III.
Regarding early Ayrshire Fultons, the following particulars may be noted. Robertus, son and heir of Sir Robert de Cunningham, is witness in the confirmation of the lands of Inglistoun by Thomas, son of Adam Carpentarius. This is thought, by the names of the ten witnesses, comprising John Knox and Thomas of Fultown, to have been in the time of Alexander III.—1249-85. Nicholas of Ranilston was witness to a charter granted by Sir Antony Lambart, of the lands of Fulton to the monks of Paisley, 1272. Thomas of Fultown and his spouse Matilda had a charter from Stephen, the Abbot of Paisley, in 1272, of their lands of Fultown between Kert and Gryffe. Thomas de Fultown was witness to the charter of Stewardton to the abbot and monks of Paisley in 1281.
Alan, the son of Thomas of Foulton, Nicol of Foulton, and Henry of Foulton are included in the list of magnates in Strathgryffe who swore fealty to Edward I. as king paramount in 1296. That list contains the names of thirty-six, including the ancestors of Eglintoun, Glencairn, Dundonald and Mar, Denistown of that ilk, Ralston of that ilk, and others connected with the historical records of Ayrshire, and who "held of the Lord High Stewards."
The lands of Fultown were alienated to the monks of Paisley in 1381, pro salute animæ suæ, and again in 1409 we find one William Uric resigning these lands in an instrument entitled "Resignationes de assedatione terrarum de Fulton." This was a lease of the lands of Fulton which formed a portion of the estate of Craigends, anno 1488 ; next, we find in the rent of the Abbacy of Paisley, in the year 1500, Johne de Fowlton and the mill lands, etc., in a long lease anent thirlage services. Previous to the year 1554 Johne de Foultoun held the lands of Muirton in Beith parish, as there appears in that year a legal case—Foultoun v. Muir, with the decision-—"Gif ony man gevis his kindness of any landis to ane uther and researvis gude deid and proffeit theirfoir, he may be callit and decernit to warrant the same in landis"—23rd April 1554. John Fulton of Muirton was a witness anent a sasine of the lands of Kerse or Kert 29th May 1573, William Fulton of Muirton was witness in 1585 to a “certain evident." His son was William Fulton of Muirton in 1625, whose younger brother was Fulton of Anchenbathie and Spreulston, and from whom branched off the cadets of the name in Beith and Lochwinnoch parishes, viz. Fulton of Threipwood, Fulton of Nethertrees, Fulton of Boydston, Fulton of Broomknowes, Fulton of Park, and Fulton of Hartfield. The Commissariat Record of Glasgow—Register of Testaments, 1547–1800, contains many wills of Fultons in Cusheid, Inchynane, Kilwinning, Paisley, and Beith. (Printed for the Scottish Record Society, Edinburgh, 1901. Edited by Francis I. Grant, W.S., Rothesay Herald and Lyon Clerk.)
IV.
The family gradually extended throughout Ayrshire into Renfrewshire, and several members, probably a complete family, travelled eastwards and settled in Fifeshire about 1650. From Fifeshire, they spread into Forfarshire, and across the Forth to Midlothian. Previous to that date others had moved from Ayrshire into Wigtonshire. Many Fultons are now to be found in each of these counties, in little groups or clusters. For instance, there are the Fultons of Dalry, Irvine, Kilwinning, Beith, Ayr, Kirkoswald, and Maybole, all in Ayrshire. Also, those of St. Monance, Dubbeyside, and Dunfermline in Fifeshire ; of Montrose, Dundee, and Arbroath in Forfarshire; of Perth, and of Edinburgh. Descendants of most of these have been communicated with in various parts of the world. James Patterson's History of the Counties of Ayr and Wigton, 5 vols., 1866, vol. iv. p. 95, and his previous work, published 1847, vol. i. p. 278, give particulars about these Fultons.
