Maybole is a burgh of barony and police burgh of Ayrshire, Scotland. Pop. (1901), 5892. It is situated 9 m. S. of Ayr and 50 m. S.W. of Glasgow by the Glasgow & South-Western railway.
It is an ancient place, having received a charter from Duncan II in 1193. In 1516 it was made a burgh of regality, but for generations it remained under the subjection of the Kennedys, afterwards earls of Cassillis and marquesses of Ailsa, the most powerful family in Ayrshire. Of old Maybole was the capital of the district of Carrick, and for long its characteristic feature was the family mansions of the barons of Carrick. The castle of the earls of Cassillis still remains. The public buildings include the town-hall, the Ashgrove and the Lumsden fresh-air fortnightly homes, and the Maybole combination poorhouse.
The leading manufactures are of boots and shoes and agricultural implements. Two miles to the south-west are the ruins of Crossraguel (Cross of St Regulus) Abbey, founded about 1240.
Kirkoswald, where Robert Burns spent his seventeenth year, learning land-surveying, lies a little farther west. In the parish churchyard lie "Tam o' Shanter" (Douglas Graham) and "Souter Johnnie" (John Davidson). Four miles to the west of Maybole on the coast is Culzean Castle, the chief seat of the marquess of Ailsa, dating from 1777; it stands on a basaltic cliff, beneath which are the Coves of Culzean, once the retreat of outlaws and a resort of the fairies. Farther south are the ruins of Turnberry Castle, where Robert Bruce is said to have been born. A few miles to the north of Culzean are the ruins of Dunure Castle, an ancient stronghold of the Kennedys.
This article incorporates text from the public domain 1911 Encyclopędia Britannica.
Maybole High Street is especially striking, running from the imposing Town Hall built in 1887 to the equally impressive and much more unexpected Maybole Castle dominating a street corner in the town.
Maybole Castle is believed to be Maybole's oldest inhabited house, dating back to around 1560.
In Maybole the main effect was to confirm a growing trend that saw most of the Carrick lairds and landowners move their town houses to the larger stage of Ayr, leaving Maybole to take on a more industrial feel.
Maybole is a burgh of barony and police burgh of Ayrshire, Scotland.
Of old Maybole was the capital of the district of Carrick, and for long its characteristic feature was the family mansions of the barons of Carrick.
Four miles to the west of Maybole on the coast is Culzean Castle, the chief seat of the marquess of Ailsa, dating from 1777; it stands on a basaltic cliff, beneath which are the Coves of Culzean, once the retreat of outlaws and a resort of the fairies.