of the
Laigh Kirk.
Many of the people mentioned in Burns's poems are buried in the two
kirkyards. Burns Statue, unveiled in the mid
1990s by the Princess Royal, stands at Kilmarnock Cross.
It is the work of Sandy Stoddard, whose other works include the statue
of David Hume on Edinburgh's Royal Mile and the sculptured friezes in the
Queen`s Gallery in Buckingham Palace. In the Kay Park stands another memorial to the poet
- Burns Monument. Though not now open to the public, it is an impressive
red
sandstone building.
In truth, Kilmarnock's shopping centre, notably Kilmarnock Cross and King
Street, is dull and unattractive, due to
uninspired modern developments. But if you go down Cheapside towards Bank Street and
the narrow streets round the Laigh Kirk, you get an idea of what the 18th century
town looked like. It was in a shop in King Street that Johnnie Walker first started
bottling and selling whisky in 1820. The
Johnnie Walker Bottling Plant in Hill Street is
one of the largest plants of its kind in the
world. Johnnie Walker himself now lies in the kirk yard of St Andrew's Glencairn Church
(no longer used for worship) to the south of the town centre, and his statue can be found
in the Strand.
One place not to be missed is the Dick
Institute, the town's museum, art gallery and library. It is
housed in a grand classical building, and has impressive
collections connected with geology, archaeology, biology and local history. The gallery is
also impressive, with paintings by Corot, Constable, Turner and Kilmarnock's
own painter, Robert Colquhoun. The area around the Dick Institute is
particularly attractive, with a war memorial,
Victorian houses, and the richly decorated façade
of
the old technical college, now being converted into flats.
Across from the Dick Institute is the statue of Kilmarnock's
own Dick Whittington - James Shaw (known affectionately in the town as
"Jimmy Shaw") who became Lord Mayor of
London in 1805.
To the north east of the town centre is the town's oldest building,
Dean Castle. It was the home of the Boyd family,
who became Earls of Kilmarnock, and is in fact two castles within a curtain wall - the
14th century Keep and the later Palace. Both are open to the public, and house
wonderful collections of tapestries, musical instruments and armour. Surrounding it
is Dean Castle Country Park with many walks and a small children's zoo.
The Boyd family rose to become the most important family in Scotland in the
1460s, when Sir Robert Boyd became Regent of Scotland. In 1746 the last earl
was beheaded in London for fighting alongside Charles Edward Stuart at Culloden, and
all his lands and titles were forfeited.
During his trial in London, his young wife, the Countess of Kilmarnock, stayed
at the Boyd's other residence in the town - Kilmarnock House (now gone). Daily
she walked its grounds, awaiting news of his fate. These
grounds are now the Howard Park, which has a
tree lined avenue known as Lady's Walk. The Countess
herself died shortly after her husband, and some people
say that her ghost still haunts the park (see also Falkirk).
Across from the new sheriff court building near
the park is the Old Sheriff Court of 1852, an attractive building in neoclassical style. It sits on
the site of one of the termini of Scotland's first railway, the Troon/Kilmarnock
Railway, built by the Duke of Portland in 1812
(see also Troon). Two miles west of the town is the
Gatehead Viaduct, built in 1807 to take the railway over the River
Irvine. Though it no longer carries a railway line,
it is still Scotland's oldest railway bridge.
Though Elderslie in Renfrewshire seems a likelier location, there are those
who claim that William Wallace was born at Ellerslie, west of
Riccarton, a suburb of Kilmarnock (and named after Sir
Richard Wallace, a relation of William). There was certainly a Wallace castle in the area,
and young William is known to have had his first skirmish with English troops on
the banks of the River Irvine.
In 1862, at Crosshouse, a former mining village west of
Kilmarnock, was born Andrew Fisher, who
rose to become Prime Minister of Australia on three
separate occasions.
Around Kilmarnock
Fenwick
4 miles N of Kilmarnock off the A77
Fenwick (pronounced "Fennick") is really two villages -
High Fenwick and Laigh Fenwick. They lie on the edge of the
Fenwick Moors, which separate the farmlands of Ayrshire
from Glasgow and its suburbs, and were originally weaving villages.
Some of the cottages still show their weaving origins, with two
windows on one side of the door to allow plenty of light to enter the
room containing the loom and one window on the other.
