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The Ancestors and Descendants 
of James Boyd and Nancy Wier
 by William R. Boyd

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Chapter One

THE BOYD FAMILY OF KILMARNOCK, SCOTLAND

     Coat of Arms
(1) The Boyd family of Kilmarnock, Scotland, from which descended all the Boyd families of Scottish origin, is a branch of the Breton family of Dinan (or De Dinant). The identity of the families appear in their Arms. The family of Dinan bore a fesse indented, while that of Fitz-Alan (from which the Stuarts and the Boyds are descended) bore a fesse chequey.

The Principality of Dol and Dinan was in the old French Province of Bretagne. It extended from Alet (St. Malo), by way of the towns of Dol (now known as Dol-De-Bretagne in the Department of Ille-et Vilane), Dinan (in Cotes-du-Nord), and Combourg, to the central hills of Bretagne. A tract of ninety miles by sixty. Its chiefs, of whom many Barons were dependent, were sovereigns rather than magnates. In all probability, they represented the patriarchal sovereigns of the Diablintes. This nation held that part of Bretagne in the time of Julius Caesar (who conquered Bretagne 57-56 B.C. and gave it the name of Armorica). Its people were known to the Romans as the Armorici. They occupied the coast of Gaul between the Seine and the Loir. Later the name of Armorica was confined to Bretagne.

Arthur S. Boyd mentions in his book, The Boyd Family of Kilmarnock, Scotland , that the country of Bretagne was called Armorica by the Romans. In about 500 A.D., the Frisians invaded Armorica at the instigation of Clovis. Then in 513 A.D., Hoel, son of King Budie of Armorica, returned from exile with his principle Chiefs and regained the independence of Armorica. Actually, the genealogy Mr. Boyd used here was not quite accurate, according to the genealogy of the ancestry of Richard Plantagenet and Cecily De Neville by Ernst-Friedrich Kraentzler. He states in their genealogical charts that Hoel was son of Alain II Barbetorte, who was King of Bretagne and count of Nantes. In some histories he was called Alain the Great. Now, Hoel had a granddaughter named Judith De Nantes. She married Alan Taignard, Count De Cournouilles, who was grandson of Butie, Count De Cournouilles. To carry on with this same genealogy, Alan Taignard (the Count De Cournouille) and Judith De Nantes had a daughter named Agnes De Cournouilles. She married Eudes (Eudo) Count of Bretagne. He was grandson of Conan I Le Torte, the Duke of Bretagne. Conan was the son of Jeuhl Berenger, Count of Rennes.

(2) From the time of the return of Hoel, the Counts of Dol begin to appear. Frogerious is mentioned as having possession of great power in the time of Samson, Abbot of Dol, circa 570 A.D. Count Loiescan, his successor, granted to the Abbey of Dol an estate in Jersey, part of which had been given to Samson. Rivallon (French spelling of Rywallon), who is mentioned as a Tyrranus, or one of great powers, Potentissimus Vir, circa 710 A.D., restored a monastery at the request of Thurian, Bishop of Dol. Early in the following century, Salomon appears to have been Count of Dol. His son Rivallon with his brothers, Alan and Guigan, witnessed a charter by Salomon, King of Bretagne in about 868 A.D.

Alan, Count of Dol, near the year 919 A.D., gave his daughter in marriage to Ralph, Lord of Riex, in Bretagne. Near 930 A.D., mention is made of Salomon (Sollinious) as Advocate or Protector of the church of Dol. He being, evidently, the Count of Dol at the time.

(3) Ewarin seems to have been the immediate successor of Soloniouse as Count of Dol, circa 950 A.D. With him we can start the probable consecutive line of descent. Two of Ewarin's sons, Alan and Gotslein De Dinan, witnessed a charter of Bertha of Chartres, mother of Conan II, about the year 980 A.D. Alan succeeded his father as Count of Dol and was in turn succeeded by his brother Hamo I, another son of Ewarin.

(4) Hamo I succeeded his brother Alan about 980 A.D. and was also known as Viscount of Dinan. He had six sons. The first being Hamo II (they were ancestors of the Viscounts of Dinan and the Barons De Dinant of England, by writ 1294 A.D.). The other sons were Juahoen (Junkeneus), Archbishop of Dol circa 1000 A.D. and Rivallon, Seneschal of Dol, from whom the later Counts of Dol were descended. Gosclein De Dinan, Salomon, Lord of Guarplic, ancestor of the Breton family of Du Guesclein, and Guienoc.

At this period of time, the beginning of the 11^th century, we must go back into Normandy and check out two very important happenings in the families of the Duke of Normandy. At this time, there was increasing participation of the Normandy Dynasty in the affairs of Gual (France). There were also relations which had developed about the same time between the Ducal house of Normandy and Brittany (Bretagne). The future patterns of these relations was in fact set during the first decade of the 11th century by two notable marriages. The former of these was a union between Hawisa, daughter of Duke Richard I of Normandy, and Geoffery of Rennes, who was subsequently Count of Brittany. The latter was a marriage between Duke Richard II of Normandy and Judith of Brittany, who was Geoffery's sister (Judith and Geoffery were children of Conan I, Count of Rennes and Duke of Brittany). These two marriages followed closely upon each other. There is reason to suppose that they were also connected as part of a common design to safeguard the welfare of the two families, which in such events was usually the result.

On Geoffery's departure in 1008 on the pilgrimage to the Crusades, during which he died, his two sons Alan III and Eudo, then of tender age, were left under the tutelage of their Norman mother. In consequence, Richard II, who was both brother and brother-in-law to Hawisa, immediately began to play a dominate part in the government of Brittany.

William The Conqueror
Similarly, after Richard's II death, Alan III of Brittany, the son of Geoffery, was to find himself deeply involved and highly influential in Norman affairs. Particularly after Robert I, Duke of Normandy, son of Richard II and Judith of Brittany, left for the Crusades and died there. For he had left his very young son, William the Conqueror, with his own cousin Robert I, and Alan III as guardian.

Now we can go back to our consecutive line of descent.

(5) Since Guinoc, being ancestor of the Boyds, there is no need to pursue further the descent of the Counts of Dol and Viscounts of Dinan. We find mention of three sons of Guinoc. They are Flahald, Alan, Seneschal of Dol, and Rivallon.

Alan, the Seneschal of Dol in 1079, at the foundation of the Abbey of Mezouit near Dol, (a cell of St. Florient, Saumur, of which William De Dol or Dinan was Abbot) granted to the Abbey the site on which it stood. This grant of Alan was confirmed by his brother, Flahald, and was also confirmed by Oliver, Viscount of Dinan, whose charter was witnessed by Alan, Seneschal of Dol. At about the same time Geoffery, Viscount of Dinan, granted the lands of Dinan to the same Abbey. This was part of the estate of Alan the Seneschal, son of Guinoc. They were given with the consent of Rivallon, Alan's brother, and Rivallon is received as a monk in the Abbey.

(6) Flahald, son of Guinoc, whose name is variously spelled as; Flaud, Fleda/das, Flathald, Flaald, or Falud, had at least one son.

(7) Alan Fitz-Flahald, who was Baron of Oswaldestre (now Oswestry) in Salop (now Shropshire), and Mileham, England, and was one of the Army of William, Duke of Normandy when he invaded and conquered England in 1066. In 1098 he granted the Church of Gugnan, in Bretagne, to the Abbey of Combourn (Combourg), where the Castle of the Viscount of Dinan was located from about the year 1000.

He was Sherriff of Sropshire, and married Margaret, daughter of Tergus, Earl of Galloway. They had five children. He died in 1114. According to the Scotts Peerage, he married the daughter and heiress of Warine, Sherriff of Shropshire. The first of these sons was William Fitz-Alan, 1105-1160 (Fitz, meaning "son of", for there were no surnames used at this time). He was ancestor of the Earls of Arundel (England), which title, in 1546, passed through an heiress, to the Duke of Norfolk.

The second son was Walter Fitz-Alan (d. 1177). He went to Scotland in the service of King David I, and had large possessions conferred on him in Renfrewshire. Under the reign of Eadgar, King of Scotland (1097-1107), the Croun authority only extended south of the Forth of Clyde. The western islands and extreme north were possessed by the Norwegions. Eadgar was son of King Malcolm Canmore (reigned 1058-1093), and St. Margaret, sister of Eadgar Aetheling, who was sole representative of the Saxon Rulers of England after the death of King Harold and his brothers, at the battle of Hastings in 1066.

Scotland and England, then at peace, and during this and the later reigns of Alexander I (1107-1124) and David I (1124-1153) many Norman Nobles entered the Scottish service in the wars against the Norwegians, being rewarded by large grants of the captured lands.

