QOTD: I looked out my window, and saw Kyle Pettys' car upside down, then I thought 'One of us is in real trouble'. -- Davey Allison, on a 150 m.p.h. crash
From England Lollardy passed into Scotland. Oxford infected St Andrews, and we find traces of more than one vigorous search made for Lollards among the teaching staff of the Scottish university, while the Lollards of Kyle in Ayrshire were claimed by Knox as the forerunners of the Scotch Reformation. Entry: LOLLARDS
AYRSHIRE, a south-western county of Scotland, bounded N. by Renfrewshire, E. by Lanarkshire and Dumfriesshire, S.E. by [v.03 p.0075] Kirkcudbrightshire, S. by Wigtownshire and W. by the Firth of Clyde. It includes off its coast the conspicuous rock of Ailsa Craig, 10 m. W. of Girvan, Lady Island, 3 m. S.W. of Troon, and Horse Island, off Ardrossan. Its area is 724,523 acres or 1142 sq. m., its coast-line being 70 m. long. In former times the shire was divided into the districts of Cunninghame (N. of the Irvine), Kyle (between the Irvine and the Boon), and Carrick (S. of the Doon), and these terms are still occasionally used. Kyle was further divided by the Ayr into King's Kyle on the north and Kyle Stewart. Robert Bruce was earl of Carrick, a title now borne by the prince of Wales. The county is politically divided into North and South Ayrshire, the former comprising Cunninghame and the latter Kyle and Carrick. The surface is generally undulating with a small mountainous tract in the north and a larger one in the south and south-east. The principal hills are Black Craig (2298 ft.), 5 m. south-east of New Cumnock; Enoch (1865 ft.), 5 m. east of Dalmellington; Polmaddie (1750 ft.) 2 m. south-east of Barr; Stake on the confines of Ayrshire and Renfrewshire, and Corsancone (1547 ft.), 3 m. north-east of New Cumnock. None of the rivers is navigable, but their varied and tranquil beauty has made them better known than many more important streams. The six most noted are the Stinchar (_c_ soft), Girvan, Doon, Ayr, Irvine and Garnock. Of these the Ayr is the longest. It rises at Glenbuck, on the border of Lanarkshire, and after a course of some 38 m. falls into the Firth of Clyde at the county town which, with the county, is named from it. The scenery along its banks from Sorn downwards--passing Catrine, Ballochmyle, Barskimming, Sundrum, Auchencruive and Craigie--is remarkably picturesque. The lesser streams are numerous, but Burns's verse has given preeminence to the Afton, the Cessnock and the Lugar. There are many lochs, the largest of which is Loch Doon, 5½ m. long, the source of the river of the same name. From Loch Finlas, about 20 m. south-east of Ayr, the town derives its water-supply. The Nith rises in Ayrshire and a few miles of its early course belong to the county. Entry: AYRSHIRE
In the time of Oswic the English element became predominant in northern Britain. His supremacy was acknowledged both by the Welsh in the western Lowlands and by the Scots in Argyllshire. On the death of the Pictish king Talorgan, the son of his brother Eanfrith, he seems to have obtained the sovereignty over a considerable part of that nation also. Early in Ecgfrith's reign an attempt at revolt on the part of the Picts proved unsuccessful. We hear at this time also of the establishment of an English bishopric at Abercorn, which, however, only lasted for a few years. By the disastrous overthrow of Ecgfrith in 685 the Picts, Scots and some of the Britons also recovered their independence. Yet we find a succession of English bishops at Whithorn from 730 to the 9th century, from which it may be inferred that the south-west coast had already by this time become English. The Northumbrian dominions were again enlarged by Eadberht, who in 750 is said to have annexed Kyle, the central part of Ayrshire, with other districts. In conjunction with Oengus mac Fergus, king of the Picts, he also reduced the whole of the Britons to submission in 756. But this subjugation was not lasting, and the British kingdom, though now reduced to the basin of the Clyde, whence its inhabitants are known as Strathclyde Britons, continued to exist for nearly three centuries. After Eadberht's time we hear little of events in the northern part of Northumbria, and there is some reason for suspecting that English influence in the south-west began to decline before long, as our list of bishops