Battle of Craignaught Hill
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| Battle of Craignaught Hill | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Clan Boyd and Stewart of Darnley feud | |||||||
 Boyd's Hill and Craignaught Hill in Ayrshire where the battle took place | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
| Stewarts of Darnley[2] | Clan Boyd[2] | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Alexander Stewart[2] | Sir Thomas Boyd †[2] | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 210 men (or three detachments each of 70 men)[2] | 100 men[2] | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| “Many valiant men on every side”[1] | “Many valiant men on every side”[1] | ||||||
The Battle of Craignaught Hill also known as the Battle of Boyd's Hill or the Battle of Boyd's Slack, was a Scottish clan battle fought on 9 July 1439.[1] It was fought between the Clan Boyd of Kilmarnock against the Stewart family of Darnley.[2]
In 1439 Alan Stewart of Darnley and Thomas Boyd, chief of the Clan Boyd were at feud.[2] At Polmaise Thorn, Thomas Boyd had attacked Alan Stewart and killed him.[2] Another account says that Polmaise Thorne was three miles from Falkirk and that the feud between Boyd and Stewart had at that time been in its third year.[1] Boyd then retraced his steps back to Ayrshire and prepared his house in Kilmarnock in anticipation of reprisal.[2]
Alexander Stewart, youngest brother of Alan, assembled his men at Darnley House and did not seek the aid of the civil authorities.[2] He divided his followers into three detachments, each consisting of about seventy men.[2] He instructed two of these detachments to enter the lands surrounding Boyd's Dean Castle at different points and then to meet him the following night at Craignaught Hill.[2] Stewart and his detachment then went in a third route with the object of making the retaliation as wide spread as possible.[2]
Sir Robert Boyd with one hundred of his men were waiting in Dean Castle, ready at a moment's notice to ride out and give the Stewarts a stern welcome to Kilmarnock.[2] Boyd sent out a scout who returned only to report the one Stewart detachment that he had seen of about seventy men and that was led by Stewart of Darnley himself.[2] The Boyd's thus expecting their enemy to be inferior in number were eager for the conflict.[2] Boyd said goodbye to his wife and he and his men left the castle for battle.[2]
In the meantime Stewart of Darnley and his men had settled down for the night at Craignaught Hill with their captured cattle and sheep.[2] As Boyd's men approached the Stewart's camp, Darnley sent out a scout who reported back that the Boyds were one hundred strong.[2] Darnley apparently “rubbed his hands gleefully together” and instructed his other two detachments to retire on either flank at a distance of about four hundred yards.[2]
Battle
When the Boyds came within striking distance Stewart of Darnley gave the order for all of his forces to convey.[2] Boyd found that he had walked into a trap and numbers of men larger than what had been reported to him by his scouts.[2] Surrounded, Boyd gave the order for his men to charge.[2] The other two Stewart detachments on the flanks had joined the battle and the Boyds found themselves outnumbered by more than two to one.[2] The Boyds fiercely fell upon the Stewarts whose numbers did begin to thin.[2] The Boyds set themselves back to back to beat back the Stewarts or die where they fought.[2] Darnley tried in vain to find a gap to throw the Boyds into confusion, but the Boyd's circle of defence held firm.[2] Thomas Boyd himself sprang out from the circle in an attempt to get to Stewart of Darnley, but Darnley did not want to risk the combat.[2] Seeing an opportunity one of Stewarts drove his dagger into the back of Thomas Boyd and with their leader dead the Boyds fled.[2] The Stewarts victorious, they rested until the next morning when they marched back towards Renfrewshire, satisfied that they had taken their revenge.[2] When the Stewarts had gone the Boyds returned to recover the body of their fallen chief and return with it to Kilmarnock.[2]