1. DIOCESE OF ST. ANDREWS
The connection between St. Andrews and the neighbouring Pictish Church
at Abernethy was, during the early period, very close. Dr. Skene thinks
that the first church at Abernethy was built during the visit of St.
Ninian to the Southern Picts, or the people living between the Forth and
the territory south of the Grampians; it was endowed with lands by King
Nectan in 460 A.D., and dedicated to St. Bride;[25] and between 584 and
596, during St. Columba's visit, and as a result of his mission, a
church was rebuilt by Gartnaidh, King of the Picts.[26] St. Columba is
distinctly stated to have preached among the tribes on the banks of the
Tay,[27] and to have been assisted in this work by St. Cainnech, who
founded a church in the east end of the province of Fife, near where the
Eden pours its waters into the German Ocean, at a place called
Rig-Monadh, or the royal mount, which afterwards became famous as the
site on which the church of St. Andrews was founded, and as giving to
that place the name of Kilrimont.[28] The earliest Celtic church at St.
Andrews was probably, like that of Iona, constructed with wattles and
turf and roofed with thatch. It was customary to have caves or places
of retirement for the hermits; they were used, too, as oratories or
places of penance, and one such there is at St. Andrews, known as St.
Rule's cave:--
Where good Saint Rule his holy lay,
From midnight to the dawn of day,
Sang to the billows' sound.[29]
The connection of the place with St. Andrew has no historical basis till
between 736 and 761, when a cathedral was dedicated to St. Andrew, and a
portion of his relics was brought by Acca, Bishop of Northumbria, who
was banished from that country in 732, and founded a church among the
Picts. Dr. Skene points to the similarity of the events which succeeded
one another in Northumbria and Southern Pictland in the eighth century.
In the former country the Columban clergy were expelled, secular clergy
were introduced, dedications were made to St. Peter, and afterwards
Hexham was dedicated to St. Andrew and received the relics of the
Apostle, brought there by one of its bishops; in the latter country,
sixty years later, the Picts expelled the Columban monks, introduced the
secular clergy, placed the kingdom under the patronage of St. Peter, and
then receiving from some unknown quarter the relics of St. Andrew,
founded the church in honour of that Apostle, who became the national
patron-saint.[30] This "cathedral," dedicated to St. Andrew, was
probably of stone, and was the church intervening between the early
Celtic Church and that of St. Regulus. Angus, King of the Picts, endowed
it with lands.
On the destruction of Iona by the Danes, the bishopric was first
transferred to Dunkeld (850-864); then to Abernethy (865-908), when the
Round Tower was probably built;[31] and in 908 it was transferred to
St. Andrews, which retained it until the Reformation. St. Adrian was
probably one of the three bishops of Alban[32] at Abernethy, as chapels
and crosses in the district are all connected with his name; and Cellach
appears as the first Bishop at St. Andrews, and he was succeeded by
eight Culdee bishops, the last of whom was Fothad, who officiated at the
marriage of Malcolm Canmore and Queen Margaret. The next three bishops
all died before consecration, and for about sixteen years after the
death of Malcolm the bishopric would appear to have been vacant. Turgot,
Queen Margaret's friend and confessor, was the thirteenth bishop, and
ruled from 1107-1115--the first bishop not of native birth.
Prior to 1107 the Culdee community had split up into two sections,
dividing the spiritualities and temporalities between them, and Bishop
Robert (1121-1159), with the object of superseding the Culdees, founded
in 1144 a priory for the regular monks of St. Augustine, granting to
them the Hospital of St. Andrews, with portions of the altarage. In the
same year King David granted a charter to the prior and canons of St.
Andrews, in which he provided that they shall receive the Keledei of
Kilrimont into the canonry, with all their possessions and revenues, if
they were willing to become canons-regular; but, if they refused, those
who are now alive are to retain the property during their lives, and,
after their death, as many canons-regular are to be instituted in the
church of St. Andrews as there are now Keledei, and all their
possessions are to be appropriated to the use of the canons. There were
thus two rival ecclesiastical bodies in St. Andrews--the old corporation
of secular priests and the new order of Austin-canons; the former
enjoyed the greater part of the old endowments, and the latter
recovered a considerable portion of the secularised property that had
passed into lay hands. Popes, bishops, and kings endeavoured to end this
rivalry, but their efforts were not crowned with success; although
influence was on the side of the canons-regular, the Keledei clung to
their prescriptive right to take part in the election of a bishop down
to 1273, when they were excluded by protest; in 1332 they were
absolutely excluded, and the formula of their exclusion from taking part
in the election was repeated;[33] we hear of them afterwards not as
Keledei, but as "the provostry of the Church of St. Mary of the city of
St. Andrews," of "the Church of the Blessed Mary of the Rock," and of
"the provostry of Kirkheugh"--the society consisting of a provost and
ten prebendaries.[34]
In the reign of Malcolm IV. the bishopric of St. Andrews included the
counties of Fife, Kinross, Clackmannan, the three Lothians,
Berwickshire, Roxburghshire, parts of Perthshire, Forfarshire, and
Kincardineshire; and, although the see was lessened by the creation of
new bishoprics, the importance of St. Andrews was always great, for at
the Reformation the primate's ecclesiastical jurisdiction included 2
archdeaconries, 9 rural deaneries, the patronage of 131 benefices, the
administration of 245 parishes. In 1471 or 1472 the see was erected into
an archbishopric by a bull of Pope Sixtus IV. and at this time the
Archbishop of York surrendered his claim to have the Bishop of St.
Andrews as his suffragan--a claim repeatedly made since the time of
Turgot and as frequently resented. The office of bishop or archbishop
involved great spiritual and temporal power; the primates were lords of
regality and ultimate heirs of all confiscated property within their
domains; they levied customs and at times had the power of coining
money; they presided at synods, controlled the appointment of abbots and
priors, were included with the King in the oath of allegiance, and took
precedence next to the royal family, and before all the Scottish
nobility. There were in all thirty-one bishops and six archbishops, who
held the see in succession from 908 to 1560, and among the more famous
of them may be mentioned Turgot, the friend and biographer of Queen
Margaret (1107-1115); Robert, prior of Scone, who founded the Priory of
St. Andrews, received the gift of the Culdee Monastery of Lochleven, and
built the church and tower of St. Rule (1124-1158); Arnold, Abbot of
Kelso, who started the building of the great cathedral (1158-1159);
William Wishart of Pitarrow, who was lord-chancellor and bishop
(1273-1279), and rebuilt, between 1272 and 1279, the west front, which
was blown down by a tempest of wind; William Lamberton (1298-1328), who
consecrated the cathedral in 1318, in the presence of King Robert the
Bruce; Henry Wardlaw (1404-1440), who founded in 1411 the University of
St. Andrews; James Kennedy (1440-1466)--the greatest of all the
bishops--who founded St. Salvador's College; James Stewart (1497-1503),
second son of James III., Duke of Ross and Marquis of Ormond, who was
made primate at twenty-one; Alexander Stewart (1506-1513), who was the
natural son of James IV., and fell with his father at Flodden; James
Beaton (1522-1539), who founded St. Mary's College and burnt Patrick
Hamilton; David Beaton, nephew of James Beaton (1539-1546), who burnt
Wishart and was murdered; John Hamilton (1549-1571), who was the author
of the Catechism of 1552.[35]
As to the buildings, St. Regulus' or St. Rule's, standing in the ancient
churchyard at a distance of about 120 feet south-east of the east end
of the Cathedral of St. Andrews, was unquestionably the earlier
Cathedral Church, and occupies probably the site of the earlier Celtic
church.
Bishop Robert (1121-1159) introduced the canons-regular of St. Augustine
in 1144, and these gradually absorbed many of the Culdees into their
community. It was during this time also that St. Rule's was built. Dr.
Joseph Robertson says of it:--"The little Romanesque church and square
tower at St. Andrews, which bear the name of St. Rule, have, so far as
we know, no prototype in the south.... No one acquainted with the
progress of architecture will have much difficulty in identifying the
building with the small 'basilica' reared by Bishop Robert, an English
canon-regular of the order of St. Augustine, between the years 1127 and
1144."[36] The Pictish Chronicle states that Robert was elected Bishop
in the reign of Alexander I., but was not consecrated till the reign of
David I. in 1138; that, after his consecration by Thurstan, Archbishop
of York, he expended on this work one-seventh of the altar dues which
fell to him, reserving them for his own use. "But inasmuch as the outlay
was small, the building made correspondingly small progress, until, by
the Divine favour, and the influence of the King, offerings flowed in,
and the work went on apace. The basilica was thus founded and in great
part constructed."[37]
What now remains of this building consists of a square tower, 112 feet
high, and an oblong chamber. Discussion has arisen as to whether there
ever was a nave, and in favour of the positive view it is urged that
marks of three successive roofs may be seen on the tower-wall, and that
the seals of the church, dated 1204 and 1214, show a nave and chancel.
Eminent authorities take this view. Sir Gilbert Scott thinks that the
large size of the western arch, and the mark of the roof on the tower,
suggest a nave;[38] while later authorities, recalling that this church
was once a cathedral, as well as the church of a monastery, and served
the purpose of a parish church, hold it as more than probable that it
must have been a larger building than the simple oblong chamber to the
east of the tower which now survives.[39]
The architecture corresponds with the period of Bishop Robert,[40] so
that there is more than probability in averring that St. Rule's was the
cathedral built by this bishop, and took the place of an earlier Celtic
church, founded by Bishop Acca. The square tower of St. Regulus was
probably designed to fulfil the same purposes as the Round Towers of
Abernethy and Brechin: (1) to serve as a belfry; (2) to be a keep or
place of strength in which the sacred utensils, books, relics, and other
valuables were deposited, and into which the ecclesiastics could retire
for security in case of sudden predatory attack; (3) when occasion
required, to be a beacon or watch-tower.[41]
Besides the Church of St. Regulus, there are still to be seen the ruins
of the great Cathedral of St. Andrews, which consisted of a short
aisleless presbytery, and choir of five bays with side aisles, with an
eastern chapel in each aisle; north and south transepts, each of three
bays with eastern aisles; nave of twelve bays with north and south
aisles, and a large central tower over the crossing. The interior
dimensions were--total length, 355 feet; width of nave, 63 feet; length
of transepts, 167 feet 6 inches; width, 43 feet 2 inches. The older
parts of the Cathedral exhibit traces of the transition from the Norman
architecture, but the principal parts of the structure have been carried
out in the First Pointed style.[42]
The Cathedral Church was also the Conventual Church of the
Austin-canons, and the Bishop was _ex officio_ prior of the monastery.
Of the conventual buildings erected by Bishop Robert nothing remains.
The Cathedral was erected from east to west in about 115 years.[43] The
work was commenced by Bishop Arnold in 1161, was continued by eleven
successive bishops, and was consecrated by Bishop Lamberton in 1318.
