“Dean Castle, long the residence of the Boyd family, stands at the distance of nearly a mile from Kilmarnock, in a northeast direction. Its situation, though not the most romantic, can scarcely fail to delight the admirer of the gentle as well as the magnificent in nature. On the right and on the left the ground rises in pleasing elevations, and hence, probabl, the Castle derived its name, as the word Dean, according to Dr. Jamieson, signifies a small valley or hollow where the ground slopes on both sides. Close by the Castle the scene is enlivened by two little mossy streams, locally called the Borland and the Craufurdland, which there meet and mingle with each other, forming what is termed Kilmarnock water.546