Ardrossan is derived from the Gaelic words Aird Rosain meaning ‘summit of the little promontory’. Ardrossan as a place dates from the later first millennium. Around 1140 Simon de Morville built a castle at Ardrossan.
The castle and lands were in the hands of a branch of the Barclay family, And when Godfrey Barclay of Ardrossan died without an heir Ardrossan passed into the hands of the Eglinton family. During the War of Independence the castle was occupied by the English. In 1292 William Wallace managed to lure the English soldiers out of the castle and promptly slew them. This incident is known as Wallace’s Larder. The castle’s ruins lie on a ridge above the town of Ardrossan. It is said to be haunted by the ghost of William Wallace, which is reputedly only seen on stormy nights.
Sometime between 1315 and 1321 King Robert the Bruce created a barony from the lands owned and occupied by Fergus of Ardrossan. Soon thereafter the Eglinton family were in possession of the barony of Ardrossan. The Eglintons were associated with the Cunningham district of North Ayrshire from around 1200. Rauf de Eglyntone was one of those who rendered homage to Edward I of England and is listed on the Ragman Roll of 1296. A Hugh de Eglynton appears as a charter witness several times between 1357 and 1372 and is presumably the last Eglinton of Ardrossan.
John Montgomerie of Eaglesham fought with distinction at the Battle of Otterburn in August 1388. He married Elizabeth, daughter and heiress of Sir Hugh Eglinton of Eglinton, and from this marriage he acq ired the baronies of Eglinton and Ardrossan. He died around 1400- 1401 and was succeeded by his son Sir John. In 1445 Alexander Montgomerie, son of Sir John, was created Lord Montgomerie, a Lord of Parliament. His son, Hugh Montgomerie, 2nd Lord Montgomerie, was in 1507 created Earl of Eglintoun.
The Montgomeries feuded with the Cunninghams. A result of this feud was the burning of Eglintoun Castle in 1528. On 16 November 1528, King James V confirmed to Hugh, Earl of Eglinton, the lands and barony of Ardrossan. On 6 May 1576, King James VI made Saltcoats, within the barony of Ardrossan, a burgh of barony. In 1612 the lands and titles went to a cousin, Sir Alexander Seton of Foulstruther, who assumed the surname Montgomerie. The lands and titles remained in Sir Alexander’s family line until 1796, when they went to a collateral kinsman, Hugh Montgomerie of Skelmorlie and Coilsfield.
In 1992, Archibald George Montgomerie, 18th Earl of Eglinton, 6th Earl of Winton, Lord Montgomerie, and Baron Ardrossan of Ardrossan, Hereditary Sheriff of Renfrewshire, Chief of the Name and Arms of Montgomerie, and Assistant Grand Master of the United Lodge of England, sold to an English company what remained of his great estate, including the feudal dignity Lord of Ardrossan’. In 2008 the ownership of the barony passed by assignation to Marko Dobroschelski.
