Inchmahome there was a church on the island before the priory was established. The priory has a long history of receiving many notable guests. King Robert the Bruce visited three times, in 1306, 1308 and 1310. His visits were likely politically motivated, as the first abbot had sworn allegiance to Edward I, the English King. In 1358 the future King Robert II also stayed at the priory. In 1547 the priory served as a refuge for Mary, Queen of Scots, aged four, hidden here for a few weeks following the disastrous defeat of the Scots army at the Battle of Pinkie
King of the Gypsies Faa II, and when he died without issue the title of King of the Gypsies was passed to Charles, husband of his sister, Esther. Charles was born in 1775 and died in 1861. He was crowned King, by the local blacksmith, George Gladstone, on 25 October 1847, aged at least 70 years. He was succeeded by his daughter, Esther Faa Blythe, who was born in the early years of the 1800s and died on 12 July 1883. Born around 1825, Charles Rutherford (known as Charles Faa Blythe II), was a son to Esther Faa Bythe, the Gypsy Queen. Between the