that contest Haco was pursued by McKinnon of the Isles; and his sons, ascertaining that he had taken shelter at Ayr, pressed forward in pursuit of one of his "great captains," whom they captured at Dunure. For this act, Alexander III. conferred the castle and surrounding lands on McKinnon. (Cut, No. 1.)

The inhabitants of Maybole are principally engaged in light weaving the work being obtained from Glasgow and Paisley. They are described in the 'New Statistical Account,' drawn up by the parish ministers of Scotland, as being, a great proportion of them, 'dissolute and neglectful of their religious duties.'

DUNURE AND ITS CASTLE.

Some few miles on our route, a little to the west, we arrive at what is perhaps the most interesting locality on the coast of Carrick. We refer to the little fishing village of Dunure; picturesquely situated, and finely protected by hills on all sides-save where the ocean supplies its broad blue boundary. Standing upon the eminence which reaches the village from the south, the scene around us is one of various and blended beauty. The Firth of Clyde, with the mouth of the river, "Ailsa's blue crag," the shores of Arran, and in the rear those of Cantyre, at once meet the view; while far out on the river stalk stately vessels of various descriptions; coasting and pleasure steamers, from which music may be heard; and further out a whole fleet of fishing boats, dancing over the water, their white sails resembling a flock of sea birds.

Descending the hill we approach the village, with its little harbour and neat houses scattered gracefully along the shore; each dwelling surrounded by a small garden, well cultivated, and fragrant with flowers. The nets spread out in the sun to dry, and the boats lying upon the shore, proclaim at once the occupation of the happy-looking villagers. The harbour is efficiently protected, but so small as scarcely to afford accommodation to a vessel much larger than a herring smack. It was constructed by Mr. Abercrombie, engineer, at a cost of £50,000. It is entirely cut out of the solid rock. The object was to make it a port fitted for shipping the agricultural produce of the county; but this scheme proved an entire failure. Dunure is much frequented by strangers during the summer months: it being scarcely equalled as a marine residence by any town in Ayrshire.

That venerable pile, standing on a rocky eminence, washed by the sea, and forming so prominent and interesting a part of the scene, is Dunure Castle. It was formerly the seat of the Marquis of Ailsa, and its origin is attributed by the author of the Historie of

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Dalrymple is a little village a few miles to the east of Dunure. It is situated on a bend of the river Doon, which thereabouts follows a rather eccentric course. Part of the village is of ancient origin: the remainder of more modern date. The characteristics of the place, most apparent to the eye, are rose-wreathed cottages, with pure white walls; cleanliness, comfort, and industry; and a thriving and happy population.

There are several heights in the neighbourhood, commanding views of the Frith of Clyde, Ailsa Crag, and even of the northern coast of Ireland. Burns opens his Halloween' by an allusion to one of these eminences-that of Downans:

"Upon that nicht when fairies licht
On Cassilis Downans dance," &c.

THE LAND OF BURNS.

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We have now traversed the entire coast of Carrickand standing upon the last of its numerous hills, we are aroused into a new order of associations and ideas by the landscape at our feet. The "auld town o' Ayr," and "Alloway's auld haunted kirk," and the Monument—

"And all the scene-in short, earth, sky, and sea'

is lighted up in the imagination with the genius of the Poet, even more vividly than by the sun itself, as it sweeps in its mellow magnificence towards the west.

But we are impatient of delay, and anxious for closer communion with the objects that most interest us; so leaving behind us the brown hills of Carrick, with glowing heart we plunge into the 'Land of Burns!'

Reverence for their favourite poet has become one of the most prominent features of Scottish nationality: nay, in some cases it amounts almost to a religion. As Mohammedanism has its Mecca, and Christianity its Jerusalem, so Burns-ism may be said to have its Ayr.

