AYR school pupils savoured a literary treat at Dumfries House last week as part of a series of children’s events at Boswell Book Festival.

Pupils from Ayr Academy and Belmont Academy were invited to the eighth edition of the festival, named in honour of renowned 18th-Century writer James Boswell from Auchinleck, to participate in a series of workshops.

Around 400 pupils from 14 local schools participated in literary activities and were treated to a tour of Dumfries House.

Greg McVicar, English teacher at Ayr Academy who led a group of S1-3 pupils on the visit, said: “Today has been fantastic. 

“I come from outside the local area and have never visited Dumfries House or the book festival before. 

“The kids have really enjoyed their day. 

“They had a presentation from Nicola Davies about the natural world and how passionate she is about conservation. 

“In the school, we do a lot of work related to conservation and have greenhouses so they found that really interesting and relevant. Then they got to meet Bozzy who was really engaging. 

“It’s incredibly important for kids to come to events like this as it allows them to engage with literature outside the classroom environment.”

Pupils “met” Boswell himself in the guise of actor Kenny Boyle, who relayed tales of The 9th Laird of Auchinleck’s friendship with famous legendary English literary figure Dr Samuel Johnson to inspire pupils to write about their own friendships.

Davies, a trained zoologist and one of the original presenters on BBC’s Really Wild Show who is now a best-selling children’s author on natural world and biodiversity, gave an hour-long presentation informed by some of the true stories that have inspired her books.

Caroline Knox, organiser of Boswell Book Festival, said: “Educational initiatives such as this help awaken children to the power of books. We are grateful to East Ayrshire Council and The Robertson Trust for helping to fund this opportunity for local school pupils.”

Kenneth Dunsmuir, executive director of The Prince’s Foundation, said: “Here at Dumfries House, we are thrilled to continue to host the annual Boswell Book Festival, which pays a fitting tribute to a great literary son of Ayrshire.

The festival’s commitment of encouraging the involvement of local school pupils forms great symmetry with the objectives of The Prince’s Foundation.

Offering educational opportunities such as this reflects the raison d’etre of much of the activity here at Dumfries House and we will continue to support the book festival in delivering such initiatives.”

The Prince’s Foundation, whose headquarters are at Dumfries House, is now the second-largest employer in East Ayrshire with more than 200 full-time and part-time staff across the house, estate and education and training programmes.