Prestwick directory, 1830

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*' Brtatlies there a man with soul so deaJ, Who nererto himself hath said This is my own - my native land ; Whose heart hath ne'^r within him bunied, As HoxK hi« fooUt«p8 he hath turned. -

In the Shape of a Pd- t-Office

And Tichiity, three r.iilcs ruuud,

OiTJng a Pictiiif of t'le Piesent Situation of th»

(With Kngia-siiiys)

Similltam Mamvtn.

The Editor was induced to imdertake this warM partly from tKe increasing importance of this valu-^ able Comity y of which there is no concise Tcpogra-- phical History, ^c. or Guide ; and partly in con- sequence of the glaring blunders and palpable in- attention exhibited in what are called the West- Country Lists, the only guide incomplete and imper- fect as it is, we have hitherto had of the various insti- tutions of our town, and partly from the disappoint- m.ent the want of it has been felt by Travellers and Tourists who, during all seasons of the year have of late visited the Land of Burns. Of the utility of a Directory for so large a place as Ayr now is, there cdnhelMt'iMeopiniofl^ and a desideratum long called fur has now at a considerable trouble and eafpence been supplied ; in compiling which the Editor begs to acknowledge the obligations he is under to the Local authorities of the Town, for such informa- tion as appeared inaccessible.

The Editor htg€ further to state that no name of place of fe^dmce has been omitted so far as could pd&sibly be obtained^ and shoiild any person whose name ought to have appeared here^ find it oimltedghe must'-bldm^e himself for such omissioUias upwards of 1500 notices were served on the respectable inhabits untsofthe Town and neighbourhood of Ayr* If musti however, be ^dm,itted that notwithstanding the iUmosi eare and diligence, perfect accuracy is undt- iidnable, awing to the changes which sir frequently^

Th^ Editor begs to apologize t6 his respectable Roman Catholic and Episcopalian friends, for the omission of their places of worship amongst those of their Brethren, but considers he is only responsibU for such communications as were handed in proper time. Several are in the like predicament, and inust unavoidably be reserved for another Edition should such ever be called for.

The Editor begs also to apologize to those respectable individuals lately come to reside within the bounds of this Directory, for the non-insertion of their names and addresses - that part of our work hav^'-' in g gone to press previous to their domicile here.

A limited number of copies of this work have been thrown off, a number about equal to defray tke expence, which if disposed of, will be a satisfaction that the labour has not been m vain.

Another Edition m,ay be afterwards got up in the course of a year, should a sufficiency of subscribers be obtained, betwixt and then, and any corrections or suggestions for the further improvement of this Guide, will be thankfully received, addressed to the Publisher, No. 7> New Bridge Street, Ayr.

Abbey at Kilwiniiing 3

Remarkable Engagements.

Battle of Largs 36

. at BegGalston ge37

:PaFt III.

Daiilop Cheese 53

Lords Lieutenant - Members of Parliament - Provosts of the Town in prevloii? year^j.

Rid ploughs - Mr Finlayson on 58

Apoorraph - Mr Reid ib^ Ayrshire, Nursery of Reformation

_L Disputation beiween Abbot Q. Kennedy

and John Knox 6%

Fenwick, Mr Guthrie 63

^ Covenanters at Dramclog. 6

Irofi Works at Mun-kirlc.

Maffjiesiia and Salfs

Ayrshire Needle Work

PuELic Buildings.

C>;n?nly Hall Sheriii' Court

Commissary Clerk's Office Sheriff and Commissary Coarts

Tbc Sheriff's Small debt Court Sheriff Clerk's Office Sasine Office Justice of Peace Clerk's ofOee

Excise Cowrt

Commissary Court

Council Chamber

Prisons and Governor's House

Town Buildings. Coffee Room Ayr Advertiser Billiard Room

Public Offices. Ayr Barsk

Hank of Scotland's Office Savings Bank Post Ofiice Stamp Oiiice Herrinff Fishery Office Custom House . .

("ounly Cess Office and Tax Office Burgb Cess Office Ijiiieu Stamp OlTice Steam Boat and Packet Oiflce

Public In-stttutions*

SiDJth's InstitTjtioii

The Poors House

Ayr Librar/

Ayrshire Uoiti cultural Library

Ayr Academy

Female Academics

Private Schools

An1,Jburghers

See Address

Roman Catholics

Ayrshire Bible Society

Sabbath School Union

Public Bodies.

Medical Practitioners

Sailors' Society

Merchants' Company

Writers Society

Whipmen Society

Friendly Societies (Male)

MisoN Lodges.

Ayr and Renfrew St. Pauls it-.

Fur Irjsurajice Companies W ine and Tea Company

Giving; out of \V«bs (vre&ving)

Ciivi.'iS'Iitvitation to Funerals

Hisfory ef Newton,

Rope Manufactory

Wbipiiien Society History of Prestwick

Siagistrates and Councillors Ayr Rnces Caledonian Hunt Burns' Monument I'am o"' Shanter and Souier Johnnie The Landlord and Lady Ilui at the Monument Buriis Anniversary

RssoRTS OF Fashion ABLE Partif.s.

Cagtiehiil Garden Monkwood Grove Loch Dooa Gouk^croft

Qooit Ciub

Curling Club

Darham Ciub

Sir W. Wallace 64

Literary Characters. ib.

Mr Robert Potter ib.

Keepers of Fire Engines - ^Occasional Waiters -

Markets - Conveyances - Ca,rriers.

Lieutenancy - -FreeboldeFs - Commissioners of Supply - Resident Justices - Magistrates of Ayr - CoRvener''s Board - Visitors.

Newtoil upon Ayr^ - Hope Manufactory - Found- aries- - Whipmen Society - Magislrates. -

Prestvvick - Mas-islrates.

Story of Destniciion of Kilwinning Abbey 42

" Our Lady Kirk of Kyle" ib.

Establishment for persons afflicted with

Leprosy, by Robert Bruce, at Kilcaiss ib.

Usurpation of Oliver Cromwell 72

Foundation of the " Old Church" 73

of Wallace Tower 78

Fiars do. for formers years.

Frontispice - County Buildings

Old Malt Cross

Old Steeple

New Town Buildings

Ayr Academy

Burns' Monument

Tam O'Shanter and Souter Johnnie

Table of the Extent population, &c.ofthe County of Ayr.

We'll awa to Ayrshire, Where green grow the rashes, 0, We'll awa lo Ayrshire, To uae the bonnie lasses, O.

Si a Alex. Boswbm..

The Land of Bruce, of Wallace, and of Burns, ia one of the largest Counties south of the Forth. It is bounded by the County of Renfrew on the north and north east, by the Counties of Lanark and Dumfries on the east, by the Stewart- ry of Kirkcudbright on the south east, the County of Wigtou on the south, and by the Frith of Clyde, or western ocean oa the west. It stretches in a crescent shape along the coast, from Gallowayburn upon the north side of Lochiyan, its boundary on the south to Kellyburn, which divides it from Renfrewshire on the north, nearly 85 miles, and the breadth from east to west, is in some places 30 miles. As the road along the coast is rather circuitous, and as the County runs to a point at both ends, its real dimensions will be in length about 80, and in breadth about 23 miles. The County of Ayr contains about It is in every sense of the word, a most important County. Every where it is highly productive, either in grain, cattle, dairy labours, or in mineral wealth. It possesses a large and very active manufacturing community.

Ayrshire is in nearly the form of a half moon, concave to- ward the sea, and convex on the land side. The most strik-

* Alton's Survey.

ing of the natnral features is the appearance from the shore of Ailsa Craig, which rises sheer out of the sea, at the distance of 15 miles from land, somewhat like an inverted top^ The dis- tance of this object causes it to be seen from the greater part of the coast, though it every where appears to be quite at hand. So tall and massive is Ailsa, and such is the effect produced by the levelness of the sea between, that the sight of it even at the distance of 15 miles, oppresses the imagination. Nothing can indeed be more startling than its first appearance, as the stranger comes down upon the coast from the mountains of Carrick. It is an object quite unlike any that is usually to be teen upon the ocean, and ia fact appears some awful prodigy. It is the property of the Earl of Cassillis, and set down as situated in this County, and is reckoned part of the parish of Dailly. It is a little more thaii a mile in circumference - is uninhabited, though the remains of a castle of some strength are yet to be seen, perched upon the upper edge of the eastern front of the Craig.

A large range of Ayrshire from the foot of the water of Doon, about two miles from Ayr, to the north of Ardrossan, is a plain open country, neither what may be called level nor hilly, but rising from the shore in a gradual easy acclivity , till it terminates in mountains, on the south east and moorish hills on the eastern boundary.

The prospects from some of the eminences ar6 uncommonly rich and variegated. On ascending any of the little heights in almost any part of the County, the traveller has a delightful ; view of the Frith of Clyde ; the beautiful hills of Arran, the towering summits of the Goatfield piercing the clouds,' with the surrounding Islands of Bute, Cumbraes, Plada,, Sanda, &c. are the objects towards the west. On the Highland hills and the south west, and at nearly an equal distance from the " Bold shores of Carrick," and the Island of Arran, the wave- beaten rock of Ailsa, 11G3 feet above the level of the

sea, and beyond it the Mull of Kintyre, and the hills of Down and Antrim, in Ireland, close the horizon. Towards the northwest, the cloud capt mountains of Argyle, Paps of Jura, Benlomond, Benledi, &c. are distinctly seen.

Beautiful natural scanery is to be viewed at the southern extremity of Ayrshire - the vale of Glenapp, which stretches from the shore of Lochryan, a good way up into the interior. Such is the irregularity of the Burn which runs through Glen- app, that the road crosses it at least half a dozen times, and as many bridges within the extent of half a dozen miles - a more perplexing cross-tempered burn is not to be found, perhaps in all Scotland, abounding as it does in wayward capricious burns. The hills of Finart and Tummock are extremely high, and from their summits there is a most delightful view of the coast of Ireland. Glenapp is well worth traversing for the sake of its delightful scenery, although wild and solitary.

This southern nook of Ayrshire constitutes the parish of Ballautrae. The village of Ballantrae is situated at a level part of the Shore, close to the mouth of the river Stinchar, picturesquely overhung by the ruins of an old castle.

The running streams in the County of Ayr are more remark- able for their. number and their beauty than for their magni- tude. Their courses are generally from east to west ; and as all of them take their rise in the County, which as before mentioned, is no where more than 30 miles broad, the rivers are not very large.

The Stinchar which rises in the parish of Barr, in the moorish parts of Carrick, and falls into the sea at Ballantrae, is a clear and beautiful stream of water running on a bed of pebbles, and abounding with fish. Although the hills on both sides rise to a considerable height, yet the course of the stream is open, with many haughs, holms, and banks covered with natural wood, forming as fine a highland glen as is perhaps any where to be met with.

*Vhe water of Tigg, a rapid stream on a rocky bed, which discharges itself into the Stinchar, a mile and a half above Bailantrae, has some dry land on its banks, and is much wooded. The burn ofLaggan, or Aucharne which falls into . the Stinchar, near Bailantrae, as also the Ashel, the Muck, and the Fioch answer to the description given of the Tigg.

The GiR VAN, which also rises in the upper parts of Car- rick, and falls into the sea at the village of that name, is riot inferior to the Stinchar in magnitude, or the beauty of its banks. For the greatest part of its coiirse it is more open>

and the scenery stul more interesting.

The Doo?J, which rises in the upper parts of Carrick, is composed of the waters discharged from Loch Doon, and se- from a considerable range of muirs, and forms it into the largest stream in the County of Avr. Like the Severn, and other rivers issuing from lochs, the Doon is more steady, and does not rise so high, or pine so much as the generality of rivers. Some of its banks are bold and well wooded. Many fine haughs are found on its sides, and the country through which it winds its course, is rich and beautiful.

The Water of Ayr, which is of the second rank ariiong the streams of Ayrshire, in point of magnitude, rises at Glenbuck, on the eastern confines of the County, and sinks into the ocean at the Town of Ayr. For the first ten miles it runs remark- ably straight among the holms and haughs, through an open vale, in a moorish district. But most of its course for the last twenty miles, is bounded by steep rocky banks, generally covered with wood, which several places are highly pictur- esque. In a few spots, the banks open and some enchanting holms are found betv» een them, but in many places the river is seen for miles together dashing and foainihg in a deep and narrow chasm, rendered dark and gloomy by the foliage of the trees, which overhang the stream.

The Irvine rises on the inland boundaries of Ayrshire, at Loudon hill, and dividing the districts of Kyle and Cuning- hame, runs in almost a straight course to the sea, at the town of Irvine. The beauty of the stream gliding slowly on its peb- bled bed - the richness and verdure of its haughs, and the openness of its course are truly deserving of notice.

The Gaunock, which rises on the skirts of the Mistielaw, near the boundaries of Ayrshire, and empties itself into the Forth of Clyde, at the harbour of Irvine, is in point of size equal to the second river in the county. At about three miles from its source, it falls over a high perpendicular rock, form- ing the finest cascade in Ayrshire. Its banks rise in some places to a considerable height, and being well covered with trees, are very beautiful, but the greatest part of its course is through an open country, abounding with many fine haughs. As the declivity is but small, the water glides softly on a bed of gravel, and makes many fine sweeps among the rich holms til rough which it winds its way.

A considerable number of Lochs and Ponds are to be met with in Ayrshire - of these Loch Doon situated in the higher parte of Carrick, is the largest, being upwards of six miles long, and from half a mile broad. Within three or four miles of Loch Doon, nineteen smaller Lakes are found, and about twenty more in other parts of Carrick alone, besides sixteen in Kyle, and four or five in CunniBghame.

Water is found in the County of Ayr in all shapes into which nature has formed that element, and in great abundance, and like those in many other parts of Britain, several of the springs in Ayrshire have been denominated after particular Saints, who probably have visited them, and from whose sanc- tity the credulous multitude ever prone to superstition in days ofyore, liave attached to the springs, imaginary virtues. - That of *S'am* lfeZe?t's for instance, has been held in suph re-

pitte for its supposed healing powers, that thousands have mu- ally attended and bathed every year on the first Sabbath of May old stile - and indeed to the present time, hundreds repair to it on that particular day ; for the Well is not understood to pos- sess the healing virtues, and is not resorted to at any other period. From the particular time of the year at which it is supposed to possess these extraordinary powers it would ap- piear that this well had acquired its celebrity under the Pagan siiperstition, aind that the cliristians had afterwards attached to it the name of one of their saints, and transferred the im- aginary healing influences of the spring from Bel tan, or the first day of May, which was the great festival in the Pagan superstition to i\ie first Sabbath oi that month.

The climate of Ayrshire is similar to that of other districts situated on the western coast of Britain. The wind blows from the west and south west for more than two third parts of the year, and the rains from tiiese quarters are frequent, often copious, and sometimes of long duration, It has been assert- ed and generally believed, that a greater quantity of rain falls - every year on the western than on the eastern side of the Island. That the diversity has generally been imputed to the clouds passing over a wider expanse of ocean, being much- more charged with moisture than those which have been formed over a less extensive surface of the watery element. The mountainousness of the western parts of the Island is perhaps another cause of the supposed increase of rains in that

The Mineralogist and the Gfedgnost will in this County find ample scope for their active researches in that interesting kingdom of nature. An extensive range in the higher parts of Carrick is composed from the bottoms of the lowest dells, to the summits of the highest mountains of Massive Granite, of a grey colour, unmixed with any other species of mineral. ScHiSTUs is also found in different varieties in Carrick. BftAC- ZA or Pudding Rock is found for several miles in extent,

in different parts of Carrick. and also in the northern rati g-es of Cuninghame, and in some parts of Kyle. WHiNSTONEis found in every part of the county, in many different varietieSJi Basalt or Blue Whin is found in every paiish. The massy calumns which appear so beautiful, and rise up so high and erect on the south sides of Loudoun hill, Benbeoch, some parts of Dundonald hills, and many other parts of Ayrshire are pure Basalt. Scienite, Grey wake, Greenstone, and Red Sand Stone are also to be found in abundance.

COA.L, the most useful of all minerals, is to be found in the greatest abundance, and of the very best quality. The Coal district of Scotland which intersects the Island, from the Atlantic to the German ocean, runs through the centre of Ayrshire, from its shore to its inland verges* It commences on the south in a strath of Glrvan, in Carrick, about two miles from the sea, runs up by Dalmellington, and New Cum- nock, on the south side of Kyle, by Sanquhar in Nitjisdaley Douglas, and Carnwath, in Lanarkshire, and being cut oil by the heights of Lammermuir, terminates near North Ber- wick. It runs nearly in a line from the rock of Ailsa, to that of the Bass, on the east coast of Lothian.

The next range of regular coal metals are to be met with on the course of the river of Ayr. Valuable seams of good coal are found from the sources of that river, till it fall into the ocean, and frequently extending to a considerable distance on both sides.

Limetone is found in almost every parish of this extensive County. At Tormitchell and other parts on the water of Stinchar, mountains of limestone are to be seen, At Craig- head, on .the water of Girvan there is a hill of considerable height, of many acres of base, and of an unknown depth of solid limestone without stratification, and with few partings or ttarilll:S^i seams. With the exception of a range of country

from Cumnock to Ayr, every other part of the district has a- bundance of limestone generally in strata for every purpose of agriculture. Gypsum, marl, and freestone are likewise in great abundance. Copper too has been wrought in the lands of Balclatchie, on theEstateof Bargany, and also on the lands of Ardmillan, and it may be traced in some other parts of the County. Lead also has been found in many parts of Ayr- shire. It has been wrought for many years past at Dal- leagles, near New Cumnock. Lead was formerly wrought in Glenapp, on the Estate of Bargany; at Mains hill, near Dalmellington, and at Changue, in the parish of Barr. Veins of that valuable metal have been discovered in the parish of Old Cumnock. Gold is reported to have been dug or collect- ed in the parish of Barr, in the beginning of the seventeenth century. Precious stones have been found in diiierent parts of Ayrshire, and used for various purposes.

The name of this county i» evidently derived from the appella- tion of the shire town ; and the town vi^as so called undoubtedly, from the very ancient Celtic name of the river Ayr, on the banks whereof the county town is situated. It is said, there is a river of the same original designation in England ; in Switzerland, and in every country of Europe. Air in the British speech, signifies brightness, lucidity - and Aer means violence, tumult. Arw in the ancient Gaulish signifies rapid. There Avas probably a castle on the same site, as that of the town, and under its protection, accord ing to the practice of rude ages, a village arose.

Ayrshire was originally settled by the same British People whocolonized England, from the nearest coast of Gaul. - A¥ith the enterprize which was natural to the earliest tribes the Gaelic people of England first planted Scotland and Ire- land : so that the three British nations were originally derived from the same source during prior ages to the first appearance of the Gothic colonists in Europe.

The great tribe of the British Damnii both before and after the intrusion of the Romans on northern Britain, towards th^

end of the first centuiy inhabited the ample bounds of Ayr- shire, with the neig-hbouinngf districts. They long continued to haunt the same, and to feed their flocks in the vales, and upon the hills of the diversified district notwithstanding the Roman inroad. Such were the occupations of the descendants of the Damnii, even before the sixth century of our common sera. They may have indeed been sometimes disturbed by inroads from the south before they were disturbed by the intrusion of the Scots from Ireland. But it was, in subsequent ages that the Scotch Colonists from Ireland made lasting settlements among the British people of this district. Those colonists were soon followed by similar emigrations of the same Scot- tish people, both from Ireland and Kintyre, in latter times who easily amalgamated with the ancient settlers, as they spoke an analogous tongue, and practised congenial manners*

At the epoch of the Roman invasion of this country, A. D. 80^ the great tribe of the Damnii inhabited the whole country, from th«l^ ridge of hills, which separate Galloway from Ayrshire, on the south to the river Ern, on the north ; comprehending all Strathcluyd, the* shires of Ayr, Renfrew, and Stirling, with districts of Dumbarton and Perth.

The eaiiiest intrusion of settlers among the descendants of the Damnii, were the successors of the Scoto-Irish colonists, who easi- ly passed the Frith of Clyde, from the opposite peninwula of Kin- tyre, some ages after the settlement of their Fathers, in that appro- priate cradle of the Scotish aborigines. Congenial colonists from Irslaiid may have settled along the eastern shores of the Clyde, a- midst the ancient people in after ages ; and the two lineages of men speaking analogous tongues, and having the same m.anners, would easily coalesce with the descendants of the original Damnii..

" The abdication of the Roman Government, left the Damnii ht the possession of their ancient domains, without much change in their manners and habits, and still less in their knowledge and speech. In the unsettled state of society Avhich ensued, there ap- pear to have been made by a people who were less skilful than t)"€ Romans, ramparts and ditches, for purposes now unknow^i. la

this sliire there still remains what is called a Feal Dyhe, whial) lias been carried from, the Cairnwin-burn to the water of Dusk throughout a distance of five or six miles. Within half a mile o the town of Ayr, there is a place called the Foul Causeway , whicl i« supposed to be a part of the Roman wall.

In 681 A. D. the oM British inhabitants repulsed an inva-i sion of the Cruithne, from Ireland, at IMauchline, according:; to the Ulster annals. In 750, the Northumbrian Eadbert isi; reported to have traversed Nithsdale, and to have seized up on Kyle.

This district vv-as invaded in 836. A. D. by Alpin, the Kinc; of the Scoto-Irish in Kintyre, v^ho, perhaps perceived th« weakness of his neighbours on the south eastern side of th( Clyde, and whose ambition perhaps may have prompted hin to desire to rule over a. richer people, and more extensive ter ritory than his own. He landed with his followers in th( bay of Ayr, and immediately began according to the odious practice of a wretched age, to lay waste the country betweei the Ayr and Doon, before the people and their chiefs coulc meet him in conflict. Following tlie course of tiie Doon v/ith- out opposition, he alvans^ed tovvrds Dilm Ellington. Here the Jil-fated- king v/as opposed by a body of men, with theii chiefs, who appeared unwilling to resign their country with out a struggle. During a sharp conflict, Alpin was slain and his followers defeated near the site of Laicht Castle, wliich de- rived its peculiar name from the stone of Alpin, in the parish o: Palmelliiigtoa,* and within the extensive boundaries of Galloway

* The fonndation charter of the town of Ayr hy King ^Fil Ham, ivhen describing the limits of its exclusive trade calls foj Laclit- Alpine, the stone or grave of Alpin. There is a traditioi in the country that a battle had been here fought informer times Near the totvn of Dalmellington there are a number of Cairns oj tumuUy which indicate that a battle had been fought on this siie.

^he -whole circumstances connected with this transaction, may e interesting to us, shewing as they do, that the country then |ornied a part of Galloway - that the inhabitants spoke th® Jaelic tongue - that from the gallant spirit with which the people ind their chiefs opposed Alpin, the King of Kintyre, who fell in jhe conflict, a revolution was produced.

The Royal Bvxrghs, and the Burghs of Barony have all limited ii jurisdictions, and are of some use within their \isual limits. - Ayr ^nd Iivhie are the Royal Burghs. - The Burghs of Barony are Qlmarnoch, Maybole, Saltcoats, Newton-upon-Ayr, Girvan, Idauchline, Kilmaurs, Newmilns, Kilbirnie, Cumnock, andPrest- ji ivick, which, as they act under the controulof the Court of Session, ery seldom extend their several jurisdictions beyond their ap-

' The ancient political divisions of what forms the County, vere the three Baiiiaries of Carrick, Kyle and Cunningham, diich now have been united into one County ; but they are till known as road districts. Each of these Celtic divisions ormed a separate jurisdiction of regality, and the Baronial arisdictions with power to appoint Bailies were numerous in educed the powers of the latter to a narrow compass. The ibolition of hereditary jurisdiction proved a death-blow to he feudal lavv in Scotland. A great part of the forms of that Ibused law is still preserved in the title deeds of heritable pro- erty, and the Baron Bailie is retained ^.^ reprsse^itative oii\\&.i larbarous system. Superiors, by their chf> iters to vassals to his day bind the latter to attend the Courts of the former iwice every year, or as often as they or their Bailies might iold such Courts.

Carrick was dismembered from Gfilloway by William th? Lion, inllS6; and it is supposed that Ayrshire bad not in hose early times been formed into a regular SheriiFwick - he three divisions being then ruled by three Bailies. Mar- ow MacKennedy was Judge under the Earl of Carrick, luring the reign of Alexander the Second. In the subsequent eign, Roland de Carrick was confirmed as the head of his

clan, and the leader of tlie men, and as Baillie of the Earl- dpm of Carrick. Of the peerage of Scotland consisting of thir- teen Earls, who sat or might have sat in a parliament at Brig- ham, 1289-90, Robert de Brus Earl of Carrick, was the only Noble from Ayrshire. When the great Restorer of the monarchy, by a native of that district became fixed in the Scottish Throne, the Earldom of Carrick merged in the Crown.