It has been regretted that the Poet of Scotland should have been born and brought up in a part of the country so little calculated, it is said, to nourish poetic tendencies as Ayrshire, on account of the absence of "scenery of a poetic cast."* But we believe there is little reason for these regrets. If such be the general character of the scenery, the rule is not without frequent exceptions. The coast of Carrick was for a time the abiding-place of the poet; and at Mossgiel, surrounded by the classic woods environing Ballochmyle and Catrine, and containing scenes of such poetic beauty as are to be found on "the banks and braes *Mr. Robert Chambers.

and streams around the Castle of Montgomery," the poet spent a few of his few, few years. Besides these favourable circumstances, no portion of his native land was so well calculated, from the character of its inhabitants, to imbue him with that essential element in the poetic mind,-a deep and fervid love of country. THE TOWN OF AYR AND ITS ATTRACTIONS. But it is again necessary to subside into mere facts, in introducing the reader to the "Royal burgh and county-town of Ayr."

It is situated on the south bank, and at the mouth of the river Ayr. Its general appearance is shown in the engraving. Its name must have been derived from that circumstance: but its origin is lost in obscurity. Notwithstanding this fact, however, we have not heard its foundation ascribed either to Charlemagne, or the devil-the two common recipients of such unclaimed honours. Attended with various and unequal fortunes, it seems to have existed for several centuries prior to 1202, when William the Lion created it a Royal burgh. At that period, and for several succeeding centuries, it appears to have been a place of importance and considerable trade; and although Daniel Defoe, in his Tour through Great Britain,' represented it as in a declining condition, it afterwards re-attained its importance. Its merchants imported wines from France extensively; and exported corn, salmon, and other native productions. The rising importance of Glasgow was no little drawback to the advance of Ayr; but in more recent times the affairs of the latter place have become more animated by the establishment of a railway to Glasgow, and the opening of various parts of the county by means of branch lines. The shipping of Ayr is very inconsiderable. The little business done consists chiefly in the importation of agricultural produce, linen, and slates, from Ireland, and the exportation of coal, pig-iron, &c. But though the seat of considerable carpet, leather, and shoe-manufactures, Ayr, unlike its neighbour, Kilmarnock, is decidedly not a place of trade. It stands, indeed, in the same relation to Kilmarnock as Edinburgh to Glasgow; and its inhabitants are wealthy and refined, many of them being attached to the profession of the law.

On the opposite bank of the river Ayr is situated Newton-upon-Ayr, a burgh of barony, under a totally distinct municipal government. It is of comparatively recent origin, and contains scarcely a feature of any interest. It is connected with the parent town by the 'auld' and the 'new' Brigs o' Ayr.

During the last quarter of a century, the appearance of the town of Ayr-which had previously been far from prepossessing-has been materially improved. The High Street, which passes nearly through the centre of the town, is adorned by Wallace's Tower; and many of the chief places of business are situated there. The antiquarian will find considerable food for speculation in many of the old and grotesque tenements which may be met with, interspersed with more modern buildings.

At the latter end of the twelfth century, William the Lion founded the Castle of Ayr, on an eminence near to the Church of St. John the Baptist, which stood close upon the seashore, a little northward of the site now occupied by the county buildings. Here stood one of the four forts which Cromwell erected in Scotland. He changed the church into an armoury, and enclosed it within the ramparts; making, however, a grant to the town sufficient to enable them to erect another building. A tall, gaunt, and exceedingly plain tower, is the only vestige of St. John's Church now remaining. A short distance from this, the foundations of the Castle of Ayr may be traced.

Many of the scenes and buildings in the town are associated with the name and the fame of Wallace. Wallace's Tower, which we have already mentioned, is a handsome Gothic structure, 113 feet in height; and is outwardly ornamented by a statue of the Patriot, executed by Mr. James Thom, a self-taught Ayrshire sculptor. Previous to the year 1830, there stood on the site of this building a tower of great antiquity, of which nothing positive was known. It has been supposed by some to have been the town-residence of Wallace of Craigie; by others, to have been the prison of Ayr -over the walls of which Wallace was thrown by his friends, to save him from the grasp of the Southrons; when, as related by Harry the Minstrel, he was rescued by his old nurse, who conveyed him to her home.

At the corner of a thoroughfare diverging southward from the High Street, there stood, in former times, the Court-House of Ayr, supposed to be the building in which the noblemen and gentlemen of the westincluding Wallace's uncle, Sir Reginald Crawfordwere treacherously murdered by the English governor. A dwelling-house occupies the site of the building: it is adorned with a statue of Wallace, who, in revenge for the act of treachery referred to, immediately fired. the military encampment of the English, reducing it and its occupants to ashes.