of Whithorn ceases early in the 9th century; the evidence on this point, however, is not so decisive as is commonly stated. About 844 an important revolution took place among the Picts. The throne was acquired by Kenneth mac Alpin, a prince of Scottish family, who soon became formidable to the Northumbrians. He is said to have invaded "Saxonia" six times, and to have burnt Dunbar and Melrose. After the disastrous battle at York in 867 the Northumbrians were weakened by the loss of the southern part of their territories, and between 883 and 889 the whole country as far as Lindisfarne was ravaged by the Scots. In 919, however, we find their leader Aldred calling in Constantine II., king of the Scots, to help them. A few years later together with Constantine and the Britons they acknowledged the supremacy of Edward the Elder. After his death, however, both the Scots and the Britons were for a time in alliance with the Norwegians from Ireland, and consequently Æthelstan is said to have ravaged a large portion of the Scottish king's territories in 934. Brunanburh, where Æthelstan defeated the confederates in 937, is believed by many to have been in Dumfriesshire, but we have no information as to the effects of the battle on the northern populations. By this time, however, the influence of the Scottish kingdom certainly seems to have increased in the south, and in 945 the English king Edmund gave Cumberland, i.e. apparently the British kingdom of Strathclyde, to Malcolm I., king of the Scots, in consideration of his alliance with him. Malcolm's successor Indulph (954-962) succeeded in capturing Edinburgh, which thenceforth remained in possession of the Scots. His successors made repeated attempts to extend their territory southwards, and certain late chroniclers state that Kenneth II. in 971-975 obtained a grant of the whole of Lothian from Edgar. Whatever truth this story may contain, the cession of the province was finally effected by Malcolm II. by force of arms. At his first attempt in 1006 he seems to have suffered a great defeat from Uhtred, the son of earl Waltheof. Twelve years later, however, he succeeded in conjunction with Eugenius, king of Strathclyde, in annihilating the Northumbrian army at Carham on the Tweed, and Eadulf Cudel, the brother and successor of Uhtred, ceded all his territory to the north of that river as the price of peace. Henceforth in spite of an invasion by Aldred, the son of Uhtred, during the reign of Duncan, Lothian remained permanently in possession of the Scottish kings. In the reign of Malcolm III. and his son, the English element appears to have acquired considerable influence in the kingdom. Some three years before he obtained his father's throne Malcolm had by the help of earl Siward secured the government of Cumbria (Strathclyde) with which Lothian was probably united. Then in 1068 he received a large number of exiles from England, amongst them the Ætheling Eadgar, whose sister Margaret he married. Four other sons in succession occupied the throne, and in the time of the youngest, David, who held most of the south of Scotland as an earldom from 1107-1124 and the whole kingdom from 1124-1153, the court seems already to have been composed chiefly of English and Normans. Entry: LOTHIAN
HAMILTON, the name of a famous Scottish family. Chief among the legends still clinging to this important family is that which gives a descent from the house of Beaumont, a branch of which is stated to have held the manor of Hamilton in Leicestershire; and it is argued that the three cinquefoils of the Hamilton shield bear some resemblance to the single cinquefoil of the Beaumonts. In face of this it has been recently shown that the single cinquefoil was also borne by the Umfravilles of Northumberland, who appear to have owned a place called Hamilton in that county. It may be pointed out that Simon de Montfort, the great earl of Leicester, in whose veins flowed the blood of the Beaumonts, obtained about 1245 the wardship of Gilbert de Umfraville, second earl of Angus, and it is conceivable that this name Gilbert may somehow be responsible for the legend of the Beaumont descent, seeing that the first authentic ancestor of the Hamiltons is one Walter FitzGilbert. He first appears in 1294-1295 as one of the witnesses to a charter by James, the high steward of Scotland, to the monks of