During its progress in 1276, the eastern end was greatly injured by a
violent tempest, and in 1378 the Cathedral suffered from fire, which
according to Wyntoun destroyed the south half of the nave from the west
end, and eastward to and including the ninth pillar. The restoration was
begun at once by Bishop Landel (1341-1385), and completed in the time of
Bishop Wardlaw (1404-1440), who in 1430 improved the interior by the
introduction of fine pavements in the choir, transept, and nave, and by
filling the nave with stained glass and building a large window in the
eastern gable. The south wall of the nave extends considerably westwards
beyond the present west end, and contains the remains of a vaulting
shaft, leading to the inference that the Cathedral was originally of
greater length than it now is by at least 34 feet. The north wall of
nave also projects westwards about 7 feet. There is a difficulty in
connection with the west front, and it is regarded by competent
authorities that this wall was not part of a western porch, but
"indicates that there has been a change in the design, and that the
original intention of having a wide porch extending along the whole of
the west end has been departed from after the first story was built up
to the level of the above string course, all above that point being of
later design and execution."[44]
The early chapter-house was 26 feet square, and was vaulted with four
central pillars. It opened to the cloisters, and the doorway is
pronounced to be in the purest style of early pointed architecture.[45]
Bishop Lamberton (1298-1328) erected a new chapter-house, and the old
one was made a vestibule to the new. South of the early chapter-house
was probably the fratery; on the upper floor of this building and the
chapter-house was the dormitory--a wheel-stair leading to it from the
south transept. On the west side of the cloister was the sub-prior's
house, known also as Senzie House; south-east of the fratery is the
prior's house or Hospitium Vetus, which was sometimes the residence of
the bishop. West of the cathedral are the remains of the entrance
gateway, called the "Pends," and in continuation of the "Pends" was the
enclosing wall of the priory grounds, containing sixteen towers. The
Guest-House was within the precinct of St. Leonard's College, and was
built about the middle of the thirteenth century.[46] Within the
precincts of the Priory-grounds were the various offices connected with
the great ecclesiastical establishment.
The conventual and other buildings attached to the Cathedral have been
recently excavated at the expense of the late Marquis of Bute, and
considerable remains of the foundations disclosed to view. The ruins of
the castle stand on a rocky promontory, overhanging the sea, N.N.W. of
the Cathedral; and between the Cathedral-wall on the N.E. and the sea
are the foundations of a chapel dedicated to the Virgin.
In 1559 the Cathedral was attacked by the mob and greatly destroyed.
Time and weather helped to complete the work of destruction; the
Protestant Archbishop Spottiswoode in 1635 strove to make provision for
its restoration, but nothing appears to have been done to arrest the
work of destruction. The Barons of Exchequer in 1826 took possession of
the ruins, had the rubbish cleared away, and what remained of the great
building strengthened. The pier-bases have been made visible, and the
outline of the building marked on the turf. St. Andrews has been
associated with most of the stirring events in Scottish Church history,
and will always possess its two great voices of the Cathedral and the
Sea.
2. DIOCESE OF GLASGOW
Towards the end of the fourth century, St. Ninian, a Christian
missionary trained at Rome in the doctrine and discipline of the Western
Church, is said to have established a religious cell on the banks of the
Molendinar. How long he remained there is uncertain, but his labours are
chiefly centred around the Candida Casa at Whithorn and among the
southern Picts, whose district, according to Bede, he evangelised. With
St. Ninian's departure, the district around the Molendinar relapsed into
barbarism, and the only remaining monument of his work was a cemetery
which he was reputed to have consecrated. The next historical reference
to Glasgow is in connection with St. Kentigern, or, as he was popularly
known, St. Mungo, about the middle of the sixth century. He was of royal
descent, and was born in 518 or 527. His biographer, Joceline, states
that he was adopted and educated by St. Servanus or St. Serf, who lived
at Culross, and by him was named "Munghu," _i.e._ dearest friend. But
this must be a mistake, for Servanus lived two centuries after
Kentigern's time;[47] if it is correct, there must have been an earlier
and a later St. Serf. On attaining his twenty-fifth year, according to
Joceline, he proceeded to Carnock, where lived a holy man named Fergus.
After he reached the abode of Fergus, the good man said his "nunc
dimittis" and died; and Kentigern, placing his body on a wain drawn by
two bulls, took his departure, praying to be guided to the place which
might be appointed for burial. The place where the wain stopped was
Cathures, afterwards called Glasgow, where St. Ninian had consecrated a
cemetery, and here Fergus was buried. Such is Joceline's account of
Kentigern's first connection with Glasgow. The king and people of the
district pressed him to remain as their bishop, and he consented,
establishing his see at Cathures and founding a lay society of the
servants of God, and fixing his own abode on the banks of the
Molendinar. After some years of austerity and beneficence there, he was
driven from his work by the persecutions of an apostate prince and
settled in the vale of Clwyd, North Wales, where he founded a monastery.
After a time he returned to Glasgow, at the solicitation of the King of
Cumbria, and appointed St. Asaph as his successor in Wales. In a
martyrology ascribed to the year 875 Kentigern appears as "bishop of
Glasgow and confessor."[48] While resident at Glasgow, St. Kentigern was
visited by St. Columba, his distinguished contemporary and the apostle
of the Picts, who presented him with a crozier, which, Fordun says, was
afterwards preserved in St. Wilfrid's Church at Ripon. Bishop Forbes
describes the meeting of the two great men "as one of those incidents
which we wish to be true, and which we have no certainty for believing
not to be so."[49] St. Kentigern died in 603 or 614, and was buried in
Glasgow, which is still known as the city of St. Mungo--Mungo being his
name of honour or affection. Everything connected with St. Mungo's early
church, of wood and wattles or of stone, on the banks of the Molendinar,
is shrouded in the mists of antiquity until the first quarter of the
twelfth century, when David, Prince and Earl of Cumbria, the youngest
son of Queen Margaret, took measures to reconstruct the see and recover
its property. Of Glasgow during the Culdee period nothing can be
definitely known. The result of Prince David's inquest is contained in
the _Register_ of the Bishopric,[50] and it sets forth that Prince
David, from love to God and by the exhortation of the Bishop, having
caused inquiry to be made concerning the lands belonging to the church
in Cumbria, had ascertained that they belonged to the church of Glasgow,
and restored them. These lands extended from the Clyde on the north to
the Solway and English March on the south, from the western boundary of
Lothian on the east to the river Urr on the west, including Teviotdale,
and comprehended what afterwards formed the site of the city of
Glasgow.[51] The building of the cathedral would appear to have been
begun before David succeeded to the throne in 1124, and he appointed his
tutor John (called Achaius) to the bishopric. In 1136 the church, which
was probably chiefly of wood, was dedicated, and King David endowed it
further with lands, tithes, and churches. The church of Achaius was
destroyed by fire, but through the exertions of Bishop Joceline a
society was founded to collect funds for its restoration, and the work
was sufficiently advanced for its consecration on 6th July 1197.[52]
Although built at different dates, the building has a very homogeneous
appearance, and might be mistaken for a building of one period. Under
competent guidance,[53] we now propose to give a short sketch of the
cathedral itself.
The first attempt to erect a cathedral was made by Bishop Achaius, whose
episcopate extended from 1115 to 1147, and Mr. Honeyman regards the
portion of the lower church at the south-west angle as the most ancient
part of the structure. He holds that the church built by Achaius was
restored by Bishop Joceline (1175-1199) at the end of the twelfth
century, and that the above portion formed a chapel, and was part of
that restoration. The strongest argument is its nearness to the tomb of
the patron saint. If we assume that the old choir terminated in a
semicircular apse, projecting eastward beyond the aisles, we shall find
that the tomb would be enclosed in such a position as to admit of the
high altar being placed immediately over it. Assuming that the choir was
not apsidal but square, we get the same result. The probability is that
the end of the church erected or altered by Joceline was square, and
that it projected two bays beyond the aisles, as at St. Andrews and
other churches of the same period.[54] The crypt, or, strictly speaking,
"lower church," was evidently suggested by the sloping eastward
character of the site, which would have placed St. Mungo's tomb at a
depth below the level on which a large church could possibly be built;
while Achaius, from his long residence in Italy, would be led to imitate
some notable Italian examples.[55] Some similarities between Glasgow and
Jedburgh (which was in the diocese of Glasgow) have suggested that there
was in the olden times such a servant of the church as a diocesean
architect.[56] "One thing is abundantly clear," says Mr. Honeyman, "to
any one who intelligently studies the building, namely, that the whole
design 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 great experience. Nothing has been left
to chance, or to the sweet will of the co-operating craftsman, but the
one master-mind has dictated every moulding and every combination, and
has left the impress of his genius upon it all. The mark of the master
may be discerned by the practised eye in every feature of the
magnificent edifice; the marks of the craftsmen may be seen on the work
they were told to do, and did so well."[57] To Bishop Joceline is due
the credit of having formed a society to collect funds for the
restoration of Bishop John's church, which was burnt by fire,[58] and he
appears to have rebuilt the choir, and also to have designed, if he did
not also partly build, the nave.[59] This part of his work was
sufficiently advanced for consecration on 6th July 1197.[60] The work
was probably continued by his successors, but the next great benefactor
of the cathedral was Bishop William de Bondington (1233-1258), who
perfected Joceline's work, and built both choir and lower church or
"crypt," as they now are.[61] According to Mr. Honeyman, the foundations
of the nave were laid and part of the walls was carried up before the
building of the choir was begun.[62] Most of the nave appears, from its
architecture, to have been erected at the end of the thirteenth, or the
beginning of the fourteenth century, and is pronounced to form "one of
the finest examples of the late First Pointed or Early Decorated style
in Scotland."[63] "The spacing (of the piers) is that of the twelfth
century (considerably less than that of the choir), while the height and
the treatment, in other respects, is that of the latter portion of the
thirteenth."[64]
Bishop Wishart during the war of Independence supported the Scottish
party; he obtained permission from Edward I. to cut timber in Luss
forest for erecting the spire of the cathedral, and it was one of the
causes of accusation against him, which led to his imprisonment in
England, that he had used the said timber not for building the spire but
for making engines of war wherewith to attack Edward's army. In 1400 the
wooden spire of the cathedral was destroyed by lightning, but a new
tower of masonry was erected over the crossing by Bishop Lauder
(1408-1425), who carried the work as high as the main parapet. "This
bishop appears also to have begun the completion of the chapter-house, a
detached structure lying to the north-east of the choir. The walls of
this building were partly erected about the time of the construction of
the choir, but were afterwards raised to two storeys in height, and
vaulted by Bishop Cameron."[65] This latter prelate (1426-1446) was
known as "the Magnificent," from the splendour of his retinue and court.
He erected the stone spire above the tower of Bishop Lauder, and also
completed the chapter-house wing containing the sacristy on the upper
floor, and the chapter-house on the ground floor. His arms are still to
be seen on the portions of the structure erected by him. The beautiful
rood-screen was also probably constructed by him.[66] Bishop Cameron
also increased the number of prebendaries from seven to thirty-two, and
ordained that they should all have manses and reside near the cathedral.
