The Kirkyard at Carsphairn

‘A restful place among the trees and with a view to the Kells’

W Sanderson, writing in ‘Scottish Life and Character’ - of the congregation assembling for Sunday worship says,

A walk around the kirkyard rewards the visitor with an insight into the history of the Kirk, and those who have worked and worshipped in Carsphairn parish over 350 years. Here lie Covenanters, generations of local families who died peacefully in their beds as well as those lost in conflicts, and whose graves are tended by the War Graves Commission, many with names familiar today, to present parish residents now near and far. One of the oldest graves lies near the gateway to the manse. A six-foot sloping slab, approximately two feet wide, it bears the inscription: -

AM
MMC
1644

Famous Covenanters buried in Carsphairn are the ‘Two Waterheads’ – Gilbert and his son, James McAdam. The phrase ‘Two Waterheads’ refers to the custom of linking family names to their homesteads.

Gilbert McAdam was arrested in 1682 for non-attendance at his parish church at Carsphairn. He was taken to Dumfries, but released on bail of £400 - a huge sum at that time! He did not turn up for trial, but the soldiers soon tracked him down. He was tried and sentenced to be deported to America as a slave but his father managed to send him sufficient money to buy his freedom, and he returned home. He attended a prayer meeting at a cottage in Kirkmichael. Such meetings were illegal, as were the conventicles held on the hillsides. During the meeting, soldiers arrived and while trying to escape through a window, Gilbert McAdam was killed.

The McAdam family lived by Deugh water. Their epitaph reads: -

There is another Covenanter grave near the church gate, one who was killed in 1689. His gravestone tells his tale. It was erected in memory of Rodger Dunn who was born at Benwhat on the plateau above Dalmellington in 1659. On the night of the Carsphairn fair in June, 1689, he was killed on the farm at Brockloch and the inscription states: -

‘He suffered much persecution for the cause of Christ….’                                               

A further rather poetic epitaph states that another relative, Robert Dunn of Garryhorn died in October 1738.

'The Scottish Enlightenment, when the contribution of the Scots to the knowledge, education and inventions of the world were advanced by leaps and bounds’, is represented in the kirkyard by the last resting place of Thomas Jackson, a professor of Natural Philosophy at St Andrews, in the late 18^th Century’.

At the other end of the spectrum the high rate of child mortality all over Scotland, is evidenced by Thomas Anderson and his wife Mary Newall, who lived to 70 and 73 years, but were predeceased by their seven children, five of whom did not achieve adulthood. This family was not alone in this sad situation and a number of gravestones bear similar inscriptions.

Evidence on many of the stones confirms that in the last century children often died before reaching adulthood. Large families were desirable in terms of managing land and providing money. However, childhood deaths were commonplace. Often it was the custom in a family to give a later child the same name as the one who had died.

Working life was hard in the past and none more so than in the lead mines located in the hills beyond Garryhorn, at Woodhead. David McMath erected a stone at the loss of his ten-year-old son.  William Wilson and John Bone also suffered accidents at the mine; their gravestones are to be found in the kirkyard.

If one survived to adulthood, one might expect to attain a great age. For example, according to her inscription Margaret McClymont, lived to the age of 96.  

There are many fascinating and beautifully carved old stones which now have difficulty imparting their stories as the fine Galloway rain has dissolved away their letters. The connections and familial links the inscriptions reveal, demonstrate the closeness of the community in the congregation and the wider parish.

Like most graveyards in the countries which were blighted either directly or indirectly by the conflicts of two world wars, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission are responsible for the upkeep of two WW1 memorials at Carsphairn. The first is inscribed to John Anderson and the second to William Dickson, both of whom saw service in the United Kingdom.

For more information on gravestone and photographs, see the leaflet and our Kirkyard Inscriptions exhibition here.