Maybole

My surfing began in November 1999, in my company's "internet cafe", just two Apple Macs and two inkjet printers.The printers didn't last long though as some thieving parasite stole the ink cartridges on two consecutive nights. Some people just have to spoil it for others.

Although my main interest in surfing was to further the research of my maternal family, one of my first searches was
on "MAYBOLE." That was when I discovered the Maybole website. My delight at having found this site can be summed up best by the comments of the many visitors to the Maybole site.

I also found brief information about Maybole on other sites, and most of them have one thing in common. They know
Maybole is located in South Ayrshire, but they do not have a clue as to its distance from other towns. One of them even lists the Glen Kirk as being in the High Street, when we all know it is in Coral Glen. Mind you, in view of the article in the Ayrshire Post about a new site being sought to build a church, perhaps they are one step ahead of the rest of us.

So unless Maybole has moved since I left in 1962, the following are just a few accurate notations.

Maybole is located on the main A77 trunk road, 9 miles from Ayr, 4 1/2 miles from Kirkoswald, 12 miles
from Prestwick, 12 miles from Girvan, 21 miles from Kilmarnock, 42 miles from Glasgow and 43 miles
from Stranraer.

The Town's Claims to Fame

ROBERT BURNS

The parents of our beloved poet Robert Burns met at a fair in the town. His mother,
Agnes Brown, was born in Kirkoswald parish but moved to Maybole to live with her maternal
grandmother after her father's 2nd marriage, living with her grandmother for 13 years, until
her marriage to William Burnes.

The site of their meeting, towards the bottom of the High Street, used to be marked by a bust
of the poet on the gable end of a shop, but on a recent visit "home" I found that it has now
been removed.

JOHN KNOX
One other is the meeting of the Bishop of Crossraguel Abbey,
Quinten Kennedy, with John Knox, on 28th September 1562.
(A recount of this meeting is to be found in chapter 25 of the book,
Maybole, Carrick's Capital, by James T. Gray.)

A house in the Back Vennel was the venue, since renamed Red Lion Brae
and then again renamed John Knox Street. Then what do the planners do,
they knocked the house down, built another one, possibly with some stone
from the first, then in 1967 they knocked that one down too, and not for
the first time, swept away hundreds of years of history. I know building
land is at a premium in the town, but couldn't that obviously historical building have been preserved
within any new building plans?