The History of Kilmarnock ... Fourth edition, revised and enlarged

Front matter

ft. ŒL <p(_tocn grrancr, THE HISTORY OF KILMARNOCK i.\ ARCHIBALD M'KAY, AUTHOR OF " RECREATIONS OF LEISURE HOURS," "INGLE-SIDE LILTS," "BURNS ANC HIS KILMARNOCK FRIENDS," ETC FOURTH EDITION, REVISED AND ENLARGED Low in a. fertile valley spread. An ancient borough reared her head Still, as in Scottish story read, She boasts a race. To every nobler virtue bred. And polished grace. BUKNS. KILMARNOCK : ARCHIBALD M'KAY, TITCHFIELD STREET. M.DCCC.LXXX. I TO JOHN FULTON, ESQ., ErJUSTBTTIRGOEa:, THIS VOLUME, LLUSTRATIVE OF THE HISTORY OF KILMARNOCK, HIS NATIVE TOWN; IS BESPECTFULIY EEDICATEE BY ffre

Preface

TO THE FOURTH EDITION. In offering this New Edition of the History of Kilmar nock to the Public, I have little to say by way of preface. My reasons for collecting and publishing the annals of the town and district have been told in former Editions, and need not here be repeated. In the present Edition three Maps have been introduced, illustrative of the extent of the town and its appearance at three different periods of its history, namely, in 1783, 1819, and 1880. These were provided by John Fulton, Esq. of Edin burgh, a native of Kilmarnock, who has done much to encourage and foster its benevolent and useful Institutions, and to whom I feel under a deep obligation for the interest he has evinced in the present work. The Maps, it may be stated, were drawn by Charles Reid, Esq., Road Surveyor, who has bestowed great pains in order to make them perfectly accurate. Those for 1783 and 1819 were copied from authentic prints published VI

PREFACE.

TO THE FOURTH EDITION. at these dates, and I have no doubt that my townsmen, and others connected with the locality, will feel pleased at observing the great progress which Kilmarnock has made since the first Map was issued in 1783. The Work is also illustrated by a Portrait of William, Fourth Earl of Kilmarnock, and a faithful picture of Burns's Monument in the Kay Park. As in a previous Edition, the Charter granted by James VI., creating the town into a Burgh or Barony, is inserted in the Appendix along with other curious papers. A copious general Index is also supplied. To the numerous gentlemen who have patronised the work I am also indebted, and hope that the perusal of its pages will prove instructive and interesting. ARCHIBALD M'KAY. 19 Titchfield Street, Kilmarnock, June, 1880. CONTENTS.

Recent Improvements — Commercial and other Statistics — Craufurdland Castle Rowallan Castle, &c 332

Appendix

. I. — Charter by James VI., erecting the town into a Burgh of Barony, 1591, 359 II.— Kilmarnock Lands, 362 IIL— The Town Green, and the Rights andTitleB of the Burgh, 363 IV. — Important Public BequeBts and Gifts, 367 V.— The Kilmarnock Coat of Arms, 368 VI.— Fhe Furniture of Dean Castle in 1611 370 VII.— Cleaning the Streets in 1735 371 VIIL-" The Red Steuart," v CONTENTS. XI IX —Witchcraft 372 X. — "Rabbling the Minister," 373 XL— Fastern's E'en 374 XII. — Progress of the town since 1816 375 XIII. — Lade at the Greenhead, 377 XIV.— Municipal Boundaries of the Burgh of Kilmarnock under the Municipal Extension Act of 1871, 377 XV.— Clubs, 377 Burns' Monument, 378 XVI.— The Snow-Btorm of Saturday, the 3rd March, 1827, 379 XVII.— The Churchyards 380 XVIII.— Extracts from the old Kirk Records '. 381 XIX.— The Juggs 382 XX. — List of the Magistrates, Treasurers, Provosts, aud Clerks of the Burgh of Kilmarnock, from 1686 till 1879, 382 Index,

Chapter I

It is opportune to look back on old times and contemplate our fathers. Sir Thomas Browne. The origin of Kilmarnock, like that of many other towns of importance, is involved in considerable obscurity, and scarcely any thing illustrative of its ancient history can be gathered from the various statistical works in which it is mentioned. That it is a place of great antiquity, however, seems to be the general opinion. It is stated by some writers that, so far back as the year 322, it was the resi dence of a St. Mernoc or Marnock. Here, according to tradition, he founded a church, and hence, in all likelihood, the origin of the town ; for those who were seeking or had enjoyed his holy instructions would naturally incline to settle at or near the hallowed scene of his labours. It is also said that he was interred here within the precincts of the ground he had consecrated.

