BRIGS OF AYR. — ALLOWAY KIRK. 179 



' Simpson's.' The ' dungeon clock,' which tolled the hour in the ear of the 

 poet, has, unfortunately, been taken down, along with the ancient jail, of which 

 it formed a part ; but the ' Wallace' tower ' still remains, and may easily be 

 distinguished from the circumstance that it is the only steeple which Ayr 

 possesses.* It was in this tower, according to tradition, that Wallace was 

 confined." And how often in this district is that name recalled by some 

 attesting relic — how often may we exclaim — 



" Robore, mente, anirais ingens, ingentior ausis, 

 Quern tibi, quein dederint secula prisca parem !" 



" Arrived at Ayr," says an observing tourist, " we called for a friend, to whom 

 we had previously written respecting our excursion in the ' Land of Burns,' 

 but heard that he had gone at an early hour with his fishing-rod to the water 

 of Doon. Thither we hastened, and keeping the river's edge from the low to 

 the high bridge — a most delightful walk — we found him throwing the ' delusive 

 fly' in his favourite stream, but without the satisfaction of even a 'glorious 

 nibble,' as Franklin has termed it. He readily agreed to wind up his fishing 

 tackle, and at once accompanied us to the monument of Burns, where we had 

 long desired to do homage to the memory of the bard. The day was bright and 

 serene ; the birds were carolling on every tree ; the bushes that overshadow 

 the river were springing into leaf; and although the roses had not yet opened 

 their crimson folds, we were almost persuaded to believe, with our friend, that 

 the birds sang and the roses bloomed more sweetly on the banks of the Doon 

 than in any other place. On our way, we passed ' The thorn aboon the well,' 

 and in a few minutes stood within the roofless walls of ' Alloway's auld 

 haunted Kirk.' Here we were half disposed to indulge that superstitious feeling 

 with which the place has been invested by Burns' powerful and unrivalled 

 imagery. The sacred ruin is surrounded by a small plot of burying-ground ; 

 and here, among others of less note, we found the grave of the poet's father. 

 But the stone which marked the spot and recorded his death, has been levelled 

 to the ground, and purloined piecemeal by the sacrilegious hands of relic-hunters. 

 We now approached the Monument, which consists of a three-sided rustic 

 basement supporting a circular peristyle of the Corinthian order, surmounted 

 by a cupola, the decorations of which are in strict accordance with the finest 



• " Wallace's tower " seems to have been originally one of the tall rude towers which were the only 

 fortalices of our Gothic ancestors: but its warlike appearance has been as materially altered by the said 

 spire having been engrafted upon it, and by the clock-dials which have been stuck around and under its 

 battlements, as would that of a stern veteran knight, if his helmet were taken off, and the snod cocked hat 

 of a decent baillie clapped on in its stead. — Chambers. 



