Читать книгу The Ayrshire and Arran Coastal Paths онлайн

7 страница из 42

Beautiful dusk reflections at Largs Marina (Day 10)

During the early 13th century much of the land along the mainland Ayrshire coastline was owned by the Kennedy Clan, which had separate factions including the Bargany and the Cassillis Kennedys. The history of the clan is a hostile one, with much blood shed over the centuries. Other major landowners within Ayrshire included The Wallaces of Craigie and the Montgomerys of Eglinton. The first traceable Kennedy ancestor is John Kennedy of Dunure, who was granted the lands of Carrick in 1358 by King David II and, as land equalled power, John Kennedy became one of the most influential men in the southwest. In 1360 he made the crucial acquisition of Cassillis House near Maybole, which would eventually become the seat of the Kennedys. In around 1457, the head of the family at the time, Gilbert, took the title 1st Lord Kennedy and this title was thereafter handed down to future generations. Later, in 1509, the title Earl of Cassillis was created for the clan and the first to bear it was David. Succeeding him as the 2nd Earl of Cassillis was his son Gilbert (simultaneously he became the 4th Lord Kennedy), who seemed to set the tone for the family's successive generations by being involved in several unlawful deeds, which would then typically necessitate acts of retribution, usually by the Bargany faction of the Kennedy clan.