David I had been educated in England under the Norman teachers, and brought Normans and Norman customs with him to Scotland, amongst whom was Walter Fitz-Alan. He was created Dapifer (Steward or Seneschal) of the Royal Household, which title became hereditary in the family. He founded the Monastery of Paisley in 1160, and he and De Morville were witness to a charter of David I, to the Abbey of Melrose.

The third son was Simon Fitz-Alan (8), ancestor of the Boyds. The fourth son was unknown. The fifth son was Adam Fitz-Alan, mentioned in a charter, given by David I in 1139.

(8) Simon Fitz-Alan, (son of Alan Fitz-Flaald) followed his brother, Walter, into Scotland in the service of King David I. Simon witnessed Walter's Foundation Charter to the Monastery of Paisley in 1160, in which he is designated as, Frater Walterii, Filii Alan, Dapiferi, according to Sir James Balfour Paul's, "Scottish Peerage" (Vol. V, pp 136-7). This charter was executed, not at Paisley, but at Fotheringay. He was living about 1200, and a son:

Robert, who was surnamed Boyt, now variously spelled Boit,Boid, Boidet, Boyd and Boyde. The form Boyd is the one generally used.

The first mention of the surname of Boyd in Scotland is when Robert is witness to a contract between Boyce de Eglinton and the town of Irvine in 1205. He is designated Dominus Robertus Boyt, nephew of Walter, High Steward of Paisley and Lord High Steward of Scotland. The Boyds bear the same Arms as the Stuarts, denoting their descent. The Boyd Arms granted in 1206 are Azure, A fesse cheque, Argent and Gules, crest, dexter hand, couped at the wrist. Motto, Confido (I Trust). In design these Arms are the same as the Stuarts denoting their kin. The Tartan or Plaid worn by the Boyds was known as the Hunting Stewarts in former times, but the Boyds now have their own Tartan which is similar to the Royal Family Tartan. In early years in Scotland, every Clan and the Clergy wore a distinctive Tartan or Plaid. It was considered a criminal offence for one to wear a Tartan to which he was not entitled. Robert died prior to the year 1240, leaving a son:

(10) Robert, Dictus Boyt, first mentioned (1262) in a charter by Sir John Erskine, of the lands of Halkill, in which he is designated as Robertus de Boyd, Miles. He took part in the Battle of Largs, in Ayrshire, October 3, 1263, between the Scots and King Haco (or Hacon) of Norway, for possession of western Scotland and the Islands. The result was a complete victory for the Scots. The word Goldberry was placed on his Arms in commemoration of his services in this battle in the vicinity of Goldberry Hill, near Keppenburn. He also received a grant of several lands in Cunninghame, Ayrshire, from King Alexander III. He died about the year 1270, leaving a son:

(11) Sir Robert Boyd, with the majority of the Scottish Nobles, was, at first, loyal to King John Baliol. He later regretted that loyalty when time showed that Baliol was a tool of Edward of England in his attempt to obtain the rule of Scotland. Baliol swore fealty to Edward soon after he was crowned in 1292 and resigned his Crown to Edward on July 7, 1296. Edward over ran lower Scotland in 1296 and Sir Robert Boyd was one of the Nobles who fealty to him, but soon after, showed that it was force and not inclination that made him do so. For with his cousin the Steward, he joined Sir William Wallace in July, 1297, in his gallant attempt to save Scotland's freedom. He was present at the taking of Ayr, and accompanied Wallace on many raids into England. No further record is found of him, but many of the Scottish Nobility were captured and executed or exiled. His death seems to be unrecorded. He was evidently at the Battle of Sterling Bridge on September 11, 1297, in which the Scots under Wallace were victorious. He was also probably present along with the Stewarts at the Battle of Falkirk in 1298 where the Scots were defeated.

He left one son:

   Robert the Bruce
(12) Sir Robert Boyd, who was one of the first to join Robert Bruce after the execution of Wallace. "Bruce was stripped of lands, honors and even of Christian dues, for he was solemnly excommunicated by the Pope. A circumstance which produced no effect on the mind of Scotland. Only his friends remained. Among them the ancestors of the House of Kilmarnock, whose descendants were, in the utmost calamity, to be as true as they to the blood of Bruce...".

Here we must take time to explain the relationship of the Boyds and the Stewarts to King Robert Bruce. The old Historians failed to mention this relationship. They only spoke of Bruce's paternal ancestry. The true fact remains (from England's Peerage and Baronage) that Alan Fitz-Walter, 2nd High Steward of Scotland, son of Walter Fitz-Alan, 1st High Steward of Scotland, had a daughter, Aviline. She was abducted and married in 1200 by Duncan Mac Gilbert, who later became the first Earl of Carrick. He died on June 13, 1250. The 2nd High Steward died 1204, and was succeeded by his son Walter Fitz-Alan the 3rd High Steward of Scotland.

The 3rd High Steward had a daughter named Margaret who married Neil Mac Duncan, who was the son of Aviline and Duncan Mac Gilbert. Neil became the 2nd Earl of Carrick, on the death of her father. She married a Knight who took off for the Crusades and was killed at Jerusalem. A warrior friend of this knight, who survived the wars and returned, met and fell in love with Marjory and married her. His name was Robert Bruce. They had a son named Robert Bruce, who became King Robert Bruce of Scotland. So we can see by this genealogy that the Great King Robert Bruce of Scotland was the great great grandson of Walter Fitz-Alan, 1st High Steward of Scotland, and the Boyds and the Stewarts were his cousins.

Many joined Bruce from ill will at the English justiciaries, by whom they had been put out of their lands in 1306, and became in accordance with English law, were punished by burning, hanging, and by being torn to pieces at the hoofs of horses. Therefore they arose like one man, preferring death to the laws of England.

Robert Bruce was crowned King of Scotland at Scone on March 27, 1306. A short time after, his little Army was broken and routed, and he was made a fugitive on the Isle of Rathlin. Sir Robert Boyd joined him on Rathlin in February, 1307, and shortly after, with Sir James Douglas, descended with a body of soldiers on the Isle of Arran and captured the Castle of Brodick. Soon Bruce joined them. The Boyds took part in the Battle of Loudon Hill, May 10,1307, and were in third (left) division of the Scottish first line at the Battle of Bannockburn, June 24, 1314, under Walter, 6th High Steward. This battle marked the end of English dominion in Scotland. Sir Robert Boyd was a member of the Scottish expedition to Ireland in 1315. For his services, Sir Robert..."Roberti Boyde, Militi Dilecto et Fideli Nostro,"...received from King Bruce, grants of the Barony of Kilmarnock, and the lands of Bondington and Hertschaw (Hartchaw) in the Parish of Fenwick, Ayershire, which were the lands of John de Baliol; The lands of Kilbryde and Ardnele which were the lands of Geoffry de Ross (son of the deceased Reginal de Ross); All of the land which was William de Mora's (de Moreville) in the tenement of Dairy: All erected into a free Barony to be held of the King, the charters being dated 1308 and 1316. He also had a charter of the lands of Nodellsdale, and another granting Hertschaw in free forrest.

In "Robertson's Index of Charters" (1797), among the missing charters of Robert Bruce, are five: To Robert Boyd, of Duncoll and Clarksland in Dalswinton; to Robert Boyd, son of William Boyd, of the lands of Duncoll and the Barony of Dalswinton, and the lands of Dulgarthe; to Robert Boyd, the lands of Glenken, the five pound land in Trabeache, in Kyle regis, and the five penny land of Trabeache in Kyle.

The Barony of Kilmarnock, (including the lands adjacent to Bondington) comprised about 2350 acres, and according to Pont in his "Cunninghame Topographer", 1609, "belonged...first to ye Locartts de Loch Ard, Lords ther of, then to Lord Soulis...". At the time of granting to Sir Robert Boyd, it was the property of King John Baliol. So, Soulis must have forfeited it to Baliol, and he was loyal to Bruce as early as 1298, before he was crowned, therefore a rebel, but he later turned against Bruce and was executed in 1320.

The Barony was in the possession of the Boyds, with but little intermission, until the Glencairn family acquired it from them some time after 1752. It is situated in the heart of the Parish of Kilmarnock, in Baliwick of Cunninghame, County of Ayershire. The town of Kilmarnock is on a stream known as Marnock Water, about 21 miles south southwest from Glasgow. 12 miles north northeast from Ayer, and 6 1/2 miles east of Irvine. The name is supposed to be derived from St. Marnock, whose Cell (or Kil), residence, or place of Sepulture is thought to have been there. He is stated to have died about 322 A.D., but Kilmarnock is not mentioned in history until nearly 1000 years after, and then not as a town, but as a territorial possession, when it was granted to Sir Robert Boyd.

