St. Cuthbert’s Cemetery, Kirkcudbright (the Kirkyard)
[Revised from the original Galloway News ‘Museum Piece’ (July 2010)]
St. Cuthbert’s Cemetery (the Kirkyard) is of particular historic interest. The older, lower part of the cemetery is known to be the location of the original ‘Kirk of St Cuthbert’, possibly established sometime in the period 680 – 750 when Galloway was part of the Anglian kingdom of Northumbria. The church may have been an important mission centre or minster to spread Christianity in this part of Galloway. The new church was dedicated to the patron saint of Northumbria – St Cuthbert. Although the church has long since gone, its name moved down the hill to the burgh and port which was established sometime after it on the banks of the Dee – Kirkcudbright.
The earliest burial within the bounds of the present cemetery may date as far back as sometime in the 10thcentury. In May 1888, when the cemetery was extended on to the higher ground above the original site,
workmen came across a type of Norse or Viking sword together with a cloak pin and a glass bead. No skeletal remains were found, but the group of finds is typical of a pagan burial of a sword-carrying Viking freeman. These finds can now be seen in The Stewartry Museum in Kirkcudbright. But why was a pagan Viking buried near an early Christian church? Such a burial fits the hypothesis that men of Viking descent were encouraged to settle on the Stewartry coast, receiving land in return for military service to counter the threat of attacks by other Vikings or Gaelic-speaking raiders from Ireland. The Norse derivation of place-names in these areas, such as ‘Borgue, ‘Rerrick’, ‘Rascarrel’ etc. is thought to be further evidence of this deliberate settlement policy.
The kirkyard contains several interesting monuments. The earliest gravestone, dated 1620, commemorates a John Shawe, and the large and impressive Renaissance monument to the left of the main
