Dalrymple is a village in East Ayrshire

East Ayrshire

East Ayrshire is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It borders on to North Ayrshire, East Renfrewshire, South Lanarkshire, South Ayrshire and Dumfries and Galloway...

, Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

. It is at the western-most point of East Ayrshire, around 8km south-east of Ayr

Ayr

Ayr is a town and port situated on the Firth of Clyde in south-west Scotland. With a population of around 46,000, Ayr is the largest settlement in Ayrshire, of which it is the county town, and has held royal burgh status since 1205...

. Dalrymple is in the Doon Valley

River Doon

The River Doon is a river in 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...

, on the north bank of the River Doon. The population is 1,347.

The name Dalrymple derives from the Scottish Gaelic language

Scottish Gaelic language

Scottish Gaelic is a Celtic language native to Scotland. A member of the Goidelic branch of the Celtic languages, Scottish Gaelic, like Modern Irish and Manx, developed out of Middle Irish, and thus descends ultimately from Primitive Irish....

, meaning "flat field of the crooked pool or river". The village is relatively modern, although the parish

Parish

A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...

 and church of Dalrymple are older. When the community was first established around 1800, there were two streets, Main Street and Garden Street. The village grew slowly until the late 20th century, when council housing was erected to house families from coal-mining villages in the area that were suffering an economic decline.

It has approximately 1,000 houses. There are two pubs, the Kirkton Inn and the more popular White Horse, a hairdresser's, a SPAR, a chemist as well as the village store with postal office

Royal Mail

Royal Mail is the government-owned postal service in the United Kingdom. Royal Mail Holdings plc owns Royal Mail Group Limited, which in turn operates the brands Royal Mail and Parcelforce Worldwide...

. There is also a primary school and an excellent community library. The village is in the catchment area

Catchment area (human geography)

In human geography, a catchment area is the area and population from which a city or individual service attracts visitors or customers. For example, a school catchment area is the geographic area from which students are eligible to attend a local school...

 for high schools in Ayr

Ayr

Ayr is a town and port situated on the Firth of Clyde in south-west Scotland. With a population of around 46,000, Ayr is the largest settlement in Ayrshire, of which it is the county town, and has held royal burgh status since 1205...

, Maybole

Maybole

Maybole is a burgh of barony and police burgh of South Ayrshire, Scotland. Pop. 4,552. It is situated south of Ayr and southwest of Glasgow by the Glasgow and South Western Railway. ‎...

 and Dalmellington

Dalmellington

Dalmellington is a market town in Ayrshire, Scotland. In 2001 it had a population of 1407. The town owes its origins to the fault line separating the Southern Uplands of Scotland from the Central Lowlands...

. The town of Ayr is about seven miles north of Dalrymple, and buses to and from Ayr run every hour.