Site Notes

NMRS/NX4NEI : This church, which served the medieval parish of Toskerton, stood within its walled burial-ground on a low rise 410m South of South Caimweil farmsteading. The site is occupied by a burial-aisle of the MacTaggarts of Ardwell which incorporates some earlier masonry, most noticeably at the East end, and may preserve the ground-plan of the former church (the aisle measures 12.7m by 5.6m within walls 0.9m thick). Three Early Christian inscribed stones, and five cross-fragments which range in date from the 8th to the 12th century, found on, or near, the site, are displayed in the porch at the West end of the aisle. Previously unenclosed burial ground walled in 1840 x 1844 (Scott 1917, 355) - Craig 1997, 618: The present burial ground is a raised mound situated on the crest of a low ridge.

NMRS/NX04NEI: The site is a natural outcrop of rock, crowned by modem church 4.5m above surrounding fields - Craig l997, 618: Despite lack of excavation the site has produced about ten cross-slabs

NMRS/NX04NE1: The old church was dedicated to St Medran of Muskerry and belonged to Whithom Priory'.
The parish of Kirkmadrine, formerly called Toskerton, was united to Stoneykirk in 1618.

Watson/1926, 162-163. Kirkmadrine, in Sorbie and Stoneykirk parishes, has the stress on -drine, which therefore represents the saint's name. No such name appears in the Calendars, but the tract on the mothers of the Irish saints [mentions a] Draigne of Sruthair .Draigne becomes Draighne, with 'gh' silent, in Mid. and Mod. Gaelic, and would naturally be Drine in English- Kirkmadroyn, the spelling in Macfarlane (ii- p.81) represents the Gaelic pronunciation. Kirkdrine, in Kirkmaiden parish, contains his name without the honorific mo or ma, my. [We] may take it that he was a Briton by origin, and we may suppose that he was connected with Whithorn.

References

Craig/ 1991 46, 47, 48, 50, 54, map listing
Craig/ 1997 617--61 8 substantial discussion
NMRS/NX04NE1 substantial discussion
Radford/Donaldson 1984 inc Incomplete Information
RCAHMS/1912 154--157 Incomplete Information

Stones

KMADR/l "A ET [W]" (reading by Thomas, C.)
KMADR/2 "[--]S ET FLORENTIUS" (reading by Allen, R.)
KMADR/3 "lNTIUM ET FINIS" (reading by Thomas, C.)