The inscriptions on it are
from a devotional poem "The Dream of the Rood", the oldest poem in English
written by Northumbrian poets circa 7th century.
Towards the end of his life
in 1843 feeling the government was sticking there noses in Church business,
he helped start the free church. This meant leaving Ruthwell which was in
the established kirk. He built a new free Church at Mount Kedar. He later
moved to Edinburgh for a time to help the new kirk. In his lifetime he had
been given a honorary degree of Divinity from St. Andrews. When Rudyard
Kipling gave an address at Duncan's alma mater he began by saying "At first
sight, it may seem superfluous to speak of thrift and independence to men of
your race and in a university that produced Duncan of Ruthwell" In February
1846 while giving a sermon he collapsed from a stroke. He died on Feb. 12
1846.
© by Ron Bentz |