In his day the episcopal court was said to rival that of the King, and
he built the great tower of the castle or episcopal palace, which was
probably erected by Bishop Bondington and stood with the garden in the
open space between the cathedral and the present Castle Street, now
called Infirmary Square. The Bishop's palace was a Scottish baronial
structure, and had an elaborate turreted gateway or port at the
south-east angle of the wall nearly opposite the gate that now leads to
the cathedral yard.[67] Bishop William Turnbull, who succeeded Bishop
Cameron, held office from 1448 to 1454. He did not add much to the
cathedral, but his memory ought to be gratefully remembered, for in
response to his representation and that of the King, Pope Nicholas V.
issued his bull, on 7th January 1450-1451, by which he erected the
University, ordaining that it should flourish in all time to come, as
well in theology and canon and civil law as in the arts and every lawful
faculty, and that the doctors, masters, readers, and students might
there enjoy all the liberties, honours, exemptions, and immunities
granted by the Apostolic see to the doctors, masters, and students in
the University of Bologna. He gave the power to confer degrees and make
licentiates--an important recognition in those days, for it brought the
influence of the Church on the side of schools of learning, and gave
universal European validity to the degrees so conferred.[68] The Bishop
of Glasgow was the patron and head of the University of Glasgow, which
was thus founded forty years after that of St. Andrews, and forty years
before that of Aberdeen. The next prelate, Bishop Andrew Muirhead
(1455-1473) took an important part in the State affairs of the period,
and as far as his work in the cathedral is concerned, built the hall of
the choral vicars. It is situated between the two buttresses at the west
end of the north aisle of the choir, and is a low building now roofed
with flags. It was called the "aula vicariorum chori," and was built as
an accommodation for the vicars choral, whose duties were to serve and
sing in the choir. They were formed into a college by Bishop Muirhead,
were originally twelve in number, but were afterwards increased to
eighteen, and were aided by boy choristers. Archbishop Eyre thinks that
this building on the north side of the cathedral was the early
song-school of the church, which passed into the hands of the college of
vicars choral, and was a hall for their business meetings and musical
practice, the second storey being probably their reading-room, or the
sleeping-place of the sacristan, who was required to sleep in the
church.[69]
Robert Blacader (1484-1508) was high in favour with King James IV., and
was one of the embassy sent to England to arrange the marriage of the
Scottish monarch with the daughter of Henry VII. James had previously
sought consolation under the Bishop's care, enrolled himself as a
prebendary in the cathedral, and in person attended as a member of the
cathedral-chapter. The King was always favourable to Glasgow, and did
not desire the see to be subordinate to that of St. Andrews. He urged
upon the Pope that the pallium should be granted to the Bishop of
Glasgow, whose cathedral, he urged, "surpasses the other cathedral
churches of my realm by its structure, its learned men, its foundation,
its ornaments, and other very noble prerogatives." A bull was granted in
1491-1492 by Pope Innocent VIII. in which he declared the see to be
metropolitan, and appointed the bishops of Dunkeld, Dunblane, Galloway,
and Argyll to be its suffragans.[70] Blacader was the first Archbishop
of Glasgow, and beautified his cathedral by building or adorning the
fine rood-screen which separates the nave from the choir[71] by founding
altarages and erecting two altars in front of the rood-screen, on both
of which his arms and initials are carved.[72] He built also the
decorated flights of steps from the aisles of the nave to the choir, and
partly erected the building in continuation of the south transept,
called Blacader's aisle, but it was never carried higher than the ground
storey or crypt.[73] It is also known as Fergus's aisle.[74] Archbishop
Blacader was the last to add to the cathedral, and there is reason to
believe that his addition occupies the site of the cemetery consecrated
by St. Ninian, and thus the earliest consecration and the latest
building effort are identified with the same spot.[75]
Glasgow, like Elgin, Aberdeen, and Brechin, possessed originally two
western towers, but at Glasgow, grievously and unfortunately, the
south-west tower was removed in 1845, and the north-west one in 1848 by
the Restoration Committee. They were venerable in their antiquity, and
were probably built after the completion of the nave and aisles, if not
at the same time. Evidence showed "that probably the north-west tower
was part of the original design, or if not, that its erection was
resolved on before the north aisle was completed, and it was built
before the west window of the north aisle required to be glazed. The
south-west tower was probably of the same date."[76] The latter was best
known as the consistory house, and was the place where the bishops held
their ecclesiastical courts and the diocesan records were kept. The only
comfort amid the demolition of the towers is that the proposed new ones
were not erected in their place; and better counsel ought to have
prevailed, since Mr. Billings described the removal as an act of
barbarism. "All who now see the grand old building, shorn of its
cathedral features, and made like a large parish church, mock and laugh
at the action of the local committee, saying, "These men had two towers,
and they went and pulled them both down.""[77]
The higher church had twenty-four altars or chapels;[78] the lower
church, commonly but incorrectly called the crypt, had six altars;[79]
the high altar occupied the usual place, was dedicated to St.
Kentigern, had a wooden canopy or tabernacle work over it, and in front
of it, on the right-hand side, was the bishop's throne.[80] When it is
recalled that the cathedral possessed these thirty altars or chapels
(most of them beautiful works of art), thirty-two canons, college of
choral vicars, with other assistants, one can well understand the great,
almost dangerous power which the "Spiritual Dukedom" possessed, and the
dread, felt even by its own chapter, when it was first proposed to make
the bishopric into an archbishopric, for they regarded the movement as
conferring too much power on the bishop.[81] A conception of the
archbishop's power may be formed by recalling that the archdeaconry of
Glasgow contained the following deaneries--Nycht, Nith, or Dumfries,
with 31 parishes, besides 2 in Annandale and 8 in Galloway; Annandale,
28 parishes, besides 8 in Eskdale; Kyle, 17 parishes; Cunningham, 15;
Carrick, 9; Lennox, 17; Rutherglen, 34; Lanark or Clydesdale, 25;
Peebles or Stobo, 19; the archdeaconry of Teviotdale, 36 parishes.[82]
Besides the prelates already mentioned there were, as the direct
successors of Blacader, James Beaton (1508-1522), afterwards Archbishop
of St. Andrews; Gavin Dunbar (1524-1547); James Beaton, the last Roman
Catholic archbishop, who at the Reformation retired to France with the
writs of the see, which were deposited, by his directions, partly in the
archives of the Scots College, and partly in the Chartreuse of Paris,
and have been since published by the Maitland Club.[83] Among the
Protestant archbishops space will only permit us recording the names of
John Spottiswood (1612-1615) and Robert Leighton (1671-1674).[84]
Glasgow has passed through the various stages of burgh, burgh of barony,
burgh of regality, city, royal burgh, and county of a city.[85] But it
grew under the protection of the Church, for as David I. granted to
Bishop John of St. Andrews the site of the burgh of that name, so
William the Lion granted to Bishop Joceline of Glasgow the right to have
a burgh in Glasgow, with all the freedoms and customs which any royal
burgh in Scotland possessed.[86] Glasgow thus owed its existence to the
Church, under whose fostering care it developed for centuries, and the
ruling ecclesiastic elected the provost, magistrates, and councillors.
Its motto still is "Let Glasgow flourish by the preaching of the Word,"
and its seal emblems have been thus interpreted: "The employment of
these four emblems (fish, bird, tree, bell) in connection with St.
Kentigern was meant to convey that he was sent as a fisher of men, that
his work from small beginnings grew to very large dimensions, 'like to
a grain of mustard-seed, ... which is the least indeed of all seeds, but
when it is grown up ... becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air
come and dwell in the branches thereof'; and that his name and fame
became so great that he was heard of everywhere. 'Verily their sound
hath gone forth into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the
whole world.'"[87]
The most beautiful features of the exterior are pronounced to be the
doorways, especially those of the lower church,[88] the vaulting of
which was said by Sir Gilbert Scott to contain nowhere two compartments
in juxtaposition which are alike.[89] It has been suggested that the
motive of the architect was to reproduce, as nearly as circumstances
permitted, the plan of Solomon's Temple, and the arrangement corresponds
exactly.[90] The beauty of the lower church is much obscured by the dark
stained glass in the windows, and it is matter for regret that this
masterpiece of design and wonderful variety of effect[91] are not more
visible.
"The plan of the cathedral," says Mr. Honeyman, "is remarkably compact,
and the exterior is symmetrical and harmonious. The best points of view
are from the north-east and the south-east. From either of these points
the full height of the structure is seen, and that is sufficiently great
to give the building a dignified and impressive effect, the height from
the ground-level to the apex of the choir gable being 115 feet. The
well-proportioned short transept breaks the monotony of the long
clerestory, without unduly hiding it, as transepts with more projections
do. The gable of the choir, with its four lancets, rises picturesquely
over the double eastern aisles, while the sombre keep-like mass of the
chapter-house adds a romantic element to the effect of the whole
composition, which culminates gracefully in the lofty spire. The
pervading characteristic is simplicity, and the effect solemnising. Sir
Walter Scott, with his usual quick perception of _character_ in
buildings, as well as in man, puts an admirable reference to these
salient points into the mouth of Andrew Fairservice, who exclaims, 'Ah!
it's a brave kirk; nane o' yer whigmaleeries an' curliwurlies, an'
open-steek hems about it.' It may, indeed, be called severe, but not
tame."[92] Internally the cathedral has a nave of eight bays, with side
aisles; transepts, not projecting beyond the aisles; a choir of five
bays, with side aisles and an aisle at the east end, with chapels beyond
it. At the north-east corner of the choir is the sacristy or vestiarium;
below it is the chapter-house, with an entrance from the lower church;
on the south side of the church, as a continuation of the transept, is
another low church or crypt, called "Blacader's Aisle"; on the north
side are the foundations of a large chapel. Over the crossing rise the
tower and spire, 217 feet high. The church within is 283 feet long by 61
feet broad.[93]
The history of the cathedral is closely connected with many of the
stirring events in Scottish history. King Edward prostrated himself
before its altar; Robert the Bruce within it received absolution, "while
the Red Cumyn's blood was scarce yet dry upon his dagger"; and within
its walls was held the Glasgow Assembly of 1638, when the Episcopate was
abolished, and the Presbyterian government was restored. Robert Leighton
has preached within its choir, in his low, sweet voice, and with those
angelic strains of eloquence and devotion which lingered in the memory
of his hearers to their dying day.
3. DIOCESE OF DUNKELD
Dunkeld is situated amid lovely scenery, and was from the earliest times
a religious centre. The name means fort of the Culdees. After the
destruction of Iona by the Norsemen in the beginning of the ninth
century, Dunkeld became the seat of the Columban authority in Scotland,
and part of the relics of St. Columba were brought here by King Kenneth
Macalpine in 850. Its abbot was named Bishop of Fortreum, but in 865 the
primacy was transferred to Abernethy, and thence to St. Andrews in 908.
One of the lay abbots at Dunkeld married a daughter of Malcolm II., and
through the influence of their descendants the religious order in
Scotland was changed. Emerging as great secular chiefs, these lay abbots
weakened, if they did not destroy, the ecclesiastical foundation. The
bishopric was revived by Alexander I. in 1107, and prior to the
thirteenth century was not confined to Atholl, but extended to the
western sea, and included the districts stretching along its shores from
the Firth of Clyde to Lochbroom, and forming the province of Argyll.[94]
The western part was separated about 1200, and formed into a new
bishopric, termed first that of Argyll, and afterward that of
Lismore.[95] Cormac, the Culdee abbot, was the first bishop under the
new order, and among his successors may be mentioned Bishop Sinclair
(1312-1338), the friend of Bruce, and a "man of courage, the champion of
the Church, and the brave defender of the constitution of the
kingdom";[96] Bishop Lauder (1452-1476), who filled the see "with
unfading honour,"[97] and built a bridge across the Tay, as well as
adorned the cathedral; George Brown (1485-1514), who divided the see
into four deaneries, procured Gaelic preachers,[98] promoted clerical
efficiency, enlarged the palace at Dunkeld, and built the castle of
Cluny;[99] Gavin Douglas (1516-1522), "a noble, learned, worthy
bishop,"[100] who translated the _Æneid_ into Scots verse, and thus
in a barbarous age,
Gave to rude Scotland Virgil's page.
The diocese had four deaneries: (1) Atholl and Drumalbane, with 47
parishes; (2) Angus, with 5; (3) Fife, Fotherick, and Stratherne, with
7; (4) South Forth, with 7.[101]
Canon Myln's quaint _Lives of the Bishops of Dunkeld_ professes to give
an account of the building of the cathedral, and it appears that the
existing structure is chiefly of the fifteenth century.[102] It consists
of an aisleless choir, a nave with two aisles, a north-west tower, and a
chapter-house to the north of the choir. It appears that the different
parts of the structure were begun at the dates given by Abbot Myln, but
were not completed until some time afterwards.[103] All are Third
Pointed in style except the choir, which retains some scanty portions of
First Pointed work. The following are given as the approximate dates of
the original construction: choir (1318-1400); nave (1406-1465);
chapter-house (1457-1465); tower (1469-1501).
