Site Report

WoSAS Pin 63787
NN 6091 0826

Stirling SMR Locality Number 329.01

2008 - Corpus suggests dedicated to St Machutus
Chapel (site) NN 60910 08260
The graveyard situated on the site of a mid 13th century chapel. The chapel at Kilmahog is named and depicted on three of Robert Gordon's manuscript maps of 1632-56. It is also referred to in the Pont texts (c1583-96) as the 'Kirk of Kilmahugg'. (p131v-132r). The ruins of an ancient church at Kilmahog dedicated to St Kessog (Kilmahog - cell of Kessog). On an intact gable hangs a 17th century bell. A M Campbell 1961. Information recorded by the Royal Commission indicates that there is some uncertainty as to who the original church was dedicated to - suggestions range from St. Kessog, St. Mahog, St. Cuaca and St. Chug. Local tradition explains the name Kilmahog to mean the chapel of St Chug. On a firmer note it is fairly sure that the chapel was in existence by the mid 13 th century as it is first mentioned in Papal registers in 1259. It is interesting to note that the Etterick shepherd, James Hogg, wrote in 1803 'a paltry village - you may guess that I was glad at getting safely past this village, for its name signifies the burial place of Hogg' [McKean]. The bell which hangs in the entrance gable is reputed to be 15 th century and bear the arms of the Graham family [NMRS]. A freestanding metal plaque erected at NN 6091 0826 reads: "Foundations of Pre-Reformation Church", although no trace survives. Kilmahog chapel, first mentioned in the calendar of Papal registers in 1259, was not dedicated to St Kessog but to St Mahog, and was probably a settlement of the old Celtic church or Culdees. The bell, which hangs in the relatively modern gable or arched gateway to the churchyard is not 17th century as it appears in a story about the mid 15th century. It bears the Graham arms and may well be older than 15th century (information from Rev M A MacCorquodale, St Kessog's Manse, Callander).
Visited by OS (R D) 1 November 1968.

Watson (1926) makes no mention of St Kessog or St Mahog. Instead he suggests an Irish saint, Cuaca.
W J Watson 1926.

NN 609 082. Nothing now remains of the church of the former parish of Kilmahog which was united to the parish of Callander in the 16th century. There was a church at Kilmahog by 1259.
RCAHMS 1979

2008 CORPUS SUMMARY DESCRIPTION Nothing survives above ground of the medieval parish church, which stood in a churchyard on the north bank of the River Teith.

HISTORICAL OUTLINE The dedication of the church points towards an early origin but the first surviving record of it dates from 1259, when provision was made for the annexation of the parsonage to the episcopal mensa of Dunblane.(1) The annexation was to occur on the death of the incumbent parson. This annexation does not seem to have occurred before 1274-5, the church still appearing as a free parsonage in Bagimond's Roll.(2) The cure thereafter was served by a vicar perpetual, the parsonage remaining annexed to the episcopal mensa in 1561/2.(3) In February 1538/9, Thomas Muschet received the lands of 'Garyndewyr, lyand besyd Cultintogillàwith the bell and all fredomes, privileges and pertinentis pertenyng tharto'.(4) These properties had fallen into the hands of the crown through nonentry of heirs following the death of one Finlay Dewar. In 1572, one Donald Dewar was confirmed in possession of the 40d land of Garrindewar in the lordship of Strathgartney. Possession of this property thus seems to have been linked to the office of deoradh, the medieval Gaelic term for the person who had custody of the relics of a saint.(5) By the late medieval period, the duties of the deoradh seem to have been limited to ringing a bell 'in the presence of the dead', probably a handbell associated with the saint rung at funerals. This office was abolished as a relic of 'papistry' at the Reformation and the lands had accordingly devolved to the crown, but were restored to the hereditary deorach.(6) In 1669, it was recorded that there had formerly been a fair held annually on 15 November (St Machutus's feast day) at the church of Kilmahug.(7) The fair had apparently not been held at Kilmahug but at Doune since the 1630s, and from 1669 it was formally transferred to Doune as one of the four annual fairs of the burgh of barony of Doune.

ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION The church, locally known as the Chapel of St Chug, was located within a churchyard on the north bank of the River Teith. Its presumed site within the churchyard is marked by a metal plate, though it is not known if the placing of that plate is based on firm evidence. An element of confusion has been introduced by the construction of a large-scale arched entrance to the churchyard, with a recess for a bell near the apex of the gable that surmounts it. This has been interpreted by some as a gable of the church, which it clearly is not.

2008 CORPUS NOTES 1. CPL, i, 367. 2. SHS Misc, vi, 54. 3. RMS, ii, no 763; Kirk (ed.), Book of Assumptions, 295, 348. 4. RSS, ii, no 2898 and n. 3. 5. Black, Surnames of Scotland, 207. 6. NAS GD112/76/30; RMS, v, no 2092. 7. RPS, eds Brown et al., 1669/10/151. Back to the top of the page Bibliography Black, G.F., 1946, The surnames of Scotland, New York, 207. Calendar of entries in the Papal registers relating to Great Britain and Ireland; Papal letters, 1893-, ed. W.H. Bliss, London, i, 367. Cowan, I.B., 1967, The parishes of medieval Scotland, (Scottish Record Society), Edinburgh, 103. Dunlop, A.I., 1939, 'Bagimond's Roll, statement of the tenths of the kingdom of Scotland' Miscellany of the Scottish History Society, vi, 1-77, at 54. Gifford, J. and Walker, F.A., 2002, The Buildings of Scotland, Stirling and Central Scotland, New Haven and London, 555. Kirk, J., 1995, The books of assumption of the thirds of benefices, (British Academy) Oxford, 295, 348. Records of the Parliaments of Scotland, ed. K. Brown et al.( digital editions of the acts of the pre-1707 Scottish Parliament, based at the University of St Andrews), 1669/10/151. Registrum Magni Sigilli Regum Scotorum, 1882, ii (1424-1513), Edinburgh, no 763. Registrum Secreti Sigilli Regum Scotorum, 1908-82, ed. J.M. Thomson et al., Edinburgh, ii, no 2898 and n. 3. Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland, Canmore database.

Campbell, A M (1961 ) Let`s see Callander and the Trossachs, 23, 26, Cowan, I B (1967 ) The parishes of medieval Scotland, Scot Rec Soc, 93, Edinburgh, 103, RCAHMS (1979 b) The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland. The archaeological sites and monuments of Stirling District, Central Region, The archaeological sites and monuments of Scotland series no 7, Edinburgh, 34, No.307, Scott, H et al (eds.) (1915-61 ) Fasti ecclesiae Scoticanae: the succession of ministers in the Church of Scotland from the Reformation, Revision, Edinburgh, vol.iv, 339, Watson, W J (1926 ) The history of the Celtic place-names of Scotland: being the Rhind lectures on archaeology (expanded) delivered in 1916, Edinburgh, 315.
Entered WoSAS (MOH), 24/03/11