William Cunningham, 9th Earl of Glencairn

Finlaystone House and estate in Inverclyde was the seat of the Earl of Glencairn and chief of clan Cunningham from 1405 to 1796.

He knew of and is said to have "entered heartily into" the attempted rescue of Charles I in 1648, and was subsequently deprived by parliament of this post on 15 February 1649, under the Act of Classes.

The parliament, now being dominant, at the instance of the Public Prosecutor, then passed a Decreet, on 2 March 1650, annulling the original Glencairn Letters Patent of 1488.

Glencairn then led an insurrection in the Highlands in 1653 in favour of King Charles II, when General Monck had possession of Scotland.

In January 1654, he was commissioned by Charles II to command the royal forces in all of Scotland, numbering some 3,500 men, pending the arrival of General Middleton.

About this time, Glencairn and Lieutenant-General Sir George Munro, 1st of Newmore, engaged in a duel with both pistols & swords two miles to the south of Dornoch.

Upon the Restoration, Glencairn waited upon King Charles II at London, when he was again sworn a Privy Councillor and appointed Sheriff Principal of Ayrshire.

He was not, however, opposed to Presbyterianism, and the subsequent bitter disputes between the two religious factions, and particularly against James Sharp, Archbishop of St Andrews,[1] greatly distressed him and affected his health.