From the same Saint the town has evidently derived its name, which, as shown by the Celtic word Kit, signifies the cell, the church, or the burial place of Marnock. Gordon in his Scotichronicon says : — A "The word Mernock is a contraction of Mo-Ernin-occ, the prefix denoting my, and the suffix little — an expression of affection. The name is preserved in Scotland, in Kilmarnock, and Inchmarnock. The festival of the Saint is appointed in the Aberdeen Breviary for the 25th October." The very early date, however, assigned to the time of St. Marnock is doubtful ; and it is more probable that he settled here about the end of the sixth or the beginning of the seventh century, when some of the early teachers of Christi anity, who had been educated at I-colum-kill, under St. Columba, established places of religious worship in different parts of our island. — (See Dr. Smith's Life of St. Columba.)

But there is no account, we believe, on which reliance can be placed, regarding the Church of Kilmarnock prior to the twelfth century. The author of Caledonia, whom we shall afterwards quote on the subject, states that it belonged of old to the monastery of Kilwinning, which was then founded ; and Pont, who seems to have perused the records of that monastery, says, " it was bulte by the Locartts, Lords of it (meaning the barony), and dedicat to a holy man, Mernock, as vitnesess ye records of Kilvinin Abbay." The Locartts here mentioned are supposed to have been vassals of Hugh de Morville, an Anglo-Norman Baron, who founded the Monastery of Kilwinning, and who, as is stated by Mr. Fullarton in his notes on Pont's " Cunningham," " obtained a grant of the extensive and valuable bailliweck, or great Barony of Cunningham."

Kilmarnock, for a long time after the death of him from whom its name is derived, must have been a mere hamlet, for we find no trace of it in history until near the time when the noble family of the Boyds became possessors of the lands; and even then it is spoken of as a territory, and not as a town or village. It is mentioned by Barbour, in his Life of Bruce, as one of the places through which the English knight, Sir Philip de Mowbray, fled, after being defeated by Douglas, somewhere in the district of Cunningham, about the year 1306: " Therefore the ways forth took he then To Kilmarnock and Kilwinnyne, And to Ardrossan after syne, &c." To trace the course of the progress of Kilmarnock, even from this time, would be almost impossible. The Town Books extend no farther back than 1686, and consequently, throw no light on the subject.

The first entry in the Register of Baptisms is dated 6th February, 1644. We may infer, however, that besides the Church of the good old Saint, the many natural advantages of the place, such as its somewhat sheltered, yet healthy situation, together with the stream of the Marnock gliding through it, and the Irvine meandering at a short distance, would all tend to make it a favourite place of residence, as the more peaceful arts began to be cultivated. Regarding the particular site of the first houses of the town we are also left in uncertainty. The most likely supposition is, that they were scattered around the ancient Chapel dedicated to St. Marnock, which was no doubt situated near to or on the identical spot now occupied by the Low Parish Church. The narrow lane in the immediate neighbourhood, called College Wynd, is, or rather, lately, was,' one of the most antiquated streets of the town, and derives its name, we believe, from being the site of some Educational Institution in the olden time ; one of its old-fashioned tene ments used to be pointed out by aged persons as having been a school-house of some importance.

In the same lane was another old building, said to have been the Manse, and behind it is what was called the Glebe Land. Since the above was written, we have been favoured with extracts from various letters respecting Kilmarnock in past times, written by William Gregory, Esq., Virginia, to his brother here, James S. Gregory, Esq., Registrar. One of these extracts corroborates the above statement regarding the name College Wynd. Mr. Gregory says : — "At the north end of the Wynd, and the north-west corner of the Kirk-yard, stood an old house (it may be standing yet), the walls of which belonged to the College, and in it probably were educated some of your west country worthies — Boyd of Troch-rigg, and, perhaps, his kinsman, Zachary Boyd, and others. The College was burnt down about the middle of last century.

