Ayrshire

Ayrshire is the name of the white breed of dairy cattle, and the name of a former Scottish county. The cattle is known by the name of this former county where they were bred.

The former county derived its name from the county town Ayr. Ayrshire was a large and wealthy county in the West of Scotland, bordered on the West by the Firth of Clyde, agricultural and pastoral, with a large coal-field and thriving manufactures. Its divisions were Carrick, to the South of the Doon; Kyle, between the Doon and the Irvine, and Cunningham, on the North; concerning which there is an old rhyme: "Kyle for a man, Carrick for a coo, Cunningham for butter and cheese, Galloway for 'oo'."