           Dean Castle
Dean Castle, the ancient home of the Boyds, is situated about one and one half miles from the town in a hollow near the bank of the Marnock. It consists of three edifices in very different styles of building. Two of them are square piles of great height with very few windows or openings and apparently very ancient. The other is comparatively modern. Forming two stories in height and well furnished windows. It was accidently destroyed by fire in 1735, and the family then moved into a large house in the town of Kilmarnock, which was all standing a few years ago. The ruins of the castle are there, most of it still standing. It is now a museum and was gifted to the town of Kilmarnock in 1975 by the late owner, the 9th Lord Howard de Walden.

The first Charter erecting the town of Kilmarnock into a Burgh of Barony, was granted in 1591, in favor of Thomas, 5th Lord Boyd; A second was granted in 1672, in favor of William Boyd, first Earl of Kilmarnock (our ancestor) whose grandson, the third Earl, in 1700, gave a charter to the town, of the whole common good, customs, etc. By virtue of these charters the town holds its present municipal constitution.

Sir Robert Boyd was one of the guarantors of the treaty of peace with England in 1323. He, with his retainers, was in the first line and was taken prisoner at the Battle of Halidon Hill on July 19, 1333. This battle near Bannockburn, was a terrible defeat for the Scotts by the English under Edward Baliol. In May of 1334, King David II was carried to France with his adherents, including the Boyds. They were either exiled or compelled to flee for safety. Many Scotts took service at that time under the King of France and other foreign rulers. In 1336 they recaptured from the English some of the lands that were taken. David II returned from France on June 2, 1341. He was then 18 years old. If the Boyds had been deprived of their lands, they took possession of them again without a new charter from the King, as the Scotts did not recognize the forfeitures and seizures of the English. It was a maxium of the age that any Noble might claim as his own any territory which his sword had won from the enemy. Great estates were acquired in this way, and to these the gratitude and liberality of David II was added. By distributing among such as adhered to him, the vast possessions which fell to the Crown by the forfeitures of his enemies. There is record of a charter of David II to John Boyd, of the lands of Gualistoun. He must have been one of the younger members of the family.

Sir Robert Boyd, in the beginning of the reign of King David II on about 1329 or 1330, left three sons: Sir Thomas Boyd (13); Sir Alan Boyd, who commanded the Scottish Archers at the siege of Perth held by Edward Baliol, and was killed there in August of 1333; and James de Boyd, who witnessed a charter in 1342.

(13) Sir Thomas Boyd had, from King David II, a grant of the forfeiture of William Carpenter and accompanied that Monarch to the Battle of Durnam (or Nevill's Cross), October 14, 1346. He was taken prisoner and sent to London with his Royal Master. In October of 1357, a treaty was made for David's ransom, and no doubt, Sir Thomas was ransomed at or before that time.

He had three sons: Sir Thomas (14); William, ancestor of the Boyds of Badenheath; and Robert de Boyd, ancestor of the Boyds of Portincross.

(14) Sir Thomas Boyd, Dnus de Kylmornowe, who was one of the sureties, or hostages, for King James I (who had been held by the English as a prisoner for 19 years), came to Scotland, May 31, 1425, to make arrangements with his subjects for his ransom. The King was released by the English on the promise of the Scots to pay a ransom of 40,000 pounds. He then ascended the throne in 1424. Sir Thomas was one of the hostages handed over to the English as security for the payment, which was never made. The King wasted the money that was raised for it and the many hostages held in the English prisons. Sir Thomas was delivered May 28, 1424, and was released July 16, 1425. He was probably compelled to pay his own ransom. At the time he was delivered as hostage, his annual income was estimated at 500 marks.

Sir Thomas married Johanna Montgomery, daughter of Sir John Montgomery of Androssan. He died July 7, 1432, and is buried at Kilmarnock. The monument to his wife reads: "Hic Iacet Thomas Boyde, Dominus de Kilmarnock, qui obitt Septimo de mensis Julii, 1432" and "Johanne Montgomery, eine sposs Orat, pro iis." They had two sons: Sir Thomas (16); and William, Abbot of Kilwinning, who obtained from King James III a charter confirming grants of the Crown to the Abbey. William had a dispensation from Rome, and received grants of land in Lanarkshire. These descended in lineal succession until sold by the late Reverend William Boyd, D. D., father of the Edward Boyd of Mertin's Hall, County of Wigton, Scotland. Their Arms are the same as the Kilmarnock family.

(16) Sir Thomas Boyd was arrested May 13, 1424, during the regency of the Duke of Albany, for appropriation of part of the Crown rents. He was placed in confinement at Dalkeith, but was freed on compensating for the discrepancy. One of his most tenacious and persistent foes was Sir Alan Stewart of Darnley, who had been High Constable of the Scottish Army in France. Having returned to his home in the Eastwood Parish of Renfreshire, he prosecuted campaigning against Sir Thomas, in whom he found a foe worthy of his steel. The borderlands of Ayershire and Renfreshire had good cause to remember the rapine and plunder which distinguished the long continued combat. It was war to the knife, against houses and homesteads. Against castles and mansions, farmers and rustics, all who were anyway connected to or allied with either of the great families of Boyd or Stewart.

In 1439, Sir Thomas killed Sir Alan Stewart at Polmaise Thorn, between Falkland and Linlithgow. When Sir Alexander Stewart heard of his father's death, he prepared for his revenge. Sir Thomas, with a hundred men, awaited him in Dean Castle, which was well fortified with its moat, drawbridge and battlements. Sir Alexander had two hundred men, but divided his forces. The fight took place at Craignaugh Hill, in Renfreshire, on the night of July 9, 1439, where Sir Thomas met Stewart with part of his men. The rest of Stewert's men fell on the Boyd's rear, and they were ambushed. While Sir Thomas was in personal combat with Sir Alexander, one of Stewart's followers stabbed him in the back with a dagger, and after a short resistance, the Boyd forces retired. Before the fight, the wife of Sir Thomas, Lady Isabel, had a dream fortelling his death in the encounter, and she swooned as his body was brought into Dean Castle. He then died later that night. This fight did not end the feud, however, for another Stewart was slain by the Boyds, near Dunbarton.

Sir Thomas had four children: Robert Boyd (17); Sir Alexander Boyd of Drumcol, "a mirror of Chivalry," who was with King James II when Earl William Douglas was killed by the King in Sterling Castle on February 22, 1451 or 1452, and was one of those to stab Douglas. He was appointed Governor of Edinburgh Castle and to superintend and instruct the young King James III in his military exercises. In 1466, a safe conduct was granted to Alexander Boyde, Knight, as Ambassador to England, March 28, 1465 and another to Alexander Boyde of Drumcoll, Knight, for the same purpose, September 8, 1469, for complicity in kidnaping the King. David Cathcart, son of Alan, 1st Lord Cathcart, (died 1499) married Margaret, daughter of Sir Alexander Boyd of Drumcoll, and died without issue. Who Sir Alexander married is not recorded. The third child was a daughter, Janet, who married John Alexander Maxwell of Calderwood. The fourth child, also a daughter, was named Margaret. She married Alexander, 2nd Lord Montgomery, Parish of Kilwinning, Cunninghame, Ayershire. Their eldest son, Alexander Montgomery died before his father, and consequently their grandson, Alexander Montgomery, became the 3rd Lord Montgomery (circa 1465). His son, Hugh, 4th Lord Montgomery (1460-1545), was created Earl of Eglinton in 1507. He had a son, John, Master of Eglinton. The son of Hugh, 2nd Earl, was Hugh, 3rd Earl (died 1585), whose son, 4th Earl of Eglinton, married Giles (or Egidia), daughter of Robert, 4th Lord Boyd. Hugh, the 4th Earl, was murdered April 12, 1586, and left a son, Hugh, 5th Earl, who during his minority, was placed under guardianship of his maternal uncle, William Boyd of Badenheath, while his estates were placed in the care of his paternal uncle, Robert Montgomery of Giffen. Hugh, the 5th Earl, married Elizabeth Montgomery, the only child of this uncle, having no issue and seeing noprobability of having any, settled his lands on a cousin, and died in 1613. His estates and titles passing to the cousin aforementioned, and his widow afterwards married, (as his 1st wife) Robert, 6th Lord Boyd.

(17) Robert Boyd was created a peer of Parliament with the title of Lord Boyd prior to July 13, 1459, by King James II, and in the same year was one of the commissioners sent to prolong the truce with England, which they continued for 9 years.

