The chapel site of Inchbrayock, the holy island of Montrose, and Craig

Image: © Adrian Diack Taken: 21 Aug 2024

The photo shows the area of raised ground in Rossie Island Cemetery on which stands the burial vault of Patrick Scott, his wife Margaret Forbes and some of his immediate family; others interred there include relatives acquired through marriage, including former members of the Duncan family of Parkhill. The elevated site has a long history, for it was the position of the medieval chapel that was dedicated to Saint Braoch in 1243, and old though that is, it is thought to overlie an even older site dating back to the 7th century. The former church of Inchbraoch/Inchbrayock, dedicated to St Braoch in 1243, was built of non-durable materials like wood, and it became ruinous by 1573. Even during its existence in medieval times, it appears to have had alternative names/spellings, including Inchbrioch and Insula Sancti Bricchi; in the 13th century the Registrum of Aberbrothoc recorded the island as Inchebrioc and Innis Sancta Brioc. In Scotland, the word “inch” refers to an island or land surrounded by water, as in a river. The meaning is derived from the Gaelic word "innis", which also means "island". The strategic island setting of Inchbrayock, in the middle of the River South Esk estuary, with continually flowing water on all sides, was probably an important consideration in choosing the holy site, and to that extent, Inchbrayock was the Holy Island of Montrose and what became Craig parish. The island site is particularly unusual in that it has a double border, for not only does it form an island between Montrose and Ferryden, but it also forms a border with the body of water at the mouth of Montrose Basin. Part of the historic connections of the venerable site on which the Inchbrayock chapel was built came to light when gravediggers, working in 1849, unearthed three Pictish/early Christian stones dating to the late 9th or early 10th centuries; the stones were stylishly carved with both Pictish and Christian symbols. The most notable of these stones, being the largest and most complete, is the so-called Samson Stone, which, along with Inchbrayock 2, was donated to Montrose Museum by Craig Kirk Session. The Samson Stone was first described by Patrick Chalmers in “Ancient Sculptured Monuments of the County of Angus” (1849). The Samson Stone, on permanent display in Montrose Museum, depicts what is thought to be Samson with a representation of what is possibly Delilah. The third of the Pictish carved slabs, Inchbrayock 3, was kept in the entrance to Craig Manse during Rev Dr Scott’s ministry, but around the time of his death in Edinburgh while he attended the General Assembly of 1908, the stone went missing, and it has never been seen again. There was a suggestion, from researchers in Edinburgh, that the stone had possibly been built into the garden walls of the Manse of Craig, but Rev. William Diack, M.A., and his wife, Margaret, made repeated searches in the 1950s and 60s but without finding it. Rossie Island Cemetery is the traditional resting place for people from Craig parish, and when Rev Dr Robert Scott was buried there, it is possible that the stone was returned to the area where it was originally found.

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