AYRSHIRE -THE LAND OF BURNS. 



APPENDIX TO VOLUME I. 



By the following distribution of the illustrations, the present work has been 

 arranged so that the first volume may comprise the Lowland and Border scenery, 

 and the second volume the Highland scenery, of Scotland ; each presenting 

 a distinct series of the more remarkable features of these two great divisions 

 of the kingdom.* 



The rich and populous county of Ayr winds along the Irish Channel on the 

 west, to an extent of nearly eighty miles from north to south, having a breadth of 

 twenty-nine miles, and a population of one hundred and fifty-six thousand. It is 

 divided into three principal districts, or ancient bailiwicks, namely, Cunning- 

 hame, Kyle, and Carrick — names familiar to every reader of Scottish history. 

 In the sixteenth century considerable tracts of forest still existed, but these 

 being cut down, it was not till within the last fifty years that the county began 

 to resume its sylvan honours under the patriotic spirit and taste of its resident 

 proprietors. As the aristocratic demesnes are numerous, and these all more or 

 less deeply sheltered in thriving woods, the general aspect of the county is in 

 many places luxuriant ; while the small lakes and rivers by which it is watered 

 have their banks richly clothed with plantations, mingled with scenes in the highest 

 state of cultivation. In these classic valleys art and nature are often so pleasingly 

 contrasted in their operations, as greatly to enhance the beauty of the landscape. 

 In many of the higher grounds, which in former times were used exclusively 

 for pasture, agriculture has driven her plough afield, and, where at first it 

 found only heath, has at length elicited rich harvests for its reward. This 

 county h is shared liberally in all those improvements which have so changed the 



* The views here introduced were all taken on the spot early in the present year, and may be consi- 

 dered most faithful delineations of the Land of burns — a title by which the county of Ajt is emphatically 

 known to every reader of the poet, by whose genius so many of its scenes have been immortalized. 

 VOL. I. Z Z 