CuNNiNGHAME was acquired by Hugh Morville, the first great Colonist, during the Scoto-Saxoii period, who obtained lands in this County. He came into Scotland under DAVID I., and be- came Constable of Scotland. Under him settled as his vassals, ma- ny persons from England. The progenitor of the family of Loudoun was a vassal of the Morvilles. The Cunninghames, whose name was local, were vassals of the Morvilles. Warnebold, from the north of England, obtained from Richa.rd Morville, a grant of the manor of Cunningham, in the parish of Kilmaurs : The numerous family of the Rosses, also settled here in a similar manner. Steven the son of Richard, obtained from Richard Morville, some lands in Cunningham, to which he gave the name of Stevens-tun, which is now known by the name of Stevenstown.

The office of the Kintps haillie of Cunninghavie produced a feud* of very long continuanr e between the neighbour families of Eglin- ton and Glencairn, which coutiuued between tiie families till after the union of the crowns. This office had been held by Cunninghame of Kilmaurs, the predecessor of the Earl of Glencairn, but had been transferred in the reign of James I. to Alexander de Montgomerie, the predecessor of the Earl of Eglinton.

* In the Parliament of Nov, 1526, Cuthbert, Earl of Glencairn, asled documents, that the Earl of Arran declared, if the Earl of Eglinton would not take friends, and pass to concord, concerning all inatters dehateahle, hetiueen the said Earls of Eglinton, and Glencairn ; that the Earl of Eglinton should neither have the Earl of Arran'' s heart, nor his help, in time to come. Not two years af- ter this declaration, in Parliament, JFilliwin, the master of Glen- cairn, and his followers, hwrnt the castle of Eglinton. As ap- pears, by the king's letter of the 16th of Nov, 1528, stating that it

Kyle beiongod by Heritable Right to the Campbells, th«t j>rogemtora of the Earl of Loudoun, as Bailiffs of that district.

KiLWXNNiKO Abbey was founded for Tyronensian Monks, in the year 11 40, by Hugh Morviile, who became Constable of Scotland before that year, and died in 1162. This Abbey was dedicated according to the practice of the age, to the Vir- gin Mary, and to Saint Winin, who is said to have been a Bish- <op in Scotland, as early as the eighth century. There exist- ed here before 1140, a church, which had been dedicated to the same saint, and from him called Kil-winning - Kil, in the British and Irish languages, signifyingby various declensions, a retreat, a cell, a church. A spring of watv . in the vicinity, which was celebrated for its virtues, was called St. Winnings Well, At this church an annual fair, which is called St. Win- nin's fair, has long been held on the 21st of January, the e- poch of the Saint's Festival. This monastery was very amp- ly endowed with lands and churches by the founder, by his successors and by various persons, who either thought well of the family of the Founders or venerated the virtues of the

was obvious to him (the king) and the lords of his cotmcilt that the Earlo^ Efflinton, and his predecessors f were infe/t fin his severai lands y and other property } aa^d that it was well knoton, that the principal messtcage of the said Early and the manor-house of Eg- Union f were lately burmt, hy the master of Cunningham^ amA his fol- lowers } and the charters, infeftm^nts, and evidents, of the said lands were consumed therein : therefore the king acknowledged the said Hugh Earl of Eglinton to be his immediate tenant in the said lands. The earl, accordingly ^obtained a charter for thtm,tmder

At T)ALmvLim, * oa the northern bank of the river Ajr', the second Walter, the Stewart, founded la 1229, a convent for Canons, and Nuns of the order of Simpringham, which was dedicated to the Virgin Mary. They were brought from Sixiie in Yorkshire. They were called €xilbertines, from Gil- bert the Founder of the Order. ThiB was the only establish- ment of the G libertines in Scotland. Walter endowed this religious house with many lands, mills, fishings, and other temporal property. He also gave those Canons the church of Dundonald, with the chapels of Crosby' and Richardstown, and the church of Sanchar, in Kyle. All tho^e grants and privileges were confirmed by Alexander il. at the town of Ayr, in B'lay 12S0. The ruins of the house of Dalmulia were extant at the beginning of the iSth century,

At the commencement of the reign of William, in 1165. Walter the Son of Allan, granted to the Monks of Melrose, the Lands of Mauchlin, with the right of pasturage iuhi3 wide spreading forest in the upper branches of the river Ayr, extending- to the boiuida- ties of Cl5''desdale, and the Stewart also gave the eame Monks, a Carracute of Land, to improve in the places moat convenient, at which was confirmed to them by King William, at the request of the donor. The Monks of Melrose planted here a colony of their own order, and this establishment continued a cell of the Monastery till the Reformation. It is evident that the country which formed the cEtensive parish of Mauchlin, was but very little settled when the Monks obtained the grant from the First Walter. This fact shews that during the reigns of his grandsons and preceptors, Malcolm IV. and William, Renfrew and Ayr were inhabited chiefly by Scoto-Irish, who did not supply a full population of their country.

Duncan the first Earl of Casrick, who died about the year 1240, founded the spacious Abbey of Crossragweil, inCarrick,

- The name of this place is derived from the Gaelic Dal-mulean, signifying the Millfield. There was in fact a mill at Dalmulin, in early times, and this mill afterM'ards belonged to the Monks of Paisley. - rrivy seal Reg.

Tvhicli was deiiicated to tho Virgin Mary ; and it was planted with Cluniac monks from Paisley. Duncan had granted to the monks of Paisley, several churches and some lands ia Carrick, upon condition that tliey should establish in that country, a monastery of tLeir orc'er ; but they having failed <o perform this, he founded the Abbey of Crossragweil for Cluni- ac monks, and transferred to it the churches and lands vt^hich he had granted conditionally to the monks of Paisley. The Abbot and monks of Paisley endeavoured to subject the new establishment at Crossragweil as a cell of their monastery of Paisley, but afier a struggle of some years' duration, the con- troversy was decided on the 18th July 1244, by William, the Bishop of Glasgow, who ordained that the monastery of Cross- ragweil should be exempt from the power of the Abbot and Monks of Paisley, but that they should receive from it ten marks of silver yearly. The monks of Crossragweil obtain- ed from Robert 111. in 1404, a charter confirming to them ail their churches and lands, to be held in a free regality, with th« most amfyle jurisdiction, comprehending even the four points t»f lav7 that belonged to the Crown.

At Fell 01 Faile called also Pailfard, in the parish of Tar- boUon in Kyle, a convent of red friars, who pretended to ba canons regular, was founded in 1252. They were als called Mathurians, from the house of thisi order in Paris, which was dedicated to Saint Mathurinie, and they were also called ^'Fratres de redemptione Captivorum," as it was a part of their duty to redeem christian captives from slavery. It is not known who was the founder of this convent. A rivulet which passed this convent was called by the name of Fail, and a passage over this rivulet was called Failfurd. A lake in tho neighbourhood was called Loch Fail, The chief who ruled this convent was styled Minister.*

* The minister of Failfurd was principal of the Trinity order of Scotland. From being the head of the order, he is thought to hava had a seat in Parliament. The ruins of the Convent are stiii ex- tant, r.ear to a viHoge called Fail.

Ayrshire too has b« en rendered famous for many remark- able engagements . The beautifully picturesque townof Larg:* *8 noted for the engagement which took place in the neigh- bourhood, on the second of October, 1263, between the Scot- tish army under Alexander III. who brought with him an army full hardy and valorous as the Norwegians, and that of Haco, king of Norway, who came into the Clyde with a large fleet, and lanaled his Norwegians here, on what- ever pretences of plnnder or conquest, and commenced hostili- ties, by making himself master of the Islands of Bute and Ar- ran. la this engagement the latter was defeated with prd- diffious slaughter. The battle of the Largs, has been celebrat- ed in the popular ballad of Hardiknute, and which was cer- tainly one of the most brilliant victories ever achieved by the; British arms. Alexander fighting himself at the head of hia troops, on a large|>lain upon the sea shore, to the south of the village, where there existed before the improvement of the ground, several vast heaps of stones, covering or commemor- ating the slain, and a tall massive stone, supposed to mark the grave of a Danish chief. While the battle was still raging on chore, a furious tempest arose which drove the ships of the Danes and Norwegians from their anchorage ; many were shipwrecked on the coast, and the crews were destroyed by the Scots, when they attempted to get on land. The soldiers wito bad heen disembarked lost courage, and retired before the Scots, who were hourly reinforced by their countrymen conung from ail quarters. It was with the utmost difficulty Ihat Haco got the remnant of his scattered forces on board of such vessels as remained. Haco was so dejected for the loss, of his army, and the inglorious conclusion of bis formidable invasion, that he did not return immediately to his country, but ivent to Orkney, and died full of shame and of grief. His body was kept there in a small bothy (the site of whidrcan^tirllbeTpotnted-OTit) during the cnsuing^'inter, till tin opportunity occurred of transporting it to the sepulchre of his ancestors; and during the whole time the apartment where it ^yinetate, was constantly lighted by torches, and attend^* ed by a certain number of his sorrowing-ffljtbjecta.

Th© parish of Galston at a place called Beg, above Allen- ton, was the scene of a memorable conflict. On this plain the brave Sir William Wallace revenged the slaughter of his bro- ther, at Lochmaben, as well as the cruelties inflicted upon himself, soon after he raised the standard of national inde- pendence. This battle was fought in the beginning of July 1277. - Of the Scots few of any note were slain - although many characters distinguished for their gallantry and birth were present on the occasion. Here, undismayed by the sa* perior numbers that surrounded them, Wallace and his brave compatriots fought with all the fury of exasperated lions - - Having arranged his men for the onset, his friend John Blair offered up prayers for their success, which were scarcely over before the English came in sight. The sanguinary Fenwicfc - the person most deeply implicated in the death of his bro- ther, and some of his other relatives, on observing the small body of Scots that awaited his approach felt perfectly assured of taking them, and their far-famed chieftain, whom he recog- nised, prisoners with him to Ayr ; and he would congratulate himselfon the pleasure the capture of the bold outlaw would afford to his master, king Edward. The repeated charges of the English were here repulsed, and returned with increasing -vigour and resolution, that alarmed and confounded their commander. Wherever he turned his eyes, ihe sword of the Scottish chief seemed clearing a path towards him. Helmet after helmet disappeared beneath his ponderous weapon, and the whole exertions of his mighty arm seemed directed to- wards the bloody Fenwick. The sword of the revengeful Scot reached the English chief, and the blow though broke by the interveniag sword of a trooper, fell with sufficient force to strike him from the saddle. Falling on the opposite side of the horse, Wallace had not the satisfaction of inflicting the death blow himself. This was an honour gained by Robert Boyd, one of his most intimate companions. Although Fen<- wick was thus slain yet the conflict continued with great ob- stinacy. The English under one Bowmand, who was seceo^d

in command J nuule great efforts to retrieve the losses they ha*i snstained. The Scots, however, maintained their ground with i inflexible resolution, while the sword of their chief was rapid- ly increasing the gaps in the ranks of their enemies. Adam Wallace, the promising heir of Ricardtown, Lud the good fortune to come in contact with the Leader of the English, and after an obstinate engagement, the intrepid Bowraand fell beneath the sword of the youthful Scot. Deprived of their: Leaders, the English now fled in the uhnost confusion, lear ing one hundred of their companions dead on the field. Tho9 Scots only pursued them as far as to make their victo27 cer- tain, and returning to the spoil, fouad their labours amply re- warded. A numerous train of waggons loaded with Hour, wine, and all sorts of provisions, with warlike stores in abund- ance, and two hundred draught horses, besides money and other valuables, fell into the hands of the victors, who, after dividing their booty, and appropriating part of it to the relief I of the oppressed inhabitants in the neighbourhood, departed! to secure the remainder in their inaccessible retreats, in the then extensive and intricate forest of Clydesdale. A- bout twenty days after. tjjj§j^]^irmish, the streets of Ayr wera witness to a renewal^r,wi^^;fe|ioubled fury on both sides, which ended in the doT^nfall ofthree of Percy's near rela- tions, while thirty of the Eruglish ^vere left dead on the streeta

A circumstance happened sometime after this in the neigh- bourhood of 'Ayr, which tradition has been scrupulously faith- ful in handing down as a circumstance worthy of note. It ist alleged that the English Governor of Ayr, had invited the greater part of the Scottish Nobility and Gentry in the western! parts to meet him at some large buildings called the Barns of I, Ayr, for the purpose of friendly conference, upon the aSairs^ of the nation. But the English Earl entertained the treacher- ous purpose of putting the Scottish Gentlemen to death. The^l English soldiers had halters with nooses ready prepared, and

hung upon the beania which supported the roof; and as the Scottish Gentlemen were admitted by two and two at a time, the nooses were thrown over their heads, and they were pulled up by the neck, and were hanged or strangled to death. Among those who were slain in this treacherous man- ner, was Sir Ronald Crawford, Sheriff of the county, and un- cle to Sir William Wallace, and together with him. Sir Neil Montgomerie, and Sir Bryce Blair, as abettors of the insur- rection without even the formality of a trial. Indignant at this instance of cruelty exercised towards hia relations, the brave Sir William Wallace thirsting for revenge, instantly set forward towards the scene of barbarity, accompanied by a few of his chosen confederates, aivd being joined by some of the retainers of the murdered gentlemen, about midnight sur- rounded the Barns, where the English soldiers were canton- ed, who, indulging a fancied security, arising from the terror which their late severity was likely to impress upon the Scots, had, after a deep carousal, betaken themselves to rest, little dreaming of the vengeance that awaited them, Wallace learn- ing that they kept no guard or watch, directed a woman who knew the place, to mark with chalk the doors of the lodgings where the Englishmen lay. He then sent a party of men, who, with strong ropes, made all the doors so fast on the out- side, that they could not be opened by those within, and hav- ing procured a quantity of pitch and other combustibles from the vessels in the harbour, Wallace, after placing his men so as to prevent the escape of any of the English, set fire to the thatch, which being covered with pitch, and the Barns of Ayr being themselves made of wood, the flames spread to every part of the building, with unrelenting fury, and soon rose in one general conflagration, while the screaming wretches with- in, who had sufiScient recollection to attempt an escape were received upon the points of the Scottish swords, and either killed or forced back to perish in the devouring element. It is said that nearly five hundred suffeired in this awfully cruel jil^nner. The icverity of the retaliation can only be palliated

%y the uatare of the war, Ihe parties were eftgagped 1», and tbtj desperation to vehich the cruelty of the invaders had goaded «n the wretched inhabitants. If tradition may he credited Wallace did not remain till this havoc or the flames were ex- tinguished, for when about two' mile^ on his return, at aa elevated part of the road, he is said to have made his men - look back at the sceno of their vengeance, then awfully grand, remarking at the sametirae, that '< The Barns o' Ayr burn weil." The ruins of a church are still to be seen on the spot where the Chief and his followers halted to take their las It look, and is now named from the circumstance " Bumtceil'

The competition for the Crown by Robert de Brus, after the demise of Alexander III. without male heirs, and the fai- lure of his heirs-female introduced some of the intrigue, an(} many of the conflicts into Ayrshire. It was the son of the competitor Robert de Brus, who married Margaret Countess of Carrick, and thereby became Earl of Carrick, in her right - and it was their son Robert, who, on the death of his grand- lather, and father, as '.veil as the expulsion of Baliol, formed pretensions to the Crowlij^^hich he obtained by his fortitude and prudence. Ayrshire had thsus the honour of giving birth to the illustrious Restorer of the Scottish monarchy. With a view to the succession of BrueS, the elder Thomas de Clare joined with Richard de Burg, the Earl of Ulster in 1286, i^ that solemn compact, saith Dugdale, made between them two, on the one part, and Patrick Earl of Dunbar, together with Jiis three sons, Patrick, John, and Alexander. Walter Stew- ^t, Earl of Monteith, x^lexander and John, his sons, Robert Bruce, Lord of Annandale, together with Robert Bruce the Earl of Carrick, and Bernard de Bruce, James, Steward of Scotland, and John his brother, Enegus, the son of Ponevald, and Alexander his son, that they would thenceforth adhere to, m\d take part with one another, upon all occasions, against all persons whatsoever ; saving Uieir aliicgence to the Kinj:,

f England, and their fidelity to him, who should gain tbe lingdom of Scotland, by right of blood, from Alexander, th^ifv ^tely deceased; which agreement continues Dugdsle, who lad the autograph before him, bears date at Turnbijrie, \a barrick, on the eve of St. Matthew the Apostle, Anno 1280.

The Scottish Barons, without consulting the braTC Sir Wil> iam Wallace, the immortal supporter of national independ- ?nce, submitted to Edward I. at Irvine, on the 9th of July 1287. The English King considering Ayrshire ^to be the re- )idence and the resource of Bruce made great efforts to s**- Battle of Falkirk, burned the castle of Ayr. After variotis defeats by too powerful an enemy, Bruce found a retreat in the north of Ireland. From Rachrim, he soon passed to the Island ofArran, and from thence he crossed the Firth to Turnberry Castle, then the chief seat of the Earldom of Car- rick ; where he surprised the English in their cantonments, in Febmary 1S06. The following y^QS^y. we learn from Barbour that Bruce defeated Aj'raer s^f a¥afe»15e, at Loudoun bill ; and in two or three days p^dtdil^gtltw^^alf de Monthermcr, who was obliged to look fo^ifi^^M i»^yi* castle, which the conqueror blockaded for a^^^fjlbut on the approach of suc- cours he was obliged to retiyies/n

After many a conflict and much disappointment, the victory of Baanockburn left none of the English force to contend with Bruce, and the Treaty of Northampton acknowledged the in - d?pendence of Scotland, with the never-to-be-forgotteo, Bruce for the legitimate King. The most important point which now remained, was declaring the succession to the Crown, that had thus been long fought for, and at lenjRfth won. A parliament was held at Ayr, on Sunday the 25th of April 131 i, in a Dominican Monastery, near the water side. The legislature now swors fealty to the King, in case of whose <ij in g without issue male, Edward his brother, an approi^ed.

warrior was declared his successor, the King's daughter, Marjory, having assented to the preference of her uncle, ow- ing to the emergency of the times. Soon after this important settlement, Edward Bruce, with an army of 6000 men em-, barked at Ayr, in May 1315, for Carrickfergus. Among; other considerable Barons who accompanied Edward on this a dangerous expedition was Sir Fergus of Ardrossan. It required t not many blows to deprive Edward of his hopes and of his life. - - This event was followed by an incident of still greater consequence, l On the 7th of June 1329, the great and gallant Bruce died, and ![ was succeeded by his son, David, an infant. And Randolph, the}' Barl of Moray, in consequence of the Acts of Settlement, assumedj the character of Regent. 'i

There was established in Irvine, a convent of Carmelites orj white Friars, which was dedicated to the Virgin Mary. Itisi -aid to have been founded in the fourteenth century, by Ful- 1 larton qf Fullarton. Raynauld FuUarton of Crosby and Dregri horn, granted to the same white Friars at Irvine, an annual Ik

In June 1498, Hugh, Lord Montgomery obtained a charter toil him and his heirs, of the office of Baillie of Cunninghame, and chamberlain of the Town of Irvine, t» be held according to the te - nor of the old Charter thereof, which had been granted to hi« grandfather Alexander de Montgomerie.

In the year 1560, the splendid Abbey of Kilwinning was almost destroyed by that religious ruffian, Alexander Earl of Glencairn, who enjoyed pensions from Heiury VIII. for injin-ing the country of his birth, and benefits. The Earl endeavoured to derive some property to his family from this demolished Abbey - But the Earl of Eglinton finally obtained its various possessions under several grants from the King and Acts of Parliament. This Monastery vraM by far the most opulent religious establishment in Ayrshire. - At the epoch of the Reformation there belonged to it sixteen parish Chxu'ches, with their tythes and lands. |

There was before the Reformation, a religious establishment, which was popularly called *' Our Lady Kirk of Kyle " but the

date of the foundation or the nature of it cannot now be ascertain' ed. It stood on the common pasture Lands of the manor or barony of Adamtown, a little south of the mansion house of Adamtown. The building formed a square, having turrets upon each corner, and there was a chapel in the middle of the square. The chapel was dedicated to the Virgin Mary, from which it obtained the popular name of *' Our Lady Kirk." There appears to have been connected with this establishment, a " Pardoner.^' who was popu- larly called " Our Lady of Kyle's Pardoner y''' and like other Par- doners, he travelled the country for the sale of his Pardona. - ' Our Lady Kirk" was a place of some note before the Reforma- tion. James IV. never passed through this part of the country without making an offering at ** Our Lady Kirk", generally giv- ing 14 shillings at a time *.

The Colleg^iate Church of Maybole was founded by Gil- bert Kennedy of Dunure, in 1441. - a small part of this vener- able building yet remains in a tolerable entire state, but though the burial place of the Cassillis family is completely overwhelmed with filth and weeds.

There was founded in Kilmaurs, a Collegiate church for a provost, six prebendaries,"and two sing:ing boy«, by Sir Wm. Cunningham of Kilmaurs, 'w[io endowed this establishment with lands and revenues aij^^a mill, in the vicinity, by charter in 1403. After the Reformation the property of the establish- ment was taken possession of by the Earl of Glencairn, the

- hi the Treasurer's accounts there are mmnerous entries of tuck offerings at this noted Establishment. On I6th July 1497 the King gave an offering of 14j. In Sept. that year when the King was again there the Treasurer gave £5, for five trentales tf tnapes to be said for the King^ and he gave I6d. to the puirfolh at tame place. - Treasurer's Accounts.

At Kilcaiss - which is now called Kincase or Kingcase, in the parish of Prestwick, there was founded an hospital for leprous persons, which was dedicated to Saint Ninian. Tra- dition relates that the founder of this establishment was King Robert Bruce, who was himself afflicted with leprosy, the re- sult of hard fare, hard living, and hard work. This hospital was endowed with the lands of Robert-lone^ now called Loans, the lands of Sheils and Spital Sheles, with other lands. The foundation charter of this hospital does not now exist, and it cannot therefore now be ascertained what number of persons were originally maintained in it. It is supposed to have been governed by a Guardian or Prior, and had a chaplain. In the reign of James II. Wallace of Newton, acquired the lands of Spital Sheils, which belonged to this Hospital, and the hereditary office of keeper or governor of the hopital, and the lands belonging to it. In 1515 - 13, all these were resigned by Hugh Wallace of Newton, in favour of his brother Adam. After the whole property of this hospital had been thus grant- ed away, the only revenue that remained to it was the feu- duties payable from the lands in this manner granted in fee- firm, and these amounting to 64 bolls of meal, and 8 niarks scots of money, with 16 Threaves of straw for thatching, - The hospital are still paid. For more than two centuries past this diminished revenue has been shared among eight objects of charity, in equal shares of eight bolls of meal, and one mark scots to each. The leprosy having long disappeared, the persons who are now admitted to the benefit of this chari- ty are such as labour under diseases, which are considered as incurable, or such as are considered in indigent circumstance;:' The right of appointing these belonged to the family of Wal- Ince of Craigie, for a long time, and Mas purchased in 1790, by the burgh of Ayr, which still holds this patronage.

- 6't7or Kil in the Scoto-Irish signities a retreat, u cell, and ai- so a t'hapel, or church ; and Cas signifies the piague - so Kil-cat would signify the retreat of tlie plague ; but this place was found- ed for Lepers ; and Lobhar is the Scoto-Iiish word for a leper, an 1 Laihre for the le^Tosy.

Kyl« furyn Iftn, C«nick for » Cow, Cunningham |fer Bntter knd Cheese, And Galloway for Wool

AjTshire after a series of ages remained still covered with woods, which sheltered the game, and protected the cattle, which afford- ed the unskillful inhabitants the necessaries of liff. They iived chiefly by the pasturage of their cattle, and indeed during many a year before peats or coals were thought of as fuel, they cut down the timber for their necessary firing. Such was the geogra- phical state of Ayrshire during the Scoto-Saxon period.

The state of agrJculturfl remainded with very little improvement till the beginning of the Sixteenth century, and indeed as low down perhaps as 1750, a period of great commercial prosperity, when both manufacture and commerce at the end of long wars, made a rapid progress.

The deplorable state of agriculture, and gross mismanage- ment of the soil, in this county, till long after the middle of the last century, cannot be better described than in the words of the late intelligent Colonel FuUarton, in the general view ©fit, .v^ich he drew up for the Board of Agriculture in 1793,

At that period (the middle of the last century) there was hardly a practicable road in the county ; whereas at present few parts of the kingdom are so well supplied in that part- icular. The farm houses were mere hovels, moated with clay, having an open hearth or fire-place in the middle ; the dung-hill at the door ; the rattle starving, and the people wretched. The few ditches which existed were ill construct- ed, and the hedges v/orsc preserved. The 1-ind overrun with weeds and rushes, gathered into very high, broad, serpentine ri<lge3, interrupted with large baulks, such as stlli disgrace the

agriculture of some English counties. The little soil there was, was collected, on the top of the ridge, and the furrow drowned with water. No fallows - no green crops - no sown grass - ^no carts or waggons - no straw yards ; hardly a pota- toe or any esculent root, and indeed, no garden vegetables; unless a few Scotch kail, which, with milk and oatmeal, formed the diet of the people : with little straw^ and no hay, except a scanty portion of the worst quality collected from the bogs. The quantity of dung produced was of small avail; and that portion little as it was, the farmers dragged on cars or sledges, or on what were called tumbler wheels, which turned with the axletree, and supported the wretched vehicle, hardly able to drBw five hundred weight. The ground was scourged with a succession of oats, as long as they would pay for seed and labour, and afford a small surplus of oatmeal for the family ; and then remained in a state of absolute sterility, or over-run with thistles, till reit again enabled it to reproduce a scanty crop.

