King Coil
The Britons, under Coil, (who had an organised government
and were probably structured on a
Roman model) held the south west of Scotland with the
area north of them held by the wilder and less 'civilized' Picts,
the original inhabitants of Northern Scotland (although it was not
called Scotland until much later). Also the Irish tribe 'the
Scots', led by Fergus, son of Ferchard, had started settling in
some western areas around Argyle. Coil fearing that the two peoples
would unite and create a state powerful enough to threaten his own,
launched an offensive. Initial attacks failed and probably were the
catalyst for the Scots and the Picts, (who had been enemies until
Coil's intervention), combining their forces and attacking Coil's
British Kingdom of Strathclyde.
Coil now launched a full scale campaign against the Northern
tribes pushing them back winning at least one full scale battle on
the banks of the Doon (many sites have been suggested for this
battle with many researchers arguing that it was around the
vicinity of Darlymple). The area where the village of Coylton, in
Ayrshire, now sits is the supposed site of his military
headquarters.
After months of defeat at the hands of the Britons, the
starving Scots and Picts are said to have mounted a desperate
advance on Coil's position taking him by surprise and overrunning
his army causing great slaughter. The fleeing Coil is said in local
legend to have been driven into a bog at Coilsfield, near the
village of Tarbolton where he drowned.
A burial mound just south of Coilsfield House is rumoured to
be the last resting place of King Coil. The mound was excavated in
the mid 19th century and it is reported that it contained several
urns containing burnt bones alongside other small piles of bones
surrounded by yellow clay. Although no personal artefacts were
found it was assumed that it had been the burial place of someone
of importance.
Around the same time it was reported that a tenant on the
Coilsfield estate had unearthed fragments of bones and armour
whilst ploughing an area of the estate which had been known since
antiquity as 'Dead-Men's Holm'. Daniel
Defoe in his 'A Tour Thro' the Whole Island of Great
Britain',wrote that "a trumpet resembling a crooked horn" was dug
up in this area. This artefact, known as the Caprington Horn, still
survives and is the oldest dated musical instrument ever found in
Scotland. It is in good condition and although it is still in
private hands, there is a replica of it in the collections of the
National Museums of Scotland in Edinburgh.
Although most of what we know of King Coil is conjecture, he
was a real person and will always be immortalised by the children's
nursery rhyme:
Old King Cole was a merry old soul
And a merry old soul was he.
He called for his pipe,
And he called for his bowl,
And he called for his fiddlers, three.
(Although we don't know if King Coil was in fact merry,
or just how many fiddlers he had, we do know that he didn't smoke a
pipe as Sir Walter Raleigh did not bring
tobacco to Britain until the 16th
century!
Robert Burns refers to Coylton with a nod to the
ancient King in his poem 'Twa
Dogs':
Twas in that place o'Scotland's isle
That bears the name o' auld King Coil,
Upon a bonie day in June,
When wearin' thro' the Afternoon,
Twa dogs, that were na thrang at hame,
Forgather'd ance upon a time.
