EVERY Glaswegian knows that St Mungo, patron saint of the city of
culture, garden festivals, and (if he can pull off another miracle)
architecture, was from the gritty city of the West. Right? Wrong!
The historians tell us that he was born around 518AD in Culross, the
historic West Fife town on the north shore of the Forth near Kincardine,
writes Stewart McIntosh.
To achieve sainthood in those days you (or your mother) had to suffer.
The legends say that he was the son of St Thenew, a beautiful princess
who was thrown out of Traprain Law in the Lothians and cast adrift in
the Firth of Forth in an open boat which drifted ashore at Culross.
St Mungo's Chapel and St Mungo's house were built on the site where
her son Kentigern, later St Mungo, is believed to have been born. He
went on to found the monastery of Cathures on the banks of the
Molendinar burn -- and gave a flying start to the city we now know as
Glasgow.
Back at his birthplace in Culross, St Mungo's Cottage dates from
around 1670 and its early residents feature in the history of the
ancient town where the manufacture of girdles for baking was prominent.
The girdle-making industry declined after 1727 and the house was
extended later that century to provide a more substantial property.
It was in this house that the noted local historian David Beveridge
wrote his History of Culross and Tullianan in the 1880s.
St Mungo's remained in Lord Elgin's estate until 1989, when it was
bought by the current owners who have rescued the house from years of
neglect. Now the cottage is being offered for sale for the second time
this century.
It provides accommodation on three levels and from its astragalled
windows enjoys a lovely view across the Firth of Forth. The property
includes many of its original features, having only rarely changed
hands. The principal rooms have fine plasterwork and fireplaces.
The accommodation includes drawing room, dining room, family room,
kitchen/breakfast room, main bedroom with en-suite bathroom, guest
bedroom with en-suite shower room, five additional bedrooms, study, and
family bathroom.
Externally there is an integral double garage with outbuildings and
partly walled terraced gardens with lawns and flower beds.
St Mungo's Cottage is being marketed by the Dunfermline office of GA
Property Services.
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