New Cumnock was often a place where Burns would stop off on his journeys between Mauchline and Ellisland. The picturesque surrounding landscape, an inspiration to some of Burns work, is very much alive!

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Burns wrote about the beauty of the Afton water in a letter to Francis Dunlop and may also have composed 'Sweet Afton' here making this river famous throughout the world. His letter spoke of  'charming, wild, romantic scenery'.

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New Cumnock also boasts the striking Corsencon Hill which would have been a welcome landmark on Burns travels and with this in mind he wrote 'O Were I On Parnassus Hill' and 'Does Haughty Gaul Invasion Threat.

 

Sadly the Kirkyard where many acquaintances lie is mostly a ruin but plaques mark many poignant locations here including some of the sites of the venues he stayed such as The Castle Inn, The Old Mill Inn and The Cross Keys.

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His words in one letter describe his welcome 'when a good fire at New Cumnock had so far recovered my frozen sinews'. Cumnock has also been innovative in creating The Robert Burns Academy as his legacy to education.

 

New Cumnock provided Burns with the scenery, friendships and respite he needed on his often harsh journeys, finding peace at the bide ower ...