It is, by the way, to be regretted, that neither of the two statues of Wallace in the town have any claims to admiration. The first conveys only half an idea of the Patriot, and the other none at all.

The old parish Church,-built in the time of the Protector, in lieu of that appropriated by him, as already stated,-stands on the site of a Dominican monastery; remarkable as the place where Robert Bruce held the Parliament which settled the succession of his brother Edward on the throne. It is a remarkably plain building: it partakes of the unadorned character of the time. A small fountain, running through the churchyard into the river, is yet popularly known as the 'Friar's Well.”

In a by lane, behind the Fish Cross, there is a tenement, said to have been the birthplace of the brilliant and accomplished Anthony Hamilton, author of the Memoirs of the Comte de Grammont;' and in the main street, opposite the Fish Cross, there is a huge and ancient house, once the town residence of the Chalmers' of Cadgirth. It has in front a small

turret, containing a small apartment, in which Mair, the celebrated arithmetician, who was for some time a teacher in the Academy of Ayr, executed his 'System of Book-keeping.'

Near the remaining portion of St. John's Church there stood, not many years ago, a small plain stone, marking the spot where lay the remains of Maggie Osborne, the last victim in Scotland who suffered death for the imputed crime of witchcraft.

At the foot of the High Street, the 'auld brig' crosses the Ayr. It consists of four lofty and substantial arches; and is said to have been constructed by two maiden sisters, in the reign of Alexander III. It is extremely narrow, like most old bridges; and now serves only as a footpath. The new brig' is an exceedingly graceful structure, lying between one and two hundred yards nearer the harbour. It consists of five arches, the abutments of which are adorned with finely-executed allegorical figures, and was constructed in 1788, from a design by Robert Adam chiefly through the exertions of James Ballantyne, then provost of the burgh. (Cut, No. 2.)

The imposing structure situated at the junction of the High Street and Sandgate Street, composed of an union of the Grecian and Tuscan orders of architecture, and surmounted by a tall and beautiful spire, is the Towns Buildings. Besides affording to the industrious officials ample accommodation for the enjoyment of their business (to adopt the foreigners' sarcasm upon our national habits), the building also contains an assembly-room, devoted to the transaction of pleasure.

Passing along Wellington Square-itself a very fine object-the visitor is attracted by a large building at the western angle. It is built in imitation of an ancient Temple of Isis, at Rome. The front entrance is supported by massive pillars; and the building is surmounted by a very beautiful dome. The effect of the whole is extremely grand; and the County Buildings are very justly considered to be the most magnificent in the locality.

Some creditable churches, both of the establishment and for dissenters; several public institutions, of which the principal is a Mechanics' Institution, with a museum attached to it; and a Railway-station, in the Elizabethan style, are among the other notabilities of the place. Any of these will repay a visit, and should not be passed over by the intelligent tourist. A Sheriffs' Court and a Small Debts' Court are held in the town; also a Commissary Court, a Burgh Criminal Court, and a Justice of the Peace Court. There are several banks; and among the institutions we may notice a Mechanics' Institution, the 'Sailors' Society,' instituted in 1581, for the benefit of decayed mariners, their widows and children; the Merchants' Company,' and 'Writers' Society,'-both benefit societies; a Horticultural and Agricultural Society, a Medical Association, and Dispensary.

Ayr is peculiarly well provided with the means of education. The parochial schools of the burgh were formed into an academy in 1798, and a charter of incor

poration obtained. A bequest of £1,000 to the public teachers of Ayr, left by Mr. Ferguson of Dunholm, laid the foundation of the necessary funds. A considerable sum in addition was raised by subscription, and the present handsome building and successful system of management is the result. The Academy has proved of great benefit to the town, and maintains. a high reputation. The other schools in the neighbourhood are numerous.

There is an extensive town library and also circulating libraries in Ayr. There are two weekly newspapers published.

The gaol of Ayr was built at the same time as the County Buildings. It stands on an open space by the sea beach. It is well conducted, upon the separate system.

