The Killing Time : The Wigtown Martyrs

A reworking of a previous clip.Musical accompaniment is a blend of two compositions by Oystein Sevag,Tojojo and Painful Love.

(Description below from Wikipedia)
The Killing Time is the term given by historian Robert Wodrow to a period of conflict in Scottish history between 1680 and 1688. The conflict was between the Presbyterian Covenanter movement, based largely in the south of the country and the government forces of King Charles II and King James VII.

During "The Killing Times" of the Covenanters in the 17th century, Margaret McLachlan, an elderly woman in her 60s, and Margaret Wilson, a teenager, were sentenced to be tied to stakes in the tidal channel of the Bladnoch River near its entrance to Wigtown Bay to be drowned by the incoming tide. Margaret McLachlan was staked further down in the river channel. The ploy was that the younger Margaret might be persuaded to change her mind by being forced to watch the older woman drown. All attempts to persuade her to change her mind failed and, despite a dragoon being ordered to hold her head up, she too was drowned. This barbaric execution was carried out by dragoons under the command of Major Windram in the presence of Sir Robert Grierson of Lag who held the King's Commission to suppress the rebels in the South West.

The Morning Drive

Early morning on Monday the 9th of November 2009 from a hill at Barbuchany Newton Stewart.
A variety of vehicles,either starting the day or finishing the night shift at the Barnkirk road A75 Newton Stewart Junction.
The background music is the Willie Nelson classic 'On the road again'

A frosty morning

Monday 9th of November 2009 began with a heavy frost around Newton Stewart.I decided on an early morning walk. Even before sun up it was nice and bright over the Cree valley. I thought i'd try and film the sunrise again,but the resulting video turned out very boring. I did notice though,that as i speeded the 45 minute footage up,the sounds of the occasional traffic became more interesting.

Compressing the clip to just under 3 minutes,the noises now take on more of an animal and bird life quality.The only exciting visual section of the clip is the last few seconds as the sun rises Once the sun's risen it's an enjoyable descent via the fields round Barrhill Farm.I must remember to save my apple cores when walking.This little pony kept nudging my pocket as i stroked him. There's little pockets of mist visibly rising as the morning sun gains height. Now over Barbuchany,i take some panoramas.

Panorama of Newton Stewart and the Galloway Hills on CleVR.com

From a hill above Barbuchany Newton Stewart on the first heavy frost of the season,the picture shows Cairnsmore of Fleet and the Minnigaff hills to the left panning through to the rolling meadows at Barbuchany.

Remembrance Day Parade Newton Stewart 2009

LEST WE FORGET

Wigtownshire Ramblers-Kirkdale to Skyreburn

It's Saturday the 7th of November 2009,and todays walk is a linear over three hills.
We park two cars at the end of the walk,then head back to the walk start at Kirkdale Bridge.
With showers forecast,and this being a hill climbing walk we're not expecting a big turnout.
Twelve of us set out.We begin by crossing Barholm Bridge,and the steady climb up towards Barholm Castle.