The episcopal palace was a little south-west of the cathedral, which
contained many valuable ornaments and vessels, a painted reredos, and in
its great tower two large bells, named St. George and St. Colm
(Columba). At the Reformation in 1560, the cathedral suffered the common
fate of most of such structures, although Argyll and Ruthven, in
requiring the lairds of Airntully and Kinvaid "to purge the kirk of all
kinds of monuments of idolatry," requested them also "to tak good heid
that neither the desks, windocks, nor doors be onyways hurt or broken,
either glassin work or iron work." The closing injunction was not
observed, and the roofs were also demolished. In 1600 the choir was
re-roofed, and is the present parish church. But the ruins still speak
of the former grandeur of this old church-town, and perhaps a like day
may yet dawn for Dunkeld, as has been seen at Dunblane.
4. DIOCESE OF ABERDEEN
The earliest ecclesiastical history of Aberdeen is connected with St.
Machar (a disciple of St. Columba), who preached the Gospel among the
Northern Picts and settled on the banks of the Don, founding there both
a Christian colony and a church, which, from its situation, was called
the Church of Aberdon. Another band of Columban missionaries established
themselves in the sequestered vale of the Fiddich, at Morthlac, and in
the beginning of the twelfth century the "Monastery of Morthlach"
possessed five dependent churches.[104] The tradition that there was a
bishopric at Murthlack or Morthlach is not founded on reliable evidence,
and is discredited by Dr. Cosmo Innes[105] and Dr. Skene.[106] What
David I. did was to graft on the Culdee monastery of St. Machar the
chapter of a new diocese, and in this manner the bishopric was founded
before 1150, and endowed with old Culdee possessions, among others with
the "Monastery of Morthlach" and its five churches.[107] The third
bishop, Matthew de Kininmond, began to build a cathedral between 1183
and 1199 to supersede the primitive church then existing,[108] "which
(new building), because it was not glorious enough, Bishop Cheyne threw
down."[109] The second edifice was begun by Bishop Cheyne about 1282,
and the work was interrupted by the Scottish war with Edward I. during
the bishop's absence in temporary banishment. "The king (Bruce) seeing
the new cathedral he had begun, made the church to be built with the
revenues of the bishopric."[110] The cathedral thus built was thrown
down in turn by Bishop Alexander Kininmond, who succeeded in 1355 and
began the present cathedral about 1366. "Of his operations there remain
two large piers for the support of the central tower, which form the
earliest portion of the structure of St. Machar's now remaining."[111]
The dean and chapter (of which Barbour, the father of Scottish poetry,
was a member) taxed themselves for the fabric in sixty pounds annually
for ten years; the bishop surrendered revenues worth about twice that
sum; the Pope in 1380 made a grant of indulgences to all who should help
the work. All these appliances but availed to raise the foundations of
the nave a few feet above ground.[112] Forty years elapsed before Bishop
Leighton (1422-1440) completed the wall of the nave, founded the
northern transept, and reared the two western towers.[113] Bishop
Lindsay (1441-1459) paved and roofed the cathedral; it was glazed by
Bishop Spens (1459-1480). Bishop Elphinstone (1487-1514), who founded
King's College in 1500, and who was "the most distinguished of all who
ever filled the episcopal chair," ... and possessed "manners and
temperance in his own person, befitting the primitive ages of
Christianity,"[114] adorned the cathedral. He built the great central
tower and wooden spire, provided the great bells, and covered the roofs
of nave, aisles, and transept with lead.[115] This central tower was
four storey high, and square, and had two battlements and fourteen
bells; it was a noted landmark to mariners at sea.[116] Bishop Gavin
Dunbar (1519-1531) built the southern transept, added spires to
Leighton's towers, and constructed at his own "pains and expenses" the
flat ceiling of oak, which still remains with the heraldries of the
Pope, the Emperor, St. Margaret, the kings and princes of Christendom,
the bishops and the earls of Scotland. Bishop Elphinstone began to
rebuild the choir, but it never seems to have been finished. Alluding to
1560, Orme says, "The glorious structure of said cathedral church, being
near nine score years in building, did not remain twenty entire, when it
was almost ruined by a crew of sacrilegious church robbers."[117] The
ruins of the choir have been entirely removed; of the transepts only the
foundations now remain, the architecture being destroyed by the fall of
the central tower in 1688. The nave is nearly perfect, and is used as
the parish church. The west front, except the spires, is entirely built
with granite, and is regarded as one of the most impressive and imposing
structures in Scotland,[118] and as stately in the severe symmetry of
its simple design.[119] There is a remarkable entrance doorway, the
jambs being mere rounds and hollows, with a flat stone laid along at the
springing of the round arch. Above the doorway are seven lofty narrow
windows, crowned each with a round and cusped arch, and forming a
striking feature of the whole. The clerestory windows are narrow and
round arched, without any moulding, while the aisle windows are filled
with the simplest tracery. East of the cathedral was the bishop's
palace (1470), "a large and fair court, having a high tower at each of
its four corners";[120] to the south stood the deanery. Aberdeen was
created a city or bishop's see by King David,[121] and the diocese
contained five deaneries, with 94 parishes.
5. DIOCESE OF MORAY
Previously to Elgin, the see was successively at Birnay, Kinnedor, and
Spyny, but without a proper cathedral.[122] Alexander I., shortly after
his accession in 1107, founded the bishopric, but it was not till the
time of Bricius, the sixth Bishop of Moray, who filled that position
from 1203 to 1222, that the bishops had any fixed residence in the
diocese.[123] When Bricius became bishop in 1203, he fixed his cathedral
at Spyny, founded a chapter of eight secular canons, and gave to his
church a constitution founded on the usage of Lincoln, which he
ascertained by a mission to England.[124] Andrew de Moravia succeeded
him in 1222, and in his time (1224) the transference of the episcopal
see and the cathedral of the diocese to Elgin was effected, which had
probably been designed and solicited by his predecessor.[125] This
bishop probably built the cathedral church, munificently endowed it,
increased the number of prebends to twenty-three, of which he held one,
and sat as a canon in the chapter.[126] The Cathedral of the Holy
Trinity was founded in 1224, on the site of an older church with the
same dedication, and the work proceeded under Bishop Andrew's
supervision during the eighteen remaining years of his life.[127] The
_Register_ of the see shows us "Master Gregory the mason and Richard the
glazier" at work in autumn 1237.[128] Of the building itself probably
now little is left, for it is recorded by Fordun under the year 1270
that the Cathedral of Elgin and the houses of the canons were burnt, but
whether by accident or design he does not add. The ruins now standing
probably date from a subsequent period, when there was raised the
stately building, of which Bishop Alexander Bur wrote to the king that
it was "the pride of the land, the glory of the realm, the delight of
wayfarers and strangers, a praise and boast among foreign nations, lofty
in its towers without, splendid in its appointments within, its
countless jewels and rich vestments, and the multitude of its priests,
serving God in righteousness."[129] This description is taken from a
letter addressed to King Robert III., complaining that on the feast of
St. Botolph, in 1390, the king's own brother, the Earl of Buchan,
popularly known as the "Wolf of Badenoch," had descended from the hills
with a band of wild Scots, and burned a considerable part of the town of
Elgin, St. Giles Church, the Maison Dieu, the manses of the clergy, and
the cathedral itself. The bishop appealed for aid and reparation, and
the "Wolf of Badenoch" was compelled to yield, but, on condition that he
should make satisfaction to the bishop and church of Moray and obtain
absolution from the Pope, he was absolved by the Bishop of St. Andrews
in the Blackfriars Church at Perth. Notwithstanding his age and
feebleness, Bishop Bur energetically pressed on the restoration of the
cathedral, and it was continued by Bishops Spynie (1397-1406) and Innes
(1406-1421), and even then it was not completed. It thus occupied many
years, even though it was promoted by grants of the royal favour, by a
third part of the whole revenues of the see being devoted to it for a
time, and by yearly subsidies being levied on every benefice in a
diocese stretching "from the Ness to the Deveron, from the sea to the
passes of Lochaber and the central mountains that divide Badenoch and
Athol."[130] Early in the sixteenth century the central tower showed
signs of weakness, and had to be rebuilt in 1538. It fell in 1711,
destroying the nave and transepts.[131]
The Cathedral of Elgin was complete in all arrangements, and had a large
nave with double aisles, an extended choir and presbytery, north and
south transepts, a lady chapel, and a detached octagonal chapter-house.
It had a great tower and spire over the crossing, two beautiful turrets
at the east end, and two noble towers at the west end. Most of the
existing portions are pronounced to belong to the period when Scottish
architecture was at its best.[132] The existing ruins testify to the
former splendour of the completed structure, which was said to be a
building of Gothic architecture inferior to few in Europe. "Elgin
alone," says Dr. Joseph Robertson, "among the Scottish cathedrals of the
thirteenth century, had two western towers. They are now shorn of their
just height, but still they may be seen from far, lifting their bulk
above the pleasant plain of Murray, and suggesting what the pile must
have been when the amiable and learned Florence Wilson loved to look
upon its magnificence as he meditated his _De Animi Tranquillitate_ on
the banks of the Lossie, and when the great central spire soared to
twice the altitude of the loftiest pinnacle of ruin that now grieves the
eye."[133] The destruction of the cathedral was hastened by the
alienation of Church lands by Bishop Patrick Hepburn, among the worst of
the bishops; by the Privy Council in 1568 ordering the removal of lead
from the roofs; by wind and weather; by Cromwell's troops; by an
irrational zeal, which in 1630 broke down the carved screen and lovely
wood-work; and lastly by the falling of the central tower, which
destroyed the whole nave and part of the transepts. The passing away of
such a colossal work of beauty is grievous, and not less so when it is
recalled that the cathedral expressed the devoted labour of centuries.
According to the latest authorities, the following are the probable
dates. The transept was erected about 1224, and may possibly have formed
part of the original Church of the Trinity. The western towers followed
soon after; the western portal somewhat later. The west part of the
north wall of the choir may have been part of the original church, but
the general work of choir, nave, and early chapter-house would appear to
have been carried out during the thirteenth century, and before the
Scottish War of Independence. The cathedral, thus completed, remained
for about a century, when the "Wolf of Badenoch" deformed or destroyed
nave and chapter-house. The west front above the portal and the whole of
the nave were reconstructed about the time of Bishop Dunbar (1422-1435),
and the chapter-house by Bishop David Stewart (1482-1501). The
architecture corresponds with their respective periods, and bears their
coats of arms, engraved on each department.[134]
Dr. Thomas Chalmers considered the ruins of Elgin to be the finest
remains of antiquity in Scotland, and as picturesque in their
variety.[135]
6. DIOCESE OF BRECHIN
The two bishoprics of Brechin and Dunblane were formed from the old
Pictish bishopric of Abernethy, in so far as its churches were not yet
absorbed by the growing bishopric of St. Andrews, which immediately
succeeded it.[136] Abernethy was the last of the bishoprics which
existed while the kingdom ruled over by the Scottish dynasty was called
the kingdom of the Picts; St. Andrews was associated with that of the
Scots.[137] Abernethy was from the earliest days dedicated to St. Bride,
and Panbride in the diocese of Brechin, and Kilbride in that of
Dunblane, indicate, in Dr. Skene's view, that the veneration of the
patroness of Abernethy had extended to other churches included in these
dioceses.[138] From this old Pictish diocese the bishopric of Brechin
was formed, towards the end of King David's reign, about 1150.[139] The
Church of Brechin has no claim to represent an old Columban
monastery:[140] its origin as a church is clearly recorded in the
Pictish Chronicle, which states that King Kenneth, son of Malcolm, who
reigned from 971 to 995, gave "the great city of Brechin to the Lord,"
founding a church to the Holy Trinity, a monastery apparently after the
Irish model, combined with a Culdee college. We hear of it next in two
charters of David I. to the Church of Deer, and in the second of these
the "abbot" of the first appears as "Bishop of Brechin" (about 1150).
