The year was 187 and Archibald Angus MacKinnon (1850 - 1935), a teacher from Campbeltown in Kintyre, was suddenly filled with a new sense of purpose -he had just had a religious epiphany to paint the image of the crucifixion in the cave at Davaar Island. This tiny island, measuring just 115 metres across, is only accessible at low tide. As shown in the image above, a path, or Dhorlin, is formed at low tide which makes walking to the island easy however one must walk quickly and not stay too long at the cave to make it back to the mainland safely. Archibald set about his religious mission, painstakingly painting the rocky walls of the cave with a life sized depiction of Jesus on the cross.
When the divine painting was complete, Archibald kept his personal vow of secrecy and went about his normal daily life. That was until a local yachtsman wandered into the cave and went to light his pipe with a match, seen Jesus and fainted. The next day a hundred of more townsfolk came to view the cave with candles to witness the miracle. The painting gathered wide spread attention on the 20th August 1887 when the Campbeltown Courier published an article headed "A Curious Painting." This painting became a short lived site of religious fascination and worship. It was widely believed to be an authentic miracle which had fallen on this town of just 7,000 inhabitants.
It wasn't long, however, until the local people of Campbeltown found out the truth- Archibald had admitted that the painting was his own work in the next publication of the local newspaper. In their fury, they drove him out of town. He returned one final time to restore his painting in 1934 and died the following year in Nantwich aged 85.
Today the cave is still enjoyed by hundreds of people a year and even though it is not a genuine miracle, it is a fantastic painting and who knows - perhaps Archibald really did have a genuine religious experience that brought him to paint Jesus in the first place. Nowadays, the painting is maintained by a few local artists.
