Lying on Monreith Bay are the ruins of Kirkmaiden church, one of the oldest churches in Scotland, and the resting place of many of the McCulloch and Maxwell family members, who owned the Monreith estate.
Legend has it that when this parish was united with Glasserton, the pulpit and bell were removed from Kirkmaiden church and were to be transported by sea across Luce Bay to a church of the same name near the Mull of Galloway. A strange storm blew up and the boat foundered, sinking the pulpit and bell. The story goes that on the approaching death of any descendant of the McCullochs of Myrton, the wraith-bell rang from the depths of Luce Bay.
Also buried in Kirkmaiden Churchyard is Francois Thurot, naval officer of the French Navy, who was one of many Frenchmen whose bodies were washed ashore after a battle fought at sea off the Isle of Man in 1760 between Britain and France. Francois Thurot introduced the secret society, the Order of Coldin, into Sweden, which is the only country still to have this order, and members of the Swedish society erected a plaque to Francois Thurot on the wall of Kirkmaiden Church in 1960. The church is found opposite the car park of St. Medan Golf Club, named after St. Medana, whose legend can still be told by the locals: the “chincough” well, located on the beach below, is supposed , thanks to her saintly powers, to have a magical healing influence on illnesses and especially whooping cough ( formerly called “chincough” ).
Gavin Maxwell was often seen exercising his tame otter, about which he wrote his book, on the beach below Old Kirkmaiden church, when he returned to the area.
The remains of a man-made flounder pool can be found at the extreme end of the Black Rocks sands and was built to catch flounders as the tide receded; at Ben Buoy, which is a sheer rock face, an interesting cave allows an agile person to cross through the cliff and emerge in a small bay between Knock Farm and Cairndoon farm. Further along the Cairndoon shore where the cliff ends to meet the raised beach, Johnny Logie, a local hermit, lived, the only troglodyte recorded as living in Scotland in 1960.
How to get there from The Old Smiddy: Monreith Beach 4.3 miles (6 mins) via A747. What3words: reckons.neater.banks
