The alphabet is known as the aibidil in Scottish Gaelic, and formerly the Beith Luis Nuin from the first three letters of the Ogham alphabet: b, l, n.

Sir Alan James Beith ( born 20 April 1943 ) is a British Liberal Democrat politician and Member of Parliament ( MP ) for Berwick-upon-Tweed.

Diana Margaret Maddock, Baroness Maddock and Lady Beith ( born 31 January 1947 ) is a Liberal Democrat politician.

She is married to Sir Alan Beith, MP for Berwick-upon-Tweed.

Tom Harris is Ayrshire-born and was brought up in Beith, Scotland and was educated at the Garnock Academy in Kilbirnie and Napier College, Edinburgh where he was awarded an HND in Journalism in 1986.

Beith is a small town situated in the Garnock Valley in North Ayrshire, Scotland approximately 20-miles south-west of Glasgow.

The town is situated on the crest of a hill and was known originally as the " Hill o ' Beith " ( hill of the birches ) after its Court Hill.

Beith is said to have been the occasional residence of Saint Inan, a confessor of some celebrity, whose principal place of abode was Irvine.

Although he is said to have been a hermit, according to tradition Saint Inan often visited Beith, frequenting Cuff Hill with its Rocking Stone and various other prehistoric monuments.

The sixteenth century poet Alexander Montgomerie was probably born in Hazelhead ( now Hessilhead ) Castle, which is on the outskirts of Beith, beyond Gateside.

A possible relic of the smuggling days of Beith is the ley tunnel that is said to run from the site of the Grace Church on Eglinton Street to Kilbirnie Loch.

His direct descendants include actress Reese Witherspoon, and he is commemorated by statues in Washington D. C., at the University of the West of Scotland in Paisley, and a plaque in Beith town centre.

Furniture is no longer produced in Beith due to the closure of the various manufacturing firms.

This history of carpentry is remembered in the nickname of the local football team, Beith Juniors, who are commonly referred to as " The Cabes " ( Cabinet Makers ).

Today Beith is a dormitory town with a reputation as a friendly and welcoming place in which to work, live and socialise.

A small area of Beith is one of three regeneration areas in the Garnock Valley.

Kilbirnie Loch ( NS 330 543 ), is situated in the floodplain of between Kilbirnie, Glengarnock and Beith, and runs south-west to north-east for almost, is about wide for the most part and has an area of roughly 3 km2 ( 761 acres ).

The Court Hill is near Hill of Beith, below the site of Hill of Beith Castle, Gateside, in the old Barony of Beith.

Spier's Commemorative Wall This is a Garnock Valley support group, affiliated to the British Trust For Conservation Volunteers ( BTCV ), which works with the Spier's Trust, North Ayrshire Council Ranger Service, Beith Cultural & Heritage Society, Youth Making Beith Better ( YMBB ) and others to further the development and maintenance of the Spier's parklands.

The area of Beith targeted for regeneration amounts to 359 households and 635 people ( approximately 10 % of the town's population ).

Now a small housing estate, the house and land of Morrishill stood a short distance south of Beith.

The boundaries of North Ayrshire and Arran extend to, and include, Skelmorlie in the north of the council area, Stevenston in the south, Beith in the east, and the islands of Arran and Cumbrae in the west.

* X34 Glasgow which goes through Kilwinning and uses the A737 route to Glasgow via Dalry and Beith.

In 1745 he led the men of Beith to Glasgow to defend King George III against the Young Pretender in the ' 45 rebellion.

Beith merchants purchased the yarn made in the local area, and sold it to Paisley and Glasgow manufacturers.

This mansion house and estate stood on the outskirts of Beith in an area now cut through by the main Dalry to Glasgow road.

Scottish Junior football has a number of clubs ( e. g. Arthurlie, Beith, Royal Albert, Port Glasgow Athletic ) that were forced to fold as Senior sides due to financial reasons or as a result of the collapse of the old Scottish Division Three in the late 1920s.

By a charter of Hugh Montgomerie of Hesilliead 10 January 1560, following on a contract between the said Hugh and Robert, Lord Boyd and Helen Boyd, his daughter, dated at Glasgow 27 December 1559, she had the ten-merk land of Lyandcorse, in the parish of Neilstoun, Renfrewshire, and the twenty-pound lands of Williyard, in the parish of Beith, " in her pure, spotless, and inviolate virginity ", to hold all the days of her life.

The Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 provided that the Western division should consist of " the parishes of Inverkip, Greenock, Port Glasgow, Kilmalcolm, Erskine, Inchinnan, Houston, Kilbarchan, Lochwinnoch, Renfrew, Abbey, Neilston, Beith, and Dunlop ".

Jimboombas Flagstone housing estate is expected to expand west over the railway line into Undullah and north into South Maclean, New Beith and Greenbank ( this is known as the Greater Flagstone development area ).

On 22 May 2009, Beith was reported in The Daily Telegraph to have claimed £ 117, 000 in second home allowances while his wife, Baroness Maddock, claimed £ 60, 000 Lords expenses for staying at the same address .< ref >

Other routes include ascending Stob Coire nan Lochan and then using the connecting ridge to reach the main summit, or ascending via the Allt Coire nam Beitheach and following either branch of this burn to reach the main ridge either side of the subsidiary peak of Stob Coire nam Beith, which lies about a kilometre to the west of the main summit.

Beith was educated at Fettes College, Edinburgh ( initially as fag to Sir John Simon ) and at St. Johns College, Cambridge, where he played rugby and captained the college boat club.

Notable Jardines Managing Directors or Tai-pans included Sir Alexander Matheson, 1st Baronet, David Jardine, Robert Jardine, William Keswick, James Johnstone Keswick, Ben Beith, David Landale, Sir John Buchanan-Jardine, Sir William Johnstone " Tony " Keswick, Sir Hugh Barton, Sir Michael Herries, Sir John Keswick, Sir Henry Keswick, Simon Keswick and Alasdair Morrison.

Spearfish torpedoes are stored and serviced at Beith Ordnance Storage facility in North Ayrshire.

Their main rivals are Beith Juniors.

He became a Church of Scotland ( Presbyterian ) minister at Beith, Ayrshire ( 1745 – 1758 ), where he married Elizabeth Montgomery of Craighouse.

Also, captain Stuart Allison moved to local rivals Neilston, and Charlie Hobbs and Martin McGarvey ( a veteran of the 1998 cup-winning squad, amongst others, dropped down a division, joining Beith, and Gary Faulds ' predecessor Frank Lynch.

* Spier's school, Beith, North Ayrshire, Scotland.

His mother was Janet Pollock from Boghall Farm near Beith and his father was James Tannahill from Kilmarnock.

* January 26-Robert Beith, politician ( b. 1843 )

Alan Beith was born in 1943 in Poynton, in Cheshire.

In 1973 Alan Beith was elected to the North Tynedale District Council, and later in the year Antony Lambton resigned as the MP for Berwick-upon-Tweed in great scandal.

At the by-election later that year, Beith secured a victory and was elected as the Liberal Member of Parliament for Berwick-upon-Tweed on 8 November 1973 by just 57 votes.

The next year was to prove a major campaigning act for the now Alan Beith MP, just three months after his by-election victory he had to face his electors again at the February 1974 general election, his majority increased to 443.

Less than a year after he was elected for the first time, Beith had to face his constituents for a third time at the October 1974 general election and his majority reduced back to double figures at just 73.

On the election of David Steel as the Leader of the Liberal Party in 1976, Alan Beith became the Liberal Chief Whip in the Commons.

After the United Kingdom general election, 1987, Beith concentrated his efforts as the spokesman on Treasury Affairs and stood down as the Chief Whip after eleven years in post.

Beith stood against Paddy Ashdown in the first leadership election in 1988, an election that Ashdown won by a large margin.

Beith stayed on as Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats from after the 1992 general election under Ashdown until 2003, and became a Member of the Privy Council in 1992.

Following the resignation of Sir Menzies Campbell as Leader of The Liberal Democrats on 15 October 2007, Beith was spoken of as a possible compromise candidate for the leadership.

Beith was knighted in the 2008 Birthday Honours.

At the 1983 general election, Baird contested the constituency of Berwick-upon-Tweed, finishing in third place behind the victor Alan Beith.

She was elected a member of Berwick-upon-Tweed Borough Council, for Berwick North ward, in 2005-as Councillor Diana Beith.