Scotland > 1882-1915 - Slater's Royal National Commercial Directory of Scotland > 1903, Part 1 - Slater's Royal National Commercial Directory of Scotland ... (Royal National Directory of Scotland.) With ... map, etc

DIRECTORY.]
Findlay John, Duncanzie muir
Findlay Robert, Dalsalloch
Gibb Charles & Henry, Barchachlan
Gibson Alexander & James, Stonebriggs
Hamilton James, Tareoch, Muirkirk
Harper Robert & James, Carbello & Moss-
house, Cumnock
Harvey William, Templelandshaw, Mauch-
line R.P.0
Hayman Misses Agnes & Margt. Underwood
Hettrick William. Mill Affleck
Howat John, Stevenston
Hunter Thomas, Templand mains, Cumnock
AYRSHIRE.
Jamieson John, Langholm
Kennedy John, Broomfield
Kerr Thomas, Blackstone
Latta John, sen. Castle Kyle
Latta John, jun. Glenmuirshaw
Latta Robert & William, Dalblair
McCall Miss Margaret, Pinbrack, Muirkirk
M'Cormick Mrs. John, Braehead, Cumnock
M'Kerrow David, Roddinghead
Mitchell Mrs. James, Back Roger ton
Pearson James, Dickson, Cumnock
Pearson Thomas, Sunnyside, Cumnock
Peden John, Oldbyre
AYR.
225
Picken Andrew, Boghead & Welltrees
Samson Miss, Dernlaw
Samson William, Knockroom
Sloan Mrs. Townhead
Smith Joseph. Bridge End mill
Smith William, Glenside
Smith William, Thirdpart
Struthers Alexander, Whiteholm, Glenside
& Dornal, Cumnock
Struthers Gavin, High Glenmuir, Cumnock
Templeton Messrs. Knowe
Wallace Mrs. Elizabeth, Berryhill
Wardrop William & Thomas, Rigg
AYR is a seaport and royal bnrgh. the
oaT>Itnl of the county, a parish and head ot
a sheriff: court district and of the poor com-
bination of Kylp, and of a petty sessional
oonrt. on the eastern shore of the Firth of
CIvde, occiipviner hoth pides of the mouth
of' the river Ayr. The South Western Rail-
way hns a station here, with lines of rail
from Glasgow. Ardmssan. Troon, &c. in
the north, and' from Dalmellington and
Carlisle and Girvan and Stranraer in the
donth, and one running east to Muirkirk,
&o. ; and the Caledonian railway work a
line to Muirkirk and the north and south,
77 miles west-south-west of Edinburgh, 33
south-south-west of Glasgow, 34 south-
south-west of Paisley, 12 south-south-west
of Kilmarnock and 11 south of Irvine. The
parish extends 5 miles from north to south
hv 3 in breadth, and is bounded south by
Mavhole. east hv Dalrymple and Coylton,
and north hy Monkton
In the 12th century, when the town was
founded by William the Lion, traces of
Romnn station wppp still extant Wallace
appears tn hnvp relieved it from an English
garrison, and Cromwell fortified it, using
for the purpose the old church and g ving
the inhabitants a Grant of money with
which they built what is now known as the
nld kirk, on the site of a Dominican priory.
The river is crossed by two bridges, cele-
brated bv Burns as " the twa briggs of
Ayr;" the old bridge built in the 13th
cenburv, and tbc new one in 1788, and re-
built in 1878.
The municipal burgh of Ayr is formed
by the districts of Newton and Wallace-
town, in conjunction with Ayr proper, and
the civil crovernment is vested in a provost,
four bailies, a dean of guild, a treasurer
andi eleven councillors. For parliamentary
purposes Ayr is connected with the burgh
of Irvine, in ths county, and Campbeltown,
Inveraray and Oban, in Argyllshire, the
group rp'turning one member tto Parliament.
The municipal burgh of Ayr was*, up to
1895, within the parishes of Ayr, Newton-
on-Ayr and St. Quivox. but by a Local
Government Order, elated 15th May, 1895,
these three parishes were united under the
one parish of Ayr.
