THE AYR 387 



" Conceited gowk ! puff'd up wi' windy pride ! 

 This mony a year I've stood the flood and tide ; 

 And though wi' crazy eild I'm sair forfairn, 

 I'll be a brig when ye're a shapeless cairn ! " 



Immediately at the back of the town, on the left bank, the 

 old Nether Mill stands, and here a weir with a fish-pass occurs. 

 A short distance below this a new sort of obstacle has been 

 added in the form of an immense iron pipe on the bed of the 

 river. The interests of the salmon have here again, however, 

 been attended to. 



A couple of miles above this the second weir exists at Over- 

 mills. Up till 1898 no pass existed here, and as the river is 

 very wide, the uniform and smooth dyke was commonly 

 covered by a thin flow of water impassable to fish. A pass 

 has now been provided, which is reported to allow fish to 

 ascend freely when the river is in running order. 



The course of the river now makes a great loop northwards 

 as we ascend, past the terraced banks and sloping gardens 

 of Auchincruive. At the upper extremity of this loop the 

 lowest tributary, the Water of Coyle, enters from the south. 

 Above this the general trend of the river is north-east, past 

 Stair to Montgomerie, then round several moderate loops to 

 Barskimming and Catrine. 



Just above Barskimming the largest tributary, the Lugar, 

 enters from the south-east. This stream drains 86 square 

 miles of country, which is only 10 square miles less than the 

 whole of the neighbouring river Girvan. It rises at " The 

 Martyrs' Grave," about three-quarters of a mile from the side 

 of the river Ayr, and about 5 miles west of Muirkirk, and 

 describes a crescent- shaped course past Lugar village, with its 

 ironworks, Cumnock, and Ochiltree, and so back to the main 

 river. It is an important spawning stream, and, I fear me, a 

 happy hunting ground for not a few from the villages named. 



There is no obstacle to the ascent of fish in the main river 

 from Overmills to Ballochmyle, a distance of 14 miles. Here 

 a couple of wooden dam dykes are thrown across the river 

 which have received a good deal of attention in order to provide 

 them with passes. At Catrine, 2 miles further up, a double 

 obstacle, if it may be called so, entirely prevented further 

 ascent of fish at one time. The lower was the more serious, 