The abbacy passed to lay hereditary bishops, and the Culdees were first
conjoined with, next distinguished from, and at last superseded by, the
cathedral chapter.[141]
The early Church of Brechin emanated from the Irish Church, and was
assimilated in its character to the Irish monastery. Of the early
connection, there still survives at Brechin the famous Round Tower,
which now occupies the place of a spire at the south-west angle of the
present church. This, with the older one at Abernethy, and the ruined
one at Egilshay in Orkney, are the only surviving types in Scotland.
There were said to have been four others, which are no longer existing,
viz. Deerness in Orkney; West Burray, Tingwall, and Ireland Head, in
Shetland.[142] Dr. Skene gives the date of the Abernethy one as about
870, or between that year and the close of the century, and asserts that
the date of the Brechin tower can be placed with some degree of
certainty late in the succeeding century.[143] Probably it was erected
in the reign of Kenneth (971-995), or about 1012, when Brechin was
destroyed by the Danes.[144] Egilshay probably dates about 1098.[145]
The Brechin tower is capped by a conical stone roof. Dr. Joseph Anderson
shows that those round towers are outliers of a group of which Ireland
is the home;[146] and they were erected during the time when the Celtic
Church was much perplexed by the pillaging attacks of the Danes, that
the ecclesiastics might protect their valuable illuminated manuscripts,
and other costly possessions. The Brechin one corresponds with the Irish
ones, and is built in sixty irregular courses, of blocks of reddish-grey
sandstone, dressed to the curve, but squared at neither top nor bottom;
within, string-courses divide it into seven storeys, the topmost lighted
by four largish apertures facing the cardinal points. A western doorway,
6-2/3 feet from the ground, has inclined jambs and a semicircular head,
all three hewn from single blocks, and the arch being rudely sculptured
with a crucifix, each jamb with a bishop bearing a pastoral staff, and
each corner of the sill with a nondescript crouching animal.[147] The
sculpture on the graceful Tower of Brechin was, there as elsewhere, the
repetition in stone of the illuminated page of the Celtic scribe, who in
turn repeated many of the graceful and varied designs of the
pre-Christian worker in bronze and gold,[148] adding to them Christian
symbols. Dr. Joseph Anderson finds in the figures of the crouching beast
and winged griffin at Brechin a close affinity to the figures of
nondescript creatures carved on the early sculptured memorial
stones.[149]
The cathedral, founded about 1150, and added to at various periods, was
originally a cruciform structure, consisting of a five-bayed nave with
two aisles, late First Pointed mixed with Second Pointed; a transept
formed by an extension of these aisles to the north and south; an
aisleless choir (with lancet windows), the ruins of which are a fine
example of First Pointed work,[150] and which when complete must have
been a very pure and beautiful piece of architecture. The north-west
tower was being constructed in the time of Bishop Patrick (1351-1373),
but must have been a long time in erection. The western doorway presents
the oldest feature of the existing building,[151] and is simple and
massive. The tower and spire are pronounced to be the completest and
best remaining example of their kind in Scotland.[152]
By the alteration of 1806 the choir was reduced, the transepts
demolished, new and wider aisles built on each side of the nave, while
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, "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."[153] The cathedral was thus sadly
deformed, but plans of restoration have been recently adopted, funds are
being raised, and the noble minster will before long be restored to its
former grandeur.
The diocese contained thirty parishes, and the bishop sat in the chapter
as Rector of Brechin, that being his prebend.[154]
The Maison Dieu formed part of a hospital, and is an interesting part of
First Pointed work. The rector of the Grammar School is still
"Praeceptor Domus Dei."
7. DIOCESE OF DUNBLANE
Dunblane was an early ecclesiastical centre. Its first church dates back
to the seventh century, and seems to have been an offshoot of the Church
of Kingarth in Bute, the founder of which was St. Blane, whose name is
perpetuated in that of the cathedral town.[155] St. Blane was of the
race of the Irish Picts, and "bishop" of the Church of Kingarth which
Cathan his uncle had founded. The church at Dunblane seems to have had a
chequered history, for the ancient town was burned (844-860) by the
Britons of Strathclyde, and in 912 was again ravished by Danish pirates.
Bishop Keith thinks there was a college of Culdees at Dunblane,[156] but
we do not hear anything about it in history, and the important college
was at Muthill, where the Dean of Dunblane afterwards had his seat.
Centres of the Celtic Church were also at the neighbouring Blackford,
Strageath, and Dunning, and they all served their day, until the new
order, inaugurated by Queen Margaret and continued by her successors on
the Scottish throne, was established in the district. About 1150, King
David I. established the bishopric of Dunblane, and about 1198 Earl
Gilbert and his countess introduced canons-regular by the foundation of
the Priory of Inchaffray. Under the growing importance of these centres,
the possession of the Keledei fell into lay hands, and after 1214 the
prior and Keledei of Muthill disappear from the records.[157]
The square tower of Dunblane, which still survives, is a relic of the
structure erected in the twelfth century,[158] and is one of the group,
centred in early Pictavia, revealing characteristics of Norman work, and
all connected with the sites of early Culdee establishments. Those north
of the Tay are at Brechin and Restennet; those south of it, at St.
Andrews (Regulus), Markinch, and Dunblane; Abernethy, Muthill, and
Dunning.[159] The lower four storeys of the Dunblane tower form part of
the original structure; the two highest are evidently of a late
date;[160] the walls are not parallel with those of the nave, and the
tower projects into the south aisle from 6 to 7 feet, and may have been
associated with an earlier church.
The see seems to have fallen into a forlorn condition, for when the
learned Dominican, Clement, was bishop (1233-1258), he made a pilgrimage
to Rome, and represented to the Pope among other things that "its rents
were barely sufficient to maintain him for six months; there was no
place in the cathedral wherein he could lay his head; there was no
collegiate establishment, and that in this unroofed church, the divine
offices were celebrated by a certain rural chaplain."[161] Evidently the
fourth part of the tithes of all the parishes within the diocese were
given for the support of the bishop and the building of the cathedral,
and he left it "a stately sanctuary, rich in land and heritage, served
by prebendary and canon." Bishop Clement built the nave, the most
beautiful part of the structure, but later in its architecture than the
north aisle of the choir or lady chapel, which was originally separated
from the choir by a solid wall, in which there never was any opening
into the aisle except the small doorway near the east end, which is of
First Pointed date.[162] Above the vault there is an upper storey with
small two-lighted windows, which may possibly have been used as a
scriptorium.[163] The cathedral consists of a nave of eight bays, with
north and south aisles, an aisleless choir of six bays, an eastern aisle
unconnected with the choir except by a doorway, and the tower attached
to the south aisle of nave. The following is a narrative of the building
of the cathedral as given by the most recent authorities. "The greater
part of the structure is of First Pointed date. The lady chapel may be
the oldest part (after the tower), and next to it is the east portion of
the nave. The western half of the nave seems to have followed soon after
the eastern portion, and is carried out nearly after the same design.
The transition tracery in the arcade of the clerestory and west end is
very interesting, as showing bar tracery in the act of being formed.
This could scarcely have occurred in Scotland before the end of the
thirteenth century. The style of the choir is further advanced than the
nave, and exhibits some transitional features between First Pointed and
Decorated work. The great east window and the large side windows of the
choir probably contained tracery more advanced than that of the west
end, and may probably date from the fourteenth century. The pinnacles
and parapet are of about 1500."[164] The west end, with its doorway,
deeply recessed with shafts and mouldings of First Pointed work, with an
acutely pointed blind arch on each side with trefoiled head within it;
with three lofty pointed windows, each divided into two lights by a
central mullion, and with arch-heads filled with cinquefoil and
quatrefoils; with north buttress so large as to contain a wheel
stair--is the finest part of the cathedral. Above the western window is
a vesica, set within a bevilled fringe of bay-leaves arranged
zigzagwise, with their points in contact. Of this Ruskin said in his
lecture,[165] "Do you recollect the west window of your own Dunblane
Cathedral? It is acknowledged to be beautiful by the most careless
observer. And why beautiful? Simply because in its great contours it has
the form of a forest leaf, and because in its decoration it has used
nothing but forest leaves. He was no common man who designed that
cathedral of Dunblane. I know nothing so perfect in its simplicity, and
so beautiful, so far as it reaches, in all the Gothic with which I am
acquainted. And just in proportion to his power of mind, that man was
content to work under Nature's teaching, and, instead of putting a
merely formal dog-tooth, as everybody else did at that time, he went
down to the woody bank of the sweet river beneath the rocks on which he
was building, and he took up a few of the fallen leaves that lay by it,
and he set them in his arch, side by side for ever."
Six of the stalls with, and several others without, canopies still
survive, and on one of the misereres are the arms of the Chisholm
family, surmounted by a mitre. Three bishops of this name presided in
Dunblane,[166] and the stalls were probably provided by the first,
Bishop James Chisholm, dating between 1486 and 1534. The stalls were
probably brought from Flanders, and the carving is spirited and full of
grotesque figures.[167] Other bishops, who ought gratefully to be
remembered for building done, are Bishop Dermoch (1400-1419) and Bishop
Ochiltree (1429-1447). Maurice, Abbot of Inchaffray and Bishop of
Dunblane (1320-1347), is described as a man of fervent spirit, who gave
great encouragement at the battle of Bannockburn, and was chosen by King
Robert the Bruce as his chaplain and confessor.[168] There are some
vestiges of the bishop's palace still left to the south-west of the
cathedral; and the Bishop's Walk, leading southward not far from the
river, and overshadowed by venerable beech trees, will always be
associated with Leighton, of whom Burnet wrote, "He had the most
heavenly disposition that I ever yet saw in mortal ... and I never once
saw him in any other temper but that which I wished to be in, in the
last moments of my life."[169] Leighton was Bishop of Dunblane from 1661
to 1670, and chose it as the poorest and smallest of Scotland's sees. At
his death he bequeathed to it his library, which is still preserved.
Those who wish to understand his devotion and inner life may be directed
to Dr. Walter Smith's beautiful poem _The Bishop's Walk_.
Until recently, only the choir was used as the parish church, but in
1893 the cathedral was reopened after a complete restoration costing
£28,000. The restoration was largely due to the munificent generosity of
Mrs. Wallace of Glassingall. The town bears witness to the influence of
the cathedral--
A quaint old place--a minster grey,
And grey old town that winds away
Through gardens, down the sloping ridge
To river's brim and ancient bridge,
Where the still waters flow
To the deep pool below.[170]
8. DIOCESE OF ROSS
David I. followed the foundation of the great bishoprics by dividing the
country north of the great range of the Mounth into separate sees, and
the first of such appears to have been the diocese of Rosemarky or Ross.
Makbeth, the first Bishop of Ross, appears as the witness to a charter
between 1128 and 1130.[171] The church was founded as a Columban
monastery by Lugadius or Moluoc of Lismore before 577, and Bonifacius
refounded it in the eighth century, and dedicated the church to St.
