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 Gaelicpreachers,[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 theÆneidinto Scots verse, and thus
in a barbarous age,Gave to rude Scotland Virgil's page.
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 quaintLives of the Bishops of Dunkeldprofesses 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.
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 itwas 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 simplesttracery. 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.
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]TheRegisterof 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 hisDe Animi Tranquillitateon 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 washastened 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]
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 tothe 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, 62/3feet from the ground, has inclined jambs and a semicircular head, all three hewn fromsingle 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 becovered 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."
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, andthey 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 fourthpart 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 mayprobably 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 thestalls 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 poemThe 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 awayThrough gardens, down the sloping ridgeTo river's brim and ancient bridge,Where the still waters flowTo the deep pool below.[170]
A quaint old place—a minster grey,And grey old town that winds awayThrough gardens, down the sloping ridgeTo river's brim and ancient bridge,Where the still waters flowTo the deep pool below.[170]
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 Lindoresin 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 hisHistory 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]
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, andduring 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 builtwith 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.
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, andwas 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.
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 291/3wide, 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 areremains 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.
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 wasalso 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 tofound 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 youngerand 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 inA.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. In1164 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 thefoundations 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 disposedto 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.