Rambles Round Kilmarnock
by Archibald R Adamson
Book supplied and transcribed by Christene Geis for which many thanks.

RAMBLE
ROUND KILMARNOCK

WITH AN INTRODUCTORY SKETCH OF THE TOWN.
BY
ARCHIBALD R. ADAMSON.
__________________

KILMARNOCK:
PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY T. STEVENSON, “STANDARD” OFFICE
MDCCCLXXV

CONTENTS

• Preface

• Click here to see map of Kilmarnock
  This map provided by Streetmap.co.uk and you can zoom in to see the street map.

Kilmarnock Town Centre

First Part

• Chapter 1
  Progress of the Town-The Cross-Flesh Market Bridge--Corn Exchange--Clerk’s Lane--Fore Street--High Church and Burying Ground--King Street--Wellington Street--Fever Hospital--Portland Street.

• Chapter 2
  Green Bridge and its environs--London Road--Milldykes--The Irving and Struthers’ Steps--Saint Andrew’s Burying Ground and Church--Glencairn Square and its associations--High Glencairn Street--King Street--King Street U.P. Church--The Council House.

• Chapter 3
  Cheapside Street--The Old Tolbooth--The Low Church of former days and its associations--The Churchyard--Dickie Street--Dunlop Street--The Astronomical Observatory--Langlands Street--The New Theatre--St. Marnock Street--The Court-House--Kilmarnock House--Dundonald Road--The Public Park--Waterside--Sandbed Street.