Peter. The Culdees disappear in the course of history, and instead there
emerges a regular cathedral body of canons under a dean.[172] The Bishop
of Ross had this peculiarity, that he took his title from the province,
and not from the town, where he held his see. When the see was founded
by David I., Rosmarkie continued as the cathedral centre, but after the
chapter was enlarged by Gregory IX. in 1235, the cathedral site was
changed to Fortrose or Chanonry, and the church was dedicated to SS.
Peter and Bonifacius. Chanonry is half a mile south-westward from
Rosemarkie, and was united with it in 1455 by James II. as a free burgh
under the common name of Fortrose. The presence of an educated clergy
made the place a centre of culture, and famous schools of divinity and
law flourished under the shadow of the cathedral.
The undercroft of the sacristy (afterwards enlarged) seems to indicate
that the work must have been begun before 1250,[173] but the
architecture of the aisle presents a beautiful specimen of the Middle
Pointed or Decorated period, and dates before or about the beginning of
the fifteenth century.[174] The cathedral, when entire, was a handsome
red sandstone building, comprising a nave of four bays, with aisles 14
feet wide and round-headed windows; a choir, with aisles, lady chapel,
west tower, quasi-transept, rood-turret, and to the north-east a vaulted
chapter-house over a crypt. It stood on level ground, and commanded a
fine view of the Moray Firth. When complete it must have been an
architectural gem, and its mouldings have been said to show that in
whatever other respects these remote parts of Scotland were barbarous,
in ecclesiology at least they were on a par with any other branch of the
mediæval Church.[175] All that now remains of the cathedral consists of
the south aisle of the nave, and the sacristy or undercroft of the
chapter-house. No vestige remains of the various manses of the chapter
that were within the cathedral precincts. The cathedral suffered at the
Reformation, but was repaired by Bishop Lindsay in 1615, and in 1649 was
not very ruinous. It would appear that the tradition is correct which
says that the masonry of the walls was removed by Cromwell, like that of
Kinloss Abbey, to provide material for the construction of his fort at
Inverness.
In the south wall there is a beautiful piscina, and in the north wall an
ambry with a small stone penthouse; an octagonal baptismal font of
remarkable design stands against the east wall of the aisle. There is a
range of canopied monuments, which stand between the pillars on the
north side. The east end had a large traceried window of five lights,
and when complete it must have been very beautiful.
The most famous of the bishops was John Leslie (1527-1596), who studied
at King's College, Aberdeen, at Paris, and at Poitiers. He held offices
both in the Aberdeen University and in the State, and in 1566 Queen Mary
bestowed on him the Abbey of Lindores _in commendam_, and subsequently
appointed him Bishop of Ross. He was a zealous supporter of Queen Mary,
and, after her flight to England, followed her, and never afterwards
returned to reside in Scotland. He was imprisoned in the Tower,[176]
where he wrote two small books for her spiritual profit, which Queen
Mary liked and endeavoured to turn into French verse. After his release
he retired to France, where he wrote his _History of Scotland_. On the
day before her execution, Queen Mary wrote to Philip of Spain,
beseeching him to show kindness to the Bishop of Ross for his faithful
and devoted services to her. The request was complied with, and he was
able to end his days tranquilly in a monastery near Brussels. It is said
that the bishop persuaded the Queen in 1565 to grant to all men a
liberty of conscience.[177]
9. DIOCESE OF CAITHNESS
The early history of the Church in Caithness points to a time before the
Northmen had any footing there, and connects it with the missionaries of
Ireland and Scotland. The legend of St. Finbar or St. Barr marks the
settlement of some Irish colonists, who brought with them the veneration
they had rendered in their old country to the patron saint of their
tribe or province.[178] SS. Duthac and Fergus are also associated with
the church of the district during the Celtic period, and during the
time of the former Keledei they may have been introduced here. The early
church of Dornoch was dedicated to St. Bar or Finbar, and before 1196
the Culdees had disappeared, and the clerical element was reduced to a
single priest.[179] The deed establishing a cathedral chapter of ten
canons, with dean, precentor, chancellor, treasurer, and archdeacon,
proceeds on the narrative "that in the times of his (Bishop Gilbert's)
predecessors there was but a single priest ministering in the cathedral,
both on account of the poverty of the place and by reason of frequent
hostilities; and that he desired to extend the worship of God in that
church, and resolved to build a cathedral church at his own expense, to
dedicate it to the Virgin Mary, and, in proportion to his limited means,
to make it conventual."[180] This benefactor of Dornoch was Bishop
Gilbert de Moravia (1222-1245), who organised the chapter after the
pattern of Elgin, which again had Lincoln for its model; and although
the see of Caithness is first heard of about 1130, to him is due the
credit of rebuilding the cathedral, which consisted of an aisled nave,
transept, choir, and massive central tower, with dwarfish spire. The old
cathedral town, with its society of learned churchmen, maintaining a
high position by their influence and example, cultivating letters,
preaching peace and practising it, must have been a centre of good in
the north, and Bishop Gilbert's name deserves to be honourably
remembered for his statesmanship, beneficence, and Christian character.
"He rests," says the breviary of Aberdeen, "in the church which he built
_with his own hands_"; even the glass was manufactured at Cyderhall
under his personal supervision.[181]
The tower is all that remains of Bishop Gilbert's work, for the
cathedral was burnt in 1570; the tower escaped with some fine Gothic
arches which fell before the terrific gale of 5th November 1605--the day
on which the Gunpowder Plot was discovered. In 1614 the 13th Earl of
Sutherland partially repaired the cathedral, to make it available for
the parish church, and in 1835-1837 it was rebuilt by the Duchess of
Sutherland at a cost of £6000. It had thus the misfortune to be restored
at a time when church restoration in Scotland was at its lowest ebb.
"The blame really attaches to those whom she entrusted with the
execution of her design."[182] The structure is now used as the parish
church of Dornoch. The square tower of the bishop's palace still
survives.
10. DIOCESE OF GALLOWAY
The name of Whithorn is a venerable one in Scottish Church history. It
is mentioned by Ptolemy, the Alexandrian geographer, in the second
century as Leukopibia, a town of the Novantae. The Greek name is
synonymous with the Latin Candida Casa or "White House," under which
designation it was latterly known. It is associated with the first known
apostle of Christianity in Scotland, St. Ninian, who was probably born
here about the middle of the fourth century. Of studious and ascetic
habits, he visited Rome, and on his homeward journey visited St. Martin
of Tours, who died in 397. After his arrival in Scotland, he founded the
Candida Casa or Church of Whithorn, dedicated it to St. Martin, and,
although Christianity was probably known in Scotland before his time,
his work is the first distinct fact in the history of the Scottish
Church. After preaching the Gospel among the Southern Picts, he died in
432, and was buried within his church at Whithorn. It is a matter of
dispute, whether this first Christian oratory was built, after the
custom of the early Scottish Church, on a small island or peninsula at
the point of the promontory which lies between the bays of Luce and
Wigtown, about three miles south from Whithorn, or on the spot where the
monastery afterwards arose. There are the ruins of a small chapel on
"The Isle," and although belonging to a later date, it is more than
probable that it was the successor of St. Ninian's first church.
Whithorn was famous also for its early schools and monastery, and
exercised no small influence in Christianising both the surrounding
district and Northumbria, or what is now known as the northerly parts of
England. A bishopric of Whithorn was founded by the Angles in 727, was
held by five successive bishops, and came to an end about 796, when the
disorganisation of the Northumbrian kingdom enabled the native
population to eject the strangers and assert their own independence.
During the reign of David I. (1124-1153), Fergus, Lord of Galloway,
re-established the see of Galloway, and founded at Whithorn a
Premonstratensian priory, whose church became the cathedral, and
contained the shrine of St. Ninian. The see included the whole of
Wigtownshire and the greater part of Kirkcudbrightshire; the bishop
remained under the jurisdiction of the Archbishop of York till at least
the fourteenth century, and in 1472 became suffragan of St. Andrews. In
1491, when Glasgow became a metropolitan see, the Bishop of Galloway
became a Vicar-General of it during vacancies. The canons of Whithorn
Priory formed the chapter of the see of Galloway, and the prior ranked
next to the bishop; the diocese was divided into three rural deaneries.
The shrine of St. Ninian became a place of pilgrimage for people from
all parts of Scotland, and was visited by Scottish queens and
kings--James IV. visited it generally once and frequently twice a year
throughout his whole reign. The priory became wealthy, and the church
and other buildings were of great extent. Among its priors may be
mentioned Gavin Dunbar (1514), who was tutor to James V. and afterwards
Archbishop of Glasgow; and James Beaton, who was prior and afterwards
Bishop of Galloway, was advanced to the archbishopric of Glasgow in
1509, and of St. Andrews in 1522.
The buildings of the priory are now reduced to the nave--an aisleless
structure--and to some underground vaulted buildings, which no doubt
formerly supported the choir and other erections above.[183] The west
tower fell in the beginning of last century; the cloister lay to the
north of the nave; the chapter-house, slype, and site of domestic
buildings extended to the north of the transept. The north wall of the
nave interior contains two pointed recesses for monuments, which are of
excellent design. At the south-west angle of the nave is a doorway which
is undoubtedly Norman,[184] and the sculptures on the right and left of
the projecting wall point to a close affinity between the sculptured
figures on the ancient stones and the architecture of the twelfth
century in Scotland.[185] The ancient font, probably of Norman date,
bowl-shaped, and of simple design, has been preserved in the church, and
St. Ninian's Cave--probably a place of religious retirement--about three
miles south-east of the village, contains some very old stone crosses,
and on its east wall some very old inscriptions, a number of which are
partly unintelligible by being covered with more recent ones.
The neighbourhood will always be associated with St. Ninian, the apostle
of the Britons and of the Southern Picts, and may be called the
historical fountain-head of the Scottish Church.
11. DIOCESE OF LISMORE OR ARGYLL
Lismore is an ancient settlement, and is the Epidium of Ptolemy, one of
his five Ebudae.[186] The island lies near the south end of Loch Linnhe,
and at a short distance from the mainland of Argyllshire.
The bishopric was formed about 1200 by the separation of the districts,
belonging to the bishopric of Dunkeld, which lay to the west of the
great range of Drumalban. Eraldus was the first Bishop of Argyll, and
had his seat at Muckairn, while his church bore the name of
Killespeckerill, or the church of Bishop Erailt.[187] It is possible
that some of the Keledei from Dunkeld may have accompanied the new
bishop and been established there. In 1236 the see was transferred from
Muckairn, on the south side of Loch Etive, to Lismore, where, long
before, a Columban monastery had been founded by St. Lughadh or Moluoc.
The see was afterwards known as the bishopric of Lismore, and contained
the following deaneries: Kintyre, with twelve parishes; Glassary or
Glasrod, with thirteen; Lorn, with fourteen; and Morvern, with
eight.[188] The cathedral was perhaps the humblest in Britain, and was
probably erected soon after the transference of the see in the
thirteenth century. It is said to have been a structure 137 feet long by
29-1/3 wide, but of this there only now survives an aisleless choir,
with traces of a chapter-house and sacristy; and, as re-roofed in 1749,
this choir now serves as a parish church. It has four buttresses of
simple form against the south wall, and two at each of the north and
south angles of the east wall. In the south wall, and in the usual
position near the east end, there are remains of a triple sedilia;
there is a piscina in a pointed recess, having a trefoil-headed niche in
the wall behind.[189]
One of the deans of Lismore, Sir James MacGregor, between 1512 and 1540,
compiled a commonplace book, filled chiefly with Gaelic heroic ballads,
several of which are ascribed to the authorship of Ossian.
