James Kirko's Monument

52 Whitesands/Brewery Street

Dumfries

Dumfriesshire

DG1 2RS

NGR - NX 970760

James Kirko's memorial is located on the Whitesands near to the market. The memorial is in the form of a granite block cairn in which a granite slab is placed, bearing the inscription:

James Kirko

Martyr

Was Shot 

on the sands

13th May 1685

The memorial replaces an older one that was originally laid flat on the ground.

James Kirko's Monument

James Kirk (or Kirko, or Kirka) of Sundaywell (NX 811844), near Dunscore, was forced from his home after his part in the Pentland Rising. He went into hiding for almost 20 years, but was betrayed whilst living near to Keir (NX 860930). Captain Andrew Bruce and his troops captured him, but he again refused the Oath of Abjuration. He was ordered to be killed, but offered the chance to live should he reveal the hiding places of his associates. Kirko refused, so he was taken into Dumfries where he was shot on the Whitesands.