Ayrshire

“ Beyond are the fertile woods and fields of Ayrshire, with Loudon Hill, near which the battle of Drumclog was fought, and an extensive sweep of the Ayrshire coast, with the lonely and conical Ailsa Craig and the jagged peaks of Arran in the distance. On a clear day the view in this direction commands the land of Burns. On the other hand, we have in sight the grand valley of the Clyde, with Glasgow and Paisley, and many other towns and villages in its capacious bosom, while away in the dim distance we have a perfect wilderness of mountain-tops. ”

“ Our wind now altogether dies away, while we want its assistance to get to the mouth of the Firth of Clyde, now opening between the extremity of the large and fertile Isle of Bute, and the lesser islands called the Cumbrays. The fertile coast of Ayrshire trends away to the south-westward, displaying many villages, and much appearance of beauty and cultivation. On the north-eastward arises the bold and magnificent screen formed by the mountains of Argyleshire and Dumbartonshire, rising above each other in gigantic succession. ”

“ His generous affections, his ardent eloquence, his brilliant and daring imagination fitted him to be the idol of such associations. The sudden alteration of his habits of life operated on him physically as well as morally. The humble fare of the Ayrshire peasant he had exchanged for the luxuries of the Scottish metropolis, and naturally the effect of this change could not be inconsiderable. He saw the danger, and at times formed resolutions to guard against it, but he had embarked on the tide of dissipation and was borne along its stream. ”

“ The Ayrshire breed of cows are famous for the quantity and excellence of their milk. Great numbers of cattle, sheep and pigs are raised for the market, and the Ayrshire horse is in high repute.
Other Industries.—Ayrshire is the principal mining county in Scotland and has the second largest coalfield. There is a heavy annual output also of iron ore, pig iron and fire-clay. The chief coal districts are Ayr, Dalmellington, Patna, Maybole, Drongan, Irvine, Coylton, Stevenston, Beith, Kilwinning, Dalry, Kilbirnie, Dreghorn, Kilmarnock, Galston, Hurlford, Muirkirk, Cumnock and New Cumnock. ”

“ Ayr`er, Jacob, a German dramatist in the 16th century, of the style of Hans Sachs (q. v.) .
Ayrshire (226) , a large and wealthy county in the W. of Scotland, bordered on the W. by the Firth of Clyde, agricultural and pastoral, with a large coal-field and thriving manufactures; its divisions, Carrick, to the S. of the Doon; Kyle, between the Doon and the Irvine, and Cunningham, on the N.; concerning which there is an old rhyme: "Kyle for a man, Carrick for a coo, Cunningham for butter and cheese, Galloway for 'oo." ”

“ Ayrshire alone suffered losses to the amount of £12,000 sterling, which, in those days, was a very large sum.
A deep spirit of resentment against the Council, and especially the prelatic part of it, was the natural result of all these occurrences. The worst passions of human nature mingled themselves with the purest and noblest aspirations; and men appealed, in language of bitterness, from the iniquity of their earthly rulers to the justice of God. The wisest and best natures were perverted by feelings which had become morbid by extreme excitement. ”

“ This great change of an industrial art has brought wealth to the county. It is not too much to say that it has added 2 per cow to the annual value of dairy produce, and there are 45,000 cows in Ayrshire. The manufactures of Ayrshire have attained considerable importance. The cotton works at Catrine are extensive, and have been a long time established. The site was chosen with the view of utilising the water power of the river Ayr, and steam is still merely an auxiliary. At Kilmar nock and Ayr there are extensive engineering establish ments, and large carpet works ”

“ The Gaelic population of Galloway at the same time appear to have encroached upon the southern limit of Ayrshire and peopled the district of Garrick with a Gaelic race. Extensive territories too were granted by Earl David to his Norman followers. The great district of Annandale was given to De Bruce. The adjacent districts of Eskdale 26and Ewisdale were filled with Normans. The De Morevilles obtained Cuninghame or the northern district of Ayrshire, and the Norman Fitzallan, who became the Steward of Scotland, acquired Strathgryff, or Renfrew and part of Kyle. ”