12. DIOCESE OF THE ISLES
The history of Iona is associated with St. Columba, and, although its
church did not attain full cathedral status until 1506, the island was
one of the earliest centres of Christianity in Scotland.
St. Columba (Columcille or Colm) was born at Gartan, County Donegal, 7th
December 521, and was the son of a chief related to several of the
princes then reigning in Ireland and the west of Scotland. He studied
under St. Finnian at Moville, and under another of the same name at
Clonard. In 546 he founded the monastery of Derry, and in 553 that of
Durrow. The belief that he had caused the bloody battle of Culdremhne
led to his excommunication and exile from his native land, and,
accompanied by twelve disciples, he left Ireland and sailed for the
Western Islands, settling ultimately at Iona, where he and his
companions began their work among the heathen Picts. The legend of his
perpetual exile seems to be a fable, and Dr. Skene adds, "His real
motive for undertaking this mission seems therefore to have been partly
religious and partly political. He was one of the twelve apostles of
Ireland who had emerged from the school of Finnian of Clonard, and he no
doubt shared the missionary spirit which so deeply characterised the
monastic Church of Ireland at that period. He was also closely
connected through his grandmother with the line of the Dalriadic kings,
and, as an Irishman, must have been interested in the maintenance of the
Irish colony in the west of Scotland. Separated from him by the Irish
Channel was the great pagan nation of the Northern Picts, who, under a
powerful king, had just inflicted a crushing defeat upon the Scots of
Dalriada, and threatened their expulsion from the country; and, while
his missionary zeal impelled him to attempt the conversion of the Picts,
he must have felt that, if he succeeded in winning a pagan people to the
religion of Christ, he would at the same time rescue the Irish colony of
Dalriada from a great danger, and render them an important service by
establishing peaceable relations between them and their greatly more
numerous and powerful neighbours, and replacing them in the more secure
possession of the western districts they had colonised."[190] It was in
563, and at the age of forty-two, that he settled at Iona and commenced
his mission-work by founding his monastery[191] there. He met there "two
bishops," who came to receive his submission from him, but "God now
revealed to Columcille that they were not true bishops, whereupon they
left the island to him, when he told of them their history." They were,
thinks Dr. Skene, the remains of that anomalous church of seven bishops
which here, as elsewhere, preceded the monastic church, while Columba
appears to have refused to recognise them as such, and the island was
abandoned to him. Possessed as he was with the soul of a poet, and
susceptible to the impressive in nature, Columba could not have chosen a
finer spot than Iona for his work, or one where he could better combine
with missionary activity a life of purity and self-denial. Tradition
says he landed at the bay now known as Port-a-churaich, and proceeded
to found the monastery and establish the church which was ultimately to
embrace in its jurisdiction the whole of Scotland north of the Firths of
Forth and Clyde, to be for a century and a half the national church of
Scotland, and to give to the Angles of Northumbria the same form of
Christianity for a period of thirty years. The buildings that now remain
are of much later date, but it may be inferred that in its constitution,
spirit, and work the Columban Church was not isolated, but was in
reality a mission from the Irish Church, formed an integral part of it,
and never lost its connection with it. The principal buildings were
constructed of wood and wattles, and were originally (1) a monastery
with a small court, on one side of which was the church, with a small
side chamber, on a second side the guest-chamber, on the third a
refectory, and on the fourth dwellings of the monks; a little way off on
the highest part of the ground were (2) the cell of St. Columba, where
he sat and read or wrote during the day, and slept at night on the bare
ground with a stone for his pillow; and (3) various subsidiary
buildings, including a kiln, a mill, a barn, all surrounded by a rampart
or rath. Not far off was a sequestered hollow (Cabhan cuildeach) to
which Columba retired for solitary prayer. The mill has left its traces
in the small stream to the north of the present cathedral ruins, and
remains of old causeways may be traced from the landing places of
Port-na-martir, Port-Ronan, and Port-na-muintir. All the early
buildings, except the kiln, were of wood; the guest-chamber was wattled,
Columba's cell was made of planks, and the church was of oak. The
members of the community were termed brethren, and were addressed by
Columba as familia or chosen monks. They consisted of three classes: (1)
the older brethren, who devoted themselves to the religious services of
the church, and to reading and transcribing the Scriptures; (2) the
younger and stronger working brothers, who devoted themselves to
agriculture and the service of the monastery; (3) the alumni or youth,
who were under instruction. The dress of the monks consisted of a white
tunica or undergarment, over which they wore a camilla, consisting of a
body and hood made of wool, and of the natural colour of the material.
When working or travelling their feet were shod with sandals; they took
a solemn monastic vow on bended knees in the oratorium, were tonsured
from ear to ear--the fore part of the head being made bare, and the hair
allowed to grow only on the back part of the head. The church of Iona
was monastic, and in it we find neither a territorial episcopacy nor a
presbyterian parity. The bishops were under the monastic rule, and were,
in respect of jurisdiction, subject to the abbot, even though a
presbyter, as the head of the monastery; the privilege of the episcopate
was not interfered with.[192] The monastery was described as a
"gloriosum caenobium."
Columba made Iona his centre of activity, but his labours were not
confined to it. He travelled with his companions and preached the Gospel
as far north as Inverness, where King Brude was converted. He also
preached among the Southern Picts, and a church was built at Abernethy
by King Gartnaidh, as an outcome of his mission and as a memorial of his
labours. He was also a far-seeing statesman, and succeeded in
reconciling the feuds of the Northern and Southern Picts, and in making
the two kingdoms one. His life was spent in missionary activity and
beneficent service, and he died at Iona. The day before his death he
"ascended the hill that overlooketh the monastery, and stood for some
little time on its summit, and as he stood there with both hands
uplifted, he blessed his monastery, saying, 'Small and mean though this
place is, yet it shall be held in great and unusual honour, not only by
Scotic kings and people, but also by the rulers of foreign and barbarous
nations, and by their subjects; the saints also, even of other churches,
shall regard it with no common reverence.'" On the following day, at
nocturnal vigils, he went into the church, and knelt down in prayer
beside the altar, and "his attendant Diormit, who more slowly followed
him, saw from a distance that the whole interior of the church was
filled with a heavenly light in the direction of the saint," which, as
he drew near, quickly disappeared. "Feeling his way in the darkness, as
the brethren had not yet brought in the lights, he found the saint lying
before the altar," and all the monks coming in, Columba moved his hand
to give them his benediction, and died 9th June 597, while "the whole
church resounded with loud lamentations of grief." He left behind him an
imperishable memory in the hearts of the people converted by him to the
Christian faith, and in the national church which he so splendidly
helped to build up. He wrote an Altus, and is said to have copied 300
books with his own hand. He was buried at Iona.
After Columba's death, the monastery of Iona appears to have been the
acknowledged head of all the monasteries and churches which his mission
had founded in Scotland, as well as of those previously founded by him
in Ireland. It was a centre of light and life, but the monks were not
permitted to pursue their work unmolested. The monastery was burned and
plundered by the sea-pirates in 795, 798, and 802; in 806 sixty-eight of
the community were ruthlessly slain. The monks remaining were filled
with fear, and before 807 the relics of St. Columba were carried away to
Ireland, and enshrined at Kells. In 818 they were brought back, and the
monastery at Iona was rebuilt with stone. The Danes, however, granted
little respite, and in 878 the relics were again removed, and were
probably placed first at Dunkeld and afterwards at Abernethy,[193] where
the primacy was successively established, and a memorial of which exists
in the Abernethy round tower. The plundering continued at intervals, and
the buildings were more or less ruinous till about 1074, when Queen
Margaret "restored the monastery, ... rebuilt it, and furnished it with
monks, with an endowment for performing the Lord's work." "One of the
present buildings," said the late Duke of Argyll--"the least and the
most inconspicuous, but the most venerable of them all--St. Odhrain's
Chapel, may possibly be the same building which Queen Margaret of
Scotland is known to have erected in memory of the saint, and dedicated
to one of the most famous of his companions. But Queen Margaret died in
A.D. 1092, and therefore any building which she erected must date very
nearly five hundred years after Columba's death; that is to say, the
most ancient building which exists upon Iona must be separated in age
from Columba's time by as many centuries as those which now separate us
from Edward III. But St. Odhrain's Chapel has this great interest--that
in all probability it marks the site of the still humbler church of wood
and wattles in which Columba worshipped."[194] Shortly afterwards the
island passed into the possession of Magnus Barefoot, King of Norway,
and in 1099 the old order culminated in the death of Abbot Duncan, the
last of the old abbots. Under the bishopric of Man and the Isles, the
monastery became subject to the Bishop of Drontheim till 1156, when
Somerled won it, and once more restored the connection between Iona and
Ireland by placing the monastery under the care of the Abbot of Derry.
In 1164 the community was represented by the priest, the lector, the
head of the Culdees, and the Disertach or the head of the disert for the
reception of pilgrims.[195] Somerled appears to have rebuilt the ruined
monastery on a larger scale, and about 1203 the Lord of the Isles
(Reginald) adopted the policy of the Scottish kings, and founded at Iona
a monastery of Benedictine monks (Tyronenses), and at the same time a
nunnery for Benedictine nuns, of which Beatrice, sister of Reginald, was
first prioress. It is of this Benedictine monastery and nunnery that the
present ruins are the remains, and they were formerly connected by a
causeway which extended from the nunnery to the monastery. After a
struggle, the Culdees seem to have conformed to the new order of
Benedictines, and the head of the Culdees was represented by the Prior
of Iona, whom we afterwards find in the monastery. Iona was suffragan to
the Bishop of Man and the Isles till 1431, when the Abbot of Iona made
obedience to the Bishop of Dunkeld. In 1498, the Isles were made
suffragan to St. Andrews; in 1506 they passed back to the care of the
Bishop of the Isles; and from that date till the Reformation the abbey
church became the cathedral church of the diocese. In 1648 Charles I.
granted the island to Archibald, Marquis of Argyll,[196] and it still
belongs to his descendant, the Duke of Argyll. The diocese contained
forty-four parishes.
Surrounding the Chapel of St. Oran is a very ancient churchyard,
containing beautiful specimens of Highland carved tombstones, and near
which reposes the dust of Scotch, Irish, and Norwegian kings and
ecclesiastics. The late Duke of Argyll both preserved and restored, and
the foundations of the chapels and cloisters have been plainly marked
out, and give a clear idea of the original plan of the abbey. The abbey
or cathedral, although begun in the twelfth century, took a long time in
building, was altered and added to, and is classed with the buildings of
the Third Pointed period, as the greater part of the work connected with
it belongs to a late date.[197] It is cruciform in shape, consisting of
nave, transepts, and choir, with sacristy on the north side of the
choir, and aisle on the south. Near the west entrance was a small
chamber called St. Columba's tomb. Over the crossing is a square tower,
70 feet high, and supported by arches resting on four pillars. It is
lighted on one side by a window formed by a slab with quatrefoil
openings, and on the other by a marigold or Catherine-wheel window with
spiral mullions. The capitals of the pillars are carved with beautiful
ornamentation and grotesque figures, which are still sharp and well
defined.[198] There are three sedilia, and the high altar seems to have
been of marble. North of the nave is the cloister-garth; to the north
and east of the cloisters are the refectory and chapter-house; the
building over the chapter-house was the library, which was large and
valuable. There were said to be many crosses in Iona; the entire ones
are St. Martin's Cross, opposite the west door of the abbey church, and
Maclean's Cross, on the wayside between the nunnery and the cathedral.