The arable farms were generally small, because the tenants had not stock for larger occupations. A ploughgate of land, or as much as could employ four horses, allowing half of it to oe ploughed, was a common sized farm. It was often run- ridge or mixed property ; and two or three farmers usually living in the same place, and had their different distributions

Many of their leases were for three 19 years. The rent was generally paid in kind, or in what was called half labour, liy the steel-bow tenants, like the Metayers of France ; the stock and implements being furnished mutually, or on such terms as could be fixed. One half of the crop went to the landlord, and the other remained with the tenant to maintain his family and to cultivate his farm. The tenants were harassed with a multitude of vexatious services j such as ploughing and lead-

ing for the landlord, working his hay, and other operations, which from the nature of them, unavoidably interfered with the attention necessary on the tenant's own farm. These are now almost entirely abolished.

The farm was divided into what was called the croft, or infield, and outfield land. The croft, which commonly was a chosen spot near the house, aftei two or three crops of oa.Us, received uU the dung produced from the farm> and then was sown with bigg or four-rowed barley. I^igg was sotiletimeg taken for the first crop from the croft lands, after they had lain in grass one year ; and two successive crops of oats, with- out manure, finished the wretched rotation. It then remain- ed a year in ley, and was bnvke up the following year to un- dergo the same rotation. The outfield land was kept in a state of absolute reprobation. It was cropped with oats for throe years, and turned into grass for the same period, without re- ceiving either dung or any other manure. The starved cattle kept oh the farm, were suflFered to poach the fields, from the end of harvest, till the ensuing seed time ; and thus the roots of natural grass were cut on the clay lands, or drowned with water statidiug in the catties' footsteps. The horses, during winter, were fed on straw, on boiled chaff or weak corn, and OQ such hay as the bogs or marshes spontaneously produced.

As the winter seasons, in Ayrshire, are extremely wet, the plough was never yoked till Candlemas. It does not appear that the farmers were in the practice of using more than fout horses to each plough ; but, there was a man to hold, another to drive, and a third to clear the mould board, and to keep the coulter in the ground. This supernumerary, who seems to have been peculiar to Ayrshire, carried a pole about six feet long, the end of which was fixed to the point of the beam by a hook and fork, whereby he could either push the plough to- wards the furrow, if the slice was too broad, or draw it to- wards the laud if too narrow. The extraordinary height of

the ridges, some of them to near the angle of 30, ren'Iered this auxiliary necessary. It was not till after the year I T70, that he was discontinued. The plough was of the Scotch kind ; and as the land wais generally stiff and full of stones, and never properly cultivated, it was thought necessary to construct it of *h3 strongest and most clumsy materials. - The cold and rainy springs suggested the practice of sowing extremely late, so lata oats were seldom harrowed in before April t and it was not unfrequently the end of May, before the bigg or four- rowed barley was put in the ground.

As there were few or no enclosures, the horses and cattle were either tethered, during the summer months, or trusted to the direction of a herd and cur dog, by whom the poor starved animals were kept in constant agitation ; being impelled, through famine, to fly from their bare lays, and commit con- tinual depredations on the adjacent crops,

^ The cattle, starved during winter, hardly able to rise with- out aid in spring, and perpetually harassed during summer, were never in fit condition for market. But undoubtedly they must have been of an admirable race and stamina, otherwise they nefer could have survived the treatment they experienced.

The consequences of sxich mismanagement, were truly de. plorable. The people having hardly any substitute for oat- meal, were entirely at the mercy of the season. If the seed- time was unfavourable, the summer bad, or the autumn lata and stormy, a dearth or famine unavoidably ensued. The price of meal fluctuated, therefore between extretnes, which are never known in counties better cultivated ; or where the means of subsistence are so varied, as to render the failure of one species of crop suppliable by another. At the beginnin|r of this century, and end of the last, there was a succession of bad seasons, which lasted several yeai's, and reduced the county of Ayr, and other provinces adjacent, to the lowest gradation of want ; obliging hundreds of families to fly for subsistence to the north of Ireland, where their descendents

still remain. At that time the price of oatmeal rose to 25. 6d' per peck, weighing 8 lb. 10 oz. English. In these seasons of misery, the poor people have not imfrequently been obliged to subsist by bleeding their cattle and mixing- the blood, so pro- cured, with what oatmeal they could procure.

The dawn, of- a better husbfuidry began to appeaic in the union . tion of improvers at Edinburgh, may be deemed the morning of a better spirit. The settlement in 1757, of the wonderful improver of husbandry, Margaret Countess of Loudon, at Sorn castle, can isoareely be passed over in silence. Wight had th« honor to see this very uncommon woman, the daughter, and wife of two Earls, who in her younger days had adorned Courts, by her elegance, in her widowhood sat down, in a solitary castle, amidst rudeness and ig- norance ; and who lived here uf)wards of seventy years, § improv- ing her demesne, and benefiting her neighbourhood. Fifty years, ago, says Wight *, when this lady took up her residence in Sorn castle (I727) not a tree was to be seen, a scrubby wood excepted," and now the finest oaks and other barren trees are striving, as it - were, which shall rise the highest. The plantations a,re now ex.-^ . tensive and trained in the best order, evei-y thing being directgd;bjrj the Countess herself. The soil of her farm is far from being kiii^-Ti ly, coniinues the intelligent Mr Wight, yet by skill and persever-, ance, she has brought it into high order. Not greater verdure can , be seen anywhere. In a word, her farm graces the Couuty of Ayr, and might grace the richest county in Britain .

It was at a much later period however, when, the Nobility and Gentry of Ayrshire began to improve their lands upon systematic prhiciples, under the skillful directioa of intelligentt^Stewards. - Farmers were in many instances inx'ited from the more southern Shires to shew the inferior Husbandmen the practice of the best principles of genuine, farming. The Clergy haye been celebrated f©r their knowledge of this mpst usefid art, and for teachivig their pii,riBhione,i;s,liow m,uch they would benefit their famili(;s by depart^, ii^g from old ignorance, and adopting new knowledge.

* Wight's Tour.

The proprietors of the medium rank, who in this coutity are numerous, and very respectable, and who are no lessdis^ tinguished by the liberality of theirieducation, and the urbanity of manners, than by the intelligence and success in the various walks in life, have done more than the small proprietors, in support of the neglected cause of agriculture. Many of them had discharged, with honour to themselves, and fidelity to the public, offices of trust and importance in the law, army, navy, &c. in various quarters of the globe. " But their habits and observations had hardly ever been applied to the best of all piirpos.es, the improvement of their native soil. Any attempts they made were feeble, desultory and unavailing ; while the great Lords and large propriotors possessed such extensive tracts of uncultivated land, that to attempt a general system of improvement, appeared beyond their means. Neither was a- ny plan thought of for bringing the active exertions of the landed interest into one point of union and effect. If any land- holder was hardy enough, occasionally, to attempt improve- ment, he had every possible obstacle to contend with. La- bourers were indolent and ignorant, stock and implements en- tirely inadequate and inapplicable to rational principles of husbandry ; and much time, labour, and expense were before any benefit could be derived from an improved mode of culti- vation, in a country where the common elements of farming were rude and barbarous. No wonder, then, if those who first essayed the arduous undertaking, were disappointed in their hopes and commonly impaired the property they meant to increase.*

Alexander, Earl of Eglinton, the first noblem.an, in point of rank, and opulence in the county, may be justly considered the reviver of agriculture in Ayrshire. He was the first who began to rescue his extensive domains from the deplorable state in which he found them, when the succession opened to him, about the year 1733. Neither his elevation of rank, immense wealth, nor his being employed in some of the most important affairs of the state, could induce that amiable and -Alton's Survey.

patriotic nobleman, to neglect the important concerns of agri- culture. All the ignorance, prejudices, and bad habits that have been so amply detailed, operated in their full force, at the time he succeeded to the titles and fortune of that dignified family. He was himself young and inexperienced; had no good example before his eyes, or rule to follow ; but his .sup- erior genius overcame all difficulties. That intelligent noble- man did not intrust the important concerns of meliorating his estates to others, but planned and superintended the whole himself. He traversed every corner of each of his extensive estates ; arranged the divisions and marches of the farms, laid by frequently seeing- and conversing with his tenants, and pointing out the improvements proper to be executed, he roused them to industry, rendered them m.ore intelligent, and laid the foundation of their future prosperity. He instituted an agricultural society, and presided over it for many years.

His Lordship brought from east Lothian, Mr Wright of Ormiston, an eminent farmer, who introduced into Ayrshire the proper modes of levelling and straighting land, fallowing, drilling, turnip husbandry. &c. His Lordship also put an end on his estates, to that destructive distincteon of croft and field land ; and the system of overplowing, which had so long, and so improperly been pursued ; and prohibited his tenants from plowing more than one third of the lands in their posses- sion. That which has since obtained the name of " Fairlfs rotation,'' was first introduced by Alexander, Earl of EglintoB, and only followed out by Mr Fairly, after his Lordship's death. ' That important branch of rural economy, the improve- ment of the breed of cattle, did not escape the notice of that worthy and dignified Nobleman. Ploughmen, roadmakers, and people conversant in the dairy, were brought by him from difierent parts of Britain. Fencing, was begun on an extensive scale, and the face of the country, was ornamented aSnd sheltered, by many belts and clumps of trees, which he caused to be planted on the eminences. New farm houses

taken boiiwi to crQ]^, only one third, of their possession ; to m^niu-e the i land, sow grass-seed?, and every improvement of, vybicb the ground was, susceptible, vv;a3 planned, and begjun, to be. executed, by that enlightened Noblpmaji,

While the land has been rendered- mach more' sightly, and caji.n©wbe laboured at less expense, its value has been raised more than fifteen hundred per cent, since the Earl of Eglinton first began his improvements ; and the con- dition of all the domesticated animals has been greatly meJi- orated. The tenants, where they have been sufficiently in* d^ustrious, and not borne down by misfortunes, or extravag- ance, are now opulent, decent, and' highly comfortable ; their houses are in general commodious, and many of them elegant: their furniture and dress are, not only comfoutable, but rich, and shovv-y : their tables are now furnished with every thing., which can promote their health and comfort, and they enjoy ; some share of the luxuries of life.

John, Earl.of Loudon, though he represented the peerage of Scotland for 48 years, and was honoured by his Sovereign, vfith several- iniportant military commands did not think it- beneath his rank, to discharge the duties he owed to his ten- ap^ts, and to the public, by improving the soil, and with it the co|Tidition of his tenantry. He succeeded to his e-Sitates and. bpjix)urs about 1733, and in a few years after, began extensive injprovementsabout Loudon castle. He levelled and straight- ^.land, aud raised field turnips, cabbages and carrots as ear-

His Lordship frequently collected his tenants together at

Loudon castle, conversed with them on I'uvai affairs, set his'

own lands, laid off roads, and attended to every improve- ment. To mention all the proprietors, who have since contri-. buted, by their own exertions and example, to rescue the county of Ayr from the miserable ^fcatjpi in which it was forty years ago, would, he iiopossible,

The Ayrshire or Dutdop cheese^ now so famous, and so »mi- ersally known over Britain, needs no panegyric. Some of the English cheese has a higher flavour, and more spicy taste proceeding from abetter soil and climate, and richer herbage and from being so managed in the dairy, as to give them a smart taste. But the sweet milk cheese of Ayrshire is always as fat, and much more mild and palatable, than any other fch«ese. A very small morsel of the English cheese, when old, is more tasteful after dinner ; but if any considerable quantity- is to be eaten, the sweet milk cheese of Ayrshire, is not so hot on the stomach, nor so ill to digest : an<l it is generally much fal- ter than the English cheese.

From the name it has acquired, (Dunlop cheese) it would seem to have been made first in that quarter of Ayrshire. The Rev. Mr Brisbane, in the statistical account of Dunlop parish, says, that a womau of the name of Gilmour, who had fled to Ireland, during the persecuLior., had discovered in that king- dom, the mode of making this celebrated kind of cheese, and introducing it into her native parish, on her return, after the revolution in 1688. The adage, taken for the motto of thiit Pari, which must have been much more ancient than the Revolution inl688, shows, that the making of oheese, of a superior quality, was the chief excellence ard particular boast of the inhabitants of Cuninghara, a very remote period; pro- bably many ages before the existence of Barbara Gilnrotir here referred to. The making of cheese was introduced into Britain by the Romans ; and though that of skimmed-miik 'cheese seems to have been most common in Ayrshire, till aft«r the middle of last century, yet, it must have occurred to many thousands, wlu never happened to travel to Ireland, that the more of the cream that remained in the cheese, the ricliei' and more palatable it would be.

The whole land in Ayrshire, says Mr Ait©n,§ except some bill pasture, has in the course of the last forty years been in- closed chiefly with hedge and ditch, which he says are gener- ally the best in Scotland. Extensive tracts of arable land fal- lowed, straightened and reduced to proper form. Immense juantities of manure, have been applied, the liberal rotation* ndopted, and the luxuriant crops of the best grain produced. Eye-grass and clover seeds arc now sown in abundance.

There is another improvement which is analagous to agri- culture and is of vast importance to every georgical peopl«. In former times Ayrshire had no other roads, but tliose path- ways which led to church and market. 'But since the spirit of improvement was raised., and the people came to underitand the benefits of communications, roads, general and vicinal, havebeen made in almost every direction wherein policy point- ed the course.

Analagous to roads are Railways and to the late publw spirited Hugh Earl of Eglinton.thepublic are indebted for a Railroad from the Canal at or near Johnston, in the county of Renfrew to the harbour of Ardrossan, in this County. In this amazing undertaking there have been already expended about Ll 00,000, and since His Lordship's death," the work 'has been resumed with much spirit and in the course of a few years, it is hoped the work will be completed. Another very important one of rather more than nine miles, has been made by the Duke of Portland, from the Troon Point, on the Frith of Clyde, to Kilmarnock, having for its end, two great objects - i» connect Kilmarnock,a place of considerable manufacture Ernd trade, with the Troon - and to convey the coals from, the several collieries of the adjoining- country. Of the vast utility of this Railway, and the spirit with which it and the Harbour of. Troon were undertaken and carried through, too much praise cannot be bestowed on his Grace the Duke of Portland, as hi« country's benefactor. The Duke is Patron of Kilmarnock, and proprietor of several extensive estates in the neighbourhood, and among the rest, that of Fullarton,* in which the Troon i*

§ There are not less, says Mr Alton, than 3000 Acres of land a- bounding with Coal, lyinj? adjacent to the Railway, and in most parts of which there are three seams of Coal, within 40 fathoms of the surface.

* His Grace has also purchased the Estate of Glenbuck for L75,000 with a view to extend the commuuication from that part of tte country^

-ihiated, Avhich with the adjacent estates, abounds with coal, which had hitherto been carried' on single horse carts to Ir- TJne', nearly seven miles from the pits, and thus became doubly interested in fomniag that harbour and opening the line of the communication between the coal district - the town of Kilma?- nock. and the harbour. The utility of these improvertient* being: obvious, His Grace wanted neither the public spiritnoi* the means of carx-yins: them. Kilmarnock may thus now be considered in Ayrshire what Manchester is to Lancashire.- - The inhabitants of Kilmarnock are indebted to the exertions ., of the Noble Duke, besides obtaining an Act for the improver J ment of the Town of Kilmarnock, which is now goiiig on - -^" for proposing to his Majesty's Ministers, a Bill for the intro- ~ duction of a Sheriff Court in that Town, to be held once a week. The Town of Ayr would thus be deprired of a number of those men of business resident in Ayr, whose influence lays in that quarter.*

Besides other Railways of smaller note in different parts of Ajr-ihire, Richard A.lex. Oswald, Esq. of ' Auchencruive, a most opulent and enterprising encoui'airer of public undertak- ings while he resided in *he County, formed an iron Railway from his Coal works to near the Town of Ayr, but could not obtain liberty to carry it through the Burgh Acres t® th« '

The Iron Company at Muirkirk, formed an Iron Road for upwards of a mile in lengt'i, between the Coal pits and Coke- yard, and which tliey carried by an aqueduct, chiefly formed of wood, between the opposite banks of a burn, 100 feet wide, and 50 feet high. The Messrs. Taylors too, have made a Rail- ; way of nearly the same length, or perhaps more, from their roal pits, in the lands of Newton, to the North Harbour of

Of these Railways, an improvement of much advantage iva just been invented JDy James Aird and James Dunlop, two workmen, for which they received the Prize from the Society of Scotland for the Improvement of Agriculture and prize, Es-,^ says, and the construction and utility of this great inventioii ,, as g'iven in the words of Geo. Taylor, Esq. the surviving-

- Fifty years ago, five procurators did the whole business before the Sheriff Court. There are now upwards of Fifty, which shevfs tlie increase of Commerce in the County.

partner of that Concern, is as under. - " The inventor* are tv>t> of our working- mechanics. The idea was first struck out by Jaines Aird, blacksmith/and improved upon and brought to its present state by the united efforts of him and James Dunlop, engine-wright. The invention I conceive of much importance to the proprietors of rail veays ; as by means of it the following advantages are attained over the common wheel and axle tree: - !. Three-fourth parts of the grease are saved. 3. The friction is much lessen-' ed, as no sand or dust can get into the axle-tree, by wMch th« waggons are much easier drawn, and one horse will be able to draw a greater number. We are proceeding to make th« annually is expected. We purpose, also, to apply the inven- tion to the small waggon below ground. I hope the inven- tion will appear of so ninch importance, as to induce the So- and I hope you will feel yourself enabled to concur with me in saying, that it is the greatest improvement which coal wag- gons have received."

Proprietor of the extensive Pottery Establish mcnt of Cumnock, was a man of no ordinary powers and acquirements, and, had it been his fortune to be placed where he might have had full scope and employment for his genius, he would long ago have held a dis- tinguished rank among the benefactors of his countiy. But ad- erse circumstances, during the greater part of his life, shed a withering influence over all his projects ; chilling his ardour, dis- couraging his exertions, and confining his usefulness within a rery narrow sphere.

He was passionately fond of philosophical pursuits ; particularly Sreology, mmeralogy, chemistry and mechanics. He had paid liuich attention to the steam-engine, and was the first wlio suggest- ed, and (in conjunction ^vitththe late Mr Miller of Dalswinton) carried into effect, the application of that poA\'er to the propelling of vessels. The original experiment was performed on the lake at Dalswinton in the year 1788. It was completely successful - for though on afimale scale, (being with a four-inch cylinder) and witk » Tessel not calculated for rapid motion, they went at the rate of fir*

miles an hour with ^ ase. Tn the followingyear tlie experiment wai repeated on he Fo rth and Clyde canal ; and, as it was on a larger -ciale, the mtotionwas proportionally accelerated, being nearly seven miles an ho r ; thus demonstrating'that, by increasing the magni- tude and puwerofthe engine, almost any degree of celerity might It is deeply to be regretted that Mr Taylor was not spared soma years longer, ashe had projected an improvement of such vital im- portance to navigation as, had he lived to complete, it would have superseded the present system altogether. His long illness, how- ever, suspended his operations ; and, in consequence of the extreme caution Avith which he guarded the main secret of his plan, it is feared that it has for ever perished with its author, who died at his house at Cumnock, in September 1828, in the G7th year of his ago.

Ayrshire had the honour of introducing that now most use ful commodity Gas. About fifty years ago, this article iva» invented by Mr Murdoch, in the small villag-e of Auchenleck.

Mr Murdoch not only suggested the use, but he first applied it : and he did not apply it to nothing or to mere amusement, for it came from his hands, if not i» its present state of perfection, yet in full operation and on a large scale; brilliant, economical, and superseding all former methods of lighting where it was applied,

It was in 1792 that the inventor first applied coal gas to the light- ing of his house in Cornwall 5 and in 1797 he again made use of it at Cumnock. In 1798 he constructed an apparatus on a large scale at Soho ; and in 1802, at the peace, the whole front of Messrs. Boulton and Watt's buildings was thus illuminated in a splen.ded

In the mean time a M. Le Bon at Paris had applied wood and Coal to the same puapose, and had thus lighted his abode; propos- iugfurther, to light that city in the same manner, while Mr Mur- dych's invention, up to that da^e, Avas scarcely known beyond tha circle of his immediate friends. This was his oversight as far as hi^ own interests were concerned ; for thus the securing his rights Isy a patent became so problematical that the attempt was finally

Mr Murdoch came forward more conspicuously, once more, m 1908, bylightingthe cotton mills of Messrs. Philips and Lee _ at Manchester, and received the Rumford medal for a communication to the Royal Society on this subject.

The last, though perhaps not the least of inventions in this age of improvements has just been made, and a patent taken out by a native of Ayrshire, in the person of Bailie Dick of Irvine, a young man of a most ingenious turn of mind; for an improved rail road, and for propelling carriages thereon by machinery for conveying passengers, letters, intelligence,, packets and other goods with great velocity, and should the experiment prove asit promises, will accelerate the INJail at the to attain great speed is certainly ingenious, and the construc- tion of Hie rail way and carriages seems well fitted for carry- ing his object into effect. The railways in the models are of cord, but the intention in practice, is to have them made of rod iron, snch as is used in the manufacture of chain cables, -crewed into each other, so as to form one uninterrupted line of rail. They are supported at intervals by pillars, and repre- sent in two of the models alternate levels and planes ; and in the third a dead level. The carriages, which are in the shape of boots hang below the rails on wheels deeplv grooved, ttnd projecting .so far to the sides as to enable the carriage to clear the supporting pillars. To the carriage is attached a cord at each end, which run over pulleys in the pillars, and fixed to the drum of an engine which gives motion to the car- riage. This engine is simply a combination of wheels and pin- ions, by which the velocity can be increased to any given a- mount. There is scarcely doubt as to the practicability of of tlie invention. jj

An intelligent farmer, at Kaims, near Muirkirk, was a man of preat sloll m Rural affairs, and was the Inventor of the Rid Plough, to much in use now all over the country. Mr Fiulayson died a few yeais ago.

is a native of Ochiltree, disputed the inven tion of the Apo- graph with Mr Andrew Smith of Mauchline. This individual, so iar as originality goes to settle the point, is supposed to have the best of the argument. He has now made a great improvement oa It. His miproved Apograph may be seen at Wm. M' Carter's Li-

li See Glasgow Chronicle.

From the ages that the descendents of the Damnii ceased to paiut their bodiesand were driven bj^ a rugged climate, to cover themselves with the skins and furs of beasts, which they killed, every family must have carried on. some manufactHr*-. The mildness, the energy, and the enterprise of the long reign of Geo. III. carried up that domestic manufacture in thi» county to the extent and importance of professed and publi:« manufacturers. - The fabrics of wool, of linen, of cotton^ of leather, of iron, have taken very deep roat here amid the ad- vantages of Ayrshire. Fuel is very abundant - the necessa. ries of life are plenty and cheap. The materials for building are at hand ; the channels of communication are open andfree. The materials of manufacture are either produced in tba County or are early obtained. For their own products the markets are near. The seeds of industry are here sown with ttusparing hand. The fabrics of wool seem to have taken root here, in very early times. Bonnets and serges were t© a great' valme made in early times in Kilmarnock and Stewart- -a. Machinery of various kinds, and singular use were in- troduced in Kilmarnock asearlj^-as machinery was thought of. Carpets and Cloths and Stockings were made, but after alt their eflbrts, they have not fabricated the finer broad cloth. This useful rrianufacturo of a inaterial produced in the san>e country extended at the end of the last century to every dis- trict in the County. In Damellington and Cumnock thi^ Bsanufaeture is carried on to great extent of various kinds by Uie aid of machinery for teasingand carding wo o(«

Tlie linen manufacture has also been introduced into Ayrshire, though it has never been carried to a great extent, but aa the other manufactures prospered the liuen declined. The making of thread

has been carried to a considerable extent in Beitli There are em ployed 70 mills for twisting thread, which were turned either by r steam or by the strength of men

About the year 1770, the manufacturing of silk was introduced into Ayrshire, and employed many hands ; but the fashion chang- ed, and with it the fabric fell

The cotton manufacture was introduced into Ayrshire about the year 1787) soon after it was established in Glasgow and Plaisley, Great Works were settled at Catrine, soon after. These works are « driven by two water wheels 50 feet diameter, by twelve broad, and i two steam engines of 40 horse power

The fabrics of leather have been greatly extended in Ayrshire, and Tanning, Currying, and the making of shoes and boots, have greatly extended, and to considerable profit. Saddlery also, has been carried up, not only to domestic supply, but to foreign export

The great Iron Works were established at Muirkirk in 1787 which produced iron of every kind and quality, so as to employ many hands, and to interest not a few individuals. Other works and fouiidaries have been introduced with success into many places, and give profitable employment to many persons.

