2l6 Largs and its Surroundings. [Sess. 



a party of the Cuninghames. In seeking to avenge the 

 foul deed, the kinsmen of the deceased nobleman adopted 

 no less culpable measures of retaliation. Their policy of 

 wholesale slaughter is said to have been pursued by Sir 

 Eobert " with such eagerness as to occasion very much 

 bloodshed of his enemies " ; but his most notable act of 

 vengeance was the assassination of Alexander Cuninghame 

 of Montgreenan, Commendator of Kilwinning Abbey. The 

 Commendator, who was the third son of the fifth Earl of 

 Glen cairn, was regarded by the Montgomeries with special 

 hatred as having been accessory to the murder of the 

 Earl, 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 Eobert is 

 said to have been seized with remorse for the bloodshed 

 of which he had been guilty ; and he therefore constructed 

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

 burial-vault into which he was accustomed to descend at 

 night and spend long hours in solitude and penitential de- 

 votions. He died in 1651 at an advanced age. In the 

 vault immediately beneath the monument are deposited two 

 leaden coffins bearing appropriate inscriptions, and contain- 

 ing the remains of Sir Eobert and his lady.^ 



Close to the west wall of the churchyard is an artificial 

 mound, popularly assigned to the period of the Battle of 

 Largs, and supposed to contain the remains of the Norwegian 

 slain. It was excavated in 1873 by Mr John S. Phene, 

 Chelsea, who regarded his discoveries as confirmatory of the 

 popular theory. " Gallowhill," the modern name of the 

 mound, is suggestive of its use as a place of public execution 

 during the period of government by the feudal barons. 



The Noddsdale or Brisbane Glen, which extends in a north- 

 easterly direction from Largs, is traversed by a road which 

 crosses the hills to Greenock. This valley affords pleasantly 

 varied scenery. A range of steep and lofty green hills gives 

 boldness to the landscape, while in the glen the Noddsdale 

 burn meanders peacefully through grassy meadows and copse- 

 covered slopes. A distant view is obtained of Brisbane 



^ A full description of the Skelmorlie Aisle, illustrated with views of its most 

 interesting details, will be found in Mr Shedden Dobie's paper, already cited. 



