Jon Smit says

Past Scribes
ARDROSSAN IN HISTORY

The Last Of The Montfodes

"I thocht I heard in the weeping glen,
The noble knychts go by again
In the moon's lycht, on the high road -
Ah me! The ghaists of sad Montfode."

-------- Fragment from "The Gaberlunzie."

Amongst the travellers of the world there are connoisseurs who remember with excitement, the witchery of the countryside behind the Ardrossan escarpment. A strangely secretive terrain it is.
Stretching from Knockgeorgan in the north-west to the waters of Caaf in the south; an old, old land where dwelt in the morning mists of history, the fearsome people who fortified the escarpment against raiders from the sea and who hunted the stag, the boar and the long-faxed ox in "the wind-shrieking forest of the West"!

On the gruesome evidence of the Ardrossan Shell Mound (discovered in 1893) this aboriginal race has often been accused of cannibalism or of human sacrifice. The evidence seems to be supported by legend; for as late as the 16th century, the people of the coast looked upon the escarpment land with a kind of horror; as though it bore about it the genuine quality of evil; as though, from its dark, little glens, there emanated a nameless-ultimate-maleficence.

1650: By the middle of the 17th century, the place had acquired a less fearful reputation. Now it contained nothing worse than the Munnock Boggle - "a puir, howling bauchle of a beaste" - more to be pitied than dreaded. Perhaps too there was suspicion of Beltanic revelry under the gibbous moon, for, in 1650 according to the records of the Presbytery of Irvine, two "witches" from the parish of Ardrossan, Margaret Coupar and Katherine Montgomerie, were arrested on a charge of diabolism and "of sundrie malefices and drawing in of others to the services of the Devil".

1780's: By the seventeen eighties, the escarpment land had become the home of those kindly spirits the kelpies - and indeed, in the flashing silver of the burns or in the water mist above the thundering of the falls, one might have glimpsed Undine herself, fresh from the drenched palace below. For 500 years this occult and lovely land was the domain of the great Montfodes, that strange ill-fated family of soldiers, scholars and administrators, whose story is one of the most colourful in the annals of the Kingdom.

The Pleasant Land
1250: Throughout the second half of the 13th century and during the greater part of the 18th, Ardrossan commanded one of the fairest prospects in Scotland. The Norman passion for efficiency had created in this beautiful setting, an orderly and prosperous community, which for 150 years up to the time of Edward 1, remained a Kingdom unto itself.
Despite its self-sufficiency, Ardrossan was not an enclave. The Norman immigrants had brought the people within the trend of European culture and "one could often meet in the district, bands of minstrels singing those romances of chivalry in which all civilised Europe was taking a delight.
For the "Wast Sea folk", the coming of the Normans meant in deed the dawning of the age of marvels. First the Normans themselves-- the Barclays, the Montfodes and their retainers - "those noble knychts clad in chain mail helmeted and mounted upon magnificent horses" - presented to the sea folk a strange and wonderful spectacle. Other marvels were to follow.
Shortly after their arrival the Normans opened up the Ardrossan free stone quarries and began to build on a scale so vast "that the imagination of the natives reeled before it".
First the construction of the great castle on the hill and the excavation of the moat; then the building of Montfode (half fort, half manor). Which 400 years later impressed the topographer Pont as a dwelling place of beauty.
Within sight of Ardrossan Hill there soon began to rise at Kilwinning "that jewel of the wast" the Benedictine abbey, "whence shone forth the charity of Christ, " and which was to become a centre spreading abroad education, knowledge of music and medical skill".

