Search for AYR or AYRSHIRE in The Scotch-Irish
Source Information: Hanna, Charles A. The Scotch-Irish: The Scot in North Britain, North Ireland, and North America Vol.1 New York, NY: G. P. Putnam, 1902.
Search for all mention of Ayrshire :- [Ayrshire]
AYR
SCOTLAND OF TO-DAY
- IT has been said of the modern Scottish race by some of its enthusiastic sons that, in proportion to its numbers, that race has produced more men who have taken a prominent part in the affairs of the English speaking world than has any other. Whether this be true or not, there are two facts bearing upon that phase of Scottish race-history to which attention may properly be called. The first and most important fact is, that nearly all the men of Scottish birth or descent who are renowned in history trace their family origin back to the western Lowlands of Scotland. That is to say, the district comprising the counties of Lanark, Renfrew, Ayr, Dumfries, Wigtown, Kirk-cudbright, and Dumbarton--in area about the same as Connecticut, and the most of which was formerly included in the Celto-British kingdom of Strathclyde,--has produced a very large proportion of the men and families who have made the name of Scotland famous in the world's history.
- British of Strathclyde, and English of Bernica--the two latter realms extended far south beyond the line of modern Scotland. This fact had remarkable consequences in Scottish history. Otherwise the existence of these four kingdoms mainly interests us as showing the nature of the races--Pictish, British, Irish, and English--who were, then, the inhabitants of various parts of Scotland, leaving, doubfiess, their strain of blood in the population. A Dumfries, Ayr, Renfrew, Lanark, or Peebles man, as a dweller in Strathclyde, has some chance of remote British (Brython) ancestors in his pedigree; a Selkirk, Roxburgh, Berwick-shire, or Lothian man is probably for the most part of English blood; an Argyleshire man is or may be descended from an Irish Scot or Dalriad; the northern shires are partly Pictish, as also is Galloway, always allowing for the perpetual mixture of races in really historical and in prehistoric times--Andrew Lang, History of Scotland, vol. i., p. 31.
THE CALEDONIANS, OR PICTS
- on the island for both races; and many bodies of the aborigines no doubt remained unmolested long after the extinction of their race had been in part accomplished.5 As fresh waves of invasion swept over the eastern shores, the Celts first coming would be apt to be driven farther and farther inland from the coast, and would in turn displace the natives--who, to escape death or slavery, would be obliged to push farther westward and northward. Some of these (supposed) aborigines, however, seem to have made a successful stand against the encroachments of the newcomers, and among them we find two tribes who were identified with portions of Scotland down to a date long after the beginning of the historic era. These were the Novantae and Selgovae mentioned by Ptolemy, whose territory in his time (the early part of the second century) embraced the country west of the river Nith and south of the Ayr -- Kirkcudbrightshire and Galloway -- and possibly, also, the peninsula of Kintyre, in Argyle. Toward the end of the Roman occupation they seem to have coalesced, and became known as the Attecotti, a "fierce and warlike tribe," who gave the Romans a great deal of trouble. They afterwards appear in history as the Galloway Picts, and seem to have remained a distinct people under that name down to a comparatively recent date.
