in Ayrshire, Scotland
The BOYDS (1205-1748) - one of the greatest of Scotland's noble families. Ian Grimble wrote:". . during their short period of office the Boyds performed a service of lasting benefit to Scotland. They arranged the King's marriage to Margaret of Denmark, a lady of such excellence that James III actually petitioned Rome for her canonisation a year after her death. In addition, the isles of Orkney and Shetland were made the pledges for her dowry, and since they were never redeemed they returned at last to the Scottish crown, nine hundred years after they had been Pictish territory in the time of St.Columba."
The origin of the name Boyd, like Kilmarnock, is uncertain. Some academic opinion is that it is derived from the Celtic Boidh meaning fair, yellow, and others insist that the derivation is not from Gaelic. There has been conjecture and assumptions about the pedigree of the first (of the surname) Boyd being a nephew of Walter the Steward in the Cartulary of Paisley. Despite the acceptance of this descent by Douglas and Burke et al there is no written evidence to support it, so it should not be taken as factual.
Note: the 7th Baron Kilmarnock wears the Stewart tartan, and claims descent from Simon, brother of Walter the Steward.
Alexander Nisbet, in 1722, wrote: "The first of the surname of Boyd, was Robert, son of Simon, third son of Allan, second Lord High steward of Scotland, who died 1153; which Robert is designed in the charters of Paisley, nephew to Walter, the son of Allan Dapifer, Great Steward of Scotland. Robert Boyd is witness in a charter, in the year 1205, as Crawfurd in his History of Renfrew, page 55; and Sir James Dalrymple, in his preface to his Scots Collections, page 80 says, I find Robertus dictus de Boyd in a charter by Sir John Erskine about the year 1262. And doubtless he was predecessor to the Lords Boyd, and Earls of Kilmarnock, who carried azure, a fesse cheque, argent and gules; crest, a hand issuing out of a wreath, pointing with the thumb and two fingers; motto, Confido; supporters, two squirrels collared or."
Reliable information commences with evidence that the Boyds were vassals of the de Morvilles in the regality of Largs. (c1170, Richard de Morville was the Lord of Cunninghame and Constable of Scotland).The Boyds possessed the barony of Nodsdale and 'other good lands' in Renfrew in the reign of Alexander III (1249-86).
The first person named Boyd on record was Robert Boyd (Dominus Robertus de Boyd miles), witness to a contract between the village of Irvine and a Bryce de Eglington in 1205. His descendant Robert dictus Boyd distinguished himself at the battle of Largs (1263) by defeating a body of Norsemen at Goldberryhill and was rewarded with a grant of lands in Cunningham by Alexander III. The lands destined to become the Barony of Kilmarnock were, according to Timothy Pont in Cunninghame Topographer (1609), 'owned first by the Lockharts (ye Locartts), Lords there of, and later Lord Soulis'. By the beginning of the 14th century they were held by the de Balliols, so we may conclude that they were forfeited. The next descendant was again a Sir Robert Boyd, the commander of the right wing in the battle of Bannockburn (1314) under Edward Bruce, and companion of King Robert the Bruce. In the dynastic struggles of the time, King John de Balliol fell from power and Robert Bruce was crowned King. Robert the Bruce granted Boyd the Barony of Kilmarnock and lands of Bondington and Hertschaw - formerly possessed by Balliol. NB. Including the lands of the adjacent Bondington, the Barony of Kilmarnock comprised about 2350 acres. The Royal Charter to Robert Boyd of 1316 is given here. Sir Robert died in 1333 after the battle of Halidon Hill, and his eldest son, Sir Thomas Boyd succeeded to the Barony of Kilmarnock and other lands. Sir Thomas Boyd fought at the battle of Neville's Cross under King David II in 1346 and was captured and imprisoned. His eldest son and successor, Sir Thomas, had a son Thomas (died 1432) who was a hostage for the ransom of King James I (1424-25). He had two sons; the eldest, Sir Thomas, younger of Kilmarnock, and William, Abbot of Kilwinning. Sir Thomas, younger of Kilmarnock, was arrested in 1424 on the orders of King James I - and later released. Following a feud with a neighbour, Sir Thomas was slain in revenge in Renfrewshire in 1439. His son, Robert, was created a Lord of Parliament, the first Lord Boyd, by King James II in 1454. During the minority of King James III he acted as Regent, and, ratified by a charter under the Great Seal, was sole Governor of the Realm in 1466. In 1468 he arranged and concluded a treaty of marriage between the King and princess Margaret, only daughter of Christian I, King of Denmark and Norway. Lord Boyd fell from royal favour soon after, and was summoned to Parliament. Found guilty, his Peerage was forfeited, his estates were annexed to the Principality of Scotland, and he was sentenced to death in 1469. He took refuge in England. His heir Thomas, Master of Boyd, married the Lady Mary, sister of King James III and was created Earl of Arran by charter in 1467. With the erection of the Earldom of Arran in 1467 he was granted the lands and Barony of Kilmarnock - later confiscated and given to Queen Margaret in 1469. His only son James, the second Lord Boyd, was restored to many lands including the Barony of Kilmarnock, but two years later - aged 16 - he was killed in a feud by Hugh Montgomery of Eglinton. On his death the Barony of Kilmarnock reverted to the Crown. Twenty years later the Lordship & Barony of Kilmarnock was granted to Queen Margaret Tudor, wife of King James IV. Gilbert Allan Rowland Boyd (1903-75), 6th Baron Kilmarnock, is shown at bottom right.  The Scottish and Ulster-Scots family name Ayr(e) is listed by COSCA as a
sept of Clan Boyd, with allegiance to the hereditary Chief of Clan Boyd, Alastair Ivor Gilbert Boyd, 7th Baron Kilmarnock.The genealogy of the Clan Chief can be seen here. Lord Kilmarnock, the incommunicative Chief of Clan Boyd, ceased to be a member of the House of Lords under the terms of the House of Lords Act 1999, when most of the hereditary members were removed from the House of Lords. Heraldry enthusiasts can see officially recorded Boyd Armorials at www.heraldry-online.org.uk here. IMPORTANT BOOK INFORMATION: 1 - A scarce book 'Memoirs of the Pretenders and Their Adherents' by John Heneage Jesse, Vol.II, 1846, which includes a section on William Boyd, Earl of Kilmarnock (p219 on), has been digitised by Google, and can be read on-line or downloaded as a 10.3Mb .pdf document HERE. PHOTOGRAPHS : Click here to see photographs relating to this page. |
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