“ With regard to harvest customs in Ayrshire, I have received the following note from my sister. It is dated—
"Lanfine, Ayrshire, Oct. 4th, 1888. "Caldwell says that in her part of the country (South Ayrshire) , the last sheaf-cutting is called 'cutting the hare or hair, she does not now which spelling is meant. In speaking of witches she says they often turn themselves into hares, so that perhaps it should be hare, as it might be a witch was in the last sheaf. [1]
"Last week here a field of corn was cut, and all the maids went up to see it done. ”

“ During October and November the town is the scene of a great pilgrimage to the holy waters of the Cauvery.
MAYBOLE, a burgh of barony and police burgh of Ayrshire, Scotland. Pop. (1901) , 5892. It is situated 9 m. S. of Ayr and 501⁄4 m. S.W. of Glasgow by the Glasgow & South-Western railway. It is an ancient place, having received a charter from Duncan II. in 1193. In 1516 it was made a burgh of regality, but for generations it remained under the subjection of the Kennedys, afterwards earls of Cassillis and marquesses of Ailsa, the most powerful family in Ayrshire. ”

“ Failing to find further employment in Edinburgh, he accepted in 1839 the editorship of the Ayr ‘Observer.’ In 1840 he published ‘Contemporaries of Burns and the more recent Poets of Ayrshire,’ and in 1847 a ‘History of the County of Ayr.’ Disappointed with his prospects on the Ayr ‘Observer,’ he again returned to Edinburgh, where he supported himself chiefly by miscellaneous writing. ”

“ This was the land of Burns, and the district of Ayrshire. It seemed to be a large, plain, open country. The town of Ayr had a castle once, and the walks about Ayr were pleasant. I did like to go there. There were some old buildings, which people come from all parts to see. Churches are still preserved there as ruins traditionally famous.
There was no smoke and dust in Ayr, as at Glasgow, and visitors could get easily to any of the places of attraction, either by train or steamboat. Ayr was nine miles from Maybole. Mrs. ”

“ Peden returned to Scotland in June of the following year, and went thence to Ireland. He was in Ayrshire again in 1680, and after performing the marriage ceremony of John Brown (1627?–1685) [q. v.] , the ‘Christian carrier,’ in 1682, went back to Ireland. He returned to Ayrshire in 1685, and preached his last sermon at Colinswood at the water of Ayr. His privations and anxieties had gradually undermined his health, and, resolving to spend his last days in his native district, he found shelter in a cave on the banks of the river Ayr, near Sorn. ”

“ Ayrshire in early times comprised three divisions, Cunninghame in the north, Kyle between the Irvine and the Doon, and Carrick to the south of that stream. Burns, by his song ‘There was a Lad was born in Kyle,’ has immortalised the middle division, which an old proverb had distinguished as productive of men, in contradistinction to the dairy produce and the stock of the other two. ”

“ When I returned to the inn, I informed Dr Johnson of the Duke of Argyle's invitation, with which he was much pleased, and readily accepted of it. We talked of a violent contest which was then carrying on, with a view to the next general election for Ayrshire; where one of the candidates, in order to undermine the old and established interest, had artfully held himself out as a champion for the independency of the county against aristocratick influence, and had persuaded several gentlemen into a resolution to oppose every candidate who was supported by peers. 'Foolish fellows!' said Dr Johnson. ”

“ On his return to Ayrshire he renewed his relations with Jean Armour, whom he ultimately married, took the farm of Ellisland near Dumfries, having meanwhile taken lessons in the duties of an exciseman, as a line to fall back upon should farming again prove unsuccessful. At Ellisland his society was cultivated by the local gentry. ”

“ Your information as to your own family is intensely interesting, and I should not wonder but what you and we and old John Stevenson, 'land labourer in the parish of Dailly,' came all of the same stock. Ayrshire - and probably Cunningham - seems to be the home of the race - our part of it. ”

“ To north of Galloway, again, the Anglian conquest of Kyle in Ayrshire, in the eighth century, contributed still more to reduce the Celtic area in the South-west. The later Lollard movement in this district was probably a consequence of this early settlement. ”

“ Although the victory of the republicans deprived him of a portion of his property, enough remained to enable him to return to Scotland and to purchase Sauhrie, an estate in Ayrshire lying on the old high-road between Ayr and Maybole. ”

