New report reveals East Ayrshire's past links to black slave trade
East Ayrshire’s past links to the black slave trade. East Ayrshire Council has investigated the area’s history as part of efforts to show support for the Black Lives Matter campaign.A number of Kilmarnock men benefited from the slave trade and even Robert Burns almost ended up working on a Jamaican plantation when he fell on hard times.The national bard accepted a job in 1786 to help manage a slave plantation when he was struggling to get his literary work noticed.But before he emigrated he landed a publishing deal – causing him to abandon plans to leave Scotland.Kilmarnock-born William Cunninghame, of Lainshaw, had a huge estate in Jamaica with 300 slaves in the 18th century.