Fenwick Parish Church, which dates from 1643, is an attractive
whitewashed building with a Greek cross plan.
On one wall hangs the original Jougs, where wrongdoers were chained by their necks
to the wall.
Two miles south east of the village is the quaintly named, and often
photographed, hamlet of Moscow (pronounced
"Moss-cow" rather than "Moss-coe"),
which actually has a burn called the Volga flowing through
it. And five miles to the north, off the B764, is
Lochgoin Farm, which has a small museum commemorating the Covenanters.
Kilmaurs
2 miles NW of Kilmarnock, on the A735
Kilmaurs is a former weaving village, and though only a few fields separate it
from Kilmarnock's suburbs, it is still a small,
self-contained community with many small cottages. At its centre is the old
17th
century Tolbooth, still with the jougs attached, which was placed
round wrongdoers' necks as a punishment. St Maurs Glencairn Church
dates from 1888, and replaced an earlier
medieval collegiate church. Glencairn Aisle,
the 16th century burial vault of the Earls of Glencairn, still stands however, and it
has an ornate monument inside to the 8th Earl and his family.
John Boyd Orr, first director of the United Nations Food and
Agricultural Organisation and Nobel prize-winner,
was born in Kilmaurs in 1880.
Stewarton
5 miles N of Kilmarnock on the A735
Stewarton is famous as being the home of bonnet making in Ayrshire. It was
the birthplace, in 1739, of David Dale, the industrialist and social reformer who
founded New Lanark (see also Lanark). The
Parish Church of St Columba dates originally
from 1696, though it has been much altered.
Dunlop
7 miles N of Kilmarnock on the A735
Dunlop is a delightful village of small weavers' cottages. The
Parish Church dates from 1835, though it has
fragments from the earlier church incorporated into the north aisle. In the kirkyard
is the ornate early 17th century Hans Hamilton
Tomb, contained within a small mausoleum. Hamilton
was Dunlop's first Protestant minister, and was made Viscount Clandeboyes
by James VI. The small Clandeboyes Hall, beside the mausoleum, dates from
the 17th century, and was the village's first school.
Galston
4 miles E of Kilmarnock on the A71
This pleasant little town in the Irvine Valley has a splendid
Parish Church dating from 1808. Another church not
to be missed is St Sophia's RC Church,
modelled on the Hagia St Sophia in Istanbul. Barr
Castle is a solid, 15th century tower house in which John
Knox preached in 1556. An ancient game of handball used to be played against its
walls by the locals.
To the north of the town are the impressive ruins of
Loudoun Castle, ancestral home of the Campbells
of Loudoun. It was burnt down in 1941, and in its time entertained so lavishly that it
was called the "Windsor of Scotland".
Three ghosts reputedly haunt it - a Grey Lady, a Phantom Piper and a Benevolent Monk.
At one time the great sword of William Wallace was kept within the castle, but
it was sold in 1930. Beside its walls is the Auld Yew
Tree, under which Hugh, 3rd Earl of Loudoun, prepared the draft of the
Treaty of Union between Scotland and England.
Loudoun Castle was the birthplace of Lady Flora
Hastings, who shook the monarchy and government
to its core in 1839. Queen Victoria was 20 years old
at the time, and had been on the throne for just two years. Lady Flora was a Lady of
the Bedchamber who contracted a disease which so swelled her stomach that
she appeared pregnant. Gossip raged through the court, and she was shunned,
even though doctors whom she consulted confirmed that she wasn't pregnant but ill.
Neither the government nor the Queen did anything to dispel the rumours,
and people began to sympathise with the young woman.
Soon it was the Queen's turn to be shunned, and she was shocked when
people turned their back on her as she proceeded through London by coach. It wasn't
until Lady Flora was on her deathbed that a grudging reconciliation took place,
though no apology was ever given. She now lies buried in medieval
Loudoun Kirk, whose ruins can be seen a couple of miles to
the west of the castle. It is thought nowadays that Lady Flora may have been
suffering from ovarian cancer.
Today the Loudoun Castle Theme Park
fills the grounds of the castle.
Newmilns
7 miles E of Kilmarnock on the A71
Newmilns is a small lace making and weaving town in the Irvine Valley,
which was granted its charter in 1490, making it the oldest inland burgh in Ayrshire.
