Cunninghams can be found defending their nation as far back as the late thirteenth century when they helped to repel would-be Viking invaders at the battle of Largs, and this martial tradition continued under the Cunningham Earls of Glencairn, who were famed as ‘bonnie fighters’.
The family were no less ardent in supporting the Protestant Reformation, while an Earl of Glencairn was not only a friend but also an important patron of the national bard Robert Burns.
