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:
“If a walker is indeed an individualist there is nowhere he can’t go at dawn and not many places he can’t go at noon. But just as it demeans life to live alongside a great river you can no longer swim in or drink from, to be crowded into safer areas and hours takes much of the gloss off walking—one sport you shouldn’t have to reserve a time and a court for.”
—Edward Hoagland (b. 1932)
“Wee Willie Winkie rins through the town,
Up stairs and doon stairs in his nicht-gown,
Tirling at the window, crying at the lock,
‘Are the weans in their bed, for it’s now ten o’clock?’”
—William Miller (1810–1872)