Potteries have been erected at various places for domestic uten- sils, though perhaps not to any great amount or profit. Kelp, ba- rilla, black ashes, soda and salt have been made to advantage, a- long the shores of the Frith

Magnesia and Salts are also manufactured at the extensive works of George Taylor, Esquire in Newton-Green of Ayr

Another species of Trade peculiar to Ayrshire, not generally known, although its effects are felt by himdreds of spinsters in Ayr, and elsewhere, is the manufacture of the above work, in the form of Robes, - Capes - Handkerchiefs, &c. &c. which are prepar- ed in this town and neighbourhood, in consequence of orders from Glasgow, Edinburgh, London, Dublin, and even America, and the Continent. This wonderful work has arrived at great perfection, and orders in Ayr are executed by

Mrs Jamieson, Mrs Maitland,

Miss Williamson, Mrs. M'Carter,*

Mrs Donald, and others

- The latter also executes orders for Coloiu-edor White, Dressefe

iu colored Worsted and Silk

" The RightcoHs shall be had in everlasting remembrance .'' --r-XdA., In Ayrshire from circumstances which history points out the doc- trines of the Waldeneses took refuge when driven from the Conti- nent by the Inquisition. Here through these doctrines we find a ha- tred to the tyranny of the Pope, and the exactions of his Clergy filling the breasts of the Nobles, and of not a few of the peo- ple of the Land. Here, Peter de Bruys, of the family of Robert th« Bruce, Earl of Carrick, in the end of the 11th century imbibed the sentiments of the AYaldeueses, and after a laborious ministry of 2 0 rears, was bnrned at St. Giles, in 1130, and hence the sect of the Pe- trobrusians had its origin.

Ayrshire "vvas a perfect nursery where the doctrines of the Reformation were for the first time promulgated in Scotland. The protestant preachers previous to the Reformation, jind, with a view to its accomplishment, having, in J 556 and USY, attacked the popish faith and inveighed agaitist the idleness and corruption of the clergy, the famous Quintin Kennedy, uncle to the Earl of Cassillis, and Abbot of Crossraguel, step- ped forward as their champion, and boasted that they x^ ere ready to dispute with the protestant ministers.* Though the talents of the Abbot, who vvas a polemical writer and had published a short system of Catholic Tactics, || were not of a superior order, he Avas certainly one of the most respectable of the popish clergy in Scotland, not only in birth, but also in regularity and decorum of conduct, and he began to rub xi\) his long neglected theological armour, and to gird himself for the combPvt. In the beginning of 1559, the Abbot challenged Willock who was preaching in the neighbourhood of C'ross- raguel, to a dispute on the sacrifice of the mass. The c'n.tl- lenge was accepted, the time and place of meeting were fixed ; but the dispute did not take place, as the Abbot refused to ap- pear unless his antagonist would previously engage to submit to the interpretation of scripture which had been given by the ancient Doctors of the church. From this time the Abbot made the mass, the great subject of his study, and in ISliljHvrote j» book in its defence which was answered by George Hay. In tbe follov/ing year, the Abbot read in his chapel of Kirkoswald, a num- ber of articles respecting the mass -aiid other tenets of- the 'Popish Doctrine, which he said he ti'ould'd'efend- a^aiilst any nvho woub!

- Knoi's Uistoiie.

II One Compbndius Tkactive, shewing "the nerrest and onlie way ti> es(Eblish the CO: science of a christian man," in all mauers which were in ilehate coMeeininfe laitU and religion. -Dr. M'CBlii.

impugn them, and promised to declare his mind more fully reepcf t- ii>g them cm the foLlowia^ Sabbath, ^nox, wJwj was in th« viciai- if, came to Kirkoswald bntliat day wiih the df sign ot hearing the Abbot, and granting him the dispiitation he haii 'eourted. In the morning he sent some ge;^tlemen, who accompaiiied him to ac- quaint the Abbot Avith the reason of his coming, and desire him.; either to preach according'to his promise or to attend Knox's ser- TiiOh, and afterwards to state his objects to the doctrine which might Redelivered. The Abbot did. rut think it proper to appear, and Knox preached in the chapel. When he came down from the pulpit, a letter from the Abbot, was put into his hand which led to : an epistolary correspondence between them, m which the latter; event to Knox, he had been informed he had come to that quar- ter of the country to " ^Hck and disputation," which he, the Abbot was so far from refusing that he " earnestly ana effectuouslie covated the samin.'' and with that view should meet him next Sun- day in any house in M^aybole, that he choosed provided not more ; than twenty persons on each side were allowed to be present. Knox wished the dispute to be conducted publicly in Saint John's Church, Ayr, for certain reasons which he adduced. The preli- minaries being arranged after a considerable coi-respondence and consultations, the conditions were settled and they agreed to meet on the 28th September, at 8 o'clock in the morning, in the house of Andrew Gray^, the Ijast Pidyost of the Collegiate, which is still pointed out in the Back Vennel. It is a tenement of two stories,^ thatched, and is now occxipied as the Red Lion Inn. Forty persons | <m eacli skli were adiniitei tii wrtnesses of the dispute, with '- as manv more as the house might goodlie i:uid at the sight of mv lord ; of Cassilis." The disputation lasted three days and was attended by^j ' great crowds of people, from all parts of the country. Tradition re-,^ cords that on this occasion, the Abbot brought with mm fromhis Ab- bacy several wain loads of books and manuscripts, for his use durmg tlie dispute, and that after the victory was declared or assumed iik favour of Knox , the people seized the same and made a vast bonfire^ of them in the Green of Maybole.

Fenwick too is remarkable as having been the parish of which the celebrated Mr Guthrie served the cure. He was a noted champion of the covenant before and after the Restor- tion,* and partly through his prelections Fenwick was a per- fect hot bed of relisrious zeal in the days of the Covenanters,. and turned out a considerable number of men at the Insurrec- It was upon a small knoll called the Harelaw, near Loudon hill in A^yrshire, that on Sunday the 3 J of June 1679, a large body of country people held one of those treasonable meeting

- The pulpit used hy Mr Guthrie still exists in the little old Parochial pluee of worship and is looked upon as a sacred Me/mt^ ialofthis truly pious Man,

taUed Mnr^ifitiGlas. AcGording to custom many of the men had come armed to this singular place of worship ; aad as a visit from the military police uader which the district had

Iibeeu laid was apprehended a watch was laid on Loudonhijl, a strange, wild, abrupt, craggy eminence, which rears itself like a seal raising its inclined head above the waters, and com- mands a view of the country for many miles round. On the Imorning of that day Graham of Claverhouse having advanced from Hamilton, up the vale of Avon, bearing with him two field preachers whom he had seized i\\ the vicinity of the town, he halted at Strathaven, and being kiformed there, that con- trary to his previous intelligence, the conventicle was not to take place that day, and turned off towards Glasgow. Whilfc lie advanced from Strathaven, the tumultuous assemblage, whom he intended to disperse, apprized by their watch of his approach, moved forward from the Harelaw, to meet him, singing psalms by tlie way, The meeting took place upon a piece of ground directly betwixtthe adjacentfarmstead&of High Drumclog and Stabbie-side, one mile to the west of the high road from Strathayen to Kilmarnock, and two miles northeast from Loudounhill. The dragoons- having come within sight of the insurgents, tiie two hostile parties for a moment stood still and surveyed each other, being only about half a miie were upwards of 200 in number, and having prepared for aa attack, moved deliberately down the hill. The rebels amount- ing to 50 armed horse, and as many foot, with 150 persons tinly armed with pikes or rustic implements besides a few wo- ?>it'/i, av/aited the approach of the well appointed and well disciplined soldiery, with a degree of firmness so singular in an untried militia, as only to be accounted for by the intense feeling of religious^.zeal, and the bitter hatred of the dragoons with which thev were possessed. To avoid the shot, the Co- venanters prostrated themselves on their faces. Col. Grah^im then ordered his men to charge, and plunging into the bosr, which they had not previously seen, they were speedily em- barassed, "and thrown into disorder. Takiiig advantage cf their disrtress, one of the insurgent leaders exclaimed" O'er the bog and to them lads I" Immediately the whole of the tumultuous host rushed upon them with a violence which no- thing could withstand. The dragoons so suddenly finciing themselves attacked where they had calculated on attacking, gave way in a panic, and reaching the dry ground, endeav- oured to make their way backward up the hill. Their in.-

trepid commander did all he could by voice and example, to make them stand, but the pressure of the triumphant rustics was too violent to be resisted. They fled, leaving 36 of their number on the field, while the loss of the successful party wa; only six.

J>efi)re descending the hill to make the charge, Claver- house had stationed his two ghostly prisoners with their arms )jinioaed, under a small guard, in an out house belonging to Druniclog*. When the guard saw tlieir companions flying {)a*it in disorder, they also thought fit to run. The ministers thus left at large, and anxious to share in tiie triumph of their party, ran into the farmer's dwelling house, and called for some one to cut their bands. The gudewife who alone was within, bustled about but could not find a knife, when one of the Divines remembering that he himself had a knife in his pocket, called upon her " to rip^ for it. " She did so, found it and lost no time in cutting the strings, when they immedi- ately x-an and join.^d in the pursuit.

Aivd'smoss, a large morass extending several miles in eve- ry direction, betwixt Cumnock, Mauehline and Muirkirk, Avas the scene of a skirmish, about the same period, between the Covenanters and Dragoons. The precise spot where the s^kirmish happened is commemorated by a large flat monu- ment which some pious individuals erected fifty years after ihe event to the memory of Richard Cameron and the rest of tiie slain, and which lies about a quarter of a mile from the public road between Cumnock and Muirkirk, near the western t'Xtremity of the morass.

The truth of the asertion is exemplified from the preceding and other facts, that to Ayrshire the nations of Europe, nay, it might be said, the .whole world owed the origin of their civil and religious libertv.

upper DruajsiOj is at th)« riay ffcriMcJ by tiC sane bm\'>-f wii'.ch f»cT! pome.-.e :

The first Lord Lieutenant or High Sheriff of the County was the late Hugh Earl of Eglinton;

on the death of His Lordship, His Majesty was pleased to appoint the present Right Hon. George Earl of Glasgow. &c.

The following Gentlemen have served as Members of Parlia- ment for the County of Ayr :-^

1704, Francis Montgomerie of GifFan

1705, John Brisbane Yor. of Bishoptown

1727, 1725, Colonel James Campbell of Rowallan 1741, 1747, Patrick Crawford of Auchinames 1753, Capt. Jas, Mure Campbell of Rowallan 1761, Col. Arch. Montgomerie of Minnock & Gill 1768, David Kennedy, Esq. of Nevvark 1789 Wm. M'Dowall of Garthland 1796 Col. Hugh Montgomerie of Skelmorlie -1796, 1802 Col. William Fullarton of Fullarton 1S06 David Boyle of Marc-ss 1829 Col. ¥/illiam Blair of Blair

List of Provosts of the

ISOO, Wm. Bowie, Esq.

- 20, David Limoiid, Esq

Ayrshire has not bten remiss in sending forth her quota of yemarkable persons who have adorned the respective profes- »ions to which they individually belonged, and the spheres of life in which they severally moved, in the characters of Statesmen - Lawyers - Divines - -Literati - Poets - Trage- dians - and what not, amongst the multiplicity of whom may be named the following few, who in ancient and in modern times have by their own talents arrived to that zenith of respectability which has inscribed their names in the page* of History as examples of superior genius.

A.yrshire may also justly be said to claim the great patriotic Sir William Wallace. His mother was the daughter of Re- ginald Crawford, Sheriff of Ayr, who married the heiress of Loudout) ; andElderslie, though in Renfrewshire was neverthe- less considored as belonging to the parish of Riccavton, nigh which Wallace's Ancestors had their original seat. Every proprietor of Land in those days had a legal right to dispose of his tythes to whatever Abbey, Monastery, Church, or parish he chose. The tythes of Elderslie, were given at this time to the church of Riccarton, and hence the accuracy of Blind Har- ry, when he says that Wallace was born at Elderslie, in the parish of Riccarton.* Ayrshire therefore has a claim to this hero not only from his parents, but also from this connection,

Ayrshire has not to boast of Wallace alone. She claims also Robert Bruce, who held his first meeting v/ith the nobles and gentlemen of Ayrshire, for the redemption of his country in the town of x\yr. There the fire and the patriotism of Wal- lace, which had bee;i quenched through the treachery of a Monteith, v/as rekindled and recovered, and there the founda- tion of Scotia's liberty was laid.

* Sir Ronald's house is said to have been a tower vrhich stoo.I up- on the site of a little farm house, called Yardsides, a hundred yards west from the village. The barn which belonged to the tower i« the only building of the old place now existing. In the adjacent garden there is a Pear tree, said to have been planted by W^allace's own hand - and at the side of the gate, which leads into the field sur- rounding the houses, there is another and very aged tree, in which i« pointed out an iron staple said to have been usedby Wallace to tie up tii§ horse when he visited his uncle.

The circumstances of the Lollards taking- refuge in Kyle t formed the early character of Sir William, and excited in him that hatred and detestation to the power and tyranny of Edward, which made him resist every infraction on his riglita and his privileges,- and which finally drove him to arms. Till Wallace and his Ayrshire Friends arose there seemed to bs neither the spirit nor the feeling of patriotism in the land. In Ayrshire resistance to Edward's power commenced. In A.jv- ehire the spirit of patriotism was roused and cherished. In Ayrshire Edward first felt that there was a spirit in man bs- north the Tweed, and like alien, it roused him from his se- curity in order to trample Scotland under his feet aad to rivet his chains up in it.

Ayrshirft -n-as the first Comity in Scotland which raised a Militia R.8giment, hence the Royal Ayrshire Militia, whickwascoiiiniaiKl- td by the late gallant Hugh Earl of Eglinton,

In Ayrshire the gallant Scots Grey.^ recruited for several years previous to the battle of Waterloo, in which Sergeant Ewart, a laative of Ayr, by noble effort, carried off one of the Imperial £agle«, belonging to the 45th French Regiment,

Bo^n Bmii ^rotus,

A Franciscan Friar, commonly called Doctor Ssibtilis, wlrase birth place has long been a matter of dispute among tlia learn- ed of each nation, is supposed to have first seen the light iu the town of Ayr in 1274. When a boy he became accidentally known to two Franciscan Friars, wh® finding him to be a youth of extraordinary capacity, took him to their convent at Newcastle. From thence he was sent to Oxford, where be was made Fellow of Merton College and Professor of Divi- nity, and Mackenzie says, that not less than f >,000 students came t» Oxford to hear his Uctures. His fame was now be- come so universal that the General of his order sent him to Paris in 1334, where he was honoured first with the degree of B, D., then of D. D., and in lSi)7 was appointed regent of tlie Divinity Schools. He had not been above a year at Paris

t Knox in his History of the Reformation calls Kyle, " an old receptacle of the servants of God.

irhen his General sent him to Cologne, where he was receired Urith great pomp and ceremony b)' the magistrates and noble* of that city, and where he died of an apoplexy soon after hi» arriyal, in 1308, in the thirty-fourth year of his age. He wa* the author of a new sect of schoolmen called Scotists, who opposed the opinions of the Thomists. He was a most ror luminous writer.

Obmmonly called Chevalier Ramsay, a Scottish writer, bora of a good family in the town of Ayr in 1686. He studied at Edinburgh where he became tutor to the Earl of Wemys«' son. Travelling afterwards to Leyden he fell in with one Poiret a mystic divine, on which he went to Paris to consult Archbishop Fenelon, through whose instrumentality he was oon verted from Beism to the Roman Catholic faith in 1709. By this Prelate's influence he was appointed Governor to the Duke of Chateau Thierrg, and the Prince of Turrenne, and was made a knight of the order of St. Lazarus. He died at St. Germain in 1743, in the office of Intendent to the Duke of Bouillon Prince de Turrenne. His principal work is the Tra- vels of Cyrus, vvhch has been several times printed in Eny-

Count Hamilton,

Ayr gave birth to tliis celebrated Gentleman who we* Rufhbr of the Memoirs of Grammont. The house in which he was born is still pointed out in Isle Lane, having woodett balconies. Nearly opposite the tish-cross, is stili to be seeu fhe lodging of the Count.

Of Auchinkck, Bart, was a Geiitleman of no ordicprr parti erhether he be regarded as a Statesman, a Poet, or a man of treneral Hterary information. Descended from aiine oi literati, his Grand- father being an eminent Lawyer, (Lord Aucbinictk) arid his Fathef th© famous James Boswell, Esq. the Biograplier of Johnson, thsse n«in<;5 will long be remembered in the anaals of this county ^ir Alexander -vvas cut off iu early life, having fallen a sacrifice to ths disgraceful practice of Duelling. He was a iaborious WriUir, aiii . kcpj up a printing establishment at Auchinleck House

Was a native of ;iyr, and for the period of 68 years served the cure of the Church of A.yr, and never, says the Rev. Dr. Crawford * was the pastoral character better supported or adorned with a meeker ten7per, or with more amiable manners. The Doctor was a considerable proficient in the branches of learning, which were more intimately connected with his profession, and was a voluminous author of vi^orks and pam- phlets on theological subjects. The Rev. Doctor was or-

Son of the Rev. Robert Fergusson of Castlehill, one of the Ministers of Ayr, was a man of most extraordinary literary parts. Captain Fergusson left Ayr in early life and went to Pensylvania in North America, where his talents were -duly appreciated and be became a worthy Magistrate. - Capt. Fergusson was versant in several languages which he spoke fluently ; and on the American Avar breaking out, his estates were couliscated, and he returned to his native place and died at i'ViidsMnds in 1819, in the 72d year of his age. Mr Ferjrusson ieit several volumes in M. S. which have not

Student, ia divinity, pon of Mr Robert PoUer of Ayr, died at Ayr

After havinp: passed suecessively through the different classes in Ayr Acad, my, distinguished by the- highest honours in each, and by the esteem and adrniratiou of all his teachers, in 1S15, he enter- ed as a student tiie University of Glasgow, and there also, more than equalled the high exi:);;Ctations wluch his friemls had formed of him. lu tlu; diftereut departments of Latin, Greek. Logic, Moral Philosophy, and Divinity, he stood pue-c-aiinent, and secured the friendship of the various Prolessor? under whom he studied, as well asthatoiali his (dass-felloM's. Thon^ch he iiad all along de- signed himseii tor the Ciiurch, and had studied Divinity during three Sessions, lie latterly took upon him tlie charge of the Grammat Sehr.ol in Greenock, chiefly that he jnight have leis\ire to execute a '' ijcu-nlific Classjfieation of all the subjects of Human Thought, "---a work which he hid long projected.|l

Should the public never be put in possession of the means of

* Dr. CraM'fnrd, a native of Ayshire, aid aft-rward professor of natural philosophy, ia the University of St. Andrew's, whopreach-

II // iHll be a gratifiration to tlte friends of Mr P. and to the liter- itry u'ortd in general, to learn that the Rev. Mr Craig of Cuvmocb, his early and con ftdentinl friend has wideriaken., should his honrg permit^ to favor ihein. with a biographical sheU'h of this truly gr^at

lyrapathizing With those to whom he was known, by them at least hii name will be laid up in the same chamber of hallowed reeol- Ifection with the memory of Henry Kirke White, young Beattie, and Keith Ross, whom he rapidly followed, in the race of science and virtue, to an early tomb.

Kotjcrt Burns

Has had more Biographers than have fallen to the lot of any in modern times, and we think "vve cannot do better than quote the follow observations of his personal character, as delineated in the Review of Mr Lockhart's Life of the poet*. Robert Burns was born on the 25th of January 1759, in a clay- built cottage, about two miles to the south of the to-sm of Ajt, and in the immediate vicinity of Kirk Alloway, and the " Auld Brig o' Doon." About a week afterwards, part of the frail dwelling, which his father had constructed wit ii his own hands, gave way at mid- night ; and the infant poet and his mother were carried through the atorm, to the shelter of a neighbouring hovel. " The Dead Burns is more glorious than ever was the Living. He has now gathered all his fame. Nations liave honoured liis genius. He sits among the immortals. This has rarely been the lot of any living man: not of Milton - nor yet of \VordswoytIi. Can it be that man hates to honour man - till the power in which he may have wrought miracles be extinguished or withdrawn from earth - and then, when we fear, mxi hate, and pine, and envy about it no more, we confess its grandeur, bow down to it, and worship it ? Then it was, like ourselves, human - now it is divine !

Up to the day on which Burns left his farm of Elliesland, (and had such rural occupation, entire and undivided, and under or- dinarilj'- happy circumstances, been always his, how different might have been the whole colour and complexion of his life !) Ave show- ed, that, after fairly balancing the accounts of conscience, he was so far from being bankrupt in character, that no man was better entitled than he to hold up his head among the best of his fellon- heiiigs, at church or market. How stands he at his last earthly audit ? With many more sins to be judged and forgiven by God at the great day - with not more - although some - to be judged - - may we dare to use the word forgiven - even by man during his earthly sojourn ! He had often erred - sometimes grossly and griev- ously - and " rueful had the expiation been." But were the sins of poor Robert Burns so much worse than those of other men, that it becomes a moral and religious duty to emblazon them for an eternal warning to human nature ? Alas ! his sins bore no proportion to his sorrows ! Long., long before the light of Heaven had ever been darkened, obscured, or eclipsed in his conscience, even for a mo- ment, by evil thouglits or evil deeds, vrhen the bold, bright boy, with his thick black curling hair ennobling his noble forehead, was slaving lor his parent's sake, - and if tlie blessing of God ever falls on mortal man, it must fall on toils like these - Robert Burns used often to lie tc^ his brother's side, all night long, without ever clos- ing! an eye insl?ep - for that large heart of his, that loved all his «ye3 looked upon of nature's works living or dead, divine as was its mtjchanism for the play of all lofty passion, Avould often get sud- denly disarranged; as if ai>i>roached the very hour of death. Who so sUillt'd in nature's mysteries to dare to say, that maiiy more years could have fallen to the lot of one so famed, had Jio all life long

* Seview in Blackwood's Magazine.

drank, as in hi? vouth. but the well-water, laid down with th^ dove, &nd risen with the lark! If excesses, in which there wa* much to blame, did in any degree injure his health and constitu- >son-^dnd most prob.tbly tbey did so - how much more did those- other excesses certainly do so, in which there was both praise and virtue - over-anxious, over-working hours beneath the mid-day Bun, vv'hen his hot beams shot downwards like arrows - yet, were feith in tliat beautiful Pagan Poetry for a moment restored for the sake of our great Pastoral, well might we believe that Apollo would Hot have hurt the Muse's son. But let us not fear to confess all hw faults - failings- --errors; vices; sins, in their magnitude, and in all their ma.Tiutt:de, r.nd in tlieir d«.rkest colour. They are fenow.n io the world, Yet stiii the Avhole world loves ; admires ; respects ;

FsuRNS, shcrt and painfut as vrero his yeaTS> has left be- aicid him a vokimsi in which there i^ in^pira<>ion for evepy fen- strength ojid vi«^oiir - -'to soothe" as a generoas lover of }>eniu» has said - " the sorrows of many a lover, to iuflasne the [tatrjoti.'^in of bow ra&ny a soldier, to fan the flre- of ho^v P'roniex-iofpiun, eiu-ourage virtue, and show vice its Ha,iiness ; * ^roi' (ii-ita iiiuy vvaadcr, he will fissd the dearest cTHis^liniion of hit> t'xile.

Pesee to the dead ! In Scotia's choip-

Oi':i.iiu;iie!s great and small,

Tiie piueaix of rhern all. Moj^tCtOmkhv.

VHi .] -iiu'd a vuiume of jioetry containing many pieces of great merit, filler ward he went to London, and was concerned in the establish - mr^niof aNewfipaper, which was abandoned after a few numbera had been published, iie again returned to his native land, and i'-- ihc year 1824, published hi Paisley the first Newspaper. Short- ly before his death, and in the midst of his labour as a public jour- nalist, he edited, a tasteful collection of songs in tAVO vohmies. He died in March 1826, in tlie very flower of maiihood.

Aj^rshire besides can also boast of the names of the Rev. Mr. Paul, Sillar, Taylor, Crawford, Hettrick, Meik'e, Craig, Shaw and a list of other minor poets, who have exhibited tolerable speci - mens of their poetical geruus.

