Ordnance gazetteer of Scotland > Volume 4

LARGS
The chief historical event connected with the town is
the battle of Largs, fought 3 Oct. 1263, between the
Scots, under Alexander III., and the Norse, under Haco
III. The fleet of the latter had been much damaged
by a storm immediately before the battle, which had
been artfully delayed by Alexander ; and the Norsemen
were compelled to effect a landing with but a part of
their whole strength. The battle which followed re-
sulted in a complete victory for the Scots, and effectually
put an end to the Norwegian claim of sovereignty over
the western coasts and islands of Scotland. The chief
scene of the fight was a plain to the S of the town,
immediately below the mansion of Haylee ; but there
are memorials of the struggle extant in many quarters.
Some of these are merely local names, as Camphill farm
in Dairy parish, Burleygate and Killingcraig on the
Eoutdon Burn ; and still further S, Keppingburn, where
Sir Robert Boyd, ancestor of the Earls of Kilmarnock,
is said to have intercepted a band of fleeing Norsemen.
Among the visible relics may be counted the remains of
the tumulus known as 'Haeo's tomb,' consisting of a
large flat stone supported on two others. Till 17S0 the
tumulus was known as Margaret's Law ; but when
opened in that year, it was found to cover five stone
coffins containing skulls and other bones, while many
human bones and some urns were found above and
about the coffins. From this discovery it was at once
concluded that the remains were those of some of the
slain at the battle of Largs ; and popular haziness as to
the details of the fight and the real fate of Haco has
evolved the modern name. Another mound called
Greenhill, at the entrance to the avenue of Hawkhill
House, has also, perhaps too hastily, been identified as
another Norwegian burial-place. Built into the garden
wall of Curling Hall, a mansion near the shore in Largs,
is a rude stone pillar, to which is now attached a copper
plate with the following inscription : —
' Substitit hie Gothi furor.
Conditur hie Haco Steinensis, et uudique circum
Norvegios fidos terra tegit socios : —
Hue regnum venere petentes ; Scotia victor
Hostibus hie tumulos, pragma justa, dedit.
Quarto ante nonas Octobres, a.d. 1263,
Largis
Ipsis Calendis Junii, a.d. 1S23,
Me posuit jussitque Joannes Carnius illara
Rem memorare tibi. — Tu meniores aliis.'
In 1644 a terrible plague devastated the town, of which
several grave notices are contained in the records of
Irvine presbytery, which then included Largs. The
remains of several huts, found at Outerwards on the
Noddle Burn, are believed to be those of the temporary
refuge of the inhabitants of Largs during the pestilence.
The ' Prophet's Grave,' in a retired spot within Brisbane
Woods, contains the remains of the Rev. William Smith,
minister of Largs, who fell a victim to the plague in
1644. The name was given to the spot because, as Mr
Smith was dying, he affirmed that if two holly trees
were planted, one at each end of his grave, and pre-
vented from ever meeting, the plague would never
revisit the town. The trees have been carefully kept
asunder, and Largs has never again suffered from
pestilence.
The parish of Largs is bounded on the N and E by
Renfrewshire, on the SE by Eilbirnie parish, on the S
by Dairy and West Kilbride, and on the W by the Firth
of Clyde. Its greatest length, from N by E to S by W,
is 9i miles ; its greatest breadth is 5J miles ; and its
area is 21,850 acres. On the E boundary a range of
hills and high-lying moorland divide this parish so
distinctly from the cultivated land to the N, E, and SE,
as to give rise to the saying, ' Out o' the world and into
the Largs.' There is probably a reference to this expres-
sion in the quaint name, ' the back of the world,' given
locally to the NE corner of the parish. The chief
heights in the E region are, from N to S, Berry Hill
(943 feet), Knockencorsan (102S), Black Fell (1323),
Burnt Hill (1569) and South Burnt Hill (1481), Peat
Hill (1339), Rowantree Hill (1404), Hill of Stake
(1711) ; on the extreme E border, High Corby Knowe
LARGS
(1615), Girtley Hill (1254), Cockrobin (1271), Box Law
(1543), and Blacklaw (1525). The uplands gradually
descend as they approach the shore, sometimes, indeed,
terminating in abrupt declivities, especially in the N.