The small crow stepped Town House dates
from the 1730s, and behind the Loudoun Arms, which itself dates from the 18th century,
is Newmilns Tower, an early 16th century tower house built by the Campbells
of Loudoun.
During the American Civil War, the weavers of Newmilns sent a message
of support to Abraham Lincoln, and he in turn sent back an American flag. This
was subsequently lost, but in 1949 the American Embassy gave the town
a replacement, which is now housed in the early 19th century
Parish Church in the main street.
Darvel
8 miles E of Kilmarnock, on the A71
Situated in the lovely Irvine Valley, Darvel is a small, attractive town which was
laid out in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Like its neighbour Newmilns, it
is a lace making town, the skills having been brought here by the Dutch in the
17th century. It was in Lochfield, near Darvel, that
Sir Alexander Fleming, the discoverer of penicillin, was born in
1881. To the east of the town is the immense bulk of
Loudoun Hill, the plug of a former volcano. Both William Wallace and
Robert the Bruce fought battles here against the English, in 1297 and 1307
respectively. South of the town is the quaintly
named Distinkhorn, the highest hill in the area.
Irvine
7 miles W of Kilmarnock on the A71
Irvine is an ancient seaport and royal burgh which, in the 1960s, was designated
as Britain's first seaside new town. It is a
mixture of old and new, and has many industrial estates surrounding it.
However, the historical core has been preserved, though an unattractive and
totally unnecessary shopping mall straddling the River Irvine, dominates the whole
area. Robert Burns learned flax dressing in Irvine in
1781, and lodged in a house in the cobbled Glasgow
Vennel. A small museum has been created within both it and
the heckling shop behind it.
Irvine has other, more unexpected, literary associations, however. In 1815
the American writer Edgar Allan Poe, spent a couple of months in the town, attending
the local school. It is said that part of his
lessons was to copy the epitaphs from the tombstones in the kirkyard of the
Parish Kirk, which may have prepared him for
some of the macabre tales he wrote in later life. Irvine was also the birthplace of the
writer John Galt, a relative of the man who adopted Edgar Allan Poe in the
United States. Alexander MacMillan, who founded the great publishing house, was
also a native of the town.
In the nearby village of Dreghorn was born in 1840 yet another
famous Ayrshireman - John Boyd Dunlop, who invented the pneumatic tyre.
Dreghorn Parish Church, built in 1780,
is unusual in that it is six-sided in plan.
The ruins of Seagate Castle date from
the early 16th century, and it is said that Mary Stuart lodged here briefly in 1563.
Every August the town has its Marymass
Week, which supposedly commemorates her visit. However, the celebrations probably
have more to do with a pre-Reformation religious festival, as the parish church was
formerly dedicated to St Mary.
In the 18th century, Irvine saw the founding of perhaps the most
unusual religious cult ever seen in Scotland - the Buchanites. Elspet Buchan was
the daughter of a publican, and claimed she could bestow immortality on a person
by breathing on them, and that she herself
was immortal. She attracted a wide following, including a gullible
Irvine clergyman, but was hounded, along with her followers, from the town.
She eventually died a natural death, and the cult broke up (see also Closeburn
and Crocketford).
Down by the harbour side is the Magnum Leisure
Centre, one of the biggest centres of its kind in Scotland.
It has a theatre and concert hall, an indoor bowling green, an ice rink, swimming
pool and fitness and coaching areas.
Near the Magnum Centre is one of the three sites of
the Scottish Maritime Museum (see also Dumbarton and Glasgow). It
houses a wide collection of ships, most of which
you can board and explore. There's also the Linthouse Engine Works, which houses a
vast collection of maritime machinery, such as engines, winding gear and so on. In the
Ship worker's Tenement Flat, a typical "room
and kitchen" flat dating from the 1920s has
been re-created, showing how shipyard workers lived in those days.
Irvine was the setting, in 1839, of the grand
Eglinton Tournament, organised by the 13th Earl of Eglinton at his home
of Eglinton Castle, on the outskirts of the town. Here, a great medieval
tournament was to be re-created, with jousting,
horse riding and other knightly pursuits for the great and the good, who had promised
to come from all over Europe. Alas, the three-day event was a wash out, due to
colossal rainstorms. Little remains of the castle,
but the grounds have been turned into Eglinton Country
Park.
