William only moved away after a number of years had passed due to the burgeoning size of the family and the lack of space at Craigie.

The castle contains one of the finest examples of a vaulted hall in Scotland, easily equal to any Scottish abbey or church.

Craigie Castle may originally have been a hall-house of the late 12th or early 13th century with a wide crenellate parapet enclosing a saddleback roof.

The castle would have been effectively isolated from the 'mainland', and a significant barrier raised by the water to any potential besiegers at the period when the use of gunpowder was unknown.

Two crumbling gables, portions of walls, and shreds of battlements remain, and in the 19th century several underground vaulted chambers survived, although partly filled with rubbish, and home to foxes and bats.

[18] In 1863 Paterson records that the tower was undergoing some repairs at the end of the 17th century when a part of the roof fell in, after which the castle was completely abandoned.

He praises the high degree of military science employed in the construction of the castle where besiegers would be exposed to raking crossfire even after crossing the ditches / moats and would be outflanked on nearly all sides.

[21] As late as the 19th century a likely crannóg was visible in the boggy hollow 'just to the south-west' of Craigie Castle; it was described as a slight rise in the meadow...mostly composed of stones.

The name 'Boarland' could refer to the presence of wild boar, however a more likely origin is that a 'Boor' also meant a serf and Norman lords often apportioned lands near their castles for their servants.

James Kilpatrick of Craigie Mains was a great horseman who considerably improved the breeding lines of the Clydesdale horse[28] and was famous throughout Britain and the World.

[29] James Kilpatrick regularly exhibited his Clydesdales, colts and fillies in all their finery at the annual Craigie Agricultural Show in the 1900s.

This is an extract – "The greatest place beneath the sky, For Clydesdale horse and Ayrshire Kye, In all the bliss of perfect joy, They roam the fields sae lovely.

[33] John Wallace of Riccarton in the reign of David II had a charter of lands of Moorlecere in Forfarshire and was styled 'Wallayis of Richardtoun'.

[34] John Wallace was Lieutenant-General to James II, and fought at the Battle of Sark on 23 October 1448, killing the English General Magnus with his own hands.

[36] John Wallace was killed at the Battle of Flodden in 1513; his brother Adam inherited and became oversmen of Prestwick in addition to Bailie of Kyle Stewart.

[37] In 1559 Sir John Wallace accompanied the Earl of Glencairn, the Lords Boyd and Ochiltree, the Sheriff of Ayr, the Laird of Cessnock and others, with a body of 2500 men to Perth in support of the Covenanters or reformers.

[15] He was at the Battle of Killiecrankie and died circa 1700; his brother succeeded to the estates, much impoverished by Sir William's adherence to the Jacobite cause.

Adam Wallace was implicated in this essentially Campbell inspired feud, as his wife, Dame Isabelle, was said to have planned the assassination.

Sir Hugh had raised a regiment of foot at his own expense,[41] resulting in great debts, sale of lands and in 1626 the disposal of the heritable Kyle bailieship to the Crown for £10,000 Scots.

His son was Major-General Sir John Alexander Wallace who fought in India, Egypt, Spain and France and died in 1857.

[41][44] The story may have a grain of truth as Sir Hugh, as stated, was an ardent supporter of the episcopalian sentiments of Charles I and II and was no friend of the Presbyterians.

[5] The Wallaces constructed this castle, previously known as Sanquhar, circa the 15th century, however James V granted it to Sir William Hamilton, Provost of Ayr in 1539.

Inventories of Newton Sanquhar castle mention the fine carved furniture made in the "most courtly manner" that Hamilton had installed.

[58] In 1584 William Wallace of Ellerslie held the lands of Mains of Helentoun and Bogend, together with the tower, fortalice, and manor place of Helenton, together with half of the mill.