James Cunningham, 14th Earl of Glencairn (1 June 174930 January 1791) was a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

nobleman, soldier and patron of

Robert Burns Robert Burns (25 January 1759 – 21 July 1796), also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the List of national poets, national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the be ...

Finlaystone House Finlaystone House is a mansion and estate in the Inverclyde council area and historic county of Renfrewshire. It lies near the southern bank of the Firth of Clyde, beside the village of Langbank, in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. Finla ...

and estate in

Inverclyde Inverclyde (, , , "mouth of the Clyde") is one of 32 council areas used for local government in Scotland. Together with the East Renfrewshire and Renfrewshire council areas, Inverclyde forms part of the historic county of Renfrewshire, which ...

was the seat of the

Earl of Glencairn Earl of Glencairn was a title in the Peerage of Scotland. King James III of Scotland, James III created the title in 1488 by royal charter for Alexander Cunningham, 1st Earl of Glencairn, Alexander Cunningham, 1st Lord Kilmaurs. He held the e ...

and chief of clan Cunningham from 1405 to 1796.

Biography

James the second son of William, 13th Earl, was born in Kilmacolm, Renfrewshire. On the death ''vida patris'' of his elder brother William in 1768, he became Lord Kilmaurs; he succeeded to the Earldom, while on a tour of Norway, Lapland and Sweden, when his father died on 9 September 1775. Earlofglencairn

A Captain in the Western Fencibles Regiment from 1778, he served as one of the 16

Scottish representative peer This is a list of representative peers elected from the Peerage of Scotland to sit in the House of Lords after the Acts of Union 1707 abolished the unicameral Parliament of Scotland, where all Scottish Peers had been entit ...

s from 1780 to 1784 and supported Fox's India Bill in 1783. In 1786 he sold his ancient family estate and former seat of

Kilmaurs Kilmaurs () is a village in East Ayrshire, Scotland which lies just outside of the largest settlement in East Ayrshire, Kilmarnock. It lies on the Carmel Water, southwest of Glasgow. Population recorded for the village in the 2001 Census record ...

(the Cunninghams having moved their seat to Finlaystone in the 13th century) to Henrietta Scott later to become the Marchioness of Titchfield. He is best remembered for his friendship with

to whom he gave his patronage.Monuments and monumental inscriptions in Scotland: The Grampian Society, 1871 He was instrumental in the production of the Second Edition of Burn's ''Poems'' (Hill MDCCXL). He died, unmarried, from consumption at Falmouth, soon after landing from

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

, where he had been wintering in the warmer winter clime. He was buried in the chancel of the

Church of King Charles the Martyr, Falmouth The Church of King Charles the Martyr is a parish church in the Church of England situated in the centre of Falmouth, Cornwall. History Founding The foundations of the church were laid by Sir Peter Killigrew on 29 August 1662. Some 18 months ...

. Upon his death Burns wrote a Lament beginning, "The wind blew hollow frae the hills," and ending with the lines, "But I'll remember thee, Glencairn, and a' that thou hast done for me." Glencairn was succeeded in the peerage by his brother

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

. James is commemorated by a brass plaque in the Cunningham Earls of Glencairn's ancestral burial vault, the

Glencairn Aisle The Glencairn Aisle or Glencairn Vault at Kilmaurs, East Ayrshire is a Category B Listed vaulted sepulchral chapel. Built as a place for private contemplation and prayer, it also contains a large memorial monument, as well as the burial crypt o ...

, St Maurs-Glencairn Church, in

East Ayrshire East Ayrshire (; ) is one of 32 unitary council areas of Scotland. It shares borders with Dumfries and Galloway, East Renfrewshire, North Ayrshire, South Ayrshire and South Lanarkshire. The headquarters of the council are located on London Roa ...

References

* * Brown, Peter, publisher, ''The Peerage of Scotland'', Edinburgh, 1834, p. 88. * Hill, D.O., ''The Land of Burns'', Glasgow, 1840. * Anderson, William, ''The Scottish Nation'', Edinburgh, 1867, vol.v, p. 313. * Wood, John Philip (Ed) ''The Peerage of Scotland by Sir Robert Douglas of Glenbervie, Bart'', Edinburgh, 1813, vol.i, p. 640 1749 births 1791 deaths Nobility from Inverclyde Scottish soldiers Earl of Glencairn Robert Burns Scottish representative peers British Fencibles officers {{Scotland-earl-stub

Biography

See also

References