X-Nico

unusual facts about Giffordland, Ayrshire



Alexander Speirs

Their son Archibald Alexander Speirs was MP for Renfrewshire and their daughter married to Colonel Alexander of Ballochmyle, M.P. for Ayrshire.

Archibald Elliot

He was also involved with work on many country houses in Scotland, including Blair Castle and Taymouth Castle in Perthshire, Loudoun Castle in Ayrshire, and Stobo Castle in Peeblesshire.

Auchenharvie Colliery

Auchenharvie Colliery was a colliery formerly located in the Auchenharvie area of Stevenston, Ayrshire, Scotland that was devastated by a pit disaster on August 2, 1895 in which nine lives were lost.

Ayr and Maybole Junction Railway

The Ayr and Maybole Junction Railway (A&MJR) was a railway in Ayrshire, Scotland that provided services between Ayr and Maybole.

Ayrshire and Renfrewshire Football League

For membership, it drew upon Junior football teams based in the south-western Scottish counties of Ayrshire and Renfrewshire.

Battle of Turnberry

The Battle of Turnberry was a battle fought in February 1307 during the Scottish Wars of Independence near Turnberry, Ayrshire, Scotland.

Benjamin Hall Kennedy

He was born at Summer Hill, near Birmingham, the eldest son of Rann Kennedy (1772–1851), of a branch of the Ayrshire family which had settled in Staffordshire.

Burns Club Atlanta

Shortly after the club’s formation, plans were made to construct for a clubhouse an exact replica of Robert Burns' birthplace in Alloway, Ayrshire, Scotland.

Club events are held in the Atlanta Burns Cottage, a 1911 replica of poet Robert Burns' birthplace in Alloway, Ayrshire, Scotland.

Castle and Barony of Robertland

The lairds of Robertland, like their fellow lairds at Caldwell, Giffordland, Lyne and elsewhere, kept a town house in Irvine.

Chronic progressive lymphedema

Scientists at UC Davis Center for Equine Health are continuing research on the disease with the interest, cooperation and financial support from Ayrshire Farms of Upperville, Virginia.

Cordite

A smaller site at Girvan, South Ayrshire, now occupied by Grant's distillery, produced cordite and TNT.

Crisis at the Castle

The series chronicled the financial troubles at British castles Kelburn Castle, Ayrshire, Burton Court, Herefordshire and Sudeley Castle, Gloucestershire.

Dalry and North Johnstone Line

The Dalry and North Johnstone Line (also known as the Lochwinnoch Loop Line or Kilbarchan Loop Line) was a branch of the Glasgow and South Western Railway (G&SWR) in Renfrewshire and Ayrshire, Scotland, connecting the stations in Elderslie and Dalry via a route running parallel to the existing line built by the Glasgow, Paisley, Kilmarnock and Ayr Railway.

David Mackie

His parents, David and Janet (Barclay) Mackie, who lived and died in Ayrshire.

David Wedderburn

Sir David Wedderburn, 3rd Baronet (1835–1882), Scottish Member of Parliament for South Ayrshire 1868–1874 and for Haddington Burghs 1879–1882

Doonfoot

The beach at Doonfoot is popular in summer but, like many beaches along the Ayrshire coast, has failed to meet European Union standards for cleanliness under the Blue Flag scheme.

Firth of Clyde

The Firth of Clyde encloses the largest and deepest coastal waters in the British Isles, sheltered from the Atlantic Ocean by the Kintyre peninsula which encloses the outer firth in Argyll and Ayrshire, Scotland.

General Terminus and Glasgow Harbour Railway

Its main function was intended to be the transportation of coal from collieries and Lanarkshire and Ayrshire, over other railways, to a coal depot on the south bank of the River Clyde.

Glen's Vodka

It is produced by Glen Catrine Bonded Warehouse, a company based in Catrine, Ayrshire.

Grange Academy

Grange Academy, Kilmarnock, a secondary school located in Ayrshire, Scotland

Greenwood Academy

Greenwood Academy, Dreghorn, a secondary school in Dreghorn, North Ayrshire, Scotland

Harry McGowan, 1st Baron McGowan

McGowan was appointed a KBE in 1928 and 0n 24 February 1937 he was raised to the peerage as Baron McGowan, of Ardeer in the County of Ayr.

Helen Alexander

She is still today a "household name" in the west of Scotland; in the mountain glens and moors of Ayrshire and Galloway and the Pentlands, chapbooks still tell her marvellous story of courage and devoutness.

