burghs. Stirling found its centre in the Royal Castle; Dunfermline owed
its existence to the Abbey. Perth originated from the ancient Church of
St. John, and was long known as "Saint John's toun"; Inverness clustered
around its baronial Castle. The Round Tower and the Cathedral of Brechin
were the starting points of that burgh; and Paisley dates its history from
the foundation of its Abbey. St. Andrews and Arbroath bear still
unmistakable evidences of their ecclesiastical origin; while Dundee found
its first nucleus in its Castle, and after the destruction of that
fortress the centre was shifted to the magnificent church of St. Mary, one
of the largest parish churches in Scotland in the fifteenth century. It is
clear, therefore, that life in the pre-Reformation Cathedrals and
ecclesiastical buildings had an important influence in forming and
fashioning the history of the people. This fact is too frequently
overlooked by modern historians.
Only two of the pre-Reformation Cathedrals in Scotland have survived
unimpaired the iconoclastic zeal of the Reformers. St. Andrews Cathedral,
the seat of the Primate of Scotland, was partially devastated by the
Protestant mob, and weather and storm completed the ruin thus begun.
Dunblane Cathedral has recently been restored and rescued from the wrecked
condition in which it lay for centuries. The restoration of Brechin
Cathedral is now (1898) in progress; and the Cathedral of St. Giles,
Edinburgh, has only been brought back to some of its pristine magnificence
within the last quarter of a century. The two Cathedrals which escaped the
fury of the Reformers are, the fanes dedicated to St. Mungo (St.
Kentigern) at Glasgow, and to St. Magnus at Kirkwall, Orkney. Both these
Cathedrals had Episcopal Palaces adjoining the main structures, and from
the history of these it might be possible to spell out the conditions of
life during their palmy days. As Glasgow Cathedral shows in a remarkable
manner the gradual development of a great commercial city from a small
ecclesiastical burgh, and thus supplies a connecting link between remote
times and the present day, it will be most convenient to treat it as a
typical example of the far-reaching influence of early ecclesiastical
modes of life.
Glasgow Cathedral occupies a very peculiar site. It is built on ground
that slopes rapidly down from the level of the floor of the nave towards
the bed of the Molendinar Burn. So steep is the declivity that a Lower
Church--wrongly called the Crypt, but really an _Ecclesia Inferior_--is
built under the floor of the Choir, only a few steps being necessary in
passing from the Nave to the Choir, so as to give the requisite height to
the roof of the "Laigh Kirk." Such a site would not have been chosen by a
modern architect for a building of the same magnitude, because of the
structural difficulties it presented; yet it has been asserted by Mr John
Honeyman, an experienced architect who has made a special study of Glasgow
Cathedral, that the whole design of this magnificent structure "was
carefully thought out and settled before a stone was laid. It is a skilful
and homogeneous design, which could only be produced by a man of
exceptional ability and of great experience. Nothing has been left to
chance or the sweet will of the co-operating craftsmen, but the one
master-mind has dictated every moulding and every combination, and has
left the impress of his genius upon it all." ("Book of Glasgow Cathedral,"
p. 274.) It is a remarkable fact that the name of this gifted architect is
quite unknown, though a theory has been advanced that seeks to identify
him with a certain John Morvo or Moray, a man of Scottish descent, born
and trained in Paris, who was also architect of Melrose Abbey. But nothing
absolutely certain is known as to the architect who planned Glasgow
Cathedral; and this is no unusual circumstance in the history of other
ecclesiastical buildings. Referring to this fact Mr Gladstone once wrote
thus:--"It has been observed as a circumstance full of meaning, that no
man knows the names of the architects of our Cathedrals. They left no
record of themselves upon the fabrics, as if they would have nothing there
that could suggest any other idea than the glory of God, to whom the
edifices were devoted for perpetual and solemn worship; nothing to mingle
a meaner association with the profound sense of His presence; or as if in
the joy of having built Him a house there was no want left unfulfilled, no
room for the question whether it is good for a man to live in posthumous
renown."