Paisley; and in 1296 his name appears in the Homage Roll as Walter FitzGilbert of "Hameldone." Who this Gilbert of "Hameldone" may have been is uncertain, "but the fact must be faced," Mr John Anderson points out (_Scots Peerage_, iv. 340) "that in a charter of the 12th of December 1272 by Thomas of Cragyn or Craigie to the monks of Paisley of his church of Craigie in Kyle, there appears as witness a certain 'Gilbert de Hameldun _clericus_,' whose name occurs along with the local clergy of Inverkip, Blackhall, Paisley and Dunoon. He was therefore probably also a cleric of the same neighbourhood, and it is significant that 'Walter FitzGilbert' appears first in that district in 1294 and in 1296 is described as son of Gilbert de Hameldone...." Walter FitzGilbert took some part in the affairs of his time. At first he joined the English party but after Bannockburn went over to Bruce, was knighted and subsequently received the barony of Cadzow. His younger son John was father of Alexander Hamilton who acquired the lands of Innerwick by marriage, and from him descended a certain Thomas Hamilton, who acquired the lands of Priestfield early in the 16th century. Another Thomas, grandson of this last, who had with others of his house followed Queen Mary and with them had been restored to royal favour, became a lord of session as Lord Priestfield. Two of his younger sons enjoyed also this legal distinction, while the eldest, Thomas, was made an ordinary lord of session as early as 1592 and was eventually created earl of Haddington (q.v.). It is interesting to note that the 5th earl of Haddington by his marriage with Lady Margaret Leslie brought for a time the earldom of Rothes to the Hamiltons to be added to their already numerous titles. Entry: HAMILTON
AYR, a royal, municipal and police burgh and seaport, and county town of Ayrshire, Scotland, at the mouth of the river Ayr, 41½ m. S.S.W. of Glasgow by the Glasgow & South-Western railway. Pop. (1891) 24,944; (1901) 29,101. It is situated on a fine bay and its beautiful sands attract thousands of summer visitors. Ayr proper lies on the south bank of the river, which is crossed by three bridges, besides the railway viaduct--the Victoria Bridge (erected in 1898) and the famous "Twa Brigs" of Burns. The Auld Brig is said to date from the reign of Alexander III. (d. 1286). The New Brig was built in 1788, mainly owing to the efforts of Provost Ballantyne. The prophecy which Burns put into the mouth of the venerable structure came true in 1877, when the newer bridge yielded to floods and had to be rebuilt (1879); and the older structure itself was closed for public safety in 1904. The town has extended greatly on the southern side of the stream, where, in the direction of the racecourse, there are now numerous fine villas. The county buildings, designed after the temple of Isis in Rome, accommodate the circuit and provincial courts and various local authorities. The handsome town buildings, surmounted by a fine spire 226 ft. high, contain assembly and reading rooms. Of the schools the most notable is the Academy (rebuilt in 1880), which in 1764 superseded the grammar school of the burgh, which existed in the 13th century. The Gothic Wallace Tower in High Street stands on the site of an old building of the same name taken down in 1835, from which were transferred the clock and bells of the Dungeon steeple. A niche in front is filled by a statue of the Scottish hero by James Thorn (1802-1850), a self-taught sculptor. There are statues of Burns, the 13th earl of Eglinton, General Smith Neill and Sir William Wallace. The Carnegie free library was established in 1893. The charitable institutions include the county hospital, district asylum, a deaf and dumb home, the Kyle combination poor-house, St John's refuge and industrial schools for boys and girls. The _Ayr Advertiser_ first appeared on 5th of August 1803, and was the earliest newspaper published in Ayrshire. In the suburbs is a racecourse where the Western Meeting is held in September of every year. The principal manufactures include leather, carpets, woollen goods, flannels, blankets, lace, boots and shoes; and fisheries and shipbuilding are also carried on. There are several foundries, engineering establishments and saw mills. Large quantities of timber are imported from Canada and Norway; coal, iron, manufactured goods and agricultural produce are the chief exports. The harbour, with wet and slip dock, occupies both sides of the river from the New Bridge to the sea, and is protected on the south by a pier projecting some distance into the sea, and on the north by a breakwater with a commodious dry dock. There are esplanades to the south and north of the harbour. The town is governed by a provost and council, and unites with Irvine, Inveraray, Campbeltown and Oban in returning one member to parliament. Entry: AYR