Kilmarnock 25th Sept. 2013

Second Part

• Chapter I
  The Bridges connecting Kilmarnock with Riccarton, and the objects of interest in their vicinity--Caprington Castle--Riccararton Castle: its site and traditions--Traditions of Sir William Wallace--Riccarton--The Parish Church--Sandy M'Crone--The Church-yard--Old Stones--The East Shaw Street Miser--The Old Church--Village Worthies--The Village past and present--The Manse.
• Chapter II
  Craigie Road--Knowehead and its surroundings--The Buchanan Bequest--Treesbank Manor House--Scargie--John Burtt--Knockmarloch--Craigie Hill--Craigie Hill--Craigie Church--The Village--The Witch Stane--Craigie Castle--A Strange Story--A Curious Stone.
• Chapter III
  From Craigie to Barnweill--Barnweill Kirk and Graveyard--The Wallace Monument--Fail Castle--The Warlock Laird--Tarbolton--Willie's Mill--Peden's Pulpit and Cave--Through the Fields to Ayr Road--The Halfway House--The Estate of Coodham--Peace-and-Plenty--Back to Kilmarnock.
• Chapter IV
  Wild flowers--The Macwheelan Murder--The Cairn--Symington--The Church and Graveyard--Witherington--Old Sandy Neil--"Laird" M'Pherson--"Jock o' the Whalps"--The Glen.
• Chapter V
  The House of Auchans--Dundonald Castle--The Village and Parish Church--Extracts from the Parochial Registers--Smuggling--Tam Fullarton--Newfield--"Fairlie o' the Five Lums"--Old Rome--Home again.
• Chapter VI
  Beansburn--Dean Castle: its situation and appearance--The Castle besieged--Destroyed by fire--A Tradition of the Persecution--The Boyd Family--From the Dean to Craufurdland--Craufurd-land Castle and Grounds--Craufurdland Bridge--Up the Stream to Fenwick.
• Chapter VII
  Low Fenwick--Old John Kirkland--"The Kirk-town."--The erection of the Parish and orign of the name--The Parish Church and Burying Ground--The Rev. William Guthrie--The Burial Place of the Howies--Captain Paton.
• Chapter VIII
  The Churchyard continued--John Fulton--King's Well-Lochgoin: its Traditions and Relics--Duntan Cove--Back to Kilmarnock.
• Chapter IX
  The influence of sunshine--Glasgow Road and its scenery--An Adventure--Specimens of Kilmaurs cutlery--The Reservoir--From it to Rowallan Castle--The situation and appearance of the Castle described--The interior of the building--The garden--A fox story--Traditions.
• Chapter X
  The origin and descent of the Mures of Rowallan--A letter from Queen Mary to Sir John Mure--Sir William Mure: his writings and version of Psalm xxiii.: events in his life--The last of the Mures--The late Countess of Loudoun's attachment to the Castle --The grounds the resort of pleasure parties--An Address to Rowallan--A ride into the town.
• Chapter XI
  From Kilmarnock to Stewarton--The Parish and its Boundaries--The Town: its Buildings, Trades, and Eminent Characters--Corsehill Castle and its Traditions--The Parish Church--The late William Cunninghame of Lainshaw--The Churchyard--The Viaduct--Lainshaw Castle--The Murder of Hugh, fourth Earl of Eglinton.
• Chapter XII
  From Stewarton to Kilmaurs--The appearance of the Village--The Council House and Juggs--Kilmaurs of the olden time: its Government and Churches--The Monk's Well--My Lord's Place --Jock's Thorn--Kilmaurs Castle--The Glencairn Family--An Incident.
• Chapter XIII
  Kilmaurs continued--The old Church: its appearance and history--An Anecdote of the Rev. Hugh Thomson--The Glencairn Aisle and Monument--The appearance of the Vault when opened--A Ghastly Keepsake--The Rev. George Paxton--"Wee Miller"--"The Double Suicide"--The Old Manse--Covenanting Relics--A Stroll along Crosshouse Road--The Estate of Plann--Busbie Castle--The Tumulii at Greenhill Farm--Home again.
• Chapter XIV
  From Kilmarnock to Grougar--The ruins of Tammie Raeburn's Cottage--His self-imposed vow, personal appearance, courtship, witticisms, &c.--Grougar Row--Loudoun Kirk--The Gueir--Lady Flora Hastings: her melancholy death: the character of her poems--Janet Little, the poetical correspondent of Robert Burns--George Palmer--An obscure Covenanter--A relic of Loudoun Kirk.
• Chapter XV
  The Policies of Loudoun Castle--The external and internal appearance of the building--The family portraits--The Library--The old Yew Tree--The Loudoun Family, and salient points in the history of some of its members--The old Castle of Loudoun: its destruction by the Kennedys, &c.
• Chapter XVI
  Loudoun Braes--Newmilns: its appearance, history and trade--The Radical proclivities of the inhabitants--The old Tower, and incidents associated with it--The Parish Church--Norman Macleod--The Churchyard--Interesting Tombstones commemorative of Nisbet of Hardhill and other Covenanting natives of the Parish who suffered during the Persecution--The Workmen's Institute --"The Lass o' Patie's Mill."
• Chapter XVII
  The village of Darvel: its appearance and trade--Loudoun Hill and its Historic Associations--Wallace's Attack on the English Convoy--A Scottish Victory--Drumclog--The Laird of Torfoot's account of the Battle--His fight with Captain Arrol and his encounter with Claverhouse--The appearance of the field after the engagement--The Covenanters and their achievements.
• Chapter XVIII
  From Newmilns to Galston--The Institue--Barr Castle--The Boss Tree--Cessnock Castle--The appearance of the buildings--The Campbells of Cessnock--Sire Hew, and the charges brought against him--The Alienation of the Castle and Lands--The main Street of Galston--The Parish Church and Graveyard--Stones commemorative of local Covenanters--John Wright, the Galston Poet--Titchfield Street--A mining Settlement--From Galston to Hurlford--The Village: its buildings and inhabitants--Crookedholm--Back to Kilmarnock--Conclusion.

The Rise and Fall of Kilmarnock

In the 1970s a large area of Kilmarnock on the east side of The Cross was demolished to make way for the Burns Shopping Mall. Whole streets: Regent Street, Duke Street and Waterloo Street, along with all the alleys, lanes, wynds, vennels and closes linking all the buildings, were swept away by town planners who reckoned in all their misplaced wisdom that this part of Kilmarnock town centre had become obsolete. No thought was given to the architectural heritage of what was being destroyed, and many stunningly beautiful buildings were bulldozed. Historically important structures were flattened during what can only be described as a period of monumental madness. The old Star Inn and the close leading to it from Waterloo Street was one of many structural casualties. This was where John Wilson had his printing business, and where he printed the 'Kilmarnock Edition' of poems by Robert Burns. In demolishing such a large and historically significant area of the town to build the Burns Shopping Mall, Kilmarnock was effectively shooting itself in the foot. It was a scandal of epic proportions from which Kilmarnock never fully recovered.

Second Edition

TO WHICH IS ADDED, AN ACCOUNT OF THE BURNS MONUMENT AND KAY PARK INAGUARTION.

KILMARNOCK: PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY DUNLOP & DRENNAN, "STANDARD" OFFICE.

See also his book "Rambles Through The Land of Burns"