I've touched on Barholm Castle in a previous blog.It was a McCulloch stronghold,and reputedly the hiding place,albeit briefly, of the reformist John Knox.
We continue climbing,and once past the castle entrance take the farm track heading north.From here we're looking west where the historic sites of Cairnholy can be easily picked out.
Soon we leave the track and begin a steady climb eastwards.The showers become more frequent and persistent.
We're heading up Barholm Hill.As we gain height,we have views over Wigtown Bay and the Murray Isles.Rain clouds and shafts of lights from the sun make dramatic views.
There's no trig point or any real discernible peak,but it looks like we've reached the top.Barholm hill stands at 359 metres.
Now eastwards we see our next target,Ben John hill.
Is this a memorial to someone who walked these hills?,or maybe the gravestone of someones pet?.It's between Barholm and Ben John hills.
It's quite a steep tussocky climb up Ben John,so mini breaks are frequent.
And once on top of Ben John,all my pictures come out as silhouettes.Brilliant views though.
A few of the stones on the cairn have markings on them.The top left picture of this collage isn't to the memory of bawdy house proprietress,there's a small c in there somewhere making it McAdam.We have our first break just below the summit.There's another break scheduled later in the walk.
On the move again.There's no well trodden path up here,but the sheep and deer trails are worth following.We're heading into the next dip...
...between Ben John and Mill Knock.We're overlooking Fleet Bay and Sandgreen now.Cream o'Galloways wind turbine is prominent.
It's certainly an up and down walk.Out of the heather of Ben John and we're onto the tussocks of Mill Knock.We follow the drystane dyke along the top ridge.It's a bit of an effort to scale the dyke,but we all get over safely while leaving the dyke still standing.
Now we begin the descent of Mill Knock.Scoop one takes a picture of me taking a picture.Thanks for the pic Scoop.
Much like on Wednesdays recce,there's a very colourful rainbow.
Now we're overlooking Skyreburn and the Water of Fleet.This is our second scheduled break.The clouds became threatening again.
Descending Mill Knock was a carefully tread affair.The rain is now quite persistent and heavy.We've a swollen and muddy burn to cross.Somehow it doesn't make any difference,there's a real upbeat mood in the group.
After climbing through a tangly wiry gate we reach the stone triangle in front of Lagganmullan wood.Most folk think like i did on Wednesday that it's the work of an arty farmer.
Looking north towards Kenlum Hill,another rainbow appears.A shaft of sunlight accompanies it.
We're back on tarmac at the Lagganmullan road junction.Passing Skyreburn Mill and the converted Old School,It's a short walk alongside the burn to the cars.
After ferrying the drivers back to Kirkdale,two thirds of us patronized the Skyreburn Teapot for refreshments.I had coffee and toasted teacakes.
A very soggy but nonetheless enjoyable walk.

Ben John

Wednesday the 4th of November.
Showers sometime heavy forecast today.
There's a walk recce happening today.The start should be 10 am at Cairn Holy.
Well that's what i thought anyway.Fact of the matter was they were starting from Kirkdale Bridge.
The clouds were gathering over Wigtown Bay and Carrick shore.
I decided to have a walk myself when no one turned up.I bumped into a farmer feeding cattle who asked if i was with the walkers down at the bridge.
Realising they'd be well out of reach,i went back to the car and headed for Skyreburn.
I parked up at Lagganmullan with the idea of climbing Mill Knock from there.Walked over a field of sheep,and after looking over the drystane dyke at the thick heather and steep descent i had second thoughts.

Back at the car i moved up to Whiteside bridge.After waiting for a heavy shower to pass over(producing a beautiful rainbow),i began to ascend the gap between Mill Knock and Ben John.
A steady clockwise climb got me up to the summit of Ben John.The showers were becoming more frequent now.Don't ask me why i didn't get my waterproof top out.I probably thought i'd be heading straight back down to my car.
I hung about getting wetter for a few minutes,and was just about to start my descent when i heard movement below me.It was the recce group of three walkers emerging from the sheltered side of Ben John where they'd had lunch.
They persuaded me to continue the rest of the recce with them.Descending into the gap,we then followed a drystane dyke up Mill Knock.Brilliant views here between the showers.
Working our way round Mill Knock,we're looking for a landmark of a stone triangle.It's not on any map,so it's possibly a recent farmers initiative or just an arty field clearance.Once spotted in front of a conifer plantation,we began a careful descent down a steep overgrown and sometimes slippy slope.
Upon arriving at the stone triangle another rainbow appeared.We're on tarmac for the short walk to the A75...
...passing this opulent residence at Skyreburn Mill.
A lift back to my car and i enjoyed the company of the ladies for toasted teacake and coffee at the Skyreburn Teapot.

Wigtownshire Ramblers-The Mull of Galloway 2009

It's the last day of October 2009 and there's a break in the rain.We've a fair run to todays walk start.It's at West Cairngaan in the South Rhins.I don't often use my car to get to walks,so i'm pleased when my offer to drive is accepted by the Newton Stewart contingent.
We're the second car to arrive at the walk start,but plenty more pull in behind us for a well attended walk.
There's hardly a cloud in the sky as twenty three of us set out.
Ahead is the outpoint of todays walk-The Mull of Galloway Lighthouse.Farm track and fields take us over to the coastline.The Ramblers have had quite a few walks at this end of the Rhins and this is the first one i've managed to attend,so i'm really looking forward to it.
This is a very rugged coastline.It's an area of rocky outcrops,roman hill forts,caves and nature at it's best.It wasn't long before a peregrine falcon was spotted.We're zig zagging in and out of funny shaped knowes and knolls(or is a knowe a knoll anyway,i can never remember)

This is from the Mulls own website.
The Romans
Agricola looked across the North Channel to Ireland, which could be conquered and held, he thought, by a single legion of his regular troops supported by auxiliaries. The Roman hold on Britain would then be much stronger.

