[MR] BBC: Research Changes Whithorn Monastery Dates

[Garth Groff and Sally Sanford]

Noble Friends, Especially Fellow Scots,

Whithorn has long been called the "Cradle of Scottish Christianity", and
according to tradition Saint Ninian's monastery, Candida Casa, dates to the
4th or 5th century.

Well, maybe something was going on there that early, but the dates for the
monastery have recently been called into question. Some burials,
possibly of monks, have been found encased in tree trunk coffins. Tree ring
analysis suggests these burials actually date to the 7th century. Of
course, that doesn't prove there weren't earlire monks here.

Ruins at Whithorn show there was a monastic community here by the 8th
century, which was under the jurisdiction of the Saxon kingdom of
Northumbria. Obviously, the site has been in use for spiritual purposes for
a long, long time.

The coffin story is found at
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-south-scotland-53267412

More on Whithorn is at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whithorn .

Whithorn was later established as a Priory:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whithorn_Priory .

Yours Aye,


Mungo Napier, Laird of Mallard Lodge  🦆