1G2 



AYRSHI R E. 



Ayrshire, adjacent to this spot j but the offer was rejected, 

 from a dread that the price of provisions would be 

 raised by the increase of population, in the event of 

 a harbour being erected. The present Duke of 

 Portland, actuated by more enlightened views, lias 

 lately obtained two acts of parliament, the one for 

 forming a harbour at the Troon, and the other for 

 making a railway from the Troon to Kilmarnock.' 

 A new pier is constructing, which is to extend from 

 the rock, nearly at right angles, to the distance of 

 800 feet, where the depth is 19 feet at low water. 

 In the course of this year (1810) 3(X) feet will In- 

 completed. The railroad i< advancing rapidly ; and 

 it is now proposed that a branch of it shaH commu- 

 nicate with Irvine. 



Throughout every part of Ayrshire many vestiges 

 of antiquity may be traced, as cairns, encampments, 

 druidical circles, &c. The castles at one time must 

 have been very numerous. The remains of a few are 

 still visible, as of Loch Doon, Denure, Greenan, 

 Mauchline, Turnberry, Auchinleck, Barr, Dean, 

 Dundonald, Cessnock, Kirrila, Knock, Fairly, Skel- 

 murly, Barbiston, Sundrum, Cumnock, Ardrossan, 

 Cassilis, Thomaston, &c. There were also many re- 

 ligious houses, as the abbey of Kilwinning, founded 

 in 1140 ; Crossraguel, in 12+4 ; Failefurd, a monas- 

 tery, in 12.52; Feale, a priory; Mauchlin, an ab- 

 bacy, founded by David I. ; Dalmulin, a monastery, 

 founded by Walter II. Steward of Scotland; Ayr 

 1230, and another 1472; Irvine, 1412; Minniboil, 

 (Maybole), a collegiate church, in 1441 ; Kilmaurs, 

 in 1403, &c. 



The most ancient families in this county are said 

 to have been Auchinlecks, Blairs, Boyds, Boswells, 

 Campbells, Cathcarts, Cochranes, Craufurds, Crich- 

 tons, Cunninghams, Dalrymples, Dunlops, Fullar- 

 tons, Hamiltons, Kennedys, Lindsays, Montgomeries, 

 Stuarts, Wallaces. 



Few parts of the country have undergone greater 

 vicissitudes than this. With regard to the aborigines, 

 it can scarcely be doubted, that the Selgovae, No- 

 vantcs, and Damni', who, at the time of the Roman 

 invasion, possessed the peninsula between the Solway 

 and the Clyde, were of British descent. These 

 tribes formed part of the province of Valentia, which 

 submitted to the yoke of the conquerors, while the 

 Caledonians, to the north of Antoninus' wall, main- 

 tained their independence. The Damnii appear to 

 have inhabited Ayrshire, or at least the northern 

 part of it, although the whole tract of country, in- 

 cluding ancient Galloway, Carrick, Kyle, and Cun- 

 ningham, has sometimes been called the Chersonesus 

 of the Novantes. After the abdication of the Ro- 

 man government, this territory is described as an in- 

 dependent principality, known by the name of the 

 Cambrian, or Cumbrian kingdom, sometimes less 

 correctly denominated the kingdom of Stathcluyd. 

 During the Saxon heptarchy, Galloway, including 

 the southern division of Ayrshire, was infested and 

 over-run by the Northumbrians; and to this period 

 we may perhaps refer the origin of certain Saxon 

 names and usages, as well as some superstitious no- 

 tions, which are scarcely yet eradicated, and which 

 are evidently relics of the Anglo-Saxon mythology. 

 Thus Kirkoswald, in Carrick, according to tradition, 



owes its name to Prince Oswald, to whom, also, Ayr.n.rt. 

 Kirkoswald in Northumberland traces its foundation ; w V "* 

 and at both places certain customs are still prevalent, 

 which must be ascribed to one common soure:-. The 

 ellin race, who have so long haunted the banks of the 

 Girvau and the Garpal, and who, to this hour, are 

 said to be performing their capricious freaks in the 

 precincts of Crbstraguel'e ruined abbey, are well 

 known to be of Saxon pedigree. In the eighth cen- 

 tury, the Saxons extend d their ravages to Kyle and 

 Cunningham, and established a colony in that pro- 

 vince. These intruders, aided by the Picts, reduced 

 the metropolitan city of Alcluyd, and enjoyed a 

 shortlived tranquillity in their usurped possessions. 

 The Scots of Ireland and Argyle did not permit 

 them long to rest. Early in the ninth century, the 

 sanguinary and rapacious Alpiu sailed from Cautire, 

 and made an unexpected descent on the coast of 

 Kyle. His savage followers spread devastation eve- 

 ry where around ; but his progress was suddenly 

 checked by some of the native warriors ; and the in- 

 vader fell, at a spot near the source of the Doon, af- 

 terwards distinguished by the name of Laicht-Alpin, 

 where, as the etymology suggests, a flat and ponder- 

 ous stone was placed to mark his grave. Kenneth 

 Mac-Alpin was more successful in his incursions on 

 the western shores ; but though his forces effected 

 settlements in these regions, and though emigrants 

 from Ireland, at different periods, colonised spacious 

 portions of the same territory, and gave the name of 

 Galloway to the whole extent of country from the 

 south of Annandale to the north of Ayrshire, it is 

 not ascertained that the Saxons were either extermi- 

 nated or altogether dislodged : On the contrary, there 

 can be little doubt, that many of the present inhabi- 

 tants of Ayrshire are of Saxon extraction, and that 

 the numbers of that lineage were reinforced by the 

 crowds of English refugees who fled from the sword 

 of the Norman conqueror, during the reign of Mal- 

 colm Canmore. The promiscuous race of Britons, 

 Saxons, Scots, and Picts, who occupied this part of 

 the country, were frequently infested by the Danes, 

 or Norwegians ; and tradition still poiuts out the 

 traces of many hard fought battles, in which the in- 

 vaders were discomfited with immense slaughter. 

 The last and fiercest of these encounters is said to 

 have taken place at Largs, in 1263, when the host 

 of Norway was routed by the Scots ; but the glo- 

 ries of that bloody day have been prodigiously ex- 

 aggerated by our national chroniclers. A more 

 obstinate foe from the south afterwards made en- 

 croachments on this devoted province, which was 

 kept in perpetual agitation and alarm, during the 

 alternate successes and reverses of Wallace and 

 Bruce. The English kept possession of the strong 

 fortresses long after the whole of Ayrshire had been 

 steadily devoted to the cause of Bruce, the earl of 

 Carrick. After the fatal battle of Durham, ( 134G,) 

 the victorious troops of England again penetrated 

 into the heart of this county, carrying devastation 

 and terror wherever they went. During the next 

 200 years, the hostile visits of our southern neigh- 

 bours seldom reached so far ; but this part of the 

 land was sufficiently harassed with domestic turbu- 

 lence. While the feuds of rival chieftains were r- 



