St Mary's Isle Priory facts for kids

St Mary's Isle Priory was a special kind of monastery. It was home to Augustinian canons, who were like priests living together under a set of rules. This priory was located on an island called the Isle of Trail, also known as St Mary's Isle, in a region of Scotland called Galloway.

Building St Mary's Isle Priory

The priory was likely founded by Fergus, the first Lord of Galloway, around 1138. He gave the land, then called St. Maria de Trayl, to the monks of Holyrood Abbey. This gift was confirmed by the Bishop of Galloway in the early 1200s.

Fergus built the priory as a way to show he was sorry for rebelling against King David I of Scotland. Whether that was the exact reason or not, Holyrood Abbey set up a smaller monastery there. Records show it existed by the late 1100s. An early leader, or "prior," named William, was mentioned in 1173. He might have been the first prior of St Mary's Isle.

Life at the Priory

St Mary's Isle Priory remained connected to Holyrood Abbey. To help support the canons and their prior, King Robert I of Scotland gave Holyrood Abbey a share of money from royal taxes in 1323. This money came from the area between the Nith and Cree rivers.

Over time, many monasteries in Scotland faced difficulties, and St Mary's Isle Priory was no exception. In the 1400s, King James IV of Scotland tried to bring it back under Holyrood Abbey's direct control. However, this only led to a relative of Holyrood's abbot becoming the new Prior of St Mary's Isle. By the 1500s, the priory's control became less religious and more worldly. It was managed by people called "Commendators."

The Prior of St Mary's Isle, like other important religious leaders, had a seat in the Scottish Parliament. Robert Strivelin was the last true prior. After his death, Robert Richardson took over in 1538. The priory's value was recorded in 1561 as £235.4.4 in money, plus amounts of grain. Its churches included Kirkmadyne and St. Mary's Isle, also known as Galtway.

In 1572, Mr. Robert Richardson and William Rutherford, who managed the priory's property, gave its lands to James Lidderdale and his son Thomas. These lands officially became their private property in 1608. The King confirmed this transfer in 1573.

St. Mary’s Isle: Changing Owners

The ownership of St Mary's Isle changed hands several times after the priory closed. The Lidderdale family owned it for a while.

In 1672, Thomas Lidderdale, who owned St Mary's Isle at the time, used his lands as a "wadset." This was like a mortgage where he gave possession of the land to Sir David Dunbar of Baldoon as security for a loan.

The St Mary's Isle wadset then passed to Sir David's granddaughter, Mary Dunbar of Baldoon. She married Lord Basil Hamilton in 1691. Their son, Basil Hamilton of Baldoon, later inherited the estate.

The Selkirk Family Takes Over

Basil Hamilton's son, Dunbar Hamilton, later became the 4th Earl of Selkirk in 1744. He changed his last name back to Douglas. Around this time, the Selkirk family gained control of St Mary's Isle. The 4th Earl gradually added more land to the estate. In 1786, he handed over the management to his eldest son, Basil William, Lord Daer.

Dunbar, the 4th Earl of Selkirk, passed away in 1799. His youngest son, Thomas, became the 5th Earl of Selkirk.

In 1811, a man named Robert Lidderdale tried to get St Mary's Isle back for the Lidderdale family. He argued that the original "wadset" agreement from 1672 allowed the family to buy the estate back. He asked for legal help to check the old records.

St. Mary’s Isle: The Foreclosure Story

The attempt to undo the 1672 wadset was not the first time the Lidderdale family tried to get the estate back. Captain William Robertson Lidderdale, a relative, tried to prove there was a legal mistake when the land was taken over. He claimed the "purchase" happened when the owners were not present, making it illegal.

However, his father, John Lidderdale, who was a wealthy tobacco trader, had not tried to buy back the estate when he had the chance. Instead, he bought other properties.

Another Lidderdale, Thomas (born around 1690), also made a fortune in the West Indies. But he did not use his money to free St Mary's Isle from the wadset. It is believed that the estate, which was in debt, was eventually "sold" to Lady Mary Hamilton (Dunbar).

Mrs. Alexa M. Carter, a descendant, recalled her father saying that St Mary's Isle left their family because the "wadset" was "foreclosed." This means the loan was not paid back, and the lender took full ownership of the property.

The Peninsula of St Mary's Isle

St Mary's Isle is a peninsula located in the mouth of the River Dee, south of Kirkcudbright. It separates two bays, Manxman's Lake and Goat Well Bay. A small tidal island called Inch is just offshore in Manxman's Lake.

The area where the priory once stood is now a beautiful park. It is about three-quarters of a mile from Kirkcudbright. The grounds are admired for their trees and how they are almost surrounded by the sea and the River Dee.

All the buildings of the old priory were removed in the late 1600s. This was done to make way for a grand estate. The main house on the property had a library that sadly burned down in a fire in 1941. The property eventually passed to the Hope Dunbar family, who still own it today. Captain John Hope Royal Navy took over the title of St Mary's Isle in 1893. He inherited it from his mother, Lady Isabella, who had inherited it from her brother, Dunbar James Douglas, the 6th Earl of Selkirk.

Famous Visitors to St Mary's Isle

St Mary's Isle is known in local stories for short visits by the famous American naval officer John Paul Jones and the Scottish poet Robert Burns.

Robert Burns is said to have spoken the "Selkirk Grace" while visiting Lord Daer at St Mary's Isle.

On April 22, 1778, during the American Revolutionary War, John Paul Jones landed on St Mary's Isle. He wanted to capture the 4th Earl of Selkirk as a hostage. However, the Earl was not home. Instead, Jones's men took all the silver plate from the mansion. After the war, John Paul Jones had the silver valued. He paid his men their share from his own money and returned the silver to the Selkirk family. The silver remained safe until 1941, when most of it was lost in the fire at St. Mary's Isle.