Our latest look at Ayrshire's heroes, past and present

We are looking at the men and women who were born or lived in the county and left an indelible mark on the area - or Scotland as a whole.

And as this year's Viking Festival is underway, there seems no better person to start this week's hero list than...

King of Scots Alexander III

(Image: Contributed)

He acceded to the throne at the age of just eight, after being inaugurated at Scone in 1249.

On attaining his majority at the age of 21 in 1262, Alexander laid a formal claim before the Norwegian King Haakon, who controlled many of Scotland's islands.

But this was rejected, and in the following year the Scandinavians responded with a formidable invasion.

Sailing around the west coast of Scotland, Haakon halted off the Isle of Arran, and negotiations commenced, but the tactically-minded Alexander managed to artfully prolong the talks until the autumn storms could begin.

Haakon attacked, only to be drawn into a terrific storm which greatly damaged his ships.

Effectively defeated by the elements, his humbled troops subsequently staggered their way into a trap and a decisive loss on local shores at the Battle of Largs in October 1263.

The Isles now lay at Alexander’s feet, and in 1266 Haakon’s successor concluded the Treaty of Perth by which he ceded the Isle of Man and the Western Isles to Scotland.

Roy Aitken

(Image: Contributed)

Roy was born in November 1958 and lived in Ardrossan, going on to become a player and then captain of Glasgow Celtic.

Of his many career highlights, the ‘Bear’ as he became affectionately known by the Parkhead fans had to be officially adopted by a club official when he was part of the Celtic squad.

Only 17 years old, he was too young to travel behind the Iron Curtain to play in the former East Germany, and had to be included in an adult passport.

Later in his career he captained the club during the memorable Centenary Season when they defied the odds to lift the domestic double of Premier League and Scottish Cup.

He went on to play for Newcastle and St Mirren and played and managed at Aberdeen, while representing Scotland 57 times.

His subsequent coaching career took him to Leeds United and Aston Villa until he was appointed a Scotland coach under Alex McLeish. 

In July 2010, Aitken left Birmingham City to join David O'Leary in Dubai with Al-Ahli, later taking up the role as their Director of Football.

Rhona Martin

(Image: Contributed)

Born in Ayr in 1966, two time Olympian skip Rhona Martin and her team of curlers became the UK’s first gold medal lists at the Winter Olympics since Torvill and Dean danced to “bolero” in 1984.

In 2000, Rhona’s quartet won the Scottish championships. They later finished fourth representing Scotland at the World Championships held that year on home turf at Glasgow securing their place as Great Britain’s representatives at the Salt Lake City Olympics in 2002.

It was here that Rhona and her team claimed their gold medal victory for which she and her team, including Margaret Morton from Mauchline, were awarded with an MBE at the Queen’s Birthday Honours in 2002.

Rhona skipped Team GB to the 2006 Winter Olympics but despite the team’s best efforts, Rhona’s squad were knocked out, depriving her team of the opportunity to defend their Gold medal from 2002.

Kirsty Hume

(Image: Contributed)

The Ayr-born model came to prominence in the fashion world in the mid-90s.

In 1996. Kirsty was the feature model for Chanel ads and for Gucci presentations of the fall and winter fashion collections in Milan.

Following a 1997 Paris showing of Karl Lagerfeld designs for Chanel, Hume was queried by a Russian TV reporter. He asked her what was the most exciting part of her job. New York Times stated her reply as: ‘Um, the money’.

In the same year Kirsty married actor Donovan Leitch Jr in Scotland. Their wedding was covered by InStyle and Vogue magazines, after which, they drove all around Bali in a jeep. Kirsty graced the front cover of many fashion magazines and also appeared in a GAP maternity advertisement in May 2004 while carrying her daughter, Violet Jean Leitch.

Kirsty and family relocated to Woodstock, New York where she began to study painting and paganism after their move. She married entrepreneur Frederick Schilling in 2022 and daughter Violet is also a model now.

Look out for more heroes next weekend...