Irvine Royal Burgh - some unusual exhibits

Royal Burgh of Irvine

This Coat of Arms in 'Wellwood' marks the role of Irvine Burns Club in preserving Burgh records and artefacts for some years after local government reorganisation ended the Royal Burgh in 1972.

Scroll down for some unique and fascinating items . . .

the motto:

'tandem bona causa triumphat' - 'The good cause triumphs in the end!'
The origin of the motto is not known, but it may date to the 17th century and it may celebrate the restoration of the monarchy (in 1660). [Wellwood Collection #3076]

The Irvine Lion

This, like the next item, is a plaster sculpture which once adorned the medieval Tolbooth, demolished in 1861.
[Wellwood Collection #3124]

LYRA TRIPLEX CUI DIEDAMA TRIPLEX

"Triple Praise ['Lyre'] to he who has the Triple Crown" – this plaque, once prominent in the medieval Tolbooth, dates from the time of King Charles II after the restoration of the monarchy in 1660. The triple crown refers to Great Britain, France, and Ireland, and his coins record 'MAG BR FRA ET HIB'. Ireland was a kingdom until 1800; in France, Dunkirk was awarded to England in 1659 by the Franco-English alliance against Spain, and, although Charles sold it back to France in 1662 for £320,000, he continued to include FR on his later coins! The first word is now missing - it may have been 'SIT' ('Let there be') or 'REGI' ('to the king'). Perhaps you are willing to overlook the 17th century typo - DIEDAMA should be DIADEMA.
[Wellwood Collection #3066]

Panel from previous Parish Church

This oak panel, carved in Flemish Guild style, is a remnant of the parish church demolished in 1771/72. Found later stored in a house cupboard (!), it may have been part of a pew or of a gallery. The Greek means ‘Blessed are they who hear the word of God and keep it’ (Luke 11, 28). The ‘IANWAR 2’ on the left and ‘ANNO DOMINO 1649’ on the right mean ‘January 2nd, 1649’, and the centre section, with the arms of Blair and the initials ‘I B’, may commemorate James Blair, Provost in 1646 (James, in Latin, is 'Iacobus'). As it was carefully preserved by banker and antiquarian John Paterson in the 1880s, it is appropriate that it is now displayed in ‘Wellwood’, formerly the home of his family.
[Wellwood Collection #3079]

Royal Burgh of Irvine minutes
Minutes of the Town Council meetings of the 18th & 19th century were found in the Town House loft by David Dunlop, the burgh foreman and a halberdier, in the 1960s - they had probably been transferred from the old Tolbooth when it was demolished in 1861.
The papers, after safe storage in the Burgh Museum in Wellwood, are now preserved by the North Ayrshire Archive service.

Tolbooth keys
Among the artefacts found in the Town House loft were the Tolbooth keys, one of which was given to David Dunlop. On his death, as he was a member of Irvine Burns Club, his family presented the key to the Irvine Lasses Burns Club for display at Wellwood.
On the transfer of the Burgh Museum contents from there to North Ayrshire Archives, it passed into their safe-keeping.

David Dunlop (burgh halberdier)
His home was Seagate House, once the home of Dr John McKenzie, founder President of Irvine Burns Club.
David Dunlop as Burgh halberdier

Wellwood Burns Centre & Museum
28 Eglinton Street,
Irvine, Ayrshire, KA12 8AS