married the eldest sister of King
James the Third. The beautiful island of Arran was given as the dower of
this lady: and her husband, who is said in the Paston Letters to have
been a "light, clever, and well-spoken, fair archer; devoutest, most
perfect, and truest to his lady, of Knights," enjoyed a short gleam of
royal favour. His vicissitudes, however, befel him whilst on an embassy
in Denmark, his enemies undermined him at home: he was driven to wander
in foreign countries, and died at Antwerp, where a magnificent monument
was erected to his memory, by Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy. His
title was attainted, but his property was restored to his son; and in
1655, the title of Earl of Kilmarnock was added to that of Lord Boyd,
which alone seems to have been retained by the family during the
intervening generations.

During the reign of Charles the First, his descendants were considered
to be steady Royalists; but, notwithstanding their claiming descent from
the Stuarts, the views and principles of the family in the troublous
period of the Revolution of 1688, underwent a total change. William, the
third Earl of Kilmarnock, and the father of the unhappy adherent of
Charles Edward, took the oaths of allegiance to the reigning family, and
supported the Treaty of Union; joining at first the party entitled the
_Squadrone volante_; but eventually deserting them for the Whigs. When
the Insurrection of 1715 broke out, this nobleman plainly manifested
that the notions which had actuated his ancestor to join the association
at Cumberland in favour of Charles the First, were no longer deemed
valid by him. The superiority of the Burgh of Kilmarnock having been
granted in 1672 to his ancestors, the Earl summoned the inhabitants of
the Burgh to assemble, and to arm themselves in support of Government.
At the general meeting of the fencible corps at Cunningham, Lord
Kilmarnock appeared, followed by five hundred of his men, well armed,
and so admirably trained, that they made the best figure on that
occasion among the forces collected.[318] In compliance with orders
which he received from the Duke of Argyll, Lord Kilmarnock marched with
his volunteers to garrison the houses of Drummakil, Cardross, and
Gastartan, in order to prevent the rebels from crossing the Forth.
Unhappily for the fortunes of his family, the Earl died two years
afterwards: and in the year 1717, his son, then a boy of fourteen years
of age, succeeded to his ti