On the other side of the River Cree which flows into Wigtown Bay there is the Martyr’s Monument.  At this location two women, Margaret McLachlan and Margaret Wilson were martyred for their refusal to renounce their Presbyterian faith and swear the “Abjuration Oath” established by Charles II to bring back Catholicism to Scotland by the imposition of rule by bishops.

The group of people who became known as the Wigtown Martyrs were three men, who were hanged and the two Margarets, one elderly and the other a teenager, who were drowned.  In an effort to make the women sign the Abjuration Oath they were tied to stakes in the Wigtown Bay at low tide on May 11, 1685 and slowly became submerged as the tide came it.  D    Drumtrodden Cup and Ring Marked rocks, near Port William We passed this lovely entrance garden as we walked to Glenluce Abbey, which was our last stop of the day. Not very many of the walls of the large Abbey complex remain, but since the place was initially built between 1191-92, one shouldn’t be too surprised.  That any of it is still standing is pretty amazing.The abbey was constructed by Roland, Lord of Galloway as a daughter house to Dundrennan Abbey, which we had visited on our way to Kirkcudbright. From Glenluce we drove the coast road north to the Sherwood Bed and Breakfast at Doonfoot, which is just south of Ayr.  Kirsten, at the B & B had a lovely big black Lab named Sally so I even got a dog fix.