Though the name of not one of the great architects who designed the
Scottish Cathedrals has been preserved--unless we accept the doubtful
theory as to John Morvo already mentioned--it is evident that the
ecclesiastical designer must have been an important personage in every
religious community from the beginning of the twelfth century until the
Reformation. In those remote days it was not given to any architect to
witness the completion of his design. That unique experience was reserved
for Sir Christopher Wren, who superintended the building of St. Paul's
Cathedral from its foundation till the last stone was laid. Many
circumstances prevented the early architects from witnessing the end of
their labours. The poverty of the country, the perpetual warfare which
ravaged Scotland, the impossibility of employing the wandering Lodges of
Masons from the Continent so continuously as to ensure the rapid execution
of the work, and the frequent changes in the Bishop or Archbishop who had
the control of the building, necessarily spread the labour over centuries.
Glasgow Cathedral was begun by Bishop John Achaius during his episcopate,
which extended from 1115 to 1147. It was not completed till the time of
Archbishop Blacader, who died in 1508. During these four centuries the
original designs by the nameless first architect must have been carefully
preserved, and handed down through a succession of equally unknown
architects, until the whole work was finished. Yet all these men, whose
brilliant ideas and excellent workmanship are at once the admiration and
the despair of modern architects, will ever remain anonymous. The Kings
and Princes who contributed towards the cost of the structure, the Bishops
who added various portions to the building at long intervals, and the
Archbishops who consecrated these additions are all carefully recorded;
but the architects from whose fertile brains the ideas sprang, and the
workmen who laboriously realised their dreams, are alike unknown.
The Cathedral of Glasgow took its origin from a _cella_ erected on the
bank of the Molendinar Burn, by the pious St. Kentigern. This early
Christian Apostle was the natural son of Eugenius or Ewen III., King of
Reged. His mother was Thanew, daughter of Loth, King of Lothian. Her name
survives in a corrupted form as "St. Enoch," there being now several
Scottish churches so designated, though she is distinctly denominated "St.
Thanew" in pre-Reformation documents. The life of Kentigern is very fully
detailed in the biography written by Jocelyn, a monk of Furness, at the
request of Herbert, Bishop of Glasgow (died 1164), and is included in the
"Lives of the Scottish Saints." The careful examination of this biography
by Skene gives the probable date of Kentigern's birth as 518, his
consecration as Bishop of Glasgow at 543; his foundation of Llanelwy (now
St. Asaphs) in Wales at 553; his return to Glasgow at 581; and his death
at 603. Kentigern was visited by St. Columba at Glasgow before 597, and
his popular name of St. Mungo (_mon gah_ == my friend) was then conferred
upon him by Columba. From the time of Kentigern's death until the twelfth
century nothing definite is known regarding the history of Glasgow. Within
the present Cathedral the site of "St. Mungo's tomb" is pointed out; and
it is not improbable that the magnificent pile was erected on this spot to
commemorate the founder of Glasgow. During the bishopric of Kentigern it
is not likely that there was any building on the present site of the
Cathedral save the little _cella_ or chapel of the Bishop, and possibly a
few of the houses inhabited by the Culdee priests. It should be remembered
that the Culdees were not celibates, but lived with their families in
these rude dwellings, which thus formed the nucleus of modern Glasgow.
When the ground beside the Cathedral was turned into a grave-yard every
trace of these houses must have been removed. It is possible that St.
Kentigern was buried within his chapel; and if so, the tomb of St. Mungo,
in the crypt of the Cathedral, will mark the place where that primitive
structure stood.
[Illustration: The Duke's Lodging, Drygait.]
[Illustration: Bishop Cameron's Tower Episcopal Palace of Glasgow.]
[Illustration: Town Residence of the Rector of Renfrew.]
The history of the See of Glasgow for five centuries after the death of
St. Kentigern is almost a total blank; save for some dubious references to
certain ecclesiastics supposed to have been the successors of the Saint,
there is nothing to show the progress of the church in those days. The
reforming zeal of Malcolm Canmore and Queen Margaret led to a revival of
religion, as remarkable in its own way as the Protestant Reformation. The
Culdees were supplanted by the Romanists, and the foundations were laid of
a hierarchy that attained to vast power in Scotland. The reforms of the
Queen were principally confined to the east coast--Dunfermline and St.
Andrews--and it was not until her sixth and youngest son, David, Prince of
Cumberland (afterwards David I.), ordered an "Inquisitio" as to the
property belonging to the See of Glasgow in 1120, that any documentary
evidence was made available on this point. Prince David had already
procured the appointment of his chancellor and tutor John Eochey or
Achaius to the bishopric of Glasgow, and with the installation of that
prelate a new era began in the history of the city. The Inquisitio or
Notitia showed that the lands possessed by the Bishop of Glasgow were
co-extensive with the kingdom of Strathclyde, and were in the upper ward
of Lanarkshire, and the counties of Peebles, Roxburgh, and Dumfries.
