Published in Scotland Magazine Issue 32 on 13/04/2007.

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Bonnie on the Clyde (Kelburn Castle)

Charles Douglas visits Kelburn Castle in Fairlie, Ayrshire, the seat of the Earl of Glasgow

In common with most of Scotland’s great families of Norman origin, the de Boyvilles, having been part of William the Conqueror’s invasion of England in 1066, came to Scotland in the 12th century to serve that most enlightened of Scottish kings, David I, whose sister was married to Henry I of England.

Being cousins of Hugo de Moreville, Hereditary Great High Constable of Scotland, the de Boyvilles were well connected and were allocated lands at Kelvin, in Glasgow.

When the immediate male line of this family died out in 1196, another branch of the family, already established at Fairlie in Ayrshire, took over as representatives of the family name.

It was these Boyles who built Kelburn Castle on a site both picturesque and strategic. Commanding fine views up and down the Clyde Coast and over to the islands of Cumbrae and Arran, their fortress was ideally located to defend this important section of Scotland’s west coast from the unwelcome and regular attention of pillaging Viking invaders.

But it was in the early 18th century that the family fortunes really took off. David Boyle, a lawyer and distinguished Scottish statesman, who had been raised to the peerage as Lord Boyle in 1699, was created 1st Earl of Glasgow in 1703. In 1709, with his friend the 2nd Duke of Queensberry, he was one of the leading architects of the Act of Union which integrated the Scottish and English parliaments.

By the middle of the Victoria era, the earls of Glasgow had become considerable landowners .....

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By Charles Douglas

Section : Historic Houses

Page number : 14