Theatre and Dancing
One of the earliest references to theatre in Ayr is the 1789
proposal from a ‘Company of Comedians’ who sought
ground for a playhouse. In 1796, a ‘Party of Players’ performed
in Wallace Tower Schoolhouse. The Theatre Royal was erected
in 1815 and replaced by the Gaiety Theatre in 1893. Ben Popplewell
and Sons provided dancing and other entertainment at the
Pavilion as well as instituting the annual Gaiety Whirl in
1931. There was also the ‘Palais de Danse’ on
Burns Statue Square that later became the Bobby Jones Ballroom.
The Pavilion also offered the latest craze of roller-skating
in 1929 and was popular with teenagers as a club venue as ‘Hanger
13’ in the 1990s.
Horse Racing
The Council supported races in 1593, 1609 (Golden Bell horse race), 1610 (‘gold
raiss’) and in 1698 presented a silver cup for an August horse race on
the Sands of Ayr.
The earliest recorded race at the old Seafield Race Course was in the 1770s.
In 1907 the Racecourse moved to Whitletts. The attraction of Ayr Races became
wider than just within the town, attracting the horse racing fraternity from
across Britain and Ireland to the present day.
Cinema
Green’s Playhouse in Boswell Park originally showed silent films, and was
accompanied by the Super Cinema Orchestra. The Picture House on High Street opened
in 1921, boasting an organ, and introduced the new ‘talkies’ in 1929.
Cinema was so popular in the 1930s that a further four cinemas were added . There
is now only one.
Ayr Advertiser
In 1790 John Wilson after seven years in Kilmarnock brought his printing press
to Ayr. On Thursday 6th August 1803 the first issue of the ‘Air Advertiser
or West Country Journal’ was published, offering mostly national and international
news with some front page adverts, letters to the editor and local news to the
rear. The Advertiser is the oldest Scottish local paper still in existence. Other
Ayr newspapers include the Ayr Observer and the Ayrshire Post.
Ayr today offers a variety
of cultural activities to its citizens, some of which are
rooted in Ayr's past. The Town still has historic societies
with links to the early Burgh citizens.
Clubs and Societies
Friendly societies developed from the earlier trade guilds
and philanthropy as insurance for old age and hardship. Ayr
Guildry is descended from them.
In 1830 there were six freemason lodges and numerous informal
gentleman’s drinking clubs. However, by the end of
19 th century there were five lodges of ‘Good Templars’ specifically
devoted to temperance. Introduction of licensing hours in
1853 put an end to many gentlemen’s drinking clubs.
The Victorian period saw the rise in popular social societies like the Ayrshire
Archaeological and Natural History Association and the Library Society. More
recent societies include Ayr Sketch Club, Ayr Horticultural Society, Ayr Amateur
Operatic Society, Ayr Choral Union & the Kyle and Carrick Civic Society.
Sport
The area that forms part of the current Low Green was reserved for ‘the
pastime of the honest men in gayming according to use and wont’.
The
Burgh Council minutes of 1587 record the playing of golf on the Green. There
are later references to Ayr Cricket Club, Quoiting Club, Archery Club and Curling
Club in the 1830s. Sea bathing was also popular.
The 1914 Directory listed four bowling clubs, five curling clubs, a lawn tennis
and a quoiting club, Ayr United Football Club, and Ayr Rugby Football Club. An
ice rink for skating, curling and ice hockey opened at Beresford Park in 1939.
