Kilmar'nock, the largest town in Ayrshire, on Irvine and Kilmarnock waters, 15 1/2 miles by rail NNE. of Ayr, and 24 SSW. of Glasgow. It received its name Kil-mo-Ernin-occ (Gael., 'church of my little Ernin') from the dedication of its church about 1200 to an Irish saint of the 7th century; and in 1591 it was made a burgh of barony under the Boyds, from which date its hose and bonnet making grew into thriving industries. The great carpet manufacture was introduced in 1777, and the printing of calicoes in 1770, of shawls in 1824; tweeds, winceys, boots, etc. are also manufactured; and the Glasgow and South-Western Railway works were transferred hither in 1858. The staple trade, however, is in connection with iron, owing to Kilmarnock's situation in a great mineral district ; and the October cheese-fair (established 1855) is second to none in the kingdom. The Boyds' Dean Castle, 1 mile NE., was reduced by fire to ruin in 1735; and the town itself, which has suffered twice from fire (1668 and 1800), and once from flood (1852), has few buildings of interest. The town-hall (1805), the court-house (1852), the corn exchange (1862), with its Albert tower 110 feet high, and the new academy (1876) may be noticed, as also may a statue of Sir James Shaw (1848), and the Kay Park of 41 acres (1879), with its Burns monument, a tower 80 feet high. Of Burns and of the Covenanters Kilmarnock has memories; and it was the birthplace of Alexander Smith. Since 1832 it has united with Rutherglen, Dumbarton, Port-Glasgow, and Renfrew to return one member, its parliamentary boundary having been extended in 1885. Pop. (1841) 19,398; (1901) 35,091. See M'Kay's History ofKilmarnock (1848; 4th ed. 1880).