Agricola's dream came to nothing. He was recalled to Rome in 84. But he was right when he saw the strategic link between the Rhins and Ireland - a link which remains significant throughout the later history of the area. Some of the evidence for later developments is to be found in local place-names.

In Agricola's time, the people were Britons, speaking an older form of Welsh. In the South Rhins they are commemorated by the name of a farm, Drumbreddan (bold type indicates a place in the Southern Rhins), 'the ridge of the Britons.' Their chieftains lived in hill-forts, like that of Dunman, 'fort of gables,' 400 feet above sea level; some in drystone brochs, like that at Ardwell Bay. They built substantial fortifications, like the one between East and West Tarbet, which defends the Mull of Galloway against marauders from the north.

Probably before the end of the Roman period farmers and fishermen from Ireland arrived in the Rhins. Their language was an early form of Gaelic, which was to become the staple language of the countryside for the next twelve hundred years.


Beneath us here are Belloue and Carrickgill caves.
The track takes us down to a point close to the shore...
...where we take a break to enjoy the views....and have a natter of course.
Now we head into the Mull Glen and follow the burn back inland.There's a Kings Well on the map at this point.It's possible our walk leader pointed it out,but with me being towards the rear i probably missed it.
We're climbing out of the glen now.
Here we overlook West Tarbet Bay.I've never figured out what this tube is,and i've never got round to asking anyone.I'm not sure whether there's a door on one end.It would make a good shelter i suppose.
Now we reach the road up to the Lighthouse,we'll follow this up to the top.
The narrowest part of the South Rhins is where we joined the road between east and west Tarbet.It's almost like an island at the end where the land mass sharply veers east to west.Below us here is the pinaccle known as Gallie Craig.This is Scotlands most southerly point.It is further south than the english cities of Carlisle and Durham.
Now we reach the Gallie Craig restaurant and the entrance to the lighthouse complex.One or two ramblers who know the reserve like the back of their hands decide to partake of the beverages offered by the cafe...
...while the rest of us head over to the visitors centre.This is an RSPB reserve and most ardent bird watchers know of it's existence.They have their own website at
Mull of Galloway
A 'Spotted Today' board inside the visitor centre already had a Peregrine Falcon up,and to the chagrin of our member(Slewtrain) who spotted it,the Stonechat was there too.

While a couple of walkers climbed down to inspect the foghorn...


...the rest continued around the lighthouse...
...to regroup at the cafe.
We're heading along the southern and western edge towards...
...Gallie Craig.I wonder if there's a way down to the pinnacle?.The weather's still fabulous.
Behind us the headland of the Mull,with the waves crashing into it's seacaves is a picture postcard view today.
North of Carrickcorie now i get myself in the picture.Well reflectively anyway!
Now we head to the centre point of our figure of eight(that's a long pair of arms being held aloft there)...
...and overlook East Tarbet Bay.
As we head north,the path now becomes a bit more more difficult.It's more used to sheep than humans i think.
Just after spotting these shags enjoying the sun,we saw them take off-a fishing boat was getting a little too close to them.
Finally in this secluded cove we rest for lunch.There's several small bays up this eastern stretch,and until i see the walk leaders report,i won't hazard a guess on naming it,suffice to say it was sheltered from the wind and welcome.
Lunch over and we're starting the last stretch.We head back inland and up the nicely wooded Cairngaan and Auchie Glens.
Reaching the tarmac in time to see this boat go past.We're not taking the direct route along the tarmac road.We're rounding a couple of small hills going by the name of Slewmag and Biangens.
It's a couple of fields were crossing.These two soon scarpered once they realised we were coming their way.
We pass farms with names like Pulinkum and Muntloch.There's a lot of mud picked up on boots as we emerge at Cardrain.From here it's a short walk along the road back to the walk start at West Cairngaan...
...where to complete a really lovely day...
...we're treated to tea,cakes and all sorts of delights in a real farmhouse kitchen.
What a great way to end a walk.
A very enjoyable day,even more so since the rains coming back with a vengeance.