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church of this parish which was dedicated to Saint Michael, the archangel,
stood in the valley of a small stream which falls into Wigton-bay about half
a mile below Kirkdale-house. Even the ruins of the ancient cyrc have dis-
appeared, but the burying ground which belonged to it continues to be
used by the parishioners. The church of Kirkdale belonged to the king in
the reign of James IV. (j), who transferred it to the priory of Whithorn. In
November 1508, Henry the prior of Whithorn obtained a charter from James
IV. of the church of Kirkdale. This charter was granted at the priory while
the king was on a pilgrimage to the ancient seat of Saint Ninian (k). With
this priory this church remained till the Reformation (l); and it was vested in
the king by the General Act of Annexation in 1587. When James VI. re-
established episcopacy, he granted in 1606 to the bishop of Galloway the priory
of Whithorn with its pertinents (m). When episcopacy was finally abolished in
1689, the patronage of Kirkdale reverted to the crown ; and the king, as patron
of this church, enjoys a moiety of the patronage of the united parish with
M'Culloch of Barholm. In 1636 the parish of Kirkdale was united to Kirk-
mabreck, except a very small part which was annexed to Anwoth. The church
of the united parish stands in the prosperous village of Creetown. [The present
Parish Church (1834) has 350 communicants: stipend £379. A U.P. church
Church at Creetown has 90 members.]
The name of the parish of MINNIGAFF was written in several monuments
of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries Monygove. In recent times it is
written Monigaff, and Minnigaff. Now Nynnyz-gov in the British speech,
and Mona-gobh in the Irish, which is pronounced Monaigov, signify the
smith's hill or moor ; or Maon-y-gov in the British, or Moine-gabh in the
Irish, would signify the smith's turbary or moss. The church and village
of Minnigaff stand at the base or extremity of an extensive range of hills,
and the whole of this large parish consists of a series of hill and moor inter-
spersed with moss. Minnigaff appears to have been a free parsonage at the
commencement of the thirteenth century (n). The church with its property
and revenues were afterwards granted to the abbot and monks of Tongland.
(j) In July 1505, the king presented Mr. Richard Akinheid to the rectory of Kirkdale, vacant by
the decease of Sir Robert Furd. Privy Seal Reg., iii. 10.              (k) Regist. Mag. Sig., b. xv. 78.
(l) At the epoch of the Reformation, the tithes of Kirkdale were let by the prior and canons for
£24 Scots yearly. MS. Rental Book, fo. 75.                          (m) Acta Parl., v. 72.
(n) Durand, the parson of Monygov, witnessed a charter of John, the bishop of Galloway, in the
beginning of the thirteenth century. Macfarlane's Col. MS. In the extensive parish of Minnigaff
there were of old two chapels subordinate to the parish church.