- A description of the several peoples inhabiting Britain at this time, or shortly after, is found in Ptolemy's Geography, written about A.D. 121. According to Professor Rhys's interpretation of Ptolemy, most of the country between the Humber and Mersey and the Caledonian Forest belonged to a tribe or confederation known as the Brigantes. The Novantae and Selgovae, occupying the district on the Solway west of the Nith, appear, however, to have been independent of them; as were also the Parisi, between the Humber and the Tees. The Otadini (occupying a portion of Lothian and the coast down to the southern Wall) and the northern Damnonii (inhabiting the district north of the Novantae, the Selgovae, and the Otadini, and to a considerable distance beyond the Forth and Clyde--the present counties of Ayr, Renfrew, Lanark, Dumbarton, Stirling, and the western half of Fife) were either distinct peoples subject to the Brigantes, or included in the tribes that went under that named
THE SCOTS AND PICTS
- When Kenneth mac Alpin became king of the Picts in 844, his territories embraced that part of Scotland now included in the counties of Perth, Fife, Stirling, Dumbarton, and Argyle. North and west of this district the country continued in a state of practical independence for a long time afterward, being in part occupied by the Northern Picts, and in part by the Norsemen. South of Kenneth's territories the Northumbrian Angles occupied the province of Bernicia, which included most of the present counties of Scotland south of the Forth and east of the Avon and Esk. They also maintained lordship over part of the district now known as Galloway and Ayr. The Cymric Britons of Strathclyde lived and ruled where are now the counties of Renfrew, Lanark, Dumfries, Peebles (Clydesdale, Nithsdale, and Annandale); the adjacent portions of Ayr and Galloway and also for a considerable distance to the south of Solway Firth.
- "Finally, on the north shore of the Solway Firth, and separated from the Britons by the lower part of the river Nith, and by the mountain range which separates the counties of Kirkcudbright and Wigton from those of Dumfries and Ayr, were a body of Picts, termed by Bede Niduari; and this district, consisting of the two former counties, was known to the Welsh as Galwydel, and to the Irish as Gallgaidel, from which was formed the name Gall-weithia, now Galloway."--Celtic Scotland, vol. i., pp. 237-239.
THE BRITONS
- but the precise locality is not now known. Dumbarton rock was the main place of strength, and the seat of the reguli. The history of the Alcluyd kingdom presents a series of wars domestic and foreign, throughout the greater portion of its existence--sometimes with the Picts, sometimes with the Scots, oftener with the Saxons, and not less frequently one clan against another. Though repeatedly defeated and overrun, they continued to defend themselves with great spirit; and more than once their restless enemies felt the weight of their sword.--Paterson, History of the County of Ayr, vol. i., p. 13.
- Cornwall was subsequently occupied by the [Saxon] strangers, and the place of the Britons to the south of present Scotland became limited to what was afterwards known as the principality of Wales. The narrow part of North England, Lancashire and Yorkshire, being occupied by the Saxons there was thus a gap between the Southern Britons and those of Scotland. These latter became a little independent state, known as Strathclyde, endowed with a sort of capital and national fortress at Dumbarton. This country is now known as the shires of Ayr, Renfrew, Lanark, Stirling, and Dumbarton. It had its own small portion in the events of the time through which it existed in independence, and became at last, as we shall see, absorbed in the aggregation that made the kingdom of Scotland. Such was one of the early elements of this aggregation.--Burton, History of Scotland, vol. i., p. 82.
- The same natural boundary which separated the eastern from the western tribes afterwards divided the kingdom of the Strathclyde Britons from that of the Angles; at a subsequent period, the province of Galweia from that of Lodoneia in their most extended sense; and now separates the counties of Lanark, Ayr, and Dumfries from the Lothians and the
- Again, in 875, the same restless enemy, sallying forth from Northumberiand, laid waste Galloway, and a great part of Strathcluyd. Thus harassed by the insatiable Northmen, many of the inhabitants of Alclyd resolved upon emigrating to Wales. Under Constantin, their chief, they accordingly took their departure; but were encountered by the Saxons at Loch-maben, where Constantin was slain. They, however, repulsed their assailants, and forced their way to Wales, where Anarawa, the king, being at the time hard pressed by the Saxons, assigned them a district which they were to acquire and maintain by the sword. In the fulfilment of this condition, they aided the Welsh in the battle of Cymrid, where the Saxons were defeated and driven from the district. The descendants of these Strathcluyd Britons are said to be distinguished from the other inhabitants of Wales at the present day. The Strathcluyd kingdom was, of course, greatly weakened by the departure