The convenience for shipping is superior
to most of the town* on the coast, as the
harbour has been much improved by the
construction of an extensive stone pier,
affording a greater depth of water and se-
curity for vessels. A dock, eght acres in
extent, with a quay space of 2,000 feet,
constructed at a cost of £150,000, has a
depth of water at low tide of 15 feet. In
1897 the south side of the harbour was
entirely rebuilt, at a cost of £23,000, and
the Glasgow and South Western Railway
Co. are about to build a Dew bridge to the
south side of the harbour, and thus afford
greater facilities for the iron ore and
limestone traffic. The income of the Har-
bour Trust for 1901 was £33,357. An ex-
tensive trade is carried on in the exporb of
coal from this place to Ireland. Mines of
this article, as well as fine quarries of
stone, abound in the neighbourhood. The
other principal exports consist of iron.
coal-tar and lampblack. The total value in
1902 was £13,464. The imports comprise
iron ore, limestone, hides, tallow, barley,
yarn, linen, timber, deals and hemp. The
total value of the imports in 1902 was
/168.461. The tonnage of vessels that
entered the port in 1902 was 66,381 tons,
of which 26,106 were of vessels arriving
from ports without the United Kingdom.
In the general coasting trade 1,097 vessels
of 126,362 tons entered the port, and in the
trade between Great Britain and Ireland
1,535 vessels of 19S.054 tonnage. Th€
number of vessels registered under Part I
of the "Merchant Shipping Act, 1894," as
AYR.
belonging to the port December 31, 1902
was 19 of 1,279 tons. Fishing boats and
their implements are to be distinguished
by the letters A. R. The amount of cus
toms revenue received in 1902 was /"12,834.
A weekly market is held on Tuesdays for
grain, cattle and dairy produce. Fairs for
horses and cattle are held on the Friday
before the second Wednesday in January;
the third Tuesday in April, for hiring; the
luet Friday in April, for cattle; the Thurs-
day before the second Monday and third
Thursday in July; third Tuesday in Octo-
ber, for hiring; and on the second Friday
in October.
The town is lighted with electric light,
installed in 1895 at a cost of about £20,000,
and with gas supplied by two companies,
and is supplied with water from Loch Finlas
and the Milton springs, both supplies being
of excellent character and abundant in
quantity. The Corporation Electric Tram-
ways, opened in Sept. 1901, pass through
the town from Prestwick Cross to Alloway
(Burns' Monument). The Town's buildmgs,
New Bridge street, erected in 1828, at a
cost of £10,000, include a tower, with
spire 219 feet in height; the spacious hall,
capable of containing about 1,500 persons,
was destroyed by fire in 1897, but rebuilt
in 1903; the buildings still afford offices
for the town clerk, town chamberlain ani*
Corporation water works; here also the
burgh records are kept and the burgh
courts held. The " Wallace Tower," in
High street, built in 1830, on the site of
an ancient lower, has on its front a statue
of Wallace, by Thorn. A second statue of
this warrior occupies a niche in the wall
of a house in the corner of Newmarket
street. Wellington square is a fine quad-
rangle, having on the west side the court
house and hall, built ab the joint expense
of the county and burgh, at a cost exceed-
ing £30,000. Two statues in bronze have
been placed within the square, one to
Archibald William, 13th Earl of Eglinton,
lord lieutentant of the county, and for
some years Viceroy of Ireland, who died 4
October, 1861, and the other to Brigadier-
Gen, J. G. Neill C.B. born in the square,
and killed at Lucknow, 25th September,
1857. A gun, captured at Sevastopol,
stands in the enclosure round the County
buildings. His Majesty's gaol is at the
back of the County buildings, its front
looking upon the bay.
The Volunteer Drill Hall, in Alloway
street, erected in 1902, contains a large
hall 97 by 50 feet, together with officers'
mess rooms, sergeants' mess room, reading
rooms, gymnasium &c. It is also let for
balls, concerts &c.
The new Gaiety Theatre, in Carrick
street, was opened by a public company
in 1902.
