On 24 May 2026 I was contacted by Alistair Hill who advised me that he had found an image in a volume by George Robertson which purported to be a facsimile of a seal used by Robert Boyd of Portincross in a charter of 1520.
The image was found in ‘A genealogical account of the principal families in Ayrshire etc… by George Robertson Vol 3. The entry in the volume described it as appended to a chart. 1520 with a reference to Vol 1, p.114. Unfortunately when this reference was examined it was merely the second page of a section on the Boyds of Portincross with no mention of a charter of 1520.
Interestingly in a publication entitled ‘Topographical Account of the District of Cunningham, Ayrshire compiled about the year 1600, by Timothy Pont with notes and appendix’ published by the Maitland Club in 1858 (with John Fullarton of Overton, West Kilbride as editor), we find on p.162 the following text “The arms of Portincross, as shown in a fac-simile of the original seal, engraved in Robertson’s genealogical work, were differenced from Kilmarnock by a star argent in the chief point, being the mark of cadetcy of a third son.”
It is very likely that the facsimile above is the one being referred to by John Fullarton who was himself a descendant of the Boyds of Portincross and probably uniquely placed to corroborate or dispute this finding by George Robertson. Within the same publication by the Maitland Club and John Fullarton we find on p.160 reference to a deed of 1520 i.e. “4. Robert Boyd of Portincross. This Laird married Isobel,
daughter of John Mure of Rowallan; and he had a charter from his father, to himself and his future spouse, June 6, 1520, of the lands of Knockindale, and others, in Kyle-Stewart.” Could this be the charter that the seal copied in the facsimile was appended to?
In an effort to trace the charter mentioned above we consulted an historical work on the ‘House of Rowallane’ i.e. ‘The Historie and Descent of the House of Rowallane by Sir William Mure, Knight of Rowallan, written in, or prior to 1657’. The work was published in Glasgow in 1825 by William Muir, interestingly with the assistance of John Fullarton Esq. of Overtoun, particularly in the notes and illustrations. On p.76 of the work in the footnotes to a tree created by Sir William Mure we presume John Fullarton quotes the following text:
“[3d] dochtir mareit to ye laird of portincorss”- There is some reason, however, for supposing her rather to have been daughter to the preceding laird. This Lady’s name appears in a charter of the lands of Knockindaill, Hellentoun, &c. “Robertus boyd de portincorss,” * * “dilectis Roberto boyd filio meo & heredi apparenti et Isabelli mwr ejus sponse * * apud kilmawr. Sexto die mens. Maii anno dm. millessimo qunquagesimo vicesimo [1520]” – Orig. Char. With the seal of the granter yet entire, which we have
seen.
There is of course a difference in the dates quoted in the two sources but in all other respects they appear to be similar. So is the source of the seal of Robert Boyd of Portincross the charter of 6 May 1520?
The 1825 work on the Mures of Rowallan had come about following the recent discovery of Sir William Mure’s 17th century manuscripts at Rowallan Castle so the most likely location for the charter if it has survived to the present day is amongst the archives of Rowallan Castle and the Mure family.
This is a remarkable discovery as up to now the only reasonable source for confirming the Arms of Boyd of Portencross have come from Archibald Erskine’s record c1726 in which he gave the arms as using a border to signify difference from the Arms of Kilmarnock which would follow the customs of cadetcy in scottish heraldry. However this early record of Arms from a time some two hundred years earlier would suggest that the english customs of heraldry had been followed regarding cadetcy i.e. a mullet (five pointed star) for difference which is indicitive of a third son.
Contact has been made with two possible collections where papers and archives of the Mure of Rowallane family are held and we will update our readers if there are any developments in discovering the existence of the charter of 1520 and if so, if the seal is still in tact..