Fairlie Castle
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Fairlie Castle is a restored oblong tower castle located on a natural rounded knoll situated above a precipitous section of the Fairlie Glen near the town of Fairlie in the old Barony of Fairlie, Parish of
Largs Largs () is a town on the Firth of Clyde in North Ayrshire, Scotland, about from Glasgow. The original name means "the slopes" (''An Leargaidh'') in Scottish Gaelic. A popular seaside resort with a pier, the town markets itself on its histor ...
,
North Ayrshire North Ayrshire (, ) is one of 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas in Scotland. The council area borders Inverclyde to the north, Renfrewshire and East Renfrewshire to the northeast, and East Ayrshire and South Ayrshire to the east and s ...
, Scotland. It was built by the now extinct family, the Fairlies of that Ilk and survives in a fairly good state of preservation. It is a protected
scheduled monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage, visu ...
.


History

Timothy Pont Reverend Timothy Pont () was a Scottish minister, cartographer and topographer. He was the first to produce a detailed map of Scotland. Pont's maps are among the earliest surviving to show a European country in minute detail, from an actual surve ...
records that Fairlie was a strong tower with orchards and gardens. One source has it that Sir Robert Fairlie
of that Ilk "Of that Ilk", otherwise known as "Chief of that Bluid", is a term used in the Scottish nobility to denote a clan chieftain in some Scottish clans. The term '' of that ilk'' means "of the same ame, and is used to avoid repetition in a person's ti ...
built the present castle in 1521, the family having held the lands since the fourteenth century. In around 1656–1660 the last of the Fairlie family sold the castle and barony to the Boyle family in the person of David, first
Earl of Glasgow Earl of Glasgow is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created in 1703 for David Boyle, Lord Boyle. The first earl was subsequently one of the commissioners who negotiated the Treaty of Union uniting the Kingdom of England and the Kingd ...
. Little Cumbrae Castle,
Law Castle Law Castle is situated on the lower slopes of Law Hill on the edge of West Kilbride, in North Ayrshire, Scotland. It is around from the West Kilbride railway station, railway station. The castle is a simple rectangular structure with a sloped r ...
at
West Kilbride West Kilbride () is a village and historic parish in North Ayrshire, Scotland, on the west coast by the Firth of Clyde, looking across the Firth of Clyde to Goat Fell and the Isle of Arran. West Kilbride and adjoining districts of Seamill and P ...
and Fairlie Castle are all in the vicinity of the Firth of Clyde and have striking similarities.


The lairds

The Fairlies of that Ilk are said to have originated from the youngest son of the Ross family of Tarbert and upon being granted the lands took the name of the barony as their own. The coat of arms were
argent In heraldry, argent () is the tincture of silver, and belongs to the class of light tinctures called "metals". It is very frequently depicted as white and usually considered interchangeable with it. In engravings and line drawings, regions to b ...
, three water budgets
sable The sable (''Martes zibellina'') is a species of marten, a small omnivorous mammal primarily inhabiting the forest environments of Russia, from the Ural Mountains throughout Siberia, and northern Mongolia. Its habitat also borders eastern Kaz ...
and a
chevron Chevron (often relating to V-shaped patterns) may refer to: Science and technology * Chevron (aerospace), sawtooth patterns on some jet engines * Chevron (anatomy), a bone * '' Eulithis testata'', a moth * Chevron (geology), a fold in rock la ...
as a mark of distinction from the Ross family. A water budget or bouget was a pair of leather bags for carrying water at either end of a pole. In 1335 William de Fairlie was included in a pardon granted by Edward III at Berwick on Tweed. In 1526 Catherine Crawford of Kilbirnie married David Fairlie and the couple had one son, Robert. Catherine died in 1547, aged 40. David Fairlie is recorded by George Robertson as being married to Catherine Crawfurd of Kilbirnie and one of their three co-heiress daughters married Robert Boyd of Portencross in around 1550. A Katarine Craufurd, Lady Fairnelie (sic), is recorded as having died in December 1601. A list of her possessions gives an idea of the life that the Fairlie's led at their castle with large amounts of household linen, wearing apparel, all sorts of cooking utensils, stores of wine, barrelled meat, full chests, both large and small, etc. Cattle, sheep, corn and barley were also listed. Sir John Fairlie of that Ilk married Marion Crawford of Jordanhill and in June 1605 they obtained a charter of the ten merk land of Fairlie. John Fairlie of that Ilk is recorded to have had a daughter Marion who married Thomas Boyd of Linn and later remarried into the ancestral line of the Marquis of Bute. A William Fairlie of that Ilk is recorded to have married Catherine Brisbane of Brisbane in the early eighteenth century which contradicts the suggestion that the seller of Fairlie in around 1650 was the last of the male line of the Fairlies of that Ilk although he may have been, for Elizabeth Craufurd of Craufurdland, daughter of John Craufurd and Elizabeth Kerr of Morrieston, married twice, her first husband being a William Fairlie of that Ilk. This couple had a single daughter who died in infancy. Elizabeth remarried in 1744. The last member of the Fairlie family sold the castle, the barony and its lands to David, first
Earl of Glasgow Earl of Glasgow is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created in 1703 for David Boyle, Lord Boyle. The first earl was subsequently one of the commissioners who negotiated the Treaty of Union uniting the Kingdom of England and the Kingd ...
in around 1650. The castle has since been sold to a private owner.


