Station 3 – Memorial Bench

Kilbride has been a holy site for centuries, lying on the site of an ancient well – An Tobar eas Buigh (the Well of the Bishop), and on the intersection of two Drove Roads.

 

From this spot you can see the Drove Road which runs down from Cologin farm, past Kilbride, and on to the market at Falkirk. Highland black cattle were the mainstay of the economy of Argyll for centuries, and effectively the only source of income available to tenant farmers. The drovers would have paused at Kilbride to let the cattle graze, and to make devotions and offerings at the shrine - and on Sundays it was used by the inhabitants of Kerrera, since there was no church on that island.

 

Here also is the memorial bench to Paul Thomson, who was a valued trustee of Kilbride, but who tragically died in an accident on the Glen on New Year's day 2018. The bench was built by local stonemason Colin Rowan (who led the restoration of the West wall of the Kirk), with a brass plaque by Ros Adams (who also cast the Kilbride Bell replica). The bench enjoys one of he best views of Lerags Glen and we think it a fitting place to remember someone who helped to make this place as special as it is.

 

If you look down, you will see a white cottage, which used to be a public house. In 1673, Patrick Reid, a “Packman” (effectively a travelling salesman) was followed up the hill from the pub and murdered by vagrants. The contents of his pack included items associated with the manufacture of medicines, so he may well have been visiting the O'Connaghers (who we will mention in more detail later). The details are sketchy, but he seems to have been stabbed and his corpse left under a tree. When his assailant returned the next day to strip the body, he was hunted down, arrested and hanged from a gibbet on the hill before you.

 

 

When you are ready to proceed, turn left and approach the first of the gravestones .

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To move on to the next station click here

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This voice clip was read by Lauren Thomson