Drukken Steps

The Drukken, or in English, the 'Drunken Steps' in the old Eglinton Woods near Stanecastle at NS 329 404, were a favourite haunt of Burns and his friend Richard Brown whilst the two were in Irvine in 1781 – 82.

[4] The lower inscription (1927) on the commemorative cairn states: Eglinton Woods, Drukken Steps (St Bryde's Well), Favourite Walk (1781–82) of Robert Burns and his sailor friend Richard Brown.

The upper inscription (1976) reads: This cairn was erected for Irvine Burns Club to mark their 150th anniversary and to re-locate the plaque originally placed at the Drukken Steps (Drunken) / Saint Bride's Well.

[8] The Drukken Steps therefore were stepping stones on the course of an old Road, later a Toll Road (1774), which ran from the west end of Irvine through the Eglinton policies to Kilwinning and Stevenston via Milnburn (sic) or Millburn;[11] crossing the Red burn near Knadgerhill (previously Knadgar and pronounced 'Nygerhill'[citation needed] as in the country.

The name may be a personal name or may relate to the Scots word for a fence or hedge as the building lay close to the boundary of the estate.

Other spittals in Ayrshire were located in Ayr, Prestwick, Symington, Fail, Maybole, Mauchline, Stewarton and Kilmarnock.

[2][17] A Chapel of Saint Bridget (capelle sancte Brigide)[2] near Stanecastle is mentioned in 1417, however this seems to have been secularised by the early 17th century.

[24] Robert Burns wrote to Richard Brown or Ritchie Broun (1753–1833), on 30 December 1787, saying ..do you remember a Sunday we spent together in Eglinton Woods?

[25] Burns wrote the following to Brown, Twas actually this that gave me an idea of my own pieces which encouraged me to endeavour at the character of a Poet.

[25][26] Higgens House existed as far back as 1761 and would have been familiar to users of the old road during Burns' time in Irvine, however in 1799[4] the earl closed this route and provided a diversion via Knadgerhill.

In 1761 the council records state that the "low ground of the Knadgerhill from the Drunken Steps near Higgens House southwards and to the east to the march with Stanecastle has been surveyed and laid out in eight plots".

The site of the Drukken Steps over the Red Burn on the 1774 Toll road to Millburn via Higgens House [ 1 ]
The 1960s bridge abutment at the site of the old Drukken Steps of circa 1966 with the old Toll Road route in the background
The site of the Drukken Steps.
The Drukken Steps / Saint Bryde's Well commemorative cairn as relocated in 1976. [ 8 ]
The old estate wall foundations at the Drukken Steps
The commemorative plaque on the Drukken Cairn as first unveiled by Sir Andrew Duncan, Irvine Burns Club President. [ 10 ]
Knadgerhill Cemetery wall, incorporating the estate wall.
The Red Burn from the Drukken Steps.
An old path in the Higgins Plantation
A view of the bluebell woodlands at Higgins Plantation