A special commemoration has taken place in Twynholm to mark the loss of a Welsh family more than 200 years ago.
Elen Cadwalder, her husband Huw Prichard and their five children were making the trip home from Ireland when they died in bad weather near the village in 1816.
They had taken shelter in a gravel pit near Twynholm which collapsed during heavy rain and buried them alive.
Elen played the harp and the tale caught the attention of Welsh triple harp players Huw Roberts and Rhiain Bebb.
Last week, they made the journey to Twynholm to perform at both the school and the church, as well as take part in a commemoration beside the grave in the village churchyard.
Huw, who made the trip from Anglesey, said: “It was a long time in the making and it was quite emotional at times. It was such a sad story. We play the Welsh triple harp and we thought one day we’d take a trip up to Twynholm.
“Rhiain, who is from mid Wales, got in touch with the church and the school and we had a lovely time.
“We had a very warm welcome and it will stick with us for a long time.”
Huw Prichard is believed to be a prototype of Wandering Willie in Sir Walter Scott’s Redgauntlet.
He and Elen, together with their five children, had travelled from Wales to Ireland with a donkey and cart, a fiddle and a Welsh Harp in 1815.
Their return journey in 1816 saw them arrive at Portpatrick before they headed across Dumfries and Galloway.
Huw said: “They couldn’t find anywhere to stay, some of the locals thought at the time they were vagabonds but they were making their way back home to Wales.
“They’d taken shelter for the night in a gravel pit near Twynholm. It was a stormy night. Sometime during the night the whole thing collapsed and buried them alive.
“The locals found them the next morning. They just saw the top of the harp sticking out of the gravel and the donkey nearby.
A large headstone was erected at the grave in 1871, with the Galloway Association of Glasgow erecting a second one in 1946.
