The Bishoprics of Brechin and Dunblane were founded towards the close of
the reign of King David I. from the remains of the old Pictish Bishopric
of Abernethy. Although a religious establishment had existed at Brechin
previously, it had no claim to represent an old Columban monastery. The
earliest notice of Brechin is that in the Pictish chronicle which
narrates that King Kenneth, son of Malcolm, who reigned from 971 to 995,
gave the great town of Brechin to the Lord. The dedication of the church
to the Holy Trinity also indicates a comparatively late date. This
church, like many others founded after King Kenneth Macalpin’s
restoration of the Irish priests in the middle of the ninth century,
emanated from the Irish Church, and was assimilated in character to the
Irish monasteries. To this connection is, no doubt, attributable the
famous round tower which still exists at Brechin.
The next notices of Brechin occur in the reign of David I. In the early
part of his reign a charter to the Church of Deer is witnessed by “Leot,
Abbot of Brechin,” and a later charter is witnessed by “Samson, Bishop
of Brechin.” The abbot had probably, in the interval, become the bishop,
while the abbey was secularised and passed into the possession of a lay
abbot, and a community of Keledei under a prior. These formed the
chapter of the diocese till they were superseded by a regular cathedral
chapter. In 1218 the Keledei are distinguished from the chapter, and in
1248 they entirely disappear.[71]
Several of the bishops of the diocese were men of note, and rendered
important services during the War of Independence and in connection with
the redemption of David II. from captivity, and, in consequence,
obtained privileges to the town. The cathedral was also largely
benefited by the Earl of Crawford, and received liberal grants from the
Stewarts, Earls of Atholl. There is, however, little to be gathered from
the accounts of the lives of the bishops regarding the history of the
structure of the cathedral. Almost the only statement bearing on the
subject is that the vicar of the parish of Lethnot, in fulfilment of his
obligation, “delivered to Patrick, Bishop of Brechin (1354-84), a large
white horse, and had also given a cart and horse to lead stones to the
building of the belfry of the Church of Brechin in the time of Bishop
Patrick.”[72]
The gradual declension of the bishopric and the loss of the church
property followed the usual course. A precept by James III., in 1463,
states that, through the profligacy of the bishop and canons, the
revenues of the cathedral had been greatly reduced by frequent
alienations of its property, and, in consequence, steps were taken and
some of the lands were restored, or an annual feu-duty paid for them.
After the Reformation, Alexander Campbell was bishop from 1566 to 1610.
By a grant in his favour he was empowered to sell, for his own benefit,
all revenues and properties belonging to the see then vacant, or which
might become vacant. Of this power the bishop freely availed himself,
both for his own interest and also for the benefit of his powerful
patron, the Earl of Argyll. His example was speedily followed by the
archdeacon, chancellor, and presbyters, who, on various pretexts,
disposed of their houses and lands. By these means the property of the
cathedral was lost to the church and passed into the hands of laymen.
The cathedral continued to be used after the Reformation for Protestant
worship, and, according to Mr. Black, the edifice was little interfered
with till 1806. Before that period he describes it as a handsome Gothic
building, consisting of a nave with two aisles, and a transept formed by
an extension of these aisles to the north and south. Mr. Black also
states that there is no appearance of there ever having been any pillars
or arches in the transepts, and questions whether the choir was ever
finished, or if there was anything more than a lady chapel. The
appearance of the cathedral in the end of last century is shown in
Grose’s view.
In 1806 great alterations were made on the edifice. The north and south
transepts were removed, new and wider aisles were built on each side of
the nave, and the outer walls of the aisles were carried to such a
height that the whole nave could be covered with a roof of one span
(Fig. 608), “thus totally eclipsing the beautiful windows in the nave,
and covering up the handsome carved cornice of the nail-head quatrefoil
description which ran under the eaves of the nave.”[73]
The windows of the clerestory (three on each side), which are now
concealed by the roof, are peculiar in their arrangement, being placed
over the piers instead of over the centre of the arches, as is usual.
Externally they have plain splays, and internally they seem to have been
richer, but are now obscured by plaster. The windows and the dog-toothed
cornice seem to point to an early date.
[Illustration: FIG. 608.--Brechin Cathedral. View from South-East.]
The only parts of the interior of the nave spared during the above
restoration are the main piers, of which there are eight (Fig. 609),
with four responds. Two of these piers seem to indicate, from their
form, so far as not damaged, that this part of the structure must
originally have been of first pointed work. The piers on the south side
are octagonal, and those on the north side are alternately octagonal and
clustered. A remarkable feature of the building is observed in
connection with these piers, those of the south side, together with the
arcade above them, being considerably thinner than those of the
corresponding parts of the north side. As the clerestory walls above are
the same on both sides, it is difficult to account for the difference in
size of the piers. The interior of the nave is 83 feet 6 inches in
length by 57 feet 6 inches in breadth. Fortunately part of the west end
has not been interfered with,
[Illustration: FIG. 609.--Brechin Cathedral. Plan.]
[Illustration: FIG. 610.--Brechin Cathedral. West End.]
notwithstanding all the alterations, and there we still have the
original transition doorway, flanked by the fifteenth century tower on
the north, and the famous round tower on the south (Fig. 610). At the
east end of the nave are preserved portions of the ruined side walls of
the aisleless choir, a beautiful example of first pointed work (Fig.
