page_title: Dalry, North Ayrshire
section_title: Lords of Lynn
hierarchical_section_title: Dalry, North Ayrshire / History / Lords of Lynn
caption_attribution_description: English: Lynncraigs farm ruins, Dalry, North Ayrshire, Scotland
context_page_description: Dalry is a small town in the Garnock Valley in Ayrshire, Scotland. Drakemyre is a northern suburb.
context_section_description: The barony of Lynn was created from lands inherited about 1204 from Hugh de Morville. It reportedly was first held by Walter de Lynne, who signed the 1296 Ragman Roll. According to Douglas, the family bore the name Lynne long before coming to Ayrshire. If, as Douglas reports however, the family line is Robert de Lynne appearing in 1207 (Perthshire), William de Lynne appearing in 1246 (Perthshire), and Walter de Lynne appearing in 1296 (Ayrshire), one would expect William (or perhaps even Robert), rather than William's son Walter, to be the de Morville heir, first Lord of Lynn in Dalry, and progenitor of the Lynns of that Ilk. In any case, the Lynns held the property from about 1204 until 1532, when they sold it to the Boyds of Kilmarnock. Even then, however, they retained use of 16 acres of the barony or "dominical lands", which acres were "called Burnesyd, Garden and Lyne Knoll in the town and territory of Lyne, bailliary of Cunningham and sheriffdom of Ayr".
  During this period, the family also owned Baidland on the north-western side of Dalry, Highlees just south of Dundonald, and the estate of Bourtreehill near Irvine. In 1385, the Laird of Lyne rented Baidland to the Cunninghams for one silver penny, then an average week's wages (this being the only known record of Lynns owning Baidland).  In 1452, Andrew Lyn, Lord of that Ilk, gave a charter for Highlees to William Hunter of Arnele "for services rendered and to be rendered" (the Lynns remained superiors of Highlees for more than two centuries, their last recorded title being in 1668).  In 1505, Andrew Lyne received a charter for Bourtreehill from Robert Frances, Lord of Stane (the last mention of the Lynns of that Ilk in Bourtreehill being in 1608).  In 1614 John Lyn of that Ilk is recorded as the lord superior of the lands of 'Hileis' in the parish of Dalry and Patrick Hunter of Hunterston was his baillie.
  In 1522, the 16-acre mains of the barony of Lynn were conveyed in a charter from John Lyne of that Ilk to John Lyne of Bourtreehill, described therein as the "... dominical lands of Lyne called Burnesyd, with a house, garden, and Lyne Knoll." In 1532, John Lyn "for a sum of money to him paid, sold" to Thomas Boyd a portion of Lyn ("forty-shilling land of old extent", the latter term referring to a former valuation). Nevertheless, the Lynns continued to hold the 16-acre mains of the property: in 1583, the mains were conveyed by Laurence Lyn (of Bourtreehill) to William Lyn, his son and heir apparent; on this occasion, the mains were further described as "... dominical lands of Lyne together with the house called Burnesyd with the garden thereof and Lyne Knoll lying in the town and territory of Lyne bailliary of Cunningham and sheriffdom of Ayr" (emphasis added).
  The property included the beautiful Lynn Falls or Lynn Spout, lying in a glen said to be the dwelling of witches, elves, and fairies. However, that same glen is the location of Peden's Point, where the noted Covenanting minister Alexander Peden preached from a pinnacle forming a natural pulpit overlooking the water above the falls. The Lynns themselves were Presbyterians, and it may be that they willingly made their land available for the preaching of the reformed faith.
  The Lords of Lynn became extinct as a landed family in Dalry, but they were remembered in Ayrshire folklore as "a beloved aristocracy that came, lingered a while, and vanished."
  Linn House
  Built for the Crichtons in 1812, this house was a small mansion house by 1858 with a vaguely 'Elizabethan' appearance. It was purchased by the Neilsen family of Chapeltoun in 1924 and sold by them in 1960. The house lay empty for a number of years and was demolished so that the site could be redeveloped as a housing estate. Only the gatepiers remain, leading onto the Dalry to Kilwinninmg road.
caption: Lynncraigs Farm ruins on the old Drumastle Mill to Dalry route.
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "", "Image Make": "NIKON", "Image Model": "E4600", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "300", "Image YResolution": "300", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "E4600v1.1", "Image DateTime": "2009:08:05 14:29:15", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "284", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "300", "Thumbnail YResolution": "300", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "4596", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "9754", "EXIF ExposureTime": "10/747", "EXIF FNumber": "33/5", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "50", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2009:08:05 14:29:15", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2009:08:05 14:29:15", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "3", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "3", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, auto mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "117/10", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "2288", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1712", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "1026", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "0", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "70", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF GainControl": "None", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal", "EXIF SubjectDistanceRange": "0"}