My father attended there at the time, but was too young to be examined regarding the fire ; however, I have heard him say that John Glen (whom I remember) was brought before the Bailies and examined as to what he knew about the fire. John answered that he ' kent naething about it, as he and Rab Elshender were making clay men in the Kirk-yard at the time.' The Collegians used the Church-yard at that time as a play-ground." It is said that the name of the last teacher in the College Wynd School was Mushat. As cor roborative of Mr Gregory's conjecture respecting Zachary Boyd we may state that, according to Chambers' s Encyclopædia, that eminent divine was educated at Kilmarnock. The first Bank of which the town could boast, and which was a branch of the Bank of Scotland, was in the adjoining alley, called Low Church Lane ; and, assuming these state ments to be true, it is not improbable that this now un fashionable quarter was the nucleus of Kilmarnock.

Grange Street, which is near to College Wynd, and which was at one time called the Clay Mugs, from the circumstance of a pottery having been in the place, is also, we believe, one of the ancient neuks of Auld Killie. Strand Street, in close proximity to the Church, had likewise the appearance of considerable antiquity before the formation, in 1876, of John Dickie Street, and, in all probability, was one of the earliest streets of the town. Though latterly occupied by the poorer classes, it was the residence of some of the more wealthy families during the last century. We may suppose, too, that the Cross, where stood the corn mill of the parish till the year 1 703, would be partly occupied with houses at a comparatively remote period ; its appearance, so late as the beginning of the present century, before King Street and Portland Street were formed, was old and antiquated in the extreme.

But of this afterwards. The first notice of any consequence which we have of Kilmarnock, and more especially of the extent of its population, at an early date, is in a document given in Chapter X, respecting the appointment of a priest or clerk for the parish in the year 1547. The parishioners who took part in that election amounted to about three hundred ; and as they, in all likelihood, comprised the whole, or nearly the whole, of the heads of families at that time in the parish, it may be inferred that the population was little more than fourteen hundred — a number which appears very small when we consider that the parish of Fenwick was then included in that of Kilmarnock.* Of course the document furnishes us with no idea of the aspect of the town in regard to its streets or buildings ; but it is worthy of remark, that the most of the names attached to it, though different in their ortho graphy, are such as are common amongst us at the present day.

The following are the various surnames arranged alphabetically from the document mentioned; and as the number of each is also given, it will be observed that the prevailing names were Brown, Smith, Boyd, Paton, and Adam : * Fenwick was disjoined from the parish of Kilmarnock in 1642. Adam, 11 Allan, 3 Andro, 4 Angus 1 Arnot, 2 Auchenloss, 6 Bar, 1 Blakwod, 2 Black, 1 Boill, 1 Boyd, 15 Borland, 3 Brokat, 1 Brown, 20 Calderwood, 1 Campbell, 1 Chalmer, 1 Cochrane, 1 Craig, 2 Craufurd, 2 Credy, 2 Crux, 7 Cunyngham, 5 Curry, 5 Cuthbertsouue, 1 Dickey, 5 Duncane, 2 Findlay, 4 Fulton 4 Gemyll, 6 Gilmure, 6 Gray, 2, Haikbill 1 Harbartsoune, 1 Harper, 8 Hillhouss, 3 Hobkyn, 1 Howay,* 1 Holmes, 1 Hog 7 Kendy, 1 Kirkland, 1 Lauchland...... 4 Lowdoun, 3 Lowry, 3 Lymburnat 4 Lyndsay, 4 Masoun, 2 Miller, 8 Mure 2 Mychell, 1 Myll, 1 Nasmyth, 1 Neill, 2 Nevine, 3 Norvell, 2 Nychole, 1 Pally 4 Pawtoun, 12 Patrick 1 Quhyte, 6 RaDkyne I Robisone, 1 Koss 4 Schaw, 2 Smyth, 16 Steele, 6 Stesen, 1 Stevinsone, 1 Strauchand, 1 Tailzeour, 8 Tanathhill, 9 Tempeltoun, 1 Thomson, 3 Tod, 1 Torrence 1 Wallace 8 Warnock, 3 Wilsoun, 2 Wright, 1 Wylie, 6 Timothy Pont, about sixty years after the time spoken of, namely, in 1609, visited the town when making a survey of Cunningham, and, in his own quaint manner, thus describes it : " Kilmernock-toune and Kirk is a large village and of grate repaire.

