Geoff Piltz
Kirkconnel Old Church, Springkell 3
Kirkconnel Church first appears in the records in 1191. The church was abandoned in 1609 when Kirkconnel Parish was amalgamated with Kirkpatrick-Fleming. The remains of the church were converted to a mausoleum for the Maxwells of Springkell in about 1725.
The graveyard Also contains burial place of the subject of the ballad "Fair Helen of Kirkconnel Lea" and of Adam Fleming, her lover, whose stone is pointed out (a second stone is said to be that of "Fair Helen"). The ballad tells the story of the "Fair Helen" accidentally shot by a love rival of Adam's when she came between them, and of Adam then killing the rival.
Kirkconnel Old Church, Springkell 3
Kirkconnel Church first appears in the records in 1191. The church was abandoned in 1609 when Kirkconnel Parish was amalgamated with Kirkpatrick-Fleming. The remains of the church were converted to a mausoleum for the Maxwells of Springkell in about 1725.
The graveyard Also contains burial place of the subject of the ballad "Fair Helen of Kirkconnel Lea" and of Adam Fleming, her lover, whose stone is pointed out (a second stone is said to be that of "Fair Helen"). The ballad tells the story of the "Fair Helen" accidentally shot by a love rival of Adam's when she came between them, and of Adam then killing the rival.