AYRSHIRE, a county in the west of Scotland, considerable for its population and industry, is bounded by Wigtonshire and the stewartry of Kirkcudbright on the south, by the counties of Dumfries and Lanark on the north-east and east, by Renfrewshire on the north, and by the Irish Sea and the Frith of Clyde for about 70 miles on the west. It contains about 1060 square miles, or 665,600 statute acres, consisting of the following descriptions of soil, viz. clay soil 261,960 acres, sand or light soil 120,110 acres, and of moss and moorlands 283,530 acres. About one half of the whole is now under cultivation. The middle part of the county is broadest, and extends to about 25 miles across, both ends diminishing to a few miles in breadth. The high ridgy land which stretches along its eastern boundary shuts it out, in a general sense, from the adjacent counties, and the surface inclines either to the sea or to the rivers which flow towards it. Ayrshire possesses only six rivers of note, Ayr, Stinchar, Girvan, Doon, Irvine, and Garnock; but the streams are very numerous, and fresh-water lakes abound, of which Doon is the most extensive, and the parent of the river bearing that name. None of the mountains are deserving of particular notice. In former times the shire was divided into three districts; Carrick, lying on the southern side of the Doon; Kyle, lying between the rivers Doon and Irvine; and Cunningham, comprehending the whole of the county north of the river Irvine. These divisions, although abolished by the statute, still continue to be recognised in statistical descriptions of the county. Carrick is a hilly, wild region, and only of value in its northern quarter. It contains nine parishes, and comprises 393 square miles. Kyle possesses much valuable land towards the coast, but the interior is rough and mountainous; it contains twenty-one parishes, with a superficies of 403 square miles. But the most fertile part of the county is Cunningham, which is comparatively level, comprising 244 square miles, and sixteen parishes. The valued rent is L.l 91,605 0s. 7d. Scots, and in 1811 the real rent of the lands was L.336,471 lθs., and that of the houses L.22,823 sterling. The division of property is considered as not unfavourable to the prosperity of the different classes of the population, though it appears that more than a third part of the whole county is held under settlements of entail. The advantages possessed by Ayrshire, besides its sea-coast and several excellent harbours, may be traced to the coal and limestone found in great abundance in almost every part of it,—the one so necessary to its manufactures, and the other to its agriculture; and the chief natural disadvantage under which it labours is the humidity of its climate, aggravated by the quality of a considerable part of the soil, which is a tenacious clay.

Agriculture, according to the more approved courses of nanagement, has nevertheless made considerable progress of late in this county. The old rotation of three consecutive crops of corn, followed by six years hay and pasture, has been very generally abandoned in the new eases; and, on the better soils, an alternation of white and green crops, and an interchange of tillage and pasturage, as in the eastern counties of Scotland, begin to prevail. The dairy is, however, the chief object of attention to the Ayrshire husbandmen, and their valuable breed of cows, and rich yet mild cheese known by the name of Dunlop cheese, are in great repute in most parts of Britain. Their horses, under the general name of Clydesdale or Lanarkshire horses, are equal, if not superior, to those of any other race in the island; almost every small farmer (and the farms are generally too smalD either rearing one or more himself, or purchasing them when young, and reselling them to the eastern counties after a year or two of very moderate labour. Nevertheless, it must be admitted that the agriculture of Ayrshire is much inferior to that of the counties on the east coast. No regular system of cleansing and manuring the soil, nor of fallowing and draining the wet lands, is to be seen throughout the greater part of the district. The size of the farms is commonly from 50 to 150 acres, affording little scope for the employment of capital or the division of labour; and yet the rents are surprisingly high, some favoured spots bringing not less than eight pounds or guineas an acre.

