KILMARNOCK, a market-town, and parliamentary and municipal burgh, in the district of Cunningham, Ayrshire, Scotland, is situated on both sides of the Kilmarnock water, near its junction with the Irvine, 21 miles south-west of Glasgow by rail. The town is long and narrow, but its principal streets are well-built and spacious. Among the chief buildings are the town-house, the court-house, the corn exchange buildings (including the Albert tower, 110 feet high, and various public offices), the observatory, and the academy, built in 1876 at a cost of .£5000 to accommodate six hundred children. Kilmarnock also possesses the endowed Kay schools, an industrial school in the once famous Kilmarnock House, a school of art, an athenaeum, a public library, an opera-house, and an infirmary. In the Kay park of 40∣ acres, purchased from the duke of Portland for £9000 (with a legacy left by a native of the town in 1866), stands the Burns Monument, inaugurated in August 1879. Kilmarnock rose into importance in the 17th century by its production of striped woollen “Kilmarnock cowls” and broad blue bonnets. Knitted woollen bonnets are still manufactured to an annual value of about <£25,000, but by far the most important textile industry is carpet-weaving. When trade is good, the annual turn out of Brussels and Scotch carpets is valued at about. <£100,000. There are several spinning mills in connexion with the carpet factories. Tweeds, blankets, shawls, and tartans are produced to a limited but rapidly increasing extent; the manufacture of wincey is larger. Calico-printing, once important, has dwindled. The boot and shoe trade is prosperous; and there are very extensive iron and engineering works in the town. Situated in a highly cultivated region, Kilmarnock is famous for its ...