Fig. 1323.—Ardchattan Church. Sedilia.
To the south of the choir is an open space enclosed with a wall 18 feet long by 15 feet wide, evidently erected as a burial-place. It has an arched entrance gateway at the south end. On the keystone of the arch are the letters C. K. and the date 1614. Lying within the choir are several monuments, one being in the recess of the larger window opening into the sacristy. Two are monuments of priors of the Macdougal family, and bear the dates of 1500 and 1502. The inscriptions have given rise to much discussion.
In 1644 the Macdonalds, led by Colkitto, burnt and destroyed the priory.
KILMUN CHURCH, Argyleshire.
On the north shore of the Holy Loch, about one mile and a half from Strone, stand the small ruins of the ancient Collegiate establishment of Kilmun. According to Dr. Skene a Columban establishment was here founded by St. Fintan Munnu of Teach in Munnu in Ireland. The district of Cowal, in which this establishment was situated, was long in the possession of the Lamont Clan, but was subsequently acquired by the Campbells. The church had, in the thirteenth century, passed into lay hands, “as, between 1230 and 1246, Duncan, son of Ferchan, and his nephew Laidman, son of Malcolm, grant to the monks of Paisley lands which they and their ancestors had at Kilmun, with the whole right of patronage in the church of Kilmun.”[151]
In 1442 a collegiate establishment was founded by Duncan Campbell of Lochow, for a provost and six prebendaries. The founder was buried
Fig. 1324.—Kilmun Church. Plans.
here in 1453, and Kilmun has since then continued to be the burial-place of the Argyll family. The great Marquis of Argyll was interred here in 1661, and the mausoleum of the family stands in the churchyard.
Of the College Church only a small portion remains, a modern church having been erected on the site of the old structure.