It hath in it a veekly market, it hath a faire stone bridge over the river Marnock vich glydes hard by the said toune, till it falles into the river Irving. It hath a pretty church from vich ye village castell and lordschipe * Probably in Lochgoin, ancestor of the author of the Scots Worthies. takes its name. . . . The Lord Boyd is now Lord of it, to quhosse predicessors it hath belonged for maney generaations. In this church ar divers of ye Lord Boydes progenitors buried, amongs quhome ther is one tombe or stone, bearing this in scription and coate, Hie Jacet Thomas Boyde Dominus de Kilmarnock qui obiit Septimo die mensis Julii 1432, and Johanna de Montgomery eius spousa. Orate pro us." In the books of the Irvine Presbytery, the following notice occurs regarding Lord Boyd's tomb : " At a visitation at Kilmarnock, 1 9th June, 1649, anent ane superstitious image that was upon my Lord Boyd his tombe, it was the Presbiterie's mynd that his Lordship should be written to that he wold be pleased to demolish and ding it doun, and if he wold refuse, that then the Presbiterie was to take a further course."

This appears to have been in accordance with an Act of Parlia ment, passed a few years previously, for " abolishing monu ments of Idolatrie." We have an interesting glimpse of the town as it appeared in the year 1658, in another old work entitled Northern Memoirs, written by Richard Franck, and a limited edition, of which was published in 1821, with notes, &c, by Sir Walter Scott. Franck was a native of Cambridge, and is supposed to have served as a Captain in a Cavalry Regiment under Oliver Cromwell. Like old Izaac Walton, he was a devoted angler, and he was making a fishing tour through Scotland when he visited Kilmarnock. We suspect, how ever, that his picture of the town is rather extravagantly drawn ; at all events, it reflects no great credit, in some respects, on the memory of our ancestors.

After describing the town as "an antient corporation, crowded with me chanicks and brewhouses," and as a place, "through the midst of whose crazy, tottering ports, there runs a river replenished with trout," the writer says : " Step into her dirty streets, that are seldom clean but on a sun-shiny day, or at other times, when great rains melt all the muck, and forcibly drive it down their cadaverous channels into the river Marr, whose streams are so sullied then, that the river loses its natural brightness, till the stains are washed out, and so become invisable. All which to examine is enough to convince you that the influence of planets is their best scavenger. . . . These inhabitants," he proceeds, " dwell in such ugly houses, as, in my opinion, are little better than huts ; and generally of a size, all built so low, that their eaves hang dangling to touch the earth. . . .

And that which is worse than all the rest, is their unproportionate, ill contrivance . . . Not one good structure is to be found in Kilmarnock ; nor do I remember any wall it has, but a river there is, as I formerly told you of, that runs through the town ; over which there stood a bridge so wretchedly antient, that it's unworthy our commendations." It is curious that neither the Church nor the Dean Castle are noticed by our author. The former, he, perhaps, considered too humble an edifice for particular description ; and the latter, being somewhat distant from the town, might escape his observation. Regarding the skill of the inhabitants in mechanical pursuits our tourist speaks somewhat favourably. "Part of their manufacture," he remarks, "is knitting of bonnets and spinning [weaving] of Scottish cloth, which turns to very good account.

Then, for their temper of metals, they are without compeer — Scotland has not better ; and as they are artizans in dirks, so are they artists in fuddling, as if there were some rule in drinking, so that, to me, it represents as if art and ale were inseparable com panions. Moreover, their wives are sociable comers [kimmers], too, yet not to compare with those of Dumblain, who pawn their petticoats to pay their reckoning. Here is a jolly crew of ale-men, but very few anglers, crowded together in the small compass of a little corporation, curiously compacted." From these scanty quotations a faint idea may be formed of the appearance of the town upwards of two hundred years ago. The mean condition in which Franck represents it is not to be wondered at ; for it was then but a mere village, with no Magistracy or Town Council, with little commerce, and, consequently, with few of the comforts and conveniences of life.

The first magistrates were appointed in 1695; and for upwards of a hundred years prior to that time, the Burgh was governed by a baron-bailie, nominated by the Boyd family. It appears from Franck's statement that the men of Kilmarnock were peculiarly skilled in the art of cutlery; and this is somewhat corroborated by another old book, A Journey through Scotland: London, 1723, in which the town is noticed as " famous for all kinds of cutler's ware." We have found no other evidence, however, of such a trade having been ever carried on in the town to any very great extent ; and we have seen only one or two instances of the word cutler being mentioned in the early Records of the Burgh. The minute in which one of them occurs is rather curious; "13th July, 1686. — The quhilk day James Thomson, ane of the dragoons of horse, Adam Black's companie, was decemed to pay to John Tod, cutler, in Kilmarnock, the sum of 3s. 4d. Scots, and the said John Tod to give up to James Thomson his wyffis body cott, quhilk was pandit for three pence, and paid to the said James."