On the death of Bishop Kennedy in July 1465-66, Lord Boyd introduced his sons and his brother, Sir Alexander Boyd, to the Royal favor. On February 10, 1466, this Sir Alexander Boyd, Robert Lord Fleming (son of Malcom Fleming, who had suffered death with the 6th Earl of Douglas in 1440), and Gilbert, Lord Kennedy (brother of the late Bishop), entered into a bond pledging themselves to stand by each other in all quarrels and against all persons, with sundry other clauses and conditions. The very qualifications they made to their bond showed the measure of their power. In the case of all three there were previous pledges to other leading persons of the country, and in favor of these there was to be an exception in the present understanding. The two important clauses in the document exhibit the spirit and the aims of the authors. Fleming, on his part, was to leave the King in the hands of Boyd and Kennedy, while they pledged themselves to put in his way, "any large thing that should fall to the Crown". (This bond is in the notes to Vol. V, of "Tyler's History of Scotland").

Lord Livingston, Lord Hamilton, Crawford, Montgomery, Maxwell, and Patrick Graham (Bishop of St. Andrews and half brother of Bishop Kennedy and Lord Kennedy), were in the band. They planned to take advantage of the extreme youth of the King, James III, then only 14 years old. So that they might broaden their power and increase their wealth. In June of 1466, there was an audit of the Royal revenue, and on July 10, while the King was at Linlithgow, Alexander Boyd, Somerville, Hepburn of Hailes, and Andrew Ker of Cessford, constrained him to proceed to Edinburgh, on the pretext of a hunting trip, and to remove from his presence those who had been ordered to attend him by the states. For reasons unknown, Kennedy evidently changed his mind, quarreled with the others, and was imprisoned in Sterling Castle by Sir Alexander Boyd. Graham then grew antagonistic, and was driven from Scotland, going to Rome.

On October 9th, Parliament having been summoned, Lord Boyd knelt before the King, in the presence of the assembled estates and asked the King if he had been taken to Edinburgh against his will. The King replied that everything had been done by Royal consent and as further proof of Boyd's loyalty, he was appointed guardian of the person of the King (along with his two brothers) and made keeper of the Royal Castle.

Afterwards he was appointed one of the council chosen to arrange the marriages of the Royal Family. The Act of Parliament was ratified by charter, under the Great Seal on the 25th of October, 1466, and by another charter of the same date, Lord Boyd was constituted Governor of the Kingdom until the King became of age. The honors that fell to the Boyds did not cease there. The Act of Attainder which was soon to overtake them, shows the extent of the territory they contrived to acquire, but the pride of their house reached its limit in the fortunes of Thomas Boyd, eldest son of Lord Boyd. The rapid rise of the family is proof of their audacity and talent. But, in the case of Thomas Boyd, we have a distinct testimony to the brilliant qualities that led to his ascendency. Supported by these gifts and graces, the influence of his family did the rest, and in the beginning of 1467 he received the title of Earl of Arran. He married Lady Mary, eldest sister of the King. By the grants of land that followed, Arran became the first subject of the Kingdom, and, but for an ill-advised step, might have maintained the position which his capacity and his influence seemed to assure him.

The supreme power of Scotland was now vested in Lord Boyd, who was constituted Great Chamberland of Scotland for life on August 25, 1467. His power, however, was short lived, as the mind of the King was alienated from the Boyds by their enemies. A Parliament was assembled in 1469 and Lord Boyd was summoned to appear and answer such charges as might be brought against him. He appeared followed by his retainers and friends under arms, but on learning that the Royal favor had been withdrawn, disbanded his followers and fled to England. He died at Alanwick in the next year, 1470. His brother, Sir Alexander Boyd, was detained by illness, and appeared before parliament. The principal charge against the Boyds was the removal of the King's person from Linlithgow to Edinburgh. This, in spite of the King's statement, was declared treas on. The Boyds were found guilty and were condemned to be executed. Their estates and honors were forfeited to the Crown.

Robert Lord Boyd married Mariota, daughter of Sir Robert Maxwell of Calderwood. They had five children: Thomas Boyd (18); Alexander, who carried on the succession after the death of his nephew; Archibald, ancestor of the Boyds of Boneshaw; Elizabeth, who married Archibald Douglas, 5th Earl of Angus. They had children, one of whom was the Scottish poet Gavin (or Gawin) Douglas, onetime Bishop of Dunkeld (born in Brechinabout 1474) and died of the Plauge in London in 1522). Elizabeth had a charter of the Lordship of Abernathy, May 21, 1468, in which she is designated as Daughter of Robert, Lord Boyd, and the wife of Archibald, Earl of Angus: The fifth child of Robert was Annabella, who married Sir John Gordon of Lochinvar.

The above mentioned Archibald Boyd, ancestor of the Boyds of Boneshaw, received the estate of Boneshaw (or Bolinshaw), situated on the east side of Glazert in the Parish of Stewarton, Cunninghame, but it passed from his descendants prior to 1592. For in that year we find it in the hands of a Lawson. Of Archibald's children, a daughter, name unknown, first married Hugh Muir of Pokelly, and then Archibald Craufurd, of Craufurdland, whose posterity will can be found in Robertson's, "Cunninghame". The second daughter of Archibald was Elizabeth, who married Thomas Douglas, Laird of Lochleven (having a son, Sir Robert Douglas of Lochleven, killed at the Battle of Pinkie, 1547), from whom the Earls of Morton are descended.

He officiated as Constablein Parliament, October 12, 1467 and was also present at Parliament on October 16, 1467, when he was called Constabularious Scotae, but that office was then, and still is, hereditary in the Errol family.

Full powers were granted to him and other commissioners in 1468, to visit the courts of England, Spain, France, Denmark, Bergundy, Bretagnen, Savoy, and others, so that they might select a wife for King James III. A marriage treaty was concluded with King Christian I of Denmark, who agreed to give his daughter to James III in marriage. Along with her, the Islands of Orkney and Zetland were presented as dowry. Earl Thomas Boyd proceeded with a Noble train to Denmark in 1469, to bring her to Scotland, but during his absence, their enemies successfully undermined the Boyds in the King's favor. When Thomas arrived in Leith Roads with the Royal Bride, in July of 1469, his wife hastened on board to inform him of the withdrawal of the Royal favor. They then fled to Denmark. James III persuaded Mary to return to Scotland on a pretext of a pardon for her husband, but imprisoned her in the Dean Castle at Kilmarnock. He then caused public citations, attested by witnesses, to be fixed up at Kilmarnock. Wherein, Thomas, Earl of Arran, was commanded to appear within sixty days, which he did not do. His marriage with the King's sister would be declared null and void. The Earl being absent and unheard, the pretext being a claim of some legal impediment at the time of her marriage, said to be a prior contract to Lord Hamilton.

The unfortunate Earl Thomas wandered into England and other countries. He was in England about 1470, as appears in the "Paston Letters", wherein Paston desires his brother, Sir John to recommend, in his most humble wise, unto "the good Lordship of the most courteous, gentlest, kindest, most companionable, freest, largest and most bounteous Knight, my Lord, the Earl of Arran, which hath married the King's sister of Scotland," and proceeds to call him, "the lightest, deliverest, best spoken, fairest archer, devotedest, most perfect and truest to his Lady of all the Knights that ever I was acquainted with" and adds that he lodges at the George, in Lombard Street. Thomas went from Germany to France and Burgundy and entered the service of the Duke of Burgundy, until his death in Antwerp in 1471. There, a tomb with an honorable inscription was erected to him by Charles The Bold, Duke of Burgundy.

The Princess Mary was released from confinement after his death and was compelled to marry in 1474, James, Lord Hamilton, a man much inferior to her former husband. Both in point of birth and fortune. The Boyd estates were forfeited to the Crown, and on the Boyd ruin rose the Hamiltons, who won favor in 1455 by deserting the cause of Douglas for that of the King. The Earldom of Arran was given to Lord Hamilton upon his marriage to Mary. She had two charters dated October 14, 1482, of all the life rents, of all the lands that had belonged to Robert, Lord Boyd, and his son Thomas, her former husband.

Thomas and Mary Boyd had two children: James (19); and the lady Grizel who married first Alexander, 4th Lord Forbes, and second David, 1st Earl of Cassillis. No children were issued in either marriages.