Ayrshire, as a manufacturing district, seems to stand next in importance among the Scotish counties to the contiguous shires of Lanark and Renfrew. Various branches of the woollen manufacture are carried on to a considerable extent in different parts of it. In Kilmarnock, harness and printed worsted shawls are manufactured to the yearly amount of L.200,000, carpets to L.100,000, boots and shoes to L.32,000, and bonnets to L.12,000; and besides the public establishments there, and in other parts of the county, many private families in almost every parish take a share in the manufacture of blankets and coarse cloths; a part of which, after supplying their own wants, is carried to the fairs and markets of the county. Beith has long been noted for its thread manufacture. But the cotton works at Catrine are by far the most extensive of all its manufactories, employing about 1800 hands, who are said to make 35,000 yards of cloth per week. At Muirkirk and Glenbuck, pig and bar iron are wrought to a great extent, and founderies have been erected there and in other places. Leather, saddlery, earthenware, kelp, and salt, are the only other kinds of manufacture worthy of notice in this county.

Ayr, Irvine, and Saltcoats, were, till very lately, the only harbours much frequented; and at these places there has long been a little trade with Ireland, America, and the Baltic, and a considerable trade coastwise. The port of Ayr has 60 small vessels of about 6000 tons burden; and Irvine, Saltcoats, Troon, Ardrossan, Largs, and Arran, 100 vessels of about 10,000 tons burden. Coal is the staple article of export, and corn the most considerable of its imports; the ports on the Clyde having hitherto been the grand emporium of the w^est of Scotland.

This county exhibits examples of public spirit in its great landed proprietors beyond any other in Scotland, or probably in the British empire. The harbour and other works at Ardrossan, begun under the auspices of the late Earl of Eglintoun, the harbour of Troon, and the railway from thence to Kilmarnock, formed almost entirely at the expense of the Duke of Portland, are worthy monuments, no less of the enlightened judgment and energy, than of the wealth, of these two patriotic noblemen; and the distant prospect of remuneration, which it is much to be wished could be amply realized, can detract in no respect from the merit of such grand and princely undertakings.

The harbour of Ardrossan has been for many years in a state to receive shipping, and is considered as one of the safest, most capacious, and most accessible on the west coast of Scotland; possessing many advantages over the [7:4:260]harbours in the Frith of Clyde, situate in a narrow channel, which can be navigated only when the wind blows from particular points, and which, for upwards of twenty miles below Glasgow, is both shallow and dangerous. A circular pier of 900 yards was finished in 1811; and the wet dock and other appendages, which, according to Mr Telford’s plan, were to contain from 70 to 100 vessels, in water sixteen feet deep, were begun and nearly completed, when the death of the Earl of Ëglinton in 1820 brought them to a stand. They were merely suspended, however, and will be resumed when the present earl attains majority, which will happen in a year or two. It was part of the plan to raise a neat, regular-built town at Ardrossan, in which some progress has been made; and excellent baths have been constructed, which draw to it a number of visitors during the summer season.

The harbour of Ardrossan was only part of the general plan, and that from which, viewed by itself, the smallest advantages perhaps were to be expected. The leading idea was to open up a direct communication between Glasgow, Paisley, and other large towns in the vicinity, and the west coast, instead of the present circuitous passage by the Frith of Clyde. A canal was therefore to be cut from Glasgow to Ardrossan, about thirty-one and a half miles, at the estimated expense of L.125,000. Of this only a third has been executed, that is, from Glasgow to Johnstone, which cost about L.90,000. The rest of the track will be completed by a railway, of which some miles have been already laid from Ardrossan eastwards.

The harbour at Troon, connected as it now is with Kil- r marriock, by means of a railway, seems to possess all the 1 advantages of that of Ardrossan. The wet and dry docks are also excellent, and very well employed. There are also extensive warehouses, and a yard for building vessels. The railway from Troon to Kilmarnock, a distance of ten! miles, has been in full operation for fifteen years, and answers all the purposes for which it was originally intended. There are upwards of 3000 acres of coal fields in its course, which must in time indemnify the duke of Portland for his outlay both on this and the harbour. Coals have been hitherto the principal article of conveyance towards the Troon, at the rate of 100 tons daily; and from thence timber, iron, grain, &c. are transported to Kilmarnock and the country adjacent. Locomotive engines were attempted upon it about 15 years ago, but the experiment did not succeed. However, from the improvements recently made upon these machines, it is probable that they may soon be resumed. This railway has cost the duke upwards of L.50,000, and the harbour is estimated at about the same sum.

The following abstract will exhibit a comparative view of the population of Ayrshire in 1811, 1821, and 1831 ·—
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