That the inhabitants were " artists in fuddling," as Franck expresses it, we can more readily believe, for the Council, in by-gone times, were often under the necessity of making enactments for the suppression of drunkenness. In 1695, for example, it was enacted that " no ale be sold by vintners after ten o'clock on Saturday nights;" and, in 1702, a proclamation was issued, "strictly requiring all vintners, taverners, and other retaillers of Liquors, to shutt their doors nightly at the tolling of the bells at ten hours throw the week, and at the tolling of the nine hours bell at the Saturday's and Sabbath's night, and to allow none to drink in their houses after the sd* times, under the penalty of six shillings Scots, for each person, to be payed by the master or mistresse of the house." In the same proclamation all persons were also prohibited from " walking upon the streets unnecessarily, and from bringing in water, or carrying of burdens upon the Lord's Day."

The following extract from the Minutes of the Kirk Session shows that special efforts were also made by that body to abate the social irregularities noted by Franck : "Session, heir. 12th, 1689.— The qlk day the Sess. appoints the Elders in their respective quarters to go through and search the several Ale-houses and other suBpect places therein each Saturdays night, immediatelie after nine a'clock, and that they take exact notice of such as they find drinking there, after the sd. hour, or any way deboshing, and make delation thereof to the Sess. from time to time. LL It also appointed, That the Elders, who collect the charitie at the Kirk doors, do, immediatelie after the publick worship is begun, go through the town, and search for such as absent themselves from the publick ordinances, or are drinking, or otherwyse profaneing the Lords Day : And that in the afternoon, after the publick worship is over and ended, they take notice of such as, by straying up and down the town or through the fields, or by idle discourse in companys together, or by drinking and otherwise, do profane the Sabbath; and that they make delation thereof accordinglie."

The principal architectural erections in the town and its immediate neighbourhood, at the beginning of the seven teenth century, were the Bridge, the Church, and the Castle ; at least no other is mentioned by Pont. The bridge to which he alludes was no doubt situated on the same site which the Old Bridge, leading from Cheapside to Sandbed Street, now occupies, and was probably the one spoken of by the " piscatorian " traveller, Franck, as "un worthy commendations." According to the Town's Books it underwent some alteration in 1753, in order that it might be made " more safe for all sorts of traffic ;" and, about 1762, it was rebuilt in consequence of having been much injured by floods. The present structure, we believe, is the one then erected. Of the Church no trace now remains save the steeple, which still stands attached to the present Parish Church.

About forty years ago the date, 1410, was inscribed on it — a date which some old people had recollected seeing on the lintel of one the doors. That it belongs to that, if not an earlier period, its venerable appearance would seem to testify. In 1770 it was considerably repaired, as is shown by the following notice in the Town Treasurer's Books : " 1770, Nov. 22.— N.B. This Day, the Roof of the Parish Steeple was Finished by John Reid, Plumber In Ayr. He agreed to take down the Old roof & find a new One Compleat, for £52 Sterling. The Heritors to pay the One Half, and the To.wn Council the Other." It was also furnished, in August, 1853, with a finely-toned new bell, weighing twelve hundred weight, which cost about £100 sterling. The old bell, which weighed nearly four hundredweight, bore this in scription: "Blessed is the people that know the IOYFVLL SOVND, PS. 89, 15, NVM, 10, 10.

ALBERT DANIEL, CELI ME FECERVNT, KILMARNOCK, AN. DOM., 1697." The old bell was purchased for a church in Stewarton, and still does good service in that ancient village. It may be added, that there is a tradition that the lower part of the steeple was used as a prison in the time of the Coven anters, and that some of them were therein incarcerated. The late Mr. Gregory of Virginia, in an interesting letter on this subject, says : '*** When the old Church was taken down [in 1802], and the west side of the steeple laid bare, there were brought to view three niches in the wall, some five or six feet above the floor, and perhaps some six or seven feet in height, before which the altar stood, and the priest officiated in Popish times. These niches were arched at the top of a gothic shape." The Castle spoken of by Pont still exists, though in ruins, and is now known by the name of the Dean.

It is, perhaps, the oldest building in the locality, and was long the stronghold of the ancient barons of Kilmarnock, whose names are closely interwoven with the early annals of the Burgh. We shall, therefore, give a brief description of it before entering more fully into other historical details.

