The original Loretto--or, as it should more correctly be spelt,
Loreto--is an Italian town situated in the province of Ancona, and only
a few miles from the shores of the Adriatic. Its four to five thousand
inhabitants consist mainly of dealers in objects of piety and in
beggars, and its only importance lies in the fame of its shrine, to
which many thousands of pilgrims resort yearly.
The cult of Our Lady of Loreto is based on one of the most marvellous,
not to say the most daring, of medieval legends. According to the
traditional account, St. Helena, the mother of Constantine, had caused a
church to be built at Nazareth, over the cottage which the Blessed
Virgin had once inhabited. That church the Saracens overthrew. They were
preparing to destroy the Santa Casa itself when, on the night of May 12,
1291, angels, anticipating and surpassing the feats of modern
engineering, transported it into Dalmatia. For various reasons it was
again removed three successive times from one locality to another, until
it finally took its stand on the high road between Recanati and the sea.
There is a divergence of opinions as to the origin of the name by which
the magnificent shrine which shelters the Santa Casa has become known
through the whole world. Some authorities attribute it to the fact that
the Holy House was deposited in a field belonging to a widow called
Lauretta, whilst others connect it with the existence of a laurel grove
on the site chosen by the carrier angels. In addition to the cottage,
and within it, there is a statue of the Madonna. It is attributed to St.
Luke, whom medieval legends commonly regarded as portraitist-in-ordinary
to the Virgin Mary. Another relic consists of the dish out of which the
Virgin ate. The popularity which the shrine of Loreto acquired through
the ages may be estimated from the fact that towards the end of the
eighteenth century its wealth was valued at more than a million
sterling. In 1797 Pius VI was obliged to draw on its treasury in order
to fulfil the conditions imposed on him by the Treaty of Tolentino. War
having again broken out, the French occupied Loreto and took possession
of the miraculous statue, which was relegated to a shelf beneath that
occupied by a mummy in the Cabinet des Médailles of the Bibliothèque
Nationale. Napoleon restored it to the Pope in 1802.
The fame acquired by the Italian Loreto led to the establishment, in
other countries, of similar shrines--branch establishments for the
granting of indulgences and the performance of miracles. Of such
Scotland possessed at least two. One of them, which does not seem to
have acquired more than a local reputation, was in Perth. The other
stood "beyond the eastern gate of Musselburgh and on the margin of the
links". The date and circumstances of its foundation are set forth by
the _Diurnal of Remarkable Occurrents_, which, amongst the entries for
1533, has the following:--"In this mene tyme thair came ane heremeit,
callit Thomas Douchtie, in Scotland, quha haid bein lang capitane
(?captive) before the Turk, as was allegit, and brocht ane ymage of our
Lady with him, and foundit the Chappel of Laureit, besyid Musselburgh".
In addition to this evidence there is a charter of James V, dated July
29, 1534, and confirming the grant by the Bailies, of a "petra" of land
in the territory of Musselburgh, to Thomas Duthy, of the Order of St.
Paul, first hermit of Mount Sinai, for the erection of a chapel in
honour of Almighty God and of Blessed Mary of Laureto.[191]
Beside sanctioning the foundation of the shrine, James gave it a
tangible proof of his patronage. In August, 1534, as is shown by the
Accounts of the Lord High Treasurer, he spent £22, 13s. 2d. in
purchasing the materials and paying for the making and ornamenting of
albs, amices, stoles, chasubles, and altar towels.[192] We learn from
John Lesley, Bishop of Ross, that, in 1536, before setting out on his
voyage to France for the purpose of bringing home the Lady Magdalene as
his bride, the King, being in Stirling, "passit thairfra on his feitt,
in pilgrimag to the Chappell of Lorrett, besid Mussilburgh". This
statement is borne out by an entry in the _Liber Emptorum_: "Hodie (9th
August), soluto disjunio, rex pedestre peregrinavit de Stirling versus
Sanctam Mariam de Laureit et pernoctabat in Edinburgh".[193] The
Accounts supply the further information that on this occasion he made a
gift of four altar towels, two of "Dornik", that is, of the diapered
linen cloth manufactured at Tournay, and two of bleached Breton canvas.
Including twenty shillings "for sewing of XX crocis upoun the saidis
towellis", the expense incurred amounted to £6, 11s. 6d. The sum of
fourteen shillings was left with the "chapellanis of Lawrete to pray for
the Kingis Grace"; and a further offering of two crowns was made after
the actual embarkation at Newhaven.[194]
Thomas Duthie's foundation throve under the influence of royal favour,
and from all parts of the country, pilgrimages to the shrine were
performed, as Sir David Lyndsay testifies:
"I have seen pass ane marvellous multitude
Young men and women flingand on thair feit,
Under the forme of feinzeit sanctitude,
For till adore ane image in Laureit."[195]