dumfries-1920/04-115

Transcription

CLOSEBURN.] -- HISTORICAL MONUMENTS (SCOTLAND) COMMISSION. -- [CLOSEBURN.

77. Gravestones, Closeburn. - At the east
side of the churchyard is a slab heavily
carved along one side, with a pillar-like figure
enriched with festoons and terminating in a
human head. Incised is an inscription: HERE
LYETH THE CORP OF JOHN KIRKPATRIC IN
BARNMILL WHO DIED JAN. 1696. AGED 76. At
the foot of the slab, in relief, within a car-
touche, is a shield bearing a saltire and chief,
the latter charged with three cushions, all
surmounted by a helmet and mantling. These
are Kirkpatrick arms.
xxxi. S.E. -- 12 June 1912.

78. Gravestones, etc., Dalgarnock Church-
yard. - Within the churchyard at Dalgarnock
are one or two late 17th-century gravestones
of no particular interest, and two dating
from the first half of the 18th century, which
show figures in contemporary costume carved
in relief - one commemorating a schoolmaster
from Glencairn and the other a "Chirurgeon"
from Thornhill. On the left of the entrance
stands the socket-stone of a cross, measuring
2 feet 2 1/2 inches by 1 foot 9 inches by 1 foot
4 inches, with a rectangular sinking in the
centre.
xxxi. N.E. -- 12 June 1912.

79. Mound, Knockhill. - At the west end of
the wall which comes down by the south side of
the Knockhill, forming the boundary between
Townhead and Townfoot, is a grass-covered
mound, evidently artificial, lying with its
longest axis east-south-east and west-north
west, and measuring in diameter 24 feet by
15 feet. Without excavation its character
cannot be determined.
xxii. S.E. -- 20 June 1912.

80. "Deil's Dyke." - Running parallel with
the west face of the fort (No. 61), some 60
feet distant, but at an elevation about 20 feet
lower, is a section of the "Deil's Dyke." It is
here an earthen mound some 12 feet wide at
base, with a certain amount of stone protrud-
ing at places through the top, rising to a height
of from 2 to 3 feet, and with a slight and
narrow trench some 7 feet wide on the upper
side. It runs in an irrregular line along the

face of a steepish slope some 20 feet down from
the crest.
The Dyke passes along the lower slope
of the hillside, just above the enclosed
land, some 200 yards to the north of Townhead
farm. In appearance it is an earthen bank,
with a trench on the upper side, running
irregularly across the brae face, measuring
some 8 feet broad at base, narrowing upwards,
and some 2 feet in height, while the trench
has a breadth of about 7 feet and is now
shallow. Where the bank has been broken by
sheep it is shown to be formed with a core
of boulders laid horizontally. The stony
structure of the rampart becomes much more
pronounced as it turns down the slope
above Burn farm. Here, indeed, it has the
appearance of being wholly formed of slabs,
generally about 2 to 3 feet long by 18 inches
wide, while in the usual earthy structure
the stones are mostly such as may be carried
in the hand.
xxii. S.E. -- 7 and 20 June 1912.

A section of the Dyke is also to be seen
crossing the field between Benthead and
Crichope Linn. It is an earthen bank, 3 feet
6 inches in height and 12 feet wide at base,
with a trench on the east some 14 feet wide,
from which the soil has been upcast.
xxxi. N.E. (unnoted). -- 20 June 1912.

81. Standing-Stone, Kirkbog. - On the crest
of a broad-backed ridge, 1/4 mile east of the farm
of Kirkbog, stands a single upright whinstone
bouder in the middle of a cultivated field.
It measures 4 feet 3 inches in height, and about
half of its thickness has been broken off at
no distant date. There is nothing in the
character of the stone, nor in its situation, to
contradict the statement in the History of
Closeburn, that originally there was a stone
circle here.
xxxi. N.E. (unnoted). -- 7 May 1913.

SITES.

82. "Cairn," Benthead. - About 1/4 mile
north-north-east of the Grey Mare's Tail
waterfall, near Benthead, on a slight eminence
towards the crest of a ridge, is the site of a
dilapidated construction, probably a large

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