The third daughter of Archibald was Margaret, who in her youth was mistress to King James IV and bore to him Alexander Stewart (Arch Bishop of St. Andrews), and Jean Stewart, later Countess of Morton. Margaret was a great favorite at court, and as a relative of Elizabeth Boyd, whose husband Archibald, Earl of Angus (then Chamberland), had the greatest power in the kingdom. By both their means, they caused the Boyds to be restored to their ancient patrimony, the Lordship of Kilmarnock (forfeited to the crown by Robert, Lord Boyd), in possession of which they continued under the protection of the Earl of Angus until they were again restored by the Duke of Hamilton, Governor, after the battle of the Field of Glasgow in 1545. Margaret married John Muir, Ward of the Laird of Rowallan, and brought about the marriages of her other sisters to the Lairds of Lockleven and Craufurdland. At the time of the marriage of her sister to the Laird of Craufurdland, Margaret, as donator, in the presence of Archibald, Earl of Angus, Chamberland, "apud Boghall prope Biggar, 17 Decemberis, 1493." Disponeth to Archibald Craufurdland of Craufurdland (her kinsman, as she called him) the ward of the lands of Craufurdland. She persuaded Elizabeth Muir, daughter of her sister, The Lady Pokelly, to marry Robert Craufurd, the young Laird of Craufurdland, for which she procured the kindness and tack of the lands of Walston from Archibald, Earl of Angus. The Walston lands were part of the Barony of Kilmarnock, and remained with Craufurd's successors.

There had also been a long feud between the Lairds of Craufurdland Rowallan, which through the influence of Margarat Boyd, was settled with the surrender to the Laird of Craufurdland by the Laird of Rowallan. The feud was over the lands of Ardoch.

Robert, who married Elizabeth Muir, was son of Archibald Craufurd (who married the unknown daughter of Archibald Boyd). Robert died of wounds he received at the "Wylielee", in company of his father, both being in attendance to James Boyd, son of Thomas Boyd, Earl of Arran. James was killed there by Hugh Montgomery, 4th Lord Montgomery and 1st Earl of Eglinton. A descendent of Janet, daughter of Sir Thomas Boyd (16).

John Craufurd, son of the aforementioned Robert Craufurd, settled the feud between the Boyds and the Montgomerys by arbitration, and married Janet Montgomery, daughter of the Laird of Giffen. A later John Craufurd (who died Jan. 10, 1763), married secondly, Elenora Nicholson, widow of the honorable Sir Thomas Boyd, advocate, son of William Boyd, 2nd Earl of Kilmarnock.

(18) Sir Thomas Boyd, son of Lord Robert Boyd, married Princess Mary (Stewart), eldest daughter of King James II and sister to King James III, in 1467. In order that his rank be appropriated to that of his wife, he was created Earl of Arran in the same year. The island of Arran, with other lands, was given as the bride's dower. He was erected into an Earldom by charter dated April 26, 1467 and by other charters of the same date. On the resignation of his father, Lord Robert Boyd, he received the lands of Stewartoun, Tarrinzean, Turnbery, and Rosedalemure in Ayershire; Meikle Cumray in Bute; Covertoun in Roxburghshire; Teling in Forefarshire; Polgavy Dalry, Kilbride, Nodisdale, Monfodd, and LeFlat in Ayrshire; Nairstoun in Lanarkshire.

(19) James Boyd was restored to the property of the family by two charters dated October 14, 1482. To his mother in life-rent and to himself in fee. Of the lands of Kilmarnock, Dalry, Kilbride, Nodisdaill, Muirfoid, (Monfode, Parish of Androssan, Ayreshire) Rivisdailmure, Railstoun, Le Flatt, Gandhill, Warnokland, Ormisheweh, (Armsheugh, Parish of Irvine, Ayershire) Dollywra, Pottertoun, Dryrig, Corshill, and half of Robertland, all in Ayrshire; Tyling and Brechty in Forfarshire; Cavertoun in Roxburghshire; Nairstoun in Lanarkinshire; and Polgavy in Perthshire.

He met his death in 1484 at the hands of Hugh, 4th Lord Montgomery, Earl of Eglinton, at the "Wyllielee", in a feud between the Glencairn and Eglinton families. (Hugh, Lord Montgomery was his uncle.) He died childless and the estates returned to the Crown.

(20) Alexander Boyd, second son of Lord Robert Boyd (17), had charters of the lands of Ralestoun, in the Barony of Kilmarnock, November 30, 1492. Of Bordland (Boreland, Parish of Dunlop, Ayrshire). In 1494 he was designated as Filius Roberti, Quondam Domini Boyd, and was made Bailie and Chamberland of Kilmarnock for the Crown in 1505. He seems to have been appointed with Alexander Dunlop, by parliament in 1489, to collect the bygone rents and casualties of the Crown in Stewarton and Kilmarnock.

He married a daughter of Sir Robert Colville of Ochiltree and had six sons: Robert (21); Thomas, ancestor of the Boyds of Picton; Adam, ancestor of the Boyds of Penkill and Trochrig; The picture to the left is of Robert Boyd, 2nd of Trochrig,  grandson of Adam, son of Archbishop James Boyd. Picture from Dean Road Newsletter Oct/1999 from article submitted by Mr. D. C. Anderson, Q. C. 

There were three others, names unknown, mentioned in the Scottish Peerage.

The Arms of the Boyds of Picton are the same as the Kilmarnock family, with the motto; "Spes men in Colis", My hope is heaven. Their principal estate was Picton, in the Parish of Dalry in Cunninghame. This was in their possession until 1770 when Thomas Boyd, the last of the branch, sold it to George Macrae.

The third son of Alexander Boyd (20), was Adam, ancestor of the Boyds of Penkill and Trochrig. He had a son Robert Boyd of Penkill, who had two sons, William and Mark Alexander Boyd. Another son of Adam Boyd was James Boyd, Archbishop of Glasgow (died 1581), who was father of Robert Boyd of Trochrig (born 1578, died 1627).

(21) Robert Boyd, eldest son of Alexander Boyd (20), was restored to the title of Lord Boyd in 1536 and had a grant from King James V, whom he served faithfully at home and abroad, of the Lordship of Kilmarnock, May 20, 1536. He married Helen, daughter of Sir John Somerville of Cambusnethan. He received charters as "Robert Boyd olim de Kilmarnock". Of the King's lands of Chapelton (near Boneshaw, in the Parish of Stewarton, Ayrshire), and the lands and Castle of Dundonald, June 1, 1537.

He was called the 4th Lord Boyd and was served heir of James Boyd (19), his father's, brother's son. This included the lands and Baronies of Kilmarnock, Dalry, Kilbride, etc..., March11, 1544. He received confirmation from Queen Mary of all estates, honors and dignities that belonged to the deceased Robert, Lord Boyd, his grandfather, with a novadamus in 1549. He died in 1550, leaving a son, Robert, 5th Lord Boyd (22), and a daughter Margarat, who married Sir John Montgomery, son of Sir Neil Montgomery of Lainshaw, Parish of Stewarton (who was son of Hugh, 4th Lord Montgomery and 1st Earl of Eglinton, and great grandson of Alexander, 2nd Lord Montgomery, who married Margarat, daughter of Sir Thomas Boyd (16)). This marriage seems to have reopened the feud between the two families for her father, Robert Boyd with Mowatt of Busbie and others, killed Sir Neil Montgomery at Irvine on June of 1547. This was done in revenge for the killing of Robert Boyd's cousin, James Boyd (19), by Hugh, 4th Lord Montgomery in 1484. Robertson says that this feud caused much blood to be shed throughout the district before it was settled through the mediation of the Earls of Eglinton, Cassilis, Argyle, and other mutual friends.

(22) Robert, 5th Lord Boyd, was born in 1517, and married Margarat (or Mariot), daughter and heir of Sir John Colquhoun of Glins. He had charters of the Lordship of Kilmarnock, etc... , September 6, 1545, on the resignation of his father, and of Balindoran in Sterlingshire, February 18, 1516-7.

He assisted the Regent Arran in suppressing Lennox's rebellion in 1544. Warred against the Queen-Regent with the Lords of Congregation in 1559. In 1560, he signed the treaty of Berwick, joining the English at Prestonpans. There is record of his subscription to the "Book of Disipline of the Kirk" in 1561. According to some accounts, he was privy to the murder of Henry

Stewart, Lord Darnley, husband of Queen Mary, on February 10, 1567. He was a member of the jury acquitting the Earl of Bothwell of the deed in the same year. Later, he joined a band of Nobles to protect the young Prince from supposed designs, and then took Bothwell's part again. He was made a member of the Privy Council in 1567. He was one of the Queen's commissioners at York and Westminister where he entered into an association to support Queen Mary at Hamilton on May 8, 1568. At the Battle of Langslide on May 13, 1568, he was made one of the Nobles to form round the Queen's person after her defeat.

For espousing the Queen's cause, he was compelled to leave the country with his two sons. They were in the conflict, too, but evidently returned after a short time. Because, he was made a member of her council again in 1569, being employed by her on various missions. One of them being to obtain her divorce from Bothwell.