MAUCHLINE, a town in the division of Kyle, Ayrshire, Scotland. Pop. (1901), 1767. It lies 8 m. E.S.E. of Kilmarnock and 11 m. E. by N. of Ayr by the Glasgow and South-Western railway. It is situated on a gentle slope about 1 m. from the river Ayr, which flows through the south of the parish of Mauchline. It is noted for its manufacture of snuff-boxes and knick-knacks in wood, and of curling-stones. There is also some cabinet-making, besides spinning and weaving, and its horse fairs and cattle markets have more than local celebrity. The parish church, dating from 1829, stands in the middle of the village, and on the green a monument, erected in 1830, marks the spot where five Covenanters were killed in 1685. Robert Burns lived with his brother Gilbert on the farm of Mossgiel, about a mile to the north, from 1784 to 1788. Mauchline kirkyard was the scene of the "Holy Fair"; at "Poosie Nansie's" (Agnes Gibson's)--still, though much altered, a popular inn--the "Jolly Beggars" held their high jinks; near the church (in the poet's day an old, barn-like structure) was the Whiteford Arms inn, where on a pane of glass Burns wrote the epitaph on John Dove, the landlord; "auld Nanse Tinnock's" house, with the date of 1744 above the door, nearly faces the entrance to the churchyard; the Rev. William Auld was minister of Mauchline, and "Holy Willie," whom the poet scourged in the celebrated "Prayer," was one of "Daddy Auld's" elders; behind the kirkyard stands the house of Gavin Hamilton, the lawyer and firm friend of Burns, in which the poet was married. The braes of Ballochmyle, where he met the heroine of his song, "The Lass o' Ballochmyle," lie about a mile to the south-east. Adjoining them is the considerable manufacturing town of CATRINE (pop. 2340), with cotton factories, bleach fields and brewery, where Dr Matthew Stewart (1717-1785), the father of Dugald Stewart--had a mansion, and where there is a big water-wheel said to be inferior in size only to that of Laxey in the Isle of Man. Barskimming House, 2 m. south by west of Mauchline, the seat of Lord-President Miller (1717-1789), was burned down in 1882. Near the confluence of the Fail and the Ayr was the scene of Burns's parting with Highland Mary. Entry: MAUCHLINE
_Industries._--Whisky is manufactured at Campbeltown, in Islay, at Oban, Ardrishaig and elsewhere. Gunpowder is made at Kames (Kyles of Bute), Melfort and Furnace. Coarse woollens are made for home use; but fishing is the most important industry, Loch Fyne being famous for its herrings. The season lasts from June to January, but white fishing is carried on at one or other of the ports all the year round. Slate and granite quarrying and some coal-mining are the only other industries of any consequence. Entry: ARGYLLSHIRE
BUTE, the most important, though not the largest, of the islands constituting the county of the same name, in the Firth of Clyde, Scotland, about 18 m. S.W. of Greenock and 40 m., by water, from Glasgow. It is bounded on the N. and W. by the lovely Kyles of Bute, the narrow winding strait which separates it from Argyllshire, on the E. by the Firth of Clyde, and on the S. and S.W. by the Sound of Bute, about 6 m. wide, which divides it from Arran. Its area is about 49 sq. m., or 31,161 acres. It lies in a N.W. to S.E. direction, and its greatest length from Buttock Point on the Kyles to Garroch Head on the Firth of Clyde is 15½ m. Owing to indentations its width varies from 1-1/3 m. to 4½ m. There are piers at Kilchattan, Craigmore, Port Bannatyne and Rothesay, but Rothesay is practically the harbour for the whole island. Here there is regular communication by railway steamers from Craigendoran, Prince's Pier (Greenock), Gourock and Wemyss Bay, and by frequent vessels from the Broomielaw Bridge in Glasgow and other points on the Clyde. Pop. (1891) 11,735; (1901) 12,162. Entry: BUTE