Kilwinning
9 miles NW of Kilmarnock on the A737
Though nowadays a continuation of Irvine, Kilwinning was, up until 1975, a
separate burgh. The ruins of the great Tironensian
Kilwinning Abbey, built in the 12th century, still dominate the town
centre, though they are not as extensive as those
of Ayrshire's other great abbey, Crossraguel.
The tower you see nowadays attached to the abbey ruins was built in 1815, and
replaced the original medieval one, which fell
down the year before. It is here that a competition is held every year called
the Papingo Shoot, where archers shoot upwards at a target (the papingo) held
from a window of the tower. The papingo is usually a wooden pigeon, and
such shoots were once common throughout Britain.
Kilwinning Parish Church, which sits within the ruins of the abbey, was built
in 1775. The town is the home of Freemasonry in Scotland.
A few miles out of town, on the A737, is Dalgarven Mill, dating from about 1620. It is now a
museum dedicated to country life in Ayrshire.
Ardrossan, Saltcoats
& Stevenston
11 miles W of Kilmarnock on the A78
These towns form a trio of holiday resorts on the Ayrshire coast. Ardrossan is the
most industrialised, and is the ferry terminal for Arran. It is a planned town, and its core
was laid out in the early 19th century by the 12th Earl of Eglinton. The ruins of
15th century Ardrossan Castle, once a stronghold of the Montgomeries, sit
on Castle Hill overlooking the main streets. Cromwell is said to have plundered some
of its masonry to build the Citadel at Ayr. The ruins and the land surrounding
them were given to the town by the Earl of Eglinton as a public park. The
Obelisk at the highest point on the hill commemorates a local doctor,
Alexander McFadzean, who promoted piped water and gas supplies in the town. At the foot of
the hill stands St Peter in Chains, designed
by Jack Coia, one of Scotland's best-known architects, and built in 1938. It is
reckoned to be one of the finest modern churches
in Ayrshire.
Just off the coast is Horse Island, an RSPB reserve. Though it looks
peaceful enough, it has been the scene of many
shipwrecks over the years, and many sailors have found themselves marooned on
it after their ships struck its submerged reefs. At the
Clyde Marina is a sculpture park featuring works by the Japanese artist
Hideo Furuta, who lives and works in Scotland.
At Saltcoats the North Ayrshire Museum, housed in a former church, has
an interesting local history collection. A gravestone in the kirkyard may be that
of an ancestor of Edgar Allan Poe. The town has a fine beach, and its name is a
reminder of the times when salt was produced here from seawater. The small harbour
dates from the late 17th century with later alterations, and at low tide fossilised
trees can be seen on the harbour floor. It was in Saltcoats, in 1793, that
Betsy Miller, the only woman ever to have become
a registered ship's captain, was born.
Stevenston is a straggling town, with a High
Church that dates from 1832. It has a good beach, though it is some way from
the centre of the town. Nearby, at Ardeer, the British Dynamite Company established
a factory in 1873. It later became Nobel's Explosives Company, and in 1926
became part of ICI.
Dalry
11 miles NW of Kilmarnock on the A737
This small industrial town's square is dominated by
the Parish Church of St Margaret, dating
from the 1870s. The name comes from the Gaelic "Dal Righe",
meaning the "King's Field", which shows that
at one time it must have had royal connections. To the south east
of the town is Blair, a large mansion
centred on what was a typical Scottish tower
house. The parkland, which
surrounds it, was laid out by William Blair in the 1760s.
Beith
11 miles NW of Kilmarnock off the A737
Beith is a small attractive town in the Garnock Valley. The remains of the
Auld Kirk date from the late 16th century,
while the impressive High Church dates from
the early 19th century. Eglinton Street is
the most attractive part of the town, with small, neat two-storey buildings
dating from the late 18th and 19th centuries.
Kilbirnie
12 miles NW of Kilmarnock on the A760
Within this small industrial town you'll find the
Barony Parish Church, dating from the 15th century. Inside is some
wonderfully exuberant woodwork from the 17th and 18th centuries, including the
extravagant Crawford Loft and the Cunninghame
Aisle. In medieval times it was dedicated to St Brendan of Clonfert in
Ireland. Standing next to the golf course are the ruins of
the Place of Kilbirnie, a former castle of
the Crawford family dating from the 15th century.
