Micro-history
Captain William Hamilton had been a privateer during the second Dutch War and following the flight of King James II he was the captain of a cruiser fighting on the side of William and Mary. He was killed in 1689 aboard his ship when engaged in an action against french ships off Ireland who were engaged in transporting Jacobite troops to Mull.
The ancestors of the Cochran-Patricks lived originally at Edge whose ruins still stand on the hillside overlooking the road to Muirshiel Country Park, just beyond Clovenstone Cottage.
Aiton in 1811 records that J. Cochrane Esq experimented with improving coarse hill pastures by diverting a mountain rill to run over it the site and as a consequence the pasture greatly improved, enough to yield a good crop of hay. His neighbours had scorned the expense of enclosing the land with a dyke, however he proved them wrong.
On the summit of Little Auchenbourach hill, above Calder glen, is a cairn of stones surrounded by metal railings. A plaque on this cairn commemorated William Arthur Cochran-Patrick, son of R W Cochran-Patrick, who was born on June 12, 1860, and died on January 29, 1881 aged 20 of tetanus whilst studying at Cambridge University. A Latin inscription translates as 'You were loved by all.' The Cochran-Patricks of Ladyland owned Auchenbourach Hill. The monument was financed by William's friends and the tenants of Ladyland.
Eleanora Cochran-Patrick, a daughter of RW Cochran-Patrick married Sir Neil James Kennedy, however he took his wife's surnames to preserve the ancient family patronym.
In June 1911 the Misses Cochrane-Patrick of Ladyland House were driving home in their waggonette from the Kerse Mission on a Sunday night; the horse shied at a dog on the roadside and fell, overturning the machine at the same time. Miss Harriet Cochrane-Patrick who was driving was thrown to the ground and a wheel of the waggonette passed over her right shoulder while her sister, Miss Cochrane-Patrick was pinned to the ground by the overturned machine lying on her breast. The coachman, William Benson, jumped from the back seat and held the horse down till the ladies were extricated by some people who witnessed the accident. Benson had his right hand severely injured.
The horse was badly hurt and the waggonette smashed. Mr Simpson of Langslie Farm, conveyed the ladies home in his machine and they were afterwards attended by Dr Milroy and Nurse Cooper. Miss Cochrane-Patrick was almost unconscious from bruises and shock and Miss Harriet Cochrane-Patrick was also bruised, but fortunately no bones were broken. Both ladies were very popular for their charitable work in the Kilbirnie and Beith districts.
Read more about this topic: Barony Of Ladyland