Ayr Academy, founded by subscription in
1796, is conducted by a rector, with five
masters and fifteen assistants. The present
building was erected at a cost of about
£10,000, and the management is now under
the Burgh School Board, the school ranking
as a high class school under the Education
Act. The Carnegie Public Library, in Main
street, Newton, was erected in 1893, at a
cost of upwards of £10,000, by A. Carnegie
esq. of Stobo Castle; it contains 15,000
volumes in the lending and 6,000 volumes
in the reference library. Three newspapers
are published in Ayr, namely, the " Ayr
Observer," on Tuesday and Friday; the
" Ayrshire Post," on Friday; and the
" Advertiser," on Thursday. Races are
'ield annually in September. The Earl of
Eglinton's pack of foxhounds hunts the
county four times a week; the kennels
ire at Kilwinning, and there are curling
md bowling clubs. The charitable insti-
tutions are numerous and liberally con-
ducted; the poor are assisted from funds
arising from lands and donations, and a
dispensary gives medical and surgical aid
to the sick. The Ayr County Hospital,
formerly in Mill street, was removed in
1883 to new buildings in the Holmston road,
erected in that year, at a cost of about
£20,000, and containing 100 beds; in 1898
there were 889 in and 613 out patients.
There is also an Industrial school in St.
Leonard's road, erected in 1875, for 100
boys, and a Merchants' Society, estab-
lished in 1655, with a fund formed in
1821 for decayed members, their widows
and orphans. There are three churches of
the Establishment in the town, two in
Newton, one in Wallacetown and one in
St. Quivox, and places of worship for
the United Free church and Reformed
Presbyterians, Episcopalians, Wesleyan
Methodists, Moravians, Original Seceders,
Evangelical Unionists and Roman Catholics.
The parish church of Sb. John, which re-
placed the" old churcli taken by Cromwell
for his fort, was founded in 1650, on the
site of the Dominican priory. The pulpit
was transferred to it from the old church
of St. John ; within the church are several
mural tablets, including one to General
Neill, who fell at the siege of Lucknow;
h1<?o the old colours of the 21st Royal Scots
Fusiliers, and a brass tablet of the officers
and men who fell in South Africa. Robert
Burns, the poet, was born about 2 miles to
the south, in the parish of Alloway (which
see), and Andrew Michael Ramsay, his-
torian and biographer, commonly called the
" Chevalier Ramsay," was also born here,
9 June, 1686. At a short distance on the
southern shore is Greenan Castle, a rect-
angular structure, on the summit of a rock
overhanging the sea. In the same direction,
on a clear day, may be discerned Ailsa
Craig, rising nearly 1,100 feet perpen-
dicularly out of the sea. Richard Alexander
Oswald esq. (vice-lieutenant), of Auchin-
cruive, J. A. Campbell esq. of Craigie,
George Coats esq. of Belleisle, James Coats
esq. of Auchendrane, and William Hamilton
Dunlop esq. of Doonside, are the principal
landowners.
The area of the old parish of Ayr com-
prised 6,939 acres and the new parish is
12,494 acres; rateable value, £180,025; the
population in 1901 was 28,620, including
109 in the County Hospital, 571 in the
District Asylum, 152 in Kyle Combination
Poorhouse and 91 in H.M. Prison, and 144
military in the barracks ; the population
of the wards in 1901 was, First, 3.979;
Second, 3.699; Third, 1,271; Fourth, 1,949;
Fifth, 10,691; Sixth, 7,031. The population
of the ecclesiastical parishes in 1901 was:
St. John (parish church), 8,373; Newton-
upon-Ayr, 10,708; St. Leonard's, 3,628; St.
Quivox, 1,695; Wallacetown, 6,555. The
population of the parliamentary district of
burghs in 1901 was 50,255. The number of
electors on the Ayr parliamentary register
in 1903 was 3,782.
Newton, formerly a parish, but now
amalgamated with Ayr, is divided from that
place by the river, and here the principal
manufactures of the town are carried on.
There are two chemical works, a carpet
factory, lace works, two shoe factories and
several other manufacturing establishments.
The railway communicates on this side
with the harbour and dock, and the mineral
products of the upper portion of the county
are mostly shipped here.
St. Quivox, a populous parish, amal-
amated with bhe parish of Ayr by a Local
Government Order, dated May, 1895, lies
on the banks of the Ayr river, and is
bounded on the east by Tarbolton, and on
e west by Newton of Ayr and Monkton.
The parish, which is nearly all arable, is
finely enclosed and beautified by plantations.
SCOT.
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