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Scots Kist.co.uk |
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| INTRODUCTION About Scots Kist TOURS (examples) 3. CHARLES RENNIE MACINTOSH TOUR FURTHER DETAILS Booking Information
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AYRSHIRE & BURNS COUNTRY Suggested Tour of Ayrshire and Burns Country: Visit Burn’s Cottage, including the audio-visual and a visit to the Museum. Follow this with a walk to the Auld Kirk, Alloway, Burn’s Monument and a stroll over the Brig O’ Doon where Meg lost her tail. To round off the morning with Burns spend a short time at the Tam O’ Shanter Visitor Centre for a break and some retail therapy! After lunch in the area, we make our way to Culzean Castle. We take the scenic route, experiencing the “Electric Brae” this is a well known optical illusion where you think you are going up hill when in fact you are going downhill! At the castle (the most visited National Trust venue in Scotland), you will have a guided tour and time permitting visit the old walled garden. There may still be time to visit the Home Farm Complex before returning to your hotel.
This is the ancestral home of the Kennedy Family In 1777 the 10th Earl , David Kennedy returned from the Grand Tour of Europe. He was a bachelor and wanted to impress and entertain his friends. He decided to upgrade his home which was a typical 16th C Scottish Baronial Tower House, so he engaged the leading Scottish Architect, Robert Adam, in this venture. The two worked together for the next few years, and you see the result to-day. In 1945 the 5th Marquis gave the castle to the National Trust for Scotland in lieu of “death duties” The restoration and upkeep of the property caused the National Trust for Scotland many problems and it was thanks to President Eisenhower who had been given the tenure or the top floor flat for his lifetime as a thanks for his involvement in the 2nd WW. He raised a lot of money in U.S.A. Eisenhower Suite: Many famous people have stayed her including Bob Hope, Prince Charles, Prince Edward and many members of the royal family but so far not the Queen.
Robert
Burns, Scotland’s national poet was born in Alloway on 25th January
1759 in this cottage. It
was built by his father William Burnes and the family lived here for
seven years before moving to
Mount Oliphant where his
father rented a Robert lived in Ayrshire at Tarbolton and Mauchline before moving to
Dumfriesshire in 1788. It has been suggested that he wrote his best poetry while in Ayrshire
and his best songs during his time in Dumfries. His first poems
were songs, the earliest written when he was 15. It is said that he
never composed a song without first having a tune in his head. Adjoining the cottage is museum with much Burns memorabilia including the bible given to Highland Mary at the time of her betrothal to Robert.
This old bridge spans the River Doon, it comprises a single arch (possible13th Century) and is central to Burn’s poem “Tam O Shanter”. This was Robert Burn’s only narrative poem, considered by many to be the best since Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. The
Auld Kirk, Alloway is also worth a visit.
This ancient church was the setting for Burn’s poem "Tam o
Shanter". It was through its lancet windows that Tam saw the
fictional witches and warlocks dancing, enticing his cry “weel done
cutty sark!” Burns
Monument and gardens are
nearby. This is Ayrshire’s memorial to Robert Burns. The 1823 Grecian
style monument is surrounded by ornamental gardens
with a fine view of the
Brig o' Doon.
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