Almost every Scotsman who visits the town will view it in one aspect-as the birthplace, and for many years the residence, of Burns. But this interest is not. confined to the spot itself: it extends to the surrounding scenes-so alive with associations, and so eloquent in the memories they arouse. In this spirit, then, having briefly glanced through the town, we will take a stroll in the neighbourhood.

BURNS; HIS BIRTHPLACE, AND FAVOURITE HAUNTS.

Leaving the town by the Maybole toll-gate, a view of the Clyde, stretching away to the right, and the gently-receding hills of Carrick, are the only objects that arrest the attention. If the traveller is in a goodhumour, and disposed to gossip and receive information, he will do well to fraternise, as the phrase goes, with one of the natives,' who will talk to him with a fifty Murray's Handbook' power of the wonders of the place; which he believes in his heart to be the most important on the face of the earth. Of course, the most minute object connected in any way with the Poet or his compositions, will form a prominent feature of the 'gude man's' discourse. More especially will he descant on the adventures of the hero of the neighbourhood, Tam o' Shanter, "as he frae Ayr, ae nicht did canter." The traveller will probably be favoured, too, with a glance at a modest little cottage by the wayside, inhabited by Mrs. Begg, a sister of the Poet's. A gentle turn in the road here introduces us to finer scenes than we have hitherto passed through. A fertile and undulating country, dotted with white villas and wooded knolls; the pathway shaded by tall trees, and the fields glowing with rich grain,-these are among the attractions of the scene, which, on a Sunday or holiday, are further enhanced by a merry assemblage of the peasantry.

About two miles, or rather more, from Ayr, a little cottage by the roadside arrests the attention—that is to say, the attention of those who know its history. It consists only of two rooms,-one of which is a kitchen; roofed with wooden rafters, thatched with straw, and in all respects an humble, if not entirely comfortless dwelling. What is the interest attached

to it? and why stands the traveller watching with so much reverence so very ordinary and prosaic a structure? He enters the doorway, and passes to the humble apartment used as a kitchen. A small recess in the wall attracts his attention; it was in that recess that Robert Burns was first introduced to the world.

The cottage is at present used as a place of refreshment, and is visited continually by a large number of persons. A large hall has recently been built in the rear, for convivial meetings. The landlord takes great pains to show the travellers every object of interest in the place.

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Alloway's auld haunted kirk" stands on the same side of the road, short distance farther on; and the Monument is near the same spot. The former is a mere ruin, consisting of the bare walls alone. The rafters are scattered far and wide over the three kingdoms, and may be in every part of the world, for aught we know to the contrary, in the shape of fancy articles, cigar-cases, boxes, &c., from which scores of Scots may at the present moment be puffing or snuffing inspiration, as the case may be. It is said, that in Catholic countries there are exhibited as many fragments of the 'original' Cross, as would build a seventyfour line of battle ship. The case of the 'Alloway' relics is not very different.

The place of burial attached is crowded with monu

mental stones; many of them marking the restingplaces of those of the better class. The father of the Poet lies here, the epitaph upon whose tomb is perhaps the most affectionate tribute ever offered by son to father.

THE MONUMENT.

Nearly opposite Alloway Kirk, on the summit of a slight but abrupt eminence, overlooking the river Doon, stands Burns's Monument. We are indebted principally to Mr. John Douglas, of Barloch, and Sir Alexander Boswell, of Auchinleck, for this appropriate testimonial. It was designed by Mr. Thomas Hamilton, of Edinburgh. It consists of an imposing rustic base, supporting nine Corinthian pillars, which are surmounted by a gilt tripod, indicative of the three districts into which Ayrshire is divided. Notwithstanding its somewhat ornate style, the effect is simple and elegant. The Monument is surrounded by a garden, tastefully laid out with flowers and shrubs. In a corner of the garden, in a little stone structure, the stranger is shown two highly expressive statues of the 'bosom cronies,' Tam o' Shanter and Souter Johnnythe production of a self-taught sculptor, named Thom, whom we have mentioned elsewhere. The interior of the monument contains a spirited marble bust of the Poet, by Patrick Park; a copy of Nasmyth's portrait;