Kelburne Castle, a seat of the Earl of Glasgow in Largs parish, Ayrshire, within ½ mile of the Firth of Clyde, 1J mile N by E of Fairlie, and 2 miles SSE of Largs town. Originally a square tower, it was described by Pont in the beginning of the 17th century as 'a goodly building, well planted, having very beautiful orchards and gardens;' and a hundred years later it was enlarged by David, first Earl of Glasgow. Special features of interest are a metal finial, with the crest of the Boyles surmounted by a thistle, and 'an ingeniously ornamented sun-dial, where every inch of surface is made to tell the story of time, and where its pinnacle, by a series of grooves, imitates the crocketing of Gothic architecture.' The estate came into possession of the Earl's ancestors so early as the time of Alexander III. (1249-86), and gives the title of Viscount to George Frederick Boyle, sixth Earl of Glasgow since 1703 (b. 1825; sue. 1869), who holds 36,879 acres, valued at £36,714 per annum, viz., 24,968 in Ayrshire (£18,359), 4453 in Renfrewshire (£7291), 5625 in Fife (£9085), and 1833 in Buteshire (£1979). The park contains many fine old trees; comprises much diversity of ground, with wooded braes and heights; and includes a dark, wooded glen, where Clea Burn, rising at an altitude of 1280 feet, and running 2 7/8 miles north-north-westward and westward to the Firth, forms two romantic waterfalls, the lower one 50 feet high.—Ord. Sur., sh. 21, 1870. See vol. iii. of Billings' Baronial Antiquities (1853).
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