This is thought to be in commemoration of Sir Robert Boyd who, with only a small band of men, fought and defeated a force of the invaders several miles south of the site of the main battle of Largs, at a location known as Goldberry, or Goldberry Hill. Intriguingly, while ‘I trust’ is the motto of the Boyds, and a right hand raised in benediction is the crest, several of the family’s coats of arms feature the word ‘Goldberry’. The victory is commemorated annually at Largs with the ceremonial burning of a Viking longboat. The Norsemen were driven back to their vessels, however, and King Hakon died a few weeks later in Kirkwall, Orkney: the threat to Scotland’s western seaboard in general and invasion of the mainland in particular had been averted. Stung by the insult, King Hakon ordered a further attempt to retrieve the cargo the following day, October 1, resulting in what has become known as the battle of Largs but which in reality consisted of a series of disorganised skirmishes. The Scots drove them back to their ships and returned that evening to gleefully loot the cargo. His fierce band of sea raiders plundered and ravaged Kintyre, Bute, and Islay, before appearing off the west coast mainland township of Largs.Ī storm blew many of the vessels onto the shore beneath the overhanging Cunningham hills on the night of September 30, and it was on top of these hills that FitzAlan hastily assembled a force of militia that included Sir Robert Boyd and his kinsfolk.Ī party of militia emerged from their high eminence the following morning and engaged in a skirmish with a band of Norsemen attempting to salvage precious cargo from their stricken vessels. Warned that Alexander was prepared to wrest the islands from Norwegian control by force if necessary, King Hakon of Norway embarked with a mighty fleet from Bergen in July of 1263. They rallied to its defence at the battle of Largs, when Sir Robert Boyd was among a group of Ayrshire lairds raised by Alexander FitzAlan, in his role as High Steward, to repel a Viking invasion that threatened after the king of Scots, Alexander III, laid claim to the Hebrides. The Boyds appear to have been no sooner settled in Ayrshire than they found themselves embroiled in the cause of the nation’s freedom. This family of Boyds are thought to have been vassals of the powerful Anglo-Norman family of de Morville, but by the early thirteenth century they had risen to such prominence that they held their own lands in Ayrshire, particularly in the vicinity of Kilmarnock. This explains why the Boyds, although a proud clan in their own right, are considered a sept, or branch, of the Stewarts, and why many today adopt the Royal Stewart tartan, although there is a Boyd sett.Īnother explanation for the origin of the name Boyd is that it is a ‘location’ name, from the Gaelic ‘Boid’, referring to the island of Bute in the Clyde estuary.Īyrshire became the homeland of the Boyds, with a Dominus Robertus de Boyd recorded as having witnessed a contract concerning the west coast town of Irvine in 1205. One tradition is that the original ancestor of today’s Boyds was Simon FitzAlan, known as Simon the Fair, who was either a nephew or a younger brother of Walter FitzAlan, the High Steward of Scotland who is recognised as the progenitor, or founder, of what became the Royal House of Stewart (or Stuart). Some sources assert the name stems from the Gaelic ‘buidhe’, meaning fair. By the time they were raised to the peerage by James II in 1454, the Boyds had already played a significant role in Scotland’s history, not least through their selfless contribution to the cause of the Nation’s freedom in the bitter and bloody Wars of Independence with England.
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