Ayrshire > Volume 2

THE MONTGOMERIES OF EGLINTON 117
The Earl, soon after his accession, rebuilt the Castle
of Eglinton, and greatly extended and beautified the
pleasure grounds. He took a great pride in his policies,
and was jealous of unauthorised persons trespassing upon
them. On one occasion he found daft Will Spiers, a
noted " natural " of the district, and a privileged
haunter of the castle, taking a short cut through the
grounds, and climbing a fence, and called on him to
" come back, sir, that is not the road." " D'ye ken,"
was Will's reply, " whaur I'm gaun ?" " No," said the
Earl. " Weel, hoo the deil d'ye ken whether this be
the road or no ?
Another day he caught a trespassing boy climbing a
tree, and ordered him to come . down. This the boy
declined to do, alleging that he would beat him. The
Earl assured him, on his honour, that he would do
nothing of the kind. " I dinna ken ony thing about
your honour," replied the boy, " but if ye say as sure as
death, I'll come down." Satisfied on this point, the
boy descended.
With a keen eye to the prosperity of the district, as
well as the bettering of his estate, the Earl formed a
Company for the construction of Ardrossan Harbour and
of the Paisley Canal, which he anticipated would act as
a feeder to the port. The foundation stone of the
harbour was laid on 30th July, 1806, and it was completed
about 1819. The canal, however, was only formed as
far as Johnstone. The Earl spent a vast sum of money
in the promotion of the enterprise, which was supported
neither by the Government nor by the public as he had
expected it to be. The harbour, none the less, remains
to this day, a monument to his enterprise and foresight,
and a factor in the prosperity of the district which has
proved of unspeakable advantage to it in almost every
direction. Throughout the county, and by all classes
of the community, the Earl was very highly esteemed.
He identified himself with the social life of the shire.
He patronised and encouraged the leading musicians,
specially the violinists, and when three or four of these