Page:Alloway Kirk or Tam o Shanter a tale and man was made to mourn a poem with a sketch of burnss life.pdf/9

9 town formerly could not boast of many advantages in point of appearance. A very great addition has been made to the town, within this twenty years. In the main street fine buildings erected, the streets made straighter, and very much improved by the Magistrates, in 1813, both in paving and lighting. Formerly one person was employed in cleaning the streets, now there are two. More improvement has been made the last two years, in the streets and lanes, than for the last twenty.

A very great addition is now building, called Wellington square, and when finished, will be an ornament to the town.

Before the Reformation there were in this town monasteries of Dominicans and Franciscans ; the former founded in 1230, and the latter in 1472. The church of St. John the Baptist stood near the sea; its tower still remains. This venerable structure was converted into