The Twa Dugs, Ayr

Like so many places in the vicinity, the name is taken from a Burns quote. Once inside, this is an elongated, narrow bar with the central servery along one wall. A small stage can be found at the back, with a variety of live music seemingly available most nights. The furniture and decor are in the alehouse idiom, although only one of the pair of handpumps was actually working. This dispensed a slightly disappointing pint of Theakston's ? Two Coopers ? (£3.65).

Long narrow room with bar to right. Standard keg rubbish but worth a visit for the excellent selection of malt whiskies on sale.

First, down side a bus stop blocks the view from the front window. Up side. The "Twa Dugs" name - meaning "two dogs" - comes from a poem Burns wrote in 1789. It tells the story of a rich man's dog, a Newfoundlander called Caesar, having a conversation with a poor man's collie dog called Luath. The place has rare prints of Robert Burns and many other watercolours, etchings and prints with a "Twa Dugs" theme. A great range of whiskies is available, too many to mention. Some of the real ales available are from small independent Scottish brewers like Kelburne and The Houston Brewing Company for ales like Peters Well, Texas, Auld Copperheid, Goldihops, Pivo Estivo and Dark Moor. The pub is supported by the local Campaign for Real Ale group and regularly hosts their members. The Twa Dugs also has worldwide rights to its very own beer, Tartan Army Ale, made under license by the Kelburne Brewing Company.