Old Photograph Thatched Cottage Kirkoswald Scotland


Old photograph of houses and a thatched cottage in Kirkoswald in South Ayrshire, Scotland. This Scottish village is well known as the village where Robert Burns attended school. Buried in the Kirkoswald churchyard are John Davidson and Douglas Graham, memorialised as Souter Johnnie and Tam o' Shanter in the poem of Robert Burns. Kirkoswald takes its name from its church, dedicated to Oswald of Northumbria, England, who is said to have won a battle here in the 7th century. The old church, which was built in 1244 and houses the baptismal font of Robert the Bruce, is now a ruin in the grounds of the modern church, which was built in 1777 to a design by Robert Adam. Kirkoswald is also noted for its connection with Robert Burns, whose maternal ancestors, the Brouns, were from the village. Burns also attended school here, and would later base the characters Tam o' Shanter, Kirkton Jean and Souter Johnnie on village locals Douglas Graham, John Davidson and Jean Aird. I hope these might be of interest to folks with Scottish ancestry.



All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.

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