of so many of the best warriors; and it continued to be oppressed both by the Scots and Anglo-Saxon princes. The judicious selection of a branch of the Scottish line as their sovereign had the effect of securing peace between the two nations for some time. Hostilities, however, at length broke out with great fury, in consequence of Culen--who ascended the Scottish throne in 965 --having dishonored his own relative, a granddaughter of the late King of Strathcluyd. Incensed at the insult, the inhabitants flew to arms, under King Ardach, and marching into Lothian, there encountered the Scots. The battle was a fierce one, and victory declared for the Alcluyden-sians. Both Culen and his brother Eocha were slain. This occurred in 971. The Scottish throne was ascended by KennethIII. [II.]; and the war between the Scots and Cumbrians continuing, the latter, under Dunwallin--the successor of Ardach--were at length overpowered on the bloody field of Vacornar; where, the Welsh Chronicle states, the victors lost many a warrior. Dunwallin retired to Rome in 975. The Strathcluyd kingdom, now fairly broken up, was annexed to the Scottish crown, and the inhabitants became mixed with the Scots and Picts. This was a successful era for the Scots. Though the country had been overrun by AEthelstan, the Saxons gained no permanent advantage. On the contrary, Eadmund, in 945, ceded Cumberland, in England, to Malcolm I., on condition of unity and aid. Lothian, which had previously been held by England, was also delivered up to MalcolmIII., in 1018, after the battle of Carham with Uchtred of Northumberland.--Paterson, History of the County of Ayr, p. 15.
THE NORSE AND GALLOWAY
- The part of Scotland now known by the name of Galloway embraces the counties of Kirkcudbright and Wigton, which lie west of the lower Nith valley, and south of the range of high hills or mountains that form the southern boundary of Ayr and Dumfries. In earlier times, after its separation from Strathclyde, Galloway probably included Annandale (in Dumfries), the two southern districts of Ayr (Kyle and Carrick), and perhaps also a great part of the northern district of Ayr (Cuninghame) in addition. It thus embraced within its bounds nearly the whole of the southern and western coast of Scotland from the mouth of the Nith to the Clyde.
- The only authorities referred to by Chalmers consist of an entire misap-plication of two passages from the Ulster Annals. He says: "In 682 A.D., Cathasao, the son of Maoledun, the Mormaor of the Ulster Cruithne, sailed with his followers from Ireland, and landing on the Firth of Clyde, among the Britons, he was encountered and slain by them near Mauchlin, in Ayr, at a place to which the Irish gave the name of Rathmore, or great fort. In this stronghold Cathasao and his Cruithne had probably attacked the Britons, who certainly repulsed them with decisive success."--Ulster An., sub. an. 682. "In 702 the UlsterCruithne made another attempt to obtain settlement among the Britons on the Firth of Clyde, but they were again repulsed in the battle of Culin."--Ib., sub. an. 702. The original texts of these passages is as follows: "682. Beltum Rathamoire Maigiline contra Britones ubi ceciderunt Catusach mac Maelduin Ri Cruithne et Ultan filius Dicolla. 702. Bellum Campi Cullinn in Airdo nepotum Necdaig inter Ultu et Britones ubi filius Radgaind cecidit. Ecclesiarum Dei Utait victores erant." Now, both of these battles were fought in Ulster. Rathmore, or great fort of Maigiline, which Chalmers supposed to be Mauchlin, in Ayr, was the chief seat of the Cruithne in Dalaraidhe, or Dalaradia, and is now called Moylinny. See Reeves's Antiquities of Down and Connor, p 70. Airdo nepotum Necdaig, or Arduibh Eachach, was the Barony of Iveagh, also in Dalaradia, in Ulster (Ib., p. 348); and these events were attacks by the Britons upon the Cruith-nigh of Ulster, where the battles were fought, and not attacks by the latter upon the British inhabitants of Ayrshire
- Mr. Mac Kerlie, in Paterson's History of the County of Ayr (pp. 14, 16), explains the reasons for the similarity between the Gaelic tongue of Galloway and that of Ulster, in this wise:
- In 740, however, the Alcluydensians of Kyle were invaded by Alpin, king of the Scots, who landed at Ayr with a large body of followers. He is said to have wasted the country between the Ayr and the Doon as far inland as the vicinity of Dalmellington, about sixteen miles from the sea. There he was met by an armed force under the chiefs of the district, and a battle having ensued, Alpin was slain, and his army totally routed. The spot where the king was buried is called at this day Laicht-Alpin, or the Grave of Alpin. Chalmers observes that this fact is important, as showing that the Gaelic language was then the prevailing tongue in Ayrshire. No doubt it is: but it is one of the strongest arguments that could be urged against his theory that the Gaelic was superinduced upon the British, which he holds was the language of the Caledonian Picts, as well as the Romanised tribes. If the Damnonii of Ayrshire spoke Gaelic in 836, they must have done so long before; because at that period, as we have seen, the Scots of Argyle had made no settlement in Ayrshire.
