Robert Burns

By the time of Robert Burns, the parish of Alloway had been annexed to that of Ayr, so the people of Alloway and district worshipped in the parish church in Ayr, now known as 'The Auld Kirk of Ayr'. William Burnes (the poet's father) served as an Elder and also held the post of Presbytery Elder. Robert Burns worshipped here for 17 years. Naturally we would like to know where the Burns family sat in Church. We learn that in 1698 'furms are to be permitted to be set in the body of the kirk for the Alloway and Burrowfield folk'. Assuming that 'the body of the kirk' meant the area facing the pulpit, we place the Burns family very near to where the bronze statuette of the poet now stands. It was in The Auld Kirk as a child that Robert Burns learned to worship God, reinforcing his father's teaching at home.