There are the ruins of a small detached chapel to the north-east of the
chapter-house, and of another to the west of the cloister: to the
north-east of the cloister lie the total ruins of what is called the
abbot's house.[199] A short distance north-east of the abbey church, at
Cladh-an-diseart, there was found in 1872 a heart-shaped stone, with an
incised cross on it, which Dr. Skene is disposed to think was the stone
used by St. Columba as a pillow.[200]
The ruins of the nunnery, of which Beatrice, sister of Reginald, was the
first abbess, and which was apparently erected soon after 1203, consist
of a quadrangle about 68 feet square, having the church on the north
side, foundations of the chapter-house and other apartments on the east
side, and the refectory on the south side. There may have been other
buildings on the west side, as the walls are broken at the ends; but if
so, they are now removed.[201] The church was an oblong structure,
divided into nave and choir, and had a northern aisle extending along
both. At a distance of about 30 feet north of the convent church stand
the ruins of another building, said to have been the parish church. It
was a simple oblong chamber, and was dedicated to St. Ronan.[202] Lovely
carved work has been found around the buildings, and these are carefully
preserved and have been reproduced in illustration.[203] These designs
were probably carved on stone from the beautiful illuminated tracery
which the Celtic monks executed in their scriptorium.
No ruthless destruction about the Reformation period could deprive Iona
of its three great voices of the mountain, the sky, and the sea. That
St. Columba's poetic nature and susceptible heart were impressed by them
is beyond doubt, for they survive in his poem--
Delightful would it be to me to be in Uchd Ailiun
On the pinnacle of a rock,
That I might often see
The face of the ocean:
That I might see its heaving waves
Over the wide ocean,
When they chant music to their Father
Upon the world's course:
That I might see its level sparkling strand,
It would be no cause of sorrow:
That I might hear the song of the wonderful birds,
Source of happiness:
That I might hear the thunder of the crowding waves
Upon the rocks:
That I might hear the roar by the side of the church
Of the surrounding sea:
. . . . .
That I might bless the Lord
Who conserves all,
Heaven with its countless bright orders,
Land, strand, and flood:
. . . . .
At times kneeling to beloved heaven:
At times at psalm singing:
At times contemplating the King of Heaven,
Holy the chief:
At times at work without compulsion;
This would be delightful.[204]
Thus Iona, the isle of the saints, the lamp lit amid the darkness of the
western sea, impressed the founder as he heard its voices. May there
soon be added another, the voice of the restored cathedral, connecting
the present with a glorious past, carrying us away in thought by its
architecture to earlier days, and by its situation to the hour when the
great apostle of the Picts first landed on its shores. This may at no
distant future be realised, since the late Duke of Argyll gifted the
ruined cathedral to the Church of Scotland, which hopes to do for it
what has already been done for Dunblane.
13. DIOCESE OF ORKNEY
Christianity reached the Orkneys through the labours of the Columban
clergy, and there are many traces in the islands that speak of their
work. Under the rule of the Norse, in the ninth and tenth centuries any
Christian influence that survived from the labours of such early
pioneers of the Christian faith must have died out. The first actual
Bishop of Orkney was William the Old, who was consecrated in 1102, held
the bishopric for sixty-six years, and died in 1168. His see was first
at Birsay, and was removed to Kirkwall on the erection of the cathedral
in 1137-1152. The Bishop of Orkney was one of the suffragans of the
metropolitan see at Throndhjeim, erected in 1154. In 1472 the see of
Orkney was placed under the metropolitan Bishop of St. Andrews.
The story of the foundation at Kirkwall is as follows. The possession of
the Orkneys was divided between two relatives, and about the beginning
of the twelfth century two cousins, Hacon and Magnus, shared the
government. In 1115 Magnus was treacherously slain at Egilsay by Hacon,
who thus obtained the whole earldom. Rognvald, son of Magnus' sister,
became a claimant for Magnus' share of the earldom, and vowed that if he
succeeded he would erect a "stone minster" in honour of his predecessor
St. Magnus, who had been canonised. Rognvald was successful, and
fulfilled his vow by founding at Kirkwall a cathedral dedicated to St.
Magnus. The building was designed and superintended by the Norwegian
Kol, the father of Rognvald; the relics of St. Magnus were brought from
Christ's Kirk in Birsay, to be deposited in the cathedral as soon as it
was prepared to receive them, and until the work was finished they
rested in the Church of St. Olaf, an older edifice which then existed in
Kirkwall.[205]
"The Cathedral of St. Magnus was thus designed and erected by a
Norwegian earl, while the bishopric was under the authority of the
Norwegian Metropolitan of Throndhjeim. It is thus practically a
Norwegian edifice, and is by far the grandest monument of the rule of
the Norsemen in Orkney. In these circumstances, it is not to be expected
that the architecture should in every detail follow the contemporary
styles which prevailed in Britain, but it is astonishing to find how
closely the earlier parts correspond with the architecture of Normandy,
which was developed by a kindred race,--the successors of Rollo and his
rovers, who settled in that country at an earlier date. There can be
little doubt that the Romanesque architecture which prevailed in the
north of Europe found its way at a comparatively late date into
Scandinavia. The Norman form of that style would naturally follow the
same course amongst the kindred races in Norway and Denmark, just as it
did in England and Scotland, and from Norway it would be transplanted
into Scotland."[206] Kirkwall Cathedral, begun in 1137, was carried on
with great expedition, unlike Glasgow Cathedral, which took so long in
completion that it gave rise to a proverb, "Like St. Mungo's work, it
will never be finished." The Orcadians did their work nobly, and when a
difficulty arose as to funds, it was overcome by allowing the
proprietors of land in Orkney to redeem their property by a single
payment of a sum per acre, paid at once, instead of according to the
usual practice, on each succession.[207] Help was received from far and
wide, and the building was so liberally sped by the oblations of a past
age, that all Christendom was popularly said to have paid tribute for
its erection;[208] but the spirit of religion must have been fervid in
the islands themselves. The earl who founded the cathedral died after a
pilgrimage to Rome and Jerusalem. "He had begun his High Church on no
mean scale, and it was afterwards greatly enlarged in length. To this
circumstance, together with its severe simplicity, its narrowness, its
height, and the multiplicity of its parts, must be ascribed the most
striking characteristic of the pile--its apparent vastness."[209] It has
been doubted if either York or Lincoln gives the _idea_ of greater
internal length, though Kirkwall measures less by half than the smaller
of these minsters. As pointed out by the latest authorities on the
cathedral, its western doorways recall the portals of the cathedrals of
France rather than those of England; its interior gives the impression
of great size, arising from the height and length of the building as
compared with its width; the exterior presents at a glance the changes
which have taken place in it, and the layers and masses of different
coloured stones tell their own tale; the oldest work (comprising several
periods) is constructed with dark slaty stone, having red freestone
dressings; the Norman work is observed in the transept and several bays
of the nave and choir nearest the transept, while the pointed work is
specially noticeable in the eastern half of the choir.[210] The first
parts of the cathedral built were the three westmost or Norman bays of
the choir, with their aisles, both the transepts, the crossing
(afterwards altered) intended to receive a tower over it, and two bays
of the nave, which served to form an abutment for the crossing. These
portions, where unaltered, are said to be in the earliest style of
Norman work in the edifice. The round piers and responds of the choir,
the two south piers and one north pier of the nave (with their cushion
caps), the main arches (with their label mouldings in the choir and
transept), the round arched and labelled windows in choir, transept, and
nave, and the interlaced arcades in the nave, all point to a somewhat
advanced period of Norman work. The choir originally terminated with a
central apse beyond the third pier. The Norman windows of the choir
aisle have three external orders, with a label ornament in the outer
order; the single shafts have cushion caps; the windows are largely
splayed internally.[211] An interlacing arcade of round arches, with
single shafts and cushion caps (some with volutes) runs round the north,
south, and west sides of the transept. The large arches leading into the
east chapels are part of the original structure, but the chapels were
built later. The lower string-course of the transept is enriched with a
four-leaved flower.[212]
After the completion of these portions, attention was given to the
continuation of the nave westwards for several bays. The north aisle
wall opposite the three bays, west from the crossing, would appear to
have been built early.[213] The buttresses are of flat Norman form. The
north aisle doorway is pronounced to be Norman in detail, but has been
restored at a later date; the south aisle doorway retains its old Norman
arch and shafts in the interior, but has been altered externally. The
nave piers were probably continued as far as the above doors about this
time, with the triforium, but the upper part of the nave walls and the
vaulting are later.[214] The transition style is prominently seen in the
piers and arches of the crossing, and the windows in the choir nearest
the main arches of the crossing, and the triforium openings into the
transept, appear to have been altered and rebuilt at the time of this
operation. The upper part of the north transept was probably raised and
its windows inserted at this time; the raising of the south transept and
the introduction of the rose windows is of somewhat later date.[215]
This circular window is very similar to that in the east window of the
choir. The chapels on the east side of the transept are of the advanced
transition period, which, in Orkney, was probably the middle of the
thirteenth century.[216] The completion of the nave would be next
undertaken.[217] The apse was taken down, and the choir, with its
aisles, was extended by three bays eastwards,[218] the style having a
resemblance to advanced First Pointed work, with some peculiarities of
detail, exhibiting probable French influence from Upsala.[219] The
triforium consists of plain, chamfered, semicircular arches and jambs in
three orders; the clerestory has simple pointed windows, moulded on
sconsion, but without cusps. A vaulting shaft is carried up between the
piers.[220] The east end of the cathedral is of First Pointed period,
and the great east window fills the whole space available.[221] The
three western doorways and the pointed doorway in the south transept are
later than the choir;[222] they present the finest examples in Great
Britain of the use of coloured stones in the construction.[223] The
north doorway and the central doorway of the west front have the colours
arranged in concentric rings in the arches, red and yellow alternating.
In the south doorway the same colours radiate and alternate, and in the
doorway of the south transept the red and yellow stones are arranged
chequerwise.[224] They are among the most charming portions of the
edifice, and are unique in Scotland. The upper part of the gablet over
the centre doorway is of the seventeenth century, and bears the shield
of Sir George Hay of Kinfauns, who rented the lands of the bishopric
about the beginning of the seventeenth century, the crozier being added
to the shield in connection with the lands of the see.[225] The tower
has been considerably operated upon in modern times; the old wooden
spire was destroyed by lightning in 1671. The parapet and pinnacles are
modern, as also the pointed and slated roof--the lower part being of
considerable age. The part within the roof of the church is apparently
of transition date; the upper part, with the large pointed windows, is
probably of fifteenth-century work.[226] There were originally beautiful
specimens of wood-work; the canopy over the bishop's throne has
disappeared.[227] The tower contains four bells, three of which were
given by Bishop Maxwell (1526-1540). The cathedral does not appear to
have suffered during the Reformation period, but an attempt made by the
Earl of Caithness to destroy it in 1606, during the rebellion of Earl
Patrick Stewart and his son, was prevented by the intervention of Bishop
Law (sacred be his memory!).
The bishop's palace was founded about the beginning of the thirteenth
century. Twenty bishops held the see in succession. The diocese
contained the archdeaconries of Orkney, with thirty-five parishes, and
of Tingwall (Shetland) with thirteen. The church suffered from vandalism
in 1701 and 1855, and the east end is used as the parish church. May the
northern minster soon be restored and made worthy of its glorious past.
Lord Tennyson's son's diary contains the following entry on the
Cathedral of St. Magnus: "Gladstone and my father admired the noble
simplicity of the church, and its massive stone pillars, but we all
shuddered at the liberal whitewash and the high pews."[228]
A catalogue of the Bishops of Orkney, by Professor Munch of Christiania,
will be found in the _Bannatyne Miscellany_.[229]