Glenluce Abbey

I always enjoy a visit to the ruins of abbeys such as these which are away from towns, because usually there are few, if any, other people there.

It gives you a chance to meditate on the people who founded these Monasteries, and the good they managed to achieve. I do understand that in a number of Abbeys, there was a loss of the Spiritual purpose, and that their increasing prosperity led some astray.

But the majority of Monasteries and Abbeys were great places of prayer, learning, hospitality and medical care for those who lived around the Abbey. The poor could always find help there. The monks were very skilled in agriculture, animal farming and water management. At Fountains Abbey, I was surprised to see how fair was the historical account given of the seizing of the Monasteries and their wealth and lands by King Henry VIII.

And in his History of the Protestant Reformation, Cobbett gives an honest and very clear account of what happened to the weak when the monasteries were closed. This book can be read on line. Well worth the reading!

So. Glenluce Abbey. This Cicerstian  Abbey was founded around 1190 by Roland, Lord of Galloway.
It lies in a secluded valley, and it is believed that the monks who settled there had come from Dundrennan Abbey near Kirkcudbright.
Although monastic life lasted here for over 400 years, little is known of its history, but the monks there would have followed the austere Cicerstain life style.

At the Reformation in 1560, the 15 monks resident there accepted the reformed religion and were allowed to remain there. Shortly after 1572, Abbot Thomas and  the remaining 5 brothers disappeared from sight, and 400 years of prayer there came to an end.

The ruins are interesting. There has been some reconstruction which gives a sense of what it would have been like in its time. The Chapter house still stands roofed and doored. Sadly though, the property has been unmanned for over a year, and there is no access to this building or the small museum in the office, where floor tiles and such like are displayed. Around the ruin, it is easy to see the water system still with lead pipes from all those years ago.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glenluce_Abbey

http://www.historic-scotland.gov.uk/propertyresults/propertyoverview.htm?PropID=pl_143

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=glenluce+abbey&rlz=1T4MXGB_enGB531&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=UCx-U-TYJoOm0AWJ0YDYDQ&ved=0CE8QsAQ&biw=1440&bih=699#facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=_KjJ8l3haYkAMM%253A%3BdqpiZZcwrtMsLM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.saylsa.org.uk%252Fsitebuildercontent%252Fsitebuilderpictures%252FGlenluceAbbey.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.saylsa.org.uk%252Flineguide.html%3B500%3B375

Animals and Flowers

I took these photos just to test out the camera. The rabbits are a bit out of focus. Again, this was the faulty camera. I came across them at the top of Barsalloch Fort. The shhep and the Grouse were at the Cairns.

Enough said.

Neolithic cairns and Forts

I am interested in history. I am far from an expert. I am interested in the History of Scotland, The American Civil War and the Catholic Church.

One of the difficulties in finding out about the past is that where there have been battles and wars in the past, the history is usually written by the victors.

Of late I have been reading about Scottish History, and I have come aross a most interesting book called, " A Chain of Error in Scottish History." Of that there will be more in another post.

The South of Scotland is rich in site going back many thousands of years, and during last week I managed  visit to a couple of sites.

One was Barsalloch Fort. The fort lies about a mile and a half east of Port William, on the A747 shore road. It is well marked with a parking bay beside it. There is a flight of steps leading up to the fort.

Though it bears the name fort, it was actually a farmstead, home to a few families. There are several forts or camps of this type in the Dumfries and Galloway region. This site has not been excavated, but the ditch is easily observed.

The other site I visited was on the A75 between Newton Stewart and Gatehouse of Fleet. This is a site with two seperate chambered cairns called Cairn Holy.

The cairns are about 4000 years old. The covering stones were removed a long time ago and both cairns lie open to the sky.The cairns were partially excavated in 1949.

Cairn II is traditionally believed to have been the burial place of a mythical Scottish King called Galdus.

Little of human evidence was found in either cairn. Some stone from the iland of Arran was found, along with some pottery from England and part of a ceremonial axe from the Alps.

http://www.historic-scotland.gov.uk/propertyresults/propertydetail.htm?PropID=PL_048

http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/portwilliam/barsallochfort/index.html

http://www.historic-scotland.gov.uk/propertyresults/propertydetail.htm?PropID=PL_029