130 KIRKMAIDEN 



shores as the twenty-five-foot beach; formed when the 

 general level of the land was that much lower than it 

 is now. It adds some zest to a summer trip along this 

 shore to let an understanding eye rest upon the traces 

 of this mighty agency, which ceased to act tens of thou- 

 sands of years ago. Over most of these traces nature and 

 agriculture have drawn a thin veil; but still there are 

 tracts of bare shingle, lying in the very ridges and curves 

 wrought by a tide which flowed before man was. 



At Craigengower the scene changes abruptly. The road 

 passes inland, for the way by the shore is blocked by the 

 sudden surge of the great Silurian beds, tilted into 

 splendid cliffs, forming a sea-front almost unbroken all 

 the way to where the Burrow Head frowns across Solway. 



Almost unbroken ; happily not quite so ; for at irregular 

 intervals there are breaches in the rampart, admitting the 

 sea to form miniature fjords and rounded bays with firm, 

 sandy strand. Loveliest of these is Kirkinaiden Bay, site 

 of one of the oldest churches in Scotland and one of the 

 newest golf-links. Of the latter it may be said that you 

 are not likely to be kept waiting at the tee, for the 

 population of the district is sparse and the nearest rail- 

 way station is seven miles distant terminus of the 

 feeblest of branch lines. The inexpert stranger will be 

 apt to spend more time in the sand bunkers, which are 

 well conspicuous, than on the putting-greens, which 

 are good. Of the church much might be written, had it 

 not all been told already in the Breviarium Aberdonense, 

 how an Irish lady of quality named Medana (a tribrach, 

 please), having resolved to devote herself to the new 

 religion of Christianity, was grievously hindered by the 

 amorous attentions of a country neighbour a certain 



