AYRSHIRE. 



AYRSHIRE. 



rhief occupation u that of hand-loom weaving. Many of the females 

 an employed in wwiiijc and embroidering minima, particularly the 

 kind of work known ai ' Ayrshire needlework.' The town it under 

 the government of two bailie* and twelve councillors elected annually. 

 The pariih church, a handsome edifice with a spire 90 feet high, 

 noted in 1821, will accommodate about 1000 person*. There U a 

 chapel for 1'nited IVesbytorians. A subscription library and a savings 

 bank are maintained. Fairs, chiefly for dairy stock, are held in June 

 and October. In the vicinity is a remarkable hill, formerly used as 

 the court-hill of the barony, and on which a hall was built In earlier 

 time* it U supposed that on this hill the Saxon Thor and the Druid 

 Bol or Bal were worshipped, a combination of the two names giving 

 name to the burgh. In this parish Kobert Bums resided some yean, 

 and here wrote several of the more important of his poetical works. 



Troon, a seaport in the parish of Dundonald, population, 2404, is 

 distant 6 miles N. from Ayr, 83 miles S.W. by S. from Glasgow, and 

 34 miles by the Glasgow and South- Western railway. Troon has 

 considerably advanced in importance within the last 40 years, ship- 

 building yards, patent slips, and other public works having been con- 

 structed by the Duke of Portland, the superior of the ground on which 

 Troon is built A massive pier affording shelter from south-westerly 

 winds runs out a considerable distance, inclosing a spacious harbour. 

 Ship-building, and rope and sail-making are carried on to a considerable 

 extent The port has of late years become the moat important in 

 Ayrshire. Coal-pits and stone-quarries are in the vicinity, and consi- 

 derable quantities of coal and stone are exported. There are exten- 

 sive storehouses on the quay. A considerable coasting-trade is carried 

 on. Troon is much visited in the season for sea-bathing. There are 

 a chapel of ease, a Free church, and a United Presbyterian church. 

 Fullarton House, the seat of the Duke of Portland, is a short distance 

 south-emit from the town. 



The following are some particulars of the more important villages, 

 with the populations in 1861 :A uckialecl; 16 miles E. by N. from 

 Ayr, population of parish, 8697, has a parish church, built in 1837, 

 and a chapel for Original Seceders. The old parish church in an 

 ancient structure, to which an aisle was added in 1754 by Lord 

 Auchinleck. Auchinleck House, near the village, is the seat of Sir 

 James Boswell, Bart, grandson of the biographer of Dr. Johnson. The 

 Lugar water, a feeder of the Ayr, runs past the village. At Auchin- 

 leck is a station of the South-western railway. BaJluntrat, a small 

 port on the right bank of the Btinohar, at its mouth, 34 milea W.N.W. 

 from Ayr, population of parish, 1801, of which the village contained 

 256. Ballantrae was a burgh of barony previous to 1617. The parish 

 church, which accommodates about 600 persons, was built in 1819. 

 There is a Free church. There is a good salmon fishery, and cod, 

 turbot and herrings are caught in considerable quantities. Some 

 weaving is carried on for manufacturers in Glasgow. Cheese is exten- 

 sively made by the farmers in the neighbourhood. The ruins of the 

 ancient castle of Ardstinchar, the former seat of a branch of the Bar- 

 gaoy family, overhang the town. This part of the coast was at one 

 time much resorted to by smugglers. Burr, about 22 miles 8. by W. 

 from Ayr, population of parish, 907, an agricultural village on the left 

 bank of the Stinchar, has a parish church, a Free church, a parochial 

 library, and a savings bank. The village is in a retired rural district, 

 surrounded by precipitous hills. A fair is held annually. Cutrine, in 

 tit* parish of Born, on the right bank of the water of Ayr, about 18 

 soil** K. by N. from Ayr, population of parish, 4174, owe* it* import- 

 to the cotton manufacture which was established here in 1786. 



