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County in Scotland

Ayrshire

Ayrshire gave the world Robert Burns, the man who made the pneumatic tyre practical, and a cow breed that now milks its way across the globe.

Key information

County
Ayrshire
Nation
Scotland
Known for
Robert Burns, Turnberry golf, Ayrshire cattle, Ayrshire new potatoes, Culzean Castle
What locals are called
Ayrshire folk; people from Ayr are Ayrshire's "Auld Ayr" residents
Famous people
Robert Burns, Alexander Fleming, John Boyd Dunlop, William Murdoch
Football clubs
Kilmarnock, Ayr United, Cumnock Juniors and their local rivals Auchinleck Talbot

About Ayrshire

The county that gave Scotland its national poet

Ayrshire's biggest claim is simple: Robert Burns was born here. He arrived on 25 January 1759 in a small cottage at Alloway, just south of Ayr, built by his father William Burnes with his own hands. The poet's world is scattered across the county. He farmed at Mossgiel near Mauchline, drank in Mauchline's Poosie Nansie's tavern, and set his great comic poem Tam o' Shanter along the road between Ayr and Alloway. Tam's terrifying ride ends at the Brig o' Doon, where the witches chase him and his grey mare Meg loses her tail just before she reaches the keystone of the bridge, as Nannie grabs at her. Every 25 January, Burns Suppers are held worldwide. Here, they feel like a family occasion. The Burns Cottage and the grand Burns Monument above the Doon are still visited by people from every continent.

Penicillin, pneumatic tyres and other Ayrshire firsts

For a county of farms and fishing ports, Ayrshire has an odd habit of changing how everyone lives. Sir Alexander Fleming, born at Lochfield farm near Darvel in 1881, discovered penicillin in 1928, and the drug has saved countless lives since. John Boyd Dunlop, born at Dreghorn near Irvine in 1840, developed a practical pneumatic tyre for his son's tricycle while working as a vet in Belfast in 1887-88. He patented it in 1888. Then there is William Murdoch, born at Lugar near Cumnock in 1754, who pioneered gas lighting. He lit his own house in Redruth in Cornwall with coal gas in the 1790s. Few counties can line up three such inventors so neatly.

Golf's front garden

Ayrshire's coast is some of the most famous golfing land on the planet. Prestwick Golf Club hosted the first Open Championship in 1860, when Willie Park Sr won, and the course helped put the sport on the global map. Troon's Old Course is famous for its short eighth hole, the Postage Stamp, one of the most feared par threes in golf. Royal Troon has staged the Open many times. Farther south, Turnberry on the Firth of Clyde has a lighthouse and a view of Ailsa Craig. It staged the 1977 Open, the legendary "Duel in the Sun" in which Tom Watson edged Jack Nicklaus.

Castles, cliffs and a cow with curly horns

Culzean Castle perches on cliffs above the Firth of Clyde, redesigned by Robert Adam from 1777 for the Kennedy family, Earls of Cassilis. Its grounds became Scotland's first country park. The county's farmland gave its name to the Ayrshire cow, a hardy dairy breed with striking red-and-white colouring and upswept horns. It was developed in the 18th century to thrive on the area's damp pastures and is still prized for its milk. The warm coastal strip also helps produce early new potatoes. Girvan's famed tatties and other local crops are a seasonal treat for many Scots.

Seaside towns, shipbuilders and a football town

Largs is a classic Clyde resort and the site of the 1263 Battle of Largs, where Scottish forces confronted the fleet of King Haakon IV of Norway. Today it is better known for ice cream, with Nardini's, founded by an Italian family, a local institution. Irvine was designated a New Town in 1966 and holds the Scottish Maritime Museum. Further up the coast, Saltcoats and Ardrossan are ferry and seaside towns, with Ardrossan's ferries heading to Arran. Kilmarnock is the county's biggest town and home to Kilmarnock FC, who play at Rugby Park. It is also where Burns's first book, the Kilmarnock Edition, was printed in 1786, a slim volume that made him famous almost overnight. Ayr United, nicknamed the Honest Men, play at Somerset Park.

Why the "Auld Alliance" of poems, pubs and potatoes endures

Ayrshire's pull is a mix of poetry and place. The county is split into the old districts of Carrick, Kyle and Cunninghame, names that appear on road signs and in local pride. Wallace, said to have been born near Ellerslie in Renfrewshire, is also linked to Ayr, where legend has it he took revenge for the Barns of Ayr. For visitors, a day can run from a Burns pilgrimage in Alloway to a stroll at Culzean, a round of golf at Turnberry and chips on the seafront at Largs. The pattern repeats season after season, which is perhaps why people keep returning.

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