Kilwinning

Kilwinning, a town of Ayrshire, on the Garnock, 3½ miles NNW. of Irvine and 26 SW. of Glasgow. The stately Tironensian abbey, founded in the 12th and demolished in the 16th century, was dedicated to Winnin, an Irish saint, who is said to have founded a church here about 715. The traditional birthplace of Freemasonry (q.v.) in Scotland, Kilwinning has also been celebrated since 1488 for archery; its July shooting at the popinjay, placed on the steeple (105 feet high), is described in Scott's Old Mortality, and continued till 1870. Eglinton Castle (1798), the seat of the Earls of Eglinton (q.v.), is 1½ mile S.E.; and the Eglinton Ironworks (1846) afford employment. Pop. (1861) 3921; (1881) 3469; (1891) 3835. See works by Wylie (1878) and Lee Ker (1883).