Lord Boyd was suspected of complicity in the murder of Murry in 1570, and joined the party of Lennox in 1571. He was made Privy Counciller and received a remission dated September 8, 1571, under The Great Seal to Robert, Lord Boyd. Thomas, Master of Boyd, and Robert Boyd of Badenheath, and his sons, received remission for fighting against the King at Langside. He had charters of the office of Bailiary and Justicary of the Regality of Glasgow, dated January 2, 1573 or 74, and of Giffartland, dated September 14, 1577. He was appointed extraordinary Lord of Sessions on October 24, 1573, which he held until May 8, 1578. He was reappointed on October 25, 1578 and sat until December 10, 1583. Then, for the third time, was appointed on June 21, 1586. He resigned his seat on July 4, 1588. He was one of the commissioners for negotiating an alliance with England in 1578, and again in 1586.

He took part, with the Earls of Mar, Glencairn, and others, in the Raid of Ruthven at Ruthven Castle on August 23, 1582. It was here the King was seized in order to curb some of their actions. Lord Boyd was banished, but soon returned to become Warden of the Marches in 1578. Then in 1589, he was a commissioner to enforce the statutes against the Jesuits. He died on January 3, 1589.

An epitaph may still be found on a stone in the interior of the Low Church in Kilmarnock. It had been a part of the old church, and was preserved by being put in the wall of the present building when it was erected in 1802. It reads:

1589
Heir lyis godlie Noble wyis Lord Boyd
Quha Kirk and King Commin weil decoir'd
Quhilke war (quhill they yis jowell all injoyed)
Defendit, counsailed, governd, be that lord
His ancient hous (oft parreld) he restoired
Twyis sax and saxtie zeirs he lived and syne
By death (ye third of Januare) devoird
In anno thrys fyve hundreth auchtye nyne.

Lord Boyd granted a charter of the lands of Law to his wife in life-rent, February 10, 1548-9. He had a charter of the lands of Bedlay, Molnays, etc... , February 10, 1582-3. His wife died in February 1601. They had seven children: The first Robert, Master of Boyd, who had a charter of the land of Auchintuerlie, in Dunbartonshire, October 14, 1550. He died, without issue, soon after; The second son was Thomas, 5th Lord Boyd (23); The third was William Boyd of Badenheath, (miss named Robert in "Peerage") who was tutor to his nephew, Hugh, 5th Earl of Eglinton, and died in July, 1611. Robert, 6th Lord Boyd (25), was served heir of him March 20, 1617.

Four daughters were: Egidia (Giles), who married Hugh, 4^th Earl of Eglinton; Agnes, who married Sir John Colquhoun of Luss; Christian, who married Sir James Hamilton of Evandale; and Elizabeth, who married John Cunninghame of Drumquhassell.

(23) Thomas, 6th Lord Boyd, joined with his father in the association in behalf of Queen Mary, May 8, 1568, and was engaged in her Army at Langside, May 13, 1568. He received a good conduct (or passport) reading as follows: "Thomas Master of Boyds, to depart and pass furth of our realm to the partis of France, Flanderis, wall of the spa, and othens partis quhare he pleasis, thair to remain for seeking for cure and remed of his saidis diseasis, for the space of three zeiris after the date hereof...Providing always that our said cousin do not attempt nothing in prejudice of us our realm and religion publiclie prechit and profeist within our realim or otherwais this our licence to be null and of none availe force nor effect. Given under our signit and subscrivit with our hand at our castell of steivliny the XIII day of July and of our reign the twelth zeir-1.5.7.9. JAMES R."

Thomas married Margaret, second daughter of Sir Mathew Cambell of Loudon and his wife, Isabel, daughter of Sir John Drummond of Innpeffery and his wife, Janet, natural daughter of King James IV. Thomas died in June, 1611, and had seven children: Robert, Master of Boyd (24); Sir Thomas Boyd of Bedlay; Adam Boyd, who married Margarat, sister of Robert Galbraith of Kileroich; John Boyd of whom we have no record; Marion, who married James, Earl of Abercorn; Isabel; and Agnes, who married Sir George Elphinstone of Blytheswood. The aforesaid Isabel, according to Robertson, married John Blair, but Collin's Peerage states that James Stuart of Bute (died 1662), married Isabel, daughter of Sir Douglas Cambell of Auchinbrick and Isabel his wife, daughter of Thomas, Lord Boyd, which must mean that Isabel married twice.

(24) Robert, Master of Boyd, married Lady Jane Ker (descended from Sir Andrew Ker) of Cessford, and from King Robert Bruce (see Robertson) they had two children: Robert, 6th Lord Boyd (25), and James, 8th Lord Boyd (27). Robert, Master of Boyd, died in May, 1597, before the death of his father. His widow remarried David, 10th Earl of Crawford.

Robert, 6th Lord Boyd, was born in November, 1595, and was served heir male in general of his father on February 3, 1602. He studied at Saumur under his cousin Robert Boyd of Trochrig (son of James, son of Adam, son of Alexander, son of Robert, 1st Lord Boyd). He was served heir male in special of his father, in the Barony of Kilmarnock, etc..., October 12, 1614; Heir of Thomas, 5th Lord Boyd, his grandfather, in the lands in the counties of Ayr, Dunbarton, Kanark, and Sterling on March 20, 1617; Also heir of James, Lord Boyd (19), son of Thomas, Earl of Arran (18), who was the uncle of Robert, 3rd Lord Boyd (21), who was great great grandfather of Robert, 6th Lord Boyd.

He had charters of the Barony of the Gruger in Ayrshire dated March 30, 1616. Of Medros, in the county of Ayr and Lanark. Of Gavin and Risk (Rash?), in Renfrewshire dated June 9, 1620. Also the Lordship of Kilmarnock, to him his son Robert, Master of Boyd, dated March 29, 1621. The Barony of Grugar passed from the Boyds about 1699.

Robert, 7th Lord Boyd married first, Margarat, daughter of Robert Montgomery of Giffin. Relict of Hugh, 5th Earl of Eglinton without issue. His second marriage was to Lady Christian Hamilton, eldest daughter of Thomas, 1st Earl of Haddington. Relict of Robert, 10th Lord Lindsay of Byris, by whom they had seven children. Robert died in August of 1628. He was only 33 years old. The children were: Robert, 8th Lord Boyd (26);Helen, who died unmarried, and her five sisters were served heirs portioners of her, April 17, 1647; Agnes, married Sir George Morison of Dairsie in Fife; Jean, who married Sir Alexander Morison of Prestongrange, county of Haddington; Marion, who married as his first wife, Sir James Dundus of Arnistoun; Isabel, who married first John Sinclair of Stevenson, and second, to Sir John Grierson, Friar of Lag. She was his wife when served heir of her sister; Christian, who married Sir William Scott of Harden.

(26) Robert, 8th Lord Boyd, was served heir of his father on May 9, 1629. He married Lady Ann Fleming, second daughter of John, 2nd Earl of Wigton. He died of fever on November 17, 1640. He was about 24 years of age. They had no children. His widow married George, 2nd Earl of Dalhousie.

His uncle:

(27) James, 9th Lord Boyd, second son of Robert, Master of Boyd (24), was served heir male of Robert, 8th Lord Boyd on April 10, 1641. He subscribed to the National Covenant, March 1, 1638, in Greyfriar's Church, Edinburgh. He was a steady Royalist. He joined the Association in favor of Charles I in January, 1641, and was fined 1500 pounds by Cromwell's Act of Grace and Pardon, 1654.

It was during his life that part of Dean Castle, on which the Boyd Arms are sculptured, was erected. It is located on the wall of the lower tower along with the inscription, "James, Lord of Kilmarnock and Dame Catharine Creyk, Lady Boyd."

He married Catharine, Daughter of John Craik, Esq., of York, and died in March of 1654, leaving; William, 10th Lord Boyd and 1st Earl of Kilmarnock (28), (our Boyd Ancestors); and Eva, who after the death of Sir David, married Bryce Blair. Their son John Blair married Lady Isabel, Daughter of Thomas, 6th Lord Boyd, (see 23). 

William Boyd, 10th Lord Boyd
      1st Earl of Kilmarnock
(28) William, 10th Lord Boyd, was served heir of his father in the Barony of Kilmarnock on February 28, 1655. He was created 1^st Earl of Kilmarnock on August 17, 1661. He was issued a charter from King Charles II, of the Barony of Kilmarnock, on July 30, 1672, which confirmed the charter of 1591 to Thomas, 5th Lord Boyd (23).

