Cairnholy

(Cairnholly)

A historical perspective, drawn from the Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland: A Survey of Scottish Topography, Statistical, Biographical and Historical, edited by Francis H. Groome and originally published in parts by Thomas C. Jack, Grange Publishing Works, Edinburgh between 1882 and 1885.

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Cairnholy, a tumulus in Kirkmabreck parish, Kirkcudbrightshire, 1 mile N of the shore of Wigtown Bay, and 6 miles SE of Creetown. One tradition calls it the grave of the mythical king Galdus, who is fabled to have given his name to Galloway (see also Torhouse); another makes it the grave of a 12th century Bishop of Whithorn, who fell in battle at the head of a Scottish army fighting against the English on a neighbouring moor; but both are utterly idle. History knows nothing respecting it. An exploration, made in the early part of last century, discovered in it a kistvaen so large that the upper stone (6 x 3 feet) has lain unremoved till the present day. Six large sepulchral stones still stand erect on the same grassy mound. See pp. 112,113 of Harper's Rambles in Galloway (1876).

An accompanying 19th C. Ordnance Survey map is available, or use the map tab to the right of this page.

Note: This text has been made available using a process of scanning and optical character recognition. Despite manual checking, some typographical errors may remain. Please remember this description dates from the 1880s; names may have changed, administrative divisions will certainly be different and there are known to be occasional errors of fact in the original text, which we have not corrected because we wish to maintain its integrity. This information is provided subject to our standard disclaimer