There was no graveyard at the present Kilchattan Church but just down the road was the old church – now a ruin – and out of use for 300 or so years so that’s no surprise.. There were numerous information boards in the area and the first I saw explained the bulls I had seen behind the fire station. They are a breed specific to the island.
Here there were graves – and beyond is the little village of Toberonochy and over the Atlantic is mainland Scotland.
There is not much left of the church – but there are ancient marks on the stones – carvings of old boats.
Our well-thumbed book on Scottish islands by Hamish Haswell Smith makes comment on one set of graves here – those of Alexander Campbell.
Above
the attractive village of Toberonochy beside the bay and overlooking
Shuna stands the bleak well-tended
ruin of Kilchatton chapel which was abandoned after 1685. It is surrounded by
slate gravestones including the grave of Covenanter Alex Campbell who 'digged my
grave before I died'. On his tombstone he advises against '... women that wear
Babylonish garments... men that have whiskers... Quakers, Tabernacle folk,
Haldians, Independents, Anabaptists...' and so on.
An explanation board says a little more.
Here is one of the stones – with sections enlarged below.
The man was clearly mad! And here’s a bit more headstone.
Here we have the headstone for one of the Latvians drowned in 1936. His parents had the headstone made and sent over to Luing. The broken English phrases seem very poignant.
I found some other young men whose life had not yet been cut short.
A final grave and a fuchsia.
Time to head west again!
