Ayrshire has always been proud of its local poet Robert Burns (see Land O’Burns and Burns). Perhaps his most famous poem is Tam O’Shanter, a likeable chap, but one who cannot resist one more drink in a cosy pub when he’s come to Ayr on market day. And though he praises
Old Ayr, which never a town surpasses
For honest men and bonny lasses
he describes the foibles of a variety of fellow drinkers before making his way home on a dark and stormy night and encountering all sorts of fearsome sights – real or imagined – on his journey.
The Tam O’Shanter Stakes appeared on 17 July 1939, only to be rudely interrupted by war. It’s possible there could have been earlier races of that name. It lasted until 1993, since when it has popped up on odd occasions (a maiden in 1996, a novice chase in 1997, a handicap in 2007, a novices handicap hurdle in 2008).
Souter Johnnie (qv) is another character in the poem who has had a race named after him.