The River Ayr (pronounced like air, Uisge Àir in Gaelic), longest river in what was the old county of Ayrshire of Scotland, is approximately 65 km (40 mi) in length. It originates at Glenbuck Loch in East Ayrshire on the border of Lanarkshire and winds its way through East and South Ayrshire to the town of Ayr, where it empties into the Firth of Clyde of the Atlantic Ocean. On its way, the river passes through the villages of Muirkirk, Sorn, Catrine, Failford, Stair and Annbank, as well as passing the location of (the now ruined) Ayr Castle. The river has a catchment area of 574 km2 (222 sq mi).
Principal tributaries include the Greenock Water, Lugar Water, Water of Fail and Water of Coyle. Major land uses within the catchment area are agriculture, forestry, mining, leisure and recreation and urban development, the largest settlements being Ayr, Cumnock, Catrine, Ochiltree, Muirkirk and Sorn.
Famous quotes containing the word river:
“Every incident connected with the breaking up of the rivers and ponds and the settling of the weather is particularly interesting to us who live in a climate of so great extremes. When the warmer days come, they who dwell near the river hear the ice crack at night with a startling whoop as loud as artillery, as if its icy fetters were rent from end to end, and within a few days see it rapidly going out. So the alligator comes out of the mud with quakings of the earth.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)