Ayrshire &apos;s little castle . by Victoria Gaul . when the last leaf draps fae the auld aish tree , the Boyds o&apos; Penkill maun cease tae be . so runs an old rhyme which came sadly true when , in 1897 , there died Miss Alice Boyd , 15th Laird of Penkill and the last of the Boyds . her brother , Spencer Boyd , 14th Laird , last in the direct line , and descendant of James Boyd , second son of John Boyd of Penkill and Trochrig , had died in 1867 . he left Penkill to his sister , with instructions that , when she died , it was to go to the children of his mother &apos;s second marriage to Mr Henry Courtney . thus , in 1897 , a grand-daughter of his mother &apos;s , Eleanor Margaret Courtney , became owner of Penkill and assumed the name Courtney-Boyd , which name the present owner , her half-sister , Miss Evelyn May Courtney , also assumed on succeeding to the estate in 1946 . Penkill Castle sits , perched on a hill about three miles from Girvan , so hidden by trees that it is almost invisible from the road . it was built by Adam Boyd , grandson of Robert , Lord of Kilmarnock , around 1450 , on land granted to him by Alexander 3 for assisting him at the battle of Largs . Penkill was a tall keep with corner turrets pierced with loop-holes for defence . the living-room above the basement where the cattle were housed was paved in red and yellow tiles , while , above this , was the Lady &apos;s Bower . deep glens made a natural moat and there was a drawbridge and portcullis ( found years later lying in a blacksmith &apos;s yard ) . the castle fell into disrepair , and when , in 1628 , Thomas Boyd brought his young love , Marion Mure of Rowallan , to view his heritage , they found it in a sorry state . yet , we can imagine Marion , fired by its ancient beauty , crying , Thomas , we maun bide in Penkill . we &apos;ll make it a bonnie hame . and together they did . with Marion &apos;s dowry , walls were repaired , rooms added , and an outside stair built . above its doorway was inserted a plaque uniting the heraldry of both families . oak chairs ( still to be seen today ) were carved with their initials and the date , 1628 . though Penkill descended from father to son till 1750 , the house was neglected , and when , in 1827 , Spencer Boyd inherited Penkill it had been a deserted ruin for nearly a hundred years . however , when he came of age , his maternal English grandfather , William Losh , proud of his grandson &apos;s Scottish heritage , provided the necessary money to restore it , and , with his mother and sister , Spencer Boyd made it their home . so , in the 1800&apos;s rose the Penkill we know . probably influenced by the Victorian taste for heavy architecture , Spencer caused to be built a great tower to enclose a handsome circular staircase . the ruined staircase and doorway were swept away and passages and ante-rooms joined the staircase to the rooms of the keep . oak trees on the estate were used in the renovations . his sister , Alice , a woman of fine , artistic perception , had the deep windows of the keep , with their stone seats , glazed with clear glass so that the views from each appear like framed pictures . when their mother died , Alice Boyd , wishing to further her interest in painting , went to Newcastle School of art , where she met one of the executive , William Bell Scott , painter and poet . thus began a close friendship with him and his wife . later , the families divided their time between Penkill and London , where Scott was appointed decorative artist at South Kensington . during their stay in London , the families met many famous people , Holman Hunt , Swinburne , Tennyson , William Morris and Dante and Christina Rossetti . Spencer Boyd died in 1867 , and was buried on a wild day of snow in Old Dailly churchyard . after her brother &apos;s death , Alice Boyd commissioned Scott to paint a mural on the circular staircase . he chose to illustrate the King &apos;s Quair , executing it with oil pigments , the medium being wax dissolved in turpentine . some of the painting , which took four years to complete , was ruined by the lime of the thick walls having not yet dried out , and Scott repainted part in zinc . though he wrote later in his autobiography , most probably the pictures will now remain without change , part has again corroded , but enough remains to show the brilliance of colour and design . in 1868 , Dante Gabriel Rossetti , in despair because of failing eyesight , was invited to Penkill . here he found tranquillity in its worn battlements , and in the rolling meadows and deep glens . Christina Rossetti came also to Penkill , and wrote some of her poems in windy room , a bedroom at the top of the keep . she described Alice Boyd as perhaps the prettiest , handsomest woman I ever met . Penkill is not a pretentious castle . it is a well-loved , comfortable home ever open to those who love the countryside . with no rich furnishings , it yet retains , with its priceless tapestries , a harmony befitting its ancient grey stone . the deep windows in the low-roofed library , with its grey velvet settee drawn up to the fire , look towards the west , the glowing colours of orange , red , and blue , in the carpets , seeming to vie with the hues of the sunset as it burns over Ailsa and Kintyre . above is the square drawing-room , with rose carpet and wine curtains contrasting with the deep blue panelled roof . the Flemish tapestries on the walls make a fitting background for the gilt furniture . the roof of the Laird &apos;s bedroom , in the 1628 part of the house , was painted by Alice Boyd , whose work , with that of William Morris , appears in some of the rooms . the dark oak furniture was carved by Spencer Boyd . to the right of the tower which dominates Penkill is the long addition which William Bell Scott designed in 1883 as a gallery for his paintings and those of Dante Gabriel Rossetti . now an attractive dining-room , it is approached by a passage hung with William Morris tapestries . it contains many fine paintings and drawings