Cairnryan Bed and Breakfast: Homecoming Scotland 2009

Cairnryan House is ideally situated for Burns enthusiasts, being midway between Dumfries where Burns lived for some of his life and died on 21 July 1796 and Alloway, where he was born and home to Burn's Cottage and Heritage Park.

2009 marks the 250th anniversary of Robert Burns' birth and is the inspiration behind the year of Homecoming. Ayrshire is the home of Burns and you can celebrate his life and work at one of the many Burns-related events during the year.

Burns was born in Alloway, Ayrshire on 25 January 1759. Although he lived a short life, dying at the age of 37, it was fulfilling and eventful. Starting out as a farmer then moving on to become a writer, Burns travelled throughout Scotland where he gathered inspiration for much of his work. The stunning Ayrshire scenery helped provide the insight for compiling much of his romantic material.

Come to Scotland, visit us and Burns Cottage, Alloway where Burns was born as well as Burns Monument, Brig O’ Doon, Souter Johnnie’s Cottage, Tam O Shanter experience, Auld Kirk Alloway and many more Burns’ attractions. Travelling north from Cairnryan, before you reach Alloway you'll pass through the village of Kirkoswald.

Kirkoswald is 4 miles south-west of Maybole and is well known as the village where Robert Burns attended school with Maybole notable William Niven. It is also here that you find the cottage of Souter Johnnie in which the 18th-century life of a cobbler is presented. Buried in the Kirkoswald churchyard are John Davidson and Douglas Graham, memorialised as Souter Johnnie and Tam o' Shanter in the poem of Robert Burns.

There's a sign at the entrance to the churchyard showing the last whereabouts of Tam O'Shanter (Douglas Graham), Souter Johnnie (John Davidson) and Kirkton Jean (Jean Kennedy). Here, too are buried Burns' maternal grandparents and his schoolmaster.

The ruin of the church still stands because its successor, built in 1777 to a design by Robert Adam, was given a new site overlooking the village from the south side of the valley.

Souter Johnnie's Cottage was the home of John Davidson and has many period artefacts, Burns' relics and in the garden are life-sized figures of Tam, Souter, the innkeeper and his wife.

Robert Burns spent a summer in Kirkoswald as a 16-year-old in 1775 and the links with him extend well beyond the old Kirkyard. The Shanter Hotel carries a plaque showing that its southern end formed the school at which Burns studied while in the village; and that the central part of today's inn was home to Peggy Thomson, an object of Burns' youthful affections.

There is now a first class restaurant in the village named "Souter Johnnies", formerly the disused "Kirkton Jeans" that serves excellent food at very reasonable prices.