Bishop John Achaius was consecrated in 1115; Prince David came to the
throne in 1124; and shortly after this accession the Bishop began the
building of the Cathedral, which was dedicated to St. Kentigern on the
nones of July, 1136. Bishop John Achaius died in 1147, and the Cathedral
which he built did not long survive him. It is probable that it was a
wooden structure, for it was destroyed by fire in 1176, and in that year
Bishop Jocelin (1175-1199) began to rebuild it with stone. The next
"building Bishop" was William de Bondington (1233-1258), who completed the
Lower Church (or Crypt) and the Choir. Bishop William Lauder (1408-1425)
began the erection of the present tower, and partly built the
Chapter-house. These portions were completed by his successor Bishop John
Cameron (1426-1446). Robert Blacader (1484-1508), the first Archbishop of
Glasgow, erected the crypt at the south transept known as "Blacader's
Aisle," built the splendid rood-screen and the stairs leading from the
Nave to the Choir and Lower Church, and put the finishing touches to the
Cathedral, which had thus taken nearly four hundred years to reach
completion.
The gradual development of the Cathedral necessarily led to the increase
of the ecclesiastics connected with it. The elaborate ceremonial of the
Romish Church required a staff of officials far out-numbering that of the
simple Culdee _cella_ of St. Kentigern's time. No definite information is
available as to the method adopted for supplying these officials in the
early years of the Cathedral's existence. It is reasonable to suppose,
however, that the Rectors and Parsons who had charges in the
widely-scattered parishes under the control of the Bishop, would have
stated periods when they would take their turns of officiating. These
clergymen would likely reside temporarily in the Bishop's Palace, to which
reference will be made presently. At a later date, as the grandeur of the
Cathedral increased and its ceremonial became more ornate, houses were
provided for them near the building, and thus a return was made to the
social system of the Culdees, though with a celibate clergy. Even so
recently as the middle of the present century, about twenty of the manses
belonging to different prebends connected with the Cathedral could be
identified in its immediate vicinity. It has been credibly conjectured
that the remains of a building outside the north wall of the Cathedral
mark the site of the Hall of the Vicars Choral, and a narrow lane between
the Cathedral and the Bishop's Castle was known as the Vicar's Alley,
probably because it gave access to the building. A consideration of some
of these clerical homes will give an idea of the social life in a
pre-Reformation Cathedral.
The Bishop's Castle was for centuries a central point around which the
burghal and national life crystallised. The date of its erection is not
known. The earliest reference to it is found in a charter of 1258, in
which the Bishop alludes to _palacium suum quod est extra castrum
Glasguense_. This phrase proves that in the middle of the thirteenth
century there was not only a Castle in existence, but also a _palacium_ or
minor dwelling--not a "Palace" as the word has been absurdly translated,
but a "place," equivalent to the old Scots word "ludging"--which stood
outside the wall of the Castle. It is reasonable to suppose that Bishop
Jocelin, who rebuilt the Cathedral with stone towards the close of the
twelfth century, had caused the erection of the Castle to be begun, and
that Bishop William de Bondington, who completed a large part of the
Cathedral, also finished the Castle and the _palacium_ referred to in his
charter. The Castle would be constructed for defence in those lawless
times as well as for residence, and would probably be a square keep
surrounded by a moat. There was a Bishop's Garden in 1268, and the
Bishop's Castle is mentioned in a document dated 1290. At the latter date
Robert Wishart (1272-1316) was Bishop, and as he built rural mansions at
Castellstarris (Carstairs) and Ancrum, it is probable that he extended the
Castle at Glasgow beside the Cathedral. During the War of Independence
this Castle became a stronghold coveted by both belligerents. In 1297 it
was captured for Edward I., by Anthony Bek, the famous "fighting Bishop of
Durham," and re-taken by Sir William Wallace. After Bishop Wishart's time
references to additions made to the Castle are more distinct. Before the
middle of the fifteenth century the moat had been partially replaced by a
high wall. In 1438 Bishop John Cameron built "a great tower," at the
south-western corner of this wall, and his arms with episcopal insignia
were visible on this tower in 1752. Archbishop James Beaton (1508-1522)
enlarged the tower and completed a wall 15 feet high, which enclosed the
grounds of the Castle. In the time of Archbishop Gavin Dunbar (1524-1547)
a gate-house or port was erected on the line of the wall to form the main
entrance to the Castle. From the fact that a sculptured stone, still in
existence, which was taken from this port bears the arms of James Houston,
Sub-Dean of Glasgow, it has been conjectured that the gate-way was erected
at his expense; and as he had workmen building the Church of the B. V. M.