For the most part they are covered with verdure, and
give evidence of having been under tillage. A fertile
plain, about a mile broad, extends southwards from
about a mile to the N of the town of Largs, well- wooded
and cultivated, and separating the beach from the higher
ground.
Two burns, the Rotten Burn and the Calder Water,
trace part of the boundary with Renfrewshire to the NE
and E. But most of the streams of the parish are small,
and flow westward into the firth. Of these the chief are
Kelly Burn, which marks the N boundary, flowing
through a beautifully-wooded den ; Skelmorlie Water,
entering the sea just S of Skelmorlie Castle ; Noddle
Burn, rising between Knockencorsan and Blackfell, and
flowing SW, with many feeders, through Brisbane Glen ;
and the Gogo, which receives the Greeto from Water-
head Moor. Clea Burn, draining the lovely Kelburn
Glen, and Fairlie Burn are small streams. Blackfield
Loch, in the N, a very small expanse, is the only lake.
Trap and Old Bed sandstone are the chief rocks ; lime-
stone and shale are found near Quarter ; and building
sandstone is found. Part of the lowland soil is fertile
alluvium, but in general it is a poor debris of Old Red
sandstone. The upland soil is chiefly heathy or moor-
land. The families most closely identified historically
with Largs parish are Fairlie of that Ilk, Boyle of Kel-
burn, Brisbane of that Ilk, Fraser of Knock, Wilson of
Hajdee, and Montgomery of Skelmorlie. The most
extensive landholders are the Earl of Glasgow, Charles
Brisbane of Brisbane House, the Earl of Eglinton, John
Scott of HawkhiU, and Geo. Elder of Knock Castle.
The chief mansions and seats are Skelmorlie Castle,
Bridgend House, Ashcraig, St Fillans, Knock Castle,
Quarter, Routenburn House, Brisbane House, Hawkhill
House, Haylee, and Kelburne Castle, the property of the
Earl of Glasgow. The parish contains, besides the town
of Largs, the villages of Fairlie and Skelmorlie, at each
of which there is a quoad sacra parish church, and the
small hamlet of Meigle, where a small concrete chapel
was erected in 1S76. A high-road between Greenock
and Ardrossan passes through the parish ; and the
Glasgow and South-Western railway in 1880-82 extended
their line to Fairlie, where a new pier, etc., have been
erected.
Including the whole of Fairlie and most of Skelmorlie
quoad sacra parish, Largs is in the presbytery of Greenock
and the synod of Glasgow and Ayr ; the living is worth
£532, Besides the churches in the town, there are
Established churches at Skelmorlie and Fairlie, a Free
church at Fairlie, and a U.P. church at Skelmorlie.
Valuation (1S60) £21,316, (18S3) £42,478, 8s. Pop.
(1S01) 1361, (1831) 2848, (1861) 3620, (1871) 4087,
(1SS1) 5149, of whom 3425 were in the ecclesiastical
parish.
The name Largs appears to have been anciently given
the northern and smaller of the two parts into which
the district of Cunninghame was divided. John Baliol,
competitor for the Scottish crown, inherited this lord-
ship from his mother ; and, on his forfeiture, it was
conferred by Robert Bruce on his son-in-law, Walter,
the Steward of Scotland. The church was held by the
monks of Paisley till 15S7, when the church lands, etc.,
were made a temporal lordship in favour of Lord Claud
Hamilton. In the reign of Charles I. this passed to
Montgomery of Skelmorlie. The church was dedicated
to St Columba.
The antiquities of the parish, besides those connected
with the battle of Largs (see ante), include Skelmorlie
and Fairlie Castles, noted in separate articles. Not far
from the former is an artificial mound, rising to the
height of 100 feet, and partly overgrown with trees,
which is supposed to have been used by the ancient
Britons in the rites of sun-worship and serpent-worship.
This serpent-mound was discovered by Dr Phene, whose
excavations on the spot resulted in the discovery of a
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