A turbulent young man
Sir Hugh Campbell of Loudoun inherited the hereditary office of Sheriff of Ayr. In his youth he was, in Fergusson's words, "a turbulent young man".
In 1526 he was in trouble for treasonably coming against the King in battle array near Linlithgow. A year later he ordered the killing of Gilbert, 2nd Earl of Cassillis. On 5 October 1527 he was outlawed, and the sentence was not lifted until 1 July 1528: a scandalous position for a Sheriff.
He bought the house from James Tait sometime between 1528 and 1539, and from about 1530 settled down to his duties, sending money to the Lord High Treasurer and receiving the Crown's orders like any other Sheriff.
The Sheriff's lodging
In their day the house was known simply as "the Sheriff's lodging" or "the Sheriff's tenement". It appears as "the schireffis tenement" in the town's accounts as early as 1539.
Three generations lived here: Sir Hugh, who died in 1561; his son Sir Matthew, who lived until at least 1593; and his grandson, another Sir Hugh, who died in 1622.
For eleven years, from 1546 to 1557, the town fought a lawsuit against the first Sir Hugh over his authority inside the burgh. In 1557 he and his son gave up their jurisdiction there, and from then on the Campbells were on excellent terms with Ayr.
In February 1559 Sir Hugh was ordered to be in Edinburgh, with twenty days' supplies, at a day's notice, to resist the English army.
Wine and sweets
Whenever the Sheriff came to Ayr on official business, the town gave him wine at its own expense. The accounts record "wine to the old Sheriff" and "wine to the young Sheriff", and boxes of "confeittis", sweets and sugared treats.
In May 1597 the town paid £4 16s (in Scots money) "for six quarts of wine given to the Sheriff when in Ayr for his April head-court". Before the Reformation wine cost 1s 8d a quart. By the early 1600s it cost £1. A box of confeittis rose from 8s in 1591 to 13s 4d in 1605.
Much of it, Fergusson thought, must have been enjoyed in the very hall where you can stand today.
A deed in the garden
The house had a garden, or "yaird", a "garden chamber" and a brewhouse.
In February 1596 the Provost, David Fergushill, signed a deed that ends: "This wes done within the yard of the lugeing of Hew Campbell of Loudoun, Sheref of Air, at thre houris eftirnone or thairby." On a February afternoon, the signing probably happened inside the garden chamber.
A Lord, then the end of an era
The second Sir Hugh was the first member of the old Scots Parliament known to have lived here. He was Provost of Irvine and its MP in 1579 and 1587, sat in the Convention of Estates as "the Sheriff of Ayr", and in 1601 was made Lord Campbell of Loudoun and a Privy Councillor.
He died in 1622, his only son having died before him. The office passed through his granddaughter to her husband, Sir John Campbell of Lawers, later Earl of Loudoun, who in 1634 sold the Sheriffship to King Charles I for 14,000 merks.
By then a new Sheriff, James Chalmer of Gadgirth, had been appointed, and he became the next owner of the Hall. In 1652 Cromwell's huge fort rose barely 100 yards away, quite overshadowing the old house.
Sources: Fergusson 1950, Close 2025.