The Cumnock Tryst

The Festival’s name, The Cumnock Tryst, was inspired by a piece of music James MacMillan wrote in the 1980s when he was still living in Ayrshire. This was a setting of William Soutar’s love poem, The Tryst. Tryst is an old Scots word which means a meeting place, or a romantic rendezvous. 

Discover East Ayrshire.
First Class Attractions, stunning landscapes and unique experiences.

Ayrshire & Clyde Coast

Get Off the Beaten Track

Dundonald Castle is truly one of Scotland’s hidden gems, tucked away in the quiet, rural landscape in South Ayrshire.
The 14th Century hilltop fortified ruin is looked after on a daily basis by The Friends of Dundonald Castle SCIO, who also manage the attraction’s Visitor Centre.

Dundonald Castle

Founded in 2010 by a group of literary activists, including Boswell’s senior direct descendant, Margaret Boswell Eliott, the Trust is empowered under its charitable status to promote “heritage, literary arts and education”, and specifically to restore James Boswell’s Mausoleum in Auchinleck Churchyard and to create a visitor attraction in the adjoining seventeenth century Old Church. 

The Boswell Trust

A few years before his first collection of poems was published, Robert Burns co-founded the Tarbolton Bachelors’ Club in this curious red-shuttered, thatched 17th-century house. It was here that he learned to dance, became a freemason and created a men-only debating society.

Bachelor's Club

This glorious 260ha estate was once the playground of David Kennedy, 10th Earl of Cassillis – a man who was keen to impress with his wealth and status. Opulent to the extreme, the park is planted with conifers and beech, sculpted around miles of sandy coastline dotted with caves, and finished off with a Swan Pond, an ice house, flamboyant formal gardens and fruit-filled glasshouses.

Culzean Castle

Teeming with history and surrounded by mountains, Brodick is every inch the quintessential island castle. The present building was fashioned in 1844, but the seat dates back centuries to when its strategic position overlooking the Firth of Clyde made Brodick a fortress to be reckoned with. The castle was the ancient seat of the Dukes of Hamilton.

L'essai de Cumnock

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Sortez des sentiers battus

Château de Dundonald

Le Boswell Trust

Club des célibataires

Château de Culzean

Château de Brodick

Autres arts et culture

His Majesty's Theatre & Music Hall

Galerie d'art du studio Clience

La galerie d'art Stirling Smith

Palais du peuple

Kelvingrove

Galerie d'art moderne