West Kilbride
16 miles NW of Kilmarnock off the A78
West Kilbride is a sedate village of Glasgow
commuters, perched above its twin village of
Seamill, on the coast. Law Castle
was built in the 15th century for Princess Mary, sister of James III, on her marriage
to Thomas Boyd of Kilmarnock, later to be the Earl of Arran. However, the marriage
was later annulled and he had to flee the country. His title was eventually given
to the Hamilton family. At the hamlet of Portencross, out on a headland
beyond Seamill, are the substantial ruins of 14th century
Portencross Castle, another Boyd stronghold. Also on the headland
is Hunterston Castle (not open to the public),
ancestral home of Clan Hunter, and Hunterston Nuclear Power
Station.
The Cumbraes
19 miles NW of Kilmarnock, in the Firth of Clyde
These two islands - Little Cumbrae and
Great Cumbrae - were once in the county of Bute. Little Cumbrae is privately
owned, but Great Cumbrae can be visited by a ferry from Largs. The only town on the island
is Millport, a small, attractive holiday
resort with a unique feature - the Cathedral of
the Isles, Britain's smallest cathedral. It is sometimes referred to as Europe's
smallest, but this honour is held by an even
smaller cathedral in Greece. Nevertheless it is a
real hidden gem, and was completed in 1851 as part of a theological complex funded by
the George Boyle, who later became the 6th Earl of Glasgow. Its nave is 40 feet by
20 feet, and can only seat 100 people. It was designed by William Butterfield, who
also designed Keble College, Oxford. The ceiling is painted with all the wild flowers found
on the island.
On the eastern shore of the island, facing the mainland, is the
University Marine Biological Station. It is an institution
of both Glasgow and London Universities, and offers students research
facilities, tuition in diving, and tuition in
marine biology. It houses a museum, which is open to the public.
The Museum of the Cumbraes can be found in the stables of The Garrison,
just off the seafront. There are exhibits and displays on Millport's heyday as one of
the Clyde holiday resorts.
Largs
19 miles NW of Kilmarnock on the A78
Largs is the epitome of the Ayrshire seaside town. During the last fortnight in
July, hordes of Glaswegians used to descend on places like this for their annual
fortnight's holiday. These days are gone, but the
towns themselves have adapted, and now cater for retired people and day-trippers.
Largs itself is a lively, attractive place, and is the mainland terminal for
the Cumbrae ferry. It was near here that the Battle of
Largs took place in 1263, when the Scots defeated a force led by
King Haakon IV of Norway and finally threw off the Norse yolk (see also Lerwick).
A tall thin monument south of the town affectionately known as
the Pencil commemorates the event. Within the
town you'll find Vikingar! a museum and interpretation centre that explains the
life and travels of the Vikings all these years ago.
Largs Museum, with its local history collection, is also worth a visit, as is
the Skelmorlie Aisle (Historic Scotland).
This sits in the old kirkyard in the centre of the town, and was a transept of the
former medieval parish church. Within it is the mausoleum of Sir Robert Montgomery
of Skelmorlie and his wife. Built in 1634, it is a Renaissance-style tomb with
wonderful stone carving. In the local cemetery is buried
Sir William Burrell, shipping magnate and millionaire, who gave
the Burrell Collection to the city of Glasgow in 1944 (see also Hutton).
Kelburn Castle stands to the south of
the town. It is the ancestral home of the Boyles, Earls of Glasgow, and its grounds are now
a country park, with gardens, an adventure playground,
woodland walks and craft
workshops.
Isle of Arran
Arran (13 miles from Ardrossan by ferry) is called
"Scotland in Miniature", as it is mountainous in the north, low lying in
the middle and rises again towards the south. It is 19 miles long by about ten miles
across at its widest, and within its 165 square miles
it has history and spectacular scenery aplenty. This is an island of Celtic saints,
mysterious standing stones, craft workshops, cairns
and old castles. The northern portion can be every bit as spectacular as the
Highlands, and for those with the stamina, a climb
to the summit of Goat Fell, at 2,866 feet
the island's highest peak, is a must. The ferry from Ardrossan (a 55 minute
crossing) takes you to Brodick, a large village
and resort strung round Brodick Bay.
