Barony of Ladyland
Hugh (Hew) Barclay of Ladyland was a poet of considerable power and humour[1] and a fervent papist, married to Isobel Stewart,[2] meeting an unusual death by drowning on Ailsa Craig.
Sir David Barclay of Ladyland and Auchinheiff (now 'Auchenhove')[3] succeeded his brother Hugh and married Elizabeth Cunningham, the widow of John Craufurd of Craufurdland who had died in 1612, aged only 21, from an injury received at football.
[4] His son, also David, was unfortunate enough to inherit his father's debts and was forced to sell Ladyland to John Blair of Cloberhill in full payment.
In 1722, Hamilton published an abridged and modernised version of Blind Harry's Wallace, which, though an artistic failure, aroused Robert Burns's boyhood interest and enthusiasm and, as he recorded in the Autobiographical Letter: 'poured a Scottish prejudice in my veins which will boil along there till the flood gates of life shut in eternal rest.
[8] William Cochran of Edge purchased Ladyland in around 1718 from the Earl of Eglinton and lived there with his wife Margaret Orr of Easter Gavin.
They had two daughters, Agnes and Janet Glasgow Cochran; the eldest inherited upon his death in 1832; she had married William Charles Richard Patrick in April 1832.
Agnes's husband, an advocate, was the second son of Dr. Robert Patrick of Trearne and Hessilhead and he took his wife's name to establish the Cochran-Patrick line.
[11] He was a president of the Irvine Burns Club and also the Chairman of the Governors of the Spier's school at Beith and Provincial Grand Master of the Masons of Ayrshire.
[14] As stated Hugh or Hew Barclay of Ladyland was a Roman Catholic and became involved in a plot in 1592 and upon discovery he was imprisoned in the Tolbooth in Edinburgh, but was released, by the King's directions, in 1593 following assurances of good conduct.
He was intent on using it as a provisioning and stopping off point for a Spanish invasion that would re-establish the Catholic faith in Scotland—a plot originally established by the Earls of Angus, Errol, and Huntly.
[1] Metcalfe records that Knox actually reached Ailsa Craig first and Hugh drew his sword, found himself under determined attack and falling into the sea, drowned.
Knox was charged with Hugh's death by his friends, however upon appeal to the King in Council, his actions were justified as loyal and good service done to His Majesty and country.
The nearby stables were designed by Brown & Wardrop Architects, most likely by Francis Drummond Greville Stanley in 1860 and 1861, who adopted a style similar to Hamilton.
The Maich Water rises from Mistylaw Muir and runs through an attractive Glen nearby with a small reservoir upstream created by Renfrew County Council of old.
An impressive main entrance off the road from Ford Cottage sets the stage for the rural and aristocratic nature of Ladyland.
The following plants are rare species found here — Whorled Caraway (Carum carvi), Fragrant Orchid (Gymnadenia conopsea), Aspen (Populus tremulans), Ivy-leaved Crowfoot (Ranunculus hederaceus L. ), Dovedale Moss or Mossy Saxifrage (Saxifraga hypnoides), Hairy Stonecrop (Sedum villosum), Wilson's Filmy Fern (Hymenophyllum wilsonii), Bay Willow (Salix pentandra), Beech Fern (Phegopteris connectilis), Oak Fern (Gymnocarpium dryopteris) and Mountain Pansy (Viola lutea).
[37] The first edition of the OS 6 inch maps shows a 'Castle Hill' in line with Cockston Farm on the other side of the Maich Water and this may make the meaning of the name 'Cat Craig' more plausible.
[38] This axe is a Coles' type I, found at NS 322 578; it was donated to the National Museum of Antiquities of Scotland (NMAS) in 1886 by R W Cochran-Patrick (Accession no: DC 53).
[21] On the hills above Ladyland are the signs left by ancient cultivation of the land at a time when the climate was more appropriate for growing crops in these elevated situations.
[40] The ancestors of the Cochran-Patricks lived originally at Edge whose ruins still stand on the hillside overlooking the road to Muirshiel Country Park, just beyond Clovenstone Cottage.
[41] In June 1911 the Misses Cochrane-Patrick of Ladyland House were driving home in their waggonette from the Kerse Mission on a Sunday night; the horse shied at a dog on the roadside and fell, overturning the machine at the same time.
The coachman, William Benson, jumped from the back seat and held the horse down till the ladies were extricated by some people who witnessed the accident.
Mr Simpson of Langslie Farm, conveyed the ladies home in his machine and they were afterwards attended by Dr Milroy and Nurse Cooper.