§tiv (QiUti-t mam,

Ayrshire can boast of having sent forth this truly greatman» vho was the youni^er son of Gilbert Blane, Esquire of Blane- fieid. His views haviug changed in tiie course of his academi- cal residence, his attentiGn becaire directed to medicine. lie pursued his professional studies at Edinburgli, where liis character stood so hi^h among his fellow students, that be was elected one of tiie presidents of the medical Society, an honor which then rarely lell to Scotsmen.

On leaving the university, Sir Gilbert repaired to London, where he spent two years longer in study, and then entered into the naval service. He embarked in 1779 with Sir George Rodne.y, afterwards Lord Rodney, on his expedition to the West Indies, as his friend and physician, as he was in a bad state of health, and also as a candidate for employment in the public service. This laid the foundation of his fortune and character : for so hii^hly Avas his conduct esteemed by the gallant Admiral, that after the first victory, where Sir Gilbert's medical services were highly conspicuous, he was appointed by him physician to the iieet, a situation of the hijdiest trust and responsibifity ; which he coiitintsed to hold, with equal credit to hhnself and advantage to tiie service, till the con- clusion of the war in l;S3. During tiils course of public duty, he was present al no less than six general engagt-mcnU with that renew ed commander, who carried at that day the naval glory of his countiy to the highest pitch, and at a period when France could buasi her most skilful oiScers and com-

He is a Fellow of the Royal Societies of London and Edinburgh, a Proprietor of tiie Ro>al Institution, and iMem- ber of the Imperial Aealeniy of Sciences of St. Petersburgh. - In the year 1;13 he surceeded Sir Henry Halford, as Pre- sident of the Medical and Chirurgical Society of Londuu.

was a native of and educated in Ayr - was the second son.of Charles Shaw, Escpiire ot Ayr. Mr Shaw was for many years Demonstrator of Anatomy in the School of Great U'i?)d'- luill street, where his coastnnl attention to their inlerests, and the frank unreserved manner in winch he entered into their views and feelings maie him greatly beloved by the pupils among whom he formed many personal fiitudfchips which

continued in after life. On the death of Mr Wilson, he sue- ceeded him as joint lecturer with Mr C. Bell, and on the re- signation of Mr Cartwright, he was elected one of the Surgeons ,of 3Iiddlesex Ho-pital. Mr Shaw was extremely assiduous in the cultivation of he proffssion, and as an author, his vari- ous works on the spine, and numerous papers on the nerves, and his Manual of Anatomy, are sufficient proofs of his in- dustry and talents. His attention during the latter years of his life was particularly directed to the subject of spinal dis- tortions, and while ius investigations have thrown much addi- tional light upon the pathology and treatment of these com- plaints, they had at the same time attained for him a rapidlj increasing and lucrative business. Mr Shaw died in lf27_, in the prime of life.

is the eldest son of a Moravian clergyman, and was born Nov^ moved to Ireland, residing for a short time at Gracehill in th» county of Antrim. His parents having devoted themselves to the Missionary service of the United Brethren, or Mora- vians in the West Indies, he was soon after removed to Ful- nick, one oftheir seminaries in Yorkshire. He remaine*! here itn years, during which period he lost both his parents, who ftil victims to the malignity of the climate, the one ia the h* land of Barbadoes, and the other in' Tobago. In this pre- cluded seminary he obtained a knowledge of Greek, Latin, German, and Frerjch, but was shut out from ali intercour-^e with the world, as if he had been immersed in a cloister. Whilst so monotonous a course of life was ill calculated to awaken his genius or give energy to his character. Here, however, he imbibed those principles and that meek benev^oE- 6nce of character for vviiicii his^ future life was to be so murh distinguished. The pecuUar sentiments and tone of piety pre- valent among these primitive people seem to have well ac- corded with the natural feelings of the poet, whose first ju- venile effort ap; eirs to have been formed on the model of th? hymns used by the Moraviatis. At ten years of age he had filled a little volume with sacred poems of his own composing. At the age of sixteen he set out to begin the world.

Mr, M. became Editor of the i§hetEeld Iris, and had ths misfortune to be tried lor a libel at the Doncaster ^Session* in 1?89, and had the misfortune to be sentenced to tiire« inonihs iRiprisonm-nt in York Castle, and pay a fine of £50. to the King. Here he composed " Prison Amusements," arid efter^vards the various sacred poems which have inimortaii56e4

Was t>onx at Irviac, where ke was classically educated.-^ Having subsequently speut some yesifsat his home at Green- ock he visited London in the year l>04. We next find hiEv erigaged at liis Travels in Greece, where he formed a close iatimacy wilb the iate lamented Lord Byron, and continued ©n terms of friendship and correspondesice with him up to the period of his Lordship's departure from Italy to Greece. His life of '* Cardinal Wolsey" was his earliest literary attempt. His juvenile production, for so it may be considered, held out «very promise of future excellence. He published also soon aftey -' Voyages and Travels in the Mediterranean," audaXte?- ward3 several highly distinguished Novels.

Our Badie's a Freemason, and ^Ve needna fear the De'il.

Deacon. StGANK.

Wre® Masonry

.Sone Philosophers amoiig whom may b<? reek- oiied the oeJebrated Chevalier Hauisuy, a native of Ayr, have hiboiired to prove that Free MuvSOiirj arose during the crusades ; that it was a secondary order of chivaJry; that its forms orig'inated from that warlike institution ; and were adapted to the

That Free Alasonry \vas introduced into Scot- lajid, by those architect^'; vi ho built toe dpiendid ab- bey of Kilwinning, i.s nuiiiiiC-it not only frosn thos^? authejjtio doeiiirsents by which the exJste.-ioe of the Kilvvinniii"' Lod^e, has been traced back as far as the end of the fifieenlh century, bat by other cot- desiionstration. In every oiher country where ihe tejitporal and .spiritual jurisdiction af the Pope was acknowledged, particil irly during- the gequentiy for operative masons, proportional to the

* Lej den's preliminary dessertatiou to the Complaynt of

piety bf the inhabitants and the opulence ofthei* ecclesiastical establishment, and there was no king- dom in Europe, where the zeal of the inhabitants for popery was more ardent, where the kings and nobles were more liberal to the clerg-y, and where of course the church was more liberally endowed than in Scotland. §

Kilwinninj^ is therefore the Mother Lfodflfe of all the Masonic Lodges in the County of Ayr; and of her, they all bold, from the manner in which the>:e Lodges are now held according* to the late Act of Parliament, it is impossible that any seditions meetings as was at one time feared, can possibly be sustained. The masters of every Lodge record in the Sheriff Clerk's OlEce, once e^^ery year, a certi- ficate to that effect.

The Grand Masters of Scotland, held their principal annual meetings at Kilwinning, the birtii place of Scotish Masonry, both before and afte^ the civil commotions which disturbed Britain, in the seventh century, while \}iq Lodge of that vil- tion to those Brethren of the order, who were an- xious that rea^uJar orders should be formed in dil- ferent parts of the kino'dom. Tiiese Lodges all held of the Lodge of Kilvvinnino, and in token of their respect and submission joined lo their own name, that of their mother Lodge, from vvhuia they derived their existence as a corporation.*

The Art was introduced into the Town, many years ago, in consequence of a Dispensation in favor of the Ayr St. John's Lodge, from the M^-' ther Lodge at Kilwinning. Notvfitbstandliig the

§ Tiie Chnrcii possessed above one. Iialfof the prep* rty

* Sucli as Ctiuongate Kilwinning, &c.

priority of date, and the respectability of the members who compose that ancient body and other Lodges in the Town, no Lodge in Ayr, can boast of doing more Business than the Koyal Arch Lodge, and this is attributable to the very zealous, and presevering assiduity of Mr Burns, the respect- ed R. W. Master to keep the Brethren together at the proper stated hours of work, and his affable and agreeable decorum to them when they retire from labour to refreshment. Of these inestimable qualities the brethren evinced their respect by pre- isentingthe Master with a handsome Gold medal a few years ago.

The foltmvimg Lodges helonging to tins Counfy have received Chat- ters from the Grand Lodge of Scotland, to ivhich they severally appoint their respective proxies.

Kobert Montgomeri<", Esquire, of Craighouse, W, Grand Master for Ayrshire.

in the Names op Lodges.

I67. Thistle & Rose Stevenson

D, St Mango's Mauchline

Names of Lodges.

81. Irvine Navigation D. St Marnock's Kilmarnock 123. Ayr Kilwinning

125. St James's Newton of Avr 121. St Andrew's Kilmarnock

126. Thistle Lodge Stewarton 129. Girvan St Andrew's

I>. Galston St Patrick's Kil- 131. Tarbolton St David's 133. Tarbolton St James's 136.' Operative Lodge, Ayr

Royal Arch Maybole St Thomas Mnirkirk St Clement's Riecarton Ayr and Renfrew Mililarf St Paul 209. St Andrew's Newton. 221, Moira Fenwick 230. Old Cumnock St Barnabw 249. Glenbuck St Andrew's . Blair Dairy St James' Netherton Holm St John's Royal Arch, Salt-

" Auld Lang Syne" Was so called undoubtedly from the very ancient Celtic name of Ayr, on the banks whereof the county town is beauti- fully situated. There was probably a castle on the same site as that of the town, and under its protection according to the practice or rude ages a village aross. It is difficult to say when the newly erected village on the Ayr became the eounty town, or in other words, when the Celtic counties of Carrick, Kyle, and Cunningham were formed into a county* Tradition reports that a battle was fought in this parish in the valley of Dalrymple, between the Scots and Picts before the Christian era, wherein both the Sovereigns, Fergus and Coilus were slain.

The inhabitants of Ayr throughout the Scottish period ex- people, upon celtic principles, which were not very favourii- "ble to peace, or very promotive of prosperity. In addition to the domestic feuds of an irascible people, they were too frequently disquieted during that period, by the appearance of the Danish rovers in the Frith of Clyde, which was not crowded forages with conimerical shipping. A feeble system and a weak government was not calculated by any means la ensure comfort to the people. During the change which ensued upon the occasgion of Edgar, in 1979, when the Scolo-

- There is a charter of Henry III. wherein mention is 7nndr, *- Qiiidam amious it comsanguineus noster de Gahveia, viz. Dun- canus, the father of Neil de Karric." This charter shews very- ckarljf that Carrick was then described as in Galloemy. In 1112, Diincaa the son 9f Gilbert de Gahveia gave to God and Sainf Mary of MailroSy a certain piece of land in Carrie, called May- t-nlnii. In this charter there ij no intlmttiou &f a ahiix-^Libei

Saxon p»riod began, different maxims of law and new modes of government were introduced ; the people of this distric M^ere benefited by the alteration of a system which was radi-, call y bad. The introduction of the municipal law, produeedll the change of the Celtic maxims and rude customs for the Anglo-Norman principles, and more salutary laws.

In the year 1177, William the Lion built two castles x oace upon the extremities of his kingdoin. One at New- castle, to restrain the incursions of the English, and the othei at Ayr, to awe the wild men of Galloway, "the castle at Ayr was situated within the present ramport^ of the Fort, an tracei of it are still to be seen upon a mound not far from the Tower of Saint John's Church.

In the S2d year of the Reign of King "William the Lion, thfe town of Ayr, was erected into a

by charter which is preserved in the Archives of the Towts, of waich the following is a liter al translation from the Latin ; -

^^ William, by the grace of Godf King of Scots, To "'* the Bishops, Abbots, Earls, Barons, Justiciars, * Sheriffs, Provosts, Officen;^ and all honest men of ''^ his whole realm, clergy and laity, Greeting: Lei " those present, and to come, know, that I have made '- a Burgh at my new castle upon Are; and havg ^<' granted to the sam,e burgh, and to ony burgesses " therein residing, all liberties, and all free customs, ** which my other burghs, and m,y burgesses therein ^^ residing, throughout my kingdom,, enjoy, I have *- alto established therein a Tnarket-day every Satur- '-' day. I have also granted to the burgesses whosh''^'^ *' come thither to inhabit my burgh, and shall ^' there settled and residing, that they be free from €i ** and all other custom, for their chattels in deTnai-ii^

*' through my whole realm. I therefore strictly for- ** bid, that no one in my kingdom exact from any of " them, toll, or any other custom, for their chattels iu " demain, upon my full forfeiture. I have aim " granted to my same burgh, and to 7ny burgesses " who shall be settled and residing in that burgh, the " Five penny-land which pertains to the town of Jre^ '- by the bounds underwritten ; Namely ; from hiver- " don, up into Jnverpolcurtecan ; and from Inver- ^^ polcurfecan, up to Crottun; and so along the Curte- '' can, on to Curtecan-head ; and so from CurfecaH- " head^ asoendins- along: Bog-hesken, on to Moncdani-

^'' dereg; and so from Monedemdereg, along the sykr, " on into Monemefhonao ; and from Monernethonac, " along the syke, on into Pollecleuan ; and so aloitg '^ Pollecleuan on into Lochfergus ; and from Loch- '''fergus, descending on into Dufhat ; and from Buf- ^- hat, descending along the syke, on to ike rivulet on '* the eaH side of Drumnesa.uel ; and from Drumjifs- ** auf'l rivulet, descending on into the syke on the u'rsf *' side of that rivulet ; and so along that skye, on vnlo ^' Polleclonecrangaii ; and so along Pollecranjyali^ '^' o?i into Diifwck ; and from thence on into PoIU:il- '^ ulin ; and so along Pollem,ulin, descending on in- ** to the Are ; and so along the Are, descending on " into the sea. I have^ also granted to 'my bargessis " residing in the same, that with each fidltoftof theirf, " they Quay have six acres of land, which they skat' " have cleared of wood, within the foresaid five pen- " ny-land, to make their own profit thereof : Paying- *'' yearly to me, for each toft, and six acres of land *^ thereto adjacent, xii. pennies. I Therefore com- * miand and strictly charge that all m.en who shall " hai^e com,e with their merch&ndise to that my fore- " said burgh, to sell andbuy, may have my sure peace^

'* and use the market, and return well and in feacet " / also strictly charge, that at Mach, and Karne' " buth, and Lowdun, and Crosnecon, and Lachtalpin, " toll, and other customs, which are due to the burgh, " be given and received. I therefore strictly forbid, '* that no one presume to carry away toll, or any *' other custom, which of right he ought to pay to rny ** foresaid burgh, beyond the foresaid bounds, upon ** my full forfeiture ; But if any one shall have pre- ** sumed to carry away toll, or any other ciistmn of '* my foresaid burgh, beyond the foresaid bounds, I ** strictly charge, that all men residing within the " foresaid bounds, be assisting to my Serjeants, for ''maintaining my right, and for apprehending and ** attaching him,, who shall have carried away, or at- " tempted to carry away, tolls, or any other custom, " belonging to my foresaid burgh, beyond the fore- ** said bounds. Witnesses : Florence, Elect of Glas- " gow, my Chancellor ; Walter and William, my ** chaplains ; Philip de Valoniis, my Chamberlain', ^*' Robert de Londoniis, my son ; William de Boscho, " Thomas de Colvill ; Ronald de Crawford. At

In these properties the ToAvn of Ayr obtained them?5elves infeft and seassd, and their iufcftmeiit'S ratified in Parliament, a.nd they remained in the peaceable possession of their respec- tive properties and priviieges till the days of Oliver Crom- well, who laid hold, during his usuqmtion, of the church of Ayr, which was dedicated to St. John, and which had been from time immemorial, the principal place of worship in tiie Town, comprehending with the church-yard, about one acre of ground and seven or eight acres more of flat ground the property of the Burgh, i>etwix.t the Town and the sea, on the east side of which, at that time fiowed the River Boon,

which he thonght fit to a conreit into a Citadel, being one of the four such edifices planted by the Protector in Scotland. - It was not pretended that he had obtained any written grant from the Burgh, nor was it supposed that he would give him- self much trouble about the legality of an acquisition which he had a much shorter way of accomplishing. These pro- ceedings alarmed the burgh of Ayr, and thay considered, that if granted it would be the destruction and ruin of the ancient burgh, and whole inhabitants thereof, being so near the same, and built upon the very property and river wherein they stood veiy anciently infeft by the kings of Scotland, never before quarrelled by any. The Tower of Saint John's church still remains, tall, sheer, and erect, in the midst of the nearly obliterated ramparts ; seeming to assure the observer that Religion though for a while suppressed by soldiery viol- ence must ultimately remain triumptant. Within the same enclosure may also be seen a long vaulted passage, which formerly served as a covered way leading into the Fort.

In the year 1230, or prior to that period a Dominican mon- astery was founded on the water of Ayr, close by the town, supposed by William Bishop of Saint Andrew's. Therg is now no memorial of its existence but a Fountain called the Friar's Well, which runs through the Church-yard into the river. Upon the site of this Monastery the present, " <)id Church, was built by Oliver Cromwell, as a compensation (o the inhabitants for the loss of Saint John's Churclj, which Ikv

'Retailers of Traditionary lore have it that in compensation to tlht. town, for the loss of their church, the Usurper agreed to give thetn. 500 merksfor p'le purpose of building another - that the toyjn a«- cordinglg erected the present '^ Old Church" on the site of tfne Friars Monastery, and ofiwriting for the stipulated sum, the Pro- tector is reported to have sent 500 Pounds, adding that **he kneic nothing of their Scohh Merks, give them Pounds,"

inclosed with tlie ramparts of the citadel. The Church is very plain but is curious and interesting account of its still containing the same identical seats and galleries with which it was originally fitted up, and is still in excellent condition.

With parts of the materials of this venerable Building the town of Ayr erected a steeple in the midst of the Sandgate- street, of v^hich we have given an accurate drawing. This stately edifice was taken down in 1825,* for the purpose of widening the street. This steeple it may be remarked con- tained the <' Dungeon Clock," which tolled in the ear of Burns and the ancient jail of which it formed apart.

* Some wag or Lawyer, it is said, presented and obtained an interlocutor on the following

PETITION of the STEEPLE^ of the TOWN of AYR,

And the Lord Lieutenant of the Countf.,

Town of Ayr, town of Ayr, Hear my prayer, hear my prayer.

And dinna pretend to be deaf, I've cry'd till I'm wearittagetyoutohear it.

And stop the impending^ mischief..

'lis lang since ye promised, 'TIS Tan^ since ye promised.

To take down my tottering wa's, Before that they fa' and crush great and sma'.

When first I was biggit completit and riggit

Sae snug in the midst o' the street. Your forefathers a' then, allowed I was brawthen,

And answer'd their purpose complete.

Their manners were simple, their manners were simple^,

An honesty sat on their brow, All strangers to leaguing in lawless intriguing,

Their hearts were baith upright and true.

Greatwonder, greatwonder if ana in a hunder,

Had ere been brought in for a crime, But oh ! now how alter'd, their bairns aow are halter d, By ane and by twa at a time.

King Alexander, in the year 1236, granted a charter to tbe Burgesses of the burgh of Ayr, of the lands of Alloway, Crot- tun and Carcluy,

The " Auld Brig" of Ayr, was built in the reign of Alex- ander III. by two maiden sisters, who devoted their whole fortunes to this patriotic purpose, and whose effigies are still shewn in a faded condition upon a stone in the eastern par- apet near the southend of the fabric. It is like all old Bridges Very narrow, consists of four low browed Arches and novr affords only a foot passage. On this Bridge tradition says that the superstitious clergyman at the time* (the Rev. William Adair of blessed memory,) on one occasion took his station on this bridge at a time of some vessels being in the bay, which he supposed were bringing with th*m the plague which at that time raged in London, and by his public prayers on that

My jail now, my jail now, is crazy and frail now,

An' scanty o' room to the boot, 'Tis packit our fu' wi' the villainous crew.

Till they're ay now and thenbreakin' out.

Eglinton, Eglinton, about taking down,

I'm forc'd now to cry out to you. Since parliament's grautit, the boon that ye wantit,

O' settin' me up in the new

Oppressed wi' times levelling law Haste, haste, tak' me down or the best i' the town,

Yoursel' may be crush'd if I fa'.

For my Lord, for my Lord, you may weel tak' my word

I fin my last hour fast approaching. For Time's brought the summon that ruin is comin'

And on my strength daily encroaching.

My cock now, my cock now, ay views Ailsa rock.

And never minds how the winds bla', His roost is sair shaken, a vera sure token,

The fabric maun vera soon fa.

- About the end of the seventeenth century.

bridge persnadeil the town that he had effectually drirett away the plague from these shores. Hence his noble effigies in the attitude ot prayer was put up in a niche at the north end of the Churcli,' and still remains a monument of bis exalted worth to the present day.

In the year 1324;, Robert the First, granted a charter in favour of the town of Ayr, erected the Fyve pennie land of Alloway, Crottun and Carcluy, into a Barony called ttie Barony of Alloway and confirming King Alexander's charter.

Now's the time, now's the time, to provide stane and lime,

When the labourers wages are sma', AViien workers are starving o' bread well deserving,

Wi' no ae ban's turn now ava'!

Your Lordship, your Lordship, may guess at the hardship.

Sustained by the poor i' this place. Their wanto' employment kills every enjoyment,

An' iiuuger still gloars in their face.

Great mis'ry poor bodies may fin. And tho' usually leal they may break out an' steal,

'Tis need gaurs a naked man rin.

Do but think, do but tliink how on mis'ry's brink.

They can look on their wee hungry weans. They're wae for to see them, an naething to gie them.

The poor wee things canna eat stanes.

Then my Lord, then my Lord, j'-our assistance aflford,

An' get my wa's ta'en down wi' speed, 'Twill sweeten enjoyment and gie tnem employment,

And means o' providing their bread.

In hope now, in hope now, wi' frailty I'll hope now,

The few coming weeks I remain. That larger yell mak' me an firmer compact me.

The warst o' the rogues to retain.

Believe me, believe me, some o' them wad grieve me.

In my present auld crazy state. But if ance I were new, there vviii be unco few,

But the best o' their schemes, I'll defeat.

The Steeple.

And *' exeiming them ffom coming to the Host except when especially summoned by the King and his successt>rs/' Robert the Third, in the year 1400, granted a charter to the burgh of Ayr, containing the Burgh with wonted privilegt^s, (Barony of Alloway except,) and lands thereto belonging.

A charter was granted by King James the Second, to the Burgh of Ayry in 1455. Exempting the Conburgesses of the Burgh of Ayr, for themselves their tenants of the Baronies of Alloway, and the ('ommunitie of the Barg'a, from " beirg^ coerced or compelled by whatsoever officers or leiges in tyme iu our sovereign Lord his Circuit Justiciaries chamberlain*- air or Sheriff Courts or whatever place furth of the bounds and limits of the said Burgh, or in Avhatever Courts other thaa in the Courts of the Burgh or Ayr, &c.

The inhabitants of the town of Ayr, founded there in 147 f, a conventof Franciscan Friars of the observautine order, who were properly called Gray Friars from their habit. These Gray Friars obtained from James IV. who was often at Ayr many donations. They also received in 1 3), a gift of £10 from James V. A statue of the virgin Mary in this conv^'nt ' is said te have wrought many miracles, which doubtless gained the Gray Friars both credit and profit.

In the 3^eai lo47. Queen Mary granted Letters discharging the Sheriff from proceeding ag-ainst the Burgesses of A>r, in- dwellers within the Freedom and Lands thereof, and " thei iior nane of the Burgesses of our said Burgh be comj;el!it to answer bcfoie any judge under the Lords of our CouDsale but before the Provost and Bailies allcnerlie."

In the year l'i5&, the town of Ayr, erected at the extremity of the High street, an elegant structure in the form of a Hexa- gon of which is here given an accurate drawing. The builcf- ing stood at the place called the Malt Cross, and was seen in 4 tlifferent directions. At this place as will be seen after- i

wards was tbe scene and tragic finale of Maggie Os- horne. - A. place of g;eneral rendezvous for loungers of all des- criptions, the place too where all proclamations, interdictions and proceedings were executed, and it remained until the building of the new Bridge in 1778, for which the town of Ayr were indebted to the patriotic exertions of Provost Bat- lautine, whose name will long be remembered in the Annals- of the town. The Cross was then taken down, tho' an old friend not at ail ripe for dissolution but as considered ratlier a nui- sance after the introduction of carriages. The ancient gates at the two different extremities of the town, (the one at the .'-ornerof Saint Johns street, and the other a little above Wallace tower,) had been removed many years ago, aitho' >pacJou3 enough to occasion no obstruction*

All that the world was proud of.

At what time Wallace Tower was built is not correctly known. It seemB to have been originally one of th^5 tall rude towers , which were the only fortalices of our ©othie Ances- tors. Butits warlike appearance has been as materially al- tered by the spire having been inj^rarted on it and by the clock dials which have been stuck around and under its btit- ^. tiemeutfi, as would that of a stanvvetera-n knight if his helmet were taken off and the snod cocked bat of a decent bailie clapped on in its stead. It was in this h ouse according to some retailers of traditionary lore, that Wallace was coniined, whilc^ otliers r~;present it as having got its name from being the town residence in former times of the neighbouring I'aiiiily, of Wallace of Craigie. V/hatever it formerly was, itt- last pos- sessor was no less a distinguished periouage than the most exalted of all the Town's Functionaries, the late Jack Ketch !

