KINTYRE & ITS HIGHLANDS - Cradle of Christianity in Scotland

Kilmarnock Standard, Saturday, January 7, 1939 - Dugald Semple

Kintyre, whose ancient name was a form of the Irish Dalriada, has lately come in to muck prominence through the splendid aerial
service which has linked up such distant places as Liverpool, Belfast and The Isle of Man.

But there are other ways in which this fair peninsula has for long been associated with these places well known to students of early
Scottish literature. History indeed appears to be repeating itself and who knows but Kintyre may once more become the source of
much that is best in our national existence.

The history of Scotland may be said to begin with the colonisation of Kintyre, originally Cantire, meaning 'land's end' or 'head of the
land', by the Irish. It was in the year of 503 that Fergus the Great crossed from Dalriada, the name of the country around Antrim, to
Dunaverty, near Southend in Kintyre. After that the Cantire Highlanders were called the Hibernii to as late a period as 1547.

Kintyre ultimately became the name of a farm at the southern end of the peninsula.

Kilkerran was the old name of Campbeltown, the capital of Scotland, known as that three centuries before Edinburgh.

With the accession of the Dalriadic kings from Ireland there gradually arose strife between the whole of The Western Isles.

INVADERS FROM THE NORTH

Towards the end of the eighth century the Scandanavians swarned across and did no end of destruction everywhere. Under Haco,
the Danes laid waste Ulster and the Hebrides and for nearly four hundred years The Isles were under the dominion of Norway. From
time to time the native races rebelled but it was only under Kenneth Macalpine that they became united, Kenneth, the first recognised
king of Scotland, died in 858.

Among the many warriors who rose to repel the invaders none was of such outstanding merit as the mighty Somerled, Lord of The
Isles.

It is said that he came from a cave in Morven and that his great ambition was to recover Argyll. Tradition says that he married a
daughter if the Bishop of The Isle of Man and that it was to please her father that he founded Saddell Abbey, situated about 10 miles
north of Campbeltown on the east side of Kintyre.

Somerled was slain in 1163 at Renfrew by King Malcolm's army and his body was buried in Saddell Abbey where it is claimed that his
tombstone may still be seen.

Saddell Monastery

Today there is no more sacred spot in all Scotland than old Saddell Monastery which, as an ecclesiastical seat, is almost as great as Iona. It
is still in the daily prayers of Rome yet very few know this charming old world sanctuary in the vale of Saddell.

Little remains of the actual monastery but one can still see the walls of the north and south transepts. The church was evidently
cruciform in structure with the pointed arch windows typical of all Gothic buildings and lies aligned exactly to the four compass points.
The transepts, from north to south, measure some 178 feet by 24 feet.

Within the arched recesses in the south wall of the choir the great Somerled's tombstone is set. Somerled's representation shows him
wearing a high-pointed head-piece and a protective phield of mail hangs over his shoulders. In his left hand he holds a powerful two-
edged sword, his right hand raised to his shoulders.

Close to the burn there is a charmingly designed well carved out of a rectangular block of dressed freestone. It is almost concealed by
wild grasses and ferns. On the front of the well there is a plain Latin cross carved on the stone. The well itself is a little hollow on the
stone into which basin trickles the crystal water just as it did when the monks sang their matins to the sky.

The monks of Saddell belonged to the Cistercian order and wore a black cowl, the rest of their habit being white or
grey. They were called the grey friars to distinguish them from the Benedictines who were clad all in black.

In 1508 the lands of Saddell were converted into a barony and the old castle built by a Bishop Hamilton of Argyle. Very little is
known of the actual history of Saddell Castle, notwithstanding that it is one of the best preserved fortresses in Argyll.
It is a very stately building shaped like a tower with a fine spiral stairway leading to the various rooms. Below lies a
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dungeon, no doubt a place where many a dark deed was perpretrated.

There are no end of legends connected with this majestic feudal stronghold some of which have a rather tragic bearing. One is
about a chieftain Macdonald, owner of the castle, who carried off the beautiful wife of a weaker neighbour.

The story goes that, as she was enjoying the scenery one day from the castle's battlements, she saw men being led to the gibbet in the
courtyard below to be hung. On learning that amongst them was her own husband she threw herself from the battlements
to die at her husband's feet.

Although the castle dates back to 1508 it bears evidence of an even older date. Tradition says that it was burned down
by Montrose and by the Earl of Sussex. Until the latter part of the nineteenth century it was occupied by the Campbells.

Saddell House is a beautiful house of modern design built by Dugald Campbell in 1774 and is approached from the village by a
stately avenue of limes, beeches and sycamores. Interspersed among the limes are some very fine specimens of the majestic leaved
plane trees, distinguised from the common species by their more pointed leaves. This beautiful retreat also serves as a roadway
between the old castle and the monastery and close beside it winds the burn, a fairy glen.

Near the end of Saddell Glen the landscape assumes a mountainous aspect and quite close is Ben an Tuirc, 'The Hill of The
Boar', the highest hill in Kintyre from whose summit one gets a magnificent view of Ireland and the ragged peaks of Arran.

Looking towards Carradale, that dreamland of summer visitors, one sees Portrigh, 'The King's Port', where Robert The Bruce landed on
his way from Arran to Saddell Abbey where he was entertained by Angus Og, a great-grandson of Reginald, the son of
Somerled.

The place-names of Kintyre indicate a very mixed population for some are Gaelic such as Tarbert and Bellochantuy, some
Norse such as Sanda and Skipness and some English such as Whitehouse and Southend.

Church names are common such as we find in Kilchenzie and Kilchousland etc. and the latter reminds us that Kintyre was the cradle
of Christianity in Scotland for St Ninian visited Sanda Island about 400AD, a century before St Columba reached Iona.

An interesting feature about Kintyre is that, whilst some parts of the peninsula are further south than the North of England,
Kintyre is situated in the Scottish Highlands.

Kintyre's country is both lowland and upland and one can enjoy its grassy dells, whin-clad moorlands and velvety
heather-clad hills - Here indeed one can 'get away from it all' and get off the beaten track to be refreshed with the pine-filled air of
its little hamlets which nestle along the coastline of one of the most picturesque parts of The Argyll Highlands.