The first iron vessel to “sail” on the Firth of Clyde was a soap boiler ordered by an Ayr man named Bonaparte in 1813. It wouldn’t fit down the vennel off High Street to his shop (where Poundland is now), so took a bet to “sail” it up the R. Ayr from the Clyde.
In 1935, someone in Ayr bought a horse from Alloway but had no way to collect it. The seller in Alloway stuck a label on the horse and handed it into the Post Office who duly “carried” it to Ayr. The postage cost one shilling.
William Stevenson was a Kilmarnock beggar who died with the equivalent of £80K in cash. He paid for a wake party with cakes and wine for Ayrshire’s poor and homeless that lasted for two weeks. He chose Riccarton Kirkyard because the earth was “nice an dry”.
By 1793, apparently nothing had ever happened.
In 1925, a farmer left a gate open and let his horses wander and was fined.
In 1950, a man defrauded a farmer of a dozen eggs to buy back his boots.
The folk of Loans were *notorious* for “relieving” ships of their cargo when they were beached on North Sands. They had special cellars called ‘brandy holes’ and the Laird of Fullarton faked reports about pirate ships to the exciseman to protect his tenants.