* The two Bridges are now reapectlvcly termed the auld and new Brigp, an 1 ai-e already familair under these d(.siguatlons to iha

A deed of confirmation was granted on the 6th April, 155T, bj Queea Mary, in favour of the Burgh of Ayr, anent the jurisdiction of the Magistracy of the Burgh, within their

Letters of exemption were granted by King James VI., in 15T4, exempting the magistratee and community of the burgh of Ayr, their tenants and servants of the Barony of Allovv ay from Assizes, and compearing before Justiciares, Cha?nbsT- lainaires, Sheriff Courts, Justice Courts, or any others, eithi-r as assizers or witnesses, except in their own bur«h courts of

In the year 1.580, the above Ijetter was confirmed by kin?f James IV- Inhibiting and discharging Messengers-at-Arms, and other officers of the law from siinimoning the burgesses, pr any inhabitant to pass upon any inquest outwith ihe burgh of Ayr and Alloway.

It is indeed almost incredible in the present day, hoi-r much time, how much pPiins and v?hat a quantity of zeal tie early reformed clergymen devoted to the sacred employment*. Mr Welsh the son-in-law of Ivnox, is computed to have spent the third part of his whole time ; that is, eight out of every twenty-four hours, in prayer. Not even content with the prayers of the day, it was the custom of tl)is man to ri-f- out of his sleep during the night, and cover himself negiigenc- ly with a Scots plaid, which he kept for the purpose, sit praying in his bed for several hours. Mr Welsh nnulfc a point of preaching in public once every day, which with tji'i private meditations, must certainly be considered an extraor- dinary degree of exertion. At the celebration of the corn- munion moreover, it was not an unusual thing to ^pefid a wUoieweekin uninterrupted devotion.

In proof of the imporisrice which was attached by the -clerg-y iu efrierHl, to a myMerious system of inspiration at that time prev&!- eatiii Scotland, it rnay be mejitiou«d that Mr. Vv'.\i.sh briore gi-

lag to preach, often sent for his elders, and informing Ihem " that, he found himself sorely deserted^' so as to be afraid to ascend the pulpit, and desired two or three of them to pray for him. - He would then proceed to his duties, and " it was observed'' sajs his

historian, " that this humbling exercise iised ordinarily to be fol- lowed with a fiame of extraordina y assistance. He would

many times retire to the church of Ayr, Avhich was at some distance from the town, there spend the whole night in prayer ; for he used to allow his affections full expression, and prayed not only with an audible, but with a loud voice ; nor was that solitude irksome to him the whole ^ight over.

That Mr Welsh was in the habit of filling the whole measure of his Sabbaths Avith religious exercises is incidentally testified by an anecdote which is thus related of him, by Mr Livingston. - *' There was in Ayr before he came to it, a minister of the towa ealled Porterfield, who was judged to be a man of no bad inclina- tions, bat of eo easy a disposition, that he would many times go Ijreat lengths with his neighbours in their profane amusemeats. He used in particular to frequent the low-butts and archery on Sabbath afternoons, ^jto Mr Welsh's great dissatisfaction, but the way he used ta reclaim him was not bitter severity, but gentle po- licy. Mr Welsh, together with John Stewart, and Hugh Kennedy his intimate friends used to spend the Sabbath afternoons inreligi- eus conferen-ce and prayer, and to this exercise they invited Mr Porterfield, who of course could not refuse to attend. By th ii means he was not only diverted from his former sinful practices, but likewise brought to be more watchful and edifying in the rest of his behaviour.

Ifthe zeal which this distinguished Clergyman displayed in tha discharge of his duties can be held as an example of what M^as prac: tised by his brethren, it would appear almost impossible for any- ecclesiastical body to surpass the Scotch ministers of the period in requisite qualities of their order. Indeed not only did Welch praj- eight hours a day in private, and preach once every day in public, b^sideH performing all the laborious duties of the Sabbath, but ha

*JL,wmffston's Memoir t, JVodrow'g M. S, Colkcii</n, Adv. Lib.

thii way at Ayr, which not only sh^vcQ to serve his Infinite seal, but ii also valuable as a picture of the manners of the people residing in the Scotch Burghs, at the close of the sixteenth century. When he went to reside at Ayr as its Clergyman, such was at once tha rudeness of the people, and their antipathy to his doctrines, that although he was alr«ady a favored and respected peacher, not one of the citizens would give him a lease of a house to live in ; and be was obliged for some time to take shelter with a merchant of the name of Stewart, who alone of all the rest had any veneration for his profession. The people here were divided into factions, each infuriated against the other, and as in the metropolis itself at this period,* the streets often became the scene of personal combats, which sometimes were attended with bloodshed. To such an ex- tent did this unhappy system prevail, that it is said to have been absolutely impossible to appear on the streets of Ayr without dan- ger. Mr. Welch directed his attention in the first place to quell the quarrels of the people which he saw to be an insuperable ob- stacle to thf ir spiritnal reformation. In this task he did not scni- ple even to endanger his own person. Whenever he saw two par- ties begin to fight on tiie street, it was his custom to rush into the midst of them without regard to the swords which flashed, or tho blood which flowed on every side ; only using the precaution of first putting on a head-piece, but scrupulously abstaining from arming himself with any offensive weapon, in order that the people ' might see he interfered for the suppression, and not the aggravation. of their disputes. After he had succeeded in restoring pease, he used to call for a table which he caused to be covered on the street, and there he would invite the combatants to eat and drink together. as a token of reconciliation - a mode of cementing broken friecd- ship which ki;:g James himself put in practice on one occasion, si the Cross of Edinburgh, for the reconciliation of a number of hit unruly Nobles. When these strange feasts were concluded, Mr. Welch always sung a psalm and uttered a sxiitable exhortatirm , practices which with his ordinary prelections at length effected the complete civilisation of his hitherto barbarous parishioners.

The Cross of Ajr was w^itness to a scene the most appf iiisg of any thing that ever disgraced the annais of our couiuj-y. The execution of this fanatical tyranny can only he accorsnt-

* ^u'u-ordi t!,e end vf the seventeenth Ceniury.

ed for from the superstition of the times. The Jhct howcTCf incredible, is authenticated in the records of the town. The tradition as handed down and retailed by a relative of the injured sufferer is as follows : - In the High Street of Ayr, opposite to the old Bank of Macadam & Co. lived a family of thenameofOsborn. Miss Osborn, a young and beautiful girl, became heiress to the property on the death of her parents. It so happened that this girl was seized with what is now known by brain fever, and she at times shewing symptoms of aberration of intellect caused by the nature of her trouble, nothing would satisfy the venerable Mr Adair, the $aciow of the town, but that she had connection or correspondence with the Devil \ and that she must coi^est ! The poor girl not wil- ling to c<n^e$9 any such acquaintanceship became worse in her mind. To prison she wai? sent till a confession was ex- torted either thro* torture or conQnement. Here deprived of all society- but Turnkeys and this fanatical t<n^essor. Miss Osborn became still worse. After a deal of confinement, she -hewed symptoms of recovery and immediately the all en- grossing sound of confess, confess, thrilled thro' her ears. The poor girl now torn down and amaciated by confinement did confess that death would be preferable to a life of hope- less misery and confinement, and this in the eyes of Mr Adair amounted to c«Ji|/«?ssioii of fwiWy of the charge of Witchcraft, and she was sentenced to be burned at the Cross of Ayr. A pile was actually erected of wood and she underwent ber sentence with calmness and resignation amidst a weeping crowd of spectators. Maggie Osborne was buried nea» St. Johnt Church and a stone erected to her memory is still to be seen. She was the last who suffered for witchcraft in Scotland. Ayr, like all the other towns of Scotland, contained till the late change of manners, its share of humourists, drunken and other- w ise. Among the outre characters of Ayr, fifty years ago, there was none so remarkable as an oldish little man, who was ordin- sxiiy culled the Devil Aimighii/. He had acquired this terrific

soubri']n''t from an inveterate habit of swearing, or rather /rota that phrase being his favourite oath. He was no ordinary sAv0ar- fer, no mincer of dreadful words, no clipper of the King's curses. Being a man of vehement passions, he had a habit, when provoked, of shutting his eyes, and launching headlong into a torrent of blasphemy, such as might, if properly divided, have set up a whole troop of moderii swearers. The custom of shutting his eyes seem- ed to be adopted by him as a sort of salvo to his conscience ; he seemed to think that, provided he did not '* sin with hh eyes open," he did not sin at sU ; or it was perhaps nothing biit a habit. Whatever might be the cause or purpose of the practice, it was once made the means of playing off upon him a most admir- able hoax. Being one evening in a tavern along with two neigh- bouring country gentlemen, he Avas, according to a concerted plan played upon and irritated ; of course, he soon shnt his eyes, and commenced his usual tirade of execration and biasphc'- my. As soon as he was fairly afloat, and his ej'es were observeji to be hard shut, his companions put out the candles, so as to in- volve tiie room in utter darkness. In the course of a quarter of an hour, wtiich was the common duration of his paroxysms, he ceased to speak, and open- d his eyes ; when, what was his amazement, 1o lind himself in the dark. " How now ?" he cried with one of can see iiothing,"' answered the sinner. - " That is your own fault,'' coolly observed his friend ; -' for my part, I can see weil enough ;" a,nd he drank a toast, as if nothing whatever had hap- pened. This convinced the blasphemer that he had lost his sight ; and to add to his horror, it struck him that Providence .had inflict- ed the blow as a punishment for his intolerable wickedness. Un- der this impression, he began to rave and cry, and he finally fell a praying, uttering such expx'essions as made his two companioiif? ready lo burst with restrained laughter. When they thonght they had punished him sufficiently, and began to fear that his mind might be affected if they continued the joke any longer, of course, one of them went out to the door and admitted the light. Fie was overwhelmed with shame at the exhibition ne had been compelled to make, which had such an effect, that, from that time forward, he entirely abandoned his abominable habit.

The heritable property belonging to the town, was at one time rery considerable, comprehending indeed the greatest part of the parish of Ayr.

At no period in the History of our town, have the Magistrates of Ayr exhibited more of the march of Improvement and reform, than those of the present day, and to them and their immediate predecessors, chieily is to be ascribed the many improvements which are going on, and completed in the town, and by the following Acts which are for the most part strictly enforced,iand severa. other Re- gulations, with regard to the discontinuance of certain kinds of work on Sabbath days, the burgh of Ayr can vie with any other in the policy of their internal government : -

1. That butcher Meat be sold by the Imperial Weight, and that it be sufficiently bled, and not pricked, blown, or scored, and no Flesher, Iiaving a Shop on the public street, shall, on any account, expose his meat for sale on the outside, nor shall any of tke Meat project beyond the doors, under the penalty of Five Shillings and confiscation of the Flesh.

2. That Scotch Butter and Cheese be sold by the Imperial Weight, under the penalty of Five Shillings.

3. That Corn and other (xruin, sold by measure, shall be by the Imperial Bu-^hel or proj)ovtional parts thereof, in terms (xaild, under the p^^nalty of Twenty Shillings sterling.

4. That all Vivres i)rouo;,t into the Bury^h for sale on the Market Day be sold at t!ie New- Market, and no other place, under the penalty of Ten Shilii.ngs for each transgression. And Masters and Mistresses to be liable for their servants. And Huxters, or Retailers, are prohibited from buying Vivres for sale before twelve o'clock imd-day, under the penalty of Eight Shillings and Fonrpenre.

5. That, hereafter, all Dunj*-, Manure, ?-lidding-Steads, or other rubbish, put out on the public Streets, shall be removed therefrom by Eleven o'clock forenoon » from 1st November ?o 1 tMarch, and by niae o'clock morniii;>- fro'nist March to lu November, under the penalty of Ten Shillings, besides con- fiscation of the Dung- \ and all Rubbish from buildings shall be carried off to and laid down in such place or places as the Dean of Guild shall point out and nowhere else within the Burgh ; and that no Dung, or other Nastiness, be laid within

Ten Yards of any of the Town's Public Wells, and that no Fish, or other like articles, be cleaned at any of the Weils, under the penalty of Five Shillings for each oiFence.

C. That all Carts, and Ladders, used by Slaters and others, be removed from the Streets, under cloud of night, under the penalty of Ten Shillings, and in default of paynient the articles to be seized and sold.

7. That all Dogs shall be confined vv^ithin doors, under cloud of night, under the penalty of Five Shillings. And that no Butcher's Dogs shall be allowed to enter the Flesh-Market or Slaughter-house, under the penalty of Two Shillings and Six- pence sterling.

8. That all Malt used within the Burgh, or Territories, be made of sufficient Grain, properly dighted and cleaned of Commings, under the pain of forfeiture, and the seller to b« fined in Ten Shillings for each offence.

9. That the Inhabitants be attentive in keeping their Chim- neys clean, under the penalty of Five Shillings, for each Foui Vent taking fire, over and above the damage occasioned by such Foul Vent, and the expense of extinguishing it.

10. That, when Horses die within the Burgh, Parish, or Barony of Alloway, the owner shall be obliged to bury them, at a suiScient depth under ground, under the penalty of Twen- ty Shillings for each offence, to be exacted from the person in whose custody the Horse last was, at the suit of the Pro- curator-Fiscal.

i I . That the Inhabitants who keep Swine shall confine them in styes, and not suffer them to go upon the Streets, under the penalty of 6s. sterling, besides confiscation of the swine.

12. That no illuminations, or bonfires, take place within the burgh, but by the authority of the Magi^Jtrates, under a fine of £5, sterling, and the forfeiture of the contravener's freedom, if a burgess. And every burgess being accessary to any not or mob, within the burgh, or refusing to assist the Magistrates in the suppression therf-o'', shall not only forfeit his freedom, but be otherwise punished. And journeymen, apprentices, or other inhabitants of the burgh, concerned in any riot oi mob, shall be punished with the utmotst rigor of law.

IS. That ail persons bringing into, or taking throusfh the burgh, any bull, cow, or ox, shall have the animal prop.e: iy haltered and guarded, as the practice hitherto of driving cattle and sheep in droves, and the carting of Scotch wood from the country, through the town, is attended with danger to the in- habitants, all such shall, in future, be taken by the back ptiit

of the town, by Dalhlair road and throuf^h Fullarton and Fort streets, in all cases when goini( to places beyond the burgh, undjr the penalty of IDs for each offence.

14. Thcit no person leave his horse and cart, or carriage, ,upon the street, without some person taking care of the same, and that no driver of carriaajes drive his horses furiously apon the street, or quicker than an ordinary trot, under the penalty of os. for each offence. Also, that no person ride faster on the street than an or linary trot, nnder the like penalty. - And that no horses be allowed to go loose upon the street, under the like penalty.

15. That no carpets be shaken over windows into the street, or upon the streets, or in any of the public lanes of the burgh, and that no water be thrown from windows in the streets or lanes, under the penalty of 5s. for each offence. And no ser- vants are to stand on the outside of windows when cleaning the same, under the like penalty ; and masters and mistresses to be liable for their servants.

I'j. That any person wantonly breaking any of the town'a lamps, or defacing the names of streets, or numbers of hnuses ehall be fined in 13 sterling, besides making good the damage.

II. That no person cut down or bring into the town any trees or br;inches of trees, for ornamenting windows, on the king's birth-day, under the penalty of 5s. sterling.

IS. That no person enter any yard or garden on Halloween, for the purpose of pulling kail stocks, under the pain of 5s. for eat h offeiK.-e, besides imprisonment.

I J. That no live sheep or calves be carried upon the streets ol the burgh on horsel^ack, by butciiers or others, under the penalty oIlOs, : and carters wilfully over-loading their horses shall be punished, as tlie law directs,

20. That the Act of ' ouncil anent the keeping of gun-powd- er in shops, or elsewhere, within the burgh, be strictly en- forced : and that no more than two pounds of such powder be kept together, for retail, by any dealers or other person, and if loose, to be in a bottle always corked, except during sale, and to be sold during day light only, under the penalty of £'ld^

21. That the Web- market shall be held on the stated day of every fair- week, and shall commence as early on that day as buyers and sellers chuse to attend : but there shall be no buying or selling of webs on the day preceding, under the penalty of 5s. sterling for each web, to be paid by both buy -^ er and seller.

22. That all persons buildini? houses within the Bnrgh, shall, at their own expense, cause the Premises to be inclosed, and a lamp or lamps to be placed there during: night while the building is going on, to prevent injury to any person passing: by, under the penalty of Twenty Shillings, over and above the damage that mav be sustained by such neglect.

23. All huxters. or other dealers, found selling any article of merchandize on Sabbath, shall be fined in 5s. for each offence.

24 All possessors of Shops or Ground Stories of any house within the Burgh, shall cause the Foot-paths opposite their respective possessions to be kept clear of all packages or other incumbrances affecting the free passage of the Foot-paths, and shall, also, cause the same to be swept and scraped once e- very lawful day before the hour of nine in the morning, under the pain of Five Shillings for each offence.

25. The Magistrates, Council, and Community, considering that, for some timepa-^t, a practice, highly indecent and dan^if- erous, has crept In of shewing stallions and other horses uj)o;i the public streets of the Burgh, to the great annoyance of the iniiabitants, and to the imminent danger of their lives; and considering that the ground at the Townhead of Ayr, seta- part, specially, for a Horse- market, has always been consider- ed the proper place for such shews, it is, therefore, ordered thai all persons showing such animals, shall do so at the Horse- market at the Townhead of Ayr, and nowhere else within the Burgh or Liberties, under the pain of 20s. for each offen«e.

The Bailies besides exercise a power of deciding in cases of 6s. 8d. and under viva voce^ without any writing whatever and of enforcing their sentences given on these accounts.

The Magistrates of Ayr are chosen every year, in terms of their Charter in the beginning of October. The S)Stfm af Self Election so much prevalent in former years, has now quite subsided and every iiidividua! elected into office, is «jf the free spontaneous choice of the respective fraiicluse, JLe Provost ami Jiailies are in general re-elected and rerauiu la

The characteristic of the inhabitants is sobriety, loyalty,. find patriotism, aad under the auspices of tlie efficient msg.ij- tfac'v, tile jiespL'Ciauility of the town has beeu hitherto maiu-

Public and private accommodations for strangers, either per- manent or transitory, are ne her few nor uninviting.

3S:ing'fi Stms Inn, is situated on the'south side of the river, and is at present in the occnpation of Mr. Noble, a very hospitable and oblig- ing landlord. It is very convenient for all the purposes and accommodation of a traveller, being situated near to the Post-OflBce, Npw Assembly Rooms, Coffee Room, &c., and in the centre of a flourishing community ; several of the shops in the immediate vicinity being by no means inferior to many of the Edinburgh and Glasgow galleries. With regard to this Inn, however, it is to be regretted that it is so old and antiquated, and in many respects has been found of late not go suitable. To this Inn is attached a large Bill-room, which is besides subservient at times for the purposes of a Shew or Sale-room.

is at the northern extremity of the town. It is at present in the occupation of Mr. James Begbie, than whom a more enterprising, successful and intelligent Inn- keeper is perhaps not to be found out of Yorkshire. The late addi- tions and improvementts which have been made since it was^ <' Simpson's," do great honour to the taste both of the owner and occupier^ and here noAv a stranger may with the most per- fect security place himself under the roof of a most aube'can.^ tial and well aired abode.

€^t CroiDtt inn,

.near the Bank of Messrs. Hunters and Co., is also a grr :j. resort for Travellers and ('arrick Visitors and the pre- sent landlord Mr. Dunn, from Glasgow, is extremely solicit- ous to retain the numerous visitors, who frequented this t

cellentinn in the days ol" his predecessor. This house is a modern building and in all respects is well calculated for the purposes of a large and commodious Inn, to which is also attached ... x. ;l-r^om.

Were completed in the year 1825, at the west end of Wellington Square, at an expence of upwardis of £32,000. This is the mo%t magnificent public building erer erected in the county, so far as known from ocular testimony, or written or oral tradition, as will be seen from the engraving. This exten- sive pile, contains a large Court House, in which the Supreme Criminal Courts of Juatice.are held, i a. County Hall, Council Chamber, Town -Clerk'is Office, together with the apartments of the Sheriff", and Sheriff Clerk, Justices of Peace, and Commis- sioners of Supply, Sasine Office,Commissary Offic\^.

C^e (Totints Hall' In this Hall is suspended a very handsome full lengtU jjortrait, by Sir I'homas Lawrence^ of the late Hu^h, Earl of Eglinton, Lord Lieutenant of the County, in the cos- tume of Colonel of the Lowland Fencibles, which his Lord- ship commanded in his younger days. This portrait was sub- scribed for by the Nohlamen and Gentlemen of the County, and placed in tiieir Hall, in testimony of the very great ser- Tices his Lordship yielded to the County, both in a public aad private capacity. On the opposite side is hung a iialf length jrortrait of his Lordship's much esteemed brotl.er-in-law, thi> late John Hamilton, Esq. of Sundrum, late Convener of tht» County, and was placed there as a mark of the hig-h esteem la which he was held for the long- period of 40 years, during which he held with respectability Oie abqve distinguished ©Ifice. The use of this elegant room is at times giv^en, on staie fGC?.s:ons, for pubic dinners-, and fancy balls.

For the dispatcli of all bu^hle3^ ci>nnected with the Couniy,

»Bch as dijiputes relative to property, Exrambiuns, Sunj*'

above On-e Hundred Pounds Scois, is held '-."v^-rv: Tuesd^y

during the months of April, May, June, and July, and Au|, i» summer, and thi?ce months of the winter Session. The de- eisions in these cases, which are pronounced by the Sheriff- Substitute, are subject to the revision of the Sheriff. The de- cisions of the latter may be brought by appeal before the Lords of Justiciary, while on the Circuit, and argued by Counsel, if the sum in dispute is under £12, and if abore that s«K), may be adrecated to the Court of Session.

Cfie Commissatg €Urlt*6 ©fflce

Is on the second floor, at the north end of the building*. Here cases for Slander, Defamation, and damages are taken*

It is the province of the Commissary Clerk to record all In- ventaries of personal Property belonging to persons lately de- ceased, as given up by their representatives, and to issue

Are composed of the following gentlemen : - Archibald Bell, Esq. Advocate, Sheriff and Commissary of "William Eaton, Esq. Sheriff-Substitute and Commissary- Depute of Ayrshire ; Alexander Murdoch, Esq. Dean of Faculty ; Thomas M'Clelland, Esq. Treasurer ; James Brovvna, Esq. Secretary Those marked * are Members of the Widows Fuiid ; Alexander Hunter, Esq. W.S. Sheriff-Clerk of Ayrshire; ^Gilbert M'Nab, Esq. Sheriff-Clerk Depute. Charles Eaton, Esq. Commissary Clerk of Ayrshire ;

Alexander Murdoch, Esq. Procurator-Fiscal, Sheriff-Court *Joha Wilson, Esq. Procurator-Fiscal, Commissary- Court

* Alex. Smith *, Stewar Ewening *Alex. Murdoch

^ames Morton * David Hunter <f James Brown James Murdoch

<* John Wilsoa * John Wyilie ^Hugh Reid ^Thos. Rankea

Jo^n Efeton j «i Stephen Rowan \

-!STho3. McClelland' David Shaw, Jas. Harper Join Brown

-* James Oregg, sen JajTiea Wilson

Georga Douglas Hugh Massoa

Town Clerk

\lex. Harper

*Robt. Robertson, David Campbell

Juhn Paul

^Charles Ealou

* Jas. BPClellaml

'.^Thomas M'Cosk

S John M'Murtrit'

John Blacklock Fairiek Cowan

Thos, Dykes Wi!i. Young ilex. Hamilton

John Smith

William Johnstone John Murray, Macer .

Eobert Goudie, James Mxirdoch, N.P.

David Kay

Patrick Blair, J. P.

Clerk Deptt(c

George Campbell Arch. M'V/iliiara Gibson M''Ga.lIau Jam.:t^ M alker Win. Long

Robert Msmn Joim Patm-soii John SutciitTo

John Sillars.

Is held in the Court Hall every Thursdaj^, vs^here case«j s.c- cording to the late act, are brought before the Sheriff, and heard viim voce by the parties, vv^here the sum in dispute is £100 Scots, and under. Should there be any legal point in- volved in the question, the Sheriff is vested with a poweif tm allow procurators to plead, or remit the case to the Qxdmury

('onH Roll. In this way, too much praise cannot bs bostovr- fd on the present Mr. Sheriff Eaton for the very patient, >ironipt, judicious, and impartial manner in which he has been known to go through such a labyrinth of business. An idea may be formed of his vast labours, on this day only, when 60, 70, and on some days upwards of 100 cases are discussed.

Cfje ^i^nuff CriM-fe'3 ©Sice |

Consists of four rooms on the gromid floor, at the south end of the building. In this office are recorded all Deeds, Settlc- Kients, Tacks, Probative Writs, of the county of Ayr, and the records are subject to the strict scrutiny of an Inspector from Edinburgh once a year. The office of Keeper of the Register of Inhibitions, Ho-rnings, Impi'ovements on Entailed Estates is also vested in the Sheriff Clerk.

