Whithorn (Taigh Mhàrtainn in Gaelic) is a former royal burgh in Wigtownshire Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, about ten miles south of Wigtown.
The town was the location of the first recorded Christian church in Scotland, Candida Casa : the 'White House', built by Saint Ninian (original form Nynia) about 397. Ref. The Whithorn Trust Refer to Archaeological and Historical Collections relating to Ayrshire and Galloway. vol.VII. pp.53-55
Whithorn is also the name of the area of 10,000 acres in Wigtownshire, 11 miles south from Wigtown, about eight miles in length, and varies from two to five miles in breadth, anciently divided into baronies, each controlled by a baron of the court of the barony, i.e. Houston, Baron of the Barony of Busbie or Busby. Burke's Peerage Lineage: This Baronet is heir male of the HOUSTOUNs O.C., the chiefs of which were heritable Baillies and Justiciaries of the Barony of Busbie, Wigtownshire. Scottish feudal lordship Scottish feudal barons sat in Parliament by virtue (and only by virtue) of holding their lands 'per baroniam', that is as barons. (Ceased in 1707 ?).
Whithorn was first known (in Latin) as Candida Casa. 'Whithorn' is a modern form of the Anglo-Saxon version (actually a literal translation) of this name, Hwit Ærne, 'white house'. In Gallovidian Gaelic, it was called Rosnat, or Futarna, the latter a version of the Anglo-Saxon name (Gaelic has no sound corresponding to English 'wh').
Whithorn's link to the sea was the port known as the Isle of Whithorn (a separate community from Whithorn itself and actually a peninsula). Much used in the Middle Ages by pilgrims arriving by boat.
Read more about Whithorn: Rispain Camp, A Major Iron Age Archaeological Site in Scotland, Forts and Settlements, The Monastery, Whithorn Priory and Museum, Castle Wig, St Ninian's Chapel, The Robert The Bruce Trail, List of Listed Buildings, Whithorn Gallery, Railway
Other articles related to "whithorn":
... The Abbey was founded by canons from Whithorn Priory in Galloway, with the patronage of Fearchar mac an t-Sagairt, mormaer/earl of Ross ... Despite the fact that the head of Whithorn Priory was a prior and Fearn an abbot, Fearn seems to have remained subordinate to Whithorn until at least the end of the ...
... Christian of Whithorn was Bishop of Whithorn (1154–1186), the second incumbent of that Episcopal See since it had been resurrected by King Fergus of Galloway earlier in the ... Christian was consecrated as Bishop of Whithorn in December 1154 ... Christian spent his first few years as Bishop of Whithorn under the reign of Fergus, King of Galloway ...
... Whithorn was once served by a railway station until the Beeching axe. ...
... Heathored of Whithorn is sometimes given as the Northumbrian Bishop of Whithorn (Latin Candida Casa), following the demise of Bishop Beadwulf ... He is possibly the last known Anglo-Saxon Bishop of Whithorn ... His name occurs for the last time around 833 no other bishop at Whithorn is known until the accession around three centuries later of Gille Aldan ...
... to the church established by St Ninian in Whithorn, Galloway, southern Scotland, in the mid fifth century AD ... Whithorn and the area around passed from Brythonic to Northumbrian to Norse control before finally returning to local control by 1100 AD, by which time the area was part ... The bishopric of Whithorn was reestablished in 1128, and a new cathedral and adjoining priory were built on the site ...