Dundonald Bursaries
The Dundonald Bursaries were established in 1673 by the 1st earl of Dundonald (1605-1685), who mortified land to provide bursaries to support seven students (four in ‘philosophy’- [i.e. the Faculty of Arts] and three in theology) at the University of Glasgow. He did so out of the ‘special love and respect’ that he and his eldest son felt for the university ‘wherein we had our education and literature’. However, he included a clause specifying that, if the Glasgow authorities ever acted contrary to the terms of the founding deed, then the mortification and the bursaries would be transferred to the University of St Andrews.
By 1800, when William Hamilton (d.1822) purchased the patronage rights for the bursaries from the 9th earl of Dundonald, the bursaries seem to have become firmly associated with the University of Glasgow alone; and this was re-stated when they were transferred to the future Duke of Hamilton in 1813.
NB There is no evidence that the Dundonald Bursaries ever actually benefited the University of St Andrews.
Sources: Deeds Instituting Bursaries [etc] in the College and University of Glasgow (1850), p.67ff.