Publication Account
Date 1986
Event ID 1017461
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type Publication Account
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1017461
Displayed in a glass-fronted porch of a late 19th century burial chapel at Kirkmadrine are the oldest Christian monuments in Scotland outside Whithom. The most infonnative and oldest of the group, a pillar stone which dates from the 5th century, bears a six-line Latin inscription: 'Here lie the holy and chief priests (ie Bishops), Ides, Viventius and Mavorius', and, at the top, above a circled cross 'AClpha) and (Omega),. The incised equal-anned cross has a crooked loop on the upper ann, signifying the sacred chi-rho monogram. A similar cross and symbol are fonned on a second pillar, presumably of later 5th century date, which is more enigmatically inscribed '(Here lie) ... sand Florentius'. A smaller pillar stone has the Latin inscription, 'The beginning and the end', a variant of the Alpha and Omega symbol as defmed in Revelation 21:6. The fonn of the cross and the style of lettering suggest a date of around AD 600. The other funerary monument on display include fIve cross-fragments which range in date from the 8th to the 12th centuries.
When first discovered in the 19th century the three oldest pillar stones were serving as gateposts and as a stile-slab in the churchyard wall; the rest were found in the churchyard itself Collectively, they represent an early Christian cemetery of some importance in this neighbourhood. Unfortunately, nothing is otherwise known about the identity and authority of these bishop-priests; presumably they served Christian communities in this area, perhaps as an offshoot from Whithom (no. 79). The compound name, Kirkmadrine, implies a dedicatory saint, usually taken to be St Mathurinus, but the name is not recorded before 1500. The medieval parish was known as Toskerton and was united with Stoneykirk in 1618.Lady McTaggart Stewart of Ardwell had the chapel rebuilt in neo-Romanesque style out of the medieval ruins on the site, modelling it on Cruggleton (no. 70).
Information from ‘Exploring Scotland’s Heritage: Dumfries and Galloway’, (1986).
