The River Afton (or Afton Water) is a small river in

Ayrshire Ayrshire ( gd, Siorrachd Inbhir Àir, ) is a historic county and registration county in south-west Scotland, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. Its principal towns include Ayr, Kilmarnock and Irvine and it borders the counties of ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...

, which flows north from

Alwhat Hill Alhang is a hill in the Carsphairn and Scaur Hills range, part of the Southern Uplands of Scotland. It is the lowest Donald hill in the range; Meikledodd Hill is 1m higher. The northern slopes of the hill are the source of the River Afton ...

in the Carsphairn and Scaur Hills, through

Afton Reservoir Afton may refer to: Places Canada * Afton River (Nova Scotia) * Afton, Nova Scotia * Afton, Prince Edward Island * Afton Station, Nova Scotia United Kingdom * River Afton, Ayrshire, Scotland * Glen Afton, Ayrshire, Scotland * Afton Reservoir, ...

and then for eight miles down Glen Afton before joining the

River Nith The River Nith ( gd, Abhainn Nid; Common Brittonic: ''Nowios'') is a river in south-west Scotland. The Nith rises in the Carsphairn hills of East Ayrshire, more precisely between Prickeny Hill and Enoch Hill, east of Dalmellington. For the ...

New Cumnock New Cumnock is a town in East Ayrshire, Scotland. It expanded during the coal-mining era from the late 18th century, and mining remained its key industry until its pits were shut in the 1960s. The town is southeast of Cumnock, and east of Ayr. ...

. New Cumnock in the Afton area was the scene of the Knockshinnoch Disaster in 1950. The river is celebrated in

Robert Burns Robert Burns (25 January 175921 July 1796), also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the best known of the poets who hav ...

's poem

Sweet Afton "Sweet Afton" is a lyrical poem describing the Afton Water in Ayrshire, Scotland. It was written by Robert Burns in 1791 and set to music by Jonathan E. Spilman in 1837, under the title ''Flow gently, sweet Afton''. This poem was originally pub ...

BBC Radio Scotland - words to "Flow gently sweet Afton"
/ref> and this led to a number of townships in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

being called Afton. File:Confluence of Afton Water with River Nith.jpg, Looking south towards the River Nith at the point where it is joined by Afton Water just north of New Cumnock. The water entering from the bottom left of the picture is the River Nith and the water entering from the right is Afton Water. The hill in the background is Corsencon Hill (475 metres). Cumnock Castle stood on this site in the Middle Ages. File:Burns Cairn Glenafton.jpg, The Burns Cairn in Glen Afton. The inscription on the cairn says "''Flow Gently Sweet Afton''. Robert Burns 1759 - 1796. Erected by New Cumnock Burns Club (500) to mark its golden jubilee 1973." File:Memorials to the Knockshinnoch mining disaster.jpg, Memorials to the miners who died in the Knockshinnoch mining disaster New Cumnock in 1950. The stone in the foreground tells of the sponsors of the memorials. The nearer conical memorial indicates where the events took place. The text on the third memorial says "To remember Knockshinnoch 1950. The peat valley ahead broke through into the pit killing 13 miners & trapping 116. Wearing oxygen masks the trapped miners were rescued on the 3rd day."

References

Rivers of East Ayrshire {{Scotland-river-stub