Ailsa Craig - History

History

In 1590 the shipping of the Clyde was disrupted by pirates who were said to be Highlanders, quha lyis about Ailsay.

The castle which stands on the eastern side of the island was built in the late 1500s by the Hamilton Family to protect the island from Philip II of Spain.

Ailsa Craig was a haven for Roman Catholics during the Scottish Reformation. In 1597 the Catholic supporter Hugh Barclay of Ladyland took possession of Ailsa Craig, which he was intent on using as a provisioning and stopping off point for a Spanish invasion which would re-establish the Catholic faith in Scotland. He was discovered by the Protestant minister Andrew Knox and thereafter either tried to escape or deliberately drowned himself in the sea off Ailsa Craig.

The island was used as a prison during the 18th-19th century.

In 1831, the Twelfth Earl of Cassilis became first Marquess of Ailsa, taking the title from the Craig, which was his property.

From the mid-19th to mid-20th centuries, the island was quarried for its rare type of micro-granite with riebeckite (known as "Ailsite") which is used to make curling stones. As of 2004, 60 to 70% of all curling stones in use were made from granite from the island. The floor of the Chapel of the Thistle in St Giles Cathedral, Edinburgh is also made of this rock.

The Lighthouse was built between 1883 and 1886 by Thomas Stevenson; it is owned by Northern Lighthouse Board.

The lighthouse was automated in 1990 and converted to solar electric power in 2001; the island has been uninhabited since automation in 1990. Ailsa Craig and its lighthouse feature extensively in Peter Hill's book Stargazing: Memoirs of a Young Lighthouse Keeper. Though quarry blasting is no longer allowed, loose granite rock from the island has been recently used for manufacture into curling stones by the Kays of Scotland company. The island is now a bird sanctuary, leased by the RSPB until 2050. Huge numbers of gannets nest here and following a pioneering technique to eradicate the island's imported population of rats a growing number of puffins are choosing to return to the Craig from nearby Glunimore and Sheep Islands.

The island has no water, electricity, gas, sewage or telephone connections. The island currently belongs to the 8th Marquess of Ailsa, 19th Earl of Cassillis. In May 2011 it was announced the island was for sale; the current asking price is £1,500,000.