by Rossetti , David Scott ( whose fine portrait of his brother William is in the national Gallery ) , and William Bell Scott . the latter &apos;s Una and the lion hangs here . this room , panelled in pitch pine , contains the Chippendale chairs and gate-legged table belonging to the grandfather Losh who helped to redeem Penkill . MacDougall chief and the robber . by Seton Gordon . John MacDougall of MacDougall , chief of the clan , lived in the early 18th century . he was usually known as Iain Ciar , which may be translated in English as dark-complexioned John . he was a leading figure in the first Jacobite rising in 1715 , and on the suppression of that rising was an outlaw for a number of years . during his wanderings in disguise , he crossed the sea to Ireland in order to visit the Earl of Antrim , his kinsman . at the edge of a wide and dark forest , he was advised by a woman he met to continue his journey through open country , for she said that a noted robber lived in the forest , and waylaid anyone who should pass that way . she told Iain Ciar that , so great a menace was the robber , the Earl of Antrim had offered a reward of &amp;pound;1000 to anyone who should slay him and bring him his head . the MacDougall chief , penniless and anxious to cross the sea to France to be beyond the reach of his enemies , thought that this was an opportunity not to be missed . he and his trusty companion , Livingstone by name , therefore entered the forest , and as they followed a faint and devious track through the dark undergrowth and beneath old and gnarled trees , it was not long before they saw the famous robber standing before them . he demanded from Iain Ciar his money or his life . the highland chief was without more than the proverbial sixpence , but that was the last thing he wished the robber to know . telling the highwayman that he was prepared to part with neither , he challenged him to mortal combat . both men were expert swordsmen and the fight was long and hard , but the victory was at last gained by Iain Ciar , who carried the robber &apos;s head to the Earl of Antrim , and received from him the &amp;pound;1000 reward . the robber &apos;s whistle is one of the heirlooms at Dunollie Castle , Oban , the ancestral seat of the Chiefs of MacDougall , where the family still reside below the ancient stronghold on its rock looking out towards the Isle of Mull . beneath the ivy-grown castle is an old and weather-beaten Scots fir . this tree is now upwards of 150 years old . it was planted to commemorate Captain Alexander MacDougall of MacDougall , of the 72nd regiment ( later the Seaforth Highlanders ) , eldest son of Patrick MacDougall , Chief of the clan . Captain Alexander was killed , at the age of 27 , at Cuidad Rodrigo in Spain , in 1812 . his miniature , by William Englehart , is preserved at Dunollie . the name of Captain MacDougall is well known to pipers of the present day , for a celebrated composition in Ce&amp;ograve;l M&amp;oacute;r , the great music of the highland bagpipe , was written in his honour by almost the last of the hereditary MacDougall pipers to the chiefs , Ronald MacDougall . the hereditary MacDougall pipers , while not so famous as the MacCrimmons of Skye , were players and composers of distinction , and the tune , lament for Captain MacDougall , is one of delicacy and feeling . these pipers lived at Moleigh , near Oban , and their portion of land was known as Croit nam Piobairean , the piper &apos;s croft . like the MacCrimmons , the MacDougalls had their College of piping , the last who presided at this college being Ronald B&amp;agrave;n MacDougall , who was the grandfather of Ronald M&amp;oacute;r , the last hereditary piper to the clan . the duke . by Hubert Fenwick . the story of James , Duke of Albany and York , as Lord High Commissioner at Holyroodhouse . the visit of her majesty the Queen to the general assembly last October was unique in many ways . the occasion was , of course , the quatercentenary of the Scottish reformation , but besides this her majesty was the very first sovereign lady to honour the Fathers and brethren with her presence , a circumstance not lacking in significance , especially when one recalls John Knox &apos;s well kent fulminations against women in general and female rulers in particular . the last reigning monarch to attend the assembly was actually James 6 , before he became the King of Great Brittany , and before the appearance of his authorised version of the Bible ; and he did so in order to discipline the members , not to praise or encourage them . it was he , too , who instituted the office of High Commissioner , so that the crown could keep a good eye on the proceedings ; and ever since Jacobean times the sovereign has been represented at the assembly by a royally appointed representative . the office of Lord High Commissioner is now more ornamental than functional , at least in the sense that the holder is no longer a spy in the pay of the crown , which itself has changed beyond all recognition and is completely above politics or religious faction . curiously enough , however , the first purely Scottish bill of the present parliament proposed an increase in the allowance made to the Queen &apos;s representative to the general assembly , and in doing so drew unexpected attention to the altered meaning of that role , showing how it too had lost its controversial flavour . many Commissioners have come from the ranks of the aristocracy and professional classes , some have been personally associated with the work of the kirk , while one , James , Duke of Albany and York , brother of Charles 2 , was a convert to Roman Catholicism . unlike the merry monarch , the future James 7 and 2 stubbornly refused to subscribe to the test act , which required all holders of office under the crown to declare themselves protestants . he found himself excluded from the court , removed from the navy office , and banished , first to Holland , and then , in 1679 , to Scotland , where the law was less rigorous . 