Kirkconnel Old Church

The ruins of St Conal's Church, otherwise known as Kirkconnel Old Parish Church, are rather romantic and evocative, if rather sad and forlorn. A ruined church which became a mausoleum, which itself became ruined, the place is cluttered with old gravestones, some of which have those peculiar carvings of skulls, winged heads and even married couples for which cemeteries north of the border may be considered famous. It was a pleasant place for a picnic, and an intriguing one for those interested in church history. Yet it is also a sad reminder of the state of Christianity in this land: decaying and deserted. Kirkconnel’s stones are surely prophetic.

It has a peculiar association with the ballad Helen of Kirkconnel told by Sir Walter Scott and John Mayne in which the heroine dies in an attempt to save her lover from a rival’s attack. The attacker is avenged and the devastated lover flees to Spain, later returning to this spot where he is interred with his beloved Helen. A little syrupy, perhaps, though popularly associated with two of the older and plainer grave stones, above. A more business-like couple attired in smart, eighteenth-century dress look out rather disapprovingly from another gravestone, further out (below). Whether theirs was a romantic liaison, or a more practical marriage, we cannot say. Yet all marriages and relationships come to an end; for some spouses, the end could not come soon enough; to others, their remaining, lonely years of widowhood seem like a prison sentence of solitude and grief. Friendship with Jesus Christ, however, and with His people, will survive death’s cruel swipes and greedy fingers. When chapels are ruined and the cemeteries full, Christ’s Beloved shall remain with Him, enjoying Him, forever.

My beloved is like a roe or a young hart: behold, he standeth behind our wall, he looketh forth at the windows, shewing himself through the lattice.

My beloved spake, and said unto me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away.

For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone; Song of Solomon 2:9-11, King James Version