Just north of Brodick is the Arran
Brewery, which has viewing galleries where you can see the brewing process. And
at Home Farm, also near Brodick, is Arran
Aromatics, Scotland's leading producer of body care products and scented
candles. Again, you can watch the manufacturing processes from a viewing gallery.
Arran was a Gaelic speaking island up until the early 19th century, though
the place names owe as much to the language of the Norsemen who settled here in the
10th and 11th centuries as they do to Gaelic. Dominating Brodick is Goat Fell,
with, beneath it, Brodick Castle (National
Trust for Scotland). This former Hamilton family stronghold (the Hamiltons became the
Earls of Arran after the title was forfeited by
the Boyds of Kilmarnock) sits in a wonderful location, surrounded by mature
gardens. There has been a castle of sorts on the
site since the Dark Ages, but the present building dates from the 16th century
and later. Inside there is a collection of paintings and furniture. On the
northern outskirts of the village is the Isle of
Arran Heritage Museum, which is well worth a visit, as it shows the history of the
island's
ordinary people. North of Brodick, on the A841 is the beautiful village of
Corrie, with its whitewashed cottages and
its gardens aflame with colour in the summer months.
The road from Corrie follows the coast north, then turns north west and
goes through the bleak but extremely beautiful Glen
Chalmadale before bringing you to Lochranza
("Loch of the rowan tree river"). On the shores of this small
village are the imposing ruins of Lochranza
Castle (Historic Scotland), built in the
16th century on the site of an earlier castle. It started life as a hunting lodge for
the Scottish kings before passing first to the Campbells and then the
Montgomeries, Earls of Eglinton.
At the entrance to the village is the Isle of Arran Whisky
Distillery, which has guided tours and a visitor
centre. In the summer months a small car ferry runs
from the Mull of Kintyre to Lochranza, the crossing taking about 35 minutes.
Beyond Lochranza is the small village of
Catacol, with a row of identical whitewashed cottages known as
The Twelve Apostles. They were built in the
19th century to accommodate islanders cleared from Glen Catacol in favour of deer.
From here you get a good view across to the Mull of Kintyre, which is only four miles away.
Further on, and inland from Machrie Bay, is the wonderful
Auchagallon Stone Circle, a Bronze Age burial cairn with
a circle of stones surrounding it. There are several ancient monuments in the
area, including the Machrie Moor Stone
Circle and the Moss Farm Road Stone
Circle. The magnificent cliffs at
Drumadoon stand high above a raised beach, and are
spectacular. The King's Cave is close to
the shore, and is supposed to be the cave where Robert
the Bruce saw his spider, (though many other places in Scotland and Ireland make
a similar claim). From the village of
Blackwaterfoot, south of Machrie Bay, a road called
The String cuts cross the centre
in the 6th and 7th centuries. Nowadays it has regained its religious significance, as it
is home to a Tibetan Buddhist monastery and retreat. Near Lamlash is the factory
Arran Provisions, the island's biggest employer.
It makes a wide range of mustards, jams and preserves, and has a visitor centre and
shop.
of the island towards Brodick. The village of
Shiskine, on The String, has the lovely
St Molas Church, with an ancient stone carving of the saint embedded in
its wall.
South of Blackwaterfoot the road continues on towards
Lagg, and if you need convincing about the mildness of
the climate hereabouts, the palm trees in the gardens of the Lagg Inn should do the
trick. The Torrylinn Creamery, which makes traditional Dunlop cheese in the
old fashioned way, has a viewing gallery and shop. Further on the tiny island of
Pladda can be seen about a mile from the
coast before the road turns north once more towards
Whiting Bay, another small village and holiday resort. At one time it was
a fishing port, and it takes its name from the whiting that were caught in the bay.
A splendid walk starts from south of the village
towards Glenashdale Falls and the prehistoric burial
cairns known as the Giant's Graves.
Lamlash sits on Lamlash Bay. Having the local
high school, the hospital and the local government offices, it
is the island's capital. In the bay sits the magnificent
bulk of Holy Island, so called because the Celtic St
Molas lived a life of austerity here.
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