Sir Robert Colville of Ochiltree, II

SIR ROBERT COLVILLE OF OCHILTREE

Evidence from the National Records of Scotland

16 February 1450-51: Charter by which James II, King of Scots, confirms possession of the barony of Uchiltre in the sheriffdom of Ayr, the barony of Oxiname in the sheriffdom of Roxburgh, and the lands of Hetoune and Maxtoun in the sheriffdom of Roxburgh, to Sir Robert Colevile of Ochiltre and his wife Chrisiane de Creichtoun, daughter of Sir Robert de Creichtoun de Sanchare. Sir Robert had previously resigned these lands in order to obtain a new grant to himself and his wife. Great Seal Register, A.D. 1424-1513, charter number 417 on p. 95

Notes

Robert was the King's Chamberlain and rendered the accounts of Stirlingshire in 1471.(1)

Sir Robert of Hilton had the office of steward to Margaret, Queen of James III and dealt with her expenses between 1484 and 1486.(2)

He had a charter from the King to himself and Margaret Logan his wife of the lands of Hilton in the barony of Tillicoultry in the county of Clackmannan 10 Oct. 1483 which he had held for the previous 19 years.(3)

For many years the Colvilles kept up an intimate relationship with their near neighbor, the laird of Auchinleck. The castle of the latter was also build upon a rocky promontory on the banks of the Lugar. Quite near to Ochiltree Castle, but upon the opposite side of the stream Dr. Johnson, speaking of his visit to Auchinleck in 1773, says: "I was less delighted with the elegance of the modern mansion than with the dignity of the old castle. I clambered with Mr. Boswell among the ruins, which afford striking images of ancient life. It is, like other castles, built on the point of a rock, and was, I believe, anciently surrounded with a moat. There is another rock near to it which the draw-bridge, when it was let down, is said to have reached. Here, in the age of tumult and rapine, the laird was surprised and killed by the neighboring chief, who, perhaps, might have extinguished the family had he not in the days been seized and hanged, together with his sons, by Douglas who came with his forces to the relief of Auchinleck."

They had "had misfortunes great and sma:" but they had " aye a heart aboon them a'" their castle had been destroyed and they were for the time being homeless, but they did not sit down in impotent wrath and bewail their untoward fate. They resolved to build again and bide their time, and they wisely determined, with the view of avoiding interference with their building operations, to pitch their future abode at a reasonable distance from the castle of their sworn foe, the young Laird of Auchinleck...

In choosing a site for their new habitation, they gave ample proof of the possessions of the artistic eye. Nowhere in broad Scotland could a sweeter, pleasanter spot be found for their purpose than the delightful stretch of green sward that fills up the angle formed by the meeting of those two placid streams, the Burnock and the Lugar. This new Mansion House, erected about the year 1450.

• Reference: Ancestry Genealogy - SmartCopy: Mar 10 2021, 22:22:04 UTC

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• Reference: Ancestry Genealogy - SmartCopy: Mar 21 2021, 4:14:04 UTC

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• Reference: Ancestry Genealogy - SmartCopy: Mar 30 2021, 4:05:07 UTC