C A V E S & G R A V E S

Where every name tells a story

Scotland’sSouthern Coast

This guide is an introduction to some of the storiesthat have inspired place names on the long andvaried coast of Dumfries and Galloway. The ruggedshoreline is perforated with caves that have oftenbeen associated with illegal or clandestine activities.

All names begin by describing a place to another person or groupof people, as a way of helping us find our way in the world. Someplace names have existed for hundreds of years, while others are amodern phenomenon, but they all tell a story. Place names canprovide clues about the history of our coast and reveal what peopleconsidered noteworthy. Place names can help to identify places ofarchaeological importance or identify landmarks that are thesetting for folk tales or works of fiction.

The spooky looking Brandy Cove, near Portling, is reputed to havebeen a smugglers hideaway.

CAVES AND GRAVES

EVERY NAME TELLS A STORY

For thousands of years, caves have provided shelter from theelements and have been regarded as spiritual places for pilgrimage,healing or burials. The caves at Port Mora, north of Portpatrick, arebelieved to have had religious uses as well as a waterfall with healthbenefits. There is some evidence that there are links between ancientsacred sites and later Christian establishments. Memorials in coastalkirkyards reveal much about the social and maritime history of aparish and include monuments to victims of shipwrecks.

Explore the seashore and imagine what it would have been like tolive in a cave or visit one of the coastal kirkyards to discover moreabout the history of the Solway coast.

Ask people who know the area where the good places are to visit orget a detailed Ordnance Survey map and plan your own adventure.

Find out more about the connections between place namesand social history, local customs and beliefs by visiting:www.solwayfirthpartnership.co.uk/solway-coastwise

TAKE CARE

Enjoy your visit to the coast, but always rememberto be careful especially if you are visiting caves.

Scottish weather can be unpredictable. Checkweather forecasts and take appropriate clothingand footwear.

The coast can be rugged and remote, so tell afamily member or friend where you are going andwhen you expect to be back.

The Solway coast has one of the largest tidalranges in the world. Remember to check the tidetimes to avoid becoming stranded on the vastsand-flats or in tidal bays.

The coast is bursting with life so try to avoiddisturbing wildlife, particularly shore-nestingbirds in spring.

The coast is beautiful and to keep it that wayplease take your litter home with you.

At the head of the bay next to the SouthernUpland Way, there are two small cavesnamed on old Ordnance Survey maps.Dropping Cave was named after the waterfalling over the mouth of the cave. It was ahealing cave where bathing in the waterwas reputed to have “kill or cure”properties. It was particularly popular forchildren suffering from whooping cough.

The adjacent cave was calledOuchtrimackain Cave which was believedto have provided shelter for a hermit. Inmore recent times the cave has becomeknown locally as Monks Cave.

NAME MEANING:

A cave with runningor dripping water

Port Mora (also known as Sandeel Bay) NW992551 1DROPPING CAVE

The cliffs north of Ardwell Bay on the westernshore of the Rhins have a number of caveswhere people lived as recently as 100 yearsago. One of the smallest caves is Sheeps’ RinkCo’, a niche in the rocks where in the late1800s William Purves took up residence.

A former clown and strongman he retired tohis seaside home where he undertook oddjobs and sold picture postcards of himself. Hehad many visitors during the summer seasonand kept a record of their names. The cave isno longer shown on maps.

2 SHEEPS’ RINK CO’

NAME MEANING:

Unknown, Co’ is abbreviatedcove, a local word for cave

Ardwell Bay near Black CaveNX070461

Lying below the cliff top Mull of GallowayTrail this cave has long been a place ofpilgrimage. Although it is unclear who StMedan was, local legend portrays her as anIrish princess who converted to Christianity.At one time, a chapel was built out fromthe cave entrance but now it is in ruins.

To the south-east of the cave are threecircular rock pools which were regarded ashealing wells. These were believed to bemost effective on the first Sunday in May,known locally as Co’ Sunday (Cave Sunday).Access to this cave is difficult and shouldonly be attempted with local guidance.