Hessilhead Loch

The Kilmarnock Standard in 1949 wrote an article Ancient Ayrshire Castles in which it was stated that the castle stood in the middle of a loch with ditches, presumably meaning a moat.

Hugh Montgomerie, 12th Earl of Eglinton

His best known work is the dance tune "Ayrshire Lasses", and other composers dedicated works to him, including Thomas Arne and John Turnbull.

Hugh Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery

Montgomery was born in Ayrshire at Broadstone Castle, near Beith.

James Pillans

After graduation he acted as tutor, first to Thomas Francis Kennedy at Dunure, Ayrshire, next in a family in Northumberland, where he had the opportunity of speaking French.

Kilmarnock and Troon Railway

The Kilmarnock and Troon Railway was an early railway line in Ayrshire, Scotland.

Kirkconnel

The early church and settlement were situated at the foot of Kirkland Hill on the drove road from Ayrshire to Lanarkshire, which followed the steep incline beside the Glenaylmer Burn.

Kirkmichael

This serves as the village hall and in 1898 was gifted to the village by James McCosh, President of Princeton University, whose family came from this part of Ayrshire.

Loch of Stair

The Loch of Stair was a typical Ayrshire post-glacial 'Kettle Hole', situated in a low lying area below the farm of Loch Hill, in the Parish of Stair, East Ayrshire, Scotland.

Lorna Hood

In 2013 Lorna Hood accepted Honorary Membership of the Irvine Burns Club offered in recognition of her achievements, links with Ayrshire and her interest in the life and legacy of Robert Burns.

Margaret Cruwys

She was born in Ayr, Ayrshire, Scotland, and was the daughter of Alexander Houghton Abercrombie, an officer in the 21st Royal Scots Fusiliers.

Marr RFC

Marr College RFC is a rugby union team based in Troon, Ayrshire, Scotland.

Millport

Millport, Cumbrae, a town on the island of Cumbrae in North Ayrshire, Scotland

Robert Dunsmuir

At the time of his birth, his family was engaged in the coal business in his native Ayrshire.

Scottish District local elections, 1977

This election was also the first serious test of the new Scottish Labour Party of Jim Sillars which did not do well outside his South Ayrshire base, only winning three seats.

Scottish Fallow budgerigar mutation

The Fallows with the faint iris ring were good quality exhibition birds and became known as "Moffat" or Scottish Fallows after their owner, Jim Moffat, of Saltcoats, Ayrshire, Scotland.

Scottish Yeomanry

Through their service as Scottish Infantry Battalions in the First World War each of the Squadrons could claim the rights to a Regimental tartan; Hunting Erskine tartan from the Royal Scots Fusiliers for the Ayrshire and Lanarkshire Yeomanries, Mackenzie of Seaforth tartan from the Highland Light Infantry for the Queen's Own Royal Glasgow Yeomanry and Government tartan from the Black Watch for the Fife & Forfar Yeomanry.

Silverburn Centre

Catering for a target population from across Scotland, the Centre will arguably benefit Ayrshire, especially with the completion of the M77 to Kilmarnock.

Sleeping Warrior

The Sleeping Warrior is the profile of the north Arran hills as seen from the Ayrshire coast.

The Lord of the Isles

The combatants are dispersed with no bloodshed only by the combined offices of Lord Ronald himself, aided by a visiting Abbot: whereupon Bruce quickly removes himself to first the Island of Sky, and then Ayrshire: raising the an army willing to rout the English and re-establish fight for Scottish independence.

Thomas Farrall

In 1877, Farrall helped the Ayrshire Cattle Society to compile the Ayrshire Herd Book, which contained a portrait of the famous Ayrshire cow, ‘Colly Hills’, considered at the time the finest specimen of its breed.

Thomas Miller, Lord Glenlee

Born in Edinburgh on 3 November 1717 the son of William Miller of Glenlee WS, Kirkcudbrightshire and of Barskimming, Ayrshire, and Janet Hamilton, he was educated at Glasgow University (1730) and Edinburgh University (1738).

Thorntoun house and estate

By the beginning of the seventeenth century Thorntoun had passed into the ownership of another ancient and renowned Ayrshire family, the Mures (or Muirs), a branch of the Mures of Rowallan Castle near Kilmaurs.

Turnberry, Ailsa Course

The Turnberry Ailsa Course is a well-known golf course in Turnberry, Ayrshire.

Volvo Ailsa B55

Ayrshire independent operator A1 Service, whose operating area included the Ailsa plant in Irvine, also purchased several of the vehicles new, increasing its fleet where it could through the purchase of used vehicles.


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