The Hill Top Church
Overawed though they were at the wondrous accomplishments of the Normans the Ardrossan people had yet one strong bond with the strangers in that they professed the same faith. From the beginning the life of the enlarged community was centred in the church of St Peter Ad Vinoula on the Hill.
There the Normans and the Wast Sea folk" forming one congretion could sing in the universal languate of the Church, the plain song of the Mass and those exquisite hymns which have been traced back to the 11th century, the "Salve Regina", the "Alma Redemptoris Mater" and most probably, the "Ave Maria Stella".
Of the interior of the church on the Hill it is known that "it contained a shrine to Our Ladye (Inquis Spaciales, 510) in front of which the Ardrossan knights, the Barclays and the Montfodes dedicated themselves to the high and onerous duties of chivalry, of the parish priests who served "the sea girt hill top church through the centuriers the most notable were Fr. John Leith (for whom King James IV had a great regard) and Fr John Brown (who received eugolistic mention in the Register of the Privy Seal).
For 150 years after the coming of the Normans, Ardrossan enjoyed halcyon days. The immigrants implanted first of all, the idea of the parish ("six miles in length along the Atlantic Ocean") and then in a most expert manner, they organised everything connected with the material life of the people - agriculture, trade, employment, housing, food, clothing and fuel. Stringent regulations were enforced in the matter of cleanliness - especially in the handling and transport of the people's food and in the condition of the causeways. Ardrossan had never known such good living; no man went hungry; trade flourished and with the coming and going of knights and minstrels, life became more colourful.
On Saints days, after Mass the township would be en fete and even if it lacked the excitement of the great Fair of Irvine, there certainly would be no shortage of the troubadours, tumblers, acrobats and tellers of tales such as were to be found at that time, wandering the length and breadth of Europe.

The Noble Knychts
During the centuries between the death of Wallace and that of Mary Queen of Scots, the name "Ardrossan Montfode" was one to be held in high respect throughout the whole of the Kingdom. Wherever the battle was, there also were the Montfodes - Falkirk, Irvine, Stirling, Bannockburn, Pinkie Cleugh, Langside; and of all the desperate men "who shattered English skulls in the dreadful fields of Scotland" none were more desperate than the "knychts of the Wast".
Two events provide remarkable testimony to the military prowess of the Montfodes:- 1. After Bannockburn, Bruce, in recognition of their valour made them a grant of the lands formerly belonging to traitor William Ferrars (Registar of the Great Seal). 2. Centuries later in 1587 when Mary Queen of Scots was a prisoner in Fotheringay, Elizabeth of England sent a spy to Ardrossan to ferret out information regarding the fighting strength of the Montfodes.
With the Earl of Eglinton the Ardrossan knights had championed Mary at Langside and were therefore included in Elizabeth's list of "those evilly affected persons" in Scotland who would stir up trouble in the event of Mary's execution.
It is significant that in this same year the Good Queen Bess wrote to the Keepers of Fotheringay (Paulet and Drury asking them to murder the Scottish Queen - surely Paulet and Drury might ease me of this burden?" This monstrous proposal was rejected and Elizabeth was forced to stage a public execution. Even then she disclaimed responsibility for the foul deed and found a scapegoat in the luckless Davidson.

Deleted says

Has anyone ever seen any sort of report detailing information gained from the discovery of a cemetary during the construction of the new bypass? I havent heard or seen anything about this since it was discovered. Also does anyone have any information about the ruined church on the ground between Stanley road and St Margarets road, this has been neglected since I was a kid and i'm over 40. Why is Ardrossans great heritage ignored and defaced so much? Anywhere else there would be information points or some sort of plaque describing the history. The castle should have loads of them, I bet Ardrossan has scores of historical sites just lying in limbo which could be signposted and marked as a point of interest for tourists or interested locals like myself. It's a sad state of affairs if you ask me.

alan davis says

Thank you for your post my friend,it is indeed,to say the least, interesting.

I am almost 60, I was born and raised in Rowanside, and lived there for 58 yrs.

I recall the cemetery in Stanley Road, I belive it was a family cemetery, perhaps for the Montfodes??

Your comments about the castle and our history are appreciated, my good friend Tom McGratton and myself are concerned about the preservation of the castle and the history of the town, and plan to approach our local councillors (who are friends),with a view to preserving our history.

You have no doubt read the comments about "Wallace,s Larder"etc,and Cromwell's assault on the castle!

I am inclined to take these myths tongue in cheek as there in no concrete evidence to support the theories, however i do accept the fact that it was part of Cromwell's army that sacked the castle, but there is no way that Cromwell was there at the time.

I also doubt if Wallace ever set foot in the town.

With Regards, Alan