NAME MEANING:

A holy cave / chapeldedicated to a saint

St Medan’s Cave and Chapel NX143315 3ST MEDAN’S CAVE AND CHAPEL

The grave of Commodore François Thurot isshown on the 1st edition Ordnance Surveymap, although there was no headstone. As a French privateer he was authorised by hisgovernment to attack enemy ships and heterrorised merchant shipping on the Scottishcoast. In February 1760 his luck ran out whenhe was surprised by three British warships offthe Galloway coast.

After a short ferocious battle his ship, theBellisle, was destroyed with 160 men dead,including Thurot. His body was washed up onthe shore and was buried in the graveyard atthe expense of Maxwell of Monreith.

4 THUROT’S GRAVE

NAME MEANING:

The burial place ofCommodore Thurot

Kirkmaiden (Monreith) NX365399

Tradition tells us that St Ninian, Scotland’sfirst saint, used this cave as his personalsanctuary. While this cannot be verifiedrock carvings testify to the importance ofthis remote location as a place ofpilgrimage. Crosses have been cut into thecave wall and Christian carved stonesdating back to the 10th and 11th centurieshave been found in the cave. These cannow be seen at the Whithorn Priory andMuseum. There are other caves on theWigtownshire coast with early Christianconnections but St Ninian’s Cave remainsthe prime site for modern pilgrimage.

NAME MEANING:

A holy cave dedicatedto a saint

St Ninian’s Cave NX422359 5ST NINIAN’S CAVE

Named on the 1st edition Ordnance Surveymap, Whigs’ Hole was traditionally believed tobe a hideout for Covenanters (sometimesknown as Whigs) who opposed the role of theKing in the affairs of the Presbyterian Church.During the religious persecutions in the 1600s,which at their peak were known as the ‘killingtimes’, the Covenanters sought refuge in secretcaves. Close to the high water mark this cavequickly reduces to a small entrance hole largeenough to crawl through, but small enough toeasily close up using a bolder. Local tales aretold of soldiers repeatedly searching for thehiding place on the coast but failing to capturethe Covenanters who used the cave.

6 WHIGS’ HOLE

NAME MEANING:

Hiding place of a covenanter

Heughs of Barholm near MegMerrilees Cave NX518526

Occasionally maritime accidents resulted indrowned bodies being washed up on the shore.This must have led to the evocative place nameDead Man’s Bay which appears on old maps. In October 1826 a local vessel called the Rangerwas returning to Kirkcudbright from Whitehaven,with a general cargo and 9 passengers. In heavyseas, Captain McLean missed the entrance toKirkcudbright Bay and sailed into the rocky shoreat Kirkandrews. In the scramble to abandon shipthe mate and two passengers were washedaway and drowned. The churchyard includesmany fascinating headstones, including amemorial to the unfortunate 21-year-old ship’smate, William Carson.

NAME MEANING:

A bay where a body hasbeen washed ashore

Kirkandrews churchyard NX600481 7DEAD MAN’S BAY

Below the clifftop footpath to BornessBatteries is an inaccessible cave named afterthe bones found within it. During excavationsin the 1870s numerous artefacts were foundincluding children’s skulls. The remains wereinitially thought to have dated from the IronAge. However, recent radio carbon dating of askull has revealed that it was deposited 1,000years earlier in the Bronze Age.

Parallels have been drawn with a site in thenorth of Scotland where children’s skullsappear to have been exhibited on posts at acave entrance. The reasons for this grislydisplay are still open to speculation.

8 BONE CAVE

NAME MEANING:

A cave where boneshave been found

Bone Cave NX620446

In the early 1800s, the novelist Sir Walter Scottwrote ‘Guy Mannering’ set on the Solway coast.In this tale, of ruthless smugglers in a lawlessGalloway, isolated caves became ideal hidingplaces. The popularity of his book led to localpeople identifying landmarks with fictitiousevents. Torrs Cave was rechristened DirkHatteraick’s Cove to link it with the smuggler in the novel. Now reverted back to the earliername, it has been excavated andarchaeological finds, including rock carvings,suggesting that the cave was inhabited fromthe Iron Age to the 18th century. Access to thecave is not possible when the training range isin use.

