My great, great grandfather and Dora’s grandfather was Dr John Boyd, MP for Coleraine in Northern Ireland in the mid 19th century. My post about searching for his grave led to contact from a historian of the Boyd family. He recently shared with me a family tree going back to Sir Robert Boyd (died 1333), who was a knight of Robert the Bruce. King Robert gifted land near West Kilbride in Ayrshire to his faithful knight after victory at Bannockburn and the Boyds built a castle there. Portencross castle still stands today!
Yesterday we went over to the west coast and walked to the castle. It stands on a rocky promontory looking across the Firth of Clyde to the isles of Arran and Bute. Supposedly Portencross was where the ancient kings of Scotland lay in state before being taken to Iona for burial. Certainly it has a commanding view and a well fortified sense of peace. Over the last 20 years the castle has been renovated by the Friends of Portencross Castle and it is now open to visitors in the summer months. I knew I had Scottish ancestry on my father’s side but I hadn’t realised that it goes back centuries on both sides!
There is a deep (but not always happy) connection between Southwest Scotland and Northern Ireland, separated by a short stretch of sea. The first member of our branch of the Boyd family to leave Scotland was Archibald Boyd (1576-1650), who became mayor of Coleraine. More recently, Dora spent her life between Belfast, Dublin and London, before retiring to the Scottish Highlands. Since moving to Scotland in 2020, I have always felt at ease here. There’s something that seems to call us home.
A Bitter Equation 