22 St. Conal. 



the bleat of the sheep, and seems an ideal restmg place for a 

 saint. The grave was formerly covered by a large stone which 

 was broken up by a party of fencers over forty years ago. From 

 one of the party I received the following particulars regardmg 

 this stone. It was about eight feet long, four feet broad, and 

 fully fifteen inches thick. It lay pointing east and west, and at 

 the east end there was a hollow " hewn oot, ' ' as my informant 

 told me, " juist like a hand basin."' Xow it is possible that this 

 hollow may have been the socket of a Celtic cross or other stone 

 of mark. Rev. John Robertson, minister of Kirkconnel, 

 writing in 1792, records the tradition that " St. Connel 

 Avho built Kirkbride and Kirkconnel " was buried on 

 Glenwherry Hill. His successor, Mr Richardson, writing 

 in 1834, states that he could never discover the slightest 

 vestige of the saint's grave. That the stone was then to be seen 

 is, however, proved by the fact that Dr Simpson, the Historian 

 of Sanquhar (who was ordained in 1820) knew of it and wrote 

 regardmg it in one of his best-known works, " Martyrland." 

 Mr Donaldson, who became parish minister of Kirkconnel in 

 1834, satisfied himself as to the truth of the tradition, and after 

 the stone which covered the grave was broken he took an ener- 

 getic interest in protecting the saint's grave. He succeeded in 

 getting a Celtic cross erected over the grave bearing the simple 

 inscription, "St. Conal, 612 to 652." From this spot the three 

 churches can be seen at once, and one who spent part of his 

 youth there informed me that from no other spot on the hill could 

 the three churches be seen at one time. 



In Upper Xithsdale there are two places which still bear the 

 name of Conal. One of these is Connel Bum, in the parish of 

 New Cumnock, on the banks of which stands the rising village of 

 Connel Park. The other is Connelbush, in the parish of San- 

 quhar. This latter place has borne the Saint's name for over 

 two hundred and fifty years. There is also a "Kirkconnel " in 

 Tynron parish. On the banks of the CraAvick there is a large 

 crag known as Gannel Craig, which is in my opinion simply a 

 corruption of the name Conal. It has been conjectured that 

 Gannel is derived from the Xorse word Genyell, a recompense, 

 but this seems a very far-fetched deri\ation. What seems to 

 make the connection between the Saint and the place firmer is 