Baud** the cotton-mills there are extensive bleaching-works. In the 

 cotton manufactory are two water-wheels about 60 feet in diameter, 

 each estimated at 100 horse power; and in the bleaching-work* is a 

 water-wheel of about 82 feet diameter. In the village are a chapel of 

 the Establishment, a Free church, a chapel for United Presbyterians, 

 a school partly supported by the population of the cotton-mills, and 

 several public libraries Professor Dugald Stewart resided near 

 Catrine for a considerable time on his family property. Coluumtll, on 

 the right bank of the Stinchar, about 80 milV.S.H.W. from Ayr. |,p,,. 

 lation of pariah, 3984, baa been almost entirely rebuilt of late years, 

 and > he houses have a clean and neat appearance. The parish church, 

 built in 17X3, and reseated in 1883, will accommodate about 600 

 persons. In th* parish are a chapel of ease, a Free church, and a 

 chapel for Original Hoeeders. Nearly the whole of the parish is moor 

 and pasture-Uod. Lime-kilns in the neighbourhood of the village 

 bra some employment. Mrymplt, on the water of Doon, 8 mile* 

 S.K. from Ayr, population ofparish, 1096, ha* a considerable number 

 of neat dwelling-houses. The church wa* rebuilt in 1764. There 

 b a strings bank. Flour-mills, a saw-mill, and a woollen manufac- 

 tory employ some of the population. In the neighbourhood have 

 bra found a (Ion* oomn, corns, and Roman vessel*. Several old 

 oastlssj were formerly in the pariah. Barbieston Castle, clone 

 villa**, wa* modernised about 60 yean since, and is now a dwelling 

 houm Of Bkeldoa Castl* scarcely a vestige remain*. Ken* Castle 

 ha* disappeared. DarvH, hi the pariah of Loudoun, al> 

 I from Kilmamoek, population of the parish, exclusive of New Milns, 

 3409, Is situated on the right bank of the Irvine water, where H 

 receive, the Glen wster. The inhabitant* are chiefly engaged in Innd- 

 loom wwvW. A ch.p.1 for Reformed Presbyterian* is in the village. 

 AM**, about I mile* K. by K. from Kilmarnock. population of 



parish, 1741, has a parish church, a Free church, and a chn] 

 United Presbyterians. The celebrated James Guthrie was ejected 

 from his parochial charge in Fvmvick for nonconformity, after he had 

 been minister of Fenwick for alxmt 20 years. The coach-road from 

 Glasgow to Ayr ran through Fenwick, but the railway ha* deprived 

 the village of much of its former trade. Pullarton, on the left bank 

 of the Irvine water, at iu mouth, may be regarded as a suburb of tho 

 burgh of Irvine, though it is situated in the parish of Dundonald. 

 The people are generally employed in hand-loom weaving. There U 

 here a good station of the Glasgow and South- Western railway. In 

 the town are a chapel of ease, a Free church, a school with a small 

 endowment, and a parochial library. Wat Kilbride, population of 

 parish, 2021, about 44 miles N.W. from Ardrossaa. The parish 

 church was rebuilt in 1732, and had an aisle added to it in 1836. 

 There are a Free church, a chapel for United Presbyterians, and a 

 parochial subscription library. The inhabitants are chiefly employed 

 in hand-loom weaving. At Portincroas, about 2 miles W. from the 

 village, is a small harbour, which will admit vessels of about ." 

 burden. Palna, on the banks of the river Doon, 11 miles S.K. from 

 Ayr, in the parish of Straiten : population of parish, 1540. It in a 

 thriving village of recent growth, and contains a chapel of the Estab- 

 lishment, a chapel for United Presbyterians, and a parochial school. 

 The people are employed in agriculture, and in the weaving of worsted 

 tartans. Kicnirton, population of parish, 4583, a suburb of Kilnmr- 

 nock, is a village of considerable antiquity. Sir William Wallace 

 resided here for some time with his uncle, who wan : 

 lands of Riccarton. The church, which was erected in 1 

 a conspicuous site in the centre of the village : it will a< 

 about 110Q persons ; the spire is a handsome object A public 

 library is maintained in the pariah. Hand-loom weaving employs 

 many of the inhabitant* : a considerable number of females are 

 engaged in sewing and embroidering mualin. Several coal-mines and 

 tile-works are ill the neighbourhood. A fine bridge of three arches, 

 crossing the water of Irvine and connecting Riccarton with Kiliiiar- 

 nock, was opened in 1839. The old bridge is a abort distance farther 

 up the river. 



