270 Anwoth Old Churchyard. 



12th AiJvil, 1912. 



The President in the Chair. 



At this meeting three Life Members and ninety-seven Ordi- 

 nary Members were admitted, on the motion of the President of 

 the Society. 



Anwoth Old Churchyard. By the Rev. F. W. Saunders, 

 Minister of Anwoth. 



[The following is a summary of Mr Saunders' contribution ; 



There is no evidence that the Churchyard was used previous 

 to the date when the Church was built. Most of the Catholics 

 are interred in the north-east corner. The Church is in the style 

 nick-named " Heritor's Gothic." It measures sixty-four feet by 

 eighteen feet. The main door is in the west gable, and there 

 appears to have been another entrance from the south side oppo- 

 site the old school. The north wall, in accordance with the old 

 Scottish superstition, is devoid of windows. The interior was bare 

 except for a gallery at the east end, reached by an outside stair. 

 This was the "heritor's loft," and belonged to the Gordons of 

 Rusko. In front of the gallery was the pulpit, the preacher faced 

 the door on the west, his back being to the gallery. The Church 

 of Abercorn shows a similar arrangement. The Church dates 

 from about 1626. Above the door is the date 1627, but this was 

 inscribed only a few years ago, and is the date when Samuel 

 Rutherford became minister of the parish. There are records of 

 a church of Anwoth being granted to the monks of Holyrood 

 Abbey in the twelfth century by David the son of Terri, who held 

 the manor of Anwoth. It was afterwards, with the subordinate 

 chapel of Culeness, now Cardoness, transferred to the prior and 

 canons of St, Mary's Isle, anciently a dependant cell of Holyrood 

 Abbey. No trace of the old church remains, though in the north 

 wall there seems to be some sign of an older wall having been 

 built in. A rough stone, on which a cross of the most ancient 

 design can be distinguished, now stands inside the Church. It is 

 not known where it came from, and it is not sufficient evidence on 

 which to base a claim that there Avas a Pre-Reformation burying 

 ground here. A part of the Chapel of Culness still stands and 