“ Sorn, in Ayrshire, named from an ancient castle situated on a rocky headland; Troon (the promontory) , on the [179] Ayrshire coast; Sroan-keeragh (the sheep’s promontory) ; Shrone-beha (birch-tree promontory) , in Ireland; Duntroon Castle (the fortress on the promontory) , in Argyleshire; Turnberry Head, in Ayrshire, from trwyn; also Trwyn Point, in Ayrshire; Au-tron (on the point) , in Cornwall; Trwyn-y-Badan (the promontory of the boats) , in Wales.
SRUTH, SRUTHAIR (Gadhelic) ,
SROTA (Sansc.) ,
a river or flowing water; sru, Sansc., to flow—cognate with stroum, Teut., struja, Sclav.; e.g. ”

“ He remained with Rumbold in the Highlands. Cochrane and Hume were at the head of the force which sailed to invade the Lowlands.
Ayrshire was Cochrane's object: but the coast of Ayrshire was guarded by English frigates; and the adventurers were under the necessity of running up the estuary of the Clyde to Greenock, then a small fishing village consisting of a single row of thatched hovels, now a great and flourishing port, of which the customs amount to more than five times the whole revenue which the Stuarts derived from the kingdom of Scotland. ”

“ In 1787 the father removed to the Townhead of Ayr, and became a day labourer. At an early age the boy was apprenticed to a weaver in Ayr; but, notwithstanding his circumstances and the slightness of his education, he early manifested a love of learning, his special passion being antiquarian and traditional lore. From 1799 the monotony of his life was varied by service in the Ayrshire militia, until the regiment was disbanded at the peace of Amiens in 1802. While the regiment was stationed at Inverness he became a subscriber to Currie's edition of the ‘Works of Robert Burns,’ published in 1800. ”

“ I had often admired the taste with which the whole had been planned and carried out, and turned to my neighbour to ask if he had not a good word to say for at least that little property. ‘Ou ay,’ was his remark, ‘its a bonny bit place. The only thing it wants is soil.’
AN AYRSHIRE MILKMAID
The farm-servant changes more slowly than his master. When resident in Ayrshire I frequently entered into talk with the ‘hinds,’ as they are called, and found among them some intelligent men. ”

“ The charitable institutions include the county hospital, district asylum, a deaf and dumb home, the Kyle combination poor-house, St John's refuge and industrial schools for boys and girls. The Ayr Advertiser first appeared on 5th of August 1803, and was the earliest newspaper published in Ayrshire. In the suburbs is a racecourse where the Western Meeting is held in September of every year. The principal manufactures include leather, carpets, woollen goods, flannels, blankets, lace, boots and shoes; and fisheries and shipbuilding are also carried on. ”

“ But if you can lay out a little as an investment, and you desire to combine interest and pleasure with profit, you cannot do better than call on Neighbour, either in Regent-street or Holborn, where I have seen many varieties of hives of different prices and all of good workmanship. In answer to numerous inquiries about the Ayrshire hives, I am sorry to be obliged to answer that I have to send to Scotland for them. They may be had of Air. Bruce Taylor, Post-office, Mauchlin, Ayrshire ”

“ In a village in Ayrshire there are three persons noted for being inauspicious to meet, and fishermen (upon whom as a class this superstition has a strong hold) are much dissatisfied at meeting any of them. ”

“ I went from there successively to the Herries' at Kinharvie, the Ralph Kerrs at Woodburn, near Edinburgh, and the Butes at Mountstuart, meeting, curiously enough, at all three places Norfolk and his sister, Lady Mary Howard—though it was not so curious after all, as the Duke was accustomed to visit every autumn his Scottish relatives at these places, as well as the Loudouns in their big rather out-at-elbows castle in Ayrshire. He had no taste at all either for shooting, fishing, or riding, or for other country pursuits such as farming, forestry, or the like ”

“ Backed Ayrshire, and then was again on the wing.
Flying north, flying south, if we rumours believe,
Reaching Brighton and Glasgow the very same eve.
He’s been seen on the switchback, all over the town ”