168 Transactions. 



pavement was a stone with a riuk'ly carved inscription, of which 

 only this fragment remained : 



SANCT 

 NI P 



This stone was Hfted, and affixed to the wall of the cave for better 

 preservation, but some mischievous youths broke it. The protect- 

 ing grating was put up to prevent further malicious acts, and the 

 fragments of the stone were taken for greater security to Kidsdale 

 House. Numerous incised crosses were exposed— in all seven on 

 the living rock and twelve on separate stones. Some of these are 

 of the I'udest and most primitive workmanship, and are approxi- 

 mately assigned to the fourth century. Others are more elaborate, 

 and shew Runic ornamentation. At the entrance to the cave was 

 also found a stone with a large cup hollowed out in its centre, so 

 placed as to receive the drip from the rock, and with a drain laid 

 from it to carry the overflow into the centre of a mound at a little 

 distance. Probably this was a semi-natural baptismal font, or it 

 may have been simply u?ed as a receptacle for the collection of 

 pure water. The cave has shared in the veneration attaching to 

 the shrine of St. Ninian, and was also a common resort of pilgrims. 

 The smooth surface of one of the rock faces bears a great many 

 initials of visitors. Most of these are quite modern ; but the 

 antique form of the characters as well as the dates attached shew 

 that in several instances we have here preserved the rude chiselling 

 of men who lived two centuries or more ago. Such are these : 

 " I [or J] P, 1634. I L, 1664. I C, 1678. A M, 1684." No 

 doubt James IV. and other royal pilgrims would also visit the 

 cave, but the stone bears no record of this. 



In withdrawing to this remote and sea-girt retreat for purposes 

 of meditation or penance, St. Ninian would be following the 

 example of his teacher, St. Martin, and of other early Churchmen ; 

 and there is every reason to believe that it would be used by him 

 as an occasional residence. The scene is one fitted by its solitude 

 and grandeur deeply to impress a reverent mind. The seaward 

 prospect from the beach or the cliffs above is also in clear weather 

 a charming one, embracing the Mull of Galloway, the peaks of the 

 Isle of Man, and a pai't of the Irish coast. The visitors on Satur- 

 day saw it under the disadvantage of a haze, which obscured the 

 distant land points ; but a flowing tide, under a brilliant sun, and 

 the water flecked by an occasional sail, made up a picture of no 

 small beauty. 



