William Robertson tells a longer version in Historical Tales and Legends of Ayrshire (1889), 'The Faithless Bride of Aiket', in which the knight was reported killed at Jaffa. Wikipedia's article on the Barons of Aiket summarises the ghost version above, and adds a possible real basis: a Montgomerie of Hessilhead was promised to Anna Inglis, but her stepfather, Allan Lockhart, forced her, at under twelve years old, to marry his cousin William Cunningham of Aiket. He beat and starved her, spent her dowry, and she won a divorce in 1641.
The legend is set in the crusading period, which does not fit those 17th-century people, so it is best read as a story that grew around a real unhappy marriage. Aiket Castle, a square tower on the Glazert Water in Dunlop parish, is now gone.
Comments