The River Doon (Scottish Gaelic: Abhainn Dhùin, ) is a river in East Ayrshire and South Ayrshire, Scotland. The river flows 23 miles from Loch Doon, joining the Firth of Clyde just south of Ayr. Its course is generally north-westerly, passing near to the town of Dalmellington, and through the villages of Patna, Dalrymple, and Alloway, birthplace of Robert Burns. The source of the Doon is Loch Enoch, high in the Galloway Hills.
In the 1930s, the Loch Doon was dammed to provide water to the Galloway Hydro Electric Scheme, today operated by Scottish Power.
The Doon is mentioned in Burns' classic narrative poem Tam o' Shanter, along with the Brig o' Doon, which crosses the river just outside of Alloway. It is also the major setting for his lesser-known poem Ye Banks and Braes.
Famous quotes containing the words river and/or doon:
“My favorite figure of the American author is that of a man who breeds a favorite dog, which he throws into the Mississippi River for the pleasure of making a splash. The river does not splash, but it drowns the dog.”
—Henry Brooks Adams (1838–1918)
“They yelleden as fiendes doon in hell;
The duckes cryden as men would them quell;
The geese for feare flewen over the trees;
Out of the hive came the swarm of bees.”
—Geoffrey Chaucer (1340?–1400)