2'JO TRANSACTIONS, NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY OF GLASGOW. 



Reports on Excursions. 



Largs, 10th September, 1904. — Joint with the West Kilbride 

 Ramblers' Club. — On arrival the party proceeded to the old 

 churchyard, and examined the structure known as the " Skelmorlie 

 Aisle." This was erected in 1636 by Sir Robert Montgomerie of 

 Skelmorlie, to contain the burial-place and monument of himself 

 and his wife, Dame Margaret Douglas, daughter of Sir William 

 Douglas of Drumlanrig, ancestor of the Marquesses of Queens- 

 berry. Sir Robert's name is associated with the great feud 

 which was long carried on between the families of Montgomerie 

 and Cuninghame. His most notable act of vengeance was the 

 assassination of Alexander Cuninghame of Montgreenan, Com- 

 mendator of Kilwinning Abbey. The Commendator, who was 

 the third sou of the fifth Earl of Glencairn, was regarded by the 

 Montgomeries with particular hatred as having been accessory 

 to the murder of Hugh, fourth Earl of Eglinton, in 1586, and 

 accordingly he was waylaid and mercilessly shot by Sir Robert at his 

 own gate at Montgreenan, on 1st August, 1591. In his later years, 

 however, Sir Robert is said to have been seized with remorse for the 

 bloodshed of which he had been guilty ; and he therefore con- 

 structed the "Aisle," with its finely carved monument and gloomy 

 burial-vault, into which he was accustomed to descend at night 

 and spend. long hours in solitude and penitential devotions. He 

 died in 1651 at an advanced age. In the vault immediately 

 beneath the monument are deposited two leaden coffins bearing 

 appropriate descriptions, and containing the remains of Sir Robert 

 and his lady.* 



After a pleasant walk along Largs Bay and the north shore, 

 the party reached the policies of Knock Castle, access to which 

 had been kindly granted by the proprietor, Mr. F. G. MacAndrew 

 of Knock. Nothing worthy of being recorded was observed 

 during the excursion. Report supplied by Mr. D. A. Boyd. 



Kilwinning and Montgreenan, 1st October, 1904. — The 

 Society's programme of excursions for the present season was 

 brought to a close on this date by a visit to the Kilwinning 



*For a full description of the Skelmorlie Aisle and Monuments, with 

 figures illustrative of the carvings, &c., see Arrhceo^orjiral and Historical 

 Collections relating to Ayrshire, and Galloway, vol. vi. (1889), pp. 58, 72, 

 pi. ix., X. 