- The evidences of a considerable Gaelic admixture in the blood of the early southwestern Scotchmen are also shown in their place-names and surnames. This is particularly the case in Ayrshire, which was the native county of the first emigrants to Antrim and Down in the seventeenth century. To again quote the author of the History of the County of Ayr (vol. i., pp. 9, 16, 17):
- The main topographical argument of Chalmers in favor of the Scoto-Irish theory, is the circumstance of Inver, in two instances, having been substituted for Aber. Now, as formerly shown, there are only two solitary instances of Inver in the whole topography of Ireland, and not one throughout the range of Galloway. The word, therefore, seems to have been peculiar to the Scottish Gael. In Kyle, on the contrary, we have several samples of it in old charters. Ayr itself is called Inver-ar in some instances, while we have Inverpolcurtecan and Inverdon. Another distinction between the Gaelic, Welsh, and Irish, worthy of being taken notice of, is the patronymic mark. In the Scots it is Mac; in Welsh, Ap; and in Irish, O'. Now, if the Scots had been thoroughly Irish in their descent, as Chalmers affirms they were in their manners, laws, and customs, it is difficult to understand why they should have differed so widely upon so common a point; and it is equally strange that, in the oldest charters, where the Walenses, the remains of the Alcluyd Britons, are distinctly mentioned, there should not occur a single Welsh patronymic mark, if the language of the North Britons and the Welsh were so congenerous as he supposed. If we take, according to Chalmers, the British words in the topography of Scotland as a proof that the inhabitants spoke Welsh, the same rule would apply equally to Ireland, where the same British words are prevalent.
- As the death of Alpin occurred in 741, near Dalmellington, on the north banks of the Doon, it may be inferred that Ayrshire was then an integral part of Galloway. Yet, though this was the case, it is well known that there were no sheriffs under the purely Celtic rule of the country, which prevailed until the eleventh century; and from charters of David I. it is evident that in his reign, if not previously, the boundaries of Galloway had been greatly limited.--Paterson, History of the County of Ayr, p. 1.
- He crossed from Kintyre to Ayr, and then moved southwards. A great deal of misconception has accompanied his movements. Wyntoun has been implicitly believed, who wrote his Chronicle about 700 years after the event, and has not been considered altogether trustworthy in regard to other matters. And he has rendered it--
- Kyle, according to Buchanan, was so designated from Coilus, King of the Britons, who was slain and interred in the district. The learned historian informs us that a civil war having ensued between the Britons who occupied the south and west of Scotland, and the Scots and the Picts, who were settled in the north and north-west, the opposing armies met near the banks of the Doon; and that, by a stratagem, Coilus, who had dispatched a portion of his forces northward, was encompassed between the Scots and Picts, and completely routed. He was pursued, overtaken, and slain in a field or moor, in the parish of Tarbolton, which still retains the name of Coilsfield, or Coilus's field. Modern inquirers have regarded this as one of the fables of our early history. Tradition corroborates the fact of some such battle having been fought.--Paterson, History of the County of Ayr, vol. i., p. 2.
- but the first would seem to be the proper one. It is the one most general, and as old as the days of Bellenden.--Paterson, History of the County of Ayr, vol. i., p. 4.