The Dean (17)
The opportunity to raise the status of the family from mere lairds to that of nobility, came to Thomas, 6th laird (born 1414), who was a favourite of King James II, and by whom he was created Lord Boyd in 1451. James II was famously killed by an exploding cannon at the siege of Roxburgh in 1460, whereupon his son became King James III at the age of 8.
In those days, whoever held the king, effectively controlled the realm. During James III's childhood, the government was led by three successive factions, first (from 1460 to 1463) the King's mother, Mary of Guelders, then (from 1463 to 1466) James Kennedy, Bishop of St Andrews, and Gilbert, Lord Kennedy, and finally by Robert, 1st Lord Boyd.
The Boyd faction made itself unpopular, especially with the king, through self-aggrandisement. Lord Boyd's son Thomas was made Earl of Arran and was married to the king's sister Mary. On the plus side however, they successfully negotiated the king's marriage to Margaret of Denmark in 1469. Margaret's dowry included Orkney and Shetland, theoretically only as a temporary measure until the dowry was paid in coin, however when it wasn't, James permanently annexed the islands to the crown in 1472.
Like others both before them and since, the meteoric rise of the Boyds and the jealousy and hatred it caused, resulted in their almost inevitable downfall. King James III regarded the marriage of his sister to the Boyd Earl of Arran as an unforgivable insult, which meant that the Boyds were left with no friends in high places. While absent from Scotland, completing the king's marriage negotiations (along with his son Thomas (the Earl of Arran) and his brother, Sir Alexander Boyd, later to be hanged in Edinburgh), they were attainted for high treason, and their peerage and property forfeited. Robert 1st Lord Boyd was never able to return to Scotland and died 13 years later at Alnwick in Northumberland.
Robert 1st Lord Boyd was the second major builder at Kilmarnock, adding the Palace Block between 1468 and 1469.
Robert 1st Lord Boyd had three sons. The eldest, Thomas Earl of Arran, also never returned to Scotland and died in Antwerp. His son James became 3rd Lord Kilmarnock, but was killed in 1484 in a feud with Hugh Montgomerie, 1st Earl of Eglinton. The youngest son, Archibald of Nariston, and afterwards of Bonshaw, was father of two sons and three daughters, one of whom was Marion Boyd, mistress to King James IV and mother of at least two children by him. The middle son, Alexander, became 4th Lord Kilmarnock on the death in 1484 of his nephew.
You my have noticed that I said earlier that on their downfall, the Boyds peerage was forfeited, but I am still referring to them as Lords Kilmarnock. How can that be?! There is considerable confusion over the correct numbering of the Lords Boyd. The 1st lord was forfeited and the 4th lord undoubtedly had the title restored to him, but nobody seems to know whether the intervening lords were restored retrospectively as well. Alexander 3rd Lord Kilmarnock was never recognised as such during his lifetime, even though he was said to have been a favourite of King James IV. On their forfeiture, the Kilmarnock lands had been given to the Queen, and perhaps by way of consolation, Alexander Boyd was confirmed as Bailie and Chamberlain of Kilmarnock by the King. He died in about 1508.
(The photo incidentally, is of the mural stair that leads up from the old ground floor doorway, to the first floor. Most curiously, the builders appear to have started off with the intention of building a turnpike stair, that would probably have gone all the way up to the parapet, but after laying eight steps, they must have reaslised they were looking at the wrong set of drawings and, rather than ripping out the steps they had just laid, they just changed direction. The turnpike stair starts above, at first floor level. If nothing else, it was have been highly confusing to an invading enemy unable to find the light switch!)
The Dean (17)
The opportunity to raise the status of the family from mere lairds to that of nobility, came to Thomas, 6th laird (born 1414), who was a favourite of King James II, and by whom he was created Lord Boyd in 1451. James II was famously killed by an exploding cannon at the siege of Roxburgh in 1460, whereupon his son became King James III at the age of 8.
In those days, whoever held the king, effectively controlled the realm. During James III's childhood, the government was led by three successive factions, first (from 1460 to 1463) the King's mother, Mary of Guelders, then (from 1463 to 1466) James Kennedy, Bishop of St Andrews, and Gilbert, Lord Kennedy, and finally by Robert, 1st Lord Boyd.
The Boyd faction made itself unpopular, especially with the king, through self-aggrandisement. Lord Boyd's son Thomas was made Earl of Arran and was married to the king's sister Mary. On the plus side however, they successfully negotiated the king's marriage to Margaret of Denmark in 1469. Margaret's dowry included Orkney and Shetland, theoretically only as a temporary measure until the dowry was paid in coin, however when it wasn't, James permanently annexed the islands to the crown in 1472.
Like others both before them and since, the meteoric rise of the Boyds and the jealousy and hatred it caused, resulted in their almost inevitable downfall. King James III regarded the marriage of his sister to the Boyd Earl of Arran as an unforgivable insult, which meant that the Boyds were left with no friends in high places. While absent from Scotland, completing the king's marriage negotiations (along with his son Thomas (the Earl of Arran) and his brother, Sir Alexander Boyd, later to be hanged in Edinburgh), they were attainted for high treason, and their peerage and property forfeited. Robert 1st Lord Boyd was never able to return to Scotland and died 13 years later at Alnwick in Northumberland.
Robert 1st Lord Boyd was the second major builder at Kilmarnock, adding the Palace Block between 1468 and 1469.
Robert 1st Lord Boyd had three sons. The eldest, Thomas Earl of Arran, also never returned to Scotland and died in Antwerp. His son James became 3rd Lord Kilmarnock, but was killed in 1484 in a feud with Hugh Montgomerie, 1st Earl of Eglinton. The youngest son, Archibald of Nariston, and afterwards of Bonshaw, was father of two sons and three daughters, one of whom was Marion Boyd, mistress to King James IV and mother of at least two children by him. The middle son, Alexander, became 4th Lord Kilmarnock on the death in 1484 of his nephew.
You my have noticed that I said earlier that on their downfall, the Boyds peerage was forfeited, but I am still referring to them as Lords Kilmarnock. How can that be?! There is considerable confusion over the correct numbering of the Lords Boyd. The 1st lord was forfeited and the 4th lord undoubtedly had the title restored to him, but nobody seems to know whether the intervening lords were restored retrospectively as well. Alexander 3rd Lord Kilmarnock was never recognised as such during his lifetime, even though he was said to have been a favourite of King James IV. On their forfeiture, the Kilmarnock lands had been given to the Queen, and perhaps by way of consolation, Alexander Boyd was confirmed as Bailie and Chamberlain of Kilmarnock by the King. He died in about 1508.
(The photo incidentally, is of the mural stair that leads up from the old ground floor doorway, to the first floor. Most curiously, the builders appear to have started off with the intention of building a turnpike stair, that would probably have gone all the way up to the parapet, but after laying eight steps, they must have reaslised they were looking at the wrong set of drawings and, rather than ripping out the steps they had just laid, they just changed direction. The turnpike stair starts above, at first floor level. If nothing else, it was have been highly confusing to an invading enemy unable to find the light switch!)