Ayrshire > Volume 2

THE BOYLES OF KELBURN 137
capacity for business, and is said to have begun life as
commander in one of the ships belonging to his father,
a well-to-do merchant and shipowner of Largs. When,
in right of his wife, he became fiar of Kelburn, he did
not give up the lucrative trade in which he had been
engaged, but continued to own ships, one of which was
" taken by the enemy " long after his marriage. He
seems also to have been the owner of at least one
privateer. After the death of his father, who left him
a fortune that was large for these days, he invested large
sums in land, greatly enhancing the family possessions.
Among other properties he acquired in 1656 the barony
of Fairlie, including the village (then a burgh of barony),
and some of the lands held by cadets of the family in
Cumbrae. His wisdom stood him in good stead when
Scotland was in possession of the forces of the Common-
wealth. His sympathies seem to have been Royalist,
yet he succeeded in keeping on good terms with
Cromwell's officers, and thus he acquired an influence
which he was able to exercise when required for the
general good. Thus he proved himself a good friend to
the county of Bute when one of the military commanders
of the Commonwealth had quartered troops upon the
people in vindication of the regulations for Excise, and
" frechted the puir bodies with souldiers without anie
warrand or decreet of the Commissioners."
When his kinsman, Sir John Crawfurd of Kilbirnie
in 1663 was " drawing near his last breath," Kelburn
was with him in Edinburgh. He had assisted Sir John
in the management of his large estates. Similarly he
found time to advise the family of another relative,
Ninian Stewart of Kilchattan, whose affairs had become
involved. And he appears to have been blessed with a
worth}/ helpmeet in his wife Grizel, who, like the model
woman of the Book of Proverbs, " looked well to her
household." There were seven children of the marriage.
One of the sons, James, became a merchant, and a
burgess, and was several times Provost of Irvine, and
he represented the burgh in two Parliaments. A man