Historical memoir of the family of Eglinton and Winton

EGLINTON AND WINT0N. 89
entire bay, inside the Horse Isle, will come to be
enclosed by a mole from the shore northward to the
island. The materials for such a purpose are quite
at hand ; for the rock in the little eminence which
now most injuriously obstructs the very centre of
the town, would perhaps more than suffice for all
that would be required ; and thus a double benefit
would be effected in the most advantageous manner
conceivable. The extent of building area reclaimed
itself would certainly go far to cover the entire
expense of the undertaking, whilst the improved
access thus afforded, as well as the perfecting of the
harbour, would ensure advantages of a commercial
nature quite impossible to be estimated.
Mr George Robertson, author of a Topogra-
phical History of Ayrshire, and for several years
factor to the twelfth Earl of Eglinton, thus ani-
matedly, though briefly, alludes to his lordship's
energetic character, and distinguished improvement
of the principal family seat : —
" Soon after his succession, he rebuilt from the
foundation Eglinton Castle — rendering it one of the
most stately mansions in Scotland ; laid out on new
ground the delightful gardens, enlarged the wood-
lands, re-organised the whole approaches, and
directed the waters, all in a style uncommonly
elegant, and peculiarly his own — in fact, rendering
the whole, in a manner a new creation ; whilst his
equipage was amongst the most splendid to be seen :
and nowhere was such a numerous household kept
in better regularity and order. In truth, he was