William died in March of 1692. He married Lady Jean Cunninghame, eldest daughter of William, 10th Earl of Glencairn, High Chancellor of Scotland. They had six children: William, 2nd Earl of Kilmarnock (29); The Honorable Captain James Boyd, (from whom our Boyd families are descended); The Honorable Captain Charles Boyd. He died in Namur on September of 1737; The Honorable Robert Boyd, (from whom the Portland, Maine Boyd's are descended); Mary Boyd, who married Sir Alexander MacLean; and Catherine, who married Alexander Porterfield of Porterfield.

This completes the direct line of our ancestors up to Captain James Boyd, 2nd son of William, Lord Boyd, 1st Earl of Kilmarnock. He will be noted in the next chapter, "Our Boyd Family". We will now skip over William, 2nd Earl (29) and his son, William, 3rd Earl (30), and go to William, 4th Earl (31), son of William, 3rd Earl.

(31) William, 4th Earl of Kilmarnock, the last of the family to reside in Dean Castle, was born in 1704. He joined forces of Prince Charles Edward Stuart, also known as "Bonnie Prince Charlie", (Note, Stuart is French spelling for Stewart) in his attempt for the British Crown in 1745. He was captured at the Battle of Culloden, April 16, 1746, by the Royal Forces, and was executed on Tower Hill, London on August 18, 1746.

He married Lady Ann Livingstone, the only surviving child and sole heir (and heir presumptive of the Earldom of Errol), of James, 5th Earl of Linlithgow and Callender and his wife, Lady Margaret Hay, second daughter of John, 12th Earl of Errol. Lady Ann Boyd died on September 16, 1747. They had three children: James, Lord Boyd (32) and 13th Earl of Errol; The Honorable Charles Boyd; and Honorable William Boyd. The Honorable Charles Boyd was with his father at Culloden, but escaped captured and fled to the Isle of Arran, where he concealed himself. He later went to France, where he again concealed himself. He resided there for about twenty years until a pardon was granted all rebels. He then returned to Scotland, residing with his brother in Aberdeenshire until his death in Edinburgh on August 3, 1782.

While in France, he married a French Lady, by whom he had a son, Major Charles Boyd. They married in Edinburgh, December 3, 1785, leaving a son of whom we have no record. Major Charles Boyd also had a daughter, who married Charles Gordon of Wardhouse on April 22, 1783. The Honorable Charles Boyd married, secondly, Ann daughter of Alexander Lockhart, having no children by her. The Honorable William Boyd, third son of William, 4th Earl, was with the Royal Forces at Culloden, later in the Royal Navy, and in 1761, transferred to 114th Regiment of Infantry.

(32) James, Lord Boyd, 13th Earl of Errol, was born April 20, 1726, and was in the 21st Regiment of Foot of the Royal Forces at Culloden. After his father's execution, he claimed the estate which had reverted to the Crown, on the strength of a trust deed dated 1732. The claim being allowed by the Court of Session in 1749, and by the House of Lords in 1752, in the latter year selling the lands to the Earl of Glencairn, who sold them to the Duke of Portland in 1785.

He commanded a Company in America on October 7, 1754, in the Regiment of Sir William Pepperell, who lived in Kittery, only a few miles from York and Berwick, Maine and transferred to Arbin's Regiment of Foot on December 27, 1755. He retired from the Army upon his accession to the Earldom of Errol.

On the death of his great aunt, Lady Margarat Hay, Countess of Errol (the daughter of the 12th Earl of Errol, and who had married James, 4th Earl of Callender and 5th Earl of Linlithgow, their daughter having married William, 4th Earl of Kilmarnock). James, Lord Boyd, succeeded to the title of Errol in 1758, and took up residence in Slains Castle, Aberdeenshire. He would have united in his own person the four Earldoms, of Errol, Kilmarnock, Linlithgow, and Callender, had the three last ones not been attainted. Kilmarnock in 1745, and the other two in 1715. He could have also attained the ancient dignity of Lord High Constable of Scotland if it had not been abolished by parliament in 1784.

He died April 27, 1778. For further information on the life and descendants, the reader is referred to the British Peerage. He had ten daughters and two sons. The sons were, George, 14th Earl of Errol and William, 15th Earl of Errol.

George, 14th Earl of Errol, died in 1798, leaving no issue. His brother William, succeeded as 15th Earl of Errol, assumed the additional surname of Carr, and was made Baron of Kilmarnock. The Title Errol has descended through the family to the present Earl of Errol, who resides in London.

The Boyd Family and their cousins the Stewart Family, fought, bled, and died for Scotland for over 400 years. The Stewart family descendants are still represented in the Monarchy of England by Elizabeth II, Queen of England. 

THE CLAN STEWART

King David I of Scotland brought Walter Fitz-Alan to Scotland with him and settled him at Renfrew about the year 1138. He also brought Walter's brother Simon, who became the ancestor of the Boyds, Earl of Kilmarnock and now Earl of Errol. Walter's older brother, William Fitz-Alan stayed in England and was the progenitor of the Earls of Arundel.

The purpose of that settlement is tolerably clear. The burning question of the hour for the Scottish Monarch was the menace of Norse invasion in the Firth of Clyde. To oppose the invasion, David planted Walter Fitz-Alan where he could best bar the way to the heart of the Kingdom, and made him Steward of Scotland. Most efficiently, that guardian of the gate justified his appointment, driving the Norsemen out of Cowlal and Bute, and when the mighty Somerled of the Isles brought army to force the passage, overthrowing and slaying him at Renfrew in the year 1164. It it possible that as a thank-offering for this victory, Walter the Steward founded Paisley Abbey in that year.

For exactly another hundred years the great struggle went on. Not until 1263, Walter's great grand son, Alexander, now Lord High Steward of Scotland, finally overthrew the Norsemen under their King Hakon, at the Battle of Largs.

Alexander's son James, who died in 1309, was the 5th High Stewart of Scotland. From his Brother, Sir John Stewart of Bonkyl, who fell fighting along with Wallace for the cause of Scottish independence at the Battle of Falkirk in 1208, a number of famous Scottish families took their origin. The line of the eldest son, Sir Alexander, became Earls of Angus, and ended in a female who carried the earldom to the Douglas's, who were Earls of Angus and Dukes of Hamearldom at this present day. From his second son, Sir Alan Stewart of Darnley, descended the Stewart Earls of Lennox, whose heir, Lord Darnley married Mary Queen of Scots, and became ancestor of the later Stewart Kings. From Sir Alan also descended the Earls of Galloway, who are chiefs of the Stewarts presently. From Bonkyl's fourth son came the Stewarts of Innermeath in Strathearn, from whom descended the Stewart Lords of Lorn, the Stewarts of Murthly and Grandtully, the Stewart Earls of Athol, and the Stewarts of Appin. From Bonkyl's sixth son, Sir Robert, came the Stewarts of Allanton and their cadets.

Meantime, Bonkly's nephew, Walter, the sixth High Stewart, had greatly distinguished himself in the cause of King Robert the Bruce (a cousin of both the Stewart and the Boyds), at the great Battle of Bannockburn, and at the heroic defense of Berwick. As a reward, he received the hand of Bruce's only daughter, the Princess Marjory. Their married life was short: as she rode by the knock between Renfrew and Paisley, Marjory was thrown from her horse and killed. She was with child at the time of the fall, but the child was saved by the Caesarean operation. The spot was long marked by a monolith known as Queen Bleary's Stone. The boy lived, however, and though he inherited his mothers weakness of the eyes, played a heroic part in Scottish history.

From that old possession of his family, the Island of Bute, which his ancestor had won from the Norsemen, he sailed forth to attack Dunoon to overthrow the entire conquest of Edward Baliol. When he came to the throne as King Robert II, in 1317, he had earned it by his sword almost as heroically as his grandfather Robert the Bruce.

A point which has not been sufficiently noted by Scottish historians, is that from the two marriages of Robert II, a large proportion of the later troubles of the Stewart Kings and of the Kingdom of Scotland took rise. For centuries it was questioned if his first union with Elizabeth Murr of Rowallan, had ever been legitimized. In consequence, the descendants of his second wife, Euphemia Ross, again and again made claim to the throne. From this cause arose directly the murder of King James I, in 1437. Stewart and the Douglas's war against James II in 1450. James I, was slain by the descendants of King Robert's second wife, whom he had dispossessed of the Royal Earldom of Strathern. The ambition of the Earls of Douglas was directly stimulated by the fact that they had inherited the claims of the family of Euphemia Ross and of the earlier great house of Comyn.

