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Dailly - a descriptive account

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The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland - 1868

"DAILLY, a parish in the district of Carrick, in the county of Ayr, Scotland. It contains a village of its own name, and extends from N.E. to S.W. about 7 miles, with a breadth of 5 miles. It is bounded by the river Girvan, Barr, Straiten, Kirkmichael, and Kirkoswald. The surface abounds in natural beauties, and rises on both sides of the Girvan Water, which intersects the whole length of the parish, into hills of considerable elevation. The lowlands near the river are fertile, well cultivated and wooded, and the uplands, though not so productive, afford pasturage, and have been partly reclaimed. Coal, limestone, and freestone abound, and the two former are largely worked. The principal proprietors are the Duchess de Coigny, of Bargany, Sir John Andrew Cathcart, Bart., of Carleton, Sir James Fergusson, Bart., of Kilkerran, and the Right Hon. T. F. Kennedy, of Dunure. The parish is traversed along its length by the road from Ayr to Stranraer, on which road the village of Dailly stands, 6 miles E. of Girvan. This parish is in the presbytery of Ayr, and synod of Glasgow and Ayr, and in the patronage of the crown. The minister has a stipend of £348. In 1653 an extensive portion of this parish was detached to form the parish of Barr, to the southward, part of the parish of Kirkoswald being at the same time, however, added to Dailly. Ailsa Craig, in the Firth of Clyde, off the coast, is included in this parish, although no other part of the parish touches the sea-coast. There is also a Free church."

"AILSA CRAIG, in the parish of Dailly, in Ayrshire on the coast of Scotland. It is a remarkable rock also named the Perch of Clyde, and lies at the distance of 8 miles from the coast. Its circumference is 2 miles, and it rises to the height of 1,098 feet above the sea, having an elliptical base of 3,300 feet in the major, and 2,200 in the minor axis. It is a mass of columnar syenitic trap and assumes the form of a cone, when looked at from the N. Its sides slope rapidly, and on the N.W. strike perpendicularly into the sea. Only at one point has a small beach been formed. In some parts the columnar structure appears, the columns having a thickness of 6 feet, and a height of 100 feet. They are of much larger size than those of Staffs. The island has abundant vegetation, and swarms with sea-fowl, goats, and rabbits. The gannets build on the flat tope of the columns, whose fracture is perpendicular to their length. On the summit of the rock are the remains of an old castle. A little below the summit are two springs, one of which has formed a little marsh-land round it, with plants of most luxuriant growth. The family of Kennedys, of Culzean, to whom the island belongs, take from it the title of marquis and baron. Its name and stern character have passed, into the proverbial phrase, "Deaf as Ailsa Craig.""