and St Anne (now the Tron Church) which he founded in 1530, he probably
employed them upon this other piece of work at that date. After the
Reformation the Bishop's Castle fell into disrepair. It was partly
occupied by several of the Protestant Archbishops, but they had not
incomes sufficient for its up-keep, and after the abolition of episcopacy
by the Revolution of 1688 the Castle degenerated into a prison for rebels
and petty offenders. Public executions took place in the Castle-yard so
late as 1784--a curious survival of the power of the early Bishops over
the lives of their vassals, for it is said that the gallows of modern
times was erected on the site of the old "heading-stone" of former days.
In 1755 the Magistrates gave permission to Robert Tennant to use the
stones of the ruined Castle for the erection of the Saracen's Head Inn, a
building which still exists though now divided into tenements.
During the stormy period of the sixteenth century, when Scotland was
constantly in turmoil, through foes within and without the realm, the
Bishop's Castle was frequently besieged. The legal proceedings that
followed one of these incidents affords a glimpse of life within the
Castle at that time. John Mure of Caldwell, acting under the orders of the
Earl of Lennox, laid siege to the Castle on 20th February 1515, and
captured it. He was soon compelled, by the Duke of Albany, to evacuate
this stronghold, but before he retired his followers had sacked and
pillaged the Castle. Two years afterwards Archbishop James Beaton claimed
damages for the goods destroyed, and obtained a decree in his favour from
the Lords of Council. The following articles were specially detailed in
this decree, and are of interest as showing the furnishing and contents of
an episcopal dwelling of that period:--"xiii feddir bedds furnist, price
of ilka bedd v marks; xviii verdour bedds, price of the pere xl{s}.; xii
buird claiths, xii tyn quarts, xii tyn pynts, v dusane of peuder
veschellis, tua kists, xv swyne, iv dakyr of salt hyds, vi dusane of
salmond, ane last of salt herring, xii tunnes of wyne, ane hingand
chandlar, ane goun of scarlett lynit with mertricks, vi barrels of
gunpulder, ix gunnis, xiv halberks, xiv steill bonnets, vi halberts, iv
crossbowis, vi rufs and courtings of say, and iv of lynning, with mony
uther insight guds, claithing, jewells, silkes, precius stanes, veschell,
harness, vittales, and uther guds." From this list it will be seen that
the luxuries of peace in which the prelates indulged had to be defended by
the weapons of war.
While the Bishop's Castle was the centre of ecclesiastical influence, the
first extension of Glasgow was due to the erection of manses for the minor
officials of the Cathedral. To any one acquainted with the topography of
Glasgow, the city may be thus "skeletonised" to show the manner of its
evolution. The Cathedral stands on an eminence rising gradually from the
north bank of the Clyde, and is distant about a mile from the river. The
main route from the Cathedral to the Clyde is by an almost straight
succession of streets--High Street and Saltmarket--which, unquestionably,
follow the line of an ancient footpath. The origin of secular Glasgow was
a small collection of huts inhabited by salmon-fishers on the bank of the
river. A pathway was formed in course of time between this primitive
village and the Cathedral, but for centuries there were no continuous
buildings between these two points. In the time of Bishop Jocelin
(1175-1199) the village had extended so far along the river-side and up
the line of the present Saltmarket that the Bishop deemed it advisable to
obtain from William the Lion the grant of a weekly market and an annual
fair. About this time also, arrangements were made for the erection of
manses for the ecclesiastics near the Cathedral. These houses were built
on a road running at right angles with the footpath to the river, the part
going westward being called the Rottenrow (Ratoun Raw), while the eastward
route was called the Drygait. There was thus a sacerdotal burgh in process
of formation on the summit of the hill beside the Cathedral, while a
secular burgh was gradually developing on the bank of the river. In the
course of centuries these two burghs were conjoined, and thus the
"backbone" of Glasgow was formed. The ecclesiastical houses were, of
course, more elaborate than those used by the fishermen and tradesmen who
were soon attracted to the place by the wealth of the Cathedral; and thus
it has happened that the greatest commercial city in Scotland--the second
in the United Kingdom--took its rise from the houses of the ecclesiastics
by whom the burgh was ruled for a very long period.
