[3] This theory however is challenged by genealogist, William Anderson, who points out that most of the friends and dependents of the High Stewards were of Norman origin and it is therefore unlikely that they would use a Celtic nickname for one of their own family.

[3] The historian, George Fraser Black, asserts that the first Boyds were vassals of a Norman family, the de Morvilles, for their lands around Largs and Irvine.

The high ground the Boyd detachment took as part of a flanking action at Largs was called Gold Berry Hill.

[7] Robert Boyd and his infantry were successful in surprising the detachment of Norsemen and caused them to retreat in such haste and panic it helped lead to the disastrous melee at the beach for King Haakom's men.

[8] In the 1290s, the Boyds began their association with another Ayrshire legend, William Wallace, fighting alongside other independence-seeking Scots clans to dislodge the English during the dark days following the death of Alexander III with no clear royal successor.

[10] Boyd himself was killed in revenge by Alexander Stewart, brother of Alan, on 9 July 1439 at Craignaucht Hill in the parish of Dunlop.

[3] Lord Boyd was also later appointed as Great Chamberlain while his son, Thomas, was married to Princess Mary, the king's sister and was given the title Earl of Arran.

[3] In 1469 Lord Boyd along with his son, Thomas, and his brother, Alexander were summoned to appear before the king and Parliament to answer charges made against them.

[3] His son, Thomas, the Earl of Arran, had been on state business abroad and upon learning of the reversal of his family's fortunes accepted his exile but was well received in royal courts throughout Europe.

[12] Although according to the Collins Scottish Clan & Family Encyclopedia the estates and honours were restored during the reign of Mary, Queen of Scots.

[3] However his son, the fourth earl, did support the Jacobite rising of 1745 and fought for Charles Edward Stuart at the Battle of Culloden in 1746, after he had made him a member of the Privy Council with the rank of general.

[3] His daughter was entitled to succeed in the earldom of Erroll and the chiefship of the Clan Hay but was excluded from the barony of Kilmarnock which could only pass to males.