The Lands of Lainshaw lie in Strathannick and were part of the Lordship of Stewarton, in East Ayrshire, Scotland.

[1] Lainshaw House is a category B listed mansion,[2] lying in a prominent position above the Annick Water and its holm in the Parish of Stewarton, Scotland.

[3] As the original seat of the Stuarts or Stewarts it was considered of much value and was bestowed by the Scottish Kings only as a special mark of favour.

[1] Mary Queen of Scots changed the spelling to 'Stuart' during her time in France to ensure that the French pronounced the name correctly.

One of the earliest references to Lainshaw [1] is the grant of land to Alexander Home of Holme by King James II in 1450.

[1] Castleton, Gallowberry, Whitelee, Crennachbrare, Robertland and Magbiehill (Magby Hill in 1775) were also included in the grant.

[7] Elizabeth had married Alexander Montgomerie-Cuninghame of Kirktonholme, son of Sir David Cuninghame of Corsehill.

The 10th Laird was their son, Sir Walter Montgomerie-Cuninghame, who lost a fortune as result of the American War of Independence.

On his death in 1849, the estate passed to his younger half brother, John Cuninghame of Duchrae,[1] who in turn was succeeded in 1864 by his son John William Herbert, a Captain in the 2nd Life Guards and married in 1867 to Emily, eldest daughter of Major George Graham.

The old driveway to Lainshaw House off the Stewarton to Torranyard road also has a 'ha-ha' on the side facing the home farm before it reaches the woods.

The name ha-ha may be derived from the response of ordinary folk on encountering them and that they were, "...then deemed so astonishing, that the common people called them Ha!

The estate wall running from near Freezeland to near the Law Mount was built by unemployed labourers in the early 19th century.

James Forrest of Mid Lambroughton recorded the rare Bird's Nest Orchids and the Lesser Wintergreen plants as growing in the estate woodlands in the 1930s.

[22] The Stewarton Woodland Action Trust have created a network of public access paths, some of which run through the old Lainshaw Estate lands.

To prevent the Covenanters holding 'Conventicles', King Charles II moved highland troops, the 'Highland Host' into the west-land of Ayrshire.

[24] "They took free quarters; they robbed people on the high road; they knocked down and wounded those who complained; they stole, and wantonly destroyed, cattle; they subjected people to the torture of fire to discover to them where their money was hidden; they threatened to burn down houses if their demands were not at once complied with; besides free quarters they demanded money every day; they compelled even poor families to buy brandy and tobacco for them; they cut and wounded people from sheer devilment."

It was discovered through the observation that pigeons from Lainshaw House and the neighbouring parishes were found to flock here to drink.

Mr. Cunningham of Lainshaw built a handsome house over the well in 1833 and appointed a keeper to take care of it as the mineral water was of some value owing to healing properties attributed to it.

[27][28] The Chapel Burn rises near the Anderson Plantation in the fields below Lainshaw Mains and it is marked as a chalybeate or mineral spring on the 1911 6" OS map.

This information is stated by the Topographical Dictionary of Scotland, however Mrs. Florence Miller of Saltwell recollects that this well was never known specifically as the Bloak Well.

[32] David Laing was the closest relative and therefore heir to Lord Lyle of Lainshaw, a judge of the court session.

[33] James Boswell of Auchinleck House, the famous biographer and friend of Dr. Samuel Johnson was married in 1769 to his cousin, the youngest daughter of David, Margaret Montgomerie in Lainshaw Castle.

The Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) is a neo-classical building in Royal Exchange Square in the Glasgow city centre, which was built in 1778 as the townhouse of William Cunninghame of Lainshaw, a wealthy tobacco lord.

Reconstruction for this use resulted in many additions to the building, namely the Corinthian pillars to the Queen Street facade, the cupola above and the large hall to the rear of the old house.

Timothy Pont in 1604 - 08 records that so thickly was the district about Stewarton and along the banks of the Irvine populated for a space of three or four miles (6 km) "that well travelled men in divers parts of Europe (affirm) that they have seen walled cities not so well or near planted with houses so near each other as they are here, wherethrough it is so populous that, at the ringing of a bell in the night for a few hours, there have seen convene 3000 able men, well-horsed and armed.

[23] In 1820 only six people were qualified to vote as freeholders in Stewarton Parish, being proprietors of Robertland (Hunter Blair), Kirkhill (Col. J. S. Barns), Kennox (McAlester), Lainshaw (Cunninghame), Lochridge (Stewart) and Corsehill (Montgomery-Cunninghame).

[40] The 1779 Lainshaw estate map shows the Glebe meadows running down from the Laigh Church to the river and as far as the Old Stewarton Road at Kirkford.

[41] Stewarton stands on the old turnpike, completed from Glasgow by Lugton, to Kilmarnock, Irvine and Ayr in 1820 at the cost of £18,000.