Structural remains

Fairlie Castle is 12.5 m (41 ft) in height to the parapet walk and is at present roofless. It is a typical
tower castle A tower castle is a small castle that mainly consists of a fortified tower or a tower-like structure that is built on natural ground. It is thus different from the motte-and-bailey castle, which it may resemble, but whose main defensive structur ...
without any artificial
motte A motte-and-bailey castle is a European fortification with a wooden or stone keep situated on a raised area of ground called a motte, accompanied by a walled courtyard, or Bailey (castle), bailey, surrounded by a protective Rampart (fortificati ...
or a bailey. It had four storeys, each one sub-divided and two vaulted cellars that were accessed by a private stairs. Roundels or
bartizan A bartizan (an alteration of ''bratticing''), also called a guerite, ''garita'', or ''échauguette'', or spelled bartisan, is an overhanging turret projecting from the walls of late-medieval and early-modern fortifications from the early 14th c ...
s are present at all four corners and a chequered corbels design provides a support to the parapet. The private chambers were supplied with window seats, toilets, fireplaces and well formed window embrasures. The hall, with its kitchen at the east end, was located on the first floor. The main entrance is on the ground floor and faces south. The walls were 1.6m thick. Gun ports are present for the defence of the castle against besiegers. The castle stands in a defensible situation overlooking the steep, wooded and picturesque Fairlie Glen on its southern side, the boundary between the parishes of
West Kilbride West Kilbride () is a village and historic parish in North Ayrshire, Scotland, on the west coast by the Firth of Clyde, looking across the Firth of Clyde to Goat Fell and the Isle of Arran. West Kilbride and adjoining districts of Seamill and P ...
and
Largs Largs () is a town on the Firth of Clyde in North Ayrshire, Scotland, about from Glasgow. The original name means "the slopes" (''An Leargaidh'') in Scottish Gaelic. A popular seaside resort with a pier, the town markets itself on its histor ...
.


The causeway

The metalled path that today runs past the castle shows extensive remains of very old paving that suggests that it was once a main communication route and probably ran across Fairlie Moor to Dalry.


The Ballad of Hardyknute

Elizabeth, Lady Wardlaw is thought by some to be the author of a legend based at Fairlie Castle, namely ''The Ballad of Hardyknute'' published in 1719. It was said to an old poem discovered by Lady Wardlaw, locked in a vault at Dunfermline and written on scraps of paper, however no manuscript was ever produced and in the 1767 edition of Percy's Reliques the poem was ascribed to her. Others have disputed the setting as being Fairlie Castle, suggesting Glengarnock Castle as a more plausible location for this work of fiction. Paterson was of the opinion that a kernel of truth existed regarding the legend. The essence of the story is that Hardyknute, an elderly warrior, is called upon to support the Scottish King at what became known as the
Battle of Largs The Battle of Largs (2 October 1263) was a battle between the kingdoms of Kingdom of Norway (872–1397), Norway and Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland, on the Firth of Clyde near Largs, Scotland. The conflict formed part of the Scottish–Norwegian ...
. Despite his age he gathers his sons and men and sets off to support his sovereign lord at Largs, but on the way they encounter a seemingly mortally wounded knight who despite an offer of assistance asks to be left to die. On their victorious return from the battle they find the castle silent and abandoned and the implication is that the youngest son, daughter and possibly others have fallen prey to the traitorous wounded knight.


Micro-history

The Fairlie Estate near Old Rome and Gatehead had been known as 'Little Dreghorn', until William Fairlie of Bruntsfield near Edinburgh gave it his family name in around 1704.Paterson, Page 477. Members of this family can be confused with the Fairlies of that Ilk. 'Fairlie' may derive from the Old English for a meadow or untilled land grazed by sheep. Elvira Anna Phipps visited the castle in 1841 and produced a very competent engraving showing that it was without a roof and the parapet was in ruins, much as it is today. She was informed that it was of Danish origin.Phipps, Page 33


References

;Notes ;Sources # Campbell, Thorbjørn (2003). ''Ayrshire. A Historical Guide''. Edinburgh : Birlinn. # Coventry, Martin (2010). ''Castles of the Clans''. Musselburgh : Goblinshead. . # Dobie, James D. (ed Dobie, J.S.) (1876). ''Cunninghame, Topographized by Timothy Pont 1604–1608, with continuations and illustrative notices''. Glasgow: John Tweed. # # Johnston, J. B. (1903). ''Place-names of Scotland''. Edinburgh : David Douglas. # Love, Dane (2003). ''Ayrshire : Discovering a County''. Ayr : Fort Publishing. . # MacGibbon, T. and Ross, D. (1887–92). ''The castellated and domestic architecture of Scotland from the twelfth to the eighteenth centuries'', V3, Edinburgh. # Paterson, James (1863–66). ''History of the Counties of Ayr and Wigton''. V. – III – Part II – Cunninghame. Edinburgh: J. Stillie. # Paterson, James (1863–66). ''History of the Counties of Ayr and Wigton'' V. – II. – Part II – Kyle. Edinburgh : J. Stillie. # Phipps, Elvira Anna (1841). ''Memorials of Clutha or Pencillings on the Clyde.'' London : C. Ormond. # Robertson, George (1823). ''A Genealogical Account of the Principal Families in Ayrshire, more particularly in Cunninghame''. Irvine. # Salter, Mike (20060. ''The Castles of South-West Scotland''. Malvern : Folly. . # Smith, John (1895). ''Prehistoric Man in Ayrshire''. London : Elliot Stock.


External links


Video footage and narration – Fairlie Castle.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fairlie Castle Castles in North Ayrshire Category B listed buildings in North Ayrshire Listed castles in Scotland Ruins in North Ayrshire Scheduled monuments in North Ayrshire Tower houses in Scotland