Fairlie Castle

Fairlie Castle

Fairlie Castle tower from the South-West
Shown within Scotland
Alternate name	Fairly
Location	Fairlie, Scotland grid reference NS213549
Region	North Ayrshire
Coordinates	55°45′16″N 4°50′57″W / 55.75432°N 4.84930°W / 55.75432; -4.84930Coordinates: 55°45′16″N 4°50′57″W / 55.75432°N 4.84930°W / 55.75432; -4.84930
Type	Tower castle
Length	13.8m (45ft)
Width	8.7m (29ft)
Height	12.5m (41ft)
History
Builder	Sir Robert Fairlie of that Ilk
Material	Stone
Founded	15th century or 1521.
Abandoned	1650s
Periods	Medieval
Associated with	The Fairlies of that Ilk
Site notes
Condition	Ruin
Ownership	Private
Public access	Private
Website	Historic Environment Scotland
The castle and its immediate surroundings were a building site in 2016

Fairlie Castle is a ruined oblong tower castle located on a natural rounded knoll situated above a precipitous section of the Fairlie Glen near the town of Fairlie in the old Barony of Fairlie, Parish of Largs, North Ayrshire, Scotland. It was built by the now extinct family, the Fairlies of that Ilk and survives in a fairly good state of preservation.

Timothy Pont records that Fairlie was a strong tower with orchards and gardens. One source has it that Sir Robert Fairlie of that Ilk built the present castle in 1521, the family having held the lands since the fourteenth century. In around 1656-1660 the last of the Fairlie family sold the castle and barony to the Boyle family in the person of David, first Earl of Glasgow.Little Cumbrae Castle, Law Castle at West Kilbride and Fairlie Castle are all in the vicinity of the Forth of Clyde and have striking similarities.

The Fairlies of that Ilk are said to have originated from the youngest son of the Ross family of Tarbert and upon being granted the lands took the name of the barony as their own. The coat of arms were argent, three water budgets sable and a chevron as a mark of distinction from the Ross family. A water budget or bouget was a pair of leather bags for carrying water at either end of a pole. In 1335 William de Fairlie was included in a pardon granted by Edward III at Berwick on Tweed. In 1526 Catherine Crawford of Kilbirnie married David Fairlie and the couple had one son, Robert. Catherine died in 1547, aged 40.

David Fairlie is recorded by George Robertson as being married to Catherine Crawfurd of Kilbirnie and one of their three co-heiress daughters married Robert Boyd of Portencross in around 1550.

A Katarine Craufurd, Lady Fairnelie (sic), is recorded as having died in December 1601. A list of her possessions gives an idea of the life that the Fairlie's led at their castle with large amounts of household linen, wearing apparel, all sorts of cooking utensils, stores of wine, barrelled meat, full chests, both large and small, etc. Cattle, sheep, corn and barley were also listed.

Sir John Fairlie of that Ilk married Marion Crawford of Jordanhill and in June 1605 they obtained a charter of the ten merk land of Fairlie. John Fairlie of that Ilk is recorded to have had a daughter Marion who married Thomas Boyd of Linn and later remarried into the ancestral line of the Marquis of Bute.