1804. On the Husbandry of Ayrshire. 75 



to this flate of mifery, there was fcarce a road in tlic wliole 

 county where one could Ihike a trot in the middle of Jane ; of 

 courfe few or no carts or waggons could be ufcd. I well re-. 

 member, that in travelling on horfeback, in the beginning of t!ie. 

 year 1761, with a certain Rev. Gentleman, we came to a bit of 

 ground that was a little more lx)llow than tlie furrounding fnr- 

 fa.ce, and where a little water mull run after a fliower, but 

 which was then as hard as the heat of the fan can render Itii? clyy ; 

 he luddenlv alighted, and v. hen I enquired, witli furprlfe, what 

 was the matter, he replied, '* This was a bad Itep in winter." 

 This fo naturally fuggelted the well known flory of Kirkwood 

 and his man, that I could not help being much amufed ; I men- 

 tion it only to fhow the ftate of the roads within the count}'- fit 

 that time. In iliorr, there was next to no capital, no inclofures, 

 no regular or fixed plan of cultivation ; the produce of land was 

 only trifling, compared to what it is at prefent, and roads were 

 barely pallable. I cannot better defcribe the llste of the country 

 than in the words of the late worthy Mr Robertfon, one of the 

 minirters of Kilmarnock, in his Itatiltical acci-)unt of the countrv 

 part of that parilh, and which, with a very little variation, will 

 apply to the whole county of Ayr at that time. * About 3 c or 



* 40 years ago, no inclofures were to be feen, except, perhaps one 



* or two about a gentleman's feat, in all the wide extended and 



* beautiful plain of Cunningham. Hence, at the end of harved, 

 ^ when the crop was carried from the fields into the barn-yard, the 



* whole county had the appearance of a wild and dreary ccmmon, 



* and nothing was to be feen, but here and there, a poor, bare, 



* and homely hut, where the farmer and his family were lodged. 



* The cattle too were then allowed to wander about at pleafure 



* through all the neighbouring fields, till the grafs began to rife ia 



* the fpring, and miferably poached all the arable ground, now 



* faturated with the water that lay on the farface. To fuch h 



* degree was this mifchief done, bv the ranoing of the cattle in 



* fearch of food, when none was to be found, that, in many pla- 



* ces, it deftroyed all profpecl: of any crop, worth the labour oi 



* the hu{l3andman, for the enfuing year: and in feme inftances, for 



* many years to come.' 



In fuch a Hate as this, it is a happy thing for a county fo ca- 

 pable of improvement as that of Ayr, where the means can be 

 eafily attained, that fome enlightened and fuperior gcniufes ap- 

 peared, poffelfed of fufficient ikill and influence, to direft the ap- 

 plication of them. The county of Ayr contains within itfelf coal 

 and lime in abundance in almoft every corner. Befidcs these 

 natural advantages, a banking company was ereded at Ayr, 

 which was foon fucceeded by the celebrated Douglas and 

 Heron Bank, now gone into oblivion. The latter, however 



ruinous 