Another problem of Scotland arose from the family arrangements of King Robert II in another way. One of his daughters, Margarat, he married to John, Lord of the Isles, and as John was already married to his cousin Amy, he made him put her away, and granted him a charter of her lands and titled great possessions of the Lord of the Isles to descend to his own grandchildren, Margaret's sons. From this arrangement came endless trouble. Not yet has it been settled absolutely that Glengarvy or Clanranald, the descendant of John's first wife, or Macdonald of the Isles, the descendent of his second wife, is the rightful Chief of the Macdonalds. From the first there was trouble among the sons and grandsons of Robert II. His eldest son, King Robert III, whose real name was John, was practically displaced by his brother, Duke of Albany, who first starved the King's eldest son to death at Falkland and then secured the capture and imprisonment of the second son in England. By way of reprisals, when he returned from his captivity, that second son, King James I, sent to block the Duke's son and grandsons who had succeeded to Albany's usurption. Meanwhile, the north of Scotland had been laid waste by the wars between the Duke of Albany and his sister's son, Donald of the Isles, for possession of the rich Earldom of Ross. Wars which came to an end with the terrific and bloody Battle of Harlaw, fought near Aberdeen in 1411.

The leaders in the conflict were Donald of the Isles and his cousin Alexander Stewert, Earl of Mar. The latter had obtained his Earldom by slaying the husband of Isabel, countess of Mar, and marrying the Lady. He was a natural son of the fierce "Wolf of Badenoch", Alexander Stewart, Earl of Buchan, third son of King Robert II, He is remembered solely by his lawless deeds in the north. The burning of Forres and Elgin and countless other oppressions. He had many illegitimate children, and many of the name of Stewart in Atholl and Banffshird are his descendants.

A notable Stewart family in the south, that of Bute, is directly descended from Robert II. On succeeding to the throne, that King appointed his natural son, Sir John Stewart of Dundonald, known as Red Stewart, to be Constable of Rothesay Castle and Hereditary Sheriff of Bute, thus handing his son and that son's descendants in perpetuity the islands which had been captured by the sword of his ancestor, Walter Fitz-Alan, the first of the Stewarts. After the execution of Murdoch, Duke of Albany, and two of his sons at the instance of James I, in 1425, a third son, who had escaped, took vengeance by burning Dunbarton, and in it this same Red Stewart of Dundonald, uncle of the King. But Sir John Stewart's present direct descendant is Marquess of Bute.

Two of the sons of Murdock, Duke of Albany, also left natural sons. Of them, Walter Stewart of Morphy, son of Sir Walter Stewart, beheaded at Sterling, became ancestor of the Earls of Castle Stuart in Ireland, and also, by the marriage of a descendent to the daughter of the Regent Earl of Moray, half brother of Mary Queen of Scotts, who became ancestor of the Earls of Moray of today. Another of Duke Murdoch's sons, Sir James Mohr Stewart, had a natural son, James "Beg" Stewart of Baldorran, who became ancestor of the Stewarts of Ardvorlich on Lochearnside, whose family history is recounted by Sir Walter Scott in, "A Legend of Montrose".

Most romantic of all the memories of the Stewarts is probably that connected with the settlement of the race in Lorn, Appin, and Atholl. On the death of Ewen, Lord of Lorn, of the days of Robert II, his estates passed to his daughters and co-heiresses. These daughters had married two brothers, John and Robert Stewart of Bonkyl, (already referred to). These two brothers made a bargain. Robert gave up his wife's share of Lorn in exchange for his brother's share of Innermeath. Sir John Stewart who thus relinquished his share of Innermeath and became Lord of Lorn, had a second son, Sir James, known as the Black Knight of Lorn. After the assasination of James I at the Charterhouse of Perth in 1437, this Black Knight married the widowed Queen Joan, and they had a son, John, who was of course half brother to the King, James II. When that King in 1450 finally overthrew the last Earl of Douglas, he found a fair lady

on his hands. This lady, known from her beauty as the Fair Maid of Galloway, was the heiress to all the great Douglas estates and, as a child, had been married in succession by William, Earl of Douglas, whom James stabbed in Sterling Castle, and his brother, Earl James, who was overthrown at Arkinholme. While Earl James fled into exile in England (from which he returned to die a monk at Lindores), the King procured a divorce for his fair young wife, and married her to his own half brother, John, son of Queen Joan and the Black Knight of Lorn. He conferred upon the pair the Douglas Lordship of Balveny, and they became presently Earl and Countess of Atholl. The Earl played a distinguished role in the three reigns. On the death of the fifth Stewart Earl of Atholl in 1595, the title passed first to Stewart of Innermeath, and afterwards, on the Innermeath line becoming extinct, to John Murray, son of the eldest daughter of the 5th Earl, by his marriage with the Second Earl of Tullibardine. The direct, present day descendent of that union is the Duke of Atholl. Meanwhile, through Robert, elder brother of the Black Knight of Lorn, the line of the Stewart Lords of Lorn was carried on.

The line ended in two heiresses who married Cambells, when this family secured the Lordship of Lorn. A natural son of Stewart of Lorn, however, with the help of his mother's people, the Clan MacLaurin, succeeded in seizing and retaining the district of Appin, and founded the family of the Stewarts of Appin. In the days of James IV, Duncan Stewart of Appin built an Islet in Loch Linnhe, the stronghold of Castle Stalker in which he entertained his "cousin" the King. During the Jacobite rising in 1745 under Prince Charles Edward, the Appin Stewarts, led by Stewart of Ardsheal, played a conspicuous part. Sir Walter Scott tells in "Waverly", how Stewart of Invernahyle saved the life of Colonel Whiteford of Ballochmyle, and how, after the overthrow at Culloden, Colonel Whiteford returned the obligation by obtaining a pardon for Invernahyle by a special and chivalrous interview at Whitehall. In Appin itself a cave is shown behind a waterfall, in which Ardsheal hid for a time from the red soldiers, as well as the follow in the top of a great boulder in which he was afterwards concealed. As a result, the management of Cambell of Glenure the famous Appin murder took place which forms the pivot of R. L. Stevenson's famous story, "Kidnaped ". The spot where Glenure was shot is marked by a cairn behind Kentalen. The supposed murderer was Alan Breck Stewart, who escaped to France, but as a victim James Stewart of The Glens was seized, tried at the Cambells at Inveraray, and hanged in chains on the little mont behind Ballachulish Hotel.

The chief of the Appin Stewarts is now Robert Bruce Stewart, a Lawyer in London.

From Alexander, younger brother of the Black Knight of Lorn, are ascended the Stewarts of Grandtully below Aberfeldy in Perthshire. It was Sir James Stewart of Grandtully who, before he succeeded to the family title and estates, ran away with Lady Jane, sister of the first and last Duke of Douglas, and whose son by her was the claimant in the great Douglas cause. The House of Lords declared Archibald Stewart to be really Lady Jane's son, and he accordingly came into possession of the great Douglas estates, and was created Lord Douglas by George III.

Of the main line of the Stewarts, as represented by the kings of that name, the history is to well known to need recounting here. Of two of its members, Mary Queen of Scots and Bonnie Prince Charlie, the careers are among the most romantic and moving in the worlds annals. From first to last these Stewart Kings were consistently unfortunate, yet their lives give a brilliance and glamour to history that is entirely lacking from the sedate annals of other dynasties. Their legitimate male line came to an end with Henry, Cardinal York, the younger brother of Prince Charles, who died in 1807, but three of the great ducal houses of the country, those of Buccleuch, Richmond and Gordon, and St. Albins, are directly descended from natural sons of King Charles II.

The spelling of the name Stuart, used by the Royal Family and Maruess of Bute, was probably introduced by Queen Mary on her return from France. This great family is also Progenitors of all the Royal families in all the countries in Europe.

THE COUNTS OF DOL AND DE DINAN OF BRETAGNE (BRITTANY)
ANCESTORS OF THE STEWARTS, BOYDS AND FITZALLENS

The Boyd Tartan

SEPTS OF THE ROYAL STEWART FAMILY

BOYD         FRANCE

GARROW         LENNOX

MENTEITH         MONTEITH

SEPTS OF THE STEWARTS OF APPIN

CARMICHAEL           COMBICH

LIVINGSTON          LIVINGSTONE

MacCOMBICH          MacKINLAY

MacLAE          MacLAY

MacLEA        MacLEAY

MacMICHAEL

SEPTS OF THE STEWARTS OF ATHOLL

CROOKSHANKS         CRUICKSHANKS

DUILACH           GRAY

MacGLASHAN

The lands of Clan Boyd in Scotland  

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The Ancestors of James Boyd and Nancy Wier by William R. Boyd Copyright 1991 Quill Publications Columbus, Georgia

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