Montgomery vs. Cunningham

The feud began in 1488 when the son of Lord Montgomery was awarded the title of Baillie of Cunninghame.  This was a title traditionally held by the Cunningham’s.  They lost the title after they supported King James III against his son James IV during the Battle of Sauchieburn.  After the death of James III and the ascension of James IV to the throne, the Cunningham’s were out of favor with the crown.

In response the chief of the Cunningham Clan tried to forcefully reclaim the title.  The Montgomery’s, after unsuccessfully trying to draw the Cunningham’s into battle, marched to The Castle of Kerelaw, located in Cunningham territory and set fire to it.  The occupants inside were taken by surprise and were unable to mount a defense to save it.

In 1499, Cuthbert Cunninghame led a group to attack a branch of the Montgomery Clan located at Irvine, Ayrshire.  The Montgomery’s also continued their attacks by Murdering Edward Cunningham of Acheharvie in 1526 and Archibald Cunningham of Waterstoun in 1528.

In 1528 William Cunningham, the 4th Earl of Glencarin, Marched to the Montgomery held Eglinton Castle and set fire to it.  Hugh Montgomery, the chief of the clan, was in residence at the time of the attack but was able to escape with his family.  Unfortunately for the Montgomery’s, the castle was lost along with the family chest containing historic clan papers and artifacts.  The Montgomery Clan was awarded a cash settlement by the crown in retribution.  The chief used this money to replace the castle.

In 1586 the clan feud reached a climax with the murder of the Montgomery Clan chief, Hugh Montgomerie, 4th Earl of Eglinton, as he was heading to Stirling Castle at behest of the King to join the kings court.  On his way he spent the night at Lainshaw Castle with his relative Neil Montgomerie, Lord of Lainshaw.  Neil was married to a member of the Cunningham family, Elizabeth Cunninghame. Upon Hugh’s departure from Lainshaw Castle, Lady Elizabeth or one of her servants hung a white table cloth from the top of the castle signalling a waiting group of 30 Cunningham Clansmen.  The Cunningham’s ambushed Hugh Montgomery as he crossed Annick Ford. They hacked down Hugh’s servants with swords and shot the Montgomery chief dead.

The murder of Hugh Montgomery set forth a series of revenge killings by the Montgomery Clan.  It is said that Cunningham’s, friends and supporters were killed without mercy.  The chief of the Cunningham Clan washed his hands of the conspirators, allowing many of them to be killed or flee into exile with their lands being forfeited to the Montgomery’s. The crown and parliament attempted to settle the feud but had no success.

The feud finally came to an end in 1661 when William Cunningham, 9th Earl of Glencairn married Margaret Montgomery, daughter of the 6th Earl of Eglinton, uniting the two families.