Is on the ground floor, at the nortliern extremity of the building, in whicli is kept the Record of Sasines, or Infeft- ments, Reversions, Incumbrances on Property, in the County

In this Office there is also a scroll Minute Book of the Deeds, for the last 80 years, which is open to the lieg^es, oa payment of u customary fee.

David Sha-u', Esq. Keeper ; Mr. J, M'Murtrie, Dep.

Is also on the same floor. In this Office are issued Com- plaats, where the sum in difpiite is £5 sterling, and under. These cases are brought before the local Justices resident in town, who make a point of attending by rotation, to decide in these cases every Monday. In this Court also are decided petitions and warrants issued on what is termed the weavers act , and cases to any amount, -which are debated by practitioners, and their decisions may be brouajit by appeal before the Quarter Sessions, which are held at Ayr, on the first Tues- days of 3Iarch, May, August and the last Tuesday of October.

In this Office, too, are issued, at the proper seasons, May and October, certificates to persons approved of at meetings by the Justices, held for the purpose, at the different courts iit the County for the retail of Ales and Spirituous Liquors.

The Justices of the Peace also sit as Judges in 5hc

Jugtire of ^mtc Mthmu court,

where Informations of every description connected with the Excise Laws are brought. The decisions of the Justices in these cases are final, but may be brought by petition, ac- companied with the recommendation of the presiding Justice?? io the Board at Edinburgh, where, in most cases, relief against a standing Act of Parliament is frequently administeretU

David Shavv^, Esq. Clerk ; Mr. J. M^Zviurtrie, Dep.

The business connected \Fith this office is traFiS- iicied in a room of the Black Bull, licensed for that purpose. The meeting's are once every quarter, when the Collection is made^ and pension- ers recaive- their a,lloiyances. Here also are issu- ed, Oil production of the statotoryrecommendiitio!!, iicensea for the retail of exciseable articles, J -oh a Wharton, Esq. Collector,

Who resides at Greenock, and attends at Ayr every colif -- iU)}i a,ad court day-. The tbllowiag Officers are stationed in

Jaiiies Young:, Superviser.

is hckl every Thursday, where tbe Sheriffs presliie as C.'o.'H- mi-ssavies. and cases are debated by procurators.

€^e council djamHi'

Is eri the ground floor, a large spacioas room, which looks inio LUC back-yard of the jail. A Council is held statedly

every Wednesday, in which the Magietrates discuss the afraj:|_s . ©-fthebuvgh. The Town Court is held every Tuesday arsdv

Thursday, for the dispatch of civil business. In this Cotirt the ]^IagistrateB, with the aid of their Assessor, judge in civil matters to any amount, and on their decreets, grant acts of warding, for carrying their sentences into execution. Their jurisdiction extends to the parish over Ayr. It is the preroga- tive of the Town Clerk to pass all sasines within Burgh, which, besides other Deeds and Probative Writs, are regi«- tered in the Town Record. In the Town Clerk's office, too are issued, at the proper seasons, May and Ootober, certificates to persons within Burgh, properly qualified, for the sale of spiritous liquors.

In this office are deposited in a strong Iron Chest, the origi. «al Charter, and other Writs and Records of the town.

The only persons qualified for executing the civil business before the Town Court and carrying the deci-eets and senten. ces into eifect, and for serving Petitions of Debtors taking ^he benefit of the Act of Grace, on tlie Incarcerating creditor* Avithin Burgh, are the

James Davidson j Robt. Sillats,

John M'Clatohie | David Parker,

who besides are Sheriff Officers. Theie various Offices are to be shewn to visitors, by the Forter, James Smith, a very civil and discreet person, who in general is at all times at his post in readiness to accompany the curious through the Buildings, for which he is no way scrupulous, in politely giv- ing the hint for a trifling fee.

At the east side of this extensive building, and fronting the iea, are placed two large and commodious

which are all enclosed with a wall 10 feet high. The one on the nortii side is used for debtors, with aseparate division for females, Th» rooms are extremely commodious, each having a fire place, and <t lable, with a comfortable bed-stead. In short every attention is paid to the inmates, by the Governor and his 30ii,.and there is no- thing wanted to complete the comfort of those within. It i« to b« regretted however, but perhaps it interferes with the rulei pre-

scribed by the Magistrates, that not a person, however respectable, aad whatever his business may be, except he be a man of businesg, and have business there, can be admitted to see a friend except at «tated times. Tiiis has been found to be extremely disadvantage- ous and even considered harsh ; but on an appeal to the Bailliee, 310 one was ever refused admittance at any hour of the day, both to this and the other side of the prison, which is appropriated for Fe- lons of all descriptions. On this apartment as well as in the othtr there are two day rooms where the division of a certain number is admitted for a limited period of the day, to enjoy an airing. These Felons are allowed fourpence halfpenny per day. which previoin to conviction is paid by the Magistrates, and after by the Ex-

It has been a subject of deep regret the want of a House of Cor- rection in the town of Ayr, in which delinquents for petty offences and misdemeanors might be confined, and set to work. The sub- ject of our prison here presents an afflicting picture to any mind alive to the cries of wretchedness or affected by the audacious de- meanour of hardened vice. It has long excited and continues to attract the attention of the wise as well as the philanthropic in all ranks of society. In deed it cannot be otlierwise when the sad catalogue of crime of one kind or other existing in this county, but happily decreased of late years by the vigilance of our police, is reflected upon. Mr Locke truly says " of all the men we meet with nine parts in ten are what they are, good or evil, useful or not, by their education," and as the correctness of this opinion <."annot be questioned, let the curieus enquirer or the humane in- vestigator ascertain what is the education of our prison. The law- fulness of imprisonment, even before a verdict that being neces- sary to tecure the person cannot be disputed, but the rights of prisoners ought not to be violated. Nay, it is perhaps not policy to mix the positive guilty with the probably innocent ; the old sinner with the youthful delinquent ; the hackneyed criminal with waver- ing honesty ; the burglar or murderer with the petty larceny thief, and that too without any occupation : At night he is locked up in a narrow cell, v/ith perhaps the worst of tliieves, or vagrants whose rags are alive, and in actual motion with filth. He may find himself in bed and in bodily contact between a robber and a aiurderer j or between a man with a foul disease on one side, and

©ne tv-ith an infectious disorder on the other. He may spend a great part of- his days deprived of free air, and wholesome exercise He is deprived of the handicraft on which his family depends -r-he may be starved for v/ant uf food and clothing. He is compell- ed to mingle in short, v/ith the viles t of mankind, and in self de- fence to adopt their habits, their. language and their sentiments : he maybecomeavillain by actual compulsion. His health must be im- paired, and may be ruined by filth and contagion^ and as for hisma- rals, purity itself could not continue pure, if exposed for any length of time to the society v/ith which he must associate. His trial may be protracted, he m&y he im-prisoned on suspicion as is frequent- ly the ease, and pine in jail while his family is starving out of it Avithout any opportunity of removing that suspicion ; if acquitted he may be dismissed from jail without a sixpence in his pocket, and without the means of returning home; ii convicted hejondthe sen- tence avi^arded by the law, he may be exposed to the most intoler- able hardships - and no one knows what may be the consequence. Here unfortunate girls, disobedient boys and confined debtors are in many instances mingled with the worst of characters. The Magistrates of Ayr have been known to have fundshedthe Gover- nor with Bibles and Testaments, for the benefit of the prisoners, . and they have baen known to have lain untouched, piled up on his Table from January to January, from the fear of being torn to pi;^,- ces by the criminals, if put into their hands. Not a sermon was ever preached in the spacious Court yard, even on a.isabbath day - not & Sabbath School Teacher was ever admitted here to offer his services to instruct the ignorant felons, not a religious Tract Dis- tributor ever entered these walls to e;ive a word of exiiortation, and ' the neglect of the above can in a great measure be vouched from a positive refusal, on the part of those, either having or assnm'tig authority. In short, not a lesson was ever taught here beyond the usual consolatory inetructions to persons under sentence of death, . (and these visits be it said to the praise of the Magistrates, are con- fined to no sees whatever) except a faw lessons in writing aiford- ed by Mr Gunn, at his leisure hours last year. The subject of clat- sifier.tion oftlie prisoners, and suggesting that the County should ed contribute towards the probatle additional expense that migiit be incurred in effecting the same, was introduced at a County Mti't--

hg, in April, 1823, on a letter from the late Lord Hermand, but the subject was delayed, and has never been resumed.

Strangers wishing to see the interior of these prisons are conduct- ed by Kelso Kennedy, the under Turnkey, who considers it R small perquisite of his office.

Belonging- to the town is deposited in an upper room of the Building, and consists of a tolerable good stand of Arms, which are brushed up once a year, by the Depute Keeper, for which he receives Four Guineas.

The Head Constables 's apartments are at the north tast cstremity of this Building, and are Rppropriated to him froitn their proximity to the office» of the judicial authorities. It is to be lamented, however, that there iis at present no Head Con- etable. The delay in appointing one is represented ^ e,g beiuf fraught with the most serious consequences. This County iti 'A few years it is feared, will become the haunt of the most tue- cessful depredator* .

On the 28th of March 182S, was laid by Robert Mentg-omerie, Esq. of Craighouse, Most Worship- ful Master of the most aiieieat Mother Lodge of Kilwinning, in presence of Provost Fuliarton and the Magistrates, and an immense concourse of freemasons, and respectable bodies, and gentle- men of the ioxrn, the foundation stone of a new spire, and buildings, corriprising the new Town House, Coffee Room, Ai^sembly Rooms, &c., of which we have given an accurate drawing, accord- ing to the altered extended plan.

The erection of these stately buildings indicate the good taste, enterprising zeal, and liberality of the Magistrate* of

§ See Ayr Advertiser,

"the site of the new buildings is close to that of the former steeple, and exactly upon the site of the late A-ssembly Rooms hiclading two other buildings immediately to the south, ll takes up the angle formed at the cross, by the junction of the Main Street and Sandgate, another street running from this point to the New Bridge, and is thus in the greatest thorough fare of the town. The buildings in whole (ores an oblong of the structure ia composed of two stories, and forma in ap- pearance of two distinct buildings. Tha building at the south end, whereia is tae grand assembly room, is elevated 5ve feet above the height of the main body. The front of this part glands towards the west, andisSS feet by 52, and its elevation from the base to the top of the pediment 45 feet. The others or larger parts of the buildings, presents two fronts, one to- wards the north, or High Sfreet, and the other towards the west, or Sandgate Street j the former beings 36 feet, and the latter 78 feet in length, and the elevation cf both being about 33 feet. The ppire is placed near the centre of the la'-ge

building, forming apart of the grand front to the west, and is raised to the great height of 2U«^feetj being:, it is belieyed

higher than any steeple in Scotland.

The buildings are of the Grecian style, and of the composite order. They are composed of a massive basement, surmount- ed by a cornice, &c. The front of the principal story is form" ed of pilasters, with compost mouldings, circular-headed win- dows, with archivolts, &c., and the whole is finished with a BJussive entablature, dentile cornice, blockinf course, &e. The ba§e of the spire is rustic, on which is the basement, com- posed of massive pilasters, surmounted by a massive entabla- ture and cornice, and an elegantly enriched blocking-course, on the external angles of which stand four large eagles. Two stories are thus raised in the form of a square. The next, or third story, ia brought into an octagonal form, and is of tix» Tuscan c^der, and composed of columns, entablature, &c.

above which are the dials of the clock, lormounted by eight fancy columns, upon the entablature of which stands a lofty and elegant obelisk, supported by massive consols, and crown- ed with a beautiful fancy capitel, and the whole is surmount- ed by a gigantic figure of Triton.

The ground stoyy of the interior is divided into shops, a f uard-rooiij, an entrance-hall, stair-cases, a kitchen, and «ther smaller, but no less necessary, apartments ; and in the principal story, there are a large Assembly Room, a Coflfe© Room, a Card Room, a Supper Room, an Anti-Room, &«.

The whole buildings cost between six and seven thousand pounds, and do great credit to the Architect and Contractor«. The tout ensemble forms a beautiful specimen of elegant and substantial modern architecture, worthy of the taste and genius «f the present flourishing state of the arts and sciences, and a handsome ornament to the town of Ayr.

Intended to be removed from Harbour Street to ^ spacious room in the new Town Buildings, is conducted on the most liberal principles. Here the stranger may peruse an immense collection of dLondon and provincial newspapers, from the Star ©f Brunswick to the Clyde Shipping List, without fee, for a month. On the table are to be found, alto, Magazines, Reviews, Almanacks, &c. and several of the periodicals of the pregent day. Th© snbscription is only one guinea a year.

In New Bridge Street, there is another Readings Room, belonging to William M*Carter, which in «onnected with his circulating Library, conducted »n the same scale of liberality, with this difference, that the papers here are let out. Any newspaper m&y thuis be had for a conpU of hoars.

The town of Ayr can likewise boast of a news- paper, which is published once a week, and is en- titled the

This paper was commenced by the late Mr. Peter Wilson, and has maiHtained a constant liberal sup- pert for the last thirty years. It is published every Thursday at three o'clock.

There were at one time in the town of Ayr, two

which have now been discontinued, from the want of encouragement.

The Theatre

Was got up in the year 1812; under the superin^ tiendence of Henry Erskine Johnston, Esq. by a Company of Subscribers, consisting of fortj'-four, at twenty-five pounds each. The Theatre has never rewarded the enterprizing zeal and exertions ef the projecters, there being comparatively little encouragement in Ayr even for the first rate -S^a?**. The last lessee was Mr. Seymour. The Theatre is lighted with gas, which, through the excessive carelessness of the stage-managers, is rendered jj^riectly intolerable. It is occasionally used as a place of worship, as a dancing and ball-room, and at times let out for the accommodation of iect(jr-

Erery information regarding the letting of t'le Theatre, may be learned at the Shop of Mi' Robert Mackay, Bridg*3 Street, or Mr Htigh Roid, Writer.

One of the principal causes of so much prosperity and i;^- provementin the county of Ayr, was the establishment of Commercial Banks. The first Bank which was. settled in 1T63, by John M'Adam and Cp^ carried on the business of banking till they were overpowered by two considerable rivals^ The first bank was followed by the great bank of Doujglajt, Heron, and Co. which was commonly called the Ayr J^ank ; and which had well nigh ruined the most opulent and the highest in rank in Scotland, by the extent and imprudence of their speculations. The bank was settledin 1763. and closed in 1772. But however unfortunate the Ayr Bank was to its Co-partners, its liberality or imprudence did the greatest ser- rice to the southern counties of Scotland, by supplying, coun- try gentlemen, and traders, and manufacturers, with what they wanted the most, capital, for enlarging and carrying forward their several speculations. The good was done to the coun- try, while the bank was ruined. Upon the dissolution of this great concern the present '* Ayr Bank*' arose, at the instance of Messrs. Hunters and Co. including in the said £an, gentle- men of the first opulence and respectability in the county, in the command of a greut p.iQnkd capital, and has maintained^ a steady and uniform course, notwithstanding th,e various fluctuations and panics in commerce; so much so, that it&rjse and present status are proyerbial, as being quite unparalleled in the annals of banking. The, wealth, the resources, the connections of this establishment^ and the Very easy and truly accdmihodating manner* in which iXih business is conducted have insured a certain monopolization, and have hitherto suppressed any thing like an idea of mercantile opj^osition.

- Tkebenefitofaneveni?ti/hetu>e^'6 and^, U not withheld ftonk m travelierar other person necessarily deprived o/ the prevffttt howt ofhu-iinessfar doing the needful to save delay.

TKc Ayr Bank draws oii Messrs. Farijuhar, Henries, and Edinburgh, at 6 days, and the Royal Bank, Glasgow, at t ^Ays date. Bills are discounted at 4 pier cent. Interest ^karged at the same rate on cash credits, and on sums depo- sited 2 per cent is allowed.

The Ayr Bank is represented by William Cowan, Esq. "1

Wm. Niven, Esq. of Kirkbride SCasbieni

Q. Kennedy, Esq. of Drummellan j W. Cowan, jun. Accountant

John Ballantine David Kennedy

Gilbert Boss, Porter

C D. Gairdner, Esq. Agent Ja*. Ure, Accountant Wm. Bunten, Teller Thomas M 'Murray, Porter

BRANCH AT inviNE.

Alexander Patersor, Esq. Agent

Royal Bank

Hugh Cowan, Esq. W.S., Edinburgh >

, aiSrattcib Of tfte Banft o( ScotlanTr,

- ; Established in the year 1775, for tlie negotiation of businefts, to a certain limited extent, according to the regulations issued «t the head Office, Edinburgh, and on the same liberal prin- d<pie> on which , the business is there conducted, and their liboars have been amply rewarded. Hours of business 10 to ^, The Bank draws on Messrs Coutts and Co. London.

T4&j)t» Gibson, Accountant ,. John M'Craken, T«llw Wra.Jamieson, Clerk

Owe& its existence to the exertions of William Cowan, Esq., then provost of Ayr, who took no small trouble in preparing and maturing a set 6f Regulations, and Forms of Rusiiiess, and by the donations of dilferent individuals brought their united efforta to a crisis, by forming in May 1815, a Savings or provident Bank, for Ayr, Newton and VVailacetown, and the good resulting therefrom, for the previous years is incalculable. Indeed At no period has this Institution been in a more flourishing state than at the present. There is own 400 individuals, who are allowed interest on every 15s. that may be deposited, at the rate of ikl. per culated from the fn^stday of the month immediate- ly after the deposit is made till the 31st December following, when the interest is converted into a iprincipal. All the money deposited in the Savings Bank is lodged in the Directors' names each week with Mejssrs. Hunters & Co» bankers, and regular accounts are kept f>f the whole transactions of the Savings Bank. One shil. deposited each week a.- tution are intended for Tradesmen, M«nnfaotureT|;, Labourers, Servants, Artisans, Apprentice! »Bd others ; and many young people may find it as mucb for their interest to take care of their own littl* iSavings regularly as to join any othet 'Society. OfficeT'Beareri, William Fullarton, Bsq. Preses^ James Cutbberti Vice^Pretes.

Q. Kennedy, Esq. Dr. Whiteside, Baili^ Williamson, Rev. W. Sehaw, Mr. Wise, ; Bailie M«Hutcheon,

Mr King-,

Mr Rae,

Mr M»Clelland,

Bailie Sloan,

Mr Murdoch.

As conducted by Mr. Davidson, No. 7, Main- ful days, and on Sundays front 8 to 10 a.m. from Edinburgh, Glasg:ow, and the North, arrive every evening- at 9, extfept on Tuesday, whennoLon-^ don mail arrives, and are dispatched every day lit I past 5 o'clock p.m., except Thursday, when no mail is made up for London. Mails from the arrive every morning- at 2, and are immediately p«t isito the post aMce before 10 the previous mgUi, io OUsgoWy Ediabiifgh, and London. M^l to Mayboie and Gir\ an made up every evening at f J> 'elo'cJ«. Mail to Baimellington every Suwday,. Tuesday, and Friday morning, ami returns. .^

Letters delivered in town by Robert Goudi'e^ and in Nevvton and adjacent parts by John Sutliffe, every morning, immediately after arrival, for the additional charge of one halfpenny on each.* i

BEitH Bob, runner betwixt Beith and Ayr, with parcels, leaving the latter place etery Tuesday morning arrivinij in Ayr parcels for Irvine, Kilwinning, Dairy, and Beith. - To "be found at JohiiPetticnJw's, Content.

*- Jt is supposed this additional charge as in other, places will if' discontinued, and the Letttr Carriers allowed a Salary- -

l^tamp ©ff ice, Sitaated in Kirk Port, is open every lawful day hargf, ever willing to oblige the lieges, makes no jBcruple to accommodate at extra hours. A liberal allowance is given to retailers of receipt stamps, and depots for these, and also for bill stamps, air^ in various parts of the tovvn, in the shops of Messrs. John Dick I Messrs. David Logan

Henry Gourlay | VViiliam M* Carter

who retail these stamps at the usual charge. Alex. Weat Hamilton. Esq. of Pinmore, Principal Distributor for Ayrshire and Arran. Quintin Macharg, Sub-Distributor for Ayr.

Street. - D. Maclachlan, Esq. master.

€fie Custom: j^owe.

After an absence of two years has b«en restored, and Ayr declar- ed a free independent Port. Ayr has been such all along, till the above period, when from causes not necessary to be detailed, the Custom House wasremovedto Irvine. Ohe remonstrance after an- other was made to the proper quarter, and after due investigation (he Town of Ayr has been declared by ^vrit, a Free Port of theeuper' Humerary Class. For this act of justice, the Town of Ayr'are prin- eipallyindebtod Jo the unwearied exertions and persevering t^^ ^ur To wniman, and late provost, William FuUarton^ Esq.

David Eweii, Ffetj. Principal Clerk j JiB. Latimer, Esq. X^ndwaiitrs - Jaraes Campbell, and James G»angc Commission Ag«nt - Mr James Murdoch, wxiter. GiRVAN - James Chalmers, ^ Has of late, under the management of Mr. Tel- fer, and afterwards by his successor Mr. Black- wood, the Harbour-master, undergone considerable Improvements both as to deepening and increaj&i» »f fundg. The pilots are licensed by the Provcs^t

and t\ro Bailies of the town of Ayr, who are em- ployed in transporting ships and other vessels from the bay of Ayr into the harbour and also from the, harbour^ over the bar into the bay of Ayr. The pres«iit licensed pilots and Who may be depended ttpon for steadiness are : -

Daniel Hunter - Allan Campbell - John Hunter -

Williara Oibson - Dugald M*William.

The fares and wages of the pilots are stated by Act of Parliament, not to exceed the rate of One Penny Three Farthings per ton of ihe Tonnage of any ship or vessel piloted by them. Pilots de- manding or receiving more than the amount of such fares incur a heavy penalty.

gate street. In thia office besides the Collection of the Land Tax and Assessed iTaxes for the County are issued Certificates for Game Licenses.

William Bone, Clerk.

At No. 24. Sandgate Street, is open every lawful day from

Thomas *Clelland, Esq Collector ; William Jamieson, Clerk

George Campbell, Staunp-master.

Messrs. Cowan and Sloan furnish every information regard- ing the Packets, at their office, No, SI Saidgate street, «t Miy

Public Institutions*

^mitt's Institutiott ' Situated at the upper end of Mili-Street, is taught by Mf. William M^Defment, and conducted on the principles of the late Mr. Joseph Lancaster. In this^ school are taught the elements of English Heading, Writing, and Arithmetic. Upwards qf one hundred children whose education is princi- pally defrayed from a fund left by the late Captain John Smith, who bequeathed considerable property to the ministers and magistrates of Ayr in trust, to be applied towards the education and up-bringing of a certain number of children of poor house- holders, and the establishment in the world, in the learned professions, of such youths as appeared to the Directors to evince talents of a more promis- ing nature. The Directors, in terms of the desire of the benevolent donor, have established this Institution in conjunction with their own charity school under the above denomination. , :

The MAGiflTRATESof Ayr - The Ministers of Atr-

Mr William Derment, Teacher,

Built many years ago, for the reception of decayed Burges- s^ and others(male and female) who may hav e been unfortun- ate in business or otherwise rendered incapable of providing for themselves, is attached to Smith's Institution, and endow- ed with several mortifications and other funds for the above benevolent purposes.

Matron - Mrs M'Derment.

To this house is attached a sinecure situation by which the Incumbent takes charge of the poorer sort of persons of good character requiring week- jy aid from the Poor's House funds. It is at pre- sent filled by Mr. Gunn, for which he enjoys a

Situated in Fort-Street, was instituted in the year 1762, having for its object the formation of a valuable library, for the general benefit of its mem^ bers. The library contains at present 2500 volumes of valuable standard works. The entry money is Five Guineas. A General Meeting of the Socie- ty for the purpose of transacting its business, of which thirteen members are a quorum, is held an- nually on the last Wednesday of January in the Library, on which day each member pays an ^- nual contribution of ten shillings, for the purposes of the Society. Rights are transferable. The Librarian is Miss Reid, who attends each lawful

Bailie Williamson, Preses. Mr. Robert Tatylor, Treasurer. Miss Jean Reid, Librarian. Rev. Mr. Culhill, I Mr. Samuel Watson,

Dr. Whiteside, Mr. John Paul,

Mr. Robert Robertson, Mr. James Mortoa, ;

Was instituted in the year 1827, having for its ob- Ject the advancement of the most costly and experi- mental works of all kinds on botany and agriculturp* The subscription, which is only 5s. of entry, and 2^. per quarter, is instantly laid out in the pur- chase of new works, and thereby increasing thfe «tock of that kind of literature, which is to b*' found no where else at so moderate and easy h rate. The institution is well worth the attention of landed gentlemen, as well as those for whom it was chiefly intended. The library is kept at M^Carter's, New Bridge, where cataloga^g ar» t« b« had gratii.

