TUriNBERRY CASTLE. 183 



numerous vessels that ply with sail, and steam, and oar, skimming it in all 

 directions, give a fascinating character to the picture, as viewed from Greenan 

 Castle, while it acquires an additional charm from the numerous legendary 

 and historical recollections with which every feature in the landscape is more 

 or less closely associated. 



" Crowned with dense mists that shine like Alpine snow, 

 Lo, Arran's hills their rocky summits show. 

 'Twas here the Bruce and Douglas lurked concealed, 

 Till called by victory lo the crimson field. 



Far look thy mountains, Arran, o'er the main, 

 And far o'er Cunninghame's expanded plain ; 

 From Loudon's hill and Irvine's silver source, 

 Through all her links they trace the river's course ; 

 View many a town in history's page enrolled; 

 Decayed Kilwinning, and Ardrossan old, 

 Kilmarnock low, that raid her plain retires, 

 And youthful Irvine.*" — Clyde. 



On a rocky angle of the coast, where it makes a bend towards Girvan, the 

 ruins of Turnberry Castle present an interesting field of contemplation to the 

 stranger. The massy fragments of this ancient strength, hallowed by many 

 patriotic records, arrest special attention, and cause the pilgrim to linger 

 with peculiar interest among its storied and crumbling ramparts. The walls, 

 levelled by the \dolence of war and the wasting hand of time, are now moss-grown. 

 Those bastions, where mailed sentinels strode, and standards waved, are now 

 abandoned to the shepherd and his flock: — 



" No trumpet's clang 

 Startles the ear; but o'er the rocks that hang. 

 Beetling above the wave, the bleating lamb 

 Frolics, unscared, beside its fleecy dam." 



The original castle — the extent and strength of which may be estimated by 

 these massive fragments — was the feudal stronghold of Alexander, earl of 

 Carrick, who died in the Holy Land, leaving an only daughter, Martha, heiress 

 to his title and possessions. In one of those hunting excursions, to which the 

 nobles of the time devoted their intervals of peace, it happened that Robert 

 Bruce, earl of Annandale, continued the chase to the neighbourhood of 

 Turnberry Castle, where he was invited to partake of the young countess's 

 hospitalities. This circumstance laid the foundation of mutual esteem and 

 admiration, and was soon after followed by marriage in 1274. The son of 



* Irvine, remarkable as the birth-place of two admired living authors, James Montgomery the poet, 

 and Gait the novelist, was-for some time the residence of Burns. 



