AYRSHIRE

Robert Burns’s The Twa Dogs is a tale of those who have and those who have not. The sculptor is Sally Matthews. In Burns’s poem, Luath, his beloved collie, has a conversation with a Newfoundland, Caesar, in which they discuss their owners. A social satire on wealth, poverty and class, Burns uses Caesar and Luath to pointedly examine society’s inequalities. Caesar the gentleman’s dog is going to be sat on the bench looking down at Luath, even though “nae pride had he”. He has a brass collar with a lock and his name engraved on it. Luath is on the ground beneath him, looking keen and faithful.

We're away all weekend. Enjoy it and happy photography.

happy Bench Monday Morning.

Ailsa Craig is an island of 240 acres in the outer Firth of Clyde, 16 km (8+1⁄2 miles) west of mainland Scotland. The microgranite has long been quarried to make curling stones. The island is now a bird sanctuary, leased by the RSPB until 2050. ] Huge numbers of gannets nest here. Rats were probably introduced via shipwrecks; supposedly, a coal boat that sank offshore was the first culprit and caused great harm to the nesting bird populations, with the puffins proving vulnerable to the extent of extinction as breeding birds. After a long campaign using pioneering techniques, the rats were eradicated in 1991, and now puffins are once again raising young on the island with many other benefits accruing to both the fauna and the flora.

We went to Girvan mainly because the harbour looked interesting, and I wasn't disappointed. Folks in Ayr wondered why we went there.

RNLB Elizabeth and Gertrude Allan May 5th 2018 saw the official naming ceremony for Girvan’s new Shannon class all-weather lifeboat RNLB Elizabeth and Gertrude Allan. The Shannon class is the first of the RNLI’s all-weather lifeboats to be powered by water-jets rather than traditional propellers, making it the most agile and manoeuvrable lifeboat in the charity’s fleet. Shannon class lifeboats are built in-house by the RNLI and the £2.1 million cost of Girvan’s new lifeboat was funded by the John & Elizabeth Allan Memorial Trust. Capable of 25 knots, the new lifeboat is 50% faster than RNLB Silvia Burrell, the Mersey class all-weather lifeboat she has replaced.

Lychgates or corpse gates are relatively unseen in a Scottish church. It's thought that Cromwell's influence at the time of building may have caused this to be erected here. This a really good example of a mortsafe in a corpse gate in Ayr On each side of the corpse gate you can see a large black ironwork structure. This is a mortsafe, which was extremely common in Scotland. Early 19th century Scotland was plagued with body snatchers. Medical science was moving on at such a pace that universities could no longer keep up with the need for bodies to dissect. Scottish law required that corpses used for medical research should only come from those who had died in prison, suicide victims, or from foundlings and orphans. The shortage of corpses led to an increase in body snatching by what were known as "resurrection men". Measures to ensure graves were left undisturbed, such as the use of mortsafes exacerbated the shortage. This gave rise to the terrible trade of body snatching whereby newly buried bodies would be dug up and sold to the universities. In this very graveyard, relatives of the newly deceased would take it in turns to watch the graves. This could be done for weeks after the burial until the body was too badly decayed to be of use. If you couldn't afford that, you could use a mortsafe like the one hanging on the wall shown in the photo. This heavy cast iron frame was clamped around the coffin before burial, thus preventing the body snatchers from opening the coffin. As the weeks passed and the body became decayed, the coffin was dug up and the mortsafe removed ready to be used again. The Ayr mortsafe, pictured dates from 1816. How gruesome is all this?

Culzean Castle (pronounced Cullane) is a romantic fantasy castle created by Robert Adam in 1772-1790 for the 10th Earl of Cassillis. Culzean is notable for its elegant oval staircase, circular saloon, painted ceilings and delicate friezes, this is one of Adam's greatest creations. More about the history here: www.britainexpress.com/attractions.htm?attraction=1203