Anliquitia. There are in Ayrshire several monuments of antiquity. 

 In Galston parish is a cairn of gray stones 60 feet hi diameter ; and in 

 the parish of Born one much larger. At the base it U about 250 feet 

 in circumference, and it rises 10 feet above the surface of the ground. 

 In some parishes of the county are oval or circular encampment*, the 

 origin of which has been ascribed, perhaps without foundation, to the 

 Danes. One of these, on Warley Hill in the parish of Duudouald, 

 consists of two concentric circular embankments of loose stones and 

 earth ; the inner one incloses a space of one acre, the outer one a 

 apace of ten acre*. There is another camp on the same hill about 

 200 yards off, comprehending about an acre. There are some vestiges 

 of an old encampment on a hill called Knockgeorgan, in the parish of 

 Ardrouan ; and on the eastern extremity of the same ridge ore the 

 remains of on ancient structure used a* an alarm-post From this 

 post and from Knockgeorgan signals were made by smoke by day and 

 fire by night There are many ruins of castles and of religious house*, 

 the relics of a somewhat later age than the foregoing. Of the castles. 

 Loch Doon Castle, on an island in Loch Doon, deserve* notice from 

 the circumstance that it was built of largo block* of freestone, a* no 

 quarry is know to exist within eight miles, and the intervening space 

 is rough and mountainous without the vestige of a road. Turtiberry 

 Castle, on the coast of Carrick, was the residence 

 Carrick, the immediate ancestors of Robert Bruce. \\ hen in the 

 occupation of the English it was stormed by Bruce, and does not 

 appear to have been afterwards inhabited. Little more than tho 

 foundations remain ; the ruins cover an aero of ground. Anu'iii: tin- 

 other ruined castle* are those of Thomas ton : I' .rtincruns, opposite the 

 inland of Little ('umbrae ; Dunure, on the Carrick coast ; Dean Castle, 

 between Kilmarnock and Stewarton ; Terringsean, in the parish of 

 Old fumnock ; Auchinleck and Dundonald (the last a royal castle, 

 where Robert II. of Scotland, the first king of the Stunt line, lived 

 and died), in the parishes so called ; Kcmplaw, in DoadoOaU parish, 

 and Carleton Castle, and others in Colmouell parish. Tho castles of 

 Sorn, in the parish of Sorn ; Dalquharran, on the banks of the ( ! irvan ; 

 and Greenan on the coast of Carrick are still inhabited. 



Skelmorlio Castle, an ancient building on the coast, in the northern 

 part of the county, and I I rvine, a large modern 



M u. -I tire, are the residences of the Earl of Kglintou ; Culzcan Castle 

 ..u.. iln i- ni..d<rii edifice, near Thomaston), is the residence of the 

 M.ir.|iii* of A ilsa. 



he ecclesiastical ruins, the chief are those of the Abbey of 

 Croasragnel, otherwise Croeregal, in the parish of Kirk Oswald. This 

 abbey is more entire than any other in the we*t of Scotland. The 

 walls of the church are almost entire, being about 164 feet long and 

 33 feet high. The abbey stood in an inclosurc of about eight Scotch 

 acre*, which wa* surrounded by a strong stone wall, now almost 

 entirely demolished. Kilwinning Abbey, a splendid house, wa* 

 destroyed about the lime of the Reformation. A part of it wa* used 

 till 17^5 an the parish church. At Maybole are the remains of on old 

 collegiate church. The ruined kirk of Alloway near Ayr ha* been 

 immortalised in Burns's ' Tarn o'Shanter.' 



S/iffory. Ayrshire was inhabited at the time of the Roman 