611).
[Illustration: FIG. 611.--Brechin Cathedral. Choir.]
The most interesting, as well as the most ancient, structure connected
with Brechin Cathedral is the round tower, 103 feet in height, which is
now incorporated with it, and occupies the place of a spire at the
south-west angle (see Figs. 608 and 610). This and the corresponding
round tower at Abernethy,[74] on the south side of the Tay, are the only
representatives on the mainland of Scotland of this special kind of
erection. At Egilsay, in Orkney,[75] is found the only other round tower
of this kind in the country.
These round towers have given rise to much controversy as to their date
and use, but the whole of our knowledge regarding them has been
admirably summed up by Dr. J. Anderson, in his _Scotland in Early
Christian Times_, p. 52. It is there shown that these round towers are
outliers of a group of which Ireland is the home. As has been pointed
out in the Introduction to the first volume, the period of the Irish
round towers is comprised between the end of the ninth century and the
beginning of the twelfth century. We have above seen that the first
church in Brechin was founded by a colony of ecclesiastics, after the
Irish model, about the beginning of the eleventh century, and the
probability is that the tower was erected during that century. Brechin
is said to have been destroyed by the Danes in 1012, and it seems not
unlikely that the monks there would follow the plan adopted in Ireland
in the case of similar invasions, in order to protect their
valuables--viz., to erect a strong detached round tower as a place of
refuge and security. The Brechin tower corresponds in all its features
with Irish examples. The detached situation; the circular form tapering
from the projecting base to the summit; the doorway raised 6 feet 6
inches above the ground, and ornamented with details and sculptures
similar to those of Irish models; the division into stories by means of
internal string courses to sustain wooden floors, but without any means
of access except ladders, and lighted by two small windows with inclined
jambs; the four large windows at the top facing the cardinal points; the
ornament of the cornice and the pointed roof (although this, no doubt,
is a later restoration), are all elements distinctive of the old Irish
round towers. The stones of which the tower is built are large, and they
are cut to the circle, but are not laid in regular courses. The tower
measures 86 feet 9 inches to the base of the sloping roof. It is divided
into seven unequal stories, with string courses in the interior.
The Irish round towers are divided by Miss Stoke’s classification into
four periods; and the nature of the masonry of the Brechin Tower
corresponds with the third of those periods, which in Ireland would be
the first half of the tenth century, but in this derivative example
would, doubtless, be somewhat later.
The doorway, with its sculpture (Fig. 612), is especially interesting.
It presents features all characteristic of its Irish originals. The
aperture is small, and the jambs are inclined inwards towards the top.
They are in single stones the full breadth of the wall, and are covered
with a
[Illustration: FIG. 612.--Brechin Cathedral. Doorway of Round Tower.]
single stone, hollowed out into a semicircular arch. The arch has two
such stones in the thickness. The sill is also in one stone. These
stones are all dressed and carved with an architrave-like figure running
all round the doorway, enriched with a flat pellet ornament, a form of
frequent use in Irish examples. On the summit of the arch is carved a
crucifixion, with the legs not crossed. In the round tower at
Donoughmore, County Meath, a representation of the Crucifixion occupies
a similar position over the head of the doorway. Dr. J. Anderson gives
the following minute description of the sculpture of the Brechin
Tower:--“In the middle of the height of the jambs on either side are
raised panels, bearing figures in relief of men habited as
ecclesiastics. One bears a pastoral staff of the form peculiar to the
early Celtic Church, having a curved head resembling that of a
walking-stick. The other bears a book on his breast, and carries a
cross-headed or tau-staff, which is of exceedingly rare occurrence
either in this country or any other. At the lower part of the jambs on
either side are the figures of two crouching beasts. One is a winged
griffin, and both bear a close affinity to the figures of nondescript
creatures carved on the early sculptured memorial stones.”[76] On each
side of the arch of the doorway are two projecting blank panels,
apparently intended for sculptures never executed.
[Illustration: FIG. 613.--Brechin Cathedral. West Doorway.]
When the Bishopric of Brechin was founded by King David, a church would,
no doubt, be erected, but of that structure not a fragment remains. Of
the existing building the western doorway (Fig. 613) presents the oldest
feature. It is 5 feet 9 inches wide, and deeply recessed, the jambs
being enriched with five detached shafts set in a series of nooks, and
having moulded caps and bases, the caps with round abaci. The arch is
pointed, and contains five orders carved with numerous bold mouldings,
some of which present details showing the remains of a highly relieved
chevron, a lingering form of Norman enrichment, together with rows of
dog-tooth ornaments. The whole effect is simple and massive, and
corresponds with other examples of early first pointed work, which may
be assigned to the early part of the thirteenth century.
The upper and the southern parts of the west façade (see Fig. 610) have
been rebuilt at a later period. The portion over the doorway contains a
fine example of late decorated tracery in the large western window, and
the rebuilt portion to the south contains a niche, which is rather
eccentrically introduced (see Fig. 613).
[Illustration: FIG. 614.--Brechin Cathedral.