pier projecting some distance into the
sea, and on the north by a breakwater with a commodious dry dock. There are
esplanades to the south and north of the harbour. The town is governed by a
provost and council, and unites with Irvine, Inveraray, Campbeltown and
Oban in returning one member to parliament.

In 1873 the municipal boundary was extended northwards beyond the river so
as to include Newton-upon-Ayr and Wallace Town, formerly separate. Newton
is a burgh or barony of very ancient creation, the charter of which is
traditionally said to have been granted by Robert Bruce in favour of
forty-eight of the inhabitants who had distinguished themselves at
Bannockburn. The suburb is now almost wholly occupied with manufactures,
the chief of which are chemicals, boots and shoes, carpets and lace. It is
on the Glasgow & South-Western railway, and has a harbour and dock from
which coal and goods are the main exports. About 3 m. north of Ayr is
Prestwick, a popular watering-place and the headquarters of one of the most
flourishing golf clubs in Scotland. The outstanding attraction of Ayr,
however, is the pleasant suburb of Alloway, 2-1/2 m. to the south, with
which there is frequent communication by electric cars. The "auld clay
biggin" in which Robert Burns was born on the 25th of January 1759, has
been completely repaired and is now the property of the Ayr Burns's
Monument trustees. In the kitchen is the box bed in which the poet was
born, and many of the articles of furniture belonged to his family.
Adjoining the cottage is a museum of Burnsiana. The "auld haunted kirk,"
though roofless, is otherwise in a fair state of preservation, despite
relic-hunters who have removed all the woodwork. In the churchyard is the
grave of William Burness, the poet's father. Not far distant, on a
conspicuous position close by the banks of the Doon, stands the Grecian
monument to Burns, in the grounds of which is the grotto containing Thorn's
figures of Tam o' Shanter and Souter Johnnie.

Nothing is known of the history of Ayr till the close of the 12th century,
when it was made a royal residence, and soon afterwards a royal burgh, by
William the Lion. During the wars of Scottish independence the possession
of Ayr and its castle was an object of importance to both the contending
parties, and the town was the scene of many of Wallace's exploits. In 1315
the Scottish parliament met in the church of St John to confirm the
succession of Edward