No record exists as to the time when the prebendal manses were first
erected, but it is certain that Bishop Cameron (1426-1446) increased the
number of canons from twenty-five to thirty-two, and caused all of them to
build manses within the burgh and near the Cathedral. The sites of many of
these manses can be identified from descriptions in old charters, and some
of them have only been removed within the past thirty years. The Dean of
the Cathedral, who was Parson of Cadzow (now Hamilton), had his manse in
the Rottenrow. The Archdeacon of Glasgow was Rector of Menar (now
Peebles), and his house stood in the Drygait. Long after the Reformation
it came into the possession of the Duke of Montrose, and was known as "the
Duke's lodging." It was removed about 1880, to make way for an extension
of the North Prison. The Rector of Morebattle, Archdeacon of Teviotdale,
had a manse in the Kirkgait, now also absorbed in the grounds of the North
Prison. The Sub-Dean was Rector of Monkland, and his house was on the bank
of the Molendinar Burn, south-east of the Cathedral. The Chancellor,
Rector of Campsie, lived in the Drygait at the place called "the
Limmerfield" to which reference is made in Scott's "Rob Roy." The
Precentor of the Cathedral, Rector of East Kilbride, had a manse near the
Castle, the approach being by the Vicar's Alley. The Treasurer, Rector of
Carnwath, also had a manse, though its site has not been identified. The
Sacristan of the Cathedral, Rector of Cambuslang, lived in the Drygait,
near the house of the Archdeacon. The Bishop's Vicar, Parson of Glasgow,
had a manse beside the Castle. The Sub-Precentor, Prebendary of Ancrum,
had a parsonage in the Vicar's Alley, north of the Cathedral. The Parson
of Eaglesham lived in the Drygait, beside the Archdeacon; and the Rector
of Cardross had his manse on the south side of the same street. The manse
of the "Canon of Barlanark and Lord of Provan," in Castle Street, is the
only remaining house supposed to have been occupied by him, though it
seems more likely to have been erected after the Reformation. The Rector
of Carstairs resided in a manse in Rottenrow, beside the houses of the
Prebendary of Erskine and the Rector of Renfrew. Other officials who lived
in the immediate vicinity of the Cathedral were the Rector of Govan, the
Vicar of Kirkmahoe, Dumfriesshire, the Rector of Tarbolton, Ayrshire, the
Rector of Killearn, Dumbartonshire, the Prebendary of Douglas,
Lanarkshire, the Rector of Eddleston, Peeblesshire, the Rector of Stobo,
Peeblesshire, and the Rector of Luss, Dumbartonshire. The houses of six of
the Prebendaries--Durisdeer, Roxburgh, Ashkirk, Sanquhar, Cumnock, and
Ayr--have not been identified, though it is extremely probable that they
had to comply with Bishop Cameron's command, and to erect manses in the
burgh. The Hall of the Vicars Choral, with accommodation for eighteen
officials, was built on the north side of the Cathedral, by Bishop Andrew
Muirhead (1455-1473).
From this list it will be seen how great must have been the influence of
this Levite village upon the development of the burgh. The comparatively
luxurious style of living among the ecclesiastics would attract craftsmen,
artificers of various kinds, and merchants trading with other countries to
supply the rich garments, the expensive wines, and the numerous delicacies
which were deemed necessaries by ecclesiastical dignitaries of high
degree. With the Reformation all this grandeur was swept away, but before
that epoch Glasgow had been made the favourite residence of many of the
Lowland noblemen; and when the sacerdotal burgh disappeared, the secular
and commercial city was ready to take its place. The domination of the
Church passed, but not before it had prepared the way for its successor.
In other Cathedral cities in Scotland a similar process of development may
be traced, though not in so distinct a manner as exhibited in the
evolution of Glasgow. Verily, that city owes much of its prosperity to the
foresight and patriotism of those who ruled in its pre-Reformation
Cathedral!
Public Worship in Olden Times.
BY REV. ALEXANDER WATERS, M.A., B.D.