Town in Ayrshire, Scotland

Kilmarnock

Kilmarnock gave the world Burns's first book, the striding man on a Johnnie Walker bottle and a league title won by a goal-average margin of about 0.04.

Key information

County: Ayrshire
Nation: Scotland
Known for: Johnnie Walker whisky, the Burns Kilmarnock Edition, Rugby Park and Dean Castle
Famous people: Johnnie Walker, John Wilson (printer of Burns), Willie Waddell, James Dick

About Kilmarnock

The town that printed Robert Burns

In 1786 a young Ayrshire farmer with debts and a bundle of poems found a printer willing to take a chance. That printer was John Wilson of Kilmarnock, and the book was Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect. Wilson ran off 612 copies, and they sold out within weeks. The book is still known as the Kilmarnock Edition, and it turned Robert Burns from a struggling farmer into a literary celebrity. The town has not forgotten it. The Burns Monument in Kay Park was unveiled in 1879. Its original tower was removed after a major fire in 2004, and the surviving monument was incorporated into the Burns Monument Centre, which opened in 2009. Inside the Dick Institute, the town's museum and library, you can follow the story further.

A grocer's shop and the world's most famous walking man

In 1820 John Walker opened a grocer's shop in Kilmarnock. He sold tea, spices and a little whisky. His son Alexander and later generations turned that whisky into a blended brand that eventually sold across the globe. The striding figure on the Johnnie Walker label dates from 1908, when the cartoonist Tom Browne drew him. He is a dapper gent in a top hat and tails, and he has been walking ever since. Kilmarnock kept its link with the brand for generations. Whisky was bottled in the town until the big Kilmarnock plant closed in 2012.

Why Killie fans still talk about 1965

Kilmarnock FC was founded in 1869, and the club plays at Rugby Park. The name is a reminder that rugby was played on the ground in the early days. In the 1964-65 season, Willie Waddell's side went to Tynecastle on the final day needing to beat Hearts by two goals. They won 2-0 and took the Scottish league title on goal average, a margin of about 0.04. Goal average was goals scored divided by goals conceded: Killie finished on roughly 1.879 and Hearts on 1.837. More trophies followed. Killie won the Scottish Cup in 1997, with a 1-0 win over Falkirk, and the League Cup in 2012, beating Celtic 1-0 in the final. In the 1960s they also reached the semi-finals of the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, where they lost to Leeds United.

A castle, a park and a gutta-percha fortune

Dean Castle is the town's medieval showpiece, a 14th-century stronghold of the Boyd family. It sits in a country park with woods, a river glen and plenty of room for dog walkers. The Dick Institute owes its name to James Dick, a local man who made money from gutta-percha, the rubbery material used for everything from golf balls to waterproofing. He gave the town a museum, library and art gallery, and it opened in 1901. Kay Park, with its monument to Burns, is the green heart of the town, and a good place to see how a Victorian industrial centre dressed itself up.

Railways, engines and Kilmarnock bonnets

Kilmarnock grew into a centre of industry. The Kilmarnock and Troon Railway opened in 1812 and was one of the earliest railways in Scotland. Locomotive builders, valve makers, carpet weavers and shoe makers followed. Earlier, the town was known for its woollen bonnets, and the Kilmarnock bonnet was a familiar piece of Scottish headgear. The town has always made things, whether tweed caps, locomotives or whisky. Locals simply call the place Killie, and the football team shares the name. Ask which one someone means, and you may get the same answer either way.