130 The Stones at Kirkmadrine. 



naturalist at every turn. Nature seemed to go out of her wav to 

 be beautiful, not for any appreciation from man, but her idea 

 would seem to be beauty for beauty's sake. 



19th Februaru, 1009, 



Chairman — Dr J. W. Martin. 



The Stones at Kirkmadrine. By Rev. G. Philip Robertson. 



Last century there were changes of, on, and around the 

 stones. At the beginning there were three, but one is now lost. 

 Two were subsequently used as gate-posts after a wall had been 

 built round the churchyard. Twenty years ago the ruined church 

 was restored as a memorial of a by-gone time, and at the western 

 end an alcove built, where now these and other stones are placed, 

 the spot and its contents being under the care of H.M. Board of 

 Works. 



The two stones are nearly of the same height, 7 feet, the 

 more important being the slightly shorter of the two, but the 

 more massive — it is 16 inches wide at the top and widens towards 

 the base, while the greatest width of the other is 14 inches, the 

 thickness of the two being respectively 4 inches and 2 J inches. 



There are other upright stones in the district uninscribed, 

 one not a quarter of a mile off, said to mark the burial place of 

 a chieftain, with his people lying around him. Some small 

 stones have been got near, with marking of a non-Christian or 

 pre-Christian character. 



Whether these two stones under notice ever served any otlier 

 purpose than Christian memorials or not there is nothing on th'^m 

 but Christian marks. ' What we shall call No. 1 has the longest 

 inscription. Its most unique feature, however, is its Alpha and 

 Omega, at the very top on the left side. So far as my knowledge 

 goes it is the only instance of this early inscription in Scotland. 

 Some are found in Wales, more in France, and such are found 

 not rarely in Italy. This feature, with other considerations, 

 helps to fix the date of erection about the second half of the 

 fifth century a.d. From the rarity of this feature it is unfortunate 