NAME MEANING:

A fictitious smugglers cave

Torrs Cave, DundrennanTraining Range NX676445 9DIRK HATTERAIK COVE

It was the custom of local people to burybodies close to the place that they washedashore and mark the place with a crudeheadstone. The stone marking the burialplace of Joseph Nelson, is so weathered thewords are almost illegible. Set amongst therocks, it was laid by his widow Ann Nelsonfrom Whitehaven.

It commemorates the drowning of herhusband in 1791 after the sinking of ‘The Ann’.Many tales have grown up around Nelson’sgrave but nobody has been able to discover ifhe was a smuggler, a merchant or an unluckypassenger.

10 NELSON’S GRAVE

NAME MEANING:

The burial place of Joseph Nelson

Nelson’s Grave NX852526

It is only possible to explore the sea archesand caves in the cliffs west of SandyhillsBay at low tide. Adjacent to the tall rockarch, known as Needles Eye, is the entranceto Piper’s Cave.

This natural cave quickly narrows andappears to come to an abrupt end butminers in the search of copper have hewn a tunnel to extend the cave for aconsiderable distance. The cave is reputedto be haunted by a ghostly piper whoentered playing his bagpipes and wasnever seen again. Can you hear the droneof pipes in the mouth of the cave?

NAME MEANING:

A cave haunted by a piper

Needles Eye NX889545 11PIPER’S CAVE

Erosion of the softer parts of the Dumfriesand Galloway coast occasionally exposesgraves. These gravelly mounds are the largest‘hills’ on the flat inner Solway shore. Whenthey were eroded in the mid 1800s severalancient burials were washed away. Within thestone slabs of the coffins or cists, humanbone fragments were found along withpottery decorated with a herring bonepattern, probably from the Bronze Age. Thecoast continues to be eroded and is exposinglayers of sand, clay, peat and tree stumps.Some tree stumps exposed lower down onthe beach have been carbon dated and are8,000 years old!

12 NEWBIE HILLS

NAME MEANING:

Mounds on Newbie farm

Newbie Hills NY169648

CAVE WILDLIFE

The study of place names can tell us aboutwildlife distribution in the past. Dove Caveis the most common cave name found onthe Dumfries and Galloway coast. Today thecave-dwelling rock doves have interbredwith their domestic cousins resulting inpigeons with a variety of colours andpatterns. Caves used by jackdaws aresometimes called by the Scots name Kaa orKeaw, although this may have referred tothe ‘red legged jackdaw’ or chough thatpreviously bred on our cliffs.

Keep an eye out for cave spiders andhibernating moths but try not to disturbthem.

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B725B724

A710B793

A75

A75

B727

A75

A75

A762

A712

A712 B794

A75

A74(M)

A7

A711

A711

B796

A77

A747

A77

A714

B7027

A714

A713

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DUMFRIESLOCKERBIE

ANNAN

GRETNA

NEWABBEY

DALBEATTIE

NEW GALLOWAY

GATEHOUSEOF FLEET

KIRKCUDBRIGHTWIGTOWN

GLENLUCE

CREETOWN

STRANRAER

PORTPATRICK

PORTLOGAN

PORTWILLIAM

NEWTON STEWARTCASTLE DOUGLAS

CARLISLE

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DROPPING CAVE

SHEEPS’ RINK CO’

ST MEDAN’S CAVE AND CHAPEL

THUROT’S GRAVE

ST NINIAN’S CAVE

WHIGS’ HOLE

DEAD MAN’S BAY

BONE CAVE

DIRK HATTERAIK COVE

NELSON’S GRAVE

PIPER’S CAVE

NEWBIE HILLS

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Cover: Dunskey Castle, nearPortpatrick. Tradition tells usan underground passage linksthe castle dungeons with thecave below.

All photographs: Solway Firth Partnership