a county in the W. of Scotland, considerable for its population and industry, is bounded by Wigtonshire and the stewartry of Kirkcudbright on the S., by the counties of Dumfries and Lanark on the N.E. and E., by Renfrewshire on the N., and by the Irish Sea and the Firth of Clyde for about 70 miles on the W. It contains 1015 square miles, or 650,156 statute acres. The middle part of the county, where it is broadest, is about 25 miles across. 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 the most extensive is Loch Doon, the parent of the river of 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 N. of the river Irvine. These divisions, although abolished by the statute, still continue to be recognized 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 380 square miles. Kyle possesses much valuable land towards the coast, but the interior is rough and mountainous; it contains 21 parishes, with a superficies of 395 square miles. But the most fertile part of the county is Cunningham, which is comparatively level, comprising 240 square miles, and 16 parishes. The valued rent is £1,191,605, Os. 7d. Scots, and in 1843 the annual value of houses and land was £520,828 sterling. It returns a member to parliament. The advantages possessed Ayrshire, by Ayrshire, besides its sea-coast and several excellent harbours, may be traced to the great abundance of coal and limestone found 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 management, has nevertheless made considerable progress of late in this county. Somewhat more than half a century ago, the greater part of it consisted of moss and moorlands, or of an unproductive clay or sandy soil. Since then great advances have been made, particularly within the last 10 or 15 years. One-half of the country is now under cultivation; improved rotations have been introduced, and draining has been carried on to a great extent, by means of which, as well as by being mixed with lime and other manure, much of the clay soil has been turned into a rich and productive mould; and now oats, wheat, barley, peas, beans, potatoes, and other agricultural produce are extensively raised. 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. Their horses, under the general name of Clydesdale or Lanarkshire horses, are highly valued; almost every small farmer either rearing one or more himself, or purchasing them when young, and selling them to the eastern counties after a year or two of very moderate labour.

Ayrshire, as a manufacturing district, seems to stand next in importance among the Scottish counties to the contiguous shires of Lanark and Renfrew. Various branches of the woollen manufacture are carried on to a considerable extent in Kilmarnock, and other places, and extensive cotton works have been established at Catrine. Muslin, shawls, carpets, cloth, flax, linen, and silk goods, nails, leather, saddlery, and earthenware, are among its manufactures.

Within these few years Ayrshire has become one of the most important counties of Scotland by the development of its mineral traffic. In the hands of persons of great capital and enterprise immense fields of ironstone are being worked at Dalry, Kilbirnie, New Cumnock, and Dalmellington; while coal, generally of good quality, is exceedingly abundant in the districts of Kyle and Cunningham. The coal and iron are extensively shipped at the ports of Troon and Ayr. There are coal-mines at Dalry, Kilwinning, Galston, Muirkirk, St Quivox, Coyton, and Riccarton; at Muirkirk, Glenbuck, and other places iron foundries have been erected; tiles are made of the clay for draining and other purposes; and millstones are quarried at Kilbride. On the property of the Honourable Colonel Macadam Cathcart, of Craigiggillan, at Carsphairn, on the borders of Kirkcudbrightshire, lead mines have been for a period of years in operation, but without yielding large returns. The hills consist chiefly of granite, with whinstone, greenstone, red sandstone, &c.; and lime and whetstones abound.

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 coasting trade. 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. of Scotland.

Among the antiquities of Ayrshire are the cairns at Galston and Lorn; camps, supposed to be Danish, at Dunonald and on the hill of Knockgeorgan near Ardrossan; the castles of Loch Doon, Turnberry, Dundonald, Portincross, &c.; the abbeys of Crossraguel, and Kilwinning; and the kirk of Alloway, immortalized by Burns in his "Tam o' Shanter."

This county exhibits striking examples of public spirit in its great landed proprietors. The harbour and other works at Ardrossan, begun under the auspices of the late Earl of Eglinton, the harbour of Troon, and the railway from thence to Kilmarnock, formed almost entirely at the expense of the Duke of Portland, are monuments, no less of the energy and enterprising spirit than of the wealth of these noblemen.

The harbour of Ardrossan has been for many years in a Ayrshire state to receive shipping, and is considered as one of the safest, most capacious, and most accessible on the W. coast of Scotland; possessing many advantages over the harbours in the Firth of Clyde, situated in a narrow channel, which can be navigated only when the wind blows from particular points, and which, for upwards of 20 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 16 feet deep, were begun and nearly completed, when the death of the late Earl of Eglinton in 1820 brought them to a stand. They have now been completed by the present Earl. Excellent baths have been constructed, which draw to it a number of visitors during the summer season; and there is one expressly for the use of the poor, for which no charge is made. 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 W. coast, instead of the present circuitous passage by the Firth of Clyde. A Canal canal was therefore to be cut from Glasgow to Ardrossan, about 31½ miles, at the estimated expense of L125,000. Of this only a third has been executed, that is, from Glasgow to Johnstone, which cost about L90,000, the canal having been superseded by the Glasgow and Ayr Railway.

The harbour at Troon, connected as it now is with Kil-Troon marnock by means of a railway, seems to possess the same harbour advantages as that of Ardrossan. The wet and dry docks are excellent, and are well employed. There are also extensive warehouses, and a yard for building vessels. The railway from Troon to Kilmarnock, a distance of 10 miles, has been in operation for many 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. This railway has cost the duke upwards of L50,000, and the harbour is estimated at about the same sum. The Glasgow and Ayr Railway was opened in 1840, and is 40 miles in length; a branch of which goes from near Dalry to Kilmarnock, and another from near Kilwinning to Ardrossan. The Glasgow, Dumfries, and Carlisle Railway passes Kilmarnock, and sends off a branch to Muirkirk. A line from Ayr to Dalmellington is in progress.

The following abstract will exhibit a view of the population of Ayrshire in 1851:

| Districts | Houses | Inhabitants | |-----------|--------|------------| | Carrick | 4,575 | 128 | | Kyle | 9,455 | 363 | | Cunningham| 9,524 | 333 | | County | 23,554 | 824 |