JrfeBsra. John Goodie, I James Rentoul;

James Smith | Thomas Skinnkr,

Mr Thomas Imhie, Treasurer, - "W. M'Carter, Cletk S( Liraiy.

As will be seen from the engraving, is a very handsome building, placed in a very healthy situa- tion in Fort Street, was founded in the year 179$, principally through the influence of that patriotic gentleman the late John Fergusson, Esq. of Doon- holm* The subscribers were erected into one body political and corporate by royal charter.--' The managers and directors, in terms of this char- ter, are all persons or bodies corporate or politic who niay have subscribed the sum of fifty pounds or upwards. At this Academy is taught all the branches of a liberal education, whereby the student is fitted immediately for the University. As a proof of the advantages to be derived from this seminary, young gentlemen come from all quarters of the globe to prosecute their studies at tbjs thriv- ing institution. The teachers are so very attentive to their respective charges * that the utmost con- fidence is placed in them. At the last annual ex- ararination, the Directors expressed themselves in the most flattering terms of the manner of per- forming numerous exercises in various branches taught, and testified that the high reputation long held by this respectable seminary has been fully maintained in all its diflferent departments. The

- Several of the teachers particularly Dr. Memei, Mr. GroM^ Mr. Gray, and Mr. Ridleyj Doard yoiing gentlemen^ wlio r»ceiiriB

feost approved modes of tuition are followed by the blasters with great accuracy and success, and ample evidence was shewn thaf due care was used to ina- part a substantial education, and to make th© enlargement and the improvement of the youthful mind by means of useful knowledge, and the art of thinking and reflecting keep pace with the for- mal communication of elementary rules and prin- ciples. Great pleasure was evinced in noticing the progressive increase of the number of scholar* which amounted last year to 617. To this great increase may be ascribed the acquisition of the valuable and learned teachers upon whom the ohoice of the Directors fell. To Mr. Ridley may be iiscribed the very successful numner in which he has brought forward the youths placed under his charge, and the un^jxampled success attending the labours of Dr. Meraes, who in addition to the usual branches of literature taught by his prede- oesiors has added the science of Botany.

H^eren Members from the Town Council of Ayr are annufclly

ITie Sheriff-depute of the County for the time being. The nearest Heir Male of the deceased John Fergrusson of

Doonholm, Esq. Fire Contributors representing the Minor Subscribers, chosen H. Cowan, jnn. Treasurer, J. Paul, Secretary,

t>ir. Memes, Rector, Nat. Philosophy, Geography, Mathe- katics, &c. J. Gray, Arithmetic, Book-keeping, Slc- E. ?Tiwmi»oii, Latin anil Greek. S. Gross, French, Italian, and Qermaa. R. Taylor, Writing and Drawing. James Ridley, Knglish Reading, and Elocution.

. Are here conducted on a scale of the first rei- i|>e<;tability, and every attention is paid to the

morals as well as the education of youngr ladies committed to their charge. To the great iucreaiB* of boarders is to be ascribed the distinguished talents of the teachers introduced into these semi-^ naries, and the healthiness of the situations. - Amongst the above maj be ranked those taught t>j

Besides the public Academies, there are sehonI« taught by eminent young persons in almost every corner of the town. Of these are given a few ai far as they have been handed to us alphabetically. In these seminaries are taught chiefly the useful branches of education on terms considerably low- er than at other more popular establishments.

Gray, William Newton -Green. M'Derment, James Mill-Street. j

M'Vail, David Content. Mitchell, 4dam Newton-Green, Mitchell, David

Watson, William Content. "

Wilson, Joseph Garden-Street. (Including Sewing^ Sic.) Auld, Miss

Gray, Miss, Newton-Green .Henderson, Miss

M'Whirter, Miss Wallace-street . , »

Scott, Mrs. FuUarton-street.

Ci^e Mttftaiuc^' Jtistttution

Was established iu 1825, in consequence of an able and . se-aaibl* appeal to the intelligent and influential part of the community, br bur townsman, Mr. Ritchie, now of Aberdeen. '

Considerable assistance, by way of subscription, was obtained , throughout the county, whenever it was discovered that our opera- tives actually desired such an institution. The active managemeritj and indeed the extension of the prpperty of the society, has now rg^ted on the shoulders of the operative members themselves ; and they have proved by their steadiness in a|ipreciating the benefits of *- welLassor.ted library, how deserving they were of the little ajs- .oistance given to make a beginning." It was about the same period that so manyMechanicp' Institutions sprang into existence ail over the island, and seeing that ere now the novelty of the thing mn«l )i»re ceased to charm, numb»ri of them have fallen into obliTtoA :

not 80, however, with our Ayr institution, for it has exceeded the jBAT to secure a firmer hold of the public approbation. This we attribute to the unwearied diligence of the. Committee of Manage- ment, in making it a primary object to secure a good library* We doubt if monthly, or even weekly lectures, and delivered gratis, to boot, would secure, in a provincial town, so much interest for such a length of time, as a permanent and well managed library will do. Lectures are excellent, and have been highly appreciated by the members, irhenever called upon to hear them, but they would hare failed in giving our institution a local habitation. Nearly one thousand volumes of the most approved works on science and general literature have been brought together, thus, HOt limiting the pleasure of reading merely to the man of science, but offering the general reader a fund of information seldom met with out the metropolis. Nor can the admission ticket prove a barrier to the poorest mechanic, for six shillings annually, paid by quarterly in- stalments, is the trifle that gives every advantage the institution offers. Thus as the toil worn operative, on receiving his weekly wage, after six days labour, speeds homewards for a renewal of the joys and comforts of the domestic hearth, so may he visit that same evening, betAveen 7 and 9, the Mechanics' Library, and furnish himself with the means of promoting the cultivation of his mind, and advancing his knowledge of mankind and manners.

"When the institution was forming, it was agreed to engage Mr. Steele for a course of lectures in natural philosophy, which he de- livered during the winter of 1825-6, to a respectable and numerous- ly attended class. Since that period several members have occa- sionallyTlelivered essays, but to Dr. Hemes is the institution chief-' \j indebted, for lecturing once a month, and latterly for delivering two highly interesting and valuable courses of lectures in Geo- graphy and Geology, making the useful branches of education po- pular, from interspersing interesting anecdotes, and a deal of col- lateral historical information. Wherefore, whatever funds have been realized were devoted, from the Doctor's giving his laboiu- gratuitously, to the extension of the library. That these labour* have been appreciated, it is due to the members to state, that they have recently presented the Dr. with an elegantly chased silver f oblet, bearing the following inscription : - The Members of the Aye Mechanics' Institutiow, As a Token of Gratitude, Hit valuable and disinterested exertion* To promote their advanceaaeat various branches

The present number of actuaJly reading membera is about 120, and since the commencement, the list seems progressively swelling j and we really see nothing to hinder this in a town of such a popula- tion as Ayr, it is matter of wonder that the members are not morf numerous, but there must be the desire for reading created, ere m ev oan look for the anxiexis request to have that desire satisfied.

The property of the institution is vested in the hands of a Com*! mittee for the time being, and every donor of two guineas, in. money, or of books, apparatus, &c. to that amount, or an annual' subscriber of half-a-guineais considered an honorary member, en- titled to the privileges of the institution, and to act and'v<^e at allf General Meetings. But the donor of two guineas and upwards en- joys the privilege of the library for seven years only - still, how- ever, retaining the power to attend and vote at all General Me^*|

In Ayr, there is not a more valuable institution, and the' good it has already effected is very great. It has given an impetus to the minds, Vv^hich leads our "working' class to ap- preciate w^ith profit and delight many of the severer studies that occupy the attention of the learned, and, moreover, it has stirred up tlvo energy of some to construct ingenious pieces of mechanism. It i^s for tliese reasons, the community will do- whatthey can to speed its prosperity, we might have said tba county, for these ;uc many of the reading members resident in

A General Bieeting of the Institution is held on the first Mondays of March, June, September^ and Decemberj at eight' o'clock, and the first Monday of June is the Annual General Meeting, when the election of office-bearers takes place

The following gentlemen are Oflice-bearers and Committfe for the present year : -

Wm. FuUarton, Esq. President.

Convener M'llwraith, Vice-President.

Mr. Hugh Cowan, jun. Treasurer.

Mr. Mathew Paterson, Secretary.

Bailie M'Hutchon Mr. William Parker

Mr, Wm. Ferguson Dr. Burton Mr. James Morton Mr. P.Stewart Mr. John Paterson Convener Alexander

Mr. Adaiii Cowan, Librarian.

Mr. John Johnston

Mr. David Highet

Mr. Robert Alexander, jun.

Mr. Hugh Young

Mr. Wise

Mr. James Drennan

Mr. Adam Cowau

The oldest established church, as before men- tioned possesses three aisles - one for the magis- trates, near which, in the same aisle, is that ap- next, fronting the pulpit, is for merchants and gen- tlemen belonging to the merchants' society. The west ai«le is appropriated for the Convener, Dea- cons of Incorporated Bodies, and Merchants in general. The church in general, possesses ample accommodation for people of all descriptions. To this church was appended, some years ago a Chapel of Ease, near St. John's, which is tolerably well filled in general. The two curates officiate in the above two places of worship alternately every Sabbath day. The burying ground is attach- ed to the Old Church.

Rev. A. CuthiU ^Mmutert

Messrs. Bailie M'Hutcheon Messrs. James Donaldson

J. Sloan John Tennant

W. Cewan John Mitchell

Hngh Cowan John Underwood

Sheriff Eaton Andrew Paterson

Dr. Hemes Peter Stewart

Dr. Whitesid* John Donaldson

James Cuthbert John Ferguseoh

Thomas M'Claliaud James Tennant

Samnel Watson George M'Clura

Robert Davidson Gabriel Muir

Mr "Wm. M'Dtrment, Session Clerk,

Mr Stephen Rowan, Treasurer,

Mr J.TurnbuU \ Precentors

Situated in George St. H is a large and commodi- ous building, and since the late to be regretted union of part of the Burghers and Antiburghers, Mr.

Stevenson's eongiegaiion retain their pristine prin- ciples as established by the late Rev. Ralph and Ebenezer Erskine, and now go by the name of the United Associate Original Seceders, and have lately issued an Act find Testimony. Sermon three times each Sabbath, To this church is at- tached a burying ground for the benefit of the members, and for others who choose to avail themselves of the sa^ne.

Messrs. John Paterson,

Alex. D airy m pie, Andrew Shiith,

Messrs. Peter Palerson, Hugh Kennedy, If ugh Smith, William Heu(h-ie,

Were iiitroduced into Ayr, by John Caldwell, an Irishman of that persuasion, who came to Ayr- &;hire, in the year 1765, and preached to large audi- tories. The church was formed in 1778; and the present place for publice service v»as built about two years after, a neat church in Mill street, to which a dvs^e'Lin^ hoiise for the minister, school- house and a burial place are attached. Twice ser- vice on the I.(ord's day, and once on Thursday exening. H. Klinesmith, Sitp. Rev. James Latrore, Elder - William Kivkland.

Established themselves here in the year 1790. They have now built a handsome chapel in Char- lotte Street, which is supplied by a clergyman from the conference in connection with the fol-: lowers of the late Rev. John Wesley, A. M., who in general exchanges once in two years. Sermon three times on the Lord's day, and once on Thurs- day evening. No bnrying ground is attached.

D. Cr«m, JiMKS CoTi'AN, Wm. Rickits, \Vm. CCTHlEllTf»fr,

Chapel was erected in the year 1796, is a very neat commodious building situated at the foot of Wailacetowu; the officiating clergyman, the Rev. Wm. Schaw, is a popular preacher, and the church is in general well attended. To these premises there is not attached any burial ground. Sermon twice every Sunday.

Rev. WILLIAM SCHAW, Minister.

Metsrs. John Frew

J as. Jamieson John Cochran John Gardner Alexander Harvie

Messrs. Rob. Farquhar James Stewart Allan Gray Alex. Ritchie J. Seott, Lochfergus

In Cathcart Street was got up in the year 1815, chiefly throu2:h the influence and enterprising ex- ertions of Mr. Henry Cowan. The house is the largest place of worship in town, and is well filled. In this church there is a Sabbath School kept up, also a Penny Society for the relief of sick mem- bers, principally confined to females. A library has been formed for the general benefit of the members in town and country ; a sum of money originally intended for another purpose formed the basis of this now extensive library, which is kept up and enlarged by subscribers of one shilling per quarter. No burying ground is attached.

Rev. Robert Renwick, minister,

Messrs. Henry Cowan I Messrs. John Kerr

John Wilson j Robert Brown

John Bryden | James Muir

Thomas Gray j \Villiam Mxu-doch

Alexander Trie I

Situated near the foot of Garden- Street, was -reeted many rears ago, and has no burying ground. There is a Sabbath School aera, and sermon thr©» times svery Sunday, by

The Rev. A. Maclbak.

Mri Robt. Alexander; Mr. Robt. Nicholson; Mr. John "VTUion.

Hai»e lately found a place of worship in the repair of the old brewery, in Content street, which is neat- ly fitted up. There is sermon here at least every alternate sabbath.

Having for its object the supplying of Bibles where wanting in this county and other parts of the British Empire, and the promotion of the wider circulation of the Holy Scriptures without note or comment, was formed in 1828, on the ruins of the AjTshire Auxiliary Bible Society. This society is desirous of rendering every assistance of which its funds will admit, in lessening the want of the scrip- tures wherever it exists, and particularly within the British Empire ; the sphere of its distribution, how- ever, has been lessened in conseqence of various Branch Associations and Societies which were formerly Auxiliary to the County Society, having become independent or extinct. The great outlet for copies of the Scriptures in this county continues to be in supplying them to children of the poor^ who are either totally unable to purchase them when their children are sent to school, or who would find the full price of them more than their circumstances could afford.

Each member of an auxiliary who subscribes a guinea or upwards annually, or ten guineas or upwards at one time, may purchase from the Depository of the Auxili«^A^^ Society, Bibles and Testamenfi! at reduced priceiSyvto th« amount of

five guineas within the year, and in like proportion for every guinea subscribed. Toe committees of Auxiliary Societies have the privilege of purchas- ing at prime cost to any amount. Ail subscribers of half-a-guinea annually are members ; members of congregations making annual collections in aid of the funds of the society a,re members. The Preses and Secretary of all Branch Associations formed in aid of this institution are ex officiis mem- upwards at one time are members for life. And all subscribers of twenty guineas at one time, or those who shall increase their original subscription to that amount are entitled to be governors for iife. The committee meet quarterly at Ayr, on the last Wednesday of January, April, July, and October, and the Anmiai Meeting is held in the month of September.

Andw. Williamson, Esq. Mr Peter Stewart,

Mr Alexander wise. Convener M'llwraith,

Mr Wm. M'^Derment, Mr Jahn Baird,

Mr James Tod, John M'Lauchlan, Esq. Blair,

Mr John Paterson, J. Porteous, Esq. Kilmarnock

Mr John Wilson, Mr John Howat, Martnaham,

Blr Samuel Watson, Capt. Clark,

John Sloan, Esq. Mr John Hendry, Ladybum

Hugh Miller, Esq. Rev. John Inglis, Maybole,

Adam M'Cutchon, 0sq. IJov. John Davidson, Girvan,

Mr Barclay, Catrine, Archd. Moatgomerie Clark.

Formed for the purpose of promoting religious knowledge and instruction by means of Sabbath Schools, by uniting under one management the schools of this town and neighbourhood, and by furnishing juvenile libraries, and giring pecuniary "assistance in aid of the schools, commenced its operations in J;inuary 1821, and since that period

the society has diiigently continued to di**#et its eiForts to ihe spiritoai well-being of the youngs, and the g-ood that has resulted is incalculable.

Individuals subscribing" two shillings and six- pence annually, or giving a donation of ten shil- lings, and all teachers and clergj'men superintend- ing Sabbath Schools are members of this society.

Robert Auld, D. D. [Messrs. R. Alexander

Rev. A. Cuthill A. Maiutcheon

Richard Campbell, Eso(. Wm. Fullarton, Esq. Col. Reid

James Tod Capt. George Clark

% Col. Reid, Convener and Secretary

Mr M'Clelland and Mr Burns, joint Treasurers.

Was instituted in the year 1817, under the Patron- age of the IMost Noble Marquis of But^, Lord Ayr, c^c. the object of this Institution being to Hfford medical relief to sick and diseased poor and to inoculate children for the cow pox, the Dis- pensary is open for these benevolent purposes every Monday, Thursday and Saturday, from nine till ten in the morning, at Mr Currie's, No. 66, High Street, when advice and medicines are given to all Patients in Ayr, Newton and Wallacetown, dom- in person, on their presenting a recommendation from a subscriber, or from a minister, or elder of the parish or congregation to which they belong, or from the representative of an incorporated

bod J, provided that parish, congregation, or in- corporated body has contributed to the support of the institution; and those persons whose cases require are visited at their own houses. To the medical men of the town who belong to this laudable institution, too much praise cannot be bestowed for their zealous and gratuitous services, and to the clergymen of the town for the atten- tion which they pay to the request of the Directors. Every subscriber is entitled to have one patient upon the books of the Dispensary, for every lOs. 6d. annually paid; and subscribers of any sum shall have it in their power to recommend an un- limited number of children for inoculation, observ- ing always, that the circumstances of the parents of these children are such as to render them pro- per objects of the institution.

The Most Noble the Marquis op Bute.

The Provost of Atr.

Committee of Management.

Colonel Reid

Rev. Dr. Auld

Mr George M'Taggart

Bailie Williamson

The Rev. R. Renwick Mr iSamiiel Watson ]Mr James M'Cleliand

Consulting Physicians. Dr. P. Whiteside and Donaldson.

Br. W. Whiteside

Mr Edgar

Medical Officers.

Mr Ronald Mr M'Sorley..

Treasurer and Secretary^ Mr M'Cormick.

Mr J im3S Carrie.

John Ronald, James Crawford, m.d. John Taylor,

Philip Whiteside, m. d. George Mitchell, Wm. Whiteside, m. d. John M'Derment, m. b,

Is the oldest Institution of the kind in the town having been instituted in the year 1581, for th© benefit of decayed seamen, and destitute widows and children of seamen, who on application re- ceive what support the funds will admit - Gentle- men having interest in shipping onr payjment of Five Pounds are admitted members and are entit- led to a Free Seat in the " Sailor's Loft" of the old church. Three pence are deducted off. every pound sterling earned by a seaman^ which with con- tributions keep up a fund for the above benevolent purposes which is at present £1 100. Committee of iBanagement

Hugh Cowan ^

Thomas M'Clelland > Esquires,'

Messrs. Quin. M'Harg

Messrs. James Guthbert Wm. Cowan Hugh Cowan Alex. M'Coskrie Thomas Wallace Philip Whiteside Wm. Stewart John Sloan James Teller John Eaton .James Donaldson George Taylor Alex. Wise Hugh Donaldson Peter Hume

Aleianier BIack\Vi>.')d,

Thos. M'Clelland Hugh Cowau, jun Wm. Cowan, jun John Bryce John Morton Charles Eaton Thomas Weir Jas. M'Clelland Wm. Whiteside, m. d. Alex. Murdoch JohnM'Cracken John Ballantiue James Patton John Sloan, jun

Harbour-master

The Merchants^ Company

Was instituted in the year J 655, and in 1821 a Fund was formed for the benefit of decayed members, widows, and orphans, from which they derive the following - Decayed mem- Orphan, £5 per annum, until the youngest ar- rives at the age of 12 years. From the fiourishing state of the funds, prospects are held out that in a few years, the benefits are likely to be doubled.

The Society is not limited to merchants alone but all men of business, who may not be black balled, gain admittance into this important scheme*

The members at present are -

George M'Taggart, Esq. maBter, John Edgar, treasurer [ James Murdochj.jun.-secietary...

Hew Aitken John Sloane

Alexander Wise Patrick Cowan

Hugh INIiller John Samson

David Davidson David AI?Ewea

William Cowan James Miller

David Auld Charles Hunter

A. M'Hutchon Adam Hunter

Thomas Gibson john Kinloch

John Dick M. M'Hutchon

Jamas Pdtton James x\uld John Fer-ruson J. S. Muir

John Kirldand William Gray William Heron Robert M' Kay William Goarley James Murdoch John Wilson William Brown Robert Davidson James Morris Andrew Wallace

Was formed exclusively for gentlemen of the ha.'v, and hns been coafiaed to those wlio have 3:'rv3d ap:)renticeships to a procurator before the Sheriif Court of Ayr. The admission fee for this fund is £15, with an annual payment of One Guinea, and the funds are in such a flourishing state as to afford an annuity of £40 to the widows at piresent.

Was instituted some years a^o, havin* for its ob- ject the provision of a fund for widows of members,

and the payment of funeral expences, entry £5. The members parade the streets of Ayr in their uniforms on the Friday of the Midsummer Fair, and immediately thereafter proceed to the sands where tliey start for a race.

Of these laudable and beneficial institutions the Town of Ayr has a tolerable quota established for people of both sexes, and the advantages derived from such as are conducted in sound principles, are incalculable. The following which are con- ducted on pretty fair calculations, and have been beneficial, have been handed, and may be depend- ed on, are, male, Preses.

Ayr Universal Society, Stewart Ewing

Queen's First Friendly Society, Wm. Irvine,

Ayr Relief, James Twig,

Ayr, Newton, & W. Friendship, James Wilson,

Ayr, N. & AV, Hand in Hand Juvenile, Andw. CoAvan Ayr Self-supporting, A. Forester,

Philanthropic, David Bowie,

Phoenix, .. John Tod,

Caledonian Youths, . . . . Adam Nicol,

Youth, Wm. Morrison,

Ayr First Female Friendly Society (funded) Instituted

Female Friendly Society Town and Parish of Ayr, institut- ed 1805. Lady Jane Hamilton President,

Ayr, Newton and Wallacetown Female Friendly Penny- Society, instituted 130.5, 180 members, Mrs. Mair, President.

Ayr, Newton and St. Evox Female Penny Society, insti-

Fifth Ayr Female Penny Society, instituted 1305, 204 Kcmbcvs, Mr?j, Scott, president.

Benevoleut Society, instituted 1822, Mrs. Fullarton pre-

Female School of Industry, instituted 1815, 50 girls, Mrs Hugh Cowan president.

Ladies' Charity School, instituted 1820, 3(J girls. - Miss Aiken, Preident.

Was instituted about four years ago, with a view to the encouragement of Horticulture in all its branches. A competition meets in the Kinj^'s Arras six times every year, where a collection is made from all quarters of the county, by the mem«- bers, of the various products of horticulture, for the best of which prizes are awarded by the Society, defrayed chiefly by subscription, and the proceeds of entries of individuals of one shilling, who crowd to see the vast assemblage of the most elegant and rare productions of the soil.

Mason Xiodgesa Of these orders there are in the town seven who statedly hold monthly and quarterly meetings the oldest is,

Meeting in King's Arms, - Provost Fuliarton, Grand Master.

Meetings held monthly in Morton's, Newton, - Arch. Dunlop, Master.

Meet first Thursday each month, in Biack-Buli, Wallacetown, - John Grunton, Master. Meet monthly at the Crown Inn, on Wednes*

Meet first Thursday each month, in Muidocli'5, WaUacetower. "William Allen, Maxtor.

jBtetoton St, ^ntiretos. No. 209.

Meet second Monday each month, in Kirklend's, 'allace-street, - Alex. Murphy, Master.

In general are appointed for the first week in September. The ace course is one of the best in Scotland, and they are in general well attended by the principal part of the nobility and fashion of the country. The evenings of Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, here are Subscription Balls and Ordinaries, and the tow n presentg a scene of unusual gaiety and bustle. Stands for booths are let at enormous rents, during the race week, by the town, to people of all parts of the county, and not confined to the burgesses of the town, which is often the subjeet of regret. The sport is greatly I enhanced, and the company more numerous, in seasons when this district is visited by the

Who pursue these pleasures in this part of the country onee every four years. By the activity of the Magistrates, and their police all vagrants and rowly-powlys indiscriminately find no access to the ground, and the company are thui annoyed by none but " Light fingered Gentry."

Of which we have given a view, is a splendid piece of Architec- ture from a plan by Thomas Hamilton, jun. Esq. Architect in Edin- burgh. The merit of this undertaking was chiefly to be ascribed to the late lamented Sir Alexander Boswell, of Auchinleck, whot

{iroposed it to the county many years previous to Its erection, and aid the foundation stone on the 25th January, 1820, and, who, during his life was most assiduous in promoting subscriptions for it. The base of the building it triangular, representing the three districts of Ayrshire, Kyle, Carrick, and Cunninghame, in the cen- tre of which there is an apartment for the accommodation of visitors. The triangular part of the building rises to the height of about twenty feet, on the top of which a range of nine columns of the