Chapter II

See where the Dean her ruined fabric rearB ! A mournful scene her naked wall appears ; The clasping ivy shades her tottering towers, Where night-owls form their melancholy bowers. Prone from the top, huge ruined fragments fall ; The howling wind sounds dreary in the hall ; No more the voice of mirth is heard to sound, But melancholy silence reigns around. Gavin Turnbull. Dean Castle, long the residence of the Boyd family, stands at the distance of nearly a mile from Kilmarnock, in a north east direction. Its situation, though not the most romantic, can scarcely fail to delight the admirer of the gentle, as well as the magnificent in nature. On the right and on the left the ground rises in pleasing elevations, and hence probably, the Castle derived its name, as the word Dean, according to Dr. Jamieson, signifies a small valley or hollow where the ground slopes on both sides.

Close by the Castle the scene is enlivened by two little mossy streams, locally called the Borland and the Craufurdland, which there meet and mingle with each other, forming what is termed MKilmarnock Water. In an old rhyme, given by Pa-terson in his History of Ayrshire, the MKilmarnock Water is called the Garth : 44 The Water of Carth rins by the Dean That ance was Lord Boyd's lodgin' — The Lord wi' the loupen han' Wha lost his title and his Ian'." We have seen no other instance, however, of the stream being so named at a former period. The old topographer, Pont, who wrote about 1609, calls it "the river Marnock;" and in Franck's Northern Memoirs, written in 1658, it is denominated " the river Marr." The view in the neighbourhood, too, is considerably beautified by several steep woody braes.

From one of these, near Assloss, the Castle presents a majestic and stern appearance, Though grey and rent with years, it looks as if conscious of its strength, and as if frowning defiance down the valley that stretches before it. From the same eminences we have a glimpse of the town, with its towers and spires, which give to it an air of importance ; and the eye, ranging still farther, rests delighted on the beautiful green hills of Craigie, and the more romantic heights of Dundonald. In early times, according to oral tradition, a dense wood, which stretched itself behind and on each side of the Castle, concealed it in a great measure from the scrutinizing eye of the invader, and made it almost inaccessible to strangers, save by the principal approach, which was from the south-west, in which direction were situated the huts or hovels of the vassals of the manor.

In those days, therefore, this old baronial stronghold was not only picturesque and secluded, but was secure in a great degree from the attacks of neighbouring chiefs, or of the more ruthless hordes who sought to reduce the country to a state of thraldom ; for the alarm could readily be given by the vassals from the glen, or by the warder, whose eye from the watch-tower could distinctly descry every movement of advancing foemen. The Dean consists of two separate towers of unequal height, and appears to have been surrounded by a wall or rampart, part of which still stands. The period at which either of the towers was erected is unknown, but both bear the marks of considerable antiquity. Grose, who visited the Castle, we believe, about 1789, and made a drawing of it for his Antiquities of Scotland, supposes the higher one to have been built about the beginning of the fifteenth century.

In the wall of the lower edifice, and looking into the court, is a stone, on which the family arms are sculptured, and beneath which the words " James Boyd and Catherine Craik " were lately legible ; and these being the names of the eighth Lord Boyd and his Lady, it has sometimes been conjectured that the whole of the lower mansion was erected in their time, namely, about the middle of the seventeenth century ; for the estate devolved on the eighth Lord Boyd in 1640, and his death took place about 1654. This conjecture, however, appears to be incorrect ; for Pont, in his Cunning ham Topographized, which was written, as we have said, about 1609, speaks of both towers as then existing. That portion of the building, therefore, on which the arms are sculptured, must have been only an addition made by the eighth Lord Boyd.

It also appears, from the same authority, that both towers are of greater antiquity than was supposed by Grose. Pont's words are : " Kilmernock Castell. It is a staitly faire ancient biilding, arrysing in two grate heigh towers, and bulte arround courtewayes, vith fyve* low buld ings ; it is veill planted, and almost environed with gardens, orchards, and a parke ; it belonged first to ye Locartts, lords thereof, then to the Lord Soulis, and now the cheiffe duell ing almost for 300 zeirs of ye Lords Boyde." It may also be mentioned that on another part of the lower building the * There is great reason to suspect that the word five here has been erroneously transcribed from the original MS. for fine; and that the allusion is simply to the cheerful and elegant range of building fronting the south, the walls of which still remain pretty entire.