10/03/2026
Isn’t this interesting?
On this day, in 560AD, a prince was assassinated on the shores of Loch Lomond.
Almost nobody knows his name.
But for hundreds of years, he was the true patron saint of Scotland.
Long before anyone in the Highlands had ever heard of St. Andrew, the nation revered a man named Kessog.
Heir to the royal family of Munster, one of the most powerful kingdoms in Ireland. He had a crown waiting for him. Wealth. Power. An entire kingdom to rule. But he walked away from it all and crossed the sea to the wild untamed hills of ancient Scotland.
He was an early Christian missionary from Ireland, a holy man moving through a Scotland that was still wild, divided and only half-converted.
He settled on a tiny, wooded island in Loch Lomond, called Inchtavannach, the Island of the Monk's House.
But Kessog was not a quiet, peaceful monk. He was a warrior.
Ancient texts and carvings depict him not in flowing robes, but in full military dress, holding a drawn bow and arrow.
He was a battle-hardened missionary who understood that in the violent, blood-soaked glens of ancient Alba, a holy man needed to be tough.
The Scottish people absolutely loved him.
For centuries, Scottish soldiers would charge into battle screaming his name. Their official, terrifying war cry was: "Here is the plea for Kessog!"
Even Robert the Bruce was a fiercely devoted follower.
While fighting for Scotland’s survival, Bruce sought refuge in Kessog's territory and later granted his church at Luss a massive, three-mile sanctuary zone to protect it forever.
But there were others who did not love him.
The Druids.
On 10 March, his holy campaign came to a brutal end. While traveling near Bandry, looking out over the dark waters of Loch Lomond, Kessog was ambushed and murdered.
To mark the exact spot where the great warrior-saint fell, his devastated followers piled a massive mound of stones.
They called it Carn-na-Chessaig, Kessog’s Cairn.
Healing herbs began growing up from the earth around his grave.
So many herbs that the place became known simply as Luss.
The Gaelic word for herb.
Over centuries, as the Scottish Crown abandoned the Celtic Church and aligned with Rome, saints like Kessog were quietly set aside in favour of saints Rome recognised.
St. Andrew was elevated to the top job. The blue and white saltire became the national flag.
The warrior prince was forgotten.
Today, the peaceful village of Luss still sits right on the edge of the loch as a popular tourist destination, most visitors none the wiser they’re standing on the grave of a legendary warrior saint 🏹🏴
