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Earl of Kilmarnock
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Earl of Kilmarnock
Earl of Kilmarnock was a title created twice in the Peerage of Scotland for the Boyd family. It was first created in 1454 for Robert Boyd, Great Chamberlain of Scotland. It was created a second time in 1661 for William Boyd, 10th Lord Boyd. Both titles were forfeited in 1746.
Thomas Boyd, the elder son of Robert Boyd, 1st Lord Boyd—and father of the second one—was created Earl of Arran in 1467, but both titles were forfeit in 1469. Considerable confusion exists over the numbering of the Lords Boyd; this article follows the numbering used in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.
The 4th Earl of Kilmarnock was the father of the 15th Earl of Erroll. The Kilmarnock title was revived in 1831 for the latter's grandson, William George Hay, 18th Earl of Erroll, who was created Baron Kilmarnock in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. Since 1941, this title is a separate peerage.
By the time they were raised to the peerage by James II in 1454, the Boyds had already played a significant role in Scotland’s history, not least through their selfless contribution to the cause of the Nation’s freedom in the bitter and bloody Wars of Independence with England. Some sources assert the name stems from the Gaelic ‘buidhe’, meaning fair. One tradition is that the original ancestor of today’s Boyds was Simon FitzAlan, known as Simon the Fair, who was either a nephew or a younger brother of Walter FitzAlan, the High Steward of Scotland who is recognised as the progenitor, or founder, of what became the Royal House of Stewart (or Stuart).
This explains why the Boyds, although a proud clan in their own right, are considered a sept, or branch, of the Stewarts, and why many today adopt the Royal Stewart tartan, although there is a Boyd sett. Another explanation for the origin of the name Boyd is that it is a ‘location’ name, from the Gaelic ‘Boid’, referring to the island of Bute in the Clyde estuary.
Ayrshire became the homeland of the Boyds, with a Dominus Robertus de Boyd recorded as having witnessed a contract concerning the west coast town of Irvine in 1205. This family of Boyds are thought to have been vassals of the powerful Anglo-Norman family of de Morville, but by the early thirteenth century they had risen to such prominence that they held their own lands in Ayrshire, particularly in the vicinity of Kilmarnock. The Boyds appear to have been no sooner settled in Ayrshire than they found themselves embroiled in the cause of the nation’s freedom. They rallied to its defence at the battle of Largs, when Sir Robert Boyd was among a group of Ayrshire lairds raised by Alexander FitzAlan, in his role as High Steward, to repel a Viking invasion that threatened after the king of Scots, Alexander III, laid claim to the Hebrides.
Warned that Alexander was prepared to wrest the islands from Norwegian control by force if necessary, King Hakon of Norway embarked with a mighty fleet from Bergen in July 1263. His fierce band of sea raiders plundered and ravaged Kintyre, Bute, and Islay, before appearing off the west coast mainland township of Largs. A storm blew many of the vessels onto the shore beneath the overhanging Cunningham hills on the night of 30 September, and it was on top of these hills that FitzAlan hastily assembled a force of militia that included Sir Robert Boyd and his kinsfolk. A party of militia emerged from their high eminence the following morning and engaged in a skirmish with a band of Norsemen attempting to salvage precious cargo from their stricken vessels.
The Scots drove them back to their ships and returned that evening to gleefully loot the cargo.
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Earl of Kilmarnock
Earl of Kilmarnock was a title created twice in the Peerage of Scotland for the Boyd family. It was first created in 1454 for Robert Boyd, Great Chamberlain of Scotland. It was created a second time in 1661 for William Boyd, 10th Lord Boyd. Both titles were forfeited in 1746.
Thomas Boyd, the elder son of Robert Boyd, 1st Lord Boyd—and father of the second one—was created Earl of Arran in 1467, but both titles were forfeit in 1469. Considerable confusion exists over the numbering of the Lords Boyd; this article follows the numbering used in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.
The 4th Earl of Kilmarnock was the father of the 15th Earl of Erroll. The Kilmarnock title was revived in 1831 for the latter's grandson, William George Hay, 18th Earl of Erroll, who was created Baron Kilmarnock in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. Since 1941, this title is a separate peerage.
By the time they were raised to the peerage by James II in 1454, the Boyds had already played a significant role in Scotland’s history, not least through their selfless contribution to the cause of the Nation’s freedom in the bitter and bloody Wars of Independence with England. Some sources assert the name stems from the Gaelic ‘buidhe’, meaning fair. One tradition is that the original ancestor of today’s Boyds was Simon FitzAlan, known as Simon the Fair, who was either a nephew or a younger brother of Walter FitzAlan, the High Steward of Scotland who is recognised as the progenitor, or founder, of what became the Royal House of Stewart (or Stuart).
This explains why the Boyds, although a proud clan in their own right, are considered a sept, or branch, of the Stewarts, and why many today adopt the Royal Stewart tartan, although there is a Boyd sett. Another explanation for the origin of the name Boyd is that it is a ‘location’ name, from the Gaelic ‘Boid’, referring to the island of Bute in the Clyde estuary.
Ayrshire became the homeland of the Boyds, with a Dominus Robertus de Boyd recorded as having witnessed a contract concerning the west coast town of Irvine in 1205. This family of Boyds are thought to have been vassals of the powerful Anglo-Norman family of de Morville, but by the early thirteenth century they had risen to such prominence that they held their own lands in Ayrshire, particularly in the vicinity of Kilmarnock. The Boyds appear to have been no sooner settled in Ayrshire than they found themselves embroiled in the cause of the nation’s freedom. They rallied to its defence at the battle of Largs, when Sir Robert Boyd was among a group of Ayrshire lairds raised by Alexander FitzAlan, in his role as High Steward, to repel a Viking invasion that threatened after the king of Scots, Alexander III, laid claim to the Hebrides.
Warned that Alexander was prepared to wrest the islands from Norwegian control by force if necessary, King Hakon of Norway embarked with a mighty fleet from Bergen in July 1263. His fierce band of sea raiders plundered and ravaged Kintyre, Bute, and Islay, before appearing off the west coast mainland township of Largs. A storm blew many of the vessels onto the shore beneath the overhanging Cunningham hills on the night of 30 September, and it was on top of these hills that FitzAlan hastily assembled a force of militia that included Sir Robert Boyd and his kinsfolk. A party of militia emerged from their high eminence the following morning and engaged in a skirmish with a band of Norsemen attempting to salvage precious cargo from their stricken vessels.
The Scots drove them back to their ships and returned that evening to gleefully loot the cargo.
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